This thesis presents a tunable 3D real-time interactive simulator of the geometrical displacement of the thoracic diaphragm during physiological and mechanical ventilation. Particular attention is placed on capturing the heterogeneous tissue composition while maintaining computational efficiency and accuracy. The long term goal is to establish an accurate theoretical model to complement the experimental and clinical studies of the side effects associated with mechanical ventilation and to overcome the ethical difficulties of performing time resolved studies on human patients. The deformations are modelled using a commercial 3D model and a mass-spring model together with distance constraints and Verlet integration. The simulator is easily adjusted in real-time to many different cases of ventilation and validated through inspection and comparison with existing models. More research is needed to validate the model using patient specific data, as well as extending the model to include additional physiological and pathophysiological components. Long term goals includes considering the microscopic aspects of cellular mechanics to capture the underlying causes of ventilator-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction.

This thesis is performed to evaluate the design consideration and performance characteristics of a surge tank for a diaphragm pump operation and to evaluate the proper volume and inlet area of surge tank in order to reduce the pulsations of the discharge pressure. An experimental set up is constructed for a three diaphragm positive displacement pump and the experiments are conducted afterwards. The surge tanks having different volumes and the surge tank inlet area configurations are tested in order to achieve the minimum peak to peak pulsations. Experiments showed that among the different sizes of the surge tanks, the minimum peak to peak pulsations are achieved with the largest volume which is the original surge tank of the test pump used by the pump manufacturer. This result is supported by the literature which states that with greater surge tank size the magnitude of pulsations can be diminished more. Regarding the surge tank inlet area design / among the eight different adaptors a proper inlet area value is concluded having the minimum peak to peak pulsations also smaller than the original configuration.

In order to understand flow characteristics inside a positive displacement pump, every point in the flow field must be carefully observed. Such observations are difficult, expensive and usually time consuming to achieve with physical testing. During tests one can observe flow characteristics only at the locations where the instrument device is attached, not the whole flow domain. This thesis mainly focuses on the evaluation of design and performance characteristics of a positive displacement triplex diaphragm pump. For this purpose not only numerical investigations but also experimental studies were conducted using a positive displacement pump which is supplied by the pump manufacturer and is available in the fluid mechanics laboratory of Middle East Technical University. The effect of valve characteristics on the pump efficiency such as valve spring stiffness, valve displacement, mass of the check valves, and diaphragm shape are investigated in this thesis by using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technique. The pump performance is analyzed in terms of its volumetric and hydraulic efficiencies. The effect of the valve closure delay is also discussed. After the CFD and experimental results of the current pump model are compared and it is seen that they are in close agreement with each other, parametric studies are performed in computer environment. From analysis results it is observed that using stiffer springs reduces valve closing time and tend to decrease flow reversal effects. Secondly, using heavier check valves increases valve closing and opening times and also increases the stresses on the components of the pump with the increased pressure drop through discharge valve. As a result of this condition, hydraulic and volumetric efficiency reduce. Thirdly, with the longer valve displacement arrangement, more time is required for opening and closing of the check valves therefore efficiency of the pump reduces.

Podocytes are specialized epithelial cells which wrap glomerular capillaries with numerous interdigitating foot processes (FP). Between adjacent FPs a unique junction, the slit diaphragm (SD), functions as the final blood filtration barrier. Actin organization is critical for maintaining FP structure and SD function, and the adaptor protein Nck can bind an intracellular SD component to couple it with actin regulators. Podocyte-specific deletion of Nck in mice results in proteinuria and FP effacement. To better understand FP remodelling, we have pursued a transgenic mouse model utilizing an inducible and reversible dominant negative Nck (DN-Nck) to prevent signalling to actin regulators, exclusively in podocytes. Effects of DN-Nck were first confirmed in vitro, and transgenic mice were then generated and induced to express DN-Nck. Despite obtaining several mice which exhibited a mild renal phenotype, transgene expression appeared to be lost in successive generations. Full in vivo analysis awaits generation of additional transgenic founders.

