Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering / Kimberly W. Kramer / Recent years have witnessed the advent of many innovative materials to the construction industry. These materials often offer benefits to the projects on which they are used, but only if they are utilized in the proper applications. Among these new materials is high-strength reinforcing steel for use in reinforced concrete structural elements. This material is not new from the perspective of chemical composition, but rather the applications that it is being selected for. The following paper details the evaluation of the use of high-strength steel reinforcement in the design of reinforced concrete tilt-up panels and compares those designs to that of standard strength reinforcement. For the purpose of this study, standard strength is defined as reinforcement having a tensile yield stress of 60ksi while high-strength reinforcement refers to reinforcing steel with a tensile yield stress of 80ksi. 120 panels are designed for both high-strength and standard strength reinforcement, and the resulting steel spacings are compared. This study provides data from which designers and contractors can improve their ability to provide quality tilt-up panel designs.

Supraspinatus (SSP) tendon tear leads to intramuscular fat accumulation in the SSP muscle and the mechanisms are currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in vascularization of the SSP muscle and the relationship to intramuscular fat accumulation following SSP tendon detachment with or without reattachment. One hundred and six rabbits underwent SSP tendon detachment. In groups of ten, thirty rabbits were sacrificed 4, 8, and 12 weeks following detachment. Forty rabbits underwent detachment and immediate reattachment and were sacrificed in groups of ten following 0, 1, 2, and 6 weeks of healing. In groups of twelve, the remaining thirty-six rabbits underwent SSP tendon reattachment 4, 8, and 12 weeks after detachment and were sacrificed 12 weeks later. Vascularization was quantified in each specimen using CD31 immunohistochemistry. Four weeks after SSP tendon detachment, there was an increase in vascularization of the distal SSP muscle that reached significance after 12 weeks of detachment (p=0.024). We found that vascularization was positively correlated with intramuscular fat accumulation after detachment only (r=0.29; p=0.008). After SSP tendon reattachment, immediate or delayed, the correlation between vascularization and intramuscular fat accumulation was not observed. Microscopically, some SSP muscle vascular structures in the reattachment group had thicker vascular walls which were further quantified using αSMA immunohistochemistry. The delayed reattachment group showed an increase in vascular wall thickness in the distal portion of the SSP muscle at 4+12 (p=0.012) and 12+12 (p=0.012) weeks and in the proximal portion at 4+12 (p=0.024) weeks. Further investigation is required to demonstrate a cause/effect relationship between increased vascularization and intramuscular fat accumulation in the context of rotator cuff tear and success of surgical repair.

abstract: Natural resource depletion and environmental degradation are the stark realities of the times we live in. As awareness about these issues increases globally, industries and businesses are becoming interested in understanding and minimizing the ecological footprints of their activities. Evaluating the environmental impacts of products and processes has become a key issue, and the first step towards addressing and eventually curbing climate change. Additionally, companies are finding it beneficial and are interested in going beyond compliance using pollution prevention strategies and environmental management systems to improve their environmental performance. Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) is an evaluative method to assess the environmental impacts associated with a products' life-cycle from cradle-to-grave (i.e. from raw material extraction through to material processing, manufacturing, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and finally, disposal or recycling). This study focuses on evaluating building envelopes on the basis of their life-cycle analysis. In order to facilitate this analysis, a small-scale office building, the University Services Building (USB), with a built-up area of 148,101 ft2 situated on ASU campus in Tempe, Arizona was studied. The building's exterior envelope is the highlight of this study. The current exterior envelope is made of tilt-up concrete construction, a type of construction in which the concrete elements are constructed horizontally and tilted up, after they are cured, using cranes and are braced until other structural elements are secured. This building envelope is compared to five other building envelope systems (i.e. concrete block, insulated concrete form, cast-in-place concrete, steel studs and curtain wall constructions) evaluating them on the basis of least environmental impact. The research methodology involved developing energy models, simulating them and generating changes in energy consumption due to the above mentioned envelope types. Energy consumption data, along with various other details, such as building floor area, areas of walls, columns, beams etc. and their material types were imported into Life-Cycle Assessment software called ATHENA impact estimator for buildings. Using this four-stepped LCA methodology, the results showed that the Steel Stud envelope performed the best and less environmental impact compared to other envelope types. This research methodology can be applied to other building typologies. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Architecture 2013

In the work of the Control Engineering research group of the Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Signals and systems at Luleå University of Technology a need had arisen for a path planning algorithm. The ongoing research with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) had so far been done with any complicated paths being created manually with waypoints set by the uses. To remove this labourious part of the experimental process a path should be generated automatically by simply providing a program with the position of the UAV, the goal to which the user wants it to move, as well as information about the UAV's surroundings in the form of a 3D map.In addition to simply finding an available path through a  3D environment the path should also be adapted to the risks that the physical environment poses to a flying robot. This was achieved by adapting a previously developed algorithm, which did the simple path planning task well, by adding a penalty weight to areas near obstacles, pushing the generated path away from them.The planner was developed working with the OctoMap map system which represents the physical world by segmenting it into cubes of either open or occupied space. The open segments of these maps could then be used as vertices of a graph that the planning algorithm could traverse.The algorithm itself was written in C++ as a node of the Robot Operating System(ROS) software framework to allow it to smoothly interact with previously developed software used by the Control Engineering Robotics Group.The program was tested by simulations where the path planner ROS node was sent maps as well as UAV position and intended goal. These simulations provided valid paths, with the performance of the algorithm as well as the quality of the paths being evaluated for varying configurations of the planners parameters.The planner works well in simulation and is deemed ready for use in practical experiments.

