For this thesis project, a method to analyze the dewatering time for the drainage process during laboratory sheet making on a Finnish sheet former was developed. The resulting method proved to deliver very reliable information about the dewatering time and the transient speed of the sheet making process. The method was then used for two studies to find how fiber types, refining and/or slower dewatering conditions affects sheet properties, like formation and tensile strength. The first study compared the difference in formation and strength between softwood and hardwood fibers at three different drainage restrictions. The second study was performed to understand the effect of refining on dewatering time and the connection to resulting sheet properties. The results of both studies showed that at low grammages, the fiber web that was formed did not affect the dewatering time and speed regardless of the type of fibers or refining level. This meant that the drainage for low grammages sheets was solely controlled by the drainage restriction of the draining pipe on the sheet former. In addition, tensile strength and formation of the sheets did not vary significantly between the different dewatering speeds tested and the differences where more related to fiber properties than to the modified conditions of the dewatering of the sheet making process.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis project evaluates and compares different deep learning based segmentation tools for acquiring 3D segmentations of mitochondria. These segmentations could then hopefully be used in the future to quantify the mitochondria dynamics, which is vital for the survival of human cells. Four different models were evaluated and compared using the metrices Intersection over Union (IoU) and Dice, and a measurement of the quantity and area of the segmented mitochondria. The four different models were from the Fiji U-Net plugin, MitoSegNet, EmbedSeg 2D and EmbedSeg 3D. The data used was microscopic images of transfected MDCKII cells taken using a Lattice light-sheet microscope. Processing of the data was done in Fiji, which included manual annotation of the images in order to acquire ground truth segmentations. The results showed that the most suited model for this task was the model from the Fiji U-Net plugin. The other models also generated adequate segmentations, but could not adapt to images from a different cell. It was also concluded that stacking together 2D segmentations in order to achieve a 3D segmentations was successful. / Detta examensarbete utvärderar och jämför olika djupinlärningsbaserade segmenteringsverktyg för att få 3D-segmenteringar av mitokondrier. Dessa segmenteringar kan sedan förhoppningsvis användas i framtiden för att kvantifiera mitokondriernas dynamik, vilken är avgörande för de mänskliga cellernas överlevnad. Fyra olika modeller utvärderades och jämfördes med hjälp av måtten IoU och Dice, samt en mätning av kvantiteten och arean av de segmenterade mitokondrierna. De fyra olika modellerna var från en Fiji U-Net-plugin, MitoSegNet, EmbedSeg 2D och EmbedSeg 3D. Datan som användes var mikroskopbilder av transfekterade MDCKII-celler tagna med ett Lattice light-sheet mikroskop. Processeringen av datan gjordes i Fiji, som inkluderade manuell annotering av bilderna för att få ground truth segmenteringar. Resultaten visade att modellen som var bäst lämpad för denna uppgift var modellen från Fiji U-Net-pluginen. De andra modellerna genererade också adekvata segmenteringar, men kunde inte anpassa sig till bilder av en annan cell. En slutsats var också att stapla samman 2D-segmenteringar för att få 3D-segmenteringar var en lyckad metod.

This thesis explores the procedural generation of 3D buildings from the floor plan all the way to the fa¸cade and building’s details such as doors, windows, and roof. Through this, the study explores several techniques and approaches to create different layers of the building generation pipeline. The focus is on implementing a set of algorithms that, when running sequentially, are able to create complete 3D buildings in a short time (so they can be used in online generation), could be used in any open-world game, and with a limited count of triangles per building. Furthermore, the tool provides a clear and easy-to-use interface for designers in Unity, where they can interact with the multiple parameters of each building layer, giving designers a high degree of controllability. The tool is evaluated using the resulting buildings based on different metrics and how individual changes to different parameter starting from a template affect the output of the generator in terms of the metrics and the resulting building. The result from the analysis show that the polygon mathematics is well suited for generating 3D buildings for games.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper describes the use of an IEEE p1451.3 Smart Sensor bus as part of a network centric data acquisition system. IEEE p1451.3 provides for synchronized data acquisition from a number of transducers on a bus. The standard provides for Transducer Electronic Data Sheets (TEDS) that the manufacturer can use to describe the function and capabilities of the sensor module. The standard also provides for TEDS where the user can store information relevant to a particular application. The information in these TEDS can be used to generate much of the information that is required to be able to process the data during or after a test. The use of this information to configure and operate a Network Based Data Acquisition is described.

