Class of 2009 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of temperature excursions on insulin during standard shipping from mail-order pharmacies. METHODS: Twelve vials of insulin (six of regular and six of neutral protamine hagedorn (NPH)) were sampled at baseline and then the six experimental vials (three regular and three NPH) were shipped through the mail system from a Tucson, Arizona post office to a Tucson, Arizona residence. The other six vials were used as controls and left in a refrigerator at 5°C. Samples were taken daily and then measured for degradation using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Also, samples from control vials were put in a lab oven at a constant temperature of 48°C and analyzed at Day 0 and Day 2. RESULTS: Temperatures spiked daily to near or over 50°C with a peak of 51.5°C. The low temperature never dropped under 21°C. The area under the curve (AUC) for each individual sample drawn was used to calculate a percentage of its original concentration with Day 1 set as 100%. On Day 6, both experimental vials and control vials had similar results and were within 10% of the original concentrations measured. In the oven, NPH samples that were heated for two days lost about 4% of its concentration while the regular insulin sample lost 14%. Particle sizing data of regular insulin heated in the oven was consistent with this HPLC data, and showed significant shifts in peak position. CONCLUSIONS: Insulin appears to maintain its stability after being shipped through the mail and remaining in a mailbox for an additional five days at high summer temperatures in Arizona. However, when exposed to constant high temperatures in a laboratory oven, heat appears to affect its stability.

In this paper we present an unsupervised algorithm which performs clustering given a data set and which can also find the number of clusters existing in it. This algorithm consists of two techniques. The first, the voting technique, allows us to combine several runs of clustering algorithms, with the number of clusters predefined, resulting in a common partition. We introduce the idea that there are cases where an input point has a structure with a certain degree of confidence and may belong to more than one cluster with a certain degree of "belongingness". The second part consists of an index measure which receives the results of every voting process for diffrent number of clusters and makes the decision in favor of one. This algorithm is a complete clustering scheme which can be applied to any clustering method and to any type of data set. Moreover, it helps us to overcome instabilities of the clustering algorithms and to improve the ability of a clustering algorithm to find structures in a data set. / Series: Report Series SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

La biométrie se réfère à la reconnaissance automatique des individus. Elle est basée sur leurs caractéristiques physiologiques et/ou comportementales. Le contrôle postural, bien que soit une caractéristique comportementale de l'Homme, n'a pas été bien développée dans le domaine de la biométrie. Le travail mené dans cette thèse repose sur l'analyse des signaux stabilométriques et l'application à la biométrie. Dans un premier volet, une étude de l'information posturale, en particulier le signal stabilométrique, est effectuée à travers des méthodes d'analyses classiques à savoir et l'analyse spatio-temporelle, spectrale et stochastique et à travers aussi deux méthodes de décomposition : la décomposition appelée analyse en composantes principales (ACP) et la décomposition en ondelettes. La méthode ACP, basée sur le modèle additif, permet de décomposer le signal en trois composantes: un signal de tendance, un signal d'excursion et un signal de tremblements. La méthode de décomposition en ondelettes permet de décomposer le signal en trois niveaux de signaux de détail et trois niveaux de signaux d'approximation. Suite à l'étude de la stabilité posturale, l'analyse spectrale et l'analyse de la phase des différentes composantes issues de la ACP et de la décomposition en ondelettes, la comparaison de ces deux méthodes conclut que la méthode ACP est plus appropriée que la décomposition en ondelettes pour analyser le stabilogramme. A partir des méthodes de décomposition et des méthodes d'analyses classiques, des paramètres sont extraits afin d'étudier l'effet de différents facteurs sur la stabilité posturale et sur le déplacement du centre de masse. Ces facteurs sont la vision, la direction, la proprioception, l'âge, le genre, la taille et le poids. Un deuxième volet de ce travail est consacré à l'application biométrique, à partir des paramètres extraits et suite à une analyse statistique ANOVA, ceux qui sont les plus discriminatifs sont utilisés pour identifier des sujets et les classer selon leur âge, genre, poids et taille. Cette application biométrique est effectuée par trois méthodes de classification à savoir, K-ppv, ADL et SVM. Les applications biométriques aboutissent à des taux de reconnaissance respectables dépassant 80%. De ce fait, il est à déduire que l'analyse du contrôle postural est prometteuse dans le domaine de la biométrie / Biometrics refers to automatic recognition of individuals. It is based on their physiological and / or behavioral. The postural control, despite that is a human behavioral characteristic, has not been well developed in the field of biometrics. The work performed in this thesis is based on the stabilometric signals analysis ant biometric application. Firstly, a study of the postural information especially the stabilometric signal is carried out through traditional analysis namely temporal, frequency and stochastic analysis and two decomposition methods named principle components analysis (ACP) decomposition and wavelet decomposition. The ACP method, based on the additive model, allows decomposing the signal into three components: a trend signal, a rambling signal and a trembling signal. The wavelet decomposition method allows decomposing the signal into three levels of detail signals and three signal levels of approximation. Through the study of postural stability, spectral analysis and phase analysis of the different components from the ACP and the wavelet decomposition, the comparison of these two methods concludes that the ACP method is more appropriate than the wavelet decomposition to analyze the stabilogram. From the decomposition methods and classical methods of analysis, several parameters are extracted to study the effect of different factors on postural stability and the center of mass displacement. These factors are named vision, direction, proprioception, age, gender, height and weight. A second aspect of this work is devoted to the application of biometrics, from the extracted parameters and through ANOVA statistic analysis, those that are most discriminative are used to identify subjects and classify them according to age, gender, weight and size. This biometric application is performed by three classification methods namely, K-NN, LDA and SVM. Biometric applications result in respectable recognition rate exceeding 80%. Therefore, it is inferred that the analysis of postural control is promising in the field of biometrics

No description available.

There is a raising need to design a safe and efficient cryogenic fuel tank for the new generation of reusable launch vehicles. The new tank design focuses on composite materials that can achieve the drastic reduction of empty/non-payload and structural weight. In addition to the materials to be compatible with cryogenic temperatures, interior components of the vehicle may be subjected to significantly elevated temperatures due to heat conduction from the vehicle surfaces during and after atmospheric re-entry. Therefore, there is the need to understand the performance of the composites after experiencing extreme thermal environments. Polymer-layered nanocomposites were studied to determine if they can reduce the permeation to the liquid nitrogen used as fuel in the next generation of space vehicles. Due to the non-permeable nature of the silicates and the exfoliated structure they adopt into the polymer matrix the addition of nanoclays into a polymer is expected to reduce the permeation to several gases without sacrificing the mechanical strength of the nanocomposite as well as providing additional improvements such as increase of thermal stability of the nanocomposite. Several types of matrixes modified with different types and content of nanoclays were tested and their permeability coefficient was calculated. The permeability values obtained for the different formulations assisted to understand the transport properties of nanoclay modified composites. In addition to this, thermal characterization was performed with the help of dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analyses and differential scanning calorimetry studies. To determine if the nanoclay modified nanocomposites were affected by extreme temperatures the samples were subjected to thermal cycling. Comparison of the transport and thermal properties before and after cycling helped to analyze the effect of the addition of the nanoclays in the nanocomposites. Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) was utilized to comprehend how the distribution of the free volume was affected by the presence of the nanoclays and by the thermal cycling applied. Different permeability models were utilized in an attempt to validate the experimental results of the different nanocomposite structures. This analysis was used to provide additional insight into many aspects of the experimental results obtained in this study.

The focus of this report is to investigate whether a towboat would be able meet damaged stability requirements. In order to evaluate what type of damage stability requirements could be considered, two damage stability criteria were selected for this investigation: Offshore Supply Vessel and Passenger Vessel Damage Criteria. Two vessels are then evaluated using General Hydrostatic Software (GHS) to find the maximum allowable vertical center of gravity allowed by each set of criteria. These values are then compared to the vessels’ operating conditions to show if the vessels would currently be able to operate. Ultimately it is found that the extent of damage of the criteria is the greatest limiting factor for this vessel type. Suggestions are made regarding the necessary changes to the boats’ general arrangements and loading conditions in order to meet the damaged stability requirements.

