CAPES; CNPq; Fundação Araucária / Esta tese de doutorado apresenta um sistema de monitoração heterogêneo para a caracterização do processo de secagem e cura de filmes poliméricos e resina odontológica. Essa caracterização é de suma importância para aperfeiçoar o processo de fabricação e a escolha das matérias-primas dos mesmos, uma vez que parâmetros como a variação da espessura e a deformação mecânica no material estão diretamente ligadas à sua qualidade e durabilidade. O sensor heterogêneo emprega técnicas complementares para a quantificação de múltiplos parâmetros físicos, visando a compreensão das etapas que acontecem durante o processo de secagem e cura. Os ensaios se deram em períodos de 24 horas analisando amostras de tinta e verniz acrílicos e resina dentária. Foram quantificadas deformações longitudinais, variação de massa, espessura e índice de refração médio. Nas amostras de tinta e verniz acrílicos, obteve-se redução entre 60% e 70% no valor inicial da espessura, enquanto o comportamento do índice de refração do verniz foi associado às diferentes etapas do processo de secagem. As amostras de resina odontológica apresentaram redução da espessura menor que 5% em todos os ensaios realizados, percentual semelhante à variação do índice de refração. Todavia, as redes de Bragg identificaram um aumento de temperatura da resina odontológica de aproximadamente 20°C durante a fotoativação. A flexibilidade do sistema sensor heterogêneo demonstrado permite a análise do processo de secagem ou cura de uma ampla gama de filmes poliméricos e resinas, sem a necessidade de adaptações significativas no arranjo experimental. Com uma caracterização correta das etapas envolvidas na secagem ou cura, todo o processo que vai desde a formulação do produto à aplicação final pode ser otimizado, levando à melhoria da relação custo-benefício para cada aplicação pretendida. / This thesis presents a heterogeneous system to characterize the drying and curing process of polymer films and dental resin. This characterization is important to improve the manufacturing process and the choice of the raw materials, since parameters such as thickness variation and the mechanical deformation in the material are directly related to their quality and durability. The sensor employs heterogeneous complementary techniques for the quantification of multiple physical parameters, aimed to understand the steps that occur during drying and curing. The tests took place in periods of 24 hours analyzing samples of both acrylic paint and varnish, as well as dental resin. Longitudinal deformation, mass variation, thickness and mean refractive index were quantified. In samples of acrylic paint and varnish, a reduction between 60% and 70% in the initial value of the thickness was obtained, while the behavior of the refractive index of the varnish was associated with the different stages of the drying process. Samples of dental resin presented thickness decreasing less than 5% in all tests, percentage similar to the variation of the refractive index. However, fiber Bragg gratings have identified a temperature increase of the dental resin about 20 ° C during the polymerization. The flexibility of the heterogeneous sensor system demonstrated allows the analysis of drying or cure processes of a great variety of polymer films and resins, without the need for important changes in the experimental setup. With the correct characterization of the stages involved in the drying or cure, the whole process from the product formulation to the final application may result in an optimized and cost effective product for any intended application.

Superconducting qubits are a promising technology for building a scalable quantum computer. An important architecture employed in the field is called Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics (circuit QED), where such qubits are combined with high quality microwave cavities to study the interaction between artificial atoms and single microwave photons. The ultra-strong coupling achieved in these systems allows for control and readout of the quantum state of qubits to perform quantum information processing. The work on circuit QED performed in this thesis consisted of realizing an experimental setup for qubit experiments in a new laboratory, investigating the coherence and decay of higher energy levels of superconducting transmon qubits and finally demonstrating a novel coaxial form of circuit QED. Designing and building a 3D circuit QED setup involved the following main accomplishments: producing high quality 3D cavities; designing and installing the cryogenic microwave setup as well as the room temperature amplification and data acquisition circuitry; successfully developing a recipe for the fabrication of Josephson junctions; controlling and measuring superconducting 3D transmon qubits at 10mK. Several qubits were fully characterised and have shown coherence times of several microseconds and relaxation times up to 25μs. Superconducting qubits in fact possess higher energy levels that can provide significant computational advantages in quantum information applications. In experiments performed at MIT, preparation and control of the five lowest states of a transmon qubit was demonstrated, followed by an investigation of the phase coherence and decay dynamics of these higher energy levels. The decay was found to proceed mainly sequentially with relaxation times in excess of 20μs for all transitions. A direct measurement of the charge dispersion of these levels was performed to explore their characteristics of dephasing. This experiment was also reproduced on a 3D transmon fabricated and measured in Oxford, where due to a higher effective qubit temperature a multi-level decay model including thermal excitations was developed to explain the observed relaxation dynamics. Finally, a coaxial transmon, which we name the coaxmon, is presented and measured with a coaxial LC readout resonator and input/output coupling ports placed inline along the third dimension. This novel coaxial circuit QED architecture holds great promise for developing a scalable planar grid of qubits to build a quantum computer.

