Concern regarding the health effects of indoor air quality has grown in recent years, due to the increased prevalence of many diseases, as well as the fact that many people now spend most of their time indoors. While numerous studies have reported on the dynamics of aerosols indoors, the dynamics of bioaerosols in indoor environments are still poorly understood and very few studies have focused on fungal spore dynamics in indoor environments. Consequently, this work investigated the dynamics of fungal spores in indoor air, including fungal spore release and deposition, as well as investigating the mechanisms involved in the fungal spore fragmentation process. In relation to the investigation of fungal spore dynamics, it was found that the deposition rates of the bioaerosols (fungal propagules) were in the same range as the deposition rates of nonbiological particles and that they were a function of their aerodynamic diameters. It was also found that fungal particle deposition rates increased with increasing ventilation rates. These results (which are reported for the first time) are important for developing an understanding of the dynamics of fungal spores in the air. In relation to the process of fungal spore fragmentation, important information was generated concerning the airborne dynamics of the spores, as well as the part/s of the fungi which undergo fragmentation. The results obtained from these investigations into the dynamics of fungal propagules in indoor air significantly advance knowledge about the fate of fungal propagules in indoor air, as well as their deposition in the respiratory tract. The need to develop an advanced, real-time method for monitoring bioaerosols has become increasingly important in recent years, particularly as a result of the increased threat from biological weapons and bioterrorism. However, to date, the Ultraviolet Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (UVAPS, Model 3312, TSI, St Paul, MN) is the only commercially available instrument capable of monitoring and measuring viable airborne micro-organisms in real-time. Therefore (for the first time), this work also investigated the ability of the UVAPS to measure and characterise fungal spores in indoor air. The UVAPS was found to be sufficiently sensitive for detecting and measuring fungal propagules. Based on fungal spore size distributions, together with fluorescent percentages and intensities, it was also found to be capable of discriminating between two fungal spore species, under controlled laboratory conditions. In the field, however, it would not be possible to use the UVAPS to differentiate between different fungal spore species because the different micro-organisms present in the air may not only vary in age, but may have also been subjected to different environmental conditions. In addition, while the real-time UVAPS was found to be a good tool for the investigation of fungal particles under controlled conditions, it was not found to be selective for bioaerosols only (as per design specifications). In conclusion, the UVAPS is not recommended for use in the direct measurement of airborne viable bioaerosols in the field, including fungal particles, and further investigations into the nature of the micro-organisms, the UVAPS itself and/or its use in conjunction with other conventional biosamplers, are necessary in order to obtain more realistic results. Overall, the results obtained from this work on airborne fungal particle dynamics will contribute towards improving the detection capabilities of the UVAPS, so that it is capable of selectively monitoring and measuring bioaerosols, for which it was originally designed. This work will assist in finding and/or improving other technologies capable of the real-time monitoring of bioaerosols. The knowledge obtained from this work will also be of benefit in various other bioaerosol applications, such as understanding the transport of bioaerosols indoors.

