O eixo hipotálamo-pituitária-adrenal é o principal sistema neuroendócrino envolvido na regulação e adaptação da resposta ao estresse e, o principal hormônio secretado é o cortisol. O cortisol exerce seus efeitos por meio dos receptores mineralocorticoide (MR) e glicocorticoide (GR). Variações nos genes desses receptores têm sido associadas à sensibilidade aos glicocorticoides e mudanças no perfil metabólico. O objetivo geral desse trabalho foi compreender a variabilidade existente em relação às respostas fisiológicas de bovinos por meio da identificação de polimorfismos genéticos em genes envolvidos na resposta ao estresse e, verificar as consequências dessa variação genética em características de qualidade da carne. Dessa forma, três abordagens foram propostas: (1) avaliar a incidência de carne DFD (dark, firm and dry) e seu impacto no perfil metabólico, endócrino e características de qualidade da carne bovina, uma vez que o estresse é um dos principais fatores que levam a essa condição desfavorável; (2) avaliar a contribuição de fatores genéticos, por meio da identificação de polimorfismos de nucleotídeo único (SNPs), no gene do MR e GR, e suas associações com as características mensuradas; (3) avaliar os efeitos desses polimorfismos sobre o perfil proteico do músculo bovino. Foram utilizados 241 bovinos da raça Nelore. Os resultados evidenciaram implicações direta do pH 24 horas post-mortem nos atributos de cor e perdas por cozimento da carne. A incidência de carnes DFD (pH>=5,8) foi de 18,7%. Os polimorfismos identificados mostraram influenciar em algumas características mensuradas. Os SNPs NR3C2_1 e NR3C2_2 no gene do MR foram associados ao conteúdo de glicogênio muscular e nível plasmático do hormônio adrenocorticotrófico (ACTH) post-mortem, e o SNP NR3C1_1 no gene do GR foi associado aos níveis plasmático de cortisol post-mortem. As análises proteômicas demonstraram que a maioria das proteínas reguladas por esses SNPs estão envolvidas na contração muscular, metabolismo e defesa celular. Portanto, é possível inferir que o pH tem impacto nas características de qualidade da carne e que polimorfismos em MR e o GR levam a mudanças na atividade do eixo HPA, no perfil metabólico do organismo e no perfil proteico do músculo, sugerindo que esses genes estão envolvidos em uma complexidade de funções e podendo ser alvos de estudos em sistemas de produção que visam melhorar a produtividade. / The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is the main neuroendocrine system involved in the regulation and adaptation in stress response and the primary hormone secreted is cortisol. Cortisol exerts its effects through the mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptors. Variations in the genes of these receptors have been associated with sensitivity to glucocorticoids and changes in the metabolic profile. The general objective of this work was to understand the variability in relation to physiological responses of cattle through identification of genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in stress response and, checking the consequences of this genetic variation in meat quality traits. Thus, three approaches have been proposed: (1) evaluate the incidence of DFD meat (dark, firm and dry) and its impact on metabolics, endocrines profiles and meat quality traits, since stress is the major factor that lead to this unfavorable condition; (2) evaluate the contribution of genetic factors through identification single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MR and GR gene and its association with the measured traits; (3) evaluate the effects of these polymorphisms on the protein profile of bovine muscle. A total of 241 Nellore cattle were used. The results evidenced direct implications of 24 hours pH post-mortem in color attributes and cooking losses. The incidence of DFD meat (pH >= 5.8) was 18.7%. The polymorphisms identified demonstrated to influence some on measured characteristics. The NR3C2_1 and NR3C2_2 SNPs in MR gene were associated with muscle glycogen content and post-mortem adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) plasma levels and, the NR3C1_1 SNP in GR was associated with post-mortem cortisol plasma levels. The proteomic analysis demonstrated that most proteins regulated by these SNPs are involved in muscle contraction, metabolism and cellular defense. Therefore, it is possible to infer that pH has impact on meat quality traits and MR and GR polymorphisms lead to changes in the HPA axis activity, metabolic profile and protein muscle profile, suggesting that these genes are involved in a complexity of functions and may be targets for studies on production systems to improve productivity.

