This thesis aims at contributing to the growing number of studies on banking productivity, by attempting to introduce the interest rate spread as one of the driving forces behind productivity changes and alterations of the intermediary role of banks. The analysis is based on observations form the banking sectors of Germany and Sweden. As there is no clear concensus on the proper way of measuring banking output, and the choice of method varies considerably form study to study, this paper adopts the intermediation approach which is one of the three most offen recurring methods applied in research papers. The results include some interesting revelations such as the low significance of a change in labour and capital to the growth in banking output (challenging traditional theory), and that Swedish banks on average were moving away from the traditional intermediary role between 1979 and 1996 while German banks kept lending business at their centre of attention.

The primary goal of the recently formed Absorption Cross Sections of Ozone (ACSO) Commission is to establish an international standard for the ozone cross section used in the retrieval of atmospheric ozone number density profiles. The Canadian instrument OSIRIS onboard the Swedish spacecraft Odin has produced high quality ozone profiles since 2002, and as such the OSIRIS research team has been asked to contribute to the ACSO Commission by evaluating the impact of implementing different ozone cross sections into SASKTRAN, the radiative transfer model used in the retrieval of OSIRIS ozone profiles. Preliminary analysis revealed that the current state of the OSIRIS spectral point spread function, an array of values describing the dispersion of light within OSIRIS, would make such an evaluation difficult. Specifically, the current spectral point spread function is time-independent and therefore unable to account for any changes in the optics introduced by changes in the operational environment of the instrument. Such a situation introduces systematic errors when modelling the atmosphere as seen by OSIRIS, errors that impact the quality of the ozone number density profiles retrieved from OSIRIS measurements and make it difficult to accurately evaluate the impact of using different ozone cross sections within the SASKTRAN model. To eliminate these errors a method is developed to calculate, for the 310-350 nm wavelength range, a unique spectral point spread function for every scan in the OSIRIS mission history, the end result of which is a time-dependent spectral point spread function. The development of a modelling equation is then presented, which allows for any noise present in the time-dependent spectral point spread function to be reduced and relates the spectral point spread function to measured satellite parameters. Implementing this modelled time-dependent spectral point spread function into OSIRIS ozone retrieval algorithms is shown to improve all OSIRIS ozone profiles by 1-2% for tangent altitudes of 35-48 km. Analysis is also presented that reveals a previously unaccounted for temperature-dependent altitude shift in OSIRIS measurements. In conjunction with the use of the time-dependent spectral point spread function, accounting for this altitude shift is shown to result in an almost complete elimination of the temperature-induced systematic errors seen in OSIRIS ozone profiles. Such improvements lead to improved ozone number density profiles for all times of the OSIRIS mission and make it possible to evaluate the use of different ozone cross sections as requested by the ACSO Commission.

In spread spectrum systems employing parity bit selected spreading sequences, parity bits generated from a linear block encoder are used to select a spreading code from a set of mutually orthogonal spreading sequences. In this thesis, turbo receivers for SS-PB systems are proposed and investigated. In the transmitter, data bits are rst convolutionally encoded before being fed into SS-PB modulator. In fact, the parity bit spreading code selection technique acts as an inner encoder in this system without allocating any transmit energy to the additional redundancy provided by this technique. The receiver implements a turbo processing by iteratively exchanging the soft information on coded bits between a SISO detector and a SISO decoder. In this system, detection is performed by incorporating the extrinsic information provided by the decoder in the last iteration into the received signal to calculate the likelihood of each detected bit in terms of LLR which is used as the input for a SISO decoder. In addition, SISO detectors are proposed for MC-CDMA and MIMO-CDMA systems that employ parity bit selected and permutation spreading. In the case of multiuser scenario, a turbo SISO multiuser detector is introduced for SS-PB systems for both synchronous and asynchronous channels. In such systems, MAI is estimated from the extrinsic information provided by the SISO channel decoder in the previous iteration. SISO multiuser detectors are also proposed for the case of multiple users in MC-CDMA and MIMO-CDMA systems when parity bit selected and permutation spreading are used. Simulations performed for all the proposed turbo receivers show a signi cant reduction in BER in AWGN and fading channels over multiple iterations.

