1,040 research outputs found
End user development environment for decision support systems
No full textThesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2009.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-92).This thesis describes an end user programming environment that allows non-programmers to create decision support protocols for use on electronic devices. User centered design techniques were followed to identify the difficulties encountered by users when attempting to create complex protocols, specifically addressing the problems of the scale, complexity, and specificity required for a protocol to be effectively used. The result is a highly usable desktop client graphical user interface which can create protocols that can be exported in portable formats. A summative user study was conducted on the finished software in order to evaluate its success in enabling non-programmers to author protocols.by Clayton Tyler Sims.M.Eng
Visualisation of amphetamine contamination in fingerprints using tof-sims technique
No full textTime-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) was applied to detect traces of amphetamine on fingerprints. In the present study, three different lift tapes and latent powder fingerprints were tested. The obtained results show that it is possible to identify traces of a drug as well as its distribution over the tested fingerprint after its transfer from the primary base onto an adhesive lifter (secondary base). Moreover, images obtained by the TOF-SIMS technique enable the observation of very small areas of the analysed fingerprint as well as the identification of micro-objects (residues of a contaminant) that were left on the fingerprint. The use of the black latent fingerprint powder did not interfere with the TOF-SIMS analysis, which makes it possible to effectively use this technique to study the traces of substances on the revealed fingerprints.ChemE/Advanced Soft Matte
Universal Processor Architecture for Biomedical Implants: The SiMS Project
No full textHEALTHCARE in the 21st century is changing rapidly. In advanced countries, in particular, healthcare is moving from a public to a more personalized nature. However, the costs of healthcare worldwide are increasing every year. Better use of technology can and should be used to get control of these costs. At the same time, implants have clearly benefitted from the astounding technology-miniaturization trends of late, boasting smaller sizes, lower power consumption and increased performance of the transistor devices. However, such advances do not come for free. Adverse effects in current implant designs are being witnessed, such as increasing power consumption, absence of design for reliability and highly application-specific nature. Operating under the assumption that implants will constitute an important means towards improved, personal healthcare and, in view of the aforementioned design phenomena, we believe that a new paradigm in implant design is required. This dissertation establishes the concept of Smart implantable Medical Systems (SiMS). SiMS is a systematic approach – a framework – for providing biomedical researchers and, hopefully, industry with a toolbox of ready-to-use, highly reliable implant sub-systems and models in order to construct optimal implants for various medical applications. The SiMS framework has to guarantee essential attributes, such as high dependability, modular design, ultra-low power consumption and miniature size. Having defined the SiMS framework, this dissertation is, then, concerned with exploring the optimal microarchitectural details of a crucial SiMS component: the SiMS processor. Contrary to the current state of the art, this processor aspires to be a new universal, low-power and low-cost processor and capable of efficiently serving a wide range of diverse implant applications.Computer Science and EngineeringElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Small molecule profiling and imaging of the zebra finch song system
No full textThe ability of songbirds to communicate though learned vocalization and the discovery of discreet interconnected “song nuclei” involved in vocal learning has made them a valuable model to study the neuronal mechanisms behind learning and memory. This dissertation focuses on studying small molecules (i.e. lipids and metabolites) in the zebra finch song system, a songbird. I will use analytical tools and methods to detect and image the spatial distribution of small molecules (e.g. lipids) across the song system. In addition I will investigate changes in small molecules in the auditory lobule, a brain region involved in interpreting and processing auditory inputs, in response to song stimulation.
Applying advances in Time of Flight - Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) small molecules (e.g. fatty acids) are detected and high spatial resolution images (2.3 μm) are generated, forming 11.5 megapixel chemical images using a sagittal brain section collected from an adult male zebra finch. ToF-SIMS analysis reveals a heterogeneous distribution of small molecules across the brain section corresponding to different anatomical structures, including two song nuclei that are important in song-motor control.
Expanding upon the ToF-SIMS results I increase the number of identifiable small molecules; and expand the number of brain regions to include all of the major song nuclei in the zebra finch brain. Using ToF-SIMS and applying multivate statistical methods (e.g. principle component analysis) I show chemical differences between functionally distinct and tissue specific brain areas; as well as at different developmental stages in the male songbird brain.
Metabolites are a diverse group of small molecules that act as end products and intermediates in biochemical pathways such as signaling molecules (i.e. dopamine), amino acids (i.e. glutamate) and in energy metabolism (i.e. glucose). Metabolomic studies focusing on the auditory lobule, a brain region involved in the acquisition, processing, and interpreting of auditory inputs, exhibited unique metabolomic profiles between birds exposed to novel song exposure, habituation song, and silence. Biochemical pathways involved in sugar metabolism (e.g. glycolysis), RNA synthesis, and GHB metabolism exhibit overall changes upon novel song stimulation compared to silent control birds. Integrating genomic data and metabolomic data suggests other biochemical pathways are responding to song stimulation.
