Die Infektion mit Salmonella und Yersinia (Y.) enterocolitica über Produkte tierischen Ursprungs stellt nach wie vor ein ungelöstes Problem des gesundheitlichen Verbraucherschutzes dar. Will man diese Zoonoseerreger aus der Lebensmittelkette fernhalten, sind moderne und gut validierte Nachweissysteme erforderlich. Eine Infektion von Schweinen erfolgt überwiegend im Mastbetrieb mit Infektionsdosen, die nur zu einer milden klinischen Symptomatik führen. In den meisten Fällen überstehen die Tiere die Infektion mit Salmonella und Y. enterocolitica und werden zu klinisch inapparenten Keimträgern. Solche Schweine stellen ein Reservoir für die Infektion anderer Tiere und für den Eintrag in die Lebensmittelkette dar. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden zwei PCR-Methoden zum spezifischen Nachweis von Salmonella und Y. enterocolitica im Schlachtschwein entwickelt und anhand von Probenmaterial aus eigens dafür durchgeführten Infektionsversuchen mit S. Typhimuirum und Y. enterocolitica evaluiert. Beide Methoden mussten sich am diagnostischen Goldstandard für den jeweiligen Erreger messen lassen. Für Salmonella Typhimurium wurde die ISO-Norm 6579 und für Y. enterocolitica die ISO-Norm 10273 zum kulturellen Nachweis ausgewählt. Es konnte eine neue PCR-Methodik zum Salmonella-Nachweis in 14 verschiedenen Gewebeproben etabliert werden, die im Vergleich zum kulturellen Nachweis nach ISO 6579 eine Sensitivität von 100 % und eine Spezifität von 96 % aufweist und die Zeitspanne bis zum spezifischen Nachweis des Erregers um mindestens 24 Stunden reduziert. Die Untersuchungen erfolgten anhand von 420 Gewebeproben aus persistent infizierten Schweinen aus Infektionsversuchen mit S. Typhimurium DT104. Dieses neu entwickelte und validierte PCR-Verfahren wurde mit einem bereits etablierten PCR-Nachweissystem nach RAHN et al. (1992) - wie in der DIN 10135 angegeben - verglichen. Beide PCR-Methoden basieren auf dem invA-Virulenzgen von S. Typhimurium. Im Infektionsversuch konnten zwei Gewebeproben (Caecum und Lnn. Ileocolici) bestimmt werden, durch deren Kombination man mit beiden Nachweismethoden 96 % (23 von 24 Tieren) aller im Versuch infizierten Schweine als Salmonella positiv identifizieren konnte. Erstmals gelang in dieser Arbeit der Nachweis des yopT-Gens bei plasmidtragenden Y. pseudotuberculosis-Stämmen sowie die Bestimmung der Sequenz (European Bioinformatics Institute, Accession-Number: AJ304833). Das yopT-Gen kodiert für ein 35,5 kDa großes Effektor-Protein, das einen zytotoxischen Effekt auf HELA-Zellen und Makrophagen besitzt. Durch den Nachweis des yopT-Gens bei Y. pseudotuberculosis-Stämmen war es erstmals möglich, eine für Y. enterocolitica spezifische, auf dem yopT-Gen des Virulenzplasmids basierende PCR-Methode zu etablieren, die auch die Diskriminierung von Y. pseudotuberculosis-Isolaten gestattet. In einem weiteren Infektionsversuch konnte gezeigt werden, dass es die auf dem yopT-Gen von Y. enterocolitica basierende PCR-Methode erlaubt, Carrier-Tiere mit hoher Sensitivität (100 %) und Spezifität (87 %) innerhalb von 56 Stunden in lymphatischen Geweben zu identifizieren. Besonders geeignet für den Nachweis mit der ISO 10273 und dem neu etablierten yopT PCR-Verfahren waren das Ileum und die Lnn. ileocolici. In dieser Arbeit ist der Versuch gelungen, die Diagnostik für zwei der drei wichtigsten beim Schwein vorkommenden humanen Enteritiserreger zu standardisieren, indem Kombinationen aus Gewebeproben bestimmt wurden, die sowohl für den Nachweis mit der jeweiligen Goldstandard-Methode als auch mit den schnelleren und sensitiveren PCR-Methoden geeignet sind. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit tragen zu einer deutlichen Verbesserung der Diagnostik von Salmonella und Y. enterocolitica beim Schlachtschwein bei. Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass somit der Eintrag dieser Zoonoseerreger in die Lebensmittelkette reduziert und der Verbraucherschutz auf diesem Gebiet beträchtlich verbessert werden kann. / The infection with Salmonella and Yersinia (Y.) enterocolitica through foodstuff from slaughter pigs is one of the major problems of hygienic consumer protection. To avoid the contamination of products from pig industry modern and well validated bacteriological identification systems are necessary. An infection predominantly occurs in the fattening pens, showing mild clinical symtoms only. The majority of infected pigs overcome the infection with Salmonella and Y. enterocolitica and become clinically inapparent carrier pigs. Those pigs are a reservoir for the contamination of other animals and pork products. In the context of this work two PCR-assays for the specific detection of Salmonella and Y. enterocolitica have been developed and validated on the basis of tissue samples from experimentally infected pigs. Both methods have been compared with the classical bacterial culture. Two international standards were used for bacterial detection: ISO 6579 for S. Typhimurium and ISO 10273 for pathogenic Y. enterocolitica. It was possible to establish a new PCR-assay for the specific detection of Salmonella in 14 different tissues of experimentally infected pigs. In comparison to the standard ISO 6579 a sensitivity of 100 % and a specificity of 96 % were calculated for the PCR-assay. The investigations were carried out with 420 tissue samples of persistently infected pigs that have been experimentally infected with S. Typhimurium. By using the PCR-method for the detection of Salmonella in positive tissue samples, the detection-time could be reduced around 24 hours. The new PCR-assay developed and validated in this work, was compared with the PCR-method described in DIN 10135, which is based on the studies of RAHN et al. (1992). Both methods were based on the invA-virulence gene of S. Typhimurium. A combination of samples from ileocolic lymph node and caecum was particularly suitable for the detection of 96 % of the experimentally infected pigs (23 off 24 animals) with the PCR-assay and the culture method. In this study, the yopT-gene was proved for the first time to be present in plasmid bearing Y. pseudotuberculosis-Isolates, and the nucleotid sequence was determined (European Bioinformatics Institute, Accession-Number: AJ304833). YopT encodes a 35.5 kDa effector protein (YopT), which induces a cytotoxic effect in HeLa cells and macrophages. This finding was used to develop a specific PCR-assay for the detection of pathogenic Y. enterocolicica strains and the discrimination from pathogenic Y. pseudotuberculosis strains. Embedded in an experimental Y. enterocolitica-infection-model in swine, it was shown that the yopT PCR-assay is suitable for the detection of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica in lymphatic tissue of persistently infected pigs. The yopT PCR-method shows a sensitivity of 100 % and a specificity of 87 % in lymphatic tissue. By the use of the PCR-assay, the detection of Y. enterocolitica was possible within 56 hours. A combination of specimens from the ileum and ileocolic lymph nodes was most suitable for the detection of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica in slaughter pigs with the ISO-Standard 10273 and the yopT PCR. This investigation succeeded in standardizing the identification of two of the three most important zoonotic agents for human enteric disease. The standardization was achived by the use of a combination of samples suitable for the identification with both, the “Goldstandard” and the specific and rapid PCR-method. The results of this work offer a better identification of Salmonella and Y. enterocolitica in slaughter pigs in the future. Based on these facts it is possible to avoid contamination of food products from slaughter pigs and to improve the hygienic consumer protection considerably.

