Nous étudions la propagation d'une impulsion lumineuse à<br />travers un milieu diffusant. La propagation peut être décrite<br />par l'équation de transfert radiatif en régime dynamique<br />(ETR). Nous proposons une méthode de résolution en<br />géometrie plane. Elle consiste à appliquer la méthode<br />des ordonnées discrètes dans le domaine fréquentiel de<br />l'ETR. Nous calculons ainsi le flux d'énergie directionnel<br />transmis et rétrodiffuse en fonction du temps et de l'angle.<br /><br />Dans la seconde partie, nous étudions la validité de<br />l'approximation de la diffusion. Cependant, l'expression théorique<br />du coefficient D en milieu absorbant varie selon l'approche<br />adoptée. Une nouvelle approche fondée sur l'analyse du mode<br />fondamental de l'ETR est développée. Sans faire aucune<br />hypothèse concernant le niveau d'absorption, nous obtenons une<br />nouvelle définition et interprétation de D. <br /><br />La troisième partie est consacrée à l'étude de la<br />transition entre le regime balistique et le regime<br />diffusif. Nous montrons que les reflexions internes jouent un<br />rôle important pour les systèmes à faible épaisseur<br />optique. Nous montrons ainsi que le régime diffusif est atteint<br />aux temps longs, pour des systèmes de taille 8L ou L est la<br />longueur de transport. <br /><br />Enfin, dans la derniere partie, nous modélisons la<br />corrélation temporelle du signal diffuse. Deux théories<br />(QELS et DWS) permettent de modéliser respectivement le signal en<br />diffusion simple et en régime diffusif. Nous avons<br />développe un modèle décrivant les deux régimes<br />ainsi que le régime intermédiaire. Le modèle est fondé<br />sur une approche de type marche au hasard et sur la résolution de<br />l'équation de transfert radiatif dynamique. Ce modèle a permis<br />de décrire des expériences récentes de mesures de<br />fluctuations temporelles de champs et d'intensite dans le<br />régime de diffusion multiple intermédiaire.

Water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions were investigated using light scattering and rheology to determine the effect of polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) concentration and inner aqueous phase composition on stability. Using high-pressure homogenization and 2% PGPR it was possible to obtain small and stable W/O emulsion droplets with 30% water. The emulsions were then incorporated in a water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsion, and droplets were still present in the inner phase after one month of storage, as clearly shown by confocal microscopy. Encapsulation efficiencies were tested using a water-soluble dye, brilliant blue and a divalent cation, magnesium chloride. The encapsulation efficiency and stability of the encapsulated material depended on the nature of the material being encapsulated.

Les soft-glassy systems constituent une classe de matériaux présentant de nombreuses caractéristiques mécaniques communes, liées à la présence d'un désordre structurel totalement ou partiellement figé. Ces matériaux regroupent entre autres les suspensions colloïdales et les émulsions concentrées, les polymères vitreux, les mousses et les matériaux granulaires. La réponse mécanique de ces matériaux amorphes dépend a priori fortement de leur état structurel particulier. La première partie du manuscrit traite précisément, dans le cas d'une mousse 2D, du couplage entre structure statique et plasticité sous déformation. La réalisation d'une simulation numérique réaliste nous permet alors de distinguer deux tendances principales : aux petites déformations, les réarrangements de bulles engendrent une relaxation de la structure (élargissement du domaine élastique). Aux fortes déformations, la plasticité permet la relaxation de la contrainte imposée ; les réarrangements se localisent alors sur une mince région dont l'épaisseur typique est la taille d'une bulle. Cette étude nous conduit à proposer un scenario pour l'apparition de la bande de cisaillement. La seconde partie s'intéresse à la microplasticité des empilements granulaires. Par de faibles vibrations, nous induisons des micro-déplacements de grains que nous détectons par une technique de diffusion multiple de la lumière. La dynamique sondée présente de forts effets de mémoire et s'avère indépendante de la densité de l'empilement. Une interprétation en terme d'évolution lente du réseau de forces permet de rendre compte de l'ensemble de nos observations.

