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<p>The superior high-temperature elastic-plastic properties coupled with greater damage tolerance when compared with monolithic ceramics make ceramic matrix composites, CMCs, promising candidates for challenging applications such as engine components, rocket nozzles, cutting tools and nuclear energy reactor core components. Anelastic recovery is the time-dependent back strain observed upon the load removal following creep. In whisker-reinforced CMCs this can be a factor limiting operating conditions. Plastic strain misfit between two phases is thought to be the main driver in terms of the interactions within a percolating network. However, the network deformation mechanisms are still unclear and a previous neutron diffraction study showed an unexpected decrease of peak width after creep contradicting the theoretical predictions.</p> <p>In this contribution, the finite element method (FEM) is applied to a representative volume element (RVE) with proper boundary conditions in order to simulate the creep deformation and hot pressing processes. Three geometries have been generated and studied: a 3D randomly-oriented short-fiber unit cell without fiber to fiber contact, generated by a random sequential adsorption algorithm; 3D regularly aligned single fiber unit cells; and 2D regularly aligned percolating unit cells. Deformation mechanism has been studied from an energy point of view and compared with a modified analytical model. Then a virtual diffraction model has been developed providing a framework to transfer information between the FEM simulations (strain fields) and the diffraction pattern in terms of the peak width (full width at half maximum: <strong><em>FWHM</em></strong>) and peak position as a measure of stress distribution and mean stress state respectively. Furthermore, the coupling effects of external stress, deformation mode, and thermal stress on the diffraction patterns have been studied.</p> <p>The critical importance of a percolating whisker network for the anelastic recovery is demonstrated based on the 3D multi-whisker random unit cell. Whisker bending is shown to be the dominant mechanism over contact effects during the creep deformation of a composite containing a well aligned percolating whisker network based on the 2D unit cell model. Good qualitative agreement was found between our FEM simulations and the analytical model of Wilkinson and Pompe with regards to the maximum recoverable strain and the characteristic relaxation time. The analytical model captures all the critical factors characterizing the strain recovery, e.g., the effect of creep pre-exponent constant, whisker Young’s modulus and aspect ratio. Furthermore, it is found that the deformation from an initial stress-free state inevitably introduces peak broadening of whiskers inside the matrix. Several factors determine the peak-width and -shift, i.e., creep strain, applied stress, aspect ratio and geometry. However, thermal stress from the cooling stages following creep and hot pressing processes shelters this broadening effect and complicates the trends. Wide-ranging peak-width changes from narrowing to broadening are predicted depending on the geometry and applied stress. The peak position is shifted to a lower angle due to this thermal effect. This clearly explains the contradicting phenomena motivating this work and leads to that recommendation that a diffraction source with high angular resolution is needed to detect the subtle change of peak profile during creep.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) focuses on dividing the enterprise application layer of an enterprise system into components (as services) that have direct relationships with the business functionality of the enterprise. Web services, which are based on message exchanges, are the most widely adopted SOA technology. Web services provide web-accessible programs and devices that have been widely promoted for cloud computing environments. However, different types of web services are required to model actual services in the business domain. Particularly, enterprises (business providers such as banks, health care, and insurance companies) usually send their agents or other personnel (e.g., representatives, installers, maintainers, and trainers) to client sides to perform required services. An enterprise agent can be modeled as a software agent - a computer program that cannot be transmitted efficiently by communication messages. Lacking an efficient way to model the transmission of enterprise agents in traditional message based technologies restricts the application and usage of service-oriented architectures. The central problem addressed in this thesis is the need to develop an efficient SOA model for enterprise agents that will enable service providers to process client data locally at the client side.</p> <p>To address the research problem, the thesis proposes to model enterprise agents in SOA with a generic software agent called the Service Representative. This is a generic software agent which stays at the client side and can be customized by different service providers to process client data locally. Moreover, to employ a service representative, the thesis proposes a new type of web services called Task Services. While a traditional web service, called Data Service, processes client data completely at the server side, a task service is a web service with the capability of processing client data and resources partially or completely at the client side, using a Service Representative. Each task service assigns a task with three components to the generic service representative: task model, task knowledge, and task data. The task components are mapped to business components such as business process models, business rules and actions, and business data, where they can be efficiently transmitted by service messages.</p> <p>The combination of a service representative and task services provides an executable platform for service providers at the client side. Moreover, the client does not need to reveal its data, and hence privacy and security are maintained. Large volume client data is processed locally, causing less network traffic. Finally, real-time and event-triggered web services can be developed, based on the proposed approach.</p> <p>The main contributions and novelty of this research are: i) a domain independent computational model of enterprise agents in SOA to support a wide variety of client-processing tasks, ii) client- side web services which are compatible with typical server-side web services and comparable to other client-side processing technologies, iii) extensions of the SOA architecture by adding novel generic components including the service representative, the competition desk, and the service composition certifier, iv) provision of a formal model of client-side and server-side web services based on their construction of business components, v) empirical evaluations of the web service model in a number of different applications, using a prototype system, and vi) the application of the developed model to a number of target domains including the healthcare field. Furthermore, because client-side and server-side web services are complementary, a decision support model is provided that will assist service developers to decide upon the best service type for a web service.</p> / Doctor of Science (PhD)

This study has focused on exploring how climate change, specifically increasing temperatures, impact the cooling demand in buildings on the island of Gotland. Cooling is a necessity for the wellbeing of people, where extreme heat, as a consequence of climate change, can lead to increased mortality. Increased cooling can also cause stress on the electricity grid and its technical components. While there are some previous studies regarding cooling, overall research and data is relatively lacking. Explorative scenarios were used as methods. Four scenarios based on different cooling assumptions on Gotland were explored for the years 2050 and 2090, as well as comparing them to a base year of 2020. The cooling demand for the different scenarios was based on two different projections of increased temperatures, using the climate scenarios RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5; a generalised energy consumption of space cooling in different residential and nonresidential buildings; and the current floor area of Gotland. The result showed an increasing demand of cooling on Gotland, although the demand varied greatly depending on scenario. The result also briefly analyses the last heatwave in 2018, as well as the impact of two other climate variables of increased temperatures, namely Tropical days and length of heatwaves (Heatwave days). Observed climate variables from 2018 also deviate more much more than the projection of climate variables in the future. Only RCP 8.5 Tropical days for 2090 shows a greater number than the observed data of 2018, showing that deviating warmer years can happen and impact already now. The study concludes that further research is needed on the topic, but that clear trends of increased cooling demand can be seen.

This dissertation analyzes how redistricting, minority representation, and perceived polarization— three topics regularly studied at the national level—function at the level of local government. The first two chapters focus on city council redistricting. In the first chapter, I used a new approach, a sequential Monte Carlo algorithm, to simulate city council district plans. By simulating tens of thousands of plans for each city, I was able to compare the plans that are actually implemented to a representative sample of all plausible plans. This analysis represents the first large-N geospatial analysis of city council redistricting. I found that the city council maps that are actually implemented feature more majority-minority districts than the median simulation. This implies that somewhere in the redistricting process, a conscious effort is made to foster minority representation. In the second chapter, I merged city council map data with the results of city council elections. I then analyzed the relationship between the composition of districts and who runs and who wins in city council elections. I found that district-level demographic makeup continues to be the dominant factor in the supply of minority candidates. I also found that, comparing two cities that are otherwise demographically and politically similar, cities that fall under the Voting Rights Act (VRA) pre-clearance had more minorities run for office and win election on average. In the third chapter, I conducted an original survey experiment to determine if respondents’ perceptions of partisan polarization differed in local contexts relative to the national political landscape. I did not find measurable differences in the perceived prevalence of support for different issues. However, I did find that respondents were slightly less willing to endorse generic language about partisans’ issue support when cued to think about ordinary voters in their local area. All together, these studies probe three different aspects of local electoral politics. In doing so, they help reconcile our understanding of electoral politics nationally with areas of local politics that still have many open questions.

Les fusions transfrontalières de sociétés de capitaux n’intéressent pas uniquement le droit des sociétés mais revêtent aussi d’importants aspects de droit social. Si la directive du 26 octobre 2005 facilite ces opérations, le renvoi aux législations nationales opéré soulève de nombreuses difficultés en l’absence de traitement harmonisé de leurs conséquences sociales. Les interrogations suscitées par la mise en oeuvre de la participation des travailleurs aux organes de gestion de la société issue de l’opération n’en sont qu’une illustration. D’autres questions relatives notamment au devenir des instances de représentation du personnel existant au sein des sociétés parties à la fusion, aux normes collectives ou aux contrats de travail, restent en suspens. A celles-ci et à d’autres, cette étude tente d’apporter des réponses. Les enjeux dont les fusions transfrontalières sont porteuses l’exigent. / Cross-border mergers of incorporated companies do not only interest Company Law but also comprise important aspects of Labour & Employment Law. If the European Directive dated 26 October 2005 facilitates these transactions, the reference made to national legislation raises many difficulties in the absence of harmonized treatment of the social consequences of transactions. The questions raised by the implementation of workers' participation in management bodies of the company resulting from the transaction are an illustration. Other issues include the fate of employees’ representative bodies of existing staff within the merging companies, collective norms and employment contracts, remain unresolved. To these and others, this study attempts to provide answers. The consequences of the cross-border transactions require that answers be given to the unresolved issues.

Les personnes morales sont pleinement assujetties à une responsabilité pénale du fait de l'activité médicale à laquelle elles participent. Dotées en effet d'une personnalité morale punissable, il faut également constater que le domaine de l'imputabilité s'étend aux infractions médicales ou apparentées. Toutefois, le mode d'imputation indirect de l'infraction prévu par l'article 121-2 du Code pénal est identifié comme la principale cause du confinement de la responsabilité dans ce domaine. Il apparaît en effet que les professionnels de santé, dont les médecins, ne peuvent commettre une infraction pour le compte de l'entité, ceux-là ne disposant pas de la qualité d'organe ou de représentant requise par le texte. Le mécanisme impose également de rapporter la preuve de l'implication de la figure décisionnelle, ce qui se révèle particulièrement délicat. Aussi, la responsabilité doit être considérée comme inadaptée à la matière médicale. Le déploiement de la responsabilité passera donc par l'application d'un nouveau modèle d'imputation de l'infraction. Le premier, fondé sur une présomption d'implication des organes ou représentants, devra finalement être écarté en raison des nombreuses faiblesses qu'il comporte. Un second modèle, fondé sur une imputation directe de l'infraction et sur l'identification d'une faute médicale fonctionnelle, donnant lieu à une responsabilité fonctionnelle, sera finalement retenu. Un tel choix nécessitera cependant de modifier les termes de l'actuel article 121-2 du Code pénal. / Legal persons are fully subject to criminal responsibility resulting from their activities related to medical matters. Having a punishable legal personality, the scope of imputation covers all crimes in the medical domain and its neighboring crimes. Nevertheless, the indirect mode of liability adopted in article 121-2 of the French Penal Code is considered the main reason of limiting the responsibility in this area. It seems that professionals working in the health domain, including doctors, could not commit a crime for the account of the institution as they are not enjoying the quality of being an organ or representative which is required by the text to engage responsibility of legal persons. This mechanism requires also the proof of the involvement of a figure on the level of decision-making in the institution, something that is particularly sensitive. The responsibility, as such, is to be considered not well adapted to medical matters. The maintenance of a meaningful criminal responsibility calls for the application of a new model of imputing criminal liability for crimes in the medical domain. First to be mentioned is that this new model shall exclude any presumption of involvement of organs or representatives of the health institution ; such a model could be attacked from different angles. Second, the model to be adopted shall depend on direct imputation based on the identification of a functional mistake that leads to functional responsibility. However, it is to be noted that adopting this model requires a modification of the wording of article 121-2 of the French penal code.

La démocratie représentative reste un régime essentiellement représentatif qui a été conçu précisément pour exclure la participation directe de l’universalité des citoyens à la prise de décisions politiques. L’introduction d’instruments de la participation directe, en forme de l’e-démocratie, crée un conflit au sein de ce régime, conflit qui ne sera résolu que par un aménagement de la notion de démocratie représentative, voire sa substitution par une autre notion, ayant vocation à concilier les exigences de la participation et de la représentation. Cette thèse se propose de réfléchir à un modèle de régime politique-type susceptible de permettre l'intégration de l'e-démocratie.Une telle intégration met en lumière l’interdépendance entre la démocratie et les droits fondamentaux qui sont menacés de manière inédite à l’ère numérique. La possibilité d’introduire l’e-démocratie est donc conditionnée à la protection renforcée des droits essentiels : la liberté d’expression, le droit au respect de la vie privée, ainsi qu’à la reconnaissance de nouveaux droits fondés sur l’autodétermination personnelle. L’introduction de l’e-démocratie peut également remettre en cause certains concepts bien établis, tels que le principe majoritaire, ou exiger leur reconsidération, comme dans le cas de la bonne gouvernance. / Representative democracy remains essentially a representative government that was created precisely to avoid all the citizens to participate directly in political decision-making. Implementation of direct participation’s instruments in form of e-democracy creates a conflict within this government, a conflict which can be solved only by a renewal of representative democracy concept, even its substitution by another idea committed to reconciling representation and participation. This thesis aims a reflection on a concept of government capable of integrating e-democracy.Such an integration highlights the interdependent character of the link between democracy and human rights that are exposed to totally new threats in the digital era. The possibility to introduce e-democracy is conditional upon the reinforced protection of such essential rights and freedoms: as freedom of expression and right to respect for private and family life in the digital environment, as well as recognition of new rights based on personal self-determination. Implementation of e-democracy can also challenge well-established concepts such as majority principle or require their reconsideration, as in the case of good governance.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:33:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andre Norberto Carbone de Carvalho.pdf: 1111622 bytes, checksum: 579a2500023600cdd506783797783afe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-09 / This thesis makes an analysis of the democracy practiced by political parties in Brazil, especially regarding their evolution from the 1988&#8223;s Constitution. The study begins covering the different kinds of state&#8223;s power organization, justifying the origin of democracy. After that, it discusses the beginning of representative government and the reasons for the birth of representative democracy and the democracy through political parties. As a result, this dissertation studies the modern political parties, especially its history, role and legal treatment, culminating with a brief historical analysis of those associations in Brazil. Finally, the work makes a thorough assessment of democracy through political parties in Brazil&#8223;s current political framework. There are, at least, three assumptions that must be observed for the model&#8223;s success: only political parties must present candidates; there must be political party loyalty; and we should have intra-party democracy. It took so long before political parties detain the exclusive prerogative of present candidates, that helped consolidate in Brazilians&#8223; popular culture the so called personal vote , where voters does not care about political parties, following charismatic leaders, regardless of their political party link. For a long time, candidates have become true masters of their term, which allows them to migrate from one political party to another, without any consequences, disturbing the democracy through political parties. Therefore, the absence of intra-party democracy has contributed to a paradox: the existence of an oligarchy inside the Brazilian&#8223;s democracy. The political party leaders, perpetuated in power, impose, top-down, his favorite names to internal and external elections, not allowing sufficient space for debates, distorting the institution of political representation. The Tribunal Superior Eleitoral Act nº 22.610/2007, which governs the procedure of term loss due to disloyalty to a political party, represented a significant step forward to insure democracy through political parties; however, a number of small issues still wait for resolution, which delays the full implementation of the political party loyalty in Brazil. The intra-party democracy, on the other hand, must be thoroughly regulated by the law. Only after that, we will be able to discuss, with high probability of effectiveness, one policy reform that has as its objective reduce any existent gap between the voter&#8223;s will and the elected one. / A presente dissertação faz uma análise da democracia pelos partidos praticada no Brasil, especialmente quanto à evolução da figura da agremiação partidária a partir da Constituição Federal de 1988. O estudo inicia seu caminho abordando o surgimento e as diferentes maneiras de organização e funcionamento do poder estatal, justificando a explanação sobre a concepção e a origem da democracia. Ato contínuo, trata do surgimento do governo representativo e do respectivo modelo de exercício do poder político, além das razões do nascimento da democracia representativa e das justificativas para a adoção de uma democracia pelos partidos. Na sequência, a dissertação estuda os partidos políticos modernos, especialmente sua trajetória, função e tratamento legal, culminado com a análise de um breve histórico das agremiações no Brasil. Por fim, o trabalho efetua uma avaliação minuciosa da democracia pelos partidos no atual quadro político pátrio, examinando, à luz da realidade, ao menos três pressupostos que devem ser observados para o sucesso do modelo: a reserva do monopólio das candidaturas aos partidos políticos, a fidelidade partidária e a democracia intrapartidária. Conclui-se que os atrasos na adoção do monopólio das candidaturas e da fidelidade partidária contribuíram para consolidar, na cultura popular brasileira, o modelo de atribuição do voto na figura pessoal do candidato, fomentado, também, pela tradição do mandato representativo. Durante muito tempo, os candidatos tornaram-se verdadeiros donos dos mandatos, podendo migrar de uma agremiação a outra sem qualquer consequência, desnaturando o instituto da democracia pelos partidos. Já a ausência de democracia intrapartidária contribuiu para um paradoxo: fomentou a existência de uma oligarquia dentro de uma democracia, já que, no seio dos partidos políticos, os dirigentes partidários, perpetuados no poder, impõem, de cima para baixo, nomes de sua preferência aos cargos internos e eletivos, não permitindo que haja espaço para questionamentos, viciando a vontade popular e desvirtuando o instituto da representação política. A edição da Resolução do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral n° 22.610/2007, que disciplinou o processo de perda de cargo eletivo nos casos de infidelidade partidária, representou um avanço significativo para a democracia pelos partidos, porém, questões que decorrem da Resolução ainda estão sendo solucionadas, o que contribui para a demora na plena efetivação da fidelidade partidária. Quanto à democracia intrapartidária, torna-se vital a edição de normas que tenham como escopo assegurar o funcionamento democrático dos partidos, para que a vontade popular, quando do exercício do voto, não esteja maculada na origem. Dessa forma, presentes tais sustentáculos, teremos condições de discutir, com alta probabilidade de eficácia, uma reforma política que tenha por intuito diminuir eventual distância existente entre a vontade do eleitor e a do eleito.