The Auroral Large Imaging System (ALIS) was proposed in 1989 by Åke Steen as a joint Scandinavian ground-based nework of automated auroral imaging stations. The primary scientic objective was in the field of auroral physics, but it was soon realised that ALIS could be used in other fields, for example, studies of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC), meteors, as well as other atmospheric phenomena. This report describes the design, operation and scientic results from a Swedish prototype of ALIS consisting of six unmanned remote-controlled stations located in a grid of about 50 km in northern Sweden. Each station is equipped with a sensitive high-resolution (1024 x 1024 pixels) unintensified monochromatic CCDimager. A six-position filter-wheel for narrow-band interference filters facilitates absolute spectroscopic measurements of, for example, auroral and airglow emissions. Overlapping fields-of-view resulting from the station baseline of about 50 km combined with the station field-of-view of 50° to 60°, enable triangulation as well as tomographic methods to be employed for obtaining altitude information of the observed phenomena. ALIS was probably one of the first instruments to take advantage of unintensi- fied (i.e. no image-intensifier) scientific-grade CCDs as detectors for spectroscopic imaging studies with multiple stations of faint phenomena such as aurora, airglow, etc. This makes absolute calibration a task that is as important as it is dificult. Although ALIS was primarily designed for auroral studies, the majority of the scientific results so far have, quite unexpectedly, been obtained from observations of HF pump-enhanced airglow (recently renamed Radio-Induced Aurora). ALIS made the first unambiguous observation of this phenomena at high-latitudes and the first tomography-like inversion of height profiles of the airglow regions. The scientific results so far include tomographic estimates of the auroral electron spectra, coordinated observations with satellite and radar, as well as studies of polar stratospheric clouds. An ALIS imager also participated in a joint project that produced the first ground-based daytime auroral images. Recently ALIS made spectroscopic observations of a Leonid meteor-trail and preliminary analysis indicates the possible detection of water in the Leonid.

Pour minoré et ignoré qu’il fût, le roman policier est désormais légitimé par l’institution littéraire. À parcourir les livres publiés dans la Caraïbe francophone, le genre demeure dans la marge de cette production [issue de la Caraïbe francophone (Haïti, Guadeloupe, Guyane française, Martinique)]. Quoiqu’il en soit, on notera que les années 1990 ont inauguré une véritable éclosion de publications de polars. Tout cela augure d’une acclimatation de ce genre qui ne s’accompagne pas moins de questionnements sur les spécificités éventuelles du polar caribéen francophone. Se situe-t-il dans la convention? Tente-il au contraire d’établir une distanciation avec la norme? C’est pour répondre à ces interrogations que cette thèse se propose d’explorer les enjeux de l’appropriation du polar provenant de cette aire géographique. À l’aune de la poétique des genres, de la sociocritique et de l’intermédialité, un corpus composé de quatorze romans fait l’objet d’une étude approfondie. Dans le premier chapitre, un bref récapitulatif permet de situer les œuvres à l’étude dans l’histoire littéraire du genre tout en soulignant l’adaptation du polar dans la Caraïbe de langue française. Il en ressort qu’un nombre significatif d’écrivains, attentifs à la latence du magico-religieux dans leur société, mettent en scène le surnaturel alors que le roman policier conventionnel plébiscite la méthode logico-déductive. C’est la raison pour laquelle le second chapitre s’intéresse à l’usage de l’inexplicable et son rapport avec le cartésianisme. Quant au troisième chapitre, il se penche sur un topos du genre : la violence telle qu’elle surgit dans ses dimensions commémoratives et répétitives de l’histoire tumultueuse de la Caraïbe. Notre corpus tend à relier la notion du crime, fut-il d’emprise originelle, à l’histoire post-coloniale. Dans la mesure où les personnages constituent un élément clé du genre, ils sont sondés, dans un quatrième chapitre, en regard de la critique sociale qu’ils incarnent et véhiculent. Le dernier chapitre cherche à circonscrire l’intermédialité qui structure et qualifie l’œuvre au sein du roman policier depuis sa genèse. Somme toute, ces divers axes contribuent à mieux comprendre le phénomène de transposition du polar dans cette région du monde. / Although long looked down on and given short shrift by the literary establishment, the detective novel now enjoys legitimacy. Yet a survey of such books published in the French-speaking Caribbean (Haiti, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique) indicates that this genre remains marginalized there. Be that as it may, the 1990’s ushered in a publishing surge on detective novels. While