Zugl.: Tübingen, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 2000.

Wien, Univ., Dipl.-Arb., 2005.

Überarb. Diss. Univ. Marburg, 2004.

Teilw. zugl.: Tübingen, Universiẗat, Diss., 2006.

This paper is a benefit-cost analysis of the coal development undertaken by Kaiser Resources Ltd. in the Crowsnest area of British Columbia. The benefit-cost analysis is undertaken from the "point of view" of residents living in the East Kootenay prior to the development. The analysis seeks to examine the production efficiency of the allocation of resources resulting from the project from the point of view of East Kootenay residents. The project will provide primary gross benefits in the form of payroll income to local labour. The social opportunity cost of the use of this local labour must be subtracted from payroll income to obtain the net primary benefit. The social opportunity cost of labour is the value of the marginal product of the labour in alternative employment. A secondary benefit will accrue to local factors in the form of an increase in local income through an expansion of service and retail industries. The expansion will result from the regional multiplier effect of the increase in payroll income in the East Kootenay. The general level of unemployment was high in the East Kootenay prior to the development, and I assume that sufficient local labour and facilities exist to supply the increase in demand for services without requiring importation of labour or capital. Income generated by the regional multiplier will therefore accrue to local factors, located in the East Kootenay prior to the development. Intangible benefits in the form of training in coal mining and an increase in the cultural activities of the community will also occur. The costs attributable to the project include the negative externality effect on wildlife and the deterioration of the quality of the environment in the East Kootenay. A decline of wildlife will decrease the value added by local labour in supplying services to non-resident and residents hunters. The consumers’ surplus obtained by residents from hunting will decline, since greater expenditures will be incurred elsewhere for the same or a lower quality of hunting. The tourist industry will also decline in the East Kootenay. The decrease in local value added due to a decline in the quality of hunting and tourism can be estimated. However, the cost to residents of the East Kootenay from deterioration of the quality of the environment cannot be estimated and the effect is denoted as an unmeasurable intangible cost. The cumulative present value of net measurable benefits at 9% is $l4,717.983. A decision concerning the desirability of the project cannot be made on the basis of this calculation alone. The unmeasurable intangible costs and benefits must also be taken into account. The community, using the relative valuations placed on increased regional income versus the quality of the environment as expressed in a political consensus, must decide how large the unmeasurable intangible costs and benefits are. The project is desirable when only measurable benefits and costs are considered. However, if the cumulative present value of net unmeasurable intangibles is negative and exceeds in magnitude the cumulative present value of net measurable benefits, the Kaiser project should be terminated. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

The thesis is motivated by the goal of doing initial investigation and experimentation for the development of Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) system using acoustic emission phenomenon. A great deal of research is going on for measuring the weight of moving vehicles. Weigh-in-motion of commercial vehicles is essential for management of freight traffic, highway infrastructure design and maintenance, and monitoring of heavy weight vehicles. The research work presents a methodology for correlating the weight of a moving vehicle with acoustic emission parameters (such as counts and energy). Furthermore, the correlation between the speed of vehicle with the acoustic emission parameters is developed. Preliminary analysis and experimentations were conducted for the study of propagation of acoustic signals in plate like structure and effect of dynamic loadings on Kaiser Effect. Initial testing revealed that there is a linear correlation between the impact force and the acoustic emission parameters. Also a polynomial regression of second order was found between the speed of vehicle and acoustic emission parameters. Road testing was conducted to investigate the correlation between weight of the vehicle and acoustic emission parameters. A linear relation was found between the weight of vehicle and acoustic emission parameters represented by counts, signal energy and absolute energy.

