No description available.

By its nature a spliced girder must contain a number of post tensioning tendons throughout its length. The focus of the experimental program described in this dissertation is the evaluation of the strength and serviceability of post-tensioned girders loaded in shear, and, more specifically, how a post-tensioning duct located in the web of a girder affects the shear transfer mechanism of a bulb-tee cross-section. Due to the limited number of tests in the literature conducted on full-scale post-tensioned girders, eleven shear tests were performed on seven prestressed concrete bulb-tee girder specimens. Of these tests, ten were conducted on specimens that contained a post-tensioning duct within their web and additional pretensioning reinforcement in their bottom and top flanges. The remaining shear test was conducted on a control specimen that did not have a post-tensioning tendon but contained the same pretensioning reinforcement as the post-tensioned girder specimens. The behavioral characteristics of these eleven test specimens at service level shear forces and at their ultimate shear strengths were evaluated in regards to five primary experimental variables: (i) the presence of a post-tensioning duct, (ii) post-tensioning duct material (plastic or steel), (iii) web-width, (iv) duct diameter, and (v) the transverse reinforcement ratio. The findings of this experimental study are described in detail within this dissertation, but can be summarized by the following two points. (i) No differences were observed in the ultimate or service level shear behavior in girders containing plastic grouted ducts when compared to those containing steel grouted ducts and (ii) The current procedure of reducing the effective web width to account for the presence of a post-tensioning duct is ineffective because it addresses the incorrect shear transfer mechanism. A method that correctly addresses the reduction in shear strength due to the presence of a post-tensioning duct was developed and verified using the tests performed during this experimental program and tests reported in the literature. / text

Determination of quantitative expression levels of alternatively spliced isoforms provides an important approach to the understanding of the functional significance of each isoform. Real-time PCR using exon junction overlapping primers has been shown to allow specific detection of each isoform. However, this design often suffers from severe cross amplification of sequences with high homology at the exon junctions. We used human GFRα2b as a model to evaluate the specificity of primers substituted with locked nucleic acids (LNAs). We demonstrate here that single LNA substitutions at different positions of 3’ terminus could improve the discrimination of the primers against GFRα2a template, a highly homologous isoform. While LNA substitutions of GFRα2b primer at the residues possessing different sequences as GFRα2a has limited improvement in specificity, two consecutive LNA substitutions preceding the different sequences has dramatically improved the discrimination by greater than 100,000-fold compared to the non-substituted primer. Thus, LNA when substituted at certain residues can allow the discrimination of highly homologous sequences. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Tripanossomas são parasitas obrigatórios de uma grande variedade de hospedeiros vertebrados e invertebrados sendo descritas até hoje centenas de espécies, genótipos, linhagens e DTUs. Análises moleculares foram chaves para perceber a complexidade deste gênero e necessários na predição de histórias evolutivas entre tripanossomas patogênicos e não patogênicos do velho e novo mundo. Além dos marcadores tradicionais (SSU rDNA e gGAPDH), o gene Spliced Leader (SL) tem sido útil na identificação e genotipagem de tripanossomatídeos, mas poucas espécies possuem genes SL bem estudados. Este trabalho caracterizou as estruturas primárias e secundárias do gene SL de várias espécies representantes dos principais clados de tripanossomas, evidenciando seu polimorfismo inter e intra-específico e mostrando sua utilidade como DNA barcoding. Os resultados obtidos permitiram a descrição de novas espécies (T. livingstonei e T. wauwau), a identificação de subgrupos nas DTUs de T. cruzi e suportaram os relacionamentos filogenéticos obtidos com os marcadores tradicionais. / Trypanosomes are obligate parasites found in a great variety of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, with hundreds of species, genotypes, lineages and discrete typing units (DTUs) being described. Molecular analyses have been essential to understanding the complexity of trypanosomes and to predict the evolutionary history of the non-pathogenic and pathogenic species from the Old and New World. Besides traditional phylogenetic markers (SSU rDNA and gGAPDH), Spliced Leader (SL) gene has proven useful for identifying and genotyping trypanosomatids, but well defined SL sequences are available for only a few species. In this study, SL primary and secondary structures were determined for species representatives of the main trypanosome clades, showing inter and intra-specific variability that rendered them useful for DNA barcoding. SL results allowed the description of new trypanosome species (T. livingstonei and T. wauwau), the identification of subgroups in the T. cruzi DTUs, in addition to support the phylogenetic relationships obtained with traditional markers.

