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Detection of micro-motion on biological tissues has various applications such as ultrasound elastography and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). Ultrasound transducers, the most commonly used tool to detect endogenous and exogenous micro-motions, have a number of drawbacks: including the requirements of the physical contact with the sample and limited spatial resolution (millimetre scale). The aim of this thesis is to develop a non-contact phase-sensitive imaging technique which is suitable for functional imaging in the micron range which also has the potential for quantitative analysis of relative properties resulting from an appropriate image processing. Concerning imaging techniques, this thesis focused on optical coherence tomography (OCT) and in particular on phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PhS-OCT). In this thesis, a PhS-OCT system is developed for micro-motion detection and a dual camera PhS-OCT system is developed to double the imaging acquiring speed and improve the sensitivity to small phase change. Two applications of PhS-OCT combining micro-motions detection are preformed: 1) Photo-thermal OCT (PT-OCT) system is developed to detect the photo-thermal phenomenon of nanoparticles. A mathematic model is proposed to analyse and reconstruct the distribution of nanoparticles in biological tissues. 2) A quantitative 3D optical coherence elastography (OCE) system and algorithm are developed to analysis the mechanical property of tissue. A feasibility study is carried for the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) using this technique. Results show that PhS-OCT is a powerful tool for the detection of micro-motions (micron range). Functional OCT based on it such as PT-OCT and OCE offers potential in diagnostic and therapeutic in clinical applications, e.g. PT-OCT can be used to detect and map the distribution and concentration of dye and drug in tissues or organs. 3D OCE can provide useful information for early localization and diagnosis of cancer.

This project served to analyze the effects that energy storage can have on energy production.  The study was aimed at Johannes CHP bio fuel. Johannes produces electricity for the SE3 region and heat for the district heating in Gävle. The electricity market is the main driving factor for energy production. It is ideal for Johannes to produce as much electricity as possible during high Elspot prices. Two accumulator tanks are already installed at Johannes so the surplus of heat can be stored from high electrical production. This study served to utilize the planning horizons for the future Elspot prices. The two forecasting methods presented are the 12 hour prices presented by Nord pool and the four day forecast predicted by ARIMA modeling. Several different energy storage technologies were theoretically discussed after which Gravity Potential Module, latent heat storage using phase change materials and open accumulator tanks were analyzed. The ideal system proved to be utilizing the four day ARIMA modeled forecast with a storage system consisting of Gravity Potential Module and latent heat storage. The system resulted in a gross profit of 1.4 million SEK and an increased average electrical production efficiency of .02% during 2011.

The most commonly used exposure assessment for heat stress is based on Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), and the limits are based on empirical relationships that demonstrate a sustainable exposure. The ISO 7933 (2017) describes Predicted Heat Strain (PHS), which is a rational model for heat stress assessment that is used to assess time-limited exposures. Investigators have examined PHS validity under a variety of time-limited conditions. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate if PHS can predict sustainable exposures. The data used for this study were from two previous heat stress studies using a progressive heat stress protocol. The studies included 29 participants wearing four different ensembles (woven clothing, particle barrier, water barrier, and vapor barrier coveralls) at three levels of metabolic rate and relative humidity. Each trial provided data for a fully compensable (sustainable) exposure and an uncompensable (time-limited) exposure. The heat stress data from each condition were used to see if PHS demonstrated a steady-state response indicating a sustainable exposure. From the analysis, the sensitivity and specificity respectively for the ensemble types were: 1.00 and 0.18 for woven clothing, 0.95 and 0.60 for particle barrier, 0.91 and 0.83 for water barrier, 0.91 and 0.80 for vapor barrier, and 0.94 and 0.65 for all ensembles. The data show that while the sensitivity of PHS (correctly identifying unsustainable conditions) is good for the different ensembles, PHS specificity (correctly identifying sustainable exposures) was weak. From an occupational health and safety perspective, using PHS to identify sustainable exposures leads to protective decisions.

