Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:56:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 GiordanoMF.pdf: 774778 bytes, checksum: b977df28e6c6f90822e09729743a9dc1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-03-31 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This work consists on the theoretical and numerical analysis of some properties of circular microstrip patch antennas on isotropic and uniaxial anisotropic substrates. For this purpose, a full wave analysis is performed, using Hertz Vector Potentials method in the Hankel Transform domain. In the numerical analysis, the moment method is also used in order to determine some characteristics of the antenna, such as: resonant frequency and radiation pattern. The definition of Hertz potentials in the Hankel domain is used in association with Maxwell?s equations and the boundary conditions of the structures to obtain the Green?s functions, relating the components of the current density on the patch and the tangential electric field components. Then, the Galerkin method is used to generate a matrix equation whose nontrivial solution is the complex resonant frequency of the structure. In the analysis, a microstrip antenna with only one isotropic dielectric layer is initially considered. For this structure, the effect of using superconductor patches is also analyzed. An analysis of a circular microstrip antenna on an uniaxial anisotropic dielectric layer is performed, using the Hertz vector potentials oriented along the optical axis of the material, that is perpendicular to the microstrip ground plane. Afterwards, the circular microstrip antenna using two uniaxial anisotropic dielectric layers is investigated, considering the particular case in which the inferior layer is filled by air. In this study, numerical results for resonant frequency and radiation pattern for circular microstrip antennas on isotropic and uniaxial anisotropic substrates are presented and compared with measured and calculated results found in the literature / Este trabalho consiste na an?lise te?rica e num?rica das caracter?sticas de uma antena de microfita com patch circular, cujo substrato ? composto por materiais diel?tricos isotr?picos e anisotr?picos uniaxiais. Para isto, uma an?lise de onda completa ? realizada, utilizando-se o M?todo dos Potenciais Vetoriais de Hertz no dom?nio da transformada de Hankel. Na an?lise num?rica da estrutura, ? utilizado tamb?m o M?todo de Galerkin, como um caso particular do M?todo dos Momentos, visando a determina??o de suas caracter?sticas, tais como a freq??ncia de resson?ncia e o diagrama de radia??o. A defini??o dos potenciais vetoriais de Hertz, em conjunto com as equa??es de Maxwell e as condi??es de contorno da estrutura, permite a obten??o das fun??es di?dicas de Green, relacionando as componentes da densidade de corrente no patch com as componentes tangenciais do campo el?trico. O M?todo de Galerkin ? ent?o usado para gerar a equa??o matricial, cuja solu??o n?o trivial permite a obten??o da freq??ncia de resson?ncia complexa da estrutura. Na an?lise, s?o consideradas, inicialmente, antenas de microfita com uma camada diel?trica isotr?pica separando o patch e o plano de terra, sendo analisado ainda para esta estrutura, o caso no qual o patch ? composto por um material supercondutor. Em seguida, ? considerado tamb?m o caso no qual o substrato diel?trico ? composto por um material anisotr?pico uniaxial, orientando os potenciais vetoriais na dire??o do eixo ?ptico, que ? tomado na dire??o perpendicular ao plano de terra. ? feita ainda a an?lise da antena de microfita com patch circular situado sobre duas camadas diel?tricas anisotr?picas uniaxiais, considerando o caso particular do patch suspenso, no qual a camada inferior ? composta pelo ar. S?o apresentados resultados da freq??ncia de resson?ncia e do diagrama de radia??o para patches circulares isotr?picos e anisotr?picos, fazendo-se compara??es com outros resultados obtidos na literatura

Purpose Extended resections in hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgery frequently require vascular resection to obtain tumor clearance. The use of alloplastic grafts may increase postoperative morbidity due to septic or thrombotic complications. The use of suitable autologous venous interponates (internal jugular vein, great saphenous vein) is frequently associated with additional incisions. The aim of this study was to report on our experience with venous reconstruction using the introperative easily available parietal peritoneum, focusing on key technical aspects. Methods All patients who underwent HPB resections with venous reconstruction using peritoneal patches at our department between January 2017 and November 2021 were included in this retrospective analysis with median follow-up of 2 months (IQR: 1–8 months). We focused on technical aspects of the procedure and evaluated vascular patency and perioperative morbidity. Results Parietal peritoneum patches (PPPs) were applied for reconstruction of the inferior vena cava (IVC) (13 patients) and portal vein (PV) (4 patients) during major hepatic (n = 14) or pancreatic (n = 2) resections. There were no cases of postoperative bleeding due to anastomotic leakage. Following PV reconstruction, two patients showed postoperative vascular stenosis after severe pancreatitis with postoperative pancreatic fistula and bile leakage, respectively. In patients with reconstruction of the IVC, no relevant perioperative vascular complications occurred. Conclusions The use of a peritoneal patch for reconstruction of the IVC in HPB surgery is a feasible, effective, and low-cost alternative to alloplastic, xenogenous, or venous grafts. The graft can be easily harvested and tailored to the required size. More evidence is still needed to confirm the safety of this procedure for the portal vein regarding long-term results.

