This work describes the development of an optical probe for measuring movement of tissue particles deep inside which are loaded by an ultrasound remote palpation device. The principle of the method is that ultrasound force which can be applied inside the tissue makes the tissue particles vibrate and this vibration phase-modulates the light intercepting the insoniified region which results in a modulated speckle intensity on detection outside the object. This speckle intensity modulation detected through the measured intensity autocorrelation is a measure of the vibration amplitude. Since the vibration amplitude is related to the local elastic properties of the medium, the measured modulation depth in intensity autocorrelation can be used to map the elastic property in the insonified region. In this work, first the ultrasound induced force is calculated for both plane and focused ultrasound beams, and converted to amplitude of vibration and refractive index modulation, solving the forward elastography equation. Light propagation inside an insonified object is modelled using Monte Carlo simulation and the amplitude and intensity correlations are computed. The modulation depth on the autocorrelation is estimated and shown that it is inversely correlated to the local elastic modulus and optical absorption coefficient. It is further shown that whereas the variation in modulation depth is linear with respect to absorption coefficient, the same variation with elastic property is nonlinear. These results are verified experimentally in a tissue mimicking phantom. The phantom was constructed out of poly vinyl alcohol(PVA) whose optical, mechanical and acoustic properties are independently controlled. It is also shown that for loading with focused ultrasound beam the displacement is almost along the ultrasound transducer axis and therefore the contribution from refractive index modulation alone can be ascertained by probing the insonified perpendicular to the transducer axis. This helps one to find the contribution to the modulation depth from the ultrasound-induced vibration, which can be used to compute a quantitative estimate of the elastic modulus from the modulation depth.

Presented is a radiometric sensor and associated electromagnetic propagation models, developed to facilitate non-invasive core body temperature extraction. The system has been designed as a close-proximity sensor to detect thermal emissions radiated from deep-seated tissue 1 cm – 3 cm inside the human body. The sensor is intended for close proximity health monitoring applications, with potential implications for deployment into the improved astronaut liquid cooling garment (LCG). The sensor is developed for high accuracy and resolution. Therefore, certain design issues that distort the close proximity measurement have been identified and resolved. An integrated cavity-backed slot antenna (CBSA) is designed to account for antenna performance degradation, which occurs in the near field of the human body. A mathematical Non-Contact Model (NCM) is subsequently used to correlate the observed brightness temperature to the subsurface temperature, while accounting for artifacts induced by the sensor’s remote positioning from the specimen. In addition a tissue propagation model (TPM) is derived to model incoherent propagation of thermal emissions through the human body, and accounts for dielectric mismatch and losses throughout the intervening tissue layers. The measurement test bed is comprised of layered phantoms configured to mimic the electromagnetic characteristics of a human stomach volume; hence defines the human core model (HCM). A drop in core body temperature is simulated via the HCM, as the sensor monitors the brightness temperature at an offset distance of approximately 7 mm. The data is processes through the NCM and TPM; yielding percent error values < 3%. This study demonstrates that radiometric sensors are indeed capable of subsurface tissue monitoring from the near field of the body. However, the following components are vital to achieving an accurate measurement, and are addressed in this work: 1) the antenna must be designed for optimum functionality in close proximity to biological media; 2) a multilayer phantom model is needed to accurately emulate the point of clinical diagnosis across the tissue depth; 3) certain parameters of the non-contact measurement must be known to a high degree of accuracy; and 4) a tissue propagation model is necessary to account for electromagnetic propagation effects through the stratified tissue.

