The understanding of the impact of site effects on ground motions is crucial for improving the assessment of seismic hazards. Site response analyses (SRA) can numerically accommodate the mechanics behind the wave propagation phenomena near the surface as well as the variability associated with the input motion and soil properties. As a result, SRA constitute a key component of the assessment of site-specific seismic hazards within the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis framework. This work focuses on limitations in SRA, namely, the definition of the elastic half-space (EHS) boundary condition, the selection of input ground motions so that they are compatible with the assumed EHS properties, and the proper consideration of near-surface attenuation effects. Input motions are commonly selected based on similarities between the shear wave velocity (Vs) at the recording station and the materials below the reference depth at the study site (among other aspects such as the intensity of the expected ground motion, distance to rupture, type of source, etc.). This traditional approach disregards the influence of the attenuation in the shallow crust and the degree to which it can alter the estimates of site response. A Vs-κ correction framework for input motions is proposed to render them compatible with the properties of the assumed EHS at the site. An ideal EHS must satisfy the conditions of linearity and homogeneity. It is usually defined at a horizon where no strong impedance contrast will be found below that depth (typically the top of bedrock). However, engineers face challenges when dealing with sites where this strong impedance contrast takes place far beyond the depth of typical Vs measurements. Case studies are presented to illustrate potential issues associated with the selection of the EHS boundary in SRA. Additionally, the relationship between damping values as considered in geotechnical laboratory-based models, and as implied by seismological attenuation parameters measured using ground motions recorded in the field is investigated to propose alternative damping models that can match more closely the attenuation of seismic waves in the field. / Ph. D.

Tumormodelle, in denen die maligne Transformation durch definierte Onkogene experimentell ausgelöst und unterhalten wird, bieten vielfältige Möglichkeiten, die komplexen Mechanismen der Tumorentstehung und Therapieresistenz zu untersuchen und neue Ansätze für Diagnostik und Therapie auszuarbeiten. KRAS-Onkogen-„getriebene“ Transformationsmodelle spiegeln neben anderen tumorspezifischen Veränderungen insbesondere die charakteristischen Änderungen des Transkriptoms wider. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein Modell für Ovarialtumore auf Grundlage von Rose Zellen („Rat ovarian surface epithelium“) verwendet, um die Rolle von Transkriptionsfaktoren, welche durch die KRAS-vermittelte Signaltransduktion hoch reguliert werden, zu untersuchen. Die KRAS-transfomierten Derivate der normalen Rose Zellen zeigen die typischen Merkmale von ankerunabhängigen und invasiven Tumorzellen. Aufgrund der hohen Komplexität sind die Interaktionen zwischen der zytoplasmatischen Signaltransduktion und dem durch sie regulierten Transkriptionsfaktornetzwerk noch weitgehend unverstanden. Die Transkriptionsfaktoren Fosl1, Hmga2, Klf6, JunB, Otx1, Gfi1 und RelA wurden systematisch mittels RNA-Interferenz in KRAS-transformierten Rose Zellen transient ausgeschaltet. Danach wurden Proliferation, Morphologie (epithelial-mesenchymale Transition, EMT) und Ankerunabhängigkeit der Zellen bestimmt. Alle untersuchten Transkriptionsfaktoren beeinflussten die KRAS-induzierten morphologischen Veränderungen teilweise, belegt durch die Abnahme der EMT-Merkmale nach siRNA-vermittelter Ausschaltung. Der Knock-down der Transkriptionsfaktoren Otx1, Gfi1 und RelA hemmte die Proliferation, während Fosl1, Hmga2, Klf6 und JunB die generelle Proliferationsfähigkeit nicht beeinflussten, jedoch spezifisch die ankerunabhängige Proliferation blockierten. Diesen Faktoren kommt daher eine spezifische Funktion in der neoplastischen Transformation zu, da die Ankerunabhängigkeit sehr gut mit der Tumorigenität korreliert ist. Um die Beteiligung der Transkriptionsfaktoren an der Deregulation von Zielgenen zu erfassen, wurden Genexpressionsmuster aller Zellen, in denen jeweils ein Faktor durch siRNA ausgeschaltet war, mittels Microarray-Analyse identifiziert. Auf dieser Grundlage wurde ein Netzwerk-Modell der regulatorischen Interaktionen zwischen den Transkriptionsfaktoren berechnet. Die Existenz der beiden funktionellen Gruppen wurde im Modell bestätigt. Darüber hinaus zeigte sich eine gegenseitige Abhängigkeit des transkriptionellen Netzwerks und der zytoplasmatischen Signaltransduktion, gemessen mittels Proteinanalyse der mitogenabhängigen Signalkinasen (MAPK). Diese wird als kompensatorische Regulation interpretiert, welche trotz Pertubation, experimentell durch siRNA, das effiziente Überleben der transformierten Zellen sicherstellt. Die vorliegende Studie schafft somit die Voraussetzung und Motivation, das reduzierte Netzwerk aus sieben Komponenten auf alle differentiell exprimierten Transkriptionsfaktoren zu erweitern. Möglicherweise behindern solche Regulationskreise in der klinischen Situation die effektive Wirkung zielgerichteter Therapien. / Tumor models, in which malignant transformation was experimentally triggered and maintained through defined oncogenes, offer manifold opportunities to determine the complex mechanisms of tumor progression and resistance to therapies, and to develop new strategies for diagnosis and therapy. Particularly, KRAS oncogene driven models of transformation reflect the characteristic alterations of the transcriptome, among other tumor specific changes. In the present work a model for ovarian cancer based on Rose („Rat ovarian surface epithelium“) cells has been used to evaluate the role of transcription factors, which are up-regulated through KRAS dependent signaling. The KRAS transformed derivates of normal ROSE cells exhibit typical characteristics of anchorage-independent and invasive tumor cells. Due to the high complexity of cellular networks, the interactions between cytoplasmic signalling and their regulated transcription factors are not well understood. The transcription factors Fosl1, Hmga2, Klf6, JunB, Otx1, Gfi1 and RelA were systematically eliminated by transient RNA interference in KRAS transformed ROSE cells. The proliferation, morphology (epithelial-mesenchymal transition, EMT) and anchorage-independence of the cells were determined. All of the selected transcription factors had partial effect on the KRAS induced morphologic changes, documented by reduction of EMT-properties after siRNA treatment. The knock-down of the transcription factors Otx1, Gfi1 and RelA blocked proliferation in general, whereas Fosl1, Hmga2, Klf6 and JunB had no influence on proliferation but specifically blocked the anchorage-independence. Thus, these factors exhibited essential functions in the process of neoplastic transformation, because the anchorage-independence correlates very well with tumorigenicity. In order to elucidate the involvement of the transcription factors in the genetic deregulation of their target genes, microarray based gene expression profiles were determined from all cells in which one factor was eliminated by siRNA. Based on these data, a network model of regulatory interactions among these transcription factors was calculated. The existence of both functional groups was confirmed by the model. Furthermore, an interdependence of the transcriptional networks and cytoplasmatic signaling was observed by protein analysis of the mitogen dependent signal kinases (MAPK). This was interpreted as compensatory regulation, which in spite of experimental perturbation by siRNA, permitted efficient survival of the transformed cells. Thus, the present work provides the basis and motivation to extend the reduced network composed of seven components to all regulated transcription factors. Potentially, such regulatory networks diminish the efficacy of targeted therapies in clinical situations.