Master of Science / Department of Entomology / David C. Margolies / James R. Nechols / Many crops grown in greenhouses are damaged by the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae. The predatory mite, Phytoseiulus persimilis, is a commercially-available predator that is commonly used to control twospotted spider mites on greenhouse crops; but its efficacy varies among crops, and it is generally ineffective at low prey densities. In general, predator foraging efficiency depends on how well predators find prey patches, the length of stay in prey patches, and consumption of prey while in prey patches. With respect to P. persimilis, I asked how this predator responds to different prey distributions, as might be encountered at different stages of spider mite infestations. I also asked how components of foraging, namely consumption rate and dispersal tendency, affected predator efficiency. To examine the former, I established T. urticae eggs on 6-leafed cucumber plants in two distributions. To examine the latter, I imposed artificial selection on a population of P. persimilis to create a line that exhibited extremely high consumption and one that demonstrated a greater tendency for dispersal. Subsequently, foraging efficiency was assessed by observing predator oviposition and consumption of twospotted mite eggs on individual leaves of 6-leafed cucumber plants. The number of eggs laid by predators corresponded to the number of prey consumed regardless of predator line. In addition, predators from both lines distributed their eggs proportional to where they fed. However, prey consumption differed between selected lines in response to prey distribution. Predators selected for high consumption fed more on the basal leaf where they were released; whereas prey consumption by the high dispersal and control lines were more evenly distributed throughout the plant. These results contribute to a better understanding of how foraging behavior is modified in plant landscapes under different levels of expression of foraging traits. They also indicate that predator release strategies likely would need to modified in accordance with the kind of foraging trait(s) used in artificial selection programs. In general, my research, when combined with future studies at a broader landscape level, will facilitate decisions by biological control practitioners about whether changes in foraging efficiency resulting from artificial selection justify the cost investment of producing selected lines of P. persimilis

The Wolf Willow site (FbNp-26) is a multicomponent Precontact site located within the confines of Wanuskewin Heritage Park approximately 2 km north of the city of Saskatoon Saskatchewan. The site was excavated during 2010 and 2011 field seasons with the participation of The University of Saskatchewan’s archaeological field school and the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society’s field school. As a result of these excavations, 30 m2 were exposed and four distinct cultural levels were identified. These include the Plains Side-Notched complex, Prairie Side-Notched complex, McKean series, and Oxbow complex cultures. An analysis of artifacts, ecofacts, and features from each cultural level was undertaken in order to determine site usage for each time period. Ecological concepts are often used as heuristic devices in archeological studies. The theory of island biogeography and the study of patch dynamics are two concepts that can lend themselves to the archeological study of past human groups. Island biogeography was developed to explain speciation in insular environments. In archeological studies, the same mechanisms affecting speciation can be employed to study the development of culture. Patch dynamics can be used to hypothesize how resource availability affected the behavior of past populations. Using the aforementioned concepts, the Wanuskewin/Opimihaw Valley area can be viewed as a terrestrial island. The unique combination of resources both tangible and intangible combined to make the area a draw for Precontact populations for the past 6000 years. Wanuskewin continues to attract people from around the world as a centre of spiritual and cultural renewal, a world class tourism destination, and an educational facility.

