Games provide ideal environments for assessingreinforcement learning algorithms because of their simple dynamicsand their inexpensive testing, compared to real-worldenvironments. Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic (A3C), developedby DeepMind, has shown significant improvements inperformance over other state-of-the-art algorithms on Atarigames. Additionally, the algorithm A3C(lambda) which is ageneralization of A3C, has previously been shown to furtherimprove upon A3C in these environments. In this work, weimplement A3C and A3C(lambda) on the environment Cart-Poleand Flappy Bird and evaluate their performance via simulation.The simulations show that A3C effectively masters the Cart-Poleenvironment, as expected. In Flappy Bird sparse rewards arepresent, and the simulations reveal that despite this A3C managesto overcome this challenge the majority of times, achievinga linear increase in learning. Further simulations were madeon Flappy Bird with the inclusion of an entropy term andwith A3C(lambda), which display no signs of improvement inperformance when compared to regular A3C. / Spel utgör ideella miljöer för att bedöma reinforcement learning algoritmer på grund av deras enkla dynamik och billiga testning jämfört med verkliga miljöer. Asynchronous advantage actor-critic (A3C) utvecklad av DeepMind har visat betydande förbättringar på Atari spel jämfört med andra etablerade RL-algoritmer. Vidare har algoritmen A3C(lambda), som är en generalisering av A3C, tidigare visats ge ännu bättre resultat för dessa spel. I denna studie implementerar vi A3C och A3C(lambda) på miljöerna Cart-Pole och Flappy Bird och utvärderar algoritmerna via simulering. Simuleringarna visar att A3C på kort tid bemästrar Cart-Pole, som väntat. I Flappy Bird är användbar information glest fördelad och belöningen har ett lokalt optimum vilket leder till att algoritmen riskerar att fastna. Trots detta visar simuleringarna att A3C lyckas ta sig förbi det lokala optimat majoriteten av försöken och förbättrar sin belöning linjärt därefter. Ytterligare simuleringar gjordes på Flappy Bird genom att inkludera en entropiterm och med A3C(lambda). Metoderna visade någon märkbar förbättring jämfört med vanlig A3C. / Kandidatexjobb i elektroteknik 2021, KTH, Stockholm

This thesis reports the first indications of the Λ(1520) and ∆(1232)++ decay modes in the Ξc0 → pK−K−π+ decay. The obtained fractions relative the inclusive Ξc0 → pK−K−π+ decay are (6.4±0.6)% and (32.6±1.2)% for the decays through the Λ(1520) and ∆(1232)++ resonances respectively. The estimates were done on a sample of 6449±226 events of the Ξc0 baryon originating in the pure hadron Ξb− → Ξc0π− decay. The fractions presented in this thesis should be seen as an early indication rather than final estimates as more in-depth studies need to be done.