Os objetivos do presente trabalho foram: i) aprimorar o procedimento alternativo de mediação por íons metálicos da alcoólise da ligação peptidil-resina com vistas à obtenção de ésteres metílicos de peptídeos protegidos (Nα-acil-peptídeo protegido-OMe) em condição reacional branda e com alta eficiência; ii) investigar a aplicabilidade do procedimento para a preparação de Nα-acil-peptídeo protegido-SR e de Nα-acil-aminoácido-OR; iii) verificar se os Nα-acil-peptídeo-OMe obtidos atuariam como doadores de acila em reações de formação de ligação peptídica catalisadas por lipases. Para tanto, na busca da melhor condição de metanólise e comparação com os procedimentos usuais de alcoólise de ligação peptidil-resina, foram usados: o fragmento 22-24 da colecistocinina-33 humana (tripeptídeo modelo), Ca2+, Zn+2, Co+2 e Cu+2 (mediadores), as resinas oxima de Kaiser (KOR), p-hidroximetilfenil acetamidometil, ácido p-hidroximetilbenzóico e álcool p-benziloxibenzil (suportes poliméricos), misturas de MeOH com DCM, DMSO, NMP, THF ou DMF (solventes) e 25, 37, 50 ou 60°C. A condição ótima encontrada [KOR, Ca+2 (1 eq./eq. de peptídeo), 50% MeOH/DMF, 50°C] foi empregada com sucesso na preparação do Nα--acil-heptapeptídeo protegido-OMe, fragmento do peptídeo quimiotático M de Vespa mandarinia. Variações dessa condição foram usadas com sucesso nas preparações dos Nα-acil-tripeptídeo protegido-S(CH2)2COOEt e Nα-acil-Ala-OR (R: Me; Bzl), pois eles foram gerados com boas qualidades e rendimentos similares ou superiores aos obtidos via procedimentos usuais. Após desproteção de cadeias laterais, os Nα-acil-tripeptídeo-OMe e Nα-acil-heptapeptídeo-OMe foram usados em reações de acoplamento com Gly-NH2 em presença de preparações lipásicas comerciais. Estes ensaios inéditos também foram bem sucedidos, pois após adequação das condições reacionais, os Nα-acil-tetrapeptídeo-NH2 e Nα-acil-octapeptídeo-NH2 foram obtidos com boas qualidades e rendimentos de 65% (1 h) e 55% (24 h), respectivamente. / The present work aimed to: i) improve the alternative procedure based on mediation by metal ions of peptide-resin linkage alcoholysis to obtain fully protected peptide methyl esters (Nα-acyl-protected peptide-OMe) under mild reaction condition and with high efficiency; ii) investigate the usefulness of the alternative procedure for preparing Nα-acyl-protected peptide-SR and Nα-acyl-amino acid-OR; iii) verify whether the resulting Nα-acyl-peptide-OMe would act as acyl donors in peptide bond formation catalyzed by lipases. Thus, in the search for the best methanolysis condition and comparison with the usual procedures for that, we used: fragment 22-24 of human cholecystokinin-33 (model tripeptide), Ca+2, Zn+2, Co+2 and Cu+2 (mediators), Kaiser oxime resin (KOR), p-hydroxymethylphenylacetamido methyl resin, p-hydroxymethylbenzoic acid resin and p-benzyloxy benzyl alcohol resin (polymeric supports), mixtures of MeOH and DCM, DMSO, NMP, THF or DMF (solvents) and 25, 37, 50 or 60°C. The optimal condition found [KOR, Ca+2 (1 eq./eq. of peptide), 50% MeOH/DMF, 50°C] was used successfully for preparing Nα-acyl-protected heptapeptide-OMe, fragment 1-7 of the chemotactic peptide M produced by Vespa mandarinia. Variations of this condition were employed successfully for preparing Nα-acyl-protected tripeptide-SR and Nα-acyl-Ala-OR (R: Me, Bzl): indeed, these compounds were obtained in good quality and with similar or superior yields than those provided by usual procedures. After side chain deprotections, the Nα-acyl-tripeptide and Nα-acyl-heptapeptide methyl esters obtained were used in coupling reactions with Gly-NH2 in the presence of commercial lipase preparations. Those pioneer reactions were also successful, since after optimizing the conditions, Nalfa-acyl-tetrapeptide-NH2 and Nα-acyl-octapeptide-NH2 were obtained in good qualities with yields of 65% (1 h) and 55% (24 h), respectively.

