Baigiamajame magistro darbe suprojektuotos ir pagamintos dviejų rūšių šviesos koncentratorinės sistemos: jungtinė parabolinė ir sistema su Frenelio lęšiu. Atlikta saulės elementų efektyvumo analizė, išnagrinėtos šviesą koncentruojančių sistemų rūšys bei aptarti jų optiniai parametrai. Frenelio lęšis ir koncentratorinių sistemų laikančiosios konstrukcijos pagamintos vakuuminio formavimo būdu, ieškant pigesnės gamybos technologijos. Baigiamajame darbe atlikti optinio pralaidumo ir lūžio rodiklio, matomos šviesos bangų ilgių ruože, tyrimai bei saulės elementų, esančių šviesos koncentratorinėse sistemose,voltamperinių ir voltvatinių charakteristikų tyrimai. Iš tyrimų rezultatų nustatyti šviesos koncentravimo laipsniai. Darbe diskutuojama apie pigių optinių sistemų galimus pritaikymus ir jų tobulinimo būdus. Išnagrinėjus teorinę ir praktinę dalis, pateiktos išvados ir pasiūlymai. Darbą sudaro 8 dalys: įvadas, saulės elementų efektyvumo ribos, saulės šviesos koncentratoriai ir jų panaudojimas fotoelektrinėse sistemose, eksperimentinių tyrimų metodika, prototipų gamyba, eksperimentiniai tyrimai, išvados, literatūros sąrašas. Darbo apimtis – 82 p. teksto be priedų, 95 pav., 13 lent., 22 bibliografiniai šaltiniai. Atskirai pridedami darbo priedai. / Concentrated PV systems (compound parabolic and Fresnel CPV) have been designed and investigated. The efficiency of solar cells and the types of light concentrated systems have been analyzed and their optical parameters have been discussed. Fresnel lens and the CPV system holding structure have been fabricated by means of vacuum forming machine in this way making the technology of production less expensive. Optical transmittance and refractive index of Fresnel lens were measured in the range of visible light wavelengths. Current-voltage and voltage-power characteristics of solar cells built inside the CPV systems were investigated, based on results the degree of light concentration by Fresnel lens and compound parabolic CPV has been determined. Some discussions regarding possible applications of concentrated PV systems containing the Fresnel lens as well as possible ways of CPV design improvements are given in current work. After analysed theoretical and practical parts, conclusions and suggestions are proposed. Thesis structure: introduction, theoretical and experimental parts, results of experiments, conclusions and references. Thesis consist of: 82 p. text without appendixes, 95 pictures, 13 tables, 22 bibliographical entries. Appendixes included.

Gender has developed as an important ‘public and political’ category throughout the Twentieth Century in BC and Canada as the basis of feminist demands on society and governments. In 2007, gender has become ‘privatized’ and increasingly erased from government institutions. The de-politicization of gender in Canada is an example of a shifting social consciousness and political discourse that avoids a critical perspective on the social context and places an increasing emphasis on the individual. A new critical discourse must grapple with these challenges, emerge at some distance from government and coincide with a political activism that has resonance in women’s lives.

