This research employs a deterministic seismic risk assessment methodology to assess the potential damage and loss at meshblock level in the Christchurch CBD and Mount Pleasant primarily due to building damage caused by earthquake ground shaking. Expected losses in terms of dollar value and casualties are calculated for two earthquake scenarios. Findings are based on: (1) data describing the earthquake ground shaking and microzonation effects; (2) an inventory of buildings by value, floor area, replacement value, occupancy and age; (3) damage ratios defining the performance of buildings as a function of earthquake intensity; (4) daytime and night-time population distribution data and (5) casualty functions defining casualty risk as a function of building damage. A GIS serves as a platform for collecting, storing and analyzing the original and the derived data. It also allows for easy display of input and output data, providing a critical functionality for communication of outcomes. The results of this study suggest that economic losses due to building damage in the Christchurch CBD and Mount Pleasant will possibly be in the order of $5.6 and $35.3 million in a magnitude 8.0 Alpine fault earthquake and a magnitude 7.0 Ashley fault earthquake respectively. Damage to non-residential buildings constitutes the vast majority of the economic loss. Casualty numbers are expected to be between 0 and 10.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:28:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-11-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:37:42Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 moraes_fh_me_bauru.pdf: 1982546 bytes, checksum: 15b6a38acd8095d65ad09905b4776428 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Nas aplicações em engenharia existem várias situações onde é necessário o uso de vibrações em certas partes de um sistema mecânico, criadas a partir de transição brusca de um parâmetro do sistema, como por exemplo, em máquinas perfuratrizes de solo na exploração de petróleo onde a condição de impacto na interação-rolha facilita a penetração no solo. Os sistemas mecânicos submetidos a esse forma de excitação são chamados em geral de mecanismos tipo Vibro-Impacto. Nesta dissertação, faz-se a análise da dinâmica de um sistema mecânico Vibro-Impacto de dois graus de liberdade composto por dois blocos de massas diferentes acoplados por uma rigidez (mola) de dois estágios. Dois modelos não-lineares foram utilizados para representar o sistema estudado: o primeiro é excitado de maneira ideal, sob a forma de uma força harmônica e o segundo, de maneira não-ideal sob a forma de um rotor desbalanceado acionado por um motor elétrico de corrente contínua. A dinâmica do sistema é modelada considerando duas situações distintas: sem a condição de impacto e com a condição de impacto, de acordo com a relação entre o deslocamento e a folga no sistema. Foram analisados os resultados das simulações numéricas através dos históricos no tempo, retratos de fase, diagramas de bifurcações, mapas de Poincaré e espectros de frequencias. Observaram-se as velocidades de avanço do sistema, as taxas de transferência de energia, e as forças durante as transições bruscas da rigidez (condição tipo impacto) entre as massas, determinando-se as faixas dos parâmetros com comportamentos periódicos e caóticos assim como a ocorrência do Efeito Sommerfeld. A partir dos resultados obtidos foi possível concluir que o mecanismo tipo Vibro-Impacto analisado possui maior velocidade de avanço e maior força em determinada frequencia de excitação onde o movimento apresenta-se no regime caótico / In engineering aplications there are several situations in which it is necessary to use vibrations in certain elements of a mechanical system, created with an abrupt transition from one system parameter, such as soil drilling machines in oil exploration where the impact condition on the drill-rock interaction enhances penetration into soil. Mechanical systems subjected to this form of excitation are called in general mechanisms of vibro-impact type. This dissertation makes the analysis of the dynamics of a the dynamics of a Vibro-Impact mechanical system of two degrees of freedom comprised of two blocks with different masses coupled by a two-stage stiffness (spring). Two nonlinear models are used to represent the studied system: the first uses an ideal excitation in the form of a harmonic force, and the second uses a non-ideal excitation in the form of a unbalanced rotor driven by a direct current electric motor. The dynamics of the system is modeled by considering two different situations: without impact and with impact, according to the relationship between the displacement and the gap in the system. The results of numerical simulations were analyzed with the time histories, phase portraits, bifurcation diagram, Poincaré map and spectra of frequencies. Velocities of the system, the rate of energy transfer, and forces during abrupt transitions in stiffneess (impact type condition) between the masses were observed, determining the ranges of parameters with periodic and chaotic behavior as well as the occurrence of the Sommerfeld effect. From the results it was possible to conclude that the analysed Vibro-Impact mechanism has a larger progress velocity and larger forces in a given excitation frequency where the movement presents itself in the chaotic regime

