In recent years, the excessive emission of greenhouse gas CO2, it causing globalwarming, already poses a serious threat to human survival. The problem catches theattention all over the world, and promoting the development of building energyefficiency. In order to the sustainable development of human beings, in 1992 theUnited Nations framework convention on climate change (UFCCC) organizationpublished the Kyoto protocol. In the Kyoto protocol, the European countriescommitted that during 2008 and 2012 they would reduce the amount of greenhouseemissions to 8% compare to 1990.[2] Building envelope technologies can helphouseholder reduce the energy consumption use in the building. Building envelopetechnologies used in the project Brogåden – Alingsås which save the energyconsumption from 204 kWh/ m2a to 95 kWh/ m2a in Sweden. While the cost just838SEK/m² or 8% of the total building costs. In China the envelope technologies usedin the project student apartment in Shandong building university save the energyconsumption about 72% compare with the old student apartments.

Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Met bibliogr., lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

In this thesis, a feasibility study will be conducted in order to determine if the usage of acontrol moment gyroscope is a possibility for a micro satellite as its attitude control. Thegoal is to conclude if gyroscopes are suitable replacements for the current reaction wheelswhich are acting as the attitude control for the satellite. In the first part of the thesis thegeneral function of the control moment gyroscope and three different types of arrangementsare displayed with all their respective advantages and disadvantages. Then one ofthem will be designed to fit within the restrictions of 1U. The full design of the pyramidconfiguration was chosen due to its compact size and spherical angular momentum envelope.The full design contains all the components such as motors, flywheels, mounts,frame, screws etc. which provide a cost estimate which is a huge input in determiningthe feasibility of this thesis. In the future the manufacture of the pyramid configurablecontrol moment gyroscopes shall be tested in the future with a more advanced steeringlaw in order to determine the full potential of the attitude control system.

This study aims to elucidate the process and mechanism of sperm penetration through eggs of Penaeus monodon. Sperm penetration of the vitelline envelopes (VEs) of P. monodon eggs were observed with the scanning electron microscope. The characteristics of sperm proteases in the sperm extracts from seminal receptacles of females were analysized. In P. monodon, mating and sperm transfer to the thelycum of female occur soon after maturity moult. Females store the sperm in the seminal receptacles. At spawning, they release stored sperm and eggs simultaneously into the water column. The outermost investment of a newly spawned egg is the VE. Sperm bind to the VE via the tip of their anterior spike. They rapidly undergo the acrosome reaction, which composes of depolymerization of the spike and exocytosis of the acrosome vesicle, pass through the VE and become bound to the egg oolemma. The isolated sperm suspended in artificial seawater were disrupted by sonication on ice. The supernatants after microcentrifuged were collected as sperm extracts. Sperm extracts were analyzed by gelatin SDS-PAGE. Sperm extract from sperm isolated from seminal receptacles of females showed clear bands of protease activity, whereas sperm extract from vas deferens and spermatophore of males did not. This results indicated that sperm of P. monodon do proceed capacitation in the seminal receptacles, and obtain sperm protease activity after capacitation. Using fluorescent peptidyl-MCA as sperm protease substrates, high trypsin-like and aminopeptidase-like activities were observed in sperm extracts. The sperm protease activity was inhibited by trypsin inhibitors aprotinin, p-aminobenzamidine (PAB), soybean trypsin inhibitor (SBTI), N-£\-p-tosyl-L-lysinechloromethyl ketone (TLCK); but was not inhibited by chymotrypsin inhibitor N-tosyl-L-phenylalaninechloromethyl ketone (TPCK) and metalloprotease inhibitor 1,10-phenanthroline (1,10-P). The results indicated that sperm undergo the acrosome reaction and release sperm proteases including trypsin-like protease, which has been implicated in facilitating sperm passage through vitelline envelope. Sperm proteases were highly active in the weak base environment, exhibiting maximum activity at pH 8.0. The protease activities were enhanced by addition of calcium chloride and magnesium chloride in the incubation medium.

