Despite significant progress in GPS/INS integration-based direct geo-referencing (DGR) technology over the past decade, its performance still needs to be improved in terms of accuracy and tolerance to GPS outages. This is mainly due to the limited geometric strength of the GPS satellite constellation, the quality of INS and the system integration technology. This research is focused on pseudolite (PL) augmentation to enhance the geometric strength of the GPS satellite constellation, and the Neural Network (NN) aided Kalman filter (KF) system integration algorithm to improve the geo-referencing system's performance during GPS outages. The main research contributions are summarized as below: a) Systematic errors introduced by pseudolites have been investigated. Theoretical and numerical analyses reveal that errors of troposphere delay modelling, differential nonlinearity and pseudolite location are sensitive to pseudolite receiver geometry. Their effect on final positioning solutions can be minimised by selecting optimal pseudolite and receiver locations, which is referred to as geometry design. Optimal geometry design for pseudolite augmented systems has been proposed based on simulation results in airborne surveying scenarios. b) Nonlinear geometry bias, or nonlinearity, exists in single difference processes when the unit vectors from the reference and user receivers to a satellite or pseudolite are non-parallel. Similar to long baseline differential GPS (DGPS), nonlinearity is a serious issue in pseudolite augmentation. A Projected Single Difference (PSD) method has been introduced to eliminate nonlinear geometry bias. An optimized expression has been derived to calculate the direction of project vectors, and the advantages of applying PSD in pseudolite augmented airborne DGPS have been demonstrated. c) A new method for pseudolite tropospheric delay modelling has been proposed, which is based on single-differenced GPS tropospheric delay models. The performance of different models has been investigated through simulations and field testing. The advantages and limitations of each method have been analysed. It is determined that the Bouska model performs relatively well in all ranges and elevations if the meteorological parameters in the models can be accurately collected. d) An adaptive pseudolite tropospheric delay modelling method has been developed to reduce modelling error by estimating meteorological parameters in real-time, using GPS and pseudolite measurements. Test results show that pseudolite tropospheric delay modelling errors can be effectively mitigated by the proposed method. e) A novel geo-referencing system based on GPS/PL/INS integration has been developed as an alternative to existing GPS/INS systems. With the inclusion of pseudolite signals to enhance availability and geometry strength of GPS signals, the continuity and precision of the GPS/INS system can be significantly improved. Flight trials have been conducted to evaluate the system performance for airborne mapping. The results show that the accuracy and reliability of the geo-referenced solution can be improved with the deployment of one or more pseudolites. f) Two KF and NN hybrid methods have been proposed to improve geo-referenced results during GPS outages. As the KF prediction diverges without measurement update, the performance of a GPS/INS integrated system degrades rapidly during GPS outages. Neural networks can overcome this limitation of KF. The first method uses NN to map vehicle manoeuvres with KF measurement in a loosely coupled GPS/INS system. In the second method, an NN is trained to map INS measurements with selected KF error states in a tightly coupled GPS/INS system when GPS signals are available. These training results can be used to modify KF time updates. Optimal input/output and NN structure have been investigated. Field tests show that the proposed hybrid methods can dramatically improve geo-referenced solutions during GPS outages.

It is crucial to find a good balance between positioning accuracy and cost when developing navigation systems for ground vehicles. In open sky or even in a semi-urban environment, a single global navigation satellite system (GNSS) constellation performs sufficiently well. However, the positioning accuracy decreases drastically in urban environments. Because of the limitation in tracking performance for standalone GNSS, particularly in cities, many solutions are now moving toward integrated systems that combine complementary sensors. In this master thesis the improvement of tracking performance for a low-cost ground vehicle navigation system is evaluated when complementary sensors are added and different filtering techniques are used. How the GNSS aided inertial navigation system (INS) is used to track ground vehicles is explained in this thesis. This has shown to be a very effective way of tracking a vehicle through GNSS outages. Measurements from an accelerometer and a gyroscope are used as inputs to inertial navigation equations. GNSS measurements are then used to correct the tracking solution and to estimate the biases in the inertial sensors. When velocity constraints on the vehicle’s motion in the y- and z-axis are included, the GNSS aided INS has shown very good performance, even during long GNSS outages. Two versions of the Rauch-Tung-Striebel (RTS) smoother and a particle filter (PF) version of the GNSS aided INS have also been implemented and evaluated. The PF has shown to be computationally demanding in comparison with the other approaches and a real-time implementation on the considered embedded system is not doable. The RTS smoother has shown to give a smoother trajectory but a lot of extra information needs to be stored and the position accuracy is not significantly improved. Moreover, map matching has been combined with GNSS measurements and estimates from the GNSS aided INS. The Viterbi algorithm is used to output the the road segment identification numbers of the most likely path and then the estimates are matched to the closest position of these roads. A suggested solution to acquire reliable tracking with high accuracy in all environments is to run the GNSS aided INS in real-time in the vehicle and simultaneously send the horizontal position coordinates to a back office where map information is kept and map matching is performed.

