Дисертації з теми "Areas of coherence"

Article shows presence of the imbalance caused by insufficient level of productivity of modern and perspective information communication technologies concerning information intensity of bit streams. It is described how imbalance level reducing can be formed as a result of increasing of information processing technologies efficiency and that JPEG platform is the basic concept for construction of technologies of compression representation. Therefore it is proposed to provide further development of video processing methods using individual components of the JPEG platform for improving the integrity of information in terms of ensuring the required level of its availability.:

There is currently worldwide pressure to establish Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks which are self-sustaining and will persistently protect habitats and species. In order for MPA networks to be effective, the species targeted for conservation must be able to disperse between protected areas and maintain a gene-flow necessary for population sustainability and persistence. This warrants new research on how to quantify and map faunal dispersal to ensure that protection will be effective and sustainable. Population genetic methods have merit, with the ability to track parentage and gene flow between areas directly. However the costs, quantity of samples, and time required to genetically quantify dispersal for multiple species make these approaches prohibitive as the only method of assessment, especially in relatively inaccessible offshore waters. Dispersal modelling is now becoming more accessible and may fulfil immediate needs in this field (although ground truthing will be necessary in the future). There have been very few dispersal modelling studies focussed on deep sea or offshore areas, predominantly due to the lack of high resolution hydrodynamic models with sufficient geographic extent away from shore. Current conclusions have been drawn based on shallow water coastal studies, informing offshore MPA network size and spacing. However the differences between these two environments may mean that dispersal abilities are not comparable. Deep water receives less influence from wind and weather, and the scales are vastly different in terms of a) the depth ranges covered, b) the planktonic larval durations (PLDs) of animals, and c) the geographic areas concerned as a consequence. Global hydrodynamic models with reasonable resolution are now becoming more accessible. With the outputs from these models, and freely available particle simulators, it is becoming more practical to undertake offshore deep water dispersal studies. This thesis aims to undertake an analysis of these accessible modelling tools within a deep sea context. The guidelines which are currently available to dispersal modellers are yet to encompass the needs of deep water modellers which may require some additional considerations given the extended depth range covered and the different hydrodynamic drivers away from the air/sea interface. Chapter 1 reviews the larval dispersal process, the factors which may affect dispersal success, and those which should be incorporated into future predictions of dispersal. The current methods for assessing larval dispersal are explored covering genetics, elemental tagging and modelling approaches with an extended look at modelling considerations. Existing marine conservation policy is also touched on in the context of connectivity and larval dispersal. Chapter 2 is designed to inform future deep sea modellers on how to parameterise and understand a dispersal model. As models appear as a ‘black box’ to the majority of users, sensitivity tests can offer a way of scaling model inputs and tempering expectations from model outputs. A commonly used model pairing (the HYCOM hydrodynamic model and the Connectivity Modeling System) is assessed, using parameters which link to the temporal and spatial scales of mixing in the modelled system: timestep of particle tracer, horizontal and vertical positioning of release points, release frequency of larvae, and temporal range of simulation. All parameters were shown to have a decreased sensitivity with depth, with patterns reflecting local watermass structure. Future studies observing similar hydrodynamic conditions seeking to optimise their model set up would be advised to stratify their model release locations with depth. A means to incorporate all sensitivity test results into optimal input parameters for future studies is demonstrated. Chapter 3 investigates whether dispersal models provide any advantage over a “sphere of influence” estimate based on average current speeds and PLDs: there is no use pursuing dispersal modelling if the outputs are too erroneous to provide any advantage over a back-of-the-envelope calculation. This chapter examines the outputs of two dispersal models driven by two different hydrodynamic models in order to observe the variability in prediction between models. This model comparison revealed a greater disparity between hydrodynamic model predictions than has been previously understood by ecologists. The two models compared (POLCOMS and HYCOM) may equally be considered as suitable to promote realism in the study region, but slight differences in resolution and numerical error handling resulted in dispersal predictions from which opposing conclusions can be drawn. This chapter therefore emphasises the necessity for model ground truthing before predictions can be trusted. Chapter 4 assimilates the findings of the previous chapters and applies their advice to a study of MPA network dispersal connectivity. Using the hydrodynamic model which performed best in chapter 3 (HYCOM), a simulation was undertaken for cold water coral (Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus 1758)) larval dispersal between already established MPAs in the NE Atlantic. As larval characters have only been observed ex situ, dispersal was simulated using two null models (passive and active vertical migration) and averaged to provide an intermediate prediction. A method for assessing dispersal within MPAs and MPA networks is offered based on the intermediate prediction, as well as a network wide assessment of the difference in dispersal patterns for passive and active larvae. It was found that the existing network performs well at supplying larvae to non-networked sites, but performs poorly at supplying other MPAs. The ‘best’ MPAs were central to the network and facilitated the traverse of regional gaps in suitable habitat. The ‘worst’ MPAs were peripheral to the network and small in size. Network-wide passive and active dispersal matrices had no significant difference between them. However site specific variability in the effect of vertical migration was detected subject to variability in local topographic barriers to dispersal, only some of which could be surmounted with vertical migration. All chapters aim to inform future deep sea dispersal modellers, and encourage exploration of this tool in other contexts, as well as marine conservation. The thesis cautions against the transplantation of shallow water assumptions to deep water environments, and advocates region specific studies and mandatory ground truthing of predictions. An upcoming study will ground truth the findings of this thesis with both genetic and oceanographic data, allowing the accuracy of study results to be quantified.

With the advancements in technology and computing environment capabilities, the number of devices that people carry has increased exponentially. This increase initially occurred as a result of necessity to monitor the human body condition due to chronic diseases, heart problems etc. Later, individuals’ interest was drawn towards self-monitoring their physiology and health care. This is achieved by implanting various sensors that can proactively monitor the human body based on medical necessity and the health condition of the user. Sensors connected on a human body perceive phenomena such as locomotion or heartbeat, and act accordingly to form a Body Area Network. The primary concern of these sensors is to ensure a secure way of communication and coordination among the devices to form a flawless system. A secondary concern is wireless sensor authentication, which ensures trustworthiness and reliable gathering of a user’s data. To address this concern, we designed a secure approach using low cost accelerometers to authenticate sensors in Body Area Networks. To ensure authentication in on-body sensor networks, we need a mechanism which intuitively proves all the communicating nodes are trusted ones. In order to achieve sensor authentication, we used accelerometer data gathered from sensors to distinguish whether or not the devices are carried on waist of same individual’s body. Our approach is focused at analyzing walking patterns recorded from smartphone accelerometers placed in the same location of the user’s body, and we present results showing these sensors record similar pattern.

Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV), which results in Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), has many manifestations. Literature reveals that some of these manifestations may compromise the infected individual’s sense of well-being and negatively impact on health related quality of life. As the number of people living with HIV/AIDS disease grows, so does the need for their care. In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, care was primarily handled by special agencies, hospitals and clinics. These agencies have been inundated with the demands of people living with HIV/AIDS, while their resources are shrinking. As it stands now, the total assistance given to people living with HIV/AIDS is provided by relatives and this responsibility of caregiving will more increasingly rest with families. This situation is particularly salient for the rural community in South Africa, which has been disproportionately affected by the AIDS epidemic. AIDS has a tremendous impact on the entire family system, particularly on the individual who has primary responsibility for caregiving. The caregiver must cope with many circumstances that are frustrating and often beyond their control. Caring for a Person Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) appears to be a major stressor in the lives of caregivers, and can be very demanding, impacting on carers financially, physically, emotionally and socially. Given the lack of research on HIV/AIDS family caregiving from a salutogenic approach, this study aimed to explore and describe the sense of coherence and coping of family caregivers of HIV/AIDS patients in the Kwazakhele area in Port Elizabeth. The sample consisted of 50 participants aged between 21 and 65 years, recruited via the Kwazakhele Masizakhe Project. An exploratory-descriptive design was employed. Data was obtained by a biographical questionnaire, the Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) and the Sense of Coherence (SOC-29) Questionnaire. A non-probability convenience sample of adult male and female family caregivers were sampled. Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients were utilized to describe and explore the coping and sense of coherence of the family caregivers and the correlation between these constructs, respectively. The data obtained from the biographical questionnaire was analysed by using descriptive statistics and frequency counts. Key findings include the following: Results from the coping resources measure indicated that this sample perceived themselves as having an average level of coping resources. The sample tended to rely more readily on spiritual resources and less on cognitive resources. Results from the SOC-29 revealed fairly high mean scores. There is no positive relationship between the SOC-29 and the CRI for the current sample. No significant relationship existed between the SOC and the subscales of the CRI. Suggestions are made for future research, the limitations and value of research were outlined.

This master’s thesis deals with calibration of a coherence scanning interferometer Talysurf CCI Lite. Basic terms related to surface texture evaluation were described along with selected profile and areal surface texture parameters. The working principle and design of the calibrated instrument were explained. Manufacturer’s calibration procedure was analyzed in relation to the definition of calibration in the International vocabulary of metrology. Further calibration steps leading to calculation of measurement uncertainty were presented. Last but not least, measurement uncertainties of areal surface texture parameters Sq and Sz were evaluated. The procedures and results described in this thesis may contribute to wider use of non-contact surface texture measuring instruments.

ABSTRACTNGOs today meet several challenges due to growing competition and shrinking aid budgets. These demands are something all NGOs need to find strategies to meet. Learning thereby becomes essential for the organizations survival, success and for sustainable development. To meet these demands organizations need to be able to learn and develop. This minor field study is carried out to promote learning by highlighting knowledge and understanding for goals and objectives. SOIR is a non- governmental organization that in their new strategy for development work is supporting the civil society in building their own community based organizations (CBO) in the rural area of Manicaland, Zimbabwe. The organization Mandeya 2 Development was through the support of SOIR registered as a community based organization (CBO) in the spring of 2012. Mandeya 2 development is in its initial stages implementing SOIRs goals, objectives and strategies for operational work. This study has been focusing on the objective: Reduce stigma and discrimination of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) whose parents passed on due to HIV related illness by December 2012.The purpose of the study was to analyze staff and volunteers’ knowledge, coherence and perception of the objective and the root causes the objective aim to address, in order to promote the building of a “learning organization”. The result showed that there was a lack of knowledge and understanding for the objective and that the objective was perceived in different ways by the informants. The result further showed that this has consequences for the organizations possibility to learn and also have impact on the motivation, participation and volunteers’ possibility to affect the operational work performed.Keywords: Coherence, Goals, Learning Organization, NGO, Objectives, sustainable development

Inspection of optical components is essential to assure the quality and performance of optical systems. Evaluation of optical components includes metrology measurements of surface topography. It also requires optical measurements including refractive index, thin film thickness, reflectivity and transmission. The dispersion characteristics of optical constants including refractive index are also required. Hence, various instruments are used to make these measurements in research laboratories and for quality assurance. Clearly, it would be a significant advantage and cost saving if a technique was developed that could combine surface metrology with optical measurements. {Coherence Scanning Interferometry} (CSI) (also referred to as {Scanning White Light Interferometry} (SWLI)) has been used widely to measure surface topography with sub-nanometre vertical resolution. One of the benefits of the CSI is that the technique is non-contacting and hence non-destructive. Thus the test surfaces are not affected by the measurement using a CSI instrument whereas damage to the surfaces can occur when using traditional contact methods such as stylus profilometry. However use of CSI is geometrically limited to small areas ($\lesssim 10 \times 10$ mm) with gentle slopes ($\lesssim \ang{40}$) because of the numerical aperture of objective lens whereas stylus profilometry works well with larger areas and higher slopes due to the range of motion of the gauge and the traverse unit. Since the CSI technique is optical and involves light reflection and interference it is possible to extend the technique for the measurement of the thickness of transparent films, the roughness of surfaces buried beneath thin films or interfacial surfaces. It may also be used to determine spectral complex refractive index. This thesis provides an analytical framework of new methods to obtain complex refractive index in a visible light domain and interfacial surface roughness (ISR). It also provides experimental verification of these new capabilities using actual thin film model systems. The original Helical Complex Field (HCF) function theory is presented followed by its existing extensions that enable determination of complex refractive index and interfacial surface roughness. Further theoretical extensions of the HCF theory are also provided: A novel theory to determine the refractive index of a (semi-)transparent film is developed to address the constraint of the current HCF theory that restricted its use to opaque materials; Another novel theory is provided to measure ISR with noise compensation, which avoids erroneous surface roughness caused by the numerical optimisation affected by the existence of noise. The effectiveness of the ISR measurement with noise compensation has been verified using a number of computer simulations. Stylus profilometry is a well established method to provide a profile and has been used extensively as a 'reference' for other techniques. It normally provides a profile on which the roughness and the waviness are computed. Extension of the stylus profilometry technique to areal measurement of asymmetrical surfaces, namely raster scan measurement, requires a system to include error compensation between each traverse. The system errors and the random errors need to be separately understood particular when the measurement of a surface with nanometre-order accuracy is required. In this thesis a mathematical model to locate a stylus tip considering five mechanical errors occurring in a common raster scan profilometer is provided. Based on the model, the simulator which provides an areal measurement of a sphere was developed. The simulator clarified the relationship between the Zernike coefficients obtained from the form residual and the size of the errors in the form of partial derivatives of Zernike coefficients with respect to the errors. This provides theoretical support to the empirical knowledge of the relationship between the coefficients and the errors. Furthermore, a method to determine the size of errors directly from Zernike coefficients is proposed supported by simulations. Some of the error parameters were accurately determined avoiding iterative computation with this method whereas the errors are currently being determined by iterative computation.

