Laminar Flow Hood System Design

In 2011 health care costs for transplants were over 12 billion dollars in the United States for evaluation, procurement, facilities use, physicians, and post-transplant check-ups. In 2012 burns hospitalized 40,000 people and over 17,000 people received organ transplants. Sadly, the number of organ donors greatly lags the number of people on the transplant waiting list and the gap has widened over the decades. While preventative health care is extremely important, researching tissue engineering (TE) to treat patients in fatal condition provides alternatives for replacing or repairing a variety of damaged tissue. These alternative treatments can considerably reduce the supply-demand gap for transplant organs and hopefully reduce the cost of such procedures in the future. Breakthroughs in TE such as tracheal transplants, porcine heart valves, dermal tissue, and others show substantial potential in the medical field. However, technology for this relatively new field of research limits its progress. For example, growing tissues require a specific environment for stability and optimum growth. In this project a laminar flow hood is built which sustains an ideal tissue environment and can assist TE research and development. This paper outlines the control system for a laminar flow hood, also referred to as a tissue engineering hood, in which scientists could engineer and investigate tissues. The laminar flow hood keeps tissues alive by regulating CO2 concentration, temperature, airflow, and humidity to provide the optimum environment for tissues to thrive

Naturally Synthetic: Our Interwoven World

University of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134010/1/Schneider_Thesis_Done.pd

Generalised sifting in black-box groups

We present a generalisation of the sifting procedure introduced originally by Sims for computation with finite permutation groups, and now used for many computational procedures for groups, such as membership testing and finding group orders. Our procedure is a Monte Carlo algorithm, and is presented and analysed in the context of black-box groups. It is based on a chain of subsets instead of a subgroup chain. Two general versions of the procedure are worked out in detail, and applications are given for membership tests for several of the sporadic simple groups. Our major objective was that the procedures could be proved to be Monte Carlo algorithms, and their costs computed. In addition we explicitly determined suitable subset chains for six of the sporadic groups, and we implemented the algorithms involving these chains in the {\sf GAP} computational algebra system. It turns out that sample implementations perform well in practice. The implementations will be made available publicly in the form of a {\sf GAP} package

Trade integration, global capital flows and the link to institutional quality from a North-South perspective

