<p>In this work characterisation methods and fuel cell hardwarewere developed for studying the components of the polymerelectrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). Humidifiers and other componentswere tested in order to develop reproducible and reliableexperimental techniques. A set-up for testing larger cells andstacks was developed.</p><p>A new type of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell wasdeveloped for laboratory investigations. Current collectormaterial and gas flow channels can easily be modified in thisconstruction. The electrode potentials can be measured at thegas backing layers, thereby allowing measurement of contactresistances. The use of a reference electrode is alsopossible.</p><p>Contact resistances were studied in situ as a function oftime, clamping pressure, gas pressure and current density.Ex-situ measurements were used to validate the in-situ contactresistance measurements. The validity and error sources of theapplied in-situ measurement methods with reference electrodesand potential probes were studied using both computersimulations and experiments.</p><p>An in-house membrane electrode assembly (MEA) productionline was developed. In-house produced MEAs were utilised inboth membrane degradation and mass transport studies.</p><p>The durability testing of PVDF based membranes membranes wasstudied both by fuel cell experiments and ex-situ testing.Raman spectra were measured for used membranes.</p><p>A current distribution measurement method was developed. Theeffect of inlet humidification and gas composition at thecathode side was studied. In addition, two different flow fieldgeometries were studied. The results of current distributionmeasurements were used to validate a PEFC model.</p><p>Methods for characterising gas diffusion layer (GDL)performance by fuel cell testing and ex-situ measurements weredeveloped. The performance of GDL materials was tested withvarying cell compression and cathode humidity. Porosity, poresize distribution and contact angle were determined. Electricalcontact resistance, thermal impedance and gas permeabilitieswere measured at different compression levels.</p><p>Development work on a stack with stainless steel net wascarried out as well as characterisation studies of differentstack components. Thermal impedances and flow fieldpermeability were measured.</p><p>Mass transport limitations in the cathodes were studied byvarying the electrode thickness, partial pressure and humidityof oxygen.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEFC),contact resistance, clamping pressure, stainless steel,membrane degradation, current distribution, gas diffusionlayer, stack, thermal impedance, permeability.</p>

Whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology of neurons in vivo enables the recording of electrical events in cells with great precision, and supports a wide diversity of morphological and molecular analysis experiments important for the understanding of single-cell and network functions in the intact brain. However, high levels of skill are required in order to perform in vivo patching, and the process is time-consuming and painstaking. Robotic systems for in vivo patching would not only empower a great number of neuroscientists to perform such experiments, but would also open up fundamentally new kinds of experiment enabled by the resultant high throughput and scalability. We discovered that in vivo blind whole cell patch clamp electrophysiology could be implemented as a straightforward algorithm and developed an automated robotic system that was capable of performing this algorithm. We validated the performance of the robot in both the cortex and hippocampus of anesthetized mice. The robot achieves yields, cell recording qualities, and operational speeds that are comparable to, or exceed, those of experienced human investigators. Building upon this framework, we developed a multichannel version of “autopatcher” robot capable establishing whole cell patch clamp recordings from pairs and triplets of neurons in the cortex simultaneously. These algorithms can be generalized to control arbitrarily large number of electrodes and the high yield, throughput and automation of complex set of tasks results in a practical solution for conducting patch clamp recordings in potentially dozens of interconnected neurons in vivo.

During the drilling process, sharp edges of material called burrs are produced and protrude from the original surface. When a through-hole is drilled, burrs form on both the entry and exit surfaces around the hole, requiring expensive deburring operations to be performed in order to meet part specifications. A common hole producing operation in aircraft assembly is drilling holes through multiple sheet metal layers in order to fasten them together. However, at the interface between two layers, burrs form on both the exit of the first layer (termed "skin") and entry of the second layer (termed "frame"). Consequently, the layers frequently need to be taken apart, deburred, and put back together again before being fastened, resulting in additional costs and increased assembly time. The goal of this thesis was to understand the role of key factors such as drill geometry, drill wear and clamping conditions on burr formation at the interface of two thin sheets of 2024-T3 aluminum so that interlayer burr formation could be minimized. This problem was approached from three different angles. First, an experimental study was performed to find the drill geometry parameters for minimization of interlayer burrs and to ascertain the relationship between the average burr size and drill wear. Next, a new kind of clamping system for holding sheet metal layers together during drilling was designed, prototyped, and tested for its effectiveness. Finally, a preliminary analytical model of interlayer burr formation was created in order to better understand the burr formation process in stacked layers of sheet metal and to better understand the effect that each drilling parameter has on the resulting burr size.

