The representation of terrain by a regular grid Digital Elevation Model (DEM) requires a large amount of data which increases with the resolution. The nature of the typical applications of terrain data, for example, aeronautical navigation, dictates that the reliability of the data is of prime importance. Thus any compression scheme used for compressing OEMs, in the presence of errors, must be able to achieve competitive compression while retaining a level of accuracy in the decompressed data. The requirements for effective data compression and error control tend to conflict. In some situations, for example, mobile storage devices used in hostile environments, the use of both techniques is essential. In this research the use of data compression for a storage channel subject to error is considered. The suitability of some standard data compression techniques (statistical and dictionary based methods) for robust terrain compression, is examined. The results indicate, as expected, that these methods, as they stand, are unable to tolerate any error in the compressed data. Five possible methods for the robust progressive compression of terrain data, based on common image and other compression methods, are developed and implemented. The five methods are a bit splitting method, a grid interpolation method, a discrete cosine transform based method, a vector quantization based method and a linear quadtree method. All methods are used in conjunction with a statistical encoder. Each method identifies the information critical for obtaining a good approximation to the original terrain, and thus the information which requires strong error control. It is shown that grid interpolation is the natural choice for lossless robust DEM compression. A progressive strategy which incorporates various levels of data is employed. The levels are formed by down-sampling the data to form a coarse and fine grid of elevations. Grid interpolation techniques are then employed to obtain an approximation of the fine grid from the coarse grid. The corrections to this approximation are then compressed using an arithmetic encoder. This process is done repeatedly to produce the required number of levels. Protection is achieved primarily through the use of BCH codes. The protection is incorporated in such a way that the coarsest levels of data receive stronger error control. Secondary error detection mechanisms exist through the use of the arithmetic encoder and also some prior knowledge of the compressed data. The software developed here proves to be successful with regard to progressively reconstructing terrain in the presence of errors, while also producing compression results which compare favourably with theoretical results based on a known DEM compression method. Consideration is also given to the task of validating the decompressed data, and determining if terrain data may be distinguished from other digital data. A series of tests which use the grid interpolation and DCT methods discussed previously are used, along with Moran's Index, to measure spatial auto correlation. Local tests based on image processing techniques (edge and point detection masks) are also employed to detect any anomalies in data which may otherwise be classified as terrain. The results indicate that while the differentiation of terrain and uncorrelated data is a relatively straightforward task, the task of distinguishing between terrain data and other correlated data provides great scope for further research.

How does a place known itself? One of the ways a place knows itself is how it is represented on maps where we can see its cartographic history & identity. People draw maps in order to understand the city in which they live. The research presented in this thesis is in two parts:- Collecting and indexing all the maps of Banja Luka, beginning with the first maps of Banja Luka from the Ottoman times. These maps are scattered all around the world. This is the first time the research on collecting and indexing maps of Banja Luka has been done. This thesis is the only place where this comprehensive ‘collection’ of maps of Banja Luka exists.- Drawing new maps of Banja Luka. There are two types of maps in this thesis: cartographic reconstructions and memory maps. The reconstructions record the Banja Luka that never made it into the cartographic history due to the turbulent political history of the city. Of the memory maps, there are also two types. There are personal and individual memory maps and collective memory maps. The individual memory maps are based on my own memory and the memory of the people I love, representing Banja Luka that I remember - that is there for me. The collective memory maps record Banja Luka based on the collective memory already recorded in archive materials, representing Banja Luka that I imagine - that is not there for me. There were difficulties in drawing them as they required the integration of texts, photographs and maps which had to be collected and brought together into one place. Each document about Banja Luka differs in details, especially because of changing building and street names, so compiling these sources which complement each other was how these maps were drawn. This section uses Halbwachs’ theory of individual and collective memory, which is never associated with the process of mapping. The problem of changing street names that appeared in the process of making these maps draws on Freud’s account of forgetting proper names. The thesis begins with a summary of the political history of Banja Luka, which introduces the social and cartographic problems this research was confronted with. There is no continuous cartographic history of Banja Luka of the sort that one would expect to find in other, more stable regions, because Banja Luka has never been in control of its own destiny since it has been wrecked by internecine conflicts. There were difficulties in finding and collating and indexing the maps of Banja Luka. It was necessary to identify map collections through the selected countries in whose archives, museums and libraries they might have been stored. The selection involves the countries under whose authority Banja Luka was in the past [e.g. Austria, Hungary, Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia ...]; the leading countries with a prominent collection of maps [e.g. United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain ...]; the countries which had business connections with Banja Luka in the past [e.g. the Czech Republic ...]. Until now, there has been no central point of reference for the maps of Banja Luka. When the maps are brought together, it is possible to categorize them into spy maps and cartographic [conventional] maps. Spy maps are free hand maps made by military agents [mostly Austrians] who secretly mapped their visual inspections of Banja Luka, when the city was under the Ottoman Empire. Cartographic maps are conventional maps drawn by cartographers. They are accurate representations of Banja Luka made by using geodetic instruments and methods and are understandable to everyone because of the north orientation, scale, and recognizable symbols. The main points of the research in this thesis are: Halbwachs’s idea that individual memory depends on collective memory was born out on my memory maps. My memory map could not have been done without the records and memories of others. The value of memory maps is that they prevent the Banja Luka that I imagine and the Banja Luka that I remember from being forgotten, creating an idealized cartography of the city. The ideal Banja Luka is the one which has a continuity in its history and spatial form - the continuity we hope to achieve.

