We attack the question of BPS occupancy in a wide class of 4d N = 2 quantum field theories. We first review the Seiberg-Witten approach to finding the low energy Wilsonian effective action actions of such theories. In particular, we analyze the case of Gaiotto theories, which provide a large number of non-trivial examples in a unified framework. We then turn to understanding the massive BPS spectrum of such theories, and in particular their relation to BPS quivers. We present a purely 4d characterization of BPS quivers, and explain how a quiver's representation theory encodes the solution to the BPS occupancy problem. Next, we derive a so called mutation method, based on exploiting quiver dualities, to solve the quiver's representation theory. This method makes previously intractable calculations nearly trivial in many examples. As a particular highlight, we apply our methods to understand strongly coupled chambers in ADE SYM gauge theories with matter. Following this, we turn to the general story of quivers for theories of the Gaiotto class. We present a geometric approach to attaining quivers for the rank 2 theories, leading to a very elegant solution which includes a specification of quiver superpotentials. Finally, we solve these theories by an unrelated method based on gauging flavor symmetries in their various dual weakly coupled Lagrangian descriptions. After seeing that this method agrees in the rank 2 case, we will apply our new approach to the case of rank n. / Physics

Unincorporated areas within a regional planning context are often of an essential ‘in-between’ nature — facing unique community-specific and site-specific challenges. These challenges include: identifying appropriate growth management strategies, examining how growth containment is best effected, and determining how this is best integrated in the unincorporated rural area context — especially where these areas are adjacent to rapidly growing incorporated urban-region centres. There are also considerations around how concepts, such as Complete Communities and Agricultural Urbanism, can be applied to such contexts — and how such concepts may facilitate a tighter, and more seamless, relationship between the typically polar opposite interventions under the banners of regional planning and community design. This practicum examines how the concepts of Complete Communities and Agricultural Urbanism are and/or could be applied to unincorporated rural areas as part of an approach to a combination of planning and design — as placemaking. The Regional District of Nanaimo’s Rural Village Centre (RDN RVC) strategy provides the main case study context, along with several other ostensibly comparable BC regional district settings as potentially informative precedents. It was discovered that there are increasing linkages between regional planning and community design that may be further advanced via a placemaking perspective. Of special note are the opportunities associated with adaptations of the concepts of Complete Communities and Agricultural Urbanism in the unincorporated rural context; referencing these concepts can enhance the linkages between the ‘unincorporated rural settings’ and their ‘incorporated’ municipal neighbours. The research has helped to identify where there may be room for improvement around RDN RVC strategies, and how they may be better applied in the future.

Unincorporated areas within a regional planning context are often of an essential ‘in-between’ nature — facing unique community-specific and site-specific challenges. These challenges include: identifying appropriate growth management strategies, examining how growth containment is best effected, and determining how this is best integrated in the unincorporated rural area context — especially where these areas are adjacent to rapidly growing incorporated urban-region centres. There are also considerations around how concepts, such as Complete Communities and Agricultural Urbanism, can be applied to such contexts — and how such concepts may facilitate a tighter, and more seamless, relationship between the typically polar opposite interventions under the banners of regional planning and community design. This practicum examines how the concepts of Complete Communities and Agricultural Urbanism are and/or could be applied to unincorporated rural areas as part of an approach to a combination of planning and design — as placemaking. The Regional District of Nanaimo’s Rural Village Centre (RDN RVC) strategy provides the main case study context, along with several other ostensibly comparable BC regional district settings as potentially informative precedents. It was discovered that there are increasing linkages between regional planning and community design that may be further advanced via a placemaking perspective. Of special note are the opportunities associated with adaptations of the concepts of Complete Communities and Agricultural Urbanism in the unincorporated rural context; referencing these concepts can enhance the linkages between the ‘unincorporated rural settings’ and their ‘incorporated’ municipal neighbours. The research has helped to identify where there may be room for improvement around RDN RVC strategies, and how they may be better applied in the future.

Bin packing is a problem with many applications in various industries. This thesis addresses a specific instance of the this problem, known as the Container Packing problem. Special attention is paid to the Pallet Loading problem which is a restricted sub-problem of the general Container Packing problem. Since the Bin Packing problem is NP-complete, it is customary to apply a heuristic measure in order to approximate solutions in a reasonable amount of computation time rather than to attempt to produce optimal results by applying some exact algorithm. Several heuristics are examined for the problems under consideration, and the results produced by each are shown and compared where relevant. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1991.

