The construction of an adiabatic demagnetization cryostat has been outlined in detail along with the associated electrical apparatus for supplying power to the cryostat and for temperature measurement. Various magnet electrical configurations have been suggested and tried, and the degree of success of each noted. Two types of working coolants, Ferric Ammonium Sulphate and Pink Ruby have been considered and the advantages and disadvantages of each have been discussed. Suggestions for further improvements have also been made. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The goal of this research was to investigate changes in the physiological properties including firmness, stiffness, weight, background colour, ethylene production and respiration of ‘Cripps Pink’ apple stored under different temperature and atmosphere conditions,. This research also seeks to establish mathematical models for the prediction of changes in firmness and stiffness of the apple during normal atmosphere (NA) storage. Experiments were conducted to determine the quality changes in ‘Cripps Pink’ apple under three sets of storage conditions. The first set of storage conditions consisted of NA storage at 0oC, 2.5oC, 5oC, 10oC, 20oC and 30oC. In the second set of conditions the apples were placed in NA cold storage at 0oC for 61 days, followed by NA storage at the aforementioned six temperatures. The third set of conditions consisted of controlled atmosphere (CA) (2 kPa O2 : 1 kPa CO2) at 0oC storage for 102 days followed by NA storage at the six temperatures mentioned previously. The firmness, stiffness, weight loss, skin colour, ethylene and carbon dioxide production of the apples were monitored at specific time intervals during storage. Firmness was measured using a HortPlus Quick Measure Penetrometer (HortPlus Ltd, Hawke Bat, New Zealand); stiffness was measured using a commercial acoustic firmness sensor-AFS (AWETA, Nootdorp, The Netherlands). Experimental data analysis was performed using the GraphPad Prism 4.03, 2005 software package. The Least-Squares method and iterative non-linear regression were used to model and simulate changes in firmness and stiffness in GraphPad Prism 4.03, 2005 and DataFit 8.1, 2005 softwares. The experimental results indicated that the firmness and stiffness of ‘Cripps Pink’ apple stored in NA decreased with increases in temperature and time. Under NA, the softening pattern was tri-phasic for apples stored at 0oC, 2.5oC and 5oC for firmness, and at 0oC and 2.5oC for stiffness. However, there were only two softening phases for apples stored at higher temperatures. NA at 0oC, 2.5oC and 5oC improved skin background colour and extended the storage ability of apples compared to higher temperatures. CA during the first stage of storage better maintained the firmness and stiffness of the apples. However, it reduced subsequent ethylene and carbon dioxide (CO2) production after removal from storage. Steep increases in ethylene and CO2 production coincided with rapid softening in the fruit flesh and yellowing of the skin background colour, under NA conditions. The exponential decay model was the best model for predicting changes in the firmness, stiffness and keeping quality of the apples. The exponential decay model satisfied the biochemical theory of softening in the apple, and had the highest fitness to the experimental data collected over the wide range of temperatures. The softening rate increased exponentially with storage temperature complying with the Arrhenius equation. Therefore a combination of the exponential decay model with the Arrhenius equation was found to best characterise the softening process and to predict changes in the firmness and stiffness of apples stored at different temperatures in NA conditions.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The goal of this research was to investigate changes in the physiological properties including firmness, stiffness, weight, background colour, ethylene production and respiration of ‘Cripps Pink’ apple stored under different temperature and atmosphere conditions,. This research also seeks to establish mathematical models for the prediction of changes in firmness and stiffness of the apple during normal atmosphere (NA) storage. Experiments were conducted to determine the quality changes in ‘Cripps Pink’ apple under three sets of storage conditions. The first set of storage conditions consisted of NA storage at 0oC, 2.5oC, 5oC, 10oC, 20oC and 