CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Este estudo teve como objetivo principal constituir um perfil conceitual de gravidade com concepÃÃes de gravidade de crianÃas de quatro e cinco anos de idade. A abordagem de perfis conceituais foi adotada como ferramenta teÃrico-metodolÃgica de anÃlise da heterogeneidade dos modos de pensar e falar esse conceito. Essa abordagem, concebida por Mortimer (2000) e desenvolvida por um grupo de pesquisadores no programa de pesquisa de perfis conceituais, jà foi empregada em vÃrias pesquisas, dissertaÃÃes e teses no Brasil e em outros paÃses. O perfil conceitual deste estudo foi constituÃdo em trÃs domÃnios genÃticos: o domÃnio sociocultural, por meio de uma revisÃo bibliogrÃfica sobre a histÃria do conceito de gravidade; o ontogenÃtico, por meio da compilaÃÃo de estudos sobre concepÃÃes de gravidade de estudantes; e o microgenÃtico, por meio de um estudo de caso de natureza exploratÃria realizado com crianÃas de quatro e cinco anos de idade para apreender suas conceitualizaÃÃes de gravidade. A anÃlise dialÃgica dos discursos das crianÃas sobre o porquà de coisas caÃrem possibilitou uma proposiÃÃo de perfil conceitual de gravidade, constituÃdo em quatro zonas: internalista, externalista, composicional. Essas quatro zonas representam modos de compreensÃo das crianÃas sobre o conceito de gravidade. A zona internalista expÃe que a gravidade à caracterÃstica do corpo; a zona externalista que a gravidade à provocada por uma aÃÃo externa ao corpo; a zona composicional mostra que a gravidade à intercambio de aÃÃes. / This study aimed to provide a conceptual profile of gravity with conceptions of gravity of children four and five years old. The approach of conceptual profiles was adopted as a theoretical and methodological tool for analyzing the heterogeneity of ways of thinking and talking about this concept. This approach, designed by Mortimer (2000) and developed by a group of researchers in the research program of conceptual profiles, has already been used in several studies, dissertations and theses in Brazil and other countries. The conceptual profile of this study consisted of three genetic domains: the sociocultural domain, through a literature review on the history of the concept of gravity; the ontogenetic, through the compilation of studies on student conceptions of gravity; and the microgenetic, through an exploratory case study conducted with children four and five years old to grasp their conceptualizations of gravity. The dialogic analysis of discourses of children about why things fall provided a proposition of a conceptual profile of gravity, consisting in three zones: internalist, externalist and compositional. These three zones represent ways of children understanding about the concept of gravity. The internalist zone exposes that gravity is a characteristic of the body; externalist zone exposes that gravity is caused by an external action to the body; compositional zone shows that gravity is an exchange of actions.

Nous avons cherché comment, dans une situation de lecture conjointe, la mère et l’enfant appréhendent l’album de jeunesse et comment, de ce fait, s’instaurent chez l’enfant de 18 mois-36 mois les premières postures de lecteur. Se demander comment la mère et l’enfant découvrent l’album de jeunesse, dans ce triangle Mère/Album/Enfant conduit alors à analyser leurs modes d’appréhension : interactifs, cognitifs, d’objet, narratifs, émotionnels, de subjectivation. Nous étudions également les liens de ces modes d’appréhension avec les postures de lecture de l’enfant et ses conséquences dans l’éveil de son être au livre. Au plan empirique, auprès d’un échantillon constitué de 21 dyades mère-enfant, nous avons procédé en trois temps. Tout d’abord, nous avons réalisé un premier entretien qui nous a permis de recueillir le discours des mères quant aux pratiques familiales de chaque enfant. Dans un second temps, nous avons filmé les dyades, lisant toutes le même album à leur enfant dans une bibliothèque de quartier. Enfin, trois mois après chaque observation filmée, nous avons mené un second entretien qui constituait alors une analyse méta vidéo. A partir des résultats obtenus, nous avons ainsi pu définir la lecture conjointe comme une aire intermédiaire, pouvant s’apparenter à l’Aire Intermédiaire de Winnicott (1971) et à la Zone Proximale de Développement de Vygotski (1933). Nous avons ainsi conceptualisé l’Aire Intermédiaire de Lecture Conjointe (AILC). Nous avons également approfondi, dans une perspective du développement du jeune enfant lecteur, le concept de Lecteur potentiel de Frier (2006). / Our study focuses on the mother /child shared reading