In the field of city planning, a growing need exists for the integration of spatial development with transportation planning instruments. This study identifies issues related to the definition, evaluation and implementation of the integration of sustainable development and sustainable transportation within three types of municipalities. Significant issues that are explored include the various definitions of integration; the range of issues considered under notions of integration; the diverse perspectives on, and criticism of development and transportation integration analysis, as well as approaches to evaluating integration and transportation impacts on development. Furthermore, the study reports on the goals of each municipality, specifically with reference to sustainable public transportation decision-making; approaches to sustainable transportation, automobile dependency; land use; and finally, on sustainable transportation and development integration solutions. Approaches to spatial development used to focus on the organisation of land use issues, but this field is increasingly defined more broadly to include economic and social welfare, quality of human health/life and environmental integrity. From a sustainability perspective, a narrow definition of sustainable transportation tends to favour individual technological solutions, while a broader definition tends to favour more integrated solutions, including improved travel choices, economic incentives, institutional reforms, land use changes as well as technological innovation. Integration focuses on the teamwork required between the relevant departments as well as between levels or spheres of government, and often entails the implementation of nodal-corridor approaches. Sustainability planning may require changing the way people think about solutions to transportation problems in the future. The literature survey (Chapter 2) addresses a number of salient concepts, namely transportation and spatial development integration, public transportation and its orientated development, nodal-corridor development, as well as environmental and development relationships. Furthermore, an investigation into the legislative frameworks and policies is presented with emphasis on spatial development, transportation plans and node-and-corridors development (Chapter 3). This is followed in Chapter 4 by a report on an investigation into, and interviews held with representatives from the three municipalities (Hermanus local municipality, Cape Town metropolitan municipality and Eden district municipality) with reference to the integrated transportation plans (ITP) and spatial development frameworks (SDF) of these municipalities. This section reflects the opinions of relevant role-players regarding the central aspects of this study. Chapter 5 presents a summary of the study as well as a number of conclusions. In this chapter, planning recommendations are provided with the aim of advising municipalities on possibilities for the integration of sustainable transportation plans and spatial planning / development instruments. / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Urban and Regional planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Network coding is a technique used to increase the capacity of a network by combining messages sent over the network. The combined messages could be separated by using sufficient original messages which were used to combine the messages. Network coding can be implemented in different layers of the 051 stack, but to date a complete comparison between different implementations of network coding has not been done. The goal of this dissertation is to implement a wireless node model with network coding in the MAC layer and evaluate the performance characteristics of reference networks that implement the new node model. This will serve as the first step of a greater goal, namely finding the most favourable position in the 051 stack to implement network coding. The characteristics of the different implementations of network coding are presented in this dissertation. Simulations were done in OPNET® to find further attributes concerning the implementation of network coding in the MAC layer. The simulation process used is presented and explained, and the results from the simulations are analysed. Network coding in the simulations was implemented opportunistically. The results show that the more often different nodes send frames to the coding node, the better network coding performs. The work contributes to finding the best layer for implementing network coding for its increased throughput. A benchmark network was created so that network coding could be implemented in all the layers of the 051 stack, and then be compared to each other. An implementation of network coding in the MAC layer was simulated and analyzed. We conclude that, because there are so many different purposes for which networks are used, a single instance of network coding is unlikely to be similarly beneficial to all purposes. There still remains work to find the most favourable position for network coding in the 051 stack for all the different types of network coding. / Thesis (M. Ing. (Computer and Electronical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