30oC. In the second set of conditions the apples were placed in NA cold storage at 0oC for 61 days, followed by NA storage at the aforementioned six temperatures. The third set of conditions consisted of controlled atmosphere (CA) (2 kPa O2 : 1 kPa CO2) at 0oC storage for 102 days followed by NA storage at the six temperatures mentioned previously. The firmness, stiffness, weight loss, skin colour, ethylene and carbon dioxide production of the apples were monitored at specific time intervals during storage. Firmness was measured using a HortPlus Quick Measure Penetrometer (HortPlus Ltd, Hawke Bat, New Zealand); stiffness was measured using a commercial acoustic firmness sensor-AFS (AWETA, Nootdorp, The Netherlands). Experimental data analysis was performed using the GraphPad Prism 4.03, 2005 software package. The Least-Squares method and iterative non-linear regression were used to model and simulate changes in firmness and stiffness in GraphPad Prism 4.03, 2005 and DataFit 8.1, 2005 softwares. The experimental results indicated that the firmness and stiffness of ‘Cripps Pink’ apple stored in NA decreased with increases in temperature and time. Under NA, the softening pattern was tri-phasic for apples stored at 0oC, 2.5oC and 5oC for firmness, and at 0oC and 2.5oC for stiffness. However, there were only two softening phases for apples stored at higher temperatures. NA at 0oC, 2.5oC and 5oC improved skin background colour and extended the storage ability of apples compared to higher temperatures. CA during the first stage of storage better maintained the firmness and stiffness of the apples. However, it reduced subsequent ethylene and carbon dioxide (CO2) production after removal from storage. Steep increases in ethylene and CO2 production coincided with rapid softening in the fruit flesh and yellowing of the skin background colour, under NA conditions. The exponential decay model was the best model for predicting changes in the firmness, stiffness and keeping quality of the apples. The exponential decay model satisfied the biochemical theory of softening in the apple, and had the highest fitness to the experimental data collected over the wide range of temperatures. The softening rate increased exponentially with storage temperature complying with the Arrhenius equation. Therefore a combination of the exponential decay model with the Arrhenius equation was found to best characterise the softening process and to predict changes in the firmness and stiffness of apples stored at different temperatures in NA conditions.

La conjecture d'André-Pink affirme qu'une sous-variété d'une variété de Shimura ayant une intersection dense avec une orbite de Hecke est faiblement spéciale. On démontre cette conjecture dans le cas de courbes dans une variété de Shimura de type abélien, ainsi que dans certains cas de sous-variétés de dimension supérieure. Ceci est un cas spécial de la conjecture de Zilber-Pink. C'est une généralisation de théorèmes d'Edixhoven et Yafaev quand l'orbite de Hecke se compose de points spéciaux, de Pink quand l'orbite de Hecke se compose de points Galois génériques, et de Habegger et Pila quand la variété de Shimura est un produit de courbes modulaires. Notre démonstration de la conjecture d'André-Pink pour les courbes dans l'espace de modules des variétés abéliennes principalement polarisées est basée sur la méthode de Pila et Zannier, utilisant une variante forte du théorème de comptage de Pila-Wilkie. On obtient les bornes galoisiennes requises grâce au théorème d'isogénie de Masser et Wüstholz. Afin de relier les bornes sur les isogénies aux hauteurs, on démontre également diverses bornes concernant l'arithmétique des formes hermitiennes sur l'anneau d'endomorphismes d'une variété abélienne. Afin d'étendre le résultat sur la conjecture d'André-Pink aux courbes dans les variétés de Shimura de type abélien et à certains cas de sous-variétés de dimension supérieure, on étudie les propriétés fonctorielles de plusieurs variantes des orbites de Hecke. Un chapitre concerne les rangs des groupes de Mumford-Tate de variétés abéliennes complexes. On y démontre une minoration de ces rangs en fonction de la dimension de la variété abélienne, étant donné que ses sous-variétés abéliennes simples sont deux à deux non isogènes. / The André-Pink conjecture predicts that a subvariety of a Shimura variety which has dense intersection with a Hecke orbit is weakly special. We prove this conjecture for curves in a