Measuring the relationship conditions in person-centred and experiential psychotherapies : past, present, and future

This chapter looks at measuring the relationship conditions in person-centred and experiential psychotherapie

Identification and Characterization of Novel Caspase Inhibitors: The Unforeseen Effects of NSAIDs

Proper regulation of cell death and the inflammatory mechanism leading to cell death is vital for the development and homeostasis of living organisms. Dysregulation of cell death leads to cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and inflammatory conditions such as sepsis. Caspases are major players of cell death. In gram-negative bacteria induced sepsis, LPS directly binds to caspase-4 and 5 to induce pyroptosis. With the hypothesis that inhibition of caspase-4 may be required to provide protection from sepsis, the first goal of this research is to identify and characterize novel small molecules that inhibit caspase-4. Additionally, nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) provide analgesic and antipyretic effects, but the mechanism of their adverse side effects such as the gastrointestinal bleeding and development of ulcers is unknown. With the hypothesis that NSAIDs mechanism may involve caspases, the second goal of this research is to study the effect of NSAIDs on caspases. 3700 compounds from the Soft Focus Protease/Kinase Library (P/K) and Prestwick Chemical Library (FDA) were screened against caspase-4 activity using a Caspase-Glo enzymatic activity assay. Two compounds from P/K were identified as promising caspase-4 specific inhibitors. FDA screen revealed that 56% of the top caspase-4 inhibitors were NSAIDs. Further characterization of six diverse NSAIDs revealed NSAIDs are pan-caspase inhibitors and that their IC50 values are lower than the average concentration present in blood. Considering that the knockout of mice-homologous caspase-4 increased susceptibility of bacterial infection in mice gut and knockout of caspase-1 increased tumorogenesis in mice, NSAIDs being pan-caspase inhibitors has serious implications for NSAIDs’ side effects. This study supports the hypothesis that caspases may be involved in the mechanism of side effects of NSAIDs

Essays on Intergovernmental Fiscal Relationship

The aim of this dissertation is to explore a number of issues in intergovernmental fiscal relationships in the United States. Three independent essays in the dissertation focus on three different issues of interest in public finance: the response of school districts and county governments to changes in state government grant allocations; political determinants of presidential disaster declarations; and the crowding out of federal transfers to states by private charitable donations with special reference to the proportion of federal welfare grants to all 50 U.S. states over the period 2005 - 2013. Results in the first essay show that decreases in real per capita state grants cause statistically significant increases in per capita property taxes in Florida counties and school districts. However, the effect is stronger for counties as compared to the school districts. Another major result from this study is that property taxes, a major funding source for public education, decrease when the proportion of the young in total population increases. This could have important consequences for public education funding. Results from the second essay show that during the sample period, from 2000 to 2013, the average number of days for presidential disaster declarations was lower when the president is a Republican and the governor is a Democrat. The longest time delay in presidential disaster declarations occurred when the president is a Democrat and the governor is a Republican. The study also provides evidence that the higher the incumbent president’s vote share, the shorter is the delay in presidential disaster declarations. Additionally, it is found that the more salient the disaster event is (as measured by the number of newspaper articles per day), the shorter it takes for presidents to declare major disasters. The third essay provides evidence that state-level charitable contributions correlate significantly with federal public welfare grants to states. An increase in charitable contributions leads to a decrease in the proportion of federal grants allocated to public welfare, controlling for political and demographic factors. The study also shows that the level of crowding out that occurs is significantly higher than that predicted by the previous literature on the subject

Harnessing Electrical Power from Vortex-Induced Vibration of a Circular Cylinder

The generation of electrical power from Vortex-Induced Vibration (VIV) of a cylinder is investigated numerically. The cylinder is free to oscillate in the direction transverse to the incoming flow. The cylinder is attached to a magnet that can move along the axis of a coil made from conducting wire. The magnet and the coil together constitute a basic electrical generator. When the cylinder undergoes VIV, the motion of the magnet creates a voltage across the coil, which is connected to a resistive load. By Lenz's law, induced current in the coil applies a retarding force to the magnet. Effectively, the electrical generator applies a damping force on the cylinder with a spatially varying damping coefficient. For the initial investigation reported here, the Reynolds number is restricted to Re < 200, so that the flow is laminar and two-dimensional (2D). The incompressible 2D Navier-Stokes equations are solved using an extensively validated spectral-element based solver. The effects of the electromagnetic (EM) damping constant xi_m, coil dimensions (radius a, length L), and mass ratio on the electrical power extracted are quantified. It is found that there is an optimal value of xi_m (xi_opt) at which maximum electrical power is generated. As the radius or length of the coil is increased, the value of xi_opt is observed to increase. Although the maximum average power remains the same, a larger coil radius or length results in a more robust system in the sense that a relatively large amount of power can be extracted when xi_m is far from xi_opt, unlike the constant damping ratio case. The average power output is also a function of Reynolds number, primarily through the increased maximum oscillation amplitude that occurs with increased Reynolds number at least within the laminar range, although the general qualitative findings seem likely to carry across to high Reynolds number VIV

