SiGe BiCMOS technology has many advantageous properties that, when leveraged, enable circuit design for extreme environments. This work will focus on designs targeted for space system avioinics platforms under the NASA ETDP program. The program specifications include operation under temperatures ranging from -180 C to +125 C and with radiation tolerance up to total ionizing dose of 100 krad with built-in single-event latch-up tolerance. To the author's knowledge, this work presents the first design and measurement of a wide temperature range enabled, radiation tolerant as built, RS-485 wireline transceiver in SiGe BiCMOS technology. This work also includes design and testing of a charge amplification channel front-end intended to act as the interface between a piezoelectric sensor and an ADC. An additional feature is the design and testing of a 50 Ohm output buffer utilized for testing of components in a lab setting.

La presente tesis estudia la correlación negativa entre inflación y precios reales de las acciones. En primer lugar, muestro evidencia de que la inflación impone costos reales en la economía, en particular al disminuir los beneficios de las empresas, tal como sugiriera originalmente Miton Friedman. Segundo, sugiero que la inflación decrece los precios reales de las acciones dado que la probabilidad de sufrir estanflación en el futuro crece con la tasa de inflación (premio evento-extremo). Tercero, testeo si la evidencia macroeconómica respalda la relación positiva entre inflación e incertidumbre, y la relación entre inflación y el precio del riesgo (avesión relativa al riesgo). Cuarto, presento un estudio histórico, Alemania entre 1870 y 1935, para mostrar que es el premio por evento-extremo, y no illusion monetaria, lo que conlleva la correlación negativa entre inflación y precios reales de acciones. El último capítulo discute contagio en países emergentes.

This thesis presents an ecological exploration of the experiences of mental health workers faced with critical incidents and traumatic events in the course of their work. A qualitative study, it takes the experiences of twenty workers from a range of disciplines and environments, and examines their preparation for exposure to extreme stress, their passage through the incidents that they chose to relate, and the organisational response to the events. The central research question explores the knowledge bases currently utilised within trauma and critical incident response, and the degree to which these provide adequate explanatory, practice and evaluation models for responses to workplace incidents. It is examined through the narratives of the mental health workers, who self-define and explore the nature of their preparation for, and experience of, critical incidents and traumatic events in their workplace. The question is contextualised through a review of the knowledge bases of trauma and extreme stress, and of the mental health environment in which the workers practice. A case study of the workplace support known as debriefing illustrates the tensions between current knowledge bases in the area. Informed by this, the key issues of what did or did not work for the participants are explored. The thesis argues that the paradigm shift signalled by the latest developments within conceptualisations of trauma is not yet complete, and that the ensuing tensions have created debate and confusion in the creation of adequate responses to workplace incidents. Whilst conceptualisations that attempt to address issues of complexity and context are evolving, it is argued that an ecological framework has the potential to both explain and respond to incidents that occur within the mental health environment. The findings of the research raise issues of complexity in the design and implementation of appropriate support systems, and lend a perspective to the critique of debriefing that has been missing from existing debates. Key principles for the development of safe and sound support systems, and their evaluation, are developed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Connecticut, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Connecticut, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112).

