Clustering schemes can reduce energy consumption, prolong network lifetime and improve scalability in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In a typical cluster-based WSN, sensor nodes are organized into clusters. Each cluster elects a cluster head (CH) node. The CH is responsible for collecting the sensed data from cluster members, aggregating data and transmitting data to the sink node via a multi-hop path through intermediate CHs. Thus, the use of cluster techniques not only shortens the transmission distances for sensor nodes but also reduces energy consumption; however, each cluster imposes a larger load on the CH. Under this situation, CHs closer to the sink node tend to use up their batteries faster than those farther away from the sink node due to imbalanced traffics among CHs. To overcome this problem, we contribute to the energy balancing issues in WSNs from two aspects. In the first work, we first analyze the corona model. Based on analysis results, we found that nearly balanced energy consumption of WSNs can be achieved with the additional help of arranging different initial conditions. We then propose the Energy-balanced Node Deployment with Balanced Energy (END-BE) scheme and Energy-balanced Node Deployment with Maximum Life-Time (END-MLT) scheme, which determine the cluster density for each corona according to the energy consumption of each CH. Simulation results show that energy consumption is nearly balanced by implementing END-BE, and the network lifetime is greatly improved by adopting END-MLT. In the second work, we development a novel cluster-based routing protocol for corona-structured wireless sensor networks in order to balance the energy consumption among CHs. Based on the relaying traffic of each CH conveys, adequate radius for each corona can be determined through nearly balanced energy depletion analysis, which leads to balanced energy consumption among CHs. Simulation results demonstrate that our clustering approach effectively improves the network lifetime, residual energy and reduces the number of CH rotations in comparison with the Multi-Layer Clustering Routing Algorithm (MLCRA).

ADLash® is the trade name for an optical fibre cable attached to a transmission line shield wire using aramid-reinforced bands. The installation of this type of optic fibre cable has been considered for the HVDC line from the Songo hydroelectric scheme at Cahora Bassa in Mozambique, to Apollo substation in South Africa. The impact that installation of this cable will have on the onset of corona is examined. The shield wire with and without ADLash attached is modelled for both the actual line configuration and for corona cage studies. The electric field is calculated using the Method of Images and the Boundary Element Method to predict the electric field enhancements and to estimate the corona onset gradient. Corona onset gradients and phenomena for smooth and stranded conductors are researched to aid the prediction of voltage onset magnitudes for the corona cage. Estimated values are compared with observed values for both AC and DC applied voltages. Different patterns of corona and different corona onset voltages are observed for AC and negative DC applied voltages. The relative permittivity of the ADLash is higher than the surrounding air and this is shown to lead to greatly enhanced electric fields at the air/ dielectric/ shield wire interfaces that are significant enough to cause corona at the rated operating voltage. The corona will bombard the ADLash and probably damage it. Some alternative methods of installing fibre optic cables are reviewed for further research because the use of ADLash cannot be recommended. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2000. / Also available (in part) online.

El trabajo realiza un análisis histórico de la monarquía parlamentaria, con la finalidad de explicar la decisión del constituyente de 1978 de establecer esta forma de gobierno. De este modo se comprueba que la monarquía parlamentaria era un concepto preexistente para el constituyente, pero en realidad no tenía antecedentes en España, donde la monarquía había sido constitucional en todos los precedentes decimonónicos. Con estos parámetrosse procede al análisis constitucional de las regulaciones básicas de la Corona, y en especial de la posición y funciones del rey. De este análisis se deduce que es la Constitución la que instaura la monarquía parlamentaria, y su fuente de legitimidad, y que el constituyente adoptó esta forma política porque era la única opción de mantener la monarquía en un sistema plenamente democrático, mediante la racionalización de la misma. La historia juega un triple papel en la monarquía parlamentaria española: 1) fundamentador o explicativo (pero no legitimador); 2) interpretativo de los preceptos constitucionales, por la vía de los antecedentes, o complementador de sus lagunas en la medida en que la misma configure costumbres constitucionales; 3) dinamizador, dado que exige una perspectiva evolutiva. Esta idea permite entender que la monarquía parlamentaria española ha de afrontar los retos del momento presente y del futuro, lo que exige intensificar su racionalización y su renovación.

