This thesis work has been conducted in the Handheld Laboratory at Husqvarna AB with the purpose of finding the parameters responsible for the performance of the catalytic converters used in the test rig. The catalytic converters are used in the test rig during the long term testing of the chain saws to reduce the hydrocarbon content from the exhaust before it enters into the environment.   To perform this research two approaches were carried out. One with Design of Experiment (DOE) and another using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis. In Design of Experiments parameters that are suspected to be influencing the performance of the catalytic converter were refined. Using these parameters a test plan is made with the help of statistical analysis application Minitab and the tests were carried out in the test rig. Using SEM the effects of aging and its effect on microstructure and chemical composition on the catalyst surface was analyzed. The results from the DoE shows that the exhaust flow, collector diameter and distance to the muffler are responsible for the collection of exhaust. Distance to the muffler and collector length are the factors affecting the conversion of the exhaust. In addition to that exhaust flow is also responsible for the duration of heating coil running time.        The results from the SEM analysis shows that the operating temperature is high due to which there is thermal degradation of catalyst and there is also deactivation due to fouling. Another finding is that the flow on to the catalyst is not uniformly distributed

Le Douglas sera la première essence résineuse en France dans les 10 ans à venir, avec des volumes commercialisables de l’ordre de 3 millions de m3/an. Sa valorisation par déroulage se heurte à deux caractéristiques défavorables de son duramen (une humidité à l’état vert proche du point de saturation des fibres (entre 30 et 40%) et une très mauvaise imprégnabilité à l’eau. Ceci rend ce bois très difficile et très long à chauffer par bouillottage avant déroulage. La matière ligneuse étant un bon isolant thermique, l’eau libre constitue généralement le milieu chauffant privilégié dans l’opération d’étuvage préalable au déroulage. Le temps de chauffe dans le cas du Douglas est doublé voire triplé par rapport à d’autres essences plus humides. Cela se traduit par un gaspillage énergétique et une immobilisation de stocks accrue. En vue d’améliorer la cinétique d’imprégnabilité de bois rond de Douglas, nous avons testés un certain nombre de modalités d’imprégnation à deux échelles différentes. À l’échelle de paillasse, des barreaux de 20 mm (R) x 20 mm (T) x 120 mm (L) prélevés dans le duramen, ont subis différents essais de trempage en faisant varier la température de l’eau, la durée du trempage, le type de refroidissement. Certaines modalités ont été répétés en plaçant le bain sous ultrason (fréquence 20 kHz, puissance 400 W) et pour d’autres en ajoutant un tensio-actif dans l’eau ou procéder à un séchage (thermique, naturel, vide) préalable des éprouvettes. Après chaque essai, la reprise d’eau a été quantifiée par double pesée. Nous avons montré un effet de bord répétable sur toutes les modalités mais aucune de celles-ci ne permet une amélioration significative de la reprise en eau du duramen sauf pour le cas du séchage préalable qui a profondément amélioré l’imprégnabilité. La transposition des traitements à l’échelle industrielle sur des billons de 50 cm de longueur et 20 cm de diamètre a montré l’efficacité du séchage préalable sur la capacité du bois d’être pénétré par l’eau, mais insuffisante pour améliorer significativement les conditions de déroulage. Le suivi de l’imprégnabilité par scanner à rayons X a confirmé la persistance de l’hétérogénéité de la répartition d’humidité sur toutes les modalités d’expériences réalisées. Les observations par microscopie confocale à balayage laser (CLSM) ont montré que le processus de séchage à 103°C, a généré des micro-fissures dans les parois cellulaires des ponctuations. Les essais de déroulage réalisés sur les billons issus des différentes modalités étudiées n’ont montré aucune différence de comportement aussi bien en termes d’efforts de coupe qu’en qualité des placages obtenus / In the ten next years, Douglas-fir will be the main softwood resource harvested in France. It its valorization by peeling comes up against two of its particularities that complicate boiling efficiency: (i) the heartwood has a MC near FSP (30 to 40%) i.e. there is near no free water into tracheid (ii) it is impossible to impregnate this heartwood at atmospheric pressure with water. As a result, wood material being a very efficient insulator material, boiling of Douglas-fir prior to peeling for veneer production will take a very long time, free water being the main medium allowing heat transfer into green wood. Wood is a good thermal insulator, free water is generally preferred in the heating operation steaming prior peeling. Heating time in the case of Douglas is doubled or tripled compared to others species. This results in wasted energy and increased immobilization stocks. In order to improve the kinetics of impregnability of Douglas heart wood, we tested a number of methods of impregnating at two different scales. At the bench scale, samples with 20 mm (R) x 20 mm (t) x 120 mm (L) taken from the heartwood, have suffered from various tests by varying the soaking water temperature, duration soaking, the type of cooling. Some terms were repeated by placing the bath in ultrasound (frequency 20 kHz, power 400 W) and others by adding a surfactant in water or to drying samples, (thermal, natural, vacuum) prior impregnation . After each test, the water uptake was quantified by double weighing. We showed a repeatable board effect across all categories but none of them allows a significant improvement in the water uptake heartwood except drying that profoundly improved the moisture content of samples. The transposition to the industrial scale processing on ridges (50 cm long and 20 cm in diameter) showed the effectiveness of prior drying on the ability of wood to be penetrated by the water, but insufficient to significantly improve the peeling conditions. X-ray scanner observations confirm the persistence of the heterogeneity of the moisture distribution across all categories of experiments. The confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that the drying process at 103 ° C, generated microcracks in the cell walls of the pits. The tests performed on the peeling logs from different modalities studied showed no difference in behavior both in terms of cutting forces and quality veneers obtained

