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Aseptic loosening of artificial joints is caused by an osteolytic reaction to wear debris mediated by macrophages and other cells. Imaging these wear particles within cells can be a key process in understanding particle-cell interactions. However, the compounds used in surgical implants are not easily visualised as no tagging molecule can be added without altering the properties of the material. We were interested in using a label free optical technique known as coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering spectroscopy (CARS) to image these particles in cells. In this thesis we studied how to use CARS to image physiologically relevant wear particles within cells. We characterised the responses from our CARS system and found them to be in good agreement to the Raman spectra we obtained for the same materials. We showed that the forward scattered CARS signal was consistently larger than the backwards scattered signal for the same size particles, and also generated a larger contrast, especially between sub-micron sized particles and the non-resonant background. Wear particles of polyethylene isolated from a pin-on-plate wear simulator were shown to be in a similar size range to those retrieved from revision tissue. When incubated in our model macrophage cells we were able to image areas of CARS signal that indicated the location of these particles in the cell. Furthermore, using multiple CARS images taken at different Raman resonances we were able to distinguish between three different polymeric compounds added to cells, showing the specificity of the technique. The inherent 3D sectioning capabilities of multiphoton microscopy were used to generate projected images of the cells and contents, as well as estimating the particle loads within cells. These results show that CARS could be an important tool in imaging intra-cellular polyethylene and characterising the interactions of wear particles with cells and the surrounding tissue.

This thesis (1) reports a new Dynamic Programming (DP) approach, and (2) reports a Real Time Control strategy to optimize the energy management of a Hybrid Electric Vehicle(HEV). Increasing environmental concerns and rise in fuel prices in recent years has escalated interest in fuel efficient vehicles from government, consumers and car manufacturers. Due to this, Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) have gained popularity in recent years. HEV’s have two degrees of freedom for energy flow controls, and hence the performance of a HEV is strongly dependent on the control of the power split between thermal and electrical power sources. In this thesis backward-looking and forward-looking control strategies for two HEV architectures namely series and parallel HEV are developed. The new DP approach, in which the state variable is not discretized, is first introduced and a theoretical base is established. We then prove that the proposed DP produces globally optimal solution for a class of discrete systems. Then it is applied to optimize the fuel economy of HEV's. Simulations for the parallel and series HEV are then performed for multiple drive cycles and the improved fuel economy obtained by the new DP is compared to existing DP approaches. The results are then studied in detail and further improvements are suggested. A new Real Time Control Strategy (RTCS) based on the concept of preview control for online implementation is also developed in this thesis. It is then compared to an existing Equivalent Cost Minimization Strategy (ECMS) which does not require data to be known apriori. The improved fuel economy results of the RTCS for the series and parallel HEV are obtained for standard drive cycles and compared with the ECMS results

Usages and meanings associated with three key cultural metaphors, "outlaw," "family," and "community" are examined in order to determine the limits of their applicability within American sprint car racing, and to provide a clearer understanding of the cultural significance of sprint car racing in America. These three metaphors have multiple functions. They are used to structure relationships, communicate codes of conduct, express attitudes, and enculturate participants.The sprint car racing "community" is outside the mainstream of sport culture in America, and it is at once metaphoric, ideal, and real. Culture provides participants with a range of possible mechanisms for structuring, organizing, and communicating the value system(s) and symbolic system(s) involved in the construction and racing of sprint cars. Sprint car racing in America provides an outlet for a preferred way of life in which competitive behavior is a major aspect. Cooperation with those whom you are competing against functions to reinforce the values of the "community." / Department of Anthropology

