Yes / Steel wire reinforced ultra-high performance concrete (SWRUHPC) offers exceptional resistance to impacts and blast, making it a promising construction material for infrastructure with blast-resistance demands. However, limited research has been conducted on the blast-resistance characteristics and design of SWRUHPC elements under blast loading, particularly in considering multiple influencing parameters and levels. Therefore, this study employed finite element simulation methods to investigate the influence of scaled distance (Z), reinforcement ratio (ρ) and slab thickness (D) as well as slab length (L) on the failure mode and maximum deflection of SWRUHPC slabs. Range analysis and variance analysis methods were used to quantitively analyze the effects of various factors on the blast resistance performance, culminating in the proposal of a design formula for SWRUHPC slabs. The results demonstrated that SWRUHPC exhibits superior blast resistance compared to ordinary concrete, effectively reducing the occurrence of concrete spalling and splashing, thus enhancing overall structural resilience in blast scenarios. Among the four factors analyzed, their influence on maximum deflection follows this order: D > Z > ρ > L. Notably, the maximum deflection decreases by 82% when the slab thickness increases from 40 mm to 90 mm. Additionally, the established design formula for SWRUHPC slabs under different scaled distances shows good agreement with the numerical simulation results, offering valuable design guidelines for SWRUHPC slabs in protective engineering structures. / National Science Foundation of China (52308236 and 52368031), and the Major Science and Technology Research Project of the China Building Materials Federation (2023JBGS10-02), Natural Science Joint Foundation of Liaoning Province (2023-BSBA-077), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (DUT24GJ202). / The full text will be available at the end of the publisher's embargo: 22nd July 2025

BACKGROUND:The widespread utilization of organic compounds in modern society and their dispersion through wastewater have resulted in extensive contamination of source and drinking waters. The vast majority of these compounds are not regulated in wastewater outfalls or in drinking water while trace amounts of certain compounds can impact aquatic wildlife. Hence it is prudent to monitor these contaminants in water sources until sufficient toxicological data relevant to humans becomes available. A method was developed for the analysis of 36 trace organic contaminants (TOrCs) including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, steroid hormones (androgens, progestins, and glucocorticoids), personal care products and polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) using a single solid phase extraction (SPE) technique with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The method was applied to a variety of water matrices to demonstrate method performance and reliability.RESULTS:UHPLC-MS/MS in both positive and negative electrospray ionization (ESI) modes was employed to achieve optimum sensitivity while reducing sample analysis time (<20min) compared with previously published methods. The detection limits for most compounds was lower than 1.0 picogram on the column while reporting limits in water ranged from 0.1 to 15ng/L based on the extraction of a 1L sample and concentration to 1mL. Recoveries in ultrapure water for most compounds were between 90-110%, while recoveries in surface water and wastewater were in the range of 39-121% and 38-141% respectively. The analytical method was successfully applied to analyze samples across several different water matrices including wastewater, groundwater, surface water and drinking water at different stages of the treatment. Among several compounds detected in wastewater, sucralose and TCPP showed the highest concentrations.CONCLUSION:The proposed method is sensitive, rapid and robust / hence it can be used to analyze a large variety of trace organic compounds in different water matrixes.

<p>During operation of heavy ion accelerators a significant pressure rise has been observed when the intensity of the high energy beam was increased. The cause for this pressure rise is ion induced desorption, which is the result when beam ions collide with residual gas molecules in the accelerator, whereby they undergo charge exchange. Since the change in charge state will affect the bending radius of the particles after they have passed a bending magnet, they will not follow the required trajectory but instead collide with the vacuum chamber wall and gas are released. For the Future GSI project FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) there is a need to upgrade the SIS18 synchrotron in order to meet the requirements of the increased intensity. The aim of this work was to measure the desorption yields, η, (released molecules per incident ion) from materials commonly used in accelerators: 316LN stainless steel, Cu, Etched Cu, gold coated Cu, Ta and TiZrV coated stainless steel with argon and uranium beams at the energies 5-100 MeV/u. The measurements were performed at GSI and at The Svedberg Laboratory where a new dedicated teststand was built. It was found that the desorption yield scales with the electronic energy loss to the second power, decreasing for increasing impact energy above the Bragg Maximum. A feasibility study on the possibility to use laser refractometry to improve the accuracy of a specific throughput system was performed. The result was an improvement by up to 3 orders of magnitude, depending on pressure range.</p>