Introdução: Diversos estudos sugerem que o estresse nas fases iniciais de desenvolvimento pode induzir alterações persistentes na capacidade do eixo Hipotálamo-Pituitária-Adrenal (HPA) em responder ao estresse na vida adulta. O desequilíbrio do cortisol tem sido identificado como um correlato biológico dos transtornos depressivos. Essas anormalidades parecem estar relacionadas às mudanças na capacidade dos glicocorticóides circulantes em exercer seu feedback negativo na secreção dos hormônios do eixo HPA por meio da ligação aos receptores mineralocorticóides (RM) e glicocorticóides (RG) nos tecidos do eixo HPA. Devido à grande variedade de estressores, assim como os diferentes subtipos de depressão, os achados dos estudos atuais têm sido inconsistentes. Dessa forma, necessitando de mais estudos para que se possa elucidar os mecanismos envolvidos na associação entre o Estresse Precoce (EP) e o desenvolvimento de quadros depressivos. Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar a correlação entre Estresse Precoce e alterações no eixo Hipotálamo-Pituitária-Adrenal e na função dos receptores glicocorticóides e mineralocorticóides em pacientes depressivos. Metodologia: Foram recrutados inicialmente 30 sujeitos divididos em dois grupos: grupo de pacientes com diagnóstico de episódio depressivo atual (n=20) e grupo de controles (n=10). Posteriormente os pacientes foram divididos em outros dois grupos de acordo com o EP, compondo a amostra final por três grupos: grupo de pacientes depressivos com presença de EP (n=13), grupo de pacientes depressivos com ausência de EP (n=7) e grupo de controles (n=10). Os pacientes foram avaliados por meio de Entrevista Clínica de acordo com os critérios diagnósticos do DSM-IV, para a confirmação do diagnóstico. Para avaliação da gravidade dos sintomas depressivos foi aplicada a Escala de Depressão de Hamilton (HAM-D21), sendo incluídos apenas pacientes com HAM-D21 17. A presença de EP foi confirmada através da aplicação do Questionário Sobre Traumas na Infância (QUESI). Foram utilizados também a Escala de Avaliação de Depressão de Montgomery-Asberg (MADRS), o Inventário de Depressão de Beck (BDI), o Inventário de Ansiedade de Beck (BAI), a Escala de Ideação Suicida de Beck (BSI), a Escala de Desesperança de Beck (BHS), a Escala Hospitalar de Ansiedade e Depressão (HAD) e a Escala de Impulsividade de Barratt (BIS-11) para a avaliação de sintomas psiquiátricos. A avaliação endócrina foi controlada por placebo, cego por parte dos controles e pacientes, não randomizado, com desenho de medidas repetidas, onde os efeitos da Fludrocortisona (0.5 mg) e da Dexametasona (0.5 mg) foram avaliados através do cortisol salivar e plasmático. A secreção de cortisol plasmático e salivar foi avaliada nos sujeitos, após a administração de uma cápsula de Placebo, Fludrocortisona e Dexametasona às 22hs do dia anterior. O cortisol salivar foi coletado às 22h, ao acordar, 30 e 60 minutos após acordar e antes da coleta plasmática, nos dias seguintes após os desafios. Resultados: Na amostra de pacientes depressivos e controles, encontramos níveis significativamente menores de cortisol salivar ao acordar após a administração de Placebo nos pacientes depressivos comparados aos controles. Encontramos também uma tendência dos pacientes apresentarem níveis maiores de cortisol salivar ao acordar do que os controles após a administração de Dexametasona. Quando avaliado o cortisol após a administração de Fludrocortisona, os pacientes apresentaram níveis significativamente menores de cortisol salivar 30 minutos após acordar e na Área Sob a Curva (AUC) do que os controles. Além disso, encontramos também uma tendência dos pacientes depressivos apresentarem níveis menores de cortisol salivar 60 minutos após acordar do que os controles. Quando comparados entre pacientes depressivos com presença e ausência de EP e controles, encontramos uma tendência dos pacientes depressivos com ausência de EP apresentarem níveis menores de cortisol salivar ao acordar após Placebo do que os controles. As médias dos níveis de cortisol salivar ao acordar não diferiram entre os pacientes com presença de EP e os controles e entre os pacientes do grupo presença e ausência de EP. Com relação aos níveis de cortisol salivar após a administração de Dexametasona entre pacientes depressivos com presença e ausência de EP e controles, os pacientes depressivos com ausência de EP apresentaram níveis significativamente maiores de cortisol salivar ao acordar do que os controles. Encontramos também uma tendência dos pacientes com ausência de EP apresentarem níveis maiores de cortisol salivar ao acordar do que os pacientes com presença de EP, porém não foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre os pacientes com presença de EP e os controles. Conclusão: Nossos dados demonstram uma hipoatividade do eixo HPA nos pacientes depressivos. Além disso, estes achados sugerem que esta desregulação do eixo HPA se deva em parte a uma diminuição da sensibilidade dos RG e uma hiperativação dos RM nos pacientes depressivos. No entanto, quando comparados pacientes depressivos com presença e ausência de Estresse Precoce, os desafios com agonistas seletivos como a Dexametasona (agonista RG) e a Fludrocortisona (agonista RM) não foram capazes de detectar esta diferença fisiopatológica e distinguir entre os diferentes tipos de psicopatologia. Dessa forma, estes resultados sugerem que estudos com um agonista misto (RG/RM) como a Prednisolona teriam potencial para distinguir os pacientes depressivos com presença de Estresse Precoce. / Introduction: Several studies suggest that stress in early stages of development can induce persistent changes in the ability of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis to respond to stress in adulthood. The imbalance of cortisol has been identified as a biological correlate of depressive disorders. These abnormalities seem to be related to changes in the ability of circulating glucocorticoids to practice their negative feedback on the secretion of HPA axis hormones through connecting to the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and glucocorticoid (GR) in the tissues of HPA axis. Due to the wide variety of stressors, as well as the different subtypes of depression, the findings of current studies have been inconsistent. Thus, more studies need to be able to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the association between Early Life Stress (ELS) and the development of depression. Objective: The objective this study is to evaluate the correlation between of Early Life Stress and changes in Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis and at receptors function glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid in depressive patients. Methodology: We recruited 30 subjects initially divided into two groups: patients with current depressive episode (n =20) and control group (n = 10) Subsequently, patients were divided into two groups according to the ELS, making the final sample of three groups: depressive patients with ELS (n =13) group of depressive patients without ELS (n=7) and control group (n=10). Patients were evaluated by clinical interview according to the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV to confirm the diagnosis. To evaluate the severity of depressive symptoms was applied to the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D21), and included only patients with HAM-D21 17. The presence of ELS was confirmed by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). We also used the Depression Rating Scale Montgomery-Asberg (MADRS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Scale for Suicide Ideation Beck (BSI), the Scale Beck Hopelessness (BHS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) for the assessment of severity psychiatric symptoms. Endocrine evaluation was placebo-controlled, blinded by the patients and controls, non-randomized design with repeated measures, where the effects of Fludrocortisone (0.5 mg) and dexamethasone (0.5 mg) were assessed using salivary cortisol and plasma. The secretion of plasma cortisol and salivary was evaluated in the subjects, after administration of a capsule of Placebo, Fludrocortisone and Dexamethasone to 22hs the previous day. The salivary cortisol was collected at 22h, on waking, 30 and 60 minutes after waking and before plasma collection in the following days after the challenges. Results: In these sample of depressed patients and controls, we found significantly lower levels of salivary cortisol around waking after administration of Placebo in depressed patients than controls. We also found a trend for patients to have higher levels of salivary cortisol than controls on awakening after administration of Dexamethasone. When measured cortisol after administration of Fludrocortisone, patients showed significantly lower levels of salivary cortisol 30 minutes after waking and the Area Under the Curve (AUC) than controls. In addition, we also found a tendency for depressed patients showed lower levels of salivary cortisol 60 minutes after awakening than controls. When compared between depressed patients with and without ELS and controls, we found a tendency for depressed patients without ELS presented lower levels of salivary cortisol on awakening after Placebo than controls. The mean salivary cortisol levels on waking did not differ between patients with ELS and controls and between patients with and without ELS. The levels of salivary cortisol after Dexamethasone administration between depressed patients with and without ELS and