Pas de résumé en français / Malaria is a devastating global health problem that affected 219 million people and caused 660,000 deaths in 2010. Inaccurate estimation of the level of infection may have adverse clinical and therapeutic implications for patients, and for epidemiological endpoint measurements. The level of infection, expressed as the parasite density (PD), is classically defined as the number of asexual parasites relative to a microliter of blood. Microscopy of Giemsa-stained thick blood smears (TBSs) is the gold standard for parasite enumeration. Parasites are counted in a predetermined number of high-power fields (HPFs) or against a fixed number of leukocytes. PD estimation methods usually involve threshold values; either the number of leukocytes counted or the number of HPFs read. Most of these methods assume that (1) the distribution of the thickness of the TBS, and hence the distribution of parasites and leukocytes within the TBS, is homogeneous; and that (2) parasites and leukocytes are evenly distributed in TBSs, and thus can be modeled through a Poisson-distribution. The violation of these assumptions commonly results in overdispersion. Firstly, we studied the statistical properties (mean error, coefficient of variation, false negative rates) of PD estimators of commonly used threshold-based counting techniques and assessed the influence of the thresholds on the cost-effectiveness of these methods. Secondly, we constituted and published the first dataset on parasite and leukocyte counts per HPF. Two sources of overdispersion in data were investigated: latent heterogeneity and spatial dependence. We accounted for unobserved heterogeneity in data by considering more flexible models that allow for overdispersion. Of particular interest were the negative binomial model (NB) and mixture models. The dependent structure in data was modeled with hidden Markov models (HMMs). We found evidence that assumptions (1) and (2) are inconsistent with parasite and leukocyte distributions. The NB-HMM is the closest model to the unknown distribution that generates the data. Finally, we devised a reduced reading procedure of the PD that aims to a better operational optimization and a practical assessing of the heterogeneity in the distribution of parasites and leukocytes in TBSs. A patent application process has been launched and a prototype development of the counter is in process.

Objectives: We compared the transperineal MRI/ultrasoundfusion biopsy (fusPbx) to transrectal systematic biopsy (sys-Pbx) in patients with previously negative biopsy and investigated the prediction of tumour aggressiveness with regard to radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen. Material and Methods: A total of 710 patients underwent multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI), which was evaluated in accordance with Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS). The maximum PI-RADS (maxPI-RADS) was defined as the highest PI-RADS of all lesions detected in mpMRI. In case of proven prostate cancer (PCa) and performed RP, tumour grading of the biopsy specimen was compared to that of the RP. Significant PCa (csPCa) was defined according to Epstein criteria. Results: Overall, scPCa was detected in 40% of patients. The detection rate of scPCa was 33% for fusPbx and 25% for sysPbx alone (p < 0.005). Patients with a maxPI-RADS ≥3 and a prostate specific antigen (PSA)-density ≥0.2 ng/mL2 harboured more csPCa than those with a PSA-density < 0.2 ng/mL2 (41% [33/81] vs. 20% [48/248]; p < 0.001). Compared to the RP specimen (n = 140), the concordance of tumour grading was 48% (γ = 0.57), 36% (γ = 0.31) and 54% (γ = 0.6) in fusPbx, sysPbx and comPbx, respectively. Conclusions: The combination of fusPbx and sysPbx outperforms both biopsy modalities in patients with re-biopsy. Additionally, the PSA-density may represent a predictor for csPCa in patients with maxPI-RADS ≥3.

Teacher self-efficacy for teaching in diverse classrooms is an important factor in the successful implementation of inclusion. Quantitative examinations of teacher self-efficacy have found the construct to be correlated with both contextual and teacher-related factors. In-depth qualitative exploration into type, quality, and nature of experiences that shape teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs is scarce. This research aimed to qualitatively examine potential sources of teacher self-efficacy and generate an explanation for the complex growth pattern it follows during the early years of practice. Seventy-eight beginning teachers across Canada (i.e., graduating teacher candidates and new teachers who are in the first three years of their practice) participated in 139 semi-structured interviews conducted over four years to address questions regarding the factors and experiences that influence their self-efficacy or confidence to teach in diverse classrooms. Ten factors which either had a positive or negative connotation emerged from a qualitative content analysis of their interviews. The Positive-Negative Experiences Balance (PNEB) model was conceptualized to understand and represent how these ten factors interactively, simultaneously, and collectively influence the development of beginning teachers’ self-efficacy for inclusive practice in the initial years of their careers. Through a comparison of frequency counts of codes, it was noted that beginning teachers differentially relied on experiential factors to enhance their self-efficacy when they were graduating, or were in the first three years of their teaching. The results are discussed in light of the relevant extant research. Implications of these results for teacher education programs and school leadership are also shared. / Graduate

This diploma thesis attempts to improve the language-support for coping with the problem of negative emergence in dynamic Systems-of-Systems (SoS). Negative emergence is understood to be the emergence of unintended behaviour among constituent systems of a SoS in response to certain changes to the composition of constituent systems in the SoS. The architecture description language (ADL) "EventArch 2.0" approaches this problem by allowing the SoS-manager to define certain rules to manipulate the original behaviour of certain constituent systems at certain critical points of execution of the SoS to prevent unintended behaviour ("coordination rules"). This thesis approaches a solution to the following problem: to prevent the introduction of unintended behaviour through overly- or underly-restrictive coordination rules, more- or less-restrictive variants of a coordination rule would have to be applied to the SoS depending on the current composition of constituent systems in the SoS. This thesis has the goal to approach this problem by devising a mechanism to dynamically exchange a coordination rule depending on the current composition of constituent systems in the SoS. To achieve that goal, the ADL "EventArch 2.0" is extended to support the dynamic application of a coordination rule to a System-of-Systems. The dynamic application is achieved by connecting coordinators and constituent systems at runtime. As a special characteristic, each coordinator is dedicated to a specific constituent system and is responsible for achieving compliance of that system with respect to a specific coordination rule. It is shown that this architectural setup can be nicely modeled using concepts from the field of "role-based modeling". The solution does therefore employ concepts that are central to the "role-based modeling"-approach: "Role", "Base", and "Compartment". The applicability of the extended language to practical coordination-problems is shown by applying it to a constructed use case in the field of energy-efficient computing.:1 Introduction 1 1.1 Motivation and Problem Statement 1 1.2 Overview 2 2 Background 4 2.1 System of Systems 4 2.2 EventArch 2.0 8 2.2.1 Concepts 8 2.2.2 Implementation 10 2.2.3 Diagrams 15 2.3 Role-based Modeling 19 2.4 Coupling Strategies 22 3 Related Work 25 3.1 Requirements 25 3.2 Features 28 3.3 OT/J 29 3.4 Other Role-based Languages 31 3.5 Areas of Improvement 35 3.5.1 OT/J 35 3.5.2 Other Role-based Languages 40 4 Concepts of EventArch 3.0 45 4.1 Base, Role, and Compartment 45 4.2 Dynamic Composite AEM and Role-Binder 46 4.3 Inner Roles and Atomic Block 48 4.4 Diagrams 49 5 Internal Design of EventArch 3.0 55 5.1 Implementation of the Concepts 55 5.1.1 Base, Role, and Compartment 56 5.1.2 Dynamic Composite AEM and Role-Binder 58 5.1.3 Inner Roles and Atomic Block 60 5.1.4 Other Concepts 62 5.2 Further Discussion and Design Alternatives 63 6 Evaluation of EventArch 3.0 66 6.1 Advantages 66 6.2 Disadvantages 74 6.3 Reflections on the Fulfillment of the Requirements 77 6.4 Use case 81 6.5 Application to the Example Use case 83 6.5.1 Presentation of the implementation 83 6.5.2 Advantages shown by the implementation 90 7 Conclusion 93 7.1 Future Work 95 8 Appendix 99 8.1 Additional Source-Code 99 8.1.1 OT/J source-code 99 8.1.2 “State”-coordination rule 105 8.2 Internal Design of EventArch 2.0 109 8.2.1 Abstract 109 8.2.2 Detailed 116 8.3 Grammar of EventArch 3.0 . 123 8.4 EventArch 3.0 Diagrams 126 Bibliography 134 / Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit ist mit der Verbesserung der Sprachunterstützung zur Vermeidung negativer Emergenz in dynamischen Systems-of-Systems (SoS) befasst. Negative Emergenz wird dabei als unerwünschtes Verhalten von an einem SoS beteiligten Systemen verstanden, welches auf Grund von Änderungen in der Zusammensetzung des SoS (d.h. auf Grund des Eintritts oder Austritts von konstituierenden Systemen) aufgetreten ist. Die Architekturbeschreibungssprache "EventArch 2.0" unterstützt den SoS-manager bei der Lösung dieses Problems durch die Möglichkeit das Verhalten der beteiligten Systeme in bestimmten Ausführungsmomenten durch die Definition von Koordinationsregeln zu manipulieren und auf diesem Wege das Auftreten negativer Emergenz zu vermeiden. Die Diplomarbeit ist ein Beitrag zur Lösung des folgenden Problems: Um die Einführung von unerwünschtem Verhalten durch übermäßig- oder unzureichend restriktive Koordinationsregeln zu verhindern, müssten unterschiedliche Varianten einer Koordinationsregel, die sich im Grade ihrer Restriktivität unterscheiden, auf das SoS angewendet werden. Diese Anwendung müßte in Abhängigkeit der aktuellen Zusammensetzung des SoS aus konstituierenden Systemen erfolgen. In der vorliegenden Diplomarbeit wird eine Möglichkeit entwickelt um eine Koordinationsregel zur Laufzeit in Abhängigkeit der aktuellen Zusammensetzung des SoS aus konstituierenden Systemen auszutauschen. Sie leistet damit einen Beitrag zur Lösung des vorgenannten Problems. In der Arbeit wird die Architekturbeschreibungssprache "EventArch 2.0" um die Möglichkeit des dynamischen Austausches von Koordinationsregeln erweitert. Dabei werden Koordinationsregeln angewendet durch die gezielte Verbindung von Koordinatoren und konstituierenden Systemen. Die Besonderheit des Ansatzes besteht darin, dass jedem konstituierenden System ein persönlicher Koordinator zugeordnet wird, d.h. ein Koordinator der ausschließlich für die Anpassung des Verhaltens des jeweiligen Systems an eine bestimmte Koordinationsregel verantwortlich ist. In der Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass dieser architektonische Ansatz durch zentrale Konzepte des Modellierungsansatzes "rollenbasierte Modellierung" modelliert werden kann. In der entwickelten Spracherweiterung werden daher die Konzepte "Rolle", "Basis" und "Compartment" verwendet. Die Anwendbarkeit der erweiterten Sprache, wird durch deren Anwendung auf einen konstruierten Anwendungsfall aus dem Bereich der Energie-effizienten Berechnung gezeigt.:1 Introduction 1 1.1 Motivation and Problem Statement 1 1.2 Overview 2 2 Background 4 2.1 System of Systems 4 2.2 EventArch 2.0 8 2.2.1 Concepts 8 2.2.2 Implementation 10 2.2.3 Diagrams 15 2.3 Role-based Modeling 19 2.4 Coupling Strategies 22 3 Related Work 25 3.1 Requirements 25 3.2 Features 28 3.3 OT/J 29 3.4 Other Role-based Languages 31 3.5 Areas of Improvement 35 3.5.1 OT/J 35 3.5.2 Other Role-based Languages 40 4 Concepts of EventArch 3.0 45 4.1 Base, Role, and Compartment 45 4.2 Dynamic Composite AEM and Role-Binder 46 4.3 Inner Roles and Atomic Block 48 4.4 Diagrams 49 5 Internal Design of EventArch 3.0 55 5.1 Implementation of the Concepts 55 5.1.1 Base, Role, and Compartment 56 5.1.2 Dynamic Composite AEM and Role-Binder 58 5.1.3 Inner Roles and Atomic Block 60 5.1.4 Other Concepts 62 5.2 Further Discussion and Design Alternatives 63 6 Evaluation of EventArch 3.0 66 6.1 Advantages 66 6.2 Disadvantages 74 6.3 Reflections on the Fulfillment of the Requirements 77 6.4 Use case 81 6.5 Application to the Example Use case 83 6.5.1 Presentation of the implementation 83 6.5.2 Advantages shown by the implementation 90 7 Conclusion 93 7.1 Future Work 95 8 Appendix 99 8.1 Additional Source-Code 99 8.1.1 OT/J source-code 99 8.1.2 “State”-coordination rule 105 8.2 Internal Design of EventArch 2.0 109 8.2.1 Abstract 109 8.2.2 Detailed 116 8.3 Grammar of EventArch 3.0 . 123 8.4 EventArch 3.0 Diagrams 126 Bibliography 134

The implementation of energy storage systems in the current electrical grid will increase the grid's reliability and e ciency. Room temperature sodium batteries are seen as potential technology, especially to assist renewable energy generation sources. Currently, suggested negative electrode materials, however, are still not satisfactory for practical use in terms of fabrication costs, gravimetric /volumetric energy densities, cyclability, and irreversible capacity losses occur at the rst cycle. The literature describes various strategies that enhance the specific capacity and/or the cyclability of negative electrode materials but all involve increasing the fabrication costs due to the chosen synthesis or the complexity of the electrode's design. Furthermore, strategies, that reduce the irreversible capacity loss at first cycle, are not discussed. In this present experimental research work, presodiating bulk metallic negative electrode materials prior to cycling, prepared via a simple, cheap and easy-to-scaleup synthesis route, is introduced as a new strategy to improve the cyclability and to effectively reduce the first cycle irreversible capacity loss. Electrochemical and structural experiments were carried out to investigate sodiumtin-antimony powders. Presodiating mechanically bulk Sn-Sb negative electrode materials e ectively reduces the irreversible capacity loss at first cycle and enhances the specific capacity when compared to the non-presodiated powder, while the proper choice of electrode composite and electrolyte formulation improves the cycle life of the electrodes. The enhancement of the electrochemical properties of the presodiated NaSnSb powder, composed of the ternary phase Na5Sb3Sn and an unknown ternary phase crystallising in a hexagonal setting P6, is associated with the stabilisation of the SnSb as desodiation product. Presodiating bulk SnSb negative electrode material is a viable strategy to reduce the first cycle irreversible capacity loss, alleviating the volume changes. With an optimised system, this approach may be extended to other negative electrode materials, reducing the fabrication costs of high capacity negative electrode materials for room temperature sodium batteries. Presodiated NaSnSb negative electrode material may be combined with non-sodiated positive electrode material, such as sulphur to develop competitive room temperature sodium-sulphur batteries. / Die Implementierung von Energiespeichersystemen im bereits bestehenden Stromnetz ist eine der Lösungen, um die Zuverlässigkeit und die Effizienz des Netzes zu nutzen. Raumtemperatur Natrium-Batterien gelten als erfolgsversprechende Technologie insbesondere zur Unterstützung erneuerbarer Energieerzeugungsquellen. Jedoch sind die naheliegenden negativen Elektrodenmaterialien für eine praktische Anwendung hinsichtlich Herstellungskosten, gravimetrischer oder volumetrischer Energiedichte, Zyklenfestigkeit und irreversiblen Kapazitätsverlusten im ersten Zyklus noch nicht zufriedenstellend. Die Literatur beschreibt verschiedene Strategien, die die spezifische Kapazität und / oder die Zyklenfestigkeit von negativen Elektrodenmaterialien verbessern. Diese führen jedoch alle zu einer Erhöhung der Herstellungskosten aufgrund der gewählten Synthese oder des Designs der komplexierten Elektrode. Darüber hinaus werden Strategien zur Reduzierung des irreversiblen Kapazitätsverlusts im ersten Zyklus nicht erörtert. Diese experimentelle Forschungsarbeit präsentiert mit Natrium angereicherte metallische negative Elektrodenmaterialien vor der Wechselbeanspruchung/dem periodischen Durchlaufen, die durch einen schlichten, billigen und einfach zu skalierenden Syntheseweg hergestellt wurden, als eine neue Strategie zur Verbesserung der Zyklenfestigkeit und zur wirksamen Verringerung des irreversiblen Kapazitätsverlusts im ersten Zyklus. Elektrochemische und strukturelle Experimente wurden durchgeführt, um mit Natrium angereichertes Zinn-Antimon-Pulver zu untersuchen. Die mechanischen mit Natrium angereichertes Sn-Sb-negativen Elektrodenmaterialien verringert effektiv den irreversiblen Kapazitätsverlust im ersten Zyklus und erhöht die spezische Kapazität im Vergleich zu dem ohne Natrium angereicherte Pulver, während die richtige Wahl der Elektrodenzusammensetzung und der Elektrolytformulierung die Lebenszyklus der Elektroden verbessert. Die Verbesserung der elektrochemischen Eigenschaften des mit Natrium angereicherten NaSnSb-Pulvers, bestehend aus der ternären Phase Na5Sb3Sn und einer unbekannten ternären Phase, die in einer hexagonalen Aufbau P6 kristallisiert, ist mit der