This Masterâs thesis deals with evaluation of quality of Brno Combo combination rifle shotgun rifled barrelâs firing mechanism. It contains a proposal of criteria for evaluation of quality of firearm firing mechanisms. It further focuses on using measurement of primer deformation as a means of assessing the quality of a firing mechanism. Based on measurements made using a Focus Variation microscope, various geometrical parameters of fired and failed primers were analysed. The measurement results were processed using ANOVA and regression analysis. Based on output of these analyses, practical recommendations and further research proposals were formulated.

This thesis deals with the transmission of information over the Ethernet network. In this work a suitable microcontroller and a communication module were selected. The Module provides data transfer from Ethernet to SPI bus. Furthermore an optimal digital temperature sensor DS1820 was chosen. Theoretically it describes the model TCP / IP and the Ethernet type network . In this thesis a block circuit diagram is created, further an electrical wiring diagram and a printed circuit board were constructed. In the programming environment BascomAVR a program is compiled, which is used to transfer information from the microcontroller via Ethernet to a website.

The focus of this dissertation is on the exploration of interior environments subjected to constant change. This study will investigate the ability of interior design to relate and respond to internal and external influences in a way which represents the interior environment as one of spatial performance and experience. Responsive interior design is investigated in terms of change over time relative to temporal conditions through the adaptive re-use of the temporary structure Les Grandes Tables de l’île Seguin by 1024 Architecture as a travelling crafts exhibit and design development centre for Design Network Africa, a craft development initiative. The host building Les Grandes Tables de l’île Seguin will be altered from a single use, static interior environment to an active interior which is able to accommodate craft exhibitions, workshops and design studios as functions in sequential phases. The intention is to explore ‘timeliness’ in interior design and establish an enduring identity for the altered host building, which incorporates constantly changing, temporary identities influenced by varied locations, occupants and programmes. The host building, consisting of a structural framework and interior infill, provides the opportunity for exploration of an adaptable interior through conceptualising the environment as one of a permanent, enduring framework and specific, temporary infill. For the purpose of the study the project is investigated in one location, Sunnyside, Pretoria, with two different occupants from the Design Network Africa client body, and multiple phases portraying the different functions. / Dissertation (MInt(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / MInt(Prof) / Unrestricted

This thesis reviews the usual properties and requirements for key agreement protocols. It then focuses on MIKEY, a work-in-progress protocol designed to conduct key agreements for secure multimedia exchanges. The protocol was implemented and incorporated in a SIP user agent - minisip. This implementation was used to measure the additional delay required for key exchange during call establishment. Finally, some schemes are proposed regarding the use of MIKEY in advanced VoIP scenarios, such as conferences and terminal mobility.

