Auswahl der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema „Imagerie fUS“

Sensorimotor rhythm (SMR)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) controlled Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) has gained importance in recent years for the rehabilitation of motor deficits. However, there still remain many research questions to be addressed, such as unstructured Motor Imagery (MI) training procedures; a lack of methods to classify different MI tasks in a single hand, such as grasping and opening; and difficulty in decoding voluntary MI-evoked SMRs compared to FES-driven passive-movement-evoked SMRs. To address these issues, a study that is composed of two phases was conducted to develop and validate an SMR-based BCI-FES system with 2-class MI tasks in a single hand (Phase 1), and investigate the feasibility of the system with stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients (Phase 2). The results of Phase 1 showed that the accuracy of classifying 2-class MIs (approximately 71.25%) was significantly higher than the true chance level, while that of distinguishing voluntary and passive SMRs was not. In Phase 2, where the patients performed goal-oriented tasks in a semi-asynchronous mode, the effects of the FES existence type and adaptive learning on task performance were evaluated. The results showed that adaptive learning significantly increased the accuracy, and the accuracy after applying adaptive learning under the No-FES condition (61.9%) was significantly higher than the true chance level. The outcomes of the present research would provide insight into SMR-based BCI-controlled FES systems that can connect those with motor disabilities (e.g., stroke and TBI patients) to other people by greatly improving their quality of life. Recommendations for future work with a larger sample size and kinesthetic MI were also presented.

Soybean is sensitive to flooding stress that may result in poor seed quality and significant yield reduction. Soybean production under flooding could be sustained by developing flood-tolerant cultivars through breeding programs. Conventionally, soybean tolerance to flooding in field conditions is evaluated by visually rating the shoot injury/damage due to flooding stress, which is labor-intensive and subjective to human error. Recent developments of field high-throughput phenotyping technology have shown great potential in measuring crop traits and detecting crop responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential in estimating flood-induced soybean injuries using UAV-based image features collected at different flight heights. The flooding injury score (FIS) of 724 soybean breeding plots was taken visually by breeders when soybean showed obvious injury symptoms. Aerial images were taken on the same day using a five-band multispectral and an infrared (IR) thermal camera at 20, 50, and 80 m above ground. Five image features, i.e., canopy temperature, normalized difference vegetation index, canopy area, width, and length, were extracted from the images at three flight heights. A deep learning model was used to classify the soybean breeding plots to five FIS ratings based on the extracted image features. Results show that the image features were significantly different at three flight heights. The best classification performance was obtained by the model developed using image features at 20 m with 0.9 for the five-level FIS. The results indicate that the proposed method is very promising in estimating FIS for soybean breeding.

Time exposure (timex) image is a type of image generated from image acquisition at acertain time or image acquisition with different exposure criteria, the advantage of timex imageis High Dynamic Range which can help provide details in a digital image processing. Toproduce a good timex image, a method is needed that is able to create a timex image fromeither a video or photo source. There are several methods used to produce timex images,namely Gradient-Based Synthesized, Multi-Exposure Image, and Median Filter. In this study,the three methods are compared in producing timex images with input in the form of imageswith over exposure and low exposure as well as video images. For testing the timex image, theHistogram, Standard Deviation, Variance, Mean, Median, and Mode parameters are used.Based on the results of research conducted on timex images with the Median Filter method, thestandard deviation value is 0.0739 and the variance value is 0.0054 where this value indicatesthat the intensity distribution on the median timex filter image has a wider dynamic range thanthe other two methods. The comparison of the timex image with the fps variation shows that thehigher the fps used, the better the timex image.

The placement of armor units for breakwaters in Indonesia is still done manually, which depends on divers in each placement of the armor unit. The use of divers is less effective due to limited communication between divers and excavator operators, making divers in the water take a long time. This makes the diver's job risky and expensive. This research presents a vision system to reduce the diver's role in adjusting the position of each armor unit. This vision system is built with two cameras connected to a mini-computer. This system has an image improvement process by comparing three methods. The results obtained are an average frame per second is 20.71 without applying the method, 0.45 fps for using the multi-scale retinex with color restoration method, 16.75 fps for applying the Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization method, 16.17 fps for applying the Histogram Equalization method. The image quality evaluation uses the underwater color quality evaluation with 48 data points. The method that has experienced the most improvement in image quality is multi-scale retinex with color restoration. Forty data have improved image quality with an average of 14,131, or 83.33%. The number of images that experienced the highest image quality improvement was using the multi-scale retinex with color restoration method. Meanwhile, for image quality analysis based on Underwater Image Quality Measures, out of a total of 48 images, the method with the highest value for image quality is the contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization method. 100% of images have the highest image matrix value with an average value is 33.014.

Weeds reduce cassava root yields and infest furrow areas quickly. The use of mechanical weeders has been introduced in Thailand; however, manually aligning the weeders with each planting row and at headland turns is still challenging. It is critical to clear weeds on furrow slopes and driveways via mechanical weeders. Automation can support this difficult work for weed management via driveway detection. In this context, deep learning algorithms have the potential to train models to detect driveways through furrow image segmentation. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to develop an image segmentation model for automated weed control operations in cassava plantation fields. To achieve this, image datasets were obtained from various fields to aid weed detection models in automated weed management. Three models—Mask R-CNN, YOLACT, and YOLOv8n-seg—were used to construct the image segmentation model, and they were evaluated according to their precision, recall, and FPS. The results show that YOLOv8n-seg achieved the highest accuracy and FPS (114.94 FPS); however, it experienced issues with frame segmentation during video testing. In contrast, YOLACT had no segmentation issues in the video tests (23.45 FPS), indicating its potential for driveway segmentation in cassava plantations. In summary, image segmentation for detecting driveways can improve weed management in cassava fields, and the further automation of low-cost mechanical weeders in tropical climates can be performed based on the YOLACT algorithm.

Vehicle detection is an important research area that provides background information for the diversity of unmanned-aerial-vehicle (UAV) applications. In this paper, we propose a vehicle-detection method using a convolutional-neural-network (CNN)-based object detector. We design our method, DRFBNet300, with a Deeper Receptive Field Block (DRFB) module that enhances the expressiveness of feature maps to detect small objects in the UAV imagery. We also propose the UAV-cars dataset that includes the composition and angular distortion of vehicles in UAV imagery to train our DRFBNet300. Lastly, we propose a Split Image Processing (SIP) method to improve the accuracy of the detection model. Our DRFBNet300 achieves 21 mAP with 45 FPS in the MS COCO metric, which is the highest score compared to other lightweight single-stage methods running in real time. In addition, DRFBNet300, trained on the UAV-cars dataset, obtains the highest AP score at altitudes of 20–50 m. The gap of accuracy improvement by applying the SIP method became larger when the altitude increases. The DRFBNet300 trained on the UAV-cars dataset with SIP method operates at 33 FPS, enabling real-time vehicle detection.

