Este trabalho discutiu o estudo da inferência de carregamento e a reconstrução fratográfica da taxa de propagação da trinca por fadiga em histórias de vôos simulados do tipo Twist, mini-Twist, Falstaff e mini-Falstaff. O material estudado foi uma liga de alumínio de grau aeronáutico SAE-AMS 7475 T7351 na qual foram obtidas as propriedades mecânicas a partir dos ensaios de tração e dureza, análise química, metalográfica. Foram realizados ensaios de amplitude constante de carregamento em corpos de prova com geometria tipo C(T) extraídos de um bloco e ensaios de amplitude variável em corpos de prova com geometria tipo M(T) extraídos de uma placa. Corpos de prova do tipo C(T) foram extraídos da orientação L-T e T-L, à temperatura ambiente com diferentes espessuras para a realização de ensaios de propagação de trinca por fadiga (da/dN vs. &#916K) com distintos valores de razão de carregamento,R (0,1;0,3; 0,5; 0,7 e 0,8) de acordo com a norma ASTM-E647 (1993). Foram realizados dois tipos de ensaios de fadiga com amplitude constante de carregamento. Primeiro, o ensaio com &#916P constante para obtenção dos dados dos estágios II e III das curvas da/dN vs. &#916K para distintos valores de R e, posteriormente, o ensaio com &#916K constante e R crescente para ser utilizado no estudo da inferência de carregamento de amplitude constante a partir da relação entre a morfologia da estria, H/s e a razão de carregamento R. Adicionalmente foram realizados ensaios de tenacidade à fratura, nas direções L-T e T-L, conforme a norma ASTME1820 (1999). As taxas de propagação macroscópica e microscópica foram comparadas e boas correlações foram obtidas para um intervalo entre 0,1 a 1,0 &#956m/ciclo, mesmo com distintos R. Através da técnica proposta por Berkovitz (1995), o espectro de carregamento foi estimado para distintos valores de R, através da técnica de parametrização do fator K e os resultados foram comparados ao espectro de carregamento real imposto pela máquina de ensaio. Após os ensaios de amplitude constante de carregamento foram realizados ensaios de amplitude variável com a aplicação em corpos de prova M(T) de espectros de vôos simulados padronizados pela NLR do tipo Twist e Falstaff e seus vôos reduzidos, mini-Twist e mini- Falstaff, em uma máquina servohidráulica de ensaios dinâmicos. A partir destes ensaios notou-se que suprimir os vôos com os carregamentos menos severos influencia muito a vida da propagação da trinca de fadiga, quando vôos simulados do tipo Twist e mini-Twist, fato este não observado para o Falstaff e mini-Falstaff. Foi possível observar também o efeito da aceleração e desaceleração da trinca por fadiga observando os gráficos de d2a/dvôo vs. a obtidos dos ensaios de amplitude variável. Foi realizado um estudo da superfície de fratura do CP05 por meio da técnica fractográfica do reconhecimento de blocos marcadores sendo possível mostrar uma satisfatória reconstituição da taxa de propagação da trinca por fadiga de vôo simulado do tipo Falstaff por meio de medidas das marcações na superfície de fratura dos vôos mais severos, realizadas em imagens obtidas por MEV. / The loading inference and the fractographic reconstruction of fatigue crack propagation rate in simulated flight stories, as Twist, mini-Twist, Falstaff and mini-Falstaff were investigated in this work. The studied material was an aluminum alloy SAE-AMS 7475 T7351. Tensile and hardness tests were carried out in order to determine mechanical properties, as well as chemical and microstructure analysis of the material. C(T) specimens were extracted from a block of material for constant amplitude load testing and M(T) specimens were extracted from a plate and were tested in variable amplitude loading. The curves (da/dN vs. &#916K) for constant-amplitude loading were obtained from fatigue crack propagation tests performed in L-T and T-L directions in C(T) specimens for R (0.1; 0.3; 0.5; 0.7 and 0.8), at room temperature, according to ASTM-E647 (1993). Two different constant loading fatigue tests were performed. At constant &#916P and distinct values of R for obtaining data of stages II and III of da/dN - &#916K curves; and at constant &#916K and increasing the R ratio to be used in the inference of constant amplitude loading in the relation of H/s striation morphology (obtained from fractographic images) and the loading ratio, R. Additionally, fracture toughness tests were executed in T-L and L-T directions, according to ASTM-E1820 (1999). The macroscopic and microscopic fatigue crack propagations were compared and good correlation was obtained for the range 0.1-1.0 &#956m/cycle, for all R values. By using the K factor parametrization method, Berkovitz (1995), the loading spectrum was estimated for the distinct R-values and the results were compared to the actual spectrum imposed by the test machine. Variable amplitude tests were performed in M(T) specimens by applying simulating flight spectra normalized by NLR, as Twist, mini-Twist, Falstaff and mini-Falstaff, in a servohydraulic test machine MTS, in which a Flextest GT controller was coupled. The suppression of less severe loading flights showed a great influence in fatigue crack propagation life, in simulated flight tests Twist and mini-Twist, but not in Falstaff and mini-Falstaff. The acceleration and slowing down of fatigue crack were observed in the d2a/dflight - a curve obtained from variable loading tests. The fractured surfaces of some samples were examined by the fractographic technique of blocking marks recognition. A good reconstitution of fatigue crack propagation rate of a simulated flight like Falstaff was obtained by the measurements of marks in the fracture surfaces of the more severe flights, in MEV images.

Este trabalho visa determinar a razão de carga cíclica R através da medida, na superficie de fratura, da relação entre a largura inter-estrias (s) e a altura da estria (H). É de conhecimento que o espaçamento (s) se correlaciona com a taxa de crescimento da trinca da/dN, enquanto que a curva da/dN x &#916K depende da razão de carga R. Para esta avaliação, corpos de prova do tipo compacto C(T) foram extraídos na orientação LT do centro de uma placa laminada da liga de alumínio SAE-AMS 7475 T7351 para realização dos ensaios de propagação de trinca por fadiga. Estes ensaios foram realizados de duas formas diferentes. A primeira, para obtenção de dados relativos à região II da curva da/dN x &#916K, sendo, neste caso, utilizadas quatro diferentes razões de carga (R=O,1; R=0,3; R=0,5; R=0,7). No outro caso, os ensaios de fadiga foram realizados sob &#916K constante e utilizados os mesmos quatro níveis de razão de carregamento R para determinação da curva da/dN x &#916K constante. Os níveis de &#916K aplicados foram tomados na região de Paris da curva da/dN x &#916K. A análise fratográfica por microscopia eletrônica foi conduzida nas superfícies dos corpos de prova do ensaio de fadiga com &#916K constante. Isto foi feito para determinar os espaçamentos inter-estria (s) e a altura H das estrias para cada nível de &#916K aplicado. Observou-se que a taxa de crescimento da trinca (da/dN) e o espaçamento inter-estrias (s) sofrem influência direta com a variação do fator de intensidade de tensão (&#916K), entretanto, observou-se, também, que a relação de proporcionalidade de 1:1 entre eles somente é válida para níveis de da/dN variando entre 0,1 a 1 &#956/ciclo. Os valores da morfologia da estrias (H/s) sofrem influência significativa com o aumento da razão de carga R, entretanto, ficou evidenciado que o fator de intensidade de tensão máxima Kmáx. não tem influência nesta relação. Evidenciou-se que a largura da estria corresponde à taxa de crescimento da trinca (da/dN), e que a relação entre a altura e o espaçamento da estria (H/s) possui uma correspondência direta com a razão de carga R, que tem influência significativa sobre a propagação de trinca por fadiga. / This work aims at to method to