Submitted by Suethene Souza (suethene.souza@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-12T18:55:58Z No. of bitstreams: 2 TESE Edilson dos Santos.pdf: 2187385 bytes, checksum: 63c9e7b94a952fcecca5019849672b1a (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-12T18:55:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 TESE Edilson dos Santos.pdf: 2187385 bytes, checksum: 63c9e7b94a952fcecca5019849672b1a (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-13 / CAPES / Aproximadamente meio século de pesquisas após os trabalhos de Modigliani e Miller (1958), ainda há um amplo debate sobre a composição da estrutura de capital das empresas. Neste contexto, nas últimas décadas os estudos cross-country se destacaram por tentar verificar os determinantes da estrutura de capital nos mais diversos países. Entretanto, vale ressaltar que, em tempos de crise e recessão as decisões de financiamento ganham uma maior importância, visto que os recursos no mercado financeiro podem ficar mais escassos, e assim impactar nos possíveis investimentos e nas atividades de produção das empresas, portanto será que os determinantes da estrutura de capital das empresas que fazem parte dos países emergentes podem ser explicadas por uma das principais teorias de estrutura de capital – trade-off e pecking order? Será que as empresas de Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China mantem suas estruturas de capital mediante o cenário de crise? E as estratégias de financiamento são semelhantes àquelas apresentadas por empresas de países desenvolvidos (países integrantes do G7)? Deste modo, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal verificar se as principais teorias sobre estrutura de capital conseguem explicar as estruturas das empresas dos principais países emergentes, mediante o cenário de crise iniciado em 2007, e analisar se elas estão alinhadas ao padrão adotado pelas empresas dos países desenvolvidos. Para tanto foram analisados dados de empresas listadas nas Bolsas de valores do Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e países representantes do G7, no período de 2003 a 2011. A técnica econométrica chamada regressão quantílica foi utilizada como principal ferramenta de análise, uma vez que suas características permitem uma leitura mais detalhada dos dados, considerando a heterogeneidade das empresas. Os principais resultados obtidos sugerem que entre os países emergentes, as empresas sinalizam mudanças na intensidade dos determinantes clássicos da estrutura de capital, bem como estratégias de financiamento distintas para as empresas de Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China. Com relação às possíveis semelhanças nas estruturas de capital dos países emergentes e desenvolvidos, os resultados sinalizaram estratégias distintas. Por fim, os efeitos da crise das hipotecas subprime proporcionaram uma perspectiva diferente daqueles observados em momentos de menor turbulência econômica mundial.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:56:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo2943_1.pdf: 1753239 bytes, checksum: 9bb54530f2681d310412190da2d1397f (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Esta dissertação oferece contribuições para o problema de verificação de assinaturas off-line através da utilização de diferentes distâncias e classificadores de apenas uma classe. O uso de classificadores de uma classe viabiliza a utilização de apenas assinaturas verdadeiras durante a fase de treinamento do sistema. Isso é vantajoso pois em diversas aplicações reais de verificação de assinaturas existe uma carência de assinaturas falsas em detrimento do número de assinaturas verdadeiras. Esse trabalho também realiza uma comparação entre os resultados dos diferentes classificadores de uma classe escolhidos e de três métodos de extração de características implementados: Shadow Code, Características Periféricas e Diferenciais Periféricas e Elementos Estruturais. Afora isso, foram calculadas cinco distâncias utilizando as características extraídas: dmin, dmax, dcentral , dtemplate e dncentral . Essas distâncias foram normalizadas de forma a tornar o sistema independente de classe. E posteriormente combinadas usando as seguintes regras: produto, média, máximo, mínimo e soma. De forma a avaliar a contribuição de cada etapa no desempenho do sistema, este foi subdividido em quatro arquiteturas. Para isso, partiu-se de uma arquitetura mais simples, e foram sendo adicionadas novas etapas a ela. Dessa forma, foi possível identificar que, dentre as extrações utilizadas neste trabalho, o método Shadow Code obteve um grande destaque. O mesmo pode ser dito para as distâncias dcentral e dncentral , que apresentaram melhores resultados que as demais: dmin, dmax e dtemplate. As combinações das distâncias apresentaram resultados discrepantes, algumas combinações pioraram o desempenho do sistema, enquanto outras provocaram um efeito positivo. Foram utilizadas duas bases de dados: Base de Dados 1 (base de dados de assinaturas desenvolvida em pesquisa anterior) e Base de Dados 2 (base de dados de assinaturas disponibilizada em competição para sistemas de verificação de assinaturas). O melhor resultado geral do sistema, para a Base de Dados 1, e considerando 10% de falsos positivos, foi de 93,37% de verdadeiros positivos para as assinaturas falsas aleatórias, 59,18% para as assinaturas falsas habilidosas e 75,85% usando ambas

