Rapid contour determination using a floating pin matrix

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 21).The exponential growth of computer and information technologies have drastically simplified the transfer of geometric information from the minds of designers to physical embodiments of design concepts. For example, it is now possible for designers to transform a complex design idea into a part or model on his desk within a few hours with the use of CAD software and CNC machining. This reduction in thought-to- part time begs the question of how the part-to-thought process can be sped up. Currently, if a designer needs to determine the geometry of a complex contour, he has to use either a phase-change material or some sort of optical scanning method. However, the use of phase-change materials can be awkward and does not permit digital manipulation of the geometric information. While optical methods do not have these short falls, it's cost is often prohibitive and it faces geometric limitations. The objective of this thesis is to design and test an alternative method of contour determination, using a floating pin matrix which can move to conform to the shape of the contour and output the position of each pin to a computer. The pin matrix is a bed of tightly packed cylinders that can move in the axial direction independent of each other. When the pin matrix is pushed against a certain surface, each pin moves into contact with the surface, correlating the axial displacement of each pin to the height of the surface at the point of contact. Mapping the axial displacement (z-coordinate) of the pins to their known location on the matrix (x- and y- coordinates) yields a complete picture of contour. While determining the axial displacement of a moving pin is a rather simple and trivial task, the fact that the pins need to be tightly packed in large numbers to provide a good resolution greatly complicates the task. The solution that was arrived at in this thesis involves using the moving pins as part of a "reverse potentiometer" and using two parallel plates as electrical leads that contact each and every one of the pins. The pins and the parallel plates are thus utilized both for physical function of the device and the measurement of the displacement, halving the amount of necessary components. A prototype of the device was constructed and tested to determine the feasibility of the pin matrix system. Although the prototype only incorporated one pin, it was demonstrated that the pin matrix concept is feasible as long as issues of contact resistance between the parallel plates and the pins can be resolved.by Stallion E. Yang.S.B

Missouri Abolishes the Corroboration Rule and the Destructive Contradictions Doctrine: A Victory for Victims of Sexual Assault?

Part II of this Note explores the issue in the case at hand, State v. Porter, which has finally abolished both the corroboration rule and destructive contradictions doctrine in Missouri sexual assault cases. Next, Part III presents the archaic rationale behind the two doctrines and explores its development. Finally, in Part IV, the Supreme Court of Missouri’s decision to abolish these doctrines is dissected and the evolution of these evidentiary common law rules is analyzed in light of courts’ efforts to remove the high wall of doubt female victims must attempt to overcome. This analysis reveals that much still needs to be done in order to truly prevent sex and gender norms from continuing to enter the courtroom and burden prosecutions of sexual assault

No Less a Victim: A Call to Governor Nixon to Grant Clemency to Two Missouri Women

Approximately one in three women in the United States will fall victim to domestic violence in her lifetime. In recent years, an intimate partner killed approximately thirty-nine percent of female homicide victims in the United States; an intimate partner only killed 2.8% of male homicide victims. Battered Woman Syndrome (“BWS”) has received broad recognition in an effort to help factfinders better understand how battered women perceive their relationships, and opportunities for escape from abuse, as well as reactions to the cycle of violence. Before the introduction of expert testimony regarding BWS was admissible at trial, women who killed their partners were unable to plead self-defense and often pled guilty or claimed an impaired mental state defense

No Less a Victim: A Call to Governor Nixon to Grant Clemency to Two Missouri Women

Approximately one in three women in the United States will fall victim to domestic violence in her lifetime. In recent years, an intimate partner killed approximately thirty-nine percent of female homicide victims in the United States; an intimate partner only killed 2.8% of male homicide victims. Battered Woman Syndrome (“BWS”) has received broad recognition in an effort to help factfinders better understand how battered women perceive their relationships, and opportunities for escape from abuse, as well as reactions to the cycle of violence. Before the introduction of expert testimony regarding BWS was admissible at trial, women who killed their partners were unable to plead self-defense and often pled guilty or claimed an impaired mental state defense

Abdominoplasty for Ladd’s procedure: optimizing access and esthetics

Rotational anomalies occur when there is an abnormal arrest of rotation in the embryonic gut during development. The characteristic population affected is considered to be infants or young children, but in clinical practice, can be found in older children and adults as well. In these patients, the Ladd procedure is performed, whereby the abdomen is opened using traditional incisions, such as the midline laparotomy, for full visualization of the abdominal cavity. Despite providing excellent visualization, approaches such as this carry both increased surgical-site morbidity and an often-displeasing incision and visible scar. In this case report, we advocate consideration of the low transverse pfannenstiel incision and approach used traditionally in cosmetic and reconstructive abdominoplasty for surgical access to the abdomen for Ladd’s procedure. We believe that this alternative approach provides superior visualization without compromising the integrity or the esthetics of the abdominal wall in appropriate populations desiring to minimize the morbidity and visibility of their scar.Keywords: adult, adolescent, aesthetics, abdominoplasty, Ladd procedure, ope