An important part for projects, organizations etc. is to have a good system of how to manage information so that it´s constantly updated, accurate and available for all affected operators. Current degree project is performed on behalf of the IT-company Eurostep AB who has developed a software named Share-A-space for information management and they are now interested to see if there are any demands for Share-A-space in the field of urban development. During the degree project, a model was built using Share-A-space and the model is called CIM (City Information Model). The objective with the degree project was to investigate how information is managed today at the Administration of Urban Development, Stadsbyggnadsförvaltningen, at Eskilstuna municipality and if CIM would facilitate their work. A deeper investigation was made to locate where processes can be more efficient and how functions that CIM contains would be helpful. The degree project contains a literature study, a case study and a result where the literature study contains an environment monitoring, today’s visions of a future coherent digital work approach within municipalities and procedures for urban development. The case study contains information how Eskilstuna municipality is managing information, it also contains a description of how the model was built. The result contain information of how the model operates and the responds from interviews performed after a presentation of the model at the municipality. This degree project concludes that CIM in some ways definitely could be a valid alternative in the municipal work. The municipality didn’t see any benefits by having access to all technical information regarding all specific objects in the city. Processes would on the other hand, become more efficient and CIM would be a helpful tool in planning processes and contribute to make the municipal work more transparent. There were functions in CIM, especially the function to “travel in time”, that was considered extra useful for the employees at the municipality when planning the city but also for private residence to receive a greater understanding of future plans. To implement CIM would, on the other hand, be a resource demanding process which the municipality can´t perform at the moment without receiving financial support.

Busca conocer si la ONG Universidad Coherente tiene posicionamiento en su público objetivo y si éste tiene relación con su identidad corporativa. Analiza las estrategias de comunicación que utiliza la ONG, así como los hábitos, intereses y recordación del público con respecto a su temática. Aplica las técnicas de análisis de contenido, análisis documental y encuesta mixta con sus respectivos instrumentos diagnóstico de identidad corporativa, auditoría de comunicación y cuestionario. Concluye que la ONG debe definir su identidad corporativa por lo que es necesario replantear su representación visual y conceptual para que transmita la esencia de la organización.
Tesis

Mestrado em Desenvolvimento e Cooperação Internacional
O Sistema de Preferências Generalizadas (SPG) aparece no âmbito do Acordo Geral de Tarifas e Comércio (GATT) nos anos 70, por pressão dos Países em Desenvolvimento (PED), que lutavam por um comércio internacional mais justo e equitativo. De acordo com o princípio de não reciprocidade do GATT, nações com níveis de desenvolvimento diferentes não podem estar sujeitas às mesmas regras globais baseadas no comércio livre e por isso podem ter o direito a proteger certos sectores económicos sob pena de não se industrializarem. A Comunidade Económica Europeia (CEE), e depois União Europeia (UE), foi a primeira região do mundo a criar um SPG unilateral para os PED. Em 2001 concebeu a iniciativa «Tudo menos Armas» (EBA em Inglês) com o objetivo final de integrar os Países Menos Desenvolvidos (PMDs) no comércio internacional. Desta forma, a UE procurava promover uma maior coerência entre as suas políticas de Cooperação para o Desenvolvimento, na área da luta contra a pobreza e mais desenvolvimento sustentável e as suas políticas comerciais. Este trabalho analisa a evolução das trocas comerciais entre os PMDs e a UE durante o período 2001-2016, de modo a aferir o contributo do EBA, para a integração dos PMDs no comércio internacional e de que modo pode ou não ter contribuído para os objetivos da cooperação europeia, de redução da pobreza e desenvolvimento sustentável.
The Generalized System of PReferences (GSP) appears under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in the 1970s, under the pressure from Developing Countries, which struggled for fairer and more equitable international trade. According to the GATT principle of non-reciprocity, nations with different levels of development cannot be subject to the same global rules based on free trade and therefore they have the right to protect certain economic sectors on pain of not industrializing. The European Economic Comunity, and later the European Union (EU), was the first region in the world to create a unilateral GSP for the developing countries. In 2001 it designed the Everthing but arms Iniciative (EBA), with the ultimate goal of integrating the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) into international trade. In this way, the EU sought to promote greater coherence between its Development Cooperation policies in the area of poverty alleviation and more sustainable development and its trades policies. This paper analyzes the evolution of trade beetween LDCs and the EU over the period 2001-2016 to assess the contribution of EBA to the integration of LDCs into international trade and how it may or may not have contributed to the objectives of European Cooperation, of proverty reduction and sustainable development.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This master’s thesis includes an overview of profile method of surface texture evaluation according to ISO standards and VDA automotive standards, as well as an overview of areal method according to ISO 25178 standard series, which includes a proposal for improvement of czech terminology. Suitability of application of selected measurement methods for measurement of a portfolio of automotive parts was evaluated based on measurements carried out using a contact profiler, a coherence scanning interferometer and a confocal microscope. Further recommendations for practice in surface texture metrology were also formulated. A regression analysis of the relationship between values of selected profile surface texture parameters and their areal equivalents was also performed. Its results may aid the spread of areal surface texture evaluation in the industry.

