The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a theoretical model to design RF coils using multiconductor transmission line (MTL) structures for MRI applications. In this research, an MTL structure is represented as a multiport network using its port admittance matrix. Resonant conditions and closed-form solutions for different port resonant modes are calculated by solving the eigenvalue problem of port admittance matrix using block matrix algebra. A mathematical proof to show that the solution of the characteristic equation of the port admittance matrix is equivalent to solving the source side input impedance is presented. The proof is derived by writing the transmission chain parameter matrix of an MTL structure, and mathematically manipulating the chain parameter matrix to produce a solution to the characteristic equation of the port admittance matrix. A port admittance matrix can be formulated to take one of the forms depending on the type of MTL structure: a circulant matrix, or a circulant block matrix (CB), or a block circulant circulant block matrix (BCCB). A circulant matrix can be diagonalized by a simple Fourier matrix, and a BCCB matrix can be diagonalized by using matrices formed from Kronecker products of Fourier matrices. For a CB matrix, instead of diagonalizing to compute the eigenvalues, a powerful technique called “reduced dimension method� can be used. In the reduced dimension method, the eigenvalues of a circulant block matrix are computed as a set of the eigenvalues of matrices of reduced dimension. The required reduced dimension matrices are created using a combination of the polynomial representor of a circulant matrix and a permutation matrix. A detailed mathematical formulation of the reduced dimension method is presented in this thesis. With the application of the reduced dimension method for a 2n+1 MTL structure, the computation of eigenvalues for a 4n X 4n port admittance matrix is simplified to the computation of eigenvalues of 2n matrices of size 2 X 2. In addition to reduced computations, the model also facilitates analytical formulations for coil resonant conditions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods (2n port model and reduced dimension method), a two-step approach was adopted. First, a standard published RF coil was analyzed using the proposed models. The obtained resonant conditions are then compared with the published values and are verified by full-wave numerical simulations. Second, two new dual tuned coils, a surface coil design using the 2n port model, and a volume coil design using the reduced dimensions method are proposed, constructed, and bench tested. Their validation was carried out by employing 3D EM simulations as well as undertaking MR imaging on clinical scanners. Imaging experiments were conducted on phantoms, and the investigations indicate that the RF coils achieve good performance characteristics and a high signal-to-noise ratio in the regions of interest.

