Cell division is one of the most fundamental processes of life whereby one cell replicates itself to produce two. The molecular machinery that drives and regulates this fundamental process has been much studied but much remains unknown. This work describes the use of transcriptomics analyses to identify putative new proteins involved with this process and subsequent attempts to prove their association with this pathway. Using the latest array technology, in Chapter 2 I describe studies that examine the expression of genes regulated during different stages of the human cell cycle. Synchronous populations of neonatal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs) were generated by serum starvation and analysed in two separate microarray experiments. For the first set array experiments, samples were taken every 6 hours for 48 hours after serum refeeding, and every 2 hours for 24 hours for the second experiment. Using BioLayout Express3D, network structure analyses identified four major clusters of gene expression patterns associated with different stages of the cell cycle: G0-, early G1-, late G1-, and S/G2/M-phase. By comparison with datasets of other human cells and tissues, the list of genes in the S/G2/M cluster was refined; genes were only kept in the list if they were found to be co-expressed in cells and tissues with high levels of cell proliferation. 706 genes that were co-expressed during S/G2/M-phase were selected for further analyses. Manual curation showed that 484 are known cell cycle-associated genes, 78 are genes with putative association to the cell cycle, and 75 have known roles in other biological processes, whilst 69 were entirely uncharacterised genes. In order to investigate the 69 genes with unknown function, in Chapter 3 I describe how RNAi was used to screen 42 of these genes to see if their knockdown resulted in an effect on cell proliferation. After extensive assay optimisation, endoribonuclease-prepared siRNA (esiRNA) was delivered to NHDF cells and the effect of knockdown determined using a real time cell analysis (RTCA) system. This system monitors the change in electrical resistance induced by growing cell populations defined as the cell impedance index (CI). Using a Z-scoring cut-off to determine the hits of the RNAi screening, according to the average value of cell impedance growth rate (CIGR i.e. a value from transformed CI), 19 of 42 genes were found to significantly affect the dynamics of cell proliferation, supporting a potential role in cell division. In order to verify that the unknown proteins localise to structures compatible with a role in the cell cycle, in Chapter 4 I describe protein localisation studies on 11 of 19 genes of ‘hits’ from Chapter 3 (we were unable to obtain clones for the other 8 genes) and other genes of interest. Transfection studies of HEK293T cells with expression clones containing more than 11 ORFs with GFP fused to either the N- or C-terminal were performed. FAM111B and KIAA1549L appeared to be localised to the centrosome. In order to better understand the context in which the novel centrosomal proteins that FAM111B might operate, in Chapter 5 I describe the construction of a large-scale pathway model of centrosome life cycle based on an extensive literature review. The model is composed of 117 of the most important centrosome-associated proteins and has been constructed using the modified Edinburgh Notation (mEPN) scheme. This model was used to better annotate the genes in the original S/G2/M list and understand which of the genes in the model are regulated during cell division. This regulatory network model of the centrosome life cycle represents an important summary of current knowledge and provides a useful resource for further analyses of the novel centrosomal proteins. In summary, a list cell cycle gene was derived from microarray experiments by using network structure analyses. Subsequent analyses filtered the genes that co-expressed during S/G2/M-phase narrowing down into 706 genes. Of this list, 69 genes had not previously been associated with the cell cycle. 42 of these unknown genes were analysed by using real time RNAi screening, 19 of these genes were indeed associated with the cell proliferation, and 2 of these genes with unknown function appear to localise to the centrosome. To predict their involvement in the centrosome life cycle, a pathway map composed of 117 centrosome-associated proteins were formed. Although further research is needed to determine their position in the centrosome life cycle, the pathway can be used for computational modelling testing their putative function in the system.

The 'Cosmopolitan Play' is used as a metaphor to reflect the multiple contexts and ways that people act and play with the 'other' in the contemporary global era. The study expands the cosmopolitan perspective by questioning a widely held assumption in much of the existing literature that cosmopolitanism and a 'cosmopolitan stance' (Hannerz 1990) - an openness and willingness to engage with the 'other' - is associated with mobile people. This assumption has led to three dimensions being mainly ignored in the literature, these are: 1) a 'middle group' of movers that are neither mobile elites nor displaced people, 2) the significance of non-movers, and 3) temporality. Rather than defining the cosmopolitan stance as an elite identity, in this study it is seen as the reflexive contestation of essentialised identities formed around social boundaries such as those based on nationality, social class, ethnicity, religion and so forth (Jones 2007). Hence, the overarching research question posed is how may someone evolve a cosmopolitan stance? To answer this, a biographical network approach was developed to analyse in tandem the life stories and ego-networks of 28 non-elite young (aged 23-35) British and Spanish movers and non-movers living in Madrid and Manchester in terms of their cosmopolitan conviviality - the extent and quality of personal relationships initiated and maintained through face-to-face social interaction with others that are objectively different. The approach follows three axes of investigation: convivial horizons (x), people's social interactions across national boundaries; convivial depths (y), people's social interactions across social class, ethnic, religious and other social boundaries, within and across national boundaries; and convivial paths (z), the wider biographical contexts of people's interactions. The study's findings lend support to the critique of equating mobility with cosmopolitanism (Glick Schiller et al. 2011), yet they show that mobility inside and outside national boundaries together with subsequent settlement is influential for whether people not only transcend social boundaries, but also contest them. Additionally, while nationality, class, gender and so forth shape the parameters of people's cosmopolitan conviviality and the articulation thereof, they were not seen as decisive in the openness and willingness of people to engage with the 'other'. Instead, a life path that demanded the negotiation of uncertainty and unfamiliarity from an early age due to either familial problems or difficulties of fitting in at school or the wider 'home' environment was influential in the evolution of a more cosmopolitan convivial stance. The intersection of each axis culminates in a three dimensional view which shows how someone evolves one of four broad but distinctive convivial spheres and stances: national, metropolitan, trans-national and cosmopolitan. The theoretical underpinnings of the biographical network approach enable more complexity and detail of the cosmopolitan play to be captured, which in turn enhances the cosmopolitan perspective. The study illustrates how methods can be mixed in a qualitatively driven way (Mason 2006), and demonstrates the added value of combining qualitative and quantitative methods in network analysis (Crossley 2010, Edwards 2010, Hollstein 2011).