Acute quadriplegic myopathy (AQM), or critical illness myopathy, is a common debilitating acquired disorder in critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients characterized by generalized muscle wasting and weakness of limb and trunk muscles. A preferential loss of the thick filament protein myosin is considered pathognomonic of this disorder, but the myosin loss is observed relatively late during the disease progression. In attempt to explore the potential role of factors considered triggering AQM in sedated mechanically ventilated (MV) ICU patients, we have studied the early effects, prior to the myosin loss, of neuromuscular blockade (NMB), corticosteroids (CS) and sepsis separate or in combination in a porcine experimental ICU model. Specific interest has been focused on skeletal muscle gene/protein expression and regulation of muscle contraction at the muscle fiber level. This project aims at improving our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying muscle specific differences in response to the ICU intervention and the role played by the different triggering factors. The sparing of masticatory muscle fiber function was coupled to an up-regulation of heat shock protein genes and down-regulation of myostatin are suggested to be key factors in the relative sparing of masticatory muscles. Up-regulation of chemokine activity genes and down-regulation of heat shock protein genes play a significant role in the limb muscle dysfunction associated with sepsis. The effects of corticosteroids in the development of limb muscle weakness reveals up-regulation of kinase activity and transcriptional regulation genes and the down-regulation of heat shock protein, sarcomeric, cytoskeletal and oxidative stress responsive genes. In contrast to limb and craniofacial muscles, the respiratory diaphragm muscle responded differently to the different triggering factors. MV itself appears to play a major role for the diaphragm muscle dysfunction. By targeting these genes, future experiments can give an insight into the development of innovative treatments expected at protecting muscle mass and function in critically ill ICU patients.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Florida, 2004. / Typescript. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 127 pages. Includes Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-07-06T13:50:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 CARLOS THIAGO CÂNDIDO CUNHA - TESE (PPGCEMat) 2015.pdf: 3145702 bytes, checksum: bad9f1c620f682b0e77a37c797d9bc37 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-06T13:50:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CARLOS THIAGO CÂNDIDO CUNHA - TESE (PPGCEMat) 2015.pdf: 3145702 bytes, checksum: bad9f1c620f682b0e77a37c797d9bc37 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-22 / Capes / O hidróxido de sódio (NaOH) e o cloro estão entres os produtos químicos mais importantes na indústria e são produzidos simultaneamente pela eletrólise da salmoura. As células eletrolíticas são compostas de uma câmara catódica e uma anódica, separadas por um diafragma que permite a passagem dos íons por migração iônica. A maioria dos diafragmas se utilizam de amianto e as leis ambientais vigentes direcionam para extinção ou substituição deste material. Assim, foi realizado um estudo sobre o desenvolvimento de diafragmas alternativos à base de materiais poliméricos e aditivos que pudessem substituir o amianto e possibilitassem sua aplicação na indústria de cloro-soda. Para tanto, empregou-se fibras poliméricas, a exemplo do Polietileno de Ultra Alto Peso Molecular (PEUAPM), que resiste as condições severas do processo eletrolítico. Também se fez necessário o emprego da dopagem com carga inorgânica (argilas) para conferir menor permeabilidade aos diafragmas. Diante disso, foram desenvolvidos sistemas para deposição e caracterização dos diafragmas que possibilitam a reprodutividade e análises adequadas comparadas ao âmbito industrial. Partindo de um planejamento experimental de misturas com 5 diferentes fibras pode-se avaliar qual composição de diafragma favoreceu melhores resultados nos parâmetros da eletrólise. Os resultados se mostraram promissores, tendo em vista que dentre as 15 formulações testadas conseguiu-se chegar a uma composição cujas propriedades eletroquímicas atendem todas as especificações podendo inclusive ser aplicado em escala industrial. / Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and chlorine are among the most important chemicals in industry and are produced simultaneously by the electrolysis of brine. Electrolyte cells are consisted by a cathodic and anodic chamber, separated by a diaphragm that allows the passage of ions by ion migration. Most diaphragms using asbestos and environmental laws in use direct to extinction or replacement of this material. In this way, it was done a study on the development of alternative diaphragm based on polymeric materials and additives that could replace the asbestos and could allow its application in chlorine-soda industry. So, polymeric fibres was used, such as, Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), resisting the harsh conditions of the electrolytic process. Also it was studied the use of doping with inorganic fillers (clays) to provide less permeability to the diaphragms. For this, systems were developed for deposition and characterization of diaphragms that make it possible the reproducibility and suitable analysis compared to the industrial scope. Starting from experimental planning of mixtures with 5 different fibers, it was evaluated which composition of diaphragm given best results in the electrolysis parameters. The results were promising, considering that among the 15 formulations, it was reached a composition whose electrochemical properties meet all specifications and can even be applied on an industrial scale.

