Circadian rhythms are periodic physiological events that recur about every 24 hours. The word circadian derives from the Latin words <i>circ</i>a "about" and <i>dies</i> "day". The importance of circadian rhythms is well recognized in many different organisms' survival as well as in human physiology. It was in the 1950's that scientists demonstrated the existence of an endogenous biological clock, and that the clock is temperature compensated. However, the molecular mechanism of circadian rhythms began to come clear only after the discovery of the period (per) gene in Drosophila melanogaster in 1971, and the frequency (frq) gene in Neurospora crassa in 1973. Since the breakthrough discoveries of the per and frq genes and their mutants (short period mutants, perS or frq1, frq2; and long period mutants perL or frq3, frq7), molecular biologists have discovered other crucial components of the mechanism of circadian rhythms. Currently, there are about a dozen identified circadian genes in Drosophila melanogaster. The consensus idea of the mechanism is that it involves two-interlocked feedback loops largely based on transcription-translation controls. However, based on our mathematical models and analysis, we propose that there is also an autocatalytic effect based on proteolysis and stabilization of PER proteins. Based on the dynamics of multiple steady states and limit cycle oscillation, we propose an alternative mechanism for robust temperature compensation. We start with a simple model in order to understand the core dynamics of the clock mechanism, and move to a more comprehensive model. In both cases, we use bifurcation analysis as a tool to understand the dynamics of the system. With our model, we propose hypotheses to be tested in Neurospora crassa. / Ph. D.

For decades, the quartz crystal has been used for precise frequency control. In the increasingly popular field of wireless communications, available frequency spectrum is becoming very limited, and therefore regulatory agencies have imposed tight frequency stability requirements. There are generally two techniques for controlling the stability of a crystal oscillator with temperature variations of the environment. They are temperature control and temperature compensation. Temperature control involves placing the sensitive components of an oscillator in a temperature stable chamber. Usually referred to as an oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO), this technique can achieve very good stability over wide temperature ranges. Nevertheless, its use in miniature battery powered electronic devices is significantly limited by drawbacks such as cost, power consumption, and size. Temperature compensation, on the other hand, entails using temperature dependent circuit elements to compensate for shifts in frequency due to changes in ambient temperature. A crystal oscillator that uses this frequency stabilization technique is referred to as a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO). With little added cost, size, and power consumption, a TCXO is well suited for use in portable devices. This paper presents the theory of temperature compensation, and a procedure for designing a TCXO and predicting its performance over temperature. The equivalent electrical circuit model and frequency stability characteristics for the AT-cut quartz crystal are developed. An oscillator circuit topology is introduced such that the crystal is operated in parallel resonance with an external capacitance, and equations are derived that express the frequency stability of the crystal oscillator as a function of the crystal's capacitive load. This relationship leads to the development of the theory of temperature compensation by a crystal's external load capacitance. An example of the TCXO design process is demonstrated with the aid of a MATLAB script. / Master of Science

Microwave communication devices have become ubiquitous in the past decade. As an increasing number of systems compete for spectrum, guard bands have shrunk to increase bandwidth efficiency. The frequency behaviour of microwave devices is affected by thermal expansion. In order to avoid interference with adjacent bands, microwave components must exhibit high temperature-stability in most communications applications. Thermally stable materials can be used to construct temperature-stable components. However, this approach requires an expensive mass and cost trade-off. Temperature compensated aluminum resonators and filters provide major advantages in cost and mass. This work proposes that a compensating tuning screw with a temperature-dependent effective length be constructed by mounting a bimetallic compensator at the end of a mounting screw. This so-called bimetal tuning-screw can be used to produce temperature-compensated resonators and filters. There are several advantages to this approach. Compensation can be tuned by adjusting the depth of the bimetal, simply by adjusting the mounting screw. Since there are no moving parts inside the cavity or filter, and the bimetal can be plated, there are no additional sources of passive intermodulation. Also, this design is simple to implement for waveguide designs in general. In order to compensate for temperature drift, it is useful to quantify uncompensated drift. Temperature drift for a lossless linearly expanding RF component is derived from Maxwell's equations. For the lossy case, it is demonstrated that the resulting formula is approximately true, and that the quality of this approximation is excellent for practical levels of temperature range and thermal expansion. Experimental results are provided that demonstrate bimetal compensation under uniform-temperature conditions for a single aluminum resonator. Measured drift of the compensated resonator is -0.38 ppm/°C, compared to -23 ppm/°C for an uncompensated resonator. Measured drift for a bimetal-compensated 4-pole filter prototype is 2.35 ppm/°C. A method for adjusting compensation for a filter is also provided. Multiphysics simulations are used to examine power handling for bimetal-compensated filters. It is demonstrated that power-handling can be improved by reducing the effective length of the compensator to improve heat conduction to the cavity or filter.

