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Calore, Michela. "Elizabethan stage conventions and their textual verbalization in the drama of the 1580s and 1590s." Thesis, University of Reading, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.391266.
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Gibbons, Catherine Mary. "The experience of exile and English Catholics : Paris in the 1580s." Thesis, University of York, 2006. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10982/.
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Wakelin, Emma Hilary. "'De Floridi virtuosi D'Italia' : a study of three Italian madrigal anthologies of the 1580s." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.266036.
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Wei, Yang. "Popular Opinion and Public Reasoning: Intellectual Changes and Institutional Innovations in Late Ming China (1580s-1640s)." Thesis, Harvard University, 2014. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:11321.
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This study examines the rise of popularist discourse in the realms of intellectual transformation, political reforms, institutional innovations, social activism, and cultural construction from the 1580s to the 1680s. Centered on notions such as "popular opinion (gonglun)" and "public reasoning (gongyi)", the popularist discourse presupposed individual perspectives as inherently isolated, incomplete, parochial, and flawed. Broader inclusion of diverse opinions was thus justified as an indispensible check of individual view for optimal outcome. Chapter 1 explores the intellectual transformation from the Neo-Confucian premises to elitist-popularism, in which the daoxue assumptions of individual access to absolute truth, and of the linear transmission of orthodox learning through an enlightened minority (daotong) were questioned. In contrast, the popularist notions emphasized the fallibility of any individuals, justified spontaneous consensus, and advocated horizontal inclusion of ideas in collective reasoning. Chapter 2 examines the political disputes concerning the "collective recommendation (huitui)" in the late Ming administration, arguing that proponents of huitui, through re-inventing this tradition, sought to moderate the imperial power in important bureaucratic appointments and to promote broader political participation and greater transparency in policy-making. Chapter 3 explores the institutional innovations relating to the fangdan questionnaires, which served as a quantitative means for substantiating the conceived popular opinion in late-Ming officialdom. Beneath these institutional reforms was the popularist orientation that saw commonly shared opinion as innately outweighing individual views. Chapter 4 stresses the centrality of the popularist discourse in the late-Ming Jiangnan literati's activism, arguing that the collective strategies facilitated the local literati's agendas of defending common status and shared interests out of the fear of downward social mobility in a society of increasing identity fluidity. Chapter 5 discusses the cultural impact of the popularist discourse by demonstrating how the collective approach posed challenges to the prevailing Neo-Confucian moral absolutism, brought about a new definition of learning as cumulative, inclusive, open-ended process of public reasoning, and spurred the florescence of encyclopedias, compendia, and anthologies as "the market of knowledge/ideas" for the audience to choose. Taken together, these case studies show a profound change in late-Ming China's political, intellectual and cultural landscape reshaped by a collective orientation.East Asian Languages and Civilizations
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Celik, Faika. ""Community in motion": Gypsies in Ottoman imperial state policy, public morality and at the Sharia court of Uskudar (1530s-1585s)." Thesis, McGill University, 2014. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=121114.
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This dissertation explores the position of Gypsies in the sixteenth century Ottoman Empire in an engagement with the formidable material, historiographical and conceptual challenges that this venture entails. These challenges stem from the limitations of the sources on Gypsies, the variety of narratives produced in contemporary scholarship on the history of Gypsies and deployment of contested concepts such as "marginality," "ethnicity" and "race" with almost no problematization, contextualization and historicization. Chapter one discusses theoretical and conceptual challenges through looking at various studies on those positioned on the margins, chapter two deals with the material challenges and introduces the historical sources and their limitations. Here I pay particular attention on the court records and how they have been used in Ottoman historiography up until now, as the court records of Üsküdar extending from 1530 – 1585 constitute the backbone of this dissertation. Following this methodological overview of the sources, Chapter three and four are a macro analysis of Ottoman social and moral landscapes. Here an attempt is made to position Gypsies within this contested landscape. Then the thesis takes a rather micro turn, though it should not be considered as a micro-history. In chapter five, Üsküdar's local court and its records are introduced as well as some of the problems encountered in studying Gypsies through the prism of these court records. Chapter six is where my argument comes together and binds the various parts of the dissertation. Reading the court records in communication with the kanunnames, mühimme registers and published research on the tahrir registers, it is an attempt to demonstrate hybridity and diversity within the community of Gypsies. After demonstrating this diversity within the category 'Gypsy', chapter seven attempts to analyze how the Ottoman Imperial state appropriated what I call a "community in motion" at various levels into its administrative system. Through considering the state's various policies especially those regarding taxation, settlement and the incorporation of many Gypsies in the Balkans within the structure of the auxiliary military forces – müsellems - yet at the same time (ideally) excluding them from joining the Janissary corps, I argue that the Ottoman state policy vis a vis Gypsies in the sixteenth century Balkan and Anatolia was neither uniform nor did the ruling authorities have a singular and monolithic view of Gypsies. One of the main conclusions of this dissertation is that the legal, social and economic status of Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century is much more complicated than what can merely be characterized as marginalization or toleration. The interaction of the Gypsies, both with the state and with the Ottoman society at large, was simultaneously both hostile and symbiotic.Ce mémoire étudie la position des tziganes dans l'Empire ottoman du seizième siècle en engageant avec les défis matériaux, historiographiques et conceptuels formidables qu'entraine cette entreprise. Ces défis proviennent des sources limités sur les tziganes, des récits variables de la recherche contemporaine sur leur histoire, et l'emploi de concepts contestés comme la marginalité, l'ethnicité et la race sans aucun effort de problématisation, contextualisation ou historicisation. Le premier chapitre discute les défis théoriques et conceptuels à travers plusieurs études sur les marginalisés, tandis que le deuxième chapitre fait connaître les défis documentaires en introduisant les matériaux historiques et leurs limitations. Ici je concentre sur les documents judiciaires et la manière dans laquelle on les a exploités dans l'historiographie ottomane jusqu'à présent, et ca parce que les documents d'Üsküdar qui datent des années 1530-1585 représentent le noyau de ce mémoire. Enchainant avec ce survol des sources, les troisième et quatrième chapitres constituent une macroanalyse du paysage social et morale. Une tentative est faite ici à localiser les tziganes dans ce paysage. À ce point, le mémoire tourne vers le plan micro, sans pour autant devenir une micro-histoire en soi. Dans le cinquième chapitre, la cour régionale d'Üsküdar et ses documents judiciaires sont introduits ainsi que certains problèmes qui se présentent dans l'étude des tziganes à travers le prisme de ces documents. Le sixième chapitre représente le cœur de mon argumentation et c'est ici ou sont liés les différents fils du mémoire. Une lecture des documents judiciaires dans le contexte des kanunnames, registres mühimme et la recherche publiée sur les registres tahrir, montre l'hybridisme et la diversité à l'intérieur de la communauté tzigane. Après cette démonstration de la diversité au sein de cette catégorie dite «tzigane», le septième chapitre tente d'analyser comment l'état impérial ottoman a su intégrer ce que j'appelle une communauté mobile dans son système administrative. Par une considération de leurs politiques, surtout ceux de l'imposition, de l'installation et de l'incorporation de plusieurs tziganes balkaniques aux rangs des forces auxiliaires militaires – müsellems -- tout en leur refusant d'entrée dans le corps Janissaire. Je maintiens que la politique d'état ottomane vis-à-vis les tziganes dans les Balkans et l'Anatolie durant le seizième siècle n'était ni uniforme ni astucieux. Les autorités n'avait qu'une vue singulière et monolithique des tziganes. Un des principales conclusions du mémoire est que le statut légal, social, et économique des tziganes dans l'Empire ottoman à cette époque était d'une complexité qui dépasse nos caractérisations de marginalité ou tolérance. L'interaction des tziganes avec l'état, ainsi qu'avec la société ottomane, était simultanément hostile et symbiotique.
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Witzel, Oliver. "Non-Hermitian polynomial hybrid Monte Carlo." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät I, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15805.
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In dieser Dissertation werden algorithmische Verbesserungen und Varianten für Simulationen der zwei-Flavor Gitter QCD mit dynamischen Fermionen studiert. Der O(a)-verbesserte Dirac-Wilson-Operator wird im Schrödinger Funktional mit einem Update des Hybrid Monte Carlo (HMC)-Typs verwendet. Sowohl der Hermitische als auch der nicht-Hermitische Operator werden betrachtet. Für den Hermitischen Dirac-Wilson-Operator untersuchen wir die Vorteile des symmetrischen gegenüber dem asymmetrischen Gerade-Ungerade-Präkonditionierens, wie man von einem mehr Zeitskalen-Integrator profitieren kann, sowie die Auswirkungen der kleinsten Eigenwerte auf die Stabilität des HMC Algorithmus. Im Fall des nicht-Hermitischen Operators leiten wir eine (semi)-analytische Schranke für das Spektrum her und zeigen eine Methode, um Informationen über den spektralen Rand zu gewinnen, indem wir komplexe Eigenwerte mit dem Lanczos-Algorithmus abschätzen. Diese spektralen Ränder erlauben es, Vorzüge des symmetrischen Gerade-Ungerade-Präkonditionierens oder den Effekt des Sheikholeslami-Wohlert-Terms für das Spektrum des nicht-Hermitischen Operators zu zeigen. Unter Verwendung der Informationen des spektralen Randes konstruieren wir angepasste, komplexe, skalierte und verschobene Tschebyschow Polynome zur Approximation des inversen Dirac-Wilson-Operators. Basierend auf diesen Polynomen entwickeln wir eine neue HMC-Variante, genannt nicht-Hermitischer polynomialer Hybrid Monte Carlo (NPHMC). Sie erlaubt, vom Importance Sampling unter Kompensation mit einem Gewichtungsfaktor abzuweichen. Zudem wird eine Erweiterung durch Anwendung des Hasenbusch-Tricks abgeleitet. Erste Größen der Leistungsfähigkeit, die die Abhängingkeit von den Eingabeparametern als auch einen Vergleich mit unserem Standard-HMC zeigen, werden präsentiert. Im Vergleich der beiden ein-Pseudofermion-Varianten ist der neue NPHMC etwas besser; eine eindeutige Aussage im Fall der zwei-Pseudofermion-Variante ist noch nicht möglich.In this thesis algorithmic improvements and variants for two-flavor lattice QCD simulations with dynamical fermions are studied using the O(a)-improved Dirac-Wilson operator in the Schrödinger functional setup and employing a hybrid Monte Carlo-type (HMC) update. Both, the Hermitian and the Non-Hermitian operator are considered. For the Hermitian Dirac-Wilson operator we investigate the advantages of symmetric over asymmetric even-odd preconditioning, how to gain from multiple time scale integration as well as how the smallest eigenvalues affect the stability of the HMC algorithm. In case of the non-Hermitian operator we first derive (semi-)analytical bounds on the spectrum before demonstrating a method to obtain information on the spectral boundary by estimating complex eigenvalues with the Lanzcos algorithm. These spectral boundaries allow to visualize the advantage of symmetric even-odd preconditioning or the effect of the Sheikholeslami-Wohlert term on the spectrum of the non-Hermitian Dirac-Wilson operator. Taking advantage of the information of the spectral boundary we design best-suited, complex, scaled and translated Chebyshev polynomials to approximate the inverse Dirac-Wilson operator. Based on these polynomials we derive a new HMC variant, named non-Hermitian polynomial Hybrid Monte Carlo (NPHMC), which allows to deviate from importance sampling by compensation with a reweighting factor. Furthermore an extension employing the Hasenbusch-trick is derived. First performance figures showing the dependence on the input parameters as well as a comparison to our standard HMC are given. Comparing both algorithms with one pseudo-fermion, we find the new NPHMC to be slightly superior, whereas a clear statement for the two pseudo-fermion variants is yet not possible.
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Scheipers, Sibylle. "Souveränität und Menschenrechte verhandeln." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät III, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15806.
