Unbounded domains often appear in engineering applications, such as acoustic or elastic wave radiation from a body immersed in an infinite medium. To simulate the unboundedness of the domain special boundary conditions have to be imposed: the Sommerfeld radiation condition. In the present work we focused on steady-state wave propagation. The objective of this research is to obtain accurate prediction of phenomena occurring in exterior acoustics and elastodynamics and ensure the quality of the solutions even for high wavenumbers. To achieve this aim, we develop higher-order domain-based schemes: Spectral Element Method (SEM) coupled to Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN ), Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) and Infinite Element (IEM) methods. Spectral elements combine the rapid convergence rates of spectral methods with the geometric flexibility of the classical finite element methods. The interpolation is based on Chebyshev and Legendre polynomials. This work presents an implementation of these techniques and their validation exploiting some benchmark problems. A detailed comparison between the DtN, PML and IEM is made in terms of accuracy and convergence, conditioning and computational cost.

Part I: The present work is to calculate dimensionless three-dimensional universal phase and lift force diagrams for a microbubble or pendant drop in a static liquid on a solid surface or orifice. Studying microbubble dynamics is important due to its controlling mass, momentum, energy and concentration transfer rates encountered in micro- and nano-sciences and technologies. In this work, dimensionless phase and force diagrams are presented by applying an equation for microbubble shape to accuracy of the second order of small Bond number provided by O¡¦Brien (1991). Two dimensionless independent parameters, Bond number and contact angle (or base radius), are required to determine dimensionless phase and force diagrams governing static and dynamic states of a microbubble. The phase diagram divides the microbubble surface into three regions, the apex to inflection, inflection to neck, and neck to the edge of microbubble. The growth, collapse, departure and entrapment of a microbubble on a surface thus can be described. The lift forces include hydrostatic buoyancy, difference in gas and hydrostatic pressures at the microbubble base, capillary pressure and surface tension resulted from variation of circumference. The force to attach the microbubble to solid surface is the surface tension resulted from variation of circumference, which is not accounted for in literature. Adjusting the base radius to control static and dynamic behaviors of a microbubble is more effective than Bond number. Part II: Controlling states and growth of a microscale bubble (or pendant drop) in a static liquid on a surface by introducing general phase diagrams is proposed. Microbubbles are often used to affect transport phenomena in micro- and nano-technologies. In this work, a general phase diagram is provided by applying a perturbation solution of Young-Laplace equation for bubble shape with truncation errors of the second power of small Bond number. The three-dimensional phase diagram for a given Bond number is uniquely described by the dimensionless radius of curvature at the apex, contact angle and base radius of the microbubble. Provided that initial and end states are chosen, adjusting two of them gives the desired states and growth, decay and departure of the bubble described by path lines in the phase diagram. A universal three-dimensional phase diagram for a microbubble is also introduced.

Both spinal pain and temporomandibular disorders (TMD) commonly occur in the general population. Previous studies demonstrate neurophysiologic and biomechanical couplings between the trigeminal and cervical regions. This investigation tested the null hypothesis of no relationship between spinal pain (neck, shoulder and/or low back) and TMD, by using questionnaires and clinical examinations of the jaw function. In an age- and sex-matched case-control study, the specific aim was to compare the prevalence of signs and symptoms of TMD among cases with long-term spinal pain and controls without spinal pain. The results showed that subjects with spinal pain had signs and symptoms of TMD significantly more often than did controls. The associations remained after excluding all participants with jaw pain. Furthermore, the comorbidity pattern was similar, regardless of location of spinal pain. In a cross-sectional study, the specific aim was to test whether there is a reciprocal cross-sectional dose-response-like relationship between spinal pain and TMD. Two different designs were used, one with frequency/severity of spinal pain as independent variable, and the other, with frequency/severity of TMD symptoms as independent variable. The analysis showed increasing odds for presence of TMD symptoms with increasing frequency/severity of spinal pain, and increasing odds for presence of spinal pain with increasing frequency/severity of TMD symptoms. In a case-control study within a 2-year prospective cohort, the specific aim was to test whether there is a reciprocal temporal relationship between signs and symptoms in trigeminally, and symptoms in spinally, innervated areas. Incidence of symptoms in these areas was analyzed in relation to presence of spinal pain, headaches, and signs and symptoms of TMD at baseline. The main findings were that presence of signs of TMD at baseline increased the onset of spinal pain and symptoms in the trigeminal area, and that spinal pain increased the onset of symptoms in the trigeminal area. An augmentation effect between the significant baseline variables was observed for the incidence of headaches and jaw pain. In conclusion, the investigation demonstrated a cross-sectional and temporal relationship between spinal pain and TMD; thus, the null hypothesis was rejected. The results indicate common pathophysiological mechanisms in the development of spinal pain and TMD. The comorbidity and reciprocal influence that were found call for an integrated and multidimensional approach in the management of individuals with long-term spinal pain and TMD.

