Third order CMOS decimator design for sigma delta modulators

A third order Cascaded Integrated Comb (CIC) filter has been designed in 0.5μm n-well CMOS process to interface with a second order oversampling sigma-delta ADC modulator. The modulator was designed earlier in 0.5μm technology. The CIC filter is designed to operate with 0 to 5V supply voltages. The modulator is operated with ±2.5V supply voltage and a fixed oversampling ratio of 64. The CIC filter designed includes integrator, differentiator blocks and a dedicated clock divider circuit, which divides the input clock by 64. The CIC filter is designed to work with an ADC that operates at a maximum oversampling clock frequency of up to 25 MHz and with baseband signal bandwidth of up to 800 kHz. The design and performance of the CIC filter fabricated has been discussed

The role of seed attributes in eastern gray squirrel foraging

Seed attributes are important predictors of rodent foraging behaviors. I examined the role of seed attributes in eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) foraging behavior from an evolutionary, economic, ecological and biochemical perspective. From an evolutionary perspective (chapter 2), I found that squirrel foraging behaviors are influenced by a combination of phylogenetically conserved and evolutionarily labile seed traits, which supports a diffuse coevolutionary relationship between hardwood trees and squirrels and provides indirect evidence supporting the Janzen-Connell and handling time hypotheses. From an economic perspective (chapter 3), I found that eastern gray squirrels are homogenous with respect to their preferences for seed attributes, which is likely due to natural selection favoring caching of specific seeds in the fall. I also provide evidence that squirrels trade between 3 attributes when selecting seeds for caching, which results in a variety of seed types being cached. In contrast, squirrels trade between 2 attributes when selecting seeds for consumption, which leads to fewer seed types being consumed in the fall. From an ecological context perspective (chapter 4), I provide evidence of seed traits interacting with relative seed availability to predict caching. Specifically, when seeds of different caching value (i.e., utility) were paired, relative frequency of availability played a minimal role in predicting seed caching. In contrast when seeds of similar caching utility were paired, relative frequency of availability significantly influenced probability of seed selection for caching. From a biochemical perspective (chapter 5), I identified biochemical and anatomical changes at the cellular level associated with radicle dormancy that serve as a signal of lack of dormancy to eastern gray squirrels. In combination, my dissertation chapters support the existence of complex reciprocal evolutionary effects between hardwood trees and eastern gray squirrels

