Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Also available in print.

"What is Justice?" is a compilation of essays by Hans Kelsen that deal with problems of justice and their relationship to law, philosophy, and science. The broad scope and applicability of "What is Justice?" makes it a valuable source for research and writing across jurisdictions and in almost any area of law. Access to the English translation of "What is Justice?" is challenging because the book has no index. This present Index aims to provide scholars with a way in to Kelsen's work. Kelsen's tightly packed generalisations and conceptual arguments, which are intended to apply generally to all laws and legal systems, are not accessible to all readers. The Index attempts to present Kelsen's theories in a manner that enables readers to apply them to any area of law and to take full advantage of Kelsen's wisdom. The authors call their work an "index" because it most closely resembles that literary form. However, the work and its companion, "A Diachronic Index and Glossary to [Kelsen's] Pure Theory of Law?" attempt much more. Each has features of a concordance, and each finds conceptual links between Kelsen's insight and legal institutions and reasoning in areas of law that he never considered. A paper that uses the Indexes to examine such links is John Prebble, "Kelsen, the Principle of Exclusion of Contradictions, and General Anti-Avoidance Rules in Tax Law." / Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

眾所矚目的第一次「辜汪會談」在辜振甫與汪道涵握手、坐上談判桌、簽署協議後落幕，兩岸從此進入一個充滿變數的「談判時代」。無論台灣兩千萬人如何看待這次的辜汪會談，也無論各界對這次會談的定位呈現多大的認知差距，兩岸關係從對抗、隔絕到走向談判桌，已是種必然的發展。如此的時代意義，正是從事本文研究的基本動機。 　　面對兩岸談判時代的來臨，能否從第一次「辜汪會談」雙方的談判行為中尋出脈絡，作為兩岸日後談判的範例，是本文所欲深入研究之處。而文中除了對兩岸的談判行為作客觀的分析外，亦關心該會談對台灣所造成的衝擊與影響。藉由辜汪會談獲得啟示，使我方政府在面對中共這麼一個實力強大、戰略目標明確且戰術手段靈活的談判對手時，能夠步步紮實、開拓勝機，正是本文研究期許達到之目的。本論文分為五章，十四節，共計十萬餘字。第一章為導論，選寫本論文之研究動機、目的、方法、途徑、範圍與架構。第二章則將一般的談判概念及中共的談判理念作一歸納說明，並概述兩岸事務性談判。第三章說明第一次辜汪會談前兩岸關係的發展及會談的完整經過。第四章則分析台灣與中共雙方在會談中的談判行為，並以第二章所提之談判概念加以檢視。第五章結論，探討第一次辜汪會談對現階段兩岸關係及國際關係呈現的意義，並對會談作一綜合評析，以期台灣能自此次會談獲得啟示，為日後談判開拓勝機。

Since their invention in the early 1900s, Tuned Vibration Absorbers (TVAs) have shown to be effective in suppressing vibrations of machines and structures. A vibration absorber is a vibratory subsystem attached to a primary system. It normally consists of a mass, a spring, and a damper. Mounted to the primary system, a TVA counteracts the motions of the primary system, "absorbing" the primary structure's vibrations. A conventional passive TVA, however, is only effective when it is tuned properly, hence, the name "tuned" vibration absorber. In many practical applications, inevitable off-tuning (or mistuning) of a TVA occurs because of the system's operating conditions or parameter changes over time. For example, the mass in a building floor could change by moving furnishings, people gathering, etc., which can "off-tune" TVAs. When TVAs are off-tuned, their effectiveness is sharply reduced. Moreover, the off-tuned TVAs can excessively amplify the vibration levels of the primary structures; therefore, not only rendering the TVA useless but also possibly causing damage to the structures. Off-tuning is one of the major problems of conventional passive TVAs. This study proposes a novel semiactive TVA, which strives to combine the best features of passive and active TVA systems. The semiactive TVA in this study includes a Magneto-Rheological (MR) damper that is used as a controllable damping element, for providing the real-time adjustability that is needed for improving the TVA performance. This study is conducted in two phases. The first phase provides a numerical investigation on a two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) numerical model in which the primary structure is coupled with a TVA. The numerical investigation considers four semiactive control methods for the MR TVAs, in addition to an equivalent passive TVA. These numerical models are optimally tuned using numerical optimization techniques to compare each TVA system. These tuned systems then serve as the basis for numerical parametric studies for further evaluation of their dynamic performance. The parametric study covers the effects of damping, as well as system parameter variations (off-tuning). The results indicates that semiactive TVAs are more effective in reducing the maximum vibrations of the primary structure and are more robust when subjected to off-tuning. Additionally, the numerical study identifies the "On-off Displacement-Based Groundhook control (on-off DBG)" as the most suitable control method for the semiactive TVA among control methods considered in this study. For the second phase of this study, an experimental study is performed on a test setup, which represents a 2-DOF structure model coupled with an MR TVA. Using this setup, a series of tests are conducted in the same manner as the numerical study to evaluate the performance of the semiactive TVA. The primary purposes of the experiment are to further evaluate the most promising semiactive control methods and to serve as a "proof-of-concept" of the effectiveness of this MR TVA for floor vibration applications. The results indicate that the semiactive TVA with displacement-based groundhook control outperforms the equivalent passive TVA in reducing the maximum vibrations of the primary structure. This confirms the numerical result that identifies on-off DBG control method as the "best" control method for the MR TVA among four semiactive control schemes considered. The experimental robustness study is also conducted, focusing on the dynamic performance of both the passive and the semiactive TVAs when the mass of the primary system changes (mass off-tuning). The mass of the primary system varied from -23 % to +23 % of its nominal value by adding and removing external masses. The experimental results show that the semiactive TVA is more robust to changes in the primary mass than the passive TVA. These results justify the benefits of the use of semiactive MR TVAs in structures, such as building floor systems. The off-tuning analysis further suggests that, in practice, semiactive TVAs should be tuned slightly less than their optimum in order to compensate for any added masses to the structure. Additionally, the lessons learned from the experimental study have paved the way for implementing the semiactive MR TVA on a test floor, which is currently in progress under a separate study. / Ph. D.

No description available.

No description available.