Orientador: Jose Roberto Trigo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T18:54:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Stanton_MarianaAlves_M.pdf: 682844 bytes, checksum: 36b7ed46fcdc82eacc95256aae48e173 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: A produção de defesas contra a herbivoria é essencial para o sucesso reprodutivo das plantas, no entanto pode ser custosa. Esses custos resultam da redução de investimento em outras partes do metabolismo, como o crescimento e a reprodução. Nesse estudo, usamos Asclepias curassavica (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae) como modelo para avaliar como uma planta divide seus recursos entre crescimento, reprodução e defesas. A. curassavica é uma planta anual que possui cardenolidas como defesas. Para verificar como esta responde a herbivoria, simulamos a mesma através de dano artificial (DA) e medimos crescimento (biomassa de folhas e raízes) e reprodução (número de flores, frutos e sementes e biomassa de sementes) em um experimento em longo prazo. Em um experimento em curto prazo, medimos a produção de defesas (concentração de cardenolidas), para avaliar se estas podem estar interferindo no crescimento e reprodução desta espécie. Correlacionamos também, em uma população natural, a concentração de cardenolidas com a percentagem de herbivoria foliar. O hormônio jasmonato de metila (JM) é usado para induzir compostos do metabolismo secundário em plantas, sem o custo adicional da remoção de tecido fotossinteticamente ativo causada por dano artificial ou natural. Usamos esse composto em ambos os desenhos experimentais acima ao invés de remoção da área foliar para avaliar se havia indução de cardenolidas e seu efeito sobre o crescimento e reprodução de A. curassavica. Nossos resultados demonstraram uma redução significativa do número total de frutos, sementes e da massa final de raízes em plantas com tratamento de DA em longo prazo. O crescimento do tratamento DA não diferiu do controle, sugerindo crescimento compensatório das folhas à custa do investimento em raízes e em reprodução. Os custos reprodutivos e de crescimento de raízes detectados no experimento de longo prazo podem resultar da diminuição da capacidade fotossintética em plantas danificadas e investimento simultâneo em crescimento compensatório das folhas. No experimento de curto prazo, não houve alteração da razão de indução de cardenolidas sugerindo que o dano artificial não induz defesas nessa espécie. A ausência de correlação entre cardenolidas e porcentagem de dano natural em plantas coletadas em campo pode sugerir dois cenários excludentes: 1. a indução de cardenolidas não seria importante para a defesa de A. curassavica, ou 2. a ausência de correlação, associada a baixa percentagem de herbivoria implicaria em uma defesa constitutiva eficaz contra herbívoros. O tratamento com JM a longo prazo também mostrou uma tendência à redução do crescimento de raízes e redução significativa da biomassa e porcentagem de germinação de sementes. Nas plantas tratadas com JM a curto prazo, houve um aumento significativo de cardenolidas tardio (384 h após tratamento) sugerindo que estas podem contribuir para a redução de aptidão observada no experimento de longo prazo e que existem custos da produção das mesmas. Dano artificial leva à diminuição da aptidão, através de desvio de investimento em raízes para o crescimento compensatório das folhas. No caso do jasmonato, não houve perda de massa fotossinteticamente ativa (folhas) e a redução do crescimento de raízes pode ser resultado de um efeito direto do tratamento de JM ou indireto causado pela indução de outras partes do metabolismo (p.ex. metabolismo secundário) causada por esse fitohormônio. Experimentos futuros devem comparar os presentes resultados com dano real por um dos herbívoros especialistas para avaliar a eficácia do dano artificial em induzir cardenolidas e o papel dessa indução sobre outras partes do metabolismo da mesma / Abstract: Although the investment in defensive traits against herbivory is essential to the reproductive success of plants, it may be costly. These costs result from reduced investment in other metabolic