Antibodies are the gold standard molecular recognition elements and a cornerstone of molecular biology. They are used in immunoassays to precisely measure a specific analyte, but certain targets are especially challenging. Difficult targets include small molecules and molecules that do not induce an immune response. Aptamers are short oligonucleotides that can form 3-dimensional structures and bind targets with high specificity. Aptamers are smaller and more flexible than antibodies and could therefore solve this problem. In contrast to antibodies, aptamers are synthetically produced, so they can have affinity for molecules that do not induce an immune response. This also makes them cheaper, faster and more ethical to produce. They are also easily modified and have the ability to renature and can therefore be reused.  Our conclusions are that aptamers can outperform antibodies, especially for small molecule targets, and that the synthetic production of aptamers gives them a further advantage over antibodies. Our report compares several different types of detection methods that use aptamers and we conclude that fluorescence-based methods are the most easy to use with basic lab equipment, can be made similar to the ELISA kits in addition to giving highly sensitive detection. We describe a variety of fluorescence-based detection strategies but the optimal method will depend on the specific aptamer and target. The report also includes an ethical analysis where antibodies and aptamers are compared. This report is commissioned by Mercodia AB, a company that develops, manufactures and distributes immunoassays for biomarkers within the field of metabolic disorders. They commissioned this report in order to give an overview of how aptamers interact with their target, and also to compare aptamer-based detection strategies with sensitivity prioritized over selectivity.  This was done by literature research.

A fusion protein composed of antibody fragments and β-lactamase was earlier created by Kojima et al. (2011), with antigen specificities against a bone disease marker and a pesticide. The enzyme was circularly permutated and fused to the variable heavy and light chain antibody fragments, thereby ensuring inactivity until binding of the target antigen triggered enzyme activation. Upon activation, the β-lactamase produced a colorimetric signal, which indicated antigen presence. In this work, a similar strategy was used to create two novel fusion proteins composed of circularly permuted β-lactamase and superfolder green fluorescent protein with anti-benzo[a]pyrene variable antibody fragments. The fusion proteins were designed and expressed in E. coli for the development of a single-step visual immunoassay. It was hypothesized that the cp reporter proteins would be activated once the binding of B[a]P to the variable antibody fragments occurred, and this interaction was expected to produce a detectable colorimetric or fluorescent signal. Although positive results were obtained in one instance, substantial supportive evidence in favour of the hypothesis could not be obtained. / SENTINEL Bioactive Paper Network, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canada Research Chairs Program.

Future sea level rise associated to global warming is one of the greatest societal and environmental challenges of tomorrow. A large part of the contribution comes from glaciers and ice sheets discharging ice and meltwater into the ocean and the recent worldwide increase is worrying. Future predictions of sea level rise try to encompass the complex processes of ice dynamics through glacier modelling but there are still large uncertainties due to the lack of observations or too coarse parameterisation, particularly for processes occurring at the glacier interfaces with the bed (sliding) and with the ocean (calving). This thesis focuses on modelling these processes from two marine-terminating glaciers in Svalbard, Kronebreen and Tunabreen. By inverting three years of high temporal resolution time-series of surface velocities on Kronebreen, basal properties are retrieved with the ice flow model Elmer/Ice in Paper I. Results suggest that surface melt during the summer greatly influences the dynamics of the following season and that sliding laws for such glaciers should be adapted to local and global processes changing in space and time. The subglacial drainage system, fed by the surface melt, is modelled in Paper II during two melting seasons. Results show different configurations of efficient and inefficient drainage systems between years and the importance of using a sliding law dependent on spatio-temporal changes in effective pressure. The interaction with the ocean is incorporated in Paper III by combining a series of models, including an ice flow model, a plume model and a particle model for discrete calving and compares the output with observations. Results show the importance of glacier geometry, sliding and undercutting on calving rate and location. However, more observations and analytic methods are needed. Time-lapse imagery placed in front of Tunabreen have been deployed and a method of automatic detection for iceberg calving is presented in Paper IV. Results show the influence of the rising plume in calving and the front destabilisation of the local neighbourhood.

