Parkinson’s disease is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder. The major symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are closely linked to the pathology of the disease. The main pathology of Parkinson’s disease consists of the degeneration of neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), which leads to reduced amounts of dopamine in the brain. One of the treatment strategies in Parkinson’s disease is to conserve dopamine by inhibiting the enzymes responsible for its catabolism. The monoamine oxidase (MAO) B isoform catalyses the oxidation of dopamine in the central nervous system and is therefore an important target for Parkinson’s disease treatment. Inhibition of MAO-B provides symptomatic relief for Parkinson’s disease patients by increasing endogenous dopamine levels as well as enhancing the levels of dopamine after administration of levodopa (L-dopa), the metabolic precursor of dopamine. Recent studies have shown that phthalide can be used as a scaffold for the design of reversible MAO inhibitors. Although phthalide is a weak MAO-B inhibitor, substitution on the C5 position of phthalide yields highly potent reversible MAO-B inhibitors. In the present study, sesamol and benzodioxane were used as scaffolds for the design of MAO inhibitors. The structures of sesamol and benzodioxane closely resemble that of phthalide, which suggests that these moieties may be useful for the design of MAO inhibitors. This study may be viewed as an exploratory study to discover new scaffolds for MAO inhibition. Since substitution at C5 of phthalide with a benzyloxy side chain yielded particularly potent MAO inhibitors, the sesamol and benzodioxane derivatives possessed the benzyloxy substituent in the analogous positions to C5 of phthalide. These were the C5 and C6 positions of sesamol and benzodioxane, respectively. The sesamol and benzodioxane derivatives were synthesised by reacting sesamol and 6- hydroxy-1,4-benzodioxane, respectively, with an appropriate alkyl bromide in the presence of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). 6-Hydroxy-1,4- benzodioxane, in turn, was synthesised from 1,4-benzodioxan-6-carboxaldehyde. The structures of the compounds were verified with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) analyses, while the purities were estimated by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Sixteen sesamol and benzodioxane derivatives were synthesised. To determine the inhibition potencies of the synthesised compounds the recombinant human MAO-A and MAO-B enzymes were used. The inhibition potencies were expressed as the corresponding IC50 values. The results showed that the sesamol and benzodioxane derivatives are highly potent and selective inhibitors of MAO-B and to a lesser extent MAOA. The most potent MAO-B inhibitor was 6-(3-bromobenzyloxy)-1,4-benzodioxane with an IC50 value of 0.045 μM. All compounds examined displayed selectivity for the MAO-B isoform over MAO-A. Generally the benzodioxane derivatives were found to be more potent inhibitors of human MAO-A and MAO-B than the sesamol derivatives. The reversibility and mode of MAO-B inhibition of a representative derivative, 6-(3- bromobenzyloxy)-1,4-benzodioxane, was examined by measuring the degree to which the enzyme activity recovers after dialysis of enzyme-inhibitor complexes, while Lineweaver- Burk plots were constructed to determine whether the mode of inhibition is competitive. Since MAO-B activity is completely recovered after dialysis of enzyme-inhibitor mixtures, it was concluded that 6-(3-bromobenzyloxy)-1,4-benzodioxane binds reversibly to the MAO-B enzyme. The Lineweaver-Burk plots constructed were linear and intersected on the y-axis. Therefore it may be concluded that 6-(3-bromobenzyloxy)-1,4-benzodioxane is a competitive MAO-B inhibitor. To conclude, the C6-substituted benzodioxane derivatives are potent, selective, reversible and competitive inhibitors of human MAO-B. These compounds are therefore promising leads for the future development of therapy for Parkinson’s disease. / MSc (Pharmaceutical Chemistry), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The aim of the study is to survey the usage of closure as it is reflected in Northern Sotho Narratives. Chapter one This chapter introduces the objectives of the research and definition of the concepts narrative and closure. Reference is made to different scholars to substantiate the argument. Chapter two Plot serves as the basis of the study of closure in a novel. The interconnectedness of the elements of plot expressed by the presence of different closural patterns supports this. Major mutual relationships are distinguished, namely between author and reader as well as between author, reader and text. Chapter three The principles of brevity and single effect which differentiate a short story from other narratives play a major role in the study of closure. The five signals of closure and the mode of approaching the end also influence how closure is approached in this genre. Chapter four The study of folktales is divided into traditional and modern approaches. Despite their difference, opening and closing are commonly based on the syntactical position occupied by the opening and closing phrases. In the traditional approach the position is fixed while in the modern approach it is controlled by the presence of motifemes. This chapter embarks on the usage of closure in narrative poetry. The ending is doubly determined, based on structural elements and linguistic principles. Repetition and cessation of the idea expressed in a verse llne, are major poetic devises to illustrate closure. Chapter six This chapter summarizes the findings of the previous chapters and proposals for future research. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Student Number : 9008538J - MSc Dissertation - School of Biology - Faculty of Science / O’Regan SP, 2005. The long-term effects of fire frequency and season on the woody vegetation in the Pretoriuskop sourveld of the Kruger National Park. MSc Dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. The role of fire in the management of conservation areas has historically been a contentious issue in which traditional agricultural principles and ever-changing conservation principles tend to collide. The Kruger National Park (KNP) in the early 1950s was no exception where the appropriate use of fire and its ecosystem consequences were hotly debated. The controversy surrounding the management of fire in the KNP highlighted the significant lack of understanding of fire and its role in the ecosystem and because of this controversy, the Experimental Burn Plot (EBP) experiment was established in 1954. The EBP experiment comprised 12 treatments, and a pseudo-randomised block design was used in which the 12 fire treatments were replicated four times each in four of the six major vegetation zones identified at the time. The EBP experiment originally comprised 192 experimental plots approximately 7 Ha in size each and covered approximately 12 km2 in the KNP. The twelve fire treatments were an annual burn in August, biennial and triennial burns in February, April, August, October, and December, and a control on which fire was excluded. Despite having been plagued with negative assessments from internal and external researchers from its inception, the EBP experiment was meticulously maintained, and it has now become a valuable research asset in the KNP. Four replicates of twelve plots each were located in the Pretoriuskop sourveld landscape of the KNP. These replicates were named Fayi, Kambeni, Numbi, and Shabeni after nearby landmarks. The Pretoriuskop region is a moist infertile mesic-savanna, which experiences on average 744mm of rain annually. The dominant tree species in Pretoriuskop are Dichrostachys cinerea and Terminalia sericea and the dominant grass species is Hyperthelia dissoluta. A baseline survey of the woody vegetation was done on all the Pretoriuskop plots in 1954 by HP Van Der Schijff. A second survey of the woody vegetation on all the Pretoriuskop plots was done in 1996 by SP O’Regan. This provided a 42-year period of treatment application over which the effects of fire frequency and season on the woody vegetation of the Pretoriuskop region were studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term effects of the twelve fire treatments on the density, structure, and species composition of the woody vegetation in Pretoriuskop. The objectives of this study were: 1. To carry out a complete re-survey of the trees and shrubs on the Pretoriuskop EBPs using similar methods as those used in the baseline survey in 1954. 2. To capture into a digital format pertinent woody vegetation survey data from surveys that had been conducted on the Pretoriuskop EBPs between 1954 and 1996. 3. To compare the density, structure, and composition of the woody vegetation on the Pretoriuskop EBPs between 1954 and 1996, to determine the effects of fire on the woody vegetation of Pretoriuskop. 4. To investigate the history of the Kruger National Park Experimental Burn Plots experiment. The four replicates in the Pretoriuskop region were found generally to have very similar woody vegetation traits (density, species composition, and structural composition). However, the EBPs were established and surveyed in two distinct phases, the first phase comprised the control, August Annual, and the Biennial plots, and the second phase comprised the Triennial plots. The baseline structural composition of the plots established in the first phase was different from the structural composition of the plots in the second phase. Furthermore, the Pretoriuskop EBPs are located in two distinct vegetation types, namely the open and the closed Terminalia sericea \ Combretum woodlands of the Pretoriuskop region. The Numbi and Shabeni replicates are in the open Terminalia sericea \ Combretum woodlands, and the Kambeni and Fayi replicates are in the closed Terminalia sericea \ Combretum woodlands. It was found that the species composition of the plots was influenced by the location of the plots in the different vegetation types. The exclusion of fire in the Pretoriuskop sourveld results in an increase in the density of the overstorey and understorey woody vegetation, and an increase in the number of species, species diversity, and species evenness. This is because fire sensitive and fire intolerant woody species become more abundant as the period between fires increases. In Pretoriuskop, there is no evidence of relay floristic succession, because fire sensitive and fire intolerant woody species do not replace fire tolerant species. Instead, the floristic succession is accumulative and fire tolerant, fire sensitive, and fire intolerant woody species coexist as the period between fires increases. Woody species tolerant of frequent fires in Pretoriuskop are Albizia versicolor, Catunaregam spinosa, Lonchocarpus capassa, Pavetta schumanniana, Senna petersiana, Strychnos