This thesis presents numerical predictions for the leakage and direct stiffness coefficients of pocket damper seals. Modifications made to earlier flow-prediction models are discussed. Leakage and static pressure measurements on straight-through and diverging configurations of eight-bladed and twelve-bladed seals were used for code validation and for calculation of seal discharge coefficients. Higher than expected leakage rates were measured in the case of the twelve-bladed seal, while the leakage rates for the eight-bladed seals were predicted reasonably accurately. Results are presented for shake tests conducted on the seals at pressures of up to 1000 Psi (6.90 MPa). Test variables included pressure drop across the seals and rotor speed. The experimentally obtained stiffness coefficients are compared to results of a rotordynamic damper seal code, which uses the corrected mass flow-rate calculation method. Results show that the code under-predicts the magnitude of the seal's stiffness for most test cases. However, general trends in the frequency dependency of the direct stiffness are more accurately predicted. The expectation of high values of negative stiffness in diverging seals is confirmed by the results, but the frequency at which the sign of the stiffness becomes positive is considerably lower than is predicted. In addition to presenting high-pressure test data, this thesis also attempts to provide some insight into how seal parameters can be modified to obtain desired changes in seal stiffness.

The focus of this study is the vicious circle of poverty and ill-health. The case is injuries but it could have been any lasting and severe disease. Poverty and health have very close links to economic development and to how health care is financed. Out-of-pocket payment seems to increase the risk of poverty while prepaid health care reduces it. The overall objective is to investigate the “injury poverty trap” and suggest possible solutions for it. A cohort of 23,807 people living in 5,801 households in Bavi district of Vietnam was followed from 1999 to 2003 to investigate income losses caused by non-fatal unintentional injuries in 2000 as well as the relationships between social position in 1999 and those injuries. For the possible solutions, a survey in 2064 household was performed to elicit people’s preferences and willingness to pay for different health care financing options. The results showed that unintentional injuries imposed a large economic burden on society, especially on the victims. By two pathways – treatment costs and income losses – unintentional injury increased the risk of being poor. The losses for non-poor and poor injured households were about 15 and 11 months of income of an average person in the non-poor and poor group, respectively. Furthermore, poverty was shown to be a probable cause of non-fatal unintentional injuries. Specifically, poverty led to home injuries among children and the elderly, and adults 15 – 49 years of age were particularly at risk in the workplace. The middle-income group was at greatest risk for traffic injuries, probably due to the unsafe use of bicycles or motorbikes. About half of the population preferred to keep an out-of-pocket system and the other half preferred health insurance. People’s willingness to pay suggested that a community-based health insurance scheme would be feasible. However, improvements in the existing health insurance systems are imperative to attract people to participate in these or any alternative health insurance schemes, since the limitations of the existing systems were generalized to health insurance as a whole. A successful solution should follow two tracks: prepayment of health care and some insurance based compensation of income losses during the illness period. If the risk of catastrophic illness is more evenly spread across the society, it would increase the general welfare even if no more resources are provided.

Calcium is one of the closely relevant metal ions that involves in enormous physicochemical activities in human body, including cell division and apoptosis, muscle contraction, neurotransmitter release, enzyme activation, and blood-clotting. Calcium fulfills its functions through the binding to different classes of calcium-binding proteins. To facilitate our understanding of the roles of calcium in biological systems, and to design novel metal-binding proteins with tailored binding capabilities, it is important to develop computation algorithms to predict calcium-binding sites in different classes of proteins. In literature, calcium-binding sites may be represented by either a spacial point, or the set of residues chelating calcium ion. A thorough statistical analysis of known calcium-binding proteins deposited in Protein Data Bank gives reference values of various parameters characterizing geometric and chemical features in calcium-binding sites including distances, angles, dihedral angles, the Hull property, coordination numbers, ligand types and formal charges. It also reveals clear differences between the well-known EF-hand calcium-binding motif and other calcium-binding motifs. Utilizing the above multiple geometric and chemical parameters in well-formed calcium binding sites, we developed MUG (MUltiple Geometries) program. MUG can re-identify the coordinates of the documented calcium ion and the set of ligand residues. Three previously published data sets were tested. They are comprised of, respectively, 19, 44 and 54 holo protein structures with 48, 92 and 91 documented calcium-binding sites. Defining a "correct hit" as a point within 3.5 angstrom to the documented calcium location, MUG has a sensitivity around 90% and selectivity around 80%. The set of ligand residues (calcium-binding pockets) were identified for 43, 66 and 63 documented calcium ion in these three data set respectively. In order to achieve true prediction, our program was then enhanced to predict calcium-binding pockets in apo (calcium-free) proteins. Our new program MUGSR accounts for the conformational changes involved in calcium-binding pockets before and after the binding of calcium ions. It is able to capture calcium binding pockets that may undergo local conformational changes or side chain torsional rotations, which is validated by referring back to the corresponding holo protein structure sharing more than 98% sequence similarity with the apo protein.

