Intestinal tract cancer is one of the more common cancers in the United States. While in some individuals a genetic component causes the cancer, the rate of cancer in the remainder of the population is believed to be affected by diet. Since cancer usually develops slowly, the amount of oxidative damage to DNA can be used as a cancer biomarker. This dissertation examines effective ways of analyzing FLARE assay data, which quantifies oxidative damage. The statistical methods will be implemented on data from a FLARE assay experiment, which examines cells from the duodenum and the colon to see if there is a difference in the risk of cancer due to corn or fish oil diets. Treatments of the oxidizing agent dextran sodium sulfate (DSS), DSS with a recovery period, as well as a control will also be used. Previous methods presented in the literature examined the FLARE data by summarizing the DNA damage of each cell with a single number, such as the relative tail moment (RTM). Variable skewness is proposed as an alternative measure, and shown to be as effective as the RTM in detecting diet and treatment differences in the standard analysis. The RTM and skewness data is then analyzed using a hierarchical model, with both the skewness and RTM showing diet/treatment differences. Simulated data for this model is also considered, and shows that a Bayes Factor (BF) for higher dimensional models does not follow guidelines presented by Kass and Raftery (1995). It is hypothesized that more information is obtained by describing the DNA damage functions, instead of summarizing them with a single number. From each function, seven points are picked. First, they are modeled independently, and only diet effects are found. However, when the correlation between points at the cell and rat level is modeled, much stronger diet and treatment differences are shown both in the colon and the duodenum than for any of the previous methods. These results are also easier to interpret and represent graphically, showing that the latter is an effective method of analyzing the FLARE data.

The discovery of the ocular hypotensive effect of topically applied prostaglandins (PGs) has raised a number of questions about the mechanisms of action involved. The aim of the present thesis was to answer some of these questions. PGs reduce the intraocular pressure (IOP) by increasing uveoscleral flow through the ciliary muscle, but the exact mechanism is not known. Morphological changes may be involved. PGs are also involved in the inflammatory response. In the first study the aim was to investigate the effect of latanoprost, a prostaglandin F2 a-analogue, on the blood-aqueous barrier and the IOP restoration after long-term treatment. 26 glaucoma patients were treated with latanoprost (50 pg/ml) once daily for 6-12 months. Aqueous protein concentration was followed with a laser flare meter in 16 patients throughout this period. No change was observed. IOP increased slowly after withdrawal of treatment. It was concluded that latanoprost has no clinically significant effect on the permeability of the blood-aqueous barrier and that the IOP will return to pretreatment levels within a few weeks, indicating that any changes in the ciliary muscle morphology are reversible. In 20 healthy volunteers it was attempted to prevent the ocular hypotensive effect of latanoprost by inhibiting uveoscleral flow by a pronounced ciliary muscle contraction. For this purpose a high dose of the cholinergic agonist, physostigmine (1 drop 8 mg/ml alternate hours) was used. However, the effects on IOP of the two drugs were mainly additive most likely due to a short-lasting effect of physostigmine on the ciliary muscle. The progressive IOP reduction by physostigmine in the second study raised the question as to whether the drug reduces aqueous flow apart from enhancing outflow. On the contrary, in the third study repeated administrations of physostigmine, in 20 normal subjects, increased aqueous flow, measured with fluorophotometry, by about 25%. From studies of patients it is known that latanoprost twice daily has less ocular hypotensive effect than once daily. This was the subject of the two remaining studies. The possibility that latanoprost causes a short-lasting increase in aqueous flow was examined in 18 healthy volunteers. Application of a second drop in the morning would blunt some of the early IOP lowering effect of latanoprost. Once or twice daily applications had similar effect on aqueous flow, a tendency to an increase without any difference between the dose regimens. The next study confirmed the difference in effect on IOP between once and twice daily applications in 40 normal subjects. The difference remained even when one of the two applications was omitted after two weeks’ treatment. The results indicate that applying latanoprost twice daily induces a modest receptor desensitisation. / <p>Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1997, härtill 5 uppsatser.</p> / digitalisering@umu