The chick chorio-allantoic membrane (CAM) contains a complex vascular network commonly used to study angiogenesis. The application of chemical factors and oxygen barrier films onto this tissue can easily influence the process of angiogenesis. In this study, oxygen barrier film patches (Krehalon, polyvinylidene chloride, 12 μm thick, O2 transmission rate = 2.19 cm3•ml/100 in2•day•atm) were applied to areas of the CAM. Holes were made in the film and alginate beads incubated in various chemical factors were placed in the holes. After 24 and 48 hours of exposure to the alginate beads, images were taken of the tissue using a stereomicroscope and then processed using ImageJ software (from the National Institue of Health (NIH)). The images were analyzed with the Fractal Analysis plugin of ImageJ (also from NIH) using four parameters. These parameters are the number of vessel segments, the number of vessel bifurcations, the total length of the vessels, and the complexity of the vascular network. From these parameters, the chemical factors can be identified as promoting angiogenesis (pro-angiogenic), inhibiting angiogenesis (anti-angiogenic), or having no effect on angiogenesis (not angiogenic). For the angiogenic beads, significant results were found in at least one of the four parameters. SNAP and H2O2 gave pro-angiogenic responses while Angiotensin II, Losartan, and Adenosine were anti-angiogenic. To test the effect of an oxygen barrier film patch on angiogenesis, images were taken of the tissue under the film patch (virtual holes) and holes exposed to atmospheric oxygen. Analysis of the virtual holes compared to the control holes gave significant results for several of the film patches. These film patches are distinguished by the chemical that was tested on each of the films. The virtual holes containing Angiotensin II, Losartan, Adenosine, and H2O2 gave pro-angiogenic results while SNAP and L-NAME virtual holes were anti-angiogenic. Thus, the chemical factors and the oxygen barrier film patches did have an effect on angiogenesis in the CAM.

Abstract Methods are proposed to take account of the effect of emergent vegetation (which covers only part of the channel bed) on conveyance and depth-averaged velocity in open channels. For emergent vegetation strips parallel to the flow direction, discharge can be predicted separately for each vegetated or non-vegetated zone. The equations of Kaiser (1985) and Nuding (1991, 1994) can predict the influence of the vegetation on conveyance within the non-vegetated zone via the composite roughness formula of Pavlovski (1931). In order to predict the lateral distribution of depth-averaged velocity within the non-vegetated zone, the equations of Nuding (1991, 1994) have been modified to take account of the relation between non-vegetated zone width, apparent shear stress on the vegetation interface and the maximum velocity which will occur. For more complex geometries, two-dimensional numerical hydraulic models using existing software and existing relations for the prediction of eddy viscosity are recommended.

Archeomagnetic field models may provide important insights to the geodynamo. Here we investigate the existence and mobility of reversed flux patches (RFPs) in an archeomagnetic field model. We introduce topological algorithms to define, identify, and track RFPs. In addition, we explore the relations between RFPs and dipole changes and apply robustness tests to the RFPs. In contrast to previous definitions, patches that reside on the geographic equator are adequately identified based on our RFPs definition. Most RFPs exhibit a westward drift and migrate toward higher latitudes. Undulations of the magnetic equator and RFPs oppose the axial dipole moment (ADM). Filtered models show a tracking behavior similar to the nonfiltered model, and surprisingly new RFPs occasionally emerge. The advection and diffusion of RFPs have worked in unison to yield the decrease of the ADM at recent times. The absence of RFPs in the period 550-1440 A.D. is related to a low in intermediate degrees of the geomagnetic power spectrum. We thus hypothesize that the RFPs are strongly dependent on intermediate spherical harmonic degrees 4 and above. Filtered models and comparison with the GUFM1 model suggest that RFPs are robust features of the geomagentic field for the last millennia. / Modelos do campo arqueomagnético podem fornecer importantes informações sobre o geodínamo. Nesta dissertação, estudou-se a existência e a mobilidade de lóbulos de fluxo reverso (RFPs, em inglês) no campo arqueomagnético. Testes de robustez foram aplicados para diferentes modeles. Além disso, foram exploradas as relações entre RFPs e as variações do momento do dipolo axial (ADM, em inglês). Para tanto, foram desenvolvidos algoritmos topológicos para definir, identificar