this attests to the genre’s acculturation, it nevertheless raises questions about which, if any, characteristics distinguish the Caribbean, francophone detective novel. Does it fit mould, or conversely seek to establish distance between itself and the norm? To answer such questions this thesis will explore the dynamics of appropriating the detective novel in said geocultural space. And in-depth study of fourteen novels in light of the poetics of genres, sociocriticism, and intermediality, forms the body of this thesis. Its first chapter sets out a brief overview so as to contextualize these fourteen novels within the literary history of this genre, while at the same time highlighting the detective novel’s adaptation to the French-speaking Caribbean. This overview demonstrates that a significant number of writers pay heed to the magic and sorcery implied in their society so that they incorporate the supernatural, whereas the standard detective novel overwhelmingly adopts the logico-detective mindset. This explains why the second chapter addresses the use of the inscrutable and its relationship to Cartesianism. Meantime, the third chapter focuses on a topos of the genre, namely violence, with its commemorative and recurring manifestations in the Caribbean’s tumultuous history. Regardless of its immediate cause, the fourteen novels tend to conceive crime as linked to postcolonial history. Those characters who prove key to the genre make up the fourth chapter which examines them from the perspective of the social critique the articulate and personify. The final chapter endeavours to delineate the intermediality that structures the detective novel and has constituted its touchtone from the start. In short, the different avenues of inquiry enable one to grasp the confrontation between this genre’s traditional canon and its creative variants. This contributes to a better understanding of the phenomenon of transposing the detective novel to this region of the world.

There is great interest in the development of new polar dielectric ceramics and multiferroic materials with new and improved properties. A family of tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) relaxors of composition Ba₆M³⁺Nb₉O₃₀ (M³⁺ = Ga³⁺, Sc³⁺ and In³⁺, and also their solid solutions) were studied in an attempt to understand their dielectric properties to enable design of novel polar TTB materials. A combination of electrical measurements (dielectric and impedance spectroscopy) and powder diffraction (X-ray and neutron) studies as a function of temperature was employed for characterising the dynamic dipole response in these materials. The effect of B-site doping on fundamental dipolar relaxation parameters were investigated by independently fitting the dielectric permittivity to the Vogel-Fulcher (VF) model, and the dielectric loss to Universal Dielectric Response (UDR) and Arrhenius models. These studies showed an increase in the characteristic dipole freezing temperature (T[subscript(f)]) with increase B-cation radius. Crystallographic data indicated a corresponding maximum in tetragonal strain at T[subscript(f)], consistent with the slowing and eventual freezing of dipoles. In addition, the B1 crystallographic site was shown to be most active in terms of the dipolar response. A more in-depth analysis of the relaxor behaviour of these materials revealed that, with the stepwise increase in the ionic radius of the M³⁺ cation on the B-site within the Sc-In solid solution series, the Vogel-Fulcher curves (lnf vs. T[subscript(m)]) are displaced to higher temperatures, while the degree of relaxor behaviour (frequency dependence) increases. Unfortunately, additional features appear in the dielectric spectroscopy data, dramatically affecting the Vogel-Fulcher fitting parameters. A parametric study of the reproducibility of acquisition and analysis of dielectric data was therefore carried out. The applicability of the Vogel-Fulcher expression to fit dielectric permittivity data was investigated, from the simple unrestricted (“free”) fit to a wider range of imposed values for the VF relaxation parameters that fit with high accuracy the experimental data. The reproducibility of the dielectric data and the relaxation parameters obtained by VF fitting were shown to be highly sensitive to the thermal history of samples and also the conditions during dielectric data acquisition (i.e., heating/cooling rate). In contrast, UDR analysis of the dielectric loss data provided far more reproducible results, and to an extent was able to partially deconvolute the additional relaxation processes present in these materials. The exact nature of these additional relaxations is not yet fully understood. It was concluded application of the Vogel-Fulcher model should be undertaken with great care. The UDR model may represent a feasible alternative to the evaluation of fundamental relaxation parameters, and a step forward towards the understanding of the dielectric processes in tetragonal tungsten bronzes.