Systems are becoming more complicated, complex, and interrelated. Designers have recognized the need to develop systems from a holistic perspective and design them as Systems-of-Systems (SoS). The design of the SoS, especially in the conceptual design phase, is generally characterized by significant uncertainty. As a result, it is possible for all three types of uncertainty (aleatory, epistemic, and error) and the associated factors of uncertainty (randomness, sampling, confusion, conflict, inaccuracy, ambiguity, vagueness, coarseness, and simplification) to affect the design process. While there are a number of existing SoS design methods, several gaps have been identified: the ability to modeling all of the factors of uncertainty at varying levels of knowledge; the ability to consider both the pernicious and propitious aspects of uncertainty; and, the ability to determine the value of reducing the uncertainty in the design process. While there are numerous uncertainty modeling theories, no one theory can effectively model every kind of uncertainty. This research presents a Hybrid Uncertainty Modeling Method (HUMM) that integrates techniques from the following theories: Probability Theory, Evidence Theory, Fuzzy Set Theory, and Info-Gap theory. The HUMM is capable of modeling all of the different factors of uncertainty and can model the uncertainty for multiple levels of knowledge. In the design process, there are both pernicious and propitious characteristics associated with the uncertainty. Existing design methods typically focus on developing robust designs that are insensitive to the associated uncertainty. These methods do not capitalize on the possibility of maximizing the potential benefit associated with the uncertainty. This research demonstrates how these deficiencies can be overcome by identifying the most robust and opportunistic design. In a design process it is possible that the most robust and opportunistic design will not be selected from the set of potential design alternatives due to the related uncertainty. This research presents a process called the Value of Reducing Uncertainty Method (VRUM) that can determine the value associated with reducing the uncertainty in the design problem before a final decision is made by utilizing two concepts: the Expected Value of Reducing Uncertainty (EVRU) and the Expected Cost to Reducing Uncertainty (ECRU).

The necessity of cost effective, environmentally friendly technology has become increasingly important to remediate persistent organic pollutants in the environment. The emerging greener ultrasound technology has the potential to serve the remediation industry. In this study, the use of low power, high frequency (HF) ultrasound (1.6 MHz, 145 W/L) has been shown to effectively remediate DDT (90% of 8 mg/L) in water and sand slurries. Addition of iron powder accelerated DDT degradation in the sand slurry under ultrasonication. The potential of HF ultrasound (1.6 MHz, 160 W/L) in degradation of the non-volatile, polar model compound methylene blue (MB) was studied in MB spiked demineralised water and wastewater. A 70 % of 0.4 mg/L of MB was degraded in demineralised water whereas only 54% of MB degraded in MB spiked wastewater. There was a decrease in MB degradation rate with an increase in MB concentration. High power, low frequency (LF) ultrasound (20 kHz, 932 W/L) was used to desorb 400 mg/L of DDT added to three different natural soil slurries at 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt. % each. Each soil slurry was prepared in 0.1% v/v SDS surfactant solution, soaked for 30 min. and heated for another 30 min. at 40 oC before sonication. For the neutral pH soil slurry with higher dissolved organic carbon, the desorption efficiency achieved was over 80% in 30 s sonication. Alkaline soil with higher surface area than neutral soil indicated 60% desorption efficiency while the acidic soil, with the highest surface area and a higher amount of non-soluble organic matter, yielded 30% desorption efficiency under similar desorption conditions. Coconut fibre, used to biosorb the desorbed DDT in the decanted solution, was found to have over 25 g/kg of biosorption capacity for DDT. The surfactant SDS and associated DDT were completely separated from decanted liquid of the desorbed slurry with alum using adsorptive micellar flocculation in 60 min. settling. Acidic pH and molar concentration ratio of Al3+/SDS = 0.5 was used to completely remove the DDT. Using 20 kHz, 1125 W/L of sonication in an 80 mL reactor with air saturated 50 mg/L DDT at 20oC, the DDT removal efficiency achieved was 80% in 20 min. With zero valent iron addition, DDT removal efficiency in 15 min. is 100% with 15 and 22 mg/L of initial DDT concentrations. The settled DDT slurrywas remediated using 20 kHz at 240 W/L achieving DDT removal efficiency of 87% in 15 min. Also LF ultrasound was found to be effective in remediating chloroform (8 mg/L in 60 min) from spiked demineralised water and contaminated groundwater in both batch (120 W/L) and flow cell (6000 W/L) modes. Modeling and simulation of the ultrasonic reactor under 20 kHz ultrasonication was performed for various shape reactors using commercially available software. For almost all reactors, the highest ultrasonic intensity was observed near the transducer???s vibrating area. It was found that the highest acoustic pressure distribution, which is critical to the performance of the reactor, occurred in the conical reactor and flow cell configuration. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2010

