Panoramic Sea Happening (After Kantor): Video Installation

Panoramic Sea Happening (After Kantor) is a 7 minute durational film that reimagines part of Tadeusz Kantor's original sea happenings from 1967 in a landscape in which the sea has retreated. The conductor of Kantor’s original performance is replaced with a sound object cast adrift on a beach in Dungeness (UK). The object plays back the sound of the sea into the landscape, which was performed live and then filmed from three distinct angles. The first angle mimics the position of the conductor in Kantor’s original happening, facing outwards into the horizon of the beach and recalls the image in Kantor’s work of a human figure undertaking the absurd task of orchestrating the sound of a gigantic expanse of water. The second angle exposes the machine itself and the large cone that amplifies the sound, reinforcing the isolation of the object. The third angle reveals a decommissioned nuclear power station and sound objects used as a warning system for the power plant. Dungeness is a location where the sea has been retreating from the land, leaving traces of human activity through the disused boat winches, abandoned cabins and the decommissioned nuclear buildings. It is a place in which the footprint of the anthropocene is keenly felt. The sound object is intended to act as an anthropomorphic figure, ghosting the original conductor and offering the sound of the sea back into the landscape through a wide mouthpiece, echoing Kantor’s own load hailer in the original sequence of sea happenings. It speculates on Kantor's theory of the bio-object, which proposed a symbiotic relationship between the human and the nonhuman object in performance, as a possible instrument to access a form of geologic imagination. In this configuration, the human itself is absent, but is evoked through the objects left behind. The sound object, helpless in a red dingy, might be thought of as a co-conspirator with the viewer, enabling a looking back to the past in a landscape of an inevitable future. The work was originally commissioned by the University of Kent in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute for the Symposium Kantorbury Kantorbury in Canterbury (UK) to mark the 100 years since Tadeusz Kantor’s birth (15 - 19 September 2015). It should be projected and requires stereo speakers.

Medição do transporte sólido por arrastamento através de sensores acústicos

A quantificação do material sólido transportado (transporte sólido) ao longo de um curso de água é extremamente importante nas mais variadas áreas da engenharia fluvial. O transporte sólido em rios de montanha dá-se maioritariamente por arrastamento no fundo, através de deslizamento, rolamento e saltação dos sedimentos. Ao longo dos tempos foram desenvolvidas várias fórmulas para estimar o transporte sólido por arrastamento, contudo, devido à complexidade dos processos de transporte de sedimentos, bem como a variabilidade espacial e temporal, a previsão de taxas de transporte não foi conseguida exclusivamente através de investigação teórica. Para obter um melhor conhecimento sobre os processos de transporte sólido por arrastamento em rios de montanha, torna-se necessário monitorizá-los com maior precisão possível. Com os avanços na electrónica, novos métodos tecnológicos foram desenvolvidos para resolver a problemática da quantificação do transporte sólido, em detrimento dos atuais métodos tradicionais, que se baseiam na recolha de amostras em campo, para posterior correlação. O objetivo principal da presente dissertação foi o desenvolvimento de um equipamento capaz de estimar/monitorizar continuamente o transporte sólido por arrastamento em rios de montanha, que utilizasse tecnologia de baixo custo. Este equipamento dispõe de um sensor piezolelétrico que realizará medições à vibração causada pelo embate dos sedimentos sobre uma chapa metálica. A energia do sinal resultante dos impactos reverterá em peso. A metodologia usada para a obtenção das medições foi a realização de ensaios laboratoriais, tendo sido dado especial destaque à influência da variação do caudal, bem como da forma dos sedimentos, na intensidade do sinal adquirido.

A Mobile High Sensitivity On-field Organophosphorous Compounds Detecting System for IoT Based Food Safety Tracking

Food safety has always been a social issue that draws great public attention. With the rapid development of wireless communication technologies and intelligent devices, more and more Internet of Things (IoT) systems are applied in the food safety tracking field. However, connection between things and information system is usually established by pre-storing information of things into RFID Tag, which is inapplicable for on-field food safety detection. Therefore, considering pesticide residue is one of the severe threaten to food safety, a new portable, high-sensitivity, low-power, on-field organophosphorus (OP) compounds detection system is proposed in this thesis to realize the on-field food safety detection. The system is designed based on optical detection method by using a customized photo-detection sensor. A Micro Controller Unit (MCU) and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module are used to quantize and transmit detection result. An Android Application (APP) is also developed for the system to processing and display detection result as well as control the detection process. Besides, a quartzose sample container and black system box are also designed and made for the system demonstration. Several optimizations are made in wireless communication, circuit layout, Android APP and industrial design to realize the mobility, low power and intelligence.