This dissertation introduces an analytic approach to the problem of circuit network pattern recognition. The approach involves a two-stage methodology which is described in detail. Initially, a theoretical process is used to generate a bench mark, or yardstick, to which descriptions of form can be oriented; secondly, a link-by-link examination of circuit network structure is undertaken to determine each link's relationship to the bench mark. The graphs composing the bench mark have a continuous structural distribution, ranging from completely connected to rudimentary graphs. A comprehensive description of these graphs is presented, and several properties of the bench mark are examined and compared to those of known families of circuit graphs. It is argued that the bench mark introduced here is more flexible than other yardsticks because its generative process creates a continuous spectrum of graph structures. The internal link-by-link approach also allows comparisons to be made within the link structure of the empirical network and thus an intra-network examination of the network's pattern is possible. Such comparison aids in revealing trends within the link structure of a given empirical circuit network. Finally, an illustration of the application of the proposed approach is presented. Three road networks, all located in western Canada, are chosen as examples of empirical planar networks and the major airline network of Canada is used as a non-planar example. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This diploma thesis is dealing about the Analysis of escape routes in 3D Building model. At first 3D BIM model, in format IFC, is extracted into the GIS software ArcGiS. From the model is created topology network, which representes the rooms and their connections. Based on this model is created the network analysis for building's escape routes. Results are 5 graphical representation of networks, web visualization and time required to exit from each room of the building.

<p>This project report defines network robustness and discusses capability indicators that could be used to analyze network robustness. Growing dependence on telecommunication networks and recent network outages have focused attention on network robustness. The National Communications System (NCS), a confederation of 23 Federal departments and agencies, has been concerned with network robustness since its formation in 1963. The NCS is developing and implementing systems and services that enhance the capability of the public switched networks to support critical Government communication requirements during times of crisis or emergency. Quantitative indicators of network robustness are needed to analyze the benefits of these enhancements. This project proposes a set of candidate capability indicators that could be used by the NCS in future analyses of the public switched networks with and without network enhancements.</p> / Master of Science

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It is essential to build, maintain, and use our transportation systems in a manner that meets our current needs while addressing the social and economic needs of future generations. In today’s world, transportation congestion causes serious negative impacts to our societies. To this end, researchers have been utilizing various statistical methods to better study the flow of traffic into the road networks. However, these valuable studies cannot realize their true potential without solid in-depth understanding of the connectivity between the various traffic intersections. This paper bridges the gap between the engineering and social science domains. To this end, the authors propose a dynamic social network analysis framework to study the centrality of the existing road networks. This approach utilizes the field of network analysis where: (1) visualization and modeling techniques allow capturing the relationships, interactions, and attributes of and between network constituents, and (2) mathematical measurements facilitate analyzing quantitative relationships within the network. Connectivity and the importance of each intersection within the network will be understood using this method. The author conducted social network analysis modeling using three studies in Louisiana and two studies in Mississippi. Four types of centrality analysis were performed to identify the most central and important intersections within each study area. Results indicate intersection social network analysis modeling aligns with current congestion studies and transportation planning decisions.

Timber haulage in Mississippi incurs the greatest portion of logging expenses because of a myriad of closed and posted (restricted) bridges. This study utilized Dijkstra's algorithm method in ArcGIS Pro to derive 129 feasible shortest optimal trucking routes between 46 harvest sites and 32 softwood sawmills in Mississippi. Among these routes, 30 of them had restricted bridges along the way; however, only 13 viable alternative routes were identified due to distance and weight restrictions. The additional trucking distance for alternative routes ranged between 1.5 to 12.9 miles, whose effect on transportation cost was determined using a Mixed Integer Linear Programming optimization model incorporating weight limits of the restricted bridges. Restricted bridges along optimal routes resulted in an additional transportation cost of $4.09 million, representing a 4.07% increase in total transportation cost or 0.34 per ton of softwood sawlogs transported. All these cost increases were exclusive to softwood sawlogs.

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