<p>The full-scale base-isolated structure studied in this dissertation is the only base-isolated building in South Island of New Zealand. It sustained hundreds of earthquake ground motions from September 2010 and well into 2012. Several large earthquake responses were recorded in December 2011 by NEES@UCLA and by GeoNet recording station nearby Christchurch Women's Hospital. The primary focus of this dissertation is to advance the state-of-the art of the methods to evaluate performance of seismic-isolated structures and the effects of soil-structure interaction by developing new data processing methodologies to overcome current limitations and by implementing advanced numerical modeling in OpenSees for direct analysis of soil-structure interaction.</p><p>This dissertation presents a novel method for recovering force-displacement relations within the isolators of building structures with unknown nonlinearities from sparse seismic-response measurements of floor accelerations. The method requires only direct matrix calculations (factorizations and multiplications); no iterative trial-and-error methods are required. The method requires a mass matrix, or at least an estimate of the floor masses. A stiffness matrix may be used, but is not necessary. Essentially, the method operates on a matrix of incomplete measurements of floor accelerations. In the special case of complete floor measurements of systems with linear dynamics, real modes, and equal floor masses, the principal components of this matrix are the modal responses. In the more general case of partial measurements and nonlinear dynamics, the method extracts a number of linearly-dependent components from Hankel matrices of measured horizontal response accelerations, assembles these components row-wise and extracts principal components from the singular value decomposition of this large matrix of linearly-dependent components. These principal components are then interpolated between floors in a way that minimizes the curvature energy of the interpolation. This interpolation step can make use of a reduced-order stiffness matrix, a backward difference matrix or a central difference matrix. The measured and interpolated floor acceleration components at all floors are then assembled and multiplied by a mass matrix. The recovered in-service force-displacement relations are then incorporated into the OpenSees soil structure interaction model.</p><p>Numerical simulations of soil-structure interaction involving non-uniform soil behavior are conducted following the development of the complete soil-structure interaction model of Christchurch Women's Hospital in OpenSees. In these 2D OpenSees models, the superstructure is modeled as two-dimensional frames in short span and long span respectively. The lead rubber bearings are modeled as elastomeric bearing (Bouc Wen) elements. The soil underlying the concrete raft foundation is modeled with linear elastic plane strain quadrilateral element. The non-uniformity of the soil profile is incorporated by extraction and interpolation of shear wave velocity profile from the Canterbury Geotechnical Database. The validity of the complete two-dimensional soil-structure interaction OpenSees model for the hospital is checked by comparing the results of peak floor responses and force-displacement relations within the isolation system achieved from OpenSees simulations to the recorded measurements. General explanations and implications, supported by displacement drifts, floor acceleration and displacement responses, force-displacement relations are described to address the effects of soil-structure interaction.</p> / Dissertation