SWIFTS (Stationary Wave Integrated Fourier Transform Spectrometer) est une nouvelle technologie innovante de spectrométrie qui permet une réduction radicale de la taille des spectromètres à Transformée de Fourier, tout en conservant, et même en améliorant leurs performances. Grâce aux avancées de l'optique intégrée et des nanotechnologies, SWIFTS repose sur une méthode de détection optique originale, sans aucune partie mobile, où des nanoplots métalliques échantillonnent directement le champ évanescent d'une onde stationnaire dans un guide d'onde.Dans cette thèse, nous proposons de présenter le cheminement complet qui a mené, en partant du concept original, au développement puis à la mise en pratique de la technologie SWIFTS. Le document illustre notamment les caractérisations optiques, les choix technologiques et les optimisations entrepris pour la réalisation de spectromètres fonctionnels dans le domaine visible et proche-infrarouge. Des procédures de calibrages novatrices et complémentaires, basées sur du multiplexage fréquentiel et sur de l'interférométrie à faible cohérence temporelle, ont été développées pour déterminer avec précision les différentes irrégularités de fabrication et de comportement de l'appareil complètement intégré. Les spectromètres calibrés permettent à présent d'aborder des applications diverses en industrie et en recherche, de la caractérisation hautes performances de lasers, à l'interrogation de capteurs fibrés à réseaux de Bragg, aux techniques de spectrométries Raman et LIBS, et de tomographie optique OCT, jusqu'aux sciences de l'Univers (géophysique, astrophysique).SWIFTS est une innovation de rupture qui, de part sa miniaturisation obtenue sans compromis avec de hautes performances d'analyse spectrale, a la capacité de faire passer la spectrométrie du stade de la mesure complexe en laboratoire à celle d'un simple composant intégré pour des applications exigeantes. / SWIFTS (Stationary Wave Integrated Fourier Transform Spectrometer) is a new innovative technology of spectrometry that allows a drastic reduction of the size of Fourier transform spectrometers, while maintaining, and even improving their performance. With advances in integrated optics and nanotechnology, SWIFTS is based on an original method of optical detection, without any moving part, where metallic nanodots directly sample the evanescent field of a standing wave in a waveguide.In this thesis, we propose to present the complete process that led, starting from the original concept, to the development and the applications of the technology. The document illustrates the optical characterizations, the technological choices and the optimizations made for the realization of functional spectrometers in the visible and near-infrared range. Innovative and complementary procedures of calibrations, based on frequency multiplexing and low coherence interferometry, have been developed to accurately determine the various irregularities of the manufacturing and of the behavior of the integrated device. The calibrated spectrometers allow to address various applications in industry and research, such as high performance characterization of lasers, interrogation of fiber Bragg gratings sensors, Raman and LIBS spectrometry, optical coherence tomography OCT, and sciences of the Universe (geophysics, astrophysics).SWIFTS is a breakthrough innovation in spectrometry, without trade-off between miniaturization and high performance, that opens the way for product development based on the most demanding applications currently performed in research laboratories.