Herramienta gráfica de modelado de redes inalámbricas basada en modelos de propagación de señales en interiores

El presente artículo describe el proceso de implementación de un modelo de predicción de la propagación de señales en interiores, basado en el modelo semiempírico de K. W. Cheung, J. H. M. Sau, y R. D. Murch,[1] donde se tienen en cuenta la atenuacióndebida a la distancia, el ángulo de incidencia sobre las paredes, laatenuación asociada a estas mismas y las zonas de Fresnel.Los datos del entorno a simular son tomados de un archivo DXF que debe seguir un formato establecido. Se obtienen del usuario la atenuación asociada a cada tipo de pared y la ubicacióndel punto de acceso. También se desarrolla un algoritmo desombreado que optimiza el tiempo de simulación debido a su sencillez. Finalmente se muestra la comparación de los resultados de la simulación y los datos obtenidos en la prueba de campo.

Ohjaus ja oppilaiden urapohdinta. Turkulaisten peruskoulun päättöluokkalaisten ohjauskokemukset urapohdinnan selittäjinä

Tutkimuksessa selvitetään turkulaisten peruskoulun päättöluokkalaisten urapohdintaeroja ja sitä, miten oppilaiden arviot opettajien ja oppilaanohjaajien toteuttamasta ohjauksesta ovat yhteydessä heidän urapohdintaansa. Tutkimuksen kohdejoukkona ovat ensi sijassa yleisopetusta antavien suomenkielisten peruskoulujen yhdeksäsluokkalaiset. Tutkimus on poikkileikkaustutkimus, jossa tarkastellaan oppilaiden kokemuksia ohjauksen saatavuudesta ja hyödyllisyydestä sekä urapohdinnasta peruskoulun päättyessä. Tutkimusaineisto koottiin yhteishaun jälkeen huhti–toukokuussa 2014. Vuoden 2004 perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteista johdettujen väittämien avulla selitetään urapohdinta-mittarin sisältämien muuttujien vaihtelua. Taustamuuttujina käytetään oppilaiden koti- ja koulutaustaa. Urapohdinta-mittari on johdettu CIP-teoriasta (Cognitive Information Processing) ja muokattu CTI-mittarista (Career Thoughts Inventory). Tutkimusaineisto (N = 887) on koottu Webropol-kyselyn avulla. Oppilaiden urapohdintaa mitattiin neljän summamuuttujien avulla. Mittariston 48 väittämästä muodostettiin urapohdinta-summamuuttuja. Tämän lisäksi urapohdinnan osa-alueita arvioitiin sitoutuminen-, epävarmuus- ja konflikti-summamuuttujan avulla. Sitoutuminen-summamuuttuja mittasi sitä, miten vaikeaksi oppilas koki yhteen ura- ja jatkokoulutusvalintaan sitoutumisen. Epävarmuus-summamuuttuja mittasi päätöksenteon epävarmuutta ja konflikti-summamuuttuja vaikeutta tasapainoilla omien ajatusten ja toisaalta merkittäviksi koettujen läheisten ajatusten välillä. Kaikkien opettajien ohjaustyön näkökulmasta parhaiten hyvää urapohdintatulosta, jatkokoulutukseen sitoutumista ja päätöksentekovarmuutta ennustivat oppilaan hyvät kokemukset yhteistoiminnasta, hänen myönteinen suhtautumisensa koulunkäyntiin ja opintosuoritukset. Myös itseohjautuvuus oli tilastollisesti merkitsevässä yhteydessä urapohdintaan. Itseohjautuvuus-summamuuttuja mittasi sitä, oliko oppilas kokenut, että ohjaukselle asetetut tavoitteet saavutettiin. Opettajien tulisi kiinnittää ohjauksessaan huomiota hiljaisiin ja vähän huomiota vaativiin oppilaisiin ja tukea kaikkien oppilaiden toimintakykyä. Opinto-ohjaajan taas tulisi panostaa oppilaan itsetuntemuksen kehittämiseen ja valmiuteen toimia suunnitelmallisesti. Toisen asteen nivelvaiheohjauksen painopiste tulisi siirtää päättöluokkaa varhaisemmaksi. Tutkimustulos ei tue ajatusta, että tehostettu oppilaanohjaus kohdennettaisiin opintomenestyksen mukaan, koska heikkoja urapohtijoita oli kaikissa keskiarvosanaluokissa. Opinto-ohjaajien tulisi panostaa tieto- ja viestintätekniikan hyödyntämiseen ja tehostaa koko koulun työelämäyhteistyötä.

