<p> The existence of significant and consistent fractionation of sulfur isotopes in natural coexisting sulfide mineral pairs is demonstrated. Such fractionations are shown to depend exclusively on the mineralogy of the assemblage and temperature of equilibration, consistent with a process of fractionation during equilibrium exchange of sulfur isotopes between the sulfide phases . The fractionation of sulfur isotopes between galena, sphalerite and pyrite has been determined experimentally over the temperature range 300-725°C . The fractionation for each mineral pair is shown to vary as T^(-2) so that three isotope geothermometer s have been calibrated. Experi mental results are applied to natural sulfide assemblages to determine the temperature of equilibration and extent to which isotopic equilibriurn has b een attained. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In Ontology-Based Data Access (OBDA), user queries are evaluated over a set of facts under the open world assumption, while taking into account background knowledge given in the form of a Description Logic (DL) ontology. Motivated by situation awareness applications, temporal conjunctive queries (TCQs) have recently been proposed as a useful extension of traditional OBDA to support the processing of temporal information. This paper extends the existing complexity analysis of TCQ entailment to very expressive DLs underlying the OWL 2 standard, and in contrast to previous work also allows for queries containing transitive roles. / This is an extended version of the paper “Temporal Conjunctive Queries in Expressive Description Logics with Transitive Roles”, published in the Proceedings of the 28th Australasian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI’15).

La thèse a pour objet d’établir le catalogue critique de l’œuvre d’Albrecht Bouts (1451-55 / 1549). Fils de Dirk Bouts (1410-1420 / 1475), peintre officiel de la ville de Louvain, Albrecht et son frère aîné, Dirk le Jeune (1448 / 1491), héritent de l’atelier de peinture à la mort de leur père. L’œuvre de l’aîné reste très controversée, aucun tableau ne pouvant lui être attribué avec conviction. Il en est autrement du puîné, Albrecht, à qui la paternité du Triptyque de l’Assomption de la Vierge des Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique peut être donnée avec beaucoup de vraisemblance. Le corpus de son œuvre, établi, en 1925, par Max J. Friedländer et, en 1938, Wolfgang Schöne, autour de ce retable autographe, comprend un nombre important de peintures. Ce catalogue n’a, toutefois, jamais fait l’objet d’une révision par les historiens de l’art. Seules quelques peintures ont été publiées de manière ponctuelle. Devant l’abondance des tableaux attribués au peintre, il convenait donc de réaliser une étude fondamentale afin de distinguer ses propres créations de celles de ses collaborateurs.<p><p>La thèse se compose de cinq chapitres. Le premier établit une biographie complète, sélective et chronologique, se basant sur les sources livrées par les archives de la ville de Louvain. Leur interprétation critique renouvelée et enrichie livre ainsi de nombreux arguments pour mieux définir l’individualité d’Albrecht Bouts et justifier le développement de sa carrière. <p>Le second chapitre concerne l’étude de l’œuvre d’Albrecht Bouts et débute par un examen approfondi de la seule peinture au caractère autographe reconnu, le Triptyque de l’Assomption de la Vierge. L’examen combiné du style et de la technique d’exécution de cette œuvre de maturité du maître permet de mettre en exergue les influences de Dirk Bouts et d’Hugo van der Goes et de définir la personnalité artistique singulière d’Albrecht Bouts. Suite à cette analyse, le catalogue de son œuvre est reconstitué de façon linéaire, depuis sa genèse jusqu’à son terme. Chacune des peintures qui lui sont attribuées est ensuite étudiée de façon chronologique et détaillée, précédée d’une notice technique préliminaire reprenant les données matérielles et bibliographiques, dans le cinquième chapitre consacré au catalogue raisonné.