Strongly localised plasmons in metallic nano-structures offer exciting characteristics for guiding and focusing light on the nano-scale, opening the way for the development of new types of sensors, circuitry and improved resolution of optical microscopy. The work presented in this thesis focuses on two major areas of plasmonics research - nano-focusing structures and nano-sized waveguides. Nano-focusing structures focus light to an area smaller than the wavelength and will find applications in sensing, efficiently coupling light to nano-scale devices, as well as improving the resolution of near field microscopy. In the past the majority of nano-focusing structures have been nano-scale cones or tips, which are capable of focusing light to a spot of nano-scale area whilst enhancing the light field. The alternatives are triangular nano-focusing structures which have received far less attention, and only one type of triangular nano-focusing structure is known – a sharp V-groove in a metal substrate. This structure focuses light to a strip of nano-scale width, which may lead to new applications in microscopy and sensing. The difficulty with implementing the V-groove is that the structure is not robust and is quite difficult to fabricate. This thesis aims to develop new triangular nano-focusing devices which will overcome these difficulties, whilst still producing an intense light source on the nano-scale. The two proposed structures presented in this thesis are a metallic wedge submerged in uniform dielectric and a tapered metal film lying on a dielectric substrate, the latter being the easier to fabricate and the more structurally sound and robust. The investigation is performed using the approximation of continuous electrodynamics, the geometrical optics approximation and the zero-plane method. The second aim of this thesis is to investigate plasmonic waveguides and couplers for the development of nano-optical circuitry, more compact photonic devices and sensors. The research will attempt to fill the gaps in the current knowledge of the V-groove waveguide, which consists of a sharp triangular groove in a metal substrate, and the gap plasmon waveguide, which consists of a rectangular slot in a thin metal film. The majority of this work will be performed using the author’s in house finite-difference time-domain algorithm and FEMLAB as well as the effective medium method and geometric optics approximation. The V-groove may be used as either a nano-focusing or waveguiding device. As a waveguide the V-groove is one of the most promising plasmonic waveguides in the optical regime. However, there exist quite a number of gaps in the current knowledge of V-groove waveguides which this thesis will attempt to fill. In particular, the effect of rounded groove tip on plasmon propagation has been assessed for the V-groove. The investigation of rounded groove tip is important, as due to modern fabrication processes it’s not possibly to produce an infinitely sharp groove, and the existing literature has not considered the impact of this problem. The thesis will also investigate the impacts of the inclusion of dielectric filling in the groove on plasmon propagation parameters. This research will be important for optimising the propagation characteristics of the mode for certain applications, but it may also lead to easier methods of fabricating the V-groove device and prevent oxidation of the metal film. The gap plasmon waveguide is easier to fabricate than the V-groove, and is a new type of sub-wavelength waveguide which displays many advantages over other types of plasmon waveguides, including ease of fabrication, almost 100% transmission around sharp bends, sub-wavelength localisation and long propagation distances of the guided mode, etc. This waveguide may prove invaluable in the development of compact photonic devices. In the past the modes supported by this structure were not thoroughly analysed and the possibility of using this structure to develop sub-wavelength couplers for sensing and nano-optical circuits was not considered in detail. This thesis aims to resolve these issues. In conclusion, the results of this thesis will lead to a better understanding of Vgroove and gap plasmon waveguide devices for the development of nano-optical circuits, compact photonic devices and sensors. This thesis also proposes two new nano-focusing structures which are easier to fabricate than the V-groove structure and will lead to applications in sensing, coupling light efficiently into nano-scale devices and improving the resolution of near-field microscopy.

