VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Improved Simplified Methods for Effective Seismic Analysis and Design of Isolated and Damped Bridges in Western and Eastern North America

The seismic design provisions of the CSA-S6 Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code and the AASHTO LRFD Seismic Bridge Design Specifications have been developed primarily based on historical earthquake events that have occurred along the west coast of North America. For the design of seismic isolation systems, these codes include simplified analysis and design methods. The appropriateness and range of application of these methods are investigated through extensive parametric nonlinear time history analyses in this thesis. It was found that there is a need to adjust existing design guidelines to better capture the expected nonlinear response of isolated bridges. For isolated bridges located in eastern North America, new damping coefficients are proposed. The applicability limits of the code-based simplified methods have been redefined to ensure that the modified method will lead to conservative results and that a wider range of seismically isolated bridges can be covered by this method. The possibility of further improving current simplified code methods was also examined. By transforming the quantity of allocated energy into a displacement contribution, an idealized analytical solution is proposed as a new simplified design method. This method realistically reflects the effects of ground-motion and system design parameters, including the effects of a drifted oscillation center. The proposed method is therefore more appropriate than current existing simplified methods and can be applicable to isolation systems exhibiting a wider range of properties.A multi-level-hazard performance matrix has been adopted by different seismic provisions worldwide and will be incorporated into the new edition of the Canadian CSA-S6-14 Bridge Design code. However, the combined effect and optimal use of isolation and supplemental damping devices in bridges have not been fully exploited yet to achieve enhanced performance under different levels of seismic hazard. A novel Dual Level Seismic Protection (DLSP) concept is proposed and developed in this thesis which permits to achieve optimum seismic performance with combined isolation and supplemental damping devices in bridges. This concept is shown to represent an attractive design approach for both the upgrade of existing seismically deficient bridges and the design of new isolated bridges.

Keywords: Design Optimization
Earthquakes
Isolated bridges
Record selection
Seismic design
seismic isolation and supplemental damping
Advisor: Christopoulos, Constantin
Tremblay, Robert
Juvenile Hormone Biosynthesis in the Cockroach, Diploptera punctata: The Characterization of the Biosynthetic Pathway and the Regulatory Roles of Allatostatins and NMDA Receptor

The juvenile hormones (JH) play essential roles in regulating growth, development, metamorphosis, ageing, caste differentiation and reproduction in insects. Diploptera punctata, the only truly viviparous cockroach is a well-known model system in the study of JH biosynthesis and its regulation. The physiology of this animal is characterized by very stable and high rates of JH biosynthesis and precise and predictable reproductive events that correlate well with rates of JH production. Many studies have been performed on D. punctata to determine the function of JH. However, the pathway of JH biosynthesis has not been identified. In addition, although many factors are known to regulate JH biosynthesis, the exact mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of my research was to elucidate the JH biosynthetic pathway in D. punctata and study the mechanisms by which allatostatin (AST) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor regulate JH production. I have (1) identified genes in the JH biosynthetic pathway, and determined their roles in JH biosynthesis; (2) investigated the mode of action of AST by determining the signaling pathway of AstR and the target of AST action; (3) determined the role of the NMDA receptor in JH biosynthesis using RNA interference and treatment with an NMDA receptor antagonist. To validate the application value of my research, AST analogs with high JH inhibitory activity were designed and their activities on JH biosynthesis were measured by in vitro and in vivo bioassays.

Keywords: cockroach
Juvenile hormone
regulation
reproduction
Advisor: Tobe, Stephen S
The Roles of Iddm30 and Iddm24 in the Immunopathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes in BioBreeding Rats

A successful approach to gain insights into the mechanisms underlying genetic association is to map disease-related sub-phenotypes. We focused on the beta cell-overexpression of Ccl11 and the differential proportions of inhibitory splenic macrophages in BB rats. We observed a time-dependent pancreatic upregulation of Ccl11, as well as a three-fold proportional splenic macrophage increase in BBDP rats compared to T1D-resistant ACI.1u.lyp animals. Through linkage-analysis of a cross-intercross of these two parental strains, these traits mapped to a chromosome 12 region that overlaps with Iddm30. Linkage analysis was confirmed by the BB.ACI-Iddm30 congenic line, where the BBDP allele is associated with increased pancreatic expression of Ccl11, increased proportion and inhibitory function of splenic macrophages; however, the same allele confers T1D-resistance. Analysis of islet-infiltrating T cells in Iddm30 congenic animals revealed that overexpression of pancreatic Ccl11, a prototypical Th2 chemokine, is associated with an enrichment in Th2 CD4+ T cells within the insulitic lesions. We also observed differential NO release by splenic macrophages from congenic animals that correlated with the ability of these cells to inhibit T cell activation. These results indicated that in BBDP rats, Iddm30 controls T1D-susceptibility through both the regulation of Ccl11 expression in β cells and the subsequent Th1/Th2 balance within islet-infiltrating T-lymphocytes, and raises the questions as to whether the inhibitory effect of splenic macrophages on T cell activation regulates disease risk. Ccr5 is a candidate gene for Iddm24.1 and we reported on multiple SNPs within the coding and promoter regions of the BBDP allele. Compared to the wild type WF allele, the BBDP variant of Ccr5 was expressed at greater levels. In addition, coding region polymorphisms result in amino acid substitutions of 2 adjacent residues located within the second extracellular loop, necessary for ligand binding. Assessment of signal strength through calcium flux analysis revealed that these polymorphisms mediated stronger signal transduction in the BBDP variant compared to the WF in response to its ligands, Ccl4 and Ccl5. We observed T cells expressing the BBDP Ccr5 variant to be more diabetogenic than their WF Ccr5 expressing counterparts, due to their increased ability to home to the pancreatic islets.