experience and how the first reading postures are thereby awakened in the 18 to 26 month old infant. How exactly do the mother and child discover the children’s book? The mother/book/child triangle leads us to an analysis of their mode of apprehension: interactive, cognitive, of the book object, of the narrative, emotional, subjectivity. The link between these different modes of apprehension is also studied along with the child’s reading postures and their consequences on the infant’s discovery of the book. On the empirical level, a sample, consisting of 21 mother/child dyads was studied in three stages. First of all an interview was carried out which allowed us to collect information concerning family practices from the mother of each child. Second, the mother/child dyads were filmed, the mothers all reading the same story to their child in a local library. And lastly, three months after each filmed observation, a second interview consisted in a meta video analysis. The results obtained from this study enabled us to define the joint reading as an intermediary zone, close to Winnicott’s Intermediary Zone (1971) and Vygotski’s Next Proximal Zone of Development (1933). We thus conceptualized the Intermediate Zone of Shared Reading (IZSR). We also went further into Frier’s concept of Potential Reader, keeping in mind the perspective of the development of the infant reader.

This research report examines the use of zone modelling compared with CFD modelling to determine when zone model approximation is valid and when a CFD model might be required. A series of computer simulations with enclosures and fires of various sizes was performed to compare the capabilities and limitations of the two computer methods. The relationship between the size of the enclosure space and the size of the fire has been demonstrated in a dimensionless form. The zone model BRANZFIRE and the CFD model FDS were used for simulating smoke development. The simulations included various full-scale experimental data on both small and large spaces found in the literature. Further simulations of large exemplar spaces with a range of fire sizes were performed to investigate different variables, which have not been examined in full-scale experiments. The simulation results have been compared based on the smoke layer height and the average layer temperature. Zukoski’s smoke filling equation was also used to compare the layer height predictions against BRANZFIRE and FDS. It was found that different data reduction techniques gave different approximations to the layer height. A perfect match between the experimental data and the model output was very difficult to achieve. FDS showed a large uncertainty of the smoke layer height and temperature in the early stages of fire across the enclosure space. In the later stages, this uncertainly became minimised where the smoke layer height and temperature were fairly uniformly developed across the space. For fire enclosures with instantaneous steady-state fires, the predictions between BRANZFIRE and FDS agreed well with each other if the fire size and the enclosure size were within a reasonable range. From the modelling of the full-scale experiments, FDS showed favourable layer-height comparisons against the full-scale experimental tests. However, the output results from BRANZFIRE are less comparable with those of FDS for the experiments with fire growth. An appropriate smoke transport time lag should be included for Zukoski’s smoke filling equation and BRANZFIRE; otherwise, they gave conservative estimates of the layer height to smaller fires with a growth phase. In general, the data reduction methods and zone models should not be used if the fire is too small relative to the enclosure size. A very low temperature rise within the enclosure space would give invalid predictions of the layer height and average layer temperature. This is because there is no clear indication of a separation between the upper and lower smoke layers or temperatures. Single point data of smoke concentrations and temperatures from CFD models should be considered through the entire space or at the specified location of interest. This also applies to an extremely large fire relative to the enclosure size where temperature distribution across the space might not be very homogenous. CFD models could also be used to investigate the details of the smoke properties in the early stages of growing fires, in which the smoke transport lag and the plume effects cannot be seen in BRANZFIRE. This research is intended to provide guidance for fire engineers by determining which of the computer methods can be used confidently and appropriately as a design tool.