Spliced girder technology continues to attract attention due to its versatility over traditional prestressed concrete highway bridge construction. Relatively limited data is available in the literature, however, for large-scale tests of post-tensioned I-girders, and few studies have examined the behavior of the cast-in-place (CIP) splice regions of post-tensioned spliced girder bridges. In addition to limited knowledge on CIP splice region behavior, a wide variety of splice region details (e.g., splice region length, mild reinforcement details, cross-sectional geometry, etc.) continue to be used in the field. In response to these issues, the research program described in this dissertation was developed to (i) study the strength and serviceability behavior of the CIP splice regions of spliced I-girders, (ii) identify design and detailing practices that have been successfully implemented in CIP splice regions, and (iii) develop design recommendations based on the structural performance of spliced I-girder test specimens. To accomplish these tasks, an industry survey was first conducted to identify the best practices that have been implemented for the splice regions of existing bridges. Splice region details were then selected to be included in large-scale post-tensioned spliced I-girder test specimens. Two tests were conducted to study splice region behavior and evaluate the performance of the chosen details. The failure mechanisms of both test girders were characterized by a shear-compression failure of the web concrete with primary crushing occurring in the vicinity of the top post-tensioning duct. Most significantly, the girders acted essentially as monolithic members in shear at failure. Web crushing extended across much of the test span and was not localized within the splice regions. To supplement the spliced girder tests, a shear-friction experimental program was also conducted to gain a better understanding of the interface shear behavior between precast and CIP concrete surfaces at splice regions. The findings of the shear-friction study are summarized within this dissertation. Based on the results of the splice region research program, design recommendations were developed, including recommended CIP splice region details.

No description available.

Notched stringer segments spliced with metal connector plates (MCPs) and pallets with spliced stringer(s) were tested in static bending in order to determine the relative effectiveness of different stringer splicing methods and under what conditions the process is or is not effective. The species tested were oak, southern yellow pine, yellow-poplar, and two combined species - oak and yellow-poplar, and oak and southern yellow pine. The metal connector plates used were 3 x 4-inch, 3 x 6-inch truss plates, and a 3 x 4-inch plug plate. The splice methods tested were a vertical splice (VS), a 45° angle splice (AS), and a vertical splice with -inch gap between segments (VSG). The results of bending tests of these specimens were compared to non-spliced whole stringers and pallets containing whole stringers. Multiple comparison, statistical methods were used to analyze all test data. An analysis of the failure locations and types of specimens was also used to analyze test results. Vertical spliced stringers with 3 x 4 and 3 x 6 inch truss plates were the best designs of those tested. Spliced stringers were an average of 112% and 74% bending strength and stiffness of new non-spliced stringer. These plates were an average of 26% stronger and 13% stiffer than the 3 x 4 inch plug plate splice stringer. There was no difference between the performance stringers spliced with 3 x 6 and 3 x 4 inch truss plate. An angle splice design and the addition of 1.25 x 6 inch truss plate on the tension side of spliced stringer did not appear to improve the strength and stiffness. A gap between segments significantly reduces splice strength and stiffness by an average of 35% and 16% respectively. When mixing stringer segment species, the performance is determined by the weaker segment. The average strength and stiffness of pallets containing spliced stringers were similar to that of pallets with whole stringers, however the variation in performance was greater when notched stringer pallets contain splices. / Master of Science

FRP laminates and fabrics, used as an externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) to strengthen or repair concrete members, have proven to be an economical retrofitting method. However, when used to strengthen long-span members or members with limited access, the labor and equipment demands may negate the benefits of using continuous EBR FRP. Recently, CFRP rod panels (CRPs) have been developed and deployed to overcome the aforementioned limitations. Each CRP is made of several small diameter CFRP rods placed at discrete spacing. To fulfill the strengthening length, CRP’s are spliced together and made continuous by means of overlaps (or finger joints). In this doctoral dissertation, the effectiveness of spliced CRPs as flexural strengthening reinforcement for RC members was investigated by experimental, analytical and numerical methods. The experimental research includes laboratory tests on (1) RC beams under four-point bending and (2) double-lap shear concrete specimens. The first set of tests examines the behavior of concrete members strengthened with spliced CRPs. Several beams were fabricated and tested, including: (a) unstrengthened, (b) strengthened with spliced CRPs, (c) strengthened with full-length CRPs, and (d) strengthened with full-length and spliced CFRP laminates. The double-lap shear tests serve to characterize the development length and bond strength of two commonly used CRPs. Several small-scale CRPs, with variable bond lengths, were tested to arrive to an accurate estimation of development length and bond strength. Several other specimens were additionally tested to preliminarily examine the effects of bond width and rod spacing. A 3D nonlinear finite element simulation was utilized to further study the response of CRP strengthened RC beams, by extracting essential data, that couldn’t be measured in the experimental tests. Additionally, analytical tools were added to investigate the behavior of tested bond and beam specimens. The first tool complements the double-lap shear tests, and provides mathematical terms for important characteristics of the CRP/concrete bond interface. The second tool investigates concrete cover separation failure, which was observed in the beam testing, for RC beams strengthened with full-length and spliced CRPs.