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Die Dissertationsschrift stellt die erste systematische Studie des transatlantischen Konflikts über den Internationalen Strafgerichtshof (IStGH) aus politikwissenschaftlicher Perspektive dar. Der Fall des IStGH wird häufig als ein Beleg für transatlantische Spannungen im Hinblick auf das Völkerrecht und die Arbeit internationaler Organisationen zitiert bzw. als ein Indikator für eine zunehmend unilaterale Außenpolitik der USA aufgefasst. Obwohl der IStGH somit einen prominenten Platz auf der Agenda der transatlantischen Beziehungen einnimmt, wurden die Umstände, die zu dem Konflikt über seine Errichtung zwischen Europa und den USA führten bis dato noch nicht eingehend wissenschaftlich untersucht. In dieser Hinsicht betritt die eingereichte Dissertation Neuland. Sie geht über die vage Klassifikation von US-amerikanischem Unilateralismus versus europäischem Multilateralismus hinaus, indem sie sich systematisch den folgenden Fragen zuwendet: Was sind die Gründe für die unnachgiebige Opposition der USA gegen den IStGH? Warum gaben sowohl Großbritannien als auch Frankreich ihre Allianz mit den USA hinsichtlich des Gerichtshofs auf und unterstützten schließlich einen unabhängigen IStGH? Die Hypothese der Dissertation lautet, dass die wesentlichen Ursachen für den transatlantischen Konflikt über den IStGH in unterschiedlichen Auffassungen von Kernnormen der internationalen Beziehungen liegen, insbesondere in voneinander abweichenden Interpretationen des Prinzips der Souveränität und des Konzepts der Menschenrechte.The dissertation provides the first systematic study of the transatlantic conflict about the International Criminal Court (ICC) from an international studies point of view. Although the case of the ICC has often been quoted as an example of increasing US unilateralism or as an indicator for a growing divergence in US-American and European approaches to international law and international organisations, it has been rarely analysed on its own. The book therefore makes a contribution on a pertinent and timely topic in the field of transatlantic relations. It aims to go beyond the rather sketchy classifications of US unilateralism versus European multilateralism by systematically addressing the following questions: What accounts for the US’ unrelenting opposition to the ICC? Why did both France and the United Kingdom abandon the alliance with the US with respect to the ICC and eventually opted for a strong and independent Court, thereby aligning themselves with the other EU member states? The hypothesis of the book is that the main reason for the transatlantic differences in the positions towards the court lies in divergent understandings of core norms of international relations, most importantly sovereignty and human rights.
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Rinn, Gregor M. "Das Automobil als nationales Identifikationssymbol." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät I, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15801.
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Thema der Dissertation ist das Automobil als nationales Identifikationssymbol der Deutschen zwischen 1933 und 1974. Dabei wird die öffentliche Wahrnehmung des Automobils mit der Frage nach nationalen Identitätskonstruktionen verknüpft. Forschungsgegenstand ist die diskursive Repräsentation des Autos in der politischen Öffentlichkeit, insbesondere die Bedeutungs- bzw. Symbolzusammenhänge, die zwischen dem Auto und der Nation hergestellt wurden. Die politische Symbolik des Automobils offenbart zwei übergreifende Kontinuitätslinien im nationalen Selbstverständnis über die Epochenzäsur von 1945 hinweg. Erstens eine Modernitätskonzeption, die bereits vor 1945 die Verheißung einer breiten Wohlstandspartizipation barg und in der die Umrisse einer Konsumgesellschaft unter völkischen Vorzeichen erkennbar wurden, sowie zweitens den Topos eines an nationalen Traditionen orientierten deutschen Sonderwegs in die Moderne. Zentrales Bestimmungsstück dieses unterstellten Sonderwegs ist eine bereits von der NS-Propaganda als spezifisch deutsch dargestellte Tugend der Zweckmäßigkeit, die auch in den Nachkriegsjahrzehnten noch durch das Automobil verkörpert wurde.This dissertation looks at automobile in Germany between 1933 and 1974 as a symbol of national identification. It deals with the perception of cars in the public opinion and how this perception was influenced by the construction of a national identity. The political symbolism of the automobile reveals two aspects in the national identity of Germany that were greatly influcenced by NS-Ideology and which persisted well into the 50’s. First the concept of modernization based on mass consumption and economic participation of broad parts of the population, revealing the contours of a consumer society along racial terms. And secondly the idea of a particular German way into the modern era, which was being contrasted with the “American Way of Life”. In this context the German automobile became the symbol of a specific usefulness which was regarded to be a German virtue.
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Jain, Sarika. "Role and regulation of the heat shock proteins Hsp90 alpha and beta in Multiple Myeloma." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät I, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15809.
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Das Multiple Myelom (MM) ist eine hämatologische Erkrankung, welche sich durch eine Akkumulation von malignen Plasmazellen im Knochenmark auszeichnet und eine gestörte Hämatopoiese und Osteolyse zur Folge hat. Komplexe molekulare Interaktionen zwischen MM-Zellen und der Mikroumgebung/Nische im Knochenmark (bone marrow microenvironment, BMM) führen zu einer Aktivierung von verschiedenen Wachstums-, Überlebens- und anti-apoptotischen Signalwegen, die zur Entstehung bzw. Wirkstoffresistenz von MM-Zellen beitragen. IL-6R/STAT3, Ras/MAPK und PI3K/Akt sind die drei wichtigsten Signalwege, die mit dem Wachstum und der Entwicklung des MM assoziiert sind. Auf der anderen Seite sind Myelomzellen insensitiv gegenüber einer Blockade des IL6R/STAT3-Signalweges bzw. des Ras/MAPK-Signalwegs in der Gegenwart von Knochenmarksstromazellen (bone marrow stroma cells, BMSCs), was die Entbehrlichkeit dieser beiden Signalwege unter Ko-Kultur-Bedingungen nahelegt. Interessanterweise aber induziert die gleichzeitige Unterbrechung der IL6R/STAT3 und Ras/MAPK Signalwege Apoptose in MM-Zellen. Ziel der Arbeit war die Identifizierung und Analyse von Zielgenen, die von beiden Signalwegen und nicht durch einen Signalweg alleine reguliert werden. Genexpressionsanalysen zeigten eine deutliche Herunterregulierung der Proteine Hsp90alpha und Hsp90beta nach einer gleichzeitigen Inhibition der IL6R/STAT3 und Ras/MAPK Signalwege. In Hinblick auf die zentrale Rolle von Hsp90 in der Tumorbiologie fokussiert sich die vorliegende Arbeit auf die Erforschung der Rolle von Hsp90 im Multiplen Myelom. Die siRNA-vermittelte Herunterregulation der Proteinexpression von Hsp90-Proteinen zeigte, daß das Ausschalten von HsP90alpha alleine nur zu einer moderaten Apoptoseinduktion in INA-6- und MM.1s-Zellen führte. Die gleichzeitige Herunterregulation von HsP90beta hingegen führte zu einer Verstärkung dieses Effektes und deutet darauf hin, daß beide Proteine miteinander kooperieren. Die pharmakologische Inhibition der Hsp90-Funktion mittels eines neuen Hsp90-Inhibitors (17-DMAG) führte zu einer Verringerung von phospho-ERK1/2, zur Degradation von STAT3 und zu einem verminderten Überleben von MM-Zellen. Die pro-apoptotischen Effekte der gestörten Hsp90-Funktion konnten weder durch BMSCs und Osteoklasten noch durch ECs (??) abgeschwächt werden, obwohl für ECs beschrieben wurde, daß sie zum Wachstum und Überleben von MM-Zellen beitragen können. Diese Beobachtungen deuten auf einen positiven Rückkopplungskreislauf zwischen HsP90alpha/beta und den wichtigsten Signalwegen hin, welcher das Überleben von MM-Zellen gewährleistet. Desweiteren zeigten immunhistologische Analysen, daß Hsp90-Proteine im Vergleich zu MGUS (??) bzw. normalen Plasmazellen in MM-Plasmazellen hochreguliert sind. Zusammengefasst zeigen die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeit die essentielle Rolle von Hsp90-Proteinen für die Überlebensfähigkeit von MM-Zellen. Ein neuer Mechanismus der Hsp90-Regulation durch das Zusammenwirken der Signalwege IL6R/STAT3 und Ras/MAPK in MM-Zellen konnte gezeigt werden. Darüber hinaus deuten die Ergebnisse darauf hin, daß ein positiver Rückkopplungskreislauf zwischen Hsp90-Proteinen und den wichtigsten Signalwegen existiert, welcher zum Wachstum und zur Entwicklung von MM-Zellen beiträgt. Die Inhibition der Hsp90-Funktion durch den pharmakologischen Inhibitor 17-DMAG führte zum Absterben von MM-Zellen und der pro-apoptotische Effekt der Hsp90-Depletion konnte nicht durch unterstützende BMM-Zellen aufgehoben werden. Diese Beobachtungen untermauern die multifunktionelle Rolle von Hsp90 in der MM-Biologie und zeigen die Wichtigkeit der Entwicklung neuer therapeutischer Wirkstoffe zur Inhibition der Hsp90-Funktion bei der Behandlung des MM.Multiple myeloma (MM) is a haematological malignancy characterised by the accumulation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow leading to impaired haematopoiesis and osteolytic bone destruction. Intricate molecular interactions between MM cells and the BMM activate a diverse set of growth, survival and anti-apoptotic signaling cascades that mediate tumor progression and drug resistance. IL-6R/STAT3, Ras/MAPK and PI3K/Akt are the three major signal transduction pathways that are associated with MM growth and progression. However, myeloma cells have shown independence from IL-6R/STAT3 blockade or insensitivity towards Ras/MAPK pathway inhibition in the presence of BMSCs, indicating the dispensability of both in co-culture conditions. Interestingly, concomitant disruption of both IL-6R/STAT3 and Ras/MAPK pathways was successful to drive MM cells into significant apoptosis. This study aimed to identify and analyse the downstream target genes that are regulated by both pathways and not by either pathway alone. Gene expression profiling revealed prominent downregulation of Hsp90alpha and Hsp90beta proteins after combined inhibition of the IL-6R/STAT3 and Ras/MAPK pathways. Owing to the important role played by Hsp90 in cancer biology, this study was narrowed down to investigate the role of Hsp90 in MM. Specific siRNA-mediated knockdown of Hsp90 proteins showed that although knockdown of Hsp90beta was sufficient to induce moderate apoptosis in INA-6 and MM.1s cells, the effect was more pronounced when both Hsp90 proteins were targeted, indicating co-operation between them. Pharmacological inhibition of Hsp90 function by using a novel Hsp90 inhibitor (17-DMAG) down-regulated the levels of pERK1/2 and led to degradation of STAT3 and decreased viability of MM cells. The pro-apoptotic effects of compromised Hsp90 function could not be alleviated by either BMSCs, OCs or ECs, which are well-known to support myeloma growth and survival. These observations point to the existence of a positive feedback loop consisting of Hsp90alpha/beta and major signaling pathways supporting MM cell survival. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis unveiled the up-regulated status of Hsp90 proteins in MM PCs as compared to MGUS or normal PCs. Taken together, the results of this study explain the critical contribution of Hsp90 proteins to MM cell survival. A novel mechanism of Hsp90 regulation by co-operation between the IL-6R/STAT3 and Ras/MAPK pathways was discovered in myeloma cells. There is also strong evidence of the existence of a positive feedback loop between Hsp90alpha/beta proteins and major signaling pathways supporting MM growth and progression. Inhibition of Hsp90 function by using the Hsp90 inhibitory drug 17-DMAG proved to be lethal for myeloma cells and the pro-apoptotic effects of Hsp90 blockade could not be reversed by the presence of cells from the supportive BMM. These observations highlight a multi-functional role of Hsp90 in MM biology and strongly strengthen the notion that therapeutic strategies targeting Hsp90 may open new perspectives for anti-myeloma drug development.
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Heinz, Sebastian. "Preservation of quasiconvexity and quasimonotonicity in polynomial approximation of variational problems." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15808.
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Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit drei Klassen ausgewählter nichtlinearer Probleme, die Forschungsgegenstand der angewandten Mathematik sind. Diese Probleme behandeln die Minimierung von Integralen in der Variationsrechnung (Kapitel 3), das Lösen partieller Differentialgleichungen (Kapitel 4) und das Lösen nichtlinearer Optimierungsaufgaben (Kapitel 5). Mit deren Hilfe lassen sich unterschiedlichste Phänomene der Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaften sowie der Ökonomie mathematisch modellieren. Als konkretes Beispiel werden mathematische Modelle der Theorie elastischer Festkörper betrachtet. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit besteht darin, ein gegebenes nichtlineares Problem durch polynomiale Probleme zu approximieren. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, beschäftigt sich ein großer Teil der vorliegenden Arbeit mit der polynomialen Approximation von nichtlinearen Funktionen. Den Ausgangspunkt dafür bildet der Weierstraßsche Approximationssatz. Auf der Basis dieses bekannten Satzes und eigener Sätze wird als Hauptresultat der vorliegenden Arbeit gezeigt, dass im Übergang von einer gegebenen Funktion zum approximierenden Polynom wesentliche Eigenschaften der gegebenen Funktion erhalten werden können. Die wichtigsten Eigenschaften, für die dies bisher nicht bekannt war, sind: Quasikonvexität im Sinne der Variationsrechnung, Quasimonotonie im Zusammenhang mit partiellen Differentialgleichungen sowie Quasikonvexität im Sinne der nichtlinearen Optimierung (Theoreme 3.16, 4.10 und 5.5). Schließlich wird gezeigt, dass die zu den untersuchten Klassen gehörenden nichtlinearen Probleme durch polynomiale Probleme approximiert werden können (Theoreme 3.26, 4.16 und 5.8). Die dieser Approximation zugrunde liegende Konvergenz garantiert sowohl eine Approximation im Parameterraum als auch eine Approximation im Lösungsraum. Für letztere werden die Konzepte der Gamma-Konvergenz (Epi-Konvergenz) und der G-Konvergenz verwendet.In this thesis, we are concerned with three classes of non-linear problems that appear naturally in various fields of science, engineering and economics. In order to cover many different applications, we study problems in the calculus of variation (Chapter 3), partial differential equations (Chapter 4) as well as non-linear programming problems (Chapter 5). As an example of possible applications, we consider models of non-linear elasticity theory. The aim of this thesis is to approximate a given non-linear problem by polynomial problems. In order to achieve the desired polynomial approximation of problems, a large part of this thesis is dedicated to the polynomial approximation of non-linear functions. The Weierstraß approximation theorem forms the starting point. Based on this well-known theorem, we prove theorems that eventually lead to our main result: A given non-linear function can be approximated by polynomials so that essential properties of the function are preserved. This result is new for three properties that are important in the context of the considered non-linear problems. These properties are: quasiconvexity in the sense of the calculus of variation, quasimonotonicity in the context of partial differential equations and quasiconvexity in the sense of non-linear programming (Theorems 3.16, 4.10 and 5.5). Finally, we show the following: Every non-linear problem that belongs to one of the three considered classes of problems can be approximated by polynomial problems (Theorems 3.26, 4.16 and 5.8). The underlying convergence guarantees both the approximation in the parameter space and the approximation in the solution space. In this context, we use the concepts of Gamma-convergence (epi-convergence) and of G-convergence.
