Throughout history, humankind has looked to the natural world for understanding the foundations of life and the essence of existence. Emphasizing states of sedimentary material, as physical and metaphorical reference to the cyclical complexion of life/death, growth/decay, transformation/stasis…I investigate the meaning of familial roots, reimagining humanity’s relationship to earth. The ways in which this connection can be understood are dependent on visual or symbolic representations and through experiential knowledge of sensing physicality and materiality.

Hybrid design technologies, a combination of physical crafting, construction or art, and computing, have the potential to broaden participation in computing by appealing to youth through existing interests and hobbies. Expanding participation in computing is important because computational thinking, for example debugging, is a set of skills fundamental for success in our society. Youth can participate in and gain exposure to multiple disciplines with various hybrid design technologies. Yet alternative high school students, those labeled failing and been moved from the conventional school to a facility that focuses on building adult skills and remediated instruction, are not often the beneficiaries of innovative learning environments. There is reason to believe that these students could benefit from a new way of learning with new hybrid technologies including learning about debugging, art and craft, technology design, and aspects of computer programming. This dissertation investigates whether a novel hybrid technology can provide alternative high school students with new forms of access to computation and encourage participation in debugging. This dissertation will serve as a multi-faceted report of one cycle of design, implementation, analysis, and refinement of a hybrid technology intervention with a diverse, oft ignored, and challenging population. In this project, students at an alternative high school worked to create interactive pets, similar to some commercially available, popular toys and then shared them with the community. The pets were virtual, existing on the computer screen, and tangible, existing in the physical world. Students worked predominantly by reusing and modifying existing programming code. In the end, there were a number of encouraging results, such as observed instances of high engagement, success in dealing with programming bugs, and the connections some students made to computing and mistake making. There were also some areas in which the design and implementation could be improved for future iterations, namely through refinement of the activities and technologies to encompass a wider range of student interests, a more concentrated effort to cultivate a nurturing community of designers, and a more consistent fostering of motivation for and understanding of the final product and its intended audience.

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Object detection is a fundamental problem in computer vision. Impressive results have been achieved on large-scale detection benchmarks by fully-supervised object detection (FSOD) methods. However, FSOD approaches require tremendous instance-level annotations, which are time-consuming to collect. In contrast, weakly supervised object detection (WSOD) exploits easily-collected image-level labels while it suffers from relatively inferior detection performance. This thesis studies hybrid learning methods on the object detection problems. We intend to train an object detector from a dataset where both instance-level and image-level labels are employed. Extensive experiments on the challenging PASCAL VOC 2007 and 2012 benchmarks strongly demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, which gives a trade-off between collecting fewer annotations and building a more accurate object detector. Our method is also a strong baseline bridging the wide gap between FSOD and WSOD performances. Based on the hybrid learning framework, we further study the problem of object detection from a novel perspective in which the annotation budget constraints are taken into consideration. When provided with a fixed budget, we propose a strategy for building a diverse and informative dataset that can be used to optimally train a robust detector. We investigate both optimization and learning-based methods to sample which images to annotate and which level of annotations (strongly or weakly supervised) to annotate them with. By combining an optimal image/annotation selection scheme with the hybrid supervised learning, we show that one can achieve the performance of a strongly supervised detector on PASCAL-VOC 2007 while saving 12:8% of its original annotation budget. Furthermore, when 100% of the budget is used, it surpasses this performance by 2:0 mAP percentage points.