Les épilepsies sont des hyperactivités neuronales pathologiques largement distribuées au sein du système nerveux. Aborder la question de l'organisation spatiotemporelle de ces crises est un premier pas crucial vers la dissection des mécanismes qui les sous-tendent. Alors qu'il existe de nombreux modèles d'hyperactivité épileptiforme, il est plus difficile d'étudier les crises spontanées, qui sont altérées par la sédation. Dans cette thèse, j'ai développé une approche combinant l'électroencéphalogramme (EEG) avec l'imagerie fonctionnelle ultrasonore (fUS), sur le rat mobile. Ainsi, sur un modèle d'épilepsie absence, j'ai pu enregistrer simultanément la survenue des crises et les variations hémodynamiques, marqueurs du métabolisme cellulaire. Le suivi additionnel de l'activité hémodynamique n'avait pas d'effet en soi sur l'occurrence et la durée des crises épileptiques. L'analyse des enregistrements a permis de mettre en évidence des corrélations entre les activités électriques et vasculaires durant les crises. Tandis que le thalamus présentait des zones d'hyperperfusion pendant les crises, le cortex présentait des corrélats variables suivant les aires, avec une hyperémie des aires somato-sensorielles accompagnée parfois d'une baisse de perfusion des tissus adjacents. La sensibilité du fUS a révélé, à partir d'événements uniques, qu'une série de pointe-ondes observée par une électrode EEG ne s'accompagne pas toujours d'une hyperactivité vasculaire au même endroit. Ainsi, cette approche permet de délimiter le contour des aires présentant une activité vasculaire pendant les crises et montre une dichotomie partielle entre les composantes électriques et vasculaires des crises
Epilepsies consist in neuronal hyperactivities distributed across the nervous system that need first to be located in order to later decipher the mechanisms of these pathologies. While there are many models of epileptiform hyperactivity, it is more difficult to study spontaneous seizures, which are altered by sedation. In this thesis, I developed an approach that combines electroencephalography (EEG) and functional ultrasound imaging (fUS), on the mobile rat. Thus, on a model of absence epilepsy, I could record simultaneously the occurrence of seizures and the hemodynamic variations, which reflect cellular metabolism. Seizures were unaltered by the recording protocol, compared to rats with EEG alone. Correlations were observed between electric and vascular activities. The thalamus showed areas of hyperperfusion during seizures. The cortex exhibited different correlates in distinct areas, with hyperaemia in somato-sensory areas, occasionally associated with a decrease in perfusion in adjacent tissue. The sensitivity of fUS, which could resolve blood changes from single occurrences, revealed that series of spike-wave discharges recorded from an EEG electrode were not always associated with vascular hyperactivity in the same region. Thus, this approach can delimit the contour of areas presenting vascular activity during seizures and shows a partial dichotomy between the electric and vascular components of seizures

La douleur neuropathique est une sensation de douleur anormale qui persiste au-delà du cours temporel de la guérison naturelle. Elle interfère avec la qualité de vie du patient et est associée à plusieurs comorbidités telles que l'anxiété et la dépression. Des études antérieures ont suggéré que la douleur chronique pourrait résulter d’une plasticité neuronale anormale et inadaptée dans les structures connues pour être impliquées dans la perception de la douleur (Bliss et al. 2016). Cela signifie qu'une lésion nerveuse déclencherait une potentialisation à long terme de la transmission synaptique dans les aires cérébrales liées à la douleur (Zhuo et al. 2014). Comme ces régions sont également impliquées dans les aspects émotionnels de la douleur, notre hypothèse est que la plasticité inadaptée susmentionnée dans ces zones cérébrales pourrait constituer un mécanisme clé pour le développement de comorbidités, telles que l'anxiété et la dépression.Au cours de ma thèse, nous avons choisi de tester cette hypothèse de travail par l’étude des altérations de la connectivité fonctionnelle (CF) intrinsèque des réseaux cérébraux par imagerie fonctionnelle ultrasonore (fUS) dans un modèle murin de douleur neuropathique. Cette technique de neuro-imagerie relativement récente a permis de nombreuses avancées en neurosciences, grâce à sa haute résolution spatio-temporelle, à sa sensibilité, mais aussi son adaptabilité, permettant des études chez l’animal anesthésié ou éveillé.Dans une première étude, j’ai mis au point un protocole expérimental permettant d’imager le cerveau des souris éveillées de façon reproductible et avec un minimum de stress et d artefacts de mouvements et ai également été impliquée dans le développement d’un nouvel algorithme d’analyse des signaux générées par ces acquisitions. Cette première approche étant réalisée avec une sonde linéaire en mouvement qui ne permet pas de visualiser l’entièreté du cerveau, dans une seconde étude, j’ai participe au développement d’une nouvelle technologie de sonde compilées et motorisée.Fort de ces développements technologiques, j’ai alors utilisé ces nouvelles approches pour tester mon hypothèse neurobiologique. J’ai entrepris deux études en parallèle chez des animaux anesthésiés pour l’une et éveillés pour la seconde, chez lesquelles nous avons étudié le lien temporel entre les altérations de la CF cérébrale et le développement de la douleur neuropathique et/ou des comorbidités associées. Pour cela, nous avons mesuré la CF (en période de repos) chez des souris atteintes de douleur neuropathique, à trois moments différents : I) 2 semaines après l’induction de la douleur neuropathique (manchon autour du nerf sciatique) II) à 8 semaines post-induction, lorsque l'anxiété émerge et III) à 12 semaines post-induction, lorsque la dépression apparait (12W). Ce suivi longitudinal a également été réalisé en parallèle sur un groupe d’animaux contrôles.Nos résultats indiquent des changements significatifs de la CF dans les principales régions cérébrales impliquées dans la transmission ou la modulation de la sensibilité ou de la douleur, suggérant la mise en place d’une plasticité inadaptée du réseau de la douleur, suite à la lésion nerveuse. De plus, nous observons une évolution temporelle de ces altérations, potentiellement corrélée à l'apparition des comorbidités associées. Ainsi, ces mécanismes pourraient participer à la chronicisation de la douleur
Neuropathic pain is an abnormal pain sensation that persists longer than the temporal course of natural healing. It interferes with the patient’s quality of life and leads to several comorbidities, such as anxiety and depression. It has been suggested that chronic pain may result from abnormal and maladaptive neuronal plasticity in the structures known to be involved in pain perception (Bliss et al. 2016). This means that nerve injury would trigger long-term potentiation of synaptic transmission in pain-related areas (Zhuo et al. 2014). Since these regions are also involved in the emotional aspects of pain, our hypothesis is that the aforementioned maladaptive plasticity in these brain areas could constitute a key mechanism for the development of comorbidities such as anxiety and depression.My PhD aimed at testing this working hypothesis, through the study of brain resting state functional connectivity (FC) using functional ultrasound imaging (fUS) in a mouse model of neuropathic pain. FUS is a relatively recent neuroimaging technique that enabled numerous advances in neuroscience, thanks to its high spatio-temporal resolution, its sensitivity, but also its adaptability, allowing studies in anesthetized or awake animals.In a first study, I developed an experimental protocol allowing the brains of awake mice to be imaged in a reproducible manner and with minimal stress and movement artifacts and was also involved in the development of a new algorithm for the analysis of the signals generated by these acquisitions. As this first approach was carried out with a moving linear probe which does not allow the entire brain to be visualized, in a second study, I participated in the development of a new compiled and motorized probe technology.Building on these technological developments, I then used these new approaches to test my neurobiological hypothesis. I undertook two parallel studies in animals anesthetized for one and awake for the second, in which we studied the temporal link between alterations in cerebral FC and the development of neuropathic pain and/or associated comorbidities. To do this, we measured the resting-state functional connectivity (FC) in anesthetized and in awake head-fixed mice, at three time points: I) 2 weeks after induction of neuropathic pain (cuff around the sciatic nerve), II) at 8 weeks post-induction during the emergence of anxiety (8W) and III) at 12 weeks post-induction during the emergence of depression. This longitudinal follow-up has been conducted concurrently on a control group.Our results show significant changes in FC in major pain-related brain regions in accordance with the development of neuropathic pain symptoms. These findings suggest that the pain network undergoes maladaptive plasticity following nerve injury which could contribute to pain chronification. Moreover, the time course of these connectivity alterations between regions of the pain network could be correlated with the subsequent apparition of associated comorbidities

