Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

This study advances understanding of how the changes in ecosystem structure and function associated with woody shrub encroachment in semi-arid grasslands alter ecosystem carbon (C) dynamics. In terms of both magnitude and dynamism, dryland ecosystems represent a major component of the global C cycle. Woody shrub encroachment is a widespread phenomenon globally, which is known to substantially alter ecosystem structure and function, with resultant impacts on C dynamics. A series of focal sites were studied at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, USA. A space-for-time analogue was used to identify how landscape structure and function change at four stages over a grassland to shrubland transition. The research had three key threads: 1. Soil-associated carbon: Stocks of organic and inorganic C in the near-surface soil, and the redistribution of these C stocks by erosion during high-intensity rainfall events were quantified using hillslope-scale monitoring plots. Coarse (>2 mm) clasts were found to account for a substantial proportion of the organic and inorganic C in these calcareous soils, and the erosional effluxes of both inorganic and organic C increased substantially across the vegetation ecotone. Eroded sediment was found to be significantly enriched in organic C relative to the contributing soil with systematic changes in OC enrichment across the vegetation transition. The OC enrichment dynamics observed were inconsistent with existing understanding (derived largely from reductionist, laboratory-based experiments) that OC enrichment is largely insignificant in the erosional redistribution of C. 2. Plant biomass: Cutting-edge proximal remote sensing approaches, using a remotely piloted lightweight multirotor drone combined with structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry were developed and used to quantify biomass carbon stocks at the focal field sites. In such spatially heterogeneous and temporally dynamic ecosystems existing measurement techniques (e.g. on-the-ground observations or satellite- or aircraft-based remote sensing) struggle to capture the complexity of fine-grained vegetation structure, which is crucial for accurately estimating biomass. The data products available from the novel SfM approach developed for this research quantified plants just 15 mm high, achieving a fidelity nearly two orders of magnitude finer than previous implementations of the method. The approach developed here will revolutionise the study of biomass dynamics in short-sward ecogeomorphic systems. 3. Ecohydrological modelling: Understanding the effects of water-mediated degradation processes on ecosystem carbon dynamics over greater than observable spatio-temporal scales is complicated by significant scale-dependencies and thus requires detailed mechanistic understanding. A process-based, spatially-explicit ecohydrological modelling approach (MAHLERAN - Model for Assessing Hillslope to Landscape Erosion, Runoff and Nutrients) was therefore comprehensively evaluated against a large assemblage of rainfall runoff events. This evaluation highlighted both areas of strength in the current model structure, and also areas of weakness for further development. The research has improved understanding of ecosystem degradation processes in semi-arid rangelands, and demonstrates that woody shrub encroachment may lead to a long-term reduction in ecosystem C storage, which is contrary to the widely promulgated view that woody shrub encroachment increases C storage in terrestrial ecosystems.

Convex optimization has developed a wide variety of useful tools critical to many applications in machine learning. However, unlike linear and quadratic programming, general convex solvers have not yet reached sufficient maturity to fully decouple the convex programming model from the numerical algorithms required for implementation. Especially as datasets grow in size, there is a significant gap in speed and scalability between general solvers and specialized algorithms. This thesis addresses this gap with a new model for convex programming based on an intermediate representation of convex problems as a sum of functions with efficient proximal operators. This representation serves two purposes: 1) many problems can be expressed in terms of functions with simple proximal operators, and 2) the proximal operator form serves as a general interface to any specialized algorithm that can incorporate additional `2-regularization. On a single CPU core, numerical results demonstrate that the prox-affine form results in significantly faster algorithms than existing general solvers based on conic forms. In addition, splitting problems into separable sums is attractive from the perspective of distributing solver work amongst multiple cores and machines. We apply large-scale convex programming to several problems arising from building the next-generation, information-enabled electrical grid. In these problems (as is common in many domains) large, high-dimensional datasets present opportunities for novel data-driven solutions. We present approaches based on convex models for several problems: probabilistic forecasting of electricity generation and demand, preventing failures in microgrids and source separation for whole-home energy disaggregation.

Due to the demographic development osteopoorosis is an increasing serious medical and economical problem today in developed industrial countries including Czech republic. Fractures of the proximal femur in the elderly are one of the manifestations of the illness. Within the context of the pharmacological prevention we must consider carefully its contribution in comparison with costs of the fracture treatment in the hospital. This graduation theses deals with evaluation of expenses on the surgical treatment of these fractures and expenses on the pharmacological prevention using Fosamax. This comparison is made in economic situation in Czech republic in the end of the first decade of 21. century

Student Number : 0111318E - M Ed research report - School of Education - Faculty of Humanities / This research report explores the unique nature of literature and its efficacy as a dialogically mediating tool. In this study, drawing primarily on the theories of Vygotsky and Bakhtin, the dialogical small-group teaching of nine A Level students is considered, (with the teaching aimed to be within this group’s Zone of Proximal Development) it was found axiomatic that there was a supporting framework of schemes, tropes, narrative role taking, schemata theory and genre, among other concepts. Qualitative analysis of the edited transcripts from eight consecutive seminars substantiates these theoretical presumptions and leads to the conclusion that literature, in this case the prescribed poems of Elizabeth Jennings, is an highly efficacious, dialogically mediating, pedagogical tool.

