Mise en tourisme des cols de la région de Martigny, spécifiquement les cols de Tête Noire, Forclaz, des Montets et du Grand-Saint-Bernard: élaboration d’un circuit touristique cyclable sous la forme d’une offre combinée : visite des frontières au fil de l’eau

Ce travail a pour objectif de créer un circuit cyclable en tant qu’offre combinée passant par les cols du Grand-Saint-Bernard, de la Forclaz, de Tête Noire et des Montets, ce qui permettrait au Valais de mieux se positionner comme destination phare pour le vélo. Il offre tout d’abord un tour d’horizon du tourisme en général ainsi que du cyclotourisme en Suisse, plus spécifiquement en Valais. La deuxième partie du travail contient la démarche à suivre pour la réalisation du circuit cyclable. C’est le guide « Le tourisme – tout naturellement ! De l’idée au produit touristique intégrant la nature et la culture, en passant par l’analyse de marché » qui a été le fil rouge de ce travail. Les huit étapes phares ont été suivies méticuleusement pour aboutir à un produit touristique final. En dernière partie, un entretien avec l’office du tourisme du Pays du St-Bernard a été réalisé afin de connaître son avis sur ce circuit

Excitation of resonant plasmonic cavities by integrated waveguides for sensing applications

Optical sensors represent a large growing market which is nowadays focusing onto advancement in mobile technology. Innovations in the field of optical sensors are mostly driven by the technological advancements in the domain of micro & nanofabrication. One key to the miniaturization of optical sensors is their integration onto small chips having their own light sources and detectors. This thesis shows two separate applications of integrated optical sensors which benefit from the implementation of optical nano-structures. A first study investigates a biosensor based on a plasmonic slot waveguide cavity for the detection of changes in refractive index in femto-liter volumes. By integrating the biosensor onto a silicon-on-insulator platform, we could confine the light excitation of the cavity into a single-mode silicon strip waveguide. In a first step realized by simulation, we showed the efficient coupling of the fundamental quasi-transverse electric mode of the waveguide to the plasmonic slot waveguide cavity. We showed that the strong light confinement into the slot is an intrinsic property of the plasmonic slot waveguide which is based on the excitation of a guided wave at a metal-insulator-metal interface. We investigated the surface sensitivity of this biosensor which revealed its potential to detect single-molecules at high concentrations. Moreover, we reported a high bulk sensitivity of up to 600nm per refractive index units. In a second step, we developed a multi-step process based on electron beam lithography to fabricate the sensor. In a third step, we characterized the propagation properties of the fabricated waveguides. Finally, we measured the transmission properties of the integrated sensor has well as the far-field scattering of the plasmonic cavity. A second study focused on a new architecture of a standing-wave integrated Fourier transform spectrometer. This type of spectrometer uses nano-samplers (metallic nano-structures) to probe the intensity of a standing wave generated inside a single-mode waveguide terminated by a mirror. To enhance the well known bandwidth limitation of this type of spectrometer, we implemented a scanning mirror enabling the sub-sampling of the interferogram between each fixed nano-sampler. We fabricated a chip containing a 1D array of low delta n single-mode waveguides made out of epoxy-based "EpoCore" polymer. Equidistant metallic nano-samplers were patterned on top of the waveguides thanks to electron beam lithography. Micro-lenses were fabricated, aligned and glued to the facet of the chip to enable the free space coupling of the waveguides. We implemented a mechanical setup which included a closed-loop piezo actuated mirror to induce an additional phase shift to the interferogram. The realization of an optical setup taking care of the readout of the interferogram showed a 2D multiplexing potential of the spectrometer by realizing the simultaneous detection of independent waveguides. We also investigated the calibration procedures to overcome the fabrication uncertainties by an adapted post-processing step

Typologia biotyczna polskich obszarów morskich na podstawie zespołów makrofauny dennej

The aim of this study was to develop methodological assumptions of the biotic typology and, based on these assumptions, determine the biotic types in the Polish Marine Areas. The biotic typology proposed in this paper is based on the analysis of the structure and the classification of macrozoobenthos. This group of organisms can be regarded as the main component structuring the biotic types due to their sedentary way of life and less susceptibility to spatial and seasonal changes compared with pelagic biota. Soft and hard bottom sediments occurring in the Polish Marine Areas were taken into consideration. The basic criterion of the biotic typology was to identify the predominant components of the seabed zoocoenoses – animal species and communities, from which the biotic type takes its name. As a result of the classification process the Polish Marine Areas were divided into six sub-areas of different environmental characteristics (a type of sediment, salinity and water dynamics); each of them inhabited by different macrozoobenthos communities. Consequently, the following biotic types were determined: I) Chironomidae-Oligochaeta, II) Macoma balthica-Marenzelleria sp., III) Bylgides sarsi-Macoma balthica, IV) Hydrobiidae-Cerastoderma glaucum, V) Pygospio elegans-Hydrobiidae, VI) Mytilus trossulus-Gammaridae. The proposed typology is the first comprehensive attempt at classification of the Polish Marine Areas taking into account both biotic and abiotic elements of the marine environment.Renata Koza

Primary central nervous system lymphoma — a review of current therapeutic strategies

