The maximum spacing (MSP) method, introduced by Cheng and Amin (1983) and independently by Ranneby (1984), is a general estimation method for continuous univariate distributions. The MSP method, which is closely related to the maximum likelihood (ML) method, can be derived from an approximation based on simple spacings of the Kullback-Leibler information. It is known to give consistent and asymptotically efficient estimates under general conditions and works also in situations where the ML method fails, e.g. for the three parameter Weibull model. In this thesis it is proved under general conditions that MSP estimates of parameters in the Euclidian metric are strongly consistent. The ideas behind the MSP method are extended and a class of estimation methods is introduced. These methods, called generalized MSP methods, are derived from approxima­tions based on sum-functions of rath order spacings of certain information mea­sures, i.e. the ^-divergences introduced by Csiszår (1963). It is shown under general conditions that generalized MSP methods give consistent estimates. In particular, it is proved that generalized MSP methods give L1 consistent esti­mates in any family of distributions with unimodal densities, without any further conditions on the distributions. Other properties such as distributional robust­ness are also discussed. Several limit theorems for sum-functions of rath order spacings are given, for ra fixed as well as for the case when ra is allowed to in­crease to infinity with the sample size. These results provide a strongly consistent nonparametric estimator of entropy, as well as a characterization of the uniform distribution. Further, it is shown that Cressie's (1976) goodness of fit test is strongly consistent against all continuous alternatives. / digitalisering@umu

High-input management practices are often heavily marketed to producers to increase soybean [Glycine max (L) Merr.] yield in already high-yielding environments. Field research was conducted in three locations within 6 states (Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, and Minnesota) in 2009 to determine the effect of seed treatment, inoculant, foliar fungicide, additional soil fertility beyond state recommendations, foliar fertilizer, increased population over state recommendations, and narrow row spacing on yield. The high-input system (combination of the management practices) yielded higher than standard-input system (University recommended management practices) in only 8 of the 18 locations. Narrow rows, in both the high and standard-input systems, only increased yield in 4 locations. Inoculant did not increase yield at any location. Foliar fertilizer application and seed treatment increased yield in one location each. The additional soil fertility and fungicide application increased yield in two locations each. The increased population increased yields in 3 of the 18 locations; while an additional fungicide application at R5 only increased yield in 1 location. Foliar fertilizers at rates above commercial use did not increase soybean yield in Kentucky in 2008 or 2009. High-input production practices were largely unsuccessful at increasing soybean yield in these studies.

Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) is a hybrid turbulence model, a modification to the one-equation model proposed by Spalart and Allmaras (1997) [26]. It combines the advantages of both the RANS and LES models to predict any fluid flow. Presently, the focus is on using Homogeneous Turbulence to test the DES model. In an attempt to scrutinize this model, many cases are considered involving the variance of DES grid spacing parameter, CDES, the grid density, Reynolds number and cases with different initial conditions. Choosing Homogeneous Turbulence for our study alienates complications related to the geometry, boundary conditions and other flow characteristics helping us in studying the behavior of the model thoroughly. Also, the interdependencies of the model grid spacing parameter, grid density and the numerical scheme used are also investigated. Many previous implementations of the DES model have taken the value of CDES=0.65. Through this work, many issues including the sensitivity of CDES will be made clear. The code used in running the test cases is called LESTool, developed at University of Kentucky, Lexington. The two main test cases considered are based on the benchmark experimental study by Comte Bellot and Corrsin (1971) [12] and the Direct Numerical Scheme (DNS) simulation by Blaisdell et al. (1991) [10].

