This thesis is a study of the first four books of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. It accounts for the widespread success of the novels by examining their publication and marketing histories, and their literary achievement as narratives including a sophisticated mix of generic traditions. Chapter One looks at the popularity of the novels, comparing their material production and marketing by Rowling’s English language publishers: Bloomsbury in Britain and Scholastic in the United States of America. The publisher’s influence on the public perception of each book is demonstrated by comparative study of its mode of illustration and layout. Further, the design of the books is linked to their strategic marketing and branding within the literary world. The second chapter considers Rowling’s debt to the school story. It concentrates first on the history of this relatively short-lived genre, briefly discussing its stereotypical features and values. Traditional elements of setting and characterisation are then examined to show how the Harry Potter novels present a value system which, though apparently old-fashioned, still has an ethical standpoint designed to appeal to the modern reader. Chapter Three focuses on the characterisation of Harry as a hero-figure, especially on how the influence of classical and medieval texts infuses Rowling’s portrayal of Harry as a hero in the chivalric mode. The episodes of “quest” and “test” in each book illustrate specifically how he learns the values of selflessness, loyalty, mercy and fairness. Chapter Four surveys the contribution of modern fantasy writing to the series. It shows how Rowling creates a secondary world that allows us to perceive magic as a metaphorical representation of power. This focus on the relationship between magic and power in turn has a bearing on our assessment of the author’s moral stance. The thesis concludes by suggesting that Rowling’s unusual mix of genres is justified by the values they share, and which are inscribed in her work: the generic combination forms a workable, new and exciting mode of writing that helps to account for the phenomenal popularity of the series.

Dans cette thèse, nous avons développé un code de simulation numérique directe pour l’étude des écoulements particulaires. Le schéma numérique est basé sur une technique de domaines fictifs. Le code est validé sur de nombreux cas test puis nous l’avons utilisé pour étudier la sédimentation de particules bidimensionnelles en milieu confiné. Trois cas ont été analysés : sédimentation d’une particule unique, d’un doublet de particules et d’un grand nombre de particules. Dans le premier cas nous retrouvons le phénomène de survitesse qui apparaît pour une particule excentrée à bas nombre de Reynolds. Nous montrons que cette survitesse est très sensible à l’inertie du fluide : elle diminue lorsqu’on augmente le nombre de Reynolds. Cet effet est retardé par le confinement. Dans le cas d’un doublet de particules, nous retrouvons les comportements complexes observés dans la littérature (hystérésis, cascade sous-harmonique et chaos). Nous montrons qu’une nouvelle série de bifurcations et un nouvel attracteur apparaissent pour des particules plus pesantes. Il s’agit là d’une transition vers le chaos par la voie de la quasi-périodicité. Nous donnons le diagramme de bifurcation étendu. La nouvelle branche correspond à une structure horizontale qui conduit à une sédimentation lente. Dans le cas d’un grand nombre de particules, nous montrons que la vitesse de chute de l’interface fluide-particules suit une loi de type Richardson-Zaki, mais avec un exposant d’environ 4. Comme pour des sphères, la valeur de cet exposant dépend du confinement. Enfin, nous observons un phénomène de blocage, inattendu pour des particules non-cohésives, dû au caractère bidimensionnel de la suspension / In the present thesis, a fully-resolved numerical code has been developed for the analysis of particle-laden flows. A fictitious domain method is used. First, this numerical tool has been validated by using classical benchmarks. It has then been used to simulate the complex sedimentation of particles in three generic two-dimensional configurations: a single particle, a particle pair and a large number of particles in a confined domain. In the first case, the peak-velocity of an off-centred inclusion is recovered at low-Reynolds number. It is shown that this peak-velocity is very sensitive to fluid inertia: the peak-velocity decreases when the Reynolds number increases. This effect is delayed by the confinement. The very complex dynamics of a pair of particles sedimenting in a confined domain, observed in the litterature, is recovered (hysteresis, period-doubling cascade and chaos). It is shown that a new series of bifurcations, leading to a new attractor, emerges when the non-dimensional particle weight is increased. This new transition corresponds to a quasi-periodic route. The extended bifurcation diagram is given. The new branch discovered in this work corresponds to a nearly horizontal particle doublet, with a slow settling velocity. In the case of the settling of large number of particles, a RZ-like law is recovered for the sedimentation velocity of the fluid-particle interface. The exponent is close to 4, in contrast with the case of spheres. Finally, the sedimentation velocity at the end of the settling process is observed to be significantly reduced, like for cohesive sediments. This unexpected behaviour is related to the two-dimensionality of the suspension

