Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:37:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CARLOS EDUARDO PROFETA DE CARVALHO.pdf: 1714302 bytes, checksum: 9f543bb164424f04ade23ddc5bedeb07 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-04 / Cellular automata are discrete complex systems and also fully distributed computational systems, with arbitrarily simple local processing. One of computations that can be made with cellular automata is sorting of numerical sequences. Sorting is a quite relevant topic and widely used in computing, as one of its fundamental processes. This research aimed at the development of sorting algorithms based on one-dimensional cellular automata. Two new versions with range 1 and 3 have been proposed, inspired by the characteristics of existing studies in the literature. In the analysis carried out, the proposed cellular automata have advantages over the approaches that originated them. / Autômatos celulares são sistemas complexos discretos e também sistemas computacionais totalmente distribuídos, com processamento local arbitrariamente simples. Uma das computações que se pode realizar com autômatos celulares é a ordenação de sequências numéricas. A ordenação é um tema bastante relevante e utilizado amplamente na computação, como um de seus processos fundamentais. A presente pesquisa visou o desenvolvimento de algoritmos de ordenação baseados em autômatos celulares unidimensionais. Foram propostas duas novas versões, de raios 1 e 3, inspirados por características de trabalhos existentes na literatura. Em análise realizada, os autômatos celulares propostos apresentam vantagens com relação às abordagens que lhes deram origem.

Nesta tese é abordado o problema da mochila compartimentada e o problema de corte de estoque unidimensional acoplado ao problema dimensionamento de lotes. Para o problema da mochila compartimentada é apresentada a versão unidimensional e proposta a versão bidimensional, denominados como problema da mochila compartimentada unidimensional e problema da mochila compartimentada bidimensional, respectivamente. Para o problema de corte de estoque acoplado ao dimensionamento de lotes são apresentadas três variações: uma máquina para produzir um tipo de objeto; uma máquina para produzir vários tipos de objetos; múltiplas máquinas para produzir vários tipos de objetos. Algumas formulações matemáticas de programação inteira e inteira-mista, decomposições dos problemas em problema mestre e subproblemas e heurísticas baseadas no método geração de colunas são propostas para os problemas da mochila compartimenta e o problema acoplado. Em específico, para o problema acoplado são aplicadas decomposições Dantzig-Wolfe, que podem ser por período, por máquina ou por período e máquina. Além disso, uma heurística baseada em grafo E/OU é proposta para o problema da mochila compartimentada bidimensional / In this thesis we present the constrained compartmentalized knapsack problem and the one dimensional cutting stock problem integrated with the capacitated lot sizing problem. For the constrained compartmentalized knapsack problem, the one dimensional version is presented and the two dimensional version is proposed, called one-dimensional compartmentalized knapsack problem and two-dimensional compartmentalized knapsack problem, respectively. For the cutting stock problem integrated with the capacitated lot sizing problem three variations are considered: one machine to produce one type of object; one machine to produce multiple types of objects; multiple machines to produce multiple types of objects. Some integer and mixed programming formulations, decompositions of the problems in master problem and subproblems and heuristics based on column generation method are proposed for the compartmentalized knapsack problem and the cutting stock problem integrated with the capacitated lot sizing problem. In particular, the period, the machine, and the period and machine Dantzig- Wolfe decompositions are applied for the integrated problem. Moreover, a heuristic based on the graph AND/OR is proposed for the two-dimensional compartmentalized knapsack problem. Computational results show that these mathematical formulations and methods provide good solutions

[ES] Para lograr una correspondencia óptima entre el turbocompresor y el motor de combustión interna en un amplio rango del mapa de operación del motor, su compleja interacción se analiza comúnmente por medio de modelos transitorios unidimensionales. El flujo pulsante de los gases de escape del motor causa altas variaciones de caudal, presión total y temperatura total en la entrada de la turbina. Esto lleva a la turbina del turbocompresor hacia condiciones extremadamente fuera de diseño. Por lo tanto, se requieren amplios mapas de operación de turbina como entrada para estos modelos unidimensionales. La medida de los mapas de turbinas suele estar restringida por el choque y el bombeo del compresor. En esta tesis, el compresor del turbocompresor se convirtió en una turbina centrífuga para ayudar a la rotación del eje cuando la turbina produce o incluso consume baja potencia. Para aumentar la potencia de salida de la rueda del compresor, se colocó una IGV aguas arriba de la entrada del