Polyketides are a class of natural products that exhibit remarkable structural and functionally diversity and are highly sought after due to their medicinally important activities. For many decades now, polyketide synthases (PKSs), the mega-enzymes responsible for biosynthesis of polyketides have been the focus of extensive investigation to make new polyketides by polyketide engineering strategies. While there are many established methods to investigate polyketide enzymes and biosynthesis mechanisms, they have substantial shortcomings that have limited the extent of success with polyketide engineering efforts. This thesis focuses on developing simple, flexible yet powerful tools for examining polyketide biosynthesis by overcoming some deficiencies in currently used techniques. Reactive heterocylces have been designed for direct labeling of key polyketide synthase enzymes to provide a direct insight into its functions and mechanisms. First β-lactones and then β-lactams have been used as small molecule probes to perform site-specific labeling of acyl carrier proteins and further used for mechanistic interrogation of key steps in polyketide biosynthesis. The utility of these probes has been demonstrated by comparison to traditional probes and has been successfully applied to examine substrate selectivity of keto synthases, key enzymes in polyketide biosynthesis. The applications of the tools described in this manuscript only scratch the surface of their capabilities and are expected to significantly aid in the study of new and existing PKS systems leading to improved understanding of how these extraordinary biosynthetic machines function.

No description available.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants, which were banned several decades ago but still exist in the environment, posing a threat to human health. Previously, joint sealants containing PCBs were used in construction. In this study, the long-term PCB-contaminated soils were from a residential area in Västerås Municipality, where the PCBs have been leaching from buildings to the soil for several years. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of using plants to remove PCBs from the contaminated soil at a greenhouse scale, and to use a site-specific guideline model for the risk assessment of this contaminated site. After a literature review, four plant species were selected for the greenhouse cultivation including alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.), horseradish (Armoracia rusticana L.) and tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum L.). The plants cultivated in the greenhouse were maintained for 92 days and then the concentrations of PCBs in the initial and remediated soils were analyzed by GC-MS. The results indicate that the selected plant species can enhance the removal of high chlorinated PCBs from soils. In the risk assessment, the contents of PCBs in soils were higher than the calculated site-specific guideline, which means it is urgent to implement measures for protecting residents’ health.

A goal of indoor wireless communication is to strategically place RF base stations to obtain optimum signal coverage at the lowest cost and power. Traditionally, transceiver locations have been selected by human experts who rely on experience and heuristics to obtain a near-optimum placement. Current methods depend on involved on-site communication measurements and crude statistical modeling of the obtained data which is time consuming and prohibitive in cost. Given the inherent variability of the indoor environment, such a method often yields poor efficiency. As an example, it is possible that more power than required or extra number of transceivers were used. This thesis describes an interactive software system that can be used to aid transceiver placement. The tool is easy to use and is targeted at users who are not experts in wireless communication system design. Once the transceiver locations are selected by the user within a graphical floor plan, the system uses simple path-loss models to predict coverage regions for each transceiver. The coverage regions are highlighted to indicate expected coverage. Earlier work assumed isotropic transceivers and had limited directional transmitter support. This thesis describes how the tool has been enhanced to support a wide range of 3D antenna patterns as encountered in practical situations. The tool has also been expanded to accommodate more partition types and to report area of coverage. The resulting system is expected to be very useful in the practical deployment of indoor wireless systems. / Master of Science