Effective focusing of electromagnetic (EM) energy to nanoscale regions is one of the major challenges in nano-photonics and plasmonics. The strong localization of the optical energy into regions much smaller than allowed by the diffraction limit, also called nanofocusing, offers promising applications in nano-sensor technology, nanofabrication, near-field optics or spectroscopy. One of the most promising solutions to the problem of efficient nanofocusing is related to surface plasmon propagation in metallic structures. Metallic tapered rods, commonly used as probes in near field microscopy and spectroscopy, are of a particular interest. They can provide very strong EM field enhancement at the tip due to surface plasmons (SP’s) propagating towards the tip of the tapered metal rod. A large number of studies have been devoted to the manufacturing process of tapered rods or tapered fibers coated by a metal film. On the other hand, structures such as metallic V-grooves or metal wedges can also provide strong electric field enhancements but manufacturing of these structures is still a challenge. It has been shown, however, that the attainable electric field enhancement at the apex in the V-groove is higher than at the tip of a metal tapered rod when the dissipation level in the metal is strong. Metallic V-grooves also have very promising characteristics as plasmonic waveguides. This thesis will present a thorough theoretical and numerical investigation of nanofocusing during plasmon propagation along a metal tapered rod and into a metallic V-groove. Optimal structural parameters including optimal taper angle, taper length and shape of the taper are determined in order to achieve maximum field enhancement factors at the tip of the nanofocusing structure. An analytical investigation of plasmon nanofocusing by metal tapered rods is carried out by means of the geometric optics approximation (GOA), which is also called adiabatic nanofocusing. However, GOA is applicable only for analysing tapered structures with small taper angles and without considering a terminating tip structure in order to neglect reflections. Rigorous numerical methods are employed for analysing non-adiabatic nanofocusing, by tapered rod and V-grooves with larger taper angles and with a rounded tip. These structures cannot be studied by analytical methods due to the presence of reflected waves from the taper section, the tip and also from (artificial) computational boundaries. A new method is introduced to combine the advantages of GOA and rigorous numerical methods in order to reduce significantly the use of computational resources and yet achieve accurate results for the analysis of large tapered structures, within reasonable calculation time. Detailed comparison between GOA and rigorous numerical methods will be carried out in order to find the critical taper angle of the tapered structures at which GOA is still applicable. It will be demonstrated that optimal taper angles, at which maximum field enhancements occur, coincide with the critical angles, at which GOA is still applicable. It will be shown that the applicability of GOA can be substantially expanded to include structures which could be analysed previously by numerical methods only. The influence of the rounded tip, the taper angle and the role of dissipation onto the plasmon field distribution along the tapered rod and near the tip will be analysed analytically and numerically in detail. It will be demonstrated that electric field enhancement factors of up to ~ 2500 within nanoscale regions are predicted. These are sufficient, for instance, to detect single molecules using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with the tip of a tapered rod, an approach also known as tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy or TERS. The results obtained in this project will be important for applications for which strong local field enhancement factors are crucial for the performance of devices such as near field microscopes or spectroscopy. The optimal design of nanofocusing structures, at which the delivery of electromagnetic energy to the nanometer region is most efficient, will lead to new applications in near field sensors, near field measuring technology, or generation of nanometer sized energy sources. This includes: applications in tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS); manipulation of nanoparticles and molecules; efficient coupling of optical energy into and out of plasmonic circuits; second harmonic generation in non-linear optics; or delivery of energy to quantum dots, for instance, for quantum computations.

The thesis describes the anatomical study, which has been taken place at Orthopedic Clinic of the 1st Faculty of Medicine, Motol University Hospital and at Institute of Anatomy 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague from 2002 till 2009. The study was focused on the area of the upper part of the humerus in order to measure spatial relationships among anatomical structures, especially attachments of rotator cuff muscles to optimize implantation arthroplasty of shoulder joint. Clinico-anatomical study, which results were published in 2010, was also based at measuring angular relations of structures proximal humerus. The proximal humerus was marked by 29 points on the cortical bone, which defined the position of the medial margin of the greater tubercle, the lateral margin of the lesser tubercle, bicipital groove, the crest of greater tubercle and to define position of the proximal humeral metaphyseal axis and anatomical neck. Measurements were carried out in the transversal planes and the measurement method was developed on the reconstruction and the spatial definition of basic axes (axis of humeral head and axis of proximal humeral shaft) with the optimized number of reference points of anatomical neck and cortical bone of proximal humeral shaft. Angles between the axis of the head...

