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<p>The synthesis of novel oxadiazole antibiotics more water soluble than previously published analogues within the group will be discussed in this thesis as part of synthesizing a library with increased sp3 character.  These analogues were tested against S. aureus and MRSA strains to determine the most active compounds then percent hemolysis confirmed little RBC lysis among the compounds.  Synergistic activity was also tested for HSGN-2241 previously synthesized within the group.  Biofilm eradication assays were completed for HSD 1919 alongside time kill assays.</p>

Basic circuits, which form the building blocks of the brain, have been identiffied in recent literature. We propose to treat these basic circuits as "stochastic generators" whose instances serve to wire a portion of the mouse brain. Very much in the same manner as genes generate proteins by providing templates for their construction, we view the catalog of basic circuits as providing templates for wiring up the neurons of the brain. This thesis work involves a) deffining a framework for the stochastic generation of brain networks, b) generation of sample networks from the basic circuits, and c) visualization of the generated networks.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Mathematical Sciences, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

This project applies principles from the field of Computational Neuroscience to Robotics research, in particular to develop systems inspired by how nature manages to solve sensorimotor coordination tasks. The overall aim has been to build a self-organising sensorimotor system using biologically inspired techniques based upon human cortical development which can in the future be implemented in neuromorphic hardware. This can then deliver the benefits of low power consumption and real time operation but with flexible learning onboard autonomous robots. A core principle is the Self-Organising Feature Map which is based upon the theory of how 2D maps develop in real cortex to represent complex information from the environment. A framework for developing feature maps for both motor and visual directional selectivity representing eight different directions of motion is described as well as how they can be coupled together to make a basic visuomotor system. In contrast to many previous works which use artificially generated visual inputs (for example, image sequences of oriented moving bars or mathematically generated Gaussian bars) a novel feature of the current work is that the visual input is generated by a DVS 128 silicon retina camera which is a neuromorphic device and produces spike events in a frame-free way. One of the main contributions of this work has been to develop a method of autonomous regulation of the map development process which adapts the learning dependent upon input activity. The main results show that distinct directionally selective maps for both the motor and visual modalities are produced under a range of experimental scenarios. The adaptive learning process successfully controls the rate of learning in both motor and visual map development and is used to indicate when sufficient patterns have been presented, thus avoiding the need to define in advance the quantity and range of training data. The coupling training experiments show that the visual input learns to modulate the original motor map response, creating a new visual-motor topological map.

Humans utilize the inherent biomechanical compliance present in their fingers for increased stability and dexterity during manipulation tasks. While series elastic actuation has been explored, little research has been performed on the role of joint compliance arranged in parallel with the actuators. The goal of this thesis is to demonstrate, through simulation studies and experimental analyses, the advantages gained by employing human-like passive compliance in finger joints when grasping. We first model two planar systems: a single 2-DOF (degree of freedom) finger and a pair of 2-DOF fingers grasping an object. In each case, combinations of passive joint compliance and active stiffness control are implemented, and the impulse disturbance responses are compared. The control is carried out at a limited sampling frequency, and an energy analysis is performed to investigate stability. Our approach reveals that limited controller frequency leads to increased actuator energy input and hence a less stable system, and human-like passive parallel compliance can improve stability and robustness during grasping tasks. Then, an experimental setup is designed consisting of dual 2-DOF tendon-driven fingers. An impedance control law for two-fingered object manipulation is developed, using a novel friction compensation technique for improved actuator force control. This is used to experimentally quantify the advantages of parallel compliance during dexterous manipulation tasks, demonstrating smoother trajectory tracking and improved stability and robustness to impacts. / text

ITC/USA 2014 Conference Proceedings / The Fiftieth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 20-23, 2014 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, CA / In this paper, we propose a novel technique using a single antenna for direction of arrival (DOA) estimation of broadband microwave signals. We designed and fabricated a microstrip-leaky-wave receiving antenna, which has good matching and reasonable radiation efficiency in the frequency range of interest: 2 - 3.5 GHz. Because the frequency response of the antenna is strongly incident-angle dependent, by using the spectral information at the antenna, we are able to estimate the DOA of a broadband microwave signal with a high degree of accuracy. Simulations and experiments show that the proposed technique enables good DOA estimation performance within a 90˚ range.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 368-377). Also available in electronic version.

Continuum robots are the biologically inspired robots that mimic the behaviors of mammalian tongues, elephant trunks, and octopus arms. These robots feature a backboneless structure similar to their biological counterparts, such as termed muscular hydrostats. The drawbacks of two existing designs are examined and a new mechanical design that uses a single latex rubber tube as the central member is proposed, providing a design that is both simple and robust. Next, a novel verification procedure is applied to examine the validity of the proposed model in two different domains of applicability. A two-level electrical control scheme enables rapid prototyping and can be used to control the continuum robot remotely with a joystick via a Local Area Network (LAN). Next, a new geometrical approach to solve inverse kinematics for continuum type robot manipulators is introduced. Given the tip of a three-section robot, end-points of section 1 and section 2 are computed, and a complete inverse kinematics solution for a multisection continuum robot is then achieved by applying inverse kinematics to each section continuum trunk. Moreover, the algorithm provides a solution space rather than a single valid solution. Finally, the techniques involved in visualization of AirOctor/OctArm in 3D space in real-time are discussed.The algorithm has been tested with several system topologies.

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