Issues of control and causation are central to the Quantum Theory of Computation. Yet there is no place for them in fundamental laws of Physics when expressed in the prevailing conception, i.e., in terms of initial conditions and laws of motion. This thesis aims at arguing that Constructor Theory, recently proposed by David Deutsch to generalise the quantum theory of computation, is a candidate to provide a theory of control and causation within Physics. To this end, I shall present a physical theory of information that is formulated solely in constructor-theoretic terms, i.e., in terms of which transformations of physical systems are possible and which are impossible. This theory solves the circularity at the foundations of existing information theory; it provides a unifying relation between classical and quantum information, revealing the single property underlying the most distinctive phenomena associated with the latter: the unpredictability of the outcomes of some deterministic processes, the lack of distinguishability of some states, the irreducible perturbation caused by measurement and the existence of locally inaccessible information in composite systems (entanglement). This thesis also aims to investigate the restrictions that quantum theory imposes on copying-like tasks. To this end, I will propose a unifying, picture-independent formulation of the no-cloning theorem. I will also discuss a protocol to accomplish the closely related task of transferring perfectly a quantum state along a spin chain, in the presence of systematic errors. Furthermore, I will address the problem of whether self-replication (as it occurs in living organisms) is compatible with Quantum Mechanics. Some physicists, notably Wigner, have argued that this logic is in fact forbidden by Quantum Mechanics, thus claiming that the latter is not a universal theory. I shall prove that those claims are invalid and that the logic of self-replication is, of course, compatible with Quantum Mechanics.

Grid computing systems are suffering from reliability and scalability problems caused by their reliance on centralised middleware. In this thesis, we argue that peer to peer middleware could help alleviate these problems. We show that peer to peer techniques can be used to provide reliable storage systems, which can be used as the basis for peer to peer grid middleware. We examine and develop new methods of providing reliable peer to peer storage, giving a new algorithm for this purpose, and assessing its performance through a combination of analysis and simulation. We then give an architecture for a peer to peer grid information system based on this work. Performance evaluation of this information system shows that it improves scalability when compared to the original centralised system, and that it withstands the failure of participant nodes without a significant reduction in quality of service. New contributions include dynamic replication, a new method for maintaining reliable storage in a Distributed Hash Table, which we show allows for the creation of more reliable, higher performance systems with lower bandwidth usage than current techniques. A new analysis of the reliability of distributed storage systems is also presented, which shows for the first time that replica placement has a significant effect on reliability. A simulation of the performance of distributed storage systems provides for the first time a quantitative performance comparison between different placement patterns. Finally, we show how these reliable storage techniques can be applied to grid computing systems, giving a new architecture for a peer to peer grid information service for the SAM-Grid system. We present a thorough performance evaluation of a prototype implementation of this architecture. Many of these contributions have been published at peer reviewed conferences.

Radionuclides are widely used in energy production and medical, military and industrial applications. Thus, understanding the behaviour of radionuclides which have been or may be released into ecosystems is important for human and environmental risk assessment. Modelling of radionuclides or their stable element analogues is the only tool that can predict the consequences of accidental release. In this thesis, two dynamic stochastic compartment models for radionuclide/element transfer in a marine coastal ecosystem and a freshwater lake were developed and implemented (Paper I and III), in order to model a hypothetical future release of multiple radionuclides from a nuclear waste disposal site. Element-specific mechanisms such as element uptake via diet and adsorption of elements to organic surfaces were connected to ecosystem carbon models. Element transport in two specific coastal and lake ecosystems were simulated for 26 and 13 elements, respectively (Papers I and III). Using the models, the concentration ratios (CR: the ratio of the element or radionuclide concentration in an organism to the concentration in water) were estimated for different groups of aquatic organisms. The coastal model was also compared with a 3D hydrodynamic spatial model (Paper II) for Cs, Ni and Th, and estimated confidence limits for their modelled CRs. In the absence of site-specific CR data, being able to estimate a range of CR values with such models is an alternative to relying on literature CR values that are not always relevant to the site of interest. Water chemistry was also found to influence uptake of contaminants by aquatic organisms. Empirical inverse relationships were derived between CRs of fish for stable Sr (CRSr) and Cs (CRCs) and water concentrations of their biochemical analogues Ca and K, respectively (Paper IV), illustrating how such relationships could be used in the prediction of more site-specific CRCs and CRSr in fish simply from water chemistry measurements. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Dating back to as far as 1940, the US road and bridge infrastructure system has garnered quite the status for strategically connecting together half a continent. As monumental as the infrastructure's status, is its rate of deterioration, with the average bridge age coming at a disconcerting 50 years. Aside from visual inspection, a battery of non-destructive tests were developed to conduct structural fault assessment and detect laminations, in order to preemptively take preventive measures. The mainstream commercially favored test is the impulse time domain ground penetrating radar (GPR). An extremely short, high voltage pulse is used to visualize cross-sections of the bridge decks. While effective and it does not disturb traffic flow, impulse radar suffers from major drawbacks. The drawbacks are namely, its limited dynamic range and high cost of system manufacturing. A less prominent yet highly effective system, stepped frequency continuous wave (SFCW) GPR, was developed to address the aforementioned drawbacks. Mostly developed for research centers and academia, SFCW boasts a high dynamic range and low cost of system manufacturing, while producing comparable if not identical results to the impulse counterpart. However, data procurement speed is an inherent problem in SFCW GPR, which seems to keep impulse radar in the lead for production and development. I am proposing a novel approach to elevate SFCW's data acquisition speed and its scanning efficiency altogether. This approach combines an encoding method called orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and an emerging paradigm called compressive sensing (CS). In OFDM, a digital data stream, the transmit signal, is encoded on multiple carrier frequencies. These frequencies are combined in such a way to achieve orthogonality between the carrier frequencies, while mitigating any interference between said frequencies. In CS, a signal can be potentially reconstructed from a few samples below the standardized Nyquist rate. A novel design of the SFCW GPR architecture coupled with the OFDM-CS algorithm is proposed and evaluated using ideal channels and realistically modelled bridge decks.