A demanda por produtos mais econômicos, eficientes e menos poluentes faz com que a indústria automobilística invista em novos e melhores materiais e processos de produção. Assim, surgiu o processo de estampagem à quente chamado Press Hardening e seus produtos, os Press Hardened Steels. Esta classe de aços é capaz de produzir uma microestrutura totalmente martensítica durante o rápido resfriamento em prensa. Com o aumento da produção de peças por Press Hardening, evidenciou-se um grave problema: a suscetibilidade à fragilização por hidrogênio dos aços submetidos a esse processo. A ocorrência das chamadas fraturas retardadas induzidas por hidrogênio é relatada na literatura e uma pesquisa indica que microadições de nióbio ao aço 22MnB5 poderiam aumentar a resistência à fratura induzida por hidrogênio. Para estudar os efeitos do hidrogênio no aço 22MnB5, foram utilizadas seis diferentes composições A, C, CP, Ec, Ep e N (contém nióbio) em dois ensaios principais: ensaio de permeabilidade de hidrogênio e trincamento induzido por hidrogênio. A técnica de microdureza Vickers foi posteriormente utilizada para verificar possíveis efeitos do ensaio de permeabilidade de hidrogênio. Quatro das seis ligas receberam inicialmente o tratamento de press hardening e todas as seis apresentavam estruturas martensíticas nos ensaios de permeabilidade e trincamento. Por meio do método tlag, os parâmetros de difusão dos ensaios de permeabilidade foram calculados e comparados à literatura. As ligas CP e N apresentam os maiores valores de difusividade aparente de hidrogênio, menores valores de concentração máxima de hidrogênio e menores densidades de sítios de aprisionamento, sendo assim menos suscetíveis à fragilização por hidrogênio. Os ensaios de trincamento revelaram que as composições A, C e Ec apresentam trincas maiores do que as demais ligas, corroborando os resultados obtidos nos ensaios de permeabilidade (melhor resistência à fragilização por hidrogênio das ligas CP e N que contém Nb). Os ensaios de microdureza Vickers mostraram que não há redução na dureza após o ensaio de permeabilidade. Palavras-chave: A demanda por produtos mais econômicos, eficientes e menos poluentes faz com que a indústria automobilística invista em novos e melhores materiais e processos de produção. Assim, surgiu o processo de estampagem à quente chamado Press Hardening e seus produtos, os Press Hardened Steels. Esta classe de aços é capaz de produzir uma microestrutura totalmente martensítica durante o rápido resfriamento em prensa. Com o aumento da produção de peças por Press Hardening, evidenciou-se um grave problema: a suscetibilidade à fragilização por hidrogênio dos aços submetidos a esse processo. A ocorrência das chamadas fraturas retardadas induzidas por hidrogênio é relatada na literatura e uma pesquisa indica que microadições de nióbio ao aço 22MnB5 poderiam aumentar a resistência à fratura induzida por hidrogênio. Para estudar os efeitos do hidrogênio no aço 22MnB5, foram utilizadas seis diferentes composições A, C, CP, Ec, Ep e N (contém nióbio) em dois ensaios principais: ensaio de permeabilidade de hidrogênio e trincamento induzido por hidrogênio. A técnica de microdureza Vickers foi posteriormente utilizada para verificar possíveis efeitos do ensaio de permeabilidade de hidrogênio. Quatro das seis ligas receberam inicialmente o tratamento de press hardening e todas as seis apresentavam estruturas martensíticas nos ensaios de permeabilidade e trincamento. Por meio do método tlag, os parâmetros de difusão dos ensaios de permeabilidade foram calculados e comparados à literatura. As ligas CP e N apresentam os maiores valores de difusividade aparente de hidrogênio, menores valores de concentração máxima de hidrogênio e menores densidades de sítios de aprisionamento, sendo assim menos suscetíveis à fragilização por hidrogênio. Os ensaios de trincamento revelaram que as composições A, C e Ec apresentam trincas maiores do que as demais ligas, corroborando os resultados obtidos nos ensaios de permeabilidade (melhor resistência à fragilização por hidrogênio das ligas CP e N que contém Nb). Os ensaios de microdureza Vickers mostraram que não há redução na dureza após o ensaio de permeabilidade. / The demand for more economical, efficient and less polluting products makes the automobile industry invest in new and better materials and production processes. In this way, arose the hot stamping process called Press Hardening and its products, the Press Hardened Steels. This class of steels is capable of producing a fully martensitic microstructure during rapid cooling in the press. With the increase of the production of pieces by Press Hardening, a serious problem was evidenced: the susceptibility to the hydrogen embrittlement of the steels made by this process. The occurrence of the so-called hydrogen-induced delayed fractures is reported in the literature and a research indicates that micro-alloying of niobium to 22MnB5 steel may increase hydrogen-induced fracture resistance. In order to study the hydrogen effects on the 22MnB5 steel, were used six different compositions A, C, CP, Ec, Ep and N (which contains niobium) in two main tests: hydrogen permeation test and hydrogen induced cracking. The Vickers micro hardness technique was later used to verify possible effects of the hydrogen permeation test. Four of the six alloys received the press hardening processing and all six had martensitic structures in the permeability and induced cracking tests. By means of the tlag method, the diffusion parameters of the permeability tests were calculated and compared to the literature. The CP and N alloys present the highest values of hydrogen apparent diffusivity, lower values of maximum hydrogen concentration and lower densities of trapping sites, thus being less susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. The induced cracking tests showed that compositions A, C and Ec present higher cracks than the other alloys, corroborating the results obtained in the permeability tests (better resistance to hydrogen embrittlement of the alloys CP and N containing Nb). The Vickers microhardness tests showed that there is no reduction in hardness after the permeability test.