This thesis presents results from two separate studies. First, the impact of bearer length on yield components within the canopy was investigated in season 2005/06, on a commercially-managed, mechanically-pruned vineyard of Vitis vinifera L. Cabernet Sauvignon in Coonawarra, South Australia. Pruning resulted in the retention of bearers with 1-7 nodes, with the weighted average bearer length being two nodes for the canopy. As bearers of one to five nodes in length were the most common, these were studied. Yield components (on a per shoot basis) were analysed according to the node position on the bearer at which the shoot arose. Both budburst and inflorescence number per node were highest at the distal node positions on each length bearer, even if the nodes were at the same positions from the base of the bearer and would normally be expected to have similar fertility. Budburst appeared to act by modifying inflorescence number per node based on the relative location of each node from the apex of the bearer. Shoots that arose from the most distal node positions had the highest flower number per inflorescence and berry number per bunch. Flower number per inflorescence was significantly higher on two-inflorescence shoots than single-inflorescence shoots. The relationship between bunch size and node position, unlike that between inflorescence number and node position, was dependent on bearer length. The relative size of the inflorescence appeared to be affected more so by the node pOSition at which the shoot occurred on the bearer, as opposed to the actual node position on the shoot at which the inflorescence occurred. There was a positive, non-linear relationship between average fruit yield per bearer and bearer length. Although yield was highest from the bearer with the highest node number (five nodes), there was no significant difference in yield per bearer for the bearers of three to five nodes in length. If average bearer length was increased from two to three nodes, the potential yield gain per bearer is estimated at 38 per cent. The second study presents results of correlations between bunch number and components of bunch weight (flower number and berry number) to investigate co-development of bunch number and bunch size. These data were collected from 4 vineyards in the Limestone Coast Zone of South Australia from Vilis vinifera L. Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabemet Sauvignon during seasons 2002/03 to 2006/07. The significant correlations found between fertility and both bunch weight and flower number per inflorescence suggest that the same factors that affect bunch number in a particular season will also affect bunch size. When inflorescence primordia were initiated and differentiated under cool conditions, actual bunches per node and flowers per inflorescence were low. Differences in climate between the vineyard sites were found to be minimal and therefore did not strongly affect the magnitude of the yield components at the vineyard sites. Cultural practices at each vineyard site were sufficiently variable to affect fertility levels. Genotype is thought to determine the range of flowers per inflorescence that a variety can potentially carry, whereas actual flower number per inflorescence is thought to be determined by inflorescence primordium initiation and differentiation temperatures, as well as temperatures during budburst. Despite significant correlations between flower number per inflorescence and berry number per bunch, flower number per inflorescence preflowering for Cabemet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay is inversely related to actual percentage fruit set. This is possibly a survival mechanism for the grapevine as it allows the vine to maximise yield each season without detriment to its longevity. Bunches per vine accounted for the majority of the seasonal variation in yield per vine. Fluctuations in bunch number per vine (and therefore yield) are likely to be reduced by varying the number of nodes retained per vine according to the relative fruitfulness per node present pre-pruning. This practice is therefore likely to result in the seasonal variation of berries per bunch becoming a stronger driver of yield. The commercial impacts of these studies are two-fold. Data presented will assist growers to understand the reasons for which their pruning regimes are affecting yield production and how these pruning regimes may be modified to achieve a target yield-particularly when growers are faced with seasons of low predicted fertility. In addition, data presented will allow growers to improve their crop forecasting accuracy, with a greater understanding of the link between bunch number and bunch size. In the current situation of oversupply in the wine industry, wineries are adopting a tough stance towards growers over-delivering on their grape contracts. Therefore, any assistance that can be provided to growers on improving accuracy of yield estimates will be beneficial both to the grower and winery. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1352744 / Thesis (M.Ag.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, 2009

