The thesis presented is an effort to gather all possible information of one particular type of common paint defect the seed defect, from gray scale images of highly specular painted surface. The proposed approach in the thesis utilizes a white light source to illuminate the surface and utilizes a camera to capture its gray scale image at different diffused angles. While attempting to explain the physics of highlight formation in terms of location on the surface of a seed defect, the thesis also extends to utilize this information from gray scale images to accurately predict the parameters of seed defects including the height, size and position in real time. Since the primary highlight in a gray scale image is more defined, contrary to the past researches on diffuse angle images that use both primary / seed highlight and mirror highlight to estimate height of the seed, this thesis formulates a theory of highlight translation and estimates the height of seed based on primary / seed highlight. The other common type of surface defect - crater defect, is also addressed in the thesis.

Diffuse liver disease is a growing problem and a major cause of death worldwide. In the final stages the treatment often involves liver resection or transplant and in deciding what course of action is to be taken it is crucial to have a correct assessment of the function of the liver. The current “gold standard” for this assessment is to take a liver biopsy which has a number of disadvantages. As an alternative, a method involving magnetic resonance imaging and mechanistic modeling of the liver has been developed at Linköping University. One of the obstacles for this method to overcome in order to reach clinical implementation is the speed of the parameter estimation. In this project the methodology of metamodeling is tested as a possible solution to this speed problem. Metamodeling involve making models of models using extensive model simulations and mathematical tools. With the use of regression methods, clustering algorithms, and optimization, different methods for parameter estimation have been evaluated. The results show that several, but not all, of the parameters could be accurately estimated using metamodeling and that metamodeling could be a highly useful tool when modeling biological systems. With further development, metamodeling could bring this non-invasive method for estimation of liver function a major step closer to application in the clinic.

A diffuse-interface finite-element method has been applied to simulate the flow of two-component rheologically complex fluids. It treats the interfaces as having a finite thickness with a phase-field parameter varying continuously from one phase to the other. Adaptive meshing is applied to produce fine grid near the interface and coarse mesh in the bulk. It leads to accurate resolution of the interface at modest computational costs. An advantage of this method is that topological changes such as interfacial rupture and coalescence happen naturally under a short-range force resembling the van der Waals force. There is no need for manual intervention as in sharp-interface model to effect such event. Moreover, this energy-based formulation easily incorporates complex rheology as long as the free energy of the microstructures is known. The complex fluids considered in this thesis include viscoelastic fluids and nematic liquid crystals. Viscoelasticity is represented by the Oldroyd-B model, derived for a dilute polymer solution as linear elastic dumbbells suspended in a Newtonian solvent. The Leslie-Ericksen model is used for nematic liquid crystals，which features distortional elasticity and viscous anisotropy. The interfacial dynamics of such complex fluids are of both scientific and practical significance. The thesis describes seven computational studies of physically interesting problems. The numerical simulations of monodisperse drop formation in microfluidic devices have reproduced scenarios of jet breakup and drop formation observed in experiments. Parametric studies have shown dripping and jetting regimes for increasing flow rates, and elucidated the effects of flow and rheological parameters on the drop formation process and the final drop size. A simple liquid drop model is used to study the neutrophil, the most common type of white blood cell, transit in pulmonary capillaries. The cell size, viscosity and rheological properties are found to determine the transit time. A compound drop model is also employed to account for the cell nucleus. The other four cases concern drop and bubble dynamics in nematic liquid crystals, as determined by the coupling among interfacial anchoring, bulk elasticity and anisotropic viscosity. In particular, the simulations reproduce unusual bubble shapes seen in experiments, and predict self-assembly of microdroplets in nematic media.

Stuttgart, Univ., Diplomarb., 2004.

Stuttgart, Univ., Diss., 2003.

