Thesis Acknowledgments

The work in this thesis is dedicated to the memory of my loving father H.A (1944-2003)

Acknowledgment

Foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Y.O who has been of a great intellectual support. He shared with me a lot of his expertise and research insight. He gave me of his time and helped me go through the hard way with constant encouragement and influential discussions. I am deeply grateful to his valuable guidance and directives. Simply, I am ever indebted to his believing in me and constantly pushing me to give the best of me.

Also, I cannot but express my sincere gratitude to Professor Y.K who has been my first significant figure in Japan. His thoughtful advice often served to give me a sense of direction during my PhD studies. I admire his bright wisdom and his distinguished character. My solemn high esteem to the eminent scholar he is.

I would also like to show my genuine appreciation to the other members of my PhD committee who monitored my work and took effort in reading and providing me with valuable comments on earlier versions of this thesis: Professor H.Y, Professor S.Y and Professor U.Y. I thank you all.

I am very thankful as well, to the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Government of Japan (Monbukagakusho) for granting me a scholarship to pursue my studies in their good country, allowing me thus, to live one of the most prominent experiences of my life.

I also would like to thank my colleagues and lab mates for their support and positive input, in particular Mr. M.I whose cheerful attitude gave me lots of encouragement; Mr. S.I, Mr. M.Y, Mr. N.U, Mr. K.T and Mr. Y.M for their tremendous contribution with the simulations; and Jean Marc for his valuable comments and insightful discussions during our seminars and presentations. I expand my thanks to all the staff in our university for their assistance and kindness.

I am tempted to individually thank all of my friends but as the list might be long and for fear I might omit someone, I will simply and genuinely say: Thank you to you all for your love, care and trust. In particular I would like to cite: Souhir.H, Inga.M, Mattias.W for their constant presence and care and instant moral support.

I owe much to my dearest neighbors Hagane-san, Sakai-san and Virginia C. Their love and bighearted manners provided me with a home like home in the last two years.

Eventually, I deeply thank my Family: uncles, aunts and cousins for believing in me and for being proud of me. Words cannot express the love and gratitude I have for my sisters, Manel and Imen. Most importantly, I would like to thank and dedicate this work to my loving mother who is the angel that constantly watches over my head and whose simple voice gives me the necessary strength to hold on and persevere. Last but not least, I also wish to dedicate this to my late host parents Mr. and Ms. Yamada.

I cannot finish without acknowledging how eternally grateful and thankful I am to The One, The Everlasting, The All Determiner , The Trustee, The Dependable and The Protecting Friend that guides me, teaches me to be patient and to never give up. Thank you Dear Lord!