Pythium diseases are common in the greenhouse production of tobacco transplants and can cause up to 70% seedling loss in hydroponic (float-bed) greenhouses. However, the symptoms and consequences of Pythium diseases are often variable among these greenhouses. A tobacco transplant greenhouse survey was conducted in 2017 in order to investigate the sources of this variability, especially the composition and distribution of Pythium communities within greenhouses. The survey revealed twelve Pythium species. Approximately 80% of the surveyed greenhouses harbored Pythium in at least one of four sites within the greenhouse, including the center walkway, weeds, but especially bay water and tobacco seedlings. Pythium dissotocum, followed by P. myriotylum, were the most common species. Pythium myriotylum, P. coloratum, and P. dissotocum were aggressive pathogens that suppressed seed germination and caused root rot, stunting, foliar chlorosis, and death of tobacco seedlings. Pythium aristosporum, P. porphyrae, P. torulosum, P. inflatum, P. irregulare, P. catenulatum, and a different isolate of P. dissotocum, were weak pathogens, causing root symptoms without affecting the upper part of tobacco seedlings. Pythium adhaerens, P. attrantheridium, and P. pectinolyticum did not affect tobacco seeds or seedlings. The consequences of Pythium infection were more likely to be severe when they occurred during seed germination than at seedling emergence, or after plant stem elongation when seedling roots had started to grow into underlying nutrient solutions, depending on the species of Pythium. High and low variation was observed among isolates of P. dissotocum and P. myriotylum, respectively. Pythium myriotylum co-existed with multiple other Pythium or oomycete species in the same environments within tobacco greenhouses, and significant in vitro and/or in vivo interactions between P. myriotylum and some naturally co-existing species were revealed. Pythium porphyrae may have the potential to protect tobacco seeds and seedlings from P. myriotylum infection. Greenhouse Pythium control trials identified ethaboxam, mefenoxam, and copper ionization as potentially promising alternatives to etridiazole for Pythium disease management in tobacco transplant production. The outcomes of this project provide useful new information to better understand the composition, distribution, and diversity of Pythium communities in tobacco transplant greenhouses and to improve Pythium disease management for tobacco transplant production. / Doctor of Philosophy / Pythium diseases are common in tobacco transplant production and can cause up to 70% seedling losses in hydroponic (float-bed) tobacco transplant greenhouses. However, little is known about the composition and distribution of Pythium communities in tobacco transplant greenhouses. This project began with a tobacco transplant greenhouse survey, in which 12 Pythium species were recovered from center walkways, weeds, greenhouse bay water, and tobacco seedlings. Pythium dissotocum and P. myriotylum were the two types (species) of Pythium most commonly found in the survey. Pythium myriotylum, P. coloratum, and P. dissotocum were aggressive pathogens that suppressed seed germination and caused root rot, stunting, foliar chlorosis, and death of tobacco seedlings. Pythium aristosporum, P. porphyrae, P. torulosum, P. inflatum, P. irregulare, P. catenulatum, and an isolate of P. dissotocum, were weak pathogens causing root symptoms without affecting the upper part of tobacco seedlings. Pythium adhaerens, P. attrantheridium, and P. pectinolyticum did not affect tobacco seeds or seedlings. The symptoms caused by infection by Pythium species differed among host (tobacco) growth stages, except for the most aggressive species, P. myriotylum. High levels of variation were observed among isolates of P. dissotocum, in terms of vegetative growth rate (on V8 agar media) and aggressiveness on tobacco seed and seedlings. Pythium myriotylum was found to co-exist with multiple other Pythium or oomycete species (neighbor isolates) in the same environments within tobacco greenhouses. Significant interactions between P. myriotylum and some neighbor isolates were revealed, and these interactions significantly affect the consequences of P. myriotylum infection of tobacco seeds. Greenhouse Pythium control trials identified two chemical water treatments (ethaboxam and mefenoxam), and a non-chemical water treatment (copper ionization) as potentially promising alternatives to the current standard Pythium control (etridiazole) for Pythium disease management in tobacco transplant production. The outcomes of this project provide useful new information to both better understand the composition, distribution, and diversity of Pythium communities in tobacco transplant greenhouses and to improve Pythium disease management for tobacco transplant production.

No description available.