This master thesis has been executed at Scania CV AB in Södertälje, Sweden. Scania is a manufacturer of heavy transport solutions, an industry which is changing rapidly in order to meet stricter regulations, ensuring a sustainable future. Continuous product improvements and new technologies are required to increase performance and to meet markets requirements. By implementing design optimization in the design process it enables the potential of supporting design exploration, which is beneficial when products with high performance are developed. The purpose was to show the potential of design optimization supported by simulation driven design as a tool in the development process. To examine an alternative way of working for design engineers, elaborating more competitive products in terms of economical and performance aspects. Furthermore, to minimize time and iterations between divisions by developing better initial concept proposals. The alternative working method was developed iteratively in parallel with a case study. The case study was a suction strainer and were used for method improvements and validation, as well as decision basis for the included sub-steps. The working method for implementing design optimization and simulation driven design ended up with a procedure consisted of three main phases, concept generation, detail design and verification. In the concept generation phase topology optimization was used, which turned out to be a beneficial method to find optimized solutions with few inputs. The detail design phase consisted of a parameterized CAD model of the concept which then was shape optimized. The shape optimization enabled design exploration of the concept which generated valuable findings to the product development. Lastly the optimized design was verified with more thorough methods, in this case verification with FE-experts. The working method was tested and verified on the case study component, this resulted in valuable knowledge for future designs for similar components. The optimized component resulted in a performance increase where the weight was decrease by 54% compared with a reference product.

Seminal papers of Solow (1957) and Swan (1956) stimulated debate among economists on the role of technical change in productivity improvements and for that matter economic growth. The consensus is that technological change accounts for a significant proportion of gross national product (GNP) growth in industrialised economies. In the case of Australia, the aggregate productivity performance was poor in the 1970s and 1980s, but picked up very strongly by the 1990s, and was above the OECD average growth level for the first time in its productivity growth history. However, this high productivity growth rate could not be sustained and Australia started to experience a slowdown in productivity growth since 2000. This study empirically measures the performance of productivity in Australia’s economy for the period 1950-2005, using an econometric approach. Time-series data are used to develop econometric models that capture the dynamic interactions between GDP, fixed capital, labour units, human capital, foreign direct investment (FDI) and information and communication technology (ICT). The Johansen (1988) cointegration techniques are used to establish a long-run steady-state relation between or among economic time series. The econometric analysis pays careful attention to the time-series properties of the data by conducting unit root and conintegration tests for the variables in the system. / This study finds that Australia experienced productivity growth in the 1950s, a slow down in the mid 1960s, a very strong productivity growth in the mid 1990s and another slowdown from 2000 onwards. The study finds evidence that human capital, FDI and ICT are very strong determinants of long-run GDP and productivity growth in Australia. The study finds that the three, four and the five factor models are likely to give better measures of productivity performance in Australia as these models recognise human capital, FDI and ICT and include them as separate factors in the production function, This study finds evidence that the previous studies on the Australia’s productivity puzzle have made a very significant omission by not considering human capital, FDI and ICT as additional exogenous variables and by excluding them from the production function for productivity analysis.

Frequency response analysis (FRA) is a frequency-domain method which is used to detect mechanical faults in transformers. The frequency response of a transformer is determined by its geometry and material properties, and it can be considered as the transformer’s fingerprint. If there are any mechanical changes in the transformer, for example if the windings are moved or distorted, its fingerprint will also be changed so, theoretically, mechanical changes in the transformer can be detected with FRA. A problem with FRA is the fact that there is no general agreement about how to interpret the measurement results for detection of winding damages. For instance, the interpretation of measurement results has still not been standardized.The overall goal of this thesis is to try to enhance the understanding of the information contained in FRA measurements. This has been done in two ways: (1) by examining the FRA method for (much) higher frequencies than what is usual, and (2) by developing a new method in which FRA is combined with the ideas of Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR). As tools for carrying out the above mentioned steps, models for the magnetic core and the winding have been developed and verified by comparison to measurements.The usual upper frequency limit for FRA is around 2 MHz, which in this thesis has been extended by an order of magnitude in order to detect and interpret new phenomena that emerge at high frequencies and to investigate the potential of this high-frequency region for detection of winding deteriorations.Further, in the above-mentioned new method developed in this thesis, FRA and TDR are combined as a step towards an easier and more intuitive detection and localization of faults in transformer windings, where frequency response measurements are visualized in the time domain in order to facilitate their interpretation. / QC 20111122

Frequency response analysis (FRA) of transformers is universally accepted as a highly sensitive tool to detect deformations in its windings. This is evident from the fact that customized commercial equipment (popularly called FRA or SFRA instruments) are used and recently the IEEE has issued a draft trial-use guide. Nevertheless, use of FRA is still limited to only detection and there is little progress towards its use for localization of winding deformation. Toward this end, a possible approach would be to compare the healthy and deformed systems in a suitable domain, e.g., their respective models could be compared. In this context, the mutually-coupled ladder network is ideally suited because not only does it map the length of the winding to sections of the ladder network, but, also inherently captures all subtle intricacies of winding behaviour under lightning impulse excitations insofar as the terminal response, internal oscillations and voltage distributions are concerned. The task of constructing a ladder network from frequency response is not trivial, and so exploration of newer methods is imperative. A system can comprehensively be characterized by its frequency response. With this as the starting point, many approaches exist to construct the corresponding rational function (in s-domain). But, the subsequent step of converting this rational function into a physically-realizable mutually-coupled ladder network has, as yet, remained elusive. A critical analysis of the circuit synthesis literature reveals that there exists no analytical procedure to achieve this task, a fact unequivocally stated by Guillemin in his seminal book "Synthesis of Passive Networks". In recent years, use of iterative methods to synthesize such ladder networks has also been attempted with some degree of success. However, there exists a lot of scope for improvement. Based on this summary, the objectives of this thesis are as follows- _ Development of an analytical procedure, if possible, to synthesize a mutually-coupled ladder network starting from the s-domain representation of the frequency response _ Construction of a nearly-unique, mutually-coupled ladder network employing constrained optimization technique and using frequency response as input, with time-efficiency, physical realizability and repeatability as its features In Chapter 2, analytical solution is presented to convert a given driving-point impedance function (in s-domain) into a physically-realizable ladder network with inductive couplings (between any two sections) and losses considered. The number of sections in the ladder network can vary, but, its topology is assumed fixed. A study of the coefficients of the numerator and denominator polynomials of the driving-point impedance function of the ladder network, for increasing number of sections, led to the identification of certain coefficients, which exhibit very special properties. Generalized expressions for these specific coefficients have also been derived. Exploiting their properties, it is demonstrated that the synthesis method essentially turns out to be an exercise of solving a set of linear, simultaneous, algebraic equations, whose solution directly yields the ladder network elements. The proposed solution is novel, simple, and guarantees a unique network. Presently, the formulation can synthesize a unique ladder network up to 6-sections. Although it is an analytical solution, there are issues which prevent its implementation with actual FRA data. Keeping the above aspect in mind, the second part of the thesis presents results of employing an artificial bee colony search algorithm for synthesizing a mutuallycoupled lumped-parameter ladder network representation of a transformer winding, starting from its measured magnitude frequency response. The bee colony algorithm is modified by defining constraints and bounds to restrict the search-space and thus ensure synthesis of a nearly-unique ladder network, corresponding to each frequency response. Ensuring near-uniqueness while constructing the reference circuit (i.e., a uniform healthy winding) is the objective. The proposed method is easy to implement, time-efficient, ensures physical realizability and problem associated with supply of initial guess in existing methods is circumvented. Experiments were performed on two types of actual, single, isolated transformer windings (continuous-disc and interleaveddisc) and the results are encouraging. Further details are presented in the thesis.

