Horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) constructed wetlands were evaluated for the treatment of flow-through trout farm effluent, phosphorus sorption affinity of gravel-bed media, and influence on Rhodamine WT (RWT) transport. HSSF wetlands coupled with mechanical pretreatment demonstrated significant (p <0.05) removal of total ammonia-nitrogen (TAN), total phosphorus (TP), total organic carbon (TOC), total suspended solids (TSS), five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), and turbidity. Treatment occurred predominantly within the wetland cells, with minimal removal of studied water quality parameters by means of sedimentation or microscreen filtration (80 ?m mesh). HSSF wetlands removed 69% of influent TSS, 24% of influent TP, and reduced turbidity by 66%. The removal of organic matter within the wetlands, as measured by BOD5, COD, and TOC was 62%, 50%, and 55%, respectively. After receiving effluent from a flow-through trout farm for about one year, the gravel media exhibited moderate removals of soluble phosphorus in batch and column sorption experiments. Partition coefficients (Kd) from batch sorption tests ranged from 45-90 mL/g. Low (60 mL/min) and high (165 mL/min) flow column experiments removed about 50 and 40% of influent PO4-P, respectively. The conservative nature of RWT in subsurface media has been called into question by many authors. Tracer response curves from tests conducted in pilot-scale HSSF wetlands exhibited elongated tails and dual peaks, in addition to mean tracer retention times far exceeding the theoretical value. Laboratory column testing of RWT and the more conservative NaCl tracer supported field data, indicating that RWT was more reactive within the wetland media. / Master of Science

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Die in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten Arbeiten zielten darauf ab, verschiedene Formen des Lernens und der Verhaltensanpassung in Tieren zu testen. Hierbei wurder der Großteil dieser Arbeit an einer natürlich vorkommenden klonalen Fischart, der Amazonas-Molly Poecilia formosa, durchgeführt. Diese gesellige, ausschließlich weibliche Art erzeugt durch ungeschlechtliche Fortpflanzung genetisch identische Nachkommen. Mit dem Aufkommen von immer detaillierteren Ansätzen zur Unterscheidung von Verhaltensunterschieden sind solche klonalen Arten in der Ethologie von entscheidender Bedeutung, da sie als perfektes natürliches Modell dienen, um individuelle Verhaltensunterschiede und deren Entwicklung zu testen. Da genetische Variationen als Störfaktor weitgehend ausgeschlossen werden können, kann die Aufmerksamkeit auf die Unterschiede zwischen Individuen aufgrund ihrer Vorerfahrungen gelenkt werden. In den ersten drei Kapiteln der hier vorgestellten Arbeit wurden die individuellen Erfahrungen durch operante Konditionierung oder durch das Aussetzen der Tiere gegenüber neuen oder bekannten Situationen verändert. Das jeweilige Verhalten wurde sowohl alleine, als auch im sozialen Kontext untersucht. Auf diese Weise wurde die Auswirkung des sozialen Kontexts sowie der physischen Umgebung auf Verhaltensaspekte wie Schwimmgeschwindigkeit und Sprungwahrscheinlichkeit ermittelt. Kleinere Verhaltensunterschiede wurden dann im folgenden Kapitel durch den Vergleich von manuellen Ansätzen und automatischen Quantifizierungsinstrumenten bewertet und evaluiert. Schließlich wurde ein methodischer Ansatz augearbeitet, bei dem die Leistungsfähigkeit künstlicher intelligenz in Form von neuronalen Netze genutzt wurde, um Individuen in komplizierten, natürlichen Szenen während Räuber-Beute-Interaktionen zu verfolgen. / The work presented in this thesis set out to test various forms of learning and behavior adaptation. The bulk of this work was done using a naturally occurring clonal fish species, the Amazon molly Poecilia formosa. This sociable, all female species produces genetically identical offspring through asexual reproduction. With the advent of increasingly detailed approaches to discriminate behavioral differences, such clonal species are vital in ethology as they serve as a perfect natural model to test for individual behavioral differences and the development of such. Since genetical variation can largely be excluded as a confounding factor, attention can be drawn towards the differences among individuals due to their prior experience. In the first three chapters of the work presented here, the individual information and experience was altered by applying operant conditioning or by exposing the animals to novel or well-known situations. This was done both individually and in a group setting. By doing so, the effect of the social context, as well as the physical surroundings on behavioral aspects such as swimming speed and jumping probability was determined. Minute behavioral differences were then evaluated in the following chapter by comparing manual approaches and automated quantification tools. Lastly, a methodological approach was taken in which the power of artifical neural networks was harnessed to track individuals in convoluted natural scenes during predator-prey interactions.

