Advances in genomics allow researchers to measure the complete set of transcripts in cells. These transcripts include messenger RNAs (which encode for proteins) and microRNAs, short RNAs that play an important regulatory role in cellular networks. While this data is a great resource for reconstructing the activity of networks in cells, it also presents several computational challenges. These challenges include the data collection stage which often results in incomplete and noisy measurement, developing methods to integrate several experiments within and across species, and designing methods that can use this data to map the interactions and networks that are activated in specific conditions. Novel and efficient algorithms are required to successfully address these challenges. In this thesis, we present probabilistic models to address the set of challenges associated with expression data. First, we present a novel probabilistic error correction method for RNA-Seq reads. RNA-Seq generates large and comprehensive datasets that have revolutionized our ability to accurately recover the set of transcripts in cells. However, sequencing reads inevitably contain errors, which affect all downstream analyses. To address these problems, we develop an efficient hidden Markov modelbased error correction method for RNA-Seq data . Second, for the analysis of expression data across species, we develop clustering and distance function learning methods for querying large expression databases. The methods use a Dirichlet Process Mixture Model with latent matchings and infer soft assignments between genes in two species to allow comparison and clustering across species. Third, we introduce new probabilistic models to integrate expression and interaction data in order to predict targets and networks regulated by microRNAs. Combined, the methods developed in this thesis provide a solution to the pipeline of expression analysis used by experimentalists when performing expression experiments.

Global mobility, wireless technology and networked society are transforming the airport territory. These changes (hard factors) have been analysed in airport planning and transportation studies (Koll-Schretzenmayr 2003; Banister 2003; Schaafsma 2003; Knippenberger &Wall 2010; Salewski & Michaelli 2011; Convenz & Thierstein ed. 2014 et al) and architecture and design (Edwards 1998; Blow 2005; Cuadra 2002; Uffelen 2012; Gensler 2013 et al). But design strategies focusing on the passenger experience (soft factors) have not yet been thoroughly assimilated by architecture and design. On the theoretical level this dissertation spans the analysis of current methodologies in social studies (e.g. Castells 1996; Gottdiener 2000; Cresswell 2006; Urry, 2007; Elliott & Urry 2010; Adey 2010 et al) and their relation to architectural and urban studies concepts for the airport. The latter includes the “Airport as City” (Güller & Güller 2000), “Aviopolis – A Book about Airports” (Fuller & Harley 2005) and “Aerotropolis” (Kassarda 2010). This dissertation also explores IT and aviation industry interests at the interface between technology and air travellers. In this light aviation industry research and solutions (Amadeus 2011, SITA 2013) are important to consider, as well the philosophy behind who travels and for what purpose (Sloterdijk 1998; Koolhaas 1998; Gottdiener 2000; Urry 2007; Birtchnell & Caletrio 2014 et al). Here, the author’s previous field research at Frankfurt International Airport is relevant. We live more mobile lifestyles, we work in hybrid spaces (Suoza 2006; Duffy 2010 et al), and we consequently need to share information and collaborate differently. Using constant travellers as a case study, the impact of physical and informational mobility on perceptions of and behavioural patterns in the airport can lead to a deeper understanding of mobile work and the air travel experience. New design strategies can be developed from research about constant travellers, and the results may improve their work and air travel experience. The author’s combination of design approaches from architecture and social science (sociology and psychology) methodologies can better address the real needs of constant travellers in hybrid workspaces. It is hoped that this dissertation will inspire airport architects and designers, interaction designers and the aviation industry to pay more attention to users’ needs in their design processes.

No description available.