<p>A search for a diffuse flux of cosmic neutrinos with energies in excess of 10¹⁴ eV was performed using two years of AMANDA-II data, collected in 2003 and 2004. A 20% evenly distributed sub-sample of experimental data was used to verify the detector description and the analysis cuts. A very good agreement between this 20% sample and the background simulations was observed. The analysis was optimised for discovery, to a relatively low price in limit setting power. The background estimate for the livetime of the examined 80% sample is 0.035 ± 68% events with an additional 41% systematical uncertainty.</p><p>The total neutrino flux needed for a 5σ discovery to be made with 50% probability was estimated to 3.4 ∙ 10^-7 <i>E</i>^-2 GeV s^-1 sr^-1 cm^-2 equally distributed over the three flavours, taking statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background expectation and the signal efficiency into account. No experimental events survived the final discriminator cut. Hence, no ultra-high energy neutrino candidates were found in the examined sample. A 90% upper limit is placed on the total ultra-high energy neutrino flux at 2.8 ∙ 10^-7 <i>E</i>^-2 GeV s^-1 sr^-1cm^-2, taking both systematical and statistical uncertainties into account. The energy range in which 90% of the simulated <i>E</i>^-2signal is contained is 2.94 ∙ 10¹⁴ eV to 1.54 ∙ 10¹⁸eV (central interval), assuming an equal distribution over the neutrino flavours at the Earth. The final acceptance is distributed as 48% electron neutrinos, 27% muon neutrinos, and 25% tau neutrinos.</p><p>A set of models for the production of neutrinos in active galactic nuclei that predict spectra deviating from <i>E</i>^-2 was excluded.</p>

In this thesis, new design concepts for arch bridges using ultra high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete are developed for spans of 50 to 400 m. These concepts are light-weight and efficient, and thus have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of construction. Lightness is achieved by the thinning of structural components and the efficient use of precompression in the arch, rather than by the decrease of bending stiffness. Using the advanced properties of the material, the design concepts were shown to reduce the consumption of concrete in arch bridges by more than 50% relative to arches built using conventional concrete technology. In addition to span length, other design parameters including span-to-rise ratio and deck-stiffening were considered, resulting in a total of seventy-two design concepts. Other important contributions made in this thesis include: (1) the development of a simple analytical model that describes the transition of shallow arches between pure arch behaviour and pure beam behaviour, (2) a comprehensive comparative study of 58 existing concrete arch bridges that characterizes the current state-of-the-art and serves as a valuable reference design tool, and (3) the development and experimental validation of general and simplified methods for calculating the capacity of slender ultra high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete members under compression and bending. The research presented in this thesis provides a means for designers to take full advantage of the high compressive and tensile strengths of the concrete and hence to exploit the economic potential offered by the material.

It is important to ensure that vulnerable structures (federal and provincial offices, military structures, embassies, etc) are blast resistant to safeguard life and critical infrastructure. In the wake of recent malicious attacks and accidental explosions, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that columns in structures are properly detailed to provide the ductility and continuity necessary to prevent progressive collapse. Research has shown that steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) can enhance many of the properties of concrete, including improved post-cracking tensile capacity, enhanced shear resistance, and increased ductility. The enhanced properties of SFRC make it an ideal candidate for use in the blast resistant design of structures. There is limited research on the behaviour of SFRC under high strain rates, including impact and blast loading, and some of this data is conflicting, with some researchers showing that the additional ductility normally evident in SFRC is absent or reduced at high strain loading. On the other hand, other data indicates that SFRC can improve toughness and energy-absorption capacity under extreme loading conditions. This thesis presents the results of experimental research involving tests of scaled reinforced concrete columns exposed to shock wave induced impulsive loads using the University of Ottawa Shock Tube. A total of 13 half-scale steel fibre reinforced concrete columns, 8 with normal strength steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) and 5 with an ultra high performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC), were constructed and tested under simulated blast pressures. The columns were designed according to CSA A23.3 standards for both seismic and non-seismic regions, using various fibre amounts and types. Each column was exposed to similar shock wave loads in order to provide direct comparisons between seismic and non-seismically detailed columns, amount of steel fibres, type of steel fibres, and type of concrete. The dynamic response of the columns tested in the experimental program is predicted by generating dynamic load-deformation resistance functions for SFRC and UHPFRC columns and using single degree of freedom dynamic analysis software, RCBlast. The analytical results are compared to experimental data, and shown to accurately predict the maximum mid-span displacements of the fibre reinforced concrete columns under shock wave loading.

