Au cours des dernières décennies, les stents coronaires et les stents déviateurs de flux intracrâniens ont révolutionné le traitement endovasculaire de deux pathologies artérielles différentes : la maladie coronarienne et les anévrismes intracrâniens. Ces deux types d’endoprothèses métalliques ont des mécanismes de fonctionnement différents, mais ils sont tous deux associés à des complications qui découlent de problèmes de biocompatibilité. En particulier, la couverture rapide de ces endoprothèses par des cellules endothéliales présentant un phénotype anti-inflammatoire et anti-thrombotique est cruciale pour leur intégration à l’interface vaisseau/sang. Par conséquent, le développement de solutions visant à améliorer l’endothélialisation et l’intégration de ces deux types de stents dans la paroi vasculaire représenterait un progrès majeur dans leur domaine respectif.Dans ce contexte, cette thèse porte sur l’immobilisation d’une molécule bioactive à la surface de stents coronaires et de stents déviateurs de flux, afin de résoudre leurs problèmes de biocompatibilité. La molécule bioactive utilisée est un peptide synthétique, appelé P8RI, qui promeut les fonctions régulatrices de la glycoprotéine transmembranaire CD31 : l’inhibition de l’activation des plaquettes et des leucocytes, ainsi que l’amélioration de la survie, de la migration et de la fonction de barrière des cellules endothéliales.La première partie de ce travail de thèse a consisté à développer un procédé d’immobilisation du P8RI sur des stents métalliques. Nous avons successivement adopté trois approches : l’immobilisation directe du peptide sur des surfaces d’alliage fonctionnalisées par plasma ; le dépôt chimique en phase vapeur assisté par plasma d’une couche intermédiaire de polymère ; et le dépôt d’une couche de polydopamine par auto-polymérisation, suivi de l’immobilisation d’un bras d’ancrage et de la liaison du P8RI par chimie click sans cuivre.Nous avons ensuite réalisé une évaluation in vitro de la biocompatibilité des surfaces d’alliage ainsi revêtues, en termes de propriétés anti-thrombotiques, anti-inflammatoires et pro-endothélialisation. Les surfaces sur lesquelles le P8RI avait été immobilisé ont montré une tendance à diminuer l’adhésion plaquettaire, à améliorer l’adhérence et la fonction de barrière de cellules endothéliales vasculaires humaines, et à promouvoir un phénotype anti-inflammatoire et anti-thrombotique chez ces dernières. Enfin, nous avons évalué in vivo des stents coronaires et déviateurs de flux recouverts de P8RI. Les stents coronaires ont été implantés dans des artères coronaires de porcs, et les résultats préliminaires ont montré une endothélialisation plus complète et une moindre densité de leucocytes adhérents sur les stents recouverts de P8RI que sur les témoins. Quant aux stents déviateurs de flux recouverts de P8RI, implantés dans un modèle d’anévrisme carotidien induit par incubation d'élastase chez le lapin, ils ont été associés à la formation d’une néointima plus épaisse et mieux organisée que sur les témoins, en particulier au niveau du collet anévrismal, ce qui implique de moindres risques de persistance du flux sanguin et de rupture d’anévrisme. / Over the last decades, coronary stents and intracranial flow diverting stents have revolutionized the endovascular treatment of two different arterial pathologies: coronary artery disease and intracranial aneurysms. The working mechanisms of these metallic endoprostheses are different but both are associated with complications stemming from biocompatibility issues. In particular, the rapid covering by endothelial cells presenting an anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic phenotype is key to the integration of the endoprosthesis at the blood/vessel interface. Thus, the development of solutions to improve the endothelialization and the integration of these two types of stents in the vessel wall would represent a major progress in their respective field.In this context, this thesis work deals with the immobilization of a bioactive molecule on coronary stents and flow diverting stents in order to solve their biocompatibility issues. The bioactive molecule that we used is a synthetic peptide, named P8RI, which promotes the regulatory functions of the transmembrane glycoprotein CD31 : the inhibition of platelets and leukocytes activation, as well as the enhancement of endothelial cell survival, migration and barrier function.The first part of this thesis work consisted in the development of a process for the immobilization of P8RI on metallic stents. We adopted three successive approaches: the direct immobilization of the peptide on plasma-functionalized alloy surfaces; the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of an intermediate polymeric layer; and the deposition of a polydopamine coating by self-polymerization, followed with the immobilization of a linker and the binding of P8RI by copper-free click chemistry.We then carried out an in vitro evaluation of the biocompatibility of the resulting coated alloy surfaces, in terms of anti-thrombotic, anti-inflammatory, and pro-endothelialization properties. The surfaces on which P8RI had been immobilized were shown to exhibit a tendency to decrease platelet adhesion, increase endothelial cell adhesion and barrier function, and promote an anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic phenotype in human vascular endothelial cells.Finally, coronary stents and flow diverting stents were evaluated in vivo. Coronary stents were implanted in the coronary arteries of farm pigs, and preliminary results showed a more complete endothelialization and a lesser density of adherent leukocytes on ‘P8RI-coated’ stents than on the controls. ‘P8RI-coated’ flow diverting stents were implanted in a rabbit elastase-induced carotid aneurysm model. Compared with the controls, they were associated with the formation of a thicker and better organized neointima, in particular on the stent struts in front of the aneurysm neck, which implies lesser risks of persistence of blood flow and aneurysm rupture.

With rising salinity levels in many freshwaters across the globe caused by for example sealevel rise and de-icing salts, it becomes important to understand what effect it has on freshwater ecosystems, since the lakes and rivers themselves are important parts in the global carbon cycle. In this study I have looked at what effects increased salinity levels have on different lakes metabolism, specifically oxygen concentration and primary production. The experiment was conducted using mesocosms in three different lakes in Sweden, separated both geographically and by nutrient status (eutrophic, oligotrophic, and dystrophic as well as oligotrophic). The response to increased salinity differed between the lakes; the increased salinity had a strong negative effect on the oligotrophic lake. In general, increased salinity caused a decline in oxygen content, both the maximum value and the amount of diurnal variation, as well as primary production. Therefore, the conclusion is that a rise in salinity will affect lake metabolism in a detrimental way, with a stronger effect on more sensitive lakes. / Med stigande saltnivåer i många sötvatten världen över, orsakade av exempelvis ökande havsnivåer och applicering av vägsalt, blir det viktigt att förstå vilken påverkan detta har på ekosystem i sötvatten då de utgör en viktig del I den globala kolcykeln. I den här studien har jag tittat på vilken effekt förhöjda salthalter har på olika sjöars metabolism, specifikt syrehalt och primärproduktion. Experimentet utfördes med hjälp av mesokosmer i tre olika svenska sjöar, skilda både geografiskt och trofiskt (eutrof, oligotrof samt dystrof och oligotrof). Sjöarnas respons till den ökade salthalten varierade; saltet hade en starkt negativ effekt på den oligotrofa sjön. På en generell nivå så sjönk syrehalten, både maximum värden och dygnsvariationen, samt primärproduktionen vid högre salthalter. Slutsatsen blir därför att ökade saltnivåer kommer att påverka sjöars metabolism negativt, med en starkare effekt på mer känsliga sjöar.

A developed seamless extreme heat validation approach (Ford et al. 2018) is applied to three Subseasonl Experiment’s (SubX’s) medium-range forecast models, which arethe U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory FIM-iHYCOM (ESRL), the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory’s Goddard Earth Observing System Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model, Version 5 (GMAO), and the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s Global Ensemble Forecast System, version 11 (GEFS), for evaluating their heat wave predictability. Moreover, two land surface initializations, green vegetation fraction (GVF) and heat fluxes (LE/H), of each model are evaluated for understanding the interaction between heat wave predictability and the inconsistencies in the terrestrial segment of land-atmosphere feedbacks. The validation approach shows the overestimated autocorrelation of maximum temperature heat waves causing (1) the lowest reliability and overestimation of heat waves hindcasts, (2) lower heat wave hindcast skill of ensemble mean, and (3) higher discrimination between heat wave hindcast and observations of each ensemble member over lead times for all three models. Both ESRL and GEFS present the relationship between GVF and heat wave hindcast is positive, but negative relationship is shown on the GMAO. In addition, both ESRL and GEFS modelsunderestimate latent heat flux, but overestimate sensible heat flux in the Midwest. Therefore, for both ESRL and GEFS models, the relationship between heat wave and sensible heat fluxes (or GVF) is positive, and negative for the relationship between heat wave and latent heat flux (or evapotranspiration). In contrast, the GMAO model overestimates both latent and sensible heat fluxes in the Midwest. Therefore, for the GMAO model, the relationship between heat wave and latent/sensible heat fluxes (or GVF) is positive, and negative for the relationship between heat wave and evapotranspiration.

Due to constraints and changes in operating conditions, heat exchangers are often forced to operate under conditions of transitional flow. However, the heat transfer and flow behaviour in this regime is relatively unknown. By describing the transitional characteristics it would be possible to design heat exchangers to operate under these conditions and improve the efficiency of the system. The purpose of this study was to experimentally measure the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of smooth tubes at a constant heat flux in the transitional flow regime. The measurements were used to describe the flow behaviour of this regime and attempt to develop a correlation that can be used in the design of a heat exchanger. An experimental set-up was developed, consisting of an overall set-up, a removable test section as well as a controller, which ensured a uniform heat flux boundary. The test section allowed for the measurement of the temperature along the length of the test section, the pressure drop across the test section, the heat flux input and the flow rate. The measurements were used to determine the heat transfer coefficients and friction factor of the system. Three test sections were developed with outer diameters of 6, 8 and 10 mm in order to investigate the influence of heat exchanger size. Each test section was subject to four different heat flux cases of approximately 1 500, 3 000, 4 500 and 6 000 W/m2. The experiments covered a Reynolds number range of 450 to 10 300, a Prandtl number range of 4 to 7, a Nusselt number range of 2.3 to 67, and a Grashoff number range of 60 to 23 000. Good comparison was found between the measurements of this experiment and currently available literature. The experiments showed a smooth transition from laminar to turbulent flow with the onset of transition dependent on the heat flux of the system and with further data capturing, a correlation can be found to describe the Nusselt number in the transitional flow regime. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.

