Chalcogenide phase change (PC) materials can be reversibly transformed between the high resistivity (~ 1 Ω∙m) amorphous state (OFF-state) and low resistivity (~ 10-6 Ω∙m) crystalline state (ON-state) thermally, both are stable at the room temperature. This makes them well suited as reconfigurable RF switches and non-volatile memories. This work will present the understandings of two key characteristics of PC materials, the crystallization dynamics and the threshold voltage (Vth), as they determine performance limitations in these applications. Crystallization dynamics describe the correlations of the states, temperature and time; the Vth is the trigger of the threshold switching which leads to the “break down” of PC materials from OFF-state to ON-state. The four-terminal indirectly-heated RF switches with high cut-off frequency (> 5 THz) has advantages over other technologies but its programming power (~ 1.5 W) is yet to be reduced. Measuring the maximum allowed RESET quench time in the crystallization dynamics is critical for designing low power switches. As a major contribution, this work provides a universal methodology for accurate heater thermometry and in-situ crystallization measurements for this study. On the other hand, understanding the Vth is essential for high power handling applications as it determines the maximum power that an OFF-state switch can withstand without being spontaneously turned on. This work will discuss new observations and learnings from Vth measurements including the geometry dependent Vth variations which provide insights into the threshold switching mechanism. Unlike RF switches, faster crystallization is desired for memories to improve the write speed. The non-Arrhenius crystallization needs to be explored to achieve short crystallization time (< 10 ns) at high temperature (> 700 K). As another major contribution, this work will present a nano-scale (~ 100 nm) high-speed (thermal time constant < 5 ns) PC device for assessing the crystallization time in this regime, and provide a comprehensive learning for the crystallization dynamics from 300 K to 1000 K by developing a unified framework based on the fragility model and growth-dominated crystallization. This can be used to accurately simulate the crystallization process for any device geometry and estimate the RF switches power and Vth.

A Articulação Temporomandibular (ATM) pode ser acometida por inúmeros distúrbios articulares sendo os mais comuns os distúrbios de desarranjo do disco e os distúrbios inflamatórios. Um sinal clínico importante nesses casos é a sensibilidade dolorosa à palpação digital ou por mensuração do Limiar de Dor à Pressão (LDP), determinado com o uso de um instrumento denominado algômetro. O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de determinar qual o valor de LDP que melhor diferencie ATMs saudáveis daquelas acometidas por distúrbios inflamatórios e dolorosos. Ainda propõem-se a determinar se há diferenças entre o LDP de ATMs saudáveis e ATMs com deslocamento de disco com redução (DDCR) assintomáticos. Para isso, foi utilizada uma amostra de 60 indivíduos de ambos os gêneros com idade entre 18 e 50 anos, avaliados pelos critérios do Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) e divididos em três grupos: 20 indivíduos com diagnóstico clínico de artralgia da ATM (com ou sem deslocamento de disco para anterior, 20 indivíduos com diagnóstico clínico de DDCR (assintomáticos) e 20 indivíduos sem dores ou ruídos na ATM (grupo controle). Toda a amostra foi submetida a exame de ressonância magnética para análise da posição do disco para confirmar o exame físico e validar os critérios de inclusão (RDC/TMD) para formação dos grupos. Foram realizados exames de algometria sobre o pólo lateral das ATMs, e obtidas Escalas de Análise Visual (EAV) para o grupo de artralgia. Os dados foram analisados por teste de análise de variância (ANOVA a um critério) e por teste de correlação de Pearson com 5% de significância. Níveis de especificidade e sensibilidade, sendo gerada curva ROC foram também determinados. O valores de LDP foram significantemente menores para o grupo com artralgia (média de 1,07 kgf/cm2 ± 0,445), quando comparados aos outros grupos. Ainda, o grupo com DDCR (média de 1,90 kgf/cm2 ± 0,647) apresentou menores valores quando comparados ao controle (média de 2,46 kgf/cm2 ± 0,593). Não foi encontrada correlação entre o LDP obtido no grupo de artralgia com a EAV e com o tempo de experiência de dor. Quando excelentes valores de sensibilidade e especificidade foram contemplados, verificou-se que o valor de palpação de 1,56 kgf/cm2 é o mais adequado para o diagnóstico de DTM de origem articular. / Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) internal derangements are characterized by anterior disk displacement (ADD) and/or as arthralgias. An important clinical presentation in these cases is the painful tenderness to manual palpation or decreased Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT), determined