abstract: Goal specification is an important aspect of designing autonomous agents. A goal does not only refer to the set of states for the agent to reach. A goal also defines restrictions on the paths the agent should follow. Temporal logics are widely used in goal specification. However, they lack the ability to represent goals in a non-deterministic domain, goals that change non-monotonically, and goals with preferences. This dissertation defines new goal specification languages by extending temporal logics to address these issues. First considered is the goal specification in non-deterministic domains, in which an agent following a policy leads to a set of paths. A logic is proposed to distinguish paths of the agent from all paths in the domain. In addition, to address the need of comparing policies for finding the best ones, a language capable of quantifying over policies is proposed. As policy structures of agents play an important role in goal specification, languages are also defined by considering different policy structures. Besides, after an agent is given an initial goal, the agent may change its expectations or the domain may change, thus goals that are previously specified may need to be further updated, revised, partially retracted, or even completely changed. Non-monotonic goal specification languages that can make these changes in an elaboration tolerant manner are needed. Two languages that rely on labeling sub-formulas and connecting multiple rules are developed to address non-monotonicity in goal specification. Also, agents may have preferential relations among sub-goals, and the preferential relations may change as agents achieve other sub-goals. By nesting a comparison operator with other temporal operators, a language with dynamic preferences is proposed. Various goals that cannot be expressed in other languages are expressed in the proposed languages. Finally, plans are given for some goals specified in the proposed languages. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Computer Science 2010

Questões ambientais estão no centro das discussões nas últimas décadas. A poluição atmosférica, causada pela expansão pós-revolução industrial fez surgir a necessidade de aprender a descrever, usando modelos matemáticos, esse fenômeno. Com esse conhecimento pode-se propor soluções que mitiguem a poluição e os danos colaterais causados ao ambiente. A dispersão de poluentes modelada por soluções analíticas, a partir das equações de advecção-difusão oferecem um conhecimento sobre cada componente que constrói a equação, característica inexistente em outras abordagens, como a numérica. Entretanto ela era incapaz de descrever propriedades que se referem à turbulência, as estruturas coerentes, causadas por componentes não-lineares suprimidas por construção das equações governantes do modelo. Este trabalho estudou uma forma de recuperar características associadas à turbulência através de uma componente fundamental em estruturas coerentes, a fase. Essa é incluída no modelo que passa a descrever manifestações da turbulência em processos de dispersão através de flutuações de pequena escala na concentração da solução do modelo sesquilinear, que é determinístico-estocástico. No decorrer do trabalho há um estudo através de variações de parâmetros para compreender os efeitos da fase no modelo. Ele também foi aplicado ao experimento de Copenhagen e a dois cenários reais com a intenção de compreender o modelo frente à variáveis micrometeorológicas assim como aprimorá-lo para simular a dispersão de poluentes oriundos de fontes de forma realística. / Environmental issues have been at the center of discussions in the last few decades. Atmospheric pollution, caused by post-industrial revolution, has increased the necessity to describe, using mathematical models, this phenomenon. With this knowledge is possible to propose solutions mitigating the pollution and collateral damages caused in the environment. The pollutant dispersion modeled by analytical solutions, from advection-diffusion equations, offers a knowledge about each component that constructs the equation, a characteristic that does not exist in other approaches, such as numerical. However it was unable to describe properties that refer to turbulence, coherent structures, caused by nonlinear components suppressed by constructing the model governing equations. This work studied a way to recover characteristics associated with turbulence through a fundamental component in coherent structures, the phase. This is included in the model which describes manifestations of turbulence in the dispersion process through the presence of small-scale concentration fluctuations in the sesquilinear model, which is deterministicstochastic. In the course of this work there is a study through variations of parameters to understand the phase effects in the model. It was also applied to Copenhagen experiment and to two real scenarios with the intention of understanding the model regarding micrometeorological variables as well as improving it to simulate the pollutant dispersion from sources in a realistic way.

Cosmic black holes can act as agents of particle acceleration. We study properties of a system consisting of a rotating black hole immersed in a large-scale organized magnetic field. Electrically charged particles in the immediate neighborhood of the horizon are influenced by strong gravity acting together with magnetic and induced electric components. We relax several constraints which were often imposed in previous works: the magnetic field does not have to share a common symmetry axis with the spin of the black hole but they can be inclined with respect to each other, thus violating the axial symmetry. Also, the black hole does not have to remain at rest but it can instead perform fast translational motion together with rotation. We demonstrate that the generalization brings new effects. Starting from uniform electro-vacuum fields in the curved spacetime, we find separatrices and identify magnetic neutral points forming in certain circumstances. We suggest that these structures can represent signatures of magnetic reconnection triggered by frame-dragging effects in the ergosphere. We further investigate the motion of charged particles in these black hole magnetospheres. We concentrate on the transition from the regular motion to chaos, and in this context we explore the characteristics of chaos in...