Corn or maize (Zea mays L.) has been grown in North America for many centuries, and an increase in corn production will continue to be needed. Agriculture producers must meet the demands of feeding and providing for an increasing population of people. In order to meet those needs, different production practices are being investigated as a way to increase grain yield. Field plots were conducted across the state of Kentucky in 2011 and 2012 to evaluate the interaction between hybrid, row width, and plant density on corn yield. The primary objectives were to test if 1) narrower rows increase grain yield, 2) higher plant densities increase yield in narrow and twin rows, and 3) the interactions among all factors. Three hybrids were evaluated in three row widths (76, 38 cm or twin) at target densities ranging from 74 000 to 124 000 plants ha-1. Interactions between hybrid, row width, and plant density occurred; however, effects on grain yield and plant physiological characteristics were small and variable across all environments. Plant density had the greatest impact on IPAR and grain yield. Field trials were conducted near Lexington and Princeton, Kentucky in 2011 and 2012 to evaluate the effects of row width on different weed management treatments in corn. The objectives were to 1) evaluate five weed management methods in three row widths (76, 38 cm or twin) and 2) estimate the effect of these practices on corn yield. Herbicides used within each weed management strategy included the residual herbicide S-metholachlor + atrazine (1.4 + 1.8 kg/ha) applied preemergence (PRE) and/or glyphosate (0.86 kg/ha) postemergence (POST). Weed management treatments consisted of a PRE only, PRE followed by POST, POST only, POST + PRE, and an untreated control. Row spacing had little effect on weed suppression and control except for two cases. In general, PRE followed by POST and POST + Residual treatments controlled weeds better compared to PRE only and POST only treatments. Corn yields were higher when a herbicide was used compared to applying no herbicide application. KEYWORDS: Row spacing, Plant Density, Corn Hybrids, Weed Management, Herbicide Application Timing

This thesis describes a new line segmentation method that is optimized for medieval manuscripts. Using a thinned version of the binarized document image, the segmentation algorithm extracts two types of salient features from the handwritten patterns: nodes, whose distribution allows for the detection of line axes; segments, which are labeled according to the nodes they connect. This method obtains very good results on manuscripts that are usually considered hard to segment because of the numerous overlapping and touching lines. By contrast with many existing segmentation algorithms, this method does not rely on user-entered parameters and is not overly sensitive to the quality of the preprocessing treatments. Although more work is required to make it resistant to fluctuating lines, this line separation technique can already handle a large set of medieval documents and provides a useful input to a character segmentation program. / Line segmentation techniques in off-line handwriting recognition -- Line segmentation with the profile method -- Feature-based line segmentation -- Tests and conclusions. / Department of Computer Science

Driving simulators are used to conduct experiments on for example driver behavior, road design, and vehicle characteristics. The results of the experiments often depend on the traffic conditions. One example is the evaluation of cellular phones and how they affect driving behavior. It is clear that the ability to use phones when driving depends on traffic intensity and composition, and that realistic experiments in driving simulators therefore has to include surrounding traffic. This thesis describes a model that generates and simulates surrounding vehicles for a driving simulator. The proposed model generates a traffic stream, corresponding to a given target flow and simulates realistic interactions between vehicles. The model is built on established techniques for time-driven microscopic simulation of traffic and uses an approach of only simulating the closest neighborhood of the driving simulator vehicle. In our model this closest neighborhood is divided into one inner region and two outer regions. Vehicles in the inner region are simulated according to advanced behavioral models while vehicles in the outer regions are updated according to a less time-consuming model. The presented work includes a new framework for generating and simulating vehicles within a moving area. It also includes the development of enhanced models for car-following and overtaking and a simple mesoscopic traffic model. The developed model has been integrated and tested within the VTI Driving simulator III. A driving simulator experiment has been performed in order to check if the participants observe the behavior of the simulated vehicles as realistic or not. The results were promising but they also indicated that enhancements could be made. The model has also been validated on the number of vehicles that catches up with the driving simulator vehicle and vice versa. The agreement is good for active and passive catch-ups on rural roads and for passive catch-ups on freeways, but less good for active catch-ups on freeways.

