In einer Einleitung werden verschiedene Möglichkeiten der Kopplung unterschiedlicher physikalischer Domänen diskutiert. Begriffe wie Kopplung auf Systemebene über Terminals und auf Feldebene über Lastvektor oder Matrixkopplung werden zugeordnet. Wie diese Kopplungsmöglichkeiten sich in der ANSYS Simulationsumgebung wiederfinden, wird aufgezeigt. Am Beispiel eines Akuators wird erläutert, welche physikalischen Domänen gekoppelt betrachtet werden müssen, um die hier vorhandenen temperaturabhängigen Materialeigenschaften zu berücksichtigen. In einem Beispiel zu einer Steckverbindung wird aufgezeigt, wie eine vom Kontaktdruck abhängige Leitfähigkeit berücksichtigt wird und Ergebnisse aus dieser Simulation werden diskutiert.

Le bâtiment est un noeud énergétique important et un support idéal pour développer etanalyser les effets d'un système de gestion optimisée d'énergie (SGEB) tant son impactpotentiel sur la demande énergétique globale est important. Cependant, pour que ces objectifssoient atteints, plusieurs verrous doivent être levés. Au-delà des problématiques liées àl'architecture de distribution, aux modèles (y compris ceux relatifs au comportement desusagers), aux outils de dimensionnement, à la formalisation des paramètres, contraintes etcritères, aux systèmes de production et aux modes de connexions au réseau de distribution, lesproblèmes liés à la mise en oeuvre d'un outil de gestion décentralisée et à sa validation sontcentraux centrale. Ces travaux s'inscrivent directement dans cette optique. Ils portent enparticulier sur l'élaboration de modèles énergétiques, de stratégies de gestion d'énergie dansune configuration multi-sources et multi-charges et surtout de mise en oeuvre de méthodes etd'outils de validation au travers de bancs tests variés où certains composants peuvent êtreréels.Ce travail analyse le gestionnaire énergétique " G-homeTech " comprenant plusieursfonctionnalités de gestion testées sur des bancs d'essai virtuels et hybrides qui permettent decombiner à la fois des composants matériels et logiciels dans les simulations. Cela a permisd'insérer des actionneurs communicants pour tester leur pertinence. Les validations menéesmontrent que le gestionnaire énergétique permet l'effacement de pointes de consommation etdes économies sur la facture énergétique globale tout en respectant les contraintes techniqueset réglementaires.Les évènements prédits ne sont pas toujours ceux qui se produisent. Nous avons alorssimulé de telles situations. La radiation solaire et la consommation totale des services noncontrôlables sont différentes de celles prédites. Cette différence a conduit à des dépassementsde puissance électrique souscrite qui a activé le mécanisme de gestion réactive du gestionnaireénergétique. Des ordres de délestage sont alors dynamiquement envoyés à certainséquipements. Ces ordres alimentent directement les modèles des équipements électriques.Selon les importances relatives données au coût et au confort, nous avons montré que legestionnaire énergétique permet de faire des économies substantielles en évitant lesconsommations durant les pics de prix et évitant les dépassements de souscription pareffacement, par modulation du fonctionnement des systèmes de chauffage et par décalage defonctionnement des services temporaires dans les périodes plus intéressante énergétiquement.