e mapear os RFPs em modelos do campo arqueomagnético (modelo CALS3k.4b e modelo GUFM1). O equador magnético foi usado para definir a polaridade ao invés do equador geográfico. Uma vez que cada ponto da grade de 1 grau x 1 grau de latitude/longitude é associado com um hemisfério magnético e uma polaridade (normal ou reversa), o passo seguinte é identificar os picos de lóbulos de fluxo reverso. No passo final de identificação um critério de intensidade é imposto para evitar lóbulos que possuem intensidade muito baixa. Para mapear lóbulos de fluxo reverso no tempo, foi codificado um algoritmo que calcula a distancia de cada lobulo para todos os lóbulos do próximo intervalo de tempo. Diferentemente das definições anteriores, lóbulos que residem no equador geográfico são adequadamente identificados com a nova definição de RFPs. A maioria dos RFPs exibe deriva para Oeste e mais de 75% deles migram em direção a altas latitudes. Ondulações do equador magnético e RFPs resultam de campo com momento oposto ao ADM. Modelos filtrados apresentam resultados de mapeamento semelhantes aos de modelos não-filtrados, e em alguns casos, surgem nos modelos filtrados novos RFPs. Resultados dos modelos CALS3k.4b e GUFM1 para o período de 1840 AD até 1990 AD mostram concordância para o mapeamento de lóbulos de fluxo reverso com maiores similaridades para os filtros mais fortes. Os resultados desta dissertação são compatíveis com a ideia que a advecção e a difusão de RFPs tem operado em conjunto causando o decréscimo do ADM nos últimos séculos. A ausência de RFPs no período de 550-1440 AD sendo relacionada a baixos valores nos graus intermediários do espectro de potencia. Dessa forma, sugere-se que os RFPs são fortemente dependentes dos harmônicos esféricos de graus 4 e acima. Modelos filtrados e comparações com o modelo GUFM1 sugerem que lóbulos de fluxo reverso são feições robustas do campo magnético terrestre nos últimos milênios.

Le feu est la principale perturbation en forêt boréale mixte. La sévérité des feux n'est pas spatialement homogène et épargne souvent partiellement ou entièrement des parties de la forêt appelées îlots résiduels. Ces îlots forestiers résiduels après feux sont étudiés depuis de nombreuses années, et ces études se sont surtout intéressées aux facteurs déterminant leur occurrence à l'échelle du paysage. Cependant, les travaux réalisés en Fennoscandinavie et aux États-Unis ont révélé la présence de peuplements forestiers (appelés refuges) ayant la capacité de se maintenir dans le territoire pendant plusieurs millénaires. L'objectif principal de cette thèse était de caractériser la dynamique temporelle et la structuration d'îlots forestiers localisés au sein de la forêt boréale mixte de l'est du Canada. Treize îlots forestiers qui ont échappé au dernier feu ont été échantillonnés. Des carottes de sols ont été extraites dans chacun des sites pour réaliser des analyses paléoécologiques (charbons et macrorestes). Les caractéristiques stationnelles de chaque site ont été échantillonnées pour déterminer si les refuges se distinguent des autres îlots résiduels. La charge en combustible des îlots a également été mesurée. Les données ont également servi à alimenter des modèles numériques de comportement du feu (Fire Behavior Prediction System, BehavePlus, FlamMap3) qui ont été utilisés afin de déterminer les caractéristiques stationnelles qui permettent aux refuges d'échapper au feu de façon récurrente. Les résultats ont mis en évidence l'existence de deux types d'îlots résiduels en forêt boréale mixte : les refuges et les autres îlots résiduels. Les refuges sont moins susceptibles au feu comparativement aux îlots résiduels qui ont échappé uniquement au dernier feu, probablement de façon fortuite. Les refuges ont en revanche la capacité de persister dans le paysage forestier durant plusieurs millénaires, ne brûlant uniquement durant des feux particulièrement sévères. Les analyses macrofossiles des refuges soulignent des changements majeurs au sein de la végétation locale, avec comme événement remarquable le passage de formations dominées par Larix laricina/Picea sp. vers des formations dominées par Abies balsamea/Thuja occidentalis. Ce changement de végétation s'est produit à différentes périodes selon les sites, soulignant un processus endogène dans cette transformation de la végétation. Le développement de Larix laricina s'est accompagné dans certains assemblages macrofossiles de taxons typiques de milieux humides (tels que les characées). L'importante couche de matière organique qui caractérise les refuges semble entraver le développement d'espèces de début de succession telles que Betula papyrifera et Populus tremuloïdes. Les îlots refuges doivent leur persistance dans le paysage forestier à un certain nombre de facteurs biotiques et abiotiques qui limitent