The main objective of my thesis is to develop a numerical model for small-scale thermal energy storage system and to see the effect of dispersing nano-particles and using fractal-like branching heat exchanger in phase change material for our proposed thermal energy storage system. The associated research problems investigated for phase change material (PCM) are the low thermal conductivity and low rate of heat transfer from heat transfer fluid to PCM in thermal energy storage system. In this study an intensive study is carried out to find the best material for thermal storage and later on as a high conductive nano-particle graphite is used to enhance the effective thermal conductivity of the mixed materials. As a thermal storage material molten solar Salt (60% NaNO3+40%KNO3) has been selected, after that detailed numerical modeling of the proposed design has been done using MATLAB algorithm and following the fixed grid enthalpy method. The model is based on the numerical computation of 1-D finite difference method using explicit scheme. The second part of the study is based on enhancing the heat transfer performance by introducing the concept of fractal network or branching heat exchanger. Results from the numerical computation have been utilized for the comparison between a conventional heating system (with a simple single tube as a heat exchanger) and a passive PCM thermal energy storage system with branching heat exchanger using NTU-effectiveness method and charging time calculation. The comparison results show a significant amount improvement using branching network and mixing nano-particle in terms of heat transfer (13.5% increase in effectiveness of branching level-02 heat exchangers from the conventional one ), thermal conductivity (increased 73.6% with 20% graphite nano-particle mix with solid PCM), charging time (57% decrease of charging time for the effect of both the dispersion of Graphite nano-particle and branching heat exchange) and pressure drop (36% decrease in level-02 branching). The results of this study prove that the proposed medium temperature TES system coupled with solar ORC can be the stepping-stone for energy efficient and sustainable future in small-scale/building level as the system proves to be better in terms of enhanced heat transfer, increased thermal conductivity and reduced pumping power and overall sustainability.

To optimize the beam angle and fluence map in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) planning, we apply Benders decomposition as well as develop a two-stage integer programming-based heuristic. Benders decomposition is first implemented in the traditional manner by iteratively solving the restricted master problem, and then identifying and adding the violated Benders cut. We also implemented Benders decomposition using the “lazy constraint” feature included in CPLEX. In contrast, our two-stage heuristic first seeks to find a good solution by iteratively eliminating the least used angles in the linear programming relaxation solution until the size of the formulation is manageable. In the second stage of the heuristic, the solution is improved by applying local branching. The various methods were tested on real patient data in order to investigate their effectiveness and runtime characteristics. The results indicated that implementing Benders using the lazy constraint usually led to better feasible solutions than the traditional approach. Moreover, the LP rounding heuristic was seen to generate high-quality solutions within a short amount of time, with further improvement obtained with the local branching search. / text

Graduate

Graduate

Hyphal organisms are a commonly used model system for studies of polarised growth. While growing hyphal tips offer a good example of polarised growth, little detail of the process of polarisation can be determined from them. Hyphal branching offers a good example of the development of polarity, however to date it has been largely impractical to study hyphal branching, due to the irregular timing and location along the hypha of natural branch formation. Chemical induction of branches circumnavigates this problem, using a localised concentration of nutrients adjacent to the growing hypha to stimulate controlled branching. Using previous studies of hyphal branching combined with the current understanding of hyphal tip growth, a model of the branching process was established (Jackson et al. 2001). Reception of a branching cue leads to the formation of a radial F-actin array at the new branch site. This, by means of either delivery of cell wall softening enzymes or direct mechanical pressure, leads in turn to the emergence of a visible bump in the hyphal wall. This bump enlarges and then progresses into the branch proper. The bump stage of the branching process is perhaps the least understood, with existing studies giving detail of pre- and post-bump events. The research described in this thesis suggests that bump emergence is a two stage process; an early bump stage, where localised cell wall softening leads to turgor pressure in the cell pushing out the bump, and a late bump, where F-actin is arranged into the developing branch. The addition of an F-actin inhibitor to the induction solution confirmed that the early bump stage is relatively independent of the F-actin cytoskeleton, however this experiment was unable to test F-actin's role in full branch development.

Thesis--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-130).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 232-259). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Das Angebot an Tools und Programmen für die Erstellung von digitalen Anwendungen zur Ergänzung oder Unterstützung der Lehre wird immer größer. Dazu gehören auch die open source Inhalte der H5P-Group. Für das Projekt surfaceCOLLEGE – welches mit diesen Inhalten arbeitet – soll in dieser Arbeit das H5P Branching Szenario durch die Erstellung eines Storyboards und eines darauf aufbauenden Prototyps getestet werden. Das Hauptaugenmerk soll dabei auf der Funktionalität und dem Mehrwert für Lehrende und Lernende liegen. Inhaltlich wird sich dabei auf die Vorbereitungsmaterialien eines bestehenden studentischen Praktikums aus der Werkstofftechnik bezogen. Anhand der Ergebnisse innerhalb der Evaluation sollen Empfehlungen für Lehrende zur Gestaltung von – und Umgang mit – Inhalten des Branching Szenarios abgeleitet werden.:Abbildungsverzeichnis Tabellenverzeichnis 1 Einleitung - Relevanz des Themas - Ziel der Arbeit - Methodisches Vorgehen und Aufbau 2 Begriffe - Digitale Lehre - H5P - H5p Branching Szenario Theoretischer Teil 3 Lernmotivation - Lernmotivation - Grundlage für den Lernerfolg - Selbstbestimmungstheorie 4 Implementierung von digitalen Lernangeboten - Gestaltungsempfehlungen für interaktive Lerninhalte - H5P ein Tool zur Umsetzung von digitalen Lerninhalten - Branching Szenario 5 Psychologische Entscheidungsforschung - Entstehung der psychologischen Entscheidungsforschung - Einfluss von Entscheidungen auf den Lernprozess Praktischer Teil: 6 Vorgehensweise und Methodik - Konkretisierung der Problemstellung - Anforderungen an den Prototypen - Vorgehen zur Entwicklung und Evaluation des Prototyps 7 Durchführung und Ergebnisse - Vorbereitung - Erstellung des Storyboards - Erstellung des H5P-Prototyps - Experteninterviews 8 Diskussion - Bewertung der Ergebnisse - Methodenkritik - Ableitung von Empfehlungen 9 Resumé - Fazit - Ausblick Literaturverzeichnis Anhang