The dramatic change in properties of water near its critical point (i.e. T = 374 °C and p = 22.1 MPa, note: 100 MPa = 0.1 GPa = 1 kbar ≈ 1000 atm) has been a subject of numerous studies and also lead to the development of various applications (e.g. in waste destruction, biomass processing, and the synthesis of advanced ceramic materials). However, comparatively little is known about the behavior of water at gigapascal pressures. The present study attempts to explore catalytical properties and reactivity of extreme water with respect to several oxide systems: SiO2, TiO2 and LiAlSiO4. “Extreme water” here is defined as existing at p,T conditions of 0.25–10 GPa and 200–1000 °C, thus considering both supercritical fluid and hot compressed ice. The study shows that extreme water can make high pressure mineral phases accessible at relatively mild T conditions. At the same time, high pressure aqueous environments appear efficient in stabilizing novel metastable structures and may be considered as a general route for synthesizing new materials. The hydrothermal treatment of SiO2 glass at 10 GPa and 300–550 °C yielded an unusual ultrahydrous form of stishovite with up to 3% of structural water. At the same time, the extreme water environment enhanced notably the kinetics of stishovite formation, making it accessible at unprecedentedly low temperatures. Thus, for the SiO2–H2O system water acts as both catalyst and reactant. For TiO2 a hydrothermal high pressure treatment proved to be of high importance for overcoming the kinetical hindrance of the rutile – TiO2-II transformation. 6 GPa and 650 °C were established as the mildest conditions for synthesizing pure TiO2-II phase in less than two hours. The crystallization of LiAlSiO4 glass in an extreme water environment yielded a number of different phases. In the low pressure region (0.25 – 2 GPa) mainly a zeolite (Li-ABW) and a dense anhydrous aluminosilicate (α-eucryptite) were obtained. At pressures above 5 GPa the formation of novel pyroxene-like structures with crystallographic amounts of structural water was observed. The overall conclusion of this study is that extreme water environments show a great potential for catalyzing phase transitions in oxide systems and for stabilizing novel structures via structural water incorporation. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Les tempêtes tropicales sont l'un des principaux moteurs des niveaux d'eau extrêmes notamment à cause des forts vents, des pluies torrentielles et des fortes houles qui les accompagnent. L'océan Pacifique nord-ouest est l'endroit où ces tempêtes tropicales (appelées typhons dans cette zone) sont les plus violentes au monde dépassant souvent les 95 nœuds de vent (175 km/h). L'île de Taïwan subit chaque année 3 à 4 typhons qui la frappent directement et une vingtaine qui passent à proximité de l'île. La quantification des variations du niveau instantanée de l'eau reste encore aujourd'hui un sujet de recherches actif. En effet, l'identification des processus physiques qui peuvent devenir dominants sur le niveau en conditions paroxysmales est cruciale pour la gestion et la protection des zones côtières. Ce travail de thèse basé sur une approche numérique, permet de discuter les mécanismes hydrodynamiques régionaux fondamentaux à l’origine de l’élévation du niveau d’eau le long de la barrière sableuse de Wan-Tzu-Liao au sud-ouest de Taïwan. L'utilisation du modèle de circulation 3D SYMPHONIE et du modèle de vagues WAVEWATCH III permet d'étudier la saison de mousson 2011 et la saison des typhons 2012 sur une zone s’étendant à environ 600 km autour de l’île de Taïwan. Ces simulations intègrent convenablement la totalité des forçages météo-marins ayant un rôle sur la circulation et le niveau d’eau à la côte : vent, flux atmosphériques, circulation grande échelle, marée, pression atmosphérique, rivières et vagues. Le couplage entre les vagues et les courants est complet en 3D et les deux modèles partagent la même grille de calcul. Par ailleurs, dans le cadre du projet franco-taïwanais KUNSHEN, un ensemble d'appareils a été déployé entre octobre 2011 et novembre 2012 le long d’un profil cross-shore de la barrière sableuse. La simulation complète de niveau d’eau rend compte des surcotes générées par les typhons avec une erreur de l'ordre de 0.1 m. Pour étudier les mécanismes hydrodynamiques, un ensemble de simulations a été réalisé afin d'isoler les contributions. Leur analyse montre que le forçage dominant est celui de la marée astronomique (~1 m), suivi par la circulation régionale (0.5-0.7m) puis des conditions météorologiques (0.2-0.3 m). Dans cette zone à forte dissipation énergétique, la contribution des vagues est négligeable avec moins de 0.1 m d'élévation. La contribution des rivières est, elle aussi, faible (< 0.1 m). / Tropical storms are the main engine of extreme water levels due to strong winds, abundant rainfalls and strong waves attached to these events. The western North Pacific ocean is one of places where these tropical storms (called typhoon in this area) are the most violent in the world exceeding 95 knots of wind speed (175 km/h). The island of Taiwan is located on the most of typhoons tracks which come from the western North Pacific. Every year, three or four typhoons strike Taiwan directly and around twenty pass near it. The quantification of instantaneous water levels variations is still studied by active researches. The identification of physical processes that can become dominant on water level during extreme conditions is crucial for the management and the protection of coastal areas.These PhD works, based on a numerical approach, allow to discuss the fondamental regional hydrodynamic mechanisms which control the sea surface elevation along the sandy barrier of Wan-Tzu-Liao located south-western Taiwan.We used the 3D circulation model SYMPHONIE and the wave model WAVEWATCH III to study the mousson season 2011 and the typhoon season 2012 on an area extending 600 km off Taiwan island. These simulations deal with most of the oceanographical forcings playing a role in the sea surface elevation at the coast : winds, air/sea fluxes, astronomical tides, regional circulation, rivers and waves. The coupling between waves and currents is fully in 3D and the two models share the same computational grid. Moreover, in the framework of the KUNSHEN project, a raft of devices were set in front of the Wan-Tzu Liao barrier from october 2011 to november 2012 along a cross-shore section. The full simulation of water level describes the storm surges generated by typhoons with errors of 0.1 m. With the aim to analyse hydrodynamic mechanisms, we performed a set of mono-forcing simulation that isolate each meteo-marine parameter. Their analysis show that astronomical tide is the dominant forcing (~1 m) followed by the regional circulation (0.5-0.7m) and the meteorological conditions (0.2-0.3 m). This zone displays a very strong dissipative feature that conducts to a very low waves contribution on the sea surface elevation (< 0.1 m). They display also a low contribution of rivers around Taiwan (< 0.1 m).