functions such as growth and reproduction. In the present study, we used the milkweed Asclepias curassavica (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae) as a model to study how a plant divides its resources between growth, reproduction and defense. A. curassavica is an annual weed that uses cardenolides as defenses against herbivory. To evaluate how Asclepias curassavica responds to herbivores, we simulated herbivory by artificial damage (AD) and measured growth (leaf and root biomass) and reproduction (number of flowers, fruit and seeds and seed biomass) in a long term experiment. We also measured defensive traits (cardenolide concentration) in a short term experiment to verify whether there is an investment in defense that may interfere with growth and reproduction. We also correlated cardenolide concentration in a natural population with percent leaf damage. As the plant hormone, methyl jasmonate (MJ) is commonly used to induce secondary metabolism in plants without the additional costs of tissue removal, we used this compound in the same experimental designs instead of AD. Our results from the long term AD treatment showed a significant decrease in final root biomass and in total fruit set and seed number. Plants from the AD treatment did not differ from controls in leaf growth, suggesting that there was a compensatory growth in the former at the expense of root growth. The reproductive and growth costs detected in this experiment may result from reduced photosynthetic capacity in damaged plants and concomitant compensatory leaf growth. In the short term, we found no induction of cardenolides compared to controls, suggesting that artificial damage does not induce defenses. The lack of correlation between cardenolides and percentage leaf damage in plants collected from a natural population suggest two self-excluding scenarios: 1. the induction of cardenolides is not important for the defense of A. curassavica, or 2. the lack of correlation, coupled with low herbivore damage, suggests that this plant has an efficient constitutive defense against herbivores. The long term MJ treatment showed a trend in reduced root biomass and significantly reduced seed biomass and percentage germination. In the short term MJ treatment we found a significant increase in cardenolide concentration (after 384 h) suggesting that the production of these defenses is costly and this may have contributed to observed costs in the long term experiment. Apparently, the artificial damage treatment leads to reduced fitness through reduced root growth which is a consequence of compensatory leaf growth. In the methyl jasmonate treatment, there was no removal of photosythetically active tissue (leaves) and the reduced root growth may be a direct effect of this phytohormone or an indirect effect caused by the induction of other metabolic pathways (such as secondary metabolism) caused by this hormone. Future experiments should compare the present results with natural damage by specialist herbivores to evaluate the efficiency of artificial damage in inducing cardenolides and the role of the induction of these substances on other metabolic functions / Mestrado / Mestre em Ecologia

O tratamento biológico anaeróbio aparece como uma opção importante para remover a carga orgânica poluidora da vinhaça, e vem despertando interesse entre pesquisadores do mundo todo devido aos sucessos já alcançados, principalmente em trabalhos científicos. O interesse científico aponta para o aprimoramento do processo de degradação desse efluente em taxas elevadas, além de promover a produção de biogás, com potencial para produção de energia. A tecnologia de tratamento anaeróbio mais utilizada para o tratamento da vinhaça é o reator UASB, apresentando resultados satisfatórios inclusive em unidades em escala plena. A interrupção do funcionamento do reator em períodos de entressafra é, indubitavelmente, um problema a ser enfrentado na operação do reator UASB, cujo período de partida é lento. A repartida do sistema é agravada nos reatores de alta taxa, requerendo estratégias adequadas para reduzir o período necessário permitindo mitigar prontamente os efeitos do aporte de vinhaça ao ambiente e recuperar energia a partir dessa matriz. Diante disso, um reator anaeróbio de fluxo ascendente com manta de lodo (UASB) em escala piloto foi utilizado para o estudo da repartida do sistema e do tratamento da vinhaça e do melaço, sendo o último utilizado como fonte de carbono no período relativo à entressafra. O reator UASB foi operado durante 335 dias. Na Fase I utilizou-se a vinhaça como afluente, na Fase II o melaço de cana-de-açúcar e na Fase III novamente a vinhaça. Após período de interrupção de 30 dias, o período de repartida do sistema em estudo foi de 69 dias. Logo no início da repartida do