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Non-invasive blood analysis devices that can measure characteristics less prominent than the oxygenation of hemoglobin are of interest in the medical community. An important step in creating these devices is to model the interaction of photons with human tissue in increasingly greater physiological detail. We have modeled, using a Monte Carlo technique, the interaction of photons through epidermis, blood and water arranged both in layers and in a homogeneous mixture. We confirm the expected linear relation between photon attenuation and material volumetric percentage in our two-layer models. We discovered that this relationship becomes non-linear in the homogeneously mixed models where volumetric percentage must be replaced with interaction volume percentage. These nonlinearities become significant when the values of the interaction coefficient, µt, differ by an order of magnitude or more and could prove crucial in accurately reading oxygenation or other constituents in the blood and also in modeling radiation delivered to a patient in photodynamic therapy.

The use of auger cast-in-place (ACIP) pilings is very common in Florida; however, there is a significant degree of uncertainty in determining the actual capacity of the pilings, especially when the pilings are installed through layers of cohesive soils. Therefore, there is a need to improve upon the existing methods of predicting the behavior of ACIP piles in layered soils. As a result, the primary objective of this study is to determine if a significant difference exists between the accepted methods of pile load test analysis. Provided a significant difference is noted, the secondary objective would be to determine if an improvement could be made to enhance the existing empirical relationships used to predict pile behavior in layered soils. In order to accomplish these objectives, this study presents an evaluation of some of the most commonly used methods for predicting ACIP pile capacity based upon the results of actual field load tests. Data from twenty-five load tests were analyzed using popular methods and statistical analyses were preformed to determine and evaluate the data. These evaluations were utilized to explore correlations between predicted behavior and actual results. Based upon the results of this study, there is no statistically significant difference between the load test analyses methods examined. As a result, no improvement to the existing methods of predicting ACIP pile behavior in layered soils may be recommended at this time, and further research in this subject matter is recommended.

<p>Synthesis of terrains with complex features has been a challenging problem in computer graphics since most of the existing methods are based on the height field representation. Complex features in terrains adds to the overall realism of the terrain. Hence, there is a need to synthesize terrains in real-time with complex features that adhere to user input. The methodology described in this thesis describes a novel way to synthesize terrains with complex features based on user drawn sketches. Layered stack data structure is used to ensure that the resulting terrain has complex features. Since, Neural Networks are used to generate the terrains, the process is real-time.</p>

Novel solutions to offset thermal degradation of polyamide-6 (PA-6) and organoclay (organically modified layered silicates) nanocomposites during melt compounding have been investigated. In this research, a novel chain extender (Joncryl ADR 3400) has been used to improve thermal stability of PA-6 and PA- 6/organoclay nanocomposites during melt compounding. The materials were compounded using a linear twin extruder and various laboratory scale mixers. The effects of organoclay and chain extender were studied using both processing methods. In order to replicate large scale production used in industry, a comprehensive plan of experimental work was carried out under different processing conditions (extrusion temperature and screw speed), organoclay and chain extender loading using a linear twin screw extruder. Rheology, mechanical and thermal properties were analysed and selected samples were also characterised by TEM and FTIR. Process induced degradation of PA-6 during the melt compounding was found to have significant influence on the rheological and mechanical properties. Rheological and mechanical characterisation clearly showed showed that incorporation of the chain extender minimised thermal degradation of PA-6 and nanocomposites during melt processing. Visual analysis of selected nanocomposites using TEM confirmed that chain extender increased the dispersion of nanoclays in the PA- 6 matrix. The crystallinity of the PA-6 was slightly affected by addition of organoclay and chain extender. The samples obtained by linear twin screw extrusion showed higher rheological properties than the samples from laboratory scale mixers suggesting better mixing and less thermal degradation during extrusion. / Republic of Turkey, Ministry of National Education. / The full text was made available at the end of the embargo, 31st Dec 2019.

Channel coding plays a vital role in telecommunication. Low-Density Parity- Check (LDPC) codes are linear error-correcting codes. According to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) TS 38.212, LDPC is recommended for the Fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) shared channels due to its high throughput, low latency, low decoding complexity and rate compatibility. LDPC encoding chain has been defined in 3GPP TS 38.212, but some details of LDPC encoding chain are still required to be explored in the MATLAB environment. For example, how to deal with the filler bits for encoding and decoding. However, as the reverse process of LDPC encoding, there is no information on LDPC decoding process for 5G NR shared channels in 3GPP TS 38.212. In this thesis project, LDPC encoding and decoding chains were thoughtfully developed with MATLAB programming based on 3GPP TS 38.212. Several LDPC decoding algorithms were implemented and optimized. The performance of LDPC algorithms was evaluated using block error rate (BLER) v.s. signal to noise ratio (SNR) and CPU time. Results show that the double diagonal structure-based encoding method is an efficient LDPC encoding algorithm for 5G NR. Layered Sum Product Algorithm (LSPA) and Layered Min-Sum Algorithm (LMSA) are more efficient than Sum Product Algorithm (SPA) and Min-Sum Algorithm (MSA). Layered Normalized Min-Sum Algorithm (LNMSA) with proper normalization factor and Layered Offset Min-Sum Algorithm (LOMSA) with good offset factor can optimize LMSA. The performance of LNMSA and LOMSA decoding depends more on code rate than transport block. / Kanalkodning spelar en viktig roll i telekommunikation. Paritetskontrollkoder med låg densitet (LDPC) är linjära felkorrigeringskoder. Enligt tredje generationens partnerskapsprojekt (3GPP) TS 38.212, LDPC rekommenderas för den femte generationens (5G) nya radio (NR) delade kanal på grund av dess höga genomströmning, låga latens, låga avkodningskomplexitet och hastighetskompatibilitet. LDPC kodningskedjan har definierats i 3GPP TS 38.212, men vissa detaljer i LDPC kodningskedjan krävs fortfarande för att utforskas i Matlabmiljön. Till exempel hur man hanterar fyllnadsbitar för kodning och avkodning. Men som den omvända processen för LDPC kodning finns det ingen information om LDPC avkodningsprocessen för 5G NR delade kanaler på 3GPP TS 38.212. I detta avhandlingsprojekt utvecklades LDPC-kodning och avkodningskedjor enligt 3GPP TS 38.212. Flera LDPC-avkodningsalgoritmer implementerades och optimerades. Prestandan för LDPC-algoritmer utvärderades med användning av blockfelshalt (BLER) v.s. signal / brusförhållande (SNR) och CPU-tid. Resultaten visar att den dubbla diagonala strukturbaserade kodningsmetoden är en effektiv LDPC kodningsalgoritm för 5G NR. Layered Sum Product Algorithm (LSPA) och Layered Min-Sum Algorithm (LMSA) är effektivare än Sum Product Algorithm (SPA) och Min-Sum Algorithm (MSA). Layered Normalized Min-Sum Algorithm (LNMSA) med rätt normaliseringsfaktor och Layered Offset Min-Sum Algorithm (LOMSA) med bra offsetfaktor kan optimera LMSA. Prestandan för LNMSA- och LOMSA-avkodning beror mer på kodhastighet än transportblock.

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