Mineração de Dados é um processo de natureza iterativa e interativa responsável por identificar padrões em grandes conjuntos de dados, objetivando extrair conhecimento válido, útil e inovador a partir desses. Em Mineração de Dados, Regras de Associação é uma técnica que consiste na identificação de padrões intrínsecos ao conjunto de dados. Essa técnica tem despertado grande interesse nos pesquisadores de Mineração de Dados e nas organizações, entretanto, a mesma possui o inconveniente de gerar grande volume de conhecimento no formato de regras, dificultando a análise e interpretação dos resultados pelo usuário. Nesse contexto, este trabalho tem como objetivo principal generalizar e eliminar Regras de Associação não interessantes e/ou redundantes, facilitando, dessa maneira, a análise das regras obtidas com relação à compreensibilidade e tamanho do conjunto de regras. A generalização das Regras de Associação é realizada com o uso de taxonomias. Entre os principais resultados deste trabalho destacam-se a proposta e a implementação do algoritmo GART e do módulo computacional RulEE-GAR. O algoritmo GART (Generalization of Association Rules using Taxonomies - Generalização de Regras de Associação usando Taxonomias) utiliza taxonomias para generalizar Regras de Associação. Já o módulo RulEE-GAR, além de facilitar o uso do algoritmo GART durante a identificação de taxonomias e generalização de regras, provê funcionalidades para analisar as Regras de Associação generalizadas. Os experimentos realizados, neste trabalho, mostraram que o uso de taxonomias na generalização de Regras de Associação pode reduzir o volume de um conjunto de regras. / Data Mining refers to the process of finding patterns in large data sets. The Association Rules in Data Mining try to identify intrinsic behaviors of the data set. This has motivated researchers of Data Mining and organizations. However, the Association Rules have the inconvenient of generating a great amount of knowledge in the form of rules. This makes the analysis and interpretation of the results difficult for the user. Taking this into account, the main objective of this research is the generalization and elimination of non-interesting and/or redundant Association Rules. This facilite the analysis of the rules with respect to the compreensibility and the size of the rule set. The generalization is realized using taxonomies. The main results of this research are the proposal and the implementation of the algorithm GART and of the computational module RulEE-GAR. The algorithm GART (Generalization of Association Rules using Taxonomies) uses taxonomies to generalize Association Rules. The module RulEE-GAR facilitates the use of the algorithm GART in the identification of taxonomies and generalization of rules and provide functionalities to the analysis of the generalized Association Rules. The results of experiments showed that the employment of taxonomies in the generalization of Association Rules can reduce the size of a rule set.

Dentre as técnicas de mineração de dados encontra-se a associação, a qual identifica todas as associações intrínsecas contidas na base de dados. Entretanto, essa característica, vantajosa por um lado, faz com que um grande número de padrões seja gerado, sendo que muito deles, mesmo sendo estatisticamente aceitos, são triviais, falsos, ou irrelevantes à aplicação. Além disso, a técnica de associação tradicional gera padrões compostos apenas por itens contidos na base de dados, o que leva à extração, em geral, de um conhecimento muito específico. Essa especificidade dificulta a obtenção de uma visão geral do domínio pelos usuários finais, que visam a utilização/exploração de conhecimentos úteis e compreensíveis. Assim, o pós-processamento das regras descobertas se torna um importante tópico, uma vez que há a necessidade de se validar as regras obtidas. Diante do exposto, este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem de pós-processamento de regras de associação que utiliza conhecimento de domínio, expresso via taxonomias, para obter um conjunto de regras de associação generalizadas compacto e representativo. Além disso, a fim de avaliar a representatividade de padrões generalizados, é apresentado também neste trabalho um estudo referente à utilização de medidas de interesse objetivas quando aplicadas a regras de associação generalizadas. Nesse estudo, a semântica da generalização é levada em consideração, já que cada uma delas fornece uma visão distinta do domínio. Como resultados desta tese, foi possível observar que: um conjunto de regras de associação pode ser compactado na presença de um conjunto de taxonomias; para cada uma das semânticas de generalização existe um conjunto de medidas mais apropriado para ser utilizado na avaliação de regras generalizadas / The association technique, one of the data mining techniques, identifies all the intrinsic associations in database. This