<strong>Osteoarthritis</strong>, the most prevalent joint disease in the United Kingdom, is a progressive condition that results in end-stage full-thickness cartilage loss and has important social and economic impacts on society. Since cartilage lacks regenerative capabilities, it is essential to develop approaches to initiate and enhance cartilage regeneration. In this context, tissue engineering is emerging as an attractive approach for the regeneration of cartilage tissue damaged due to disease or trauma. A scaffold-free cartilage construct, analogous to those found during embryonic precartilage condensation, has received much attention as an alternative novel modality for cartilage <strong>tissue engineering</strong>. Cartilage repair with <strong>scaffold-free</strong> tissue more closely resembles the natural situation and mimics the features of the original tissue. Moreover, scaffold-free cartilage implants can overcome the complications caused by the use of suboptimal scaffolds by avoiding the need for a foreign scaffold at all. Culturing cells into tissue patches without the requirement for a scaffold can be achieved through <strong>cell sheet engineering</strong>, which uses thermo-responsive culture dishes. However, the high costs of the tissue culture consumables, and the relatively low cellular yield, makes this process less attractive. This thesis presents a novel method for generating shape-, size- and thickness-adjustable 3-dimensional scaffold-free cell pellet sheets for use as implantable biological cell patches for cartilage tissue engineering. This new technique of bioengineering scaffold-free cell pellet sheets proves to be reproducible, easily applicable, sizable and thickness adjustable. <strong>Stem cells</strong> have added a new thrust to tissue engineering. Their distinctive self-renewal and plasticity have not only optimized many tissue engineering developments, but also rendered feasible some applications which would otherwise be unattainable with somatic cells. Human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSCs) were used to examine the optimal condition for generating cell pellet sheets with this new method. Furthermore, the resultant differentiated pellet sheets were compared directly with HMSCs, human chondrocytes and human fibroblasts alone to evaluate the feasibility of using this cell pellet sheet for clinical applications in terms of their biological and mechanical properties. The results of this thesis suggest that the engineered scaffold-free, chondrogenic, differentiated MSC pellet sheet not only exhibits desirable biologic features similar to chondrocytes, but also demonstrates good integrative and viscoelastic potential that might offer exciting possibilities for the development of novel biologically-based clinical therapies. In summary the data presented herein indicate the following points: <table><ul style="list-style-type:square"><li>The differentiation of human MSCs into chondrogenic cells was achieved.</li> <li>A novel approach of centrifugal seeding on a PDMS surface was shown to effectively generate chondrogenic-differentiated cell pellet sheets without impairing the biological functions of chondrocytes.</li> <li>Various cell types such as human MSCs, human chondrocytes and human fibroblasts were found to respond well to the novel methodology and generated viable, cohesive, less shrinkable, and readily-detachable cell pellet sheets, the size and thickness of which could be adapted as required. The results obtained were superior to those obtained using the conventional thermo-responsive culture dish method.</li></table> This new methodology developed in this thesis provides an approach to in vitro cell pellet sheet generation which is closer to the physiological process of cartilage development and which proved valuable for the study of in vitro generation of scaffold-free cell patches as an important adjunct to many traditional cartilage restorative procedures. Future research on in vivo assessment of the cell sheet and the functional role of these sheets in repairing damaged cartilage is recommended.