with an algometer. The present study aims to determine, based on high specificity levels, the more appropriate PPT value to discriminate healthy TMJs from those with painful inflammatory processes as well as to determine the influence of asymptomatic disk displacement with reduction (DDWR) in this scenario. A sample of 60 individuals from both genders with age between 18 and 50 years were evaluated by Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) and divided into three groups: 20 patients with clinical diagnosis of TMJ arthralgia, 20 patients with clinical diagnosis of asymptomatic DDWR and 20 individuals with no TMJ pain or noise (control group). All individuals were submitted to an exam of magnetic resonance imaging for the analysis of disk position to confirm the physical exam (RDC/TMD) and to validate the group distribution. An algometry exam was performed on the TMJ lateral pole and the individuals of the arthralgia group also filled out a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The data were analyzed by variance test (ANOVA) and by Pearson correlation test with 5% of significance. Levels of specificity and sensibility, and ROC curves were also determined. The arthralgia group presented significant lower PPT (mean of 1.07 kgf/cm2 ± 0.445) values than the others. DDWR group (mean of 1.90 kgf/cm2 ± 0.647) has shown significant lower PPT values when compared to the control group (mean of 2.46 kgf/cm2 ± 0.593). A significant correlation between the PPT and the VAS and the time of pain experience was not found. 100% of specificity and 90% of sensitivity were obtained when 1.56 kgf/cm2 was applied to the TMJ (ROC=0.99). This value was considered to be the most appropriate to detected TMJ arthralgia.

O objetivo dessa tese foi avaliar alguns desses fatores, verificar a influência da ortodontia sobre alterações oclusais, limiares de dor à pressão da região orofacial, hábitos orais parafuncionais, e percepção de qualidade de vida. Foram selecionados 111 pacientes com idade entre 13 e 55 anos e ausência de sintomas de DTM que iniciaram terapia ortodôntica corretiva. O experimento foi dividido em três etapas: t1 (no momento da instalação do aparelho), t2 (2 meses após o início do tratamento), e t3 (6 meses após o início do tratamento). Em todas etapas os pacientes foram examinados clinicamente para avaliação oclusal e seus limiares de dor à pressão foram avaliados com um algômetro digital. Também foram aplicados questionários sobre hábitos orais parafuncionais (OBC) e percepção de saúde oral na qualidade de vida (OHIP-14br). Foram feitas comparações a respeito de cada variável quantitativa considerando os três tempos de avaliação por meio de Análise de variância (ANOVA) a um critério. O teste t foi utilizado para avaliar diferenças entre as médias das variáveis quantitativas no tempo inicial (t1) e tempo final (t3) de avaliação. Para avaliar o efeito da ortodontia sobre variáveis qualitativas oclusais foi utilizado o teste exato de Fisher. Foram considerados estatisticamente significantes aqueles resultados que apresentaram nível de significância igual ou menor que 0,05. Nenhum dos 111 pacientes desenvolveram sintomas de DTM até o momento final de avaliação. Não foram observadas mudanças oclusais quantitativas significativas (p>0,05) entre t1 e t3, no entanto os fatores qualitativos como mudanças nos padrões oclusais foram alterados significativamente (p<0,05). O tratamento ortodôntico não alterou os limiares de dor à pressão, mas foi observado um aumento significativo (p<0,05) nos escores de OHIP entre os períodos t1 e t3. O tratamento ortodôntico também não aumentou ou diminuiu a presença de hábitos orais parafuncionais, e não foram encontradas diferenças entre sexo e Limear de Dor a Pressão (LDP) nos indivíduos que possuíam mais ou menos hábitos. No entanto, pacientes mais velhos relataram maiores escores de OBC, e foi encontrada correlação entre pacientes com maiores escores de OBC e menores escores para o OHIP. O estudo concluiu que a movimentação ortodôntica não teve efeito sobre limiares de dor na região orofacial e não influencia na presença de hábitos orais parafuncionais. No entanto, o tratamento ortodôntico teve um efeito positivo sobre a percepção de saúde oral na qualidade de vida. / The aim of this thesis was to evaluate some of these factors, examining the influence of orthodontics on occlusal changes, pain pressure thresholds of the orofacial region, parafunctional oral habits, and the perception of quality of life. 111 patients aged 13 to 55 that showed no signs or symptoms of TMD and began orthodontic treatment were selected. The experiment was divided into three phases: t1 (when the orthodontic device was installed), t2 (two months after the installation), and t3 (six months after the start of the treatment). At all phases, the patients were examined clinically for occlusal evaluation and their pain pressure thresholds were assessed with an analog algometer. They were also