In this thesis, the macroscopic phase separation of milk proteins and high molecular weight oat beta-glucan was investigated. A better knowledge of this model system will improve our ability to control structure in dairy gels containing nutritionally significant concentrations of dietary fiber. A phase behaviour diagram was obtained experimentally, and the results were then modelled using theoretical models based on thermodynamic incompatibility between casein micelles and beta-glucan and demonstrated that casein micelles are the main contributors to the instability of these mixtures. Water in water emulsion systems formed at high concentrations of protein and beta-glucan upon mixing, and were visualized using confocal scanning laser microscopy. For the first time, the dynamics of phase separation of these mixtures were followed using diffusing wave and ultrasonic spectroscopy, as well as with rheological methods. The work explored the formation of different bi-continuous networks by controlling the gelation of the protein phase using chymosin. This enzymatic reaction specifically destabilizes the casein micelles, allowing for a kinetic control of protein gelation within or between phase separated domains. The addition of -carrageenan and the effect of shear on the mixtures were evaluated as possible strategies for controlling the growth of the phase separated domains in dairy gels containing concentrations of beta-glucan high enough to be nutritionally significant. Results indicated that different structures could be obtained depending on the processing conditions, for example, the mode of addition of the polysaccharides or the pre-shearing conditions. This work represents a novel approach for incorporating nutritionally significant concentrations of beta-glucan in dairy foods, and serves as proof of concept for further development of an important application area linked to the development of reduced fat dairy products with additional health benefits. / Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is considering the implementation of an Aquifer Protection Strategy to protect the country’s critical groundwater resources. This study will assist in filling the knowledge gap in the form of a groundwater protection zoning case study in the Rawsonville area. Understanding how groundwater is being accessed and used is required in determining the level and type of groundwater protection needed. Groundwater access points were identified as being boreholes, springs and rivers. A few potential contamination sources were identified at the site such as leachate from fertilizers and pesticides which may reach the groundwater used by the farmers for domestic water supply as well as irrigation.

Au cours de ce travail, nous avons proposé une caractérisation "multi-échelle" des matériaux mous à travers des montages originaux permettant la mesure simultanée des quantités macroscopiques et microscopiques. Dans une première partie de nos travaux, nous avons associé une méthode optique introduite récemment, la diffusion multiple de la lumière résolue spatialement (PCI-DWS), avec une sollicitation thermique, afin de suivre l’évolution de la microstructure d’échantillons à base de corps gras lors d’une rampe de température. Ces expériences ont permis d’identifier des transitions de phase par PCI-DWS et de les localiser spatialement dans des échantillons hétérogènes.Dans une deuxième série d’expériences, la même méthode optique a été couplée à des essais mécaniques réalisés avec une machine de traction commerciale. Pour des éprouvettes de polymère semi-cristallin, nous avons mesuré la déformation de l’éprouvette par PCI-DWS, sans avoir recours à des marqueurs de surface, contrairement aux méthodes d’imagerie couramment utilisées. Pour le même polymère, nous avons suivi la dynamique microscopique lors d’essais de traction dans les deux régimes, élastique et plastique. Nous avons montré que la dynamique microscopique et la relaxation de la contrainte lors de tests de traction à déformation imposée sont liées par une relation étonnement simple, que nous avons pu modéliser. Dans une dernière partie de la thèse, nous avons conçu et réalisé un prototype d’instrument permettant de mesurer simultanément la dynamique microscopique, la force et le déplacement lors d’essais de traction sur des élastomères. Grâce à cet instrument, nous avons pu mettre en évidence l’existence de précurseurs dynamiques microscopiques qui précèdent de milliers de secondes l’apparition de signes macroscopiques de la défaillance du matériau. / In this thesis, we introduce a "multi-scale" characterization of soft matter based on novel setups that couple macroscopic measurements (temperature, force, deformation) to measurements of the microscopic dynamics. In a first series of experiments, we use a recently introduced optical method, space-resolved diffusion wave spectroscopy (PCI-DWS), to follow the microscopic dynamics of fat materials during a temperature ramp. This allows us to detect phase transitions and to localize them in space for heterogeneous samples. In a second series of experiments, the same optical method is coupled to mechanical measurements performed on a commercial universal traction machine. For a semi-crystalline polymer, we measure by PCI-DWS the mesoscopic deformation field under tension, with no need to pre-treat the sample surface as in conventional imaging methods. For the same polymer, we measure the microscopic dynamics during tensile stress relaxation tests, both in the linear and non-linear regime. We find a remarkably simple relationship between the microscopic dynamics and the macroscopic stress relaxation, and propose a simple model to rationalize it. In the last part of the thesis, we have designed and implemented a setup prototype to measure simultaneously the microscopic dynamics (by PCI-DWS), the force and the deformation during tensile tests on elastomers. Thanks to this apparatus, we unveil dynamic precursors preceding by thousands of seconds anymicroscopic sign of the incipient material failure.

