In this Masters dissertation, various doses of solubulized crude F4 fimbrial protein in conjunction with the adjuvants CpG ODN and porcine â-defensin 1 (pBD-1) were used to enhance the F4-specific intestinal immune response against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) F4 in post-weaned pigs. Using the mechanically shearing method we isolated the F4 fimbrial protein of ETEC with a molecular weight of 26 kDa. We verified this using a Western blot probed with a rabbit anti-F4 fimbrial antibody. Binding of the F4 fimbrial protein to the F4 receptor (F4R), present on the brush border of the villi in the small intestine of pigs, was demonstrated using an in vitro villus adhesion assay (IVVA). To demonstrate specificity rabbit polyclonal and mouse monoclonal anti-F4 antibodies, or the F4 protein were used to inhibit the adhesion of ETEC F4ac to F4R positive (F4Rpos) villi. <p>To examine immunogenicity of the 500 micrograms (ìg) of the F4 were administered into surgically created jejunal gut-loops in pigs. Three weeks later Peyers patches (PP) from immunized and control loops as well as gut-wall tissue were analyzed for their F4-specific antibody secreting cells (ASCs) by a modified enzyme linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assay. The F4-specific immune response in the serum was analyzed by an enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). High numbers of F4-specific ASCs were isolated from the loops of pigs that contained high levels of the F4R. Conversely nominal or low numbers of F4-specific ASCs were found in loops of pigs expressing low levels of the F4R or no F4R (F4Rneg). The IVVA was used to categorize the pigs into either F4Rpos or F4Rneg animals. <p>Next three different concentrations of the crude F4 protein 50, 250, and 500 µg in the loops of individual pigs were used to analyze if dose affected the F4-specific immune response. Interestingly dose had no effect on the magnitude of the response. Therefore we hypothesized that the F4-specific immune response in the loops could be enhanced through the use of the adjuvants CpG ODN 2007 and pBD-1. The F4 protein was co-administered with either CpG ODN 2007 or pBD-1 and immune responses were assessed after 3 weeks. However neither CpG ODN 2007 nor PBD-1 at the doses used made an improvement in the immune response. Thus, these results demonstrated that the expression level of the F4R was the most important parameter for eliciting of the local immune response against the F4 protein. Furthermore our studies revealed that both F4Rneg and F4Rpos pigs responded to F4 immunization, however the former respond only nominally to F4-immunization in the loops. Moreover, an inverse relationship existed between the level of the F4-specific IgG in the serum and the F4-specific immune response seen in the loops. Thus our findings have important implications for oral vaccination using fimbrial based antigens (Ags) that utilize a receptor for their immunogenicity. Our results indicate that only animals with high levels of enterocyte F4R will have the ability to elicit high levels of protective F4-specific anti-fimbrial antibodies in their intestine after oral immunization. Therefore unless an effective adjuvant is available, animals with low to moderate levels of the fimbrial receptor in their small intestine will mount only weak immune responses making herd immunity after vaccination currently unattainable.

Flow speed describes general traffic operation conditions on a segment of roadway. It is also used to diagnose special conditions such as congestion and incidents. Accurate speed estimation plays a critical role in traffic management or traveler information systems. Data from loop detectors have been primary sources for traffic information, and single loop are the predominant loop detector type in many places. However, single loop detectors do not produce speed output. Therefore, speed estimation using single loop outputs has been an important issue for decades. This dissertation research presents two methodologies for speed estimation using single loop outputs. Based on findings from past studies and examinations in this research, it is verified that speed estimation is a nonlinear system under various traffic conditions. Thus, a methodology of using Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) is first proposed for such a system. The UKF is a parametric filtering technique that is suitable for nonlinear problems. Through an Unscented Transformation (UT), the UKF is able to capture the posterior mean and covariance of a Gaussian random variable accurately for a nonlinear system without linearization. This research further shows that speed estimation is a nonlinear non-Gaussian system. However, Kalman filters including the UKF are established based on the Gaussian assumption. Thus, another nonlinear filtering technique for non-Gaussian systems, the Particle Filter (PF), is introduced. By combining the strengths of both the PF and the UKF, the second speed estimation methodology—Unscented Particle Filter (UPF) is proposed for speed estimation. The use of the UPF avoids the limitations of the UKF and the PF. Detector data are collected from multiple freeway locations and the microscopic traffic simulation program CORSIM. The developed methods are applied to the collected data for speed estimation. The results show that both proposed methods have high accuracies of speed estimation. Between the UKF and the UPF, the UPF has better performance but has higher computation cost. The improvement of speed estimation will benefit real-time traffic operations by improving the performance of applications such as travel time estimation using a series of single loops in the network, incident detection, and large truck volume estimation. Therefore, the work enables traffic analysts to use single loop outputs in a more cost-effective way.