The great interest in monitoring everything around us has increased the number of sensors that we utilize in our daily lives. Furthermore, the evolution of wireless technologies has facilitated their ubiquity. Moreover, is in locations such as homes and offices where exploitation of the data from these sensors has been more important. For example, we want to know if the temperature in our home is adequate, otherwise we want to turn on the heating (or cooling) system automatically and we want to be able to monitor the environment of the home or office remotely. The knowledge from these sensors and the ability to actuate devices, summon human assistance, and adjust contracts for electrical power, heating, cooling, etc. can facilitate a myriad of ways to improve the quality of our life and potentially even reduce resource consumption. This master‘s thesis project created a gateway that sniffs wireless sensor traffic in order to collect data from existing sensors and to provide this data as input to various services. These sensors work in the 868 MHz band. Although these wireless sensors are frequently installed in homes and offices, they are generally not connected to any network. We designed a gateway capable of identifying these wireless sensors and decoding the received messages, despite the fact that these messages may use a vendor‘s proprietary protocol. This gateway consists of a microcontroller, a radio transceiver (868-915 MHz), and an Ethernet controller. This gateway enables us to take advantage of all the data that can be captured. Thinking about these possibilities, simultaneously acquiring data from these various sensors could open a wide range of alternatives in different fields, such as home automation, industrial controlling… Not only can the received data be interesting by itself; but when different sensors are located in the same environment we can exploit this data using sensor fusion. For example, time differences in arrival and differences in signal strength as measured t multiple receivers could be used to locate objects. The final aim of this thesis project is to support diverse applications that could be developed using the new gateway. This gateway creates a bridge between the information that is already around us and our ability to realize many new potential services. A wide range of opportunities could be realized by exploiting the wireless sensors we already have close to us. / Det stora intresset för att övervaka allt omkring oss har ökat antalet sensorer som vi använder i vårt dagliga liv. Dessutom har utvecklingen av trådlösa tekniker underlättat de har stor utbredning. Dessutom är på platser som hem och kontor där utnyttjandet av data från dessa sensorer har varit viktigare. Till exempel vill vi veta om temperaturen i vårt hem är tillräcklig, annars vill vi slå på värmen (eller kyla) automatiskt och vi vill kunna övervaka miljön i hemmet eller på kontoret på distans. Data från dessa sensorer och förmåga att aktivera enheter kalla mänsklig assistans och justera avtal för el, värme, kyla, osv. kan underlätta en myriad av olika sätt att förbättra kvaliteten på våra liv och potentiellt även minska resursförbrukningen. Detta examensarbete syftar till att sniffa trådlösa sensorn trafik i syfte att samla in data från befintliga sensorer och att tillhandahålla sådan information som underlag till olika tjänster. Dessa sensorer arbetar i 868 MHz-bandet. Även om dessa ofta installeras i hem och kontor, är de i allmänhet inte ansluten till något nätverk. För att förverkliga vårt mål kommer vi att utforma en gateway som kan identifiera dessa trådlösa sensorer och avkoda den mottagna meddelanden, trots att dessa meddelanden kan använda en leverantör egenutvecklade protokoll. Denna brygga består av en mikrokontroller, en sändtagare (868 till 915 MHz), och en Ethernet-styrenhet. Gateway bör göra det möjligt för oss att dra nytta av alla de uppgifter som möjligen kan fångas. Funderar om dessa möjligheter, samtidigt insamling av data från dessa olika sensorer kan öppna ett brett spektrum av alternativ i olika områden, såsom hem automation, industriell kontrollerande ... Inte bara kan de mottagna uppgifterna vara intressant i sig självt, men när olika sensorer finns i samma miljö kan vi utnyttja detta data med hjälp av sensor fusion. Till exempel skulle tidsskillnader i ankomst och skillnader i signalstyrka uppmätt med flera mottagare användas för att lokalisera föremål. Det slutliga målet med denna avhandling är att stödja olika applikationer som skulle kunna utvecklas med hjälp av utformade gateway. Denna gateway kommer att skapa en initial brygga mellan all information omkring oss och vår förmåga att förverkliga många tjänsteleverantörer möjligheter. Ett brett utbud av möjligheter kan realiseras genom att utnyttja de trådlösa sensorerna vi redan har nära till oss.

Plant cell wall degradation into fermentable sugars by cellulases is one of the greatest barriers to biofuel production. Expansin protein loosens the plant cell wall by opening up the complex of cellulose microfibrils and polysaccharide matrix components thereby increasing its accessibility to cellulases. We over-expressed cucumber expansin in maize kernels to produce enough protein to assess its potential to serve as an industrial enzyme for applications particularly in biomass conversion. We used the globulin-1 embryo-preferred promoter to express the cucumber expansin gene in maize seed. Expansin protein was targeted to one of three sub-cellular locations: the cell wall, the vacuole, or the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). To assess the level of expansin accumulation in seeds of transgenic kernels, a high throughput expansin assay was developed. The highest expressing plants were chosen and enriched crude expansin extract from those plants was tested for synergistic effects with cellulase on several lignocellulosic substrates. Activity of recombinant cucumber expansin from transgenic kernels was confirmed on these pretreated substrates. The best transgenic lines (ER-targeted) can now be used for breeding to increase expansin expression for use in the biomass conversion industry. Results of these experiments show the success of expansin over-expression and accumulation in transgenic maize seed without negative impact on growth and development and confirm its synergistic effect with cellulase on deconstruction of complex cell wall substrates.