Metabolic engineering has enabled studying microorganisms by the modification of their genetic material and analysis of their metabolism for the isolation of microbial strains capable of producing high yields of high value chemicals and biofuels. In this research, novel tools were developed to improve genetic engineering of microbial cells. In this matter, λ-PCR (lambda-PCR) was developed enabling the construction of plasmid DNA. This technique allows DNA assembly and manipulation (insertion, substitution and/or deletion) at any location of a vector. λ-PCR addresses the need for an easy, highly-efficient, rapid and inexpensive tool for genetic engineering and overcoming limitations encountered with traditional techniques. Then, novel synthetic small RNA (sRNA) regulators were designed in a cell-free-system (in vitro) in order to modulate protein expression in biosynthetic pathways. The ability of the sRNAs to regulate mRNA expression with statistical significance was demonstrated. Up to 70% decrease in protein expression level was achieved by targeting specific secondary structures of the mRNA with antisense binding regions of the sRNA. Most importantly, a sRNA was identified capable of protein overexpression by up to 65%. An understanding of its mechanism showed that its mRNA target region(s) likely lead to occlusion of RNase E binding. This mechanism was translated for expression of a diaphorase enzyme, which has relevance to synthetic biology and metabolic engineering in in vitro systems. Results were successful, showing a greater than 75% increase in diaphorase expression in a cell-free protein synthesis reaction. Next, Raman spectroscopy was employed as a near real-time method for microbial phenotyping. Here, Raman spectroscopy was used in combination with chemometric analysis methods through RametrixTM Toolboxes to study the effects of environmental conditions (i.e. illumination, glucose, nitrate deprivation, acetate, sodium chloride and magnesium sulfate) on the phenotypic response of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. The RametrixTM LITE Toolbox for MATLAB® enabled processing of Raman spectra and application of principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC). Two studies were performed. PCA and DAPC produces distinct clustering of Raman spectra, representing multiple Synechocystis phenotypes, based on the (i) presence of glucose in the growth medium, (ii) illumination, (iii) nitrate limitation, and (iv) throughout a circadian rhythm growth cycle, in the first study. The second study focused on the phenotypic response based on (i) growth in presence of acetate, (ii) presence of high concentrations of sodium chloride and (iii) magnesium sulfate starvation. RametrixTM PRO was applied for the validation of the DAPC models through leave-one-out method that allowed calculation of prediction accuracy, sensitivity and selectivity for an unkown Raman spectrum. Statistical tests (ANOVA and pairwise comparison) were performed on Raman spectra to identify statistically relevant changes in Synechocystis phenotypes. Next, comparison between Raman data and standardized analytical methods (GF-FID, UPLC, spectrometric assays) was established. Overall, good correlation were obtained (R > 0.7). Finally, genomic DNA libraries were enriched to isolate a deoxynivalenol detoxifying enzyme. To do this, library fragments from microorganisms was generated through oligonucleotide primed polymerase chain reaction (DOP-PCR) and transformed in a DON-sensitive yeast strain. Rounds of subculture were performed in the presence of DON and ferulic acid in order to isolate a strain capable of enzymatic degradation of DON. / Doctor of Philosophy / Metabolic engineering is the use of genetic engineering to modify microorganisms in order to produce high yields of valuable commodity chemicals. The goal of this research is to develop new methods to improve genetic modification and selection of microbial cells. The specific objectives were to: (i) develop new tools for DNA assembly and manipulation, (ii) utilize small synthetic RNA to control protein expression level, (iii) use Raman spectroscopy to study phenotypic responses to environmental changes and (iv) enrich for microorganisms that detoxify dangerous toxins. First, a new technique for DNA assembly, named λ-PCR (lambda-PCR), was developed. This method allows the easy manipulation of plasmid DNA with high-efficiency and low-cost compared to traditional techniques. Second, novel synthetic small RNA (sRNA) regulators were designed in a cell-free-system in order to modulate (downregulate or overexpress) fluorescent protein expression. Next, Raman spectroscopy was used to assess phenotypic response of cyanobacterial cells to different environmental modifications (light settings, salts, sugar, etc…). Finally, genomic library was used to discover and characterize enzymes capable of degrading a mycotoxin.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude du problème de la cyclicité dans certains espaces de fonctions analytiques sur le disque unité. Nous nous intéressons aux espaces de type Bergman et aux espaces de type Korenblum. Dans la première partie, nous étudions les fonctions cycliques dans les espaces de type Korenblum en utilisant la notion des prémesures. Cette notion a été introduite et développée par B. Korenblum au début des années 1970s. En particulier, nous donnons une réponse positive à une conjecture énoncée par C. Deninger. Dans la deuxième partie, nous utilisons la méthode de la résolvante pour étudier la cyclicité des fonctions intérieures singulières associées aux mesures de Dirac dans les espaces de type Bergman à poids. / In this thesis, we study the cyclicity problem in some spaces of analytic functions on the open unit disc. We focus our attention on Korenblum type spaces and on weighted Bergman type spaces. First, we use the technique of premeasures, introduced and developed by Korenblum in the 1970-s and the 1980-s, to give a characterization of cyclic functions in the Korenblum type spaces. In particular, we give a positive answer to a conjecture by Deninger. Second, we use the so called resolvent transform method to study the cyclicity of the one point mass singular inner function in weighted Bergman type spaces, especially with weights depending on the distance to a subset of the unit circle.

No description available.

