La plupart des problématiques évoquées en esthétique au XXIe siècle tournent autour de la question du personnage de fiction. Dans ce cadre, cette étude essaie d'examiner comment les stratégies esthétiques et la poétique de la réception sont liées, à travers l'œuvre d'un auteur autrichien, Stefan Zweig, qui écrivit non seulement un grand nombre de récits fictionnels (essentiellement des nouvelles et romans), mais également des essais historiques et géographiques. Sa poétique du récit construit des situations de communication, comme le récit enchâssé, dans lesquelles le lecteur est invité à s'impliquer, face à un personnage dont les propres mots forment la seule version des faits racontés dans la fiction. Dans le même ordre d'idée, les personnages, qu'il soient héros de fiction ou de biographie, sont souvent placés dans une situation de crise, qui à la fois révèle une destinée intérieure et se présente comme une conséquence inéluctable de leurs actes. Tous les éléments de leur vie et de leur personnalité convergent donc, et s'expliquent les uns les autres, comme si les personnages de Zweig devenaient des êtres totalement cohérents. En conclusion, il semblerait que les personnages de biographie s'inscrivent dans les problématiques touchant également la fiction, et même qu'ils appartiennent à la catégorie des personnages de fiction ; il sera donc productif de leur appliquer les outils de la critique narrative, par exemple en ce qui concerne la perspective du lecteur et les mécanismes affectifs de projection. / Most of the aesthetics questions of the XXIst century are focalised on the issue of fictional character. In this frame, this study try to examine how aesthetical strategies and poetics of reception are connected through the case of an austrian author, Stefan Zweig, who wrote not only a lot of fictional narratives (essentially short stories and novels), but also historical and geographical essays.His narrative poetic draw situations of communication, like framed narrative, in which the reader is invited to implicate himself, face to a character whose words are the only one version of fictional facts. In the same order of ideas, characters, in fiction or in biographies, are often placed in a critical situation, that reveals in the same time an inner destiny and unaffordable consequence of the way they act. So all elements of life and personnality are convergent, and can explain each other, as if Zweig's characters were totally coherent beings. To conclude, it appears that biographical characters have fictional problematics, and more, they belong to the category of fictional characters ; consequently, it is productive to apply to it the tools of narrative critic, for instance in the perspective of reader and affectives mecanisms of projection.

This thesis presents three methods to estimate and locate damage in framed buildings, simply-supported beams and cantilever structures, based on experimental measurements of their fundamental vibration modes. Numerical simulations and experimental essays were performed to study the effectiveness of each method. A numerical simulation of a multi-storey framed building, a real bridge and a real chimney were carried out to study the effectiveness of the methodologies in identifying damage. The influence of measurement errors and noise in the modal data was studied in all cases. To validate the experimental effectiveness of the damage estimation methods, static and dynamics tests were performed on a framed model, a simply supported beam, and a cantilever beam in order to determine the linear behavior changes due to the increase of the level of damage. The structural identification algorithms during this thesis were based on the knowledge type of the stiffness matrix or flexibility matrix to reduce the number of modal shapes and required coordinates for the structural assessment. The methods are intended to develop tools to produce a fast response and support for future decision procedures regarding to structures widely used, by excluding experimental information, thereby allowing a cost reduction of extensive and specific testing

The amount of total and relative sway of a framed or a composite (frame-shear wall) building is of utmost importance in assessing the seismic resistance of the building. Therefore, the design engineer must calculate the sway profile of the building several times during the design process. However, it is not a simple task to calculate the sway of a three-dimensional structure. Of course, computer programs can do the job, but developing the three-dimensional model becomes necessary, which is obviously tedious and time consuming. An easy to apply analytical method is developed, which enables the determination of sway profiles of framed and composite buildings subject to seismic loading. Various framed and composite three-dimensional buildings subject to lateral seismic loads are solved by SAP2000 and the proposed analytical method. The sway profiles are compared and found to be in very good agreement. In most cases, the amount of error involved is less than 5 %. The analytical method is applied to determine sway magnitudes at any desired elevation of the building, the relative sway between two consecutive floors, the slope at any desired point along the height and the curvature distribution of the building from foundation to roof level. After sway and sway-related properties are known, the requirements of the Turkish Earthquake Code can be evaluated and / or checked. By using the analytical method, the amount of shear walls necessary to satisfy Turkish Earthquake Code requirements are determined. Thus, a vital design question has been answered, which up till present time, could only be met by rough empirical guidelines. A mathematical derivation is presented to satisfy the strength requirement of a three-dimensional composite building subject to seismic loading. Thus, the occurrence of shear failure before moment failure in the building is securely avoided. A design procedure is developed to satisfy the stiffness requirement of composite buildings subject to lateral seismic loading. Some useful tools, such as executable user-friendly programs written by using &ldquo / Borland Delphi&rdquo / , have been developed to make the analysis and design easy for the engineer. A method is also developed to satisfy the ductility requirement of composite buildings subject to lateral seismic loading based on a plastic analysis. The commonly accepted sway ductility of &amp / #956 / &amp / #916 / =5 has been used and successful seismic energy dissipation is thus obtained.