The first topic of this thesis is a practical load-optimized VCO design for low-jitter 5V 500 MHz digital phase-locked loop. Besides the low jitter advantage, the design also possesses another feature, i.e., fast locked time. The second topic is the half-swing PLA circuit. An additional 1/2 VDD voltage source and buffering transmission gates are inserted between the NOR planes of PLAs to erase the racing problem and shorten the rise delay as well as the fall delay of the output response such that the speed is enhanced and the dynamic power is reduced. The third topic is a novel design of a the 1.0 GHz pipelining 8-bit CLA based on the architecture we mentioned in the second topic. The operating clock frequency is 1.0 GHz and the output of the addition of two 8-bit binary numbers is done in 2 cycles ( 2.0 ns ).

Flow speed describes general traffic operation conditions on a segment of roadway. It is also used to diagnose special conditions such as congestion and incidents. Accurate speed estimation plays a critical role in traffic management or traveler information systems. Data from loop detectors have been primary sources for traffic information, and single loop are the predominant loop detector type in many places. However, single loop detectors do not produce speed output. Therefore, speed estimation using single loop outputs has been an important issue for decades. This dissertation research presents two methodologies for speed estimation using single loop outputs. Based on findings from past studies and examinations in this research, it is verified that speed estimation is a nonlinear system under various traffic conditions. Thus, a methodology of using Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) is first proposed for such a system. The UKF is a parametric filtering technique that is suitable for nonlinear problems. Through an Unscented Transformation (UT), the UKF is able to capture the posterior mean and covariance of a Gaussian random variable accurately for a nonlinear system without linearization. This research further shows that speed estimation is a nonlinear non-Gaussian system. However, Kalman filters including the UKF are established based on the Gaussian assumption. Thus, another nonlinear filtering technique for non-Gaussian systems, the Particle Filter (PF), is introduced. By combining the strengths of both the PF and the UKF, the second speed estimation methodology - Unscented Particle Filter (UPF) is proposed for speed estimation. The use of the UPF avoids the limitations of the UKF and the PF. Detector data are collected from multiple freeway locations and the microscopic traffic simulation program CORSIM. The developed methods are applied to the collected data for speed estimation. The results show that both proposed methods have high accuracies of speed estimation. Between the UKF and the UPF, the UPF has better performance but has higher computation cost. The improvement of speed estimation will benefit real-time traffic operations by improving the performance of applications such as travel time estimation using a series of single loops in the network, incident detection, and large truck volume estimation. Therefore, the work enables traffic analysts to use single loop outputs in a more cost-effective way.

The machining of materials on micrometer and sub-micrometer scale is considered the technology of the future. The current techniques for micro manufacturing mostly are silicon based. These manufacturing techniques are not suitable for use in demanding applications like aerospace and biomedical industries. Micro electrochemical machining (μECM) removes material while holding micron tolerances and μECM can machine hard metals and alloys. This study aims at developing a novel μECM utilizing high frequency voltage pulses and closed loop control. Stainless steel SS-316L and copper alloy CA-173 were chosen as the workpiece materials. A model was developed for material removal rate. The research studied the effect of various parameters such as voltage, frequency, pulse ON/OFF time, and delay between pulses of the stepper motor on the machined profiles. Experimental data on small drilled holes agreed with theoretical models within 10%. Micro burrs can be effectively removed by optimal μECM. A sacrificial layer helped to improve the hole profile since it reduced 43% of corner rounding.

Första linjens ledares roll har under de senaste åren blivit mer ansvarskrävande. Vad är då viktigt för ledare i denna position då det kommer till att åstadkomma förändring? Finns det några utmaningar första linjens ledare stöter på? Denna studie syftar till att belysa första linjens ledares upplevelse av att leda en förändringsprocess. Två frågeställningar skapades; ”Vad anser första linjens ledare som viktigt i sitt ledarskap för att kunna åstadkomma förändring?” samt ”Vilka utmaningar möter första linjens ledare i en förändringsprocess?”. Detta undersöks genom att ta del av vad tidigare forskning lyfter fram som betydelsefullt dels då det kommer till den maktfördelning som skiftat inom organisationerna genom åren, men även den roll första linjens ledare tar på sig som facilitator av lärande i organisationer. Sex stycken halvstrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes på ett statligt företag med ledare vars position fanns närmast den operativa personalen. Det empiriska materialet analyserades utifrån det ramverk uppsatsen skapat. Human Relations, double loop-lärande och teori O utgjorde det mjuka perspektivet i analysen och Scientific Management, single loop-lärande och teori E utgjorde det hårda perspektivet i analysen. Resultatet visar att vad som kommuniceras från strategisk nivå ofta behandlas av första linjens ledare utifrån det mjuka perspektivet och då det kommer till att kommunicera och implementera detta på operativ nivå utgår första linjens ledare oftast från det hårda perspektivet. / The responsibility of the first line managers has increased in amount over the past years. What does a manager, having this kind of position, feel is necessary when it comes to accomplish change? Are there any challenges presented to the first line manager during a change process? The purpose of this essay is to visualize first line managers experience of leading a change process. Two questions were posed; ”What do first line managers feel is important when it comes to their own leadership, to be able to achieve change?” and ”What challenges do first line managers face in a change process?”. The questions were examined by taking part of previous research, with emphasis on the evolution of authority within organizations, as well as the role first line managers take on when it comes to facilitating learning within organizations. Six semi-structured interviews were held in a government owned company with leaders having a position closest to the operational staff. The material gathered through these interviews was analyzed with the theoretical framework created for this essay as a basis. Human Relations, double loop learning and theory O formed the soft perspective in the analysis and Scientific Management, single loop learning and theory E formed the hard perspective in the analysis. The results show that the line managers often treat communications from the strategic level to the first line managers according to the soft perspective, and when it comes to communicating and implementing what has been decided on the strategic level, it often is treated according to the hard perspective.