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Peters, Maike Vivian. "Photoschaltbare Katalysatoren." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät I, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15807.
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Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Kontrolle über bestimmte Eigenschaften von Molekülen. Dabei lag ein besonderes Interesse auf der Steuerung der Zugänglichkeit eines katalytisch aktiven Zentrums durch die großen geometrischen Veränderungen bei der E->Z Isomerie von photochromen Verbindungen. Ein weiterer Vorteil dieser photochromen Verbindungen liegt in der Reversibilität der E-Z Isomerisierung, so dass das katalytische Zentrum mehrmals „an“ und „aus“ geschaltet werden kann. In der Literatur sind nur sehr wenige Beispiele solcher photoschaltbaren Katalysatoren bekannt. Diese besitzen teilweise schwerwiegende Nachteile, wie z.B. geringe Reaktivitätsunterschiede oder eine begrenzte Anwendbarkeit, aufweisen. Die Aufgabe in dieser Arbeit bestand in der Entwicklung eines neuen photoschaltbaren Katalysatorsystems, welches sich durch größere Reaktivitätsunterschiede und eine breitere Anwendbarkeit auszeichnet. Das erste Design bestand aus einem photoschaltbaren Metalloporphyrin als Katalysator für Polymerisations- oder Oxidationsreaktionen. Nach erfolgreicher Synthese wurden die Schalteigenschaften untersucht. In einem zweiten Design wurde ein photoschaltbarer Organokatalysator hergestellt und dessen Schaltverhalten, sowie dessen Eignung als Katalysator in einer generellen Basenkatalyse, erfolgreich getestet.The aim of this work was to control the properties of molecules. Our special interest lies in controlling the accessibility of a catalytic active center by using the big geometric changes of photochromic groups, such as E->Z isomerization of azobenzene or stilben. Another advantage of these photochromes is the reversibility of the Z -> E isomerization, so that the catalytic active center can be switched several times. Only few examples of photoswitchable catalysts are known in literature, having several disadvantages like small activity ratios or narrow scope. The goal of this work was to design a new photoswitchable catalyst having bigger activity ratios and broader applicability. The first design consisted of a photoswitchable metalloporphyrin as catalyst for polymerization or oxidation reactions. After successful synthesis the switching properties were investigated, showing no isomerization possibility. In a second approach a photoswitchable organo catalyst was established. The switching properties were investigated and the catalyst was successfully tested in general base catalysis.
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Borak, Szymon. "Dynamic semiparametric factor models." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15802.
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Hochdimensionale Regressionsprobleme, die sich dynamisch entwickeln, sind in zahlreichen Bereichen der Wissenschaft anzutreffen. Die Dynamik eines solchen komplexen Systems wird typischerweise mittels der Zeitreiheneigenschaften einer geringen Anzahl von Faktoren analysiert. Diese Faktoren wiederum sind mit zeitinvarianten Funktionen von explikativen Variablen bewichtet. Diese Doktorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit einem dynamischen semiparametrischen Faktormodell, dass nichtparametrische Bewichtungsfunktionen benutzt. Zu Beginn sollen kurz die wichtigsten statistischen Methoden diskutiert werden um dann auf die Eigenschaften des verwendeten Modells einzugehen. Im Anschluss folgt die Diskussion einiger Anwendungen des Modellrahmens auf verschiedene Datensätze. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit wird auf die Dynamik der so genannten Implizierten Volatilität und das daraus resultierende Faktor-Hedging von Barrier Optionen gerichtet.High-dimensional regression problems which reveal dynamic behavior occur frequently in many different fields of science. The dynamics of the whole complex system is typically analyzed by time propagation of few number of factors, which are loaded with time invariant functions of exploratory variables. In this thesis we consider dynamic semiparametric factor model, which assumes nonparametric loading functions. We start with a short discussion of related statistical techniques and present the properties of the model. Additionally real data applications are discussed with particular focus on implied volatility dynamics and resulting factor hedging of barrier options.
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Röder, Levin D. "Theater der Schrift." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät II, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15800.
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Eine Reihe literaturwissenschaftlicher Arbeiten seit Anfang der Neunzigerjahre bezeugt das lebhafte Interesse an der subjektiven Verfasstheit von Müllers Schreiben. Keine jedoch widmet sich erschöpfend Müllers als Autobiografie ausgewiesenem Text KRIEG OHNE SCHLACHT – LEBEN IN ZWEI DIKTATUREN. Zu Ehren kam der Text bislang nur als Zitatsteinbruch, Interpretationshilfe und umfangreiche poetologische Materialsammlung. Zumeist wird das Werk als gültiger Beleg der Intention müllerschen Schreibens herangezogen und erlangt damit einen unzulässigen Grad an Deutungshoheit. Dabei wird die poetische Dimension des Textes oft nur unzureichend reflektiert oder gänzlich missachtet. Die vorliegende textkritische Untersuchung soll dazu beitragen, die Forschungslücke in der einschlägigen Sekundärliteratur zu schließen und dazu anregen, das Potenzial Müllers enormen und vielgestaltigen Werkes jenseits seiner als Theaterarbeiten ausgewiesenen Texte wahrzunehmen und in Bewegung zu setzen. Nach einführenden Darstellungen zu Rezeptionssituation und Forschungsstand, der Diskussion spezifischer poetologischer Fragestellungen im Allgemeinen wie solcher der Autobiografieforschung im Besonderen, der Untersuchung der Genese und formaler Besonderheiten des Textes, analysiert die vorliegende Arbeit vor allem die strukturellen Wirkungsmechanismen, die Müllers disparate Selbstexplikation zum Auto-Drama werden lassen. Die Rückführung der Bedeutungsgeneration auf die strukturästhetischen Wirkungsmechanismen scheint insofern geeignet, als sie durch Textnähe und punktuelle Analyse der Textgenese Müllers Strategie der Selbst-Dekonstruktion sehr nahe kommt. Zumal Müller seine »Lebenserzählung« nach ähnlichen Strukturprinzipien aufbaut, wie seine anderen »poetischen« Texte auch. Aus der Beschreibung der disparaten Äußerungsformen des autobiografischen Ichs ergeben sich die textimmanenten Strategien der überaus komplexen Selbstinszenierung Müllers, sein »Theater der Schrift«.Since the early 1990s a number of literary papers testify the vivid interest in the subjective composition of Müller’s writing. But none of these detailed devotes to Müller’s as autobiography assigned text WAR WITHOUT BATTLE – LIFE IN TWO DICTATORSHIPS. Until now the text has been only used as quarry of quotations, aid of interpretation and extensive poetological collection of material. Mainly the work is used as evidence of the intention of Müller’s writing and therefore receives an inadmissible degree of sovereignty of interpretation. The poetical dimension of the text is often inadequately reflected or even totally neglected and ignored. This text-critical examination will contribute to close this gap of research within the relevant secondary literature and encourage the recognition and discussion of the potential of Müller’s enormous and multifarious work beyond his as theatre work assigned texts. After the introduction of the situation of reception and the status of current research, the discussion of specific poetological questions in general such as autobiographical research, examination of genesis and formal specific features of texts, this paper will analyse the structural mechanisms of effect, which turn Müller’s disparate self-explication into an auto-drama. It seems suitable to return the meaning of generation on the structure-esthetical mechanisms of effect, as the proximity of text and selective analysis of the genesis of text is very close to Müller’s strategy of self-deconstruction. Particularly as Müller constructs his »Lebenserzählung« to similar structural principals as well as others of his »poetical« texts. The description of the disparate form of expression of the autobiographic I result in the text-immanent strategies of the enormous complex self-dramatisation of Müller; his »Theater der Schrift«.
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Brüggemann, Stefanie. "Zur Rezeption von Triumphbögen in der italienischen Renaissancemalerei." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät III, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15804.
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Zwei Beobachtungen bilden den Ausgangspunkt dieser Arbeit: Zum einen sind in der zweiten Hälfte des Quattrocento in der italienischen Malerei auffallend viele Bilder zu finden, in denen Triumphbögen die Hintergründe beherrschen. Zum anderen haben sich einige der berühmtesten Maler der Zeit wiederholt mit dem Motiv Triumphbogen auseinandergesetzt: Botticelli, Mantegna, Ghirlandaio und Perugino. Im Zentrum der Arbeit steht der individuelle Umgang der Künstler mit dem antiken Monument. Es stellen sich die Fragen, auf welchem Wissenstand die Auseinandersetzung mit antiker Architektur durch die Maler basiert und in welchem Verhältnis in ihren Werken Studium, Rekonstruktion und künstlerische Imagination stehen. Um die Grundlage zu diesen Überlegungen zu schaffen, werden im ersten Teil der Arbeit zahlreiche Quellentexte daraufhin befragt, welche zeitgenössischen Auffassungen über die Genese, die Funktion und die Bedeutung römischer Triumphbögen es gab. Außerdem ergibt die Analyse der Texte eine Bestandsaufnahme des Ausgangsmaterials: Aus ihnen geht hervor, zu welcher Zeit welche Triumphbögen wahrgenommen wurden, welche Monumente den Malern überhaupt als Vorbilder zur Verfügung standen. Einer Fülle von Architekturzeichnungen ist zu entnehmen, auf welche Weise Probleme der Rekonstruktion gelöst wurden. Auf Bildern ist die Vermischung von archäologischer Treue und freier Umarbeitung besonders groß. Im Hauptteil geht es deshalb um die Frage, welche Sicht Künstler auf die antiken Bauten hatten und nach welchen Methoden sie verfuhren, um sie in ihre Bilder einzufügen. Dazu gehören Untersuchungen sowohl der Art und Weise der formalen Aneignung römischer Vorbilder, des Verständnisses ihrer baulichen Funktion, der Rolle, die in diesem Zusammenhang die alltäglichen visuellen Erfahrungen für die Wiedergabe und Interpretation dieser Bauten spielten, als auch der Ikonographie, der inhaltlichen Bedeutung, die Triumphbögen in Bildern haben.Two observations form the starting-point of this thesis: On the one hand there is a remarkable number of pictures whose backgrounds are dominated by triumphal arches in the second half of the Quattrocento in Italian painting. On the other hand some of the most famous painters of the time explored this motif repeatedly: Botticelli, Mantegna, Ghirlandaio and Perugino. The centre of this thesis is dedicated to the individual treatment of the antique monument by the artists. It implies questions in regard to the level of knowledge on which the painter’s exploration with antique architecture was based and to the relation between study, reconstruction and artistical imagination in their works. To create the basis for these considerations, in the first part of the thesis numerous sources are consulted with regard to the contemporary conceptions on genesis, function and meaning of Roman triumphal arches. In addition the analysis of the sources results in an account of the material: The sources reveal at which time what kind of arches have been perceived, which monuments have been actually available as models to the painters. How problems of reconstruction have been solved can be inferred from a vast number of architectural drawings. In the paintings the mixture of archeological faithfulness and free interpretation is especially obvious. Therefore the main part of the thesis is about the question which point of view on the antique architectures the artists had and which methods they applied to introduce them into their paintings. To this aspect also belong examinations of the kind of the formal acquisition of Roman models, of the understanding of their structural function, of the role, which the everyday visual experiences played for the reproduction and interpretation of these buildings, as well as of the iconography, the meaning the triumphal arches had in the paintings.
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Regehly, Martin. "Photoinduced transfer processes in complex carrier systems for photodynamic therapy." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät I, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/15803.
