Introduction: The aim of this in vitro study was two part. The first being to assess and compare the amount of dentin removed by an instrument with a taper of 0.04 versus an instrument with a taper of 0.06 using the Edge Evolve® file system at different increments within the canal system. Secondly, this study evaluated whether instrumentation with either taper resulted in a remaining dentin thickness (RDT) of less than 0.3mm. If this RDT was imposed upon, fracture resistance was compromised. Both pre and post instrumentation measurements were taken of samples instrumented with the 0.04 and 0.06 tapered files. Methods: Ten maxillary premolars exhibiting Weine class III canal systems and minimal to no root canal curvature were mounted in an acrylic resin filled K-cube. Each acrylic resin cube was sectioned horizontally at 3, 6, 9, and 12mm increments from the apex. The K-cube is a device which allows the investigator to disassemble and then reassemble root slices in their original orientation. Dentin thickness was measured at three positions on each canal using the Zeiss Discovery V20 stereomicroscope. The sections were then reassembled into the K-cube. The ten premolar roots were separated into two groups. In half of the teeth the buccal canals were instrumented with 0.04 tapered files and the lingual canals instrumented with 0.06 tapered files. In the other half of the teeth, instrumentation was reversed: the buccal canals were instrumented with 0.06 tapered files and the lingual canals were instrumented with 0.04 tapered files. Root sections were again separated, and the remaining dentin thickness was measured. A repeated-measures mixed-model ANCOVA was performed to analyze the effect of taper on RDT. Results: The amount of dentin removed was statistically different between the two tapers (P=0.02). Across all of the slices and positions, the 0.04 tapered instruments had an average pre-post difference of 0.1313mm. The 0.06 tapered instruments had an average pre-post difference of 0.1672mm. None of the instruments imposed upon the recommended 0.3mm RDT. Conclusion: The 0.04 tapered files instrument with greater conservancy than the 0.06 tapered files. The 0.06 tapered files had their greatest effect on the canal in the 9mm and 12mm sections. However, neither taper imposed upon the recommended RDT for optimal fracture resistance within the apical 12mm root portion observed in this study. Keywords: Instrumentation, Edge Evolve, Root canal preparation, Taper

A major focus of research in computer graphics is the modeling and animation of realistic human faces. Modeling and animation of facial expressions is a very difficult task, requiring extensive manual manipulation by computer artists. Our primary hypothesis was that the use of machine learning techniques could reduce the manual labor by providing some automation to the process. The goal of this dissertation was to determine the effectiveness of using an interactive genetic algorithm (IGA) to generate realistic variations in facial expressions. An IGA's effectiveness is measured by satisfaction with the end results, including acceptable levels of user fatigue. User fatigue was measured by the rate of successful convergence, defined as achieving a sufficient fitness level as determined by the user. Upon convergence, the solution with the highest fitness value was saved for later evaluation by participants with questionnaires. The participants also rated animations that were manually created by the user for comparison. The animation of our IGA is performed by interpolating between successive face models, also known as blendshapes. The position of each blendshape's vertices is determined by a set of blendshape controls. Chromosomes map to animation sequences, where genes correspond to blendshapes. The manually created animations were also produced by manipulating the blendshape control values of successive blendshapes. Due to user fatigue, IGAs typically use a small population with the user evaluating each individual. This is a serious limitation since there must be a sufficient number of building blocks in the initial population to converge to a good solution. One method that has been used to address this problem in the music domain is a surrogate fitness function, which serves as a filter to present a small subpopulation to the user for subjective evaluation. Our secondary hypothesis was that an IGA for the high-dimensional problem of facial animation would benefit from a large population made possible by using a neural network (NN) as a surrogate fitness function. The NN assigns a fitness value to every individual in the population, and the phenotypes of the highest rated individuals are presented to receive subjective fitness values from the user. This is a unique approach to the problem of automatic generation of facial animation. Experiments were conducted for each of the six emotions, using the optimal parameters that had been discovered. The average convergence rate was 85%. The quality of the NNs showed evidence of a correlation to convergence rates as measured by the true positive and false positive rates. The animations with the highest subjective fitness from the final set of experiments were saved for participant evaluation. The participants gave the IGA animations an average credibility rating of 69% and the manual animations an average credibility rating of 65%. The participants preferred the IGA animations an average of 54% of the time to the manual animations. The results of these experiments indicated that an IGA is effective at generating realistic variations in facial expressions that are comparable to manually created ones. Moreover, experiments that varied population size indicated that a larger population results in a higher convergence rate.

The study is focus on intangible assets of medical biotech industry, which is to analyze the factors of value drivers. It is utilizing the value chain, complementary assets, type of industries evolve and momentum formula of physics to build up the model of intangible assets value drivers. The power of intangible assets value drivers can be described as a formula as: (mass ¢® velocity)•direction of industries evolve. Not only we can understand the meaning of factors of intangible assets value drivers through the model, but also we are able to analyze the power of intangible assets value drivers about Taiwan medical biotech industries. Following, is the result of this study: 1. Taiwan biotech pharmacy/chemical pharmacy and gene detector chip industry don¡¦t have ability of intangible assets value drivers. 2. Taiwan medical device industry has the lower ability of intangible assets value drivers. 3. The direction of Taiwan medical biotech industry evolvement is the creative type. 4. All factors of intangible assets must be taken care. If any factor is neglect, the overall power of intangible assets value drivers will have a lower affection. Following, is the meaning of the result of this study: 1. Both of internal resource and external industry structure will influence the power of intangible assets value drivers in medical biotech industry. 2. The companies strive hard by placing more resources and trying to produce the intangible assets, which might not be able to create the value positively. 3. The three key factors of intangible assets all must be taken care in order to create the value. It is impossible to be success, if only depends on single factor that even has the good performance.

