La présente est une analyse des connecteurs du français et de la langue luo. Beaucoup d’études de ce genre ont été réalisées et se sont intéressées à la comparaison des connecteurs d’une langue européenne à une autre. Des études portant sur les comparaisons des connecteurs d’une langue européenne à une langue soit bantoue soit nilotique ou couchitique sont rares. Dans une situation de communication, les problèmes liés au vouloir-dire du locuteur retiennent particulièrement notre attention. La présente étude poursuit les objectifs suivants : faire connaître l’origine possible des connecteurs de la langue luo et analyser les similarités et les différences entre les connecteurs de la langue luo et du français quant à leur nature, leur distribution et leur effet de sens. L’étude est basée sur la théorie de l’argumentation d’Anscombre et Ducrot (1987). Une argumentation a lieu lorsque le locuteur présente un énoncé E1 ou un ensemble d’énoncés dans le but de faire admettre à son interlocuteur un autre énoncé E2 (ou une classe d'énoncés). En rapport avec les techniques de collecte de données, notre étude a eu recours à la recherche documentaire, suivie de l’ analyse approfondie des textes littéraires, une pièce de théâtre, des discours politiques et des textes argumentatifs rédigés par les étudiants de Maseno University et Moi University. La recherche prend en considération les correspondances des connecteurs d’addition, d’opposition, de concession, de cause, de conséquence et de temps, luo et français. Les données sont analysées qualitativement car une telle analyse met en relief une description détaillée de données. Nous espérons que les résultats de cette étude intéresseront à la fois les enseignants des langues et ceux de la traduction, ainsi que leurs étudiants, les chercheurs en général et ceux qui travaillent sur les langues africaines en particulier. / This is an analysis of French and Luo sentence connectors. Comparative studies are commonly found between one European language and another. Research carried out on connectors of European and Bantu, Nilotic or Cushitic languages are rare. This thesis thus seeks to fill this knowledge gap. As revealed by literature review, European languages have a wide array of connecters that express different semantic values. If identifying and pegging particular semantic values to connectors of European language poses a challenge, it could be asserted that identifying those of African languages is even a more difficult task since African languages have a smaller number of connectors which could convey a bigger array of semantic value. The objectives of the study are: to determine the possible origin of Luo connectors and to analyze the similarities and differences of Luo and French connectors in terms of nature, distribution and semantic value of the connectors. The study is guided by the argumentative theory of Anscombre and Ducrot (1987). According to the theory, in a situation of argument, the locutor presents E1 in order to orient his interlocutor towards E2. The data collection techniques are grounded on library research as well as reading and analyzing of selected literary texts, a short play, political discourse and argumentative texts written by students from Maseno and Moi Universities. The research is limited to connectors of addition, opposition, concession, cause, consequence and of time, Data is analyzed qualitatively since qualitative analysis lays greater emphasis on holistic description of data. The research adopts a descriptive analysis design because it entails analyzing existing data sets. It is hoped that the results of this study will be vital to teachers of language, teachers of translation, students and to researchers who take interest in the Africans languages.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:03:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Paula M da Silva.pdf: 4087845 bytes, checksum: 855996b6cf9b9a51b1746a9073e6bcf6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-30 / A structure is designed to have satisfactory performance during its life given the requirements for which it was designed. When performance becomes unsatisfactory, intervention is needed in order to rehabilitate the structure. Structural rehabilitation is characterized by increasing the structure‟s original load bearing capacity. Of the various existing intervention techniques, this work studies the technique that increases the concrete section by adding more concrete to the compression side and evaluates the effectiveness of shear connectors to bond the new concrete to the base concrete. The increase of the concrete section and the layout of the shear connectors were done along the entire length of the beam. There were two test series. In the first test series, called preliminary tests, the variable studied was the type of connector in order to determine which type ("I", "U" or "AF") would present more efficient results. In the second test series we adopted the connector type "I", which showed the best results from the first series. The variables studied in the second series were the shear connector ratio, the influence of pre-cracking and the presence of confining reinforcement in the new concrete region. The surface treatment used was manual blasting without the use of bonding agents. The test results indicated that the presence of shear connectors type "I", a small ribbed reinforcement bar, prevented the loss of bond between the base concrete and the new concrete, prevented splitting of the new concrete cover which was observed in tests with beams reinforced without the shear connectors. Good results were obtained with respect to increased load bearing capacity of the beams, since even the pre-cracked beams gained strength as well as strength increased in non-cracked ones. / Uma estrutura é concebida para ter desempenho satisfatório durante sua vida útil atendendo aos requisitos para os quais ela foi projetada. Quando seu desempenho se torna insatisfatório é necessário que haja intervenção de forma a reabilitar a estrutura. O reforço estrutural tem a característica de reabilitar a estrutura aumentando sua capacidade portante original. Das várias técnicas de intervenção existente, optou-se por estudar nesse trabalho a técnica pelo aumento da seção de concreto pela face comprida avaliando a eficiência do uso de conectores de cisalhamento ligando o concreto do substrato ao concreto do reforço. O aumento da seção de concreto e a disposição dos conectores se deram ao longo de todo o comprimento longitudinal da peça. Foram realizadas duas séries de ensaio. Na primeira série de ensaios, denominados ensaios preliminares, a variável estudada foi o tipo de conector com o objetivo de determinar qual deles ( I , U ou AF ) apresentaria resultado mais eficiente. Na segunda série de ensaios adotou-se o conector tipo I , que apresentou os melhores resultados da primeira série. As variáveis de estudo da segunda série foram a taxa de conector, a influência da pré-fissuração e da armadura de confinamento na região do reforço. O tratamento de superfície adotado foi o apicoamento manual sem uso de ponte de aderência. Os resultados dos ensaios indicaram que a presença do conector de cisalhamento tipo I , formado por uma barra nervurada reta, conseguiu impedir a perda da aderência entre o concreto novo e o substrato, impedindo o desplacamento parcial entre estes materiais que havia sido observado nas vigas reforçadas sem os conectores. Obtiveram-se bons resultados com relação ao aumento da capacidade portante das vigas, visto que até nas peças pré-fissuradas houve ganho de resistência assim como nas peças íntegras.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-11T13:49:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Evanilson CAPA DA DEFESA.pdf: 152987 bytes, checksum: acc0c012c3f887b68fbbf9abb7c0fceb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-25 / This study has examined the use of connectors in texts of high school students of a public school in the city of Manaus. The analysis was based on thirty compositions collected in classes from first to third grades. The texts were chosen according to the gender of the student and the order in which they were handed, in order to observe the use that students make of interphrasal connectors. The hypothesis is that the use of connectors is related to three linguistic factors: i) the degree of dependency and embedding of sentences; ii) the grammaticalization process of interphrasal connection elements; iii) the use of the lexicogrammatical elements that mark the dissertative-argumentative text. The concept of text and, more specifically, the notion of text genre were discussed, once every textual practice takes place from some genre. This study has approached the characteristics of the dissertative-argumentative genre, which is commonly found in the school essay writing practices of the students who have a relative knowledge of that text genre. Besides, the notion of textual connection was also taken into consideration, following the principles of: Textual Linguistics, which classifies the connection elements into logical-semantic operators and argumentative operators, according to Beaugrande, Koch, Favero and Marcuschi; and also the principles of Functionalist Grammar, especially the ones proposed by Hooper & Traugott, Givón, Neves, and Castilho, who work with the notion that the connecting elements are in a continuum that goes from subordination to hypotaxis until it reaches the parataxis, in accordance with the degree of dependence and clausal embedding. Moreover, the concepts of grammaticalization and discoursivization were of fundamental importance to explain the functioning, use, change and significance of certain connectors investigated in this study. / Este trabalho analisou o uso dos conectores em textos de alunos de Ensino Médio de uma escola pública da cidade de Manaus. A análise foi feita com base em trinta redações coletadas em sala de aula nas turmas do primeiro ao terceiro ano. A escolha dos textos foi feita levando-se em consideração apenas o gênero dos alunos e a ordem de entrega do material escrito, pois a intenção era observar o uso que os alunos fazem dos conectores interoracionais. Verificou-se uma baixa frequência no uso dos elementos de conexão textual por parte dos alunos. A hipótese formulada é que o emprego dos conectores está ligado a três fatores de ordem linguística: i) o grau de dependência e encaixamento das sentenças; ii) o processo de gramaticalização dos elementos de conexão interoracional; iii) o emprego dos elementos léxico-gramaticais que marcam o gênero textual dissertativo-argumentativo. Discutiu-se o conceito de texto e, mais especificamente, a noção de gênero textual, uma vez que toda prática textual se dá a partir de algum gênero. Foram abordadas, as características do gênero dissertativo-argumentativo, gênero comumente encontrado nas práticas de redações escolares junto aos alunos, que deles possuem um relativo conhecimento . Também foi a abordada a noção de conexão textual de acordo com as visões da Linguística Textual (que classifica os elementos de conexão em operadores lógico-semânticos e operadores argumentativos), conforme Beaugrande, Koch, Fávero, Marcuschi e a Gramática Funcionalista, especialmente as propostas de Hooper & Traugott, Givón, Neves, e Castilho (que trabalham com a noção de que os elementos de conexão se encontram em um continuum que vai da subordinação, passa pela hipotaxe e chega até a parataxe, conforme o grau de dependência e encaixamento oracional). Além disso, foi de fundamental importância o conceito de gramaticalização e discursivização para explicar o funcionamento, o emprego, a mudança e o significado de determinados conectores investigados no escopo deste trabalho.

