802.11-standardiperhe

Langattomien verkkojen kehitys juontaa juurensa 1980-luvulle, jolloin eri valmistajat julkaisivat omia valmistajakohtaisia tuotteitaan. Kuluttajalle tämä tarkoitti sitoutumista yhteen valmistajaan ja yhteensopivuusongelmia eri laitteiden kesken. Ensimmäinen ajatus oli luoda vain uusi fyysinen taso langallisen lähiverkon 802.3-standardiin, mutta pian ymmärrettiin, että tarvitaan kokonaan uusi MAC-taso, sillä tiedonsiirto radioteitse on huomattavan erilaista kuin kaapelia pitkin tehtävä tiedonsiirto. Esimerkiksi langallisen lähiverkon 802.3-standardista tuttua CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect) siirtotien varausmenetelmää ei voida käyttää, vaan se on korvattu langattomassa lähiverkossa CSMA/CA:lla (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) IEEE:n (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11-standardi sai alkunsa 21.3.1991 ja ensimmäinen 802.11-standardi, 802.11-1997, julkaistiin vuonna 1997. 802.11-standardia kehitetään edelleen, ja tällä hetkellä uusin julkaistu laajennos on vuonna 2014 julkaistu 802.11ac. Tässä tutkielmassa perehdytään erilaisiin langattoman lähiverkon tekniikoihin pääpainon ollessa IEEE:n 802.11-standardissa ja sen tietoturvassa.

The role of microRNAs and retinoid signaling during spinal cord regeneration in the adult newt.

The molecular events after spinal cord injury that lead to the establishment of a permissive environment and epimorphic regeneration remain unclear. Two molecular pathway regulators that may converge to create a spinal cord regeneration-permissive environment in the urodele are retinoic acid (RA) and microRNAs (miRNAs). Recent evidence suggests that RARβ-mediated signaling is necessary for tail and caudal spinal cord regeneration in the adult newt. MicroRNAs are attractive candidates as mediators of retinoid signaling during regeneration, as their pleiotropic effects are vital in situations where global changes in gene expression are required. Thus, the overall aim of this thesis was to determine if miRNAs are involved in tail and caudal spinal cord regeneration in the adult newt, and if they act as regulators and/or effectors of retinoid signaling during this process. I have demonstrated here, for the first time, that multiple miRNAs are dysregulated in response to spinal cord injury in the adult newt, as well as in response to inhibition of retinoid signaling. Two of these miRNAs, miR-133a and miR-1, appear to target RARβ2 transcripts both in vivo and in vitro. Inhibition of RA signaling via RARβ with a selective antagonist, LE135, alters the pattern of expression of these miRNAs, which leads to an inhibition of tail regeneration. These data are indicative of a negative feed back loop, albeit potentially an indirect one. I also aimed to examine which miRNAs are affected by inhibiting RA synthesis during regeneration, and provided a long list of miRNAs that are dysregulated. These data provide the foundation for future studies on the putative roles of these miRNAs, as well as their function in retinoid signaling. Overall, these studies provide the first evidence for a role for miRNAs as mediators of retinoid signaling during caudal spinal cord regeneration in any system.

Análisis de las diferentes técnicas de acceso para los servicios de multimedia en los sistemas inalámbricos de tercera generación (3G)

Tesis (Maestro en Ciencias de la Ingeniería con Especialidad en Telecomunicaciones) - Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, 2002

Tactical Vehicle Routing Planning with Application to Milk Collection and Distribution