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo acerca dos principais parâmetros que caracterizam o fenômeno da biestabilidade em dois tubos dispostos lado a lado submetidos a escoamento cruzado turbulento. A técnica experimental da anemometria de fio quente em canal aerodinâmico é aplicada na medição das flutuações de velocidade do escoamento após os tubos. As séries temporais obtidas são utilizadas como dados de entrada para determinação das funções densidade de probabilidade (PDF) usando um modelo de mistura finita, de acordo com uma função t de Student assimétrica e com o auxílio do método de Monte Carlo. Transformadas de ondaletas discretas e contínuas são aplicadas na filtragem das séries temporais para determinadas bandas de frequências e na análise do conteúdo de energia destes sinais. Através de conceitos de sistemas caóticos, é realizada a reconstrução do atrator do problema pelo método dos atrasos temporais, a partir das séries experimentais de velocidade, permitindo a determinação da dimensão de imersão e o cálculo do maior expoente de Lyapunov. Os resultados mostram a existência de dois patamares distintos de velocidade média nas séries temporais, correspondentes aos dois modos do escoamento, cada qual com números de Strouhal e funções densidade de probabilidade distintas. Uma análise conjunta das componentes axial e transversal do escoamento e suas PDF indicam as regiões no plano de medições onde o fenômeno se manifesta, sendo que reconstruções da trajetória filtrada das séries temporais para determinadas bandas de frequências apresentam características caóticodeterminísticas. O maior expoente de Lyapunov das séries experimentais é positivo, o que é um indício de comportamento caótico. / This work presents a study of the main parameters that characterize the phenomenon of bistability in two tubes placed side by side submitted to turbulent crossflow. The experimental technique of hot wire anemometry in aerodynamic channel is applied in the measurement of velocity fluctuations of the flow after the tubes. The time series obtained are used as input data for determining the probability density functions (PDF) using a finite mixture model, according to an asymmetric Student t function and with the aid of a Monte Carlo method. Wavelet transforms are applied in discrete and continuous filtering of time series for certain frequency bands and in the analysis of the energy content of these signals. By means of chaotic systems concepts, the attractor reconstruction of the problem is performed using the method of time delays from the experimental series of velocity, allowing the determination of the embedding dimension and calculating the largest Lyapunov exponent. The results show the existence of two different levels of mean velocity in time series, corresponding to two flow modes, each one with different Strouhal numbers and probability density functions. A joint analysis of axial and transverse components of flow and its PDF indicate the regions in the measurement plan where the phenomenon is manifested, and reconstructions of the trajectory of the filtered time series for certain frequency bands have chaotic-deterministic characteristics. The largest Lyapunov exponent of experimental series is positive, which is an indication of chaotic behavior.

Questões ambientais estão no centro das discussões nas últimas décadas. A poluição atmosférica, causada pela expansão pós-revolução industrial fez surgir a necessidade de aprender a descrever, usando modelos matemáticos, esse fenômeno. Com esse conhecimento pode-se propor soluções que mitiguem a poluição e os danos colaterais causados ao ambiente. A dispersão de poluentes modelada por soluções analíticas, a partir das equações de advecção-difusão oferecem um conhecimento sobre cada componente que constrói a equação, característica inexistente em outras abordagens, como a numérica. Entretanto ela era incapaz de descrever propriedades que se referem à turbulência, as estruturas coerentes, causadas por componentes não-lineares suprimidas por construção das equações governantes do modelo. Este trabalho estudou uma forma de recuperar características associadas à turbulência através de uma componente fundamental em estruturas coerentes, a fase. Essa é incluída no modelo que passa a descrever manifestações da turbulência em processos de dispersão através de flutuações de pequena escala na concentração da solução do modelo sesquilinear, que é determinístico-estocástico. No decorrer do trabalho há um estudo através de variações de parâmetros para compreender os efeitos da fase no modelo. Ele também foi aplicado ao experimento de Copenhagen e a dois cenários reais com a intenção de compreender o modelo frente à variáveis micrometeorológicas assim como aprimorá-lo para simular a dispersão de poluentes oriundos de fontes de forma realística. / Environmental issues have been at the center of discussions in the last few decades. Atmospheric pollution, caused by post-industrial revolution, has increased the necessity to describe, using mathematical models, this phenomenon. With this knowledge is possible to propose solutions mitigating the pollution and collateral damages caused in the environment. The pollutant dispersion modeled by analytical solutions, from advection-diffusion equations, offers a knowledge about each component that constructs the equation, a characteristic that does not exist in other approaches, such as numerical. However it was unable to describe properties that refer to turbulence, coherent structures, caused by nonlinear components suppressed by constructing the model governing equations. This work studied a way to recover characteristics associated with turbulence through a fundamental component in coherent structures, the phase. This is included in the model which describes manifestations of turbulence in the dispersion process through the presence of small-scale concentration fluctuations in the sesquilinear model, which is deterministicstochastic. In the course of this work there is a study through variations of parameters to understand the phase effects in the model. It was also applied to Copenhagen experiment and to two real scenarios with the intention of understanding the model regarding micrometeorological variables as well as improving it to simulate the pollutant dispersion from sources in a realistic way.