determine the load ratio R through of measure, on the fractured of surfaces the relation between the width striation spacing (s) and the height of the striation (H). It is of knowledge that the spacing (s), if correlates with the fatigue crack growth rates da/dN, whereas the curve da/dN x &#916K depends on the load ratio R. For this evaluation compact tension C(T) specimens had been extracted in the L- T orientation of a laminate plate of the aluminum alloy SAE-AMS 7475 T7351.These test had been carried out of two different forms. The first one, for attainment of relative data to region II of the curve da/dN x &#916K, being, in this in case that used four different load ratios (R=O,1; R=0,3; R=0,5; R=0,7). In the other in case that, the fatigue crack growth rates had been carried out under &#916K constant and used same the four levels of load ratios R for determination of the curve of constant da/dN x &#916K. The applied levels of &#916K had been taken in the region II of the curve da/dN x &#916K. The fractographic analysis for electronic microscopy was lead on the surfaces of the specimens tested in fatigue with constant &#916K. This was made to determine the striation spacing (s) and height (H) of the striations for each constant level of &#916K. It was observed that the fatigue crack growth rates (da/dN) and the striation spacing (s) suffers direct influence with the variation of &#916K. Also, was observed that the relation of proportionality of 1:1 between them is only valid for levels of da/dN in the range of 0,1 to 1,0 mm/cycle. The values of the relationship of the striation dimensions (H/s) suffer significant influence with the increasing of load ratios R. However, were evidenced that the value of Kmax. does not have influence in this relationship. It was found that the width of the striation corresponds to the value of (da/dN) and that the relation between the height and the striation of spacing (H/s) had a direct correspondence with the load ratios R that has signifficant effect on the fatigue crack growth rates.

Après la découverte des réactions hétérogènes gaz/glace mises en jeu dans la destruction de l'ozone stratosphérique, beaucoup d'études concernant l'adsorption de HCl sur la glace ont été menées. Dans ce travail, on analyse l'influence de l'adsorption de HCl sur la structure et la dynamique de films de glace supportés. La structure de la monocouche (MC) d'eau adsorbée sur MgO(001) est étudiée par analyse dynamique des intensités DEL sur monocristal et par Diffraction de Neutrons sur poudre homogène. Le meilleur accord expérience-théorie est obtenu avec une structure p(3x2) dans laquelle les molécules d'eau sont délocalisées des sites d'adsorption Mg. La dynamique et la structure de films plus épais, adsorbés sur poudres de MgO, sont déterminées par diffraction et Diffusion Quasi-Elastique de Neutrons. La coexistence de la monocouche p(3x2) et d'une phase 3D (glace Ih à basse température, liquide à 273K) est observée. Le substrat provoque une anisotropie de croissance des cristallites de glace. La DQEN corrélée à des calculs de Dynamique Moléculaire montre qu'une couche quasi-liquide apparaît à la surface de la glace à 265K. Nous analysons ensuite l'interaction HCl/glace. HCl détruit de manière irréversible la symétrie (3x2) de la monocouche. Pour les films plus épais, la structure et la dynamique des films de glace sont également modifiées en fonction de la température et du degré de recouvrement en HCl. On observe à 220K la coexistence de la glace Ih avec le dihydrate de chlore. A 250K on montre l'apparition d'un film quasi-liquide pour 0,3 et 0,6 MC de HCl. La mobilité décroît pour 1 MC, le film devient complètement amorphe. Les implications pour la chimie atmosphérique sont discutées. Enfin, des études préliminaires concernant l'adsorption de l'eau sur BaF2(111) sont réalisées. Elles montrent que c'est un bon substrat monocristallin pour la croissance épitaxiale de films épais de glace.

Este trabalho visa determinar a razão de carga cíclica R através da medida, na superficie de fratura, da relação entre a largura inter-estrias (s) e a altura da estria (H). É de conhecimento que o espaçamento (s) se correlaciona com a taxa de crescimento da trinca da/dN, enquanto que a curva da/dN x &#916K depende da razão de carga R. Para esta avaliação, corpos de prova do tipo compacto C(T) foram extraídos na orientação LT do centro de uma placa laminada da liga de alumínio SAE-AMS 7475 T7351 para realização dos ensaios de propagação de trinca por fadiga. Estes ensaios foram realizados de duas formas diferentes. A primeira, para obtenção de dados relativos à região II da curva da/dN x &#916K, sendo, neste caso, utilizadas quatro diferentes razões de carga (R=O,1; R=0,3; R=0,5; R=0,7). No outro caso, os ensaios de fadiga foram realizados sob &#916K constante e utilizados os mesmos quatro níveis de razão de carregamento R para determinação da curva da/dN x &#916K constante. Os níveis de &#916K aplicados foram tomados na região de Paris da curva da/dN x &#916K. A análise fratográfica por microscopia eletrônica foi conduzida nas superfícies dos corpos de prova do ensaio de fadiga com &#916K constante. Isto foi feito para determinar os espaçamentos inter-estria (s) e a altura H das estrias para cada nível de &#916K aplicado. Observou-se que a taxa de crescimento da trinca (da/dN) e o espaçamento inter-estrias (s) sofrem influência direta com a variação do fator de intensidade de tensão (&#916K), entretanto, observou-se, também, que a relação de proporcionalidade de 1:1 entre eles somente é válida para níveis de da/dN variando entre 0,1 a 1 &#956/ciclo. Os valores da morfologia da estrias (H/s) sofrem influência significativa com o aumento da razão de carga R, entretanto, ficou evidenciado que o fator de intensidade de tensão máxima Kmáx. não tem influência nesta relação. Evidenciou-se que a largura da estria corresponde à taxa de crescimento da trinca (da/dN), e que a relação entre a altura e o espaçamento da estria (H/s) possui uma correspondência direta com a razão de carga R, que tem influência significativa sobre a propagação de trinca por fadiga. / This work aims at to method to determine the load ratio R through of measure, on the fractured of surfaces the relation between the width striation spacing (s) and the height of the striation (H). It is of knowledge that the spacing (s), if correlates with the fatigue crack growth rates da/dN, whereas the curve da/dN x &#916K depends on the load ratio R. For this evaluation compact tension C(T) specimens had been extracted in the L- T orientation of a laminate plate of the aluminum alloy SAE-AMS 7475 T7351.These test had been carried out of two different forms. The first one, for attainment of relative data to region II of the curve da/dN x &#916K, being, in this in case that used four different load ratios (R=O,1; R=0,3; R=0,5; R=0,7). In the other in case that, the fatigue crack growth rates had been carried out under &#916K constant and used same the four levels of load ratios R for determination of the curve of constant da/dN x &#916K. The applied levels of &#916K had been taken in the region II of the curve da/dN x &#916K. The fractographic analysis for electronic microscopy was lead on the surfaces of the specimens tested in fatigue with constant &#916K. This was made to determine the striation spacing (s) and height (H) of the striations for each constant level of &#916K. It was observed that the fatigue crack growth rates (da/dN) and the striation spacing (s) suffers direct influence with the variation of &#916K. Also, was observed that the relation of proportionality of 1:1 between them is only valid for levels of da/dN in the range of 0,1 to 1,0 mm/cycle. The values of the relationship of the striation dimensions (H/s) suffer significant influence with the increasing of load ratios R. However, were evidenced that the value of Kmax. does not have influence in this relationship. It was found that the width of the striation corresponds to the value of (da/dN) and that the relation between the height and the striation of spacing (H/s) had a direct correspondence with the load ratios R that has signifficant effect on the fatigue crack growth rates.