Augsburg, Univ., Diss., 2007.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2004--Stuttgart.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-01-31Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:18:54Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 gigante_ac_me_araiq.pdf: 810984 bytes, checksum: d628a07a7c532c812f60d96301f7afff (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente trabalho propõe o desenvolvimento de um método limpo para determinação de ureia em amostras comerciais de fertilizantes utilizando a Espectroscopia de Reflectância Difusa combinada com spot test. O método desenvolvido é baseado na reação entre a ureia e o reagente cromogênico p-dimetilaminocinamaldeído (p-DAC) em meio de ácido clorídrico diluído, que resulta em um produto de coloração rósea cujo valor máximo de reflectância ocorre no comprimento de onda de 535 nm. Os parâmetros experimentais foram otimizados através dos planejamentos fatorial e composto central para a obtenção da superfície de resposta, os quais indicaram uma maior sensibilidade para o método quando se utiliza o reagente p-DAC na concentração de 0,196% (m/v) em meio de ácido clorídrico de concentração 0,0549 mol L-1, empregando etanol como solvente para as soluções. O suporte sólido para a reação é um papel de filtro qualitativo onde são colocados 20,0μL de solução de ureia seguidos de secagem com ar frio de um secador de cabelos e 20,0μL de solução de reagente p-DAC 0,196% (m/v) em meio de HCl 0,0549 mol L-1 e secagem ao ar livre, submetendo-se então o spot à leitura reflectométrica em máx. = 535 nm. Uma relação linear (R = 0,996) foi estabelecida na faixa de concentração de ureia compreendida entre 50,0 – 300 mg L-1. Os limites de detecção e de quantificação foram determinados em 5,13 mg L-1 e 17,10 mg L-1, respectivamente. O método limpo desenvolvido foi aplicado na determinação de ureia em amostras comerciais de fertilizantes onde demonstrou apresentar ótima precisão e exatidão, evidenciadas pela boa recuperação (94,2 – 107,4%), além de oferecer vantagens como simplicidade de execução e baixo consumo de reagentes, geração de mínima quantidade de resíduos, rapidez e segurança... / This work proposes the development of a clean method for determination of urea in commercial samples of fertilizers using the Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy combined with spot test. The method is based on the reaction between urea and the chromogenic reagent p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (p-DAC) in diluted hydrochloric acid medium, which results in a pink colored product whose maximum value of reflectance occurs at a wavelength of 535 nm. The experimental parameters were optimized through a factorial and a central composite experimental design to obtain the response surface, which indicated a higher sensitivity for the method when using the reagent p-DAC in the concentration of 0.196% (w/v) in a hydrochloric acid 0.0549 mol L-1 medium, using ethanol as a solvent for the solutions. The solid support for the reaction is a qualitative filter paper where they are placed 20.0μL of urea solution followed by drying with cold air from a hair dryer and 20.0μL of reagent solution p-DAC 0.196% (w/v) in the HCl 0.0549 mol L-1 medium and drying in the air, then submitting the spot to the reflectometric reading at max = 535 nm. A linear relationship (R = 0.996) was established in the range of urea concentration between 50.0 to 300 mg L-1. The limits of detection and quantification were determined at 5.13 mg L-1 and 17.10 mg L-1, respectively. The method was applied to the clean determination of urea in commercial samples of fertilizers, which has shown to present great precision and accuracy as evidenced by the good recovery (94.2 to 107.4%) and also offers advantages such as simplicity of implementation and low consumption of reagents, generation of minimum quantity of wastes, rapidity and security, producing reliable results. As shown, the method is designed as environmentally friendly for determination of urea, as it is consistent with the Principles advocated by the Green Chemistry.

Orientador: Ivan Amaral Guerrini / Banca: Alfredo Pereira Junior / Banca: Gilberto Luppi dos Anjos / Resumo: O problema que motivou esse trabalho foi a dificuldade, por parte dos profissionais da saúde, em acolher o sofrimento psíquico nas Unidades Básicas de Saúde (UBS) e nas unidades da Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF). Neste trabalho investigamos se esta dificuldade se deve a inadequação epistemológica do paradigma vigente na medicina para lidar com estas questões. Usando uma metodologia baseada em revisão de literatura tradicional, analisamos a utilização do termo paradigma na produção científica brasileira dos últimos dez anos, armazenada na base de dados SciELO. Após busca pelas palavraschave paradigma e medicina e seleção prévia, 17 textos foram escolhidos. Realizamos então análises linguísticas e um levantamento da temática emergente. A análise linguística foi realizada através do levantamento da frequência de uso de termos relevantes nos textos e do grafo de co-ocorrências construído utilizando estes termos. Posteriormente os artigos foram organizados conforme seu foco principal, em três grupos: teórico, ensino médico e prática médica. Levantou-se então a temática emergente de cada grupo. Os textos discutiram algumas das ideias de Kuhn, enfatizando características do paradigma médico hegemônico, sinais de crise desse paradigma e a necessidade de um novo paradigma para lidar com as demandas da atenção primária. Vários artigos apresentaram experiências inovadoras implantadas em Unidades de Saúde e exemplos de mudanças nos currículos de cursos de medicina. O sofrimento psíquico é reconhecido como anomalia paradigmática e a integralidade é caracterizada como um problema epistemológico para o paradigma vigente. As bases teóricas do SUS podem ser consideradas como uma revolução científica, no acepção de Kuhn. A promoção da saúde é um novo e promissor paradigma pois enfatiza a integralidade do cuidado, a prevenção... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The motivation for this work was the difficulties faced by health professionals to treat patients with psychic suffering in Health Basic Units (HBU) and in Strategies for Family Health. In this work, we investigate if these difficulties were due to epistemological deficiencies of the present medicine paradigm. Using a methodology based on bibliographic review, we analyzed the use of the word paradigm in Brazilian scientific articles in SciELO database on the last ten years. Initially we browsed for the keywords: paradigm and medicine and selected 17 texts. We then performed some computational linguistic analyses: we measured the words frequency and constructed the co-occurrences graph of the 50 most commonly used words. Afterwards we organized the articles according to their focus in three classes: theoretical, medical education, and medical practice. We then determined the emerging themes for each class. The texts discussed some of Kuhn's ideas and emphasized characteristics of the hegemonic paradigm for medicine, crisis signs for this paradigm and the need of a paradigm shift to deal with primary care. Several articles presented innovative experiences carried out on Health Units and examples of changes on the curricula of medicine courses. The psychic suffering is considered a paradigmatic anomaly and integrality is characterized as an epistemological problem to the present paradigm. The Unified Health System (UHS) theoretical basis can be considered a scientific revolution in Kuhn perspective. Health promotion is a new and promising paradigm since it emphasizes integrality in the medical care, prevention, and commitment with quality of life and stimulates the community participation. Our analysis shows that the authors are of the opinion that many of the challenges faced by Brazilian health system are originated from epistemological questions. Although UHS is a theoretical breakthro... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