This study verified the effect of late clamping (from 1 to 3 minutes after it is born) of the umbilical cord on the levels of hemoglobin, hematocrite and ferritine in children at birth, at three months and at six months and, still, the levels of bilirubins at the end of the first week of life, in order to detect cases of hyperbilirrubinemia. One hundred and eleven babies born at the University Hospital of santa Maria, RS, not only by vaginal birth by also by caesarian surgery and clinically healthy were used (45 ones were subjected to the early clamping and 66 ones to the late clamping). The collect of venous blood of the babies on their first day was made in the maternity and, the other collects were taken in returns to the laboratories of clinical analysis. The mothers socio-economical variants and the babies nutritional habits were also studied. the program Statsoft Statistica v 7.0.61.0EN was used to analyze the data statistically and the results were expressed on their averages. The hemoglobine and the hematocrite from the babies subjected to the late clamping were significantly superior to the values presented by the babies subjected to the early clamping, on their first day of life. There was no significant difference in the dosage of total bilirubin and fractions of babies according to the time of clamping as well as there was no case of hyperbilirrubinemia and the levels of ferritine of the children subjected to the late clamping showed to be superior to the ones presented by those children subjected to the early clamping in the third and in the sixth months. Thus, it is noticed that the late clamping might be a strategy to prevent the anemia because of iron defficiency in infants. / Este estudo verificou o efeito do pinçamento tardio (de 1 a 3min após o nascimento) do cordão umbilical sobre os níveis de hemoglobina, hematócrito e ferritina em crianças no nascimento, aos três meses e aos seis meses e, ainda, os níveis das bilirrubinas ao final da primeira semana de vida, para detectar casos de hiperbilirrubinemia. Foram alocados 111 bebês a termo nascidos no Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria, RS, tanto de parto vaginal quanto cesárea e clinicamente saudáveis (45 foram submetidos ao pinçamento precoce e 66 ao pinçamento tardio). A coleta de sangue venoso dos bebês no primeiro dia de vida foi efetuada na maternidade e as coletas posteriores foram realizadas em retornos ao laboratório de análises clínicas do hospital. Variáveis socioeconômicas da mãe e de alimentação da criança também foram estudadas. Utilizou-se o programa Statsoft Statistica v 7.0.61.0EN para a análise estatística dos dados e os resultados foram expressos em média. A hemoglobina e o hematócrito dos bebês submetidos ao pinçamento tardio do cordão umbilical foram significativamente superiores aos valores apresentados pelos bebês submetidos ao pinçamento precoce, no primeiro dia de vida. Não houve diferença significativa na dosagem da bilirrubina total e frações dos bebês de acordo com o tempo de pinçamento, assim como, não houve nenhum caso de hiperbilirrubinemia e os níveis de ferritina das crianças submetidas ao pinçamento tardio mostraram-se superiores aos apresentados pelas crianças submetidas ao pinçamento precoce no terceiro e no sexto mês. Assim, constatou-se que o pinçamento tardio do cordão umbilical pode se constituir em uma estratégia para prevenir a anemia por deficiência de ferro em lactentes.

The thesis “Laser welded Common Rail” deals with changes in the manufacturing process of Rail for the purpose of increasing the quality of the final product while reducing quality and technical failures. The thesis also includes a research of the system Common Rail with focusing on the production and construction of laser welded Rail and on the analysis of the technical condition of the welding equipment.