Mes travaux de thèse portent sur l’application de l’imagerie fUS (functional ultrasound imaging) à l’imagerie cérébrale préclinique chez le petit animal. Le but était de transformer cette technique d’imagerie cérébrale récente en un véritable outil de quantification de l’état cérébral. Les objectifs principaux ont été de démontrer la faisabilité de l’imagerie fUS chez le petit animal non anesthésié ainsi que de passer du modèle rat au modèle souris - modèle de choix en imagerie préclinique en neurosciences - de surcroît de façon non invasive. J’ai tout d’abord mis au point une nouvelle séquence d’imagerie ultrasonore ultrarapide (Multiplane Wave imaging), permettant d’améliorer le rapport signal-à-bruit des images grâce à l’augmentation virtuelle de l’amplitude du signal émis, sans diminuer la cadence ultrarapide d’acquisition. Dans un deuxième temps j’ai démontré la possibilité d’imager le cerveau de la souris et du jeune rat anesthésiés par échographie Doppler ultrarapide, de manière transcrânienne et complètement non invasive, sans chirurgie ni injection d’agents de contraste. J’ai ensuite mis au point un montage expérimental, une séquence ultrasonore et un protocole expérimental permettant de réaliser de l’imagerie fUS de manière minimalement invasive chez des souris éveillées et libres de leurs mouvements. Enfin, j’ai démontré la possibilité d’utiliser le fUS pour étudier la connectivité fonctionnelle du cerveau au repos (sans stimulus) chez des souris éveillées ou sédatées. L’imagerie fUS et la combinaison « modèle souris » + « minimalement invasif » + « animal éveillé » + « connectivité fonctionnelle » constituent un outil précieux pour la communauté des neuroscientifiques travaillant sur des modèles animaux pathologiques ou de nouvelles molécules pharmacologiques
My work focuses on the application of fUS (functional ultrasound) imaging to preclinical brain imaging in small animals. The goal of my thesis was to turn this recent vascular brain imaging technique into a quantifying tool for cerebral state. The main objectives were to demonstrate the feasibility of fUS imaging in the non-anaesthetized small rodents and to move from rat model imaging to mouse model imaging –most used model for preclinical studies in neuroscience-, while developing the least invasive imaging protocols. First, I have developed a new ultrafast ultrasonic imaging sequence (Multiplane Wave imaging), improving the image signal-to-noise ratio by virtually increasing emitted signal amplitude, without reducing the ultrafast framerate. Then, I have demonstrated the possibility to use ultrafast Doppler ultrasound imaging to image both the mouse brain and the young rat brain, non-invasively and through the intact skull, without surgery or contrast agents injection. Next, I have developed an experimental setup, an ultrasound sequence and an experimental protocol to perform minimally invasive fUS imaging in awake and freely-moving mice. Finally, I have demonstrated the possibility to use fUS imaging to study the functional connectivity of the brain in a resting state in awake or sedated mice, still in a transcranial and minimally invasive way. fUS imaging and the combination of "mouse model" + "minimally invasive" + "awake animal" + "functional connectivity" represent a very promising tool for the neuroscientist community working on pathological animal models or new pharmacological molecules

The work in this thesis has been centred on the light emitting properties of silicon nanocrystals and the possible applications of this particular material platform to various topics ranging from bio-imaging to erbium ion sensitization. Silicon nanocrystals as bio-imaging agent have been investigated by employing colloidal dispersion of individual silicon nanocrystals where surface properties could be controlled to a great extent. By using a suitable functionalization scheme, high quality hydrophilic luminescent nanoparticles were produced. Using the improvements in the physical coating, bio-imaging on living cells (in vitro) was demonstrated showing that silicon nanocrystals have a great potential in bio-imaging and offer a promising alternative to commonly used fluorescence dyes. A part from being good light emitters, silicon nanocrystals could also amplify the light. This is a reason why the part of the work in this thesis has been dedicated to the investigation of silicon nanocrystals as a gain material. While most of the studies on this topic are concentrated on the nanocrystal surface as a driving mechanism behind the optical amplification, the work presented in this thesis concerns the study of a zero phonon (direct) optical transition as a possible source of optical amplification in this material system. To this scope, investigation of the dynamics of the system on a nanosecond time-scale and under high excitation conditions has been employed. Additional insight on ultrafast dynamics has been obtained by using optical cavities in the form of optically active free-standing micro-disk resonators. Finally, in the last part of this thesis a study of Er3+-doped Silicon-Rich-Oxide (SRO) materials and Er3+-doped SRO based devices is presented. This part of the work differs from the rest of the work reported in this thesis as is not focused on the light emitting properties of silicon nanocrystals but mostly on their non-radiative process engineering (energy transfer to erbium ions). Er3+ doped SRO opens the route towards compact waveguide amplifiers and lasers and allows for the possibility of electrical injection schemes, which are not realizable in standard erbium amplifiers used in EDFA for telecom applications. To that end, novel opto-electronic structures were proposed, modeled and manufactured and preliminary results of their performance were presented. The sensitization mechanism between silicon nanoparticles and erbium ions was studied and its complex nature was illustrated. Although, the acquired knowledge of physics involved was not sufficient for formulation of a complete working theory of the energy transfer process, some important physical aspects of this process have been elucidated paving the way towards its complete understanding.

The work in this thesis has been centred on the light emitting properties of silicon nanocrystals and the possible applications of this particular material platform to various topics ranging from bio-imaging to erbium ion sensitization. Silicon nanocrystals as bio-imaging agent have been investigated by employing colloidal dispersion of individual silicon nanocrystals where surface properties could be controlled to a great extent. By using a suitable functionalization scheme, high quality hydrophilic luminescent nanoparticles were produced. Using the improvements in the physical coating, bio-imaging on living cells (in vitro) was demonstrated showing that silicon nanocrystals have a great potential in bio-imaging and offer a promising alternative to commonly used fluorescence dyes. A part from being good light emitters, silicon nanocrystals could also amplify the light. This is a reason why the part of the work in this thesis has been dedicated to the investigation of silicon nanocrystals as a gain material. While most of the studies on this topic are concentrated on the nanocrystal surface as a driving mechanism behind the optical amplification, the work presented in this thesis concerns the study of a zero phonon (direct) optical transition as a possible source of optical amplification in this material system. To this scope, investigation of the dynamics of the system on a nanosecond time-scale and under high excitation conditions has been employed. Additional insight on ultrafast dynamics has been obtained by using optical cavities in the form of optically active free-standing micro-disk resonators. Finally, in the last part of this thesis a study of Er3+-doped Silicon-Rich-Oxide (SRO) materials and Er3+-doped SRO based devices is presented. This part of the work differs from the rest of the work reported in this thesis as is not focused on the light emitting properties of silicon nanocrystals but mostly on their non-radiative process engineering (energy transfer to erbium ions). Er3+ doped SRO opens the route towards compact waveguide amplifiers and lasers and allows for the possibility of electrical injection schemes, which are not realizable in standard erbium amplifiers used in EDFA for telecom applications. To that end, novel opto-electronic structures were proposed, modeled and manufactured and preliminary results of their performance were presented. The sensitization mechanism between silicon nanoparticles and erbium ions was studied and its complex nature was illustrated. Although, the acquired knowledge of physics involved was not sufficient for formulation of a complete working theory of the energy transfer process, some important physical aspects of this process have been elucidated paving the way towards its complete understanding.

