Tissue optical clearing aims to increase the penetration depth of near-collimated light in biological tissue to enhance optical diagnostic, therapeutic, and cosmetic procedures. Previous studies have shown the effects of chemical optical clearing on tissue optical properties. Drawbacks associated with chemical clearing include the introduction of potentially toxic exogenous chemicals into the tissue, poor site targeting, as well as slow transport of the chemicals through tissue. Thus, alternative clearing methods have been investigated. Mechanical compression is one such alternative tissue optical clearing technique. The mechanisms of action of mechanical compression may be similar to those of chemical clearing, though they have yet to be investigated systematically. This research describes the design and execution of a number of procedures useful for the quantification of the tissue optical clearing effects of localized mechanical compression. The first experimental chapter presents the effects of compression on image resolution and contrast of a target imaged through ex vivo biological tissue. It was found that mechanical optical clearing allowed recovery of smaller targets at higher contrast sensitivity when compared to chemical clearing. Also, thickness-independent tissue clearing effects were observed. In the second experimental chapter, dynamic changes in tissue optical properties, namely scattering and absorption coefficients (?s' and ?a, respectively) were monitored during a controlled compression protocol using different indentation geometries. A reduction in ?s' and ?a was evident for all indentation geometries, with greater changes occurring with smaller surface area. Results indicate that localized mechanical compression may be harnessed as a minimally-invasive tissue optical clearing technique. / Master of Science

Yes / This paper looks at community peace work in Sri Lanka, and represents work in its early stages. It provides a view of peace work from the perception of a Sri Lankan community peace activist. The popular practice of treating community peace work as an apolitical exercise will be challenged. An overview of the meta-narratives of the Sri Lankan conflict will be provided, since these inform the broader analytic context which needs to be understood for successful community peace work to be undertaken. Community peace building practice, which draws from knowledge of the international conflict resolution discourse, is treated as just one `peace¿ approach among several. Community level work is seen as one contribution to the overall peace effort in finding a resolution to the Sri Lankan conflict.

Yes

Yes

No description available.

Combined with a conventional processing scheme, applications of stretched amplitude adjustment (SAGC), pre-stack deconvolution, and post-stack migration improve the temporal and spatial resolution of Texaco Line 6, facilitating interpretation of the salt structure geometry beneath the line. Applied through DISCO (Cogniseis) processing software along with modules developed at Virginia Tech, SAGC and prediction-error deconvolution perform whitening to enhance temporal resolution while post-stack signal enhancement and a migration edge effect attenuation (MEE) scheme improve the accuracy of Kirchoff, finite-difference, omega-x, and f-k migrations to enhance spatial resolution. Synthetic seismograms generated from checkshot velocity data tie the seismic horizons to subsurface geology. Complex trace analyses, carried out using FOCUS 2-D (Cogniseis) software, elaborate on reflector continuity and hydrocarbon accumulation. Overall, amplitude spectra of pre-stack data are enhanced by a maximum of 14 decibels between 10 and 58 Hz after SAGC and 4 decibels between 17 and 58 Hz after deconvolution. Signal enhancement improves reflector amplitude to optimize hyperbola collapse through migration. MEE expands the migration cone spatially by 3,503.7 m and temporally by approximately 42 percent, and the Kirchoff algorithm provides the most accurate migration. Pre-stack migration by Texaco reveals subhorizontal strata having a minimum period of 33.3 ms near the northeast flank of Venice Dome salt; the salt has an upward extent of 2,250 ft and is covered by smooth caprock. Resolution gains after reprocessing show strata having a minimum period of 25.0 ms; the salt is imaged deeper at 2,950 ft with a more southwesterly flank and is covered by faulted caprock. Seismic horizons correlate with Pleistocene to Miocene sand and shale layers associated with hydrocarbon production; increased resolution suggests the presence of geologic discontinuities which could interfere with producibility. Increasing seismic resolution by reprocessing existing reflection data exhibits that salt structure geometry and potential hydrocarbon traps can be better evaluated so as to help identify future prospects. / Master of Science