This thesis presents results from two separate studies. First, the impact of bearer length on yield components within the canopy was investigated in season 2005/06, on a commercially-managed, mechanically-pruned vineyard of Vitis vinifera L. Cabernet Sauvignon in Coonawarra, South Australia. Pruning resulted in the retention of bearers with 1-7 nodes, with the weighted average bearer length being two nodes for the canopy. As bearers of one to five nodes in length were the most common, these were studied. Yield components (on a per shoot basis) were analysed according to the node position on the bearer at which the shoot arose. Both budburst and inflorescence number per node were highest at the distal node positions on each length bearer, even if the nodes were at the same positions from the base of the bearer and would normally be expected to have similar fertility. Budburst appeared to act by modifying inflorescence number per node based on the relative location of each node from the apex of the bearer. Shoots that arose from the most distal node positions had the highest flower number per inflorescence and berry number per bunch. Flower number per inflorescence was significantly higher on two-inflorescence shoots than single-inflorescence shoots. The relationship between bunch size and node position, unlike that between inflorescence number and node position, was dependent on bearer length. The relative size of the inflorescence appeared to be affected more so by the node pOSition at which the shoot occurred on the bearer, as opposed to the actual node position on the shoot at which the inflorescence occurred. There was a positive, non-linear relationship between average fruit yield per bearer and bearer length. Although yield was highest from the bearer with the highest node number (five nodes), there was no significant difference in yield per bearer for the bearers of three to five nodes in length. If average bearer length was increased from two to three nodes, the potential yield gain per bearer is estimated at 38 per cent. The second study presents results of correlations between bunch number and components of bunch weight (flower number and berry number) to investigate co-development of bunch number and bunch size. These data were collected from 4 vineyards in the Limestone Coast Zone of South Australia from Vilis vinifera L. Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabemet Sauvignon during seasons 2002/03 to 2006/07. The significant correlations found between fertility and both bunch weight and flower number per inflorescence suggest that the same factors that affect bunch number in a particular season will also affect bunch size. When inflorescence primordia were initiated and differentiated under cool conditions, actual bunches per node and flowers per inflorescence were low. Differences in climate between the vineyard sites were found to be minimal and therefore did not strongly affect the magnitude of the yield components at the vineyard sites. Cultural practices at each vineyard site were sufficiently variable to affect fertility levels. Genotype is thought to determine the range of flowers per inflorescence that a variety can potentially carry, whereas actual flower number per inflorescence is thought to be determined by inflorescence primordium initiation and differentiation temperatures, as well as temperatures during budburst. Despite significant correlations between flower number per inflorescence and berry number per bunch, flower number per inflorescence preflowering for Cabemet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay is inversely related to actual percentage fruit set. This is possibly a survival mechanism for the grapevine as it allows the vine to maximise yield each season without detriment to its longevity. Bunches per vine accounted for the majority of the seasonal variation in yield per vine. Fluctuations in bunch number per vine (and therefore yield) are likely to be reduced by varying the number of nodes retained per vine according to the relative fruitfulness per node present pre-pruning. This practice is therefore likely to result in the seasonal variation of berries per bunch becoming a stronger driver of yield. The commercial impacts of these studies are two-fold. Data presented will assist growers to understand the reasons for which their pruning regimes are affecting yield production and how these pruning regimes may be modified to achieve a target yield-particularly when growers are faced with seasons of low predicted fertility. In addition, data presented will allow growers to improve their crop forecasting accuracy, with a greater understanding of the link between bunch number and bunch size. In the current situation of oversupply in the wine industry, wineries are adopting a tough stance towards growers over-delivering on their grape contracts. Therefore, any assistance that can be provided to growers on improving accuracy of yield estimates will be beneficial both to the grower and winery. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1352744 / Thesis (M.Ag.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, 2009

This thesis presents results from two separate studies. First, the impact of bearer length on yield components within the canopy was investigated in season 2005/06, on a commercially-managed, mechanically-pruned vineyard of Vitis vinifera L. Cabernet Sauvignon in Coonawarra, South Australia. Pruning resulted in the retention of bearers with 1-7 nodes, with the weighted average bearer length being two nodes for the canopy. As bearers of one to five nodes in length were the most common, these were studied. Yield components (on a per shoot basis) were analysed according to the node position on the bearer at which the shoot arose. Both budburst and inflorescence number per node were highest at the distal node positions on each length bearer, even if the nodes were at the same positions from the base of the bearer and would normally be expected to have similar fertility. Budburst appeared to act by modifying inflorescence number per node based on the relative location of each node from the apex of the bearer. Shoots that arose from the most distal node positions had the highest flower number per inflorescence and berry number per bunch. Flower number per inflorescence was