applied questionnaires on parafunctional oral habits (OBC) and perception of oral health on the quality of life (OHIP-14br). Comparisons were made with respect to each quantitative variable considering the three phases of evaluation through a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for each variable. The t test was used to assess differences between the means of quantitative variables at baseline (T1) and the final evaluation (t3). To evaluate the effect of orthodontics on occlusal qualitative variables Fisher\'s exact test was used. Statistical significance was considered for those results with a significance level equal to or less than 0.05. None of the 111 patients developed symptoms of TMD within the evaluation time. No significant occlusal quantitative changes were observed (p> 0.05) between t1 and t3, however the qualitative factors considered as occlusal patterns were significantly changed (p <0.05). Orthodontic treatment did not alter pain pressure thresholds but a significant increase (p <0.05) in scores of OHIP was observed between phases t1 and t3. Orthodontic treatment did not increase or decrease the pesence of parafunctional oral habits, and no differences were found between sex and LDP in individuals who possessed more/less parafunctional habits. However, older patients reported higher OBC scores, and correlation was found between patients with higher OBC scores and lower scores for OHIP. The study concluded that orthodontic treatment did not have an effect on orofacial pain hresholds, nor the presence of parafunctional oral habits. The perception of oral health on quality of life improved significantly with treatment and patients with lessparafunctional oral habits presented a better quality of life.

With the emerging computing technologies and applications in the past decades, cryptography is facing tremendous challenges in its position of guarding our digital world. The advent of quantum computers is potentially going to cease the dominance of RSA and other public key algorithms based on hard problems of factorization and discrete logarithm. In order to protect the Internet at post-quantum era, great efforts have been dedicated to the design of RSA substitutions. One of them is code- based McEliece public key schemes which are immune to quantum attacks. Meanwhile, new infrastructures like Internet of Things are bringing the world enormous benefits but, due to the resource-constrained nature, require compact and still reliable cryptographic solutions. Motivated by this, many lightweight cryptographic algorithms are introduced. Nevertheless, side channel attack is still a practical threat for implementations of these new algorithms if no countermeasures are employed. In the past decades two major categories of side channel countermeasures, namely masking and hiding, have been studied to mitigate the threat of such attacks. As a masking countermeasure, Threshold Implementation becomes popular in recent years. It is sound in providing provable side channel resistance for hardware-based cryptosystems but meanwhile it also incurs significant overheads which need further optimization for constrained applications. Masking, especially for higher order masking schemes, requires low signal-to-noise ratio to be effective which can be achieved by applying hiding countermeasures. In order to evaluate side channel resistance of countermeasures, several tools have been introduced. Due to its simplicity, TVLA is being accepted by academy and industry as a one-size-fit-all leakage detection methodolgy that can be used by non-experts. However, its effectiveness can be negatively impacted by environmental factors such as temperature variations. Thus, a robust and simple evaluation method is desired. In this dissertation, we first show how differential power analysis can efficiently exploit the power consumption of a McEliece implementation to recover the private key. Then, we apply Threshold Implementation scheme in order to protect from the proposed attack. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first time of applying Threshold Implementation in a public key cryptosystem. Next, we investigate the reduction of shares in Threshold Implementation so as to bring down its overhead for constrained applications. Our study shows that Threshold Implementation using only two shares reduces the overheads while still provides reliable first-order resistance but in the meantime it also leaks a strong second-order leakage. We also propose a hiding countermeasure, namely balanced encoding scheme based on the idea of Dual- Rail Pre-charge logic style in hardwares. We show that it is effective to mitigate the leakage and can be combined with masking schemes to achieve better resistance. Finally, we study paired t-test versus Welch's t-test in the original TVLA and show its robustness against environmental noises. We also found that using moving average in computing t statistics can detect higher-order leakage faster.

