Since the ancient years, human beings were using holes and caves to protect themselves from weather conditions making it the first known form of exploiting ground’s heat, known as Geothermal Energy. Nowadays, geothermal energy is mainly used for electricity production, space heating and cooling, Ground Coupled Heat Pump (GCHP) applications, and many other purposes depending on the morphology of the ground and its temperature. This study presents results of investigations into the evaluation of the thermal properties of the ground in Cyprus. The main objectives were i) to determine the thermal characteristics of the ground in Cyprus, ii) investigate how they affect the sizing and positioning of Ground Heat Exchangers (GHE) and iii) present the results for various ground depths, including a temperature map of the island, as a guide for engineers and specifiers of GCHPs. It was concluded that there is a potential for the efficient exploitation of the thermal properties of the ground in Cyprus for geothermal applications leading to significant savings in power and money as well. Six new boreholes were drilled and two existing ones were used for the investigation and determination of i) the temperature of the ground at various depths, ii) its thermal conductivity, iii) its specific heat and iv) its density. The thermal conductivity was determined by carrying out experiments using the line source method and was found to vary in the range between 1.35 and 2.1 W/mK. It was also observed that the thermal conductivity is strongly affected by the degree of saturation of the ground. The temperature of the undisturbed ground in the 8 borehole locations was recorded monthly for a period of 1 year. The investigations showed that the surface zone reaches a depth of 0.25 m and the shallow zone 7 to 8 m. The undisturbed ground temperature in the deep zone was measured to be in the range of 18.3 °C to 23.6 °C and is strongly dependent on the soil type. Since the ground temperature is a vital parameter in ground thermal applications, the temperature of the ground in locations that no information is available was predicted using Artificial Neural Networks and the temperature map of the island at depths of 20 m, 50 m and 100 m was generated. Data obtained at the location of each borehole were used for the training of the network. Data for the sizing of GHEs based on the ground properties of Cyprus were presented in an easily accessible form so that they can be used as a guide for preliminary system sizing calculations. With the aid of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software the capacity of the GHEs in each location and the optimum distance between them was estimated. Additionally, the long term temperature variation of the ground was investigated. For the first time since a limited study in the 1970’s, a research focusing on the determination and presentation of the thermal properties of the ground in Cyprus has been carried out. Additionally, the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is an innovative approach for the prediction of data at locations where no information is available. The publication of this information not only contributes to knowledge locally but also internationally as it enables comparison with other countries with similar climatic conditions to be carried out.

Nowdays, coupled cluster method belongs to one of the most used quantum chemical methods. However, the single-reference coupled cluster methods are not able to describe systems where the static correlation have an important role. Multireference coupled cluster methods developed in our group can describe both static and dy- namic correlation and can be used for problematic systems. Together with explicitly correlated wavefunction, which can properly describe the electronic cusp and speed up the convergence to the complete ba- sis set limit, they are able to calculate computationally demanding diradicals. Multireference CC calculations of tetramethylenethane have been perforemd and the performance of explicitly correlated version is discussed. Calculations of the isomerization of bicyclobu- tane using the multireference approach are presented as well. 1

The high-frequency properties of coupled magnetic systems have been investigated using vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance (VNA-FMR) spectroscopy. SAF structures consist of two ferromagnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic spacer, coupled through the indirect exchange interaction. The ferromagnetic layers of our samples were composed of FeCoB separated by a layer of Ru. The thickness of Ru was varied in the range of 8 to 18 Å among the samples studied. Antiferromagnetic coupling can be quickly identified by the major hysteresis loop (MHL). A new way of displaying FMR data for these trilayer samples is presented which completely preserves the anisotropy effects while fully characterizing the angular dependence of FMR. The advantage of our representation is that the high-frequency data can be easily compared to the static switching behavior at any angle obtained through susceptibility measurements. Ferromagnetic resonance; Coupled; Synthetic antiferromagnet; Magnetization switching