characteristic, which can be advantageous on the one hand, generates a large number of patterns. Many of these patterns, even statistically accepted, are trivial, spurious, or irrelevant to the application. In addition, the association technique generates patterns composed only by items in database, which in general implies a very specific knowledge. This specificity makes it difficult to obtain a general view of the domain by the final users, who aims the utilization/exploration of useful and comprehensible knowledge . Thus, the post-processing of the discovered rules becomes an important topic, since it is necessary to validate the obtained rules. In this context, this work presents an approach for post-processing association rules that uses domain knowledge, expressed by taxonomies, to obtain a reduced and representative generalized association rule set. In addition, in order to evaluate the representativeness of generalized patterns, a study referent to the use of objective interest measures when applied to generalized association rules is presented. In this study, the generalization semantics is considered, since each semantic provides a distinct view of the domain. As results of this thesis, it was possible to observe that: an association rule set can be compacted with a taxonomy set; for each generalization semantic there is a measure set that is more appropriate to be used in the generalized rules evaluation

The disposal of sewage sludge is becoming an ever-increasing problem and a range of re-use options are being developed, with traditional composting and advanced alkaline stabilisation emerging as priority re-use alternatives in NSW. However, concerns have been raised regarding the dissemination of sludge related pathogens in the environment. Salmonella spp pose the greatest risk since they have the ability to proliferate in the absence of human and animal hosts. Composting processes eliminate salmonellae from sludge, but the opportunity for post-processing recontamination is considerable. This project examined the significance of post-processing recontamination of Salmonella broughton, introduced into composted sludge and N-Virosoil. In compost, inactivation rates of S. broughton showed an inverse relationship with simulated processing temperatures, with competitive exclusion by autocthonous compost flora thought to be the major mechanism of inhibition. S. broughton numbers were reduced to below the limits of detection after several weeks. S. broughton inactivation was also assessed in processed N-Virosoil and was found to be more immediate. It was concluded that both compost and N.Virosoil products have a low potential to support the regrowth of Salmonella spp. / Master of Science (Hons)(Environmental Science)

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) varactors have the potential to replace conventional varactor diodes, due to their high loss and non-linearity, in many applications such as phase shifters, oscillators, and tunable filters. The objective of this thesis is to develop novel MEMS varactors to improve the capacitance tuning ratio, linearity, and quality factor. Several novel varactor configurations are developed, analyzed, fabricated and tested. They are built by using standard MEMS fabrication processes, as well as monolithic integration techniques in CMOS technology. The first capacitor consists of two movable plates, loaded with a nitride layer that exhibits an analog continuous capacitance tuning ratio. To decrease the the parasitic capacitance, a trench in the silicon substrate under the capacitor is adopted. The use of an insulation dielectric layer on the bottom plate of the MEMS capacitor increases the capacitors’ tuning ratio. Experimental and theoretical results are presented for two versions of the proposed capacitor with different capacitance values. The measured capacitance tuning ratio is 280% at 1 GHz. The proposed MEMS vararctor is built using the MetalMUMPs process. The second, third, and fourth capacitors have additional beams that are called carrier beams. The use of the carrier beams makes it possible to obtain an equivalent nonlinear spring constant, which increases the capacitors’ analog continuous tuning ratio. A lumped element model and a continuous model of the proposed variable capacitors are developed. The continuous model is simulated by commercial software. A detailed analysis for the steady state of the capacitors is presented. The measured capacitance tuning ratios of these three capacitors are 410%, 400% and 470%, respectively at 1 GHz. Also, the selfresonance frequency is measured and found to exceed 11 GHz. The proposed MEMS variable capacitors are built by the PolyMUMPs process. The fifth novel parallel-plate MEMS varactor has thin-film vertical comb actuators as its driver. Such an actuator can vertically displace both plates of the parallel-plate capacitor. By making use