The extreme temperatures and nonthermal nature of the solar corona and solar wind arise from an unidentified physical mechanism that preferentially heats certain ion species relative to others. Spectroscopic indicators of unequal temperatures commence within a fraction of a solar radius above the surface of the Sun, but the outer reach of this mechanism has yet to be determined. Here we present an empirical procedure for combining interplanetary solar wind measurements and a modeled energy equation including Coulomb relaxation to solve for the typical outer boundary of this zone of preferential heating. Applied to two decades of observations by the Wind spacecraft, our results are consistent with preferential heating being active in a zone extending from the transition region in the lower corona to an outer boundary 20-40 solar radii from the Sun, producing a steady-state super-massproportional a-to-proton temperature ratio of 5.2-5.3. Preferential ion heating continues far beyond the transition region and is important for the evolution of both the outer corona and the solar wind. The outer boundary of this zone is well below the orbits of spacecraft at 1 au and even closer missions such as Helios and MESSENGER, meaning it is likely that no existing mission has directly observed intense preferential heating, just residual signatures. We predict that the Parker Solar Probe will be the first spacecraft with a perihelion sufficiently close to the Sun to pass through the outer boundary, enter the zone of preferential heating, and directly observe the physical mechanism in action.

High voltage (EHV and UHV) transmission facilitates transfer of large amount of power over long distances. However, due to the inherent geometry, the line and substation hardware of EHV and UHV class generate high electric fields, which results in local ionisation of air called corona discharges. Apart from producing audible noise in the form of frying or hissing sound, corona produces significant electromagnetic interferences in the radio range. The limit for this corona generated Radio Interference (RI) has been stipulated by international standards, which are strictly to be followed. In line and substation hardware, corona control rings are generally employed to limit or avoid corona. Standard dimensions of corona rings are not available for EHV and UHV class. In most of the cases, their design is based on either a trial and error method or based on empirical extrapolation. Only in certain specific cases, the dimensioning of the rings is carried out using electric field calculations. In any of these approaches, the unavoidable surface abrasions, which can lead to corona, are not considered. There are also efforts to account for nominal surface irregularity by using a surface roughness factor, which is highly heuristic. In order to address this practically relevant problem, the present work was taken up. The intended exercise requires accurate field computation and a suitable criterion for checking corona onset. For the first part, the Surface Charge Simulation Method is adopted with newly proposed sub-modelling technique. The surface of the toroid is discretised into curvilinear patches with linear approximation for the surface charge density. Owing to its high accuracy, Galerkin’s method of moments formulation is employed. The problem of singularity encountered in the numerical approach is handled using a method based on Duffy’s transformation. The developed codes have also been validated with standard geometries. After a survey of relevant literature the ‘Critical Avalanche Criteria’ is chosen for its simplicity and applicability to the problem. Through a detailed simulation, the effect of avalanche space charge in reducing the corona onset voltage is found to be around 1.5% and hence it is not considered further. For utilities not interested in a detailed calculation procedure for dimensioning of corona rings, design curves are developed for circular corona rings of both 400 kV and 765 kV class with surface roughness factor in the range 0.8 – 1. In the second part of the work, a methodology for dimensioning is developed wherein the inevitable surface abrasion in the form of minute protrusions can be accounted. It is first shown that even though considerable field intensification occurs at the protrusions, such localised modification need not lead to corona. It is shown that by varying the minor radius of the corona ring, it is possible to get a design where the prescribed surface abrasion does not lead to corona onset. In summary, the present work has successfully developed a reliable methodology for the design of corona rings with prescribed surface abrasions. It involved development of an efficient field computation technique for handling minute surface protrusions and use of appropriate criteria for assessing corona inception. It has also provided design curves for EHV and UHV class corona rings with surface roughness factor specified in the range 0.8 – 1.0.