Proxy-based quantitative estimates of Eocene climates can be made from marine isotope records for ocean conditions or fossil plants for terrestrial environment. However, our understanding about Eocene terrestrial climates is derived mainly from North America and Europe, and little is known about East Asia. Previous qualitative paleoclimate studies briefly revealed three climatic regimes across China during the Eocene with a planetary wind-dominated subtropical to tropical arid zone in the central part (i.e., the subtropical highs), which was flanked by the subtropical climate zone in the north and tropical climate zone in the south. But such a pattern of paleoclimatic zonation still requires a test from quantitative study. Based on analyses of 66 plant assemblages, carefully selected from 37 fossil sites throughout China, we here report the first large-scale quantitative climatic results and discuss the Eocene climatic patterns in China. Our results demonstrate that the Eocene monsoonal climate must have been more or less developed over China, judging from the presence of apparent seasonality of both temperature and precipitation revealed by our quantitative estimation. This appears not to support the previously claimed Eocene planetary wind-dominated climate system, at least in the region of eastern China. In addition, the research indicates that, with a slight declining trend of MAT during the Eocene, the winter temperature substantially dropped in tropical southern China during the middle to late Eocene interval. This might be related to the development of a weak Eocene Kuroshio Current in the southwestern Pacific, and/or a significantly enhanced paleo-winter monsoon from Siberia.

We test the NBA betting market for efficiency and find that totals lines are significantly biased early each season, yet sides lines do not show a similar bias. While market participants generally force line movements in the correct direction from open to close, they do not fully remove the identified bias in totals lines. This inefficiency enables a profitable technical trading strategy, as the resulting win rate of our proposed simple betting strategy against the closing totals line is 56.72%.

Background/aims Conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the most frequent malignant tumour of the conjunctiva, with scarce recurrence and infrequent metastasis. The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical and pathological characteristics of this neoplasm and to identify the prognostic factors for recurrence and metastasis in a cancer hospital in Peru. Materials and method A longitudinal, retrospective study of 176 consecutive patients diagnosed with SCC of the conjunctiva. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were evaluated. In addition, Kaplan-Meier curves were performed, and Cox regression was used to determine prognostic factors for recurrence and metastasis over time. Result Only 12.5% presented tumour size ≤5 mm. The highest proportion according to the histopathological type was the well-differentiated infiltrative forms (40.9%), and according to tumour, node, metastases (TNM), stage T3 was the most frequent (31.3%). The most performed initial treatment was orbital exenteration (38.6%). The proportion of recurrence was 6.8% and 8.0% for metastasis. The annual survival rate was 7% and the annual metastasis rate was 6%; for recurrence after 5 years, the survival rate was 11% and the metastasis rate was 14%. No prognostic factor evaluated was significant. Conclusion This is the most extensive patient study in Latin America with CSCC, with a high proportion of advanced histopathological grade, TNM stages, and radical treatments such as exenteration. Recurrence rates on average are similar to other reported studies, and it describes the rates of metastasis that have been poorly described in the literature. / Revisión por pares

Studying household finance and behavior is important not only for understanding the micro level behavior, but also to have a better understanding of the whole economy. The study of household behavior become even more important after the 2007 housing crises, and the giant effect it had (and is still having) on Wall Street and the whole US and global economy. This dissertation is an attempt to understand some of the household behavior: how does the new internet era affect the demand for credit cards, which attitudes influence the household's decision to file bankruptcy, and whether expenditure habits encouraged overspending. The study will use the micro level data provides by Survey of Consumer Finance SCF2007. In the first chapter, the study focuses on the effect of having internet access on household demand for credit cards, controlling for standard price, income effects and other financial and demographic variables. The internet changed the way consumer shops, with more information about the product, the market and the price. E-Commerce retail sales grew on average of 22% a year over the past decade; in the second quarter of 2009 it reached $32.4 billion. The study found that households who have access to the internet, carry around $862 more on their credit card balance, in average, than households who have no access to the internet. The second chapter investigates the effects of borrowing and saving attitudes on household decision to file for personal bankruptcy. The total non-commercial bankruptcy filings increased from 560,682 cases in 2006 to 784,079 in 2007. This increase continued through 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, with 1,031,443 cases filed in 2008 and 304,228 in the first three months of 2009. The study results suggest that borrowing and saving attitudes have no effect of household decision to file for bankruptcy except for paying credit card balance in full every month. The third chapter studies the relationship between eating out "Food-Away-From-Home" and overspending. Since 19% of household in the US are spending more than their income. The average for the past nine years (2000-2008) was 1.6%. Compared to other industrialized countries, the US had one of the worst personal saving rates during the past twenty years . The study found that eating out does not encourage overspending. On the contrary, the higher the ratio of FAFH to total food expenditures the less likely household will overspend.