Traffic congestion has tremendous economic and environmental costs. One way to reduce this congestion is to implement more intelligent traffic light systems. There is significant existing research into different algorithms for controlling traffic lights, but they all use separate systems for performance testing. This paper presents the Rush Hour system, which models a network of roadways and traffic lights as a network of connected routers and endnodes. Several traffic switching algorithms are then tested on the Rush Hour system. As expected, we found that the more intelligent systems were effective at reducing congestion at low and medium levels of traffic. However, they were comparable to more naive algorithms at higher levels of traffic.

Stream living salmonids are generally regarded as drift feeders that rely upon their vision when foraging. It has been shown that salmonids become nocturnal at low water temperatures, but have a low foraging efficiency as light intensity is low, due to their dependence upon vision. Shifting from drift feeding to benthic feeding, has been suggested, and analyses of gut contents during winter have shown that the diet of salmonids mainly consists of benthic invertebrates. Most experimental studies of salmonid foraging have only offered the fish drifting prey or only given the fish access to benthic prey in total darkness. Such conditions rarely occur in nature and the importance of benthic foraging to salmonids may therefore have been underestimated. In this study I conducted a stream laboratory experiment to test if low light intensity caused juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) (age 0+) to forage more on benthic than drifting prey. The salmon foraged on both drifting and benthic prey during high light but consumed only benthic prey during low light (by one of six fish). Trout foraged on both drifting and benthic prey during both high and low light, but foraging efficiency was lower during low than high light and foraging efficiency was lower for benthic prey than for drifting prey. These results indicate that both species forage more opportunistically than previously thought. / Strömlevande laxfiskar anses generellt vara driftätare som förlitar sig på synen när de födosöker. Det har visats att laxfiskar blir nattaktiva vid låga vattentemperaturer, men har en låg födosökseffektivitet då ljusintensiteten är låg, på grund av sitt beroende av synen. Skifte från driftätande till att äta bentiska byten, har föreslagits, och analyser av maginnehåll under vintern har visat att laxfiskars diet huvudsakligen består av bentiska evertebrater. De flesta experimentella studier av laxfiskars födosök har endast erbjudit fisken driftande byten eller endast gett fisken tillgång till bentiska byten vid totalt mörker. Sådana förhållanden förekommer sällan i naturen och betydelsen av bentiskt födosök för laxfiskar kan därför ha underskattats. I den här studien utförde jag ett experiment i en laboratorieström för att testa om låg ljusintensitet fick juvenil Atlantlax (Salmo salar) och öring (Salmo trutta) (ålder 0+) att födosöka mer på bentiska än driftande byten. Laxen födosökte på både driftande och bentiska byten vid högt ljus men bara bentiska byten åts vid lågt ljus (av en av sex fiskar). Öringen födosökte på både driftande och bentiska byten vid både hög och låg ljusintensitet, men födosökseffektiviteten var lägre vid låg än hög ljusintensitet och födosökseffektiviteten var lägre för bentiska än förbiflytande byten. Dessa resultat indikerar att båda arterna födosöker mer opportunistiskt än vad man tidigare ansett.

This thesis seeks an orderly set of theological reflections on the declaration that “God is light” (1 Jn. 1:5). Such talk of divine light, this study argues, must begin with the doctrine of God, namely, with God's light in se and his “shining forth” ad extra towards creatures in the darkness of sin and death. This work therefore follows a precise pathway in expounding this theme. Chapter 1 offers a brief survey of the historical and scriptural uses of the concept of light in order to fix its linguistic and conceptual boundaries. Chapter 2 seeks to reflect upon God's light as the light of his own radiant triune identity, as well as offering a preliminary examination of God's economic, covenantal shining forth to creatures. Chapter 3 gives a much more detailed rehearsal of this act of shining forth by an account of God's light as manifest in the economy of his works with which he lovingly elects, reconciles, and illuminates creatures. Chapter 4 proposes that with the treatment of God's shining forth there belongs a treatment of the light of the church called out of darkness, gathered into the “marvelous light” of God, and set to proclaiming the “excellencies” of God. Chapter 5 concludes this study by examining what bearing the reality of God's shining forth as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit might have on the work and call of theology as an activity of the 'illumined mind'.

The class of instruments considered in this thesis, scanning probe microscopes (SPM), raster scan a sensory probe over a surface to form both high resolution images and quantitative interaction measurements. Understanding and extracting information from SPM data has been considered extensively in the three decades since the first SPM. Major developments tend to be greeted with their own theory and data analysis techniques. The more gradual evolution of equipment has not, however, attracted the same level of theoretical consideration. In this thesis we consider the SPM from an instrumentation perspective, concentrating on two specific types of microscope: the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM). Both of these microscopes rely on a sensory probe or sensor to induce and measure the desired interaction. We have carefully considered a range of experiments from a `sensor-eye-view', both theoretically and experimentally. We first consider the effect of the geometry of AFM sensors on quantitative force measurements, identifying that the length of tips that the length of tips can induce an unwanted coupling of lateral and normal forces. We go further by developing methods to experimentally correct these force measurements along with designing a sensor which exploits symmetry to separate lateral and normal forces. We also consider the ways to automatically optimise the apex of the sensory probe of an STM to give the desired imaging resolution using a combination of prescribed routines and genetic algorithms. Image analysis techniques developed for this work have been developed into an open-source toolbox to automatically process and analyse SPM images. Finally, we use control theory to analyse the feedback controlling the SPM probe. We find that the methods used in the literature do not fully consider the method with which the control loop is implemented in SPM. We employ a modified approach which results in more realistic simulated SPM operation.

