"RF excited CO2 lasers are widely used in industry. They provide relatively high power discharge levels while maintaining compactness, simplicity, and durability with respect to other competing laser technologies. To attain high power levels in the range of 5-10 KW, lasers with large electrode areas have to be designed. Unfortunately, due to the large electrode length requirements, transmission line effects make the discharge loading nonlinear, adversely affecting the efficiency of the CO2 laser. A standard approach to linearize the discharge loading is to introduce shunt inductors across the length of the electrodes in an effort to counter the capacitive nature of the discharge behavior. This thesis investigates and improves the theoretical models found in the literature in an effort to predict the discharge non-uniformity and allow for multiple shunt inductors installation. Specifically, we discuss the coupling of a CO2 laser discharge model with an electrical circuit solving scheme and how it can be characterized as one dimensional (1-D) and two dimensional (2-D) systems. The 1-D system is modeled using transmission line (TL) theory, where as the 2-D system is modeled using a finite difference time domain (FDTD) scheme. All our models were implemented in standard MATLAB code and the results are compared with those found in the literature with the goal to analyze and ascertain model limitations."

Planar two-dimensional (2-D) nanostructured indium oxide (InOx) and one-dimensional (1-D) tin oxide (SnO2) semiconductor metal-oxide layers have been utilised for gas sensing applications. Novel layered Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) based sensors were developed consisting of InOx/SiOxNy/36°YXLiTaO3, InOx/SiNx/SiO2/36°YXLiTaO3 and InOx/SiNx/36°YXLiTaO3 The 1 µm intermediate layers of silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy), silicon nitride (SiNx) and SiO2/SiNx matrix were deposited on lithium tantalate (36°YXLiTaO3) substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering, electron-beam evaporation and plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) techniques, respectively. As a gas sensitive layer, a 100 nm thin layer of InOx was deposited on the intermediate layers by r.f. magnetron sputtering. The targeted gases were ozone (O3) and hydrogen (H2). An intermediate layer has multiple functions: protective role for the interdigital transducers' electrodes as well as an isolating effect from InOx sensing layer, thereby improving the sensor performance. The developed SAW sensors' exhibited high response magnitudes with repeatable, reversible and stable responses towards O3 and H2. They are capable of sensing concentrations as low as 20 parts-per-billion for O3 and 600 parts-per-million for H2. Additionally a conductometric type novel sensing structure of SnO2/36°YX LiTaO3 was also developed by depositing a thin layer of SnO2 nanorods by PECVD. The gas sensing performance exhibited repeatable, reversible, stable responses towards NO2 and CO. The surface morphology, crystalline structure and preferred orientation of the deposited layers were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). A polycrystalline, oxygen deficient non-stoichiometric InOx with grain sizes of 20-40 nm was revealed. The 1-D nanostructures were characterised by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) showing nanorods with needle-like shape , diameters of 10-20 nm a t the top and 30-40 nm at the base as well as a preferential growth orientation of [ ] on the LiTaO3 substrate. The developed sensors are promising for O3, H2 and CO sensing.

<p>Polyaniline nanocomposites doped with poly(vinylsulphonate) (PV-SO3 &minus / ) and nanostructured polystyrene (PSNP) latex beads functionalized with amine (PSNP-NH2) and sulphate (PSNP-OSO3 &minus / ) were prepared and characterised for use as nitrite electro-catalytic chemosensors and ochratoxin A immunosensors. The resultant polyaniline electrocatalytic chemosensors (PANI, PANI|PSNP-NH2 or PANI|PSNP-OSO3 &minus / ) were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Brown-Anson analysis of the multi-scan rate CV responses of the various PANI films gave surface concentrations in the order of 10&minus / 8 mol/cm. UV-vis spectra of the PANI films dissolved in dimethyl sulphoxide showed typical strong absorbance maxima at 480 and 740 nm associated with benzenoid p-p* transition and quinoid excitons of polyaniline, respectively. The SEM images of the PANI nanocomposite films showed cauliflower-like structures that were &lt / 100 nm in diameter. When applied as electrochemical nitrite sensors, sensitivity values of 60, 40 and 30 &mu / A/mM with corresponding limits of detection of 7.4, 9.2 and 38.2 &mu / M NO2 &minus / , were obtained for electrodes, PANI|PSNP-NH2, PANI and PANI|PSNP-SO3 &minus / , respectively. Immobilisation of ochratoxin A antibody onto PANI|PSNP-NH2, PANI and PANI|PSNPSO3 - resulted in the fabrication of immunosensors.</p>

