In-system Jitter Measurement Based on Blind Oversampling Data Recovery

The paper describes a novel method for simple estimation of jitter contained in a received digital signal. The main objective of our research was to enable a non-invasive measurement of data link properties during a regular data transmission. To evaluate the signal quality we estimate amount of jitter contained in the received signal by utilizing internal signals of a data recovery circuit. The method is a pure digital algorithm suitable for implementation in any digital integrated circuit (ASIC or FPGA). It is based on a blind-oversampling data recovery circuit which is used in some receivers instead of a traditional PLL-based clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit. Combination of the described jitter measurement block and the data recovery block forms a very efficient input part of the digital receiver. In such configuration it is able to simultaneously perform both data communication (data recovery) and signal quality estimation (jitter measurement). The jitter measurement portion of the receiver requires no special connection of the received data signal. Thus the measured signal is not influenced by the measurement circuitry at all. To verify the method we performed a measurement on a laboratory free-space optics link. Results of the measurement are satisfactory and can be used for on-line channel analysis

New electrical plethysmograph monitors cardiac output

Four-electrode impedance plethysmograph measures ventricular stroke volume of cardiac output of humans. The instrument is automatic, operates with only one recording channel, and minimizes patient discomfort

An Investigation into Factors Influencing Attitude Toward a Wildlife Corridor

Habitat fragmentation poses a serious threat to biodiversity in eastern Nebraska. Today, over 98% of Nebraska’s tall-grass prairie has been lost and what remains exists mostly as remnants less than 80 acres in size. The Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch will be one of the first human-made wildlife corridors in eastern Nebraska with expansion of prairie habitat as one of its main goals. Although still in the planning stages, the Prairie Corridor is a rare opportunity to explore public attitude toward a conservation-related program prior to its official launch. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential relationship between attitude toward a wildlife corridor, connection to nature, environmental values, and norms, thus providing some insight into the general willingness to support conservation-related programs such as wildlife corridors. Park visitors and residents currently living near an existing wildlife corridor were asked to complete a survey measuring attitudes, connection to nature, environmental values and norms. In total, 152 park visitors and 272 residents completed the survey. Overall, park visitors had a significantly higher attitude toward a wildlife corridor than did residents. In addition, Pearson correlations showed that connection to nature and attitude toward a wildlife corridor were significantly correlated. Altruistic environmental values, biospheric environmental values and personal and social norms were also significantly correlated with attitude toward a wildlife corridor. Multiple regression analysis was used to test if connection to nature, environmental values, norms or demographics significantly predict attitude toward a wildlife corridor for all participants. The results of the analysis indicated these predictors explained 41.4% of the variance. Personal norms significantly predicted attitudes toward a wildlife corridor, as did biospheric environmental values. In addition, biospheric environmental values were identified as a significant predictor among rural residents living near an existing wildlife corridor, suggesting this population (which most closely resembles the targeted population for the Prairie Corridor) would be more likely to favor participating in something they perceive as beneficial to the environment. Therefore, the results of this study suggest further research regarding attitude toward a wildlife corridor is needed. Advisor: Mark E. Burbac

An Investigation into Factors Influencing Attitude Toward a Wildlife Corridor

Habitat fragmentation poses a serious threat to biodiversity in eastern Nebraska. Today, over 98% of Nebraska’s tall-grass prairie has been lost and what remains exists mostly as remnants less than 80 acres in size. The Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch will be one of the first human-made wildlife corridors in eastern Nebraska with expansion of prairie habitat as one of its main goals. Although still in the planning stages, the Prairie Corridor is a rare opportunity to explore public attitude toward a conservation-related program prior to its official launch. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential relationship between attitude toward a wildlife corridor, connection to nature, environmental values, and norms, thus providing some insight into the general willingness to support conservation-related programs such as wildlife corridors. Park visitors and residents currently living near an existing wildlife corridor were asked to complete a survey measuring attitudes, connection to nature, environmental values and norms. In total, 152 park visitors and 272 residents completed the survey. Overall, park visitors had a significantly higher attitude toward a wildlife corridor than did residents. In addition, Pearson correlations showed that connection to nature and attitude toward a wildlife corridor were significantly correlated. Altruistic environmental values, biospheric environmental values and personal and social norms were also significantly correlated with attitude toward a wildlife corridor. Multiple regression analysis was used to test if connection to nature, environmental values, norms or demographics significantly predict attitude toward a wildlife corridor for all participants. The results of the analysis indicated these predictors explained 41.4% of the variance. Personal norms significantly predicted attitudes toward a wildlife corridor, as did biospheric environmental values. In addition, biospheric environmental values were identified as a significant predictor among rural residents living near an existing wildlife corridor, suggesting this population (which most closely resembles the targeted population for the Prairie Corridor) would be more likely to favor participating in something they perceive as beneficial to the environment. Therefore, the results of this study suggest further research regarding attitude toward a wildlife corridor is needed. Advisor: Mark E. Burbac

"The European Union and Democratization ‘From Below’ in Turkey"

[From the Introduction]. This paper addresses this issue by examining the role of forces ‘from below’ within Turkey in the Turkish reform project and the role of the EU in encouraging such forces. As such, it seeks to understand the nexus between external and internal agents of democratization. As noted, if the reforms are more a European than a Turkish project and if they do not have diffuse support among the population or benefit from a sense of domestic ownership, one would expect both the accession process to be more difficult and the reforms to be poorly institutionalized. On the other hand, to the extent that the EU is able to work with Turks and foster acceptance of democratic norms and empower democratically-oriented forces within Turkey, one would be far more sanguine about democratic consolidation in Turkey

