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<p>When the material or geometry of a reactor varies with time, the neutron flux will respond in the form of a reactor transient. These transients can occur during normal operations when control rods are moved or the reactor is refuelled (CANDU). During a reactor accident, the transient response is especially important because the reactor properties vary quickly with large amplitudes. Therefore, better understanding these conditions allows for improved identification, prevention and mitigation of reactor transients. However, current nuclear simulation codes are generally limited in their ability to model transient behaviour.</p> <p>The NStable code was created to model time-dependent neutron populations in multiplying mediums using the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit. The neutron population is allowed to evolve in time, but is periodically renormalized so that the total number of neutrons is constrained within a manageable range. This ensures that the simulation is viable even in highly sub- or supercritical environments. Since Geant4 was not intrinsically designed to track a neutron population over "long" time periods (up to 10 s), the population renormalization mechanisms needed to be created and integrated with Geant4. Additionally, nuclear reactor analysis functionality was added to calculate important quantities such as k_eff.</p> <p>The NStable code was validated using three established nuclear simulation codes: MCNP 5, DRAGON 3.06J, and TART 2005. The validation cases compared spatial distributions and criticality estimates for either homogeneous spheres (uranium-235 or a uranium-heavy water mixture) or the standard CANDU 6 lattice cell. For all three systems, the criticality estimates in NStable agreed with the appropriate validation code within 10 mk (TART for the spheres and DRAGON for the CANDU 6 lattice). Finally, the NStable code was also used to simulate a temperature transient in a UHW sphere where the temperature linear increased by 700 K over 50 ms. In response to the increasing temperature, k_eff decreased by 100 mk over the same period. In the future, transient modelling in NStable should be investigated further to reproduce actual experimental results, and to couple NStable with a thermohydraulics code to simulate a full transient response.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

The inverted T-beam bridge system provides an accelerated bridge construction alternative for short-to-medium-span bridges. The system consists of adjacent precast inverted T-beams finished with a cast-in-place concrete topping. The system offers enhanced performance against reflective cracking, and reduces the likelihood of cracking due to time dependent effects. The effects of transverse bending due to concentrated wheel loads are investigated with respect to reflective cracking. Transverse bending moment are quantified and compared to transverse moment capacities provided by a combination of various cross-sectional shapes and transverse connections. A design methodology for transverse bending is suggested. Tensile stresses created due to time dependent and temperature effects are quantified at the cross-sectional and structure level and strategies for how to alleviate these tensile stresses are proposed. Because differential shrinkage is believed to be one of the causes of deck cracking in composite bridges, a study on shrinkage and creep properties of seven deck mixes is presented with the goal of identifying a mix whose long terms properties reduce the likelihood of deck cracking. The effects of differential shrinkage at a cross-sectional level are numerically demonstrated for a variety of composite bridge systems and the resistance of the inverted T-beam system against time dependent effects is highlighted. End stresses in the end zones of such a uniquely shaped precast element are investigated analytically in the vertical and horizontal planes. Existing design methods are evaluated and strut-and-tie models, calibrated to match the results of 3-D finite element analyses, are proposed as alternatives to existing methods to aid designers in sizing reinforcing in the end zones. Composite action between the precast beam and the cast-in-place topping is examined via a full scale test and the necessity of extended stirrups is explored. It is concluded that because of the large contact surface between the precast and cast-in-place elements, cohesion alone appears to provide the necessary horizontal shear strength to ensure full composite action. Live load distribution factors are quantified analytically and by performing four live loads tests. It is concluded that AASHTO's method for cast-in-place slab span bridges can be conservatively used in design. / Ph. D.

Over the past two decades, chirality induced spin selectivity (CISS) has emerged as its own field of research. As a phenomenon, it reveals how the shape of molecules interplay with electron dynamics, showcasing how a helical molecule acts as a filter for electron spins, and thus, provides valuable insights into the correlation between molecular structure and electron properties. The interpretation is that the influence of the helical molecular structure, along with spin-orbit interaction and non-equilibrium conditions causes the charge-carrying electrons to become spin-polarized. Consequently, the structure of these molecules effectively filters electrons based on their spin direction. In this project, we investigate the time evolution of the probability densities for each spin as well as the spin polarization in a simplified model of the helical molecule under non-equilibrium. The problem is treated both analytically for a simpler case and numerically for a more general one. In the more general case, the solutions are divided into two parts, namely 1) The unperturbed system, to determine the properties of the system, and 2) The perturbed system, to investigate consequences of different types of perturbations. Two types of sources of perturbation were considered, namely metals, both magnetic and non-magnetic, and external electric fields, where these are assumed both constant and time-dependent, such as harmonic or decaying. The results from the analytical and numerical models turned out to give essentially the same results, however a larger molecule than the very smallest was required to display the expected symmetry of spin polarization between helicities. The properties of the unperturbed system were consistent withprevious research, and the perturbations had a varying effect, with the magnetic metals producing distinct changes to the spin polarization while the electric field mostly shifted the total charge.