The widespread availability of image editing tools and improvements in image processing techniques make image manipulation feasible for the general population. Oftentimes, easy-to-use yet sophisticated image editing tools produce results that contain modifications imperceptible to the human observer. Distribution of forged images can have drastic ramifications, especially when coupled with the speed and vastness of the Internet. Therefore, verifying image integrity poses an immense and important challenge to the digital forensic community. Satellite images specifically can be modified in a number of ways, such as inserting objects into an image to hide existing scenes and structures. In this thesis, we describe the use of a Conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGAN) to identify the presence of such spliced forgeries within satellite images. Additionally, we identify their locations and shapes. Trained on pristine and falsified images, our method achieves high success on these detection and localization objectives.

La sélection de l’ARNg des rétrovirus repose sur des interactions entre le domaine nucléocapside (NC) du précurseur Gag et des régions de l’ARN viral appelées ψ (ou Psi) localisées dans la région 5’ non traduite (5’-UTR) de l’ARNg et/ou dans le début du gène gag.Malgré des nombreuses études, les mécanismes moléculaires gouvernant l’incorporation de l’ARNg dans les particules virales en cours d’assemblage sont encore mal compris. La protéine Gag est notoirement sensible à la protéolyse et la plupart des études ont été menées avec une Gag dépourvue du domaine p6 (GagΔp6) qui ne reflètepas correctement les propriétés de fixation de la protéine Gag entière à l’ARNg. Les travaux réalisés aux cours de cette thèse nous ont permis de montrer que Pr55Gag et ses produits de maturation NCp15 et NCp7 sont capables de distinguer l’ARNg du VIH-1 des ARN viraux épissés. La stabilisation des formes dimériques ou la perturbation des interactions à longue distance n’ont aucune influence sur la reconnaissance spécifique de Gag pour l’ARNg. Par des expériences de mutagénèse dirigée et de compétition, nous avons montré non seulement que la dimérisation de l’ARNg et le motif SL1 (surtout sa boucle interne) joue un rôle crucial pour la fixation de Gag mais aussi que l’intégrité de la région Psi est indispensable pour une fixation optimale. Ces résultats nous ont amené à déterminer plus précisément l’empreinte de Gag sur l’ARNg et les résidus requis pour la fixation de Gag qui on confirmé le rôle crucial de SL1 comme le siganl major pour la reconnaissance spécifique de l’ARNg par le pr55Gag. / Packaging of HIV-1 genomic RNA (gRNA) is a highly regulated and selective process that leads to prefrential selection and packaging of dimeric gRNA from a cellular medium containing a large excess of cellular and spliced viral mRNAs. This event underlies interaction between the nucleocapsid domain in the context of the uncleaved Gag precursor and a Packaging signal located in the 5’ untranslated region (5’ UTR) of the gRNA and/or the beginning of gag gene. Despite a considerable effort, the molecular mechanisms beyond the selective encapsidation of HIV-1 gRNA is still unknown. To address this, we first characterized the relative affinities of Pr55gag to various HIV-1 RNA fragments (spliced and unspliced) by biochemical and spectroscopic approaches which all revealed that Pr55gag exhibits a higher binding affinity for viral gRNA than for viral spliced species. Interestingly, we noticed that Pr55Gag, through its nucleic acid chaperone activity, was able to stabilize the dimeric form of almost all viral RNA species (spliced and unspliced) suggesting that RNA dimermaturation does not allow the gRNA discrimination. Further characterization of specific Gag binding sites to short RNA fragments corresponding to the minimal packaging signal by competition experiments, inhibition of Gag/RNA interaction by antisense oligo-deoxynucleotides, as well as the detection of Pr55Gag RNA binding sites on gRNA by enzymatic and chemical footprinting confirmed the crucial role of SL1 (or DIS) as a specific binding site for Pr55Gag. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that SL1 and/or RNA dimerization is a specific recognition signal for Pr55Gag to specifically select and probably induce HIV-1 gRNA packaging.