Several projects in astronomy require detectors with a high number of resolution elements on the sky. For this reason, many observatories equipped their telescopes with a particular kind of detectors, the so-called wide-field imagers, that fulfil this requirement. In this thesis we show that, with a careful data analysis based on an accurate point-spread-function (PSF) modelling and geometric-distortion correction, it is possible to obtain high astrometric and photometric accuracy over wide field of views (FoVs). The prescriptions discussed in the thesis can be extended to the most of the detectors that are or will be placed at ground and space observatories. In the first part of the thesis, we mainly focus on detectors working in the near-infrared (NIR) regime. We want to concentrate on NIR imaging because of the increasing interest of the astronomical community for this wavelength range, which will be the baseline for JWST. In the second part of the thesis we also present a couple of applications to optical wide-field imagers (LBC@LBT and the CCD mounted at the Asiago Schmidt telescope). We start by investigating the astrometric and photometric performance of the NIR wide-field imager HAWK-I@VLT. We adapt to HAWK-I the techniques originally developed for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imagers to obtain high-precision astrometry and photometry, and then adapted to the ground-based, wide-field imager mounted at the 2.2-m MPI/ESO telescope. We accurately model HAWK-I PSFs and solve for the geometric distortion of the detector. With this careful data reduction, we are able to reach an astrometric accuracy of a few milliarcsec (mas) over the entire FoV of the instrument. Together with the distortion-correction package, we also create astro-photometric catalogues of seven fields (four stellar clusters, two extragalactic fields and one region toward the Galactic centre). Furthermore, to test the reached astrometric accuracy, we compute relative proper motions for stars in two globular clusters (M 22 and M 4) and successfully separate cluster members from background/foreground objects. Proper-motion-selected colour-magnitude diagrams of the globular cluster M 22 allow us to study its multiple stellar populations, finding that the two stellar populations hosted in the sub-giant branches of M 22 have the same radial distribution from the cluster centre out to 9 arcmin, within our uncertainty. We then move to the wide-field imager VIRCAM@VISTA. Again, we export the tools made for HAWK-I to this imager and solve for the distortion of the detector. The geometric-distortion correction of VIRCAM is quite challenging because the tangential-plane projection effects are not negligible over a FoV larger than 1 sq. deg on the sky. We start by using the 2MASS catalogue as reference frame, and then we auto-calibrate the geometric distortion as done for the HAWK-I detector. This way, we are able to correct the geometric distortion of VIRCAM to an astrometric accuracy of about 8 mas. Finally, we use the `VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea' (VVV) data to compute M 22 globular-cluster relative proper motions. VVV observations are not designed to such high-astrometric-accuracy purposes, but, with our tools, we are able to reach a proper-motion precision of ~1.4 mas/yr and separate cluster and field stars, as well as to measure the motion difference between Galactic bulge and disc stars toward the direction of M 22. In the last part of the thesis we describe our new project, focused to exploit the data coming from the planet-hunting K2 mission, the re-designed Kepler mission after the problems that occurred to its spacecraft. The analysis of crowded environments using K2 data can be very complex with classical (aperture-based) photometric approaches. Our method is instead specifically developed to deal with these particular regions (stellar clusters and toward the Galactic centre) and its key ingredients are PSF astrometry and photometry, high-angular-resolution input catalogues and PSF-based neighbour subtraction. We first address the problem of the K2 undersampled PSFs which fine structures, if not properly modelled, can introduce systematic errors that worsen both astrometry and photometry. To this aim, we follow the iterative method made to model HST undersampled PSFs. We then use a high-angular-resolution, ground-based catalogue to identify all detectable objects in the field and, for each of them, we measure their flux after we subtract all close-by neighbours. This way, we increase the number of measurable sources in the field and obtain a more reliable estimate of their flux. Most importantly, for variable stars, eclipsing binaries and exoplanet candidates, this method leads to a more reliable value of the true amplitude or eclipse/transit depth of their light curves because we reduce light-dilution effects. This is particularly interesting for exoplanets, as the true radius of the transiting objects would be otherwise under-estimated. We apply this method to the first K2 Campaign that covered two open clusters (M 35 and NGC 2158) and extract about 50000 light curves from only one channel of K2. This number is more than two times the total number of sources usually analysed over the entire FoV (76 channels) in a typical K2 Campaign. For bright stars, we reach a photometric precision of ~30 parts per million, comparable with other works in the literature focused on isolated stars. At the faint end, we measure objects down to 5 magnitudes fainter than in any published work with K2 data so far, and show that the PSF photometry performs better than aperture photometry in this magnitude regime. The improvement here described is more significant in crowded regions. Within the field of these two clusters we also find more than 2000 variable stars. All the projects developed during this thesis have also interesting long-term perspectives, since they can be seen as complementary or in preparation to future space-based missions like TESS and PLATO. Candidate exoplanets from Kepler/K2 (but also from the forthcoming TESS) observations can potentially be interesting targets for JWST, and then E-ELT
Diversi progetti in astronomia richiedono rivelatori con un elevato numero di elementi risolutivi in cielo. Per questo motivo, molti osservatori hanno equipaggiato i loro telescopi con un particolare tipo di rivelatori, i cosiddetti rivelatori a grande campo, che soddisfano tale requisito. In questa tesi mostriamo come sia possibile ottenere astrometria e fotometria di elevata accuratezza su grandi campi con un'attenta analisi dei dati basata sul modellare accuratamente le funzioni di sorgenti puntiformi (dall'inglese point-spread functions, o PSFs) e sulla correzione della distorsione geometrica. Le metodologie di lavoro discusse in questa tesi possono essere estese alla maggior parte dei rivelatori che sono o verranno collocati in osservatori da terra e da spazio. Nella prima parte della tesi ci focalizziamo principalmente sui rivelatori che lavorano nel regime del vicino infrarosso. Vogliamo concentrarci su tali camere infrarosse a causa del crescente interesse della comunità astronomica a queste lunghezze d'onda, che saranno alla base di JWST. Tuttavia nella seconda parte della tesi presentiamo anche alcuni esempi di applicazioni con rivelatori a grande campo che lavorano nella parte ottica dello spettro elettromagnetico (la camera LBC montata al telescopio LBT e il rivelatore montato al telescopio Schmidt di Asiago). Inizialmente esaminiamo le prestazioni astrometriche e fotometriche del rivelatore infrarosso a grande campo HAWK-I montato al VLT. Adattiamo per i dati HAWK-I le tecniche originariamente sviluppate per ottenere astrometria e fotometria di alta precisione con le camere di Hubble Space Telescope (HST), e successivamente estese alla camera a grande campo posta al telescopio da terra di 2.2 m dell'ESO/MPI. Modelliamo accuratamente le PSFs e correggiamo la distorsione geometrica di HAWK-I. Con questa attenta analisi dei dati, riusciamo a raggiungere un'accuratezza astrometrica di qualche millesimo di arcosecondo (mas) su tutto il campo di vista dello strumento. Oltre alla correzione della distorsione, costruiamo anche cataloghi astro-fotometrici di sette campi (quattro ammassi stellari, due campi extragalattici e un campo in direzione del centro Galattico). Inoltre, per testare l'accuratezza astrometrica raggiunta, calcoliamo i moti propri relativi delle stelle in due ammassi globulari (M 22 e M 4) e separiamo con successo i membri di ammasso da quelli di campo. Diagrammi colore-magnitudine decontaminati dalle stelle di campo grazie ai moti propri ci permettono di studiare le popolazioni stellari multiple dell'ammasso M 22, e di trovare che le due popolazioni visibili nei rami delle sub-giganti di M 22 hanno, entro gli errori delle nostre misure, la stessa distribuzione radiale dal centro dell'ammasso fino a 9 arcominuti. Successivamente ci spostiamo sul rivelatore VIRCAM montato al telescopio VISTA. Adattiamo nuovamente per questa camera i programmi sviluppati per HAWK-I e correggiamo la distorsione geometrica. La correzione della distorsione si è rivelata ardua perché su campi di vista estesi più di un 1 grado quadrato in cielo gli effetti dovuti alla proiezione della sfera celeste sul piano tangente di un'immagine non sono trascurabili. Per questo motivo, usiamo inizialmente come riferimento il catalogo 2MASS e poi auto-calibriamo la distorsione come fatto per HAWK-I. In questo modo siamo in grado di correggere la distorsione di VIRCAM e di raggiungere un'accuratezza astrometrica di circa 8 mas. Infine usiamo i dati provenienti dalle osservazioni di `VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea' (VVV) per calcolare i moti propri delle stelle dell'ammasso globulare M 22. Le osservazioni di VVV non sono concepite per conseguire progetti basati su un'elevata accuratezza astrometrica, ma con i nostri strumenti raggiungiamo una precisione nei moti propri dell'ordine di 1.4 mas/yr, separiamo le stelle di campo da quelle di ammasso, ed inoltre misuriamo la differenza tra il moto proprio delle stelle del Bulge e del Disco della nostra Galassia nella direzione di M 22. Nell'ultima parte della tesi descriviamo il progetto focalizzato nello sfruttare i dati dal cacciatore di pianeti K2, il successore della missione Kepler, ridisegnata dopo i vari problemi in cui è incorsa. L'analisi di ambienti ad alta densità stellare usando i dati K2 può risultare molto complessa con le classiche tecniche fotometriche (basate sulla fotometria di apertura). Il nostro metodo invece è stato specificatamente elaborato per analizzare queste regioni (ammassi stellari e nella direzione del centro Galattico) e i suoi elementi chiave sono astrometria e fotometria di PSF, cataloghi ad alta risoluzione angolare e sottrazione delle stelle vicine tramite l'utilizzo della PSF. Inizialmente affrontiamo il problema delle PSFs sottocampionate di K2 le cui strutture su piccola scala, se non correttamente modellate, possono introdurre errori sistematici che peggiorano l'astrometria e la fotometria. Per questo scopo, seguiamo il metodo iterativo progettato per modellare le PSFs sottocampionate di HST. Successivamente utilizziamo un catalogo ad alta risoluzione angolare, ottenuto con telescopi da terra, per identificare tutte le sorgenti rilevabili nel campo e, per ciascuna di esse, misuriamo il flusso dopo aver sottratto tutte le stelle vicine. In questo modo aumentiamo il numero di sorgenti analizzabili nel campo e otteniamo una stima più veritiera del loro flusso. In particolare per stelle variabili, binarie ad eclissi ed esopianeti questo metodo permette di ottenere un valore più realistico della vera ampiezza o profondità dell'eclissi/transito della loro curva di luce poiché diminuiamo gli effetti di diluizione della luce. Questo risvolto è particolarmente importante per gli esopianeti perché altrimenti il vero raggio del pianeta verrebbe sottostimato. Applichiamo questo metodo alla prima campagna osservativa della missione K2 in cui sono stati osservati due ammassi aperti (M 35 e NGC 2158) ed estraiamo le curve di luce di più di 50000 oggetti da un solo canale di lettura di una delle camere K2. Questo numero è più del doppio del numero di oggetti normalmente analizzati in tutto il campo di vista di K2 (76 canali) in una data campagna osservativa. Per le stelle brillanti raggiungiamo una precisione fotometrica di circa 30 parti per milione, un valore confrontabile con quanto si può trovare in altri lavori in letteratura su stelle isolate. Inoltre riusciamo ad estendere la nostra analisi a stelle fino a 5 magnitudini più deboli di quanto studiato in lavori già pubblicati, e mostriamo che per questi oggetti deboli la fotometria di PSF è migliore di quella di apertura. Tale miglioramento è maggiori nei campi a più alta densità stellare. Infine troviamo più di 2000 stelle variabili in questi due ammassi. Tutti i progetti sviluppati in questa tesi hanno anche interessanti prospettive a lungo termine in quanto possono essere visti come complementari o in preparazione a missioni da spazio future come TESS e PLATO. I candidati pianeti trovati con le osservazioni di Kepler/K2 (ma anche dell'imminente TESS) possono potenzialmente essere target interessanti per JWST, e successivamente per E-ELT

