A novel method for determination of tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA), was developed using gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionization-mass spectrom- etry (GC-NCI-MS). Samples of municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent were analyzed for TBBPA. Levels ranged from 1 to 41 ng/L, with an average of 20 ± 14 ng/L. Matrix effects were shown to be 30 ± 17 % in the influent and -30 ± 11 % in membrane permeate. The method limit of quantitation was 0.1 ng/L TBBPA. Sorption of TBBPA to fresh mixed-liquor suspended solids (MLSS) from a membrane bioreactor (MBR) were studied. In a kinetic study, sorption was found to be essentially complete after 12 hours of exposure to MLSS. Log Koc and log Kd were measured at 4.7 ± 0.8 and 1.9 ± 0.8 respectively (n = 22). These values were much higher than modelled estimates based on Kow (p ≥ 0.05), and higher than modelled estimates based on Kow and pKa (p ≥ 0.05). Data was successfully modelled using the Freundlich isotherm, having a Kf value of 8.5 and an n value of 1.7. TBBPA adsorbed to borosilicate glassware, with a wall-loss coefficient (Kw) of 0.15 ± 0.1 (n ≥ 3). TBBPA levels in WWTP influent varied from 13 to 29 ng/L while effluent concentrations varied from 0 to 2.2 ng/L over the same period. Three pilot-scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs) removed less TBBPA during the same time period, though MBR removal was also significant (p ≥ 0.05). Increasing MBR sludge residence time (SRT) increased removal at the 86 % confidence interval (p = 0.14). A nitrifying MABR was shown to remove TBBPA significantly when spiked with ammonia and TBBPA (p ≥ 0.05), showing that nitrifying bacteria can degrade TBBPA. An MABR hollow fibre was found to adsorb TBBPA. Various soluble microbial products (SMP) were studied from MBRs fed munici- pal influent. Using current measurement practices, SMP were shown to be sensitive to matrix effects. Use of the standard addition technique (SA) can compensate for this. Measurements using SA showed SMP degrades rapidly during storage in the fridge and due to freezing. SA was also used to compare commonly used SMP extraction techniques, and showed that extraction method influences recovery.

In 2005 Prince Edward Island’s plebiscite on replacing the single member plurality (SMP) voting system with a mixed member proportional (MMP) voting system was defeated. In New Brunswick a similar referendum, recommended by the Commission on Legislative Democracy in 2004, was never held. This thesis investigates media coverage of these recent electoral reform initiatives in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Specifically, it examines local newspaper coverage of each province’s electoral reform initiatives and analyses the findings to determine if the newspapers demonstrated any bias for or against the implementation of a new voting system. It concludes that in each province the local newspaper media demonstrated a pro-electoral reform position, though there was considerable variation between the newspapers with respect to the breadth of coverage, the amount of bias and how that bias was articulated to readers. / Graduate

Thermally activated shape memory polymers are a desirable material for use in dynamic structures due to their large strain recovery, light weight, and tunable activation. The addition of ferromagnetic susceptor particles to a polymer matrix provides the ability to heat volumetrically and remotely via induction. Here, remote induction heating of magnetite filler particles dispersed in a thermoset matrix is used to activate shape memory polymer as both solid and foam composites. Bulk material properties and performance are characterized and compared over a range of filler parameters, induction parameters, and packaging configurations. Magnetite filler particles are investigated over a range of power input, in order to understand the effects of particle size and shape on heat generation and flux into the matrix. This investigation successfully activates shape memory polymers in 10 to 20 seconds, with no significant impact of filler particles up to 10wt% on mechanical properties of shape memory foam. Performance of different particle materials is dependent upon the amplitude of the driving magnetic field. There is a general improvement in heating performance for increased content of filler particles. Characterization indicates that heat transfer between the filler nanoparticles and the foam is the primary constraint in improved heating performance. The use of smaller, acicular particles as one way to improve heat transfer, by increasing interfacial area between filler and matrix, is further examined.