Benjamin Fondane est un penseur et un artiste du XXe siècle qui demeure encore relativement méconnu de la communauté universitaire. Pourtant, son œuvre poétique et ses essais révèlent une démarche atypique et une vision concrète de la dualité humaine et de la pratique de la pensée. « Le mal des fantômes », poème central de l’œuvre de Fondane, est une incarnation imagée du mal-être psychique de l’humain qui pressent que ses réflexes intellectuels, tels la raison et l’esprit de non-contradiction, créent une rupture avec son expérience intime du monde, brigue une portion du réel. L’étude de la figure du fantôme (qui est la figure de la hantise dans la tradition littéraire) ainsi que de l’économie discursive de la traversée maritime qui se déploient dans ce poème nous permet d’interroger les astuces rhétoriques que Fondane met en place afin de contrecarrer ce malaise. À travers l’expérience scripturale et la lecture, il est à la recherche d’une nouvelle disposition de l’activité réflexive qui serait davantage solidaire de l’existence humaine. C’est grâce au geste de l’écriture que sa pensée voyage, se meut, retrouve sa vivacité et, par là même, ses pouvoirs de mutation. Se pencher sur la mise en œuvre de la réflexion chez Benjamin Fondane permet de poser un regard sensible sur les propres rapports que nous entretenons avec notre activité intellectuelle, scripturale et notre pensée. / Benjamin Fondane is a thinker and an artist of the twentieth century who is still relatively unknown to the academic community. However, his poetry and essays reveal an unusual flow of language and a concrete vision of human duality and practice of thought. “Le mal des fantômes,” Fondane’s central poem, is a image-laden incarnation of the human’s mental uneasiness in creating a disjunction between his or her intellectual reflexes, such as reason and the spirit of non-contradiction, and an intimate experience of the world, a disjunction that necessarily limits the mind to a mere portion of a larger, integral reality. In studying the “fantôme” trope – that is, the haunting figures of the literary tradition – in conjunction with the poem's discursive economy of the sea voyage, we seek to unveil the rhetorical ploys that Fondane mobilizes to counteract this malaise. Through writing and reading experimentation, he seeks a new paradigm of thinking that follows more closely unfolding human existence. By virtue of writing itself, thought travels, moves along, and regains both its vitality and transformative power. Moreover, considering the workings of Fondane’s thought enables us to examine the ongoing relationship between our own intellectual activity, writing, and thought.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O fenômeno do colapso gravitacional e a estrutura de estrelas relativísticas são de grande importância em astrofísica desde a formulação da relatividade geral. Alguns trabalhos mais recentes revelam avanços importantes em nosso entendimento da formação de estruturas como buracos negros e singularidades nuas e do comportamento de fluidos exóticos tais como matéria e energia escura, incluindo aqui os fluidos fantasmas. A complexidade do estudo do colapso gravitacional está relacionada à existência de poucas soluções analíticas disponíveis para este fim. Recentemente, soluções auto-similares das equações de campo de Einstein têm atraído grande atenção, não somente pela possibilidade de serem estudadas analiticamente, simplificando o problema, mas também por sua relevância em astrofísica. Neste trabalho, estudamos o colapso gravitacional do fluido anisotrópico com auto-similaridade do segundo e primeiro tipos em espaços-tempos (2 + 1)-dimensionais, com simetria circular. Impondo as equações de estado pr = 0 e p&#952; = &#969;&#961;, onde &#961; determina a densidade de energia e pr, p&#952; as pressões nas direções radial e tangencial do fluido, mostramos que, para soluções com auto-similaridade do segundo tipo, há duas distintas famílias. Para uma delas, as únicas soluções são as que representam fluido de poeira. Todas as soluções para as equações de campo de Einstein são encontradas e suas propriedades locais e globais são estudadas em detalhes. Algumas delas podem ser interpretadas como um processo de colapso gravitacional, em que singularidades nuas e buracos negros são formados. Para a outra família de soluções, temos um modelo cosmológico, com expansão acelerada, que começa em uma singularidade inicial (t = 0), com todas as condições de energia satisfeitas. Nosso propósito foi investigar o papel da não-homogeneidade na aceleração do fluido. Na intenção de estudar as soluções com auto-similaridade do primeiro tipo, mostramos que existe uma solução que representa um processo de colapso gravitacional, resultando em uma estrutura final de buraco negro ou singularidade nua, que podem ser constituídos de um fluido bem comportado ou fantasma.

