Black hole jets and accretion discs are the most extreme objects in modern astrophysics whilst dark energy is undoubtedly the most mysterious. This thesis focuses on understanding these three topics. The majority of this thesis is dedicated to investigating the structure and properties of black hole jets by modelling their emission. I develop an inhomogeneous jet model with a magnetically dominated parabolic accelerating base, transitioning to a slowly decelerating conical jet, with a geometry set by radio observations of M87. This model is able to reproduce the simultaneous multiwavelength spectra of all 38 Fermi blazars with redshifts in unprecendented detail across all wavelengths. I constrain the synchrotron bright region of the jet to occur outside the BLR and dusty torus for FSRQs using the optically thick to thin synchrotron break. At these large distances their inverse-Compton emission originates from scattering CMB photons. I find an approximately linear relation between the jet power and the transition region radius where the jet first comes into equipartition, transitions from parabolic to conical and stops accelerating. The decreasing magnetic field strength and increasing bulk Lorentz factor with jet power are the physical reasons behind the blazar sequence. I calculate the conditions for instability in a thin accretion disc with an α parameter which depends on the magnetic Prandtl number, as suggested by MHD simulations. The global behaviour of the instability induces cyclic flaring in the inner regions of the disc, for parameters appropriate for X-ray binary systems, thereby offering a potential solution to a long standing problem. Finally, I calculate the effect of an interacting quintessence model of dark energy on cosmological observables. I find that a scalar-tensor type interaction in the dark sector results in an observable increase in the matter power spectrum and integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect at horizon scales.

Semiconductor nanowires are nanostructures with lengths up to few microns and small cross sections (10ths of nanometers). In the recent years the development in the field of III-N nanowire technology has been spectacular. In particular they are consider as promising building in nanoscale electronics and optoelectronics devices; such as photodetectors, transistors, biosensors, light source, solar cells, etc. In this work, we present fabrication and the characterization of photodetector and light emitter based devices on III-N nanowires. First we present a study of a visible blind photodetector based on p-i-n GaN nanowires ensembles grown on Si (111). We show that these devices exhibit a high responsivity exceeding that of thin film counterparts. We also demonstrate UV photodetectors based on single nanowires containing GaN/AlN multi-axial quantum discs in the intrinsic region of the nanowires. Photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy show spectral contributions above and below the GaN bandgap according to the variation of the discs thickness. The photocurrent spectra show a sub-band-gap peak related to the interband absorption between the confined states in the large Qdiscs. Finally we present a study of photodetectors and light emitters based on radial InGaN/GaN MQW embedded in GaN wires. The wires used as photodetectors showed a contribution below the GaN bandgap. OBIC measurements demonstrate that, this signal is exclusively generated in the InGaN MQW region. We showed that LEDs based on this structure show a electroluminescence emission and a red shift when the In content present in the QWs increases which is in good agreement with photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence results.

Endocytose joue un rôle dans l'activation du récepteur Notch. Des mutations dans le gène drosophilien lethal giant discs (lgd), provoque une prolifération cellulaire en perturbant l'endocytose de Notch. Les orthologues murins mlgd1 et 2 peuvent sauver ce phénotype, démontrant une fonction conservée. Cependant, des publications récentes suggèrent que les orthologs humains de lgd (hgd1/2) sont nucléaires. Dans cette étude, il est démontré que chez la Drosophile, le mutant dlgd(08) provoque l'accumulation de Notch dans des vésicules et une surprolifération de neuroblastes . Ceci suggère que Notch est activé a l'intérieur des endosomes dans les neuroblastes. L'immunohistochimie de cellules Hela indique que hlgd1 et 2 ne sont pas nucléaires, mais associés à des strctures endosomales. Enfin, la baisse d'expression par shRNA des gènes murins mlgd1 et mlgd2 provoque une différenciation accélérée des cellules souches hématopoïétiques dans la lignée lymphopoïèse T et bloque la transition DN3 / CD4+CD8+, suggérant une suractivation de Notch. / Endocytosis plays a role in the activation of the Notch receptor. Mutations in the Drosophila gene lethal giant discs (lgd), causes cellular overgrowth by perturbing Notch endocytosis. This Drosophila phenotype is rescued by the murine orthologs mlgd1 and 2, indicating conserved function. However, recent publications suggest that the human orthologs (hlgd1/2) are nuclear. This study demonstrates that the dlgd(08) mutant in Drosophila causes accumulation of Notch in vesicles and the overproliferation of neuroblasts. This suggests Notch is activated from within endosomes in neuroblasts. Immunohistochemistry of Hela cells indicates that hlgd1 is associated with early endosome while, hlgd2 with later endosome and lysosome, and not with the nucleus. Finally, down regulation of murine mlgd1 and mlgd2 by shRNA caused an accelerated differentiation of hematopoietic stem cell into the T lymphopoiesis lineage and blocked the DN3 to CD4+CD8+ transition, suggesting that Notch is overactivated in these cells.