Στα πλαίσια της διπλωματικής αυτής εργασίας στόχος μας είναι η εφαρμογή τεχνικών ψηφιακής επεξεργασίας σήματος σε γεωφυσικά σήματα και συγκεκριμένα κατά κύριο λόγο σε σήματα γεωηλεκτρικού δυναμικού μακράς διάρκειας και σε σήματα σεισμικών κυμάτων. Έχουμε εστιάσει την επεξεργασία μας στην διερεύνηση της εφαρμογής δυο τεχνικών επεξεργασίας ξεχωριστά και σε συνδυασμό. Η πρώτη αφορά την εκτίμηση της στιγμιαίας συχνότητας ενός σήματος μέσω του τελεστή Teager-Kaiser [Maragos_1991] στοχεύοντας σε μια εναλλακτική στα προβλήματα συμβιβασμού της διακριτικής ικανότητας, στην υπολογιστική πολυπλοκότητα, στην ανίχνευση αρνητικών συχνοτήτων και στην εμφάνιση cross-terms άλλων κλασικών μεθόδων. Η δεύτερη που είναι η Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) [Huang_1998] αφορά την ανάλυση των δεδομένων σε συνιστώσες AM-FM μορφής καθοδηγούμενη από τα δεδομένα, για την ανάδειξη χαρακτηριστικών δεδομένων μη-στάσιμων και μη-γραμμικών διαδικασιών. Ο συνδυασμός των μεθόδων είναι η εύρεση του συχνοτικού περιεχομένου ενός σήματος με την χρήση του τελεστή Teager- Kaiser από τις επιμέρους συνιστώσες που έχουν προκύψει με την μέθοδο (EMD) και ονομάζεται μετασχηματισμός Teager-Huang και αποτελεί μια εναλλακτική δυνατότητα στην εύρεση του φάσματος ενός σήματος. Στα επόμενα κεφάλαια περιγράφουμε τα υπό εξέταση σήματα, τους μηχανισμούς καταγραφής τους, μια ανασκόπηση των βασικών επεξεργασιών που έχουν υποστεί και την ανάλυση στην οποία υποβλήθηκαν στα πλαίσια της συγκεκριμένης εργασίας. Έτσι στο κεφάλαιο 2 παρουσιάζουμε τα υπό ανάλυση σήματα, αναφέροντας τις διαδικασίες με τις οποίες προκύπτουν και τις διατάξεις μέτρησής τους. Στο κεφάλαιο 3 κάνουμε μια ανασκόπηση των τεχνικών επεξεργασίας των σημάτων γεωηλεκτρικού δυναμικού μέχρι σήμερα. Στα κεφάλαια 4, 5 και 6 αναφέρουμε το θεωρητικό υπόβαθρο, την πειραματική διαδικασία επεξεργασίας που ακολουθήθηκε και τα συμπεράσματα με την εφαρμογή του τελεστή Teager, της μεθόδου EMD και του μετασχηματισμού Teager-Huang αντίστοιχα που αποτελούν πρωτότυπη εφαρμογή στον χώρο των γεωφυσικών σημάτων. Στο κεφάλαιο 7 αναφερόμαστε σε επεξεργασία που έχει γίνει υποβοηθητικά ή συμπληρωματικά της επεξεργασίας των προηγούμενων κεφαλαίων. Για τα πειράματα των κεφαλαίων 4-7, αναφέρουμε το όνομα του script αρχείου που τα υλοποιεί εντός παρενθέσεων δίπλα στο όνομα του πειράματος. Ο σχετικός κώδικας μπορεί να βρεθεί στο συνοδευτικό CD της διπλωματικής εργασίας. Στο κεφάλαιο 8 καταλήγουμε με τα κύρια συμπεράσματα και ορισμένες κατευθύνσεις περαιτέρω επεξεργασίας ως επέκταση της τρέχουσας διπλωματικής. / This work concerns the study and implementation of the Teager-Kaiser Operator, the Empirical Mode Decomposition method, and the combination of them known as Teager-Huang transformation.