Ce travail décrit la séparation de microphase à l'état solide d'un copolymère dibloc comprenant un bloc hautement biocompatible poly [2 - (méthacryloyloxy) éthyl phosphorylcholine] et un bloc pH-sensible poly [2 - (diisopropylamino) méthacrylate d'éthyle] (PMPC-b-PDPA). L'auto-assemblage d'un copolymère dibloc amphiphiles à base de polystyrène (PS) et le poly (acide acrylique) (PAA), a été étudié en suspension aqueuse, et leur décoration par du chitosane, afin de vérifier leur capacité à encapsuler et à libérer par voie transdermique la finastéride, une molécule stéroïdiens inhibiteur de la enzyme 5-alpha-réductase, qui a été recommandée pour le traitement de l'alopécie androgénétique. La morphologie des films PMPC30-b-PDPA60 a été analysée par SAXS et (S) TEM. Films du PMPC30-b-PDPA60 préparés dans une solution de l'éthanol à température ambiante présentent une morphologie cylindrique, qui subit une transition ordre-ordre sur un recuit thermique à 170 ° C: la structure lamellaire résultant coexiste avec une proportion de cylindres organisée dans une phase hexagonale compacte. En revanche, les films du copolymère préparé à partir de méthanol ne subissent pas la même transition morphologique, résultant dans des structures mal organisées, indépendante de traitement thermique. Enfin, les structures lamellaires sont obtenues directement à partir d'une solution aqueuse à pH 4, sans traitement thermique. Ces systèmes offrent une nouvelle alternative pour la fabrication de structures lamellaires constituées d'un matériau biomimétique et anti-fouling, élargissant l'éventail des possibilités dans le domaine de l'ingénierie macromoléculaire.Une autre stratégie adoptée dans ce travail a été basé sur le développement de nanoparticules bien organisé avec des propriétés de surface nature bioinspirés, formé entre polymersomes chargés négativement à base des copolymères à blocs de polystyrène (PS) et le poly (acide acrylique) (PAA) décorés avec du chitosane, un polysaccharide de charge opposée. Le rôle de l'adsorption du chitosane avec deux poids moléculaires distincts (chitosane oligosaccharides et du chitosane avec un faible poids moléculaire) sur la surface des nanoparticules PS139-b-PAA17 et des nanoparticules PS404-b-PAA63 ont été démontrés par diffusion dynamique de la lumière, potentiel zêta et caractérisation morphologiques. En présence du chitosane, le potentiel zêta de polymersomes devient positif. Ce résultat a été interprété en termes d'interactions électrostatiques, qui induisent une adsorption du chitosane sur la surface des polymersomes. Ce résultat a été confirmé par une observation comparative par microscopie entre des polymersomes et des polymersomes décorées. Polymersomes avec un diamètre <200 nm et une distribution granulométrique relativement étroite ont été obtenus pour les deux systèmes. L'effet de la décoration des nanoparticules par du chitosane sur la perméation cutanée in vitro du finastéride, incorporé dans la paroi hydrophobe de polymersomes, a également été évaluée. La pénétration cutanée du finastéride a été estimée par les paramètres de perméabilité tels que le flux, temps de latence et du coefficient de perméabilité de la finastéride. Une amélioration de la perméation du finastéride à partir des nanoparticules a été observée, en particulier à partir de nanoparticules décorées avec du chitosane. Le polymersome PS404-b-PAA63 décorées avec du chitosane semble être le système le plus approprié car il favorisé une meilleure rétention du médicament dans la peau et les faibles valeurs de flux de perméation, suggérant que le système fournit un véhicule de remplacement pour l'administration transdermique de finastéride. / This work describes the microphase separation in bulk of an diblock copolymer comprising a highly biocompatible poly[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl phosphorylcholine] block and a pH-sensitive poly[2-(diisopropylamino) ethyl methacrylate] block (PMPC-b-PDPA). The self-assembly of an amphiphilic diblock copolymer based on polystyrene (PS) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was studied in terms of their decoration with the chitosan, verifying their ability to incorporate and transdermally release the drug finasteride, a steroidal molecule 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor that has been recommended for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia. The morphology of PMPC30-b-PDPA60 films was analyzed using SAXS and (S)TEM. PMPC30-b-PDPA60 films cast from ethanol solution at room temperature exhibit a thermodynamically quasi-stable cylindrical morphology, which undergoes an order-order transition upon thermal annealing at 170 oC: the resulting lamellar structure coexists with a minor proportion of cylinders organized into a hexagonal compact phase. In contrast, copolymer films cast from methanol do not undergo the same morphological transition. Instead, short-range liquid-like structures are obtained regardless of the annealing processes. Finally, direct self-assembly to form a lamellar morphology at room temperature can be achieved by solvent-casting from aqueous solution at pH 4. These systems offer a new alternative for the fabrication of lamellar structures in which one layer is biomimetic and non-fouling, expanding the range of possibilities in the macromolecular engineering field. Another strategy adopted in this work was based on the development of well-organized nanoparticles with nature-bioinspired surface properties, formed between negatively charged polymersomes based on polystyrene (PS) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) block copolymers decorated with chitosan, an oppositely charged polysaccharide. The role of chitosan with two distinct molecular weights (chitosan oligosaccharide and low molecular weight chitosan) adsorption on the surface of oppositely charged PS139-b-PAA17 and PS404-b-PAA63 nanoparticles were demonstrated by dynamic light scattering measurements, zeta potential and morphological characterization. In the presence of chitosan, the zeta potential of polymersomes becomes positive. This result was interpreted in terms of electrostatic interactions, which induce a flat adsorption of the chitosan on the surface of the polymersomes. This result was further confirmed by a comparative observation by microscopy of bare and chitosan-decorated polymersomes. Polymersomes with a diameter < 200 nm and a relatively narrow size distribution were obtained for both systems. The effect of chitosan decoration of self-assembled nanoparticles on skin penetration in vitro of finasteride was also evaluated, once incorporated in the wall hydrophobic of polymersomes. The skin permeation through pig ear skin of finasteride was estimated by the permeability parameters such as flux, lag time and permeability coefficient of finasteride. An improved permeation of finasteride from the nanoparticle system was observed, especially from nanoparticles decorated with chitosan. The PS404-b-PAA63 polymersome decorated with chitosan seems to be the most appropriate system since it provided higher drug retention in skin and low permeation flux values, suggesting that the PS-b-PAA/chitosan system provides an alternative for transdermal drug delivery system of finasteride.