Ce travail se consacre à la simulation numérique tridimensionnelle de suspensions denses, monodispersés, non-inertielles et non-colloïdales. Nous avons pour ce faire développé une méthode numérique basée sur une approche de type domaine fictif. Le modèle inclut également une modélisation détaillée des forces de lubrification ainsi que des forces de contact avec prise en compte des rugosités et du frottement. Un résultat majeur est le rôle important du frottement entre particules sur la rhéologie de la suspension – en particulier sur la viscosité de cisaillement et les contraintes normales – mais aussi sur la viscosité normale ou la diffusion des particules. Le frottement contribue à augmenter fortement la contrainte de contact alors que la contrainte hydrodynamique n’est quasiment pas affectée. Cette contrainte de contact s’avère être la contrainte majoritaire dans les suspensions denses. La prise en compte du frottement dans les simulations permet de se rapprocher notablement des résultats expérimentaux. Le rôle du confinement est également étudié et les parois s’avèrent conduire à une organisation locale marquée de type hexagonal ainsi qu’à un glissement. Cette organisation entraîne des effets sensibles sur les propriétés rhéologiques surtout pour la première différence de contraintes normales N1 qui peut localement devenir positive. Enfin, nous abordons l’impact d’amas percolants de particules dans la suspension. La fraction volumique de percolation se situe entre 0,3 et 0,4 avec un effet marqué de la rugosité, du frottement et de la taille du domaine. / This work is devoted to three-dimensional numerical simulations of monodisperse non-inertial non-colloidal concentrated suspensions. To this end, a numerical method based on a fictitious domain technique is developed. It includes a detailed lubrication model as well as a contact model allowing for particle roughness and friction. One major result is the strong effect of friction on rheology, especially on shear viscosity and normal stresses. It also alters markedly normal viscosity or particle diffusion. Friction acts mostly through an increase in the contact stress since the hydrodynamic stress remains unaffected. This contact stress occurs to be the prevailing stress in dense suspensions. Overall, frictional results are in much better agreement with available experiments. The role of confinement is investigated as well and walls are shown to induce a strong local hexagonal ordering with a significant wall slip. This wall-induced ordering has a notable effect on rheology, especially on the first normal stress difference N1 that can be locally positive. Finally, we have studied the percolation of particle clusters across the suspension. The critical volume fraction is found to be in the range 0.3~0.4, with a significant dependence on roughness, friction, and domain size. Percolating clusters characteristics can globally be described by an isotropic percolation theory, with discrepancies regarding some critical exponents however. The role of percolating clusters on rheology is found to be very limited.

This study analyzes Lloyd Alexander's The Prydain Chronicles through a Jungian lens. Previous scholarship on Alexander's works has briefly considered archetypal criticism, but not extensively. Bruno Bettelheim's thoughts are used intermittently throughout the thesis. This study concentrates on Taran's individuation process, the discovery of true selfhood, and his consequent development of a whole psyche.

This monograph is an analytical study of the character of Sir John Falstaff in The First and Second Parts of Henry The Fourth, and The Merry Wives of Windor, by William Shakespeare, its purpose being to assist in an accurate portrayal of the character upon the stage. It is, then, an acting thesis in three parts: a study of the historical element of the character, analysis of the masterpieces as created by Shakespeare, and an intensive research of the character as portrayed by the best actors from Shakespeare's original production in the Globe Theatre to the present day.