compresor. Para reducir el esfuerzo de adiabatización de la significativa transferencia de calor interna en estas condiciones de operación, se desarrolló una correlación simple que solo depende de las medidas de temperatura de fluidos. Con los datos obtenidos fuera del diseño, se validó una configuración de CFD para el logro de resultados convergentes en condiciones extremadamente fuera del diseño. Para reducir la problemática de los elevados ángulos de flujo en la salida de la turbina, cuando se opera con bajos caudales másicos, el conducto de salida se extendió y se tuvo que colocar un conducto cónico justo antes de la salida del dominio. Por medio de los resultados de CFD bien validados, se analizaron los efectos tridimensionales del flujo. Operando en condiciones fuera del diseño, el remolino de salida, y por lo tanto, el gradiente de presión estática es tan alto que el flujo colapsa y se produce un flujo reverso. Esta reversión del flujo regresa al interior del rotor y se mezcla nuevamente con el flujo principal. Por un lado, este efecto produce pérdidas de presión y un par localmente negativo en el rodete. Por otro lado, el flujo revertido aumenta localmente el flujo de masa y restringe la sección de flujo cerca de la carcasa. Por lo tanto, la carga del alabe y la producción de torsión local aumentan cerca del espacio por encima del alabe. Aunque se notó un cambio claro en la gráfica de la carga de la etapa en función del coeficiente de flujo tan pronto como ocurre el flujo reverso, no se puede notar un impacto claro en la eficiencia. El análisis adicional del flujo de fuga de la punta en un amplio rango mostró la importancia del flujo impulsado por fricción y el flujo de fuga inducido por incidencia en una condición fuera del diseño. En general, se observó que las pérdidas por fugas en la punta se volvieron más importantes a medida que la turbina opera lejos del punto de diseño. Finalmente, los efectos observados fueron modelados unidimensionalmente. Se desarrolló un modelo de pérdida de fugas en la punta que es capaz de reproducir las tendencias encontradas y muestra una buena capacidad de extrapolación. Los resultados fueron validados con los datos tridimensionales de CFD. A continuación, fue posible desarrollar un método novedoso para la caracterización del flujo de fuga de la punta, que puede modelar el momento y las velocidades del flujo de fuga de la punta para diferentes alturas de separación de la punta en condiciones de diseño y fuera del diseño. Siguiendo con lo anterior, se desarrolló un modelo de extrapolación unidimensional completo para mapas de eficiencia de turbinas adiabáticas. Aprovechando el modelo de fuga de puntas recientemente desarrollado y otros hallazgos de la campaña CFD, se logró una buena calidad de extrapolación en términos de velocidad, relación cinemática de BSR y apertura de VGT. La alta calidad de los resultados se estableció mediante la comparac / [CAT] Per aconseguir una correspondència òptima entre el turbocompressor i el motor de combustió interna en una amplia zona del mapa d'operació del motor, la seva complexa interacció s'analitza comunament per mitjà de models transitoris unidimensionals. El flux polsant dels gasos d'escapament del motor causa altes variacions de cabal, pressió total i temperatura total a l'entrada de la turbina. Això porta a la turbina del turbocompressor cap a condicions extremadament fora de disseny. Per tant, es requereixen amplis mapes d'operació de turbina com a entrada per a aquests models unidimensionals. La mesura dels mapes de turbines sol estar restringida pel choke i el surge del compressor. En aquesta tesi, el compressor del turbocompressor va esdevenir una turbina centrífuga per ajudar a la rotació de l'eix quan la turbina produeix o fins i tot consumeix baixa potència. Per augmentar la potència de sortida de la roda del compressor, es va col·locar una IGV aigües amunt de l'entrada del compressor. Per reduir l'esforç de adiabatización de la significativa transferència de calor interna en aquestes condicions d'operació, es va desenvolupar una correlació simple que només depèn de les mesures de temperatura del fluids. Amb les dades obtingudes fora del disseny, es va validar una configuració de CFD per a l'assoliment de resultats convergents en condicions extremadament fora del disseny. Per reduir la problemàtica dels elevats angles de flux a la sortida de la turbina, quan s'opera amb baixos cabals màssics, el conducte de sortida es va estendre i es va haver de posar un conducte cònic just abans de la sortida del domini. Per mitjà dels resultats de CFD ben validats, es van analitzar els efectes tridimensionals del flux. Operant en condicions fora del disseny, el remolí de sortida, i per tant, el gradient de pressió estàtica és tan alt que el flux col·lapsa i es produeix un flux revers. Aquesta reversió del flux torna a l'interior del rotor i es barreja novament amb el flux principal. D'una banda, aquest efecte produeix pèrdues de pressió i un parell localment negatiu en el rodet. D'altra banda, el flux revertit augmenta localment el flux de massa i restringeix la secció de flux prop del carcassa. Per tant, la càrrega del alabi i la producció de torsió local augmenten prop de l'espai per sobre damunt del alabi. Encara