controls, depressed patients without ELS had significantly higher levels of salivary cortisol on awakening than controls. We also found a trend for patients without Early Life Stress have higher levels of salivary cortisol upon waking than patients with Early Life Stress, but there were no significant differences between patients with Early Life Stress and controls. Conclusion: Our data show a hypoactivity of the HPA axis in depressed patients. Moreover, these findings suggest that this dysregulation HPA axis is partly due to a decrease the sensitivity of RG and a hyperactivation of MR in patients depressive. However, when compared depressed patients with and without Early Life Stress, the challenges with selective agonists as the Dexamethasone (agonist GR) and Fludrocortisone (agonist MR) were not able to detect this difference pathophysiological and distinguish between the different types of psychopathology. Thus, these results suggest that studies with a mixed agonist (GR/MR) such as Prednisolone have potential to distinguish of depressive patients with Early Life Stress.

O rio Paraíba do Sul, em seu trecho paulista, é sem dúvida um dos mais importantes cursos d\'água do Estado de São Paulo. Foi às suas margens que parte do desenvolvimento do Brasil ocorreu, em virtude do plantio do café, e como ligação entre as duas principais cidades do país; São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro, rota conhecida como macro-eixo. As descargas de efluentes líquidos domésticos, sem o devido tratamento, são hoje as fontes que mais poluem o rio. Este estudo pretende avaliar a evolução da carga orgânica de origem doméstica, lançada pelos municípios que compõem a bacia hidrográfica, até os limites do Estado de São Paulo com o Estado do Rio de Janeiro. O período escolhido para a realização da avaliação foi de uma década, entre os anos de 1998 a 2007, já que, o início das atividades do Comitê da Bacia do rio Paraíba do Sul no âmbito do Estado de São Paulo, ter sido no ano de 1994. Os parâmetros químicos definidos para a realização do estudo, a partir dos 16 pontos de monitoramento da água da CETESB (Companhia de Tecnologia e Saneamento Ambiental), localizados ao longo do curso do rio, no trecho paulista, foram: a DBO (demanda bioquímica de oxigênio) e o OD (oxigênio dissolvido), que representam o nível de poluição orgânica de origem doméstica em um corpo d\'água, conforme estabelece as legislações vigentes para a bacia hidrográfica do rio Paraíba do Sul. A importância deste estudo está relacionada com as condições em que as águas do rio Paraíba do Sul, entram na represa do Funil, no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, que tem reclamado muito da poluição do rio no trecho paulista, por ser este o manancial mais importante para o abastecimento da região metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro. Entende-se, portanto a preocupação daquele Estado com a qualidade da água do rio à montante da represa do Funil. / The Paraíba do Sul rives, at São Paulo, is undoubtedly one of the most important water courses of the State of São Paulo. Went to their banks that the development of Brazil occurred because of the planting of coffee, and as a liaison between the two main cities of Brazil, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, route known as \"macro-axis.\" Discharges of liquid household, without proper treatment, are now the sources that pollute the river more. This study aims to assess the evolution of the organic load of domestic origin, launched by the municipalities that make up the basin, until the limits of the State of São Paulo with the State of Rio de Janeiro. The period chosen for the evaluation was a decade between the years 1998 to 2007, since the beginning of activities of the Committee of the basin of the river Paraíba do Sul in the state of São Paulo, was the year 1994. The chemical parameters defined for the study, from 16 points to monitor the water CETESB (Cia. of Thecnology e Wasting Envoriomental), located along the course of the river, in São Paulo words, were the BOD (biochemical demand of oxygen) and DO (dissolved oxygen), representing the level of organic pollution of domestic origin in a body of water, as provides the existing laws for the basin of the river Paraíba do Sul The importance of this study is related to the conditions under which the waters of the river Paraíba do Sul, the funnel into the reservoir in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which has claimed much of the pollution of the river stretch in Sao Paulo, since this is the most wealth important for the supply of the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. It is understood, therefore the concern that state with the water quality of the river upstream to the dam of the funnel.