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Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-24T20:00:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) CoerênciaRepresentaçãoTemáticaArtigos.pdf: 3995690 bytes, checksum: 96229e3502d9de3c1a878a3bed8df30e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-22
Esta dissertação investiga a coerência semântica na indexação de artigos de periódicos na área de saúde pública, em língua portuguesa, indexados no Repositório de Produção Científica da Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca (ENSP) da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), visando a contribuir com a interoperabilidade semântica entre os repositórios dessa Fundação. A pesquisa se fundamenta em pressupostos teóricos e metodológicos das áreas de representação temática e da linguística documentária, no âmbito da Organização do Conhecimento na CI, bem como na Bibliometria, e tem como metas: (a) verificar comparativamente a coerência semântica na indexação de artigos científicos na área de saúde pública; (b) investigar a ocorrência de termos de indexação à luz de modelos quantitativos bibliométricos utilizados na indexação na Ciência da Informação; (c) fornecer evidências da importância do gênero discursivo artigo de periódico científico na área de saúde pública; (d) identificar os termos-figura e os termos-fundo dos artigos analisados para maior entendimento da informatividade de textos científicos; (e) contribuir para o avanço do conhecimento acerca de fenômenos que norteiam a indexação da informação científica, particularmente sobre a coerência semântica na indexação da informação na área de saúde. Para tal, foram analisados 10 artigos de periódicos científicos brasileiros, publicados em acesso aberto entre 2012- 2014 e cadastrados no Repositório de Produção Científica da ENSP/Fiocruz. Os artigos foram processados nos softwares RankWord e WordSmith 6.0, aplicando-se depois as leis de Zipf e Ponto de Transição de Goffman para identificação dos termos de alta carga semântica dos textos. Os termos selecionados em cada artigo foram comparados nos 5 (cinco) indicadores utilizados na pesquisa: Região T de Goffman; Expressões WordSmith 6.0, Palavras-chave; DeCS (Descritores em Ciências da Saúde) e Título. Os resultados foram compilados utilizando-se o plano discursivo das orações, com ênfase em termos usados como figura (foregrounding) e em termos usados como fundo (backgrounding), auxiliando na verificação do grau de coerência entre os artigos. Os dados coletados revelam baixo grau de coerência semântica na maioria dos artigos estudados. Sugere-se uma investigação com amostra ampliada para confirmação dos dados obtidos, principalmente se tratando de artigos de periódicos publicados em português na área de saúde e sua importância na comunicação científica nacional.
This dissertation investigates the semantic coherence in the indexing of journal articles in the public health area, in Portuguese, indexed in the Scientific Production Repository of the National School of Public Health Sergio Arouca (ENSP) of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), aiming to contribute With the semantic interoperability between the repositories of this Foundation. The research is based on the theoretical and methodological assumptions of the areas of thematic representation and documentary linguistics, within the scope of the Organization of Knowledge in CI, as well as in Bibliometrics, and its goals are: (a) to verify comparatively the semantic coherence in the indexing of articles Scientists in the field of public health; (B) to investigate the occurrence of indexation terms in light of quantitative bibliometric models used in indexing in Information Science; (C) provide evidence of the importance of the discursive genre scientific journal article in the area of public health; (D) identify the terms-figure and background terms of the articles analyzed for a better understanding of the informativeness of scientific texts; (E) contribute to the advancement of knowledge about phenomena that guide the indexing of scientific information, particularly on semantic coherence in indexing information in the health area. For that, 10 articles from Brazilian scientific journals, published in open access between 2012-2014 and registered in the Scientific Production Repository of the ENSP / Fiocruz, were analyzed. The articles were processed in the software RankWord and WordSmith 6.0, applying later the laws of Zipf and Goffman Transition Point to identify the terms of high semantic load of the texts. The terms selected in each article were compared in the 5 (five) indicators used in the research: Goffman Region T; Expressions WordSmith 6.0, Keywords; DeCS (Descriptors in Health Sciences) and Title. The results were compiled using the discourse plan of the sentences, with emphasis on terms used as foregrounding and in terms used as background, helping to verify the degree of coherence between the articles. The data collected reveal a low degree of semantic coherence in most articles studied. We suggest an investigation with an expanded sample to confirm the data obtained, especially when dealing with articles published in Portuguese in the health area and its importance in national scientific communication.

"Many current and future medical devices are wearable, using the human body as a conduit for wireless communication, which implies that human body serves as a crucial part of the transmission medium in body area networks (BANs). Implantable medical devices such as Pacemaker and Cardiac Defibrillators are designed to provide patients with timely monitoring and treatment. Endoscopy capsules, pH Monitors and blood pressure sensors are used as clinical diagnostic tools to detect physiological abnormalities and replace traditional wired medical devices. Body-mounted sensors need to be investigated for use in providing a ubiquitous monitoring environment. In order to better design these medical devices, it is important to understand the propagation characteristics of channels for in-body and on- body wireless communication in BANs. The IEEE 802.15.6 Task Group 6 is officially working on the standardization of Body Area Network, including the channel modeling and communication protocol design. This thesis is focused on the propagation characteristics of human body movements. Specifically, standing, walking and jogging motions are measured, evaluated and analyzed using an empirical approach. Using a network analyzer, probabilistic models are derived for the communication links in the medical implant communication service band (MICS), the industrial scientific medical band (ISM) and the ultra- wideband (UWB) band. Statistical distributions of the received signal strength and second order statistics are presented to evaluate the link quality and outage performance for on-body to on- body communications at different antenna separations. The Normal distribution, Gamma distribution, Rayleigh distribution, Weibull distribution, Nakagami-m distribution, and Lognormal distribution are considered as potential models to describe the observed variation of received signal strength. Doppler spread in the frequency domain and coherence time in the time domain from temporal variations is analyzed to characterize the stability of the channels induced by human body movements. The shape of the Doppler spread spectrum is also investigated to describe the relationship of the power and frequency in the frequency domain. All these channel characteristics could be used in the design of communication protocols in BANs, as well as providing features to classify different human body activities. Realistic data extracted from built-in sensors in smart devices were used to assist in modeling and classification of human body movements along with the RF sensors. Variance, energy and frequency domain entropy of the data collected from accelerometer and orientation sensors are pre- processed as features to be used in machine learning algorithms. Activity classifiers with Backpropagation Network, Probabilistic Neural Network, k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm and Support Vector Machine are discussed and evaluated as means to discriminate human body motions. The detection accuracy can be improved with both RF and inertial sensors."

Le pouce opposable de la main joue un rôle essentiel dans le comportement humain, permettant une prise bien plus précise que celle des singes avec les pouces opposables. Comment le cerveau contrôle t-il les mains aussi précisément? Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons étudié comment différentes régions du cerveau dédiées au contrôle moteur, en particulier le cortex moteur (M1) et l’aire motrice supplémentaire (AMS), contribuent à une pince pouce-index précise. Les résultats de nos études révèlent que des neurones dans l’AMS, en complément de ceux dans M1, communiquent directement avec les motoneurones de la moelle épinière contrôlant les muscles de la main. De plus, SMA communique aussi efficacement que M1 avec les muscles de la main, alors que chez le singe, celle avec M1 est plus efficace. Cette différence fonctionnelle dans la voie AMS-muscles entre le singe et l’Homme pourrait expliquer la plus grande capacité de ce dernier à contrôler finement la force produite par les doigts
The human hand's opposable thumb plays a large role in human behavior, allowing for a grip far more precise than that of monkeys with opposable thumbs. However, it isn't well understood how the brain controls the hands in such a precise way. In these studies, we investigate how different parts of the brain dedicated to motor tasks, in particular the motor cortex (M1) and the supplementary motor area (SMA), contribute to a precise thumb-index finger grip. Our experiments suggest that some neurons in the SMA, in addition to those well-described in M1, may connect directly to the motoneurons in the spinal cord controlling the hand muscles. Moreover, we found that SMA communicates with the hand muscles as efficiently as M1, while in monkeys, SMA communicates less efficiently than M1. This functional difference in the SMA-muscles pathway between monkey and human may account for the higher capacity of the latter to precisely control the force produced by digits