madagascariensis, and Turraea nilotica. Woody species that are sensitive or intolerant of fire in Pretoriuskop are Acacia swazica, Bauhinia galpinii, Combretum mossambicense, Commiphora neglecta, Croton gratissimus, Dalbergia melanoxylon, Diospyros lycioides, Diospyros whyteana, Euclea natalensis, Hyperacanthus amoenus, Kraussia floribunda, Ochna natalitia, Olea europaea, Psydrax locuples, Putterlickia pyracantha, Tarenna supra-axillaris, and Zanthoxylum capense. Dichrostachys cinerea and Terminalia sericea were found to dominate in areas that had been burnt frequently as well as areas where fire has been excluded. The change in the density of the woody vegetation as the inter-fire period increases is not linear but rather J shaped with an initial decrease in the density as the inter-fire period increases from 1 year to 3 years. This initial decrease in density is the result of a loss of very short (<1m tall) woody individuals. In contrast, there is no initial decrease in the number of tree equivalents (phytomass) of the woody vegetation as the inter-fire period increases. After the initial decrease in the density of the woody vegetation, the density increases as the inter-fire period increases beyond 3 years. Generally in Pretoriuskop, post fire age of the vegetation was found to be an important factor affecting the structure of the woody vegetation, and as the inter-fire period increases the number of structural groups, the structural diversity, and the structural evenness of the woody vegetation increases. As the inter-fire period increases the number of single-stem individuals relative to the number of multi-stem individuals increases, and the average height of the woody vegetation increases. The findings regarding the effects of fire frequency on the Pretoriuskop EBPs were similar to the findings on other fire experiments in mesic African savannas. The finding on the Pretoriuskop EBPs differed from the findings in other fire trials that were in arid savannas in Africa. Generally, the exclusion of fire in moist savannas (> 600 mm of rain annually) results in the woody vegetation becoming denser, while the exclusion of fire in arid to semi-arid savannas (< 600mm of rain annually) does not result in the woody vegetation becoming denser. In Pretoriuskop, fires occurring in summer between December and February have a different impact on the density, species composition, and structure of the woody vegetation than fires occurring in winter between August and October. Furthermore, fires occurring in April have a different impact on the density, species composition, and structure of the woody vegetation in Pretoriuskop. Woody vegetation burnt by summer fires is denser than woody vegetation burnt by winter fires. The number of species and species diversity of the woody vegetation is also higher in vegetation burnt by summer fires in comparison with vegetation burnt by winter fires. The density and species composition of woody vegetation in areas that have been burnt in summer fires is more similar to areas where fire has been excluded than to areas that have been burnt in winter fires. The woody species associated with vegetation burnt in summer fires and where fire has been excluded are Euclea natalensis, Antidesma venosum, Diospyros lycioides, Phyllanthus reticulatus, Grewia flavescens, Grewia monticola, Ochna natalitia, Peltophorum africanum, Rhus pyroides, Diospyros mespiliformis, Rhus transvaalensis, Securinega virosa, Putterlickia pyracantha, Rhus pentheri, Commiphora neglecta, Heteropyxis natalensis, and Olea europaea. Structurally the average height of the woody vegetation is taller in areas burnt by winter fires than in areas burnt by summer fires. The woody vegetation in areas burnt in summer fires have more single-stem individuals relative to multi-stem individuals than in areas burnt in winter fires. The structural composition of areas burnt in summer fires is more similar to areas where fire has been excluded than with areas burnt in winter fires. The structure of the woody vegetation in areas burnt in winter fires is generally dominated by multi-stem individuals that are 0-1m tall or 3-5m tall. The structure of the woody vegetation in areas burnt in summer fires or where fire has been excluded is dominated by both single-stem and multi-stem individuals of all heights and basal diameters. Findings regarding the effect of early dry season fires (April) in comparison with late dry season fire (August) on the woody vegetation are consistent with the findings on other fire trails in Africa. However, a comparison of all the fire-timing treatments between the Pretoriuskop and Satara EBPs in the KNP reveals that the timing of fires affects the woody vegetation differently in different areas even when the affects at certain times appear similar. The data collected on the Pretoriuskop EBPs reveals that there have been significant changes in the woody vegetation in Pretoriuskop between 1954 and 1996. The density of the woody vegetation increased between 1954 and 1996 by almost 200%. The number of species and the species diversity of the woody vegetation also increased between 1954 and 1996. In 1954, there were approximately equal numbers of single-stem and multi-stem individuals, while in 1996 there were more multi-stem individuals than single-stem individuals. The increase in atmospheric CO2 levels between 1954 and 1996 is believed to have been a factor that has driven the changes in the woody vegetation of Pretoriuskop between 1954 and 1996.

