Due to the recent interest in broadband antennas a microstrip patch antenna was developed to meet the need for a cheap, low profile, broadband antenna. This antenna could be used in a wide range of applications such as in the communications industry for cell phones or satellite communication. Particle Swarm Optimization was used to design the dual-linear polarization broadband microstrip antenna and impedance matching network. This optimization method greatly reduced the time needed to find viable antenna parameters. A dual input patch antenna with over 30% bandwidth in the X-band was simulated using Ansoft's High Frequency Structural Simulator (HFSS) in conjunction with Particle Swarm Optimization. A single input and a dual input antenna was then fabricated. The fabricated antennas were composed of stacked microstrip patches over a set of bowtie apertures in the ground plane that were perpendicular to one another. A dual offset microstrip feedline was used to feed the aperture. Two different layers were used for the microstrip feedline of each polarization. The resulting measured impedance bandwidth was even wider than predicted. The antenna pattern was measured at several frequencies over the antenna bandwidth and was found to have good gain, consistent antenna patterns and low cross polarization.

Novel printed slot antennas are demonstrated in this thesis. For the linear polarization design, CPW-fed strip-loaded square slot antenna is presented for achieving broadband operations. For the circular polarization, two novel antenna designs are also presented¡Fone is a CPW-fed square slot antenna with an inverted L tunning stub, and the other is a microstrip line-fed square slot antenna with a conducting strip from ground plane for broadband circularly polarized radiation. Finally, an antenna design having compact size and broadband characteristic is shown.

Magnesium alloys have one of the highest specific strengths of all construction metals used. Specifically, magnesium alloy castings are used in the aerospace industry to reduce the weight of aerospace vehicles. Coating systems must be employed to prevent corrosion of these magnesium alloys as they are also the most corrosion prone construction metals. The use of chromium is employed for the conversion coating which forms the foundation of many of these coating systems. In an effort to phase these harmful chromates out of the coating system and continue to use magnesium alloys, an environmentally friendly conversion coating has been developed. This paper explores the best types of methods used to evaluate the thickness and coating coverage of the environmentally friendly conversion coating. Destructive and nondestructive techniques are developed to examine the thickness and surface coverage of this environmentally friendly coating. Specifically an eddy current measurement technique, light, confocal, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy techniques are used to determine the coating thickness of the environmentally friendly coating through destructive evaluation. Three nondestructive evaluation techniques, including polarized light microscopy, infrared spectroscopy (Fourier Transform and Raman) and an infrared proximity sensor are used to determine surface coverage of the environmentally friendly coating.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Kirby W. Kemper, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Physics. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Nov. 20, 2003). An arrow pointed to the right over the Li in title. Includes bibliographical references.

A polymer photodetector is fabricated using polythiophene with chiral alkyl side chains. The Cotton effect is observed in the CD spectrum of the photodetector, indicating an unequal absorbance of left- and right-handed circular polarized light (CPL). The photodetector is proven to be able to identify incident left- and right-handed CPL. Polymer photodetectors that are made from R- and S-limonene induced achiral polymers are fabricated. A “hot spin-coating” process is introduced to cast uniform limonene induced polymer films. As a result of chirality transfer, Cotton effects are also observed in these photodetectors’ CD spectra. A model is suggested to explain the chirality generation of the polythiophene with chiral alkyl side chains and limonene induced achiral polymers. / Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2014-03-25 14:37:23.168

<p>The first measurements of the two- and three-body photodisintegration of longitudinally</p><p>polarized 3He with a circularly-polarized gamma-ray beam were carried out at the High Intensity gamma-ray Source facility located at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL). A high pressure 3He target, polarized via spin exchange optical pumping with alkali metals, was used in the experiments. The protons from the two-body photodisintegration experiment were detected using seventy two silicon surface barrier detectors of various thicknesses while the neutrons from the three-body photodisintegration were detected with sixteen 12.7 cm diameter liquid scintillator detectors. The spin-dependent cross sections and the contributions from the two- and three-body photodisintegration to the 3He Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule integrand were extracted and compared with state-of-the-art three-body calculations at the incident photon energies of 29.0 MeV (two-body) and 12.8, 14.7, and 16.5 MeV (three-body).</p><p>These are the first measurements of the contributions of the two- and three-body photodisintegration of 3He to the GDH integrand. These measurements were found to be in good agreement with the theoretical calculations which include the Coulomb interaction between protons in the final state. They also reveal-for the first time-the importance of the three-nucleon forces and the relativistic single-nucleon charge corrections which are responsible in the calculations for the observed difference</p><p>between the spin-dependent cross sections.</p> / Dissertation