Ce travail de thèse propose une nouvelle approche pour la préparation de membranes à matrice mixte basée sur l’utilisation de copolymères à blocs et de nanoparticules inorganiques disposant de propriétés magnétiques. Des aggrégats de copolymères ont été préparés avec une morphologie variée (sphères, cylindres et vésicules) à partir du copolymère poly(acide méthacrylique)-b-poly(méthacrylate de méthyle). Ce dernier a été synthétisé par polymérisation radicalaire contrôlée par transfert de chaîne réversible par addition-fragmentation (RAFT) dans l’éthanol à 70°C. Des particules d’oxyde de fer ont, quant à elles, été préparées en présence de différents stabilisants à température variée pour permettre d’atteindre la charge de surface et les propriétés magnétiques recherchées. La structure des copolymères à bloc a permis d’obtenir à la fois des membranes hydrophobes via le procédé de séparation de phase induite par un non-solvant, ainsi que des membranes hydrophiles lorsque que la technique de spin-coating était appliquée aux aggrégats formés par auto-assemblage induit lors de la polymérisation. Grâce à l’étude détaillée des propriétés de filtration des membranes obtenues, la relation structure-propriété a été discutée sous l’action d’un champ magnétique externe. Enfin, la sensibilité au colmatage a été vérifiée via la filtration de solutions de protéines. Il a ainsi été démontré une diminution notable du colmatage sous champ magnétique, ouvrant de belles perspectives pour ces nouvelles membranes. / This thesis presents a new approach to produce mix matrix membranes using block copolymers and inorganic nanoparticles having magnetic properties. The polymeric nanoparticle with different morphologies (linear, Spheres, worms, and vesicles), from poly (methacrylic acid)-b-(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymer, were synthesized using Reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) in ethanol at 70 ֠C. The inorganic counterpart, iron oxide nanoparticles were prepared using different stabilizers at various temperatures to acquire the necessary surface charge and magnetic properties. The chemistry of the particles leads to form both hydrophobic membranes using non-solvent induced phase separation as well as a hydrophilic membrane by using the simple spin coating technique with the particles from polymerization induced self-assembly. By a detailed experimental study of the membrane filtration, the influence of different parameters on the process performance has been investigated with and without magnetic field. Finally, membrane fouling has been studied using protein solution. Also, the membrane performance was examined under magnetic field revealing the successful reduction in the fouling phenomenon making them new performant membranes in the area of membrane technology.

abstract: Blockchain scalability is one of the issues that concerns its current adopters. The current popular blockchains have initially been designed with imperfections that in- troduce fundamental bottlenecks which limit their ability to have a higher throughput and a lower latency. One of the major bottlenecks for existing blockchain technologies is fast block propagation. A faster block propagation enables a miner to reach a majority of the network within a time constraint and therefore leading to a lower orphan rate and better profitability. In order to attain a throughput that could compete with the current state of the art transaction processing, while also keeping the block intervals same as today, a 24.3 Gigabyte block will be required every 10 minutes with an average transaction size of 500 bytes, which translates to 48600000 transactions every 10 minutes or about 81000 transactions per second. In order to synchronize such large blocks faster across the network while maintain- ing consensus by keeping the orphan rate below 50%, the thesis proposes to aggregate partial block data from multiple nodes using digital fountain codes. The advantages of using a fountain code is that all connected peers can send part of data in an encoded form. When the receiving peer has enough data, it then decodes the information to reconstruct the block. Along with them sending only part information, the data can be relayed over UDP, instead of TCP, improving upon the speed of propagation in the current blockchains. Fountain codes applied in this research are Raptor codes, which allow construction of infinite decoding symbols. The research, when applied to blockchains, increases success rate of block delivery on decode failures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2018

