“Parametric Study of the Effects of Water to Cementitious Materials Ratio and Cementitious Materials Content on the Durability Properties of High Performance Concrete

This study takes a detailed look at the factors that affect the durability of concrete and how they can be applied to the development of a useful performance specification and help to extend the life of bridge decks and other concrete structures exposed to the elements of nature. A series of fifteen mixes (with varying cement contents and water/cement ratios) were performed in order to determine exactly which of these factors have a significant effect on the durability of a concrete mix. Controlling the water/cement ratio is necessary in order to control strength and permeability. Cement content was found to have little bearing on strength while the amount of cement affected the shrinkage significantly. Shrinkage is also dramatically affected by the amount of water in the mix. The results of the mixes were then used to develop a new specification for a bridge deck mix that will potentially improve the lifespan of bridge decks. Prescriptive versus performance specifications were also explored with the benefits and deficiencies of each form of specification looked at in detail

Determination of Area of Fire Origin through Examination of Structural Failure and Deformation

The effects of fire on steel have long been noted and studied. However, a scientific connection between the area of origin for a fire and the amount of steel deformation observed at the scene has never been established. The development and implementation of this type of analysis has the potential to decrease investigation times significantly as the types of structures to which this method would be applicable are typically large, expansive structures. In order to investigate the relationship between structural steel deformations and a fire’s origin, a series of six tests were performed in a smaller size portal frame steel constructed building. The results from these tests were imported into a finite element program called “Vulcan” to investigate the possibility of recreating the conditions observed in the field using a structural modeling program with relative success. The research presented in this dissertation, directed as noted above, was successful in demonstrating the possibility of using the pattern of structural deformations as an indicator of fire origin

An Assessment of the Use of Structural Deformation as a Method of Determining Area of Fire Origin

Current methodologies of origin investigation have yet to include the structural deformations seen in steel buildings as a viable indicator of the area of origin of a given fire. As many steel structures are of relatively large size, it is often difficult to determine the area of origin using the typical dig and sift methods advocated in NFPA 921, especially if the extent of the fire was large and there were no witnesses as to the origin of the fire. As has been investigated for years, the performance of steel is highly affected by the application of heat. The science of predicting the deformations of steel members is such that an investigator may be able to “reverse engineer” the fire to get an idea of its relative growth rate and length of combustion even if it is not possible to compute a heat release rate curve. The information derived from careful analysis of the deformations may also yield valuable input for use in computer fire modeling. Using several example cases, this paper explores the methodology that can be applied in order to use the structural deformations as a viable tool to determine the point of origin of large, single story steel framed structures

Cluster Populations in A115 and A2283

This paper presents four color narrow-band photometry of clusters A115 ($z=0.191$) and A2283 ($z=0.182$) in order to follow the star formation history of various galaxy types. Although located at similar redshifts, the two clusters display very different fractions of blue galaxies (i.e. the Butcher-Oemler effect, $f_B = 0.13$ for A115, $f_B = 0.30$ for A2283). A system of photometric classification is applied to the cluster members that divides the cluster population into four classes based on their recent levels of star formation. It is shown that the blue population of each cluster is primarily composed of normal starforming (SFR < 1 M_{\sun} yrs$^{-1}$) galaxies at the high luminosity end, but with an increasing contribution from a dwarf starburst population below $M_{5500}= -20$. This dwarf starburst population appears to be the same population of low mass galaxies identified in recent HST imaging (Koo et al 1997), possible progenitors to present-day cluster dwarf ellipticals, irregulars and BCD's. Deviations in the color-magnitude relationship for the red galaxies in each cluster suggest that a population of blue S0's is evolving into present-day S0 colors at this epoch. The radial distribution of the blue population supports the prediction of galaxy harassment mechanisms for tidally induced star formation operating on an infalling set of gas-rich galaxies.Comment: 28 pages including 2 tables and 9 figures, AASTeX v4.0. Accepted by Ap.J. Data, referee report and response are avaliable from http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~j

Detectability evaluation of attributes anomaly for electronic components using pulsed thermography

Counterfeit Electronic Components (CECs) pose a serious threat to all intellectual properties and bring fatal failure to the key industrial systems. This paper initiates the exploration of the prospect of CEC detection using pulsed thermography (PT) by proposing a detectability evaluation method for material and structural anomalies in CECs. Firstly, a numerical Finite Element Modelling (FEM) simulation approach of CEC detection using PT was established to predict the thermal response of electronic components under the heat excitation. Then, by experimental validation, FEM simulates multiple models with attribute deviations in mould compound conductivity, mould compound volumetric heat capacity and die size respectively considering experimental noise. Secondly, based on principal components analysis (PCA), the gradients of the 1st and 2nd principal components are extracted and identified as two promising classification features of distinguishing the deviation models. Thirdly, a supervised machine learning-based method was applied to classify the features to identify the range of detectability. By defining the 90% of classification accuracy as the detectable threshold, the detectability ranges of deviation in three attributes have been quantitively evaluated respectively. The promising results suggest that PT can act as a concise, operable and cost-efficient tool for CECs screening which has the potential to be embedded in the initial large scale screening stage for anti-counterfeit

Prevalence of adulteration in dietary supplements and recommendations for safe supplement practices in sport

The prevalence of dietary supplement use among athletes continues to rise with 60–80% of athletes often reporting current or previous use of dietary supplements. While select dietary ingredients have been shown to improve acute performance and enhance training adaptations over time, it is important to still consider the risk vs. reward for athletes before opting to consume a dietary supplement. Previous work has indicated that certain dietary supplements may pose risks for inadvertent doping, may be susceptible to mislabelling, could be banned by certain governing bodies of sport, or pose health risks for certain populations. The purpose of the current narrative review is to summarize the prevalence of adulteration in dietary sport supplement products, outline the risks of inadvertent doping for athletes, and highlight best practices regarding safe supplementation strategies. Analytical studies have found anywhere from 14 to 50% of samples analyzed from dietary supplement products have tested positive for anabolic agents or other prohibited substances. It is important for the consumer to adhere to safe supplementation strategies, which include following serving size recommendations, cross-referencing ingredient profiles with the list of prohibited substances, choosing quality products that have been verified by a third-party certification program, and being cognizant of consuming multiple dietary supplement products with overlapping ingredient profiles. Once these practices have been considered, it is reasonable for an athlete to utilize dietary supplements as a strategy to optimize performance and health, with a low risk of failing a drug test (adverse analytical finding) and experiencing adverse events

PRMT5 Cooperates with pICln to Function as a Master Epigenetic Activator of DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Genes

DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair is critical for cell survival and genome integrity. Upon recognition of DSBs, repair proteins are transiently upregulated to facilitate repair through homologous recombination (HR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). We present evidence that PRMT5 cooperates with pICln to function as a master epigenetic activator of DNA damage response (DDR) genes involved in HR, NHEJ, and G2 arrest (including RAD51, BRCA1, and BRCA2) to upregulate gene expression upon DNA damage. Contrary to the predominant role of PRMT5 as an epigenetic repressor, our results demonstrate that PRMT5 and pICln can activate gene expression, potentially independent of PRMT5's obligate cofactor MEP50. Targeting PRMT5 or pICln hinders repair of DSBs in multiple cancer cell lines, and both PRMT5 and pICln expression positively correlates with DDR genes across 32 clinical cancer datasets. Thus, targeting PRMT5 or pICln may be explored in combination with radiation or chemotherapy for cancer treatment