The million-degree temperature of the solar corona might be due to the combined effect of barely distinguishable energy releases, called nanoflares, that occur throughout the solar atmosphere. Unfortunately, the high density of nanoflares, implied by this hypothesis, means that conclusive verification is beyond present observational capabilities. Nevertheless, it might be possible to investigate the plausibility of nanoflare heating by constructing a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model; one that can derive the energy of nanoflares, based on the assumption that the ideal kink instability of a twisted coronal loop triggers a relaxation to a minimum energy state. The energy release depends on the current profile at the time when the ideal kink instability threshold is crossed. Subsequent to instability onset, fast magnetic reconnection ensues in the non-linear phase. As the flare erupts and declines, the field transitions to a lower energy level, which can be modelled as a helicity-conserving relaxation to a linear force-free state. The aim of this thesis is to determine the implications of such a scheme with respect to coronal heating. Initially, the results of a linear stability analysis for loops that have net current are presented. There exists substantial variation in the radial magnetic twist profiles for the loop states along the instability threshold. These results suggest that instability cannot be predicted by any simple twist-derived property reaching a critical value. The model is applied such that the loop undergoes repeated episodes of instability followed by energy-releasing relaxation. Photospheric driving is simulated as an entirely random process. Hence, an energy distribution of the nanoflares produced is collated. These results are discussed and unrealistic features of the model are highlighted.

Knowledge of the coronal magnetic field is crucial for understanding (1) the heating mechanism(s) of the solar corona, (2) the acceleration of the fast solar wind, and (3) the structure and dynamics of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Observation of Faraday rotation (FR) is one of the best remote-sensing techniques for determining plasma properties in the corona and can provide information on the plasma structure of a CME shortly after launch, shedding light on the initiation process. I used the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to make sensitive Faraday rotation measurements to investigate the general plasma structure of the corona, properties of coronal plasma inhomogeneities and waves, and transients associated with coronal mass ejections. To enhance my measurements of FR transients, I also developed an algorithm in the Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) package to mitigate ionospheric Faraday rotation. In August, 2011, I made FR observations at 5.0 and 6.1 GHz of the radio galaxy 3C 228 through the solar corona at heliocentric distances of 4.6 - 5.0 solar radii using the VLA. Observations at 5.0 GHz permit measurements deeper in the corona than previous VLA observations at 1.4 and 1.7 GHz. These FR observations provided unique information on the magnetic field in this region of the corona. My data on 3C 228 provide two lines of sight (separated by 46 arcseconds, 33,000 km in the corona). I detected three periods during which there appeared to be a difference in the Faraday rotation measure between these two closely spaced lines of sight, which I used to estimate coronal currents; these values (ranging from 2.6 to 4.1 GA) are several orders of magnitude below that which is necessary for significant coronal heating (assuming the Spitzer resistivity). I also used the data to determine upper limits (3.3 and 6.4 rad/m⁻²along the two lines of sight) on FR fluctuations caused by coronal waves. These upper limits are comparable to and, thus, not inconsistent with the theoretical models for Alfvén wave heating of the corona by Hollweg et al. (2010). To support the needs of the low frequency radioastronomical community as well as my own research of coronal FR transients, I developed a new calibration algorithm for CASA that uses GPS-based global ionosphere maps of the Total Electron Content (TEC) to mitigate ionospheric Faraday rotation. The Earth's ionosphere introduces direction- and time-dependent effects over a range of physical and temporal scales and so is a major source for unmodeled phase offsets for low frequency radioastronomical observations. It has become common practice to use global ionospheric models derived from the Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide a means of externally calibrating low frequency data. However, CASA, which was developed to meet the data post-processing needs of next generation telescopes such as the VLA and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), did not have the capability to make ionospheric corrections before I implemented this calibration algorithm. I investigated several data centers as potential sources for global ionospheric models and chose the International Global Navigation Satellite System Service data product because data from other sources are generally too sparse to use without additional interpolation schemes. I employed these ionospheric corrections in reducing VLA observations made in August, 2012, at 1 - 2 GHz of a “constellation” of radio sources through the solar corona at heliocentric distances that ranged from 5 - 15 solar radii. Of the nine sources observed, three were occulted by CMEs: 0842+1835, 0900+1832, and 0843+1547. In addition to my radioastronomical observations, which represent one of the first active hunts for CME Faraday rotation since Bird et al. (1985) and the first active hunt using the VLA, I obtained white-light coronagraph images from the LASCO/C3 instrument aboard SOHO to determine the Thomson scattering brightness, BT. BT is proportional to the electron plasma density and provides a means to independently estimate the plasma density and determine its contribution to the observed Faraday rotation. A constant density force-free flux rope embedded in the background corona was used to model the effects of the CMEs on BT and FR. In the case of 0842+1835, the flux rope model underestimated the peak value in BT and did not reproduce the decreasing BT inside the inner cavity region of the CME; however, there was satisfactory agreement between the model and the observed FR. The single flux rope model successfully reproduces both the observed BT and FR profiles for 0900+1832. 0843+1547 was occulted by two CMEs. Therefore, I modeled observations of 0843+1547 using two flux ropes embedded in the background corona. The two flux rope model successfully reproduces both BT and FR profiles for 0843+1547 and, in particular, the two flux rope model successfully replicates the appropriate slope in FR before and after occultation by the second CME and predicts the observed change in sign to FR > 0 at the end of the observing session. I briefly discuss the plasma densities ( 6 - 22 x 10³ cm⁻³) and axial magnetic field strengths (2 - 12 mG) inferred from my models and compare them to the modeling work of Liu et al. (2007) and Jensen et al. (2008), as well as previous CME FR observations by Bird et al. (1985).