Serre classes of modules over a ring R are important because they describe relationships between certain classes of modules and sets of ideals of R. We characterize the Serre classes of three different types of modules. First we characterize all Serre classes of noetherian modules over a commutative noetherian ring. By relating noetherian modules to artinian modules via Matlis duality, we characterize the Serre classes of artinian modules. A module M is reflexive with respect to E if the natural evaluation map from M to its bidual is an isomorphism. When R is complete local and noetherian, take E as the injective envelope of the residue field of R. The main result provides a characterization of the Serre classes of reflexive modules over a complete local noetherian ring. This characterization depends on an ability to “construct” reflexive modules from noetherian modules and artinian modules. We find that Serre classes of reflexive modules over a complete local noetherian ring are in one-to-one correspondence with pairs of collections of prime ideals which are closed under specialization.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka hur fortbildning på ”Complete Vocal Institute”, CVI, påverkar och bidrar till sångpedagogers undervisningssätt. Bakgrundskapitlet ger en kort beskrivning av den fortbildning på ”Complete Vocal Institute” som informanterna i studien har gått. Vidare följer en presentation av komplett sångtekniks (CVT:s) grundare Cathrine Sadolin, hur CVT växte fram samt av metodens innebörd och funktion. Därefter presenteras tidigare forskning inom ämnesområdet och närliggande områden samt studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt.   Studien utgörs av kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra sångpedagoger som fortbildat sig genom CVI:s treåriga utbildning som berättigar till undervisning i CVT. I resultatet presenteras analysen av pedagogernas berättelser kring hur fortbildningen har påverkat och bidragit till deras undervisningssätt. Det framkommer att pedagogerna har tillgodogjort sig flera pedagogiska verktyg och förhållningssätt genom fortbildningen. Bland dessa kan nämnas CVT:s sångtekniska terminologi, olika undervisningssätt samt förhållningssättet att alltid låta undervisningen utgå från elevens smak och motivation. I det avslutande diskussionskapitlet lyfts valda aspekter ur resultatet fram och diskuteras i relation till det sociokulturella perspektivet på lärande samt till tidigare forskning. Aspekter som diskuteras är bland annat pedagogernas berättelser kring verktyget att undervisa utifrån olika undervisningssätt samt det pedagogiska förhållningssättet att ge ansvaret till eleven. / The aim of the present study is to explore how training at Complete Vocal Institute, CVI, affects and contributes to singing teachers way of teaching. The background chapter gives a brief description of the training course at CVI, followed by a presentation of the founder of Complete Song Technique (CVT), Cathrine Sadolin, how the technique evolved and its described meaning and function. Previous research in related fields is presented and the chapter concludes with the socio-cultural perspective, which form the basic understanding of this study. The study consists of four interviews with four singing teachers who have participated in a three-year training course at CVI, to become certified CVT-teachers. The result presents the analysis of the teachers' stories about how this training has influenced and contributed to their teaching methods. It appears that they have gained several educational tools and approaches through CVI including the CVT's vocals technical terminology, different teaching methods and a pedagogical approach to always let the student's taste and motivation constitute the base for learning. The concluding discussion highlights selected aspects of the results, which is discussed in relation to the socio-cultural perspective on learning and previous research. Aspects discussed include the teachers' emphasis on the importance of using five described different techniques as pedagogical tools as well as the approach of giving students responsibility for their learning process.

This thesis treats some of the problems related to the good drawings D$ sb{ rm n}$ of the complete graph K$ sb{ rm n}$. The first of these problems is obtaining all the non-isomorphic good drawings D$ sb{ rm n}$ of K$ sb{ rm n}$. After conjecturing that any good drawing D$ sb{ rm n}$ of K$ sb{ rm n}$ has at least one crossing-free Hamiltonian Circuit, an algorithm generating all the non-isomorphic good drawings D$ sb{ rm n}$ of K$ sb{ rm n}$ is developed. The second problem, determining the existence of a rectilinear drawing D$ sb{ rm n}$ of K$ sb{ rm n}$ with a given set of crossings, is solved by finding a characteristic of the rectilinear drawings D$ sb{ rm n}$ of K$ sb{ rm n}$. An algorithm using this characteristic determines whether a given set of crossing defines a rectilinear drawing D$ sb{ rm n}$ of K$ sb{ rm n}$. The last problem, to generate all the non-isomorphic rectilinear drawings D$ sb{ rm n}$ of K$ sb{ rm n}$, is solved by an algorithm using a set of rectilinear drawings D$ sb{ rm n-1}$ of K$ sb{ rm n-1}$.

Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and Brachyspira pilosicoli are anaerobic intestinal spirochaetes that are the aetiological agents of swine dysentery and intestinal spirochaetosis, respectively. As part of this PhD study the genome sequence of B. hyodysenteriae strain WA1 and a near complete sequence of B. pilosicoli strain 95/1000 were obtained, and subjected to comparative genomic analysis. The B. hyodysenteriae genome consisted of a circular 3.0 Mb chromosome, and a 35,940 bp circular plasmid that has not previously been described. The incomplete genome of B. pilosicoli contained 4 scaffolds. There were 2,652 and 2,297 predicted ORFs in the B. hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli strains, respectively. Of the predicted ORFs, more had similarities to proteins of the enteric Clostridium species than they did to proteins of other spirochaetes. Many of these genes were associated with transport and metabolism, and they may have been gradually acquired through horizontal gene transfer in the environment of the large intestine. A reconstruction of central metabolic pathways of the Brachyspira species identified a complete set of coding sequences for glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, a non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, nucleotide metabolism and a respiratory electron transport chain. A notable finding was the presence of rfb genes on the B. hyodysenteriae plasmid, and their apparent absence from B. pilosicoli. As these genes are involved in rhamnose biosynthesis it is likely that the composition of the B. hyodysenteriae lipooligosaccharide O-sugars is different from that of B. pilosicoli. O-antigen differences in these related species could be associated with differences in their specific niches, and/or with their disease specificity. Overall, comparison of B. hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli protein content and analysis of their central metabolic pathways showed that they have diverged markedly from other spirochaetes in the process of adapting to their habitat in the large intestine. The presence of overlapping genes in the two spirochaetes and in other spirochaete species also was investigated. The number of overlapping genes in the 12 spirochaete genomes examined ranged from 11-45%. Of these, 80% were unidirectional. Overlapping genes were found irregularly distributed within the Brachyspira genomes such that 70-80% of them occurred on the same strand (unidirectional, ->->/<-<-), with 16-28% occurring on opposite DNA strands (divergent, <-->). The remaining 4-6% of overlapping genes were convergent (-><-). The majority of the unidirectional overlap regions were relatively short, with >50% of the total observations overlapping by >4 bp. A small number of overlapping gene-pairs were duplicated within each genome and there were some triplet overlapping genes. Unique orthologous overlapping genes were identified within the various spirochaete genera. Over 75% of the overlapping genes in the Brachyspira species were in the same or related metabolic pathway. This finding suggests that overlapping genes are not only likely to be the result of functional constraints but also are constrained from a metabolomic context. Of the remaining 25% overlapping genes, 50% contained one hypothetical gene with unknown function. In addition, in one of the orthologous overlapping genes in the Brachyspira species, a promoter was shared, indicating the presence of a novel class of overlapping gene operon in these intestinal spirochaetes.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Computer Science, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Orientador: Marco Antonio Compagnoni / Banca: Débora Barros Barbosa / Banca: Raphael Freitas de Souza / Banca: Adhemar Colla Ruvolo Filho / Banca: João Neudenir Arioli Filho / Resumo: O estudo da porosidade em resina acrílica para base de prótese tem sido realizado por meio de diversos métodos, entre eles o método que associa a porosidade com a sorção de água pela resina acrílica tendo como base o Princípio de Arquimedes. O objetivo do presente estudo foi validar um método de análise da porosidade por meio de sorção de água em resinas acrílicas para base protética por meio da determinação de uma solução adequada de armazenamento dos espécimes (aw ótima), em função de dois formatos de espécime (retangular, de acordo com a norma ISO 1567 e formato de uma base protética) e duas resinas acrílicas para base protética processadas de maneiras distintas: banho de água (Clássico) e microondas (Acron MC). As soluções de armazenamento utilizadas nesse estudo corresponderam a soluções de cloreto de cálcio anidro a 25%, 50%, 75%, e água destilada pura. Após a determinação dos grupos onde se estabeleceu a aw ótima, foram calculados o fator de porosidade (FP) e o coeficiente de difusão (D) nesses grupos bem como para os grupos armazenados em água destilada pura. Os resultados de FP foram comparados por meio de análise de variância (ANOVA) para um fator, seguida pelo teste HSD de Tukey. Para o D, empregou-se o teste de Kruskal-Wallis, seguido do teste de Dunn (Acron MC, P=0,003; Clássico, P=0,020). Para todos os procedimentos estatísticos, o nível de significância foi _= 0,05. A partir dos resultados foi possível concluir que para a resina polimerizada em microondas (Acron MC), a aw ótima é uma solução de cloreto de cálcio anidro a 50% para o formato base protética e de 75% para o formato ISO. Já para a resina polimerizada em banho de água quente (Clássico), concluiu-se que os espécimes para avaliação da porosidade devem ser armazenados em solução de cloreto de cálcio anidro a 75% para o formato base protética e 50 % no formato ISO. / Abstract: The study of porosity in acrylic resin has been carried out by means of diverse methods, among them the method that associates the porosity with the water sorption by acrylic resin which is based on Archimedes' Principle. The aim of the present study was to validate a method of porosity analysis by means of water sorption in denture base resins by the determination of an adequate solution of specimens storage (optimal aw), as a function of two specimen shapes (rectangular in accordance with ISO 1567 and denture base shape) and two denture base resins processed in different ways: water bath (Clássico) and microwave-polymerized (Acron MC). The storage solutions used in this study were anhydrous calcium chloride solutions at 25%, 50%, 75%, and distilled water. After the determination of optimal aw, porosity factor (FP) and diffusion coefficient (D) have been calculated in these groups and for the groups stored in distilled water. FP results have been compared by one-way ANOVA, followed for Tukey HSD test. For D, Kruskal-Wallis test was performed, followed by Dunn test (Acron MC, P=0,003; Clássico, P=0,020). For all the statistical procedures, the level of significance was _= .05. From the results, it was possible to conclude that for Classico resin, the storage solution indicated for porosity evaluation is anhydrous calcium chloride solution at 50% for denture base shape, and 75 % for ISO shape. For the water bath-polymerized resin (Classico), it was concluded that the specimens for porosity evaluation must be stored in anhydrous calcium chloride solution at 75% for denture base shape and 50 % for ISO shape. It was also concluded that, for the same resin, specimen shape did not influence on FP since the specimens are stored in optimal aw established in this study. / Doutor