his project aims to find a method that will help fill the information gaps in electroencephalography (EEG) brain-computer interfaces (BCI) research, by creating a pipeline method that allows for quicker research iterations than current state-of-the-art methods. The pipeline method is a multi-step processstarting from the recording EEG data from a subject performing a thought paradigm action, continuing with processing and decoding of the data, and ending with visualization and analysis the decoded results. Thought paradigms are in this project defined as different ways that the subject can think, with different words and different ways of thinking of those words. The pipeline will utilize various machine learning methods to be able to reach the two main goals of quickly being able to analyze and compare different paradigms and methods. Regarding the accuracy of the models, a minimum level of higher than random chance accuracies is needed if the pipeline should be considered to be useful for analyzing and comparing paradigms and methods, while a higher level of having accuracies comparable with state-of-the-art methods will allow for comparisons with paradigms and methods from other research methods as well. In the pipeline, various simple feature extraction methods are tested, such as the Fourier transform (FT) and low pass filtering. As well as features based on covariance between channels and data gradients. A specific way to baseline correct the features is also proposed and tested. The results of the project show that the pipeline method is a viable way of quickly testing and comparing paradigms and methods. With results that are comparable to state of the art methods. While also allowing for quick iteration and comparison. Future possibilities using this method are discussed

Biometric technology, leveraging distinctive physiological or behavioral traits for identification, has transformed authentication methods. This thesis explores biometric data sensitivity from theoretical and human perspectives. Theoretical analysis examines factors like uniqueness, permanence, and potential misuse, while empirical research surveys societal attitudes towards biometric sensitivity. Discrepancies between theoretical constructs and real-world perceptions underscore the complexity of this issue. Privacy, security, and trust emerge as central concerns, emphasizing the need for comprehensive approaches in biometric technology development and policy-making. The discussion interprets survey findings, highlighting implications for stakeholders. Future research could explore cultural influences on biometric perceptions, conduct longitudinal studies, and investigate innovative solutions to privacy and security concerns. Collaboration between academia, industry, and policymakers is crucial for advancing biometric technology ethically and responsibly in an increasingly digital world.

In 1976, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted its Bold New Thrusts in Foreign Missions with the overarching goal of sharing the gospel with every person in the world by the year 2000. The formation of Cooperative Services International (CSI) in 1985 and the assigning of the first nonresidential missionary (NRM) in 1987 demonstrated the Foreign Mission Board's commitment to take the gospel message to countries that restricted traditional missionary presence and to people groups identified as having little or no access to the gospel. This thesis traces the historical development of the NRM paradigm along with an analysis of the key components of the paradigm and its impact on the Board's missiology. Chapter 1 presents on overview of the thesis, outlining the primary research question addressed by this thesis and the rationale for this research. Chapter 2 focuses on the key events, persons and concepts that directly and indirectly influenced the leadership of the FMB in the development of this new missiological paradigm. Chapter 3 outlines the events leading up to the launching of CSI and the NRM program, the unique contributions of key Board leaders, and the initial growth of the NRM paradigm. Chapter 4 examines the years of growth and maturity of the NRM paradigm under the leadership of Mike Stroope. During this time, the nomenclature changed from NRM to Strategy Coordinator (SC). Chapter 5 seeks to demonstrate the impact of the NRM/SC paradigm on the Board's reorganization in 1997 called New Directions. Chapter 6 explores the CPM phenomenon and its impact on the SC paradigm, giving special attention to the reductionism that occurred as the Board sought to define and describe these movements. Chapter 7 revisits the major objective of this research as expressed in the introductory chapter and offers suggestions for further research. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th.