This doctoral thesis is a cumulative dissertation containing three essays. In the first essay, I create a panel data set of North-South preferential trade agreements (PTAs) building on the comprehensive database on the design of trade agreements (DESTA). I analyze the effects of the depth and number of PTAs signed on the quality of institutions in developing countries, the global South, measured as the political risk component investment profile of the ICRG database. I show that the system GMM is the appropriate estimator to apply for my empirical analysis to account for various sources of endogeneity. I show that signing deep North-South PTAs positively affects institutions in the South. The results differ with respect to the type of agreement and region. The second essay deals with the determinants of PTAs focusing on institutional distance as a driving factor and regarding PTAs as an instrument to compensate for missing institutions. I argue that the effect of institutional distance is specifically important (1) in a North-South trade relationship where institutional distance is particularly large and (2) if countries trade a large share of contract-intensive goods. For this analysis I create a panel data set including a large number of developing countries and a variable to measure the difference of the share of bilateral contract-intensive exports and show that a linear probability model for discrete choice panel data is a suitable estimator to be used. I address endogeneity using an instrument variable (IV) approach. I show that institutional distance promotes the formation of PTAs. Comparing this effect for North-North, North-South, and South-South country pairs reveals that the positive effect of institutional distance on the probability of PTA formation is specifically high for the formation of North-South PTAs. Furthermore, I find that the effect is nonlinear and that trading contract-intensive goods reinforces the positive effect of institutional distance for the formation of North-South PTAs and may offset negative effects. Robustness checks with regard to the underlying sample reveal that the effect of institutional distance is driven by North-South relationships involving the EU. Essay 3 is dedicated to global investment flows and aims at deriving a global model to determine the factors of foreign direct investment (FDI) by considering investment flows between and within North and South. We empirically estimate and assess global FDI models, namely the gravity and knowledge capital (KK) model, based on the new CDIS data set by the IMF, which includes a large number of developing and transition countries. This allows us to detect potential vertical motives for FDI and to address the global trend of increasing FDI from and to the global South. We find the gravity model to achieve the best theory-consistent out-of-sample prediction, particularly when parameter heterogeneity of South and North FDI is allowed for. Controlling for surrounding market potential is important to recover the horizontal effect of the gravity model. Including institutional, cultural, or financial factors does not improve the model performance distinctly although results for those variables are mostly in line with theory.Diese Dissertation ist eine kumulative Dissertation bestehend aus drei Essays. Im ersten Aufsatz erstelle ich einen Panel-Datensatz aus Nord-Süd Präferenzhandelsabkommen (PTAs), der auf den umfassenden Datensatz Design of Trade Agreements Database (DESTA) aufbaut. Auf Basis des Panels analysiere ich die Auswirkungen der Tiefe und der Anzahl der unterzeichneten PTAs auf die Qualität der Institutionen von Entwicklungsländern, dem globalen "Süden", gemessen durch das "Investitionsprofil" des Political Risk Index des International Country Risk Guide (ICRG). Die Verwendung des System GMM zeigt sich als geeigneter Schätzer für die empirische Analyse, um verschiedene Quellen der Endogeneität zu berücksichtigen. Die Ergebnisse unterstützen die Hypothese, dass sich die Unterzeichnung tiefer Nord-Süd-PTAs positiv auf die Institutionen im "Süden" auswirkt. Die Ergebnisse unterscheiden sich in Bezug auf die Art der Abkommen und die Region der Entwicklungsländer. Der zweite Aufsatz befasst sich mit den Determinanten von Handelsabkommen. Der Fokus der Analyse liegt auf der institutionellen Distanz als Faktor und betrachtet Handelsabkommen als rechtliches Instrument zur Kompensation fehlender Institutionen. In meiner empirischen Analyse untersuche ich die Hypothese, dass die Wirkung der institutionellen Distanz insbesondere wichtig ist, wenn (1) Länderpaare in einer Nord-Süd-Handelsbeziehung stehen, in der die institutionelle Entfernung besonders groß ist und (2) Länder einen hohen Anteil vertrags-intensiver Güter handeln. Im Rahmen meiner Analyse erstelle ich einen Panel-Datensatz, der eine große Anzahl von Entwicklungsländern umfasst und eine Variable zur Messung der Distanz des Anteils bilateraler vertrags-intensiver Exporte. Ich zeige, dass ein lineares Wahrscheinlichkeitsmodell für Paneldaten mit diskreter Outcome-Variable ein geeigneter Schätzer ist. Potentielle Endogeneität berücksichtige ich im Rahmen einer geeigneten Instrumentierung. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass institutionelle Distanz die Bildung von Handelsabkommen fördert. Ein Vergleich dieses Effekts für Nord-Nord-, Nord-Süd- und Süd-Süd-Länderpaare zeigt, dass der positive Effekt der institutionellen Distanz auf die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Bildung von Handelsabkommen, speziell für die Bildung von Nord-Süd-Handelsabkommen, besonders hoch ist. Darüber hinaus stützen die Ergebnisse meine Annahme, dass der Effekt nichtlinear ist und dass der Handel vertrags-intensiver Gütern den positiven Effekt der institutionellen Entfernung für die Bildung von Nord-Süd-PTA verstärkt und negative Auswirkungen ausgleichen kann. Die Robustheitsprüfungen in Bezug auf die zugrunde liegende Stichprobe zeigen, dass die Auswirkungen der institutionellen Entfernung auf die Nord-Süd-Beziehungen insbesondere auf die Beteiligung der EU zurückzuführen sind. Essay 3 widmet sich den globalen Investitionsströmen und zielt darauf ab, ein globales Modell abzuleiten, um die Faktoren ausländischer Direktinvestitionen (FDI) zu bestimmen, indem die Investitionsströme zwischen und innerhalb des globalen "Nordens" und "Südens" berücksichtigt werden. Wir schätzen und bewerten empirisch globale FDI-Modelle, das Gravity- und Knowledge-Capital-Modell (KK), basierend auf dem neuen CDIS-Datensatz des IWF, der eine große Anzahl von Entwicklungs- und Transformationsländern umfasst. Dies ermöglicht es uns, potenzielle vertikale Motive für FDI zu erkennen und dem globalen Trend steigender FDI-Ströme aus und in den Süden zu erklären. Die Analyse zeigt, dass die Verwendung des Gravity-Modells zu den besten theorie-konsistenten Out-of-Sample-Vorhersagen führt, insbesondere wenn heterogene Faktoren in Süd- und Nord-FDI berücksichtigt werden. Die Berücksichtigung des umgebenden Marktpotenzials trägt insbesondere dazu bei, horizontale Effekte des Gravity-Modells aufzuzeigen. Die Einbeziehung institutioneller, kultureller oder finanzieller Faktoren verbessert die Modellleistung nicht wesentlich, obwohl die Ergebnisse für diese Variablen meist der Theorie entsprechen

