Research in wireless communications has been actively carried out in recent years. In order to enable a high data transmission rate, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications has been proposed and commonly adopted. Accurate channel identification and reliable data detection are major challenges in the implementation of a communications system operating over a wireless fading channel. These issues become even more challenging in MIMO systems since there are many more parameters involved in the estimation processes. This thesis, consisting of four major parts, focuses on applying convex optimization to solve design problems in both MIMO channel estimation and data detection. The first part proposes a novel orthogonal affine precoding technique for jointly optimal channel estimation and symbol detection in a general MIMO frequency-selective fading channel. Additionally, the optimal power allocation between the data and training signals is also analytically derived. The proposed technique is shown to perform much better than other affine precoding techniques in terms of detection error probability and computational complexity. The second part is concerned with the MIMO orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The superimposed training technique developed in the first part is applied and extended for MIMO-OFDM systems where all the involved transmitters and receivers are assumed to be uncorrelated. Analytical and numerical results confirm that the proposed design can efficiently identify the unknown wireless channel as well as effectively recover the data symbols, while conserving the transmission bandwidth. The third part considers training and precoding designs for OFDM under colored noise environment. The superiority of the proposed design over the previously-known design under colored noise is thoroughly demonstrated. The last part of the thesis develops the orthogonal affine precoder for spatially correlated MIMO-OFDM systems. The optimal superimposed training sequences are solved by tractable semi-definite programming. To have a better computational efficiency, two approximate design techniques are also presented. Furthermore, the non-redundancy precoder proposed in the third part is employed to combat channel correlation. As a result, the proposed designs are demonstrated to outperform other known designs in terms of channel estimation and data detection.

Submitted by CARLA CONSTANZA MANGANELLI (carlacm.89@gmail.com) on 2017-12-01T15:28:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO DEFINITIVA - online - Repositorio.pdf: 996196 bytes, checksum: 7399044c17373c4a4a6d22f0e53e9bbf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by LUCIA SILVA PARRA null (lucia@ia.unesp.br) on 2017-12-04T12:14:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 manganelli_cc_me_jabo.pdf: 941849 bytes, checksum: 9248a7466ffb33e1a145b960af79cd2d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-04T12:14:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 manganelli_cc_me_jabo.pdf: 941849 bytes, checksum: 9248a7466ffb33e1a145b960af79cd2d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-10 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / As coberturas plásticas têm diferentes pr opriedades térmicas e de radiação, e podem afetar o rendimento e a qualidade do tomate. Neste estudo, compararam - se a influência das coberturas plásticas coloridas (vermelho, azul, e cinza/preto) e a densidade de plantio no crescimento do tomateiro, o rend imento e a qualidade dos frutos com o da cobertura preta convencional e o solo descoberto (controle) no desenvolvimento do tomateiro ‘Micro - Tom’. Além disso, determinou - se a acumulação de pigmentos, a temperatura do solo e a água total aplicada. Os resulta dos indicaram que o peso seco e a área foliar das plantas cultivadas com cobertura azul, vermelha e cinza/preta foram significativamente maiores do que o tratamento controle em parcelas de alta densidade. Em comparação com o tratamento controle, o rendimen to total, o peso do fruto e o peso total de frutos por planta foram consequentemente melhorados nas plantas crescidas com cobertura vermelha e cinza/preta em altas densidades. Contudo, o número de frutos não foi afetado. Além disso, o tamanho do fruto aume ntou com cobertura vermelha em parcelas de baixa densidade. Por outro lado, as temperaturas do solo registradas sob a cobertura vermelha foram as mais adequadas para o tomateiro nessas condições climáticas. Em conclusão, os tratamentos com cobertura colori da afetaram positivamente o crescimento e o rendimento do tomateiro em parcelas de alta densidade, e a cobertura vermelha em particular poderia ser usada para melhorar o rendimento e o tamanho dos frutos de tomate ‘Micro - Tom’, devido à otimização da temper atura e o ambiente de luz. / Plastic mulches have different thermal and radiation properties, and they can affect tomato fruit yield and quality. In this study, the influence of coloured plastic mulches (red, blue and gray on black) and planting density on tomato growth, fruit yield and quality was compared with that of conventional black mulch and uncovered soil (control) in developing ‘Micro Tom’ tomatoe