Modeling of the electromagnetic, structural, thermal, or acoustic response of the human body to various external and internal stimuli is limited by the availability of anatomically accurate and numerically efficient computational models. The models currently approved for use are generally of proprietary or fixed format, preventing new model construction or customization. 1. This dissertation develops a new Visible Human Project - Female (VHP-F) computational phantom, constructed via segmentation of anatomical cryosection images taken in the axial plane of the human body. Its unique property is superior resolution on human head. In its current form, the VHP-F model contains 33 separate objects describing a variety of human tissues within the head and torso. Each obejct is a non-intersecting 2-manifold model composed of contiguous surface triangular elements making the VHP-F model compatible with major commercial and academic numerical simulators employing the Finite Element Method (FEM), Boundary Element Method (BEM), Finite Volume Method (FVM), and Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) Method. 2. This dissertation develops a new workflow used to construct the VHP-F model that may be utilized to build accessible custom models from any medical image data source. The workflow is customizable and flexible, enabling the creation of standard and parametrically varying models facilitating research on impacts associated with fluctuation of body characteristics (for example, skin thickness) and dynamic processes such as fluid pulsation. 3. This dissertation identifies, enables, and quantifies three new specific computational bioelectromagnetic problems, each of which is solved with the help of the developed VHP-F model: I. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of human brain motor cortex with extracephalic versus cephalic electrodes; II. RF channel characterization within cerebral cortex with novel small on-body directional antennas; III. Body Area Network (BAN) characterization and RF localization within the human body using the FDTD method and small antenna models with coincident phase centers. Each of those problems has been (or will be) the subject of a separate dedicated MS thesis.

About fifty years ago, research began in the field of computational human phantoms primarily for radiation dose calculations. This field has grown exponentially due to the potential for solving complicated medical problems. Modeling electromagnetic, structural, thermal, and acoustic response of the human body to different internal and external stimuli has been limited by the availability of numerically efficient computational human models. This study describes the recent development of a computational full-body human phantom €“ Visible Human Project (VHP) €“ Female Model. This human phantom has been validated for certain frequencies in the ISM band and beyond. The anatomical accuracy of the phantom is established by comparing the CAD phantom with the original VHP image dataset. This thesis also applies the VHP €“ Female CAD Model (version 3.1) for investigating the effects of MRI radiation. The simulation environment ANSYS HFSS is used for studying the effects of RF birdcage coil on the human phantom. Finally, a non-ionizing technique for osteoporosis detection is investigated numerically.

Wireless capsule endoscope (WCE) is becoming one of the most patient-friendly inspection device which provides visual investigation of entire gastrointestinal (GI) tract, while the other traditional (wired) endoscopic devices are usually designed for colon inspection. Locating abnormalities tract such as tumors, polyps and bleedings with wire-connected endoscope in GI tract is simple as long as we could measure the length of the wires inside human body. When WCE is applied, however, this becomes a critical challenge of examination since there is no wires connected to WCE while physicians need to find the exact locations of WCE to identify the position of abnormalities. To locate the WCE accurately, methods have come up in last decade including time of arrival (TOA) based methods, received signal strength (RSS) based methods, phase difference of arrival (PDOA) based methods, electromagnetic methods and video-based tracking methods, etc.. In this thesis, time of arrival (TOA), phase difference of arrival (PDOA) and video based localization methods are proposed and their performance are analyzed. We first propose an novel video-based tracking technique based on maximum mutual information. With this technique, we can tell the displacement and rotation between consecutive frames. Then in TOA chapter, the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) of TOA ranging inside homogeneous tissue is calculated first then three TOA ranging methods are proposed and compared with the CRLB which is used as the performance guideline. After that, PDOA based ranging technique is applied exploiting phase difference of two signals. Since the phase difference is taken into consideration, the ranging ambiguity is eliminated. We also evaluate the performance of the proposed PDOA ranging method. Finally, these ranging methods are evaluated in non-homogeneous tissues, the results of which are also compared to that in homogeneous tissue to analyze the impact of non-homogeneity.

