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This thesis is presented as an introduction to the Fibonacci sequence of integers. It is hoped that this thesis will create in the reader more interest in this type of sequence and especially the Fibonacci sequence. It seems that this particular area of mathematics is often ignored in the classroom or touched upon far too briefly to stimulate curiosity and develop further interest in this field.

The purpose of this thesis is to define equivalence classes of Cauchy sequences of rational numbers and the operations of taking a sum and a product and then to show that this system is an uncountable, ordered, complete field. In so doing, a mathematical system is obtained which is isomorphic to the real number system.

Chlamydophila pecorum est une espèce bactérienne intracellulaire obligatoire de la famille Chlamydiaceae. Le criblage d’une banque génomique de C. pecorum en utilisant un sérum ovin spécifique a permis d’identifier la protéine de la membrane d’inclusion (IncA) comme un candidat potentiel pour le sérodiagnostic de C. pecorum et de mettre en évidence une séquence répétée codante (CTR) riche en alanine et proline dans le gène incA de C. pecorum. Cette CTR présente des motifs d’acides aminés différents suivant la pathogénicité des souches de C. pecorum. La variabilité génétique de 19 souches de C. pecorum isolées de ruminant a été étudiée par MVLST (multi-virulence sequence typing). Les gènes ompA qui code pour la protéine majeure de la membrane externe, incA et l’ORF663 (cadre ouvert de lecture) permettent de différencier les souches pathogènes de C. pecorum des souches non-pathogènes. Cette hypothèse a été confirmée sur 32 autres souches comprenant 11 souches isolées de porcs. Les souches de C. pecorum isolées de lésions sont génétiquement différentes des souches isolées d’animaux asymptomatiques. Les 3 gènes ompA, incA et l’ORF663 sont des marqueurs moléculaire épidémiologiques potentiels qui pourraient être liés à la virulence de C. pecorum. / Chlamydophila pecorum, an obligate intracellular bacterium belonged to Chlamydiaceae family. Screening of a genomic DNA library of C. pecorum by using a specific ovine serum, allowed to identify inclusion membrane protein (IncA) as a potential candidate for C. pecorum serodiagnosis and to highlight a coding tandem repeat (CTR) rich in alanine and proline in the C. pecorum incA gene. The CTR presents several amino acids motifs according to the pathogenesis of C. pecorum strains. The genetic variability of 19 C. pecorum strains isolated from ruminants was studied using MVLST (multi-virulence sequence typing) system. The genes ompA that code for the major outer membrane protein, incA and ORF663 (open reading frame) allowed to distinguish the pathogenic C. pecorum strains from non-pathogenic strains. This hypothesis was confirmed on additional 32 strains including 11 strains isolated from swine. The C. pecorum strains isolated from clinical cases are genetically different from strains isolated from healthy animals. ompA, incA and ORF663 genes are epidemiological molecular markers which could be related to the virulence of C. pecorum.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M.E.E.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Javier Garcia-Frias, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.