Overwintering of cows is a major cost in a cow-calf production system on the prairies. Winter feeding hay and straw directly on pasture is a potentially more efficient and economical system compared to conventional drylot feeding in a yard. The objectives of the research described in this thesis were to compare winter feeding cattle directly on pasture to traditional drylot over-wintering of cattle and the associated mechanized spreading of manure on pasture. This trial compared the effects of winter feeding systems on pasture nutrient distribution, nutrient recovery in soil and forage, pasture forage response, cattle performance, and economics. <p>The experiment was conducted at Lanigan, SK, on an old russian wildrye grass pasture. Pasture nutrient levels and distribution were measured before and after winter feeding, as well as forage yield, and cattle weight and condition. Nutrient capture and cycling was assessed along with the economics of the different systems. In the pasture fed systems, cattle were fed by either bale processing or bale grazing methods over the winter of 2003-2004. Cattle concentration was 2080 cow-days ha-1, with the cattle in the field for 130 d. In the intensive system used for comparison, cattle were fed in a drylot and 67 tonnes ha-1 of raw manure or 22 tonnes ha-1 of compost was mechanically spread on the pasture in the fall of 2003.<p>Soil inorganic nitrogen (N) levels (0-15 cm) measured in the spring where the cattle were winter fed on pasture were 3 to 4 times the unfertilized, unmanured control treatment, with a mean gain of 117 kg N ha-1. Soil inorganic N was not significantly elevated where manure or compost had been spread by machine. Soil extractable potassium (K) was doubled on the winter feeding sites, with a mean gain of 1209 kg K ha-1. Soil extractable K did not increase where manure or compost had been spread mechanically. Soil distribution patterns of both nutrients were highly uneven following pasture feeding, with levels of inorganic soil N ranging from 12 to 626 kg ha-1 and extractable soil K ranging from 718 to 6326 kg ha-1. Additional nutrients in surface residue from uneaten feed, bedding, and manure were also heavy and variable following pasture feeding. Greater retention of N and K from urine added directly to the soil in the field in the bale grazing and bale processing systems compared to the drylot system is believed to be responsible for high soil available N and K levels compared to manure hauled from the drylot into the field.<p>Soil extractable phosphorus (P) levels (0-15 cm) were measured in the fall of 2005. The compost treatment had the largest increase at 2.6 times the control, an additional 46 kg ha-1. Mean soil P levels did not increase significantly where the cattle were wintered.<p> Over 18 months and 3 harvests, forage dry matter yields where the cattle were fed on pasture were 3 to 5 times the control where the cattle were fed on the pasture, and 1.4 to 1.7 times the control where raw manure or compost was mechanically spread. Also, protein content of the forage was increased to a greater extent in the in-field feeding compared to hauled raw manure or compost, reflecting a greater conservation of N.<p>The gain of N in the forage over 18 months on the winter feeding sites was 200 kg ha-1 of N, almost double what was measured in soil inorganic forms. Fourteen kg ha-1 of P was also recovered. This represented 34% of original feed N and 22% of original feed P that was imported into the field. Recovery of nutrients applied in the raw manure and compost sites was much lower, with only 7% recovery of N and 4% recovery of P in the forage. This was calculated to be 1% of original feed N and 3% of original feed P.<p>The system by which the cattle were overwintered had little influence on cattle weight and condition. All systems performed favorably in maintaining body weight and condition over the winter. Some slight advantages in cattle weight gain and condition were found on the winter feeding systems compared to the in-yard drylot that appeared to be related to slightly increased feed intake.<p>Economic calculations favored winter feeding directly on the pasture by 25% over the drylot systems when the feed value of additional pasture growth over 18 months was included and by 56% when the value of additional soil nutrients was factored in. Feed costs were similar between the systems but pasture feeding had savings in machinery use, fuel consumption and manure handling costs, and gains in pasture productivity.<p>Systems that winter fed cattle directly on pasture provided gains in nutrient cycling efficiencies, pasture growth, and economic savings compared to drylot feeding systems, while maintaining similar cattle growth and condition.