Keywords: BioBreeding rat
Ccl11
linkage analysis
splenic macrophages
type 1 diabetes
Advisor: Poussier, Philippe
Translational Studies of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) in Meconium and Hair as Biomarkers of Prenatal Ethanol Exposure Risk

The development of effective maternal and neonatal screening methods to identify individuals at risk for FASD is essential in addressing this substantially prevalent disorder. FAEE are non-oxidative ethanol metabolites validated as biomarkers of chronic ethanol exposure. This thesis presents a series of studies in animals and humans examining meconium and hair FAEE as measures of fetal exposure, population-health, and maternal ethanol use. Characteristics of meconium FAEE production were examined in guinea pig fetuses chronically exposed to a maternal ethanol dose of 4g/kg/day. Fetuses were sacrificed at three gestational ages (GD45, GD55, GD65) and evaluated for FAEE, hippocampal weight, and hepatic CYP2E1 activity. FAEE above 0.642 nmol/g was 96% sensitive and 100% specific in distinguishing ethanol-exposed fetuses from isocaloric-sucrose pair-fed controls (AUCROC = 0.999). FAEE correlated inversely with hippocampal weight at GD45 (rs = -0.943), GD55 (rs = -0.536) and GD65 (rs = -0.549). FAEE exhibited an inverse correlation with fetal hepatic CYP2E1 activity (rs = -0.799, p = 0.002), suggesting variability in CYP2E1 induction as a possible source of intra-litter variability in FAEE concentrations noted in this animal model and similar differences clinically observed in dizygotic twins. Performance of FAEE as a population screening tool was examined through collection of meconium from 93% of live PEI neonates over a one-year period (n=1307). This study, the first provincial incidence assessment of fetal ethanol exposure conducted in Canada; revealed a 3.1-4.4% incidence, 3-to-4 fold higher than estimates locally reported by the PEI Reproductive Care database. Performance of hair FAEE as a measure of maternal ethanol use was evaluated through examination of FAEE-positive hair samples from 199 female and 73 male subjects. Risk of false-positivity through use of ethanol-containing hair products was identified, however no population-level tendency towards higher FAEE in females was observed. Females exhibited lower concentrations of EtG, an alternative biomarker of consumption. FAEE EtG concordance was higher in males (69.9% vs. 36.2%), with evidence of EtG false-negativity in 26% of individuals with discordant results (n=111). These findings suggest that combined analysis of FAEE and EtG is optimal when assessing a female population through hair analysis.

Keywords: FAEE
FASD
Hair
Meconium
toxicology
Advisor: Koren, Gideon
A Phenomenological Approach to Comparison: The Non-Metaphorical Poetics of Paul Celan and Wang Wei

AbstractThis dissertation explores the grounds of comparison, and what makes comparison meaningful, through an encounter between Paul Celan (1920-1970), the pre-eminent post-war poet of the German language, and Wáng Wéi (701-761), one of the master poets of the Táng Dynasty when classical Chinese poetry was at its peak. A traditional approach to comparison would seek to establish certain "common denominators" by applying pre-given historical, cultural or linguistic influences as commensurable categories of analysis. However, the aesthetic qualities of both Celan's and Wáng Wéi's poems resist reduction to categories in common and thus defies the very notion of commensurability. I have instead employed insights from the phenomenological tradition - ranging from Husserl to Heidegger, Gadamer and Merleau-Ponty - to illuminate the complexity of the poets' similar positions, specifically their non-metaphorical poetics, resulting in contrapuntal dialogues between different ideas and expressions that are grounded in their respective cultural background. Developing from Husserl's "transcendental inter-subjectivity", my approach in particular applies Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of body to comparison.I, therefore, pursue three phenomenological concepts derived from Celan's poetics: Begegnung (Encounter), Ort (Site), and Licht (Light). Begegnung calls for an immanent alterity that formulates the condition of comparison; Ort indicates the site of Begegnung i.e. its context and circumstances, and Licht illuminates the consequences. Establishing counterparts from Chinese literary aesthetics in a dialogical analysis, I examine the poets' deep affinities in their poetic landscapes. Despite the separation of these literary works across epochs, continents and cultures, comparison in a phenomenological paradigm allows us to see more about these works than if they were regarded in isolation. As comparison and translation are intricately related, I include multiple translations and conclude with a discussion of how my phenomenological approach to comparison can be applied to the practice of translation as well.