The objective of this study was to determine the capability and applicability of a conventional gas chromatography system for fast chromatography. Many gas chromatographic separations actually require much Iss time than js actually being spent on the analysis. Capillary columns are known to be very efficient due to the long lengths and thin stationary phase films. However, analysis can be done much faster if shorter column lengths and thinner stationary phases are used because the retention time is a function of the column length and stationary phase film thickness. This study involves varying a number of column and instrumental parameters in order to determine their effect on the chromatographic analysis time. The parameters which were varied include the column stationary phase film thickness, the column length, the injection volume, the split ratio, the column position, the injector liner, and the flow and temperature programming rates. The effect of column length on the average linear gas velocity was also determined by plotting the Golay equation for each. The Golay equation (12) illustrates the effect of the various column parameters on column efficiency. The most detrimental effect of decreasing the analysis time is the loss of resolution that may occur. Both shorter lengths and faster than optimum flow rates result in lower resolution. By careful adjustment of some column parameters, the loss in resolution can be minimized. The results of this research show that many gas chromatographic analyses require much less time than is actually spent and that a fast analysis can be achieved with little to no loss in resolution. / Master of Science

This paper describes the design and simulation of a microwave band, high resolution imaging ground penetrating radar. A conceptual explanation is given on the mechanics of wave-based imaging, followed by the governing radar equations. The performance specifications for the imaging system are given as inputs to the radar equations, which output the full system specifications. Those specifications are entered into a MATLAB simulation, and the simulation results are discussed with respect to both the mechanics and the desired performance. Finally, this paper discusses limitations of the design, both with the simulations and anticipated issues if the device is fully realized. / Master of Science

This thesis explores how UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security and its ensuing National Action Plans for gender equality inform justifications of international intervention. I ask the following questions: how does Resolution 1325 and its ensuing National Action Plans for gender equality construct subjectivities of gender? How have states appropriated these gendered subjectivities in the legitimation of conflict? I review feminist, postcolonial, and poststructuralist literatures to argue that Resolution 1325 is aligned with broader United Nations governmental strategies for framing and justifying international intervention. Resolution 1325 produces dualistic subjectivities of gender, where women are constructed either as victims or as empowered, albeit within the limits deemed acceptable in masculinized contexts. I analyze the case of German National Action Plans for gender equality and the official policy texts related to its intervention in Afghanistan. I demonstrate that the foreign policy of a seemingly progressive state embraces Resolution 1325's dualistic subjectifications of women in conflict to construct logics that legitimize the Afghan intervention. My study findings show that Germany discursively constructs women and gender equality in accordance with the UN's guidelines and its good governance framework, which do not challenge existing structures of masculinity. In addition, they function as a means through which Germany legitimizes neoliberal and neocolonial policies as acceptable, ultimately failing to challenge the international war system. / Master of Arts / This thesis analyzes UN Security Council Resolution 1325's influence on the development of German gender equality policy and German foreign policy towards intervention in Afghanistan. I ask how the visions of gender produced in Resolution 1325, which primarily frame women as victims or only as empowered, inform the approach of Germany to Afghanistan. I find that German gender equality policy and policy towards Afghanistan are heavily influenced by the UN's framing of gender, as these ideas allow for Germany to justify its role in Afghanistan as a means to empower women further or save them from victimization. This allows Germany to maintain its role as a progressive humanitarian state by aligning its justification for the mission with the UN's broad objectives. However, doing so sets a dangerous precedent by legitimating intervention so long as it fits within the confines of the UN's notion of acceptability. Ultimately, my work shows that gender and attention to women functions to "clean" the German intervention in Afghanistan and portray it as progressive in accordance with the UN's values despite the inherent militarism of the intervention.

Contention resolution coordinates access to a shared communication channel divided into synchronized slots. For any fixed slot, a packet can be sent, leading to three outcomes: empty (no packet sent), successful (one packet sent), or collision (multiple packets sent). Each slot provides ternary feedback: empty, successful, or collision. Much of the prior work has mainly focused on optimizing the makespan, the number of slots needed for all packets to succeed. However, in many modern systems, collisions also incur time costs, which existing algorithms do not address. In this thesis, we design and analyze a randomized contention-resolution algorithm, Collision-Evasion Backoff, that optimizes both the makespan and the cost of collisions. In our research, �� ≥ 2 packets are initially present in the system, and each collision has a known cost C, where 1 ≤ C ≤ ���� for a known ��. With error probability polynomially small in ��, Collision-Evasion Backoff guarantees that all packets succeed with makespan �� (��√C log(��)) and a total expected collision cost of �� (��√C log2 (��)).