abstract: The experience base of practitioners with expansive soils is largely devoid of directly measured soil suction. This historical lack of soil suction measurement represents an impediment to adoption of modern unsaturated soil engineering to problems of expansive soils. Most notably, soil suction-based analyses are paramount to proper design of foundations in expansive soils. Naturally, the best method to obtain design suction profiles is to perform an appropriate geotechnical investigation that involves soil moisture change-appropriate drilling depths, sampling intervals, and requisite laboratory testing, including suction measurement. However, as practitioners are slow to embrace changes in methodology, specifically regarding the adoption of even relatively simple suction measurement techniques, it has become imperative to develop a method by which the routine geotechnical procedures currently employed can be used to arrive at acceptable approximations of soil suction profiles. Herein, a substitute, or surrogate, for soil suction is presented, such that the surrogate agrees with observed field soil suction patterns and provides estimates of soil suction that are acceptable for use in practice. Field investigations with extensive laboratory testing, including direct suction measurement, are used in development of the soil suction surrogate. This surrogate, a function of water content and routinely measured soil index properties, is then used in estimation of field expansive soil suction values. The suction surrogate, together with existing geotechnical engineering reports, is used to augment the limited existing database of field soil suction profiles. This augmented soil suction profile database is used in development of recommendations for design suction envelopes and design suction profiles. Using the suction surrogate, it is possible to proceed from the beginning to the end of the Suction-Oedometer soil heave/shrinkage analysis without directly measuring soil suction. The magnitude of suction surrogate-based heave estimates is essentially the same as heave estimates obtained using direct soil suction measurements. The soil suction surrogate-based approach, which uses a complete-stress-state approach, considering both net normal stress and soil suction, is an intermediate step towards the adoption of unsaturated soil engineering in expansive soils analyses, wherein direct soil suction measurements are routinely made. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2019

A number of viral diseases such as Hepatitis B, small pox, measles, rubella and polio have effective vaccines to control or eradicate them. HIV-1 is a lentivirus which infects human immune cells and leads to the disease called AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome). Despite much effort since the three decades of its discovery, there is no effective vaccine against HIV-1. The envelope glycoprotein of HIV-1 is the most accessible protein on the virion surface and is essential for HIV-1 infection. Thus, this protein is the primary target for HIV-1 vaccine design. However, HIV-1 has acquired numerous immune evasive mechanisms to escape from the human immune system. Various factors such as high variability of the envelope sequence, presence of immune dominant variable loop regions, extensive glycosylation which masks conserved epitopes on the envelope, weak non-covalent interactions between gp120 and gp41 subunits of the envelope and the metastable nature of the envelope hinder the development of an effective vaccine against HIV-1. Various approaches have been carried out to design immunogens based on the envelope glycoprotein but so far none of these have succeeded in elicitation of a broad neutralizing antibody response. In chapter 1, brief descriptions of the HIV-1 epidemic, structural and genomic organization of HIV-1 along with the difficulties faced and progress in the development of an HIV-1 vaccine are described. HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) is a trimer of gp120-gp41 heterodimers. The gp41 subunit in the native, pre-fusion trimeric Env exists in a metastable conformation and attains a stable post-fusion six helix bundle (6HB) conformation comprised of a trimer of N-heptad repeat (NHR) and C-heptad repeat (CHR) heterodimers, that drives fusion of viral and cellular membranes. The metastable nature of gp41 drives the equilibrium towards the post-fusion conformation which favours shedding of gp120 and formation of the gp41 six helix bundle remnants from the Env trimer. These dissociated products display non-neutralizing epitopes to the immune system to drive non-neutralizing antibody responses. Design and purification of Env glycoprotein in its native trimeric form is challenging due to the instability of the functional HIV-1 native Env trimer. In chapter 2, we describe our attempts to stabilize native Env trimers by incorporation of mutations at the NHR:CHR interface that disrupt the post-fusion 6HB of gp41. The mutations V570D and I573D stabilize native JRFL Env and occlude non-neutralizing epitopes to a greater extent than the previously identified I559P mutation that it is at the interface of the NHR trimers in the 6HB. The mutations prevent sCD4 induced gp120 shedding and 6HB formation. The data suggest that positions 570 and 573 are surface proximal in the native Env. Aspartic acid substitutions at these positions stabilize native trimers through destabilization of the post fusion 6HB conformation. These mutations should enhance the exposure of native Env forms to the immune system and therefore can be used to stabilize Env in a DNA vaccine format. In previous studies, a disulfide bond was engineered between gp120 and gp41 of Env to stabilize the interactions between them (SOS gp140). An I559P mutation was also introduced to stabilize the native gp41 conformation in the context of disulfide engineered Env (SOSIP gp140). The purified, soluble SOSIP gp140 immunogens were trimeric and cleaved properly. However, these immunogens failed to elicit broad neutralizing responses. The SOSIP gp140 immunogens appear to be good conformational mimics of the native trimeric Env. Thus, it is important to understand the details of the conformation and antigenic nature of SOSIP Env to further assist the design of Env immunogens in a native-like conformation. In chapter 3, we expressed JRFL-SOSIP Env on the cell surface and probed with various gp120 and gp41 specific antibodies to investigate whether this Env protein mimics the native like Env conformation. We show that introduction of a disulfide bond between gp120 and gp41 perturbs the native Env conformation, though this effect is partially alleviated by furin expression. The introduction of the V570D mutation instead of the I559P mutation partially restored the native like conformation of disulfide engineered Env. Proper cleavage of the Env to gp120 and gp41 is essential for the formation of native Env conformation. Uncleaved Env attains non-native forms and binds to non-neutralizing antibodies. To overcome inefficient cleavage problems, we co-expressed gp120 and gp41 genes on separate plasmids in mammalian cells and monitored the formation of native like Env complexes on the cell surface. We observed a fraction of native-like Env complexes on the cell surface when gp120 and gp41 with the V570D mutation are co¬expressed. We also describe the expression of Env with a self-cleavable 2A peptide between gp120 and gp41-V570D. We conclude that co-expression of gp120 and gp41 to form native like Env complexes is possible. HIV-1 Env trimeric immunogens are believed to be better immunogens than monomeric gp120. The trimeric Env immunogens designed so far, elicited marginally better neutralizing antibody response than monomeric gp120. However, these immunogens failed to elicit antibodies which could neutralize multiple primary HIV-1 isolates. Thus, it is possible that these immunogens have failed to mimic the native Env conformation. Cryo-EM and crystal structures of Env suggested that three gp120 monomers are held together at the apex of the Env trimer and the V1V2 regions of each gp120 monomer contribute to this trimeric interface. It was also shown that two broadly neutralizing antibodies (PG9 and PG16) bind to quaternary epitopes formed by V1V2 regions. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that insertion of heterologous trimerization domains into V1V2 loops might help in the formation of native like gp120 trimers. In chapter 4, two different trimerization domains (6-helix bundle and foldon trimerization domains) were inserted at the V1 loop of gp120 and C1 and C5 regions of gp120 were deleted to reduce the conformational flexibility of gp120. The resulting constructs were not trimeric and lost binding to trimer specific antibodies, PG9 and PG16. Due to their large distances between N and C-termini, these trimerization domains might have altered the local conformation of V1V2 regions and destabilized gp120 trimer formation. Interestingly, introduction of a trimerization domain (hCMP) at the C-terminus of C1 and C5 deleted gp120 (gp120-hCMP-21), led to the formation of native-like trimers which bound to both PG9 and PG16 antibodies. These results suggest that it may be difficult to trimerize gp120 by insertion of heterologous trimerization domains into the V1V2 loop and that conformational integrity of the V1V2 region is essential for the formation of trimeric gp120 interface. V1V2 regions of gp120 form quaternary epitopes on the Env trimer and are target for several broadly neutralizing antibodies. Moreover, these regions are important for the formation of the gp120 trimeric interface in the Env. In chapter 4, we show that insertion of heterologous trimerization domains at the V1 loop failed to form native like gp120 trimers. To further investigate this issue, in chapter 5, we made cyclic permutants of the gp120 molecule to create new N and C-termini at the V1 or V2 loop regions. This allowed the insertion of heterologous trimerization domains at these loop regions without affecting the folding and stability of gp120. The hCMP trimerization domain was introduced at the N-terminus of cyclically permuted gp120 (V1cyc and V2cyc). The resulting cyclic permutants were trimeric and retained binding to several broadly neutralizing antibodies. These cyclic permutants showed 10-20 fold increased binding to quaternary epitope specific neutralizing antibodies PG9 and PGT 145. CD4 binding site directed broadly neutralizing antibodies b12 and VRC01 also showed increased affinities to these cyclic permutants. Immunization of guinea pigs with cyclic permutants elicited broad neutralizing antibody response to Tier-1 and Tier-2 HIV-1 isolates with substantially higher titers than the corresponding monomeric gp120 immunogens. The data demonstrate that cyclic permutation of gp120 did not affect the structural and functional properties of gp120. It is possible to elicit broadly neutralizing sera against HIV-1 using cyclically permuted gp120 trimers in small animals. Among several proposed cryo-EM tomography structures of trimeric Env, some suggested that the V1V2 loop regions of gp120 are located close to the trimer interface while some other structures suggested that the V1V2 loop regions of gp120 are located far from the trimer axis. The present study supports Env models in which the V1V2 loops are proximal to the trimer interface. This has recently been confirmed in high resolution cryo-EM and crystal structures of HIV-1 gp140 derivatives. HIV-1 Env subunit gp120 has 50% of its molecular mass comprised of glycans which shield Env from immune recognition. Env has approximately 25 glycosylation sites of which ~4 are located in the inner domain, ~7-8 in the V1/V2 and V3 loops and the rest in the outer domain (OD). Earlier reports suggested that the glycans are indispensable for proper folding of Env and a certain level of glycan coverage is essential for maintaining infectivity of the virion. In chapter 6, we investigated the effect of removal of glycans from core gp120 on the infectivity of the HIV-1 and on the recognition of Env by various broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs). We mutated the glycosylation sites in core gp120 to the second most frequent amino acids based on multiple sequence alignment. Pseudoviral infectivity assays and mammalian cell surface display experiments show that in the context of gp160, all core gp120 glycans are dispensable for viral infectivity and for recognition of bNAbs. We also show that deglycosylated molecules can serve as a starting point to re-introduce epitopes for specific glycan dependent bNAbs. Several of the constructs will also be useful for epitope mapping and Env structural characterization. Glycosylation of Env is known to inhibit binding to germline precursors of known bNAbs. In this study we show that recognition of VRC01 germline-bNAb increases substantially with the progressive loss of glycans from JRFL pseudoviruses. This work has so far resulted in the following publications (mentioned in next page).

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第20539号 / 地環博第160号 / 新制||地環||32(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎地球環境学専攻 / (主査)教授 宇佐美 誠, 教授 佐野 亘, 准教授 吉野 章, 准教授 平田 彩子 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

Chapter 1: Intuition suggests that constraint investment strategies will result in losses due to a limited portfolio allocation. Yet prior research has shown that this is not the case for a particular set of constraint mutual funds so-called Socially Responsible Investing, SRI. In this paper I show that such assets do face loses to portfolio efficiency due to their limited asset universe. I contribute to the literature by employing two techniques to estimate asset performance. First, I estimate a DEA based efficiency score that allows for direct comparison between ex-post efficiency rankings and test the ex-ante relevance of such scores by including them into asset pricing models. Second, I further check if these results are consistent when comparing the performance of ethical funds based on the alphas of traditional asset pricing models even after adjusting for coskewness risk. Overall, the results suggest that ethical funds underperform traditional unconstraint investment assets. Chapter 2: Starting after the turn of the millennium, inflation has been persistently higher than the short term T-Bill rate. Following the traditional view, this will imply a negative real rates of return that have become commonplace in the US economy. This paper examines the possibility that if an inflation risk discount contained in nominal rates exist and can explain low or negative real rates, using consumption based asset pricing model. Evidence suggests using the traditional Fisher equation to calculate real rates leads to an overestimate of real rates due to a modest inflation risk premium. To achieve non-negative real rates in a consumption based asset pricing framework the covariance between consumption growth and inflation innovations would have to be at least thirty times larger than empirically found, and in opposite direction, for the Post-Volker era. Still, though the after 2000’s covariance is positive, which suggest a discount on risk free, the magnitude is still too small to explain negativity of real rates. JEL Classification : E21, E31 Key Words : Mutual Funds, Performance, Data Envelop Analysis, Coskewness, Risk Factors, Real Returns, Consumption Bases Asset Pricing Models, Inflation