Este trabalho apresenta uma proposta de método de ensaio para determinação da resistência de ligações em peças estruturais de madeira por chapas com dentes estampados e também verifica os modos de ruptura destas ligações. Para esta finalidade foram realizados ensaios com 5 (cinco) espécies de madeira classificadas de acordo com as classes de resistência apresentadas no projeto da nova norma brasileira para estruturas de madeira, a PNBR 7190/1996 - Projeto de Estruturas de Madeira. No trabalho são verificados 3 (três) modos básicos de ruptura das ligações, a saber: tração da chapa, cisalhamento da chapa e arrancamento dos dentes da chapa da peça de madeira. Dentro de cada modo de ruptura verifica-se os efeitos da variação da posição da chapa em relação à direção de aplicação da força. Determina-se também a resistência da ligação de acordo com o proposto pelo projeto da nova norma brasileira para estruturas de madeira (PNBR 7190, 1996). / The aim of this work is to propose a test method to determine the strength and to verify failure modes of timber joints made with metal connectors plate. To this purpose, several tests were made with 5 species of wood, which were classified according to the strength class introduced in the new Brazilian Standard for Timber Structures, NBR 7190/1996 - Timber Structure Project. In this work are verified 3 failure modes: metal connector plates under shear force and pure tension force, and lateral resistance strength of metal connector plate teeth. For each failure mode is verified the effect of the position of the plate under the direction of force. The resistance of joints are determine in agreement to the new Brazilian Standard for Timber Structures.

Abstract Translation is not an easy task. There is a plethora of problems and difficulties which needs to be tackled in the process of translating a text from one language to another. This analysis concentrates on three of them – terminology, connectors and cultural aspects. The study is based on the Swedish translation of an English text concerning the medical and ritual use of chocolate in ancient Native American cultures as well as in Europe during the colonial era. The main problem encountered in the translation of this text was how to generalize it so it would suit the Swedish public but still maintain the level of formality of the source text. The specialized terminology found belongs to the fields of medicine and botany and these terms were often explained or replaced with more common words. A couple of the cultural aspects were also explained, since, for example, the cultural area Mesoamerica may not be known to the target readers unless they are knowledgeable in anthropology or archaeology. This made the target text somewhat less formal than the original so, to compensate, the translation of the adverbial connectors however and thus were on occasion translated with the more formal Swedish emellertid and således.

La présente étude vise à étudier les difficultés liées à l’emploi de certains marqueurs argumentatifs: mais, et, d’ailleurs, par ailleurs, pourtant et d’autre part, par les apprenants soudanais universitaires de FLE. Elle aborde plus précisément la problématique de l’utilisation des connecteurs argumentatifs par ces apprenants pendant leur production d’un texte argumentatif. Les données sont collectées à travers des productions écrites des apprenants en quatrième année du Département de français de la Faculté des langues de l’Université du Soudan de Science et de Technologie. L’analyse de leur écrit a pour objectif de connaître l’origine de ces difficultés en vue de proposer des solutions pour les surmonter. Le résultat obtenu a démontré que les apprenants rencontrent de sérieuses difficultés dans l’usage des connecteurs à l'écrit. Ces difficultés sont observables au niveau de la phrase composée mais aussi à celui de l'ensemble du texte dont elles affectent la cohésion et la cohérence. Pour remédier à ces problèmes, le chercheur a proposé, pour chaque connecteur étudié, un certain nombre de séquences didactiques susceptibles d'entraîner les étudiants à la maîtrise de leur emploi. La thèse donne des résultats de la mise en œuvre de ces séquences auprès des apprenants et montre qu'elles constituent une solution efficace en vue de l’acquisition de cette dimension essentielle de la technique argumentative à l'écrit. / This current study attempts to identify the difficulties related to the usage of certain argumentative markers: mais, et, d’ailleurs, par ailleurs, pourtant and d’autre part”, by the Sudanese students of French as a foreign language. It examines more precisely the problem regarding the usage of argumentative connectors by these students when producing anargumentative text. Data were collected through writing production of the 4th year students at the French language department, college of languages – Sudan university of Sciences and Technology. Analyzing their written production aimed to know the origin of these difficulties so as to provide remedy to them. The study results showed that learners have serious problems when using connectors in their production. This is noticeable not only at the complex sentence level but at the text as well, affecting its coherence and cohesion. Inorder to solve this problem, the researcher proposed for each connecter a number of didactic sequences susceptible to enable the students to master their usage. This thesis presents results regarding the application of the sequences on the students. It also demonstrates that these proposed sequences constitute an effective solution for the acquisition of this essential dimension of the argumentative writing technique.

A common bridge type is the steel-concrete bridge where the concrete deck is built over steel girders. In many earlier designs the bridge type was often built as non-composite, which means that the concrete deck and the steel girder has no shear connection at the steel-concrete interface and therefore bend as individual components. With the increased traffic loads of today some of the existing non-composite bridges have insufficient bending capacity, and therefore they must either be replaced or strengthened. To replace a bridge and construct a new one has many downsides, it is time consuming, expensive, and it consumes a lot of finite resources. Therefore, it is better if the bridges could be strengthened instead. Non-composite steel-concrete bridges can in some cases be strengthened by installing shear connectors that enable composite action between the concrete deck and steel girder. To enable full composite action, many shear connectors need to be installed (10-15 per meter). In some cases, full composite action is not needed to achieve a sufficient load capacity. Therefore, to save time and money and reduce material usage, it could be favourable if the amount of shear connectors could be lowered. The concept of using less shear connectors than required for full composite action is known as partial composite action and is defined as a ratio η that can vary between 0 and 1,0. If the ratio is 0, the structure is non-composite and if it is 1,0, it is fully composite. For every ratio between, the structure is partially composite. Partial composite action is not allowed by the standard for new composite bridges in Europe, EN 1994-2, which instead requires full composite action for new bridges. Since the conventional shear connector type, Welded Headed Stud (WHS) is impractical for post-installation this can yield large costs. This thesis therefore analyses the efficiency of strengthening non-composite bridges with partial composite action by post-installation of the shear connector type Coiled Spring Pins (CSPs), which is more suitable for post-installation compared to WHS since the installation can be made from underneath the bridge deck. The thesis consists of a theoretical study about composite action with a focus on partial composite action. In addition to the theoretical study, a case study is performed on an existing non-composite steel-concrete bridge, the bridge over Yxlö channel, which is situated south of Stockholm in Nynäshamn municipality. In the case study, hand-calculations to calculate the moment capacity for the bridge and the bending stresses in the bridge is made. In addition, a linear Finite Element-analysis (FE-Analysis) is made to evaluate the bending stresses in the cross-section. Further, in the FE-analysis, the horizontal slip and shear flow at the steel-concrete interface is evaluated. The calculations in the case study are made for 10 different degrees of shear connection from 0 - 1,0 with increments of 0,1. The results from the hand-calculations showed that partial composite action an efficient strengthening method, especially for lower degrees of shear connection. The moment capacity in the mid-section of the bridge could be increased between 16 and 41 % for shear connection ratios between 0,4 and 1,0, when applying plastic properties. If elastic properties were used, the increase in moment capacity for the same interval and section was 13 – 21 %, which shows that if it is possible to use plastic properties, the moment capacity could be increased more.  The results from the stress analysis in both the Hand- and FE-calculations showed that the stresses were reduced efficiently, especially for the top flange of the steel girder, where the stresses reduced 75-85 % for shear connection ratios between 0,4 & 1,0. The reduction of the stresses in the bottom flange were not as efficient, but still a reduction of 15 – 20 % is possible for shear connection ratio between 0,4 – 1,0. The overall conclusion from the thesis is that partial composite action can be an efficient strengthening method, and that non-composite bridges like the Yxlö Bridge could be strengthened with CSPs and have an effective increase of the bending moment capacity. This way the allowed axle- and bogie load on the bridge could be increased which could extend the technical life length of the bridge and reduce the need for new bridges.

No / Circular economy is an economic system aimed at minimizing wastes and making the most of the current resources. This regenerative approach contrasts with the traditional linear economy, which has been adopted by the construction industry. Developing new construction technologies for sustainable built environment is a top priority for the construction industry throughout the world. Much of the environmental impact from the construction industry is associated with the consumption of resources and generation of waste. The construction industry in Europe consumes over 70,000 million tonnes of materials each year and generates over 250 million tonnes of waste. Composite flooring formed by connecting the concrete slabs to the supporting steel beams has been widely used for many years and is well established as one of the most efficient floor systems in multi storey steel frame building structures. However, shear connectors are welded through the steel decking to the steel beams and cast into the concrete; this made deconstruction and reuse of these components almost impossible. A new composite flooring system which allows for the reuse of the steel beams and composite floor slabs is developed and tested to assess its potential and suitability for reuse. This paper presents the results of a series of full scale beam tests and demonstrates the reusability of this new form of composite flooring systems. Simplified hand calculations are also provided and compared against beam tests / EPSRC, Structural Metal Deck Ltd.

Wearable technology has attracted global attention in the last decade and the market is experiencing an unprecedented growth. Wearable devices are designed to be low-profile, light-weight and integrated seamlessly into daily life. Comfort is one of the most important requirements for wearable devices. Fabric based antennas are soft, flexible and can be integrated into clothing. State of the art textile manufacturing techniques such as embroidery, combined with advanced conductive textile materials can be used to fabricate flexible fabric based on-body antennas. In this thesis, the feasibility of using computerised embroidery in the fabrication of wearable, flexible yet functional fabric based antennas have been examined. The fabric based antennas are embroidered using conductive threads. The most suitable materials for fabricating embroidered antennas have been identified. The embroidered fabric based antenna systems including transmission lines and low-profile detachable connectors have been fabricated and their RF performances have been tested. The optimal manufacturing parameters related to embroidery such as stitch direction, spacing and length have been examined. The repeatability of embroidered antennas, cost estimation, and complexity of manufacturing process have been clearly presented. The results can be used to inform and provide guidelines for the development of representative products that can be mass manufactured. A new simulation approach has been introduced to analyse the anisotropic properties of embroidered conductive threads. Simulations and measurements indicate that the performances of embroidered antennas are affected by the anisotropic surface current due to the embroidered stitches. Exploiting the current direction, a novel non-uniform meshed patch antenna has been designed. Representative results show that the non-uniform meshed structure can significantly reduce more than 75% of the usage of conductive materials for the microstrip antennas with negligible effect on the antenna performance.

Dans cette recherche consacrée à l'emploi des connecteurs à l'écrit par des apprenants persanophones de français langue étrangère, nous avons étudié leur contribution à l'organisation des textes, ainsi que le rôle de ces connecteurs dans la construction de la cohésion textuelle et dans l'évolution de l'information. Après avoir observé les différences structurelles entre la langue française et la langue persane, surtout en ce qui concerne les connecteurs, nous avons formé l'hypothèse que la langue maternelle de nos apprenants pourrait contribuer à l'emploi erroné des connecteurs. Dans cette optique, nous nous sommes inspirés des théories relatives à l'analyse d'erreurs et à l'analyse contrastive. Celles-ci nous ont permis dans un premier temps de formuler une typologie des erreurs relevées, et dans un second temps de proposer une explication des erreurs constatées. L'analyse de l'emploi de différents types de connecteurs dans les productions écrites d'un groupe d'étudiants iraniens a révélé des points intéressants à la fois sur les compétences des apprenants mais également à propos de leurs besoins langagiers. Cette recherche a confirmé notre hypothèse initiale tout en la nuançant, car elle démontre que le recours à la langue maternelle ne conduit pas inexorablement à un emploi erroné des connecteurs en français L2. / In this research, by focusing on the usage of the connectors in the written texts of the Iranian students in a French language course, we investigated their contribution of the connectors to the text organization in addition to the role of these connectors in the construction of textual cohesion and in the information evolution. After observing the structural differences between the French language and the Persian language, especially regarding the connectors, we formed a hypothesis that the mother tongue of our students may cause the wrong usage of the connectors. To this end, we were inspired by the theories relative to the error analysis and contrastive analysis which allowed us initially to further clarify a classification of the errors and to propose an explanation of the errors found. The analysis of the usage of different types of connectors in the written productions of the group revealed some interesting points on both the students' competence level and their language needs. This research confirmed our initial hypothesis while showing that the recourse to the mother language was not necessarily a cause for wrong usage of connectors in French L2.