L’imagerie de la dynamique d’émission de fluorescence biphotonique est un développement technologique particulièrement attractif dans le domaine de la biophotonique. En particulier, les techniques de FLIM et FCS permettent l’imagerie cellulaire avec le suivi en temps réel des phénomènes biologiques mis en jeu, tandis que leur couplage à une excitation multiphotonique offre de plus grandes performances en termes de résolution spatiale, de profondeur de pénétration, d’innocuité vis-à-vis des systèmes biologiques. Les mesures FLIM par excitation biphotonique ont été utilisées pour l’étude in vitro et ex vivo d'un anti-intégrase du VIH-1, la 2-styrylquinoline Fz41. L’étude en solution de la dynamique réactionnelle de ce composé a permis de préciser sa spécificité de reconnaissance avec l’intégrase. Ces données ont été confrontées à des mesures au sein de cellules HeLa transduites par un vecteur lentiviral. C’est grâce à la durée de vie de fluorescence utilisée comme facteur de contraste qu’il a été permis de décrire l’activité intracellulaire de Fz41. La FCS a été utilisée pour étudier la diffusion-réaction de bactériophages c2 au sein de biofilms (communauté microbienne contenue dans une matrice de polymères organiques) sensibles ou non à cette entité biologique. Les résultats expérimentaux ont permis de conclure que la diffusion des particules virales au sein des biofilms est contrôlée par la structure de la matrice d’exopolymères. Dans ce travail, pour la première fois, la méthode FCS a permis de « visualiser » in situ l’interaction des bactériophages avec les bactéries possédant sur leur membrane le site de reconnaissance spécifique
The imaging of the biphotonic fluorescence emission dynamics is a technological development especially attractive in biophotonic. In particular, the FLIM and FCS techniques make cell imaging possible with a real-time follow-up of the occurring biological phenomena. Furthermore, their combination to a multiphotonic excitation increases their performance in terms of spatial resolution, penetration depth and harmlessness to biological systems. FLIM with two-photon excitation was used for the in-vitro and ex-vivo study of the 2-styrylquinoline Fz41 VIH-1 anti-integrase. The reaction dynamic study in solution of this component enabled us to check its specific recognition of the integrase. These data were compared with measurements performed in HeLa cells transduced with a lentiviral vector. By using the fluorescence lifetime as a contrast factor, the Fz41 intracellular activity could be described. The FCS was used to study the diffusion-reaction of c2 bacteriophages in biofilms (microbial community in an organic matrix) sensitive or not to this biological entity. The experimental results enabled us to conclude that the viral particle diffusion into biofilms is controlled by the exopolymeric matrix. In this study, for the first time, with the FCS technique, it was possible to visualise in situ the interaction of bacterophages with the bacteria whose membrane contained the specific recognition site

