Choi Pui-yu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-123). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese Version) --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.v / List of Abbreviations --- p.vi / Table of Contents --- p.viii / List of Tables --- p.xii / List of Figures --- p.xiii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review / Chapter 2.1 --- Mushroom Polysaccharides with Antitumor Activities --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Antitumor β-Glucans --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Antitumor Heteroglycans --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Antitumor Polysaccharide-Protein Complexes --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- Antitumor Activities and Structural Characteristics of Mushroom Polysaccharides --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3 --- Antitumor Effects of Mushroom Polysaccharides In Vitro --- p.19 / Chapter 2.4 --- Antitumor Effects of Mushroom Polysaccharides In Vivo --- p.21 / Chapter 2.5 --- Immunomodulatory Activities --- p.24 / Chapter 2.6 --- Activation of Cytokines by Mushroom Polysaccharides --- p.28 / Chapter 2.7 --- Induction of Nitric Oxide Synthase by Mushroom Polysaccharides --- p.32 / Chapter 2.8 --- Tremella aurantialba --- p.34 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Materials and Methods --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1 --- Extraction --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Extraction of Crude Tremella aurantialba Polysaccharide --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Fractionation --- p.38 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Polysaccharide and Protein Content Determination --- p.38 / Chapter 3.1.3.1 --- Phenol-Sulfuric Assay --- p.39 / Chapter 3.1.3.2 --- Lowry-Folin Method --- p.39 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Gas Chromatography (GC) --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- Modified Carbazole Assay --- p.41 / Chapter 3.1.6 --- High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2 --- In Vitro Studies --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Maintenance of Cell Lines --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Effect on Cancer Cell Lines --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.2.1 --- Trypan Blue Exclusion Methods --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2.2.2 --- MTT Assay --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Effect on Normal Cell Line --- p.45 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Coulter Counter --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3 --- In Vivo Studies --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Animals --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Maintenance of Sarcoma 180 Cell Line --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Effect of TAP Fractions on Sarcoma 18 Solid Tumor --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3.3.1 --- Injection of TAP Fractions 24 h After Transplantation --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3.3.2 --- Injection of TAP Fractions 72 h After Transplantation --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4 --- Effect of TAP Fractions on Modulating mRNA Expression of Cytokines and Nitric Oxide Synthase --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Treatment of Mice --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Isolation of Splenocytes and Peritoneal Exduate Cells --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Extraction of Total mRNA from Splenocyte and Peritoneal Exduate Cells --- p.52 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4.4.1 --- Reverse Transcription --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4.4.2 --- Polymerase Chain Reaction --- p.56 / Chapter 3.4.5 --- DNA Sequencing --- p.57 / Chapter 3.5 --- Statistical Analysis --- p.58 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Results --- p.59 / Chapter 4.1 --- Isolation and Characterization of TAP Fractions --- p.59 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Percentage Yield of TAP Fractions --- p.59 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Polysaccharide and Protein Content of TAP Fractions --- p.59 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Relative Monosaccharide Contents in TAP Fractions --- p.60 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Results of HPLC --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2 --- Effects of TAP Fractions In Vitro --- p.69 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Effects of TAP Fractions on Suspension Cancer Cell Lines --- p.69 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Effects of TAP Fractions on Adhesion Cancer Cell Lines --- p.69 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Effects of TAP Fractions on Normal Cell Line --- p.70 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Effect of TAP 2 on HL-60 Cell Line as Evaluated by Coulter Counter --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3 --- Antitumor Effect of TAP Fractions In Vivo --- p.78 / Chapter 4.4 --- Effect of TAP Fractions on Modulating mRNA Expressions of Cytokines and Nitric Oxide Sythase (NOS) --- p.83 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Results of RT-PCR --- p.83 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Sequencing --- p.84 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Discussion --- p.91 / Chapter 5.1 --- Characterization of TAP Fractions --- p.91 / Chapter 5.2 --- Antitumor Effects of TAP Fractions In Vitro --- p.96 / Chapter 5.3 --- Furhter Study --- p.109 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.111 / References --- p.113