E-Cars challenge prevailing business practices, especially in industrial sectors that heavily depend on the use of fossil fuels such as the automobile industry. The sustainable powertrain has to fight against prejudices towards a lack of performance, long charging times, the fear of too short driving ranges and a long list of other concerns. However, hazardous environmental pollution in Chinese megacities as well as changes among the consumers’ mindsets and purchasing behavior claim for a change in the product portfolios of today´s car manufacturers. In the western world we can see a successive (although hesitant) penetration of the markets by E-Cars. However, the Chinese market is still almost untouched and car manufacturers have just started to show the first signs of action. This phenomenon is mainly based on differences among the markets, especially the customer segment, partnerships and the proposition of value in China differ compared to the western markets. Furthermore, there are dissimilarities between China and the western car markets when it comes to political, legal and social aspects. To successfully introduce E-Cars to China, car manufacturers have to develop business models that transform the specific characteristics of E-mobility to create economic value and overcome the barriers that preclude them from penetrating the market. Of course, not an entirely new Business Model is needed. However, car manufacturers have to consider various aspects to innovate among their existing ones. A key prerequisite to enter a market with new products or services is to understand it. Based on a qualitative analysis about the introduction of E-Cars to China we therefore conducted an in-depth PESTEL-Analysis by hand of secondary data as well as an interview with a Shanghainese Business Manager of the Auto Components Working Group from the European Chamber of Commerce in China. After this market description we analyzed the Business Models of two German car manufacturers from the premium segment, which on the one hand operate successfully in the Chinese market and on the other hand, already show some movement in terms of E-Cars – the BMW AG and the Daimler AG. In our analysis we give valuable information about the two companies’ current Business Models, according the nine building blocks of the business model canvas and in regard to the data emerging from the PESTEL-Analysis. The conclusion chapter gives an overall discussion of the most important findings emerging from the analysis with regard to the business operations and the existing business models of the two car manufacturers. Findings have been evaluated on a global level and substantially transferred to a national level on the Chinese market by hand of the information from the PESTEL-Analysis. Furthermore, we offer important implications for the adaption and adjustment of high consideration areas of a car manufacturer Business Model as well as the future of the Business Models of a car manufacturer to successfully introduce E-Cars to China.

Feminist theorising has been instrumental in efforts to challenge gender hierarchies and conceptualize care as an ethic of relationality and interdependence, and has influenced visions of pedagogy as a relational, ethical and political endeavour. While these pedagogies importantly challenge simplified, uncontextualized, apolitical notions of both gender and care, they do not necessarily attend to the increasing complexity of children’s heterogeneous commonworlds. Following a theoretical and methodological framework aligned with material feminism and post qualitative research, in particular thinking with feminist scholars Barad and Haraway, this research questions what an engagement with human-and non-human relationality might do to complicate conversations about gender and care. Employing pedagogical narrations through a post-qualitative lens, this inquiry explores how children, educators and things become implicated in gendered caring practices. A diffractive analysis is put to work wherein gender and care are analyzed with/in several child-doll and child-car encounters, and are diffractively read through other doll and car stories near and far from the classroom. This analysis illuminates the political and ethical embeddedness of early childhood pedagogies, and the understanding that gendering and caring emerge with/in a complex web of many relations. Material feminism loosens ties that bind simplified constructions of gender as explanations for care and vice versa, and instead puts forward that gender and care per formatively emerge through intra-action. As such pedagogical and research practices need to pay careful attention to that which is always already on the verge of becoming. / Graduate

New Zealand has a problem with an increasing number of motor vehicles being abandoned at the end of their useful life. The environmental and associated social costs created by this problem are expected to increase with the rising number of vehicles entering the country. In addition, there are environmental concerns regarding some aspects of the legal disposal of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). The exact magnitude of both problems is unknown and attempts made to address them have been ad hoc and success limited. This thesis sets out to quantify the problems and provide policy makers with tools to improve the overall management of motor vehicle disposal in New Zealand. To assess the extent and cost of the abandoned vehicle problem, local authorities are surveyed. The legislation dealing with car ownership, transferral and disposal and its implementation are scrutinised for weaknesses that allow ELVs to be abandoned without penalty. The automobile recycling industry is surveyed to determine the environmental impact from the industry's activities. Using semi-structured surveys, policies and practices used in other countries for the management of ELVs are investigated and assessed for effectiveness. Their application to the New Zealand situation is ascertained. Of the vehicles which are deregistered each year, one in five is dumped. The direct cost to local authorities, to deal with the 25,500 vehicles abandoned each year, is more than six million dollars. In addition, practices and standards for the removal and disposal of hazardous substances from ELVs vary nationwide, adding to the environmental burden caused by vehicle disposal. Recommendations for the improved management of ELVs target four areas, legislation, institutional practices, entry into the recycling system and dismantling operations. Minor changes to legislation and institutional practices combined with rigorous enforcement will close the data gaps and overcome free-rider problems. A disposal charge added to the registration fee of vehicles entering the country will allow ELV owners to dispose of their vehicles free-of-charge. Improved environmental performance by automotive dismantlers can be achieved through licensing and consistent monitoring from within the industry. Implementation of these recommendations will lead to better management of ELVs, through changed behaviour by private individuals and dismantling operations, and a reduction in the environmental costs associated with vehicle disposal.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2008--Darmstadt.

Thesis (M.E. Mechanical Engineering)--University of Waikato, 2008. / Title from PDF cover (viewed October 2, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-136)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.