Keywords: Comparison
German Postwar Poetry
Paul Celan
Phenomenology
Táng Poetry
Wang Wei
Advisor: Zilcosky, John
Sanders, Graham
Vibrationally-fluidized Granular Flows: Impact and Bulk Velocity Measurements Compared with Discrete Element and Continuum Models

A new laser displacement probe was developed to measure the impact velocities of particles within vibrationally-fluidized beds. The sensor output was also used to measure bulk flow velocity along the probe window and to provide a measure of the media packing. The displacement signals from the laser sensors were analyzed to obtain the probability distribution functions of the impact velocity of the particles. The impact velocity was affected by the orientation of the laser probe relative to the bulk flow velocity, and the density and elastic properties of the granular media. The impact velocities of the particles were largely independent of their bulk flow speed and packing density. Both the local impact and bulk flow velocities within a tub vibratory finisher were predicted using discrete element modelling (DEM) and compared to the measured values for spherical steel media. It was observed that the impact and bulk flow velocities were relatively insensitive to uncertainties in the contact coefficients of friction and restitution. It was concluded that the predicted impact and bulk flow velocities were dependent on the number of layers in the model. Consequently, the final DE model mimicked the key aspects of the experimental setup, including the submerged laser sensor. The DE method predictions of both impact velocity and bulk flow velocity were in reasonable agreement with the experimental measurements, with maximum differences of 20% and 30%, respectively. Discrete element modeling of granular flows is effective, but requires large numerical models. In an effort to reduce computational effort, this work presents a finite element (FE) continuum model of a vibrationally-fluidized granular flow. The constitutive equations governing the continuum model were calibrated using the discrete element method (DEM). The bulk flow behavior of the equivalent continuum media was then studied using both Lagrangian and Eulerian FE formulations. The bulk flow velocities predicted by the Lagrangian approach were in good agreement with those obtained using DEM simulations over a wide range of tub wall amplitudes. The local impact velocity distribution predicted by the DEM was also compared to the continuum model using the shear rate as a measure of the granular temperature.

Keywords: Continuum Modeling
Discrete Element Modeling
Fluidization
Granular Flows
Local Impact Behavior
Vibrationally-Fluidized Flows
Advisor: Spelt, Jan K.
Three Essays on Vertical Organization and Firm Strategy

My dissertation encompasses three essays exploring the interplay between vertical organization and firm strategy.The first study explores how a firm's market position shapes the design of vertical arrangements with suppliers. I develop a simple model showing that differentiated market positions increase quasi-rents in the face of supply hazards. As a consequence, firms competing from more differentiated market positions are also more willing to invest in contractual safeguards to mitigate these hazards. Analysis of trading relationships in the Costa Rican coffee industry provides strong empirical support for the main arguments. The findings also suggest that a complete understanding of contract duration and price premiums in supply relationships requires the integration of economizing and strategizing perspectives. The second study turns to the implications of discrete forms of organization. In particular, this essay examines how vertical integration and geographic location affect a firm's ability to adapt to a severe demand shock. Drawing on a rich dataset of manufacturing firms in Spain, I show that while vertically-integrated firms performed better in `steady state,' they suffered greater declines in the aftermath of the crisis. I also show that the performance difference is increasing in the level of agglomeration economies. These results thus highlight the interaction between organizational scope and location characteristics in determining firm performance outcomes.The third study examines the connection between firm scope and geography in greater detail, looking at the extent to which vertical integration affects a firm's propensity to locate in dense industrial clusters. I argue that since greater vertical scope allows firms to be less dependent on location-based agglomeration economies, more vertically-integrated firms are less likely to choose dense industrial clusters as their production sites. I provide empirical support through analysis of a rich dataset of manufacturing plants established in Mexico by U.S. firms. This study thus provides important new evidence on how vertical scope decisions can shape subsequent strategic choices and, ultimately, firm performance.