Cette thèse analyse la faisabilité d'une union monétaire en Asie de l'Est dans une vision dynamique et utilise les outils appropriés qui correspondent à l'histoire de l'économie régionale de la région. A partir de la littérature de la ZMO, nous testons quatre critères où chaqu'un d'eux sera traiter dans un chapitre. Dans le premier chapitre, nous présentons un fait stylisé pour différents arrangements financiers régionaux. Suite à la littérature existence, nous testons la dynamique de l'intégration financière par le biais de l'interdépendance des marchés boursiers. Le deuxième chapitre présente des perspectives à long terme des taux de change en Asie de l'Est avec une recommandation de la politique de ciblage d'inflation comme une politique monétaire régionale. L'adoption de cette politique assure un équilibre interne et maintient la stabilité de la compétitivité par la stabilité du taux de change. Nous étudions la synchronisation des cycles à l'Asie de l'Est au troisième chapitre. Une nouvelle mesure de la synchronisation des cycles économiques fondés sur l'analyse spectrale a été introduite. Notre méthodologie empirique renforce ceux des chapitres précédents qui prouvent une intégration économique croissante dans la région essentiellement durant cette dernière décennie. Le dernier chapitre examine la réaction d'un choc externe et un choc monétaire aux différents dates pour certaines économies de l'Asie de l'Est
This thesis analyzes the feasibility of a monetary union in East Asia in a dynamic view and employ the appropriate tools which are close to the specific way of the regional economy trajectory in the region. Starting from OCA literature, we test four main criteria in four separate chapter. In the first chapter, we present a stylized fact for different regional financial arrangement. Following existence literature, we test dynamic of financial integration through stock market index interdependence proxy. The second Chapter presents long term perspective of exchange rate in East Asia with a recommendation of Inflation Targeting policy as a common regional monetary policy. The adoption of such policy insures an internal equilibrium and maintains stability of competitiveness through the stability of exchange rate. We investigate in the third Chapter business cycles synchronization in East Asia. A new measure of business cycle synchronization based on spectral analysis has been introduced. Our empirical methodology reinforces previous chapter finds of a clear economic integration in the region for the last decade. The last Chapter thoroughly investigates the reaction of an external shock and a monetary shock at different period for some East Asia economies

Les réseaux à l'origine métropolitains, ont connu une tendance à rétrécir pour aujourd'hui se concentrer autour de l'être humain. Avec des équipements de plus en plus miniatures et les utilisateurs désireux de disposer en permanence des services qui leur sont accessibles à domicile, le réseau est envisagé plus petit, plus proche du corps. On assiste alors à l'émergence du réseau corporel, le Body Area Network (BAN), qui est constitué d'éléments situés sur le corps, à l'intérieur ou encore à une courte distance. Ce réseau à portée du corps génère de nouvelles problématiques, notamment celles de la puissance rayonnée par les équipements, leur taille, leur poids...Les applications et usages envisagés pour un tel réseau sont variés et couvrent plusieurs domaines d'activités, en l'occurrence le secteur du médical, du sport, et le multimédia. Ce réseau doit donc reposer sur une couche physique qui s'adapte aux contraintes de ces diverses applications, tout en favorisant des équipements de faible taille, faible complexité et de forte autonomie. La technologie Ultra Large Bande impulsionnelle (UWB-IR) est porteuse de nombreuses promesses pour satisfaire en partie les besoins des réseaux BAN, car autorisant des débits aussi bien réduits qu'élevés, et les architectures d'émission et réception utilisables pour cette technologie rendent possibles des équipements à faible complexité et faible coût, et dont la consommation énergétique est réduite.Ce travail de thèse a débuté alors qu'un processus de normalisation sur les BAN était en cours. L'objectif des travaux menés était de pouvoir contribuer en partie à ce processus de normalisation par la proposition d'une couche physique basée sur la radio impulsionnelle UWB (UWB-IR). Ainsi notre étude a porté sur le paramétrage de cette couche physique à partir de l'analyse des contraintes et requis techniques d'un réseau BAN. Les performances de cette couche physique ont ensuite été évaluées dans un contexte de canal UWB BAN et suivant le type d'architecture en réception, en particulier pour le récepteur non-cohérent. Enfin, une attention a été apportée sur la robustesse de la liaison en présence d'interférences bande étroite. Dans l'ensemble, ce travail a permis d'étudier et d'évaluer la pertinence d'une couche physique UWB-IR dans le contexte du réseau BAN

L'Internet des objets (IoT, pour Internet of Things, en anglais) ouvre la porte vers la réalisation de nouvelles applications, telles que les compteurs intelligents et le suivi environnemental, destinées à adresser nos défis sociétaux et écologiques actuels et futurs. Les objets, possiblement mobiles ou distants, nécessitent une connectivité sans fil pour la centralisation des données et le contrôle à distance. Les réseaux longue portée et basse consommation (LPWA, pour Low Power Wide Area, en anglais) offrent des transmissions radio bande étroite avec une couverture à l’échelle typique d’une ville, tout en respectant les contraintes de consommation énergétique bas coût des objets. Intégrer la possibilité de localiser ces objets ajouterait de la valeur à leurs données et permettrait leur suivi géographique. Voilà pourquoi c'est un domaine de recherche très actif actuellement. L'utilisation du temps de propagation des signaux radio de communication, sans intégration supplémentaire de modules matériels dédiés à la localisation, est une approche très intéressante pour la complexité, la consommation et le coût des objets. Néanmoins la radio localisation dans les réseaux LPWA pose des défis liés d'une part aux transmissions à bande étroite qui n'offrent pas une résolution temporelle suffisante et d'autre part aux canaux de propagation qui peuvent introduire des biais sur les estimées de position. Cette thèse adresse ces défis en étudiant un système de mesure multicanaux de distance pour les réseaux LPWA. La combinaison cohérente des signaux bande étroite transmis séquentiellement sur des canaux différents améliore la précision d’estimation des temps de propagation et permet de résoudre en partie les multi-trajets pour une meilleure précision de localisation. Cette technique basée sur les signaux à bande instantanée étroite conserve la capacité longue portée des transmissions et reste compatible avec les réseaux LPWA. Un modèle détaillé prenant en compte les imperfections matérielles ainsi que les besoins protocolaires pour la synchronisation en temps, fréquence et phase est développé. Basé sur ce modèle, les variantes des architectures des émetteurs-récepteurs radios et leurs impacts sur la cohérence de phase pour l’estimation multicanaux de distance sont discutés. Les limites théoriques de précision sont dérivées pour la propagation en espace libre et dans des canaux de propagation multi-trajets, illustrant l’amélioration de précision possible entre l'approche multicanaux et l'approche monocanal pour l'estimation de distance. Des estimateurs de distance sont développés et appliqués aux signaux radio simulés afin de montrer que leurs performances atteignent les limites théoriques. Ces résultats de simulation sont validés avec des expérimentations menées avec un démonstrateur implémenté avec une radio logicielle (SDR, pour Software Defined Radio, en anglais). Les tests terrains réalisés en environnement urbain permettent de confirmer l'apport d'un système d'estimation multicanaux de distance, en combinaison avec du traitement de signal avancé, pour fournir une fonctionnalité de localisation intrinsèque et précise pour les réseaux LPWA
The Internet of Things (IoT) is an enabler to new applications, such as smart metering and environmental monitoring, intended to address current and future societal and ecological challenges. Things, possibly mobile or in distant locations, require wireless connectivity for data collection and remote control. Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks provide city-scale long-range, narrowband radio transmissions respecting the energy constraints of battery-powered low-cost objects. Being capable to localize these objects will add value to their data, enables tracking applications and is therefore a demanded and recent research topic. Precise and accurate radio signal delay based positioning without integrating additional hardware but taking advantage of intrinsic wireless communication signals is appealing in terms of device complexity, cost and energy consumption. However, radio localization within LPWA networks is challenging due to narrowband transmissions, resulting in a lack of delay precision as well as due to radio propagation channels, which degrade the accuracy of location estimates. This work addresses both challenges by investigating a multi-channel ranging system for LPWA networks. Coherently combining multiple sequentially transmitted narrowband signals on different radio channels improves delay estimation precision and allows resolving multipath channels for refined positioning accuracy. This scheme, based on instantaneous narrowband signals, conserves the LPWA long-range feature and is hence compatible with LPWA networks. A detailed signal model considering hardware imperfections as well as the required protocol exchanges for time, frequency and phase synchronization is developed. Based on this model, the requirements on radio transceiver architectures regarding the necessary phase coherence for multi-channel ranging are discussed. Lower bounds on the ranging precision are derived for both, free-space and multipath propagation channels, illustrating the improved precision compared to narrowband single channel ranging. Numerical simulations of radio signals for the two-way multi-channel ranging protocol illustrate that the performance of developed range estimators attains the theoretical precision bound and pave the way towards implementation. A flexible Software Defined Radio (SDR) based demonstrator is implemented to validate simulation results. Field trials in real urban outdoor environments are in accordance with simulation results and prove how scalable multi-channel ranging, in combination with advanced signal processing methods, will be an enabler towards precise and accurate localization in LPWA networks