This work mainly focuses on putting the laborers of the Richmond Armory and the Tredegar Iron Works into the context of Civil War Richmond by focusing on their skills, backgrounds, and loyalties throughout the conflict. It highlights the similarities and differences between the two institutions and the legacies that they left behind in the years following the war. It also sheds light on some of the problems facing the Confederacy during the course of the war and its struggle to procure arms.

Företag med en produktportfölj inriktad mot maskinsäkerhet har ett stort behov av att kunna visa upp produkterna i en integrerad helhetslösning. Men det ställer då också krav på att kunna vägleda och utbilda kunderna inom området maskinsäkerhet. Målet med denna uppsats har varit att ge-nomföra en riskanalys och ta fram två säkerhetslösningar på ett något av-skalat valsverk. Resultatet ska sedan användas i ett säljverktyg i form av en portabel DEMO för framtida mässor och utbildningar. Under arbetets gång så har ett flertal studiebesök och intervjuer genomförts med personer som har en lång erfarenhet av maskinsäkerhet och valsverk. Som stöd under ris-kanalysen så har bland annat den harmoniska standarden SS EN ISO 13849-1:2016 används. Först bestämdes maskinens omfattning följt av en riskbe-dömning där tänkta riskkällor identifierats och där sedan en lämplig åtgärd vidtagits för att vid behov reducera risken. En validering har slutligen ge-nomförts som ett sista steg i analysen för att säkerställa att med aktuellt framtagna skyddsfunktioner nå upp till den erforderliga prestandanivå som krävs. Bearbetning av material har uteslutande genomförts via Micro-soft Excel. Beräkningar och validering av samtliga skyddsfunktioner har genomförts analogt enligt standarden EN ISO 13849-1&amp;2. Det har under ar-betets gång visat sig att det finns utrymme för tolkning och tveksamheter rörande arbetsmetod enligt ISO 13849-1 och maskindirektivet 2006/42/EC. Resultatet i undersökningen har påvisat att den först framtagna säkerhets-lösningen är den mest ultimata gällande kostnad. Medan den andra säker-hetslösningen från undersökningen är den mest optimala med avseende på flexibilitet och säkerhet. När det gäller olika tillvägagångssätt vid beräkning av skyddsfunktioner så är ett förgrenat synsätt fördelaktigt vid säkerhets-lösningar som kräver något högre prestandanivå. Det förgrenade synsättet medför dock i regel mer arbetet eftersom att antalet skyddsfunktioner beror på antalet maskiner för respektive ingångsblock. Det seriella tillvägagångs-sättet medför i regel mindre arbete vid beräkningar eftersom att antalet skyddsfunktioner då är lika med antalet ingångsblock för skyddsfunkt-ionen. Undersökningen har dessutom påvisat en tydlig korrelation mellan antalet maskiner och sannolikheten för farligt fel per timme. Det innebär att det seriella tillvägagångssättet kan leda till att aktuellt krav rörande pre-standanivå inte går att uppnå. / Companies with a portfolio that are focused at machine safety have a great need to display their products in an integrated comprehensive solution. But it’s also important for the companies to be able to guide and support cus-tomers in the field of machine safety. The aim of this report was to conduct a risk assignment and to develop two safety solutions for a cold rolling mill. The result of this report will then be used in a sales tool as a portable demon-stration platform for future fairs and customer education. During the inves-tigation, a number of study visits and interviews have been conducted with people who have a long experience of machine safety and cold rolling mills. As a guidance of the risk assignment, the harmonic standard SS EN ISO 13849-1: 2016 has been used. First, the extent of the machine was deter-mined, followed by a risk estimation where imaginary hazards were iden-tified. In case of an identified hazard an appropriate action was taken to reduce the risk. Finally, a validation was carried out as a final step in the analysis to ensure that the currently developed safety functions has reached the required performance level from the risk estimation. Processing of ma-terials has been performed exclusively through Microsoft Excel. Calcula-tions and validation of all protection features have been performed accord-ing to ISO 13849-1. During the study, it has been found that there is scope for interpretation and doubts regarding to the working methods in ISO 13849-1. The investigation was been shown that the first developed safety solution is the best regarding to the total cost. The second developed solu-tion was most optimal in terms of flexibility and security. The work has also shown that different approaches due to the calculations of the safety func-tions are important for the result. The branched method is advantageous for safety solutions that requires higher performance level but the method also in general entails additional work do to the calculations in comparison with the serial method. On the other hand, the survey showed a clear correlation between the numbers of integrated machines and the probability of danger-ous failure per hour do to the serial method. This means that the serial method can lead to the fact that the current Performance level can’t be achieved.