Context. The paradigm of virtualization is rapidly changing due to hardware optimization and capabilities, while also due to rapid development and deployment strategies used in the modern day IT industry. Just like the positive changes, negative effects are necessary to occur in order to improve modern day technologies.This final year project takes a look at both the positive and negatives by exploring how containers are relevant to modern day computing and how they are affected by the patch that mitigates the Meltdown CPU vulnerabilities discovered in mid-2017 in terms of performance. Looking at the trade-off between information security and performance by taking an in-depth approach with a take on the core functionalities of the Linux Kernel. This paper succeeded to identify system call costs that between a secure and non-secure Linux kernel in the context of a containerized environment. Objectives. This study examines the effects of the KAISER security patch aimed to mitigate microprocessor vulnerabilities related to Meltdown. The investigated effect is the performance as the cost of system calls under the condition of a non-KAISER and a KAISER enabled Linux kernel. The intent is to increase the transparency of how a major security patch such as KAISER affects the system. Methods. A quantitative experimental study is conducted. One single Debian Stretch node is used with two different treatments. First micro-benchmarks are run without a KAISER enabled kernel which later is compared with a KAISER enabled kernel. The measuring point is the time one single system call takes in a sequence of 1 000 000 system calls. Results. First macro-benchmarks were conducted to see what a performance loss would look like on an application level. This proved to introduce many superfluous factors which made it difficult to use system calls as a measuring point. In the end a comparison between the two kernels was done. This indicated that the cost per system differed roughly 29% in time. Conclusions. The results indicate that a large performance loss is identified. However, this does not indicate that all activities on a computer will suffer from this loss. The performance loss the end-user will experience all depends on the amount of system calls generated from one single set of instructions. The performance loss can be neglected if these instructions generating a low amount of system calls. These results should notbe used as evidence to favor performance over information security in real life applications and implementations but rather as a motivation to meet the two aspects. / Kontext. Användning kring virtualisering håller snabbt på att förändras tack vare bättre hårdvaruoptimeringar och förmågor. Samtidigt ändras många olika utplaceringstrategier av datorresurser iden moderna IT industrin. Likväl alla positiva förändringar så introduceras det även effekter med negativa följder. Det här är ett examensarbete som ämnar att utforska båda dessa positiva och negativa effekter. Genom att titta på hur den populära virtualiserings tekniken som består av containers påverkas av uppdateringen som ska lösa sårbarhter i moderna processorer som går under namnet Meltdown. Påverkningarna definieras i form av prestanda vilket tillåter en djupare inspektering av de fundementala funktioner av Linux kärnan, där systemanrop kan användas som mätningspunkt. Metoden samt resultat i det här examensarbetet har med framgång lyckats hitta en kostnads skillnad per systemanrop under förhållandetav en osäker samt en säker Linux kärnna i en miljö som består av containers. Mål. Examensarbetet tittar på effekterna av uppdateringen som ska åtgärda sårbarheterna i moderna mikroprocessorer relaterade till Meltdown. De investigerade effekterna är definierade som prestandan där kostanden av systemanrop används som mätningspunkt. Meningen med det här examensarbetet att öka transparansen av vad en stor säkerhetsuppdatering gör med ett modernt datorsystem. Metod. En kvantitativ experimental studie utförs där en Debian Stretch nod används för att observera två olika behandlingar. Till början så körs det ”mikrobenchmarks” under förhållandet av en osäker Linux kärna. Sedan så följs detta upp med en säker Linux kärna. Till slut jämförs de olika resultat med varandra för att identifera hur mycket ett system anrop kostar under en sekvens av 10’000’000 systemanrop. Resultat. Som pilot studie utfördes det en rad olika tester som använder många olika verktyg för att se om det går att identifiera en prestanda förlust på applikations nivå. Genom att utföra tester utav den karaktären blev det tydligt att överflödiga faktorer förhindrade ett utfall som ansågs vara tillräcklig. Till slut hittades rätt typ av verktyg för att få fram ett utfall som visade att en prestanda skillnad på ~29% existerade mellan en osäker samt en säker Linux kärna. Sammanfattning. Resultatet indikerar att en prestanda förlust existerar. Dock påverkas inte den generella prestandan nödvändigtvis. Prestanda förlusten en slutanvändare kommer att uppleva beror helt på av hur stort antal systemanrop som genereras under sekvensen av aktiviteten som utförs. Resultatet som redovisas i detta examensarbete bör inte användas som motivation att prioritera prestanda över informations säkerhet i produktions miljöer men hellre som en motivation att kunna bemöta båda aspekterna.