This thesis focus on the effect that selection has on the ancestry of a spatially structured population. In the absence of selection, the ancestry of a sample from the population behaves as a system of random walks that coalesce upon meeting. Backwards in time, each ancestral lineage jumps, at the time of its birth, to the location of its parent, and whenever two ancestral lineages have the same parent they jump to the same location and coalesce. Introducing selective forces to the evolution of a population translates into branching when we follow ancestral lineages, a by-product of biased sampling forwards in time. We study populations that evolve according to the Spatial Lambda-Fleming-Viot process with selection. In order to assess whether the picture under selection differs from the neutral case we must consider the timescale dictated by the neutral mutation rate Theta. Thus we look at the rescaled dual process with n=1/Theta. Our goal is to find a non-trivial rescaling limit for the system of branching and coalescing random walks that describe the ancestral process of a population. We show that the strength of selection (relative to the mutation rate) required to do so depends on the dimension; in one and two dimensions selection needs to be stronger in order to leave a detectable trace in the population. The main results in this thesis can be summarised as follows. In dimensions three and higher we take the selection coefficient to be proportional to 1/n, in dimension two we take it to be proportional to log(n)/n and finally, in dimension one we take the selection coefficient to be proportional to 1/sqrt(n). We then proceed to prove that in two and higher dimensions the ancestral process of a sample of the population converges to branching Brownian motion. In one dimension, provided we do not allow ancestral lineages to jump over each other, the ancestral process converges to a subset of the Brownian net. We also provide numerical results that show that the non-crossing restriction in one dimension cannot be lifted without a qualitative change in the behaviour of the process. Finally, through simulations, we study the rate of convergence in the two-dimensional case.

L'analyse d'images est devenue ces dernières années une discipline de plus en plus riche de l'informatique. La topologie discrète propose un panel d'outils incontournables dans le traitement d'images, notamment grâce à l'outil du squelette, qui permet de simplifier des objets tout en conservant certaines informations intactes. Cette thèse étudie comment certains outils de la topologie discrète, notamment les squelettes, peuvent être utilisés pour le traitement d'images de matériaux.Le squelette d'un objet peut être vu comme une simplification d'un objet, possédant certaines caractéristiques identiques à celles de l'objet original. Il est alors possible d'étudier un squelette et de généraliser certains résultats à l'objet entier. Dans une première partie, nous proposons une nouvelle méthode pour conserver, dans un squelette, certaines caractéristiques géométriques de l'objet original (méthode nécessitant un paramètre de filtrage de la part de l'utilisateur) et obtenir ainsi un squelette possédant la même apparence que l'objet original. La seconde partie propose de ne plus travailler avec des objets constitués de voxels, mais avec des objets constitués de complexes cubiques. Dans ce nouveau cadre, nous proposons de nouveaux algorithmes de squelettisation, dont certains permettent de conserver certaines caractéristiques géométriques de l'objet de départ dans le squelette, de façon automatique (aucun paramètre de filtrage ne doit être donné par l'utilisateur). Nous montrerons ensuite comment un squelette, dans le cadre des complexes cubiques, peut être décomposé en différentes parties. Enfin, nous montrerons nos résultats sur différentes applications, allant de l'étude des matériaux à l'imagerie médicale / These last years, the domain of image analysis has drastically evolved. Digital topology offer a set of tools adapted to image analysis, especially the skeletonization process (also called homotopic thinning) which can simplify input data while keeping specific information untouched. In this thesis, we focus on how digital topology, especially skeletons, can help material image analysis.The goal of a skeletonization process is to remove unnecessary information from an input, and provide a simplified object, called the skeleton, having the same characteristics than the original data. It is then possible to perform some computations on the skeleton and generalise their results to the original data. In the first part of this thesis, we propose some new tools for preserving, during skeletonization, important geometrical features of the original data, and obtain a skeleton with the same visual appearance than the input.In the second part, we present the cubical complex framework, where objects are no more made only of voxels. We propose in this framework new skeletonization algorithms, some of them preserving automatically the visual aspect of the input during the thinning process (no filtering parameter from the user is required). We then show how a skeleton, in the cubical complexes framework, can be decomposed into basic parts, and we show some applications of these algorithms to material image analysis and medical image analysis