Sensitivity analysis based on a chemical transport model (CTM) serves as an important approach towards better understanding the relationship between trace contaminant levels in the atmosphere and emissions, chemical and physical processes. Previous studies on ozone control identified the high-order Decoupled Direct Method (HDDM) as an efficient tool to conduct sensitivity analysis. Given the growing recognition of the adverse health effects of fine particulate matter (i.e., particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5)), this dissertation presents the development of a HDDM sensitivity technique for particulate matter and its implementation it in a widely used CTM, CMAQ. Compared to previous studies, two new features of the implementation are 1) including sensitivities of aerosol water content and activity coefficients, and 2) tracking the chemical regimes of the embedded thermodynamic model. The new features provide more accurate sensitivities especially for nitrate and ammonium. Results compare well with brute force sensitivities and are shown to be more stable and computationally efficient. Next, this dissertation explores the applications of HDDM. Source apportionment analysis for the Houston region in September 2006 indicates that nonlinear responses accounted for 3.5% to 33.7% of daily average PM2.5, and that PM2.5 formed rapidly during night especially in the presence of abundant ozone and under stagnant conditions. Uncertainty analysis based on the HDDM found that on average, uncertainties in the emissions rates led to 36% uncertainty in simulated daily average PM2.5 and could explain much, but not all, of the difference between simulated and observed PM2.5 concentrations at two observations sites. HDDM is then applied to assess the impact of flare VOC emissions with temporally variable combustion efficiency. Detailed study of flare emissions using the 2006 Texas special inventory indicates that daily maximum 8-hour ozone at a monitoring site can increase by 2.9 ppb when combustion is significantly decreased. The last application in this dissertation integrates the reduced form model into an electricity generation planning model, and enables representation of geospatial dependence of air quality-related health costs in the optimization process to seek the least cost planning for power generation. The integrated model can provide useful advice on selecting fuel types and locations for power plants.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-02-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T21:01:19Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 matsuoka_mt_dr_prud.pdf: 13818049 bytes, checksum: ffbf4629b778855c81e385452f044bfb (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Após a desativação da técnica SA, a ionosfera tornou-se a principal fonte de erro no posicionamento com GPS. O erro associado à ionosfera é diretamente proporcional ao conteúdo total de elétrons (TEC - Total Electron Content) presente ao longo do caminho da trajetória percorrida pelo sinal na ionosfera e inversamente proporcional ao quadrado da freqüência do sinal. O TEC, e conseqüentemente o erro devido à ionosfera, variam no tempo e no espaço e é influenciado por diversas variáveis, tais como: ciclo solar, época do ano, hora do dia, localização geográfica, atividade geomagnética, entre outros. A região brasileira é um dos locais que apresenta os maiores valores e variações espaciais do TEC e onde estão presentes diversas particularidades da ionosfera, tais como, a anomalia equatorial e o efeito da cintilação ionosférica. Desta forma, é importante a realização de pesquisas que visam estudar o comportamento do TEC, e conseqüentemente do erro devido à ionosfera no Brasil, que é um trabalho complexo devido aos diversos fatores que influenciam a variação do TEC, além das particularidades presentes na região brasileira. Estudos desta natureza podem auxiliar a comunidade geodésica brasileira, e demais usuários do GPS, no entendimento das limitações impostas pela ionosfera nas regiões de interesse. Devido à natureza dispersiva da ionosfera, o estudo do comportamento do TEC no Brasil pode ser realizado utilizando os dados GPS de receptores de dupla freqüência pertencentes à RBMC (Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo). Adicionalmente, para uma melhor análise, pode-se também utilizar dados das estações da rede IGS (International GNSS Service) da América do Sul. / In the SA absence, the ionosphere is the largest error source in GPS positioning. The error due to the ionosphere in the GPS observables depends on the signal frequency and Total Electron Content (TEC) in the ionospheric layer. The TEC varies regularly in time and space in relation to the sunspot number, the season, the local time, the geographic position, and others. The Brazilian region is one of the regions of the Earth that presents largest values and space variations of the TEC, being influenced by the equatorial anomaly of ionization and ionospheric scintillation. Therefore, it is important to study the TEC behavior in the Brazilian region. Due to the ionosphere dispersive nature, the TEC behavior in Brazil can be studied using GPS data from RBMC (Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo - Brazilian Network for Continuous Monitoring of GPS). Additionally, GPS data from IGS (International GNSS Service) network of the South America can also be used in the experiments.

