Wireless power transfer (WPT) technologies for communication and recharging devices have recently attracted significant research attention. Conventional WPT systems based either on far-field or near-field coupling cannot provide simultaneously high efficiency and long transfer range. The Strongly Coupled Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) method was introduced recently, and it offers the possibility of transferring power with high efficiency over longer distances. Previous SCMR research has only focused on how to improve its efficiency and range through different methods. However, the study of optimal and miniaturized designs has been limited. In addition, no multiband and broadband SCMR WPT systems have been developed and traditional SCMR systems exhibit narrowband efficiency thereby imposing strict limitations on simultaneous wireless transmission of information and power, which is important for battery-less sensors. Therefore, new SCMR systems that are optimally designed and miniaturized in size will significantly enhance various technologies in many applications. The optimal and miniaturized SCMR systems are studied here. First, analytical models of the Conformal SCMR (CSCMR) system and thorough analysis and design methodology have been presented. This analysis specifically leads to the identification of the optimal design parameters, and predicts the performance of the designed CSCMR system. Second, optimal multiband and broadband CSCMR systems are designed. Two-band, three-band, and four-band CSCMR systems are designed and validated using simulations and measurements. Novel broadband CSCMR systems are also analyzed, designed, simulated and measured. The proposed broadband CSCMR system achieved more than 7 times larger bandwidth compared to the traditional SCMR system at the same frequency. Miniaturization methods of SCMR systems are also explored. Specifically, methods that use printable CSCMR with large capacitors, novel topologies including meandered, SRRs, and spiral topologies or 3-D structures, lower the operating frequency of SCMR systems, thereby reducing their size. Finally, SCMR systems are discussed and designed for various applications, such as biomedical devices and simultaneous powering of multiple devices.

The D1-class receptors (D1R, D5R) each possess distinct signaling characteristics; however, pharmacological selectivity between them remains elusive. The third intracellular loops (IL3) of D1R and D5R harbour divergent residues that may contribute to their individual signalling phenotypes. Here we probe the function of central region of IL3 of D1R and D5R using deletion mutagenesis. Radioligand binding and whole cell cAMP assays suggest that the N-terminal and C-terminal moieties of the central IL3 oppositely contribute to the constitutive and agonist-dependant activity of D1-Class receptors. Whereas the N-terminal deletions ablated constitutive activity and decreased DA-induced activation, C-terminal deletions induced robust increases. These data, interpreted in concert with structural predictions generated from homology modeling implicate the central IL3 as playing an important role in the activation and subtype-specific characteristics of the D1-class receptors. This study may serve as a basis for the development of novel drugs targeting the central IL3 region.

Due to its inherent stability and compactness, integrated optics can allow for experimental complexity not currently achievable with bulk optics. This opens up the possibility for large-scale quantum technological applications, such as quantum communication networks and quantum information processing. Quantum information processing relies on efficient sources of entangled photon pairs. Most demonstrations in integrated photonics so far have featured the on-chip manipulation of photon states using a free-space bulk-optic source of photons. This has the drawback of introducing loss due to the spatial mode mismatch between waveguide modes of the chip and modes of the produced photons. In this way, loss limits the number of photons that are simultaneously carried in the integrated optical device, and thus limits the number of qubits. One way to avoid this loss is to generate the photons in another waveguide device. This can be done through, for example, spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM). In this third-order nonlinear process, two pump photons spontaneously scatter off each other to create two photons of two new frequencies, satisfying momentum and energy conservation. This has been studied in birefringent optical fibers and photonic crystal fibers. In this work, we investigate the SFWM generation of photons in a waveguide coupler comprised of two touching tapered optical fibers, which we call a microcoupler. The two silica fibers are kept in contact and tapered to be 1 micron in diameter in the 10 cm long uniform interaction region. This device has three main advantages over a standard telecom 2x2 fiber coupler. 1) The small mode area enhances the photon generation rate; 2) The microcoupler supports four modes which is the minimum number required for two-photon entanglement. So in principle the device should be able to produce polarization-entangled photon pairs; 3) The strong waveguide-waveguide coupling and waveguide dispersion (due to the tapering) forces the photons to be far in wavelength from the background light around the pump. We present the 28 allowed phasematching processes for the microcoupler, as well as predict the frequencies of the generated photons. We report the first experimental observation of photon pairs produced via SFWM in a microcoupler. We also analyze the polarization state of the observed photons to figure out which phasematching processes are responsible for generating the photons. We expect to observe more photon pairs in future devices, with the ultimate goal being the generation of polarization-entangled photon pairs for integrated optics.

