acase@tulane.edu

In Paul Valery's Cahiers, where the investigations and perplexities of the author's daily thought were recorded over a period of fifty-one years, Valery returns again and again to the theme of falsification in connection with almost every subject he explores. Indeed, in his view, falsification is a process not only present but even unavoidable in all human experience. Without it, whether it be conscious or unconscious, man would not be able to cope with the infinite diversity of reality, abstract or concrete In the Introduction of this dissertation, the writer presents an overview of some philosophical and artistic trends relating to Valery's concept of falsification as exhibited in the Cahiers in order to enable the reader to grasp a better understanding of it. Chapter I examines Valery's view of falsification as an essential process in man's perception and representation of the exterior world, of the past, and of dreams. In addition, Valery's reasons for considering language not only as the mind's most important tool, but also as its most considerable source of falsification are studied, as well as his theory that a more mathematical type of language would eliminate many of language's abusive falsifiers. In Chapter II, Valery's arguments against philosophy and religion for their falsity are analysed. Its inevitability in human relationships, including that of the self with the self, as Valery sees it, is investigated in Chapter III. Chapters IV and V deal with literature, history, and art. No literature, except poetry, in Valery's opinion, escapes useless falsification, and thereby qualifies as true art. In conclusion, falsification is something encountered at every turn in Valery's pursuits, acknowledged, and then used advantageously by him in particular ways to intimate and discover progressively reality, which is ultimately inexhaustible / acase@tulane.edu

Scapegoating in a small group was investigated as a function of group success/failure, individual group member's apparent responsibility for the group outcome, and in-group vs out-group status. Ninety-six subjects, one half male and the other half female, were divided into 16 same-sex sessions, for a total of six subjects per session. In the context of a game, subjects were asked to rank each other's performance after each trial of the session; one half of the subjects believed a member was excluded on the basis of random selection and the other half of the subjects believed exclusion was based on poor performance (Selection procedure). One half of the games resulted in a success, the other half in a failure. The results indicated that scapegoating occurred as derived from the general definition: the excluded member was derogated in ratings under both conditions of the Selection procedure; and the propensity of given individuals to derogate consistently one target prior to the final outcome was also demonstrated. The results also indicated a tendency to derogate an out-group member more than an in-group member. As predicted, derogation of the excluded member increased under the conditions of failure for both Selection procedure groups; however, the prevalence of the early indentification of a target failed to increase under conditions of failure. From the results, it was concluded that the different types of scapegoating implied by a general definition operationally existed, and while primarily exploratory in nature, predictions were confirmed regarding the likelihood of scapegoating behavior in the face of a failure / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

Prestressed concrete is one of the most common materials used in modern bridge construction. Nearly 50% of new highway bridges are constructed of prestressed concrete. Current U.S. bridge design codes do not allow cracking under service load in prestressed concrete members Partially prestressed concrete is a type of concrete construction in which some prestressing force is applied to the steel reinforcement. For the purposes of this study, partial prestressing will be considered as prestressed concrete in which cracking is allowed under service loading. This cracking increases the possibility of fatigue failure of the member under repetitive loading, such as that encountered by bridge structures The purpose of this project is to develop an analysis model to predict the fatigue life of bonded, pretensioned, partially prestressed concrete girders carrying highway traffic loadings. This study is analytical, with data on the fatigue behavior of partially prestressed concrete beams coming from earlier tests by other researchers This project begins by reviewing some of the earlier research on partially prestressed concrete beams, fatigue properties of concrete, reinforcing steel and prestressing strand, and highway bridge loadings. An analytical model of the behavior of a partially prestressed beam under fatigue loading is developed. Time-dependent factors such as creep, shrinkage, and prestressing steel relaxation are included in the analysis. Cumulative damage to the prestressing strand and reinforcing steel is calculated using Miner's rule. With this cumulative damage result, the fatigue life of the girder is predicted. The fatigue analysis model is verified using the results of laboratory constant and variable amplitude fatigue tests An example series of partially prestressed girders is designed and analyzed under highway loading using the fatigue analysis model Only flexural behavior is considered in this report. Shear fatigue is not included in this investigation / acase@tulane.edu

The energy transport in crystals containing manganese(II) is investigated. The $\sp4$T$\sb1$ Mn$\sp{2+}$ excited state in photoexcited crystals of general formula A$\sb{\rm j}$MnX$\sb{\rm j+2}$ (A is an univalent cation, X is a halogen anion, and j is 1 or 2) migrates through the lattice in a thermally activated random process. This work presents a detailed investigation of several aspects of the excited state (exciton) migration in this materials Chapter I presents a brief background on the physical properties of excitons. In addition, the experimental equipment utilized in the investigation is described Chapter II of this work presents evidence of exciton-exciton annihilation in six of these crystals. The rates of annihilation are related to the structures and activation barriers for migration in these lattices Chapter III describes a trapping study performed on Cu$\sp{2+}$ doped (CH$\sb3$)$\sb4$NMnBr$\sb3$ (TMMB). The one-dimensionality of the lattice restricts the exciton migration to individual Mn$\sp{2+}$ chains. The data indicates a one-dimensional (intrachain) hopping rate 10$\sp{11}$ to 10$\sp{12}$ hops/sec and an activation barrier for migration of 600 to 700 cm$\sp{-1}$ Chapter IV presents a Monte Carlo method for the simulation of a fast one-dimensional random walk with a slow three-dimensional component in a lattice with efficient and inefficient traps in order to model the exciton migration in materials such as (CH$\sb3$)$\sb4$NMnCl$\sb3$ (TMMC) and TMMB. The simulations allow the study of the effects of various physical parameters on the decay curves. The first three parts of this chapter discuss the effects of interchain hopping, trap efficiency and trap distributions on the observable decay curves. In the fourth and fifth part of chapter IV, the computer simulation approach is utilized to fit actual luminescence decay curves form Cu$\sp{2+}$ doped TMMC and TMMB and Cu$\sp{2+}$, Cd$\sp{2+}$ double doped TMMC one-dimensional systems. The fits at different concentrations of impurities give a one-dimensional hopping rate of 10$\sp{12}$ sec$\sp{-1}$ and a Cu$\sp{2+}$ trap efficiency of 10$\sp{-4}$. The consistency of the results from Cu$\sp{2+}$ doped TMMC and Cu$\sp{2+}$, Cd$\sp{2+}$ double doped TMMC gives us confidence that our interpretations of the exciton dynamics in these systems are correct / acase@tulane.edu