The analysis of coral reef resilience - a generic modelling tool

Coral reefs, rainforests of the sea, are of greatest ecological and economical importance. Although they cover just a small fraction of sea floor, they provide indispensable functions for the associated flora and fauna, and invaluable services for livelihoods of large human populations in tropical coastal regions. Within the last few decades coral reefs have been increasingly endangered for various reasons, which can be directly or indirectly ascribed to anthropogenic influence. Chronic stresses can undermine the resilience of coral reefs, which then become more susceptible to the effects of pulse stresses, like hurricanes or thermally induced bleaching. Such an event may then diminish relevant ecosystem properties beyond a threshold, and thus trigger a sudden shift to an alternative state, which may not be in favour of corals but an alternative live form that then achieves dominance. In my thesis I developed a spatially explicit individual-based model to simulate a benthic reef community, typical for a reef in the Western Indian Ocean region. The application was then used to explore key variables and -processes for resilience and to identify potential triggers for phase shifts. Several coral species with contrasting life histories and algae compete for space under different environmental influences. Evoked by direct neighbourhood-interactions and individual responses to environmental conditions, the system performs dynamic self-organisation, and properties of superordinate hierarchical levels (population, community) emerge as a consequence. In multiple scenarios I tested the influences of (i) two different perturbation types (bleaching and mechanical disturbances), -intensities and frequencies, as well as (ii) various levels of grazing and recruitment on the dynamics of coral reef communities. As the results show, perturbations can generate heterogeneous outcomes. While extreme temperature events render a disadvantage for more susceptible branching coral species, these species can dominate under high frequencies of mechanical disturbance events, because they recolonize empty space faster, due to their faster growth rates. Low disturbance levels always benefit the dominance of massive growth forms and a combination of both perturbations at intermediate levels leads to high evenness in the community composition. The results additionally confirm, that herbivory and recruitment are crucial processes for the resilience and persistence of coral reefs. This study also highlights the importance of a diversified analysis of coral reef dynamics to understand the full magnitude of consequences, caused by environmental change. The presented application renders an excellent tool (a) to integrate current knowledge, which can be kept up to date with little effort and (b) can be coupled with other modelling systems that operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Complexity and non-linear dynamics of coral reef functioning can thus be simulated and analysed with a high level of detail and informative value

Movie Manager

Despite the increase sales in entertainment options such as Video On Demand, digital purchases, and subscription streaming, physical disc media sales is still a multi-billion dollar industry. The purchase of physical media discs (such as Blu-rays and DVDs) continues to be a popular option for home entertainment [1]. Many consumers have created a vast collection of movies and it can be difficult to manage them all. These consumers may be asking the following questions. How many movies do I own? Do I already own that movie? Have I upgraded my DVD to a Blu-ray yet? If you own a collection of 30 or less movies these questions are easy to answer. But if you have a collection of several hundred these questions get more difficult. This is where the Movie Manager Android app comes in. It allows users to upload their movie collection to the cloud. Users can then rate movies, track whom they have lent a movie out to and manage what formats they own (Blu-ray, DVD, etc.). The app features a rich user interface that will allow users to see key information about a movie such as the release date, cast, MPAA rating, duration, synopsis, and more. This project involved the reimplementation of an Android app created for CIS 680 Mobile Application Development. The user interface was given a complete redesign and new features were added such as barcode scanning, cloud storage provided by https://parse.com/, user rating, and loan management. This study will also examine some of the analytics gathered after it was published to the Google Play Store

The pathological effect of three-methylindole on lungs and lung surfactant composition in lambs

Call number: LD2668 .T4 VETM 1987 K82Master of ScienceDiagnostic Medicine/Pathobiolog

Identification of potential marker genes for <i>Trichoderma harzianum</i> strains with high antagonistic potential against <i>Rhizoctonia solani</i> by a rapid subtraction hybridization approach

A rapid subtraction hybridization approach was used to isolate genes differentially expressed during mycelial contact between Trichoderma harzianum (Hypocrea lixii) and Rhizoctonia solani, and could serve as marker genes for selection of superior biocontrol strains. Putatively positive clones were evaluated by transcription analysis during mycelial contact with R. solani versus growth on glucose, and for their differential transcription between two strains with either strong or poor biocontrol capability before, at, and after contact with R. solani. Besides four clones, which had similarity to putative but as yet uncharacterized proteins, they comprised ribosomal proteins, proteins involved in transcriptional switch and regulation, amino acid and energy catabolism, multidrug resistance, and degradation of proteins and glucans. Transcription of three clones was evaluated in five T. harzianum strains under confrontation conditions with R. solani. Two clones&#8212;acetyl-xylane esterase AXE1 and endoglucanase Cel61b&#8212;showed significant upregulation during in vivo confrontation of a T. harzianum strain that successively demonstrated a very high antagonistic capability towards R. solani, while expression was progressively lower in a series of T. harzianum strains with intermediate to poor antagonistic activity. These clones are promising candidates for use as markers in the screening of improved T. harzianum biocontrol strains