The heterogeneity of the environments as well as the diversity of patients' needs and profiles are major constraints that challenge the spread of ambient assistive living (AAL) systems. AAL environments are usually evolving by the introduction or the disappearance of sensors, devices and assistive services to respond to the evolution of patients' conditions and human needs. Therefore, a generic framework that is able to adapt to such dynamic environments and to integrate new sensors, devices and assistive services at runtime is required. Implementing such a dynamic aspect may produce an uncertainty derived from technical problems related to sensors reliability or network problems. Therefore, a notion of uncertain should be introduced in context representation and decision making in order to deal with this problem. During this thesis, I have developed a dynamic and extendible framework able to adapt to different environments and patients' needs. This was achieved based on my proposed approach of semantic Plug&Play mechanism. In order to handle the problem of uncertain information related to technical problems, I have proposed an approach for uncertainty measurement based on intrinsic characteristics of the sensors and their functional behaviors, then I have provided a model of semantic representation and reasoning under uncertainty coupled with the Dempster-Shafer Theory of evidence (DST) for decision making

There is increasing evidence that chronic inflammation is tightly linked to diseases associated with endothelial dysfunction, including the induction of aberrant angiogenesis. While leukocytes have been described as mediators of inflammation-associated angiogenesis, the effects of direct chronic endothelial activation have not been addressed in this context. Using an uncleavable mutant of the transmembrane form of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), we have established models of stable TNF-α expression in endothelial cells in vitro and in transgenic mice in vivo. In the in vitro model, continuous endothelial activation leads to increased leukocyte cellular adhesion molecule expression and intracellular reactive oxygen species, hallmarks of a proinflammatory and dysfunctional endothelium. In addition, stable expression of TNF-α in endothelial cells increased angiogenic sprout formation in the presence but also in the absence of angiogenic growth factors. The partial neutralization of this effect by TNF-α antibodies and the inability of conditioned media from stable TNF-α-expressing endothelial cells to induce angiogenic activities in control endothelial cells suggest that this effect does not require expression of additional autocrine factors, but is an autonomous effect of the transmembrane TNF on the endothelial cells. Furthermore, using the Matrigel plug assay in vivo, increased angiogenesis was observed in endothelial TNF-α-expressing transgenic versus control mice. In conclusion, chronic inflammatory changes mediated by TNF-α can induce angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, suggesting endothelial cell activation as a direct link between inflammation and angiogenesis. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Chemnitz, Techn. Univ., Diplomarb., 2006.

Face aux normes actuelles et futures, de plus en plus drastiques, concernant les émissions de polluants, les constructeurs automobiles cherchent en permanence à améliorer l'efficacité des moteurs à allumage commandé. Une des solutions les plus efficaces et applicables pour diminuer la quantité de polluants émis dans les gaz d’échappement (HC, CO, NOx) et réduire la consommation de carburant, est d’utiliser un mélange très pauvre (richesse du mélange inférieure à 0,6). Toutefois, ce concept de fonctionnement est limité par les systèmes d'allumage classiques qui ne peuvent pas garantir un allumage du mélange air / combustible dans de bonnes conditions, de manière à assurer une combustion complète, rapide et reproductible.Le sujet de cette thèse consiste en l'élaboration d'un nouveau système d'allumage basé sur une bougie d’allumage double, qui peut produire deux d'étincelles quasi-simultanées, dont la longueur cumulée est plusieurs fois plus élevée que celle d’étincelles produites par une bougie d'allumage classique. Pour valider ce système d'allumage, trois différents types d'analyses ont été réalisés: une analyse des paramètres électriques des décharges, un diagnostic du plasma par spectroscopie optique d'émission, et des essais in situ du système d'allumage sur deux moteurs à combustion interne avec analyse des gaz d'échappement et détermination des performances des moteurs.Ces tests ont révélé que l'utilisation du système d’allumage à double étincelle peut assurer une meilleure stabilité dans le fonctionnement du moteur (en particulier dans les conditions d'allumage difficiles, en utilisant des mélanges très pauvres) ; des performances accrues du moteur pour une même quantité de carburant consommé ; et une diminution de la quantité d’hydrocarbures imbrûlés et de monoxyde de carbone dans les gaz d'échappement, mais avec une plus grande émission d'oxydes d'azote par rapport à un système d'allumage classique. / Faced with the current and future more and more drastic standards for pollutant emissions, the car manufacturers are permanently trying to improve the efficiency of spark ignition engines. One of the most effective applicable solutions for reducing the quantity of pollutant emissions (HC, CO, NOx) from the exhaust gases and also to reduce the fuel consumption is to operate with very lean mixture (equivalent ratio lower than 0.6). However, this operation concept is limited by the actual ignition systems that cannot assure an air/fuel mixture ignition in good conditions, in order to assure a complete, fast and repeatable combustion. The subject of this thesis consists into developing of a new ignition system based on a double spark plug, which can produce two quasi-simultaneous spark discharges with cumulated length few times higher than the sparks produced by a conventional spark plug. For ignition system validation, three different types of analysis have been considered: the analysis of the discharges electrical parameters, the plasma diagnosis using optical emission spectroscopy methods and the tests of the ignition system on two internal combustion engines with the exhaust gases analysis and engine performances determination. The tests revealed that the utilization of the double spark ignition system can assure a better stability in engine operation (especially in difficult ignition conditions such using very lean mixtures), increased engine performances for the same amount of consumed fuel and it can provide a diminution of the unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide quantities from the exhaust gases, but with an increased quantity of nitrogen oxides, compared with a conventional ignition system.