The main focus of this thesis rests in the assessment of the quantitative easing policy impact on commodity prices and prices of commodity derivatives in the US. Several VAR models have been constructed in this paper to capture the relations between time series of monetary policy variables and commodity markets indices. The impulse-response analysis applied in the VAR models has discovered the causal connection between the QE policy and the value of commodity indices. The official announcement of initiation (extension) of the policy of the QE policy and its realization consisting of purchases of vast amount of treasury securities and federal agency debt and MBS has lead to the major commodity indices increase. Since this fact has been overlooked by Fed so far, its acceptance might enhance the realization of possible future QE policy and the valuation of the QE as a monetary policy alternative in conditions of zero-bound.

This dissertation concerns the dialogical encounters that take place between social workcr and client within the social services. The empirical material consists of 21 dialogues, 19 of which wcre recorded at two social welfare offices, one located in the center of Stockholm and the other in a suburb, and two which were recorded at the youth counseling office. In all, the material comprises 5150 individual utterances. In the literature, the type of dialogical cncounters studicd is called "institutional discourse". The theoretical approach in the analysis is based on an interactionist perspective, particularly with respect to dialogical analysis of verbal encounters. The aim of thc study is to analyse the dialogue between social worker and client from three points of de parture: participallt structure, topic, and inherent perspectives. In studying the discourse, the ini tiative-response (IR-) method of analysis was applied. The IR-method focuses on the dynamics of the dialogue, its pattern of dominance and its coherence. The results show that the social worker was interactively dominant in about two-thirds of the dialogues studied, but this dominance was most forcefully evident with respect to soliciting inititatives. With respect to content, the study concerns how the topical structure of the dialogue is constructed, i.e. which topics are taken up in the discourse and which of the parties steers the transition between topics. In the case of transitions to a topic defined as the main issue of the dialogue, it was the social worker who, in four-fifths of the cases, strategically steered the course of the dialogue. The perspective analysis undertaken in the study is concerned with investigating how different topics are treated in the dialogues, i.e. which of the parties "establishes" the perspectives and which "submits" to them . This analysis, made on a selection of seven of the 21 dialogical encounters, shows that it was the social worker who, in about two-thirds of thc cases, established by means of various interactive moves a bureaucratic or social welfare perspective on thc main topic sequences. Lastly, discursive dominance and power are discussed in the light of the prececling analyses.

Turkey is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world. The study area, Erbaa, is located in a seismically active fault zone known as North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). Erbaa is one of the towns of Tokat located in the Middle Black Sea Region. According to the Earthquake zoning map of Turkey, the study area is in the First Degree Earthquake Zone. The city center of Erbaa (Tokat) was previously settled on the left embankment of Kelkit River. After the disastrous 1942 Niksar-Erbaa earthquake (Mw = 7.2), the settlement was moved southwards. From the period of 1900s, several earthquakes occurred in this region and around Erbaa. The 1942 earthquake is the most destructive earthquake in the center of Erbaa settlement. In this study, the geological and geotechnical properties of the study area were investigated by detailed site investigations. The Erbaa settlement is located on alluvial and Pliocene deposits. The Pliocene clay, silt, sand, and gravel layers exist in the southern part of Erbaa. Alluvium in Erbaa region consists of gravelly, sandy, silty, and clayey layers. The alluvial deposits are composed of stratified materials of heterogeneous grain sizes, derived from various geological units in the vicinity. The main objective of this study is to prepare a seismic microzonation map of the study area for urban planning purposes since it is getting more essential to plan new settlements considering safe development strategies after the disastrous earthquakes. In this respect, seismic hazard analyses were performed to deterministically assess the seismic hazard of the study area. Afterwards, the essential ground motions were predicted regarding near fault effects as the study area is settled on an active fault zone. 1-D equivalent linear site response analyses were carried out to evaluate the site effects in the study area. Amplification values obtained from site response analyses reveal that the soil layers in the study area is quite rigid. Furthermore, liquefaction potential and post liquefaction effects including lateral spreading and vertical settlement were also delineated for the study area. The above-mentioned parameters were taken into account in order to prepare a final seismic microzonation map of the study area. The layers were evaluated on the basis of overlay methodologies including Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Two different MCDA techniques, Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), were carried out in GIS environment. The seismic microzonation maps prepared by SAW and AHP methods are compared to obtain a final seismic microzonation map. Finally, the map derived from the AHP method is proposed to be the final seismic microzonation map of Erbaa. As an overall conclusion, the northwestern part of the study area where the loose alluvial units exist is found to be vulnerable to earthquake-induced deformations. On the other hand, the Pliocene units in the southern and alluvial units in the northeastern part are quite resistant to earthquake effects. In addition, the proposed final seismic microzonation map should be considered by urban planners and policy makers during urban planning projects in Erbaa.