reator, a eficiência de remoção de DQO foi superior a 80%, alcançando eficiência de 89,95 % em apenas oito dias de operação. O reator UASB apresentou valor médio de eficiência de remoção de DQO para as Fases I (vinhaça), II (melaço) e III (vinhaça) de 84 ± 3,35%; 82 ± 5,12% e 80 ± 9,22%, para cargas aplicadas de 5 a 34 kgDQO.m-3.d-1, 33 kgDQO.m-3.d-1 e 5 a 19 kgDQO.m-3.d-1, respectivamente. Em relação à produção de metano, de todo o período operacional, a Fase I referente à repartida do reator utilizando vinhaça como substrato após um mês sem alimentação foi a que apresentou a maior produção média no período, 7,93 LCH4. (L.d) -1, devido aos maiores valores de carga orgânica volumétrica (COV) aplicadas (5 a 34 kgDQO.m-3.d-1). A Fase II referente ao período de entressafra utilizando o melaço, foi de 7,28 LCH4. (L.d) -1 devido ao acúmulo de ácidos voláteis totais. A Fase III com retorno da safra utilizando a vinhaça, foi de 1,23 LCH4. (L.d) -1 devido aos menores valores de carga aplicada ao reator (5 a 8,5 kgDQO.m-3.d-1). As análises microbiológicas mostraram elevada diversidade microbiana e permitiu observar que com a utilização do melaço ocorreu alteração da população de microrganismos presente no reator, que apresentaram longo período de adaptação quando submetidos novamente à vinhaça, na última fase de operação. De forma geral, os resultados apontam que a tecnologia UASB é adequada no tratamento de vinhaça e melaço de alta carga orgânica e na geração de biogás. A substituição por melaço permitiu obter produção de biogás semelhante ao uso da vinhaça, entretanto dificultou a repartida, quando substituído pela vinhaça novamente (Fase III). / Biological anaerobic treatment systems are a promising approach for the removal of organic loading content of vinasse. Previous studies have demonstrated the optimization of the vinasse degradation process at high rates, promoting the biogas production with potential for energy use. Upflow anaerobic with sludge blanket (UASB) is the most applied anaerobic technology for the treatment of vinasse. Such reactor configuration presents satisfactory results even in full-scale units. The interruption of reactor operation during the off-season is undoubtedly an operational problem to be faced, whose restarting period is slow. The system restarting is intensified in high-rate reactors, requiring adequate strategies to reduce the time needed to mitigate the environmental effects of vinasse supply and to recover energy from that matrix. Therefore, a pilot-scale UASB was used to investigate the system restart and the treatment of vinasse and molasses. Sugarcane molasses was used as the carbon source during the off-season period. The system was operated during 335 days. The operational procedure consisted of three phases, in which different streams were used as carbon source: vinasse (Phases I), sugarcane molasses (Phases II) and vinasse (Phases III). After an interruption period of 30 days, the restarting period was 69 days. At the beginning of the restarting period, the average COD removal efficiency was higher than 80%, reaching COD removal efficiencies of 89.95% in only eight days of operation. The average COD removal efficiencies for Phases I (vinasse), II (molasses) and III (vinasse) were 84 ± 3.35%; 82 ± 5,12% and 80 ± 9,22%, respectively. Those removal efficiencies were achieved with organic loading rate 5 to 34 kgCOD.m-3.d-1 , 33 kgCOD.m-3.d-1 and 5 to 19 kgCOD.m-3.d-1, respectively. Regarding methane (CH4) production, Phase I (vinasse as substrate after one month without feeding) presented the highest average CH4 production (7.93 LCH4. (L.d) -1), due to the higher values of OLR (5 to 34 kgCOD.m-3.d-1). The CH4 production during Phase II (off-season using molasses as substrate) was 7.28 LCH4. (L.d) -1, due to the accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA). In Phase III, in which vinasse was applied again as substrate the CH4 production was 1.23 LCH4.(L.d)-1, due to the lower values of organic loading rate to the reactor (5 to 8.5 kgCOD.m-3.d-1). Microbiological analyses showed high microbial diversity in biomass developed at UASB reactor. Moreover, it was possible to observe that with molasses used as carbon source probably promotes changes in the microorganisms population, After period with molasses feeding, such microbiota presented a long adaptation period when resubmitted to vinasse, as the main carbon source in the feeding. In general, the results indicate that the UASB configuration was adequate for the vinasse and molasses treatment at high organic loading rate, resulting in high biogas production. In which the feeding with sugarcane molasses resulted in a biogas production similar to that obtained by vinasse feeding, but it made it difficult to divide when replaced by vinasse (Phase III).