L’interaction lumière-matière dépend fortement de l’environnement de l’émetteur fluorescent. Il est gouverné par une quantité fondamentale en physique : la densité locale d’états électromagnétiques (LDOS), qui est proportionnelle au taux de désexcitation de l’émetteur fluorescent à l’endroit où il se trouve dans son environnement.La partie principale de ce travail de thèse a consisté en la réalisation d’études expérimentales spatialement résolues du taux de désexcitation et de l’intensité de fluorescence d’un nanoémetteur en champ proche d’une nanoantenne plasmonique. Ceci a été rendu possible grâce à l’utilisation d’un microscope de champ proche à sonde fluorescente récemment développé à l’Institut Langevin. L’amélioration des performances de ce dispositif apportée au cours de cette thèse, nous a permis de cartographier le taux de désexcitation radiatif et non-radiatif apparent en champ proche d’un milieu nanostructuré avec une résolution spatiale nanométrique.Par la suite, nous avons commencé à nous intéresser au transfert d’énergie non-radiatif entre deux molécules fluorescentes. Ce phénomène, connu sous le nom de FRET (Forster Resonance Energy Transfer), a lieu habituellement sur des distances de l’ordre de quelques dizaines de nanomètres. En utilisant comme vecteur pour le transfert d’énergie un plasmon se propageant à la surface d’un film d’or continu, nous avons démontré qu’il est possible d’étendre la portée du FRET sur des distances supérieures à un micromètre. Dans la suite de cette thèse, l’influence de l’environnement sur l’efficacité et la portée du FRET sera étudiée. / Light-matter interaction strongly depends on the environment of the fluorescent emitter. It is governed by a fundamental physical quantity: the local density of electromagnetic states (LDOS), which is proportional to the decay rate of the fluorescent emitter in a given environment.The main part of this experimental thesis is devoted to the spatially resolved study of the decay rate and the fluorescence intensity of a nano-emitter in the near field of plasmonic nanoantennas. This study has been made possible by the use of a near field scanning fluorescence microscope recently developed at Institut Langevin. During this thesis we obtained a substantial improvement of the performances of this device. This allowed us to map the radiative and apparent non-radiative decay rates in the near field of a nanostructure with nanometer spatial resolution.Thereafter, we started to investigate the non-radiative energy transfer between two fluorescent molecules. This phenomenon, known as FRET (Förster Resonance Energy Transfer), usually takes place over distances of the order of several tens of nanometers. Using a plasmon propagating on the surface of a continuous gold film as a vehicle to transfer the energy between the two molecules, we have demonstrated that it is possible to extend the range of FRET on distances greater than one micron. The perspective after the end of this thesis, is the study of the influence of the environment on the efficiency and the range of FRET.