le passage du feu. Les résultats issus des simulations du comportement du feu, suggèrent un rôle mineur des coupe-feu (lacs, tourbières, et monticules rocheux essentiellement), de la charge en combustible et de la topographie dans l'occurrence des refuges. L'humidité semble être le seul facteur déterminant leur développement au sein de la mosaïque paysagère. Les refuges se mettent en place au sein de faibles dépressions humides qui favorisent l'accumulation de la matière organique. La structure des refuges et des autres îlots résiduels révèle deux principales caractéristiques permettant de les distinguer sur le terrain : le diamètre moyen des arbres et l'épaisseur de la matière organique. Les arbres des refuges ont un plus petit diamètre que ceux des autres îlots résiduels. L'importante épaisseur de la matière organique des refuges affecte négativement la croissance des arbres. Ces caractéristiques pourront être utilisées comme outils d'aide à la décision dans les stratégies d'aménagement forestier. / Fire is the main natural disturbance shaping boreal forest landscapes. In North American boreal ecosystems, wildfires contribute to the creation of a complex mosaic of stands of varying age, composition, and structure, within which other disturbances and processes can interact. A burned area usually includes tree patches that partially or entirely escaped fire, called post-fire residual patches. The spatially occurrence of post-fire residual patches has been extensively described. However, the presence of fire refuges has been reported in Fennoscandia and in United-States, which can escape fire for several millennia. The aim of this study was to characterize temporal dynamics in post fire residual patches in mixedwood boreal forest of eastern Canada. The analyses concern the reconstruction of fire and forest dynamics history though Holocene and identify characteristics features of these patches. This research aimed to contribute significantly to the objectives of ecosystemic management to preserve biological diversity in the forest mosaics.Thirteen post-fire residual patches which escaped the last fire have been sampled. At each stand, cores and monoliths were extracted for paleoecological analyses. The reconstitution of fire history and forest dynamics were studies by using macroscopic charcoals and macroremains. The characteristics features of stands were also sampled, to differentiate fire refuges from other post-fire residual patches. The fuel load was also measured, and all these data were used as inputs for fire behavior modeling (Fire Behavior Prediction System, BehavePlus, FlamMap3), to identify stand characteristics prevent fire refuges to burn in comparison with other residual stands and forest matrix.The results showed the presence in the landscaped of two types of post-fire residual patches in mixedwood boreal forest: fire refuges and other post-fire residual patches. The fire refuges present less fire susceptibility than other post-fire residual patches, which escape only the last fire probably by chance. On the other hand, fire refuges can persist in the landscape for several millennia, burning in the most severe fires. The forest dynamics reconstruction in fire refuges, highlight major shift in the vegetation from Larix laricina/Picea sp. to late successional species Abies balsamea/Thuja occidentalis. Occuring at all stands, but at different periods of Holocene, these changes can be attributed to internal processes. The presence of Larix laricina was associated to the occurrence of aquatic taxa (e.g. Characear). The late successional species (Abies balsamea/Thuja occidentalis) can persist in the landscape for several centuries due to moisture conditions. The thickness of organic matter recorded in fire refuges seems to inhibit the recruitment of early successional species such as Betula papyrifera et Populus tremuloïdes.The fire refuges owe their persistence in the landscape to abiotoc and biotic factors that limit fire occurrence. Then results obtained from fire behavior simulations, suggest a minor role of fire breaks (lakes, rocks), fuel load and topography in persistence of fire refuges. Local moisture condition seems to be key factor in their occurrence in the landscape. The fire refuges occur likely in depressions, which favor organic matter accumulation. The structure of fire refuges and other residual patches revealed two main characteristics, which distinguish between the two types of residual patches: Mean diameter of trees and thickness of organic matter. The trees of fire refuges present smaller tree diameter than other post-fire residual patches. The thickness of organic matter accumulation in fire refuges affects negatively the growth of trees. These features can be used as tools for decision support in forest management strategies.