De nombreux problèmes pratiques qui se posent dans dans le domaine de la logistique, peuvent être modélisés comme des problèmes de tournées de véhicules. De façon générale, cette famille de problèmes implique la conception de routes, débutant et se terminant à un dépôt, qui sont utilisées pour distribuer des biens à un nombre de clients géographiquement dispersé dans un contexte où les coûts associés aux routes sont minimisés. Selon le type de problème, un ou plusieurs dépôts peuvent-être présents. Les problèmes de tournées de véhicules sont parmi les problèmes combinatoires les plus difficiles à résoudre. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions un problème d’optimisation combinatoire, appartenant aux classes des problèmes de tournées de véhicules, qui est liée au contexte des réseaux de transport. Nous introduisons un nouveau problème qui est principalement inspiré des activités de collecte de lait des fermes de production, et de la redistribution du produit collecté aux usines de transformation, pour la province de Québec. Deux variantes de ce problème sont considérées. La première, vise la conception d’un plan tactique de routage pour le problème de la collecte-redistribution de lait sur un horizon donné, en supposant que le niveau de la production au cours de l’horizon est fixé. La deuxième variante, vise à fournir un plan plus précis en tenant compte de la variation potentielle de niveau de production pouvant survenir au cours de l’horizon considéré. Dans la première partie de cette thèse, nous décrivons un algorithme exact pour la première variante du problème qui se caractérise par la présence de fenêtres de temps, plusieurs dépôts, et une flotte hétérogène de véhicules, et dont l’objectif est de minimiser le coût de routage. À cette fin, le problème est modélisé comme un problème multi-attributs de tournées de véhicules. L’algorithme exact est basé sur la génération de colonnes impliquant un algorithme de plus court chemin élémentaire avec contraintes de ressources. Dans la deuxième partie, nous concevons un algorithme exact pour résoudre la deuxième variante du problème. À cette fin, le problème est modélisé comme un problème de tournées de véhicules multi-périodes prenant en compte explicitement les variations potentielles du niveau de production sur un horizon donné. De nouvelles stratégies sont proposées pour résoudre le problème de plus court chemin élémentaire avec contraintes de ressources, impliquant dans ce cas une structure particulière étant donné la caractéristique multi-périodes du problème général. Pour résoudre des instances de taille réaliste dans des temps de calcul raisonnables, une approche de résolution de nature heuristique est requise. La troisième partie propose un algorithme de recherche adaptative à grands voisinages où de nombreuses nouvelles stratégies d’exploration et d’exploitation sont proposées pour améliorer la performances de l’algorithme proposé en termes de la qualité de la solution obtenue et du temps de calcul nécessaire.

Les patrons d’expression de gènes : ont-ils évolué avec la complexité des organismes?

La régulation de la transcription est l‟un des processus cellulaires des plus fondamentaux et constitue la première étape menant à l‟expression protéique. Son altération a des effets sur l‟homéostasie cellulaire et est associée au développement de maladies telles que le cancer. Il est donc crucial de comprendre les règles fondamentales de la fonction cellulaire afin de mieux cibler les traitements pour les maladies. La transcription d‟un gène peut se produire selon l‟un des deux modes fondamentaux de transcription : en continu ou en burst. Le premier est décrit comme un processus aléatoire et stochastique qui suit une distribution de Poisson. À chaque initiation de la transcription, indépendante de la précédente, un seul transcrit est produit. L‟expression en burst se produit lorsque le promoteur est activé pour une courte période de temps pendant laquelle plusieurs transcrits naissants sont produits. Apportant la plus grande variabilité au sein d‟une population isogénique, il est représenté par une distribution bimodale, où une sous-population n‟exprime pas le gène en question, alors que le reste de la population l‟exprime fortement. Les gènes des eucaryotes inférieurs sont pour la plupart exprimés de manière continuelle, alors que les gènes des eucaryotes supérieurs le sont plutôt en burst. Le but de ce projet est d‟étudier comment l‟expression des gènes a évolué et si la transcription aléatoire, ou de Poisson, est une propriété des eucaryotes inférieurs et si ces patrons ont changé avec la complexité des organismes et des génomes. Par la technique de smFISH, nous avons étudié de manière systématique quatre gènes évolutivement conservés (mdn1+, PRP8/spp42+, pol1+ et cdc13+) qui sont continuellement transcrits dans la levure S. cerevisiae. Nous avons observé que le mode d‟expression est gène-et-organisme spécifique puisque prp8 est exprimé de manière continuelle dans la levure S. pombe, alors que les autres gènes seraient plutôt exprimés en légers burst.