A cárie dentária e a erosão dentária são os principais problemas em odontologia. O diagnóstico correto, especialmente em lesões precoces, é vital para o plano de tratamento adequado. O exame visual-tátil e a radiografia dentária são os métodos mais utilizados para esse fim. A tomografia de coerência óptica (OCT) é outro método imagiológico capaz de melhorar o exame visual-tátil no diagnóstico de lesões em esmalte. A sensibilidade do instrumento é muito alta, geralmente mais de 90% e a especificidade normalmente acima de 95%. Utiliza o princípio da interferometria óptica com uma fonte de luz a emitir no infravermelho próximo (comprimento de onda na região de 1300 nm). Um software de processamento de imagens adequado pode melhorar a produção de imagens, incluir zonas colorimétricas e produzir uma imagem-3D, reduzindo a subjetividade na interpretação. Por não utilizar radiação ionizante e obter uma imagem nítida em tempo real, pode ser um bom substituto para a radiografia dentária em caso de avaliação diagnóstica de esmalte e dentina dentários.
The dental caries and dental erosion are the major dental problems in dentistry. The correct diagnosis, especially in early lesions, is vital for the proper treatment plan. Visualtactile examination and dental radiography are the most used methods for this purpose. The optical coherence tomography (OCT) is another imaging tool with the capability to improve the visual-tactile examination in enamel diagnostic. The instrument sensitivity is very high, usually more than 90% as the specificity is usually higher than 95%. It uses the principle of optical interferometry with an optical source emitting in the near-infrared (wavelength close to 1300 nm). Proper processing image software can improve the imaging production and present a 3D-image as reduces subjectivity with a colorimetric presentation. As it not use ionising radiation and offers a clear image production in real time, can be a good substitute to dental radiography in case of enamel and outer dentin diagnostic assessment.

