Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Double Dare'

This paper examines the differences between the Romantic, the Gothic, and the Dark Romantic literary genres by looking at the manifestations of the trope of the double within the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. The notion of the individual versus that of individualism helps highlight the disparity between Gothicism and Dark Romance, and the implications that these differences hold.

In experiments looking for rare events, like neutrinoless double beta decay (DBD0v) and dark matter search (DM), one of the main issues is to increase the experimental sensitivity through the material selection and production. In the specific the background contribution coming from the materials used for the detector realization has to be minimized. Moreover the net reduction of the background produced by the bulk part of the apparatus has raised concerns about the background contribution coming from the surfaces. Many procedures and techniques were developed during the last years in order to remove and to minimize the presence of possible contaminants on detector surfaces. To succeed in this strategy a big effort was put in defining all possible mechanisms that lead to surface contaminations, as well as specific cleaning procedures, which are able to reduce and control the surface radioactivity. The presence in air and gases of possible radioactive elements that can stick on the detector surfaces can lead to a recontamination process that will vanish all the applied cleaning procedures. Here is presented and analyzed the contribution to the background of rare events experiments like CUORE (DBD0v) and EDELWEISS (DM) produced by an exposure of their detector components to a big activity of 222Rn, radioactive daughter isotope from the 238U chain.

The hunt for Dark Matter plays a truly critical role in contemporary physics. At both the largest and smallest scales, deep questions are being raised about the fundamental nature of the universe - questions that confirmation and then characterisation of particle dark matter will provide many answers to. This thesis presents some of the world's most sensitive searches to date for certain types of axion dark matter, axion-like particles, and two-neutrino double electron capture. These have been conducted using the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment. Evidence for dark matter and physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics is described in Chapter 1, while Chapter 2 gives an overview of proposed candidates for particle dark matter. The various experimental approaches being used to detect particle dark matter are presented in Chapter 3. Direct detection with time projection chambers plays a major role in this thesis, with particular interest in the LUX detector, that is described in its components and operations. Chapter 4 presents LUX direct searches for weakly interacting massive particles. Although I have contributed to these analyses, they are included for completeness only, as they are not part of my central work. The LUX collaboration's searches for axion dark matter and axion-like particle have delivered world-leading results on the axion-electron coupling constant. These results, that I personally led and which have been published in Physics Review Letters, are presented in Chapter 5, along with sensitivity studies, also led by me, made for the future LUX-ZEPLIN experiment. Finally, a search for two-neutrino double electron capture of 124Xe, that I performed using LUX data to extract a limit on the half life of the process, is presented in Chapter 6. Although being allowed by the Standard Model, two-neutrino double electron capture shares the matrix element calculation framework with the neutrinoless channel of the same process, becoming of great interest in the scope of neutrino physics. Conclusions follow and close the thesis.

L’Univers est principalement constitué d’un ensemble d’éléments non baryoniques et non lumineux appelé la matière noire. L’un des candidats actuellement favorisés est une particule massive interagissant faiblement avec la matière ordinaire (WIMP) issue du Big Bang. Le programme DarkSide vise à la détection directe de WIMPs à l’aide d’une chambre à projection temporelle utilisant de l’argon liquide en double phase. La première étape de l’expérience, DarkSide-50 ( (46 ± 0,7) kg de masse active) est en cours d’exécution. Une première campagne, avec un remplissage d’argon atmosphérique(AAr), a produit la meilleure limite sur la section efficace WIMP-nucleon jamais obtenue par une expérience à base d’argon. La deuxième phase, avec un remplissage d’argon souterrain (UAr, appauvri en Ar-39), représente une étape importante vers la construction de DarkSide-20k, une expérience à bas bruit de fond avec une masse fiducielle de 20 t. Ce travail est principalement consacré à la description de la simulation Monte Carlo de DarkSide (G4DS), et à ses applications. G4DS, basé sur GEANT4, fournit la description géométrique de chaque détecteur du programme DarkSide ; il a été calibré afin de reproduire la réponse de DarkSide-50 avec une précision de l’ordre de 1 % et intègre un modèle spécifiquement développé pour la description des mécanismes d’ionisation et de scintillation dans l’argon liquide, étalonné sur des données expérimentales. Les principales applications de la simulation comprennent l’estimation du bruit de fond dû aux neutrons et gammas pour DarkSide-50, la mesure du facteur d’appauvrissement de l’Ar-39 en UAr par rapport à l’AAr et les études de conception pour DarkSide-20k
A wide range of observational evidence suggests that the matter content of the Universe is dominated by a non-baryonic and non-luminous component: dark matter. One of the most favored candidate for dark matter is a big-bang relic population of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The DarkSide program aims to the direct detection of WIMPs with a dual-phase liquid argon TPC and a background free exposure. The first phase of the experiment, DarkSide-50, is running since Oct 2013 and has (46 ± 0.7) kg active mass. A first run, with an atmospheric argon fill (AAr), provided the most sensitive limit ever obtained by an argon-based experiment. The current run, with an underground argon fill (UAr, depleted in Ar-39), represents a milestone towards the construction of DarkSide-20k, a low-background dual-phase TPC with a fiducial mass of 20 t. This work is been mainly devoted to the description of G4DS, the DarkSide Monte Carlo simulation, and to its applications. G4DS is a GEANT4-based simulation, it provides the geometry description of each detector of the DarkSide program, it is tuned to reproduce the DarkSide-50 response at the percent level and incorporates a custom model for ionization and scintillation mechanisms in liquid argon, tuned on real data. The principal applications of the simulation include the estimate of the neutron and gamma backgrounds for DarkSide-50, the measurement of the Ar-39 depletion factor in UAr with respect to AAr and the design studies for DarkSide-20k