"Securing data transmission has always been a challenge. While many cryptographic algorithms are available to solve the problem, many applications have tough area constraints while requiring high-level security. Lightweight cryptography aims at achieving high-level security with the benefit of being low cost. Since the late nineties and with the discovery of side channel attacks the approach towards cryptography has changed quite significantly. An attacker who can get close to a device can extract sensitive data by monitoring side channels such as power consumption, sound, or electromagnetic emanation. This means that embedded implementations of cryptographic schemes require protection against such attacks to achieve the desired level of security. In this work we combine a low-cost embedded cipher, Simon, with a stateof-the-art side channel countermeasure called Threshold Implementation (TI). We show that TI is a great match for lightweight cryptographic ciphers, especially for hardware implementation. Our implementation is the smallest TI of a block-cipher on an FPGA. This implementation utilizes 96 slices of a low-cost Spartan-3 FPGA and 55 slices a modern Kintex-7 FPGA. Moreover, we present a higher order TI which is resistant against second order attacks. This implementation utilizes 163 slices of a Spartan-3 FPGA and 95 slices of a Kintex-7 FPGA. We also present a state of the art leakage analysis and, by applying it to the designs, show that the implementations achieve the expected security. The implementations even feature a significant robustness to higher order attacks, where several million observations are needed to detect leakage."

As one of main methods in modern steel production, welding plays a very important role in our national economy, which has been widely applied in many fields such as aviation, petroleum, chemicals, electricity, railways and so on. The craft of welding can be improved in terms of welding tools, welding technology and welding inspection. However, so far welding inspection has been a very complicated problem. Therefore, it is very important to effectively detect internal welding defects in the welded-structure part and it is worth to furtherly studying and researching.In this paper, the main task is research about the application of image segmentation in welding inspection. It is introduced that the image enhancement techniques and image segmentation techniques including image conversion, noise removal as well as threshold, clustering, edge detection and region extraction. Based on the MATLAB platform, it focuses on the application of image segmentation in ray detection of steeled-structure, found out the application situation of three different image segmentation method such as threshold, clustering and edge detection.Application of image segmentation is more competitive than image enhancement because that:1. Gray-scale based FCM clustering of image segmentation performs well, which can exposure pixels in terms of grey value level so as that it can show hierarchical position of related defects by grey value.2. Canny detection speeds also fast and performs well, that gives enough detail information around edges and defects with smooth lines.3. Image enhancement only could improve image quality including clarity and contrast, which can’t give other helpful information to detect welding defects.This paper comes from the actual needs of the industrial work and it proves to be practical at some extent. Moreover, it also demonstrates the next improvement direction including identification of welding defects based on the neural networks, and improved clustering algorithm based on the genetic ideas. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik

The survival of Elasmobranch fishes (sharks, skates and rays) depends critically on their ability to sense odor cues. The outstanding question of detection thresholds to food odors in the shark is investigated in this study. The tracking behavior of Mustelus canis (the smooth dogfish) was analyzed using a binary choice flume designed specifically for testing odor preferences of aquatic animals. To determine threshold, odor was serially diluted until no tracking responses were observed. Sharks spent significantly more time in the odor side of the flume, regardless of their individual side bias, until the "squid juice" was diluted several orders of magnitude. For the whole flume the two greatest dilutions (10-4-10-5 at the odor source) did not cause significant choice and for the upstream flume half, all but the greatest dilution (10-5 at the odor source) caused significant odor side preference. To interpret these results fully we need to consider the structure of odor plumes and the function of the sharks' olfactory responses. Nonetheless, assuming that M. canis represent sharks in general, these findings demonstrate that their extraordinary sensitivity to food attractants may indicate aspects still unknown about life history of elasmobranch fishes including the ranges that benthic elasmobranchs are capable of traveling to feed.

