No description available.

The goal of this thesis is the phonological analysis of a corpus of runic inscriptions in order to reconstruct the vocalic system(s) of the West Germanic dialects spoken in the Continental interior between the 5th-7th centuries A.D. The thesis presents a brief outline of the late Proto-Germanic vocalic system and of the principal sound changes involved in the development of the later dialects of the region (Old High German and Old Saxon). The main part of the thesis surveys the data retrievable from the runic inscriptions in an attempt to determine to what extent (if any) these sound changes are in evidence. In many respects, the data are consistent with the anticipated developments attested in OHG and OS; but for some of the sound changes – particularly those affecting the diphthongs – the existing models do not satisfactorily account for the data. There is also some evidence for processes not normally identified in accounts of the phonological background of the later dialects. The project endeavours to be rigorously empirical in approach; to avoid making unnecessary assumptions and prejudgements about the nature and content of the runic texts; and to resist the rejection of an interpretation unless it can be shown to be implausible. From this standpoint, we are confronted with the limited power of any conclusions based on such a small dataset, and with the more general problem of the imperfect correlation between written and spoken forms. If the makers of runic inscriptions cannot be relied on for phonological accuracy or orthographic consistency, to what extent is it possible to make inferences about spoken language from the texts which they created?

The aim of this thesis is the visual analysis of the corpus of Viking Age Scandinavian memorial stones that are decorated with figural images. The thesis presents an overview of the different kinds of images and their interpretations. The analysis of the visual relationships between the images, ornamentation, crosses, and runic inscriptions identifies some tendencies in the visual hierarchy between these different design elements. The contents of the inscriptions on runestones with images are also analysed in relation to the type of image and compared to runestone inscriptions in general. The main outcome of this analysis is that there is a correlation between the occurrence of optional elements in the inscription and figural images in the decoration, but that only rarely is a particular type of image connected to specific inscription elements.

This thesis sets out to identify and analyse two themes that underpin the theory of Bildung that Nietzsche develops in his works and notebooks from between 1870 and 1876, and to show that these themes both shape and reflect his view of Goethe. These themes will be designated as ‘Freiheit’, which denotes the autonomy of culture and the individual that permits their untrammelled development, and ‘Fruchtbarkeit’, which prioritises creative, life-enhancing activity over the acquisition of knowledge. The thesis will also show that these two themes remain central to Nietzsche’s philosophy in the later stages of his active life, and that the importance he attaches to them can help to illuminate some of the changes and shifts in his thought during those periods. They also continue to form the basis of his Goethebild in his later works.

The thesis is based on a psychological interpretation of the life and works of Heinrich von Kleist. The basis of the interpretation is the death instincts as formulated by Sigmund Freud in Jenseits des Lustprinzips (Beyond the Pleasure Principle) and is extended with the work of Melanie Klein, D.W. Winnicott and other authors who subscribe to the psychoanalytic school: use is made too, of C.G.Jung's analytical psychology. Part I discusses Freud's paper, which deals principally with the repetition compulsion, pathological aggression, sado-masochism and the biological basis of programmed cell death. The thesis then extends the concept of the death instincts to those psychological paradigms which inhibit authentic life such as psychosis, narcissism and unresolved oedipal issues. It examines the belief in the Romantic ethos of the corporeal afterlife which makes death both a fearless state which also provides the possibility of reuniting with one's love object. I argue that Kleist's confrontation with the subjectivity of Immanuel Kant's philosophy provides a fulcrum in Kleist's life which freed him from the idea of the perfectibility of his own life but also, for him destabilised language as an adequate means of achieving the symbiotic closeness he needed. Part II of the thesis discusses the congruence of Freud's theories with Kleist's stories, plays and letters. The sources of psychosis are examined which lead to cannabalism in Penthesilea and hate and repetition compulsion in Verlobung in St. Domingo: both result in death. This, too, is the fate of the eponymous hero of Michael Kohlhaas. He descends into pathological narcissism and his only recourse at the nadir of his life, to satisfy his sense of self and grandiosity, is to resurrect the revenant of his deceased wife to provide satisfactory supernatural assistance. By contrast, more positive themes are found in Prinz Friedrich von Homburg and Das Erdbeben in Chili. IN the former, a resolution of the oedipal issues leads to a satisfactory outcome for the Prinz and in the latter, the citizens of St Domingo are offered a Christ figure, the Divine Child, to counter endemic sadism. Kleist's last story, Der Findling, provides a nihilistic criticism of social and religious mores which reflect his own attitude to his times. The thesis concludes with a summary of its themes and a discussion of Kleist's meeting with Henriette Vogel, his partner in suicide into whom he projected his achievements and failures, which facilitated a longed for symbiotic closesness in hs passage to becoming todesreif (ripe for death).