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Proximal humerus fractures are the third most common fractures in the over-65 patient population and their stable fixation remains a key challenge in orthopaedic and trauma surgery. While Open Reduction Internal Fixation by plate has become a well-known treatment modality in the last few decades, clinical studies associate high complication rate with its use. The overall aim of this project was to create a computer-aided design framework for proximal humerus plates using a validated subject-specific humerus-plate finite element model. The framework consisted of three stages: (1) reverse engineering of bone and plate geometry, (2) creation and validation of a finite element model simulating the in vitro testing of the bone-implant construct and (3) parametric optimisation study of implant design using this model. In vitro biomechanical tests were conducted to not only compare the mechanical performance of three key commercially available proximal humerus plates (S3-, Fx- and PHILOS plate) but also the effect of different screw zones. Sixty-five humeri specimens with two-part surgical neck fractures were treated and grouped based on their different screw configurations. Extension, flexion, varus and valgus bending were applied in the cantilever fashion in the elastic tests whereas only varus bending was applied in the plastic tests. The load required to apply 5 mm displacement was measured to determine bone-plate construct stiffness. The S3 plate yielded the stiffest constructs and while the removal of the inferomedial support had the most impact on varus bending stiffness, type of medial support was important: inferomedial screws in the Fx plate achieved higher bending stiffness than blade insertion. Stability of constructs treated with the plate was an interplay of factors such as the plate’s and screws' number, orientation and position. Next, a subject-specific finite element model of the humerus-plate construct was successfully developed that simulated the stiffest of the constructs from the in vitro varus bending tests conducted in this project. The model was validated against the in vitro results. The validated model was then used to perform a parametric optimisation study where the combination of design parameters (height and divergence angle of S3 plate’s inferomedial screws) was determined that achieved optimum bone-plate construct stability (minimum fracture gap change). Out of the 538 designs tested, the optimum design (16o divergence angle and 33o height angle) yielded the lowest fracture gap change (0.156 mm) which was 4.686% lower than the standard finite element model while achieving 5.707% higher varus bending load (54.753 N). The validated model was also used to investigate the issue of using smooth pegs and threaded screws. Twenty-six models with different percentages of screw threading were run to compare their bone-plate construct stiffness. While threading the smooth pegs was found to increase the varus bending stiffness by up to 4.546%, it did not affect all screws equally. Finally, the successful completion of the optimisation study of screw orientation and the clinical investigation promises the implementation of the computational framework for a range of future multi-objective optimisation studies of multiple design parameters especially for the design of implants for other parts of the human body and also for investigations into other clinically relevant questions.

Thesis (M. Sc. (Soil Science)) --University of Limpopo, 2019 / Many conventional laboratory methods are used to characterise spatial and temporal variation of soil properties in order to understand soil quality for different purposes. Currently there is a high demand for accurate soil information by land users. Therefore there is a need to develop a rapid, inexpensive, non-destructive and accurate technique that could compensate or replace conventional laboratory methodologies. Remote sensing has the potential to serve as an alternative approach to characterise soil properties due to its advantages over conventional laboratory methods such as it is rapid, non-destructive and it has low cost. The objectives of this study were to: (i) evaluate the ability of proximal soil sensing to characterise soil properties namely organic matter, soil moisture content, macronutrients, soil texture, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and pH. (ii) Identify bands of relevance from proximal soil sensing (300-2400 nm) that can provide acceptable reflectance variation for different levels of selected soil properties. (iii) Evaluate the performance of models developed from multispectral space-borne image in characterising selected soil properties. In this study spectroradiometer (proximal sensor) and worldview 2 satellite images (space-borne) were the two remote sensing techniques used to collect information about soil at Syferkuil experimental farm of the University of Limpopo. Visible and near infrared spectral data of 98 soil samples were collected at the study site using Analytical spectral device (ASD) field spectroradiometer. Spectral reflectance from spectroradiometer and those extracted from worldview 2 satellite image were used to develop prediction models of selected soil properties using Partial least square regression (PLSR). Bands of relevance were also identified from PLSR models developed from spectral data acquired by spectroradiometer. The results showed that estimation accuracy of PLSR models developed using spectral data from proximal soil sensing were excellent (Category A) for clay, sand, soil organic matter (SOM), and soil moisture content, while good prediction accuracy (Category B) was observed for other soil properties such as silt, ammonium, nitrate, active acidity (pHw), calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, CEC, and reserve acidity (pHKCl). Then, relevant bands which contributed greatly in the prediction of these soil attributes were selected from the electromagnetic spectrum, the range was from 451 nm to 2400 nm. These bands fall within visible, shortwave infrared and near-infrared x regions of electromagnetic spectrum. In addition all selected soil properties were approximately quantitatively estimated using spectral data from satellite image. Based on the results obtained it can be concluded that proximal soil sensing has the ability to predict selected soil properties with various accuracies and it can be used as an alternative technique to characterise soil properties of South African soils. Soil predicting models developed from proximal soil sensing data also showed that there are bands of relevance within spectral range of 451 nm to 2400 nm. However more work is required for space-borne sensing before it can be used as one of the soil characterisation methods since its prediction accuracy was low as compared to that of hyperspectral proximal soil sensing. Keywords: Space-borne sensing; proximal soil sensing; soil characterisation.