Poon Shuk-ching. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-125). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / Abstract (Chinese Version) --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.vi / List of Tables --- p.x / List of Figures --- p.xi / List of Abbreviations --- p.xiii / Chapter Chapterl 1 --- ntroduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Mushroom Polysaccharides From Basidiomycetes --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Antitumor and Immunomodulatory Activity --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Antiviral Activity --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Hypoglycermic Activity --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Free Radical Scavenging Activity --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2 --- Mushroom Dictyophora indusiata --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Nutritional Value --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Structural Characteristic of Dictyophora indusiata Polysaccharides --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Biological Activity --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3 --- In vivo Antitumor Study --- p.19 / Chapter 2.4 --- Induction of Cytokines Production in Immune System --- p.21 / Chapter 2.5 --- In vitro Antitumor Study --- p.25 / Chapter 2.6 --- Cell Cycle Regulation --- p.28 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Materials & Methods --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1 --- Extraction --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Extraction of Dictyophora indusiata Polysaccharides --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Purification of Dictyophora indusiata Polysaccharides --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1.2.1 --- Preparation of DEAE-cellulose Ion Exchanger --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1.2.2 --- Fractionation --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2. --- Characterization of Dictyophora indusiata Polysaccharides --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Polysaccharide Content Determination --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Protein Content Determination --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Gas Chromatography (GC) --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Uronic Acid Content Determination --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) --- p.43 / Chapter 3.3 --- In vivo Studies --- p.44 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Animals --- p.44 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Maintenance of Sarcoma 180 Cell Line --- p.44 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Effect of DI3 Fraction on Sarcoma 180 Solid Tumor --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Effect of DI3c Fraction on Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-α) and Interleukin 2 (IL-2) Production --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.4.1 --- Treatment of Mice --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.4.2 --- Preparation of Mouse Serum --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.4.3 --- Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for TNF-α Production --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3.4.4 --- Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for IL-2 Production --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4 --- In vitro Studies --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Maintenance of Cell Lines --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Effect on Cancer Cell Lines --- p.52 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Cytotoxicity on Normal Cell Line --- p.52 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Trypan Blue Exclusion Method --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4.5 --- MTT Assay --- p.54 / Chapter 3.4.6 --- BrdU Incorporation --- p.55 / Chapter 3.5 --- Statistical Analysis --- p.56 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Results --- p.57 / Chapter 4.1 --- Extraction and Fractionation of Polysaccharides from Dictyophora indusiata --- p.57 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Percentage Yield of Crude DI Polysaccharides --- p.57 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Percentage Yield of DI3 Fractions --- p.57 / Chapter 4.2 --- Characterization of DI3 Fractions --- p.62 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Polysaccharide and Protein Contents of DI3 Fractions --- p.62 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Relative Monosaccharide and Uronic Acid Content in Different DI3 Fractions --- p.62 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Estimated Molecular Weight of DI3 Fractions --- p.65 / Chapter 4.3 --- Antitumor Effect of Dictyophora indusiata Polysaccharides In vivo --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- In vivo Antitumor Effect of Crude DI Polysaccharides --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- In vivo Antitumor Effect of Various Fractions of DI3 --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Effect of DI3c on TNP-α and IL-2 Production in Mice --- p.78 / Chapter 4.4 --- In vitro Effects of DI3 Fractions on Cell Density and Viability on Normal and Cancer Cell Lines --- p.86 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Effects of DI3 Fractions on Cell Density and Viability of Human Leukemic HL-60 and K-562 and Mouse Sarcoma 180 Cells --- p.86 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Effects of DI3 Fractions on the Growth of Human Liver Cancer HepG2 and Normal Monkey Kidney Vero Cells --- p.86 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Effect of DI3b Fraction on Proliferation of HL-60 Cells Determined by BrdU Incorporation --- p.94 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Discussions --- p.96 / Chapter 5.1 --- Extraction and Characterization of DI3 Fractions --- p.96 / Chapter 5.2 --- Antitumor Effects of Dictyophora indusiata Polysaccharides --- p.101 / Chapter 5.3 --- Further Studies --- p.109 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.111 / References --- p.113