Ce travail porte sur l'étude des effets thermiques dans un palier hydrodynamique, alimentée par une rainure circonférentielle (CGJB) sous charge statique, en tenant compte des phénomènes de rupture de film dans la zone divergente. La recherche expérimentale a été réalisée à l'Université de Poitiers ; elle a permis une détermination minutieuse des champs de pression et de température sur la portée située à l’avant d’un CGJB et dans la section médiane de sa rainure. Ces mesures sous un régime stationnaire sont originales par rapport celles existantes, quel que le type de palier, de par le grand nombre de points de mesure, 180 pour la pression et 144 pour la température, l'instrumentation de haute précision, la large plage de conditions d'exploitation (pression spécifique variant de 0,125 à 2 MPa et vitesse linéaire de l’arbre allant de 5,25 à 21 m/s). Des études du régime transitoire de démarrage au régime stationnaire établi ont été effectuées pour de faibles charges. Des expériences effectuées à l'Université "Politehnica" de Bucarest ont montré une bonne corrélation entre la perte de portance, anti-portance et la rupture du film sur un patin Rayleigh (RSP), ce qui est essentiel pour l'évaluation des phénomènes de rupture dans les paliers. Quelques modèles théoriques ont été utilisés pour évaluer les risques de serrage au démarrage qui est une instabilité thermoélastique catastrophique. Les principaux résultats sont l’obtention d’une base fiable de données expérimentales permettant le développement des modèles théoriques avancés et l’infirmation d’une répartition de pression constante dans la zone divergente et de pression et température constantes dans la rainure d'alime / The main objective of the thesis is to study the thermal effects in steadily loaded circumferential groove journal bearings (CGJBs), including cavitation phenomena occurring in the divergent zone of such bearings. Experimental research conducted at University of Poitiers – Institut Pprime – France enabled a thorough determination of film pressure and temperature fields for the front land of a CGJB plus its mid-groove section, and several performance parameters. Measurements of film pressure and temperature fields under steady-state regime surpassed existing works, regardless of journal bearing design, through: sheer number of land measurement locations, 180 for pressure and for 144 temperature; high precision state of art instrumentation; broad range of operating conditions, 0.125 … 2 MPa specific bearing pressure and 5.25 … 21 m/s shaft speeds. Transient start-up to steady-statestabilization regimes have been investigated at low loads. Experiments at University "Politehnica" of Bucharest – Romania showed a correlation between the downforce thrust and film rupture for a Rayleigh step pin (RSP), important in evaluating divergent zone cavitation phenomena. Theoretical research consisted in developing simple models for evaluating CGJBs performance in steady-state and transient start-up regimes. Several theoretical models were employed for assessing start-up seizure, catastrophic transient thermoelastic instability and damage risk. The major result is a reliable experimental data collection that: enables development of advanced theoretical models; disprove flat film pressure distributions in divergent zones, and constant pressure and temperature in the bearing supply groov

L'objectif principal de cette thèse est d'étudier, à l'aide d'un code de calcul numérique et d'une caractérisation sur banc d'essai, les performances et le comportement de différentes garnitures mécaniques à rainures spirales, habituellement utilisées pour dez gaz, en application de lubrification avec un liquide. La finalité de ce travail sera de statuer sur la possibilité de remplacer les garnitures mécaniques à faces lisses employées dans les applications liquides de type turbopompe cryogénique de lanceurs spatiaux par des garnitures mécaniques à faces rainurées en spirale.L'étude bibliographique présente différents travaux théoriques et expérimentaux réalisés sur la texturation de surface, le changement de phase et de la turbulence. Ces deux derniers points peuvent se produire en présence d'un fluide cryogénique. Un modèle numérique a été développé en éléments finis. Il résout l'équation de Reynolds et l'équation de l'énergie dans le film fluide. Cette dernière est formulée en enthalpie et considère le changement de phase du fluide comme un mélange homogène. Le couplage fluide/solides est considéré pour obtenir les déformations thermoélastiques des solides. La partie suivante de cette étude présente des essais expérimentaux, avec de l'eau, de garnitures mécaniques avec différentes profondeurs de rainures spirales. Une comparaison avec des faces lisses à été réalisée et montre que le couple de frottement est moins élevé lorsque des rainures spirales sont utilisées. En revanche, leur débit de fuite est plus élevé. Des changements nets de comportement apparaissent tels que de la transition laminaire-turbulent à partir d'un nombre de Reynolds de 1500, ainsi que du changement de phase à faible charge, fortes vitesse de rotation et température d'alimentation. La dernière partie confronte le modèle théorique thermoélastohydrodynamique aux essais expérimentaux en régime d'écoulement laminaire, pour un fluide monophasique et diphasique. Le modèle de changement de phase développé permet de reproduire les observations expérimentales. Malgré quelques difficultés de convergence en écoulement diphasique, le modèle pourra être utilisé pour le développement de garnitures dans des applications industrielles. / The main objective of this thesis is to study, through a numerical model and experimentations, the performance and behaviour of different spiral groove face seals, usually used for gas applications, in the case of liquid lubrication. The aim of this work will be to evaluate the eventuality to replace smooth mechanical face seals used in liquid cryogenic turbopumps space rocket applications by spiral groove face seals.The literature presents different theoretical and experimental studies on surface texturing, two-phase flow and turbulence. These last two points may appear when sealing a cryogenic fluid. A numerical model has been developped in finite elements. It solves the Reynolds equation and the energy equation into the fluid film. This equation is expressed using the enthalpy and can thus be used in case of homogeneous fluid phase change. Fluid/structure coupling is considered to obtain thermoelastic deformations of the solids. The next part of this study is dedicated to experiments with water lubricated spiral groove face seals with different groove depths. A comparison with smooth face seals has been done showing that the friction torque of the spiral groove face seals is lower than the smooth face seals one. On the other hand, the spiral groove flow rate is higher. Sharp changes in behaviour such as, laminar to turbulent transition from a Reynolds number equals to 1500, or two-phase flow at low pressure, high angular speed and supplying temperature of the fluid, are observed. The last part compares the thermoelastohydrodynamic theoretical model to experimental results in laminar flow, for one-phase and two-phase flow. The model is able to capture the experimental findings. Even if some convergence difficulties are encountered in two-phase flow, the model can be used for seal design in industrial applications.