Despite its indisputable successes, the Standard Model of particle physics (SM) is widely considered to be an effective low-energy approximation to an underlying theory that describes physics at higher energy scales. While there are many candidates for such a theory, nearly all of them predict the existence of additional particles beyond those of the Standard Model. In this work, we present three analyses aimed at discovering new particles at current and future particle colliders. The first two analyses are designed to probe extended scalar sectors, which often arise in theories beyond the Standard Model (BSM). The structure of these extended scalar sectors can be described by a physically well-motivated class of models, known collectively as Two- Higgs Doublet Models (2HDMs). The scalar mass spectrum of 2HDMs is comprised of two CP-even states h and H, a CP-odd state A, and a pair of charged states H± . Traditional searches for these states at particle colliders focus on finding them via their decays to SM particles. However, there are compelling scenarios in which these heavy scalars decay through exotic modes to non-SM final states. In certain regions of parameter space, these exotic modes can even dominate the conven- tional decay modes to SM final states, and thus provide a complementary avenue for discovering new Higgs bosons. The first analysis presented aims to discover charged Higgs bosons H± via top decay at the LHC. We find that the exotic decay modes outperform the conventional decay modes for regions of parameter space with low values of the 2HDM parameter tan β. The second analysis aims to systematically cover all the exotic decay scenarios that are consistent with theoretical and experimental con- straints, at both the 14 TeV LHC and a future 100 TeV hadron collider. We find that the preliminary results are promising - we are able to ex- clude a large swathe of 2HDM parameter space, up to scalar masses of 3.5 TeV, for a wide range of values of tan β, at a 100 TeV collider. In addition to these two analyses, we also present a third, aimed at discovering pair produced higgsinos that decay to binos at a 100 TeV collider. Higgsinos and binos are new fermion states that arise in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). This heavily- studied model is the minimal phenomenologically viable incorporation of supersymmetry - a symmetry that connects fermions and bosons - into the Standard Model. In the scenario we consider, the bino is the lightest supersymmetric partner, which makes it a good candidate for dark matter. Using razor variables and boosted decision trees, we are able to exclude Higgsinos up to 1.8 TeV for binos up to 1.3 TeV.

Increased demand for barley has changed the proportion of crops grown in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic USA. Winter wheat is the predominant small grain crop, but barley can be a direct substitute, although much less of it is grown. Soybean is grown full-season and double-cropped after both small grains. Historically, wheat was the primary small grain in the soybean double-crop rotation because of its greater profitability. The barley-soybean cropping system is not a new concept in the region, but the literature is outdated. New agronomic and economic data that directly compares full-season soybean, barley-soybean, and wheat-soybean systems using modern cultivars and management practices is needed. The objectives of this research were to: i) determine soybean yield and compare cropping system profitability of the three cropping systems; ii) perform a breakeven sensitivity analysis of the three cropping systems; and iii) determine the effect of planting date and previous winter crop on soybean yield and yield components. Soybean grown after barley yielded more than full-season soybean in two of six locations and more than soybean double-cropped after wheat in three of six locations. Net returns for the barley-soybean system were the greatest. These data indicate that soybean double-cropped after barley has the potential to yield equal to or greater than full-season soybean or double-cropped soybean following wheat, but its relative yield is very dependent on growing conditions. The profitability comparison indicated that the barley-soybean cropping system was generally more profitable than the full-season soybean and double-cropped wheat-soybean systems. This conclusion was supported by the breakeven sensitivity analysis, but remains dependent on prices that have been extremely volatile in recent years. In another study, soybean yields declined with planting date at two of four locations in 2009, a year that late-season rainfall enabled later-planted soybean to yield more than expected. In 2010, soybean yield decline was affected by the delay in planting date at both locations. Winter grain did not affect soybean yield in either year. Yield component data reinforced these results and indicated that the lower seed yield in the later planting dates was due primarily to a decrease in the number of pods.
Master of Science

Les excitons spatialement indirects, en tant que bosons composites, sont des candidats prometteurs pour l'exploration des systèmes corrélés à N-corps. Ils possèdent une dipôle électrique intrinsèque et une variété de spin 4 fois dégénérée, et devraient former un condensat de Bose-Einstein au-dessous de quelques Kelvins. De récents résultats théoriques montrent que cette condensation doit se produire au sein des états optiquement noirs. Néanmoins les interactions peuvent créer un couplage cohérent vers une population brillante, rendant ainsi accessible la détection du condensat par le biais de sa photoluminescence. Nos expériences portent sur un gaz froid d'excitons indirects dans un double puits quantique. Les excitons sont photo-générés par une excitation laser et confinés dans un piège électrostatique. Nous avons observé une réduction de la population d'excitons brillants pour un gaz de densité fixe à basses températures. Ceci contraste fortement avec le comportement attendu d'un gaz froid soumis à la statistique de Maxwell-Boltzmann. Ces résultats expérimentaux sont confirmés par un modèle phénoménologique montrant que la condensation dans les états noirs est compatible avec le noircissement anormal observé. Une réduction de la température pourrait en principe amplifier ces signatures, cependant dans le GaAs l'interaction exciton-phonon permettant le refroidissement est fortement réduite pour des températures inférieures au Kelvin. Nous avons donc développé une technique permettant le contrôle in-situ du confinement des excitons indirects sans échauffement du gaz, ouvrant ainsi la voie à l'exploration du refroidissement évaporatif des excitons
Spatially indirect excitons, being composite bosons, are attractive candidates to explore correlated many-body systems. They possess an inherent electric dipole and a four-fold spin manifold. Indirect excitons are expected to form a BEC below a few Kelvins. Recent theoretical results show this condensation must occur in optically dark states. Interactions, however, can lead to a coherent coupling to a bright population, rendering the condensate accessible through its PL. Here we report on a cold gas of indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells. indirect excitons are photo-generated through pulsed laser excitation. Indirect excitons are confined in an electrostatic traps. Thus, we are able to observe an anomaluos depletion of the bright state population for a fixed gas density at lower bath temperatures. This stands in stark contrast to the expected classical behavior of a cold gas of indirect excitons obeying Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics. The experimental results are confirmed by a phenomenological model showing that condensation into the dark state is compatible with the observed anomalous darkening. Reducing the gas temperature should reinforce these signatures. However, in GaAs exciton-phonon interaction is strongly reduced for sub-Kelvin temperatures. We have thus developed a technique to control the indirect excitons confinement in-situ. Our method does not increase the gas temperature and thus paves the way towards the exploration of evaporative cooling for indirect excitons