The first chapter of this thesis presents an introduction to sol-gel methodology whose usefulness as a synthetic route will be demonstrated with two applications in chromatography. The first application involves the fabrication of a capillary micro-extraction (CME) device by coating a phenyl functionalized extracting phase on the inner surface of a fused silica capillary for analyte pre-concentration. The device was coupled on-line to a RP-HPLC system and practicality was demonstrated using allergens as target analytes. The allergens chosen as model analytes are typically found in fragrance products and food. Most of the 26 fragrance allergens that are monitored by various government authorities have a phenyl organic moiety (a strong chromophore), thus making them appropriate probes for exploring the extraction efficiency of the coating using a UV detector. The CME device showed ppt level limit of detection which makes it suitable for trace analyses of allergens and similar compounds in a variety of matrices. The second application explores the feasibility of using sol-gel derived chromia-based stationary phase in gas chromatographic columns. The organic moiety of the stationary phase was derived from Ucon 75-H-90,000 while the inorganic backbone was prepared using chromium(III) dichloride hydroxide - methacrylic acid - aqua complex, 40% in isopropanol/acetone . Usefulness of prepared chromia-based GC stationary phase was examined for petrochemical application. Promising results were obtained using aliphatic-aromatics, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, BTEX test mixture, cycloalkanes, branched alkanes and akylbenzenes. The column was able to perform without degradation despite being rinsed multiples times sequentially with the following solvents: dichloromethane, methanol, water and finally methanol again. Maximum theoretical plate number calculated is around 2,400 plates/m. The plate number clearly needs improvement but is a promising result for the newly explored chromia-based stationary phase. The maximum programmable temperature is 250oC which is comparable with similar commercially available polar stationary phases.

The purpose of this qualitative macromarketing investigation is to explore the issue of the sustainability of marketing systems. Drawing on complex systems thinking, an alternative logic of marketing systems and a methodological basis for interpreting communicated meanings are developed. The alternative logic of marketing systems recognises the unity of a difference between a marketing system and its environment. This insight has become a cornerstone for synthesising the systeming methodology. Systeming comprises the philosophy, the model, and the method of interpreting communication-as-self-observation of marketing system agents. Data, communication by hybrid car manufacturers and consumers, were collected from netnographic sources such as corporate websites, reports posted online, weblogs, and consumer forums. The interpretation of these data was accomplished using systeming procedures, e.g. communication analysis, distinction identification, re-entry description, and logical level tracking. The systeming analysis of the hybrid car marketer and consumer communications illustrates that meaning-creation in the system is underpinned by purposeful human behaviour in reducing complexity of marketplace experience into a meaningful pattern, sustainability. Both manufacturers and consumers claim to become sustainable in reference to being unsustainable by creating self-referential differences, operating in different interaction contexts, and expanding meaning paradoxes. The interpretation shows that interactive meaning-creation in the system is inherently contradictory. Manufacturers expand (give a logical form to) contradictions through introducing hierarchical meaning structures, temporality, new functions, and communicative transvection. Consumers deal with the contradictions through enriching co-creation experiences and learning the proper continuation of specific hybrid car driving practices. The significant insight gained from this investigation is that the hybrid car marketing system is not a passive entity; it is the locus of purposefully expanding meanings. Two modes of sustainability with regard to the hybrid car marketing system can be distinguished: the content of communication that denotes enacted meanings of sustainability and the form of communication that indicates how sustainable these sustainability enactments are. The content/form distinction implies that the sustainability of the hybrid car marketing system is a matter of interactive meaning-creation between system agents. The sustainable development process, in at least a mobility domain, is driven by purposeful social interaction rather than static product attributes. This investigation is innovative because it a) offers a conceptualisation of a marketing system as a meaning flow; b) synthesises and compiles a methodology and method for interpreting communication in a marketing system; c) reveals systemic insights into the hybrid car marketing system; d) characterises the sustainability dimension of the hybrid car marketing system; e) explains a conceptual ground for reconciling the marketing system and society; f) provides a general macromarketing perspective to scrutinise recent conceptual developments in the marketing discipline; g) unifies marketing systems thinking with recent advancements in the marketing discipline, such as the service-dominant logic, and consumer culture theory; and, also, h) provides recommendations for a number of micro-managerial situations from a holistic perspective.