“Seaweed exudates and settlement behaviour of sedentary organisms"

The present investigation has looked exclusively into the aspect of the biological phenomenon of settling behaviour by two serious fouling offenders encountered in the tropical seas mainly on the hulls of ships and stationary structures in the harbours. The cue to study the behaviour was adopted from the observations so far made by scientists on the epizoic growth of these organisms on the surfaces of algal fronds of variegated shape, texture, size etc. The results do indicate that there are sufficient qualities of bioactive substances produced by plants occupying the lowest categories in organic evolution and curiously enough these substances have withstood the test of time.

Studies on Advanced Oxidation Processes for the Removal of Acetamiprid from Wastewater

Pollution of water with pesticides has become a threat to the man, material and environment. The pesticides released to the environment reach the water bodies through run off. Industrial wastewater from pesticide manufacturing industries contains pesticides at higher concentration and hence a major source of water pollution. Pesticides create a lot of health and environmental hazards which include diseases like cancer, liver and kidney disorders, reproductive disorders, fatal death, birth defects etc. Conventional wastewater treatment plants based on biological treatment are not efficient to remove these compounds to the desired level. Most of the pesticides are phyto-toxic i.e., they kill the microorganism responsible for the degradation and are recalcitrant in nature. Advanced oxidation process (AOP) is a class of oxidation techniques where hydroxyl radicals are employed for oxidation of pollutants. AOPs have the ability to totally mineralise the organic pollutants to CO2 and water. Different methods are employed for the generation of hydroxyl radicals in AOP systems. Acetamiprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide widely used to control sucking type insects on crops such as leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, pome fruits, grapes, cotton, ornamental flowers. It is now recommended as a substitute for organophosphorous pesticides. Since its use is increasing, its presence is increasingly found in the environment. It has high water solubility and is not easily biodegradable. It has the potential to pollute surface and ground waters. Here, the use of AOPs for the removal of acetamiprid from wastewater has been investigated. Five methods were selected for the study based on literature survey and preliminary experiments conducted. Fenton process, UV treatment, UV/ H2O2 process, photo-Fenton and photocatalysis using TiO2 were selected for study. Undoped TiO2 and TiO2 doped with Cu and Fe were prepared by sol-gel method. Characterisation of the prepared catalysts was done by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. Influence of major operating parameters on the removal of acetamiprid has been investigated. All the experiments were designed using central compoiste design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM). Model equations were developed for Fenton, UV/ H2O2, photo-Fenton and photocatalysis for predicting acetamiprid removal and total organic carbon (TOC) removal for different operating conditions. Quality of the models were analysed by statistical methods. Experimental validations were also done to confirm the quality of the models. Optimum conditions obtained by experiment were verified with that obtained using response optimiser. Fenton Process is the simplest and oldest AOP where hydrogen peroxide and iron are employed for the generation of hydroxyl radicals. Influence of H2O2 and Fe2+ on the acetamiprid removal and TOC removal by Fenton process were investigated and it was found that removal increases with increase in H2O2 and Fe2+ concentration. At an initial concentration of 50 mg/L acetamiprid, 200 mg/L H2O2 and 20 mg/L Fe2+ at pH 3 was found to be optimum for acetamiprid removal. For UV treatment effect of pH was studied and it was found that pH has not much effect on the removal rate. Addition of H2O2 to UV process increased the removal rate because of the hydroxyl radical formation due to photolyis of H2O2. An H2O2 concentration of 110 mg/L at pH 6 was found to be optimum for acetamiprid removal. With photo-Fenton drastic reduction in the treatment time was observed with 10 times reduction in the amount of reagents required. H2O2 concentration of 20 mg/L and Fe2+ concentration of 2 mg/L was found to be optimum at pH 3. With TiO2 photocatalysis improvement in the removal rate was noticed compared to UV treatment. Effect of Cu and Fe doping on the photocatalytic activity under UV light was studied and it was observed that Cu doping enhanced the removal rate slightly while Fe doping has decreased the removal rate. Maximum acetamiprid removal was observed for an optimum catalyst loading of 1000 mg/L and Cu concentration of 1 wt%. It was noticed that mineralisation efficiency of the processes is low compared to acetamiprid removal efficiency. This may be due to the presence of stable intermediate compounds formed during degradation Kinetic studies were conducted for all the treatment processes and it was found that all processes follow pseudo-first order kinetics. Kinetic constants were found out from the experimental data for all the processes and half lives were calculated. The rate of reaction was in the order, photo- Fenton>UV/ H2O2>Fenton> TiO2 photocatalysis>UV. Operating cost was calculated for the processes and it was found that photo-Fenton removes the acetamiprid at lowest operating cost in lesser time. A kinetic model was developed for photo-Fenton process using the elementary reaction data and mass balance equations for the species involved in the process. Variation of acetamiprid concentration with time for different H2O2 and Fe2+ concentration at pH 3 can be found out using this model. The model was validated by comparing the simulated concentration profiles with that obtained from experiments. This study established the viability of the selected AOPs for the removal of acetamiprid from wastewater. Of the studied AOPs photo- Fenton gives the highest removal efficiency with lowest operating cost within shortest time.