O consumo de fórmulas infantis no Brasil, utilizadas como substituto do leite materno, tem aumentado nos últimos anos de forma significativa. Tal fato é uma preocupação para os órgãos de saúde pois, o aleitamento materno exclusivo até no mínimo 6 meses, deixou de fazer parte de nutrição da maioria dos lactentes. Os produtos utilizados como substituto do leite materno contêm quantidades suficientes de vitaminas e nutrientes que ajudam no desenvolvimento normal do organismo dos lactentes. Entretanto, além de elementos essenciais, podem conter elementos potencialmente tóxicos presentes na matéria prima ou oriundos das etapas de processamento e armazenamento das mesmas. No presente trabalho foram desenvolvidos métodos analítico para determinar a presença de elementos potencialmente tóxicos (As, Cd, Pb e Tl) e essenciais (Cu e Mn) em fórmulas infantis, utilizando espectrometria de absorção atômica de alta resolução com fonte contínua e forno de grafite e análise direta de sólidos. As amostras utilizadas neste trabalho foram obtidas nos mercados da cidade de Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, todas na forma sólida (pó) com diferentes composições e matéria prima (arroz, aveia, soja e leite). As curvas de calibração foram realizadas com soluções padrão aquosas e os métodos otimizados foram aplicados nas amostras em estudo. Em todas as amostras os elementos As, Cd, Pb e Tl apresentaram valores de concentração abaixo do limite de detecção. Das seis amostras analisadas, três apresentaram valores de concentração de Cu abaixo dos parâmetros mínimos estabelecidos pela legislação brasileira, enquanto que para o Mn todas amostras apresentaram valores de concentração dentro dos parâmetros mínimos da legislação brasileira. Os métodos desenvolvidos foram simples, exatos e precisos, podendo ser utilizados para análise de rotina. / The consumption of infant formula in Brazil, as a replacement of breast milk, has lately increased significantly. It is a major concern for health agencies because the exclusive breastfeeding up to at least 6 months is no longer part of most infants. The products used as a substitute of the breast milk contain sufficient amounts of vitamins and nutrients, which helps in the normal development of the infants. However, besides the essential elements, it may contain potentially toxic elements present in raw material or from of the processing and storage stages of the same. In the present work the presence of the essential (Cu e Mn) and potentially toxic elements (As, Cd, Pb e Tl) in infant formulas were evaluated. For this, analytical methods were developed for the determination of As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb and Tl using high-resolution continnum source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and direct solid sampling analysis in infant formulas. The samples were acquired in Porto Alegre’s market, RS, Brazil, all in powder form with different compositions and raw materials (rice, oats, soy and bovine milk). The calibration curves were performed with aqueous standard solutions and the optimized methods were applied in the study samples. In all samples, the concentration values of As, Pb, Cd and Tl were below of the limit of detection. For the analyzed samples, three of them present the concentration values of Cu lower than the minimum parameters established by Brazilian legislation, while for Mn, all samples present the concentration values within the minimum parameters of Brazilian legislation. The developed methods for the determination of these elements in infant formulas were simple, exacts and precise, and can be applicated for the routine analysis.