s. In addition, the pigment accumulation, soil temperature and total applied water were determined. The results indicated that the dry weight and leaf area of plants grown over blue, red and gray/black mulches were significantly higher than the control tre atment in high - density plots. Compared to the control treatment, the total tomato yield, fruit weight and total fruit weight per plant were consequently improved in plants grown over red and gray/black mulches at high densities. However, the fruit number w as not affected. In addition, the fruit size increased over red plastic mulc h when planted at a low density . In addition, the soil temperatures registered under the red mulch were the most suitable for the tomatoes in these climatic conditions. In conclusi on, treatments employing coloured mulch positively affected the growth and yield of tomatoes in high - density plots, and red mulch in particular could be used to improve the yield and fruit size of Micro - Tom tomatoes because of the optimization of the therm al and light environment. / 134597/2015-0

Food is one of the most important items in fish culture economy. Juvenile fish prove the fastest growth rates and that is the reason why their appropriate nourishment is so important. Surface drift of terrestrial insects provides an excellent food for rheophilic fish species . Reophilic fishes are able to utilise also plants and particularly algae too. Terrestrial insects can be attracted to water surface by various ways. Is it a light trap during the night. The installation of colour traps is another possibility of insect enticement, for example when located several centimetres bellow the water. We can use various coloured traps {--} yellow, red, blue and other. Light is very attractive for night insects, killing them by electricity. Insects which fall down to water provide an excellent complementary food sources. The experiments were performed with young chub (Leuciscus cephalus). Coloured traps (yellow and red), raffia mats supproting algal growth and electric insect killer were tested. No-trap tanks served as a control. The experiment was run for two growing seasons.. As compared to control, the variants provided with coloured traps proved significantly better results regarding fish growth and condition. However, the best results were achieved using the light trap. Basing on the study results, it can be concluded, that the traps can contribute to successful breeding of juveniles of reophilic fish.

A pesquisa desvelou o circuito espacial de produção do algodão naturalmente colorido na Paraíba. Procuramos destacar o papel da pesquisa pública, através do sistema de ações da Embrapa Algodão, localizada em Campina Grande-PB na transformação das condições tecnológicas desse tipo de algodão e sua viabilização para exploração comercial; a organização espacial da produção; os atores envolvidos e as novas relações que se estabelecem com o sistema de produção do algodão naturalmente colorido orgânico. Nossa tese é de que a Embrapa Algodão foi central no processo de recuperação da cotonicultura brasileira, que enfrentou grave crise na década de 1980 e levou ao declínio dessa cultura até o início década de 1990. De modo geral o presente trabalho, inserido nos recentes debates da geografia, procurou destacar o papel da ciência, da pesquisa, da inovação na constituição de um circuito espacial de produção, tendo como estudo de caso a Embrapa e o Algodão Naturalmente Colorido. No contexto da crise nacional do algodão essa empresa foi responsável pela pesquisa, melhoramento e desenvolvimento de cultivares de algodão branco adaptado para as condições ambientais do bioma Cerrado e o algodão naturalmente colorido, uma planta silvestre nativa para as condições do Semiárido e viável para o processamento industrial. Na pesquisa constatou-se que a reorganização da produção algodoeira na Paraíba (colorido), a partir dos anos 2000, foi resultado da combinação de diferentes variáveis, dentre as quais destacam-se a pesquisa (Embrapa) e o marketing e propaganda (empresários), além de variáveis regionais/locais representadas pela agricultura familiar e produção orgânica. Tal reorganização apresenta atualmente duas regiões de produção distintas: região do Cerrado e a região Semiárido, regiões que se caracterizam por diferentes modos de produção concretos, no sentido proposto por Santos ([1996] 2008). Além do algodão naturalmente colorido atualmente ser desenvolvido em sistema de produção orgânica, nas outras fases de produção, os pequenos empresários que fazem uso do algodão colorido em suas produções tem buscado se adequar as exigências das normas estabelecidas pelos mercados consumidores, formado principalmente por turistas, pessoas preocupadas com a sustentabilidade ambiental e social, com destaque para os consumidores dos países europeus. A pesquisa demostrou ainda que a confiança que há em torno dos trabalhos de pesquisa da Embrapa Algodão extrapolam os limites das pesquisas agronômicas, a ponto da instituição ser utilizada no marketing comercial de empresas. / The research unveiled the space circuit of naturally coloured cotton production in Paraíba. We try to highlight the role of public research, through