Dissertations / Theses on the topic '-592.5'

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата технічних наук за спеціальністю 05.22.02 – автомобілі та трактори. Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут". – Харків, 2017. З метою розширення області застосування АБС за рахунок зниження вартості модулятора тиску досліджено процес осциляційної модуляції тиску. Запропоновано конструкцію осциляційного модулятора, який задовольняє всі висунуті до нього вимоги, та доведено можливість його застосування в якості виконавчого елемента у складі дуальних адаптивних гальмівних системах. Порівняльний аналіз відомих способів модуляції тиску в гідравлічному гальмівному приводі показав, що тільки спосіб осциляційної модуляції не вимагає для своєї реалізації дорогих конструктивних елементів (електромагнітних клапанів, насосів, що підкачують, крокових електродвигунів і т.п.), що дозволяє знизити вартість модуляторів при їх застосуванні. Моделювання процесу осциляційної модуляції та лабораторні випробування осциляційного модулятора показали: – принципову можливість осциляційної модуляції у всьому необхідному діапазоні зміни тиску від 0 до 10 МПа; – працездатність запропонованої конструкції модулятора і його відповідність усім пред’явленим до модулятору АБС вимогам. Дослідження роботи осциляційного модулятора у складі дуальної адаптивної гальмівної системи, виконані шляхом моделювання процесу гальмування автомобіля при різних станах дорожньої поверхні та режимах руху підтвердили, що застосування осциляційного модулятора не погіршують показники ефективності гальмування, стійкості і керованості у порівнянні з відомими.
The dissertation on competition of a scientific degree of candidate of technical sciences, speciality 05.22.02 – cars and tractors. National technical university "Kharkiv polytechnic institute". – Kharkiv, 2017. With the of expanding the field of application of anti-block system by reducing the value of the pressure modulator investigated the process of the oscillating modulation of the pressure. The proposed design of the oscillating modulator that meets all applicable requirements and proved the possibility of its use as an clement in the composition of the dual adaptive brake systems. Comparative analysis of the known methods of modulation of the pressure in the hydraulic brake drive showed that the only way of oscillating modulation does not require expensive structural elements (solenoid valves, booster pumps, stepper motors, etc.) that can reduce the cost of modulators in its application. Modeling of oscillating modulation process and laboratory tests of oscillating modulator showed: – principle possibility of oscillating modulation in all the required range of pressure changes from 0 to 10 МПА; – the efficiency of the proposed design of the modulator and its compliance with all requirements to the anti-block system modulator. Research work of oscillating modulator comprising a dual adaptive brake system, made by modeling the process of deceleration of the vehicle under different conditions of road surface and driving conditions confirmed that the application of an oscillating modulator does not degrade the braking efficiency, stability and controllability with the known.

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата технічних наук за спеціальністю 05.22.02 – автомобілі та трактори. Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут". – Харків, 2017. З метою розширення області застосування АБС за рахунок зниження вартості модулятора тиску досліджено процес осциляційної модуляції тиску. Запропоновано конструкцію осциляційного модулятора, який задовольняє всі висунуті до нього вимоги, та доведено можливість його застосування в якості виконавчого елемента у складі дуальних адаптивних гальмівних системах. Порівняльний аналіз відомих способів модуляції тиску в гідравлічному гальмівному приводі показав, що тільки спосіб осциляційної модуляції не вимагає для своєї реалізації дорогих конструктивних елементів (електромагнітних клапанів, насосів, що підкачують, крокових електродвигунів і т.п.), що дозволяє знизити вартість модуляторів при їх застосуванні. Моделювання процесу осциляційної модуляції та лабораторні випробування осциляційного модулятора показали: – принципову можливість осциляційної модуляції у всьому необхідному діапазоні зміни тиску від 0 до 10 МПа; – працездатність запропонованої конструкції модулятора і його відповідність усім пред’явленим до модулятору АБС вимогам. Дослідження роботи осциляційного модулятора у складі дуальної адаптивної гальмівної системи, виконані шляхом моделювання процесу гальмування автомобіля при різних станах дорожньої поверхні та режимах руху підтвердили, що застосування осциляційного модулятора не погіршують показники ефективності гальмування, стійкості і керованості у порівнянні з відомими.
The dissertation on competition of a scientific degree of candidate of technical sciences, speciality 05.22.02 – cars and tractors. National technical university "Kharkiv polytechnic institute". – Kharkiv, 2017. With the of expanding the field of application of anti-block system by reducing the value of the pressure modulator investigated the process of the oscillating modulation of the pressure. The proposed design of the oscillating modulator that meets all applicable requirements and proved the possibility of its use as an clement in the composition of the dual adaptive brake systems. Comparative analysis of the known methods of modulation of the pressure in the hydraulic brake drive showed that the only way of oscillating modulation does not require expensive structural elements (solenoid valves, booster pumps, stepper motors, etc.) that can reduce the cost of modulators in its application. Modeling of oscillating modulation process and laboratory tests of oscillating modulator showed: – principle possibility of oscillating modulation in all the required range of pressure changes from 0 to 10 МПА; – the efficiency of the proposed design of the modulator and its compliance with all requirements to the anti-block system modulator. Research work of oscillating modulator comprising a dual adaptive brake system, made by modeling the process of deceleration of the vehicle under different conditions of road surface and driving conditions confirmed that the application of an oscillating modulator does not degrade the braking efficiency, stability and controllability with the known.

Freshwater planarian flatworms have always fascinated scientists with their ability to regenerate missing body pieces and to maintain tissue homeostasis. This developmental plasticity is due to a population of pluripotent adult stem cells, also called neoblasts. Using the planarian model organism Schmidtea mediterranea, we aim to understand the mechanisms controlling regeneration and neoblast homeostasis. Stem cell studies from other organisms showed that pluripotency can be controlled by epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation and histone modifications, by affecting gene expression. In S. mediterranea, the gene encoding a Methyl-CpG Binding Domain (MBD) protein ortholog, Smed-mbd213, was identified. Smed-mbd213 is homologous to the vertebrate MBD2 and MBD3, with the latter being found to affect embryonic stem cell differentiation in mammals. In S. mediterranea Smed-mbd213 is expressed in neoblasts, and its knockdown by RNA interference (RNA i) affected both regeneration and tissue homeostasis. Amputated Smed-mbd213(RNAi} animals formed blastema but failed to correctly regenerate the missing structures such as the brain, photoreceptors and the pharynx, and intact Smedmbd213( RNAi) animals gradually regressed tissue. Using markers for neoblasts and their early and late progeny cells on Smed-mbd213(RNAi) intact and regenerating animals, we found that Smed-mbd213 is not required for stem sell maintenance or the formation of some subpopulations of early progeny cells, which in fact accumulated. Smed-mbd213 is actually required for the formation of late progeny cells, representing the first evidence of a neoblast gene that is required for the differentiation of late but not early progeny cells. In addition, Smed-MBD2/3 is the first invertebrate member of the MBD protein family found to be required for stem cell differentiation similar to the mammalian MBD3. In the search for DNA methylation components in S. mediterranea genome, a DNA methyl transferase candidate gene, Smed-Dnmt2, was found, but knockdown experiments did not show any vital role of this gene in the regeneration process. Also, we did not fmd evidence for cytosine methylation in S. mediterranea genome. This means that neoblast ( pluripotency is not controlled by this epigenetic modification and that Smed-MBD2/3 functions independently of cytosine methylation. Finally, to determine more players in the neoblast differentiation process, we analysed the transcriptome of Smed-mbd213(RNAi) animals and performed an RNAi screen on a group of selected transcripts, We found a novel gene called myst-related that is expected to expresses a chromatin modifying protein. Its knockdown by RNAi gave a similar but more severe phenotype than that of Smed-mbd213, affecting tissue differentiation during regeneration and homeostasis. Whether Smed-mbd213 and myst-related function in the same or different pathways, our study presents new effectors of neoblast differentiation that possibly act by modifying the chromatin architecture. ii

Arenicola marina (lugworms) are intertidal marine polychaete worms. Ecologically lugworms are responsible for increasing the permeability of the sand, sediment oxygenation and speeding up carbon cycling via the breakdown of buried organic matter. The worms themselves contain polyunsaturated fatty acids that are commercially important in the aquaculture of fin and shellfish. There is, however, some debate over the principal carbon source for the worms themselves. The aim was to investigate the bacterial dynamics in a polychaete worm growth mesocosm and determine the potential contribution of polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis by bacteria to the nutrition of Arenicola marina.

This is a study on the diversity of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) in Chile and the bionomics of a new EPN species, Steinernema australe. Surveys for EPN were carried out in six regions of Chile, representing some of the principal habitats of the country and including desert, sub-polar, montane and rainforest habitats, by collecting approximately 1400 soil samples. Live-baiting of the samples revealed 101 isolates, 94 of which were Steinernema and seven were Heterorhabditis. Morphological and molecular characterisation revealed one species of Heterorhabditis, designated as Heterorhabditis sp. 1 and three species of Steinernema, viz., S. feltiae and two previously undescribed species, S. australe and S. unicornum. Heterorhabditis sp. 1 was only found in the northern half of the country, the majority of Steinernema were found in the southern half. The most southerly survey, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, had the highest proportion of positive soil samples at 18.3%, made up of S. feltiae and S. unicornum; surveys in the Atacama Desert had the lowest return (1-2%), consisting only of Heterorhabditis sp. 1. There were indications of molecular and geographical intraspecific variation in S. feltiae and S. unicornum. The incidence of the four species and a summary of habitat characteristics are provided, as well as taxonomic descriptions of S. australe, S. unicornum and Heterorhabditis sp. 1. Profiling of S. australe revealed a fast life- cycle, with new infective juveniles (IJ) observed after 6 days at 20°C and significant infection at cool, humid conditions. Five days at ea -1°C had no effect on IJ survival, but subsequent infectivity was reduced, a possible chilling-injury. Steinernema australe infected a wide range of insect pests, appearing most effective against Lepidoptera. No nictating or jumping behaviour was observed. Xenorhabdus sp. and Paenibacillus sp. of bacteria were recovered from S. australe.