The principal observational contribution of this thesis is an innovative technique, using spatially resolved spectroscopy of highly magnified, gravitationally lensed galaxies, to study their internal structure and kinematics at redshift, z≥1 on sub-galactic scales. The scientific objective is to measure the important, but poorly understood, role of star formation and associated feedback on galaxy evolution. With Gemini GMOS-IFU observations of CFRS03+1077, a lensed galaxy at z=2.94, we determined surface brightness and integration time requirements for spatially resolved kinematics with spectra in the visible region (< 1 micron). For reasonable exposure times the presence of a strong emission line is key, limiting the redshift range to < 1.5 for [OII]3727Å. To tackle the lack of suitable lenses for such studies, we designed a lens search algorithm suitable for multi-color photometric data (with a minimum of 2 colors). Our method uses a two-step approach, first automatically identifying galaxy clusters and groups as high likelihood lensing regions, followed by a dedicated visual search for lensed arcs in pseudo-color images of sub-regions centered on these candidates. By using the color-position clustering of elliptical galaxies in high density environments, the algorithm efficiently isolates candidates with a completeness ≥ 80% for z ≤ 0.6 in Monte-Carlo simulations. Implemented on the CFHT Legacy Survey-Wide fields with available g, r and i photometry, the present yield is 9 lenses (8 new and 1 previously known) from 104 deg². With Gemini GMOS, we confirmed two lensed galaxies with strong [OII]3727Å emission suitable for IFU spectroscopy. The follow-up of both systems, the confirmation of remaining lenses and the application of the lens detector to the remaining 91 square degrees of CFHTLS-Wide are ongoing. In a complementary project, we aim to understand non-linear structure formation within the Λ-CDM framework by characterizing the mass distributions and mass/light ratios of galaxy groups; these structures (where 60% of all galaxies reside), have masses representative of the critical break between cluster and field galaxy mass scales. We use strong gravitational lensing to constrain the mass in the inner core, with velocity dispersion measurements from MOS spectroscopy to map the mass distribution up to the scale of the virial radius. The formalism supporting this approach as well as the tools for analysis (including an efficient B-spline based method for flat fielding and sky subtraction of sky limited spectra) are presented in this thesis. The deflectors of 6 lenses in our catalog resemble galaxy groups suitable for this study. One group, for which the observations are complete, is compatible with either NFW or Hernquist profile; these results will be corroborated with observations of other candidates in forthcoming observing programs. The objective is to amalgamate our results with mass measurements from weak lensing and X-ray observations from our Strong Lensing Legacy Survey (SL2S) collaborators to build a comprehensive picture of the dark matter profile and thus constrain theoretical predictions of mass assembly in galaxy groups.

This is an arts-informed qualitative research study looking at violence against women and how it affects their educational outcomes. It uses an art installation in which the narratives of the women involved are combined with photographs and real world objects in which viewers take on a ‘walking meditation’ as well as the use of participation stations for viewer feedback and further sharing of stories anonymously. This project is based on the belief that through a feminist research lens, participatory practice with the use of storytelling can be a form of transformation in community development.

This thesis presents an efficient self-consistent Hybrid Spectral Ray Tracing (HSRT) technique for analysis and design of multi-scale sub-millimeter wave problems, where sub-wavelength features are modeled using rigorous methods, and complex structures with dimensions in the order of tens or even hundreds of wavelengths are modeled by asymptotic methods. Quasi-optical devices are used in imaging arrays for sub-millimeter and terahertz applications, THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), high-speed wireless communications, and space applications to couple terahertz radiation from space to a hot electron bolometer. These devices and structures, as physically small they have become, are very large in terms of the wavelength of the driving quasi-optical sources and may have dimension in the tens or even hundreds of wavelengths. Simulation and design optimization of these devices and structures is an extremely challenging electromagnetic problem. The analysis of complex electrically large unbounded wave structures using rigorous methods such as method of moments (MoM), finite element method (FEM), and finite difference time domain (FDTD) method can become almost impossible due to the need for large computational resources. Asymptotic high-frequency techniques are used for analysis of electrically large quasi-optical systems and hybrid methods for solving multi-scale problems. Spectral Ray Tracing (SRT) has a number of unique advantages as a candidate for hybridization. The SRT method has the advantages of Spectral Theory of Diffraction (STD). STD can model reflection, refraction and diffraction of an arbitrary wave incident on the complex structure, which is not the case for diffraction theories such as Geometrical Theory of Diffraction (GTD), Uniform theory of Diffraction (UTD) and Uniform Asymptotic Theory (UAT). By including complex rays, SRT can effectively analyze both near-fields and far-fields accurately with minimal approximations. In this thesis, a novel matrix representation of SRT is presented that uses only one spectral integration per observation point and applied to modeling a hemispherical and hyper-hemispherical lens. The hybridization of SRT with commercially available FEM and MoM software is proposed in this work to solve the complexity of multi-scale analysis. This yields a computationally efficient self-consistent HSRT algorithm. Various arrangements of the Hybrid SRT method such as FEM-SRT, and MoM-SRT, are investigated and validated through comparison of radiation patterns with Ansoft HFSS for the FEM method, FEKO for MoM, Multi-level Fast Multipole Method (MLFMM) and physical optics. For that a bow-tie terahertz antenna backed by hyper-hemispherical silicon lens, an on-chip planar dipole fabricated in SiGe:C BiCMOS technology and attached to a hyper-hemispherical silicon lens and a double-slot antenna backed by silica lens will be used as sample structures to be analyzed using the HSRT. Computational performance (memory requirement, CPU/GPU time) of developed algorithm is compared to other methods in commercially available software. It is shown that the MoM-SRT, in its present implementation, is more accurate than MoM-PO but comparable in speed. However, as shown in this thesis, MoM-SRT can take advantage of parallel processing and GPU. The HSRT algorithm is applied to simulation of on-chip dipole antenna backed by Silicon lens and integrated with a 180-GHz VCO and radiation pattern compared with measurements. The radiation pattern is measured in a quasi-optical configuration using a power detector. In addition, it is shown that the matrix formulation of SRT and HSRT are promising approaches for solving complex electrically large problems with high accuracy. This thesis also expounds on new measurement setup specifically developed for measuring integrated antennas, radiation pattern and gain of the embedded on-chip antenna in the mmW/ terahertz range. In this method, the radiation pattern is first measured in a quasi-optical configuration using a power detector. Subsequently, the radiated power is estimated form the integration over the radiation pattern. Finally, the antenna gain is obtained from the measurement of a two-antenna system.