Les propulseurs électriques sont de plus en plus utilisés pour des missions de correction de trajectoire des satellites et pourront dans un avenir proche être utilisés pour le transfert d’orbite. Ces propulseurs constituent une excellente alternative aux propulseurs chimiques grâce à leur rendement élevé et une substantielle économie de carburant réalisée par rapport aux propulseurs chimiques. Les propulseurs à effet Hall créent la poussée par l’accélération d’ions positifs de xénon ou de krypton dans un plasma confiné par un champ magnétique. L’objet de ce manuscrit concerne principalement les caractéristiques de l’accélération des ions et des atomes dans un propulseur à effet Hall. Les influences de la largeur du canal de décharge, de la topologie magnétique et de la cathode sur l’efficacité d’accélération des ions sont étudiées. Des pistes d’optimisation de l’architecture du propulseur sont alors proposées qui pourraient être particulièrement avantageuses sur les propulseurs de petite taille, comme l’élargissement du canal et l’augmentation du champ magnétique près des parois du canal. L’influence de la position et du potentiel de la cathode sur la déviation du faisceau ionique est révélée. L’évolution temporelle basse fréquence du champ électrique est mesurée par comptage synchrone de photons et suggère que la température atomique joue un rôle important dans les oscillations basse fréquence de la décharge. Par ailleurs, l’influence du champ magnétique sur les performances d’un propulseur proche des modèles de vol a été mesurée grâce à l’utilisation d’un moteur doté d’une topologie magnétique flexible. Ceci a montré la difficulté de définir un paramètre numérique capable de synthétiser l’information complexe de la répartition spatiale du champ magnétique dans le canal de décharge. Les très faibles modifications des performances par le champ magnétique soulignent l’importance de la précision dans la mesure. / Electric propulsion systems are more and more often used for trajectory correction of satellites and may soon be used for orbit transfer. These devices represent a great alternative to classic chemical propulsion devices thanks to their high efficiency and propellant mass savings. Hall effect thruster provide thrust by the acceleration of xenon or krypton ions in a magnetized confined plasma. The study presented in this manuscript mainly addresses characteristics of ion and atom acceleration in a Hall effect thruster. Influence of channel width, magnetic topology and cathode parameters on ion acceleration efficiency is investigated. Ways to optimize thruster architecture are suggested that may be particularly relevant for low power thrusters, such as widening thruster channel and increasing magnetic field amplitude near channel walls. Influence of cathode position with respect to the thruster channel exit plane and its potential with respect to ground on ion beam deviation has been revealed with two thrusters. Low frequency time evolution of the accelerating electric field was measured using lock-in photon counting system. Results strongly suggest that the atom temperature plays a crucial role in low frequency time evolution of the whole plasma discharge. Measurement of performances as a function of the magnetic field demonstrated that numeric parameters are compulsory to carry on a relevant parametric study. These parameters would summarize the 2D information of magnetic topology. Weak influence of magnetic topology revealed that thrust measurement precision needs to be increased by at least one order of magnitude if one wants to reach a better understanding of plasma confinement in a Hall effect thruster.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:06:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5213.pdf: 2943691 bytes, checksum: 6d301fea12ee3950f36c4359dd4a627e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-30 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The aim of this study was to investigate the monthly amount of unfavourable days to pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere on the metropolitan region of S ão Paulo (RMSP). It was considered two data sets derived from the air quality monitoring on the RMSP: (1) monthly observations of the times series of annual period and (2) monthly observations of the times series of period form May to September. It was used two classes of models: the Vector Autoregressive models (VAR) and Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). The techniques presented in this dissertation was focus in: VAR class had emphasis on modelling stationary time series; and GAMLSS class had emphasis on models for count data, like Delaporte (DEL), Negative Binomial type I (NBI), Negative Binomial type II (NBII), Poisson (PO), inflated Poisson Zeros (ZIP), Inverse Poisson Gaussian (PIG) and Sichel (SI). The VAR was used only for the data set (1) obtaining a good prediction of the monthly amount of unfavourable days, although the adjustment had presented relatively large residues. The GAMLSS were used in both data sets, and the NBII model had good performance to data set (1), and ZIP model for data set (2). Also, it was made a simulation study to better understanding of the GAMLSS class for count data. The data were generated from three different Negative Binomial distributions. The results shows that the models NBI, NBII, and PIG adjusted well the data generated. The statistic techniques used in this dissertation was important to describe