Submitted by Claudinei Pracidelli (cpracide@ipen.br) on 2015-01-21T10:32:45Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2015-01-21T10:32:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP / FAPESP:10/04206-4

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O fenômeno do colapso gravitacional e a estrutura de estrelas relativísticas são de grande importância em astrofísica desde a formulação da relatividade geral. Alguns trabalhos mais recentes revelam avanços importantes em nosso entendimento da formação de estruturas como buracos negros e singularidades nuas e do comportamento de fluidos exóticos tais como matéria e energia escura, incluindo aqui os fluidos fantasmas. A complexidade do estudo do colapso gravitacional está relacionada à existência de poucas soluções analíticas disponíveis para este fim. Recentemente, soluções auto-similares das equações de campo de Einstein têm atraído grande atenção, não somente pela possibilidade de serem estudadas analiticamente, simplificando o problema, mas também por sua relevância em astrofísica. Neste trabalho, estudamos o colapso gravitacional do fluido anisotrópico com auto-similaridade do segundo e primeiro tipos em espaços-tempos (2 + 1)-dimensionais, com simetria circular. Impondo as equações de estado pr = 0 e p&#952; = &#969;&#961;, onde &#961; determina a densidade de energia e pr, p&#952; as pressões nas direções radial e tangencial do fluido, mostramos que, para soluções com auto-similaridade do segundo tipo, há duas distintas famílias. Para uma delas, as únicas soluções são as que representam fluido de poeira. Todas as soluções para as equações de campo de Einstein são encontradas e suas propriedades locais e globais são estudadas em detalhes. Algumas delas podem ser interpretadas como um processo de colapso gravitacional, em que singularidades nuas e buracos negros são formados. Para a outra família de soluções, temos um modelo cosmológico, com expansão acelerada, que começa em uma singularidade inicial (t = 0), com todas as condições de energia satisfeitas. Nosso propósito foi investigar o papel da não-homogeneidade na aceleração do fluido. Na intenção de estudar as soluções com auto-similaridade do primeiro tipo, mostramos que existe uma solução que representa um processo de colapso gravitacional, resultando em uma estrutura final de buraco negro ou singularidade nua, que podem ser constituídos de um fluido bem comportado ou fantasma.

In its theoretical part, this work deals with hospital information systems, their properties and development trends in the world, in Czech Republic and in the faculty Hospital in Plzeň in particular. A special reason for taking up this subject was the on-going transition to digital operation at the RTG departament of said hospital. Pictorial documentacion in digital form is presently becoming standard part of the medical do-cumentacion. The X-ray photographs can now be viewed at any client station of the hospital information system. As the existing stations were not originally intended for visualisation of pictorial medical documentacion, image quality tests have been carried out to determine the suitability of the station monitors for such operation. The main target of this work was to identify, using the technical tools available ath the RTG departament, a suitable image quality test, to verify its informative value and compare the existing hospital information system stations with dedicated diagnostic work station primarily intended for visualisation of medical X-ray documentation. The practical part of this work consisted of two tests using special graphic images and real patient`s X-ray picture including a specific diagnostic feature. A method of controlled interview was then used to establish the image quality and the degree of certainty with which that the doctors could identify the subject diagnostic feature. The test results were subject to statistical analysis using the linear regression analytic method whereby the informative value of the tests was determined. Finally, the operational properties of diagnostic work stations were compared to those of the hospital information system. In consideration of the small number of stations subjects to tests, the statistic analysis of this comparison was not carried out.