Vaccines have saved more lives than any other medical intervention. Recombinant vaccines provide unmatched safety profiles, but at the expense of reduced immunogenicity. Virus-like particles (VLPs) resemble viruses in size, shape and repetitive arrangement but are devoid of pathogenic genetic material and therefore safe. Poor immunogens can be rendered immunogenic by display on VLPs. Successfully decorating VLPs is still a major challenge. Genetic fusion or chemical modification is often time-consuming and can lead to misassembly or misfolding, which obstructs generation of the desired immune response. SpyCatcher is a genetically encodable protein, previously engineered to form a covalent isopeptide bond to its peptide-partner SpyTag. Presented in this thesis are SpyCatcher-VLPs, based on the fusion of SpyCatcher to the bacteriophage VLP AP205. SpyCatcher- VLPs can be conveniently conjugated with SpyTag fused antigens, simply by mixing. I demonstrate the modularity of this approach by covalently linking several complex, cysteine-rich malarial antigens to SpyCatcher-VLPs, such as the transmission-blocking antigen Pfs25 and the blood-stage antigen CIDR. A single administration of Pfs25-SpyTag conjugated to SpyCatcher-VLPs induced potent antibody generation against Pfs25, even in the absence of adjuvant. Anti-Pfs25 antibodies induced by this platform conveyed potent transmission-blocking activity in the mosquito vector. The thesis further demonstrates the feasibility of more complex Catcher-nanoparticle architectures. The previously engineered SnoopCatcher covalently reacts with SnoopTag peptide and is orthogonal to the SpyCatcher / SpyTag pair. IMX313 is an engineered chimera of the multimerization domain of chicken complement inhibitor C4-binding protein. This work describes fusion of SnoopCatcher and SpyCatcher to IMX313, which yields independently addressable Catcher-moieties on a single IMX313 nanoparticle. Display of two antigens on one particle may enable single-particle, multi-disease vaccines as well as multi-stage vaccines to tackle immune evasion of parasites. The platforms presented should accelerate and enhance vaccine development and may create opportunities for imaging and metabolic engineering.