Tomografia computadorizada por emissão de fóton único (SPECT) é uma modalidade da medicina nuclear baseada na medida da distribuição espacial de um radionuclídeo. Esta técnica é amplamente utilizada em cardiologia para avaliar problemas de perfusão miocárdica, relacionados ao fluxo sanguíneo nas artérias coronárias. As imagens SPECT proporcionam melhor separação das regiões do miocárdio e facilitam a localização e a definição dos defeitos de perfusão. Um dos grandes desafios em estudos SPECT é a eficiente apresentação da informação, uma vez que um único estudo pode gerar imagens de centenas de cortes a serem analisados. Para resolver este problema, são utilizados mapas polares (também conhecidos como gráficos Bulls Eye). Mapas polares são construídos a partir de cortes tomográficos do ventrículo esquerdo e apresentam as informações dos exames de forma sumarizada, em uma imagem bidimensional. Essa dissertação apresenta um método para segmentação do ventrículo esquerdo em estudos SPECT do miocárdio e a construção de mapas polares. A segmentação do ventrículo esquerdo é realizada para facilitar o processo de geração automática de mapas polares. O método desenvolvido utiliza a transformada watershed, no contexto do paradigma de Beucher-Meyer. Para visualização dos resultados, foi desenvolvida uma aplicação, chamada Medical Image Visualizer (MIV). O MIV será disponibilizado como projeto Open Source, podendo ser livremente utilizado e/ou modificado pela comunidade de usuários, desenvolvedores e pesquisadores. / Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a nuclear medicine tomographic imaging technique based on the measurement of spatial distribution of a radionuclide. This technique is widely used in cardiology to assess myocardial perfusion problems related to blood flow in coronary arteries. SPECT images provide better separation of regions of the myocardium and facilitate the location and definition of perfusion defects. One of the major challenges in SPECT studies is the efficient presentation of information, since a single study can generate hundreds of images of slices to be analyzed. To address this issue, polar maps (also known as Bulls Eye display) are used. Polar maps are built from slices of the left ventricle and provide summarized information of exams in a two dimensional image. This dissertation presents a method for the segmentation of the left ventricle in myocardial SPECT studies and the construction of polar maps. The segmentation of the left ventricle is performed to facilitate the process of automatic generation of polar maps. The method uses the watershed transform, in the context of the Beucher-Meyer paradigm. To display the results, it was developed an application called Medical Image Visualizer (MIV). MIV will be available as an Open Source project and the communities of users, developers and researchers will be able to freely use and/or modify the application.

Um conjunto de reflexões teóricas sobre as incompatibilidades entre a Ordem Inter-nacional pós-Guerra Fria e as categorias estruturantes dos paradigmas analíticos dominantes, esta tese procura também apontar dados empíricos e listar questões a serem compreendidas por um novo modo de produção de conhecimentos em rela-ções internacionais. Ela critica tanto os paradigmas unidimensionais, principalmente os de corte liberal e leno-stalinistas, quanto os bidimensionais, de inspiração realista e racionalista, indicando que ambos formam redes conceituais baseadas numa dialé-tica dicotômica, que reduz a complexidade do internacional e do estrangeiro a um olhar e interesse nacionais. Sugere que o sistema internacional e os subsistemas regionais, como objetos de estudo, não se reduzem a suas unidades, constituindo uma terceira dimensão, ou zona cinzenta, cuja conformação, para ser compreendida depende da análise integrada dos fenômenos da guerra, das globalizações e do for-talecimento do Estado. Completando as sugestões para o debate e a formulação de conceitos interpretativos mais abrangentes, além de alguns neologismos, esta tese constrói algumas tipologias compreensivas. O autor adverte, contudo, que essas formulações têm o propósito de ilustrar a análise, não de fechar a discussão com um modelo acabado. / A set of theoretical reflections on the contradictions between the post-Cold War inter-national order and the structuring categories of the prevailing analytical paradigms, this thesis also tries to point to empirical data and list questions to be understood by a new way of producing knowledge in international relations. It criticizes both one-dimensional paradigms, mainly those in the liberal and Lenin-Stalinist model, and two-dimensional paradigms of realistic and rational inspiration, showing that both of them build conceptual networks based on the dialectics of dichotomy, which reduces the complexity of being international and foreign to a national vision and interest. The work also suggests that the international system and the regional subsystems, as objects of study, are not limited to their units, making up a third dimension, or grey zone, whose configuration can only be understood through an integrated analysis of the war phenomena, globalization and the strengthening of the State. By making suggestions for the debate and formulation of more comprehensive interpretation concepts, in addition to some neologisms, this thesis builds some broad typologies. However, the author warns that these formulations have the purpose of illustrating the analysis, not closing the debate on a finished model.