the actions of Embrapa Algodão system, located in Campina Grande (Paraíba) in the transformation of technological conditions aforementioned sort of cotton and their development for commercial exploitation; the spatial organization of production; the actors involved and the new relations established with the naturally coloured organic cotton production system. Our thesis is that the Embrapa Algodão was very important in the process of recovery of the Brazilian cotton industry, which suffer crisis in the 1980s and led to the decline of this farming until the early 1990s. Overall this paper, inserted in recent debates geography, sought to highlight the role of science, research, innovation in the creation of a spatial circuit production, taking as a case study the Embrapa Algodão and Naturally Coloured Cotton. In the context of national cotton crisis such company was responsible for research, improvement and development of white cotton cultivars tailored to the environmental conditions of the Cerrado biome and naturally coloured cotton, which is a native wild plant to the conditions of semi-arid and feasible for processing industrial. This research found out that the reorganization of cotton production in Paraíba (coloured), from the 2000s, was a result from the combination of different variables, among which stand out the research (Embrapa) and the marketing and advertising (business) as well as regional/local variables represented by family farming and organic production. Such reorganization currently has two distinct production areas: the Cerrado region and the semi-arid region, which are regions characterized by different specific modes of production, in the sense proposed by Santos ([1996] 2008). Besides naturally coloured cotton currently being developed in organic production system, at other stages of production, small business owners who uses coloured cotton in their productions have been trying to adapt yourselves to the requirements of the standards set by consumer markets, mainly consisting of tourists, people concerned about the environmental and social sustainability, especially for consumers in European countries. The survey also demonstrated that confidence that there is about research works of Embrapa Algodão transcend the limits of agronomic research, to the point of the institution to be used in commercial marketing companies.

Magister Artium - MA / Much has been researched in South Africa about the trauma of losing one's home, one's community and rebuilding one's life in a new environment. Several books have been published tracking the lives of the forcibly removed and their responses to leaving District Six. My research focuses on a different group namely those who had been forcibly removed from the centre of Stellenbosch, called Die Vlakte during that time. Living and working with and among people who have experienced this removal, I was keen to research whether the impact of the trauma is currently manifesting in this specific community and if so, what the symptoms would be. This qualitative inquiry focuses on one particular individual, Mr. Hilton Biscombe. I selected him because he, who experienced the removal as a teenager, spent most of his later life determinedly collecting stories and documents relating to this incident. Mr. Biscombe is also the only person of whom I am aware who responded personally through compiling a book, making a DVD, writing poetry as well as an autobiography relating to this event. My inquiry into the ways trauma manifests in a narrative, will be based on two interviews: one conducted by a white man from the University of Stellenbosch thirty years after the event; and another interview, six years later, conducted by myself.Our understanding of trauma is usually associated with a death or injury or the possibility thereof, but it could also include the victims response to extreme fear, serious harm or threat to family members. According to van der Merwe and Vienings, people also become traumatized when witnessing harm, physical violence or death or the sudden loss or destruction of a victim's home (van der Merwe Vienings, 2001). So the issue of trauma is not in question, nor the fact that forced removals cause trauma. I am exploring testimony in the form of interviews for possible current manifestations of this trauma thirty-six years down the line. / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / Much has been researched in South Africa about the trauma of losing one’s home, one’s community and rebuilding one’s life in a new environment. Several books have been published tracking the lives of the forcibly removed and their responses to leaving District Six. My research focuses on a different group namely those who had been forcibly removed from the centre of Stellenbosch, called “Die Vlakte” during that time.Living and working with and among people who have experienced this removal, I was keen to research whether the impact of the trauma is currently manifesting in this specific community and if so, what the symptoms would be. This qualitative inquiry focuses on one particular individual, Mr. Hilton Biscombe. I selected him because he, who experienced the removal as a teenager, spent