Essais 1-G sur fondations superficielles : simulateur sismique et lois de similitudes

Un cadre théorique et technique est développé afin de permettre la réalisation d'essais à la table vibrante visant l'étude du comportement de fondations superficielles reposant sur sol pulvérulent sec. Une revue exhaustive de la littérature est réalisée et permet de dégager les principales problématiques ainsi que de faire le point sur l'état des connaissances dans le domaine. Est ensuite développée une théorie de modélisation dimensionnelle spécifiquement appliquée à l'étude des sols en condition 1-g devant permettre de prédire adéquatement le comportement d'une structure réelle en fonction du comportement d'une structure de petite taille au laboratoire. Cette approche est basée sur les recommandations de plusieurs auteurs et sur le modèle de la mécanique d'état critique. L'aspect technique du projet comprend le développement d'un système de confinement pour des échantillons de sols de grandes dimensions. Le système permet d'obtenir des conditions de déformations de type champs libre pour un cas de déformation plane. Ces conditions sont obtenues via l'utilisation d'un mécanisme novateur de dissipation d'énergie, spécifiquement développé dans le cadre de ce projet de recherche. L'analyse structurale complète de la boîte est réalisée et présentée en détails. Un sable naturel de la région de Montréal, un sable à mortier, est étudié au laboratoire de l'Université Laval. Ce sable doit pouvoir servir de support à la fondation lors des essais à la table vibrante. L'objectif est de permettre de dégager les propriétés mécaniques du sol afin de recourir à la théorie de la modélisation ce qui permettra d'assurer une concordance entre le comportement du modèle en laboratoire et la structure réelle. Finalement, une analyse numérique est réalisée afin d'évaluer l'impact des frontières rigides sur le comportement en rotation des fondations superficielles. L'objectif est d'évaluer la distance minimale devant être respectée en fonction de la pression de contact entre la semelle et le sol afin de permettre de maximiser les dimensions de la fondation utilisée au laboratoire lors des essais 1-g

Étude de la réponse dynamique d'une structure existante avec prise en compte de l'interaction dynamique sol-structure dans le contexte de l'Est du Canada

Ce travail quantifie l’impact de la prise en considération de l’interaction dynamique sol-structure (IDSS) dans le processus d’évaluation sismique d’un bâtiment institutionnel type du Québec construit sur un dépôt de sol postglaciaire dans le contexte sismique de l’Est du Canada. Pour y parvenir, des analyses comparatives de la réponse d’une structure sous sollicitation sismique ont été réalisées suivant des approches d’analyse sismique de complexité croissante, soit la méthode pseudo-dynamique, l’analyse temporelle non-linéaire sans considération de l’IDSS, l’analyse temporelle non-linéaire avec considération de l’IDSS via la méthode des sous-structures et finalement l’analyse temporelle non-linéaire d’un modèle couplé sol-structure. Le système structural étudié provient d’un bâtiment institutionnel typique des années 1970 dont le système de résistance aux forces sismiques est composé de quatre cadres en béton armé de trois travées et trois étages. L’analyse s’est concentrée sur l’étude individuelle d’un des cadres du bâtiment. Le cadre possède une hauteur de 12,2 m et une largeur de 20 m. Le dépôt de sol considéré est un emplacement de catégorie E situé dans le bassin de l’ancienne mer de Champlain dans les environs de la vallée de Breckenridge Creek (QC). Il s’agit d’un dépôt argileux profond ayant fait l’objet d’une vaste campagne d’investigation géotechnique par la Commission géologique du Canada (Crow et al., 2017). La modélisation numérique de la structure et du dépôt de sol est réalisée dans le logiciel OpenSees. Des modèles bidimensionnels sont développés afin d’étudier la réponse dynamique de la structure sans prise en compte de l’IDSS, l’interaction cinématique, la réponse dynamique de la structure avec prise en compte de l’IDSS avec la méthode des sous-structures et la réponse dynamique de la structure dans un modèle global sol-structure. La non-linéarité du sol est modélisée avec une loi de comportement non-linéaire avancée capable de considérer l’écrouissage isotropique et la réduction du module de cisaillement en fonction de la déformation de cisaillement. Les accélérations des différents étages, les déplacements relatifs ainsi que les efforts dans les colonnes sont enregistrés pour chaque approche de modélisation et servent de base de comparaison pour évaluer l’impact de l’IDSS sur la réponse de la structure. Pour le cas étudié, les résultats montrent que la méthode des sous-structures peut-être efficacement appliquée à des situations où la sismicité anticipée est faible à modérée, c’est-à-dire des situations ou la non-linéarité des systèmes (sol et structure) demeure marginale. Dans le cas de forts séismes, où la non-linéarité des systèmes est importante, l’utilisation de la méthode directe est préférable à condition de simuler : (a) la non-linéarité de la structure, afin de capturer la perte de résistance et les modifications à la rigidité en cours de chargement dynamique, (b) la non-linéarité du sol au moyen d’une courbe adéquate de réduction de module permettant de simuler correctement le comportement hystérétique du sol, et (c) l’impact du poids de la structure sur les contraintes effectives de confinement du sol. Les résultats montrent également que la prise en considération de l’IDSS mène généralement, pour les situations qui sont considérées dans le présent travail, à une réduction des efforts et des accélérations aux étages de la structure (jusqu’à 30 %), mais entraine une augmentation des déplacements relatifs (de 12 à 30 % selon les étages). Ces résultats sont similaires à ceux rapportés dans la littérature. Les résultats montrent également que les déplacements du sol de fondation entrainent une modification importante de la réponse structurale qui n’est pas capturée par la méthode des sous-structures

Impact of initial stress field heterogeneity in dynamic soil–structure interaction

This article covers the impact of soil initial stress field heterogeneity (ISFH) in wave-passage analysis and in prescribed structural acceleration in the context of dynamic soil–structure interaction (DSSI) analysis. ISFH is directly related to the natural behavior of soil where a significant increase in net effective confinement, as is the case in the foundation soil under a building, tends to increase the soil’s modulus and strain. This creates a heterogeneous stress field in the vicinity of the foundation elements, which results in a modification of the dynamic behavior of the soil–structure system. A simple method for considering the impact of ISFH on the value of the soil’s modulus and strain was developed using the direct DSSI approach. The method was used to analyze numerical artifacts and its impact on the surface acceleration values of a nonlinear two-dimensional (2D) numerical soil deposit under transient loading. This analysis was followed by a sample application for a three-story, three-bay concrete moment-resisting frame structure erected on a deep soil deposit. Floor acceleration and relative displacement were used for comparison. The soil deposit was modeled using the typical geotechnical properties of fine-grained, post-glacial soil samples obtained in Eastern Canada from in situ geotechnical borehole drilling, geophysical surveys, and laboratory testing. Ground motion was based on eastern calibrated seismic signals. The results of the soil deposit analysis show that ISFH had a significant impact on surface acceleration values. The effect was found to be period-dependent and to have a direct impact on prescribed acceleration values at the base of structure. Thus, failure to take the effects of ISFH into consideration can lead to errors in calculating prescribed structural accelerations (i.e. over- or underestimation). -- Keywords : Dynamic soil–structure interaction ; direct modeling ; finite element ; Eastern Canada ; post-glacial deposits

Large-scale sequencing identifies multiple genes and rare variants associated with Crohn’s disease susceptibility

peer reviewe

What does it mean to be a family physician? Exploratory study with family medicine residents from 3 countries.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the conceptions that family medicine residents from 3 countries have of the roles and responsibilities of family physicians in order to gain a better understanding of challenges that might transcend the specific contexts of different health care systems. DESIGN: Qualitative study using focus groups. SETTING: Resident training programs in France, Belgium, and Canada. PARTICPANTS: A total of 57 residents in the last year of training. METHOD: Ten focus groups were conducted in 3 countries: 2 in France, 3 in Belgium, and 5 in Canada. All focus groups were held in different cities, with residents registered in different universities in France and Canada and with residents from the same university in Belgium. The study was informed by Abbott's conceptual framework on the system of professions. Each 90-minute focus group was moderated by the same researchers. The transcripts were analyzed according to the immersion-crystallization method. MAIN FINDINGS: Respondents shared common conceptions of the family physician's role: continuity of care and patient advocacy were seen as the foundations of the discipline. Respondents also shared a sense of discomfort about how accessible they were expected to be for patients and about the scope of family practice. They saw family medicine as flexible and reported that they strove for balance between their professional and personal life goals. All respondents strongly believed that their profession was undervalued by the medical schools where they trained. CONCLUSION: This exploratory study suggests that there are more similarities than differences in the understanding that future family physicians from different countries have of their discipline and of their careers. We observed a tension between a desire to develop a "new general practice" and the more traditional vision of the discipline. The culture in academic settings appears to contribute to the persistent low appeal of being a primary care physician

Paraffin-embedded tissue is less accurate than frozen section analysis for determining VHL mutational status in sporadic renal cell carcinoma.

