Thesis (MEngSc)(Civil Eng) --University of Melbourne, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

The effect of income inequality has been controversial issue for decades, which researchers have concluded conflicting results. Many researchers have found that income inequality is conducive on economic growth, while others found harmful effect. Hence, this paper investigates the impact of income inequality on economic growth by using the cross sectional analysis. The averaged data from periods of 2002-2006 were used and observations from 90 developed and developing countries were also used. We find that income inequality is negatively associated in economic growth.

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Smectite clay minerals are among the most common minerals in subduction zone megathrusts faults at shallow depth and in landslide decollements. Consequently, deformation processes at seismic slip rates (ca. 1 m/s) in smectites contribute to control the mechanics of megathrust earthquakes and landslide collapses. To investigate the deformation processes, rotary shear experiments on smectite-rich gouge layers (70/30 wt.% Ca-montmorillonite/opal) were performed. The experiments were conducted at ambient temperature and at 5 MPa normal stress. The gouges were sheared under vacuum (<0.001 mbar) and room humidity (i.e., water depleted) or in the presence of liquid water (i.e., water rich) conditions, at slip rates of 0.0003 <V <1.5 m/s and displacements of 0.1 <d <30 m. The temperature evolution with slip was measured with thermocouples and modelled numerically. Permeability of the gouge layer was measured with the pore pressure oscillation method prior to the rotary experiments. Before and after the experiments, the mineral and amorphous material content in wt.% were determined via quantitative X-ray powder diffraction and the microstructures investigated via scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The activation of deformation processes was strongly controlled by the water content of the gouge layers. Under water depleted conditions, grainsize reduction producing nanoparticles controlled the evolution of the friction coefficient f at all slip rates. Coseismic dynamic weakening (f = 0.2 - 0.3) occurred by combined thermal decomposition or melting (with decreasing water content) and pressurization of water released by dehydration of smectite interlayer. Under water rich conditions, grain size reduction was minor and development of nano-foliations occurred. At all slip rates, the friction coefficient rapidly decreased at the onset of slip. The large initial weakening (to f <0.15) was due to the presence of a film of water lubricating the surfaces of the sub-parallel smectite grains forming the nano-foliation in combination with shear-enhanced water pressurization. Then, friction coefficient evolved depending on the balance between dissipation of pore pressures, dehydration of smectite interlayer and thickening of the nano-foliation layers. At higher displacement and slip rates, sustained dynamic weakening was aided by vaporization of pore water. Expulsion of water determined a switch to deformation processes typical of water depleted conditions. In nature, the presence of liquid water in smectites has a lubricating effect, pressurizes the slipping zone and renders the smectite-rich gouges prone to accommodate large seismic slips. During megathrust earthquakes, such lubricating effect may result in the easy propagation of seismic ruptures in smectite- and water-rich sediments at shallow depths. Similarly, the presence of water can promote large displacements during landslide collapse.