The theoretical work presented in this thesis is concerned with the highest possible oxidation states of the 5d transition metal row. Based on a validation study of several DFT functionals against accurate coupled-cluster CCSD(T) methods we will present calculations on a series of new high oxidation state HgIV species. Quantum-chemical calculations have also been applied to various fluoro complexes of gold in oxidation states +V through +VII to evaluate the previously claimed existence of AuF7. The calculations indicate clearly that the oxidation state (+V), e.g., in [AuF5]2, remains the highest well-established gold oxidation state. Further calculations on iridium in oxidation state (+VII) show that IrF7 and IrOF5 are viable synthetic targets, whereas higher oxidation states of iridium appear to be unlikely. Structures and stabilities of several osmium fluorides and oxyfluorides were also studied in this thesis. It is shown that homoleptic fluorides all the way up to OsF8 may exist. Combining the results of the most accurate quantum-chemical predictions of this thesis and of the most reliable experimental studies, we observe a revised trend of the highest oxidation states of the 5d transition metal row. From lanthanum (+III) to osmium (+VIII), there is a linear increase of the highest oxidation states with increasing atomic number. Thereafter, we observe a linear descent from osmium (+VIII) to mercury (+IV). We will also present a short outlook to the transition metals of the 3d and 4d row and their highest reachable oxidation states. / In der vorliegenden theoretischen Arbeit wurden mittels quantenchemischer Methoden die höchsten Oxidationsstufen der späten Übergangselemente untersucht. Um eine adäquate Beschreibung dieser Systeme zu gewährleisten, wurde zuerst eine Validierungsstudie verschiedener Dichtefunktionale, die mit hochgenauen coupled-cluster CCSD(T) Berechnungen verglichen wurden, durchgeführt. Das zugrundeliegende Referenzsystem war Quecksilber in der Oxidationsstufe +IV (HgF4, HgCl4, HgH4). Es wurden Strukturoptimierungen von Minima und Übergangszuständen, Atomisierungsenergien sowie die entsprechenden Zerfallsreaktionen für die Systeme betrachtet. Basierend auf diesen Ergebnissen konnten weitere HgIV Systeme mit sogenannten „Weakly Coordinating Anions“ wie z.B. [OTeF5]-, [AsF6]-, [Sb2F11]- usw. unter Verwendung von Dichtefunktionalmethoden untersucht werden. Die beiden Verbindungen Hg[OTeF5]4 und Hg[AsF6]4 scheinen dabei die Oxidationsstufe +IV am besten zu stabilisieren. Quantenchemische Methoden wurden ebenfalls zur Berechnung von Fluorkomplexen des Goldes in den Oxidationsstufen von +V bis +VII verwendet. Dabei wurde insbesondere überprüft, ob das angeblich experimentell gefundene AuF7 tatsächlich existiert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass eine Existenz von AuF7 unter den in der Literatur angegebenen Bedingungen sehr wahrscheinlich ausgeschlossen werden kann. Diese Instabilität wird ebenfalls für das quantenchemisch untersuchte AuF6 beobachtet. Somit bleibt die Oxidationsstufe +V in [AuF5]2 die höchste erreichbare Oxidationsstufe für Gold. Basierend auf coupled-cluster CCSD(T) Berechnungen konnten die Verbindungen des Iridiums in der Oxidationsstufe +VII (IrF7, IrOF5) als thermochemisch stabil vorhergesagt werden, wohingegen die höheren Iridiumverbindungen des IrVIII und IrIX sehr unwahrscheinlich sind. Außerdem wurden Strukturen und Stabilitäten verschiedener Osmiumfluoride und Oxyfluoride in dieser Arbeit diskutiert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass ausgehend von OsF6 auch die höheren Verbindungen OsF7 und OsF8 experimentell zugänglich sein sollten. Kombiniert man die in dieser Arbeit vorhergesagten Verbindungen in ihren höchsten Oxidationsstufen mit den verlässlichsten experimentellen Untersuchungen, so beobachtet man einen revidierten Trend der höchsten Oxidationsstufen der 5d-Übergangsmetallreihe: Direkt proportional zur Ordnungszahl steigen die höchsten Oxidationszahlen zunächst linear an, von Os (+VIII) bis hin zu Hg (+IV) kann ein linearer Abfall beobachtet werden. Abschließend werden in dieser Arbeit die höchsten Oxidationsstufen der 3d und 4d Übergangsmetalle in einer kurzen Übersicht vorgestellt.