Uncertainties associated with the microphysical and radiative properties of ice clouds remain an active research area because of the importance these clouds have in atmospheric radiative transfer problems and the energy balance of the Earth. In this study, an adding/doubling model is used to simulate the top of atmosphere (TOA) radiance and full Stokes vector from an ice cloud at the wavelength lambda = 865 nm with many different combinations of assumed ice habits (shapes) and different degrees of ice surface roughness, and the polarized radiance at a wide range of scattering angles is derived. Simulated results are compared with polarized radiance data from the POLDER (POLarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances) instrument on board the PARASOL (Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar) satellite. Bulk ice scattering properties are obtained by using five different size distributions collected during field campaigns ranging in effective diameter from 10 micrometers to 90 micrometers. Bulk scattering properties for the MODIS Collection 5 ice cloud product are used in this study, along with properties for two mid-latitude ice cloud models, a polar/mid-latitude ice model, and a model built for ice clouds over deep convection. Solid columns and hollow columns are used as well. The polarized radiance simulation results for the moderate surface roughness level best fit the satellite measurements for all ice models, though severely roughened ice crystals do fare well in a few cases. Hollow columns are the best fit to the satellite polarization measurements, but of the ensemble ice models, the polar/mid-latitude model at an effective diameter of 90 micrometers best fits the polarized radiance measurements for the one day of PARASOL data considered. This model should be the best to simulate ice cloud properties on a global scale.

O Transtorno Bipolar (TB) é uma doença psiquiátrica grave, altamente incapacitante que está associada com diversas comorbidades médicas e altas taxas de suicídio. Embora sua fisiopatologia não esteja completamente elucidada, inúmeros estudos têm mostrado alterações no sistema imune de indivíduos com TB. A resposta crônica destes indivíduos ao estresse parece gerar um aumento da inflamação sistêmica bem como da neuroinflamação. A micróglia ativada devido aos estímulos inflamatórios contínuos deve ocasionar diferentes prejuízos tanto bioquímicos quanto funcionas. Os macrófagos, primeira linha de defesa, são células de característica plástica de extrema importância do sistema imune e podem ser estimulados a polarizar para diferentes formas com liberação de fatores pró e antiinflamatórios, estimulando ou mantendo a homeostase no ambiente agredido de alguma forma. Desta forma, nosso trabalho buscou investigar a resposta fenotípica dos macrófagos contra o meio ambiente pró-inflamatório sistêmico observado no plasma de pacientes bipolares eutímicos, maníacos e depressivos em comparação aos controles. A amostra incluiu 5 controles saudáveis, 8 pacientes bipolares remetidos, 5 pacientes maníacos e 5 pacientes depressivos. As citocinas e quimiocinas de RNAm em células U937 tratadas com plasma mostraram um padrão de expressão diferente relativo entre controles saudáveis e pacientes com TB. As citoquinas inflamatórias tais como IL-1β e TNF-α, em pacientes bipolares maníacos e depressivos demonstram maiores quantidades de IL-1β mRNA do que os pacientes eutímicos e pacientes depressivos induziram maiores quantidades de RNAm de TNF-α do que os pacientes eutímicos em células U937. Já a expressão das quimiocinas CXCL9 e CXCL10 no plasma de pacientes com TB depressivos, demostraram ser de menor expressão significativa no grupo de pacientes maníacos quando comparados a controles e pacientes bipolares eutímicos. Nossos resultados sugerem que as citocinas periféticas devem modular a polarização M1 ou M2 de macrófagos no TB. / Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a severe and highly incapacitating psychiatric disorder which is associated with the presence of medical comorbidities. The progression of BD is related to an important cognitive deficit and also to biological and clinical manifestations that lead to treatment resistance and worse prognosis. Immune disturbances have been widely observed and investigated in BD patients. Chronic inflammatory responses induce neuroinflammation, mainly by pro-inflammatory microglial activation, and result in biochemical and functional impairment. Macrophages are the first line of defense of the immune system and exhibit cell plasticity. As well, microglia represents the resident macrophage of the central nervous system been responsible for its protection. Both cells can be stimulated to polarize into two different phenotypes, mainly pro- and anti-inflammatory, maintaining the homeostasis under physiologic and pathologic conditions. Therefore, we aimed to investigate macrophages phenotypical response when submitted to BD patients plasma in different episodes, which is considered a pro-inflammatory environment, and healthy controls plasma. Subjects included healthy controls (n=5), remitted BD patients (n=8), manic patients (n=5) and depressive patients (n=5). The mRNA expression of chemokynes and cytokines from U937 cells treated with BD patients plasma were different from those submitted to healthy controls plasma. Higher mRNA expression of IL-1β was observed in those cells submitted to manic and depressive BD patients plasma when compared to euthymic patients. Also, depressive BD patients plasma induced higher expression of TNF-α compared to euthymic patients. However, chemokynes expression, such as CXCL9 and CXCL10, were reduced in depressive BD patients. However, chemokynes expression, such as CXCL9 and CXCL10, were reduced in depressive BD patients. Inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α in bipolar manic and depressive patients demonstrate higher amounts of IL-1β mRNA that euthymic patients and depressive patients induced higher amounts of TNF-α mRNA levels than the patients in euthymic U937. Since the expression of CXCL9 and CXCL10 chemokines in plasma from patients with depressive TB, proved less significant expression in the group of manic patients when compared to controls and euthymic bipolar patients.

O Transtorno Bipolar (TB) é uma doença psiquiátrica grave, altamente incapacitante que está associada com diversas comorbidades médicas e altas taxas de suicídio. Embora sua fisiopatologia não esteja completamente elucidada, inúmeros estudos têm mostrado alterações no sistema imune de indivíduos com TB. A resposta crônica destes indivíduos ao estresse parece gerar um aumento da inflamação sistêmica bem como da neuroinflamação. A micróglia ativada devido aos estímulos inflamatórios contínuos deve ocasionar diferentes prejuízos tanto bioquímicos quanto funcionas. Os macrófagos, primeira linha de defesa, são células de característica plástica de extrema importância do sistema imune e podem ser estimulados a polarizar para diferentes formas com liberação de fatores pró e antiinflamatórios, estimulando ou mantendo a homeostase no ambiente agredido de alguma forma. Desta forma, nosso trabalho buscou investigar a resposta fenotípica dos macrófagos contra o meio ambiente pró-inflamatório sistêmico observado no plasma de pacientes bipolares eutímicos, maníacos e depressivos em comparação aos controles. A amostra incluiu 5 controles saudáveis, 8 pacientes bipolares remetidos, 5 pacientes maníacos e 5 pacientes depressivos. As citocinas e quimiocinas de RNAm em células U937 tratadas com plasma mostraram um padrão de expressão diferente relativo entre controles saudáveis e pacientes com TB. As citoquinas inflamatórias tais como IL-1β e TNF-α, em pacientes bipolares maníacos e depressivos demonstram maiores quantidades de IL-1β mRNA do que os pacientes eutímicos e pacientes depressivos induziram maiores quantidades de RNAm de TNF-α do que os pacientes eutímicos em células U937. Já a expressão das quimiocinas CXCL9 e CXCL10 no plasma de pacientes com TB depressivos, demostraram ser de menor expressão significativa no grupo de pacientes maníacos quando comparados a controles e pacientes bipolares eutímicos. Nossos resultados sugerem que as citocinas periféticas devem modular a polarização M1 ou M2 de macrófagos no TB. / Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a severe and highly incapacitating psychiatric disorder which is associated with the presence of medical comorbidities. The progression of BD is related to an important cognitive deficit and also to biological and clinical manifestations that lead to treatment resistance and worse prognosis. Immune disturbances have been widely observed and investigated in BD patients. Chronic inflammatory responses induce neuroinflammation, mainly by pro-inflammatory microglial activation, and result in biochemical and functional impairment. Macrophages are the first line of defense of the immune system and exhibit cell plasticity. As well, microglia represents the resident macrophage of the central nervous system been responsible for its protection. Both cells can be stimulated to polarize into two different phenotypes, mainly pro- and anti-inflammatory, maintaining the homeostasis under physiologic and pathologic conditions. Therefore, we aimed to investigate macrophages phenotypical response when submitted to BD patients plasma in different episodes, which is considered a pro-inflammatory environment, and healthy controls plasma. Subjects included healthy controls (n=5), remitted BD patients (n=8), manic patients (n=5) and depressive patients (n=5). The mRNA expression of chemokynes and cytokines from U937 cells treated with BD patients plasma were different from those submitted to healthy controls plasma. Higher mRNA expression of IL-1β was observed in those cells submitted to manic and depressive BD patients plasma when compared to euthymic patients. Also, depressive BD patients plasma induced higher expression of TNF-α compared to euthymic patients. However, chemokynes expression, such as CXCL9 and CXCL10, were reduced in depressive BD patients. However, chemokynes expression, such as CXCL9 and CXCL10, were reduced in depressive BD patients. Inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α in bipolar manic and depressive patients demonstrate higher amounts of IL-1β mRNA that euthymic patients and depressive patients induced higher amounts of TNF-α mRNA levels than the patients in euthymic U937. Since the expression of CXCL9 and CXCL10 chemokines in plasma from patients with depressive TB, proved less significant expression in the group of manic patients when compared to controls and euthymic bipolar patients.