significantly higher on two-inflorescence shoots than single-inflorescence shoots. The relationship between bunch size and node position, unlike that between inflorescence number and node position, was dependent on bearer length. The relative size of the inflorescence appeared to be affected more so by the node pOSition at which the shoot occurred on the bearer, as opposed to the actual node position on the shoot at which the inflorescence occurred. There was a positive, non-linear relationship between average fruit yield per bearer and bearer length. Although yield was highest from the bearer with the highest node number (five nodes), there was no significant difference in yield per bearer for the bearers of three to five nodes in length. If average bearer length was increased from two to three nodes, the potential yield gain per bearer is estimated at 38 per cent. The second study presents results of correlations between bunch number and components of bunch weight (flower number and berry number) to investigate co-development of bunch number and bunch size. These data were collected from 4 vineyards in the Limestone Coast Zone of South Australia from Vilis vinifera L. Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabemet Sauvignon during seasons 2002/03 to 2006/07. The significant correlations found between fertility and both bunch weight and flower number per inflorescence suggest that the same factors that affect bunch number in a particular season will also affect bunch size. When inflorescence primordia were initiated and differentiated under cool conditions, actual bunches per node and flowers per inflorescence were low. Differences in climate between the vineyard sites were found to be minimal and therefore did not strongly affect the magnitude of the yield components at the vineyard sites. Cultural practices at each vineyard site were sufficiently variable to affect fertility levels. Genotype is thought to determine the range of flowers per inflorescence that a variety can potentially carry, whereas actual flower number per inflorescence is thought to be determined by inflorescence primordium initiation and differentiation temperatures, as well as temperatures during budburst. Despite significant correlations between flower number per inflorescence and berry number per bunch, flower number per inflorescence preflowering for Cabemet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay is inversely related to actual percentage fruit set. This is possibly a survival mechanism for the grapevine as it allows the vine to maximise yield each season without detriment to its longevity. Bunches per vine accounted for the majority of the seasonal variation in yield per vine. Fluctuations in bunch number per vine (and therefore yield) are likely to be reduced by varying the number of nodes retained per vine according to the relative fruitfulness per node present pre-pruning. This practice is therefore likely to result in the seasonal variation of berries per bunch becoming a stronger driver of yield. The commercial impacts of these studies are two-fold. Data presented will assist growers to understand the reasons for which their pruning regimes are affecting yield production and how these pruning regimes may be modified to achieve a target yield-particularly when growers are faced with seasons of low predicted fertility. In addition, data presented will allow growers to improve their crop forecasting accuracy, with a greater understanding of the link between bunch number and bunch size. In the current situation of oversupply in the wine industry, wineries are adopting a tough stance towards growers over-delivering on their grape contracts. Therefore, any assistance that can be provided to growers on improving accuracy of yield estimates will be beneficial both to the grower and winery. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1352744 / Thesis (M.Ag.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, 2009

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Αντικείμενο της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η μελέτη της συμπεριφοράς των WBAN (Wireless Body Area Networks) σαν μέρος του συστήματος παρακολούθησης υγείας ασύρματης τηλεϊατρικής. Αρχικά γίνεται σύντομη αναφορά στον τρόπο χρήσης των WBAN για την πραγματοποίηση της ιδέας της mHealth (mobile health) καθώς και σε ενδεικτικά ερευνητικά προγράμματα της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης που περιλαμβάνουν χρήση της τεχνολογίας WBAN και της τεχνολογίας ασύρματων εμφυτεύσιμων αισθητήρων για εφαρμογές ιατρικής περίθαλψης, ενώ στη συνέχεια γίνεται περιγραφή της αρχιτεκτονικής του συστήματος ασύρματης τηλεϊατρικής. Έπειτα, περιγράφεται η αρχιτεκτονική των δύο βασικότερων πρωτοκόλλων επικοινωνίας για ασύρματους κόμβους αισθητήρων, Bluetooth Low Energy και ZigBee/IEEE 801.15.4 και αναλύεται το επίπεδο εφαρμογής του πρωτοκόλλου ZigBee. Τέλος, περιγράφεται η αρχιτεκτονική του ασύρματου κόμβου αισθητήρων και παρουσιάζονται και περιγράφονται οι τυπικές συσκευές που χρησιμοποιούνται σε ένα WBAN ιατρικής περίθαλψης. / The purpose of my diploma thesis was the study of WBAN (Wireless Body Area Networks) as part of the wireless telemedicine health-monitoring system. I focused on the architecture of the integrated telemedicine system, the architecture of the two main communication protocols used in WBANs, Bluetooth LE and ZigBee/IEEE 801.15.4, and the specification of the ZigBee Application Layer. Finally, I described the typical architecture of the wireless sensor node and the typical devices that are used in a health WBAN.