Les travaux réalisés au cours de cette thèse portent sur la conception neutronique de configurations expérimentale destinées à améliorer la connaissance de paramètres neutroniques, en particulier les données nucléaires dans une gamme de spectres neutroniques élargie, dans le futur réacteur de puissance nulle ZEPHYR. La grande flexibilité expérimentale attendue de ce réacteur présente un défi majeur lié à la présence obligatoire d’une zone en eau périphérique. Or, répondre aux besoins des réacteurs électronucléaires nécessite de reproduire fidèlement leurs caractéristiques neutroniques dans les zones de mesure. L’enjeu est alors de comprendre puis réaliser une adaptation spectrale efficace entre la périphérie et la zone de mesure, et de l’appliquer pour des configurations dédiées aux réacteurs de Générations II, III et IV.Dans un premier temps les couplages thermique-rapides ont été étudiés, stimulés par le développement des réacteurs rapides de Génération IV. De telles configurations ayant été réalisées par le passé, le travail réalisé a visé à produire une démarche rigoureuse de conception permettant de s’assurer de l’indépendance neutronique de la zone centrale rapide vis-à-vis de la zone thermique périphérique. Une configuration optimisée a pu être définie et des déclinaisons permettent de cibler préférentiellement les sections efficaces d’absorption ou de diffusion lors de mesures d’oscillations d’échantillons dans un canal expérimental dédié, situé au centre du massif. Des premières études relatives à la sûreté de cette configuration optimisée ont également été réalisées afin de justifier sa faisabilité pratique.Dans un second temps, les principes d’adaptation spectrale sont appliqués pour cibler le domaine énergétique entre 10 eV et 10 keV. Ce domaine ne vise pas un soutien direct à un concept de réacteur mais à pallier au manque de mesures dans cette zone, notamment pour les aspects de sûreté/criticité.Enfin, l’étude de sensibilité aux données nucléaires des effets en réactivité mesurés au centre de ces configurations reste un problème ouvert auquel cette thèse apporte une contribution au travers d’une modélisation théorique. / This PhD thesis focuses on the neutronics design of experimental configurations to improve knowledge on neutronical parameters, in particular nuclear data in enlarged spectrum energy domains, in the future Zero Power Reactor ZEPHYR. Its awaited high spectral flexibility faces a major challenge due to the presence of a peripheral water zone. Answering the needs of current and future electronuclear reactor fleet requires a faithful reproduction of their neutronical characteristics in the measurement zone. Then, the issue is to understand how to design an efficient spectral adaptation between the periphery and the experimental zone, and to apply it on Generations II, III and IV dedicated configurations.As a first step, fast-thermal coupled cores were studied in order to support the development of Generation IV fast reactors. Such configurations had been previously realized, but our work intends to provide a rigorous design approach to insure the neutronical independence of the fast central zone regarding the peripheral thermal zone. An optimized configuration has been defined; some adaptations allow to target either absorption or scattering cross-sections during dedicated sample oscillation campaigns. Preliminary safety studies associated to the safe operation of this optimized configuration have also been realized in order to justify its practical feasibility.A second step used the spectral adaptation principles to target the 10 eV to 10 keV energy domain. Even though this domain is not directly related to a concept of reactor, it suffers from a lack of dedicated experiments despite several applications, in particular for criticality/safety issues.Finally, the sensitivity calculations of reactivity effects to nuclear data measured in the centers of these configurations still remains an unresolved problem to which this PhD thesis brings a contribution thanks to a theoretical modelling.

