9,008 research outputs found

    A Decision Support System for Economic Viability and Environmental Impact Assessment of Vertical Farms

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    Vertical farming (VF) is the practice of growing crops or animals using the vertical dimension via multi-tier racks or vertically inclined surfaces. In this thesis, I focus on the emerging industry of plant-specific VF. Vertical plant farming (VPF) is a promising and relatively novel practice that can be conducted in buildings with environmental control and artificial lighting. However, the nascent sector has experienced challenges in economic viability, standardisation, and environmental sustainability. Practitioners and academics call for a comprehensive financial analysis of VPF, but efforts are stifled by a lack of valid and available data. A review of economic estimation and horticultural software identifies a need for a decision support system (DSS) that facilitates risk-empowered business planning for vertical farmers. This thesis proposes an open-source DSS framework to evaluate business sustainability through financial risk and environmental impact assessments. Data from the literature, alongside lessons learned from industry practitioners, would be centralised in the proposed DSS using imprecise data techniques. These techniques have been applied in engineering but are seldom used in financial forecasting. This could benefit complex sectors which only have scarce data to predict business viability. To begin the execution of the DSS framework, VPF practitioners were interviewed using a mixed-methods approach. Learnings from over 19 shuttered and operational VPF projects provide insights into the barriers inhibiting scalability and identifying risks to form a risk taxonomy. Labour was the most commonly reported top challenge. Therefore, research was conducted to explore lean principles to improve productivity. A probabilistic model representing a spectrum of variables and their associated uncertainty was built according to the DSS framework to evaluate the financial risk for VF projects. This enabled flexible computation without precise production or financial data to improve economic estimation accuracy. The model assessed two VPF cases (one in the UK and another in Japan), demonstrating the first risk and uncertainty quantification of VPF business models in the literature. The results highlighted measures to improve economic viability and the viability of the UK and Japan case. The environmental impact assessment model was developed, allowing VPF operators to evaluate their carbon footprint compared to traditional agriculture using life-cycle assessment. I explore strategies for net-zero carbon production through sensitivity analysis. Renewable energies, especially solar, geothermal, and tidal power, show promise for reducing the carbon emissions of indoor VPF. Results show that renewably-powered VPF can reduce carbon emissions compared to field-based agriculture when considering the land-use change. The drivers for DSS adoption have been researched, showing a pathway of compliance and design thinking to overcome the ‘problem of implementation’ and enable commercialisation. Further work is suggested to standardise VF equipment, collect benchmarking data, and characterise risks. This work will reduce risk and uncertainty and accelerate the sector’s emergence

    Strategies for Early Learners

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    Welcome to learning about how to effectively plan curriculum for young children. This textbook will address: • Developing curriculum through the planning cycle • Theories that inform what we know about how children learn and the best ways for teachers to support learning • The three components of developmentally appropriate practice • Importance and value of play and intentional teaching • Different models of curriculum • Process of lesson planning (documenting planned experiences for children) • Physical, temporal, and social environments that set the stage for children’s learning • Appropriate guidance techniques to support children’s behaviors as the self-regulation abilities mature. • Planning for preschool-aged children in specific domains including o Physical development o Language and literacy o Math o Science o Creative (the visual and performing arts) o Diversity (social science and history) o Health and safety • Making children’s learning visible through documentation and assessmenthttps://scholar.utc.edu/open-textbooks/1001/thumbnail.jp

    Application of advanced fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy in live-cell imaging

