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This thesis presents a modular palladium(II) template-directed synthetic strategy towards mechanically interlocked polymacrocyclic architectures, such as a Borromean link and linear [n]-catenanes. Central to the synthetic strategy is the use of the Huisgen-Meldal-Sharpless Cu(I)-catalysed 1,3-cycloaddition of azides to terminal alkynes (CuAAC) as a ring-closure procedure between complementary pairs of building blocks. The amalgamation of the palladium(II) [3+1]-template and CuAAC reaction is without methodological precedent and represents both an efficient and versatile procedure for the construction of interlocked architectures. Thematically, this thesis consists of three parts arranged in chronological order. Beginning with the synthesis towards a Borromean link, where the first successful palladium(II) template-directed double CuAAC ring-closure is documented. This is followed by the application of the “double-click” strategy to form a [3]catenane - the first such structure generated using metal ions other than Cu(I). Finally, the development of a modular CuAAC building block library is described, which was used to construct a [2]catenane and [3]catenane as well as later developments towards higher oligocatenanes.

To contribute to the field of research of Projects as Social Processes, this research study will investigate the various aspects of social processes in the project environment. The study will be qualitative in nature and will use a case study methodology investigating the social processes experienced by the project managers of the various subsystems of Bombardier Transportation, as part of the Bombela Concession Company, in the delivery of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project. Project Managers were interviewed to understand how they experience the social processes taking place in the project environment as well as how they handle and approach these social interactions. The above methodology used in this exploratory case study is specifically used to develop a justification for enlarging the existing methodological Project Management Bodies of Knowledge (PMBOK) and the Life Cycle processes applicable to System Engineering to include Social processes.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 30-November 02, 1995 / Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada / Vehicle tracking system based on GPS has been paid more and more attention. The system consists of GIS (Geological Information System), master station, movable station and communication network. Movable stations installed on automobiles transmit their position and status messages to the master station. All vehicles' tracks are drawn on the electrical map displayed by the master station's computer screen in real time. Vehicles' alarming signals can also be transmitted to the master station simultaneously. This paper presents a whole designing scheme of the vehicle tracking system, then it makes a thorough introduction to the system's performance and working procedure. The key technologies employed by the system and the relations between them are also discussed in details in the paper.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1993 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) has issued a Recommendation CCSDS 401.0-B for Radio Frequency and Modulation Systems to be used in Earth stations and spacecraft. Part of this Recommendation is a standardized design tool for link budget computations. This design tool is intended to assist spacecraft designers in preparing the power and performance designs of their spacecraft for communicating with existing standard ground stations. The present CCSDS Recommendation addresses a link design typical for that found with the Deep Space Network (DSN). DSN link analyses use a large subset of link-specific parameters not of any particular use if the space data link passes through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). The link architecture also differs in that the TDRSS parameter set needs to include an extra link through the satellite (two-hop) link versus a DSN-type link which is single-hop. Conversely, the treatment of ranging, PN coding requirements, and TDRSS acquisition and data group formalities are either not of the same format or not present at all on the DSN-type links. The baseline CCSDS 401 design tool is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that can run on an IBM PC or compatible computer. This baseline spreadsheet has been modified to account for the differences between baseline CCSDS model and TDRSS link operations. The paper will discuss the modifications made to the spreadsheet for the TDRSS system details. We will also present example usages of the spreadsheet.