With the rapid growth of wireless data demands and saturation of radio frequency (RF) capacity, visible light communication (VLC) has become a promising candidate to complement conventional RF communication, especially for indoor short range applications. However the performance of the system depends on the propagation and type of system used. An optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (O-OFDM) together with multiple input multiple output (MIMO) in different scenario and modulation techniques are studied in the thesis. A novel optical wireless communication (OWC) multi-cell system with narrow field of view (FOV) is studied. In this system the intensity modulated beam from four light sources are used for communication. The system allows beams to be concentrated in specific areas of the room to serve multiple mobile devices with low interference and hence increase system capacity. The performance of asymmetrically clipped optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (ACO-OFDM), direct current biased optical OFDM (DCO-OFDM) and single carrier (SC) modulation are then compared in this system considering single user and multiusers scenarios. The performance of the multi-cell is compared with single cell with wide FOV. It is shown that the capacity for multi-cell system increases with the number of users to 4 times the single user capacity. Also the findings show that multi-cell system with narrow beams can outperform a single wide beam system in terms of coverage area and hence average throughput of about 2.7 times the single wide beam system capacity. One of the impairments in line of sight (LOS) OWC systems is coverage which degrades the performance. A mobile receiver with angular diversity detectors in MIMO channels is studied. The objective is to improve the rank of the channel matrix and hence system throughput. Repetition coding (RC), spatial multiplexing (SMP) and spatial modulation (SM) concepts are used to evaluate throughput across multiple locations in a small room scenario. A novel adaptive spatial modulation (ASM) which is capable of combating channel rank deficiency is devised. Since the receiver is mobile, the channel gains are low in some locations of the room due to the lack of LOS paths between transmitters and receivers. To combat the situation adaptive modulation and per antenna rate control (PARC) is employed to maximise spectral efficiency. The throughputs for fixed transmitters and receivers are compared with the oriented/inclined detectors for different cases. Angular diversity detectors offer a better throughput improvement than the state of the art vertical detectors, for example in ASM angular diversity receiver gives throughput of about 1.6 times that of vertical detectors. Also in SMP the angular detectors offer throughput about 1.4 times that of vertical detectors. SMP gives the best performance compared to RC, SM and ASM, for example SMP gives throughput about 2.5 times that of RC in both vertical detectors and angular diversity receivers. Again SMP gives throughput about 6 times that of SM in both vertical detectors and angular diversity receivers. Also SMP provides throughput about 2 times that of ASM in both vertical detectors and angular diversity receivers. ASM exhibit improvement in throughput about average factor of 3.5 times SM performance in both vertical detectors and angular diversity detectors. As the performance of the system may be jeopardized by obstructions, specular and diffuse reflection models for indoor OWC systems using a mobile receiver with angular diversity detectors in MIMO channels are considered. The target is to improve the MIMO throughput compared to vertically oriented detectors by exploiting reflections from different reflecting surfaces in the room. The throughput across multiple locations in the small room by using RC, SMP and SM approaches is again evaluated. The results for LOS only channels against LOS with specular or diffuse reflection conditions, for both vertical and angular oriented receivers are then compared. The results show that exploiting specular and diffuse reflections provide significant improvements in link performance. For example the reflection coefficient (α) of 0.9 and the antenna separation of 0.6 m, RC diffuse model shows throughput improvement of about 1.8 times that of LOS for both vertical detectors and angular diversity receivers. SM diffuse model shows throughput improvement of about 3 times that of LOS for both vertical detectors and angular diversity receivers. ASM diffuse model shows throughput improvement of about 2 times that of LOS for both vertical detectors and angular diversity receivers. SMP diffuse model shows throughput improvement of about 1.5 times that of LOS for both vertical detectors and angular diversity receiver.