of the fringing field, this actuator exhibits linear displacement behavior, caused by the induced electrostatic force of the actuator’s electrodes. The proposed capacitor has a low parasitic capacitance and linear deflection due to the mechanically connected and electrically isolated actuators to the capacitor’s parallel-plates. The measured tuning capacitance ratio is 7:1 (600%) at 1 GHz. The fabricated MEMS varactor exhibits a self resonance frequency of 9 GHz and built by MetalMUMPs process. The sixth parallel-plate MEMS varactor exhibits a linear response and high tuning capacitance ratio. The capacitor employs the residual stress of the chosen bi-layer, and the non-linear spring constants from the suspended cantilevers to obtain a non-linear restoring force that compensates for the nonlinear electrostatic force induced between the top and bottom plates. Two existing techniques are used to widen the tuning range of the proposed capacitor. The first technique is to decrease the parasitic capacitance by etching the lossy substrate under the capacitor’s plates. The second technique is employed to increase the capacitance density, where the areas between the top and bottom plates overlap, by applying a thin film of dielectric material, deposited by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. The measured linear continuous tuning ratio for the proposed capacitor, built in the PolyMUMPs process, is 5:1 (400%). The seventh and eighth MEMS variable capacitors have plates that curl up. These capacitors are built in 0.35 μm CMOS technology from the interconnect metallization layers. The plates of the presented capacitors are intentionally curled upward to control the tuning performance. A newly developed maskless post-processing technique that is appropriate for MEMS/CMOS circuits is proposed. it consists of dry and wet etching steps, developed to integrate the proposed MEMS varactors in CMOS technology. Mechanically, the capacitors are simulated by the finite element method in ANSYS, and the results are compared with the measured results. The seventh capacitor is a tri-state structure that exhibits a measured tuning range of 460% at 1 GHz with a flat capacitance response that is superior to that of conventional digital capacitors. The proposed capacitor is simulated in HFSS and the extracted capacitance is compared with the measured capacitance over a frequency range of 1 GHz to 5 GHz. The eighth capacitor is an analog continuous structure that demonstrates a measured continuous tuning range of 115% at 1 GHz with no pull-in. The measured quality factor for both CMOSbased capacitors is more than 300 at 1.5 GHz. The proposed curled-plate capacitors have a small area and can be realized to build a System-on-Chip (SoC). Finally, a tunable band pass filter that utilizes the MEMS variable capacitors in 0.18 μm CMOS technology from TSMC is designed, modeled and fabricated.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) varactors have the potential to replace conventional varactor diodes, due to their high loss and non-linearity, in many applications such as phase shifters, oscillators, and tunable filters. The objective of this thesis is to develop novel MEMS varactors to improve the capacitance tuning ratio, linearity, and quality factor. Several novel varactor configurations are developed, analyzed, fabricated and tested. They are built by using standard MEMS fabrication processes, as well as monolithic integration techniques in CMOS technology. The first capacitor consists of two movable plates, loaded with a nitride layer that exhibits an analog continuous capacitance tuning ratio. To decrease the the parasitic capacitance, a trench in the silicon substrate under the capacitor is adopted. The use of an insulation dielectric layer on the bottom plate of the MEMS capacitor increases the capacitors’ tuning ratio. Experimental and theoretical results are presented for two versions of the proposed capacitor with different capacitance values. The measured capacitance tuning ratio is 280% at 1 GHz. The proposed MEMS vararctor is built using the MetalMUMPs process. The second, third, and fourth capacitors have additional beams that are called carrier beams. The use of the carrier beams makes it possible to obtain an equivalent nonlinear spring constant, which increases the capacitors’ analog continuous tuning ratio. A lumped element model and a continuous model of the proposed variable capacitors are developed. The continuous model is simulated by commercial software. A detailed analysis for the steady state of the capacitors is presented. The measured capacitance tuning ratios of these three capacitors are 410%, 400% and 470%, respectively at 1 GHz. Also, the selfresonance frequency is measured and found to exceed 11 GHz. The proposed MEMS variable capacitors are built by the PolyMUMPs process. The fifth novel parallel-plate MEMS varactor has thin-film