This dissertation reveals the heterogeneous distribution of small molecules across the major song nuclei in the zebra finch brain and at different developmental stages and the metabolomic response to song. These experiments serve as a stating point to study the role lipids play in the development of the song system and learning and memory. It also serves as a starting point to conduct more rigorous metabolomic studies and integrating metabolomic, genomic, and proteomic information to better study song response in the zebra finch brain.Item withdrawn by Mark Zulauf ([email protected]) on 2010-04-14T18:18:05Z
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University of Illinois Theses & Dissertations (ID: 1)
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University of Illinois Dissertations and Theses (ID: 204)
Dissertations and Theses - Cell and Developmental Biology (ID: 702)
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'A bright memory to remain' : the life and works of Charles Sims RA (1873-1928)
No full textThis thesis investigates the life and work of the English painter Charles Sims RA (1873-1928). It takes the form of a monograph and examines key themes of Sims' career within a chronological framework. The study makes consistent reference to the Sims Archive — the artist's studio contents recently brought to light by the author in negotiation with the artist's family and currently in the possession of Northumbria University. For the first time Sims' working practices and motivations have been explored in detail, thus contributing to knowledge of this particular neglected painter and more generally allowing some additional insight into the problems besetting and opportunities afforded to British artists of his generation. Sims' career spanned a transitional period in British art history which is currently being reassessed by art historians: the debates surrounding the effects of European modernism on British art, the inevitable impact of the Great War and the search during the 1920s for a visual language appropriate to modern life. Sims negotiated disparate experiences and preoccupations in an interesting way, and produced a stylistically diverse body of work in his continued search, I argue, for an alternative to modern reality. He attempted the combination of ancient religions, past art and modern experience into pictorial idylls that were simultaneously familiar and unattainable. The thesis aims to explore Sims' inspiration and reassesses his career within the context of his better known contemporaries by cross-referencing information held in national and international collections, libraries and archives with the hitherto unseen material here
Synthesis of furanosesquiterpenoid natural products
No full textThe effect of addition of a catalytic quantity of a crown ether in the reaction of a phosphonate anion with a carbonyl compound (Wadsworth-Emmons reaction) has been studied and found to greatly facilitate this reaction. This modification of the Wadsworth-Emmons reaction, using a catalytic amount of 15-crown-5, has been employed in the synthesis of the naturally occurring furanosesquiterpene Pallescensin-E. The structure of this compound has been confirmed by comparison of its spectral data with that of the synthesised isomer, 4,l0-dihydro-7,8-dimethyl 10H-benzof4,5Jcycloheptafl,2-bJ furan.Homosesquirosefuran, an analogue of the naturally occurring furanosesquiterpene Sesquirosefuran, has been synthesised via the dianion of methylacetoacetate.An approach to the synthesis of Pinguisone (a component of the essential oil of the liverwort Aneura pinguis)has been attempted employing two Diels-Alder reactions to generate the four cis-methyl groups found in the natural product.In a study of the reaction of n-(2-methylallyl)nickel bromide complex with a range of epoxides, this complex was found not only to react with reactive epoxides (e.g. styrene epoxide) but also with less reactive propylene epoxide.Substrates for possible intramolecular n-allylnickel cyclisation to generate an a-methylene-6-valerolactone ring system have been prepared
Library licensing and criminal law: The Aaron Swartz case
No full textReviews the ways that library licenses for subscription content contributed to criminal charges against activist Aaron Swartz, when he downloaded content from JSTOR on the MIT campus. (Author Note: This piece predates Swartz's death by suicide in 2013.)Sims, Nancy, A. (2011). Library licensing and criminal law: The Aaron Swartz case. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, 10.5860/crln.72.9.8637
Sim-biosis : di-simulando "The Sims"
No full textThe Sims (2000-2003) is a fascinating computer game that allows the user to simulate human behaviour and the triviality of everyday interactions. This essay makes sense of the appeal of what superficially looks like a virtual dollhouse. The researchers conclude that The Sims is an example of a new form of interactive narrative that allows the user to play an array of possible roles: spectator, player and intertextual author
Players Unleashed ! Modding The Sims and the Culture of Gaming
No full textThe author of this hugely informative study explores the question of what happens when players practise and negotiate computer code, various ideologies, and the game itself by modding (modifying a game) in the context of The Sims, the bestselling computer game of all time.Sihvonen examines the technical and material specificities of The Sims mods, as well as their cultural context. Viewed as a manifestation of participatory culture, modding makes PC games ultimately malleable: players reconfigure the game by creating new content, altering the code and changing the behaviours of the game engine. Using a semiotic framework, Sihvonen suggests a signification process that includes representation, interpretation, investigation and experimentation with the game system and rules. From its historical roots in the shoot’em up games, the author bares the fascinating evolution and dynamics of modding, where gender stereotypes, the thrills of hacking and living the Sims’ American Dream intersect with the aesthetic and operational dimensions of modding
« Präteritum und Perfekt im Soghdischen ». Indogermanische Forschungen 102, (1997), pp. 199-205. [The preterite and perfect in Sogdian]
No full textThe author shows how the distribution of forms of the preterite (traditionally « imperfect ») and perfect (in my terminology « preterite » !) varies from one Sogdian text to another, the difference being attributed to a gradual replacement of the preterite by the perfect, first in the spoken and later in the written language. On the form [Lʾ] nʾyrt « he did not plan » in the parable of the two snakes (p. 204 fn.) see Sims-Williams, MSS 56, 1996, p. 176 (probably a historic present)
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