Esta tese trata dos ambientes coletivos dos condomínios horizontais e dos loteamentos fechados construídos a partir de 1990 na cidade de Londrina Pr. Busca descobrir quais as necessidades dos usuários (moradores) e, a partir da avaliação de desempenho físico e de satisfação do usuário voltada aos ambientes construídos e de uso coletivo, com ênfase nos aspectos social, funcional, segurança, durabilidade e manutenabilidade, formula procedimentos metodológicos de desempenho de avaliação para dar suporte na definição de programas de necessidades para futuros empreendimentos similares. Propõe um modelo metodológico que encontra suporte no Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) para hierarquizar os atributos e as alternativas que influenciam nas decisões de projeto (critérios e subcritérios) e cuja calibragem do modelo se dá por meio da Avaliação Pós-Ocupação (APO), envolvendo os pontos de vista dos moradores, dos administradores ou síndicos, dos autores dos projetos destes empreendimentos, além dos levantamentos in loco realizado pelo pesquisador. / ABSTRACT This thesis deals with collective environments of gated communities and plots which started being built in 1990 in the city of Londrina-PR. It searches for finding out the needs of the users (residents) and, from the evaluation of their physical performance and satisfaction regarding the built and collective environments, with special emphasis on social, functional, safety, durability and maintenance aspects, conceives the methodological procedures of performance evaluation to support the definition of programs of needs for future similar developments. It proposes a methodological model supported by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to form as a hierarchy the attributes and the alternatives which have influence on the design decisions (criteria and sub-criteria), whose calibration of the proposed methodological model took place through the Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE), involving the viewpoints from the residents, the administrators or syndics and architects, besides the surveys in loco carried out by this researcher.

In the current agricultural context, agricultural machine unproductivity on fields and their impacts on soil along pathways are unavoidable. These machines have direct and indirect costs associated to their work in field, with non-productive time spent in manoeuvres when these are reaching field borders; likewise, there is a double application of product when machines are covering headlands while adding farm inputs. Both issues aggravate under irregular field geometry. Moreover, unproductive time can also appear in operations of loading/offloading the machine\'s reservoir with inputs/harvested-goods, which can increase with an improper use of the reservoir due to the inadequate machine path length. On the other hand, irregular steep surfaces present a problem for establishment of row crops and machine paths towards erosion. Though contouring (i.e., performing field operations perpendicular to slope direction) is a common practice to reduce runoff and increase water infiltration, still elevation contours are never parallel, while machine operations always are. Many of these issues were target for optimization in computer path planning for agricultural machines, where unproductivity was overall minimized and attempts of soil loss reduction by more proper path establishment also yielded results. This thesis gathered these issues in a combined path planning approach making possible to address soil loss and unproductive costs to their proper location. A number of methods was proposed and modified: creating and replicating steerable machine track; finding more optimal references for path coverage on irregular surfaces (curved or straight); quantifying the impacts of soil loss for a given path pattern; identifying spatially the water flow and