Shimura variety of abelian type, as well as for certain cases for subvarieties of higher dimension. This is a special case of the Zilber-Pink conjecture. It generalises theorems of Edixhoven and Yafaev when the Hecke orbit consists of special points, of Pink when the Hecke orbit consists of Galois generic points, and of Habegger and Pila when the Shimura variety is a product of modular curves. Our proof of the André-Pink conjecture for curves in the moduli space of principally polarised abelian varieties is based on the Pila-Zannier method, using a strong form of the Pila-Wilkie counting theorem. The necessary Galois bounds are obtained from the Masser-Wüstholz isogeny theorem. In order to relate isogeny bounds to heights, we also prove various bounds concerning the arithmetic of Hermitian forms over the endomorphism ring of an abelian variety. In order to extend the result on the André-Pink conjecture to curves in Shimura varieties of abelian type and to some cases of higher-dimensional subvarieties, we study the functorial properties of Hecke orbits and variations thereof. One chapter concerns the ranks of Mumford-Tate groups of complex abelian varieties. We prove a lower bound for these ranks in terms of the dimension of the abelian variety, subject to the condition that the simple abelian subvarieties are pairwise non-isogenous.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T18:53:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Resultados e Discussoes.pdf: 625763 bytes, checksum: 0fcdae03788e2bcb5f1e0834574ae458 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-05-27 / The use of musts made with apples discarded during classification to in natura trade and the artificial gasification of the fermented, undertake the quality of Brazilian cider. The fermentation process used results in carbon dioxide loss and, consequently, aromatics compounds with large importance to the sensorial attributes of the fermented as well. The product quality could be improved by the use of selected apples cultivars and by the realization of natural gasification process. The objective of this research was the assessment of sparkling obtained by natural gasification process, by the use of selected apples cultivars. In the sparkling elaboration were used apples of Catarina, Granny Smith and Pink Lady cultivars (2007/2008 crop), which were selected because they present physic-chemical characteristics suitable to the process. Six varietal sparklings were elaborated, all by the Champenoise method, and four mixture sparklings, elaborated from a must made by a mixture of the three cultivars, in which the proportions were defined by a statistic planning. The mixture sparklings were elaborated by four different methods: process Chempenoise, artificial gasification, Asti and Charmat, being the two last made in pilot scale. All sparklings were evaluated by physic-chemical and chromatographic analysis, as well as oenology tasting, being classified by the Principal Compounds Analysis (PCA) statistical method. The PCA use, besides the results obtained by the oenology tasting, allowed the varietal sparklings to be classified in groups made by the apple cultivar used in the elaboration and by the glucose source used in the supplementation of the base-fermented. In this way, was evidenced the significant difference between them and, therefore, the need of elaboration of a mixture so that the characteristics of each cultivar would be demonstrated in a unique must. The use of statistic planning allowed the formulation of mixture must with physic-chemical characteristics adapted to the sparkling elaboration, with were evaluated and compared to a commercial apple sparkling made in Switzerland by the Champenoise method. In the oenology tasting, in all the resultant sparklings was identify the lack of freshness and limpidity, indicating the need of the use of apples with higher acidity and more effective filtration processess. The differentiation between the varietal, mixture and commercial sparkling was possible by the use of PCA, on which the chromatographic parameters were the mainly responsible by the differentiation between the varietal and mixture groups, whilst the physic-chemical parameters, specially acidity and turbidity, were the mainly responsible by the isolation of the commercial sparkling in a third group. It wasn’t evidenced significant difference between the elaboration process. The use of natural gasification process and