Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Mitigation action'
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Hill, Heather. "Local government and greenhouse action in South Australia /." Title page, table of contents and abstract only, 1998. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ENV/09envh646.pdf.
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Mazurek, Jan. "The politics of counting carbon lessons from the California Climate Action Registry /." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1610480141&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Alexander, Serena E. "From Planning to Action: An Evaluation of State Level Climate Action Plans." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1470908879.
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Sherwood, Michael. "Least action principle for real-time mitigation of angle instability in power systems." Online access for everyone, 2007. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Thesis/Fall2007/M_Sherwood_011608.pdf.
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Kotzeva, Nevena K. "The Application of the Hyogo Framework for Action in Thailand." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378112571.
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Lee, Hee Min. "Collective action for community-based hazard mitigation: a case study of Tulsa project impact." Diss., Texas A&M University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/2806.
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During the past two decades, community-based hazard mitigation (CBHM) has been newly proposed and implemented as an alternative conceptual model for emergency management to deal with disasters comprehensively in order to curtail skyrocketing disaster losses. Local community members have been growingly required to share information and responsibilities for reducing community vulnerabilities to natural and technological hazards and building a safer community. Consequently they are encouraged to join local mitigation programs and volunteer for collective mitigation action, but their contributions vary. This research examined factors associated with Tulsa Project Impact partners?? contributions to collective mitigation action. In the literature review, self-interest and social norms were identified and briefly discussed as two determinants to guide partners?? behavior by reviewing game theoretic frameworks and individual decision-making models. Partners?? collective interest in building a safer community and feelings of obligation to participate in collective mitigation action were also considered for this study. Thus, the major factors considered are: (1) collective interests, (2) selective benefits, (3) participation costs, (4) norms of cooperation, and (5) internalized norms of participation. Research findings showed that selective benefits and internalized norms of participation were the two best predictors for partners?? contributions to collective mitigation action. However, collective interests, participation costs, and norms of cooperation did not significantly influence partners?? contributions.
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Bögelein, Sandra. "The social dilemma structure of climate change mitigation : individual responses and effects on action." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2015. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/61370/.
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Climate change mitigation constitutes a social dilemma, a conflict between personal and collective outcomes. Behaviours that result in personal benefits (e.g. travelling quickly, conveniently and cheaply by plane) also result in a collective cost in the form of climate change. Behavioural theories and evidence suggest this social dilemma structure significantly influences behaviour. This thesis aims to understand how the social dilemma structure of climate change mitigation affects people’s personal actions to address climate change. The first empirical study explores whether people perceive decisions with emission consequences as social dilemmas. Findings show that making salient the effected collective or the pro-social nature of the decision increases awareness of the social dilemma structure. A second set of empirical studies, using quantitative and qualitative methods, further demonstrate that there are two sets of considerations to the climate change mitigation dilemma: 1) non-cooperative considerations (e.g. a focus on immediate personal benefits or a temptation to free-ride) which are linked to a decrease in actions on climate change, and 2) cooperative considerations (e.g. a focus on outcomes for others or fairness considerations) which are linked to an increase in actions on climate change. Results also show that people apply cognitive strategies to counteract the discouraging effect of non-cooperative considerations. A third set of empirical studies tested whether communication massages based on cooperative considerations can increase personal actions to address climate change. Findings suggest that especially framing a message based on the collective outcome can increase actions, but careful consideration of the audience and the situation is required. Overall, this thesis makes the important contribution of demonstrating that the social dilemma structure of climate change mitigation does not necessarily discourage actions to address climate change, but also offers an encouraging perspective through a focus on the collective outcome.
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Glaser, Sofia. "The Corona pandemic - a focusing event for insufficient governmental action on climate change mitigation?" Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-413203.
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This study seeks to examine whether the Corona pandemic has potential to serve as a focusing event for the problem of insufficient governmental action on climate change mitigation. The study is built on the Multiple Streams Framework by John W. Kingdon, with a main focus on the focusing event theory. According to this, focusing events can come in three forms: as crises and disasters, personal experiences of policymakers, and as symbols. Kingdon’s theoretical discussions, alongside my own developments of his work, provides the basis for a set of analytical questions through which the answer to the research question is provided. The analysis reveals that while the pandemic indeed can be considered a crisis or disaster and personal experiences of policymakers, establishing whether these could focus attention to the specific problem of insufficient governmental action on climate change mitigation requires further research, as the perceived cause of the crisis or disaster and personal experience must be established. However, the paper finds that the pandemic indeed has potential to serve as a symbol for the specific insufficient governmental action, for instance by stressing that deforestation increases the risk of zoonotic outbreaks, such as the Corona pandemic.
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Germeraad, Michael. "Quantifying the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Hazards: Incorporating Disaster Mitigation Strategies in Climate Action Plans." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2014. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1173.