La tesi tracta, des del punt de vista de l’anàlisi de dades, la possibilitat de detecció directa d’ones gravitatòries emeses per sistemes binaris d’objectes compactes de massa similar: forats negres, estels de neutrons, nanes blanques. En els capítols introductoris, a) es dóna una descripció detallada i exhaustiva de com passar dels patrons d’ona teòrics a la senyal detectada; b) s’introdueixen les eines més emprades en l’anàlisi de dades d’ones gravitatòries, amb especial menció a la discussió sobre les amplituds efectiva i característica. A més, els resultats originals de la tesi segueixen tres línies de recerca diferents: 1) S’ha predit la precisió amb la que el futur detector interferomètric espacial LISA, estimarà els paràmetres (posició, masses, velocitat de rotació, paràmetres cosmològics…) de les observacions de xocs entre dos forats negres supermassius en la fase “inspiral”. 2) S’ha desenvolupat un algorisme propi de cerca de senyals gravitatòries procedents de sistemes binaris estel•lars, basat en teories de probabilitat Bayesiana i MCMC. Aquest algorisme distingeix alhora milers de senyals superposades en una única sèrie temporal de dades, extraient paràmetres individuals de cadascuna d’elles. 3) S’ha definit de manera matemàtica rigorosa com determinar el rang de validesa (per a extracció de paràmetres i detecció) de models aproximats de patrons d’ones gravitatòries, aplicant-ho a un cas concret de models semi-analítics / La tesis trata, desde el punto de vista del análisis de datos, la posibilidad de detección directa de ondas gravitacionales emitidas por sistemas binarios de objetos compactos de masa similar: agujeros negros, estrellas de neutrones, enanas blancas. En los capítulos introductorios, a) se desarrolla una descripción detallada y exhaustiva de como pasar de los patrones de onda teóricos a la señal detectada; b) se introducen las herramientas más utilizadas en el análisis de datos de ondas gravitacionales, con especial mención a la discusión sobre las amplitudes efectiva y característica. Además, los resultados originales de la tesis siguen tres líneas de investigación diferentes: 1) Se ha predicho la precisión con la que el futuro detector interferométrico espacial LISA, estimará los parámetros (posición, masas, velocidad de rotación, parámetros cosmológicos…) de las observaciones de choques entre dos agujeros negros supermasivos en la fase “inspiral”. 2) Se ha desarrollado un algoritmo propio de búsqueda de señales gravitacionales procedentes de sistemas binarios estelares, basado en teorías de probabilidad Bayesiana y MCMC. Este algoritmo distingue a la vez miles de señales superpuestas en una única serie temporal de datos, extrayendo parámetros individuales de cada una de ellas. 3) Se ha definido de manera matemática rigurosa como determinar el rango de validez (para extracción de parámetros y detección) de modelos aproximados de patrones de ondas gravitacionales, aplicándolo a un caso concreto de modelos semi-analíticos. / In this PhD thesis one studies, from the data analysis perspective, the possibility of direct detection of gravitational waves emitted by similar mass compact binary objects: black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs. In the introductory chapters, a) a detailed and exhaustive description about how to derive the detected strain from the theoretical emitted waveform predictions is given; b) the most used gravitational wave data analysis results are derived, being worth pointing out the discussion about effective and characteristic amplitudes. Moreover, three different research lines have been followed in the thesis: 1) It has been predicted the parameter estimation (position, masses, spin, cosmological parameters…) of supermassive black hole binary inspiral signals, observed with the future interferometric space detector, LISA. 2) A new algorithm, based on Bayesian probability and MCMC techniques, has been developed in order to search for gravitational wave signals from stellar-mass binary systems. The algorithm is able to distinguish thousands of overlapping signals from a single observed time series, allowing for individual parameter extraction. 3) It has been, mathematically and rigorously, defined how to compute the validity range (for parameter estimation and detection purposes) of approximated gravitational waveform models, applying it to the particular case of closed-form models