Im Rahmen der Qualitätsentwicklung und -sicherung von Unterricht wurden in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten auf Bundes- und Länderebene auch Maßnahmen zur Professionalisierung von Lehr-personen festgelegt. Vor diesem Hintergrund begannen 2012 am Deutschen Zentrum für Lehrerbildung Mathematik (DZLM) auch Arbeiten, um bestehende Fortbildungsangebote für Grundschullehrkräfte zu erweitern. In dieser Arbeit wird das Konzept einer Stochastik-Fortbildung für Lehrpersonen, die Mathematik in der Grundschule unterrichten, vorgestellt. Die Entwicklung greift Forschungserkenntnisse zum Verständnis von professioneller Kompetenz von Lehrpersonen und zur Gestaltung von Professionalisierungsprozessen auf und bindet konzeptionell Impulse für Unterrichtsentwicklungsprozesse ein. In fünf Kursdurchführungen wurde das Konzept realisiert und hinsichtlich seiner Umsetzbarkeit untersucht. Die in diesem Rahmen gewonnenen Daten von 120 Lehrpersonen geben detailliertere Einsichten in Entwicklungsprozesse unterschiedlich qualifizierter Lehrpersonen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen insbesondere, dass in der fachinhaltlich orientierten Fortbildung ein fachlicher und fachdidaktischer Wissenszuwachs erreicht werden kann. Die Defizite bezüglich einer mathematischen Grundausbildung eines Lehramts können bei Lehrpersonen, die Mathematik fachfremd unterrichten, auf diesem Weg aber nicht überwunden werden. Die Untersuchungen zeigen zudem, dass die qualifikationsheterogene Zusammensetzung der Kursgruppen die Durchführung und das Lernen der Lehrpersonen bereichern. Mit der Einbindung des Konzepts der Professionellen Lerngemeinschaft (PLG) in den Kurs und Erprobungen in den Praxisphasen gelingt es, Impulse für Unterrichtsentwick-lungsprozesse zu geben. Diese Fortbildung kann ein berufsbegleitender Baustein in der Ausprägung von Lehrkräfteprofessionalität sein und den lang andauernden Prozess der Konstruktion und Selbstkonstruktion des Berufs unterstützen. / In the past two decades, increasing the quality of mathematics teaching and learning, particularly fostering the professional knowledge and skills of teachers has been researched in depth. Before this background, the German Center for Mathematics Education (Deutsches Zentrum für Lehrerbildung Mathematik, DZLM) started from 2012 onwards to offer professional development (PD) courses for teachers and facilitators. This thesis presents a concept for a PD course on stochastics for primary teachers, which draws on recently gained empirical evidences on appropriate professional competencies and on design elements relevant for effective professionalization. The concept of the PD course also includes building professional learning communities (PLCs) to initiate teachers´ ongoing professional growth through working collaboratively on improving their classroom practices. The long-lasting PD course has been conducted five times and data was gained to evaluate the feasibility of the concept. That is, the data acquired from 120 teachers provided detailed insight into the personal development of teachers with different qualifications, including those teaching out-of-field. The results show that a PD course focusing on a certain subject leads to an increase of both content knowledge professional content knowledge. However, deficits due to a missing basic education in mathematics - as for teachers not specialized on mathematics - cannot be totally overcome by this PD course. However, the results indicate that the heterogeneous teacher groups possessing different qualifications enrich the learning processes of all participants. Including the PLC concept into the PD course and conducting practical phases to probe issues in the classroom were both decisive impulses helping teachers to further develop their practices. Thus, the PD course proved to be effective with respect to fostering teachers´ professional knowledge and skills sustainably and contributed to teachers´ life-long and ongoing learning.

