La chirurgie de l'implantation cochléaire a pour but d'insérer le porte-électrodes dans la cochlée en respectant au maximum les structures intracochléaires. Ce geste va permettre de stimuler directement les cellules ganglionnaires du nerf cochléaire pour rendre une audition utile chez les patients. La partie basale de la cochlée permet de définir un axe d'insertion du porte-électrodes. Dans notre première étude, nous avons observé que ces caractéristiques anatomiques particulières rendent difficile la représentation mentale de l'axe. Dans notre deuxième étude, nous avons observé que seul un système robotisé automatisé a permis de s'aligner avec précision avec cet axe d'insertion. Dans notre troisième travail, nous avons observé qu'une insertion dans l'axe optimal permettait de diminuer le traumatisme intracochléaire par rapport à un axe erroné, le nerf facial est une structure qui ne permet pas une insertion selon l'axe idéal et oblige une insertion selon un axe optimal. Dans notre quatrième travail, en utilisant une technique optimisée, nous avons montré une diminution du traumatisme par rapport à la technique conventionnelle d'insertion. Bien que la relation entre l'axe d'insertion et les résultats auditifs n'ait pas été formellement démontrée, nous avons constaté dans un travail réalisé en parallèle au laboratoire, chez l'animal, une relation entre traumatisme intracochléaire et les résultats auditifs. L'essentielle de ce travail permet de démontrer le rôle important de l'axe d'insertion au cours de l'implantation cochléaire et les avantages d'une approche robotisée lors de l'implantation cochléaire. / The goals of cochlear implant surgery are to insert the electrode array into the cochlea with minimal intracochlear trauma. The electrode array will then electrically stimulate the ganglion cells of the cochlear nerve and restore hearing in deaf patients. The electrode array insertion has a duration of a few seconds, but the quality of the insertion will influence over the auditory performance of the implant during lifetime. The cochlea is a snailed-shape structure, but an insertion axis can be defined in the basal turn of the cochlea. In a first study, we observed that these anatomical particularities led difficult the cochlear visualization, and to obtain an accurate mental representation of the insertion axis in surgical conditions. In a second work, we observed that only a robotized automated system allowed to precisely align an insertion tool with the insertion axis. In a third work, we used this robotised system to insert the array in a constant speed. Although an optimal insertion axis reduced the intracochlear trauma in relation to an inaccurate axis, the facial nerve is an essential structure that leads to an angle variation between the optimal axis and the scala tympani axis. The size of the angle is finally related to the intracochlear trauma during the electrode array insertion. Once observed the superiority of an optimized technique consisting by both an insertion of the electrode array in an optimal axis and in a constant speed, in the fourth part of this work, we observed that this technique was also less traumatic for the intracochlear structures than a manual insertion technique.

The lack of adequate equipment and measurement tools in whole-body vibration has imposed significant constraints on what can be measured and what can be investigated in the field. Most current studies are limited to single direction measurements while focusing on simple postures. Besides the limitation in measurement, most of the current biomechanical measures, such as the seat-to-head transmissibility, have discrepancies in the way they are calculated across different labs. Additionally, this field lacks an important measure to quantify the subjective discomfort of individuals, especially when sitting with different postures or in multiple-axis vibration. This work begins by explaining discrepancies in measurement techniques and uses accelerometers and motion capture to provide the basis for more accurate measurement during single- and three-dimensional human vibration responses. Building on this concept, a new data collection method is introduced using inertial sensors to measure the human response in whole-body vibration. The results indicate that measurement errors are considerably reduced by utilizing the proposed methods and that accurate measurements can be gathered in multiple-axis vibration. Next, a biomechanically driven predictive model was developed to evaluate human discomfort during single-axis sinusoidal vibration. The results indicate that the peak discomfort can be captured with the predictive model during multiple seated postures. The predictive model was then modified to examine human discomfort to whole-body vibration on a larger scale with random vibrations, multiple postures, and multiple vibration directions. The results demonstrate that the predictive measure can capture human discomfort in random vibration and during varying seated postures. Lastly, a new concept called effective seat-to-head transmissibility is introduced, which describes how to combine the human body's biodynamic response to vibration from multiple directions. This concept is further utilized to quantify the human response using many different vibration conditions and seated postures during 6D vibration. The results from this study demonstrate how complicated vibrations from multiple-input and multiple-output motions can be resolved into a single measure. The proposed effective seat-to-head transmissibility concept presents an objective tool to gain insights into the effect of posture and surrounding equipment on the biodynamic response of the operators. This thesis is timely as advances in seat design for operators are increasingly important with evolving armrests, backrests, and seat suspension systems. The utilization of comprehensive measurement techniques, a predictive discomfort model, and the concept of effective seat-to-head transmissibility, therefore, would be beneficial to the fields of seat/equipment design as well as human biomechanics studies in whole-body vibration.

