Spring dead spot (SDS), a monocyclic, soil-borne disease caused by Ophiosphaerella spp., affects the rhizomes and stolons of bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L. Pers), and is particularly severe in regions with extended dormancy, such as the transition zone. This research evaluates three aspects of SDS management: environmental influences, disease mapping, and the economic feasibility of precision treatments. To measure the relationship between local topography and SDS localization, UAV imagery was collected from 16 golf course fairways across three locations in Virginia and SDS coordinates were recorded. Using state lidar data, environmental factors such as slope, aspect, annual sunlight, and landform type were quantified. Generalized linear mixed-effects models revealed increased odds of SDS occurrence on north-facing slopes and landforms such as peaks and shoulders (p ≤ 0.001), while pits, valleys, and south-facing slopes were associated with decreased odds (p < 0.001). However, topographic features accounted for only 4.2% of the variance in disease distribution, indicating that other factors also play significant roles in SDS development. In parallel, precision treatment strategies (spot and zonal applications) were evaluated in a randomized complete-block design. Compared to full-coverage and untreated controls, precision treatments achieved similar disease control (p ≤ 0.001) while reducing the treated area by 48–52% (p ≤ 0.001), demonstrating a previously described Python script for spring dead spot detections efficacy in generating actionable disease maps. Finally, the economic viability of precision SDS management was assessed at the Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, VA. Cost analyses comparing precision and conventional treatments showed that a GNSS-equipped sprayer, used for precision applications, provided cost savings over a 10-year horizon when applying isofetamid or a combination product of pydiflumetofen + azoxystrobin + propiconazole. Conversely, this strategy was not cost-effective with annual applications of tebuconazole due to its low cost per application. These findings suggest that adopting precision treatment methods with appropriate fungicides can reduce costs and improve sustainability in SDS management. Together, these studies highlight the potential for integrating disease mapping, environmental analysis, and economic modeling to optimize SDS management strategies in turfgrass systems. / Doctor of Philosophy / Spring dead spot (SDS) is the most economically important disease of bermudagrass in the United States. It is caused by Ophiosphaerella spp. of fungi, which infect the horizontal growth structures of the plants causing damage in the fall leaving plants more susceptible to damage over the winter, these areas then fail to emerge from winter dormancy. Damage from SDS is often severe and long lasting making it important to avoid. While SDS has been well-studied, many important questions remain, including ways to improve management efficiency with fungicides and the reasons the disease develops where it does. To address questions on precision management we used a previously described Python script to build custom disease maps of SDS on golf course fairways. We looked at 16 fairways across 3 different locations in Virginia and treated them with either full-coverage applications, precision spot or zonal treatments based on the script, or left them untreated. Fairways treated with the spot and zonal treatments showed similar SDS suppression to full-coverage treatments the following year while using an average of 49% less fungicide. Next, we targeted concerns held by golf course superintendents. The first of these projects looked at the economic viability of these precision treatments over an entire golf course. To answer this, we recorded the amount of labor and money associated with precision treatments over an entire 18-hole course and found that the net present value over 10 years of purchasing a new GNSS sprayer for precision applications could be less than purchasing a new conventional sprayer for traditional applications. Finally, many golf course superintendents will say that SDS occurs more often on north-facing slopes. We looked at SDS locations in fairways that received little to no treatment previously and compared that to topography data. We found that while north-facing slopes and several other factors including the shape of the land itself were more likely to have SDS, the degree to which this is the case is not biologically relevant. These projects together highlight the complex nature of SDS and show that while its biology is complex, it is possible to control using precision turfgrass management techniques.