Dans ce travail, la méthode homogénéisation de multi-échelle, ainsi que diverses méthodes non homogénéisation, seront présentés pour étudier le comportement dynamique des structures périodiques. La méthode de multi-échelle commence par la séparation d'échelles. Dans ce cas, une échelle microscopique pour décrire le comportement local et une échelle macroscopique pour décrire le comportement global sont introduites. D'après la théorie de l'homogénéisation, la longueur d'onde est supposée grande, et la longueur de la cellule doit être beaucoup plus petite que la longueur caractéristique de la structure. Ainsi, le domaine d'homogénéisation est limité à la première zone de propagation. Le modèle d'homogénéisation traditionnel utilise des valeurs moyennes des éléments, mais le domaine de validité pratique est beaucoup plus petit que la première bande interdite. Alors, le développement de nouveaux modèles homogénéisés est beaucoup motivé par cet inconvénient. Par rapport au modèle d'homogénéisation traditionnel, équations d'ordre supérieur sont proposées pour fournir des modèles homogénéisation plus précises. Deux méthodes multi-échelles sont introduites: la méthode de développement asymptotique, et la méthode de l'homogénéisation des milieux périodiques discrètes (HMPD). Ces méthodes seront appliquées de façon séquentielle dans le cas d'onde longitudinale et le cas d'onde transversale. Les mêmes modèles d'ordre supérieur sont obtenus par les deux méthodes dans les deux cas. Ensuite, les modèles proposés sont validés en examinant la relation de dispersion et de la fonction de réponse fréquentielle. Des solutions analytiques et la méthode des ondes éléments finis(WFEM) sont utilisés pour donner les références. Des études paramétriques sont effectuées dans le cas infini, et deux différentes conditions aux limites sont prises en compte dans le cas fini. Ensuite, le HMPD et CWFEM sont utilisés pour étudier les vibrations longitudinales et transversales des structures réticulées dans le cas 1D et 2D. Le domaine de validité du HPDM est réévalué à l'aide de la fonction de propagation identifiée par le CWFEM. L'erreur relative au nombre d'onde obtenue par HPDM est illustré sur la fonction de la fréquence et le rapport d'échelle. Des études paramétriques sur l'épaisseur de la structure sont réalisées par la relation de dispersion. La dynamique des structures finies sont également étudiés en utilisant la HPDM et CWFEM. / In this work, the multi-scale homogenization method, as well as various non homogenization methods, will be presented to study the dynamic behaviour of periodic structures. The multi-scale method starts with the scale-separation, which indicates a micro-scale to describe the local behaviour and a macro-scale to describe the global behaviour. According to the homogenization theory, the long-wave assumption is used, and the unit cell length should be much smaller than the characteristic length of the structure. Thus, the valid frequency range of homogenization is limited to the first propagating zone. The traditional homogenization model makes use of material properties mean values, but the practical validity range is far less than the first Bragg band gap. This deficiency motivated the development of new enriched homogenized models. Compared to traditional homogenization model, higher order homogenized wave equations are proposed to provide more accuracy homogenized models. Two multi-scale methods are introduced: the asymptotic expansion method, and the homogenization of periodic discrete media method (HPDM). These methods will be applied sequentially in longitudinal wave cases in bi-periodic rods and flexural wave cases in bi-periodic beams. Same higher order models are obtained by the two methods in both cases. Then, the proposed models are validated by investigating the dispersion relation and the frequency response function. Analytical solutions and wave finite element method (WFEM) are used as references. Parametric studies are carried out in the infinite case while two different boundary conditions are considered in the finite case. Afterwards, the HPDM and the CWFEM are employed to study the longitudinal and transverse vibrations of framed structures in 1D case and 2D case. The valid frequency range of the HPDM is re-evaluated using the wave propagation feature identified by the CWFEM. The relative error of the wavenumber by HPDM compared to CWFEM is illustrated in the function of frequency and scale ratio. Parametric studies on the thickness of the structure is carried out through the dispersion relation. The dynamics of finite structures are also investigated using the HPDM and CWFEM.