abstract: Efficient separation techniques for organelles and bacteria in the micron- and sub-micron range are required for various analytical challenges. Mitochondria have a wide size range resulting from the sub-populations, some of which may be associated with diseases or aging. However, traditional methods can often not resolve within-species size variations. Strategies to separate mitochondrial sub-populations by size are thus needed to study the importance of this organelle in cellular functions. Additionally, challenges also exist in distinguishing the sub-populations of bio-species which differ in the surface charge while possessing similar size, such as Salmonella typhimurium (Salmonella). The surface charge of Salmonella wild-type is altered upon environmental stimulations, influencing the bacterial survival and virulence within the host tissue. Therefore, it is important to explore methods to identify the sub-populations of Salmonella. This work exploits insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) for the manipulation of mitochondria and Salmonella. The iDEP migration and trapping of mitochondria were investigated under both DC and low-frequency AC conditions, establishing that mitochondria exhibit negative DEP. Also, the first realization of size-based iDEP sorting experiments of mitochondria were demonstrated. As for Salmonella, the preliminary study revealed positive DEP behavior. Distinct trapping potential thresholds were found for the sub-populations with different surface charges. Further, DEP was integrated with a non-intuitive migration mechanism termed absolute negative mobility (ANM), inducing a deterministic trapping component which allows the directed transport of µm- and sub-µm sized (bio)particles in microfluidic devices with a nonlinear post array under the periodic action of electrokinetic and dielectrophoretic forces. Regimes were revealed both numerically and experimentally in which larger particles migrate against the average applied force, whereas smaller particles show normal response. Moreover, this deterministic ANM (dANM) was characterized with polystyrene beads demonstrating improved migration speed at least two orders of magnitude higher compared to previous ANM systems with similar sized colloids. In addition, dANM was induced for mitochondria with an AC-overlaid waveform representing the first demonstration of ANM migration with biological species. Thus, it is envisioned that the efficient size selectivity of this novel migration mechanism can be employed in nanotechnology, organelle sub-population studies or fractionating protein nanocrystals. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biochemistry 2015

Orientador: Bento Rodrigues de Pontes Junior / Coorientador: José Manoel Balthazar / Banca: Angelo Marcelo Tusset / Banca: Edson Antonio Capello Sousa / Resumo: Nas aplicações em engenharia existem várias situações onde é necessário o uso de vibrações em certas partes de um sistema mecânico, criadas a partir de transição brusca de um parâmetro do sistema, como por exemplo, em máquinas perfuratrizes de solo na exploração de petróleo onde a condição de impacto na interação-rolha facilita a penetração no solo. Os sistemas mecânicos submetidos a esse forma de excitação são chamados em geral de mecanismos tipo Vibro-Impacto. Nesta dissertação, faz-se a análise da dinâmica de um sistema mecânico Vibro-Impacto de dois graus de liberdade composto por dois blocos de massas diferentes acoplados por uma rigidez (mola) de dois estágios. Dois modelos não-lineares foram utilizados para representar o sistema estudado: o primeiro é excitado de maneira ideal, sob a forma de uma força harmônica e o segundo, de maneira não-ideal sob a forma de um rotor desbalanceado acionado por um motor elétrico de corrente contínua. A dinâmica do sistema é modelada considerando duas situações distintas: sem a condição de impacto e com a condição de impacto, de acordo com a relação entre o deslocamento e a folga no sistema. Foram analisados os resultados das simulações numéricas através dos históricos no tempo, retratos de fase, diagramas de bifurcações, mapas de Poincaré e espectros de frequencias. Observaram-se as velocidades de avanço do sistema, as taxas de transferência de energia, e as forças durante as transições bruscas da rigidez (condição tipo impacto) entre as massas, determinando-se as faixas dos parâmetros com comportamentos periódicos e caóticos assim como a ocorrência do Efeito Sommerfeld. A partir dos resultados obtidos foi possível concluir que o mecanismo tipo Vibro-Impacto analisado possui maior velocidade de avanço e maior força em determinada frequencia de excitação onde o movimento apresenta-se no regime caótico / Abstract: In engineering aplications there are several situations in which it is necessary to use vibrations in certain elements of a mechanical system, created with an abrupt transition