In this dissertation I examine the role played by the ancient Near Eastern serpent in apotropaic and prophylactic magic. Within this realm the serpent appears in roles in healing and protection where magic is often employed. The possibility of positive and negative roles is investigated. The study is confined to the Bronze Age in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Syria-Palestine. The serpents, serpent deities and deities with ophidian aspects and associations are described. By examining these serpents and deities and their roles it is possible to incorporate a comparative element into his study on an intra- and inter-regional basis. In order to accumulate information for this study I have utilised textual and pictorial evidence, as well as artefacts (such as jewellery, pottery and other amulets) bearing serpent motifs. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

A lattice physics code is a vital tool, forming a base of reactor coreanalysis. It enables the neutronic properties of the fuel assembly to becalculated and generates a proper set of data to be used by a 3-D full coresimulator. Due to advancement and complexity of modern Boiling WaterReactor assembly designs, a new deterministic lattice physics codeis being developed at Westinghouse Sweden AB, namely PHOENIX5.Each time a new code is written, its methodology of solving the neutrontransport equation, has to be validated to make sure it providesreliable output. In a wake of preparation for PHOENIX5 release andconsecutive validation efforts, a set of reference Monte Carlo calculationswas prepared, using the code Serpent. A depletion calculation with achosen type of branch cases was conducted. Methods implemented inPHOENIX5 are based on the Current Coupling Collision Probabilitymethod used in older versions of the code HELIOS. Therefore, a comparisonbetween reference Monte Carlo simulations and HELIOS 1.8.1is made, in order to discover problems inherent to the said method ofsolving the neutron transport equation. A special care should be givenduring PHOENIX5 validation, to issues highlighted in this work.Discrepancies in results of Serpent and HELIOS are attributed mostlyto disparities in the basic nuclear data used by the codes, as well as arange of approximations and corrections adopted by the deterministiccode.Serpent and HELIOS showed a good agreement in a typical voidrange (up to 90 % void) and ‘less’ challenging branches (coolant void,fuel temperature and spacer grid branches). More significant discrepanciesappeared for extreme cases with a very high void and control rodpresence (k1 differences as high as 1000 pcm) and rather pronouncedconcentrations of the natural boron dissolved in coolant (absolute differencesroughly at a level of 900 pcm). The issues do not seem to stemsolely from discrepancies in the nuclear data libraries used by Serpentand HELIOS.Moreover, a coolant void bias was consistently found in the resultsof branch calculation at changing coolant void. This confirms the analogousphenomenon found in previous studies of the CCCP based deterministiccodes. It most probably stems from the assumptions used bythe method while tackling the neutron transport equation, such as theflat source approximation, the isotropic scattering assumption and thetransport correction. An alternative transport correction approximationis proposed to alleviate this issue.

A conventional army is required to meet many needs and face many threats. However, when conventional warfare methods do not make the cut, Special Operations and Special Forces become a necessity. However, there exists few theories that sufficiently explain how Special Forces units around the world accomplishes these Special Operations. One of the few researches who has developed a theory regarding Special Operations is William H. McRaven with his theory of relative superiority.    McRaven´s theory proposes that there are six principles which determine the success of a Special Forces unit´s ability to plan, prepare and execute a Special Operation. The aim of the study is to understand McRaven´s theory´s explanatory power in explaining the results of Operation Neptune Spear and Operation Gothic Serpent.   This study concludes that Operation Neptune spear attained almost all of the required principles. However, Operation Gothic serpent lacked half of the required principles. In order to create a favourable relation, one must create synergy between the principles in order to achieve relative superiority. The study concludes by illustrating that McRaven´s theory´s explanatory power increased.