In this thesis I reflect upon a digital mapping project I did in the rural agricultural villages of Bangoua and Batoufam in the Grassfields region of Cameroon. This thesis considers digital mapping as a possible strategy for addressing a current dichotomy in these villages. On the one hand community members express concern over observed shifts in local weather patterns, which they attribute to climate change, and on the other hand community members express desperation for “development.” Of over 130 mapped points, I use this thesis to look at three case studies of community centered development initiatives that address both development and sustainability. In the Water is Life well-building training program, locals are empowered to build water wells, reducing village dependency on foreign teams of experts, which in turn reduces the environmental impact of displacement of these foreign teams and imported materials, and also generally increases the longevity of the water infrastructure by ensuring that local people are able to maintain and repair the system. In the case study of the reforestation project at College Evangélique de Bangoua, reforestation is used as a method for teaching adolescents about the importance of protecting the environment, as well as commerce skills, since the school director has plans to let the students sell the fruits from the trees once they have grown big enough and keep the profits. In the solar panel water system in Batoufam, the local water council challenged the dominant development model for water infrastructure (single-point, manual pump) and designed an extensive network of 10 faucets throughout the village connected to a solar powered electrically pumped well and reservoir. These three examples give hope to the possibility of addressing both climate change and development needs with the same initiatives; however, this process also illuminated the shortcomings of grassroots development. This project uses the mapping process to complicate dominant narratives about top-down and grassroots development. Ultimately, I will propose that this method of digital mapping itself carries potential for addressing the sometimes-polarized desires for sustainability and development.

No description available.

"October 2002" Bibliography: leaves 159-198. This thesis describes the mapping of the breakpoints of three different chromosome rearrangements, all involving 1p36, in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients, and an investigation into the molecular outcomes of these rearrangements.

"October 2002" / Bibliography: leaves 159-198. / xiv, 198 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This thesis describes the mapping of the breakpoints of three different chromosome rearrangements, all involving 1p36, in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients, and an investigation into the molecular outcomes of these rearrangements. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Medicine, 2003

Bibliography: leaves 206-263. / xviii, 313, [5] leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / The aim of this project was to develop tools to assist in the construction of the ovine genome map so economic trait loci in sheep can be identified. (abstract) / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Animal Science, 2001

No description available.

The complete genome of snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV) was cloned and molecularly characterized. This was initially accomplished through the sequence determination of its glycoprotein gene and the phylogenetic analysis of this gene with orthologous genes from other rhabdoviruses. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that SHRV groups with viruses of the genus Novirhabdovirus. The full-length glycoprotein was expressed in mammalian cells to investigate its potential use in the production of pseudotyped retroviruses. The sequence of the entire SHRV genome of 11.6 kb was determined, and all encoded proteins, intergenic transcriptional control motifs, and the leader and trailer regions were identified. The genome was found to encode six proteins including a nucleoprotein, a phosphoprotein, a matrix protein, a glycoprotein, a small--presumably non-virion--protein, and a polymerase protein. The presence of a non-virion protein, which is the hallmark feature of all Novirhabdoviruses, supported SHRV's identity as a member of the Novirhabdovirus genus, despite the fact that the non-virion protein showed no homology with any known protein. A system was developed to express a full-length, error-free positive-strand copy of SHRV's RNA genome along with all of the SHRV proteins required for viral replication within the cytoplasm of a virus-susceptible host cell. These factors collectively allowed the recovery of live virus entirely from cloned cDNAs. A unique restriction site was engineered into SHRV's cDNA genome, and the presence of this restriction site was verified following virus recovery, proving the recovered virus was indeed a live recombinant virus. To our knowledge this achievement marks the first time in which reverse genetics has been performed on a nonmammalian negative-stranded RNA virus. / Graduation date: 1999

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 1984. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-99). Also available on the World Wide Web.