musts elaborated by mixture of selected apple cultivars were promising measures in the obtention of quality natural apple sparklings. / A utilização de mostos formulados por maçãs descartadas na classificação para o comércio in natura e a gaseificação artificial do fermentado comprometem a qualidade das sidras brasileiras. O processo de fermentação utilizado resulta na perda do gás carbônico e, consequentemente, de compostos aromáticos de grande importância aos atributos sensoriais do fermentado. A qualidade do produto poderia ser aprimorada pela utilização de cultivares de maçãs selecionados e pela realização de processos naturais de gaseificação. A avaliação de espumantes obtidos por processos de gaseificação natural, pelo uso de cultivares de maçã selecionados, foi o objetivo deste trabalho. Na elaboração dos espumantes foram utilizadas maçãs dos cultivares Catarina, Granny Smith e Pink Lady das safras de 2007/2008, selecionadas por apresentarem características físico-químicas adequadas ao processamento. Foram elaborados seis espumantes varietais, todos pelo método Champenoise, e quatro espumantes de mistura, elaborados a partir de um mosto formulado pela mistura dos três cultivares, no qual as proporções foram definidas por um planejamento estatístico. Os espumantes de mistura foram elaborados por quatro diferentes métodos, processos Champenoise, gaseificação artificial, Asti e Charmat, sendo os dois últimos realizados em escala piloto. Todos os espumantes foram avaliados por análises físico-químicas, cromatográfica e degustação enológica e classificados pelo método estatístico Análise por Componentes Principais – PCA. A utilização da PCA, em conjunto com os resultados obtidos pela degustação enológica, permitiram classificar os espumantes varietais em grupos formados pelo cultivar de maçã utilizados em sua elaboração e pela fonte de glucose utilizada na suplementação de seus fermentados-base, de modo que foi evidenciada a diferença significativa entre eles e, portanto, a necessidade de elaboração de uma mistura para que as características de cada cultivar fossem demonstradas em um mosto único. A utilização do planejamento estatístico permitiu a formulação de um mosto mistura com características físico-químicas adaptadas a sua aplicação na elaboração dos espumantes, os quais foram avaliados e comparados com um espumante de maçã comercial produzido na Suíça pelo método Champenoise. Na degustação enológica em todos os espumantes foi identificada a falta de frescor e limpidez, indicando a necessidade do uso de maçãs com maior acidez e de processos mais eficazes de filtração. A diferenciação entre os espumantes varietais, de mistura e comercial foi possível pela utilização da PCA, na qual os parâmetros cromatográficos foram os principais responsáveis pela diferenciação entre os grupos varietais e de mistura, ao passo que os parâmetros físico-químicos, em especial a acidez e turbidez, foram os principais responsáveis pelo isolamento do espumante comercial num terceiro grupo. Não foi evidenciada diferença significativa entre os processos de elaboração. A utilização de processos naturais de gaseificação e de mostos formulados por misturas de cultivares de maçã selecionados foram medidas promissoras na obtenção de espumantes naturais de maçã de qualidade.

Bactérias do gênero Methylobacterium são encontradas em associação com espécies vegetais, onde são capazes de promover o crescimento, aumentar a atividade fotossintética e reduzir o ataque de patógenos ao hospedeiro. Além de conferir estas vantagens para a planta hospedeira, estas bactérias podem também produzir biopolímeros (PHA e PHB). Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi anotar o genoma de Methylobacterium mesophilicum SR1.6/6 e avaliar o seu transcriptoma em estágios iniciais de interação com Citrus sinensis. A análise do genoma mostrou que SR1.6/6 pode produzir auxina, reduzir o estresse da planta alterando os níveis de etileno, apresenta sistema de monitoramento de populacional pelo sistema quorum sensing (QS) e um metabolismo metilotrófico completo. A análise do transcriptoma evidenciou que os exsudatos radiculares de C. sinensis induzem a expressão de genes de resposta ao estresse oxidativo, seguido da indução de genes de adesão e biofilme durante a colonização da planta hospedeira. A interação entre M. mesophilicum SR1.6/6 e a planta hospedeira envolve mecanismos de reconhecimento e adaptação ao estresse, antes mesmo de ocorrer o primeiro