Examined by the plattenbau-series WBS 70 of the former DDR

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Arquitetura, com a especialização em Arquitetura apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre.Ponto de partida: Berlim Oriental, Alemanha, 1961. A RDA procurava uma economia descentralizada e igualdade social para os seus cidadãos, o que significava que os contractos de arrendamento na habitação, só era permitida e contratada pelo Estado. Os alugueres devem ser acessíveis para todos os moradores. Rendimentos não devem decidir sobre as condições de habitação. Sob essas condições, o Regime RDA iniciou um grande programa de construção em 1973, que deveria resolver os pricipais problemas de habitacionais - como um problema social - até 1990. Após a queda do muro, a quase 30 anos atrás, as cidades do interior estavam em mau estado - e muitos dos recentes edifícios pré-fabricados já estavam a precisar de reforma. Todos os cidadãos da RDA tinham o direito à habitação adequada – este direito era protegido pela constituição. Mas, na realidade, a procura por casa e a sua escasses estavam a crescer e as condições de vida não eram, de longe, tão gloriosas quanto o planeado. Embora as condições de vida na antiga RDA já tenham sido amplamente estudadas por muitos cientistas, este trabalho incorpora os resultados já existentes da pesquisa, que comprovam como os antigos moradores vivenciaram uma injustiça no que toca à habitação. Além disso, esses resultados declarados são cobertos e comparados com informações empíricas de pesquisa, a fim de esclarecer a origem do erro, de um ponto de vista arquitetônico. Para as afirmações mencionadas, os dados empíricos foram recolhidos na forma de entrevistas com ex-residentes de WBS 70. Essas entrevistas foram gravadas, transcritas, traduzidas, analisadas e finalmente comparadas com os resultados anteriores. As páginas seguintes apresentam a principal causa de insatisfação, a dramatica escasses de espaço habitacional que teve um impacto negativo em toda a vida social. A grande maioria de todos os sujeitos foi afetada por esse problema e, de acordo com suas declarações, a grande maioria dos moradores de Berlim Oriental experienciou problemas semelhantes. No entanto, esta questão dificilmente pode ser rastreada até uma falha em termos de arquitetura, mas muito mais uma falha a nivel político. No entanto, também surgiram características positivas. Nesse sentido, este trabalho chega à conclusão de que as situações arquitetônicas do interior influenciam e muito o bem-estar social dos moradores. Com relação à série de construção de habitações WBS 70, torna-se claro que existiu também um impacto negativo. Os habitantes eram muito limitados no seu desenvolvimento pessoal, o que os obrigou a desenvolver soluções evasivas e a confiar mais na comunicação social e na cooperação. Com efeito, as limitações da série WBS 70 levaram seus habitantes a desenvolver sua personalidade de maneira próspera.ABSTRACT: Point of departure: East-Berlin, Germany, 1961. The former DDR pursued a decentralized economy and social equality for its citizens, which meant that housing, in means of renting an apartment, was only allowed and contracted by the state. Rents should be affordable for all dwellers. Incomes should not decide about the housing conditions. Under these conditions, the DDR Regime started a major construction program in 1973, which should solve the predominant housing issue - as a social problem - until 1990. During the time when the wall fell, almost 30 years ago, the inner cities were in bad shape - and many newly constructed prefabricated buildings were already in need of refurbishment. Every DDR citizen had the right to dwell in an adequate apartment - this was enshrined in the constitution. But in reality, the housing shortage was still growing and the living conditions were, by far, not as glorious as planned. While the living conditions in the former DDR have already been extensively studied by many scientists, the following work incorporates already existing research results, which prove how the former dwellers experienced grievance in the area of living. In addition to that, those stated results are covered and compared with empirical research information, in order to clarify the source of the error, from an architectural point of view. For the mentioned statements, empirical data was collected in the form of interviews with former residents of the WBS 70 series. These interviews were recorded, transcribed, translated, analysed and finally compared with the previous results. The following sheets present the main cause of dissatisfaction, according to a dramatically lack of living space, which executed impact on the entire social life. The large majority of all subjects was affected by this problem and according to their statements, the vast majority of all East-Berlin residents, experienced similar issues. However, this issue can hardly be traced back to a failure in architectural terms, but much more a failure on political levels. Apart from that, however, positive features emerged as well. Accordingly, this work arrives to the conclusion that interior-architectural situations, very well influence the social well-being of dwellers. With regard to the housing construction series WBS 70, it is clear that a negative impact existed. The inhabitants were very limited in their personal development, which, however, forced them to develop evasive solutions and to rely more on social communication and cooperation. In effect, the limitations of the WBS 70 series, pushed its inhabitants to develop their personality in a thriving way.N/

