<p>Groundwater is an important water resource to be used to supplement the water demand for the City of Cape Town for present and future generations. Understanding the groundwater occurrence of the Table Mountain area is very important for future groundwater exploitation and management. Apart from the sea in the west, Table Mountain is mostly surrounded by the unconsolidated sediments including the Kirstenbosch, Newlands, and Oranjezicht areas. These areas are rich in groundwater resources, like springs / some of them were utilized, others not. However, there are few studies that focused on spring resource in this area. No up to date information is available for spring resources research and relative data is lacking from local research institutions. In fact, some of the spring resources in the Table Mountain area had been extracted and been utilized for local community for many years. Data and information newly obtained from this study about such groundwater resources will help future groundwater development and management. There are at least 13 springs in the selected study area. Those springs were investigated for groundwater occurrence, because spring is an important manifestation of the underlying aquifer through which groundwater dynamics can be detected. The main objective of the study was to sketch a clear picture of groundwater occurrence and to obtain an improved understanding of how geomorphology affects groundwater flow, its manifestation and quality. Water resources management is also important because this kind of water resource can be used to help meet the water demand of this local area in the future. There is relationship between the topographical features of the Table Mountain and spring occurrence. The research area delineated is used to interpret the relationship. Hydro-geochemical analysis is carried out to indicate the chemical components of the groundwater and to understand the groundwater type and water quality of this particular area. Based on the completed analysis and interpretation of factors influencing discharge and recharge, some good results were obtained and useful information is made available for first time.</p>

<p>The research was driven by a need to increase the knowledge base concerning wetland ecological responses, as well as to identify and evaluate the factors driving the functioning of the Franschhoek Trust Wetland. An ecohydrological study was undertaken in which vegetation cover, depth to groundwater, water and soil chemistry were monitored at 14 sites along three transects for a 12 month period. The parameters used include temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, chloride, bicarbonate, sulphate, total nitrogen, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and phosphorus. T-tests and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to analyze trends and to express the relationship between abiotic factors and vegetation.</p>

Despite its strategic importance most firms managing complex product development fail to meet their pre-set or emerging targets. This thesis argues that this is due to a number of limitations in the fundamental assumptions behind the dominant approach based on planning. Two alternative approaches are introduced and elaborated based on extensive empirical investigation of five organizational settings at Ericsson applying the dominant approach and two organizational settings also at Ericsson that repeatedly succeed to meet pre-set and emerging targets. The two alternative approaches; integrationdriven development and dynamic synchronization are based on integration, building dependencies, allocating resources to the boundaries and building a capacity for real-time handling of both emerging problems and opportunities rather than minimizing deviations from the pre-set plan. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 1999

Denna avhandling behandlar analog-digitalomvandling. I synnerhet behandlas postkorrektion av analog-digitalomvandlare (A/D-omvandlare). A/D-omvandlare är i praktiken behäftade med vissa fel som i sin tur ger upphov till distorsion i omvandlarens utsignal. Om felen har ett systematiskt samband med utsignalen kan de avhjälpas genom att korrigera utsignalen i efterhand. Detta verk behandlar den form av postkorrektion som implementeras med hjälp av en tabell ur vilken korrektionsvärden hämtas. Innan en A/D-omvandlare kan korrigeras måste felen i den mätas upp. Detta görs genom att estimera omvandlarens överföringsfunktion. I detta arbete behandlas speciellt problemet att skatta kvantiseringsintervallens mittpunkter. Det antas härvid att en referenssignal finns tillgänglig som grund för skattningen. En skattare som baseras på sorterade data visas vara bättre än den vanligtvis använda skattaren baserad på sampelmedelvärde. Nästa huvudbidrag visar hur resultatet efter korrigering av en A/D-omvandlare kan predikteras. Omvandlaren antas här ha en viss differentiell olinjäritet och insignalen antas påverkad av ett slumpmässigt brus. Ett postkorrektionssystem, implementerat med begränsad precision, korrigerar utsignalen från A/D-omvandlaren. Ett utryck härleds som beskriver signal-brusförhållandet efter postkorrektion. Förhållandet visar sig bero på den differentiella olinjäritetens varians, det slumpmässiga brusets varians, omvandlarens upplösning samt precisionen med vilken korrektionstermerna beskrivs. Till sist behandlas indexering av korrektionstabeller. Valet av metod för att indexera en korrektionstabell påverkar såväl tabellens storlek som förmågan att beskriva och korrigera dynamiska fel. I avhandlingen behandlas i synnerhet tillståndsmodellbaserade metoder, det vill säga metoder där tabellindex bildas som en funktion utav flera på varandra följande sampel. Allmänt gäller att ju fler sampel som används för att bilda ett tabellindex, desto större blir tabellen, samtidigt som förmågan att beskriva dynamiska fel ökar. En indexeringsmetod som endast använder en delmängd av bitarna i varje sampel föreslås här. Vidare så påvisas hur valet av indexeringsbitar kan göras optimalt, och experimentella utvärderingar åskådliggör att tabellstorleken kan reduceras avsevärt utan att fördenskull minska prestanda mer än marginellt. De teorier och resultat som framförs här har utvärderats med experimentella A/D-omvandlardata eller genom datorsimuleringar. / Analog-to-digital conversion and quantization constitute the topic of this thesis. Post-correction of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is considered in particular. ADCs usually exhibit non-ideal behavior in practice. These non-idealities spawn distortions in the converters output. Whenever the errors are systematic, it is possible to mitigate them by mapping the output into a corrected value. The work herein is focused on problems associated with post-correction using look-up tables. All results presented are supported by experiments or simulations. The first problem considered is characterization of the ADC. This is in fact an estimation problem, where the transfer function of the converter should be determined. This thesis deals with estimation of quantization region midpoints, aided by a reference signal. A novel estimator based on order statistics is proposed, and is shown to have superior performance compared with the sample mean traditionally used. The second major area deals with predicting the performance of an ADC after post-correction. A converter with static differential nonlinearities and random input noise is considered. A post-correction is applied, but with limited (fixed-point) resolution in the corrected values. An expression for the signal-to-noise and distortion ratio after post-correction is provided. It is shown that the performance is dependent on the variance of the differential nonlinearity, the variance of the random noise, the resolution of the converter and the precision of the correction values. Finally, the problem of addressing, or indexing, the correction look-up table is dealt with. The indexing method determines both the memory requirements of the table and the ability to describe and correct dynamically dependent error effects. The work here is devoted to state-space--type indexing schemes, which determine the index from a number of consecutive samples. There is a tradeoff between table size and dynamics: more samples used for indexing gives a higher dependence on dynamic, but also a larger table. An indexing scheme that uses only a subset of the bits in each sample is proposed. It is shown how the selection of bits can be optimized, and the exemplary results show that a substantial reduction in memory size is possible with only marginal reduction of performance. / QC 20101019