L’opération de transfert de matière gaz/liquide est une étape essentielle en génie desprocédés. Elle conditionne directement les performances des contacteurs gaz/liquide en représentantbien souvent l’étape limitant l’efficacité du procédé. L'objectif de cette étude est de proposer denouvelles investigations afin d'étudier l'effet de la présence dans l'eau pure, de certains composésgénéralement rencontrés dans les procédés biologiques, sur les coefficients de diffusion de l'oxygèneet de quantifier leurs conséquences sur les coefficients de transfert de matière côté liquide. Lescoefficients de diffusion de l'oxygène DO2 ont été mesurés dans diverses phases liquides contenant dusel (NaCl), du sucre (glucose) ou des tensio-actifs (laurylsulfate de sodium). Comparé à l'eau pure,des réductions de coefficient de diffusion DO2 ont été observées, la variation de DO2 avec laconcentration C de composé a été modélisée, elle dépend de la nature du composé ajouté. Ensuite,des expériences réalisées sur un train de bulles et sur les mêmes phases liquides ont permis ladétermination des coefficients de transfert de matière côté liquide kL. Quelle que soit la solutionaqueuse étudiée, une diminution des valeurs de kL est observée avec l'augmentation de C. Cesrésultats mettent en évidence que, même si les propriétés de l'eau pure (densité, viscosité, tensionsuperficielle) ne sont pas significativement modifiées par l'ajout de sels (NaCl), les coefficients detransfert de matière côté liquide kL peuvent être modifiés. Pour les solutions aqueuses de glucose, laréduction de kL avec DO2 est bien corrélée, et principalement due à la variation de viscosité avec laconcentration. Pour les solutions de tensio-actif, les nombres de Reynolds restent presque constantspour toutes les concentrations. Le seul responsable de la réduction du coefficient de transfert dematière côté liquide kL est donc le coefficient de diffusion de l’oxygène qui diminue avec laconcentration. La présente étude a clairement confirmé la nécessité de compléter et/ou rendre comptedes données liées aux coefficients de diffusion de l’oxygène DO2 et aux coefficients de transfert dematière côté liquide kL dans des milieux complexes (solution électrolytique, solution organique ettensioactif). Ces informations sont nécessaires pour décrire et modéliser correctement lesphénomènes de transfert de matière gaz/liquide / The gas/liquid mass transfer is an essential step in process engineering. It directly affects theperformance of gas/liquid reactor in being often limiting process efficiency. The objective of this studyis to propose new investigations in order to study (i) the effect on oxygen diffusion coefficients underthe presence in clean water of some compounds usually found in biological process and (ii) quantifytheir consequences on liquid-side mass transfer coefficients. The oxygen diffusioncoefficients DO2 were measured in various synthetic liquid phases containing either salt (NaCl), sugar(glucose) or surfactant (sodium laurylsulphate). When compared to clean water, reductionsof DO2 were observed; the variation of DO2 with the compound concentration C was modeled andfound dependent on the nature of the compound added. Then, to determine the liquid side masstransfer coefficient kL, experiments on a train of bubbles rising in a quiescent liquid phase were carriedout by the same synthetic liquid phases. For all cases, whatever the aqueous solutions, a decreaseof kL with increasing C was clearly observed. These results firstly showed that, even if the properties ofclean water (density, viscosity, surface tension) were not significantly changed by the addition of salts(NaCl), the liquid-side mass transfer coefficients could be modified. For the aqueous solutions ofglucose, the reduction of kL with DO2 was well correlated, and mainly due to the change in viscositywith concentration. For surfactants, the hydrodynamic conditions (i.e. bubble Reynolds number) beingalmost kept constant for all concentrations, only the change in DO2 was thus responsible for thedecrease of kL. The present study clearly confirmed the need to complete and/or account for thedatabase related to oxygen diffusion coefficients and liquid side mass transfer coefficient in complexmedia (electrolytic solution, organic solution and surfactant). This condition is imperatively required todescribe and to model appropriately the gas-liquid mass transfer phenomena

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The tail dependence coefficient (TDC) is a natural tool to describe extremal dependence. Estimation of the tail dependence coefficient can be performed via empirical process theory. In case of extremal independence, the limit degenerates and hence one cannot construct a test for extremal independence. In order to deal with this issue, we consider an analog of the covariance matrix, namely the extremogram matrix, whose entries depend only on extremal observations. We show that under the null hypothesis of extremal independence and for finite dimension d ≥ 2, the largest eigenvalue of the sample extremogram matrix converges to the maximum of d independent normal random variables. This allows us to conduct an hypothesis testing for extremal independence by means of the asymptotic distribution of the largest eigenvalue. Simulation studies are performed to further illustrate this approach.

Suite à des incidents de départ de feu pendant le démantèlement d’installations nucléaires lors desdécoupes de métal a chaud, l’IRSN s’intéresse aux particules émises par les procédés de découpe etleurs effets potentiels de dégradation des barrières de confinement. L’insta1lation CAPIMIF a étédéveloppée pour reproduire des opérations de découpe de métaux représentatives de chantiers dedémantèlement. Afin de lui conférer un caractère semi analytique, cette installation a été automatisée et instrumentée avec des moyens de diagnostics permettant de caractériser en vol les particules, en termes de taille, de vitesse et de température. Les essais montrent que les particules dont la température est supérieure a 430 °C, dégradent le medium filtrant, pouvant ainsi le perforer ou diminuer localement son épaisseur, ce qui conduit à une baisse de son efficacité de filtration. Descorrélations empiriques ont été établies permettant de prévoir la perte d’efficacité de filtration. / Fire hazards while metal cutting on dismantling operations led IRSN to focus a study on incandescent particles emitted by these cutting tools and their impact on air filter. An experimentalsystem was designed, representative of dismantling operations with instrumentations adapted for inflight particles measurement, such as size, velocity and temperature. The particles are characterized from the emission source (automated cut-off grinder) and all along their path into the ventilation duct to their impact on a filter. The temperature of the particles, greater than 430 °C damages the filter medium, and may reduce the filter thickness or perforate it, which leads to a decrease of its filtration efficiency determined according to the French standard. Comparison between the characteristics of the particles and the filtration efficiency has permitted to establish empirical correlations in order to predict the loss of filtration efficiency versus the cutting parameters.