This research presents a Resource-constrained Critical Path Method (RCPM) technique that capitalizes on and improves the existing Critical Path Method (CPM) and Resource-Constrained Scheduling (RCS) techniques. A traditional CPM schedule is not realistic since it assumes unlimited resources, some of which are highly limited in practice. Although traditional RCS techniques can consider resource limitations, they do not provide correct floats and the critical path as the CPM does. The difference between the theoretical remaining total float and the real remaining total float is referred to as "Phantom Float" in this study. Another disadvantage of the traditional RCS techniques is that work sequence in the schedule could be considerably changed with a schedule update resulting in high costs to reorganize it. These problems are caused by the fact that, in addition to technological relationships, a resource-constrained schedule contains resource dependencies between activities that are neglected in traditional RCS techniques. This study proposes a step-by-step RCPM algorithm to consider those resource-constrained relationships. Hence, the method can identify real floats and correct critical paths, considering both technological and resource-dependent relationships. RCPM also provides a certain level of stability with a schedule update due to the newly identified resource relationships. Based on the RCPM algorithm, a prototype RCPM system has been developed using Visual C++, Visual Basic, and Ra (Primavera Project Planner API). The system is integrated with P3, so that it reads project information directly from a P3 project, performs necessary RCPM procedures, and updates the P3 project to contain identified resource relationships. To make the system more practical, functions to handle multiple project calendars and progressed schedules have been included as well. / Ph. D.

Many construction contracts require contractors to use the Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling technique as a management tool. In such projects, many participating parties commonly attempt to appropriate float time shown in the CPM schedules in order to advance their own interests. Under current scheduling practices, float time is considered "free" and therefore does not belong to any one party in the construction process. As a result of this conception, when a project delay occurs, float ownership and its utilization can become a major source of dispute. This ambiguous interpretation of total float ownership can be clarified by improving contract language with regard to scheduling specifications in the area of total float management. The purpose of this research dissertation is to introduce a comprehensive practice of float pre-allocation and management terms, for the application of scheduling specifications in the CPM-based construction contract. The proposed concept for managing "total float" involves pre-allocating a set amount of total float on the same non-critical path of activities to the two contractual parties - owner and contractor. For the sake of equity, this research adopts an equal (50-50) allocation concept, which allocates to each party one-half of the total float. This new concept for pre-allocating and managing "total float" involves recommending contract clauses to direct its use and to explain the manner in which responsibility for any resulting delay will be assigned. Six examples of factual situations are provided to illustrate the assigning of responsibility for delays. The features of proposed concept are then compared to those of other theories presently being used. Such a comparison provides insight as to which features have not worked well in the past - and how those of the proposed concept can change this. A Delphi survey is used to validate the total float pre-allocation concept of equal allocation. The survey shows that the concept could significantly increase involved parties' awareness of total float consumption and thus help resolve any potential disputes regarding it. This dissertation considers suggestions obtained from the survey and recommends them for future study. The simple step of inserting new scheduling language into the construction contract documents assures that all participants will become more aware of the fact that when they consume floats, they introduce the potential of increasing project completion times. / Ph. D.

On a regular basis, project managers concentrate their efforts on critical and near-critical activities. However, the concepts of total float and critical path lose their significance after applying resource-constrained scheduling (RCS) methodologies. RCS techniques solve the resource conflicts but create phantom float in the schedules (i.e., a float that does not exist). RCS techniques overlook the resources relationships between activities that compete for the same but unavailable resources. Therefore, each time an activity uses this apparent float (phantom float), there is a resource violation in the schedule. Due to the projects' size and complexity, schedulers use scheduling software such as Primavera P6 to fix the resource conflicts of a schedule. The software correctly determines the activities' earliest dates that satisfy the resource limitations, but they calculate total float based on a "Time Context" ignoring the presence of resource constraints. Thus, the results show incorrect total float values and a broken critical path. The lack of a continuous critical path makes impossible the anticipation of the impact of a delaying event in the project completion time. Several algorithms have been developed to address the shortcomings of RCS methods. These RCS related algorithms were developed with the aim of providing project managers a tool to correctly schedule and identify critical activities with respect to time and resource allocation and correctly calculate the total float of each activity under resource constraints. In this regard, the Resource-Constrained Critical Path Method (RCPM) is an algorithm that correctly calculates the floats of activities and identifies a continuous critical path in resource-constrained schedules. Regardless of the RCPM provides more reliable float values than traditional RCS-related algorithms, there are some shortcomings that must be addressed to enhance its capability. This study addresses the existing shortcomings of RCPM to make it more practical for real construction projects. / Doctor of Philosophy / One of the challenges of resource allocation is resource availability because oftentimes, the resource demand exceeds the supply. When resources are over-allocated, activities are delayed until resources become available. Due to the projects' size and complexity, schedulers use available software to solve the resource conflicts of a schedule. After testing Primavera P6 versions and MS Project v2016, both software create phantom float in a resource-constrained schedule. This is, the RCS calculations suggest that activities have float, but this float might not exist at all. Resource-Constrained Scheduling (RCS) techniques mitigate a resource supply-demand problem but fail to identify a project critical path. The methods do not consider the resource-activity dependencies that arise when activities are delayed due to resource limits. As a result, the critical path is broken, and all the activities must be considered as critical. To provide correct float values and a continuous critical path, the Resource-Constrained Critical Path (RCPM) was introduced by Kim and de la Garza in 2003. Regardless of the RCPM provides more reliable float values than traditional RCS-related algorithms, there are some shortcomings that must be addressed to enhance its capability. This study addresses the existing shortcomings of RCPM to make it more practical for real construction projects.

Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist es, die Temperaturbeständigkeit von bikontinuierlichen Kompositmembranen bestehend aus Zeolith 4A und Visiomer HEMATMDI zu überprüfen und das Verhalten ihrer Permeanz im Verlauf der Temperaturerhöhung zu untersuchen. Weiterhin wird ihre Verwendbarkeit für technisch und industriell relevante Prozesse der Gastrocknung nachgewiesen. Zunächst wird thermogravimetrisch untersucht, bei welcher Temperatur Zersetzungserscheinungen an der polymeren Komponente auftreten. Anschließend wird thermogravimetrisch der Wassergehalt von Zeolith 4A im Bereich dieser Temperatur bestimmt. Hierauf folgen Permeationsmessungen mit Sauerstoff und Stickstoff an der bikontinuierlichen Kompositmembran. Die Temperatur wird hierbei schrittweise bis knapp unter die Zersetzungstemperatur des Polymers erhöht. Die Eignung der Membranen zur Gastrocknung wird exemplarisch an der Trocknung von Erdgas gezeigt. Es werden die Permeanzen für Wasserdampf und Methan als Hauptbestandteil von Erdgas mittels Einzelgasmessungen experimentell bestimmt. Aus diesen Permeanzen errechnet sich die ideale Selektivität der bikontinuierlichen Kompositmembran von Wasserdampf gegenüber Methan. Mit ihrer Hilfe lässt sich die Eignung der Membran zur Trocknung von Erdgas abschätzen. / The aim of this work is to study the temperature resistance of bicontinuous composite membranes, composed zeolite 4A and Visiomer HEMATMDI, and their permeances with rising temperatures. Furthermore their suitability for gas drying is investigated.

The purpose of this study is to investigate witch knowledge and thoughts children will have about the term of floating and sinking, and witch possibilities there is to make various knowledge visible in preschool physics through playing with water. The study also concern the differences and similarities between two different groups of age who have participated in the study. The study was carried out by an activity with participant observation and feedback interviews afterwards. The result shows that the possibilities to physics are many in preschool. The children expressed new thoughts and ideas who concern other phenomena in physics during the investigation and discussed similar experiments and material to examine. The result shows that the children used previous experience and knowledge to explain and ask hypotheses. They also used their language through interaction with each other to understand, create and recreate knowledge. / Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka kunskaper och tankar barn har kring begreppen flyta och sjunka, och vilka möjligheter det finns att synliggöra de olika kunskaperna inom fysik i förskolan genom vattenlek. Studien berör även skillnader och likheter mellan två åldersgrupper som deltagit i undersökningen. Studien genomfördes genom en aktivitet med deltagande observation samt återkoppling med intervjuer efter aktivitetstillfället. Resultatet visar på att möjligheterna till fysik i förskolan är många. Under undersökningen gav barnen uttryck för nya tankar och idéer som berör andra fenomen inom fysiken samt diskuterade vidare om liknande experiment och material de ville undersöka. Resultatet visar att barnen använde sig av tidigare erfarenheter och kunskaper för att förklara och ställa hypoteser. De använde sig även av språket genom samspelet med varandra för att förstå, skapa och omskapa kunskap.