Neste trabalho foram desenvolvidas estratégias para a determinação de cafeína e detecção de adulterações no café, empregando a eletroforese capilar com detecção condutométrica sem contato (CE-C4D). A estratégia desenvolvida para a separação da cafeína se baseia na complexação dinâmica do analito com o ânion do eletrólito de corrida, 3,4-dimetoxicinamato. Utilizou-se como eletrólito de corrida 20 mmol L-1 de ácido 3,4-dimetoxicinâmico/Tris (pH 8,5). As separações foram conduzidas contra o fluxo eletrosmótico e o tempo de análise foi menor do que 5 minutos. Adicionalmente, o método se mostrou seletivo uma vez que análogos da cafeína (teobromina e teofilina) apresentaram tempo de migração diferenciado. O método proposto foi comparado com uma metodologia padrão (HPLC), apresentando resultados concordantes. O método foi aplicado para a determinação de cafeína em amostras de café convencional, solúvel e descafeinado. O limite de quantificação estimado para o método (0,33 mg/g) se mostrou suficientemente baixo, de forma a atender às exigências da legislação vigente. A identificação de adulterações no café provenientes da adição de outros materiais pode ser procedida utilizando como indicadores os teores totais de glicose e xilose obtidas por hidrólise controlada. Para promover a separação dessas espécies dos demais carboidratos presentes no café, varias estratégias foram avaliadas. As separações foram realizadas utilizando NaOH como eletrólito de corrida, de forma a possibilitar a ionização dessas espécies. O emprego de aditivos como metanol, acetonitrila e íons borato foram avaliados. A melhor condição obtida foi utilizando 80 mmol L-1 de NaOH, 0,5 mmol L-1 CTAB e 30% (v/v) de metanol. Os resultados mostraram que é possível identificar contaminações menores que aquelas consideradas como limites aceitáveis. / In this work, methods based on capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C4D) for the determination of caffeine in coffee as well as for the identification of its adulteration by addition of some other vegetal products were developed. Caffeine is a neutral species, and the proposed method was based on its mobilization by the formation of a complex with the anion 3,4 dimethoxycinnamate. The experiments were carried out in buffer Tris/3,4 dimethoxycinnamic acid (pH 8.5) and the migration of the complex was done in counter electroosmotic flow. The running time was less than 5 minutes. In addition, theobromine and theophylline (two caffeine analogues) were completely separated. The new method was compared to a standard method based on HPLC, and similar results were obtained. Samples of integral, soluble, and decaffeinated coffees were analyzed and the limit of quantification (0.33 mg/g) was low enough to fulfill the Brazilian norm. The proposed approach for the identification of adulteration was based on the controlled hydrolysis of xylan and starch present in some vegetable adulterants, followed by the analysis of the resulting xylose and glucose, which are the monosaccharides that compose, respectively, the two polysaccharides. Although the monosaccharides are neutral species in ordinary conditions, they form anionic species in high values of pH. The best separations were obtained in NaOH 80 mmol L-1, CTAB 0.5 mmol L-1, and methanol 30% (v/v). The results showed that it is possible to identify levels of contamination below tolerable limits.

Cette thèse porte sur un problème couplé des lanceurs, à savoir une manœuvre de l'attitude couplée avec la trajectoire minimisant le temps de manœuvre. La difficulté de ce problème vient essentiellement du phénomène de chattering et du couplage des dynamiques n'ayant pas la même échelle de temps. Avec une analyse géométrique des extrémales venant de l'application du principe du maximum de pontryagin, nous donnons des conditions suffisantes sous lesquelles le phénomène de chattering se produit, pour des systèmes affines bi-entrée. Nons appliquons ensuite ce résultat à notre problème, et montrons que le phénomène de chattering arrive pour les trajectoires optimales, pour certaines données terminales. A l'aide de cette analyse théorique préliminaire, nous mettons en œuvre une méthode de résolution indirecte efficace, combinée à une méthode de continuation prédicteur-correcteur. En cas de chattering, deux stratégies sous-optimales sont proposées: soit une méthode directe dont le contrôle est approché par un contrôle constant par morceaux, soit en stoppant la continuation avant l'échec dû au chattering. Avec le tir multiple et plusieurs paramètres de continuations supplémentaires, cette méthode de résolution est appliquée à chercher une manœuvre de pull-up avec des contraintes sur l'état en minimisant le temps-énergie pour des lanceurs aéroportés. Les résultats numériques permettent de mettre en évidence l'efficacité et la robustesse de notre méthode de résolution. / In this thesis, we investigate the minimum time control problem for the control and guidance of a launch vehicle, whose motion is described by its attitude kinematics and dynamics but also by its trajectory dynamics. The difficulty of this problem is essentially due to the chattering phenomenon and to the coupling of dynamics of different time scales. With a refined geometric study of the extremals coming from the application of the pontryagin maximum principle, we establish a general result for bi-input control-affine systems, providing sufficient conditions under which the chattering phenomenon occurs. We show how this result can be applied to our problem. Based on this preliminary theoretical analysis, we implement an efficient indirect numerical method, combined with numerical predictor-corrector continuation, in order to compute numerically the optimal solutions of the problem. In case of chattering, two sub-optimal strategies are designed: one is a direct method in which the control is approximated by a piecewise constant control, and the other consists of stopping the continuation procedure before its failure due to chattering. With several additional numerical continuation steps, we apply finally the developed indirect approach to the minimum time-energy pull-up maneuver problem, in which state constraints are also considered, for airborne launchers. Numerical simulations illustrate the efficiency and robustness of our method.

