Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is a persistent human retrovirus characterized by life-long infection and risk of developing HAM/TSP, a progressive neurological and inflammatory disease. Despite extensive studies of HTLV-I, a complete understanding of the viral dynamics has been elusive. Previous mathematical models are unable to fully explain experimental observations. Motivated by a new hypothesis for the mechanism of HTLV-I infection, a three dimensional compartmental model of ordinary differential equations is constructed that focusses on the highly dynamic interactions among populations of healthy, latently infected, and actively infected target cells. Results from mathematical and numerical investigations give rise to relevant biological interpretations. Comparisons of these results with experimental observations allow us to assess the validity of the original hypothesis. Our findings provide valuable insights to the infection and persistence of HTLV-I in vivo and motivate future mathematical and experimental work. / Applied Mathematics

This thesis addresses spatial interpolation and temporal prediction using air pollution data by several space-time modelling approaches. Firstly, we implement the dynamic linear modelling (DLM) approach in spatial interpolation and find various potential problems with that approach. We develop software to implement our approach. Secondly, we implement a Bayesian spatial prediction (BSP) approach to model spatio-temporal ground-level ozone fields and compare the accuracy of that approach with that of the DLM. Thirdly, we develop a Bayesian version empirical orthogonal function (EOF) method to incorporate the uncertainties due to temporally varying spatial process, and the spatial variations at broad- and fine- scale. Finally, we extend the BSP into the DLM framework to develop a unified Bayesian spatio-temporal model for univariate and multivariate responses. The result generalizes a number of current approaches in this field.

Working memory training improves performance on trained and untrained working memory tasks, but there is little consistent evidence that these gains benefit everyday tasks that rely on working memory. Evidence has shown that transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) may be an effective tool for enhancing cognitive training and promoting transfer. In the first study, participants completed Cogmed working memory training with either active or sham transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS). Training was associated with substantial gains on the training activities and on transfer measures of working memory with common processing and storage demands to the training tasks. tRNS did not enhance gains on trained or untrained activities. The second study systematically investigated the boundary conditions to training transfer by testing whether gains following backward digit recall (BDR) training transferred within- and across-paradigm to untrained backward recall and n-back tasks with varying degrees of overlap with the training activity. A further aim was to test whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhanced training and transfer. Participants were allocated to one of three conditions: (i) BDR training with active tDCS, (ii) BDR training with sham tDCS, or (iii) visual search control training with sham tDCS. The results indicated that training transfer is constrained by paradigm, but not by stimuli domain or stimuli materials. There was no evidence that tDCS enhanced performance on the training or transfer tasks. The results of Study 1 and Study 2 provide no evidence that tES enhances the benefits of working memory training. The absence of transfer between backward recall training and n-back in Study 2 suggested the tasks might tap into distinct aspects of working memory. Consequently, the final study used a latent variable approach to explore the degree of overlap between different forms of backward recall and n-back tasks containing digits, letters, or spatial locations as stimuli. The best-fitting factor model included two distinct but related (r = .68) constructs corresponding to backward recall and n-back. Both categories of task were linked to a separate fluid reasoning construct, providing evidence that both are valid measures of higher-order complex cognition. Overall, the experiments in this thesis suggest that working memory tasks tap into separate processes and that training may be targeting and improving these distinct processes, explaining the absence of cross-paradigm transfer.

