Now with the continuing development of computers, more detailed and complex mathematical models are being developed for the use of modeling estuaries. Schofield and Krutchkoff developed a one dimensional stochastic model to predict the concentration of twelve components, five biological and seven chemical. It was criticized because all the components had to be included in the model in order for its operation when in fact one only wanted to study a subset of them. It was the object of this work to reduce the restrictions that all twelve had to be included and make it able to use any subset of the twelve that are wished, in such a way that with limited experience in computer programming was sufficient to operate the program. Also more options as to what type of graphs, and initial run conditions were added to make use easier, as well as the addition of confidence intervals for each component concentration. It is now hoped that with these simplifications and added options that this model can now become a viable tool in the field of water pollution. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of selected metabolic, pulmonary and anthropometric factors to performance in the 100 yard butterfly swimming event. Physical measurements were taken for 11 varsity swimmers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and 10 boys aged 13 through 17 who were members of several Blacksburg, Virginia area AAU Youth Group swimming teams. The performance time for each subject was entered as the dependent variable in a Pearson product correlation coefficient. A step-wise multiple regression computer program was also used. The specific factors of maximal oxygen debt, vital capacity, one-half second timed vital capacity, a special somatotype index, skinfold fat, strength and bitrochanteric were investigated as the independent variables and as possible predictors of performance time. There were no indices measured for the College Group to be of significance at the .05 level of confidence (P ≤ .05). Maximal breathing capacity was the only predictor in the Youth Group at the .05 level of confidence. The step-wise multiple regression technique in the College Group revealed strength, somatotype index, bitrochanteric and O₂ debt max vital capacity as predictors. The step-wise multiple regression technique was also used with the Youth Group. When four variables were used, then high multiple correlations were found between swimming performance and the prediction equation which utilized the variables of maximal breathing capacity, vital capacity, chest debt and strength. Since no other variables were found to be of significance in predicting butterfly performance time, it was concluded that covert variables in potential swimmers need further investigation. / Ed. D.

A series of experiments were designed to test the effects of ¹³⁷cs irradiation on the viability of mouse embryos irradiated in vitro and subsequently transferred to recipient females or cultured in vitro. The first experiment was designed to evaluate the viability of embryos after combinations of whole body irradiation to the recipient (0, 100 and 200 R) and in vitro irradiation to the embryo (0, 100 and 200 R). Nine treatment combinations were possible. Controls, in which neither recipient or embryo were irradiated, resulted in 41.3% viable fetuses 14 days after irradiation and transfer. Controls were significantly different from all other treatments (P < 0.01). Embryo irradiation at 200 R resulted in 8.8, 4.8 and 12.1% viable fetuses when the recipients received 0, 100 and 200 R, respectively. Embryo irradiation at 100 R resulted in 15.6, 21.4 and 17.7% viable fetuses when the recipient received 0, 100 and 200 R. Irradiation of the recipient at 100 and 200 R, while the embryo was unirradiated, resulted in 18.4 and 25.3% viable fetuses. Irradiation of the embryo had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on the percentage of the fetuses alive 14 days after transfer. Irradiation of the recipient and the dam embryo interaction were not significant in terms of inducing embryonic mortality. There was no significant difference in resorption percentage between the nine treatments. The second experiment was designed to measure the day of death of embryos placed into each of three treatments. The treatments consisted of controls, recipients receiving 200 R and embryos 0 R, and recipients receiving 0 R and embryos 200 R. Recipients were autopsied on days 4 through 10 following transfer. There was no significant difference between treatments, or on days of autopsy between or within treatments. The two treatments involving irradiation were combined and the days of autopsy grouped into 4 and 5, 6 and 7 and 8, 9 and 10 and compared with controls. Viability and resorptions were significantly different (P < 0.05) on days 8, 9 and 10 in the irradiated embryos when compared with controls. The third experiment was designed to measure the response of mouse blastocysts irradiated at 0, 100 and 200 Rand cultured in vitro. Irradiation at 100 and 200 R significantly increased degeneration of embryos (P 0.01) and decreased hatching ability (P < 0.01). Embryos were examined using the differential interference contrast microscope at 24, 48 and 72 hours after receiving 0, 100 or 200 R. No consistent morphological changes due to irradiation were observed. / Master of Science