For many years, workers petitioned the Supreme Court of Canada to intervene in labour relations to protect their collective bargaining rights. Finally, the Court answered the call, but the drastic changes made were not what workers expected. This thesis outlines the effect that the Court’s decision to intervene in labour relations had on the existing collective bargaining model. In making this determination, a historical analysis was done of the Court’s attitude towards using section 2(d) Freedom to Associate to protect collective bargaining, followed by a comparative analysis with United States jurisprudence to explain the effect of the Canadian decisions on the statutory provisions. The analysis revealed that the decisions had significantly weakened protections for workers’ rights, and provided the basis to conclude that the Supreme Court of Canada had used the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to deradicalize the existing collective bargaining model.

For many years, workers petitioned the Supreme Court of Canada to intervene in labour relations to protect their collective bargaining rights. Finally, the Court answered the call, but the drastic changes made were not what workers expected. This thesis outlines the effect that the Court’s decision to intervene in labour relations had on the existing collective bargaining model. In making this determination, a historical analysis was done of the Court’s attitude towards using section 2(d) Freedom to Associate to protect collective bargaining, followed by a comparative analysis with United States jurisprudence to explain the effect of the Canadian decisions on the statutory provisions. The analysis revealed that the decisions had significantly weakened protections for workers’ rights, and provided the basis to conclude that the Supreme Court of Canada had used the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to deradicalize the existing collective bargaining model.

Motion estimation and compensation plays an important role in video processing applications. Two-dimensional block-based and mesh-based models are widely used in this area. A 2-D mesh-based model provides a better representation of complex real world motion than a block-based model. Mesh-based motion estimation algorithms are employed in both frame-based and object-based video compression and coding. A hierarchical mesh-based algorithm is applied to improve the motion field generated by a single-layer algorithm. 2-D mesh-based models also enable the manipulation of video objects which is included in the MPEG-4 standard. A video object in a video clip can be replaced by another object by the use of a dynamic mesh structure. In this thesis, a comparative analysis of 2-D block-based and mesh-based motion estimation algorithms in both frame-based and object-based video representations is performed. The experimental results indicate that a mesh-based algorithm produces better motion compensation results than a block-based algorithm. Moreover, a two-layer mesh-based algorithm shows improvement over a one-layer mesh-based algorithm. The application of mesh-based motion estimation and compensation to video object replacement and animation is also performed.

The Poiseuille Flow is the flow of a viscous incompressible fluid in a channel between two infinite parallel plates. The behaviour of flow is properly described by the well-known Navier-Stokes Equations. The fact that Navier-Stokes equations are partial differential equations makes their solution difficult. They can rarely be solved in closed form. On the other hand, numerical techniques can be applied successfully to the well-posed partial differential equations. In the present study pseudo-spectral method is implemented to analyze the Poiseuille Flow. The pseudo-spectral method is a high-accuracy numerical modelling technique. It is an optimum choice for the Poiseuille flow analysis due to the flows simple geometry. The method makes use of Fourier Transform and by handling operations in the Fourier space reduces the difficulty in the solution. Fewer terms are required in a pseudo-spectral orthogonal expansion to achieve the same accuracy as a lower order method. Karhunen-Lo&egrave / ve (KL) decomposition is widely used in computational fluid dynamics to achieve reduced storage requirements or construction of relatively low-dimensional models. In this study the KL basis is extracted from the flow field obtained from the direct numerical simulation of the Poiseuille flow.

