This thesis deals with a model of nonlinearly perturbed continuous-time renewal equation with nonpolynomial perturbations. The characteristics, namely the defect and moments, of the distribution function generating the renewal equation are assumed to have expansions with respect to a non-polynomial asymptotic scale: $\{\varphi_{\nn} (\varepsilon) =\varepsilon^{\nn \cdot \w}, \nn \in \mathbf{N}_0^k\}$  as $\varepsilon \to 0$, where $\mathbf{N}_0$ is the set of non-negative integers, $\mathbf{N}_0^k \equiv \mathbf{N}_0 \times \cdots \times \mathbf{N}_0, 1\leq k <\infty$ with the product being taken $k$ times and $\w$ is a $k$ dimensional parameter vector that satisfies certain properties. For the one-dimensional case, i.e., $k=1$, this model reduces to the model of nonlinearly perturbed renewal equation with polynomial perturbations which is well studied in the literature.  The goal of the present study is to obtain the exponential asymptotics for the solution to the perturbed renewal equation in the form of exponential asymptotic expansions and present possible applications. The thesis is based on three papers which study successively the model stated above. Paper A investigates the two-dimensional case, i.e. where $k=2$. The corresponding asymptotic exponential expansion for the solution to the perturbed renewal equation is given. The asymptotic results are applied to an example of the perturbed risk process, which leads to diffusion approximation type asymptotics for the ruin probability.  Numerical experimental studies on this example of perturbed risk process are conducted in paper B, where Monte Carlo simulation are used to study the accuracy and properties of the asymptotic formulas. Paper C presents the asymptotic results for the more general case where the dimension $k$ satisfies $1\leq k <\infty$, which are applied to the asymptotic analysis of the ruin probability in an example of perturbed risk processes with this general type of non-polynomial perturbations.  All the proofs of the theorems stated in paper C are collected in its supplement: paper D.

Walter Benjamin, in Thesis IX of his “Theses on the Philosophy of History,” wrote of the angel of history looking back at the past from the now-time of the present moment, at the historical wreckage, a single catastrophe as it were, piling in front of its feet, as it gets pulled forward facing back into the temporality of the future and the space of modernity’s violent excesses, heralded by the promise of apparent progress. As the title to my dissertation suggests, my study begins, following the angel’s look, with these three words, seeing what remains, and as such it is structured around the very nature of this arresting “look back” and that which is being regarded, the ruins, or the remains and remainders that exist after, and in the aftermath of, traumatic loss. Working with and across a variety of mediums, I conduct a series of exegetical studies of recent “texts” – literary, photographic, and cinematic – within which, I argue, this look back figures as central to the concern of how we might understand the simultaneous existence of the forces of remembrance and forgetting, and of mourning and melancholia in memory-work. The various “texts” within which I explore this look back are Anne Michaels’s novel Fugitive Pieces, the photographic series titled Library of Dust by David Maisel, the movies Hiroshima, mon amour by Marguerite Duras and Alain Resnais and Amour by Michael Haneke. I situate my exploration of the enigmatic nature of the look back in these different textual scenes alongside Sigmund Freud’s critical work on transference and transference love and Kaja Silverman’s rigorous expansion of the psychoanalytic objective of the “cure by love.” Here, it is my intention, as such, to work toward and expand on my thesis that this look, of the angel (or the materialist historian or the artist as witness), is a look of redemptive love, both against erasure and against the possibility of invisibility, “to awaken the dead” as it were, so as to address the loss inscribed in historical experiences with catastrophic temporality and to thereby redeem the ethical from within the scene of trauma.

During the last decade several Japanese life insurance companies failed mainly due to interest losses. In fact, interest rate risk dominates mortality risk for a portfolio of business in force. When the interest rates are modelled as random variables, the yields on bonds are the sum of expected short spot rates and a risk premium for random bond prices. However, in our study, we assume a risk-neutral environment, i.e. zero risk premiums. As tools to deal with stochastic interest rates, various interest rate term structure models are considered. The Vasicek model, the Heath-Jarrow-Morton (hereafter “HJM”) approach and Cairns’ model are explained in detail. The history and nature of the very low interest rate environment in Japan is described in line with the monetary policy framework of the central bank. An unusual interest rate movement in the very low interest rate environment is identified. A modified HJM approach and Cairns’ model are chosen in our study. Cairns’ model is used to graduate the initial yield curve. The HJM approach with a specific volatility function and modified to deal with very low interest rates is used for simulating subsequent developments of the initial yield curve. After the introduction of various concepts needed to investigate a life insurance policy portfolio, we prepare for simulation by collecting information and by fitting parameters to market observations. The Yen swap curve is chosen as a base yield curve. The simulation results show how much initial capital and/or margins are needed in order to avoid the ruin of a portfolio.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:06:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PedroGL.pdf: 4055992 bytes, checksum: 07612ef4f6c8a37bccd1cdde0131f320 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-01-30 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This master thesis is an overview of how the Egyptian writing became a ruin, and then was mythunderstood by the Western culture through speculations based on its figurative appeal or by its magical nature this invention results not only in new idea of writing, but also in many graphical experiments which take part in the creation of the Renaissance and Baroque visual identity / A presente disserta??o ? um panorama de como a escrita hierogl?fica eg?pcia se torna uma ru?na e ent?o ? reinterpretada pelo Ocidente atrav?s de especula??es motivadas por seu apelo imag?tico ou por seu car?ter m?gico uma inven??o que resulta n?o apenas numa nova id?ia escrita, transcendental, mas que se desdobra em v?rias experimenta??es gr?ficas que participam ativamente da cria??o da identidade visual do Renascimento e Barroco