Flexible polyurethane foam (PUF) is a very versatile material ever created. The material is used for various applications and consumer end-use products such as upholstered furniture and mattresses. The increased use of these polymeric materials causes fire safety concerns. This has led to the development of various regulations and flammability test standards aimed at addressing the hazards associated with polyurethane foam fires. Several fire protection engineering correlations and thermal models have also been developed for the simulation of fire growth behaviour of polyurethane foams. Thus, the overall objective of this research project is to investigate the laboratory test behaviour of this material and then use finer modeling techniques to predict the heat release rate of the specimens, based on information obtained from cone calorimeter tests.<p> Full-scale fire tests of 10 cm thick polyurethane foams of different sizes were conducted using center and edge-ignition locations. Flame spread and heat release rates were compared. For specimens of the same size, center-ignition tests produced flame areas and peak heat release rates which were respectively 10 and 20% larger compared to edge-ignition tests. Average flame spread rates for horizontal and vertical spread were determined, and results showed excellent agreement with literature. Cone calorimeter tests of the specimens were performed using steel edge frame and open durarock board. Results indicate that different test arrangements and heat sources have significant effects on the fire behaviour of the specimens.<p> Predictions using the integral convolution model and other fire protection engineering correlations were compared with the full-scale tests results. Results show that the model was more efficient in predicting the heat release rates for edge-ignition tests than the center-ignition tests. The model also was more successful in predicting the heat release rates during the early part of the growth phase than during the later stages of the fire. The predicted and measured peak heat release rates and total heat release were within 10-15% of one another. Flame spread and t-squared fire models also gave satisfactory predictions of the full-scale fire behaviour of the specimens.

Wildfires have significant impact on both ecosystems and human society. To effectively manage wildfires, simulation models are used to study and predict wildfire spread. The accuracy of wildfire spread simulations depends on many factors, including GIS data, fuel data, weather data, and high-fidelity wildfire behavior models. Unfortunately, due to the dynamic and complex nature of wildfire, it is impractical to obtain all these data with no error. Therefore, predictions from the simulation model will be different from what it is in a real wildfire. Without assimilating data from the real wildfire and dynamically adjusting the simulation, the difference between the simulation and the real wildfire is very likely to continuously grow. With the development of sensor technologies and the advance of computer infrastructure, dynamic data driven application systems (DDDAS) have become an active research area in recent years. In a DDDAS, data obtained from wireless sensors is fed into the simulation model to make predictions of the real system. This dynamic input is treated as the measurement to evaluate the output and adjust the states of the model, thus to improve simulation results. To improve the accuracy of wildfire spread simulations, we apply the concept of DDDAS to wildfire spread simulation by dynamically assimilating sensor data from real wildfires into the simulation model. The assimilation system relates the system model and the observation data of the true state, and uses analysis approaches to obtain state estimations. We employ Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods (also called particle filters) to carry out data assimilation in this work. Based on the structure of DDDAS, this dissertation presents the data assimilation system and data assimilation results in wildfire spread simulations. We carry out sensitivity analysis for different densities, frequencies, and qualities of sensor data, and quantify the effectiveness of SMC methods based on different measurement metrics. Furthermore, to improve simulation results, the image-morphing technique is introduced into the DDDAS for wildfire spread simulation.