The usage of specific databases for certain application does not allow the replacement of database or sharing information with other databases by user, without rebuilding the entire application, turning non-trivial the application of the solutions proposed in the literature. This reduces the interoperability among different suppliers of present biomedical data. This paper describes the design and development of a system for interface and management of biomedical signals databases. The system s features includes the use of different databases and the storage of the data for further analysis and was designed using the object-oriented technique, plug-ins and reflection technique, leading to create an application capable of connecting with the different databases. The developed system has capability of storage biomedical information, through the use of adaptive systems and plug-ins, reducing the problems of lack of compatibility between data banks, difficulties in maintenance and integration among them. The experiment results showed that the framework is able to collect patients biomedical data, that may be registered with their clinical features, and interact with differentdatabases. / A utilização de bancos de dados específicos para determinado aplicativo não permite ao usuário a substituição do banco de dados ou o compartilhamento com outras bases de informações sem a reconstrução de todo o aplicativo, tornando não trivial a aplicação das soluções propostas na literatura. Isso reduz a interoperabilidade entre os aplicativos de software de diferentes fornecedores de equipamentos biomédicos existentes. Este trabalho descreve o projeto e o desenvolvimento de um framework para interface e gerenciamento de bancos de dados utilizados em aplicações biomédicas. O sistema se caracteriza por permitir que diferentes bancos de dados possam ser utilizados para diferentes aplicativos a fim de armazenar os dados para posteriores análises. O sistema foi projetado utilizando a técnica de orientação a objetos, plug-ins e reflexão, permitindo criar aplicativos capazes de conectarem-se com os diferentes bancos de dados. Os resultados demonstram que o framework permite a coleta e o armazenamento de informações biomédicas por meio de sistemas adaptativos e de plug-ins, minimizando os problemas de falta de compatibilidade entre bancos, as dificuldades de manutenção e melhorando a integração dos mesmos. / Mestre em Ciências

This thesis studies algorithms to estimate an aircraft’s position with different information from various radio stations. Because aircrafts both civilian and military are heavily dependant on GNSS signals, it can be interfered from hostile sources. The aircraft shall then be able to navigate without the GNSS signals. This thesis focuses on three radio navigation systems, DME,VOR and TACAN. With the measurements from these three radio stations and measurements from the inertial navigation system one can estimate a position with an estimation filter. In this thesis two types of filters will be used, the linear Kalman filter and the Extended Kalman filter. The linear Kalman filter will be used when converting the TACAN measurements to a pseudo position and the Extended Kalman filter will be used for the DME,VOR and TACAN measurements. The results shows that the converted TACAN measurements and TACAN measurements estimates very well in both north and east direction. When using only DME measurements the filter estimates the position fairly well in the direction towards the station and poorly in the orthogonal direction. For the VOR measurements the filter estimates the position quite poorly in the direction of the radio station and well in the orthogonal direction. In conclusion the converted TACAN measurement and TACAN measurement algorithm can be used for navigation purposes by its own measurements. However, the DME and VOR measurement algorithms need to be combined or using multiple stations at different locations to get better estimates in both directions. All of the filter could use some better tuning to get the optimal filter, but it is not necessary.