As software increases in complexity and relies more on Internet and Web technology, the challenge of enabling interaction and communication between loosely coupled applications becomes increasingly vital. Distributed computing presents challenges to loosely coupled applications that require means with which to interact and communicate. There exist technologies that are aimed at solving these problems; Web service is one such technology. Web service is a relatively new and rapidly maturing technology in the area of distributed computing; it offers a standards-based way to exchange information in an interoperable manner. This thesis is done in partnership with StruSoft and attempts to provide a solution to their problem of distributed computing, by using Web service technology. The paper looks at distributed systems and various solutions to the problems associated with distributed computing. A comprehensive insight into Web service technology is provided, along with rationale as to why it is chosen for the project. In addition, there are guidelines as to how the necessary components of Web service are installed. Development of License Management Software is also a part of this thesis. The software offers a means with which to store and maintain data about customers and their licenses. Security is a major focus of this paper and thus extensively mentioned throughout. A detailedexplanation of computer security is presented, along with the necessary configurations that are needed to make the Web service and the License Management Software more secure.

Dans une optique de maximisation de la production et de réduction des coûts d’installation, de maintenance et d’entretien des trackers solaires, qui permettent d’orienter les modules photovoltaïques à haute concentration (HCPV), ces travaux de thèse se focalisent sur l’amélioration de la précision et la réduction du coût de la stratégie de génération de la trajectoire du tracker. Dans un premier temps, un simulateur de tracker HCPV est développé offrant une étude de l’influence de la performance du suivi du soleil sur la production des modules HCPV, permettant ainsi une étude et une comparaison des stratégies de génération de trajectoires. Le simulateur est basé sur un modèle comportemental de module HCPV monté sur tracker permettant de prédire la puissance maximale du module HCPV en fonction de l’erreur de position du tracker face au soleil, de l’ensoleillement direct et de la température. Une première stratégie de commande dite de référence a été implémentée sur ce simulateur. C’est une commande hybride qui repose sur un viseur solaire pour corriger l’erreur de poursuite par un calcul astronomique. Ensuite, afin d’améliorer les performances et de réduire les coûts de cette stratégie, une nouvelle approche sans capteur est développée en se basant sur une méthode d’optimisation du gradient de puissance pour la génération de la trajectoire du tracker. Une étude complémentaire est également exposée afin de mettre en évidence des algorithmes de recherche de la puissance maximale (MPPT) pouvant offrir des temps de réponse suffisamment rapides pour ne pas affecter la qualité de l’évaluation du gradient de puissance. Dans ce contexte, une commande MPPT P&O améliorée par un réseau de neurones à complexité réduite est proposée, assurant un compromis entre précision, simplicité et rapidité / This work focuses on improving the accuracy and on reducing the cost of the tracker generating trajectory strategy, in order to maximize the production and to reduce the installation and the maintenance cost of a solar tracker orienting high concentrated photovoltaic modules (HCPV). Initially, we propose a behavioral modeling of the HCPV module mounted on a dual axis tracker in order to study the influence of the tracking performance on the module power production. Then, this simulator can be used to test control strategies and to compare their performance. Firstly, a classical control strategy is implemented in the simulator. It is based on a hybrid control operating an astronomical calculation to follow the sun path, and a sun sensor to correct the tracking error. A sensorless strategy is proposed in this work to reduce the cost of the HCPV tracker control. This strategy is based on a gradient optimization algorithm to generate the tracker trajectory and to catch the sun path. Tested on the simulator, this strategy presents the same accuracy as the classical strategy while being less costly. The last study proposed in this thesis work concerns maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms, in order to respond to a given problem relating to the practical implementation of gradient algorithm. In this context, we propose an original optimization of the P&O MPPT control with a neural network algorithm leading to a significant reduction of the computational cost required to train it. This approach, which is ensuring a good compromise between accuracy and complexity is sufficiently fast to not affect the quality of the evaluation of the gradient.