The necessity of cost effective, environmentally friendly technology has become increasingly important to remediate persistent organic pollutants in the environment. The emerging greener ultrasound technology has the potential to serve the remediation industry. In this study, the use of low power, high frequency (HF) ultrasound (1.6 MHz, 145 W/L) has been shown to effectively remediate DDT (90% of 8 mg/L) in water and sand slurries. Addition of iron powder accelerated DDT degradation in the sand slurry under ultrasonication. The potential of HF ultrasound (1.6 MHz, 160 W/L) in degradation of the non-volatile, polar model compound methylene blue (MB) was studied in MB spiked demineralised water and wastewater. A 70 % of 0.4 mg/L of MB was degraded in demineralised water whereas only 54% of MB degraded in MB spiked wastewater. There was a decrease in MB degradation rate with an increase in MB concentration. High power, low frequency (LF) ultrasound (20 kHz, 932 W/L) was used to desorb 400 mg/L of DDT added to three different natural soil slurries at 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt. % each. Each soil slurry was prepared in 0.1% v/v SDS surfactant solution, soaked for 30 min. and heated for another 30 min. at 40 oC before sonication. For the neutral pH soil slurry with higher dissolved organic carbon, the desorption efficiency achieved was over 80% in 30 s sonication. Alkaline soil with higher surface area than neutral soil indicated 60% desorption efficiency while the acidic soil, with the highest surface area and a higher amount of non-soluble organic matter, yielded 30% desorption efficiency under similar desorption conditions. Coconut fibre, used to biosorb the desorbed DDT in the decanted solution, was found to have over 25 g/kg of biosorption capacity for DDT. The surfactant SDS and associated DDT were completely separated from decanted liquid of the desorbed slurry with alum using adsorptive micellar flocculation in 60 min. settling. Acidic pH and molar concentration ratio of Al3+/SDS = 0.5 was used to completely remove the DDT. Using 20 kHz, 1125 W/L of sonication in an 80 mL reactor with air saturated 50 mg/L DDT at 20oC, the DDT removal efficiency achieved was 80% in 20 min. With zero valent iron addition, DDT removal efficiency in 15 min. is 100% with 15 and 22 mg/L of initial DDT concentrations. The settled DDT slurrywas remediated using 20 kHz at 240 W/L achieving DDT removal efficiency of 87% in 15 min. Also LF ultrasound was found to be effective in remediating chloroform (8 mg/L in 60 min) from spiked demineralised water and contaminated groundwater in both batch (120 W/L) and flow cell (6000 W/L) modes. Modeling and simulation of the ultrasonic reactor under 20 kHz ultrasonication was performed for various shape reactors using commercially available software. For almost all reactors, the highest ultrasonic intensity was observed near the transducer???s vibrating area. It was found that the highest acoustic pressure distribution, which is critical to the performance of the reactor, occurred in the conical reactor and flow cell configuration. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2010

Despite measures on the European level to increase the compatibility between the HE sectors of the member states, the recent literature exposes variations in their efficiencies. To gain insights into these differences we split the efficiency term according to the two management levels each university is confronted with. Utilizing a recent advancement in the method to measure efficiency, we separate short-term (transient) and long-term (persistent) efficiency, while controlling for unobserved institution specific heterogeneity. While the first term reflects the efficiency of the individual universities working within the country, the second term echoes the influence of the country specific overall HE structure. The cross-country comparison displays if the overall efficiency difference between countries is related to individual performance of their universities or their HE structure. This allows more purposeful policy recommendation and expands the literature regarding the efficiency of universities in a fundamental way. Choosing Italy and Germany as two important illustrative examples we can take advantage of a novel dataset including characteristics of institutions in both countries for an exceptional long period of time from 2001 to 2011. We show that the Italian universities exhibit a higher overall efficiency value than their German counterparts. With the individual universities working at the upper bound of efficiency in both countries, the overall inefficiency as well as the gap between the countries is caused by persistent, structural inefficiency. To expedite a true European Area of Higher Education future measures should hence aim at the country specific structure, not solely at affecting the activities of single universities.

