Thesis -- Departmental honors in International Relations. / Spine title: Islamists as instruments of change: a study on democratization. Includes bibliography: ℓ. 105-110.

Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as urban air toxics. Health effects due to significant exposure to these air toxics include increased incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer, myeloid leukemia, and exacerbation of asthma. Determining the spatial variation of air toxics, such as acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, is important for improving health risk assessment and evaluating the effectiveness of source control and reduction programs. Here, a pilot study was designed and performed to investigate small-scale spatial variability in concentrations of aldehydes using passive samplers. A literature review was first completed to select and evaluate current passive sampling and analysis methods. Radiello Aldehyde Samplers and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were selected for sampling and analysis, respectively. An HPLC instrument was then set-up for separation with an Allure AK (aldehyde-ketone) column and for detection of aldehyde-derivatives via ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrometer at 365 nm. Samplers were deployed in an (approximately) 0.7 km resolution grid pattern for one week in January 2010. Collected samples and blanks were eluted with acetonitrile and analysis was performed with the HPLC. Aldehyde samples were quantified using calibration standards. Mean aldehyde concentrations were 3.1 and 1.2 =/ mg/m³ for formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, respectively, and mean acetaldehyde/formaldehyde concentration ratios were 0.4. The concentration ratios showed very little variation between sites, and correlation of aldehyde concentrations by site was high (r=0.7). Therefore, it is likely that both aldehydes have similar sources. Spatial variation of aldehyde concentrations was small within the sampling area, as displayed by low coefficients of variation (13 and 23% for formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, respectively) and small concentration differences between sites (average of both aldehydes less than 0.5 mg/m³). Thus, one sampler may be representative of this sampling area and possibly other areas of the same spatial scale. Methods established during this pilot study will be used in a larger field campaign to characterize the spatial distribution of concentrations throughout the county, for analysis of environmental equity and health impacts.

Bakgrund: Vergenser är ögonrörelser där ögonen rör sig i olika riktningar i relation till varandra. Sambandet mellan konvergens och ackommodation kallas AK/A-kvot. Det kan tas fram med beräknad eller gradientmetod. Den beräknade metoden baseras på avstånds- och närforier. Gradientmetod baseras enbart på närfori och förändring av ackommodativt stimuli. Forimätningsmetoder som kan användas för att ta fram AK/A-kvoten är bland annat von Graefe, Modifierad Thorington och Maddox Rod.    Syfte: Jämföra skillnaden i AK/A-kvot mellan gradient och beräknad metod för tre forimätningsmetoder: von Graefe, Modifierad Thorington och Maddox Rod. Metod: Inklusionskriterierna i denna kvantitativa studie var personer mellan 18-35 år, monokulärt visus på minst 1,0, att ha samsyn samt ingen närvaro av tropi. Totalt 30 personer ingick i studien och var mellan åldrarna 21-29 år. Undersökning med samsynstest, covertest och framtagning av bästa refraktion gjordes. Därefter mättes forier på avstånd och nära håll upp för varje person med von Graefe, Modifierad Thorington och Maddox Rod i randomiserad ordning. En mätning för varje metod gjordes, mellan varje mätning fick testpersonerna 10 minuter paus. Alla undersökningar gjordes av samma undersökare.   Resultat: Friedman’s tvåvägsanalys gav (𝜒2(5) = 105.9, p<0.001). Skillnaden mellan medelvärdet för gradient- och beräknat AK/A med von Graefe blev 2.0∆ i prismadioptrier, med Modifierad Thorington  3.4∆ i prismadioptrier och med Maddox Rod 2.2∆ i prismadioptrier. Alla forimätningsmetoder visade signifikant skillnad mellan gradient AK/A och beräknat AK/A (p<0.001). Det var signifikant skillnad mellan von Graefe- och Modifierad Thorington gradient AK/A-kvot (p<0.05), Modifierad Thorington- och Maddox Rod beräknad AK/A-kvot (p<0.05) samt Maddox Rod- och von Graefe gradient AK/A-kvot (p<0.05)   Slutsats: Skillnaden mellan gradient och beräknad AK/A-kvot var ej samma för de tre forimätningsmetoderna. / Background: Vergences are different directions the eyes can move in relation to each other. The relationship between convergence and accommodation is called the AC/A ratio. The ratio can be produced with either a calculated method or with the gradient method. The calculated method is based on the distance and near phorias. The gradient method is only based on the near phorias and the change in the accommodative stimulus. The methods that can be used for measuring the AC/A ratio are for example von Graefe, Modified Thorington and Maddox Rod.  Purpose: Compare the difference in AC/A ratio between gradient and calculated method for three phoria measuring methods: von Graefe, Modified Thorington and Maddox Rod.  Method: The inclusion criterias in this quantitative study were people between 18-35 years of age, monocular visual acuity of at least 1,0, functioning binocular vision and absence of tropia. A total of 30 people participated in this study and were between the ages of 21-29 years. Examination including test of binocular vision, covertest and best refraction were made. Thereafter phorias at distance and near were measured for each person with von Graefe, Modified Thorington and Maddox Rod in a randomized order. One measurement for each method was taken, between each measurement there was a 10 minute break. All examinations were made by the same examiner.    Results: A Friedman two way analysis gave (𝜒2(5) = 105.9, p<0.001). The difference in averaged value between gradient and calculated AC/A with von Graefe was 2.0∆ in prism diopters, with Modified Thorington 3.4∆ in prism diopters and with Maddox Rod 2.2∆ in prism diopters. All phoria measurements showed significant difference between gradient AC/A and calculated AC/A (p<0.001). There was a significant difference between von Graefe- and Modified Thorington calculated AC/A ratio (p<0.05), Modified Thorington- and Maddox Rod calculated AC/A ratio (p<0.05) and Maddox Rod- and von Graefe gradient AC/A ratio (p<0.05)     Conclusion: The difference between the gradient and calculated AC/A is not the same for the three methods used for measuring phorias.