Ce mémoire de thèse rapporte des résultats sur deux problèmes de la physique des mousses aqueuses tridimensionnelles : le transport de fluide par imbibition capillaire et la rhéologie. Ils sont tous deux traités par une approche physico-chimique et multi-échelles, les mesures en volume étant reliées à des mesures aux interfaces gaz / liquide. Lors de ce travail, les types de tensioactif et de gaz ont été variés de façon à contrôler les propriétés interfaciales. En plus de ces paramètres, l'effet de la fraction volumique de liquide a été étudié.<br />Les caractéristiques de l'imbibition capillaire ont été mesurées par des techniques optiques et électriques au cours de vols paraboliques, permettant de supprimer la composante gravitationnelle du drainage. Les équations théoriques décrivent correctement les résultats expérimentaux en dessous d'une fraction volumique de liquide de 0,12. Au delà, j'ai calculé une nouvelle équation pour tenir compte d'une autre répartition du liquide dans la mousse. Des résultats d'essais techniques liés à l'avancement de programmes ESA / CNES sont également exposés.<br />La rhéologie a été mesurée en modes oscillatoire et continu. Le premier mode permet d'attribuer l'origine de la viscoélasticité des mousses aqueuses à la pression de Laplace, avec une possible correction par l'épaisseur des films. En outre, j'ai développé un modèle basé sur l'analogie de la fraction volumique de liquide à une température. Le second mode, assisté par la DWS (Diffusing-Wave Spectroscopy), permet de relier l'écoulement macroscopique à des réarrangements microscopiques, tout en tenant compte du glissement en paroi. Des phénomènes de dilatance ont été mis en évidence pour la première fois dans les mousses. Ils conduisent à des écoulements de la phase liquide, qui semblent être contrôlés, à première vue, par les mêmes paramètres que les écoulements de drainage.

This thesis describes the development and applications of an extension of DWS which enables the recovery of ‘localized’ mechanical properties, in a specified region of a complex jelly-like object which is inhomogeneous, marked out by the focal volume of an ultrasound transducer, also called the region-of-interest (ROI). Introduction of the sinusoidal forcing creates a sinusoidal phase variation in the detected light in a DWS experiment which modulates the measured intensity autocorrelation, g2 (τ ). Decay in the modulation depth with τ is used to recover the visco-elastic spectrum of the material in the ROI. En route to this, growth of the mean-squared dis- placement (MSD) with time is extracted from the modulation depth decay, which was verified first by the usual DWS experimental data from an homogeneous object with properties matching those in the ROI of the inhomogeneous object and then those obtained by solving the generalized Langevin equation (GLE) modelling the dynamics of a typical scattering centre in the ROI. A region-specific visco-elastic spectral map was obtained by scanning the inhomogeneous object by the ultrasound focal volume. Further, the resonant modes of the vibrating ROI were measured by locating the peaks of the modulation depth variation in g2(τ ) with respect to the ultrasound frequency. These resonant modes were made use of to recover elasticity of the material of the object in the ROI. Using a similar strategy, it was also shown that flow in pipe can be detected and flow rate computed by ‘tagging’ the photons passing through the pipe with a focussed ultrasound beam. It is demonstrated, both through experiments and simulations that the ultrasound-assisted technique devel- oped is better suited to both detect and quantitatively assess flow in a background of Brownian dynamics than the usual DWS. In particular, the MSD of particles in the flow, which shows forth a super-diffusive dynamics with MSD growing following τ α with α < 2, is captured over larger intervals of τ than was possible using existing methods. On the theoretical front, the main contribution is the derivation of the GLE, with multiplicative noise modulating the interaction ‘spring constant’. The noise is derived as an average effect of the micropolar rotations suffered by the ‘bath’ particles on the ‘system’ particle modelled. It has been shown that the ‘local’ dynamics of the system particle is nontrivially influenced by the dynamics, both translation and rotation, of ‘nonlocal’ bath particles.