Cette thèse présente différentes approches quantiques pour l'exploration de processus dynamiques dans des systèmes multiélectroniques, en particulier après une forte excitation qui peut aboutir à des effets dissipatifs. Les théories de champ moyen sont un outil utile à cet égard. Malgré l'existence de nombreux travaux réalisés ces deux dernières décennies, ces théories peinent à reproduire complètement la corrélation à deux corps. La thermalisation est un des effets des collisions électron-électron. Après un chapitre introductif, on présentera dans le chapitre 2 le formalisme de plusieurs méthodes étudiées dans cette thèse, ayant pour but la description de ces effets en ajoutant un terme de collision au champ moyen. Ces méthodes sont appelées Stochastic Time-Dependent Hartree Fock (STDHF), Extended TDHF (ETDHF) et Collisional TDHF (CTDHF). Cette dernière méthode représente d'une certaine façon le résultat principal de cette thèse. L'implémentation numérique de chacune de ces méthodes sera aussi examinée en détail. Dans les chapitres 3, 4 et 5, nous appliquerons à différents systèmes les méthodes présentées dans le chapitre 2. Dans le chapitre 3, nous étudions d'abord un canal de réaction rare, ici la probabilité d'un électron de s'attacher à un petit agrégat d'eau. Un bon accord avec les données expérimentales a été observé. Dans le chapitre 4, un modèle fréquemment utilisé en physique nucléaire est résolu exactement et comparé quantitativement à STDHF. L'évolution temporelle des observables à un corps s'accorde entre les deux méthodes, plus particulièrement en ce qui concerne le comportement thermique. Néanmoins, pour permettre une bonne description de la dynamique, il est nécessaire d'avoir une grande statistique, ce qui peut être un frein à l'utilisation de STDHF sur de larges systèmes. Pour surpasser cette difficulté, dans le chapitre 5 nous testons CTDHF, qui a été introduit dans le chapitre 2, sur un modèle à une dimension (et sans émission électronique). Le modèle se compose d'électrons dans un potentiel de type jellium avec une interaction auto-cohérente sous la forme d'une fonctionnelle de la densité. L'avantage de ce modèle à une dimension est que les calculs STDHF sont possibles numériquement, ce qui permet une comparaison directe aux calculs CTDHF. Dans cette étude de validité du concept, CTDHF s'accorde remarquablement bien avec STDHF. Cela pose les jalons pour une description efficace de la dissipation dans des systèmes réalistes en trois dimensions par CTDHF. / This thesis presents various quantal approaches for the exploration of dynamical processes in multielectronic systems, especially after an intense excitation which can possibly lead to dissipative effects. Mean field theories constitute useful tools in that respect. Despite the existence of numerous works during the past two decades, they have strong difficulties to capture full 2-body correlations. Thermalization is one of these effects that stems from electron-electron collisions. After an introductory chapter, we present in Chapter 2 the formalism of the various schemes studied in this thesis toward the description of such an effect by including collisional terms on top of a mean field theory. These schemes are called Stochastic Time-Dependent Hartree Fock (STDHF), Extended TDHF (ETDHF) and Collisional TDHF (CTDHF). The latter scheme constitutes in some sense the main achievement of this thesis. The numerical realizations of each scheme are also discussed in detail. In Chapters 3, 4 and 5, we apply the approaches discussed in Chapter 2 but in various systems. In Chapter 3, we first explore a rare reaction channel, that is the probability of an electron to attach on small water clusters. Good agreement with experimental data is achieved. In Chapter 4, a model widely used in nuclear physics is exactly solved and quantitatively compared to STDHF. The time evolution of 1-body observables agrees well in both schemes, especially what concerns thermal behavior. However, to allow a good description of the dynamics, one is bound to use a large statistics, which can constitute a hindrance of the use of STDHF in larger systems. To overcome this problem, in Chapter 5, we go for a testing of CTDHF developed in Chapter 2 in a one-dimensional system (and without electronic emission). This system consists in electrons in a jellium potential with a simplified self-consistent interaction expressed as a functional of the density. The advantage of this 1D model is that STDHF calculations are numerically manageable and therefore allows a direct comparison with CTDHF calculations. In this proof of concept study, CTDHF compares remarkably well with STDHF. This thus paves the road toward an efficient description of dissipation in realistic 3D systems by CTDHF.

