L'objet de cette thèse est l'édition critique des relations de captivité des religieuses de port-royal, enlevées de leur monastère le 26 août 1664 par les autorités et détenues des couvents hostiles au jansénisme. disséminées dans divers manuscrits, ces relations demeurent méconnues, car leur corpus n'a pas encore été établi même si certaines d'entre elles furent éditées en 1724. il convient donc, après avoir établi leur corpus, de procéder à leur édition critique d'après leurs copies manuscrites qui trouvent à la bibliothèque de port-royal et à la bibliothèque nationale de France. nous présenterons une typologie de ces relations, une brève biographie de leurs auteurs, ainsi qu'une étude qui mettra en lumière les fondements politiques et théologiques du combat des religieuses contre le roi et l'Eglise, tel qu'il apparaît dans ces relations. nous analyserons également la place privilégiée qu'occupent ces relations dans l'importante production littéraire de port-royal /... / From Port-Royal to Jansenism through the captivity accounts’ (the ‘Relations de Captivité’) analyses the revolt of the Port-Royal nuns. Supported by the Grand Arnauld and the port-royalist network they refused to sign the formulary which condemned Jansenius’ augustinian theology. They dared oppose Louis XIV and the Pope, who relied on the Jesuits. The nuns describe their revolt in their ‘Relations de Captivité’, prison memoirs, which are both private and collective reports. We present here the first critical edition of those accounts. Our thesis examines the various episodes of the formulary case and the grounds for the nuns’ resistance – which served the Jansenists’ interest in the XVIIIth century (the abbé d’Etemare among others) when fighting against the Bull Unigenitus. The Jansenists devised an important historiography, as did Racine, the first historian of the nuns. They set up the nuns as myth and martyrs to their cause. The ‘Relations de Captivité’ herald the XVIIIth century Jansenism, the arguments of which can be noted in the nuns’ reports. Later on the nuns’ revolt aroused the interest of historians and writers, in France as well as abroad. Sainte-Beuve, Reuchlin, and Charles Beard devoted extensive studies to the subject. Montherlant, Julien Green, Charles Bobin were touched by the poetic streak of the accounts. There is another innovative element to it : the Port-Royal nuns are a landmark in the history of women in so far as they dared assert and justify themselves by writing their own story.

The study is an informative presentation of both qualitative and quantitative values observable in Japan today. By utilizing two uniquely distinct fields of study, I hope to gain greater context of Japan’s economy and its contemporary challenges. With close focus on ethnographical studies, I hope to derive potential relationships and develop further context for quantitative results highlighted in previously published economic studies. Ethnography provides an intimate look into specific groups, culture or subcultures in Japan. With emphasis on close observations, interviews, and field notes, empirical studies like that of many ethnography papers provides an intimate scope into the lives of Japanese people. Detailed publications of Japanese people and their daily lives should be valued with equal relevance to that of quantitative results. Moreover, in response to the stagnancy and demographic challenges highlighted by policy makers and political parties, I believe the value of ethnographical publications will continue to grow. Japan struggled to develop effective policies to combat issues of falling birthrates, an aging population and shortages in labor.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been applied to investigate two aspects of a mixing process for high level nuclear waste tanks. Through CFD the applicability of Poreh’s correlations that are currently used to describe the radial wall jets in the Pulse Jet Mixing (PJM) process were assessed. In addition, simulations were conducted in order to investigate mean hydrodynamic characteristics of sparged non-Newtonian fluids for the use in the PJM process. Three single phase turbulent simulations using the commercial package STAR-CCM+ were successively conducted. A model validated with experimental data was developed and successively altered to see effects of low characteristic ratio and a curved impingement surface. Results suggested that Poreh’s correlations are applicable under PJM conditions and geometry. Lastly, multi-phase Eulerian-Eulerian Simulations were conducted using the commercial software package ANSYS Fluent. Altering the characteristic ratio (h/D) of a sparged non-Newtonian fluid system resulted in a trend of flattening air volume fraction and air axial velocity profiles with decreasing characteristic ratio.

Rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a catastrophic event that leads to high mortality and morbidity in patients. The primary causes associated with aneurysm rupture remain poorly understood despite rigorous investigations. Reports have shown that AAA that went on to rupture or present ruptured had higher peak wall tension (stress resultant) than those that did not go on to rupture or present ruptured. Studies investigating the material strength of ruptured AAA and unruptured AAA revealed that the uniaxial failure strength in ruptured AAA is no different on average than unruptured AAA. However, it is poorly understood whether uniaxial failure properties are reliable as they are not indicative of the manner in which failure occurs in biological soft tissues. Multi-axial failure properties using a bubble inflation test (BIT) have been implemented by various groups but have not been directly compared against uniaxial failure properties. The current study seeks to develop a BIT apparatus, to compare multi-axial and uniaxial failure properties of fibrous anisotropic biological soft tissues (bovine aorta) and non-fibrous isotropic molded silicon, and to perform a survey of computational indices at the rupture sites of four ruptured AAA. Two versions of the BIT apparatus were developed: a manual that was developed allows for a large amount of failure properties to be extracted that can identify localized weaknesses. It was found that circumferentially oriented multi-axial failure was correlated with longitudinally oriented uniaxial failure properties, however, for oblique oriented multi-axial failure the correlation decreased. Utilizing the insights gained from the multi-axial experiments it was determined that the failure properties used in the computational study with the data from Raghavan et al. were appropriate for use in retrospective assessment of the rupture site in four ruptured AAA computational models. Although the study was inconclusive in finding causation, the rupture line of each aneurysm had indices ranging between the third quartile and peak values for tension to failure tension ratio, nodal displacement magnitude, strain energy per unit volume and strain energy per unit surface area. This study provides a framework for interrogating failure properties at a higher density of measurement and a heterogeneous computational model that has the potential to predict AAA rupture in the future.

Co-rotating twin-screw extruders are unique and versatile machines that are used widely in the plastics and food processing industries. Due to the large number of operating variables and design parameters available for manipulation and the complex interactions between them, it cannot be claimed that these extruders are currently being optimally utilised. The most significant improvement to the field of twin-screw extrusion would be through the provision of a generally applicable dynamic process model that is both computationally inexpensive and accurate. This would enable product design, process optimisation and process controller design to be performed cheaply and more thoroughly on a computer than can currently be achieved through experimental trials. This thesis is divided into three parts: dynamic modelling, measurement and control. The first part outlines the development of a dynamic model of the extrusion process which satisfies the above mentioned criteria. The dynamic model predicts quasi-3D spatial profiles of the degree of fill, pressure, temperature, specific mechanical energy input and concentrations of inert and reacting species in the extruder. The individual material transport models which constitute the dynamic model are examined closely for their accuracy and computational efficiency by comparing candidate models amongst themselves and against full 3D finite volume flow models. Several new modelling approaches are proposed in the course of this investigation. The dynamic model achieves a high degree of simplicity and flexibility by assuming a slight compressibility in the process material, allowing the pressure to be calculated directly from the degree of over-fill in each model element using an equation of state. Comparison of the model predictions with dynamic temperature, pressure and residence time distribution data from an extrusion cooking process indicates a good predictive capability. The model can perform dynamic step-change calculations for typical screw configurations in approximately 30 seconds on a 600 MHz Pentium 3 personal computer. The second part of this thesis relates to the measurement of product quality attributes of extruded materials. A digital image processing technique for measuring the bubble size distribution in extruded foams from cross sectional images is presented. It is recognised that this is an important product quality attribute, though difficult to measure accurately with existing techniques. The present technique is demonstrated on several different products. A simulation study of the formation mechanism of polymer foams is also performed. The measurement of product quality attributes such as bulk density and hardness in a manner suitable for automatic control is also addressed. This is achieved through the development of an acoustic sensor for inferring product attributes using the sounds emanating from the product as it leaves the extruder. This method is found to have good prediction ability on unseen data. The third and final part of this thesis relates to the automatic control of product quality attributes using multivariable model predictive controllers based on both direct and indirect control strategies. In the given case study, indirect control strategies, which seek to regulate the product quality attributes through the control of secondary process indicators such as temperature and pressure, are found to cause greater deviations in product quality than taking no corrective control action at all. Conversely, direct control strategies are shown to give tight control over the product quality attributes, provided that appropriate product quality sensors or inferential estimation techniques are available.

Le bicarbonate de soude raffiné, produit industriellement par la société Solvay, est fabriqué dans des colonnes à bulles de grande taille, appelées les colonnes BIR. Dans ces colonnes, une phase gazeuse contenant un mélange d’air et dioxyde de carbone (CO2) est dispersée sous forme de bulles dans une solution aqueuse de carbonate et de bicarbonate de sodium (respectivement Na2CO3 et NaHCO3). Cette dispersion donne lieu à un transfert de CO2 des bulles vers la phase liquide. Au sein des colonnes, la phase gazeuse se répartit dans deux populations de bulles : des petites bulles (diamètre de quelques mm) et des grandes bulles (diamètre de quelques cm). Le transfert bulle-liquide de CO2 est couplé à des réactions chimiques prenant place en phase liquide, qui conduisent à la conversion du Na2CO3 en NaHCO3. Une fois la concentration de saturation dépassée, le NaHCO3 précipite sous forme de cristaux et un mélange liquide-solide est recueilli à la sortie de ces colonnes. Ce travail, réalisé en collaboration avec la société Solvay, porte sur l’étude et la modélisation mathématique des phénomènes de transfert de matière entre phases, couplés à des réactions chimiques, prenant place au sein d’une colonne BIR. L’association d’études sur des colonnes à bulles à l’échelle industrielle ou réduite (pilote) et d’études plus fondamentales sur des dispositifs de laboratoire permet de développer une meilleure compréhension du fonctionnement des colonnes BIR et d’en construire un modèle mathématique détaillé. L’objectif appliqué de ce travail est la mise au point d’un modèle mathématique complet et opérationnel d’une colonne BIR. Cet objectif est supporté par trois blocs de travail, dans lesquels différents outils sont développés et exploités. Le premier bloc est consacré à la modélisation mathématique du transfert bulle-liquide de CO2 dans une solution aqueuse de NaHCO3 et de Na2CO3. Ce transfert est couplé à des réactions chimiques en phase liquide qui influencent sa vitesse. Dans un premier temps, des modèles sont développés selon des approches unidimensionnelles classiquement rencontrées dans la littérature. Ces approches passent par une idéalisation de l’écoulement du liquide autour des bulles. Une expression simplifiée de la vitesse du transfert bulle-liquide de CO2, est également développée et validée pour le modèle de colonne BIR. Dans un second temps, une modélisation complète des phénomènes de transport (convection et diffusion), couplés à des réactions chimiques, est réalisée en suivant une approche bidimensionnelle axisymétrique. L’influence de la vitesse de réactions sur la vitesse de transfert est étudiée et les résultats des deux approches sont également comparés. Le deuxième bloc est consacré à l’étude expérimentale du transfert gaz-liquide de CO2 dans des solutions aqueuses de NaHCO3 et de Na2CO3. A cette fin, un dispositif expérimental est développé et présenté. Du CO2 est mis en contact avec des solutions aqueuses de NaHCO3 et de Na2CO3 dans une cellule transparente. Les phénomènes provoqués en phase liquide par le transfert de CO2 sont observés à l’aide d’un interféromètre de Mach-Zehnder. Les résultats expérimentaux sont comparés à des résultats de simulation obtenus avec un des modèles unidimensionnels développés dans le premier bloc. De cette comparaison, il apparaît qu’une mauvaise estimation de la valeur de certains paramètres physico-chimiques apparaissant dans les équations de ce modèle conduit à des écarts significatifs entre les grandeurs observées expérimentalement et les grandeurs estimées par simulation des équations du modèle. C’est pourquoi une méthode d’estimation paramétrique est également développée afin d’identifier les valeurs numériques de ces paramètres physico-chimiques sur base des résultats expérimentaux. Ces dernières sont également discutées. Dans le troisième bloc, nous apportons une contribution à l’étude des cinétiques de précipitation du NaHCO3 dans un cristallisoir à cuve agitée. Cette partie du travail est réalisée en collaboration avec Vanessa Gutierrez (du service Matières et Matériaux de l’ULB). Nous contribuons à cette étude par le développement de trois outils : une table de calcul Excel permettant de synthétiser les résultats expérimentaux, un ensemble de simulations de l’écoulement au sein du cristallisoir par mécanique des fluides numérique et une nouvelle méthode d’extraction des cinétiques de précipitation du NaHCO3 à partir des résultats expérimentaux. Ces trois outils sont également utilisés de façon combinée pour estimer les influences de la fraction massique de solide et de l’agitation sur la cinétique de germination secondaire du NaHCO3. Enfin, la synthèse de l’ensemble des résultats de ces études est réalisée. Le résultat final est le développement d’un modèle mathématique complet et opérationnel des colonnes BIR. Ce modèle est développé en suivant l’approche de modélisation en compartiments, développée au cours du travail de Benoît Haut. Ce modèle synthétise les trois blocs d’études réalisées dans ce travail, ainsi que les travaux d’Aurélie Larcy (du service Transferts, Interfaces et Procédés de l’ULB) et de Vanessa Gutierrez. Les équations modélisant les différents phénomènes sont présentées, ainsi que la méthode utilisée pour résoudre ces équations. Des simulations des équations du modèle sont réalisées et discutées. Les résultats de simulation sont également comparés à des mesures effectuées sur une colonne BIR. Un accord raisonnable est observé. A l’issue de ce travail, nous disposons donc d’un