The moral justification of punishment is the fundamental concern of this thesis. It is argued that a moral response to crime has to be a civilised response; therefore, the notion of "civility" is defined and discussed. Punishment is then defended in such a way that it accords with being a civilised response to crime. It is argued that in order to be such a response, and thereby qualify as a moral response, punishment must have a certain structure, i.e. it must fulfil seven necessary conditions, which, it is argued, together constitute the sufficient condition for morally justified punishment. In arguing for each of the necessary conditions, different onedimensional theories of punishment are dealt with (retributivism, utilitarianism, deterrence theory, rehabilitationism, a paternalistic theory of punishment, and restitutionalism}, indicating that each fulfils some of the criteria for morally justified punishment. None of the onedimensional theories fulfils all the necessary conditions, however, and hence none on its own fulfils the sufficient condition for morally justified punishment. This is not to argue that a straightforward theory could never on its own fulfil the conditions for morally justified punishment, but I have not been able to conceive how this could be done. The theory I here present is therefore a hybrid approach, incorporating elements of all the above-mentioned theories into a unitary theory. In doing so, it fulfils all the necessary conditions for being a civilised response to crime, thereby fulfilling the sufficient condition too, and hence providing a morally defensible account of punishment. Finally, the question of how this theory can be put into practice is addressed. Because the objective of punishment ought to be a civilised response, thereby benefiting both society as a whole and those being punished and rehabilitated, the thesis may be seen as a progressive synthesis of the various approaches examined. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)

Orientador: John Fredy Franco Baquero / Resumo: Nesta dissertação é proposta a aplicação do algoritmo genético de chaves aleatórias viciadas para a solução do problema de reconfiguração de sistemas de distribuição. Esse problema de otimização consiste em encontrar a configuração radial que apresenta perdas mínimas, satisfazendo as restrições topológicas e as restrições operacionais, sendo modelado como um problema de Programação Não Linear Inteira Mista. O método proposto utiliza o algoritmo de Prim na geração de configurações radiais e emprega um algoritmo de fluxo de carga de varredura para avaliar cada proposta de solução. O algoritmo genético de chaves aleatórias viciadas foi desenvolvido na linguagem de programação FORTRAN e foi testado em quatro sistemas de distribuição da literatura especializada (14 barras, 33 barras, 84 barras e 136 barras). Os resultados obtidos da aplicação do algoritmo permitem avaliar o seu desempenho e eficiência em comparação com a melhor solução encontrada na literatura especializada. / Abstract: The application of the biased random-key genetic algorithm for the reconfiguration of distribution systems is proposed in this Dissertation. The problem of reconfiguration in distribution systems consists of finding the radial configuration that presents the minimum losses, satisfying topological and operating constraints and is commonly modeled as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem. The proposed method uses the Prim's algorithm to generate radial configurations that are evaluated through a backward/forward sweep power flow method. The biased random-key genetic algorithm used was developed in the programming language FORTRAN and was tested in four systems (14-bus, 33-bus, 84-bus and 136-bus). The obtained results show the performance and efficiency of the proposed method in comparison to the best solution found in the specialized literature. / Mestre

Submitted by Rommel Gregorio Vargas Peralta (rgvp88@gmail.com) on 2018-07-11T22:12:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Mestrado - Rommel Gregorio Vargas Peralta.pdf: 3543837 bytes, checksum: 233f1b03c9cd16d58a1c981ab331ee0f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Cristina Alexandra de Godoy null (cristina@adm.feis.unesp.br) on 2018-07-12T20:17:35Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 vargasperalta_rg_me_ilha.pdf: 3732403 bytes, checksum: eb45069beb69cdfd8b2cc75bf47668bf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-12T20:17:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 vargasperalta_rg_me_ilha.pdf: 3732403 bytes, checksum: eb45069beb69cdfd8b2cc75bf47668bf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Nesta dissertação é proposta a aplicação do algoritmo genético de chaves aleatórias viciadas para a solução do problema de reconfiguração de sistemas de distribuição. Esse problema de otimização consiste em encontrar a configuração radial que apresenta perdas mínimas, satisfazendo as restrições topológicas e as restrições operacionais, sendo modelado como um problema de Programação Não Linear Inteira Mista. O método proposto utiliza o algoritmo de Prim na geração de configurações radiais e emprega um algoritmo de fluxo de carga de varredura para avaliar cada proposta de solução. O