This master thesis is focused on the optimization of low voltage electron microscope LVTEM, the description of construction and the comparison of LVTEM and conventional electron microscope, with concentration on the image acquiring and adjusting.

<p>Dans ce travail, les préférences alimentaires pour les espèces végétales consommées par les lombriciens peuplant certains îlots des pelouses de l’avenue Roosevelt ont été étudiées. L’analyse des contenus digestifs et des fèces des vers a montré que les plantes identifiées dans les pelouses ne sont pas toutes consommées.<br> Mesurée par l’indice d’Ivlev, la sélectivité des items végétaux est variable en fonction de l’espèce de ver, de la classe d’âge et de la saison. Lorsque les dicotylédones sont en plein développement au printemps et en été, les choix des vers sont surtout manifestés pour les monocotylédones. En automne et en hiver, les monocotylédones prédominent et, les dicotylédones se retrouvant dans la litière, font l’objet de préférences marquées qui induisent des rejets relatifs de monocotylédones. Bien que Lolium perenne soit la plante la plus consommée, Bellis perennis est la dicotylédone la plus appréciée, Trifolium repens et Poa trivialis étant les plantes généralement rejetées.<br> L’indice d’Ivlev n’ayant permis de connaître que les rangs de préférences des différentes espèces végétales, les analyses ont été complétées par des tests du χ² qui ont montré que la consommation des plantes par les vers ne se fait pas au hasard. <p>Les épigés Satchellius mammalis et Lumbricus rubellus sont les espèces qui présentent le taux le plus élevé de matière organique figurée (respectivement 27 % et 26 % [19 % chez les jeunes Lumbricus spp]) dans leurs contenus digestifs. Chez les anéciques Aporrectodea longa et Lumbricus terrestris, ces taux sont très faibles (respectivement 6 % [2 fois plus chez les jeunes vers] et 11 %). Les endogés (Aporrectodea caliginosa, A. icterica et A. rosea) présentent des taux variant respectivement de 21 % [9 % chez les jeunes vers] à 8 % et 11 %. <p>L’axe de la taille des particules consommées n’a pas permis une ségrégation des niches (d’après notre étude, la taille des vers n’affecte pas celle des particules ingérées), mais l’axe de la nature des particules consommées est plus discriminant. Dans la niche tridimensionnelle (taille et nature des particules ingérées, notre étude, et les cycles annuels d’activité [Tiho, 2001]), le seul recouvrement fort qui se maintienne est celui de la niche de L. rubellus sur celle de L. terrestris. Un recouvrement marginal (α = 0,66) est observé, celui de la niche de A. longa sur celle de L. terrestris. Ceci révèle une compétition interspécifique entre ces trois espèces ayant des régimes alimentaires très proches. <p> <p>In this study, preferences for plants consumed by earthworms inhabiting certain islets of the Roosevelt avenue lawns have been studied. Examination of gut contents and faeces showed that not all of the plants identified in the lawns are consumed.<br> Measured by the Ivlev’s electivity index, the selectivity of plants is variable according to the earthworm species, its size class and the season. When the dicotyledons are developing in spring and in summer, the choices of the earthworms are particularly observed for the monocotyledons. In autumn and winter, the monocotyledons are developing and the dicotyledons in the litter are highly chosen, leading the relative reject of the monocotyledons.<br> Although Lolium perenne is the most consumed plant, Bellis perennis is the most appreciated dicotyledon, Trifolium repens and Poa trivialis being generally rejected.<br> As the Ivlev’s index of preference has only permit to know the rank of preference of the different plants, the analysis was completed by the χ² tests which demonstrated that the consumption of plants by earthworms is not done randomly. <p>The epigées Satchellius mammalis and Lumbricus rubellus are the species which present the highest rate of organic matter (respectively 27 % and 26 % [19 % for the immatures Lumbricus spp] in their gut contents.<br> For the anéciques Aporrectodea longa and Lumbricus terrestris, these rates are very low (respectively 6 % [twice more for the immatures worms] and 11 %).<br> The endogées (Aporrectodea caliginosa, Aporrectodea icterica and Aporrectodea rosea) present rates varying respectively from 21 % [9 % for the young worms] to 8 % and 11 %. <p>The axis of the particles size ingested did not permit the niches segregation (in our study, the earthworms size does not affect the size of the particles ingested), but the axis of the nature of the particles ingested is more discriminant. In the three-dimensional niche (size and nature of particles ingested [our study] and the annuals cycles of activity [Tiho, 2001]), the young worms not being considered, only one high overlap is maintained, that of L. rubellus niche on that of L. terrestris. A marginal overlap (α = 0.66) is observed, that of A. longa niche on that of L. terrestris. Having a similar trophic resource (consumption of litter), an interspecific competition must exist between these three species for the access to the food.