concentration; defining geometrically different manoeuvre types and calculate its time, space and energy demands; obtain the overlapped area of input application; and quantifying the machine replenishment cost in relation to underuse of its reservoir for following tracks of inadequate length. An algorithm-application was achieved, which is capable of simulating a large number of path coverage scenarios and to display optimized ones based on a user defined criteria. Sugarcane crop, grown in Brazilian conditions, was the main object of study in this thesis because of its high in-field mechanization costs (along with unproductive operational costs), high susceptibility of soil erosion in its planting phase, and for occupying an area of predominant rolling surface. Case studies were subject to this algorithm that provided suitable outputs with minimized impacts. The outputs of the algorithm were comprehensive and showed potential for the methods to be used by agricultural decision makers. / No contexto agrícola atual, improdutividade de máquinas agrícolas em campo e seus impactos sobre o solo ao longo de suas vias são inevitáveis. Estas máquinas têm custos diretos e indiretos associados ao seu trabalho no campo, como tempo improdutivo gasto em manobras quando estes atingem os limites do talhão. Também nestes limites, há uma dupla aplicação de insumos agrícolas quando as máquinas estão cobrindo cabeceiras. Ambas as questões se agravam em talhões de geometria irregular. Além disso, o tempo improdutivo também pode aparecer em operações de carga / descarga do reservatório da máquina com insumos / bens colhidos, o que pode aumentar com um uso indevido do reservatório da máquina devido ao comprimento inadequado do percurso em campo. Ainda, superfícies irregulares e íngremes apresentam um problema para o estabelecimento de culturas em fileira e caminhos de máquinas contra declive. Apesar de operações em nível serem uma prática comum para reduzir o escoamento e aumentar a infiltração de água, curvas de nível nunca são paralelas, enquanto operações agrícolas são sempre paralelas. Muitas destas questões foram alvo de otimização computacional para planejamento de percursos de para máquinas agrícolas, onde a ineficiência foi, em geral, minimizada e tentativas de redução da perda de solo estabelecimento de percursos mais adequados também produziu resultados. Esta tese reuniu estas questões em uma abordagem de planejamento de percurso quantificando e direcionando custos de perda de solo e improdutividade de máquinas para sua devida localização. Métodos foram propostos e modificados, como: criar e replicar trajetos transitáveis de máquinas; encontrar referências ideais para a cobertura do trajeto em superfícies irregulares (curvas ou retas); quantificação dos impactos da perda de solo por um determinado padrão de percursos; identificar espacialmente o fluxo da água e sua concentração; definir geometricamente diferentes tipos de manobras e calcular o seu tempo, espaço e energia demandada; obter a área sobreposta de aplicação de insumos; e quantificar custo de reposição da máquina em relação à subutilização de seu reservatório para seguir trajetos de comprimento inadequado. Um aplicativo-algoritmo foi obtido capaz de simular um grande número de cenários de padrões de percurso, e exibindo aqueles que foram otimizados por critérios definidos pelo usuário. A cultura da cana, em condições brasileiras, foi a principal cultura de estudo nesta tese devido ao seu alto custo de mecanização (assim como custos operacionais improdutivos), alta suscetibilidade à erosão do solo na sua fase de plantio, e ocupando predominantemente áreas de superfície irregular. Os estudos de caso foram sujeitos ao algoritmo que obteve resultados coerentes e impactos minimizados. Os resultados do algoritmo mostram potencial para que os métodos avaliados sejam utilizados por tomadores de decisão da área agrícola.

