Purpose: An important challenge for eye care practitioners is meeting the needs of an ever-increasing elderly population. Standard vision tests are inadequate for determining performance in real life situations. One test that was developed to address this issue is the Attended Field of View (AFOV) test (Coeckelbergh et al, 2004). This test was designed to assess the functional field of view when people are allowed to make habitual head and eye movements. The original AFOV test is no longer available. This research seeks to develop a replacement AFOV test and to demonstrate its reliability as an assessment tool. Methods: Two groups of participants were recruited. The first group consisted of seven participants between the ages of 15-41 years. The second group consisted of seven participants between the ages of 59–79 years. All subjects had visual acuities equal or better than 20/25 and no history of visual field loss. A computer-generated display was observed from a 60cm distance. The display consisted of 24 white circles on a gray background and one open circle (target). The circles were organized with one circle in the centre and eight located radially at three eccentricities (4, 8, and 12 degrees). Participants were required to locate the target circle and identify the gap direction. A response was considered correct when both the location and gap direction were accurate. Using a weighted staircase method based on presentation time each location was evaluated independently. Viewing efficiency [log (1/threshold presentation time)] was obtained for each location. The data was analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results: A comparison of viewing efficiency for the two age groups demonstrates that viewing efficiency is consistently lower for the older group at all three visits. The main effect of age was observed (F1,12=25.842;p=0.000). In the older group, a significant difference was found between the second and third visits. This difference was not found in the younger group. A main effect of eccentricity was found in both groups (F2,36=30.84;p<0.000), but no interaction was observed between eccentricity and group (F2,36=0.42;p=0.662). Viewing efficiency values in the older group were lower in all directions (main effect of age) (F1,96=150.36;p<0.000). Directional variations in viewing efficiency were observed showing higher values in the horizontal axes (directions Right and Left) than along the vertical axes (directions Up and Down) in both groups. A comparison of superior and inferior hemifield data shows consistent differences for both age groups. The superior hemifield (average of directions located superiorly to the horizontal axis) demonstrate higher viewing efficiency values (better performance) than the inferior hemifield. Conclusions: The use of the new AFOV test requires a practice time before its use in order to avoid the confound of a learning effect, but subsequent data is reliable in young people. The learning effect was more significant in older people and for this reason the use of the test should be preceded by a longer practice session in this population. When interpreting the results of this test one must account for eccentricity, direction, and age.

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film transistors (TFTs) are used as switching elements in large area active matrix liquid crystal displays and various image sensing devices for radiation detection. The noise inherent in the a-Si:H TFTs contributes to the overall noise figure of such devices and degrades the signal to noise ratio; therefore, the noise is an important factor in the design of the devices. The noise of the a-Si:H TFTs has been studied experimentally, but the origin of the noise is not understood. <p> This work calculates the noise of the a-Si:H TFTs based on a simulation of operation of the TFTs and the hypothesis that the device noise is due to the intrinsic noise of the a-Si:H material. An a-Si:H TFT with an inverted-staggered structure has been simulated by numerically solving the fundamental transport equations for various gate and drain-source voltages. The drain-source curves derived from the simulation agree qualitatively with the experimental results: both the linear and saturated regions are observed. The low frequency noise was calculated based on the charge density distribution in the channel obtained from the simulation and the known dependence of the noise in the a-Si:H on the charge density, Hooges relation. The calculated noise power increases with the drain-source voltage and is inversely proportional to the gate voltage or the effective channel length. The curves agree qualitatively with the experimental results. The calculated noise power agrees quantitatively with the experiments when the scaling parameter in Hooges relation, , is set to . This value agrees with the experimentally determined value for a-Si:H. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the low frequency noise in the a-Si:H TFTs is due to the material itself.

