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Structure borne sound can travel multiple paths from one office to another and choosing to sound insulate a specific building element can be difficult since all the building elements are connected together and form a coupled system. The current approach by engineers when investigating transmission paths between spaces in a building is using a computer model and assuming that the junctions are firmly clamped or free. Standardized measuring methods includes a large amount of measuring points on each side of a junction and excitation over large areas. This study intends to investigate if it is possible to gain valuable information with a small amount of measuring points in a field measurement by comparing the data with an analytical model and a finite element model. The field measurement consisted of excitation from an impulse hammer from two excitation points and three accelerometers placed on each side of the junctions and on both sides of the separating wall. The measurement took place in a office building, with no information about the structure other than length, width and thickness of the elements.The reduction over the junctions varied with frequency and no general conclusion could be made about the transmission paths. The results showed high vibration reduction over the junction in low frequencies which then decreased in higher frequencies. Measurement results in low frequencies coincided with the analytical model, that vibration reduction is high over a junction for lighter separating walls in low frequencies and decrease quickly as frequency increases. Different results over each junction was obtained depending on excitation point, which indicates that there is flanking transmission along with the fact that it is a complex coupled system. / Strukturburet ljud kan färdas flera olika vägar från ett kontor till ett annat och att ljudisolera en specifik vägg kan vara svårt då alla byggnadselement är ihopkopplade och skapar ett kopplat system. Den nuvarande metoden ingenjörer använder för att undersöka transmissionsvägar mellan rum är att skapa modeller i datorprogram där antaganden att byggnadselementen är fast inspända eller fritt upplagda är gjorda. Standardiserade mätmetoder använder sig av en stor mängd mätpunkter på båda sidor om knutpunkterna och excitationer över stora ytor. Den här studien avser att undersöka möjligheten att erhålla värdefull information med ett fåtal mätpunkter i en fältmätning genom att jämföra den samlade mätdatan med en analytisk modell och en FEM modell. Fältmätningen består av excitation med en impulshammare i två excitationspunkter och tre accelerometrar på vardera sida om knutpunkterna och båda sidor om skiljeväggen. Mätningen utfördes i en kontorsbyggnad, utan någon information om strukturen förutom längd, bredd och tjocklek på byggnadselementen.Reduktionen över knutpunkterna varierade i frekvens och inga generella slutsatser kunde göras angående transmissionsvägar. Resultaten visade hög reduktion i vibrationsskillnad över knutpunkterna i låga frekvenser vilket minskade med ökad frekvens. Mätningsresultaten stämde överens med den analytiska modellen i låga frekvenser, med avseende på att reduktionen över knutpunkter med lätt skiljevägg är hög i låga frekvenser och avtar med ökad frekvens. Resultaten över knutpunkterna var beroende på val av excitationspunkt vilket indikerar att mätresultaten innehåller flankerande transmissioner och att det är ett komplext kopplat system.

Molecular electronics based on bottom-up electronic circuit design is a potential solution to meet the continuous need to miniaturize electronic devices. The development of highly conductive molecular wires, especially for long distance charge transfer, is a major milestone in the molecular electronics roadmap. A challenge presented by single molecule conductance is to define the relative influence of the molecular "core" and the molecular "interconnects" on the observed currents. Much focus has been placed on designing conductive, conjugated molecules. However, the electrode-molecule contacts can dominate the responses of metal-molecule-metal devices. We have experimentally and theoretically probed charge transfer through single phenyleneethynylene molecules terminated with thiol and carbodithioate linkers, using STM break-junction and non-equilibrium Green's function methods. The STM break-junction method utilizes repeatedly formed circuits where one or a few molecules are trapped between two electrodes, at least one of which has nanoscale dimensions. The statistical analysis of thousands of measurements yields the conductance of single molecules. Experimental data demonstrate that the carbodithioate linker not only augments electronic coupling to the metal electrode relative to thiol, but reduces the barrier to charge injection into the phenyleneethynylene bridge. The theoretical analysis shows that sulfur hybridization provides the genesis for the order-of-magnitude increased conductance in carbodithioate-terminated systems relative to those that feature the thiol linker. Collectively, these data emphasize the promising role for carbodithioate-based connectivity in molecular electronics applications involving metallic and semi-conducting electrodes. One of the strategies for building molecular wires that can transfer charge over long distance is to incorporate metal ions into the conductive molecular core. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is a great candidate for this purpose. Studying the conductivity of PNA can not only contribute to a better understanding of charge transfer through biomolecules, but can also help develop better molecular wires and other building blocks of molecular electronics. We study the charge transfer of PNA molecules using the STM break-junction technique and compare with traditional macroscopic voltammetric measurements. By measuring the resistance of different PNA molecules, we hope to develop a deep understanding of how charge transport though PNA is affected by factors such as the number and type of natural and artificial bases, embedded metal ions, pH, etc. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of porphyrins are of great interest due to their diverse applications, including molecular devices, nano-templates, electrocatalysis, solar cells, and photosynthesis. We combined a molecular level study of the redox reactions using electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM) with a macroscopic electrochemical technique, cyclic voltammetry (CV), to study two redox active porphyrin molecules, TPyP (5,10,15,20-Tetra(4-Pyridyl)-21H,23H-Porphine) and 5, 10, 15, 20-tetrakis (4-carboxylphenyl)-21H, 23H-porphine (TCPP). We showed that the adsorbed oxidized TPyP molecules slowly change to brighter contrast, consistent with the appearance of the reduced form of TPyP, under reduction condition (0.0VSCE). The time scale of the slow reduction is in the order of tens of minutes at 0.0VSCE, but accelerates at more negative potentials. We propose that protonation and deprotonation processes play an important role in the surface redox reaction due to geometric restriction of the molecules adsorbed on the surface. EC-STM and CV experiments were performed at various pH values to investigate the mechanism of this anomalously slow redox reaction. Our results show that the increased concentration of H+ hinders the reduction of porphyrins, a feature that has not been reported preciously. This provides insight into the details of the surface redox reaction. / Chemistry

Gap junctions are highly-conserved communicating junctions composed of the connexin family of proteins. In addition to this channel function, gap junctions mediate adhesive contacts at extracellular domains, and are host to a variety of signalling metabolites at intracellular surfaces. In this thesis, I explore the emerging theme of the connexin interactome. Starting with a non-biased proteomic approach, I identified endogenous protein interactions with the predominant liver and oligodendrocyte connexin, connexin32 (Cx32). Here, I identified novel mitochondrial protein interactions suggesting that Cx32 might localize to mitochondrial membranes, as has been reported for cardiac Cx43. Following proteomic quantitation of WT and Cx32 KO membranes, I determined that loss of Cx32 specifically induces mitochondrial protein expression. Bioenergetic analysis of isolated mitochondria then confirmed that oxygen consumption and rates of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation were elevated in Cx32 KO mitochondria. In addition to novel intracellular connexin protein interactions, we hypothesized that connexin-mediated glial cell:cell interactions were responsible for mediating fate decisions in the complex hippocampal neurogenic niche environment. We identified that Cx32-mediated glial cell:cell interactions exert significant proliferative and fate specifying pressures on hippocampal progenitor cell types, wherein the loss of Cx32 enables improved histological and functional regeneration following excitotoxic injury. Together, this thesis identifies novel connexin-mediated signalling pathways that provide mechanistic insight into both intracellular and extracellular interactomedependent functions for Cx32, and outlines a potentially transformative avenue for brain repair.

This dissertation is intended to further technology studies by analyzing some of its important methodological tools and using those tools in combination to study complex technological systems in an historical context. The first chapter of the dissertation examines in detail four influential models by which complex technological systems have been analyzed: Hughes's system model, Bijker's social construction model, Latour, Callon, and Law's actor-network model, and Ruth Schwartz Cowan's consumption junction model. For each model, I summarize the seminal works, analyze the uses of the model in the literature, and offer some refinements to the models based on that analysis. Chapter 2 presents three case studies applying these models two different technological systems. First, the early development of the American automobile industry, 1895 to 1940, is studied using Hughes's concepts of technological momentum and reverse salients. Second, the automobile's impact on American society is explored over the same time period relying on Ruth Schwartz Cowan's consumer-oriented perspective and Wiebe Bijker's concept of technological frames. The third case study examines the technological means by which, over a long period of time, American cities were rendered impervious to huge conflagrations—commonplace until the end of the 19th century. For the analysis of this system, I use actor-network theory, Wiebe Bijker's technological frames, and Hughes's reverse salients. / Ph. D.