We discuss the evolution and imprints of isocurvature initial conditions for the scalar field in scalar tensor extensions of Einstein gravity. We consider the simplest models of scalar tensor theories, as Induced gravity (IG, which can be recasted in form of Jordan-Brans-Dicke theory by a redefinition of the scalar field) or non-minimally coupled (NMC) scalar fields in which the acceleration of the Universe is connected to a variation of the effective Planck mass. After introducing the fundamental ideas of cosmological perturbation theory and scalar tensor theories of gravity, we give the evolution equations for matter, metric and scalar field fluctuations in synchronous gauge. We use this set of equations for both the IG and the NMC models to find a new isocurvature solution in which the scalar field fluctuations compensate for the relativistic components respectively. We also show how we can generalize the well known isocurvature modes in Einstein GR to these models. We show the different evolution of cosmological fluctuations for these isocurvature initial conditions compared to the standard adiabatic one. After that, we compute the CMB angular power spectrum for these solutions in the IG model, with the help of a modified Einstein-Boltzmann CLASS code. In particular the CMB power spectrum is computed separately for adiabatic and isocurvature initial conditions, i.e. for totally uncorrelated modes, and with arbitrary correlations leading to an interesting explanation of the lack of power in the low multipoles region of the CMB temperature power spectrum. Finally we show how a simple model of double inflation in IG could explain the generation of the new isocurvature mode.

This research investigates a microcosm of the free jazz/free improvisation environment of the 1970s in "Waterfall," from the album Dave Holland/Sam Rivers Vol. 1. This recording features Dave Holland and Sam Rivers exhibiting highly developed improvisational language and effortless interaction. The purpose of this investigation is to create pedagogical material for bassists who are unfamiliar and/or uncomfortable with performing in an improvisational style that exists separately from the rigid, instrumental role hierarchy of common practice jazz. An analysis of musical elements including melody, rhythm, form, and energy through systems of musical contour, musical forces, and form analysis reveal constituent patterns that can be isolated. These patterns are codified and presented as pedagogical suggestions to assist in the practice of free improvisation.

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), together with the analyses of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies, confirm what our day to day experience of life attests :antimatter is far less present than matter in the Universe. In addition, these observables also permit to evaluate that there exists about one proton for every 10^{10} photons present in the Universe. This is in contradiction with expectations coming from the standard hot big bang, where no distinction between matter and antimatter is made, and where subsequent annihilations would lead to equal matter and antimatter contents, at a level 10^{−10} smaller than the observed one. The Standard Model of fundamental interactions fails to explain this result, leading us to search for ‘Beyond the Standard Model’ physics.

Among the possible mechanism which could be responsible for the creation of such a matter asymmetry, leptogenesis is particularly attractive because it only relies on the same ingredients previously introduced to generate neutrino masses. Unfortunatelly, this elegant proposal suffers from a major difficulty :it resists to any tentative of being probed by our low energy observables. In this thesis, we tackle the problem the other way around and propose a way to falsify this mechanism. Considering the type-I leptogenesis mechanism, i.e. a mechanism based on the asymmetric decay of right-handed neutrinos, in a left-right symmetric framework, we show that the observation of a right-handed gauge boson W_R at future colliders would rule out any possibility for such mechanism to be responsible of the matter asymmetry present in our Universe.

Another intriguing question that analyses of the anisotropies of the CMB confirmed is the presence of a non-baryonic component of matter in our Universe, i.e. the dark matter. As hinted by observations of galactic rotation curves, it should copiously be present in our galactic halo, but is notoriously difficult to detect directly. We can take advantage on the fact that antimatter almost disappeared from our surroundings to detect the contamination of cosmic rays from standard sources the annihilation products of dark matter would produce.

The second subject tackled in this work is the study of the imprints the Inert Doublet Modem (IDM) could leave in (charged) cosmic rays, namely positrons, antprotons and antideuterons. This model, first proposed to allow the Bout-Englert-Higgs particle to evade the Electroweak Precision Test (EWPT) measurements, introduces an additional scalar doublet which is inert in the sense that it does not couple directly to fermions. This latter property brings an additional virtue to this additional doublet :since it interacts weakly with particles, it can play the role of dark matter. This study will be done in the light of the data recently released by the PAMELA, ATIC and Fermi-GLAST collaborations, which reported e^± excesses in two different energy ranges.
Doctorat en Sciences
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Durant le siècle dernier, de nombreuses observations astrophysiques et cosmologiques ont montré la présence de matière noire dans l’Univers. Cette matière noire, non-lumineuse et interagissant peu avec la matière ordinaire, représente 80% de la masse de l’Univers et pourrait être composée de particules massives appelées WIMP. XENON1T est une expérience de détection directe de matière noire, utilisant une chambre à projection temporelle remplie de xénon liquide. Fonctionnant dans un environnement dit de bas bruit de fond, XENON1T fut conçu pour détecter le signal produit par la collision élastique des WIMP avec un noyau cible de xénon. Ce signal rare et de faible énergie nécessite des expériences dont la réponse est parfaitement connue et ce pour de longues périodes de prises de données. Des calibrations régulières utilisant une source interne de Kr-83m ont donc été mises en place et permettent de s’assurer de la stabilité du détecteur. Grâce son environnement de très bas bruit de fond, XENON1T permet également l’étude d’autres processus rares. En particulier, la recherche de décroissance double ß sans émission de neutrinos est une perspective possible grâce à la présence naturelle du Xe-136, un émetteur double ß-. La détection d’une telle décroissance pourrait permettre de déterminer la nature des neutrinos. Le signal recherché est un recul électronique dont l’énergie est grande par rapport à l’énergie attendue pour la recherche de matière noire. Une analyse dédiée a donc été mise en place afin de reconstruire ces évènements de hautes énergies. Cette analyse a permis d’atteindre la meilleure résolution en énergie, dans la région d’intérêt pour la recherche de décroissance double ß sans émission de neutrinos, pour des expériences utilisant du xénon liquide comme cible
In the last century, several astrophysical observations have provided strong evidence of the existence of dark matter in the Universe. This dark matter, non-luminous and weakly interactive with ordinary matter, is responsible for 80% of the Universe’s mass and could be composed of massive particles called WIMPs. XENON1T is a direct dark matter experiment. It consists of a dual-phase time projection chamber filled with liquid xenon and is operating in an ultra-low background environment. XENON1T was designed to detect the elastic WIMP-xenon nucleus scattering. The rare and low energy signals produced by such interaction ask for a well-known response of the detector and for a long period of data taking. Regular calibration, using an internal source of Kr-83m, were thus carried out to monitor the detector stability. Thanks to the ultra-low background environment, XENON1T allows studying other rare processes. Among them, the search for neutrinoless double ß decay, meant to probe the nature of neutrinos, is a possible perspective thanks to the natural presence of the Xe-136, a double ß decay isotope. The signal expected is an electronic recoil at higher energy with respect to dark matter searches. A dedicated analysis was carried out in order to reconstruct high energy events, allowing to reach the best energy resolution obtained in an experiment using liquid xenon in the region of interest for neutrinoless double ß decay