Depuis le milieu du XXème siècle, les techniques d’imagerie fonctionnelles ont un rôle grandissant dans notre compréhension sur les fonctions du cerveau en conditions physiologique et pathologique. Bien que l’IRMf fasse partie des techniques les plus communément utilisées pour l’imagerie du cerveau complet lors d’études préclinique et clinique, cette modalité souffre de sa résolution spatiotemporelle et sa sensibilité pour enregistrer finement les fonctions et activités cérébrales. Récemment l’imagerie fonctionnelle par ultrason (ifUS) a subi des développements permettant d’être complémentaires à l’IRMf ainsi qu’aux autres techniques d’imagerie cérébrales classiquement employées. Contrairement aux ultrasons focalisés conventionnels, l’imagerie hémodynamique proposé par l’ifUS repose sur une illumination ultrasonore plane permettant la détection des globules rouges en mouvement et la mesure de leur vitesse dans les micro-vaisseaux cérébraux. De ce fait, l’ifUS est indirectement lié à l’activité cérébrale d’où l’importance d’une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes du couplage neuro-vasculaire liant l’activité neuronale et les variations cérébrales d’apport en sang. De plus, cette technique a le potentiel pour fournir des informations précises sur les processus de certaines pathologies à la fois sur des modèles précliniques et chez l’homme. Dans un premier temps, j’exposerais mes travaux sur les récents développements techniques permettant l’ifUS in vivo (i) en condition chronique, (ii) sur l’animal éveillé, libre de mouvement et effectuant une tache comportementale et (iii) des vaisseaux capillaires chez le rongeur et l’homme. Dans un second temps, je démontrerais que l’ifUS in vivo peut fournir des informations nouvelles sur des pathologies telles que l’accident vasculaire cérébrale
Since the middle of the 20th century, functional imaging technologies are making an increasing impact on our understanding on brain functions in both physiological and pathological conditions. Even if fMRI is nowadays one of the most used tool for whole brain imaging in pre-clinical and clinical studies, it lacks sufficient spatiotemporal resolution and sensitivity to assess fine brain function and activity. Functional ultrasound imaging (fUSi) has been recently developed and presents a potential to complement fMRI and other existing brain imaging modalities. Contrary to conventional ultrasound using focus beams, fUSi relies on hemodynamic imaging based on ultrasound plane-wave illumination to detect red blood cells movement and velocity in brain micro-vessels. Consequently, the fUSi signal is indirectly related to brain activity and it is therefore important to better understand the mechanisms of the neurovascular coupling linking neural activity and cerebral blood changes. Here again, fUSi may provide relevant information about disease processes in preclinical models but also in humans. First, I will present recent technical developments allowing in vivo fUSi (i) in chronic condition, (ii) in freely moving and behaving rats and (iii) in rodents and human brain capillaries. Second, I will demonstrate how fUSi could provide new insights in brain pathologies such as stroke

Cette recherche porte sur les influences du « printemps arabe » sur le discours touristique que nous abordons sous deux modalités argumentatives : la publicité touristique et la promotion touristique. Pour traiter cette problématique, nous avons collecté un corpus iconotextuel (texte + image) parmi des ressources médiatiques très variées diffusées entre 2011 et 2015 par deux pays représentatifs pour l’ampleur de leur activité touristique (Égypte et Tunisie). L’analyse de ce corpus part de l’hypothèse que les genres variés de notre corpus reposent sur une conception linguistique et visuelle relativement différente de l’information en fonction du genre et de la cible d’une part, et en fonction du soubassement culturel et psychosocial d’une image idéologique virtuelle complexe en adéquation avec la post-crise d’autre part. Le cadre théorique met en avant cette image virtuelle complexe sous la forme de « l’imagerie », concept psychosocial central dans la publicité et la promotion touristique grâce à sa capacité d’associer l’héritage culturel de représentations du passé avec les attentes, les rêves et les souhaits suscités par la future aventure touristique mise en promotion, esquissés dans cette imagerie. Le cadre théorique ancre l’imagerie dans différents genres de discours à partir de leurs dimensions constitutives comme les dimensions textuelle, sociopragmatique et matérielle, afin de dégager le processus linguistique mis en œuvre par le genre de discours responsable du contrat de lecture avec le destinataire et de la mobilisation du contenu culturel.La Tunisie et l’Égypte n’ont pas réagi de la même manière à l’impact du nouveau contexte post-crise problématique au niveau politique et sécuritaire. En effet, alors que l’Égypte s’est contentée de la reproduction classique de l’imagerie touristique fondée sur la variété de son héritage pharaonique, en écartant l’enjeu de l’évolution géopolitique du printemps en post-crise dans ses imageries, la Tunisie, pour sa part, a recouru à l’alliance de l’argumentation discursive et visuelle fondant une imagerie qui conjugue non seulement tradition et architecture mais aussi sécurité et modernité d’expériences touristiques intenses.De plus, le corpus tunisien s’est montré davantage ouvert à la créativité, par rapport au corpus égyptien, grâce à l’intégration de nouveaux genres très variés comme les articles d’actualités économique ou politique, la chronique littéraire, etc. dans sa promotion touristique non publicitaire. L’adaptation du contenu à la post-crise dans un éventail élargi de genres de discours, dont nous avons pu dégager les caractéristiques sémiolinguistiques grâce à une analyse menée à partir d’une grille conçue spécifiquement, a ensuite trouvé sa traduction didactique dans la proposition d’un module de Français sur Objectif spécifique (FOS) qui vise l’acquisition des compétences professionnelles particulières pour les futurs professionnels du tourisme de certains pays du Moyen-Orient dont le contexte sociolinguistique du français est similaire au contexte égyptien
This research focuses on the influences of the "Arab Spring" on the tourist discourse that we approach under two argumentative modalities: tourism advertising and tourism promotion. To deal with this issue, we have collected an iconotexual corpus (text + image) among media resources very varied, distributed between 2011 and 2015 by two representative countries for the scale of their tourism activity (Egypt and Tunisia).The analysis of this corpus is based on the assumption that the various speech genres of our corpus are based on a linguistic and visual conception that is relatively different from the information according to the speech genre and the target on the one hand, and according to the cultural underpinning and psychosocial of a complex virtual ideological image in adequacy with the post-crisis on the other hand. The theoretical framework puts forward this complex virtual image in the form of "imagery", a central psychosocial concept in advertising and tourism promotion thanks to its ability to associate the cultural heritage of representations of the past with expectations, dreams and the wishes aroused by the future tourist adventure put on display in this imagery. The theoretical framework anchors the imagery in different speech genres from their constituent dimensions as the textual, socio-physical and material dimensions in order to identify the linguistic process implemented by the speech genre responsible for the reading contract with the recipient and the mobilization of cultural content.Tunisia and Egypt have not responded in the same way to the impact of the new post-crisis political and security context. Indeed, while Egypt has been content with the classic reproduction of tourist imagery based on the variety of its pharaonic heritage by removing the issue of the geopolitical evolution of spring in post-crisis in its imagery, Tunisia, for its part, has resorted to the combination of discursive and visual argumentation founding an imagery that combines not only tradition and architecture but also the security and modernity of intense tourist experiences.In addition, the Tunisian corpus has been more open to creativity, compared to the Egyptian corpus, through the integration of new very varied genres such as economic or political news articles, literary chronicles, etc. The post-crisis adaptation of the content in a wider range of speech genres from which we have been able to identify the semiolinguistic characteristics through an analysis conducted from a specifically designed grid which has subsequently been translated into didactic translation in the proposal for a French module for Specific Objective (FSO) aimed at acquiring specific professional skills for future tourism professionals in certain Middle Eastern countries whose socio-linguistic context of French is similar to the Egyptian context

