This study examines anticipatory pharyngealisation (i.e., emphasis) in Libyan Arabic, across a hierarchy of prosodic boundary levels (syllable vs. word vs. phonological phrase vs. intonation phrase ‘IP’) in order to quantify the magnitude, and identify the planned domain of anticipatory pharyngealisation. The acoustic manifestation of pharyngealisation is lowering in the second formant (F2) in pharyngealised contexts compared to their plain cognates. To investigate speech production models of how pharyngealisation is anticipated in advance, F2 measurements were taken at onset, mid and offset points of both vowels (V) in a word-final VCV sequence, in the context [VbV # Emphatic trigger]. The strength of [#], a prosodic boundary, was varied syntactically to manipulate the presumed hierarchical strength of that boundary from zero (where the VbV and the trigger are in the same word) up to an intonational phrase boundary. We expect that the stronger the boundary, the greater the resistance to the spread of pharyngealisation. The duration of the final vowel (i.e., the pre-trigger vowel) was also measured to assess if pharyngealisation magnitude on it and on the first vowel is influenced by the temporal proximity to the emphatic trigger. Results show (1) that within word boundaries pharyngealisation effects are present on both vowels, and (2) there are effects of pharyngealisation on the final vowel, i.e. the pre-trigger across word and phrase boundaries, and (3) there is no evidence of pharyngealisation across an IP boundary. An examination of the pre-trigger vowel + pause duration suggests that the lack of coarticulatory effects on the final vowel, i.e., pre-trigger vowel, across an IP boundary may be due to the temporal distance from the trigger: all tokens in this condition had a pre-trigger pause. For word and phrase boundary conditions, F2 was higher the greater the temporal distance from the pharyngealised trigger. These results suggest that anticipatory pharyngealisation is qualitatively different within the word as compared to across word boundaries. More clearly, the magnitude of pharyngealisation is categorical within word boundaries, and gradient across prosodic boundaries higher than the word. These findings suggest that pharyngealisation within the word is phonological, whereas across word boundaries it is primarily a phonetic process, conditioned by the temporal proximity to the pharyngealised trigger. Results also show that the planned domain of [pharyngealisation] is the word. However, additional phonetic pharyngealisation effects can extend across word boundaries as a result of coarticulation.

The shear strength of the concrete-rock interface is an important parameter in sliding stability analyses of concrete dams founded on rock and depends, in addition to the normal stress state, on the bonding conditions of the interface; concrete-rock interfaces can be either unbonded, partially bonded or fully bonded. In the Swedish guidelines for dam safety all dam-foundation contacts are treated as unbonded. This has the benefit of eliminating all uncertainties related to the cohesive strength of bonded contacts but it might also lead to unnecessary strengthening of dams. Other national guidelines deal with the uncertainties related to cohesion by applying higher safety factors, mainly determined based on previous experience, when both cohesion and friction are taken into account. The main objective of this project is to study if and how cohesion can be included when evaluating the shear strength of bonded or partially bonded interfaces. To accomplish this, uncertainties associated with cohesion are identified and their influence on the assessed stability is investigated. The results show that the influence on the assessed sliding stability is strongly dependent on the magnitude of the involved uncertainties that might vary significantly for different dams. It is thus questionable if one safety factor applicable for all dams can be established for use in deterministic analyses. Taking into account cohesion when reliability methods are used is somewhat less complicated because of the possibility of directly incorporating the uncertainties in the analysis. The main challenge in such cases is the quantification of the involved uncertainties due to lack of proper data and, in some cases, knowledge. In this thesis, a framework for quantification of parameter uncertainty is suggested and the model error due to brittle failure in combination with spatial variation in cohesion is analysed. Areas that require more research to further refine the analysis are also identified. / Skjuvhållfastheten i betong-berggränssnittet är en avgörande faktor vid glidstabilitetsutvärderingar av befintliga betongdammar grundlagda på berg och beror dels på normalspänningsfördelningen och dels på kontaktytans status med avseende på vidhäftning, vilken kan delas in i tre separata fall; då vidhäftning existerar och kohesion medräknas (intakt), då vidhäftning aldrig funnits eller förlorats (bruten), samt en kombination av föregående (delvis intakt). I RIDAS, de svenska riktlinjerna för dammsäkerhet, behandlas alla berg-betonggränssnitt som brutna. Detta förhållningssätt har fördelen att det utelämnar all osäkerhet förknippad med intakta kontaktytors kohesion men det kan också resultera i icke nödvändiga förstärkningar av dammar. I andra nationella riktlinjer för dammsäkerhet beaktas osäkerheterna förknippade med kohesion genom att högre säkerhetsfaktorer, i huvudsak bestämda baserat på erfarenhet, tillämpas då både kohesion och friktion används vid beräkning av kontaktytans skjuvhållfasthet. Det övergripande syftet med detta doktorandprojekt är att studera om och hur kohesion kan medräknas vid stabilitetsutvärderingar av befintliga betongdammar med helt eller delvis intakta betong-berggränssnitt. För att uppnå detta, identifieras osäkerheter förknippande med kohesionen och deras inverkan på den bedömda glidstabiliteten utvärderas. Resultaten från projektet visar att osäkerheternas inverkan på den uppskattade glidstabiliteten är starkt beroende av osäkerheternas storlek, vilken varierar för olika dammar. Det är således tveksamt om en säkerhetsfaktor giltig för alla dammar kan bestämmas för användning i deterministiska stabilitetsanalyser. När sannolikhetsbaserade metoder används kan osäkerheterna införlivas direkt i analysen. Kvantifieringen av osäkerheterna förknippade med ett specifikt fall utgör då den huvudsakliga utmaningen. I denna avhandling presenteras ett ramverk för att uppskatta de statistiska parametrarna hos de ingående variablerna. Dessutom studeras modellosäkerheten förknippad med intakta gränssnitts spröda brott i kombination med kohesionens rumsliga variation i detalj. Områden som fordrar ytterligare forskning i syfte att förbättra analysen identifieras också. / <p>QC 20160411</p>

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Science in Engineering

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Earth Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Introduction. Osteoporosis is a chronic disease characterized by the loss of bone mass and the deterioration of bone micro-architecture leading to a subsequent increase in fracture risk. High-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) provides non-invasive measures of bone micro-architecture and strength in live humans but its ability to monitor small skeletal changes is yet poorly understood. The objectives of this thesis were to 1) determine HR-pQCT precision for volumetric density, geometry, cortical and trabecular micro-architecture, as well as estimates of bone strength; 2) determine the monitoring time interval (MTI) and least significant change (LSC) metrics; and 3) to characterize annual changes in bone area, density, and micro-architecture at the distal radius and tibia using HR-pQCT in postmenopausal women. Methods. To determine precision error as well as monitoring and change metrics of the distal radius and tibia, 34 postmenopausal women (mean age 74, SD±7 years) from the Saskatoon cohort of the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos) were measured using HR-pQCT. To characterize the annual change in bone outcomes of this same cohort, 51 women (mean age±SD: 77±7 years) were measuring at baseline and again 1 year later. Precision errors were calculated as coefficient of variation (CV% and CV%RMS). The LSC was determined from precision errors and then divided by the median annual percent changes to define MTIs for bone area, density, and micro-architecture. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons were used to characterize the mean annual change in total density, cortical perimeter, trabecular and cortical bone area, density, content, and micro-architecture. Significant changes were accepted at P<0.05. Results and Discussion. HR-pQCT precision errors were <10% for bone densitometric, geometric, and mechanical properties; while precision errors were <16% for cortical and trabecular micro-architectural outcomes. Further, the use of either automatic or modified contour methods for the dual-threshold technique for cortical micro-architectural analysis provided similar precision. Densitometric and geometric outcomes had longer monitoring times (>3 years), while micro-architecture had monitoring times of ~2 years. The observed annual changes were statistically significant for several outcomes; however, only cortical and trabecular area, as well as cortical density at the distal tibia changed beyond the LSC. Overall, thesis findings will assist design and interpretation of prospective HR-pQCT studies in postmenopausal women.