most of his later life determinedly collecting stories and documents relating to this incident. Mr.Biscombe is also the only person of whom I am aware who responded personally through compiling a book, making a DVD, writing poetry as well as an autobiography relating to this event. My inquiry into the ways trauma manifests in a narrative, will be based on two interviews: one conducted by a white man from the University of Stellenbosch thirty years after the event; and another interview, six years later, conducted by myself.Our understanding of trauma is usually associated with a death or injury or the possibility thereof, but it could also include the victim’s response to extreme fear, serious harm or threat to family members. According to van der Merwe and Vienings, people also become traumatized when witnessing harm, physical violence or death or the sudden loss or destruction of a victim’s home (van der Merwe & Vienings, 2001).So the issue of trauma is not in question, nor the fact that forced removals cause trauma. I am exploring testimony in the form of interviews for possible current manifestations of this trauma thirty-six years down the line. / South Africa

Magister Public Health - MPH / Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) has been proven to reduce heterosexual HIV transmission to men by approximately 60%. It has been argued that achieving 80% circumcision coverage among males aged 15–49 years within five years and maintaining this coverage rate in subsequent years, could avert 3.4 million new HIV infections within 15 years and generate treatment and care savings of US$16.5 billion. As a result the South African Government plans to circumcise 4.3 million males aged 15 and 49 years by the 2015/2016 financial year. However, in the Western Cape the uptake for circumcision has been poor. While there is not a great deal of knowledge out there about the reasons for the uptake (or lack thereof) of VMMC in the Western Cape, current research focus on Xhosa males predominantly. However, there is limited research on circumcision among the "Coloured" population of the Western Cape. As the "Coloured" population is the largest group in the Western Cape, this gap in research and knowledge is worth noting. The current study aimed to explore the barriers to and enablers of uptake of VMMC among "Coloured" males between the ages of 15 and 49 years in the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. Methodology: The study adopted a qualitative design; semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven key informants, and two focus group discussions with men who had undergone VMMC and men who had chosen not to volunteer to undergo VMMC. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The key enablers to uptake of VMMC were: the desire for improved hygiene; the reduction in the risk of contracting other STIs; the reduction in the risk of contracting HIV; the role of partners and family members who can encourage males to access services; the perceived improvement in the males' sexual experience and performance; and cultural reasons and religious injunction. On the other hand the key barriers that discouraged "Coloured" participants from accessing the services include: fear, particularly the fear of pain; the experience of the health services and the role of health staff; the six week healing period in which males cannot have sex; the unwillingness to alter the body that they were born with; role of partners and family as discouragers of uptake; the influence of gangsterism on the ability of males to access services offered on a different gang's 'turf'; and, substance abuse. The recommendations in this study focus largely on the need to expand the coverage of VMMC in the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality and to increase the uptake among "Coloured" males between the ages of 15 and 49 years. . These recommendations essentially involve the need to break down the barriers and to accentuate the enablers. To this end social mobilisation campaigns should not focus solely on HIV prevention but rather on hygiene and improved sexual experience and appearance as well as the cultural and religious aspects. With regard to the barriers it is essential that any social mobilisation engages with the fear of pain. On method to do this would be through the introduction and expansion of the PrePex™ device. The fear that circumcision could impact on sexual performance and the fear of embarrassment and discomfort the whole process would potentially bring would need to be allayed. In addition it is essential that the health services and health staff are orientated and trained in a way that ensures that the process of circumcision is as easy as possible for the clients. / National Research Foundation