Ce travail de thèse porte sur la caractérisation et l'optimisation du spot de focalisation d'un objectif de microscope de grande ouverture numérique pour des applications d'imagerie super-résolue et de nanofabrication.Dans la première partie, nous avons systématiquement étudié les distributions de polarisation et d'intensité du faisceau laser dans la région du point focal en fonction de différents paramètres du faisceau incident tels que la phase, la polarisation, l’amplitude ainsi que l'influence du milieu de propagation, tel que l’indice de réfraction. Nous avons mis en oeuvre différentes méthodes théoriques pour contrôler et manipuler les distributions de polarisation et d'intensité du spot de focalisation. Ces prédictions théoriques sont vérifiées expérimentalement via un système optique confocal en mesurant l’image de fluorescence d’une nanoparticule d’or pour différentes caractéristiques.Dans la seconde partie de ce travail, une nouvelle microscopie basée sur le mécanisme d'absorption ultra-faible à un photon a été démontré théoriquement et expérimentalement. Le calcul théorique basé sur l'approche vectorielle de Debye, qui prend en compte l'effet d'absorption du matériau, montre qu'il est possible de focaliser le faisceau lumineux en profondeur à l'intérieur d'un matériau si celui-ci présente une absorption linéaire ultra-faible à la longueur d'onde d'excitation. Cette méthode, dite (LOPA), a ensuite permis de fabriquer des structures 2D et 3D submicrométriques, similaires à celles obtenues par la méthode utilisant l’absorption à deux photons. / Nowadays, far field optical microscopy is widely used in many fields, for fundamental research and applications. The low cost, simple operation, high flexibility are its main advantages. The key parameter of an optical microscope is the objective lens.This thesis's work focuses mainly on the characterization and optimization of the point spread function (PSF) of a high numerical aperture (NA) objective lens (OL) for applications of high resolution imaging and nano-fabrication.In the first part of the thesis, we have systematically investigated the dependency of polarization and intensity distributions of the focusing spot on numerous parameters, such as the phase, the polarization, and the beam mode of incident beam, as well as the refractive index mismatch. Then, we demonstrated theoretically different methods for manipulation of the polarization and intensity distributions of the focusing spot, which can have desired shapes and are useful for different applications. By using a home-made confocal microscope, we have experimentally verified some of the theoretical predictions, for example, vector properties of light beam under a tight focusing condition. In the second part of dissertation work, a new, simple and inexpensive method based on the one-photon absorption mechanism has been demonstrated theoretically and experimentally for 3D sub-micrometer imaging and fabrication applications. The theoretical calculation based on vectorial Debye approximation and taken into account the absorption effect of material shows that it is possible to focus the light tightly and deeply inside the material if the material presents a very low one-photon absorption (LOPA) at the excitation wavelength. We have then demonstrated experimentally that the LOPA microscopy allows to achieve 3D imaging and 3D fabrication with submicrometer resolution, similar to those obtained by two-photon absorption microscopy.

O mecanismo de formação e origem das alterações nucleares ainda é pouco conhecido, sendo o micronúcleo a mais estudada. As células tumorais geralmente apresentam vários tipos de alterações nucleares que estariam associadas à instabilidade genética. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar as possíveis associações entre alterações nucleares e citoesqueleto em células HK2 e A549, derivadas de carcinoma de pulmão humano. Otimizamos a metodologia de uso do MCVL para redefinir as alterações nucleares e caracterizar os principais filamentos do citoesqueleto em preparações coradas por Feulgen ou imunofluorescência. As células da linhagem HK2 apresentaram fibras de actina dispostas concentricamente e em "clusters" e os filamentos de tubulina apareceram de forma radial, enquanto que o padrão de distribuição em A549 foi mais semelhante ao das células normais (BRL3A). Os filamentos de lamina B foram os mais importantes para evidenciar as alterações nucleares, porém essas alterações não puderam ser relacionadas com alterações do citoesqueleto. / The origin and mechanism of formation of the nuclear alterations is largely unknown, with the micronucleus being the most well studied alteration. Tumor cells generally present various types of nuclear alterations witch can be associated with genetic instability. The propose of this study was to analyze the possible association between nuclear alterations and the cytoskeleton in the human lung carcinoma cells HK2 and 549. The method of LSM was optimized to redefine the nuclear alterations and to characterize the principal cytoskeletal filaments in preparations stained with Feulgen’s reagent or submitted to imunofluorescent methods. The HK2 cells presented actin fibres arranged either concentrically or in clusters and tubulin filaments arranged radially, while in the A549 cells the distribution pattern was similar to that of normal cells (BRL3A). The lamin B filaments were the most important to identify nuclear alterations, as these alterations could not be related to cytoskeletal alterations.