Uno dei principali protagonisti della caccia alla Materia Oscura è il Progetto XENON presso i LNGS, con l'obiettivo di rivelare le WIMP. Forti dell'esperienza proveniente dalle precedenti fasi del Progetto, l'attuale esperimento XENON1T è il primo che contiene circa 3.2 t di xenon liquido, di cui circa 2 t costituiscono la massa attiva della TPC a doppia fase. E questa è la prima TPC con massa attiva superiore a 1 t e con il più basso livello di fondo tra tutti gli esperimenti di questo tipo. Nel 2017, con un tempo di esposizione di soli 34.2 giorni, XENON1T ha ottenuto uno dei miglior limiti di esclusione per la sezione d'urto di interazione WIMP-nucleo non dipendente dallo spin. Nella prima parte del presente lavoro di tesi, verifico la possibilità che il neutron generator (NG), una sorgente di neutroni per la calibrazione della risposta del rivelatore ai rinculi nucleari (NR), possa essere una sorgente di fondo per il rivelatore essendo posizionato vicino alla TPC. Dalla stima del rate di eventi in presenza o meno del NG, nessuna differenza è stata osservata per gli eventi da rinculo elettronico (ER) a bassa energia. Successivamente alla valutazione dell'attività di U238 e Th232 nei materiali del NG, è possibile stimare il fondo indotto da neutroni radiogenici atteso dal NG: poiché risulta essere due ordini di grandezza inferiore a quanto atteso dai materiali di costruzione del rivelatore, può essere considerato un contributo trascurabile. Nella parte finale della tesi si presentano tutte le possibili sorgenti di fondo per eventi ER nel rivelatore di XENON1T e la simulazione, con il programma GEANT4, di tale fondo. In particolare, è esaminata e discussa la nuova implementazione della simulazione per il doppio decadimento beta dell'isotopo Xe136. Lo stato dell'arte del confronto delle simulazioni Monte Carlo con i dati reali è mostrato alla fine del lavoro di tesi: i risultati preliminari evidenziano una buona conoscenza del fondo dell'ER nel rivelatore XENON1T.

Es va analitzar una població doble haploide procedent de l'encreuament entre las varietats d'ordi Albacete i Plaisant per dur a terme la caracterització de la translocació cromosòmica recíproca present en Albacete i valorar la seva possible relació amb la resistència d'Albacete a ambients extrems de fred i sequera. El genotipatge amb marcadors SSR i DART y la hibridació in situ fluorescent (FISH) en preparacions cromosòmiques d'Albacete va confirmar la presència de la translocació recíproca entre els cromosomes 1H i 3H. Per valorar la relació de la translocació recíproca amb caràcters d'interès agronòmic es van realitzar assaigs en dues localitats durant un període de dos anys. El caràcter pes de mil grans va ser superior, de forma significativa, en les línies doble haploides portadores de la translocació recíproca. Es van detectar també QTLs significatius per als caràcters vigor inicial, data de canoneig, data d’espigat, fase d'elongació de la tija i fase d'ompliment de gra.
Se analizó una población doble haploide de cebada procedente del cruzamiento de Albacete y Plaisant para llevar a cabo la caracterización de la translocación cromosómica recíproca presente en Albacete y valorar su posible relación con la resistencia de esta variedad a ambientes extremos de frío y sequía. La construcción de un mapa saturado, con marcadores SSR y DArT, y la hibridación in situ fluorescente (FISH) en preparaciones cromosómicas de Albacete determinaron que los cromosomas implicados en la translocación recíproca eran el 1H y el 3H. Para valorar la relación de la translocación recíproca con caracteres de interés agronómico se realizaron ensayos en dos localidades durante un periodo de dos años. El carácter peso de mil granos mostró ser significativamente superior en las líneas doble haploides portadoras de la translocación recíproca. Se detectaron también importantes QTLs para los caracteres vigor inicial, fecha de encañado, fecha de espigado, fase de elongación del tallo y fase de llenado de grano
A double haploid population derived from a cross between two barley cultivars widely grown in Spain, Albacete and Plaisant, was used to characterized the reciprocal chromosomal translocation present in Albacete. The possible relation between this translocation and the drought tolerance present in Albacete was analyzed. A genotyping process, with SSR and DArT markers, and a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), in chromosome preparations of Albacete cultivars, confirmed the presence of a reciprocal translocation between the chromosomes 1H and 3H. In order to assess the relation of the reciprocal translocation with important agronomical traits, different trials were carried out in two locations in two growing seasons. The 1000-kernel weight was significantly higher in DH lines carrying the reciprocal translocation. Moreover, significant QTLs were detected for early vigour, jointing, heading date, stem elongation and grain filling.