[EN] Counter-sites. Artistic heterotopias from the light and spaciality The expansion of spatialized devices of the exhibition -galleries, art centres, museums- analysed by Rosalind Krauss in 1979, has supposed an inadequacy between a model of absolute space, without fissures, and some particular artistic practices. The collision of the two aspects which José Luis Brea shows as critic legacies of the denial of the art institution, the site-specificity as long as the dematerialization of the artistic object, admits, from our point of view, one of the possible strategies for the real contestation of the space we inhabit, of the irreducible sites which define it. Together with this hypothetical collision we may add the light as constructive (in)material, as an element which is able to blur the physical and intangible boundaries of the space which is arranged in abstract, rigorously and steadily, where the context is redefined from the light and spaciality. On March 14, 1967 Michel Foucault addresses the conference "Des spaces autres". There he proposes a new spacial analysis called heterotopology, origin of the present research. The contestation of the contemporary space is explained by the heterotopic spaciality, real counter-sites, opposite to the utopic spaciality, spaces "without a real site". The utopic spaciality crisis, developed as much by the "futuristic utopias" as by the "self-contained building", was evidenced on March 16, 1972 when Minoru Yamasaki's Pruitt Igoe residential complex project started being demolished, where the utopia turned into distopia. The contestation through the heterotopic spaciality, as well as its genuine chance, place us in the artistic practices developed since the site-specifity and the dematerialization of the artistic object during the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. The display and systematic approach to the practices have been taken under consideration by means of a timeline. These artistic practices, regarded as effective heterotopic counter-sites, allow, in the words of Deleuze and Guattari, the opening of "smooth" spaces formed by events in the urban space, the most "striated" space of all. For that reason, we have intended to question the light and spaciality in suggested artistic interventions as elements which enable the production of space-time experiences "others". These allow tactics of resistance, suspension or/and contestation of the hidden presence of the sacred contemporary space. Nowadays some of the analysed artistic interventions, such as "City Slivers" (1976) or "Untitled Cutting-Claraboya" (1971) by Gordon Matta-Clark, have become negative deterritorializations, heterotopic counter-sites of compensation, effective reterritorializations defenders of "lost territories", for the reason that, such as Deleuze and Guattari warned us, never believe that a smooth space will suffice to save us. / [ES] Contraemplazamientos. Heterotopías artísticas desde la luz y la espacialidad La expansión de los dispositivos espaciales de exposición -galerías, centros de arte, museos-, analizada por Rosalind Krauss en 1979, ha supuesto una inadecuación entre un modelo de espacio absoluto, sin fisuras, y ciertas prácticas artísticas. Las dos vertientes que señala José Luis Brea como herencias críticas de la negación de la institución arte, la especificidad de ubicación y la desmaterialización del objeto artístico, su colisión admite, desde nuestro punto de vista, una de las estrategias posibles para la impugnación real del espacio que habitamos, de la irreductibilidad de emplazamientos que lo define. Junto a esta hipotética colisión cabe añadir la luz como (in)material constructivo, como elemento capaz de desdibujar los límites físicos e intangibles del espacio que lo organizan de forma abstracta, rígida y estable, donde el contexto queda redefinido desde la luz y la espacialidad. El 14 de marzo de 1967 Michel Foucault pronuncia la conferencia "Des espaces autres". En ella propuso un nuevo análisis espacial el cual denominó "heterotopología", génesis de la presente investigación. La impugnación del espacio contemporáneo se ha articulado desde la espacialidad heterotópica, contraemplazamientos reales, frente a la espacialidad utópica, espacios "sin lugar real". La crisis de la espacialidad utópica, desarrollada tanto por las "utopías porveniristas" como por el "edificio autosuficiente", quedó evidenciada el 16 de marzo de 1972 mediante el inicio de la demolición del complejo residencial de Pruitt Igoe proyectado por Minoru Yamasaki, donde la utopía se convirtió en distopía. La impugnación a través de la espacialidad heterotópica, así como sus condiciones de posibilidad, nos sitúan en las prácticas artísticas desarrolladas desde la especificidad de la ubicación y la desmaterialización del objeto artístico en la segunda mitad del siglo XX e inicios del siglo XXI. La visualización y sistematización de las prácticas estudiadas se ha llevado a cabo mediante un timeline. Dichas prácticas artísticas, entendidas como efectivos contraemplazamientos heterotópicos, permiten, en palabras de Deleuze y Guattari, la apertura de espacios "lisos" formados por acontecimientos en el espacio de la urbe, espacio "estriado" por excelencia. Por