B lymphocytes play a significant role in autoimmune arthritis, with their function stretching beyond autoantibody production to cytokine secretion and presentation of autoantigen. However, the involvement and activation of different B-cell subset in the autoimmune response is not fully clear. The main focus of this thesis has been to understand the contribution of marginal zone (MZ) B cells in the induction of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a mouse model for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We show that MZ B cells in the spleen of naïve mice display a natural self-reactivity to collagen type II (CII), the autoantigen used for immunization of CIA. The CII-reactive MZ B cells expand rapidly following immunization with CII, and produce IgM and IgG antibodies to CII. They also very efficiently present CII to cognate T cells in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, absence of regulatory receptors such as CR1/2 or FcγRIIb on the MZ B cells increases their proliferation and cytokine production in response to toll-like receptor, but not B-cell receptor, activation. Further, FcγRIIb-deficient MZ B cells present CII to T cells more efficiently than wild-type MZ B cells. We additionally demonstrate for the first time the existence of a small population of nodal MZ B cells in mouse lymph nodes. Similar to splenic MZ B cells, the nodal MZ B cells expand after CIA induction, secrete IgM anti-CII antibodies and can present CII to cognate T cells. Finally, we show that mast cells, associated with ectopic B cell follicles in inflamed RA joints, in coculture with B cells promote their expansion, production of IgM and IgG antibodies as well as upregulation of CD19 and L-selectin. Coculture with mast cells further causes the B cells to upregulate costimulators and class II MHC, important molecules for antigen-presenting function. In summary, my findings suggest that splenic and nodal self-reactive MZ B cells participate in breaking T-cell tolerance to CII in CIA. B-cell intrinsic regulation is needed to keep such autoreactive B cells quiescent. Mast cells can potentiate B-cell responses locally in the arthritic joint, thus feeding the autoimmune reaction.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-03-03Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:27:28Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 bronzi_ma_me_sjrp.pdf: 904425 bytes, checksum: 2344eb35a112034c2f1741b2e229f1ec (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Estudamos intersecções homoclínicas de variedades estável e instável de pontos peródicos. Toda intersecção homoclínica produz um comportamento curioso na dinâmiôa. Nosso modelo de tal fenômeno é a famosa ferradura de Smale, a qual é um conjunto hiperbólico para um difeomorfismo. Além disso, estudamos dinâmica não hiperbólica cuja perda de hiperbolicidade é divido à tangências homoclínicas. Elas tem um papel central na teoria de sistemas dinâmicos. O desdobramento de uma tangência homoclínica produz dinâmicas muito interessantes. Neste trabalho estudamos a criação de cascatas de bifurcações de duplicação de período e um esquema de renormalização para uma tangência homoclínica. / We study homoclinic intersection of stable and unstable manifolds of periodic points. Every homoclinic intersection produce a intricate behavior of the dynamics. Our model of such phenomena is the so called Smalesþs horseshoe, which is a hyperbolic set for a di eomorphism. We also study non hyperbolic dynamics whose lack of hyperbolicity is due to homoclinic tangencies. They play a central role in the theory of dynamical systems. The unfolding of a homoclinic tangency produce many interesting dynamics. In this work we study creation of cascade of period doubling bifurcations and a renormalization scheme for a homoclinic tangency.

This thesis investigated the possibility of integrating a small photovoltaic module in a wireless sensor network node prototype made for use in crop production, mainly in greenhouses. The main question was if the simple photovoltaic module could provide enough power to the prototype's recharge system in order to continuously recharge the battery and thereby reducing the time maintaining the device due to its power consumption. Through measurements, both of the energy supplied by the potential photo voltaic modules and the prototype's power demand, the conclusion was that the power would not be sufficient due to the concealing environment in which the device would be placed. However, suggestions for further work was given in how the proposed idea could be developed.