The search space of digital 3D models designs is vast and can be hard to navigate. In this study, a system that evolves digital 3D models using an interactive genetic algorithm (IGA) was constructed in order to aid this process. The goal of the study was to investigate how such a system can be constructed in order to aid the design space exploration of digital 3D models.  The system is integrated with the 3D creation suite Blender and uses its Python API to programmatically edit models and generate images of the results, which are displayed on a web page where users can rate the results to evolve the model. The proposed system exposes all settings for the genetic algorithm, which includes population size, mutation rate, crossover algorithm, selection algorithm and more. Furthermore, the settings can be modified throughout the evolutionary process as well as the ability to rewind the algorithm and go back to previous generations in order to give more control in the progression of the algorithm. The script based nature of the proposed system is powerful but not practical for people without programming experience. For widespread adoption of IGAs as an exploratory design aid tool, it would help if the IGA is directly integrated into the design software being used in order to make it easier to use and reduce user fatigue.

Thesis advisor: Marc-Jan Gubbels / The two type I genotype T. gondii strains, RH, a lab-adapted strain, and GT1, a non-lab-adapted strain, have a genetic difference of only 0.002%, but show remarkable phenotypic differences in vitro. For example, it has long been known that RH’s in vitro virulence (i.e. plaquing capacity) and extracellular survival is far superior to that of GT1, likely due to several decades of adaptation to the in vitro environment (i.e. lab-adaptation). The genetic basis of these phenotypes, however, remains largely unknown despite previous allele-swapping experiments, thus inspiring two hypotheses: 1) epistatic interactions between two or more alleles and/or 2) gene regulatory mechanisms are responsible for lab-adaptive phenotypes. Uncovering the molecular basis underlying lab-adaptive phenotypes will support our growing understanding of T. gondii virulence and suggest therapeutic targets that affect the parasites lytic cycle in a host-independent manner. To answer this question, we applied Evolve and Resequencing (E&R) of GT1 during the first 1500 generations of its lab-adaptation in order to chronologically identify emerging genotype-phenotype correlations. Indeed, lab-adaptation augmented GT1’s in vitro virulence by improving its extracellular survival and reinvasion capabilities- both extracellular phenotypes of the lytic cycle. DNA-sequencing of parallel GT1 populations at multiple evolutionary timepoints (i.e. passages) identified a polymorphic phospholipid flippase gene whose gene expression is critical for in vitro virulence but, unfortunately, the evolved mutations could not be functionally characterized due to technical limitations. RNA-seq of both intracellular and extracellular parasites across several passages identified hundreds of “pro-tachyzoite” differentially expressed genes (DEGs), but only in extracellular parasites, paralleling our phenotypic observations. Interestingly, several upregulated DEGs are connected to fatty acid biosynthesis. Lastly, genetic KO of five seemingly non-related DEGs indicates that GT1’s lab-adaptive in vitro virulence is a complex and polygenic phenotype that is largely controlled by mechanisms independent of genomic mutations. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Biology.

In this thesis, I examine filtering based stabilization methods to design new regularized reduced order models (ROMs) for under-resolved simulations of unsteady, nonlinear, convection-dominated systems. The new ROMs proposed are variable delta filtering applied to the evolve-filter-relax ROM (V-EFR ROM), variable delta filtering applied to the Leray ROM, and approximate deconvolution Leray ROM (ADL-ROM). They are tested in the numerical setting of Burgers equation, a nonlinear, time dependent problem with one spatial dimension. Regularization is considered for the low viscosity, convection dominated setting. / Master of Science / Numerical solutions of partial differential equations may not be able to be efficiently computed in a way that fully captures the true behavior of the underlying model or differential equation, especially if significant changes in the solution to the differential equation occur over a very small spatial area. In this case, non-physical numerical artifacts may appear in the computed solution. We discuss methods of treating these calculations with a goal of improving the fidelity of numerical solutions with respect to the original model.

How do we design for a local community while respecting heritage and touching their hearts? We know through our minds and we understand through our hearts. Consciousness touches minds and experience touches hearts. Since phenomenology is the study of both consciousness and experience, this phenomenological architectural thesis is designed to touch both minds and hearts. Instead of replacement, we need embracement in order to root one's social identity. Only then we will elevate cultural heritage in any context, for example African. This thesis includes a case study of light followed by a 'pataphysical design proposal for Tapestry: a new library at Mzuzu University in Malawi. The library proposal is introduced through poems and visual information in the following sets: metaphysical, physical, 'pataphysical. Through the inquiry in haiku writing style, this poetry collection evaluates corners, windows, light, intensity, form. Not only we propose an exciting and unique library design, but we also discover that dignity is the key to unlocking the spirit of light in any project, regardless of its form. / Master of Architecture

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