電信服務日新月異，電信技術與標準推陳出新，在眾多技術與標準中，選擇一種可以獲得用戶支持，並且滿足潛在市場需求的技術標準，在世代交替與技術標準轉換之際，選擇適合的技術標準，以建構用戶基礎與技術優勢，將是投資龐大之電信公司營運成功與否的關鍵因素。 過去曾經風光的封閉型電信標準，如日本的NTT DoCoMo的PDC與其iMode標準，終究因為不能滿足新的競爭與市場需求，並且電信服務價值鏈日漸繁複的趨勢，終就還是走入歷史；近年封閉與非主流的低功率行動電話PHS標準被中國與其他國家捨棄，目前唯一經營PHS的日本Willcom電信公司與台灣的A公司也都紛紛進入財務重整，全球PHS用戶曾經達到一億之盛況，卻因為中國大陸的電信政策影響，讓曾經風光，俗稱小靈通的PHS因此消失。 PDC和PHS都是被認為是曾經領先當代的封閉型技術標準，也都是日本電信公司自主研發的先進行動通信技術，但是NTT DoCoMo只經營了三年PHS，即終止PHS服務，而Willcom電信公司(DDI Pocket前身)則選擇持續發展PHS技術；曾經封閉的PHS技術領先其他電信標準，最後卻遭到淘汰；對照蘋果公司的iOS作業系統與iTunes服務，一樣是封閉型系統，Apple卻仍是屹立不搖；未來是否可以持續保持，封閉型的標準是否可以成功，擁有廣大市場，主導整個服務鏈，頗值得深入探討。 全球各國對於電信技術與標準的管理，已逐漸採行技術中立的政策，對於技術與標準的選擇，政府政策因素的影響對企業選擇標準因素限制，已逐漸降低；本研究將以台灣A公司經營PHS為例，對照中國與日本的PHS電信業者，探討與分析電信公司選擇封閉型、非主流電信標準之成功可行性。 / Telecommunication Services have been changed rapidly recently; technologies and standards are also replaced to next generation every few years period. There are technology standards; right selection of standard is to fulfill requirements and obtain market is important. There were successful closed type telecom standards, like PDC of NTT DoCoMo in the 2G era. But finally it had been replaced by 3G, its next generation technology. The standard of telecom trend is toward an open type telecom standard. It is due to the complication of value chain of telecom services and global interfaces requirements. The closed type of technology standard is gradually abandoned. The PHS technology has been developed and adopted by leading technology telecom service provider, Willcom Japan, Telecom Company A in Taiwan announced PHS to be upgraded to XGP for a 100Mbps high speed mobile data network to compete with dominant and worldwide adopted a 4 G LTE mobile standard. But both companies went bankruptcy recently. The subscribers of PHS had been reached to his peak at 100 millions, the government policy has caused PHS in China clear away in a day. PDC and PHS are all considered as closed type technology standards. They were all invented by Japanese Telecom Operators. NTT had been operated and provided PHS service only for 3 years. The PHS leading operator, Willcom (previously DDI Pocket) is all the way providing services with PHS upgraded technology. But The Company is still facing financial difficulty and numbers of subscribers decreased dramatically. In Comparison with Apple Inc. who developed the closed type iOS and iTunes standards, are still leading mobile handset and applications markets. Apple’s service and product now become market dominant. Will Apple’s closed technologies maintenance for future successful? It is worth to be studied and look into details and referred with the PHS technology development as closed type standards. The natural to technology and standard is a trend globally from the government management policy. The governing policy has less effect on the technology and standard selection. The study is based on the case of A company using PHS technology to analyze Selection of close type standard or non dominant telecom standard will it be possible to be successful ? Willcom has announced to adopt XGP, the next generation PHS technology. Can we foresee the failure or it will arise from the dead? The study based on literature and cases analysis to analyze telecommunication, especially mobile communications operators. Successful factors of selection Telecommunication standards based on telecom service value chains, technology dependence, advantages and disadvantages of closed and open type’s standards. The thesis hopes to answer why A company’s failure and recommendation of successful factors when selection a closed type technology standard. The thesis is also to analyze the failure of A company in selection PHS technology which is closed type and reference of literature and other thesis to see the technology standard trend and hope to provide valuable reference for Telecommunication operators or related service providers in the future.