Hand-off communication from the emergency department (ED) to inpatient nurses is an important process for transfer of safe and quality patient care from one department to another. Annually, there are130.4 million ED visits with 12.2 million of those visits resulting in hospital admission, providing ample opportunities for poor communication (Rui, Kang, & Albert, 2013). Miscommunications during patient hand-off are estimated to contribute to 80% of adverse events (The Joint Commission, 2012). This theory-driven, quality improvement project sought to evaluate the hand-off communication process between nurses from the ED and nurses in the inpatient Medical/Surgical units using human factors System Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) approach, originally created by Pasqual Carayon in 2006. An online survey was created using an adapted SEIPS Model evaluating the interactive concepts of person, tools and technologies, tasks, organization, and environment and their impact on staff and patient outcomes. The survey was distributed to both the ED and Medical/Surgical nurses to gain their perspective on the interdepartmental hand-off communication process and how it impacts the staff and patient outcomes. There as an included option for the bedside nurses to provide recommendations on how to improve the hand-off communication process. Data was collected, anonymously, through an online database and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results. The quality improvement project found that majority of nurses prefer verbal hand-off communication with a structured standard format of delivery in conjunction with the electronic health record. The project found that nurses perceive that the nurse-to-patient ratio and surrounding tasks impact the effectiveness and quality of hand-off communication. The most common suggested hand-off communication improvements were to not allow hand-off communication or transfer of the patient from the ED to the Medical/Surgical unit during peak times, such as shift change, and to follow up on tools and technology compliance. Overall, the person, the tools and technologies, the tasks, and the environment are contributing to ineffective hand-off, while the organization has adequately provided the resources the staff needs to perform an effective hand-off communication. All of which were concluded to have an impact on the staff and patient outcomes.