Doctor of Philosophy
Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) catalyses undesirable darkening in wheat products such as Asian noodles. Genetic variation for PPO activity is characterized in bread wheat. Australian wheat breeding programmes recognize that reduced PPO activity is an important quality target. Despite this interest from breeders, no varieties possessing extremely low and null PPO activity exist. The development of null PPO wheat varieties is dependant on an understanding of the genetic control of the null phenotype. Knowledge of these factors will accelerate efforts to develop them. The inheritance of PPO activity was investigated in two populations that were derived from hybrids between a null PPO genotype and Australian wheat varieties Lang and QAlBis. Observed genetic ratios were consistent with two and three gene control, respectively in these populations. QTL mapping was performed in the QALBis x VAW08-A17 population. The Diversity Array Technology (DArT) approach was employed to genotype the QALBis x VAW08-A17 population. Three highly significant QTLs that control PPO activity were identified on chromosomes 2AL, 2BS and 2DL. Close associations between PPO activity and DArT marker loci wPt-7024, wPt-0094 and wPt-2544 were observed, respectively. Collectively, these loci explained 74% of the observed variation in PPO activity across seasons. Significant QTLs on chromosomes 1B and 3B were also identified that together explained an additional 17% of variation in PPO activity. The relationship between PPO activity and yellow alkaline noodles (YAN) colour stability parameters was investigated in a DM5637*B8 x H45 doubled haploid population. PPO activity and changes in YAN brightness (ΔL* 0-24h) and yellowness (Δb* 0-24h) in both seasons were analysed. Quantitative trait analyses of PPO activity, flour yellowness (b*) and YAN colour stability was also conducted in this population. QTL mapping of variation in PPO activity in the DM5637*B8 x H45 DH population identified a highly significant QTL on chromosome 2AL, which explained 52% of the observed variation across seasons. Regression analysis identified that wPt-7024 was highly significantly associated with PPO activity in this population. A highly significant association between this marker and PPO was also identified in the QALBis x VAW08-A17 population. Collectively, the three identified QTLs (on chromosomes 2AL, 7A and 7B) explained 71% of variation in PPO activity across seasons. A highly significant (P<0.001) QTL on chromosome 2B along with significant (P<0.01) QTLs on the chromosomes 1A, 3B, 4B and 5B were found to control flour yellowness. The QTLs on 2B, 4B and 5B were detected in both seasons analysed and accounted for 90% of variation in flour b* across seasons. The study on YAN colour stability located two highly significant (P<0.001) QTLs and two significant (P<0.01) QTLs that controlled the change in brightness of yellow alkaline noodle. The 2A QTL accounted for 64% of observed variation across seasons. It was in the same location as the PPO QTL and shared a common closest marker wPt-7024. Only one significant QTL for YAN a* (0-24h) was identified. It accounted for 12% of variation across seasons and was only detected in one season. One highly significant (P<0.001) QTL and two significant (P<0.01) QTLs were identified that controlled the change in yellowness of yellow alkaline noodle. The 2A QTL accounted for 68% of observed variation across seasons. The location of this QTL corresponded with that of 2A QTLs for PPO activity and L* of YAN in this study. Furthermore, wPt-7024 was also identified as the marker with the most significant association with L*. The identification of a correlation between the characters and a common location of a highly significant QTL for each of these characters indicates that it is likely that PPO activity is directly responsible for a large proportion of the changes in brightness and yellowness of YAN. QTLs for L* and b* of YAN were detected in a common location on chromosome 1A. However, no corresponding QTL was identified that controls PPO activity, highlighting the complexity of the relationship between these traits. Resistance to three rust pathogens (Puccinia graminis, Puccinia striiformis, and Puccinia triticina) was also investigated in the DM5637*B8 x H45 DH population because they are major yield limiting diseases in wheat. Disease response data at the seedling stage were converted to genotypic scores for rust genes Sr24/Lr24, Sr36, Lr13 and Yr7 to construct a genetic linkage map. No recombination was observed between rust resistance genes Sr36, Lr13 and Yr7 in this DH population. Therefore, these genes mapped in the same position on chromosome 2B. The Lr24/Sr24 locus was incorporated into the chromosome 3D map. Interval mapping analysis identified QTLs on chromosomes 2B, 3B, 4B and 5B that control adult plant resistance (APR) to stripe rust. Two QTLs on chromosomes 2B and 3D were identified that controlled APR to leaf rust in this DH population.

À partir de l’étude de la représentation de l’écrivain fictif et son double dans deux textes de l’auteur états-unien Stephen King, le roman The Dark Half et la novella « Secret Window, Secret Garden », et dans deux romans de l’auteur québécois Patrick Senécal, Sur le seuil et Aliss, nous nous interrogeons sur la possible métatextualité du fantastique obvie nord-américain de l’extrême contemporain. Par un recours à différentes méthodes d’analyse et d’interprétation du récit, nous montrons que, dans les œuvres de notre corpus, ces deux auteurs de fantastique dit populaire emploient les mêmes outils stylistiques que les auteurs de littérature générale – procédés d’autoreprésentation, références intertextuelles, transgression des niveaux narratifs ou encore mise en relief de la fictionalité du texte. Par là, King et Senécal mènent à leur tour une réflexion sur l’écrivain, le processus créatif et le genre fantastique, sans pour autant renoncer à la monstration caractéristique du fantastique obvie. Ainsi, bien que les critiques opèrent généralement une césure entre un fantastique populaire et un fantastique littéraire, la frontière entre chaque catégorie est moins fermée qu’il n’y paraît. Notre étude montre en effet qu’un fort niveau de monstration n’exclut pas nécessairement une forte métatextualité. De plus, l’insistance sur la fictionalité du récit consécutive à la réflexion métalittéraire ne détruisant en rien l’effet fantastique, nous soutenons que, contrairement à la monstration, la métatextualité est constitutive du genre fantastique
Through a study of the representation of the fictitious writer and his doppelganger in two works of fiction by the U. S. Author Stephen King, the novel The Dark Half and the novella “Secret Window, Secret Garden,” and in two novels by the Quebec author Patrick Senécal, Sur le seuil and Aliss, I examine the possible metafictionality of contemporary North-American horror fiction. Drawing upon methods in literary analysis and textual interpretation, I show that, in these four texts, these two horror fiction authors use the same writing techniques as mainstream authors do – autorepresentation, intertextual references, transgression of narrative levels, and highlighting of a text’s fictionality. Thus, King and Senécal conduct a literary reflection on the artistic identity of the writer, on writing, and on the genre itself, without abandoning the horrific descriptions which characterize horror fiction. Although critics do make a clear distinction between horror fiction and fantastic fiction, the line between them can sometimes be blurred. Indeed, my study points out that a strong level of horrific description does not necessarily exclude a strong level of metafiction. Moreover, since the emphasis on a text’s fictionality resulting from the metafictional reflection does not ruin the fantastic effect, I argue that, unlike horrific descriptions, which are limited to horror fiction, metafictionality is inherent to the fantastic genre as a whole