A região metropolitana de São Paulo apresenta um intenso e desordenado processo de urbanização e industrialização. Devido a estes processos, a região sofre grandes problemas de poluição atmosférica, agravados em certos meses devido às dificuldades de dispersão dos poluentes. Estes poluentes causam efeitos indesejáveis ao meio ambiente e à saúde humana. A caracterização química e a avaliação da atividade mutagênica desses compostos presentes no material particulado atmosférico (MPA) é um grande desafio analítico e, é de extrema importância para o conhecimento das possíveis correlações entre os poluentes, os efeitos deletérios à saude e as fontes de emissão. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram caracterizar quimicamente os extratos orgânicos polares e semi-polares do material particulado atmosférico da cidade de São Paulo e avaliar sua atividade mutagênica. O MPA é uma mistura complexa de compostos orgânicos e inorgânicos presentes em diferentes faixas de concentrações. Devido a esta complexidade, o fracionamento químico do extrato orgânico deste material é necessário para isolar classes de compostos ou compostos individuais, permitindo a identificação e quantificação dos mesmos. Os resultados obtidos pelas diversas técnicas analíticas empregadas mostraram que os extratos em diclorometano e acetona contém inúmeros compostos orgânicos pertencentes a diferentes classes, tais como hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos, quinolinas, cetonas, piridinas, furanos, aldeídos, amidas e aminas, sendo que alguns destes compostos são considerados agentes genotóxicos. O extrato em DCM contem a maior massa e sua composição é quase exclusivamente orgânica. Já o extrato em ACE contem além dos orgânicos, espécies inorgânicas. Testes de mutagenicidade indicaram que o MPA coletado na cidade de São Paulo apresenta uma atividade mutagênica relativamente alta quando comparada a outros centros urbanos. / São Paulo metropolitan area presents an intense and chaotic process of urbanization and industrialization. Due to this processes, this region has big atmospheric pollution problem. In certain months of the year, this problem gets worse due to the unfavorable dispersion conditions. The pollutants cause undesirable effects to the environment and to the human health. The chemical characterization and the mutagenic activity evaluation of the compounds present on the atmospheric particulate matter APM) represents an analytical challenge and it is very important for understanding of the correlation among pollutants, health hazards and emission sources. The goal of this work was chemically characterize the polar and moderately polar organic extracts from the APM collected in São Paulo city and to evaluate their mutagenic activity. The APM is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic compounds present in large range of concentration. Due to this complexity, the chemical fractionation of these organic extracts is necessary to isolate classes or individual compounds, to allow their identification and quantification. The results obtained using different analytical techniques demonstrated that the dichlorometane and acetone extracts has several organic compounds belonging to different classes, such as, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, quinolines, ketones, pyridines, furanes, aldehydes, amides and amines. Some of these compoundsa are considered carcinogens and/or mutagens. The dichloromethane extract presented the highest mass yield and its composition is almost exclusively organic. The acetone extract has organic and inorganic species. Mutagenicity tests revealed that the APM from São Paulo city presented a have relatively high mutagenic activity when compared to other urban regions.