This thesis documents the design and fabrication of an experimental facility that was built to produce a turbulent plane wall jet. The target flow was two-dimensional with a uniform profile of the mean streamwise velocity and a low turbulence level at the slot exit. The design requirements for a flow conditioning apparatus that could produce this flow were determined. The apparatus was then designed and constructed, and measurements of the fluid flow were obtained using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The first series of measurements was along the slot width, the second series was along the slot centerline and the third was at 46 slot heights off the centerline. The Reynolds number, based on the slot height and jet exit velocity, of the wall jet varied from 7594 to 8121. Data for the streamwise and transverse components of velocity and the three associated Reynolds stress components were analyzed and used to determine the characteristics of the wall jet.<p> This experimental facility was able to produce a profile of the mean streamwise velocity near the slot exit that was uniform over 71% of the slot height with a streamwise turbulence that was equal to 1.45% of the mean velocity. This initial velocity was maintained to 6 slot heights. The fully developed region for the centerline and the off-centerline measurements was determined to extend from 50 to 100 slot heights and 40 to 100 slot heights, respectively. This was based on self-similarity of the mean streamwise velocity profiles when scaled using the maximum streamwise velocity and the jet half-width. The off-centerline Reynolds stress profiles achieved a greater degree of collapse than did the centerline profiles.<p> The rate of spread of the wall jet along the centerline was 0.080 in the self-similar region from 50 to 100 slot heights, and the off-centerline growth rate was 0.077 in the self-similar region from 40 to 100 slot heights. The decay rate of the maximum streamwise velocity was -0.624 within the centerline self-similar region, and -0.562 within the off-centerline self-similar region. These results for the spread and decay of the wall jet compared well with recent similar studies.<p> The two-dimensionality was initially assessed by measuring the mean streamwise velocity at 1 slot height along the entire slot width. The two-dimensionality of this wall jet was further analyzed by comparing the centerline and off-centerline profiles of the mean streamwise velocity at 2/3, 4, 50, 80, and 100 slot heights, and by comparing the growth rates and decay rates. Although this facility was able to produce a wall jet that was initially two-dimensional, the two-dimensionality was compromised downstream of the slot, most likely due to the presence of return flow and spanwise spreading. Without further measurements, it is not yet clear exactly how the lack of complete two-dimensionality affects the flow characteristics noted above.

As space exploration has advanced, time spent in space has increased. With the building of the International Space Station and plans for exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, astronauts will be staying in space for longer periods of time. With these increased stays in space comes an increase in fire safety concerns. One area of fire safety interest is flammability. While current flammability test procedures are in place, they are all performed on the ground and may not be representative of flammability in microgravity. In addition to this, limited research into the severity of skin burn injury in a microgravity environment has been performed. <p>An apparatus was designed to be flown on a low gravity parabolic aircraft flight to assess the flammability of cotton and 50% cotton/50% polyester fabrics and the resulting skin burn injury that would occur if these fabrics were to ignite. The apparatus, modelled after a Canadian General Standards Board standard flammability test, was also used on the ground for experiments in 1-g. Variables examined in the tests include gravity level, fabric type, air gap size, oxygen concentration, apparatus orientation, ignition source, and method used to secure the specimen. Flame spread rates, heat fluxes, and skin burn predictions determined from test results were compared. <p>Results from test in 1-g indicated that the orientation of the apparatus had a large effect on flame spread rate, heat flux and predicted skin burn times. Flame spread rates and heat fluxes were highest when the fabric was held in the vertical orientation, which resulted in the lowest predicted times to produce skin burns. Flame spread rates and heat fluxes were considerably lower in microgravity than in 1-g, which resulted in higher predicted times to produce skin burns.

A new algorithm is proposed which provides a sub-optimum near-far resistant pattern for correlation with a known signal in a spread-spectrum multiple access environment with additive white gaussian noise (AWGN). Only the patterns and respective delays of the K-1 interfering users are required. The technique does not require the inversion of a cross-correlation matrix. The technique can be easily extended to as many users as desired using a simple recursion equation. The computational complexity is O(K²) for each user to be decoded. It is shown that this method provides the same results as the "one-shot" method proposed by Verdu and Lupas. Also shown is a new array architecture for implementing this new solution using delta-sigma modulation and a correlator for non-binary patterns that takes advantage of the digitized Al: signals. Simulation results are presented which show the algorithm and correlator to be implementable in VLSI technology. This approach allows processing of the received signal in real-time with a delay of O(.K) bit periods per user. A modification of the algorithm is examined which allows further reduction of complexity at the expense of reduced performance. / Graduation date: 1992

Prior research on conservative accounting and bondholder-shareholder conflict show that firms with higher degree of conservatism experience less austere conflict and lower cost of debt. However, since the implementation of IFRS in 2005, conservatism has been widely reduced in favor of fair value principles. This study sets out to examine if accounting conservatism still mitigates the conflict and reduces cost of debt. We regress two measures of conservatism on three conflict proxies and debt cost, respectively, for firms on the Norwegian market. Our results support the conclusion that conservative accounting mitigates the bondholder-shareholder conflict even after the introduction of IFRS, but we find no significant evidence that bondholders reward high level of conservatism with lower cost of debt.