Submitted by Angela Maria de Oliveira (amolivei@uepg.br) on 2018-02-08T13:10:32Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Ronaldo Mendes Evaristo.pdf: 2297085 bytes, checksum: 293f7e08aca7690caa0d317480f9e18e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-08T13:10:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Ronaldo Mendes Evaristo.pdf: 2297085 bytes, checksum: 293f7e08aca7690caa0d317480f9e18e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-08 / Nos ultimos anos, o aumento da incidência de doenças cardiovasculares na população mundial vem motivando a comunidade científica a buscar novas técnicas ou inovações tecnológicas para complementar os métodos existentes para avaliação do desempenho do coração. Dentre elas, destaca-se a análise da Variabilidade da Frequência Cardíarca (VFC) via eletrocardiograma (ECG), método não invasivo importante na detecção de patologias leves e moderadas cada vez mais frequentes nos seres humanos como doenças coronarianas, arritmias, bradicardias e taquicardias, além de distúrbios na relação entre os sistemas nervosos simpático e parassimpático. Neste trabalho é introduzida uma inovação em um modelo matemático baseado em modulações de exponenciais gaussianas utilizado para reproduzir a morfologia do ECG de seres humanos. Trata-se da introdução de tacogramas gerados por um processo estocástico autorregressivo (AR), previamente à integração das equações diferenciais do modelo, capaz de reproduzir com maior fidelidade a VFC quando comparados com dados experimentais de adultos saudaveis e de adultos com doença arterial coronariana (DAC). Para validar o modelo, os resultados simulados são comparados com dados experimentais via espectro de potencia da transformada wavelet discreta (TWD), gráficos de Poincare e pela analise de flutuação sem tendência. Verificamos que a DAC não altera a morfologia do ECG em situação de repouso, mas influencia significativamente na VFC, sendo que o modelo matemático proposto absorve e reproduz esse comportamento. / In recent years, the increase in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in the world population has motivated the scientific community to seek new techniques or technological innovations to complement existing methods for assessing heart performance. Among them, stands out the analysis of the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) by electrocardiogram (ECG), an important non-invasive method for the detection of mild and moderate pathologies that are increasingly frequent in humans such as coronary diseases, arrhythmias, bradycardia and tachycardias, besides disturbances in the relationship between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This work introduces an innovation in a mathematical model based on Gaussian exponential modulations used to reproduce the ECG morphology of humans. This is the introduction of tachograms generated by an autoregressive stochastic process (AR), prior to the integration of the diferential equations of the model, capable of reproducing with better delity the HRV when compared with experimental data of healthy adults and adults with coronary artery disease (CAD). In order to validate the model, the simulated results are compared with experimental data using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) power spectrum, Poincare plots and the detrended uctuation analysis (DFA). We verified that CAD does not change the morphology of ECG in resting state, but it has a significant in uence on HRV, and the proposed mathematical model absorbs and reproduces this behavior.

Esta tese trata dos ambientes coletivos dos condomínios horizontais e dos loteamentos fechados construídos a partir de 1990 na cidade de Londrina Pr. Busca descobrir quais as necessidades dos usuários (moradores) e, a partir da avaliação de desempenho físico e de satisfação do usuário voltada aos ambientes construídos e de uso coletivo, com ênfase nos aspectos social, funcional, segurança, durabilidade e manutenabilidade, formula procedimentos metodológicos de desempenho de avaliação para dar suporte na definição de programas de necessidades para futuros empreendimentos similares. Propõe um modelo metodológico que encontra suporte no Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) para hierarquizar os atributos e as alternativas que influenciam nas decisões de projeto (critérios e subcritérios) e cuja calibragem do modelo se dá por meio da Avaliação Pós-Ocupação (APO), envolvendo os pontos de vista dos moradores, dos administradores ou síndicos, dos autores dos projetos destes empreendimentos, além dos levantamentos in loco realizado pelo pesquisador. / ABSTRACT This thesis deals with collective environments of gated communities and plots which started being built in 1990 in the city of Londrina-PR. It searches for finding out the needs of the users (residents) and, from the evaluation of their physical performance and satisfaction regarding the built and collective environments, with special emphasis on social, functional, safety, durability and maintenance aspects, conceives the methodological procedures of performance evaluation to support the definition of programs of needs for future similar developments. It proposes a methodological model supported by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to form as a hierarchy the attributes and the alternatives which have influence on the design decisions (criteria and sub-criteria), whose calibration of the proposed methodological model took place through the Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE), involving the viewpoints from the residents, the administrators or syndics and architects, besides the surveys in loco carried out by this researcher.

