Wurtzite GaN epilayers grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire substrates were subsequently ion implanted with Er to a dose of 5×10¹⁵ cm⁻². The implanted samples were annealed in nitrogen atmosphere at different temperatures to facilitate recovery from implantation related damage. In this paper we report the annealing behavior of Erbium implanted GaN by using micro Raman spectroscopy and optimized annealing condition. We have observed almost full damage recovery of the crystalline quality of Er implanted GaN after annealing at 1000°C for 2 minute. This observation is further confirmed by using AFM images. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Background: Stretching may be viewed as an external/internal force influencing the range of motion of the connective tissue (muscles, tendons and the myotendon unit (MTU)) The magnitude and rate of stretching may potentially induce mechanical responses of the musculoskeletal system, such as increased range of motion (ROM). The degree of the intensity of stretch (low, medium, or high) may be used to optimize recovery from muscle damage via ameliorating inflammation; this is however, a plausible hypothesis that needs to be appropriately investigated. Aims: The present project aimed to investigate: 1) whether intense stretching (IS) causes an acute inflammatory response (study 1), 2) the effects of stretching intensity (low, medium, or high) in the onset of inflammation (study 2), and 3) investigate whether stretching intensity is responsible for aiding in the recovery of the muscle, post muscle damage (study 3). Methods: Studies one and two were randomized crossover trials consisting of 12 and 11 recreational male athletes, respectively. The former investigated whether high intensity stretching can cause an acute inflammatory response, with study two examining the effects of different stretching intensities (30%, 60% and 90%) based on a participant’s perceived maximum range of motion (mROM). Blood for both studies was collected at pre-, post, and 24h post intervention, and analyzed for high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (study 1 and 2), and for interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α (study 1). In study three, a randomized controlled trial investigated whether stretching intensity (low or high), can influence the recovery from muscle damage. Thirty participants were randomized into three groups, a) low intensity stretching (LiS) (30-40% ROM), b) high intensity stretching (HiS) (70-80% ROM) and c) Control group. All participants performed both eccentric (EPT) and isometric peak torque (IPT) tests prior to a muscle damage protocol (MDP) (baseline). Participants were then assessed for EPT and IPT for three consecutive days post MDP. Soreness levels were recorded immediately post muscle damage and at 24, 48, and 72h, with blood samples collected at pre, 24, 48, and 72h post muscle damage and analyzed for Creatine Kinase (CK) and hsCRP. Results: Study one revealed a significant increase in hsCRP (P = 0.006) when comparing IS to Control condition, also confirmed by the effect size analyses. In study two, low (30% of mROM), and medium (60% of mROM) intensity stretching did not elicit an inflammatory response while a pronounced inflammatory response was observed when comparing 30 to 90 and 60 to 90% mROM. In study three, LiS showed a significant increase in EPT compared to both HiS and Control, and these findings were confirmed by magnitude based inferences analyses (i.e. LiS was associated with a positive effect for both IPT and soreness levels compared to Control and HiS). Blood biomarkers were associated with inconsistent effects compared to Control and HiS for all three-time periods. Conclusions: This thesis provides preliminary results suggesting that increased stretching intensity may be responsible for causing an acute inflammatory response. In addition, it was observed that LiS might be associated with faster recovery from muscle damage with respect to muscle function (EPT and IPT) and soreness levels. More research is needed to investigate these findings further.

Les robots ont profondément transformé l’industrie manufacturière et sont susceptibles de délivrer de grands bénéfices pour la société, par exemple en intervenant sur des lieux de catastrophes naturelles, lors de secours à la personne ou dans le cadre de la santé et des transports. Ce sont aussi des outils précieux pour la recherche scientifique, comme pour l’exploration des planètes ou des fonds marins. L’un des obstacles majeurs à leur utilisation en dehors des environnements parfaitement contrôlés des usines ou des laboratoires, est leur fragilité. Alors que les animaux peuvent rapidement s’adapter à des blessures, les robots actuels ont des difficultés à faire preuve de créativité lorsqu’ils doivent surmonter un problème inattendu: ils sont limités aux capteurs qu’ils embarquent et ne peuvent diagnostiquer que les situations qui ont été anticipées par leur concepteurs. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une approche différente qui consiste à laisser le robot apprendre de lui-même un comportement palliant la panne. Cependant, les méthodes actuelles d’apprentissage sont lentes même lorsque l’espace de recherche est petit et contraint. Pour surmonter cette limitation et permettre une adaptation rapide et créative, nous combinons la créativité des algorithmes évolutionnistes avec la rapidité des algorithmes de recherche de politique à travers trois contributions : les répertoires comportementaux, l’adaptation aux dommages et le transfert de connaissance entre plusieurs tâches. D’une manière générale, ces travaux visent à apporter les fondations algorithmiques permettant aux robots physiques d’être plus robustes, performants et autonomes. / Robots have transformed many industries, most notably manufacturing, and have the power to deliver tremendous benefits to society, for example in search and rescue, disaster response, health care, and transportation. They are also invaluable tools for scientific exploration of distant planets or deep oceans. A major obstacle to their widespread adoption in more complex environments and outside of factories is their fragility. While animals can quickly adapt to injuries, current robots cannot “think outside the box” to find a compensatory behavior when they are damaged: they are limited to their pre-specified self-sensing abilities, which can diagnose only anticipated failure modes and strongly increase the overall complexity of the robot. In this thesis, we propose a different approach that considers having robots learn appropriate behaviors in response to damage. However, current learning techniques are slow even with small, constrained search spaces. To allow fast and creative adaptation, we combine the creativity of evolutionary algorithms with the learning speed of policy search algorithms through three contributions: the behavioral repertoires, the damage recovery using these repertoires and the transfer of knowledge across tasks. Globally, this work aims to provide the algorithmic foundations that will allow physical robots to be more robust, effective and autonomous.