Les protocoles plug-and-play couplés avec les architectures logicielles rendent nos maisons ubiquitaires. Les équipements domestiques qui supportent ces protocoles peuvent être détectés automatiquement, configurés et invoqués pour une tâche donnée. Actuellement, plusieurs protocoles coexistent dans la maison, mais les interactions entre les dispositifs ne peuvent pas être mises en action à moins que les appareils supportent le même protocole. En plus, les applications qui orchestrent ces dispositifs doivent connaître à l'avance les noms des services et dispositifs. Or, chaque protocole définit un profil standard par type d'appareil. Par conséquent, deux appareils ayant le même type et les mêmes fonctions mais qui supportent un protocole différent publient des interfaces qui sont souvent sémantiquement équivalentes mais syntaxiquement différentes. Ceci limite alors les applications à interagir avec un service similaire. Dans ce travail, nous présentons une méthode qui se base sur l'alignement d'ontologie et la génération automatique de mandataire pour parvenir à une adaptation dynamique de services. / Ubiquitous systems imagined by Mark Weiser are emerging thanks to the development of embedded systems and plug-n-play protocols like the Universal Plug aNd Play (UPnP), the Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing (IGRS), the Device Pro le for Web Services (DPWS) and Apple Bonjour. Such protocols follow the service oriented architecture (SOA) paradigm and allow an automatic device and service discovery in a home network. Once devices are connected to the local network, applications deployed for example on a smart phone, a PC or a home gateway, discover the plug-n-play devices and act as control points. The aim of such applications is to orchestrate the interactions between the devices such as lights, TVs and printers, and their corresponding hosted services to accomplish a specific human daily task like printing a document or dimming a light. Devices supporting a plug-n-play protocol announce their hosted services each in its own description format and data content. Even similar devices supporting the same services represent their capabilities in a different representation format and content. Such heterogeneity along with the protocols layers diversity, prevent applications to use any available equivalent device on the network to accomplish a specific task. For instance, a UPnP printing application cannot interacts with an available DPWS printer on the network to print a document. Designing applications to support multiple protocols is time consuming since developers must implement the interaction with each device pro le and its own data description. Additionally, the deployed application must use multiple protocols stacks to interact with the device. More over, application vendors and telecoms operators need to orchestrate devices through a common application layer, independently from the protocol layers and the device description. To accomplish interoperability between plug-n-play devices and applications, we propose a generic approach which consists in automatically generating proxies based on an ontology alignment. The alignment contains the correspondences between two equivalent devices descriptions. Such correspondences actually represent the proxy behaviour which is used to provide interoperability between an application and a plug and play device. For instance, the generated proxy will announce itself on the network as a UPnP standard printer and will control the DPWS printer. Consequently, the UPnP printing application will interact transparently with the generated proxy which adapts and transfers the invocations to the real DPWS printer. We implemented a prototype as a proof of concept that we evaluated on several real UPnP and DPWS equivalent devices.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this research was to determine plant growth and development and fruit yield of the strawberry crop from bare root and plug transplants with different crown diameters. Bare roots transplants were produced by rooting stolons and plug transplants from runner tips collected and rooted in a substrate growing bed. Three classes of crown diameters were compared, in a 2 x 3 factorial and randomized block experimental design, with four replications, 16 plants per plot and a density of 6.6 plants m-2. For bare root transplants, crown diameters were between 3.0 and 5.0 (class 1); 5.1 and 8.0 (class 2) and greater than 8.1 mm (class 3). For plug transplants, runner tips were screened between 2.0 and 3.9 (class 1); 4.0 and 5.5 (class 2) and 5.6 to 7.0 mm (class 3). Transplants of both types were planted at April 16th, 2008, and at this date, crown diameter, shoot and root dry mass and number of leaves were higher in all classes of plug transplants. Ripe fruits were harvested from June 15th to November 7th, 2008, and fresh fruit yield was determined. Plant growth and development were determined at last harvest. Higher growth, development and fruit yield were obtained in plants from plug transplants. For bare root transplants, crown diameters higher than 5.1 mm can be used while for plug transplants the crown diameter of runner tips does not affect plant growth and fruit yield. / O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar o crescimento e o desenvolvimento da planta e a produtividade de frutas de morangueiro com o emprego de mudas de raízes nuas e de torrão com diferentes diâmetros de coroa. As mudas de raízes nuas foram produzidas pelo enraizamento dos estolões e aquelas de torrão a partir de pontas de estolões coletadas e enraizadas em leito de cultivo preenchido com substrato. Três classes de diâmetro de coroa foram comparadas, em um esquema fatorial 2 x 3, em delineamento blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, 16 plantas por parcela e densidade de 6,6 plantas m-2. Nas mudas de raízes nuas os diâmetros de coroa foram entre 3,0 e 5,0 (classe 1), 5,1 e 8,0 (classe 2) e maior do que 8,1 mm (classe 3). Naquelas de torrão, as pontas de estolão foram classificadas entre 2,0 e 3,9 (classe 1), 4,0 e 5,5 (classe 2) e 5,6 a 7,0 mm (classe 3). As mudas de ambos os tipos foram plantadas em 16 de abril de 2008 e nessa data o diâmetro da coroa, a massa seca da parte aérea e das raízes e o número de folhas foram mais elevados nas mudas com torrão. As frutas foram colhidas maduras entre 15 de junho e sete de novembro de 2008 e a produção de frutas foi determinada. Nesta data foi determinado também o crescimento e desenvolvimento das plantas. Maior crescimento, desenvolvimento e produção de frutas foram obtidos com o emprego de mudas com torrão. Com mudas de raízes nuas as classes 2 e 3 devem ser empregadas, enquanto nas mudas com torrão o diâmetro da coroa da pontas de estolão não influencia a produção de frutas.