La problÃmatique de cette recherche Ãmerge de deux questions rÃcurrentes sur la croissance Ãconomique rÃelle per capita et les rÃserves de capital accumulà dans les pays dâAfrique subsaharienne riches en ressources naturelles, à savoir : (1) pourquoi les pays qui possÃdent de trÃs grandes rÃserves de pÃtrole, minerais, diamants et autres pierres prÃcieuses tendent-ils à avoir une faible croissance Ãconomique rÃelle per capita ? (2) dans quels Ãtats seraient la consommation et les rÃserves de capital accumulà si tous les revenus sur les ressources naturelles Ãtaient investis dans du capital reproductible ? La tendance à la croissance Ãconomique inexpressive des pays riches en matiÃres premiÃres est appelÃe dans la littÃrature Ãconomique ÂmalÃdiction des ressources  ou le Paradoxe de lâAbondance. Ceci Ãtant, cette recherche se propose dâexaminer lâHypothÃse du Paradoxe de lâAbondance dans les pays de lâAfrique subsaharienne et discuter des indicateurs de croissance rÃelle per capita et de lâÃpargne Nette AjustÃe. Les tests empiriques, obtenus à partir de la mise en application de la rÃgle de Hartwick et du modÃle de threshold pour les donnÃes de panel, font rÃfÃrence à la pÃriode allant de 1970 à 2014, et viennent valider la majorità des suppositions de lâHypothÃse du paradoxe, cependant, certaines suppositions sont invalidÃes statistiquement parlant. Les rÃsultats montrent Ãgalement une perspective lÃgÃrement diffÃrente pour lâHypothÃse du Paradoxe de lâAbondance : lâimpact des ressources naturelles sur la croissance Ãconomique dÃpend en partie des cycles Ãconomiques des prix des commodities. Il a Ãtà constatÃ, en outre, que les pays oà lâabondance des ressources impacte nÃgativement sur la croissance Ãconomique sont ceux qui ont nÃgligà le dÃveloppement humain (Ãducation), lâinvestissement en capital fixe et ces pays qui prÃsentent un solde nÃgatif dâÃpargne Nette AjustÃe. Les rÃsultats rÃvÃlent dâailleurs quâil y a peu dâÃvidence statistique sur le fait que la dÃpendance aux ressources naturelles contribue à la faible croissance rÃelle per capita. Dans le but de rÃpondre à la seconde problÃmatique de la recherche, a Ãtà calculà le stock de capital accumulà hypothÃtique des pays de lâAfrique Subsaharienne dÃpendants des ressources naturelles, en faisant usage de la RÃgle de Hartwick, afin de savoir quel serait le capital accumulà de ces pays dans le cas oà ils investissaient tous les revenus provenant de lâexportation des ressources naturelles dans le capital reproductible. Les rÃsultats empiriques montrent que la grande majorità des pays analysÃs auraient triplà leurs rÃserves de capital sâils avaient suivi la rÃgle de Hartwick. Mots clÃs : Ressources Naturelles, Paradoxe de lâAbondance, treshold, Ãpargne / A problemÃtica desta pesquisa emergiu de dois questionamentos recorrentes sobre crescimento econÃmico real per capita e estoque de capital acumulado nos paÃses da Ãfrica Subsaariana ricos em recursos naturais, a saber: (1) por que paÃses que tem elevadÃssimas reservas de petrÃleo, minÃrios, diamantes e demais pedras preciosas tendem a ter um crescimento econÃmico real per capita baixo? (2) como seria o consumo e o stock de capital acumulado, se toda a renda de recursos naturais fosse investida em capital reprodutÃvel? A tendÃncia de crescimento econÃmico inexpressivo dos paÃses ricos em matÃria-prima, à denominada na literatura econÃmica por âmaldiÃÃo de recursosâ ou Paradoxo da AbundÃncia. Sendo assim, esta pesquisa testa a HipÃtese do Paradoxo da AbundÃncia nos paÃses da Ãfrica subsaariana e discorre sobre indicadores de crescimento real per capita e PoupanÃa LÃquida Ajustada. Os testes empÃricos, obtidos