ello, hemos pretendido cuestionar la luz y la espacialidad en propuestas de intervenciones artísticas como elementos posibilitadores de generar experiencias espacio-temporales "otras" que permiten tácticas de resistencia, suspensión y/o impugnación de la sorda sacralización del espacio contemporáneo. En la actualidad, algunas de las intervenciones artísticas analizadas, como "City Slivers" (1976) o "Untitled Cutting-Claraboya" (1971) de Gordon Matta-Clark, han devenido desterritorializaciones negativas, contraemplazamientos heterotópicos de compensación, efectivas reterritorializaciones valedoras de "territorios perdidos", ya que, como bien nos advirtieron Deleuze y Guattari, nunca hay que pensar que para salvarnos basta con un espacio liso. / [CA] Contraemplaçaments. Heterotopies artístiques des de la llum i l'espacialitat L'expansió dels dispositius espacials d'exposició -galeries, centres d'art, museus-, analitzada per Rosalind Krauss en 1979, ha suposat una inadequació entre un model d'espai absolut, sense fissures, i certes pràctiques artístiques. Els dos vessants que assenyala José Luis Brea com a herències crítiques de la negació de la institució art, l'especificitat d'ubicació i la desmaterialització de l'objecte artístic, la seua col¿lisió admet, des del nostre punt de vista, una de les estratègies possibles per a la impugnació real de l'espai que habitem, de la irreductibilitat d'emplaçaments que ho defineix. Al costat d'aquesta hipotètica col¿lisió cal afegir la llum com (in)material constructiu, com a element capaç de desdibuixar els límits físics i intangibles de l'espai que ho organitzen de forma abstracta, rígida i estable, on el context queda redefinit des de la llum i l'espacialitat. El 14 de març de 1967 Michel Foucault pronuncia la conferència "Des espaces autres". En ella va proposar una nova anàlisi espacial la qual va denominar "heterotopologia", gènesi de la present investigació. La impugnació de l'espai contemporani s'ha articulat des de l'espacialitat heterotòpica, contraemplaçaments reals, enfront de l'espacialitat utòpica, espais "sense lloc real". La crisi de l'espacialitat utòpica, desenvolupada tant per les "utopies esdevenidores" com per el "edifici autosuficient", va quedar evidenciada el 16 de març de 1972 mitjançant l'inici de la demolició del complex residencial de Pruitt Igoe projectat per Minoru Yamasaki, on la utopia es va convertir en distopia. La impugnació a través de l'espacialitat heterotòpica, així com les seues condicions de possibilitat, ens situen en les pràctiques artístiques desenvolupades des de l'especificitat de la ubicació i la desmaterialització de l'objecte artístic en la segona meitat del segle XX i inicis del segle XXI. La visualització i sistematització de les pràctiques estudiades s'ha dut a terme mitjançant un timeline. Aquestes pràctiques artístiques, enteses com a efectius contraemplaçaments heterotòpics, permeten, en paraules de Deleuze i Guattari, l'obertura d'espais "llisos" formats per esdeveniments en l'espai de la urbs, espai "estriat" per excel¿lència. Per això, hem pretès qüestionar la llum i l'espacialitat en propostes d'intervencions artístiques com a elements possibilitadors de generar experiències espai-temporals "altres" que permeten tàctiques de resistència, suspensió i/o impugnació de la sorda sacralització de l'espai contemporani. En l'actualitat, algunes de les intervencions artístiques analitzades, com "City Slivers" (1976) o "Untitled Cutting-Claraboya" (1971) de Gordon Matta-Clark, han esdevingut desterritorialitzacions negatives, contraemplaçaments heterotòpics de compensació, efectives reterritorialitzacions valedores de "territoris perduts", ja que, com bé ens van advertir Deleuze i Guattari, mai cal pensar que per a salvar-nos n'hi ha suficient amb un espai llis. / Guillén Guillamón, LM. (2015). Contraemplazamientos. Heterotopías artísticas desde la luz y la espacialidad [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/59249

O estudo a seguir desdobra as questões de site specificity na arte contemporânea e suas modificações nas três últimas décadas. A compreensão do espaço em arte tomou novas formas não só em função dos espaços e dos discursos artísticos, mas também em função dos novos meios e linguagens. Essas mudanças demandaram alguns acompanhamentos por parte dos espaços expositivos, bem como um novo olhar sobre o que se entende por site specific art. Com base, principalmente nas propostas de Miwon Kwon, o presente material compara as obras de arte contemporânea, tecendo diálogos com as mudanças vistas. Espaços institucionalizados, como Inhotim, dialogam com a noção de site specificic arts, demonstrando as observações sobre site specificity. A pesquisa apresenta esta jornada e fornece subsídios para vislumbrar o espaço da arte contemporânea na segunda década do século XXI. / The following research unfolds site specificity matters on contemporary art and its changes for the last three decades. The comprehension of the space in art had reached new standards, not only due to artistic spaces and discourses, but also for new media and languages. Theses changes demanded some accomplishments at the exhibition spaces as well as new looks over what one understands as site specific art. Upon Miwon Kown premisses this study compares contemporary art works creating dialogs with the modifications already achieved. Institutionalized spaces, such as Inhotim, converse with site specific arts, what reinforces the need for a site specificity stare. The probe validates the jouney and endorses a fresh look over contemporary art on the second decade of the 21st century