La navigation spatiale est une fonction complexe qui nécessite de combiner des informations sur l’environnement et notre mouvement propre pour construire une représentation du monde et trouver le chemin le plus direct vers notre but. Cette intégration multimodale suggère qu’un large réseau de structures corticales et sous-corticales interagit avec l’hippocampe, structure clé de la navigation. Je me suis concentrée chez la souris sur la navigation de type séquence (ou stratégie égocentrique séquentielle) qui repose sur l’organisation temporelle de mouvements associés à des points de choix spatialement distincts. Après avoir montré que l’apprentissage de cette navigation de type séquence nécessitait l’hippocampe et le striatum dorso-médian, nous avons caractérisé le réseau fonctionnel la sous-tendant en combinant de l’imagerie Fos, de l’analyse de connectivité fonctionnelle et une approche computationnelle. Les réseaux fonctionnels changent au cours de l’apprentissage. Lors de la phase précoce, le réseau impliqué comprend un ensemble de régions cortico-striatales fortement corrélées. L’hippocampe était activé ainsi que des structures impliquées dans le traitement d’informations de mouvement propre (cervelet), dans la manipulation de représentations mentales de l’espace (cortex rétrosplénial, pariétal, entorhinal) et dans la planification de trajectoires dirigées vers un but (boucle cortex préfrontal-ganglions de la base). Le réseau de la phase tardive est caractérisé par l’apparition d’activations coordonnées de l’hippocampe et du cervelet avec le reste du réseau. Parallèlement, nous avons testé si l’intégration de chemin, de l’apprentissage par renforcement basé modèle ou non-basé modèle pouvaient reproduire le comportement des souris. Seul un apprentissage par renforcement non-basé modèle auquel une mémoire rétrospective était ajoutée pouvait reproduire les dynamiques d’apprentissage à l’échelle du groupe ainsi que la variabilité individuelle. Ces résultats suggèrent qu’un modèle d’apprentissage par renforcement suffit à l’apprentissage de la navigation de type séquence et que l’ensemble des structures que cet apprentissage requiert adaptent leurs interactions fonctionnelles au cours de l’apprentissage
Spatial navigation is a complex function requiring the combination of external and self-motion cues to build a coherent representation of the external world and drive optimal behaviour directed towards a goal. This multimodal integration suggests that a large network of cortical and subcortical structures interacts with the hippocampus, a key structure in navigation. I have studied navigation in mice through this global approach and have focused on one particular type of navigation, which consists in remembering a sequence of turns, named sequence-based navigation or sequential egocentric strategy. This navigation specifically relies on the temporal organization of movements at spatially distinct choice points. We first showed that sequence-based navigation learning required the hippocampus and the dorsomedial striatum. Our aim was to identify the functional network underlying sequence-based navigation using Fos imaging and computational approaches. The functional networks dynamically changed across early and late learning stages. The early stage network was dominated by a highly inter-connected cortico-striatal cluster. The hippocampus was activated alongside structures known to be involved in self-motion processing (cerebellar cortices), in mental representation of space manipulations (retrosplenial, parietal, entorhinal cortices) and in goal-directed path planning (prefrontal-basal ganglia loop). The late stage was characterized by the emergence of correlated activity between the hippocampus, the cerebellum and the cortico-striatal structures. Conjointly, we explored whether path integration, model-based or model-free reinforcement learning algorithms could explain mice’s learning dynamics. Only the model-free system, as long as a retrospective memory component was added to it, was able to reproduce both the group learning dynamics and the individual variability observed in the mice. These results suggest that a unique model-free reinforcement learning algorithm was sufficient to learn sequence-based navigation and that the multiple structures this learning required adapted their functional interactions across learning

The book of Daniel forms a bridge between Israel’s classical prophetic literature and the genre apocalypse. Daniel has often been classified among the prophets, but also stands apart. An examination of revealed knowledge and textual authority in Daniel clarifies the relationship among Daniel, earlier prophets, and Mesopotamian divinatory wisdom. Daniel’s apocalyptic imagination combines prophetic language and imagery with new visionary experience, offering readers powerful new language, symbols, and models for embodied practice. Cross-disciplinary studies of imagination suggest ways that Daniel’s prophetic and apocalyptic imagination allowed ancient readers to interact with the legacies of the Mesopotamian and Hellenistic empires while simultaneously rejecting their totalizing narratives. The book ignites a fuse in readers’ imaginations, inviting and empowering audiences to break out of the prison of imperial imaginaries and to imagine in their place an alternative structure of governance, a path to religious and national freedom, and heavenly existence beyond death.

While increasing attention has been paid to the role of Buddhism in Chinese literature and aesthetics, relatively little has been written on the place of the religion in the poetry of Du Fu. This essay examines ways in which the poet deploys Buddhist imagery and themes, particularly in occasional verse. It also argues that “Buddhist poetry” in China is best examined through social praxis (temple-visiting, poetic exchanges with monks, etc.) than through explicit or implicit philosophical discourse. Though Buddhism is by no means a prominent aspect in Du Fu’s work, examination of Buddhist motifs and situations in it gives us a useful guide for its cultural presence in Tang poetry overall.

This chapter relates Emily Lawless’s use of the imagery of the Atlantic Ocean and dissolution in water in her novels Major Lawrence FLS (1885) and Grania: The Story of an Island (1892) to her sense of the crisis of religious belief triggered by the Darwinian dissolution of the concept of fixed species, the Wagnerian and Schopenhauerian portrayal of the life-force embodied in sexuality as simultaneously ecstatic and entrapping, and the defeat and increasing irrelevance of the late Victorian Irish landed class.