WM-data tillhandahåller en lösning för mobil arbetsorderhantering. Lösningen innehåller planeringsverktyg med ärenden, personal och karta och möjlighet att leverera arbetsorder till fältpersonal. Den innehåller dessutom handhållna mobilenheter, vilka fältpersonalen använder för att ta emot aktuella arbetsorder.Vissa kunder önskar ytterligare en modul i denna mobila lösning. Den nya modulen skall användas för att kontinuerligt rapportera in genomförda åtgärder i snöröjningssammanhang.Detta examensarbete går ut på att utveckla den här modulen för att registrera snöröjning respektive sandning. Applikationen exekveras på en PDA, en så kallad Pocket PC med Windows Mobile 5.0. Anledningen till att just Windows Mobile 5.0 skall användas är att detta operativsystem har inbyggt stöd för GPS-positionering. Ett önskemål av WM-data var att detta inbyggda stöd skulle undersökas, rapporteras och användas i applikationen.Resultatet blev en applikation där man via en Pocket PC kontinuerligt sparar undan fordons GPS-position, arbetsåtgärd samt tidpunkterna när GPS-positionerna togs. Denna information är sedan anpassad för att kunna skickas vidare via GPRS till en befintlig databasserver under vissa tidsintervaller.Applikationen utvecklades med hjälp av programmeringsspråket C Sharp (C#) i Visual Studio 2005.

The United States contains an estimated 100,000 miles (160000 km) of levees in which erosion related issues are the top priorities. Proper documentation of overtopping induced erosion is a complicated issue involving the collection and analysis of timesensitive field data and personal observations. This thesis is a study of the performance of the Midwest Levee system during the 2008 flooding events. The goal of the Midwest Levee investigation was to gather and analyze perishable data in an effort to provide a comprehensive overview at each breach location. To predict how a site will perform during a particular flood event, there are three main inputs: the flood conditions, the site conditions, and the soil properties. Site geometry and imperfections can greatly affect the performance of a levee system. Any low spots or potential seepage paths can concentrate the flow and be detrimental to the levee. The vegetative cover is the single most important condition at a site. As seen in the Brevator case, vegetative armor can prevent failure of a levee comprised of less resistant soils subjected to long periods of overtopping. Recommended grasses include: Switchgrass, Smooth Brome, Reed Canarygrass, and Tall Fescue. It is also recommended that grasses are kept at least 0.5 m tall during the flood season and to limit the presence of trees to 10 m beyond the levee toe. The erosion resistance of the materials comprising the levee is also important. From the correlations in this study, it was determined that erodibility is influenced by grain size, relative compaction, clay content, and activity. Devices like the Torvane and Pocket Erodometer can also be used to get a quick field estimate of erosion. While these correlations and field devices give insight into an erodibility value, they are no substitute for site specific analysis with laboratory equipment such as the Erosion Function Apparatus. Soil behavior is highly nonlinear and the entire erosion function is needed to get an accurate measure of the erodibility of a soil. By combining these properties in an erosion matrix, a prediction of whether a site will withstand a given flood event can be made.

