Use of manual adaptive remeshing in the mechanical modeling of an intraneural ganglion cyst

Intraneural Ganglion Cysts expand within in a nerve, causing neurological deficits in afflicted patients. Modeling the propagation of these cysts, originating in the articular branch and then expanding radially outward, will help prove articular theory, and ultimately allow for more purposeful treatment of this condition. In Finite Element Analysis, traditional Lagrangian meshing methods fail to model the excessive deformation that occurs in the propagation of these cysts. This report explores the method of manual adaptive remeshing as a method to allow for the use of Lagrangian meshing, while circumventing the severe mesh distortions typical of using a Lagrangian mesh with a large deformation. Manual adaptive remeshing is the process of remeshing a deformed meshed part and then reapplying loads in order to achieve a larger deformation than a single mesh can achieve without excessive distortion. The methods of manual adaptive remeshing described in this Master’s Report are sufficient in modeling large deformations.

Mechanical modeling of Intraneural Ganglion Cyst

Intraneural Ganglion Cyst is a 200 year old mystery related to nerve injury which is yet to be solved. Current treatments for the above problem are relatively simple procedures related to removal of cystic contents from the nerve. However, these treatments may result into neuropathic pain and recurrence of the cyst. The articular theory proposed by Spinner et al., (Spinner et al. 2003) takes into consideration the neurological deficit in Common Peroneal Nerve (CPN) branch of the sciatic nerve and affirms that in addition to the above treatments, ligation of articular branch results into foolproof eradication of the deficit. Mechanical Modeling of the Affected Nerve Cross Section will reinforce the articular theory (Spinner et al. 2003). As the cyst propagates, it compresses the neighboring fascicles and the nerve cross section appears like a signet ring. Hence, in order to mechanically model the affected nerve cross section; computational methods capable of modeling excessively large deformations are required. Traditional FEM produces distorted elements while modeling such deformations, resulting into inaccuracies and premature termination of the analysis. The methods described in this Master’s Thesis are effective enough to be able to simulate such deformations. The results obtained from the model adequately resemble the MRI image obtained at the same location and shows an appearance of a signet ring. This Master’s Thesis describes the neurological deficit in brief followed by detail explanation of the advanced computational methods used to simulate this problem. Finally, qualitative results show the resemblance of mechanical model to MRI images of the Nerve Cross Section at the same location validating the capability of these methods to study this neurological deficit.

Bluetooth Enabled Ad-hoc Networks: Performance Evaluation of a Self-healing Scatternet Formation Protocol

Bluetooth wireless technology is a robust short-range communications system designed for low power (10 meter range) and low cost. It operates in the 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific Medical (ISM) band and it employs two techniques for minimizing interference: a frequency hopping scheme which nominally splits the 2.400 - 2.485 GHz band in 79 frequency channels and a time division duplex (TDD) scheme which is used to switch to a new frequency channel on 625 μs boundaries. During normal operation a Bluetooth device will be active on a different frequency channel every 625 μs, thus minimizing the chances of continuous interference impacting the performance of the system. The smallest unit of a Bluetooth network is called a piconet, and can have a maximum of eight nodes. Bluetooth devices must assume one of two roles within a piconet, master or slave, where the master governs quality of service and the frequency hopping schedule within the piconet and the slave follows the master’s schedule. A piconet must have a single master and up to 7 active slaves. By allowing devices to have roles in multiple piconets through time multiplexing, i.e. slave/slave or master/slave, the Bluetooth technology allows for interconnecting multiple piconets into larger networks called scatternets. The Bluetooth technology is explored in the context of enabling ad-hoc networks. The Bluetooth specification provides flexibility in the scatternet formation protocol, outlining only the mechanisms necessary for future protocol implementations. A new protocol for scatternet formation and maintenance - mscat - is presented and its performance is evaluated using a Bluetooth simulator. The free variables manipulated in this study include device activity and the probabilities of devices performing discovery procedures. The relationship between the role a device has in the scatternet and it’s probability of performing discovery was examined and related to the scatternet topology formed. The results show that mscat creates dense network topologies for networks of 30, 50 and 70 nodes. The mscat protocol results in approximately a 33% increase in slaves/piconet and a reduction of approximately 12.5% of average roles/node. For 50 node scenarios the set of parameters which creates the best determined outcome is unconnected node inquiry probability (UP) = 10%, master node inquiry probability (MP) = 80% and slave inquiry probability (SP) = 40%. The mscat protocol extends the Bluetooth specification for formation and maintenance of scatternets in an ad-hoc network.