The use of herbicides in cropping systems is routine in western Canada as is the practice of rotating crops between cereals, oilseeds and pulse crops. Often, herbicides that are appropriate one year in the crop rotation are not compatible with the following crop. Additionally, certain herbicides are designed to target certain enzyme pathways that can interfere with amino acid synthesis. These pathways also exist in the microbial community, including Rhizobium species. Rhizobia have a unique symbiotic relationship with legumes. In return for a carbon source, rhizobia not only fix atmospheric dinitrogen (N2) for the plant, but also can increase soil N reserves for the following year. With herbicides targeting amino acid synthesis in both plants and microbes, there is a possibility that N2 fixation may be inhibited by the application of certain herbicides.<p> This project was designed to examine possible negative effects of herbicide application on N2 fixation in field pea (Pisum sativum L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The study included field, growth chamber and laboratory experiments in which the effects of pre- and post-emergent herbicides, as well as herbicide residues in soil were examined.<p> In the field experiments, some early season measurements suggested that herbicide application had a negative impact on various growth and N2 fixation parameters. However, as the season progressed, plants recovered from early herbicide damage and N2 fixation ultimately was relatively unaffected. Growth chamber experiments similarly revealed that N2 fixation was largely unaffected by herbicide application when the application rates were relatively low (i.e., at rates intended to simulate partial herbicide breakdown, and thus lower than the recommended field rate). Although, N2 fixation was suppressed where high rates of herbicide (i.e., greater than recommended field rate) were applied, the efficiency of the rhizobia to fix N2, (i.e., the amount of N2 fixed per unit nodule mass), was unaffected. This along with a laboratory experiment which monitored growth of rhizobia in vitro, confirmed that rhizobia were not directly affected by the herbicides used in this study and that overall N2 fixation was not inhibited directly by the application of these herbicides. It was concluded that any negative impact on N2 fixation caused by herbicides used in this study, was related to the impact of the herbicide on crop growth, and was not due to any direct effects of the herbicide on the rhizobia.

The thermal history of the Earth, from planetary accretion and core differentiation up to the present time, is of paramount importance for understanding our planet. The thermal evolution of the core and the mantle dictate the generation of the Earth's internal magnetic field and its evolution through time. In this dissertation, I study scenarios for the thermal and magnetic evolution of the Earth, using numerical simulations for mantle convection and implementing recent geochemical models for the mantle and core. The conditions for which a magnetic field can be generated in the Earth's core are studied using parameterized models for energy and entropy. The model devised in this project couples the results of the numerical simulations with the parameterized models for the core, to produce a global thermal and magnetic history, with feed-back between events happening in the mantle and the core.<p> The dissertation presents an analysis of the scenarios that can be constructed from implementing new constraints into the thermal models for the mantle and core and emphasizes the most relevant scenarios which can be applied to the Earth's evolution, consistent with physical parameters, and geochemical and magnetic constraints known to date. In addition, I discuss the relevance of some of the scenarios which appear incompatible with the Earth's evolution, but are reminiscent of the evolution of other terrestrial bodies.<p> The results of this work show that the most successful scenarios for the thermal and magnetic evolution require the presence of small amounts of core internal heating in the form of radioactive potassium, or a slightly increased concentration of radioactive elements at the base of the mantle, due to isolated, if the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle primordial reservoirs. Successful scenarios are also obtained if the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle. If the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle.

The Retarding Field Energy Analyzer (RFEA, RFA) is a simple and reliable diagnostic technique to measure the ion temperature in the Scrape-Off Layer (SOL) and edge of magnetic fusion devices. Design and operation features of a single-sided (facing the ion down stream side) RFEA for ion temperature measurements in the STOR-M tokamak are described. Its compact size (21 × 15 × 20 mm3 ) allows RFEA measurements without perturbing plasma significantly. Both ion and electron tem- perature have been measured by RFEA in the STOR-M tokamak. A method is proposed to correct the effects of ion flow on the ion temperature using the simultaneously measured Mach number. The measured electron temperature is consistent with the previously reported Langmuir probe data. Abnormal behavior of the RFEA has been observed in both ion and electron modes when RFEA is inserted deep into the plasma.

Field pepperweed (<i>Lepidium campestre</i> L.) is a cruciferous winter annual wild edible plant. It has potential medicinal properties as it contains a considerable level of glucoraphanin, which is the precursor for sulforaphane, a phase 2 protein inducer. Phase 2 proteins either directly or indirectly promote the scavenging of strong oxidants, and thus decrease the risk of many complex disorders such as atherosclerosis and Alzheimers disease. However, field pepperweed plants also contain glucosinalbin, an antinutritional compound. For field pepperweed to become a green vegetable crop or source of functional food, it is desirable to reduce or eliminate glucosinalbin. The biosynthesis of glucosinalbin may be down-regulated through biotechnology. To that end, in the present studies, experimental protocols for plant regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation have been developed for field pepperweed. Establishment of such methods represents a vital first step in the process of engineering field pepperweed for enhanced nutritional value.<p> The effect of explant type and various combinations of growth regulators on regeneration were evaluated in three accessions of field pepperweed (Ames 13179, 13180 and 15718). Among the three genotypes, accession Ames 13179 had the highest regeneration frequency under several conditions. Regeneration from hypocotyl explants was more rapid and prolific than regeneration from either mature leaf or cotyledonary explants. Segments from the acropetal end of the hypocotyls were more regenerable than those from the basipetal end. Evaluation of different hormonal combinations and concentrations identified an optimal growth regulator combination (3 mg L-1 thidiazuron / 0.1 mg L-1 naphthalene acetic acid) for shoot induction.<p> The plant regeneration system established was adopted for field pepperweed transformation using the acropetal segments of hypocotyls as explants. Two plant expression constructs were tested for down-regulating by RNA interference with the expression of a field pepperweed cytochrome P450 gene named LcCYP79B2. This gene may be involved in biosynthesis of glucosinalbin. Conditions for transformation such as pre-culture, co-cultivation time, and antibiotic concentration were evaluated. Transgenic plants were obtained and confirmed by histochemical staining of the reporter â-glucuranidase activity and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) analysis of the NPTII gene. The current study has established efficient plant regeneration and transformation protocols for field pepperweed. They should be useful for future molecular biology studies and biotechnological applications in this species.