In this research, the dynamic behavior of a seismic isolation system composed of high strength geotextile placed over an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) geomembrane (together called as composite liner) beneath the structure is investigated experimentally. The results of the shaking table experiments which were performed on model structures both under harmonic and modified earthquake motions with and without the seismic isolation (composite liner system), are presented in the thesis. The main focus is given on the potential improvement obtained by use of the composite liner system as compared to the unisolated cases. Based on the performed experiments, it is observed that the utilization of composite liner system provides significant reduction in the accelerations and interstorey drift ratios of structures under harmonic motions while signifant drop is obtained in the spectral accelerations under earthquake motions which provide noticeable improvement in the durability of structures under dynamic effects at the expense of increased translational displacements.

En esta tesis se ha caracterizado a nivel de especie la ecología del proceso de fermentación industrial de las aceitunas de mesa arbequinas. Los resultados muestran que se establece un equilibrio dinámico entre bacterias lácticas y levaduras. También existe inicialmente un importante número de enterobacterias que desaparecen conforme el pH del medio baja. Lactobacillus pentosus, Candida diddensiae y Candida boidinii han sido las principales especies identificadas. También se ha estudiado a escala piloto una fermentación espontánea comprobando como son los propios microorganismos de la fruta los que se desarrollan durante la fermentación. En la fermentación a escala se estudió el efecto de la sal y el grado de madurez de la aceituna observando que una mayor concentración salina favorece la desaparición de las enterobacterias sin afectar al desarrollo de las bacterias lácticas y un grado de madurez mayor favorece el desarrollo de las bacterias lácticas. El seguimiento de distintos cultivos iniciadores mediante el uso de la PCR GTG5 mostró que L. pentosus es la especie más adecuada para ser empleada como inóculo en el caso de las aceitunas arbequinas así como se comprobó las bondades del uso de una levadura como co-inóculo para favorecer la imposición de la bacteria láctica y aportar estabilidad microbiana. Se estudió la presencia de genes de plantaricinas en una colección de aislados de las especies L. paraplantarum, L. pentosus y L. plantarum observando que las tres especies poseen los mismos genes de plantaricinas y que existe una relación entre los genes que posee una cepa y el origen de aislamiento de la misma. Estudios transcripcionales confirmaron la importancia de la plantaricina S en L. pentosus B96 así como la contribución de otros genes de bacteriocinas expresados a su bioactividad total. PhD Thesis Abstract, Albert Hurtado Fernández-AnchuelaTITLE: Study of the microbial population associated to the fermentation process of arbequina cultivar table olives.DIRECTORS: Cristina Reguant y Nicolas Rozès / In this thesis the ecology of the industrial fermentation process of arbequina table olives has been characterized at species level. The results show that it is established a dynamic equilibrium between lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Initially there is also a significant number of Enterobacteriaceae that disappear as medium pH falls. Lactobacillus pentosus, Candida diddensiae and Candida boidinii were the main species identified. It has also been studied a spontaneous fermentation at pilot-scale observing the development of wild microorganisms of the olive fruit during the fermentation. In the laboratory fermentation salt and olive maturity effect were studied, noting that a higher salt concentration favored the disappearance of Enterobacteriaceae without affecting lactic acid bacteria development and a greater maturity favored lactic acid bacteria growing. Different starter cultures were followed by means of GTG5 PCR during controlled fermentations. Results showed L. pentosus as the most suitable species to be used as inoculum in the case of arbequina olives. It was observed too the benefits of using a yeast as co-inoculum to favor the imposition of the lactic bacteria and to provide microbial stability. It was studied the presence of plantaricin genes in a collection of isolates of L. paraplantarum, L. pentosus and L. plantarum. The three species have the same plantaricin genes and it was observed a relationship between the genes a strain posses and its isolation source. Transcriptional studies confirmed the importance of plantaricin S in L. pentosus B96 and the contribution of other bacteriocin genes to the total bioactivity of the strain.