Ocular pathology is one of the main health problems worldwide. The number of people with retinopathy symptoms has increased considerably in recent years. Early adequate treatment has demonstrated to be effective to avoid the loss of the vision. The analysis of fundus images is a non intrusive option for periodical retinal screening. Different models designed for the analysis of retinal images are based on supervised methods, which require of hand labelled images and processing time as part of the training stage. On the other hand most of the methods have been designed under the basis of specific characteristics of the retinal images (e.g. field of view, resolution). This compromises its performance to a reduce group of retinal image with similar features. For these reasons an unsupervised model for the analysis of retinal image is required, a model that can work without human supervision or interaction. And that is able to perform on retinal images with different characteristics. In this research, we have worked on the development of this type of model. The system locates the eye structures (e.g. optic disc and blood vessels) as first step. Later, these structures are masked out from the retinal image in order to create a clear field to perform the lesion detection. We have selected the Graph Cut technique as a base to design the retinal structures segmentation methods. This selection allows incorporating prior knowledge to constraint the searching for the optimal segmentation. Different link weight assignments were formulated in order to attend the specific needs of the retinal structures (e.g. shape). This research project has put to work together the fields of image processing and ophthalmology to create a novel system that contribute significantly to the state of the art in medical image analysis. This new knowledge provides a new alternative to address the analysis of medical images and opens a new panorama for researchers exploring this research area.

Meteorological satellite images at visible and infra-red wavelengths are an invaluable source of information on cloud systems because of their extensive coverage of the whole of the Earth's surface, providing data in areas that are only sparsely monitored, if at all, by other means. Although this information has been used subjectively by forecasters for many years, the lack of automatic, quantitative analysis techniques largely prevents its assimilation into numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, which are the basis of all modern weather forecasting. This thesis investigates the use of neural network techniques for the analysis of the images in order to make fuller use of the available data. The recognition of a particular type of cloud is dependent on the determination of a set of features from the satellite image spectral bands that will give discriminating information. This feature extraction and selection process is dealt with in detail, and a feature selection process based on the radial basis function (RBF) neural network is presented. The high-dimensional feature space is visualized on a two-dimensional plane by the use of three techniques: the Kohonen map, the Sammon map, and a recently-developed technique known as the Generative Topographic Mapping (GTM). Classification results using a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and an RBF neural network are presented. The results of independently classifying each pixel in an image are compared with a method that makes use of contextual information, the Markov Random Field (MRF) model. The limitations of the pixel-based approach are highlighted, and a region-based approach is presented that enables the definition of large-scale regions of uniform cloud type. Two segmentation methods are used, the active contour (or snake) model, and the more recentlydeveloped level set technique. The latter method was found to provide many benefits over the former. The region-based approach will facilitate the assimilation of cloud system information into NWP models in the future.

O objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi o de avaliar o comportamento de leitões em diferentes sistemas de aquecimento por meio da análise de imagem e identificação eletrônica. O experimento foi realizado no período de 12 de janeiro de 2002 a 05 de agosto de 2002, em uma propriedade de produção industrial de suínos, localizada no município de Elias Fausto, estado de São Paulo. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida na sala da maternidade, com 80 animais entre o nascimento e o desmame, para cada etapa estudada. O estudo foi dividido basicamente em duas etapas: verão (fevereiro a março de 2002) e inverno (junho a agosto de 2002). Os tratamentos adotados para avaliação da eficiência dos diferentes sistemas de aquecimento foram: piso térmico, lâmpada incandescente, resistência elétrica e lâmpada de infravermelho. A avaliação física dos ambientes, foram realizadas por meio das variáveis ambientais, temperatura de bulbo seco (Ts), temperatura de bulbo úmido (Tu) e temperatura de globo negro (Tg), registrados por meio de cabos termopares tipo T, em intervalo horário e armazenados em uma plataforma automática de dados. Os índices de conforto térmico determinados foram: índice de temperatura de globo e umidade (ITGU), carga térmica radiante (CTR) e entalpia (H), calculados usando as variáveis ambientais registradas. Os dados ambientais foram registrados no ambiente externo, sala da maternidade e no interior de cada abrigo escamoteador avaliado, durante as duas etapas, ao longo de 19 dias. Para avaliação zootécnica foram registrados o ganho de peso diário (GPD) e mortalidade. A análise técnico-econômica foi feita considerando o consumo de energia elétrica e o GPD dos animais. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados com 4 tratamentos e 18 blocos, as médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey (P<0,01). A avaliação comportamental foi realizada utilizando a análise de imagem, identificação eletrônica e aplicação de geoestatística. Os resultados indicaram que para etapa verão, o uso de aquecimento é desnecessário. Porém, para etapa de inverno, o uso de piso térmico foi recomendado, em função do maior tempo de permanência dos animais e freqüência de acesso dos mesmos ao abrigo escamoteador. Conclui-se, também, que das ferramentas tecnológicas utilizadas para análise do comportamento, a análise de imagem foi mais eficiente que a identificação eletrônica. / The objective of this research was to evaluated the behavior of piglets in different heating systems using the image analysis and electronic identification devices. The experiment was conducted from January 12 th of 2002 to August 05 th of 2002, in a commercial swine production farm, located in Elias Fausto city, state of São Paulo. This research was developed in the farrowing house, with 80 piglets between birth and weanning. The study was basically divided in two stages: summer (February to March of 2002) and winter (June to August of 2002). The treatments were the different heating systems: heat mat, standard heat lamp, eletric resistence and infrared lamp. Ambient dry bulb temperature (Td), wet bulb temperature (Tw) and black globe temperature (Tg), were measured with T termocouples and recorded each 60 minutes in a datalogger. The thermal comfort indexes: black globe humidity index (BGHI), radiant thermal load (RTL) and enthalpy (H) were calculated using the recorded climatic variables. The climatic data was taken inside and outside the farrowing house and inside each studied creep, during two periods of 19 days long. Daily weight gain (DWG) and mortality were registered too. The statistical desing of the experiment was randomized block with 4 treatments and 18 blocks. A t-test with 1% of probability was performed to compare the results averages. The behavior of the piglets was evaluated using the image analysis, eletronic identification and geostatistics techniques. The results indicated for summer condition that the piglet heating isn't necessary. However, for winter time the use of the heat mat creep is recommended in function of the greatest piglets permanence and their highest frequency of use. It was also conclued that among the technological tools used for the piglets behavior study, the image analysis was more efficient than the eletronic identification.

Este estudo trata da análise das imagens dos povos indígenas presentes no livro didático de História, triênio 2014-2016, do Ensino Fundamental II da Coleção Para Viver Juntos. O objetivo do trabalho é analisar as mensagens propagadas pela linguagem imagética sobre os indígenas brasileiros. Além disso, buscamos perceber como ela é trabalhada por professores e alunos na sala de aula. Selecionamos sete imagens referentes à temática indígena, sendo três do gravurista Théodore de Bry, duas do pintor Jean Baptiste Debret e duas fotografias, cujas legendas não referenciam o nome dos fotógrafos. Para o trabalho com as imagens, foi adotada a metodologia baseada na pesquisa-ação, com a aplicação de questionários semiestruturados e a realização de uma oficina com imagens na turma do 7º ano B, do Colégio Estadual José Luiz Siqueira. Através dos questionários e da oficina buscamos perceber as representações dos alunos sobre os povos indígenas, bem como intensificar os debates sobre as dimensões da implementação da Lei 11.645/2008, que tornou obrigatório o ensino de história e da cultura indígena nas instituições de ensino que oferecem educação básica no país. Para a análise das imagens, contamos com o método iconográfico de Erwin Panofsky além de outras metodologias propostas pelos historiadores contemporâneos. Enfim, o presente estudo apresenta metodologias que podem ajudar a potencializar a utilização da linguagem imagética no cotidiano escolar, contribuindo tanto para o questionamento das “verdades” e estereótipos relacionados à História indígena, quanto para a ampliação da “consciência histórica” dos alunos. / This study deals with an analysis of indigenous people images, which are present in history textbooks used in the last grades of elementary school, Para Viver Juntos collection, triennium 2014-2016. This work is intended to analyze messages that are issued by imagistic language in reference to Brazilian indigenous people. Besides that, we aim to perceive how teachers and students approach this image dimension in classroom. We have selected seven images regarding the indigenous theme, three by the illustrator Théodore de Bry, two by the painter Jean Baptiste Debret and two more pictures whose subtitles do not indicate the photographers‟ names. In order to carry out the work with those images, research-action was adopted as methodology, which also included applying semi-structured questionnaires and conducting a workshop on images in the 7th grade “B”, at José Luiz Siqueira State School. Through questionnaires and that workshop, we sought to notice the students‟ representations about indigenous people as well as intensify debates concerning the implementation of the law 11.645/2008, which made compulsory the indigenous history and culture teaching at schools that offer basic education in the country. For the purpose of this analysis, we counted on iconographic method by Erwin Panofsky, besides other methodologies that contemporary historians have recommended. Anyhow, this study presents methodologies that can help enhancing the use of imagistic language in school routine, contributing to both questioning of “truths” or stereotypes relating to indigenous History and raising of the students‟ “historical awareness”.

O objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi o de avaliar o comportamento de leitões em diferentes sistemas de aquecimento por meio da análise de imagem e identificação eletrônica. O experimento foi realizado no período de 12 de janeiro de 2002 a 05 de agosto de 2002, em uma propriedade de produção industrial de suínos, localizada no município de Elias Fausto, estado de São Paulo. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida na sala da maternidade, com 80 animais entre o nascimento e o desmame, para cada etapa estudada. O estudo foi dividido basicamente em duas etapas: verão (fevereiro a março de 2002) e inverno (junho a agosto de 2002). Os tratamentos adotados para avaliação da eficiência dos diferentes sistemas de aquecimento foram: piso térmico, lâmpada incandescente, resistência elétrica e lâmpada de infravermelho. A avaliação física dos ambientes, foram realizadas por meio das variáveis ambientais, temperatura de bulbo seco (Ts), temperatura de bulbo úmido (Tu) e temperatura de globo negro (Tg), registrados por meio de cabos termopares tipo T, em intervalo horário e armazenados em uma plataforma automática de dados. Os índices de conforto térmico determinados foram: índice de temperatura de globo e umidade (ITGU), carga térmica radiante (CTR) e entalpia (H), calculados usando as variáveis ambientais registradas. Os dados ambientais foram registrados no ambiente externo, sala da maternidade e no interior de cada abrigo escamoteador avaliado, durante as duas etapas, ao longo de 19 dias. Para avaliação zootécnica foram registrados o ganho de peso diário (GPD) e mortalidade. A análise técnico-econômica foi feita considerando o consumo de energia elétrica e o GPD dos animais. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados com 4 tratamentos e 18 blocos, as médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey (P<0,01). A avaliação comportamental foi realizada utilizando a análise de imagem, identificação eletrônica e aplicação de geoestatística. Os resultados indicaram que para etapa verão, o uso de aquecimento é desnecessário. Porém, para etapa de inverno, o uso de piso térmico foi recomendado, em função do maior tempo de permanência dos animais e freqüência de acesso dos mesmos ao abrigo escamoteador. Conclui-se, também, que das ferramentas tecnológicas utilizadas para análise do comportamento, a análise de imagem foi mais eficiente que a identificação eletrônica. / The objective of this research was to evaluated the behavior of piglets in different heating systems using the image analysis and electronic identification devices. The experiment was conducted from January 12 th of 2002 to August 05 th of 2002, in a commercial swine production farm, located in Elias Fausto city, state of São Paulo. This research was developed in the farrowing house, with 80 piglets between birth and weanning. The study was basically divided in two stages: summer (February to March of 2002) and winter (June to August of 2002). The treatments were the different heating systems: heat mat, standard heat lamp, eletric resistence and infrared lamp. Ambient dry bulb temperature (Td), wet bulb temperature (Tw) and black globe temperature (Tg), were measured with T termocouples and recorded each 60 minutes in a datalogger. The thermal comfort indexes: black globe humidity index (BGHI), radiant thermal load (RTL) and enthalpy (H) were calculated using the recorded climatic variables. The climatic data was taken inside and outside the farrowing house and inside each studied creep, during two periods of 19 days long. Daily weight gain (DWG) and mortality were registered too. The statistical desing of the experiment was randomized block with 4 treatments and 18 blocks. A t-test with 1% of probability was performed to compare the results averages. The behavior of the piglets was evaluated using the image analysis, eletronic identification and geostatistics techniques. The results indicated for summer condition that the piglet heating isn't necessary. However, for winter time the use of the heat mat creep is recommended in function of the greatest piglets permanence and their highest frequency of use. It was also conclued that among the technological tools used for the piglets behavior study, the image analysis was more efficient than the eletronic identification.