A reflective essay to accompany the thesis exhibition, the Wanderer, installed in the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, 2013. An exploration of the questions and concepts informing the process of developing and refining the visual vocabulary of my practice. Images of women, topographical maps, floral imagery and astronomical maps provide the vocabulary of the language and syntax that I am developing to enunciate the interrelationships between the construction of self and lived experience, with concepts of identity, body and gesture, history and place.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Métodos de otimização que utilizam condições de otimalidade de primeira e/ou segunda ordem são conhecidos por serem eficientes. Comumente, esses métodos iterativos são desenvolvidos e analisados à luz da análise matemática do espaço euclidiano n-dimensional, cuja natureza é de caráter local. Consequentemente, esses métodos levam a algoritmos iterativos que executam apenas as buscas locais. Assim, a aplicação de tais algoritmos para o cálculo de minimizadores globais de uma função não linear,especialmente não-convexas e multimodais, depende fortemente da localização dos pontos de partida. O método de Otimização Global Topográfico é um algoritmo de agrupamento, que utiliza uma abordagem baseada em conceitos elementares da teoria dos grafos, a fim de gerar bons pontos de partida para os métodos de busca local, a partir de pontos distribuídos de modo uniforme no interior da região viável. Este trabalho tem dois objetivos. O primeiro é realizar uma nova abordagem sobre método de Otimização Global Topográfica, onde, pela primeira vez, seus fundamentos são formalmente descritos e suas propriedades básicas são matematicamente comprovadas. Neste contexto, propõe-se uma fórmula semi-empírica para calcular o parâmetro chave deste algoritmo de agrupamento, e, usando um método robusto e eficiente de direções viáveis por pontos-interiores, estendemos o uso do método de Otimização Global Topográfica a problemas com restrições de desigualdade. O segundo objetivo é a aplicação deste método para a análise de estabilidade de fase em misturas termodinâmicas,o qual consiste em determinar se uma dada mistura se apresenta em uma ou mais fases. A solução deste problema de otimização global é necessária para o cálculo do equilíbrio de fases, que é um problema de grande importância em processos da engenharia, como, por exemplo, na separação por destilação, em processos de extração e simulação da recuperação terciária de petróleo, entre outros. Além disso, afim de ter uma avaliação inicial do potencial dessa técnica, primeiro vamos resolver 70 problemas testes, e então comparar o desempenho do método proposto aqui com o solver MIDACO, um poderoso software recentemente introduzido no campo da otimização global. / Optimization methods that use optimality conditions of first and/or second order are known to be efficient. Commonly, such iterative methods are developed and analyzed in the light of knowledge concerning the mathematical analysis in n-dimensional Euclidean spaces, whose nature is of local character. Consequently, these methods lead to iterative algorithms that perform only local searches. Thus, the application of such algorithms to the calculation of global minimizers of a non-linear function, especially non-convex and multimodal, depends strongly on the location of the starting points. The Topographical Global Optimization method is a clustering algorithm, which uses an ingenious approach based on elementary concepts of graph theory, in order to generate good starting points for local search methods, from points distributed uniformly in the interior of the feasible set. The purpose of this work is two-fold. The first is a revisit to the Topographical Global Optimization method, where, for the first time, its foundations are formally described and its basic properties are mathematically proven. In this context, we propose a semi-empirical formula for computing the key parameter of this clustering algorithm, and, using a robustand efficient direction interior-point method, we extend the use of the Topographical Global Optimization method to problems with inequality constraints. The second objective is the application of this method to the phase stability analysis of mixtures, a difficult and important global optimization problem of the chemical engineering thermodynamics. Furthermore, in order to have an initial assessment of the power of this technique,first we solve 70 test problems, and then compare the performance of the method considered here with the MIDACO solver, a powerful software recently introduced in the field of global optimization.

The purpose of this work was investigate and measure the possibility to exist multipath caused by the corona noise generated in high voltage electric lines recepting GNSS signals. Experiments were realized with a 69 kV tension electric line localized in Santa Maria/RS. A serie was located with eleven transversal points to the longitudinal ranging of the transmission line. In this points, the eletromagnetic field was estimated using an equipment to measure the electromagnetic field EM-8000 model. Valuations was realized about the interferences on positioning by the absolut method, using a GNSS receiver with C/A code Garmin GPS II Plus model and the positioning by the relative method with the GNSS receiver L1/L2 Topcon Hiper model. To estimate the interference in the points was necessary to obtain the geodesic coordinates of this points without multipath possibilities caused of corona noise. For this was implanted a squared topographical polygonal where the support points were located far from the transmission lines, free of the electromagnetic field influence. Calculating the variances among the coordinates was necessary transform the geodesic coordinates obtained at GNSS receivers to the Local Topographic System, to make the systems compatible, using the rotation and translation model. Calculating was possible conclude that to the raising method and the geodesic equipment used in this experiment, in a 69 kV transmission line, the found discrepancies were in the standard deviation