Research has studied information seeking behaviour and several models have been developed. Those models were further modified following the emergence of the web. At the beginning of the 2000s, research started focusing on the concept of a user task instead of an activity or a simple action. The studies conducted were aimed to categorize the user activities into high level tasks. Investigating the tasks identified is anticipated to assist with developing tools and applications that would help the user to accomplish those tasks. After categorizing the user information seeking activities into high-level tasks, research continued to investigate changes in the frequencies of the tasks identified. Changes in the user behaviour that accompanied the evolution of the web and its applications have been targeted for improving how users interact with tools intended for accomplishing user activities. However, there has been little emphasis on studying the high-level tasks identified in the case of the web. Even though those tasks differ substantially, users have been using the same web browsing model to accomplish most of the activities under each type of task. The research discussed in this dissertation is concerned with studying the task of information gathering which is also known as the informational task. This task was selected due to: 1) its high frequency on the web (between 48% and 61.25% of the overall tasks users perform); 2) its complexity and the ambiguity associated with the kind of activities that comprise the task; 3) the need for using multiple applications for accomplishing the requirements of this type of task; and 4) the necessity for collecting different types of data from different sources for satisfying the task requirements. The current state in research related to information gathering identifies this task based on a simple description of the user activities that distinguishes information gathering from other kinds of tasks. The research discussed in this dissertation: 1) provides a thorough definition of the task, 2) models its underlying subtasks (sets of related activities), and 3) investigates difficulties and issues associated with each subtask. The investigations lead to design recommendations that resulted in building specific features to be examined during information gathering tasks. The research concluded by providing final recommendations based on the findings which resulted from investigating those features.

Cell culture media used in the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals conventionally contain many animal derived components. These components can harbor adventitious agents which can be transmitted through biotherapeutics, employed in the medical treatment of immunocompromised patients. An ADCF (animal derived component free) medium formulation obviates this concern. A rational method for the rapid and efficient screening and optimization of ADCF media while preserving, if not enhancing, cellular growth and protein productivity is needed. CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cells, widely used as a production platform in industry, expressing a recombinant protein, were employed as a model system. Design of Experiment (DOE) and statistical analysis were employed to assess the impact of media formulation on cellular physiology. Metabolic flux, cellular growth, and protein productivity were evaluated as the measures of ADCF media formulation success. Measurements of extracellular metabolites were determined by HPLC and enzymatic methods. Recombinant protein production was measured by HPLC. This research demonstrates the successful screening and optimization of four plant hydrolysate mixtures (2 soy and 2 wheat) as a replacement for animal derived components. / NSERC, ABIN, MABNET

Groundwater is an important water resource that must be protected from potential contamination due to anthropogenic activities such as industrial production and agriculture. It is necessary to understand the presence, movement, and persistence of contaminants in aquifers to develop adequate protection plans. Fractured bedrock aquifers with thin overburden cover are very sensitive to contamination, and little is known about transport processes from the ground surface to depth in this setting. Thus, this research was undertaken to improve the understanding of anthropogenic impacts on water quality in a natural fractured bedrock aquifer with minimal overburden protection. This was accomplished through a field-based investigation conducted in an agricultural setting near Perth, Ontario, Canada. The temporal and spatial variations of several contaminants and indicators (including nitrate, E. coli and polybrominated diphenyl ethers) were examined. A unique infiltration tracer experiment was also conducted to simulate the transport of solutes from the ground surface to wells. Results showed that nitrate concentrations were consistent on a daily scale, but varied monthly. In contrast to nitrate, greater bacterial (E. coli) variability was observed daily. E. coli was not identified in some locations for several months. The temporal variability of concentrations is an important consideration for those consuming groundwater in this setting, as concentrations may be acceptable one month while unsuitable another month (or even another day for fecal bacteria). Annual groundwater monitoring will likely not capture maximum concentrations and thus may not protect human health. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (flame retardants), which had not been previously measured in groundwater, were detected in the study aquifer at concentrations greater than observed in surface water bodies. It is evident that additional surveys of PBDE concentrations in groundwater are warranted. The infiltration tracer experiment showed that solute transport from the ground surface through thin soil to wells in fractured bedrock can be extremely rapid (on the order of hours) although very complex. This is an important consideration for private and municipally owned drinking water systems that draw water from shallow bedrock aquifers. The results of this research demonstrate that protecting water at the source is imperative in order to preserve water quality in sensitive fractured bedrock aquifers with minimal overburden cover. / Thesis (Ph.D, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2009-10-25 21:37:21.418

