Goal of this thesis is to specify needed upgrades of current aparatus used for measuring parameters of thermoelectic modules, witch was constructed at the Enegry institute of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology. In this theseis current state of aparatus where reviewed and specifications for updates where made. These specifications where used to create plans for new aparatus. Quality of designed aparatus where verified by simulations made in ANSYS. Plans for proposed aparatus where made.

abstract: Advancements in thermal interface materials (TIMs) allows for the creation of new and more powerful electronics as they increase the heat transfer from the component to the heat sink. Current industrial options provide decent heat transfer, but the creation of TIMs with higher thermal conductivities is needed. In addition, if these TIMs are elastic in nature, their effectiveness can greatly increase as they can deal with changing interfaces without degradation of their properties. The research performed delves into this idea, creating elastic TIMs using liquid metal (LM), in this case galinstan, along with other matrix particles embedded in Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to create an easy to use, relatively inexpensive, thermally conductive, but electrically insulative, pad with increased thermal conductivity from industrial solutions. The pads were created using varying amounts of LM and matrix materials ranging from copper microspheres to diamond powder mixed into PDMS using a high-speed mixer. The material was then cast into molds and cured to create the pads. Once the pads were created, the difficulty came in quantifying their thermal properties. A stepped bar apparatus (SBA) following ASTM D5470 was created to measure the thermal resistance of the pads but it was determined that thermal conductivity was a more usable metric of the pads’ performance. This meant that the pad’s in-situ thickness was needed during testing, prompting the installation of a linear encoder to measure the thickness. The design and analysis of the necessary modification and proposed future design is further detailed in the following paper. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2017

La mucopolysaccharidose de type IIIB (MPSIIIB), ou maladie de Sanfilippo B, est une maladie de surcharge lysosomale caractérisée par des atteintes neurologiques. Cette maladie génétique rare est causée par la déficience en a-N-acétylglucosaminidase (NAGLU), une enzyme nécessaire pour la dégradation des héparanes sulfates (HS). La dégradation incomplète des HS cause l’accumulation de saccharides d’HS dans les lysosomes et à la surface des cellules. Mais la cascade physiopathologique induite par ces saccharides n’est pour l’instant pas connue. D’une part, ces recherches fournissent des preuves que la communication avec l’environnement des cellules neurales déficientes en NAGLU est altérée. En effet, l’intégrine ß1 et ses effecteurs sont suractivés et recrutés au niveau des plaques d’adhérence dans des astrocytes déficients. Les comportements cellulaires dépendants des intégrines, tels que la polarisation et la migration, sont également altérés. Ces phénotypes sont restaurés par l’apport de l’enzyme déficiente. Cette restauration indique que l’accumulation de saccharides d’HS provoque l’activation de la signalisation des intégrines, et perturbe la polarisation et la migration des cellules neurales. L’ajout de saccharides d’HS purifiés sur des cellules neurales normales confirme que les saccharides d’HS extracellulaires activent des composants des plaques d’adhérence. D’autre part, l’étude d’un modèle cellulaire humain, dont l’expression de NAGLU a été inhibée par shRNA, a montré que l’accumulation de vésicules de stockage caractéristiques de la maladie est causée, entre autre, par une déformation de l’appareil de Golgi et la surexpression de GM130. Ces phénotypes sont également observés dans les neurones atteints. Ils s’accompagnent d’une augmentation de la stabilité et de la nucléation des microtubules, au niveau de l’appareil de Golgi. Les défauts de communication entre la cellule malade et son environnement semblent donc modifier la dynamique et la structure cellulaire. Nous présumons que les mécanismes physiopathologiques déchiffrés en culture sont reliés à la neuropathologie de la MPSIIIB. En perturbant la perception de l’environnement cellulaire, la polarité, la migration, et la pousse neuritique, les saccharides d’HS accumulés dans les tissus cérébraux malades, affectent probablement divers mécanismes clefs de la maturation corticale. / Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB (Sanfilippo B disease) is a lysosomal storage disease characterized by severe neurological manifestations in children. This rare monogenic disease is caused by a-N­acetylglucosaminidase (NAGLU) deficiency, a lysosomal hydrolase necessary for heparan sulfate (HS) degradation. This deficiency leads to the accumulation of HS saccharides. Mechanisms mediating HS saccharides deleterious effects on brain cells are not well understood. This research provides evidences that neural cell sensing of environment is altered in MPSIIIB cells. Integrins and focal adhesion components are over-recruited and over-activated in deficient mouse astrocytes. Consistently, integrin-dependant cell behavior such as cell polarization and directed migration were defective in affected astrocytes and neural stem cells. HS saccharide clearance, by NAGLU gene transfer, rescues a normal phenotype suggesting that HS saccharides induce focal adhesion formation. Addition of purified HS saccharides on normal astrocytes confirms that extracellular HS saccharides can activate the recruitment of focal adhesion components and provides an in vitro assay to decipher the saccharide code of HS. Otherwise, investigations performed on HeLa cell model, in which NAGLU expression was inhibited by shRNA, showed that accumulation of intracellular storage vesicles, a hallmark of the disease, is due over expression of a cis-Golgi protein. This affects the Golgi morphology and microtubule nucleation and stability. It seems that alterations of environment cell sensing and downstream signaling also modify the dynamic and the structure of cells. We assume that mechanisms deciphered in cell cultures are related to MPSIIIB neuropathology. By affecting cell perception of environmental cues, cell polarity, cell migration and neurite outgrowth, HS saccharides, which accumulate in brain tissues defective for a HS degradation enzyme, likely affect various processes important for accurate cortical maturation.

Dissertation is focused on the application of optical measurement methods using techniques of optical microscopy and fluorescence microscopy in measurements of electromechanical characteristics of isolated cardiac cells and clusters of differentiated cardiomyocytes. The first proposed method uses a practical combination of fluorescence microscopy equipped with fluorescent fast and high-resolution camera and atomic force microscopy for simultaneous measurement of calcium transients and contraction of cardiomyocyte clusters. The signals obtained undergoes filtration, processing and analysis. Result function parameters obtained by analyzing signals after application of caffeine are evaluated by comparison with functional parameters obtained during the control measurement. The second proposed method is applied to the cardiomyocyte clusters for the purpose of cardiomyocyte contraction signals measurement. The signals obtained by optical methods are analyzed and compared with the reference signal obtained using atomic force microscopy. Optical measurement method of cell contractins based on detection of cell ends using adjusting of microscopy images by re-sharpening and fluorescence method for cardiomyocyte contractions measurements were designed to increase realiability in simultaneous measurement of cell contractions simultaneously with calcium transients in isolated cardiomyocytes experiments.