The behavior of wood shear walls has been the focus of researchers and engineers for many years due to their availability in the North American construction landscape. A review of the established literature showed that most of the research have focused on the shear wall behavior as a whole with no investigation specifically targeting the individual components of its deflection. Also, little to no attention has been given to the investigation of the cumulative effects especially when the out-of-plane diaphragm stiffness is considered. The current study aims at investigating the effects of construction details variation on the behavior of the shear walls and evaluating whether the current deflection equation, as per wood design standard (CSA 2014) can adequately predict the overall wall stiffness. A total of 27 full-scale single-storey walls, with different construction details and aspect ratios, were tested under either static or monotonic (as both are the same) loading. The parameters that were varied in the testing were the stud size and spacing, nail diameter and spacing, sheathing panel type and thickness and hold-down anchoring system/type. For the two-storey walls, two different loading cases were considered, namely where the load was applied at the top or bottom storey only. The results showed that the strength and stiffness correlated almost directly to the inverse of the wall aspect ratio. There was no clear trend when considering the effect of the walls’ aspect ratios on ductility. Unexpectedly, walls with aspect ratios not permitted according to the wood design standard (4:1 and 6:1) followed similar strength and stiffness trends and had sufficient ductility ratios as those with smaller aspect ratios. This observation explains in part some of the discrepancies found between engineering calculations and behavior of actual building with light frame wood shear walls. Significant discrepancies were found when comparing the various deflection constituent with those estimated using the design expression. Adding more end studs and changing the size of the studs had no significant effect on the overall wall capacity and little effect on its stiffness. Reducing the stud spacing had, as expected, no effect on the wall capacity; however, the results showed that the bending stiffness was affected by the overall number of studs in the wall and not solely by the end studs. Shear walls sheathed with plywood panels exhibits slightly higher peak load and initial stiffness than those with OSB, which was mainly attributed to the greater panel thickness, and possibly density, of the plywood. Both sheathing types provided similar levels of ductility, as expected. Thicker sheathing increased the capacity and stiffness of the wall with no significant change observed in ductility ratio. The wall strength was significantly affected by the nail diameter and nail spacing, but no difference was observed when the nail edge/end distance was increased. The results also showed that discrete hold-down system behaved in a non-linear manner with a significantly greater initial stiffness than that assumed in design. The study also showed that having continuous hold-down connections has a positive effect on the capacity, stiffness and ductility of the wall when compared with discrete hold-downs. Having no hold-down adversely affects the wall capacity and stiffness, but did not affect the ductility of the wall. For the two-storey walls, the deflection estimated based on the cumulative effect assumption showed slight differences when compared with that observed in the experimental study. It was observed that the majority of the cumulative effect stems from the rigid body rotation due to deformation in the hold-down devices. A Computer shear wall model (through SAP2000) was developed using linear “frame” and “membrane” elements for the framing and sheathing members, respectively, whereas the sheathing to framing nails and hold-down were modeled using nonlinear springs. It was found that the model was capable of predicting the peak load, ultimate deflection and yield loads with reasonable accuracy, but overestimated the initial stiffness and ductility of the walls. In general, when the force-displacement curves were compared it was evident that the model was capable of predicting the wall behaviour with reasonable accuracy. When investigating the cumulative effects using the model, the results clearly showed that the assumption of cumulative effects due to rigid body rotation is valid for stacked shearwalls with no consideration for the floor diaphragm. The effect of the diaphragm on the behavior of the shear walls, in particular its out-of-plane rigidity was simulated by modeling the floors as beam. The out of plane stiffness of the shear walls was investigated for idealized (infinitely stiff or flexible) as well as “realistic”. The results showed reductions in the shearwall deflection in the magnitude of approximately 80% considering the out of plane rigidity of the diaphragm. It was also concluded that considering conservative estimates of out of plane stiffness might lead to a very significant reduction in deflection and that assuming the floor diaphragm to be infinitely rigid out of plan seems reasonable. For diaphragms supported on multiple panels further reduction in the deflection was observed. More work, particularly at the experimental level, is needed to verify the finding obtained in the numerical investigation related to the effect of out of plane diaphragm stiffness.