Quantitative Study of Nano to Submicron Scales Intracellular Structural Disorder Using Electron and Confocal Microscopies: Application to Cancer Detection

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death with over a million people being diagnosed every year. Many cancers eventually result in death because they go undetected in their early stages when they can be cured. The conventional techniques used for cancer diagnostics exhibit limitations in detecting early stage cancer, which has nano-scale structural changes. On the other hand, alcoholism is one of the biggest cause of health problems. This study examines the effect of alcohol in early stage carcinogenesis in the colon and healthy hippocampal cells of mice models by quantifying the structural changes in their nuclei via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The technique utilizes the Mesoscopic Physics based concept of analyzing cellular structure by looking their light localization properties. In a seperate study, we also examined the correlation between MUC13 mucin and the tumorigenicity level in pancreatic cells via confocal microscopy imaging. The TEM and confocal images are used to construct and optical lattice system whose nano- to sub-micron scale mass density fluctuations are subsequently evaluated by statistically analyzing the spatially localized eigenfucntions of these optical lattice systems via inverse participation ratio (IPR) method. The results of TEM studies show that while the alcohol doesnot introduce carcinogenesis in healthy colon cells, it aggrandizes a pre-existing carcinogenesis. In hippocampal cells, alcoholism causes nanoscale morphological alterations in nuclei. The confocal studies of pancreatic cells show an existance of semblant correlation between MUC13 mucin expression and the stage of pancreatic cancer

V-Shaped Columns at Kachari Monolithic Rajbari Site in Dimapur, Nagaland: Their Architectural and Social Reflections

Monolithism has been, since prehistoric days, a very common cultural practice in the northeastern region of India. Lingering Neolithic tradition, sustained amidst the varied topography formed of hills and plains, seem to have maintained the remaining monolithic traditions there.Remarkably, the existence of the specially designed, carved, ornamented or dressed monoliths is therefore a specialty in the field of monolithic interment in this region. Such dressed varieties of monoliths stood for different meanings and purposes. At the Dimapur monolithic site, three groups of monolithic structures have been found, with evidence of Chessman, Large Isolated Chessman, and Vshaped Monolithic Columns. In this paper, the V-shaped Monolithic Columns found particularly in Nagaland have been taken up for study to trace their significance, structurally and culturally, as historical material

A comparison of friction and drum hoisting systems on an energy-input basis

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a suitable basis for comparing the relative advantages of the friction and drum hoists under various conditions of operation. Such comparisons are mainly and necessarily based upon physical characteristics of the mechanisms for lack of appropriate economic data. It is believed, however, that this inadequacy may be alleviated to some extent by substituting comparative theoretical energy requirements of\u27 the two hoisting systems under identical duty conditions over a practical range of mining situations involving various depths and daily productions. This has been accomplished by adapting a computer to standard mine-hoist design techniques and utilizing basic data that are accepted by pertinent authorities. The results are gratifying in that they do indicate areas of advantage for each of the heisting systems within the span of operations considered --Abstract, page ii

A work sampling investigation of white collar workers (female-clerical)

M.S. University of Kansas, Mechanical Engineering 1958This investigation was carried out to determine the distribution of the work effort of clerical workers into the different work activities. It was also intended to determine the amount of time spent on personal needs by the above group of workers and compare it with the personal and/or fatigue allowances reported by various authors in texts on motion or time study. In the four departments selected, a total of 30 workers were observed. Fourteen work-and-delay-activities were listed on an observation sheet and some of them were further qualified by such such suffixes as “a,” “b,” “w,” and “p.” The workers were observed at all times of the working hours, except official rest periods, using a scheme of systematic sampling. The purpose of the investigation was made known to the workers prior to the beginning of the actual observations, to ensure a normal and relaxed atmosphere. An examination of the computed data shows that although there is considerable variation in the productivity of the different departments, the percentage of the percentage of the total personal delays is consistent from one department to another. This again varies significantly within each department, as the “direct work” and supporting delays.” There is enough evidence to believe that, within each department, individual workers have stable work patterns, although at different levels

Underground methods of working coal

\u27Underground Methods of Working Coal\u27 is the subject of this thesis. It is the purpose of this investigation to summarize all the mining methods under various conditions of working. The underground methods of mining have been classified under three headings; viz., (a) Room and Pillar, (b) Longwall and (c) Horizon Mining. The conditions suitable for the applicability of each system and their relative merits and demerits are fully discussed. The principles of the design of the workings of both room and pillar and longwall systems to have effective roof control in the area of the workings are pointed out. Distinct and separate phases of development work in room and pillar, longwall and horizon mining are considered involving the layout of panels and development headings. Finally, a large number of different methods of extraction in all the systems of mining under various conditions are given with the aid of suitable illustrations --Abstract, page ii