For individuals with tetraplegia, restoring limited or missing grasping function is the highest priority. In patients with high Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and a lack of surgical options, restricted upper extremity function can be improved with the use of neuroprostheses based on Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). Grasp neuroprostheses with different degrees of complexity and invasiveness exist, although few models are available for routine clinical application. Hybrid systems combining FES with orthoses hold promise for restoring completely lost upper extremity function. Novel user interfaces integrating biosignals from several sources are needed to make full use of the many degrees of freedom of hybrid neuroprostheses. Motor Imagery (MI)-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are an emerging technology that may serve as a valuable adjunct to traditional control interfaces. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of the art of BCI-controlled upper-extremity neuroprostheses and describes the challenges and promises for the future.

Abstract Or Most Outsiders Nikolay Gogol Is The Most Russian of Russian writers. Born in 1809 at Sorochintsy, near Poltava, in 1831-2 he published a collection of eight tales, Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, which brought him instant fame. Rooted in Ukrainian folklore (and with a leaven from German romance), with language that could be colourful, teeming with vivid imagery, and brimful with atmosphere, the stories told of communities peopled by simple souls (or sup er naturals) caught up in situations or events that might be comic, pathetic, touchingly human, fantastic, creepy—but almost all, in their own ways, fun.

Chapter 2 (Session 2) will help youth understand how and why the body responds to stress in certain ways. Youth will learn about the fight or flight response, how it can keep us safe in dangerous situations, and how sometimes our bodies and minds may react strongly even when we are not in situations that are truly dangerous. Youth learn different ways of dealing with the body’s response to stress, including ways to Relax Your Self (i.e., relax your body using deep breaths and by tensing and relaxing the muscles, and relax your mind using a technique called guided imagery) and Relax Your World (i.e., improve mood by doing things that are fun and relaxing). This chapter includes handouts and worksheets to help youth identify how their own body responds to stress and develop a relaxation plan for the week.

Abstract This work is devoted to a new direction for geology – interpretation of studied section of sediments through the analysis of microimager data. Imager analysis provides important information about the structural and textural features of rocks, nature of stratification, structural occurrence of the section, natural and technogenic fracturing. The use of borehole microimages in geological and field studies allows us to deepen and expand the existing ideas about the geological structure of known hydrocarbon deposits, and the integrated use of images allows us to solve narrowly focused tasks (Rybalchenko et al., 2016). It is worth to notice that today the potential of reservoir microimagers as a geological GIS tool is underestimated (Isotova et al., 1993) (Mathis et al., 1995) (Donselaar et al., 2005). The most widespread development of borehole imagers abroad occurred in the mid-80s of the XX century. Currently, their use is still gaining popularity in Russia. The use of microimages is not limited to the open trunk of a drilled well, technologies that allow obtaining images directly during drilling are available and widely used (Rybalchenko et al., 2016). From the point of view of well productivity, they can be used to characterize such key parameters as the orientation of horizontal stresses, as well as the intervals of anisotropy, secondary porosity, fracturing and possible crack spread during hydraulic fracturing (Climer et al., 2015). Fine structural and textural features of the section can be used for sedimentological analysis, which means the study of sedimentary rocks in order to establish the processes of their formation - the transport of material, the accumulation of sediments and their diagenetic transformations (Nichols et al., 1999). This analysis is based on the principle of actualism and is carried out using the latest results of studying modern sedimentation processes (Prothero et al., 1996). Imagers are divided into the degree of detail and the scale of measurements:Microimagers – a number of GIS devices, the result of which are images (well scan) with an axial resolution of no more than 1 cm, with a maximum coverage of the wellbore of at least 75% and having a correction for uneven movement and for the intervals of puffs (FMI, FMI-HD, QGEO, QGEO Slim, TBEI of the Wireline division, and also MicroScope HD devices).Imagers – a number of GIS devices, the result of which is images with an axial resolution of no more than 10 cm and/or with a maximum coverage of the wellbore of at least 50%. (FMS, DOBMI, OBMI, UBI divisions of Wireline, and also MicroScope and GeoVISION devices).Macroimagers – a number of GIS devices, the result of which is images (well scan) with an axial resolution of more than 10 cm (geoVISION, EcoScope). Imager - a graphical representation of the walls of the well. It is the result of recording a number of GIS devices. In the diagrams, it is a scan of the cylinder from 0 to 360 degrees, oriented to the cardinal directions relative to the true north or relative to the "top" of the well (Top of Hole). In this paper, authors show the advantages of microimagers over the informativeness of a standard GIS complex and sedimentological core study, and also describes cases when the informativeness of a microimager is not inferior to the informativeness of core data. Authors understand that core is the most important link in the chain of studying the geological structure of the deposit. Nevertheless, it is difficult to characterize the entire interval of the formation using only the core, both for geological and technological reasons. At the same time, imagers can be used not only as a qualitative, but also a quantitative source of visual information (Brown et al., 2015).

The paper presents a high-speed astronomical camera based on a large-format (4096 × 4096 9µm pixels) front-illuminatedCMOS imager with a read-out noise of 4.4e − . The maximum frame rate of the camera is 24 fps. The specific requirementsthat are taken into account when building a controller architecture are formulated. A brief description of the CMOS camerastructure is introduced and the photoelectric characteristics obtained from the results of laboratory tests of the camera arepresented. Test observations at the Zeiss-1000 telescope of the SAO RAS were successfully carried out in July 2021.

On February 9, 2022, Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services responded to a fire in a ground floor unit in a garden apartment building. At arrival, the fire was a post-flashover fire in a bedroom. Initial fire control was attempted by an interior fire attack team which was unable to quickly locate the fire. Exterior suppression through the bedroom window was started prior to discovery of the fire by the interior team. Shortly after fire discovery by the internal team, a mayday was called. Four firefighters from the interior fire attack team received first and second degree burns. This report analyzes photographic, video, and written documentation from the incident to evaluate the timeline of the incident and to assess the fire conditions present. Computer modeling using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) was performed to provide further insight into the fire conditions and the impact of decisions and actions on the fire ground. Additionally, data from a full scale fire test of a similar fire in a similar structure was used to provide additional insight. Four FDS simulations were performed in support of the analysis. These included a simulation of the event as it unfolded and three simulations looking at the impact of alternate tactics which included: initial exterior attack prior to entry, the use of a smoke curtain to protect the building exit path, and interior only attack. FDS simulations provided insight on the heat present in the apartment during the fire and the impact of the interior and exterior suppression on conditions inside the apartment. Full scale test data of a similar fire showed similar behavior to the FDS predictions and gives credence to the FDS results. Results of the analysis suggest that injuries resulted from the length of time the interior attack team was present inside the apartment before actions were taken to reduce the severity of the fire. Six contributing factors were identified including size-up, communication and accountability, delayed exterior attack, lack of entry hall protection, the apartment layout and construction, thermal imager use, and mayday procedures and training. The last contributing factor was a positive contribution that helped avoid more serious injuries. Based on the contributing factors, five recommendations were made that include improved size-up, exterior fire control to prevent exterior spread, protection of exit pathways, basing fire ground tactics on known information, and recognizing when a change in tactics is needed.