摘要 近幾年發展的區間型態資料之主成份分析，運用在某些領域的資料上尚未成熟，例如股票價格的資料，這些資料是與時間息息相關地，於是有了時間相關的區間資料分析 (Irpino, 2006. Pattern Recognition Letters 27, 504-513)。本文延續這個分析，針對時間相關之區間型台灣股價資料進行研究。Irpino (2006) 的方法只考慮每週的開盤價與收盤價，為了得到更多資訊，我們提出三種方法，第一個方法，將每週的最高價(最低價)納入分析，由兩點的分析變成三點的分析；第二個方法，我們同時考慮最高價與最低價，變成四點的分析，這兩個方法都能得到原始方法不能得到的資訊－公司的穩定度，其中又以第二個方法較為準確；第三種方法引用Irpino (2006) 的建議，我們改變區間的分配，而此方法得到的結果與原 始的方法差異不大。 本文分別收集了台灣金融市場三十家半導體與台指五十中的四十七家公司於民國九十七年九月一號到十二月二十六號共十七週的股價資料進行實證分析。以台指五十為例，分析結果顯示編號17的台達電子工業股份有限公司、編號24的鴻海科技集團，這兩家公司的未來被看好；而編號10的聯陽半導體股份有限公司、編號35的統一超商股份有限公司，此兩家公司的未來不被看好，這四家公司在民國九十八年一月五號到一月七號三天的走勢確實是如此！此外，結果顯示 金融體系的公司比電子體系的公司來得穩定。 關鍵字：主成份分析，區間型資料，時間相關 / ABSTRACT The methods for principal component analysis on interval data have not been ripe yet in some areas, for example, the data of stock prices that are closely related to the time, so the analysis of time dependent interval data was proposed (Irpino, 2006. Pattern Recognition Letters 27, 504-513). In this paper, we apply this approach to the stock prices data in Taiwan. The original “Spaghetti” PCA in Irpino (2006) considered only the starting and the ending prices for each week. In order to get more information we propose three methods. We consider the highest (lowest) price for each week to our analysis in Method 1, and the analysis changes from two points to three points. In Method 2, we consider all information to our analysis which considers four points. These two methods can get more information than the original one. For example, we can get the information of stability degree of the company. For the Method 3, we quote the suggestion from Irpino (2006) to change the distribution of intervals from uniform to beta. However, the result is similar to the original result. In our approach, we collect data of stock prices from 37 companies of semiconductor and 47 companies of TSEC Taiwan 50 index in Taiwan financial market during the 17 weeks from September 1 to December 26, 2008. For TSEC Taiwan 50 index, the results of this analysis are that the future trend of Delta (Delta Electronics Incorporation) which numbers 17 and Foxconn (Foxconn Electronics Incorporation) which numbers 24 are optimistic; And ITE (Integrated Technology Express) which numbers 10 and 7-ELEVEn (President Chain Store Corporation) which numbers 35 are not good. In fact, the trends of these four companies are indicated these results during January 5th to 7th. What’s more, the financial companies are steadier than the electronic industry. Keywords: Principal component analysis; Interval data; Time dependent

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is classified as an anxiety disorder and the characteristic symptoms (re-experiencing, avoidance as well as numbing of general responsiveness and hyperarousal) of this disorder develop in response to a traumatic event. The disorder is characterised by hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis abnormalities linked with changes in cortisol moreover, the hippocampus and cortex also play a role in the neurobiology. With regard to the neurochemistry of this disorder it is known that gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) is involved however, the precise role of GABA in PTSD and how stress changes GABA concentrations in the brain are still not fully understood. Another aspect regarding PTSD that has not been clearly defined is the treatment of PTSD. Classic anxiolytics such as diazepam is expected to relieve the anxiety linked with PTSD. Studies with this group of drugs have however not produced the concrete evidence needed to establish it as a treatment of choice for PTSD and subsequently other classes of drugs have been investigated as possible treatment options for PTSD. Among these is lamotrigine, which in a clinical study was found to be effective in alleviating symptoms of PTSD. Moreover, a possible pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship for each of these drugs has also not been elucidated. In order to elude on some of these uncertainties, an animal model of PTSD, time dependent sensitisation (TDS), was used. GABA levels in the rat hippocampus and frontal cortex were determined at two different time intervals following the TDS procedure (1 day and 7 days post re-stress). High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical (EC) detection was used to determine gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) concentrations. To investigate the possible anxiolytic effects of diazepam and lamotrigine in this model, as well as a possible pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship for each drug, pharmacokinetic profiles for both drugs were established in order to find the times of peak and trough levels of each drug. Blood samples were collected at different time intervals after drug administration either from the tail vein of rats (lamotrigine) or directly from the heart (diazepam). Subsequently, drug concentrations at each time interval were determined by means of HPLC with ultraviolet (UV) detection. The behaviour of rats was analysed using the elevated plus-maze (EPM) at peak or trough concentrations of the drugs and this was performed after either acute administration of the drug, or after a 14 day chronic treatment regime. GABA levels in the hippocampus were not