que es va notar un canvi clar en la gràfica de la càrrega de l'etapa en funció del coeficient de flux quan succeeix el flux revers, no es pot notar un impacte clar en l'eficiència. L'anàlisi addicional del flux de fugida de la punta en un ampli rang va mostrar la importància del flux impulsat per fricció i el flux de fugida induït per incidència en una condició fora del disseny. En general, es va observar que les pèrdues per fuites a la punta es van tornar més importants quan la turbina opera lluny del punt de disseny. Finalment, els efectes observats van ser modelats unidimensionalment. Es va desenvolupar un model de pèrdua de fuites a la punta que és capaç de reproduir les tendències trobades i mostra una bona capacitat d'extrapolació. Els resultats van ser validats amb les dades tridimensionals de CFD. A continuació, va ser possible desenvolupar un mètode innovador per a la caracterització del flux de fugida de la punta, que pot modelar el moment i les velocitats del flux de fugida de la punta per diferents alçades de separació de la punta en condicions de disseny i fora de l' disseny. Finalment, es va desenvolupar un model d'extrapolació unidimensional complet per a mapes d'eficiència de turbines adiabàtiques. Fent ús del model de fugida de puntes recentment desenvolupat i altres troballes de la campanya CFD, es va aconseguir una bona qualitat de extrapolació en termes de velocitat, relació cinemàtica de BSR i obertura de VGT. L'alta qualitat dels resultats es va establir mitjançant la comparació amb la gran quantitat de dades mesurades en primer lloc. / [EN] To achieve an optimal matching between the turbocharger and internal combustion engine over a wide range of the engine operation map, their complex interaction is commonly analyzed by means of transient one-dimensional modeling. The pulsating flow of the engine exhaust gases causes high variations of turbine inlet mass flow, total pressure, and total temperature. This pushes the turbocharger turbine operation towards extreme off-design conditions. Hence, wide turbine operation maps are required as input for the one-dimensional models. The measurement of turbine maps is typically restricted by compressor choke and surge. At the same time, only minor geometrical changes are required to maintain the important thermal characteristics of the turbocharger. In this thesis the turbocharger compressor was converted into a centrifugal turbine to assist the axis rotation when the turbine produces or even consumes low power. For enhancing the power output from the compressor wheel, an IGV was placed upstream of the compressor inlet. To reduce the effort for adiabatizing, a simple correlation only dependent on fluid temperature measurements was developed. Further test monitoring strategies were documented that can assist the measurement of off-design conditions. With the obtained off-design data a CFD setup for the achievement of convergent results in extreme off-design conditions was validated. To reduce the problem of high swirl angles in the turbine outlet when operating with low mass flows, the outlet duct was extended and a tapered duct had to be attached just before the domain outlet. By means of the well validated CFD results, three-dimensional flow effects were analyzed. Operating in high off-design conditions the outlet swirl and thus, the static pressure gradient was so high that the flow collapses and a reverse flow develops. This reverse flow reenters the rotor and mixes again with the main flow. On one hand this effect produces pressure losses and locally negative torque at the hub. However, on the other hand the reentering flow increases the mass flow locally and restricts the flow section close to the hub. Hence, blade loading and local torque production are increased close to the shroud. Although a clear change in the stage loading vs. flow coefficient plot was noticed as soon as the reverse flow occurs, no clear impact on the efficiency can be seen. Further analysis of tip leakage flow over a wide range showed the importance of friction driven flow and incidence induced leakage flow in off-design condition. In general, greater tip leakage losses were observed as further the turbine operates away from the design point. Furthermore, it was stated that a commonly used correlation for the characterization of tip leakage flow is not capable of reproducing either qualitative trends nor quantities when the tip gap height or the operating point is varied. Finally, the observed effects were modeled in one-dimensional form. A tip leakage loss model that is capable of reproducing the found trends and shows good extrapolation capability was developed. Results were validated using three-dimensional CFD data. As a result, it was possible to develop a novel method for tip leakage flow characterization, which can model tip leakage flow momentum and velocities for varying tip gap heights in design and off-design conditions. Following, a complete one-dimensional extrapolation model for adiabatic turbine efficiency maps was developed. Taking advantage of the newly developed tip leakage model and other findings from the CFD campaign, good extrapolation quality in terms of speed, blade-to-jet speed ratio and VGT opening was achieved. High accuracy of the results was stated by the comparison with the initially measured wide range data. / Inhestern, LB. (2019). Measurement, Simulation, and 1D-Modeling of Turbocharger Radial Turbines at Design and Extreme Off-Design Conditions [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/119989 / TESIS