The plasminogen activator (PA) system plays an important role in cell adhesion, migration and invasion, and may require the coordinated expression of various proteins. The human urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) receptor (uPAR) is a central protein component of the PA system. By binding its ligand uPA, uPAR can direct proteolysis of the extracellular matrix. Also, it is now apparent that uPAR can initiate proteolytic independent signal transduction to influence angiogenesis, inflammation, wound repair and tumour progression. To determine whether any novel proteins interacted with uPAR, a yeast two-hybrid screening analysis was undertaken using alternate uPAR domain constructs as baits. These included full-length three domain uPAR (uPAR-DIDIIDIII), two domain uPAR (uPAR-DIIDIII), and each individual uPAR domain (uPAR-DI, uPAR-DII and uPAR-DIII). A number of proteins were identified as putative candidate interactors for the alternate constructs, with two of special interest for uPAR-DIDIIDIII. These were the heat shock protein Mrj, and the extracellular matrix protein fibulin-2. The protein Mrj was shown to bind uPAR both in vitro and in vivo using GST-pull down and co-immunoprecipitation assays respectively. The GST-pull down assay identified the interaction between Mrj and uPAR dependent on the C-terminal domain of Mrj and DI of uPAR. Using in vivo co-immunoprecipitation analysis, Mrj also bound to uPAR. Preliminary data suggest the association between uPAR and Mrj may play a role in the regulation of apoptosis. In regard to the uPAR interactor of fibulin-2, a calcium dependent binding interaction with uPAR was identified using the GST-pull down assay. However due to the large molecular weight and stringent conditions needed to solubilise fibulin-2, it was not possible to co-immunoprecipitate both uPAR and fibulin-2. Together, the identification of both Mrj and fibulin-2 amongst other candidate interactors of uPAR presented here provides further insight into the intricate relationship between uPAR and other proteins which may influence a range of biological functions.

<p>Two types of novel framework materials, including six organically templated silicogermanates and five hybrid fluorotitanates, have been synthesized, and their structures have been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Their structures and the interactions between the organic and inorganic species are discussed in some detail.</p><p>The frameworks of the six silicogermanates, SU-9, SU-10, SU-11, SU-12, SU-14 and SU-21, are built up from either tetrahedra exclusively, or from mixed polyhedra. SU-9, SU-10 and SU-11 consist only of tetrahedra, and SU-12, SU-14 and SU-21 are built up from mixed polyhedra. In all silicogermanates, Si and Ge share the tetrahedrally coordinated positions, and only Ge occupies the 5- and 6-coordinated positions.</p><p>The frameworks of SU-9, SU-10 and SU-11 belong to zeolite frameworks. SU-9 and SU-10 are built up from the same periodic building units (PBUs) that are formed by 4/4-4 units, and they adopt the known zeolite framework types AST and ASV, respectively. SU-11 is built up from 5-1 units and adopts the known zeolite framework type MFI. This is the first time that the frameworks of AST, ASV and MFI have been prepared in silicogermanate form.</p><p>The 3-D frameworks of SU-12 and SU-14 contain (Ge,Si)₇ composite building units that form one-dimensional 24-ring channels along the <i>c</i> axis. Their structures contain intersecting channels. SU-12 contains 8-, 10- 12- and 24-ring channels; while SU-14 has 9-, 10-, 12- and 24-ring channels. SU-21 is a two-dimensional framework structure containing 10-ring channels. It is the first silicogermanate with the template covalently bonded to Ge.</p><p>All silicogermanates were synthesized by using organic amines as templates. The templates play a very important role in directing the structure of the inorganic framework.</p><p>The obtained five hybrid fluorotitanates are SUF-1, SUF-2, SUF-3, SUF-4 and SUF-5. Their hybrid frameworks are built up from fluorotitanate anions, N-containing cations and crystal water/oxonium cations. Zero-dimensional fluorotitanate clusters are normally obtained when cyclic organic amines such as 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane (DABCO) and piperazine are used. Increasing the pH value of the starting solutions led to more condensed fluorotitanate anions, from isolated octahedra to pairs and eventually chains of octahedra. The formation of the hybrid frameworks of fluorotitanates is strongly dependent on hydrogen bonds between the fluorotitanate anions, N-containing organic cations and water molecules/oxonium ions.</p>

