The mechanical properties of the arterial wall are of great importance for blood pressure regulation and cardiac load. With increasing age, large arteries are affected by increased wall stiffness. Furthermore, atherosclerotic manifestations may increase the stiffness even further, both processes acting as independent cardiovascular risk factors affecting the arterial system in a heterogeneous way. The aims of this thesis was to characterize the local mechanical properties of brachial artery (BA) with the aid of ultrasound technique and to evaluate the influence of 1) age, gender, sympathetic stimulation and examination site; 2) type 1 diabetes (DM) and its association to circulatory biomarkers; and 3) to evaluate the general properties of the arterial system with the aid of pulse wave velocity (PWV) as well as pulse wave analysis (PWA) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and correlate the findings to disease activity and circulatory biomarkers. In the most proximal arterial segment of the upper arm a pronounced age-related decrease in wall distensibility, increase in intima-media thickness (IMT), and a slight increase in diameter were seen. Sympathetic stimulation had no influence on wall mechanics. More distally in BA, no change in diameter, and only minor increase in IMT and decrease in distensibility were seen. No gender differences were found. These findings suggest that the principle transit zone between elastic and muscular artery behaviour is located in the proximal part of the upper arm. Women with uncomplicated insulin-dependent DM had similar diameter, IMT and distensibility in their distal BA as controls, whereas flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) was slightly, and nitrate mediated dilatation (NMD) markedly reduced. NMD was negatively correlated with higher HbA1c levels. Vascular smooth muscle cell function seems to be an early manifestation of vascular disease in women with DM, influenced by long-term hyperglycaemia. Women with SLE had increased aortic PWV compared to controls, a finding positively associated with increased levels of complement factor 3 (C3), but not with disease activity. The increased stiffness of central arteries may be one factor contributing to the increased cardiovascular risk seen in SLE.

Les Systèmes à Evénements Discrets (SED) peuvent être définis comme des systèmes dans lesquels les variables d'état changent sous l'occurrence d'évènements au fil du temps. Les SED mettant en jeu des phénomènes de synchronisation peuvent être modélisés par des équations linéaires dans les algèbres de type (max,+). L'analyse d'atteignabilité est une problématique majeure pour les systèmes dynamiques. L'objectif est de calculer l'ensemble des états atteignables d'un système dynamique pour toutes les valeurs admissibles d'un ensemble d'états initiaux. Le problème de l'analyse d'atteignabilité pour les systèmes Max-Plus Linéaire (MPL) a été, proprement, résolu en décomposant le système MPL en une combinaison de systèmes affines par morceaux où les composantes affines du système sont représentées par des matrices de différences bornées (Difference Bound Matrix, DBM). La contribution principale de cette thèse est de présenter une procédure similaire pour résoudre le problème de l'atteignabilité pour des systèmes MPL incertains (uMPL), c'est-à-dire des systèmes MPL soumis à des bruits bornés, des perturbations et/ou des erreurs de modélisation. Tout d'abord, nous présentons une procédure permettant de partionner l'espace d'état d'un système uMPL en parties représentables par des DBM. Ensuite, nous étendons l'analyse d'atteignabilité des systèmes MPL aux systèmes uMPL. Enfin, les résultats sur l'analyse d'atteignabilité sont mis en oeuvre pour résoudre le problème d'atteignabilité conditionnelle, qui est étroitement lié au calcul du support de la densité de probabilité impliquée dans le problème de filtage stochastique / Discrete Event Dynamic Systems (DEDS) are discrete-state systems whose dynamics areentirely driven by the occurrence of asynchronous events over time. Linear equations in themax-plus algebra can be used to describe DEDS subjected to synchronization and time delayphenomena. The reachability analysis concerns the computation of all states that can bereached by a dynamical system from an initial set of states. The reachability analysis problemof Max Plus Linear (MPL) systems has been properly solved by characterizing the MPLsystems as a combination of Piece-Wise Affine (PWA) systems and then representing eachcomponent of the PWA system as Difference-Bound Matrices (DBM). The main contributionof this thesis is to present a similar procedure to solve the reachability analysis problemof MPL systems subjected to bounded noise, disturbances and/or modeling errors, calleduncertain MPL (uMPL) systems. First, we present a procedure to partition the state spaceof an uMPL system into components that can be completely represented by DBM. Then weextend the reachability analysis of MPL systems to uMPL systems. Moreover, the results onreachability analysis of uMPL systems are used to solve the conditional reachability problem,which is closely related to the support calculation of the probability density function involvedin the stochastic filtering problem. / Os Sistemas a Eventos Discretos (SEDs) constituem uma classe de sistemas caracterizada por apresentar espaço de estados discreto e dinâmica dirigida única e exclusivamente pela ocorrência de eventos. SEDs sujeitos aos problemas de sincronização e de temporização podem ser descritos em termos de equações lineares usando a álgebra max-plus. A análise de alcançabilidade visa o cálculo do conjunto de todos os estados que podem ser alcançados a partir de um conjunto de estados iniciais através do modelo do sistema. A análise de alcançabilidade de sistemas Max Plus Lineares (MPL) pode ser tratada por meio da decomposição do sistema MPL em sistemas PWA (Piece-Wise Affine) e de sua correspondente representação por DBM (Difference-Bound Matrices). A principal contribuição desta tese é a proposta de uma metodologia similar para resolver o problema de análise de alcançabilidade em sistemas MPL sujeitos a ruídos limitados, chamados de sistemas MPL incertos ou sistemas uMPL (uncertain Max Plus Linear Systems). Primeiramente, apresentamos uma metodologia para particionar o espaço de estados de um sistema uMPL em componentes que podem ser completamente representados por DBM. Em seguida, estendemos a análise de alcançabilidade de sistemas MPL para sistemas uMPL. Além disso, a metodologia desenvolvida é usada para resolver o problema de análise de alcançabilidade condicional, o qual esta estritamente relacionado ao cálculo do suporte da função de probabilidade de densidade envolvida o problema de filtragem estocástica.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 28-31, 1996 / Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / Eutectic (63% tin-37% lead) or near-eutectic (40% tin-60% lead) tin-lead solder is widely used for creating electrical interconnections between the printed wiring board (PWB) and the components mounted on the board surface. For components mounted directly on the PWB mounting pads, that is, surface mounted components, the tin-lead solder also constitutes the mechanical interconnection. Eutectic solder has a melting point of 183°C (361°F). It is important to realize that its homologous temperature, defined as the temperature in degrees Kelvin over its melting point temperature (T(m)), also in degrees Kelvin, is defined as T/T(m). At room temperature (25°C = 298K), eutectic solder's homologous temperature is 0.65. It is widely acknowledged that materials having a homologous temperature ≥ 0.5 are readily subject to creep, and the solder joints of printed wiring assemblies are routinely exposed to temperatures above room temperature. Hence, solder joints tend to be subject to both thermal fatigue and creep. This can lead to premature failures during service conditions. The geometry, that is, the lead configuration, of the joints can also affect failure. Various geometries are better suited to withstand failure than others. The purpose of this paper is to explore solder joint failures of dual in-line (DIP) integrated circuit components, leadless ceramic chip carriers (LCCCs), and gull wing and J-lead surface mount components mounted on PWBs.