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / This study is located within the Bredasdorp Basin which is on the southern continental margin, offshore South Africa. The basin is located between Infanta and Agulhas arches and is a rift basin that is southeastern trending. Sedimentology reports have shown that the basin is predominantly filled by Aptian to Maastrichtian deposits which overlays pre-existing late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous fluvial and shallow marine syn-rift deposits. Devonian Bokkeveld Group slates and or Ordovician-Silurian Table Mountain Group quartzites are shown to be the composition of basement rocks. The study area incorporates only three wells for this research; well F-AH1, F-AH2 and F-AR1. This paper was completed through analyzing and juxtaposing interpretations of results from gamma ray wireline log analysis with core analysis in which these correlations and figures were displayed using Petrel software and Coral Draw respectively. Core analysis resulted in the identification of, sixteen litho-facies for the entire study, which were recognized according to its grain size, texture, sedimentary structures, colour changes, base and top contacts, bioturbation, noticeable minerals, etc. Facies tend to alternate all the way through each well and between different wells with similar facies being present in different wells, but they are not evident in all the cores. Based on the classification of sand bodies, core analysis provides good indication that the general depositional environment of reservoirs within the studied wells are within a marginal marine depositional environment which are tidally influenced. Log signatures typical of sandstone reservoir bodies were discovered in the field where sand bodies are 20 m thick or less and were recognized in the study area. Depositional environments were characterized based on depositional environment similarities: a funnel-shaped facies representing a crevasse splay; a cylindrical-shaped facies representing slope channel-fills representing the transgressive-regressive shallow marine shelf.

The aim of this study was to examine and compare the contribution of central neuromuscular fatigue and peripheral neuromuscular fatigue to total neuromuscular fatigue in the hemiplegic leg of people with stroke, with that of a matched control group.Study Design: This experimental study utilised a repeated measures block design.Participants: Fifteen people with chronic stroke who had mild to moderate physical disability and fifteen age, height and weight matched controls were compared.Main outcome measures: Participants physical function was evaluated using the 30s Chair Stand Test, Comfortable Paced Walking Speed and Fast Paced Walking Speed. Neuromuscular function was measured using maximal voluntary isometric contraction force and voluntary activation. Total neuromuscular fatigue, central neuromuscular fatigue and peripheral neuromuscular fatigue was measured during a 90 second sustained maximal voluntary isometric contraction of the quadriceps muscle.Results: The fatigue profile of stroke participants differed from that of control participants. Stroke participants demonstrated less total neuromuscular fatigue (U=41.00, p=.026) and less peripheral neuromuscular fatigue (U=14.00, p=.000) than the control participants. While stroke participants did demonstrate greater central neuromuscular fatigue than control participants, this finding was not statistically significant (U=80.00, p=.817).Conclusions: Statistically significant differences were found in the performance of people with mild to moderate physical disability following stroke on measures of neuromuscular fatigue when compared to age, weight and height matched healthy adults.

Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation presents the results of three empirical studies on price formation and liquidity in financial futures markets. The research entails three related areas: the effect of taxes on the prices of Australian stock index futures; the efficiency of the information transmission mechanism between the cash and futures markets; and the price and liquidity impact of large trades in interest rate and equity index futures markets. An overview of previous research identifies some important gaps in the existing literature that this dissertation aims to resolve for the benefit of arbitrageurs, investment managers, brokers and regulators.

Master of Engineering (Research) / The latest wireless communication techniques such as highspeed wireless internet application demand higher data rates and better quality of service (QoS). However, transmission reliability is still degraded by harsh propagation channels. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems can increase the system capacity and improve transmission reliability. By transmitting multiple copies of data, a MIMO system can effectively combat the effects of fading. Due to the high hardware cost of a MIMO system, antenna selection techniques have been applied in MIMO system design to reduce the system complexity and cost. The Nakagami-m distribution has been considered for MIMO channel modeling since a wide range of fading channels, from severe to moderate, can be modeled by using Nakagami-m distribution. The Rayleigh distribution is a special case of the Nakagami-m distribution. In this thesis, we analyze the error performance of two MIMO schemes: maximal-ratio combining with transmit antenna selection (the TAS/MRC scheme) and space-time block codes with transmit antenna selection (the TAS/STBC scheme) over Nakagami-m fading channels. In the TAS/MRC scheme, one of multiple transmit antennas, which maximizes the total received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), is selected for uncoded data transmission. First we use a moment generating function based (MGF-based) approach to derive the bit error rate (BER) expressions for binary phase shift keying (BPSK), the symbol error rate (SER) expressions for M-ray phase shift keying (MPSK) and M-ray quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) of the TAS/MRC scheme over Nakagami-m fading channels with arbitrary and integer fading parameters m. The asymptotic performance is also investigated. It is revealed that the asymptotic diversity order is equal to the product of the Nakagami fading parameter m, the number of transmit antenna Lt and the number of receive antenna Lr as if all transmit antenna were used. Then a Gaussian Q-functions approach is used to investigate the error performance of the TAS/STBC scheme over Nakagami-m fading channels. In the TAS/STBC scheme, two transmit antennas, which maximize the output SNR, are selected for transmission. The exact and asymptotic BER expressions for BPSK are obtained for the TAS/STBC schemes with three and four transmit antennas. It is shown that the TAS/STBC scheme can provide a full diversity order of mLtLr.

