The main aim of this presented diploma thesis is to help build a systematic understanding of the political and social foundations of global financial markets, their operations and impacts on the global power affairs. The thesis highlights the dynamic complexity of the post financial crisis state of the World with its itra- and inter-social features. It instrumentaly uses critique of a free market agenda and neo-classical economy which contrasts the Efficient Markets Hypothesis with Hyman Minsky's Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH), taking into account the dynamic complexity of financial markets. This approach offers analytical tools that can account for crisis through processes endogenous to contemporary financial capitalism. I shall argue that a financially complex system is, according to the FIH, inherently flawed and unstable. After a theoretical and historical review, the thesis discusses various aspects of the process of austerity regime and its social consequences. This provides an opportunity for analyses of the ongoing existence of interstate competition, of militarised foreign policy, and of other international, at times violent conflicts. In an effort to make sense of some of these phenomena, I instrumentaly use the study of geoeconomics that builds on some fundamental assumptions...

This research was aimed at the optimisation of the usability of content-rich computer and mobile based e-learning material. The goal was to preserve the advantages of paper based material in designing optimised modules that were mobile and computer-based, but at the same time avoiding the pitfalls of converting traditional paper based learning material for use on screen. A mobile eye tracker was used to analyse how students studied similar course content on paper, and on mobile device. Screen based eye tracking was also used to analyse how participants studied corresponding content on a desktop screen. Eye movements which were recorded by an eye tracker revealed the sequences of fixations and saccades on the text that was read by each participant. By analysing and comparing the eye gaze patterns of students reading the same content on three different delivery platforms, the differences between these platforms were identified in terms of their delivery of content rich, text based study material. The results showed that more students read online content on a computer screen than on mobile devices. The inferential analysis revealed that the differences in reading duration, comprehension, linearity and fixation count on the three platforms were insignificant. There were significant differences in saccade length. This analysis was used to identify strong aspects of the respective platforms and consequently derive guidelines for using these aspects optimally to design content rich material for delivery on computer screen and mobile device. The limitations of each platform were revealed and guidelines for avoiding these were derived / Computing / M. Sc. (Computing)

Increasing demand for structural health monitoring in space highlights the need to make the creation of these systems more accessible. This study investigates the potential of additive manufacturing to achieve this goal by characterizing a self-sensing material made of a commercially available 3D-printed continuous carbon fibre filament. The results demonstrate the feasibility of converting the filament into a strain sensor with improved sensitivity compared to conventional foil strain gauges. Mechanical and electromechanical properties of the self-sensing material were characterized, including an ultimate tensile strength of 45.09 ± 3.45 MPa, a failure strain of 38.93 ± 3.41%, and a base resistance of 759.11Ω. The tensile gauge factor was calculated to be 467.06 ± 375.90 within the strain range of 0% to 3.8% with a linearity (R2) of 0.93. For the first time, a systematic literature review compares mechanical and electromechanical properties to enable material selection for mechanical design incorporating self-sensing material. The study highlights that the spread of material properties in a group of materials indicates how well-developed a material is for self-sensing purposes. This study advances our understanding of the feasibility of using additive manufacturing to create self-sensing materials for structural health monitoring systems and opens up new avenues for further research.

As electronics are getting both smaller and more advanced, the need to verify and validate remains and the means are getting more complex the more functions and components are added. Traditionally, in-circuit tests (ICTs) are performed by probing dedicated test points on the Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) in a test sequence that is unique to each product. But as the density of components increases, the choice between component and test point must be considered. Instead of decreasing the reliability during verification by having to remove less system-critical test points, this thesis suggests the use of a near-field probe (NFP) based around a Giant Magneto-Resistance (GMR) sensor to possibly replace the need for a physical test point by instead performing contactless testing. The use of a GMR sensor allows for bandwidth from 0 Hz up to the MHz range, whereas commercial NFPs are based on a different technique and are operational from the MHz range and up. The goal of this project was to improve the non-linearity of typically 15% present in the AAH002-02 model from NVE by the use of an analogue closed-loop magnetic feedback circuit. The project successfully improved the linearity to 99.8% by the use of an instrumentation amplifier, a subtractor and a push-pull amplifier in conjunction with a 3x30 turn planar coil embedded in a PCB, located beneath the sensor Integrated Circuit (IC). The resulting linearity was verified by a Helmholtz coil where a uniform magnetic field was produced with linearly increased field strength, and calculated using the R2 value from a linear regression analysis on the acquired data. In the future, the data acquired from this kind of NFP could be used together with a Machine Learning (ML) model to remove the manual labour required when constructing these product-unique test sequences. / Dagens elektronik blir både mindre och mer avancerad, men behovet av verifiering och validering av dessa kvarstår och metoderna för detta ökar i komplexitet ju fler funktioner och komponenter som läggs till. Dagens kretskortstester genomförs genom att sondera dedikerade testpunkter strategiskt utplacerade på kretskortet enligt en testsekvens som är unikt skapad för varje produkt. Men med att densiteten av komponenter ökar måste valet mellan komponent och testpunkt tas i beaktning. Instället för att minska tillförlitligheten vid validering genom att ta bort mindre kritiska testpunkter föreslår denna avhandling användandet av en närfältssond baserad runt en Giant Magneto-Resistance (GMR)-sensor för att möjligen ersätta behovet av en fysisk testpunkt genom att istället genomföra kontaktlös testning. Användandet av en GMR-sensor tillåter en bandbredd från 0 Hz upp till MHzområdet, där kommersiella närfältssonder är baserade på annan teknik och är funktionsdugliga från MHz-området och uppåt. Målet med detta projekt var att förbättra olinjäriteten på typiskt 15% som är närvarande hos en sensor av modell AAH002-02 från NVE genom en analog magnetisk återkopplingskrets med sluten slinga. Projektet lyckades förbättra linjäriteten till 99.8% genom användandet av en intrumentförstärkare, en subtraherare och en push-pull-förstärkare i samverkan med en plan spole på 3x30 varv inbyggd i ett mönsterkort placerd under sensorns integrerade krets. Den resulterande linjäriteten validerades med hjälp av en Helmholtz-spole där ett uniformt magnetfält producerades med linjärt ökande fältstyrka och beräknades genom R2 -värdet från en linjär regression-analys på den inhämtade datan. I framtiden kan datan som inhämtats från den här sortens närfältssond kunna användas tillsammans med en maskininlärningsmodell för att ersätta det manuella arbetet som idag krävs för att konstruera dessa produktunika testsekvenser

I denna studie så ville AstraZenecas dispenseringsfunktion, som arbetar med att finfördelamaterial från sin bulkförpackning undersöka hur och med vilka frekvenser kalibreringar ochfunktionskontroller för deras vågar bör göras. Detta i hopp om att harmonisera en uppdateradoch förbättrad standard mellan siterna Gärtuna och Snäckviken. Standarder inom mätningslära är inget som läkemedelsföretag själva investerar resurser i, utanföljer det som farmakopéerna världen över publicerar i sina böcker. Däri återfinns allt som kantänkas behövas för tillverkning och utformning av läkemedel. Syftet med att kalibrera ochgenomföra funktionskontroller så ofta som AstraZeneca gör i dagsläget är för att vara förenligamed regelverk för att bli godkända vid inspektioner. Däremot finns risken attfunktionskontroller och kalibreringar genomförs med högre eller lägre frekvens än vad de bordegöras samt att irrelevanta tester vid dessa kontroller får alltför hög prioritering för att påvisa envågs förmåga att fungera som den ska. För att undersöka detta genomfördes det en kartläggning av hur AstraZeneca arbetar idag medvågkalibreringar och funktionskontroller. Denna behandlade både hur arbetet sker internt viaegna funktioner, men också externt via vågtillverkaren och valideringsfirmor. Dennainformation tillsammans med vad farmakopéerna och vågtillverkaren själva påstår är korrektarbetssätt blev ett tydligt och effektivt sätt att sålla bort överflödiga och i vissa fall irrelevantametoder som används på AstraZeneca idag. Utöver dessa finns det fenomen såsommätosäkerhet och störningselement som kan påverka varje vägning till den grad där resultatenär fullständigt missvisande, och i läkemedelsindustrins fall är dessa oacceptabla. Vid studiens slut kunde flera systematiska brister identifieras och rekommendationer för attmotverka eller lösa dessa gavs i enlighet med syftet om att nå god praxis för våganvändningen isamband med dispenseringsprocessen. Framtida förbättringsarbeten hade förenklats ocheffektiviserats till stor del om en fullständig digitalisering och övervakning avstörningselementen möjliggörs. / In this study that was commissioned by AstraZeneca's dispensing function that worksmainly by sub-dividing materials from its bulk packaging. They wanted to investigatehow and with what frequencies calibrations and routine testing for their balances shouldbe performed. This, with the purpose of harmonizing an updated and improvedstandard between the sites Gärtuna and Snäckviken. Measurement theory standards are not something that pharmaceutical companiesthemselves invest resources in but rather follow what pharmacopoeias around the worldpublish in their books. The books contain everything that may be needed for themanufacturing and design of medicines. The purpose of calibrating and performingroutine testing as often as AstraZeneca does today is to comply with regulations to beapproved during inspections. However, there is a risk that routine testing andcalibrations are performed at a higher or lower frequency than they should be, and thatirrelevant tests at these routine tests are given too high a priority to demonstrate abalances ability to function properly. To investigate this, a survey was conducted of how AstraZeneca works today withbalance calibrations and routine testing. The survey considered both how the work isdone internally via AstraZeneca’s own employees, but also externally via the balancemanufacturer and validation companies. This information, in combination with whatthe pharmacopoeias and the balance manufacturer themselves claim is the correct wayof operating, became a clear and effective way of sifting away superfluous and in somecases irrelevant methods used in AstraZeneca today. In addition to these, there arephenomena such as measurement uncertainty and external disturbance elements thatcan affect any weighing to the extent that the results are completely misleading, and inthe case of the pharmaceutical industry, such results would be unacceptable. At the end of the study, several systematic flaws or shortcomings could be identified andrecommendations to counteract or solve these were given in accordance with the aim ofachieving best practice for the use of balances in connection with the dispensingprocess. Future improvement work would have been greatly simplified and streamlinedif complete digitization and monitoring of the disturbance elements were made possible.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Les systèmes de communication mobiles permettent l’utilisation de l’information en environnements complexes grâce à des dispositifs portables qui ont comme principale restriction la durée de leurs batteries. Des nombreux efforts se sont focalisés sur la réduction de la consommation d’énergie des circuits électroniques de ces systèmes, une fois que le développent des technologies des batteries ne avance pas au rythme nécessaire. En outre, les systèmes RF sont généralement conçus pour fonctionner de manière fixe, spécifiés pour le pire cas du lien de communication. Toutefois, ce scénario peut se produire dans une petite partie du temps, entraînant ainsi en perte d’énergie dans le reste du temps. La recherche des circuits RF adaptatifs, pour adapter le niveau du signal d'entrée pour réduire la consommation d'énergie est donc d'un grand intérêt et de l'importance. Dans la chaîne de réception radiofréquence, l'amplificateur à faible bruit (LNA) se montre un composant essentiel, autant pour les performances de la chaîne que pour la consommation d'énergie. Au cours des dernières décennies, des techniques pour la conception de LNAs reconfigurables ont été proposées et mises en oeuvre. Cependant, la plupart d'entre elles s’applique seulement au contrôle du gain, sans exploiter Le réglage de la linéarité et du bruit envisageant l'économie d'énergie. De plus,ces circuits occupent une grande surface de silicium, ce qui entraîne un coût élevé, ou NE correspondent pas aux nouvelles technologies CMOS à faible coût. L'objectif de cette étude est de démontrer la faisabilité et les avantages de l'utilisation d'un LNA reconfigurable numériquement dans une chaîne de réception radiofréquence, du point de vue de la consommation d'énergie et de coût de fabrication. / Mobile communication systems allow exploring information in complex environments by means of portable devices, whose main restriction is battery life. Once battery development does not follow market expectations, several efforts have been made in order to reduce energy consumption of those systems. Furthermore, radio-frequency systems are generally designed to operate as fixed circuits, specified for RF link worst-case scenario. However, this scenario may occur in a small amount of time, leading to energy waste in the remaining periods. The research of adaptive radio-frequency circuits and systems, which can configure themselves in response to input signal level in order to reduce power consumption, is of interest and importance. In a RF receiver chain, Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) stand as critical elements, both on the chain performance or power consumption. In the past some techniques for reconfigurable LNA design were proposed and applied. Nevertheless, the majority of them are applied to gain control, ignoring the possibility of linearity and noise figure adjustment, in order to save power. In addition, those circuits consume great area, resulting in high production costs, or they do not scale well with CMOS. The goal of this work is demonstrate the feasibility and advantages in using a digitally controlled LNA in a receiver chain in order to save area and power. / Os sistemas de comunicação móveis permitem a exploração da informação em ambientes complexos através dos dispositivos portáteis que possuem como principal restrição a duração de suas baterias. Como o desenvolvimento da tecnologia de baterias não ocorre na velocidade esperada pelo mercado, muitos esforços se voltam à redução do consumo de energia dos circuitos eletrônicos destes sistemas. Além disso, os sistemas de radiofrequência são em geral projetados para funcionarem de forma fixa, especificados para o cenário de pior caso do link de comunicação. No entanto, este cenário pode ocorrer em uma pequena porção de tempo, resultando assim no restante do tempo em desperdício de energia. A investigação de sistemas e circuitos de radiofrequência adaptativos, que se ajustem ao nível de sinal de entrada a fim de reduzir o consumo de energia é assim de grande interesse e importância. Dentro de cadeia de recepção de radiofrequência, os Amplificadores de Baixo Ruído (LNA) se destacam como elementos críticos, tanto para o desempenho da cadeia como para o consumo de potência. No passado algumas técnicas para o projeto de LNA reconfiguráveis foram propostas e aplicadas. Contudo, a maioria delas só se aplica ao controle do ganho, deixando de explorar o ajuste da linearidade e da figura de ruído com fins de economia de energia. Além disso, estes circuitos ocupam grande área de silício, resultando em alto custo, ou então não se adaptam as novas tecnologias CMOS de baixo custo. O objetivo deste trabalho é demonstrar a viabilidade e as vantagens do uso de um LNA digitalmente configurável em uma cadeia de recepção de radiofrequência do ponto de vista de custo e consumo de potência.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die im Zusammenhang mit der Strahlablenkung stehenden Systemaspekte der auf MEMS-Scanner basierenden Laser-Display-Technologie theoretisch analysiert und aus den Ergebnissen die praktische Implementierung eines Laser-Display-Systems als Testplattform vorgenommen. Dabei werden mit einem Ansatz auf Basis zweier 1D-Scanner und einem weiteren Ansatz mit einem 2D-Scanner zwei Varianten realisiert. Darüber hinaus erfolgt die Entwicklung eines bildbasierten Multiparametertestverfahrens, welches sowohl für den Test komplettierter Strahlablenkeinheiten bzw. Projektionsmodule als auch zum umfassenden und zeiteffizienten Test von MEMS-Scannern auf Wafer-Level geeignet ist. Mit diesem Verfahren erfolgt eine Charakterisierung der zwei realisierten Varianten des Laser-Displays. Ausgehend von den Eigenschaften des menschlichen visuellen Systems und den daraus resultierenden Anforderungen an das Bild sowie einer systemtheoretischen Betrachtung des mechanischen Verhaltens von MEMS-Scannern bildet die Ansteuersignalerzeugung für den resonanten Betrieb der schnellen und den quasistatischen Betrieb der langsamen Achse einen Schwerpunkt. Neben dem reinen digitalen Regler- bzw. Filterentwurf sowie mehreren Linearisierungsmaßnahmen beinhaltet dieser auch die Herleitung einer FPGA-basierten Videosignalverarbeitung zur Konvertierung von Scannpattern, Zeitregime und Auflösung mit einer entsprechenden Synchronisierung von Strahlablenkung und Lasermodulation. Auf Grundlage der daraus resultierenden Erkenntnisse über den Zusammenhang zwischen Scanner-/Systemparametern und Bildparametern werden Testbild-Bildverarbeitungsalgorithmus-Kombinationen entwickelt und diese, angeordnet in einer Sequenz, mit einem Kalibrierverfahren zu einem Testverfahren für MEMS-Scanner vervollständigt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit entstanden im Rahmen von industriell beauftragten F&E-Projekten und fließen in die andauernde Fortführung des Themas beim Auftraggeber ein.

[pt] Estruturas cada vez mais esbeltas têm sido usadas para otimizar edifícios de grande porte e reduzir custos, inclui-se nisto o pé-direito das edificações e portanto a altura das vigas. Grandes vãos são cada vez mais comuns, principalmente quando se utiliza aço em edificações, gerando então amplos espaços de serviço em uma direção, mas obstáculos na outra pela continuidade das vigas. A utilização de aberturas na alma das vigas para passagem de tubulações de ar-condicionado, incêndio, etc., evita um acréscimo na altura. Em consequência há uma grande diminuição da capacidade resistente nestes elementos estruturais que dependem diretamente da forma, do tamanho e da posição destas aberturas. A presente dissertação descreve alguns métodos construtivos de aberturas em almas de vigas de aço, cálculos de dimensionamentos e normas relacionadas. Alguns estudos numéricos com aplicações do método dos elementos finitos foram realizados investigando: angulação de aberturas hexagonais, vigas com três aberturas nos terços médios, vigas casteladas (tipo Litzka, com quantidades diferentes de aberturas), vigas expandidas em altura e uma viga Litzka Expandida. Para tal, utilizou-se de seis perfis de uso prático e comparando-os entre estas alternativas descritas. A viga Litzka Expandida se destacou em resistência quando comparada com outros métodos de fabricação, como também pelo menor peso linear, praticidade na fabricação e posicionamento das aberturas. / [en] More slender structures are used in order to reduce costs, floors depht and floor to ceiling clear heights. Steel construction and composite construction for buildings often employs long spans for beams and girders, offering service room between beams in one direction only. The use of web openings for passage of service ducts avoids increasing the depth of construction. Beams with web openings have reductions on flexural and shear resistances depending on the geometry, size and position of such openings on the beam. This dissertation presents some construction methods of beam web openings, analysis and design recommendations, related standards and codes. Some numerical studies by the finite elements method were carried out and results are presented for: type of openings, number and spacing of openings, castelled beams (Litzka type and nonuniform distribution of openings) and expanded in depth beams. For this purpose, six commonly used profiles were used for testing the described web openings solutions. Some comparison results are presented. The Litzka type of web expanded beam presented the best performance in terms of strength, easy of fabrication and reduction of material costs.