THE IMPACTS OF MITEP ON MY CAREER IN EDUCATION

MiTEP, the Michigan Teacher Excellence Program, provides current teachers the opportunity to partner with Michigan Technological University to obtain graduate credit towards a Master’s degree in applied science education. In exchange, the university collects data on the implementation of inquiry and earth science concepts into science classrooms. This paper documents my experience within this program, including how it has affected my personal and professional learning.

A METAGENOMIC STUDY OF THE TICK MIDGUT

A Metagenomic Study of the Tick Midgut Daniel Yuan, B.S. Supervisory Professor : Steven J. Norris, Ph.D. Southern tick–associated rash illness (STARI) or Master’s disease is a Lyme-like illness that occurs following bites by Amblyomma americanum, the lone-star tick. Clinical symptoms include a bull’s eye rash similar to the erythema migrans lesions of Lyme disease, as well as fever and joint pains. Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi and related spirochetes. However, B. burgdorferi has not been detected in STARI patients, or in ticks in the South Central U.S. The causative agent of STARI has not been identified, although it was once thought to be caused by another Borrelia species, Borrelia lonestari. Furthermore, while adult A. americanum have up to a 5.6% Borrelia lonestari infection rate, the prevalence of all Borrelia species in Texas ticks as a whole is not known. Previous studies indicate that 6%-30% of Northern Ixodes scapularis ticks are infected by Borrelia burgdorferi while only 10% of Northern A. americanum and I. scapularis ticks are infected by Borrelia species. The first specific aim of this project was to determine the bacterial community that inhabits the midgut of Texas and Northeastern ticks by using high throughput metagenomic sequencing to sequence bacterial 16S rDNA. Through the use of massively parallel 454 sequencing, we were able to individually sequence hundreds of thousands of 16S rDNA regions of the bacterial flora from 133 ticks from the New York, Missouri and Texas. The presence of previously confirmed endosymbionts, specifically the Rickettsia spp. and Coxiella spp., that are commonly found in ticks were confirmed, as well as some highly prevalent genera that were previously undocumented. Furthermore, multiple pathogenic genera sequences were often found in the same tick, suggesting the possibility of co-infection of multiple pathogenic species. The second specific aim was to use Borrelia specific primers to screen 344 individual ticks from Missouri, Texas and the Northeast to determine the prevalence of Borrelia species in ticks. To screen for Borrelia species, two housekeeping genes, uvrA and recG, were selected as well as the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer. Ticks from Missouri, Texas and New York were screened. None of the Missouri or Texas ticks tested positive for Borrelia spp. The rate of I. scapularis infection by B.burgdorferi is dependent on tick feeding activity as well as reservoir availability. B. burgdorferi is endemic in the Northeast, sometimes reported as highly present in over 50% of all I. scapularis ticks. 11.6% of all New York ticks were positive for a species of Borrelia, however only 6.9% of all New York ticks were positive for B. burgdorferi. Despite being significantly lower than 50%, the results still fall in line with previous reports of about the prevalence of B. burgdorferi. 1.5% of all Texas ticks were positive for a Borrelia species, specifically B. lonestari. While this study was unable to identify the causative agent for STARI, 454 sequencing was able to provide a tremendous insight into the bacterial flora and possible pathogenic species of both the I. scapularis and the A. americanum tick.

