Les cerf-volants existent depuis l'Antiquité, mais leur utilisation comme moyen de récupération de l'énergie éolienne est relativement récente. Pourtant, leur légèreté et leur capacité à aller chercher les vents forts et réguliers en altitude en font un dispositif compétitif pour produire de l'électricité ou pour tracter des navires commerciaux. En effet, un cerf-volant peut espérer produire plus de $10$ kW.m$^{-2}$. Cela implique qu'un cerf-volant de $1000$ m$^2$ pourrait apporter une assistance substantielle (typiquement $20$ $%$) à la propulsion des plus gros cargos actuels. Cette thèse s'intéresse à deux problèmes associés au développement de tels cerf-volants:Comment les faire décoller et atterrir de manière autonome et sans risque de les perdre? L'utilisation de cerf-volants à structure gonflable donne l'avantage d'avoir une aile rigide et légère en vol et compacte lors de son stockage. Pour aider au dimensionnement de ces cerf-volants, nous étudions dans le première partie de la thèse le comportement des structures gonflables soumis à des chargements statiques et dynamiques.Comment s'assurer de son vol stable? Une fois qu'il a décollé, un cerf-volant doit pouvoir rester en l'air. Il apparait cependant que dans certaines conditions, les cerf-volants entrent dans des oscillations de grandes amplitudes avant de tomber au sol. Grâce à des expériences en soufflerie, nous étudions dans la seconde partie de la thèse l'origine de ces oscillations et les conditions à réunir pour les éviter. / Kites exist since ancient times, but their use as wind energy harvesting device is relatively recent. Still, their light weight and ability catch strong and steady winds in altitude make them a competitive mean to generate electricity or to tow commercial ships. Indeed, a kite can typically produce $10$ kW.m$^{-2}$. This implies that a $1000$ m$^2$ kite could provide substantial assistance ($20$ $%$) to the propulsion of the biggest current tankers. This thesis focuses on two issues associated with the development of such kites:How can one perform autonomous take off and landing without the risk of losing them? Kites with inflatable structures take advantage rigidity and lightness during flight and from high compactness during storage. It also allows them to float if they crash on the ocean. To design those kites, we study in the first part of the thesis the behavior of inflatable structures under static and dynamic loadings.How can one achieve a stable flight? Once it takes off, it appears that under certain conditions, the kites undergo large amplitude oscillations that eventually lead to their fall onto the ground. Using wind tunnel experiments, we examine in the second part of the thesis the origin of these oscillations and the conditions which prevent them from occurring.

Thesis. 1976. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mathematics. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 203-204. / Ph.D.

Experimental studies of MHD modes, including dynamics and stability, using a biased electrode for rotation control on the High Beta Tokamak –- Extended Pulse (HBT-EP) are presented. When the probe is inserted into the edge of the plasma and a voltage applied, the rotation of long-wavelength kink instabilities is strongly modified. A large poloidal plasma flow results at the edge, measured with a bi-directional Mach probe with changes in edge kink mode rotation at different biases. This poloidal plasma rotation cannot fully account for the large mode rotation frequency on HBT-EP. By including the electron fluid motion, the mode rotation predictions agree with measurements, indicating that the modes travel with the electron fluid. A GPU-based digital feedback system is used to adjust the probe voltage in real time for controlling both the plasma flow and mode rotation. This active mode rotation control is desirable because it allows for MHD stabilization, as well as studies under conditions of varying mode rotation rates. Mode dynamics were studied using various diagnostics to understand how plasma conditions fluctuate during mode activity and to understand the interaction of the bias probe with the plasma during this activity. Phase-dependent mode behavior was observed, especially at slow mode rotation, which might be attributed to an intrinsic error field or a nonlinear interaction between the bias probe and the mode. Applied resonant magnetic perturbations were used to study the dynamic response of a stable plasma with different mode rotations. At slower rotation, the plasma had a greater response to the perturbations and the plasma reached a saturated response with large perturbations, similar to previous results. At large positive biases, the probe current induces a torque that opposes the natural direction of mode rotation. By applying a sufficiently large torque, a transition is induced into a fast rotation state (both mode and plasma rotation). High poloidal shear flows at the edge were measured in this state, similar to conditions in H-mode plasmas on other devices. The bias required to induce the transition is shown to depend on an applied error field. A technique was established using this transition to determine the natural error field on HBT-EP.