contato físico entre a célula bacteriana e a planta hospedeira, seguido da indução de genes de biofilme bacteriano. Além disso, foi estudada uma metodologia para a realização de mutações genéticas em Methylobacterium spp. que permitirá a obtenção de mutantes relacionados com a interação com a planta. / Methylobacterium genus are found in association with plant species, where they are able to promote plant growth, increase the photosynthetic activity and reduce the incidence of pathogens to the host. In addition to providing these benefits to the host plant, these bacteria can also produce biopolymers (PHA and PHB). Thus, the aim was to annotate the genome of Methylobacterium mesophilicum SR1.6 / 6 and assess their transcriptome in the early stages of interaction with Citrus sinensis. Genome analysis showed that SR1.6 / 6 can produce auxin, reduce plant stress by altering ethylene levels, presents population monitoring system (QS) and a complete methylotrophic metabolism. The transcriptomic analysis showed that C. sinensis exudates induce the expression of genes related to oxidative stress followed by induction of adhesion and biofilm genes during colonization of the host plant. The interaction between M. mesophilicum SR1.6 / 6 and the host plant involves recognition mechanisms and adaptation to stress, even before the first physical contact occurs between the bacterial cell and the host plant, followed by the induction of bacterial biofilm genes. Furthermore, a method has been studied for carrying genetic mutations in Methylobacterium spp. allowing the obtaining of mutants related to interaction with the plant.

No description available.

Bactérias do gênero Methylobacterium são encontradas em associação com espécies vegetais, onde são capazes de promover o crescimento, aumentar a atividade fotossintética e reduzir o ataque de patógenos ao hospedeiro. Além de conferir estas vantagens para a planta hospedeira, estas bactérias podem também produzir biopolímeros (PHA e PHB). Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi anotar o genoma de Methylobacterium mesophilicum SR1.6/6 e avaliar o seu transcriptoma em estágios iniciais de interação com Citrus sinensis. A análise do genoma mostrou que SR1.6/6 pode produzir auxina, reduzir o estresse da planta alterando os níveis de etileno, apresenta sistema de monitoramento de populacional pelo sistema quorum sensing (QS) e um metabolismo metilotrófico completo. A análise do transcriptoma evidenciou que os exsudatos radiculares de C. sinensis induzem a expressão de genes de resposta ao estresse oxidativo, seguido da indução de genes de adesão e biofilme durante a colonização da planta hospedeira. A interação entre M. mesophilicum SR1.6/6 e a planta hospedeira envolve mecanismos de reconhecimento e adaptação ao estresse, antes mesmo de ocorrer o primeiro contato físico entre a célula bacteriana e a planta hospedeira, seguido da indução de genes de biofilme bacteriano. Além disso, foi estudada uma metodologia para a realização de mutações genéticas em Methylobacterium spp. que permitirá a obtenção de mutantes relacionados com a interação com a planta. / Methylobacterium genus are found in association with plant species, where they are able to promote plant growth, increase the photosynthetic activity and reduce the incidence of pathogens to the host. In addition to providing these benefits to the host plant, these bacteria can also produce biopolymers (PHA and PHB). Thus, the aim was to annotate the genome of Methylobacterium mesophilicum SR1.6 / 6 and assess their transcriptome in the early stages of interaction with Citrus sinensis. Genome analysis showed that SR1.6 / 6 can produce auxin, reduce plant stress by altering ethylene levels, presents population monitoring system (QS) and a complete methylotrophic metabolism. The transcriptomic analysis showed that C. sinensis exudates induce the expression of genes related to oxidative stress followed by induction of adhesion and biofilm genes during colonization of the host plant. The interaction between M. mesophilicum SR1.6 / 6 and the host plant involves recognition mechanisms and adaptation to stress, even before the first physical contact occurs between the bacterial cell and the host plant, followed by the induction of bacterial biofilm genes. Furthermore, a method has been studied for carrying genetic mutations in Methylobacterium spp. allowing the obtaining of mutants related to interaction with the plant.