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
O problema da matéria escura é uma das questões abertas da cosmologia e da física de partículas. Inúmeras observações, em diferentes escalas astronômicas, sustentam que a quantidade de matéria luminosa presente não é capaz de explicar o comportamento observado. A solução para esta inconsistência foi obtida através da introdução de uma nova forma de matéria que, não interagindo com a luz, foi intitulada por matéria escura. O Modelo Padrão da Cosmologia indica que esta componente contribui com mais de 80% da densidade de matéria no Universo, deve ser estável, não relativística e sua densidade relíquia deve combinar com as medidas obtidas pelas flutuações da CMB. Apesar disso, a natureza da matéria escura ainda é um mistério. Entre as partículas candidatas à matéria escura os mais populares são os chamados WIMPs. Esta espécie é considerada uma relíquia térmica e podem fornecer uma abundância compatível com a observada. Nesta direção, o presente trabalho então, trata uma extensão do Modelo Padrão da Física de Partículas, uma vez que este modelo não fornece nenhuma partícula apropriada à matéria escura, chamada Modelo do Dubleto Inerte, que é obtido adicionando um novo dubleto escalar por meio de uma simetria Z_2 que desenvolve uma configuração de vácuo trivial. Dentro do novo espectro de partículas estudamos aquela que parece propor um candidato viável à matéria escura.
The problem of dark matter is one of the open questions of cosmology and particle physics. Several observations, at different astronomical scales, maintain that the amount of light matter present is not able to explain the observed behavior. The solution to this inconsistency was obtained by introducing a new form of matter which, not interacting with light, was titled as dark matter. The Standard Model of Cosmology indicates that this component contributes with more than 80% of the matter density in the Universe, must be stable, non relativistic and its relic density should match with the measurements obtained by the fluctuations of the CMB. Despite this, the nature of dark matter is still a mystery. Among the candidate particles for dark matter the most popular are the so-called WIMPs. This species is considered a thermal relic and can provide an abundance compatible with that observed. In this direction, the present work then deals with an extension of the Standard Model of Particle Physics, since this model does not provide any particle appropriate to dark matter, called Inert Doublet Model, which is obtained by adding a new scalar doublet through a Z_2 symmetry that develops a trivial vacuum configuration. Inside this new spectrum of particles we study the one that seems to propose a viable candidate to the dark matter.

ABSTRACT Triticum sphaerococcum (AABBDD, 2n = 6x = 42) is a land race of wheat known from the Indian subcontinent. It has several favourable characters including short and strong culms, hemispherical grains with a shallow crease (that may increase the yield of white flour), higher protein content compared to bread wheat (T. aestivum), and resistance to drought, and yellow rust caused by Puccinia striiformis. However, an unfavourable characteristic of T. sphaerococcum is its lower yield compared to bread wheat. Being a land race, the sphaerococcum wheat is poorly studied. This study was undertaken to increase knowledge of the physiology and genetics of this land race and determine if it may be possible to separate the favourable characters of T. sphaerococcum from its unfavourable characters. Plant height in bread wheat is controlled by many genes. ‘Reduced Height’ (Rht) genes which differ in their response to externally applied gibberellic acid (GA3) are responsible for the short stature of modern bread wheat varieties. Therefore, GA3 was used to probe the relationship between the semidwarf sphaerococcum phenotype and the Rht gene. T. sphaerococcum variety Sp5 showed a unique “seedling response” to externally applied GA3 when compared with T. aestivum varieties harbouring Rht1, Rht2, Rht8, Rht12, Rht13 or Rht18 alleles. A mapping population of doubled haploids was generated through wide hybridisation of F1 (Sp5 x Otane) with Zea mays. A genome-wide scan of Sp5 and Otane (parents) using 348 microsatellite (SSR) markers showed that only 169 of these markers (49%) were polymorphic between the parents. A DArT profiling yielded 348 markers that were polymorphic between the parents. Microsatellite markers and DArT markers were used to create a genetic map. The mapping population was phenotyped and a quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis was performed for component traits of the complex sphaerococcum trait including plant height, spike length, awn length, yield, grain shape and crease size. Results of the QTL analysis indicated that it may be difficult to separate the favourable characters of T. sphaerococcum from its unfavourable characters through mutation because the component traits of the complex sphaerococcum trait may be under pleiotropic control of the Sp gene. The hypothesis that T. sphaerococcum originated through a mutation in T. aestivum was tested through induced mutation using gamma rays. Mutants from sphaerococcum-type to aestivum-type were isolated and phenotyped. Sphaerococcum-type mutants also were isolated and characterised from mutated aestivum-type wheat suggesting a possible origin of T. sphaerococcum through a mutation in T. aestivum.

