This study uses cluster analysis as the methodology to explore policy of the asset allocation as well as the selection of equities under the multiple-factor asset pricing models. Based on the data of financial market recorded on Bloomberg from 2000/1/4 to 2012/2/10, the conclusions of this study are summarized as following: First at all, under the significance level of 5%, P/S ratio should be included in the multiple-factor asset pricing model. Nonetheless, the significance of proxy agent of foreign exchange volatility in terms of 11-day moving average of USD/JPY foreign exchange spot rate, as well as the interest spread in terms of yields on 10-year US government bond subtracting 3-month US treasury bill cannot pass the required significance level. Second, the rates of stock return as Qualcomm, Intel and Texas instruments in the industry supply chain of technology products, will be positively related to interest spread, with the variable of ¡§Foreign_Volitility¡¨ negatively related to those rates of return as well as sales growth momentum positively related to those. As far as those rates of stock return 3C brand companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Dell and IBM, the interpreting capability of variable of ¡§Foreign_Volitility¡¨ under the assumptions of market structure in this study, will be mixed, with the interest spread positively related to those returns and P/S ratio generating mixed outcomes. As far as those equities such as GE, Procter & Gamble, Home Depot, Tiffany, AIG, NIKE, Exxon Mobile Corp, the interpreting capability of variable of ¡§Foreign_Volitility¡¨ under the assumptions of market structure in this study, will be negatively related to stock return except for Exxon Mobile Corp, with the interest spread generating mixed outcomes and P/S ratio positively related to those returns.

Root system development in the early phases of plant ontogeny Seed germination and subsequential developement of the root system is a critical stage of life of a newly rising plant. The plant must recognise and suitably and quickly find an answer to the environmental conditions in which it finds itself. However, the way in which the root system develops and its final architecture depends not only on the environmental conditions but also on the plant itself. In addition, responses to different conditions may vary among different plant species. This work examines the developement of a root system in the first four weeks of a plant's life. It observes the dependence on the amount of available nutrients in the substrate and on the amount of available nutrients the seed is given by the mother plant. It also briefly touches on the relations between seed germination, seed size and the amount of available nutrients. No differences relating to the amount of available nutrients were found in seed germination. However, differences in germination speeds were found between plant species. Plant biomass increases with the increasing amount of available nutrients in the substrate. This increase is relatively greater for plant species with a small seed size. Plant species with a big seed size invest relatively more...

ABSTRACT AN INVESTIGATION OF COMPACTED GRAPHITE IRON PRODUCTION BY MEANS OF THERMAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE AND OTHER PROCESS CONTROL WINDOWS El-mabrouk, Omar PhD, Metallurgical and Material Engineering Department Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ali Kalkanli January 2007, 123 pages Compacted graphite irons have been proved valuable in many applications such as exhaust manifolds, hydraulic valves, and diesel engine blocks, the process of producing compacted graphite irons is not a straight forward process because of its narrow processing windows and its high sensitivity to the section thickness, treatment reaction time, pouring temperatures and charge composition. In this thesis, compacted graphite was produced with minimum variations through all section thickness and the effect of Mg/S ratio, section thickness, and treatment agents on the graphite morphology, electrical resistivity property and fracture strength at high temperatures was investigated. The range of Mg/S ratio and the section thickness was from 2/3 to 7/1 and 5 mm to 40 mm respectively. FeSiMg and FeSiMg cermish metal were used as a treatment agent. Optical metallographic method was implemented to investigate the graphite morphology change. For being a distinguishable characteristic for compacted graphite iron over ductile iron, thermal conductivity changes at high temperatures ranging from room temperature to 500 0C was examined by a suitable electrical setup in the manner of electrical conductivity changes by measuring the electrical resistance. On the other hand, due to the higher values of mechanical properties of compacted graphite iron over those of gray iron, tensile strength was also examined by means of tensile test. The relation between the compacted graphite shape and the alloy properties such as fracture strength and thermal conductivity was investigated. The most important controlling parameters to produce compacted graphite are Mg/S ratio and oxygen activity. The relation between these parameters with both fracture strength and thermal conductivity was established by means of multiple regression analysis technique.