Two-axis gimbals are frequently used to point cameras and telescopes at various points of interest for surveillance, science, and art. The rotation of a two-axis gimbal system is governed by nonlinear angular momentum equations of motion. This paper presents a method for slewing a telescope in space with a gimbaled sensor attached to a nominally non-rotating spacecraft using two seventh order polynomial input functions to characterize torques. To accomplish this task, picking the optimal coefficients of the seventh order polynomial was necessary. It was also desired to use constraint equations to limit the excursion, angular velocity, angular acceleration, and jerk of the gimbal. A Matlab code was developed for this purpose. Matlab’s fmincon was used to do the optimization, and a comparison to a previously validated one-degree-of-freedom (DOF) model was presented for validation of the nonlinear, two-degree-of-freedom model. Results for a fully constrained 2 DOF slew maneuver were also shown. This thesis demonstrates that seventh order polynomial torques can be used to accurately slew a telescope in space using nonlinear equations of motion.

Abstract not available

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 228-257). Aims to determine the impact of maternal undernutrition during late gestation and during the periconceptional and gestational periods on fetal growth, fetal blood pressure and the fetal hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis in the sheep.

There is an urgent need for economical, clean, sustainable energy supplies, not only in densely populated areas where electricity grids are appropriate, but also in rural areas where stand-alone power supply systems are often more suitable. Although electrical power supply is very versatile and convenient, it introduces unnecessary complexity for some off-grid applications where direct mechanical shaft power can conveniently be provided by a wind turbine. Wind energy is one of the more promising renewable energy sources. Most wind turbines are of the horizontal axis type, but vertical axis wind turbines or VAWTs have some advantages for direct mechanical drive applications. They need no tail or yaw mechanism to orient them into the wind and power is easily transmitted via a vertical shaft to a load at ground level. Blades may be of uniform section and untwisted, making them relatively easy to fabricate or extrude, unlike the blades of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) which should be twisted and tapered for optimum performance. Savonius rotor VAWTs are simple and may have a place where the power requirement is only a few Watts, but they are inefficient and uneconomical for applications with larger power requirements. VAWTs based on the Darrieus rotor principle are potentially more efficient and more economical, but those with fixed pitch blades have hitherto been regarded as unsuitable for stand-alone use due to their lack of starting torque and low speed torque. This starting torque problem can be overcome by using variable pitch blades, but most existing variable pitch VAWTs, variously known as giromills or cycloturbines, need wind direction sensors, microprocessors and servomotors to control the blade pitch, making them impracticable for stand-alone, non-electrical applications. A simpler but less well known concept is passive or self-acting variable pitch in which the blades are free to pitch under the combined action of aerodynamic and inertial forces in such a way that a favourable blade angle of attack is maintained without the complexity of conventional variable pitch systems. Several fonns of self-acting variable pitch VAWTs or SAPVAWTs have been described in the literature, several patents exist for variants on the concept, and at least two companies world-wide have attempted to commercialise their designs. However