Satellites have revolutionized navigation by making it more universal, accessible and ac- curate. Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most widely used satellite navigation system in the world. However, it is prone to errors from various sources such as the ionosphere, troposphere and clock biases. In order to make the system very accurate and reliable, especially to meet the requirements of safety-critical applications, Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) have recently been designed in various countries to augment the GPS by providing corrections for its errors. An Indian SBAS called GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation), developed for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is currently being installed and proven for aviation and other use. The uncertain propagation delay of signals through the ionosphere is the most important contributor of error in GPS positioning, its maximal elimination is a major task of SBAS overlays. Ionospheric delays have steady, cyclic, and irregular components. The last types are of particular concern because they are unpredictable. This thesis deals with ionospheric depletion, an important phenomenon of this class that is specific to tropical regions like India and hence have not been well studied in the context of other SBAS systems of the world which cover mid-latitude domains. Depletion is an ionospheric phenomenon in which the density of electrons dips suddenly and then returns close to the previous value. It poses a challenge to the model adopted for ionospheric delay estimation since it may not be detectable by ground systems be- cause of its localized nature, and its occurrence and intensity cannot be predicted. In this work we have analyzed the depletion characteristics over the Indian region such as its distribution, frequency of occurrence, and depth and duration parameters. We have then studied and implemented an existing algorithm to detect a depletion from the Total Electron Content (TEC) data. This algorithm has been found to be inaccurate for estimation of depletion duration, and we have proposed an improved algorithm for depletion detection and shown it to be more suitable for the Indian SBAS, GAGAN. The algorithm utilizes multiple thresholds for depletion detection in order to improve performance in the presence of irregularities including noise. These thresholds are determined by analyzing real TEC data containing depletion events over the Indian region. The detected depletion events are those that have a strong likelihood of contributing large range errors and degrading GAGAN's reliability. The thresholds include depletion parameters such as the depth, duration, rate of change of TEC, and the rate of change of slope of the TEC curve. The characterization of depletion events over the Indian region yielded useful insights into the behaviour of the phenomenon. It was observed that the depletion events were invariably present post-sunset, between 1900 and 0200 hrs. This observation is consistent with the other studies on plasma bubbles so far. The average depth of the depletion was found to be about 3.31 meters of propagation delay while the strongest depletion corresponds to about 5.04 meters of delay. The latter observation impresses upon the need to detect and study the phenomenon of depletion since it is capable of causing a significant loss of accuracy and reliability to the system. The duration of the depletion was found to range from about 10 min to 2.35 hours. In addition, a statistical study of the relationship among the different parameters and a study devoted to now-casting of depletion was made to get a more quantitative insight into the phenomenon of depletion. Scintillation is another phenomenon occurring in the ionosphere which causes rapid fluctuations of phase and amplitude of the signal due to TEC variations in the ionosphere. The occurrences of depletion were observed to be accompanied by scintillation, as also noted in previous studies. The correlation of depletion and scintillation was studied using the data available for this research. A spatial characterization of the depletion events was also investigated using the same temporal TEC data from neighbouring stations which were relatively close to each other. This study addressed the movement of the plasma bubble with respect to the advection speed and direction with definite results. Attention was also devoted to the spatial dimension of the bubble as observed from various stations. Contributions to this variability in the apparent spatial extent comes from the observation of the depletion event from varying lines-of-sight corresponding to different GPS satellites which are also moving, and the differential `slicing' effect because of the location of the stations with respect to the plasma bubble, in addition to the evolution of the bubble during transit. The detection of depletion and its temporal characterization, in addition to the knowledge of its spatial extent and motion, can provide very useful insights on the behaviour of a depletion event and over the ionosphere in general. This knowledge and the mechanism for detection can help to improve the quality and dependability of the information provided by SBAS systems, in particular the Indian GAGAN system, for improved navigation in this part of the world. The present thesis aims to make a significant contribution in this direction.

L’objectif de la thèse « Etude et modélisation des renforcements de chaussées à l’aide de grilles en fibre de verre sous sollicitations de fatigue » est de caractériser le rôle du renforcement de la couche de surface en béton bitumineux d’une structure de chaussée soumise à des sollicitations de fatigue au moyen d’une grille en fibre de verre appelée « géo-grille ». Le comportement en fatigue du composite formé de béton bitumineux et de géo-grille est étudié en laboratoire par des essais de flexion en quatre points (4PB), pilotés en déformation avec un chargement sinusoïdal alterné, à 10°C et 25 Hz. Les éprouvettes testées sont des poutres prismatiques de grandes dimensions 630 x 100 x 100 mm3. Elles sont de deux types : en béton bitumineux (non-renforcées) et en béton bitumineux renforcé par deux géo-grilles (renforcées). Le dispositif d’essais est un banc de fatigue en flexion en quatre points prototype, qui respecte les normes européennes. Les résultats expérimentaux ont été utilisés dans la modélisation de l’évolution de l’endommagement en fatigue de deux types d’éprouvettes. Les lois d’endommagement des matériaux de type Bodin sont implantées dans le code aux éléments finis CAST3M. Deux catégories de modèles ont été conçues, respectivement monocouche et tri-couches. Chaque catégorie comprend un modèle de poutre non-renforcée et un modèle de poutre renforcée. Le modèle de Castro-Sanchez a été testé pour prédire l’endommagement et notamment le nombre de cycles à la rupture pour chaque type de poutre. / The objective of the PhD thesis « Study and modelling of the pavement reinforcement with glass fibre grid under fatigue loading » is to characterize the reinforcement role of the asphalt surface layer of a pavement subjected to fatigue loading with the glass fibre grid or « geo-grid ». The fatigue behaviour of the composite formed of asphalt mixture and geo-grid is studied in laboratory with four point bending tests (4PB) performed with sinusoidal waveform, at 10°C and 25 Hz. The tested specimens are 630 x 100 x 100 mm3 beams of two types: asphalt beams (non-reinforced) and asphalt beams reinforced with geo-grid (reinforced). A four point bending prototype device was designed to perform the fatigue tests on the big size asphalt specimens. The device respects the European Standards. The experimental results were used for modelling of the damage evolution under fatigue loading of the both types of beams. The damage laws of the materials are Bodin laws programmed in Cast3M finite element code. Two categories of models were conceived, respectively: one layer beam models and tri-layers beam models. Each category has a model of non-reinforced beam and a model of reinforced beam. Furthermore, Castro-Sanchez model was used to predict damage evolution and in particular the number of cycles to failure correspondent to the two types of beams.

