Visualization

Exploring the intersection of archeological and artistic visualization and the impact of digital technologies on these disciplines, the author details an endeavor to communicate the essence of the sanctuary of Paliké in Catania, Sicily through digital reconstruction and animation. Emulating the creative process of the famous panoramic artist Yadegar Assisi, and drawing upon first-hand observation and research of the archeological site Rocchicella di Mineo, the author recounts the artistic journey of creating impactful archeological visualizations which, although driven by rapidly evolving technology, can remain relevant. This manuscript chronicles the process and describes the production methods used to convey the essence of the ancient city of Paliké both accurately and expressively.

The world’s path to climate change is inevitable. Activists and legislators, all around the world, are actively working to slow down this process or stop changes. Technology is moving toward a sustainable future of renewable energy and resources to lighten the impact that the human population has on the climate. Whether or not these efforts will slow down the changing climate is unknown, but the world’s scientists, engineers, and designers are preparing for any scenario that comes our way.
This thesis uses graphic design to visualize the future of humanity adapting to climate change. Topics that are explored include controlled-environment agriculture, vertical farming, sustainable food production, advancements in the medical industry, advancements in transportation, and sustainable energy production. These elements will come together, in my projects, to visualize one possible future of living in Arizona, where living conditions have become inhospitable for life as we know today.

Dendritic spines are the major sites for receiving excitatory synaptic inputs and play important roles in neuronal signal transduction, memory storage and neuronal circuit organization. Structural plasticity of dendritic spines is correlated with functional plasticity, and is critical for learning and memory. Visualization of the changes of dendritic spines at the ultrastructural level that specifically correlated with their function changes in high throughput would shed light on detailed mechanisms of synaptic plasticity.
Here we developed a correlative light and electron microscopy workflow which combines two-photon MNI-glutamate uncaging, pre-embedding immunolabeling, Automatic Tape-collecting Ultramicrotome sectioning and scanning electron microscopy imaging. This method bridges two different visualization platforms, directly linking ultrastructure and function at the level of individual synapses. With this method, we successfully relocated single dendritic spines that underwent long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by two-photon MNI-glutamate uncaging, and visualized their ultrastructures and AMPA receptors distribution at different phases of LTP in high throughput.

The blood brain barrier (BBB) is the brain’s defense mechanism in its maintenance of homeostasis. This network comprises an intricate, functional shield for the human brain, equipped with highly specialized cells like pericytes, astrocytic end-feet, endothelial and neuronal cells. This highly organized barrier maintains the brain’s structural integrity by revealing a discriminatory absorbency of molecules based on their molecular weight and ample fat solubility. In view of this impediment to the delivery of many prospective therapeutic agents from crossing the inviolate BBB, a myriad of innovative surgical and pharmacological interventions have been developed to bypass it, one of which is the BBBD protocol.