La génération de signaux microondes à grande pureté spectrale est fondamentale pour différentes applications (systèmes RADAR, échantillonnage large bande). L’optique propose des solutions prometteuses pour la montée en fréquence des d’oscillateurs à bas bruit de phase. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier différentes configurations d’oscillateurs optoélectroniques (OEO) à 10 GHz. Pour cela, nous avons développé puis validé expérimentalement un modèle décrivant le bruit de phase, que nous avons ensuite étendu aux OEOs à boucles multiples. Cet outil unique nous a permis de concevoir un OEO à double boucles à l’état de l’art avec un encombrement réduit (premier mode parasite avec un niveau de bruit de phase de -146 dBc/Hz à 187 kHz de la porteuse). Nous avons également étudié des OEOs à amplification optique qui permettent de lever les verrous associés aux amplificateurs RF lors de la montée en fréquence (contribution de bruit et bande passante) tout en conservant d’excellentes performances. Enfin, nous nous sommes intéressés aux oscillateurs optoélectroniques couplés (COEOs), qui associent un laser à verrouillage de modes à un OEO. Nous avons modélisé le bruit de phase du laser en tenant en compte pour la première fois la non-orthogonalité des modes de la cavité, puis initié un modèle pour le COEO. Après une étude expérimentale des paramètres clef, nous avons réalisé un COEO proche de l’état de l’art, dont le bruit phase au voisinage de la porteuse est amélioré par rapport aux OEOs pour des longueurs de boucle plus courtes. / High purity microwave signal generation is required in various applications (RADAR systems, wideband sampling). For high frequency operations, optics offer promising solutions to generate low noise oscillators. The objective of this thesis consists in studying various optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) configurations at 10 GHz. We first worked on a phase noise model and its experimental validation, further extended to multiple loop OEOs. This comprehensive model allowed the design of a state-of-the-art dual loop OEO with consideration to its compactness (first spur located at 187 kHz from the carrier with a phase noise level of 146 dBc/Hz).We then focused on all photonic gain OEOs to get rid of RF amplifiers whose bandwidth and noise contributions are a limit for high frequency operations. Finally, we studied coupled optoelectronic oscillators (COEOs) which may simply be described as a combination of a mode locked laser and an OEO. We worked on a phase noise model for active and harmonically mode locked laser taking into account for the first time the non-orthogonality of the cavity modes. This model is the basis to a COEO model we began to develop. After experimentally determining key parameters, we designed and optimized a low noise COEO exhibiting a close-to-carrier phase noise similar to the state-of-the-art.

The successful prediction of spacecraft motion is often heavily based upon assumptions used to simplify the problem without compromising solution accuracy. For many analyses, a primary assumption used is the decoupling of trajectory and attitude dynamics when calculating trajectories. In cases where spacecraft or objects have high area to mass ratios, non-conservative effects such as atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure can greatly perturb spacecraft translational motion based on rotational state. A modular, six degree of freedom (6DOF) simulation with coupled orbit and attitude dynamics has been developed to model spacecraft and orbits of arbitrary geometries. First, the basis for the modular rotational and translational equations of motion are introduced. Next, formulations are provided for the gravity gradient torque, solar radiation pressure, aerodynamic, and non-spherical gravity potential sources of perturbations, and the Marshall Engineering Thermosphere atmospheric model used is described. A first test case is performed using the 6DOF simulation to simulate the deorbit of the spacecraft Lightsail 1, which flew in 2015. Next, predictive cases are demonstrated using the simulation for a theoretical sail-boom-rocket combination representative of a debris removal scenario, and for the Aerodynamic Deorbit Experiement, which will demonstrate a passively stable drag sail technology and characterize its effectiveness on orbit. All simulation cases have had aerodynamic perturbation formulations compared against high fidelity Direct Simulation Monte Carlo runs, and suggestions have been made for the future development of the simulation tool.

