The aim of this project was to produce an integrate-able free space optical transceiver for Specks. Specks are tiny computing units that together can form a powerful network called a SpeckNet. The SpeckNet platform is developed by the SpeckNet consortium, which consists of five Scottish Universities and combines computer science, electrical engineering and digital signal processing groups. The principal goal of creating an optical transceiver was achieved by integrating in-house fabricated VCSELs (with lasing thresholds below 400 uA) and custom designed detectors on the SpeckNet platform. The transceiver has a very low power consumption (approximately 100 uW), which removes the need for synchronous communication through the SpeckNet thus making the network more efficient. I describe both static and dynamic beam control techniques. For static control, I used micro-lenses. I fabricated the lenses by greyscale electron beam lithography and integrated them directly on VCSEL arrays. I achieved a steering angle of 10 degrees with this design. I also looked at integrated gratings etched straight into a VCSEL and observed beam steering with an efficiency of 60% For dynamic control, I implemented a liquid crystal (LC) design. I built a LC cell with 30 individually controlled pixels, but I only achieved a steering angle of 1 degree. Furthermore, I investigated two different techniques for achieving beam steering by interference, using coupled VCSELs (a phased array approach). Firstly, using photonic crystals etched into the surface of the VCSEL, I built coupled laser cavities. Secondly, I designed and built bow-tie type VCSELs that were optically coupled but electrically isolated. These designs work by differential current injection causing an interference effect in the VCSELs far field. This technique is the first stepping stone towards realising a phased optical array. Finally, I considered signal detection. Using the same VCSEL material, I built a resonant-cavity detector. This detector had a better background rejection ratio than commercially available silicon devices.

<p>The future International Linear Collider (ILC) and Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) are intended for precision measurements of phenomena discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and also for the discovery of new physics. In order to offer optimal conditions for such experiments, the new colliders must produce very-high-luminosity collisions at energies in the TeV regime.</p><p>Emittance growth caused by imperfections in the main linacs is one of the factors limiting the luminosity of CLIC and ILC. In this thesis, various emittance preservation and luminosity tuning techniques have been tested and developed in order to meet the challenging luminosity requirements.</p><p>Beam-based alignment was shown to be insufficient for reduction of emittance growth. Emittance tuning bumps provide an additional powerful preservation tool. After initial studies of tuning bumps designed to treat certain imperfections, a general strategy for design of optimised bumps was developed. The new bumps are optimal both in terms of emittance reduction performance and convergence speed. They were clearly faster than previous bumps and reduced emittance growth by nearly two orders of magnitude both for CLIC and ILC.</p><p>Time-dependent imperfections such as ground motion and magnet vibrations also limit the performance of the colliders. This type of imperfections was studied in detail, and a new feedback system for optimal reduction of emittance growth was developed and shown to be approximately ten times more efficient than standard trajectory feedbacks.</p><p>The emittance tuning bumps require fast and accurate diagnostics. The possibility of measuring emittance using a wide laserwire was introduced and simulated with promising results. While luminosity cannot be directly measured fast enough, it was shown that a beamstrahlung tuning signal could be used for efficient optimisation of a number of collision parameters using tuning bumps in the Final Focus System.</p><p>Complete simulations of CLIC emittance tuning bumps, including static and dynamic imperfections and realistic tuning and emittance measurement procedures, showed that an emittance growth six times lower than that required may be obtained using these methods.</p>

