Indoor Air Quality is an increasing concern in the world today. The mere presence of people in a building or residence can significantly alter indoor air quality. Relative humidity over the range of normal indoor temperatures (66 - 80 degrees Farenheit) has been linked both directly and indirectly to various health and structural problems. The purpose of this project was to discover whether residential dwellings might benefit from an indoor humidification system. The project consisted of the deployment of three separate sensor networks consisting of 12 tmote sky modules manufactured by the Moteiv corporation, each equipped with a temperature and humidity sensor manufactured by Sensirion. Each tmote sky module continuously transmitted the raw data readings to a base station to be processed. The lifetime of each network was approximately four days of continuous data transmission. The results verified the hypothesis that relative humidity levels have a significant affect on the indoor environment and can be linked to the health and structural problems reported by the occupants of each monitored residence. Based on the project findings residential dwellings would benefit from an indoor humidification system, given the symptoms associated with relative humidity level problems exist.

Unconventional non-covalent interactions such as halogen, chalcogen, and tetrel bonds are gaining interest in several domains including but not limited to drug design, as well as novel catalyst design. Non-covalent interactions are known as weak forces of interactions when they are considered on an individual basis, but on a molecular basis, these effects become important such that their prevalence can be seen in the construction of large biomolecules like proteins, DNA and RNA. In this work, the fundamental aspects of these interactions are looked upon using ab initio and Density Functional Theory (DFT). An essential aspect of chalcogen bonds involving Sulfur as donor atom with nitrogen, oxygen and π-system as electron sources was examined. These bonds are strong with binding energy that varies from a minimum of 3 kcal/mol in some π-system to 19 kcal/mol in primary amine systems. Decomposition of the total interaction energy reveals that the induction energy constitutes more than half of the total interaction energy. The shortness and strength of some of the chalcogen bond interactions suggest these interactions may in some cases be described as weak covalent bonds. A comparative study of π-hole tetrel bonding with σ-hole halogen bonds in complexes of XCN (X = F, Cl, Br, I) and ammonia shows that the π-hole geometry if favored for X = F, and the σ-hole structure is preferred for the heavier halogens. Also, the potential use of these non-covalent interactions in organic catalysis was explored. The energy barrier of the Aza-Diels-Alder reaction is substantially lowered by the introduction of an imidazolium catalyst with either a Hydrogen or halogen (X) atom in the 2-position.

Static analysis tools analyze source code for vulnerabilities. However, these types of tools suffer from various problems that limit their effectiveness. This thesis examines these static analysis tools and suggests techniques for making them more efficient at detecting different types of vulnerabilities. The thesis further analyzes possible causes for these vulnerabilities by examining the source code written by programmers of various categories. Finally, this thesis discusses solutions and techniques to improve general security awareness as well as the importance of secure coding among the students and software developers.

It is generally recognized that one of the most important factors limiting crop production is soil nitrogen. Farmers today are using more nitrogen fertilizers than ever before. All indications show that this usage will probably continue to increase. With the expanded use of nitrogen, it has become desirable to increase the efficiency from nitrogen fertilizers. One factor which will affect the efficiency is the position of the nitrogen in the soil in relation to the plant roots.

The movement of water in soil presents many interesting problems to the research worker. It is also a subject which finds wide and important application in agriculture and several branches of engineering. The object of this work was to examine the usefulness of a new equation of flow of water in unsaturated soil. If valid, this new approach may be able to eliminate some of the gaps in our present knowledge of the subject. All soil lying above the capillary fringe of a water table is in the unsaturated state with respect to water. This means that in any macroscopic volume element of soil three phases are present-- solid, liquid and gas. The volume fraction of each of these phases show wide variation in both space and time in field soils. The variation in both space and time in field soils. The variation in the volume fraction of the liquid or water phase is accompanied by a considerable change in the physical properties of the water. In the strictest sense the unsaturated state covers all intermediate conditions between saturation and an incomplete monomolecular layer of absorbed water. It is important to recognize that the solid phase is also dynamic. It consists of unconsolidated particles with great variation of size and shape. Many solid phase properties show a complex dependence upon the amount of water present. Swelling and shrinking are well known in soils and these changes affect water movement.