<p>Autonomous robots typically rely on internal representations of the environment, or maps, to plan and execute their tasks. Several types of maps have been proposed in the literature, and there is general consensus that different types have different advantages and limitations, and that each type is more suited to certain tasks and less to others. Because of these reasons, it is becoming common wisdom in the field of mobile robotics to use hybrid maps that integrate several representations, usually of different types. Hybrid maps provide scalability and multiple views, allowing for instance to combine robot-centered and human-centered representations. There is, however, little understanding of the general principles that can be used to combine different maps into a hybrid one, and to make it something more than the sum of its parts. There is no systematic analysis of the different ways in which different maps can be combined, and how they can be made to cooperate. This makes it difficult to evaluate and compare different systems, and precludes us from getting a clear understanding of how a hybrid map can be designed or improved.</p><p>The investigation presented in this thesis aims to contribute to fill this foundational gap, and to get a clearer understanding of the nature of hybrid maps. To help in this investigation, we develop two tools: The first one is a conceptual tool, an analytical framework in which the main ingredients of a hybrid map are described; the second one is an empirical tool, a new hybrid map that allows us to experimentally verify our claims and hypotheses.</p><p>While these tools are themselves important contributions of this thesis, our investigation has resulted in the following additional outcomes:</p><p>• A set of concepts that allow us to better understand the structure and operation of hybrid maps, and that help us to design them, compare them, identify their problems, and possibly improve them;</p><p>• The identification of the notion of synergy as the fundamental way in which component maps inside a hybrid map cooperate.</p><p>To assess the significance of these outcomes, we make and validate the following claims:</p><p>1. Our framework allows us to classify and describe existing maps in a uniform way. This claim is validated constructively by making a thorough classification of the hybrid maps reported in the literature.</p><p>2. Our framework also allows us to enhance an existing hybrid map by identifying spots for improvement. This claim is verified experimentally by modifying an existing map and evaluating its performance against the original one.</p><p>3. The notion of synergy plays an important role in hybrid maps. This claim is verified experimentally by testing the performance of a hybrid map with and without synergy.</p>

A nitrogen fertility study with Vaughn’s hybrid bermudagrass conducted on a Crider silt loam soil (fine, silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Paleudalfs) over three (3) years (2008-2011) at the Highland Rim Research and Education Center near Springfield, Tennessee is evaluated in this manuscript. Nitrogen applications are evaluated in both irrigated and non-irrigated plots at five (5) different application rates: 0, 56, 112, 168, and 224 kg N ha-1. These rates are applied beginning in late April, and three (3) additional times upon harvests occurring in June, July, and August. Irrigation plots receive enough water to bring total weekly water up to 2.24 cm/plot whenever rainfall is less than that amount. Normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) measurements are collected mid harvest and on harvest dates to investigate new nitrogen status indicators between Vaughn’s hybrid bermudagrass yields. Plant tissue samples are collected at harvest. Soil samples are collected mid harvest to investigate soil nitrate nitrogen and its relationship with bermudagrass yields. The results of the study show irrigation has no effect on yields during the period of this study. There is a significant effect resulting from the interaction between month and nitrogen application on yield. Investigation of this interaction reveals two (2) distinct periods of production potential during the growing season. A low to medium yielding period produces an average harvest yield maximum of 3.14 Mg ha-1. A medium to high yield period produces an average harvest yield maximum of 5.4 Mg ha-1. Based on an analysis of variance and mean separation, a nitrogen rate of 56 kg N ha-1 rate is recommended for harvests occurring during the low to medium yielding period, and a nitrogen rate of 113 kg N ha-1 is recommended for those occurring during the high to medium yielding period. NDVI is highly correlated with yield on date of harvest. The results also show NDVI is correlated with mid-harvest yields also, which suggests a possible development of using NDVI as a mid harvest nitrogen status indicator. The results show soil nitrate is not correlated with yield, but did indicate accumulation in the soil as the growing season progressed.