Microbiological Project Using the Disc Diffusion Method for Lower Secondary School ABSTRACT This thesis deals with project-based education and his involvement in the functional structure of the czech educational theory and practice. It refers to the project as an innovative teaching process, which is qualitatively able to shield asked RVP requirements and the implementation of which contributes to the development of educational goals and core competencies. This thesis contains both theoretical aspects are developed through the study of literature and other sources in order to summarize the current state of knowledge of the subject, so practical. Theoretical bases emphasize not only on the characteristics of project-based education as such, but also on the appropriate application of educational strategies in the learning process. Specifically mentioned are possibilities of project-based teaching in the teaching of natural history, biology and ecology. The theoretical background followed by the practical part, which shifts the theory of project learning into practice. There is particular designed a project called "Strength of antibiotics", which is then implemented and reflected. Is described in detail during the planning, implementation and evaluation of the project. KEYWORDS: project-based education, school...

The local universe is dominated by quiescent galaxies with little or no ongoing star formation. Once star formation has been shut down in a possible quasar phase, energy feedback in the form of outflows from a supermassive black hole (SMBH) accreting at a low rate is one of the leading candidates for heating up or removing gas accreted afterwards. In this work we performed hydrodynamic simulations of radiatively inefficient accretion flows around supermassive black holes and investigate the generation of outflows by the accretion flow. We found that hot accretion flows can produce powerful subrelativistic winds that carry considerable amounts of energy away and they can provide feedback inside the host galaxy. / O universo local é dominado por galáxias quiescentes com pouca, ou nenhuma, taxa atual de formação estelar. Uma vez que a formação estelar é suprimida numa possível fase de quasar do núcleo ativo da galáxia, o feedback de energia na forma de outflows do buraco negro supermassivo acretando a pequenas taxas é um dos principais candidatos a aquecer ou remover o gás do sistema. Nesse trabalho, executamos simulações hidrodinâmicas de escoamentos acretivos radiativamente ineficientes ao redor de buracos negros supermassivos e investigamos a geração de outflows pelo escoamento. Encontramos que escoamentos acretivos quentes podem produzir ventos subrelativísticos poderosos que carregam para fora consideráveis quantidades de energia e que podem providenciar feedback dentro da galáxia hospedeira.