Au cours de la dernière décennie, un important effort a été fait dans le domaine des conducteurs électroniques de basse dimensionnalité afin de réaliser une électronique à électrons uniques. Une idée particulièrement attractive étant de pouvoir contrôler complétement la phase d’un électron unique volant pour transporter et manipuler de l’information quantique dans le but de construire un qubit volant. L’injection contrôlée d’électrons uniques dans un système électronique bidimensionnel balistique peut être fait grâce à une source d’électrons uniques basée sur des pulses de tensions lorentziens sub-nanosecondes. Une telle source peut aussi être utilisée pour mettre en évidence de nouveaux phénomènes d’interférences électroniques. Lorsqu’un pulse de tension court est injecté dans un interféromètre électronique, de nouveaux effets d’interférences sont attendus du fait de l’interaction du pulse avec les électrons de la mer de Fermi. Pour la réalisation de cette expérience, il est important de connaître avec précision la vitesse de propagation du paquet d’onde électronique créé par le pulse.Dans cette thèse, nous présentons des mesures résolues en temps d’un pulse de tension court (<100 ps) injecté dans un fil quantique 1D formé dans gaz d’électron bidimensionnel qui nous ont permis de déterminer sa vitesse de propagation. Nous montrons que le pulse se propage bien plus vite que la vitesse de Fermi d’un système sans interaction. La vitesse de propagation est augmentée par les interactions électron-électron. Pour un fil quantique contenant un grand nombre de modes, la vitesse mesurée est en excellent accord avec la vitesse d’un plasmon dans un système 2D en présence de grilles métalliques. En modifiant le potentiel de confinement électrostatique et donc l’intensité des interactions, nous montrons qu’il est possible de contrôler la vitesse de propagation. Nous avons ensuite étudié un interféromètre électronique à deux chemins basé sur deux fils couplés par une barrière tunnel. Nos mesures préliminaires font ressortir une signature qui peut être attribuée à des oscillations tunnel cohérentes des électrons injectés dans ce système. Dans un future proche, cet interféromètre pourrait être utilisé pour mettre en évidence ces nouveaux effets spectaculaires dus à l’interaction du pulse avec les électrons de la mer de Fermi. / Over the past decade, an important effort has been made in the field of low dimensional electronic conductors towards single electron electronics with the goal to gain full control of the phase of a single electron in a solid-state system. A particular appealing idea is to use a single flying electron itself to carry and manipulate the quantum information, the so-called solid state flying qubit. On demand single electron injection into such a ballistic two-dimensional electron system can be realized by employing the recently developed single electron source based on sub-nanosecond lorentzian voltage pulses. Such a source could also be used to reveal interesting new physics. When a short voltage pulse is injected in an electronic interferometer, novel interference effects are expected due to the interference of the pulse with the surrounding Fermi sea. For the realization of such experiments it is important to know with high accuracy the propagation velocity of the electron wave packet created by the pulse.In this thesis, we present time resolved measurements of a short voltage pulse (<100 ps) injected into a 1D quantum wire formed in a two-dimensional electron gas and determine its propagation speed. We show that the voltage pulse propagates much faster than the Fermi velocity of a non-interacting system. The propagation speed is enhanced due to electron interactions within the quantum wire. For a quantum wire containing a large number of modes, the measured propagation velocity agrees very well with the 2D plasmon velocity for a gated two-dimensional electron gas. Increasing the confinement potential allows to control the strength of the electron interactions and hence the propagation speed. We then have studied an electronic two-path interferometer based on two tunnel-coupled wires. Our preliminary measurements show a signature that can be attributed to the coherent tunneling of the electrons injected into this system. In the near future, this system could be used to reveal these new striking effects due to the interaction of the voltage pulse with the Fermi sea.

