Model and Appearance Based Analysis of Neuronal Morphology from Different Microscopy Imaging Modalities

The neuronal morphology analysis is key for understanding how a brain works. This process requires the neuron imaging system with single-cell resolution; however, there is no feasible system for the human brain. Fortunately, the knowledge can be inferred from the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, to the human system. This dissertation explores the morphology analysis of Drosophila larvae at single-cell resolution in static images and image sequences, as well as multiple microscopy imaging modalities. Our contributions are on both computational methods for morphology quantification and analysis of the influence of the anatomical aspect. We develop novel model-and-appearance-based methods for morphology quantification and illustrate their significance in three neuroscience studies. Modeling of the structure and dynamics of neuronal circuits creates understanding about how connectivity patterns are formed within a motor circuit and determining whether the connectivity map of neurons can be deduced by estimations of neuronal morphology. To address this problem, we study both boundary-based and centerline-based approaches for neuron reconstruction in static volumes. Neuronal mechanisms are related to the morphology dynamics; so the patterns of neuronal morphology changes are analyzed along with other aspects. In this case, the relationship between neuronal activity and morphology dynamics is explored to analyze locomotion procedures. Our tracking method models the morphology dynamics in the calcium image sequence designed for detecting neuronal activity. It follows the local-to-global design to handle calcium imaging issues and neuronal movement characteristics. Lastly, modeling the link between structural and functional development depicts the correlation between neuron growth and protein interactions. This requires the morphology analysis of different imaging modalities. It can be solved using the part-wise volume segmentation with artificial templates, the standardized representation of neurons. Our method follows the global-to-local approach to solve both part-wise segmentation and registration across modalities. Our methods address common issues in automated morphology analysis from extracting morphological features to tracking neurons, as well as mapping neurons across imaging modalities. The quantitative analysis delivered by our techniques enables a number of new applications and visualizations for advancing the investigation of phenomena in the nervous system

Microsphere-based Disordered Photonic Structures: Control of Randomness in Langmuir-Blodgett Assembly and Radiative Cooling Applications

Many biological photonic structures in nature exhibit a significant degree of disorder within their periodic framework that enhances their optical properties. However, how such disorder contributes to the unique photonic characteristics is not yet fully understood. To facilitate studies on this topic, we investigated self-assembly of microspheres as a method to controllably introduce randomness to photonic structures. Specifically, we examined Langmuir-Blodgett assembly, a layer-by-layer fabrication technique. We developed and experimentally verified a model for the process and determined a condition of surface pressure and substrate pulling speed that corresponds to a maximum structural order in a layer. Along the trajectory described by this condition, disorder can be controllably introduced by increasing the pulling speed. Our model also describes a condition for maximum structural order for multilayer assembly: as the number of layers increases, the surface pressure should also increase at a fixed pulling speed. Overall, we have demonstrated that by carefully choosing assembly parameters along the optimal trajectory, disorders within Langmuir-Blodgett films can be systematically introduced. To further demonstrate usefulness of disordered photonic structures fabricated from self-assembly methods, we investigated radiative cooling performance of microsphere-based disordered materials under direct sunlight. Radiative cooling is a process in which an object passively loses heat via radiation and thus has a potential to reduce consumption of electricity used for thermal management. Toward a goal of making radiative cooling technology more accessible, we investigated two scalable, and inexpensive methods for fabricating microsphere-based structures that can achieve efficient radiation cooling. Specifically, colloidal sedimentation method and spray coating were employed to create coatings that consist of randomly arranged microspheres. With a systematic study of light scattering in microsphere-based disordered media, we showed how structural parameters influence radiative cooling performance. By combining this understanding with the two facile fabrication methods, we demonstrated that black substrates coated with our microsphere-based materials achieved substantial cooling below ambient temperature even under direct sunlight exposure. Our coatings also outperformed commercially available paints designed for daytime cooling, without use of sophisticated fabrication process or expensive materials. We demonstrated further that cooling capability of our microsphere-based structures was improved by using hollow microspheres instead of solid particles and that mechanical durability was enhanced when the hollow microspheres were embedded in a silicone matrix. Overall, this work provides a path toward wider applications of radiative cooling achieved by microsphere-based disordered systems

Experiences of senior administrators in creating performance excellence in Thailand\u27s private universities

Higher education in Thailand is challenged with increasing pressures. Like other kinds of organizations, universities have been challenged by external, uncontrollable forces. The increased challenges in Thailand\u27s higher education have prompted senior institutional administrators to understand the nature of higher education institutional affairs, and to articulate new solutions and adapt the business world\u27s operational paradigm in quality management to direct their institutions in allocating their limited resources. The purpose of the study was to discover and make meaning of institutional administrative affairs in private universities in Bangkok, Thailand, as perceived by senior level administrators. A case study methodology with constructivist epistemology was employed for the study. Eight university administrators in four institutions in Bangkok, Thailand were invited to join the individual interviews and focus group. Findings were discovered how institution has addressed and moved on improving excellence in administrative performance. Utilizing Baldrige and ONESQA for their performance excellence development provided a detailed snapshot of the institutional system. Thailand\u27s universities using the quality frameworks to transform their business start with an assessment. Universities need a new understanding of the nature of their quality initiatives system, and a measurement of their improvement. All participants recognized and understood the benefits of the quality frameworks assessment. As a result of the implementation of the SAR reports, universities can produce a roadmap for continuous improvement, and also validate key performance areas, and set a process for improvement