Darbe analizuojami teisės aktai reglamentuojantys atliekų tvarkymą, Europos sąjungos atliekų tvarkymo politika ir direktyvos. Išnagrinėta atliekų tvarkymo sistema Lietuvoje ir Šiaulių mieste. Balandžio mėnesį atliktas atliekų rūšiavimo eksperimentas Šiaulių mieste. Eksperimento objektai buvo parinkti atsižvelgiant į jų finansinę padėtį, gyvenimo įpročius bei šeimos sudėtį. Atlikus eksperimentą, objektai buvo palyginti tarpusavyje ir su bendrais Šiaulių miesto statistiniais duomenimis. Išanalizavus gautus duomenis buvo nustatyta, kad didžiausią įtaką atliekų rūšiavimo kokybei daro pačių gyventojų nesidomėjimas rūšiavimo galimybėmis, svarba bei jo nebuvimo keliamais padariniais aplinkai ir savo sveikatai. Taip pat eksperimento dalyviai teigė, jog jiems trūksta laiko, dėl greito gyvenimo tempo/kasdienių rūpesčių bei motyvacijos užsiimti tokia veikla. Siekiant pagerinti Šiaulių miesto atliekų rūšiavimo situaciją siūloma organizuoti švietėjišką veiklą mokyklose ir namų bendrijose, vengti atliekų susidarymo, pirkti mažai įpakuotus produktus, sekti teigiamais kitų ES šalių pavyzdžiais. / In thesis were analized the documents of Europian Union law which are regulating waste management and policy of waste management in Europe. Were analyzed the waste management system in Lithuania and Šiauliai city. In april month were performed the waste management experiment in Šiauliai city. Objects of experiment were choosen by their financial position, life habits and family composition. After experiment, objects were compared with each other and statistics of Šiauliai city. After results analyzing were assessed that bigest infuence to quality of waste sorting makes indifference of opportunityes in waste sortingand importance of this. Also the objects of experiment sayed that they have lack of the time, because of fast life rate and they had any motivation to make waste sorting. To get better situation of waste sorting in Šiauliai city suggestions is: organizing waste sorting education in schools and house communitys, people should avoid waste, buy low-packed products, get affirmative examples of other EU countries.

This thesis explores the use of generous behaviour as a costly signal to convey information about an unobservable social characteristic to other individuals in one's social environment. Building on recent contributions in this spirit, I develop a theoretical framework that contrasts signaling activities without social benefits with activities that benefit the observers in situations in which individuals compete for access to a scarce social good. The objective of the first part of the thesis is to characterize the possible separating equilibria in each case. While one obtains a multiplicity of equilibria when the agents employ neutral signals to convey information, one can make a unique prediction with respect to the individuals' equilibrium behaviour if they use beneficial signaling activities, the agents are of two discrete types, behave symmetrically within their respective types, and the observers of the signals adopt non-decreasing beliefs vis-à-vis the signalers' relative quality. In view of their sharp divergence, the second part of the thesis investigates experimentally the precision of these predictions. The results provide support for many elements of the theory. Among others, the behaviour of individuals in the treatments with beneficent signals is much more closely in line with the theoretical predictions than expected given the complexity of their behavioural implications, especially when it comes to the similarity of the participants' behaviour within them. Behaviour in the treatment with neutral signals, in turn, is consistent with multiple equilibria. The final part of the thesis explores what kind of signaling activity individuals trying to communicate their intentions to potential interaction partners will use in various social settings if given a choice. To this end, the framework developed in the first part is extended to allow the signalers to choose endogenously a signal from a “menu” of signaling activities rather than exogenously prescribing a messaging tool. Besides revealing that the uniqueness result of the framework without choice no longer obtains, the results indicate that the players may, under some conditions, opt for inefficient signals.

I denna uppsats har jag undersökt vilka utbildningsmedier som används på några skolor i utvalda kommuner i Dalarnas län: Älvdalen, Orsa, Mora och Falun, samt vilken påverkan dessa medier kan ha på elevernas inlärning. Uppsatsens övergripande syfte är att bidra med kunskap om hur utbildningsmedier kan användas i undervisningen i grundskolan samt hur elevers lärande kan påverkas av medier med audiovisuell information. Denna uppsats har följande forskningsfrågor: Hur vanligt är det att olika utbildningsmedier används i undervisningen och vilka typer av medier är vanligast? Vilken effekt kan utbildningsmedier ha på elevernas inlärningsförmåga? Och hur kan mediepedagogik vara ett redskap i undervisningen? Uppsatsens frågeställningar besvaras genom kvantitativa metoder i form av en enkät och ett experiment. Enkätundersökningen visa att medier ofta används som komplettering till undervisning på dessa utvalda skolor och de medier som används mest är video/film, bild/foto och internet. Experimentets resultat tyder på att det finns elever som troligtvis lär sig bättre genom att använda medier. Detta visades då experimentgrupperna som under en lektion fick titta på en video visade större inlärning än kontrollgrupperna som endast lyssnade på en föreläsning utan stöd av några utbildningsmedier.