The study of plasmas generated in pure nitrogen and their afterglows are a subject of many hundreds works bringing a lot of information about the kinetic processes and energy transfer reactions. The effect of nitrogen pink afterglow has a specific position among the other kinds of discharges and post-discharges. The post-discharge, and especially the pink afterglow, is extremely sensitive to the presence of various impurities and experimental conditions (total gas pressure in a discharge tube, temperature, etc.) because of their significant influence on all kinetic processes. That is the reason, why it is so important to study this processes. The DC flowing afterglow (generated using the hollow molybdenum electrodes in the distance of 12 cm, power ± 290 W) was used for the experimental part of this work. The discharge was created in Pyrex discharge tube at different concentration ratio of nitrogen and argon. The total gas presure was in range from 500 Pa to 5000 Pa. The emission spectra of post-discharge were recorded by TRIAX 550 spectrometer with CCD detector in the range of 320-780 nm. The vibrational populations at individual vibrational levels were calculated using the emission bands of the first (N2 (B 3g) N2 (A 3u+)) and the second (N2 (C 3u) N2 (B 3g)) positive and the first negative (N2+ (B 2u+) N2+ (X 2g+) nitrogen spectral systems. The dependencies of intensity on decay time and relative vibrational populations on argon concentration and pressure were obtained. The pink afterglow was very sharp in pure nitrogen at low pressure. With the increasing total pressure it was shifted to the later decay times and it was visible for longer time, too. The same effect was observed with the increase of argon concentration in the gas mixture. At the highest argon concentrations, especially at lower pressure, the effect of pink afterglow dissapeared. The knowledge of these processes can give the solution of all kinetic reactions in plasma and this can be used in plasma chemistry and for development of new technologies. This will be a subject of further intensive studies.

The aim of this master thesis is a study of nitrogen post-discharge by mercury vapours titration. The nitrogen post-discharge is investigated for many years theoretically as well as for a practical use. The object of this master thesis is a study of kinetic processes ongoing at titrations of mercury vapours during the nitrogen post-discharge at different pressures and applied powers. All experimental data were obtained from an optical emission spectroscopy of nitrogen post-discharge. DC discharge in flowing regime was chosen for measurements. The first part of experiments was carried out at the constant discharge current (100 mA), voltage (1300 V) and wall temperature (300 K). The total gas pressure was varied in range of 500-3000 Pa at nitrogen flow in range of 0.12-0.68 l/min. Nitrogen flow values were arranged to obtain constant nitrogen flow velocity for all gas pressures. The second set of experiments studied power dependencies. The current was varied in the range of 50-200 mA for constant voltage 1300 V. The total gas pressure in this case was 1000 Pa. Mercury vapours were introduced into the system by titration tube at different post-discharge time. The nitrogen pink afterglow effect was well visible at all experimental conditions. This effect corresponds to the maximum intensity of light emission, which expresses as considerable growth of characteristic pink radiation in the post-discharge time. Optical emission spectra of post-discharge were taken in the range of 320-780 nm. Besides three nitrogen spectral systems (first and second positive and first negative), the mercury line at 254 nm was recorded in the second order spectrum at 508 nm under these conditions if mercury was added. This spectral line is excited under post-discharge conditions by collisionally induced resonance energy transfer from nitrogen highly vibrationally excited ground state metastables and it opens an unique technique for their monitoring. The dependence of relative intensities on decay time for mercury spectral line and selected nitrogen spectral systems at different titration positions were measured. The relative intensities of nitrogen bands decrease with increasing of mercury line relative intensity for all total gas pressures. The pink afterglow phenomenon shifts to the later decay times with the increasing of total gas pressure. In the case of experiments at different power, it can be seen that with decreasing power mercury spectral line intensity decreases in post-discharge time. The first detailed tests of the unique detection for highly excited of nitrogen metastables were completed. However this master thesis is concentrated on the basic research which supports better indication of kinetic processes and reactions leading to transformation of excitation energy, this new knowledge should be applied in future also in technologies based on the long-lived metastable induced reactions.