The central tenet of tracing theory is that in certain circumstances it is possible to show that one asset stands in the place of another, such that any claims in relation to the original asset can be transmitted to its substitute. Since at least 2001 academic and judicial orthodoxy has been that this is done by following the path of value from one asset to the other, and can be aided in more complex cases by the application of evidential rules or presumptions. These ideas are at the heart of existing accounts of proprietary claims against trustees who deal with trust assets without authority, and personal and proprietary claims against strangers to the trust. They are also at the heart of calls to 'unify' the rules of tracing at law and in equity, removing existing distinctions drawn between claimants who are owed fiduciary duties and those who are not. In this thesis it is argued that there are no independent processes of following and identifying value, and that the language of 'tracing value' has lent the appearance of neutrality and conceptual unity to disparate heads of fiduciary and non-fiduciary liability. Most importantly, it has led to the assumption that in any case in which a claimant can demonstrate that a series of transactions links some right in the defendant’s hands with a right previously held by or for the claimant, the claimant can claim that right. In this thesis it is argued that far from creating an arbitrary practical obstacle for claimants seeking to trace and locate value, the fiduciary relationship is at the heart of the justification for any claim that exists to a new right in the hands of someone else.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the link between internal and external conflict of states in the field of International Relations. More specifically, it is a critique of the Diversionary War theory, which argues that political leaders can instigate foreign conflict to divert the attention from domestic issues in order to secure their political positions. This paper will test an alternative approach to the Diversionary War theory called the Diversionary Peace theory, which inverts the logic of the original theory. It argues that leaders facing domestic strife have incentives to cooperate with other states in order to deal with the internal problems in a more cost effective way. Using process tracing methodology, the Diversionary Peace theory is applied to Turkey from 1984-1999, to understand how the Kurdish issue as a source of domestic conflict in Turkey affected the Turkish-Syrian relations. The Diversionary Peace Theory would assume that as the Kurdish conflict escalates at the domestic level, Turkey would be inclined to give concessions to Syria to deescalate conflict at the international level. This paper proves otherwise: as the domestic conflict escalates, relations actually deteriorate and cooperation becomes less likely. Therefore, it is both a critique of the Diversionary War theory and the Diversionary Peace theory. The main interpretation of the findings is that the theory is not applicable to those cases where the boundaries between domestic and international realms are too porous as in the case of the Kurdish politics. When the domestic conflict and international dispute is interlinked, as in this case, I argue that cooperation might not be possible. Future reseachers in the area are advised to pay attention to whether the domestic factor and the international factor are interlinked, how the level of domestic conflict affects foreign relations and the impact of domestic audience costs.

QC 351 A7 no. 40 / The aim of this study was to determine to what extent a constant spectral response can be obtained for wide-passband interference filters used with wide -angle lenses. We investigated the possibility of using the curvature of the lens surfaces to reduce the shift in the filter passband for large field angles and found that locating the filter on the proper surface will considerably reduce the shift of the passband. Specifically, we determined the distribution of angles of incidence for full aperture pencils incident at several field angles on the second and fourth surfaces of the 90° Geocon IV, the 90° Paxar, and the 125° Pleogon. We then calculated the spectral transmittance of each lens when a wide passband interference filter was located on its second or fourth surface. We also calculated the degree of polarization introduced. From the cases considered, we found that the tracing of an upper and lower marginal (rim) ray at maximum field angle is sufficient to determine the suitability of a surface, the criterion being that, the smaller the angle of incidence at the surface, the better. In addition, we found that, with the filter on the second surface of the Paxar, spectral transmittance changes with field angle were negligible and the modulation due to polarization was about 1 %.

Background. Real-time shadows in 3D applications have for decades been implemented with a solution called Shadow Mapping or some variant of it. This is a solution that is easy to implement and has good computational performance, nevertheless it does suffer from some problems and limitations. But there are newer alternatives and one of them is based on a technique called Voxel Cone-Tracing. This can be combined with a technique called Cascading to create Cascaded Voxel Cone-Tracing Shadows (CVCTS). Objectives. To measure the computational performance of CVCTS to get better insight into it and provide data and findings to help developers make an informed decision if this technique is worth exploring. And to identify where the performance problems with the solution lies. Methods. A simple implementation of CVCTS was implemented in OpenGL aimed at simulating a solution that could be used for outdoor scenes in 3D applications. It had several different parameters that could be changed. Then computational performance measurements were made with these different parameters set at different settings. Results. The data was collected and analyzed before drawing conclusions. The results showed several parts of the implementation that could potentially be very slow and why this was the case. Conclusions. The slowest parts of the CVCTS implementation was the Voxelization and Cone-Tracing steps. It might be possible to use the CVCTS solution in the thesis in for example a game if the settings are not too high but that is a stretch. Little time could be spent during the thesis to optimize the solution and thus it’s possible that its performance could be increased.