Dans cette thèse, les diodes Schottky pour des applications en ondes millimétriques et aux fréquences térahertz sont étudiées. Une méthodologie de conception et d'optimisation est proposée pour améliorer la performance de telles diodes. La conception et les simulations sont effectuées à l'aide d'un programme basé sur un modèle analytique. Les différentes méthodes de calcul de la fréquence de coupure de la diode sont définies, étudiées et classifiées selon les applications potentielles. En utilisant un modèle de diode générique et général, une nouvelle approche pour calculer la fréquence de coupure est suggérée pour les applications de mélangeur / multiplicateur. Cette approche permet d'évaluer la tension seuil avec une précision beaucoup plus grande et proche de la réalité. En outre, la conception d’une diode Schottky en tenant compte dès le départ l’application visée (détecteur direct, mélangeur ou multiplicateur) est étudiée. Cette thèse montre que l'ingénierie de la structure épitaxiale a un impact important lorsque l’on utilise une conception de diode basée sur l’application finale comme proposée. Un procédé de microfabrication a été entièrement développé et caractérisé. Une méthode de planarisation unique est introduite pour permettre de connecter la diode par des ponts à air en minimisant les effets parasites. Afin d'éviter une coûteuse lithographie par faisceau électronique, une anode en forme de T est produite en utilisant une technique de photolithographie. Ce procédé est fiable et répétitif, est de faible coût et offre une grande souplesse en matière de conception en plus de répondre au besoin d‘une production de masse, pour laquelle la lithographie par faisceau d’électrons n’est guère possible. Le procédé final nécessite simplement deux étapes de métallisation, nombre minimal possible que nous avons atteint. En raison des exigences de recuit du contact ohmique, il est impossible d’avoir moins de deux étapes de métallisation. Le processus de planarisation proposé repose sur l'utilisation de différents taux de gravure plasma de deux résines couramment utilisées. Pour les travaux réalisés dans cette thèse, une épitaxie GaAs HBT disponible au sein du laboratoire a été utilisée. Les résultats de caractérisation de diodes réalisés dérivés des mesures DC et RF sont rapportés et comparés avec les résultats de la simulation. Les résultats de mesure montrent une réduction significative de la capacité parasite de la diode à moins de 20% de sa capacité totale. Par conséquent, le procédé de conception et de fabrication de ce travail peut fournir des diodes qui peuvent fonctionner au-delà du térahertz avec des dimensions pour l’anode plus grandes que les diodes trouvées dans la littérature et qui peuvent donc être fabriquées uniquement par des techniques de photolithographie optique. / Abstract: In this thesis, Schottky diodes for millimeter waves and terahertz application are scrutinized. A design and optimization methodology is proposed to improve the diode performance. Design and simulations are performed by using an analytical model based code. Diode cut-off frequency calculation methods are studied and classified for different applications. Considering general diode equivalent circuit model, a new approach for calculating the cut-off frequency is suggested for mixer/multiplier applications. This approach provides cut-off much closer to its practical value. Also, the diode design based on its application, direct detector and mixer/multiplier, is studied. It is shown that the epitaxial structure engineering has impact on diode application based design. For diode realization a microfabrication process is developed. Unique planarization method is introduced which provides necessary substruction for the airbridges. In order to avoid expensive e-beam lithography, a T-shaped anode is produced by employing photolithography technique. This process is repeatable, reliable, low cost, gives high flexibility in design terms, and suitable for mass production. The final process merely requires two metallization steps which is minimum possible number due to annealing requirement of ohmic contact. The proposed planarization process is based on using different plasma etching rates of two common resists. In the diode fabrication an available GaAs HBT epitaxial wafer is used. The realized diode characterization results derived from DC and RF measurements are reported and compared with the simulation results. The measurement results showed significant reduction in parasitic capacitance of the diode to under twenty percent of its total capacitance. Therefore, the design and fabrication method of this work can provide diodes to operate over one terahertz with larger anode area (that can be produced by photolithography techniques).

Master of Science / Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering / John Devore / Instead of designing new proprietary hardware to replace aging, obsolete systems, the defense industry is looking towards Components Off The Shelf (COTS). COTS are attractive for a number of reasons. First, by using COTS, nonrecurring design costs are divided among all costumers. Second, because COTS suppliers have an economy of scale, the suppliers are able to reduce the cost of components, making systems more affordable than low-volume, proprietary solutions. Third, using COTS accelerates the time to market by reducing the time required for design and making extensive design verification unnecessary. Fourth, COTS hardware produces a scalable solution, as one COTS systems could easily be replaced with a different COTS system that would more readily meet the customer's unique demands. This thesis attempts to explain the implementation of a COTS-based flight computer. The PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC) standard has been selected because it is both rugged and widely accepted by industry. The PMC is a common standard with a variety of COTS parts, making it easily exchangeable. While the COTS solution reduces design overhead, it does not eliminate the need for design altogether. Although the contractor would no longer be required to design the features provided by the COTS, they would be required to design the overall system and the integration of the COTS. This thesis documents the design of a system that takes two PMC cards – the COTS – and integrates those cards together and interfaces them with the flight systems. The interfacing of COTS components is also extended to provide a high-speed serial link in order to connect two PMC carrier boards for a total of four COTS PMCs. Further, the testability of the final system is explored to provide an end product that is verifiably sufficient.