In this work, multi-band (multi-color) detector structures considering different semiconductor device concepts and architectures are presented. Results on detectors operating in ultraviolet-to-infrared regions (UV-to-IR) are discussed. Multi-band detectors are based on quantum dot (QD) structures; which include quantum-dots-in-a-well (DWELL), tunneling quantum dot infrared photodetectors (T-QDIPs), and bi-layer quantum dot infrared photodetectors (Bi-QDIPs); and homo-/heterojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HIWIP/HEIWIP) structures. QD-based detectors show multi-color characteristics in mid- and far-infrared (MIR/FIR) regions, where as HIWIP/HEIWIP detectors show responses in UV or near-infrared (NIR) regions, and MIR-to-FIR regions. In DWELL structures, InAs QDs are placed in an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) to introduce photon induced electronic transitions from energy states in the QD to that in QW, leading to multi-color response peaks. One of the DWELL detectors shows response peaks at ∼ 6.25, ∼ 10.5 and ∼ 23.3 µm. In T-QDIP structures, photoexcited carriers are selectively collected from InGaAs QDs through resonant tunneling, while the dark current is blocked using AlGaAs/InGaAsAlGaAs/ blocking barriers placed in the structure. A two-color T-QDIP with photoresponse peaks at 6 and 17 µm operating at room temperature and a 6 THz detector operating at 150 K are presented. Bi-QDIPs consist of two layers of InAs QDs with different QD sizes. The detector exhibits three distinct peaks at 5.6, 8.0, and 23.0 µm. A typical HIWIP/HEIWIP detector structure consists of a single (or series of) doped emitter(s) and undoped barrier(s), which are placed between two highly doped contact layers. The dual-band response arises from interband transitions of carriers in the undoped barrier and intraband transitions in the doped emitter. Two HIWIP detectors, p-GaAs/GaAs and p-Si/Si, showing interband responses with wavelength thresholds at 0.82 and 1.05 µm, and intraband responses with zero response thresholds at 70 and 32 µm, respectively, are presented. HEIWIP detectors based on n-GaN/AlGaN show an interband response in the UV region and intraband response in the 2-14 µm region. A GaN/AlGaN detector structure consisting of three electrical contacts for separate UV and IR active regions is proposed for simultaneous measurements of the two components of the photocurrent generated by UV and IR radiation.

碩士
國立東華大學
資訊工程學系
102
Chinese Dark Chess (CDC) is an exciting fast tempo stochastic board game with simple rule. CDC is not as popular as Go and Chess due to the result heavily influenced by luck. This reduces varied workable player strategies. As a result, lack of varied game depth cannot attract players for long-lasting. "Double King Dark Chess" (DKDC) is proposed to improve its constitution to overcome the drawback of CDC. Experimental results show that the game depth of DKDC is more deeper than CDC game depth. In addition, for solving the derivative problem of high draw rate, effective countermeasures are provided. A modified DKDC game depth is more deeper than CDC one. Therefore, reducing the impact of luck enriches varied workable player strategies, increases game depth and attracts players for long-lasting. In the future, we hope DKDC to be generalized widely in the world.

Tese de doutoramento em Engenharia Física, ramo de Instrumentação apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra
Na última década, foram feitos grandes progressos no desenvolvimento dos detetores de deteção direta das partículas que constituem a matéria negra. Com estratégias do aumento gradual do volume do alvo e, simultaneamente, de redução dos níveis de fundo, a experiência XENON obteve resultados muito bons e perspetivas promissoras para a deteção de matéria negra. Tarefas relativas à análise de dados experimentais adquiridos com o detetor de dupla fase em uso, assim como as simulações do campo elétrico, desenvolvimento, montagem e testes para o próximo detetor XENON1T, assim como a participação regular na manutenção geral e monitorização do protótipo atual XENON100 no LNGS, constituiram o plano de trabalhos para as atividades de investigação do presente doutoramento e a minha contribuição para a otimização da deteção de cintilação nos detetores da experiência XENON. A necessidade de alcançar níveis elevados de sensibilidade, requer inovação em todos os aspetos físicos do detetor, assim como a redução de todas as fontes de radioatividade que contribuem para o fundo. O modo mais indicado de operação para os detetores com enchimento a Xe no estado líquido e gasoso envolve a medição da cintilação primária e da secundária provenientes da interação das partículas no Xe líquido. A razão entre estes dois sinais permite diferenciar claramente a maior parte dos eventos correspondentes as fundo dos eventos correspondentes a WIMPs. Deste modo, a leitura dos sinais correspondentes à cintilação é de extrema importância. A amplitude do sinal de cintilação antes dos fotossensores é maximizada através da otimização de vários parâmetros, tais como a geometria do alvo do detetor, a transparência das grelhas dos elétrodos, a uniformidade do ganho em cintilação secundária e a utilização de material reflectivo para cobrir as superfícies que não são fotossensíveis.
In the past decade, tremendous advances have been made in the development of detectors to be used for direct interaction of dark matter particles. With the gradual increase of target fiducial mass and simultaneous reduction of background levels strategies, XENON experiment achieved very good results and promising perspectives for direct Dark Matter detection. Tasks regarding analysis of experimental data acquired with the actual double-phase detector, as well as electric field simulations, development, assembly and tests of the next XENON1T detector and the regular participation in general maintenance and monitoring of the actual XENON100 prototype at LNGS, constituted the work plan of this PhD research activity and my contribution for optimizing the scintillation detection in XENON detectors. The need to achieve extremely low sensitivities demands for innovation in all aspects of detector physics, such as reducing all sources of radioactivity background. The favored mode of operation for the liquid/gas Xe-based detector involves measuring both primary and secondary scintillation from particle interaction in the liquid. The ratio of these signals allows to clearly differentiate the majority of the background and WIMP events. The scintillation readout is, then, of utmost importance. The scintillation signal amplitude before the photo-sensors is maximized also by the optimization of several parameters such as the detector target geometry, electrode meshes transparency, secondary scintillation gain uniformity and reflective material used to cover the non-photosensitive surfaces.

碩士
輔仁大學
電子工程學系
98
n this paper we use both an embedded system and double Webcams to design an embedded monitor system for breath detection (EMSFBD) which monitors and records the patient’s breath in the dark and sends the information to a specific server through the Internet. Our design uses image processing methods to monitor and record human breath fluctuation and to calculate the breath rate. If the breath rate is too low, too fast or if an individual’s breathing stops for more than 10 seconds, our design sends out an alarm signal. Our EMSFBD consists of two parts. For the first part double Webcams are used to capture images and to transmit them to an embedded board. For the second part an image processing program using the temporal differencing algorithm to detect chest expansion and contraction to determine the breath rate is installed in the embedded board.