This thesis seeks to discuss conducting technique in relation to real-time communication of Vamp, Safety-Bars and Lead-Ins through left-hand gestures within the context of opera and musical theatre. The research aims to develop a codified set of gestures suitable for the left-hand. It will explore and analyse left-hand gestures which are commonly used, but not yet codified, and the importance in which the preparatory beat plays a role in communicating the Vamp and Lead-In. This research also aims to establish a framework for conductors to create their own left-hand gestures and better understand musical structure used in Opera and Musical Theatre. The new gestures developed through research into visual and body languages (such as sign languages) as well as body movement (sound painting). The gestures will be tested through one artistic project, with three sections, then analysed using methods of qualitative inquiry. The paper is narrative based in its structure; with the reader guided through each topic by the last. The introduction sets up the main idea for this thesis, then each section is guided by these elements. The research questions and aims were formed because of the available literature; thus, they appear after the theory chapter.

Die Mitglieder der Insulinrezeptorfamilie spielen eine wichtige Rolle in der Funktion von Zellen. Die Hauptangriffspunkte liegen hierbei im Bereich der Glucosehomöostase, sowie weiterhin bei der Proteinbiosynthese, dem Fettstoffwechsel, Elektrolyttransport, Zellwachstum, Differenzierung und Apoptose. Die beiden Hauptvertreter der Insulinrezeptorfamilie, Insulinrezeptor (InsR) und Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Rezeptor (IGF1R) sind am besten untersucht und viele ihrer Funktionen aufgeklärt. Ein weiteres Mitglied der Familie stellt hier noch eine Ausnahme dar, der Insulin receptor-related receptor (IRR). Obwohl er hohe Sequenzhomologien zum InsR und IGF1R aufweist und in Untersuchungen gezeigt werden konnte, dass er die Möglichkeit besitzt wichtige Punkte der Insulinsignalkaskade zu aktivieren, bleibt seine Funktion unverstanden. Auch ein Ligand wurde bisher nicht identifiziert. Untersuchungen an aktivierbaren IRR-Rezeptorkonstrukten zeigten einen möglichen Einfluss auf Differenzierung, Proliferation und Apoptose von Zellen. Der IRR wird gewebespezifisch exprimiert und v.a. in neuronalen Zellen und β-Zellen des Pankreas nachgewiesen. In der vorliegenden Doktorarbeit wurde der mögliche Einfluss eines stimulierbaren IRR-Rezeptorkonstruktes auf die Proliferation und Apoptose von β-Zellen untersucht. Weiterhin wurde ermittelt, in wie fern dabei zwei Hauptsignalwege der Insulinrezeptorkaskade, der AKT/PKB und der MAPK/ERK Signalweg, aktiviert werden. Hierzu wurde ein bereits beschriebenes Colony stimulating factor 1 receptor/Insulin receptor-related receptor- (CSF1R/IRR-) Konstrukt (Dandekar et al.1998) in INS-1E Zellen überexprimiert und anschließend mit Macrophage colony stimulating factor (MCSF), dem Liganden des CSF1R, stimuliert. Dieses CSF1R/IRR-Konstrukt besteht aus dem extrazellulären Teil des CSF1R, der Transmembrandomäne des InsR und dem intrazellulären Teil des IRR. Es zeigte sich, dass das Konstrukt zu einer transienten Aktivierung des ERK-Signalweges fähig ist, ein Einfluss auf den AKT-Weg allerdings ausblieb. Ferner konnte kein Einfluss auf Proliferation oder Apoptose gezeigt werden. Dies lässt vermuten, dass die mögliche Funktion über alternative Wege verwirklicht wird, wie z.Bsp. eine Hybridrezeptorbildung zwischen IRR und IGF1R. Die angefertigte Arbeit liefert somit einen weiteren Beitrag zum Verständnis der Rolle des IRR in der Zelle.:Bibliographische Beschreibung I. Abkürzungen i 1. Einleitung 1 1.1. Beschreibung von Rezeptor Tyrosin Kinasen 1 1.2. Die Insulinsignalkaskade 2 1.2.1. Der Rezeptor und die Insulinrezeptorsubstrate 3 1.2.2. Die Phosphatidylinositol-3-Kinase (PI3K) 3 1.2.3. Die Proteinkinase B/AKT 4 1.2.4. Der MAPK/ERK Signalweg 5 1.3. Der Insulin-receptor related receptor 6 1.3.1. Vorkommen 7 1.3.2. Mögliche Funktionen 8 2. Das Promotionsprojekt 10 2.1. Hintergrund und Fragestellung 10 2.2. Methoden 11 2.3. Ergebnisse 12 3. Publikation – Druckversion 15 4. Zusammenfassung und Diskussion 25 5. Literatur 28 II. Erklärung über die Eigenständigkeit der Arbeit iv III. Lebenslauf v IV. Danksagung vi