Aquesta tesi proposa una millora del clàssic mètode dels elements finits (finite element method, FEM) per a un tractament eficient de dominis amb contorns corbs: el denominat NURBS-enhanced finite element method (NEFEM). Aquesta millora permet descriure de manera exacta la geometría mitjançant la seva representació del contorn CAD amb non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS), mentre que la solució s'aproxima amb la interpolació polinòmica estàndard. Per tant, en la major part del domini, la interpolació i la integració numèrica són estàndard, retenint les propietats de convergència clàssiques del FEM i facilitant l'acoblament amb els elements interiors. Només es requereixen estratègies específiques per realitzar la interpolació i la integració numèrica en elements afectats per la descripció del contorn mitjançant NURBS.La implementació i aplicació de NEFEM a problemes que requereixen una descripció acurada del contorn són, també, objectius prioritaris d'aquesta tesi. Per exemple, la solució numèrica de les equacions de Maxwell és molt sensible a la descripció geomètrica. Es presenta l'aplicació de NEFEM a problemes d'scattering d'ones electromagnètiques amb una formulació de Galerkin discontinu. S'investiga l'habilitat de NEFEM per obtenir solucions precises amb malles grolleres i aproximacions d'alt ordre, i s'exploren les possibilitats de les anomenades malles NEFEM, amb elements que contenen singularitats dintre d'una cara o aresta d'un element. Utilitzant NEFEM, la mida de la malla no està controlada per la complexitat de la geometria. Això implica una dràstica diferència en la mida dels elements i, per tant, suposa un gran estalvi tant des del punt de vista de requeriments de memòria com de cost computacional. Per tant, NEFEM és una eina poderosa per la simulació de problemes tridimensionals a gran escala amb geometries complexes. D'altra banda, la simulació de problemes d'scattering d'ones electromagnètiques requereix mecanismes per aconseguir una absorció eficient de les ones scattered. En aquesta tesi es discuteixen, optimitzen i comparen dues tècniques en el context de mètodes de Galerkin discontinu amb aproximacions d'alt ordre.La resolució numèrica de les equacions d'Euler de la dinàmica de gasos és també molt sensible a la representació geomètrica. Quan es considera una formulació de Galerkin discontinu i elements isoparamètrics lineals, una producció espúria d'entropia pot evitar la convergència cap a la solució correcta. Amb NEFEM, l'acurada imposició de la condició de contorn en contorns impenetrables proporciona resultats precisos inclús amb una aproximació lineal de la solució. A més, la representació exacta del contorn permet una imposició adequada de les condicions de contorn amb malles grolleres i graus d'interpolació alts. Una propietat atractiva de la implementació proposada és que moltes de les rutines usuals en un codi d'elements finits poden ser aprofitades, per exemple rutines per realitzar el càlcul de les matrius elementals, assemblatge, etc. Només és necessari implementar noves rutines per calcular les quadratures numèriques en elements corbs i emmagatzemar el valor de les funciones de forma en els punts d'integració. S'han proposat vàries tècniques d'elements finits corbs a la literatura. En aquesta tesi, es compara NEFEM amb altres tècniques populars d'elements finits corbs (isoparamètics, cartesians i p-FEM), des de tres punts de vista diferents: aspectes teòrics, implementació i eficiència numèrica. En els exemples numèrics, NEFEM és, com a mínim, un ordre de magnitud més precís comparat amb altres tècniques. A més, per una precisió desitjada NEFEM és també més eficient: necessita un 50% dels graus de llibertat que fan servir els elements isoparamètrics o p-FEM per aconseguir la mateixa precisió. Per tant, l'ús de NEFEM és altament recomanable en presència de contorns corbs i/o quan el contorn té detalls geomètrics complexes. / This thesis proposes an improvement of the classical finite element method (FEM) for an efficient treatment of curved boundaries: the NURBSenhanced FEM (NEFEM). It is able to exactly represent the geometry by means of the usual CAD boundary representation with non-uniform rational Bsplines (NURBS), while the solution is approximated with a standard piecewise polynomial interpolation. Therefore, in the vast majority of the domain, interpolation and numerical integration are standard, preserving the classical finite element (FE) convergence properties, and allowing a seamless coupling with standard FEs on the domain interior. Specifically designed polynomial interpolation and numerical integration are designed only for those elements affected by the NURBS boundary representation.The implementation and application of NEFEM to problems demanding an accurate boundary representation are also primary goals of this thesis. For instance, the numerical solution of Maxwell's equations is highly sensitive to geometry description. The application of NEFEM to electromagnetic scattering problems using a discontinuous Galerkin formulation is presented. The ability of NEFEM to compute an accurate solution with coarse meshes and high-order approximations is investigated, and the possibilities of NEFEM meshes, with elements containing edge or corner singularities, are explored. With NEFEM, the mesh size is no longer subsidiary to geometry complexity, and depends only on the accuracy requirements on the solution, whereas standard FEs require mesh refinement to properly capture the geometry. This implies a drastic difference in mesh size that results in drastic memory savings, and also important savings in computational cost. Thus, NEFEM is a powerful tool for large-scale scattering simulations with complex geometries in three dimensions. Another key issue in the numerical solution of electromagnetic scattering problems is using a mechanism to perform the absorption of outgoing waves. Two perfectly matched layers are discussed, optimized and compared in a high-order discontinuous Galerkin framework.The numerical solution of Euler equations of gas dynamics is also very sensitive to geometry description. Using a discontinuous Galerkin formulation and linear isoparametric elements, a spurious entropy production may prevent convergence to the correct solution. With NEFEM, the exact imposition of the solid wall boundary condition provides accurate results even with a linear approximation of the solution. Furthermore, the exact boundary representation allows using coarse meshes, but ensuring the proper implementation of the solid wall boundary condition. An attractive feature of the proposed implementation is that the usual routines of a standard FE code can be directly used, namely routines for the computation of elemental matrices and vectors, assembly, etc. It is only necessary to implement new routines for the computation of numerical quadratures in curved elements and to store the value of shape functions at integration points. Several curved FE techniques have been proposed in the literature. In this thesis, NEFEM is compared with some popular curved FE techniques (namely isoparametric FEs, cartesian FEs and p-FEM), from three different perspectives: theoretical aspects, implementation and performance. In every example shown, NEFEM is at least one order of magnitude more accurate compared to other techniques. Moreover, for a desired accuracy NEFEM is also computationally more efficient. In some examples, NEFEM needs only 50% of the number of degrees of freedom required by isoparametric FEs or p-FEM. Thus, the use of NEFEM is strongly recommended in the presence of curved boundaries and/or when the boundary of the domain has complex geometric details.