The effects of 1,25(OH)2D3, PTH and 25(OH)D3 on phosphate or calcium uptake were studied in cultured, adherent chick enterocytes over a period of 10 min after hormone addition. Time course studies of cells treated with 130 pM 1,25(OH)2D3 showed an increase in 32P uptake as early as 3 min. Similar studies with 65 pM bPTH(l1-34) resulted in an increase in 45Ca uptake only if the cells had been cultured in serum. (OH)D3, which is not firmly established as an active metabolite of vitamin D, was shown to increase 45Ca uptake within 5 min at a 100 nM concentration. Analyses of signal transduction events involving each hormone were undertaken using PKC and PKA inhibitors, chelerythrine and Rp-cAMP, respectively. In the presence of PKC inhibitor and 1,25(OH)2D3 elevated 32P levels were apparent; however, further investigations involving efflux studies showed PKC inhibition of 32P extrusion in the presence or absence of hormone. On the other hand, suppression of the PKA pathway stimulated an increase in 1,25(OH)2D3-mediated 32P uptake. Preincubation of enterocytes with Ab099 against a putative membrane receptor for 1,25(OH)2D3 abolished steroid-stimulated 32P uptake. While PKC inhibition had no effect on 45Ca uptake in enterocytes exposed to 65 pM bPTH(1-34) in serum, pretreatment with PKA inhibitor resulted in 45Ca levels relatively close to basal levels. Cells pretreated with PKC inhibitor and exposed to 25(OH)D3 demonstrated no changes in 45Ca levels, whereas inhibition of PKA induced decreased 45Ca levels after 10 min of incubation. In equivalent time course studies of membrane trafficking using confocal microscopy, potential vectorial transport initiated by each hormone was analyzed with agonist alone or in the presence of PKC and PKA inhibitors. In addition 1,25(OH)2D3 was tested in the presence of Ab099 against its putative membrane receptor. Visualization of these experiments using the endocytotic marker dye, FM 1-43, demonstrated that hormone-mediated membrane trafficking is rapid enough to contribute to ion transport. These results also suggest that vectorial vesicular transport mechanisms were involved to some extent in response to each hormone. Moreover, the pattern for membrane trafficking was different for each agonist. These combined results indicate that adherent chick enterocytes demonstrate hormone-mediated uptake that occurs more rapidly than cells in suspension or in perfusion studies. This research supports previous studies that identify 25(OH)D3 as an active vitamin D metabolite. The PKA signal transduction pathway is a possible mechanism for PTH- and 25(OH)D3-mediated increases in 45Ca. In addition, a central role for the basal lateral membrane receptor protein, 1,25(OH)2D3MARRS-bp, in 1,25(OH)2D3-mediated 32P uptake is supported. Confocal imaging suggests that the transport mechanism for phosphate or calcium ions in the presence of these hormones involves vesicular carriers.