In order to avoid, reduce and offset the impact that human activities are having on the health of the world's oceans, the international demand for a successful ecosystem-based approach to the marine environment is growing in popularity. Major European maritime policies and other international agencies advocate that, in order to effectively protect the marine environment, there is a need to establish ecologically coherent networks of marine protected areas (MPAs). Achieving ecological coherence is, however, a complex task given the magnitude of the concept and the lack of clear operational definitions. Therefore, assessing ecological coherence requires multiple approaches to analyse not only the location, size and spacing of protected sites already selected for protection, but also infer about new sites to enhance network effects. The aim of this thesis is to develop and use different tools to assist, support and help to promote the assessment of the ecological coherence of networks of MPAs, with a focus on continental Portugal. Three complementary methods were applied using the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis as a model species to estimate connectivity via larval dispersal along the Portuguese west coast. The first study described the use of natural geochemical tags to trace back natal origins of mussels and describe direct measures of demographic connectivity patterns (dispersal trajectories and distances). It focused in the Arrábida and Berlengas Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and emphasized the significance of source and sink populations and self-recruitment within MPAs. The second study resulted from the need to quantify mussel bed coverage in order to apply the connectivity estimates into broader scale models of larval dispersal. The use of low altitude and high-resolution drone imagery, 3D surface models and ground-based observations proved to be a viable and powerful tool for surveying intertidal ecosystems at an ecological relevant spatial scale. The effect of environmental variables (substrate complexity and wave exposure) on mussel density and size was also investigated. Maximum mussel density occurred at intermediate values of wave exposure in winter while smaller sized mussels prevailed at high values of wave exposure. The combination of the empirical connectivity estimates, with mussel demographic and biological parameters (reproductive output, larval behaviour, mortality) allowed the validation of a broad scale numerical biophysical model in the third study This model combined oceanographic and demographic information with larval biology, and was used to simulate dispersal of M. galloprovincialis larvae along the Western Iberian coast. The biophysical model simulated and accounted for uncertainty of the geochemical method in the assignment of source populations and resulted in unprecedented levels of correspondence among independent connectivity estimates at small spatial scales. This fine-tuned model can be used in the future to investigate metapopulation dynamics with applications in MPA management strategies. Finally, a quantitative-based ecological approach was used to value biodiversity along the Portuguese continental shelf. The marine biological valuation protocol summarized and combined existing biological and ecological spatial information of different ecosystem components into an overall map of marine biological value, highlighting hotspots of ecological significance. This study also evaluated the extent to which high biological value was contained in the current and projected Natura 2000 sites in Portugal. By integrating the information of marine connectivity pathways, with a broad biological assessment of the Portuguese coast, this thesis seeks to build upon existing MPA assessment criterion and take a step forward in making it practical and applicable to the Portuguese setting.
A pressão internacional para encontrar abordagens ecossistémicas eficazes para evitar, reduzir e compensar o impacto das atividades humanas na saúde global dos oceanos, está a aumentar. Nesse sentido, as principais políticas marítimas europeias e de outras agências internacionais, defendem a necessidade de estabelecer redes ecologicamente coerentes de áreas marinhas protegidas (AMPs). Atingir a coerência ecológica é, no entanto, uma tarefa complexa dada a magnitude do conceito e a falta de definições operacionais objectivas. Deste modo, avaliar a coerência ecológica requer abordagens múltiplas para analisar a localização, tamanho e espaçamento entre áreas protegidas já selecionadas, mas também para inferir sobre a designação de novos locais e melhor a performance da rede. O objetivo desta tese é desenvolver e utilizar diferentes ferramentas de forma a apoiar e promover uma avaliação da coerência ecológica da rede de AMPs em Portugal continental. Este trabalho utilizou três métodos complementares para estimar conectividade larvar ao longo da costa oeste portuguesa, usando o mexilhão Mytilus galloprovincialis como espécie-modelo. O primeiro método retrata o uso de etiquetas geoquímicas naturais para fazer o rastreo da origem natal de mexilhões, quantificando padrões de conectividade demográfica (trajetórias de dispersão e distâncias). Concentrou-se nas AMPs da Arrábida e Berlengas, salientando a importância das populações que servem como fonte de indivíduos para dispersão e auto-recrutamento dentro das AMPs. O segundo método resultou da necessidade de quantificar a cobertura de mexilhão no intermareal rochoso, para futura aplicação em modelos de dispersão larvar de larga escala. O uso de imagens aéreas de baixa altitude e de alta resolução, modelos de superfície tridimensionais e de observações in situ, provaram ser uma ferramenta viável para monitorizar ecossistemas intermareais numa escala espacial ecologicamente relevante. O efeito de variáveis ambientais (complexidade do substrato e exposição às ondas) na densidade e tamanho do mexilhão foi também investigado. A densidade máxima de mexilhão no substrato rochoso ocorreu com valores intermédios de exposição às ondas no Inverno, enquanto que altos valores de exposição às ondas resultaram num menor tamanho dos mexilhões. No terceiro estudo, a combinação das estimativas empíricas de conectividade, com parâmetros demográficos (fertilidade, comportamento larval, mortalidade) permitiram a validação de um modelo numérico biofísico de larga escala. Este modelo integrou informações oceanográficas, demográficas e de biologia larvar, para simular a dispersão de larvas de M. galloprovincialis ao longo da costa oeste da Peninsula Ibérica. O modelo incorporou e simulou também a incerteza associada à atribuição da origem das populações referente ao método geoquímico. Os resultados demonstraram altos níveis de correspondência entre as estimativas independentes de conectividade a uma pequena escala espacial. Este modelo validado pode ser usado no futuro para investigar dinâmicas metapopulacionais com aplicações em estratégias de gestão de AMPs. Finalmente, utilizou-se uma abordagem ecológica para valorizar a biodiversidade marinha ao longo da plataforma continental portuguesa. Este protocolo de avaliação biológica integrou informações biológicas e ecológicas espaciais, para diversos componentes do ecossistema. Os resultados foram ilustrados num mapa global de valor biológico marinho, destacando hotspots de significância ecológica. Este estudo avaliou também em que medida as zonas de alto valor biológico estavam incluido nas áreas protegidas da rede Natura 2000 em Portugal (actuais e propostas). Ao integrar a informação das vias de conectividade marinha, com uma ampla avaliação biológica da costa portuguesa, esta tese procura contribuir para os critérios de avaliação de redes de AMPs e dar um passo em frente no sentido de o tornar aplicável ao panorama português.
De internationale vraag naar een succesvolle ecosysteem-gebaseerde aanpak om de impact van menselijke activiteiten op de gezondheid van de oceanen te vermijden, te reduceren of te compenseren, neemt toe in populariteit. Belangrijke Europese maritieme beleidsinstanties en andere internationale agentschappen benadrukken dat het oprichten van ecologisch coherente netwerken van beschermde zeegebieden noodzakelijk is om het mariene milieu doeltreffend te beschermen. Echter, het bereiken van ecologische coherentie is een complexe taak gezien het ruime concept en het ontbreken van eenduidige operationele definities. Het vaststellen van ecologische coherentie vereist dus verschillende benaderingen. Op die manier kan niet alleen de locatie, de grootte en afstand van reeds geselecteerde gebieden voor bescherming bepaald worden, maar ook nieuwe locaties die het netwerkeffect versterken. Het doel van deze thesis is het ontwikkelen en toepassen van verschillende methodes als hulpmiddel om de ecologische samenhang van beschermde zeegebieden te promoten, en dit met focus op het Portugese continentale plat. Drie complementaire methodes werden toegepast om de connectiviteit via larvale dispersie in te schatten langs de Portugese westkust en dit telkens toegepast op de mossel Mytilus galloprovincialis als modelorganisme. De eerste studie beschrijft het gebruik van natuurlijk voorkomende geochemische tracers om de oorsprong van de mossels te achterhalen en documenteert dus de demografische connectiviteitspatronen (verspreidingsroutes en afstanden). De focus lag op de beschermde zeegebieden van Arrábida en Berlengas, en benadrukte het belang van ‘source–and–sink’ populaties en zelf-recrutering binnen de beschermde gebieden. In een tweede studie werd de oppervlakte van mosselbedden gekwantificeerd zodat de connectiviteitsschattingen konden toegepast worden op modellen van larvale dispersie op grotere schaal. Het gebruik van beeldmateriaal met hoge resolutie verzameld door drones op lage hoogte, 3D-oppervlakte modellen en veldobservaties bleek een efficiënte methode om intertidale ecosystemen te bestuderen op een ecologisch relevante schaal. De combinatie van empirische connectiviteitsschattingen en demografische en biologische parameters (oppervlakte van mosselbedden, gedrag van larves, mortaliteit, reproductieve output en timing) laat de validatie toe van een grootschalig numeriek, biofysisch model. Het effect van de omgevingsvariablen (zoals substratum complexiteit en blootstelling aan golven) op de mosseldichtheid en -grootte werd ook onderzocht. Maximum mosseldichtheid kwam voor bij intermediaire waarden van golfblootstelling in de winter en kleinere mosselen domineerden bij hoge waarden van blootstelling aan golven. Dit model combineert oceanografische en demografische informatie met larvale biologie, en werd gebruikt om de dispersie van M. galloprovincialis larven langs de West-Iberische kust te simuleren. Het biofysisch model hield rekening met de onzekerheid van de geochemische methode in het toekennen van de ‘source’ populaties en resulteerde in ongeziene overeenkomsten tussen de onafhankelijke connectiviteitsschattingen op kleine schaal. Vanaf nu kan dit verfijnde model gebruikt worden om de dynamieken van metapopulaties te onderzoeken en kan het dus bijdragen aan weldoordachte strategieën met betrekking tot het oprichten van beschermde zeegebieden Tot slot werd een kwantitatief-gebaseerde ecologische aanpak gebruikt om de biodiversiteit te bepalen langs het Portugees continentaal plat. Het protocol voor mariene biologische waardebepaling combineerde bestaande biologische en ecologische informatie van verschillende subzones in een kaart die de biologische waardebepaling weergeeft, en hotspots van ecologisch belang identificeert. Deze studie evalueerde ook de mate waarin grote biologische waarde vervat zit in de huidige en toekomstige Natura 2000 gebieden in Portugal. Door het integreren van informatie over mariene connectiviteitsroutes, met breed biologisch onderzoek langs de Portugese kust, bouwt deze thesis verder op het bestaande criterium voor de selectie van beschermde gebieden, en maakt het praktisch en toepasbaar voor Portugal.
MARES PhD Grant (MARES_12_10); FPA 2011-0016
Programa Doutoral em Ciências do Mar (Mares)