of 17,10 mm admitted to equipment GNSS receiver L1/L2 and 15 mm to GNSS receiver C/A code, in a 95% confidence level. So it was not evidenced interferences in the electromagnetic field at GNSS signal reception. / O propósito deste trabalho foi investigar e mensurar a possibilidade de haver multicaminhamento pelo efeito corona gerado em linhas elétricas de alta tensão na recepção de sinais GNSS. Foram realizados experimentos em uma rede elétrica com tensão de 69 kV localizado no município de Santa Maria/RS. Foi implantada uma série de onze pontos transversais ao alinhamento longitudinal da linha de transmissão. Nestes pontos realizou-se uma avaliação do campo eletromagnético gerado utilizando um equipamento medidor de campo eletromagnético modelo EM- 8000. Foram realizadas avaliações da interferência no posicionamento pelo método absoluto utilizando o receptor GNSS de código C/A Garmin modelo GPS II Plus e o posicionamento pelo método relativo com o receptor GNSS portadora L1/L2 Topcon modelo Hiper. Para avaliar a interferência dos pontos foi necessário obter as coordenadas geodésicas desses pontos sem possibilidades de multicaminhamento pelo efeito corona. Para isto implantou-se uma poligonal topográfica enquadrada em que os marcos de apoio localizavam-se distantes a linha de transmissão sem a influência do campo eletromagnético. Ao realizar o cálculo das discrepâncias entre as coordenadas foi necessário realizar a transformação das coordenadas geodésicas obtidas pelos receptores GNSS para o Sistema Topográfico Local para a compatibilização dos sistemas, sendo utilizado o modelo das rotações e translações. Realizando os cálculos concluiu-se que para os métodos de levantamento e os equipamentos geodésicos utilizados neste experimento, em uma linha de transmissão de 69 kV, as discrepâncias constatadas ficaram dentro do desviospadrões de 17,10 mm admitido ao equipamento receptor GNSS portadora L1/L2 e 15 m ao receptor GNSS código C/A, a nível de confiança de 95%. Assim não se constatou interferências do campo eletromagnético na recepção dos sinais GNSS.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Métodos de otimização que utilizam condições de otimalidade de primeira e/ou segunda ordem são conhecidos por serem eficientes. Comumente, esses métodos iterativos são desenvolvidos e analisados à luz da análise matemática do espaço euclidiano n-dimensional, cuja natureza é de caráter local. Consequentemente, esses métodos levam a algoritmos iterativos que executam apenas as buscas locais. Assim, a aplicação de tais algoritmos para o cálculo de minimizadores globais de uma função não linear,especialmente não-convexas e multimodais, depende fortemente da localização dos pontos de partida. O método de Otimização Global Topográfico é um algoritmo de agrupamento, que utiliza uma abordagem baseada em conceitos elementares da teoria dos grafos, a fim de gerar bons pontos de partida para os métodos de busca local, a partir de pontos distribuídos de modo uniforme no interior da região viável. Este trabalho tem dois objetivos. O primeiro é realizar uma nova abordagem sobre método de Otimização Global Topográfica, onde, pela primeira vez, seus fundamentos são formalmente descritos e suas propriedades básicas são matematicamente comprovadas. Neste contexto, propõe-se uma fórmula semi-empírica para calcular o parâmetro chave deste algoritmo de agrupamento, e, usando um método robusto e eficiente de direções viáveis por pontos-interiores, estendemos o uso do método de Otimização Global Topográfica a problemas com restrições de desigualdade. O segundo objetivo é a aplicação deste método para a análise de estabilidade de fase em misturas termodinâmicas,o qual consiste em determinar se uma dada mistura se apresenta em uma ou mais fases. A solução deste problema de otimização global é necessária para o cálculo do equilíbrio de fases, que é um problema de grande importância em processos da engenharia, como, por exemplo, na separação por destilação, em processos de extração e simulação da recuperação terciária de petróleo, entre outros. Além disso, afim de ter uma avaliação inicial do potencial dessa técnica, primeiro vamos resolver 70 problemas testes, e então comparar o desempenho do método proposto aqui com o solver MIDACO, um poderoso software recentemente introduzido no campo da otimização global. / Optimization methods that use optimality conditions of first and/or second order are known to be efficient. Commonly, such iterative methods are developed and analyzed in the light of knowledge concerning the mathematical analysis in n-dimensional Euclidean spaces, whose nature is of local character. Consequently, these methods lead to iterative algorithms that perform only local searches. Thus, the application of such algorithms to the calculation of global minimizers of a non-linear function, especially non-convex and multimodal, depends strongly on the location of the starting points. The Topographical Global Optimization method is a clustering algorithm, which uses an ingenious approach based on elementary concepts of graph theory, in order to generate good starting points for local search methods, from points distributed uniformly in the interior of the feasible set. The purpose of this work is two-fold. The first is a revisit to the Topographical Global Optimization method, where, for the first time, its foundations are formally described and its basic properties are mathematically proven. In this context, we propose a semi-empirical formula for computing the key parameter of this clustering algorithm, and, using a robustand efficient direction interior-point method, we extend the use of the Topographical Global Optimization method to problems with inequality constraints. The second objective is the application of this method to the phase stability analysis of mixtures, a difficult and important global optimization problem of the chemical engineering thermodynamics. Furthermore, in order to have an initial assessment of the power of this technique,first we solve 70 test problems, and then compare the performance of the method considered here with the MIDACO solver, a powerful software recently introduced in the field of global optimization.