Ce travail concerne l’étude d’écoulements incompressibles soumis à la rotation avec un solveur haute précision dans des géométries semi-complexes. La technique numérique mise en œuvre combine des schémas compacts, une méthode de projection multi domaine directe et un traitement efficace de la singularité à l’axe basé sur des conditions de parité dans l’espace de Fourier. Le solveur a été parallélisé avec une approche hybride MPI-OpenMP pour réduire les temps de calcul. Dans un premier temps, les précisions spatiales et temporelles de la méthode numérique et la scalabilité du solveur ont été vérifiées. La capacité du solveur à traiter des écoulements plus complexes a été évaluée en considérant des écoulements de type éclatement tourbillonnaire et un écoulement turbulent en conduite cylindrique. Dans un second temps, plusieurs écoulements typiques des machines tournantes ont été étudiés. Le premier écoulement est un écoulement turbulent incompressible isotherme dans un étage simplifié d’un compresseur haute pression d’une turbine à gaz. Les simulations menées ont mises en évidence l’effet de la rotation sur l’écoulement, notamment sur les instabilités se développant le long des parois et sur les différentes structures cohérentes. Le second cas traité est un écoulement turbulent de jet impactant un disque en rotation avec un fort confinement et transfert thermique. Une attention particulière a été portée sur les champs hydrodynamiques et thermique le long du rotor. Enfin, une étude préliminaire d’un jet turbulent impactant un disque fixe d’épaisseur non nulle dans une configuration moins contrainte avec prise en compte du couplage conduction-convection a été réalisée. / This work deals with the study of rotating incompressible flows with a high accurate solver in semi complex geometries. The numerical method used in this work combines compact schemes, a direct multidomain projection method and an efficient axis treatment based on parity conditions in Fourier space. The use of cylindrical coordinates introduces this mathematical singularity. In order to reduce the calculation time, the solver was parallelized with an hybrid MPI-OpenMP parallelization. First, the spatial and temporal accuracies of the numerical method and the scalability of the solver were checked. Then, the capability of the algorithm to deal with more complex flows was verified. Vortex breakdown flows and turbulent pipe flow were studied. In the second step, typical flows of turbomachineries and rotating systems were considered. The first flow was an incompressible isothermal turbulent flow in a high pressure compressor of gas turbine. The different simulations highlighted the rotation effects on the flows, especially on the instabilities appearing along the walls and the coherent structures. The second considered flow was a turbulent impinging jet on a rotating disk with heat transfer in a small aspect ratio cavity. The hydrodynamic fields and heat transfer near the rotor were analyzed in detail. Finally, a preliminary investigation of an impinging jet on a non-rotating disk in a larger aspect ratio cavity with a coupling between conduction and convection transfer was carried out.

Ce travail de doctorat consiste en l’étude des propositions paradoxales dans la première partie de l’œuvre poétique de Jenaro Talens (1964-1991). A partir des deux notions de paradoxe et de poésie, nous avons organisé nos recherches autour des structures syntagmatiques et paradigmatiques de l’énonciation paradoxale, et de la spécificité de ce discours poétique que nous avons appelé axe poétique. Ainsi après avoir défini deux grandes catégories de paradoxes (logiques et étymologiques), nous avons analysé la structure et les constructions de la signifiance des propositions paradoxales pour révéler leur rôle et leur fonction dans l’œuvre étudiée : moteur même de l’écriture, le sentiment paradoxal, synonyme du désarroi, manifeste la limite de la structuration duelle du réel pour inviter à une organisation non-duelle du monde. / This work consists in the study of paradoxical clauses in the first part of Jenaro Talens’s poetic works (from 1964 to 1991). Starting from the two notions of paradox and poetry, we have organized our research around the syntagmatic and paradigmatic structures of the enunciation of paradoxes and the specificity of this poetic discourse, which we called poetic axis. So, after defining 2 large categories of paradoxes (logical and etymological), we have analysed the structure and the constructions of paradoxical propositions, in order to reach their role and function of the work under study : the feeling of paradox, as a synonym of disarray, which is the fuel of writing, shows the limit of the dual structure of the real, to lead to a non dual organisation of the world.