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Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-08-03T18:20:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 HUGO FEITOSA DE FIGUEIRÊDO - TESE PPGCC 2013..pdf: 25169239 bytes, checksum: afd902c581d26c2a612f6887c44fab6a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-03T18:20:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 HUGO FEITOSA DE FIGUEIRÊDO - TESE PPGCC 2013..pdf: 25169239 bytes, checksum: afd902c581d26c2a612f6887c44fab6a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-01 / CNPq / Capes / A popularidade das câmeras digitais tem gerado um novo problema: como armazenar e recuperar de forma eficiente um grande número de fotografias digitais capturadas e caoticamente armazenadas em múltiplas localizações sem qualquer anotação. Em algumas pesquisas, mostra-se que a anotação de informações relacionadas ao contexto no qual uma determinada fotografia foi capturada auxilia na busca das fotografias, sendo as informações mais relevantes para uma pessoa recordar de uma fotografia: a identificação das pessoas que estão presentes na fotografia (Quem); a localização geográfica (Onde); e informações temporais (Quando). Para anotar essas informações, podem ser utilizados mecanismos manuais, automáticos e semiautomáticos. Os mecanismos manuais não possuem muitos adeptos devido ao processo oneroso e tedioso. Os mecanismos automáticos utilizam os algoritmos de análise de conteúdo, sendo o reconhecimento de faces a principal estratégia, a qual só possui bons resultados com faces frontais e sem oclusões. Já os mecanismos de anotação semiautomática, utilizam algoritmos de recomendação de anotações para auxiliar o usuário. Nesta pesquisa, propõem-se algoritmos para a anotação automática e semiautomática de pessoas e eventos em fotografias. Para a anotação de pessoas, utiliza-se o reconhecimento de faces para a anotação automática e informações de contexto mais conteúdo para a geração de listas de sugestões de pessoas para a anotação semiautomática. Para a anotação de eventos, propõe-se um método para a detecção de eventos em coleções pessoais de fotografias e um método para detecção de eventos compartilhados, nos quais as fotografias são capturadas por usuários distintos em um mesmo evento. A partir do método de detecção de eventos compartilhados proposto, pretende-se melhorar a busca de fotografias de um evento em uma rede social, a realização de anotação cruzada e a detecção de inconsistências nas anotações de fotografias. Nos resultados, comprova-se que a ponderação e a filtragem de estimadores para os algoritmos de anotação semiautomática de pessoas presentes nas fotografias baseados em estimadores melhoram os resultados desses algoritmos. Além disso, é possível fazer a detecção de eventos compartilhados em uma rede social utilizando informações de quem, onde e quando das fotografias. / The popularity of digital cameras has created a new problem: how to store and retrieve efficiently a large number of captured and chaotically stored digital photos in multiple locations without annotation. The photo context assists in search of photographs. The most relevant information for a person remember a photograph are: who are present, where and when was captured. To annotate this information, manual, automatic and semiautomatic mechanisms can be used. The manuals mechanisms did not have many fans due to the costly and tedious process. Content analysis and face recognition are the main strategy to automatic mechanisms, which has only front faces with good results and without occlusions. In the semiautomatic annotation, recommendation of annotations are used to assist the user. In this research, we propose algorithms for the automatic and semiautomatic annotation of people and events in photos. For the annotation of people, we use face recognition for automatic annotation and content and context information for generate suggestions from people for semi-automatic annotation. For the annotation of events, we propose a method for detecting events in personal photo collections and a method for detection of shared events, in which the photographs are captured by different users in the same event. The method to detect shared events aims to improve the search of photographs of an event in a social network, conducting cross-annotation and detection of inconsistencies in the annotations of photographs. The results prove that the weighting and filtering algorithms estimators for semi-automatic annotation of persons in photographs based estimators improve the results of these algorithms. Furthermore, it is possible to detect shared events in a social network using information of who, where and when of the photos.

This Ph.D. thesis deals with problems about voltage dips and short voltage interruptions, generally named as voltage events, which origin in power supply networks and have a negative influence for all connected electric appliances. In this thesis single phase appliances are considered. These problems closely relate with area of electromagnetic compatibility which solve all questions about correct operation of different types of electric appliances during electromagnetic disturbances impact. Voltage events are ones of the many types of electromagnetic disturbances. The connection between disturbance sources and sensitive electric appliances is created by power supply lines. The immunity of electric appliances to voltage dips and short interruptions is currently tested via voltage dips with strictly defined parameters which are intended by class of electromagnetic environment in which the usage of electric appliance is recommended. During immunity tests the rectangular shape of voltage dips is preferred. The main descriptive parameters of testing voltage events are the residual voltage and the event time duration. But voltage dips and short interruptions defined by this way do not closely relate with parameters of real voltage dips and interruptions occurred in public supply system where parameters of voltage dips are variable. Moreover in the power supply system there are many of others voltage parameters which can have a significant influence to immunity level of connected electric appliances. This Ph.D. thesis also deals with finding more voltage event parameters. Although the voltage events occurrence in the power supply system is not limited and voltage events are considered only as informative voltage parameter it is important to monitor voltage events occurrence. The monitoring device has to be able to operate for ling time period and it has to detect parameters of voltage events with adequate accuracy. The accuracy of detected event parameters and the detection delay depends on the detection algorithm characteristics. That is why the part of this thesis relates with a comparison of several detection algorithms and their abilities to correct detection of voltage event parameters. The main purpose of this thesis is the proposal of connection between classification of voltage dips and short interruptions occurred in power supply system with the classification of electric appliances immunity to these voltage events. On the base of many of provided electric appliances immunity tests and also on the base of long time period voltage events monitoring the special compatibility levels are proposed in this thesis. The observation of proposed compatibility levels will bring the increasing level of reliable operation of all connected electric appliances.