Reinforced concrete frames display nonlinear behavior both due to its composite nature and the material properties of concrete itself. The yielding of the reinforcement, the non-uniform distribution of aggregates and the development of cracks under loading are the main reasons of nonlinearity. The stiffness of a frame element depends on the combination of the modulus of elasticity and the geometric properties of its section - area and the moment of inertia. In practice, the elastic modulus is assumed to be constant throughout the element and the sectional properties are assumed to remain constant under loading. In this study, it is assumed that the material elasticity depends on the reinforcement ratio and its distribution over the section. Also, the cracks developing in the frame element reduces the sectional properties. In case of linear analysis, the material and sectional parameters are assumed to be constant. In practice, the modulus of elasticity E is a predefined value based on previous experiments and the moment of inertia I is assumed to be constant throughout the analysis. However, in this study, E and I are assumed to be combined. In other words, they cannot be separated from each other throughout the analysis. These two parameters are handled as a single parameter as EI . This parameter is controlled by the reinforcement ratio and its configuration, sectional properties and deformation of the member. Two types of analysis, namely a sectional and a finite element analyses, are used in this study. From the sectional analysis, the parameter EI is calculated based on the sectional geometry, material properties and the axial load applied on the section. The parameter EI is then used in the finite element analysis to calculate the sectional forces and the nodal displacements. For the nonlinear analysis, the Newton-Raphson iterative approach is followed until convergence is obtained.

This thesis aims to assess impacts of European Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP) on Turkish participants, focusing on Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) Information Society Technologies (IST) priority. A two-sided approach was employed while assessing impacts. First, DELPHI method was used to quantify and prioritise expectations of the decision makers in key stakeholders / second, a survey was designed to measure additionalities and the level of achievements of program participants. Scientific and technological impacts, economic impacts, institutional impacts and impacts on collaboration and sectoral knowledge were questioned as four main impact criteria. It is demonstrated in survey results that, significantly high levels of impacts were achieved in scientific and technological impacts and impacts on collaborations and development of sectoral knowledge. Nonetheless, economic impacts were noted to be lowest among all impact factors. Level of impacts were tested for different control factors including project instrument, organization type, project activity, project role and received grant. Project role was proved to be the most important control factor affecting the level of impact. It is presented in comparison of decision makers&rsquo / expectations and participants&rsquo / achievements that, decision makers&rsquo / expectations were mostly satisfied by participants except for economic impacts. Turkish participants in FP6 IST field had significant impacts in three out of four main impact factors. Moreover, decision makers expectations were highly satisfied except for economic impact factors. The results of this study, relying on the assessed impacts of FP6 IST field, support Turkey&rsquo / s participation in forthcoming FPs.

Buildings with torsional irregularity represent the main focus of many current investigations. However, despite this volume of research, there is no established framework that describes adequately the seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete shear wall systems. In this study, the three-dimensional behavior of a particular shear-wall structure under earthquake effects was examined with regard to the nonlinear behavior of the reinforced concrete assembly and the parameters that characterize the structure exposed to seismic motion for damage assessment. A three story reinforced concrete shear-wall building was analyzed using the finite element method based ANSYS software. The scaled model building was subjected to shaking table tests at Saclay, France. The project was led by the Atomic Energy Agency (CEA Saclay, France) under the &ldquo / SMART 2008 Project.&rdquo / The investigation was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the results of the finite element method and experiments were examined, and were reported in this study. For time history analysis, micro-modeling was preferred due to allowing inclusion the nonlinear effects of concrete and steel for analysis. The guiding parameters (acceleration, displacement, strain) of analytical results are compared with the corresponding values that were measured in the experiments to be able to quantify the validity of models and simulation. For the comparison of v the numerical model results with the experimental results FDE (Frequency Domain Error) method was used. After comparison of the numerical model results with the experimental results, the second phase of the SMART 2008 Project was undertaken. The second phase consisted of two parts summarized as &ldquo / Sensitivity Study&rdquo / and &ldquo / Vulnerability Analyses&rdquo / . However, in this report only the sensitivity study and fragility analyses will be reported. Sensitivity study was done to understand which parameters affect the response of the structure. Twelve parametric cases were investigated under two different ground motions. Different behavior parameters were investigated. The effective damping coefficient was found to affect the structural response at 0.2 g design level as well as at 0.6 g over-design level. At the design level, it was observed that elasticity modulus of concrete and additional masses on the specimen determined as effective on the calculated results. To derive the failure probabilities of this structure under various earthquake forces for the given limit states, fragility curves were obtained. Different seismic indicators such as PGA (Peak ground acceleration), PGV (Peak ground velocity), PGD (Peak ground displacement) and CAV (Cumulative absolute velocity) were used as seismic indicators and MISD (Maximum interstory drift) were used as damage indicator for fragility curves. In all 30 time history analyses were done. Regression analyses using least squares method were performed to determine the median capacity and its deviation. Correlation coefficients of the time history data versus fitted curves obtained from the regression analyses changes between 0.65 and 0.99. The lower cases were for PGD- MISD graphs. The scatter of the fragility curves calculated for each damage limit was slightly wider. HAZUS MH MR1 (2003) damage states were also used for the calculation of the fragility curves and compared with the SMART 2008 damage states.