Microwave communication devices have become ubiquitous in the past decade. As an increasing number of systems compete for spectrum, guard bands have shrunk to increase bandwidth efficiency. The frequency behaviour of microwave devices is affected by thermal expansion. In order to avoid interference with adjacent bands, microwave components must exhibit high temperature-stability in most communications applications. Thermally stable materials can be used to construct temperature-stable components. However, this approach requires an expensive mass and cost trade-off. Temperature compensated aluminum resonators and filters provide major advantages in cost and mass. This work proposes that a compensating tuning screw with a temperature-dependent effective length be constructed by mounting a bimetallic compensator at the end of a mounting screw. This so-called bimetal tuning-screw can be used to produce temperature-compensated resonators and filters. There are several advantages to this approach. Compensation can be tuned by adjusting the depth of the bimetal, simply by adjusting the mounting screw. Since there are no moving parts inside the cavity or filter, and the bimetal can be plated, there are no additional sources of passive intermodulation. Also, this design is simple to implement for waveguide designs in general. In order to compensate for temperature drift, it is useful to quantify uncompensated drift. Temperature drift for a lossless linearly expanding RF component is derived from Maxwell's equations. For the lossy case, it is demonstrated that the resulting formula is approximately true, and that the quality of this approximation is excellent for practical levels of temperature range and thermal expansion. Experimental results are provided that demonstrate bimetal compensation under uniform-temperature conditions for a single aluminum resonator. Measured drift of the compensated resonator is -0.38 ppm/°C, compared to -23 ppm/°C for an uncompensated resonator. Measured drift for a bimetal-compensated 4-pole filter prototype is 2.35 ppm/°C. A method for adjusting compensation for a filter is also provided. Multiphysics simulations are used to examine power handling for bimetal-compensated filters. It is demonstrated that power-handling can be improved by reducing the effective length of the compensator to improve heat conduction to the cavity or filter.

Circadian clocks are internal timekeepers that aid survival by allowing organisms, from photosynthetic cyanobacteria to humans, to anticipate predictable daily changes in the environment and make appropriate adjustments to their cellular biochemistry and behaviour. Whilst many of the molecular cogs and gears of circadian clocks are known, the complex interactions of clock components in time and space that generate a reliable internal measure of external time are still under investigation. Computational modelling has aided our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of circadian clocks, nevertheless it remains a major challenge to integrate the large number of clock components and their interactions into a single, comprehensive model that is able to account for the full breadth of clock properties. An important property of circadian clocks is their ability to maintain a constant period over a range of temperatures. Temperature compensation of circadian period is the least understood characteristic of circadian clocks. To investigate possible mechanisms underlying temperature compensation, I first constructed a comprehensive dynamic model of the Neurospora crassa circadian clock that incorporates its key components and their transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. The model is based on a compilation of published and new experimental data and incorporates facets of previously described Neurospora clock models. Light components were also incorporated into the model to test it and to reproduce our knowledge of light response of the clock. Also, experiments were carried out to investigate the unknown mechanisms of light response, such as the molecular mechanisms supporting the correct timing of conidiation after light to dark transfer. The model accounts for a wide range of clock characteristics including: a periodicity of 21.6 hours, persistent oscillation in constant conditions, resetting by brief light pulses, and entrainment to full photoperiods. Next, I carried out robustness tests and response coefficient analysis to identify components that strongly influence the period and amplitude of the molecular oscillations. These data measure the influence of the parameters in the model and were beneficial for making and testing predictions in the model. Thermodynamic properties were then introduced into reactions that experimental observations suggested might be temperature sensitive. This analysis indicated that temperature compensation can be achieved if nuclear localisation of a key clock component, FRQ, decreases with increasing temperature. Experiments have been carried out to validate this hypothesis and simulations were made to explore other possible mechanisms. However, from my experimental data and modelling results, the restriction of FRQ nuclear localisation might not be the only mechanism required to achieve temperature compensation. In conclusion, temperature compensation is most likely a complex property and may involve a combination of multiple mechanisms regulating clock component activity over a range of temperatures.