Für die Simulation technischer Bauteile mit Hilfe der Finite-Elemente-Methode (FEM) werden tensorielle Stoffgesetze benötigt, die zu einem beliebigen dreidimensionalen Verzerrungszustand und gegebenenfalls der Belastungsvorgeschichte und -geschwindigkeit des Materials die zugehörige Spannungsantwort liefern. Die Entwicklung derart komplexer Materialmodelle verläuft oftmals über Zwischenstufen, die zunächst nur Vorhersagen für den einachsigen Zug-/Druckversuch erlauben. Zur automatischen Verallgemeinerung solcher eindimensionaler Materialbeschreibungen zu vollständig dreidimensionalen Stoffgesetzen für die Finite-Elemente-Methode wird im Rahmen dieser Arbeit das Konzept repräsentativer Raumrichtungen vorgeschlagen, welches auf der Integration einachsiger Spannungszustände über eine diskrete Anzahl gleichmäßig verteilter (repräsentativer) Raumrichtungen basiert. Zur Untersuchung der grundlegenden Eigenschaften des Algorithmus wurden verschiedene inelastische tensorielle Beispielstoffgesetze herangezogen, deren eindimensionale Formulierung als Eingangsmodell für die repräsentativen Raumrichtungen dient. Hierbei zeigt sich, dass die wesentlichen Materialeigenschaften des jeweiligen uniaxialen Eingangsmodells bei der Verallgemeinerung vollständig erhalten bleiben. Weiterhin werden einige wichtige Effekte vom Konzept automatisch generiert, wie z. B. die anisotrope Entfestigung technischer Gummiwerkstoffe oder die formative Verfestigung metallischer Werkstoffe, was eine realitätsnahe Simulation dieser Materialklassen ohne zusätzlichen Arbeitsaufwand erlaubt. Das Konzept wurde zusätzlich auf Stoffgesetze angewendet, die ausschließlich in Form einer eindimensionalen Materialbeschreibung vorliegen und somit konkrete Anwendungsfällle darstellen. Darüber hinaus wurden für einige ausgewählte Stoffgesetze in repräsentativen Raumrichtungen Vergleiche mit Ergebnissen aus experimentellen Versuchen vorgenommen, wobei sich stets eine gute Übereinstimmung zwischen Experiment und Simulation ergibt. Das Konzept repräsentativer Raumrichtungen wurde in die zwei kommerziellen Finite-Elemente-Programme MSC.Marc und ABAQUS implementiert. Hiermit können Simulationen inhomogener Verzerrungs- und Spannungsverteilungen durchgeführt werden, obwohl das zugrunde liegende Stoffgesetz lediglich einachsige Spannungszustände beschreibt. In diesem Zusammenhang werden verschiedene Methoden vorgestellt, mit deren Hilfe die Effizienz einer FEM-Simulation erheblich gesteigert werden kann. Dies betrifft zum einen die Generierung einer gleichmäßigen Verteilung von repräsentativen Raumrichtungen mit Hilfe eines numerischen Algorithmus zur Simulation sich abstoßender elektrischer Punktladungen auf der Kugeloberfläche. Zum anderen besteht die Möglichkeit, die einzelnen Sätze von repräsentativen Raumrichungen in den Gaußpunkten eines finiten Elementes unterschiedlich zueinander auszurichten, was bei gleichbleibendem Rechenaufwand eine beträchtliche Erhöhung der Rechengenauigkeit erlaubt. / The simulation of technical components using the finite element method (FEM) requires tensorial constitutive models which describe the complete relation between a given three-dimensional state of strain (in some cases also the loading history and strain rate) and the corresponding state of stress. The development of such complex material models often leads to an intermediate stage that enables the prediction of uniaxial tension and compression only. The automatic generalization of those one-dimensional material descriptions to complete three-dimensional constitutive models for the finite element method can be accomplished by using the concept of representative directions which is based on the integration of uniaxial stresses over a discrete number of uniformly distributed (representative) directions in space. In order to investigate the fundamental characteristics of the algorithm several inelastic tensorial constitutive models were used, whose one-dimensional formulation serves as the input model for the use within the representative directions. In this context it becomes evident that the essential material properties of the respective uniaxial input model are completely preserved during the process of generalization. Furthermore, some important effects are produced automatically by the concept such as the anisotropic stress softening of technical rubber materials or the distortional hardening of metallic materials, which enables a realistic simulation of those material classes without spending additional effort. The concept was also applied to material models that are available in form of a one-dimensional material description only, so that these can be regarded as concrete applications. In addition, some of the material models in representative directions were compared to experimental data, whereas a good agreement between measurement and simulation can be noticed. The concept of representative directions has been implemented into the commercial finite element programs MSC.Marc and ABAQUS. This enables simulations of inhomogeneous strain and stress distributions even though the underlying material model describes uniaxial loading processes only. In this context, several methods are introduced which can be applied to increase the efficiency of a finite element simulation to a great extent. On the one hand this affects the generation of a uniform distribution of representative directions using a numerical algorithm simulating the repulsion of electric charges on the surface of a sphere. On the other hand, it is possible to adjust the sets of representative directions at the integration points of a finite element differently, which leads to an increasing computational accuracy at constant computational effort.

La multiplication des formations professionnelles universitaires (FPU) a poussé plusieurs chercheurs à s’intéresser aux caractéristiques de ces formations, leur perméabilité à une multitude de pressions étant l’une des plus fréquemment relevées. Ainsi, les unités responsables de FPU sont confrontées à des pressions diverses et souvent contradictoires. Si les écrits scientifiques sur les FPU témoignent bien de cette réalité, ceux-ci nous informent moins bien de la manière dont les unités responsables de ce type de formation répondent à ces pressions. Cette thèse a donc fait appel à plusieurs concepts de l’approche institutionnelle issue de la sociologie des organisations pour analyser l’évolution récente de la FPU destinée aux directions d’établissement scolaire (DES) du Québec, un champ qui a connu d’importantes transformations au cours des vingt-cinq dernières années. Construite sur une étude de cas interprétative dite à « unités enchâssées » (Yin, 2003), cette thèse s’est intéressée à l’évolution de cette formation dans deux unités universitaires francophones : le Département d’administration et fondements de l’éducation de l’Université de Montréal et le Département de gestion de l’éducation et de la formation de l’Université de Sherbrooke. Couvrant la période allant des années universitaires 1988-1989 à 2008-2009, elle repose sur une analyse du discours produit par les deux unités sélectionnées, et, dans une moindre mesure, par les organisations qui composent le champ organisationnel de la formation des DES au Québec. Pour ce faire, trois corpus documentaires distincts ont été assemblés et une série d’entrevues (dix par unités) ont été réalisées auprès d’informateurs-clés (doyens, directeurs de département/section, responsables de formation). Les résultats montrent comment ces unités tendent à se rendre isomorphes à leur environnement, et comment cela se fait en réponse à des pressions institutionnelles et de compétition diverses émanant d’un champ organisationnel en pleine transformation. En fait, poussée par des changements plus profonds touchant l’administration scolaire, cette transformation amène un champ organisationnel plus structuré, où les attentes concernant la FPU destinée aux DES sont plus explicites. Cela n’est pas sans conséquence sur l’évolution de la formation dans les deux unités. En effet, celle-ci connaît des changements importants, dont plusieurs convergent autour d’une logique de professionnalisation, d’un archétype spécifique de formation (un continuum de formation de 2e cycle, au cœur duquel se trouve un diplôme de deuxième cycle) et d’outils conséquents (conditions d’admission et populations étudiantes élargies; flexibilité dans la structure du programme et professionnalisation des activités; équipes enseignantes plus diversifiées). Les deux unités n’apparaissent cependant pas impuissantes devant ces pressions. Les résultats témoignent d’un certain niveau d’agence des deux unités, qui déploient un éventail de stratégies en réaction à ces pressions. Ces stratégies évoluent au cours de la période observée et visent surtout à gérer la situation de « pluralisme institutionnel » à laquelle elles sont confrontées, notamment entre les pressions externes de nature plus professionnalisantes, et les pressions intraorganisationnelles de nature plus académisantes. Ainsi, plusieurs des stratégies et tactiques composant la typologie d’Oliver (1991) ont été observées, les stratégies de compromis et de manipulation occupant, dans les deux unités, une place de plus en plus importante au gré de l’évolution du champ. La mise en œuvre de ces stratégies vise surtout à maintenir la légitimité de leur offre de formation devant des pressions plurielles et parfois contradictoires. Les résultats montrent aussi que la nature de l’entrepreneuriat institutionnel en place détermine en grande partie les stratégies qu’elles déploient. Cet « entrepreneuriat » est au cœur de l’évolution de la formation. Cependant, les résultats montrent aussi comment celui-ci est en partie contraint ou, a contrario, stimulé par les choix historiques qui ont été faits par les unités et leur université, et par l’empreinte et les dépendances de sentier qui en découlent. Ces résultats apportent un éclairage « institutionnaliste » sur la manière dont deux unités universitaires ont réagi, à une période donnée, aux pressions diverses provenant de leur environnement. Ils brossent un portrait complexe et nuancé qui vient à la fois (1) approfondir notre compréhension de cette spécificité des FPU, (2) approfondir notre compréhension de l’évolution récente de la FPU destinée aux DES québécoises, et (3) confirmer la puissance d’analyse de plusieurs concepts tirés de l’approche institutionnelle. / The multiplication of university professional training programs (UPTP) has generated some interest in the description of such programs. Their permeability to pressures is often cited as a characteristic of UPTP. Departments that offer UPTP deal with pressures that are both diverse and often contradictory. This phenomenon is well documented in the scientific literature, though said literature does not well inform researchers on how departments respond to these pressures. This doctoral research used various concepts taken from institutional theory (itself a branch of organizational sociology) to analyze the recent evolution of UPTP for educational leadership in the province of Quebec (Canada). This field of training has gone through major changes in the past 25 years. Using an embedded interpretative case study (Yin, 2003), this research studied the evolution of educational leadership training programs in two university departments: the Département d’administration et fondements de l’éducation at Université de Montréal and the Département de gestion de l’éducation et de la formation at Université de Sherbrooke. We analyzed the discourse from the two departments (from 1988-1989 to 2008-2009) and from other organizations involved in educational leadership training in Quebec. We compiled data from three distinct document sources and from a series of interviews (ten per department) conducted with key agents (deans, department chairs, program coordinators). Results show that the two units tend to become isomorphic to their environment. They behave as such as a response to institutional pressures and organizational competition in a changing environment. These changes, often driven by a deeper transformation in the field of school administration, actually help create a more structured organizational field in which demands regarding UPTP for educational leadership were made more explicit. This had observable impacts on the evolution of training programs in both departments, where they went through several changes and were lead to share a ‘logic’ of professionalization, a training ‘archetype’ (a graduate continuing education program with, at its core, a graduate diploma) and some relevant institutional ‘tools’ (widened admissions policies and target student population, enhanced program flexibility, professionalized training activities, and teaching teams with diversified backgrounds). Nevertheless, none of the departments appeared powerless when facing these pressures. Results show that these two units uphold their agency, through a variety of strategies in response to the pressures from the environment. These strategies evolved during the period under scrutiny and seem aimed at managing the ‘institutional pluralism’ that arises from the clash of external pressures (that push towards professionalizing educational leadership development programs) and internal pressures (that push towards a more “academic” model of development). Many of the strategies and tactics described by Oliver (1991) were used, including compromise and manipulation, both of which took more and more place as time went by. The quest for legitimacy seems to have driven the implementation of these strategies, with regards to the multitude of sometimes contradictory pressures. The nature of the institutional entrepreneurship also determines the choice of strategy used by each department. This entrepreneurship is the main driver of the evolution of the UPTP. Results show, however, that this entrepreneurship is both constrained and stimulated by historical institutional choices and, furthermore, by the ‘imprint’ and ‘path dependencies’ created by these choices. These results shed an institutionalist spotlight on the way these two departments reacted to environmental pressures during the period under study. The complex portrait sketched by these results 1) enhances our understanding of this important characteristic of university professional training programs, 2) enhances our understanding of the recent evolution of educational leadership training in Quebec, and 3) confirms the analytical strength of many concepts that stem from institutional theory.

Em sistemas com acoplamento spin-órbita (SO) é possível manipular eletricamente o spin do elétron via a aplicação de um campo elétrico.1 Isso permite a potencial aplicação do grau de liberdade de spin (Spintronica) no desenvolvimento de novos dispositivos e tecnologias, como por exemplo na tecnologia da informação (computação quântica).2,3 No entanto, sabe-se que a interação SO causa efeitos indesejáveis, como por exemplo a relaxação e o defasamento de spin.4 Dessa maneira, do ponto de vista de aplicações, torna-se desejável maximizar o tempo de vida do spin. Neste trabalho, investigamos a relaxação de spin dos elétrons de condução em poços quânticos com duas sub-bandas5 crescidos ao longo das direções [001] e [110] via o mecanismo de D\'yakonov-Perel\'.6 Combinando teoria de grupos, o método k.p, a aproximação da função envelope e teoria de perturbação de Löwdin obtemos um Hamiltoniano efetivo para os elétrons da banda de condução na presença das interações SO de Rashba e Dresselhaus. Aqui, diferentemente de alguns trabalhos anteriores,7,8 além de incluir o termo cúbico de Dresselhaus, também levamos em conta as contribuições devido à influência da segunda sub-banda de mais baixa energia do poço. A partir deste Hamiltoniano derivamos expressões para os tempos de relaxação do spin e analisamos como estas novas contribuições (termos do acoplamento com a segunda sub-banda) afetam os tempos de vida dos spins. Comparamos os tempos de relaxação para as direções [001] com os calculados para a direção [110]. Nossos resultados mostram que as contribuições devido à segunda sub-banda são desprezíveis para ambas as direções. Mostramos também que o tempo de relaxação para a direção [110] é mais longo que o da [001], resultado consistente com experimentos9,10 e outros trabalhos teóricos anteriores.7 / In systems with spin-orbit (SO) coupling, it is possible to electrically manipulate the electron spin via applied gate voltages.1 This allows for the potential use of the spin degree of freedom (Spintronics) in the development of new devices and technologies, for instance information technology (quantum computing).2,3 It is known however, that the SO interaction leads to the undesired effect of causing spin relaxation and spin dephasing.4 Thus from the point of view of applications, it is desirable to maximize the spin lifetimes. Here, we investigate the spin relaxation of the conduction electrons in quantum wells with two sub-bands5 grown along the [001] and [110] directions via the D\'yakonov-Perel\' mechanism.6 By combining group theory, the k.p method, the envelope function approach and the Löwdin perturbation theory, we obtain an effective Hamiltonian for the conduction electrons in the presence of the Rashba and Dresselhaus SO interactions. Differently from some early works,7,8 in addition to the cubic Dresselhaus term, we also account for the contributions arising from the second lowest sub-band of the well. We derive expressions for the spin relaxation times and analyze how the new contributions (second sub-band terms) affect the spin lifetimes. We compare the relaxation times obtained in the [001] direction with those calculated for the [110] direction. Our results show that the contributions from the second sub-band are negligible for both directions. We also find that the relaxation time in the [110] direction is longer than the one in the [001], a result consistent with experiments9,10 and earlier theoretical works.7

Les premières recherches en détection, localisation et séparation de signaux remontent au début du 20ème siècle. Ces recherches sont d’actualité encore aujourd’hui, notamment du fait de la croissance rapide des systèmes de communications constatée ces deux dernières décennies. Par ailleurs, la littérature du domaine consacre très peu d’études relatives à certains contextes jugés difficiles dont certains sont traités dans cette thèse. Ce travail porte sur la localisation de signaux par détection des temps d’arrivée ou estimation des directions d’arrivée et sur la séparation de sources dépendantes ou à module constant. L’idée principale est de tirer profit de certaines informations a priori disponibles sur les signaux sources telles que la parcimonie, la cyclostationarité, la non-circularité, le module constant, la structure autoregressive et les séquences pilote dans un contexte coopératif. Une première partie détaille trois contributions : (i) un nouveau détecteur pour l’estimation des temps d’arrivée basé sur la minimisation de la probabilité d’erreur ; (ii) une estimation améliorée de la puissance du bruit, basée sur les statistiques d’ordre ; (iii) une quantification de la précision et de la résolution de l’estimation des directions d’arrivée au regard de certains a priori considérés sur les sources. Une deuxième partie est consacrée à la séparation de sources exploitant différentes informations sur celles-ci : (i) la séparation de signaux de communication à module constant ; (ii) la séparation de sources dépendantes connaissant la nature de la dépendance et (iii) la séparation de sources autorégressives dépendantes connaissant la structure autorégressive. / Signal detection, localization, and separation problems date back to the beginning of the twentieth century. Nowadays, this subject is still a hot topic receiving more and more attention, notably with the rapid growth of wireless communication systems that arose in the last two decades and it turns out that many challenging aspects remain poorly addressed by the available literature relative to this subject. This thesis deals with signal detection, localization using temporal or directional measurements, and separation of dependent source signals. The main objective is to make use of some available priors about the source signals such as sparsity, cyclo-stationarity, non-circularity, constant modulus, autoregressive structure or training sequences in a cooperative framework. The first part is devoted to the analysis of (i) signal’s time-of-arrival estimation using a new minimum error rate based detector, (ii) noise power estimation using an improved order-statistics estimator and (iii) side information impact on direction-of-arrival estimation accuracy and resolution. In the second part, the source separation problem is investigated at the light of different priors about the original sources. Three kinds of prior have been considered : (i) separation of constant modulus communication signals, (ii) separation of dependent source signals knowing their dependency structure and (iii) separation of dependent autoregressive sources knowing their autoregressive structure.

In 1976, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted its Bold New Thrusts in Foreign Missions with the overarching goal of sharing the gospel with every person in the world by the year 2000. The formation of Cooperative Services International (CSI) in 1985 and the assigning of the first nonresidential missionary (NRM) in 1987 demonstrated the Foreign Mission Board's commitment to take the gospel message to countries that restricted traditional missionary presence and to people groups identified as having little or no access to the gospel. This thesis traces the historical development of the NRM paradigm along with an analysis of the key components of the paradigm and its impact on the Board's missiology. Chapter 1 presents on overview of the thesis, outlining the primary research question addressed by this thesis and the rationale for this research. Chapter 2 focuses on the key events, persons and concepts that directly and indirectly influenced the leadership of the FMB in the development of this new missiological paradigm. Chapter 3 outlines the events leading up to the launching of CSI and the NRM program, the unique contributions of key Board leaders, and the initial growth of the NRM paradigm. Chapter 4 examines the years of growth and maturity of the NRM paradigm under the leadership of Mike Stroope. During this time, the nomenclature changed from NRM to Strategy Coordinator (SC). Chapter 5 seeks to demonstrate the impact of the NRM/SC paradigm on the Board's reorganization in 1997 called New Directions. Chapter 6 explores the CPM phenomenon and its impact on the SC paradigm, giving special attention to the reductionism that occurred as the Board sought to define and describe these movements. Chapter 7 revisits the major objective of this research as expressed in the introductory chapter and offers suggestions for further research. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th.

Em sistemas com acoplamento spin-órbita (SO) é possível manipular eletricamente o spin do elétron via a aplicação de um campo elétrico.1 Isso permite a potencial aplicação do grau de liberdade de spin (Spintronica) no desenvolvimento de novos dispositivos e tecnologias, como por exemplo na tecnologia da informação (computação quântica).2,3 No entanto, sabe-se que a interação SO causa efeitos indesejáveis, como por exemplo a relaxação e o defasamento de spin.4 Dessa maneira, do ponto de vista de aplicações, torna-se desejável maximizar o tempo de vida do spin. Neste trabalho, investigamos a relaxação de spin dos elétrons de condução em poços quânticos com duas sub-bandas5 crescidos ao longo das direções [001] e [110] via o mecanismo de D\'yakonov-Perel\'.6 Combinando teoria de grupos, o método k.p, a aproximação da função envelope e teoria de perturbação de Löwdin obtemos um Hamiltoniano efetivo para os elétrons da banda de condução na presença das interações SO de Rashba e Dresselhaus. Aqui, diferentemente de alguns trabalhos anteriores,7,8 além de incluir o termo cúbico de Dresselhaus, também levamos em conta as contribuições devido à influência da segunda sub-banda de mais baixa energia do poço. A partir deste Hamiltoniano derivamos expressões para os tempos de relaxação do spin e analisamos como estas novas contribuições (termos do acoplamento com a segunda sub-banda) afetam os tempos de vida dos spins. Comparamos os tempos de relaxação para as direções [001] com os calculados para a direção [110]. Nossos resultados mostram que as contribuições devido à segunda sub-banda são desprezíveis para ambas as direções. Mostramos também que o tempo de relaxação para a direção [110] é mais longo que o da [001], resultado consistente com experimentos9,10 e outros trabalhos teóricos anteriores.7 / In systems with spin-orbit (SO) coupling, it is possible to electrically manipulate the electron spin via applied gate voltages.1 This allows for the potential use of the spin degree of freedom (Spintronics) in the development of new devices and technologies, for instance information technology (quantum computing).2,3 It is known however, that the SO interaction leads to the undesired effect of causing spin relaxation and spin dephasing.4 Thus from the point of view of applications, it is desirable to maximize the spin lifetimes. Here, we investigate the spin relaxation of the conduction electrons in quantum wells with two sub-bands5 grown along the [001] and [110] directions via the D\'yakonov-Perel\' mechanism.6 By combining group theory, the k.p method, the envelope function approach and the Löwdin perturbation theory, we obtain an effective Hamiltonian for the conduction electrons in the presence of the Rashba and Dresselhaus SO interactions. Differently from some early works,7,8 in addition to the cubic Dresselhaus term, we also account for the contributions arising from the second lowest sub-band of the well. We derive expressions for the spin relaxation times and analyze how the new contributions (second sub-band terms) affect the spin lifetimes. We compare the relaxation times obtained in the [001] direction with those calculated for the [110] direction. Our results show that the contributions from the second sub-band are negligible for both directions. We also find that the relaxation time in the [110] direction is longer than the one in the [001], a result consistent with experiments9,10 and earlier theoretical works.7

It is well known that inclusions affect the properties of steels and alloys. Therefore, it is important to understand what type of inclusions that exist and how they behave and especially with a focus on large size inclusions. Thus, the large size non-metallic inclusions in ferroalloy FeTi70R were investigated in two dimensions (2D) by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in combination with an energy dispersive technique (EDS). It was found that the FeTi70R ferroalloy contain complex oxide inclusions consisting mostly of CaO, SiO2 and TiOx. Furthermore, experimental trials were performed to investigate how these inclusions behaved when entering a melt. More specifically, a comparison between pure Fe and an Alloy 825 grade were made. These results determined the parameters effect on the transformation of the inclusions in the melt. The large size non-metallic inclusions in Alloy 825 during the ladle treatment were investigated during industrial trials by using both two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) microscopic investigations. The results showed that inclusions consisted of spherical oxides and clusters made up of oxides and nitrides. Further investigations found that the spherical inclusions were transformed from existing NMI in the FeTi70R ferroalloy and slag particles. As for the clusters, they originate from deoxidation products. Furthermore, small inclusions precipitated in the local zones around the added FeTi70R ferroalloy and titanium nitrides. Investigations also found that only Al2O3-MgO and TiN clusters exist after casting. Industrial trials were performed during the last period of the ladle treatment and using a combined electromagnetic (EMS) and gas (GS) stirring. The purpose to investigate the effect of different EMS directions on the agglomeration and on the removal of Al2O3-MgO and TiN clusters. The investigations were then performed in 3D after an electrolytic extraction of the metal samples. The results show that electromagnetic stirring in the upwards direction is best for the agglomeration of the Al2O3-MgO and TiN clusters. However, electromagnetic stirring in the downwards direction is more effective to remove clusters from the melt. This is in agreement with the theoretical predictions based on Stokes’, Brownian and Turbulent collisions. Also, the calculations showed that for Al2O3-MgO clusters with sizes &lt;20 μm the Turbulent collision is the defining factor for agglomeration. However, both Stokes’ and Turbulent collisions are dominant for larger inclusions. For the TiN clusters, turbulent collisions is the dominant factor. Further investigations with more heats and stirring modes were done by using 2D microscopic investigations. More specifically, the number, size, composition and morphology of different inclusions were determined by using SEM in combination with EDS and Inca Feature analyses. The results show that the EMS in downwards direction with a 0.04 m3 min-1 gas flow rate promotes a general removal of Al2O3-MgO and TiN inclusions. Furthermore, that the upwards EMS direction promotes a drastically increase of inclusions having an equivalent size smaller than 11.2 μm. Moreover, the stirring with a 0.02 m3 min-1 gas flow rate has a better removal rate for both downwards and upwards stirring directions compared to the stirring with a 0.04 m3 min-1 gas flow rate. However, no influence on the inclusion composition and morphology could be seen from the different stirring modes. / Det är välkänt att inneslutningar påverkar egenskaperna i stål och legeringar. Därför är det viktigt att förstå vilken sorts inneslutningar som existerar samt hur de beter sig, särskilt stora inneslutningar. Således undersöktes de stora icke-metalliska inneslutningarna i ferrolegeringen FeTi70R i två dimensioner (2D) genom att använda svepelektronmikroskopi (SEM) i kombination med energidispersionsteknik (EDS). Det visade sig att ferrolegeringen FeTi70R innehåller komplexa oxidinneslutningar bestående huvudsakligen av CaO, Si02 och TiOx. Vidare utfördes laborativa försök för att undersöka hur dessa inneslutningar uppträder när de kommer ner i det smälta stålet. Mer specifikt så gjordes en jämförelse mellan rent Fe och Alloy 825 legeringen. Dessa resultat fastställde hur olika parametrar påverkade inneslutningarnas omvandling i smältan. De stora icke-metalliska inneslutningarna i Alloy 825 legeringen under skänkugnsbehandlingen undersöktes vid industriella försök med hjälp av både tvådimensionella (2D) och tredimensionella (3D) mikroskopiska undersökningar. Resultaten visade att inneslutningarna bestod av sfäriska oxider och kluster uppbyggda av oxider och nitrider. Ytterligare undersökningar visade att de sfäriska inneslutningarna omvandlades från befintliga icke-metalliska inneslutningar i ferrolegeringen FeTi70R och slaggpartiklar. När det gäller kluster härrör de från desoxidationsprodukter. Vidare så bildades små inneslutningar i de lokala zonerna kring den tillsatta FeTi70R legeringen och kring titanitriderna. Undersökningarna fann också att endast Al2O3-MgO och TiN-kluster existerar efter gjutning. De industriella försöken utfördes under den sista perioden av skänkugnsbehandlingen och med en kombinerad elektromagnetisk (EMS) och gas (GS) omröring. Syftet med detta var att undersöka effekten av olika riktningar på EMS omrörningen på agglomerationen och avskiljningen av Al2O3-MgO- och TiN klustren. Undersökningarna utfördes sedan i 3D efter en elektrolytisk extraktion av metallproverna. Resultaten visar att en uppåtriktad elektromagnetisk omröring är bäst för agglomereringen av Al2O3-MgO inneslutningar och TiN kluster. Emellertid så är en nedåtriktad elektromagnetisk omröring effektivare för att avlägsna kluster från smältan. Dessa resultat överensstämmer med de teoretiska förutsägelserna baserade på Stokes, Brownian och Turbulent kollisionsvolymer. Dessutom visade beräkningarna att för Al2O3-MgO kluster med storlekar &lt;20 μm är det turbulenta kollisioner som är den avgörande faktorn för agglomerering. Dock är det både Stokes och de Turbulenta kollisionerna som dominerar för större inneslutningar. För TiN klustren är det de turbulenta kollisionerna som är den dominerande faktorn. Ytterligare undersökningar med fler charger av Alloy 825 och olika omrörningsmetoder gjordes baserade på 2D mikroskopiska undersökningar. Mer specifikt så bestämdes antalet, storleken, sammansättningen och morfologin för olika inneslutningar med användning av SEM i kombination med EDS och Inca Feature analyser. Resultaten visar att en nedåtriktad EMS i kombination med ett gasflöde på 0,04 m3 min-1 främjar ett generellt avlägsnande av Al2O3-MgO och TiN inneslutningar. Vidare främjar den uppåtriktade EMS omrörningen en drastisk ökning av inneslutningar med en ekvivalent storlek av 11,2 μm eller mindre. Vidare har omröringen med ett gasflöde på 0,02 m3 min-1 en bättre avskiljningshastighet för inneslutningar i både nedåt och uppåtgående omrörningsriktningar jämfört med omrörningen med ett gasflöde på 0,04 m3 min-1. Emellertid kunde inget inflytande på sammansättningen och morfologin ses från de olika omrörningssätten. / <p>QC 20171122</p>