Two full length AQP genes (LrAQP-A and LrAQP-G) were isolated from the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus by RACE-PCR.  Sequence analysis revealed a number of unusual residues in the critical aqueous pore region in both AQPs, including a substitution in the first canonical NPA box from an alanine residue to a glycine in LrAQP-G. This unusual NPG motif was also identified in AQP genes isolated from a further 6 annelids studied suggesting that although the NPG motif is unique amongst Animalia studied to date, it is common within the annelids.  In addition to this substitution, LrAQP-G contains an insertion of 10 amino acids in its first extracellular loop and putative phosphorylation sites in the intracellular C terminus.  LrAQP-A also contained unusual pore substitutions and putative phosphorylation sites at the C terminus.  Phylogenetic analysis suggests LrAQP-A is more closely related to other invertebrate AQPs whereas LrAQP-G clusters on a branch of its own. Both AQPs were present in all tissues examined, including the major osmoregulatory tissues; integument, nephridia and gut.  qPCR revealed that LrAQP-A transcripts are more abundant than LrAQP-G in the integument, reproductive organs, calciferous glands and nephridia.  In situ hybridisation revealed both transcripts to be largely co-localised in discrete cell types in the outer epidermal cells of the bodywall, the coleomic surface of the gut and in the endothelia of the nephridia. Functional characterisation in oocyte swelling assays revealed that LrAQP-A facilitates the mercury-sensitive transport of water at similar rates to human AQP-5.  The rate of water transport was increased significantly by lowering the pH of bathing media.  LrAQP-G also facilitated water transport but at rates ~50% less than LrAQP-A and was mercury and pH insensitive.  Neither AQP transported glycerol or urea but interestingly LrAQP-A is permeable to NH₃ in a pH-dependent manner. Both LrAQP-A and LrAQP-G showed partial loss of function after PKC-mediated phosphorylation. In environmental stress experiments the expression of both genes was modulated significantly.  In worms exposed to wet soil both the integument and nephridia gene expression of LrAQP-A was reduced.  In hyposmotic saline, LrAQP-G was downregulated in the integument.  In hyperosmotic saline LrAQP-G was again downregulated in the integument but was upregulated in the gut. LrAQP-A and LrAQP-G are intimately involved with water transport in L. rubellus.  In addition they seem to be modulated in the short and long term dependent on osmotic conditions.

Longevity and the rate of senescence are determined by the ecological conditions during a population's recent evolutionary history, and are intrinsically linked to other components of life history and to fitness. These traits should be examined in an ecological context, in which other aspects of the life history are taken into account. However, although many mutations which promote longevity in model organisms disrupt mechanisms that are involved in responding to environmental change, trade-offs associated with increased lifespan have typically been examined in benign laboratory conditions. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, long-lived, stress resisitant age-1(hx546) mutants can compete with wild type worms in favourable growth conditions, but display fitness costs when populations are periodically starved. By monitoring termporal changes in genotype frequencies, I have established that age-1 mutants can have higher fitness that the wild type strain if mixed genotype populations are exposed to periods of thermal or oxidative stress when food is available. Genotype-by-environment interactions, and spatial and temporal distributions of the FOXO transcriptions factor DAF-16, suggest that this is because age-1 mutants are more able to survive, develop and reproduce during and/or after exposure to environmental stress, due to increased expression of genes involved in somatic maintenance and repair. Using population projection matrices, I have demonstrated that age-1(hx546) mutant allele can confer a selective advantage over the wild type genotype when populations experience abiotic stress, even if periods of starvation are frequently endured. This is the first demonstration that a long-lived, laboratory-derived mutant can have higher fitness that a wild type genotype under specific environmental conditions. The results imply that, is genetic variation is present in populations which encounter harsh conditions, increased longevity can evolve as a consequence of selection for greater resistance to stress. I have also established that the effects of mutations which promote longevity on the ability to tolerate environmental stress can be context dependent and that long-lived age-1(hx546) mutants display increased cold tolerance, relative to wild type worms, due to increased expression of ∆9 desaturase genes and additional transcriptional targets of DAF-16. The results presented in this theis suggests that genetic and life history responses to environmental stress deserve a more prominent role in evolutionary studies of aging.

Caenorhabditis elegans, a millimeter-sized, soil-dwelling nematode, is a model organism for biology research. Its whole genome has been sequenced. The lineage and fate, for each one of the cells in wild-type (N2) worms, is known. The connectivity, for all 302 neurons of wild-type hermaphrodites, has been mapped. Many of its genes have homologs within other organisms, including humans. C. elegans have a well-defined repertoire of observed behaviors. For these reasons, and due to a wealth of experimental data, C. elegans is a well-suited organism for mapping genetics to phenotype. This thesis details a system for relating genetics to phenotype. I present a methodology for semi-automated, high-throughput, high resolution investigation of gene effects on behavior and morphology using C. elegans. In the first section beyond the introduction, Chapter 2, I describe a new singleworm tracking system (hardware and software), titled Worm Tracker 2.0 (WT2), which was used to collect videos of worm behavior with high throughput. While multi-worm tracking systems exist, including ones that enable higher experimental throughput by recording multiple worms at once, their videos have insufficient resolution to resolve worm bodies well and these systems have been limited to only simple measurements. While other single-worm tracking systems also exist, they present, among other limitations, significant costs precluding high experimental throughput. I designed and built the hardware and software for a less expensive unit, which is approximately 1/4 the cost of previous single-worm trackers. This enabled us to purchase eight such units for high-throughput of experimentation. Other novelty for our system includes the ability to track worms at all larval stages and the ability to follow single-worms swimming. In Chapter 3, I describe a novel automated analysis for the worm videos collected using the aforementioned single-worm tracker. While analysis exists for other single-worm tracking systems, several limitations precluded adaptation. Our worm videos are on food and the worms are of variable size. Several previous algorithms attempted to deal with worms on food but, for our purposes, suffer from poor resolution at the head and tail, areas necessary to obtain significant phenotypic information. The analysis I built uses a novel algorithm driven by a need to obtain high-accuracy and precise worm contours (and their consequent skeletons) in our difficult conditions (e.g., on food and swimming environments) with invariance to worm size (bounded by a minimal limit of resolution). This accuracy was necessary due to the sheer size of the data set collected, roughly 1/3 of a billion frames, which precludes manual verification. In the final section, Chapter 4, I describe the results from my analysis of our collected data. Using our trackers we collected more than 12,000 videos, each 15 minutes in length, at 640x480 20-30Hz resolution, representing over 300 mutant strains matched to wild-type controls. This large set was filtered to obtain high-quality data and remove strains specific to private data sets (prepared for future publications). The filtered analysis covers 330 worm groups compiled from 300 mutant strains, 2 wild isolates, three descendants of N2, along with our N2 controls divided into hourly, daily, and monthly groups. A subset of 79 strains, representing 76 genes with no previously characterized phenotype, show significant measures in my analysis. Further sensitivity of the analysis is explored through measures of habituation, small morphological changes due to growth, and a phenotypic comparison of the three descendants from the ancestral, wild-type N2. With the sensitivity explored, I present an N2 phenotypic reference compiled from 1,218 worms, recorded over three years. Statistics of this set define a reference measure of the N2 phenotype (specific to the Schafer Lab wild type) with broad implications for performing and controlling C. elegans experiments. Three genes, implicated in mechanosensation as a result of genetic sequence but lacking any observed phenotypic support, reveal locomotory phenotypes in our analysis. This prompts a large clustering of all 330 groups, to assess the predictive capabilities of our system. The N2 groups cluster together in a large exclusive aggregate. Further support for the predictive capabilities of the clustering emerge among multiple published pathways that also form exclusive clusters. I end by discussing a set of genes, predicted to be acetylcholine receptors through genetic sequence and functional heterologous expression, which now receive further support through strong aggregation within their own exclusive phenotypic cluster.

The epithelial monolayer of cells surrounding the animal, the hypodermis, Synthesises five cuticles during the nematode life cycle. The first cuticle is formed within the egg, prior to hatching, and the remainder towards the end of each larval stage. Because of the structural role of the cuticle, mutations in genes involved in assembly of this ECM can cause a spectrum of effects from lethality late in embryogenesis to alterations in the nematode shape. The severity of phenotype correlates with the severity of cuticle synthesis defects. Accordingly, two distinct mutant alleles that cause death after embryonic elongation, possibly due to failure in synthesising an intact cuticle, were characterised . One mutant, ij15, was isolated from a forward genetic screen previously performed (I. Johnstone, Glasgow University, Glasgow, UK). ij15 defines mutationally the gene stc-1, which encodes a HSP70-like protein possibly localised in the secretory pathway. The other mutant, h402, defines mutationally the gene let-607. A second let-607 allele, h189, which results in larval lethaity at the L2 stage was also analysed in this study. let-607 corresponds to the predicted gene F57B10.1, which encodes a putative bZIP transcription factor. Both stc-1 and let-607 are expressed in the hypodermis at all developmental stages. Furthermore, disruption of the function of either stc-1 or let-607 by mutation or RNAi affects cuticle synthesis in different ways. Thus, stc-1 and let-607 encode for a HSP70-like protein and a putative bZIP transcription factor required for synthesis of the cuticular ECM in C. elegans. In addition, this study defines C. elegans mutant phenotypes that can be used as indicators for gene products with controlling roles in the synthesis of this ECM.

Trichinella spiralis is a parasitic nematode of mammalian skeletal muscle.  Its life cycle includes two stages where developmental progression appears to be inhibited until a specific host niche is encountered.  The newborn larva, released within the host intestine depends upon entry to skeletal muscle for continued development.  The muscle larva encapsulates within skeletal muscle and further reproductive development is dependent upon ingestion by a new host.  Developmental arrest has been extensively characterised in Caenorhabditis elegans, where an alternative L3 larva, the dauer larva, is formed in response to environmental conditions refractive to continued reproductive development.  Using the wealth of genetic information regarding C. elegans dauer formation, putative periods of arrest were examined in T. spiralis. TGF-b-like and insulin-like signalling pathways are critical mediators of C. elegans dauer formation.  A T. spiralis TGF-b-ligand was identified and designated ts-tll-1.  Sequencing and analysis revealed ts-tll-1 to be similar to vertebrate bone morphogenetic proteins and C. elegans DBL-1, is involved in body size regulation.  EST mining identified putative type I and II TGF-b receptors and a subtilsin-like proprotein convertase, suggesting conservation of TGF-b-like signalling in T. spiralis.  A partial Trichinella gene encoding an orthologue of the C. elegans insulin-like, tyrosine kinase receptor, DAF-2, was identified by degenerate PCR and designated ts-tkr.  ts-tkr is most similar to C. elegans daf-2 within the highly conserved tyrosine kinase domain.  Two alternative transcripts of ts-tkr were identified by 3’ RACE, which differed in their 3’ UTRs.  Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis suggested ts-tkr expression was greatest in adult worms, implying a role in promoting reproductive development. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was also to assess the expression of selected housekeeping and ES protein encoding genes during the T. spiralis life cycle.  While transcription in the C. elegans dauer is depressed, there was no obvious transcriptional repression in Trichinella newborn or muscle larva.