Abstract Aortic valve stenosis (AS) is one of the most diffuse valvular diseases in developed countries. AS is a progressive disease, which usually results in serious life-threatening adverse events. Defining a treatment strategy for AS is a focus of cardiovascular research, although the topic is still controversial because of its related clinical and economical implications. Surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR),which is regarded as the gold standard for the treatment of severe symptomatic AS, affords excellent results, particularly in asymptomatic patients with good functional status. AVR requires the institution of cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamping, and the duration of these procedures is directly associated with increasing morbidity and mortality, especially in patients with preoperative comorbidities. Accordingly, techniques aimed at decreasing the duration of cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamping have the potential to improve postoperative outcomes of AVR. In the present study, we demonstrated that the Perceval sutureless bioprosthesis could significantly reduce the duration of the surgical procedure. This was associated with improved immediate postoperative outcomes and long-term freedom from adverse events. The use of a Perceval sutureless bioprosthesis can facilitate AVR through minimally invasive approaches and is associated with fewer transfusions of packed red cells compared to full sternotomy approaches, even with traditional stented bioprostheses. It could be expected that patients at intermediate-high risk would benefit more from the combination of a fast surgical procedure, performed with reduced surgical invasiveness. When compared to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), the Perceval sutureless bioprosthesis was associated with increased incidence of device success as well as less paravalvular leak, with similar immediate and 1-year outcomes. Finally, AVR with the Perceval sutureless bioprosthesis provided excellent hemodynamics at rest and under high workload. The significant increase of effective orifice area under stress suggests that the Perceval sutureless bioprosthesis is the valve of choice for patients with small aortic annuli or when prosthesis-patient mismatch is anticipated. / Tiivistelmä Aorttaläpän ahtauma on yksi yleisimmistä läppävioista kehittyneissä maissa. Aorttaläpän ahtauma on etenevä sairaus, joka yleensä johtaa vakaviin henkeä uhkaaviin haittatapahtumiin. Aorttaläpän ahtauman hoitotavasta keskustellaan kiivaasti sydän- ja verisuonitautien tutkimuksessa siihen liittyvien kliinisten ja taloudellisten vaikutusten vuoksi. Aorttaläppäleikkausta, jossa aorttaläppä korvataan proteesilla, on aina pidetty vaikean oireisen aorttaläpän ahtauman hoidon kultaisena standardina, koska sen tulokset ovat erinomaisia, etenkin oireettomilla potilailla, joilla sydämen toiminta on hyvä. Leikkaus vaatii sydän-keuhkokoneen käyttöä ja aortan sulkemista, joiden kesto on suoraan yhteydessä kasvavaan sairastavuuteen ja kuolleisuuteen erityisesti potilailla, joilla on muitakin sairauksia. Niinpä tekniikat, jotka lyhentävät sydän-keuhkokoneen käyttöaikaa ja aortan sulkuaikaa, voivat mahdollisesti parantaa aorttaläppäleikkauksen tuloksia. Tässä tutkimuksessa osoitettiin, että ompeleettoman biologisen Perceval-läppäproteesin käyttö vähensi merkittävästi leikkauksen kestoa. Tämä oli yhteydessä parantuneisiin lyhyen ja pitkän aikavälin tuloksiin leikkauksen jälkeen. Ompeleettoman biologisen Perceval-läppäproteesin käyttö voi helpottaa aorttaläppäleikkausta, koska se voidaan asentaa vähemmän kajoavasta avauksesta, ja siihen liittyy vähemmän punasolusiirtoja rintalastan kokoavaukseen verrattuna, myös silloin kun käytetään kokoavausta ja perinteisiä stenttibioproteeseja. Voisi olla odotettavaa, että keskisuuren tai suuren riskin potilaat hyötyisivät enemmän leikkauksesta, jossa yhdistyvät toimenpiteen nopeus ja vähäisempi kajoavuus. Katetriteitse asennettuun biologiseen keinoläppään (TAVI) verrattuna ompeleeton biologinen Perceval-läppäproteesi oli yhteydessä parempaan laitteen toimimiseen ja pienempään paravalvulaariseen vuotoon. Muut tulokset heti leikkauksen jälkeen ja yhden vuoden seurannassa olivat samanlaisia. Lopuksi voidaan todeta, että aorttaläppäleikkaukseen ompeleettomalla biologisella Perceval-läppäproteesilla liittyi erinomainen hemodynamiikka levossa ja korkean työkuorman aikana. Stressin aikaisen tehokkaan aorttaläpän aukon pinta-alan merkittävä kasvu osoittaa, että ompeleeton biologinen Perceval-läppäproteesi on hyvä valinta potilaille, joilla on pieni aorttaläpän aukko tai kun on odotettavissa proteesin ja potilaan yhteensopimattomuutta.