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The aim of this work is to enhance the detection and classification pipelines of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision support system (DSS) for diagnosing acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), a vision-threatening disease. The images used are taken with the in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) technique, a complementary tool for clinical assessment of the cornea that requires manual human analysis to support diagnosis. The DSS facilitates automated image analysis and currently aids in diagnosing AK. However, the accuracy of AK detection needs improvements in order to use it in clinical practice. To address this challenge, we utilize image brightness processing through multiscale retinex (MSR), and develop a custom-built image processing pipeline with deep learning model and rule-based strategies. The proposed pipeline replaces two deep learning models in original DSS, resulting in an overall accuracy improvement of 10.23% on average. Additionally, our improved pipeline not only enhances the original system’s ability to aid AK diagnosis, but also provides a versatile set of functions that can be used to create pipelines for detecting similar keratitis diseases.

Diese Arbeit geht der Frage nach den bildungstheoretischen Absichten der Sammlungspraktiken zweier außerordentlicher Kunstkennerinnen und -sammlerinnen der Renaissance nach, Isabella d''Este und Margarethe von Österreich. Ihre Sammlungen formten einen neuen Wissenstypus, indem sie mittels Strukturierung und Visualisierung deutende Ordnungen der Welt erstellten. In den Studioli von Isabella d''Este und von Margarethe von Österreich, die zu Marksteinen einer Entwicklung wurden, die in Nordeuropa erst in der zweiten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts zu ihrer Entfaltung kam, dienen Kunstverständnis, Kunstförderung und Kunsterwerb der höfischen Selbstdarstellung. Mit ihrer Ausstattung repräsentieren sie darüber hinaus die Frühform eines Sammlungsraumes, in dem zukunftsweisende Bildungsprozesse stattfinden. Die vorliegende Arbeit versteht sich somit als Rekonstruktion und Analyse eines impliziten Bildungsprogramms. / The study compares the history of two Renaissance collections, the "studiolo" of Isabella d’Este (1474-1539) and the "petit cabinet" of Margaret of Austria (1480-1530), two extraordinary art experts and collectors sixteenth century. They modelled a new type of knowledge by their method of acquisition as they created an interpretative classification of the world through the use of structure and visualisation. The work focuses on the concepts of knowledge inscribed into the visual structure of those two collections and the pedagogical approaches they enacted. Isabella d’Este’s and Margaret of Austria’s collection rooms became a landmark in a development, which only came into being in northern Europe in the second half of the sixteenth century. This is, in part, due to the fact that the understanding, promotion and acquisition of art became an important aspect of courtly self representation. Furthermore, their collection represents an early form of collection space which created the foundation for future educational processes. Therefore, this work is aims to be a historiography of an educational process as well as the reconstruction and analysis of an implicit pedagogical program. Following an interdisciplinary approach, the research is designed to systematically and historically reconstruct the order, production and representation of knowledge within its social context. The comparative approach aims to grasp the specific pedagogical perspective of each collection. Furthermore it focuses on parallels of their concern of transformation and the functionality of such extraordinary collection activities. Analytical categories such as space, time and hierarchies are used in the analysis of the primary sources. In this way, the collections and corresponding materials will be analysed in order to explain how the implicit educational program can be understood as a forerunner of an educational theory.