the aerodynamic behaviour of these devices has been little understood and most designs appear to have been based on nothing more than a qualitative appreciation of the potential advantages of the concept. This thesis assesses the potential of both fixed and passive variable pitch vertical axis wind turbines to provide economical stand-alone power for direct mechanical drive applications. It is shown that the starting torque and low speed torque problems of VAWTs can be overcome either by passive variable pitch or by a combination of suitable blade aerofoil sections, either rigid or flexible, and transmissions which unload the rotor at low speeds so that high starting torque is not necessary. The work done for this thesis is made up of a sequence of stages, each following logically from the previous one: 1. Several tasks have been identified which could be performed effectively by a self-starting vertical axis wind turbine using direct mechanical drive. These include, a. pumping water, b. purifying and/or desalinating water by reverse osmosis, c. heating and cooling using vapour compression heat pumps, d. mixing and aerating water bodies and e. heating water by fluid turbulence. Thus it is apparent that such a system has the potential to make a useful contribution to society. 2. A literature survey of existing VAWT designs has been carried out to assess whether any are suitable for these applications. 3. As no suitable existing design was identified, an improved form of SAPVAWT has been developed and patented. 4. To optimise the performance of the improved SAPVAWT, a mathematical model has been developed in collaboration with Mr Leo Lazauskas of the University of Adelaide (see Kirke and Lazauskas, 1991, Lazauskas and Kirke, 1992). As far as the author of the present thesis is aware, this is the only existing mathematical model able to predict the performance of this particular type of SAPVAWT, and one of only two worldwide which model SAPVAWTs. 5. In order to use the mathematical model to predict the performance of a given SAPVAWT, it is necessary to have lift, drag and moment data for the aerofoil profile to be used, over a wide range of incidence and Reynolds numbers. A literature search has revealed large gaps in the existing data. 6. Wind tunnel testing has been carried out to assess the effect of camber on the performance of one set of NACA sections at low Reynolds number, and performance figures for other sections have been estimated by interpolation from existing data. 7. Using the assembled aerofoil data, both experimental and estimated, the mathematical model has been used to predict the performance of both fixed and variable pitch VAWTs. It has been found to predict correctly the performance of known fixed pitch VAWTs and has then been used to predict the performance of fixed pitch VAWTs with cambered blades using newly developed profiles that exhibit superior characteristics at low Reynolds numbers. Results indicate that fixed pitch VAWTs using these blade sections should self-start reliably. 8. To validate the mathematical model predictions for self-acting variable pitch, a two metre diameter physical model has been built and tested in a wind tunnel, and acceptable agreement has been obtained between predicted and measured performance. 9. To demonstrate the performance of a SAP VA WT under field conditions, a six metre diameter turbine has been designed, fabricated, erected and tested. 10. Because a prime mover such as a wind turbine is of no use unless it drives a toad, particular attention has been paid to the behaviour of complete systems, including the wind turbine, the transmission and the load. It is concluded that VAWTs with the improved self-starting and low speed torque characteristics described in this thesis have considerable potential in stand-alone, direct mechanical drive applications.