Abstract Two regions of the genome of the Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis bacteriophage LL-H were characterized, representing 14 % of the phage genome. The first region of 2497 bp contained genes encoding phage structural proteins and the second region of 2498 bp genes involved in lytic functions. The nucleotide sequences of the major capsid protein gene g34, a putative capsid morphogenesis gene (ORF178A), the gene mur encoding phage cell wall hydrolase (lysin), the gene hol (ORF107) encoding the cell membrane permeabilizing phage holin, and six other genes with unknown function were found. Identification of these genes was performed by amino acid sequencing of their encoded proteins (genes g34 and mur), by their physiological effect on E. coli (genes hol and mur), by sequence comparison (genes mur, hol, ORF178A), and by biochemical analysis of their encoded purified protein (gene mur). A promoter for the capsid protein encoding gene cluster was determined by primer extension method. A purification method suitable for large scale processing (cation exchange chromatography by expanded bed adsorption method) was developed for the phage LL-H lysin protein Mur. Purified Mur was biochemically determined as a N-acetylmuramidase, which was effective on cell walls of Lb. delbrueckii, Lb. helveticus, Lb. acidophilus and Pediococcus damnosus. Some biotechnological applications for the lysis genes hol and mur or the purified protein Mur are suggested. Mur digests E. coli cell walls inefficiently, but could still be used for lysis of E. coli. Coexpression of the phage LL-H lysin and holin genes yielded to lysis of the E. coli host only at low culture densities. Therefore, some chemicals were tested for their ability to trigger lysis of E. coli cells overexpressing the phage LL-H gene mur. Thymol was found to mimic the physiological effects of the phage holin in a bacterial growth state independent manner. An efficient lysis method utilizing intracellular production of Mur and triggering the lysis with thymol was developed.

This thesis presents a simulation model of Stepped Frequency (SF) and Near Field BeamForming (NF BF) based stationary Through Wall Imaging (TWI) system to scan an object behind the wall for the reconstruction of 2D/3D image of it. The developed simulation model of TWI system requires neither the movement of the antenna array nor the object to reconstruct the image of the object behind the wall, thus overcoming the limitation of SAR/ISAR based TWI system. The simulation model of TWI system arrived at in this thesis facilitates the scan of the desired scenario in both azimuth and elevation to maximize the information available for more effective reconstruction of the Image of object behind the wall. The reconstruction of the image has been realized through conventional image processing algorithms which are devoid of inversion techniques to minimize the computational burden as well as the overall execution time of the TWI system. Contrary to the present TWI systems, the proposed simulation model has the capability for the reconstruction of the shape and contour of the object. In addition, the formulated simulation model of the TWI system overcomes the previously imposed constraints on the distances of separation between the object and the wall as well as the wall and the target. The simulation model of TWI of this thesis can handle arbitrary distances (far field or near field) between the antenna array and the wall as well as the wall and the object, which is not the case with the existing TWI systems. The thesis provides wave propagation analysis from the transmitting antenna array through the wall and the obstacle behind it and back to the receiver. Subsystems of TWI system like beamforming antenna arrays, wall and obstacles have been modeled individually. The thesis proposes a novel near field beamforming method that overcomes the usual requirement of 3D or volumetric near field radiation patterns of the beamforming array. Typical simulation results of NF BF with linear and planar arrays reveal the beam formation at a distance of one wavelength from the aperture of the array and which corresponds to the ratio of observation distance to aperture of array to be 0.2334. As a supplement to the presented NF BF a generic and versatile procedure to compute near field radiation patterns of antennas with prior knowledge of its either field or current distribution over the radiating aperture is also proposed. Examples of reconstruction of images of typical 2D and 3D objects are also illustrated in the thesis.

