• Refine Query
  • Source
  • Publication year
  • to
  • Language
  • 163
  • 42
  • 20
  • 19
  • 18
  • 17
  • 13
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 1
  • Tagged with
  • 353
  • 61
  • 54
  • 34
  • 32
  • 31
  • 22
  • 20
  • 19
  • 18
  • 18
  • 18
  • 17
  • 16
  • 16
  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
211

Continental Tectonics from Dense Array Seismic Imaging: Intraplate Seismicity in Virginia and a Steep Cratonic Margin in Idaho

Davenport, Kathy 21 September 2016 (has links)
Dense array seismic techniques can be applied to multiple types of seismic data to understand regional tectonic processes via analysis of crustal velocity structure, imaging reflection surfaces, and calculating high-resolution hypocenter locations. The two regions presented here include an intraplate seismogenic fault zone in Virginia and a steep cratonic margin in eastern Oregon and Idaho. The intraplate seismicity study in Virginia consisted of using 201 short-period vertical-component seismographs, which recorded events as low as magnitude -2 during a period of 12 days. Dense array analysis revealed almost no variation in the seismic velocity within the hypocentral zone, indicating that the aftershock zone is confined to a single crystalline-rock terrane. The 1-2 km wide cloud of hypocenters is characterized by a 29° strike and 53° dip consistent with the focal mechanism of the main shock. A 5° bend along strike and a shallower dip angle below 6 km points toward a more complex concave shaped fault zone. The seismic study in Idaho and Oregon was centered on the inversion of controlled-source wide-angle reflection and refraction seismic P- and S-wave traveltimes to determine a seismic velocity model of the crust beneath this part of the U.S. Cordillera. We imaged a narrow, steep velocity boundary within the crust that juxtaposes the Blue Mountains accreted terranes and the North American craton at the western Idaho shear zone. We found a 7 km offset in Moho depth, separating crust with different seismic velocities and Poisson's ratios. The crust beneath the Blue Mountains terranes is consistent with an intermediate lithology dominated by diorite. In the lower crust there is evidence of magmatic underplating which is consistent with the location of the feeder system of the Columbia River Basalts. The cratonic crust east of the WISZ is thicker and characterized by a felsic composition dominated by granite through most of the crust, with an intermediate composition layer in the lower crust. This sharp lithologic and rheologic boundary strongly influenced subsequent deformation and magmatic events in the region. / Ph. D.
212

Contribution à la tolérance active aux défauts des systèmes dynamiques par gestion des références / Contribution to active fault tolerance of dynamic systems based reference management

Boussaïd, Boumedyen 09 July 2011 (has links)
Le sujet de cette thèse s'inscrit dans le cadre des systèmes tolérants aux défauts sous contraintes avec prise en considération de la dégradation des performances. L'objectif principal de ce travail consiste à considérer la gestion des références comme une partie intégrante du système de commande tolérant aux défauts. Dans la littérature, la plupart des méthodes actives de tolérance aux défauts supposent que le recouvrement du système nominal est toujours possible et que les performances nominales sont toujours atteignables. Cette condition est peu réaliste dans la pratique puisque plusieurs éléments empêchent le système reconfiguré de revenir à son mode de fonctionnement nominal. Dans le domaine industriel, l'ensemble des contraintes du système est un handicap majeur qui limite le fonctionnement nominal d'un système à des plages fonctionnelles bien définies. Ces plages fonctionnelles sont énormément réduites après l'apparition de certains défauts dits sévères et qui affectent généralement les actionneurs. Par conséquent, cette hypothèse de recouvrement des performances nominales dans le cas des systèmes sous contraintes limite l'ensemble des défauts traités par ces méthodes classiques à quelques défauts dits mineurs. Afin de remédier a ce problème, une architecture de reconfiguration structurée en deux niveaux est proposée. Le premier concerne les algorithmes classiques de reconfiguration en agissant sur un contrôleur reconfigurable, et le deuxième agit sur le module de gestion des références conçu à base d'un gouverneur de référence avec offset. La connaissance exacte du modèle en post-défaut nécessite un système de détection et diagnostic de défaut qui permet d'estimer l'amplitude de défaut, ce qui conduit à la synthèse d'un observateur adaptatif d'estimation de défaut à base de LMI. Afin de synchroniser le déroulement du processus FTC, deux indices ont été conçus. Le premier indice porte sur le mécanisme de décision permettant de sélectionner le/les niveau(x) de reconfiguration nécessaire(s) à l'accommodation du défaut. Le deuxième indice permet d'évaluer le niveau de dégradation du système « post-défaut ». Une dégradation de performance est toujours admise tant que les consignes de sécurité sont respectées / The subject of this thesis is part of fault tolerant control systems under constraints with consideration of performance degradation. The main objective of this work is to consider the reference management as an integral part of the fault tolerant control system. In the literature, the most active methods of fault tolerance imply that recovery of the nominal system is always possible and that performance ratings are still achievable. This requirement is unrealistic in practice because several factors prevent the system reconfigured back to its nominal operating mode. In industry, the set of system constraints is a major problem which limits the nominal operating of the system to defined functional ranges. These functional ranges are reduced dramatically after the occurrence of some faults known as severe faults that generally affect the capacity of actuators. Therefore, this assumption of nominal performance recovery in the case of systems under constraints limits the set of faults treated with these conventional methods to a few minor faults. To remedy this problem, architecture of reconfiguration structured in two levels is proposed. The first level concerns the conventional reconfiguration algorithms acting on a reconfigurable controller, and the second acts on the module of reference management based on a reference-offset governor. The exact knowledge of the post-fault model requires a fault detection and diagnosis system to estimate the magnitude of fault, which led to the synthesis of an adaptive observer based LMI for estimating fault. To synchronize the FTC process flow, two indices have been designed. The first index refers to the decision mechanism for selecting the reconfiguration level required for the accommodation of the fault. The second index used to evaluate the level of the degradation of the system "post-fault". The performance degradation is still allowed as long as safety instructions are respected
213

A Game Theoretic Framework for User Association & Inter-cell Interference Management in LTE Cellular Networks / Optimisation de la gestion des interférences inter-cellulaires et de l'attachement des mobiles dans les réseaux cellulaires LTE

Trabelsi, Nessrine 20 December 2016 (has links)
Conduit par une croissance exponentielle dans les appareils mobiles et une augmentation continue de la consommation individuelle des données, le trafic de données mobiles a augmenté de 4000 fois au cours des 10 dernières années et près de 400millions fois au cours des 15 dernières années. Les réseaux cellulaires homogènes rencontrent de plus en plus de difficultés à gérer l’énorme trafic de données mobiles et à assurer un débit plus élevé et une meilleure qualité d’expérience pour les utilisateurs.Ces difficultés sont essentiellement liées au spectre disponible et à la capacité du réseau.L’industrie de télécommunication doit relever ces défis et en même temps doit garantir un modèle économique pour les opérateurs qui leur permettra de continuer à investir pour répondre à la demande croissante et réduire l’empreinte carbone due aux communications mobiles. Les réseaux cellulaires hétérogènes (HetNets), composés de stations de base macro et de différentes stations de base de faible puissance,sont considérés comme la solution clé pour améliorer l’efficacité spectrale par unité de surface et pour éliminer les trous de couverture. Dans de tels réseaux, il est primordial d’attacher intelligemment les utilisateurs aux stations de base et de bien gérer les interférences afin de gagner en performance. Comme la différence de puissance d’émission est importante entre les grandes et petites cellules, l’association habituelle des mobiles aux stations de bases en se basant sur le signal le plus fort, n’est plus adaptée dans les HetNets. Une technique basée sur des offsets individuelles par cellule Offset(CIO) est donc nécessaire afin d’équilibrer la charge entre les cellules et d’augmenter l’attraction des petites cellules (SC) par rapport aux cellules macro (MC). Cette offset est ajoutée à la valeur moyenne de la puissance reçue du signal de référence(RSRP) mesurée par le mobile et peut donc induire à un changement d’attachement vers différents eNodeB. Comme les stations de bases dans les réseaux cellulaires LTE utilisent les mêmes sous-bandes de fréquences, les mobiles peuvent connaître une forte interférence intercellulaire, en particulier en bordure de cellules. Par conséquent, il est primordial de coordonner l’allocation des ressources entre les cellules et de minimiser l’interférence entre les cellules. Pour atténuer la forte interférence intercellulaire, les ressources, en termes de temps, fréquence et puissance d’émission, devraient être alloués efficacement. Un modèle pour chaque dimension est calculé pour permettre en particulier aux utilisateurs en bordure de cellule de bénéficier d’un débit plus élevé et d’une meilleure qualité de l’expérience. L’optimisation de tous ces paramètres peut également offrir un gain en consommation d’énergie. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une solution dynamique polyvalente effectuant une optimisation de l’attachement des mobiles aux stations de base et de l’allocation des ressources dans les réseaux cellulaires LTE maximisant une fonction d’utilité du réseau qui peut être choisie de manière adéquate.Notre solution, basée sur la théorie des jeux, permet de calculer les meilleures valeurs pour l’offset individuelle par cellule (CIO) et pour les niveaux de puissance à appliquer au niveau temporel et fréquentiel pour chaque cellule. Nous présentons des résultats des simulations effectuées pour illustrer le gain de performance important apporté par cette optimisation. Nous obtenons une significative hausse dans le débit moyen et le débit des utilisateurs en bordure de cellule avec 40 % et 55 % de gains respectivement. En outre, on obtient un gain important en énergie. Ce travail aborde des défis pour l’industrie des télécoms et en tant que tel, un prototype de l’optimiseur a été implémenté en se basant sur un trafic HetNets émulé. / Driven by an exponential growth in mobile broadband-enabled devices and a continue dincrease in individual data consumption, mobile data traffic has grown 4000-fold over the past 10 years and almost 400-million-fold over the past 15 years. Homogeneouscellular networks have been facing limitations to handle soaring mobile data traffic and to meet the growing end-user demand for more bandwidth and betterquality of experience. These limitations are mainly related to the available spectrumand the capacity of the network. Telecommunication industry has to address these challenges and meet exploding demand. At the same time, it has to guarantee a healthy economic model to reduce the carbon footprint which is caused by mobile communications.Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets), composed of macro base stations and low powerbase stations of different types, are seen as the key solution to improve spectral efficiency per unit area and to eliminate coverage holes. In such networks, intelligent user association and interference management schemes are needed to achieve gains in performance. Due to the large imbalance in transmission power between macroand small cells, user association based on strongest signal received is not adapted inHetNets as only few users would attach to low power nodes. A technique based onCell Individual Offset (CIO) is therefore required to perform load balancing and to favor some Small Cell (SC) attraction against Macro Cell (MC). This offset is addedto users’ Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements and hence inducing handover towards different eNodeBs. As Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular networks use the same frequency sub-bands, mobile users may experience strong inter-cellxv interference, especially at cell edge. Therefore, there is a need to coordinate resource allocation among the cells and minimize inter-cell interference. To mitigate stronginter-cell interference, the resource, in time, frequency and power domain, should be allocated efficiently. A pattern for each dimension is computed to permit especially for cell edge users to benefit of higher throughput and quality of experience. The optimization of all these parameters can also offer gain in energy use. In this thesis,we propose a concrete versatile dynamic solution performing an optimization of user association and resource allocation in LTE cellular networks maximizing a certainnet work utility function that can be adequately chosen. Our solution, based on gametheory, permits to compute Cell Individual Offset and a pattern of power transmission over frequency and time domain for each cell. We present numerical simulations toillustrate the important performance gain brought by this optimization. We obtain significant benefits in the average throughput and also cell edge user through put of40% and 55% gains respectively. Furthermore, we also obtain a meaningful improvement in energy efficiency. This work addresses industrial research challenges and assuch, a prototype acting on emulated HetNets traffic has been implemented.
214

An Optimization Framework for Embedded Processors with Auto-Modify Addressing Modes

Lau, ChokSheak 08 December 2004 (has links)
Modern embedded processors with dedicated address generation unit support memory accesses using indirect addressing mode with auto-increment and auto-decrement. The auto-increment/decrement mode, if properly utilized, can save address arithmetic instructions, reduce static and dynamic footprint of the program and speed up the execution as well. We propose an optimization framework for embedded processors based on the auto-increment and decrement addressing modes for address registers. Existing work on this class of optimizations focuses on using an access graph and finding the maximum weight path cover to find an optimized stack variables layout. We take this further by using coalescing, addressing mode selection and offset registers to find further opportunities for reducing the number of load-address instructions required. We also propose an algorithm for building the layout with considerations for memory accesses across basic blocks, because existing work mainly considers intra-basic-block information. We then use the available offset registers to try to further reduce the number of address arithmetic instructions after layout assignment.
215

Total Shoulder Arthroplasty : clinical and radiological studies on the implant positioning and fixation

Kadum, Bakir January 2015 (has links)
Shoulder arthroplasty surgery has shown remarkable progress during the last few decades. A number of factors affect postoperative range of motion, pain and prosthetic durability. Among these factors, the length of the lever arm and joint stability is the ones that can be altered by the selected prosthetic component. It is uncertain how much of the normal anatomy needs to be re-established. Stemless prostheses with total reliance on metaphyseal fixation were introduced in France in 2004 (TESS, Zimmer Biomet). The goals were to avoid stem-related complications. Stemless implants have other potential benefits, including the ability to restore shoulder anatomy. Study I: This is a prospective cohort study of 49 patients with one of two versions of the TESS prosthesis (anatomical or reverse) with clinical and radiological follow-up ranging from 9–24 months. The TESS prosthesis showed short-term results that were comparable with other shoulder prosthetic systems. Study II: This is a prospective comparative non-randomised study of 37 patients (40 shoulders) who underwent TESS reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) with a follow-up ranging from 15–66 months. We found a significant improvement in functional outcome and reduction of pain in both stemmed and stemless groups. Glenoid overhang influenced the occurrence of scapular notching (SN). Study III: This is a radiological study showing that CT had a good reliability and reproducibility in estimating LHO. Study IV: This is a prospective radiological study of 69 patients (70 shoulders) with primary osteoarthritis (OA) who had undergone stemless total anatomical shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). This study showed that stemless anatomical TSA could be useful in restoring shoulder anatomy. Study V: This is a prospective study of 44 patients with OA who had undergone stemless anatomical TSA with a clinical and radiological follow up ranging from 12 – 50 months. Our study showed that LHO reconstruction close to the anatomy of a healthy contralateral shoulder improved shoulder function. Stemless anatomical TSA help to restore LHO. Increasing LHO may have a negative effect on shoulder function at three months but had no effect at 12 months. The main conclusions of this thesis are: 1. TSA (anatomic and reverse) using stemless humeral components is reliable if bone quality is adequate. The complication rate is comparable with other shoulder prosthetic systems. 2. Glenoid overhang decreased complications in RSA. 3. LHO measurement on AP radiographs is less reliable and underestimates the distance when compared with CT. 4. Stemless TSA could be of help in reconstructing shoulder anatomy. 5. Shoulder reconstruction close to the anatomy of a healthy contralateral shoulder improves shoulder function. / Axelprotes kirurgi har visat avsevärd utveckling under de senaste decennierna. Ett antal faktorer påverkar postoperativt rörelseomfång, smärta och proteshållbarhet. Bland dessa faktorer utgör längden av hävarmen och ledstabilitet de faktorer som kan ändras genom val av proteskomponent. Det är osäkert om den normala anatomin måste återupprättas. Oskaftad protes med eliminering av humerusstamm och tillit till metafysär fixering introducerades i Frankrike år 2004 (TESS, Zimmer Biomet). Målen var att undvika stam relaterade komplikationer. Oskaftat implantat har andra potentiella fördelar, inklusive möjligheten att återställa axelnsanatomi. Syftet med denna avhandling var: (1) Att undersök radiologisk stabilitet av oskaftade axelproteser. (2) Att studera effekten av protes placering vid omvänd axelartroplastik både radiologiska och kliniskt utfall. (3) Att studera tillförlitlighet av mätningen av den laterala humeral offset (LHO), avståndet mellan processus coracoideus till laterala kanten av tuberkulum majus, med användning av CT eller röntgen. (4) Att studera oskaftad axelprotes förmåga att återställa axelnsanatomi. (5) Att studera den kliniska betydelsen av LHO återställning i för det funktionella resultatet efter axelartroplastik. Studie I: Detta är en prospektiv kohortstudie av 49 patienter med en av de två versionerna av TESS (anatomisk eller omvänd) med klinisk och radiologisk uppföljning från 9-24 månader. TESS protes visade lovande resultat på kort sikt med komplikationer som var jämförbar med andra axelprotessystem. Studie II: Detta är en prospektiv jämförande icke-randomiserad studie av 37 patienter (40 skuldror) som opererades med TESS omvänd axelartroplastik med en uppföljning från 15-66 månader. Vi fann en signifikant förbättring av funktion och minskning av smärta i både skaftad och oskaftad grupper. Glenoid overhang bedöms påverka risken för scapular notching (SN). Studie III: Detta är en radiologisk studie som visade att CT hade god tillförlitlighet och reproducerbarhet att mäta LHO. Studie IV: Detta är en prospektiv radiologisk studie av 69 patienter (70 skuldror) med primär artros som hade genomgått oskaftad total anatomisk axelprotes. Denna studie visade att oskaftad axelprotes kan vara till hjälp att återställa axelnsanatomi. Studie V: Detta är en prospektiv studie av 44 patienter med unilateral primär artros som hade genomgått oskaftad total axelprotes med en klinisk och radiologisk uppföljning från 12 - 50 månader. Vår studie visade att LHO rekonstruktion till den friska axeln förbättrar axelfunktion. Oskaftat implantat kan vara av hjälp till att återställa LHO. Ökad LHO kan ha en negativ effekt på axelnsfunktion vid tre månader, men denna effekt påvisade ej vid 12 månader. De viktigaste slutsatserna i denna avhandling är: 1. Oskaftad total axel artroplastik (anatomisk och omvänd) är tillförlitlig om benkvalitén är god med komplikationer som var jämförbar med andra axelprotessystem. 2. Glenoid overhang minskar komplikationer vid omvänd axelartroplastik. 3. LHO mätningen på röntgen är mindre tillförlitlig och underskattar avståndet jämfört med CT. 4. Oskaftad axelprotes skulle kunna vara till hjälp för att rekonstruera axelnsanatomi. 5. Axel rekonstruktion inom anatomi till att efterlikna anatomi på den friska kontralaterala axeln förbättrar axelfunktion.
216

Full Automation of Air Traffic Management in High Complexity Airspace

Ehrmanntraut, Rüdiger 29 March 2010 (has links)
The thesis is that automation of en-route Air Traffic Management in high complexity airspace can be achieved with a combination of automated tactic planning in a look-ahead time horizon of up to two hours complemented with automated tactic conflict resolution functions. The literature review reveals that no significant results have yet been obtained and that full automation could be approached with a complementary integration of automated tactic resolutions AND planning. The focus shifts to ‘planning for capacity’ and ‘planning for resolution’ and also – but not only – for ‘resolution’. The work encompasses a theoretical part on planning, and several small scale studies of empirical, mathematical or simulated nature. The theoretical part of the thesis on planning under uncertainties attempts to conceive a theoretical model which abstracts specificities of planning in Air Traffic Management into a generic planning model. The resulting abstract model treats entities like the planner, the strategy, the plan and the actions, always considering the impact of uncertainties. The work innovates in specifying many links from the theory to the application in planning of air traffic management, and especially the new fields of tactical capacity management. The second main part of the thesis comprises smaller self-containing works on different aspects of the concept grouped into a section on complexity, another on tactic planning actions, and the last on planners. The produced studies are about empirical measures of conflicts and conflict densities to get a better understanding of the complexity of air traffic; studies on traffic organisation using tactical manoeuvres like speed control, lateral offset and tactical direct using fast time simulation; and studies on airspace design like sector optimisation, dynamic sectorisation and its optimisation using optimisation techniques. In conclusion it is believed that this work will contribute to further automation attempts especially by its innovative focus which is on planning, base on a theory of planning, and its findings already influence newer developments.
217

Self-calibrating eye tracker using imagesaliency : Självkalibrerande ögonspårare medhjälp av image saliency / Självkalibrerande ögonspårare medhjälp av image saliency : Self-calibrating eye tracker using imagesaliency

Vega, Gabriel January 2022 (has links)
Self-calibrating eye tracker using image saliency. / Självkalibrerande ögonspårare med hjälp av image saliency.
218

Leg length discrepancy and femoral offset after total hip arthroplasty : clinical and radiological studies

Mahmood, Sarwar January 2016 (has links)
Every year, about 1 million patients worldwide and 16000 patients in Sweden undergo total hip arthroplasty (THA). This surgical intervention is considered a successful, safe and cost-effective procedure to regain pain-free mobility and restore hip joint function in patients suffering from severe hip joint disease or trauma. Besides relieving the pain, restoration of biomechanical forces around the hip with appropriate femoral offset (FO), leg length and proper component position and orientation are important goals. The radiographic preoperative planning and postoperative evaluation of these parameters require good validity, interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility. It remains controversial as to how much postoperative leg length discrepancy (LLD) and FO change are acceptable. Generally, lengthening of the operated leg ≥ 10mm and FO reduction of the operated hip > 5mm should be avoided by using preoperative radiological templating and intraoperative measurement methods. There is no consensus on the association between LLD and FO and outcome after THA. The aims of this thesis were to: 1. To determine the influence of non-corrected LLD after THA on patients’ reported hip function and quality of life (QoL). 2. To study the association of global FO changes after THA with patients’ reported hip function, QoL and abductor muscle strength. 3. To evaluate the concurrent validity of the Sundsvall method of measuring postoperative global FO by comparing it to a standard method and to evaluate the interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility of measurement of postoperative global FO, LLD and acetabular cup inclination and anteversion. 4. To analyse the postoperative radiographs of THA patients with leg lengthening and FO reduction to determine whether the problem is located in the stem, cup or both. Study I: A prospective cohort study of 174 patients with unilateral osteoarthritis (OA), comparing patients with lengthening ≥ 10mm, restoration (between 9 mm lengthening and 5 mm shortening) or shortening > 5 mm of the operated leg after THA. Follow up was 12–15 months. We found that a LLD of up to 20 mm did not influence the functional outcome (WOMAC) or QoL (EQ-5D). However, the lengthening group showed less improvement in WOMAC and more use of a shoe lift. Study II: A prospective cohort study of 222 patients with unilateral hip OA, comparing patients with decreased global FO (> 5 mm reduction), restored FO (within 5 mm restoration), and increased FO (> 5 mm increment) after THA. Follow up was was 12–15 months. The unadjusted results showed that the decreased FO group had a worse WOMAC index, less abductor muscle strength, and more use of walking aids. When these results were adjusted for possible confounding factors, only global FO reduction was statistically significantly associated with reduced abductor muscle strength. The incidence of residual hip pain and analgesics use was similar in the 3 groups. Study III: A prospective cohort study of 90 patients with primary unilateral OA treated with THA. Global FO using the Sundsvall method, global FO (standard method), LLD, acetabular cup inclination and anteversion were measured on postoperative radiographs. The interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility were tested using three independent observers. We found that the Sundsvall method is as reliable as the standard method and the evaluated radiographic measurement methods have the required validity and reliability to be used in clinical practice. Study IV: A prospective cohort study of 174 patients with unilateral primary OA treated with THA. LLD and global FO were measured on postoperative radiographs. Patients with lengthening of the operated leg ≥ 10mm (n=41) and patients with reduction of global FO > 5mm (n=58) were further studied to investigate the amount of lengthening and global FO reduction that took place in the stem and in the cup compared with the contralateral side. The interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility were tested using two independent observers. We found that post-THA lengthening of the operated leg ≥ 10mm was mainly caused by improper placement of the femoral stem, whereas a decrease of global FO > 5 was caused by improper placement of both acetabular and femoral components. The radiological measurement methods used showed substantial to excellent interobserver reliability and intraobserver reproducibility and are therefore clinically useful. The main conclusions of this thesis are: LLD up to 20 mm and reduced global FO more than 5 mm did not influence the functional outcome or quality of life at 12–15 months postoperatively. Lengthening ≥ 10mm was associated with increased use of a shoe lift. A reduction of global FO more than 5 mm compared to the contralateral hip was associated with weaker hip abductor muscles and more use of walking aids. Therefore both should be avoided. The radiographic measurement methods of LLD, global FO, cup inclination and anteversion have the required validity and reliability to be used in clinical practice. Lengthening of the operated leg is mainly caused by improper femoral stem positioning while global FO reduction results from improper positioning of both acetabular and femoral components. Surgeons should be aware of these operative pitfalls in order to minimize component malpositioning. / Varje år opereras ungefär 1 miljon patienter runt om i världen och 16000 patienter i Sverige med en total höftledsprotes (THA). Operation med höftledsprotes anses vara enav de mest framgångsrika, säkra och kostnadseffektiva kirurgiska åtgärderna med syfte att för att återställa livskvalité. Målet är att smärtlindra och återställa rörligheten i dendestruerade höftleden vid artros, reumatisk destruktion eller men efter exempelvis Perthes sjukdom. Vid operation med THA är det viktigt att återställa de biomekaniskakrafterna runt höftleden med en adekvat så kallad femoral offset (FO), postoperativ benlängdsskillnad (BLS) och ett tillfredsställande komponentläge. Den preoperativaplaneringen och den postoperativa bedömning av dessa parametrar kräver god tillförlitlighet, det vill säga validitet och reproducerbarhet både mellan olika bedömareoch vid upprepade mätningar av samma bedömare. Det är fortfarande inte klarlagt hur mycket postoperativ förändring i FO och BLS som är acceptabla. I dagsläget är detacceptabelt om den postoperativa benförlängningen understiger 1 cm och förändringen i FO är under 5 mm. Det finns ingen konsensus huruvida det föreligger ett sambandmellan BLS, FO och den patientrapporterade höftfunktionen och livskvalitén efter THA. Syftet med denna avhandling var: 1. Att studera effekten av icke-korrigerad BLS efter THA på den patientrapporterade höftfunktionen och livskvalitén. 2. Att studera effekten av förändringen i FO efter THA på den patientrapporterade höftfunktion, livskvalitén och muskelstyrka i abduktion. 3. Att utvärdera validitet och reliabilitet av en så kallad global FO genom att jämföra den med den gällande standard metoden samt studera tillförlitlighet av de radiologiskamätningar av postoperativa BLS, FO, cup inklination och anteversion efter THA. 4. Att radiologiskt undersöka i vilken av komponenterna (stam eller cup) somförändringen i FO och BLS verkar vara förlagd. Studie I: En prospektiv kohortstudie med 174 patienter som behandlats med THA för en primär unilateral koxartros. Patienterna delades in i tre grupper; de som fått en BLSförlängning över 10mm, återställning (mellan 9mm förlängning och 5mm förkortning) eller förkortning >5mm av det opererande benet efter THA. Uppföljning gjordes 12-15månader postoperativt. Vi fann att BLS upp till 20mm påverkade inte höftfunktion (WOMAC) och livskvalité (EQ-5D), men den förlängda gruppen visade en mindreförbättring i WOMAC och rapporterade en mer frekvent användning av skoinlägg. Studie II: En prospektiv kohortstudie med 222 patienter som behandlats med THA för en primär unilateral koxartros. Patienterna delades in i tre grupper; de patienter medförminskad FO (> 5mm minskning), återställd FO (inom 5mm) eller ökad FO (>5mm ökning). Uppföljning genomfördes efter 1 år med WOMAC, styrkemätning av höftensabduktorer och en frågeformulär. En minskad FO var associerade med en minskad styrka i höftens abduktorer. Det var ingen skillnad mellan grupperna gällandekvarstående höftsmärta och användning av analgetika. Studie III: En prospektiv kohortstudie med 90 patienter som behandlats med THA på grund av primär unilateral koxartros. På de postoperativa röntgenbilderna uppmättesglobala FO (Sundsvalls metodologi), globala FO (standard metod), BLS, cup inklination och anteversion. Reliabilitet och reproducerbarhet bedömdes mellan treoberoende observatörer. Vi fann att global FO (enligt Sundsvalls metodologi) är lika tillförlitlig som den nuvarande standardmetoden och de utvärderade radiologiskamätmetoderna har hög validitet och reliabilitet och kan således användas i klinisk praxis. Studie IV: En prospektiv kohortstudie med 174 patienter som behandlats med en THA för en primär unilateral koxartros. På de postoperativa röntgenbilderna uppmättes BLSoch globala FO. Patienter med förlängning ≥ 10mm (n=41) och patienter med minskning av globala FO >5mm (n=58) studerades for att mäta förlängning ochglobala FO minskning som sitter i stammen eller i cup jämfört med kontralaterala sidan. Reliabilitet och reproducerbarhet bedömdes av två oberoende observatörer. Vifann att en BLS över 10mm sitter framför allt i stamkomponenten i lårbenet medan en minskning i FO över 5 mm sitter i båda stam och cup. De radiologiska mätmetodernahar hög reliabilitet och reproducerbarhet och kan således användas i klinisk praxis. De viktigaste slutsatserna i denna avhandling är: 1. BLS med en förlängning upp till 20 mm och en minskning av globala FO mer än 5 mm påverkar inte patientrapporterad höftfunktion eller livskvalitet 1 år postoperativt. 2. BLS med en förlängning mer än 9 mm var associerad med mer användning av skoinlägg. En minskad FO med mer än 5 mm jämfört med den icke opererade höftenvar associerad med en sämre muskelstyrka i abduktion och ökat användning av gånghjälpmedel. 3. De radiologiska mätmetoderna av BLS, FO, acetabulära komponentens inklination och anteversion har hög validitet och reliabilitet, vilket kan användas i klinisk praxis. 4. En förlängning av det opererade benet orsakas främst av en positioneringen av stamkomponenten i lårbenet medan förlust av FO beror på otillfredsställande placeringav både stam och den acetabulära komponenten. Kirurger bör vara medveten om dessa operativa fallgropar för att optimera det kirurgiska resultatet.
219

Experimental investigation of effects of coolant concentration on subcooled boiling and crud deposition on reactor cladding at high pressures and high temperatures

Paravastu Pattarabhiran, Vijaya Raghava January 1900 (has links)
Master of Science / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Donald L. Fenton / Increase in demand for energy necessitates nuclear power units to increase their peak power limits. This increase implies significant changes in the design of the nuclear power unit core in order to provide better economy and safety in operations. A major hindrance to the increase of nuclear reactor performance especially in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) is the so called ‘Axial Offset Anomaly (AOA)’. An Axial Offset Anomaly (AOA) is the unexpected change in the core axial power distribution during the operation of a PWR from the predicted distribution. This problem is thought to be occurring because of precipitation and deposition of lithiated compounds such as lithium metaborate (LiBO[subscript]2) on the fuel rod. Due to its intrinsic property, the deposited boron absorbs neutrons thereby affecting the total power distribution in the reactor. AOA is thought to occur when there is sufficient build up of crud deposits on the cladding during subcooled nucleate boiling. Predicting AOA is difficult because there is little information regarding the heat and mass transfer during subcooled nucleate boiling. This thesis describes the experimental investigation that was conducted to study the heat transfer characteristics during subcooled nucleate boiling at prototypical PWR conditions. Pool boiling tests were conducted with varying concentrations of LiBO[subscript]2 and boric acid (H[subscript]2BO[subscript]3) solutions along with deionized water. The experimental data collected includes the effect of coolant concentration, degree of subcooling, system pressure and heat flux on pool boiling heat transfer coefficients. An analysis of deposits formed on the fuel rod during subcooled nucleate boiling is also included in the thesis. The experimental results reveal that the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient is degraded by the presence of boric acid and lithium metaborate in water. At concentration of 5000 ppm in water, the boric acid solution reduced the heat transfer coefficient by 23% and lithium metaborate solution reduced the heat transfer coefficient by 26%.
220

Obfuscation of Transmission Fingerprints for Secure Wireless Communications

Rahbari, Hanif January 2016 (has links)
Our world of people and objects is on the verge of transforming to a world of highly-interconnected wireless devices. Incredible advances in wireless communications, hardware design, and power storage have facilitated hasty spread of wireless technologies in human life. In this new world, individuals are often identified and reached via one or multiple wireless devices that they always carry (e.g., smartphones, smart wearable, implantable medical devices, etc.), and their biometrics identities are replaced by their digital fingerprints. In near future, vehicles will be controlled and monitored via wireless monitoring systems and various physical objects (e.g., home appliance and retail store items) will be connected to the Internet. The list of these changes goes on. Unfortunately, as different aspects of our lives are being immerged in and dependent to wireless devices and services, we will become more vulnerable to wireless service/connection interruptions due to adversarial behavior and our privacy will become more potent to be exposed to adversaries. An adversary can learn the procedures of a wireless system and analyze its stages, and accordingly, launch various attacks against the operations of the system or the privacy of the people. Existing data confidentiality and integrity services (e.g., advanced encryption algorithms) have been able to prevent the leakage of users' messages. However, in wireless networks, even when upper-layer payloads are encrypted, the users' privacy and the operation of a wireless network can be threatened by the leakage of transmission attributes at the physical (PHY) layer. Examples of these attributes are payload size, frequency offset (FO), modulation scheme, and the transmission rate. These attributes can be exploited by an adversary to launch passive or active attacks. A passive attacker may learn about the interests, sexual orientation, political views, and patentable ideas of the user through analyzing these features, whereas an active attacker exploits captured attributes to launch selective packet jamming/dropping and disrupt wireless services. These call for novel privacy preserving techniques beyond encryption. In this dissertation, we study the vulnerability of current wireless systems to the leakage of transmission attributes at the PHY layer and propose several schemes to prevent it. First, we design and experimentally demonstrate with USRPs an energy-efficient and highly disruptive jamming attack on the FO estimation of an OFDM system. OFDM is the core multiplexing scheme in many modern wireless systems (e.g., LTE/5G and 802.11a/n/ac) and is highly susceptible to FO. FO is the difference in the operating frequencies of two radio oscillators. This estimation is done by the receiver using the publicly-known frame preamble. We show that the leakage of FO value via the preamble can facilitate an optimally designed jamming signal without needing to know the channel between the transmitter and the legitimate receiver. Our results show that the jammer can guarantee a successful attack even when its power is slightly less than the transmitter's power. We then propose four mitigation approaches against the proposed FO attack. Next, we consider certain transmission attributes that are disclosed via unencrypted PHY/MAC headers. Example of these attributes are payload size, transmission rate, and MAC addresses. Beyond unencrypted headers, the adversary can estimate the frame size and transmission rate through identifying the payload's modulation scheme and measuring the transmission time. To prevent the leakage of these attributes, we propose Friendly CryptoJam scheme, which consists of three components: First, a modulation-aware encryption scheme to encrypt the headers. Second, an efficient modulation obfuscation techniques. Specifically, the proposed modulation obfuscation scheme embeds the modulation symbols of a frame's payload into the constellation of the highest-order modulation scheme supported by the system. Together with effective PHY/MAC header encryption at the modulation level, the proposed obfuscation scheme hides the transmission rate, payload size, and other attributes announced in the headers while avoiding any BER performance loss. Compared with prior art, Friendly CryptoJam enjoys less complexity and less susceptibility to FO estimation errors. The third component is a novel PHY-level identification method. To facilitate PHY/MAC header encryption when a MAC layer sender identifier cannot be used (e.g., due to MAC address encryption), we propose two preamble-based sender identification methods, one for OFDM and one for non-OFDM systems. A sender identifier is special message that can be embedded in the frame preamble. The extent of the applications of our embedding scheme goes beyond identifier embedding and include embedding part of the data frame, the sender's digital signature, or any meta-data that the sender provides. Our message embedding method can further be used to mitigate the FO estimation attack because the jammer can no longer optimize its jamming signal with respect to a fixed preamble signal. In addition, we considered friendly jamming technique in a multi-link/hop network to degrade the channels of the eavesdroppers and prevent successful decoding of the headers, while minimizing the required jamming power by optimally placing the friendly jamming devices.

Page generated in 0.0227 seconds