Low birth weight is associated with an increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes and with signs of increased hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis activity in later life (1, 2). Low birth usually weight reflects a reduction in fetal growth, which largely depends on an adequate supply of nutrients and oxygen. Variations in supply modify the metabolic and neuroendocrine characteristics of the fetus, which in turn modulate the pattern of functional development as well as growth (3). An adverse fetal environment, evident as low birth weight, is therefore proposed to alter functional development with long term effects for the function and risk of disease in the individual later in life (4, 5). Increased HPAA impairs metabolic homeostasis and could therefore mediate effect of prenatal challenge on later metabolic control (6). It was therefore hypothesised that restriction of fetal growth, increases circulating cortisol and/or alters sensitivity to cortisol, which increases fasting blood glucose, and impairs glucose tolerance in the young adult. Large litter size in the guinea pig is characterised by reduced placental and fetal growth, reduced size at birth and insulin resistance in offspring in later life, providing a suitable model to test this hypothesis. Spontaneous restriction of fetal growth in the guinea pig, evident as small size at birth, was associated with increased salivary cortisol, in both sexes but at different stages of postnatal life. In males, salivary cortisol was increased with small size at birth in early and adult life, but reduced later with ageing. In females however, salivary cortisol was increased in juveniles and in aged adults, possibly reflecting the impact of the oestrus cycle on cortisol production in mature cycling females. Altered activity of the HPGA, which can influence that of the HPAA, has also been reported to be programmed by prenatal restriction. In the guinea pig, salivary testosterone in males increased with age and small size at birth in juveniles, young and aged adults. In females, salivary progesterone increased with age up to 300 days, and decreased with size at birth in the young guinea pig. Although testosterone inhibits HPAA activity, in males, mean salivary cortisol correlated positively with mean salivary testosterone at 100 and 300 days of age. In contrast, progesterone may enhance HPAA activity, and consistent with this, in females, mean salivary progesterone correlated with mean salivary cortisol at 400 days of age. Therefore, salivary testosterone in the male and salivary progesterone in the female guinea pig changes with maturation and has previously reported in this or other species, but small size at birth increases salivary testosterone in males with modest effects in early life in females. This together with the unexpected positive associations of salivary cortisol with testosterone in males, suggests that programming of the HPAA makes little contribution to that of the HPAA as indicated by salivary cortisol. Here we show that low birth weight is associated with increased fasting blood glucose and impaired glucose tolerance in both male and female young adult guinea pigs aged 100 days. Fasting and mean (during IVGTT) plasma cortisol was reduced in low birth weight female adult guinea pigs, and is not vary with size at birth at this age in males. This suggests that circulating cortisol does not contribute to the impaired glycaemia associated with small size at birth in the guinea pig. Glucose tolerance was increasingly impaired in males but not females, as mean plasma cortisol increased. This is consistent with cortisol impairing glycaemia in the guinea pig as in other species, in males at least. To assess the role of cortisol in prentally programmed impairment of glycaemia directly, metyrapone or vehicle containing 24% ethanol was administered to young adult guinea pigs for 3 days. Treatment with the latter impaired fasting blood glucose and glucose tolerance in females and the latter in males compared to a previous IVGTT and this was exacerbated in low birth weight females. Metyrapone prevented this impairment of fasting glycaemia and glucose tolerance in the low birth weight adult female guinea pig and in the male guinea pig regardless of birth weight class. Neither vehicle or metyrapone altered plasma cortisol, before or during a second IVGTT. Limited numbers of animals, particularly females, limited this study however and additional investigation is required. Nevertheless this shows for the first time that inhibition of glucocorticoid synthesis in the guinea pig improves glucose control. Furthermore this suggests that the low birth weight guinea pig may be more sensitive to cortisol, have increased cortisol synthesis or reduced inactivation of cortisol in peripheral tissues, leading to increased local cortisol action. In conclusion, alterations in peripheral HPAA activity in the guinea pig due to restricted fetal growth may contribute to their prenatally programmed development of impaired glucose tolerance as young adults, but the extent of that contribution may vary with age and gender. / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health, 2008

In the past, cities and their food system were spatially interwoven. However, rapid urbanization and the creation of industrialized agriculture have physically isolated and psychologically disconnected urban residents from the landscape that sustains them. Cities can no longer feed themselves and must rely on a global hinterland. Vital growing, preserving, and cooking knowledge has been lost, while negative health, economic, and environmental effects continue to develop from this separation. Low-income neighborhoods have significantly been affected where a lack of income and mobility pose barriers to adequate food access. Architects have addressed food issues individually, but have yet to take an integrative approach that meaningfully engages urban citizens with all processes of the food system. Urban planners have recently taken a holistic design approach to food issues through the development of the community food system concept. By applying this idea to an architectural program I have designed a Community Food Center for the Five Points Neighborhood in East Knoxville, TN. Spatially compressing and layering food activity spaces preserves the majority of the landscape on site for food production. The kitchen, dining room, market, and garden increase access to healthy food while serving as community gathering spaces, and the business incubator kitchens provide economic opportunities. The whole facility acts to educate and engage people in the growing, harvesting, preserving, cooking, sharing, and composting of food. Cities cannot sustain themselves by only providing spaces for consumption. Architects must challenge the accepted relationships between food system spaces and strive to reincorporate productive landscapes and spaces dedicated to transforming raw ingredients into a variety of architectural programs. Although the Five Points Community Food Center is site specific, the concept of integrating multiple food activities into a single architectural entity can be used as a tool for place making by expressing a local identity through food culture while improving the social and economic fabric.