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Οι ανάγκες της εποχής μας για πληροφορία και επικοινωνία ανά πάσα στιγμή και σε οποιοδήποτε μέρος έχουν οδηγήσει στην ανάπτυξη ολοένα και μικρότερων, αλλά παράλληλα και ισχυρότερων, φορητών συσκευών. Η τελευταία λέξη της τεχνολογίας αφορά υπολογιστές τσέπης (Pocket PC) σε μέγεθος κινητού τηλεφώνου, οι οποίοι φέρουν ισχυρό υπολογιστικό κύκλωμα, πολλαπλές δυνατότητες δικτύωσης/επικοινωνίας και ένα λειτουργικό σύστημα (Windows CE/Windows Mobile) που επιτρέπει την ανάπτυξη πληθώρας εφαρμογών. Ενδεικτικά αναφέρονται μερικές χρήσεις των Pocket PC ως κινητά τηλέφωνα, ως συσκευές αναπαραγωγής πολυμεσικών αρχείων (ήχου/εικόνας), ως προσωπικές ατζέντες, ως συσκευές πλοήγησης κ.ά. Στην διπλωματική εργασία θα περιγράψουμε λεπτομερώς το λειτουργικό σύστημα, τα τεχνικά χαρακτηριστικά των Pocket PC και τις δυνατότητες τους. Επίσης θα παρουσιάσουμε τα περιβάλλοντα υλοποίησης εφαρμογών για τις πλατφόρμες αυτές. Μια άλλη τεχνολογία που και αυτή έχει εισβάλλει πρόσφατα στη ζωή μας είναι το Σύστημα Εντοπισμού Θέσης (GPS - Global Positiong System). Το GPS χρησιμοποιεί δορυφόρους που βρίσκονται σε τροχιά γύρω από τη Γη για την εύρεση του στίγματος και για την ακριβή μέτρηση χρόνου. Αν και αναπτύχθηκε για στρατιωτικούς σκοπούς, πλέον χρησιμοποιείται κατά κόρον από απλούς πολίτες. Οι εφαρμογές του GPS ποικίλουν από την πλοήγηση μέσα σε μια πόλη μέχρι την ορειβασία και από το κτηματολόγιο μέχρι την ωκεανογραφία. Η τεχνολογία στις μέρες μας επιτρέπει την κατασκευή GPS δεκτών πολύ μικρού μεγέθους και με δυνατότητα επικοινωνίας με διάφορα είδη υπολογιστών, συμπεριλαμβανομένων και των Pocket PC. Με το κατάλληλο πρόγραμμα στο Pocket PC έχουμε τη μοναδική δυνατότητα να επεξεργαζόμαστε εν κινήσει τα χωρικά δεδομένα του δέκτη. Στην εργασία θα περιγράψουμε αρχικά την τεχνολογία του GPS και στην συνέχεια το πρωτόκολλο εξαγωγής δεδομένων από το GPS δέκτη. Στην τρίτη φάση της εργασίας καλούμαστε στην έμπρακτη υλοποίηση του συνδυασμού των 2 τεχνολογιών. Πιο συγκεκριμένα θα επιχειρήσουμε να υλοποιήσουμε μια Windows Mobile εφαρμογή που θα τρέχει σε ένα Pocket PC και θα χρησιμοποιεί τα δεδομένα από το GPS δέκτη, καθώς και άλλη σχετική πληροφορία, για να καταγράψει την σήμανση του οδικού δικτύου. / In our modern society the continuous need for information and communication has led to the development of even smaller, but at the same time and more powerful, mobile devices. State of the art technology introduces pocket computers (Pocket PC) with size similar to a cell-phone, including powerful processing circuits, multiple capabilities of networking and an operating system (Windows CE/Mobile) capable for developing a broad range of applications. Pocket PCs can be used as sophisticated cell-phones, multimedia reproduction devices (picture, sound and video), personal organizers, city navigators and more. In this master thesis, we will describe in detail this operating system, the technical characteristics of Pocket PCs and their capabilities. We will also present the software development kits (SDKs) available for these devices. Another achievement of technology which has invaded recently in our lives is the Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS uses satellites orbiting the earth, to find our current location on Earth and for precise time calculation. At start it had only military use, but nowadays it is used extensively by citizens for civilian purposes. The applications of GPS vary from navigating through a city to oceanography. Modern technology is able to manufacture small GPS receivers with the capability to connect to a number of devices, including Pocket PCs. With the appropriate program running on the Pocket PC, we have the unique possibility to process territorial data on the go. In our thesis we will describe the GPS system and the protocol responsible for exporting data from a GPS receiver.

This thesis presents numerical predictions for the leakage and direct stiffness coefficients of pocket damper seals. Modifications made to earlier flow-prediction models are discussed. Leakage and static pressure measurements on straight-through and diverging configurations of eight-bladed and twelve-bladed seals were used for code validation and for calculation of seal discharge coefficients. Higher than expected leakage rates were measured in the case of the twelve-bladed seal, while the leakage rates for the eight-bladed seals were predicted reasonably accurately. Results are presented for shake tests conducted on the seals at pressures of up to 1000 Psi (6.90 MPa). Test variables included pressure drop across the seals and rotor speed. The experimentally obtained stiffness coefficients are compared to results of a rotordynamic damper seal code, which uses the corrected mass flow-rate calculation method. Results show that the code under-predicts the magnitude of the seal's stiffness for most test cases. However, general trends in the frequency dependency of the direct stiffness are more accurately predicted. The expectation of high values of negative stiffness in diverging seals is confirmed by the results, but the frequency at which the sign of the stiffness becomes positive is considerably lower than is predicted. In addition to presenting high-pressure test data, this thesis also attempts to provide some insight into how seal parameters can be modified to obtain desired changes in seal stiffness.

Darbe pateikiama informacija apie mini parkus ir jų projektavimą. Pateikiamas mini parko apibrėžimas, jų charakteringi bruožai. Pateikiama mini parko kūrimo, Telšių mieste, koncepcija ir projektiniai pasiūlymai. / This work object is to create a pocket park in Telsiai city project. Work objectives: Gather information about pocket parks, to analyze and summarize. Present pocket park definition. Present the pocket park's concept and design concepts.