Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient for the growth and development of all organisms. Zinc deficiency is a widespread micronutrient disorder worldwide, which reduces crop yields and the nutritive value of the grain. Understanding the process of zinc absorption and translocation in crop is essential for this purpose. Zinc is taken up by plants and translocated within plants through high-affinity zinc transporter proteins embedded in the plasma membrane. The Zn transporters are induced under Zn deficiency, and it is speculated that the expression levels of some of zinc transporters are critical for improved tolerance to low zinc. A number of Zn transporters have been cloned from higher plants including rice and Arabidopsis, but little has been done in barley and wheat. This project aims to investigate genes involveld in zinc efficiency mechanism by complementation analysis in yeast, which is double mutant of zinc-transporters, using cDNA expression library from a most zinc efficient barley cultivar, Tokak-157.

Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (CMUTs) have been introduced as a viable alternative to piezoelectric transducers in medical ultrasound imaging in the last decade. CMUTs are especially suitable for applications requiring small size such as catheter based cardiovascular applications. Despite these advantages and their broad bandwidth, earlier studies indicated that the overall sensitivity of CMUTs need to be improved to match piezoelectric transducers. This dissertation addresses this issue by introducing the dual-electrode CMUT concept. Dual electrode configuration takes advantage of leveraged bending in electrostatic actuators to increase both the pressure output and receive sensitivity of the CMUTs. Static and dynamic finite element based models are developed to model the behavior of dual-electrode CMUTs. The devices are then successfully fabricated and characterized. Experiments illustrate that the pulse echo performance is increased by more than 15dB with dual-electrode CMUTs as compared to single electrode conventional CMUT. Further device optimization is explored via membrane shape adjustment by adding a center mass to the design. Electromechanical coupling coefficient (kc2) is investigated as a figure of merit to evaluate performance improvement with non-uniform/uniform membrane dual-electrode CMUTs. When the center mass is added to the design, the optimized non-uniform membrane increases the electromechanical coupling coefficient from 0.24 to 0.85 while increasing one-way 3dB fractional bandwidth from 80% to 140% and reducing the DC bias requirement from 160V to 132V. The results of this modeling study are successfully verified by experiments. With this membrane shape adjustment, significant performance improvement (nearly 20dB) is achieved with the dual-electrode CMUT structure that enables the CMUT performance to exceed that of piezoelectric transducers for many applications.

Zinc is a metal involved in structure of many enzymes, in the growth and differentiation of plants. Wheat is one of the most consumed cereals. Some wheat cultivars can&amp / #8217 / t deal with zinc deficiency and this situation not only reduces grain yield but also weakens the resistance of cereals to diseases and impairs the nutritional quality of the grain. Some wheat cultivars are not affected by zinc deficiency. In this study, &amp / #8216 / differential display&amp / #8217 / , used for determination differentially expressed genes between two samples, was performed. The most zinc efficient bread wheat cultivar Kira&ccedil / -66 was grown in hydroponics medium and samples were taken at different time periods. RNA isolations were done and differential display technique was performed. After examining the results, differentially expressed bands were selected and sequenced. DNA sequence analysis were done in available databases which showed that three of the bands were fragments of putative zinc transporters. In this study we have found threee putative gene fragments using differential display technique on zinc efficient plants grown under differeing zinc concentrations. These fragments showed homology with zinc transporter, ABC transporter and ADH (Alcohol Dehydrogenase). It is known that all of these three genes are involved in zinc efficiency mechanism. Further studies will be conducted on these gene fragments.

With tighter emission regulations for road vehicles pushing the technology forward, fuel savings are indirectly affecting the designs and technical solutions of loader cranes. By decentralizing the hydraulic power through driving each actuator separately, the goal of a more efficient crane drive is strived for. This thesis analyzes if the simple concept of a pump-controlled cylinder directly driven by an induction motor is achievable for a loader crane. Further, the crucial role of the induction motor is studied both mathematically and physically. A special research is also performed on energy efficiency and the capability of electric energy regeneration. By forming the transfer function of the system and performing measurements on a physical setup, the conclusion is drawn that the proposed pump-controlled cylinder concept is fully functional for its purpose which implies that the technology is promising. The report identifies a number of complications with this configuration, such as the induction motor demonstrating reduced performance at high loads and low speeds. Suggestions of improvements are presented with regards to these issues. The thesis also demonstrates high efficiency during a lifting motion and that the possibility of efficient electric energy regeneration is achievable if an optimum lowering speed is considered.