A star graph consists of an arbitrary number of segments that are joined at a point which is called the vertex. In this work it is investigated from a pure theoretical point of view, in the framework of quantum field theory. As a concrete physical application, the electric conductance tensor is obtained. In particular it is shown that this conductance behaves differently according to whether the scattering matrix associated with the vertex of the graph has bound-state poles or not.

Recent research studies have confirmed that curved I-girders are capable of developing substantial shear postbuckling resistance due to tension field action and have demonstrated that the AASHTO LRFD equations for the tension field resistance in straight I-girders may be applied to curved I-girders within specific limits. However, the corresponding demands on intermediate transverse stiffeners in curved I-girders are still largely unknown. Furthermore, a number of prior research studies have demonstrated that transverse stiffeners in straight I-girders are loaded predominantly by bending induced by their restraint of web lateral deflections at the shear strength limit state, not by in-plane tension field forces. This is at odds with present Specification approaches for the design of transverse stiffeners, which are based on (1) providing sufficient stiffener bending rigidity only to develop the shear buckling strength of the web and (2) providing sufficient stiffener area to resist the in-plane tension field forces. In this research, the behavior of one- and two-sided intermediate transverse stiffeners in straight and horizontally curved steel I-girders is investigated by refined full nonlinear finite element analysis. Variations in stiffener rigidity, panel aspect ratio, panel slenderness, and stiffener type are considered. New recommendations for design of transverse stiffeners in straight and curved I-girder bridges are developed by combining the solutions from the above FEA studies with the results from prior research.

In present dissertation, field-driven quantum well (QW) device is proposed to obtain high-speed and high-efficiency all-optical wavelength converter (AOWC). A new type QW material, InGaAsP/InGaAlAs, is employed to improve not only quantum confined Stark effect, but also carrier life time during high electric field excitation. The bandwidth as well as efficiency can be enhanced. Thus, the slow gain recovery mechanism (~100ps) from conventional semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based AOWC can be overcome. The dispersion- and efficient- limited fiber-based AOWC (~10ps) can also be avoided. -3dB frequency bandwidth exceeding 40GHz for both electrical-to-optical and photocurrent response has been observed from InGaAsP/InGaAlAs waveguide of AOWC, leading to above 40GHz bandwidth in optical-to-optical response. A 40 Gb/s measurement setup is finally used for testing eye-diagram and bit-error-ratio in order to verify the data transmission of AOWC. Low power penalty with 0.5 dB comparing with back-to-back system performance is measured, suggesting InGaAsP /InGaAlAs waveguide is applicable to all-optical processing. By exciting short optical pump pulse in such waveguide, as short as 6.4ps probe pulse is observed, breaking through 10ps order in conventional type of QW and thus indicating the plausibility of performing 100Gb/s all optical processing.

The original design of a water-washed air cleaner, which developed by industry, only takes external design and assemblage into account, but the analysis of the overall performance wasn¡¦t studied. The air in the original water-washed air cleaner doesn¡¦t flow smoothly, which cause the inefficiency of the inlet and outlet flow, so there is a necessity to improve its performance. At beginning of this thesis study, the researcher designed the shape of the blades, and then analyzed the internal fluid field of the water-washed air cleaner. He also studied the impact of the efficiency of the aperture of diaphragm and the gap between blade and diaphragm. Finally, he obtained a series of result of simulation with simulating flow field produced by CFD to find out the best shape and amount of blades. The outlet flow performs better when £] is greater. However, when extreme values are between 50 degrees to 60 degrees, the smaller inclination of blade has better efficiency of the outlet flow. The amount of blades is not always positive to the efficiency. When the number of blades is more than 9, there is no significant increase of the outlet flow. The larger aperture of diaphragm has better efficiency, and decreases the gap between the blade and the diaphragm can increase outlet flow. Finally we obtained the result of optimization efficiency by Taguchi Method. After designing the best water washed air cleaner, the vibration is also simulated. The result of simulation showed that the nature frequency of overall structure is much higher than motor¡¦s, so that would not cause the resonant vibration.