Microplitis croceipes, one of the nectar feeding parasitoid wasps, has been found to associatively learn chemical cues through feeding. The experiments on M. croceipes are performed and recorded by a Sony camcorder in the USDA-ARS Biological Control Laboratory in Tifton, GA, USA. The experimental videos have shown that M. croceipes can respond to Coffee odour in this study. Their detection capabilities and the behaviour of M. croceipes with different levels of coffee odours were studied. First, the data that are related to trained M. croceipes behaviour was extracted from the experimental videos and stored in a Microsoft Excel database. The extracted data represent the behaviour of M. croceipes trained to 0.02g and then exposed to 0.001g, 0.005g, 0.01g, 0.02g and 0.04g of coffee. Secondly, indices were developed to uniquely characterise the behaviour of trained M. croceipes under different coffee concentrations. Thirdly, a preliminary model and its parameters were developed to classify the response of trained wasps when exposed to these five different coffee odours. In summary, the success of this thesis demonstrates the usefulness of data analysis for interpreting experimental data, developing indices, as well as understanding the design principles of a simple model based on trained wasps.

La dysplasie ectodermique hypohidrotique liée à l’X (DEX) est consécutive à la mutation du gène Eda. Ce projet de recherche avait pour but d’étudier les dysmorphoses cranio-faciales chez le mutant murin Tabby représentant l’équivalent phénotypique de la DEX. La forme des mandibules en vue latérale a été étudiée à partir d’approches quantitatives associant μ-CT, traitement d’images, analyses de Fourier elliptique et analyses métriques. Une première étude ex vivo menée sur 39 spécimens Tabby et 35 souris wild-type adultes a permis de mettre en évidence un hypo-développement mandibulaire chez Tabby. Deuxièmement, une étude longitudinale in vivo de la croissance mandibulaire mise en place sur une cohorte de 23 individus (12 WT et 11 Tabby) a montré que les individus Tabby présentaient cet hypodéveloppement dès le 1er mois et qu’il se maintenait à la fin de la première année de vie. Les défauts du gène Eda affectent ainsi le développement de la mandibule en plus des dérivés ectodermiques. / The X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (XLHED) is the result of Eda gene defect. This research project studied the cranio-facial dysmorphoses in Tabby murin mutant which having a similar phenotype to the XLHED. A association of mutiple quantitive approachs (μ-CT, images processing, elliptical Fourier analyse and metric analyses) permitted to study the mandible’s shape in a lateral view. A first ex vivo study led on 39 specimens Tabby and 35 WT mice allowed to highlight a mandibular hypodevelopment in Tabby. Secondly, a longitudinal in vivo study of mandibular growth, based on 23 specimen (12WT and 11 Tabby), showed that Tabby presented this hypodevelopment from the 1st month and that it remained at the end of the first year of life. The Eda gene affects the development of mandible and ectodermal structures.

In cancer diagnosis there is a goal of having the treatment being tailored to each patient. This in order to increase efficiency and reduce side effects. Using more data on each patient can help in achieving this. One such data source is histological images on tissues, such as lymph nodes. This report sets out to find a method in which such images on lymph nodes can be automatically segmented. This so that they can later be analysed and maybe tell in what stage a cancer is in. Such work is today done by hand, and this makes it a subjective process, that might differ between doctors and institutions. If there was a method done by a computer, the process would be replicable and objective. Also, a lot of time would be saved. The results show that such a method is reachable in this early stage of development. It is also quite efficient when segmenting the lymph node itself. The segmentation of smaller areas of the lymph nodes is not as efficient, but with further work in the area it might improve enough to be useful. Some issues are still had since the method relies in part on a person to decide a parameter in order to get a clean segmentation. The final conclusion is that one model is to prefer compared to the others and that further work on this might make it a useful tool in analysing histological images.