Submitted by Claudinei Pracidelli (cpracide@ipen.br) on 2015-01-21T10:32:45Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2015-01-21T10:32:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / A NSECT figura como uma nova técnica espectrográfica capaz de avaliar in vivo a concentração de elementos utilizando a reação de espalhamento inelástico (n,n). Desde sua introdução, várias melhorias vem sendo propostas com o objetivo de investigar aplicações para o diagnóstico clínico e redução da dose absorvida associada à aquisição tomográfica. Neste contexto, são apresentadas duas novas aplicações de diagnóstico utilizando as abordagens espectroscópica e tomográfica da NSECT. Uma nova metodologia também foi proposta para otimizar a amostragem do sinograma que está diretamente relacionado com a qualidade de reconstrução através do protocolo de irradiação. Os estudos realizados foram desenvolvidos com base em simulações com o código MCNP5. O diagnóstico de Carcinoma de Célula Renal (CCR) e a detecção de microcalcificações mamárias foram avaliadas nos estudos conduzidos utilizando um objeto simulador humano. Os resultados obtidos demonstram a habilidade da técnica NSECT em detectar a alteração da composição dos tecidos modelados em função do desenvolvimento das patologias avaliadas. O método proposto para a otimização dos sinogramas foi capaz de simular analiticamente a composição do meio irradiado permitindo que a qualidade de reconstrução e a dose efetiva fossem avaliados em função da taxa de amostragem. Entretanto, futuras pesquisas devem ser conduzidas para quantificar o limiar de detecção de acordo com os elementos selecionados. / Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP / FAPESP:10/04206-4

L’objet de la présente étude est le personnage principal dans l’oeuvre Le Fantôme de l’Opéra de Gaston Leroux. Le but de cette analyse littéraire est de mettre en évidence l'ambiguïté et la complexité psychologique et morale de ce personnage.L’analyse est basée sur les théories de Vincent Jouve à propos de la perception du personnage romanesque. Le résultat de l'analyse montre que l'ambiguïté du personnage principal peut être déduite de ce que Jouve appelle le « système de la sympathie » constitué de trois codes : le code narratif, le code affectif et le code culturel. / The object of this study is the main character in the novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux. The purpose of this literature analysis is to highlight the ambiguity and complexity surrounding this character based on a psychological and moral point of view.The analysis is based on the theories of Vincent Jouve about the perception of a fictional character. The result of the analysis shows that the ambiguity of the main character can be deduced from what Jouve calls the "system of sympathy" consisting of three codes : the narrative code, the affective code and the cultural code.

Résumé de l'étude in vitro. L'objectif de cette étude in vitro était de créer un fantôme avec la même architecture musculaire (fibre, aponévrose ...) et les mêmes propriétés mécaniques que le muscle en condition passive et active. Deux fantômes homogènes ont été fabriqués avec différentes concentrations de plastisol pour simuler les propriétés élastiques du muscle en condition passive (50% plastisol) et active (70% de plastisol). Pour cela, des fils en Téflon (d = 0,9 mm) ont été insérés dans la partie supérieure du fantôme (50%) pour représenter les fibres musculaires. De plus, une feuille en matière plastique (8 x 15 cm) a également été placée au milieu du fantôme pour imiter la structure de l'aponévrose. Ensuite, des tests ERM ont été effectués à 90 Hz avec deux stimulateurs pneumatiques de différentes formes (tube en silicone, membrane circulaire) pour analyser l'effet du type du stimulateur sur la propagation des ondes. La longueur d'onde a été mesurée à partir des images phase et les propriétés élastiques (module de cisaillement) ont été calculées. Les deux fantômes (50% et 70%) ont montré des propriétés élastiques similaires à celles du muscle à l’état passif (2,40 ± 0,18 kPa) et actif (6,24 ± 0,21 kPa). Le stimulateur en forme de tube a donné des valeurs plus élevées (environ 1,2 kPa à 1,53 kPa). L'analyse du comportement des ondes a révélé un glissement le long de la feuille plastique. Ce phénomène a aussi été observé in vivo le long de l’aponévrose. L'onde a également été sensible à la présence des fils en téflon car des coupures, des trous, ont été identifiés au cours de la propagation de l’onde. Une nouvelle méthode de post-traitement a été créée pour mesurer les paramètres G' et G" à partir de tests ERM réalisés à plusieurs fréquences (60, 80, 100 Hz) et en utilisant des modèles rhéologiques. Cette méthode