Stabilisierung des Enddesodiationsproduktes beim periodischen Zyklus verbunden, wobei das intermetallische SnSb nach Rekristallisation vorliegt. Mit Natrium angereicherte SnSb negativen Elektrodenmaterialien sind eine tragfähige Strategie zur Verringerung des irreversiblen Kapazitätsverlustes im ersten Zyklus, die Volumenänderungen abschwächen. Mit einem optimierten System kann dieser Ansatz auf andere negative Elektrodenmaterialien erweitert werden um die Herstellungskosten von negativen Elektrodenmaterialien mit hoher Kapazität für Raumtemperatur-Natrium-Batterien zu verringern. Mit Natrium angereichertes NaSnSb-negatives Elektrodenmaterial kann mit nicht mit Natrium versetztem positivem Elektrodenmaterial wie Schwefel kombiniert werden, um realisierbare Raumtemperatur Natrium-Schwefel-Batterien zu entwickeln.

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Recently, the proposal to use voltage amplification from ferroelectric negative capacitance (NC) to reduce the power dissipation in nanoelectronic devices has attracted significant attention. Homogeneous Landau theory predicts, that by connecting a ferroelectric in series with a dielectric capacitor, a hysteresis-free NC state can be stabilized in the ferroelectric below a critical film thickness. However, there is a strong discrepancy between experimental results and the current theory. Here, we present a comprehensive revision of the theory of NC stabilization with respect to scaling of material and device dimensions based on multi-domain Ginzburg–Landau theory. It is shown that the use of a metal layer in between the ferroelectric and the dielectric will inherently destabilize NC due to domain formation. However, even without this metal layer, domain formation can reduce the critical ferroelectric thickness considerably, limiting not only the range of NC stabilization, but also the maximum amplification attainable. To overcome these obstacles, the downscaling of lateral device dimensions is proposed as a way to prevent domain formation and to enhance the voltage amplification due to NC. These insights will be crucial for future NC device design and scaling towards nanoscale dimensions.

Yes / In this review paper, a comprehensive study on the concept, theory, and applications of composite right/left-handed transmission lines (CRLH-TLs) by considering their use in antenna system designs have been provided. It is shown that CRLH-TLs with negative permittivity (ε <; 0) and negative permeability (μ <; 0) have unique properties that do not occur naturally. Therefore, they are referred to as artificial structures called “metamaterials”. These artificial structures include series left-handed (LH) capacitances (C L ), shunt LH inductances (L L ), series right-handed (RH) inductances (LR), and shunt RH capacitances (CR) that are realized by slots or interdigital capacitors, stubs or via-holes, unwanted current flowing on the surface, and gap distance between the surface and ground-plane, respectively. In the most cases, it is also shown that structures based on CRLH metamaterial-TLs are superior than their conventional alternatives, since they have smaller dimensions, lower-profile, wider bandwidth, better radiation patterns, higher gain and efficiency, which make them easier and more cost-effective to manufacture and mass produce. Hence, a broad range of metamaterial-based design possibilities are introduced to highlight the improvement of the performance parameters that are rare and not often discussed in available literature. Therefore, this survey provides a wide overview of key early-stage concepts of metematerial-based designs as a thorough reference for specialist antennas and microwave circuits designers. To analyze the critical features of metamaterial theory and concept, several examples are used. Comparisons on the basis of physical size, bandwidth, materials, gain, efficiency, and radiation patterns are made for all the examples that are based on CRLH metamaterialTLs. As revealed in all the metematerial design examples, foot-print area decrement is an important issue of study that have a strong impact for the enlargement of the next generation wireless communication systems. / This work was supported in part by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Gobierno de España (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) under Grant RTI2018-095499-B-C31, in part by the Innovation Programme under Grant H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET-722424, and in part by the financial support from the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under Grant EP/E022936/1.