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Der Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die photophysikalische Untersuchung von drei unterschiedlichen Photosensibilisator-Transportsystemen hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung für die photodynamische Therapie. In Fulleren-Pyropheophorbid-a-Konjugaten (P6, FHP6, FP6) finden nach Lichtabsorption effiziente Energietransferprozesse sowie exzitonische Wechselwirkungen unter den Pyropheophorbid a Chromophoren statt. Exzitonische Interaktionen limitieren das Potential der Komplexe zytotoxischen Singulett-Sauerstoff unter Lichtanregung zu generieren. Im Molekül FP6 wurde zusätzlich ein Elektrontransfer vom Pyropheophorbide a zum Fulleren beobachtet. FP6 ist daher für die photodynamische Therapie ungeeignet, kann aber aufgefaßt werden, als die Kombination eines Lichtsammelkomplex mit ladungsseparierendem Zentrum. Weiterhin wurde die Eignung von wasserlöslichen Zinkprotoporphyrin (ZnPP) Polymerkonjugaten als neuartige Photosensibilisatoren für die photodynamische Therapie von soliden Tumoren untersucht. Pegyliertes ZnPP (PEG-ZnPP) bildet mizellare Aggregate in Lösung, wobei die hydrophoben ZnPP Kopfgruppen starke exzitonische Wechselwirkungen unter Lichtanregung eingehen. Dies führt zu einer Unterdrückung der Generierung von Singulett-Sauerstoff in wässriger Lösung. Für ein Styren-Maleinsäure Copolymer, welches ZnPP nicht-kovalent inkorporiert (SMA-ZnPP), wurde ähnliche Resultate gefunden. In-vitro Experimente zeigten, dass die Mizelle nach Aufnahme in die Tumorzellen ihre Integrität verliert und ZnPP monomer freigesetzt wird. Unter Beleuchtung generiert SMA-ZnPP eine hohe Phototoxizität. Polymere Träger-Photosensibilisator Systeme erlauben die Entwicklung effizienter photodynamische Therapien unter der Voraussetzung, das die intramolekularen Transferprozesse unter den Chromophoren gezielt manipuliert werden durch das Trägersystem und somit vorteilhaft genutzt werden können.The main objective of the thesis is the photophysical investigation of three different photosensitizer-carrier systems concerning the applicability of these macromolecules for photodynamic therapy. For hexapyropheophorbide a-fullerene [C60] molecular systems (P6, FHP6, FP6) it was found that after light absorption the pyropheophorbide a chromophores in all three compounds undergo very efficient energy transfer as well as partly excitonic interactions. The last process limits the potential of the compounds to generate cyctotoxic singlet oxygen under illumination. In the molecule FP6 a fast photoinduced electron transfer process from pyropheophorbide a to the fullerene moiety has been observed additionally. FP6 is inapplicable for PDT but this molecule can be considered as a combination of a light-harvesting system consisting of several separate pyropheophorbide a molecules and a charge-separating center. Furthermore the photosensitizing capabilities of water-soluble polymer conjugates of zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP) as novel compounds for photodynamic therapy against solid tumors have been investigated. Pegylated ZnPP (PEG-ZnPP) forms micellar aggregates in solution whereas the hydrophobic ZnPP headgroups undergo strong excitonic interactions under illumination. This leads to suppression of singlet oxygen generation in aqueous solution. For a styrene-maleic acid copolymer incorporating ZnPP in a non-covalent fashion (SMA-ZnPP) similar results have been obtained. In-vitro experiments showed that the polymeric micelle is liberated after tumor cell uptake and ZnPP is released in monomeric form. Under illumination SMA-ZnPP generates strong phototoxicity. Polymer carrier-photosensitizer complexes will allow the development of more efficient PDT treatments under the precondition that the intramolecular transfer processes among photosensitizing molecules are selectively manipulated through the carrier system and therefore beneficially utilized.
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劉劍洪 and Kim-hung Lau. "Ling Mengchu, 1580-1644." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1992. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31210363.
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De, Rosa Andrea. "Metodo di Edge-Detection basato sul calcolo di aree parziali." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15805/.
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In questo lavoro, viene proposto un metodo di Edge-Detection, in immagini rumorose e con sfuocamento. Il problema è stato posto da Marposs, che fornisce sistemi di misura di alta precisione, quindi è stato necessario applicare un metodo di detezione di edges a livello subpixel. È stato utilizzato il funzionale di Perona Malik per il metodo di denoising e un metodo basato sul calcolo di aree parziali per il subpixed edge detection. Il metodo raggiunge dei buoni risultati anche in situazioni di alto di rumore e sfocamento. Verranno mostrati risultati sia riguardo all'accuratezza dell'edge-detection di contorni rettilinei, con varie inclinazioni, che riguardo la ripetibilità. Infine verranno accennati alcuni risultati nel caso di edge curvilinei e possibili sviluppi futuri per migliorarne le prestazioni.
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Camporesi, Francesco. "On the construction of group invariant non expansive operators." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15807/.
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In questa tesi vengono illustrati metodi di topologia computazionale negli ambiti di topological data analysis e shape comparison. Nello specifico, dato uno spazio topologico X e un sottogruppo G di Homeo(X), viene studiato un set di dati Φ composto da funzioni definite su X, continue e limitate, a valori reali. Per farlo si utilizzano degli operatori G-invarianti non espansivi (GINO), che si sono dimostrati efficaci per approssimare la pseudo-distanza naturale. In particolare in questo lavoro vengono studiati metodi per la costruzione di tali operatori, sfruttando le proprietà algebriche delle variabili del problema. È importante osservare che il gruppo G viene sempre considerato come variabile, in quanto un cambio dell’osservatore può generalmente coincidere con un cambio dell’invarianza a cui si è interessati.
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Tombari, Francesca. "Deformation of surfaces in 2D persistent homology." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15809/.
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In the context of 2D persistent homology a new metric has been recently introduced, the coherent matching distance. In order to study this metric, the filtering function is required to present particular “regularity” properties, based on a geometrical construction of the real plane, called extended Pareto grid. This dissertation shows a new result for modifying the extended Pareto grid associated to a filtering function defined on a smooth closed surface, with values in the real plane. In future, the technical result presented here could be used to prove the genericity of the regularity conditions assumed for the filtering function.
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Polimeno, Paolo. "Optical forces in the T-matrix formalism." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15802/.
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Le pinzette ottiche, fasci laser fortemente focalizzati, sono uno strumento cruciale per la manipolazione e lo studio senza contatto meccanico di particelle micro- e nanoscopiche di diversa natura. Presentano tantissime applicazioni interdisciplinari ma, solo di recente, si è riusciti a sviluppare una modellizzazione teorica accurata per il range della mesoscala che vada oltre le forti approssimazioni utilizzate per il calcolo delle forze ottiche su particelle molto più piccole (approssimazione di dipolo) o molto più grandi (ottica geometrica) della lunghezza d'onda della luce. In questo ambito di ricerca si inserisce il nostro lavoro di tesi che si basa sull'utilizzo del metodo della matrice di transizione (T-matrix) per il calcolo delle forze ottiche su particelle sferiche e nanofili alla mesoscala. Il formalismo della T-matrix costituisce attualmente uno dei metodi più accurati per il calcolo dello scattering elettromagnetico da particelle non-sferiche, sia isolate che interagenti in strutture composite. L'idea di espandere i campi incidenti e diffusi in armoniche sferiche vettoriali e di connettere i coefficienti di espansione attraverso una matrice di transizione si è dimostrato estremamente efficace anche nell'ambito della modellizzazione delle forze ottiche. In questo lavoro di tesi, abbiamo studiato le forze ottiche su nano e microstrutture intrappolate. In primo luogo, abbiamo studiato la dipendenza delle forze dalle dimensioni di particelle di morfologia sferica e filiformi (nanofili) di polistirene. Successivamente, abbiamo dimostrato per la prima volta come, rompendo la simmetria cilindrica in nanofili di ossido di zinco, possa essere evidenziata una componente di forza non conservativa legata all'elicità della luce e proporzionale al momento lineare di Belinfante. Gli effetti di questa forza ottica trasversa, tradizionalmente ritenuta 'virtuale', sono stati di recente misurati in esperimenti con onde evanescenti e nell'intrappolamento di nanofili.
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Giommi, Luca. "Prototype of machine learning “as a service” for CMS physics in signal vs background discrimination." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15803/.
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Big volumes of data are collected and analysed by LHC experiments at CERN. The success of this scientific challenges is ensured by a great amount of computing power and storage capacity, operated over high performance networks, in very complex LHC computing models on the LHC Computing Grid infrastructure. Now in Run-2 data taking, LHC has an ambitious and broad experimental programme for the coming decades: it includes large investments in detector hardware, and similarly it requires commensurate investment in the R&D in software and com- puting to acquire, manage, process, and analyse the shear amounts of data to be recorded in the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) era.
The new rise of Artificial Intelligence - related to the current Big Data era, to the technological progress and to a bump in resources democratization and efficient allocation at affordable costs through cloud solutions - is posing new challenges but also offering extremely promising techniques, not only for the commercial world but also for scientific enterprises such as HEP experiments. Machine Learning and Deep Learning are rapidly evolving approaches to characterising and describing data with the potential to radically change how data is reduced and analysed, also at LHC.
This thesis aims at contributing to the construction of a Machine Learning “as a service” solution for CMS Physics needs, namely an end-to-end data-service to serve Machine Learning trained model to the CMS software framework. To this ambitious goal, this thesis work contributes firstly with a proof of concept of a first prototype of such infrastructure, and secondly with a specific physics use-case: the Signal versus Background discrimination in the study of CMS all-hadronic top quark decays, done with scalable Machine Learning techniques.
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Marcatelli, Camilla. "Astrometric and photometric characterization of the PRISMA fish-eye cameras for meteor observations." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15801/.
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The project PRISMA is the first network for systematic surveillance of meteor and atmosphere. More specifically this thesis is about the astrometric and photometric characterization of PRISMA cameras and also the computation of meteoric trajectories. In the first and second chapter there is a general overview of meteor phenomena and a theoric description of meteoroid interaction with the atmosphere. At the beginning of the third chapter there is a description of the project, what it deals with and who partecipates. Then there is the general specification of the Basler camera and the tests that have been conducted on a single camera. These tests have been useful to understand how temperature variations could affect the response of the camera and which magnitude the camera works better. In the fourth chapter it can be find the procedure to clean and subsequently to obtain the catalogs from the images taken with the Basler camera. Then it is explained what is the procedure to arrived at an astrometric solution with the software Scamp. Afterwards the obtained results are illustrated. In the last chapter, the dynamic calculation is explained to get the meteoric trajectory from the astrometric images taken from two stations of PRISMA network, Lignan and Torino.
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Prinzi, Roberta. "Synthesis of functional polymers by flow processes." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15804/.
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Questo lavoro di tesi vuole essere un valido contributo per lo sviluppo di nuove tecnologie nell'ambito della green chemistry soprattutto nell'ambito dei processi a flusso continuo, catalisi e l'utilizzo di polimeri funzionalizzati. Innanzitutto si è portata a termine la sintesi del poli(acrilammide-omocisteina tiolattone), (PAHT) tramite polimerizzazione RAFT. Successivamente il PAHT è stato modificato tramite un sistema a flusso continuo e tecnica "oil-oil" per ottenere un polimero funzionalizzato con gruppi funzionali amminici e tiolici sotto forma di "beads". Il prodotto ottenuto è stato caratterizzato e la struttura è stata quindi confermata; in seguito si è testata l'attività catalitica come catalizzatore eterogeneo per la reazione di Knoevenagel dimostrando risultati positivi. La presenza di diversi gruppi funzionali del polimero capaci di essere facilmente modificati ha reso possibile la post-modificazione delle "beads" di polimero per inserire nuove funzionalità e proprietà quali gruppi solfonici, gruppi metil-metacrilici e nanoparticelle di oro. In conclusione è possibile affermare che tutti gli obiettivi prefissati sono stati ottenuti.
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Lo, Iacono Andrea. "Ruolo della reazione di Water Gas Shift nella produzione di gas di sintesi da bio gas." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15806/.