The focus of this research is to explore the molecular-level interactions between reactive metal surfaces and aqueous environments by combined ultra-high vacuum/electrochemistry (UHV-EC) methodology. The objectives of this work are to understand (1) the effects of sulfate ions on the passivity of metal oxide/hydroxide surface layer, (2) the effects of sulfur-modification on the evolution of metal oxide/hydroxide surface layer, and (3) the effects of sulfur adsorbate on cation adsorption at metal surfaces.

La topographie d'une surface se compose généralement de plusieurs échelles, depuis l'échelle macroscopique (sa géométrie physique), jusqu'aux échelles microscopiques ou atomiques appelées rugosité. L'évolution spatiale et géométrique de la rugosité fournit une description plus complète de la surface, et une interprétation physique de certains problèmes importants tels que le frottement et les mécanismes d'usure pendant le contact mécanique entre deux surfaces. La topographie d'une surface rugueuse est de nature aléatoire, ce qui traduit par des altitudes spatialement corrélées, appelées pics et vallées. La relation entre leurs densités de probabilité et leurs propriétés géométriques sont les aspects fondamentaux qui ont été développés dans cette thèse, en utilisant la théorie des champs aléatoires et la géométrie intégrale. Un modèle aléatoire approprié pour représenter une surface rugueuse a été mis en place et étudié au moyen des paramètres les plus significatifs, dont les changements influencent la géométrie des ensembles de niveaux (excursion sets) de cette surface. Les ensembles de niveaux ont été quantifiés par des fonctionnelles connues sous le nom de fonctionnelles de Minkowski, ou d'une manière équivalente sous le nom de volumes intrinsèques. Dans un premier temps, les volumes intrinsèques des ensembles de niveaux sont calculés analytiquement sur une classe de modèles mixtes, qui sont définis par la combinaison linéaire d'un champ aléatoire Gaussien et d'un champ de t-student (t-field), et ceux d'une classe de champs aléatoires asymétriques appelés skew-t. Ces volumes sont comparés et testés sur des surfaces produites par des simulations numériques. Dans un second temps, les modèles aléatoires proposés ont été appliqués sur des surfaces réelles acquises à partir d'une cupule d'UHMWPE (provenant d’une prothèse totale de hanche) avant et après les processus d'usure. Les résultats ont montré que le champ aléatoire skew-t est un modèle mieux approprié pour décrire la rugosité de surfaces usées, contrairement aux modèles adoptés dans la littérature. Une analyse statistique, basée sur le champ aléatoire skew-t, est ensuite proposée pour détecter les niveaux des pics/vallées de la surface usée et pour décrire le comportement et la fonctionnalité de la surface usée. / Surface topography is, generally, composed of many length scales starting from its physical geometry, to its microscopic or atomic scales known by roughness. The spatial and geometrical evolution of the roughness topography of engineering surfaces avail comprehensive understanding, and interpretation of many physical and engineering problems such as friction, and wear mechanisms during the mechanical contact between adjoined surfaces. Obviously, the topography of rough surfaces is of random nature. It is composed of irregular hills/valleys being spatially correlated. The relation between their densities and their geometric properties are the fundamental topics that have been developed, in this research study, using the theory of random fields and the integral geometry.An appropriate random field model of a rough surface has been defined by the most significant parameters, whose changes influence the geometry of its excursion. The excursion sets were quantified by functions known as intrinsic volumes. These functions have many physical interpretations, in practice. It is possible by deriving their analytical formula to estimate the parameters of the random field model being applied on the surface, and for statistical analysis investigation of its excursion sets. These subjects have been essentially considered in this thesis. Firstly, the intrinsic volumes of the excursion sets of a class of mixture models defined by the linear combination of Gaussian and t random fields, then for the skew-t random fields are derived analytically. They have been compared and tested on surfaces generated by simulations. In the second stage, these random fields have been applied to real surfaces measured from the UHMWPE component, involved in application of total hip implant, before and after wear simulation process. The primary results showed that the skew-t random field is more adequate, and flexible for modelling the topographic roughness. Following these arguments, a statistical analysis approach, based on the skew-t random field, is then proposed. It aims at estimating, hierarchically, the significant levels including the real hills/valleys among the uncertain measurements. The evolution of the mean area of the hills/valleys and their levels enabled describing the functional behaviour of the UHMWPE surface over wear time, and indicating the predominant wear mechanisms.