Ce mémoire étudie le comportement des particules dont la position est maximale au temps t dans la marche aléatoire branchante et le mouvement brownien branchant sur R, pour des valeurs de t grandes. Plus exactement, on regarde le comportement du maximum d’une marche aléatoire branchante dans un environnement inhomogène en temps, au sens où la loi des accroissements varie en fonction du temps. On compare avec des modèles connus ou simplifiés, en particulier le modèle i.i.d., où l’on observe des marches aléatoires indépendantes et le modèle de la marche aléatoire homogène. On s’intéresse par la suite aux corrélations entre les particules maximales d’un mouvement brownien branchant. Plus précisément, on étudie le temps de branchement entre deux particules maximales. Finalement, on applique les méthodes et les résultats des premiers chapitres afin d’étudier les corrélations dans un mouvement brownien branchant dans un environnement inhomogène. Le résultat principal du mémoire stipule qu’il y a existence de temps de branchement au centre de l’intervalle [0, t] dans le mouvement brownien branchant inhomogène, ce qui n’est pas le cas pour le mouvement brownien branchant standard. On présentera également certaines simulations numériques afin de corroborer les résultats numériques et pour établir des hypothèses pour une recherche future. / This thesis studies the behavior of particles that are maximal at time t in branching random walk and branching Brownian motion on R, for large values of t. Precisely, we look at the behavior of the maximum in a branching random walk in a time-inhomogeneous environment, where the law of the increments varies with respect to time. We compare with known or simplified models such as the model where random walks are taken to be i.i.d. and the branching random walk in a time-homogeneous environment model. We then take a look at the correlations between maximal particles in a branching brownian motion. Specifically, we look at the branching time between those maximal particles. Finally, we apply results and methods from the first chapters to study those same correlations in branching Brownian motion in a inhomogeneous environment. The thesis’ main result establishes existence of branching time at the center of the interval [0, t] for the branching Brownian motion in a inhomogeneous environment, which is not the case for standard branching brownian motion.We also present results of simulations that agree with theoretical results and help establishing new hypotheses for future research.

Ce mémoire étudie le comportement des particules dont la position est maximale au temps t dans la marche aléatoire branchante et le mouvement brownien branchant sur R, pour des valeurs de t grandes. Plus exactement, on regarde le comportement du maximum d’une marche aléatoire branchante dans un environnement inhomogène en temps, au sens où la loi des accroissements varie en fonction du temps. On compare avec des modèles connus ou simplifiés, en particulier le modèle i.i.d., où l’on observe des marches aléatoires indépendantes et le modèle de la marche aléatoire homogène. On s’intéresse par la suite aux corrélations entre les particules maximales d’un mouvement brownien branchant. Plus précisément, on étudie le temps de branchement entre deux particules maximales. Finalement, on applique les méthodes et les résultats des premiers chapitres afin d’étudier les corrélations dans un mouvement brownien branchant dans un environnement inhomogène. Le résultat principal du mémoire stipule qu’il y a existence de temps de branchement au centre de l’intervalle [0, t] dans le mouvement brownien branchant inhomogène, ce qui n’est pas le cas pour le mouvement brownien branchant standard. On présentera également certaines simulations numériques afin de corroborer les résultats numériques et pour établir des hypothèses pour une recherche future. / This thesis studies the behavior of particles that are maximal at time t in branching random walk and branching Brownian motion on R, for large values of t. Precisely, we look at the behavior of the maximum in a branching random walk in a time-inhomogeneous environment, where the law of the increments varies with respect to time. We compare with known or simplified models such as the model where random walks are taken to be i.i.d. and the branching random walk in a time-homogeneous environment model. We then take a look at the correlations between maximal particles in a branching brownian motion. Specifically, we look at the branching time between those maximal particles. Finally, we apply results and methods from the first chapters to study those same correlations in branching Brownian motion in a inhomogeneous environment. The thesis’ main result establishes existence of branching time at the center of the interval [0, t] for the branching Brownian motion in a inhomogeneous environment, which is not the case for standard branching brownian motion.We also present results of simulations that agree with theoretical results and help establishing new hypotheses for future research.