The paper deals with tau-extrapolation - a modification of the multigrid method, which leads to solutions with an improved con- vergence order. The number of numerical operations depends linearly on the problem size and is not much higher than for a multigrid method without this modification. The paper starts with a short mathematical foundation of the tau-extrapolation. Then follows a careful tuning of some multigrid components necessary for a successful application of tau-extrapolation. The next part of the paper presents numerical illustrations to the theoretical investigations for one- dimensional test problems. Finally some experience with the use of tau-extrapolation for the Navier-Stokes equations is given.

Att barn spenderar sina dagar på förskolan medan föräldrarna lönearbetar tillhör vanligheten. Barns vistelsetid på förskolan står generellt i proportion till förälderns arbetstid. Förskolan är en plats för fostran och socialisation, och lönearbetet en möjlighet till självrealisation. Arbetets position, syfte, den tid det tar i anspråk och de normer som omger det skapar en komplex och många gånger motstridig tillvaro där lojalitetskonflikter och etiska dilemman lätt kan uppstå. Vår uppsats utgår från en semistrukturerad kvalitativ intervju med en fenomenologisk ansats. Vi undersöker hur åtta föräldrar med barn på förskola upplever sin situation utifrån de krav som ställs från sysselsättning, förskola och viljan att göra det bästa för sitt barn. De tre perspektiven förskola, barn och arbetsnorm lyser som en röd tråd genom uppsatsen och analyseras med en tematisk analysmetod. Syftet är att bättre förstå arbete, och dess position utifrån föräldrarnas upplevelser; hur arbetet och förskola påverkar föräldrarna. Roland Paulsens begrepp arbetssamhället används som kritisk utgångspunkt för att belysa och synliggöra arbetets problemfyllda och ologiska uppenbarelse som arbetet kan medföra. Arbetssamhället som begrepp syftar lite förenklat på det samhälle där lönearbete blir ett självändamål, det samhälle där det är viktigare att du arbetar än vad du arbetar med, eller ens om arbetet fyller någon som helst funktion. Arbetssamhället kompletteras med Herbert Marcuses endimensionella paradigm som synliggörs en idémässig begränsning hos människor, en svårighet att kritiskt ifrågasätta tillvaron på strukturell nivå. Resultatanalysen visar att upplevelsen av tidsbrist och ömsesidig flexibilitet mellan förskolan, familjen och arbetet skapar problem i vardagen. Vilket ofta ger upphov till en känsla av stress, oro och olust. Många av föräldrarna gav också uttryck för överliggande känsla av otillräcklighet trots att de försökte följa normerna och omgivningens krav. Även om föräldrarna gjorde allt rätt infann sig många gånger en känsla av fel / It is common for children to spend their days in preschool while their parents are at work. Children's time spent in preschool is generally in proportion to the parent's working hours. Preschool is a place for education and socialization, and labour an opportunity for self-realization. The labour´s position, purpose, the time it takes and the norms that surrounds it create a complex and often contradictory existence where conflicts of loyalty and ethical dilemmas easily can arise. The thesis is based on a semi-structured qualitative interview with a phenomenological approach and examines how parents with children in preschool experience their situation based on the demands placed on them from their occupation, the preschool, and the desire to do what is best for their child. The three perspectives; preschool, children, and norm of labour runs through the essay and are evaluated at the end, under the results analysis and discussion. The purpose is to better understand labour, and its position based on the parents' experiences; how labour and preschool affects the parents. Roland Paulsen's concept of the “labour-society” is used as a critical starting point to illuminate and make the problems related to labour visible and the illogical revelation that the labour can entail. The labour-society simplified a bit, refers to the society where labour becomes an end in itself. A society where it is more important that you work than what you work with, or even if the work itself fulfils any function or purpose. Labour-society is supplemented with Herbert Marcuse´s one-dimensional paradigm, which reveals an ideational limitation in humans, a difficulty to critically questioning one’s existence at the structural level. The results analysis shows that a feeling of lack of time and mutual flexibility between preschool, family and work creates problem in everyday life. Which often gives rise to a feeling of stress, anxiety and discomfort. Many of the parents also expressed an overriding feeling of inadequacy despite trying to follow the norms and requirements of the surroundings. Even if the parents did everything right, there was often a sense of guilt.

Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Entwicklung und Implementierung eines Algorithmus zur Berechnung des diffusiven elektronischen Transportes durch Kohlenstoffnanoröhrchen-Feldeffekttransistoren (CNTFETs) unter Verwendung des Drift-Diffusions-Modells. Als Grundlage dient ein bekannter, eindimensionaler Algorithmus für klassische Halbleiter, durch welchen das elektrostatische Potential im stationären Zustand berechnet werden kann. Dieser Algorithmus wird erweitert, um die geometrischen und physikalischen Besonderheiten von CNTFETs, insbesondere die Quasi-Eindimensionalität, zu berücksichtigen. Wichtige Kenngrößen des CNTFETs werden berechnet und deren Abhängigkeit von den Bauteilparametern wird untersucht.:1. Einleitung 2. Theoretische Betrachtungen 2.1. Kohlenstoffnanoröhrchen 2.1.1. Graphen als Baustein für CNTs 2.1.2. Eigenschaften von CNTs 2.2. Drift-Diffusions-Modell 2.2.1. Drift-Diffusions-Gleichungen 2.2.2. Kontinuitätsgleichungen 2.2.3. Poisson-Gleichung 3. Implementierung 3.1. Modell für klassische Halbleiter 3.1.1. Herleitung der dimensionslosen Bewegungsgleichungen 3.1.2. Umformung der Drift-Diffusions-Gleichungen 3.1.3. Iterative Lösung des Gleichungssystems 3.2. Anwendung des Modells auf Kohlenstoffnanoröhrchen 3.2.1. Betrachtetes Modell 3.2.2. Separationsansatz und Poisson-Gleichung 3.2.3. Anpassung der Drift-Diffusions-Gleichungen 3.2.4. Gate-Spannung 3.2.5. Intrinsische Ladungsträgerdichte und Ladungsträgerrandbedingungen 3.2.6. Dielektrizität 3.3. Numerik 3.3.1. Berechnung der Ladungsträgerdichten 3.3.2. Lösung der Poisson-Gleichung 3.3.3. Iterative Veränderung von Parameterwerten 3.3.4. Überprüfung der Konvergenz des Gitters 4. Auswertung 4.1. Literaturmodelle 4.2. Ergebnisse 4.2.1. Potentialverlauf 4.2.2. Potentialplateau 4.2.3. Abschirmlänge 4.2.4. Stromfluss 4.2.5. Rechenzeit 5. Zusammenfassung Anhang A. Herleitung der Drift-Diffusions-Gleichungen aus der Boltzmann-Transportgleichung B. Herleitung der eindimensionalen Poisson-Gleichung aus dem Separationsansatz

In this thesis we used ESR to investigate magnetic properties of low D vandium and copper oxides in which small quantum spins are arranged in 1D chains and 2D layers. The thesis covers five different low dimensional spin systems. They turned out to be experimental reliazation of some of the most intersiting theoritical models in the field of quantum magnetism.

Fundamental conservation laws predict a dissipationless transport behavior in one-dimensional S=1/2 spin chains. This truly ballistic heat transport suggests anomalously large life times and mean free paths of the elementary excitations of the spin chain, spinons. Despite this rigorous prediction, in any real system, the transport is dissipative, due to the interaction of spinons with defects and phonons. Nevertheless, a promising large magnetic thermal conductivity \\kappa_{mag} has been observed in a few copper-oxide systems. Characteristic for these cuprate systems is a large exchange interaction J along the spin chain. However, due to the limited number and knowledge of the systems showing a large \\kappa_{mag}, it has been difficult, to identify overarching trends. The goal of this thesis therefore is twofold. First, to test new compounds for the appearance of magnetic heat transport and second, to broaden the understanding of the known compounds by studying the influence of various kinds of impurities. In particular, three families of materials are studied. First, the thermal conductivity \\kappa(T) of the compounds TiOBr and TiOCl is investigated. Below room temperature the compounds undergo two phase transitions T_{c2} and T_{c1}. Above T_{c2} the compounds contain S=1/2 spin chains with J_{Cl}=676 K and J_{Br}=375 K respectively, formed by direct orbital overlap of the Ti-atoms. Below T_{c1} the chains dimerize to form a non-magnetic ground state. The thermal conductivity exhibits pronounced anomalies at T_{c2} and T_{c1} confirming the transitions being of second and first order respectively. Surprisingly, \\kappa(T) appears to be dominated by phonon heat conduction, since no indications of a significant magnetic contribution is found. This is in contrast to the expectation of a spin chain system. In this context possible scenarios to understand the unusual behavior of the thermal conductivity are discussed. Second, two related materials, the single chain Sr_{2}CuO_{3} and the double chain SrCuO_{2} are investigated. In high purity samples huge magnetic heat conductivities and concomitantly, extremely large spinon mean free paths of >0.5 µm for Sr_{2}CuO_{3} and >1 µm for SrCuO_{2} are observed. This demonstrates that \\kappa_{mag} is only limited by extrinsic scattering processes, which is a clear signature of ballistic transport in the underlying spin model. Additionally, various subtle modifications of the spin chain are studied. Due to the large mean free path a pristine picture of the intrinsic incidents is expected. In particular, a chemical pressure is applied to the spin chain by doping SrCuO_{2} with Ca. This has a surprisingly strong effect on \\kappa_{mag}. Furthermore, the influence of magnetic Ni and non-magnetic Mg doping is studied for SrCuO_{2}. While Ni-doping has a large impact on the magnetic thermal conductivity, Mg-doping shows no influence. In order to clarify this surprising behavior, \\kappa_{mag} is compared to measurements of the single chain compound Sr_{2}CuO_{3}. Third, the magnetic thermal conductivity of the spin chain material CaCu_{2}O_{3} doped with non-magnetic Zn impurities is studied. \\kappa_{mag} of the pure compound is linear up to room temperature, which is indicative of a T-independent scattering rate of the magnetic excitations. Both, magnitude and T-dependence of \\kappa_{mag} exhibit a very unusual doping dependence. At moderate Zn-doping the linear temperature dependence of \\kappa_{mag} is preserved and the absolute value of \\kappa_{mag} increases. A slight suppression of \\kappa_{mag} occurs only at high Zn doping, where, surprisingly, the T-dependence of \\kappa_{mag} changes from linearity to one with a higher power of T . In order to clarify this surprising behavior, the results are compared to a detailed study of the g-tensor of the impurities in the material by means of ESR experiments, which reveal a change of the impurity type with increasing Zn-content.