Penning trap mass spectrometry (PTMS) can be used to test the Standard Model (SM) and to answer the questions related to the origin and abundance of the elements in the universe. There are several facilities worldwide specialized in PTMS and some of them can measure the masses of isotopes with half-lives in the range of milliseconds. TRIUMF’s ion trap for atomic and nuclear science (TITAN) is one such facility. In mass measurement the precision is linearly proportional to the charge state of the ion of interest. To increase the charge state, ions are charge-bred using an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) at TITAN. However, the charge breeding process introduces an energy spread among the ions which adversely affects the precision of the mass measurement. To overcome this problem a cooler Penning trap (CPET) was designed, assembled and is now being tested off-line. This thesis presents the first systematic test results of CPET. We also present the result of the first Penning trap mass measurement of the isotope 24Al, which is five times more precise than the previous atomic mass evaluation (AME2012) value. The precise and accurate mass of 24Al is important for both astrophysics and for test of the standard model (SM). The resonance energy (E_r) calculated for the 23Mg(p,gamma)24Al reaction using the ground state mass of 24Al reported in this thesis shows a 2s deviation from the direct measurement. On the other hand, tests of the SM by evaluating f_t values using isospin T = 1 nuclides have reached a high precision level. Effort is now shifting towards the T = 2 nuclides, which are far from stability compared to their T = 1 counterparts. For this reason, the ground state masses of T = 2 nuclides and of their decay products are required to be known with high precision. 24Al is the daughter of one such nucleus, 24Si. The ground state mass of 24Al reported in this thesis will be useful to test the SM. / October 2016

Des études in vitro ont été menées pour évaluer les effets biologiques potentiels de deux types d'ondes radiofréquences. Dans une première partie, nous avons étudié les ondes radiofréquences (300 et 500 MHz) utilisées en imagerie médicale à haute résolution (IRM). Ces ondes sont en régime impulsionnel (de l'ordre de la milliseconde) et avec des puissances crêtes élevées (E= 1.8 kV/m). Toutefois, il n'existe actuellement aucune donnée dans la littérature sur l'impact biologique éventuel de ce type de signaux. Dans ce travail de thèse des cellules gliales humaines (U251 MG) en culture ont été exposées pendant 45 minutes, ou 2 heures, en condition athermique, et plusieurs analyses biologiques ont été réalisés : expression génique d'une batterie de gènes biomarqueurs du stress cellulaire et analyse par microscopie de l'intégrité cellulaire. Quel que soit le test utilisé, les résultats ont toujours été négatifs. Ceci montre qu'aucun stress cellulaire n'a eu lieu lors de l'exposition des cellules à une onde électromagnétique de 300 ou 500 MHz, de forte puissance crête. La seconde partie de ce travail de thèse porte sur l'évaluation des effets des ondes millimétriques (OMM) à 60,4 GHz, en cas de stress énergétique. Nous avons étudié l'impact de l'exposition aux OMM, en présence ou en absence de 2-déoxy-glucose, sur la production d'ATP, le potentiel redox (NADPH) et l'expression génique. Par une approche transcriptomique, nous avons observé qu' un traitement au 2-déoxy-glucose, induit une forte réponse cellulaire. La co-exposition aux OMM modifie faiblement cette réponse génique (4 gènes sur 523 semblent être différentiellement exprimés). Par contre, l'exposition est sans effet sur le potentiel redox ou sur la production d'ATP. / In vitro studies were conducted to evaluate the biological effects of two types of radiofrequency waves. In the first part, we studied the radiofrequency (300 and 500 MHz) used in medical imaging at high resolution (MRI). These radio waves are pulsed (millisecond) with strong peaks power (E = 1.8 kV/m). However, there is currently no data in the literature, on the potential biological impact of such signals. This thesis examines whether exposure to this type of signal, may or may not, trigger a cellular stress. Human glial cells (U251 MG) in culture were exposed for 45 minutes or 2 hours in athermal conditions, and several biological tests were performed: gene expression of stress biomarkers or cell integrity by Cellomics technology. Whatever the test used, no significant modification was observed between the control and the exposed cells. This strongly suggests that no cellular stress occurred during the exposure of cells to high peak power RF pulses. The second part of this thesis specifically examines the effect of millimeter waves (MMW) at 60.4 GHz in cells deprived from glucose. We investigated whether exposure to MMW, in the presence or absence of 2-deoxy-glucose has an effect on ATP production, redox potential (NADPH) and gene expression. We found no genes differentially expressed between the sham control and the exposed cells. In contrast, when cells are submitted to a metabolic stress (treated with 2dG), we found that MMW radiation significantly modifies the gene expression (4 genes out of 523 are differentially expressed). However, OMM exposure has no effect on the redox potential or ATP production.