To be able to harness more power from the wind, wind turbine blades are getting longer. As they get longer, they get more flexible. This creates issues that have until recently not been of concern. Long flexible wind turbine blades can lose their stability to flow induced instabilities such as coupled-mode flutter. This type of flutter occurs when increasing wind speed causes a coupling of a bending and a torsional mode, which create limit cycle oscillations that can lead to blade failure. To be able to make the design of larger blades possible, it is important to be able to predict the critical flutter and post critical flutter behaviors of wind turbine blades. Most numerical research concerning coupled-mode wind turbine is focused on predicting the critical flutter point, and less focused on the post critical behavior. This is because of the mathematical complexities associated with the coupled, nonlinear wind turbine blade systems. Here, a numerical model is presented that predicts the critical flutter velocity and post critical flutter behavior for 3D airfoils with third order structural nonlinearities. The numerical model can account for the attached flow and separated flow region by using the ONERA dynamic stall model. By retaining higher-order structural nonlinearities, lateral and torsional displacements can be predicted, which makes it possible to use this model in the future to control wind turbine blade flutter. Furthermore, by using a dynamic stall model to simulate the flow, the solver is able to predict accurate limit cycle oscillations when the effective angle of attack is larger than the stall angle. The coupled, nonlinear equations of motion are two coupled nonlinear PDEs and are determined using Hamilton’s principle. In order to solve the equations of motion, they are discretized using the Galerkin technique into a set of ODEs. The motion of the airfoil is used as an input to ONERA. The airfoil is sectioned with the lateral position and angle of attack known as well as the velocity and acceleration of the section at an instance of time. This information is used by ONERA to calculate lift and moment coefficients for each section which are then used to calculate the total lift and moment forces of the airfoil. Then, a Fortran code solves the system by using Houbolt’s finite difference method. A theoretical NACA 0012 airfoil has been designed to define the parameters used by the equations of motion. Third bending and first torsional coupling occurs after the critical flutter point and dynamic lift and moment coefficients were observed. Dynamic stall was also observed at wind velocities farther away from the bifurcation point. Bifurcation diagrams, time histories, and phase planes have been created that represent the flutter behavior.

Urban flood models are an important tool in designing and analyzing municipalities sewer drainage systems and predicting the effect of potential extent and depth of future floods. In urban areas, coupled 1D-2D flood models are particularly useful as they can represent the surface- and sewer system and their interactions. But it iss common practice to simplify the sewer system by only simulating water exchange between both systems at manholes while neglecting the effect of grate inlets. To investigate the effect grate inlet representations have in flood models, the simulation results of different models created in the software MIKE FLOOD with the number of nodes and inlet sizes adjusted according to the location of actual grate inlets were compared. In addition, a comparison between the flood modeling softwares MIKE FLOOD and FLO-2D was performed, based on a case study in Motala.. It was found that both MIKE FLOOD and FLO-2D can predict similar flood propagation and maximum water depths. The MIKE FLOOD models predicted larger amounts of drained water via the sewer system. This was likely caused by the extra water added through water level correction in the MIKE FLOOD models combined with numerical instabilities in the FLO-2D sewer models. Adjusting the number and dimensions of nodes according to actual grate inlets proved to have little effect on the predicted maximum surface water depths. But it did result in decreased drainage capacity together with less sewer inflow compared to the models neglecting grate inlets. The inlet representation did have a significant effect on predicted flood durations, with the models neglecting grate inlets having shorter flood durations in downstream areas and longer flood durations in upstream areas compared to the other models. It was also found that that the effect inlet node representations has on flood durations heavily depends on their locations with nodes located in water gathering areas such as depressions with ponding water having the most effect.