In Old West Norse there is mention of an Arctic skin and osier boat, which was paddled with Old West Norse (húð)keipr, diminutive keipull, formed on Germanic *kaip- ’bend, unfold’ according to the construction method. In East Norse there was a corresponding wooden boat, e.g. Swedish själ-myndrick, formed on mynda verb ‘paddle’ (&lt; Primitive Norse *mundian ‘aim at a certain goal, take aim’). In the provinces south of this verb’s area of distribution there occurs instead svepa verb ’paddle’ (&lt; Primitive Germanic *swaipōn ‘swing’). The earliest instances of Nordic rowing navigation are found in Norway and Denmark. Instances of rowing in the Baltic area are found on some picture stones from about the 6th century. But oarlocks with a grommet were probably used already for the steering oar in the paddled boats of the Bronze Age. An early oarlock (with a grommet) is that made of a goose-necked piece of wood, Old Swedish hār, Old West Norse hár (&lt; *hanhu-, *hanha- ‘branching, fork of a branch’) and Old West Norse keipr (&lt; *kaip- ‘something with a crooked or bent (-back) shape’. The word hár exists as a first element in Old Swedish hā-band ‘oar-loop’, Old West Norse há-bora ‘oar-port’ etc. Old West Norse keipr ‘oarlock’ has no ancient compounds. East Nordic hamna (&gt; Finnish hamina), Old Danish hafnæ (Old Frisian hevene) and West Nordic hamla (Faroese homla, Old English hamele, hamule) ‘oar-loop’ occurred early on the oarlock with a grommet; hamna may be a derivation of the stem in Primitive Norse *haƀan verb ‘hold (fast)’, alternatively *hafna- ‘clasp something’; hamla derives from a Germanic *hamilōn with the meaning ‘bridling band’. Centrally in the Nordic area hamna (Danish havne) and hamla ‘oar-loop’ were also used denominatively with the meaning ‘row pushing in a hamna/hamla (oar-loop)’. In addition there is the Swedish dialectal sväva (~ sveva, svävja) ‘row (back, break etc.) with pushing rowing’ and in the group of older verbs for rowing there is East Swedish hopa &lt; Primitive Norse *hōƀian ‘fix one’s eyes upon a certain goal (in the distance)’. With word formations on Germanic *þulna- ‘wooden plug’ there arose from the Middle Ages and in the North Sea countries a new terminology for the oarlock: Norse tull, toll ‘oarlock with a thole pin’. Even younger concepts are tullgång ‘oarlock with two thole pins’, årklyka, årgaffel ‘oar crutch’. A distinctive trait of Old Swedish hār and hamna, Old West Norse hár and hamla and keipr and other common words for the oarlock is in these words the shift of meaning ‘oarlock of a specific kind’ &gt; ‘almost any kind of oarlock’. Finally, the question arises whether or not the word svear of a tribe by Lake Mälaren could be tied to the paddling through a connection to the stem of the verbs svepa and sväva. / <p>Ingår även i serie: Studier till en svensk dialektgeografisk atlas, 8</p>

Contexte : De manière générale, on considère que le processus de validation d’un instrument de mesure porte sur la validité et la fiabilité. Or, la nature dynamique et évolutive de certaines problématiques, comme la stigmatisation des personnes vivant avec le VIH (PVVIH), laisse croire qu’il est particulièrement important de réinvestir rapidement dans la pratique, les résultats produits par les mesures ainsi validées. Objectifs : La présente thèse vise à développer et valider une échelle de mesure des attitudes stigmatisantes envers les PVVIH en intégrant un dispositif participatif. La thèse utilise en partie les données d’une enquête de surveillance des attitudes envers les PVVIH au Québec, elle comporte trois études qui répondent aux trois objectifs spécifiques suivants : (1) valider la version révisée d’un instrument de mesure des attitudes favorables à la stigmatisation dans la population générale du Québec envers les PVVIH; (2) analyser la relation entre la mesure des attitudes favorables à la stigmatisation et le recours au dépistage du VIH dans la population générale du Québec; (3) décrire et analyser les processus de circulation et d’utilisation des connaissances produites par l’instrument de mesure dans les réseaux professionnels des membres d’un comité consultatif. Méthodes : Un comité consultatif réunissant plusieurs partenaires issus de différents milieux a été constitué dès l’obtention de la subvention. Il a été consulté et informé avant, pendant et après l’enquête téléphonique populationnelle (n=1500) ayant permis de colliger les données. L’Échelle des Attitudes Stigmatisantes envers les Personnes Vivant avec le VIH (EASE-PVVIH) a été validée au moyen de plusieurs analyses psychométriques : analyses factorielles exploratoires et confirmatives, corrélations, régression linéaire multiple, test-t, tests d’hypothèses d’invariance de la structure factorielle et alphas de Cronbach (objectif 1). L’association entre les attitudes favorables à la stigmatisation et le recours au dépistage du VIH a été testée à l’aide de régressions logistiques hiérarchiques (objectif 2). Quant aux processus de circulation et d’utilisation des connaissances dans les réseaux professionnels, ils ont été analysés au moyen d’une étude de cas rétrospective (objectif 3). Résultats : Les analyses ont révélé trois résultats importants. Premièrement, d’un point de vue psychométrique, l’EASE-PVVIH est un outil fiable et valide pour mesurer les attitudes stigmatisantes envers les personnes vivant avec le VIH. Deuxièmement, sous une certaine forme caractérisée par l’inquiétude éprouvée lors de rencontres occasionnelles, les attitudes stigmatisantes par rapport aux personnes vivant avec le VIH semblent nuire au recours au test de dépistage dans la population générale au Québec. Troisièmement, un dispositif participatif en particulier, soit un comité consultatif, semble être un