A novel dislocation locking technique is used to study the behaviour of nitrogen and oxygen in silicon. Specimens containing well-defined arrays of dislocation half-loops are subjected to isothermal anneals of controlled duration, during which nitrogen or oxygen diffuses to the dislocations. The stress required to move the dislocations away from the impurities is then measured. Measurement of this unlocking stress as a function of annealing time and temperature allows information on the transport of nitrogen and oxygen to be deduced. Despite being present in a concentration of just 3E14cm-3 in some specimens, nitrogen is found to provide substantial benefits to the mechanical properties of float-zone silicon (FZ-Si). The segregation of nitrogen at dislocations is stable to at least 1200 degrees centigrade and the unlocking stress measured at 550 degrees centigrade is of similar magnitude to that found previously for oxygen in Czochralski silicon (Cz-Si). The unlocking stress initially rises linearly with annealing time, before it takes a constant value. The rate of the initial rise is dependent on temperature and the 1.5eV activation energy found agrees with that found previously. The rate of the initial rise also depends on nitrogen concentration. In the 500 to 700 degrees centigrade temperature range, the unlocking stress is found to decrease linearly as the temperature at which the unlocking process takes place increases. The results of a pre-annealing experiment confirm that oxygen monomers and dimers in Cz-Si exist in thermodynamic equilibrium at 550 degrees centigrade. Numerical simulation of oxygen diffusion to dislocations allows values of the effective diffusivity of oxygen in Cz-Si with four different oxygen concentrations to be deduced. At 500 degrees centigrade, the effective diffusivity depends upon oxygen concentration in a way which is consistent with oxygen dimers being responsible for transport. The transport of oxygen in Cz-Si at 550 to 600 degrees centigrade is found to be unaffected by nitrogen doping at a level of 2.1E15cm-3. The dislocation locking technique has also been used to study the effect of high concentrations of shallow dopants on oxygen transport in Cz-Si in the 350 to 550 degrees centigrade temperature range. Oxygen transport has been found to be unaffected by a high antimony concentration ~3E18cm-3, but is found to be enhanced by, on average, a factor of approximately 44 in Cz-Si with a high boron concentration ~5E18cm-3. Furthermore, deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and high-resolution DLTS (HR-DLTS) are used to study the electrical activity of defects in silicon. A deep-level with an enthalpy of 0.50eV and a concentration of order 10E11cm-3 is found in n-type nitrogen-doped FZ-Si and n-type nitrogen-doped neutron transmutation doped FZ-Si. No additional deep-levels are found in either material, for which the detection limit is 6E10cm-3. No deep-levels are found in p-type nitrogen-doped Cz-Si, for which the detection limit is approximately 10E12cm-3. DLTS and HR-DLTS are also used to investigate the electrical activity of oxygen-decorated dislocations in Cz-Si and states associated with oxygen at dislocation cores have been identified.

Deux séries d'OSSEs (Observing System Simulation Experiments) sont menées avec deux systèmes globaux d'assimilation de données au 1/4° et au 1/12°, utilisant des observations altimétriques (satellites) et in situ (flotteurs Argo) simulées à partir d'une simulation libre au 1/12°. Les objectifs sont d'évaluer la capacité des différents jeux d'observations à contraindre un système global d'assimilation de données. L'impact positif de plusieurs satellites est clairement identifié autant sur le niveau de la mer et les courants de surface. L'ajout des flotteurs Argo améliore significativement les champs de température et démontre le rôle essentiel de la flotte Argo associée à l'altimétrie afin de contraindre un système d'assimilation global. Ces résultats issus d'OSSEs sont cohérents avec des résultats obtenus à partir de données réelles (OSEs - Observing System Evaluations) tout en permettant une meilleure description des erreurs faites sur les analyses et les prévisions. / Two series of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) are carried out with global data assimilation systems at 1/4° and 1/12° resolution using simulated altimetry (satellite) and in situ (Argo float) data derived from a 1/12° resolution free run simulation. The objectives are to quantify how well different data sets can constrain a global data assimilation system. The positive impact of multiple altimeter data is clearly evidenced on sea level and ocean currents. The addition of Argo has a major impact to improve temperature and demonstrates the essential role of Argo together with altimetry to constrain a global data assimilation system. Results derived from these OSSEs are consistent with those derived from experiments with real data (observing system evaluations/OSEs) but they allow a more detailed characterization of errors on analyses and forecasts.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur kommunikationen ser ut mellan pedagog och barn när barn undersöker materials egenskaper i vatten. Studien bygger på observationer av strukturerad karaktär. Den genomförs som en planerad aktivitet på en förskola, där barnen i små grupper fritt undersöker några materials egenskaper i vatten. Resultatet visar på att förskollärarna ställer frågor för att uppmärksamma barnens handlande. De ställer ofta produktiva frågor för att få barnen att fortsätta undersöka det de upplever. Förskollärarna följer upp responsen från barnen genom att bekräfta dem. Svaret är inte det viktiga, utan vägen dit. Responsen följs ibland av förskollärarens egna svar på frågan, då de haft en tanke med vad barnen ska erfara. Studien visar på att barn är nyfikna på att undersöka materials egenskaper i vattnet och förskollärares frågor uppmärksammar barnens utforskande. Barnen utmanas i sitt handlande när de får sätta ord på sina tankar och görs delaktiga i sin egna lärprocess. Barnen får feedback på de frågor de har och utforskandet kan på så sätt fortsätta. / The purpose of the study is to examine communication between preschool teacher and children while exploring properties of different kind of materials. The study is based on observations of structured nature. It is a planned activity at a preschool. In small groups the children are testing how different materials behaves in water. In the result the teachers are often asking questions to pay attention to the children’s activity. They are often using productive questions to encourage continues exploring. The preschool teacher follows up the response by confirming the children. With the purpose of not asking for the right answer but leading them to find it themselves. The response is sometimes followed by the preschool teachers own answers to the question, when they had a thought about what the children should experience. The study shows that children are curious to examine how different materials behaves in water. Questions from the preschool teachers help the children to pay attention to their exploration. Children who are guided to express their reflections in terms and words are challenged and included to participate in their learning process. The children get feedback on their questions and research continue.