Kritiken och verkligheten söker utröna skillnader datorspelskritik och litteraturkritik emellan. Mina tankar rörande de två områdena kretsade till en början kring att litteraturkritiken tilläts röra sig mer fritt mellan olika kulturella sfärer medan datorspelskritiken mer hängav sig åt en yngre målgrupp utan referenser till andra kulturyttringar.   För att undersöka detta har jag gjort en diskuskursanalytisk undersökning efter van Dijks modell. Undersökningen inkluderar tolv analysenheter; tre böcker och tre spel. Varje verk har analyserats två gånger då jag analyserat recensioner från två olika tidningar (DN och SvD) för att komma än djupare i mina analyser kring hur aktuella böcker och spel behandlats. För att få spelen och böckerna något sånär jämförbara har jag ställt upp ett antal kriterier, där ett av de mer centrala är att samtliga verk har varit ett av de mest sålda verken ett givet år (2007-2009). Det är alltså "storsäljare" jag tittar på, i hopp om att de representerar de mest populära verken inom sitt fält.   För att göra denna undersökning och göra dessa jämförelser har jag utgått från Pierre Bourdieus begrepp "sociala fält" för att kunna bedöma när en recension lämnar sitt eget fält och äntrar ett annat. Detta begrepp är flexibelt så till vida att litteratur exempelvis kan anses vara ett fält, medan en nedskalning kan innebära att svensk feministlitteratur är ett annat, "mindre" fält. För att ytterligare närma mig kritikens, recensionens och värderingens värld har jag använt mig av Tomas Forser redogörelser och forskning kring vad dessa begrepp innebär. Jag har plockat ut ett antal, för uppsatsen, intressanta termer ur hans forskning för att konkretisera vissa delar av min teoretiska ram. Mina föreställningar om att litteraturartiklarna skulle inkludera långt fler referenser till andra sociala fält stämde inte helt och hållet, då vissa datorspelsartiklar var fullproppade med desamma. Däremot kom jag fram till att samtliga böcker anses säga något om verkligheten eller samhället, medan datorspelen aldrig antogs göra det.

This thesis investigates the molecular evolutionary and macroevolutionary consequences of flight loss in insects. Chapter 2 tests the hypothesis that flightless groups have smaller effective population sizes than related flighted groups, expected to result in a consistent pattern of increased non-synonymous to synonymous ratios in flightless lineages due to the greater effect of genetic drift in smaller populations. Chapter 3 tests the hypothesis that reduced dispersal and species-level traits such as range size associated with flightlessness increase extinction rates, which over the long term will counteract increased speciation rates in flightless lineages, leading to lower net diversification. The wide-spread loss of flight in insects has led to increased molecular evolutionary rates and is associated with decreased long-term net diversification. I demonstrate that the fundamental trait of dispersal ability has shaped two forms of diversity—molecular and species—in the largest group of animals, and that microevolutionary and macroevolutionary patterns do not necessarily mirror each other. / Generously funded by NSERC with a Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Government of Ontario with an Ontario Graduate Scholarship to T. Fatima Mitterboeck; NSERC with a Discovery Grant to Dr. Sarah J. Adamowicz

I den här uppsatsen har jag undersökt argumentationen i Katarina Frostensons K – en skönlitterär bok som skrevs i en tid (hösten 2017 till våren 2018) då #metoo-rörelsen svepte över världen och 18 kvinnor hade vittnat i DN om övergrepp av en känd kulturprofil med nära band till Svenska Akademien. Flera medier namngav mannen som Jean-Claude Arnault, make till akademiledamoten och poeten Katarina Frostenson. Händelserna ledde till en av de största kriserna i Svenska Akademiens historia och K är Frostensons första och enda offentliga yttrande rörande situationen. Boken utkom i maj 2019 och den här undersökningen väljer att tolka den som ett slags försvar mot det Arnault och hon själv har anklagats för. Då samtida retorisk teori visat på vikten av myter i argumentation (Bengtson 2012), och både juridiska och empiriska aspekter talar emot Frostensons retoriska problem, har underökningen utgått från att argumentationen använder sig av emotionella och suggestiva appeller i form av myter. Med hjälp av Brummets närläsningsmetod (2019) och Lindqvists topikteori (2016) har Frostensons argumen-tation delats in i tre övergripande topiker. Dessa har sedan analyserats och identifierat ett antal myter som Frostenson använder sig av för att stärka sin argumentation. En myt som analyseras mer djupgående är exempelvis den antika myten om megäror och kvinnor som hämndlystna monster, vilken Frostenson applicerar på kvinnorna som vittnat i DN. En annan myt handlar om kollektivets behov av syndabockar och att Arnault fått den rollen. En tredje myt hävdar att svenskar är främlingsfientliga eftersom Arnault får ta skulden på grund av sin franska och judiska härkomst. En fjärde myt argumenterar för att åtrå legitimerar våld, vilket hon försöker stärka genom den bibliska berättelsen om kung David och Batseba.  