Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.)--Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed January 22, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Pharmacy and Dept. of Chemistry. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2007. / "A dissertation in pharmaceutical science and chemistry." Advisor: Simon H. Friedman. Typescript. Vita. Description based on contents viewed July 16, 2008; title from "catalog record" of the print edition. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 206-220). Online version of the print edition.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-166). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

M.Ing. (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) / The main purpose of the study is to propose an unique unity power factor AC-DC converter topology, with isolated output. The proposed converter is obtained by merging the unity power factor boost converter and the full bridge resonant transition converter. The converter is unique as resonant switching techniques are used to obtain a zero voltage switching boost stage, resulting in an all soft switching converter. The result is lower levels of conducted EMI, as well as lower switching losses. Conventional topologies utilize more than one converter stage to obtain the required results, whereas _ the proposed converter results in a single step solution. As the purpose of the proposed converter is power factor regulation resulting in lower levels of conducted EMI, the study is commenced with a review of the definitions and equations for both power factor and EM!. Thereafter sources and propagation of conducted EMI are discussed. To gain a better understanding of the operation of the proposed converter, the operation of the unity power factor boost converter, as well as the full bridge resonant transition converter are discussed in depth. A switching cycle of the proposed converter is divided into different intervals, and analytical equations for the relevant currents and voltages for each interval are derived seperately. Possible control schemes are introduced and where applicable, conditions for zero voltage switching are given. It is concluded that a constant frequency PWM controller is the most ideal control scheme to ensure proper operation of the converter. A simple design procedure is presented by which the size of the most important circuit parameters can be designed in terms of the desired switching frequency and permissable duty cycle variation. Finally, experimental results obtained from the practical converter, are given. Deviations from the ideal are interpreted and methods of improving the performance are suggested.

D.Ing. / The propagation of fast disturbances along power transmission structures depends on the parameters of the excitation for the disturbance, the characteristics of the power transmission structure, and eventually on the characteristics of the electrical load connected to the structure. This thesis will therefore target the determination of the parameters of transmission structures in Chapter 2, applicable transmission-line theory in Chapter 3, modelling the load in Chapter 4, and apply this knowledge to the specific problem of over-voltages on the terminals of machines fed via cables from inverters in Chapter 5. The rest of this chapter is devoted to explaining the introductory aspects of this application problem.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important global health concern and chronic carriers of the virus are at high risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cirrhosis. Current therapies are only partially effective, which emphasises the need for improved treatment strategies. Harnessing the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway as a treatment strategy against HBV has shown great promise. However, there are obstacles that need to be overcome before RNAi-based treatment of HBV infection is realised. These include problems of liver tissue targeting and dose regulation. This study investigated the use of a liver specific and mifepristone-inducible RNA polymerase (Pol) II promoter system for the specific and precise regulation of anti-HBV sequence expression. The inducible system used consists of two expression cassettes; one containing the regulator/transactivator protein and another containing the transgene. Natural primary microRNA (pri-miR) mimics, pri-miR-31/5 and pri-miR-31/5/8/9, were used as anti-HBV sequences. Firefly luciferase gene expression was used to test modulation by the inducible system and to determine optimal induction conditions. The pri-miR-31/5, pri-miR-31/5/8/9 and luciferase encoding fragments were incorporated into the plasmid vector pRS17 that bears the inducible promoter, creating pRS-31/5, pRS-31/5/8/9 and pRS-Luc respectively. Firefly luciferase expression with this system was shown to be inducible and mifepristone dose-dependent. Effective knockdown of HBV gene expression was achieved with both pRS-31/5 and pRS-31/5/8/9 in vitro and in vivo. However, with high vector amounts, similar efficiency in silencing of HBV gene expression was observed in the presence and absence of the inducer mifepristone suggesting leaky expression of the pri-miRs. To confirm this, knockdown studies were carried out with the pri-miR-31/5/8/9-expressing cassette separated from the transactivator cassette. HBV gene expression knockdown was observed with the pri-miR-31/5/8/9 cassette alone confirming leaky expression from the inducible system. Leakiness appears to be as a result of the E1B promoter driving the expression of the pri-miRs in the absence of mifepristone. However, reducing the vector amounts decreased basal expression and improved the inducibility of the system in cell culture studies. Successful propagation of an inducible and liver-specific RNAi-activating expression system will address the difficulty of achieving dose control of RNAi effectors and contribute to advancing the use of RNAi for HBV treatment.

This dissertation provides a study of synchronization and quantization issues in implementing a multistage receiver in fixed-point Digital Signal Processing (DSP) hardware. Current multistage receiver analysis has neglected the effects of synchronization and quantization; however, these effects can degrade system performance and therefore decrease overall system capacity. The first objective is to analyze and simulate various effects of synchronization in a multistage system. These effects include the effect of unsynchronized users on the bit error rate (BER) of synchronized users, and determining whether interference cancellation can be used to improve the synchronization time. This information is used to determine whether synchronization will limit overall system capacity. Both analytical and simulation techniques are presented. The second objective is to study the effects of quantization on the performance of the multistage receiver. A DSP implementation of a practical receiver will require a DSP chip with a fewer number of bits than the computer chips typically used in simulation of receiver performance. Therefore, the DSP implementation performs poorer than the simulation results predict. In addition, a fixed-point implementation is often favored over a floating-point implementation, due to the high processing requirements necessitated by the high chip rate. This further degrades performance because of the limited dynamic range available with fixed-point arithmetic. The performance of the receiver using a fixed-point implementation is analyzed and simulated. We also relate these topics to other important issues in the hardware implementation of multistage receivers, including the effects of frequency offsets at the receiver and developing a multiuser air protocol interface (API). This dissertation represents a contribution to the ongoing hardware development effort in multistage receivers at Virginia Tech. / Ph. D.

Bluetooth™ is an emerging short-range RF wireless voice and data communication technology expected to spread widely in a couple of years. The open specification technology eliminates the need for cables to connect mobile phones, portable computers and countless other devices to each other from all different manufacturers. This thesis provides an overview of the emerging Bluetooth™ technology and investigates the performance of Bluetooth™ data networks in various network topologies simulated from actual usage scenarios. Using a typical office environment, the study examines the probability and effects of Co-Channel interference as Bluetooth™ ad-hoc networks are formed in adjacent offices. A computer aided simulation tool, MATLAB simulates a low to highly dense interfering Bluetooth™ environment which provides the parameters to evaluate the bluetooth co-channel interference and performance. Several metrics are identified to predict Bluetooth™ performance in a piconet after a collision has occurred: data through put, the probability of frequency collision, transmitter - receiver distance, and power received. Next, to predict Bluetooth performance we also need to define what constitutes a lost packet. Finally, a Bluetooth™ network simulation is developed to measure the metrics, given occurrence of the lost packets. / Master of Science

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