Orientador: Paulo José Rocha de Albuquerque / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T07:37:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Noguchi_LeandroTomio_M.pdf: 6042585 bytes, checksum: 3b22b2450a9ddc40e2911dbb661a0359 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Este trabalho teve o objetivo estudar às formulações e teorias de capacidade de carga e previsão de recalques para o caso de uma solução em fundação superficial adotado em uma obra de um edifício comercial de 10 pavimentos e 3 subsolos localizado na cidade de São Caetano do Sul/SP, por meio de análise de quatro provas de carga sobre placa. Para tal, o solo local foi submetido a ensaios de laboratório para caracterização e determinação de parâmetros geotécnicos que alimentaram os métodos propostos e apresentados na literatura. Um modelo do ensaio de carga foi simulado em programa de elementos finitos, com os parâmetros dos ensaios de laboratório e assim determinando a curva carga vs recalque. Foram realizadas análises probabilísticas que forneceram o índice de confiabilidade e a probabilidade de ruína, possibilitando a redução do fator de segurança da fundação e o aumento da tensão admissível / Abstract: This work aims to study the methods and theories of bearing capacity and settlement prediction for the solution of a shallow foundation adopted in a commercial building of 10 floors and 3 basements in the city of São Caetano do Sul/SP through analysis of 4 plate loading tests. An undisturbed soil sample was collected that was submitted to laboratory tests for characterization and determination of geotechnical parameters that will support the theoretical methods proposed in the literature. With this it is expected to check the existing calculation methods for bearing capacity and settlement prediction. A model of the load plate test was simulated using a finite element program, with the parameters of laboratory tests, thus determining the load-settlement curve. By the allowable stress obtained, probabilistic analysis were performed, what made possible the calculation of reliability and failure probability indexes, allowing the reduction of the safety factor of the foundation and increase in the allowable stress / Mestrado / Geotecnia / Mestre em Engenharia Civil

Le respect de l'érosion et de la fuite du temps instaure une recherche concernant l'effacement de l'œuvre et le dessaisissement. Les écrits s'inspirent d'une quarantaine de travaux artistiques personnels, des sculptures pour la plupart, reliés à ceux d'artistes connus pour s'être exprimés dans un registre apparenté. Avec l'infini présent s'ouvre pour l'effacement une double perspective : celle d'un présent permanent, identique à lui-même mais appelé lentement à disparaître comme l'a voulu Roman Opalka, ou celle d'un présent récurrent, s'éclipsant pour réapparaître qu'il s'agisse de la foule, multitude d'hier et demain ou d'une scénographie humaine, une fatalité ubiquitaire, amenée à se perpétuer. L'auto-affirmation du passé, les ruines que l'on garde en l'état, de Jean-Christophe Bailly sont une lecture du temps. « Effigies » et les autoportraits d'Hélène Schjertbeck sont, parmi d'autres, les figures de l'effacement. Le refus du néant s'affiche avec la mémoire des corps disloqués, trophées, transis et gisants, celui de Corps évanoui et des coquilles vides, Sculptures d'ombre de Claude Parmiggiani, les bois calcinés de Franz Krajcberg. Fin et suite : l'ontologie de ce qui est rejeté ou délabré se trouve définie ; et après Jean Tinguely, la volonté de s'investir dans le renouveau des matériaux s'affirme pour une re-création en aménageant ce qui subsiste, ce qui a pu antérieurement interagir avec des mains humaines, et peut être à l'origine d'un nouvel essor, et d'une autre vie. Une nouvelle sémantique des verbes est imaginée, rendant compte des différentes formes temporelles et modales énonciatives des œuvres présentées. Mes travaux se consacrent alors au futur antérieur, à l'anticipe passé, pour promouvoir l'archéologie du futur. / The respect for erosion and the flying of time initiates a research as regards to erasure of an artwork and its loss. These writings stem from about forty persona! artworks, sculptures for the most part, linked to those executed by famous artists known for their works in related fields. The infinite present allows erasure to be considered from two standpoints: on the one hand, the forever present that is identical to itself but doomed to slowly disappear as wanted by Roman Opalka or on the other band, the recurring present fading away to reappear whether it is related to crowd as a past and future multitude or else, referring to a human scenography, as a ubiquitus fate doomed to continue. The self-assertion of the past, ruins kept as such, by Jean­-Christophe Bailly are a reading of the times. "Effigie" and self-portraits by Hélène Schjertbeck are among others, some shapes of erasure. Refusing nothingness can be seen through the memory of dismantled bodies, trophies, numbed and recumbent bodies, and through “Fainted body” and empty shells, Sculptured shadows by Claude Parmiggiani, the charred woods by Franz Krajcberg. The end and later on: the ontology of what is rejected or wrecked is defined and following Jean Tinguely, willing to become involved in the renewal of materials can be considered as a recreation when adjusting what remains, what may interected with human hands before and such can also be the starting point of new development and another life. A new semantics of verbs can be conceived accounting for various tenses and modal forms stating exhibited artworks. So my work is devoted to future perfect and past anterior to promote the archaeology of the future.