Despite advances in mosquito management, mosquito-borne disease in the United States is still of relevant public health concern and vector control is a top priority in preventing transmission of pathogens. Insecticide barrier sprays have become a common tool for suppression of mosquitoes in single-homeowner backyards. The application of the synthetic pyrethroid, lambda-cyhalothrin to perimeter vegetation with a backpack sprayer has been shown to significantly suppress mosquito levels for around 6 weeks. In an attempt to lengthen the effective duration of treatment, the IGR, pyriproxyfen, was added to a backpack mist blower with lambda-cyhalothrin, as adult mosquitoes exposed to pyriproxyfen have been shown to disseminate it to oviposition sites and to experience lowered fecundity. This treatment was compared to lambda-cyhalothrin alone and to a water control. Mosquito populations were sampled using CO2-baited CDC light traps, CDC gravid traps, human landing rates, and ovitraps. Leaf bioassays were performed. The following summer, the same treatments were applied with a truck-mounted mist blower to tree lines in Central Kentucky, to test the efficacy of an application method that could be used on large properties. Finally, bioassays were performed with water sampled from pyriproxyfen-treated containers, exposed to field conditions to test for residual efficacy.

This thesis studies the categorical formalisation of quantum computing, through the prism of type theory, in a three-tier process. The first stage of our investigation involves the creation of the dagger lambda calculus, a lambda calculus for dagger compact categories. Our second contribution lifts the expressive power of the dagger lambda calculus, to that of a quantum programming language, by adding classical control in the form of complementary classical structures and dualisers. Finally, our third contribution demonstrates how our lambda calculus can be applied to various well known problems in quantum computation: Quantum Key Distribution, the quantum Fourier transform, and the teleportation protocol.

Varje år går stora mängder resurser förlorade på misslyckade IT-system vilket bidrar till ett stort intresse för kostnadseffektiva tekniker. En sådan teknik kallas Cloud Computing och har funnits i ett flertal år. Cloud Computing kan potentiellt sänka kostnader relaterade till ITprojekt, såsom exempelvis kostnader rörande underhåll av serverhårdvara. Function as a Service (FaaS) är ett av de senaste tillskotten till Cloud Computing. Något som blir alltmer problematiskt är att identifiera vilken typ av Cloud Computing som bäst lämpar sig för ett företag eller projekt. Denna studie ämnar därför svara på följande frågor; vilket värde tillför FaaS till utvecklare vid utvecklande av applikationer, hur skiljer sig FaaS från IaaS rörande implementation och vilka är potentiella motiv bakom nyttjande av FaaS. Genom att svara på dessa frågor ämnar studien agera vägledande vid val av Cloud Computing-tjänst. Vid analys av FaaS har LEAN Software Development (LSD) applicerats för att identifiera var FaaS reducerar och potentiellt adderar slöseri vid mjukvaruutveckling nyttjande tekniken. En fallstudie genomfördes vid ett litet företag, mindre än 50 anställda, som experimenterar med Amazon Web Services implementation av FaaS, Lambda. Slutsatsen av studien är att trots att samtliga aspekter av LSD inte är applicerbara på alla företag och projekt motiverar Lambdas fördelaktiga betalmodell företag att själva utforska tekniken. / Every year a tremendous amount of resources is lost on failed IT-Systems. It is therefore of interest to explore potential cost-saving technologies. One such technology that has been around for many years is Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing can potentially lower costs of IT-projects by, for example, eliminating the need to maintain server hardware. One of the more recent additions to the Cloud Computing assortment is Function as a Service (FaaS). What is becoming increasingly problematic about the assortment of Cloud Computing services is to know which service is best suitable for a company or project. This study therefore aims to examine FaaS to answer the questions; what value does FaaS add to the developers when developing applications, what differs in implementing FaaS from IaaS, and what are potential motives behind the usage of FaaS, thereby provide guidance when choosing Cloud Computing service. To analyze the results the LEAN Software Development (LSD) model has been used to identify where FaaS reduces and potentially adds waste in software development. A casestudy of a small organization, less than 50 employees, that are experimenting with the usage of Amazon Web Services implementation of FaaS, Lambda, has been made. The conclusion of the study is that even though all the aspects of LSD is not applicable to all companies or projects, the payment model of Lambda makes it advantageous for organizations to try it out for themselves.