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Arterial mechanical properties have received increasing attention in the past few decades due to their vast effect on predicting cardiovascular diseases and injuries. The heterogeneity of thoracic aortic tissue was characterized in terms of viscoelastic material properties and correlations were obtained between these properties and tissue morphology. Additionally, the effect of material preservation on the material properties was determined. Changes in the mechanical properties of porcine thoracic aorta wall in the radial direction were characterized using a quasi-linear viscoelastic modeling of nanoindentaiton tests. Two layers of equal thickness were mechanically distinguishable in descending aorta based on the radial variations in the instantaneous Young's modulus E and reduced relaxation function G(t). Overall, comparison of E and Ginf of the outer half (70.27±2.47 kPa and 0.35±0.01) versus the inner half (60.32±1.65 kPa and 0.33±0.01) revealed that the outer half was stiffer and showed less relaxation. The results were used to explain local mechanisms of deformation, force transmission, tear propagation and failure in arteries. A multimodal and multidisciplinary approach was adopted to characterize the transmural morphological properties of aorta. The utilized methods included histology and multi-photon microscopy for describing the wall micro-architecture in the circumferential-radial plane, and Fourier-Transform infrared imaging spectroscopy for determining structural protein, and total protein content. The distributions of these quantified properties across the wall thickness of the porcine descending thoracic aorta were characterized and their relationship with the mechanical properties was determined. It was revealed that there is an increasing trend in mechanical stiffness, Elastic lamella Density (ELD), Structural Protein (SPR), Total Protein (TPR), and Elastin and Collagen Circumferential Percentage (ECP and CCP) from inner layers toward the outer ones. Finally two larger regions with equal thickness (inner and outer halves) were determined based on cluster analysis results of ELD which were in agreement with the cluster analysis of instantaneous Young's modulus. Changes to the local viscoelastic properties of fresh porcine thoracic aorta wall due to three common storage temperatures (+4 oC, -20 oC and -80 oC) within 24 hours, 48 hours, 1 week and 3 weeks were characterized. The changes to both elastic and relaxation behaviors were investigated considering the multilayer, heterogeneous nature of the aortic wall. For +4 oC storage samples, the average instantaneous Young's modulus (E) decreased while their permanent average relaxation amplitude (Ginf) increased and after 48 hours these changes became significant (10%, 13% for E, Ginf respectively). Generally, in freezer storage, E increased and Ginf showed no significant change. In prolonged preservation (> 1 week), the results of +20 oC storage showed significant increase in E (20% after 3 weeks) while this increase for -80 oC was not significant, making it a better choice for tissue cold storage applications. Results from this dissertation present a substantial step toward the anatomical characterization of the aortic wall building blocks and establishing a foundation for understanding the role of microstructural components on the functionality of blood vessels. A better understanding of these relationships would provide novel therapeutic targets and strategies for the prevention of human vascular disease. / Mechanical Engineering

The genus Chrysopelea encompasses the "flying" snakes. This taxon has the ability to glide via lateral aerial undulation and dorsoventral body flattening, a skill unique to this group, but in addition to other functions common to all colubrids. The skin must be extensible enough to allow this body shape alteration and undulation, and strong enough to withstand the forces seen during landing. For this reason, characterizing the mechanical properties of the skin may give insight to the functional capabilities of the skin during these gliding and landing behaviors. Dynamic and viscoelastic uniaxial tensile tests were combined with a modified particle image velocimetry technique to provide strength, extensibility, strain energy, and stiffness information about the skin with respect to orientation, region, and species, along with viscoelastic parameters. Results compared with two other species in this study and a broader range of species in prior studies indicate that while the skin of these unique snakes may not be specifically specialized to deal with larger forces, extensibility, or energy storage and release, the skin does have increased strength and energy storage associated with higher strain rates. The skin also has differing properties with respect to dorsoventral location, and regional differences in strength in the circumferential orientation. This may indicate that, although the properties of the skin may not be different, the rate at which the skin is strained in the different species may vary, thus altering the apparent properties of the skin during specific behaviors. / Master of Science

Vibrations are very common phenomenon. It influences structures and generates acoustic noise which might be harmful to human beings. The vibration isolator was invented to reduce the effect from vibrations. However, the behavior of rubber material, which many vibration isolators are made of, is hard to predict. Consequently, vibration tests are needed to obtain the dynamic properties of rubber isolator.In this case, a six-year old LORD 2204-5 rubber isolator provided by Atlas Copco was tested. The aim of this paper is to obtain the FRF (Frequency Response Function) diagram which can describe the property of the rubber material. Moreover, the influence of aging of rubber material on the dynamic properties was studied.As the vibration test should simulate the working environment of the isolators that are both a static load from the structure and a dynamic force from the engine, a new excitation method was designed. The camshaft with the shape of an epitrochoid induced the sinusoidal signal of the isolator and the frame transferred the static load from the hydraulic machine. The artificial aging was performed in a hot air oven in 90°C for 42 hours, which according to Arrhenius equation should be equivalent to six years of natural aging. The vibration isolator was tested again after being aged.The obtained data showed that the aging process decreased the stiffness of the material. The results were corresponding with other studies regarding aging of rubber.

The motive of this work is to illustrate and visualize the socio-political objectification of the female body, in order to suggest explanations as to how female body standards are derived as a result of this objectification. The objective was obtained by exploring cut and assembling designs with powerful visual expressions, with sustainability as a point of emphasis. As the result 8 shapes were created out of one single pattern formula, the formula that would probably never be discovered if the starting point were not a fragile cork material.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal relacionar a utilização da argila, material de expressão artística e cultural a aspectos técnicos frequentemente ignorados pelos executores (artesãos artistas), a partir da análise de técnicas tradicionais de modelagem. Busca, portanto, compreender como a matéria-prima (argila), disponível para certa comunidade artesã, influenciou o desenvolvimento espontâneo de uma técnica de modelagem empregada em uma determinada região do Brasil, resultando em uma forma peculiar de expressão artística. A disponibilidade de um tipo de matéria-prima é um aspecto comumente negligenciado na análise de uma forma de expressão artística. Muitas vezes, em função das limitações tanto do material como da falta de conhecimento técnico, falhas do material são resolvidas com a utilização de técnicas desenvolvidas como fruto da experimentação e observação. Assim, objetiva investigar como as propriedades da argila são importantes na definição das características de um trabalho, na escolha do método de execução em suas diferentes fases. Como os executores conseguem superar certos problemas apresentados pelo material com o emprego de soluções experimentais. A metodologia abrange pesquisa bibliográfica, visita a campo para coleta de material para análise, caracterização do material, comparação entre resultados obtidos. Os resultados da pesquisa comprovaram que a matéria-prima utilizada por cada comunidade influencia o tipo de trabalho executado, promovendo a escolha de soluções estéticas e de modelagem adequadas às propriedades das argilas. Isto de certa forma inviabiliza a execução do trabalho com suas características particulares e autênticas em outra região, com uso de uma argila que não a disponível no local. Daí o caráter também documental do estudo, pois registra tanto a existência de uma matéria-prima finita e suas particularidades específicas, como também a técnica e a voz dessas pessoas, que de forma singular a utilizam como meio de expressão e subsistência. / The present work has as its main objective to relate the use of clay, artistic expression and cultural material technical aspects often ignored by the executors (artisans artists), from the traditional techniques of analysis modeling. Search, therefore, understand how the raw material (clay), available for certain artisan community, influenced the spontaneous development of a modeling technique employed in a particular region of Brazil, resulting in a peculiar form of artistic expression, because the availability of a kind of raw material is a commonly neglected aspect in the analysis of a form of artistic expression. Often, depending on the limitations of both the material and the lack of technical knowledge, \"failures\" of the material are resolved with the use of techniques developed as a result of experimentation and observation. Thus, aims to investigate how the properties of clay are important in defining the characteristics of a work, in choosing the method of execution in its different phases. As performers can \"overcome\" certain problems presented by the material with the use of experimental solutions. The survey results proved that the raw material used by each community influences the type of work performed, promoting the choice of aesthetic solutions and appropriate modeling the properties of clays. This somehow makes the execution of work with their particular characteristics and authentic in another region, with use of a clay that not available on site. Hence the documentary also character of the study, because registers both the existence of a story press and their specific particularities finite but also the technique and the voice of these people, that of singular form to use as a means of expression and livelihood.