Thesis. 1976. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil Engineering. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Engineering. / Bibliography: leaves 135-137. / by Jacques F. Risser. / M.S.

Lau Pui Ngan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-181). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.iv / Acknowledgement --- p.vii / Abbreviations --- p.viii / Publications Based on work in this thesis --- p.xii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction and project overview --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Ghrelin structure and its synthesis --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2 --- Types of growth hormone secretagogues (GHSs) --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3 --- Characterization of GHS-R --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Cloning of GHS-Rla and GHS-Rlb --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.1.1 --- GHS-R subtypes --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.1.2 --- Properties of GHS-R subtypes --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.1.3 --- Evidence of non-GHS-Rla stimulated by ghrelin and GHSs --- p.9 / Chapter 1.3.1.4 --- Distribution of GHS-R --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Signal transduction pathways of GHS-R --- p.11 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Comparison between human and seabream GHS-R --- p.12 / Chapter 1.4 --- Is adenosine a partial agonist at GHS-Rla? --- p.15 / Chapter 1.5 --- Physiological effects of ghrelin --- p.17 / Chapter 1.6 --- Apoptosis --- p.19 / Chapter 1.6.1 --- Introduction --- p.19 / Chapter 1.6.2 --- Apoptosis versus necrosis --- p.19 / Chapter 1.6.3 --- Mechanisms of apoptosis --- p.20 / Chapter 1.6.4 --- Methods to study apoptosis --- p.23 / Chapter 1.6.5 --- Different types of apoptotic inducers --- p.24 / Chapter 1.7 --- Apoptotic and anti-apoptotic pathways regulated by GPCRs --- p.27 / Chapter 1.7.1 --- Bcl-2 family pathway --- p.27 / Chapter 1.7.2 --- Caspase pathway --- p.27 / Chapter 1.7.3 --- ERK pathway --- p.28 / Chapter 1.7.4 --- PI3K/Akt pathway --- p.29 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Materials and solutions --- p.31 / Chapter 2.1 --- Materials --- p.31 / Chapter 2.2 --- "Culture medium, buffer and solutions" --- p.37 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Culture medium --- p.37 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Buffers --- p.37 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Solutions --- p.38 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Methods --- p.41 / Chapter 3.1 --- Maintenance of cell lines --- p.41 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Human Embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells --- p.41 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- HEK293 cells stably expressing black seabream growth hormone secretagogues receptors (HEK-sbGHS-Rla and HEK-sbGHS-Rlb) --- p.41 / Chapter 3.2 --- Preparation of plasmid DNA --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Preparation of competent E. coli --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Transformation of DNA into competent cells --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Small-scale and large-scale plasmid DNA preparation --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Confirmation of the purity and the identity of the plasmid DNA --- p.43 / Chapter 3.3 --- Transient transfection of mammalian cells --- p.45 / Chapter 3.4 --- Development of stable cell lines --- p.46 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Determination of the optimum concentration of each antibiotic used in selection of clones --- p.46 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Development of monoclonal stable cell line --- p.46 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Confirmation the expression of 2myc-hGHS-Rla and myc-hGHS-Rlb --- p.48 / Chapter 3.5 --- Measurement of phospbolipase C activity --- p.49 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Introduction --- p.49 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Preparation of columns --- p.49 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- [3 H]-inositol phosphate assay --- p.49 / Chapter 3.5.4 --- Measurement of [3H]-inositol phosphates production --- p.50 / Chapter 3.5.5 --- Data analysis --- p.50 / Chapter 3.6 --- Determination of transient transfection efficiency --- p.51 / Chapter 3.7 --- Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) --- p.52 / Chapter 3.7.1 --- RNA extraction and first strand cDNA production --- p.52 / Chapter 3.7.2 --- PCR and visualization of amplicons --- p.52 / Chapter 3.7.3 --- Real-time PCR --- p.59 / Chapter 3.7.3.1 --- Construction of standard curve --- p.60 / Chapter 3.7.3.2 --- Data analysis --- p.60 / Chapter 3.8 --- Measurement of caspase-3 activity --- p.65 / Chapter 3.8.1 --- Determination