Prevalence of intestinal parasites in small ruminants and their senstivity to treatments with ethnobotanical remedies in Cholistan, Pakistan

Livestock production contributes substantially to the livelihoods of poor rural farmers in Pakistan; strengthening pastoral communities plays an imperative role in the country’s thrive for poverty alleviation. Intestinal helminths constitute a major threat for pastoral livestock keepers in the whole country because chronic infestation leads to distinct losses in livestock productivity, particularly the growth of young animals. Synthetic anthelmintics have long been considered the only effective way of controlling this problem but high prices, side effects and chemical residues/toxicity problems, or development of resistance, lead to their very limited use in many pastoral systems. Additionally, poor pastoralists in remote areas of Pakistan hardly have access to appropriate anthelmintic drugs, which are also relatively expensive due to the long routes of transportation. The search for new and more sustainable ways of supporting livestock keepers in remote areas has given rise to studies of ethno-botanicals or traditional plant-based remedies to be used in livestock health care. Plant-based remedies are cheap or free of cost, environmentally safe and generally create no problem of drug resistance; they thus might substitute allopathic drugs. Furthermore, these remedies are easily available in remote areas and simple to prepare and/or administer. Cholistan desert is a quite poor region of Pakistan and the majority of its inhabitants are practicing a nomadic life. The region’s total livestock population (1.29 million heads) is almost twice that of the human population. Livestock husbandry is the primordial occupation of the communities and traditionally wealth assessment was based on the number of animals, especially goats and sheep, owned by an individual. Fortunately, about 60% of this desert region is richly endowed with highly adapted grasses, shrubs and trees. This natural flora has a rich heritage of scientifically unexplored botanical pharmacopoeia. Against this background, the present research project that was conducted under the umbrella of the International Center for Development and Decent Work at Kassel University, focused on a development aspect: in the Cholistan desert region it was firstly examined how pastoralists manage their livestock, which major health problems they face for the different animal species, and which of the naturally occurring plants they use for the treatment of animal diseases (Chapter 2). For this purpose, a baseline survey was carried out across five locations in Cholistan, using a structured questionnaire to collect data from 100 livestock farmers (LF) and 20 local healers (LH). Most of LF and LH were illiterate (66%; 70%). On average, LH had larger herds (109 animals) than LF (85 animals) and were more experienced in livestock husbandry and management. On average LF spent about 163 Euro per year on the treatment of their livestock, with a huge variability in expenditures. Eighty-six traditional remedies based on 64 plants belonging to 43 families were used. Capparaceae was the botanical family with the largest number of species used (4), followed by Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae, Solanaceae and Zygophyllaceae (3). The plants Capparis decidua (n=55 mentions), Salsola foetida (n=52), Suaeda fruticosa (n=46), Haloxylon salicornicum (n=42) and Haloxylon recurvum (n=39) were said to be most effective against the infestations with gastrointestinal parasites. Aerial parts (43%), leaves (26%), fruits (9%), seeds and seed oils (9%) were the plant parts frequently used for