Since six decades the understanding of interplanetary propagation of solar flare accelerated, energetic charged particles in the inner heliosphere has not yet achieved sufficient closure. The essential mechanisms acting on these charged particles, which perform helical orbits along the large-scale magnetic field lines as probes, have already been identified. However, in particular the impact of the three-dimensional, small-scale magnetic fluctuations on the particles' trajectories has not yet been fully understood. These superimposed disturbances are expected to interact with the charges via resonance principle – leading to both field-aligned scattering and diffusive cross-field displacements of the particles' guiding center. Since numerical solutions and known theoretical formulations have failed to verify the measurements so far, Ruffolo's equation – which is a special formulation of the Fokker-Planck equation – is applied to take account of the current knowledge about field-parallel transport; The partial differential equation is extended to a two-dimensional model within the ecliptic plane by a spatial diffusion term perpendicular to the field. We assume an idealized Archimedean field neither with polarity changes nor large-scale disturbances such as traveling magneto-hydrodynamic shock waves or magnetic clouds. The transport equation is solved numerically by finite differences. For typical ratios of perpendicular to parallel diffusion coefficient as deduced from theory, various fits have been found in good agreement with multi-spacecraft measurements. Some events and the occurrence of observed sudden flux drop-outs suggest that scattering on magnetic field irregularities significantly varies from one flux tube to another. In addition to the already existing, but sparse set of particle observations at different positions, once the current solar minimum has passed by, a new set will be available from the recently launched STEREO satellites.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第19503号 / 理博第4163号 / 新制||理||1598(附属図書館) / 32539 / 京都大学大学院理学研究科物理学・宇宙物理学専攻 / (主査)教授 柴田 一成, 教授 一本 潔, 教授 嶺重 慎 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Yes / Solar activity, particularly solar flares can have significant detrimental effects on both space-borne and grounds based systems and industries leading to subsequent impacts on our lives. As a consequence, there is much current interest in creating systems which can make accurate solar flare predictions. This paper aims to develop a novel framework to predict solar flares by making use of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) X-ray flux 1-minute time series data. This data is fed to three integrated neural networks to deliver these predictions. The first neural network (NN) is used to convert GOES X-ray flux 1-minute data to Markov Transition Field (MTF) images. The second neural network uses an unsupervised feature learning algorithm to learn the MTF image features. The third neural network uses both the learned features and the MTF images, which are then processed using a Deep Convolutional Neural Network to generate the flares predictions. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first flare prediction system that is based entirely on the analysis of pre-flare GOES X-ray flux data. The results are evaluated using several performance measurement criteria that are presented in this paper.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第23703号 / 理博第4793号 / 新制||理||1686(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科物理学・宇宙物理学専攻 / (主査)教授 井岡 邦仁, 教授 萩野 浩一, 教授 田中 貴浩 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

The ionosphere is the conducting part of the upper atmosphere that plays a significant role in trans-ionospheric high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radiowave propagation. Solar activities, such as solar flares, radiation storms, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), alter the state of the ionosphere, a phenomenon known as Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID), that can severely disrupt HF radio communication links by enhancing radiowave absorption and altering signal frequency and phase. The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is an international network of low-power HF coherent scatter radars distributed across the globe to probe the ionosphere and its relation to solar activities. In this study, we used SuperDARN HF radar measurements with coordinated spacecraft and riometer observations to investigate statistical characteristics and the driving mechanisms of various manifestations of solar flare-driven SIDs in HF observations. We begin in Chapter 2 with a statistical characterization of various effects of solar flares on SuperDARN observations. Simultaneous observations from GOES spacecraft and SuperDARN radars confirmed flare-driven HF absorption depends on solar zenith angle, operating frequency, and intensity of the solar flare. The study found flare-driven SID also affects the SuperDARN backscatter signal frequency, which produces a sudden rise