Le besoin tant en haute qualité d'imagerie qu'en structures légères est l'un des principaux moteurs pour la conception des télescopes spatiaux. Un contrôle efficace du front d'onde va donc devenir indispensable dans les futurs grands observatoires spatiaux, assurant une bonne performance optique tout en relâchant les contraintes sur la stabilité globale du système. L'optique active consiste à contrôler la déformation des miroirs, cette technique peut être utilisée afin de compenser la déformation des grands miroirs primaires, afin de permettre l'utilisation d'instrument reconfigurable ou afin de fabriquer des miroirs asphériques avec le polissage sous contraintes. Dans ce manuscrit, la conception de miroirs actifs dédiés à l'instrumentation spatiale est présentée. Premièrement, un système compensant la déformation d'un grand miroir allégé dans l'espace est conçu et ses performances sont démontrées expérimentalement. Avec 24 actionneurs, le miroir MADRAS (Miroir Actif Déformable et Régulé pour Applications Spatiales) effectuera une correction efficace du front d'onde dans un relais de pupille du télescope. Deuxièmement, un harnais de déformation pour le polissage sous contraintes des segments du télescope géant européen de 39 m (E-ELT) est présenté. La performance du procédé est prédite et optimisée avec des analyses éléments finis et la production en masse des segments est considérée. Troisièmement, deux concepts originaux de miroirs déformables avec un nombre minimal d'actionneurs ont été développés. VOALA (Variable Off-Axis parabola) est un système à trois actionneurs et COMSA (Correcting Optimized Mirror with a Single Actuator) est un système à un actionneur. / The need for both high quality images and light structures is one of the main driver in the conception of space telescopes. An efficient wave-front control will then become mandatory in the future large observatories, ensuring the optical performance while relaxing the specifications on the global system stability. Consisting in controlling the mirror deformation, active optics techniques can be used to compensate for primary mirror deformation, to allow the use of reconfigurable instruments or to manufacture aspherical mirror with stress polishing. In this manuscript, the conception of active mirrors dedicated to space instrumentation is presented. Firstly, a system compensating for large lightweight mirror deformation in space, is designed and its performance are experimentally demonstrated. With 24 actuators, the MADRAS mirror (Mirror Actively Deformed and Regulated for Applications in Space) will perform an efficient wave-front correction in the telescope's pupil relay. Secondly, a warping harness for the stress polishing of the 39 m European Extremely Large Telescope segments is presented. The performance of the process is predicted and optimized with Finite Element Analysis and the segments mass production is considered. Thirdly, two original concepts of deformable mirrors with a minimum number of actuators have been developed. The Variable Off-Axis parabola (VOALA) is a 3-actuators system and the Correcting Optimized Mirror with a Single Actuator (COMSA) is a 1-actuator system.

La filière solaire thermodynamique concentrée est une des voies les plus prometteuses pour la production des énergies renouvelables du futur. L’efficacité des surfaces optiques est un des facteurs clés influant sur les performances d’une centrale. Un des défis technologiques restant à résoudre concerne le temps et les efforts nécessaires à l’ajustement et l’orientation de tous ces miroirs, ainsi que la calibration des héliostats pour assurer un suivi précis de la course du soleil et une concentration contrôlée. Le travail présenté dans ce manuscrit propose une réponse à ce problème par le développement d’une méthode de caractérisation des héliostats dite de « rétrovisée », consistant à placer quatre caméras au voisinage du récepteur pour enregistrer les répartitions de luminance occasionnées par la réflexion du soleil sur l’héliostat. La connaissance du profil de luminance solaire, combiné à ces quatre images, permet de reconstruire les pentes des erreurs optiques de l’héliostat.La première étape de l’étude de la méthode a consisté à établir les différentes équations permettant de reconstruire les pentes des surfaces optiques à partir des différents paramètres du système. Ces différents développements théoriques ont ensuite permis la réalisation de simulations numériques pour valider la méthode et définir ses possibilités et ses limites. Enfin, des tests expérimentaux ont été réalisés sur le site de la centrale Thémis. À la suite de ces expériences, des pistes d’améliorations ont été identifiées pour améliorer la précision expérimentale et envisager son déploiement industriel. / Concentrated solar power is a promising way for renewable energy production. Optical efficiency of the mirrors is one of the key factors influencing a power plant performance. Methods which allow the operator to adjust all the heliostat of a plant quickly, in addition of calibration and tracking, are essential for the rise of the technology. The work presented in this thesis is the study of a “backward-gazing” method consisting in placing four cameras near the receiver simultaneously recording brightness images of the sun reflected by the heliostat. The optical errors of the mirrors are retrieved from these four images and the knowledge of the one dimension sun radiance profile.The first step of the study consists in the theoretical description of the method. Then numerical simulations are performed to estimate the general accuracy and the limits of the backward-gazing method. In a third phase, experimental tests have been fulfilled at Themis solar power plant. Finally, ideas of improvement are proposed based on the experiments performed.