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The reaction of Water Gas Shift (WGS) plays a key role in the production of H2 or syngas, widely employed in the chemical industry. More than 90% of the H2 is currently produced by Steam Reforming (SR) of the natural gas or low molecular weight hydrocarbons, with an increasing role of its production from alternative sources such as the clean biogas (CBG), mixture of CH4 and CO2 obtained by elimination of S- and N-containing compounds from the gas mixture obtained by anaerobic fermentation of biomass. Compared to the mixture obtained in the SR of the natural gas, that obtained from CBG shows more hard conditions related to a higher CO concentration and a lower Steam/Dry Gas (S/DG) ratio. By hypothesizing a 2 steps process, the tests at high temperature (HTS, 350-450 °C) performed feeding the mixture obtained from CBG showed that Cu/Zn/Al catalysts (Cu 4 wt%) doped with small amount of Ga (Al/Ga = 50) can be usefully employed considering the higher activity and stability in comparison to a reference un-doped catalyst. The H2/CO ratio depended on the amount of the CO in the feed mixture and amount of steam fed. The best performances of the catalyst doped by Ga can be attributed to a higher dispersion and stability of the active phase, such as evidenced by a study of model catalysts and by the DRIFTS analysis in the adsorption/desorption of CO. An alternative to the two steps process is a single step process operating at medium temperature (MTS, 250-350 °C) using only one reactor. On the basis of previous studies, Cu/Zn/Al catalysts (Cu 20 wt%) have been investigated doped with small amounts of promoters (Al/Ce or Al/Zr 50), using a S/DG = 0,55 ratio. At 350°C Ce and Zr improve the catalityc activity, with a deactivation in presence of Zr only of 4%. On the contrary the catalyst containing Ce was stable at increasing reaction temperature.
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Vannozzi, Valerio. "Effetto della lunghezza di ramificazione sulle proprietà finali di copolimeri statistici ottenuti da fonte rinnovabile." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15808/.
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La gestione dei rifiuti plastici, in particolare degli imballaggi primari, risulta un problema fortemente sentito sia dalla società civile che dalle istituzioni, date le ingenti quantità prodotte e il difficile riciclo, che in molti casi non è praticabile a causa della contaminazione con materia organica e comunque non economicamente conveniente. In questo scenario quanto mai complesso e articolato, si inserisce il presente lavoro di Tesi avente come obiettivo il design di nuovi materiali biobased e biodegradabili da utilizzare nell’imballaggio alimentare primario e dunque caratterizzati da buone proprietà meccaniche per la realizzazione di film sottili e da idonee performance barriera. Tali materiali sono stati pensati come risultato della modifica chimica di poli(butilene succinato) (PBS) e poli(butilene trans-1,4-cicloesanoato) (PBCE).
Il PBS è una bioplastica già prodotta a livello industriale mentre il PBCE, le cui proprietà sono estremamente interessanti, non è ancora disponibile in commercio. Entrambi i materiali sono però troppi rigidi per la realizzazione di film flessibili e trasparenti. In particolare, sono stati sintetizzati copolimeri statistici a diversa composizione contenenti catene laterali alifatiche di diversa lunghezza. Nel caso del PBCE, si è ritenuto interessante valutare anche l’effetto dell’isomeria cis/trans dell’anello cicloesano sulle proprietà finali del materiale. I polimeri ottenuti sono stati caratterizzati dal punto di vista delle proprietà termiche, meccaniche e barriera e i risultati ottenuti messi in relazione con la lunghezza delle catene laterali e la composizione.
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Li, X. "Electrohydrodynamic deposition and patterning of nano-hydroxyapatite for biomedical applications." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2009. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/15802/.
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Electrohydrodynamic atomisation (EHDA) spraying is a promising materials deposition technique as it allows uniform and regular deposition, and offers a range of other advantages, such as low cost compared with other current techniques, easy set-up, high deposition rate, ambient temperature processing and the capability to generate specific surface topographies. This research is aimed at using EHDA spraying to produce hydroxyapatite (HA) deposition with desirable chemical, topographical and biological characteristics for bone implant. In principle, the EHDA process involves the flow of liquid/suspension from a needle under the influence of an electric field which results jetting and droplet formation. In this work, phase-pure nano-sized hydroxyapatite (nHA) was synthesised and taken up in ethanol to prepare a suitable suspension for electrohydrodynamic flow processing. A range of key EHDA process control parameters, such as needle size, needle to substrate distance, suspension flow rate, applied voltage and spraying time, were studied and optimised. A uniform nHA coating with nanometer scale topographical features was successfully prepared on a commercially pure titanium substrate. Furthermore, due to the significance of the surface structure to the cellular response, a novel technique, namely template-assisted electrohydrodynamic atomisation (TAEA) spraying, was innovated to prepare a well-defined surface topography for guiding cell attachment, spread and growth of osteoblasts. A range of precise micro-scale uniform nHA geometries with high resolution were prepared on implants materials. Finally, to systematically investigate the effect of needle geometry to the electrospraying process, which has not been documented in the research field of this technique, an in-depth study was carried out to uncover the relationship between the needle exit angle and the droplet relic size. The droplet relic size, which is crucial for the deposition properties, has been significantly reduced via engineering the needle geometry during the electrospraying process. The results of this work have demonstrated that EHDA deposition routes show great potential for the commercial preparation of nHA coatings and patterns for bone implants with enhanced bioactivity.
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Barber, M. "The roles of the Robo2 and Robo3 receptors in the development of cortical interneurons and Cajal-Retzius cells." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2009. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/15804/.
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This thesis focuses on the putative roles of the Robo2 and Robo3 receptors in regulating the development of cortical interneurons and Cajal-Retzius cells in the embryonic mouse forebrain. A detailed analysis of the expression patterns of the Robo3 receptor is elucidated for the first time. Further comparison of all three Robos with interneuron markers confirms that different populations of cortical interneurons express these receptors during development. The putative roles of the Robo2 and Robo3 receptors in specifying the total number and distribution of cortical interneurons during development is investigated in vivo, using transgenic mice deficient in these receptors. This analysis shows that removal of the Robo2 or Robo3 receptors alone does not result in significant changes in the total numbers or positioning of interneurons within the cortex, suggesting that these receptors are not involved in the ventral-dorsal tangential migration of interneurons from their origins within the ganglionic eminences to the cortex. However, both Robo2 and Robo3 receptors significantly regulate the morphology of migrating interneurons during development. Preliminary analysis in triple Robo mutant mice points to a complex interplay between these receptors, and highlights the importance of understanding the functional relationship between these. In addition, a population of pioneering Cajal- Retzius cells express Robo receptors during preplate stages of development. Analysis in single Robo mutant animals suggests that Robo2 has a role in determining the total numbers of (reelin immunopositive) Cajal-Retzius cells within the hippocampal cortex.
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Raghavan, A. K. "Sequence and structural analysis of antibodies." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2009. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/15808/.
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The work presented in this thesis focusses on the sequence and structural analysis of antibodies and has fallen into three main areas. First I developed a method to assess how typical an antibody sequence is of the expressed human antibody repertoire. My hypothesis was that the more \humanlike" an antibody sequence is (in other words how typical it is of the expressed human repertoire), the less likely it is to elicit an immune response when used in vivo in humans. In practice, I found that, while the most and least-human sequences generated the lowest and highest anti-antibody reponses in the small available dataset, there was little correlation in between these extremes. Second, I examined the distribution of the packing angles between VH and VL domains of antibodies and whether residues in the interface in uence the packing angle angle. This is an important factor which has essentially been ignored in modelling antibody structures since the packing angle can have a signicant eect on the topography of the combining site. Finding out which interface residues have the greatest in uence is also important in protocols for `humanizing' mouse antibodies to make them more suitable for use in therapy in humans. Third, I developed a method to apply standard Kabat or Chothia numbering schemes to an antibody sequence automatically. In brief, the method uses proles to identify the ends of the framework regions and then lls in the numbers for each section. Benchmarking the performance of this algorithm against annotations in the Kabat database highlighted several errors in the manual annotations in the Kabat database. Based on structural analysis of insertions and deletions in the framework regions of antibodies, I have extended the Chothia numbering scheme to identify the structurally correct positions of insertions and deletions in the framework regions.
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Algarni, Saud. "Electrolyte-gated thin film transistors for sensor applications." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2016. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/15809/.
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Mätzig, S. "Spared syntax and impaired spell-out : the case of prepositions in Broca's and anomic aphasia." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2009. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/15806/.
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The present study deals with the impairment of prepositions, a somewhat neglected topic in aphasia research. It is the first to investigate the availability of all types of prepositions (i.e., spatial, temporal, other meaningful, subcategorized, syntactic prepositions, and particles) in a variety of comprehension and production tasks in one anomic aphasic and four Broca’s aphasic patients and healthy speakers. While the availability of spatial, temporal, or subcategorized prepositions has been investigated, other preposition types have never been studied before. The data revealed that prepositions were impaired in the patients, and that the degree of impairment differed for different types of prepositions. Three of the main findings are: first, meaningless prepositions were not the most vulnerable subcategory of prepositions in the patients. In fact, four of the five aphasic patients performed best on (meaningless) syntactic prepositions. Second, patients made few omissions and many substitution errors which were mostly within-category (a preposition was substituted by another preposition). Third, there was no difference in the performance of Broca’s and anomic aphasic patients. These results differ from those of previous studies (e.g., Bennis et al., 1983; Friederici, 1982). They found that (i) meaningful prepositions remained relatively well preserved in Broca’s aphasia, while meaningless subcategorized and/or syntactic prepositions were very impaired, (ii) that Broca’s aphasic patients tended to omit rather than substitute prepositions, and (iii) that patients of contrasting clinical profiles performed differently. The preservation of syntactic prepositions together with the large number of within-category substitutions (which indicate sensitivity to the grammatical class of prepositions) were interpreted to suggest that the preposition deficit of the patients is not due to syntactic impairments. Rather, a post syntactic deficit in selection of the correct preposition at spell-out – a construct in modern linguistic theory that links syntax with phonology – is put forward.
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Elfving, Taru. "Thinking aloud on the address of the viewer." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2009. http://research.gold.ac.uk/15809/.
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The thesis examines the viewer's position in relation to contemporary moving image installations, particularly the work of the artist and filmmaker Eija-Liisa Ahtila (b. 1959, Finland). It maps out a shift in research from the analysis, occupation and rethinking of subject positions to the mobilisation and inhabitation of encounters, where the positions are in constant becoming. In dialogue with Luce Irigaray's philosophical thought and related theoretical discourse, it traces a shift from the disruption of dualism with strategic mimesis to the critical inhabitation of a space of mediation opened up by resemblance. In terms of methodologies in the field of visual culture this implies a move from the problematics of representation, and from deconstructive and re-signifying practices, to questions of the viewer's and researcher's implication. The argument is structured around two parts, firstly on the Girl as an unmarked figure that unsettles definitions of centred, identity-based subjectivities and their gendered attributes. The figure emerges here not as a representation but as an event, while the focus is drawn from interiority as the core of a subject to surfaces as sites of contacts. This leads to the second part of the argument, on the notion of the address, which initiates a further shift of attention onto the modes by which the works and the characters in them allow and call for the viewer's involvement. The thesis examines these moves with the use of the concepts of staining, haunting, thinking aloud and witnessing, which all emphasise outward and forward orientation. They focus on boundaries as sites of disruption and production of positions of viewing, thinking and speaking, instead of as their markers. Through close reading of Ahtila's works the thesis argues for active viewership that demands constant critical situated ness in terms of affiliations arising from communication.
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Leiva, Bertran Juan Francisco. "Análisis de la evolución del concepto de competitividad regional." Bachelor's thesis, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, 2020. http://bdigital.uncu.edu.ar/15809.
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Existen diversas interpretaciones en la literatura especializada de lo que se entiende por competitividad y en cuál resulta el marco adecuado para concebir al origen de sus determinantes. Tanto en el caso en que se parta de un abordaje enfocado en la empresa, en el sector o se tenga una visión sistémica de la competitividad regional, siempre subyace una teoría determinada del comercio internacional. Partiendo de los aportes de la economía clásica, particularmente las contribuciones de Adam Smith y David Ricardo, se hace un repaso de la evolución de la teoría neoclásica del comercio internacional, que resulta esencialmente ricardiana. Esta sienta las bases para la teoría de la ventaja competitiva de Michael Porter que pone el foco en los determinantes del entorno nacional como generadores de la competitividad de las firmas locales. Como teoría alternativa y crítica de la visión ortodoxa del intercambio se presentan los aportes de la escuela estructuralista latinoamericana, que inicia con los primeros trabajos de Raúl Prebisch y continúa evolucionando en el seno de la CEPAL. Tanto la teoría de la ventaja competitiva como las aproximaciones de los nuevos estructuralistas confluyen en una visión sistémica de la competitividad que resalta el rol central que ocupan el cambio tecnológico y la innovación. Tras presentar algunas formas de medir la competitividad, se realiza un abordaje de la estructura exportadora de Argentina y sus territorios provinciales. Se estudia la evolución de la composición de la canasta exportadora, evaluando el origen provincial y los destinos internacionales de los productos locales para el período 1997-2017. Se observa el proceso de primarización de la estructura exportadora de la periferia nacional y la creciente dependencia generalizada de las manufacturas de origen agropecuario, principalmente las derivadas de la soja, y, en el caso de Mendoza, de los productos de la industria vitivinícola.Fil: Leiva Bertran, Juan Francisco. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.