Det är mycket svårt, om inte omöjligt att göra en opartisk dokumentärfilm. I minundersökning skapade jag en särskild mall som jag sedan följde då jag genomförde endokumentärproduktion. Mallens innehåll är baserat på teoretisk forskning jag gjortinom dokumentärteori och hade som mål att eliminera de största faktorerna sombidrar till det till synes omöjliggörandet av opartiskhet. En viktig del av den teoretiskaforskning jag gjort är de teorier Stella Bruzzi ställer angående performance. Jag valdepolitik som ämne för min produktion i hopp om att få två polariserade åsikter om ettämne för att därmed utmana regissörens opartiskhet så mycket som möjligt. Filmenvisades för respondenter som fick svara på en enkät. Jag gjorde även tre djupintervjuermed respondenter. Respondenternas reaktioner visar att jag lyckades göra en nästintillhelt opartisk film, men som var tråkig att se på.

The total worldwide base of installed wind energy peak capacity reached 94 GW by the end of 2007, including 1846 MW in Canada. Wind turbine systems are being installed throughout Canada and often in mountains and cold weather regions, due to their high wind energy potential. Harsh cold weather climates, involving turbulence, gusts, icing and lightning strikes in these regions, affect wind turbine performance. Ice accretion and irregular shedding during turbine operation lead to load imbalances, often causing the turbine to shut off. They create excessive turbine vibration and may change the natural frequency of blades as well as promote higher fatigue loads and increase the bending moment of blades. Icing also affects the tower structure by increasing stresses, due to increased loads from ice accretion. This can lead to structural failures, especially when coupled to strong wind loads. Icing also affects the reliability of anemometers, thereby leading to inaccurate wind speed measurements and resulting in resource estimation errors. Icing issues can directly impact personnel safety, due to falling and projected ice. It is therefore important to expand research on wind turbines operating in cold climate areas. This study presents an experimental investigation including three important fundamental aspects: 1) heat transfer characteristics of the airfoil with and without liquid water content (LWC) at varying angles of attack; 2) energy losses of wind energy while a wind turbine is operating under icing conditions; and 3) aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil during a simulated icing event. A turbine scale model with curved 3-D blades and a DC generator is tested in a large refrigerated wind tunnel, where ice formation is simulated by spraying water droplets. A NACA 63421 airfoil is used to study the characteristics of aerodynamics and convective heat transfer. The current, voltage, rotation of the DC generator and temperature distribution along the airfoil, which are used to calculate heat transfer coefficients, are measured using a Data Acquisition (DAQ) system and recorded with LabVIEW software. The drag, lift and moment of the airfoil are measured by a force balance system to obtain the aerodynamics of an iced airfoil. This research also quantifies the power loss under various icing conditions. The data obtained can be used to valid numerical data method to predict heat transfer characteristics while wind turbine blades worked in cold climate regions.

No description available.

Tsunamis are gravity water waves that are generated by impulsive disturbances such as submarine earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions or asteroid impacts. Submarine earthquakes are the primary tsunami source, but landslides may generate tsunamis exceeding tectonic tsunamis locally, in both wave and runup heights. The field data on landslide tsunami events are limited, in particular regarding submarine landslide dynamics and wave generation. Tsunamis generated by three-dimensional deformable granular landslides are physically modeled in the NEES (Network of Earthquake Engineering Simulation) 3D tsunami wave basin (TWB) at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. A novel pneumatic landslide tsunami generator is deployed to simulate natural landslide motion on a hill slope. The instrumentation consists of various underwater, above water and particle image velocimetry (PIV) cameras, numerous wave and runup gauges and a multi-transducer acoustic array (MTA). The subaerial landslide shape and kinematics on the hill slope and the surface elevation of the offshore propagating tsunami wave and runup on the hill slope are measured. The evolution of the landslide front velocity, maximum landslide thickness and width are obtained along the hill slope. The landslide surface velocity distribution is obtained from the PIV analysis of the subaerial landslide motion. The shape and the size of the submarine landslide deposit are measured with the MTA. Predictive equations are obtained for the tsunami wave amplitude, wave period and wavelength in terms of the non-dimensional landslide parameters. The generated 3D tsunami waves propagate away from the landslide source as radial wave fronts. The amplitudes of the leading tsunami waves decay away from the landslide source in radial and angular direction. The wave celerity of the leading tsunami wave may be approximated by the solitary wave speed while the trailing waves are slower due to the dispersion effects. The energy conversion rate between the landslide and the generated wave is estimated. The observed waves are weakly non-linear in nature and span from shallow water to deep water depth regime. The unique experimental data serves the validation and advancement of numerical models of tsunamis generated by landslides. The obtained predictive equations facilitate initial rapid tsunami hazard assessment and mitigation.