<p>The complete and faithful duplication of the genome is essential to ensure normal cell division and organismal development. Eukaryotic DNA replication is initiated at multiple sites termed origins of replication that are activated at different time through S phase. The replication timing program is regulated by the S-phase checkpoint, which signals and repairs replicative stress. Eukaryotic DNA is packaged with histones into chromatin, thus DNA-templated processes including replication are modulated by the local chromatin environment such as post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones.</p><p>One such epigenetic mark, methylation of lysine 20 on histone H4 (H4K20), has been linked to chromatin compaction, transcription, DNA repair and DNA replication. H4K20 can be mono-, di- and tri-methylated. Monomethylation of H4K20 (H4K20me1) is mediated by the cell cycle-regulated histone methyltransferase PR-Set7 and subsequent di-/tri- methylation is catalyzed by Suv4-20. Prior studies have shown that PR-Set7 depletion in mammalian cells results in defective S phase progression and the accumulation of DNA damage, which may be partially attributed to defects in origin selection and activation. Meanwhile, overexpression of mammalian PR-Set7 recruits components of pre-Replication Complex (pre-RC) onto chromatin and licenses replication origins for re-replication. However, these studies were limited to only a handful of mammalian origins, and it remains unclear how PR-Set7 impacts the replication program on a genomic scale. Finally, the methylation substrates of PR-Set7 include both histone (H4K20) and non-histone targets, therefore it is necessary to directly test the role of H4K20 methylation in PR-Set7 regulated phenotypes. </p><p>I employed genetic, cytological, and genomic approaches to better understand the role of H4K20 methylation in regulating DNA replication and genome stability in Drosophila melanogaster cells. Depletion of Drosophila PR-Set7 by RNAi in cultured Kc167 cells led to an ATR-dependent cell cycle arrest with near 4N DNA content and the accumulation of DNA damage, indicating a defect in completing S phase. The cells were arrested at the second S phase following PR-Set7 downregulation, suggesting that it was an epigenetic effect that coupled to the dilution of histone modification over multiple cell cycles. To directly test the role of H4K20 methylation in regulating genome integrity, I collaborated with the Duronio Lab and observed spontaneous DNA damage on the imaginal wing discs of third instar mutant larvae that had an alanine substitution on H4K20 (H4K20A) thus unable to be methylated, confirming that H4K20 is a bona fide target of PR-Set7 in maintaining genome integrity. </p><p>One possible source of DNA damage due to loss of PR-Set7 is reduced origin activity. I used BrdU-seq to profile the genome-wide origin activation pattern. However, I found that deregulation of H4K20 methylation states by manipulating the H4K20 methyltransferases PR-Set7 and Suv4-20 had no impact on origin activation throughout the genome. I then mapped the genomic distribution of DNA damage upon PR-Set7 depletion. Surprisingly, ChIP-seq of the DNA damage marker γ-H2A.v located the DNA damage to late replicating euchromatic regions of the Drosophila genome, and the strength of γ-H2A.v signal was uniformly distributed and spanned the entire late replication domain, implying stochastic replication fork collapse within late replicating regions. Together these data suggest that PR-Set7-mediated monomethylation of H4K20 is critical for maintaining the genomic integrity of late replicating domains, presumably via stabilization of late replicating forks.</p><p>In addition to investigating the function of H4K20me, I also used immunofluorescence to characterize the cell cycle regulated chromatin loading of Mcm2-7 complex, the DNA helicase that licenses replication origins, using H4K20me1 level as a proxy for cell cycle stages. In parallel with chromatin spindown data by Powell et al. (Powell et al. 2015), we showed a continuous loading of Mcm2-7 during G1 and a progressive removal from chromatin through S phase.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis advisor: Renato Mirollo / There are countless occurrences of oscillating systems in nature. Climate cycles and planetary orbits are a few that humans experience daily. Man has also incorporated, to his benefit, oscillation into his craft; the grandfather clock, for example, can keep track of time with astounding accuracy using the period of a long pendulum. Such systems can range in complexity in a number of ways. The governing equation for a given oscillator could be as simple as a sine curve, or its motion could appear so erratic that oscillatory motion is undetectable to viewers. The number of oscillators in a system can also vary, and oscillators can be coupled; that is, oscillators can be affected by the motion of neighboring oscillators. It is this last case we wish to study. We will briefly look at the case of finitely many oscillators and then move to analyzing a model consisting of infinitely many identical oscillators. Synchrony is the simplest collective behavior. We will study a more complicated pattern called splay states in which oscillators are equally staggered in phase, i.e. phase locked such that the system will return to this pattern if it is disturbed by an arbitrarily small amount. Mathematically, this requires us to find attracting fixed points in the system. We will approximate the local behavior of our model by linearizing the system near its fixed points. We will then apply our findings to a few specific cases of such models including: uniform density, linear distribution, alpha-function pulses, and integrate-and-fire. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Mathematics.