This dissertation studies decision theories for both individual and interactive choice problems. This thesis proposes three non-standard models that modify assumptions and settings of standard models. Chapter 1 provides an overview of this dissertation. In the second chapter I present a model of decision-making under uncertainty in which an agent is constrained in her cognitive ability to consider complex acts. The complexity of an act is identified by the corresponding partition of state space. The agent ranks acts according to the expected utility net of complexity cost. I introduce a new axiom called Aversion to Complexity, that depicts an agent's aversion to complex acts. This axiom, together with other modified classical expected utility axioms characterizes a Complexity Aversion Representation. In addition, I present applications to competitive markets with uncertainty and optimal contract design. The third Chapter discusses how a complexity averse agent measures the complexity cost of an act after she receives new information. I propose an updating rule for the complexity cost function called Minimal Complexity Updating. The idea is that if the agent is told that the true state must belong to a particular event, she needs not consider the complexity of an act outside of this event. The main result characterizes axiomatically the Minimal Complexity Aversion Representation. Lastly, I apply the idea of Minimal Complexity Updating to the theory of rational inattention. The last chapter deals with a variant model of fictitious play, in which each player has a perturbation term that measures to what extent his rival will stick to the rules of traditional fictitious play. I find that the empirical distribution can converge to a pure Nash equilibrium if the perturbation term is bounded. Furthermore, I introduce an updating rule for the perturbation term. I prove that if the perturbation term is updated in accordance with this rule, then play can converge to a pure Nash equilibrium. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation studies decision theories for both individual and interactive choice problems. This thesis proposes three non-standard models that modify assumptions and settings of standard models. Chapter 1 provides an overview of this dissertation. In the second chapter I present a model of decision-making under uncertainty in which an agent is constrained in her cognitive ability to consider complex acts. The complexity of an act is identified by the corresponding partition of state space. The agent ranks acts according to the expected utility net of complexity cost. I introduce a new axiom called Aversion to Complexity, that depicts an agent's aversion to complex acts. This axiom, together with other modified classical expected utility axioms characterizes a Complexity Aversion Representation. In addition, I present applications to competitive markets with uncertainty and optimal contract design. The third Chapter discusses how a complexity averse agent measures the complexity cost of an act after she receives new information. I propose an updating rule for the complexity cost function called Minimal Complexity Updating. The idea is that if the agent is told that the true state must belong to a particular event, she needs not consider the complexity of an act outside of this event. The main result characterizes axiomatically the Minimal Complexity Aversion Representation. Lastly, I apply the idea of Minimal Complexity Updating to the theory of rational inattention. The last chapter deals with a variant model of fictitious play, in which each player has a perturbation term that measures to what extent his rival will stick to the rules of traditional fictitious play. I find that the empirical distribution can converge to a pure Nash equilibrium if the perturbation term is bounded. Furthermore, I introduce an updating rule for the perturbation term. I prove that if the perturbation term is updated in accordance with this rule, then play can converge to a pure Nash equilibrium.

This dissertation analyses the protagonists in The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, and Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin, and looks at the extent to which they confront the Jungian archetype of the anima. I demonstrate that individuation and wisdom are not achieved in these characters until they confront the anima archetype within their individual psyches. I analyse the experiences and behaviour of each protagonist in order to identify anima confrontation (or lack thereof), and I seek to prove that such confrontation precipitates maturity and wisdom, which are goals of the hero's journey. The essential qualities of the anima archetype are wisdom, beauty and love. These qualities require acceptance of vulnerability. I argue that the protagonist is far from anima integration when he displays hatred and fear of vulnerability, and conclude that each protagonist is integrated with the anima when wisdom, beauty and love are evident in his character. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