and understand the air quality problem. / O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a quantidade mensal de dias desfavoráveis à dispersão de poluentes na atmosfera da região metropolitana de São Paulo (RMSP). Foram considerados dois conjuntos de dados provenientes do monitoramento da qualidade do ar da RMSP: (1) um contendo observações mensais das séries temporais do período anual e (2) outro contendo observações mensais das séries temporais do período de maio a setembro. Foram utilizadas duas classes de modelos: os Modelos Vetoriais Autorregressivos (VAR) e os Modelos Aditivos Generalizados para Locação, Escala e Forma (GAMLSS), ressaltando que as técnicas apresentadas nessa dissertação da classe VAR têm ênfase na modelagem de séries temporais estacionárias e as da classe GAMLSS têm ênfase nos modelos para dados de contagem, sendo eles: Delaporte (DEL), Binomial Negativa tipo I (NBI), Binomial Negativa tipo II (NBII), Poisson (PO), Poisson Inflacionada de Zeros (ZIP), Poisson Inversa Gaussiana (PIG) e Sichel (SI). O modelo VAR foi utilizado apenas para o conjunto de dados (1), obtendo uma boa previsão da quantidade mensal de dias desfavoráveis, apesar do ajuste ter apresentado resíduos relativamente grandes. Os GAMLSS foram utilizados em ambos conjuntos de dados, sendo que os modelos NBII e ZIP melhor se ajustaram aos conjuntos de dados (1) e (2) respectivamente. Além disso, realizou-se um estudo de simulação para compreender melhor os GAMLSS investigados. Os dados foram gerados de três diferentes distribuições Binomiais Negativas. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que, tanto os modelos NBI e NBII como o modelo PIG, ajustaram bem os dados gerados. As técnicas estatísticas utilizadas nessa dissertação foram importantes para descrever e compreender o problema da qualidade do ar.

The thesis includes delatiled explanation of combinatorial principles used in school mathematics. The single principles are explained in details and practicised. The tasks at the end of the chapter serve readers for testing acquired knoledge.

Amostras de nitrato de potássio e enxofre natural foram irradiadas no núcleo do reator de pesquisas IEA-R1 do Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, IPEN/CNEN-SP, operando entre 3,5 e 5 MW de potência, para determinar as secções de choque térmicas e integrais de ressonância das reações 34S(n,)35S e 42K(n,)43K. O fluxo de nêutrons foi monitorado com ligas ouro-alumínio. As atividades induzidas nos alvos de ouro-alumínio e nitrato de potássio foram medidas com um detector semicondutor de germânio hiper puro; as atividades dos alvos de enxofre foram determinadas com um sistema de coincidências 4\\pi\\beta - \\gamma. Os efeitos de depressão de fluxo, autoblindagem e autoabsorção nos alvos foram corrigidos com base em simulações com o método de Monte Carlo por meio do programa MCNP. O programa PENELOPE, também baseado no método de Monte Carlo, foi modificado para simular o comportamento do sistema de coincidências 4\\pi\\beta - \\gamma. O formalismo de Westcott e o método da razão de cádmio foram usados para determinar os fluxos de nêutrons térmicos e epitérmicos, assim como as secções de choque térmicas e integrais de ressonância de ambos nuclídeos. Foi efetuado um tratamento estatístico das incertezas envolvidas e determinadas as covariâncias entre os resultados, incluindo aquelas decorrentes das incertezas do padrão de referência (ouro). As reações 34S(n,)35S e 42K(n,)43K apresentaram, respectivamente, seções de choque térmicas de 228(14) mb e 44,8(9) b, e integrais de ressonância de 144(6) mb e 1635(75) b. Estes resultados são incompatíveis com aqueles obtidos com cálculos teóricos. A seção de choque térmica da reação 34S(n,)35S concorda com valores obtidos por outros autores, dentro das incertezas experimentais. / Samples of potassium nitrate and natural sulphur were irradiated in the IPEN/CNEN-SP IEA-R1 research reactor core, operating between 3.5 and 5 MW, to determine the thermal neutron cross sections and resonance integrals of 34S(n,)35S and 42K(n,)43K reactions. The neutron flux was monitored with gold-aluminium alloy. The activities induced in targets of gold-aluminium and potassium nitrate were measured with a high purity germanium detector. Sulphur targets activities were determined with a 4\\pi\\beta-\\gamma coincidences system by the tracer method. Flux depression, self-shielding and self-absorption in the targets was evaluated by simulations using the MCNP software. The PENELOPE software, also based on Monte Carlo method, was modified to simulate the behavior of the 4\\pi\\beta-\\gamma coincidence system. The Westcott formalism and the cadmium ratio method were used to determine epithermal and thermal neutrons flux as well as the thermal cross sections and resonance integrals of both nuclides. A statistical analysis of the uncertainties was performed and the covariance between the results was determined, including those arising from the uncertainties of the gold reference standard. The results were compared with experimental values and theoretical predictions obtained by other authors. The 34S(n,)35S and 42K(n,)43K reactions had, respectively, thermal cross sections of 228(14) mb and 44.8(9) b, and integral resonances of 144(6) mb and 1635(75) b. These results are incompatible with the obtained with theoretical calculations. The 34S(n,)35S reaction thermal cross section agrees with values obtained by other authors, within the experimental uncertainties.