The desire to use more energy efficient heavy equipment in the earth-moving industry has rapidly increased due to higher environmental awareness. Studies within electrification and new types of hydraulic circuit architecture has shown great potential regarding energy savings. The advantages of implementing a closed, pump-controlled, hydraulic system for controlling the boom cylinder on the back-hoe of an articulated backhoe loader is evaluated in this thesis. The possibilities of electric energy regeneration is investigated and to what extent energy savings can be expected for the complete hydraulic system during normal operation. In order for pump-controlled systems to even be conceivable alternatives to conventional valve-controlled system, they must be able to achieve the same characteristics and driveability as the original valve-controlled systems. The possibilities of imitating the characteristics of a valve-controlled hydraulic system with hydro-mechanical pressure feedback is also investigated in this thesis. The original characteristic is able to be imitated with the implemented pump-controlled system with simple means by defining the current characteristic as the relationship between the operator input, cylinder load and cylinder flow. The evaluated sectioned hydraulic system demonstrates energy savings of 30% during both a light and a heavy duty cycle. With components more suitable for this type of system and an improved control strategy, energy savings of over 50% compared to the original system is believed to be possible.

This study veers from the traditional perspective of examining school efficiency or productivity as a cost minimizing process, in which educational inputs are minimized to achieve maximum outputs (student performance). Instead, it provides a critical examination of the dominant, cost minimizing assumption associated with efficiency models and suggest schools instead behave similarly to budget maximizers as presented in Niskanen’s (1971) seminal budget maximizing framework. The study examines the relationship between total student expenditures and subsequent student outcomes, establishing the relative efficiency of Texas school districts using stochastic frontier analysis within a budget-maximizing framework. Additionally, the study investigates how special education populations are structured within those districts deemed efficient or inefficient. The results of the study concluded that district efficient type did not result in different educational outcomes for students with disabilities. While analysis revealed that inefficient districts spend almost twice as much as efficient districts, no other significant differences were identified among districts type based on the percentage of students receiving special education or student performance. This study contributes to the growing need to identify more appropriate estimation techniques for measuring school productivity and how students with special needs should be included in the education productivity conversation.

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A última reforma administrativa brasileira de 1998 buscou na iniciativa privada ideias para melhorias em sua gestão, como o princípio da eficiência, o new public management e a maior flexibilidade na contratação e dispensa de trabalhadores. No entanto, a inovação proposta não levou em conta aquilo que as mais modernas teorias adotadas pelas organizações privadas de fato propõem. A noção de que a estabilidade da burocracia na Administração Pública seria perniciosa e menos eficiente não se sustenta, especialmente no tocante ao turnover e à retenção de quadros qualificados. A valorização do capital humano, e não o seu descarte, é que torna melhor a gestão, quer da empresa privada, quer do setor público. / The last Brazilian Public Administration reform in 1998 sought within the private sector ideas to improve its management, such as the principle of efficiency, the new public management and the greater flexibility in hiring and laying off public workers. However, the proposed innovation did not observed what private sectors present-day theories actually proposed. The notion that the bureaucracys stability in public administration would be pernicious and less efficient is inaccurate, especially with regards to turnover and retention of qualified staff. The enrichment of human capital, and not its disposal, is what makes managing better, whether in the private enterprise or in the public sector.

This theses analyzes Cuk converter, that is one of the dc to dc switching converters. For continuous inductor current mode and discontinuous inductor current mode, stedy state operation is analysied. Characteristic parameters are determined. Through State Space Averge Models, Small Signal Models are obtained. Parasitic Resistance effects on steady state and small signal models are determined. Efficency of the switching converter is derived. Open loop transfer functions for continous and discontinuous inductor curret mode are obtained. Parmeters for small signal behaviour is determined and stability is analysied. Parasitic resistance effects on transfer functions is determined. Therotecial analysis are verified with a simulations of designed converter.

A última reforma administrativa brasileira de 1998 buscou na iniciativa privada ideias para melhorias em sua gestão, como o princípio da eficiência, o new public management e a maior flexibilidade na contratação e dispensa de trabalhadores. No entanto, a inovação proposta não levou em conta aquilo que as mais modernas teorias adotadas pelas organizações privadas de fato propõem. A noção de que a estabilidade da burocracia na Administração Pública seria perniciosa e menos eficiente não se sustenta, especialmente no tocante ao turnover e à retenção de quadros qualificados. A valorização do capital humano, e não o seu descarte, é que torna melhor a gestão, quer da empresa privada, quer do setor público. / The last Brazilian Public Administration reform in 1998 sought within the private sector ideas to improve its management, such as the principle of efficiency, the new public management and the greater flexibility in hiring and laying off public workers. However, the proposed innovation did not observed what private sectors present-day theories actually proposed. The notion that the bureaucracys stability in public administration would be pernicious and less efficient is inaccurate, especially with regards to turnover and retention of qualified staff. The enrichment of human capital, and not its disposal, is what makes managing better, whether in the private enterprise or in the public sector.