Private enforcement, which primarily represents individuals&rsquo / right to claim damage arisen from violations of competition law, supplements public enforcement and ensures indemnification of individual loss. However, private enforcement of competition law has fallen behind public law enforcement in laws presented in this study, other than those enforced in the USA. Realizing this fact, European Commission, has recently focused on the enhancement and facilitation of private enforcement in the Community competition law. The lagging behind of private enforcement mainly sources from the cultural and traditional differences in the understanding of liability law between Anglo Saxon Law and Continental Law. Anglo Saxon law tradition is inclined to leave the matter to individual action, whereas Continental Law is in more favor of strengthening regulatory mechanisms. More specific obstacles to the improvement of private enforcement are, yet not exhaustively, indefiniteness of legal basis of claims, involvement of complex economic analysis while stating the case, courts&rsquo / lack of technical knowledge, indefinite relationship between judiciary and competition authorities, problems in proving damage and causality, absence of facilitating procedural mechanisms such as class actions, treble damage and discovery rights. In the Community law context it is also highly probable to encounter peculiar problems arisen from co-existence of different national laws. Additionally, implementation of the Community competition law by national authorities may also lead to the weakening of the Single Market objective. Through this study, we will present probable solutions by depicting all these problems.

Prolonged and intense exercise is known to modulate and suppress certain aspects of the immunoendocrine system. Such effects are thought to be largely mediated by the release of stress hormones and regulatory cytokines which originate from a variety of stress related paradigms in sport. These include acute physical exertion, chronic and repetitive exercise as well as other psychological and psychosocial aspects of training and competing in an elite environment. It may be of particular interest to study the effects of regular competition and training on immunoendocrine markers in rugby union players. At the professional level, rugby is an intense and physically demanding game where a significant amount of tissue trauma occurs as a result of the many game collisions. The aims of the studies outlined in this thesis were to determine the effects of acute, repeated and chronic exercise exposure on immunoendocrine markers and illness incidence in professional rugby union. Additional case studies were also undertaken to supplement main study findings. The first part of the thesis documented the effects of acute and repeated exercise on immunoendocrine markers in a cohort of international rugby union players. Data in study 1 showed that large disturbances in immunoendocine and hormone levels occur in players (n = 10) following game play. The magnitude of this response appeared dependent on game physicality (number of rucks/mauls, tackles) and the number of collisions players received during match play. Findings also showed suppression in host immunity, and in particular, innate immune function (neutrophil degranulation) which was not resolved 38 h (-29%) into the recovery period. In study 2, bloods were taken from players (n = 8) across a 21-day international rugby series. Data revealed that players entered the international camp with residual muscle damage (creatine kinase; CK) and inflammation (hs-CRP) following previous club involvement in European cup rugby. Further increases in stress related markers (cortisol, IL-6, CK, CRP) were not evident throughout the players time at the international training base. Conversely, a progressive increase in anabolic-catabolic balance (T/C ratio) was observed across time. In comparison to values on camp-entry (day 1), increases in T/C ratio were evident on day-5 (9.8%), day-7 (13%), day-19 (35%) and day-21 (45%) (P < 0.05). This data is suggestive of improved physiological recovery and was commensurate with team fitness goals (reduced volume + maintenance of training intensity) for that time. Findings suggest that monitoring of player club activities and training load preceding international duty is pertinent if they are required to represent their country inside 7 days. The second part of the thesis evaluated the stress induced effects of chronic rugby exposure in professional club players. Questionnaire data analysed from study 3 showed that players (n = 65) perceived current season length as being ‘too long’ (55%), ‘poorly structured’ (56%) and that game demands are increasing with time (52%). Furthermore, the majority of players (80%) felt that time ‘away’ from rugby was not sufficiently long enough and were in favour of a mid-season break (2 wks in duration). Investigation into the effects of chronic exercise on illness incidence, immunological and psychological state was carried out in a squad of club players (n = 30) over a competitive season (n = 48 wks) in studies 4-6. Findings revealed that specific periods in a rugby season resulted in disturbances to hormonal and immune status. These periods occurred following breaks in club game fixtures [November international and Six-nations period: February/early March], times of increased training intensity and increased ratio of conditioning/rugby activity. Peaks in number of upper respiratory illnesses (URIs) and disturbances in psychometric variables also occurred during these time periods. In 23% of all URIs, players reported that the presence of the illness either reduced activity (14.4%) or felt the need to go to bed (8.6%). Positional differences in variables were also observed. A higher incidence of URIs (3.4 vs 4.3) and lower concentrations of resting immune markers [salivary lysozyme: s-Lys (-31%); immunoglobulin A: s-IgA (-27%)] was observed in ‘backs’ (vs forwards) over the season. Higher mid-season cortisol levels was also observed in backs (P < 0.05) while conversely, greater concentrations of plasma CK and CRP were found in forwards throughout the season. These findings indicate positional specific differences in response to exercise load and point to the role of group specific recovery at certain times during the season. Data from study 6 showed that the number of training related complaints decreased across the season, findings which closely resembled corresponding decreases in plasma CRP values. This data is suggestive of a ‘repeated-bout’ effect or ‘contact adaptation’ in rugby union. Finally, comparison of methods used in the recording of illness data revealed that players were more honest when disclosing the existence of banal infections to a web-based training diary and under-reported infections to medical staff.