In this thesis, symbol timing recovery based on matched filtering in Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) with bandwidth-bit period product (BT) of 0.3 is investigated. GMSK is the standard modulation type for GSM. Although GMSK modulation is non-linear, it is approximated to Offset Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (OQAM), which is a linear modulation, so that Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (MLSE) method is possible in the receiver part. In this study Typical Urban (TU) channel model developed in COST 207 is used. Two methods are developed on the construction of the matched filter. In order to obtain timing recovery for GMSK signals, these methods are investigated. The fractional time delays are acquired by using interpolation and an iterative maximum search process. The performance of the proposed symbol timing recovery (STR) scheme is assessed by using computer simulations. It is observed that the STR tracks the variations of the frequency selective multipath fading channels almost the same as the Mazo criterion.

We are concerned with the high-fidelity subsurface imaging of the soil, which commonly arises in geotechnical site characterization and geophysical explorations. Specifically, we attempt to image the spatial distribution of the Lame parameters in semi-infinite, three-dimensional, arbitrarily heterogeneous formations, using surficial measurements of the soil's response to probing elastic waves. We use the complete waveforms of the medium's response to drive the inverse problem. Specifically, we use a partial-differential-equation (PDE)-constrained optimization approach, directly in the time-domain, to minimize the misfit between the observed response of the medium at select measurement locations, and a computed response corresponding to a trial distribution of the Lame parameters. We discuss strategies that lend algorithmic robustness to the proposed inversion schemes. To limit the computational domain to the size of interest, we employ perfectly-matched-layers (PMLs). The PML is a buffer zone that surrounds the domain of interest, and enforces the decay of outgoing waves. In order to resolve the forward problem, we present a hybrid finite element approach, where a displacement-stress formulation for the PML is coupled to a standard displacement-only formulation for the interior domain, thus leading to a computationally cost-efficient scheme. We discuss several time-integration schemes, including an explicit Runge-Kutta scheme, which is well-suited for large-scale problems on parallel computers. We report numerical results demonstrating stability and efficacy of the forward wave solver, and also provide examples attesting to the successful reconstruction of the two Lame parameters for both smooth and sharp profiles, using synthetic records. We also report the details of two field experiments, whose records we subsequently used to drive the developed inversion algorithms in order to characterize the sites where the field experiments took place. We contrast the full-waveform-based inverted site profile against a profile obtained using the Spectral-Analysis-of-Surface-Waves (SASW) method, in an attempt to compare our methodology against a widely used concurrent inversion approach. We also compare the inverted profiles, at select locations, with the results of independently performed, invasive, Cone Penetrometer Tests (CPTs). Overall, whether exercised by synthetic or by physical data, the full-waveform inversion method we discuss herein appears quite promising for the robust subsurface imaging of near-surface deposits in support of geotechnical site characterization investigations.