An accurate and fast behavior modeling procedure is presented for codesign of active optical device with circuitry. The developed method is based upon defining partial elements (PEs) and their measurement-based partial element equivalent circuits (M-PEEC), associating design rules with them, and characterizing them through the use of test structures. The test structures are designed such that they can include only sensitive combinations of predefined building blocks, and they are measured over a wide band of frequencies using network analysis techniques. Measurement-based partial element equivalent circuits of the building blocks are derived from the measured s-parameters of the test structures by nonlinear optimization methods. The method has been experimentally verified using metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors. The method has also been verified with circuits using simulations, with good results obtained.

No description available.

No description available.

Typically, in the semiconductor industry pn heterojunctions have been used as either light-emitting diodes (LED) or photodiodes by applying forward current bias or reverse voltage bias, respectively. However, since both devices use the same structure, the light emitting and detecting properties could be combine in one single device, namely LED-based photodetector. Therefore, by integrating LED-based photodetectors as either transmitter or receiver, optical wireless communication could be easily implemented for bidirectional visible light communication networks at low-cost. Therefore, this dissertation focus on the investigation of the photodetection characteristics of InGaN LED-based photodetectors for visible light communication in the blue region. In this regard, we obtain external quantum efficiency of 10 % and photoresponse rise time of 71 μs at 405-nm illumination, revealing high-performance photodetection characteristics. Furthermore, we use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing quadrature amplitude modulation codification scheme to enlarge the operational bandwidth. Consequently, the transmission rate of the communication is efficiently enhanced up to 420 Mbit/s in visible light communication.

" This work investigated the long-term stability of sulfur tolerant Pd/Cu alloy membranes for hydrogen separation by performing characterizations lasting several thousand hours in H2, He and H2S/H2 atmospheres ranging in concentration from 0.2 – 50 ppm and temperatures ranging from 250 - 500ºC. Two methods were used for fabricating the Pd/Cu membranes so that the sulfur tolerant fcc alloy would remain on the surface and minimize the decrease in hydrogen permeance inherent with fcc Pd/Cu alloys. The first method consisted of annealing a Pd/Cu bi-layer at high-temperatures and the second consisted of depositing a Pd/Cu/Pd tri-layer with an ultra-thin surface alloy. High temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD) was employed to study the kinetics of the annealing process and atomic adsorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used to investigate the kinetics of the Cu deposition and Pd displacement of Cu. Upon the introduction of H2S, the permeance decrease observed was dependent upon the H2S feed concentration, and not the time of poisoning. However, after the recovery in pure H2 there was a portion of the permeance which could not be recovered due to adsorbed sulfur blocking H2 adsorption sites. The amount of recoverable permeance was dependent on the time of exposure to H2S and reached a limiting value which decreased with temperature. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) was used to investigate poisoned samples and it was observed that the permeance not recovered at a given temperature in H2 was caused mostly by Cu sulfides. Both bi-layer and tri-layer membranes had hydrogen permeances which were higher than homogeneous Pd/Cu membranes of the same surface concentration. However, the tri-layer membranes performed as well as Pd membranes thus eliminating the disadvantage of alloying Pd with Cu without sacrificing sulfur tolerance. "