Aging is the main risk factor for cognitive decline. The hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and memory formation, is especially vulnerable to normal and pathological age-related cognitive decline. Dysregulation of both insulin and intracellular Ca2+ signaling appear to coexist and their compromised actions may synergistically contribute to neuronal dysfunction with aging. This dissertation focused on the interaction between insulin, Ca2+ dysregulation, and cognition in hippocampal neurons by examining the contributions of insulin to Ca2+ signaling events that influence memory formation. I tested the hypothesis that insulin would increase cognition in aged animals by altering Ca2+-dependent physiological mechanisms involved in learning. The possible effects of insulin on learning and memory in young and aged rats were studied. In addition, the effects of insulin on the Ca2+-dependent afterhyperpolarization in CA1 pyramidal hippocampal neurons from young and aged animals were compared. Further, primary hippocampal cultures were used to examine the possible effects of insulin on voltage-gated Ca2+ channel activity and Ca2+-induced Ca2+-release; mechanisms known to influence the AHP. We found that intranasal insulin improved memory in aged F344 rats. Young and aged F344 rats were treated with Humalog®, a short-acting insulin analog, or Levemir®, a long-acting insulin analog. The aged rats performed similar to young rats in the Morris Water Maze, a hippocampal dependent spatial learning and memory task. Electrophysiological recordings from CA1 hippocampal neurons revealed that insulin reduced the age-related increase in the Ca2+-dependent afterhyperpolarization, a prominent biomarker of brain aging that is associated with cognitive decline. Patch clamping recording from hippocampal cultured neurons showed that insulin reduced Ca2+ channel currents. Intracellular Ca2+ levels were also monitored using Fura-2 in response to cellular depolarization. Results indicated that a reduction in Ca2+-induced Ca2+-release from intracellular stores occurred in the presence of insulin. These results suggest that increasing brain insulin levels in aged rats may have improved memory by reducing the AHP and intracellular Ca2+concentrations. This study indicates a possible mechanism responsible for the beneficial effects of intranasal insulin on cognitive function absorbed in selective Alzheimer’s patients. Thus, insulin therapy may reduce or prevent age-related compromises to Ca2+ regulatory pathways typically associated with cognitive decline.

Master thesis is focused on the rationalization of production of the forming segment, which is manufactured by company OMNI-X CZ. Familiarization with the product „forming segment“, with issue of production with possibility improvment. The work is also focused on the preparation of the clamping fixture, which should improve the production conditions. The main point of the work include the calculation of cutting forces, clamping forces of the fixture, verification of safety process with economic evaluation. The aim of this master thesis is to indicate the possible direction of the rationalization of the manufacturing of the shaping segments for OMNI-X CZ.

This master´s thesis focuses on constructional design of chuck with settable eccentricity in two axes. The first part consists of brief analysis of the clamping of CNC machines and summary of available chucks with settable eccentricity. Next part deals with study of possible construction designs. Two construction variants will be based on those designs in the next part. Following part then describes dimensionality of the main parts of the chuck. Based on the calculations, the 3D model of chosen variant is created with the description of its functionality. Finally the conditions of operation for the chuck are described.

This work deals with the production technology of the plastic part for battery modules. First chapter contains analyzis of fundamental methods of machining, where are general informations about technologies which are used in the company with which one is work cooperated. In the second chapter is solved description of manufactured part and its technological aspects for the production. Next chapter is dedicated for introducing the company and its technological possibilities for the manufacturing. The rest part of the work is dedicated for designing production of the semi-finished product and clamping of the semi-finished product. With the selected variant is solved production technology of the part, where are indicated technological solutions of each operations and production process. In the end is realized technological-economic valorization, where is solved service of more machines and judged cost for production of designed variants.