Feature Selection is central to modern data science, from exploratory data analysis to predictive model-building. The "stability"of a feature selection algorithm refers to the robustness of its feature preferences, with respect to data sampling and to its stochastic nature. An algorithm is "unstable" if a small change in data leads to large changes in the chosen feature subset. Whilst the idea is simple, quantifying this has proven more challenging---we note numerous proposals in the literature, each with different motivation and justification. We present a rigorous statistical and axiomatic treatment for this issue. In particular, with this work we consolidate the literature and provide (1) a deeper understanding of existing work based on a small set of properties, and (2) a clearly justified statistical approach with several novel benefits. This approach serves to identify a stability measure obeying all desirable properties, and (for the first time in the literature) allowing confidence intervals and hypothesis tests on the stability of an approach, enabling rigorous comparison of feature selection algorithms.

The main focus of this work was to investigate the nature of unsteady boundary-layer development over finite domains, with the behaviour of the boundary layer on a rotating sphere in an unbounded, rotating fluid used as a prototype. The sphere and its surrounding fluid are assumed to be initially rotating as a solid body, and the evolution of a boundary layer on the sphere is analysed in cases where the sphere has been smoothly slowed, or brought to a state of rotation in an opposite sense to its initial conditions. It may be seen that a characteristic property of this flow is that the boundary layer is bi-directional; over most of the streamwise domain for the flow, whether the flow is positive or negative in the streamwise coordinate direction depends on the transverse location being considered. This fact leads to challenges in the numerical evaluation of the flow field due to the parabolic nature of the boundary-layer equations. A further consideration is the implication that these regions of reversed flow cause the flow field to contain minima and maxima in the streamwise velocity component. This has been shown in a little-known study by Cowley et al. (1985) to cause the boundary layer to become susceptible to asymptotically short-scale perturbations with large frequencies. The unsteady boundary layer on a rotating sphere under these conditions is consequently shown to be extremely challenging to compute numerically. It is also found that using local approximations at the ends of the finite domain, which in the case of the sphere are the pole and equator, to investigate the two-dimensional boundary layer can cause difficulties, as in some cases there exist steady, spatial perturbations to a boundary-layer state which introduce short spatial scales. The instabilities and other features analysed in this work are framed largely in the context of the rotating sphere, but the causes of the phenomena are found to be sufficiently generic that they may be observed in other physical contexts. To demonstrate this, the shallow katabatic flow down a cooled slope is briefly investigated, and the above mathematical features are again uncovered.

The first study of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibria and external kink modes in shaped plasmas on the High Beta Tokamak - Extended Pulse (HBT-EP) is described. A new poloidal field coil and high-current, low-voltage capacitive power supply was designed and installed. The new coil significantly modifies the shape of the plasma cross section and provides a new research tool for the study of kink mode structure and control. When fully energized, the coil creates a magnetic separatrix, which defines the boundary between confined and unconfined plasma. The separatrix is set by a poloidal field null called an “X-point”, which is on the inboard side of the torus, above the midplane. Several arrays of magnetic sensors observe and characterize the plasma equilibrium and the MHD fluctuations from kink modes. Free-boundary plasma equilibria are reconstructed using standard methods that minimize the mean-square error between the numerically reconstructed equilibria and various measurements. Reconstructions of shaped plasma equilibria show the creation of fully diverted plasmas with shaped outer boundaries. The reconstructions are confirmed by direct measurements using arrays of magnetic sensors and a moveable Langmuir probe to measure the outermost closed flux surface. Measurements of individual kink modes are obtained from the magnetic fluctuations using a technique known as biorthogonal decomposition. External kink modes that naturally arise in shaped plasmas are observed and described. The poloidal structure of modes in shaped plasmas are found to be similar to those that arise in circular plasmas, except near the X-point. The magnetic signature of kink modes on the surface of the plasma are calculated using the ideal MHD code DCON. For plasmas with an X-point, DCON shows a short-wavelength, low amplitude structure near the X-point. The code VALEN is used to calculate the perturbed magnetic field measured at the sensors due to the DCON mode at the plasma surface. VALEN includes the effects of sensor/plasma separation and eddy currents induced in conducting structures by rotation of the modes. Good agreement is found between the measured mode structures and the ideal kink mode structures calculated at the sensors by VALEN. A distributed array of forty active control coils was used to perturb the plasma equilibria, and for both shaped and circular equilibria, the structure of the response to the perturbation was found to be the same as the that of the dominant naturally occurring mode in that equilibrium. Finally, the magnitude of the plasma’s response to applied magnetic perturbations was found to be comparable between shaped and unshaped plasmas, even though separation between the sensors and the boundary of the shaped plasmas increases relative to circular plasmas with the same plasma current and radial positions. In addition to demonstrating a new research tool for study of kink modes on HBT-EP, this research demonstrates the importance of accurate electromagnetic calculations, including eddy currents, when comparing measured and predicted mode structure.