Utöver Bengtsons tolkning av Barthes mytteori (2012) som utgångspunkt har undersökningen bland annat tagit avstamp i kommunikationsprofessorn McFarlands teori om kopplingen mellan myten och det heliga (1989), genusforskaren Tassis teorier om kvinnor och hämnd (2011) samt Richard Kearneys tolkning av René Girards offermekanismer (1995). Vidare har analysen satts i relation till relevant tidigare forskning och kopplats till både historiska och samtida händelser och kontexter. Jag hävdar att min undersökning visar hur viktigt det är att söka efter mer än bara logiska premisser i argumentation. Frostenson har i princip uteslutande myter som bas i sin argumentation, och de är inte alltid helt uppenbara – dolda i suggestiva termer och ett symboliskt språk. Ett av den här uppsatsens syften var att försöka visa hur en mytisk argumentationsanalys kan gå till i praktiken, för att utöka kunskapen kring hur vi kan förstå argumentation i känslomässiga kontexter, så som i debatter om sexuella övergrepp, men också rent generellt. Resultatet som framkommit i undersökningen, det vill säga den mängd myter som identifierats och analyserats, bör inspirera till vidare forskning i ämnet. Jag menar att det finns ett uppdämt behov av just sådana här argumentationsanalyser och att retorikvetenskapen har en viktig roll i detta.Sökord: Katarina Frostenson, K, Jean-Claude Arnault, #metoo, Svenska Akademien, myter, mytisk argumentation, Roland Barthes, Erik Bengtson, Janne Lindqvist, topiker, litteratur, retorik, poesi, poet, skönlitteratur.

<p>DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that is nearly ubiquitous. Eukaryotic DNA methylation contributes to the regulation of gene expression and maintaining genome integrity. In mammals, DNA methylation occurs primarily on the C5 carbon of cytosine in a CpG dinucleotide context and is catalyzed by the DNA methyltransferases, DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B. While <i>dnmt3a</i> and <i>dnmt3b</i> genes are highly homologous, the enzymes have distinct functions. Some previous reports suggested differences in the enzymatic behavior of DNMT3A and 3B, which could affect their biological roles. The goal of my thesis work was to characterize kinetics mechanisms of DNMT3A and 3B, and to identify the similarities and differences in their catalytic properties that contribute to their distinct biological functions. Given the sequence similarity between the enzymes, we asked whether DNMT3B was kinetically similar to DNMT3A. In a series of experiments designed to distinguish between various kinetics mechanisms, we reported that unlike DNMT3A, DNMT3B methylated tandem CpG on DNA in a processive manner. We also reported that the disruption of the R-D interface, critical for the cooperativity of DNMT3A, had no effect on DNMT3B activity, supporting the non-cooperative mechanism of this enzyme. </p> <p>DNMT3A is frequently mutated in numerous cancers. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a malignancy of hematopoietic stem cells in which numerous patients exhibit a high frequency of the heterozygous somatic mutation Arg882His in DNMT3A. Through thorough consensus motif building, we discovered a strong similarity in CpG flanking sequence preference between DNMT3A Arg882His variant and DNMT3B enzyme. Moreover, we found that the variant enzyme has the same kinetics mechanism as DNMT3B, indicating a gain-of-function effect caused by the mutation. This change is significant because the variant enzyme can aberrantly methylate DNMT3B targets in AML cells and effect global gene expression. In particular, given that DNMT3B has been shown to have oncogenic properties, this suggests that the Arg882His variant can acquire similar oncogenic properties and drive AML development.</p> <p>Taken together, my thesis work provides novel insights into the relationship between the biochemical properties and the biological functions of DNMT3A and 3B. </p>