A partir de um olhar e de uma escuta direcionadas à cidade, objetivou-se a experiência do corpo no espaço urbano por meio do caminhar como ação poética capaz de suscitar um corpo-crítico que percebesse na paisagem e na arquitetura dos mobiliários urbanos instalados os ideais de cerceamento que fomentam os desequilíbrios sociais e a segregação urbana. A metodologia utilizada inspirou-se na flanerie na cidade, com um mapeamento do uso de espaços públicos, seguido de levantamento das arquiteturas dos mobiliários urbanos, para que as mesmas fossem Re-projetadas, além da coleta feita da paisagem sonora do lugar. Buscou-se assim revelar as segregações, brechas e vazios produzidos por uma anti-arquitetura que cauteriza a experiência sensorial de imersão do corpo na cidade quando estas revelam, na escala fílmica aqui proposta, a solidão e angústia, frutos da leitura de uma cidade fragmentada pelo desenho urbano de onde os vazios, as ausências e o caos engolfam a vida, anulando a experiência do corpo na cidade. / From a direct observation and an attentive listening to the city, this research emphasizes the experience of the body in the urban space taking the act of walking as poetical action as a means to excite a critical-body that could perceive in the landscape and in the architecture of the urban furniture installed the method of clipping ideals that foment social unbalance and urban segregation. The methodology used was inspired in flanerie in the city, with a mapping of the use of public spaces, followed by a survey of the architectures of the urban furniture, so that the same ones were re-projected, beyond the collection of the sonorous landscape of the place. One thus searched to disclose to the segregations, breaches and emptinesses produced by an anti-architecture that cauterizes the sensorial experience of immersion of the body in the city when these polarize on the filmic scale disclosing to the solitude and anguish, fruits of the reading of a city broken up for the urban drawing from where the emptinesses, the absences and the chaos engulf life, annulling the experience of the body in the city.

A partir de um olhar e de uma escuta direcionadas à cidade, objetivou-se a experiência do corpo no espaço urbano por meio do caminhar como ação poética capaz de suscitar um corpo-crítico que percebesse na paisagem e na arquitetura dos mobiliários urbanos instalados os ideais de cerceamento que fomentam os desequilíbrios sociais e a segregação urbana. A metodologia utilizada inspirou-se na flanerie na cidade, com um mapeamento do uso de espaços públicos, seguido de levantamento das arquiteturas dos mobiliários urbanos, para que as mesmas fossem Re-projetadas, além da coleta feita da paisagem sonora do lugar. Buscou-se assim revelar as segregações, brechas e vazios produzidos por uma anti-arquitetura que cauteriza a experiência sensorial de imersão do corpo na cidade quando estas revelam, na escala fílmica aqui proposta, a solidão e angústia, frutos da leitura de uma cidade fragmentada pelo desenho urbano de onde os vazios, as ausências e o caos engolfam a vida, anulando a experiência do corpo na cidade. / From a direct observation and an attentive listening to the city, this research emphasizes the experience of the body in the urban space taking the act of walking as poetical action as a means to excite a critical-body that could perceive in the landscape and in the architecture of the urban furniture installed the method of clipping ideals that foment social unbalance and urban segregation. The methodology used was inspired in flanerie in the city, with a mapping of the use of public spaces, followed by a survey of the architectures of the urban furniture, so that the same ones were re-projected, beyond the collection of the sonorous landscape of the place. One thus searched to disclose to the segregations, breaches and emptinesses produced by an anti-architecture that cauterizes the sensorial experience of immersion of the body in the city when these polarize on the filmic scale disclosing to the solitude and anguish, fruits of the reading of a city broken up for the urban drawing from where the emptinesses, the absences and the chaos engulf life, annulling the experience of the body in the city.