QC 20100707

<p>Mountain centered glaciers have played a major role throughout the last three million years in the Scandinavian mountains. The climatic extremes, like the present warm interglacial or cold glacial maxima, are very short-lived compared to the periods of intermediate climate conditions, characterized by the persistence of mountain based glaciers and ice fields of regional size. These have persisted in the Scandinavian mountains for about 65% of the Quaternary. Mountain based glaciers thus had a profound impact on large-scale geomorphology, which is manifested in large-scale glacial landforms such as fjords, glacial lakes and U-shaped valleys in and close to the mountain range.</p><p>Through a mapping of glacial landforms in the northern Scandinavian mountain range, in particular a striking set of lateral moraines, this thesis offers new insights into Weichselian stages predating the last glacial maximum. The aerial photograph mapping and field evidence yield evidence that these lateral moraines were overridden by glacier ice subsequent to their formation. The lateral moraines were dated using terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide techniques. Although the terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide signature of the moraines is inconclusive, an early Weichselian age is tentatively suggested through correlations with other landforms and stratigraphical archives in the region. The abundance and coherent spatial pattern of the lateral moraines also allow a spatial reconstruction of this ice field. The ice field was controlled by topography and had nunataks protruding also where it was thickest close to the elevation axis of the Scandinavian mountain range. Outlet glaciers discharged into the Norwegian fjords and major valleys in Sweden.</p><p>The process by which mountain based glaciers grow into an ice sheet is a matter of debate. In this thesis, a feedback mechanism between debris on the ice surface and ice sheet growth is presented. In essence, the growth of glaciers and ice sheets may be accelerated by an abundance of debris in their ablation areas. This may occur when the debris cover on the glacier surface inhibits ablation, effectively increasing the glaciers mass balance. It is thus possible that a dirty ablation area may cause the glacier to advance further than a clean glacier under similar conditions. An ice free period of significant length allows soil production through weathering, frost shattering, and slope processes. As glaciers advance through this assemblage of sediments, significant amounts of debris end up on the surface due to both mass wastage and subglacial entrainment. Evidence that this chain of events may occur, is given by large expanses of hummocky moraine (local name Veiki moraine) in the northern Swedish lowlands. Because the Veiki moraine has been correlated with the first Weichselian advance following the Eemian, it implies a heavily debris charged ice sheet emanating from the mountain range and terminating in a stagnant fashion in the lowlands.</p>

The deformed Permian Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt (DMOB) forms the basement of the Dun Mountain-Maitai terrane and is traceable through the entire length of New Zealand. The DMOB contains a variably serpentinised mantle portion and a crustal portion containing gabbros, dolerites, cross cutting dikes and extrusives, together they are similar to oceanic crust. The initial crustal portion, however, is atypical when compared to other ophiolites, being thin and lacking a sheeted dike complex, but has well spaced inclined intrusive sheets and sills. At least four post-Permian deformation periods affect the DMOB; collision and rotation during emplacement of the DMOB on the Gondwana margin, compression during Mesozoic orogenies, extensional deformation during the Gondwana break-up and transpressive deformation related to the modern plate boundary through New Zealand. Structural work in the Northern Bryneira Range focused on well preserved outcrops to investigate crustal growth and contemporaneous deformation during the Permian. Structural evidence of Permian deformation was determined by examination of pseudostratigraphy, structures constrainable to the Permian, and the geometric relationships with the overlying Maitai sedimentary sequence. Crosscutting by intrusive phases was used to determine a chronological order of crustal growth and deformation episodes. It was concluded that all deformation was extensional and that two major phases of magmatism were separated by a period of deformation and were followed by ongoing syn-sedimentary deformation during the deposition of the Maitai Group. After removal of Mesozoic rotation, the resulting orientations of paleo-horizontal markers and diverse orientations of intrusive sheets were analysed. Two hypothesises were tested to assess the origin of inclined intrusive sheets: a) that the diverse orientations were the result of tectonic rotation coeval with the intrusion of dikes. b) that primary orientations of the sheets had been diverse. Results show that the sheets were intruded with diverse orientations, probably related to variation in the principle horizontal stress over time. Further rotation of the assemblage of sheets occurred during the last stages of magmatism and during the subsequent period of sedimentation. The last stage probably relates to large scale normal faulting during the development of the sedimentary basin. iii