<p>La révision du corpus de l’œuvre d’Albrecht Bouts est fondée sur un travail d’attribution reposant à la fois sur l’approche stylistique traditionnelle et sur les résultats fournis par les documents de laboratoire. Une importante documentation photographique et technologique des œuvres, dont certaines inédites, a ainsi été rassemblée et sa confrontation constitue un support essentiel à la démonstration. <p>Le troisième chapitre propose, à partir des hypothèses émises à propos de la biographie et du catalogue des œuvres d’Albrecht Bouts, une analyse de la production de son atelier, particulièrement intense à partir de la première décennie du XVIe siècle. Dans cette partie, l’objectif n’est pas d’établir un exposé circonstancié et complet de chaque peinture abordée, mais plutôt de rassembler des groupes cohérents d’œuvres, également fondés sur une approche combinée du style et de la technique d’exécution. Un même principe de renvoi aux notices dans le catalogue raisonné est adopté. <p>Enfin, le quatrième chapitre est consacré à la réalisation en série d’œuvres de dévotion privée dans l’atelier du maître. De nombreuses généralités et quelques études ponctuelles ont préparé le terrain, annonçant l’importance de ce phénomène sans, toutefois, en mesurer l’ampleur. C’est pourquoi, nous lui accorderons une investigation la plus exhaustive tant sur les pratiques en vigueur dans l’atelier, que sur l’iconographique et le contexte socio-économique de la création de prototypes par Albrecht, dans la foulée de l’héritage des modèles paternels.<p><p>Ainsi, ce travail permettra de mieux cerner la personnalité d’Albrecht Bouts, de retracer son individualité artistique, mais aussi de réévaluer la participation de son atelier, afin de rétablir chacun de ces éléments à leur juste place au sein de la peinture flamande de la fin du XVe siècle et du début du XVIe siècle<p><p><p>The subject of the thesis is to establish a critical catalogue of Albrecht Bouts’ (1451-55/1549) work. Son of Dirk Bouts (1410-1420/1475), official painter to the city of Leuven, Albrecht and his elder brother, Dirk the Younger (1448-1491), inherited their father’s workshop after his death. The work of the elder son, Dirk the Younger, is still a discussed topic since no painting could be attributed to him with certainty. It is quite different for Albrecht who is the likely author of the Tryptich of the Assumption of the Virgin from the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts of Belgium. The corpus of his work, established in 1925 by Max J. Friedländer and in 1938 by Wolfgang Schöne based on this autograph altarpiece, includes an important number of paintings. This catalogue has however never been revised by art historians since then. Only some paintings have occasionally been published.<p>Considering the high number of paintings attributed to the master, there was a need to undertake a deeper study in order to distinguish Albrecht Bouts’ own creations from those of his workshop.<p><p>The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first one includes a complete, selective and chronological biography of the master, based on the data found in the archives of the city of Leuven. A newly enriched critical interpretation of these documents has allowed a better definition of Albrecht Bouts’s personality and a clearer understanding of the development of his career.<p>The second chapter is devoted to the study of the master’s work and starts with an in-depth examination of the Tryptich of the Assumption of the Virgin, the only painting recognized as an autograph work. The combined examination of the style and the technical execution of this altarpiece, painted during the mature period of his career, underlines both the influences of Dirk Bouts and Hugo van der Goes and helps to display his original artistic personality.<p>From there, the catalogue of his work is re-established, in the last chapter, from the very beginning to the end of his working life. In the last chapter devoted to the catalogue, each painting attributed to the master is carefully studied, on a chronological basis and in details, with an introductive technical note giving material as well as bibliographical information.<p>The review of the corpus of Albrecht Bouts’ work is based on a traditional stylistic approach and on the results given by laboratory documents. An important photographical and technological documentation of his works – some of them unpublished until now- has been gathered. Their comparison brought forward essential arguments on which our demonstration is based.<p><p>The third chapter, which builds on the two first ones, consists of an analysis of Albrecht Bouts’ workshop production, which was particularly active at the beginning of the XVIth century. The purpose was not to study thoroughly each painting but to extract coherent groups of works thanks to the same combined examination of style and technique. Like the master’s autograph work, each painting is subject to a careful study in the critical catalogue.<p><p>Finally, the fourth chapter is dedicated to the serial production of private devotional works carried out in the master’s workshop. There were already many general writings and some occasional studies on the subject, but none of them really measured the importance of the mass production. We therefore undertook a deep and thorough research on the workshop practices ,on the iconography and on the social-economical context of the realisation of works by Albrecht following the prototypes created by his father.<p><p>The thesis contributes to a better knowledge and understanding of the life, the personality and the work of Albrecht Bouts and re-evaluates the participation of his workshop. This will give to each of these elements its proper place in the Flemish Masters Painting of the end of the XVth and the beginning of the XVIth centuries. <p><p> / Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Der Unterstellungsbegriff ist ein zentraler Begriff innerhalb transzendentaler Argumente. Transzendentale Argumente sind Versuche, empirische Erkenntnis stabiler zu sichern als durch empirische Erkenntnis selbst. Dabei müssten, heißt es immer wieder, bestimmte grundlegende Sachverhalte unterstellt werden. Was genau bedeutet hier „unterstellen“? Exemplarisch wird in dieser Arbeit Habermas’ Verwendung des Unterstellungsbegriffs und des eng verwandten Voraussetzungsbegriffs nachvollzogen und interpretiertHabermas verwendet seinen Kernbegriff nicht einheitlich, insbesondere unterscheidet er nicht zwischen semantischem und epistemischem Voraussetzungsbegriff. Im Gegensatz zum semantischen Voraussetzungsbegriff, der eine Relation zwischen Sachverhalten beschreibt, kennzeichnet der epistemische Voraussetzungsbegriff eine Relation zwischen einem epistemischen Subjekt und einem Sachverhalt. Mit der Verwendung des Ausdrucks Unterstellung konstruiert Habermas einen internen, konstitutiven Zusammenhang zwischen unserer Kommunikationsfähigkeit und grundlegend verschiedenen propositionalen, epistemischen Einstellungen, ohne dass diese terminologisch voneinander abgegrenzt werden. Handelt es sich um Fiktionen, Hypothesen oder um handfeste Überzeugungen? Der rekonstruierte Zusammenhang erweist sich in Abhängigkeit von der durch das Verb unterstellen jeweils ausgedrückten propositionalen Einstellung – doxastisch-affirmativ, doxastisch-negierende oder nicht-doxastisch - entweder als unverständlich oder als trivial. Die als notwendige Voraussetzungen benannten Unterstellungen haben aufgrund der Semantik des Ausdrucks unterstellen hinsichtlich ihres epistemischen Status’ also keinen klaren Sinn. Damit scheitert a fortiori auch Habermas’ Versuch, notwendige Unterstellungen als schwach transzendentale Grundlage kommunikativen Handelns zu bestimmen. Die Inakzeptanz transzendentaler Argumente – auch in ihrer nicht-metaphysischen, von Habermas favorisierten „schwachen“ Lesart – wird durch die Formulierung „unterstellen müssen“ als Bestandteil des Schlussprinzips oder einer Prämisse transzendentaler Argumente systematisch verschleiert. / The concept of presuppositions is central for transcendental arguments. Transcendental arguments are efforts to validate empirical knowledge more effectively than through empirical knowledge itself. According to widely held views some fundamental propositions have to be presupposed for that purpose. But what – precisely – does “to presuppose something” mean? This paper will exemplarily reconstruct and interpret the use of the concept of presupposition in Jürgen Habermas’ work: Habermas doesn’t use this central concept in a homogeneous, standardized way: In particular he does not distinguish between the semantic and the epistemological concept. In contrast to the semantic concept, which describes a relationship between propositions, the epistemological concept characterizes a relationship between an epistemological subject and a proposition. Moreover, using the term “presupposition”, Habermas constructs an internal, constitutive connection between our ability to communicate and fundamentally different propositional, epistemological attitudes, without distinguishing them from each other. Is it a matter of fictions, hypotheses or beliefs? The reconstructed connection appears to be either incomprehensible or trivial given its dependence on the verb “to presuppose”, which can imply the propositional attitude of doxastic-affirmative, doxastic-negating or non-doxastic. The presuppositions claimed to be essential are not clearly defined in terms of their epistemological status because of the semantics of the term to presuppose. Therefore, Habermas’ attempt to determine essential presuppositions as a transcendental basis for communication also fails a fortiori. The non-acceptance of transcendental arguments – even in their non-metaphysic interpretation favoured by Habermas – is disguised as constituent of the premise of the corpus by the phrase “to have to presuppose”.

本研究以確定給付型退休基金為對象，建構廣義隨機評價模型，以衡量不確定情況下退休基金之財務風險。希望藉著模型建構的過程，適切地描述基金評價過程中所應考量的各項要素。 為了強調基金評價時同時考量內外部精算假設的重要性，本研究將模型分為存活函數、經濟函數和給付函數三部份討論；存活函數利用離散時間非同質性半馬可夫過程（Discrete Time Non-Homogeneous semi-Markov Process）描述成員狀態轉移的機率，把成員工作年資、年齡和及狀態納入評價過程，有別於傳統僅以年齡為假設基礎之精算方法；經濟函數則以隨機過程表達外部環境的不確定性，結合上述假設資訊預估未來給付後，成為半馬可夫隨機精算評價模型，此一般性的模型能推展至基金評價時所需的各項流程。因此，本研究將模型應用於我國公務人員退撫基金，針對公務人員退撫基金的給付特性發展財務評價公式，完整地描述基金精算成本計算、未來人力與現金流量結構模擬以及敏感度分析等過程。 最後，本研究撰寫公務人員精算評價資訊系統，具體化半馬可夫隨機精算評價模型，實證公務人員退撫基金財務評價公式。實證結果也顯示，不論基金的性質或外部經濟環境，都將影響退休基金財務評價結果，為基金評價時不可忽略的精算假設。 / This study focuses on constructing a generalized valuation model for the defined benefit pension schemes. Financial soundness and funding stability are critical issues in pension fund management. In this study, a realistic stochastic model is built to monitor the uncertainty factors in affecting the financial risk and cash flow dynamics along the decision process. In order to evaluate the importance of the interior and exterior actuarial assumptions in pension valuation. Detailed models in describing the turnover patterns, economic uncertainties and benefit structures are explored. Semi-Markov process proposed by Dominicis, Manca and Granata (1991) and Janssen and Manca (1997) is extended in structuring the transition pattern of the plan’s population and the economic based factors are generated through stochastic processes. Modifications according to classification and movements of the plan member and the plan’s turnover pattern are employed to improve its practical usefulness. Then the actuarial valuations, cash flow analyses and workforce projection are performed and investigated. We has explicitly formulated the plan’s realistic phenomenon and implemented the proposed mechanism into a risk management framework for pension finance. By using this realistic approach, the cost factors could be monitored throughout the valuation. Typically these analyses involve substantial assumptions. This article has outlined the procedure of building the proposed model. Finally, Taiwan Public Employees Retirement System is simplified to illustrate the proposed methodology in pension valuation. The results from this study show that the structure of the pension schemes and the assumed economic factors are the significant factors in pension valuation. It also indicated that the fund manager can evaluate these impacts through the proposed model.

對於生存時間的資料而言，通常我們所想要研究瞭解的是，至少存活到某特定時間點的機率，而這個機率亦即生存分析中的生存函數(survival function)。當有兩個不同的母體存在時，為了要知道這兩個母體的生存函數是否相同，在統計方法上，我們將進行一些檢定，常用的有Gehan-Wilcoxon和Cox-Mantel之兩樣本檢定，後來又有修飾型的Kolmogorov-Smirnov檢定。但是，前兩種檢定方法，只對此兩組生存函數呈現某特殊型式時，具有好的檢定力。因此，透過一些實證的研究，將上述檢定方法做有系統的整理，進而發展出一套簡單又有效率的檢定程序。再者，若檢定得此兩個母體之生存函數不相等時，如何利用Bootstrap方法，進一步對兩組生存函數之特定生存機率點或生存時間點所分別對應之生存時間或生存機率差距做推論與比較，本文將有詳細她說明；以提供研究人員更多有效的資訊，不再僅止於檢定虛無假設是否拒絕而已。最後，我們又藉由推廣上述Bootstrap方法，將其運用到檢定方法上，而另外發展出一種新的兩母體生存函數之檢定方法。 / When two different populations exist, we will take some tests by Cehan-Wilcoxon, Cox-Mantel or Modified Kolmogorov- Smirnov in satistical way. Therefore we develope a simple and efficient test process from arranging above test ways system- atically through some real study. How to use Bootstrap way to infer the difference of survival time or survival probability of specular point. We infer Bootstrap way on test work and then develope a new two populations survival function test way.

Seguro y Responsabilidad Patrimonial de la Administración presenta un detallado estudio del derecho de seguros y de la responsabilidad de la Administración Pública por las acciones y omisiones de funcionarios en la prestación de servicios públicos. Su objetivo es ilustrar cómo el seguro trabaja en el ámbito de la Administración Pública. La tesis se divide en tres partes y combina la exposición con el análisis crítico. En la primera parte, la tesis analiza brevemente el contrato de seguro y proporciona argumentos económicos para defender que el seguro es socialmente más beneficioso en Administraciones Públicas pequeñas que en Administraciones totalmente solventes. En la segunda parte, la tesis doctoral proporciona soluciones a los problemas que surgen entre la Ley de Contrato de Seguro y la regulación de la responsabilidad patrimonial de la Administración Pública. Finalmente, examinamos estas soluciones en un particular contexto: el seguro de responsabilidad civil por mala praxis médica que proporciona protección en el caso de que actos negligentes den lugar a algún daño o lesión a los pacientes en el ámbito de la Administración Pública. / Seguro y Responsabilidad Patrimonial de la Administración presents a detailed examination of the law of insurance and the Liability of Public Administration for the actions and omissions of civil servants in the provision of public services. Its objective is to illustrate how insurance works in the Public Administration. The thesis is divided into three parts and combines exposition with critical analysis. In the first part, the thesis briefly analyzes the insurance contract and provides economic arguments that the insurance is more socially beneficial in small Public Administrations than completely solvent Administrations. In the second section, the doctoral thesis provides solutions to the problems between Spanish law of insurance contracts and the regulation of Liability of Public Administration. Finally, we examine these solutions in a particular context: the medical malpractice liability insurance that provides protection in case of acts of malpractice that result in harm or injury to patients in the Public Administration.

A novel technique for measuring gas temperature and spectral particle emissivity in high-temperature gas-particle streams is presented. The main application of this optical sensor is to improve the process control of batch unit operations, such as steelmaking furnaces. The spectral emission profile of CO and CO2 and the continuous particle emission in the 3.5 to 5 μm wavelength region was recorded and analyzed in real time with a low-resolution passive sensor. The sensor consisted of light collecting optics, a dispersion element (grating spectrometer) and a 64-pixel pyroelectric array. Wavelength and radiance calibrations were performed. The temperature of the gas-particle medium (Tg+p) followed from the least-squares minimization of the difference between the measured radiance in the 4.56-4.7 μm region –which saturates due to the large CO2 concentrations and path lengths in industrial furnaces– and the corresponding blackbody radiance. Particle emissivity (εp) was calculated at 3.95 μm from an asymptotic approximation of the Radiative Transfer Equation that yields the emerging radiance from a semi-infinite particle cloud. The major source of error in the magnitude of Tg+p and εp could come from particle scattering. Through the method of embedded invariance an expression was developed to estimate the lowering effect of particle size and volume fraction on the saturation of the 4.56-4.7 μm CO2 emission region. An iterative procedure for correcting the values of the gas-particle temperature and particle emissivity was applied to the datasets from the two industrial tests. Results from the measurement campaigns with the infrared sensor prototype at two full-scale furnaces are presented. A proof-of-concept test at a coal-fired boiler for electricity production was followed by more extensive measurements at a Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) for steelmaking. The second test provided temperature and particle emissivity profiles for eight heats, which highlighted the simplicity of the technique in obtaining in-situ measurements for modeling studies. Through the analysis of the particle emissivity profile in the BOF and the definition of a new variable –the minimum carbon time– a novel end-point strategy to stop the injection of high-purity oxygen during low-carbon heats in BOF converters was proposed.

A novel technique for measuring gas temperature and spectral particle emissivity in high-temperature gas-particle streams is presented. The main application of this optical sensor is to improve the process control of batch unit operations, such as steelmaking furnaces. The spectral emission profile of CO and CO2 and the continuous particle emission in the 3.5 to 5 μm wavelength region was recorded and analyzed in real time with a low-resolution passive sensor. The sensor consisted of light collecting optics, a dispersion element (grating spectrometer) and a 64-pixel pyroelectric array. Wavelength and radiance calibrations were performed. The temperature of the gas-particle medium (Tg+p) followed from the least-squares minimization of the difference between the measured radiance in the 4.56-4.7 μm region –which saturates due to the large CO2 concentrations and path lengths in industrial furnaces– and the corresponding blackbody radiance. Particle emissivity (εp) was calculated at 3.95 μm from an asymptotic approximation of the Radiative Transfer Equation that yields the emerging radiance from a semi-infinite particle cloud. The major source of error in the magnitude of Tg+p and εp could come from particle scattering. Through the method of embedded invariance an expression was developed to estimate the lowering effect of particle size and volume fraction on the saturation of the 4.56-4.7 μm CO2 emission region. An iterative procedure for correcting the values of the gas-particle temperature and particle emissivity was applied to the datasets from the two industrial tests. Results from the measurement campaigns with the infrared sensor prototype at two full-scale furnaces are presented. A proof-of-concept test at a coal-fired boiler for electricity production was followed by more extensive measurements at a Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) for steelmaking. The second test provided temperature and particle emissivity profiles for eight heats, which highlighted the simplicity of the technique in obtaining in-situ measurements for modeling studies. Through the analysis of the particle emissivity profile in the BOF and the definition of a new variable –the minimum carbon time– a novel end-point strategy to stop the injection of high-purity oxygen during low-carbon heats in BOF converters was proposed.

La tesi doctoral Responsabilidad civil y deporte analitza el marc regulatori esportiu i, en particular, les normes aplicables als accidents esportius, així com els criteris d'imputació emprats pels tribunals a l'hora de resoldre aquests supòsits.S'examina en detall la jurisprudència del Tribunal Suprem i la jurisprudència menor espanyola i també, encara que de forma menys exhaustiva, la jurisprudència de les diferents jurisdiccions dels EUA. En ambdós casos es parteix del subjecte responsable de l'accident.Les conclusions bàsiques del treball apunten a què el criteri d'imputació central als accidents esportius és l'assumpció dels riscs inherents a la seva pràctica per part dels esportistes. Així mateix, la diligència exigida als esportistes és menor que la diligència del bon pare de família prevista a l'art. 1104 CC, mentre que a les institucions encarregades d'organitzar o allotjar l'esdeveniment, se'ls exigeix un nivell de diligència superior. / La tesis doctoral Responsabilidad civil y deporte analiza el marco regulatorio deportivo y, en particular, las normas aplicables a los accidentes deportivos, así como los criterios utilizados por los tribunales para resolver estos supuestos.Se examina en detalle la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Supremo y la jurisprudencia menor española y también, aunque en menor medida, la jurisprudencia de las diferentes jurisdicciones de los EEUU. En ambos casos se parte del sujeto responsable del accidente.Las conclusiones básicas del trabajo apuntan a que el criterio de imputación central en los accidentes deportivos es la asunción de los riesgos inherentes a su práctica por parte de los deportistas. Asimismo, la diligencia exigida a los deportistas es menor que la diligencia del buen padre de familia prevista en el art. 1104 CC, mientras que a las instituciones encargadas de organizar o albergar el evento se les exige un nivel de diligencia superior. / The PhD dissertation Responsabilidad civil y deporte explores the regulatory framework of sports and, above all, the rules governing sports accidents, as well as the criteria used by courts in order to solve litigation in this area.It provides a detailed survey of the case-law by the Spanish Supreme Court and other Spanish courts, as well as the decisions delivered by courts from different U.S. jurisdictions. In both discussions, the standpoint used to sort out the different cases concern the subject who is held liable for the accident. The basic conclusions of the research assert that proximate causation in sports accidents resorts to the idea of assumption of the activity's inherent risks by the sportsmen. Sportsman's duty of care is less than the "good father's standard of care" set forth in Section 1104 of the Spanish Civil Code, whereas a higher level of care is demanded to sports events organizers.