Esta dissertação tem por objetivo analisar o trabalho artís tico Projeto para a Ocupação de uma Casa, realizado dentro do programa de mestrado em Poéticas Visuais entre 2004 e 2005. Através desse trabalho pretendeu-se compreender e aprofundar o interesse no ambiente doméstico presente na produção que o antecedeu. Para isso, foi feita uma revisão crítica dessa produção, onde foram identificados os principais assuntos, recursos e problemas que formaram o interesse no ambiente doméstico. Essa revisão constitui a primeira parte desta dissertação. Na segunda parte, é analisado o Projeto. Partindo de um conjunto de referências prioritariamente literárias, uma série de objetos foi elaborada para ocupar cada um dos cômodos de uma casa escolhida, de modo que, ao percorrê-la, uma narrativa de caráter ficcional se formava. No texto, verificam-se as intenções e resultados de cada peça e ambiente; se elas cumpriram a meta de aprofundamento e entendimento da questão doméstica, as suas soluções formais, os sentidos que engendraram e o papel que desempenharam na constituição da narrativa. / The objective of this thesis is to analyze the art work Project for the Occupation of a House, which was developed within the masters program in Visual Poetics, between 2004 and 2005. The thesis has aimed at understanding and deepening the interest in the domestic environment that was present in the production that preceded it. In order to achieve this, a critical review of the production was carried out, in which the main subjects, resources and problems involved in the interest in the domestic environment were identified. This review constitutes the first part of the thesis. In the second part, the Project is analyzed. With the background of a number of primarily literary references, a series of objects was elaborated to occupy each of the rooms of a chosen house, in a way that as the house was visited, a narrative of fictional character was formed. In the text, the intentions and results of each piece and surrounding are checked: whether or not they have achieved the result of deepening the understanding of the domestic question, their formal solutions, the meanings that were generated, and the role they played in the cons titution of the narrative.

O estudo a seguir desdobra as questões de site specificity na arte contemporânea e suas modificações nas três últimas décadas. A compreensão do espaço em arte tomou novas formas não só em função dos espaços e dos discursos artísticos, mas também em função dos novos meios e linguagens. Essas mudanças demandaram alguns acompanhamentos por parte dos espaços expositivos, bem como um novo olhar sobre o que se entende por site specific art. Com base, principalmente nas propostas de Miwon Kwon, o presente material compara as obras de arte contemporânea, tecendo diálogos com as mudanças vistas. Espaços institucionalizados, como Inhotim, dialogam com a noção de site specificic arts, demonstrando as observações sobre site specificity. A pesquisa apresenta esta jornada e fornece subsídios para vislumbrar o espaço da arte contemporânea na segunda década do século XXI. / The following research unfolds site specificity matters on contemporary art and its changes for the last three decades. The comprehension of the space in art had reached new standards, not only due to artistic spaces and discourses, but also for new media and languages. Theses changes demanded some accomplishments at the exhibition spaces as well as new looks over what one understands as site specific art. Upon Miwon Kown premisses this study compares contemporary art works creating dialogs with the modifications already achieved. Institutionalized spaces, such as Inhotim, converse with site specific arts, what reinforces the need for a site specificity stare. The probe validates the jouney and endorses a fresh look over contemporary art on the second decade of the 21st century