Neste trabalho, foram desenvolvidos e validados métodos analítico e microbiológico, bem como estudo preliminar de estabilidade, cinética de degradação e citotoxicidade da Ceftarolina Fosamila em pó para solução injetável, um antibiótico da classe das cefalosporinas de quinta geração, indicado para pneumonias adquiridas na comunidade e infecções graves, de pele e tecidos moles. A validação do ensaio microbiológico pelo método de difusão em ágar cilindros em placa, delineamento 3x3, apresentou resultados satisfatórios, como especificidade, linearidade na faixa de 2,0 - 8,0 μg/mL, precisão (109,42 %), exatidão (102,3 %) e robustez. Soluções de Cefatarolina Fosamila do produto acabado expostas à radiação UVC (254 nm) e à degradação térmica a 60 °C foram utilizadas para avaliar a especificidade do bioensaio. A robustez foi avaliada através da alteração da concentração do meio inoculado (0,8 e 1,2 %). O desenvolvimento e validação de método por CLAE foi avaliado através da especificidade, linearidade, precisão, exatidão e robustez. No método cromatográfico foi utilizado cromatógrafo à liquido de alta eficiência SHIMADZU com coluna Agilent® C18, fase móvel (água com trietilamina 1,0% pH 5,0:acetonitrila 87:13 v/v). O método apresentou-se específico, linear, no intervalo de 5,0 - 60,0 μg/mL, preciso (110,0 %), exato (100,68 %) e robusto. Os métodos microbiológico e cromatográfico validados foram comparados estatisticamente e verificou-se não haver diferença significativa entre eles quando comparados através do teste “t” de Student. No estudo preliminar de estabilidade constatou-se ser estável em hidrólise ácida (0,1 M) e luz UVA no período avaliado, e instável frente à degradação térmica (40 e 60 °C), oxidativa com peróxido de hidrogênio, básica em NaOH (0,1 M e 0,01 M) e luz UVC. As cinéticas de degradação frente à luz UVC e degradação térmica 60 °C mostraram que as amostras possuem cinética de degradação de ordem zero e de segunda ordem, respectivamente. O ensaio de citotoxicidade demonstrou não haver diferença entre a condição normal e a amostra submetida à degradação forçada, sugerindo que os possíveis produtos de degradação formados não alteraram o resultado. / In this work, analytical and microbiological methods were developed and validated, as well as a preliminary study of the stability, degradation kinetics and cytotoxicity to Ceftaroline Fosamil powder for injectable solution, this is a fifth generation cephalosporin antibiotic indicated for community-acquired pneumonia and severe infections of the skin and soft tissues. The validation of the microbial assay by diffusion method in 3x3 cylinder agar delineated showed satisfactory results in specificity, linearity in the range of 2.0 - 8.0 μg / mL, precision (109.42 %), accuracy (102.3 %) and robustness. The development and validation of the method by HPLC was evaluated through specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness. In the chromatographic method was used high performance liquid chromatograph from SHIMADZU with Agilent® C18 column, mobile phase (water with triethylamine 1.0 % pH 5.0: acetonitrile 87:13 v/v). The method was linear, specific in the range of 5.0 - 60.0 μg/mL, accurate (110.0 %), exact (100.68 %) and robust. The validated microbiological and chromatographic methods were compared statistically and there was no significant difference between them when compared through Student's t-test. In the preliminary stability study, it was found stable in acid hydrolysis (0.1M) and UVA light in the period evaluated, and instable against thermal degradation (40 and 60 °C), oxidative with hydrogen peroxide, basic in NaOH (0.1 M and 0.0 1M) and UVC light. Samples exposed in UVC light an thermal degradation at 60°C showed degradation kinetics following zero order and second order, respectively. The cytotoxicity assay showed no difference between the normal condition and the sample submitted to forced degradation, suggesting that the possible degradation products formed did not change the result.