Das Ziel der vorgelegten Arbeit ist die Messung des Wirkungsquerschnittes der elektroschwach vermittelten Produktion einzelner Top Quarks in Assoziation mit einem W-Boson. Dieser Prozess wird auch abkürzend als Wt-Kanal bezeichnet. Die Vermessung dieses Produktionskanals stellt einen Test der Standardmodell-Vorhersage dar und bietet gleichzeitig die Möglichkeit durch einen Vergleich mit anderen Produktionskanälen für einzelne Top Quarks (t- und s-Kanal) Rückschlüsse auf neue Physik jenseits des Standardmodells zu ziehen. Nach einer allgemeinen Einführung zur Physik des Top Quarks folgt eine Beschreibung der für die Detektion und Rekonstruktion physikalischer Objekte wichtigen Systeme des ATLAS-Detektors.Anschlie{\ss}end wird die Analyse der Proton-Proton-Kollisions Daten die im Jahr 2011 vom ATLAS Detektor am Large Hadron Collider (LHC) augzeichnet wurden präsentiert.Diese Daten wurden bei einer Schwerpunktsenergie von 7 TeV aufgezeichnet und haben einen Umfang von 4.7 inverse femtobarn.Da die Produktionsrate des Wt-Kanals am LHC sehr klein im Vergleich zu seinem Hauptuntergrund ist, wurde ein Chi-Quadrat-basierter kinematischer Fit entwickelt um die Identifikation der Signalereignisse zu begünstigen. Hierbei werden W-Boson und Top-Quark aus den Endzustandsteilchen rekonstruiert und durch Bedingungen hinsichtlich der W-Boson und Top Quark Masse evaluiert. Der errechnete Chi-Quadrat-Wert gibt die Wahrscheinlichkeit an, mit der das einzelne Ereignis mit der Signal-Hypothese übereinstimmt und kann als Schnittvariable verwendet werden um eine striktere Ereignisselektion zu erhalten. Die Messung ist von systematischen Unsicherheiten dominiert, die fast 100 % des gemessenen Wirkungsquerschnitts betragen. / The work reported in this thesis is aimed at measuring the cross section of electroweak single top quark production in association with a W boson, a process also referred to as Wt-channel. The interest in this production mechanism relies in the confirmation of the Standard Model predictions together with the possibility of identifying new physics phenomena when comparing its cross section with the one of the other single top production modes (the t- and s-channel.) After providing a general introduction on the physics of the top quark and a description of the experimental setup employed for the detection and the reconstruction of the physics objects, the analysis of 4.7 femtobarn of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in the year 2011, is presentedSince the Wt channel production rate at the LHC is considerably smaller than its main background, a chi-squared based kinematic fit has been developed to help the identification of the signal events allowing the use of simultaneous mass constraints from the W boson and the top quark populating the final states. The chi-squared value in each event is then used as a parameter to rank the event in terms of its probability to match or not the signal hypothesis and a cut on its value is used to implement a first tight event selection. The final selection step consists of requiring that the system composed by the top quark and the W boson reconstructed by the fit is balanced in the transverse plane. The measurement is found to be dominated by the systematic uncertainties which affect it by an amount close to 100% of the cross section value.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form (~60-80%) of dementia, currently affecting approximately half a million people in the UK and ~30 million people worldwide. The autosomal dominant form of AD represents a small proportion (~1-2%) of AD cases and is genetically well characterised. The vast majority of AD cases that show symptoms later in life (>65 years of age) are genetically complex. This type of AD, also known as late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) disease, is still highly heritable with an estimated heritability of up to 76% (Gatz et al., 2006). Unfortunately, there is no cure for this devastating disease. Investigating genetic factors influencing the risk of LOAD is imperative for development of effective therapeutic treatments and more accurate diagnosis. A cross-platform comparison of four Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) was performed in an effort to identify novel genetic associations with LOAD (Chapter 3). A TRIM15 SNP rs929156 demonstrated significant evidence of association with LOAD with a p-value approaching genome-wide significance (p = 8.77 x 10-8) and an odds ratio that showed consistent effect on risk (OR = 1.1, p = 0.03). Within this chapter, a bio-informatic program to automate the process of GWAS meta-analysis taking into account linkage disequilibrium (LD) is also presented. Subsequently two fragments of the TRIM15 gene (including both 5’ and 3’ end flanking regions) were sequenced using the ABI SOLiDTM next generation sequencing technology. This was a pilot study using a DNA pooling strategy to determine whether this region harbours multiple rare variants which are associated with the disease (Chapter 4). Lastly, a candidate gene study combined with whole genome analysis was performed in an effort to search for genetic variants influencing human ageing using LOAD GWAS data (Chapter 5).