vertical comb actuators as its driver. Such an actuator can vertically displace both plates of the parallel-plate capacitor. By making use of the fringing field, this actuator exhibits linear displacement behavior, caused by the induced electrostatic force of the actuator’s electrodes. The proposed capacitor has a low parasitic capacitance and linear deflection due to the mechanically connected and electrically isolated actuators to the capacitor’s parallel-plates. The measured tuning capacitance ratio is 7:1 (600%) at 1 GHz. The fabricated MEMS varactor exhibits a self resonance frequency of 9 GHz and built by MetalMUMPs process. The sixth parallel-plate MEMS varactor exhibits a linear response and high tuning capacitance ratio. The capacitor employs the residual stress of the chosen bi-layer, and the non-linear spring constants from the suspended cantilevers to obtain a non-linear restoring force that compensates for the nonlinear electrostatic force induced between the top and bottom plates. Two existing techniques are used to widen the tuning range of the proposed capacitor. The first technique is to decrease the parasitic capacitance by etching the lossy substrate under the capacitor’s plates. The second technique is employed to increase the capacitance density, where the areas between the top and bottom plates overlap, by applying a thin film of dielectric material, deposited by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. The measured linear continuous tuning ratio for the proposed capacitor, built in the PolyMUMPs process, is 5:1 (400%). The seventh and eighth MEMS variable capacitors have plates that curl up. These capacitors are built in 0.35 μm CMOS technology from the interconnect metallization layers. The plates of the presented capacitors are intentionally curled upward to control the tuning performance. A newly developed maskless post-processing technique that is appropriate for MEMS/CMOS circuits is proposed. it consists of dry and wet etching steps, developed to integrate the proposed MEMS varactors in CMOS technology. Mechanically, the capacitors are simulated by the finite element method in ANSYS, and the results are compared with the measured results. The seventh capacitor is a tri-state structure that exhibits a measured tuning range of 460% at 1 GHz with a flat capacitance response that is superior to that of conventional digital capacitors. The proposed capacitor is simulated in HFSS and the extracted capacitance is compared with the measured capacitance over a frequency range of 1 GHz to 5 GHz. The eighth capacitor is an analog continuous structure that demonstrates a measured continuous tuning range of 115% at 1 GHz with no pull-in. The measured quality factor for both CMOSbased capacitors is more than 300 at 1.5 GHz. The proposed curled-plate capacitors have a small area and can be realized to build a System-on-Chip (SoC). Finally, a tunable band pass filter that utilizes the MEMS variable capacitors in 0.18 μm CMOS technology from TSMC is designed, modeled and fabricated.

Recent attempts to increase the capacity of the compact disc (CD) and digital versatile disc (DVD) have explored the use of multilevel recording instead of binary recording. Systems that achieve an increase in capacity of about three times that of conventional CD have been proposed for production. Marks in these systems are multilevel and fixed-length as opposed to binary and variable length in CD and DVD. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the performance of multilevel ($M$-ary) runlength-limited (RLL) coded sequences in optical data storage. First, the waterfilling capacity of a multilevel optical recording channel ($M$-ary ORC) is derived and evaluated. This provides insight into the achievable user bit densities, as well as a theoretical limit against which simulated systems can be compared. Then, we evaluate the performance of RLL codes on the $M$-ary ORC. A new channel model that includes the runlength constraint in the transmitted signal is used. We compare the performance of specific RLL codes, namely $M$-ary permutation codes, to that of real systems using multilevel fixed-length marks for recording and the theoretical limits. The Viterbi detector is used to estimate the original recorded symbols from the readout signal. Then, error correction is used to reduce the symbol error probability. We use a combined ECC/RLL code for phrase encoding. We evaluate the use of trellis coded modulation (TCM) for amplitude encoding. The detection of the readout signal is also studied. A post-processing algorithm for the Viterbi detector is introduced, which ensures that the detected word satisfies the code constraints. Specifying the codes and detector for the $M$-ary ORC gives a complete system whose performance can be compared to that of the recently developed systems found in the literature and the theoretical limits calculated in this research.