The novel mechanism of simocyclinone D8 (SD8) against DNA gyrase has inspired medicinal chemists for over a decade. The search for antibiotics with new mechanisms of action has never been more important with ever increasing prevalence of resistance. This project had three objectives. Firstly to contribute towards the total synthesis of SD8, by exploring chlorination reactions of dihydroxycoumarins and their corresponding starting reagents. Additionally, there was a need to establish a viable route towards the complex polyketide scaffold. Secondly, to generate a library of coumarins and screen for a low molecular weight fragment that could be taken forward as a lead compound. Thirdly, inspired by the bi-functional mode of action of SD8, the project sought to design and synthesise a coumarin-quinolone hybrid via a fragment-based approach. Herein we exploit ortho and para directing effects of phenolic OH groups to selectively chlorinate starting materials. However, we show chlorination of reagents prior to forming a coumarin is not a viable synthetic strategy. This is due to the reduced nucleophilicity imparted by the halogen on adjacent atoms. Consequently, this abrogates any ring closure reaction. We illustrate that a previously established Diels-Alder route can furnish a novel isomerised pericyclic adduct. This provides a good starting point for reaction optimisation and the onward enantioselective synthesis of the complex polyketide scaffold. Lastly, 27 different coumarin fragments were synthesised and assessed for biological activity. We illustrate that simple coumarins lack inhibition in supercoiling assays against DNA gyrase. Furthermore, when ciprofloxacin is attached to a linker there is an attenuation of activity. Strikingly, when a simple coumarin is joined to ciprofloxacin, via a linker there is a restoration of activity. We show DNA gyrase inhibition is via cleavage stabilisation. Moreover, we demonstrate activity is related to the coumarin structure and not the presence of an aromatic ring.

Feature selection has become increasingly important in data mining in recent years. However, the accuracy and stability of feature selection methods vary considerably when used individually, and yet no rule exists to indicate which one should be used for a particular dataset. Thus, an ensemble method that combines the outputs of several individual feature selection methods appears to be a promising approach to address the issue and hence is investigated in this research. This research aims to develop an effective ensemble that can improve the accuracy and stability of the feature selection. We proposed a novel heuristic ensemble of filters (HEF). It combines two types of filters: subset filters and ranking filters with a heuristic consensus algorithm in order to utilise the strength of each type. The ensemble is tested on ten benchmark datasets and its performance is evaluated by two stability measures and three classifiers. The experimental results demonstrate that HEF improves the stability and accuracy of the selected features and in most cases outperforms the other ensemble algorithms, individual filters and the full feature set. The research on the HEF algorithm is extended in several dimensions; including more filter members, three novel schemes of mean rank aggregation with partial lists, and three novel schemes for a weighted heuristic ensemble of filters. However, the experimental results demonstrate that adding weight to filters in HEF does not achieve the expected improvement in accuracy, but increases time and space complexity, and clearly decreases stability. Therefore, the core ensemble algorithm (HEF) is demonstrated to be not just simpler but also more reliable and consistent than the later more complicated and weighted ensembles. In addition, we investigated how to use data in feature selection, using ALL or PART of it. Systematic experiments with thirty five synthetic and benchmark real-world datasets were carried out.

The overall aim of this project was to investigate strategies for linking macrocyclic chromophores to form arrays. Firstly the aim was to link a porphyrin to a triphenylene through phenyl alkynes. Interestingly, this study discovered a mesogenic dibromtetramethoxy triphenylene – the least heavily substituted triphenylene liquid crystal reported to date. The results of this investigation, however, show that, in general, it was challenging to force the reaction between porphyrin and triphenylene components to form acetylene links. Dimerization of the acetylene components was observed as the predominant reaction in all cases. However, it was possible to isolate a porphyrin-triphenylene dyad structure. The second aim of this study was to investigate the synthesis of novel chromophore dyads and triads 102, 104 and 134 which are based on porphyrin and tetrabenzotriazaporphyrin (TBTAP) components. The first aim was to synthesise porphyrin–phenyl-TBTAP 102. A precursor porphyrin bearing aminoisoindoline functionality was successfully prepared. However, it could not be converted to either the porphyrin–phenyl-TBTAP 102 dyad or porphyrin-azaBODIPY-porphyrin triad 134. On the other hand, the suggested strategy towards the synthesis of porphyrin-TBTAP dyads linked through flexible chains (104) remains promising. Magnesium TBTAB-OH 135 was synthesised as one important reactant. However, the unfortunate choice of bromododecyloxyporphyrin 141, meant the synthesis of the desired dyad could not be achieved within this project because it could not be separated from excess dibromododecane. However, simple modification of the strategy (e.g using bromododecanol) will allow the compounds to be prepared in the future.

In questa tesi viene descritto il funzionamento delle sorgenti di luce LED (Light Emitting Diode) a confinamento quantico, che rappresentano la nuova frontiera dell'illuminazione ad alta efficienza e durata. Nei capitoli introduttivi è descritta brevemente la storia dei LEDs dalla loro invenzione agli sviluppi più recenti. Il funzionamento di tali dispositivi fotonici è spiegato a partire dal concetto di sorgente di luce per elettroluminescenza, con particolare riferimento alle eterostrutture a confinamento quantico bidimensionale (quantum wells). I capitoli centrali riguardano i nitruri dei gruppi III-V, le cui caratteristiche e proprietà hanno permesso di fabbricare LEDs ad alta efficienza e ampio spettro di emissione, soprattutto in relazione al fatto che i LEDs a nitruri dei gruppi III-V emettono luce anche in presenza di alte densità di difetti estesi, nello specifico dislocazioni. I capitoli successivi sono dedicati alla presentazione del lavoro sperimentale svolto, che riguarda la caratterizzazione elettrica, ottica e strutturale di LEDs a confinamento quantico basati su nitruri del gruppo III-V GaN e InGaN, cresciuti nei laboratori di Cambridge dal Center for Gallium Nitride. Lo studio ha come obiettivo finale il confronto dei risultati ottenuti su LEDs con la medesima struttura epitassiale, ma differente densità di dislocazioni, allo scopo di comprendere meglio il ruolo che tali difetti estesi ricoprono nella determinazione dell'effcienza delle sorgenti di luce LED. L’ultimo capitolo riguarda la diffrazione a raggi X dal punto di vista teorico, con particolare attenzione ai metodi di valutazioni dello strain reticolare nei wafer a nitruri, dal quale dipende la densità di dislocazioni.

The human airway epithelium is a pseudostratified heterogenous layer comprised of cili-ated, secretory, intermediate and basal cells. As the stem/progenitor population of the airway epi-thelium, airway basal cells differentiate into ciliated and secretory cells to replenish the airway epithelium during physiological turnover and repair. Transcriptome analysis of airway basal cells revealed high expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), a gene not typically associated with the function of this cell type. Using cultures of primary human airway basal cells, we demonstrate that basal cells express all of the 3 major isoforms of VEGFA (121, 165 and 189) but lack functional expression of the classical VEGFA receptors VEGFR1 and VEGFR2. The VEGFA is actively secreted by basal cells and while it appears to have no direct autocrine function on basal cell growth and proliferation, it functions in a paracrine manner to activate MAPK signaling cascades in endothelium via VEGFR2 dependent signaling pathways. Using a cytokine- and serum-free co-culture system of primary human airway basal cells and human endothelial cells revealed that basal cell secreted VEGFA activated endothelium to ex-press mediators that, in turn, stimulate and support basal cell proliferation and growth. These data demonstrate novel VEGFA mediated cross-talk between airway basal cells and endothe-lium, the purpose of which is to modulate endothelial activation and in turn stimulate and sustain basal cell growth.
I risultati preliminari dello studio suggeriscono che il vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGFA) e’ attivamente secreto dalle cellule basali dell’epitelio bronchiale e svolge una funzione paracrina nell’attivazione della cascata delle mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) nelle cellule endoteliali mediata dal VEGF receptor type 2. Utilizzando un sistema di co-coltura di cellule basali primarie delle vie aeree umane con cellule endoteliali umane, abbiamo mostrato come il VEGFA secreto dalle cellule basali sia in grado di attivare le cellule endoteliale che a loro volta, esprimono mediatori capaci di stimolare e sostenere la proliferazione delle cellule basali stesse. Questi dati dimostrano un cross-talk mediato dal rilascio di VEGFA tra le cellule basali dell’epitelio bronchiale e l’endotelio, il cui scopo è di modulare l'attivazione endoteliale e, a sua volta stimolare e sostenere la crescita delle cellule basali.

As a part of the CUBESAT project at the Norwegian University ofScience and Technology (NTNU), this paper studies development andcomparison of attitude estimation methods for small cube satellites usinglow-cost sensors. The algorithms are based on data from two vectorizedmeasurements as well as a gyroscope.In this paper a new method for attitude estimation has been de-veloped based on QUaternion ESTimation (QUEST). A major concernwith QUEST is that it cannot handle non-vectorized measurements suchas gyroscope data. Substantial improvements have been made to fusevectorized and non-vectorized measurements, making the new ExtendedQUaternion ESTimation (EQUEST) more suitable for attitude estima-tion. The well known Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is derived andimplemented for comparison. Both methods have been developed andsimulated in MATLAB. The code have been rewritten using C language.The methods are compared both theoretically and experimentally withimplementation and testing on an AVR microcontroller. Minimum powerusage and number of arithmetic operations were considered during thesoftware development.Testing indicates that the EKF provides a smoother estimation thanthe newly developed EQUEST. In contrast to EQUEST, the EKF isable to estimate the magnetometer and accelerometer bias. However, theEQUEST has a signicantly faster settling time and is less computationalcostly. Compared to the EKF, EQUEST runs more than 5 times faster.It also requires only 8% of the arithmetic operations of the EKF. Anotherdisadvantage with the EKF is tracking problems that occur when the twovectorized measurements are close to parallel. With vectors close to paral-lel, the mathematical formulation of the EKF makes tracking of a rotationaround the parallel axis extremely dicult. These diculties are hardlyobserved in the EQUEST algorithm, which makes it very attractive forattitude estimation.The attitude control of CUBESATs is often done by magnetorquers,which will aect the local magnetic eld. Hence, control and estimationshould not be done simultaneously, resulting in the estimation and controlswitching on and o. For this reason, the long settling time of the EKFmakes the EQUEST even more attractive.The results in this paper indicate that the newly developed EQUESTis highly suitable for projects with either limited budget, space, weight orcomputational power.