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McMaster University MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCES (2017) Hamilton, Ontario (Engineering Physics) TITLE: Comparative study of accident-tolerant fuel for a CANDU lattice AUTHOR: Simon Younan, B.Eng. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Dr. David Novog NUMBER OF PAGES: xiii, 120 / Since the Fukushima accident in 2011, there have been an increasing number of studies on the use of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) in light water reactors to mitigate the consequences of a future severe accident, by better retaining fission products and/or providing operators more time to implement emergency measures. However, few studies exist for CANDU reactors in this regard. The goal of this study is to determine how different types of ATF are expected to behave in a CANDU lattice when compared to the current UO2 fuels. In particular, this study focuses on neutronic parameters calculated using the Serpent 2 code, but also models heat transfer and stylized accident scenarios. The ATF concepts tested include UO2-SiC composites, UN and UN-based composites, U-9Mo, and fully ceramic microencapsulated (FCM) fuel, along with SiC and SS-coated cladding. Four general conclusions can be drawn: 1. Fuel temperature are lower for ATF as compared to traditional fuels. UO2-SiC composite fuel exhibits a moderate temperature reduction compared to UO2, particularly for fresh fuel. Other ATF fuel materials exhibit a substantial decrease in fuel temperature compared to UO2. The lower fuel temperatures are also accompanied by lower melting temperatures for some fuels, hence each design requires specific assessments on safety. 2. As most ATF have a poorer neutron economy compared to standard fuel designs, enrichment is required to use ATF in a CANDU, particularly for UN and FCM fuel compositions. Coolant void reactivity (CVR) is lowest with FCM fuel and highest with U-9Mo fuel. Fuel temperature coefficient (FTC) is most negative for fuel containing UN or U-9Mo. 3. Changing the cladding material from zircaloy to SiC slightly improves neutron economy, while a FeCrAl surface layer impairs neutron economy. The impact of many ATF sheath materials is to greatly reduce or eliminate hydrogen production in some severe accidents. A specific assessment on hydrogen production was not performed in this study. 4. In stylized accident scenarios, all fuels exhibit only a small temperature spike due to the reactivity insertion of the LOCA as the reactor shutdown limits the power excursion. For cases where Emergency Core Cooling functions as designed, fuel and channel failures are precluded for both traditional fuels and ATF. For cases with impairment of ECC, most ATF fuels show lower fuel temperatures than UO2 fuels and adequate heat removal to the pressure-calandria tube fuel channel. The exception would be Mo-based fuels that reach the melting point prior to establishing an adequately high sheath temperature to sustain radiative heat removal to the PT-CT assembly. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / Since the Fukushima accident in 2011, there have been an increasing number of studies on the use of accident-tolerant fuel in nuclear reactors to mitigate the consequences of a future severe accident, reducing the likelihood and severity of a radiation release. Canadian reactors are of the CANDU design, which differs greatly from the reactors most recent studies have focused on. The goal of this study is to determine the feasibility of using accident-tolerant fuel in CANDU reactors, studying different types. In general, the goal of accident-tolerant fuels in CANDU reactors would be to reduce fuel temperatures and improve fission product retention, reducing the likelihood/magnitude of radioactive releases in a severe accident. However, nearly all types of accident-tolerant fuel would also require the uranium to be slightly enriched as opposed to the current fuel which is based on naturally-occurring uranium. This study outlines the results obtained by computer modelling of accident-tolerant fuel in a CANDU reactor, including the enrichment requirements, changes to important reactivity feedbacks, and impacts on accident performance.

A detailed reactor core modeling of the LOVIISA-2 PWR and FORSMARK-3BWR was performed in the Serpent 2 Continuous Energy Monte-Carlocode.Both models of the reactors were completed but the approximations ofthe atomic densities of nuclides present in the core differedsignificantly.In the LOVIISA-2 PWR, the predicted atomic density for the nuclidesapproximated by Chebyshev Rational Approximation method (CRAM)coincided with the corrected atomic density simulated by the Serpent2 program. In the case of FORSMARK-3 BWR, the atomic density fromCRAM poorly approximated the data returned by the simulation inSerpent 2. Due to boiling of the moderator in the core of FORSMARK-3,the model seemed to encounter problems of fission density, whichyielded unusable results.The results based on the models of the reactor cores are significantto the FANCSEE Nuclear fuel cycle simulator, which will be used as adataset for the nuclear fuel cycle burnup in the reactors. / FANCSEE

Traditional scholarship has stated that the serpent and ophicleide (as well as their successor, the tuba) were developed and added to the standard orchestra to add a bass voice to the brass, allowing a tonal compass to match a similar downward expansion in the strings and woodwinds. A closer reading of the earliest scores calling for these instruments reveals a more coloristic purpose, related to timbre as much as to compass. Indeed, the fact that composers rarely wrote for serpent and ophicleide makes two points: it proves them to be inadequate choices as a brass bass, and when they were called for, they had an expressive, often descriptive purpose. Despite his conservative musical education supervised by Carl Friedrich Zelter, the seventeen-year-old Mendelssohn, under the influence of A. B. Marx, used the Corno inglese di basso, an upright version of the serpent, in his Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream to give a more rustic flavor to Bottom's ass-braying. Even when the English bass horn functioned as a bass voice, it was playing in contexts that were descriptive, where it often demonstrated its musical inadequacy. Berlioz's descriptive writing for the serpent and ophicleide are well known. A remarkable feature which Symphonie fantastique shares with works by the other composers is the confidence Berlioz showed in the ophicleide's functional independence by occasionally giving it an arpeggiated figure while the rest of the orchestra sustains the chord. Wagner's writing for the serpent and ophicleide in Rienzi follows the less imaginative conventions of French grand opera. In Der fliegende Holländer the ophicleide, while not used as descriptively as Mendelssohn and Berlioz, nevertheless contributes significantly to Wagner's emerging focus on the inner lives of his characters and expressive commentary on the stage action. Tubists should consider the expressive implications and the unique timbre of these instruments when performing works originally written for the forerunners of the tuba.

Le plan d'organisation des vertébrés est caractérisé par la répétition de segments tels que les vertèbres. Les premiers signes de segmentation sont observés pendant l'embryogenèse précoce, lorsque les précurseurs des vertèbres, appelés " somites ", se forment de manière périodique à partir du mésoderme paraxial présomitique (PSM). Il a été proposé qu'une "horloge de segmentation" contrôlerait la périodicité de formation des somites en interagissant avec un "front de détermination" reculant caudalement dans le PSM. Afin de comprendre les mécanismes établissant le nombre total de somites chez les vertébrés, j'ai comparé la régulation de la somitogenèse dans une espèce en formant un grand nombre-le serpent des blés- avec la souris, le poulet et le poisson zèbre. J'ai premièrement cloné et analysé par hybridation in situ l'expression des gènes impliqués dans la formation de front de détermination et de l'horloge de segmentation. Le patron d'expression des gènes associés au front s'est révélé conservé, alors que celui de lunatic fringe, un gène associé à l'horloge, s'est révélé particulièrement atypique. Une étude comparative basée sur un modèle mathématique nous a conduit à l'hypothèse que ce patron d'expression traduisait un rythme accéléré de l'horloge par rapport à la vitesse d'élongation de l'axe chez le serpent, expliquant ainsi sa production accrue de somites. En conclusion, notre étude, conduite sur un modèle original, suggère que la relation entre horloge et croissance de l'axe est un facteur important pour expliquer la différence du nombre de somites entre vertébrés.

This thesis represents the first example of a pre-agricultural, pre-colonial land disturbance event in the archaeological record of North America. It demonstrates the critical importance of multivariate analysis and µ-XRF core scanning in determining precise chronologies for episodes of heightened clastic input from soil erosion, enhanced by human occupation, shellfish harvesting, and burial mound construction. / Serpent Mounds is a prehistoric (Middle Woodland Period, ca. 2000--1000 BP) burial mound complex located on the north shore of Rice Lake, in southern Ontario, Canada. The complex includes a 60m long and 10m wide sinuous earthwork ridge interpreted as a serpent effigy and eight smaller oval mound structures. Archaeological excavations determined seasonal site occupation for harvesting wild rice and shellfish and conducting mortuary rites. The timing of mound construction and site occupation is poorly constrained by limited radiocarbon dates, restricted to burials. The site is of high cultural importance as the only known effigy mound structure in Canada and is a sacred First Nations burial ground; thus all investigation must employ non-invasive techniques. High-resolution XRF Core Scanning and micropaleontologic analysis (testate amoebae) of 12 lake sediment cores was employed to investigate the timing of mound construction, and assess geochemical records of prehistoric land disturbance. Land disturbance is indicated by increased sediment flux, by rising abundance of minerogenic elements (K, Ti, Zr, Si, Fe) within a distinctive silt-rich gyttja unit. The event is also recorded in the thecamoebian assemblage, which is dominated by indicators of a eutrophic, turbid lake environment. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis of µ-XRF data identify distinctive chemofacies across several cores. AMS 14C dates for the prehistoric land disturbance episode correspond with the Point Peninsula occupation, indicating a protracted occupation period of \textasciitilde 750 years (2050 - 1300 cal BP) with two major peaks in soil erosion at 1900 and 1450 cal BP. The sedimentation rate (>1.5mm/yr) during the Middle Woodland phase of enhanced erosion was comparable to that during the 1838 CE dam construction at Hastings. The reconstructed Middle Woodland paleoshoreline and water levels indicate a shallow lake and wetland environment, with viable habitats for wild rice stands and shellfish resources. The results demonstrate that XRF Core Scanning and micropaleontological methods are important for the investigation of culturally-sensitive archaeological sites, including sacred burial grounds where conventional archaeological excavation cannot be undertaken. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Serpent Mounds is a prehistoric (Middle Woodland Period, ca. 2000 - 1000 BP) burial mound complex located in Rice Lake, Ontario. Archaeological excavation (1897 - 1970) determined the site was occupied by people of the Point Peninsula culture (ca. 2200 - 1350 BP) on a seasonal basis, for burial rites and shellfish gathering. Many questions remain with regard to the date of mounds construction, how long the site was occupied, and how occupation and construction activities impacted the local environment. The site has been designated as a National Historical Site and excavation is no longer permitted in the interest of site preservation and cultural value to First Nations. This study investigated the history of environmental changes associated with prehistoric indigenous and European land use changes using minimally-invasive methods, including sonar bathymetric mapping, XRF Core Scanning and microfossil analysis of lake sediment cores. Sonar data were employed to map the lake bottom relief (bathymetry) and to reconstruct past changes in lake levels and shoreline positions. µ-XRF methods measures changes in elemental abundance in lake core samples to identify human occupation phases and land disturbance. Microfossils (testate amoebae) track the ecosystem response to environmental changes associated with human occupation. The geochemical and microfossil data identified an interval of increased sediment delivery to Rice Lake, coinciding with the arrival of Point Peninsula peoples. The land disturbance is recognized in cores by an increase in zirconium (Zr), titanium (Ti) and other soil-derived elements. During this phase, lake levels rose gradually, wetlands expanded and wild rice was abundant resource available to indigenous peoples. Following European colonization in the 1820’s, and the construction of the Hastings Dam (1838 CE), lake levels increased rapidly by over \SI{2}{\metre}, causing a shift to a more nutrient-rich (eutrophic) lake environment and a decline in wild rice stands. Soil erosion associated with European land clearance is recorded by in a dramatic increase in the abundance of soil-derived elements.

Le développement de méthodes de la détection en temps réel de cellules anormales (pouvant être considérées comme des cellules cancéreuses) par captures et traitements bio-images sont des axes de recherche importants dans le domaine biomédical car cela contribue à diagnostiquer un cancer. C’est dans ce contexte que se situe ces travaux de thèse. Plus précisément, les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit, se focalise sur le développement de procédures de lecture, de détection et de classification automatiques de bio-images de cellules anormales considérées comme des cellules cancéreuses. Par conséquent, une première étape du travail à consister à déterminer une solution de détection, à partir d’images microscopiques multispectrales permettant une répétitivité d’images sur une gamme de longueurs d'ondes de certains types de bio-images anormales associées à différents stades ou évolutions de cellules cancéreuses. L’approche développée dans ces travaux repose sur l’exploitation d’une nouvelle méthode de segmentation basée sur l'intensité de la couleur et pouvant être appliquée sur des séquences d'objets dans une image en reformant de manière adaptative et itérative la localisation et la couverture de contours réels de cellules. Cette étape préalable de segmentation est primordiale et permet une classification des tissus anormaux en utilisant la méthode de réseau de neurones à convolution (CNN) appliqué sur les images microscopiques segmenté de type snake. L’approche permet d’obtenir de bas résultats comparativement à une approche basée sur d’autres méthodes de segmentation de la littérature. En effet, cette méthode de classification atteint des valeurs de performance de 100% pour la phase d’apprentissage et de 99.168 % pour les phases de test. Cette méthode est comparée à différents travaux antérieurs et basée sur différentes fonctionnalités d'extraction, et a prouvé son efficacité par rapport à ces autres méthodes. En terme de perspectives, les travaux futurs visent à valider notre approche sur des ensembles de données plus larges, et à explorer différentes architectures CNN selon différents critères d’optimisation / Development of methods for help diagnosis of the real time detection of abnormal cells (which can be considered as cancer cells) through bio-image processing and detection are most important research directions in information science and technology. Our work has been concerned by developing automatic reading procedures of the normal and abnormal bio-images tissues. Therefore, the first step of our work is to detect a certain type of abnormal bio-images associated to many types evolution of cancer within a Microscopic multispectral image, which is an image, repeated in many wavelengths. And using a new segmentation method that reforms itself in an iterative adaptive way to localize and cover the real cell contour, using some segmentation techniques. It is based on color intensity and can be applied on sequences of objects in the image. This work presents a classification of the abnormal tissues using the Convolution neural network (CNN), where it was applied on the microscopic images segmented using the snake method, which gives a high performance result with respect to the other segmentation methods. This classification method reaches high performance values, where it reaches 100% for training and 99.168% for testing. This method was compared to different papers that uses different feature extraction, and proved its high performance with respect to other methods. As a future work, we will aim to validate our approach on a larger datasets, and to explore different CNN architectures and the optimization of the hyper-parameters, in order to increase its performance, and it will be applied to relevant medical imaging tasks including computer-aided diagnosis