The primary aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of using a participatory research approach as a method for determining information needs. Participatory research is a qualitative research methodology that challenges the principles and practices of objective, detached, quantitative research approaches in the social sciences. Three main trends converged to contribute to the emergence of the practice of participatory research namely: dissatisfaction in the development arena with the planning of projects without the involvement of the people themselves; the work of adult educators from which evolved a methodology in which learners gained control over their own learning processes; and the disenchantment of social scientists with traditional positivist research methods that distance researchers from the realities and social environment of the subjects of their research. Dissatisfaction with the use of quantitative methods and techniques, similar to that in the social sciences, occurred in information needs research, which resulted in a call for the development of an alternative set of premises and assumptions. This effected a move away from a view of information use from a system-oriented perspective, towards the use of qualitative methods focusing on the users themselves in determining their information needs. Both Coloureds and women in South Africa have been exposed to hardship and discrimination over many years. A literature review indicated that the planned participatory research project with Coloured women from Eersterust would be feasible. It became apparent that no studies on the information needs of Coloureds in South Africa had been done, and very little research was done dealing with the information needs of women. The literature on participatory research furthermore clearly indicated that the concept had become familiar in a diversity of settings and disciplines outside that of development. For the purposes of this study with women, it was also of significant interest to note the many similarities between participatory research and feminist research. With the practical implementation of the project, the pre-requisites and underlying principles of participatory research were strictly adhered to. Information needs that were identified during the course of the project were compared to needs identified in other similar South African studies. The active involvement of the women in the research project resulted in the identification of reliable and relevant information needs. These results can serve as an example for the increasing use of qualitative techniques in determining information needs, and affirm that participatory research methods can be a valuable alternative in the area of information needs research. / Dissertation (MIS (Information Science))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Information Science / unrestricted

Bibliography: pages 424-440. / The study relates the work done by social workers in the employ of the NG Sendingkerk to the community development needs of those communities that the NG Sendingkerk serves. The social workers concerned are trained by the Kerk itself. The study seek answers to the following questions: 1. What modern models of community development would be applicable to communities such as those served by the NG Sendingkerk and its social workers? What world view do such models of community development represent? 2. What are the principal features of the communities served by die NG Sendingkerk that are relevant to community development? 3. Relating (1) and (2) above, what criteria for optimum community development can be laid down for the Communities served by the NG Sendingkerk? 4. How do social workers trained by the NG Sendingkerk perceive the communities in which they work? What world view influences their perception? How does (4) relate to (2) above? 5. What is the programme of training followed by the NG Sendingkerk for its social workers? (A distinction is to be made between the intention of the training programme and the results of the training programme as perceived by the trainees). 6. If appropriate models of community development were to be applied to the communities which the NG Sendingkerk serves, to what extent does the Kerk's social work training equip its social workers with both the knowledge and the tools that these models require? 7. What proposals can be made for (1) modifying models of community development appropriate to the communities served by the NG Sendingkerk, (2) additional or different tools for the Kerk's social workers, (3) alteration of the perceptions of the communities within their existing world view?

Coloured Petri nets (CPN) are an extension of a standard place-transition Petri nets (P/T PN). Every token and place have its type (and eventually a value) and various inscriptions can be inserted into the net. CPN excel with great readibility and expresivity. At the same time, they carry a well-defined formal basis, which eases its computer simulation and allows limited verification of certain attributes to be performed. Motivation for doing this project is the simple fact that currently only one public software tool is available for CPN creation and simulation - CPNTools developed on the Aarhus university. The program, however, is quite complicated and hard to handle for an unexperienced user. The goal is to research capabilities and properties of both CPNs and CPNTools and on this basis design and implement a didactic application with swift and intuitive interface that helps users without deeper theoretical insight to get a grasp of the problematics.