Yes / The purpose of this study is to determine whether Indian banks were able to weather the COVID-19 storm. We estimate banks’ deposits-generating and operating efficiencies using a two-stage directional distance function-based network data envelopment analysis (DDF- NDEA) approach and seek to capture the immediate impact of COVID-19 on these efficiency measures by comparing their magnitudes in the pre-pandemic (2014/15-2019/20), just 1-year prior to the pandemic (2019/20), and during the pandemic year (2020/21) periods. The study looks at whether the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was uniform across ownership types and size classes. The empirical findings suggest that the Indian banking system was resilient and withstood the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the study period, however, the large and medium-sized banks experienced some effi ciency losses. By and large, regardless of bank group, banks have shown resilience to the shock of the global health pandemic and improvements in efficiency. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 28 Dec 2024.

On s'intéresse dans ce travail à la modélisation d'un écoulement diphasique gaz-liquide co-courant descendant dans les réacteurs à lit fixe de particules, procédé largement utilisé dans le domaine industriel. En raison de la complexité de l'écoulement, induite par les nombreuses configurations multiphasiques pouvant coexister au sein du lit, les modèles développés directement à l'échelle du réacteur sont généralement issus d'approches semi-empiriques, en considérant l'écoulement homogène. Or, il a été observé que des hétérogénéités locales, géométrique et hydrodynamique, telle qu'une mal-distribution de la phase liquide, entrainaient une diminution du taux de réaction et conduisait les modèles existants à surestimer la productivité d'un réacteur. La nécessité de prendre en compte les phénomènes microscopiques dans un modèle macroscopique à l'échelle du réacteur rend l'utilisation d'approches multi-échelles indispensable. L'écoulement étant cependant d'une nature complexe, le changement d'échelle ne peut se faire de façon directe et nécessite donc la mise en place d'outils de modélisation adaptés à une échelle intermédiaire. Dans une première étape, la méthode de simulation numérique directe ``Volume-Of-Fluid'' (VOF) est validée dans le cas d'un film ruisselant dans un tube capillaire. Cette méthode est ensuite utilisée, à l'échelle microscopique, afin de proposer et de valider des relations de fermeture pour un modèle de type ``réseau de pores'' pouvant être utilisé à une échelle intermédiaire, celle du Volume Elémentaire Représentatif. Ce changement d'échelle est tout d'abord effectué dans le cas d'un lit fixe en deux dimensions, c'est-à-dire un empilement de cylindres entre deux plaques. Cette configuration permet la mise en place d'un dispositif expérimental qui, couplé à des simulations VOF 2D à plus grande échelle, valide l'approche de type "réseau de pores" adoptée. Le modèle réseau est ensuite étendu au cas d'un lit fixe réel, c'est-à-dire en trois dimensions, dont la géométrie est obtenue par micro-tomographie. Les lois de comportement locales sont redéfinies à l'aide de simulations numériques directes à l'échelle microscopique. Les résultats provenant de simulations de type « réseaux de pore » sont ensuite confrontés, dans le cas d'une répartition homogène des phases, aux modèles 1D habituellement utilisés pour les écoulements diphasiques en lit fixe. Enfin, une campagne expérimentale est menée afin d'observer, par imagerie scanner, l'étalement d'un jet de liquide sur un empilement de grains. Une comparaison qualitative est ensuite effectuée entre les observations expérimentales et les simulations numériques réseaux dans le cas spécifique de l'étalement d'un jet de liquide / We study in this work the modelling of two-phase cocurrent downflows in fixed bed reactors, a process widely used in industry. Due to the flow complexity, i.e., the presence of different interface configurations and, therefore, different phase interactions, most models have been developed using empirical approaches, with the assumption of a homogeneous flow in the reactor. However, several studies showed that local heterogeneities, geometric and hydrodynamic, such as the liquid distribution, could have a great influence on the flow at the reactor-scale and, therefore, on the reactor performance. Consider the microscopic phenomena in a macroscopic model require the use of multi-scale approaches. However, due to the flow complexity, the upscaling cannot be done directly and requires the development of modelling tools suitable for an intermediate scale. In a first step, the direct numerical method \ Volume-Of-Fluid" (VOF) is validated in the case of a two-phase flow in a capillary tube with the presence of a thin film. Then, this method is used, at a microscopic level to propose and validate closure laws for a pore-network model which will be used to simulate the flow at the intermediate scale. This upscaling approach is first tested in a two-dimensional case,i.e., an array of cylinders between two walls. This configuration allows the set up of an experimental approach, coupled with 2D VOF simulations at the intermediate scale, in order to validate the pore-network approach. The pore-network approach is then extended to a real fixed bed, i.e. in three dimensions, whose geometry is obtained by micro-tomography. Local laws of the pore-network model are redefined using direct numerical simulations at a microscopic scale. Pore-network simulations are then compared, for a homogenous phase distribution, with 1D models typically used for two-phase flow in fixed beds. Finally, an experimental campaign was set up to observe, by imaging scanner, the spreading of a liquid jet on a fixed bed pilot. A qualitative comparison is then performed between experimental observations and pore-network simulations in the specific case of the spreading of a liquid jet