Thesis advisor: David Rasmussen / This dissertation explores the instability of the African postcolonial state and demonstrates that such a fundamental crisis can be solved only through discourses and practices that are designed beyond the Westphalian model of the modern state and the neo-patrimonialistic system of African governance. The challenge of instability will not be overcome by rebuilding the African nation-state undermined by social contradictions and complex emergencies; rather stability will be achieved by opening a public space of agonistic democracy that is supported mainly by an overlapping consensus on justice. I argue that by reading critically the African philosophy of solidarity that is contradicted by structural violence and inequality. The political instrumentalization of kinship provokes the exclusion of minorities, the marginalization of masses and the instability of the entire society. Governance is reduced to mere conflict management. The solution of legitimate violence becomes another version of the problem of institutional incapacity. My contention is that people are the ultimate and permanent agents of stability. State institutions and state sovereignty are not set in stone; they are contingent arrangements of human relations that evolve throughout history. The ground of stability must not be a strong state but the politics of reciprocity and union among people that implies a sense of justice in the power sharing and in the decision making process. The dissertation is divided in three parts. In the first two-chapter part, I present the paradox of the continent: on one side, there is an ethics of abundant life (vitalism). On the other side, there is a politics of permanent death (necropolitics). The hermeneutics of the two sides reveals that metaphysics (with its monism) and historicity (with its pluralism) intertwine in the dialectical rapport between the agent and the structure. The state is still the bull of international stability in a continent ravaged by violence and poverty. But paradoxically it does not contribute to the stability of the national society. The structure persists at the detriment of the agent. Instability endures. I analyze the various solutions offered to solve the crisis of the unstable state. Some are practical and others are theoretical but they are all state-centric: state institutions must be fixed to deliver social order. But such an order is a status quo perpetrated by a criminalized state in which agents and groups cannot cooperate fairly but only compete violently for power and security. Stability is undetermined. The second two-chapter is a search of stability for the right reasons. The main cause of instability is the absence of justice and not the failure or the collapse of the postcolonial state. Restoring stability implies promoting consensus in the decision making process and fostering an ethic of reciprocity in the power sharing. In the ubuntu ethics of reciprocity, alliance is preferred to social contract and is promoted through dialogue, fairness, and togetherness. In the ubuntu ethics of power, decisions are all made by consensus. Consensual democracy is preferred to the majoritarian democracy. It promotes participation in power and not appropriation of power. Although it is not an enduring strategy for stability, the Rawlsian model of the overlapping consensus plays a conciliatory role within different social groups with their various traditions and comprehensive doctrines. That consensus is an essentialized contingency that must be completed by the dissensus that the African palaver manage to control through a web of mediations which promote reconciliation, fairness, dialogue in the public sphere within which the protagonists are transformed. It promotes an agonistic pluralism in which adversaries are equal citizens who lives their individuality at the triple level of singularity, reciprocity, and community. Their violence and confrontation do not come first. Their mutual recognition is the originating reason of the political order and the ground for stability. Stability is determined and maintained. In the third one-chapter, I move from domestic politics to international affairs. I assert that security and stabilization of African societies come with the union of African states. Such a continental union requires from them democratic regimes and international cooperation that will promotes democratic peace, collective security, and regional integration. Instead of having fifty-four countries that are indebted and chronically underperforming, Africa can be organized into super-states that carry the panafricanist patriotism of micro-patriotisms. In its agenda for 2063, the African Union envisions a United State of Africa with one currency, one army, one government, and supranational institutions. The main challenge to such an ambitious project is the heterogeneity of the continent that an epistemology of credence can overcome: history and politics become a critical use of one's subjectivity. It implies an epistemological diversity that allows interactive intelligibility of human experiences. It does not present many alternatives but allows an alternative thinking of alternatives that make feasible the panafrican project of a united and stable Africa. The credence in African stability dwells in that realistic utopia. In the end, stability is not achieved in the re-building of the postcolonial state but in the rehabilitation of the human agent in domestic politics and in international affairs. Individual human beings, not states, are the agents who participate in defining society, state, power, and principles of justice or of sovereignty. They are the ultimate units of the national and international societies of all humankind. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

We consider the flow of two immiscible fluids in a thin inclined channel subject to gravity and a change in pressure. In particular, we focus on the effects of Navier slip along the channel walls on the long-wave linear stability. Of interest are two different physical scenarios. The first corresponds to two incompressible fluid layers separated by a sharp interface, while the second focuses on a more dense fluid below a compressible gas. From a lubrication analysis, we find in the first scenario that the system is stable in the zero-Reynolds number limit with the slip effects modifying the decay rate of the stable perturbation. In the case of the Rayeligh-Taylor problem, slip along the less dense fluid wall has a destabilizing effect. In the second scenario, fluid inertia is pertinent, and we find neutral stability criteria are not significantly affected with the presence of slip.