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    Since its inception, fluorescence microscopy has been a key source of discoveries in cell biology. Advancements in fluorophores, labeling techniques and instrumentation have made fluorescence microscopy a versatile quantitative tool for studying dynamic processes and interactions both in vitro and in live-cells. In this thesis, I apply quantitative fluorescence microscopy techniques in live-cell environments to investigate several biological processes. To study Gag processing in HIV-1 particles, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy and single particle tracking are combined to follow nascent HIV-1 virus particles during assembly and release on the plasma membrane of living cells. Proteolytic release of eCFP embedded in the Gag lattice of immature HIV-1 virus particles results in a characteristic increase in its fluorescence lifetime. Gag processing and rearrangement can be detected in individual virus particles using this approach. In another project, a robust method for quantifying Förster resonance energy transfer in live-cells is developed to allow direct comparison of live-cell FRET experiments between laboratories. Finally, I apply image fluctuation spectroscopy to study protein behavior in a variety of cellular environments. Image cross-correlation spectroscopy is used to study the oligomerization of CXCR4, a G-protein coupled receptor on the plasma membrane. With raster image correlation spectroscopy, I measure the diffusion of histones in the nucleoplasm and heterochromatin domains of the nuclei of early mouse embryos. The lower diffusion coefficient of histones in the heterochromatin domain supports the conclusion that heterochromatin forms a liquid phase-separated domain. The wide range of topics covered in this thesis demonstrate that fluorescence microscopy is more than just an imaging tool but also a powerful instrument for the quantification and elucidation of dynamic cellular processes

    Studies on eye movements in Parkinson's disease

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    Heterogeneity in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) phenotype and genotype is probably the main reason why, despite the abundance of biomarkers, we still lack a robust method for diagnosis and prognosis, besides clinical evaluation. Subjective changes in vision and objective measures in eye movements have been extensively studied, but the results are mainly used to better understand the pathophysiology of PD and are not integrated into the clinical praxis. The aim of this doctoral project was to examine if eye movements could serve as useful biomarkers for PD diagnosis and prognosis, and investigate their association with motor function, cognition, and medication effect. In addition, we aimed to examine cognition in a group of patients with a rare metabolic disorder and prominent eye-movement difficulties, the Norrbottnian Gaucher Disease 3 (GD3). Saccades, reading, and sustained fixation were examined in PD patients and healthy controls (HC) in the first three studies. Recruitment took place at Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge for the first two studies, and for the third study at Academic Specialist Center in Stockholm. Three different eye trackers were used, a head-mounted and two screen based, and the assessments were performed in a clinical setting. In the first two studies patients were examined in ON and OFF medication status, in order to evaluate the role of levodopa. In study 1, we examined saccadic parameters in 20 HC and 40 PD patients; study 2 involved reading assessments for 13 HC and 19 PD patients; in study 3 we examined sustained fixation in 43 HC and 50 PD patients. Recruitment for study 4 took place at Sunderby Regional Hospital, in Luleå, and we examined 10 patients with the Norrbottnian type of GD3. Cognitive evaluation was done with the Repeatable Battery for Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). PD participants had worse saccadic performance, a slower reading speed, and deficient fixation control. Saccadic gain was associated with motor performance, while latency was related to cognition. Levodopa had no effect on saccadic gain, it worsened latency for the horizontal visually guided saccades and ameliorated the latency of antisaccades, but not the error rate or reading performance. We assumed that reading difficulties were attributed to cognitive, rather than oculomotor deficits. Fixation was more easily interrupted in PD compared to HC, and PD participants’ pupils did not dilate to the same extent as HC, in response to the cognitive effort put during sustained fixation. In study 4 we found that patients with the Norrbottnian type of GD3 have an overall worse cognitive performance compared to that of healthy population, scoring worse in memory and attention tests, present however with preserved language and visuospatial skills. The eye-tracking studies led to the conclusion that this method could be integrated into the clinical praxis as part of the clinical evaluation. It is easy to perform and provides reliable results that enable the understanding of motor, cognitive, and behavioral changes in PD. In order to do so, we would need a common protocol of assessment, so that the results would be comparable between different populations. The last study identified RBANS as a useful and easy-to-use tool for the cognitive examination of Norrbottnian GD3 patients

    Full stack development toward a trapped ion logical qubit

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    Quantum error correction is a key step toward the construction of a large-scale quantum computer, by preventing small infidelities in quantum gates from accumulating over the course of an algorithm. Detecting and correcting errors is achieved by using multiple physical qubits to form a smaller number of robust logical qubits. The physical implementation of a logical qubit requires multiple qubits, on which high fidelity gates can be performed. The project aims to realize a logical qubit based on ions confined on a microfabricated surface trap. Each physical qubit will be a microwave dressed state qubit based on 171Yb+ ions. Gates are intended to be realized through RF and microwave radiation in combination with magnetic field gradients. The project vertically integrates software down to hardware compilation layers in order to deliver, in the near future, a fully functional small device demonstrator. This thesis presents novel results on multiple layers of a full stack quantum computer model. On the hardware level a robust quantum gate is studied and ion displacement over the X-junction geometry is demonstrated. The experimental organization is optimized through automation and compressed waveform data transmission. A new quantum assembly language purely dedicated to trapped ion quantum computers is introduced. The demonstrator is aimed at testing implementation of quantum error correction codes while preparing for larger scale iterations.Open Acces

    Conscience and Consciousness: British Theatre and Human Rights.