This thesis is a study of the swimming locomotion of the polychaete worm, Nereis diversicolor. Previous research has shown that there are two distinct jet-like flow regions in the wake of a swimming polychaete worm (Hesselberg 2006). In the first section of this thesis, this flow pattern is studied in greater detail using a high resolution particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. A small region close to the wave crest of the undulating worm is recorded and the fluid velocity vector fields are plotted. The close-up PIV results show how the jet-like fluid pattern is formed due to the action both of a single sweeping parapodium and to the interaction between adjacent parapodia, proving for the first time that Gray’s (1939) explanation of the propulsion mechanics is in fact correct. The second part of this thesis is focused on the pumping action of the polychaete worm, a behaviour adopted by the worms to create a flow of nutrients through their burrows. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments were performed on tethered polychaete worms, Nereis diversicolor. The tethered worms moved in a gait which was different from that of freely swimming ones. They used a much smaller body wave amplitude, pumping liquid with very high efficiency by cooperative movement of their body and parapodia. In the third part of the thesis, a mechanical model was designed and built. The model consisted of a series of paddle units. Each paddle was driven by a servo motor. Breugem (2008) did a CFD simulation of the paddle model. Similar fluid patterns were generated by the physical model. Reversed flow was found at low Reynolds number (Re) and higher Re situations. The flow direction could be controlled by simply adjusting the beating frequency of paddles. The mechanical model is not sufficient to mimic the pumping locomotion of the worms due to absence of an undulatory movement. The pumping efficiency is low compared to pumping worms.

Surveys for entomopathogenic bacteria and their associated nematode hosts were conducted locally (University of Bath campus) and across southern England. Sampling involved trialing a novel Android app. (Epicollect) to manage sample collection data. Galleria larvae were used to bait UK soil samples. Insects which became infected were placed on White traps to collect any emerging nematodes, from which bacteria were isolated. Bacteria were also isolated from the haemolymph of any infected larvae. Bacterial isolates were classified on the basis of 16s rDNA and recA gene sequences. Serratia proteamaculans-like strains dominated the samples, and Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) was developed for the characterization of these Serratia isolates. We determined the sequences of (350-450-bp) fragments from five housekeeping genes of 84 isolates of Serratia proteamaculans. MLSA was shown to be effective for distinguishing closely related strains found in the insects’ haemolymph and from different nematodes. goeBURST was used to visualize the relationships between the STs, and the data showed a high level of discrimination, resolving 69 STs from the 84 isolates. In addition, the data derived from this study were represented in a phylogenetic network using the Splits Tree-network methods, to show the rate of recombination within and between the genes. From a total of 256 infected Galleria 23.04% were nematode positive. The nematodes were identified based on 18S rDNA 19 isolates were close relatives of the species Pristionchus entomophaga and Diplogasteriodes magnus (Diplogastridae). A further 16 isolates were more closely related to Steinernema glaseri (Steinernematidae). All three nematode types were isolated from diverse habitats and soil types, but were isolated more frequently in cold seasonal conditions. The bacterial sequence data suggest that the nematode- associated strains of bacteria belong to specific clades, distinct from the free living infective strains, which hints at ecological diversity within the S. proteamaculans population. Two of the Serratia proteamaculans-like strains had been chromosomally labeled with GFP to confirm the specifics of their association with the nematode hosts. The associated S. proteamaculans-like isolates isolated from Bath and Chepstow soils were examined further for their pathogenicity to Galleria mellonella and Manduca sexta larvae. Serratia Bath isolates, isolated from Pristionchus were more virulent toward both insect hosts than the Serratia from the Chepstow isolates associated with Steinernema nematodes. This suggests that host specificity may play important role in the virulence of the strain.

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-129).
The promise of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to store, retrieve, and communicate medical information effectively for a caregiver team has remained largely unfulfilled since its advent in the late 1960's. Previous studies have cited that the communication function of the EMR is critical to its successful adoption. Based on Mediated Agent Interaction theory, this study proposes a message-based model of transmission of clinical information in the EMR. This model is implemented on an existing ICU clinical database, MIMIC II, to produce a database of transmission events. Three metrics for information transmission are derived from exploratory and object-attribute analyses: transmission volume, duration, and load (or rate). Also derived is a set of features that includes a patient's clinical conditions (with acuity scores and mortality), caregiver type and distribution, care-unit locations, duration of care, and types of clinical records. This list of features is reduced to a set of explanatory variables using correlation and univariate logistic regression. Bayesian Network (BN) models are constructed to predict levels of the transmission metrics. BN models show high prediction accuracy for measuring various levels of messaging volume and load, but marginal accuracy for messaging duration. Results from these methods suggest that the volume of information transmitted in the ICU for adult patients is primarily through charts entered by nurses and respiratory technicians (RTs). The amount of data recorded by RTs increases for patients with higher acuity scores, but transmission from nurses decreases for these patients. The rate at which information is transmitted in the ICU for adult patients is directly related to the rate at which notes and charts are entered, as well as the care-unit location where the data is recorded. Further study is required to investigate factors influencing the length of time information is transmitted in the ICU. This study's findings are based on data recorded by caregivers as clinical observations. Further study is necessary to corroborate these results with clinical communications data, including evidence of reception of clinical information by caregivers. The model proposed by this study may be used as a basis for future research and to discover other patterns of clinical communications.
by Rajesh Mishra.
S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
Cloud computing, a term whose origins have been in existence for more than a decade, has come into fruition due to technological capabilities and marketplace demands. Cloud computing can be defined as a scalable and flexible shared computing solution in which third-party suppliers use virtualization technologies to create and distribute computing resources to customers on-demand, via the Internet browser. Cloud computing is steadily replacing more rigid software and services licensing models in both small/medium business (SMB) and in the enterprise. This analysis poses a twofold examination of cloud computing as a disruptive technology. First, cloud computing has replaced existing software and services licensing business models, owing to its scalability, flexibility, and utility-based pricing. Second, as cloud computing takes hold as the prominent computing services business paradigm, other disruptive forces will surface to further integrate and differentiate the cloud computing landscape. These forces include the customer-driven need to create hybrid clouds between private and public cloud domains, vendor-agnostic solutions in the cloud, along with open standards to make cloud computing ubiquitous. Three criteria are assessed in characterizing cloud computing as a disruptive technology (Christensen, 2002).1 First, cloud computing as an innovation, must enable less-skilled and/or less-wealthy individuals to receive the same utility as only the more-skilled and/or more-wealthy intermediaries could formerly attain. Second, cloud computing must target customers at the low end of a market with modest demands on performance, but with a performance trajectory capable of exceeding those demands and thus taking over markets, tier by tier. As a corollary to this second criterion, the cloud computing business model allows the disruptive innovator to achieve attractive returns at prices that are unattractive to the incumbents. Third, an ecosystem in the form of a fully integrated single entity or a set of modular entities is required to successfully support the disruptive innovation. The analysis has shown that cloud computing is replacing traditional outsourcing and premise-based data centers for software applications and services delivery. Scalability, flexibility, virtualization, and cost are essential business drivers. However, current cloud computing solutions, especially in the enterprise, lack sufficient security and customer control. This gives rise to numerous subordinate disruptive business solutions which enable the enterprise and emerging demographics to develop and deploy their applications and services in a secure, controlled, profitable, and ubiquitous environment.
by Alexis Krikos.
S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.
Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-119).
Currently, program-funding allocation is based on program performance. Funding cuts commonly lead to a poor reflection on the program management assigned to the given program. If additional factors such as program risk and benefit are objectively factored in, this may lead to a more effective exit strategy for program capabilities, which are no longer required. An enterprise architecture analysis and applied framework case study were carried out to develop a methodology to quantify system-level value for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Research, Development, Test and Evaluation portfolio. Portfolio value is quantified in order to transition from a single program, single stakeholder value analysis to a program portfolio and stakeholder system composite analysis. This methodology is developed based on interviews, official organization literature, and a case study. The results of the applied framework case study on a portfolio of seven programs showed a positive correlation between quantitative capability, execution and risk data at the portfolio level and access to a more informed and objective identification of programs of greatest interest and concern as compared to a qualitative program-by-program analysis when allocating Air Force Acquisition resources. This system includes 17 stakeholder categories, which significantly influence the allocation of resources for a portfolio worth roughly 0.4% of the US GDP. Interviews include high-ranking leadership, including two 3-Star Generals in the US Air Force.
by Cheri Nicole Markt Burgess.
S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2010.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 39).
James J Gibson, a psychologist who wrote prolifically about his theories of visual perception argued there is a difference between direct information, that is the perception of the affordances in an environment, and indirect information, that is the information contained in signals and signs in a defined channel of communication. This thesis develops a framework based on this distinction proposed by Gibson to show how networked electronic devices are used both to communicate and to enable new modes of perceiving the environment. Based on my analysis I will argue that the framers of what is called "The Semantic Web" are primarily concerned with enabling communication of indirect information and this is preventing the development of more innovative interfaces that enable networked humans to directly perceive and interact with their environment in novel ways. I will then explain an alternative framework for describing what might called the "The Semantic Web" by relating Gibson's theories to the more formal theory of Shape Grammars developed by Professor of Design and Computation George Stiny. Stiny's work illustrates how the semantics of direct information, that is interacting with shapes as shapes, are very different from the semantics of indirect information, that is interacting with shapes as symbols. I will then describe a software demo I developed based on these arguments and explain how it is different from the Semantic Web as currently understood.
by Mark M. Watabe.
S.M.