This diploma thesis analyzes the operation of a small airport. It focuses on the status of this airport, on its history, infrastructure, air traffic control and services offered. There is also a comparison of small and large airport.

Genetic changes are hallmarks of cancer development involving the activation and/or inactivation of oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes, respectively. In non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) development, the initiation of genetic mutations results from exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation. Non-melanoma skin cancers are comprised of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Several related cutaneous lesions also exist, of which solar keratoses (SK) are widely accepted as a precursor dysplasia to SCC development. The study of recurrent genetic changes present within NMSC and SK should help reveal causative mutations in skin cancer development. Such analysis could also elucidate links in the genetic similarity of these dysplasia. The rapid screening of numerical changes in DNA sequence copy number throughout the entire genome has been made possible by the advent of comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH). This technique enables the identification of net gains and loss of genetic material within a tumour DNA sample. Chromosomal regions of recurrent gain or loss identify loci containing putative oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes, respectively with potential roles in NMSC tumourigenesis. Used in conjunction with tissue microdissection and universal degenerate PCR techniques this can enable the elucidation of aberrations in small histologically distinct regions of tumour. Such a technique can utilize archival material such as paraffin embedded tissue, which is the major source of neoplastic material available for cancer research. This study used the CGH technique to investigate aberrations in BCC, SCC and SK samples. The screening of copy number abnormalities (CNAs) in BCC revealed that although these tumours were close to diploid and generally genetically stable, they did contain several recurrent aberrations. The loss of genetic material at 9q was identified in a third of BCC tumours studied. This is characteristic of inactivation of the PTCH tumour suppressor gene, a known attribute in some sporadic BCC development. Validation of this loss was performed via loss of heterozygosity, demonstrating good concordance with the CGH data. In addition the over-representation of the 6p chromosome arm was revealed in 47% of biopsies. This novel CNA is also commonly observed in other cutaneous neoplasias, including Merkel cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. This suggests a possible common mechanism in development and or promotion in these cutaneous dysplasias, the mechanisms of which have yet to be clearly defined. In contrast to BCC, numerical genetic aberrations in SCC and SK were much more frequent. Several regions of recurrent gain were commonly shared between both dysplasias including gain of 3q, 4p, 5p, 8q, 9q, 14q, 17p, 17q and 20q. Common chromosomal regions of loss included 3p, 8p, 9p, 11p, 13q and 17p. In addition loss of chromosome 18 was significantly observed in SCC in comparison to SK, a possible defining event in SK progression to SCC. The identification of shared genetic aberrations suggests a clonal and genetic relationship between the two lesions. This information further supports the notion for re-classification of SK to an SCC in situ or superficial SCC. Finally, the CNAs detected have been similarly observed in other squamous cell-derived tumours, for example cervical and head and neck SCC. This provides further evidence to common mechanisms involved in the initiation, development and progression of SCC neoplasia. This study has identified a number of recurrent chromosomal regions, some of which are novel in NMSC development. The further delineation of these loci should provide additional evidence of their significance and degree of involvement in NMSC tumourigenesis. The identification of the cancer-causing genes mapped to these loci will further demarcate the genetic mechanisms of BCC and SCC progression. An understanding of the events involved in skin cancer formation and progression should shed additional light on molecular targets for diagnostics, management and therapeutic treatment.

The emerging knowledge economy has led to an increase of demand and locational competition for highlyskilled labor. Brain competition policy (BCP) is the reaction from national and regional policymakers. In short, BCP refers to the attraction, education and circulation of talent in and between regional and national economies. This new focus on human capital instead of physical capital indicates a paradigmatic shift in innovation policy and regional policy. While most of the contributions to this new policy approach come from the US, it can be demonstrated that different institutions in Europe prevent the simple copying of those strategies. The article contributes to the ongoing paradigmatic shift by conceptualizing a coherent framework for BCP from a European perspective. (author´s abstract) / Series: SRE - Discussion Papers

This master thesis solves conceptual design of aerotow airplane and airplane for basic aerobatics. Airplane is designed by using of specification CS-23. The first part of the thesis solves conceptual design. Especially possible concepts and choice the best one according to requests. Next part deals with flight performance of aerotow airplane in normal flight and also in aerobatics. The third part is engaged in main flight performance in aerotow. 3D system model of whole aircraft and compact disk with mentioned 3D model and electronic version of thesis is also added.