Inductive power transmission is very useful, not only for systems where energy transfer should take place in hazardous, humid and wet areas, but also for mobile and very small systems. It finds today a widespread use in several fields, such as industry, automotive, medicine and smart buildings. For a good efficiency and a high-power transmission, the sending and the receiving coils should be perfectly aligned and close to each other. A misalignment between the sender and the receiver becomes unavoidable especially for systems with movable parts. This thesis aims to improve the transmitted power, the mutual inductance, the power at the load, and consequently the power transmission efficiency in case of lateral misalignment between the sending and receiving coils and at large coil-to-coil distance. For this purpose, we adopt a multi input single output (MISO) coil system able to orientate the issued magnetic field to the receiving coil by powering the neighbouring sending coils of the active ones with a weak current in the opposite direction. Furthermore, an analytical model of the used coils and an accurate three-dimensional model of the system have been developed to calculate the induced voltage, the induced current, and the equivalent mutual inductance. Both simulation and experimental results prove that the proposed multi-coil inductive system having an hexagonal arrangement and the sending coils, which have the half diameter of the receiving coil, is able to improve significantly the transmitted power in case of lateral misalignment and big air gap. The novel MISO system reaches better efficiency beginning with an air gap of 50% of the sending coil diameter, and a misalignment of 28% of the sending coil diameter. It reaches the double of the transmitted power of the conventional two-coil inductive system at 50 mm air gap (corresponding to 166% of the sending coil diameter) and at 10 mm lateral misalignment (corresponding to 33% of the sending coil diameter). In order to improve the equivalent mutual inductance between the primary and secondary sides and to avoid energy losses, we propose a receiver detection method using the sending coils themselves as detectors. Thereby, only the sending coils, under the receiver, are activated and the others remain switched off. For that, the peak of the AC current of the sending coils, is measured and then compared to a detection threshold. The excitation strategy of the active sending coils is optimized corresponding to the receiving coil position. The novel excitation strategy increases the mutual inductance by 85% and the induced voltage by 13% at perfect alignment and by 30% and 10% respectively at 10 mm lateral misalignment, in comparison to the MISO system without a receiver detector and coil-excitation strategy. In order to increase the transmitted power by resonance, different system topologies have been investigated, such as series-series SS, series-parallel SP, parallel-series PS, and parallel-parallel PP topologies for different levels of load impedance. The results show that a multi-coil inductive system with parallel-parallel PP topology realizes a higher transmitted power than the other topologies for both high and low load impedance values. The proposed multi-coil inductive system is suitable for low-power systems, such as wireless sensors and biomedical implants, but can be also applied to higher range of power at a flexible position of the receiver. / Die induktive Energieübertragung ist interessant, nicht nur für Systeme, bei denen die Energieübertragung in rauen, feuchten und nassen Bereichen erfolgen soll, sondern auch für mobile und sehr kleine Systeme. Diese Art von Energieübertragung findet heute eine breite Anwendung in verschiedenen Bereichen, wie z.B. Industrie, Automobil, Medizin und intelligente Gebäude. Um eine gute Effizienz und eine hohe Energieübertragungsleistung zu realisieren, sollten die Sende- und Empfangsspulen perfekt ausgerichtet und nahe beieinander sein. Insbesondere bei Systemen mit beweglichen Teilen ist jedoch eine Fehlausrichtung zwischen Sender und Empfänger unvermeidlich. Diese Arbeit zielt darauf ab, die übertragene Leistung, die gegenseitige Induktivität, die Leistung an der Last und damit den Wirkungsgrad der Leistungsübertragung im Falle einer seitlichen Fehlausrichtung zwischen Sende- und Empfangsspule und bei großem Abstand von Spule zu Spule zu verbessern. Zu diesem Zweck wird ein Multi-Input Single-Output (MISO)-Spulensystem vorgeschlagen, das in der Lage ist, das ausgegebene Magnetfeld auf die Empfangsspule auszurichten, indem die benachbarten Spulen der aktiven Sendespulen mit einem schwachen