In this thesis, two-dimensional (2-D) direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation problem is considered. Usually, DOA estimation is considered in one dimension assuming a fixed elevation angle. While this assumption simplifies the problem, both the azimuth and elevation angles, namely, the 2-D DOA estimates are required in practical scenarios. In this thesis, planar array structures are considered for 2-D DOA estimation. In this context, V-shaped arrays are discussed and some of the important features of these arrays are outlined. A new method for the design of V-shaped arrays is presented for both isotropic and directional beam patterns. The design procedure is simple and can be applied for both uniform and nonuniform V-shaped sensor arrays. Closed form expressions are presented for the V-angle in order to obtain isotropic angle performance. While circular arrays have the isotropic characteristics, V-shaped arrays present certain advantages due to their large aperture for the same number of sensors and inter-sensor distance. The comparison of circular and V-shaped arrays is done by considering the azimuth and elevation Cramer-Rao Bounds (CRB). It is shown that V-shaped and circular arrays have similar characteristics for the sensor position errors while the uniform isotropic (UI) V-array performs better when there is mutual coupling and the sources are correlated. In the literature, there are several techniques for 2-D DOA estimation. Usually, fast algorithms are desired for this purpose since a search in two dimensions is a costly process. These algorithms have a major problem, namely, the pairing of the azimuth-elevation couples for multiple sources. In this thesis, a new fast and effective technique for this purpose is proposed. In this technique, a virtual array output is generated such that when the ESPRIT algorithm is used, the eigenvalues of the rotational transformation matrix have the 2-D angle information in both magnitude and phase. This idea is applied in different scenarios and three methods are presented for these cases. In one case, given an arbitrary array structure, array interpolation is used to generate the appropriate virtual arrays. When the antenna mutual coupling is taken into account, a special type of array structure, such as circular, should be used in order to apply the array interpolation. In general, the array mutual coupling matrix (MCM) should have a symmetric Toeplitz form. It is shown that the 2-D DOA performance of the proposed method approaches to the CRB by using minimum number of antennas in case of mutual coupling. This method does not require the estimation of the mutual coupling coefficients. While this technique is effective, it has problems especially when the number of sources increases. In order to improve the performance, MCM is estimated in the third approach. This new approach performs better, but it cannot be used satisfactorily in case of multipath signals. In this thesis, the proposed idea for fast 2-D DOA estimation is further developed in order to solve the problem when mutual coupling and multipath signals jointly exist. In this case, real arrays with some auxiliary sensors are used to generate a structured mutual coupling matrix. It is shown that the problem can be effectively solved when the array structure has a special form. Specifically, parallel uniform linear arrays (PULA) are employed for this purpose. When auxiliary sensors are used, a symmetric banded Toeplitz MCM is obtained for the PULA. This allows the application of spatial smoothing and ESPRIT algorithm for 2-D DOA estimation. The proposed algorithm uses triplets and presents closed form paired 2-D DOA estimates in case of unknown mutual coupling and multipath signals. Several simulations are done and it is shown that the proposed array structure and the method effectively solve the problem.