found to change statistically significantly in response to stress at either 1 day or 7 days post re-stress. In the frontal cortex, however, GABA levels increased in response to stress at 1 day post re-stress, with a statistically insignificant, but strong trend towards an increase, at 7 days post re-stress. With regard to the pharmacokinetic profiles, the peak concentration of diazepam was found to occur at 60 minutes, with lamotrigine's peak at 120 minutes. The behavioural studies indicated that acute treatment with diazepam 3 mg/kg resulted in a statistically significant increase in both ratio open arm entries and ratio time spent in the open arms at peak level of the drug. After acute treatment with diazepam 3 mg/kg a statistically significant decrease in ratio time spent in open arms was also found when the ratio time spent in open arms at peak level of the drug and the ratio time spent in open arms at trough level of the drug was compared. In response to chronic treatment with diazepam 3 mg/kg for 14 days, test animals exhibited an increase in the ratio open arm entries at trough level of the drug, with a statistically insignificant yet definite trend towards an increase at peak level. Acute treatment with lamotrigine 10 mg/kg resulted in no statistically significant change in EPM parameters. In response to chronic treatment, however, a statistically significant increase was found in ratio time spent in open arms at peak level of the drug, with a statistically insignificant trend towards an increase at trough level. From the results of this study, we may therefore conclude that GABA-levels in the brain are definitely affected, but in different ways, following TDS-stress. A pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship between the drugs' levels and aversive behaviour could also be established. Furthermore it appears that more sustained anxiolytic effects are evident following chronic treatment with both drugs than with acute administration of these drugs. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Pharmacology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that may follow exposure to severe emotional trauma and presents with various symptoms of anxiety, hyperarousal and cognitive anomalies. Interestingly, only 10-30% of an exposed population will go on to develop full-blown PTSD. Cholinergic neurotransmission is implicated in anxiety as well as other typical manifestations of PTSD, particularly cognitive changes. The frontal cortex and hippocampus regulate and in turn are affected by stress, and have also been implicated in the underlying neuropathology of PTSD. These areas are densely innervated by cholinergic neurons originating from the basal forebrain. In this study, the time dependent sensitization (TDS) model was used to induce symptoms of PTSD in animals. The study was designed to determine the long-term effects of an intense, prolonged aversive procedure on central muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) characteristics and the correlation if any of those findings to cognitive aspects and general arousal as characteristics associated with PTSD. In order to achieve this goal, male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to the TDS stress paradigm with behavioral/neuro-receptor assessments performed on day 7 post re-stress (duration of each experiment in whole is 14 days). Acoustic startle reflex (ASR) was used to determine emotional state (hyperarousal), while the conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm was implemented in order to assess aversive memory. Muscarinic receptor binding studies were performed in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Moreover, both the stress-exposed and control animals were pre-tested in the acoustic startle chamber in order to attempt to separate stress sensitive from stress-resilient animals based on predetermined ASR criteria. The ASR niodel was previously validated in our laboratory, while the CTA model was validated in this project before application. In the CTA model, an i.p. injection with lithium chloride (LiCl) (associated with digestive malaise), was used as unconditioned stimulus (US) and was paired with a saccharinlcyclamate drinking solution as conditioned stimulus (CS) to induce aversion to the novel taste (CS) when presented in the absence of the US. Population data of animals tested in the ASR experiment indicated no statistical significant difference between stressed and control animals. However, when each animal was assessed individually, 22.5 % of the exposed population displayed all increase above the predetermined criteria of 35 % in startle response, indicating a state of heightened arousal. In contrast, only 4.2 O h of control animals (no stress) displayed an increase in arousal based on the above mentioned criteria. Muscarinic receptor densities (Bm,) in the total population of animals exposed to stress showed a statistical significant increase in both the hippocampus and frontal cortex when compared to controls, with no changes in & values observed in either one of the areas. In the CTA experiment, TDS stress was implemented as US paired with a saccharinlcyclamate drinking solution as CS. An acute session of prolonged stress (as used in the TDS model) effectively induced aversion to a novel taste and a subsequent reminder of the stress (restress) paired with the CS sustained the acquire adversive memory. Furthermore, LiCl was reintroduced as US in order to assess the effect of prior exposure to two types of stress (acute and TDS) on subsequently acquired CTA memory. Prior exposure to acute stress had no significant effect on subsequently acquired aversive memory when measured either 3- or 7 days post-conditioning (CS-US). Stress-restress (TDS) exposure, however, indicated a significant decrease in aversive memory from 3- to 7 days post-conditioning (CS-US) as well as a significant decrease in aversive memory between the control- and the TDS group 7 days post-conditioning. The mAChR density (B,,) in the frontal cortex; but not in the hippocampus, was elevated at the same point in time (7 days post CS-US pairing) that CTA memory was impaired following TDS stress (stress-restress). Ultimately, these data support an association between altered cholinergic receptors and hyperarousallanxiety in an animal model of PTSD. The data also support the phenomenon of individual susceptibility to stress in animals that parallels that observed in humans exposed to severe trauma. Impaired aversive memory (CTA) is a consequence of prior exposure to TDS stress, but not acute stress, and is likewise mediated by an altered central cholinergic transmission displayed as an increase in mAChRs in the frontal cortex. The lack of studies regarding the influence of the cholinergic system in PTSD related behavior earns ,this project value as inimitable PTSD research. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Pharmacology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

This thesis focuses on option of omitting the stationarity assumption, which is usually used in the financial time series analysis. The theory of semi-stationary processes is introduced. This type of process has time-dependent spectra (the evolutionary spectra) in comparison with stationary process. The evolutionary spectra estimator is derived using a linear filter and then averaged in time to reduce any fluctuations caused by randomness. Predictions and variance estimates are retrieved from the estimated time dependent spectra. The semi-stationary processes theory is applied to the ARMA processes with time-dependent coefficients, a coefficient estimator based on evolutionary spectra is suggested. Calculations are performed in R software. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Wooden objects have been widely used in the history of humanity and play an important role in our cultural heritage. The preservation of such objects is of great importance and can be a challenging task. This thesis investigates the static and time-dependent mechanical behaviour of archaeological oak wood from the Vasa warship. Characterisation of mechanical properties is necessary for the formulation of a numerical model to design an improved support structure. The ship was impregnated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) for dimensional stabilisation. All elastic engineering constants of the Vasa oak have been identified and compared with those of recent oak by means of the static and dynamic testing. The experiments were done on samples with cubic geometry, which allowed obtaining all elastic constants from a single sample. The usage of cubic samples with orthotropic mechanical properties during compressive experiments was validated with finite-element simulations. The Young's moduli of the Vasa oak in all orthotropic directions were smaller than those for the recent oak. The shear moduli of Vasa oak was determined and verified with the resonant ultrasound spectroscopy. The time-dependent mechanical behaviour of the Vasa oak has been studied. Creep studies were performed in uniaxial compression on the cubic samples in all orthotropic directions. The samples loaded in the longitudinal direction were subjected to different stress levels. A stress level below 15% of the yield stress in the longitudinal direction did not result in non-linear creep with increasing creep rates within the time frame of the tests. The results of the studies in radial and tangential directions showed that creep was dominated by the effect of annual fluctuations in relative humidity and temperature. The weight changes based on annual fluctuations of relative humidity were measured for Vasa oak and recent oak. The Vasa oak showed higher variations due to an increased hygroscopicity which is the result of the impregnation with PEG. In conceiving a full-scale finite-element model of Vasa ship, not only the stress-strain relations of the material but also those of the structural joints are needed. Since the in-situ measurement of joints is not an option, a replica of a section of the ship hull was built and tested mechanically. The load-induced displacements were measured using 3D laser scanning which proved to have advantages to conventional point displacement measurements. The mechanical characteristics of the Vasa oak and joint information presented in this work can be used as input for a finite-element model of the Vasa ship for simulation of static and time-dependent behaviour on a larger scale. / Stötta Vasa