The objectives of this research were to select new strawberry clones for the estate of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and to develop methods of multiplication to obtain disease-free transplants with high physiological quality. Five advanced strawberry clones from the Breeding Program and two controls were evaluated in an annual hill system in low tunnels from April to December, 2006. A closed soilless system was developed, based on a growing bed with substrate over a cement tile. A nutrient solution was delivered from a reservoir to the upper end of the tile and drained off back by gravity. An inert substrate (sand) and an organic substrate (Plantmax®) and two advanced strawberry clones were tested. In another experiment fruit yield of plug transplants of different sizes was compared to that of bare-root transplants. Plug transplants were produced rooting runner tips in plastic trays with different volumes of organic substrate. Bare-root transplants were produced in the closed soilless growing system described above. Clones LBD 15.1, LBH 27.2, LBD 35.2 and LBG 121.4 were identified as having potential to be used in the estate of RS. These clones combine earliness, high yield and fruit quality, high content of bioactive compounds and resistance to diseases. A high number of healthy bare-root and runner tips with high quality were obtained with both substrates and both clones. A higher early fruit yield during fall and winter was obtained with plug transplants. Both plug and bare-root transplants reached a high total yield. It was concluded that selected strawberry clones of this research can be recommended to substitute commercial cultivars now planted in the RS or used in combination with them and that disease-free bare-root transplants and runner tips for plug transplants, both with high physiological quality can be produced in the closed soilless system, providing a sustainable alternative for nurseries. / Os objetivos deste trabalho foram selecionar novos clones de morangueiro para o RS e desenvolver um sistema de multiplicação para a obtenção de mudas com alta qualidade fisiológica e sanitária. Foram avaliados cinco clones avançados do Programa de Melhoramento e duas testemunhas, em túneis baixos, durante os meses de abril e dezembro de 2006. Para a multiplicação foi utilizado um sistema fechado sem solo, baseado em um leito de cultivo com substrato sobre telhas de fibrocimento. A circulação da solução nutritiva foi feita a partir de um reservatório até a extremidade mais alta da telha, drenando por gravidade. Como substrato, testou-se a areia na categoria inerte e o Plantmax® na categoria orgânica, com dois clones. Em outro experimento foi comparada a produtividade de mudas com torrão de diferentes tamanhos e com raízes nuas. As mudas com torrão foram produzidas a partir de pontas de estolão enraizadas em bandejas com diferentes volumes de substrato orgânico. As mudas com raízes nuas foram provenientes do sistema fechado sem solo. Foram identificados os clones LBD 15.1, LBH 27.2, LBD 35.2 e LBG 121.4 com potencial para serem cultivados no RS. Esses clones combinam alta produtividade precoce e total, qualidade de fruta, conteúdo de componentes bioativos na fruta e resistência às doenças. Um alto número de mudas e pontas de estolão sadias e de alta qualidade foi obtido no sistema fechado sem solo com ambos os substratos e clones. As mudas com torrão apresentaram maior produtividade precoce no outono e inverno. Tanto as mudas com torrão como as de raízes nuas alcançaram elevada produtividade total. Concluiu-se que os novos clones selecionados podem ser indicados em substituição ou em combinação com as cultivares atualmente em uso no RS e que o sistema fechado sem solo é uma alternativa sustentável para ser empregada na produção de mudas com raízes nuas e de pontas de estolão para mudas com torrão.