Novel Insights into Regulation of Photosynthetic Light Reactions

In oxygen-evolving photosynthesis, the balanced excitation of photosystem (PS) I and PSII complexes is required for safe and efficient utilization of light energy. During the course of evolution, plants have acquired dynamic regulatory mechanisms to control the excitation energy transfer and distribution as well as the photosynthetic electron transport. Concerted action of the regulatory mechanisms is required for the optimization of photosynthetic efficiency under changing light conditions. Short-term changes in light intensity alter the phosphorylation pattern of the PSII core and its light harvesting antenna (LHCII) proteins. Reversible phosphorylation of the LHCII proteins mediates the excitation energy distribution between the two photosystems in the so called state transitions, which are known to be dependent on the redox status of the plastoquinone pool. In this study, the analysis of the kinase mutants (stn7 and stn8) and the phosphatase mutants (pph1/tap38 and pbcp) revealed that the PPH1/TAP38 phosphatase is required for the dephosphorylation of LHCII in high light (HL). In pph1/tap38 mutant, both the PSII core and LHCII proteins are simultaneously phosphorylated upon transfer to high light, which lead to increased excitation energy distribution towards PSI, thus mimicking the effect of the state 2 light. It is also shown that the PGR5 protein, which is essential for the generation of a transthylakoid proton-gradient, is likely to be involved in the regulation of the thylakoid protein phosphorylation upon increasing light intensities. Indeed, a close cooperation between the redox and proton-gradient dependent regulatory mechanisms is required for maintaining functionality of the photosynthetic machinery. Novel information on the effects of PSII photoinhibition on the dissipation of excitation energy in the thylakoid membrane is likewise provided. It is also demonstrated that the proton gradient-dependent and PGR5-mediated control of electron transfer via the Cyt b f complex together with controlled photoinhibition of PSII limit the electron flow from PSII to PSI, thereby providing protection for the PSI complex against photodamage. Further, PSII photoinhibition is shown to lead to the phosphorylation-independent loss of thylakoid membrane lateral heterogeneity, thus allowing the oxidized P700 to act as an energy quencher. In addition, the PsbS-dependent non-photochemical quenching of excess excitation energy is revealed to enhance the spillover of the excitation energy towards PSI at low lumenal pH. Collectively, the evidence provided in this thesis has highly improved our knowledge concerning photoprotective mechanisms inside the plant cell.Fotosynteesin valoreaktiot muuttavat valoenergian kemialliseen muotoon. Reaktiot perustuvat kahteen perättäiseen valoenergiaa hyväksikäyttävään proteiinikompleksiin (valoreaktiot I ja II) ja niiden väliseen elektroninsiirtoketjuun. Jotta yhteyttämisen valoreaktiot voivat toimia tehokkaasti ilman haitallisia sivureaktioita, kaikkien osareaktioiden on tapahduttava juuri oikeassa paikassa ja oikeaan aikaan. Evoluution kuluessa kasvit ovat kehittäneet joukon säätelymekanismeja, joiden turvin valoreaktiot pystyvät toimimaan muuttuvissa valo-olosuhteissa tuhoamatta fotosynteettistä koneistoa. Valoreaktio II:n reaktiokeskusproteiinien ja valoenergiaa keräävän haavin proteiinien fosforylaatio säätelee valoreaktioiden toimintaa lyhyellä aikavälillä. Proteiinien fosforylaatiota säätelevät puolestaan sekä valon määrä että laatu, mutta kirkkaassa valossa tapahtuvan valohaaviproteiinien defosforylaation merkitys on pysynyt mysteerinä. Väitöskirjassani käytin hyväksi TAP38/PPH1 fosfataasimutanttia, joka ei pysty defosforylomaan valohaavin proteiineja. Osoitin, että valohaavin defosforylaatio korkeassa valossa takaa valoreaktioiden välisen viritystasapainon. Osoitin myös, että PGR5 proteiini liittyy valohaaviproteiinien defosforylaatioon. Saamani tulos osoitti, että valoreaktioiden säätelymekanismit toimivat keskinäisessä vuorovaikutussuhteessa. Mikäli säätelymekanismien kapasiteetti on riittämätön, valoreaktiot saattavat vaurioitua. Valorektio II vaurioituu helposti, mutta vaurio korjataan yleensä nopeasti. Tämän vuoksi valoreaktio II:n toiminta estyy ainoastaan tilanteessa, jossa korjausmekanismi ei toimi normaalisti. Valoreaktio I on yleensä suojattu valon aiheuttamalta vauriolta, mutta voi vaurioitua pysyvästi, mikäli elektronien virta valoreaktio II:lta ylittää valoreaktio I:n toimintakapasiteetin. Väitöskirjatyössäni osoitin, että valoreaktio II:n vaurioituminen suojaa valoreaktio I:stä pysyvältä vauriolta rajoittamalla elektroninsiirtoa. Valoreaktio II:n vaurioituminen ei ainoastaan vähennä elektroninsiirtoa, mutta myös aktivoi ylimääräisen viritysenergian haihduttamisen. Osoitin työssäni, että valoreaktio II:n vaurioituminen johtaa fotosynteettisten proteiinikompleksien uudelleen järjestäytymiseen viherhiukkasen sisäosien yhteyttävissä kalvoissa sallien tehokkaan viritysenergian haihduttamisen valorektio I-kompleksissa. Tässä väitöskirjassa esitetty todistusaineisto osoittaa lisäksi, että viherhiukkasen sisäosien matala pH aktivoi ylimääräisen energian haihduttamista valoreaktio I:ssä. Kokonaisuudessaan väitöskirjani pureutui fotosynteesin säätelyn perusmekanismeihin ja mekanismien välisiin vuorovaikutussuhteisiin. Tuottamani informaatio auttaa ymmärtämään, miten yhteyttämisen valosta riippuvat molekyylitason reaktiot sopeutuvat muuttuviin ympäristöolosuhteisiin sekä osaltaan myös auttaa ymmärtämään tapoja, joilla yhteyttämistä pystytään entistä tehokkaammin hyödyntämään ihmiskunnan hyväksi tulevaisuuden globaalien ongelmien ratkaisuissa.Siirretty Doriast

