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Yes / Developing a fast, cost-effective, eco-friendly solution to recycle large amounts of construction and demolition waste (CDW) generated from construction industry-related activities and natural disasters is crucial. The present investigation aims to offer a solution for repurposing CDW into building materials suitable for accelerated construction and housing in developing countries and disaster-prone areas. Feasibility of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) inclusion in geopolymer mortars constituted entirely from CDW (masonry elements) was investigated via an environmental impact-oriented approach by addressing the composition related key parameters. Mechanical performance was evaluated through compressive strength tests, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging with line mapping analyses were carried out to monitor the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) properties. To investigate the environmental impacts of the geopolymer mortars and highlight the advantages over Portland cement-based mortars, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed. Findings revealed that roof tile (RT)-based geopolymer mortars mainly exhibited better strength performance due to their finer particle size. Mixtures activated with 15 M NaOH solution and cured at 105 °C achieved an average compressive strength above 55 MPa. RCA size was the most influential parameter on compressive strength, and a smaller maximum RCA size significantly increased the compressive strength. Microstructural analyses showed that the ITZ around smaller RCAs was relatively thinner, resulting in better compressive strength results. LCA proved that CDW-based geopolymer mortars provide the same compressive strength with around 60% less CO2 emissions and similar energy consumption compared to Portland cement-based mortars. / This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 894100. The authors also wish to acknowledge the support of the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) provided under project: 117M447

With only approximately one quarter of plate margins composed of subduction zones, North American plate is an unique continental plate featured with a western active continental margin atop widespread slow seismic velocity anomalies in the asthenosphere, an eastern passive continental margin covering several localized regions of slow seismic velocity, and a strong central cratonic root (Laurentia). The coexistence of the prominent thermal and compositional structures beneath the North American plate complicates the construction of numerical models needed to investigate the dynamics of the whole plate. Recently, a new generation mantle convection code, ASPECT (Advanced Solver for Problems in Earth ConvecTion) equipped with fully adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) technology opens up the potential to build a multi-scale global mantle flow model with a local high-resolution focus beneath the North America plate. Given the immature state of this new code for mantle flow modeling in 3-D spherical shell geometry at the beginning of my doctoral study, I first developed a new geoid algorithm for the 3-D spherical AMR numerical modeling based on ASPECT. Then I systematically benchmarked the velocity, dynamic topography, and geoid solutions from ASPECT through analytical kernel approach in the uniform mesh. I further verified the accuracy of the AMR mantle flow computation in the 3-D spherical shell geometry. Based on the improved ASPECT code, I construct global mantle flow models to investigate the driving forces for the North American plate motion. I focus on the comparison between the effects of near-field slabs (Aleutian, central American, and Caribbean slabs) and far-field slabs (primarily those around western Pacific subduction margins) and find that the far-field slabs provide the dominant driving forces for the North American plate. I further identified that interpreting the extremely slow seismic anomalies associated with the partial melt in the uppermost mantle around southwestern U.S. as purely thermal in origin results in considerably excessive resistance to North American plate motion. My numerical experiments prove that a significantly reduced velocity-to-density scaling (0.05 or smaller in our models) from the original thermal scaling coefficients (0.25 in our models) for these negative seismic shear-velocity anomalies must be incorporated into the construction of the buoyancy field to predict North American plate motion. I also examine the role of the lower mantle buoyancy including the ancient descending Kula-Farallon plates and the active upwelling below the Pacific margin of North American plate. Lower mantle buoyancy primarily affects the amplitudes, as opposed to the patterns of both North American and global plate motions. Another part of this dissertation reports the receiver function analysis along a recent dense seismic array across the eastern U.S from the western border of Ohio to the Atlantic coast of Virginia. 3D stacking yields shallowing trends of 410-km and 660-km discontinuities and thinning transition zone thickness from the inland to the coast. These results are hard to reconcile with any of the three existing hypotheses regarding the vertical mantle flow patterns beneath the eastern U.S., including edge-driven convection excited by the craton edge, hydrous upwelling from the dehydration of the deep Farallon slab, and the sinking of the delaminated or dripped mantle lithospheric block below the central West Virginia/Virginia border. A hydro-thermal upwelling beneath the eastern U.S. coastal plain due to hydrated transition zone and the neighboring passive hot upwelling induced by the descending Farallon slab in the lower mantle is consistent with the results from 3D stacking. The hydro-thermal upwelling hypothesis is also able to reconcile the shallower tectonic processes and deeper mantle dynamics below the eastern U.S. through its dehydration melting atop 410-km discontinuity. Overall, this dissertation documents the technical details on the improvements of the ASPECT code in mantle flow modeling and provides new insights into the dynamics and evolution of the North American continent. / Doctor of Philosophy / Chapter 1 details the motivation of the study in this dissertation, which covers three topics in the disciplines of geodynamics and seismology. Recently, the new computational tools of geodynamic modeling into the Earth's interior have been extensively developed. One of the cutting-edge technical advances is adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), which enables the construction of mantle flow models in highly variable resolution within the domain. However, the accuracy of the results from these multi-scale models needs to be verified. In addition, the algorithms of the geoid (equipotential surface of the gravity on the Earth) in spherical harmonic domain needs to be updated in accordance with AMR mantle flow computation. Chapter 2 documents a geoid algorithms in spherical harmonic domain working with AMR mantle flow simulation. This geoid algorithm is developed based on a a new generation mantle convection code, ASPECT (Advanced Solver for Problems in Earth ConvecTion). The numerical results including velocity, topography, and geoid from ASPECT are systematically benchmarked in both the uniform mesh and the adaptive variable mesh. The AMR simulation of ASPECT is able to achieve nearly the same high accuracy as that from the highly resolved uniform mesh. Chapter 3 systematically investigates the driving forces for the North American plate motion. Through the mantle flow modeling based on well-developed ASPECT code, I find that the remote subducting slabs (primarily those around western Pacific subduction margins), as opposed to the nearby marginal slabs (Aleutian, central American, and Caribbean slabs), provide the dominant driving forces for the motion of the North American plate. I further confirm that a reasonable estimation on the positive buoyancy from the extremely slow seismic velocity anomalies associated with partial melt in the uppermost mantle around southwestern U.S. is necessary to predict North American plate motion. Lower mantle buoyancy primarily affects the amplitudes, as opposed to the patterns of both North American and global plate motions. Chapter 4 reports the results of a seismic survey on the transition zone (the mantle region between ~410-km and ~660-km depths) structures below the eastern U.S. Our results can be explained by a hydro-thermal upwelling beneath the eastern U.S. coastal plain due to hydrated transition zone and the neighboring passive hot upwelling induced by the descending Farallon slab (an ancient oceanic plate subducting below the North American plate) in the lower mantle. Chapter 5 concisely summarizes the major findings of the above three topics in this study.

This thesis focuses on two different topics in seismology: imaging the global structures of the mantle transition zone discontinuities and studying the site response effects in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain. Global structures of the mantle transition zone discontinuities provide important constraints on thermal structures and dynamic processes in the mid mantle. In this thesis, global topographic structures of the 410- and 660-km discontinuities are obtained from finite-frequency tomography of SS precursors. The finite-frequency sensitivities of SS waves and precursors are calculated based on a single-scattering (Born) approximation and can be used for data selection. The new global models show a number of smaller-scale features that were absent in back-projection models. Good correlation between the mantle transition zone thickness and wave speed variations suggests dominantly thermal origins for the lateral variations in the transition zone. The high-resolution global models of the 410- and 660-km discontinuities in this thesis show strong positive correlation beneath western North America and eastern Asia subduction zones with both discontinuities occurring at greater depths. Wavespeed and anisotropy models support vertical variations in thermal structure in the mid mantle, suggesting return flows from the lower mantle occur predominantly in the vicinity of stagnant slabs and the region overlying the stagnant slabs. In oceanic regions, the two discontinuities show a weak anti-correlation, indicating the existence of a secondary global far-field return flow. The Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain is covered by extensive Cretaceous and Cenozoic marine sediments. In this thesis, the site response effects of sediments in the Coastal Plain region relative to the reference condition outside that region are investigated using Lg and coda spectral ratios. The high-frequency attenuation factors (kappa) in the Coastal Plain are strongly correlated with the sediment thickness. At frequencies between 0.1-2.86 Hz, the Lg spectral ratio amplitudes are modeled as functions of frequency and thickness of the sediments in the Coastal Plain. Analysis of the residuals from the stochastic ground motion prediction method suggests that incorporating the site response effects as functions of sediment thickness may improve ground motion prediction models for the Coastal Plain region. / Doctor of Philosophy / The mantle transition zone is the region in the Earth’s interior between depths of ∼410 km and ∼660 km. The structure of the mantle transition zone plays an important role in understanding temperature variations and mass exchanges in the interior of the Earth. This dissertation aims at resolving depth variations of the top and bottom boundaries of the mantle transition zone at a global scale using underside reflected seismic waves. The advanced method used here resolved stronger small-scale depth variations of the boundaries than a conventional method using the same dataset. The two mantle transition zone boundaries both occur at depths greater than the global average beneath eastern Asia and western North America where cold oceanic lithosphere subducted under the continents. This positively correlated behaviors of the two boundaries agree with a scenario where cold subducted slabs have been horizontally deflected and stagnant above the bottom boundary of the mantle transition zone while hot materials beneath the mantle transition zone flow upwards due to the stagnant slabs penetrating the bottom boundary of the mantle transition zone. This dissertation also provides an examination of the differences between response of earthquake ground shaking in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain and that outside the Coastal Plain using seismic-wave spectral ratios. Ground shaking in the Coastal Plain is found to be amplified at low frequencies and de-amplified at high frequencies relative to that outside the Coastal Plain due to the extensive marine sediments in the Coastal Plain region. The amplification and attenuation factors can be estimated from spectral ratios and are found to be strongly correlated with the sediment thickness in the Coastal Plain. The spectral ratio functions derived in this dissertation may be adopted by studies on analyzing the seismic hazard in the Central and Eastern United States.

Given the interest on underwater axisymmetric cylindrical bodies for the development of high-speed underwater weapons, characterization of the boundary layer flow-induced noise received by a Sound NAvigation and Ranging (SONAR) is very important to improve sonar detection ranges. The debate on generating mechanisms of the flow induced noise received at the stagnation point is still on as there is no experimental evidence conclusively suggesting whether it is a near-field or far-field phenomenon, thereby introducing an element of uncertainty in the prediction models. Further, the models developed thus far were based on low Reynolds numbers involving flows in water tunnels and buoyant vehicles. Therefore, the main focus of the thesis is to measure the flow induced noise using a sonar fitted at the most forward stagnation point of an underwater axisymmetric body as realistically as possible and predict the same theoretically for identifying a suitable flow noise model for future use by designers. In order to meet the stated goal, two exclusive experiments were conducted at sea using an underwater autonomous high-speed axisymmetric vehicle fitted with a planar hydrophone array (8X8) in its nose cone which measured the flow noise signature. Two different sets of existing models are used in characterizing the flow noise received by the array, while the first set comprises of models developed based on the Turbulent Boundary Layer induced noise and other is based on the transition zone radiated noise model. Through this study, it was found that the transition zone radiated noise model is in close agreement with the measured data.

De nombreuses familles de polluants organiques en provenance de différentes sources se retrouvent dans les milieux aquatiques continentaux et littoraux. Ces molécules, dont les lipophiles et les persistantes, sont souvent présentes à l'état de trace dans la fraction dissoute. L'utilisation de compartiments concentrateurs comme les sédiments rend alors plus accessible l'évaluation des concentrations ambiantes du milieu. L'objectif de la thèse a été d'évaluer l'exposition en zones côtières aux différentes familles de contaminants organiques « émergents » incluant les filtres UV, les alkylphénols et les alkylphénols polyéthoxylés, ainsi que « persistants-classiques » incluant les hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques et les polychlorobiphényles dans les sédiments et, éventuellement, dans les eaux. Un important effort de recherche a été accordé à l'étude des variations spatiales et temporelles des contaminants sélectionnés dans les sédiments, permettant ainsi l'acquisition d'un premier jeu de données nationales (libanais) représentatif pour ces familles de contaminants.Trois rivières en Méditerranée orientale et leur environnement côtier ont été pris comme cas d'étude en plus de la côte d'une petite ville et ses sites portuaires qui ont été sélectionnés afin de compléter l'étude en milieu côtier. Un premier aperçu des niveaux de ces contaminants hydrophobes dans les zones côtières recevant des apports typiques de la Méditerranée orientale est ainsi fourni. Les résultats des analyses chimiques ont clairement montré l'impact des rejets des effluents non traités dans les zones côtières via les entrées des rivières et les déversements directs le long de la côte, en absence des activités récréatives (pour les filtres UV) et de rejets industriels (pour les alkylphénols et les alkylphénols polyéthoxylés). Les zones de transition peuvent être à l'origine de la contamination de l'environnement côtier des trois rivières par ces polluants émergents en absence des apports marins. Des concentrations élevées en hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques et en polychlorobiphényles ont été mesurées dans les sédiments prélevés en milieu côtier. Cette contamination a persisté des années après la marée noire qui a envahi la côte Est-Méditerranéenne en 2006. Nos résultats globaux indiquent que les concentrations mesurées dans les sédiments des trois rivières étudiées et du littoral peuvent être classées parmi les niveaux les plus élevés détectés dans le pourtour du bassin méditerranéen et pouvant induire des effets toxiques chez le biota aquatique.Ce travail peut être d'une importance primordiale pour la région Est-Méditerranéenne, et plus particulièrement pour le Liban, un pays qui, malgré d'être parmi les signataires de la convention de Barcelone pour la protection de la mer Méditerranée et qui est, par la suite, impliqué dans la surveillance de la qualité de son milieu marin, souffre jusqu'à présent des rejets de différents types d'effluents non traités le long de ces côtes en absence des stations d'épuration. / Many organic pollutants issued from different sources are present into freshwater and coastal waters. Since these lipophilic contaminants are present at trace levels in water, accumulator compartments such as sediments can be used to assess their concentration in aquatic systems. The objective of the thesis was to assess the exposure in coastal areas to the various families of organic contaminants namely "emerging pollutants" including UV filters, alkylphenols, alkylphenol polyethoxylates, and "persistent pollutants" including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls in sediments and water. A major research effort has been given to the investigation spatial and temporal dynamics of the selected pollutants in sediment, allowing the acquisition of a first set of national data (Lebanese).Three rivers and their coastal environment in the eastern Mediterranean have been taken as a case study in addition to the small coastal city that was selected to complete the study in the coastal environment. A first overview of the levels of these hydrophobic contaminants in coastal areas receiving typical eastern Mediterranean inputs is thus provided. The results of chemical analyzes have clearly shown the impact of discharges of untreated effluents into coastal areas via inputs from rivers and direct discharges along the coast, without recreational activities (for UV filters) and industrial effluents discharges (for alkylphenols and alkylphenol polyethoxylates). Transition zones may act like a source of contamination of the three rivers coastal environment in the absence of marine inputs. Elevated concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls were measured in sediments in coastal environments. This contamination has persisted for years after the oil spill that has invaded the Mediterranean coast in 2006. Our overall results indicate that concentrations in sediments of the three studied rivers and the coastline can be classified among the highest levels detected in the Mediterranean basin and may induce toxic effects in aquatic biota.This work may be of paramount importance for the East-Mediterranean region, and particularly for Lebanon, a country which, despite being a signatory to the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea and is, subsequently involved in monitoring the quality of its marine environment, suffers far different types of discharges of untreated effluent along its coast in the absence of wastewater treatment plants.

To establish the structural and lithological controls on gas hydrate distribution and to assess the potential energy resource and environmental hazards in the Indian Ocean, non-pressurized and pressurized cores were recovered from the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) and Mahanadi Basins offshore east India, and from an Andaman Sea site. The pore fluids were analyzed for: salinity, Cl-, sulfate, sulfide, carbonate alkalinity, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+, K+, Na+, Ba2+, and Li+ concentrations, δ13C-DIC, δ18O, D/H, and 87Sr/86Sr ratios; together with infra-red imaging they provided important constraints on the presence and distribution of gas hydrates, thus on the subsurface hydrology. Evidence for methane hydrate was obtained at each of the sites. Only in the K-G Basin, between the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMT) depth and ~80 mbsf, higher than seawater chloride concentrations are observed; below this zone to the depth of the base of the gas hydrate zone (BGHSZ), chloride concentrations and salinity are lower than seawater value. In the Andaman Sea and Mahanadi Basin, only lower than seawater chloride concentrations are observed, and the shallowest gas hydrates occur at 100-200 m below the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMT) and extend to the depth of the BGHSZ. In the K-G Basin, the highest methane hydrate concentrations are associated with fracture zones in clay-rich sediments and/or in some coarser grained horizons. In the Andaman Sea, however, they are primarily associated with volcanic ash horizons. Assuming dilution by water released from dissociated methane hydrate, chloride and salinity anomalies suggest pore volume occupancies on the order of <1% to a maximum of ~61% at two sites (10, 21) in the K-G Basin and <1% to a maximum of ~76% at the Andaman Sea site. Overall, the percent pore volume occupancies based on pressure core methane concentrations and the chloride concentrations in conventional cores are similar. Variations in sulfate gradients were observed with the steepest gradient having the SMT at 8 mbsf in the K-G Basin and the deepest SMT at ~25 mbsf at the Andaman Sea site. The extreme negative δ13C values of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), ranging from -38‰ to -47‰ at the SMT at some of the sites, indicate that anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is an important reaction responsible for sulfate reduction at these sites. At several sites in the K-G Basin, however, the δ13C-DIC values indicate that organic matter oxidation is the dominant reaction.