Heat stress is one of many physical agents to which thousands of workers are under constant exposure. Oftentimes it is necessary to work above the WBGT-based heat stress exposure limits. It is therefore important to consider alternative measures that include an exposure time limit to manage the heat stress. Predicted Heat Strain (PHS) (ISO7933) is one of those alternatives. PHS uses both personal factors like height and weight and job factors of environment, metabolic rate and clothing. The purpose of this project is to determine whether the PHS is an adequate method to predict short term exposure limits. The project’s data were taken from a prior experimental study where twelve participants were exposed to five different heat stress levels while over three different clothing ensembles. A total of 15 combinations of clothing and environment were tried. The PHS process was adapted to an Excel function using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) (called fPHSTre). fPHSTre predicted a rectal temperature (Tre) at the exposure limit using both personal and job factors and then using standard values for personal factors. Based on analysis of variance, the fPHSTre adequately accounted for clothing, specifically evaporative resistance, using either fixed or individual data for predicted Tre on the experimental trials. In general, the PHS model could be used to reliably assess time limiting safe exposures in occupational settings for workers in hot environments.

Bei neun von vierzehn Serogruppen der Subspezies E. coli Flexneri (SF) konnte ein pHS-2-Plasmid nachgewiesen werden. Es besteht eine positive Korrelation zwischen pHS-2-positiven SF und dem Auftreten einer Reaktiven Arthritis, eine Komplikation der bakteriellen Ruhr. Verschiedene Autoren führen das gehäufte Auftreten der Reaktiven Arthritis bei pHS-2-positiven SF auf eine erhöhte Serumresistenz zurück, die den Bakterien durch das cld(pHS-2)-Gen vermittelt wird. Das cld(pHS-2)-Gen als längstes aller 18 "open reading frames" auf dem pHS-2-Plasmid kodiert für ein 35 kD großes Protein, das aufgrund seiner Funktion als "chain length determinant" (Cld(pHS-2)) bezeichnet wurde. Cld(pHS-2) ist maßgeblich an der Produktion von Lipopolysacchariden vom VL-Typ beteiligt. LPS vom VL-Typ produzieren O-Seitenketten mit mehr als 70 bis 80 Oligosaccharideinheiten und sollen die bakterielle Membran vor einer Komplementbindung und Serum-Antikörpern schützen, wodurch den Bakterien eine erhöhte Serumresistenz vermittelt werde. In dieser Arbeit wurde cld(pHS-2) in einen pHS-2-negativen Stamm der SF Serogruppe 6 integriert, um nachzuweisen, dass cld(pHS-2) das LPS-Muster pHS-2-negativer SF in charakteristischer Weise modifiziert. Während der Expressionsnachweis von cld(pHS-2) als Einzelprotein misslang, war eine Expression von cld(pHS-2) als Fusionsprotein in SF Serogruppe 6 erfolgreich. Im Vergleich zu pHS-2-negativen SF war unsere SF Serogruppe 6-Mutante nun in der Lage, LPS vom VL-Typ in Form einer zusätzlichen Bande mit ca. 80 Oligosaccharideinheiten zu produzieren. Diese phänotypische Veränderung war zwar nur gering ausgeprägt, konnte jedoch den spezifischen Einfluss von cld(pHS-2) als Fusionsprotein auf das LPS-Muster pHS-2-negativer SF nachweisen. / In nine out of fourteen serogroups of E. Coli Flexneri (SF) a pHS-2 plasmid has been isolated. There is a positive correlation between pHS-2-positive SF and the occurence of reactive arthritis (ReA) which is a complication of bacterial dysentery. Different authors reduce the widespread appearance of ReA by pHS-2-positive SF to an increased serum resistance caused by a cld(pHS-2)-gene. The cld(pHS-2)-gene ist the longest of 18 open reading frames in pHS-2 and it is the coding for a 35 kD protein which has been identified as a chain length determinant because of its function. Cld(pHS-2) plays a decisive role in the production of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of the VL-type. LPS of the VL-type produce O antigen with more than 70-80 repeat units, and protect the bacterial outer membrane from complement factors and serum antibodies by a higher serum resistance. In this research the cld(pHS-2)-gene was integrated in a pHS-2-negative SF serogroup 6 to prove that cld(pHS-2) is able to modify the LPS pattern (destribution) of pHS-2-negative SF in a characteristic manner. The expression of cld(pHS-2) in SF serogroup 6 as an isolated protein failed, but the expression of cld(pHS-2) as a fusion protein was successful. In contrast to the pHS-2-negative SF our SF serogroup 6 mutant was able to produce LPS of the VL-type with 80-90 repeat units. Despite the slight effect, a specific influence of cld(pHS-2) as a fusion protein on LPS pattern and the bacterial phaenotype has to be confirmed.