algoritmo genético de chaves aleatórias viciadas foi desenvolvido na linguagem de programação FORTRAN e foi testado em quatro sistemas de distribuição da literatura especializada (14 barras, 33 barras, 84 barras e 136 barras). Os resultados obtidos da aplicação do algoritmo permitem avaliar o seu desempenho e eficiência em comparação com a melhor solução encontrada na literatura especializada. / The application of the biased random-key genetic algorithm for the reconfiguration of distribution systems is proposed in this Dissertation. The problem of reconfiguration in distribution systems consists of finding the radial configuration that presents the minimum losses, satisfying topological and operating constraints and is commonly modeled as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem. The proposed method uses the Prim's algorithm to generate radial configurations that are evaluated through a backward/forward sweep power flow method. The biased random-key genetic algorithm used was developed in the programming language FORTRAN and was tested in four systems (14-bus, 33-bus, 84-bus and 136-bus). The obtained results show the performance and efficiency of the proposed method in comparison to the best solution found in the specialized literature.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:54:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArrheniusVCO_TESE.pdf: 1241211 bytes, checksum: 636a162e62ee1658f0ee78ed1516228d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-03 / Eventually, violations of voltage limits at buses or admissible loadings of transmission lines and/or power transformers may occur by the power system operation. If violations are detected in the supervision process, corrective measures may be carried out in order to eliminate them or to reduce their intensity. Loading restriction is an extreme solution and should only be adopted as the last control action. Previous researches have shown that it is possible to control constraints in electrical systems by changing the network topology, using the technique named Corrective Switching, which requires no additional costs. In previous works, the proposed calculations for verifying the ability of a switching variant in eliminating an overload in a specific branch were based on network reduction or heuristic analysis. The purpose of this work is to develop analytical derivation of linear equations to estimate current changes in a specific branch (due to switching measures) by means of few calculations. For bus-bar coupling, derivations will be based on short-circuit theory and Relief Function methodology. For bus-bar splitting, a Relief Function will be derived based on a technique of equivalent circuit. Although systems of linear equations are used to substantiate deductions, its formal solution for each variant, in real time does not become necessary. A priority list of promising variants is then assigned for final check by an exact load flow calculation and a transient analysis using ATP Alternative Transient Program. At last, results obtained by simulation in networks with different features will be presented / Na opera??o de sistemas el?tricos verificam-se, eventualmente, viola??es de restri??es operativas, como sobrecargas em linhas de transmiss?o e transformadores de pot?ncia de subesta??es ou viola??es de limites de tens?es em barramentos. Caso o monitoramento dessas grandezas indique poss?veis problemas, ? necess?rio adotar medidas corretivas para elimin?los ou atenuar sua intensidade, devendo a restri??o de carga ser utilizada como ?ltimo recurso. Uma medida de controle bastante eficaz ? a t?cnica intitulada Chaveamentos Corretivos, capaz de influenciar o fluxo de pot?ncia de redes malhadas a partir de altera??es em suas topologias, sem, entretanto, produzir qualquer custo operacional adicional. Em trabalhos anteriores, o c?lculo desenvolvido para verificar a capacidade de uma determinada variante de chaveamento em eliminar a sobrecarga em um ramo espec?fico era realizado atrav?s de redu??o de redes ou atrav?s de an?lises heur?sticas. O presente trabalho objetiva a dedu??o anal?tica de equa??es para estimar a altera??o de corrente em um ramo espec?fico, ap?s a realiza??o de chaveamentos em subesta??es, mediante o emprego de poucos c?lculos, decorrentes de aproxima??es lineares. Para o acoplamento de barras de subesta??es, as dedu??es ser?o baseadas na teoria de curto-circuito e na metodologia da Fun??o de Al?vio. J? para a abertura de barras de subesta??es, ser? deduzida uma nova Fun??o de Al?vio, fundamentada na t?cnica de circuito equivalente. Embora sistemas de equa??es lineares sejam utilizados para fundamentar as dedu??es, sua solu??o formal para cada variante, em tempo real n?o ? necess?ria. A partir das estimativas realizadas, elabora-se uma lista de variantes priorit?rias, para teste final atrav?s de um c?lculo exato de fluxo de carga e de uma an?lise de transit?rios atrav?s do software ATP Alternative Transient Program. Por fim, apresentamse resultados obtidos atrav?s de simula??es em redes el?tricas de caracter?sticas distintas