Magíster en artes con mención en artes visuales / El objeto de esta tesis son dos obras de arte que generan textos de modo mecánico. Se trata de Poetry Machine (2001) del escritor, filósofo, programador y artista alemán David Link (1971), y de Máquina de Coser (2009), obra de mi propia autoría. El propósito de este trabajo es contextualizar ambos trabajos en una generalidad mayor, dada, primeramente, por un género: la generación algorítmica de textos y la concepción de los respectivos mecanismos generativos. De esta manera, la tesis intenta poner en relación tres cuestiones elementales: máquinas lógicas (más bien simples), autómatas escritores –o ‘poéticos’, si así se quiere– y lenguaje natural. En ese espíritu, la introducción constituye un esbozo de toda la tesis y una descripción abreviada de la misma. El primer capítulo es una pequeña introducción a la historia de los generadores de texto desde la aparición de los primeros computadores electrónicos. Ese capítulo se concentra, principalmente, en sistemas de combinaciones basados en elementos predefinidos. El segundo capítulo examina un experimento de Inteligencia Artificial –ELIZA (1966)–, que conjuga elementos predefinidos con variables exógenas. Ese análisis se basa –en gran parte– en un examen efectuado a dicho programa por David Link en su libro Poesiemaschinen / Maschinenpoesie. Las figuras utilizadas en esa explicación –al igual que las que explican la aplicación Romance Writer (1977) en el I capítulo– provienen de ese libro. Igualmente, se examina, en ese capítulo, la obra Máquina Cóndor (2006) –también de mi autoría–, y la implementación de un procedimiento, que cita a la obra Bartleby el escribiente (1853) de Herman Melville –(1819-1891)–, en Máquina de Coser. El tercer capítulo esboza algunas reflexiones sobre la Poetry Machine, intentando conjugar su afán de novedad con algunos pensamientos de Peter Bürger (1936) en su Teoría de la Vanguardia (1974) y de Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) en su Teoría Estética (1970), que recién se terminan de constituir en la conclusión. El cuarto capítulo es una exposición de una comparación entre la Máquina Universal de Turing (1936), de Alan M. Turing (1912-1954) y los conceptos de devenir, existencia, ser y nada en la Ciencia de la Lógica (1816), de Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). El autor de ese cotejo es, también, David Link. Mi aporte consiste en vincular dicho cotejo con un argumento de John Searle (1932) –The Chinese Room (1980)– acerca de la imposibilidad de comprensión de lenguaje en una máquina, y en plantear, desde ahí, otro experimento mental de mi propia autoría. En el quinto capítulo se esboza un prototipo de lenguaje primitivo y su relación con la noción de algoritmo, principalmente a partir de algunas consideraciones de Umberto Eco (1932) en su Tratado General de Semiótica (1976) y un ejemplo dado por Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) al comienzo de sus Investigaciones Filosóficas (1958). Ese capítulo termina con una proposición acerca de la noción de physical computing –invertida en computing the physical– encarnada en un máquina musical programable proveniente del mundo musulmán del Siglo IX, y la posible materialización de tal concepto en una obra imaginaria del Siglo XXI. En el sexto capítulo se exponen, con más detalle, algunas reflexiones del mismo Wittgenstein sobre la forma lógica del lenguaje en relación al lenguaje natural, y los abismos que separan lo lógicamente perfecto y el lenguaje natural. El séptimo capítulo examina la crítica de Saul A. Kripke (1940) a lo que llama teoría de cúmulos de descripciones definidas (con el propósito de comprender mejor los dos objetos de la tesis). La conclusión intenta conjugar lo esbozado en esos siete capítulos a la luz de las reflexiones de Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998) sobre la categoría estética de lo sublime y su relación con la vanguardia y con la posmodernidad. Esta conjugación final se encamina hacia una mejor comprensión de las dos obras en debate. Se adjuntan las fichas técnicas de Poetry Machine y Máquina de Coser en un anexo. Se recomienda leerlas para una comprensión más cabal de toda la tesis. Lo mismo rige para las notas al pie de página, que durante todo el texto –pero especialmente en el II capítulo, la conclusión y en la ficha técnica de Máquina de Coser– y, en ocasiones, también en el III y IV capítulo, constituyen un escrito paralelo que se acopla al texto principal. Sin dicho engranaje, en esas partes, el texto principal resulta incomprensible. Insoslayable –redundante incluso– agregar que esta tesis carece de pretensiones epistemológicas –o de la intención de ser un estudio doctoral que aporte algo de manera consistente a la filosofía analítica–. Es una tesis en filosofía con mención en estética y teoría del arte; y ante todo es un texto de artista. Así quisiera que fuera leída

The intention of the study presented in this thesis is to obtain an understanding of the issues involved in using connection-less services over a non-reliable satellite link and to suggest suitable solutions to enhance packet communication services. Particular attention is paid to using VSAT systems for interconnecting LANs through satellite links. A detailed study of Connection-Less Services (CLNS) and end to end transport protocols that use the CLNS over a satellite link with different propagation conditions is presented. Since most existing link, network and transport protocols were originally designed to work with terrestrial networks, they do not necessarily perform well over a satellite link. The main weaknesses in the link protocols are the insufficiency of connection-less data link services, the interaction between error recovery procedures implemented by transport layer and link layer and the interaction between different conversations due to link layer error recovery procedures. The inefficiency in the segmentation and reassembling service is the main weakness in the network protocol. The weaknesses in the transport protocols are the interaction between error recovery procedures and congestion control procedures, the significant delay in receiving feed-back from the remote receiver, the oscillating behaviour of the congestion control algorithms and the inaccuracy of round trip time estimation. Two approaches were used to improve the connection-less service over a satellite link. First, new data link protocols were developed to transparently improve the network service. The second approach was to modify transport protocols (which provide end to end transport service) to suit the characteristics of the satellite network.

Thesis advisor: John A. Baldwin / Khovanov homology and Heegaard Floer homology have opened new horizons in knot theory and three-manifold topology, respectively. The two invariants have distinct origins, but the Khovanov homology of a link is related to the Heegaard Floer homology of its branched double cover by a spectral sequence constructed by Ozsváth and Szabó. In this thesis, we construct an equivalent spectral sequence with a much more transparent connection to Khovanov homology. This is the first step towards proving Seed and Szabó's conjecture that Szabó's geometric spectral sequence is isomorphic to Ozsváth and Szabó's spectral sequence. These spectral sequences connect information about contact structures contained in each invariant. We construct a braid conjugacy class invariant κ from Khovanov homology by adapting Floer-theoretic tools. There is a related transverse invariant which we conjecture to be effective. The conjugacy class invariant solves the word problem in the braid group among other applications. We have written a computer program to compute the invariant. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Mathematics.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mathematics, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Bibliography: leaf 80. / by Mark David Baker. / Ph.D.

A method of estimating the mass, the location of center of mass, and the moments of inertia of each rigid body link of a robot during general manipulator movement is presented. The algorithm is derived from the Newton-Euler equations, and uses measurements of the joint torques as well as the measurement and calculation of the kinematics of the manipulator while it is moving. The identification equations are linear in the desired unknown parameters, and a modified least squares algorithm is used to obtain estimates of these parameters. Some of the parameters, however, are not identifiable due to restricted motion of proximal links and the lack of full force/torque sensing. The algorithm was implemented on the MIT Serial Link Direct Drive Arm. A good match was obtained between joint torques predicted from the estimated parameters and the joint torques computed from motor currents.