This dissertation analyses the protagonists in The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, and Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin, and looks at the extent to which they confront the Jungian archetype of the anima. I demonstrate that individuation and wisdom are not achieved in these characters until they confront the anima archetype within their individual psyches. I analyse the experiences and behaviour of each protagonist in order to identify anima confrontation (or lack thereof), and I seek to prove that such confrontation precipitates maturity and wisdom, which are goals of the hero's journey. The essential qualities of the anima archetype are wisdom, beauty and love. These qualities require acceptance of vulnerability. I argue that the protagonist is far from anima integration when he displays hatred and fear of vulnerability, and conclude that each protagonist is integrated with the anima when wisdom, beauty and love are evident in his character. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Chemotaxis, the phenomenon through which cells respond to external chemical signals, is one of the most important and universally observable in nature. It has been the object of considerable modelling effort in the last decades. The models for chemotaxis available in the literature cannot reconcile the dynamics of external chemical signals and the intracellular signalling pathways leading to the response of the cells. The reason is that models used for cells do not contain the distinction between the extracellular and intracellular domains. The work presented in this dissertation intends to resolve this issue. We set up a numerical hybrid simulation framework containing such description and enabling the coupling of models for phenomena occurring at extracellular and intracellular levels. Mathematically, this is achieved by the use of the fictitious domain method for finite elements, allowing the simulation of partial differential equations on evolving domains. In order to make the modelling of the membrane binding of chemical signals possible, we derive a suitable fictitious domain method for Robin boundary elliptic problems. We also display ways to minimise the computational cost of such simulation by deriving a suitable preconditioner for the linear systems resulting from the Robin fictitious domain method, as well as an efficient algorithm to compute fictitious domain specific linear operators. Lastly, we discuss the use of a simpler cell model from the literature and match it with our own model. Our numerical experiments show the relevance of the matching, as well as the stability and accuracy of the numerical scheme presented in the thesis.

近年國內企業發生財務報表不實的舞弊，大多先涉及虛偽銷貨，爾後再透過各種手法加以掩飾。過去學者的研究指出，當財務報表舞弊為虛偽交易類型時，會計師被告之機會較大。當受查者的交易型態變得複雜，會計師查核財務報表之外在不確定性增加，審計失敗的機會增加；會計師面臨的審計風險變高，會計師事務所之營業風險提高。 因此，本研究為降低會計師未來因虛偽銷貨而冒之法律風險而分析我國上市櫃公司虛偽銷貨舞弊之手法及警訊，俾助會計師得評估虛偽銷貨之風險，規劃可偵出虛偽銷貨之查核程序。 本研究透過個案分析及問卷調查，歸納出以下結論： 1.目前企業進行虛偽銷貨之手法，皆以關係人為銷貨對象，可能以同一批貨在關係人間買賣（如勁永），或以假冒之商品出貨（如博達），亦可能根本沒出貨，以虛假之發票及資金的流動製造銷貨之假象（如皇統）。 2.企業於舞弊期間之警訊，則以營業項目及融資項目之變化最為明顯。前者包含企業於舞弊期間銷貨予關係人之比率異常增加，或外銷比率或外銷地區經年改變，亦可能主要客戶及供應商交易情形（如銷貨金額占總銷貨淨額百分比）變化大；後者則包含公司規模小，卻發行ECB，且發行條件異常（如閉鎖期過短），或該公司於舞弊期間之海外存款之比率異常增加。 3.針對虛偽銷貨會計師查核程序之規劃，則應先辨認出關係人，再規劃辨認異常物流狀況之查核程序。 / In recent years, management fraud in financial statements has been occurred in Taiwan. These reporting frauds were often related to fictitious sales, and then covered the frauds in other ways. Prior studies examined that auditors have higher risk of litigation when the fraud type is fictitious transactions. Auditors are more likely to be sued when the financial statement frauds are of a common variety, and then higher risk of managing the firms. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the patterns of fraud schemes used by management to perpetrate and conceal fraud and finds out the proper audit procedure of fictitious sales to decline the risk of litigation. After a series case-by-case analysis and questionnaire investigation, it can be concluded as follows: 1.The patterns of fraud schemes in fictitious sales used by management are selling the inventories to related parties. For instance, managements may transact the same inventories between related parties(勁永), sell the fake products(博達), or they might create fake documents such as fake purchase orders, fake invoices and fake shipping documents to conceal fictitious sales(皇統). 2.The most common implication of financial statement fraud is operating and financing activities. The former includes the increasing rate of transaction between the management and related party or varieties of overseas sales and areas with sales aboard; the latter contains the small-sized-firms issued ECB with abnormal conditions, and abnormal increasing ratio of overseas deposit during the fraud. 3.The audit procedure of fictitious sales, we should find out the related parties, and then draw up the audit procedure of indentifying abnormal transaction.