Marxist Commodity Fetishization Encoded In Illusory Environmental Policy: Exacerbating the Global North-South Divide

The realm of environmental policy is riddled with issues with regards to method of approach and execution. This contemporary form of environmental policy is demystified through the utilization of a Marxist framework. In particular, the concept of commodity fetishism can be used to illustrate the manner in which modern environmental policy fetters the Global South to the economic survival of the Global North.&nbsp

Green’s Functions for Surface Waves in a Generic Velocity Structure

Methodologies for calculating surface‐wave velocities and the associated displacement/stress eigenfunctions and Green’s functions have been well established for many decades. However, to our knowledge, no one has ever documented a quantitative evaluation of these properties for commonly used empirical scalings. For example, it is currently not possible to take a given power‐law dependence of shear‐wave velocity on depth and look up the corresponding dependence of phase velocity on frequency, or Green’s function surface displacement. We address this gap in the literature and here provide explicit quantitatively accurate expressions for phase velocities and Green’s function amplitudes for a few commonly used empirical formulas for near‐surface velocity structure. These exact expressions are found to be immediately useful in applications that use shallow phase velocities and also in applications that interpret seismic amplitudes or amplitude ratios from near‐surface processes such as fluvial transport, icequakes, landslides, and volcanic tremor

Thai FDA Development of GMP Accreditation Approval System for Oversea Manufacturers

Objective: To explore and develop the GMP accreditation of oversea manufacturers suitable for Thailand. Methods: This study used an integrated research method. In phase 1, we performed document research on application and interviews on officers and group interviews on licensees. In phase 2, we performed interviews on executive officers of Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who had experiences about GMP accreditation by purposive sampling. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage and content analysis. Results: GMP accreditation approval process was delayed mainly because of application defects especially Plant Master File and a large number of applications were submitted. Public manual for GMP accreditation was made by Thai FDA. Even though the process was improved but the application process was still delayed because of limited workforce to inspect the documents. Defective documents and subsequent re-submission still slowed the whole process down. Informants reported that GMP accreditation process should be improved in 2 phases. In short-term phase, organization management of the FDA should be improved. In long-term phase, and plan for consumer protection should be developed. Conclusion: GMP accreditation approval process of oversea manufacturers suitable for Thailand should be improved to support the work of officers and the import licensees.Keywords: GMP accreditation, oversea manufacturer, approval, good manufacturing practiceวัตถุประสงค์: เพื่อศึกษาสถานการณ์และพัฒนาระบบการพิจารณารับรองมาตรฐานสถานที่ผลิตยาในต่างประเทศที่เหมาะสมกับประเทศไทย วิธีการศึกษา: แบ่งเป็น 2 ระยะ ระยะที่ 1 การวิเคราะห์สถานการณ์ระบบการพิจารณารับรองฯ โดยเก็บข้อมูลจากเอกสาร การสัมภาษณ์เจ้าหน้าที่รับผิดชอบการรับรองมาตรฐานฯ สำนักงานคณะกรมการอาหารและยา (อย.) และการสัมภาษณ์กลุ่มผู้รับอนุญาตนำเข้า ส่วนระยะที่ 2 เป็นการพัฒนาระบบการพิจารณารับรองฯ ให้เหมาะสมกับประเทศไทย เก็บข้อมูลจากการสัมภาษณ์ผู้บริหารของ อย. ที่มีประสบการณ์ด้านระบบการพิจารณารับรองฯ วิเคราะห์ข้อมูลโดยใช้ ความถี่ ร้อยละ และการวิเคราะห์เนื้อหา ผลการศึกษา: พบว่าการพิจารณารับรองฯ ดำเนินงานล่าช้าเนื่องจากพบข้อบกพร่องของเอกสารประกอบการพิจารณารับรองฯ โดยเอกสารที่พบข้อบกพร่องมากที่สุด คือ Plant Master File โดย อย. ได้แก้ไขโดยจัดทำคู่มือประชาชน แต่ยังพบว่ามีผู้รับอนุญาตฯ รอคิวนัดหมายตรวจสอบเอกสารเบื้องต้นเป็นจำนวนมาก ต่อมา อย.ได้ปรับปรุงกระบวนการทำงานและเพิ่มเจ้าหน้าที่ตรวจสอบเอกสารเบื้องต้น แต่ยังพบว่าผู้รับอนุญาตฯ ที่จองคิวส่วนใหญ่จัดเตรียมเอกสารไม่พร้อมจึงต้องยื่นขอคิวใหม่ ส่วนผู้รับอนุญาตฯ ที่มีเอกสารพร้อมก็ยังไม่ถึงคิวประเมิน ส่งผลให้ปริมาณงานของเจ้าหน้าที่ผู้ตรวจสอบไม่ลดลง ระบบการพิจารณารับรองฯ ที่ได้นี้จำเป็นต้องพัฒนาเป็น 2 ระยะ โดยระยะสั้น คือ การจัดการเบื้องต้นภายใน อย. ส่วนระยะยาว คือ การวางแผนพัฒนาระบบและแผนงบประมาณเพื่อคุ้มครองผู้บริโภคในอนาคต สรุป: ระบบการพิจารณารับรองฯ ที่เหมาะสมกับประเทศไทยที่ได้ ยังต้องพัฒนาอย่างต่อเนื่อง อย.ควรพัฒนาทั้งในส่วนการสนับสนุนการทำงานของเจ้าหน้าที่ และผู้รับอนุญาตฯ คำสำคัญ: ระบบการพิจารณารับรองมาตรฐาน, สถานที่ผลิตยาในต่างประเทศ, การรับรอง, มาตรฐานการผลิตที่ดี