We examine wave propagation on thin liquid films subjected to gravity, fluid friction, surface tension, and Marangoni effects. The physical configuration is a thin liquid layer on a planar incline. Following previous studies, the Marangoni effect is incorporated by a constant surface tension gradient and yields a non-convex flux function in our thin film equation. We extend previous studies by deriving the thin film equation governing two-dimensional waves on the liquid layer. We then derive a simplified evolution equation governing weakly nonlinear, quasi-planar, and weakly dissipative waves on the layer. When the undisturbed state is in the vicinity of an inflection point in the streamwise component of the flux function, the mixed nonlinearity, fourth order dissipation and the transverse modulations interact over time scales on the order of the scaled amplitude to the negative second power. The effect the transverse modulations is found to be intrinsically nonlinear. / Master of Science

Wind erosion is a global issue and affecting millions of people in drylands by causing environmental issues (acceleration of snow melting), public health concerns (respiratory diseases), and socioeconomic problems (costs of damages and cleaning public properties after dust storms). Disturbances in drylands can be irreversible, thus leading to natural disasters such as the 1930s Dust Bowl. With increasing attention on aeolian studies, many studies have been conducted using ground-based measurements or wind tunnel studies. Ground-based measurements are important for validating model predictions and testing the effect and interactions of different factors known to affect wind erosion. Here, a machine-learning model (random forest) was used to describe sediment flux as a function of wind speed, soil moisture, precipitation, soil roughness, soil crusts, and soil texture. Model performance was compared to previous results before analyzing four new years of sediment flux data and including estimates of soil moisture to the model. The random forest model provided a better result than a regression tree with a higher variance explained (7.5% improvement). With additional soil moisture data, the model performance increased by 13.13%. With full dataset, the model provided an increase of 30.50% in total performance compared to the previous study. This research was one of the rare studies which represented a large-scale network of BSNEs and a long time series of data to quantify seasonal sediment flux under different soil covers in southern Utah. The results will also be helpful to the managers for controlling the effects on wind erosion, scientists to choose variables for further modeling or local people to increase the public awareness about the effects of wind erosion.

La problématique de l’identification de sources thermiques pour des configurations réelles se heurte à la difficulté de la grande taille du système numérique à résoudre, incompatible avec les spécificités des techniques inverses utilisées (inversion de matrice, processus itératif).L’utilisation de modèles réduits permet alors de calculer l’intégralité du champ de température du domaine avec un faible nombre d’inconnues.L’objectif de ce travail consiste à développer une nouvelle technique d’identification dans laquelle on effectue le couplage entre la technique inverse de l’Adjoint et l’écriture sous forme modale réduite du problème thermique posé par l’utilisation de Bases de Branche.Le domaine industriel applicatif est celui du freinage pour lequel se pose à la fois le problème purement diffusif de la plaquette de frein et le problème de conduction avec transport du disque en mouvement.Pour ces deux types de configurations, la technique mise en place est testée, analysée et comparée avec la technique existante de la Méthode de Spécification de Fonctions par modèle réduit. Les résultats obtenus montrent une meilleure efficacité de la méthode développée dans le cadre de cette étude.Pour la problématique de l’identification temporelle de sources dans le disque en mouvement, une procédure d’identification quasi en ligne par la méthode de l’Adjoint est proposée.Dans le cas de la plaquette de frein, une extension de la méthode pour une identification spatio-temporelle est mise en place, dans laquelle la technique de réduction modale est appliquée à la fois pour les champs tridimensionnels de température et pour la paramétrisation de l’évolution spatiale des densités de flux reçue par la surface de la plaquette en contact avec le disque en rotation. / Thermal sources identification for real-life configurations is challenged by the large size of the numeric systems involved to do so, thus inverse methods are not suited for solving these kind of problems (as they involve matrix inversion, iterative processes, …). The use of reduced models makes it possible to calculate the whole field of temperatures of the domain with a small number of unknowns.The aim of this work is to develop a new identification method in which the coupling between the adjoint inverse method and the reduced modal writing of the thermal problem posed by the use of Branch databases can be done.We can apply this method for braking problems. There are two main issues in these problems : on one hand, the diffusive problem on the break pad, and on the other hand, the conduction problem on the rotating disk. For these two types of configurations, the implemented technique is tested, analyzed and compared with the Function Specification Method. The results obtained show a better efficiency of the method developed in this study. For the problem of the temporal identification of the sources in the rotating disk, an almost on-line identification procedure by the adjoint method is proposed. For the brake pad, an extension of the method for a spatio-temporal identification is set up, in which the reduction technique is applied for both the three-dimensional temperature fields and for the parameterization of the flux density received by the surface of the wafer in contact with the rotating disk.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, 1982. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Supervised by Edward N. Lorenz. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-145). / by Lin Ho. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, 1982. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science / Bibliography: leaves 39-41. / by Giovanna Salustri. / M.S.