<p>The Swedish contemporary poet Ulf Karl Olov Nilsson (UKON) creates his poems by recycling and manipulating existing material. Though the overall opinion of his work has been positive, the idea that experimental poetry focus shape on the expense of content has led critics to either interpret the nonsensical and absurd aspects of UKON’s poetics as a consequence of the technical methods he uses to create his poetry, or to look beyond the nonsensical and absurd aspects to focus the fact that the poems creates meaning at all. The poems of UKON’s sixth collection of poems, Block (2005), differ from each other in many ways: some poems are lists and other revolves around a person – their content and construction vary and they can hardly be read as an expression of one persons thought. Still, the homogenous visual form creates a sense of uniformity – all the poems are shaped like blocks in different sizes, it has no page numbers and no names has been given the individual poems. By focusing the nonsensical and absurd aspects of UKON’s collection Block, and at the same time read the poetry through the light of the poetic context that UKON is connected to, this essays shows that UKON destroys and creates meaning in a way that is similar to the techniques used by the Victorian nonsense literature. As the Victorian nonsense literature make use of the language’s grammatical rules and genres to give the nonsense text a structure, UKON stages a reciprocal action between making use of and exceeding the conventional use of different language-contexts (e.g. erotic language or expressions such as “one must…”). Thus, the nonsensical aspects of UKON’s poetry are exposed as a consequent course of action to create and destroy meaning and Block can be read as a way to disclose how the language creates and maintains cultural clichés.</p>

In recent years, the use of self-associating block copolymer based drug delivery systems have attracted increasing attention as nanoscopic carriers for the encapsulation and the controlled delivery of water insoluble drugs. Currently, most of the drug formulations proceed by trial and error method with no distinct method to predict the right combination of block copolymers and drugs to give all the desired functional properties. This is simply because such drug delivery systems involve complex intermolecular interactions and geometric fitting of molecules of different shapes. So, in the context of block copolymer design process, quantification and prediction of the interactions between potential block copolymers and the target drug are of great importance. Computer simulations that can predict the level and type of interactions encountered in drug/block copolymer pairs will enable researchers to make educated decisions on choosing a particular polymeric carrier for a given drug, avoiding time consuming and expensive trial and error based formulation experiments. In the present thesis, we reported the use of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to predict the solubility of sets of hydrophobic drug molecules having different spatial distribution of hydrogen bond forming moieties in a series of micelle-forming PEO-b-PCL block copolymers with and without functionalized PCL blocks. The solubility predictions based on the MD results were then compared with those obtained from the solubility experiments and those obtained by the commonly used group contribution method (GCM). MD analysis techniques like radial distribution functions provided useful atomistic details to understand the molecular origin of miscibility and/or immiscibility observed between drugs and di-block copolymers. Based on the evidence of reported work, intermolecular specific interactions, intra-molecular interactions, local molecular packing, and stereochemistry of the hydrophobic block all play important roles in inducing miscibility between drugs and block copolymers. Additionally, not only the architecture of block copolymers but also the molecular characteristics of drug molecules, e.g., spatial distributions of hydrogen bond donors and acceptors on their molecules can affect the miscibility characteristics of binary mixtures. Depending on the groups present on drugs and block copolymers, any of the above factors can play vital role in the process of favouring encapsulation. The understanding of relative contributions of these interactions can help us to customize the performance of drug carriers by engineering the structure of block copolymers. / Chemical Engineering