No description available.

This dissertation proposes a miniaturized optical fiber based sensor system for the measurement of 3-dimensional vector magnetic fields. The operation of the sensor system is based on the detection of magnetostrictive dimensional changes in the sensor gage using a modified extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometer configuration. Because of the magnetostrictive reflector the gap length depends on the magnetic fields applied to the sensor. Since the diameter of the magnetostrictive sensor gage is 125 micrometer which is the same as that of the input/output fiber, the sensor is simply constructed by inserting the sensor gage and the input/output fiber into a small glass tube. The glass tube serves as both an aligner for the sensor gage and input/out fiber, and a passive temperature compensator. In addition, it also enhances the mechanical strength and compactness of the sensor. This sensor design shows 98 percent suppression of the thermally induced sensor output changes. The linear output of the sensor system is enhanced by transverse field annealing which increases magnetostrictive induction in the ferromagnetic sensor gage material and controls the sensor gage geometry. A 5-times increase in sensor sensitivity is obtained with the transverse field annealing and the use of a new magnetostrictive material. A modified sensor gage endface demonstrates 92 percent of fringe visibility, which further improves the performance of the interferometer. The signal fading in the interferometric sensors at the peak or bottom of a fringe is reduced by using a quadrature signal demodulation method. The system has been shown to have a resolution better than 100 nT over a measurement range from 100 to 40,000 nT. This research is supported financially by the Phillips Laboratory of the U.S. Air Force. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Orientador: Jozué Vieira Filho / Resumo: As técnicas de detecção de danos baseadas na Impedância Eletromecânica (EMI) baseiam-se na capacidade dos materiais piezoeléctricos em atuar como sensores e atuadores e contribuem para o desenvolvimento de sistemas de Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). As técnicas clássicas baseadas na EMI utilizam um transdutor Pb-Lead Zirconate Titanite (PZT ) ligado à estrutura monitorada e medem a assinatura de impedância do PZT. No entanto, as técnicas baseadas na EMI dependem de diferentes fatores, como faixa de frequência, número de PZT, temperatura ambiente, tipo de estrutura, entre outros. Assim, para demonstrar a eficácia dos métodos baseados na EMI, faz-se necessário realizar experimentos práticos, o que não é uma tarefa trivial, considerando tais fatores. Portanto, neste trabalho são estudados e propostos procedimentos para criar modelos numéricos, usando elementos finitos (FE), de técnicas baseadas na EMI usando o software PZFlex®. Além disso, os modelos desenvolvidos são usados para propor uma técnica inovadora de compensação de temperatura em sistemas baseados na EMI. Foram modeladas, simuladas e analisadas algumas estruturas clássicas como placa-de-alumínio/PZT e tubo-de-aço/PZT. Os resultados das simulações foram comparados com os equivalentes obtidos com modelos experimentais reais e mostraram-se fortemente correlacionados, indicando que o modelo proposto pode ser uma ferramenta poderosa para o desenvolvimento de técnicas de SHM baseadas na EMI. Foram realizadas simulações ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The damage detection techniques based on the Electromechanical Impedance (EMI) rely on the ability of piezoelectric materials in acting as sensors and actuators and contribute to the development of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems. The classical EMI-based techniques use a Pb-Lead Zirconate Titanite (PZT) transducer bonded to the monitored structure and measure the impedance signature of the PZT. However, the techniques based on EMI depend on different factors, such as frequency range, number of PZTs, environmental temperature, type of structure, among others. Thus, to demonstrate the effectiveness of EMI-based methods, it is necessary to carry out practical experiments, which is not a trivial task considering such factors. Therefore, in this work, it is studied and proposed procedures to create numerical models of techniques based on the EMI, using finite elements (FE) and the PZFlex® software. In addition, the developed models are used to propose an innovative temperature compensation technique for EMI-based systems. Some classical structures were modelled, simulated and analyzed, such as aluminum plate/PZT and steel pipe/PZT. The results of the simulations were compared with the equivalents obtained by experimental models and showed to be strongly correlated, indicating that the proposed model can be a powerful tool for the development of EMI-based SHM techniques. Simulations were performed to analyze the behavior of the signatures under the effect of temperature,... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Exemplos de comportamento complexo podem ser encontrados em vários sistemas na natureza, como dinâmica de populações, formação de padrões em pelos de animais e a auto regulação do metabolismo. Em geral, sistemas químicos e eletroquímicos apresentam também esse tipo de comportamento complexo e são comumente escolhidos como sistemas-modelo para estudar esses aspectos, uma vez que as variáveis são facilmente controláveis e as medidas são precisas. Apesar dos esforços realizados nas últimas duas décadas, existem ainda lacunas a serem preenchidas entre o mecanismo de reação e a teoria que explica as oscilações. Visando contribuir para o assunto, o presente trabalho trata da eletro-oxidação de etileno glicol sobre platina em meio alcalino em regime potenciostático e galvanostático. Utilizando Espectroscopia de Infravermelho por Transformada de Fourier in situ acoplada com técnicas eletroquímicas, é observado um decréscimo na razão entre a produção de carbonato/oxalato quando o raio dos cátions alcalinos é diminuído na seguinte ordem: Li+ &lt; Na+ &lt; K+. A origem de tal tendência pode ser dada em termos das interações não-covalentes entre os cátions e as espécies oxigenadas adsorvidas na superfície. Os aspectos não-lineares da reação são estudados aumentando a resistência entre o eletrodo de trabalho e o potenciostato. Oscilações com frequências tão altas quanto 40 Hz são observadas, sendo que estas se tornam mais lentas e complexas com o aumento da resistência, mimetizando o comportamento em controle galvanostático. O pH mostrou-se fundamental para o aparecimento do comportamento oscilatório, observado somente nos valores de pH 0, 2 e 14. Baixas correntes de oxidação e baixas frequências de oscilação em meio ácido são contrastadas com altas correntes e frequências em meio alcalino. Além disso, o efeito da temperatura é testado tanto em regime voltamétrico quanto nas séries temporais oscilatórias em pH ácido e alcalino. Em meio ácido, a energia de ativação decresce à medida que o potencial torna-se próximo ao potencial de pico e esta heterogeneidade está, provavelmente, conectada à diferentes rotas reacionais. A energia de ativação calculada através da frequência remete a valores intermediários aos encontrados em regime voltamétrico. Apesar de valores comuns encontrados para os termos de ativação sob regime voltamétrico em meio alcalino, as frequências de oscilação se mostraram quase invariantes com a temperatura, indicando que o sistema apresenta a chamada compensação de temperatura. / Examples of complex behavior can be found in several systems in nature such as population dynamics, animal coat patterns formation and metabolism self-assembly. In general, chemical and electrochemical systems also display this complex behavior and are commonly chosen as workhorses to study these aspects, once the variables are easily controlled and the measurements are precise. Despite the efforts made in this area in the last two decades, there are still gaps between the reaction mechanism and the theory underlying the oscillations. To shed some light on the non-linear aspects of alcohol electro-oxidation, the present work deals with the study the ethylene glycol electro-oxidation reaction in platinum and alkaline media from both gavanostatic and potenciostático control. By means of in situ Fourier Infrared Spectroscopy coupled with electrochemical techniques, it is found a decrease in the ratio of carbonate/oxalate production when the alkaline cations size decreases in the following order: Li+ &lt; Na+ &lt; K+. The origin of this tendency can be rationalized in terms of non-covalent interaction between cations and adsorbed oxygenated species. These interactions are proportional to the cation size and it influences directly the number of available free sites for alcohol adsorption. The non-linear aspects of the reaction are also studied increasing the total resistance between the working electrode and the potenciostat. It is observed oscillation frequencies as high as 40 Hz. Those non-linearities turned slower and more complex as the resistance increases, mimicking the behavior observed under galvanostatic control. The pH is a decisive parameter to the oscillatory behavior, observed only at pH 2, 4 and 14. Low oxidation currents under potential control followed by low frequency oscillations observed in acid media are in contrast to the high current and frequency in alkaline. Moreover the temperature effect is tested in both cyclic voltammetry profile and oscillatory time series in acid and alkaline media. In acid media, the activation energy decrease as the potential turns closer to the peak potential region, this heterogeneity is probably caused by different reactions. The activation energy calculated by oscillation frequency remits to intermediates values in relation to that found under voltammetry control. Although ordinary values for the activation factors are found under linear voltammetry control mode at pH 14, the oscillations frequencies are almost independent of the temperature, indicating that the system shows the, so called, temperature compensation.