With the renewed concept of "Materials by Design" attracting particular attentions from the engineering communities in recent years, numerical methods that can reliably predict the optical and electrical properties of materials is highly preferable. Since the growth or the synthesis of a "designed" material and the ensuing devices is usually prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, numerical simulation tools that predict the properties of a proposed material together with its device performance before production is especially important and cost-effective. Furthermore, as the technology advances, semiconductor devices have been pushed to operate at their material limits, which requires a thorough understanding of the materials' microscopic processes under different conditions. Therefore, developing numerical models that are capable of investigating the semiconductor properties from material level to device level is highly desirable. This dissertation develops a suite of numerical models in which optical absorption and Auger recombination in semiconductor materials are studied and simulated together with their device performances. In particular, Green's function theory with full band structures is employed to investigate the material properties by evaluating the broadening of the electronic bands under the perturbation of phonons. As a result, both direct and phonon-assisted indirect processes are computed and compared among different materials. Drift-diffusion model and a 3D Monte-Carlo model are subsequently used to simulate the device characteristics with the obtained material parameters. This work first determines the full band structures for Si, Ge, α-Sn, HgCdTe, InAsSb and InGaAs alloys from EPM model, and then investigated the materials' minority carrier lifetime for IR detector applications. Finally device level simulations using drift-diffusion and 3D Monte-Carlo models are demonstrated. In particular, two issues of developing 3D Monte-Carlo device simulation models, namely the use of unstructured spatial meshes and elimination of particle-mesh forces, are discussed, which are crucial in simulating modern semiconductor devices having complex geometry and doping profiles.

One dimensional carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and two-dimensional layered materials like graphene, MoS2, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), etc. with different electrical and mechanical properties are great candidates for many applications in the future. In this study the synthesis and growth of carbon nanotubes on both conducting graphene and graphite substrates as well as insulating hBN substrate with precise crystallographic orientation is achieved. We show that the nanotubes have a clear preference to align to specific crystal directions of the underlying graphene or hBN substrate. On thicker flakes of graphite, the edges of these 2D materials can control the orientation of these carbon nanotubes. This integrated aligned growth of materials with similar lattices provides a promising route to achieving intricate nanoscale electrical circuits. Furthermore, short channel nanoscale devices consisting of the heterostructure of 1D and 2D materials are fabricated. In these nanoscale devices the nanogap is created due to etching of few layer graphene flake through hydrogenation and the channel is either carbon nanotubes or 2D materials like graphene and MoS2. Finally the transport properties of these nanoscale devices is studied.

Current two dimensional face recognition methods rely on visible photometric or geometric attributes that are present in the intensity image. In many of these approaches a technique called Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is extensively used. PCA extracts the maximum intensity variations from the set of input images in the form of "eigen" faces which are used as a feature vector. In these approaches the intensity images used were mostly that of the subject's frontal face, which yielded promising results after doing PCA. These approaches however fail in the presence of facial expression, unstable lighting conditions and artifacts such as make-up, glasses etc. Thus, it is desirable to establish a new biometric source that will be least affected bythe afore mentioned factors. This study describes a face recognition method that is designed based on the consideration of anatomical and biomechanical characteristics of facial tissues. During facial expressions such as smile, frown, anger etc, various muscles get activated in tandem. A strain pattern inferred from a face expression can reveal an individual's signature associated with the underlying anatomical structure, and thus has the potential for face recognition. In this study, the strain is computed by measuring the displacement of a point on the face that results from a facial expression such as opening the mouth. The information provided by the change in the depth value for the face across the open and close mouth frames does not provide any information required for computing the strain maps, because the strain map depends on the relative displacements of two points on the face, which remains same with rigid motions of the face such as rotation and translation. Hence the information in the 2D spaceis sufficient to compute strain since the depth is assumed constant. The approach used to calculate strain computes the strain distribution directly using the mathematical definition of strain as the derivative of displacement in 2D space (XY plane). The strain values obtained are converted to gray scale intensity images, which are used as inputs for the intensity based PCA analysis. Experiments were conducted using 62 subjects. The data set comprised of two pairs of images for a subject: closed mouth and open mouth under bright and low light. Analysis of CMC and ROC curves indicate that the proposed strain map biometric is a promising new biometric that has the potential to improve the performance of current face recognition method. In summary, the contribution of this thesis is twofold: 1. Facial strain map proves to be promising new biometric. 2. Strain map helps increase the identification rate when used in conjunction with intensity based biometric as a multi-classifier.