in Doppler velocity observation, referred to as the ``Doppler flash'', which occurs before the HF absorption effect. In Chapter 3, we further investigate the HF absorption effect during successive solar flares and those co-occurring with other geomagnetic disturbances during the 2017 solar storm. We found successive solar flares can extend the ionospheric relaxation time and the variation of HF absorption with latitude is different depending on the type of disturbance. In Chapter 4, we looked into an inertial property of the ionosphere, sluggishness, its variations with solar flare intensity, and made some inferences about D-region ion-chemistry using a simulation study. Specifically, we found solar flares alter the D-region chemistry by enhancing the electron detachment rate due to a sudden rise in molecular vibrational and rotational energy under the influence of enhanced solar radiation. In Chapter 5, we describe a model framework that reproduces HF absorption observed by riometers. This chapter compares different model formulations for estimating HF absorption and discusses different driving influences of HF absorption. In Chapter 6, we have investigated different driving mechanisms of the Doppler flash observed by SuperDARN radars. We note two particular findings: (i) the Doppler flash is predominantly driven by a change in the F-region refractive index and (ii) a combination of solar flare-driven enhancement in photoionization, and changes in the zonal electric field and(or) ionospheric conductivity reduces upward ion-drift, which produces a lowering effect in the F-region HF radiowave reflection height. Collectively, these research findings provide a statistical characterization of various solar flare effects on the ionosphere seen in the HF observations, and insights into their driving mechanisms and impacts on ionospheric dynamics. / Doctor of Philosophy / The Earth's ionosphere, extending from about 60 km to 1000 km in altitude, is an electrically charged region of the upper atmosphere that exists primarily due to ionization by solar X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation. The ionosphere is an effective barrier to energetic electromagnetic (EM) radiation and charged particles originating from the Sun or any other extraterrestrial sources and protect us against harmful space radiation. High frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio communication, broadly used for real-time medium and long-range communication, is strongly dependent on the state of the ionosphere, which is susceptible to solar activities, such as solar flares, solar energetic particles (SEPs), and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Specifically, we are interested in the impacts of solar flares. In this study, we use Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) HF radars, ground-based riometers, and coordinated spacecraft observations to investigate the driving mechanisms of various space weather impacts on the ionosphere and radiowave propagation following solar flares. We begin in Chapter 2 with a characterization of various kinds of ionospheric disturbances manifested in SuperDARN backscattered signal following solar flares. Specifically, we characterized HF absorption effects and frequency anomalies experienced by traveling radiowaves, also known as Shortwave Fadeout (SWF) and Sudden Frequency Deviations (SFDs), respectively. In SuperDARN HF radar observations, SFDs are recorded as a sudden enhancement in Doppler velocity, which is referred to as the ``Doppler flash''. In Chapter 3, we investigate a special event study that elucidates the nonlinear physics behind HF absorption caused by multiple simultaneous solar flares and flares co-occurring with SEPs and CMEs. In Chapter 4, we explore an inertial property of the ionosphere, known as sluggishness, and its dependence on solar flares can provide important information about the chemical proprieties of the ionosphere. We found that the enhanced solar radiation during a solar flare increases the molecular vibrational and rotational energy that in turn enhances the electron detachment rate and reduces ionospheric sluggishness. In Chapter 5, we describe a framework to estimate HF absorption observed by riometers following solar flares. We analyze the influence of different physical parameters, such as collision frequency and electron temperature, on HF absorption. In Chapter 6, we delved into the physical processes that drive the Doppler flash in SuperDARN observations following solar flares. We find, (i) the Doppler flash is predominately driven by change in the F-region refractive index and (ii) a combination of solar flare-driven enhancement in photoionization, and change in zonal electric field and(or) ionospheric conductivity reduces upward ion-drift, which produces a lowering effect in the F-region HF radiowave reflection height. Taken together, these research findings provide new insights into solar flare impacts on the ionosphere and could be used to improve forecasting of ionospheric space weather disturbances following solar flares.