Neste trabalho, modelos de pedestres, utilizados para simular a caracterização da radiopropagação em interiores de edifícios, são reproduzidos, analisados e comparados em diversos ambientes e com diferentes fluxos de pedestres. Estes modelos têm como base o método de traçado de raios (imagens), e se diferenciam em relação ao formato (lâmina, paralelepípedo e cilindro), constantes eletromagnéticas (material absorvente, condutor e dielétrico) e mecanismos de espalhamento de onda eletromagnética (difração, reflexão ou ambos) considerados sobre o pedestre. Para cada um dos modelos, um algoritmo foi criado e detalhado através da apresentação de equações e estrutura dos dados. A análise dos modelos foi realizada em duas etapas de comparação: uma com dados empíricos e outra entre parâmetros de caracterização do canal, como desvanecimentos e dispersão no tempo, obtidos através de simulações com cada tipo de modelo de pedestre. Dentre os vinte e nove modelos ensaiados, os resultados da análise mostraram que o pedestre modelado por um cilindro condutor é aquele que apresenta resultados mais satisfatórios. / In this work, pedestrian models, used to simulate characterization of indoor radio propagation are reproduced, analyzed and compared in different environments with different pedestrian flows. These models are based on the image ray-tracing method, and differs themselves on shape (plate, cylinder and cuboid), electromagnetic constant (absorber, conductive and dielectric materials) and considered spread mechanisms (diffraction, reflection, or both). For each model, an algorithm is created and detailed through the presentation of equations and data structure. The models analysis were made in two comparison steps: one with empirical data and the other with the environment characterization parameters, like fading and time spread, obtained through simulations of each pedestrian model. Within twenty nine models simulation, the results analysis show that the most satisfactory results are given by the model that considers the pedestrian as a conducting cylinder.

O hipotálamo modula comportamentos relacionados à motivação, recompensa e punição através de projeções para a área tegmental ventral (VTA), o núcleo dorsal da rafe (DR) e o núcleo tegmental rostromedial (RMTg). Nesse estudo, investigamos através de métodos de rastreamento retrógrado as entradas hipotalâmicas da VTA, do DR e do RMTg e, se neurônios hipotalâmicos individuais inervam mais do que uma dessas regiões. Também determinamos uma possível assinatura GABAérgica ou glutamatérgica das aferências hipotalâmicas, através de rastreamento retrógrado combinado com métodos de hibridação in situ. Observamos que VTA, DR e RMTg recebem um padrão bastante semelhante de entradas hipotalâmicas originando de neurônios de projeção glutamatérgicas e GABAérgicas, a maioria deles (> 90%) inervando somente um desses três alvos. Nossos achados indicam que entradas hipotalâmicas são importantes fontes de sinais homeostáticos para a VTA, o DR e o RMTg. Eles exibem um alto grau de heterogeneidade que permite de excitar ou inibir as três estruturas de forma independente ou em conjunto. / The hypothalamus modulates behaviors related to motivation, reward and punishment via projections to the ventral tegmental area (VTA), dorsal raphe nucleus (DR), and rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg). In this study we investigated by retrograde tracing methods hypothalamic inputs to the VTA, DR, and RMTg, and whether individual hypothalamic neurons project to more than one of these structures. We also determined a possible GABAergic or glutamatergic phenotype of hypothalamic afferents, by combining retrograde tracing with in situ hybridization methods. We found that VTA, DR, and RMTg receive a very similar set of hypothalamic afferents originating from glutamatergic and GABAergic hypothalamic projection neurons, the majority of them (> 90%) only innervating one of these structures. Our findings indicate that hypothalamic inputs are important sources of homeostatic signals for the VTA, DR, and RMTg. They exhibit a high degree of heterogeneity which permits to activate or inhibit the three structures either independently or jointly.