Cette thèse porte sur le développement d'un capteur de pixel monolithique CMOS utilisé pourl’identification et le comptage des particules ionisés dan l’espace avec un flux élevé. Un nouveauconcept pour l’identification de l’espèce des particules proposé dans la présente étude, est basésur l'analyse des amas de particules déclenchés. Pour valider ce nouveau concept, un capteur detaille complet, qui comprend la matrice de pixel sensible aux particules ionisés signal, une chaînede traitement du signal analogique, un convertisseur analogue numérique de 3 bits, et untraitement du signal numérique a été conçu dans un processus de 0.35 μm. Le capteur sortiedirectement des informations de flux à travers 4 canaux avec un débit de données très faible(80 bps) et dissipation d’énergie minimale (~ 100 mW). Chaque canal représente particules avecdifférentes espèces et les énergies. La densité maximum de flux mesurable est jusqu'à 108particules/cm2/s (coups s'accumulent < 5%). Un prototype à échelle réduite a été fabriqué et testéavec trois types d'illumination de rayonnement (rayons X, les électrons et laser infrarouge). Tousles résultats obtenus valident le nouveau concept proposé. Un moniteur de rayonnement spatialtrès miniaturisé basé sur un capteur de pixel CMOS peut être prévu. Le moniteur peut présente lesmêmes performances que les compteurs actuels, mais avec une dissipation de puissance réduited'un ordre de grandeur qu'un poids, un volume d'encombrement et un coût moindre. En outre, enraison de ses sorties de haut niveau et faible débit de données, aucune traitement supplémentairedu signal dehors du capteur est nécessaire, ce qui le rend particulièrement attrayant pour desapplications dan les petits satellitaires. / This thesis focuses on the development of a CMOS monolithic pixel sensor used for space ionizingparticles identification and counting in high flux. A new concept for single particle identification isproposed in this study, which is based on the analysis of particle triggered clusters. To validate thisnew concept, a full size sensor including the sensitive pixel matrix, an analogue signal processingchain, a 3-bit analogue to digital converter, and a digital processing stage was designed in a 0.35μm process. The sensor directly output particles flux information through 4 channels with a verylow data rate (80 bps) and minimal power dissipation (~ 100mW). Each channel representsparticles with different species and energies. The highest measurable flux density is up to 108particles/cm2/s (hits pile up < 5%). A reduced scale prototype was fabricated and tested with 3types of radiation illumination (X-ray, electrons and infrared laser). All the results obtained validatethe proposed new concept and a highly miniaturized space radiation monitor based on a singleCMOS pixel sensor could be foreseen. The monitor could provide measurements of comparable orbetter quality than existing instruments, but at around an order of magnitude lower powerconsumption, mass and volume and a lower unit cost. Moreover, due to its high level and low datarate outputs, no signal treatment power aside the sensor is required which makes it especiallyattractive for small satellite application.