Submitted by Biblioteca do Instituto de Física (bif@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-07-14T19:20:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcel N Oliveira_Mestrado_UFF.pdf: 4519413 bytes, checksum: c433d3349c9b78949e508a919bf89ad8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-14T19:20:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcel N Oliveira_Mestrado_UFF.pdf: 4519413 bytes, checksum: c433d3349c9b78949e508a919bf89ad8 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Um filamento solar entrou em erupção no dia 1 de Novembro de 2014, com início às 04:44 UT e uma duração de cerca de três horas, resultando em uma explosão solar (flare) do de classe C2.7. O flare foi associado com o desaparecimento súbito de um grande filamento. O filamento foi ejetado para o espaço, formando um núcleo de uma emissão de massa coronal (CME). A localização da explosão foi na região sudeste do sol (perto da borda oriental do sol), isto significa que a região não é geoefetiva. Uma tempestade de radiação, isto é, partículas energéticas solares (SEP) começaram a chegar à Terra em torno de 14:00 UT, atingindo a condição do nível S1 (menor) na escala NOAA de tempestades de radiação, em 2 de Novembro. Em coincidência com o início da tempestade de radiação S1 (SEP acima de 5 MeV), os telescópios Tupi localizados no IF-UFF, em Niterói – RJ, região que está localizada dentro da Anomalia do Atlântico Sul (SAA) detectou um excesso de múons, originados por partículas (prótons) relativísticas emitidas na explosão solar. Além disso, também foi encontrado em um aumento na intensidade de partículas observado no monitor de nêutrons localizado no Polo Sul. Isto significa que houve uma propagação transversal ao campo magnético interplanetário de partículas energéticas solares. No entanto, mostra-se que a difusão perpendicular sozinha não pode explicar estas observações, é necessária uma combinação com outros processos como uma velocidade muito alta, pelo menos de uma fração dos choques CME, perto do plano da eclíptica. / A solar filament erupted on November the 1st, 2014, started at 04:44 UT with a duration of about 3 hours, resulting in a solar flare of the type C2-7. The flare was associated with the sudden disappearance of a big filament. The filament was ejected to the space, forming the nucleus of a coronal mass ejection (CME). The explosion was localized in the southeast region of the sun (near sun’s oriental border), this means that the region is not geoeffective. A radiation storm i.e solar energetic particles (SEP) started to arrive on Earth around 14:00 UT, reaching the level S1 (minor) condition on the NOAA scale of radiation storms, on November the 2nd. Coinciding with the start of the S1 radiation storm (SEP above 5 MeV), the Tupi telescopes localized in IF-UFF, Niterói – RJ, region that is localized within the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) detected an excess of muons, originated from relativistic particles (protons) emitted on the solar explosion. Furthermore, an increase of the intensity of particles observed on the neutron monitor localized on the south pole. This means that a transversal, to the interplanetary magnetic field, propagation of solar energetic particles occurred. Nonetheless, is shown that the perpendicular diffusion alone can not explain this observations, a combination with other processes is necessary like a very high speed, of at least a fraction of the CME shocks, around the ecliptic plane.