The thesis “Effects of the Post Multi-fiber Agreement on Bangladesh Ready Made Garments Sector” is a part of our M.Sc. in Business Administration Program. The thesis paper on this topic is done under the supervision of Mr. Göran Alsén, Professor of Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) Ronneby, Sweden. In our country garment industry has been playing most vital role in our national economy, foreign exchange earnings, employment, growth in other sector and most prominently women employment. In the first chapter we tried to focus on the historical background of Multi Fiber Agreement, the growth of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturer and Exporter Association (BGMEA).In 1983 the total members of BGMEA were 143 with narrow export volume but in 2007 we see the total members are 4637.They contribute 75.64% of our total export (BGMEA, 2007). People who are directly involved with this sector became worried because of phase out of quota system from January 2005.But if we observe the current scenario it is very much positive for our national economy. It’s true that competition grew high but at the same time we can say that our garments industry did not lose its market reputation compared to that of other rival competitors like China, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam etc. It’s very obvious that we have great problem with the backward linkage industry. As a result we are facing huge competition among the competitors. We have to face huge competition with the other competitors as long as we could set up our backward linkage industry. Under these circumstances, our Government is taking necessary steps to remove this problem. It is now simply a matter of time. But we hope we will get rid of this problem very soon. In this thesis paper we have tried to analyze the performance of five different RMG companies and we have also tried to examine the impact of withdrawal of quota system. Based on these five RMG factories we observe that our RMG industry is performing well after Post MFA. In addition, if we look our total exports we see that approximately 74.93% of our total export is from RMG sector. It is very promising sector compared to other export items. Thus we can say that to survive in this competitive sector our RMG sector should take some more necessary steps like improving employee efficiency, ensuring more training facility, emphasizing on backward linkage industry etc. To attract foreign investors these are very important.

Cette thèse porte sur certains aspects symboliques-numériques du problème des paires invariantes pour les polynômes de matrices. Les paires invariantes généralisent la définition de valeur propre / vecteur propre et correspondent à la notion de sous-espaces invariants pour le cas nonlinéaire. Elles trouvent leurs applications dans le calcul numérique de plusieurs valeurs propres d’un polynôme de matrices; elles présentent aussi un intérêt dans le contexte des systèmes différentiels. En utilisant une approche basée sur les intégrales de contour, nous déterminons des expressions du nombre de conditionnement et de l’erreur rétrograde pour le problème du calcul des paires invariantes. Ensuite, nous adaptons la méthode des moments de Sakurai-Sugiura au calcul des paires invariantes et nous étudions le comportement de la version scalaire et par blocs de la méthode en présence de valeurs propres multiples. Le résultats obtenus à l’aide des approches directes peuvent éventuellement être améliorés numériquement grâce à une méthode itérative: nous proposons ici une comparaison de deux variantes de la méthode de Newton appliquée aux paires invariantes. Le problème des solvants de matrices est très proche de celui des paires invariants. Le résultats présentés ci-dessus sont donc appliqués au cas des solvants pour obtenir des expressions du nombre de conditionnement et de l’erreur, et un algorithme de calcul basé sur la méthode des moments. De plus, nous étudions le lien entre le problème des solvants et la transformation des polynômes de matrices en forme triangulaire. / In this thesis, we study some symbolic-numeric aspects of the invariant pair problem for matrix polynomials. Invariant pairs extend the notion of eigenvalue-eigenvector pairs, providing a counterpart of invariant subspaces for the nonlinear case. They have applications in the numeric computation of several eigenvalues of a matrix polynomial; they also present an interest in the context of differential systems. Here, a contour integral formulation is applied to compute condition numbers and backward errors for invariant pairs. We then adapt the Sakurai-Sugiura moment method to the computation of invariant pairs, including some classes of problems that have multiple eigenvalues, and we analyze the behavior of the scalar and block versions of the method in presence of different multiplicity patterns. Results obtained via direct approaches may need to be refined numerically using an iterative method: here we study and compare two variants of Newton’s method applied to the invariant pair problem. The matrix solvent problem is closely related to invariant pairs. Therefore, we specialize our results on invariant pairs to the case of matrix solvents, thus obtaining formulations for the condition number and backward errors, and a moment-based computational approach. Furthermore, we investigate the relation between the matrix solvent problem and the triangularization of matrix polynomials.