As estruturas de dados concretas (cds) são quaternas (C, V, E, l-) que contêm um conjunto C de células, um conjunto V de valores, um conjunto E de eventos e uma relação de habilitação l-. O conjunto de estados de uma cds é um domínio concreto que pode ser considerada a parte "abstrata" das cds. Da mesma maneira tem-se que os domínios de eventos (que são generalizações dos domínios concretos) são a parte abstrata das estruturas de eventos. Mostra-se a relação dos domínios concretos e domínios de eventos com os espaços coerentes, assim como também das teias de espaços coerentes com as cds e estruturas de eventos. Intuitivamente, uma cds é uma teia de um espaço coerente se toda célula c de C não é habilitada por nenhum evento (ou equivalentemente, é habilitada pelo conjunto vazio), isto é, V C E C, 0 F c. Outra forma de expressar isto é dizer que uma cds e uma teia de um espaço coerente se o conjunto de estados da cds é um espaço coerente. Definem-se os algoritmos lineares como sendo estados de uma cds no estilo dos algoritmos seqüenciais do Curien ([CUR 86]). Em particular as cds consideradas são teias de espaços coerentes. Mostra-se como obter a cds !A—>B, a partir de uma função estável f. A —> B. O algoritmo linear desta cds possui todas as estratégias de computação (seqüenciais e paralelas) que computam a função subjacente f, o que implica que os algoritmos lineares podem ser considerados meta-algoritmos. Mostra-se que para toda estratégia de computação seqüencial de um algoritmo linear, existe um algoritmo seqüencial de Curien que computa a mesma função, e vice-versa. A definição de estratégia de computação é dada de maneira tal que permite se dar semântica a segmentos de programas. Define-se uma operação de composição de estratégias, de forma tal que se pode obter uma estratégia de computação de um programa, a partir da composição das estratégias dos segmentos. / The concrete data structures, or cds, (C, V, E, l-) consists of a set C of cells, a set V of values. a set E of events and an enabling relation l-. The set of states of a cds is a concrete domain, that can be considered the "abstract" counterpart of the cds. In the same way we have that the events domains (that are more general that the concretes domains) are the abstract counterpart of the events structures. We show the relation between the concretes domains and events domains with the coherence spaces, as just as the relation between the cds and events structures with webs of coherence spaces. Intuitivelly, a cds is a web of a coherence space if any cell c is not enabled for any event, i.e. Vce C, 0 F c. We can say that a cds is a web of a coherence space if the set of states of the cds is a coherence space. We define the linear algorithms as states of a cds following the Curien's sequential algorithms ([CUR 86]). In particular the cds considered are webs of coherence spaces. We show how to obtain a cds !A—>B from a stable function f. A —> B. The linear algorithm of this cds contain all the computational strategies (sequentials and parallels) that compute the subjacent function f; this implies that the linear algorithms can be considered a kind of meta-algorithms. We show that for all sequential computational strategy of a linear al gorithm exists a Curien's sequential algorithm that compute the same function and conversely. We define the computational strategies in such a way that we can give semantic of segments of programs. We define a composition operation for strategies. This operation has the advantage that we can obtain the computational strategy of a program as the composition of the segments of it.

This research study examines the relationship between conjunctive cohesion and relational coherence in students' narrative and expository compositions and writing quality (here defined in terms of teachers' ratings). Altogether 64 compositions were analysed using Halliday and Hasan's (1976) cohesion theory and Crombie's (1985) set of interpropositional relations. The results of the study show that both conjunctive cohesion density and relational coherence, as defined by the density of contiguous functional relations, affect perceptions of writing quality. Writers of low-rated narrative and low-rated expository compositions not only used a more limited range of conjunctives but their compositions manifested less cohesion density and contiguous relation density than writers of high-rated narrative and expository compositions did. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M. A. (Applied Linguistics)

South Africa's equity legislation demands the incorporation of persons with disabilities in the workforce. Owing to the unique challenges that these people face, they need well-developed salutogenic characteristics such as sense of coherence, self-efficacy and locus of control in order to integrate effectively into mainstream environments. The objective of the research was to explore these salutogenic constructs in the hearing-impaired adult population and to note differences between the different sub-groups within the sample (N = 63). A biographical form and combination of salutogenic questionnaires were employed to measure these constructs. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were utilised to analyse the data. The results showed statistically significant inter-group differences in all three salutogenic constructs. These differences were found for age groups, onset of deafness, deafness category, primary school attended, hearing status of spouse and parents, and level of qualification. / Industrial and Organizational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The process of photosynthesis begins with a capture of sunlight and its quick conversion into the chemical energy. Both these primary processes take place in a specially designed photosynthetic apparatus that is present in cells of all photosynthetic organisms. In green sulfur bacteria the apparatus consists of a massive light-harvesting antenna (chlorosome), intermediate antennas (baseplate complex and FMO proteins) and of the reaction center, where the conversion into the chemical energy occurs. The energy flow through the apparatus can be monitored by time-resolved spectroscopy techniques. Coherent two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) in one of such techniques, which combines high temporal and spectral resolution, and therefore it is especially well suited for studying multichromophoric systems such as photosynthetic apparatus. This thesis describes the principles of the 2DES technique and outlines the basic facts about the photosynthetic apparatus of green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum. Finally, it summarizes the investigation of the photosynthetic machinery using 2DES. Results presented in this thesis provide new insights into the exciton diffusion and vibrational coherences within chlorosomes, excitonic structure of the baseplate and the overall energy flow through the entire...