This experimental work focusses on the magnetic thermal conductivity, κ_mag, of the one-dimensional two-leg spin ladder system Sr_14Cu_24O_41 and the spin chain system SrCuO_2. These two S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg compounds possess enormous magnetic contributions to the heat transport which in some cases exceed the phonon contributions by more than one order of magnitude. Despite of intense ongoing experimental and theoretical investigations, the underlying mechanism of the magnetic heat transport remains unclear. The study of κ_mag aims a better understanding of the basic physics which determine mobility, scattering and dissipation of the dispersing magnetic excitations. The most important tool used in this study is to selectively influence the structure and the electronic and magnetic properties of the compounds through doping. For this purpose single crystalline samples were produced using the Traveling Solvent Floating Zone technique, a crucible-free technology, which allows the growth of centimeter sized single crystals of high quality. In particular, the successful growth of large quantities of the hole-free ladders La_4Sr_10Cu_24O_41 allowed the realization of inelastic neutron scattering and, for the first time, the acquisition of the complete magnetic excitation spectrum of the spin ladder, composed not only by the triplon band, but also by the two-triplon continuum, permitting an accurate determination of the coupling constants in this system. The importance of the cyclic-exchange, previously unclear, was asserted. In order to study the scattering mechanisms of the magnetic excitations (triplons) off static defects in the two-leg ladder Sr_14Cu_24O_41, this compound was doped with tiny amounts of Zn. Occupying the Cu site in the ladders, the Zn plays the role of a non-magnetic defect, imposing an upper limit to the mean free path of the triplons. The thermal conductivity of Sr_14Cu_(14−z)Zn_zO_41, with z = 0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75, shows a strong decrease of both the phononic and magnetic contributions with increasing z value. In particular, the decrease of the magnetic part indicates an increased scattering of the triplons off Zn defects. The analysis of κ_mag, using a kinetic model, allows the extraction of the triplon mean free path l_mag. This quantity was successfully correlated to the mean Zn-Zn distance along the ladders, confirming the validity of the employed kinetic model and corroborating results of previous works. In SrCuO_2, the magnetic contribution to the thermal conductivity appears as a hump-like anomaly on the high-T back of the low-T phonon peak. In order to better separate the magnetic contribution from the phononic background, small amounts of Sr were substituted by the smaller and lighter Ca, leading, on the one hand, to an increased scattering of the phonons and consequently to a suppression of the phononic thermal conductivity. On the other hand, since Ca is isovalent to Sr, no significant changes of the magnetic properties of the system are expected: a magnetic peak belonging to κ_mag should appear. Measurements of the thermal conductivity of Sr_(1−x)Ca_xCuO_2 for x = 0, 0.0125, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 show indeed a systematic decrease of the phonon thermal conductivity with increasing x. However, against initial expectations, no magnetic peak appears. Instead, the magnetic thermal conductivity decreases at intermediate and low temperatures with increasing doping level, indicating a strong influence of the Ca dopant on the magnetic system. Surprisingly, no changes of κ_mag occur at higher temperatures, where κ_mag remains constant for all doping levels. To explain this intriguing temperature and doping dependence of κ_mag, three scenarios are proposed. One of the scenarios is based on the phenomenon of mutual spinon and phonon heat transport, the so called spin-phonon-drag mechanism. Another scenario assumes an effective scattering of spinons off Ca defects. In a third scenario, the appearance of a gap in the doped compounds is considered. The obvious effect of the Ca dopant on the magnetic thermal conductivity motivated a more detailed investigation of the doping dependence of electronic and magnetic properties in Sr_(1−x)Ca_xCuO_2. NMR data reveal the presence of a magnetic gap for the x = 0.1 compound. The doping dependent evolution of the specific heat at low-T is consistent with this result. Furthermore, susceptibility data may be explained within a segmentation of the spin chains, which in turn can be also related to the opening of a gap. These results strongly support that the reduction of κ_mag in the Ca doped compounds is related to a smaller number of magnetic excitations participating in the heat transport due to the presence of the gap. A possible reduction of the chain length, as suggested by the susceptibility data, is also consistent with the scenario of a reduced κ_mag due to an increased scattering of magnetic excitations. In spite of these partially consistent results, there are still no clear-cut explanations for the evolution of κ_mag upon doping. In particular, it cannot be completely ruled out that a fraction of the Ca dopant goes into the chains, a point which has to be urgently clarified in order to allow a correct interpretation of the data.

The Kano method1 was used in order to determine the benchmark requirements of an educational web portal. A comprehensive list of possible specifications for an educational portal was constructed by examining the characteristics of educational portals globally. This information was used to develop a questionnaire in accordance with the Kano method. A number of hand-picked expert users were asked to answer the questionnaire. The results obtained from these questionnaires were used to categorize the importance of each component of a web portal as a “one-dimensional”2 , “must-be”3 or “attractive”4 requirement. The components categorized as “must-be” requirements were used to generate the benchmark of the minimum specifications of an educational web portal. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Curriculum Studies / MEd / Unrestricted