A área incerto-hipotalâmica (IHy) está envolvida no controle neuroendócrino de fêmeas, com associação de suas células MCHérgicas (hormônio concentrador de melanina). Em ratos, a área pré-óptica medial (MPA), o núcleo periventricular anteroventral (AVPe) e o núcleo arqueado (Arc) são mais densamente inervadas pela IHy em fêmeas do que em machos, sugerindo um dimorfismo sexual das projeções da IHy relevantes para o controle reprodutivo. Nosso objetivo é caracterizar as áreas relacionadas ao controle reprodutivo inervadas pela IHy em camundongos fêmeas, utilizando traçador neuronal anterógrado, analisar a inervação das células GnRH (hormônio liberador de gonadotrofinas) da MPA pela IHy e analisar a inervação do AVPe e Arc pela IHy, usando camundongos Kiss1-hrGFP. Como resultado, observamos que MPA, AVPe e Arc recebem projeções da IHy, assim como áreas relacionadas ao circuito de defesa. Nos animais Kiss1-hrGFP, não encontramos inervação de células KiSS-1 pela IHy. Problemas metodológicos impossibilitaram a análise das projeções da IHy para os neurônios GnRH. / The incerto-hypothalamic area (IHy) is related to the neuroendocrine control of females, involving their MCHergic cells (melanin-concentrating hormone). In rats, the medial preoptic area (MPA), the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPe) and the arcuate nucleus (Arc) are more densely innervated by IHy in females than in males, suggesting a sexual dimorphism of IHy projections relevant to reproductive control. Our aim is to characterize the areas related to reproductive control innervated by IHy in female mice using anterograde neuronal tracer, analyze the innervation of GnRH cells (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) of MPA by IHy and analyze the innervation of AVPe and Arc by IHy using Kiss1-hrGFP mice. As a result, we observed that MPA, AVPe and Arc are innervated by IHy, as well as areas related to the defensive circuit. In Kiss1-hrGFP animals, KiSS-1 cells were not innervated by IHy cells. Methodological problems made it impossible to analyze the projections of IHy to the GnRH neurons.

The thesis presents background on solar thermal energy and addresses the structural challenges associated with the deployment of concentrating solar power fields in urban areas. Two potential structural systems and urban locales of deployment are proposed and investigated to determine whether they have the potential to be a cost-effective renewable energy solution for urban areas. The structural issues explored in the thesis include flutter, the wind loading of open frame structures, performance-based design, and the design of flexibly mounted equipment on a building.

Les neurones exprimant l'hormone de mélano-concentration (MCH) sont observés dans l'hypothalamus postérieur de tous les vertébrés, de la lamproie à l'Homme. Ces neurones sont impliqués dans diverses fonctions comme le cycle veille/sommeil ou la prise alimentaire. Ils forment une population non homogène et au moins deux sous-populations sont reconnues, chez le rat. La première sous-population est composée de neurones nés au 11ème jour de vie embryonnaire (E11) qui projettent massivement sur les régions les plus postérieures du système nerveux central. La seconde est générée à E12/E13 et les neurones la caractérisant projettent sur les régions les plus antérieures du cerveau et expriment le peptide CART (cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript) et le récepteur NK3 (neurokinine). L'objectif de notre travail était de comprendre l'origine de ces deux sous-populations. Pour cela, nous avons utilisé des approches histologiques, moléculaires et in vitro. Les neurones à MCH sont parmi les premiers neurones à naître et à différencier leur phénotype chimique le long d'une région longitudinale définie par une prolifération intense, appelée " cell cords " par Keyser en 1972. Cette bande longitudinale est caractérisée par l'expression de gènes comme Sonic Hedgehog (Shh), Nkx2.1, Nkx2.2 et a été récemment renommée " diagonale intrahypothalamica " ou ID. La différenciation des neurones à MCH dépend de l'expression du facteur morphogène Shh et ces neurones expriment Nkx2.1 et Nkx2.2, facteurs de transcription régulés positivement par Shh. Les neurones de la première sous-population envoient des projections le long du premier tractus longitudinal à se mettre en place, le tractus postopticus (tpoc). Ceux issus de la deuxième sous-population se différencient concomitamment au développement des régions télencéphaliques et leurs projections changent de direction pour innerver les régions antérieures du cerveau sous la dépendance de protéines de guidage axonal, Nétrine1 et Slit2. Nétrine1 permet d'attirer les axones MCH exprimant le récepteur DCC précocement vers la moelle épinière et plus tardivement vers le télencéphale alors que Slit2 contraint les axones MCH exprimant Robo2 à sortir de l'hypothalamus. L'étude du modèle " MCH " permet de mettre en lumière un changement d'organisation précocement au cours du développement dans l'axe longitudinal du prosencéphale. La bande longitudinale d'expression des facteurs de transcription Shh, Nkx2.2 peut être perçue comme une extension rostrale de la colonne neurogénique médiane déjà décrite chez des espèces d'invertébrés possédant une symétrie bilatérale. Les neurones générés le long de cette colonne le sont très tôt au cours du développement. / Neurons expressing melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) are observed in the vertebrate posterior hypothalamus, from lampreys to humans. These neurons are involved in various functions such as sleep/wake cycle or food intake. They form a non-homogeneous population and at least two sub-populations are indentified in the rat. The first sub-population is composed of neurons born on the 11th embryonic day (E11) that project heavily on posterior regions of the central nervous system. The second is characterized by neurons born at E12/E13, projecting in anterior regions of the brain and expressing the peptide CART (cocaine and amphetamine Regulated Transcript) and the NK 3 receptor (neurokinin). The aim of this study was to understand the origin of these two sub-populations. For this, we used histological, molecular and in vitro approaches. MCH neurons are among the first neurons to be born and to differentiate their chemical phenotype along a longitudinal region defined by intense proliferation and called " cell cord " by Keyser in 1972. This longitudinal band is characterized by the expression of genes such as Sonic Hedgehog (Shh), Nkx2.1, Nkx2.2 and was recently named " diagonal intrahypothalamica " or ID. Differenciation of MCH neurons depends on expression of the morphogenetic factor Shh and these neurons express Nkx2.1 and Nkx2.2, transcription factors upregulated by Shh. The neurons of the first sub-population send projections along the tractus postopticus (tpoc), which is the first longitudinal tract to develop. Neurons of the second sub-population differentiate concomitantly to the development of the basal forebrain and their projections innervate anterior brain regions. Our results obtained in vitro showed that Netrin1 attracts MCH axons and that this reponse is mediated by DCC. Slit2 repulses MCH axons and this reponse is mediated by the Robo2 receptor. Overall, our study of the development of the MCH system shed light on an organizational change in the longitudinal axis of the forebrain during early development : a primary longitudinal organization characterized by the longitudinal expression of Shh and Nkx2.2 and the path of the tractus postopticus in the diencephalon and mesencephalon. MCH neurons of the first sub-population develop during this stage. Then, as the basal telencephalon extends and expresses Netrin1, the medial forebrain bundle differentiates, inducing a change in the main axis of the forebrain ; meanwhile MCH neurons of the second sub-population appear. MCH sub-populations reflect distinct developmental stages of the forebrain.

Solar energy is increasingly being considered a promising solution to reduce the emissions of CO2 and green house gas. The performance of solar collectors largely depends on the ability to absorb incoming solar radiation with minimal thermal radiation losses. To weigh the potential absorbed energy to thermal losses, the performance criterion (PC) can be used, calculated as PC =α−xε, where α is absorptance, ε is emittance and x is a scaling factor < 1. It has been shown by G. Vargas et al. that Co-Cr alloys excibit great potential (α = 0.98 and ε = 0.03) for use in solar concentrators. The main goal of this project is to quantify the impact of key factors (controlled input variables) on an electroplating process of Co-Cr alloys, using the design of experiment (DOE) methodology. It is part of an ongoing collaboration between Absolicon and the physics department at Umeå university. Six factors were investigated using a fractional factorial (FrF) design. Data was collected through a series of experiments where stainless steel substrates were electroplated with Co-Cr alloys. The resulting samples were analyzed in terms of α and ε as well as the quality of deposition (QD). Using the experimental results, three models were made in a DOE-software called MODDE. Models are used to correlate the factors with each response, i.e. α, ε and QD. Ideally the predictive power of the models (Q2) should be as high as possible, and at least > 0.5. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used to determine the significance of the models. Based on the models, the ’Optimizer’ tool in MODDE was used to predict two set of optimum factor settings, producing two samples, S1 and S2. S1 and S2 were evaluated in terms of α, ε and QD as well as chemical composition and structural properties of the coatings. The predictive power of the models was 0.49 for α, 0.38 for ε and 0.53 for QD. The predictive power of the models were therefore limited. ANOVA-test showed that the models for α and QD were statistically significant. For all three responses the significant effects were mostly two factor interactions. All three models showed significant lack of fit (model error) as a result of high reproducibility. S1 had the best PCAbsolicon (performance criterion for Absolicons solar collectors) of all samples with 0.858. S2 was not as good, even though it was predicted to have a higher value of PCAbsolicon by MODDE. EDS, XPS and SEM measurements of samples S1 and S2 showed that the two samples were very similar in terms of chemical composition. The main difference was that the coating of S1 was more porous, and also thicker than S2, 0.81 μm compared to 0.26 μm. Even though the models showed some predictive capabilities, the impact of the factors could not be fully determined. That is due to the nature of the FrF-design, which cannot accurately determine two-factor interactions.