Ces dernières années d'importantes avancées techniques dans la manipulation des gaz atomiques ultrafroids ont ouvert la voie à la réalisation de fluides quantiques mésoscopiques de basse dimension. L'objet de cette thèse est l'étude théorique de certains systèmes mésoscopiques réalisables avec un gaz de Bose unidimensionel. Ces systèmes présentent des phénomènes quantiques intéressants, et sont potentiellement utiles en vue d'applications technologiques. Nous étudions le phénomène des courants permanents induits dans un gaz confiné sur un anneau par la rotation d'une barrière de potentiel, nous examinons la faisabilité d'un qubit fondé sur la superposition d'états de courant dans un réseau en forme d'anneau traversé par un champ de jauge et contenant un 'weak-link', ainsi que l'excitation dipolaire du gaz dans un 'split-trap' induit par le déplacement hors équilibre du potentiel externe. Dans tous ces cas, nous combinons diverses approches analytiques et numériques, qui permettent de couvrir l'ensemble des régimes d'interactions. Nous mettons en lumière un régime jusque-là inconnu, d'écrantage maximal des barrières de potentiel par le fluide, dû à une competition entre les effets des interactions et des fluctuations quantiques. Ces résultats ont des conséquences significatives sur le comportement de tels systèmes et, de ce fait, sont importants pour les réalisations en cours et à venir de dispositifs à gaz d'atomes ultrafroids. / Thanks to the experimental breakthrough of the last years in the manipulation of ultra cold atomic gases, it has become possible to realize low-dimensional and mesoscopic quantum fluids. The object of this thesis is the theoretical investigation of a few mesoscopic systems that can be realized with a one-dimensional Bose gas. These systems exhibit interesting quantum phenomena, and are potentially relevant for technological applications. We study the phenomenon of persistent currents induced by stirring the gas confined on a ring with a potential barrier, we examine the feasibility of a qubit based on the superposition of current states in a ring lattice threaded by a gauge field in the presence of a weak-link, and we investigate the dipole excitation of the gas in a split trap induced by an out-of-equilibrium displacement of the external potential. In all these cases, we apply a combination of analytical and numerical approaches that allow to cover all the interaction regimes. As a recurring theme, we disclose a so-far unknown regime of maximal screening of the barrier potential by the fluid, arising from the interplay of effects due to interactions and quantum fluctuations. These results have significant consequences for the behaviour of such systems and are important for the ongoing and future realization of ultracold atomic gases devices.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude du phénomène de Newhouse et des bifurcations en dynamique holomorphe à plusieurs variables. Elle comporte trois Théorèmes principaux. Le premier de ces trois résultats est un Gap Lemma complexe. En dynamique réelle, le Gap Lemma de Newhouse donne un critère sur le produit des épaisseurs de deux ensembles de Cantor dynamiques pour prouver que leur intersection est non vide. On en donne une généralisation partielle au cas des ensembles de Cantor dynamiques dans C. Plus précisément, on introduit une notion d’épaisseur pour un ensemble de Cantor dynamique planaire et on fournit un critère sur le produit de deux épaisseurs afin d’obtenir une intersection entre deux ensembles de Cantor dynamiques. On montre également que l’épaisseur est une quantité qui varie continûment, ce qui permet d’obtenir des intersections persistantes d’ensembles de Cantor dynamiques. Le second Théorème de cette thèse démontre l’existence du phénomène de Newhouse dans l’espace des automorphismes polynomiaux de degré d pour n’importe quel degré d ≥ 2 dans C^{3}. Au contraire de la situation dans C^{2}, le degré est ici connu et optimal. Le point clef de la preuve est l’introduction dans le domaine complexe d’un outil issu de la dynamique réelle : le blender de Bonatti et Diaz. On formalise le concept de blender complexe et on donne un automorphisme polynomial de C^{3} de degré 2 possédant un blender. Puis, on l’utilise afin de construire successivement des tangences persistantes et des sous-ensembles résiduels d’automorphismes ayant une infinité de puits. Enfin, le dernier résultat porte sur les bifurcations d’endomorphismes holomorphes de P^{2}(C) très particuliers, appelés exemples de Lattès, semi-conjugués à une application affine sur un tore. Dujardin a conjecturé que ces derniers étaient accumulés par des