DYSREGULATION OF MEOX2 FOLLOWING WT1 MUTATION IN KIDNEY DEVELOPMENT AND WILMS TUMORIGENESIS

Wilms tumor (WT) is a childhood tumor of the kidney and a productive model for understanding the role of genetic alteration and interactions in tumorigenesis. The Wilms tumor gene 1 (WT1) is a transcriptional factor and one of the few genes known to have genetic alterations in WT and has been shown be inactivated in 20% of WTs. However, the mechanisms of how WT1 mutations lead to Wilms tumorigenesis and its influence on downstream genes are unknown. Since it has been established that WT1 is a transcriptional regulator, it has been hypothesized that the loss of WT1 leads to the dysregulation of downstream genes, in turn result in the formation of WTs. To identify the dysregulated downstream genes following WT1 mutations, an Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome Array was previously conducted to assess the differentially expressed genes in the WT1-wildtype human and WT1-mutant human WTs. Approximately 700 genes were identified as being significantly dysregulated. These genes were further prioritized based on their statistical significance, fold change, chromosomal region, spatial pattern of gene expression and known or putative cellular functions. Mesenchyme homeobox 2 (MEOX2) was one of the most significantly upregulated genes in WT1-mutant WT. MEOX2 is known to play a role in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. In addition to its biological roles, it is expressed during early kidney development in the condensed mesenchyme similar to WT1. Furthermore, the use of the Match® web-based tool from the BIOBASE Biological Data base identified a significant predicted WT1 binding site within the first intron of MEOX2. The similarity in spatial gene expression in the developing kidney and the significant predicted WT1 binding site found in the first intron of MEOX2 lead to the development of my hypothesis that MEOX2 is upregulated via a WT1-dependent manner. Here as a part of my master’s work, I have validated the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome Array data using an independent set of Wilms tumors. MEOX2 remained upregulated in the mutant WT1 Wilms tumor by 41-fold. Wt1 and Meox2 gene expression were assessed in murine newborn kidney; both Wt1 and Meox2 were expressed in the condensed, undifferentiated metanephric mesenchyme. I have shown that the in vivo ablation of Wt1 during embryonic development at embryonic day (E) 13.5 resulted in the slight increase of Meox2 gene expression by two fold. In order to functionally demonstrate the effect of the loss of Wt1 on Meox2 gene expression in undifferentiated metanephric mesenchyme, I have generated a kidney mesenchymal cell line to genetically ablate Wt1 in vitro by adenoviral infection. The ablation of Wt1 in the kidney mesenchymal cell line resulted in the upregulation of Meox2 by 61-fold. Moreover, the upregulation of Meox2 resulted in the significant induction of p21 and Itgb5. In addition to the dysregulation of these genes the ablation of Wt1 in the kidney mesenchymal cells resulted in decrease in cell growth and loss of cellular adherence. However, it is uncertain whether the upregulation of Meox2 caused this particular cellular phenotype. Overall, I have demonstrated that the upregulation of Meox2 is Wt1-dependent during early kidney development.

Refugee Settlement in Australia: Policy, Scholarship and the Production of Knowledge, 1952 − 2013

Since 1947, Australia has formally resettled more than 750,000 refugees. During that time, researchers have successfully completed more than 150 Masters and doctoral theses and published more than 900 articles, books and reports about issues of refugee settlement in Australia, with about half of them being published in the past 10 years. In this paper, we discuss the development of the production of knowledge about refugee resettlement. We identify trends in the literature, such as the emergence of an ethno-specific focus, and the concern with settlement's psychological and emotional impact, and relate them to policy changes. We suggest that scholars need critically to take stock of the knowledge produced so far and be more cognisant of the international scholarly debate.

Ms. lat. oct. 63 - Doctrina de lacte (Theses de natura viribusque lactis)

Vorbesitzer: Johann Hartmann Beyer

Ms. lat. oct. 30 - Theses variae medicae

Vorbesitzer: Johann Hartmann Beyer

The integration of project competences within the post-graduate programme: a case study of the International Masters in Rural Development AGRIS MUNDUS

Experiences relating to the InternationalMasters in Rural Development from the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM), the first Spanish programme to receive a mention as a Registered Education Programme by InternationalProject Management Association (IPMA) are considered. Backed by an educational strategy based on Project-Based Learning dating back twenty years, this programme has managed to adapt to the competence evaluation requirements proposed by the European Space for Higher Education (ESHE). In order to do this the training is linked to the professional qualification using competences as a reference leading to the qualification in project management as established by the IPMA.

Physico-mecanico-anatomicae theses

Fecha tomada del tít

Theses theologicae quas in petitione doctoratus concertationi

Tesis-Universitat de València

Theses ex logica metaphysica et ethica quas pro baccalaureatus gradu... D. Thoma Aquinate opitulante

El autor aparece en an. ms. después del "defendet"

Gregorius Morata et Melia... Propugnabit has theologicas theses ex Guillelmi Estii in lib. II. Sentent. comment. Desumtas... [Texto impreso]

Sign. : A2, B4