This thesis deals with the restoration of masonry in ruins with the aim of mapping which restorations have been carried out at Kronobergs and Bergkvara ruins in Växjö, and to explore which restoration measures that are sustainable. During the early 20th century many of the country's cultural monuments were restored including ruins. The ruins were originally buildings built with natural stone and lime mortar and were never intended to stand without a roof. When the buildings were left to decay for various reasons, they quickly became ruins. To save the ruins and make them accessible to visitors, the ruins needed to be preserved.The results have been obtained from archive studies and observations from visits in-situ. The various restoration works carried out on Kronoberg and Bergkvara ruins has been compiled. The conclusions show that in order to carry out a successful restoration, consideration must be given to the entire overall damage picture of the ruin and past and future restoration work.

An urn contains two types of balls: p "+t" balls and m "-s" balls, where t and s are positive real numbers. The balls are drawn from the urn uniformly at random without replacement until the urn is empty. Before each ball is drawn, the player decides whether to accept the ball or not. If the player opts to accept the ball, then the payoff is the weight of the ball drawn, gaining t dollars if a "+t" ball is drawn, or losing s dollars if a "-s" ball is drawn. We wish to maximize the expected gain for the player. We find that the optimal acceptance policies are similar to that of the original acceptance urn of Chen et al. with s=t=1. We show that the expected gain function also shares similar properties to those shown in that work, and note the important properties that have geometric interpretations. We then calculate the expected gain for the urns with t/s rational, using various methods, including rotation and reflection. For the case when t/s is irrational, we use rational approximation to calculate the expected gain. We then give the asymptotic value of the expected gain under various conditions. The problem of minimal gain is then considered, which is a version of the ballot problem. We then consider a Bayesian approach for the general urn, for which the number of balls n is known while the number of "+t" balls, p, is unknown. We find formulas for the expected gain for the random acceptance urn when the urns with n balls are distributed uniformly, and find the asymptotic value of the expected gain for any s and t. Finally, we discuss the probability of ruin when an optimal strategy is used for the (m,p;s,t) urn, solving the problem with s=t=1. We also show that in general, when the initial capital is large, ruin is unlikely. We then examine the same problem with the random version of the urn, solving the problem with s=t=1 and an initial prior distribution of the urns containing n balls that is uniform.

Studien undersöker gudinnan Ate för att bilda förståelse för de antika grekernas föreställning om distribution av agens. Nära förknippade med Ate är Moirai (ödesgudinnorna) och Litai som Ates antites och dessa undersöks för en överblick över krafter som kan påverka en individs agens. För ändamålet används Homeros Iliaden och Odysséen samt Aischylos trilogi Orestien för att kunna följa hur religiösa gestalter skildras och utvecklas över tid. Materialet analyseras med textanalys utifrån perspektivet att religiösa uppfattningar påverkar sociala uttryck. Analysen beskriver de gudomliga aktörerna och redovisar skillnader i hur de skildras utifrån detvå författarnas tolkningar samt hur de mänskliga aktörerna påverkas av de skadliga handlingar de utfört och hur de uppfattas av sin omgivning. Resultatet av analysen visar att ingripande av Ate framkallas av individens bristande moral och det gudomliga hävdas för att göra en svår situation uthärdlig. Moirai hävdas på liknande vis och Ate ses som ett instrument för Ödets vilja. Litai lindrar skadan som Ate åsamkat. Utanför den trojanska cykeln upphör omnämnanden av Litai vilket förändrar Ates funktion. / The study examines the goddess Ate to understand the ancient greek view on the distribution of agency. Other deities closely connected to Ate are Moirai (the Fates) and Litai as the antithesis of Ate and these are examined for an overview of forces that can influence agency. For this purpose Homers Iliad and Odyssey are used along with Aeschylus Orestia to follow how the deities are depicted and how they evolve over time. The material is examined using textual analysis from the perspective that religious views affect social expressions. The analysis addresses how the deities were expressed and accounts for differences in depiction identified between the two authors along with how the actors are impacted by the damaging actions they’ve performed. The results of the analyses show that interventions by Ate are brought upon by an actor's own deficient morals and the divine is claimed in an attempt to make a bad situation manageable. The will of Moirai is claimed with a similar goal and Ate is wielded as an instrument for Moirai. Litai is used to mitigate the damage caused by Ate and their disappearance outside the Trojan cycle alters the very function of Ate.

In this thesis, annuity-due and annuity-immediate discrete time risk models are introduced and ruin probabilities in these two models under dependent forces of interest are discussed. Recursive and integral equations for these ruin probabilities are given. Inequalities for the ruin probability estimation are derived by an inductive approach. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the application of these results.