Collagen is one of the major protein constituents in mammals and is present in all tissues and organs with the exceptions of keratin tissues such as hair and nails. Collagen monomers self-aggregate into a number of structures. In order to understand the physical bases for the structural polymorphism observed in collagen, a good starting point is one of the simplest collagen aggregates, segmental long spacing (SLS) collagen. Although SLS collagen formation induced by the presence of adenosine 5’-triphosphate is widely known, effects of other triphosphates, on the other hand, are much less studied. By varying the pH, it is discovered that all the nucleoside 5’-triphophsates, as well as inorganic triphosphate, are able to induce SLS formation over certain pH ranges. Adenosine 5’-diphosphate and para-nitrophenylphosphate cannot induce SLS formation at any pH. Based on the pH ranges at which SLS collagen can be formed, it is concluded the triphosphate functionality, with one negative charge per phosphate group, is primarily responsible for the formation of SLS collagen. Since inorganic triphosphate is able to induce SLS collagen formation, the presence of the nucleoside is optional for the assembly process; however if present, the assembly process prefers the nucleosides carrying acidic protons. Using electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) technique, it is found phosphorus, present only in nucleotides but not in polypeptides, is localized in certain regions of SLS collagen, forming a unique banding pattern transverse the long axis of the SLS collagen. Nitrogen mapping indicates the localization of phosphorus is not due to accumulation of materials. The phosphorus banding pattern demonstrates an excellent consistency across SLS collagen assembled from both bovine and recombinant human collagen monomers. Results from molecular simulation are consistent with the experimental results. All threephosphate groups seem to be involved in the assembly process to some degree. In the last chapter of the thesis, a reliable protocol to synthesis native type collagen fibers is introduced.

Collagen is one of the major protein constituents in mammals and is present in all tissues and organs with the exceptions of keratin tissues such as hair and nails. Collagen monomers self-aggregate into a number of structures. In order to understand the physical bases for the structural polymorphism observed in collagen, a good starting point is one of the simplest collagen aggregates, segmental long spacing (SLS) collagen. Although SLS collagen formation induced by the presence of adenosine 5’-triphosphate is widely known, effects of other triphosphates, on the other hand, are much less studied. By varying the pH, it is discovered that all the nucleoside 5’-triphophsates, as well as inorganic triphosphate, are able to induce SLS formation over certain pH ranges. Adenosine 5’-diphosphate and para-nitrophenylphosphate cannot induce SLS formation at any pH. Based on the pH ranges at which SLS collagen can be formed, it is concluded the triphosphate functionality, with one negative charge per phosphate group, is primarily responsible for the formation of SLS collagen. Since inorganic triphosphate is able to induce SLS collagen formation, the presence of the nucleoside is optional for the assembly process; however if present, the assembly process prefers the nucleosides carrying acidic protons. Using electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) technique, it is found phosphorus, present only in nucleotides but not in polypeptides, is localized in certain regions of SLS collagen, forming a unique banding pattern transverse the long axis of the SLS collagen. Nitrogen mapping indicates the localization of phosphorus is not due to accumulation of materials. The phosphorus banding pattern demonstrates an excellent consistency across SLS collagen assembled from both bovine and recombinant human collagen monomers. Results from molecular simulation are consistent with the experimental results. All threephosphate groups seem to be involved in the assembly process to some degree. In the last chapter of the thesis, a reliable protocol to synthesis native type collagen fibers is introduced.

The steady-state natural convection heat transfer from vertical rectangular fins extending perpendicularly from vertical rectangular base was investigated experimentally. The effects of geometric parameters and base-to-ambient temperature difference on the heat transfer performance of fin arrays were observed and the optimum fin separation values were determined. Two similar experimental set-ups were employed during experiments in order to take measurements from 30 different fin configurations having fin lengths of 250 mm and 340 mm. Fin thickness was maintained fixed at 3 mm. Fin height and fin spacing were varied from 5 mm to 25 mm and 5.75 mm to 85.5 mm, respectively. 5 heat inputs ranging from 25 W to 125 W were supplied for all fin configurations, and hence, the base and the ambient temperatures were measured in order to evaluate the heat transfer rate from fin arrays. The results of experiments have shown that the convection heat transfer rate from fin arrays depends on all geometric parameters and base-to-ambient temperature difference. The effect of these parameters on optimum fin spacing was also examined, and it was realized that for a given base-to-ambient temperature difference, an optimum fin spacing value which maximizes the convective heat transfer rate from the fin array is available for every fin height. The results indicated that the optimum fin spacings are between 8.8 mm and 14.7 mm, for the fin arrays employed in this work. Using the experimental results of present study and experimental results in available literature [2,3,9,10,11,12,14], a correlation for optimum fin spacing at a given fin length and base-to-ambient temperature difference was obtained as a result of scale analysis.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.