La tomographie optique diffuse (TOD) est une modalité d’imagerie biomédicale 3D peu dispendieuse et non-invasive qui permet de reconstruire les propriétés optiques d’un tissu biologique. Le processus de reconstruction d’images en TOD est difficile à réaliser puisqu’il nécessite de résoudre un problème non-linéaire et mal posé. Les propriétés optiques sont calculées à partir des mesures de surface du milieu à l’étude. Dans ce projet, deux méthodes de reconstruction non-linéaire pour la TOD ont été développées. La première méthode utilise un modèle itératif, une approche encore en développement qu’on retrouve dans la littérature. L’approximation de la diffusion est le modèle utilisé pour résoudre le problème direct. Par ailleurs, la reconstruction d’image à été réalisée dans différents régimes, continu et temporel, avec des mesures intrinsèques et de fluorescence. Dans un premier temps, un algorithme de reconstruction en régime continu et utilisant des mesures multispectrales est développé pour reconstruire la concentration des chromophores qui se trouve dans différents types de tissus. Dans un second temps, un algorithme de reconstruction est développé pour calculer le temps de vie de différents marqueurs fluorescents à partir de mesures optiques dans le domaine temporel. Une approche innovatrice a été d’utiliser la totalité de l’information du signal temporel dans le but d’améliorer la reconstruction d’image. Par ailleurs, cet algorithme permettrait de distinguer plus de trois temps de vie, ce qui n’a pas encore été démontré en imagerie de fluorescence. La deuxième méthode qui a été développée utilise l’apprentissage machine et plus spécifiquement l’apprentissage profond. Un modèle d’apprentissage profond génératif est mis en place pour reconstruire la distribution de sources d’émissions de fluorescence à partir de mesures en régime continu. Il s’agit de la première utilisation d’un algorithme d’apprentissage profond appliqué à la reconstruction d’images en TOD de fluorescence. La validation de la méthode est réalisée avec une mire aux propriétés optiques connues dans laquelle sont inséres des marqueurs fluorescents. La robustesse de cette méthode est démontrée même dans les situations où le nombre de mesures est limité et en présence de bruit. / Abstract : Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a low cost and noninvasive 3D biomedical imaging technique to reconstruct the optical properties of biological tissues. Image reconstruction in DOT is inherently a difficult problem, because the inversion process is nonlinear and ill-posed. During DOT image reconstruction, the optical properties of the medium are recovered from the boundary measurements at the surface of the medium. In this work, two approaches are proposed for non-linear DOT image reconstruction. The first approach relies on the use of iterative model-based image reconstruction, which is still under development for DOT and that can be found in the literature. A 3D forward model is developed based on the diffusion equation, which is an approximation of the radiative transfer equation. The forward model developed can simulate light propagation in complex geometries. Additionally, the forward model is developed to deal with different types of optical data such as continuous-wave (CW) and time-domain (TD) data for both intrinsic and fluorescence signals. First, a multispectral image reconstruction algorithm is developed to reconstruct the concentration of different tissue chromophores simultaneously from a set of CW measurements at different wavelengths. A second image reconstruction algorithm is developed to reconstruct the fluorescence lifetime (FLT) of different fluorescent markers from time-domain fluorescence measurements. In this algorithm, all the information contained in full temporal curves is used along with an acceleration technique to render the algorithm of practical use. Moreover, the proposed algorithm has the potential of being able to distinguish more than 3 FLTs, which is a first in fluorescence imaging. The second approach is based on machine learning techniques, in particular deep learning models. A deep generative model is proposed to reconstruct the fluorescence distribution map from CW fluorescence measurements. It is the first time that such a model is applied for fluorescence DOT image reconstruction. The performance of the proposed algorithm is validated with an optical phantom and a fluorescent marker. The proposed algorithm recovers the fluorescence distribution even from very noisy and sparse measurements, which is a big limitation in fluorescence DOT imaging.