of caspase-3 activity using colorimetric assay --- p.65 / Chapter 3.8.1.1 --- Introduction --- p.65 / Chapter 3.8.1.2 --- Induction of apoptosis --- p.65 / Chapter 3.8.1.3 --- Preparation of cell lysates --- p.65 / Chapter 3.8.1.4 --- Quantification of caspase-3 activity by measuring pNA absorbance --- p.66 / Chapter 3.8.1.5 --- Data analysis --- p.67 / Chapter 3.8.2 --- Determination of caspase-3 activity using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET2) assay --- p.67 / Chapter 3.8.2.1 --- Introduction --- p.67 / Chapter 3.8.2.2 --- Quantification of caspase-3 activity using BRET2 assay --- p.68 / Chapter 3.8.2.3 --- Data analysis --- p.69 / Chapter 3.8.3 --- Determination of caspase-3 activity using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FERT) assay --- p.70 / Chapter 3.8.3.1 --- Introduction --- p.70 / Chapter 3.8.3.2 --- Quantification of caspase-3 activity using FRET assay --- p.70 / Chapter 3.8.3.3 --- Data analysis --- p.71 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Results --- p.72 / Chapter 4.1 --- Characterization of GHS-R --- p.72 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Properties of GHS-Rla --- p.72 / Chapter 4.1.1.1 --- Constitutively active receptor --- p.72 / Chapter 4.1.1.2 --- Characterization of epitope-tagged hGHS-Rla --- p.73 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Properties of GHS-Rlb --- p.75 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Conclusions --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2 --- Effect of co-transfection of HEK293 cells --- p.85 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Effect of balancing DNA concentrations transfected into HEK293 cells --- p.85 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Effect of balancing DNA concentration using another Gq-coupled receptor --- p.87 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Effect of Gi- and Gs-coupled receptor on GHS-Rla signaling --- p.88 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Potentiating effect of co-transfection appeared using different transfection reagents --- p.88 / Chapter 4.2.5 --- Co-transfection improves transfection efficiency --- p.89 / Chapter 4.2.6 --- Discussions --- p.91 / Chapter 4.3 --- Development of cell lines stably expressing hGHS-Rla or hGHS-Rlb --- p.102 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Advantages of using a monoclonal cell line --- p.102 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Sensitivity of HEK293 cells to antibiotics --- p.102 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Production of polyclonal stable cell line --- p.103 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Monoclonal stable cell line selection --- p.104 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Discussions --- p.105 / Chapter 4.4 --- Effect of adenosine on GHS-Rla signaling --- p.111 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Adenosine acts as partial agonist --- p.111 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Effect of substance P analog on adenosine-mediated GHS-Rla signaling --- p.112 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Effect of adenosine deaminase (ADA) on adenosine- and ghrelin-stimulated GHS-Rla signaling --- p.113 / Chapter 4.4.4 --- Specificity of ADA --- p.115 / Chapter 4.4.5 --- Conclusions --- p.116 / Chapter 4.5 --- Role of GHS-R in apoptosis --- p.124 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Different methods to measure caspase-3 activity --- p.124 / Chapter 4.5.1.1 --- Colorimetric assay --- p.124 / Chapter 4.5.1.1.1 --- Time course for staurosporine and etoposide in HEK293 cells --- p.125 / Chapter 4.5.1.1.2 --- Effect of 2myc-hGHS-Rla on staurosporine- and etoposide-induced caspase-3 activity --- p.127 / Chapter 4.5.1.1.3 --- Time course for staurosporine and etoposide in sbGHS-R monoclonal stable cell line --- p.128 / Chapter 4.5.1.1.4 --- Effect of sbGHS-Rs on staurosporine- and etoposide- induced caspase-3 activityin HEK 293 cells --- p.129 / Chapter 4.5.1.1.5 --- Effect of sbGHS-Rs on staurosporine- induced caspase-3 activity in sbGHS-R monoclonal stable cell line --- p.130 / Chapter 4.5.1.1.6 --- Differences between epitope-tagged and non-tagged sbGHS-Rs in staurosporine- induced caspase-3 activity --- p.131 / Chapter 4.5.1.1.7 --- The role of epitope-tagged sbGHS-Rlbin staurosporine-induced caspase-3 activity --- p.132 / Chapter 4.5.1.1.8 --- Effect of staurosporine and etoposide on GHS-Rla signaling --- p.133 / Chapter 4.5.1.2 --- BRET2 assay --- p.135 / Chapter 4.5.1.3 --- FRET assay --- p.136 / Chapter 4.5.1.4 --- Conclusions --- p.136 / Chapter 4.6 --- Determination of GHS-R amount in terms of mRNA --- p.155 / Chapter 4.6.1 --- Determination of GHS-R amount in stable cell lines --- p.155 / Chapter 4.6.2 --- Transfected DNA amount match with stable cell lines --- p.155 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- "Discussion, Conclusions and Future Plan" --- p.159 / Chapter 5.1 --- General Discussion and Conclusions --- p.159 / Chapter 5.2 --- Future Plan and Experimental Design --- p.168 / References --- p.171