Ce travail concerne l'étude de l'intégrité des matériaux ou des structures assemblées en s'intéressant à la modélisation du mécanisme de rupture à l'aide des modèles de zones cohésives (MZC). Cette approche présente l'avantage d'incorporer une longueur caractéristique dans la description de la rupture, ce qui permet notamment d'évaluer des effets de taille. Trois paramètres caractérisent ces MZC : la contrainte de traction Tmax à laquelle l'interface ou le matériau peut résister avant d'amorcer sa décohésion, l'ouverture critique à partir de laquelle une fissure est créée localement et finalement une loi traction-ouverture qui décrit la répartition des efforts cohésifs selon le mécanisme opérant.L'objectif principal de cette thèse est d'identifier les paramètres cohésifs caractérisant la rupture interfaciale dans un joint de colle ou cohésif dans un matériau. Pour cela, une première étape était d'élaborer un modèle analytique, décrivant correctement la cinématique d'un essai DCB ou Wedge, pour caractériser la rupture mode I. Bien que le mode d'ouverture soit opérant, le champ de déplacement au voisinage de l'entaille n'est pas K-dominant pour ces essais, du moins pas toujours. Plusieurs lois de traction-ouverture ont été considérées afin d'étudier leur influence sur la réponse locale et globale de l'essai. Une méthodologie d'identification inverse a été proposée à partir d'un modèle analytique, qui consiste à extraire les paramètres cohésifs en minimisant l'erreur au sens des moindres carrés entre les déflections analytique et numérique. Une fois validée, elle a été par la suite appliquée à un cas réel, qui est l'essai d'insertion de lame. La mesure du champ de déplacement expérimental est possible grâce à une mesure du champ de déplacement par corrélation d'image.Une analyse approfondie a été aussi consacrée à l'étude de la "Process Zone" pour un essai DCB ou Wedge. Cette étude met en évidence la variation de Lcz en fonction de la géométrie des éprouvettes, des propriétés de la zone cohésive, des propriétés mécaniques du matériau ou encore la forme de la loi traction-ouverture utilisée. Une nouvelle expression pour estimer Lcz est établie pour les zones cohésives rectangulaires et triangulaires.Une deuxième approche d’identification locale, basée sur le travail de Réthoré et Estevez (2013), a été aussi proposée et discutée. Elle a été mise en oeuvre pour un essai d'insertion de lame, avant d'être appliquée à un essai de flexion 4 points entaillé. Un aller-retour entre simulation numérique et résultat expérimental permet d'identifier les propriétés cohésives du matériau ou de l'interface / This work concerns the study of materials and assemblies structures integrity using cohesive zone model (CZM) to analyze fracture. These models have the advantage to incorporate a characteristic length in the description of fracture initiation and propagation, which can lead to size effects studies. Three parameters characterize the CZM : the maximal cohesive traction Tmax to which the interface or the material can resist before the onset of debonding, the critical crack opening from which a crack is created locally and finally the traction-separation law which describe the cohesive traction distribution depending on fracture process.The main purpose of this thesis is to identify the cohesive zone parameters describing fracture at the interface or in the material. The first step was to elaborate an analytical model which can describe properly the DCB or Wedge Test kinematic, to characterize mode I fracture. Despite the fact of mode I fracture, the displacement field near the crack-tip is not K-dominant for these tests, at least not always. Various traction-separation laws were considered in order to study their influence on the local and global response of the test. An inverse identification methodology has been proposed from the analytical model, which can extract cohesive parameters through a least square error minimization between numerical and analytical deflection. Once validated, it was subsequently applied to a real Wedge test. The experimental displacement field measurement was done due to digital image correlation measurement.A deep analysis to evaluate the fracture process zone length has been also dedicated in the case of Wedge or DCB Tests. This analysis shows that Lcz is not an intrinsic interface or materials property and it can vary depending on the sample's geometry, the cohesive zone properties or the traction-separation law. A new expression to determine Lcz was established for rectangular and triangular cohesive zone.A second local identification approach, based on the work of Réhoré and Estevez (2013), has been also proposed. It was implemented to analyze the Wedge test, before applying it to a notched four points bending test. A round trip between numerical simulations and experimental results allow identifying the cohesive properties in the materiel or at the interface.