Geosynthetics are used in conjunction with soil/particulate materials to serve various functions like reinforcement, drainage, filtration and containment. The shear behavior of soil-geosynthetic interfaces hugely depends upon on the morphological properties of particulate materials and surface characteristics of geosynthetics. However, many researchers have ignored the effects of morphology, owing to the difficulty in finding the morphological characteristics of sand particles. Few of them used visual, manual and imaged based quantifications, which are not very effective. Also, the effects of particle size and morphology are often combined and the individual effect of these parameters cannot be easily separated. In addition to this, there are very few studies which have given importance to quantitative understanding of surface features/roughness of geosynthetics and almost all of them are limited to 2D surface measurements. The objective of this thesis is to understand the interface shear mechanisms of sand-geosynthetic systems through modified large interface direct shear tests coupled with morphological characterization of sands using advanced image based and optical techniques and surface topographical analysis of geosynthetics using 3D interferometry. The individual effects of particle size and morphology on interface shear mechanism are investigated by carefully selecting the sands having specific size fractions and different morphological characteristics. A new computational method based on image analysis is proposed in this study to quantify the morphology of sands (roundness, sphericity and roughness) more accurately by writing several algorithms and implementing them in MATLAB. The roundness and sphericity of sand particles in this method are quantified as per Wadell (1932) and Krumbein and Sloss (1963) respectively and the root mean square roughness is used as a measure of surface roughness. Out of total four sands, namely coarse sand (CS), medium sand (MS), fine sand (FS) and angular coarse sand (ACS) used in this study, CS, MS and FS have similar morphology and different particle sizes, whereas CS and ACS have same size and dissimilar morphology. The effects of size and morphology of sand particles on the interface shear behavior are examined through direct shear tests on dilative and non-dilative interfaces. After examining the boundary effects on deformation patterns analyzed using shear bands in conventional, fixed box and symmetric interface direct shear tests, symmetric interface direct shear test is observed to show uniformity in stresses and deformations across the shear box and hence the same is adopted in this thesis. Test results revealed that the peak interface friction and dilation angles in case of dilative interfaces are hugely dependent upon the interlocking between the sand particles and the asperities of geosynthetic material, which in turn depend on the relative size of sand particles and asperities. Highest interface shear strength is observed when the asperity size of the geosynthetic material matches with the mean particle size of sand, which is also manifested in terms of highest shear band thickness. Direct shear tests on non-dilative interfaces (sand-smooth geomembrane) revealed that interface friction angle depends on the number of effective contacts rather than the particle size. Morphology of sands is found to have major influence on the interface shear strength among all the parameters investigated. Results from interface shear tests are examined in the light of topographical analysis of sand particles and shear induced surface changes in geomembrane. Possible shearing mechanisms at the interface and the influence of particle size, morphology and normal stress on sliding or plowing are brought out from 3D surface roughness measurements using 3D optical profilometer. The stress-shear displacement response of sand-geomembrane interfaces are correlated to the surface changes on sheared geomembranes through visual observations and roughness quantifications. Medium sand used in this study could make more number of effective contacts with deeper grooves, resulting in highest interface friction. The number of grooves are less in case of coarse sand and the depth of grooves is less in case of fine sand, resulting in lesser interface friction for these two sands compared to medium sand, supporting the results of interface shear tests.