Dynamic model development of adiabatic compressed air energy storage

The share of variable renewable energy in electricity generation has seen exponential growth during the recent decades, and due to the heightened pursuit of environmental targets, the trend is to continue with increased pace. The two most important resources, wind and insolation both bear the burden of intermittency, creating a need for regulation and posing a threat to grid stability. One possibility to deal with the imbalance between demand and generation is to store electricity temporarily, which was addressed in this thesis by implementing a dynamic model of adiabatic compressed air energy storage (CAES) with Apros dynamic simulation software. Based on literature review, the existing models due to their simplifications were found insufficient for studying transient situations, and despite of its importance, the investigation of part load operation has not yet been possible with satisfactory precision. As a key result of the thesis, the cycle efficiency at design point was simulated to be 58.7%, which correlated well with literature information, and was validated through analytical calculations. The performance at part load was validated against models shown in literature, showing good correlation. By introducing wind resource and electricity demand data to the model, grid operation of CAES was studied. In order to enable the dynamic operation, start-up and shutdown sequences were approximated in dynamic environment, as far as is known, the first time, and a user component for compressor variable guide vanes (VGV) was implemented. Even in the current state, the modularly designed model offers a framework for numerous studies. The validity of the model is limited by the accuracy of VGV correlations at part load, and in addition the implementation of heat losses to the thermal energy storage is necessary to enable longer simulations. More extended use of forecasts is one of the important targets of development, if the system operation is to be optimised in future.

Estudio de la capacidad inmunoprofiláctica de proteínas recombinantes de Leishmania infantum en el modelo murino

En esta Tesis Doctoral, cuatro proteínas que están sobre-expresadas en las fases infectivas del ciclo celular de L. infantum (STPKA, STPK, PP2B and PABP3) fueron purificadas para inmunizar ratones BALB/c, con el interés de estudiar su posible capacidad protectora contra la VL. Tres de ellas indujeron una fuerte respuesta humoral en los ratones, rLiSTPKA, rLiSTPK y rLiPABP3, a diferencia de la proteína rLiPP2B. Además, la rLiPABP3 fue la única que indujo una disminución significativa de la carga parasitara tanto en bazo como en hígado 2 meses después de la infección experimental con el parásito. Con el objetivo de determinar los efectos que la inmunización con rLiPABP3 tenía sobre el sistema inmune murino, se determinó la expresión génica de 106 genes relacionados con el sistema inmune en ratones control, inmunizados e infectados. Los niveles de expresión génica fueron comparados con los obtenidos para los grupos control. Los resultados mostraron que durante todo el experimento la proteína rLiPABP3 promueve la inhibición de la respuesta inmune inflamatoria en el bazo de los ratones infectados. Además, no se observa una respuesta adaptiva claramente polarizada hacia un tipo concreto. Un mes después de la infeccion, en los animales previamente inmunizados se observa la sobre-expresion de Il2rb lo que nos hace pensar que rLiPABP3 podría estimular la presencia de linfocitos T memoria. En fases más avanzadas de la infección, a pesar de que no observamos una clara diferenciación de una población concreta de linfocitos T efectores, sí observamos la infra-expresión del gen codificante del TNF-alfa, lo que unido a la sobre-expresión del gen Cxcr4 y la ausencia de cambios de la expresión del gen Ccr7 nos hace pensar que la inmunización no sólo mantiene la micro-arquitectura del bazo, sino que también promueve la correcta migración de las DCs desde la MZ hasta el PALS.

Large Eddy Simulations applied to wind loading and pollutant dispersion

The application of Computational Fluid Dynamics based on the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations to the simulation of bluff body aerodynamics has been thoroughly investigated in the past. Although a satisfactory accuracy can be obtained for some urban physics problems their predictive capability is limited to the mean flow properties, while the ability to accurately predict turbulent fluctuations is recognized to be of fundamental importance when dealing with wind loading and pollution dispersion problems. The need to correctly take into account the flow dynamics when such problems are faced has led researchers to move towards scale-resolving turbulence models such as Large Eddy Simulations (LES). The development and assessment of LES as a tool for the analysis of these problems is nowadays an active research field and represents a demanding engineering challenge. This research work has two objectives. The first one is focused on wind loads assessment and aims to study the capabilities of LES in reproducing wind load effects in terms of internal forces on structural members. This differs from the majority of the existing research, where performance of LES is evaluated only in terms of surface pressures, and is done with a view of adopting LES as a complementary design tools alongside wind tunnel tests. The second objective is the study of LES capabilities in calculating pollutant dispersion in the built environment. The validation of LES in this field is considered to be of the utmost importance in order to conceive healthier and more sustainable cities. In order to validate the numerical setup adopted, a systematic comparison between numerical and experimental data is performed. The obtained results are intended to be used in the drafting of best practice guidelines for the application of LES in the urban physics field with a particular attention to wind load assessment and pollution dispersion problems.