Keywords: Contracts
Firm boundaries
Firm strategy
Supply arrangements
Vertical integration
Vertical organization
Advisor: Oxley, Joanne E
Components of Optical Information for Depth Induce a Picture-Surface Angle Illusion

Perception of angles in two-dimensional (2D) shapes on a picture surface may be subject to error when the 2D shapes depict three-dimensional (3D) forms (Arnheim, 1954; Hammad et al., 2008a). This thesis tests the hypothesis that pictorial components of optical information for depth, available in the normal environment, cause an illusion in the perception of 2D shapes such as quadrilaterals on picture surfaces. Drawings of quadrilateral cube-tops were presented to participants as parts of 2D forms (1) depicting 3D parallelepipeds with long and short sides, shown by converging lines; (2) depicting cubes in parallel projection, with sides shown by parallel lines; (3) depicting asymmetric square-top pyramids, with wide bases shown by diverging lines; (4) depicting asymmetric triangle-top pyramids, with wide bases shown by diverging lines. In addition, tops of 3D objects will be drawn as (5) ellipses on 2D forms depicting cylindrical forms. Quadrilaterals will also be shown (6) depicting cubes with object-surface texture; (7) depicting cubes in apparent motion and (8) depicting cubes on a picture-surface that is itself depicted as highly textured - the latter is expected to reduce the illusion. Components of optical information for depth resulted in viewers overestimating the acute internal angles of the quadrilaterals. The theory tested here is that 2D features that provide optical information for slant-in-depth affect the perception of 2D shapes on the picture surface. The 3D information may make 2D shapes, including angles, appear closer to depicted 3D forms, and their angles, than is correct.

Advisor: Kennedy, John M
Nonlinear Optics at the Single-photon Level

In this thesis I report the first experimental observation of an interaction between a postselected single photon and an electromagnetic field containing a few thousand photons.This is the first observation of the nonlinear interactions due to a single freely propagatingphoton. To achieve this pioneering result, we have theoretically and experimentally studied nonlinear optics at the few-photon level. To the best of our knowledge, the pulse energy levels used for our experiments are the lowest energies used for cross-phase modulation in free space.Photon-photon interaction is vanishingly weak; the strength of this interaction can be enhanced in the presence of a material medium as mediator. In our experiment, we use an atomic coherence effect, namely Electromagnetically-induced Transparency (EIT), to produce a `giant' nonlinear interaction between two optical fields. We have observed a nonlinear phase shift of 18 ± 4 µrad per freely propagating single photon. This is done by sending very weak coherent state pulses into the medium and subsequently detecting single photons, inferring the existence of a photon in the interaction region.The optical setup, electronics and software that have been developed during the completion of this thesis provide the basis for several exciting future light-matter interaction experiments. We have produced phase-stable laser beams to create EIT in our cold Rubidium sample prepared in a Magneto-optical Trap (MOT). The laser system and the improved MOT setup have been built to be stable so that we can do very long data acquisition runs. We also have develop ed to ols and software with high precision and stability such that we can measure phase shifts down to micro-radian level.

Keywords: Cross-phase modulation
Light-matter interaction
Nonlinear Optics
Quantum Information Processing
Quantum Optics
Weak-value amplification
Advisor: Steinberg, Aephraim M.
Trajectories of Emotional Problems in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Immigrants

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine mental health trajectories in immigrants living in Canada. The first study examined the rates of emotional problems among parents, versus non-parents, using all three waves of data from a sample of immigrants in Canada (N = 7055). After controlling for a variety of socio-demographic covariates, results from multilevel logistic regression models indicated that immigrant parents have higher odds of reporting emotional problems in comparison to non-parent immigrants, and these differences are stable across the first four years following immigration. These effects were evident after ethnicity was included in the model and after controlling for relevant socio-demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, and immigrant category, suggesting an effect of caregiver strain. In terms of ethnic differences, Black, Arab, South Asian and East Asian respondents have emotional problems that increase at a faster rate in comparison to White immigrants over time. Results revealed that immigrants that endorsed being divorced without children are also particularly vulnerable. The second study examined depressive symptoms in a sample of mothers who were evaluated closely after the birth of a baby using four waves of data from the Kids Families and Places study. Results from latent growth curve models indicated that immigrant mothers showed significantly more depressive symptoms in comparison to Canadian born mothers. More specifically, Asian immigrants and Black immigrants were found to have higher levels of depressive symptoms in comparison to White Canadian mothers. It was found that socioeconomic indicators were among the best predictors of maternal depression in Asian immigrant and Black immigrant mothers. The overall goal of this dissertation is to highlight the importance of studying immigrants, as there are a number of stressors and challenges associated with immigration, which may lead to increased rates of mental health problems. These challenges may be even more burdensome for immigrants who must care for economically dependent children.

Keywords: Ethnicity
Immigrant
Mental Health
Advisor: Jenkins, Jenny M