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Davies, Edward. "Optical fibre sensors with applications in gas and biological sensing." Thesis, Aston University, 2011. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/15800/.
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This thesis describes the study of various grating based optical fibre sensors for applications in refractive index sensing. The sensitivity of these sensors has been studied and in some cases enhanced using novel techniques. The major areas of development are as follows. The sensitivity of long period gratings (LPGs) to surrounding medium refractive index (SRI) for various periods was investigated. The most sensitive period of LPG was found to be around 160 µm and this was due to the core mode coupling to a single cladding mode but phase matching at two wavelength locations, creating two attenuation peaks, close to the waveguide dispersion turning point. Large angle tilted fibre gratings (TFGs) have similar behaviour to LPGs, in that they couple to the co-propagating cladding modes. The tilted structure of the index modulation within the core of the fibre gives rise to a polarisation dependency, differing the large angle TFG from a LPG. Since the large angle TFG couple to the cladding mode they are SRI sensitive, the sensitivity to SRI can be further increased through cladding etching using HF acid. The thinning of the cladding layer caused a reordering of the cladding modes and shifted to more SRI sensitive cladding modes as the investigation discovered. In a SRI range of 1.36 to 1.40 a sensitivity of 506.9 nm/URI was achieved for the etched large angle TFG, which is greater than the dual resonance LPG. UV inscribed LPGs were coated with sol-gel materials with high RIs. The high RI of the coating caused an increase in cladding mode effective index which in turn caused an increase in the LPG sensitivity to SRI. LPGs of various periods of LPG were coated with sol-gel TiO2 and the optimal thickness was found to vary for each period. By coating of the already highly SRI sensitive 160µm period LPG (which is a dual resonance) with a sol-gel TiO2, the SRI sensitivity was further increased with a peak value of 1458 nm/URI, which was an almost 3 fold increase compared to the uncoated LPG. LPGs were also inscribed using a femtosecond laser which produced a highly focused index change which was no uniform throughout the core of the optical fibre. The inscription technique gave rise to a large polarisation sensitivity and the ability to couple to multiple azimuthal cladding mode sets, not seen with uniform UV inscribed gratings. Through coupling of the core mode to multiple sets of cladding modes, attenuation peaks with opposite wavelength shifts for increasing SRI was observed. Through combining this opposite wavelength shifts, a SRI sensitivity was achieved greater than any single observed attenuations peak. The maximum SRI achieved was 1680 nm/URI for a femtosecond inscribed LPG of period 400 µm. Three different types of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors with a multilayer metal top coating were investigated in D shape optical fibre. The sensors could be separated into two types, utilized a pre UV inscribed tilted Bragg grating and the other employed a post UV exposure to generate surface relief grating structure. This surface perturbation aided the out coupling of light from the core but also changed the sensing mechanism from SPR to localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). This greatly increased the SRI sensitivity, compared to the SPR sensors; with the gold coated top layer surface relief sensor producing the largest SRI sensitivity of 2111.5nm/URI was achieved. While, the platinum and silver coated top layer surface relief sensors also gave high SRI sensitivities but also the ability to produce resonances in air (not previously seen with the SPR sensors). These properties were employed in two applications. The silver and platinum surface relief devices were used as gas sensors and were shown to be capable of detecting the minute RI change of different gases. The calculated maximum sensitivities produced were 1882.1dB/URI and 1493.5nm/URI for silver and platinum, respectively. Using a DFB laser and power meter a cheap alternative approach was investigated which showed the ability of the sensors to distinguish between different gases and flow rates of those gases. The gold surface relief sensor was coated in a with a bio compound called an aptamer and it was able to detect various concentrations of a biological compound called Thrombin, ranging from 1mM to as low as 10fM. A solution of 2M NaCl was found to give the best stripping results for Thrombin from the aptamer and showed the reusability of the sensor. The association and disassociation constants were calculated to be 1.0638×106Ms-1 and 0.2482s-1, respectively, showing the high affinity of the Aptamer to thrombin. This supports existing working stating that aptamers could be alternative to enzymes for chemical detection and also helps to explain the low detection limit of the gold surface relief sensor.
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Harvey, Daniel Peter. "The combination of smart hydrogels and fibre optic sensor technology for analyte detection." Thesis, Aston University, 2011. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/15806/.
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The subject of investigation of the present research is the use of smart hydrogels with fibre optic sensor technology. The aim was to develop a costeffective sensor platform for the detection of water in hydrocarbon media, and of dissolved inorganic analytes, namely potassium, calcium and aluminium. The fibre optic sensors in this work depend upon the use of hydrogels to either entrap chemotropic agents or to respond to external environmental changes, by changing their inherent properties, such as refractive index (RI). A review of current fibre optic technology for sensing outlined that the main principles utilised are either the measurement of signal loss or a change in wavelength of the light transmitted through the system. The signal loss principle relies on changing the conditions required for total internal reflection to occur. Hydrogels are cross-linked polymer networks that swell but do not dissolve in aqueous environments. Smart hydrogels are synthetic materials that exhibit additional properties to those inherent in their structure. In order to control the non-inherent properties, the hydrogels were fabricated with the addition of chemotropic agents. For the detection of water, hydrogels of low refractive index were synthesized using fluorinated monomers. Sulfonated monomers were used for their extreme hydrophilicity as a means of water sensing through an RI change. To enhance the sensing capability of the hydrogel, chemotropic agents, such as pH indicators and cobalt salts, were used. The system comprises of the smart hydrogel coated onto an exposed section of the fibre optic core, connected to the interrogation system measuring the difference in the signal. Information obtained was analysed using a purpose designed software. The developed sensor platform showed that an increase in the target species caused an increase in the signal lost from the sensor system, allowing for a detection of the target species. The system has potential applications in areas such as clinical point of care, water detection in fuels and the detection of dissolved ions in the water industry.
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Lloyd-Williams, Philip. "Exercise agency? : the role of elite actors in local democracy in English local government : the local democracy maker." Thesis, Aston University, 2011. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/15802/.
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The way in which employed senior elites in English local government exercise their agency in the practice of local democracy and local governance is considered in this thesis. The research posits the notion that elite Officers act as Local Democracy Makers as they draw on their own traditions and ideologies in responding to the dilemmas of changing policy and politics in the public realm. The study is located in the latter part of New Labour?s term of office and applies an interpretive and reflexive approach to three studies of the exercise of well being powers. The approach is one of applied ethnography through the examination of literature reviews, interviews and observations of decisions taken in the exercise of the powers of economic, environmental and social well-being are used to examine how and why the Local Democracy Makers make sense of their world in the way that they do. The research suggests that, despite prevailing narratives, local governance arrangements depend on a system of hierarchy, employed elites and local politics. The challenges of re-configuring local democracy and attempts at "hollowing out" the state have secured an influential role for the non-elected official. How officials interpret, advise, mediate and manage the exercise of local governance and local democracy presents a challenge to assumptions that public services are governed beyond or without local government. New narratives and reflections on the role of the local government Officer and the marginalisation of the elected Councillor are presented in the research. In particular, how the senior elite occupy managerial, strategic and political roles as Local Democracy Makers, offers an insight into the agency of strategic actors in localities. Consequently, the success of changes in public policy is materially influenced by how the practitioner responds to such dilemmas. The thesis concludes by suggesting that integral to the design and success of public policy implementation is the role of the Officer, and especially those practitioners that advise governing arrangements and democratic practice.
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Jowett, Adam. "Chronic illness in non-heterosexual contexts : towards a critical LGBTQ health psychology." Thesis, Aston University, 2011. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/15807/.
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In this thesis, I contribute to the expansion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) psychology by examining chronic illness within non-heterosexual contexts. Chronic illness, beyond the confines of HIV/AIDS, has been a neglected topic in LGBTQ psychology and sexual identity is often overlooked within health psychology. When the health of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people has been considered there has been an over-reliance on quantitative methods and comparative approaches which seek to compare LGB people?s health to their heterosexual counterparts. In contrast, I adopt a critical perspective and qualitative methods to explore LGBTQ health. My research brings together ideas from LGBTQ psychology and critical health psychology to explore non-heterosexuals? experiences of chronic illness and the discursive contexts within which LGB people live with chronic health conditions. I also highlight the heteronormativity which pervades academic health psychology as well as the „lay? health literature. The research presented in this thesis draws on three different sources of qualitative data: a qualitative online questionnaire (n=190), an online discussion within a newsgroup for people with diabetes, and semi-structured interviews with 20 LGB people with diabetes. These data are analysed using critical realist forms of thematic analysis and discourse analysis. In the first analytic chapter (Chapter 3), I report the perspectives of LGB people living with many different chronic illnesses and how they felt their sexuality shapes their experiences of illness. In Chapter 4, I examine heterosexism within an online discussion and consider the ways in which sexuality is constructed as (ir)relevant to a diabetes support forum. In Chapter 5, I analyse LGB people?s talk about the support family and partners provide in relation to their diabetes and how they negotiate wider discourses of gender, sexuality and individualism. In Chapter 6 I explore how diabetes intersects with gay and bisexual men?s sex lives. In the concluding chapter, I discuss the contributions of my research for a critical LGBTQ health psychology and identify some possible areas for future research.
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Kalgo, Abba Sani. "The development and optimisation of a fast pyrolysis process for bio-oil production." Thesis, Aston University, 2011. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/15808/.
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A two-tier study is presented in this thesis. The first involves the commissioning of an extant but at the time, unproven bubbling fluidised bed fast pyrolysis unit. The unit was designed for an intended nominal throughput of 300 g/h of biomass. The unit came complete with solids separation, pyrolysis vapour quenching and oil collection systems. Modifications were carried out on various sections of the system including the reactor heating, quenching and liquid collection systems. The modifications allowed for fast pyrolysis experiments to be carried out at the appropriate temperatures. Bio-oil was generated using conventional biomass feedstocks including Willow, beechwood, Pine and Miscanthus. Results from this phase of the research showed however, that although the rig was capable of processing biomass to bio-oil, it was characterised by low mass balance closures and recurrent operational problems. The problems included blockages, poor reactor hydrodynamics and reduced organic liquid yields. The less than optimal performance of individual sections, particularly the feed and reactor systems of the rig, culminated in a poor overall performance of the system. The second phase of this research involved the redesign of two key components of the unit. An alternative feeding system was commissioned for the unit. The feed system included an off the shelf gravimetric system for accurate metering and efficient delivery of biomass. Similarly, a new bubbling fluidised bed reactor with an intended nominal throughput of 500g/h of biomass was designed and constructed. The design leveraged on experience from the initial commissioning phase with proven kinetic and hydrodynamic studies. These units were commissioned as part of the optimisation phase of the study. Also as part of this study, two varieties each, of previously unreported feedstocks namely Jatropha curcas and Moringa olifiera oil seed press cakes were characterised to determine their suitability as feedstocks for liquid fuel production via fast pyrolysis. Consequently, the feedstocks were used for the production of pyrolysis liquids. The quality of the pyrolysis liquids from the feedstocks were then investigated via a number of analytical techniques. The oils from the press cakes showed high levels of stability and reduced pH values. The improvements to the design of the fast pyrolysis unit led to higher mass balance closures and increased organic liquid yields. The maximum liquid yield obtained from the press cakes was from African Jatropha press cake at 66 wt% on a dry basis.
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Richens, Thomas Martin. "Lexical database enrichment through semi-automated morphological analysis." Thesis, Aston University, 2011. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/15809/.
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Derivational morphology proposes meaningful connections between words and is largely unrepresented in lexical databases. This thesis presents a project to enrich a lexical database with morphological links and to evaluate their contribution to disambiguation. A lexical database with sense distinctions was required. WordNet was chosen because of its free availability and widespread use. Its suitability was assessed through critical evaluation with respect to specifications and criticisms, using a transparent, extensible model. The identification of serious shortcomings suggested a portable enrichment methodology, applicable to alternative resources. Although 40% of the most frequent words are prepositions, they have been largely ignored by computational linguists, so addition of prepositions was also required. The preferred approach to morphological enrichment was to infer relations from phenomena discovered algorithmically. Both existing databases and existing algorithms can capture regular morphological relations, but cannot capture exceptions correctly; neither of them provide any semantic information. Some morphological analysis algorithms are subject to the fallacy that morphological analysis can be performed simply by segmentation. Morphological rules, grounded in observation and etymology, govern associations between and attachment of suffixes and contribute to defining the meaning of morphological relationships. Specifying character substitutions circumvents the segmentation fallacy. Morphological rules are prone to undergeneration, minimised through a variable lexical validity requirement, and overgeneration, minimised by rule reformulation and restricting monosyllabic output. Rules take into account the morphology of ancestor languages through co-occurrences of morphological patterns. Multiple rules applicable to an input suffix need their precedence established. The resistance of prefixations to segmentation has been addressed by identifying linking vowel exceptions and irregular prefixes. The automatic affix discovery algorithm applies heuristics to identify meaningful affixes and is combined with morphological rules into a hybrid model, fed only with empirical data, collected without supervision. Further algorithms apply the rules optimally to automatically pre-identified suffixes and break words into their component morphemes. To handle exceptions, stoplists were created in response to initial errors and fed back into the model through iterative development, leading to 100% precision, contestable only on lexicographic criteria. Stoplist length is minimised by special treatment of monosyllables and reformulation of rules. 96% of words and phrases are analysed. 218,802 directed derivational links have been encoded in the lexicon rather than the wordnet component of the model because the lexicon provides the optimal clustering of word senses. Both links and analyser are portable to an alternative lexicon. The evaluation uses the extended gloss overlaps disambiguation algorithm. The enriched model outperformed WordNet in terms of recall without loss of precision. Failure of all experiments to outperform disambiguation by frequency reflects on WordNet sense distinctions.
