This study contributes to African state and fiscal history by presenting a detailed comparison of the evolution of fiscal capacity in four countries in francophone West Africa – Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger and Senegal - over both the colonial and independent periods. While common patterns and persistence can be observed it is instead the unique fiscal pathways of the individual countries that stan

This thesis presents spin transport studies of ferromagnetic nano-scaled tunneling devices fabricated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electron beam lithography (EBL). The thesis covers three main topics: The first topic is a study of spin accumulation (relaxation) in Au nano-structures using Ni/Au/Ni ferromagnetic single electron transistors (F-SETs). A Ni/Au/Ni F-SET with a single central Au

Most implementations of single character recognition use standard arclength parameterization of the handwritten samples. A problem with the arclength approach is that points on curves of different samples from one character class may then actually correspond to parts of different structural significance. Many methods such as DTW and HMM have been successful partly because they are less sensitive t

A low-complexity method using synchronous wrappers is proposed to simplify communication between modules using unsynchronized clocks. To test the method, it is implemented together with a divider and an FFT co-processor. The divider with synchronous wrapper and local clock generator, delivering a 500 MHz clock, is synthesized and verified using post-synthesis simulations for a 0.18 μm 1.8 V CMOS t

Synchrotron radiation is a tool widely used in science. It is produced by electron accelerators called storage rings. With the high performance of the 3rd generation synchrotron light sources, the scientific results are excellent. It is important to identify and overcome the limitations of a storage ring in order to enhance its performance. This will enable research facilities to withstand competi

This paper investigates accidental loading in the form of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) collisions to bridge supporting structures. Structures adjacent to roads are normally strong enough to resist collisions from light vehicles, while it may not be feasible for such structures to resist collisions from all HGVs (greater than 3,5 tons). In this paper a probabilistic model is used to determine these co

This book has three parts: (1) Aspects of Jesus' life from the perspective of social anthropology: family, honour and shame, conversations as honour struggles, deciphering meals. (2) What Jesus thought of himself in relation to John the Baptist, God the Father, his coming Kingdom, the temple, the authorities; why he was executed; his resurrection a historical fact? (3) Analysis of two centuries an

Popular Abstract in English A biosensor is an analytical device that combines a transducer with a biological sensing element. This sensor is unique and has played an important role for a broad range of applications including clinical analysis and process monitoring. Between different types of biosensors, the capacitive biosensor has recently gained a lot of interest due to its analytical performanIncreasing demands for highly sensitive, accurate, fast and portable analytical assays have led to the development of new analytical tools. The integration of highly specific biological sensing elements and appropriate transducers has enabled design of even more efficient biosensor devices for the detection of target substances. In a clinical setting, early detection of biomarkers is crucial for