This thesis discusses optoelectronic devices at mm-wave frequencies, focusing on optoelectronic beamforming and non-mechanical beam steering based on an optically excited Fresnel zone plate plasma. The optically controlled zone plate, termed the photo-injected Fresnel zone plate antenna (piFZPA) within this work, is introduced and a comprehensive theoretical framework developed. The design and optimisation of Fresnel zone plates are detailed, which determine the inherent performance of the piFZPA. A range of zone plates were designed, fabricated, and characterised at 94 GHz with up to 46 dBi gain, -26 dB sidelobe levels, and 67% aperture efficiency being measured for a quarter-wave design. The control of (sub) mm-wave beams by optical modulation of the complex permittivity of a semiconductor substrate is discussed. The significance of the free-carrier plasma dynamics, the effective lifetime, surface recombination, and the limits of the substrate which are imposed by the spatial resolution of the free-carrier plasma are highlighted, with the optimisation of these parameters discussed. The passivation quality of high-resistivity silicon wafers were characterised using a mm-wave photoconductance decay method, which yielded lifetime improvements from τ[subscript(eff)] = 60 us up to τ[subscript(eff)] ≈ 4,000 us, resulting in lowered recombination velocities (S = 15 cm/s). W-band characterisations of the passivated wafers illustrate the significance of surface recombination, with measured attenuations of up to 24 dB. Novel theoretical models are developed throughout this thesis, which yield insight into the requirements of optoelectronic devices, and are shown to agree well with measured data. The theoretical framework developed details the requirements, limitations, suitability, and design of piFZPAs at any frequency. A range of transmission-type piFZPAs are demonstrated and characterised at 94 GHz, both on-axis and off-axis, based on a novel architecture, with up to 8% aperture efficiency. Finally, the hybridisation of the piFZPA technique and well established visible display technologies, which has been developed throughout this thesis, enable low-cost, simple, and highly flexible optoelectronic devices, highlighting this method as an attractive solution to adaptive beamforming and non-mechanical steering at mm-wave and submm-wave frequencies.

The diploma thesis deals with the entrance zone objects on the holdings of Wanemi, a.s. factory. The diploma pre-thesis project dealt with urbanistic situation and the green zone – entrance area. This thesis tie together with solution of the administrative building and the presentation pavilion. The administrative building is combined with the research institute. This building offer to relax zone – terrace with perspective on the green zone and land all around. The presentation pavilion subserve as showroom for paper production and other design furniture. This object offer to examples of other paper elaboration from the home paper fabric. The pavilion join in them the process of concept, manufacturing and presentation of final product.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / In the United States, approximately 1,100 people die and 40,000 people are injured annually as a result of motor vehicle crashes in work zones. These numbers may be a result of interruption to regular traffic flow caused by closed traffic lanes, poor traffic management within work zones, general misunderstanding of problems associated with work zones, or improper usage of traffic control devices. In regard to safety of work zones, this study was conducted to identify characteristics and risk factors associated with work zone crashes in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin, states currently included in the Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative (SWZDI) region. The study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, characteristics and contributory causes related to work zone crashes such as environmental conditions, vehicles, crashes, drivers, and roadways were analyzed for the five states for the period 2002-2006. An analysis of percentage-wise distributions was carried out for each variable based on different conditions. Results showed that most of the work zone crashes occurred under clear environmental conditions as during daylight, no adverse weather, etc. Multiple-vehicle crashes were more predominant than single-vehicle crashes in work zone crashes. Primary driver-contributing factors of work zone crashes were inattentive driving, following too close for conditions, failure to yield right of way, driving too fast for conditions, and exceeding posted speed limits within work zones. A test of independency was performed to find the relation between crash severity and other work zone variables for the combined states. In the second stage, a statistical model was developed to identify risk factors associated with work zone crashes. In order to predict injury severity of work zone crashes, an ordered probit model analysis was carried out using the Iowa work zone crash database. According to findings of the severity model, work zone crashes involving trucks, light duty vehicles, vehicles following too close, sideswipe collisions of same-direction vehicles, nondeployment of airbags, and driver age are some of the contributing factors towards more severe crashes.