In this thesis report for Dalarna University in Borlange and Absolicon company the study of a possibility to add an array of concentrating solar collectors to a Torsång district heating system was done. The whole idea of this work was to make a simulation of this kind of system, trying to get 15-20% of solar fraction, and make an economical evaluation. At the same time, another goal was to make two comparisons: between concentrating and flat-plate collector in the same system, and between two tools for collector analysis – Polysun and Absolicon tool, based on TRNSYS, which was designed to estimate the output of the collector for a certain temperature, without any load. During the study, the analysis of the simulating tools was made and the combination of those two tools was used. Using long iteration cycles, involving changing the field layout, number of collectors and distance between collector rows in flat-plate collector case, both types of collectors were analyzed. The method of the analysis was to get an equal output of the field and see the differences, which appear while using different collector types.

L’objectif principal de cette thèse est de déterminer les risques et les barrières d’investissement dans le secteur des énergies renouvelables, en Tunisie, et d’en déduire les stratégies et les mécanismes à adopter pour accélérer le processus de transition vers les énergies renouvelables. Bien que les fondements de cette thèse soient basés sur l’analyse économique, elle privilégie, plutôt, une approche interdisciplinaire de management du risque. Nous avons procédé à une étude de cas d’un projet d’énergie solaire thermodynamique à concentration (le projet « TuNur ») qui aura lieu au sud de la Tunisie. Nous avons utilisé la méthode d’Analyse Globale des Risques (AGR) qui permet de déterminer les cartographies des risques (le diagramme de Kiviat et le diagramme de Farmer) ainsi que les moyens pour les réduire. L’application de cette méthode nous a permis de dégager la liste des 8 risques majeurs ainsi que les mécanismes et les stratégies à adopter pour les réduire. A la fin de cette thèse, nous avons présenté les différentes formes de gouvernance énergétique qui permettent de faciliter la diffusion des énergies renouvelables en Tunisie. Nous avons expliqué le fait que la politique énergétique de transition vers les énergies renouvelables doit être faite par les autorités publiques, au début, mais elle doit progresser rapidement vers d’autres formes de gouvernance, en passant par la participation du secteur privé et la gouvernance locale participative jusqu’à arriver à un stade où la gouvernance des risques devient nécessaire. / The main objective of this thesis is to identify and analyze the risks and barriers faced by renewable energy investors, in Tunisia, and to deduce strategies and mechanisms that should be adopted to accelerate the process of transition to renewable energies. Although the foundations of this thesis are based on the economic analysis, it favors, rather, an interdisciplinary approach of risk management.We conducted a case study of a project of concentrating solar power (the “TuNur” project) which will be held in southern Tunisia. We used the Global Risk Analysis method (GRA) which permits the determination of cartographies of risks (Kiviat diagram and Farmer diagram) and the ways to reduce them. The application of this method allowed us to generate a list of 8 major risks and the mechanisms and strategies to reduce them. At the end of this thesis, we presented the different forms of energy governance that facilitate the diffusion of renewable energies in Tunisia. We explained that the energy policy of transition to renewable energies must be made by public authorities, at the beginning, but it must quickly move to other forms of governance, through private sector participation and participative local governance until we get to a stage where the risk governance becomes necessary.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate how I, as a preschool educator, treat a child who I find difficult to adhere to the preschool´s rules and routines. It is based on three different situations that tell how the relationship between the child and me took place. The focus is not on the child but on me as an educator. The question arose in me when I experienced a child as difficult to handle in my department but as soon as the child was moved to another department, he was experienced in a completely different way by the other educators who worked there. The purpose is to examine my role as an educator in all this. I ask myself questions about my own behavior and in what way the children may have been affected by it. The essay's method is essay writing, a tool I use to able to process the already experienced situations and in conversations with different philosophers, psychologists and professors of pedagogy be able to reflect on them. I