Strom in der entgegengesetzten Richtung versorgt wird. Darüber hinaus wurde ein analytisches Modell für die verwendeten Spulen und ein genaues dreidimensionales Modell für das System entwickelt, um die induzierte Spannung, den induzierten Strom und die äquivalente gegenseitige Induktivität zu berechnen. Sowohl die Simulation als auch die experimentellen Ergebnisse belegen, dass das vorgeschlagene induktive Mehrfachspulensystem mit hexagonaler Anordnung und die Sendespulen, die den halben Durchmesser der Empfangsspule haben, in der Lage sind, die Sendeleistung bei lateraler Fehlausrichtung und großem Luftspalt deutlich zu verbessern. Das neuartige MISO-System erreicht einen besseren Wirkungsgrad, beginnend mit einem Luftspalt von 50% des Sendespulendurchmessers und einer Fehlausrichtung von 28% des Sendespulendurchmessers. Sie erreicht bei 50 mm Luftspalt (entspricht 166% des Sendespulendurchmessers) und bei 10 mm seitlichem Versatz (entspricht 33% des Sendespulendurchmessers) das Doppelte der Sendeleistung des herkömmlichen Zwei-Spulen-Induktivsystems. Um die äquivalente gegenseitige Induktivität zwischen Primär- und Sekundärseite zu verbessern und Energieverluste zu vermeiden, schlagen wir ein Verfahren zur Detektion des Empfängers vor, bei dem die Sendespulen selbst als Detektoren verwendet werden. Dabei werden nur die Sendespulen unter dem Empfänger aktiviert und die anderen bleiben ausgeschaltet. Dazu wird der Scheitelwert des Wechselstroms der Sendespulen gemessen und mit einem vorgegebenem Schwellenwert verglichen. Die Anregungsstrategie der aktiven Spulen wird entsprechend der Position der Empfangsspule optimiert. Die neuartige Anregungsstrategie erhöht die gegenseitige Induktivität um 85% und die induzierte Spannung um 13% bei perfekter Ausrichtung und um 30% bzw. 10% bei 10 mm seitlichem Versatz, im Vergleich zum MISO-System ohne Empfängerdetektor und Spulenanregungsstrategie. Um die übertragene Leistung durch Resonanz zu erhöhen, wurden verschiedene Systemtopologien untersucht, wie z.B. Serien-SS, Serien-Parallel-SP, Parallel-Series-PS und Parallel-Parallel-PP-Topologien für verschiedene Stufen der Lastimpedanz. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein MISO System mit parallel-paralleler PP-Topologie eine höhere Sendeleistung realisiert als die anderen Topologien für hohe und niedrige Last-Impedanzen. Das vorgeschlagene induktive Mehrspulensystem eignet sich für Systeme mit geringer Leistung, wie drahtlose Sensoren und biomedizinische Implantate, kann aber auch flexibler Position des Empfängers in einen höheren Leistungsbereich angewendet werden.

<p>From idea generation to conceptualization and development of products and technologies is a non-linear and iterative process. The work in this thesis follows a process that initiates with the review of existing technologies and products, examining their unique value proposition in the context of the specific applications for which they are designed. Next, the unmet needs of novel or emerging applications are identified that require new product or technologies. Once these user needs and product requirements are identified, the specific functions to be addressed by the product are specified. The subsequent process of design of products and technologies to meet these functions is enabled by engineering tools such as three-dimensional modelling, physics-based simulations, and manufacturing of a minimum viable prototype. In these steps, un-biased decisions have to be taken using weighted decision matrices to cater to the design requirements. Finally, the minimum viable prototype is tested to demonstrate the principal functionalities. The results obtained from the testing process identify the potential future improvements in the next generations of the prototype that would subsequently inform the final design of product. This thesis adopted this methodology to initiate the design two product-prototypes: i) an image-recognition-integrated service (IRIS) robotic hand for children and ii) cascaded multi-core vapor chamber (CMVC) for improving performance of next-generation computing systems. Minimum viable product-prototypes were manufactured to demonstrate the principal functionalities, followed by clear identification of future potential improvements. Tests of the prosthetic hand indicate that the image-recognition based feedback can successfully drive the actuators to perform the intended grasping motions. Experimental testing with the multi-core vapor chamber demonstrates successful performance of the prototype, which offers notable reduction in temperatures relative to the existing benchmark solid copper spreader. </p>