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-78).
As stated by Joe Guglielmi, President of Motorola's Integrated Electronics Systems Sector, in 1998 "... the most important technological advancement of the next decade is the one that will allow consumers to receive computer connectivity, in an easy to operate format, while in the automobile.' Guglielmi based his assertion on growing consumer connectivity expectations, resulting from consumer reliance on real-time information fueled by increased usage of the World Wide Web and increasing commuting times. In short Guglielmi asserted that due to growing consumer expectations concerning connectivity, Telematics represented not only a new line of business for automotive OEMs and wireless manufacturers, but a very profitable one as well. For this reason nearly all OEMs (Globally) of the 1990s entered, or conducted extensive studies on the Telematics space over the course of the next decade. Over these years, in the United States market, certain dominant features did emerge that helped to shape expectations over the course of the decade. These features were based around the themes of both safety (e.g. airbag deployment notification) and service (e.g. 24-hour liveoperator support). By successfully integrating these features, while gaining GM corporate marketing and financial support, OnStar emerged as a dominant design in the US market throughout this period, updating their technologies to meet the gradual evolution of the wireless technologies and customer demand. While the innovations in the wireless space over the early portion of the decade had been slow enough for OEM's to maintain parity, recent (2005 and beyond) explosions in -3- wireless and handheld technologies, and in particular the emergence of smartphones, have led to disruption and fragmentation of the Telematics landscape. Much of this disruption has come from the fact that smartphones are delivering technologies that better serve consumers' core needs and are helping to develop new consumer expectations in terms of applications and connectivity. As noted by Bryan Inouye, National Strategic Planning Manager at Toyota Motors, in early 2009, "the rapid advancement in both wireless capabilities and handhelds has caused a disruption to the traditional OnStar model. We are now left contemplating how best to serve our customers by offering the best in safety features, connectivity, and infotainment." The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of the Telematics industry, specifically within the U.S. Market, which, according to experts and OEM leaders like Akio Toyoda, represents the most mature and advanced Telematics market when assessed holistically. Using this assessment, we will then provide a recommendation for the U.S. division of Toyota Motors, Toyota Motor Sales, on how best to proceed into the future. While Toyota Motors is used as an example company, this recommendation could easily be applicable to any Japanese-based automotive manufacturer operating in the United States.
by John Webb.
S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-71).
Information technology (IT) is vital to growth of all organizations. But getting value out of IT has been challenging. The companies, which fail to align their IT strategy with business objectives struggle with low or mediocre return on their IT investment. On the other hand, the companies that achieve strategic alignment realize higher economic benefits. Successful companies go one step further and use IT to enable business. They differentiate themselves from their competitors using IT and forge alliances. But is there any formula for achieving strategic alignment? The research of past decade seem to suggest that there indeed is a trend among companies, who manage to achieve strategic alignment. The successful companies recognize IT's unique value and ensure that it generates value like other assets do. IT is not a mere support function in such organizations. IT not only serves the internal businesses of the company but it acts like a business in dealing with suppliers. The framework of Strategic Alignment Model (SAM) identifies this as the balance of internal and external domain. The model asserts that IT should be judged both in terms of external domain, which determines how the firm as whole is positioned in the market place and internal domain, which constitutes IT's internal policies and structures. In the internal domain, the emphasis is more on technology than on business, management or organizational issue. The effective utilization of IT requires alignment of IT strategy with business objectives. This assertion is validated by a case study of a three companies, who successfully achieved strategic alignment.
by Debangshu Goswami.
S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-74).
This thesis explores the technology and market evolution of FT-IR spectroscopy over its nearly forty year history to aid in determining future product design and marketing strategies for an industry-leading firm, Bruker Optics. As a benchmark, a universal performance metric was developed that combined key specifications applicable to all FT-IR spectrometers. By researching a selected set of Bruker Optics' spectrometer systems, this performance benchmark was calculated along with each instrument's weight, volume, power consumption, and cost. The universal performance curve displayed an exponential increase from 1974 to 1988, but the rate of improvement has since decreased dramatically to incremental increase in the last twenty years. Using Design Structure Matrix analysis, the architectural trends of the same instruments were traced to discern the impact an instrument's overall design had on its performance. This analysis resulted in no definitive correlations between a spectrometer's performance and its architecture. Rather the overall instrument performance increases were attributable to individual component performance increases. However, with respect to volume, power consumption, and cost, there were clear correlations to instrument architecture. While spectrometer weight was fairly consistent over the years, decreasing instrument volume coincided with decreasing part count. Likewise, power consumption decreases over the past twenty years corresponded with decreasing energy and informational links within each instrument's architecture. The most striking correlation was the nearly perfect linear relationship between decreasing cost and decreasing instrument matter/spatial link count. Over the past fifteen years, incremental performance increase coupled with exponentially decreasing cost has resulted in FT-IR spectrometers becoming more and more commoditized. Consumers expect high performance at low cost which jeopardizes future profitability and growth for companies in the increasingly competitive FT-IR market. Bruker Optics must look to capture greater market share in segments outside of the research segment it currently dominates. By shifting from their historically product-oriented culture to a more market-oriented one, and by specifically targeting the near Infrared scanner segment, Bruker Optics will be primed for future success.
by Thomas Higdon.
S.M.in System Design and Management

[EN] The thesis is focused on the monastery of San Carlino alle Quattro Fontane, internationally recognized as the masterpiece of the great Baroque architect Francesco Borromini (1599-1667). In this work, which occupied most of his career until his death, all the principles of his architecture are collected and summarizes his professional career. The small and humble community of Spanish Discalced Trinitarians arrived in Rome in 1609, entrusted the architect the construction of its new headquarters in Rome in 1634 who took charge without claiming any compensation. The monastery stands as an architectural jewel of the Baroque and represents the living spirit of this Order that has been transmitted by Borromini in the project, and later imitated and completed by architect Alessandro Sperone. Although the convent was designed by Borromini as a unit and as a single project, the complex was built in different phases functionally independent based on the available economic resources. In this way and over the years it gradually took shape, first with the construction of the quarto del dormitorio later with the cloister and its attached dependences and, finally, with the construction of the church, which facade would not be completed until 1676, after the death of Borromini. Therefore, the integral construction of Borromini's project spanned more than forty years since the foundation stone. This logic programming construction in phases allowed the acquisition of various properties that constituted the original site, as well as the relocation of the friars in other areas as construction progressed. Thirty years after completing the Borromini's project and since the community had grown significantly in recent years, the Trinitarian Fathers decided to extend the convent. The new project, which construction began in 1710 and has never been studied, involved the addition of a new L-shaped wing and a covered walkway that hugged the old orange garden. However, the XVIII century expansion not unduly separated in time with Borromini project, caused numerous formal and functional alterations in the first complex. From the study of archival documentation - unpublished to date - this research reconstructs the evolution and the original configuration of the entire monastery complex, establishing a unitary and unusual overview which highlights the architects and technicians involved, the materials and techniques used and the architectural, constructive and formal aspects of the XVIII century enlargement and the Borromini's project, to which remains indissolubly linked.
[ES] La tesis doctoral se centra en el complejo conventual de San Carlino alle Quattro Fontane, reconocida internacionalmente como la obra maestra del gran arquitecto del barroco Francesco Borromini (1599-1667). En esta obra, que le ocupó casi toda su carrera hasta su muerte, se recogen todos los principios de su arquitectura y se resume su trayectoria artística. La pequeña y humilde comunidad de Trinitarios Descalzos españoles llegada a Roma en 1609, confió en 1634 al arquitecto la construcción de su nueva sede en Roma, quien asumió el encargo sin pretender compensación alguna. El convento se erige como una joya arquitectónica del barroco y como la expresión viva del espíritu de esta Orden que ha sido transmitido por Borromini en el proyecto, y más tarde imitado y completado con la ampliación llevada a cabo en 1710 por el también arquitecto Alessandro Sperone. A pesar de que el conjunto diseñado por Borromini fue afrontado desde el principio como un proyecto unitario, el complejo se construyó en distintas fases funcionalmente independientes en base a los recursos económicos disponibles. De este modo y con el transcurso de los años fue paulatinamente adquiriendo forma, primero con la construcción del cuarto del dormitorio, más tarde con la del claustro y sus dependencias anejas y, por último, con la construcción de la iglesia, cuya fachada sin embargo no sería completada hasta 1676, después de la desaparición de Borromini. Así, la construcción integral del convento borrominiano abarcó más de cuarenta años desde la puesta de la primera piedra. Esta lógica programación de la construcción en varias fases permitió acompasarla a la adquisición de las diferentes propiedades que constituirían el solar original, así como a la reubicación de los frailes en otras dependencias según iba avanzando la construcción. Apenas treinta años después de concluirse la fábrica borrominiana y puesto que la comunidad había crecido notablemente en los últimos años, los Padres Trinitarios decidieron ampliar el convento para dotarlo de nuevos ambientes. Este nuevo proyecto, cuya construcción se inició en 1710 y cuyo estudio no ha sido nunca abordado, consistió en la adición de una nueva ala en forma de ele y de un pasaje cubierto que abrazaban el antiguo jardín de naranjos. Sin embargo, la ampliación setechentesca, no distanciada en el tiempo excesivamente del proyecto de Borromini, provocó numerosas alteraciones formales y funcionales en la fábrica borrominiana. A partir del estudio de la documentación de archivo relativa a la ampliación de la fábrica y al proyecto borrominiano - inédita hasta la fecha - la presente investigación reconstruye la evolución y la configuración original de todo el complejo conventual, estableciendo una visión unitaria e insólita de conjunto que pone en evidencia los artífices implicados, los materiales y técnicas utilizadas y los aspectos arquitectónicos, constructivos y formales de la ampliación setechentesca, así como de la fábrica borrominiana, a la que queda indisolublemente ligada.
[CAT] La tesi doctoral se centra en el complex conventual de Sant Carlino alle Quattro Fontane, reconeguda internacionalment com l'obra mestra del gran arquitecte del barroc Francesco Borromini (1599-1667). En aquesta obra, que li va ocupar gairebé tota la seva carrera fins a la mort, es recullen tots els principis de la seva arquitectura i es resumeix la seva trajectòria artística. La petita i humil comunitat de Trinitaris Descalços espanyols arribada a Roma en 1609, va confiar en 1634 a l'arquitecte la construcció de la seva nova seu a Roma, qui va assumir l'encàrrec sense pretendre cap compensació. El convent s'erigeix com una joia arquitectònica del barroc i com l'expressió viva de l'esperit d'aquesta Ordre que ha estat transmès per Borromini en el projecte, i més tard imitat i completat amb l'ampliació començada en 1710 pel també arquitecte Alessandro Sperone. Tot i que el conjunt dissenyat per Borromini va ser afrontat des del principi com un projecte unitari, el complex es va construir en diferents fases funcionalment independents en base als recursos econòmics disponibles. D'aquesta manera i amb el transcurs dels anys va adquirint forma gradualment, primer amb la construcció del quarto del dormitori, més tard amb la del claustre i les seves dependències annexes i, finalment, amb la construcció de l'església, la façana però no seria completada fins 1676, després de la desaparició de Borromini. Així, la construcció integral del convent borrominiano va durar més de quaranta anys des de la posada de la primera pedra. Aquesta lògica programació de la construcció en diverses fases va permetre compassar-la a l'adquisició de les diferents propietats que constituirien el solar original, així com a la reubicació dels frares en altres dependències segons anava avançant la construcció. Trenta anys després de concloure la fàbrica borrominiana i ja que la comunitat havia crescut notablement en els últims anys, els Pares Trinitaris van decidir ampliar el convent per dotar-lo de nous ambients. Aquest nou projecte - que es va iniciar a construir l'any 1710 i que no ha estat mai estudiat - va consistir en l'addició d'una nova ala en forma d'ela i d'un passatge cobert que abraçaven l'antic jardí de tarongers. No obstant això, l'ampliació setechentesca, no distanciada en el temps excessivament del projecte de Borromini, va provocar nombroses alteracions formals i funcionals en la fàbrica borrominiana. A partir de l'estudi de la documentació d'arxiu relativa a l'ampliació de la fàbrica i al projecte borrominiano - inèdita fins a la data - la present investigació reconstrueix l'evolució i la configuració original de tot el complex conventual, establint una visió unitària i insòlita de conjunt que posa en evidència els artífexs implicats, els materials i tècniques utilitzades i els aspectes arquitectònics, constructius i formals de l'ampliació setechentesca, així com de la fàbrica borrominiana, a la qual queda indissolublement lligada.
Grau Fernández, M. (2015). San Carlino Alle Quattro Fontane: La ampliación del siglo XVIII [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/59225
TESIS

[EN] Over time, due to multiple operational and maintenance activities, the networks of water supply systems (WSSs) undergo interventions, modifications or even are closed. In many cases, these activities are not properly registered. Knowledge of the paths and characteristics (status and age, etc.) of the WSS pipes is obviously necessary for efficient and dynamic management of such systems. This problem is greatly augmented by considering the detection and control of leaks. Access to reliable leakage information is a complex task. In many cases, leaks are detected when the damage is already considerable, which brings high social and economic costs. In this sense, non-destructive methods (e.g., ground penetrating radar - GPR) may be a constructive response to these problems, since they allow, as evidenced in this thesis, to ascertain paths of pipes, identify component characteristics, and detect primordial water leaks. Selection of GPR in this work is justified by its characteristics as non-destructive technique that allows studying both metallic and non-metallic objects. Although the capture of information with GPR is usually successful, such aspects as the capture settings, the large volume of generated information, and the use and interpretation of such information require high level of skill and experience. This dissertation may be seen as a step forward towards the development of tools able to tackle the problem of lack of knowledge on the WSS buried assets. The main objective of this doctoral work is thus to generate tools and assess their feasibility of application to the characterization of components of WSSs from GPR images. In this work we have carried out laboratory tests specifically designed to propose, develop and evaluate methods for the characterization of the WSS buried components. Additionally, we have conducted field tests, which have enabled us to determine the feasibility of implementing such methodologies under uncontrolled conditions. The methodologies developed are based on techniques of intelligent data analysis. The basic principle of this work has involved the processing of data obtained through the GPR to look for useful information about WSS components, with special emphasis on the pipes. After performing numerous activities, one can conclude that, using GPR images, it is feasible to obtain more information than the typical identification of hyperbolae currently performed. In addition, this information can be observed directly, e.g. more simply, using the methodologies proposed in this doctoral work. These methodologies also prove that it is feasible to identify patterns (especially with the preprocessing algorithm termed Agent race) that provide fairly good approximation of the location of leaks in WSSs. Also, in the case of pipes, one can obtain such other characteristics as diameter and material. The main outcomes of this thesis consist in a series of tools we have developed to locate, identify and visualize WSS components from GPR images. Most interestingly, the data are synthesized and reduced so that the characteristics of the different components of the images recorded in GPR are preserved. The ultimate goal is that the developed tools facilitate decision-making in the technical management of WSSs, and that such tools can even be operated by personnel with limited experience in handling non-destructive methodologies, specifically GPR.
[ES] Con el paso del tiempo, y debido a múltiples actividades operacionales y de mantenimiento, las redes de los sistemas de abastecimiento de agua (SAAs) sufren intervenciones, modificaciones o incluso, son clausuradas, sin que, en muchos casos, estas actividades sean correctamente registradas. El conocimiento de los trazados y características (estado y edad, entre otros) de las tuberías en los SAAs es obviamente necesario para una gestión eficiente y dinámica de tales sistemas. A esta problemática se suma la detección y el control de las fugas de agua. El acceso a información fiable sobre las fugas es una tarea compleja. En muchos casos, las fugas son detectadas cuando los daños en la red son ya considerables, lo que trae consigo altos costes sociales y económicos. En este sentido, los métodos no destructivos (por ejemplo, ground penetrating radar - GPR), pueden ser una respuesta a estas problemáticas, ya que permiten, como se pone de manifiesto en esta tesis, localizar los trazados de las tuberías, identificar características de los componentes y detectar las fugas de agua cuando aún no son significativas. La selección del GPR, en este trabajo se justifica por sus características como técnica no destructiva, que permite estudiar tanto objetos metálicos como no metálicos. Aunque la captura de información con GPR suele ser exitosa, la configuración de la captura, el gran volumen de información, y el uso y la interpretación de la información requieren de alto nivel de habilidad y experiencia por parte del personal. Esta tesis doctoral se plantea como un avance hacia el desarrollo de herramientas que permitan responder a la problemática del desconocimiento de los activos enterrados de los SAAs. El objetivo principal de este trabajo doctoral es, pues, generar herramientas y evaluar la viabilidad de su aplicación en la caracterización de componentes de un SAA, a partir de imágenes GPR. En este trabajo hemos realizado ensayos de laboratorio específicamente diseñados para plantear, elaborar y evaluar metodologías para la caracterización de los componentes enterrados de los SAAs. Adicionalmente, hemos realizado ensayos de campo, que han permitido determinar la viabilidad de aplicación de tales metodologías bajo condiciones no controladas. Las metodologías elaboradas están basadas en técnicas de análisis inteligentes de datos. El principio básico de este trabajo ha consistido en el tratamiento adecuado de los datos obtenidos mediante el GPR, a fin de buscar información de utilidad para los SAAs respecto a sus componentes, con especial énfasis en las tuberías. Tras la realización de múltiples actividades, se puede concluir que es viable obtener más información de las imágenes de GPR que la que actualmente se obtiene con la típica identificación de hipérbolas. Esta información, además, puede ser observada directamente, de manera más sencilla, mediante las metodologías planteadas en este trabajo doctoral. Con estas metodologías se ha probado que también es viable la identificación de patrones (especialmente el pre-procesado con el algoritmo Agent race) que proporcionan aproximación bastante acertada de la localización de las fugas de agua en los SAAs. También, en el caso de las tuberías, se puede obtener otro tipo de características tales como el diámetro y el material. Como resultado de esta tesis se han desarrollado una serie de herramientas que permiten visualizar, identificar y localizar componentes de los SAAs a partir de imágenes de GPR. El resultado más interesante es que los resultados obtenidos son sintetizados y reducidos de manera que preservan las características de los diferentes componentes registrados en las imágenes de GPR. El objetivo último es que las herramientas desarrolladas faciliten la toma de decisiones en la gestión técnica de los SAAs y que tales herramientas puedan ser operadas incluso por personal con una experiencia limitada en el manejo
[CAT] Amb el temps, a causa de les múltiples activitats d'operació i manteniment, les xarxes de sistemes d'abastament d'aigua (SAAs) se sotmeten a intervencions, modificacions o fins i tot estan tancades. En molts casos, aquestes activitats no estan degudament registrats. El coneixement dels camins i característiques (estat i edat, etc.) de les canonades d'aigua i sanejament fa evident la necessitat d'una gestió eficient i dinàmica d'aquests sistemes. Aquest problema es veu augmentat en gran mesura tenint en compte la detecció i control de fuites. L'accés a informació fiable sobre les fuites és una tasca complexa. En molts casos, les fugues es detecten quan el dany ja és considerable, el que porta costos socials i econòmics. En aquest sentit, els mètodes no destructius (per exemple, ground penetrating radar - GPR) poden ser una resposta constructiva a aquests problemes, ja que permeten, com s'evidencia en aquesta tesi, per determinar rutes de canonades, identificar les característiques dels components, i detectar les fuites d'aigua quan encara no són significatives. La selecció del GPR en aquest treball es justifica per les seves característiques com a tècnica no destructiva que permet estudiar tant objectes metàl·lics i no metàl·lics. Tot i que la captura d'informació amb GPR sol ser reeixida, aspectes com ara la configuració de captura, el gran volum d'informació que es genera, i l'ús i la interpretació d'aquesta informació requereix alt nivell d'habilitat i experiència. Aquesta tesi pot ser vista com un pas endavant cap al desenvolupament d'eines capaces d'abordar el problema de la manca de coneixement sobre els actius d'aigua i sanejament enterrat. L'objectiu principal d'aquest treball doctoral és, doncs, generar eines i avaluar la seva factibilitat d'aplicació a la caracterització dels components de los SAAs, a partir d'imatges GPR. En aquest treball s'han dut a terme proves de laboratori específicament dissenyats per proposar, desenvolupar i avaluar mètodes per a la caracterització dels components d'aigua i sanejament soterrat. A més, hem dut a terme proves de camp, que ens han permès determinar la viabilitat de la implementació d'aquestes metodologies en condicions no controlades. Les metodologies desenvolupades es basen en tècniques d'anàlisi intel·ligent de dades. El principi bàsic d'aquest treball ha consistit en el tractament de dades obtingudes a través del GPR per buscar informació útil sobre els components d'SAA, amb especial èmfasi en la canonades. Després de realitzar nombroses activitats, es pot concloure que, amb l'ús d'imatges de GPR, és factible obtenir més informació que la identificació típica d'hipèrboles realitzat actualment. A més, aquesta informació pot ser observada directament, per exemple, més simplement, utilitzant les metodologies proposades en aquest treball doctoral. Aquestes metodologies també demostren que és factible per identificar patrons (especialment el pre-processat amb l'algoritme Agent race) que proporcionen bastant bona aproximació de la localització de fuites en SAAs. També, en el cas de tubs, es pot obtenir altres característiques com ara el diàmetre i el material. Els principals resultats d'aquesta tesi consisteixen en una sèrie d'eines que hem desenvolupat per localitzar, identificar i visualitzar els components dels SAAS a partir d'imatges GPR. El resultat més interessant és que els resultats obtinguts són sintetitzats i reduïts de manera que preserven les característiques dels diferents components registrats en les imatges de GPR. L'objectiu final és que les eines desenvolupades faciliten la presa de decisions en la gestió tècnica de SAA, i que tals eines poden fins i tot ser operades per personal amb poca experiència en el maneig de metodologies no destructives, específicament GPR.
Ayala Cabrera, D. (2015). Characterization of components of water supply systems from GPR images and tools of intelligent data analysis [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/59235
TESIS
Premiado