Master of Science / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Kirby S. Chapman / This thesis outlines the development of a centrifugal compressor model for the Turbocharger Component Matching System (TuCMS) software package that can be used to inexpensively analyze turbocharger performance. The TuCMS can also be used to match turbocharger components to integrate and optimize turbocharger-engine performance. The software system is being developed with the intent to reduce the time taken to experimentally match a turbocharger with an engine, a task that is key to engine emission reductions. The TuCMS uses one-dimensional thermo-fluid equations to analyze the compressor side of a turbocharger. For each compressor component, the program calculates the velocities, pressures, temperatures, pressure losses, work consumption, and efficiencies for a specified set of turbocharger geometry, atmospheric conditions, rotational speed, and fluid mass flow rate. The compressor includes established loss models found in the open literature. The TuCMS utilizes a component-based architecture to simplify model enhancements. The TuCMS can be used as a cost effective engineering tool for preliminary turbocharger testing during engine upgrades and modifications. In this thesis, the TuCMS compressor model was used as an analysis tool to further understand the Variable Geometry Turbocharger (VGT) experimental results. The VGT is a unique turbocharger that can change the diffuser vane angle over a wide range of positions. The change in diffuser vane angle results in optimal turbocharger performance at various operating conditions, and potentially increases the operating range. The purpose for the use of the TuCMS compressor model analysis is to identify the change in performance as the diffuser vane angles are adjusted. The TuCMS can ideally be used as a control program for the VGT to adjust the diffuser vane angles as the compressor load changes and insure the compressor is operating at the highest efficiency.

This master's thesis analyzes and redesigns the current performance design of the Main Library in Najran University campus, Najran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to achieve a completely energy independent and off-grid building. The research demonstrates the energy development in KSA, investigates and analyzes the project, and studies the energy systems. Climate data for Najran city was generated and analyzed in Climate Consultant 6.0. The research examines case studies from hot-arid climates that are responsive climatically. In addition, the energy generation and storage systems are calculated and specified to the building and its site; Quick Energy Simulation Tool (eQUEST) was used to analyze and simulate the energy use in the existing building. Furthermore, Revit software was utilized to develop the project design and simulate daylight intensity for indoor and outdoor spaces. Additionally, Cool Vent simulated the natural ventilation for the building for the low-energy performance case and the high-energy performance case, and direct passive evaporative cool towers were simulated in COOLT software. Appropriate building envelopes, passive cooling strategies, and native landscapes are applied to the off-grid case. Solar power generation outcomes, wind turbines output, batteries size are optimized in HOMER energy simulation software; thus, this off-grid building generates electricity more than its use, then, stores the extra energy in batteries banks. Through this research energy independency was accomplished with a reduction in total energy consumption by 64%, and human thermal comfort levels were attained in the proposed design.

Masters of Science / Problem and significance: Off-label use of medicines is not illegal; however, it can be risky and harmful, or beneficial and innovative. The main problem of this practice is the lack of systems for monitoring adverse drug reactions, since the drugs are used in a manner that is not approved by regulatory agencies. For this reason public health protection is not guaranteed. Purpose: To identify the various systems employed in different regions to monitor/manage the risks and benefits of off-label use; and to ascertain their extent of implementation. Method/search strategy: Electronic and manual literature search was done. Articles referring to off-label medicine use were reviewed. The literature included journal articles, national MRA guidelines, international guidelines, etc. The articles were sourced from databases such as Pubmed and Google Scholar. Data was collected from both developed and emerging markets. There was no limit to publication date. Findings: Pharmacovigilance systems for off-label use do exist although the degree of commitment and advancement differs per country. Explicit off-label laws are present in the developed countries but not in the developing ones. Implications of findings: Stakeholder involvement is very important in monitoring off-label use. Reporting of ADRs can be improved by asserting the role of off-label PV in drug repositioning. The regulator is under pressure to maintain public trust through efficient control of off-label use.