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    This research project investigates a paradigm of human rights theatre. Through the lens of performance and theatre-making, this thesis explores how we came to represent, speak about, discuss, and own human rights in Britain. My framework of ‘human rights theatre’ proposes three distinctive features: firstly, such works dramatise real-world issues and highlights the role of the state in endangering its citizens; secondly, ethical ruptures are encountered within and without the drama, and finally, these performances characteristically aspire to produce an activist effect on the collective behaviours of the audience. This thesis interrogates the strategies theatre-makers use to articulate human rights concerns or to animate human rights intent. The selected case-studies for this investigation are ice&fire’s testimonial project, Actors for Human Rights; Badac Theatre; Jonathan Holmes’ work as director of Jericho House; Cardboard Citizens’ youth participation programme, ACT NOW; and Tony Cealy’s Black Men’s Consortium. Deliberately selecting companies and performance events that have received limited critical attention, my methodology constellates case-studies through original interviews, durational observation of creative working methods and proximate descriptions of practice. The thesis is interested in the experience of coming to ‘consciousness’ through human rights theatre, an awakening to the impacts of rights infringements and rights claiming. I explore consciousness as a processual, procedural, and durational happening in these performance events. I explore the ‘æffect’ of activist art and examine the ways in which makers of human rights theatre aim to amplify both affective and effective qualities in their work. My thesis also considers the articulation of activist purpose and the campaigning intent of the selected theatre-makers and explores how their activism is animated in their productions. Through the rich seam of discussion generated by the identification and exploration of the traits of a distinctive human rights theatre, I affirm the generative value of this typological enquiry

    Graphical scaffolding for the learning of data wrangling APIs

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    In order for students across the sciences to avail themselves of modern data streams, they must first know how to wrangle data: how to reshape ill-organised, tabular data into another format, and how to do this programmatically, in languages such as Python and R. Despite the cross-departmental demand and the ubiquity of data wrangling in analytical workflows, the research on how to optimise the instruction of it has been minimal. Although data wrangling as a programming domain presents distinctive challenges - characterised by on-the-fly syntax lookup and code example integration - it also presents opportunities. One such opportunity is how tabular data structures are easily visualised. To leverage the inherent visualisability of data wrangling, this dissertation evaluates three types of graphics that could be employed as scaffolding for novices: subgoal graphics, thumbnail graphics, and parameter graphics. Using a specially built e-learning platform, this dissertation documents a multi-institutional, randomised, and controlled experiment that investigates the pedagogical effects of these. Our results indicate that the graphics are well-received, that subgoal graphics boost the completion rate, and that thumbnail graphics improve navigability within a command menu. We also obtained several non-significant results, and indications that parameter graphics are counter-productive. We will discuss these findings in the context of general scaffolding dilemmas, and how they fit into a wider research programme on data wrangling instruction