Le contexte de ce projet de thèse était d’approfondir la compréhension du métabolisme de Trypanosoma brucei. Les trypanosomes utilisent différents types de sources de carbone, des hydrates de carbone ainsi que des acides aminés pour alimenter leurs besoins énergétiques et biosynthétiques (conditions imitant réellement l'environnement dans la mouche tse-tse). Les différences de thioesters d'acyl-CoA sont encore inconnues dans ces conditions. Une telle élucidation est essentielle pour comprendre les adaptations métaboliques de l'organisme au cours de son cycle de vie. Cet objectif pourrait être complété par une combinaison d'analyses sensibles de divers groupes de métabolites, de délétions dirigées de gènes ou de régulations négatives. Ces derniers développements intègrent un flux de travail complet d'analyse des flux métaboliques par 13C à l’état-instationnaire. Ce flux de travail combine les méthodes existantes pour la collecte d'échantillons, la métabolomique quantitative basée sur MS et l'analyse isotopique d'acides organiques, d'acides aminés, de composés phosphorylés en plus des thioesters d'acyl Coenzyme A (acyl-CoAs), qui représentent un point central entre le métabolisme central du carbone et les voies anaboliques. Ce flux de travail a d'abord été évalué et validé sur l'organisme modèle Escherichia coli et a fourni de nouvelles idées sur son fonctionnement métabolique. Par la suite, ce flux de travail a ensuite été exploité pour étudier le métabolisme de T. brucei, pour lequel les résultats préliminaires sont décrits et discutés dans cette thèse. / Unusual metabolism of protozoan parasite causing deadly sleeping sickness, Trypanosoma brucei, has been enigmatic for many years. In the past decades, targeted genetic perturbations combined with metabolic analysis have advanced the view on complex compartmentalized metabolism of this organism, but acyl-CoA metabolism on the crossroad between catabolic and anabolic pathways, remains largely uncharacterized. Present work aims at clarifying mitochondrial operation and topology of acyl-CoA network of T. brucei, as well as its interconnections with the rest of metabolism. This has required the development of a complete framework for investigation of acyl-CoA metabolism in T. brucei integrating isotope labeling experiments with metabolite quantification. Sensitive LC-MS method for identification and quantification of acyl-CoAs based on high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) with LTQ-OrbiTrap has been established and applied to investigate acyl-CoA metabolism in the protozoan parasite, as well as in the model organism in systems and synthetic biology, Escherichia coli. Complete workflow from cell cultivation, measurement of extracellular fluxes and analysis of isotopic profile which is result of enzyme-specific incorporation of isotopic tracer allowed modelling of metabolic network and calculation of metabolic fluxes. The entire workflow has been biologically validated and has clarified the link between acyl-CoA and central carbon metabolism in E. coli. The proposed framework has been adapted to T. brucei, for which several sample collection methods have been evaluated thoroughly. It was possible to extract, identify and quantify main acyl-CoA species produced from glucose catabolism. This optimised setup for acyl-CoA analysis will allow collection of data for NMR-based analysis of metabolic end products as well as collection of intracellular metabolites from same sample.