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Maziotis, Alexandros. "Developing panel based methods for profit and performance measurement in the water and sewage sector in England and Wales." Thesis, Aston University, 2011. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/15801/.
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The aim of the thesis is to evaluate the impact of regulatory price cap schemes on the financial performance of the Water and Sewerage Companies (WaSCs) even when the number of observations is small. We applied an index number approach to allow for cross sectional comparisons of relative profitability, productivity and price performance of WaSCs during the years 1991-2008. We also applied a panel index approach across WaSCs over time to decompose unit-specific (temporal) index number based profitability growth as a function of the profitability, productivity and price performance growth achieved by benchmark firms, and the catch-up to the benchmark firm achieved by less productive firms. We also employed both index numbers and DEA techniques to evaluate various profit drivers such as price changes, productivity changes and activity effect levels on the financial performance of WaSCs over time. Exogenous characteristics like water and sewerage quality were also included in a profit decomposition analysis. The results showed that during 1991-2000 price caps were “weak” as prices were high enough for the firms to achieve economic profits despite their low productivity levels. However, after 2000 prices became “catch up promoting” as they required less productive companies to eliminate at least some excess costs in order to eliminate economic losses. The steady decline in average price performance, gains in productivity and relatively stable economic profitability after 2000, suggest that Ofwat is now more focused on passing productivity benefits to consumers, and maintaining stable profitability than it was in earlier regulatory periods. The positive impact on profit changes came from substantial improvements in technical change, the cost efficient allocation of resources by substituting labour with capital and small improvements in efficiency gains and output mix. The input price and scale effect had a significant negative impact on profit changes. We suggest that our approach should be of great interest to researchers who are interested in evaluating the effectiveness of regulation and/or developing effective comparative performance techniques when sample sizes are limited.
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van, Rensburg Karel Jensen. "Analysis of arcing faults on distribution lines for protection and monitoring." Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15800/.
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This thesis describes an investigation into the influences of arcing and conductor deflection due to magnetic forces on the accuracy of fault locator algorithms in electrical distribution networks. The work also explores the possibilities of using the properties of an arc to identify two specific types of faults that may occur on an overhead distribution line. A new technique using the convolution operator is introduced for deriving differential equation algorithms. The first algorithm was derived by estimating the voltage as an array of impulse functions while the second algorithm was derived using a piecewise linear voltage signal. These algorithms were tested on a simulated single-phase circuit using a PI-model line. It was shown that the second algorithm gave identical results as the existing dynamic integration operator type algorithm. The first algorithm used a transformation to a three-phase circuit that did not require any matrix calculations as an equivalent sequence component circuit is utilised for a single-phase to ground fault. A simulated arc was used to test the influence of the non-linearity of an arc on the accuracy of this algorithm. The simulations showed that the variation in the resistance due to arcing causes large oscillations of the algorithm output and a 40th order mean filter was used to increase the accuracy and stability of the algorithm. The same tests were performed on a previously developed fault locator algorithm that includes a square-wave power frequency proximation of the fault arc. This algorithm gave more accurate and stable results even with large arc length variations. During phase-to-phase fault conditions, two opposing magnetic fields force the conductors outwards away from each other and this movement causes a change in the total inductance of the line. A three dimensional finite element line model based on standard wave equations but incorporating magnetic forces was used to evaluate this phenomenon. The results show that appreciable errors in the distance estimations can be expected especially on poorly tensioned di stribution lines.New techniques were also explored that are based on identification of the fault arc. Two methods were successfully tested on simulated networks to identify a breakingconductor. The methods are based on the rate of increase in arc length during the breaking of the conductor. The first method uses arc voltage increase as the basis of the detection while the second method make use of the increase in the non-linearity of the network resistance to identify a breaking conductor. An unsuccessful attempt was made to identifying conductor clashing caused by high winds: it was found that too many parameters influence the separation speed of the two conductors. No unique characteristic could be found to identify the conductor clashing using the speed of conductor separation. The existing algorithm was also used to estimate the voltage in a distribution network during a fault for power quality monitoring purposes.
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Woodhouse, Jennifer May. "Operation Belladonna." Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15801/.
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Archer-Lean, Clare. "Blurring Representation: the Writings of Thomas King and Mudrooroo." Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15802/.
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This thesis explores the issues of representation and identity through an examination of the writings of Thomas King and Mudrooroo. The particular focus of the dissertation is on the similar yet distinctive ways these authors explore past and present possibilities for representing Indigenous peoples in fiction. This discussion has a largely Canadian-Australian cross-cultural comparison because of the national milieux in which each author writes. The research question, then, addresses the authors' common approaches to Indigenous, colonial and postcolonial themes and the similar textual attitudes to the act of representation of identity in writing. In order to explore these ideas the chapters in the thesis do not each focus on a particular author or even on a specific text. Each chapter examines the writings of both authors comparatively, and reads the novels of both Thomas King and Mudrooroo thematically. The themes unifying each chapter occur in four major movements. Firstly, the Preface and Chapter One are primarily concerned with the methodology of the thesis. This methodology can be summarised as a combination of general postcolonial assumptions about the impact of colonial texts on representations of Indigenous peoples; ideas of reading practice coming from North American and Australian Indigenous writing communities and cultural studies theories on race. A movement in argument then occurs in Chapters Two and Three, which focus upon how the authors interact with colonising narratives from the past. Chapter Four shifts from this focus on past images and explores how the authors commonly re-imagine the present. In Chapters Five and Six the dissertation progresses from charting the authors' common responses to colonising narratives -- past and present -- and engages in the writings in terms of the authors' explications of Indigenous themes and their celebrations of Indigenous presence. These chapters analyse the ways in which King and Mudrooroo similarly re-envisage narrative process, time and space. Overall, the thesis is not interested in authorisations of Thomas King and Mudrooroo as 'Indigenous writers'. Rather, it argues that these authors on either side of the world use very similar techniques to reject previous representations of Indigenous people, and, importantly, attempt to change the meaning of and approach to representation. In so doing this thesis finds that the novels of both authors respond to colonising semiotic fields, as well as reducing the importance of such fields by incorporating them within a larger framework of repeated and multiple evocations of Indigenous identity. The writings of both Thomas King and Mudrooroo share a selfconscious textuality. The same tales and emblems are repeated within each author's entire oeuvre in order to reinforce their thematic trope of re-presentation as a constantly evolving process. Finally, the thesis concludes that a significant common effect of this similar approach to re-presentation is an emphasis on the community over the individual, and a community that can be best described as pan-Indigenous rather than specific.
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Chen, Jennifer C. "Autonomic Imbalance - a Precursor to Myopia Development?" Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15803/.
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While prolonged nearwork is considered to be an environmental risk factor associated with myopia development, an underlying genetic susceptibility to nearwork-induced accommodative adaptation may be one possible mechanism for human myopia development. As the control of accommodation by the autonomic system may be one such genetically predetermined system, this research sought to investigate whether an anomaly of the autonomic control of accommodation may be responsible for myopia development and progression. The emphasis of this work was determining the effect of altering the sympathetic input to the ciliary muscle on accommodation responses such as tonic accommodation and nearwork-induced accommodative adaptation in myopes and non-myopes. The first study of the thesis was based on observations of Gilmartin and Winfield (1995) which suggested that a deficit in the sympathetic inputs to the ciliary muscle may be associated with a propensity for myopia development. The effect of ß-antagonism with timolol application on accommodation characteristics was studied in different refractive error groups. Our results support the previous findings that a deficit of sympathetic facility during nearwork was not a feature of late-onset myopia. However it was found that classifying myopes according to stability of their myopia and their ethnic background was important and this allowed differentiation between accommodation responses and characteristics of the ciliary muscle autonomic inputs, with the greatest difference observed between Caucasian stable myopes and Asian progressing myopes. Progressing myopes, particularly those with an Asian background, demonstrated enhanced susceptibility to nearwork-induced accommodative adaptation and this was suggested to result from a possible parasympathetic dominance and a relative sympathetic deficit to the ciliary muscle. In contrast, stable myopes, particularly those with an Asian background, demonstrated minimal accommodation changes following nearwork (counter-adaptation in some cases), and increased accommodative adaptation with ß-antagonism, suggesting sympathetic dominance as the possible autonomic accommodation control profile. As ethnic background was found to be an important factor, a similar study was also conducted in a group of Hong Kong Chinese children to investigate if enhanced susceptibility to nearwork-induced changes in accommodation may explain in part the high prevalence of myopia in Hong Kong. Despite some minor differences in methodology between the two studies, the Hong Kong stable myopic children demonstrated counter-adaptive changes and greater accommodative adaptation with timolol, findings that were consistent with those of the adult Asian stable myopes. Both Asian progressing myopic children and adults also showed greater accommodative adaptation than the stable myopes and similar response profiles following ß-adrenergic antagonism. Thus a combination of genetically predetermined accommodation profiles that confer high susceptibility and extreme environmental pressures is a likely explanation for the increase in myopia over the past decades in Asian countries. The hypothesis that a sympathetic deficit is linked to myopia was also investigated by comparing the effect of â-stimulation with salbutamol, a ß-agonist, on accommodation with that of ß-antagonism using timolol. It was hypothesized that salbutamol would have the opposite effect of timolol, and that it would have a greater effect on subjects who demonstrated greater accommodative adaptation effects, i.e. the progressing myopes, compared to those who showed minimal changes in accommodation following nearwork. Consistent with the hypothesis, the effect of sympathetic stimulation with salbutamol application was only evident in the progressing myopes whom we hypothesized may have a parasympathetic dominance and a relative sympathetic deficit type of autonomic imbalance while it did not further enhance the rapid accommodative regression profile demonstrated by the stable myopes. Characteristics of the convergence system and the interaction between accommodation and convergence were also investigated in the Hong Kong children. No significant differences in response AC/A ratios between the emmetropic, stable and progressing myopic children were found and it was concluded that elevated AC/A ratios were not associated with higher myopic progression rate in this sample of Hong Kong children. However, ß-adrenergic antagonism with timolol application produced a greater effect on accommodative convergence (AC) in stable myopic children who presumably have a more adequate, robust sympathetic input to the ciliary muscle, but had little effect on AC of progressing myopic children. This finding again points to the possibility that the autonomic control of the accommodation and convergence systems may be different between stable and progressing myopia. The primary contribution of this study to the understanding of myopia development is that differences in the autonomic control of the ciliary muscle may be responsible for producing anomalous accommodation responses. This could have significant impact on retinal image quality and thus results in myopia development. This knowledge may be incorporated into computer models of accommodation and myopia development and provides scope for further investigation of the therapeutic benefits of autonomic agents for myopia control.
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Keast, Robyn Leigh. "Integrated Public Services : The Role of Networked Arrangements." Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15804/.
Full textAbstract:
Networked arrangements have moved from the periphery to the centre of public policy making and now occupy a position alongside of government as key mechanisms for social and organisational integration. Despite the current prominence of networked arrangements, little is known about how networks are actually formed and what explains their structure, operation and management strategies. Moreover, despite the pivotal position as the architects, administrators and facilitators of the network reform process, the role of central agencies of government in networked environments has yet to be fully determined. The purpose of this thesis was to examine the variation in networked arrangements and its effect on design and management and, in doing so, uncover the emergent role of central agencies of government. Using a mixed research design of case study and network analysis, this thesis 'unpacked' three exemplars of cross-sector networked arrangements within the Queensland human services arena. The research produced a number of findings. First, it provided empirical evidence to support the previously largely descriptive proposition that networked arrangements are differentiated. Second, through the synthesis of two parallel integration literatures, a framework to guide the design of networked arrangements was produced. Third, it identified a set of network management strategies and demonstrated that these horizontally oriented strategies were different to those currently utilised within government. Finally, the research developed a set of general and specific roles to guide central agencies' operation within the current networked environment.
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Mathews, Ben. "Australian laws ascribing criminal responsibility to children: The implications of an internal critique, postmodern insights, and a deconstructive exploration." Queensland University of Technology, 2002. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15805/.