Nossas cidades e edifícios são extremamente dependentes da energia elétrica, produzida, normalmente, em locais afastados dos grandes centros, gastando ainda mais recursos na transmissão, manutenção da rede, transformação de corrente contínua em alternada e assim por diante. Uma das alternativas a este modelo é a utilização de sistemas de produção de energia junto às cidades. Dentre as alternativas para a produção de energia no perímetro urbano, destacam-se os sistemas fotovoltaicos, que são leves, silenciosos, não liberam poluentes na sua utilização, entre outras vantagens. Para que sejam incorporados nos edifícios utilizando todo seu potencial energético e compositivo, como parte da edificação, é necessário que os arquitetos assumam esta responsabilidade como um desafio criativo, de maneira a contribuir para mudança da atual dinâmica dos edifícios e cidades. Sendo assim, este trabalho tem o objetivo de caracterizar atributos que orientem os projetistas na incorporação de sistemas de geração fotovoltaica em envoltórias de edificações. Por meio da experiência prática de projeto, fabricação, montagem, operação e desmontagem do protótipo de Residência Zero Ekó House, que participou da competição de casas solares Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 e de bases bibliográficas, que permitiram apresentar um panorama geral das tecnologias de captação e incorporação fotovoltaicas disponíveis; elaborou-se um modelo de projeto para orientar os projetistas na relação das tecnologias fotovoltaicas com a arquitetura e os edifícios, auxiliando nas tomadas de decisões iniciais do projeto da envoltória do edifício. / Our cities and buildings are extremely dependent on electricity produced, usually, far away from the big cities, expending more resources in transmission, network maintenance, conversion of dc to ac and so on. One alternative to this model is the use of power systems integrated to the cities. Among the alternatives for energy production in urban area, highlight the photovoltaic systems, which are lightweight, silent, does not release pollutants in their use, among other advantages. To be incorporated into buildings using all their energy and aesthetic potential, as part of the building, it is necessary that the architects assume this responsibility as a creative challenge, to contribute to changing the current dynamics of buildings and cities. Thus, this study aims to characterize attributes to guide designers in incorporating photovoltaic systems on the building envelope. Through practical experience in design, manufacture, assembly, operating and disassembly of the Zero Energy prototype Ekó House, who attended the solar house competition Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 and bibliographic databases, which allowed to provide an overview of photovoltaic technologies available; was elaborated a model to guide designers in relation with photovoltaic technologies in architecture and buildings, assisting in making initial decisions related to the envelope of buildings.

Nossas cidades e edifícios são extremamente dependentes da energia elétrica, produzida, normalmente, em locais afastados dos grandes centros, gastando ainda mais recursos na transmissão, manutenção da rede, transformação de corrente contínua em alternada e assim por diante. Uma das alternativas a este modelo é a utilização de sistemas de produção de energia junto às cidades. Dentre as alternativas para a produção de energia no perímetro urbano, destacam-se os sistemas fotovoltaicos, que são leves, silenciosos, não liberam poluentes na sua utilização, entre outras vantagens. Para que sejam incorporados nos edifícios utilizando todo seu potencial energético e compositivo, como parte da edificação, é necessário que os arquitetos assumam esta responsabilidade como um desafio criativo, de maneira a contribuir para mudança da atual dinâmica dos edifícios e cidades. Sendo assim, este trabalho tem o objetivo de caracterizar atributos que orientem os projetistas na incorporação de sistemas de geração fotovoltaica em envoltórias de edificações. Por meio da experiência prática de projeto, fabricação, montagem, operação e desmontagem do protótipo de Residência Zero Ekó House, que participou da competição de casas solares Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 e de bases bibliográficas, que permitiram apresentar um panorama geral das tecnologias de captação e incorporação fotovoltaicas disponíveis; elaborou-se um modelo de projeto para orientar os projetistas na relação das tecnologias fotovoltaicas com a arquitetura e os edifícios, auxiliando nas tomadas de decisões iniciais do projeto da envoltória do edifício. / Our cities and buildings are extremely dependent on electricity produced, usually, far away from the big cities, expending more resources in transmission, network maintenance, conversion of dc to ac and so on. One alternative to this model is the use of power systems integrated to the cities. Among the alternatives for energy production in urban area, highlight the photovoltaic systems, which are lightweight, silent, does not release pollutants in their use, among other advantages. To be incorporated into buildings using all their energy and aesthetic potential, as part of the building, it is necessary that the architects assume this responsibility as a creative challenge, to contribute to changing the current dynamics of buildings and cities. Thus, this study aims to characterize attributes to guide designers in incorporating photovoltaic systems on the building envelope. Through practical experience in design, manufacture, assembly, operating and disassembly of the Zero Energy prototype Ekó House, who attended the solar house competition Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 and bibliographic databases, which allowed to provide an overview of photovoltaic technologies available; was elaborated a model to guide designers in relation with photovoltaic technologies in architecture and buildings, assisting in making initial decisions related to the envelope of buildings.