Surface textures add another dimension to optical design. They can be used to redirect light, isolate spectral bands, and enhance optical fields. They effectively take up no space, so can be applied to any optical surface–from intermediary elements to substrates. Here I present three applications of textured surfaces for light harvesting. The first project places scattering textures inside a film that can be applied to windows to scatter infrared light towards solar cells at the edges. The collected energy is then used to power tinting films. The second project uses modular diffractive structures to increase the absorption in solar cells. Lastly, structured silver surfaces are used to enhance plasmonics fields and increase two-photon excitation fluorescence.

Two decay channels of the ω(782) meson, into π+π-π0 and π+π-, are studied. The dynamics of the three-pion channel is represented using a two-dimensional distribution, called a Dalitz plot. A high-statistics Dalitz plot distribution is needed to test theoretical predictions and increase understanding of the decay mechanism. The isospin-breaking two-pion decay gives insight into the ρ-ω mixing. The ω→π+π- decay has previously been studied in π+π- spectra in high statistics e+e- experiments and with lower statistics in hadroproduction experiments. The collected evidence indicates that the resulting interference pattern strongly depends on the production reaction. In 2011 an experiment to investigate ω hadronic decays in pd→3Heω reaction was performed with the WASA detector. Two studies based on the collected data are included in this thesis. In the first, the dominant decay channel ω→π+π-π0 is selected and two experimental Dalitz plot distributions are created. Each distribution corresponds to one of the two incident beam energies used in the experiment. A fit to the Dalitz plots is performed using a parametrisation including the expected P-wave shape. The result indicates an onset of the intermediate ρ in the two-pion channel, as predicted by theoretical models. The efficiency corrected Dalitz plot bin contents are reported to facilitate comparison to theoretical predictions by direct fits to the experimental data. In the second study, the ω→π+π- decay channel is selected. For events with a 3Heπ+π- final state, the 3He missing mass is constructed in search for the ρ-ω interference pattern in pd production. No significant deviations around the ω mass position was found. Dedicated studies using experimental data to estimate background contribution and to extract signal acceptance shows that the background is too large to observe the expected signal with the collected data sample. The last part of the thesis presents pre-studies for using data collected at the KLOE detector for an ω→π+π-π0 Dalitz plot analysis. Since the ω mesons are produced in the e+e-→ωπ0 reaction, the study focuses on the impact of the π0-π0 interference.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / To meet challenging constraints on telemetry system weight and volume, a custom Light-Weight Instrumentation System was developed to collect vehicle environment and dynamics on a short-duration exo-atmospheric flight test vehicle. The total telemetry system, including electronics, sensors, batteries, and a 1 watt transmitter weighs about 1 kg. Over 80 channels of measurement, housekeeping, and telemetry system diagnostic data are transmitted at 128 kbps. The microcontroller-based design uses the automotive industry standard Controller Area Network to interface with and support in-flight control functions. Operational parameters are downloaded via a standard asynchronous serial communications interface. The basic design philosophy and functionality is described here.

In effort to breed for daylength-neutral (DNP) soybean germplasms (Glycine max (L.) Merrill), selected longday cultivars (LDP) from Maturity Group 00 were crossed to local adapted shortday cultivars (DP) from Maturity Group VI. In the segregating populations there were many new hybrid combinations, some of which flowered and set pod as early as the Group 00 parents, however, they were larger in size and matured normally. These lines were considered daylength-neutral plants (DNP), and were evaluated in the field nursery in biweekly date of planting experiments from early May to late July during 1978 and 1979. Selected LDP and local adapted SDP cultivars were utilized as check lines. It was observed that LDP cultivars flowered and set pods normally. However, they did not mature normally; the pods ripened and shattered while the stem and leaves remained green and these plants were short and unproductive. Local SDP were the most sensitive plants in response to the change in planting date and daylength. Number of days to flowering, pod setting, and maturity as well as plant heights had decreased sharply in response to the decrease in daylength of later planting dates. In contrast, DNP lines flowered, set pod and matured normally on large vigorous plants in approximately the same period of time regardless of planting date or the daylength during the growing season. To study the inheritance of the daylength-neutral trait in soybeans, crosses were made between DNP lines and local SDP cultivars. These were extremely wide crosses. Segregating populations from these crosses were tested under three light treatments of 12, 18 and 24 hours. Only DNP plants flowered and set pod normally under the long photoperiod treatments of 18 and 24 hours. The magnitude and continuous nature of the frequency distribution of the segregating populations as well as the low heritability estimates of each trait imply that this response is under polygenic control.

published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy