­^¤åºK­n Electro-optic probing techniques are advancing rapidly in recent years. These techniques have been proven to be an effective tool in parameter extraction of semiconductor devices such as response time, delay time as well as scattering parameters. Not only the magnitude of the electric field but also the direction of the corresponding E-field direction are measured in several developed electro-optic probing system. By incorporated these techniques, the near-field electric field vectors can be estimated and they are valuable information for the analysis of RF circuit devices, e.g., micro-strip transmission line, patch antenna, etc. When probing the 2-D E-field vectors, one can only measure 1-D E-field direction, then rotate the device under test by 90¢X for another orthogonal tangential E-field direction. However the process not only reduces the probing accuracy but also increases the time interval for achieving measurement and lead to obstacles in use. In the thesis, 2D E-field can be obtained without rotating the DUT by using two kinds of modulation schemes, i.e., compressed/stretched deformation modulation(CSDM) and rotational deformation modulation(RDM). These novel techniques provide a total solution for the above bottleneck and improve the sensitivity for different E-field direction. Besides, a heterodyne method is developed to measure the high frequency near-field 2D E-field distribution. By the heterodyne method, the EO probing system can incorporate the CW laser instead of the pulse laser for reducing the cost and enhancing the merits when applied.

Fault management is a continuously demanded function in any kind of network management. Commonly it is carried out by a centralized entity on the network which correlates collected information into likely diagnoses of the current system states. We survey the use of active-on-demand-measurement, often called active probes, together with passive readings from the perspective of one single node. The solution is confined to the node and is isolated from the surrounding environment. The utility for this approach, to fault diagnosis, was found to depend on the environment in which the specific node was located within. Conclusively, the less environment knowledge, the more useful this solution presents. Consequently this approach to fault diagnosis offers limited opportunities in the test environment. However, greater prospects was found for this approach while located in a heterogeneous customer environment.

Due to increasing trends of miniaturization, components with microscale features are in high demand. Accordingly, manufacturing and measurement of small components as small as a few microns became new challenges. Micro milling and femtosecond laser machining are the most common in use cutting operations providing high accuracy and productivity. Micro milling has unique features different from traditional milling including high ratio of tool size to feature size, and constant ratio of tool edge radius to tool size [1]. Due to the mentioned differences, low stiffness of the micro mill and the complexity of the cutting mechanism at the macroscale, selection of cutting parameters are difficult [2]. Therefore, process performance in micro milling, which affects surface quality and tool life, depends on the selected cutting parameters. Also, for measuring micro components, the available dimensional control systems in the market are atomic force microscopes (AFMs) and a combination of coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and vision systems. These are confined to the scopes of nanoscale and macroscale parts, respectively. It is difficult to justify the high cost and large size of these systems for measurement of mesoscale/microscale features and components and dimensional verification of miniature parts with 3D features. Therefore, a new cost-effective way is needed for measuring components and features in these scales. Additionally, lack of advanced CAD/CAM software for micro laser machining providing constant velocity along the tool path, is the main problem in femtosecond laser machining. In this thesis, to address the mentioned challenges, different software packages are presented to improve micro machining productivity, to provide an accurate and cost effective way of micro scanning and to bring CAD/CAM capability for micro laser machining. / Graduate / 0548 / abdolreza.bayesteh@gmail.com

Boreal peatlands are important ecosystems to the global carbon cycle. Although they cover only 3% of the earth's land surface area, boreal peatlands store roughly one third of the world's soil carbon. Peatlands also comprise a large natural source of methane emitted to the atmosphere. Some methane in peatlands is oxidized before escaping to the atmosphere by aerobic methane oxidizing bacteria. With changing climate conditions, the fate of the stored carbon and emitted methane from these systems is uncertain. One important step toward better understanding the effects of climate change on carbon cycling in peatlands is to ascertain the microorganisms actively involved in carbon cycling. To investigate the active aerobic methane oxidizing bacteria in a boreal peat bog, a combination of microcosm experiments, DNA-stable isotope probing, and next generation sequencing technologies were employed. Studies were conducted on samples from the S1 peat bog in the Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF). Potential rates of methane oxidation were determined to be in the range of 13.85 to 17.26 μmol CH₄ g dwt⁻¹ d⁻¹. After incubating with ¹³C-CH₄, DNA was extracted from these samples, separated into heavy and light fractions with cesium chloride gradient formation by ultracentrifugation and needle fractionation, and fractions were fingerprinted with automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) and further interrogated with qPCR. Based on ARISA, distinct banding patterns were observed in heavy fractions in comparison to the light fractions indicating an incorporation of ¹³C into the DNA of active methane oxidizers. This was further supported by a relative enrichment in the functional gene pmoA, which encodes a subunit of the particulate methane monooxygenase, in heavy fractions from samples incubated for fourteen days. Within heavy fractions for samples incubated for 8 and 14 days, the relative abundance of methanotrophs increased to 37% and 25%, respectively, from an in situ abundance of approximately 4%. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the methanotrophic community was composed of both Alpha and Gammaproteobacterial methanotrophs of the genera Methylocystis, Methylomonas, and Methylovulum. Both Methylocystis and Methylomonas have been detected in peatlands before, however, none of the phylotypes in this study were closely related to any known cultivated members of these groups. These data are the first to implicate Methylovulum as an active methane oxidizer in peatlands, though this organism has been detected in another cold aquatic ecosystem with consistent methane emissions. The Methylovulum sequences from this study, like Methylocystis and Methylomonas, were not closely related to the only cultivated member of this genus. While Methylocystis was dominant in ¹³C-enriched fractions with a relative abundance of 30% of the microbial community after an eight-day incubation, Methylomonas became dominant with a relative abundance of approximately 16% after fourteen days of incubation. The relative abundance of Methylovulum was maintained at 2% in ¹³C- enriched fractions after eight and fourteen days.

The consortia of microorganisms responsible for the hydrolysis of cellulose in situ are at present poorly characterized. Nonetheless, the importance of these communities is underscored by their capacity for converting biomass to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. The metabolic capacities of these organisms is particularly alarming considering the volume of biomass that is projected to re-enter the carbon cycle in Arctic tundra soil environments as a result of a warming climate. Novel cold-adapted cellulase enzymes also present enormous opportunities for a broad range of industries. DNA stable-isotope probing (DNA-SIP) is a powerful tool for linking the phylogenetic identity and function of cellulolytic microorganisms by the incorporation of isotopically labelled substrate into nucleic acids. By providing 13C-enriched glucose and cellulose to soil microcosms, it was possible to characterize the communities of microorganisms involved in the metabolism of these substrates in an Arctic tundra soil sample from Resolute Bay, Canada. A protocol for generating 13C-enriched cellulose was developed as part of this thesis, and a visual DNA-SIP protocol was generated to demonstrate the experimental outline. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and 16S rRNA clone libraries were used to visualize changes in community structure and to identify prevalent, active phylotypes in the SIP incubations. Notably, predominant phylotypes changed over time and clustered based on substrate metabolism. Labelled nucleic acids identified by sequenced DGGE bands and 16S rRNA gene clone libraries provided converging evidence indicating the predominance of Clostridium and Sporolactobacillus in the 13C-glucose microcosms, and Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Gammaproteobacteria in the 13C-cellulose microcosms. Active populations consuming glucose and cellulose were distinct based on principle coordinate analysis of “light” and “heavy” DNA. A large portion of the recovered sequences possessed no close matches in the GenBank database, reflecting the paucity of data on these communities of microorganisms.

Additive friction stir deposition (AFSD) of AZ31B magnesium alloy was conducted to examine evolution of grain structure, phases, and crystallographic texture. AFSD was carried out using a hollow tool made from tool steel at a constant rotational velocity of 400 rpm on the AZ31B base plate. Bar stock of AZ31B was utilized as a feed material. The linear velocity of the tool was varied in the range of 4.2-6.3 mm/s. The feed rate of the material had to be maintained at a half value compared to the corresponding linear velocity for the successful deposition. The layer thickness and length of the deposits were kept constant at 1 mm and 50 mm respectively. The tool torque and actuator force values were recorded during the process and for calculation of the average input energy for each processing condition. Temperature during the AFSD experiments was monitored using a type k thermocouple located 4 mm beneath the deposition surface at the center of the deposition track. The average input energy values showed a decreasing trend with increasing tool linear velocity. The temperature values during deposition were ∼0.7 times the liquidus of the alloy. The deposited material then was examined by laser microscope and profilometer, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electron back scatter diffraction (EBSC), contact angle measurement and micro hardness tests. The AFSD AZ31B samples showed reduction in areal surface roughness with an increase in the tool linear velocity. The X-ray spectra revealed increase in the intensity of prismatic planes of α-Mg phase with increase in tool linear velocity. AFSD of AZ31B Mg alloy resulted in shifting of the grain size from a broader and courser distribution within the feed material to a tighter distribution. Moreover, EBSD observations confirmed the refinement in grain size distribution as well as the presence of predominantly prismatic texture for the AFSD samples when compared to the feed material. There was a marginal improvement in the hardness for the AFSD samples compared to the feed material. However, there was no significant change in the contact angle measurements in simulated body fluid for the AFSD samples compared to the feed material. The current work demonstrated ability of AFSD technique for the additive fabrication of magnesium-based alloys and provided a methodology for examining various process attributes influencing the processing-structure-property relationship.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is an essential molecule, which carries out a wide variety of functions within the cell, from its crucial involvement in protein synthesis to catalysing biochemical reactions and regulating gene expression. Such diverse functional repertoire is indebted to complex structures that RNA can adopt and its flexibility as an interacting molecule. It has become possible to experimentally measure these two crucial aspects of RNA regulatory role with such technological advancements as next-generation sequencing (NGS). NGS methods can rapidly obtain the nucleotide sequence of many molecules in parallel. Designing experiments, where only the desired parts of the molecule (or specific parts of the transcriptome) are sequenced, allows to study various aspects of RNA biology. Analysis of NGS data is insurmountable without computational methods. One such experimental method is RNA structure probing, which aims to infer RNA structure from sequencing chemically altered transcripts. RNA structure probing data is inherently noisy, affected both by technological biases and the stochasticity of the underlying process. Most existing methods do not adequately address the issue of noise, resorting to heuristics and limiting the informativeness of their output. In this thesis, a statistical pipeline was developed for modelling RNA structure probing data, which explicitly captures biological variability, provides automated bias-correcting strategies, and generates a probabilistic output based on experimental measurements. The output of our method agrees with known RNA structures, can be used to constrain structure prediction algorithms, and remains robust to reduced sequence coverage, thereby increasing sensitivity of the technology. Another recent experimental innovation maps RNA-protein interactions at very high temporal resolution, making it possible to study rapid binding events happening on a minute time scale. In this thesis, a non-parametric algorithm was developed for identifying significant changes in RNA-protein binding time-series between different conditions. The method was applied to novel yeast RNA-protein binding time-course data to study the role of RNA degradation in stress response. It revealed pervasive changes in the binding to the transcriptome of the yeast transcription termination factor Nab3 and the cytoplasmic exoribonuclease Xrn1 under nutrient stress. This challenged the common assumption of viewing transcriptional changes as the major driver of changes in RNA expression during stress and highlighted the importance of degradation. These findings inspired a dynamical model for RNA expression, where transcription and degradation rates are modelled using RNA-protein binding time-series data.

Electron beam welding is used for fabricating critical components for the aerospace and nuclear industries which demand high quality. The cost of materials and associated processes of fabrication is also very high. Therefore, manufacturing processes in these industries are highly controlled. However, it has been found that even minor changes in the electron beam gun itself can produce large variations in beam characteristics, leading to unpredictable welding performance. Hence, it is very important to ensure the beam quality prior to carrying out welds. This requires some kind of device and process to characterise the electron beam to indicate variations. A detailed review of different technologies used to develop devices to characterise electron beams has been carried out. At this time, it is uncommon for beam measurement to be carried out on production EBW equipment. Research carried out for this thesis is focused on development of a novel approach to characterise the electron beams using a slit-probe to maintain the quality of the welds. The challenge lies in deriving relevant features from the acquired probe signal which can effectively differentiate between the beams of different quality. Wavelet transformation, with its advantages over other methods for simultaneous time and frequency localization of signals, has found its application to feature extraction in many pattern based classifications. This technique has been used to analyse probe signals considering that different quality beams will possess unique signal profiles in the form of their distribution of energies with respect to frequency and time. To achieve the aim of the thesis, an experimental approach was used by carrying out melt runs on Ti-6Al-4V plates focusing on aerospace requirements, and varying beam properties and acquiring probe signals for all beam settings. Extracted features from the probe signals have been used in classification of the electron beams to ensure these will produce welds within the tolerance limits specified by aerospace standards for quality assurance. The features vector was compiled following statistical analysis to find the significant beam characteristics. By analysing the performance of classifier for different combination of parameters of the features vector, the optimum classification rate of 89.8% was achieved by using the parameters derived from wavelet coefficients for different decomposition levels. This work showed that the use of wavelet analysis and classification using features vectors enabled identification of beams that would produce welds out-of-tolerance. Keywords: Electron beam welding, probe devices, electron beam characterisation, quality assurance, wavelet transform, features vector, linear discriminant classifier, weld profiles, weld defects.

abstract: Fingerprints have been widely used as a practical method of biometrics authentication or identification with a significant level of security. However, several spoofing methods have been used in the last few years to bypass fingerprint scanners, thus compromising data security. The most common attacks occur by the use of fake fingerprint during image capturing. Imposters can build a fake fingerprint from a latent fingerprint left on items such as glasses, doorknobs, glossy paper, etc. Current mobile fingerprint scanning technology is incapable of differentiating real from artificial fingers made from gelatin molds and other materials. In this work, the adequacy of terahertz imaging was studied as an alternative fingerprint scanning technique that will enhance biometrics security by identifying superficial skin traits. Terahertz waves (0.1 – 10 THz) are a non-ionizing radiation with significant penetration depth in several non-metallic materials. Several finger skin features, such as valley depth and sweat ducts, can possibly be imaged by employing the necessary imaging topology. As such, two imaging approaches 1) using quasi-optical components and 2) using near-field probing were investigated. The numerical study is accomplished using a commercial Finite Element Method tool (ANSYS, HFSS) and several laboratory experiments are conducted to evaluate the imaging performance of the topologies. The study has shown that terahertz waves can provide high spatial resolution images of the skin undulations (valleys and ridges) and under certain conditions identify the sweat duct pattern. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2017

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-02-14T13:32:22Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao LUANA OSÓRIO FERNANDES.pdf: 1894600 bytes, checksum: 262777160a929e18e667f73cb8233ae7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-14T13:32:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao LUANA OSÓRIO FERNANDES.pdf: 1894600 bytes, checksum: 262777160a929e18e667f73cb8233ae7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-11 / Este estudo avaliouo desempenho daTomografia de Coerência Ópticaem1325nmcomoum método não invasivopara medir a profundidadedo sulco gengivalde indivíduossaudáveisem comparação comsondasperiodontaistradicionais emumambiente clínico.Dois observadoresavaliaram aprofundidade dosulco gengivalde 445sitios emdentes anteriores, tanto superior einferior,de 23 indivíduos saudáveis, por meio de três ferramentas: sonda periodontal Carolinado Norte (NC), sonda computadorizadaFloridaProbe (FP)eTomografia por Coerência Óptica(OCT). Foi obtido oíndice de refraçãogengival,necessário para correção dos valores obtidos por OCT,a partir da análisede19 amostras provenientes de cirurgia periodontal. Para cada técnica, foiregistradoo grau de desconforto/dor, através da escala verbal de 4 pontos(VRS-4) e Escala Numérica da Dor (END), e o tempo com auxílio de cronômetro digital.As imagens de OCT mostraramestruturas anatômicasclinicamente relevantes do ponto de vista periodontalnaáreaavaliada.O valor médiocalculadopara o índicede refraçãoda gengivafoi de 1,41±0,06, dado utilizado para realizar a correção dos valores obtidos pelo OCT, através de regra de três simples.As imagens de OCT proporcionaram analisar o correspondente ao sulco gengivalhistológicocom valor médiode 0,86±0,27 milímetros.A sondaNCresultou em maiores valores de profundidade(1,43 ±0,56 milímetros), seguido pelaFP(1,25±0,58 milímetros) que proporcionou umamaior frequência dedesconforto edor.O tempo registrado para cada técnica foi maior para o OCT (19,61±8,98 minutos) decorrente do caráter laboratorial do equipamento, seguido da FP (2,44±1,04 minutos) e NC (1,77±0,40 minutos), ambas adaptadas para aplicação clínica.Diante dos resultados, pode-se concluir que o OCTéummétodo promissorparaa análise in vivodasaúde periodontal, permitindoo diagnósticoprecoce e preciso, de maneiranão invasiva, e que sua influência e interferênciasobre a avaliaçãoclínicaéinexistente, diferente dousodeumasonda periodontal.Porém, ainda se faz necessário a adaptação do equipamento para utilização na clinica odontológica. / This study evaluatedthe performance ofOpticalCoherenceTomographyin 1325nmas a noninvasivemethodto measure the depthof the gingival sulcusof healthysubjects compared totraditionalperiodontalprobesin a clinical setting.Twoobservers evaluatedthe depth of thegingival sulcusof 445sitesin anterior teeth, both top and bottomof 23individuals, using threetools: periodontal probeNorth Carolina (NC), electronic probeFloridaProbe (FP) and Optical CoherenceTomography(OCT). Was obtainedgingivalindex of refractionneeded tocorrect thevalues obtained byOCT,from the analysisof 19samples fromperiodontalsurgery. For eachtechnique,the degree of discomfort/painwas recordedbyverbal4-point scale(VRS-4) and NumericalPainScale (NPS), andtimeusing a digitalstopwatch.The OCTimages showedclinically relevantanatomical structures of theperiodontalviewpoint in thearea evaluated.Theaverage value calculated forthegumrefractive indexwas 1.41± 0.06, as used to perform thecorrection of values obtainedbyOCT,throughsimple rule of three.TheOCTimagesprovidedanalyze thehistologicalsulcuscorresponding toan average valueof 0.86±0.27 mm.The CNproberesulted in greaterdepth values(1.43± 0.56millimeters), followed by FP(1.25±0.58 mm) which gavea higher frequency ofdiscomfort and pain.Thetime recordedfor each techniquewas higher fortheOCT(19.61 ±8.98 minutes) due to thecharacter oflaboratoryequipment, followed by FP(2.44±1.04 minutes) andNC (1.77 ±0, 40 minutes), bothadaptedfor clinical application. With the results, we can concludethatOCTis apromising method forin vivoanalysisof periodontalhealth, enabling early and accurate diagnosis, noninvasively, andthat its influenceandinterferenceon clinical evaluationis lacking,differentthe use ofa periodontalprobe.However,the upgrading of equipmentis still neededfor usein the dentalclinic.