Recent studies show that angiotensin II can act within the cell, possibly via intracellular receptors pharmacologically different from typical plasma membrane angiotensin II receptors. The signal transduction of intracellular angiotensin II is unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of intracellular angiotensin II in cells devoid of physiological responses to extracellular angiotensin II (A7r5 vascular smooth muscle cells). Intracellular delivery of angiotensin II was obtained by using liposomes or cell permeabilisation. Intracellular angiotensin II stimulated Ca2+ influx, as measured by 45Ca2+ uptake and single-cell fluorimetry. This effect was insensitive to extracellular or intracellular addition of losartan (angiotensin AT1 receptor antagonist) or PD123319 ((s)-1-(4-[dimethylamino]-3-methylphenyl)methyl-5-(diphenylacetyl)-4,5,6,7- tetrahydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridine-6-carboxylate) (angiotensin AT2 receptor antagonist). Intracellular angiotensin II stimulated inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5,)P3) production and increased the size of the Ins(1,4,5,)P3 releasable 45Ca2+ pool in permeabilised cells, independent of losartan and PD123319. Small G-proteins did not participate in this process, as assessed by using GDPβS. Intracellular delivery of angiotensin I was unable to elicit any of the effects elicited by intracellular angiotensin II. We conclude from our intracellular angiotensin application experiments that angiotensin II modulates Ca2+ homeostasis even in the absence of extracellular actions. Pharmacological properties suggest the involvement of putative angiotensin non-AT1-/non-AT2 receptors.

A critical requirement for safe autonomous driving is to have an accurate state estimate of thevehicle. One of the most ubiquitous yet reliable ways for this task is through the integrationof the onboard Inertial Navigation System (INS) and the Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS). This integration can further be assisted through fusion of information from otheronboard sensors. On top of that, a ground vehicle enforces its own set of rules, through non-holonomic constraints, which along with other vehicle dynamics can aid the state estimation.In this project, a sequential probabilistic inference approach has been followed, that fusesthe high frequency, short term accurate INS estimates, with low frequency, drift free GPSobservations. The fusion of GPS and IMU has been sought through a modular asynchronousloosely coupled framework, capable of augmenting additional observation sources to facilitatethe state estimation and tracking process. Besides GPS and IMU, the applied strategy makesuse of wheel speed sensor measurements, nonholonomic constraints and online estimationof IMU sensor biases as well wheel speed scalling factor. Theses augmentations have beenshown to increase the robustness of the localization module, under periods of GPS outage.The Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) has seen extensive usage for such sensor fusion tasks,however, the performance can be limited due to the propagation of the covariance throughlinearization of the underlying non-linear model. The Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) avoidsthe issue of linearization based on jacobians. Instead, it uses a carefully chosen set ofsample points in order to accurately map the probability distribution. Correspondingly, thesurrounding literature also indicates towards the UKF out performing EKF in such tasks.Therefore, the present thesis also seeks to evaluate these claims.The EKF and SRUKF (Square Root UKF) instances of the developed algorithm have beentested on real sensor logs, recorded from a Scania test vehicle. Under no GPS outage situation,the implemented localization algorithm performs within a position RMSE of 60cm.The robustness of the localization algorithm, to GPS outages, is evaluated by simulating0-90% lengths of GPS unavailability, during the estimation process. Additionally, to unfoldthe impact of parameters, the individual modules within the suggested framework wereisolated and analysed with respect to their contribution towards the algorithm’s localizationperformance.Out of all, the online estimation of IMU sensor biases proved to be critical for increasingthe robustness of the suggested localization algorithm to GPS shortage, especially for the EKF.In terms of the distinction, both the EKF and the SRUKF performed to similar capabilities,however, the UKF showed better results for higher levels of GPS cuts. / Ett kritiskt krav för säker autonom körning är att ha en korrekt tillståndsuppskattning avfordonet. Ett av de mest förekommande men ändå tillförlitliga sätten för denna uppgift ärgenom integrationen av det inbyggda tröghetsnavigationssystemet (INS) och med Satellitnavi-gation (GNSS). Denna integration kan ytterligare underlättas genom sammanslagning avinformation från