Infrared Spectroscopy of Serum Samples for Disease Diagnostics

The fundamental vibrational modes of biological constituents in the tissues and the complex body fluids coincide with optical frequencies in the infrared region. Therefore, spatially resolved molecular compositions and interaction information within the biological materials can be extracted non-destructively using IR radiation without the use of labels or probes. However, the feasibility of this technique to elucidate constituent molecular compositions and interactions within the diagnostic mediums is not well explored. This study demonstrates an application of infrared (IR) spectroscopy of sera for monitoring inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and various cancers. Using samples from experimental mice and human patients, the power of IR spectroscopy in structural studies of proteins and other complex band contours are explored to find spectral signatures. Two experimental models of IBD; interleukin 10 knockouts (IL10-/-) and Dextran Sodium Sulfate (DSS) induced mouse shows diagnostic accuracy with 80-100% sensitivity and specificity values. Importantly, the findings of human IBD patients’ serum also show promising results resembling our proofs-of-concept investigations of mouse models. Maximum values of sensitivity and specificity are 100% and 86%, respectively, in human samples. Similarly, in cancer studies, the EL4 mouse model of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and a B16 mouse model of the subcutaneous melanoma are used to extract a snapshot of tumor-associated alteration in the serum. The study of both cancer-bearing mouse models in wild types (WT) and their corresponding control types emphasizes the diagnostic potential of this approach as a screening technique for the NHL and melanoma skin cancer. The breast cancer (BC) -associated protein conformational alteration in the serum samples shows the sensitivity and the specificity of identifying spectral signatures were both 90%. All in all, IR spectroscopy of serum samples accompanied by spectral analysis technique shows some promising results for disease diagnostics. The brief outlook of the fundamentals of the infrared detection technique and their applicability for the development of portable spectroscopy is also provided

Transient response of a vibration isolation system

A practical procedure for investigating the performance of a vibration isolation system under transient conditions is presented. For this investigation, an induction motor with an unbalanced rotor is studied during the period when it accelerates to its operating speed from rest. Using Newton\u27s second law of motion, equations of motion are derived, first neglecting and then considering the effect of inertia torque . This torque is produced by the inertia force resulting from vertical acceleration of the unbalanced mass. The equations are solved on a digital computer using the Runge-Kutta method of order 4. The results obtained are compared with those obtained using Simpson\u27s and Runge-Kutta methods of order 4 of the Continuous System Modeling Program. For the case when there is no external load, an attempt was made to obtain the responses of the system by the Convolution Integral Solution of the K. A. Foss method. A study of steady state and transient analyses for inertia and no inertia cases is carried out. From the results obtained, graphs are plotted and guidelines useful for design of vibration isolators are given --Abstract, page ii

Penetration in granite by shaped charge liners of various metals

The penetration in Missouri red granite by cylindrical charges with metal liners of aluminum 2011 (T-3), aluminum 7075 (T-6), yellow brass, monel, maraging steel (vascomax 250), and copper was measured. Metals having high ductility and moderate compressive strength penetrated deeper than high strength maraging steel. Aluminum required a greater standoff for optimum penetration than the other metal liners tested. Preliminary metallographic studies of the liner metals and slugs showed that the grains had elongated along the slug axis. The metals containing zinc formed very small or no slugs. The granite grains were highly fractured. The holes were discolored and coated with jet metal. Penetration was affected by bedding planes and joints in the rock. Jet characteristics could not be photographed using a high speed framing camera because the view was obscured by the luminous front created by shock waves. Jet tip velocities were measured by pin oscilloscope techniques and were in the range of 7.91 - 9.83 millimeters per microsecond. The rate of penetration in granite was also obtained in this same manner. A mathematical expression was developed to calculate collapse time of cones using three-dimensional collapse criteria --Abstract, page ii

Design and Modeling of Stock Market Forecasting Using Hybrid Optimization Techniques

In this paper, an artificial neural network-based stock market prediction model was developed. Today, a lot of individuals are making predictions about the direction of the bond, currency, equity, and stock markets. Forecasting fluctuations in stock market values is quite difficult for businesspeople and industries. Forecasting future value changes on the stock markets is exceedingly difficult since there are so many different economic, political, and psychological factors at play. Stock market forecasting is also a difficult endeavour since it depends on so many various known and unknown variables. There are several ways used to try to anticipate the share price, including technical analysis, fundamental analysis, time series analysis, and statistical analysis; however, none of these approaches has been shown to be a consistently reliable prediction tool. We built three alternative Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) models to compare the outcomes. The average of the tuned models is used to create an ensemble model. Although comparable applications have been attempted in the literature, the data set is extremely difficult to work with because it only contains sharp peaks and falls with no seasonality. In this study, fuzzy c-means clustering, subtractive clustering, and grid partitioning are all used. The experiments we ran were designed to assess the effectiveness of various construction techniques used to our ANFIS models. When evaluating the outcomes, the metrics of R-squared and mean standard error are mostly taken into consideration. In the experiments, R-squared values of over.90 are attained