Pierwotny chłoniak ośrodkowego układu nerwowego (PCNSL) jest wysoce agresywnym klinicznie chłoniakiem pozawęzłowym umiejscowionym w mózgowiu, rdzeniu, oponach mózgowych, nerwach czaszkowych i/lub gałce ocznej. Stanowi około 3% rozpoznań wszystkich guzów mózgu oraz 2–3% chłoniaków nie-Hodgkina. Aż 95% przypadków PCNSL stanowi chłoniak rozlany z dużych komórek B (DLBCL), pozostałe to chłoniaki wysoce agresywne (chłoniak Burkitta, chłoniak limfoblastyczny) oraz chłoniak strefy brzeżnej i chłoniaki z komórek T. Od lat 70. XX wieku zachorowalność na PCNSL wzrasta. Pomimo wielu podobnych cech w obrazie patomorfologicznym PCNSL rokuje znacznie gorzej od DLBCL, NOS (not otherwise specified, inaczej nieokreślony). W aktualnie obowiązującej klasyfikacji nowotworów układu krwiotwórczego i limfoidalnego Światowej Organizacji Zdrowia (WHO 2008) wyróżniono DLBCL CNS jako odrębną jednostkę diagnostyczną.  Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a highly aggressive extranodal lymphoma subtype arising in the brain parenchyma, spinal cord, meninges, cranial nerves, and/or intraocularly. PCNSL accounts for 3% of brain tumours and 2–3% cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a primary diagnosis in 95% of all PCNSL, with highly aggressive lymphomas (Burkitt’s lymphoma, lymphoblastic lymphoma) and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) or T-cell lymphomas accounting for the other 5%. Over the last 40 years, PCNSL rates have been increasing. Although PCNSL shares many histopathological features with DLBCL (not otherwise specified; NOS), its prognosis is generally far worse. The current WHO 2008 classification for cancers of the haematopoietic system and lymphomas assigns DLBCL CNS into a distinct diagnostic entity of lymphoma

Visitor Restriction Policy – An Example of Racism in Healthcare

UC Davis Health has a "Blackout Flag" policy (1190) that is used in trauma care settings to restrict visitors from the patient. The policy's intended goal is to protect patients from potential harmful visitors, especially in ongoing investigations. This policy may impair history taking and well-informed treatments because it restricts knowledge provided by visitors and loved ones. Often placed by police, this policy may be disproportionally applied to patients from marginalized backgrounds and may perpetuate medical distrust

Vertically coupled plasmonic slot waveguide cavity for localized biosensing applications

We propose and study an integrated refractive index sensor which is based on a plasmonic slot waveguide cavity. In this device, a guided mode supported by a silicon photonic wire waveguide is vertically coupled to a metal-dielectric-metal cavity separated by a silicon oxide spacer. We perform an in-depth study that links the geometrical parameters of the sensor to the coupling mechanism and sensitivity of the plasmonic slot waveguide cavity. Simulation results promise that local changes of refractive index can be measured with a high sensitivity of around 600 nm/RIU in a femto-liter volume. These results are obtained with threedimensional time and frequency domain simulations. Thanks to the high field enhancement in the slot of the plasmonic cavity, a high local sensitivity to changes of refractive index is obtained. Moreover, the high level of achieved decoupling between the bulk and the local sensitivity complies well with the requirements of biomolecular sensing

Localized biomolecular sensing enabled through plasmonic nanocavities

We propose and study an integrated refractive index sensor which is based on a plasmonic slot cavity integrated on silicon-on-insulator wafers. In this device, the guided mode isvertically coupled to the cavity which is a metal-dielectric-metal waveguide and is separated from a photonic wire waveguide by a silicon dioxide spacer. We perform an in-depth study that links the geometrical parameters to the coupling and sensitivity. The strong coupling from the dielectric waveguide to the plasmonic slot waveguide cavity allows a localchange in refractive index to be detectable with a high sensitivity of around 600 nm/RIU in a femto-liter volume. These results are obtained with three-dimensional time domain simulations made with the CST Microwave Studio. The sensing performance of the devices are presented and compared to the practical needs to achieve localized biomolecular sensin

Optical surface waves on one-dimensional photonic crystals: investigation of loss mechanisms and demonstration of centimeter-scale propagation

It has been predicted that optical surface waves at interfaces that separate purely dielectric media should be able to propagate over long distances, particularly over distances greater than possible with surface plasmon polaritons. Despite numerous studies, there has been no report of such an observation, and an estimate of the propagation length achievable with dielectric optical surface waves is yet to be provided. In this work, we focus on the propagation properties of optical modes supported at the free surface of a one-dimensional photonic crystal. The contributions of intrinsic and extrinsic loss mechanisms are discussed. The developed understanding is applied to the design of structures that are optimized to support long propagating optical surface waves. We experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, the existence of optical surface waves capable of propagating over centimeter-scale distances in the visible spectral range. This result opens new perspectives for the use of optical surface waves in integrated optics and for light-matter interactions at interfaces.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Plasmonic Slot Waveguides for Localized Biomolecular Sensing Applications

A plasmonic slot waveguide excited by evanescent wave coupling of a silicon strip waveguide is studied to be used as a label-free biosensor. The plasmonic slot waveguide enables strong electric-field enhancement in a small volume inducing higher interaction between the light and the analyte