andra sensorer ombord. Utöver det upprätthåller ett markfordon sin egenuppsättning regler, genom icke-holonomiska begränsningar, som tillsammans med annanfordonsdynamik kan hjälpa till vid tillståndsuppskattningen.I detta projekt har en sekventiell probabilistisk slutledning följts, som sammansmälterde högfrekventa, kortsiktiga exakta INS-uppskattningarna, med lågfrekventa, driftfria GPS-observationer. Sammanslagningen av GPS och IMU har sökts genom ett modulärt asynkrontlöst kopplat ramverk, som kan utökas med ytterligare observationskällor för att underlättatillståndsuppskattningen och spårningsprocessen. Förutom GPS och IMU använder dentillämpade strategin mätningar av hjulhastighetssensorer, icke-holonomiska begränsningaroch onlineuppskattning av IMU-sensorbias samt hjulhastighetsskalningsfaktor. Dessa tillägghar visat sig öka robustheten hos lokaliseringsmodulen under perioder utan GPS-signal.Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) har sett omfattande användning för sådana sensorfusionsup-pgifter, men prestandan kan begränsas på grund av spridningen av kovariansen genomlinearisering av den underliggande icke-linjära modellen. Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF)undviker frågan om linearisering baserad på jacobianer. Istället använder den en noggrantutvald uppsättning provpunkter för att korrekt kartlägga sannolikhetsfördelningen. På motsva-rande sätt indikerar den omgivande litteraturen också mot UKF att utföra EKF i sådanauppgifter. Därför försöker denna avhandling också utvärdera dessa påståenden.EKF- och SRUKF-instanserna (Square Root UKF) av den utvecklade algoritmen hartestats på sensorloggar, inspelade från ett Scania-testfordon. Utan GPS-avbrott presterar denimplementerade lokaliseringsalgoritmen inom en position RMSE på 60 cm.Robustheten hos lokaliseringsalgoritmen, vid GPS-avbrott, utvärderas genom att simulera0-90% längder av GPS-otillgänglighet under uppskattningsprocessen. Utöver det har deenskilda modulerna inom det föreslagna ramverket isolerats och analyserats med avseendepå deras bidrag till algoritmens lokaliseringsprestanda.Av allt visade sig onlineuppskattningen av IMU-sensorbiaser vara avgörande för att ökarobustheten hos den föreslagna lokaliseringsalgoritmen mot GPS-brist, särskilt för EKF. Närdet gäller distinktionen presterade både EKF och SRUKF med liknande förmåga, men UKFvisade bättre resultat vid längre perioder utan GPS-signal.

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To survive, an organism must constantly adjust its internal state to changes in the environment from which it receives signals. The signals set off a chain of events referred to signal transduction. Signal transduction systems are especially important in multicellular organisms, such as plants and animals, because of the need to coordinate the activities of hundreds to trillions of cells. Plants, in particular, have a special need for perceiving signals from their environment because of their static nature. As in the animal cell, the first steps in perception of a signal include signal interaction with a receptor, signal amplification through second messenger production, and signal termination through second messenger hydrolysis. Myo-inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatases (5PTases) (EC 3.1.3.56) have unique signal terminating abilities toward the second messenger inositol trisphosphate (Ins (1,4,5)P3, InsP3). In Arabidopsis thaliana there are 15 members of the 5PTase family, the majority of which contain a single 5PTase catalytic domain. Four members of the Arabidopsis 5PTase family, however, have a unique protein domain structure, with additional N-terminal WD40 repeats that are implicated in protein-protein interactions. The research presented here focused on the identification of 5PTase interacting proteins and the characterization of their functional role in Arabidopsis. To accomplish this goal, I examined a 5PTase13-interacting protein, the sucrose (Suc) nonfermenting-1-related kinase, SnRK1.1, an important energy sensor that is highly conserved among eukaryotes. My identification of a 5PTase13:SnRK1.1 complex points to the novel interaction of this metabolic modulator and inositol signaling/metabolism. 5PTase13 , however, plays a regulatory role in other plant specific processes as well, since I also identified the Arabidopsis homolog (Atp80) of the human WDR48 (HsWDR48, Hsp80) as a novel protein interactor of 5PTase13. My results indicate that Atp80 is important for leaf emergence, development and senescence likely via a regulatory interaction with 5PTase13 and PINOID â binding protein (PBP1). / Ph. D.