Human activities such as mining and smelting of lead (Pb) ores and combustion of alkyllead additives in gasoline have resulted in extensive global Pb pollution. Since the late 1960's studies of polar ice and snow have been undertaken to evaluate the extent of anthropogenic Pb emissions in recent times as well as to investigate changes in anthropogenic Pb emissions in the more distant past. The polar ice sheets have been used to investigate Pb pollution as they offer a long-term record of human activity located far from pollution sources and sample aerosol emissions on a hemispheric scale. Lead isotopes have been previously used to identify sources of Pb in polar snow and ice, while new evaluations of Pb isotopic compositions in aerosols and Pb ore bodies allow more thorough evaluations of anthropogenic Pb emissions. Lead isotopic compositions and Pb and Barium (Ba) concentrations have been measured in snow and ice core samples from Law Dome, East Antarctica, to produce a detailed pollution history between 1530 AD and 1989 AD. Such a record has been produced to evaluate changes in anthropogenic Pb emission levels and sources over the past 500 years, to determine when industrial (anthropogenic) activities first began to influence Antarctica and also to investigate natural Pb fluxes to Antarctica. Additional samples were also collected from Law Dome snow and ice cores to respectively investigate seasonal variations in Pb and Ba deposition, and the influence of the 1815 AD volcanic eruption of Tambora, Indonesia. All samples were measured by thermal ionisation mass spectrometry, for which techniques were developed to reliably analyse Pb isotopic compositions in Antarctic samples containing sub-picogram per gram concentrations of Pb. / Particular attention was given to the quantity of Pb added to the samples during the decontamination and sample storage stages of the sample preparation process. These stages, including the use of a stainless steel chisel for the decontamination, contributed ~5.2 pg to the total sample analysed, amounting to a concentration increase of ~13 fg g-1. In comparison, the mass spectrometer ion source contributed typically 89 +/- 19 fg to the blank, however its influence depended upon the amount of Pb available for analysis and so had the greatest impact when small volumes of samples with a very low concentration were analysed. As a consequence of these careful investigations of the Pb blank contributions to the samples, the corrections made to the Pb isotopic ratios and concentrations measured are smaller than previously reported evaluations of Pb in Antarctica by thermal ionisation mass spectrometry. The data indicate that East Antarctica was relatively pristine until -1884 AD, after which the first influence of anthropogenic Pb in Law Dome is observed. "Natural", pre-industrial, background concentrations of Pb and Ba were - 0.4 pg/g and - 1.3 pg/g, respectively, with Pb isotopic compositions within the range 206Pb/207Pb = 1.20 - 1.25 and 208Pb/207Pb = 2.46 - 2.50 and an average rock and soil dust Pb contribution of 8-12%. A major pollution event was observed at Law Dome between 1884 and 1908 AD, elevating the Pb concentration fourfold and changing 206Pb/207Pb ratios in the ice to ~1.12. Based on Pb isotopic systematics and Pb emissions statistics, this was attributed to Pb mined at Broken Hill and smelted at Broken Hill and Port Pirie, Australia. / Anthropogenic Pb inputs to Law Dome were most significant from ~1900 to 1910 and from ~1960 to 1980. During the 20th century, Ba concentrations were consistently higher than "natural" levels. This was attributed to increased dust production, suggesting the influence of climate change and/or changes in land coverage with vegetation. Law Dome ice dated from 1814 AD to 1819 AD was analysed for Pb isotopes and Pb, Ba and Bismuth (Bi) concentrations to investigate the influence of the 1815 AD volcanic eruption of Tambora, Indonesia. The presence of volcanic debris in the core samples was observed from late-1816 AD to 1818 AD as an increase in sulphate concentrations and electrical conductivity of the ice. Barium concentrations were approximately three times higher than background levels from mid-1816 to mid1818, consistent with increased atmospheric loading of rock and soil dust, while enhanced Pb/Ba and Bi/Ba ratios, associated with deposition of volcanic debris, were observed at mid-1814 and from early-1817 to mid-1818. From the results, it appeared likely that Pb emitted from Tambora was removed from the atmosphere within the 1.6 year period required to transport aerosols to Antarctica. Increased Pb and Bi concentrations observed in Law Dome ice ~1818 AD were attributed to either increased heavy metal emissions from Mount Erebus, or increased fluxes of heavy metals to the Antarctic ice sheet resulting from climate and meteorological modifications following the Tambora eruption. / A non-continuous series of Law Dome snow core samples dating from 1980 to 9185 AD were analysed to investigate seasonal variations in the deposition of Pb and Ba. It was found that Pb and Ba at Law Dome do exhibit seasonal variations in deposition, with higher concentrations of Pb and Ba usually observed during Summer and lower concentrations of Pb and Ba usually observed during the Autumn and Spring seasons. At Law Dome, broad patterns of seasonal Pb and Ba deposition are evident however these appear to be punctuated by short-term deposition events or may even be composed of a continuum of short-term deposition events. This variability suggests that complex meteorological systems are responsible for the transport of Pb and Ba to Law Dome, and probably Antarctica in general.