Le travail de cette thèse s’articule autour des pratiques artistiques et urbaines à travers quatre métropoles situées en Australie et en Nouvelle-Zélande. Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland et Wellington, territoires artistiques majeurs dans ce continent, sont ici le socle d’une étude empirique et théorique. L’enjeu premier sera de situer chronologiquement et de comprendre, à partir de l’art occidental et de son évolution, quelles sont les problématiques artistiques inhérentes à l’in situ. Nous verrons comment un art produit extra-muros, tel que formulé aux Etats-Unis et en Europe (1960-1970), a mis en avant une prise en compte multiple du lieu par les artistes, mettant à contribution différentes données : spatiales, géomorphologiques, historiques, humaines et bien sûr contextuelles. Les appréhender nous amènera à mettre en valeur le premier tournant spatial, voire géospatial de l’art, soit sa propension, à un moment donné, de sortir de ses cadres traditionnels – dont le musée – pour conquérir de nouveaux territoires d’inscription. Pour mieux aborder ces villes postcoloniales océaniennes et les espaces qu’elles consacrent à la création artistique, nous verrons comment ces deux jeunes nations ont bâti et continuent à construire leur identité. Au regard du biculturalisme néo-zélandais, de la culture maorie et de la place de ce peuple, nous nous sommes attaché à saisir comment l’art extra muros existe à Wellington et dans des zones plus rurales autour d’Auckland. En Australie, les faits historiques sont venus renforcer un sentiment identitaire au travers de certaines formes de création urbaines tandis que d’autres restent à l’écart de ces problématiques locales – c’est le cas de l’évènement Sculpture by the Sea. Dans quelle mesure un territoire, au travers de ses quatre premières villes, peut-il par le biais de l’in situ dégager une géo-esthétique? Cette étude fondée sur l’observation et le croisement pluridisciplinaire des approches théoriques a montré et argumenté la tendance des villes-mondes à se réinventer, se régénérer par l’art jusqu’à devenir, à certains égards, un véritable outil territorial. J’ai proposé différentes clés de lecture pour faire comprendre comment se dégage des formes d’esthétique singulières dans le cadre d’un urbanisme volontariste quant à redessiner le visage de la ville (Sydney, Opera House). Puis, il s’agira de montrer à travers les démarches exemplaires, comment l’art, dans les villes océaniennes, évolue spatialement, souligne l’histoire et s’en détache. Le corpus d’œuvres, pertinent au vu de la priorité identitaire, multiculturelle et spatiale fera jour sur l’expression d’une géo-esthétique urbaine spécifique. Les connexions interculturelles entre indices vernaculaires (motifs, gestes, formes) et médiums contemporains attestent d’une géographicité de l’art, entre interprétation narrative des lieux, symbole et émancipation. / The work of this thesis revolves around the artistic and urban practices in four cities, in Australia and New Zealand. Those cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Wellington are major artistic hubs in Oceania, and form the basis of a theoretical and empirical study. The first challenge is to locate and understand chronologically, through a Western artistic lens and its evolution, what are the inherent nuances of the in situ art. We will see how art produced extramurally, as represented in the United States and Europe (1960-1970), and noted on multiple accounts by artists, relied on various data: spatial, geomorphological, historical, human and contextual course. This understanding will lead us to the first example of space turning or geospatial art or propensity, which can be viewed as out of its traditional frameworks – which is to the museum, to conquer new territories of registration. To address these postcolonial Pacific cities and the culture they devote to artistic creation, we will see how these two young nations have built and continue to build their identity. In light of the New Zealand biculturalism, the value of Maori culture and the place of the people, we are committed to see how extramural art is represented in Wellington and in more rural areas around Auckland. In Australia, in some examples, the historical facts have reinforced a sense of identity through specific examples of urban creation while in other areas the historical contexts lead to politically charged issues; such is the case of the event Sculpture by the Sea. To what extent can a region, through its first four cities, lead us to rethink the in situ expression and geo-aesthetic that emerges? This study based on observation and cross disciplinary theoretical approaches and argues that the tendency of cities to reinvent worlds, regenerate through art until, is in some respects, a true territorial tool. I propose different readings to further understand how singular forms of aesthetics emerge as part of a proactive planning on redesigning the face of the city. Then it will show through best practices, how art, in the Pacific cities, changes space and emphasizes history and can become detached of context. This body of work is pertinent given the historical identity priority of Pacific cultures, and the contemporary multiculturalism and use of space will shed light on the expression of a specific urban geo-aesthetics. Intercultural connections between vernacular indices (patterns, gestures, shapes) and contemporary mediums attest to a geographicity art between narrative interpretation of places, symbol and emancipation.