Ce travail porte sur l’étude de matériaux micro/nano structurés permettant l’ingénierie des structures de bande dans le domaine des ondes élastiques. Nous nous sommes intéressés en particulier à l’intégration de ces matériaux dans les dispositifs électro-acoustiques et l’étude de l’interaction avec les ondes acoustiques de surface.La démarche consiste à mener des simulations par la méthode des éléments finis, pour calculer les structures de bande et les spectres de transmission. Nous avons étudié l’effet des paramètres géométriques et élastiques des micro-plots sur les branches acoustiques représentant les modes de surface. Nous avons ensuite discuté l’effet de la symétrie de l’arrangement sur la polarisation des modes de surface. Nous avons également étudié l’effet de la symétrie sur la sensibilité des modes de surface à une variation de température.Sur le plan expérimental, Nous avons élaboré des transducteurs inter-digités sur un substrat piézoélectrique de LiNbO3. Nous avons intégré divers cristaux phononiques composés de micro-plots de Ni, obtenues par électrodéposition. Les spectres de transmission ont été mesurés à l’aide d’un analyseur de réseau et comparés aux résultats theoriques.En dehors des cristaux phononiques basés sur des plots du nickel, d’autres structures ont également été présentées dans ce travail, incluant des matériaux bidimensionnels à base de nanoparticules magnétiques auto-assemblées et des nanofils du nickel électrodéposés à travers des membranes nano-poreuses d’alumine. / This work concerns the study of micro/nano structured materials for the engineering of band structures in the field of elastic waves. We were interested in particular to the integration of these materials in electro-acoustic devices and the study of the interaction with the surface acoustic waves.The approach is to carry out the simulation using the finite element method to calculate the band structures and the transmission spectra. We studied the effect of geometrical and elastic parameters of micro-pillars on acoustic branches representing surface modes. Then we discussed the effect of the symmetry of the arrangement on the polarization of the surface modes. We also investigated the effect of the symmetry on the sensitivity of surface modes with the variation of temperature.Experimentally, we have developed interdigital transducers on a piezoelectric substrate of LiNbO3. We have fabricated various phononic crystals composed of nickel micro-pillars, obtained by electrodeposition. The transmission spectra were measured by a network analyzer and compared with the theoretical results.Besides the phononic crystals based on nickel pillars, some other periodic micro/nano structures were also involved in this work, such as two dimensional materials based on self-assembled magnetic nanoparticles and nickel nanowires electroplated through nano-porous alumina membranes.

Cette thèse a deux volets : d'abord l'étude du refroidissement et de la dynamique d'atomes dans des mélasses grises et des réseaux gris, puis la présentation d'une nouvelle méthode de spectroscopie pour étudier la dynamique d'atomes dans des réseaux brillants. Dans les structures de potentiel lumineux que constituent les mélasses grises, les atomes de Césium sont refroidis à des températures particulièrement basses (800 nK) car ils sont piégés dans des états où ils ne subissent pratiquement plus l'influence de la lumière. L'addition d'un fort champ magnétique statique transforme alors la structure de potentiel vue par l'atome en un paysage de collines régulièrement séparées par des vallées plates. Dans ce nouvel environnement dénommé réseau gris, le comportement dynamique des atomes devient inhabituel : ils rebondissent de plot en plot comme des billes de flipper. Les réseaux brillants, en comparaison, présentent une structure de potentiel en forme de fosses (puits de potentiel) dans lesquelles les atomes restent piégés. C'est pour étudier plus en détail la dynamique atomique dans ces réseaux brillants que nous avons mis au point la technique spectroscopique de "transitoire cohérent". Grâce à son très bon rapport signal sur bruit et une sélectivité en fréquence accrue, cette technique nous a permis d'attribuer à l'anharmonicité du potentiel la majeure partie de la relaxation du mouvement oscillatoire des atomes dans les puits. Par ailleurs, elle a permis une étude quantitative du transport atomique dans les réseaux brillants.

<p>This thesis rewievs present day research on the settlement of Östra Aros in central Sweden. The thesis deals with the period from late Iron age to about 1270 AD, when the Swedish archdiocese moved to the already existing early-medieval settlement of Östra Aros, thus becoming the medieval town of Uppsala. The basis of the thesis is the study of a variety of source materials, such as artefact studies, runestones, topography and the prehistoric and early medieval hinterland. The thesis centers on archaeological excavation data and dating of settlement structures, particularly focusing on the settlements establishment. Through a critical review of primarily the written record and the archaeological data, the settlements characteristics and functions are discussed, emphasising when and if the settlement could be described as a town, central- or trading place.</p>