Neutrophils-A key component of ischemia-reperfusion injury

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a common occurrence following myocardial infarction, transplantation, stroke, and trauma that can lead to multiple organ failure, which remains the foremost cause of death in critically ill patients. Current therapeutic strategies for IRI are mainly palliative, and there is an urgent requirement for a therapeutic that could prevent or reverse tissue damage caused by IRI. Neutrophils are the primary responders following ischemia and reperfusion and represent important components in the protracted inflammatory response and severity associated with IRI. Experimental studies demonstrate neutrophil infiltration at the site of ischemia and show that inducing neutropenia can protect organs from IRI. In this review, we highlight the mechanisms involved in neutrophil recruitment, activation, and adherence and how this contributes to disease severity in IRI. Inhibiting neutrophil mobilization, tissue recruitment, and ultimately neutrophil-associated activation of local and systemic inflammatory responses may have therapeutic potential in the amelioration of local and remote tissue damage following IRI. Copyrigh

Introduction of an agent-based multi-scale modular architecture for dynamic knowledge representation of acute inflammation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One of the greatest challenges facing biomedical research is the integration and sharing of vast amounts of information, not only for individual researchers, but also for the community at large. Agent Based Modeling (ABM) can provide a means of addressing this challenge via a unifying translational architecture for dynamic knowledge representation. This paper presents a series of linked ABMs representing multiple levels of biological organization. They are intended to translate the knowledge derived from in vitro models of acute inflammation to clinically relevant phenomenon such as multiple organ failure.</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>ABM development followed a sequence starting with relatively direct translation from in-vitro derived rules into a cell-as-agent level ABM, leading on to concatenated ABMs into multi-tissue models, eventually resulting in topologically linked aggregate multi-tissue ABMs modeling organ-organ crosstalk. As an underlying design principle organs were considered to be functionally composed of an epithelial surface, which determined organ integrity, and an endothelial/blood interface, representing the reaction surface for the initiation and propagation of inflammation. The development of the epithelial ABM derived from an in-vitro model of gut epithelial permeability is described. Next, the epithelial ABM was concatenated with the endothelial/inflammatory cell ABM to produce an organ model of the gut. This model was validated against in-vivo models of the inflammatory response of the gut to ischemia. Finally, the gut ABM was linked to a similarly constructed pulmonary ABM to simulate the gut-pulmonary axis in the pathogenesis of multiple organ failure. The behavior of this model was validated against in-vivo and clinical observations on the cross-talk between these two organ systems</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A series of ABMs are presented extending from the level of intracellular mechanism to clinically observed behavior in the intensive care setting. The ABMs all utilize cell-level agents that encapsulate specific mechanistic knowledge extracted from in vitro experiments. The execution of the ABMs results in a dynamic representation of the multi-scale conceptual models derived from those experiments. These models represent a qualitative means of integrating basic scientific information on acute inflammation in a multi-scale, modular architecture as a means of conceptual model verification that can potentially be used to concatenate, communicate and advance community-wide knowledge.</p

Antioxidative protection of dietary bilberry, chokeberry and Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL19 in mice subjected to intestinal oxidative stress by ischemia-reperfusion

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in the intestines is an inflammatory condition which activates leukocytes and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and leads to lipid peroxidation and DNA damage. Bilberry and chokeberry fruits are rich sources of polyphenols which may act as antioxidants and prevent lipid peroxidation. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) may improve microbial status in the intestines and increase the metabolic activity towards polyphenolic degradation. The aim of the study was to clarify antioxidative effects of bilberry and chokeberry fruits alone and with addition of a LAB-strain, <it>Lactobacillus plantarum </it>HEAL19, in an I/R-model in mice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Male BALB/cJ mice were fed the experimental diets for 10 days. Diets consisted of standard chow supplemented with either bilberry (<it>Vaccinium myrtillus</it>) or chokeberry (<it>Aronia × prunifolia</it>) powder alone or in combination with the LAB-strain <it>Lactobacillus plantarum </it>HEAL19. I/R-injury was induced by holding superior mesenteric artery clamped for 30 minutes followed by reperfusion for 240 minutes. Thereafter, colonic and caecal tissues and contents were collected. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was used as indicator of lipid peroxidation and was measured by a calorimetric assay, lactobacilli were cultured on Rogosa agar plates and <it>Enterobacteriaceae </it>on VRBG agar plates, anthocyanins and phenolic acids were analysed by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MDA was significantly decreased in the colon of groups fed bilberry alone (p = 0.030) and in combination with <it>L. plantarum </it>HEAL19 (p = 0.021) compared to the IR-control but not in chokeberry-fed groups. Supplementation with bilberry or chokeberry alone reduced the total number of lactobacilli on the mucosa. Higher concentrations of anthocyanins were found in the colon than in the caecum content of mice. A more varied composition of different anthocyanins was also observed in the colon content compared to the caecum of bilberry-fed mice. Phenolic acids formed by microbial degradation of the dietary polyphenols in the gut could be detected. More phenolic metabolites were found in the intestines of bilberry-fed mice than in the chokeberry-fed ones.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Bilberry alone and in combination with <it>L. plantarum </it>HEAL19 exerts a better protection against lipid peroxidation than chokeberry. These dietary supplements may be used to prevent or suppress oxidative stress.</p