Organizational Change and Productivity Growth − Evidence from Sweden This paper uses two different firm level surveys matched with employer-employee data to investigate both determinants and effects of different types of organizational change. The results support the competition hypothesis for inducing organizational change. Among the four measures of organizational change investigated in this paper, only delayering shows significant effects on subsequent productivity growth. Firms and Skills: The Evolution of Worker Sorting We document a significant increase in sorting by both cognitive and non-cognitive skill from 1986 to 2008 using data for 28 cohorts of Swedish men. The skill differences within firms have fallen in all major industries while differences in skill between firms have increased. Two main factors drive the increase in sorting. First, workers in high-skilled occupations, such as engineers, have moved to the IT and telecom industries. Second, assortative matching of workers by skill has become more positive. Trading Off or Having it All? Completed Fertility and Mid-career Earnings of Swedish Men and Women Earnings in mid-career and children are two fundamental outcomes of the life-choices of men and women. This paper explores how these outcomes have changed for Swedish men and women born 1945−1962 by documenting changes in education, assortative mating patterns, completed fertility and mid-career earnings and also how the association between children and earnings has changed over time. Solving the Puzzle − Hours Constraints, Technical Change and Female Labor Supply This paper extends the standard theory of labor supply to incorporate an important ingredient in the labor supply decision of today's women: the role of flexibility and time constraints. Using a life-cycle model, I formalize the notion that as technology allows jobs to become more flexible, time constrained individuals can supply more hours and may therefore find it attractive to opt for a more demanding career.

Within the last decade, a new type of signal acquisition has emerged called Compressive Sensing that has proven especially useful in providing a recoverable representation of sparse signals. This thesis presents similar results for Compressive Parametric Estimation. Here, signals known to lie on some unknown parameterized subspace may be recovered via randomized compressive measurements, provided the number of compressive measurements is a small factor above the product of the parametric dimension with the subspace dimension with an additional logarithmic term. In addition to potential applications that simplify the acquisition hardware, there is also the potential to reduce the computational burden in other applications, and we explore one such application in depth in this thesis. Source localization by matched-field processing (MFP) generally involves solving a number of computationally intensive partial differential equations. We introduce a technique that mitigates this computational workload by ``compressing'' these computations. Drawing on key concepts from the recently developed field of compressed sensing, we show how a low-dimensional proxy for the Green's function can be constructed by backpropagating a small set of random receiver vectors. Then, the source can be located by performing a number of ``short'' correlations between this proxy and the projection of the recorded acoustic data in the compressed space. Numerical experiments in a Pekeris ocean waveguide are presented which demonstrate that this compressed version of MFP is as effective as traditional MFP even when the compression is significant. The results are particularly promising in the broadband regime where using as few as two random backpropagations per frequency performs almost as well as the traditional broadband MFP, but with the added benefit of generic applicability. That is, the computationally intensive backpropagations may be computed offline independently from the received signals, and may be reused to locate any source within the search grid area. This thesis also introduces a round-robin approach for multi-source localization based on Matched-Field Processing. Each new source location is estimated from the ambiguity function after nulling from the data vector the current source location estimates using a robust projection matrix. This projection matrix effectively minimizes mean-square energy near current source location estimates subject to a rank constraint that prevents excessive interference with sources outside of these neighborhoods. Numerical simulations are presented for multiple sources transmitting through a generic Pekeris ocean waveguide that illustrate the performance of the proposed approach which compares favorably against other previously published approaches. Furthermore, the efficacy with which randomized back-propagations may also be incorporated for computational advantage (as in the case of compressive parametric estimation) is also presented.

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