[EN] The aim of this thesis is to analyze how farmer-managed systems adapt to the changes related to the integration of new water resources and drip irrigation technologies. Chapters two and three study the operating principles for water management. These principles, when applied by farmers as collective rules, result in interactions that create equity on water rights and transparency. The study area includes the irrigation system of the Huerta of Valencia (Spain). This system, well known internationally, has traditionally used surface water from the Turia River. Though recently, the use of groundwater and treated wastewater have been integrated with surface water. In this context, the analysis evolves around the subject of how the rules, developed for the sharing of surface water, have been adapted for conjunctive use of these new water resources. In addition, attention is also placed on how this process was crucial for the management of the 2005 - 2008 drought period. Results show that the operating principles, based in the proportionality and uniformity on irrigation frequency between users, underlie a system of distribution that is equitable, transparent and robust. In addition, the use of drought emergency wells and the reuse of treated wastewater have not resulted in any important conflict. These resources are used together with surface water during drought periods, increasing the guarantee of supply. However, treated wastewater use affects the uniformity on irrigation frequency among Water User Associations. Besides, Groundwater User Associations overlap in irrigated surface, farmers and infrastructure with Water User Associations using surface water. This situation results in informal conjunctive, a strategy that seems effective to deal with drought. Chapter four analyses the conversion to drip irrigation, an important technological transformation. In order to do that, institutional and management changes are examined. The cases studied are the Acequia Real del Júcar, the Júcar-Turia Channel and the General Community of Irrigators of Vall d'Uixó. At Water User Association level a centralization of managment has been observed (in the irrigation network, water resources managment and the merging of preexisting associations). In addition, the reasons to convert, the advantages, disadvantages and the satisfaction of users are also assessed. Besides, the work examines some aspects of how users adapt the use of irrigation and fertigation technology to their needs, diverging in some cases from the initial criteria of design. Chapter five discusses and compares the implications of the previous chapters. Some aspects of irrigation management and governance are assessed in a more detailed manner for the case of gravity irrigation Water Users Associations. In addition, the changes related to the introduction of drip irrigation technologies and new water resources are further compared In conclusion, the thesis reflects on current water policy dilemmas, focusing in currently prevailing water policy measures in the Valencia region, but also at world level: drip irrigation implementation, reuse of treated water and conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water. This allows identifying and comparing local aspects that influence the adoption and adaptation of new technologies and the integration of new water sources. Considering these features in irrigation policy would increase the efficacy of traditional solutions. Including these perspectives would also help to adapt new solutions to collective water and irrigation management settings characterized by significant complexity.
[ES] Este proyecto de tesis tiene por objetivo analizar cómo la gestión comunitaria del riego se adapta a los cambios relacionados con la integración de nuevos recursos hídricos y tecnologías de riego localizado. Los capítulos dos y tres estudian los principios de operación para la gestión del agua. Estos principios, cuando son aplicados por los agricultores como reglas de gestión colectiva, resultan en interacciones que crean equidad entre derechos de agua y transparencia. La zona de estudio comprende el sistema de riego de la Huerta de Valencia (España), un sistema de riego conocido a nivel mundial que tradicionalmente ha utilizado los recursos superficiales del río Turia, pero que recientemente ha integrado el uso de aguas subterráneas y aguas residuales tratadas. En este marco se analiza cómo estas normas, desarrolladas sobre la base de la gestión de los recursos superficiales, se han adaptado para el uso conjunto de estos nuevos recursos y cómo este proceso ha sido crucial para la gestión del periodo de sequía ocurrido entre 2005 y 2008. Los resultados indican que los principios operativos subyacentes, basados en la proporcionalidad y la uniformidad de la frecuencia de riego entre los usuarios, son el fundamento de un sistema de reparto equitativo, transparente y robusto. Además, el uso de pozos de emergencia de sequía o de aguas residuales tratadas no ha sido fuente de conflicto, pues se utilizan durante el periodo de sequía como un recurso adicional junto con el riego de aguas superficiales, aumentando la garantía de abastecimiento. No obstante, el uso de agua depurada afecta a la uniformidad de la frecuencia de riego entre comunidades. Por otro lado las asociaciones de riego con aguas subterráneas se solapan con las comunidades de regantes y, aunque son diferentes organizaciones, comparten en gran medida superficie regable, regantes e infraestructura, resultando en un uso conjunto informal, lo que parece una estrategia efectiva de adaptación a la sequía. En el capítulo cuatro, se analiza la conversión a riego localizado, una transformación tecnológica significativa. Para ello, se examinan los cambios institucionales y de gestión. El ámbito del trabajo es la Acequia Real del Júcar, el Canal-Júcar Turia y la Comunidad General de Regantes de Vall d'Uixó. A escala de comunidad de regantes, se ha observado una transformación hacia una gestión más centralizada (de la red de riego, de los diferentes recursos hídricos y fusión de organizaciones preexistentes). Además, se centra la atención en las razones para la conversión, los pros, los contras y la satisfacción de los usuarios. También se examinan aspectos de cómo los usuarios adaptan el uso de la tecnología de riego y fertirrigación a sus necesidades, divergiendo en algunos casos del criterio de diseño inicial. En el capítulo cinco se discuten y comparan las implicaciones de los capítulos anteriores. Algunos aspectos de la gestión y gobernanza del riego se analizan de una manera más detallada para el caso de las comunidades de regantes con riego por gravedad. En conclusión, esta tesis reflexiona sobre los dilemas actuales de la gestión del agua, centrándose en las medidas que actualmente predominan en Valencia, pero también a nivel mundial: la implementación del riego localizado, la reutilización de aguas residuales tratadas y el uso conjunto de los recursos superficiales y subterráneos. Esto permite identificar y comparar aspectos locales que influyen en la adopción y adaptación de nuevas tecnologías y la integración de recursos hídricos. Tenerlos en cuenta en las políticas de regadío puede aumentar la eficacia de las soluciones tradicionales, ayudando a adaptar nuevas soluciones a ámbitos de la gestión colectiva del agua y del riego caracterizados por una elevada complejidad.
[CAT] El projecte de tesi té per objectiu analitzar com la gestió comunitària del reg s'adapta als canvis relacionats amb la integració de nous recursos hídrics i les tecnologies de reg per degoteig. Els capítols dos i tres estudien els principis d'operació per a la gestió de l'aigua. Aquests principis, quan són aplicats pels llauradors com a regles de gestió col¿lectiva, resulten en interaccions que creen equitat entre drets d'aigua i transparència. La zona d'estudi comprén el sistema de reg de l'Horta de València (Espanya), un sistema de reg de renom internacional que tradicionalment ha utilitzat recursos superficials del riu Túria. Però, recentment ha integrat la utilització d'aigües subterrànies i aigües residuals tractades. En aquest marc, s'analitza com les normes, desenvolupades en base a la gestió dels recursos superficials, s'han adaptat a la utilització conjunta dels nous recursos i com aquest procés ha estat crucial per a la gestió de la sequera que va tindre lloc entre 2005 i 2008. Els resultats indiquen que els principis operatius subjacents, basats en la proporcionalitat i la uniformitat en la freqüència de reg entre els usuaris, són el fonament d'un sistema de repartiment equitatiu, transparent i robust. A més a més, l'ús de pous de sequera o la reutilització d'aigües residuals tractades no ha estat cap font de conflicte, ja que s'utilitzen durant els períodes de sequera com un recurs addicional juntament amb les aigües superficials, augmentant-ne la garantia d'abastiment. No obstant això, l'ús d'aigües depurades tractades afecta la uniformitat en la freqüència de reg entre comunitats. D'altra banda, les associacions de reg amb aigües subterrànies se solapen amb les comunitats de regants i, tot i que són diferents organitzacions, comparteixen en gran mesura superfície regable, regants i infraestructura. Això genera una utilització conjunta informal que sembla una estratègia eficaç d'adaptació a la sequera. En el capítol quatre s'analitza la conversió a reg per degoteig, una transformació tecnològica significativa. Per aquest motiu, s'examinen els canvis institucionals en l'organització i la gestió derivats de la implementació de reg per degoteig. L'àmbit del treball es la Séquia Reial del Xúquer, el canal Xúquer-Túria i la Comunitat General de Regants de Vall d'Uixó. A escala de comunitat de regants s'ha observat una transformació vers una gestió més centralitzada (de la xarxa de reg, dels diferents recursos hídrics i fusió d'organitzacions preexistents). A més a més, es posa l'atenció en les raons dels llauradors per a prendre aquesta decisió, i s'estudien els pros, els contres i la satisfacció dels usuaris. També s'examinen aspectes de com els usuaris adapten la utilització de la tecnologia del reg i fertirrigació a les necessitats que tenen, cosa que divergeix en alguns casos del criteri de disseny inicial. En el capítol cinc es discuteixen i comparen les implicacions dels capítols precedents. Alguns aspectes de la gestió i governança del reg s'analitzen de una manera més detallada per al cas de les comunitats de regants amb reg per gravetat. En conclusió, la tesi reflexiona sobre els dilemes actuals de la gestió de l'aigua, i posa l'atenció en les mesures que predominen actualment en València, però també a escala mundial: la implementació del reg per degoteig, la reutilització d'aigües depurades tractades i la utilització conjunta de recursos superficials i subterranis. Això permet identificar aspectes que influeixen en l'adaptació i l'adopció de noves tecnologies i en la integració de nous recursos hídrics. Tindre'ls en compte a l'hora de dissenyar polítiques de regadiu augmentaria l'eficàcia de les solucions tradicionals i, al mateix temps, ajudaria a adaptar noves solucions a àmbits de la gestió col¿lectiva de l'aigua i del reg, caracteritzats per una complexitat elevada.
Ortega Reig, MV. (2015). Collective management of irrigation in eastern Spain. Integration of new technologies and water resources [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/59245
TESIS
Premiado