L’amélioration des matériaux et des technologies de lentilles de contact a permis le recours de plus en plus fréquent à un type de lentille de contact à grand diamètre reposant sur la sclère : la lentille sclérale (SL). Celle-ci est majoritairement utilisée pour la réadaptation visuelle de patient vivant avec divers types de déformations cornéennes, mais également pour le traitement de maladie de surface oculaire et la correction optique de la simple erreur de réfraction lorsque les autres modalités de lentilles ne peuvent être tolérées. Ce mémoire a pour objectif d’évaluer l’influence de l’asphéricité des surfaces antérieure (ASA) et postérieure (ASP) sur la performance visuelle d’un porteur de SL chez deux groupes distincts : une cohorte de 12 participants sans anomalie cornéenne et une cohorte de 9 participants ayant un diagnostic de kératocône (KC). Lors de l’expérience, quatre différentes SL ayant différents profils d’asphéricité ont été étudiées sur l’œil droit seulement. Pour chaque SL, les mesures d’acuité visuelle à haut contraste (AVHC), l’acuité visuelle à bas contraste (AVHC) et les valeurs moyennes quadratiques (root-mean-square ou RMS) des différents coefficients d’aberrations d’ordres supérieurs (AOS) ont été compilées pour chacun de ces designs aux diamètres pupillaires 3, 4, 5 et 6 mm. Les résultats obtenus suggèrent que l’augmentation de l’ASA d’une SL portée à l’œil droit génère une augmentation de l’aberration sphérique négative, de la coma verticale et horizontale négative chez les deux groupes. L’augmentation de l’ASA entraîne toutefois une augmentation de l’AOS totale et du trèfle total chez les participants sans anomalie cornéenne. Chez le groupe de participants atteint de KC, l’augmentation de l’ASA entraîne une diminution non significative des AOS totales et une augmentation non significative de l’aberration trèfle total. Bien que des études supplémentaires soient nécessaires pour bien comprendre l’influence de l’asphéricité sur les AOS chez les participants atteints de KC, la manipulation de celle-ci permettrait de réduire l’amplitude de certains types d’AOS dans certains cas particuliers. / Improvements in materials and technology have led to the increased use of a large diameter contact lens that rests on the sclera: the scleral lens (SL). These lenses are mainly used for visual rehabilitation of patients with various types of corneal ectasia, for the treatment of ocular surface disease and also for the optical correction of simple refractive error when other lens modalities are not tolerated. The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the influence of anterior surface asphericity (ASA) and posterior surface asphericity (ASP) on the visual performance of a SL wearer in two distinct groups: a cohort of 12 participants with no corneal abnormalities and a cohort of 9 participants with a diagnosis of keratoconus (KC). Four different SLs with different aspheric profiles were studied on the right eye only. For each SL, high-contrast visual acuity (HCVA), low contrast visual acuity (LCVA) measurements were measured. The root-mean-square (RMS) values of the higher-order aberration (HOA) Zernike coefficients were also measured for each of these designs for a pupil diameter of 3, 4, 5 and 6 mm. The results of this study suggest that increasing the anterior asphericity of a SL worn on the right eye generates an increase in negative spherical aberration, negative vertical and horizontal coma in both groups. Increasing anterior asphericity leads to an increase in total HOA and total trefoil in participants without corneal anomalies. In the group of participants with KC, increasing asphericity results in a non-significant decrease in total HOA and a non-significant increase in total trefoil aberration. Although additional studies are needed to understand the influence of asphericity on HOA in participants with KC, the manipulation of the anterior asphericity could reduce the amplitude of some types of HOA in some cases.