Small-tilt micromirror-device-based multiwavelength three-dimensional 2x2 fiber optic switch structures

Small-tilt micromirror-based 2x2 fiber optic switch array structures are proposed using fixed mirrors and fiber interconnections. A multiwavelength 2x2 fiber optic switch based on this small-tilt micromirror is experimentally demonstrated. The key innovation in this architecture is the use of a specially located fixed mirror to form a symmetric 2x2 retroreflective switching structure. These 2x2 fiber optic switch structures can also provide a fault-tolerant design using a macropixel approach. A two-dimensional digital micromirror device (2D-DMD) from Texas Instruments (TI) designed to operate in the visible band is used to represent the small-tilt micromirrors in our experimental demonstration. Multiwavelength switch operation is characterized by changing the operating wavelength of the tunable laser. The measured average optical coherent crosstalk is -22 dB with +/-0.9 dB fluctuation over 40 nm, limited by the on-off ratio of the 2D-DMD. The measured average optical loss is 14.8 dB at a 1.55-mu m operating wavelength, limited by the visible wavelength design TI 2D-DMD, three-port optical circulators, fiber adapters, and free-space-to-fiber coupling efficiency

RFID-Enabled Management of Highly-Perishable Inventory: A Markov Decision Process Approach for Grocery Retailers

We address the challenge of managing perishable inventory. One study was conducted to analyze the effects of recapturing unsatisfied demand, and another to estimate improvements in operational metrics through delaying order placements. Our results indicate that significant profit improvements can be achieved under these scenarios, as evidenced by a greater than 30% median increase in profit margin

Design for Collaborative Minds: A Visual Designers Contribution to the Collaborative Consumption Model

Environmental, consumption, and capital economic crises. These calamities have been circulating in my mind since my BA Final project on climate change in 2007. The more I learn the more I realize that we designers, con-sciously or not, actually play a pivotally responsible role in them. Many of the design school models today are for the most part still based on the Ulm School of Design. Ulm approached design with questions of usability, identity and marketing, putting every design decision to test against measurable, objective criteria. Design has to work. But for whom? For the client, for the industry, we were taught. This made perfect sense in the mid 50’s when there were real problems, real needs to produce commodities and to boost economies after World War II. Designers were trained to be loyal servants to industry, and industry to society, and this has re-mained true since. But things gradually changed. Gone is the age of society-serving industry; emerged is the marketing-led industry of endless capitalist cravings to generate indefinite, unsustainable economic growth in a hyper-consumption so-ciety, while making people miserable and killing the planet along the way. And we designers were serving this system, believing we were still ‘helping’ the industry and the society. Taking this as my starting point, I questioned that if designers could play a part in driving this unsustainable system, would it not be possible that we can also contribute to a reverse? What if we desert this old system and help steer a newer, better, more sustainable system? I came across the term collaborative consumption from a remarkable book. ‘What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption’ by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers. Collaborative consumption is a healthier con-sumption model for nature, humans and economics. In their words, it “describes the rapid explosion in tradition-al sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping reinvented through network technologies on a scale and in ways never possible before.” After reading the book, I became confident this is the new system I had been searching for. As collaborative consumption is something rather new I found that there has not yet been much writing or research on it, especially from a designers’ perspective. I saw this as an opportunity to contribute my time and energy to study this new system through my own MA Graphic Design thesis. The research question sprang from my interst to explore: ‘How can visual designers contribute to collaborative consumption services?’ In order to find answers to the research question, I formulated a methodology. First, I analyzed existing successful collaborative consumption case studies to identify how they visually communicate and operate. The framework used was ‘6-point analysis’, based on Kevin Keller’s ‘essential brand building blocks.’ Secondly, I exhibited the experience and process from two commissioned collaborative consumption projects I had been involved with as a visual designer. Finally, the findings from these two methods formulated an outcome which answered the research question. The outcome takes the form of a guideline booklet entitled, ‘A Visual Designer’s Guideline to Collabora-tive Consumption Services.