This thesis project was instigated by the interest to remodel a historic building in downtown Bogota, Colombia, South America. The Bavaria Brewery, the first and oldest beer producer in the country, will be transformed into a retail/recreational facility composed of small-stores, restaurants and a museum.The red-brick structure was designed in 1891 by Alejandro Manrique, to resemble a German brewery. As this brewery grew in popularity, the buildings underwent many alterations and additions. Sufficient changes were made to obscure the building's original design. As it's machinery was updated and more space was needed, the brewery was forced to move to a more industrial area of Bogota city.In 1988 a renewal plan was made for Bavaria Brewery site. New use was proposed for the area including residential and central activities. An urban central park intended to be the focal point of the project.Because the interior was in good shape, the original floor plan remained unaltered with only one new level being built using two-story spaces. The interior was designed for its new function as a shopping center, which has resulted in a place where there is a great variety of activities connected by a system of walkways, corridors, tunnels and two outside elevators.On the exterior all historic elements have been preserved, though all new elements are clearly distinguished from the old but in a manner sympathetic to the industrial character of the Bavaria Brewery.These buildings have been evolutionary in their structure, never static, they have been marked with the imprint of different periods. As a result the design will reflect the present, recall the past, and insinuate the future. / Department of Architecture

The Development Program for the J. H. Wysor Store and Office Building Restoration and Reuse for a City Hall for Muncie, Indiana is an analysis of one of Muncie's best known landmarks. The development program is a study that investigates the history, physical characteristics, and potential reuse of the J. H. Wysor Store and Office Building. The program includes space requirements and an analysis of the needs for a city hall for Muncie, Indiana.The study was also extended to the entire city block with special emphasis on the small store fronts, 107, 109, and 111 West Main Street.The results of my thesis are a proposed design for the restoration of the Wysor Building, the 107, 109, and 111 West Main Street and an example of a proposed parking garage, through drawings and a model. / Department of Architecture

This thesis examines existing rehabilitation and environmental guidelines to determine whether the guidelines are incorporating the necessary building science knowledge to ensure that insulation is performing as intended and thus promoting energy efficiency, cost effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. The results of analyzing the existing guidelines show that they do not require all that is necessary to promote energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. While several of the guidelines have started to incorporate the necessary building science perspective by requiring a whole house air leakage test, none of the guidelines examined specifically require the zonal pressure diagnostics test necessary to ensure that insulation is working to specification. The thesis also includes a comprehensive overview of environmental sustainability and rehabilitation. / Department of Urban Planning

Background: In an ongoing study conducted at Karolinska Institutet & Karolinska University Hospital, Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Computed Tomography (CT) scans are performed on patients with tibia fractures and deformations treated with Taylor Spatial Frames (TSFs) in order to monitor their bone remodeling progress. Each patients receive an administration of approximately 2 MBq/kg bodyweight of Na18F associated with PET scans on two sessions, six and twelve weeks after the attachment of the TSF. These PET/CT scans provide information about the progress of the healing bone and can be used to estimate the optimal time point for de-attachment of the TSF. The Standardized Uptake Value (SUV) is used as a measure of the rate of bone remodeling for these patients, however, there is a need for verification of this practice by a method independent of the PET scanner. Furthermore, information regarding the biodistribution of the Na18F throughout the body of these patients and the effects of the TSF on the CT scan X‑rays is required. Additionally, an investigation of alternative methods that have the potential to provide similar information with a lower absorbed dose to the patients is desirable. Materials and methods: Thermoluminescent Dosimeters (TLDs) were attached on the skin at the position of the heart, urinary bladder, femurs, fracture, and the contralateral tibia of twelve patients during the first one hour and five minutes after the administration of the Na18F. Additional TLD measurements were performed during the CT scan of two of these patients. From the PET scan images, SUVs at the fracture site of these patients were collected. An investigation of the possibility of exploiting the “naturally” occurring bone seeking radionuclide Strontium-90 (90Sr) in the human body to gain information about the fracture site was undertaken. Using a 90Sr source, three different detection techniques were evaluated and a practical methodology for in vivo measurements on the tibia fracture patients was developed. As it was concluded that TLD based measurements were the most suitable technique for this purpose, and it was tested on five patients with tibia fractures. Results: From the collected TLD data, it was concluded that for these patients the urinary bladder is the organ receiving the greatest amount of absorbed dose and the organ most affected as the administered activity exceeds 2 MBq/kg. On average, a three times higher surface dose was measured on the tibia fracture compared to the un-fractured tibia. A linear relationship between the surface dose and SUVmax was shown. A strong positive correlation between the activity concentration at the fracture site and the amount of injected activity was found, and it was demonstrated that this also affects the SUVs. For patients who were administered different amounts of Na18F for the two PET scans, maximum activity concentrationwas less affected than mean activity concentration. It was concluded that TSF’s effect on the scatter of the X-rays to organs higher up in the body is negligible. Regarding “naturally” occurring 90Sr in the human body, no higher activity at the fractured tibia compared to the non‑fractured tibia could be found. Conclusions: This project assessed the accumulation of Na18F in the fracture site of patients treated with TSF by a method independent of the PET scanner. The methodology of using SUVs as an indicator for bone remodeling was verified. It was shown that the uptake of Na18F by the fracture site is strongly correlated to the amount of injected activity. The importance of considering the amount of injected activity when evaluating and comparing SUVs was highlighted. In vivo measurements using LiF:Mn TLDs did not indicate any quantifiable higher concentration of 90Sr at the fracture in the tibia bone.

Cardiovascular disease, and myocardial infarction (MI) in particular, remains a major burden in the developed world today. In fact, the remodeling process, which follows the initial ischemic episode of MI, is a major determinant of heart failure. Although several key mechanistic pathways involving cell growth and death have been identified, there is limited knowledge surrounding the role of the innate immune response as a positive or negative regulator of cardiac remodeling. Recent data strongly support a role for key regulatory components within the toll-like receptor (TLR) family as potent modulators of cardiac remodeling post-MI. It has been demonstrated that targeted gene knockdown of TLR4, as well as downstream adaptor proteins and kinases, significantly improve cardiac function and overall survival. While the well-known NF-κB transcriptional factor that is downstream to TLR4 signaling has been linked to remodeling, there has been no evidence thus far describing a role of the parallel interferon regulatory factor-3 (IRF3) signaling cascade in any facet of this process. Several key findings suggest that IRFs contribute to both cell growth and apoptosis, thus providing an appealing, and novel target for interrogation. In this thesis I describe how IRF3 contributes to maladaptive remodeling post-MI. In my first set of experiments, I demonstrate that IRF3 is acutely upregulated within the cardiomyocyte following MI and that this response contributes to excessive apoptosis post-MI. A targeted deletion of the IRF3 gene enhances cardiac function, decreases infarct size, and improves survival following MI. In the second set of experiments I demonstrate that IRF3 attenuates angiogenesis at the ischemic border zone by upregulating the expression of thrombospondins. I have shown that IRF3 deficiency, which liberates endogenous anti-angiogenic signals, promotes angiogenesis following ischemic injury. These data suggest that IRF3 is a potent regulator of cardiac remodeling and may be an effective therapeutic target to ameliorate maladaptive cardiac repair post-MI.

No description available.

Incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is increasing in the aging society of the western world. Development of AAA is mostly asymptomatic and is characterized by a bulge in the abdominal aorta. However, AAA may suddenly rupture, which results in an internal bleeding associated with a high mortality rate. Patients with AAA undergo regular screening until treatment indication. To date, statistical criteria are used to decide whether the risk of rupture exceeds the risk of intervention. Models of AAA development help to understand the disease progression and to yield patient-specific criterion for AAA rupture. Up to date, sophisticated models of AAA development exist. These models assume the abdominal aorta as a thin-walled structure, which saves the computational effort. This thesis aims at investigating the importance of employing a thick-walled model of the aorta. The effects on AAA development that cannot be captured with a thin-walled model are of interest. In Paper A, the thick-walled model of growth and remodeling of one layer of a AAA slice has been extended to a two-layered model. The parameter study has been performed to investigate the influence of mechanical properties and growth and remodeling (G&amp;R) parameters of two individual layers on the gross mechanical response and G&amp;R of the artery. It was concluded that the adventitia acts to protect the arterial wall against rupture even in pathological state. In Paper B, the model was extended to an organ level model of AAA development. Furthermore, the model was incorporated into a so-called Fluid-Solid-Growth (FSG) framework, where the AAA development is loosely coupled to the blood flow conditions such as wall shear stress. One patient-specific geometry of the abdominal aorta is used to illustrate the model capabilities. A transmurally non-uniform distribution of the strains of individual arterial constituents was observed. In addition, an increased aneurysm tortuosity was observed in comparison to a thin-walled approach. These findings signify the importance of a thick-walled approach to model the aneurysm development. Finally, the proposed methodology provides a realistic basis to further explore the growth and remodeling of AAA on a patient-specific basis. / <p>QC 20140311</p>

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2006. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Ceramic and Materials Science and Engineering." Includes bibliographical references.