Water temperature directly affects biological and chemical processes of fresh water ecosystems. Elevated instream temperatures are commonplace in the Virgin River of southwestern Utah during summer due to a hot desert climate and high water demands that result in low stream flows. This is of concern since the Virgin River is home to two endangered species, the Virgin River Chub (Gila seminuda) and Woundfin (Plagopterus argentissimus). Efforts to model instream temperatures within the Virgin River have been undertaken to help mitigate elevated instream temperatures including the development of a two-zone temperature and solute (TZTS) model. This model was developed to approximate the dominant processes that influence instream temperatures and used both temperature and solute data in parameter estimation. Past model applications highlighted two concerns: (1) how to confidently estimate the high number of parameters and (2) whether Rhodamine WT (RhWT) could be used as a conservative solute tracer within the Virgin River. To begin addressing these issues, spatially representative data were collected to facilitate the physical estimation of two previously calibrated parameters: total average channel width (BTOT) and the fraction of channel width associated with dead zones (β). Methods for analyzing multispectral and thermal infrared imagery were developed to provide estimates of these parameters at different resolutions. Three different TZTS model calibration cases were then evaluated to determine how decreasing the calibrated parameters and increasing the resolution and frequency at which these parameters are estimated improved model predictions and/or decreased parameter uncertainty. While temperature predictions did not change significantly in each of the calibrations, parameter uncertainty was reduced. The concern regarding the use of RhWT resulted in a series of studies to quantify the potential losses of RhWT within this system. A batch sorption study resulted in distribution coefficient values lower than those found in literature. A photodegradation study suggested possible photolysis; however, a dual tracer study conducted within the Virgin River comparing Br- (conservative tracer) with RhWT confirmed that there was insignificant RhWT loss within this system.

In serial manufacturing processes, localized energy sources (e.g. plasma cutters, arc welders or water jets) induce material geometry transformations that yield a desired product. Simple parameter control of these energy sources does not necessarily ensure an optimal or successful part because of disturbances in the manufacturing process (material and temperature variations, etc). Currently, control in manufacturing is based on statistical process control where large databases for the manufacturing of a fixed process are available and have been compiled over several manufacturing runs. In the absence of a statistical database, and with the increased need for improved monitoring and throughput, there is need for active process control in manufacturing. In this work, Gas Metal Arc Braze-Welding (GMABW) will serve as a test-bed for the implementation of model predictive control (MPC) for a serial manufacturing process. This dissertation investigates the integration of real time modeling of the temperature field with control algorithms to control the evolving temperature field in the ix braze-welded base metal. Fundamental problems involving MPC that are addressed are modeling techniques to calculate temperature fields with reduced computational requirements and control algorithms that utilize the thermal models directly to inform the controller. The dissertation first outlines and compares analytical and computational thermal models and comparison with experimental data are obtained. A thermal model based on a metamodeling approach is used as the plant model for a classical control system and control parameters are found. Various techniques for dealing with signal noise encountered during experimentation are investigated. A proportional controller is implemented in the experimental setup that applies feedback control of the braze –welding process using thermal signals. A novel approach to MPC is explored by using a metamodel as the plant model for the braze-welding process and having the temperature trajectory dictated by the metamodel in the steady state region of the weld. Lastly, future work and extensions of this research are outlined. / text

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No description available.