Explaining the global landscape of foreign direct investment:Knowledge capital, gravity, and the role of culture and institutions

In this paper, we empirically re-assess the question which theoretical motives and empirical models are most suitable to explain global patterns of foreign direct investment (FDI). Compared with previous studies, we use bilateral FDI positions with a much more comprehensive coverage of emerging and developing economies, the IMF's Coordinated Direct Investment Statistics. We apply cross-validation to assess the performance of the gravity model and the knowledge capital (KK) model and add cultural, institutional and financial factors, as suggested by different theories on FDI determinants. We find the gravity model to achieve the best theory-consistent out-of-sample prediction, particularly when parameter heterogeneity of South and North FDI is allowed for. Controlling for surrounding market potential is important to recover the horizontal effect of the gravity model. Our finding that the gravity model for FDI performs well but requires some degree of parameter heterogeneity and the inclusion of surrounding market potential provides a clear baseline for future empirical studies of FDI determinants. Inclusion of institutional, cultural or financial factors seems less relevant and does not improve the model performance distinctly, although results for those variables are mostly in line with theoretical predictions

Cardiac Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) Released in the Presence or Absence of Inflammatory Cues Support Angiogenesis in Different Manners

Cells release extracellular vesicles (EVs) to communicate in a paracrine manner with other cells, and thereby influence processes, such as angiogenesis. The conditioned medium of human cardiac-derived adherent proliferating (CardAP) cells was recently shown to enhance angiogenesis. To elucidate whether their released EVs are involved, we isolated them by differential centrifugation from the conditioned medium derived either in the presence or absence of a pro-inflammatory cytokine cocktail. Murine recipient cells internalized CardAP-EVs as determined by an intracellular detection of human proteins, such as CD63, by a novel flow cytometry method for studying EV-cell interaction. Moreover, endothelial cells treated for 24 h with either unstimulated or cytokine stimulated CardAP-EVs exhibited a higher tube formation capability on Matrigel. Interestingly, unstimulated CardAP-EVs caused endothelial cells to release significantly more vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin (IL)-6, while cytokine stimulated CardAP-EVs significantly enhanced the release of IL-6 and IL-8. By nCounter® miRNA expression assay (NanoString Technologies) we identified microRNA 302d-3p to be enhanced in unstimulated CardAP-EVs compared to their cytokine stimulated counterparts, which was verified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. This study demonstrates that both CardAP-EVs are pro-angiogenic by inducing different factors from endothelial cells. This would allow to select potent targets for a safe and efficient therapeutic application