In a phage binding assay, phage clone (3p5A190) expressing a surrogate mas ligand displayed punctate binding and were internalized in cell expressing native mas and GFP-tagged variants. However, the number of bound and internalized phages in cells expressing mas-GFP was substantially less than the cells expressing mas-(Gly10Ser5)GFP and native mas. In parallel, biotinylation experiment quantitatively showed that the extent of mas-(Gly10Ser 5)-GFP translocation was higher than that of mas-GFP. Consistently, cells expressing mas-(Gly10Ser5)-GFP and native mas showed a rapid and sustained increase of intracellular calcium levels upon MBP7 stimulation. By contrast, cells expressing mas-GFP only response to higher concentration of MBP7 challenge and showed a delayed increase of intracellular calcium level. Moreover, cells expressing native mas had a higher proportion (80%) of cells responsive to MBP7 stimulation; in contrast to only 10∼20% of cells expressing mas fusion proteins. / MBP7-like motif was identified in human facilitative GLUT1 and GLUT7 indicating that mas might interact with glucose transporter (GLUT) and regulate cellular glucose uptake. GLUT4 was found to be expressed endogenously in the CHO cell by RT-PCR, but expression of insulin receptor was not detectable. Although no statistical difference was detected in basal glucose uptake among control cells Vc0M80 and cells with different levels of mas expression, cells expressing mas-(Gly10Ser5)-GFP showed a high glucose uptake in response to insulin. Furthermore, basal 2-DOG uptake in Mc0M80 cells was not affected by pretreatment with various kinase inhibitors or transient expression of Rho variants. By contrast, MBP7 was found to induce a significant elevation of glucose uptake specifically in Mc0M80 cells transiently transfected with GLUT1. / Orphan G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) mas was initially isolated from a human epidermal carcinoma. Previous study from our lab identified a surrogate ligand---MBP7 (mas binding peptide 7) for mas, and suggested that GFP tagging might affect the receptor activity of mas. In this project, three stable CHO cell lines expressing native mas, mas-GFP and mas-(Gly10Ser 5)-GFP were used to characterize receptor activity of mas. / To summarize, direct GFP tagging at the C-terminus of mas decreased its interactions with ligand and downstream signaling molecules. Partial recovery of mas receptor activity by adding a peptide linker was confirmed by phage binding, membrane fusion protein translocation and calcium response. In addition, mas was possibily coupled with GLUT1 to affect cellular glucose uptake via signaling pathways yet to be fully characterized. / Sun, Jingxin. / Adviser: Cheung Wing Tai. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 71-01, Section: B, page: 0104. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-170). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

This dissertation is dedicated to the rigorous study of discontinuous transitions in star graphs of coupled phase oscillators. A star graph consists of a central node, called hub, connected to peripheral nodes called leaves. We consider the setting where the frequency of the leaves is identical and the hub has a higher frequency when isolated. This captures the effect of positive correlation between the hub high number of connections and its high natural frequency. Hub higher frequency turns out to be the key feature for discontinuity in the transition from incoherent to synchronous behavior. This transition has been observed numerically and explained via a non-rigorous analytical treatment in the thermodynamic limit. Using Möbius group reduction and the theory of persistence of normally hyperbolic invariant manifold, we prove that this transition is indeed discontinuous for a certain set of initial conditions. / Esta dissertação dedica-se em estudar rigorosamente transições descontínuas de osciladores de fase acoplados em grafos estrelas. Um grafo estrela é composto de um nó central, chamado hub, conectado a nós periféricos chamados folhas. Consideramos a situação na qual a frequência das folhas é igual e o hub tem frequência mais elevada, o efeito de correlação positiva entre o grande número de conexões do hub e sua frequência. A elevada frequência do hub resulta por ser o aspecto crucial na descontinuidade da transição do comportamento incoerente para o síncrono. Esta transição foi observada numericamente e estudada por meio de tratamento analítico não rigoroso no limite termodinâmico. Usando técnica de redução a partir do grupo de Möbius e a teoria de variedades invariantes normalmente hiperbólicias, provamos que esta transição é de fato descontínua para certo conjunto de condições iniciais.