Ce manuscrit est dédié à l'étude de la stabilité et la stabilisation en temps fini des systèmes dynamiques interconnectés et problème de consensus en temps fini. Après une large introduction, la première partie de ce mémoire se focalise sur la stabilité et stabilisation en temps fini des systèmes dynamiques perturbés et des systèmes dynamiques interconnectés. La deuxième partie de cette thèse est consacrée aux problèmes de : consensus en temps fini, consensus moyen en temps fini et stabilisation en temps fini des systèmes multi-agents. Cette notion a été abordé en ciblant les systèmes dynamiques contrôlés non linéaires et complexes de type avec et sans terme de dérive et affine en la commande. Des protocoles sont mis en exergue résolvant les problèmes de consensus/formation en temps fini entre les états de tels systèmes. De nombreuses applications avec des simulations permettent de confirmer les protocoles proposés. / This manuscript is dedicated to the study of finite time stability and stabilization of interconnected dynamical systems and finite time consensus problem. After a general introduction, the first part of this thesis focuses on finite time stability and stabilization of perturbed systems and interconnected systems. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the problems of: finite-time consensus, average consensus and finite time stabilization of multi-agent systems. This concept has been addressed by targeting non-linear controlled dynamical systems: with and without drift term. Some protocols are proposed to solve the finite time consensus problem. Many applications and simulations are illustrated.

Mesoporous aggregates of nanocrystalline zeolites with MFI and BEA frameworks have been synthesized using a one-pot and single structure directing agent method. The effect of different reaction conditions, such as temperature, time, pH and water content, on the particle size, surface area and mesopore volume has been studied. Nanocrystalline and mesoporous ZSM-5, β and Y zeolites were modified with different transition metals and the resulting single- and double metal containing catalyst materials were characterized. Nanocrystalline Silicalite-1 zeolite samples with varying particle size were functionalized with different organosilane groups and the cytotoxic activity of the zeolite nanocrystals was studied as a function of particle size, concentration, organic functional group type, as well as the type of cell line. Framework stability of nanocrystalline NaY zeolite was tested under different pH conditions. The synthesized zeolites used in this work were characterized using a variety of physicochemical methods, including powder X-ray diffraction, Solid State NMR, nitrogen sorption, electron microscopy, Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectroscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

In this thesis, we study nonlinear partial differential equations arising from image processing and cheomotaxis. We analyze mathematical models in conservative form from the perspective of traveling wave solutions. We show the existence and the stability of traveling wave solutions in the models, which helps to understand the behaviors of solutions in the models. The thesis largely consists of two parts: (1) We develop stability analysis for a traveling wave solution of a nonlinear conservation law arising from image processing. To be specific, we prove that if the initial perturbation between a solution and a traveling wave solution to the problem is small, the solution converges to the traveling wave solution.To show this, we construct a weight function in establishing energy estimates to overcome difficulties caused by the absence of the convexity of a flux of the conservation law. (2) We develop dynamical systems theory to study traveling wave solutions in a chemotaxis model. A traveling wave solution to the model in a partial differential equation is a heteroclinic/homoclinic orbit to the model in an ordinary differential equation. Thus, we investigate the existence and non-existence of a heteroclinic/homoclinic orbit in certain ranges of parameters in the model by applying dynamical systems theory.