Os objetivos do presente trabalho foram: i) aprimorar o procedimento alternativo de mediação por íons metálicos da alcoólise da ligação peptidil-resina com vistas à obtenção de ésteres metílicos de peptídeos protegidos (Nα-acil-peptídeo protegido-OMe) em condição reacional branda e com alta eficiência; ii) investigar a aplicabilidade do procedimento para a preparação de Nα-acil-peptídeo protegido-SR e de Nα-acil-aminoácido-OR; iii) verificar se os Nα-acil-peptídeo-OMe obtidos atuariam como doadores de acila em reações de formação de ligação peptídica catalisadas por lipases. Para tanto, na busca da melhor condição de metanólise e comparação com os procedimentos usuais de alcoólise de ligação peptidil-resina, foram usados: o fragmento 22-24 da colecistocinina-33 humana (tripeptídeo modelo), Ca2+, Zn+2, Co+2 e Cu+2 (mediadores), as resinas oxima de Kaiser (KOR), p-hidroximetilfenil acetamidometil, ácido p-hidroximetilbenzóico e álcool p-benziloxibenzil (suportes poliméricos), misturas de MeOH com DCM, DMSO, NMP, THF ou DMF (solventes) e 25, 37, 50 ou 60°C. A condição ótima encontrada [KOR, Ca+2 (1 eq./eq. de peptídeo), 50% MeOH/DMF, 50°C] foi empregada com sucesso na preparação do Nα--acil-heptapeptídeo protegido-OMe, fragmento do peptídeo quimiotático M de Vespa mandarinia. Variações dessa condição foram usadas com sucesso nas preparações dos Nα-acil-tripeptídeo protegido-S(CH2)2COOEt e Nα-acil-Ala-OR (R: Me; Bzl), pois eles foram gerados com boas qualidades e rendimentos similares ou superiores aos obtidos via procedimentos usuais. Após desproteção de cadeias laterais, os Nα-acil-tripeptídeo-OMe e Nα-acil-heptapeptídeo-OMe foram usados em reações de acoplamento com Gly-NH2 em presença de preparações lipásicas comerciais. Estes ensaios inéditos também foram bem sucedidos, pois após adequação das condições reacionais, os Nα-acil-tetrapeptídeo-NH2 e Nα-acil-octapeptídeo-NH2 foram obtidos com boas qualidades e rendimentos de 65% (1 h) e 55% (24 h), respectivamente. / The present work aimed to: i) improve the alternative procedure based on mediation by metal ions of peptide-resin linkage alcoholysis to obtain fully protected peptide methyl esters (Nα-acyl-protected peptide-OMe) under mild reaction condition and with high efficiency; ii) investigate the usefulness of the alternative procedure for preparing Nα-acyl-protected peptide-SR and Nα-acyl-amino acid-OR; iii) verify whether the resulting Nα-acyl-peptide-OMe would act as acyl donors in peptide bond formation catalyzed by lipases. Thus, in the search for the best methanolysis condition and comparison with the usual procedures for that, we used: fragment 22-24 of human cholecystokinin-33 (model tripeptide), Ca+2, Zn+2, Co+2 and Cu+2 (mediators), Kaiser oxime resin (KOR), p-hydroxymethylphenylacetamido methyl resin, p-hydroxymethylbenzoic acid resin and p-benzyloxy benzyl alcohol resin (polymeric supports), mixtures of MeOH and DCM, DMSO, NMP, THF or DMF (solvents) and 25, 37, 50 or 60°C. The optimal condition found [KOR, Ca+2 (1 eq./eq. of peptide), 50% MeOH/DMF, 50°C] was used successfully for preparing Nα-acyl-protected heptapeptide-OMe, fragment 1-7 of the chemotactic peptide M produced by Vespa mandarinia. Variations of this condition were employed successfully for preparing Nα-acyl-protected tripeptide-SR and Nα-acyl-Ala-OR (R: Me, Bzl): indeed, these compounds were obtained in good quality and with similar or superior yields than those provided by usual procedures. After side chain deprotections, the Nα-acyl-tripeptide and Nα-acyl-heptapeptide methyl esters obtained were used in coupling reactions with Gly-NH2 in the presence of commercial lipase preparations. Those pioneer reactions were also successful, since after optimizing the conditions, Nalfa-acyl-tetrapeptide-NH2 and Nα-acyl-octapeptide-NH2 were obtained in good qualities with yields of 65% (1 h) and 55% (24 h), respectively.