The study involved the evaluation of anthropometric activities for high school science. The activities actively engaged students in the process of gathering, processing and analyzing data derived from human body measurements, with students using their prior knowledge acquired in science, mathematics and computer classes to interpret this information. Quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) methods were used to provide answers to the research questions. The quantitative portion of the study involved students' achievement, students' attitudes to science and students' perceptions of the classroom learning environment. A pretest/posttest design was used with achievement outcomes, however, only a single assessment of student attitudes and classroom environment was made. The sample size used to gather data on students' attitudes to science and students' perceptions of the leaming environment was 726 students. Five hundred and ninety-eight (598) students tools the biology test. However, analyses were restricted to the subsample of 158 students who had experienced the anthropometric laboratory activity. Twenty-four students (24) were interviewed for the qualitative part of the study. Data generated from the interviews were used to complement information provided in the surveys. The main purpose of this research was to evaluate these student-centered activities in terms of students' achievement, students' attitudes and students' perceptions of the science classroom environment. Other aims included: to validate generally-applicable measures of classroom learning environments and students' attitudes to science; to investigate gender differences in students' achievement, attitudes and perceptions of classroom environment; and to investigate associations between the classroom learning environment and the student outcomes of performance and attitudes. / Some of the important findings of this study included: 1. In reference to the survey instruments, the item analyses supported the internal consistency reliability and ability to differentiate between classrooms of the learning environment questionnaire and the analyses of attitude data supported the factorial validity, internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity of the attitude questionnaire. 2. Substantial differences between the pretest and posttest scores for the achievement measures in Biology and anthropometric activities were found. These findings were supported by statistically significant t-test scores and effect sizes. 3. There was a positive influence of using anthropometric activities on both students' attitudes and their perceptions of the classroom learning environment. The findings based on qualitative information (interviews, which involved twenty-four students) were consistent with patterns emerging from our quantitative information (surveys, which involved 760 students) and they supported the effectiveness of the anthropometric activities. 4. The analysis of gender differences in students' achievement, attitudes and perceptions of classroom environment revealed that boys have more positive attitudes to science than girls do and is in agreement with past studies. However, females' students demonstrated more favorable perceptions of the learning environment than mates, primarily with Student Cohesiveness and Rule Clarity. 5. The association between student attitudes and their perception of the leaming environment indicated that students' attitudes to science are most likely to be positive in laboratory classes where student perceive a strong integration between the concepts and principles covered in theory classes and in laboratory classes. These findings are consistent with results in other countries. / 6. The association between achievement and student perceptions of their learning environment, suggest that integration of theoretical concepts with laboratory activities (Integration), a cohesive student group (Student Cohesiveness) and using appropriate laboratory materials and equipment (Material Environment) are likely to lead to student achievement. This finding replicates the results of previous studies. 7. I found stronger outcome-environment associations for attitudes than for achievement. This finding is consistent with results from past research. The contributions and significance of this study can be summarized as follows: 1. One of the key components of this study was the development and implementation of the innovative anthropometric laboratory activity, which was especially designed for this research. 2. Another contribution of this study is to the field of integrated curriculum instruction. While most instructional curricular activities are subject specific, this study is interdisciplinary in nature because it effectively links concepts and skills from science, mathematics, statistics, and technology (graphing calculators and computers). 3. A unique feature of this research is that it had an evaluation component involving student performance, student attitudes, and the nature of the classroom learning environment. Therefore, the study contributes to the field of learning environment research by adding another study to the limited research that has employed the classroom environment as a criterion of effectiveness in evaluating educational innovations. The study has the potential to help other science teachers to apply these ideas in their classrooms.

Since the writings of Vitruvius in the first century AD, the use of the human body as a metaphorical and symbolic referent has provided what is perhaps the most prolific trope for architectural theory. The image of �Vitruvian Man,� with limbs outstretched to touch the circle drawn from its navel, took on particular significance during the Renaissance, as architects such as Alberti, Filarete, di Giorgio, Colonna, and Serlio published their own interpretations of Vitruvius� Ten Books. For these writers, the body, as microcosm, was the best available means for representing the order of the cosmos, the world as a whole. Yet just as the idea of the body as architectural referent was being reinterpreted, the body itself was being transformed by Renaissance anatomy. The unity and integrity of the body was jeopardised as anatomists studied the body through the dissection of corpses. The published results of these studies, the most notable being Vesalius� De Humani Corporis Fabrica, were highly influential, with the anatomical methods of observation and partition emerging as the fundamental tenets of modern science. Several centuries later, the transformation of the body from a symbol of the world to an object amenable to scientific observation and control was all but fully realised, as the discoveries of Pasteur were put to use in the conquest of disease. These changing medical conceptions of the body led to concomitant transformations of the sense of self, as the body as object was increasingly divorced from the operations of the mind, in both its conscious and unconscious forms. This thesis will examine how these changing conceptions of the human body have been interpreted within architectural theory since Vitruvius. Beginning with the idea of ornament as trope of sacrifice, it will examine how interpretations of the relation between the body as whole and as part have affected ideas of architectural composition. Further, it will examine the ethical implications of the trope of building as body, such that a building which reflects the proportions of a �well-composed� body (Francesco di Giorgio), is itself an injunction to �composure,� or appropriate behaviour. It will argue that modern architecture, while rejecting classical anthropomorphism, was nonetheless influenced by ideas and practices arising from anatomy. Then, in contrast to the object-body of anatomy, the thesis will examine phenomenological and hermeneutical conceptions of the body, which interpret the body as lived. From Merleau-Ponty�s study of perception to Scarry�s reading of the significance of pain, the contribution of the body to the sense of self will be explored, giving rise to a renewed conception of anthropomorphism as the manifestation not only of human form, but of human sentience. Further, to the modern fragmentation of both the body and architecture will be opposed integrative strategies of selfhood, such as the formation of narrative identity (Ricoeur), the engagement with a community through practice (MacIntyre), and the idea of the �monstrous� body (Frascari). These strategies will be used to explore ways in which the form of the body can be understood other than in purely material terms, and how this is translated into architecture.

Thesis (M.C.S.)--Regent College, 2005. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-118).

Thesis--Cologne. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-153).

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Exegesis (BA--Art and Design) -- AUT University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (59 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm + 1 DVD (4 3/4 in.)) in City Campus Theses Collection (T 791.436561 WOO)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-212). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.