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Reconstruction after natural disasters can represent large peaks in a community’s greenhouse gas emission inventory. Components of the built environment destroyed by natural hazards have their useful life shortened, requiring replacement before functionally necessary. Though the hazard itself does not release greenhouse gasses, the demolition and rebuilding process does, and these are the emissions we can quantify to better understand the climate impacts of disasters.
The proposed methodology draws data from existing emission and hazard resource literature and combines the information in a community scale life cycle assessment. Case studies of past disasters are used to refine the methodology and quantify the emissions of single events. The methodology is then annualized projecting the emissions of future hazards. The annualization of greenhouse gasses caused by hazard events provides a baseline from which reduction strategies can be measured against. Hazard mitigation strategies can then be quantified as greenhouse gas reduction strategies for use in Climate Action Plans.
The methodology combines the fields of climate action, hazard mitigation, and climate adaptation. Each field attempts to create sustainable and resilient communities, but most plans silo each discipline, missing opportunities that are mutually beneficial. Quantifying the greenhouse gasses associated with recovery following a disaster blends these fields to allow development of comprehensive resilience and sustainability strategies that lower greenhouse gases and decrease risk from existing or projected hazards.
An online supplement to this thesis is available online at disasterghg.wordpress.com
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Denman, Antony Roger. "An assessment of the health benefits of radon mitigation of buildings in radon affected areas." Thesis, Leeds Beckett University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.287657.
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Tekelı-Yeşıl, Sidika. "Factors affecting the process of taking action at individual level regarding mitigation and preparedness for an earthquake in Istanbul /." [S.l.] : [s.n.], 2009. http://edoc.unibas.ch/diss/DissB_8816.
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Burnaz, Ahmet Mert. "Methodology And Database Requirements For Urban Regeneration Action Planning: The Case Of Zeytinburnu, Istanbul." Master's thesis, METU, 2004. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605817/index.pdf.
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As a result of the disregard of governments&rsquodirect urbanization policies for more than 50 years, most of the settlements in Turkey today demonstrate sub-standard environments and unauthorized developments subject to severe natural hazards. Turkey will have to focus in the near future on the renewal and regeneration of cities built over the past six decades, rather then sticking to urban policies solely devoted to extend new urban areas. The production of legal instruments and urban policies to facilitate the new policy of regeneration in physical and social terms, seems to be the most challenging issue facing urban planning. Urban regeneration planning aims to produce strategies and policies concurrently devoted to maintain physical rehabilitation and social transformation in built areas. For this reason, urban regeneration planning requires legal tools, regulations and methods different then those of conventional development planning. A new approach to urban regeneration planning is the development of urban database systems. These sytems are discussed here by means of a model developed for the case of Zeytinburnu. This model is prepared by organizing and developing the urban databases produced by local governments and international institutions for istanbul integrating natural conditions, physical assets, and the social characteristics. This requires a new set of &lsquo
Analytical Studies&rsquo
approach. The main obstacle in urban database system in Turkey is the lack of legal arrangements. New regulations are needed to describe the organisation and principles of database management in technical and administrative terms. Other implications are that an entirely new generation of urban planners need to be trained, improvement of expertise on database management, database use and updating protocols. Such systems could also constitute an essential instrument of public participation in local planning and urban management process.
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Jones, Nicolette. "How Are American Cities Planning for Climate Change? An Evaluation of Climate Action Planning in Chicago, IL and Portland, OR." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2012. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1592.
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Contending with a changing climate presents a necessary push for planning. Although climate change is considered a global environmental problem requiring a global commitment and trans-national action, more and more, policymakers are recognizing the vital need for action at the local level. In the US, especially in the absence of national climate legislation, many local governments have begun developing strategic plans, or climate action plans (CAPs), to address adapting to impacts of climate change and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This thesis involves case studies of Portland, OR and Chicago, IL, cities with recently adopted CAPs and with considerable recognition in the field. The analysis involves an evaluation each city’s CAP and an evaluation of its implementation. The studies help elicit an understanding of the measures cites are employing to mitigate climate change and determine ways the planning profession can better assist communities in climate policy development and its prompt implementation.
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Ast, Eric. "The state of long-term climate action planning in megacities : Planning and demographic trends among 17 of the world’s leading cities aiming to reduce emissions by 80% by the year 2050." Thesis, KTH, Industriell ekologi, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-163154.