The main idea that lead to the development of EC (electronic commutation) motors is to remove from commutation motors, called DC (direct current) motors, the mechanical commutation system i.e. the cylinder brushes and the commutator that limits in most of the applications the longevity of direct current motors. The commutator is the source of electromagnetic interference and it limits the motor speed. At the same time it is required to keep the outstanding features of DC motors, mainly the multiple overload capacity, high starting torque, low time constant and small dimensions. Thesis introduces the problematic of electrically switched machines and their possible construction versions. Based on obtained findings there is performed an analytical calculation of EC-machine with classical stator (made with two grooves on pole and phase) and with segmental stator for given parameters. With the known parameters of the machines from personal design there were created models of both machine types, and the results obtained from the program FEMM were compared to those of analytical calculations.

This diploma thesis deal with project of service lift. The service lift is drive by special mechanism using thrust chain. The chain is led from chain accumulator over sprocket gear to vertical guiding groove. Lift car is connected to the end of chain. There are designed and described the most important constructional unit of service lift in this thesis. But the most attention is pay to drive, including break system and chain accumulator. The drive is consist of electric motor, clutch, break, planetary gearbox and sprocket gear.

This document is about the work conducted during four months in the company Poclain Hydraulics. The aim was to improve the productivity of the turning operation on the cams MK04, in a factory environment but with the support of a laboratory. Was also in mind to improve the quality of the part and diminish or eliminate the unbroken chips. In that purpose the trajectories have been analyzed and modified, the cutting conditions studied and adapted, some tool changed, etc. The final result was an improvement of productivity to 140%, an amelioration of the chip breaking and of the part’s quality, leading to significant savings on the process.

The thesis describes the anatomical study, which has been taken place at Orthopedic Clinic of the 1st Faculty of Medicine, Motol University Hospital and at Institute of Anatomy 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague from 2002 till 2009. The study was focused on the area of the upper part of the humerus in order to measure spatial relationships among anatomical structures, especially attachments of rotator cuff muscles to optimize implantation arthroplasty of shoulder joint. Clinico-anatomical study, which results were published in 2010, was also based at measuring angular relations of structures proximal humerus. The proximal humerus was marked by 29 points on the cortical bone, which defined the position of the medial margin of the greater tubercle, the lateral margin of the lesser tubercle, bicipital groove, the crest of greater tubercle and to define position of the proximal humeral metaphyseal axis and anatomical neck. Measurements were carried out in the transversal planes and the measurement method was developed on the reconstruction and the spatial definition of basic axes (axis of humeral head and axis of proximal humeral shaft) with the optimized number of reference points of anatomical neck and cortical bone of proximal humeral shaft. Angles between the axis of the head...

No / PURPOSE: This phase I dose-escalation study was undertaken to establish the maximum tolerated dose of the sequence-selective minor groove DNA binding agent SJG-136 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The study also investigated antitumor activity and provided pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Sixteen patients were assigned sequentially to escalating doses of SJG-136 (15-240 microg/m(2)) given as a 10-minute i.v. infusion every 21 days. The dose was subsequently reduced in incremental steps to 45 microg/m(2) due to unexpected toxicity. RESULTS: The maximum tolerated dose of SJG-136 was 45 microg/m(2). The main drug-related adverse event was vascular leak syndrome (VLS) characterized by hypoalbuminemia, pleural effusions, ascites, and peripheral edema. Other unexpected adverse events included elevated liver function tests and fatigue. The VLS and liver toxicity had delayed onset and increased in severity with subsequent cycles. Disease stabilization was achieved for >6 weeks in 10 patients; in 2 patients this was maintained for >12 weeks. There was no evidence of DNA interstrand cross-linking in human blood lymphocytes with the use of the comet assay. Evidence of DNA interaction in lymphocytes and tumor cells was shown through a sensitive gamma-H2AX assay. SJG-136 had linear pharmacokinetics across the dose range tested. CONCLUSIONS: SJG-136 was associated with dose-limiting VLS and hepatotoxicity when administered by short injection every 21 days. DNA damage was noted, at all dose levels studied, in circulating lymphocytes. The etiology of the observed toxicities is unclear and is the subject of further preclinical research. Alternative clinical dosing strategies are being evaluated.