Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Building block approach'

The ship design process is complex and strongly influenced by both the inherent technical complexity and interactions of subsystems. These arise from within ships and from external influences, such as the design environment and the capabilities provided by the available tools. These difficulties are particularly found in the design of service vessels, such as warships. Both requirements and performance of the ship are multi-faceted and some aspects may not be readily amenable to numerical description and assessment, particularly in the eady stages of the design process. Preliminary ship design is characterised by exploration of options and the investigation of design drivers and relationships, with great variability in the design definition adopted by designers. This provides significant potential for investigation of alternative and innovative design solutions. A wide range of broad approaches and detail procedures for the application of computers to preliminary ship design have been proposed, including an architecturally centred approach to preliminary ship design. The latter has been previously proposed as a method for the integration of the technical and stylistic aspects. The most recent implementation of the Design Building Block approach is as a module within the PARAMARINE ship design software, known as SURFCON. This research commenced with evaluating and demonstrating this implementation fit for use in preliminary ship design by modelling of a conventional vessel. A detailed procedure for using the tool was developed and this procedure was demonstrated by the development of a similar design. The Design Building Block approach was subsequently applied to a range of innovative preliminary ship design studies. These covered a range of vessel types and also differed in their overall objectives, including the assessment of the feasibility of a new concept and the evaluation of the impact of specific capabilities on the overall ship design. The research confirmed that the use of the integrated spatial and numerical model, with an interactive graphical display, increased transparency in modelling and analysis, while greatly enhancing the designer's understanding of the design drivers. The flexibility and relative ease with which major features of the design could be modified, encouraged the exploration of alternatives and led to a ship design process akin to the sketching processes in product and architectural design. Further research is proposed in the areas of interface design to support innovate design, incorporation of further simulation and numerical approaches, together with the integration of systems engineering aspects into innovative preliminary ship design.

The design of functional materials for specific applications has been an ongoing challenge for scientists aiming to resolve present and future societal needs. A burgeoning interest was awarded to developing methods for the design and synthesis of hybrid materials, which encompass superior functionality via their multi-component system. In this context, Metal-Organic Materials (MOMs) are nominated as a new generation of crystalline solid-state materials, proven to provide attractive features in terms of tunability and versatility in the synthesis process. In strong correlation with their structure, their functions are related to numerous attractive features, with emphasis on gas storage related applications. Throughout the past decade, several design approaches have been systematically developed for the synthesis of MOMs. Their construction from building blocks has facilitated the process of rational design and has set necessary conditions for the assembly of intended networks. Herein, the focus is on utilizing the single-metal-ion based Molecular Building Block (MBB) approach to construct frameworks assembled from predetermined MBBs of the type MNx(CO2)y. These MBBs are derived from multifunctional organic ligands that have at least one N- and O- heterochelate function and which possess the capability to fully saturate the coordination sphere of a single-metal-ion (of 6- or higher coordination number), ensuring rigidity and directionality in the resulting MBBs. Ultimately, the target is on deriving rigid and directional MBBs that can be regarded as Tetrahedral Building Units (TBUs), which in conjunction with appropriate heterofunctional angular ligands are capable to facilitate the construction of Zeolite-like Metal-Organic Frameworks (ZMOFs). ZMOFs represent a unique subset of MOMs, particularly attractive due to their potential for numerous applications, arising from their fully exploitable large and extra-large cavities. The research studies highlighted in this dissertation will probe the validity and versatility of the single-metal-ion-based MBB approach to generate a repertoire of intended MOMs, ZMOFs, as well as novel functional materials constructed from heterochelating bridging ligands. Emphasis will be put on investigating the structure-function relationship in MOMs synthesized via this approach; hydrogen and CO2 sorption studies, ion exchange, guest sensing, encapsulation of molecules, and magnetic measurements will be evaluated.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an empirically based psychosocial intervention that targets psychological flexibility processes and has demonstrated benefits in the treatment of a variety of mental health conditions. A faster pace of training research is needed in order to inform empirically based training guidelines and this requires the development of new measures of clinical skill. The ability to identify psychological flexibility processes as they occur in therapy sessions and to discriminate between effective and ineffective interventions may be one foundational skill for ACT. This dissertation developed and evaluated a web-based discriminative ability assessment focused on this skill, called the ACT Online Competency Assessment (ACT OCA).

Simulated therapy sessions in the Learning ACT manual’s companion DVD (Luoma, Hayes, & Walser, 2007) were adapted into a video coding task wherein participant ratings of ACT-consistent and ACT-inconsistent interventions along with the psychological flexibility processes involved were compared with expert ratings, such that higher scores indicated greater agreement with experts across three subscales. The ACT OCA was distributed in an online survey to 189 undergraduates recruited from psychology classes at the University of Nevada in Reno who had no training in ACT. This same survey was distributed to 209 participants in intensive experiential ACT workshops conducted by expert trainers. 62 undergraduates provided sufficient data and were compared with 108 therapists who provided sufficient data. Changes associated with ACT training were examined amongst 64 workshop participants who provided Pre- and Post-workshop survey responses.

Therapists demonstrated superior ACT OCA performance and also reported higher levels of acceptance and mindfulness relative to undergraduates. Amongst workshop participants superior ACT OCA performance was correlated with superior performance in an ACT Knowledge Questionnaire and was correlated on some subscales with: ACT books read, ACT workshops attended, hours of simulated ACT sessions observed, ACBS membership status, and years spent in an ACT supervision group. Comparisons of Pre- and Post-workshop surveys indicated improvements in the ACT OCA as well as in psychological flexibility. Greater psychological flexibility at Pre predicted greater improvements in the ACT OCA at Post. However, psychological flexibility was also associated with lower ACT OCA scores at Pre. Limitations included the lack of a randomized control condition and high rates of drop-out. This study demonstrated an assessment development strategy with broad relevance to dissemination research and with particular importance to ACT’s functional contextual conceptualization of fidelity.