Recent events such as the New Orleans floods and the Japanese tsunami of 2011 have highlighted the uncertainty in the quantification of the magnitude of natural hazards. The research undertaken here has focussed on the uncertainty in evaluating storm surge magnitudes based on a range of statistical techniques including the Generalised Extreme Value distribution, Joint Probability and Monte Carlo simulations. To support the evaluation of storm surge frequency magnitude relationships a unique hard copy observed sea level data set, recording hourly observations, was acquired and digitised for Devonport, Plymouth, creating a 40 year data set. In conjunction with Devonport data, Newlyn (1915-2012) tide gauge records were analysed, creating a data set of 2 million data points. The different statistical techniques analysed led to an uncertainty range of 0.4 m for a 1 in 250 year storm surge event, and 0.7 m for a 1 in 1000 storm surge event. This compares to a 0.5 m uncertainty range between the low and high prediction for sea level rise by 2100. The Geographical Information system modelling of the uncertainty indicated that for a 1 in 1000 year event the level uncertainty (0.7 m) led to an increase of 100% of buildings and 50% of total land affect. Within the study area of south-west England there are several critical structures including a nuclear licensed site. Incorporating the uncertainty in storm surge and wave height predictions indicated that the site would be potentially affected today with the combination of a 1 in 1000 year storm surge event coincident with a 1 in 1000 wave. In addition to the evaluation of frequency magnitude relations this study has identified several trends in the data set. Over the data period sea level rise is modelled as an exponential growth (0.0001mm/yr2), indicating the modelled sea level rise of 1.9 mm/yr and 2.2 mm/yr for Newlyn and Devonport, will potentially increase over the next century by a minimum of 0.2 m by 2100.The increase in storm frequency identified as part of this analysis has been equated to the rise in sea level, rather than an increase in the severity of storms, with decadal variations in the observed frequency, potentially linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation. The identification as part of this study of a significant uncertainty in the evaluation of storm surge frequency magnitude relationships has global significance in the evaluation of natural hazards. Guidance on the evaluation of external hazards currently does not adequately consider the effect of uncertainty; an uncertainty of 0.7 m identified within this study could potentially affect in the region of 500 million people worldwide living close to the coast.

Cette thèse aborde deux sujets peu traités dans la littérature concernant le théorie des valeurs extrêmes : celui des observations en présence de covariables et celui des mesures de dépendance pour des paires d'observations. Dans la première partie de cette thèse, nous avons considéré le cas où la variable d'intérêt est observée simultanément avec une covariable, pouvant être fixe ou aléatoire. Dans ce contexte, l'indice de queue dépend de la covariable et nous avons proposé des estimateurs de ce paramètre dont nous avons étudié les propriétés asymptotiques. Leurs comportements à distance finie ont été validés par simulations. Puis, dans la deuxième partie, nous nous sommes intéressés aux extrêmes multivariés et plus particulièrement à mesurer la dépendance entre les extrêmes. Dans une situation proche de l'indépendance asymptotique, il est très difficile de mesurer cette dépendance et de nouveaux modèles doivent être introduits. Dans ce contexte, nous avons adapté un outil de géostatistique, le madogramme, et nous avons étudié ses propriétés asymptotiques. Ses performances sur simulations et données réelles ont également été exhibées. Cette thèse offre de nombreuses perspectives, tant sur le plan pratique que théorique dont une liste non exhaustive est présentée en conclusion de la thèse. / This thesis presents a study of the extreme value theory and is focused on two subjects rarely analyzed: observations associated with covariates and dependence measures for pairs of observations.In the first part, we considered the case where the variable of interest is simultaneously recorded with a covariate which can be either fixed or random. The conditional tail index then depends on the covariate and we proposed several estimators with their asymptotic properties. Their behavior have been approved by simulations.In the second part, we were interested in multivariate extremes and more particularly in measuring the dependence between them. In a case of near asymptotic independence, we have to introduce new models in order to measure the dependence properly. In this context, we adapted a geostatistical tool, the madogram, and studied its asymptotic properties. We completed the study with simulations and real data of precipitations.

The theme of this diploma thesis is to create a collection of exercises on the differentiation in application tasks. It focuses primarily on tasks of everyday situations, physical problems and problems from technical disciplines. Exercises are sorted from easy to advanced ones. For each example there is a solution procedure provided and illustrated with sketches of given situations created in majority with Google SketchUp, graphs of functions created in GeoGebra, eventually 3D graphs of each function created using mathematical program Maple. In the very introduction of this theses there is theoretical base and "first aid" provided in the form of instructions on solving this kind of exercises.