Advanced numerical modeling of masonry vaulted structures based on BIM parametric geometry generation

Vaults are an architectural element which during construction history have been built with a great variety of different materials, shapes, and sizes. The shape of these structural elements was often dependent by the necessity to cover complex spaces, by the needed loading capacity, or by architectural aesthetics. Within this complex scenario masonry patterns generates also different effects on loading capacity, load percolation and stiffness of the structure. These effects were been extensively investigated, both with empirical observations and with modern numerical methods. While most of them focus on analyzing the load bearing capacity or the texture effect on vaulted structures, the aim of this analysis is to investigate on the effects of the variation of a single structural characteristic on the load percolation in the vault. Moreover, an additional purpose of the work is related to the coding of a parametrical model aiming at generating different masonry vaulted structures. Nevertheless, proposed script can generate different typology of vaulted structure basing on some structural characteristics, such as the span and the length to cover and the dimensions of the blocks.

Investigation of organic semiconductor/water interfaces for optobioelectronic devices

The thesis investigates the potential of photoactive organic semiconductors as a new class of materials for developing bioelectronic devices that can convert light into biological signals. The materials can be either small molecules or polymers. When these materials interact with aqueous biological fluids, they give rise to various electrochemical phenomena, including photofaradaic or photocapacitive processes, depending on whether photogenerated charges participate in redox processes or accumulate at an interface. The thesis starts by studying the behavior of the H2Pc/PTCDI molecular p/n thin-film heterojunction in contact with aqueous electrolyte. An equivalent circuit model is developed, explaining the measurements and predicting behavior in wireless mode. A systematic study on p-type polymeric thin-films is presented, comparing rr-P3HT with two low bandgap conjugated polymers: PBDB-T and PTB7. The results demonstrate that PTB7 has superior photocurrent performance due to more effective electron-transfer onto acceptor states in solution. Furthermore, the thesis addresses the issue of photovoltage generation for wireless photoelectrodes. An analytical model based on photoactivated charge-transfer across the organic-semiconductor/water interface is developed, explaining the large photovoltages observed for polymeric p-type semiconductor electrodes in water. Then, flash-precipitated nanoparticles made of the same three photoactive polymers are investigated, assessing the influence of fabrication parameters on the stability, structure, and energetics of the nanoparticles. Photocathodic current generation and consequent positive charge accumulation is also investigated. Additionally, newly developed porous P3HT thin-films are tested, showing that porosity increases both the photocurrent and the semiconductor/water interfacial capacity. Finally, the thesis demonstrates the biocompatibility of the materials in in-vitro experiments and shows safe levels of photoinduced intracellular ROS production with p-type polymeric thin-films and nanoparticles. The findings highlight the potential of photoactive organic semiconductors in the development of optobioelectronic devices, demonstrating their ability to convert light into biological signals and interface with biological fluids.

Development and testing of a virtual energy meter using the Labview Environment

The quantity of electric energy utilized by a home, a business, or an electrically powered device is measured by an electricity meter, also known as an electric meter, electrical meter, or energy meter. Electric meters located at customers' locations are used by electric providers for billing. They are usually calibrated in billing units, with the kilowatt hour being the most popular (kWh). Typically, they are read once each billing cycle. When energy savings are sought during specific times, some meters may monitor demand, or the highest amount of electricity used during a specific time. Additionally, some meters feature relays for load shedding in response to responses during periods of peak load. The amount of electrical energy consumed by users is measured by a Watt-hour meter, also known as an energy meter. To charge the electricity usage by loads like lights, fans, and other appliances, utilities put these gadgets everywhere, including in households, businesses, and organizations. Watts are a fundamental power unit. A kilowatt is equal to one thousand watts. One kilowatt is regarded as one unit of energy used if used for one hour. These meters calculate the product of the instantaneous voltage and current readings and provide instantaneous power. This power is distributed over a period and is used during that time. Depending on the supply used by home or commercial installations, these may be single or three phase meters. These can be linked directly between line and load for minor service measurements, such as home consumers. However, step-down current transformers must be installed for greater loads to handle their higher current demands.