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2004-02-12Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:53:03Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 molina_jc_me_ilha.pdf: 1032005 bytes, checksum: ca5a19c94abacf21752f94991dff250b (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Fundação de Ensino Pesquisa e Extensão de Ilha Solteira (FEPISA) / Este trabalho de pesquisa tem a finalidade de analisar o comportamento de edificações de aço. Essas edificações são constituídas de pórticos, espaçados igualmente no sentido longitudinal, considerando o conjunto telha - terça na sua contenção transversal e principalmente longitudinal. As telhas são fixadas nas terças e este conjunto é fixado ao pórtico, de maneira a garantir a sua funcionalidade como um painel rígido, ação diafragma. A análise estrutural é efetuada através do processamento numérico, e são analisadas edificações de aço com dimensões transversais de 10.0, 15.0 e 20.0 metros de vão, tendo o espaçamento longitudinal entre pórticos de 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 e 7.0 metros. Primeiramente são analisados os painéis laterais das edificações, e na seqüência a edificação como um todo com relação ao seu comportamento global. Para finalizar, uma vez definidas todas as características da estrutura, é avaliado o comportamento da edificação quanto ao seu estado limite de utilização, ou seja, a rigidez proporcionada pelo sistema convencional e a ação diafragma formada pelo conjunto telha - terça. / This research work has the purpose to analyze the behavior of buildings in steel. Those buildings have been made by frames, with the same distance in the longitudinal direction, and used the purlin-sheeting system it your transverse restrain and mainly longitudinal. The sheetings are fastened on purlins and this system conected in the frame, in way to guarantee the functionality as a rigid panel, diaphragm action. The structural analysis is made through the numeric processing, and the steel buildings are analyzed with traverse dimensions of 10.0, 15.0 and 20.0 meters, and longitudinal dimension to the each other with 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0 meters. Initially the lateral panels purlinsheeting system, are analyzed isolated, and in the sequence this system is connected to the building and analyzed with relationship the global behavior. Finally, once defined all the characteristics of the structure, the building behavior is evaluated with the limit state used, in other words, the proportionate rigidity for the braced system and the action diaphragm formed by the purlin-sheeting system.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-02-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:32:57Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lima_arr_me_botfm.pdf: 825853 bytes, checksum: 593e370c7aa688abb20c1b7dda04672a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Estudos clínicos e experimentais têm sugerido que anormalidades da musculatura esquelética podem colaborar para a ocorrência precoce de dispnéia e fadiga em pacientes com insuficiência cardíaca crônica. Em músculos periféricos e respiratórios, frequentemente observa-se modificação na composição das cadeias pesadas da miosina (MyHC) na insuficiência cardíaca. Os mecanismos e vias intracelulares de sinalização responsáveis pela alteração das MyHCs ainda não estão completamente definidos. Na insuficiência cardíaca direita induzida por monocrotalina, foi verificado que a expressão dos fatores de regulação miogênica está associada a alterações no fenótipo das MyHC. Recentemente, foi verificado que o fator de necrose tumoral-alfa (TNF-α) pode modular a expressão de proteínas miofibrilares. Não identificamos estudos que avaliaram o papel dos fatores de regulação miogênica e a influência do TNF-α na composição das MyHCs no músculo diafragma durante a insuficiência cardíaca. O objetivo deste estudo é determinar se modificações nas isoformas das MyHCs são selacionadas a alterações na expressão gênica dos fatores de regulação miogênica no músculo diafragma de ratos com infarto do miocárdio, com e sem insuficiência cardíaca. Adicionalmente, verificamos se as concentrações séricas de TNF-α e de IL-6 estão relacionadas a alterações das MyHCs e da expressão gênica dos fatores de regulação miogênica. Insuficiência cardíaca foi induzida pro infarto do miocárdio. Seis meses após a cirurgia, foram constituídos três grupos de animais: Sham (n=10), IM/IC- (animais infartados com disfunção ventricular e sem insuficiência cardíaca, n=10) e IM/IC+ (animais infartados com insuficiência cardíaca, n=10). As estruturas cardíacas e a função ventricular foram avaliadas por ecocardiograma... / Several clinial and experimental studies have suggested that skeletal muscle abnormalities can contribute to early fatigue and dyspnea in heart failure patients. Changes of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms have been frequently observed in peripheral and respiratory muscles during heart failure. Pathophysiological mechanisms and intracellular signaling pathways involved on MyHCs alterations are not completely defined. In monocrotaline-induced right heart failure, it was observed that the expression of myogenic regulatory factors is associated with MyHCs phenotype changes. Tumoral necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) has been recently described to modulate skeletal myofibril proteins. We did not find studies evaluating the influence of myogenic regulatory factors and TNF-α serum concentration on diaphragm MyHC isoforms during heart failure. In this study we tested the hypothesis that diaphragm MyHC isoforms changes are related to myogenic regulatory factors gene expression in chronic heart failure. Additionally, we measured TNF-α and interleukin-6 serum levels to examine their correlation with both MyHC isoforms and myogenic regulatory factors gene expression. A coronary ligation nodel was employed to induce heart failure. Six months after the surgical procedure, three groups of rats were studied: Sham (n=10), infarcted rats without heart failure (MI/HF-, n=10), and infarcted rats with heart failure (MI/HF+, n=10). Cardiac structures and ventricular function were assessed by transthoracic echocardiogram. MyHC isoforms were analyzed by protein electrophoresis. Muscle fiber cross-sectional area was measured in hematoxilin-eosin stained sections and in sections submitted to NADH-TR reaction. Myogenic regulatory factors miogenin, MyoD, and MRF4 gene expression was evaluated by real time RT-PCR; TNF-α and interleukin-6 serum levels werre quantified by... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)