This study focuses specifically on the laws and regulations relating to commercial fishing within the Exclusive Economic Zone of South Africa and the impact of illegal fishing (IUU). The goal is to determine how overfishing can be stopped or minimised and ultimately for South Africa to harvest the illegally caught fish in such a way that it becomes part of the South African economy and generates revenue. The study will analyse the international legal instruments applicable and their impact on the development of the South African maritime laws. An in depth look at the relevant South African maritime laws will be vital as to determine if these laws are adequate to protect the fish resources from illegal exploitation and official mismanagement. To see if South Africa’s maritime laws are lacking with other countries a comparison must be done, particularly with a country like Australia that has one of the highest success rates when it comes to combating IUU fishing. It will be found that the international legal instruments and agreements on the use of the sea have afforded rights and powers to coastal states to protect their sea zones, but it will remains the responsibility of each coastal state to determine how it will use these rights and powers to protect its own sea zones. Further it will be shown that South Africa has the necessary legislative measures in place to protect its fish resources, but the problem lies with the implementation of those measures Australia does not only rely on its legislation to stop IUU fishing, but it also uses external methods, that South Africa will have to consider. / LLM (Import and export Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study focuses specifically on the laws and regulations relating to commercial fishing within the Exclusive Economic Zone of South Africa and the impact of illegal fishing (IUU). The goal is to determine how overfishing can be stopped or minimised and ultimately for South Africa to harvest the illegally caught fish in such a way that it becomes part of the South African economy and generates revenue. The study will analyse the international legal instruments applicable and their impact on the development of the South African maritime laws. An in depth look at the relevant South African maritime laws will be vital as to determine if these laws are adequate to protect the fish resources from illegal exploitation and official mismanagement. To see if South Africa’s maritime laws are lacking with other countries a comparison must be done, particularly with a country like Australia that has one of the highest success rates when it comes to combating IUU fishing. It will be found that the international legal instruments and agreements on the use of the sea have afforded rights and powers to coastal states to protect their sea zones, but it will remains the responsibility of each coastal state to determine how it will use these rights and powers to protect its own sea zones. Further it will be shown that South Africa has the necessary legislative measures in place to protect its fish resources, but the problem lies with the implementation of those measures Australia does not only rely on its legislation to stop IUU fishing, but it also uses external methods, that South Africa will have to consider. / LLM (Import and export Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This thesis is focused around improving soil moisture estimates of spatial variability and mean at the field scale, which are useful for many different applications. The objectives were: (1) examine soil moisture spatial patterns and variability within field scale, and (2) compare field-scale soil moisture determination methods. An observational study was conducted, in which soil moisture was monitored over a 500 m by 500 m area during two and a half growing seasons at a prairie pasture in central Saskatchewan. Analysis of the spatial patterns of root-zone soil moisture revealed two distinct spatial patterns representing wet (spring) and dry (fall) periods. The relationship between spatial variability and mean soil moisture was found to follow an unusual concave trend, where variability was smallest at mid-range moisture contents. These spatial variability characteristics are a result of differences in participation level. Some locations were non-participating having only small moisture changes over the growing season, while others were dynamic having large changes. At the pasture site, these participation differences are a result of high soil heterogeneity, which may be characteristic of Solonetzic soils. In the second part of this thesis, methods to determine mean field-scale root-zone soil moisture were evaluated. The cosmic-ray neutron probe has the most potential for providing field-scale measurements. However, these measurements are only representative of moisture in the top 20 cm of soil, and need to be scaled up in order to represent the entire root-zone (0–110 cm). The three scaling methods applied to obtain lower root-zone soil moisture were: (1) a single time stable location, (2) representative landscape unit, where a single monitoring profile for each vegetation type was used, and (3) modeling by exponential filter. The representative landscape unit approach estimated soil moisture changes well, but not volumetric water content. The time stability method performed the best, followed by the exponential filter. However, the exponential filter has more potential, as the time stability method is difficult to apply to other field sites; particularly those without existing soil moisture instrumentation, due to its calibration requirements. The findings of this thesis make a contribution to the large body of existing literature on soil moisture variability and scaling. Suggestions for future research are provided.