No description available.

In recent years, the confocal and two photon microscopes have become ubiquitous tools in life science laboratories. The reason for this is that both these systems can acquire three dimensional image data from biological specimens. Specifically, this is done by acquiring a series of two-dimensional images from a set of equally spaced planes within the specimen. The resulting image stack can be manipulated and displayed on a computer to reveal a wealth of information. These systems can also be used in time lapse studies to monitor the dynamical behaviour of specimens by recording a number of image stacks at a sequence of time points. The time resolution in this situation is, however, limited by the maximum speed at which each constituent image stack can be acquired. Various techniques have emerged to speed up image acquisition and in most practical implementations a single, in-focus, image can be acquired very quickly. However, the real bottleneck in three dimensional imaging is the process of refocusing the system to image different planes. This is commonly done by physically changing the distance between the specimen and imaging lens, which is a relatively slow process. It is clear with the ever-increasing need to image biologically relevant specimens quickly that the speed limitation imposed by the refocusing process must be overcome. This thesis concerns the acquisition of data from a range of specimen depths without requiring the specimen to be moved. A new technique is demonstrated for two photon microscopy that enables data from a whole range of specimen depths to be acquired simultaneously so that a single two dimensional scan records extended depth of field image data directly. This circumvents the need to acquire a full three dimensional image stack and hence leads to a significant improvement in the temporal resolution for acquiring such data by more than an order of magnitude. In the remainder of this thesis, a new microscope architecture is presented that enables scanning to be carried out in three dimensions at high speed without moving the objective lens or specimen. Aberrations introduced by the objective lens are compensated by the introduction of an equal and opposite aberration with a second lens within the system enabling diffraction limited performance over a large range of specimen depths. Focusing is achieved by moving a very small mirror, allowing axial scan rates of several kHz; an improvement of some two orders of magnitude. This approach is extremely general and can be applied to any form of optical microscope with the very great advantage that the specimen is not disturbed. This technique is developed theoretically and experimental results are shown that demonstrate its potential application to a broad range of sectioning methods in microscopy.

Foetal anomalies found on ultrasound increase the probability of occurrence of chromosomal abnormalities. They cause about one quarter of all abortions and stillbirths and many of inborn defects in newborns. Karyotype analysis is number one method in prenatal diagnosis whereas array CGH is often used as a verification and supplemental method. The aim of this work was to prove that array CGH gives additional chromosomal findings to karyotypes and could substitute conventional karyotyping as a primary examination method in foetuses with ultrasound findings. We examined 45 prenatal samples using both methods. These samples were referred for invasive examination because of abnormal ultrasound findings. Karyotype analyses found two abnormalities in two (4,4 %) patients and array CGH identified aberrations in five (11,1 %) foetuses whereas both anomalies detected by karyotypes were discovered by array CGH too. This means that array CGH identified about 6,7 % more aberrations than karyotype. Our results correspond with scientific articles which refer that array CGH should replace karyotype not only in postnatal examinations but even in prenatal diagnosis. Keywords: chromosomal aberrations, array CGH, karyotype, prenatal diagnosis, ultrasound