In this study, it is aimed to improve a set of image processing techniques used in a previously developed method for reconstructing 3D parameters of a secondary passive target using single camera images. This 3D reconstruction method was developed and implemented on a setup consisting of a digital camera, a computer, and a positioning unit. Some automatic target recognition techniques were also included in the method. The passive secondary target used is a circle with two internal spots. In order to achieve a real time target detection, the existing binarization, edge detection, and ellipse detection algorithms are debugged, modified, or replaced to increase the speed, to eliminate the run time errors, and to become compatible for target tracking. The overall speed of 20 Hz is achieved for 640x480 pixel resolution 8 bit grayscale images on a 2.8 GHz computer A novel target tracking method with various tracking strategies is introduced to reduce the search area for target detection and to achieve a detection and reconstruction speed at the maximum frame rate of the hardware. Based on the previously suggested lens distortion model, distortion measurement, distortion parameters determination, and distortion correction methods for both radial and tangential distortions are developed. By the implementation of this distortion correction method, the accuracy of the 3D reconstruction method is enhanced. The overall 3D reconstruction method is implemented in an integrated software and hardware environment as a combination of the methods with the best performance among their alternatives. This autonomous and real time system is able to detect the secondary passive target and reconstruct its 3D configuration parameters at a rate of 25 Hz. Even for extreme conditions, in which it is difficult or impossible to detect the target, no runtime failures are observed.

In this research, Fresnel zone plates were studied using an accurate, full-electromagnetic simulator based on the body-of-revolution finite-difference time-domain (BOR-FDTD) method. This tool was used to investigate zone plates for two different applications: zone plates used as antennas in communication systems and zone plates used as focusing elements in free-space, focused-beam measurement systems. Through detailed studies of zone plates for these applications, a number of general characteristics of the zone plate were given a more in-depth look than they have been given in the past. For the first application, parametric studies were performed for Soret, folded, and grooved-dielectric, phase-correcting zone plates for antenna applications. These studies were used to generate new design graphs, from which general observations are made about the effect of varying different parameters on the focusing ability of a zone plate. For the grooved-dielectric, phase-correcting zone plate, these studies show that a number of factors influence the focusing ability in ways that are unexpected, based on many of the simple techniques typically used to analyze zone plates. Each of these factors is evaluated individually. For the second application, a zone plate was designed to be used as a focusing element in a free-space, focused-beam measurement system. To determine the suitability of zone plates for this application, simulations and measurements of the electric field were used to compare this zone plate to a doubly-hyperbolic lens. A complete focused-beam system, using two zone plates as focusing elements, was used to measure the permittivity of different dielectric materials. These measurements are compared to results for a system that uses doubly-hyperbolic lenses and to published values. A technique for increasing the usable bandwidth of a zone plate in a focused-beam system was proposed and tested. Finally, as a topic for future research, the question is posed: Using the BOR-FDTD method, can a similar volume of material be shaped in a way that results in improved focusing performance compared to a traditional zone plate? Some insight into this open-ended question can be gained by examining preliminary results of the optimization of zone plates using of a genetic algorithm.

