Acute otitis media is the most common illness diagnosed during early childhood that can cause significant morbidity (Brook, 1994) and sometimes can cause irreversible sequelae such as a hearing defect and subsequent learning difficulties (Klein, 1994). The aims of the research presented here were to study some aspects of the middle ear defence mechanisms in both immune and non-immune rats following experimental otitis media (OM) with two pathogens nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and Moraxella catarrhalis (M. catarrhalis). This study also aimed at developing a suitable technique for preparing immunohistochemical staining of middle ear sections (chapter 2). A previous study has shown that a regime where rats received an IPP immunisation combined with an IT boost was effective in enhancing clearance of a middle ear infection with the same strain of NTHi and also in the presence of a concomitant viral infection (Moore et al, 2001). Results of this study have shown that for NTHi infection a distinct cellular influx to the middle ear in the immune rats was accompanied by an enhanced bacterial clearance compared to the non-immunised rats (chapter 3). This cellular influx was responsible for the remarkable reduction in the bacterial number. The sharp decline in PMNs numbers in the NTHi immunised rats that followed complete bacterial clearance at 72h post infection (Table 3.1) indicate a more effectively controlled down regulation of this cell infiltrate than the non-immunised rats. For M. catarrhalis infection, there was no difference in cell infiltrate between immune and non-immune rats, but enhanced clearance of the bacteria were observed for the immune animals. The histopathological changes in the middle ear mucosa of rats with experimentally induced infection were studied to provide a better understanding about the distribution of the inflammatory cells and changes in the mucosa during the first 24h post challenge with NTHi and M. catarrhalis (Chapter 4). These changes have not been previously studied for the two pathogens at 24h post challenge in rats. Induced infections with the two pathogens were found to produce similar histopathological changes but more inflammatory infiltration was observed within the infected mucosa with NTHi than that seen with M. catarrhalis. The infections were characterized by increased thickness of the middle ear mucosa, Eustachian tube mucosa, periosteum and tympanic membrane. There was also an increase in the number and size of small blood vessels at all sites, and these small blood vessels seem to be the source of the inflammatory infiltration into the middle ear mucosa and middle ear cavity during the infection. These findings provided an essential background to the immunohistochemical study. The effect of mucosal immunisation on the distribution of CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells has not been investigated previously. Results of the present study (Chapter 5) show the pattern of distribution of these cells during the first 48h post infection with NTHi in the rat. The number of CD4+and CD8+T cells peaked at 24h post infection in the nonimmunised animal and were highest at 48h post-infection in the immunised rats. The difference in response in the immunised rats may represent regulation of the inflammatory response by the immune system. The inflammatory response regulation is indicated by the difference in cellular influx into the immune rats and the response in the immune rats that corresponds to enhanced bacterial clearance prior to a decrease in numbers of inflammatory cells once the bacteria was no longer detected (Chapter 3). This resolution of the inflammatory mass would reduce the opportunity for continued damage to local tissue. These changes are also supported by the reduction in the thickness of the middle ear mucosa of the immunised rats especially at 24h and 48h post-infection (Chapter 5). This study has shown that there are distinct differences in the rate of bacterial clearance and cellular changes in the middle ear mucosa and tympanic bulla in immunised rats during a middle ear infection. Future studies are still required to gain a better understanding of differences in the inflammatory response for both pathogens, NTHi and M. catarrhalis.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

<p>Huvudsyftet med min undersökning var att beskriva hur det är på ett högstadium för elever som är i behov av särskilt stöd. Jag har undersökt hur man som lärare på bästa sätt ska hjälpa dessa elever så att de känner sig delaktiga och synliga i klassrummet samt få dem att nå de olika kunskapsmålen. Jag använde mig av kvalitativa intervjuer när jag undersökte min studie och intervjuade fem olika pedagoger och en studierektor. Resultaten var relativt lika då de flesta av pedagogerna menade att fler resurser borde finnas på skolan, eftersom det är skolans ansvar att ge stöd till de elever som har svårigheter. Pedagogerna menade även att man som lärare måste hitta sitt eget arbetssätt som fungerar för alla elever samt att det måste finnas en god sammanhållning mellan de olika pedagogerna på skolan så att man inte får dra ett alltför tungt lass. Med min undersökning ville jag ta reda på vad jag ska tänka på gällande de elever som är i behov av särskilt stöd när jag nu till våren börjar min arbetskarriär som lärare. I och med denna studie har jag fått större insikt och idéer och tankar gällande detta som jag inte tror jag kunnat läsa mig till.</p> / <p>The main purpose with my examination was to describe how it is on a senior level for pupils who are in the need for special support. I have examined how teachers in the best way can help these pupils so that they fell participate and noticed in the classroom and get them to reach the different goals. I have done qualitative interview when I did my examination and was interviewing five different teachers and the director of studies. The result was kind of the same, most of the teachers meant that it should be more resources on the school because it is the schools responsibility to give support to the pupils who are in the need for special support. The teachers also meant that all the teachers have to find their own way to teach so that it works for all the pupils and that it have to be a good solidarity among the teachers on the school so it doesn’t get tough. With my examination I wanted to find out what I should keep in mind of concerning those pupils who are in the needs of special support when I soon start my working career as a teacher. With this study I have reached a greater knowledge and thoughts that I don’t think I could have learned by books.</p>