International audienceINTRODUCTION: Literature controversies exist regarding the prognostic value of VHL mutations. The objective was to compare paraffin-embedded and frozen section specimens for VHL mutations detection and to evaluate the reliability of DNA analysis in formalin-fixed tissues. METHODS: Seventy-six patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) previously assessed for VHL status from frozen samples were included. Seventy-three tumor samples were known to be mutated for VHL. DNA was extracted and an electrophoresis was performed to determine DNA quality. The whole coding sequence was synthesized by double PCR amplification followed by sequencing. Sequencing results were compared with those previously determined from frozen samples. RESULTS: DNA could be extracted from the 76 paraffin samples. DNA quality was highly degraded and significantly less amplified by PCR in 34.2%, resulting in no sequence available for analysis in 57.7% and discordance with frozen samples in 42.3% of the cases respectively. VHL mutations were found in 52.1% of the whole paraffin samples whereas 98% were mutated; 72% could be sequenced, resulting in 69.1% of VHL mutations in this subset. Only half of observed mutations were fully consistent with frozen analysis in the 3 exons. Neomutations were found in 10.5% and 28.9% of known mutations in frozen samples were not detected in paraffin blocks. Only DNA quality significantly influenced PCR amplification and sequencing. CONCLUSION: Tumoral DNA extraction and VHL mutation analysis can be performed from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue in RCC. But mutations identified tissues are not strictly concordant with those from frozen analysis and therefore results obtained from FFPE samples should be interpreted with care

Loss of expression of TIMP3 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

International audienceAIMS: In clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) represents the central positive mediator of tumour angiogenesis while VEGF receptor (VEGFR) is the primary target of anti-angiogenic therapies. TIMP3 is a physiological VEGFR-2 antagonist and thus could be considered as an anti-angiogenic factor. We therefore determined the status of this physiological inhibitor in CCRCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Archival tumour from 105 patients was studied. TIMP3 expression was analysed using immuno-histochemistry and real-time RT-PCR. Results were correlated with clinicopathological variables. To analyse the mechanisms of gene silencing involved, we performed Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) and methylation-specific MLPA (MS-MLPA). At last, we evaluated the main upstream pathway described implicating TGFbetaRII, which induces TIMP3 expression. RESULTS: A down-expression of TIMP3, determined by immunohistochemistry, affected 100/105 renal cancers (95.2%). TIMP3 mRNA levels were significantly lower in high-grade tumours. Loss of heterozygosity of the TIMP3 gene was observed in 8 tumours (7.6%) and the 5'CpG island of the TIMP3 promoter was found to be methylated in 25 tumours (23.8%). A down-expression of TGFbetaRII was found in 85/105 CCRCCs (80.9%). A significant correlation was found between TIMP3 expression and TGFbetaRII expression. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first demonstration that the loss of TIMP3 expression is observed in almost all CCRCCs. This loss of expression is a common molecular event in CCRCC. It may be an important initiation step for tumour development in a complex process implicating loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 22q, promoter hyper-methylation and inactivation of the TGFbetaRII pathway

PPARγ is functionally expressed in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

International audiencePeroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonists have been demonstrated to exert an inhibitory effect on cell growth in several tumor models, including clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC). PPARγ has therefore been proposed to be a potential therapeutic target. Thus, the PPARγ gene must be expressed and not altered in cancer cells. We have therefore analyzed tumor specimens collected from 63 patients with CCRCC who underwent partial or total nephrectomy. The multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay was used to detect deletions in the PPARγ gene. The majority of the tumors (48/63; 76.2%) did not present alterations. Two samples (3.2%) presented a deletion of the non-coding exon A1. Nine samples (14.3%) showed large heterozygous deletions in chromosome 3p including PPARγ. Potential mutations were analyzed by DNA sequencing of the 6 coding exons of the PPARγ gene. No mutation was found in exons 1-5. In exon 6, a silent polymorphism was detected in 14 samples (22.2%). CCRCC were found to express the PPARγ1 isoform. The expression level of PPARγ was measured by real-time quantitative PCR. A significantly reduced transcript level was associated with an elevated Fuhrman grade. Finally, we analyzed the expression of angiopoietin-like 4, a known PPARγ target gene, in CCRCC cell lines cultured in the presence of rosiglitazone, a PPARγ agonist. A strong induction was found in the 3 cell lines tested, indicating that PPARγ is functional in all these cell lines. In conclusion, we show here that PPARγ is expressed and functional in CCRCC, prerequisites for being a potential target for CCRCC treatment

Itinéraires sociologiques

Itinéraires sociologique