Aerial vehicle trajectory design for spatio-temporal task satisfaction and aggregation based on utility metric

Flight trajectories are mainly designed in order to make sure that the aerial vehicle reaches the destination point from the start point. In addition to that, the flight path is designed in such a way that the flight avoids dangerous zones and the maneuvers required for the path are practically feasible for the flight. This thesis focuses on the aerial vehicle trajectory generation passing through a set of pre-defined way points while satisfying the task points sent by the ground base station in between the way points. Each specified waypoint is reached exactly at the specified location and time. Intermediate waypoints are generated in such a way that they satisfy the task points, which give high benefit measure, i.e. satisfying tasks with high task priority and QoS (Quality of Service) priority. Generated waypoints are points from where imagery data of the tasks are collected. Task points are aggregated by the TABUM (Task Aggregation Based on Utility Metric) approach, which takes into consideration factors such as task points\u27 priorities, sensory capability and deviation required from the shortest path to satisfy that waypoint. We generate a 4D flight trajectory, which is a collection of predefined waypoints and generated waypoints by taking the velocities, maneuverability of the aerial vehicle into consideration while ensuring that the vehicle avoids the no-fly zones. We finally frame the problem of trajectory generation in a constrained environment as an optimization problem and solve it by increasing the benefit measure and decreasing the cost measure (deviation from line-of-sight path). We perform experiments to show the effect of the utility metric threshold value and compare the performance of the vehicles\u27 trajectory with flight maneuverability and helicopter maneuverability capabilities. We also show how the performance of the sensor/camera attached to the flight will effect the benefit measure --Abstract, page iv

Creating a Representation of Items and Version that Support Efficient Evaluation of the Transaction-Time Axis in XML-Based Databases

This project was developed to create a platform for implementing the features and query support provided by the transaction time axis (tt-axis). The basis for this platform is a new numbering plan called item version timestamp level numbering (IVTLN), and it extends an existing numbering plan, namely, dewey level numbering (DLN), by including version and timestamp information. Thus, the transaction time axis provides a temporal perspective for XML nodes in addition to non-temporal axes like the ancestor and descendant axes. This project provides an efficient, extensible, and comprehensible platform for the implementation of the new numbering plan and the services provided by the transaction time axis

Ethnography of Kumari Muslims in Anthropological Perspective

Ethnography is an important branch of cultural anthropology. Ethnography is the description or drawing of the vital elements of life from birth to death of people living in a particular society with them for certain days or years with the primary data obtained through field research methods. The study of ethnography on a global scale has built up new dimensions of study to control the beliefs and principles that had previously emerged in many societies. After the formation of the fact that its history and religious philosophies alone are not enough to fully understand a race, the study of ethnography, the linchpin point of which all its arakkals are integrated and fitted, is required if the definition of the species is made into a wheel, namely, the distribution of racial morphology, the life quality, the art of art, the language of kalacharam. This article is aimed at examining the tribal community, village society, the image, habitat, lifestyle and social structure of the people separately and regulate them after taking a detailed and comprehensive knowledge of an ethnic group or community. Anthropology is an organization that studies man and his society, and it is possible to examine mankind in a sociocultural and present contemporary age. Based on this anthropology, the study of this article summarizes the culture and culture of the people of Kumari district and all the events from their birth to death through literature

Economics of Wastewater Treatment and Recycling: An Investigation of Conceptual Issues

In the context of continuous droughts, the search for alternative water sources and increasing environmental restrictions on discharge of treated wastewater into natural water bodies, treated wastewater recycling offers a potential solution. In this paper the methods needed to assess the questions - to what extent treated wastewater can complement the existing water sources in different sectors and at what cost - are discussed? It was concluded that a comparative Benefit Cost Analysis of different combinations of uses and treatment levels would be a critical component in the development of a decision support tool which could be used by urban planners and water authorities. It was also found that community acceptance of recycled water, distribution of costs and benefits of recycling and its broader impact on regional development are issues that need to be considered, along with the economics of wastewater recycling.Wastewater, recycling, water quality, pricing, allocation, urban design, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,