This thesis examines the functional connectivity of the hippocampus with the rest of the brain, with a focus on the neocortex. The hypothesis explored, in an animal model, is whether the frequency-dependent behaviour of certain brain connectivity relationships applies to hippocampal-neocortical connections. To encompass the temporal and spatial resolution necessary to do this, two main techniques are used in combination in most of the experimental work hereby presented: (1) electrophysiological recordings of local field potentials (LFPs), and (2) functional activity recordings of blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The main hypothesis is that the frequency-dependent behaviour of specific hippocampal synapses imposes the rules of extra-hippocampal activity propagation and hippocampal-neocortical interactions. The main discovery is that short and long-term plasticity modulates network activation, a finding suggesting a possible mechanism that could mediate the encoding and consolidation of memory traces. Chapters 1 to 3 introduce the vast literature review in which this project lies, and the general methods utilised. Chapter 4 (first experimental chapter) describes, using electrophysiology in rats, the evoked response of the main hippocampal output (CA1 neurons) when its major input (CA3 pyramidal cells) is activated at frequencies that in subsequent experiments were used to build brain-wide functional maps. CA1 spiking activity is found to be optimal in maintaining the amplitude of the population spike (PS) at beta frequencies (10-20 Hz), whereas lower (< 10 Hz) and higher (> 20 Hz) frequencies are normally less effective. Chapter 5 describes, using fMRI, how these intra-hippocampal activity patterns relate to long-range activity propagation in fMRI experiments. Hippocampal activation exhibits a linear monotonic increase with evoked frequency, whilst a network of selected structures is activated preferentially when beta frequencies are applied (mainly neocortical structures like the prefrontal and parietal cortices, motor and sensory cortices, and some subcortical structures like the nucleus accumbens and the striatum). This data is highly correlated with the PS recorded in CA1 and with multi-unit activity (MUA) and single-unit activity (SUA) simultaneously recorded in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), one of the structures receiving propagated activity at beta frequencies, as described in Chapter 6. As mPFC also receives hippocampal input at a restricted beta frequency range stimulation of the dorsal hippocampus, Chapter 7 describes the use of a combined electrophysiology/fMRI approach to identify the pathway responsible for activity propagation. We performed microsurgery lesions to investigate the pathway responsible for the polysynaptic propagation of activity. Findings indicate that the septo-temporal longitudinal pathway is the one leading information transfer from dorsal to ventral hippocampus in the rat, and from there directly to the ventral subiculum, apparently by-passing entorhinal cortex. Last, in Chapter 8 the effect of durable modifications of synaptic weights by long-term potentiation (LTP) in the previously described frequency-dependent activity propagation is also described and contextualized in the memory trace consolidation framework, both electrophysiologically (Chapter 5) and with fMRI (Chapter 6). LTP is a long-lasting change in synaptic weights that, at the CA3-CA1 synapse, is capable of modifying hippocampal-neocortical connections such as to open the opportunity for higher frequency patterns (> 40 Hz) to propagate to neocortical structures. These results suggest that, by means of frequency-coding, the hippocampus normally regulates propagation of selected information to the neocortex, but that at specific moments (e.g. when the hippocampus undergoes LTP) this regulation broadens to permit high-frequency information to pass through and affect neural activity in the cortex. It is a beautifully simple mechanism that merits further detailed examination in a multi-disciplinary manner as outlined in Chapters 9 and 10.

Statistical Activity Cost Theory (SACT) is an axiomatic and statistical theory of basic accounting measurement practice. The aim of the SACT analysis, among others, is to determine the statistical nature of both the physical production system of an accounting entity and its related costs, which can then be examined and applied to various decision-making problems. A central proposition of SACT is that the physical system of the entity, and the costs related to this system, are separate structures which can be modelled as such. To date, however, mini- mal progress has been made in describing production process structures within the SACT framework, and nor have there been any advances made in applying common statistical techniques to such an analysis. This thesis, therefore, moves to extend the basic theory that has already been developed, presenting a novel method for representing and examining the physical processes that make up an entity's production system. It also examines the costing of these physical models, such that transactional data can be examined and related back to the underlying production processes. The thesis concludes by giving an example of such an application in a case study. The analysis developed in this thesis has been applied in a larger project which aims to produce generic modelling and decision tools, based upon SACT, to support return and risk management.