As an increasing number of distributed power generation systems (DPGS) are being connected to the utility grid, there is a growing requirement for the DPGS to be able to ride through short grid disturbances. This requires improvements to be made to the grid-side control scheme of the DPGS. An important part of the grid-side control scheme is the grid synchronization method, which is responsible for tracking the phase angle of the grid voltage vector. The state-of-the-art grid synchronization methods being used today are phase-locked loops. This thesis presents a modified phase-locked loop which is more robust towards grid disturbances. It consists of a multi-block adaptive notch filter (ANF) integrated into a conventional three-phase synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (SRF-PLL). The addition of the multi-block ANF to the system allows it to become frequency adaptive. Also, since the multi-block ANF consists of multiple ANF blocks in parallel with one another, the system is able to remove multiple input signal distortions. Thus, the proposed system is able to eliminate the double frequency ripple that is caused in the conventional three-phase SRF-PLL by input unbalance, as well as harmonic errors, despite the presence of frequency variations in the input signal. Simulation results found using Matlab/Simulink, and experimental results found using the dSPACE DS1103 DSP board, demonstrate the feasibility of the modified SRF-PLL. Also, the modified SRF-PLL is compared to a conventional three-phase SRF-PLL, as well as to a conventional three-phase SRF-PLL with a simple notch filter, and the advantages of the modified SRF-PLL are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-12-17 12:38:02.589

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The continuous, kinematical Hilbert space of loop quantum gravity is built upon a family of spaces $\mathcal{H}_\Gamma$, each associated to a different \textit{graph} $\Gamma$, i.e. a network of interconnected one-dimensional links $\l$, embedded within a spatial geometry. The kinematics of loop quantum gravity are well-established, but difficult problems remain for the dynamics. There are two steps in getting to the quantum theory from the classical one: first, the embedded graphs are used to define a smearing of the continuous gravitational fields to obtain a holonomy $h_\l$ and flux $\X_\l$ for each link of the graph, giving a phase space $P_\Gamma$; second, this phase space is quantized to yield a finite dimensional Hilbert space $\mathcal{H}_\Gamma$. The intermediate classical theory in terms of $P_\Gamma$ phase spaces remains largely unexplored, and here we endeavour to develop it. If we can find such a theory that is consistent with general relativity, then we will have a theory of gravity based upon finite-dimensional phase spaces that is nicely set up for quantization \`a la loop quantum gravity. To begin, we first review the basic elements of the quantum theory before introducing the classical phase space structure. Within this framework we show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the data on a graph and an equivalence class of continuous geometries. We find that a particular member of each class, the spinning geometry, makes a promising candidate as a gauge choice to represent the $(h_\l, \X_\l)$ data in the continuous theory, helping us to formulate a dynamics for the discrete theory. Considering all of the possible graphs, it is important to know how we can evolve from one phase space into another, and how the dynamics in $P_\Gamma$ relates to the continuous evolution. There is a geometrical description of phase spaces where dynamics appears as a class of subspaces within a symplectic manifold. We use this picture to formulate a dynamics between $P_\Gamma$ phase spaces, and demonstrate this process on a simple model that mimics the case of full gravity. Following this, we study a system of point particles in three-dimensional gravity which provides an illuminating demonstration of what we hope to accomplish for full gravity. We develop the classical theory of point particles and show that it can be described by an evolving triangulation where discrete bistellar flips can occur. From here we define the loop gravity theory and show that it agrees with the continuous theory, having two-to-two moves on the graph which mirror the bistellar flips in the triangulation. The results are promising for finding a dynamics for four-dimensional loop gravity, and if the full theory is developed further, we expect it will lead to a breakthrough in the quantum dynamics.