This thesis reports the characterisation of a novel outer membrane protein (OMP) from M. catarrhalis, designated M35, with a molecular mass of 36.1 kDa. This protein is structurally homologous to classic Gram-negative porins, such as OMP C from E. coli and OMP K36 from K. pneumoniae, with a predicted structure of 8 surface loops connecting 16 antiparallel -sheets. Comparison of the DNA sequences of the M35 genes from 18 diverse clinical isolates showed that the gene was highly conserved (99.6-100 % of nucleotides) with only one isolate (ID78LN266) having base variations that resulted in amino acid substitutions. A single amino acid mutation in the 3rd external loop of M35 in isolate ID78LN266 significantly affected antibody recognition, indicating that loop 3 contains an immunodominant B-cell epitope. The reduction in antibody-binding to M35 from ID78LN266 was similar to that caused by complete removal of loop 3. Since loop 3 folds into the porin channel in the classic structure, the antibody specificity to loop 3 was hypothesised to be a potential mechanism for evasion of host immune responses targeted to M35, potentially explaining the high degree of conservation across isolates. A series of recombinant proteins were constructed to analyse the binding to M35 of antibodies specificity for loop 3 or the remainder of the protein. It was found that loop 3- specific antibodies were not able to bind to M35 on the surface of M. catarrhalis and that this corresponds both with a lack of ability to enhance opsonophagocytosis in vitro and bacterial clearance in vivo. Additionally, antibodies raised against a version of M35 lacking loop 3 and M35 from the variant isolate ID78LN266 were both no less effective than the full consensus M35 by both these measures. It therefore appears that while the majority of antibodies raised against M35 are specific for loop 3 these antibodies do not mediate anti-M. catarrhalis actions. Two deletion mutant strains of M. catarrhalis that do not contain the outer membrane protein M35 were created by insertional inactivation of the M35 gene. Growth comparisons between these mutant strains and their wildtype parent strains initially led to the hypothesis that M35 is necessary for efficient glutamic acid uptake by M. catarrhalis, however this hypothesis was later shown to be incorrect. Efficient uptake of glutamic acid seemed to be mediated by a novel 40 kDa protein that was up-regulated in the deletion mutant strains, presumably to compensate for the lack of M35. M35 was also found to be essential for in vivo survival of M. catarrhalis in the nasal cavities of mice, indicating that it is an essential functional protein for colonisation of the mucosal surface.

The main purpose of this study was to review and modify some of the work that has been done concerning the generation of pseudo-random numbers. The PURGE3, MIX1, and MIX2 subroutines, written in FORTRAN IV to be run on the IBM 360 computer system, are used for the generation of pseudo-random numbers from a family of Pearson distributions as well as from any combination of mixtures of two Pearson distributions, a normal distribution with arbitrary mean and variance and a uniform distribution on any finite interval. The primary improvement undertaken here was to increase the efficiency of operation by enabling the PURGE3 and MIX1 subroutines to be called in a single computer program. The Pearson distribution may be specified either by the first four moments or from sample data. The parameters of the fitted distribution are printed and, if desired, the moments and a graph of the distribution of the 100 pseudo-random numbers generated are printed. A graph of the mixture of distributions generated in the MIX1 subroutine may be obtained from 10,000 random numbers generated from the mixture. The MIX2 subroutine functions to generate random numbers only. The speed of generation varies from about 13,000 random numbers per minute for a Pearson distribution which computes and prints the moments from the generated numbers, to approximately 143,000 numbers per minute if mixtures are used without computing the moments from the generated numbers. / Master of Science

M.S.