隨著GIS的發展，地圖定位成為空間查詢中極為普遍的行為。一般地圖定位大多透過地址來進行，但是在缺乏地址的情況之下，進行地圖上之定位變成極為困難之事。 本論文嘗試對手繪地圖在真實地圖上進行定位，我們提出了一套機制，使用者可以隨意地以手繪方式繪製街道圖與地標，透過我們提出的方法，即可自動地在真實的地圖上進行定位。 論文中，我們使用相鄰街廓中之地標配置與相鄰之交叉路口之地標配置等變數組成的表示法來描述地圖。我們將手繪地圖與真實地圖轉換成這些表示法，並透過字串編輯距離、圖同構等關係來比較手繪地圖與真實地圖之相似度，從而對手繪地圖進行定位。 實作中，我們挑選了幾處真實場景在台北市地圖中進行比對並觀察其結果。系統採用之地標包括政府機構(如派出所、消防隊、區公所等)、學校、醫院等資料。在實驗中，應用這套表示法可成功的定位出使用者所輸入之各場景所在位置。另外，透過控制相似度門檻值，我們可以調整辨識之精確度，不至於錯失可能之定位結果。 / As the widely spread of the GIS applications, map localization becomes one of the most important features in the spatial information retrieval. Normally, map localization is done through street addresses. Without this information, map localization becomes very difficult. In this research, we are trying to do map localization using hand drawing maps. We proposed a mechanism that can localize the user's drawing map in the reference map automatically. Our approaches use the landmark configurations of the adjacent street blocks as well as the landmark configurations of the adjacent street intersections as the descriptors in representing a map. The user's hand drawn maps and the reference maps are converted into these representations. The string editing distances and graph isomorphism are used in determining the similarities between the hand drawn map and the reference map. The map localization can be done by comparing these similarities. We used various real scenes in Taipei City to verify our systems. The landmarks we used including police offices, fire stations, county offices, schools and hospitals, etc. The experimental results shown that our system can localize the user's input successfully. Moreover, by controlling thresholds in similarity analysis, we can adjust the system's accuracy that reduces possibility of miss localizations.

Basée sur la reconversion de la centrale solaire THEMIS (Pyrénées Orientales françaises) en télescope pour l'astronomie gamma, CELESTE est la première expérience à explorer le spectre électromagnétique entre 10 GeV et 300 GeV et à relier ainsi le domaine des satellites à celui des imageurs au sol. Ce domaine d'énergie est particulièrement important pour les pulsars. En effet, aucun des six pulsars gamma haute énergie détectés par EGRET n'a été détecté au sol. Deux modèles théoriques visent à expliquer la cassure des spectres observée entre 1 et 100 GeV : calotte polaire et cavité externe. Ceux-ci diffèrent toutefois en plusieurs points et une détection dans ce domaine d'énergie permettrait d'éclaircir la situation. Cette thèse regroupe les premiers travaux dédiés à l'étude des pulsars avec CELESTE, et plus particulièrement deux candidats : le pulsar du Crabe et PSR B1951+32. La recherche d'un signal pulsé sous-entend une analyse quelque peu différente de celle développée pour les sources continues. Une première étape a donc consisté en l'adaptation à CELESTE de la procédure de datation spécifique. Dans une seconde étape, l'objectif de ce travail a été de développer une analyse spécifique préservant les basses énergies où est attendu un éventuel signal. Ainsi, en se basant sur les acquis des analyses précédentes et sur les caractéristiques des gerbes électromagnétiques et hadroniques en dessous de 50 GeV, des critères de réjection particuliers ont pu être établis et appliqués aux données. Les résultats résident essentiellement dans l'établissement de nouvelle limites supérieures sur l'énergie de coupure basse des deux pulsars observés. Bien qu'insuffisants pour contraindre les modèles théoriques, ceux-ci restent d'un intérêt certain pour la physique de ces objets ne serait ce que parce qu'ils constituent les premières mesures réalisées dans cette gamme d'énergie. Un excès a malgré tout été observé sur le Crabe mais avec une significativité insuffisante. Cette indication de modulation présentant les propriétés attendues, elle a été traduite en terme de flux dans l'hypothèse d'un signal pulsé, puis interprétée. Si de nouvelles observations venaient a confirmer cet excès, il s'agirait de la première détection autour de 30 GeV et le modèle Polar Cap se verrait alors sérieusement remis en cause.