The seasonal reproduction of the three-spined stickleback is stimulated by long day photoperiod. As in other vertebrates, the reproductive system of stickleback is regulated by the brain-pituitary-gonadal (BPG) axis which is largely controlled by feedback effects. Both negative and positive feedback effects on the BPG axis have been found in fish. So far, the roles feedback effects on the BPG axis play in the photoperiodic regulation of seasonal reproduction are still unclear. This thesis focused on the photoperiodic regulation and gonadal feedback effects on the gene expressions of gonadotropin (GtH) and gonadotropin-releasing hormones (GnRH) in the brain and pituitary, and how gonadal feedback regulated the steroid homeostasis in stickleback.Both GnRH2 and GnRH3 mRNA was found in the hypothalamus. Higher expression levels of both GnRH2 and 3 in breeding than in post-breeding males suggested that they are both involved in seasonal reproduction. There was no evidence for a role of GnRH3, which may be the dominating form, in the photoperiodic control of reproduction. However, the polarity of the feedback effect on gnrh3 gene expression may turn from positive to be negative when the males went into post-breeding state. Tapeworm, Schistocephalus solidus, infection inhibited the reproduction of sticklebacks. However, the infection caused higher expression levels of both GnRHs and GtHs genes, which may be due to feedback effect on the BPG axis.Under short day, both lh-β and fsh-β were suppressed by low androgen levels. This negative feedback may inhibit maturation completely, unless a rise of androgens triggers positive feedback under long day. The change in feedback polarity may result in all or nothing maturation. Furthermore, the androgen inhibitory effect on lh-β and fsh-β under short day could be abolished by aromatase inhibitor, which means the estrogen may cause negative feedback in males under short day.There was no compensation effect on plasma androgen level in fully mature hemi-castrated fish. However, both testosterone and 11-ketoandrostenedione treatments increased plasma levels much less in sham-operated fish than in castrated ones, indicating that homeostatic mechanisms are nevertheless present. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows<strong>:  </strong>Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Submitted.</p>

In this thesis, an actuation system is developed for a Two-Axis Gyroscopic (TAG) adapter. This adapter is a fixture with two auxiliary axes which is used for the Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) technique to enhance a three-axis mill to have five-axis capabilities. With five-axis mill capabilities, variable angles between line segments of the toolpath and the tool can be obtained. To achieve specialized angles between a line segment and the SPIF tool, the sheet is rotated. Inverse kinematic equations for the TAG adapter are derived to calculate the required rotations for the TAG adapter’s auxiliary axes for a line segment of a toolpath. If the next line segment requires a different orientation of the sheet, the sheet is rotated while the tool follows the rotation of the sheet to maintain its position at the connecting point of the line segments of the toolpath. Five equations of motions are derived to calculate the three translations of the mill and two rotations of the TAG adapter’s frames, during forming. A toolpath execution algorithm is implemented in MATLAB which uses the five equations of motion to execute a toolpath. The algorithm generates an array of data points that can be used by a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machine to follow a desired path. A visual representation for the execution of the toolapth is implemented in MATLAB and is used to illustrate the successful completion of a toolpath. A computer controlled motor system is selected and tested in this thesis which will ultimately be integrated with a worm gear system and a CNC machine to develop a full CNC actuation system. / UOIT