por meio da aplicaÃÃo da regra de Hartwick e do modelo de threshold para dados em painel, sÃo referentes ao perÃodo de 1970 a 2014, e embasam (validam) a maioria dos pressupostos da hipÃtese do paradoxo, entretanto alguns pressupostos da pesquisa nÃo tiveram validaÃÃo estatÃstica. Os resultados apontam tambÃm uma perspectiva um pouco diferente para HipÃtese do Paradoxo da AbundÃncia: o impacto dos recursos naturais no crescimento econÃmico depende em parte dos ciclos econÃmicos das commodities. Contatou-se, outrossim, que paÃses em que a abundÃncia de recursos impacta negativamente no crescimento econÃmico sÃo aqueles que negligenciaram o desenvolvimento humano (educaÃÃo), investimento em capital fixo e os que apresentam um saldo negativo de PoupanÃa LÃquida Ajustada. Ademais, os resultados revelam que hà pouca evidÃncia estatÃstica de que a dependÃncia de recursos naturais por si sà contribua para o baixo crescimento real per capita. Visando a responder a segunda problemÃtica da pesquisa, calculou-se o stock de capital acumulado hipotÃtico para os paÃses da Ãfrica Subsaariana dependentes de recursos naturais, por meio da utilizaÃÃo da Regra de Hartwick para a sustentabilidade, a fim de saber qual seria o capital acumulado desses paÃses caso tivessem investido toda a renda proveniente de exportaÃÃo de recursos naturais em capital reprodutÃvel. Os resultados empÃricos apontam que a grande maioria dos paÃses analisados teriam triplicado seu estoque de capital caso tivessem seguido a regra de Hartwick.

O objetivo deste estudo foi a validação da medida de limiar anaeróbio com o teste escalonado intermitente de 20 m de ida-e-volta em quadra, comparando-o com teste escalonado em esteira e com o máximo “steady state" de lactato (MLSS) em teste retangular simulado, em jogadores de Futsal. Para isso, nove jogadores de Futsal (16,8 ± 1,27 anos) realizaram um teste incremental em esteira (protocolo de HECK, 1985) para determinação da velocidade de 3,5 mmol.l-1 de lactato (V3,5Heck). Também para determinação da V3,5 (V3,5leger), os atletas realizaram teste progressivo de 20 m de ida-e-volta, com velocidade inicial de 8,5 km.h-1, com incremento de 1 km.h-1 a cada três minutos. Após a determinação da V3,5leger, os atletas retornaram à quadra e realizaram (pelo menos) três testes para a determinação do MLSS. O MLSS foi determinado através de corrida intermitente (20 m de ida-e-volta) e definido como a maior velocidade em que o lactato sanguíneo não aumentou mais que 1 mmol.l-1 de lactato entre o 10 e 30 minutos com velocidade constante. As velocidades correspondentes à V3,5leger e MLSS tiveram correlação de r = 0,86. O teste de comparações múltiplas TURKEY TEST detectou que existe diferença (p<0,05) entre as médias de intensidade de MLSS e V3,5Heck e entre V3,5Heck e V3,5leger. Já entre V3,5leger e MLSS, o teste não detectou diferença. A correlação entre a F.C. no V3,5leger e o MLSS foi de r = 0,70. O teste de comparações múltiplas TURKEY TEST detectou que existe diferença (p<0,05) entre as médias de F.C. entre V3,5leger e MLSS e entre V3,5Heck e MLSS. Já entre V3,5leger e V3,5Heck, o teste não detectou diferença. Portanto, nós concluímos que a V3,5leger é um instrumento válido para se estimar o MLSS em jogadores de Futsal. / The objective of this study was to investigate the validity of the anaerobic threshold in the 20 m shuttle run test in the determination of the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS) in Futsal players. Nine male futsal players (16,8 ± 1.27 years) performed an incremental treadmill test for the determination of the velocity corresponding of 3.5 mmol.l-1 of lactate (HECK et alii, 1985) (V3.5Heck). Also