Molecular motors, highly-efficient biological nano-machines, hold the potential to be employed for a wide range of nanotechnological applications. Towards this end, kinesin, dynein or myosin motor proteins are commonly surface-immobilized within engineered environments in order to transport cargo attached to cytoskeletal filaments. Being able to flexibly control the direction of filament motion – in particular on planar, non-topographical surfaces – has, however, remained challenging. Here, we demonstrate the applicability of a UV-laser-based ablation technique to programmably generate highly-localized patterns of functional kinesin-1 motors with different shapes and sizes on PLL-g-PEG-coated polystyrene surfaces. Straight and curved motor tracks with widths of less than 500 nm could be generated in a highly-reproducible manner and proved to reliably guide gliding microtubules. Though dependent on track curvature, the characteristic travel lengths of the microtubules on the tracks significantly exceeded earlier predictions. Moreover, we experimentally verified the performance of complex kinesin-1 patterns, recently designed by evolutionary algorithms, for controlling the global directionality of microtubule motion on large-area substrates.

1 Abstract In this work I deal with farmyards 13th-15th century, which formed an integral part of the medieval landscape. The main attention is paid to settlement-historical context and economic potential. Attention was also focused on the methods used, archaeological surveys and surface exploration. Nobility farmyards are divided into several types, according to the economic strategy and in material form. Their form depended on the owner, the monasteries were built large courtyards and nobility smaller. The main purpose of these farmyards was to provide the economic base of the nobility. There are also farmyards that served to financial income. The most common owners were a nobility and church institutions. Mostly they were situated to rural settlemet, where they were always dominant feature. Because this is not very frequent theme in Czech archeology, the aim of this work was also to summarize current knowledge. Given the breadth of the topic, I tried to include as much information, on the other hand, I had to approach selected topics in general. Work should, however, include the most important knowledge on this topic.

Despite the widespread use of caffeine as a central nervous stimulant, the central pharmacodynamic properties of the drug have not yet been conclusively evaluated in humans. The present study was undertaken to assess the acute effects of caffeine on measures of topographical quantitative electroencephalogram (EEG) in normal subjects. Ten healthy male volunteers (mean age ± SD 25 ± 4 years) received placebo and 200 mg of caffeine as powder with oral water solution (caffeine amount = 2 cups of coffee) under randomized, double-blind crossover conditions on two different occasions. Before administration and 30 min afterwards, a 17-channel quantitative EEG was recorded during relaxation with eyes open and closed (15 min each). Caffeine caused a significant reduction of total EEG power at fronto-parieto-occipital and central electrode positions of both hemispheres when the subjects kept their eyes open. Absolute power of the slow and fast alpha and slow beta activities was diminished in various regions of the brain (p < 0.05). The effect was more pronounced with the subjects keeping their eyes open than with eyes closed. It can be concluded that quantitative EEG is a sensitive method to assess the effects of psychostimulants on the human brain. Therefore, in pharmaco-EEG studies, environmental factors such as caffeine have to be excluded. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

This thesis is a study of factory owner Abraham Abrahamson Hülphers’s collections of parish description about the parishes in Norrland, more specifically those about Medelpad and Ångermanland. The thesis seeks to explain how Hülphers’s collections were created in practice while also presenting the descriptions content and analysing the ideology it reproduced. It does so by analysing Hülphers’s published descriptions, his travel journal and some of his correspondence. The thesis uses Mary Louise Pratts ideas about the imperial gaze as a theoretical framework to understand the work of Hülphers and the relation between the enlightened middle class and the peasantry which they described. The thesis investigates the idea of the parish descriptions understood as Hülphers travel journal reworked, arguing that Hülphers journey through Norrland was important for social reasons, rather than information gathering, and presenting the collections as new texts, not transformed versions of the journal. Furthermore the thesis discusses who helped Hülphers create the descriptions and the impact these men, from the same enlightened middle class as Hülphers himself, had on the text. The thesis also handles the economic ideology of the enlightenment as mirrored and reproduced by the descriptions. Here the focus lies on the priorities of the parishes different lines of work and the boundless optimism of enlightenment man – as nature could be conquered completely by man’s reason. Finally the thesis discusses the way Hülphers described the local culture; what he considered to be virtues and vices in the peasant population in terms of habits, language and dress, also showing the great value he considered the local dignitaries to have and discussing his disdain towards the superstitions of old as these could lead a community towards chaos.