More than 1.2 million Americans are hospitalized annually with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS); many impaired quality of life after discharge with an ACS. This dissertation focuses on two novel aspects of patient health status (PHS) after ACS: how it can be predicted based on the socioeconomic status (SES) of the patient, and how it evolves over time. We used data from TRACE-CORE, a longitudinal prospective cohort of patients hospitalized with ACS. We measured PHS using both the SF-36 mental and physical component subscales (MCS and PCS) and the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and physical limitations subscales at the index hospitalization and at 1, 3, and 6-months post-discharge. Firstly, after adjusting for individual-level SES, we found that individuals living in the neighborhoods with the lowest neighborhood SES had significantly worse PHS. Secondly, we found that each of the components of PHS had subgroups with distinct patterns of evolution over time (trajectories). Both the PCS and the SAQ physical limitations subscale had two trajectories; one with average and one with impaired health status over time. For the HRQoL subscale of SAQ, we found three trajectories: Low, Average, and High scores. For MCS, we found four trajectories: High (consistently high scores), Low (consistently low scores), and two with average scores at baseline that either improved or worsened over time, referred to as Improving and Worsening, respectively. All PHS trajectories, except for MCS, predicted readmission and mortality during the 6 months to 1 year post-ACS discharge.

O Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) pode ser traduzido em princípios constitucionais como acesso universal e igualitário às ações e serviços, e integralidade da atenção à saúde. É, portanto, um setor que carece de um processo de regulação eficiente das vagas e recursos. O SUS passou por um processo de reestruturação organizacional na última década e vem tentando se consolidar conforme proposto na Constituição de 1988. Uma das consequências foi a regionalização e a hierarquização da rede de serviços de saúde no que tange à estratégia de atendimento e ao encaminhamento de pacientes para os serviços especializados. Nesse sentido, os serviços de saúde foram organizados em diferentes níveis de complexidade (Rede de Atenção Básica, Rede de Média complexidade e Rede de Alta Complexidade) e, a regionalização no Estado de São Paulo ocorreu por meio da criação/organização de Departamentos Regionais de Saúde (DRS). Portanto, este projeto propõe analisar o processo de regulação de vagas de consultas eletivas do Departamento Regional de Saúde XIII do Estado de São Paulo verificando sua integração com os princípios propostos pelo SUS. Foi possível concluir que o processo atual de regulação de vagas eletivas do DRSXIII atende parcialmente os princípios propostos pelo Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) e identificar oportunidades de melhorias. / The Public Health System (PHS) can be translated in constitutional principles as the egalitarian and universal access to the actions and services and integrality of attention to health. It is, therefore, a sector that needs an efficient regulation process of vacancies and resources. The PHS has passed by an organizational restructuration process in the last decade and has been trying to consolidate itself due to the proposal in the Constitution of 1988. One of the aftermaths was the regionalization and prioritization of the health networking services which refer to the public service strategy and to the patients forwarding to the specialized services. In this sense the health services were organized in different complexity levels (Basic Healthcare Network, Medium Complexity Healthcare Network and High Complexity Healthcare Network) and in the State of São Paulo the regionalization occurred through the creation/organization of the Regional Health Departments (RHD). Therefore, this project proposes to analyze the process of regulation of vacancies of elective consultations of the XIII Regional Health Department of the State of São Paulo verifying its integration with the principles proposed by PHS. It was possible to conclude that the current process of regulation of vacancies of elective consultations of the XIII Regional Health Department of the State of São Paulo meets partially the principles proposed by the Public Health System (PHS) and identify opportunities for improvement.