Abstract This thesis reports on studies of plasmonic nanoparticles and particularly gold nanostars as signal enhancers and contrast agents for biophotonic applications including visualisation, treatment of living cells and chemical sensing. In this thesis, the optical properties of nanoparticles of different size and morphology and their silica composites were compared. Because they are the most suitable plasmonic nanostructures, gold nanostars were utilised for optical imaging modalities such as confocal microscopy and Doppler optical coherence tomography. The ability of gold nanoparticles to enhance the signal in surface-enhanced vibrational spectroscopy, including Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was additionally studied. Finally, various gold nanoparticles were applied for cell optoporation to increase the penetration ability of exogeneous substances. In summary, significant advantages of nanostars such as their low-toxicity, high scattering and contrast abilities, in addition to a broad, tunable, plasmon resonance wavelength range, as well as the capability to enhance the signal of analyte molecules in vibrational spectroscopy were demonstrated in this thesis. The results of this study on the effectiveness of nanostars have a broad scope of utility and open a wide perspective for their utilisation in nanobiophotonics and biomedicine. / Tiivistelmä Tämä opinnäytetyö kertoo tutkimuksista, joissa plasmoninanopartikkeleita ja erityisesti kultananotähtiä on käytetty signaalinvahvistimina biofotoniikan sovelluksissa, kuten visualisointi, elävien solujen käsittely ja kemiallinen tunnistus. Tässä työssä verrattiin eri kokoisten ja muotoisten nanopartikkeleiden ja niiden piioksidikomposiittien optisia ominaisuuksia. Sopivimpina plasmoninanorakenteina kultananotähtiä käytettiin optisiin kuvantamismenetelmiin, kuten konfokaalimikroskopiaan ja Doppler-optiseen koherenssitomografiaan. Lisäksi kuvattiin myös kultananopartikkelien kykyä parantaa pinta-aktivoidun värähtelevän spektroskopian signaalia, mukaan lukien Raman- ja Fourier-muunnos-infrapuna-spektroskopia. Lopuksi, eri kultananopartikkeleita käytettiin soluoptoporaatioon eksogeenisten aineiden läpäisevyyden lisäämiseksi. Yhteenvetona, työssä osoitettiin nanotähtien merkittävät edut, kuten matala-myrkyllisyys, suuret sironta- ja kontrastiominaisuudet, laaja plasmoniresonanssin aallonpituusalue ja sen viritettävyys, sekä kyky parantaa analyyttimolekyylien signaalia värähtelyspektroskopiassa. Niinpä tutkimustulokset nanotähtien tehokkuudesta ovat laajasti käyttökelpoisia ja ne avaavat laajan näkökulman niiden hyödyntämiseen nanobiofotoniikassa ja biolääketieteessä.

A large amount of information is contained in textual records, which originate from a variety of sources such as handwritten records and digital media like audio and video files. The information contained in these records is unstructured and to visualise the content of the records is not a trivialtask.In order to visualise information contained in unstructured textual records, the information must be extracted from the records and transformed into a structured format. This research aimed to visualise the coherence of facts contained in textual sources in order to allow the user who make use of the visualisation to make an assumption about the validity of the textual records as a set. For the purpose of the study, it was contemplated that the coherence of facts contained in a document set was indicated by the multiple occurrences of the same fact over several documents in the set. The output of this research is a model that abstracts the process required to transform information contained in unstructured textual records into a structured format and the visual representation of the multiple occurrences of facts in order to support the process of making an assumption about the coherence of facts in the set. This assumption enables the user to make a decision.based on the coherence theory of truth.about the validity of the document set. The modelprovides guidance and practices for performing tasks on similar textualdocument sets containing secondary data. The development of the model was informed by a phased construction of three specific software solution instantiations.namely an initial information extraction, an intermediate visual representation and a final information visualisation instantiation. The final solution instantiation was demonstrated to research participants and was evaluated as well. A pragmatic design science research approach was followed in order to solve the research problem. In conducting the research an adaption of the Peffers et at. (2006) design research process model was followed. The result of the research is a model for the visual representation of the coherence of facts in a textual document set. Expert review of the model is added through a process of peer review and academic scrutiny by means of conference papers and a journal article. It is envisaged that the results of the research can be applied to a number of research fields such as Indigenous Knowledge, History and Law. / School of Computing / M. Sc. (Computing)