A aplicação de materiais cerâmicos na indústria têxtil, em especial nos processos de produção e modificação de fios é amplamente difundida no mundo. O fator chave para definição da necessidade do uso de um material cerâmico é a abrasividade dos fios associada à velocidade de processamento desse material. Nesse estudo foi focado o processo de texturização por falsa torção, e foi proposto analisar e compreender o impacto da variação de rugosidade de discos de cerâmica (que já tenham sofrido desgaste durante o processamento), sobre as características físicas de um fio de poliamida. Para isso efetuou-se a seleção de discos de cerâmica com diferentes faixas de rugosidade, fixou-se todas demais variáveis da máquina de texturização, e foram produzidos fios em cada uma das faixas. Depois de produzidos, os fios foram submetidos a testes físicos laboratoriais, e os resultados analisados pelo método ANOVA. Foi observado que a variação na rugosidade dos discos afetou principalmente as características de volume do fio (EKB%), não afetando significativamente o alongamento e tenacidade. / Use of ceramic materials in the textile industry, particularly in production and converting processes of yarns is widespread in the world. The key factor which defining the use of a ceramic material is the abrasiveness of the yarns associated by processing speed of the material. This study focused the false twist texturing, and has been proposed to analyze and understand the impact of variation in roughness of ceramic discs (which have already undergone wear during processing) on the physical characteristics of a polyamide yarn. So, the ceramic discs have been selected with different ranges of surface roughness, settled all other variables of the texturing machine, and each yarn were produced in each of the ranges. Once produced, the yarns were subjected to physical testing laboratory, and the results were analyzed by ANOVA. This study indicated that the variation in roughness of the disks mainly affected the characteristics of the yarn crimp (EKB%) not significantly affecting the elongation and tenacity.

<p>This thesis describes results from fundamental studies of liposomes intended for drug delivery and pH or temperature triggered release. In addition, the effect of lipid composition on bilayer disc formation and a potential application of the bilayer discs were investigated.</p><p>The lower pH encountered by endocytosed liposomes can be utilized to trigger drug release. The mechanisms behind cytosolic drug delivery were investigated using two different kinds of pH-sensitive liposomes. The results indicate that incorporation of non-lamellar forming lipids into the endosome membrane may allow for drug escape into the cytosol.</p><p>Temperature-sensitive liposomes containing lysolipid (LTSL) release their content almost instantly when heated to temperatures close to the gel to liquid crystalline phase transition temperature (T<i>C</i>). Morphological changes of the liposomes in response to temperature cycling were studied. Temperature cycling induced liposome openings and disintegration of the liposomes into bilayer discs. Incubation of LTSL in the presence of multilamellar liposomes (MLVs) resulted in relocalisation of lysolipid into the MLVs, which affected the rapid release from LTSL. We propose that the presence of micelle-forming components, such as lysolipids and PEG-lipids, facilitates the formation of defects and membrane openings during the initial phase of membrane melting, resulting in the observed rapid release. Similar to added lysolipids, also hydrolysis generated lysolipids induce disc-formation upon heating through T<i>C</i> of the lipid mixture.</p><p>Two fundamentally different micelles may form in PEG-lipid/lipid mixtures. We found that discoidal structures are preferred over cylindrical micelles when the mixture contains components that reduce the spontaneous curvature, increase the monolayer bending modulus, or reduce PEG-lipid/lipid miscibility. The large discoidal micelles found at low PEG-lipid content are better described as bilayer discs. We evaluated such discs as model membranes in drug partitioning studies, and suggest that they, in some cases, produce more accurate data than liposomes.</p>

The Drosophila dorsal Air Sac Primordium (ASP) is a tracheal tube that invasively grows toward and into the wing imaginal disc. The unfolding of Drosophila wing is a process following eclosion with a cuticular bilayer replacing epithelial cells originally packing the wing. We reasoned that protease functions might be needed for the invasion of ASP into the wing imaginal disc as well as the rearrangement of epithelia cells during wing unfolding. Our study is particularly focused on understanding the role of a Cathepsin L like cysteine protease (CP1) in the development of dorsal ASP and wing development of Drosophila melanogaster. To analyze the function of CP1, we overexpressed and knocked down CP1, respectively, using UAS-GAL4 system in combination with RNA interference technology. We found that both the knockdown and overexpression of CP1 in ASP resulted in perturbed growth, migration and weakened invasion of ASPs. We further explored the mechanism by which CP1 regulates ASP development and found that CP1 is capable of degrading collagen IV, a component of extracellular matrix. For wing development, we observed that both the knockdown and overexpression of CP1 in wing imaginal discs interrupted with normal wing development. In summary, our study demonstrated that CP1 facilitates the normal development of ASPs by degrading extracellular matrix and regulates wing development via a complex network of signaling pathways and protein interactions. Knowledge gained from this study has the potential to help us better understand the invasion of tumor cells through the extracellular matrix in humans.