L’objectif central de la thèse est d’étudier diverses mesures du risque de modèle, exprimées en terme monétaire, qui puissent être appliquées de façon cohérente à une collection hétérogène de produits financiers. Les deux premiers chapitres traitent cette problématique, premièrement d’un point de vue théorique, ensuite en menant un étude empirique centrée sur le marché du gaz naturel. Le troisième chapitre se concentre sur une étude théorique du risque dit de base (en anglais basis risk). Dans le premier chapitre, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’évaluation de produits financiers complexes, qui prend en compte le risque de modèle et la disponibilité dans le marché de produits dérivés basiques, appelés aussi vanille. Nous avons en particulier poursuivi l’approche du transport optimal (connue dans la littérature) pour le calcul des bornes de prix et des stratégies de sur (sous)-couverture robustes au risque de modèle. Nous reprenons en particulier une construction de probabilités martingales sous lesquelles le prix d’une option exotique atteint les dites bornes de prix, en se concentrant sur le cas des martingales positives. Nous mettons aussi en évidence des propriétés significatives de symétrie dans l’étude de ce problème. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous approchons le problème du risque de modèle d’un point de vue empirique, en étudiant la gestion optimale d’une unité de gaz naturel et en quantifiant l’effet de ce risque sur sa valeur optimale. Lors de cette étude, l’évaluation de l’unité de stockage est basée sur le prix spot, alors que sa couverture est réalisée avec des contrats à termes. Comme mentionné auparavant, le troisième chapitre met l’accent sur le risque de base, qui intervient lorsque l’on veut couvrir un actif conditionnel basé sur un actif non traité (par exemple la température) en se servant d’un portefeuille constitué d’actifs traités sur le marché. Un critère de couverture dans ce contexte est celui de la minimisation de la variance qui est étroitement lié à la décomposition dite de Föllmer-Schweizer. Cette décomposition peut être déduite de la résolution d’une certaine équation différentielle stochastique rétrograde (EDSR) dirigée par une martingale éventuellement à sauts. Lorsque cette martingale est un mouvement brownien standard, les EDSR sont fortement associées aux EDP paraboliques semi linéaires. Dans le cas général nous formulons un problème déterministe qui étend les EDPs mentionnées. Nous appliquons cette démarche à l’important cas particulier de la décomposition de Föllmer-Schweizer, dont nous donnons des expressions explicites de la décomposition du payoff d’une option lorsque les sous-jacents sont exponentielles de processus additifs. / The main objective of this thesis is the study of the model risk and its quantification through monetary measures. On the other hand we expect it to fit a large set of complex (exotic) financial products. The first two chapters treat the model risk problem both from the empirical and the theoretical point of view, while the third chapter concentrates on a theoretical study of another financial risk called basis risk. In the first chapter of this thesis, we are interested in the model-independent pricing and hedging of complex financial products, when a set of standard (vanilla) products are available in the market. We follow the optimal transport approach for the computation of the option bounds and the super (sub)-hedging strategies. We characterize the optimal martingale probability measures, under which the exotic option price attains the model-free bounds; we devote special interest to the case when the martingales are positive. We stress in particular on the symmetry relations that arise when studying the option bounds. In the second chapter, we approach the model risk problem from an empirical point of view. We study the optimal management of a natural gas storage and we quantify the impact of that risk on the gas storage value. As already mentioned, the last chapter concentrates on the basis risk, which is the risk that arises when one hedges a contingent claim written on a non-tradable but observable asset (e.g. the temperature) using a portfolio of correlated tradable assets. One hedging criterion is the mean-variance minimization, which is closely related to the celebrated Föllmer-Schweizer decomposition. That decomposition can be deduced from the resolution of a special Backward Stochastic Differential Equations (BSDEs) driven by a càdlàg martingale. When this martingale is a standard Brownian motion, the related BSDEs are strongly related to semi-linear parabolic PDEs. In that chapter, we formulate a deterministic problem generalizing those PDEs to the general context of martingales and we apply this methodology to discuss some properties of the Föllmer-Schweizer decomposition. We also give an explicit expression of such decomposition of the option payoff when the underlying prices are exponential of additives processes.