Structural Behavior of Steel Plate Embedded Hybrid GFRP Shapes

The civil infrastructure industry has been dominated by traditional materials such as steel, timber, and concrete. Although these materials offer great advantages, they have major durability issues in terms of corrosion, decaying, and cracking. Traditional material-based structures deteriorate frequently and require regular-interval repairs with huge expenditures. To resolve these maintenance and durability issues associated with traditional materials, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have gained some popularity in the past few decades because of their superior mechanical properties and durability. Carbon-FRPs (CFRPs) and glass-FRP (GFRPs) are the most commonly used FRPs in the market. However, in civil engineering applications, CFRPs are less preferred due to their very higher initial costs compared to that of GFRPs, and thus, GFRPs which are relatively cheaper are preferred in civil engineering applications. GFRPs are used extensively in the repair and rehabilitation of older structures; however, in new construction of civil structures, they have not gained momentum since decades due to their major drawbacks in terms of lower stiffness, lower shear capacity, brittle failure, lack of ductility, and connection issues, apart from their higher initial cost compared to traditional construction materials. This research focuses on hybridizing GFRP beams and bridge-deck panels through embedment of steel plates to improve their overall structural properties for their use in new constructions. As a preliminary study, a 46”x8.5” multi-cellular GFRP section was manufactured with two embedded 3”x0.375” steel plates using a vacuum assisted resin infusion process. The GFRP-steel hybrid panel was tested in a 4-point and 3-point bending setup; the results showed an increase in bending rigidity (EI) of the hybrid section by 66%, resulting in an improvement in serviceability limit with 38% reduction in deflection. Further, the hybrid section did not show any signs of stiffness or strain energy degradation under fatigue load for 50k cycles. The overall structural performance of the hybrid section was improved with an embedment of two steel plates inside the GFRP composite section. After successful initial results, the research further focused on steel plates embedded GFRP 6”x6”x0.5” box-beams. The control GFRP and hybrid GFRP-steel box-beam sections were investigated in terms of their bending, shear, and fatigue performance, flexural and shear stiffnesses, bolted connection strengths, failure modes, GFRP-steel interfacial bond behavior, and cost comparison. The 8 ft. long box-beams were tested in a 3-point bending setup at different L/D ratios to characterize the beam’s bending and shear stiffness. The experimental results showed a gain of 270% in flexural stiffness of hybrid GFRP-steel sections. Under fatigue, the hybrid beams did not show any signs of stiffness or strain energy degradation even after three million load cycles. The hybridized sections showed bilinear stress-strain behavior with adequate reserve strength within code specified serviceability limits. The bolt-connected GFRP-steel hybrid members showed increased joint strength and stiffness and ductile failure modes due to yielding of steel plates. The research also discusses the modeling of hybrid box-beams in the finite element modeling (FEM) software to characterize the structural behavior and response of hybrid GFRP-steel sections. The finite element analysis results were found to be clearly matching with the experimental and theoretical results. The GFRP-steel specimens cut from the fatigue-tested hybrid beams were observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the GFRP-steel interface and its bond integrity. The GFRP-steel interface regions were examined in terms of degree of resin cure through digital scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests. The cost comparison between GFRP and hybrid sections showed that the initial cost/stiffness of the hybrid section was only about 23% of the initial cost of the equivalent non-hybrid GFRP section. This research has contributed towards the development of cost-effective hybrid GFRP-steel members that can satisfy higher serviceability limits. The outcome of this work will be beneficial to engineers and designers in using hybrid GFRP-steel composite sections as primary structural members in new construction of buildings, highway bridges, pipelines, navigational gates and other pertinent structures

Ocelet modelling language and simulation tool: possible applications in pest management

Modelling spatial dynamics may be used to gather understanding on how insect populations develop in a given environment. Hypotheses and independent knowledge inferred from ground observations can be confronted for consistency, and the mechanisms requiring finer descriptions can also be identified. Different scenarios of pest management can then be simulated and the possible consequences of the measures taken assessed. However, spatial dynamics are expressions of multiple and complex ongoing processes, and their modelling at different temporal and spatial scales remains a challenging task. Various approaches have been proposed to address this, including cellular automata, agent-based systems, discrete event systems, system dynamics and geographic information systems, each displaying specific benefits in some domains of application, and weaknesses in others. In this area of research, we are exploring an approach based on the manipulation of graphs (mathematical object expressing a set of entities, some of which are linked) that are employed here in an innovative way for modelling landscape dynamics. Concepts essential for modellers had to be identified and formally defined. A modelling computer language (called Ocelet) was then developed, together with the grammar and syntax needed to manipulate these concepts, the compiler, and the environment/interface for building models and running simulations. Ocelet is thus both a modelling language and a simulation tool. To illustrate its usage, two case studies possibly pertinent for pest management are presented: 1) the dissemination of a pathogen among neighbouring agricultural plots, and 2) temporary pond and mosquito population dynamics for understanding Rift Valley Fever (RVF) occurrence. (Texte intégral