preparation of remedies, while flowers, roots, bulbs and pods were less frequently used (<5%). Common preparations were decoction, jaggery and ball drench; oral drug administration was very common. There was some variation in the doses used for different animal species depending on age, size and physical condition of the animal and severity of the disease. In a second step the regionally most prevalent gastrointestinal parasites of sheep and goats were determined (Chapter 3) in 500 animals per species randomly chosen from pastoral herds across the previously studied five localities. Standard parasitological techniques were applied to identify the parasites in faecal samples manually collected at the rectum. Overall helminth prevalence was 78.1% across the 1000 animals; pure nematode infestations were most prevalent (37.5%), followed by pure trematode (7.9%), pure cestode (2.6%) and pure protozoa infestations (0.8%). Mixed infestations with nematodes and trematodes occurred in 6.4% of all animals, mixed nematode-cestode infestations in 3.8%, and all three groups were found in 19.1% of the sheep and goats. In goats more males (81.1%) than females (77.0%) were infested, the opposite was found in sheep (73.6% males, 79.5% females). Parasites were especially prevalent in suckling goats (85.2%) and sheep (88.5%) and to a lesser extent in young (goats 80.6%, sheep 79.3%) and adult animals (goats 72.8%, sheep 73.8%). Haemonchus contortus, Trichuris ovis and Paramphistomum cervi were the most prevalent helminths. In a third step the in vitro anthelmintic activity of C. decidua, S. foetida, S. fruticosa, H. salicornicum and H. recurvum (Chapter 2) was investigated against adult worms of H. contortus, T. ovis and P. cervi (Chapter 3) via adult motility assay (Chapter 4). Various concentrations ranging from 7.8 to 500 mg dry matter/ml of three types of extracts of each plant, i.e. aqueous, methanol, and aqueous-methanol (30:70), were used at different time intervals to access their anthelmintic activity. Levamisol (0.55 mg/ml) and oxyclozanide (30 mg/ml) served as positive and phosphate-buffered saline as negative control. All extracts exhibited minimum and maximum activity at 2 h and 12 h after parasite exposure; the 500 mg/ml extract concentrations were most effective. Plant species (P<0.05), extract type (P<0.01), parasite species (P<0.01), extract concentration (P<0.01), time of exposure (P<0.01) and their interactions (P<0.01) had significant effects on the number of immobile/dead helminths. From the comparison of LC50 values it appeared that the aqueous extract of C. decidua was more potent against H. contortus and T. ovis, while the aqueous extract of S. foetida was effective against P. cervi. The methanol extracts of H. recurvum were most potent against all three types of parasites, and its aqueous-methanol extract was also very effective against T. ovis and P. cervi. Based on these result it is concluded that the aqueous extract of C. decidua, as well as the methanol and aqueous-methanol extract of H. recurvum have the potential to be developed into plant-based drugs for treatment against H. contortus, T. ovis and P. cervi infestations. Further studies are now needed to investigate the in vivo anthelmintic activity of these plants and plant extracts, respectively, in order to develop effective, cheap and locally available anthelmintics for pastoralists in Cholistan and neighboring desert regions. This will allow developing tangible recommendations for plant-based anthelminthic treatment of sheep and goat herds, and by this enable pastoralists to maintain healthy and productive flocks at low costs and probably even manufacture herbal drugs for marketing on a regional scale.