moyen pour favoriser le réinvestissement rapide et étendre la portée des résultats produits par la recherche dans des actions concrètes de santé publique. Conclusion : Ces résultats mettent en lumière la portée d’un dispositif participatif pour la validation d’instrument de mesure. L’arrimage entre les préoccupations scientifiques et pratiques apparaît être une avenue prometteuse pour améliorer la qualité et la pertinence sociale des données produites par les mesures. / Background: A measurement scale is generally evaluated in terms of validity and reliability. However, the dynamic and evolutive nature of certain issues, such as the stigmatization of people living with HIV (PLHIV), suggests that it is particularly important to rapidly reinvest the knowledge into practice that has been obtained using validated measures. Objectives: The purpose of this thesis was to develop and validate a scale to assess stigmatizing attitudes towards PLHIV by integrating a steering committee into the process. Part of this thesis uses the data collected from a survey of attitudes towards PLHIV in Quebec. Three studies were conducted to achieve the three following objectives: 1) to validate the revised version of a measurement scale to assess stigmatizing attitudes towards PLWHA in the general Quebec population; 2) to analyze the relationship between stigmatizing attitudes and HIV testing in the general Quebec population, and 3) to describe and analyze how members of a steering committee used and disseminated knowledge produced by a research project. Methods: A steering committee made up of partners from various communities was formed once funding was obtained. The committee was actively involved before, during, and after the population telephone survey (n=1500) was conducted to collect the data. The Stigmatizing Attitudes towards People Living with HIV/AIDS Scale (SAT-PLWHA-S) was validated using psychometric analyses: exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, correlations, multiple linear regression, t-tests, hypothesis testing of factorial structure invariance, and Cronbach’s alphas (objective 1). The association between stigmatizing attitudes and HIV testing were tested using sequential logistic regression (objective 2). The dissemination and use of knowledge among professional networks were analyzed using a retrospective case study (objective 3). Results: The results revealed three significant findings. First, from a psychometric standpoint, the SAT-PLWHA-S is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring stigmatizing attitudes towards PLHIV. Second, one form of stigmatizing attitudes, concern about occasional contact with PLHIV, appeared to act as a barrier for HIV testing in the general Quebec population. Third, a steering committee appear to foster rapid translation of research results into concrete public health actions. Conclusion: These results shed light on the contribution of a steering committee to the validation of a measurement scale. The joining of scientific and practitioners’ concerns appears to be a promising avenue for improving the quality and relevance of data generated by such measures.

Cost efficient operation and maintenance strategies are crucial for reducing cost of wind energy. Since the regime change from feed-in tariffs to an auction-based bidding system for capacity in most European wind projects, levelized cost of energy is challenged constantly. Therefore, new technologies such as new controllers are developed to improve operation and to increase profit. Previous research studies demonstrated the advantage of increased power output of wake redirection control. However, understanding and quantifying the impact of wind farm control technologies on operation and maintenance strategies is inevitable to evaluate the economic feasibility of such new technologies. Thus, an event-based O&amp;M simulation tool has been developed. Besides general modules, such as the wind turbine model, the weather forecasting model and a model for simulating corrective and planned maintenance, the developed tool also takes wake effects into account. This allows considering different power productions for each individual turbine and a failure rate distribution within the wind farm which is based on altering loads on the different components. Both aspects are driven by changes in operation when applying a new controller technology. Exemplarily, the economic feasibility of a closed-loop active wake steering control has been analysed. Main achievements of this study are the possibility to quantify the impact of the active wake steering control on O&amp;M related KPIs. Results show that additional loads caused by applying yaw-misalignment and redirecting wake, lead to an increase in OPEX. However, the achieved energy production gain and thus related additional revenue exceeds additional cost in the case study. Nonetheless, the study reveals that the profitability of the controller is highly dependent on the electricity price which can be acquired during the wind farm’s lifetime.