Myopia is a refractive defect of the eye in which collimated light produces images focused in front of the retina. Myopia can be artificially induced in animal models by form deprivation (form deprivation myopia, FDM) or by application of negative lenses (lens induced myopia, LIM). In this study myopia was induced using diffusers. The project had two main aims: 1. To determine if there is an interaction between the GABAergic system and dopaminergic system in the retina in terms of myopia? 2. To determine if there is an interaction between the GABAergic system and cholinergic system in the retina in terms of myopia? Firstly, an experiment focusing on the interaction between dopaminergic receptors antagonists and GABAC receptor antagonist was developed. Comparison of the different drug treated eye with the control was found and the effects of combination injections were compared to individual drug injections. Use of different blockers for various subtype of receptors simplified the understandings the underlying pharmacological interventions for GABAC receptor antagonist TPMPA. The D1 subtype of receptors was found to be involved in transmission of signals from GABAC receptors. Our results showed that D1 receptor antagonist SCH-23390 antagonizes the actions of TPMPA. In addition to this it was also found that possibly 5HT receptor may also play an important role in modulation of signaling from GABA receptor to dopaminergic receptors in the retina. These results were consistent with the drug combination effects for agonists. GABA A/C receptor agonist muscimol negativate the efficacy of D1 receptor agonist SKF-38393 but the activity of D2/4 receptor agonist quinpirole was not affected by muscimol. Although dopaminergic receptors are found to interact with GABAergic signaling, but an alternative interaction with anticholinergic (most widely studied antimyopic agents) could not be ruled out. This problem led to a follow-up experiment, in which GABA receptors intervention in anticholinergic agents was studied. The GABAergic receptor agonist muscimol when injected with anticholinergics (atropine and pirenzepine) showed a moderate interaction. As muscimol interacted with atropine to a lesser extent a more specific M1/5 receptor antagonist pirenzepine (earlier found to inhibit myopia) was used under these circumstances. The second aim to study the interaction between muscimol and pirenzepine showed more interaction with GABAA/C receptor agonist. There were data suggesting that there is a muscarinic and GABAergic interaction in retina, such that each modulation of each receptor had an effect on FDM. However, a drug combination treatment helped in understanding the underlying mechanism. Several previous studies have indicated that there exist a strong interaction between excitatory neurotransmitter acetylcholine and inhibitory transmitter GABA in retina. The results of this study indicate a similar finding. Thus results of this study may be summarized as: 1. D1 antagonists and not D2 antagonists blocks the antimyopic effects of GABAC antagonist TPMPA 2. GABA A/C agonist muscimol partially blocks the antimyopic activity of anticholinergics (e.g. atropine and pirenzepine).

The ongoing merger of the digital and optical components of the modern microscope is creating opportunities for new measurement techniques, along with new challenges for optical modelling. This thesis investigates several such opportunities and challenges which are particularly relevant to biomedical imaging. Fourier optics is used throughout the thesis as the underlying conceptual model, with a particular emphasis on three--dimensional Fourier optics. A new challenge for optical modelling provided by digital microscopy is the relaxation of traditional symmetry constraints on optical design. An extension of optical transfer function theory to deal with arbitrary lens pupil functions is presented in this thesis. This is used to chart the 3D vectorial structure of the spatial frequency spectrum of the intensity in the focal region of a high aperture lens when illuminated by linearly polarised beam. Wavefront coding has been used successfully in paraxial imaging systems to extend the depth of field. This is achieved by controlling the pupil phase with a cubic phase mask, and thereby balancing optical behaviour with digital processing. In this thesis I present a high aperture vectorial model for focusing with a cubic phase mask, and compare it with results calculated using the paraxial approximation. The effect of a refractive index change is also explored. High aperture measurements of the point spread function are reported, along with experimental confirmation of high aperture extended depth of field imaging of a biological specimen. Differential interference contrast is a popular method for imaging phase changes in otherwise transparent biological specimens. In this thesis I report on a new isotropic algorithm for retrieving the phase from differential interference contrast images of the phase gradient, using phase shifting, two directions of shear, and non--iterative Fourier phase integration incorporating a modified spiral phase transform. This method does not assume that the specimen has a constant amplitude. A simulation is presented which demonstrates good agreement between the retrieved phase and the phase of the simulated object, with excellent immunity to imaging noise.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2007. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.