Olfactory cues can provide many forms of information about an animal’s environment. For some migratory species, these cues guide migrants towards foraging or reproductive grounds. Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) use olfactory cues to locate their natal sites during the spawning migration. The objective of this thesis was to further our understanding of the olfactory-mediated movements of Pacific salmon as they return to their home streams to spawn. Through a synthesis of past studies on olfactory navigation in anadromous fish, I identified critical knowledge gaps and future directions for research. Drawing from two long-standing hypotheses that seek to explain how salmonids navigate to their natal sites, I developed a new hypothesis that suggests salmonids use imprinted odours of their natal water as primary directional cues, pheromones as secondary cues, and non-olfactory environmental information as tertiary cues. One of the major implications of this hypothesis is that salmonids that have strayed from their natal migratory route might use pheromones to locate suitable spawning habitat. Using samples I collected from wild adult sockeye salmon (O. nerka), I found increased expression of potential pheromone receptors in strays. I also found that sockeye salmon are behaviourally attracted to the odour of conspecifics when imprinted natal cues are absent, as would be the case for a stray salmon, but not when the imprinted cues are present. Conspecific odours are not always attractive during the migration however, as I found sockeye salmon avoided the odour of conspecifics that were subjected to a handling event, suggesting these fish release chemical disturbance cues when stressed. Pink salmon (O. gorbuscha) did not avoid the odours of disturbed conspecifics, which might relate to species-level differences in life history. Finally, I analyzed the influence of altered flow composition resulting from hydroelectric developments on olfactory navigation in sockeye and pink salmon. Alterations can disorient salmon as they swim upstream, and the results provide guidelines for managers to minimize such disorientation in this river system. The findings of my thesis contribute to our understanding of the olfactory process in salmonids, and point to future research directions in the field of salmonid homing.
Forestry, Faculty of
Graduate

Woven fiber-reinforced polymer composites have become superior materials of choice in industries such as aerospace, energy and automotive, partly due to increased conformability to complex 3D shapes. Formability of woven composite reinforcements, however, is restricted by failure mechanisms such as wrinkling, and remains as a challenging issue for thermo-stamping operations. Wrinkling is today one of the most frequent defects arising during forming processes of composite materials, adversely affecting the quality of the final product, and coping with this defect requires fundamental knowledge and understanding of the fabric’s deformation mechanisms. This MASc thesis presents an analytical and experimental study on the shear deformation behavior of woven reinforcements from a multi-level standpoint as to more closely investigate the mechanisms behind formation of wrinkles. Namely, in the first stage of the research, sources of observed conflicts in the literature regarding the trend of tension-shear coupling in woven fabrics are discussed and resolved using a new characterization framework and a custom-design combined loading fixture. It is shown that in order to correctly characterize the tension-shear coupling behaviour in woven fabrics, instead of using global measured data, local normalized forces and displacements should be driven via a non-orthogonal transformation procedure, while considering kinematic force coupling in the test setup. In the second stage, a new characterization technique, namely a multi-step biaxial bias extension (MBBE) test, is proposed to determine the amount of required transverse de-wrinkling force, to flatten the wrinkles of different sizes. The underlying deformation mechanisms and the wrinkling/de-winkling force responses of the fabric are investigated, resulting into some potential practical design considerations for future 3D forming applications. Furthermore, the influence of yarn contact forces, bending rigidity, and tow slippage is highlighted for devising the de-wrinkling strategies. Finally, hemisphere forming experiments are carried out, attempting to find correlations between the results of 2D characterization experiments and those of 3D forming. Subsequently, a practical idea on modifying the blank holder geometry is proposed and validated for effectively suppressing the wrinkles and possibly other forming-induced defects during the fabric forming processes.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Engineering, School of (Okanagan)
Graduate

The impact of international trade on the environment has been the field of focus since the 1970’s. There have been a number of empirical studies exploring the environmental consequence of free trade but the results are mixed and only a few environmental indicators have been used in place of the total environmental impact. In this study, I used combined environmental cost data which converted environmental impact indicators into US$ terms (the data is taken from World Bank database). Also, by taking advantage of panel data (observations from 60 countries over 25 years) and (two-way) fixed effects model, I attempted to reduce the threat of endogeneity problem. Most importantly, environmental impact which is filtered through the trade induced changes of economic activity was analyzed in parallel with unfiltered through effects. And the results revealed that trade openness reduces national level environmental cost rather than increasing it. Meanwhile, income related technique effect was found to be underperforming and when the full sample was split into four income groups, the income-environment relationship appeared to be closer to N-shape as opposed to the inverted U-shaped environmental kutznets curve hypothesis.
Science, Faculty of
Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Graduate

Los métodos de reconocimiento facial han sido estudiados en años recientes por muchos investigadores en diferentes áreas. Las técnicas más importantes en reconocimiento facial pueden utilizar: Análisis de Componentes Principales (PCA), Patrones Binarios Locales (LBP) y Análisis Discriminante Lineal (LDA). Estas son las técnicas con mejores desempeños en la literatura. Sin embargo, en la literatura actual no existe un estudio comparativo de estas técnicas. En esta tesis son comparadas estas técnicas bajo condiciones específicas en las imágenes de entrada.

El turismo es un tema amplio que permite realizar investigaciones y proyectos en distintas áreas y enfoques. Sin embargo, hay ramas del turismo que, a pesar de ser analizadas en la actualidad carecen de profundidad en aspectos administrativos. Tal es el caso de los diferentes tipos de campamentos educativos y las asociaciones o empresas que los ejecutan.

Este trabajo de investigación contiene tablas.
La nueva visión que en el sistema jurídico ha sido adquirida en México de trabajar con mecanismos alternativos, ha llevado a una nueva etapa de la administración de justicia, con ello los ciudadanos viven la experiencia de un Estado de Derecho ejercido por ellos mismos, es meramente más palpable, donde ellos conforman el procedimiento de solución de sus conflictos a través de una adecuada comunicación. Esta investigación ha tenido la finalidad de buscar dar a entender lo trascendental que se están volviendo los mecanismos alternos de solución de controversias, que cada vez deben dejar de ser menos alternos debido a las circunstancias actuales de nuestra sociedad y más necesarios para que el Estado garantice justicia y paz social.

La Organización Mundial del Turismo (2014) reporta que el país observó una tendencia a la baja pasando del décimo lugar en 2011 a la décima tercera posición en 2012 cerrando el 2013 ocupando la décimo quinta en la recepción de turistas internacionales y del duodécimo al vigésimo tercero en el ingreso de divisas, descenciendo en el ranking internacional. Lo anterior no es ajeno a Atlacomulco, reconocido por su producción industrial, además de ser un centro de distribución de productos y un distribuidor vial para la zona centro y norte del país, sin embargo poco se ha escuchado de su desarrollo en materia de turismo a pesar de contar con recursos con posibilidades de ser aprovechados como estrategia para la generación de empleos e ingresos de acuerdo al potencial que lo caracteriza, se debe priorizar la evaluación de sus recursos y su capacidad para el desarrollo y el fortalecimiento de la actividad turística, en este orden de ideas, la intervención por parte de la administración municipal resulta trascendental en la toma de decisiones.

La administración de anestésicos inhalatorios deprime la función cardio-respiratoria de manera dependiente de la dosis. En el área de la anestesiología existe un gran interés por la utilización de fármacos capaces de disminuir los requerimientos de los anestésicos inhalatorios. El diseño de este estudio fue cruzado aleatorio prospectivo y experimental. Se incluyeron 6 perros adultos de raza criolla, castrados con un peso de 21 ± 3 Kg. La inducción se llevó a cabo con sevoflurano a través de mascarilla facial. Una vez alcanzando el plano anestésico adecuado cada uno de los pacientes recibió cada uno de los siguientes tratamientos,(Grupo LID) dosis de carga 2 mg/Kg, IV, posteriormente se inició una infusión continua IC) de 100 μg/Kg, IV, (Grupo DEX) 2 μg/Kg, IV, posteriormente se inició una IFC de 2 μg/Kg, IV, (Grupo LID-DEX), en este grupo recibieron una dosis de carga de LID y DEX, 2 mg/Kg y 2 μg/Kg, IV, durante un minuto y posteriormente se inició IFC de LID a una dosis de 100 μg/Kg/min y (IFC) de DEX a una dosis de 2 μg/Kg/hora. La presión arterial sistólica, diastólica y media (PAS, PAD, PAM), presión venosa central (PVC), presión de oclusión de la arteria pulmonar (POAP), gasto cardiaco (GC), trabajo sistólico del ventrículo izquierdo (LVSW), índice de resistencia vascular sistémica (IRVS), se evaluaron en cada tratamiento, la concentración de sevoflurano se ajustó para cada uno de los tratamientos basados en un estudio previo. La utilización de (DEX) sola o en combinación (LIDO-DEX) produce disminución de la (FC), e índice cardiaco IC de manera estadísticamente significativa en comparación con el grupo (LIDO) y el valor basal (BAS) (p <0,0001).En el grupo (DEX) la presión de oclusión arterial pulmonar (POAP), (IRVS) aumento de manera estadísticamente significativa, en comparación con el grupo (LID) y el valor basal (BAS) (p <0,0001). La presión (PAD), (IRVS), (POAP), (SVI) aumento de manera estadísticamente significativa en el grupo (LIDO-DEX) en comparación con el grupo (LID) y el valor basal (p <0,0005); p <0,0001; p <0,0001; p <0,001). La liberación de oxígeno a los tejidos (DO2) disminuyo de manera estadísticamente significativa en los grupos DEX, y LIDO-DEX en comparación con el grupo LIDO y el valor basal (p < 0.001). La utilización de dexmedetomidina y su combinación con lidocaína con una dosis de impregnación intravenosa seguida de una infusión continua ocasiona cambios cardiovasculares significativos similares a los observados con la utilización de dexmedetomidina sola en perros anestesiados con sevoflurano.