Les techniques d'insertion d'aiguille font partie des interventions chirurgicales les plus courantes. L'efficacité de ces interventions dépend fortement de la précision du positionnement des aiguilles dans un emplacement cible à l'intérieur du corps du patient. L'objectif principal dans cette thèse est de développer un système robotique autonome, capable d'insérer une aiguille flexible dans une structure déformable le long d'une trajectoire prédéfinie. L’originalité de ce travail se trouve dans l’utilisation de simulations inverses par éléments finis (EF) dans la boucle de contrôle du robot pour prédire la déformation des structures. La particularité de ce travail est que pendant l’insertion, les modèles EF sont continuellement recalés (étape corrective) grâce à l’information extraite d’un système d’imagerie peropératoire. Cette étape permet de contrôler l’erreur des modèles par rapport aux structures réelles et ainsi éviter qu'ils divergent. Une seconde étape (étape de prédiction) permet, à partir de la position corrigée, d’anticiper le comportement de structures déformables, en se reposant uniquement sur les prédictions des modèles biomécaniques. Ceci permet ainsi d’anticiper la commande du robot pour compenser les déplacements des tissus avant même le déplacement de l’aiguille. Expérimentalement, nous avions utilisé notre approche pour contrôler un robot réel afin d'insérer une aiguille flexible dans une mousse déformable le long d'une trajectoire (virtuelle) prédéfinie. Nous avons proposé une formulation basée sur des contraintes permettant le calcul d'étapes prédictives dans l'espace de contraintes offrant ainsi un temps d'insertion total compatible avec les applications cliniques. Nous avons également proposé un système de réalité augmentée pour la chirurgie du foie ouverte. La méthode est basée sur un recalage initial semi-automatique et un algorithme de suivi peropératoire basé sur des marqueurs (3D) optiques. Nous avons démontré l'applicabilité de cette approche en salle d'opération lors d'une chirurgie de résection hépatique. Les résultats obtenus au cours de ce travail de thèse ont conduit à trois publications (deux IROS et un ICRA) dans les conférences internationales puis à un journal (Transactions on Robotics) en cours de révision. / Needle-based interventions are among the least invasive surgical approaches to access deep internal structures into organs' volumes without damaging surrounding tissues. Unlike traditional open surgery, needle-based approaches only affect a localized area around the needle, reducing this way the occurrence of traumas and risks of complications \cite{Cowan2011}. Many surgical procedures rely on needles in nowadays clinical routines (biopsies, local anesthesia, blood sampling, prostate brachytherapy, vertebroplasty ...). Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an example of percutaneous procedure that uses heat at the tip of a needle to destroy cancer cells. Such alternative treatments may open new solutions for unrespectable tumors or metastasis (concerns about the age of the patient, the extent or localization of the disease). However, contrary to what one may think, needle-based approaches can be an exceedingly complex intervention. Indeed, the effectiveness of the treatment is highly dependent on the accuracy of the needle positioning (about a few millimeters) which can be particularly challenging when needles are manipulated from outside the patient with intra-operative images (X-ray, fluoroscopy or ultrasound ...) offering poor visibility of internal structures. Human factors, organs' deformations, needle deflection and intraoperative imaging modalities limitations can be causes of needle misplacement and rise significantly the technical level necessary to master these surgical acts. The use of surgical robots has revolutionized the way surgeons approach minimally invasive surgery. Robots have the potential to overcome several limitations coming from the human factor: for instance by filtering operator tremors, scaling the motion of the user or adding new degrees of freedom at the tip of instruments. A rapidly growing number of surgical robots has been developed and applied to a large panel of surgical applications \cite{Troccaz2012}. Yet, an important difficulty for needle-based procedures lies in the fact that both soft tissues and needles tend to deform as the insertion proceeds in a way that cannot be described with geometrical approaches. Standard solutions address the problem of the deformation extracting a set of features from per-operative images (also called \textit{visual servoing)} and locally adjust the pose/motion of the robot to compensate for deformations \cite{Hutchinson1996}. [...]To overcome these limitations, we introduce a numerical method allowing performing inverse Finite Element simulations in real-time. We show that it can be used to control an articulated robot while considering deformations of structures during needle insertion. Our approach relies on a forward FE simulation of a needle insertion (involving complex non-linear phenomena such as friction, puncture and needle constraints).[...]