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe how the developmental asset framework could be used to conceptualise HIV/AIDS message framing. LoveLife media messages (as gain-framed HIV/AIDS prevention messages) were purposefully sampled. Qualitative content analysis allowed loveLife media messages to be analysed through coding, categorisation and memoing. The analysis process revealed core values and developmental assets portrayed in gain-framed HIV/AIDS prevention messages. Core values identified included, love, respect (portrayed least), dignity (portrayed most) and responsibility. Internal assets identified included, achievement motivation, school engagement, responsibility, integrity, restraint, honesty, planning and decision making, resistant skills, personal power, sense of purpose, self-esteem and positive view of personal future., External assets identified included, family support and positive family communication. Responsibility and personal power, were portrayed most and honesty together with family support, and positive family communication, least. Broadcast messages portrayed the most developmental assets and outdoor messages the least. Correlations were found between core values love, dignity, and responsibility, and the identified developmental assets. Insight was gained into three potential roles developmental assets could play in framing HIV/AIDS prevention messages. Firstly, developmental assets could serve as a source of enablement to make youth aware of strengths they could utilise to foster well-being. Secondly, developmental assets could direct incorporation of positive psychology principles in designing HIV/AIDS prevention messages. Lastly, the study revealed that the developmental asset framework could be used in conjunction with the theory of message framing in designing HIV/AIDS prevention messages. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Since many buildings in Canada were built prior to the advent of national and provincial energy codes and standards, quantifying building envelope thermal performance in existing buildings is an important step in identifying retrofit opportunities. Due to the lack of building codes or standards for existing buildings in Canada, development of a rapid and robust quantitative approach to evaluate and rank buildings for vertical envelope retrofits is required. Hence, this dissertation sought to develop quantitative approaches to evaluate existing building envelope thermal performance in Canada and beyond. Following current professional practices, in Chapter 1, a comprehensive study was conducted on 49 campus buildings at the University of Victoria (UVic) to evaluate potential energy savings from vertical envelope retrofits, and to further validate those savings through more detailed energy models and parametric analyses for a subset of buildings. To this end, the thermal performance of a building envelope was quantified based on its heat loss coefficient (UA), obtained from multiplying its surface area (A) by its thermal transmittance (U-value). Heat loss calculations were used as a metric to inform envelope rehabilitation prioritization, while considering other data such as age and physical condition in parallel. Archetype energy models for selected buildings were used to evaluate the impacts of envelope retrofits on energy and GHG savings. The outcomes of this study allowed the University to weigh the benefits of improved energy performance from envelope retrofits against associated capital cost expenditures. Also, the implemented methodology and studied parameters unveiled a new horizon in evaluating the thermal performance of existing building envelopes in Canada, where a building code for existing buildings has not yet been established. Considering the economic findings of the envelope retrofits studied, it was concluded that in the absence of an existing building energy code, the University would likely require additional incentives, such as higher utility costs, higher carbon taxes, or qualifying for utility incentive programs to justify improving existing building envelope performance on the basis of energy only. The strength of the proposed methodology in Chapter 1 was in its balance of effort and ultimate decision-making utility, where reasonable thermal bridging approximations based on simulation models for existing buildings can yield data accurate enough to inform a ranking exercise on a large breadth of subject buildings. However, since numerical models do not consider degradation of building materials, real moisture content, and errors associated with manufacturing and installation, actual building envelope thermal performance differs from 3D simulation models. To study this limitation, in-situ thermal assessments of building envelopes were performed to quantify their actual thermal performances. To this end, Chapters 2 to 4 of this dissertation attempted to determine the viability of an external infrared thermography (IRT) survey technique for quantification of heat losses through the opaque building envelope, and also explores its potential application in identifying and comparing sources of air leakage. The experiments were performed on wood-framed wall assemblies commonly used in Canada due to growing interest among designers, builders, and governments to encourage the use of