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been developed and applied to clinical analysis studies due to its non-invasive properties. Because of the increasing clinical interests of applying MRS, a lot of post-processing tools has been developed, among which LCModel is one of the most popular. LCModel estimates the absolute metabolite concentrations in vivo according to the basis file, so basis files play an important role for the accuracy of absolute metabolite concentrations. The default basis sets of LCModel were made by phantom experiments. However, some special metabolites are difficult to get them, so the basis sets lack for these metabolites. In order to avoid this trouble, LCModel provides a special method called ¡§spectra offering¡¨. In this study, we use GAMMA Visual Analysis (GAVA) software to create basis sets and compare the shape of LCModel default basis sets with the shape of GAVA basis sets. Some metabolites which are not included in the LCModel phantom experiments are also generated. Finally, we estimate the absolute concentrations in normal subjects and patients by using these two kinds of basis sets respectively. Using LCModel ¡§spectra offering¡¨ method to append extra metabolites for LCModel basis sets is applicable to those metabolites of singlet resonance but not of J-coupling resonance in the meanwhile. Our results demonstrate that using GAVA simulation as the basis set leads to different quantitative results from using basis sets of in vitro. We believe that using GAVA simulation as the basis set would provide better consistency among all metabolites and thus achieve more accurate quantification of MRS.

<p> </p><p>Post-processing techniques are used to change a rendered image as a last step before presentation and include, but is not limited to, operations such as change of saturation or contrast, and also more advanced effects like depth-of-field and tone mapping.</p><p>Depth-of-field effects are created by changing the focus in an image; the parts close to the focus point are perfectly sharp while the rest of the image has a variable amount of blurriness. The effect is widely used in photography and movies as a depth cue but has in the latest years also been introduced into computer games.</p><p>Today’s graphics hardware gives new possibilities when it comes to computation capacity. Shaders and GPGPU languages can be used to do massive parallel operations on graphics hardware and are well suited for game developers.</p><p>This thesis presents the theoretical background of some of the recent and most valuable depth-of-field algorithms and describes the implementation of various solutions in the shader domain but also using GPGPU techniques. The main objective is to analyze various depth-of-field approaches and look at their visual quality and how the methods scale performance wise when using different techniques.</p><p> </p>

Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) can provide a complement to echocardiography for the evaluation of the fetal heart. Cardiac imaging typically requires gating with peripheral hardware; however, a gating signal is not readily available in utero. In this thesis, I present a technique for reconstructing time-resolved fetal phase-contrast MRI in spite of this limitation. Metric Optimized Gating (MOG) involves acquiring data without gating and retrospectively determining the proper reconstruction by optimizing an image metric, and the research in this thesis describes the theory, implementation, and evaluation of this technique. In particular, results from an experiment with a pulsatile flow phantom, an adult volunteer study, in vivo application in the fetal population, and numerical simulations are presented for validation. MOG enables imaging with conventional PC-MRI sequences in the absence of a gating signal, permitting flow measurements in the great vessels in utero.

Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) can provide a complement to echocardiography for the evaluation of the fetal heart. Cardiac imaging typically requires gating with peripheral hardware; however, a gating signal is not readily available in utero. In this thesis, I present a technique for reconstructing time-resolved fetal phase-contrast MRI in spite of this limitation. Metric Optimized Gating (MOG) involves acquiring data without gating and retrospectively determining the proper reconstruction by optimizing an image metric, and the research in this thesis describes the theory, implementation, and evaluation of this technique. In particular, results from an experiment with a pulsatile flow phantom, an adult volunteer study, in vivo application in the fetal population, and numerical simulations are presented for validation. MOG enables imaging with conventional PC-MRI sequences in the absence of a gating signal, permitting flow measurements in the great vessels in utero.