for the determination of the V3.5 (V3.5leger), the Futsal players performed the 20 m shuttle run test, with the initial running speed of 8.5 km.h-1 and increment of 1 km.h-1 each three minutes. After the determination of the V3.5 the athletes performed at least three tests to determine the MLSS. The MLSS was determined through intermittent running (20 m shuttle run) and defined as the highest velocity at which blood lactate did not increase by more than 1 mmol.l-1 between the minutes 10 and 30 of the constant velocity runs. There was a significant correlation between the velocities of V3.5leger and MLSS (r = 0.86). Analysis of variance revealed significant difference (p<0.05) between the intensities of the MLSS and V3.5Heck and between V3.5Heck e V3.5leger, but the analysis did not reveal difference between V3.5leger and the MLSS. The correlation between the heart frequency (F.C.) in the V3.5 Leger and MLSS was r=0.70. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences (p<0.05) between F.C. in V3.5leger and MLSS and between V3.5Heck and MLSS. The analysis did not revealed differences between V3.5leger and V3.5Heck. We conclude that OBLA can be utilized in Futsal players to estimate the MLSS.

Ecological sites and state-transition models (STMs) have become the preferred means of summarizing plant community dynamics on distinctive types of rangeland. Ecological sites classify rangeland types based on soil-geomorphic and climatic conditions capable of producing a known plant community, while a STM depicts the vegetation dynamics of an ecological site. STMs are usually based on expert opinion rather than site-specific data; however, if they are to gain credibility, STMs must accurately describe the processes that drive plant community dynamics. This study examined three ways of developing process-based STMs using three levels of commonly collected field data. We began by taking field inventories of three ecological sites already mapped in northwestern Utah: Loamy Bottom, Mountain Gravelly Loam, and Upland Loam. The Loamy Bottom site was ideal for developing a data-rich, process-based STM because 1) the site concepts were well-defined, 2) the site was easy to recognize, 3) potential states and transitions had already been hypothesized, and 4) the site was easily accessible. The Loamy Bottom study was designed to link plant community structural indicators to measurable indicators of ecological process. Principal components analysis and cluster analysis were used to classify 14 study plots into four distinct states. Simple linear regression showed relationships between perennial grass cover, perennial canopy gaps, and soil organic carbon. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) linked four general vegetation classes to soil stability measurements. The resulting STM describes the structure and function of four alternative states. The other two STMs, developed for the Mountain Gravelly Loam and Upland Loam ecological sites, used less-intensive data collection methods. Rangeland health assessments, used for the Upland Loam STM, are useful for refining initial ecological site and STM concepts, documenting states, hypothesizing transitions, and locating study locations for future research. Quantitative production and cover estimates, used for the Mountain Gravelly Loam STM, are useful for describing the structure of states, but structural indicators must be coupled with process measurements, as with the Loamy Bottom STM to understand the drivers of state change. A coordinated data collection effort is needed to produce STMs that accurately depict the plant community dynamics of ecological sites.