The pulp and paper industry in New Zealand annually produces over one hundred thousand dry tonnes of solid waste due to the treatment of pulp and paper mill effluents, the majority of which is currently landfilled. The New Zealand Waste Management Strategy (2002) has set a target for the diversion of commercial organic wastes from landfill to beneficial use to exceed 95% by 2010 . Effluents produced by softwood pulp mills, such as in New Zealand, contain high concentrations of naturally derived resin extractive compounds that are toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. Improvements in waste water treatment technology has enabled the industry to meet rigorous discharge standards, however, this has resulted in an increase in the production of pulp mill effluent solids which require disposal. This has become an issue for the pulp and paper industry, especially as current landfill space is limited. Land application has been used for many years as a means of disposal of pulp mill wastes. While most studies investigating land application of pulp mill effluent solids have concluded that the risk posed to the environment is low, few have investigated the potential toxicity of these wastes to soil organisms, and these studies did not directly address the effects of resin extractive compounds. Resin extractives have been shown to be recalcitrant and to accumulate in anaerobic sediments. It is not known to what extent resin extractives are bioavailable or degradable in land applied Pulp mill effluent solids (PMES), or their potential to bioaccumulate in soil organisms. This PhD thesis research sought to extend the knowledge on the environmental fate and effects of pulp mill effluent wastes. It focused on terrestrial systems, which have not been well studied in this respect. Four chemically distinct softwood pulp mill effluent solids, a primary treatment solid and three secondary treatment biosolids, were used to investigate their effects on soil organisms and soil functions. An interdisciplinary approach was adopted, which incorporated three main areas of study, as follows: 1. A comprehensive resin extractives analysis of the pulp mill effluent solids undertaken so that effects on soil organisms and soil functions could be related to the resin extractives chemistry of the individual pulp mill effluent solids tested. 2. A battery of bioassays used to investigate the toxicity of the selected pulp mill effluent solids. 3. A field trial set-up to investigate how pulp mill effluent solids affected soil functions and also to investigate the decomposition of pulp mill effluent solids and of resin extractives in these solids. Three hypotheses tested were: I. Pulp mill effluent solids are toxic to soil organisms. II. Resin extractives in pulp mill effluent solids are recalcitrant in the terrestrial environment. III. Pulp mill effluent solids will cause significant measurable negative impacts on soil functional capacity. A wide range of resin extractives compounds were identified in pulp mill effluent solids, and concentrations of individual compounds varied widely between the different pulp mill effluent solids tested. During the two years after field application of the pulp mill effluent solids, resin extractives declined, however, decay rates of individual compounds were variable. The decay rate of compounds was influenced by the type of pulp mill effluent solids containing these compounds and not by the initial concentration of compounds. All compounds, including resin acids, degraded rapidly in the applied primary solid and in one of the applied biosolids, with average half-lives calculated ranging from three to twelve months. In the other biosolids, resin acids were recalcitrant with average half-lives calculated to be nearly ten years. Laboratory bioassays conducted on oats, earthworms and enchytraeid worms indicated that pulp mill effluent solids had low toxicity to these organisms. An aquatic bioassay organism, however, was acutely affected by aqueous extracts from pulp mill effluent solids. Earthworms were shown to bioaccumulate some resin extractive compounds to a limited extent, indicating that resin extractives were bioavailable in pulp mill effluent solids. Enchytraeid reproduction was reduced by exposure to some pulp mill effluent solids but this was not correlated to resin extractives concentration of the solids tested. Field applied pulp mill effluent solids significantly enhanced the fluxes of CO2 from the soil surface. When mass losses of pulp mill effluent solids carbon were taken into account, it was shown that these solids had little effect on soil respiration. Needle litterbags were placed above and below pulp mill effluent solids and in the litter horizon of a control