Full textAbstract:
Derived from centuries-old English laws, Australian laws ascribe criminal responsibility to children according to their age and their assumed level of understanding of the rightness and wrongness of certain acts. This project first charts the creation and development of the English and Australian positions. Then, using insights from postmodernity and the idea of deconstruction, the law is critically assessed to reveal practical, theoretical and moral limits in the law's attempt to do justice. The justifiability of the current Australian legal positions is questioned by demonstrating the law's internal inconsistencies, by revealing the law's historical and philosophical preferences, and by contrasting the law's restricted ambit of inquiry with contemporary knowledge from other disciplines including developmental psychology and sociology.
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Norng, Sorn. "Statistical decisions in optimising grain yield." Queensland University of Technology, 2004. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15806/.
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This thesis concerns Precision Agriculture (PA) technology which involves methods developed to optimise grain yield by examining data quality and modelling protein/yield relationship of wheat and sorghum fields in central and southern Queensland. An important part of developing strategies to optimisise grain yield is the understanding of PA technology. This covers major aspects of PA which includes all the components of Site- Specific Crop Management System (SSCM). These components are 1. Spatial referencing, 2. Crop, soil and climate monitoring, 3. Attribute mapping, 4. Decision suppport systems and 5. Differential action. Understanding how all five components fit into PA significantly aids the development of data analysis methods. The development of PA is dependent on the collection, analysis and interpretation of information. A preliminary data analysis step is described which covers both non-spatial and spatial data analysis methods. The non-spatial analysis involves plotting methods (maps, histograms), standard distribution and statistical summary (mean, standard deviation). The spatial analysis covers both undirected and directional variogram analyses. In addition to the data analysis, a theoretical investigation into GPS error is given. GPS plays a major role in the development of PA. A number of sources of errors affect the GPS and therefore effect the positioning measurements. Therefore, an understanding of the distribution of the errors and how they are related to each other over time is needed to complement the understanding of the nature of the data. Understanding the error distribution and the data give useful insights for model assumptions in regard to position measurement errors. A review of filtering methods is given and new methods are developed, namely, strip analysis and a double harvesting algoritm. These methods are designed specifically for controlled traffic and normal traffic respectively but can be applied to all kinds of yield monitoring data. The data resulting from the strip analysis and double harvesting algorithm are used in investigating the relationship between on-the-go yield and protein. The strategy is to use protein and yield in determining decisions with respect to nitrogen managements. The agronomic assumption is that protein and yield have a significant relationship based on plot trials. We investigate whether there is any significant relationship between protein and yield at the local level to warrent this kind of assumption. Understanding PA technology and being aware of the sources of errors that exist in data collection and data analysis are all very important in the steps of developing management decision strategies.
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Azemi, Ghasem. "Mobile Velocity Estimation Using a Time-Frequency Approach." Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15807/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis deals with the problem of estimating the velocity of a mobile station (MS)in a mobile communication system using the instantaneous frequency (IF) of the received signal at the MS antenna. This estimate is essential for satisfactory handover performance, effective dynamic channel assignment, and optimisation of adaptive multiple access wireless receivers. Conventional methods for estimating the MS velocity are based either on the statistics of the envelope or quadrature components of the received signal. In chapter 4 of the thesis, we show that their performance deteriorates in the presence of shadowing. Other velocity estimators have also been proposed which require prior estimation of the channel or the average received power. These are generally difficult to obtain due to the non-stationary nature of the received signal. An appropriate window which depends on the unknown MS velocity must first be applied in order to accurately estimate the required quantities. Using the statistics of the IF of the received signal at the MS antenna given in chapter 3, new velocity estimators are proposed in chapter 4 of this thesis. The proposed estimators are based on the moments, zero-crossing rate, and covariance of the received IF. Since the IF of the received signal is not affected by any amplitude distortion, the proposed IF-based estimators are robust to shadowing and propagation path-loss. The estimators for the MS velocity in a macro- and micro-cellular system are presented separately. A macro-cell system can be considered as a special case of a micro-cell in which there is no line-of-sight component at the receiver antenna. It follows that those estimators which are derived for micro-cells can be used in a macro-cell as well. In chapter 4, we analyse the performance of the proposed velocity estimators in the presence of additive noise, non-isotropic scattering, and shadowing. We also prove analytically that the proposed velocity estimators outperform the existing methods in the presence of shadowing and additive noise. The proposed IF-based estimators need prior estimation of both the IF of the received signal and Ricean K-factor. The IF estimation in a typical wireless environment, can be considered as a special case of a general problem of IF estimation in the presence of multiplicative and additive noise. In chapter 5, we show that current time-frequency approaches to this problem which are based on the peak of a time-frequency distribution (TFD) of the signal, fail because of the special shape of the power spectral density of the multiplicative noise in a wireless environment. To overcome this drawback, the use of the first-order moment of a TFD is studied in chapter 5. Theoretical analysis and simulations show that the IF estimator based on the first-order moment of a TFD exhibits negligible bias when the signal-to-additive noise ratio is more than 10 dB. The Ricean K-factor is not only necessary for velocity estimation in micro-cells, but also is a measure of the severity of fading and a good indicator of the channel quality. Two new methods for estimating the Ricean K-factor based on the first two moments of the envelope of the received signal, are proposed in chapter 6. Performance analysis presented in chapter 6, prove that the proposed K estimators are robust to non-isotropic scattering. Theoretical analysis and simulations which are presented in chapters 4 and 7 of this thesis, prove that the proposed velocity and K estimators outperform existing estimators in the presence of shadowing and additive noise.
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Stevenson, Nathan. "Vibration Signal Features for the Quantification of Prosthetic Loosening in Total Hip Arthroplasties." Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15808/.
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This project attempts to quantify the integrity of the fixation of total hip arthro- T plasties (THAs) by observing vibration signal features. The aim of this thesis is, therefore, to find the signal differences between firm and loose prosthesis. These difference will be expressed in different transformed domains with the expectation that a certain domain will provide superior results. Once the signal differences have been determined they will be examined for their ability to quantify the looseness. Initially, a new definition of progressive, femoral component loosening was created, based on the application of mechanical fit, involving four general conditions. In order of increasing looseness the conditions (with their equivalent engineering associations) are listed as, firm (adherence), firm (interference), micro-loose (transition) and macro-loose (clearance). These conditions were then used to aid in the development and evaluation of a simple mathematical model based on an ordinary differential equation. Several possible parameters well suited to quantification such as gap displacement, cement/interface stiffness and apparent mass were the identified from the model. In addition, the development of this model provided a solution to the problem of unifying early and late loosening mentioned in the literature by Li et al. in 1995 and 1996. This unification permitted early (micro loose) and late (macro loose) loosening to be quantified, if necessary, with the same parameter. The quantification problem was posed as a detection problem by utilising a varying amplitude input. A set of detection techniques were developed to detect the quantity of a critical value, in this case a force. The detection techniques include deviation measures of the instantaneous frequency of the impulse response of the system (accuracy of 100%), linearity of the systems response to Gaussian input (total accuracy of 97.9% over all realisations) and observed resonant frequency linearity with respect to displacement magnitude (accuracy of 100%). Note, that as these techniques were developed with the model in mind their simulated performance was, therefore, considerably high. This critical value found by the detector was then fed into the model and a quantified output was calculated. The quantification techniques using the critical value approach include, ramped amplitude input resonant analysis (experimental accuracy of 94%) and ramped amplitude input stochastic analysis (experimental accuracy of 90%). These techniques were based on analysing the response of the system in the time-frequency domain and with respect to its short-time statistical moments to a ramping amplitude input force, respectively. In addition, other mechanically sound forms of analysis, were then applied to the output of the nonlinear model with the aim of quantifying the looseness or the integrity of fixation of the THA. The cement/interface stiffness and apparent mass techniques, inspired by the work of Chung et.al. in 1979, attempt to assess the integrity of fixation of the THA by tracking the mechanical behaviour of the components of the THA, using the frequency and magnitude of the raw transducer data. This technique has been developed fron the theory of Chung etal but with a differing perspective and provides accuracies of 82% in experimentation and 71% in simulation for the apparent mass and interface stiffness techniques, respectively. Theses techniques do not quantify all forms of clinical loosening, as clinical loosening can exist in many different forms, but they do quantify mechanical loosening or the mechanical functionality of the femoral component through related parameters that observe reduction in mechanical mass, stiffness and the amount of rattle generated by a select ghap betweent he bone/cement or prosthesis/cement interface. This form of mechanical loosening in currently extremely difficult to detect using radiographs. It is envisaged that a vibration test be used in conjunction with radiographs to provide a more complete picture of the integrity of fixation of the THA.
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Carberry, Helen. "Semiotic analysis of clinical chemistry: for " knowledge work " in the medical sciences." Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15809/.
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Abstract In this thesis a socio-cultural perspective of medical science education is adopted to argue the position that undergraduate medical scientists must be enculturated into the profession as knowledge workers and symbolic analysts who can interact with computers in complex analytical procedures, quality assurance and quality management. The cue for this position is taken from the transformations taking place in the pathology industry due to advances in automation, robotics and informatics. The rise of Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine (EBLM) is also noted and the observation by higher education researchers, that knowledge systems are transforming in such a way that disciplines can no longer act in isolation. They must now collaborate with disparate fields in transdisciplinary knowledge systems such as EBLM, for which new skills must be cultivated in undergraduate medical scientists. This thesis aims to describe a theoretical basis for knowledge work by taking a semiotic perspective. This is because, semiotics, a theory of signs and representations, can be applied to the structure of transdisciplinary scientific knowledge, the logic of scientific practice and the rhetoric of scientific communications. For this purpose, a semiotic framework is first derived from a wide range of semiotic theories existent in the literature. Then the application of this semiotic framework to clinical chemistry knowledge, context, logic, and rhetoric is demonstrated. This is achieved by interpreting various clinical chemistry data sources, for example, course materials, laboratory spatial arrangements, instruments, printouts, and students' practical reports, collected from a teaching laboratory situation. The results of semiotic analysis indicate that the clinical chemist working in the computerised laboratory environment performs knowledge work, and the term is synonymous with symbolic analysis. It is shown that knowledge work entails the application of a systematic structure for clinical chemistry knowledge derived in terms of the validation procedures applied to laboratory, data, results and tests; the application of logic in the classification and selection of instruments, their rulegoverned- use, and in troubleshooting errors; pragmatic decisions based on availability of space, services and budgets; discrimination among values in laboratory test evaluations in EBLM, for the cost-effectiveness and relevance of pathology services; and the recognition of rhetorical strategies used to communicate laboratory test information in graphs, charts, and statistics. The role of the laboratory context is also explained through semiotics, in terms of its spatial arrangements and designs of laboratory instruments, as a place that constrains the knowledge work experience. This contextual analysis provides insights into the oppositional trend brought to wide attention by analysts of computerised professional work, that more skills are needed, but that there are fewer highly skilled positions available. The curriculum implications of these findings are considered in terms of the need to cultivate knowledge workers for highly complex symbolic analysis in computerised laboratories; and also the need to prepare medical science graduates for the transdisciplinary knowledge system of EBLM, and related venues of employment such as biomedical research and clinical medicine. In meeting the aims to define and demonstrate knowledge work from the semiotic perspective, this thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by the application of semiotics to a field in which it has probably never been tested. It contributes to the scholarship of teaching in higher education by formulating a structure for transdisciplinary medical science knowledge, which integrates scientific with other forms of knowledge, and with real world practice.
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Roebuck, Thomas. "Antiquarianism and regionalism, 1580-1640." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.600992.
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The last thirty years of Renaissance scholarship has debated the extent to which the origins of English nationalism can be traced back to the early-modern period. Countering the scepticism of modernists like Gellner, who date the rise of nationalism to the eighteenth century, Richard Helgerson and others have argued that the literary, legal, theatrical, and religious cultures of the period all present evidence for the existence of an early-modern English nationalism. Historiography has always been key to these debates: national identity is defined by creating histories and modes of historical thought suitable for the needs of that nation. This thesis will show that early-modern culture can better be interpreted through an understanding of its prevailing 'regionalism', and that local affiliations to places, counties, institutions, or patronage circles are obscured by a teleological interest in the rise of nationalism. The first chapter presents a re-evaluation of British antiquarianism from the perspective of the history of scholarship. It argues both that antiquarianism was an outgrowth of the transnational world of Latin scholarship, and that regional histories were emerging through the work of devolved networks of scholars. The second chapter considers two poets, one the poet of nationalism (Spenser), the other the poet of metropolitanism (Jonson), and through picking apart their encounters• with early-modern antiquarianism shows that each had complex regional affinities. The third chapter, on drama in the regions, shows that the circumstances of dramatic performance make for unique (and problematic) encounters with regional jurisdictions. The history play, and the historical scholarship of early-modern dramatists, are the focus here. And finally a chapter on Milton explores the impact of the polarising effect of the civil war on clerical erudition