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is a popular measure of psychosocial functioning and psychopathology in the assessment of individuals in a variety of settings. However, the method of construction employed with the MMPI more than 60 years ago with psychiatric patients challenges the applicability of the scales for determining the psychosocial functioning of individuals from different settings. The restandardisation conducted in 1987 made no effort to eradicate the item overlap that was a result of the criterion keying method with contrasted groups. Although restandardized and updated with more contemporary language and content, the original psychiatric constructs were retained in order to maintain continuity with its predecessor. The aims of this investigation were to develop a new structure for the MMPI-2 constructed at the item-level, empirically derived and which specifically represents the dimensions that are relevant and appropriate in evaluating the psychosocial functioning of personal injury claimants. This task included comparisons with a comparable scale-level analysis and developing optimal scoring strategies where items in components and facets are allocated weightings based upon their strength of association. Study 1 was conducted using a sample of 2989 personal injury claimants assessed in Australia and the United States of America. The final sample of 3230, included 241 normal individuals, was utilized to develop a scale-level structure from 79 standard MMPI-2 scales and subscales. A nine-component solution consisting of General Maladjustment /Emotional Distress, Asocial Beliefs, Social Vulnerability, Somatic Complaints, Psychological Disturbance, Impulsive Expression, Antisocial Practices, Stereotypic Fears and Family Difficulties was derived using principal component analysis. However, intercorrelation between components in the structure signaled the need to develop a structure that would eradicate problems that were perpetuated by item overlap. The second study was conducted with a set of best practice procedures with the same clinical sample of 2989 personal injury claimants as Study 1. Forty-one components were derived through principal component analysis. Through the application of a set of criteria, a 35-component solution was retained. The pattern coefficients from the allocation of items to components determined the weightings to be applied to each item. Further analysis of the 35 components derived a substructure of 37 facets. The 35 components included only 442 of the 567 items, with the reliability coefficients of the first 25 components that ranged between .5 and .97, and the remaining 10 components that ranged from .29 to .49. The latter unreliable components were not included in the final Structural Summary, leaving 25 components (400 items) and their 33 facets for interpretation. Hence, in demonstrating the utility of the newly-derived structure, only 25 components and their 33 facets were interpreted. The 25 components were grouped conceptually into six domains. In the emotional domain were Psychological Distress (PsyDist), Anger, Fears, Psychotic Symptoms (PsyS), Paranoia (Par), Irritability (Irrit), Elation (Elat), Fear of the Dark (FD), and Financial Worry (FinWo). Somatic Complaints (SomC), Sexual Concerns (SexCon), and Gastrointestinal Problems (GasP) made up the measures in the physiological domain. In the behavioural domain were Cognitive Difficulties (CogDiff), Stimulus-Seeking (StimuS), Discipline (Dis), and Delinquency (Del) whilst the interpersonal domain was formed by Social Withdrawal (SoW), Negative Interpersonal Attitude (NIA), Timidity (Tim), Lie, Dissatisfaction with Self (DWS) and Family Relationship Difficulties (FReD). Alcoholism (Alco) was the only measure in the substance abuse domain, and the gender domain was comprised of Masculinity (Mas) and Femininity (Fem). The third study established preliminary normative means and standard deviations using a small opportunistic Australian university student sample (N = 219). No substantial gender differences were found but gender norms were maintained to facilitate comparisons with the traditional MMPI-2 approach. Comparisons of frequency of 'true' item response between the Australian university student sample and the U.S. restandardisation sample found relatively little differences and permitted evaluation of between sample differences on components and facets. The utility of the structure was demonstrated with the illustration of two clinical case examples, and a comparison was made with the standard MMPI-2 scales and subscales. The Structural Summary for the MMPI-2 demonstrated discriminative measures of psychosocial functioning that were a result of no item overlap, and the ability to attend to the different levels of intensity of self-report items because of differential weightings.