modèle opérationnel de colonne BIR. Bien que ce modèle doive encore être optimisé et validé, il peut déjà être utilisé pour étudier l’effet des caractéristiques géométriques des colonnes BIR et des conditions appliquées à ces colonnes sur le comportement des simulations des équations du modèle et pour identifier des tendances. // The refined sodium bicarbonate is produced by the Solvay company using large size bubble columns, called the BIR columns. In these columns, a gaseous phase containing an air-carbon dioxyde mixture (CO2) is dispersed under the form of bubbles in an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate (Na2CO3 and NaHCO3, respectively). This dispersion leads to a CO2 transfer from the bubbles to the liquid phase. Inside these columns, the gaseous phase is distributed in two bubbles populations : small bubbles (a few mm of diameter) and large bubbles (a few cm of diameter). The bubble-liquid CO2 transfer is coupled with chemical reactions taking places in the liquid phase that leads to the conversion of Na2CO3 to NaHCO3. When the solution is supersaturated in NaHCO3, the NaHCO3 precipitates under the form of crystals and a liquid-solid mixture is extracted at the outlet of the BIR columns. This work, realized in collaboration with Solvay, aims to study and to model mathematically the mass transport phenomena between the phases, coupled with chemical reactions, taking places inside a BIR column. Study of bubble columns at the industrial and the pilot scale is combined to a more fundamental study at laboratory scale to improve the understanding of the BIR columns functioning and to develop a detailed mathematical modeling. The applied objective of this work is to develop a complete and operational mathematical modeling of a BIR column. This objective is supported by three blocks of work. In each block, several tools are developed and used. The first block is devoted to the mathematical modeling of the bubble-liquid CO2 transfer in an NaHCO3 and Na2CO3 aqueous solution. This transfer is coupled with chemical reactions in liquid phase, which affect the transfer rate. In a first time, mathematical models are developed following the classical one-dimensional approaches of the literature. These approaches idealize the liquid flow around the bubbles. A simplified expression of the bubble-liquid CO2 transfer rate is equally developed and validated for the BIR column model. In a second time, a complete modeling of the transport phenomena (convection and diffusion) coupled with chemical reactions is developed, following an axisymmetrical twodimensional approach. The chemical reaction rate influence on the bubble-liquid transfer rate is studied and the results of the two approaches are then compared. The second block is devoted to the experimental study of the gas-liquid CO2 transfer to NaHCO3 and Na2CO3 aqueous solutions. An experimental set-up is developed and presented. CO2 is put in contact with NaHCO3 and Na2CO3 aqueous solutions in a transparent cell. The phenomena induced in liquid phase by the CO2 transfer are observed using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The experimental results are compared to simulation results that are obtained using one of the one-dimensional model developed in the first block. From this comparison, it appears that a wrong estimation of some physico-chemical parameter values leads to significative differences between the experimentally observed quantities and those estimated by simulation of the model equations. Therefore, a parametric estimation method is developed in order to estimate those parameters numerical values from the experimental results. The found values are then discussed. In the third block is presented a contribution to the NaHCO3 precipitation kinetic study in a stirred-tank crystallizer. This part of the work is realized in collaboration with Vanessa Gutierrez (Chemicals and Materials Department of ULB). Three tools are developed : tables in Excel sheet to synthetize the experimental results, a set of simulations of the flow inside the crystallizer by Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) and a new method to extract the NaHCO3 precipitation kinetics from the experimental measurements. These three tools are combined to estimate the influences of the solid mass fraction and the flow on the NaHCO3 secondary nucleation rate. Finally, the synthesis of all these results is realized. The final result is the development of a complete and operational mathematical model of BIR columns. This model is developed following the compartmental modeling approach, developed in the PhD thesis of Benoît Haut. This model synthetizes the three block of study realized in this work and the studies of Aurélie Larcy (Transfers, Interfaces and Processes Department of ULB) and those of Vanessa Gutierrez. The equations modeling the phenomena taking place in a BIR column are presented as the used method to solve these equations. The equations of the model are simulated and the results are discussed. The results are equally compared to experimental measurement realized on a BIR column. A reasonable agreement is observed. At the end of this work, an operational model of a BIR column is thus developed. Although this model have to be optimized and validated, it can already be used to study the influences of the geometrical characteristics of the BIR columns and of the conditions applied to these columns on the behaviour of the model equation simulations and to identity tendencies.