In dieser Doktorarbeit behandle ich verschiedene Persönlichkeitsaspekte von jugendlichen Zitronenhaien (Negaprion brevirostris). Ich habe wiederholt Individuen in einem neuartigen Testfeld untersucht. Diese Experimente zeigten, dass jugendliche Zitronenhaie sich konstant verschieden verhalten. Außerdem konnte ich durch eine wiederkehrende Exposition in dem neuartigen Testfeld ein Gewöhnungsverhalten aufzeigen. Gewöhnung war ein Indikator, dass dieser Test es möglich macht, Reaktionen auf Veränderungen zu erforschen. Und endlich zeigte dieses Experiment dass Individuen verschiedene Gewöhnungsraten besitzen. Zweitens testete ich konsistente individuelle Verschiedenheiten in einigen der sozialen Verhaltensweisen über Zeiträume von einigen Tagen bis Perioden von vier Monaten. Während des neuerlichen Tests von Individuen wurde die Zusammensetzung der Gruppen geändert, um sicher zu gehen, dass die Wiederholbarkeit nicht vom gleichen sozialen Umfeld zwischen den wiederholten Versuchen kam. Hier wiederum fand ich, dass jugendliche Zitronenhaie Persönlichkeitsdifferenzen in ihrem sozialen Umfeld besaßen und dies trotz der veränderten Gruppen und einer viermonatigen Periode zwischen den Tests. Drittens testete ich die Präsenz eines Verhaltenssyndroms zwischen der Sozialisierung und der Reaktion auf ein neues Testfeld unter Berücksichtigung einer möglichen Variation dieses Syndroms durch Ontogenese und den Fangplatz. Dazu untersuchte ich noch die Dauerhaftigkeit von individuellen Unterschieden in verschiedenen Altersklassen und von verschiedenen Fangplätzen. Ich fand eine starke negative Korrelation zwischen der Soziabilität und der Reaktion auf Ungewohntes bei den Haien, in einer von zwei getesteten Kinderstuben, aber nur wenn sie älter als ein Jahr waren. Dazu fand ich, dass Haie, die weniger als ein Jahr alt waren, keine langdauernde Verhaltenskonsistenz zum Gegensatz zu älteren Haien zeigten. / In this thesis, I investigated different aspects of personality in juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris). I repeatedly tested individuals in a novel open field test. This experiment showed that juvenile lemon sharks consistently differ in their behavior. In addition, repeated exposures to the novel open field, allowed me to demonstrate the presence of habituation. Habituation was used as an indication that this test can be used to investigate reaction to novelty. Finally, this experiment also revealed that individuals have variable rates of habituation. Second, I tested consistent individual differences in some aspects of their social behavior over a few days up to a four-month period. While retesting individuals, group composition was changed to insure that repeatability was not due to the repetition of the same social environment between tests. Here again, I found that juvenile lemon sharks showed personality differences in their social behavior and this despite group composition changes and a four-month period between tests. Third, I tested the presence of a behavioral syndrome between sociability and reaction to a novel open field while considering potential variation in this syndrome through ontogeny and locations of capture. In addition, I investigated the maintenance of individual differences in different age classes and locations of capture. I found a significant negative correlation between sociability and reaction to novelty in sharks from one of the two nurseries tested but only when they were older than a year. In addition, I found that young of year sharks did not demonstrate long term consistency in their behavior as opposed to older sharks.