wood as a building material. In these studies, (Chapter 2 to Chapter 4), thermal transmittances (U-values) of wall assemblies were estimated with external IRT and compared with 3D computer simulations. Furthermore, the impact of the accuracy of U-values estimated with IRT on the deviation of energy simulation outputs with metered data was examined. Finally, a novel relative quantitative infrared index (IRI) was proposed as a means to facilitate rapid evaluation and subsequent ranking of building envelope thermal performance. From the experiments in Chapters 2 & 3, it was found that the U-values obtained with IRT were comparable with simulated values suggesting IRT can be a reliable tool for estimating the thermal performance of wood-framed wall assemblies. Results also demonstrated that thermal imaging artefacts including nonlinear characteristics of infrared (IR) camera focal array, a.k.a. non-uniformity corrections (NUC) and vignetting could have a substantial influence on the accuracy of results, in particular energy model outputs. This limitation was resolved by introducing a practical approach where thermal images were taken from different incident angle. Overall, IRI was found to be a reliable metric for relative quantitative comparison of building envelope thermal performance regardless of boundary conditions. Moreover, outcomes of the IRT air leakage study in Chapter 4 indicated that combined qualitative and quantitative IRT approaches could potentially be implemented by practitioners to identify sources of air leakage and thermal bridges in buildings and compare their relative severity. Since blower door testing is gradually being introduced as a building code requirement to measure building envelope airtightness in an increasing number of Canadian jurisdictions, performing IRT simultaneously is potentially valuable exercise in this context. Ultimately, the methodologies outlined in Chapters 2 to 4 can help decision-makers to characterize building envelope retrofits from a performance perspective, and potentially serve as a basis for governments to develop policies to improve existing building energy performance. The methodologies in Chapters 2 to 4 prompted opportunities to utilize the emergent technology of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with an infrared camera for quick thermal assessments of building envelopes. The last chapter of this dissertation, Chapter 5, outlines advantages and limitations of aerial IRT (UAV-IRT) surveys compared to conventional stationary IRT. Furthermore, a set of best practices for UAV-IRT were presented to minimize dynamic measurement uncertainty. It was concluded that with the current IR camera technology, aerial surveys for quantitative thermal assessment of building envelope are not as accurate as with conventional infrared thermography; further investigations by manufacturers and researchers are recommended. / Graduate

Text in English / This study offers a close look at Andrew Niccol’s (b 1964) satirical film S1mOne from a biocultural perspective emphasising the technological simulation of a Hollywood celebrity and the farce ensuing from her creation. The film is based on Niccol’s assumption that the hypertrophied culture into which he places his cultural object will be one in which human traits of sociality will be well advanced and the highly demanding genre of satire will be entertaining, persuasive, and on occasion punitive in its ridicule of Hollywood. The study makes a contribution to the idea that a cultural object/text operates as a rapid mechanism for propagating cognition — it shows how Niccol has adapted to less than optimal conditions in his world of Hollywood — in this case he parodies the role of the director of Hollywood films in the figure of Taransky. Cognition is understood as that series of mental processes which include attention, memory, learning (from mimicry as well as other forms), problem solving, ratiocination, and making decisions. Niccol relies on his audience's embodied capacities and skills of recognition, thinking, feeling, remembering, and accounting for his message to be understood. Niccol’s technical skill in editing his narrative to emphasise the satire of the narrative of Taransky and Simone is a critical part of the film’s success. Interpersonal and social propagation of cognition is achieved through reference to other cultural artefacts recalling a variety of similar ideas used in film and other visual creations. The cultural significance of the simulacrum, Simone, is that she is a vehicle for and a form of socially propagated cognition. The powerful imagistic impression of film helps to structure internalised cognitive artefacts in the viewers who are expected to reflect on their habits of viewing and thinking. When a film, artwork, poem or novel is analysed, then such a cultural object becomes a vehicle of and for propagating cognition. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Art History)

No description available.

The Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010-2011, in particular the 4th September 2010 Darfield earthquake and the 22nd February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, produced severe and widespread liquefaction in Christchurch and surrounding areas. The scale of the liquefaction was unprecedented, and caused extensive damage to a variety of man-made structures, including residential houses. Around 20,000 residential houses suffered serious damage as a direct result of the effects of liquefaction, and this resulted in approximately 7000 houses in the worst-hit areas being abandoned. Despite the good performance of light timber-framed houses under the inertial loads of the earthquake, these structures could not withstand the large loads and deformations associated with liquefaction, resulting in significant damage. The key structural component of houses subjected to liquefaction effects was found to be their foundations, as these are in direct contact with the ground. The performance of house foundations directly influenced the performance of the structure as a whole. Because of this, and due to the lack of research in this area, it was decided to investigate the performance of houses and in particular their foundations when subjected to the effects of liquefaction. The data from the inspections of approximately 500 houses conducted by a University of Canterbury summer research team following the 4th September 2010 earthquake in the worst-hit areas of Christchurch were analysed to determine the general performance of residential houses when subjected to high liquefaction loads. This was followed by the detailed inspection of around 170 houses with four different foundation types common to Christchurch and New Zealand: Concrete perimeter with short piers constructed to NZS3604, concrete slab-on-grade also to NZS3604, RibRaft slabs designed by Firth Industries and driven pile foundations. With a focus on foundations, floor levels and slopes were measured, and the damage to all areas of the house and property were recorded. Seven invasive inspections were also conducted on houses being demolished, to examine in more detail the deformation modes and the causes of damage in severely affected houses. The simplified modelling of concrete perimeter sections subjected to a variety of liquefaction-related scenarios was also performed, to examine the comparative performance of foundations built in different periods, and the loads generated under various bearing loss and lateral spreading cases. It was found that the level of foundation damage is directly related to the level of liquefaction experienced, and that foundation damage and liquefaction severity in turn influence the performance of the superstructure. Concrete perimeter foundations were found to have performed most poorly, suffering high local floor slopes and being likely to require foundation repairs even when liquefaction was low enough that no surface ejecta was seen. This was due to their weak, flexible foundation structure, which cannot withstand liquefaction loads without deforming. The vulnerability of concrete perimeter foundations was confirmed through modelling. Slab-on-grade foundations performed better, and were unlikely to require repairs at low levels of liquefaction. Ribraft and piled foundations performed the best, with repairs unlikely up to moderate levels of liquefaction. However, all foundation types were susceptible to significant damage at higher levels of liquefaction, with maximum differential settlements of 474mm, 202mm, 182mm and 250mm found for concrete perimeter, slab-on-grade, ribraft and piled foundations respectively when subjected to significant lateral spreading, the most severe loading scenario caused by liquefaction. It was found through the analysis of the data that the type of exterior wall cladding, either heavy or light, and the number of storeys, did not affect the performance of foundations. This was also shown through modelling for concrete perimeter foundations, and is due to the increased foundation strengths provided for heavily cladded and two-storey houses. Heavy roof claddings were found to increase the demands on foundations, worsening their performance. Pre-1930 concrete perimeter foundations were also found to be very vulnerable to damage under liquefaction loads, due to their weak and brittle construction.

Text in English / This study offers a close look at Andrew Niccol’s (b 1964) satirical film S1mOne from a biocultural perspective emphasising the technological simulation of a Hollywood celebrity and the farce ensuing from her creation. The film is based on Niccol’s assumption that the hypertrophied culture into which he places his cultural object will be one in which human traits of sociality will be well advanced and the highly demanding genre of satire will be entertaining, persuasive, and on occasion punitive in its ridicule of Hollywood. The study makes a contribution to the idea that a cultural object/text operates as a rapid mechanism for propagating cognition — it shows how Niccol has adapted to less than optimal conditions in his world of Hollywood — in this case he parodies the role of the director of Hollywood films in the figure of Taransky. Cognition is understood as that series of mental processes which include attention, memory, learning (from mimicry as well as other forms), problem solving, ratiocination, and making decisions. Niccol relies on his audience's embodied capacities and skills of recognition, thinking, feeling, remembering, and accounting for his message to be understood. Niccol’s technical skill in editing his narrative to emphasise the satire of the narrative of Taransky and Simone is a critical part of the film’s success. Interpersonal and social propagation of cognition is achieved through reference to other cultural artefacts recalling a variety of similar ideas used in film and other visual creations. The cultural significance of the simulacrum, Simone, is that she is a vehicle for and a form of socially propagated cognition. The powerful imagistic impression of film helps to structure internalised cognitive artefacts in the viewers who are expected to reflect on their habits of viewing and thinking. When a film, artwork, poem or novel is analysed, then such a cultural object becomes a vehicle of and for propagating cognition. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Art History)