    The Neural Mechanisms of Value Construction

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    Research in decision neuroscience has characterized how the brain makes decisions by assessing the expected utility of each option in an abstract value space that affords the ability to compare dissimilar options. Experiments at multiple levels of analysis in multiple species have localized the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and nearby orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) as the main nexus where this abstract value space is represented. However, much less is known about how this value code is constructed by the brain in the first place. By using a combination of behavioral modeling and cutting edge tools to analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, the work of this thesis proposes that the brain decomposes stimuli into their constituent attributes and integrates across them to construct value. These stimulus features embody appetitive or aversive properties that are either learned from experience or evaluated online by comparing them to previously experienced stimuli with similar features. Stimulus features are processed by cortical areas specialized for the perception of a particular stimulus type and then integrated into a value signal in vmPFC/OFC. The project presented in Chapter 2 examines how food items are evaluated by their constituent attributes, namely their nutrient makeup. A linear attribute integration model succinctly captures how subjective values can be computed from a weighted combination of the constituent nutritive attributes of the food. Multivariate analysis methods revealed that these nutrient attributes are represented in the lateral OFC, while food value is encoded both in medial and lateral OFC. Connectivity between lateral and medial OFC allows this nutrient attribute information to be integrated into a value representation in medial OFC. In Chapter 3, I show that this value construction process can operate over higher-level abstractions when the context requires bundles of items to be valued, rather than isolated items. When valuing bundles of items, the constituent items themselves become the features, and their values are integrated with a subadditive function to construct the value of the bundle. Multiple subregions of PFC including but not limited to vmPFC compute the value of a bundle with the same value code used to evaluate individual items, suggesting that these general value regions contextually adapt within this hierarchy. When valuing bundles and single items in interleaved trials, the value code rapidly switches between levels in this hierarchy by normalizing to the distribution of values in the current context rather than representing all options on an absolute scale. Although the attribute integration model of value construction characterizes human behavior on simple decision-making tasks, it is unclear how it can scale up to environments of real-world complexity. Taking inspiration from modern advances in artificial intelligence, and deep reinforcement learning in particular, in Chapter 4 I outline how connectionist models generalize the attribute integration model to naturalistic tasks by decomposing sensory input into a high dimensional set of nonlinear features that are encoded with hierarchical and distributed processing. Participants freely played Atari video games during fMRI scanning, and a deep reinforcement learning algorithm trained on the games was used as an end-to-end model for how humans evaluate actions in these high-dimensional tasks. The features represented in the intermediate layers of the artificial neural network were found to also be encoded in a distributed fashion throughout the cortex, specifically in the dorsal visual stream and posterior parietal cortex. These features emerge from nonlinear transformations of the sensory input that connect perception to action and reward. In contrast to the stimulus attributes used to evaluate the stimuli presented in the preceding chapters, these features become highly complex and inscrutable as they are driven by the statistical properties of high-dimensional data. However, they do not solely reflect a set of features that can be identified by applying common dimensionality reduction techniques to the input, as task-irrelevant sensory features are stripped away and task-relevant high-level features are magnified.</p

    Image-Based Rendering Of Real Environments For Virtual Reality

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    Investigations on influenza A virus morphology

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    Clinical isolates of influenza A virus (IAV) typically form a pleomorphic population of virions that present as a continuum of morphologies broadly classified as filaments, bacilli, and spheres. Laboratory strains of IAV, however present mainly as spherical and bacilliform particles, suggesting a role for filaments in vivo. How these filaments form is not fully understood, but it has previously been shown that mutations in the viral matrix protein (M1) can be determinants of filament formation. In this work we show that filament formation also depends on multiple other genetic factors. To this end, we compared two IAV strains A/equine/Ohio/03 (O/2003) and A/equine/South Africa/4/03 (SA/2003) and found that SA/2003 could form filaments while O/2003 could not, despite no differences in their M1 sequences. To map the genetic basis of this difference, we generated reassortant viruses between O/2003 and SA/2003 and identified segments 1 (encoding polymerase basic protein 2, PB2), 4 (haemagglutinin, HA) and 6 (neuraminidase, NA) as determinants of morphology. We established that single mutations in segments 4 and 6, which alter the HA and NA proteins, alter virion morphology. To our surprise, we also identified three synonymous mutations in segment 1 of the virus that were determinants of filament formation despite not altering any known protein. We then extended this work to unravel the associated mechanisms of this change and found despite some differences in the activity of NA, contribution of HA to filament production, and differences in segment 1 RNA structure, there was no clear underlying mechanism. Given, that we were unable to identify the mechanisms associated with the change in morphology, we further extended this work to identify the factors involved in morphogenesis. To characterize IAV filament morphogenesis we employed cryogenic electron tomography (Cryo-ET) of vitrified equine fibroblasts (E. Derm). Although we were unable to identify any additional factors associated with IAV budding, we were able to generate a robust pipeline for studying filament formation. These results show that M1 is not the only determinant of IAV morphology, and that the ability to form filaments, a poorly studied but natural characteristic of IAV infection, is in fact modulated by multiple proteins and RNA determinants
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