In this Doctoral Thesis the study of the influence of the operating parameters of the activated sludge process on the physical and chemical characteristics of the mixed liquor, from different membrane bioreactors (MBR), has been carried out. In addition, an optical characterization of the mixing liquor has been performed. In order to achieve the above mentioned aim, samples of the mixed liquor from an MBR treating municipal wastewater were first analysed and then, the characteristics of two MBR mixed liquors treating the leachates from two treatment plants of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) were evaluated. It is noteworthy that the difference between the two industrial MBR lies on the feeding (inlet) to the MBR, which is determined by the treatment performed to the OFMSW, since one of them consists of a wet anaerobic digestion (MBR-LS) and the other of a dry anaerobic digestion (MBR-HS), so that the latter leachate contains higher concentration of suspended solids in its composition. For the chemical characterization of the mixture liquor, the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) have been analysed. EPS are formed by the sum of extracted extracellular polymeric substances (eEPS) and soluble microbial products (SMP). These substances are considered the main cause of membranes fouling in MBRs and are basically formed by proteins and polysaccharides, which can be both attached to the cell wall and outside the cell, in form of eEPS or SMP. Regarding the physical characterization, in particular it has been analysed and studied the effect on the membrane fouling of the total and volatile suspended solids, the viscosity, the capillary suction time and the particle size, measured through the resistance to filtration. Finally, in the municipal MBR, cell viability with epifluorescence microscopy has been studied, as well as the main components of EPS have been stained by two different methods. In addition, a statistical study has evaluated the effect of the main operating parameters of the MBR on the characterization parameters of the mixed liquor. By means of least squares regression, the operational parameters that influence SMP production in industrial MBR have been studied. The study was completed by evaluating the fouling of an ultrafiltration membrane with proteins extracted from EPS and subsequently purified with ammonium sulphate at different pH values. To this end, different synthetic proteins (bovine serum albumin, casein, haemoglobin and lysozyme) were first analysed and then compared with the proteins extracted from the mixed liquor. Membrane fouling with purified eEPS proteins has also been studied along with sodium alginate added in the same concentration as the proteins. The results obtained demonstrate, firstly, that SMP play an important role in the membrane fouling. The concentration of proteins has been considerably higher than that of carbohydrates both in SMP and in eEPS, although SMP influenced to a greater extent on the filtration of the activated sludge. In addition, it is shown that bacteria under stress conditions, caused for example by increase in conductivity, increase the production of SMP, and therefore, membrane fouling increases. On the other hand, it is concluded that a low hydraulic retention time favours a high carbohydrates concentration and consequently drives to an increase in the viscosity and capillary suction time, also increasing the membrane fouling. / En la presente Tesis Doctoral se ha llevado a cabo el estudio de la influencia de los parámetros de operación del proceso de fangos activos en las características físicas y químicas de los licores de mezcla, procedentes de diferentes biorreactores de membrana (MBR). Además, se ha realizado una caracterización óptica del licor de mezcla. Para ello, en primer lugar se tomaron muestras del licor de mezcla de un MBR que trata aguas residuales urbanas y, a continuación, se evaluaron las características de los licores de mezcla de dos MBR que tratan los lixiviados procedentes de dos plantas de tratamiento de la fracción orgánica de los residuos sólidos urbanos (FORSU). Cabe destacar que la diferencia entre los dos MBR industriales radica en la alimentación (afluentes) al MBR, que viene determinada por el tratamiento que se realiza a la FORSU, ya que uno de ellos consiste en una digestión anaerobia en vía húmeda (MBR-LS) y, el otro, en una digestión anaerobia en vía seca (MBR-HS), por lo que este último lixiviado contiene mayor concentración de sólidos en suspensión en su composición. Para la caracterización química del licor de mezcla, se han analizado las sustancias poliméricas extracelulares (EPS), formadas por la suma de las sustancias poliméricas extracelulares extraídas (eEPS) y los productos solubles microbianos (SMP). Estas sustancias se consideran las principales causantes del ensuciamiento de las membranas del MBR y están formadas básicamente por proteínas y polisacáridos, los cuales pueden estar tanto adheridos a la pared celular como fuera de la célula, en forma de eEPS o SMP. En cuanto a la caracterización física, en concreto se ha analizado y estudiado el efecto en el ensuciamiento de las membranas de los sólidos en suspensión totales y volátiles, la viscosidad, el tiempo de succión capilar y el tamaño de partícula, medido a través de las resistencias a la filtración. Finalmente, en el MBR urbano se ha estudiado la viabilidad celular con microscopía de epifluorescencia, así como se han teñido para su caracterización óptica los principales componentes de las EPS por dos métodos distintos. Además, mediante un estudio estadístico se ha evaluado el efecto de los principales parámetros de operación de los MBR sobre los parámetros de caracterización del licor de mezcla. Mediante regresión por mínimos cuadrados se han estudiado los parámetros operacionales que influyen en la producción de SMP en los MBR industriales. El estudio se ha completado evaluando el ensuciamiento de una membrana de ultrafiltración con proteínas extraídas de las EPS y posteriormente purificadas con sulfato amónico, a diferentes valores de pH. Para ello, en primer lugar se han caracterizado diferentes proteínas sintéticas (albúmina de suero bovino, caseína, hemoglobina y lisozima) para compararlas con las proteínas extraídas del licor de mezcla. También se ha estudiado el ensuciamiento de la membrana con las proteínas purificadas de las eEPS junto con alginato de sodio en la misma proporción. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran en primer lugar que los SMP juegan un papel importante en el ensuciamiento de las membranas. Tanto en su composición como en la de las eEPS, la concentración de proteínas determinada ha sido considerablemente mayor que la de carbohidratos, si bien éstos influyen incluso en mayor medida en la filtrabilidad del fango activo. Además, se demuestra que las bacterias bajo condiciones de estrés, causado por ejemplo por aumento de conductividad, aumentan la producción de SMP, y por tanto, se incrementa el ensuciamiento de las membranas. Por otro lado, se concluye que un tiempo de retención hidráulico bajo favorece una concentración elevada de carbohidratos y consecuentemente provoca un aumento de la viscosidad y el tiempo de succión capilar, aumentando también el ensuciamiento de la membrana. / En la present Tesi Doctoral s'ha dut a terme l'estudi de la influència dels paràmetres d'operació del procés de fangs actius en les característiques físiques i químiques de licors de mescla, procedents de diferents biorreactors de membrana (MBR). A més, s'ha realitzat una caracterització òptica del licor de mescla. Per a això, en primer lloc es van prendre mostres del licor de mescla d'un MBR que tracta aigües residuals urbanes i, a continuació, es van avaluar les característiques dels licors de mescla de dos MBR que tracten els lixiviats procedents de dues plantes de tractament de la fracció orgànica dels residus sòlids urbans (FORSU). Cal destacar que la diferència entre els dos MBR industrials radica en l'alimentació (afluents) al MBR, que ve determinada pel tractament que es realitza a la FORSU, ja que un d'ells consisteix en una digestió anaeròbia en via humida (MBR-LS) i, l'altre, en una digestió anaeròbia en via seca (MBR-HS), per la qual cosa este últim lixiviat conté major concentració de sòlids en suspensió en la seua composició. Per a la caracterització química del licor de mescla, s'han analitzat les substàncies polimèriques extracel¿lulars (EPS), formades per la suma de les substàncies polimèriques extracel¿lulars extretes (eEPS) i els productes solubles microbians (SMP). Estes substàncies es consideren les principals causants de l'embrutiment de les membranes del MBR i estan formades bàsicament per proteïnes i polisacàrids, els quals poden estar tant adherits a la paret cel¿lular com fora de la cèl¿lula, en forma d'eEPS o SMP. Quant a la caracterització física, en concret s'ha analitzat i estudiat l'efecte en l'embrutiment de les membranes dels sòlids en suspensió totals i volàtils, la viscositat, el temps de succió capil¿lar i la grandària de partícula, mesurat a través de les resistències a la filtració. Finalment, en el MBR urbà s'ha estudiat la viabilitat cel¿lular amb microscòpia d'epifluorescència, així com s'han tenyit per a la seua caracterització òptica els principals components de les EPS per dos mètodes distints. A més, per mitjà d'un estudi estadístic s'ha avaluat l'efecte dels principals paràmetres d'operació dels MBR sobre els paràmetres de caracterització del licor de mescla. Per mitjà de regressió per mínims quadrats s'han estudiat els paràmetres operacionals que influeixen en la producció de SMP en els MBR industrials. L'estudi s'ha completat avaluant l'embrutiment d'una membrana d'ultrafiltració amb proteïnes extretes de les EPS i posteriorment purificades amb sulfat amònic, a diferents valors de pH. Per a això, en primer lloc s'han caracteritzat diferents proteïnes sintètiques (albúmina de sèrum boví, caseïna, hemoglobina i lisozima) per a comparar-les amb les proteïnes extretes del licor de mescla. També s'ha estudiat l'embrutiment de la membrana amb les proteïnes purificades de les eEPS junt amb alginat de sodi en la mateixa proporció. Els resultats obtinguts demostren en primer lloc que els SMP juguen un paper important en l'embrutiment de les membranes. Tant en la seua composició com en la de les eEPS, la concentració de proteïnes determinada ha sigut considerablement major que la de carbohidrats, si bé estos influeixen inclús en major grau en la filtrabilidad del fang actiu. A més, es demostra que els bacteris baix condicions d'estrès, causat per exemple per augment de conductivitat, augmenten la producció de SMP, i per tant, s'incrementa l'embrutiment de les membranes. D'altra banda, es conclou que un temps de retenció hidràulic baix afavoreix una concentració elevada de carbohidrats i conseqüentment provoca un augment de la viscositat i el temps de succió capil¿lar, augmentant també l'embrutiment de la membrana. / Zuriaga Agustí, E. (2017). Influencia de las características físicas y químicas del licor de mezcla en Bioreactores de Membrana y su correlación con los parámetros de operación en aguas residuales urbanas e industriales [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/90512 / TESIS

Asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP) is a way of distributing computer system load toheterogeneous hardware and software environment. This thesis describes the principles of the AMP focusing on the ARM Cortex--A9 processor and Altera Cyclone V hardware platform. Development of a OpenAMP framework based AMP system showing communication among the processor cores, documentation and future work suggestion are the products of this thesis.

Workshop Mensch-Computer-Vernetzung

Graph-structured data can be found in nearly every aspect of today's world, be it road networks, social networks or the internet itself. From a processing perspective, finding comprehensive patterns in graph-structured data is a core processing primitive in a variety of applications, such as fraud detection, biological engineering or social graph analytics. On the hardware side, multiprocessor systems, that consist of multiple processors in a single scale-up server, are the next important wave on top of multi-core systems. In particular, symmetric multiprocessor systems (SMP) are characterized by the fact, that each processor has the same architecture, e.g. every processor is a multi-core and all multiprocessors share a common and huge main memory space. Moreover, large SMPs will feature a non-uniform memory access (NUMA), whose impact on the design of efficient data processing concepts should not be neglected. The efficient usage of SMP systems, that still increase in size, is an interesting and ongoing research topic. Current state-of-the-art architectural design principles provide different and in parts disjunct suggestions on which data should be partitioned and or how intra-process communication should be realized. In this thesis, we propose a new synthesis of four of the most well-known principles Shared Everything, Partition Serial Execution, Data Oriented Architecture and Delegation, to create the NORAD architecture, which stands for NUMA-aware DORA with Delegation. We built our research prototype called NeMeSys on top of the NORAD architecture to fully exploit the provided hardware capacities of SMPs for graph pattern matching. Being an in-memory engine, NeMeSys allows for online data ingestion as well as online query generation and processing through a terminal based user interface. Storing a graph on a NUMA system inherently requires data partitioning to cope with the mentioned NUMA effect. Hence, we need to dissect the graph into a disjunct set of partitions, which can then be stored on the individual memory domains. This thesis analyzes the capabilites of the NORAD architecture, to perform scalable graph pattern matching on SMP systems. To increase the systems performance, we further develop, integrate and evaluate suitable optimization techniques. That is, we investigate the influence of the inherent data partitioning, the interplay of messaging with and without sufficient locality information and the actual partition placement on any NUMA socket in the system. To underline the applicability of our approach, we evaluate NeMeSys against synthetic datasets and perform an end-to-end evaluation of the whole system stack on the real world knowledge graph of Wikidata.

Social media platforms (SMP) are a continually growing field with several implications for the social structures of society. SMPs are web-based platforms on which users connect with other individuals and organizations which enables social connections and social bonding. SMPs and other social networking sites can have both positive and negative effects on individuals' lives. On the one hand, social media micro-interactions such as liking and interacting with other individuals’ content are crucial in interpersonal communication. On the other hand, research shows micro-interactions eg. like-buttons, notifications, and stories, have a negative impact on task performance, affect individuals' views of their own self-worth, and cause undesirable behavior such as procrastination. Procrastination of tasks has negative implications for our society and is often caused by social media’s tendencies to trigger psychological factors such as fear of missing out or a desire for instant rewards. Using a design-oriented approach, this research investigates how micro-interactions can be designed with the help of mindful design to counteract procrastination among young adults in the context of SMPs. The results show that designing micro-interactions in a way that detaches,guides, and empowers users align with mindful design core goals, which helps counteract procrastination among young adults on SMPs.

Datorer med flera kärnor som delar på ett gemensamt minne (SMP) har blivit normen sedan Moore's lag har slutat gälla. För att utnyttja den prestanda flera kärnor erbjuder så behöver mjukvaruingenjören skriva programmen så att de explicit utnyttjar flera kärnor. För mindre projekt är det lätt att detta bortses från vilket skapar program som endast utnyttjar en kärna. Detta gör att det i sådana fall finns stora vinningar genom att parallellisera koden. Det här examensarbetet har förbättrat prestandan på ett beräkningstungt simuleringsprogram, skrivit att utnyttja endast en kärna, genom att hitta områden i koden som är lämpliga att parallellisera. Dessa områden har identifierats med Intel's Vtune Amplifier och utförts med OpenMP. Arbetet har också bytt ut en speciell beräkningsrutin som var särskilt krävande, speciellt för större problem. Slutresultatet är ett beräkningsprogram som ger samma resultat som det ursprungliga programmet men betydligt snabbare och med mindre datorresurser. Programmet kommer att användas i framtida forskningsprojekt. / Multi-core Shared Memory Parallel (SMP) systems became the norm ever since the performance trend prophesied by Moore’s law ended. Correctly utilizing the performance benefits these systems offer usually requires a conscious effort from the software developer’s side to enforce concurrency in the program. This is easy to disregard in small software projects and can lead to great amounts of unused potential parallelism in the produced code. This thesis attempted to improve the perfor- mance of a computationally demanding Thermal Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (TEHL) simula- tion written in Fortran by finding such parallelism. The parallelization effort focused on the most demanding parts of the program identified using Intel’s VTune Amplifier and was implemented using OpenMP. The thesis also documents an algorithm change that led to further improvements in terms of execution time and scalability with respect to problem size. The end result is a faster, lighter and more efficient TEHL simulator that can further support the research in its domain.