Proximal methods are iterative optimization techniques for functionals, J = J1 + J2, consisting of a differentiable part J2 and a possibly nondifferentiable part J1. In this thesis proximal methods for finite- and infinite-dimensional optimization problems are discussed. In finite dimensions, they solve l1- and TV-minimization problems that are effectively applied to image reconstruction in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Convergence of these methods in this setting is proved. The proposed proximal scheme is compared to a split proximal scheme and it achieves a better signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, an application that uses parallel imaging is presented. In infinite dimensions, these methods are discussed to solve nonsmooth linear and bilinear elliptic and parabolic optimal control problems. In particular, fast convergence of these methods is proved. Furthermore, for benchmarking purposes, truncated proximal schemes are compared to an inexact semismooth Newton method. Results of numerical experiments are presented to demonstrate the computational effectiveness of our proximal schemes that need less computation time than the semismooth Newton method in most cases. Results of numerical experiments are presented that successfully validate the theoretical estimates. / Proximale Methoden sind iterative Optimierungsverfahren für Funktionale J = J1 +J2, die aus einem differenzierbaren Teil J2 und einem möglicherweise nichtdifferenzierbaren Teil bestehen. In dieser Arbeit werden proximale Methoden für endlich- und unendlichdimensionale Optimierungsprobleme diskutiert. In endlichen Dimensionen lösen diese `1- und TV-Minimierungsprobleme welche erfolgreich in der Bildrekonstruktion der Magnetresonanztomographie (MRT) angewendet wurden. Die Konvergenz dieser Methoden wurde in diesem Zusammenhang bewiesen. Die vorgestellten proximalen Methoden wurden mit einer geteilten proximalen Methode verglichen und konnten ein besseres Signal-Rausch-Verhältnis erzielen. Zusätzlich wurde eine Anwendung präsentiert, die parallele Bildgebung verwendet. Diese Methoden werden auch für unendlichdimensionale Probleme zur Lösung von nichtglatten linearen und bilinearen elliptischen und parabolischen optimalen Steuerungsproblemen diskutiert. Insbesondere wird die schnelle Konvergenz dieser Methoden bewiesen. Außerdem werden abgeschnittene proximale Methoden mit einem inexakten halbglatten Newtonverfahren verglichen. Die numerischen Ergebnisse demonstrieren die Effektivität der proximalen Methoden, welche im Vergleich zu den halbglatten Newtonverfahren in den meisten Fällen weniger Rechenzeit benötigen. Zusätzlich werden die theoretischen Abschätzungen bestätigt.

Avec le vieillissement de la population, l'ostéoporose et les fractures de l'extrémité supérieure du fémur sont devenues un problème de santé publique majeur. L'intervention chirurgicale, à laquelle s'ajoutent la rééducation des patients et la gestion de leur dépendance, représentent un poids socio-économique considérable qui doit être réduit, sans pour autant proposer un traitement préventif systématique, lui aussi coûteux. La mesure de densité minérale osseuse par DXA fait aujourd'hui référence dans l'évaluation du risque de fracture mais cet outil reste limité par le chevauchement des valeurs mesurées entre les sujets fracturés et non fracturés. Cette étude propose de développer des modèles par éléments finis 3D du fémur proximal permettant d'améliorer la prédiction du risque de fracture. Un modèle anatomique personnalisé tenant compte des spécificités géométriques et mécaniques complexes de chaque fémur a conduit, sur 39 spécimens, à un bon compromis entre une prédiction individuelle de l'effort à rupture (Fexp = 1,006 FMEF avec r = 0,87, IC95% = +- 2600 N) et un coût numérique adapté à une future exploitation clinique de cet outil (simulation numérique 30 mn). Afin de consolider la personnalisation, une étude expérimentale menée sur 92 éprouvettes (46 traction et 46 compression) a permis d'améliorer la prédiction des propriétés mécaniques de l'os cortical à partir de l'imagerie médicale (r = 0,42 à 0,72). Des essais in-vitro macroscopiques sur 40 paires de fémurs ont également été réalisés afin de constituer une base de données solide pour l'évaluation du modèle. Parallèlement, un modèle paramétré a été utilisé dans le cadre d'une étude par plans d'expérience afin d'éclaircir le rôle des paramètres géométriques dans la résistance mécanique de l'extrémité supérieure du fémur. Ces travaux ont souligné le potentiel de la modélisation par éléments finis personnalisée à devenir un outil complémentaire de prédiction du risque, et ont mis en évidence le rôle prépondérant de l'enveloppe corticale et de sa limite d'endommagement.