There has been a steady growth in the traffic generated by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), and by 2020 it is expected to overload the existing licensed spectrum capacity and lead to the problem of scarce resources. One method to deal with this traffic overload is to access unlicensed and shared spectrum bands using an opportunistic approach. The use of Licensed Shared Access (LSA) is a novel approach for spectrum sharing between the incumbent user (i.e., the current owner of the shared spectrum) and the LSA licensee (i.e., the temporary user of frequencies, such as an MNO). The LSA system allows the incumbent users to temporarily provide the LSA licensee with access to its spectrum resources. However, licensees must adopt vertical handover and traffic steering procedures to vacate their customers from the LSA band without causing interference, whenever this is required by the incumbent. These procedures should be carried out, de facto, before the base station is turned off as a part of a rapid release of unscheduled LSA band facing evacuation scenarios. Thus, in this dissertation, a cognitive mechanism is proposed to make decisions in advance to find the best target network(s) for evacuated customers in connected mode and with active traffic per class of service. On the basis of these decisions, the vertical handover and traffic steering procedures are carried out for the best target network(s), which are selected in advance and undertaken immediately to avoid interference between the licensee and incumbent services. Furthermore, this guarantees the seamless connectivity and QoS of evacuated customers and their traffic respectively, during and after the unscheduled evacuation scenarios. A performance evaluation conducted in a simulating scenario consisting of one LTE-LSA and three Wi-Fi networks, demonstrated that the proposed solution could be completed within the time required for the unscheduled evacuation, as well as, being able to ensure the QoS and seamless connectivity of the evacuees. The total execution time obtained during the performance evaluation of the proposed solution was around 46% faster than of two related works and could thus avoid interference between the licensee and incumbent services.

Il y a à l'heure actuelle un grand besoin d'antennes reconfigurables dans la bande des 60 GHz pour des applications de télédétection et de télécommunications sans fil très hauts débits. Les solutions traditionnelles de reconfiguration sont basées sur des semiconducteurs ou des composants RF-MEMS, qui connaissent un coût, une complexité et des pertes croissantes en bande millimétrique. Dans cette thèse, une approche originale a été développée : elle est basée sur la reconfiguration mécanique d'antennes et dispositifs millimétriques microrubans sur substrat élastomère ultrasouple PDMS grâce à des actionneurs MEMS grands déplacements. Premièrement, les choix de conception, la technique de simulation éléments finis (HFSS), et surtout la microfabrication d'antennes sur membrane PDMS ainsi que les techniques de mesure en impédance et rayonnement sont abordés.Deux axes ont ensuite été étudiés : les antennes accordables en fréquence, et les antennes et composants pour le balayage angulaire (déphaseurs et antennes à balayage mécanique de type scanner). Des procédés technologiques innovants ont été développés (reports de métallisations épaisses biocompatibles et d'aimants permanents en couches minces sur membrane PDMS) et différentes techniques d'actionnement (pneumatique, magnétique, par électromouillage) ont été mises en œuvre. Les performances en terme d'accord en fréquence (8,2 %) et de balayage angulaire (-90/+100°) dépassent l'état de l'art des antennes du même type en bande millimétrique, et ceci en utilisant une technologie peu complexe, ultra bas-coût et prometteuse pour la montée en fréquence. / There is currently an increasing need for reconfigurable antennas in the 60 GHz band for remote sensing applications and wireless communications. Traditional reconfiguration solutions are based on semiconductors or RF-MEMS but these components face cost, complexity and losses issues at millimeter-waves.In this thesis, an original approach was developed: it is based on the mechanical reconfiguration of millimeter-wave microstrip antennas and devices printed on ultrasoft PDMS substrates, thank to large displacements MEMS actuators. First, the design choices, the finite element simulation technique (HFSS), and the microfabrication of antennas supported by PDMS membranes as well as the impedance and radiation measurements techniques have been discussed. Two axis have then been studied: frequency-tunable antennas, and beam-steering components (phase shifters and "scanner" type antennas). Innovative technological processes were developed (transfer of biocompatible metal patterns and permanent magnet thin films on PDMS membranes) and several actuation techniques (pneumatic, magnetic, electrowetting) were implemented. Performances in terms of frequency tuning (8.2%) and scan angles (-90 / 100 °) are beyond the state of the art for similar antennas in the millimeter-wave band, and are achieved by using a very simple, ultra low-cost technique that is expected to be effective at even higher frequencies.