Šiame magistro darbe analizuojami darbo pareigų pažeidimai, kuriais kėsinamasi į žmogaus konstitucines teises ir laisves ar nustatytą valdymą tvarką. Lietuvos Respublikos darbo kodekse darbdaviui yra suteikta pasirinkimo teisė be įspėjimo nutraukti darbo sutartį su darbuotoju, kuris vieną kartą šiurkščiai pažeidė darbo pareigas. Šiurkštaus darbo pareigų pažeidimo sąvokos ir tokių pažeidimų sąrašo apibrėžimas – tai Lietuvos Respublikos darbo kodekso atnešta naujovė į Lietuvos Respublikos darbo teisę. Nepaisant fakto, kad Lietuvos Respublikos darbo kodeksas galioja ir yra taikomas visoje Lietuvos Respublikos teritorijoje jau daugiau kaip ketveri metai, šiame magistro darbe nagrinėjami šiurkštūs darbo pareigų pažeidimai, kuriais pažeidžiamos žmogaus konstitucinės teisės ir laisvės ar nustatyta valdymo tvarka, vis dar nėra pakankamai ištirti ir jų praktinis taikymas nėra aiškus. Reikia pastebėti, kad gilinantis į šiurkščius darbo pareigų pažeidimus, analizuojami ne tik Lietuvos Respublikos, bet ir Europos Sąjungos bei tarptautiniai teisės aktai. Kadangi Lietuvos Respublikoje teismų praktika nagrinėjamų šiurkščių darbo pareigų pažeidimų atžvilgiu nėra susiformavusi, todėl magistro darbe pateikiami Europos Teisingumo Teismo sprendimai, į kurio pateiktus teisės išaiškinimus turi atsižvelgti ir Lietuvos Respublikos teismai aiškindami ir taikydami teisę. Šiame magistro darbe detaliai analizuojami šiurkštūs darbo pareigų pažeidimai, kuriais pažeidžiamos žmogaus konstitucinės teisės ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In this master’s graduation paper the breach of labor duties, whereas encroaching on the constitutional human rights and freedoms or determined management order, is analyzed. The Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania gives the employee the right of choice to terminate the employment agreement without giving any notice to the employee for gross breach of his labor duties once. The notion of gross violation of the labor duties and definition of the list of such violation is the novelty, brought by the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania into the Labor Law of the Republic of Lithuania. Despite of the fact that the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania is valid and applied all over the territory of the Republic of Lithuania for more than four years, the breach of labor duties, whereas encroaching on the constitutional human rights and freedoms or determined management order, analyzed in this master’s graduation paper, are not sufficiently explored yet and their practical application is not clear. It is noticeable, that going deep into the gross violation of the labor duties, the legal acts not only of the Republic of Lithuania, but also the international and the legal acts of European Union are analyzed. As the court practice of analysis of gross breach of labor duties in the Republic of Lithuania is not developed, in this master’s graduation paper the decisions of European Court of Justice the explanations of which should be considered by the courts of the Republic of... [to full text]

<p>Polyaniline nanocomposites doped with poly(vinylsulphonate) (PV-SO3 &minus / ) and nanostructured polystyrene (PSNP) latex beads functionalized with amine (PSNP-NH2) and sulphate (PSNP-OSO3 &minus / ) were prepared and characterised for use as nitrite electro-catalytic chemosensors and ochratoxin A immunosensors. The resultant polyaniline electrocatalytic chemosensors (PANI, PANI|PSNP-NH2 or PANI|PSNP-OSO3 &minus / ) were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Brown-Anson analysis of the multi-scan rate CV responses of the various PANI films gave surface concentrations in the order of 10&minus / 8 mol/cm. UV-vis spectra of the PANI films dissolved in dimethyl sulphoxide showed typical strong absorbance maxima at 480 and 740 nm associated with benzenoid p-p* transition and quinoid excitons of polyaniline, respectively. The SEM images of the PANI nanocomposite films showed cauliflower-like structures that were &lt / 100 nm in diameter. When applied as electrochemical nitrite sensors, sensitivity values of 60, 40 and 30 &mu / A/mM with corresponding limits of detection of 7.4, 9.2 and 38.2 &mu / M NO2 &minus / , were obtained for electrodes, PANI|PSNP-NH2, PANI and PANI|PSNP-SO3 &minus / , respectively. Immobilisation of ochratoxin A antibody onto PANI|PSNP-NH2, PANI and PANI|PSNPSO3 - resulted in the fabrication of immunosensors.</p>