Elastic layers bonded to reinforcing sheets are widely used in many engineering applications, e.g., as elastic foundations to machinery, as seismic isolators to structures, etc. Because of its practical importance, the behavior of bonded elastic layers under some basic deformation modes (e.g., compression, bending and shear modes) has attracted the attention of many researchers. However, the analytical works available in literature involve, with the object of obtaining design formulas, many simplifying assumptions. In this dissertation, a new formulation is developed for the analysis of bonded elastic layers, which removes most of the assumptions used in the earlier formulations. Since the displacement boundary conditions are included in the formulation itself, there is no need to start the formulation with some assumptions on stress and/or displacement distributions or with some limitations on geometrical and/or material properties. For this reason, the solutions derived from this formulation are valid not only for &ldquo / thin&rdquo / layers of strictly/nearly incompressible materials but also for &ldquo / thick&rdquo / layers and/or compressible materials. The advanced solutions obtained within the framework of the new formulation are used to study the behavior of bonded elastic layers under basic deformation modes. The effects of three key parameters, shape factor, Poisson&rsquo / s ratio and reinforcement flexibility, on effective layer moduli, displacement/stress distributions, and location/magnitude of maximum stresses are investigated. It is shown that the stress assumptions of the &ldquo / pressure&rdquo / method are inconsistent with the results obtained for thick layers and/or compressible materials and/or flexible reinforcements, and that the assumption &ldquo / plane sections remain plane&rdquo / is not valid, in general.

Les modèles cinématiques de plissement permettent de prévoir l'architecture des anticlinaux en profondeur à partir de leurs géométries de surface. Bien que les modèles classiques de type « kink-band » soient faciles à utiliser, ils ne peuvent expliquer que des géométries de plis limitées. Le modèle trishear surmonte cet inconvénient, mais son application reste difficile à mettre en oeuvre notamment en raison de nombreux paramètres mal contraints tels que le rapport P/S et l'angle de trishear. Dans cette thèse, nous avons développé un modèle cinématique de plissement à angle d'inter-flancs variable qui permet de rendre compte de toutes les variétés géométriques de plis sur propagation de faille. Ce modèle est basé sur la géométrie « kink-band » et son application nécessite de connaître uniquement les paramètres de surface du pli (plongements des flancs, amplitude et longueur d'onde du pli). Le modèle permet de quantifier le rapport P/S du pli durant sa croissance, ainsi que son évolution tardive en pli de rupture. Le modèle a été appliqué à la chaîne plissée et faillée de l'Atlas tunisien pour estimer la profondeur du niveau de décollement des plis sur propagation de faille. Les résultats se corrèlent bien avec les données de subsurface, au contraire des autres modèles classiques et du modèle de trishear où il est difficile d’établir une relation entre la géométrie de surface des anticlinaux et leur architecture profonde. / Kinematic models of folding allow deducing the deep architecture of folds from their surface geometries. Classical models are easy to use because of their kink-band geometry but they are only able to explain some particular fold shapes. The trishear model overcomes this drawback, but its application remains limited because it necessitates the knowledge of several unconstrained parameters such as the P/S ratio and the trishear angle. In this work, we developed a kinematic model based on the variation of the inter-limb angle during the folding. The model allows accounting for all surface geometries of fault-propagation folds. Since this model is based on the kink-band geometry, its application only requires the knowledge of the fold surface parameters, i.e. the dip of both limbs and the fold amplitude and wavelength. The model is also able to quantify the P/S ratio during the fold growth, together with its latest evolutional stage as a breakthrough fold. We applied the model in the Tunisian Atlas fold-and-thrust belt to estimate the depth of the decollement level associated to fault-propagation anticlines. Results are in good agreement with subsurface data. In contrast, both the other classical and trishear models are unable to explain the relationship between the surface geometry of anticlines and their deep architecture.

Plant functional traits (plant height, aboveground biomass, R/S ratio, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, specific root length and arbuscular mycorrhizal infection) were measured for several grassland plant species growing under different soil fertility conditions in a greenhouse and a field experiments. Traits` response to nutrient addition and the differences in traits among species and between forbs and grasses were studied. Results from the greenhouse and the field experiment were compared.

This diploma thesis is focused on methodology for sorting of solid fired bricks for reconstruction of historical buildings. The theorethical part of this thesis includes description of production technology of solid fired bricks and diagnostic methods. In practical part there are these methods aplied on the solid fired bricks, which are intended for reconstruction of the bridge in Sedlec. There are monitored changes in structure of solid fired bricks caused by repeated freezing and defrosting. This changes are monitored by resonant frequency method and ultasonic pulse method.