This thesis describes results from fundamental studies of liposomes intended for drug delivery and pH or temperature triggered release. In addition, the effect of lipid composition on bilayer disc formation and a potential application of the bilayer discs were investigated. The lower pH encountered by endocytosed liposomes can be utilized to trigger drug release. The mechanisms behind cytosolic drug delivery were investigated using two different kinds of pH-sensitive liposomes. The results indicate that incorporation of non-lamellar forming lipids into the endosome membrane may allow for drug escape into the cytosol. Temperature-sensitive liposomes containing lysolipid (LTSL) release their content almost instantly when heated to temperatures close to the gel to liquid crystalline phase transition temperature (TC). Morphological changes of the liposomes in response to temperature cycling were studied. Temperature cycling induced liposome openings and disintegration of the liposomes into bilayer discs. Incubation of LTSL in the presence of multilamellar liposomes (MLVs) resulted in relocalisation of lysolipid into the MLVs, which affected the rapid release from LTSL. We propose that the presence of micelle-forming components, such as lysolipids and PEG-lipids, facilitates the formation of defects and membrane openings during the initial phase of membrane melting, resulting in the observed rapid release. Similar to added lysolipids, also hydrolysis generated lysolipids induce disc-formation upon heating through TC of the lipid mixture. Two fundamentally different micelles may form in PEG-lipid/lipid mixtures. We found that discoidal structures are preferred over cylindrical micelles when the mixture contains components that reduce the spontaneous curvature, increase the monolayer bending modulus, or reduce PEG-lipid/lipid miscibility. The large discoidal micelles found at low PEG-lipid content are better described as bilayer discs. We evaluated such discs as model membranes in drug partitioning studies, and suggest that they, in some cases, produce more accurate data than liposomes.

Endocytose joue un rôle dans l'activation du récepteur Notch. Des mutations dans le gène drosophilien lethal giant discs (lgd), provoque une prolifération cellulaire en perturbant l'endocytose de Notch. Les orthologues murins mlgd1 et 2 peuvent sauver ce phénotype, démontrant une fonction conservée. Cependant, des publications récentes suggèrent que les orthologs humains de lgd (hgd1/2) sont nucléaires. Dans cette étude, il est démontré que chez la Drosophile, le mutant dlgd(08) provoque l'accumulation de Notch dans des vésicules et une surprolifération de neuroblastes . Ceci suggère que Notch est activé a l'intérieur des endosomes dans les neuroblastes. L'immunohistochimie de cellules Hela indique que hlgd1 et 2 ne sont pas nucléaires, mais associés à des strctures endosomales. Enfin, la baisse d'expression par shRNA des gènes murins mlgd1 et mlgd2 provoque une différenciation accélérée des cellules souches hématopoïétiques dans la lignée lymphopoïèse T et bloque la transition DN3 / CD4+CD8+, suggérant une suractivation de Notch. / Endocytosis plays a role in the activation of the Notch receptor. Mutations in the Drosophila gene lethal giant discs (lgd), causes cellular overgrowth by perturbing Notch endocytosis. This Drosophila phenotype is rescued by the murine orthologs mlgd1 and 2, indicating conserved function. However, recent publications suggest that the human orthologs (hlgd1/2) are nuclear. This study demonstrates that the dlgd(08) mutant in Drosophila causes accumulation of Notch in vesicles and the overproliferation of neuroblasts. This suggests Notch is activated from within endosomes in neuroblasts. Immunohistochemistry of Hela cells indicates that hlgd1 is associated with early endosome while, hlgd2 with later endosome and lysosome, and not with the nucleus. Finally, down regulation of murine mlgd1 and mlgd2 by shRNA caused an accelerated differentiation of hematopoietic stem cell into the T lymphopoiesis lineage and blocked the DN3 to CD4+CD8+ transition, suggesting that Notch is overactivated in these cells.