SYRACO est un SYstème de Reconnaissance Automatisée des COccolithes, développé à son origine par Luc Beaufort et Denis Dollfus à partir de 1995 et plus récemment avec Yves Gally. L'utilité d'un tel système est de permettre aux spécialistes un gain de temps majeur dans l'acquisition et le traitement des données. Dans ce travail, le système a été amélioré techniquement et sa reconnaissance a été étendue aux nannofossiles calcaires du Cénozoïque. Ce système fait le tri entre les nannofossiles et les non-nannofossiles avec une efficacité respectivement estimée à 75% et 90 %. Il s'appuie sur une nouvelle base d'images de référence d'espèces datant de l'Eocène Supérieur aux espèces vivantes, ce qui représente des centaines d'espèces avec une forte variabilité morphologique. Il permet de réaliser une classification en 39 morphogroupes par la combinaison de réseaux de neurones artificiels avec des modèles statistiques. Les résultats sont présentés sous forme de comptages automatisés, de données morphométriques (taille, masse...) et de mosaïques d'images. Il peut ainsi être utilisé pour des analyses biostratigraphiques et paléocéanographiques. / SYRACO is an automated recognition system of coccoliths, originally developed since 1995 by Luc Beaufort and Denis Dollfus, and more recently with the help of Yves Gally. The main purpose of this system is for specialists to save time in the acquisition and treatment of data. By this recent work, the system has been technically improved and its ability of recognition has been extended to calcareous nannofossils of the Cenozoic Era. It sorts nannofossils and non-nannofossils with a reliability respectively estimated to 75% and 90%. It is based on a new reference images database of species from the Upper Eocene up to living species. This represents hundreds of species with a high morphological variability. It leads to the establishment of a classification arranged in 39 morphogroups, combining artificial neural networks to statistical models. The results are presented as automated counting, morphometrical data (size, mass...) and mosaics of images. Those results can be valuable in biostratigraphical and paleoceanographical analyses.

Numerous studies have attempted to measure scientists' influence by measuring the quantity of citations to their works. The problem with "citation counting," as it is called, is that it assumes that each listing of an author in a citation index is equal to another without bothering to explore the substantive uses of citations in the source article. The present study attempts to alleviate this problem by content analysis of citations in a limited sphere: reference to major philosophers of science by sociologists. In just over 100 sociology journals, citations to Thomas Kuhn, Karl Popper, Ernst Nagel, and Carl Hempel (overall, the most frequently cited philosophers of science) from 1971-1982 were randomly sampled. Each citation was classified according to the following criteria: 1) philosopher cited; 2) work cited, 3) exclusivity (whether cited with others); 4) multiplicity (number of citations by the philosopher in the same article); 5) type of article; and 6) purpose of citation. Purposes of citation included seven categories: 1) listing as relevant literature; 2) definition of a concept; 3) modification or extension of a philosopher's theory; 4) formulation of a research problem; 5) interpretation of results; 6) critical of philosopher's work; and 7) other. Analysis of these data revealed the following conclusions: 1) the major use of philosophy was the furnishing of concepts and their definitions; 2) philosophy of science played little or no role in directing research or interpreting results; 3) the use of citations differed greatly among the philosophers; 4) simple citation counting would have severely distorted the relative influences of each philosopher; and 5) the dialogue between sociology and the philosophy of science has, in the last decade, been dominated by Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions.