In wind turbines, flow pressure variations on the air-structure interface cause aerodynamic forces. Consequently the structure deforms and starts to move. The interaction between aerodynamic forces and structural deformations mainly concerns aeroelasticity. Since these two are coupled, they have to be considered simultaneously in cases which the deformations are not negligible in comparison to the other geometric dimensions. The purpose of this work is to improve the simulation model of a vertical axis wind turbine by modifying the structural model from undamped Euler-Bernoulli beam theory with lumped mass matrix to the more advanced Timoshenko beam theory with consistent mass matrix plus an additional damping term. The bending of the beam is then unified with longitudinal and torsional deformations based on a fixed shape cross-section assumption and the Saint-Venant torsion theory. The whole work has been carried out by implementing the finite element method using MATLAB code and implanting it in a previously developed package as a complement. Finally the results have been verified by qualitative comparisons with alternative simulations.

This thesis is a literature study on how existing research on embodied tool use may support the use of the use of the computer mouse within three dimensional environments, followed by an analysis of a typical scenario in the use of three dimensional environment. Problems with interaction in this domain are well known to designers of 3d programs but not well understood, which results in programs in which mouse controllers are used to control three dimensional objects being more difficult to learn and less efficient to use than would be possible if the interaction was better understood. The problems are often identified by their symptoms, such as the drag-threshold problem, picking problem, and the object rotation/viewpoint management problem, but this thesis will explore what the cause of those problems is, and identifies them all as a single cognitive problem which is found to be caused by a rift between the functioning of the two dimensional tool in use (the mouse and cursor) and the simulated three dimensional environment with which the cursor is interacting. Analyses are performed on a scenario, and result in a pinpointing of the problem and possible solutions to the interaction part of the problem (with design guidelines emerging), as well as finding the possibility that the cognitive roots of the problem result from an incompatibility between body-schema frames of reference for movement between the two dimensional parts of the action and the three dimensional part of the action.

Breathing is a vital phenomenon that implies synergy of various anatomical structures that constitute the thorax. Joint physiology remains a relatively poorly-known component of the overall thorax physiology. Quantitative literature related to in vivo thorax kinematics during breathing is scarce. The present work focuses specifically on developing and applying a methodology to reach this goal. The developed method combined processing of CT data obtained at different lung volumes and infographic techniques. Detailed ranges of motion (ROMs) and axes of movement (mean helical axes, MHAs) were obtained at costovertebral joints in 12 asymptomatic subjects; rib ROMs gradually decrease with increasing rib number; lung volume and rib level have a significant influence on rib ROM; MHAs did not differ between rib levels. In addition, the method was applied on a sample of 10 patients with cystic fibrosis. The pathological condition significantly influenced CVJ ROMs while the orientation of the MHAs did not differ. Finally, the sternal displacement, sternal angle variations and sternocostal joints (SCJ at rib1 to 7) kinematics during breathing motion were analyzed. Rib ranges of motion relative to sternum decreased with increasing rib number similarly to CVJ. Orientation of the MHAs did not differ between SCJ levels. A significant linear correlation was demonstrated between sternum vertical displacement and rib ranges of motion at both CVJ and SCJ. The present work substantially contributes to 3D modelling of human thorax in breathing at a joint level both qualitatively and quantitatively. / Doctorat en Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques (Médecine) / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished