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We demonstrate how the performance of offset quadrature phase-shift keying (OQPSK) and its variants of Feher-patented QPSK (FQPSK) and Shaped Offset QPSK (SOQPSK) (collectively known as the ARTM Tier-1 waveforms) in single input single output (SISO) system could change with the channel fading parameters. The bit error rate expression of offset QSPK and ATRM Tier-1 waveforms over the aeronautical telemetry multipath channel has been derived. Simulations show that for the case of a single multipath ray, the BER gets worse with increasing Γ for a fixed delay, and that the BER has a quasi-periodic property for fixed Γ and increasing τ. For the case of two multipath rays, the multipath component characterized by large amplitude and small delay is the main factor of the BER degradation, while the BER is not very sensitive to the change of multipath delay. Analysis of the average bit error probability shows that a relatively high error floor at approximately 10−2 occurs for |Γ1| ≥ 0.5. When offset quadrature phase-shift keying (OQPSK) is used in multiple input multiple output (MIMO) environment, orthogonal space-time block codes can be applied to waveforms to orthogonalize a space-time coded multiple-input, multiple output link. For offset QPSK, this technique has the advantage of eliminating the I/Q interference associated with simultaneous transmission of offset QPSK waveforms. In addition, orthogonalization presents uncorrelated noise samples to the space-time trellis decoder. As a consequence, a less complex space-time decoder (relative to what would be required without orthogonalization) can be used. It is demonstrated that a concatenated system based on an orthogonal space-time block code and a trellis code, optimized for single-input, single-output fading channel, outperforms a space-time trellis code for a 2x1 system. The space-time block code orthogonalizes the channel seen by the outer code and this simplifies the computations required for decoding. The advantages of orthogonalization are achieved at the expense of rate. In the examples presented, the codes were chosen to have roughly equivalent bit error rate performance and identical code rates: the complexity was compared.

Designers are constantly searching for new sourcing of inspiration for innovative design. Recently, origami has gained interest as one of these potential sources. Origami literally translated from Japanese means “paper folding” where “oru” means “to fold” and “kami” means “paper”. Since paper is insufficient to solve many engineering design problems, designers must turn to other materials. These materials will inevitably be thicker than paper and will often require different folding techniques and considerations. This thesis provides background information describing previous methods to accommodate thickness in origami-inspired design, presents a newly developed technique to address limitations of other methods, and explores the application of the technique. The newly developed technique allows designers to identify a desired motion behavior in an origami model and implement it into a thick mechanism. Many previous methods were incapable of preserving the kinematics and/or restricted usable range of motion. Understanding the capabilities and limitations of thickness accommodation methods empowers designers to better implement inspiration from origami into engineering design. The offset panel technique is further extended to include arbitrary thickness and arbitrary folding plane locations. The technique is verified through creation and testing of hardware, showcasing capabilities and limitations. Demonstration of these capabilities will serve as inspiration for furthering application of thick origami in engineering design. Preliminary work in thick origami led to the design of a thick origami-inspired medical gripper. These origami-inspired forceps, Oriceps, were designed by starting with an origami model exhibiting desired motion, grasping. The Oriceps show some challenges faced with accommodating thickness in adapting an origami model for application.

To understand pain processing requires the assessment of an individual’s perception of pain with temporal stimulation over different periods. Offset analgesia (OA), a phenomenon widely studied, refers to a disproportionate decrease in pain experience following a small reduction in temperature during noxious thermal stimulation. OA leads to skin desensitization, causing brief pain inhibition at the stimulation site and leading to adaptation and a decrease in pain scores. To avoid sensitization and habituation during thermal pain procedures, previous studies have utilized protocols in which the thermal stimulation is applied to different areas of the skin (e.g., upper forearm versus lower forearm). The reliability of this thermal pain calibration procedure in producing a nonadaptive effect has been previously tested using pain rating scales. The utilization of neuroimaging to further elucidate these relationships has not been widely studied, but it is likely an important tool to investigate these constructs. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a noninvasive optical imaging technique that measures changes in hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations within the brain using the characteristic absorption spectra of Hb in the near-infrared range. This thesis investigated whether adaptation exists across four conditions of the OA paradigm using fNIRS. Introducing fNIRS to define significant differences in brain metrics (e.g., activated regions of interest) in participants who have undergone surgery and are experiencing chronic pain as well as healthy, pain-free controls could have implications for more accurate measures of OA and more reliable pain treatment options. In this study, noxious thermal stimulation was given to 19 participants on the forearm of the nondominant hand through a commonly used three-temperature OA paradigm with offset, constant, and control trials. Each OA paradigm consisted of four conditions (A, B, C, and D) with a pseudorandom sequence design of three trials. OA was implemented with the participant while real-time fNIRS data were obtained on the subject’s prefrontal and somatosensory cortices, regions known to be involved in pain processing. Hemoglobin responses during the four OA trials were evaluated and compared within experimental conditions. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze the significant differences among conditions. Results showed no significant differences among the four OA trials. The findings of this thesis study indicated that brain response from the prefrontal and somatosensory cortices is not affected within the four OA trials. The consistent brain activation across multiple trials of stimulation suggests an absence of adaptive responses. In line with previous findings, these results imply the reliability of such thermal pain calibration procedures by fNIRS brain imaging. Further investigation with a larger sample size is likely for the verification of the findings from this study. / 2026-02-14T00:00:00Z

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International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Shaped Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (SOQPSK) has the advantages of low sidelobes and high detection probability; however, its main lobe has a fixed width set by the number of constellation points. By slightly modifying the modulation scheme, the four constellation points of quadrature shift keying can be changed to M constellation points where M is a power of 2. After this change, the power spectral density (PSD) retains low sidelobes, and the desirable property of being able to detect the signal by integrating over two symbol periods is retained.

Supercritical fluid jets provide a complex flow pattern and are present in many engineering applications. To date, studies have focused on wall jets, free jets, and two-dimensional offset jets. As a result, our understanding of three-dimensional offset jets is lacking. A deeper understanding of three-dimensional offset jets is important as they are seen in many engineering applications. Understanding the flow patterns of three-dimensional offset jets will aid hydraulic engineers to reduce anthropogenic effects when designing new and rehabilitating older hydraulic structures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of tailwater level and asymmetry ratio on three-dimensional offset jets. A physical model was constructed and three sets of experiments were conducted. Each set of experiments evaluated the effects of the Reynolds number, tailwater level, or asymmetry ratio. Velocity measurements were taken with an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. The acoustic Doppler velocimeter measured all three components of velocity which allowed the calculation of all six components of Reynolds shear stresses and ten components of triple velocity correlation. The effects of Reynolds number, tailwater level, and asymmetry ratio on streamwise flow development, distributions of mean velocities, and distribution of turbulence statistics were evaluated. Reynolds number effects were found to be insignificant at Reynolds number greater than 53,000. Two different trends were observed in the behavior of three-dimensional offset jets at different tailwater levels. At low tailwater levels the jet will not reattach to the channel bottom as it does at higher tailwater levels. Increasing the asymmetry ratio of an offset jet will make the jet curve towards the channel wall and bottom faster. Once reattached to the wall the velocity decay rate is greatly reduced. The results found in this study will be useful to a hydraulic engineer designing new or rehabilitating older hydraulic structures which have flow characteristics similar to that of three-dimensional offset jets. The data acquired during this study adds to the available data usable for calibration and validation of turbulence models. All three components of velocity were measured simultaneously which allowed to calculation of the six Reynolds shear stresses and ten triple velocity correlation terms. All velocities and turbulence statistics in this study were measured simultaneously which provides a data set that has rarely been seen before.

Esta pesquisa objetivou dentro da perspectiva antropotecnológica, analisar a transferência de tecnologia realizada a partir de política de offset no âmbito da saúde pública, chamado Plano de Expansão da Radioterapia do Ministério da Saúde. O objetivo da referida política é criar e melhorar organizações credenciadas para tratamentos oncológicos a partir da inserção de equipamento radioterápico. Esse processo é dividido em duas etapas: a inserção do equipamento radioterápico e, as compensações previstas no acordo comercial. Para atender esse propósito, buscou-se compreender as abordagens teóricas e metodológicas dos campos de estudo da antropotecnologia, transferência de tecnologia e política de offset. Neste sentido, utilizou-se a estratégia metodológica do estudo de caso, amparada pela pesquisa aplicada, com abordagem qualitativa e exploratória. Analisaram-se os ambientes externos e internos de uma determinada situação localizada no Estado do Paraná que recebeu o equipamento radioterápico. Constatou-se que as iniciativas de inserção de equipamento radioterápico do contexto do Plano de Expansão têm sofrido inúmeros enfrentamentos inseridos nas particularidades contextuais e organizacionais que afetam seu desenvolvimento e efetividade. Há desafios que exigem respostas de um conjunto de organizações envolvidas para efetivar o acordo comercial estabelecido pela política de offset, enaltecendo a primeira etapa como processo de transferência de tecnologia. Assim, a situação localizada no Estado do Paraná consolidou, de forma consistente, a inserção do equipamento radioterápico permitindo sua evidenciação como situação de referência a partir das dimensões e indicadores de análise providos da antropotecnologia e possibilitando a compreensão da transferência de tecnologia envolvida. / This research aimed, within the scope of the anthropotechnological approach, analyze the technology transfer, performed via the offset policy in the field of public health, called the Radiotherapy Expansion Plan, from the Health Ministry. The objective of this policy is to create and improve accredited organizations, concerning the oncological treatment, specifically in the insertion of radiotherapeutic equipment. This process is divided into two stages: the insertion of the radiotherapy equipment, and the compensations provided for in the commercial agreement. To meet this purpose, the research started from understanding the theoretical and methodological approaches of the fields of study of anthropotechnology, technology transfer and offset policy. In this sense, there was used the methodological strategy of the case study, supported by applied research, with a qualitative and exploratory approach. External and internal environments of a specific situation were analyzed, located in the State of Paraná, which received the radiotherapy equipment. It was verified that the initiatives of insertion of radiotherapeutic equipment in the context of the Expansion Plan have undergone numerous confrontations, inserted in the contextual and organizational particularities that affect its development and effectiveness. There are challenges that require responses from a set of organizations involved, in order to implement the trade agreement established by the offset policy, highlighting the first stage as a process of technology transfer. Thus, the situation located in the State of Paraná consistently consolidated the insertion of the radiotherapy equipment. It allowed its disclosure as a reference situation, and based on the dimensions and indicators analysis provided by anthropotechnology, made possible the comprehensionof the technology transfer involved in the process.

L’offset, appelé également opération de compensation, est un outil de politique discriminatoire destiné à favoriser la production locale. Il désigne un transfert ou une création d’activités en échange de l’octroi d’un contrat commercial d’achat-vente dans le cadre d’un marché public international. Les gouvernements utilisent ces mécanismes comme un levier stratégique de développement et d’amélioration de la balance des paiements. Malgré la portée de ces pratiques, elles restent un mécanisme d’échange relativement méconnu et peu décrit dans la littérature académique. L’objet de cette thèse est de définir, expliciter et évaluer l’importance de ces pratiques dans le commerce international et de proposer des pistes de réflexion pour le succès (l’efficience et l’efficacité) d’une politique de ce type imposée par le gouvernement hôte aux firmes internationales. Afin de prendre en compte les variables critiques du succès d’une politique d’offset, la relation entre l’État hôte et l’entreprise obligataire et le résultat de cette interaction sont examinés par l’intermédiaire de la théorie des jeux. L’application de ce cadre d’analyse à l’étude de la politique d’offset de l’Afrique du Sud et plus particulièrement à l’analyse des 121 projets d’offset civils fournis entre 1996 et 2012, dans le cadre du programme d’achats stratégiques de Défense met en évidence les résultats suivants : lors de la signature des contrats, les projets d’offset laissent espérer d’importantes retombées économiques et sociales pour le pays. Toutefois, au cours du processus de mise en œuvre, les nombreuses dérogations aux règles et aux procédures réglementaires fixées réduisent largement les effets positifs des projets et nuisent à leur efficacité. L’opacité des modalités de négociation, de sélection et d’exécution des projets d’offset permettent d’affirmer que ces pratiques n’ont pas toujours garanti la meilleure valeur possible des achats publics. Pour des problèmes d’information et d’analyse, il est difficile de statuer sur l’efficience globale de la politique d’offset sud-africaine mais le bilan estimatif reste positif. / Offsets arrangements in government procurement are discriminatory policy tools aimed at increasing local production. They reflect a transfer or a creation of new activities as a pre-condition to the validity of the purchasing contract. The governments use these mechanisms to encourage local development or to improve the balance-of-payments. In spite of the broad utilization of offset practices, they are relatively unknown and little described in academic literature. The goal of this thesis is to define, to explain and to assess the importance of these practices in the international trade and to provide a theoretical framework within which it will be possible to critically appraise the success of an offset policy (its effectiveness and efficiency) for host countries. In order to take into account the success factors for an offset policy, the relationship between the host country and the obligor as well as the result of this relationship is examined through the game theory approach. By applying this general framework to the study of South African Offset policy and more particularly to the evaluation of 121 civil offset projects provided between 1996 and 2012, under the Strategic Defense Package purchase we find the following results: at the conclusion of public procurement contracts, South-African offset projects hold out promises of important economic benefits for the country. Nevertheless, during the implementation process, many violations of rules and procedures decrease the positive impact of these projects and hinder their effectiveness. The lack of transparency in the negotiation process, the selection and the execution phase of offset projects show that South Africa did not obtain best value for public money. It is difficult to appraise global program efficiency because of lack of data and analysis problems. However the estimated impact remains positive.

Les réseaux Ethernet commuté full-duplex constituent des solutions intéressantes pour des applications industrielles. Mais le non-déterminisme d’un commutateur IEEE 802.1d, fait que l’analyse pire cas de délai de flux critiques est encore un problème ouvert. Plusieurs méthodes ont été proposées pour obtenir des bornes supérieures des délais de communication sur des réseaux Ethernet commuté full duplex temps réels, faisant l’hypothèse que le trafic en entrée du réseau peut être borné. Le problème principal reste le pessimisme introduit par la méthode de calcul de cette borne supérieure du délai. Ces méthodes considèrent que tous les flux transmis sur le réseau sont indépendants. Ce qui est vrai pour les flux émis par des nœuds sources différents car il n’existe pas, dans le cas général, d’horloge globale permettant de synchroniser les flux. Mais pour les flux émis par un même nœud source, il est possible de faire l’hypothèse d’une synchronisation locale de ces flux. Une telle hypothèse permet de bâtir un modèle plus précis des flux et en conséquence élimine des scénarios impossibles qui augmentent le pessimisme du calcul. Le sujet principal de cette thèse est d’étudier comment des flux périodiques synchronisés par des offsets peuvent être gérés dans le calcul des bornes supérieures des délais sur un réseau Ethernet commuté temps-réel. Dans un premier temps, il s’agit de présenter l’impact des contraintes d’offsets sur le calcul des bornes supérieures des délais de bout en bout. Il s’agit ensuite de présenter comment intégrer ces contraintes d’offsets dans les approches de calcul basées sur le Network Calculus et la méthode des Trajectoires. Une méthode Calcul Réseau modifiée et une méthode Trajectoires modifiée sont alors développées et les performances obtenues sont comparées. Le réseau avionique AFDX (Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet) est pris comme exemple d’un réseau Ethernet commuté full-duplex. Une configuration AFDX industrielle avec un millier de flux est présentée. Cette configuration industrielle est alors évaluée à l’aide des deux approches, selon un choix d’allocation d’offsets donné. De plus, différents algorithmes d’allocation des offsets sont testés sur cette configuration industrielle, pour trouver un algorithme d’allocation quasi-optimal. Une analyse de pessimisme des bornes supérieures calculées est alors proposée. Cette analyse est basée sur l’approche des trajectoires (rendue optimiste) qui permet de calculer une sous-approximation du délai pire-cas. La différence entre la borne supérieure du délai (calculée par une méthode donnée) et la sous-approximation du délai pire cas donne une borne supérieure du pessimisme de la méthode. Cette analyse fournit des résultats intéressants sur le pessimisme des approches Calcul Réseau et méthode des Trajectoires. La dernière partie de la thèse porte sur une architecture de réseau temps réel hétérogène obtenue par connexion de réseaux CAN via des ponts sur un réseau fédérateur de type Ethernet commuté. Deux approches, une basée sur les composants et l’autre sur les Trajectoires sont proposées pour permettre une analyse des délais pire-cas sur un tel réseau. La capacité de calcul d’une borne supérieure des délais pire-cas dans le contexte d’une architecture hétérogène est intéressante pour les domaines industriels. / Full-duplex switched Ethernet is a promising candidate for interconnecting real-time industrial applications. But due to IEEE 802.1d indeterminism, the worst-case delay analysis of critical flows supported by such a network is still an open problem. Several methods have been proposed for upper-bounding communication delays on a real-time switched Ethernet network, assuming that the incoming traffic can be upper bounded. The main problem remaining is to assess the tightness, i.e. the pessimism, of the method calculating this upper bound on the communication delay. These methods consider that all flows transmitted over the network are independent. This is true for flows emitted by different source nodes since, in general, there is no global clock synchronizing them. But the flows emitted by the same source node are local synchronized. Such an assumption helps to build a more precise flow model that eliminates some impossible communication scenarios which lead to a pessimistic delay upper bounds. The core of this thesis is to study how local periodic flows synchronized with offsets can be handled when computing delay upper-bounds on a real-time switched Ethernet. In a first step, the impact of these offsets on the delay upper-bound computation is illustrated. Then, the integration of offsets in the Network Calculus and the Trajectory approaches is introduced. Therefore, a modified Network Calculus approach and a modified Trajectory approach are developed whose performances are compared on an Avionics Full-DupleX switched Ethernet (AFDX) industrial configuration with one thousand of flows. It has been shown that, in the context of this AFDX configuration, the Trajectory approach leads to slightly tighter end-to-end delay upper bounds than the ones of the Network Calculus approach. But offsets of local flows have to be chosen. Different offset assignment algorithms are then investigated on the AFDX industrial configuration. A near-optimal assignment can be exhibited. Next, a pessimism analysis of the computed upper-bounds is proposed. This analysis is based on the Trajectory approach (made optimistic) which computes an under-estimation of the worst-case delay. The difference between the upper-bound (computed by a given method) and the under-estimation of the worst-case delay gives an upper-bound of the pessimism of the method. This analysis gives interesting comparison results on the Network Calculus and the Trajectory approaches pessimism. The last part of the thesis, deals with a real-time heterogeneous network architecture where CAN buses are interconnected through a switched Ethernet backbone using dedicated bridges. Two approaches, the component-based approach and the Trajectory approach, are developed to conduct a worst-case delay analysis for such a network. Clearly, the ability to compute end-to-end delays upper-bounds in the context of heterogeneous network architecture is promising for industrial domains.