ouverts de bifurcations. On montre que tout exemple de Lattès de degré suffisamment élevé est accumulé par de telles bifurcations robustes. Ceci implique en particulier que tout exemple de Lattès possède un itéré dans l’adhérence de l’intérieur du lieu de bifurcation. La démonstration est basée sur l’obtention d’intersections persistantes entre l’ensemble postcritique et un ensemble hyperbolique répulsif contenu dans l’ensemble de Julia. La preuve est divisée en deux parties : on donne tout d’abord un toy-model qui permet d’obtenir des intersections persistantes entre l’ensemble limite d’un certain type d’IFS, appelé IFS correcteur, et une courbe. Ensuite, dans un second temps, on perturbe l’exemple de Lattès pour créer simultanément un IFS correcteur dans l’ensemble de Julia et une courbe bien orientée dans l’ensemble postcritique / In this PhD thesis, we study Newhouse’s phenomenon and bifurcations in the context of dynamics in several complex variables. We prove three main Theorems. The first one is a complex Gap Lemma. In real dynamics, Newhouse’s Gap Lemma gives a criterion on the product of the thicknesses of two dynamical Cantor sets K and L to show that K ∩ L is not empty. We show a partial generalization of this result for dynamical Cantor sets in C. A relevant notion of thickness in this case is defined and we give some criterion on the product of two thicknesses to show that two dynamical Cantor sets in C must intersect. We also show that the thickness varies continuously, which generates persistent intersections of dynamical Cantor sets. In the second Theorem, we show that there exists a polynomial automorphism f of C^{3} of degree 2 such that for every automorphism g sufficiently close to f, g admits a tangency between the stable and unstable laminations of some hyperbolic set. As a consequence, for each d ≥ 2, there exists an open set of polynomial automorphisms of degree at most d in which the automorphisms having infinitely many sinks are dense. In contrary to the case of C^{2}, the degree is known. To prove these results, we give a complex analogous to the notion of blender introduced by Bonatti and Diaz. In particular, we use a blender to produce robust tangencies. In the third and last result, we study the phenomenon of robust bifurcations in the space of holomorphic maps of P^{2}(C). We prove that any Lattès example of sufficiently high degree belongs to the closure of the interior of the bifurcation locus. This gives a partial answer to a conjecture of Dujardin. In particular, every Lattès map has an iterate with this property. To show this, we design a method creating robust intersections between the limit set of a particular type of iterated functions system in C^{2} with a well-oriented complex curve. Then we show that any Lattès map of sufficiently high degree can be perturbed so that the perturbed map exhibits this geometry

La contamination des sols agricoles par la chlordécone menace la durabilité de l’élevage de plein air aux Antilles. Afin de maintenir ce dernier tout en protégeant les consommateurs de denrées animales d’origine terrestre, plusieurs stratégies sont étudiées. Ces travaux de thèse sont focalisés sur l’une d’entre elles qui consiste à séquestrer la chlordécone afin de réduire significativement sa biodisponibilité pour l’animal. La démarche expérimentale a été réalisée par étape, elle s’appuie sur trois piliers : des matières séquestrantes carbonées de type biochar ou charbon activé, l’utilisation de sols artificiels et sur le concept de biodisponibilité relative pour évaluer les performances de séquestration. Les essais conduits avec du charbon activé (à base de noyaux de dattes, de coco ou de lignite) ont montré une séquestration de la chlordécone en milieu aqueux ou chez l’animal, mais pour ce dernier cela ne fonctionne que si la chlordécone et la matrice séquestrante ont eu un temps de contact prolongé (ou maturation) avec l’ingestion par l’animal. Ces résultats montrent l’intérêt d’une séquestration in situ, à savoir directement dans le sol contaminé susceptible d’être ingéré par les animaux. Comme le charbon activé a un coût élevé, des matières carbonées a priori moins coûteuses ont été testées : des biochars à base de diverses essences de bois. Ces biochars produits à deux températures de pyrolyse (500 et 700°C) ont été caractérisés d’un point de vue physique (porosité) et sélectionnés via un test in vitro de disponibilité environnementale. Les tests in vivo (sur porcelets) n’ont pas montré que ces biochars sélectionnés étaient aptes à séquestrer efficacement la chlordécone, puisque la biodisponibilité relative n’était pas différente de un (référence = sol standard sans matière organique). La présence de tourbe dans le sol artificiel ne s’oppose pas au piégeage par les matrices carbonées exogènes. Le test in vitro utilisé et le test in vivo donnent des tendances équivalentes de réduction de la biodisponibilité relative, ce qui est intéressant dans une logique de validation du test in vitro. Ces résultats positifs montrent que la stratégie de séquestration par des matériaux hautement carbonés est possible, requiert des propriétés de microporosité et d’accès aux pores proches de celles d’un charbon activé, mais contingents des conditions expérimentales mises en œuvre ils doivent être poursuivis et validés sur des sols dits naturels / The contamination of agricultural soils by chlordecone threatens the sustainability of outdoor farming in the West Indies. In order to maintain the latter while protecting consumers of terrestrial animal products, several strategies are being studied. This thesis is focused on one of them which consists of sequestering chlordecone in order to significantly reduce its bioavailability for the animal. The experimental approach was carried out in stages, based on three pillars: biochar or activated carbon as sequestering materials, the use of artificial soils and the concept of relative bioavailability to assess sequestration performance. Tests conducted with activated charcoal (based on dates kernels, coconut or lignite) have shown that chlordecone is sequestered in an aqueous medium or in animals, but for the latter it only works if chlordecone and sequestering matrix had a prolonged contact time (or maturation) with ingestion by the animal. These results show the interest of in situ sequestration, ie directly in the contaminated soil likely to be ingested by the animals. As activated charcoal has a high cost, a priori less expensive carbonaceous materials have been tested: biochars based on various wood species. These biochars produced at two pyrolysis temperatures (500 and 700 ° C) were characterized from a physical point of view (porosity) and selected via an in vitro environmental availability test. In vivo tests (on piglets) did not show that these selected biochars were able to effectively sequester chlordecone, since the relative bioavailability was not different from one (reference = standard soil without organic matter). The presence of peat in the artificial soil does not prevent trapping by exogenous carbonaceous matrices. The in vitro test used and the in vivo test give equivalent tendencies to reduce the relative bioavailability, which is interesting in a logic of validation of the in vitro test. These positive results show that the strategy of sequestration by highly carbonaceous materials is possible, requires properties of microporosity and access to pores close to those of an activated carbon, but contingent on the experimental conditions implemented, they must be continued and validated on natural soils

Dans cette thèse, nous présentons les risques posés par les Menaces Persistentes Avancées (APTs) et proposons une approche en deux temps pour distinguer les attaques qui en font partie. Ce travail fait partie d'Akheros, un Système de Détection d'Intrusion (IDS) autonome développé par trois doctorants. L'idée est d'utiliser l'apprentissage machine pour détecté des évènements inattendus et vérifier s'ils posent un risque de sécurité. La dernière étape, et le sujet de cette thèse, est de mettre en évidence les APT. Les campagnes d'APT sont particulièrement dangereuses car les attaquants sont compétents et ont un but précis ainsi que du temps et de l'argent. Nous partons des résultats des parties précédentes d'Akheros: une liste d'évènements traduisible en flux d'information et qui indique quand des attaques sont détectées. Nous faisons ressortir les liens entre attaques en utilisant le Suivi de Flux d'Information: nous ajoutons une nouvelle teinte pour chaque attaque. Lors de la propagation, si une teinte se trouve en amont d'un flux qui fait partie d'une attaque, alors les deux attaques sont liés. Certaines attaques se trouvent liées par erreur car les évènements que nous utilisons ne sont pas assez précis, d'où l'approche en deux temps. Dans le cas où certaines attaques ne sont pas détectées, la teinte de cette attaque n'est pas créée, cependant, les autres teintes sont propagées normalement, et l'attaque précédent l'attaque non détectée sera liée à l'attaque lui faisant suite. Le deuxième temps de l'approche est de retirer les liens erronés. Nous utilisons un Modèle de Markov Caché pour représenter les APTs et retirons les campagnes qui ne suivent pas le modèle. Ceci fonctionne car les APTs, quoique toutes