PROPERTIES OF LIGHT EMITTING DIODES FOLLOWING COBALT-60 IRRADIATION &Ouml / zcan, Safak M.S., Department of Physics Supervisor: Prof. Dr. ibrahim G&uuml / nal September 2004, 71 pages The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of gamma radiation on the properties of the light emitting diodes. GaP and GaAsP LEDs are used in the study. It is observed that the exposure of a light emitting diode affects its various properties. A cobalt-60 gamma-cell is used to irradiate the selected light emitting diodes. For the different total doses of gamma pre-irradiation and post-irradiation I-V characteristics and spectral responses are recorded. The capacitance characteristics are measured at 1MHz at room temperature. Gamma ray bombardment of these LEDs results in reduction of electroluminescent intensity and increase in forward current up to levels tested. In GaP diodes dominant current transport mechanism has found to be effected by irradiation. No noticeable change is observed in the series resistances. The impurity density remains same in the green LED and increases in the red one due to the irradiation, which is deduced from the C-V characteristics. Both the circuit designers and the users should be aware of these effects in order to reach a reliable application for these components in a radiation environment.

In this thesis, the dynamic modeling of a wheelchair-human system is performed, and the effects of steering action and sudden slope changes along the path on the system stability are analyzed for different road and driving conditions. For the cases where the wheelchair system is unstable three methods are proposed for stability augmentation. This study is performed to improve the stability of the wheelchair system under varying road conditions so as to increase the limit of independency for wheelchair users and enhance their life quality. Two separate mathematical models are obtained for the wheelchair driven on constant sloped and changing sloped roads. Matlab Simulink models are constructed with the obtained mathematical models and control structure. The stability of the system is analyzed by case studies and it is seen that the system is unstable in some of these cases. Three methods are used for enhancement of the stability. One is the speed reduction via joystick module during steep turns, by which the speed of the wheelchair is reduced automatically for a safe steering, but the wheelchair follows the desired course. The second method is the use of a shape filter in order to obtain a less jerky response for the speed. As a final method, the center of mass of the wheelchair-human system is shifted gently in a controlled manner to the side where the reaction force on the wheels decreases.

This thesis focuses on modeling Expectation-Violation Effect, which is the superior recall of weakly associated pairs of words over strongly associated pairs. The goal of this thesis is to provide an exploratory computational model. A virtual experiment is conducted based on the datasets used in the psychological experiment by Amster et al. (1992). The computational modeling of this phenomenon is carried in the medium of ACT-R cognitive architecture.

In this thesis, recently developed Blended Inverse (B-inverse) steering law is applied to two different redundant actuator systems. First, repeatability of Binverse is demonstrated on a redundant robotic manipulator. Its singularity avoidance and singularity transition performance is also demonstrated on the same actuator system. It is shown that B-inverse steering law provides singularity avoidance, singularity transition and repeatability. Second, its effectiveness is demonstrated for an Integrated Power and Attitude Control - Control Moment Gyroscope (IPAC-CMG) cluster, which can perform energy management and attitude control functions simultaneously. For this purpose, an IPAC-CMG flywheel is conceptually designed. A control policy is developed for the energy management.

The Roobots are a robot soccer team which participated in the RoboCup small-sized robot league competition in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, when they finished in fourth place. This thesis describes the design of the robots in the 2002 team. Design issues for mobile robots in the RoboCup small-sized robot league are reviewed. The design decisions are presented. Finally, some lessons learnt for system design and project management from the three years of competition are presented.