A key challenge in architecting a multicore processor is efficiently maintaining cache coherence. Directory protocols offer a scalable, bandwidth-efficient solution to this problem, but unfortunately they incur significant area overheads. This dissertation proposes three novel coherence directory designs that address the challenge of maintaining coherence in multicore processors, while reducing the area and energy overheads of the directory structure. Firstly, I propose the Phantom directory that leverages the abundance of storage in large shared caches to reduce the area devoted to a dedicated coherence directory. This approach faces a significant challenge since an access to the shared cache typically requires more energy than for a smaller dedicated directory. Phantom attempts to overcome this challenge by exploiting the spatial locality common to most applications, and by utilizing a very small dedicated directory cache, but the costs of accessing the shared cache still outweigh Phantom's area savings. Building upon the simple observation that at any point in time, large, continuous chunks of memory are often accessed by only a single core, my second proposed design, the multi-grain directory (MGD), takes advantage of this common application behaviour to reduce the directory size by tracking coherence at multiple different granularities. I demonstrate that a practical dual-grain directory (DGD) provides a robust solution, reducing directory area by 41% while maintaining good performance across a variety of workloads. While MGD provides a practical approach to reducing directory area, my third proposed design, the Tagless directory, takes a more innovative approach to achieving true scalability. Tagless embraces imprecision by embedding sharing information in a number of space-efficient Bloom filters. Careful consideration produces an elegant design with robust performance comparable to an ideal coherence directory. For a sixteen core processor, Tagless reduces directory area by up to 70% while reducing cache and directory energy consumption. My analysis also indicates that Tagless continues to provide an area and energy efficient directory as processors scale to tens or even hundreds of cores. These three innovative designs advance the state-of-the-art by providing more area and energy efficient coherence directories to allow multicore processors to scale to tens or hundreds of cores.

A two-part paleolimnological study was conducted to: i) understand the important factors that are related to the present-day distribution of scaled-chrysophytes; ii) investigate changes in the scaled-chrysophyte assemblages in the Experimental Lakes Area northwestern Ontario, in response to recent climate warming. Scaled-chrysophyte assemblages were analyzed in the modern sediments of 40 ELA lakes to determine their relationship to measured environmental variables. The sediment record from 210Pb dated cores from six ELA lakes were analyzed at a sub-decadal resolution to evaluate if chrysophytes were changing in a consistent fashion and if these changes could be accounted for by measured climatic factors. Ordination analysis of the modern chrysophyte flora was significantly related to pH, lake depth, and the degree of thermal stratification, as well as water temperature. Mallomonas punctifera ‘small’ and Mallomonas acaroides were indicators of warm surface-waters. High-resolution analysis of six ELA lakes revealed pronounced shifts in the chrysophyte assemblages over the last ca. 150 years. The most notable shift in the chrysophyte assemblage was characterized by an overall shift towards higher relative abundances of colonial taxa. In several lakes increases in unicellular warm-water taxa were also observed. Breakpoint Analysis identified significant changes in the chrysophyte assemblages beginning in the late-1800s to mid-1900s in most lakes. An interclass correlation coefficient (ri) was used to assess the temporal coherency of the chrysophyte assemblages over the past ca. 100 years. All lakes displayed a similar directional change which was significantly coherent (p<0.05). A Brien’s Test identified sub-sets of lakes that were temporally coherent and homogenous. The high coherency of two groups, (Group A, grand mean=0.89, p-value=5.3x10-15; Group B, grand mean=0.38, p-value=0.038), suggests the dominance in extrinsic factors in governing the lake responses. The average PCA axis-1 scores of Group A (r-value=0.62, p=0.03) and Group B (r-value=0.60, p=0.038) were significantly correlated to regional mean annual temperature. Collectively, the results of this study suggest that changes observed in the scaled-chrysophyte assemblages in the ELA region are consistent with recent climate warming.
Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-29 16:42:06.753

Plasmonic properties and the related novel applications are studied on various types of metallic nano-structures in one, two, or three dimensions. For 1D nanostructure, the motion of free electrons in a metal-film with nanoscale thickness is confined in its normal dimension and free in the other two. Describing the free-electron motion at metal-dielectric surfaces, surface plasmon polariton (SPP) is an elementary excitation of such motions and is well known. When further perforated with periodic array of holes, periodicity will introduce degeneracy, incur energy-level splitting, and facilitate the coupling between free-space photon and SPP. We applied this concept to achieve a plasmonic perfect absorber. The experimentally observed reflection dip splitting is qualitatively explained by a perturbation theory based on the above concept. If confined in 2D, the nanostructures become nanowires that intrigue a broad range of research interests. We performed various studies on the resonance and propagation of metal nanowires with different materials, cross-sectional shapes and form factors, in passive or active medium, in support of corresponding experimental works. Finite- Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) simulations show that simulated results agrees well with experiments and makes fundamental mode analysis possible. Confined in 3D, the electron motions in a single metal nanoparticle (NP) leads to localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) that enables another novel and important application: plasmon-heating. By exciting the LSPR of a gold particle embedded in liquid, the excited plasmon will decay into heat in the particle and will heat up the surrounding liquid eventually. With sufficient exciting optical intensity, the heat transfer from NP to liquid will undergo an explosive process and make a vapor envelop: nanobubble. We characterized the size, pressure and temperature of the nanobubble by a simple model relying on Mie calculations and continuous medium assumption. A novel effective medium method is also developed to replace the role of Mie calculations. The characterized temperature is in excellent agreement with that by Raman scattering. If fabricated in an ordered cluster, NPs exhibit double-resonance features and the double Fano-resonant structure is demonstrated to most enhance the four-wave mixing efficiency.