We propose three biometric systems for performing 1) Multi-modal Three-Dimensional (3D) ear + Two-Dimensional (2D) face recognition, 2) 3D face recognition, and 3) hybrid 3D ear recognition combining local and holistic features. For the 3D ear component of the multi-modal system, uncalibrated video sequences are utilized to recover the 3D ear structure of each subject within a database. For a given subject, a series of frames is extracted from a video sequence and the Region-of-Interest (ROI) in each frame is independently reconstructed in 3D using Shape from Shading (SFS). A fidelity measure is then employed to determine the model that most accurately represents the 3D structure of the subject’s ear. Shape matching between a probe and gallery ear model is performed using the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm. For the 2D face component, a set of facial landmarks is extracted from frontal facial images using the Active Shape Model (ASM) technique. Then, the responses of the facial images to a series of Gabor filters at the locations of the facial landmarks are calculated. The Gabor features are stored in the database as the face model for recognition. Match-score level fusion is employed to combine the match scores obtained from both the ear and face modalities. The aim of the proposed system is to demonstrate the superior performance that can be achieved by combining the 3D ear and 2D face modalities over either modality employed independently. For the 3D face recognition system, we employ an Adaboost algorithm to builda classifier based on geodesic distance features. Firstly, a generic face model is finely conformed to each face model contained within a 3D face dataset. Secondly, the geodesic distance between anatomical point pairs are computed across each conformed generic model using the Fast Marching Method. The Adaboost algorithm then generates a strong classifier based on a collection of geodesic distances that are most discriminative for face recognition. The identification and verification performances of three Adaboost algorithms, namely, the original Adaboost algorithm proposed by Freund and Schapire, and two variants – the Gentle and Modest Adaboost algorithms – are compared. For the hybrid 3D ear recognition system, we propose a method to combine local and holistic ear surface features in a computationally efficient manner. The system is comprised of four primary components, namely, 1) ear image segmentation, 2) local feature extraction and matching, 3) holistic feature extraction and matching, and 4) a fusion framework combining local and holistic features at the match score level. For the segmentation component, we employ our method proposed in [111], to localize a rectangular region containing the ear. For the local feature extraction and representation component, we extend the Histogram of Categorized Shapes (HCS) feature descriptor, proposed in [111], to an object-centered 3D shape descriptor, termed Surface Patch Histogram of Indexed Shapes (SPHIS), for surface patch representation and matching. For the holistic matching component, we introduce a voxelization scheme for holistic ear representation from which an efficient, element-wise comparison of gallery-probe model pairs can be made. The match scores obtained from both the local and holistic matching components are fused to generate the final match scores. Experimental results conducted on the University of Notre Dame (UND) collection J2 dataset demonstrate that theproposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art 3D ear biometric systems in both accuracy and efficiency.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Also available online.

Vertebrates have evolved a unique way to sense their environment: placodallyderived sense organs. These sensory structures emerge from a crescent-shaped domain, the preplacodal domain, which surrounds the anterior neural plate and generates the paired sense organs as well as the cranial ganglia. For decades, embryologists have attempted to determine the tissue interactions required for induction of various placodal tissues. More recently, technological advances have allowed investigators to ask probing questions about the molecular nature of placodal development. In this dissertation I largely focus on development of the otic placode. I utilize loss-of-function techniques available in the zebrafish model system to demonstrate that two members of the fibroblast growth factors family of secreted ligands, Fgf3 and Fgf8, are redundantly required for otic placode induction. I go on to show that these factors are expressed in periotic tissues from the beginning of gastrulation. These findings are consistent with a model where Fgf3 and Fgf8 signal to preotic tissue to induce otic-specific gene expression. This model does not address other potential inducers in otic induction. A study using chick explant cultures suggests that a member of the Wnt family of secreted ligands also has a role in otic induction. I therefore test the relative roles of Wnt and Fgf in otic placode induction. The results demonstrate that Wnt functions primarily to correctly position the Fgf expression domain and that it is these Fgf factors which are directly received by future otic cells. Lastly, I examine the function of the muscle segment homeobox (msx) gene family expressed in the preplacodal domain. This study demonstrates that Msx proteins refine the boundary between the preplacodal domain and the neural plate. Further, msx genes function in the differentiation and survival of posterior placodal tissues (including the otic field), neural crest and dorsal neural cell types. Loss of Msx function results in precocious cell death and morphogenesis defects which may reflect perturbed BMP signaling.

This thesis addresses the biomechanics of the human middle ear, that part of the auditory system which converts sound pressure waves in air to fluid pressure waves in the cochlea. The middle ear's mechanism is analysed in four papers, three main and one supporting; in the main papers the middle ear is treated as a multi-particle, multi-rigid body ensemble possessing a variable number of degrees of freedom depending upon the case being investigated. It is confirmed, using the standard representation of a single fused incudo-malleal block, that the middle ear's motion is linear, but when this fused block restriction is lifted nonlinearity is present which significantly affects the mechanism's behaviour. In view of the linearity of the chain under the fused block conditions, the explanatory veracity of the conventionally accepted `fixed axis hypothesis' of ossicular motion is examined and found to be wanting as a realistic description of the chain's physical movement. The nonlinear behaviour of the ossicular chain centres around the action of the incudo-malleal joint. This joint is shown to have preferential planes of operation, principally the pitch or longitudinal plane and in general to act as an efficient energy dissipator at high driving pressures and low frequencies. Providing the pressure is high enough, it is shown this energy dissipator effect eventually becomes independent of frequency. The supporting paper discusses the dynamics of the imposition and removal of equation constraints justifying methods used to investigate the functioning of the incudo-malleal joint.

Huvudsyftet med min undersökning var att beskriva hur det är på ett högstadium för elever som är i behov av särskilt stöd. Jag har undersökt hur man som lärare på bästa sätt ska hjälpa dessa elever så att de känner sig delaktiga och synliga i klassrummet samt få dem att nå de olika kunskapsmålen. Jag använde mig av kvalitativa intervjuer när jag undersökte min studie och intervjuade fem olika pedagoger och en studierektor. Resultaten var relativt lika då de flesta av pedagogerna menade att fler resurser borde finnas på skolan, eftersom det är skolans ansvar att ge stöd till de elever som har svårigheter. Pedagogerna menade även att man som lärare måste hitta sitt eget arbetssätt som fungerar för alla elever samt att det måste finnas en god sammanhållning mellan de olika pedagogerna på skolan så att man inte får dra ett alltför tungt lass. Med min undersökning ville jag ta reda på vad jag ska tänka på gällande de elever som är i behov av särskilt stöd när jag nu till våren börjar min arbetskarriär som lärare. I och med denna studie har jag fått större insikt och idéer och tankar gällande detta som jag inte tror jag kunnat läsa mig till. / The main purpose with my examination was to describe how it is on a senior level for pupils who are in the need for special support. I have examined how teachers in the best way can help these pupils so that they fell participate and noticed in the classroom and get them to reach the different goals. I have done qualitative interview when I did my examination and was interviewing five different teachers and the director of studies. The result was kind of the same, most of the teachers meant that it should be more resources on the school because it is the schools responsibility to give support to the pupils who are in the need for special support. The teachers also meant that all the teachers have to find their own way to teach so that it works for all the pupils and that it have to be a good solidarity among the teachers on the school so it doesn’t get tough. With my examination I wanted to find out what I should keep in mind of concerning those pupils who are in the needs of special support when I soon start my working career as a teacher. With this study I have reached a greater knowledge and thoughts that I don’t think I could have learned by books.

No description available.

Detta är en rapport för ett 15hp examensarbete på Linköpings Tekniska Högskola. Projektet syftar till att implementera ett digitalt frekvensutjämningsfilter för audioapplikationer i ett Atmel DE2 FPGA utvecklingskort. Specifikt ska systemet användas till att korrigera ojämnheter i in-ear hörlurars frekvenssvar. Denna rapport är en beskrivning av systemets utformning och hur arbetet gick till väga. Resultatet blev ett väl fungerande system och ett antal förslag på förbättringar. / This is a report for a 15hp thesis at the Institute of Technology at Linköping University. The project aims to implement a digital frequency-equalizing filter for audio applications in an Atmel DE2 FPGA development board. More specifically the system will be used to correct unevennesses in the frequency response of in-ear earphones. This report is a description of the design of the system and how the work on the project was executed. The result was a well functioning system with suggestions on possible improvements.