La protection et la remédiation des ressources en eau sont un enjeu sociétal majeur, ainsi il est nécessaire de comprendre l’évolution de solutés, tels les polluants, au sein de la zone saturée et non saturée. Dans ce but, de nombreux travaux ont été consacrés à la modélisation du transport réactif en milieux poreux. Son déroulement à l’échelle de Darcy dépend des hétérogénéités microscopiques du milieu. Les modèles de réseau de pores qui simplifient la géométrie en un ensemble de pores reliés par des liens de sections constantes, permettent de se placer à une échelle mésoscopique, faisant le lien entre l’échelle porale et l’échelle de Darcy. Sur de telles formes géométriques, l’écoulement admet un traitement analytique. En ce qui concerne le transport réactif des solutés, nous proposons une solution analytique dans les liens qui permet de calculer le débit de masse entre pores. Le modèle de transport se formule alors comme un système d’équations de Volterra de secondes espèces dont les noyaux de convolution sont des séries d’exponentielles décroissantes (hormis le premier terme qui est constant). Leurs temps de relaxation sont pilotés essentiellement par le temps de dispersion td. Dans la limite où td tend vers 0 à Péclet constant, les termes transitoires des noyaux se réduisent à un Dirac, débouchant sur un premier modèle simplifié à réponse instantanée c'est-à-dire un modèle de transport quasi-statique. Dans le cas où les volumes des pores sont suffisamment grands, les noyaux se réduisent à leur premier terme. Ces formulations du transport généralisent celles de la littérature. En particulier pour des Péclet petit ou grand on retrouve respectivement les modèles usuels en régime dispersif et convectif. Numériquement, la décroissance exponentielle des noyaux permet d’optimiser le calcul des convolutions avec une précision arbitrairement fixée, réduisant drastiquement le temps de résolution. / Protection and remediation of ground water resources are a major societal challenge. It implies to understand the evolution of solutes as pollutant in the saturated and non-saturated zones. For that purpose numerous studies have been conducted for modeling the reactive transport in a porous media. At Darcy scale, the behavior of solutes depends on microscopic heterogeneity for the media. The Pore Network Models (PNM) simplifies drastically its geometry and considers pores linked by straight throats the section of which is constant. They give a description which is in between the macroscopic and the pore descriptions. With such geometry it is possible to use a Poiseuille flow modeling the flux. With respect to the reactiontransport equation, we seek the analytical solution of the CDE in throats, which in turn allows computing the mass flux in pores. The transport solution consists of a Volterra equation system. Its convolution kernels result in a summation of time function which is decreasing exponentially with time (except the first term which still constant). The time constant is driven by the diffusion time td. As td goes to zero, keeping the Peclet number fixed, each term of the summation reduces to a Dirac. The response of the system is then instantaneous. When the volume of the pore is large enough it is possible to neglect all the term of the kernel except the constant one. In the limit where the Peclet number goes to zero, usual models are recovered. Numerically, the exponential time decreasing of the kernel allow to optimize their computational time up to an arbitrary fixed precision.

Water distribution network models are widely used for various purposes such as long-range planning, design, operation and water quality management. Before these models are used for a specific study, they should be calibrated by adjusting model parameters such as pipe roughness values and nodal demands so that models can yield compatible results with site observations (basically, pressure readings). Many methods have been developed to calibrate water distribution networks. In this study, Darwin Calibrator, a computer software that uses genetic algorithm, is used to calibrate N8.3 pressure zone model of Ankara water distribution network / in this case study the network is calibrated on the basis of roughness parameter, Hazen Williams coefficient for the sake of simplicity. It is understood that there are various parameters that contribute to the uncertainties in water distribution network modelling and the calibration process. Besides, computer software&rsquo / s are valuable tools to solve water distribution network problems and to calibrate network models in an accurate and fast way using automated calibration technique. Furthermore, there are many important aspects that should be considered during automated calibration such as pipe roughness grouping. In this study, influence of flow velocity on pipe roughness grouping is examined. Roughness coefficients of pipes have been estimated in the range of 70-140.

The world market has during recent decades become an increasingly globalized arena, in which lowered trade barriers, enhanced technology, worldwide communication and containerization have made internationalization an easily obtainable option for companies. The once dominating multinational enterprises are present day challenged by small- and medium sized enterprises as global actors, and competitiveness is an ever-increasing factor, making the pursuit and exploitation of opportunities essential.   The International Entrepreneurship Theory has during the last two decades emerged as a theory explaining the phenomena of small- and medium sized enterprises internationalizing their operations at an early age; a theory comprehending entrepreneurial behavior, the ability to explore and take advantage of opportunities overlooked by others in order to create value in the organization.   The purpose of this thesis is to create an understanding of the emergence, definition and theoretical framework of the International Entrepreneurship Theory. By implementing a deductive research approach and a quantitative research method, empirical data is collected in order to confront the theoretical framework in the analysis. The analysis will further be the basis for conclusions and recommendations that will conclude our thesis.

The folding mechanism of several β-structures (e.g., β-hairpins and β-sheets) was studied using newly developed enhanced sampling methods along with MD simulations in all implicit solvent environments. The influence of different implicit solvent models on the folding simulation of β-structure was also tested. Through the analysis of the free energy landscape as the function of several suitable reaction coordinates, we observed that the folding of β-hairpins is actually a two-state transition. In addition, the folding free energy landscapes for those related hairpins indicate the apparent sequence dependence, which demonstrates different folding mechanisms of similar β-structures of varied sequence. We also found that the stability of backbone hydrogen bonds is determined by the turn sequence and the composition of hydrophobic core cluster in β-structures. Neither of these findings was reported before. The processive movement of kinesin was also studied at the mesoscopic level. We developed a simple physical model to understand the asymmetric hand-over-hand mechanism of the kinesin walking on the microtubule. The hand-over-hand motion of the conventional kinesin is reproduced in our model and good agreement is achieved between calculated and experimental results. The experimentally observed limping of the truncated kinesin is also perfectly described by our model. The global conformational change of kinesin heads (e.g., the power stroke of neck-linkers which works as lever-arms during the kinesin walking, the transition between open and closed states of the switch region of the nucleotide binding domain in each head induced by the nucleotide binding and release) was studied for both dimeric and monomeric kinesins using a coarse-grained model, anisotropic network model (ANM). At the same time Langevin mode analysis was used to study the solvent influence on the motions of the kinesin head mimicked by ANM. Additionally, the correlation between the neck-linker and the nucleotide binding site was also studied for dimeric and monomeric kinesins. The former shows the apparent correlation between two subdomains whereas the latter does not, which may explain the experimental observation that only the dimeric kinesin is capable of walking processively on the microtubule.

A power system is typically one small part of a larger interconnected network and is affected to a varying degree, by contingencies external to itself as well as by the reaction of external network to its own contingencies. Thus, the accuracy of a complete interconnected network model would affect the results of many transmission level analyses. In an interconnected power system, the real-time network security and power transfer capability analyses require a ¡§real-time¡¨ complete network base case solution. In order to accurately assess the system security and the inter-area transfer capability, it is highly desirable that any available information from all areas is used. With the advent of communications among operations control center computers, real-time telemetered data can be exchanged for complete network modeling. Measurement time skew should be considered in the complete network modeling when combining large area data received via a data communication network. In this dissertation, several suggestions aiming toward the improvement of complete network modeling are offered. A discrete event simulation technique is used to assess the performance of a data exchange scheme that uses Internet interface to the SCADA system. Performance modeling of data exchange on the Internet is established and a quantitative analysis of the data exchange delay is presented. With the prediction mechanisms, the effect of time skew of interchanged data among utilities can be minimized, and consequently, state estimation (SE) could provide the accurate real-time complete network models of the interconnected network for security and available transfer capability analyses. In order to accommodate the effects of randomly varying arrival of measurement data and setup a base case for more accurate analyses of network security and transfer capability, an implementation of a stochastic Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) algorithm is proposed to provide optimal estimates of interconnected network states for systems in which some or all measurements are delayed. To have an accurate state estimation of a complete network, it is essential to have the capability of detecting bad data in the model. An efficient information debugging methodology based on the stochastic EKF algorithm is used for the detection, diagnosis and elimination of bad data.

The energy crisis together with greater environmental awareness, has increased interest in the construction of low energy buildings. Fabric thermal storage systems provide a promising approach for reducing building energy use and cost, and consequently, the emission of environmental pollutants. Hollow core ventilated slab systems are a form of fabric thermal storage system that, through the coupling of the ventilation air with the mass of the slab, are effective in utilizing the building fabric as a thermal store. However, the benefit of such systems can only be realized through the effective control of the thermal storage. This thesis investigates an optimum control strategy for the hollow core ventilated slab systems, that reduces the energy cost of the system without prejudicing the building occupants thermal comfort. The controller uses the predicted ambient temperature and solar radiation, together with a model of the building, to predict the energy costs of the system and the thermal comfort conditions in the occupied space. The optimum control strategy is identified by exercising the model with a numerical optimization method, such that the energy costs are minimized without violating the building occupant's thermal comfort. The thesis describes the use of an Auto Regressive Moving Average model to predict the ambient conditions for the next 24 hours. A building dynamic lumped parameter thermal network model, is also described, together with its validation. The implementation of a Genetic Algorithm search method for optimizing the control strategy is described, and its performance in finding an optimum solution analysed. The characteristics of the optimum schedule of control setpoints are investigated for each season, from which a simplified time-stage control strategy is derived. The effects of weather prediction errors on the optimum control strategy are investigated and the performance of the optimum controller is analysed and compared to a conventional rule-based control strategy. The on-line implementation of the optimal predictive controller would require the accurate estimation of parameters for modelling the building, which could form part of future work.

Cette thèse propose d'étudier en détail une méthode générale de construction d'un réseaude pores interconnectés à partir d'une image 3D d'un matériau poreux afin de calculer laperméabilité absolue. Un squelette de l'espace poral est tout d'abord utilisé pour définir laposition des pores. Ce squelette est transformé en graphe, puis plusieurs étapes de fusiondes nœuds sont réalisées pour obtenir un réseau exploitable. Une ligne de partage des eauxprenant comme marqueurs les nœuds du graphe permet d'attribuer une géométrie auxpores. Le système d'équation linéaire à résoudre est construit en intégrant les équations deStokes sur des éléments de l'espace poral. Une méthode originale de calcul du coefficient deproportionnalité existant entre les pressions au centre de deux pores et le débit traversantla surface les séparant est proposée. Une application de l'intégralité de l'approche estégalement présentée sur un matériau réel. / A general method to build a pore network model from a 3D image of a porous material ispresented in this work in order to compute its permeability. A skeleton of the void spaceis first used to define pores position. This skeleton is converted to a first graph. Mergingsteps are necessary to obtain a relevant network. A volume is allocated to the pores using awatershed algorithm, starting with markers defined from the nodes of the graph. The linearsystem of equations to solve is deduced by integrating the Stokes equations on pore spacepartitioning elements. The proportionality coefficient linking the pressure drop betweentwo pore centers and the flow going through the surface separating them is calculated withan original method. Application of the complete process to a real material is presented.

Pour des raisons de coûts, les tests de catalyseur mis en forme (billes, extrudés, …) en réacteur est lit fixe sont mis en œuvre dans des réacteurs de plus en plus petits alors que la taille des objets catalytiques ne change pas. L'objet de cette thèse est d'explorer les domaines où la réduction d'échelle conduit à des questionnements nouveaux en termes de physique, répétabilité, représentativité et modélisation. Le document s'articule autour de 5 chapitres : 1) une introduction détaillée du contexte avec un état de l'art sur les réacteurs à lit fixe de petite taille et l'identification des questions en suspens, 2) une réflexion autour de la nature des écoulements gaz-liquide descendant dans des lits fixes quand les forces capillaires ne sont plus négligeables, 3) la présentation d'une méthodologie et d'un critère sur un nombre minimal de grain nécessaire pour limiter les conséquences d'une distribution granulométrique en présence de limitations au transfert interne, 4) l'étude des effets d'empilements aléatoires sur la performance apparente du réacteur, d'abord par un modèle réseau de pores qui décrit assez bien les tendances observées expérimentalement mais manque de capacité de prédiction, puis par simulation numérique directe d'écoulement réactif dans des empilements de 8 cylindres qui montre que les effets d'empilements apparaissent, avec les limitations au transfert externe, quand la diffusion moléculaire transverse n'est pas assez rapide pour compenser les gradients dus à la réaction et à la convection, 5) une conclusion qui résume les critères de conception de réacteurs de tests à petite échelle, et propose des pistes de continuation du travail / In order to lower costs, testing of catalytic pellets (spheres or extrudates) is performed in ever smaller fixed bed reactors whereas catalytic pellet size is unchanged. The object of this thesis is to explore domains where downsizing leads to new questions in terms of physics, repeatability and modeling. The thesis is built in 5 chapters, 1) a detailed introduction of the context and a review of the literature on small fixed bed reactors, 2) a discussion about flow patterns in fixed beds filled with fine powder where capilary effects are not negligible, 3) a presentation of a methodology to assess the impact of sampling small number of pellets out of a non uniform set and results for internally mass transfer limited reactions, 4) a study of the effect of randomness in fixed beds first through a pore network model with a good ability to predict trends but lacking accuracy, then using direct numerical simulation of a reactive flow in fixed beds made of 8 cylinders arranged in several configuration showing that packing effects occur, concurrently with external mass transfer limitations, when cross flow diffusion is not fast enough to level out convection and reaction induced gradients, 5) a conclusion that summarizes design criteria and offers a few perspectives for R&D in downsizing