The thesis focuses on design of 5 - square bridge foundation in Ostrava Svinov including covering of construction pits. The bridge is founded on the groups of drilled large diameter piles. Design and assessment is realized in program GEO 5. The thesis is divided into 6 parts: introduction, geotechnical circumstances, concomitant report, static calculations, technical report and documentation.

The master´s thesis focuses on design of underground sprinkler tank for a shopping centre Sconto in Hradec Králové. The purpose of this thesis is to design and to analyse all parts of this construction. These parts are the roof, the bottom plate and the wall, which is represented by secant piles. Due to the high level of the ground water which causes a great pressure on the bottom of the tank, the solution of the bottom plate represents very important part of this thesis. There were used two programs for an analysis, Scia Engineer 2013 and FIN EC – Beton 3D. Furthermore, the work contains a view and a brief description of methods used for sheeting of foundation pits of a circular cross-section. In the end, this thesis contains the design of two other solutions of bottom plate and its economic comparison.

Dieser Beitrag fokussiert auf Ansätze, die der Abschätzung des deutschen Bestandes von Wohn- und Nichtwohngebäuden dienen. Insbesondere werden rasterbasierte Gebäudedaten sowie gemeindescharfe Schätzergebnisse eines bereits etablierten Ansatzes vorgestellt, analysiert und bewertet. In Verbindung mit modernen Daten der amtlichen Geoinformation (Geobasisdaten) zeichnen sich neue, innovative Möglichkeiten ab, um künftig auf kleinräumiger Ebene den Gebäudebestand zu bestimmen. Das Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung (IÖR) verfolgt vor diesem Hintergrund mit dem Projekt „Raumbezogenes Data Mining“ das Ziel, analytische Potenziale und Visualisierungsmöglichkeiten von zeitgemäßen Methoden des Data Mining und der Knowledge Discovery für die Raumforschung zu erschließen und in der Perspektive verborgene planungsrelevante Raummuster und Zusammenhänge im hochdimensionalen Geodatenbestand zu extrahieren.

Satire erlaubt alles – so die Aussage einiger Comedians und Freunde des gepflegten Spöttelns. Doch wenn politisches Kabarett dazu beiträgt, Falschinformationen und Fehlinterpretationen zu verbreiten – darf Satire dann immer noch alles? Trägt nicht auch das politische Kabarett Verantwortung für eine adäquate Faktendarstellung anstelle einseitiger Politisierung? Satire blendet leider auch einige Fakten und Wirkbezüge in der Klimadebatte und den wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen aus. Dass diese Blindheit und Ignoranz nicht zwingend zuträglich für eine gesellschaftliche Entwicklung und die Aufgeklärtheit einer Gesellschaft sind, liegt auf der Hand – aller Freiheit politischer Satire zum Trotz. Auch wenn zu viel Informationen und Wissen, und erst recht ambigue und widersprüchliche Daten, zu Verwirrungen und häufig nicht zur Irritation der eigenen (festgefahrenen) Weltbilder führen können, soll dieser Beitrag die Vielfalt der Daten und Interpretationsspielräume aufzeigen und zu mehr factfulness in der Klimadiskussion motivieren. / Satire allows everything - so the statement of some comedians and friends of the cultivated mockery. But if political cabaret contributes to spreading misinformation and misinterpretations - is satire still allowed to do everything? Doesn't political cabaret also bear responsibility for an adequate presentation of facts instead of one-sided politicization? Unfortunately, satire also ignores some facts and causal relations in the climate debate and scientific knowledge. It is obvious that this blindness and ignorance is not necessarily conducive to social development and the enlightenment of a society - despite all the freedom of political satire. Even if too much information and knowledge, and even more so ambiguous and contradictory data, can lead to confusion and often not to the irritation of one's own (deadlocked) world views, this contribution is intended to show the diversity of data and scope for interpretation and motivate more factfulness in the climate debate.