This dissertation is dedicated to the rigorous study of discontinuous transitions in star graphs of coupled phase oscillators. A star graph consists of a central node, called hub, connected to peripheral nodes called leaves. We consider the setting where the frequency of the leaves is identical and the hub has a higher frequency when isolated. This captures the effect of positive correlation between the hub high number of connections and its high natural frequency. Hub higher frequency turns out to be the key feature for discontinuity in the transition from incoherent to synchronous behavior. This transition has been observed numerically and explained via a non-rigorous analytical treatment in the thermodynamic limit. Using Möbius group reduction and the theory of persistence of normally hyperbolic invariant manifold, we prove that this transition is indeed discontinuous for a certain set of initial conditions. / Esta dissertação dedica-se em estudar rigorosamente transições descontínuas de osciladores de fase acoplados em grafos estrelas. Um grafo estrela é composto de um nó central, chamado hub, conectado a nós periféricos chamados folhas. Consideramos a situação na qual a frequência das folhas é igual e o hub tem frequência mais elevada, o efeito de correlação positiva entre o grande número de conexões do hub e sua frequência. A elevada frequência do hub resulta por ser o aspecto crucial na descontinuidade da transição do comportamento incoerente para o síncrono. Esta transição foi observada numericamente e estudada por meio de tratamento analítico não rigoroso no limite termodinâmico. Usando técnica de redução a partir do grupo de Möbius e a teoria de variedades invariantes normalmente hiperbólicias, provamos que esta transição é de fato descontínua para certo conjunto de condições iniciais.

Modeling the movement of flood waters can be accomplished using many different methods with varying degrees of physical detail. Numerical models utilizing simple routing methods or simplified versions of the Navier-Stokes equations can be used to improve the public's flood preparedness. Three numerical models are used in this thesis to investigate flood preparedness: (1) an existing HEC-ResSim model of Coralville Reservoir, (2) an existing one-dimensional HEC-RAS model of the Iowa River through Coralville and Iowa City, and (3) a coupled one/two-dimensional hydraulic MIKE Flood model of the Cedar River through Cedar Falls/Waterloo. The HEC-ResSim model of Coralville Reservoir, provided by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, requires reservoir elevation-storage curves, inflow hydrographs and user-defined operation rules. This model utilizes level pool routing to determine changes in reservoir water levels and attenuation of hydrographs. The Muskingum routing method is used to route controlled releases downstream and determine satisfaction of constraints. The model is used to determine the impact of operational changes and sedimentation effects on historic flood events. Simulations indicate sedimentation has no effect on peak discharges of extreme events, but more aggressive operations plans may provide additional storage prior to extreme events. The existing HEC-RAS of the Iowa River through Iowa City is used to develop a library of inundation maps to be hosted on the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service's river forecast website. The modeling method assumes steady gradually varied flow. Post-processing and visualization of simulation results are completed using a digital elevation map of the study area developed using topography, bathymetry, and structural elevations. A coupled one/two-dimensional MIKE Flood model is developed for the Cedar River through Cedar Falls/Waterloo using topography, bathymetry, land use, and structural data. The river channel is modeled using MIKE 11, a one-dimensional unsteady hydraulic model, while the flood plain is modeled using MIKE 21, a two-dimensional hydraulic model utilizing depth-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The model is used to develop a sequential levee closure plan for downtown Waterloo and will also be used to develop a library of inundation maps.