Brain gliomas represent a heterogeneous group of tumors of various histological subtypes which differ according to their response to treatment and prognosis. Tumors created from astrocytes and oligodendrocytes occur most often. Histological classification of gliomas is often subjective, as well as their treatment today is still problematic. The aim of this diploma thesis was to carry out a detailed molecular cytogenetic analysis of the genome of tumor cells in patients with histologically confirmed brain gliomas of different subtypes and stages of malignancy, look for recurrent aberration-specific subtypes and assess their potential role in the development and progression of cancer. To observation specific frequency known aberrations in different subtypes of brain tumors, we used the method of interphase FISH (I-FISH) with a panel of specific locus and / or centromeric DNA probes. The whole genome analysis and detection of cryptic unbalanced changes in the genome of tumor cells, we used the method of SNP array. Combining methods I- FISH and SNP array was detected not only the known chromosomal changes that are typical of the different subtypes of tumors, but also new or uncommon recurrent aberrations. In patients with low-grade gliomas are the most commonly observed acquired UPD (aUPD) on the short...

The relationship between accommodation and myopia has been under investigation for many years, and the effort to understand it is ongoing. In this thesis, an introduction to the state of myopia research is given first, with particular reference to studies of accommodation and higher-order ocular aberrations, which feature in the subsequent chapters. Following a brief introduction to the general technique of aberrometry and visual stimulus control using adaptive optics, the development of a monocular adaptive optics instrument for this purpose is described. The instrument is used to vary a dioptric stimulus and record the accommodation response in pilot studies and a detailed experiment, which has also been published elsewhere. It is found, among other things, that accommodation can respond to more than one different input level during its latency period, and that such inputs can be stored until components of the accommodation control system are free to process them. Indications of a minimum halting time for accommodation, of around 0.6 s, are presented. In later chapters, the development and testing of a new, binocular adaptive optics apparatus will be found. As well as binocular aberrometry and adaptive optics control of stimulus aberrations, this instrument displaces images to allow for and stimulate ocular convergence in binocular accommodation experiments. It is the first instrument in the world with its combined functionalities. Finally, the contribution of this thesis is summarised, and further instrumentation development and experiments are put forward for the continuation of this branch of accommodation and myopia research.

Mosaicism is represented by two or more chromosomally different cell lines in an individual. Mosaics are most often caused by chromosome malsegregation during mitosis, resulting in the gain or loss of chromosomes, known as aneuploidy, but structural aberrations can also occur in mosaic form. The problem is the limitation of detection with standart cytogenetic methods. The present study was carried out to compare the efficiency of FISH, array CGH and cytogenetic techniques in detection of mosaicism. In the practical part the results of 45 patients with mosaicisms of aneuplody of gonosomes (26 patients) and mosaicisms of autosomes (19 patients) were compared. The data show that we have different peripheral blood karyotype and FISH results in 23 of 37 patients (62%). There was a case of failure of detection of the mosaicism on the karyotype and the FISH method revealed a abnormal cell lines with a percentage of less than 5%. The array CGH method confirmed the karyotype and FISH results in 10 out of 12 patients (83%) in peripheral blood tests. The work also dealt with artificially made mosaics. From the results, it is obvious that the FISH method has a more accurate percentage of mosaic capture compared to the karyotype. The results indicate that using the techniques in parallel allow in clinical...

(in English) Air pollution is a serious worldwide problem associated with the risk of cancer. The negative effect of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (c-PAHs), including benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), on human health is analyzed using specific biomarkers. Among them biomarkers of early effect play an important role. This work summarizes the results of cytogenetic analyses performed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) (whole chromosome painting of chromosomes #1 and #4) and automated image analysis of micronuclei (MN). During the analyses a total set of 1304 samples was analyzed by the FISH method and 885 samples by the automated image analysis of MN. Studied groups including city policemen, garage men, bus drivers, administrative workers, mothers, newborns, healthy children and children with bronchial asthma and laboratory workers were from Prague, Ostrava and Ceske Budejovice. The locations significantly differed in levels of air pollutants and the type of air pollution. The exposure of participants of the study was assessed by personal and stationary monitoring. The impact of other factors including age, smoking or intake of vitamins was also evaluated in these studies. The results obtained by the FISH method in Prague showed the impact of seasonal variability of concentrations of...