The promised LAN: the transformative power of information and communications technology in developing countries

Este tese analise as implicações dos investimentos em tecnologia de informação e comunicação (ICT) em países ainda em desenvolvimento, especialmente em termos de educação, para estimular a implementação de uma infra-estrutura mais moderna em vez da continuação do uso de métodos tradicionais. Hoje, como o interesse e os investimentos em ICT estão crescendo rapidamente, os módulos e as idéias que existem para medir o estado de ICT são velhos e inexatos, e não podem ser aplicados às culturas de países em desenvolvimento. Políticos e investidores têm que considerar estes problemas quando estão pensando em investimentos ou socorros para programas em ICT no futuro, e investigadores e professores precisam entender os fatores importantes no desenvolvimento para os ICTs e a educação antes de começar estudos nestes países. Este tese conclue que investimentos em tecnologias móbeis e sem fios ajudarem organizações e governos ultrapassar a infra-estrutura tradicional, estreitando a divisão digital e dando o resulto de educação melhor, alfabetização maior, e soluções sustentáveis pelo desenvolvimento nas comunidades pobres no mundo de países em desenvolvimento.

Performance analysis of multi-radio AODV in hybrid wireless mesh networks

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs), based on commodity hardware, present a promising technology for a wide range of applications due to their self-configuring and self-healing capabilities, as well as their low equipment and deployment costs. One of the key challenges that WMN technology faces is the limited capacity and scalability due to co-channel interference, which is typical for multi-hop wireless networks. A simple and relatively low-cost approach to address this problem is the use of multiple wireless network interfaces (radios) per node. Operating the radios on distinct orthogonal channels permits effective use of the frequency spectrum, thereby, reducing interference and contention. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the multi-radio Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol with a specific focus on hybrid WMNs. Our simulation results show that under high mobility and traffic load conditions, multi-radio AODV offers superior performance as compared to its single-radio counterpart. We believe that multi-radio AODV is a promising candidate for WMNs, which need to service a large number of mobile clients with low latency and high bandwidth requirements.

Management of services differentiation and guarantee in IEEE 802.11e wireless LANs

In this paper, we study the management and control of service differentiation and guarantee based on enhanced distributed function coordination (EDCF) in IEEE 802.11e wireless LANs. Backoff-based priority schemes are the major mechanism for Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning in EDCF. However, control and management of the backoff-based priority scheme are still challenging problems. We have analysed the impacts of backoff and Inter-frame Space (IFS) parameters of EDCF on saturation throughput and service differentiation. A centralised QoS management and control scheme is proposed. The configuration of backoff parameters and admission control are studied in the management scheme. The special role of access point (AP) and the impact of traffic load are also considered in the scheme. The backoff parameters are adaptively re-configured to increase the levels of bandwidth guarantee and fairness on sharing bandwidth. The proposed management scheme is evaluated by OPNET. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the analytical model based admission control scheme. ©2005 IEEE.

Hybrid Power System Intelligent Operation and Protection Involving Plug-in Electric Vehicles

Two key solutions to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and increase the overall energy efficiency are to maximize the utilization of renewable energy resources (RERs) to generate energy for load consumption and to shift to low or zero emission plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) for transportation. The present U.S. aging and overburdened power grid infrastructure is under a tremendous pressure to handle the issues involved in penetration of RERS and PEVs. The future power grid should be designed with for the effective utilization of distributed RERs and distributed generations to intelligently respond to varying customer demand including PEVs with high level of security, stability and reliability. This dissertation develops and verifies such a hybrid AC-DC power system. The system will operate in a distributed manner incorporating multiple components in both AC and DC styles and work in both grid-connected and islanding modes. The verification was performed on a laboratory-based hybrid AC-DC power system testbed as hardware/software platform. In this system, RERs emulators together with their maximum power point tracking technology and power electronics converters were designed to test different energy harvesting algorithms. The Energy storage devices including lithium-ion batteries and ultra-capacitors were used to optimize the performance of the hybrid power system. A lithium-ion battery smart energy management system with thermal and state of charge self-balancing was proposed to protect the energy storage system. A grid connected DC PEVs parking garage emulator, with five lithium-ion batteries was also designed with the smart charging functions that can emulate the future vehicle-to-grid (V2G), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-house (V2H) services. This includes grid voltage and frequency regulations, spinning reserves, micro grid islanding detection and energy resource support. The results show successful integration of the developed techniques for control and energy management of future hybrid AC-DC power systems with high penetration of RERs and PEVs.