reflect, among other things, through the psychologist Albert Bandura on the environment and man and the mutual influence they have on each other, around Foucault's analysis of power to understand the role that power plays inrelationships. I have also turned to Vygotsky’s theories to reflect on how the proximal developmental zone takes place in preschool, even if we do not notice it. The different theories I used in the reflection helped me to understand my own actions. Notonly have I gained more knowledge about different theories, but my understanding hasdeepened. There are no difficult children, it is difficult to be a child in an environment characterized by ignorance, misunderstanding and limited resources. / Denna uppsats har som syfte att undersöka hur jag som förskolepedagog bemöter ett barn som jag anser har svårt för att hålla sig till förskolans regler och rutiner. Den tar sin utgångspunkt i tre olika situationer som berättar hur relationen mellan barnet och mig utspelade sig. Fokus ligger inte på barnet utan på mig som pedagog. Frågeställningen väcktes inom mig när jag själv upplevde ett barn som svårhanterlig på min avdelning men så fort barnet flyttades till en annan avdelning upplevdes han på ett helt annat sätt av andra pedagogerna som jobbade där. Syftet är att undersöka min roll som pedagog i allt detta. Jag ställer mig frågor om mitt eget uppförande samt på vilket sätt barnen kan ha blivit påverkade av det.  Uppsatsens metod är essäskrivandet, ett verktyg jag använder för att kunna bearbeta de redan upplevda situationerna och i samtal med olika filosofer, psykologer och professorer i pedagogik kunna reflektera över dem. Jag reflekterar, bland annat, genom psykologen Albert Bandura kring miljö och människa och den ömsesidiga påverkan som de har på varandra, kring Foucaults maktanalysen för att förstå vilken roll makten spelar i relationer. Jag har också vänt mig till Vigotskijs teorier för att reflektera över hur den proximala utveckligzonen äger rum på förskolan även om vi inte märker den. De olika teorierna jag använde i reflektionen hjälpte mig att förstå mitt eget agerande. Jag har inte bara fått mer kunskap om olika teorier utan min förståelse har fördjupats. Det finns inte svåra barn, det svåra är att vara barn i en omgivning som präglas av okunskap, oförståelse och begränsade resurser.

Thermal energy storage (TES) in a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant allows for continuous operation even during times when solar radiation is not available, thus providing a reliable output to the grid. Energy can be stored either as sensible heat or latent heat, of which latent heat storage is advantageous due to its high volumetric energy density and the high Rankine cycle efficiency owing to the isothermal operation of latent thermal energy storage (LTES) system. Storing heat in the form of latent heat of fusion of a phase change material (PCM), in addition to sensible heat, significantly increases the energy density, thus potentially reducing the storage size and cost. However, a major technical barrier to the use of latent thermal energy of PCM is the high thermal resistance to energy transfer due to the intrinsically low thermal conductivity of PCMs, which is a particularly acute constraint during the energy discharge. Secondly, for integration of TES in CSP plants, it is imperative that the cyclic exergetic efficiency be high, among other requirements, to ensure that the energy extracted from the system is at the maximum possible temperature to achieve higher cycle conversion efficiency in the power block. The first objective is addressed through computational modeling and simulation to quantify the effectiveness of two different approaches to reduce the thermal resistance of PCM in a LTES, viz. (a) developing innovative, inexpensive and passive heat transfer devices that efficiently transfer large amount of energy between the PCM and heat transfer fluid (HTF) and (b) increase the heat transfer area of interaction between the HTF and PCM by incorporating the PCM mixture in small capsules using suitable encapsulation techniques.   The second portion of the research focuses on numerical modeling of large scale latent thermal storage systems integrated to a CSP plant with the aforementioned enhancement techniques and cascaded with more than one PCM to maximize the exergetic efficiency. Based on systematic parametric analysis on the various performance metrics of the two types of LTES, feasible operating regimes and design parameters are identified to meet the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative requirements including storage cost < $15/kWht and exergetic efficiency > 95%, for a minimum storage capacity of 14 h, in order to reduce subsidy-free levelized cost of electricity (LCE) of CSP plants from 21¢/kWh (2010 baseline) to 6¢/kWh, to be on par with the LCE associated with fossil fuel plants. / Ph. D.