from one system parameter, such as soil drilling machines in oil exploration where the impact condition on the drill-rock interaction enhances penetration into soil. Mechanical systems subjected to this form of excitation are called in general mechanisms of vibro-impact type. This dissertation makes the analysis of the dynamics of a the dynamics of a Vibro-Impact mechanical system of two degrees of freedom comprised of two blocks with different masses coupled by a two-stage stiffness (spring). Two nonlinear models are used to represent the studied system: the first uses an ideal excitation in the form of a harmonic force, and the second uses a non-ideal excitation in the form of a unbalanced rotor driven by a direct current electric motor. The dynamics of the system is modeled by considering two different situations: without impact and with impact, according to the relationship between the displacement and the gap in the system. The results of numerical simulations were analyzed with the time histories, phase portraits, bifurcation diagram, Poincaré map and spectra of frequencies. Velocities of the system, the rate of energy transfer, and forces during abrupt transitions in stiffneess (impact type condition) between the masses were observed, determining the ranges of parameters with periodic and chaotic behavior as well as the occurrence of the Sommerfeld effect. From the results it was possible to conclude that the analysed Vibro-Impact mechanism has a larger progress velocity and larger forces in a given excitation frequency where the movement presents itself in the chaotic regime / Mestre

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo acerca dos principais parâmetros que caracterizam o fenômeno da biestabilidade em dois tubos dispostos lado a lado submetidos a escoamento cruzado turbulento. A técnica experimental da anemometria de fio quente em canal aerodinâmico é aplicada na medição das flutuações de velocidade do escoamento após os tubos. As séries temporais obtidas são utilizadas como dados de entrada para determinação das funções densidade de probabilidade (PDF) usando um modelo de mistura finita, de acordo com uma função t de Student assimétrica e com o auxílio do método de Monte Carlo. Transformadas de ondaletas discretas e contínuas são aplicadas na filtragem das séries temporais para determinadas bandas de frequências e na análise do conteúdo de energia destes sinais. Através de conceitos de sistemas caóticos, é realizada a reconstrução do atrator do problema pelo método dos atrasos temporais, a partir das séries experimentais de velocidade, permitindo a determinação da dimensão de imersão e o cálculo do maior expoente de Lyapunov. Os resultados mostram a existência de dois patamares distintos de velocidade média nas séries temporais, correspondentes aos dois modos do escoamento, cada qual com números de Strouhal e funções densidade de probabilidade distintas. Uma análise conjunta das componentes axial e transversal do escoamento e suas PDF indicam as regiões no plano de medições onde o fenômeno se manifesta, sendo que reconstruções da trajetória filtrada das séries temporais para determinadas bandas de frequências apresentam características caóticodeterminísticas. O maior expoente de Lyapunov das séries experimentais é positivo, o que é um indício de comportamento caótico. / This work presents a study of the main parameters that characterize the phenomenon of bistability in two tubes placed side by side submitted to turbulent crossflow. The experimental technique of hot wire anemometry in aerodynamic channel is applied in the measurement of velocity fluctuations of the flow after the tubes. The time series obtained are used as input data for determining the probability density functions (PDF) using a finite mixture model, according to an asymmetric Student t function and with the aid of a Monte Carlo method. Wavelet transforms are applied in discrete and continuous filtering of time series for certain frequency bands and in the analysis of the energy content of these signals. By means of chaotic systems concepts, the attractor reconstruction of the problem is performed using the method of time delays from the experimental series of velocity, allowing the determination of the embedding dimension and calculating the largest Lyapunov exponent. The results show the existence of two different levels of mean velocity in time series, corresponding to two flow modes, each one with different Strouhal numbers and probability density functions. A joint analysis of axial and transverse components of flow and its PDF indicate the regions in the measurement plan where the phenomenon is manifested, and reconstructions of the trajectory of the filtered time series for certain frequency bands have chaotic-deterministic characteristics. The largest Lyapunov exponent of experimental series is positive, which is an indication of chaotic behavior.