In this thesis, we attack a challenging problem in the field of character animation: synthesizing interactions among multiple virtual characters in real-time. Although there are heavy demands in the gaming and animation industries, no systemic solution has been proposed due to the difficulties to model the complex behaviors of the characters. We represent the continuous interactions among characters as a discrete Markov Decision Process, and design a general objective function to evaluate the immediate rewards of launching an action. By applying game theory such as tree expansion and min-max search, the optimal actions that benefit the character the most in the future are selected. The simulated characters can interact competitively while achieving the requests from animators cooperatively. Since the interactions between two characters depend on a lot of criteria, it is difficult to exhaustively precompute the optimal actions for all variations of these criteria. We design an off-policy approach that samples and precomputes only meaningful interactions. With the precomputed policy, the optimal movements under different situations can be evaluated in real-time. To simulate the interactions for a large number of characters with minimal computational overhead, we propose a method to precompute short durations of interactions between two characters as connectable patches. The patches are concatenated spatially to generate interactions with multiple characters, and temporally to generate longer interactions. Based on the optional instructions given by the animators, our system automatically applies concatenations to create a huge scene of interacting crowd. We demonstrate our system by creating scenes with high quality interactions. On one hand, our algorithm can automatically generate artistic scenes of interactions such as the fighting scenes in movies that involve hundreds of characters. On the other hand, it can create controllable, intelligent characters that interact with the opponents for real-time applications such as 3D computer games.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases, are subacute neurodegenerative diseases that infect humans and animals. Many of these diseases are acquired by peripheral exposure (e.g. orally). After oral exposure prion replication within the Peyer's patches (PP) in the small intestine is necessary for the efficient spread of the disease to the brain. Within the intestine, bacteria and pathogenic microorganisms can affect the status of the gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). GALT consists of PP and isolated lymphoid follicles (ILF) that maintain homeostasis and protect from infections. Therefore, factors which modify GALT status, might dramatically affect oral prion disease pathogenesis by influencing the uptake of prions from the gut lumen or expanding their distribution within the host. Chronic intestinal helminth infections are common in animals and in man, and can cause significant pathology within the intestine. Little is known of the effects that intestinal helminth infections may have on oral prion diseases susceptibility. Therefore, in this study the influence that co-infection with Heligmosomoides polygyrus (a natural pathogen of the mouse small intestine) may have on oral prion disease pathogenesis and susceptibility was determined. The studies consisted of groups of 4 (for H. polygyrus characterization and for early prion detection) and 8 (for H. polygyrus-prion co-infection to terminal stage) mice infected with H. polygyrus (orally) alone or subsequently infected with ME7 scrapie prions (orally) at different time-points after parasitic infection. The effects of the H. polygyrus infection alone, and on oral prion disease pathogenesis and susceptibility were then determined. Initially the characterization of H. polygyrus infection on the host intestine revealed that this parasite caused significant pathology in the small intestine and affected the GALT microarchitecture. In the PP follicles, H. polygyrus infection increased the area of follicular dendritic cell expression, altered the positioning of mononuclear phagocytes and increased M cell density. H. polygyrus infection also reduced the number of ILF in both the small and large intestines. Additional studies in mice co-infected with a low dose of prions, revealed that these pathological changes affected the survival time and disease susceptibility. Data also show that the extent of the effects on prion disease pathogenesis and susceptibility were dependent on the stage of the helminth infection at which the mice were orally-exposed to prions. Data demonstrate that co-infection with the gastrointestinal helminth H. polygyrus can influence oral prion disease pathogenesis and susceptibility. Helminth infections can significantly modify the microarchitecture of the gut and the GALT. Data presented suggest the pathological changes that pathogens such as small intestinal helminths cause, may also influence the uptake of prions from the gut lumen after oral exposure.