We study the masses of the low-lying charm and bottom mesons within the framework of heavy-hadron chiral perturbation theory. We work to third order in the chiral expansion, where meson loops contribute. In contrast to previous approaches, we use physical meson masses in evaluating these loops. This ensures that their imaginary parts are consistent with the observed widths of the D-mesons. The lowest odd- and even-parity, strange and non-strange mesons provide enough constraints to determine only certain linear combinations of the low-energy constants (LECs) in the effective Lagrangian. We comment on how lattice QCD could provide further information to disentangle these constants. Then we use the results from the charm sector to predict the spectrum of odd- and even-parity of the bottom mesons. The predicted masses from our theory are in good agreement with experimentally measured masses for the case of the odd-parity sector. For the even-parity sector, the $B$-meson states have not yet been observed; thus, our results provide useful information for experimentalists investigating such states. The near degeneracy of nonstrange and strange scalar $B$ mesons is confirmed in our predictions using $\mathrm{HHChPT}$. Finally,we show why previous approaches of using $\mathrm{HHChPT}$ in studying the mass degeneracy in the scalar states of charm and bottom meson sectors gave unsatisfactory results. Interactions between these heavy mesons are treated using effective theories similar to those used to study nuclear forces. We first look at a strongly-interacting channel which produces a bound or virtual state and a dimer state which couples weakly to a weakly-interacting channel to produce a narrow resonance. We also look at the short-range interactions in two channels. We consider two cases: two channels where one has a strong $s$-wave interaction which produces bound or virtual states, and a dimer state which couples weakly to weakly-coupled channels which in turn can produce narrow resonances. For each of these systems, we use well-defined power-counting schemes. The results can be used to investigate resonances in the charmonium and bottomonium systems. We demonstrate how the method can be applied to the $X(3872)$. The widths of the $X(3872)$ for decay processes to $\bar{D}^0 D^{*0}$ and $\bar{D}^0D^0\pi$ are calculated. We use these results to obtain the line shapes of the $X(3872)$ under different assumptions about the nature of this state.

Os atuais avanços na área das Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação (TIC) estão mudando a Educação, com a disponibilização de sistemas educativos para apoiar as atividades no processo de ensino e de aprendizagem. Embora o tópico de combinatória seja relevante para o ensino médio e para os cursos de Ciências Exatas, este tópico tem sido desconsiderado nos avanços da Informática na Educação, principalmente ao se considerar o uso de ambientes de aprendizagem via Web. Atualmente, o iComb é, no melhor de nosso conhecimento, o único sistema Web integrável a tais ambientes. Ele é um Módulo de Aprendizagem Interativa (iMA) integrável ao Sistema Gerenciador de Cursos (SGC) Moodle, por meio do plugin iTarefa. O iComb oferece atividades de autoria de exercícios, bem como, sua avaliação automática. No entanto, considerando sua usabilidade, foram detectados alguns problemas na interface. O foco deste trabalho está relacionado ao reprojeto do sistema iComb e seu impacto na aprendizagem de combinatória. Para a reconstrução do iComb adotou-se o método de design de interação, buscando-se a participação efetiva de usuários finais do sistema, em todas as atividades desse processo, com (i) sessões de teste de usabilidade utilizando a versão Java do iComb para identificar problemas e guiar o redesenho do sistema, e (ii) prototipagem e avaliação da interface do sistema redesenhado. Esse processo permitiu implementar uma nova versão do iComb utilizando tecnologias associadas ao HTML5, que será brevemente disponibilizado como software livre. / Current advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are changing Education with delivering software to support learning/teaching activities. Although being relevant for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses, Combinatorial Analysis is almost disregarded in these advances, mostly if we consider their integration with earning Management Systems. Currently, iComb is, at the best of our knowledge, the only system with such a possibility. It is an interactive Learning Module (iLM) that can be integrated to Moodle, through the iAssign plugin. iComb provides authoring activities as well as their automatic assessment. Nevertheless, considering the system usability, several interaction problems were detected during sessions with teachers and students. In this work it is described the process of redesigning the iComb system by adopting Interactive Design, to conduct controlled sessions of system use for (i) identifying usability issues for guiding the system redesign; and (ii) prototyping and evaluate the redesigned system interface, with end-users. This process allowed to implement new version of iComb using HTML5 related technologies that will be sooner available as free software, in order to reach a larger audience. Preliminary results on the interface evaluation indicate that both students and teachers felt more comfortable using the new interface of iComb and found it easier to execute common tasks.