The small intestine and yolk sac (YS) are important organs for nutrient absorption and innate immunity in chickens during the post-hatch or prehatch periods. These organs share a similar structure of epithelial cell-lined villi with tight junctions between adjacent cells. Probiotics have been reported to improve chicken growth performance and gut health including promotion of intestinal morphology. However, there are few studies that show the effect of probiotics on ontogeny of intestinal epithelial cells and antimicrobial peptides, or intestinal integrity in young healthy chicks. Heat stress during incubation was shown to increase mortality and decrease hatchability of chicks, while no studies have investigated the effect of heat stress on the integrity of the YS, which might be related to hatching performance. There were four studies conducted in this research: 1) a comparison of the effect of two probiotics on the ontogeny of small intestinal epithelial cells in young chicks; 2) the effect of two probiotics on mRNA abundance of tight junction proteins in the small intestine of young chicks; 3) the effect of high incubation temperature on mRNA abundance of tight junction proteins in the YS of broiler embryos; and 4) comparison of avian defense peptide mRNA abundance in the YS of broilers and layers. In study 1, Probiotics transiently decreased body weight gain (BWG) from day 2 to day 4, but did not affect body weight (BW) from day 2 to day 8, and small intestinal weight and intestinal morphology from day 2 to day 6. Probiotics did not affect marker gene expression of intestinal stem cells (Olfm4) and goblet cells (Muc2) in all small intestinal segments, but did increase expression of a marker gene of proliferating cells (Ki67), and decreased an antimicrobial peptide (liver-enriched antimicrobial peptide 2, LEAP2) in the jejunum at day 4. Probiotic 1 decreased PepT1, a marker of enterocytes in the duodenum at day 4. These results suggest that probiotics did not improve growth performance and intestinal morphology in young healthy chicks, but temporarily promoted intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and decreased LEAP2 antimicrobial peptide expression in the jejunum. In situ hybridization (ISH) showed that Ki67+ proliferating cells were mainly located in the crypt region and the blood vessels of villi. In study 2, Probiotic supplementation to newly hatched chicks for less than one week did not affect mRNA abundance of the tight junction proteins in the small intestine. Occludin (OCLN) mRNA, which was detected by ISH to be expressed in intestinal epithelial cells in both the villus and crypt regions, was greater in the duodenum of female chicks than males. In study 3, high incubation temperature starting from embryonic day 12 (E12) affected mRNA abundance of the tight junction proteins in the YS, including increased zonula occluden 1 (ZO1) at E13, increased junctional adhesion molecule A (JAMA) and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) at E17, but decreased tight junction protein JAMA at E19 and OCLN at day of hatch (DOH). These results showed that the YS tight junction proteins were increased by short term heat exposure but decreased by long term heat exposure. In study 4, the expression of avian β defensin 10 (AvBD10), CATHs and toll-like receptors in the YS was examined. Toll-like receptors were highly expressed in the YS at early incubation stages (E7), while CATHs showed a peak expression from E9 to E13, which was similar to the expression pattern of AvBD10. CATHs and AvBD10 mRNA temporal expression patterns were similar in broilers and layers, while their expression levels were different. Layers, especially brown layers, had greater mRNA abundance for antimicrobial peptides such as AvBD10, CATH1, and CATH2 in the YS. These results demonstrate that the antimicrobial peptide temporal expression patterns in the YS are not affected by breed, but their expression levels are affected by breed. In summary, the small intestine and the YS are essential for nutrient uptake, innate immunity, and maintenance of integrity. The ontogeny of intestinal epithelial cells, such as proliferating cells can be modulated by probiotic supplementation. Similar to the small intestine, the YS can also express tight junction proteins, which can be affected by high incubation temperature. Antimicrobial peptide expression in the intestine of healthy young chicks is also transiently decreased by probiotic supplements. Avian defensin and cathelicidin expression patterns in the YS were not affected by breed. / Doctor of Philosophy / The small intestine and yolk sac are important organs for nutrient absorption in hatched chicks or embryonic chicks. These organs also serve as a barrier to prevent pathogens from entering the blood circulation. Intestinal epithelial cells along the villi renew rapidly by proliferation and differentiation. In this research, probiotics which are also known as direct fed microbials temporarily increased expression of the proliferating cell marker Ki67 in the jejunum of healthy young chicks, which suggests that probiotics promote intestinal epithelial cell proliferation. However, probiotics transiently decreased expression of an antimicrobial peptide, which may reduce immune protection in the gut. The yolk sac can also express tight junction proteins. The expression of tight junction proteins was affected by elevated incubation temperature in broiler embryos, which might be related to low hatchability of eggs exposed to heat stress. Avian defense peptides and pathogen recognition receptors were expressed in the YS, which implied that the yolk sac contained an innate immune function. The expression pattern of avian defense peptides was affected by breed (broilers and layers), while the expression level of avian defense peptides was greater in layers than broilers. In summary, the small intestine and the yolk sac are multifunctional organs. Their cell composition, structural integrity, and secretion of antimicrobial peptides can be affected by environmental factors, such as probiotic supplementation or high incubation temperature.