Introduktion: I slutet av år 2019 startade spridningen av influensan Covid-19 och orsakade en global pandemi. En av de mest utsatta grupperna under pandemin har varit seniorer över 70 år då dessa har haft särskilda restriktioner att förhålla sig till. Fysisk aktivitet är en faktor för god hälsa och studier visar ett samband mellan social distansering, fysisk inaktivitet och psykisk ohälsa. Fysioterapeuter som arbetar med dessa områden har därför en bidragande roll att finna tillvägagångssätt för att upprätthålla fysisk aktivitet under isolering. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur den fysiska aktiviteten, det psykiska välbefinnandet samt den allmänna livskvalitén har påverkats hos seniorer över 70 år i Gällivare, till följd av restriktioner och isolering under Covid-19 pandemin. Metod: Studien genomfördes genom en kvantitativ tvärsnittsdesign där 31 enkätfrågor användes för att samla in data. En webbenkät skickades ut elektroniskt till en pensionärsförening i Gällivare under en 2-veckorsperiod. Deskriptiv statistik användes vid analysering av data. Resultat: Totalt deltog 15 respondenter i studien. Av dessa upplevde 85,7% att deras fysiska aktivitet påverkats negativt till följd av restriktionerna och pandemin. Ett samband fanns mellan minskad fysisk aktivitet och minskad allmän livskvalitet. Konklusion: Pandemins restriktioner och isolering har ett samband med minskad fysisk aktivitet och nedsatt välbefinnande. Studien ger endast tidiga indikationer på konsekvenser ett drygt halvår in i pandemin i Sverige och kan komma att förändras i framtiden. Mer forskning krävs då pandemin är fortsatt pågående när studien slutförs.

This thesis aims to describe the pre-existing structures and procedures of crisis management andpreparedness in the fifteen municipalities in the Swedish region of Dalarna. Although national andregional governments are involved in several aspects of planning and response to various types ofemergencies, primary responsibility for day-to-day crisis management is delegated to localgovernment. Drawing from this, the paper will explore the daily responsibilities of relevant officialsfrom each municipality in Dalarna through interviews and gather first-hand knowledge regardingwhat lessons that has been learned from handling the COVID-19 pandemic.Furthermore, the information will be used to examine eventual differences in capabilities tohandle emergencies between the different municipalities. The impact and consequences of variousemergencies and disasters demands high-quality emergency measures. However, in the relativelystable time we live in today, these measures are rarely activated. Hence it is difficult to assess thequality of these efforts before the actual crisis hits. This often leads to other functions ofgovernment taking priority, resulting in neglected emergency measures. The main findings of thisstudy indicate that there are some differences, however, the overall experience from the interviewedofficials is positive regarding the performance of their emergency measures and hopeful for thefuture.