a été testée sur un fantôme (50%) qui n’avait pas d’inclusion. Les résultats des mesures viscoélastiques (G', G") ont été validés avec la technique HFVS (Hyper-Fréquence viscoélastique Spectroscopy). Des valeurs similaires, G' et G’’, ont été obtenues avec les deux techniques. Ce dernier résultat valide la nouvelle méthode de post-traitement pour mesurer les propriétés viscoélastiques. Résumé de l'étude in vivo. L'objectif de cette étude in vivo a été de développer des protocoles ERM pour caractériser les propriétés élastiques (module de cisaillement) des neuf muscles de la cuisse. Ces tests ont été effectués à une seule fréquence (90 Hz). Différents modules de cisaillement ont été trouvés entre les muscles. Le gracilis a révélé des propriétés élastiques plus élevées que les autres muscles. Ces différentes élasticités peuvent être dues à différentes compositions physiologiques et architecturales entre les tissus. Ensuite, les propriétés viscoélastiques des muscles ischio (ST, SM, et la BC) et du muscle Gr ont été déterminées en appliquant la nouvelle méthode de post-traitement des données (précédemment validée sur le fantôme 50%) avec des tests ERM multi fréquences (70, 90 et 120 Hz) et en utilisant des modèles rhéologiques. Les résultats ont montré que deux modèles rhéologiques, Zener et springpot, peuvent être utilisés pour mesurer les propriétés viscoélastiques des muscles à l’état passif. De plus, des résultats similaires ont été trouvés entre G "/ G ', obtenus expérimentalement à 90 Hz, et la valeur α du modèle de springpot. / Summary of the vitro studies. The objective of this in vitro study was to create a phantom witch the same muscle architecture (fiber, aponeurosis …) and mechanical properties of muscle in passive and active states. Two homogeneous phantoms were manufactured with different concentrations of plastisol to simulate the muscle elastic properties in passive (50% of plastisol) and active (70% of plastisol) muscle conditions. Moreover, teflon tubing pipes (D = 0.9 mm) were thread in the upper part of the phantom (50%) to represent the muscle fibers and a plastic sheet (8 x 15 cm) was also included in the middle of the phantom to mimic the aponeurosis structure. Subsequently, MRE tests were performed at 90Hz with two different pneumatic drivers, tube and round shapes, to analyze the effect of the type of driver on the wave propagation. The wavelength was measured from the phase images and the elastic properties (shear modulus) were calculated. Both phantoms revealed elastic properties which were in the same range as in vivo muscle in passive (2.40 ± 0.18 kPa) and active (6.24 ± 0.21 kPa) states. The impact of the type of driver showed higher values with the tube (range: 1.2 kPa to 1.53 kPa). The analysis of the wave behavior revealed a sliding along the plastic sheet as it was observed for in vivo muscle study. The wave was also sensitive to the presence of the fibers where gaps were identified. A new post processing method was established to measure G’ and G” from experimental multi frequencies (60, 80, 100 Hz) MRE (MMRE) tests and rheological models. This method was tested on the phantom (50%) made without fiber. Cross validation of the viscoelastic (G’, G”) results was made with Hyper-Frequency Viscoelastic Spectroscopy (HFVS). Both techniques showed similar range of values for G’ and G” at the same frequencies. This last result validated our new data processing for the viscoelastic measurement. Summary of the in vivo studies. The objective of this in vivo study was to develop MRE protocols to characterize the elastic properties (shear modulus) of the nine thigh muscles. These tests were performed at a single frequency (90Hz). Different shear moduli were found between the muscles. The gracilis revealed the highest elastic properties compared to all the other muscles. These different elasticities may be due to different physiological and architectural compositions between the tissues. Then the viscoelastic properties of the ischio (ST, SM, and BC) and Gr muscles were determined based on our new data-processing method (validated on the phantom 50%) using MMRE tests (70, 90 and 120Hz) and rheological models. The results revealed that two rheological models, zener and springpot, can be used to measure the viscoelastic properties in passive state. A similar trend was found between the experimental ratios G”/G’ obtained at 90 Hz and the α value of the springpot model. The present MRE muscle protocol, and the viscoelastic data base, could be used as non-invasive diagnostic tools to evaluate tissue alterations, the progression of diseases, and the effect of treatments, such as the ongoing therapeutic trials for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.