Micro-Raman spectroscopy of chromosomes

Raman spectra of intact chromosomes (Chinese hamster), recorded with a microspectrometer, are reported. The spectra could be assigned to protein and DNA contributions. Protein and DNA conformations and the ratio of base pairs in DNA were determined

AERODYNAMICS AND CONTROL OF A DEPLOYABLE WING UAV FOR AUTONOMOUS FLIGHT

UAV development and usage has increased dramatically in the last 15 years. In this time frame the potential has been realized for deployable UAVs to the extent that a new class of UAV was defined for these systems. Inflatable wing UAVs provide a unique solution for deployable UAVs because they are highly packable (some collapsing to 5-10% of their deployed volume) and have the potential for the incorporation of wing shaping. In this thesis, aerodynamic coefficients and aileron effectiveness were derived from the equations of motion of aircraft as necessary parameters for autonomous flight. A wind tunnel experiment was performed to determine the aerodynamic performance of a bumpy inflatable wing airfoil for comparison with the baseline smooth airfoil from which it was derived. Results showed that the bumpy airfoil has improved aerodynamics over the smooth airfoil at low-Re. The results were also used to create aerodynamic performance curves to supplement results of aerodynamic modeling with a smooth airfoil. A modeling process was then developed to calculate the aileron effectiveness of a wing shaping demonstrator aircraft. Successful autonomous flight tests were then performed with the demonstrator aircraft including in-flight aileron doublets to validate the predicted aileron effectiveness, which matched within 8%

Clinical and pre-clinical studies of renal disease in tuberous sclerosis

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by benign hamartomatous growths in a variety of organs. Renal involvement with angiomyolipomas and/or cysts is common. A subset of patients develops severe polycystic kidney disease in association with contiguous deletion of the TSC2 and PKD1 genes. Little is known about the natural history of the renal disease in this group. The present study had dual aims. The first was to further characterize the TSC2/PKD1 contiguous gene deletion syndrome and to compare renal function and its change over time in these patients with those having mutations affecting TSC2alone. Clinical and renal function data were assimilated on 44 patients with TSC2/PKD1 deletion and 69 patients with TSC2 mutations. Additional genetic analyses were used to more fully characterize the genomic extent and mosaicism of TSC2/PKD1 deletions. In comparison to patients with TSC2 mutations, those with TSC2/PKD1 deletion presented significantly earlier with significantly more advanced chronic kidney disease and lower estimated glomerular function rate and they were more likely to progress to end stage renal disease (P = 0.007). The second aim was to investigate the efficacy of rapamycin, sunitinib, and nelfinavir in the treatment of renal lesions in a Tsc1+/‐ mouse model in which spontaneous renal cysts arise and progress to papillary cyst‐adenomas and to solid adenomas and carcinomas. Compared to controls, rapamycin alone or in combination with sunitinib reduced significantly the number and size of papillary and solid lesions while sunitinib or nelfinivir treatment alone led to a lesser reduction in numbers of solid lesions but no change in overall lesion numbers. Rapamycin, a highly specific inhibitor on mTORC1, appears to hold more promise than the other agents for the treatment of TSC‐associated renal disease

Crossroads: An interdisciplinary study of funeral directors in Indiana

This work is an ethnographic study of funeral directors in Indiana, focusing on the social role they play. Funeral directors, through performances as director and actor, with their living tableaux and focus on the life of the deceased individual, rather than his or her death, offer us the illusion of a modern American ideal—a society with no death. In the face of a great loss, we are reminded how much we depend upon others, which runs contrary to the traditional American concept of the individual. Individualism is so important to us that our funerary ritual, in place for the living, has become a showcase of the deceased’s personality, rather than centering on the needs of the bereaved. An effect of this is that we then struggle to achieve a much needed, visceral connection with our fellow mourners. The funeral director offers us the much needed, shared experience of collective grief in the funeral. And through his production of the funeral, he maintains social solidarity with us by making death the outsider, the ultimate Other. In this way, we are more easily able to process the loss of a loved one without losing our sense of individuality

Crossroads: An interdisciplinary study of funeral directors in Indiana

This work is an ethnographic study of funeral directors in Indiana, focusing on the social role they play. Funeral directors, through performances as director and actor, with their living tableaux and focus on the life of the deceased individual, rather than his or her death, offer us the illusion of a modern American ideal—a society with no death. In the face of a great loss, we are reminded how much we depend upon others, which runs contrary to the traditional American concept of the individual. Individualism is so important to us that our funerary ritual, in place for the living, has become a showcase of the deceased’s personality, rather than centering on the needs of the bereaved. An effect of this is that we then struggle to achieve a much needed, visceral connection with our fellow mourners. The funeral director offers us the much needed, shared experience of collective grief in the funeral. And through his production of the funeral, he maintains social solidarity with us by making death the outsider, the ultimate Other. In this way, we are more easily able to process the loss of a loved one without losing our sense of individuality

Detection and Quantitation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Spice Oleoresins and Extracts

vii, 19 p.Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of nonpolar organic compounds that appear naturally in the environment through the incomplete combustion of organic fuels such as wood and coal. The highest levels of human exposure to PAHs, however, often occur as a result of food processing, automobile exhaust, and tobacco smoke. Food contamination by PAHs is particularly of high concern due to the carcinogenic and genotoxic effects several PAHs have on the human body. Raw spices, oleoresins, and extracts, specifically, have been found to contain PAHs as a result of their processing methods. This is significant to food-manufacturing companies that sell within the EU, such as KalsecÒ, the Kalamazoo Spice Extraction Company, due to the European Union’s strict regulatory limits on PAHs in foodstuffs. In order to measure PAH levels in foodstuffs, instrumental analysis is required. Common methods of instrumental analysis of PAHs include high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection (FLD), gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionization detection (FID), and gas chromatography (GC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS). Through extensive testing however, GC-MS/MS was found to best fit the available equipment and required sensitivity, by yielding limits of detection (LOD) as low as 0.119 ppb in an oregano sample

Gel-supported liquid extraction of natural dyes: testing the performance and the invasiveness of an innovative protocol

Colorants in cultural heritage can provide information on provenance, technique, and use, as well as inform on contemporary conservation and preservation. Naturally, the development of minimally invasive techniques is critical for their analysis. Consequently, this thesis seeks to test the performance and invasiveness of an innovative protocol applied to madder and indigo dyes. Gel-supported liquid extraction was performed on mock-ups of madder and indigo, applied by egg tempera and dyed onto wool textiles. The invasiveness was evaluated by visual analysis, microscope photography, and FORS colorimetry. Quantification of the dye extracts was calculated using HPLC-MS/MS analysis, allowing for an evaluation and comparison of the efficiency of each extraction solution tested (acidic, alkaline, organic). Visual examination of the mock-ups yielded virtually indistinguishable differences before and after extraction, but the ΔE00 values for some of the acidic and alkaline extraction solutions applied to the paint and textiles were above the upper limit of perceptible color change. However, this is likely due to the heterogenous nature of the mock-ups that can impact colorimetric measurements. The HPLC-MS/MS quantification resulted in good extraction performance from the acidic and alkaline solutions when compared to the organic solution, while the tempera paint mock-ups generally yielded more dye extracts than the textile mock-ups. Finally, a preliminary Raman analysis of the agar-gels and the extraction solutions suggested potential molecular modifications due to the interaction of the extraction solution with the agar-gel matrix. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the effectiveness of gel-supported liquid extraction, while remaining almost completely non-invasive and allowing multi-analytical study of organic dyes from cultural heritage