différentes, passent par les mêmes phases. Ces phases sont les états cachés du modèle. Les observations sont les types d'attaques effectuées pendant ces phases. De plus, les actions futures des attaquants dépendent des résultats de l'action en cours, ce qui satisfait l'hypothèse de Markov. Le score utilisé pour classer les campagnes potentielles de la plus proche d'une APT à la plus éloigné est basé sur un algorithme de Viterbi modifié pour prendre en compte les attaques non détectées potentielles. / In this thesis, we present the risks posed by Advanced Persitent Threats (APTs) and propose a two-step approach for recognising when detected attacks are part of one. This is part of the Akheros solution, a fully autonomous Intrusion Detection System (IDS) being developed in collaboration by three PhD students. The idea is to use machine learning to detect unexpected events and check if they present a security risk. The last part, and the subject of this thesis, is the highlighting of APT. APTs campaigns are particularly dangerous because they are performed by skilled attackers with a precise goal and time and money on their side.We start with the results from the previous part of the Akheros IDS: a list of events, which can be translated to flows of information, with an indication for events found to be attacks. We find links between attacks using Information Flow Tracking. To do so, we create a new taint for each detected attack and propagate it. Whenever a taint is on the input of an event that is part of another attack, then the two attacks are linked. However, the links are only potential because the events used are not precise enough, which leads to erroneously propagated taints. In the case of an undetected attack, no taint is created for that attack, but the other taints are still propagated as normal so that previous attack is still linked to the next attack, only skipping the undetected one. The second step of the approach is to filter out the erroneous links. To do so, we use a Hidden Markov Model to represent APTs and remove potential attack campaign that do not fit the model. This is possible because, while each APT is different, they all go through the same phases, which form the hidden states of our model. The visible observations are the kind of attacks performed during these phases. In addition, the results in one phase dictate what the attackers do next, which fits the Markov hypothesis. The score used to rank potential attack campaign from most likely an APT to least likely so is based on a customised Viterbi algorithm in order to take into account potentially undetected attacks.

abstract: This dissertation aims to study and understand relevant issues related to the electronic, spin and valley transport in two-dimensional Dirac systems for different given physical settings. In summary, four key findings are achieved. First, studying persistent currents in confined chaotic Dirac fermion systems with a ring geometry and an applied Aharonov-Bohm flux, unusual whispering-gallery modes with edge-dependent currents and spin polarization are identified. They can survive for highly asymmetric rings that host fully developed classical chaos. By sustaining robust persistent currents, these modes can be utilized to form a robust relativistic quantum two-level system. Second, the quantized topological edge states in confined massive Dirac fermion systems exhibiting a remarkable reverse Stark effect in response to an applied electric field, and an electrically or optically controllable spin switching behavior are uncovered. Third, novel wave scattering and transport in Dirac-like pseudospin-1 systems are reported. (a), for small scatterer size, a surprising revival resonant scattering with a peculiar boundary trapping by forming unusual vortices is uncovered. Intriguingly, it can persist in arbitrarily weak scatterer strength regime, which underlies a superscattering behavior beyond the conventional scenario. (b), for larger size, a perfect caustic phenomenon arises as a manifestation of the super-Klein tunneling effect. (c), in the far-field, an unexpected isotropic transport emerges at low energies. Fourth, a geometric valley Hall effect (gVHE) originated from fractional singular Berry flux is revealed. It is shown that gVHE possesses a nonlinear dependence on the Berry flux with asymmetrical resonance features and can be considerably enhanced by electrically controllable resonant valley skew scattering. With the gVHE, efficient valley filtering can arise and these phenomena are robust against thermal fluctuations and disorder averaging. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2017