This thesis is a statement about a series of paintings based on an invented dollhouse object that conveys the artist’s identity and placement in the world. Through this essay, the artist represents the home as a space that fosters the recovery and rebirth of invisible energy, ki and examines ideas of transience, interconnection, and rebirth in the mysterious flow of ki in the home. Also the artist will explain her own view about being an artist, the methodologies and specific techniques of her paintings, and her artistic direction for the future.

One of the oldest and most fundamental problems in statistics is the analysis of cross-classified data called contingency tables. Analyzing contingency tables is typically a question of association - do the variables represented in the table exhibit special dependencies or lack thereof? The statistical models which best capture these experimental notions of dependence are the categorical conditional independence models; however, until recent discoveries concerning the strongly algebraic nature of the conditional independence models surfaced, the models were widely overlooked due to their unwieldy implicit description. Apart from the inferential question above, this thesis asks the more basic question - suppose such an experimental model of association is known, how can one incorporate this information into the estimation of the joint distribution of the table? In the traditional parametric setting several estimation paradigms have been developed over the past century; however, traditional results are not applicable to arbitrary categorical conditional independence models due to their implicit nature. After laying out the framework for conditional independence and algebraic statistical models, we consider three aspects of estimation in the models using the minimum Euclidean (L2E), minimum Pearson chi-squared, and minimum Neyman modified chi-squared distance paradigms as well as the more ubiquitous maximum likelihood approach (MLE). First, we consider the theoretical properties of the estimators and demonstrate that under general conditions the estimators exist and are asymptotically normal. For small samples, we present the results of large scale simulations to address the estimators' bias and mean squared error (in the Euclidean and Frobenius norms, respectively). Second, we identify the computation of such estimators as an optimization problem and, for the case of the L2E, propose two different methods by which the problem can be solved, one algebraic and one numerical. Finally, we present an R implementation via two novel packages, mpoly for symbolic computing with multivariate polynomials and catcim for fitting categorical conditional independence models. It is found that in general minimum distance estimators in categorical conditional independence models behave as they do in the more traditional parametric setting and can be computed in many practical situations with the implementation provided.

Projektet har gått ut på att göra ett flexibelt bord som ska kunna gå att förändra mellan högt och lågt och mellan olika storlekar på bordsskivan. Detta som en funktionell aspekt av föränderlighet men jag ville även införliva en emotionell föränderlighet. Jag vill att användaren, på ett handgripligt sätt, ska kunna uttrycka sig själv i bordet. Min intention är att man, genom att göra sitt eget unika bord, skapar ett starkare band mellan artefakt och dess användare. Detta som ett led i en hållbar utveckling så att produkterna vi äger kan brukas längre och motverka den ohållbara så kallade slit-och-slängkulturen. / The aim of the project has been to make a flexible table with the ability to change between high and low, and various table tops. This is a functional aspect of variability, but also an emotional element is contained. I want it to be simple for users to express themself  in their table. My intention is that when users can make their own unique table there will be a stronger bond between the artifact and its user. This as a means of sustainability so that the products we own can be used for a longer time, and in this way oppose the unsustainable consumerism culture.The aim of the project has been to make a flexible table with the ability to change between high and low, and various table tops. This is a functional aspect of variability, but also an emotional element is contained. I want it to be simple for users to express themself  in their table. My intention is that when users can make their own unique table there will be a stronger bond between the artifact and its user. This as a means of sustainability so that the products we own can be used for a longer time, and in this way oppose the unsustainable consumerism culture.

As one of the most powerful error-correcting codes, Low-density parity check codes are widely used in digital communications. Because of the performance of LDPC codes are capable to close the shannon limited extraordinarily, LDPC codes are to be used in the new Digital Video Broadcast-Satellite-Second Generation(DVB-S2) and it is the first time that LDPC codes are included in the broadcast standard in 2003. In this thesis, a restructured parity-check matrices which can be divided into sub-matrices for LDPC code in DVB-S2 is provided. Corresponded to this restructured parity-check matrix, a reconstructed decoding table is invented. The encoding table of DVB-S2 standard only could obtain the unknown check nodes from known variable nodes, while the decoding table this thesis provided could obtain the unknown variable nodes from known check nodes what is exactly the Layered-massage passing algorithm needed. Layered-message passing algorithm which also known as "Turbo-decoding message passing" is used to reduce the decoding iterations and memory storage for messages. The thesis also investigate Bp algorithm, lambda-min algorithm, Min-sum algorithm and SISO-s algorithm, meanwhile, simulation results of these algorithms and schedules are also presented.