Ce travail s'inscrit dans le cadre de l'évaluation de la sûreté de fonctionnement des systèmes commandés en réseau (SCR). La capacité des systèmes de commandes à compenser les effets de certaines défaillances de composants amène à redéfinir le concept de défaillances du système. La conséquence est que l'évaluation de la fiabilité prévisionnelle du système est dépendante de l'évaluation fonctionnelle et devient impossible avec les méthodes traditionnelles de la sûreté de fonctionnement. Pour surmonter ces difficultés, une approche basée sur la modélisation en vue de la simulation est proposée. Nous avons choisi les Réseaux d'activités stochastiques (SAN) largement connus dans la modélisation des protocoles de communication ainsi que dans les études de la sûreté de fonctionnement. Dans un premier temps, nous avons cherché à identifier l'incidence de deux types de défaillances fugitives : la perte d'un échantillon d'une part et le retard d'un échantillon dans la boucle de régulation d'autre part. Après, nous simulons le comportement en présence des deux types de perturbations simultanément, mettant en évidence des effets cumulatifs. Si on tient compte maintenant du fait que l'origine des pertes ou retards est due à la présence du réseau, il faut l'introduire dans le modèle. On introduit alors dans le modèle global du système la représentation SAN d'un réseau CAN et l'injection des défaillances dans celui-ci. La méthode de Monte Carlo est utilisée pour estimer les indicateurs de sûreté de fonctionnement et on montre l'influence de certains facteurs comme la charge du réseau par exemple. Nous avons proposé une méthode et les outils associés pour approcher cette évaluation par simulation et ainsi apporter une aide à la conception des systèmes satisfaisant à des exigences critiques sur certains paramètres de performance / Achieved work in this thesis deals with dependability evaluation of networked controlled system (NCS). The ability of control system to offset the effects of some components’ failure leads to redefine the concept of system failure. Consequently the reliability evaluation is dependent on functional parameters and becomes impossible with traditional dependability methods. This work aims at bringing a contribution relative to this aspect. To overcome these difficulties, an approach based on both modelling and simulation is proposed. We choose to work with stochastic activity network (SAN) widely used in modelling communication protocols as well as in dependability studies. First we sought to identify the incidence of two types of transient faults: loss of samples and delay within the control loop. Next we simulate the behaviour in the presence of two types of disturbances at the same time highlighting the cumulative effects. In fact the origin of the loss or delay information inside the control loop is due to the presence of the network, this aspect must be taken into account, that is why we introduce a new model representing the Controller Area Network (CAN) and injection of possible perturbations. Monte-Carlo method is used to estimate dependability parameters showing the influence of some factors such as network load for example. We have proposed a method and associated tools to approach this evaluation by simulation and thus provide assistance in designing systems to meet requirements on certain performance parameters

L’incorporation des instruments intelligents dans les boucles de sécurité nous mène vers une sécurité intelligente et les systèmes deviennent des « systèmes instrumentés de sécurité à intelligence distribuée (SISID) ». La justification de l’usage de ces instruments dans les applications de sécurité n’est pas complètement avérée. L’évaluation de la sûreté de fonctionnement de ce type de systèmes n’est pas triviale. Dans ce travail, la modélisation et l'évaluation des performances relatives à la sûreté de fonctionnement des systèmes instrumentés de sécurité (SIS) sont traitées pour des structures intégrant de l’intelligence dans les instruments de terrain. La méthodologie que nous utilisons consiste en la modélisation de l’aspect fonctionnel et dysfonctionnel de ces systèmes en adoptant le formalisme basé sur les réseaux de Petri stochastiques qui assurent la représentation du comportement dynamique de ce type de systèmes. La modélisation est traitée sous la forme d’une approche stochastique utilisant les réseaux d’activité stochastiques SAN (Stochastic Activity Network). L’introduction d’indicateurs de performances permet de mettre en évidence l’effet de l’intégration des niveaux d’intelligence dans les applications de sécurité. La méthode de Monte Carlo est utilisée pour évaluer les paramètres de sûreté de fonctionnement des SIS en conformité avec les normes de sécurité relatives aux systèmes instrumentés de sécurité (CEI 61508 et CEI 61511). Nous avons proposé une méthode et les outils associés pour approcher cette évaluation par simulation et ainsi apporter une aide à la conception des systèmes instrumentés de sécurité (SIS) intégrant quelques fonctionnalités des instruments intelligents / The incorporation of intelligent instruments in safety loops leads towards the concept of intelligent safety and the systems become “Intelligent Distributed Safety Instrumented Systems (IDSIS)”. The justification for using these instruments in safety applications is not fully proven and the dependability evaluation of such systems is a difficult task. Achieved work in this thesis deals with modelling and thus the performance evaluation relating to the dependability for structures which have intelligence in the instruments constituting the Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS). In the modelling of the system, the functional and dysfunctional aspects coexist and the dynamic approach using the Stochastic Activity Network (SAN) is proposed to overcome the difficulties mentioned above. The introduction of performance indicators highlight the effect of the integration of intelligence levels in safety applications. Monte-Carlo method is used to assess the dependability parameters in compliance with safety standards related to SIS (IEC 61508 & IEC 61511). We have proposed a method and associated tools to approach this evaluation by simulation and thus provide assistance in designing Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) integrating some features of intelligent tools