The mobility that wireless communication offers to users, added to the ease of installation have increased the demand on such communication systems. However, the main drawback of wireless communication is the degradation of the signal as it travels through the channel due to the different propagation mechanisms the signal undergoes. To minimise the effect of the channel and get the best service, the base stations must be appropriately located within the environment. This requires proper knowledge of the channel characteristics. Ray tracing software is used throughout this work to generate the channel characteristics of an indoor environment. After getting the channel characteristics, a novel cost function is defined based on the path loss values and it is then optimised. Once the optimal base stations’ positions are found, the minimal amount of power required to cover a predefined percentage of the possible receivers’ locations is calculated. On the other hand, a receiver’s position acquiring enough field strength does not necessarily enjoy the service. This depends on the time dispersion parameters values relative to the symbol rate. The time dispersion parameters have always been ignored in the literature while finding the optimal base stations’ locations. Three cost functions that take into consideration both the path loss and rms delay spread, for the first time in the literature, are therefore defined. The cost functions are optimised and their corresponding results are compared. Furthermore, indoor environments have always been considered static which is never realistic. They are subject to continuous changes such as opening doors and windows as well as the presence of people. The first detailed analysis and quantified results of the effect of a dynamic environment on the optimal base stations’ positions and minimal emitted power are presented. It is shown that the optimal base stations’ locations and minimal emitted power are sensitive to such environment changes. The environment changes can also disturb the service for active receivers. Three techniques to overcome the effect of environment changes and bring the disturbed service back to receivers are proposed. The first two techniques rely on increasing the emitted power or changing the antenna polarisation. The third technique is a novel technique that gives the base station the ability to automatically move in various directions within a limited distance. The techniques are tested and their efficiency and limitations are discussed.

Two of the major goals in Educational Data Mining are determining students’ state of knowledge and determining their affective state. It is useful to be able to determine whether a student is engaged with a tutor or task in order to adapt to his/her needs and necessary to have an idea of the students' knowledge state in order to provide material that is appropriately challenging. These two problems are usually examined separately and multiple methods have been proposed to solve each of them. However, little work has been done on examining both of these states in parallel and the combined effect on a student’s performance. The work reported in this thesis explores ways to observe both behavior and performance in order to more fully understand student state.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has transformed the world of non-invasive imaging for diagnostic purposes. Modern techniques such as diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) have been used to reconstruct fiber pathways of the brain - providing a graphical picture of the so-called "connectome." However, there exists controversy in the literature as to the accuracy of the diffusion tractography reconstruction. Although various attempts at histological validation been attempted, there is still no 3D histological pathway validation of the fiber bundle trajectories seen in diffusion MRI. Such a validation is necessary in order to show the viability of current DSI tractography techniques in the ultimate goal for clinical diagnostic application. This project developed methods to provide this 3D histological validation using the rhesus monkey motor pathway as a model system. By injecting biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) tract tracer into the hand area of primary motor cortex, brain section images were reconstructed to create 3D fiber pathways labeled at the axonal level. Using serial coronal brain sections, the BDA label was digitized with a high resolution digital camera to create image montages of the fiber pathway with individual sections spaced at 1200 micron intervals through the brain. An MRI analysis system, OSIRX, was then used to reconstruct these sections into a 3D volume. This is an important technical step toward merging the BDA fiber tract histology with diffusion MRI tractography of the same brain, enabling identification of the valid and inaccurate aspects of diffusion fiber reconstruction. This will ultimately facilitate the use of diffusion MRI to quantify tractography, non-invasively and in vivo, in the human brain.

<p>Current challenges in neuronal tract tracing include sacrificing the animal, detailed sectioning of the brain, and cumbersome reconstruction of slices to gather information, which are very tedious, time consuming, and have low-throughput. In this regard, Manganese-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MEMRI) has been an emerging methodology for fiber tract tracing <i>in vivo</i>. <i></i>The manganese ion (Mn²⁺) is paramagnetic and is analogous to calcium ions (Ca²⁺), which allows it to enter excitable cells through voltage-gated calcium channels, thereby reporting cellular activity in T₁-weighted MR images<i>. </i>Moreover, once the Mn²⁺enters the cell, it will move along the axon by microtubules, release at the synapse, and then uptake by post-synaptic neurons, hence revealing the pathway of Mn²⁺transportation. While most MEMRI neuronal tracing studies have focused on mapping circuitries within the brain, MEMRI has rarely been applied to trace peripheral nerve projections into the brain. </p><p>In this thesis, I will propose the use of MEMRI to trace vagal nerve projections into the central nervous system by showing enhancement of neuronal pathways with an optimized protocol. This protocol demonstrates <i>in vivo </i>monitoring of manganese transport into the brain from the nodose ganglion and shows how the enhancement in MR images can be promoted with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). Additionally, I will present preliminary findings, for the very first time, that show the downstream projection of the sympathetic pathway from the brainstem. In sum, the technique presented in this thesis will shed light on the use of MEMRI to study the functional results of using clinically-based VNS settings</p>