Neurons commonly have a primary cilium, which is a non-motile organelle extending from the centrosome into the extracellular space. In most brain regions, neuronal cilia are enriched in either somatostatin receptor type 3 (SstR3) or melanin concentrating hormone receptor type 1 (MCHR1), or both. The present immunohistochemical study provides novel evidence that primary cilia regulate neuronal excitability via G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), and that their identity is governed by brain region and by competition, both in adulthood and in postnatal development. The hippocampus, which is particularly vulnerable to seizures, has opposing gradients of SstR3(+) and MCHR1(+) ciliary GPCRs. We hypothesized that there is a competition between these two ciliary GPCRs, which might take place on any level from gene expression to presence in the cilium. We examined whether receptor colocalization occurs transiently in development before ciliary GPCR dominance is established in neurons in the CNS. In postnatal CA1 and CA3, the first GPCR to appear in cilia was the one that will dominate in adults: MCHR1 in CA1 and SstR3 in CA3. Some days later, the second GPCR was expressed along with the first; dual-receptor cilia were the exclusive type until single-receptor cilia emerged again around P14. Single-receptor cilia then increased in numbers through adulthood. By identifying ciliary receptors that modulate seizure activity in mice, the present study lays a foundation for therapeutic approaches to reduce neuronal excitotoxicity underlying cell death in epilepsy, CNS injury, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Conventional concentrating solar power (CSP) plants typically have a very high levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) compared with coal-fired power stations. To generate 1 kWh of electrical energy from a conventional linear Fresnel CSP plant without a storage application, costs the utility approximately R3,08 (Salvatore, 2014), whereas it costs R0,711 to generate the same amount of energy by means of a highly efficient supercritical coal-fired power station, taking carbon tax into consideration. This high LCOE associated with linear Fresnel CSP technology is primarily due to the massive capital investment required per kW installed to construct such a plant along with the relatively low-capacity factors, because of the uncontrollable solar irradiation. It is expected that the LCOE of a hybrid plant in which a concentrating solar thermal (CST) station is integrated with a large-scale supercritical coal-fired power station, will be higher than that of a conventional supercritical coal-fired power station, but much less than that of a conventional CSP plant. The main aim of this study is to calculate and then compare the LCOE of a conventional supercritical coal-fired power station with that of such a station integrated with a linear Fresnel CST field. When the thermal energy generated in the receiver of a CST plant is converted into electrical energy by using the highly efficient regenerative Rankine cycle of a large-scale coal-fired power station, the total capital cost of the solar side of the integrated system will be reduced significantly, compared with the two stations operating independently of one another for common steam turbines, electrical generators and transformers, and transmission lines will be utilised for the integrated plants. The results obtained from the thermodynamic models indicate that if an additional heat exchanger integration option for a 90 MW (peak thermal) fuel-saver solar-augmentation scenario, where an annual average direct normal irradiation limit of 2 141 kWh/m2 is considered, one can expect to produce approximately 4,6 GWh more electricity to the national grid annually than with a normal coal-fired station. This increase in net electricity output is mainly due to the compounded lowered auxiliary power consumption during high solar-irradiation conditions. It is also found that the total annual thermal energy input required from burning pulverised coal is reduced by 110,5 GWh, when approximately 176,5 GWh of solar energy is injected into the coal-fired power station’s regenerative Rankine cycle for the duration of a year. Of the total thermal energy supplied by the solar field, approximately 54,6 GWh is eventually converted into electrical energy. Approximately 22 kT less coal will be required, which will result in 38,7 kT less CO2 emissions and about 7,6 kT less ash production. This electricity generated from the thermal energy supplied by the solar field will produce approximately R8,188m in additional revenue annually from the trade of renewable energy certificates, while the reduced coal consumption will result in an annual fuel saving of about R6,189m. By emitting less CO2 into the atmosphere, the annual carbon tax bill will be reduced by R1,856m, and by supplying additional energy to the national grid, an additional income of approximately R3,037m will be due to the power station. The annual operating and maintenance cost increase resulting from the additional 171 000 m2 solar field, will be in the region of R9,71m. The cost of generating 1 kWh with the solar-augmented coal-fired power plant will only be 0,34 cents more expensive at R0,714/kWh than it would be to generate the same energy with a normal supercritical coal-fired power station. If one considers that a typical conventional linear Fresnel CSP plant (without storage) has an LCOE of R3,08, the conclusion can be drawn that it is much more attractive to generate electricity from thermal power supplied by a solar field, by utilising the highly efficient large-scale components of a supercritical coal-fired power station, rather than to generate electricity from a conventional linear Fresnel CSP plant. / MIng (Mechanical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015