treatment for 12 months. Needle litter decomposition was not significantly different between treatments, however, changes in enzyme activities were detected in litter beneath pulp mill effluent solids compared to control needle litter that had not been exposed to pulp mill effluent solids. The decomposition rate of field applied pulp mill effluent solids was slow, with half-lives extrapolated to be between five and twenty five years. The decomposition rate appeared to be influenced by the pools of carbon available for decomposition, with primary solids decaying significantly faster than biosolids due to a higher cellulose component. The conclusions of the PhD thesis research are, therefore, that generally, pulp mill effluent solids used in the study were demonstrated to be relatively benign and appear to pose a low risk to the terrestrial ecosystem when applied to soil. However, a cautious approach is still recommended to land application, based on the extensive evidence of disruption to aquatic ecosystems, and because pulp mill effluent solids will take many years to decompose and resin acids are recalcitrant in some pulp mill effluent solids. Further research is recommended to elucidate mechanisms of action by resin extractives in soil organisms and the ultimate fate of these compounds in the soil compartment.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Supervisor: Nicola Nicolici. Includes bibliographical references (189-208 p.)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2005. / "December, 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-77). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Une application à base de services est construite à partir d'activités ; chaque activité correspond à un appel (par le biais d'une infrastructure de communication) à une fonction exportée par un service existant. Les activités sont coordonnées par un plan précisant les instructions à réaliser. Pour sécuriser de telles applications à base de services, les travaux actuels se focalisent sur la sécurité au niveau des services utilisés et au niveau de la communication entre ces services. Cependant, les mesures de sécurité à ces niveaux se gèrent mal au niveau du plan de coordination. Cette thèse concerne la coordination sécurisée pour la sécurité des applications à base de services. Elle considère un niveau de sûreté de fonctionnement pour (i) les activités d'un plan de coordination ; (ii) les données échangées entre services ; et (iii) les fonctions de services à appeler. La coordination sécurisée est définie à partir de trois concepts clés : (i) les activités à exécuter avec certaines propriétés dans le cadre de la coordination sécurisée, (ii) les contraintes associées aux activités régissant différents aspects considérés de la coordination sécurisée ; et (iii) les journaux de coordination construits à base de preuves d'exécution des activités. Un plan de coordination sécurisée d'activités est donc décrit sous forme d'un ensemble d'activités dont les contraintes devant être satisfaites sont définies par des formules logiques bien formées, correctement associées, cohérentes et évaluables. L'exécution d'un tel plan correspond à exécuter ses activités en évaluant les contraintes. Elle consiste également à évaluer si les appels aux fonctions de différents services se sont bien passés. L'exécution d'un plan peut s'adapter aux nouveaux besoins et aux changements (de propriétés, de contraintes, d'évaluateurs de contraintes, etc.) intervenant lors de l'exécution même du plan. Les contributions majeures de la thèse portent sur la définition d'un modèle pour la description de plan de coordination sécurisée d'activités, d'un modèle d'évaluation dynamique de ces plans et d'un canevas logiciel qui supporte la spécification, la transformation, l'exécution et la gestion des plans.

<p>The aim of this thesis project was to migrate an existing excel-based application, used</p><p>to analyze energy use and carbon dioxide emission of companies, to a web-based application.</p><p>Special development questions were put around which software development process,</p><p>solution stack and user interface to be used according to the company needs. The spiral</p><p>lifecycle model has been chosen because it provides a clear view of the process and has the</p><p>concept of early prototypes. A solution stack based on Linux, Apache, PHP and MySQL has</p><p>been chosen because such approach has met the company requirements in terms of cost,</p><p>security, support, and maintenance. As a result, the developed web-based system overcomes</p><p>the problems normally found in excel-based applications, such as application deployment and</p><p>maintenance, and provides a more usable and richer user interface.</p>