In computational fluid dynamics (CFD), there are two widely-used methods for computing the near-wall regions of turbulent flows: high Reynolds number (HRN) models and low Reynolds number (LRN) models. HRN models do not resolve the near-wall region, but instead use wall functions to compute the required parameters over the near-wall region. In contrast, LRN models resolve the flow right down to the wall. Simulations with HRN models can take an order of magnitude less time than with LRN models, however the accuracy of the solution is reduced and certain requirements on the mesh must be met if the wall function is to be valid. It is often difficult or impossible to satisfy these requirements in industrial computations. In this thesis the near-wall domain decomposition (NDD) method of Utyuzhnikov (2006) is developed and implemented into the industrial code, Code_Saturne, for the first time. With the NDD approach, the near-wall regions of a fluid flow are removed from the main computational mesh. Instead, the mesh extends down to an interface boundary, which is located a short distance from the wall, denoted y*. A simplified boundary layer equation is used to calculate boundary conditions at the interface. When implemented with a turbulence model which can resolve down to the wall, there is no lower limit on the value of y*. There is a Reynolds number-dependent upper limit on y*, as there is with HRN models. Thus for large y*, the model functions as a HRN model and as y*→ 0 the LRN solution is recovered. NDD is implemented for the k−ε and Spalart-Allmaras turbulence models and is tested on five test cases: a channel flow at two different Reynolds numbers, an annular flow, an impinging jet flow and the flow in an asymmetric diffuser. The method is tested as a HRN and LRN model and it is found that the method behaves competitively with the scalable wall function (SWF) on simpler flows, and performs better on the asymmetric diffuser flow, where the NDD solution correctly captures the recirculation region whereas the SWF does not. The method is then tested on a ribbed channel flow. Particular focus is given to investigating how much of the rib can be excluded from the main computational mesh. It is found that it is possible to remove 90% of the rib from the mesh with less than 2% error in the friction factor compared to the LRN solution. The thesis then focuses on the industrial case of the flow in an annulus where the inner wall, referred to as the pin, has a rib on its surface that protrudes into the annulus. Comparison is made between CFD calculations, experimental data and empirical correlations. It is found that the experimental friction factors are significantly larger than those found with CFD, and that the trend in the friction factor with Reynolds number found in the experiments is different. Simulations are performed to quantify the effect that a non-smooth surface finish on the pin and rib surface has on the flow. This models the situation that occurs in an advanced gas-cooled nuclear reactor, when a carbon deposit forms on the fuel pins. The relationship between the friction factor and surface finish is plotted. It is demonstrated that surface roughness left over by the manufacturing process in the experiments is not the source of the discrepancy between the experimental and CFD results.

This study aims to identify the challenges and opportunities of a small challenger company in a rigid and conservative high technology life science market. Strategies for finding a foothold, establish a position and creating a viable company is discussed. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected through interviews, online survey and conjoint analysis which were used as market research tools. For an entrepreneurial firm in the life science market it is important to tend to their most valuable resource, the employees, and it is vital that they have an extensive knowledge of the market that they are active in. Strategic planning tools and templates aid in executing and implementing the proposed business model. Recommendations for a model case entrepreneurial company regarding continued market research, increasing sales and strategies for marketing are made. Included in the thesis is also a discussion of wall effects in HPLC and ways to counteract them.

Au-delà de l'importance de l'espace dans l’œuvre de Michelangelo Antonioni, considérer le mur permet de mettre en évidence le rapport entre le corps sensible des personnages et leur environnement à partir de cet élément à échelle humaine et de découvrir que le mur apparaît également dans des configurations qui ne font plus appel à la notion de volume, mais à celle, métacinématographique, d'écran. En examinant les différents aspects que le terme « mur » recouvre dans l’œuvre, mon propos s'attache à démontrer que si le mur devient catégorie esthétique c'est par son omniprésence à l'écran mais aussi par sa capacité à s'étendre à toutes les dimensions de la fable. La thèse s'organise selon deux idées-cinéma : le mur-objet – qui considère le mur selon son acception la plus concrète – et le mur-écran – pour souligner la proximité du mur, devenu surface, avec l'écran cinématographique. À chaque étape, des lignes transversales sont tendues vers d'autres œuvres et d'autres arts. À partir du mur, élément en apparence stable et immuable, se dévoile un mouvement de libération inhérent à l’œuvre. Les murs sont surfaces de déplacements, formes en mouvement qui entraînent les personnages le long des lignes de déterritorialisation qu'ils proposent. Comme dans sa réalité concrète entre deux espaces, le mur se situe toujours à une limite. Penser le mur, c'est se confronter à cette limite, lieu de basculement, lieu d'instabilité. / Beyond the importance of spaces in Michelangelo Antonioni's work, considering the wall allows to highlight the relationships between the characters' sensitive bodies and their environment from this human scale element and to discover that the wall also appears in configurations which do not depend on the notion of volume but on the metacinematographic notion of screen. By studying the various aspects the term "wall" recovers, I attempt to demonstrate that the wall becomes esthetic category by its omnipresence but also by its capacity to extend in all the dimensions of the fable. The thesis is organized according to two ideas-cinemas: the wall-object - which considers the wall according to its most concrete meaning - and the wall-screen - to underline the closeness of the wall, as a surface, with the film screen. In every stage, transverse lines are tightened towards other works and other arts. From this seemingly stable and unchanging element unfold a movement of liberation inherent to the work. Walls are surfaces of movements, forms in movement which lead the characters along the lines of deterritorialisation they propose. As in its concrete reality between two spaces, the wall is always on a limit. Considering the wall is confronting with this limit, this place of shift and instability.

This dissertation encompasses a study on the Christian Faith and its resulting Architecture, as well as a design exploration and development of Church design. The focus of design and technical resolution are on a Chapel and Memorial Wall. / Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Architecture / unrestricted