Nel presente documento vengono illustrate le potenzialità delle micro strutture reticolari e le relative tecniche di additive manufacturing necessarie per realizzarle. A partire da questo vengono presentate le problematiche relative all'analisi FEM di tali strutture, confrontando i risultati ottenuti dalle simulazioni con dati sperimentali ricavati da articoli scientifici. Tali difficoltà sono legate alla complessità di queste strutture e all'elevato numero di elementi. Infine, viene proposto un approccio di tipo "building block" per risolvere le difficoltà computazionali sopra citate e vengono valutati pro e contro di questa soluzione.

This thesis presents the feasibility, advantages and impact on Preliminary Ship Design of an approach to integrate ship configurational design with the modelling and simulation of a range of crewing issues, such as operations and evacuation. Integrating personnel movement simulation into preliminary ship design introduces the assessment of onboard operations at the front-end of the design process, informing the design and enabling improved operability while the design is still amenable to changes. The approach to accomplish this integration is discussed with the aim of informing all parties involved in the design of ships with regard to the main aspects of personnel operability and on board safety. The research was undertaken as part of a three years research project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) entitled “Guidance on the Design of Ships for Enhanced Escape and Operation”. The project aimed at bringing together the University of Greenwich developed “maritimeEXODUS” personnel movement simulation software and the SURFCON implementation in the PARAMARINE suite of the Design Building Block approach to Preliminary Ship Design, which originated with the UCL Ship Design Research team. The approach and procedural implications of integrating personnel movement simulation into the preliminary ship design process are presented through a series of SURFCON ship design case studies. With the UK Ministry of Defence as the industrial partner to the project, this study on “design for operation” concentrates on naval vessels, which provide excellent examples of complex environments. Design studies, based on the Royal Navy Type 22 Batch III Frigate design, were analysed using PARAMARINE, maritimeEXODUS and bespoke interface software produced by the candidate. Technical aspects of the development of the interface software are discussed from a procedural perspective, focusing on integration and usability issues. The discussion addresses alternative options to visualising the simulation results and how to integrate into a ship design model a minimum level of detail sufficient to conduct simulations able to inform the designer, while retaining the flexibility the design requires in early stages design. The thesis concludes by summarising the opportunities that integrating operational simulation into preliminary ship design opens up for the future practice of ship design, contributing to the debate on the nature of ship design and of Computer Aided Preliminary Ship Design.

One of the most effective measures of congestion control on freeways has been ramp metering, where vehicle entry to the freeway is regulated by traffic signals (meters). Meters are run with calibrated influx rates to prevent highway saturation. However, recent observations of some metering sites in San Diego, CA indicate that metering, during peak hour demand, is helping freeway flow while sometimes creating considerable traffic back-ups on local streets, transferring congestion problems from the freeway to intersections. Metering problems stem largely from the difficulty of designing an integrated, dynamic metering scheme that responds not only to changing freeway conditions but also to fluctuating demand throughout the ramp network; a scheme whose objective is to maintain adequate freeway throughput as well as minimize disproportionate ramp delays and queue overspills onto surface streets. Simulation modeling is a versatile, convenient, relatively inexpensive and safe systems analysis tool for evaluating alternative strategies to achieve the above objective. The objective of this research was to establish a basic building block for a discrete system simulation model, ONRAMP, based on a stochastic, mesoscopic, queueing approach. ONRAMP is for modeling entrance ramp geometry, vehicular generation, platooning and arrivals, queueing activities, meters and metering rates. The architecture of ONRAMP's molecular unit is designed in a fashion so that it can be, with some model calibration, duplicated for a number of ramps and, if necessary, integrated into some other larger freeway network models. SLAM.II simulation language is used for computer implementation. ONRAMP has been developed and partly validated using data from eight ramps at Interstate-B in San Diego. From a systems perspective, simulation will be short-sided and problem analysis is incomplete unless the other non-technical metering problems are explored and considered. These problems include the impacts of signalizing entrance ramps on the vitality of adjacent intersections, land use and development, "fair" geographic distribution of meters and metering rates throughout the freeway corridor, public acceptance and enforcement, and the role and influence of organizations in charge of decision making in this regard. Therefore, an outline of a contextual systems approach for problem analysis is suggested. Benefits and problems of freeway control via ramp metering, both operational short-term and strategic long-term, are discussed in two dimensions: global (freeway) and local (intersection). The results of a pilot study which includes interviews with field experts and law enforcement officials and a small motorist survey are presented.

The workdescribed here was undertaken at the University ofBrighton between 1986 and 2006 in order to assist Computer Science students to acquire practical software development skills, primarily in the areas of real-time systems and object-oriented programming. The contribution to knowledge represented by this work is the development of a set of design principles for educational software, and a variety of software artefacts which demonstrate the applicability ofthese principles. The publications span two decades and describe artefacts covering a number of areas in the curriculum related to software development. They address a range of topics within Computer Science due to the rapidly-evolving nature of the discipline, but they have led to the development of a common philosophy towards the development of educational software, and they each provide an original approach to the topics they address. The success of this philosophy and the originality of the work is evidenced by the fact that they have each been adopted by other educationaf institutions, have been widely praised by students and educators, and have in many cases led to related work by others. This critical appraisal concentrates on describing the evolution of a coherent educational rationale which underpins the various artefacts described here, and on placing this more firmly within the context ofestablished educational theory.