Processing of broadband signals induced on an antenna array using a tapped delay line filter and a set of steering delays has two problems. Firstly one needs to manipulate large matrices to estimate the filter coefficients. Secondly the use of steering delays is not only cumbersome but implementation errors cause loss of system performance. This thesis looks at both of these problems and presents elegant solutions by developing and studying a design method referred to as the DFT method, which does not require steering delays and is computationally less demanding compared to existing methods. Specifically the thesis studies and compares the performance of a time domain element space beamformer using the proposed method and that using an existing method, and develops the DFT method when the processor is implemented in partitioned form. The study presented in the thesis shows that the processors using the DFT method are robust to look direction errors and require less computation than that using the existing method for comparable performance. The thesis further introduces a broadband beamformer design which does not require any steering delays between the sensors and the tapped delay line section as is presently the case. It has the capability of steering the array in an arbitrary direction with a specified frequency response in the look direction while canceling unwanted uncorrelated interferences. The thesis presents and compares the performance of a number of techniques to synthesize an antenna pattern of a broadband array. These techniques are designed to produce isolated point nulls as well as broad sector nulls and to eliminate the need for the steering delays. Two of the pattern synthesis techniques presented in the thesis allow optimization against unwanted interferences in unknown directions. The techniques allow formulation of a beamforming problem such that the processor is not only able to place nulls in specified directions but also able to cancel directional interferences in unknown directions along with a specified frequency response in the look direction over a band of interest. The thesis also presents a set of directional constraints such that one does not need steering delays and an array can be constrained in an arbitrary direction with a specified frequency response. The constraints presented in the thesis are simple to implement. Based on these constraints a pattern synthesis technique for broadband antenna array is also presented.

The future International Linear Collider (ILC) and Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) are intended for precision measurements of phenomena discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and also for the discovery of new physics. In order to offer optimal conditions for such experiments, the new colliders must produce very-high-luminosity collisions at energies in the TeV regime. Emittance growth caused by imperfections in the main linacs is one of the factors limiting the luminosity of CLIC and ILC. In this thesis, various emittance preservation and luminosity tuning techniques have been tested and developed in order to meet the challenging luminosity requirements. Beam-based alignment was shown to be insufficient for reduction of emittance growth. Emittance tuning bumps provide an additional powerful preservation tool. After initial studies of tuning bumps designed to treat certain imperfections, a general strategy for design of optimised bumps was developed. The new bumps are optimal both in terms of emittance reduction performance and convergence speed. They were clearly faster than previous bumps and reduced emittance growth by nearly two orders of magnitude both for CLIC and ILC. Time-dependent imperfections such as ground motion and magnet vibrations also limit the performance of the colliders. This type of imperfections was studied in detail, and a new feedback system for optimal reduction of emittance growth was developed and shown to be approximately ten times more efficient than standard trajectory feedbacks. The emittance tuning bumps require fast and accurate diagnostics. The possibility of measuring emittance using a wide laserwire was introduced and simulated with promising results. While luminosity cannot be directly measured fast enough, it was shown that a beamstrahlung tuning signal could be used for efficient optimisation of a number of collision parameters using tuning bumps in the Final Focus System. Complete simulations of CLIC emittance tuning bumps, including static and dynamic imperfections and realistic tuning and emittance measurement procedures, showed that an emittance growth six times lower than that required may be obtained using these methods.