This paper offers empirical evidence on the power of Sornette et al's [2001] model of bubbles and crashes regarding the German stock market between 1960 and 2009. We identify relevant time periods and describe them with the function given by Sornette et al's model. Our results show some evidence in predicting crashes with the understanding of logarithmic periodic structures that are hidden in the stock price trajectories. It was shown that for the DAX most of the relevant parameters determining the shape of the logarithmic periodic structures are lying in the expected interval researched by Sornette et al. Further more the paper implicitly shows that the point of time of former crashes can be predicted with the presented formula. We conclude that the concept of financial time series conceived as purely random objects should be generalised as to admit complexity.

The production of chlorate, chlorine and sodium hydroxiderelies heavily on electrical energy, so that savings in thisarea are always a pertinent issue. This can be brought aboutthrough increased mass transfer of reacting species to therespective electrodes, and through increased catalytic activityand uniformity of current density distribution at theseelectrodes. This thesis will present studies involvingmathematical modelling and experimental investigations of theseprocesses. They will show the effect that hydrodynamicbehaviour has on the total current density and cell voltages,along with the effects on current density distributions andindividual overpotentials atthe respective electrodes. Primary, secondary and psuedo-tertiary current densitydistribution models of a chlor-alkali anode are presented anddiscussed. It is shown that the secondary model presentsresults rather similar to the pseudo-tertiary model, when thecurrent density distribution is investigated, although thepotential distribution differs rather markedly. Furthermore, itis seen that an adequate description of the hydrodynamicsaround the anode is required if the potential distribution, andthereby the prevalence of side-reactions, is to be reasonablepredicted. A rigorous tertiary current density distribution model ofthe chlorate cell is also presented, which takes into accountthe developing hydrodynamic behaviour along the height of thecell. This shows that an increased flowrate gives more uniformcurrent density distributions. This is due to the fact that theincreased vertical flowrate of electrolyte replenishes ioncontent at the electrode surfaces, thus reducing concentrationoverpotentials. Furthermore, results from the model lead to theconclusion that it is the hypochlorite ion that partakes in themajor oxygen producing side-reaction. A real-scale cross-section of a segmented anode-cathode pairfrom a chlorate cell was designed and built in order to studythe current density distribution in industrial conditions.These experiments showed that increased flowrate brought aboutmore even current density distributions, reduced cell voltageand increased the total current density. An investigation ofthe hydrodynamic effects on the respective electrodeoverpotentials shows the anode reactions being more favoured byincreased flowrate. This leads to the conclusion that theuniform current density distribution, caused by increasedflowrate, occurs primarily through decreasing the concentrationoverpotential at the anode rather than by decreasing thebubble-induced ohmic drop at the cathode. Finally, results from experiments investigating thebubble-induced free convection from a small electrochemicalcell are presented. These experiments show that Laser DopplerVelocimetry is the most effective instrument for investigatingthe velocity profiles in bubble-containing electrochemicalsystems. The results also show that the flow can transform fromlaminar to turbulent behaviour on both the vertical andhorizontal planes, in electrochemical systems where bubbles areevolved.

No description available.

Bachelor thesis within Business Administration Title: Behavioral Finance – The Student Perspective Authors: Kamran Sairafi, Karl Selleby, Thom Ståhl Tutor: Urban Österlund Date: 2008-05-30 Background: History is full of examples on how humans can create investment bubbles through speculation; from the Dutch tulip mania to the Dot Com bubble humans have proven to be capable of creating economical chaos. Classical economical theories hold the assumption that individuals act rationally regarding decisions of an economical nature. Since the information on the stock market is available to everyone who seeks it, the appearance of investment bubbles should not be possible. Behavioral finance is an academic branch which seeks to explore these phenomenons through the psychological factors affecting humans in investment decisions. Purpose: The purpose of the report is twofold. Firstly it is to examine the characteristics of investment interested business students enrolled at Jönköping International Business School. Secondly it looks into the decision-making process and choices of the population from the perspective of behavioral finance. Method: This research holds an abductive approach and is based on qualitative data. Data collection was done through an Internet-based questionnaire containing several different questions on the areas related to the inquiries. In some cases statistical analysis was conducted to test for significant correlation between key characteristics. Results: A statistically proven correlation could be discerned between trading experience and frequency; for each additional year an individual engaged in trading the frequency increased. Herd behavior was detected in a majority of the sample. When faced with a scenario in which their immediate surrounding opposed their own analysis of a stock, the greater part of the sample would reconsider their position. Two main sub-groups were detected. The first was characterized by its high tolerance of risk; the second subgroup was characterized by its inconsistency in behavior. Conclusions: This paper found that the behavior of respondents in the chosen population was best described as “student behavior”; a somehow irrational behavior explained by the learning process in which business students exist.