Mon travail de thèse s’est développé, pour le cas particulier des observations satellitales à partir de l’orbite géostationnaire. Le but général a été de caractériser la variabilité diurne des propriétés optiques inhérentes (i.e. les coefficients d‘atténuation et de rétrodiffusion particulaire, cp et bbp) et apparentes (i.e. la réflectance, R) des eaux océaniques (« forme » du cycle diurne, amplitude, variations saisonnières, causes). Ces propriétés optiques déterminent le signal qu’un instrument embarqué à bord d’un satellite peut observer. Cette étude est une étape préliminaire permettant de comprendre la physique du problème, avant de pouvoir évaluer la possibilité de quantifier cette variabilité diurne à partir des observations satellitaires. La variabilité diurne de cp et bbp est donc étudiée en fonction des saisons définies selon les conditions physico-trophiques: le mélange, le bloom, son déclin, et l’oligotrophie. cp et bbp sont caractérisés par un cycle diurne, augmentation le jour et diminution la nuit, confirmant les tendances générales connues. Ce phénomène se produit durant toutes les saisons avec une variabilité intra-saisonnière qui différencie les cycles de cp et bbp: cp montre une amplitude plus large durant le bloom, contrairement à bbp les minima de cp et bbp sont synchronisés tandis que les maxima de bbp sont atteints 3 à 6 h avant ceux de cp, sauf pendant le bloom. L’augmentation journalière de bbp se reflète dans les changements de R. Toutefois, les résultats ont montré que l’inversion ne permet pas de reproduire l’augmentation journalière de bbp de façon satisfaisante. Les techniques d’inversion existantes ne sont pas adaptées pour une utilisation à haute fréquence. / My thesis is developed for the particular case of satellites observations from geostationary orbit. The overall aim was to characterize the diel variability of water inherent (i.e. the particulate beam attenuation and backscattering coefficients, cp and bbp) and apparent (i.e. reflectance, R) optical properties (“shape”of diel cycle, amplitude, seasonal variations, origins). These properties determine the signal which is observed from sensor aboard satellite. This study is a preliminary step in understanding the physical problem, before assessing the possibility of quantifying the diel variability from satellite observations. Diel variability of cp and bbp is studied by season, as defined by physical and trophic conditions: mixing, bloom proliferation, its decline, and oligotrophy. Both cp and bbp are characterized by a diel cycle of daytime increase and nighttime decrease, confirming known general trends. This occurs across all seasons, but intra-seasonal variability differed between cp and bbp cycles: unlike bbp, cp show larger amplitude of diurnal variation during the bloom cp and bbp minima are synchronized while bbp minima are attained 3-6 h before those of cp, except during the bloom. Daily changes of R are consistent with the variations of bbp. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to reproduce the diurnal increase of bbp by inversion of R. The differences observed between in situ and modeled values of bbp suggest that the performance of inversion is degraded when it is used at high frequency.

Abstract The evolution of microsatellites was studied within and between the pine species. Sequences showed that microsatellites do not necessarily mutate in a stepwise fashion and that size homoplasy is common due to flanking sequence and repeat area changes within and between the species. Thus, some assumptions of statistical methods based on changes in repeat numbers may not hold. Sequences from cross-species amplifications revealed evidence of duplications of microsatellite loci in pines. On two independent occasions, the repeat area of the microsatellite had undergone a rapid expansion during the last 10-25 million of years. Microsatellite markers were used together with other molecular markers (allozymes, RFLPs, RAPDs, rDNA RFLPs) and an adaptive trait (date of bud set) to study patterns of genetic variation in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Finland. All molecular markers showed high level of within population variation, while differentiation among populations was low (FST = 0.02). Of the total variation in bud set, 36.4 % was found among the populations which experience a steep climatic gradient. Thus, the markers applied were poor predictors of population differentiation of the quantitative trait studied The distribution of genetic variation was studied in five natural populations of radiata pine (Pinus radiata), species which has gone through bottlenecks in the past. Null allele frequencies were estimated and used in later analyses. Microsatellites showed high level of variability within populations (He = 0.68-0.77). Allele length distributions and average number of alleles per locus showed some traces of bottlenecks. Instead, comparison of observed genetic diversities and expected diversities suggested post-bottleneck expansion of populations. Genetic differentiation (FST and RST) among populations was over 10 %, reflecting situation in the isolated radiata pine populations. Using microsatellites and a newly developed Bayesian method, individual inbreeding coefficients were estimated in five populations of radiata pine. Most individuals were outbred while some were selfed. Presumably, in ancestral radiata pine populations the recessive deleterious alleles have been eliminated after bottlenecks and the mating system has changed as a consequence.