Content: A comprehensive analysis of the molecular and structural components of deer skin and cow hide was undertaken. These skins known to be strong, however they derive their strength from different combinations of molecular and structural properties. Firstly, the physical properties of deer skin and cow hide including the tensile strength, tear strength and denaturation temperature were measured. Secondly, the structure of the collagen fibrils and glycosaminoglycans was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Finally, the chemical composition of deer skin and cow hide such as amino acids, crosslinks and glycosaminoglycans were analysed. Our results showed that physical properties of deer skin and cow hide are derived from different combinations of several chemical components resulting in different architecture. It was found that the large and “wavy” collagen fibres in deer skin made up of collagen fibrils with small diameters. Additionally, deer skin fibrils appeared to be linked by regular arrays of filaments of large glycosaminoglycans that are distributed uniformly. Deer skin contained higher proportion of trivalent collagen crosslinks. In contrast, the collagen fibrils in cow hide were large, contained a diverse glycosaminoglycan distribution and a higher proportion of tetravalent collagen crosslinks, resulting in straight collagen fibres. This study suggests that although deer skin and cow hide are both strong, they have different structural and molecular features. Take-Away: Deer skin and cow hide have different structural and molecular make up which are reflected in their physical properties particularly strength. Glycosaminoglycans are important for the organisation of collagen fibrils in deer skin and cow hide. Deer skin and cow hide contain different ratios of collagen natural crosslinks which are essential collagen stability.

The theme of this diploma thesis is the design of a scanning electron microscope with a focused ion beam. Specifically, the thesis is focused on the design of the microscope covers and the adjacent workplace of the operator for Tescan Orsay Holding a.s.. Design is solved as the first proposal aimed at future innovation of the design of the entire product line.

The thesis is focused on the medium dynamics simulation in the environmental scanning electron microscope. Specifically, it researches (examines) the conical aperture location effect in the differential pumped chamber and the width of the pumping channel in this chamber. The theoretical part deals with the environmental scanning microscope generally and other tools used in this thesis, e.g. ANSYS Fluen software, fluid turbulence, medium free path of molecules and electrons scattering. In the practical part, the work is focused on data processing from the ANSYS Fluent program and on their evaluation.

This diploma thesis deals with the problems of analysis and the subsequent design of a precision manipulator used as a microscope table. The first part od the final thesis deals with the problems associated with the movement of the test sample within the electron microscope. Subsequently, possiblle design variants were proposed, further developing the next steps fot the correctness and functionality of manipulator. The individual force loads of the components were calculated. The result of the work was constructed as a CAD model with subsequent transfer to the assembly drawing.

The presented thesis focuses on designing a cryogenic cell for the study of water ice in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). This cell allows the study ice in the temperature range 80 K – 300 K in a nitrogen gas environment with a pressure of up to 400 Pa. The cell is cooled by a flow cooling system, where liquid or gaseous nitrogen is used as a refrigerant. The cell consists of a double-walled vessel with vacuum insulation, a flow-through heat exchanger, a sample well, and a cooled cell lid. The heat exchanger was designed to be able to dissipate the heat load at the level of 1 W. The exchanger is equipped with an electric resistance heater with an output of approximately 60 W, enabling heating of the sample at speeds of up to 100 K·min-1. The design also includes an LN2 gateway located on the door of the vacuum chamber of the microscope, to which the capillaries of the heat exchanger for the intake and outlet of refrigerant are connected. During the experimental verification of the cryogenic cell in the test vacuum chamber with a pressure of GN2 ~ 400 Pa, the limit temperature of 77.5 K on the sample well was reached.