Concurrent Aggregates (CA): An Object-Oriented Language for Fine-Grained Message-Passing Machines

Fine-grained parallel machines have the potential for very high speed computation. To program massively-concurrent MIMD machines, programmers need tools for managing complexity. These tools should not restrict program concurrency. Concurrent Aggregates (CA) provides multiple-access data abstraction tools, Aggregates, which can be used to implement abstractions with virtually unlimited potential for concurrency. Such tools allow programmers to modularize programs without reducing concurrency. I describe the design, motivation, implementation and evaluation of Concurrent Aggregates. CA has been used to construct a number of application programs. Multi-access data abstractions are found to be useful in constructing highly concurrent programs.

Matlab Code for Modulators

Considers Sampling, Pulse Amplitude Modulation, Multiple Access, Quantisation, Pulse Coded Modulation, Manchester Line Coding, Amplitude Modulation, Double SideBand Suppressed Carrier Modulation, Quadrature Amplitude Modulation and M-ary Shift Keying.

Assignment on Modulation

Considers Sampling, Pulse Amplitude Modulation, Multiple Access, Quantisation, Pulse Coded Modulation, Manchester Line Coding, Amplitude Modulation, Double SideBand Suppressed Carrier Modulation, Quadrature Amplitude Modulation and M-ary Shift Keying.

Diagnóstico de la gestión ambiental de las empresas del sector empaque y embalaje en Colombia en el año 2012

El trabajo de investigación presenta la gestión que están realizando las empresas colombianas del sector empaque y embalaje en términos de su responsabilidad social empresarial, especialmente en el manejo ambiental de sus productos y procesos. Los objetivos de las empresas se enfocan en ser perdurables y rentables; para lograrlo deben encontrar una ventaja competitiva sostenible e ir acorde a los cambios sociales, económicos, políticos y ambientales entre otros. El mercado tanto nacional como internacional es cada vez más competitivo; la globalización, la facilidad de información y la tecnología hacen que las políticas gubernamentales y las necesidades del mercado sean más exigentes respecto al compromiso ambiental de las organizaciones. El presente proyecto identifica las actividades que realizan éstas empresas al respecto y presenta recomendaciones para lograr esa ventaja competitiva.

Avaliação de riscos e desenvolvimento de equipamento anti-queda para acesso vertical a espaços confinados

Na fábrica da EPAL, em Vale da Pedra, o risco de queda em altura no acesso vertical a espaços confinados, foi avaliado como sendo aceitável mediante a adoção de medidas de controlo que não existiam, ou que não eram adequadas, ou ainda que não eram utilizadas. Para responder a este problema, foi concebido, desenvolvido e ensaiado um inovador dispositivo portátil anti-queda. Este previne a queda no acesso entre o pavimento e os primeiros degraus de aberturas verticais conducentes a espaços confinados. Além da função preventiva, também pode fazer parte da proteção anti-queda, como ponto de ancoragem dos equipamentos de proteção contra quedas. Os ensaios realizados revelaram que, em comparação com as alternativas pré-fabricadas disponíveis, esta solução é mais adequada para prevenir quedas, por se adaptar a múltiplas configurações de acesso, com um dispositivo relativamente leve, fácil de transportar e de aplicar, estável e resistente. / In EPAL factory in Vale da Pedra, the risk of falling from a height in the vertical access to confined spaces, was evaluated as being acceptable by the adoption of control measures that did not exist, or were not suitable, or were not used. To respond to this problem, an innovative portable anti-falling device was designed, developed and tested. This prevents falling in access between the ground and the first steps of vertical openings leading to confined spaces. In addition to the preventive function, it can also be part of the fall-arrest protection, as anchor point of fall protection equipment. The tests revealed that, in comparison with the prefabricated alternatives available, this solution is best suited to prevent falls, due to its adaptability to multiple access settings, with a relatively light device, easy to carry and to use, stable and resistant.

Blind channel estimation for multi-rate multicarrier DS/CDMA communications

Multi-rate multicarrier DS/CDMA is a potentially attractive multiple access method for future wireless communications networks that must support multimedia, and thus multi-rate, traffic. Several receiver structures exist for single-rate multicarrier systems, but little has been reported on multi-rate multicarrier systems. Considering that high-performance detection such as coherent demodulation needs the explicit knowledge of the channel, based on the finite-length chip waveform truncation, this paper proposes a subspace-based scheme for timing and channel estimation in multi-rate multicarrier DS/CDMA systems, which is applicable to both multicode and variable spreading factor systems. The performance of the proposed scheme for these two multi-rate systems is validated via numerical simulations. The effects of the finite-length chip waveform truncation on the performance of the proposed scheme is also analyzed theoretically.

Blind channel estimation in multi-rate multicarrier DS-CDMA systems

Multi-rate multicarrier DS-CDMA is a potentially attractive multiple access method for future broadband wireless multimedia networks that must support integrated voice/data traffic. This paper proposes a subspace based channel estimation scheme for multi-rate multicarrier DS-CDMA, which is applicable to both multicode and variable spreading factor systems. The performance of the proposed scheme for these two multi-rate systems is compared via numerical simulations.