The main aim of this thesis was to evaluate the performance of the contrast sensitivity clock (CSC), a new screening device for measuring contrast sensitivity (CS) and glare. This device allows CS without glare, with glare and disability glare scores to be recorded. After initial data collection the design of the CSC was slightly amended improving the performance of the device. The amended design of the CSC was shown to be a valid, discriminative and repeatable measure for purpose. The CSC is also a quick test to perform and is relatively cheap to produce. If all these factors are considered it shows potential to become the test of choice for the assessment of visual glare. A head-mounted display system was also evaluated in terms of the glare effects it may cause. The monocular display screen of the device significantly reduced the CS of the eye directly exposed but also had an effect on binocular performance, reducing amounts of binocular summation. Electronic devices, including head-mounted displays and satellite navigation systems can seriously affect CS at low luminance levels, similar to those found when driving at night.

The Enigma code was one of the most dangerous and effective weapons the Germans wielded at the outbreak of the Second World War. The Enigma machine was capable of encrypting radio messages that seemed virtually unbreakable. In fact, there were 158,900, 000,000,000 possible combinations in any given message transmitted. On the eve of the war’s outbreak, the British had recently learned that the Poles had made significant progress against this intimidating cipher in the early 1930s. Incensed and with little help, the British Government Code & Cipher School began the war searching for a solution. Drawing from their experiences from the First World War, and under the visionary guidance of Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, and countless others, the British created a new, mechanical approach to breaking the seemingly impossible German code. By breaking the code, they could very well save Britain.

A feasibility of rapid setting cement (RSC) as an agent of immobilization for certain elements such as fission products or radioactive materials was explored. Cerium (Ce) and cesium (Cs) have been selected as a surrogate for U and/or Pu and fission products, respectively, in this study in three phases. In Phase I, RSC was evaluated for physical properties (e.g., porosity, density, pH values, etc.) using two groups methods—the cement powder at different concentrations of Ce (2 – 10 wt%) with deionized water (DIW) and artificial seawater (ASW). The results showed that the final setting time and compressive strength of RSC in DIW and ASW solutions decreased as Ce content increased. The X-ray diffraction patterns revealed two newly identified phases, namely CeAl11O18 and Ce4.667 (SiO4)3O. The morphology of matrix samples showed that the existence of Ce distributed on the pore wall or clustered with Si, Al, Mg, K, P, Fe, and O. In Phase II, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique together with univariate and multivariate analyses of the principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) were applied to detect the surrogate elements (Ce (0.5 – 8 wt%) and Cs (0.5 – 4 wt%)) for nuclear materials captured in ceramic materials. The best calibration curves for Ce and Cs in samples were created using the peak areas of the Ce 571.8 nm line and Cs 697.1 nm line, respectively. PCA method was applied to explain 85.5 % for Ce-cement samples in DIW and 91.4 % for those in ASW. Samples with Cs indicated similar PCA trends. The PLS calibration curves for Ce and Cs samples in DIW and those in ASW were made using seven and eight latent variables (LV). In Phase III, the leaching behaviors of Ce and Cs mixture with DIW and ASW under both dynamic and static leach conditions were investigated according to the ANSI/ANS 16.1-2003 standard method. Elemental compositions were analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the leaching periods of 2, 7, and 24 hours and 2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 28, 43, and 90 days. Three mathematical models—first-order reaction model (FRM), diffusion model (DM), and first-order reaction/diffusion model (FRDM)—were fitted to assess the leaching parameters of immobilized radionuclides in the RSC matrix. Results showed that leaching of 140Ce and 133Cs from RSC matrices with (DIW and ASW) under both dynamic and static leach conditions was less than 20%. It was found that the leaching phenomena of 140Ce and 133Cs was dominantly controlled by FRM with a weak effect of DM, which was best fitted by FRDM. Here, the average leachability index (L) for 140Ce and 133Cs, are greater than the recommended minimum of 6 that allowed their acceptance for disposal. These studies indicated a good feasibility of using RSC with DIW and ASW for immobilizing non-radioactive Ce and Cs and RSC had a potential for applying to actual radioactive materials.