Tese no âmbito do Doutoramento em Física, Astrofísica, apresentada ao Departamento de Física da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra.
An elusive form of matter that does not interact via electromagnetic or strong forces permeates the known Universe, and is therefore designated as "dark". This dark matter (DM) is responsible for the evolution of cosmic structures, the cohesion of galaxies and galaxy clusters, and represents around a quarter of the total content of the Universe. Several state-of-the-art experiments are currently searching for dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), using ultra-low background "observatories" where one of these particles could interact with a material target and produce a readable signature. The LZ experiment is a 10 tonne dark matter detector expected to begin operations in early 2021, that aims to surpass the current world-leading limit on the WIMP-nucleon interaction cross section by more than one order of magnitude. The design of LZ features a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC) and two additional instrumented veto detectors encompassing the TPC for improved background reduction and active shielding. The projected sensitivity of LZ to the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross-section is 1.4×10^{-48} cm^2 for a 40 GeV/c^2 mass WIMP. LZ has the potential to study and discover a wide range of new physics. The inner portions of the TPC of LZ will be one of the most "quiet" environments where rare event searches can be performed. The ultra-low background required for dark matter searches allows LZ to be potentially sensitive to other rare events such as neutrinoless double beta decay of some xenon isotopes, axion interactions or coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering, all of which were not yet observed. The projected sensitivity of LZ to the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay of 136Xe is presented in this document. For an exposure of 1360 kg·year, a sensitivity to the half-life of 1.06×10^{26} years with a 90% confidence level is obtained. The projected sensitivity to this same decay from a dedicated run with a 90% 136Xe enriched target and an exposure of 13.8 tonne·year is 1.06×10^{27} years. The development of pulse classification tools for the data processing framework of LZ (LZap) is also presented in this document. These tools represent the groundwork for pulse classification in LZ, both in the form of dedicated heuristics algorithms and machine learning implementations. The Heuristics Algorithm for Discrimination of Event Substructures (HADES) developed in the context of this work is currently the default pulse classification tool in LZap, and provides a measured overall classification accuracy of 98.58% across all pulse topologies in LZ simulated data. The RFClassifier and the TriNet pulse classification tools are two machine learning implementations that use a random forest model and an ensemble of artificial neural networks, respectively, that are aimed at assisting HADES and potentially replacing it in LZap. The RFClassifier algorithm achieved a classification accuracy of 99.37% over LZ simulated data when combined with a powerful clustering analysis using Gaussian mixture models (GMMs). The TriNet algorithm was trained using the results from HADES and achieved a classification accuracy of 95.56% against the GMM clustering results, but demonstrated that it could generalize its results beyond HADES.
Uma forma de matéria que não interage através das forças eletromagnética e forte, por isso designada por matéria "escura", permeia o universo visível. Esta matéria escura (ME) representa cerca de um quarto do conteúdo total do universo e é responsável pela evolução das estruturas cósmicas e pela coesão das galáxias e dos aglomerados de galáxias. Várias experiências de ponta procuram pela matéria escura na forma de WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles na sigla inglesa), usando "observatórios" com fundos radiogénicos e cosmogénicos extremamente reduzidos onde uma destas partículas pode interagir com um material alvo e produzir um sinal mensurável. A experiência LZ é um detetor de matéria escura com 10 toneladas que deverá iniciar operações no início de 2021 e cujo principal objetivo é melhorar o atual limite de exclusão da secção eficaz de interação WIMP-nucleão por mais de uma ordem de grandeza. LZ é composto por uma câmara de projeção temporal (TPC) de duas fases de xénon e por dois detetores adicionais que envolvem a TPC e são usados como vetos, a fim de reduzirem ativamente sinais indesejados (fundos) da experiência. A sensibilidade estimada de LZ à secção eficaz da interação WIMP-nucleão independente de spin é de 1.4×10^{-48} cm^2 para uma WIMP de 40 GeV/c^2 de massa. Para além da matéria escura, LZ tem o potencial de estudar, e talvez descobrir, uma grande variedade de novos processos físicos raros. A região mais interna da TPC de LZ será um dos ambientes mais "calmos" onde o estudo destes processos raros é possível. Os fundos extremamente baixos de LZ permitem-lhe ter uma boa sensibilidade a processos raros nunca observados como o decaimento beta duplo sem emissão de neutrinos de alguns isótopos de xénon, interações de axiões ou dispersão elástica coerente neutrino-núcleo. A sensibilidade de LZ à meia-vida do decaimento beta duplo sem emissão de neutrinos do 136Xe é apresentada neste documento. Para uma exposição de 1360 kg·ano, a sensibilidade estimada é de 1.06×10^{26} anos com um intervalo de confiança de 90%. A sensibilidade estimada para um run dedicado subsequente, com enriquecimento isotópico de 90% de 136Xe e exposição de 13.8 toneladas·ano é de 1.06×10^{27} anos. O desenvolvimento de ferramentas de classificação de sinais para a cadeia de processamento de dados de LZ (LZap) é também apresentado neste documento. Estas ferramentas representam a base para classificação de sinais em LZ, tanto na forma de algoritmos heurísticos dedicados como implementações de Machine Learning. O HADES (Heuristics Algorithm for Discrimination of Event Substructures na sigla inglesa), desenvolvido no contexto deste trabalho, é atualmente a principal ferramenta de classificação de sinais em LZap e consegue uma exatidão global de 98.58% para todas as topologias de sinais presentes nos dados de simulação de LZ. As ferramentas de classificação RFClassifier e TriNet são duas implementações de Machine Learning que usam, respectivamente, um modelo de random forests e um ensemble de redes neuronais para auxiliar o desenvolvimento do HADES e potencialmente substitui-lo na cadeia de LZap. O algoritmo RFClassifier consegue uma exatidão de classificação de 99.37% sobre os dados simulados de LZ quando combinado com Gaussian mixture models (GMMs), uma técnica de clustering poderosa. O algoritmo TriNet foi treinado usando os resultados obtidos pelo HADES e consegue uma exatidão de classificação de 95.56% comparando com resultados do clustering com GMM, mas demonstrou que consegue generalizar os seus resultados para além do HADES.