No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

There are many pathogens that infect birds and perhaps many more that researchers have not yet identified. Of all potential pathogens, the research presented in this manuscript focuses on two avian RNA viruses. First, a serodiagnostic test for newly described Avian Borna Virus (ABV), which has been recently identified as the etiological agent of Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD), was developed. PDD is a deadly disease which affects many birds, but to this point, has mainly been a concern of psittacines. The need for a diagnostic test is imperative. An antigen associated with PDD was identified from the brains of affected birds by use of the Western blot assay. This antigen was subsequently purified using various protein purification protocols, including a modification of reverse-phase chromatography. The antigen was then identified as the ABV nucleoprotein according to tandem mass spectroscopy analysis and protein database search. A serodiagnostic assay was developed and standardized using infected cell culture as an antigen source. Over 100 avian serum samples were submitted by veterinarians to test for the presence of antibodies against ABV nucleoprotein. This serodiagnostic assay was found to have 90% sensitivity and 82% specificity for the diagnosis of ABV in infected birds. Second, the ability of a carbohydrate epitope to enhance the humoral immune response to an influenza vaccine was tested in chickens. Influenza is a serious infection that causes 36,000 deaths annually in the United States. The need for a more efficacious is addressed by incorporating a carbohydrate antigen targeted by natural antibodies that are produced by chickens as well as humans. Therefore, chickens may be a suitable animal model to test this hypothesis. Influenza vaccines with alpha-gal antigen are prepared from cell culture. The antigen is then enzymatically removed from some vaccines and the nature of the ensuing humoral immune response to these vaccines in chickens is attempted. Though ABV is not known to be zoonotic at this time, zoonotic infections pose the highest risk as new and emerging infectious diseases in the human population. The following research contains applications relative to challenges faced by researchers and clinicians in infectious disease containment.

No description available.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--München.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--München.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--München.

A planar harmonic mapping is a complex-valued function ƒ : D → C of the form ƒ(x+iy) = u(x,y) + iv(x,y), where u and v are both real harmonic. Such a function can be written as ƒ = h+g where h and g are both analytic; the function w = g'/h' is called the dilatation of ƒ. This thesis considers the convolution or Hadamard product of planar harmonic mappings that are the vertical shears of the canonical half-plane mapping p;(z) = z/(1-z) with respective dilatations e^iθz and e^ipz, θ, p ∈ R. We prove that any such convolution is univalent. We also derive a convolution identity that extends this result to shears of p(z) = z/(1-z) in other directions.

Le retrait du béton ne peut généralement se manifester librement et puisqu’il existe de multiples éléments de restriction dans les ouvrages neufs et réparés, les efforts induits peuvent conduire à la fissuration du béton. Les conséquences de la fissuration due au retrait restreint des ouvrages en béton sont multiples, telles qu’une détérioration précoce par la migration facilitée des agents agressifs et une augmentation des coûts de maintenance. Un moyen de mitiger la fissuration due au retrait gêné est d’utiliser des liants ou agents expansifs afin de fabriquer des bétons à retrait compensé (BRC). De nouvelles méthodes de caractérisation volumétrique des bétons à retrait compensé ont été développées. Une procédure d’essai annulaire inspirée d’une procédure normalisée de retrait restreint (AASHTO T334) a été mise au point. Au lieu d’avoir un anneau restrictif gênant au cœur la contraction d’une éprouvette annulaire en béton, l’anneau restrictif est externe afin de restreindre exclusivement le gonflement des bétons expansifs. Deux méthodes d’essai de retrait libre complémentaires ont de plus été développées. Trois types d’agents expansifs ont été étudiés, à différents dosages: un à base de sulfoaluminate de calcium (type K), un deuxième à base de CaO (type G) et un dernier à base de MgO (appelé type MgO). Certaines formulations ont intégré un adjuvant réducteur de retrait (ARR). Les mélanges de bétons ont été préparés à deux rapports E/L, 0,40 et 0,50. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l’essai annulaire d’expansion gênée permet de bien capturer l’évolution du comportement volumétrique des bétons à retrait compensé en phase d’expansion et de retrait, jusqu’à l’obtention d’un bilan déformationnel nul. À partir des résultats obtenus, il a été observé que le comportement volumétrique des BRC en phase de mûrissement et de séchage est influencé par le dosage et le type d’agent expansif, de même que par le rapport E/L. / Shrinkage of concrete cannot usually occur freely, and because there are multiple sources of restraint in both new and repaired infrastructures, stresses are induced and can eventually lead to cracking. The consequences of concrete cracking due to restrained shrinkage are potentially harmful, notably by facilitating the migration of aggressive agents. One way to mitigate cracking due to restrained shrinkage is the use of expansive binders or components in order to make shrinkage compensating concretes. New methods for characterizing the volumetric behaviour of shrinkage compensating concretes have been developed. A testing method inspired of an existing restrained shrinkage ring test procedure (AASHTO T334) has been developed. Instead of having an inner ring restraining the shrinkage of a concrete annulus, the restrictive ring is external, thus restraining the swelling of the expansive material. Moreover, two complementary free shrinkage testing methods have been developed. Three expansive systems have been studied, at different rates of addition: a calcium sulfoaluminate-based expansive system, a CaO-based expansive system, and a MgO-based expansive system. Some formulations have integrated a shrinkage reducing agent. The mixtures were prepared for two w/cm values, 0.40 and 0.50. The experimental data show that the expansion restraint ring test can capture adequately the volumetric behaviour of ShCC’s in the expansive and shrinkage phases, up to the point of “zero net strain”. From the test results, it could be concluded that the volumetric behaviour of ShCC’s in both the curing and drying phases is influenced by the dosage and type of expansive component, as well as the w/cm value.