M.S.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:07:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 NierllyKAMG.pdf: 1438330 bytes, checksum: d5fc2399ebd1b5a6e21ea3718fff6716 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-03-22 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The heat transfer between plasma and a solid occurs mostly due the radiation and the collision of the particles on the material surface, heating the material from the surface to the bulk. The thermal gradient inside the sample depends of the rate of particles collisions and thermal conductivity of the solid. In order to study that effect, samples of AISI M35 steel, with 9,5 mm X 3,0 mm (diameter X thickness) were quenched in resistive furnace and tempereds in plasma using the plane configuration and hollow cathode, working with pressures of 4 and 10 mbar respectively. Analyzing the samples microstructure and measuring the hardness along the transversal profile, it was possible to associate the tempered temperature evaluating indirectly the thermal profile. This relation was obtained by microstructural analyzes and through the hardness curve x tempered sample temperature in resistive furnace, using temperatures of 500, 550, 600, 650 and 700?C. The microstructural characterization of the samples was obtained by the scanning electron microscopy, optic microscopy and X-ray diffraction. It was verified that all samples treated in plasma presented a superficial layer, denominated affected shelling zone, wich was not present in the samples treated in resistive furnace. Moreover, the samples that presented larger thermal gradient were treated in hollow cathode with pressure of 4 mbar / A transfer?ncia de calor entre o plasma e um s?lido ocorre principalmente atrav?s da radia??o e colis?o das part?culas sobre a superf?cie do material, o que faz com que o aquecimento do material aconte?a da superf?cie para seu interior. Dependendo da taxa de colis?es das part?culas e da condutividade t?rmica do s?lido, haver? gradientes t?rmicos no interior das amostras. A fim de estudar esse efeito, amostras de a?o AISI M35, com 9,5 mm X 3,0 mm (di?metro X espessura) foram temperadas em forno resistivo e revenidas em plasma, nas configura??es c?todo planar e c?todo oco, com press?es de trabalho de 4 e 10 mbar, para ambas as configura??es. Analisando a microestrutura das amostras e medindo as durezas ao longo do perfil transversal pode-se associar ? temperatura de revenido avaliando indiretamente o perfil t?rmico. Essa rela??o foi obtida atrav?s de an?lise microestrutural e da curva dureza x temperatura de amostras revenidas em forno resistivo, utilizando temperaturas de 500, 550, 600, 650 e 700?C. A caracteriza??o microestrutural das amostras foi realizada atrav?s da microscopia eletr?nica de varredura (MEV), microscopia ?ptica (MO) e difra??o de raios-X (DRX). Verificou-se que todas as amostras tratadas em plasma apresentaram uma camada superficial, denominada de zona afetada por bombardeamento, que n?o se encontra presente nas amostras tratadas em forno resistivo. Al?m disso, verificou-se que as amostras que apresentaram maior gradiente t?rmico foram as tratadas em c?todo oco com press?o de 4 mbar

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:58:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ErissonADL_DISSERT.pdf: 1589862 bytes, checksum: 6b02f85f6525d125a48a0c38ad306945 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-09 / O gradiente t?rmico da superf?cie para o interior do s?lido depende da taxa de colis?es das part?culas e da condutividade t?rmica do material utilizado. Quando um s?lido ? imerso em plasma, a transfer?ncia de energia ocorre por radia??o e colis?es das part?culas sobre a superf?cie do material. Dependendo da taxa de colis?es das particulas e da condutividade t?rmica do s?lido existir?o gradientes t?rmicos da superf?cie para o interior das amostras, ocorrendo picos t?rmicos na superficie, ou seja, o aquecimento pontual nas regi?es de colis?es. A fim de estudar esse efeito, amostras de a?o r?pido AISI M35 cujos valores de dureza s?o fortemente sens?veis ? temperatura de revenimento, foram utilizadas como micro sensores t?rmicos. Amostras foram temperadas em forno resistivo e, em seguida, parte das mesmas foram revenidas em forno resistivo e a outra parte em plasma. A partir do gr?fico da dureza (Hv) em fun??o da temperatura (T) das amostras revenidas em forno resistivo foi poss?vel obter uma fun??o Hv(T) para determina??o indireta do perfil t?rmico das amostras tratadas em plasma. As amostras foram revenidas em plasma utilizando temperatura de refer?ncia igual a 550 oC. Em seguida foi obtido o perfil de dureza dessas amostras ao longo da se??o transversal e, subsequentemente, o perfil de temperatura. Verificou-se que amostras tratadas em plasma, ao contr?rio daquelas tratadas em forno resistivo, apresentaram gradiente de temperatura da superf?cie para o n?cleo. Al?m disso, verificou-se que as amostras tratadas em configura??o planar apresentaram gradientes t?rmicos inferiores ?quelas tratadas em configura??o c?todo oco, variando de 20 a 120 ?C, respectivamente

Italian artists working in eighteenth-century Britain played a significant role in the country's developing interest in the fine arts. The contributions of artists arriving before mid-century, including Pellegrini, Ricci, and Canaletto, have been noted, but the presence of a larger number of Italians from mid-century is seldom acknowledged. Increasing British wealth and attention to the arts meant more customers for immigrant Italian artists. Bringing with them the skills for which they were renowned throughout Europe, their talents were valued in Britain. Many stayed for prolonged periods, raising families and becoming active members in the artistic community. In a thriving economy, they found opportunities to produce innovative works for a new clientele, devising histories, landscapes, portraits, and prints to entice buyers. The most successful were accomplished networkers, maintaining cordial relationships with British artists and cultivating a variety of patrons. They influenced others through teaching, through formal and informal exchanges with colleagues, and through exhibition of their works that could be studied and emulated.