Vienas iš būdų padėti pacientams, sergantiems kepenų navikais, yra lokalus naviko sunaikinimas radiodažnine abliacija. Pagrindine šio metodo problema išlieka aukštas naviko atkryčio dažnis. Disertacijos tikslas yra ištirti procesus, vykstančius radiodažnine abliacija paveiktame kepenų audinyje, išsiaiškinti šių procesų mechanizmus bei hipertermijos sąlygojamus pakitimus audinio, ląstelės ir subląsteliniame lygmenyje. Retrospektyviu tyrimu įvertintas pacientų, kuriems KMUK Chirurgijos klinikoje buvo atlikta kepenų navikų radiodažninė abliacija, navikų atkryčio dažnis, jo atsiradimo laikas ir veiksniai, galintys sąlygoti atkrytį. Eksperimentiškai įvertinti fizikiniai veiksniai, sąlygojantys šilumos plitimą kepenų audinyje, jų įtaka kepenų audinio pažeidimo mąstui ir tolygumui. Nustatyti morfologiniai ir biocheminiai pakitimai, vykstantys pereinamojoje kepenų audinio pažeidimo zonoje, bei šių pakitimų atsiradimo laikas. Ištirti pereinamosios kepenų audinio pažeidimo zonos hepatocitų mitochondrijų funkcijų pokyčiai ir apoptozės proceso vyksmui reikalingų energetinių resursų susidarymas, eksperimentiškai modeliuojant šios zonos temperatūrinius kitimus. Tyrimo naujumą lemia tai, kad darbe nustatyta jog apoptozės procesas pereinamoje radiodažninio pažeidimo zonoje gali būti nustatomas praėjus valandai po terminio pažeidimo. Eksperimentuose su hepatocitų mitochondrijomis nustatėme iki šiol neaprašytą neigiamą hipertermijos poveikį kepenų ląstelių mitochondrijų funkciniams rodikliams. / Radiofrequency ablation is one of the most widely accepted method for the local ablation of liver tumors. One of the negative aspects of this method is a high local recurrence rate, which is associated with the worse survival. The aim of the dissertation was to explore the processes in radiofrequency ablation affected liver tissue, ascertain the mechanisms of these processes and hyperthermia induced changes in the liver tissue, cells and subcellular level. The liver tumor recurrence rate, time and factors that could determine the recurrence were estimated using retrospective analysis of data. The physical parameters determining the spreading of the heat in liver tissue in experimental model and the influence of these parameters on extent and homogeneity of the damage were determined. The morphological and biochemical changes in the remote from the heat source zone were determined and the time of these changes was detected. The changes of liver cells mitochondria functions and the intracellular formation of energy resources necessary for these processes in subcellular level (apoptosis) were investigated simulating temperature changes in experimental model. The scientific novelty was governed by the data those support the activation of apoptotic pathway in the early period after exposure to hyperthermia. Our experimental study revealed yet unpublished data of the adverse effects of hyperthermia on the key functional parameters of the mitochondria.

This thesis examine the problems in the transformation process of Kaziki&ccedil / i Bostanlari, which was planned as a &ldquo / central development area&rdquo / after 1970&rsquo / s, in terms of the Ankara city center problematic. For Kaziki&ccedil / i Bostanlari, which shows the transition zone character, decisions were taken by three Master Plans to be new Central Business District and for the application a Development plan was prepared. But starting from the 1970&rsquo / s the area has been going on its development according to its inner dynamics. In this thesis, first, theories about CBD are analyzed. Then, general characteristics of Ankara city center and Kaziki&ccedil / i Bostanlari and interventions to Kaziki&ccedil / i Bostanlari in respect to the CBD transformations are discussed. Finally, Kaziki&ccedil / i Bostanlari and its current situation in terms of transition zone characteristics, and threats and opportunities concerning the CBD transformation are evaluated.