While concessions to labour mobility at the international level seem off the agenda, with the General Agreements on Trades in Services essentially tabled, the past decades have produced a proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs), some of which are facilitating labour mobility specifically. In this paper, the author first conducts a comparative overview of RTAs that have a form of labour mobility programmes: namely, ECOWAS, ASEAN, the European Union, NAFTA, CARICOM and MERCOSUR. Building on an overview of the regulatory frameworks, institutions and legal instruments of these RTAs, the author seeks to find if patterns or lessons to be learned emerge that are relevant from a global perspective and to enhance the legal architecture of international labour mobility. The findings show positive outcomes, with some RTAs generating trade benefits and even moving forward with a common passport based on the newly shared regional identity, and at times even creating dispute settlement and legal systems for regional litigious matters. On the other hand, this exercise also points to various problems such as the poor implementation of the labour mobility provisions, to overly strict restrictions based on skill and to difficulty securing documents to benefit from the labour mobility programmes - in some of the agreements. In the second part, the author discusses these challenges faced in these regional systems. She notes that prioritising skilled as opposed to low-skilled workers has not yielded a comparative advantage and may also be fostering irregular movements. She also highlights that trade liabilities emerge from the association of countries with similar levels of development and that it accentuates the North-South paradigm. These problems disrupt access to the benefits of the programmes, which ultimately creates irregular migrations and uneven labour standards for migrant workers. Finally, the author finds that most RTAs reviewed are developing their own legal frameworks with limited interest for the international instruments available, which are at best a source of inspiration. In the third part, the author invites the reader to challenge many preconceived ideas on international mobility emerging from the first two sections, and shares her thoughts on ways forward to build an international framework, based on existing scholarly work and considering the unpopularity of the GATS. She concludes with a discussion on ‘new regionalism’ as an alternative until a shared international framework to facilitate migrations is set up, with the possibility of a merger between RTAs from the North and the South. This, she argues, could possibly unleash the full benefits of labour mobility such as increased GDPs, poverty reduction and tackling irregular migrations; benefits that have not been entirely felt to date.

Malgré des décennies de recherche sur l’optimisation de boucle auxhaut niveau et leur intégration réussie dans les compilateurs C/C++et FORTRAN, la plupart des systèmes de transformation de bouclene traitent que partiellement les défis posé par la complexité croissanteet la diversité du matériel d’aujourd’hui. L’exploitation de laconnaissance dédiée a un domaine d’application pour obtenir le codeoptimal pour cibles complexes, tels que des accélérateurs ou des microprocessorsmulti-coeur, pose des problèmes pour les formalismeset outils d’optimisation de boucle existants. En conséquence, de nouveauxschémas d’optimisation qui exploitent la connaissance dédiéea un domaine sont développées indépendamment sans profiter dela technologie d’optimisation de boucle existante. Cela conduit à despossiblités d’optimisation raté et ainsi qu’à une faible portabilité deces schémas d’optimisation entre des compilateurs différents. Un domainepour lequel on voit la nécessité d’améliorer les optimisationsest le calcul de pochoir itératifs, un probléme de calcul important quiest réguliérement optimisé par les compilateurs dédiées, mais pourlequel générer code efficace est difficile.Dans ce travail, nous présentons des nouvelles stratégies pour l’optimisationdédiée qui permettent la génération de code GPU haute performancepour des calculs de pochoir. À la différence de la façon dontla plupart des compilateurs existants sont mis en oeuvre, nous découplonsla stratégie d’optimisation de haut niveau de l’optimisationde bas niveau et la spécialisation nécessaire pour obtenir la performanceoptimale. Comme schéma d’optimisation de haut niveau, nousprésentons une nouvelle formulation de “split tiling”, une techniquequi permet la réutilisation de données dans la dimension du tempsainsi que le parallélisme équilibré à gros grain sans la nécessité derecourir à des calculs redondants. Avec le “split tiling”, nous montronscomment intégrer une optimisation dédiée dans un traducteurgénérique source-à-source, C vers CUDA, une approche qui nouspermet de réutiliser des optimisations existants non-dédiées. Nousprésentons ensuite notre technique appelée “hybrid hexagonal / parallelogramtiling", un schéma qui nous permet de générer du codeque cible directement les préoccupations spécifiques aux GPUs. Pourconclure notre travail sur le "loop tiling", nous étudions la rapport entre“diamond tiling” et “hexagonal tiling”. À partir d’une analyse de“diamond tiling” détailée, qui comprend les exigences qu’elle posesur la taille de tuile et les coefficients de front d’onde, nous fournissonsune formulation unifiée de l’“hexagonal tiling” et du “diamondtiling” qui nous permet de réaliser un “hexagonal tiling” pourvdes problèmes avec deux dimensions (un temps, un espace) dans lecadre d’un usage dans un optimiseur générique, comme “Pluto”. Enfin,nous utilisons cette formulation pour évaluer l’“hexagonal tiling”et le “diamond tiling” en terme de rapport de calcul-à-communicationet calcul-à-synchronisation.Dans la deuxième partie de ce travail, nous discutons nos contributionsaux composants de l’infrastructure les plus important, nos“building blocks”, qui nous permettent de découpler notre optimisationde haut niveau tant des optimisations nécessaires dàns la générationde code que de l’infrastructure de compilation générique. Nouscommençons par présenter le nouveau “polyhedral extractor” (pet),qui obtient une représentation polyédrique d’un morceau de code C.pet utilise l’arithmétique de Presburger en sa généralité pour élargirle fragment de code C supporté et porter une attention particulièreà la modélisation de la sémantique des langages même en présencede dépassement de capacité des entiers
Despite decades of research on high-level loop optimizations and theirsuccessful integration in production C/C++/FORTRAN com- pilers, most compilerinternal loop transformation systems only partially address the challengesposed by the increased complexity and diversity of today’s hardware. Especiallywhen exploiting domain specific knowledge to obtain optimal code for complextargets such as accelerators or many-cores processors, many existing loopoptimization frameworks have difficulties exploiting this hardware. As aresult, new domain specific optimization schemes are developed independentlywithout taking advantage of existing loop optimization technology. This resultsboth in missed optimization opportunities as well as low portability of theseoptimization schemes to different compilers. One area where we see the need forbetter optimizations are iterative stencil computations, an importantcomputational problem that is regularly optimized by specialized, domainspecific compilers, but where generating efficient code is difficult.In this work we present new domain specific optimization strategies that enablethe generation of high-performance GPU code for stencil computations. Differentto how most existing domain specific compilers are implemented, we decouple thehigh-level optimization strategy from the low-level optimization andspecialization necessary to yield optimal performance. As high-leveloptimization scheme we present a new formulation of split tiling, a tilingtechnique that ensures reuse along the time dimension as well as balancedcoarse grained parallelism without the need for redundant computations. Usingsplit tiling we show how to integrate a domain specific optimization into ageneral purpose C-to-CUDA translator, an approach that allows us to reuseexisting non-domain specific optimizations. We then evolve split tiling into ahybrid hexagonal/parallelogram tiling scheme that allows us to generate codethat even better addresses GPU specific concerns. To conclude our work ontiling schemes we investigate the relation between diamond and hexagonaltiling. Starting with a detailed analysis of diamond tiling including therequirements it poses on tile sizes and wavefront coefficients, we provide aunified formulation of hexagonal and diamond tiling which enables us to performhexagonal tiling for two dimensional problems (one time, one space) in thecontext of a general purpose optimizer such as Pluto. Finally, we use thisformulation to evaluate hexagonal and diamond tiling in terms ofcompute-to-communication and compute-to-synchronization ratios.In the second part of this work, we discuss our contributions to importantinfrastructure components, our building blocks, that enviable us to decoupleour high-level optimizations from both the necessary code generationoptimizations as well as the compiler infrastructure we apply the optimizationto. We start with presenting a new polyhedral extractor that obtains apolyhedral representation from a piece of C code, widening the supported C codeto exploit the full generality of Presburger arithmetic and taking special careof modeling language semantics even in the presence of defined integerwrapping. As a next step, we present a new polyhedral AST generation approach,which extends AST generation beyond classical control flow generation byallowing the generation of user provided mappings. Providing a fine-grainedoption mechanism, we give the user fine grained control about AST generatordecisions and add extensive support for specialization e.g., with a newgeneralized form of polyhedral unrolling. To facilitate the implementation ofpolyhedral transformations, we present a new schedule representation, scheduletrees, which proposes to make the inherent tree structure of schedules explicitto simplify the work with complex polyhedral schedules.The last part of this work takes a look at our contributions to low-levelcompilers

Professional interactions that are both functional and mutually beneficial are rare. The purpose of this study is to explore an application of a Third Culture Building (TCB) approach, a mutually constructed interpersonal process between two individuals, for Black American professionals (with advanced knowledge acquired from institutions of higher learning), to generate a new space in Predominantly White Institutions (PWis). These institutions include settings where the racial composition is becoming consistently more diverse (through past desegregation efforts). Although the U.S. has moved beyond integration and the monumental Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, racism and intercultural barriers that prevent functional cross-cultural communication still exist in these settings. This research is directed toward answering the question: How might Black American professionals generate a Third Culture space in PWis through cross-cultural social exchange? The research builds on my previous study where the TCB approach was found to be conducive for the intercultural barriers faced by Black Americans in PWis. The research emphasizes the perspective of Black Americans and de-emphasizes the perspective of White Americans, given the body of literature that points to their adaptation and intercultural interactions in the U.S. and in international contexts. A sample of six Black American professionals (ages 30 to 72; 4 men and 4 women) from my baseline study was invited to take part in this study. Respondents were chosen based on their backgrounds and similarity of race, to learn about their perspectives of the intercultural interactions in PWis. Participants live in the Midwest region of the U.S. Using interpretive, critical theory, and other qualitative approaches, the discussions from a focus group and interviews were transcribed and combined with the interviewer's notes. The participants' responses were organized around TCB frameworks and the interview questions, and then reduced to codes. Two evaluators reviewed the interview data, codes, and themes.

La synthèse de graphène par approche « bottom-up » fait l’objet de nombreux travaux de recherche ayant pour but de contrôler les propriétés électroniques et optiques de ce matériau par la fabrication de nanostructures avec une précision atomique. D’autre part, le contrôle de dopant dans le graphène permettant d’en moduler les propriétés suscite un grand intérêt et dans ce contexte l’utilisation de porphyrines avec un taux d’azote contrôlé est attrayante. Par leurs ressemblances structurelles, les porphyrines π-étendues peuvent être considérées comme des nanoparticules de graphène dopées à l’azote (GQDs) présentant de fortes propriétés infrarouge tandis que les briques de construction à base de porphyrines peuvent être utilisées pour la synthèse sur surface de deux type de nanoarchitectures de graphene appélées nanorubans (GNRs) et nanomèches (GNMs). Cette thèse a pour objectif de développer la synthèse de porphyrines à base d’anthracenes et de les utiliser comme précurseurs pour la fabrication de nanostructures. La première partie de cette thèse est dédiée à la synthèse organique de différentes anthracenylporphyrines et à l’étude de leurs assemblages sur surface dans la chambre d’un microscope à effet tunnel. La seconde partie est dédiée à l’étude de formation de porphyrines π-étendues via une méthode pyrolyse flash pouvant activer thermiquement des réactions de couplage par déhydrogenation entre des hydrocarbures aromatiques polyycliques (PAHs) et des porphyrines. La dernière partie est dédiée à la modification post synthétique d’une tetrabromoanthracenylporphyrine par addition de PAHs via la réaction de couplage de Suzuki-Miyaura et à la caractérisation des propriétés optiques de ces porphyrines nouvellement formées
The synthesis of graphene via bottom-up approach is a hot topic of research that aims to control the electronic and optical properties of this material by the fabrication of atomically precised nanostructures. Moreover, the control of dopant in graphene is of great interest to modulate the properties of the material. In this context, the contribution of porphyrins with a controlled content of nitrogen is attractive in this context. Because of structural similarities with graphene quantum dots (GQDs), π-extented porphyrins can be regarded as nitrogen-doped GQD with promising NIR properties. Porphyrins are convenient building blocks for the synthesis on surface of nanoarchitectures of graphene called nitrogen-doped Graphene Nanoribbons (GNRs) and Graphene NanoMeshes (GNMs). This thesis aims to develop the synthesis of symmetrical and robust porphyrins with anthracenes and to use them as precursors for the fabrication of nanostructures. The first part of this thesis is dedicated to the organic synthesis of variety of anthracenylporphyrins and the study of their assemblies on surface in a chamber of a Scanning Tunneling Microscope. The second part is dedicated to the study of formation of π-extended porphyrins via a method of flash pyrolysis able to thermally activate dehydrogenative coupling reactions between Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and porphyrins. The last part is dedicated to the post synthetic modification of a tetrabromoanthracenylporphyrin with additional PAHs via Suzuki-Miyaura coupling and the characterization of the optical properties of the resulting porphyrins

Composites play an important role as structural materials in a range of engineering fields due to their potential to combine the best mechanical properties of their constituents. In biology, composites are ubiquitous and exhibit fascinating and precise architectures at fine length scales, where bone, hexactinellid sponges and nacreous abalone shells are prime examples. By learning from nature a de novo approach is applied leading to the synthesis of bio-inspired tough composites with simple building blocks. Fundamental design principles employed by nature in the assembly of mineralized composites are elucidated with simple mesoscale discrete lattice models. Computational investigations show that specific topological arrangements of soft and stiff phases in composites can markedly change the stress and strain transfer through a system, thus fundamentally changing their fracture mechanical behavior. Indeed, architectures are created from brittle building blocks that exhibit stable fracture propagation under sustained load transfer and increasing deformation. Furthermore, a detailed study of the basic interactions between constituents phases in a composite lead to fundamental insights of elastic interactions and stiffness ratios as controlling elements of the fracture mechanical behavior of composite systems. Tuning the linear elastic constitutive behavior of the matrix phase in a bone-like topology creates a set of composites spanning a wide area of toughness vs. stiffness in the Ashby plot. One specific composite system, designed at ‘minimal cost’, exhibits a fracture toughness modulus eight times larger than its constituents while retaining over 80% of the Young’s modulus of its stiffest phase. Finally the insights gained from the computational investigations are used as input in a design process resulting in 3D printed bio-inspired composite specimens. Utilizing multi-material 3D printing with structural features at micrometer length scales composites are printed with toughness moduli an order of magnitude larger than their building blocks. A computational model capable of predicting the experimentally observed mechanisms and trends in mechanical behavior is also produced. The research presents exciting outlooks for the future design of tough, structurally robust bio-inspired materials with applications in a wide range of engineering disciplines.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-104).
Composites play an important role as structural materials in a range of engineering fields due to their potential to combine the best mechanical properties of their constituents. In biology, composites are ubiquitous and exhibit fascinating and precise architectures at fine length scales, where bone, hexactinellid sponges and nacreous abalone shells are prime examples. By learning from nature a de novo approach is applied leading to the synthesis of bio-inspired tough composites with simple building blocks. Fundamental design principles employed by nature in the assembly of mineralized composites are elucidated with simple mesoscale discrete lattice models. Computational investigations show that specific topological arrangements of soft and stiff phases in composites can markedly change the stress and strain transfer through a system, thus fundamentally changing their fracture mechanical behavior. Indeed, architectures are created from brittle building blocks that exhibit stable fracture propagation under sustained load transfer and increasing deformation. Furthermore, a detailed study of the basic interactions between constituents phases in a composite lead to fundamental insights of elastic interactions and stiffness ratios as controlling elements of the fracture mechanical behavior of composite systems. Tuning the linear elastic constitutive behavior of the matrix phase in a bone-like topology creates a set of composites spanning a wide area of toughness vs. stiffness in the Ashby plot. One specific composite system, designed at 'minimal cost', exhibits a fracture toughness modulus eight times larger than its constituents while retaining over 80% of the Young's modulus of its stiffest phase. Finally the insights gained from the computational investigations are used as input in a design process resulting in 3D printed bio-inspired composite specimens. Utilizing multi-material 3D printing with structural features at micrometer length scales composites are printed with toughness moduli an order of magnitude larger than their building blocks. A computational model capable of predicting the experimentally observed mechanisms and trends in mechanical behavior is also produced. The research presents exciting outlooks for the future design of tough, structurally robust bio-inspired materials with applications in a wide range of engineering disciplines.
by Leon Sokratis Scheie Dimas.
S.M.

Thiophene-containing liquid crystals (LCs) often exhibit attractive physical characteristics for use as ferroelectric materials, which offer several advantages for display applications. In addition, fluorine substituents on the aryl core of LCs are known to confer favorable LC properties; they often suppress or eliminate higher ordered smectic mesophases and improve dielectric anisotropy, viscosity and melting points. However, the development of smectic ferroelectric LC devices has proven challenging due to chevron defects. Our goal is to further understand structure-mesophase property relationships in LCs that bear S-heterocycle cores and to begin to understand those structural features that favor chevron defect-free ferroelectric LCs. In this dissertation, we present an exploration into the effect of the fluorothiophene core unit on the mesogenic properties of LCs. We thus synthesized three fluorothiophene-2-carboxylate-based targets (2.2, 2.3 and 2.4), a novel series of 2-alkoxy-3-fluorothiophene-based (4.2a-4.2e and 4.3) and 5-alkoxy-3-fluorothiophene-based (5.1a, 5.1b and 5.2) LCs. We also present the synthesis of thienyl- O-carbamate and phosphoramide precursors with a view to investigating the directing ability of the carbamate and phosphoramide groups in electrophilic fluorination reactions. In the synthesis of the three 3-fluorothiophene-2-carboxylate-based targets (compounds 2.2-2.4), all of which did not display the desired SmC* phases, sequential Balz-Schiemann (thermal-/microwave-assisted), fluorination, bromination, and regioselective Suzuki coupling reactions were utilized. Fluoro-alkoxy thiophene-based compounds are largely unknown in the literature. We investigated several strategies as potential pathways for generating fluoro-alkoxythiophenes. Using a halogen/lithium exchange-fluorination approach, the synthesis of the first series of 3-fluoro-2-alkoxythiophene-based LCs (compounds 4.2a-4.2e and 4.3) was accomplished in good yields. Notably, these reactions gave high fluorination to protodemetalation ratios. A practical solution to remove the protodemetalated byproduct by mercuration was found, thus making the purification/isolation of the fluoro-product easy. No synthetic approaches to 5-alkoxy-substituted 3-fluorothiophenes have previously been reported. 5-Alkoxy-3-fluorothiophene-based LCs (compounds 5.1a , 5.1b and 5.2) were synthesized using a bromine/lithium exchange-fluorination protocol. In a final study, we have developed an efficient approach to 2-thienyl-O-carbamate, and 2-thienyl-O- phosphorodiamidate derivatives. In this dissertation we present in detail a review of the relevant literature, the synthesis of the above materials, and the results of mesophase evaluation of these novel materials.

The presented dissertation thesis deals with modular design of analog circuits in CMOS technology. The goal of the work is to design a set of modular microelectronic building blocks and realize the selected modern active circuits, working primarily in current mode. Nevertheless, the modular approach can be used for design of generally known classical elements, e.g. opamps, as well. As a part of the work, the development of the totally new highly versatile active circuit CCTA has been done, including detailed analysis of utilization and introduction of the most interesting applications. This circuit CCTA, together with relative, already theoretically treated circuit CDTA, has been realized here for the first time, in two different topologies. Final circuits were tested. On the basis of measurement results the library of behavioral models for PSpice was created, including exemplary simulations of the selected applications. Based on the obtained knowledge the brief comparison of voltage mode circuits and current mode circuits was done.

The exploitation of colloidal building blocks with morphological and functional anisotropy facilitates the generation of complex structures with unique properties, which are not exhibited by isotropic particle assemblies. Herein, we demonstrate an easy and scalable bottom-up approach for the programmed assembly of hairy oppositely charged homogeneously decorated and Janus particles based on electrostatic interactions mediated by polyelectrolytes grafted onto their surface. Two different assembly routes are proposed depending on the target structures: raspberry-like/half-raspberry-like or dumbbell-like micro-clusters. Ultimately, stable symmetric and asymmetric microstructures could be obtained in a well-controlled manner for the homogeneous–homogeneous and homogeneous–Janus particle assemblies, respectively. The spatially separated functionalities of the asymmetric Janus particle-based micro-clusters allow their further assembly into complex hierarchical constructs, which may potentially lead to the design of materials with tailored plasmonics and optical properties.

Les bâtiments en maçonnerie est l’une des typologies les plus courantes en Europe. Etant construite sans considération sismique, cette typologie est très vulnérable face aux sollicitations transversales. A l’instar des centres urbains historiques, la ville de Nice connait une concentration des blocs de bâtiments caractérisés par une continuité structurelle. Plusieurs observations post-sismiques ont montré que les bâtiments attenants au sein d’un bloc n’ont pas un comportement dynamique indépendant, car il est fortement impacté par les constructions adjacentes. Il s’agit de l’effet de bloc. Par conséquent, les considérer individuellement reflète un comportement imprécis voire irréaliste. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’évaluer la vulnérabilité sismique du bâti en maçonnerie existant à grande échelle (ville). La méthodologie d’évaluation proposée est basée sur une approche mécanique et considère plus particulièrement l’impact de l’effet de bloc sur la réponse des bâtiments.Ce faisant, la démarche multiéchelle proposée comprend trois étapes complémentaires et est appliquée à la ville de Nice. Nous développons dans un premier temps, une nouvelle Matrice de Typologies de Bâtiments représentative de la zone d’intérêt. La base de données typologiques correspondante est ensuite construite pour déterminer les typologies de bâtiments les plus répandues. Un ensemble d’archétypes représentatifs des structures en maçonnerie est retenu comme cas d’étude. Ils sont modélisés par le principe du cadre équivalent par macroélément et analysés par l’approche statique non linéaire, Pushover. Nous obtenons ainsi une courbe de capacité caractéristique pour chaque typologie étudiée. Enfin, un outil est développé pour la détermination des niveaux de dommages, en conformité avec l’Echelle Macrosismique Européenne EMS-98. Il répond à la complexité du milieu urbain. En effet, il estime le niveau de dommage moyen attendu pour chaque typologie, en fonction des actions sismiques locales. D’autant plus que le bâti niçois est implanté pour la plus part sur des remplissages alluvionnaires. Ce qui augmente les effets de site lithologiques. Ces derniers sont pris en compte dans la définition du scénario de l’aléa sismique. Il est représenté par des spectres de réponse en accélération et correspond au séisme de scénario Ligure de 1887 (Mw = 6.9). Le modèle est basé sur l’approche N2 pour la détermination du point de performance.Les résultats ont confirmé plusieurs observations post-sismiques, et montrent que l’effet de bloc a un impact considérable sur la vulnérabilité des bâtiments. Cette influence peut prendre trois formes différentes : évolution de la résistance du bâtiment, modification de son mécanisme de ruine global ou alors variation du niveau de dommages attendu. La méthodologie proposée constitue une première contribution dans l’évaluation des bâtiments à grande échelle avec la prise en compte des interactions entre les bâtiments adjacents. Sa modularité permet d’intégrer d’autres paramètres et d’élargir le champ d’application. Par ailleurs, elle remet en question le texte réglementaire actuel (EC8), qui est basé à l’échelle du bâtiment considéré isolé pour évaluer sa vulnérabilité.Le scénario du risque sismique résultant consiste en un guide un guide précieux pour les politiques et les acteurs de la construction. Il peut être utilisé pour la mitigation des risques ou l’optimisation des plans d’évacuation en situation de crise
Masonry buildings are one of the most common typologies in Europe. Being built without seismic considerations, this typology is very vulnerable to the transversal loads. Like the historic urban centers, the city of Nice knows a concentration of the building blocks characterized by a structural continuity. Several post-seismic observations have shown that adjoining buildings within a block do not have an independent dynamic behavior, as it is strongly impacted by the adjacent buildings. This is the block effect. Therefore, considering them individually reflects an imprecise or even unrealistic behavior. This thesis aims to assess the seismic vulnerability of the masonry structures at large-scale (city). The proposed evaluation methodology is based on a mechanical approach and considers more particularly the impact of the block effect on the response of buildings.The proposed multi-scale approach includes three complementary steps and is applied to the city of Nice. First, we develop a new Matrix of Building Typologies representative of the area of interest. The corresponding typological database is then constructed to determine the most common typologies of Nice buildings. A set of representative archetypes of masonry structures is used as a case study. They are modeled by the equivalent frame approach and analyzed by the nonlinear static approach, Pushover. We thus obtain a characteristic capacity curve for each studied typology. Finally, a tool is developed for the determination of damage levels, in accordance with the European Macroseismic Scale EMS-98. It responds to the complexity of the urban environment. Indeed, it estimates the average level of damage expected for each typology, according to the local seismic actions. Especially since the building of Nice is implanted for the most part on alluvial fillings. This increases the lithological site effects. These are taken into account in the definition of the seismic hazard scenario. It is represented by acceleration response spectra and corresponds to the Ligure scenario earthquake of 1887 (Mw = 6.9). The model is based on the N2 approach for determining the performance point.The results confirmed several post-seismic observations and show that the block effect has a considerable impact on the vulnerability of buildings. This influence can take three different forms: evolution of the resistance of the building, modification of its mechanism of global ruin or then variation of the expected level of damage. The proposed methodology is a first contribution in the evaluation of large-scale buildings with the consideration of interactions between adjacent buildings. Its modularity makes it possible to integrate other parameters and to widen the field of application. In addition, it questions the current norms (EC8), which is based on the scale of the building considered isolated to assess its vulnerability.The resulting seismic risk scenario is a guide and a valuable guide for construction policy and actors. It can be used for risk mitigation or optimization of evacuation plans in crisis situations

碩士
中興大學
財務金融系所
94
The least-squares Monte Carlo simulation proposed by Longstaff and Schwartz (2001) is claimed to price any American options even with very complicated provisions in the contract. However, the main problem is how to choose the optimal regression settings, including the explanatory variables, different basis functions, and the degree of these basis functions. For some complex exotic options without other numerical solutions, such as Taiwanese convertible bonds, it is difficult to determine optimal regression settings. To deal with this problem, a building-block method is adopted to determining the optimal regression settings of the least-squares Monte Carlo simulation model for pricing Taiwanese convertible bonds. We separate the Taiwanese convertible bond into several market-observed exotic options, and find the optimal regression settings in the leastsquares Monte Carlo simulation model to deal with the exotic features via comparing the results from the lattice models. We will apply the least-squares Monte Carlo simulation methods to pricing a simple convertible bond with hard call and put provisions, a Parisian option, and an arithmetic average reset option respectively. According to the optimal regression settings for each exotic option, a pricing framework based on the least-squares Monte Carlo simulation model is constructed to price Taiwanese convertible bonds. This method overcomes the shortcoming of the least-squares Monte Carlo simulation that how to determine the optimal regression settings on the exotic options without numerical solutions. Furthermore, this framework also affords a direction to value more complicated derivatives in the future.

The cyanide ligand has frequently been used to prepare clusters with novel magnetic properties due to its ability to provide an efficient pathway for superexchange between metal centers that are bound in an end-to-end fashion. One of the common synthetic approaches in this chemistry is to design suitable cyanide containing precursors and then to react such building blocks with metal complexes consisting of accessible sites. The triphos ligand (triphos: 1,1,1-tris(diphenylphosphinomethyl)ethane) has been employed in this vein to prepare metal complexes, one of which is a five coordinate paramagnetic complex (S = 1/2) with a square pyramidal metal center, [CoII(triphos)(CN)2]. A family of molecular squares, [{MIICl2}2{CoII(triphos)(CN)2}2] (M= Mn (2), Fe (3), Co (4), Ni (5), and Zn (6)), has been synthesized by the reaction of CoII(triphos)(CN)2 and MCl2 (M= Mn, Co, Ni, Zn) or Fe4Cl8(THF)6 in CH2Cl2/EtOH mixture. A series of cyanide-bridged trinuclear complexes, {[Co(triphos)(CN)2]2 [M(MeOH)4]}(ClO4)2 ( M = Mn (7), Fe (8), Co (9), and Ni (10)) and tetranuclear complexes, {[Co(triphos)(CN)2]2[M(MeOH)4]2}(ClO4)4 ([Co2M2] M = Mn (11) and Ni (12)) have been synthesized in a similar fashion by the reaction of CoII(triphos)(CN)2 and M(ClO4)2.6H2O (M= Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) in methanol. The trinuclear compounds (7-9), and tetranuclear complexes (2-6, 11, 12), are characterized by antiferromagnetic coupling between metal centers while magnetic behavior of 10 indicates the presence of ferromagnetic interactions between the paramagnetic metal centers. Interactions between magnetic orbitals of Co(II) and M(II) ions were also investigated by means of the density functional theoretical (DFT) calculations. Another triphos containing building block, [(triphos)Re(CN)3] anion (13), has been employed to prepare derivatives of a cubic SMM cluster with four octahedral Re(II) ions and four tetrahedral Mn(II) sites bridging through cyanide ligand. The reactions of Re(II) precursor with MnI2 and solvated Mn(II) ions resulting in derivatives of Re4Mn4 cube with different ligands attached to the Mn center other than the chloride atom were reported. Our efforts on linking these cubes using organo cyanide ligands such as dicyanamide (dca) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) to form extended networks were also discussed.

Summary in German and English
Zusammenfassung Im schleichenden Rückgang gemeindlichen Lebens wird eine anhaltende Inkulturationskrise sichtbar. Der gegenwärtigen Kirche in ihrer milieuverengenden Präsenz gelingt es nicht, in die vielfältigen sozialen Räume der Bundesrepublik vorzudringen. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist ein Diskussionsbeitrag zur gemeinsamen Suche nach einer zukünftigen Sozialgestalt der Kirche in unserer postmodernen Umgebung. Ausgehend von der zentralen Bedeutung des Gottesdienstes als Mitte der Gemeinde, wird zunächst dargelegt, dass eine zukünftige Kirchenentwicklung nur vom Gottesdienst her geschehen kann. Dies gilt vornehmlich dann, wenn er als Aufbau von Gemeinde der Brüder und Schwestern positioniert wird und nicht als Programmm oder Veranstaltung. Der seit Anfang der 1990iger Jahre wahrnehmbare Zweitgottesdienstboom könnte ein missionarisch- strategischer Ansatzpunkt sein, um die soziologisch ausdifferenzierte Bevölkerung zu erreichen. Plurale Gottesdienstkonzepte als Gemeindepflanzungsansätze werden zu Drehund Angelpunkten einer zukünftigen, notwendigerweise multioptionalen, kulturrelevanten Sozialgestalt von Kirche. In einer Kirche mit vielfältigen Gottesdienstkonzepten wird auch die Frage nach der christlichen Einheit neu gestellt und als plurale Ausdrucksform diskutiert. Summary English The gradual deterioration of congregational life is unveiling an ongoing inculturation crisis. With its milieu constricting presence, the church is currently not able to enter into the multifaceted social environments in Germany. This paper represents a contribution to the discussion concerning our joint search of the church's future social form in our post-modern society. Departing from the major significance of the church service as the centre of the congregation, it is argued that future development of the church can only take place from within the church service. This is especially true if it is intended as congregational development by the brothers and sisters, and not as programme or event. The boom of second church services we have been observing since the beginning of the 1990s could become a missionary-strategic starting point in order to reach a sociologically diversified population. Plural church service concepts as a basic approach to church planting become the linchpin of a future, necessarily multioptional and culturally relevant social form of church. In a church with manifold church service concepts, the question of Christian unity is being asked anew and discussed as a plural form of expression.
Christian Spirituality Church History and Missiology
M. Th. (Missiology)

Design and synthesis of novel supramolecular architectures is an interesting area of research in the last two decades. Intermolecular interactions assisted self-assembly of molecular and macromolecular building blocks play an important role in obtaining the desired shape and function of the supramolecular architectures. A combination of the classical covalent synthesis with the self-assembly assisted formation of well-defined architectures (noncovalent synthesis) allows us to develop novel multifunctional materials. Our approach in this area is focused on the design of novel molecular and biomolecular building blocks and the optimization of structure-property relationship of the materials using self-assembly approach. This presentation will focus on our recent efforts on the design and synthesis of polymers and oligopeptides for investigation of the self-assembly and fine-tuning the structure-property relationship. Also, some highlights will be given on our initial investigation on how hard minerals are synthesized by natural molecules through the self-assembly processes.
Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Packaging is an important element responsible for brand growth and one of the main rea-sons for producers to gain competitive advantages through technological innovation. In this re-gard, the aim of this work is to design a fully autonomous electronic system for a smart bottle packaging, being integrated in a European project named ROLL-OUT. The desired application for the smart bottle is to act as a fill-level sensor system in order to determine the liquid content level that exists inside an opaque bottle, so the consumer can exactly know the remaining quantity of the product inside. An in-house amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide thin-film transistor (a-IGZO TFT) model, previously developed, was used for circuit designing purposes. This model was based in an artificial neural network (ANN) equivalent circuit approach. Taking into account that only n-type oxide TFTs were used, plenty of electronic building-blocks have been designed: clock generator, non-overlapping phase generator, a capacitance-to-voltage converter and a comparator. As it was demonstrated by electrical simulations, it has been achieved good functionality for each block, having a final system with a power dissipation of 2.3 mW (VDD=10 V) not considering the clock generator. Four printed circuit boards (PCBs) have been also designed in order to help in the testing phase. Mask layouts were already designed and are currently in fabrication, foreseeing a suc-cessful circuit fabrication, and a major step towards the design and integration of complex trans-ducer systems using oxide TFTs technology.