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This report reviews the current state of long-term climate action planning in 17 cities which have publicly communicated carbon reducttargets in line with the IPCC recommended 80% reduction by 2050 (80x50) for stabilizing the impacts of climate change at 2°C. The aim of this report is to provide a foundation of support for cities in achieving their deep carbon reduction goals through a comprehensive understanding of leading climate action plans and the context under which they were created, including current city emissions and demographic data, climate plan reduction strategies and targets, and feedback on plan creation and needs from city planning staff. By achieving this aim, cities are in a better position to understand where their plans fit in the global context and connect with other cities around common issues, research institutions have a new benchmark analysis of leading action plans to build further research upon, and city-level climate action organizations have a clearer idea of how to focus efforts in helping cities achieve carbon reduction goals. This aim is achieved through the application of a framework for comparing city plans and targets, an analysis of current city emissions and demographic data, and synthesis of key findings from city planning staff discussions. Key findings show no clear demographic and environmental biases exist within these 17 cities, indicating long-term climate action planning can be undertaken by cities across the full spectrum of size, climate, and current per capita emissions output, though regional geographic and development bias exists. Plans for carbon reduction are highly concentrated among a small number of actions, indicating the movement has coalesced around a standard set of strategies for achieving deep carbon reductions. Finally, the relative newness of plans, with the majority less than 5 years old, and the lack of commonality among cities in emissions methodology and communication of reduction strategies, shifts a short-term focus towards standardization methodologies which enable deeper comparison between cities and plans.
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Presicce, Francesco <1978>. "Enhanced action on mitigation in the future climate change regime : implications of the use of standardized multi-project baselines for the improvement of project-based mechanisms." Doctoral thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/1114.
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The thesis addresses the current framework for assessing CDM projects, arguing the potential benefits that standardized baselines could bring to the project cycle. The use of this kind of baselines may contribute to reduce transaction costs, increase transparency, predictability and improve geographical and project-type distribution. Yet, its use may not be appropriate for all types of projects, it might be data intensive and could require significant upfront costs and efforts to be developed. Different standardized approaches are discussed and options for the possible outcomes of the on-going negotiations assessed. A case-study is provided on methane capture and use in the Northern African Region. Among its findings, the thesis highlights the importance of addressing all standardization approaches, also in combination with project specific methodologies, while keeping geographical distribution as the main priority for developing standardized baselines.La tesi analizza il ruolo e le implicazioni delle “standardized baselines” in relazione al CDM. L’utilizzo di queste “baselines” può comportare la riduzione dei costi di transazione e un ciclo di progetto più semplice e trasparente, con possibili benefici sulla diffusione geografica e settoriale del CDM. Tuttavia, il loro sviluppo richiede una quantità considerevole di dati e risorse economiche e non è praticabile per tutti i settori. La tesi analizza i diversi approcci di standardizzazione, valutando diverse opzioni in relazione alle tematiche discusse nel negoziato internazionale, anche in relazione ad un caso studio (captazione delle emissioni di metano in Nord Africa). Tra le conclusioni, si evidenzia l’importanza di una considerazione ad ampio spettro degli approcci di standardizzazione, anche in combinazione con le metodologie esistenti. Si ritiene inoltre che l’equità della distribuzione geografica del CDM debba rimanere la priorità principale nello sviluppo delle “baselines”.
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Lyshall, Linda. "Collaboration and Climate Action at the Local Scale." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1303754240.
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Doherty, Kathryn Laing. "From Alarm to Action: Closing the Gap Between Belief and Behavior in Response to Climate Change." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1406552403.
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Joubert, Janine. "Embedding risk management within new product and service development of an innovation and risk management framework and supporting risk processes, for effective risk mitigation : an action research study within the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Sector." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20367.
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At first glance, innovation and risk management seem like two opposing disciplines with diverse objectives. The former seeks to be flexible and encourages enhanced solutions and new ideas, while the latter can be seen as stifling such innovative thinking. Since there is a failure rate of as many as eight out of every ten products launched, it is perhaps necessary for organisations to consider applying more structured approaches to innovation, in order to better manage risks and to increase the chances of delivering improved goods and services. A risk management approach is well suited to address the challenge of failure, as it focuses not only on the negative impact of risks but also on the opportunities they present. It aligns these with the strategic objectives of the organisation to increase the chances of its success. The research objective of this study was to establish how to embed risk management within the innovation divisions of an organisation to ensure that more efficient products and services are delivered to customers. To achieve this end, action research was conducted in a large organisation operating in a high-technology environment that launches many diverse products and services and rapidly expanding service offerings to other industries. The study took four years to complete and delivered multiple interventions that successfully embedded risk management within the organisation, leading to changed behaviours and double-loop learning. Two main knowledge contributions are offered by the study. Firstly, a generic and empirically validated integrated Innovation and Risk Management Framework (IRMF) is developed and guides new product and service development by considering both best practices and risks. Secondly, a risk dashboard is designed as a design science artefact within the action research cycles, which consolidates all the knowledge that was generated during the study. This is ultimately a visual interface to support stage-gate decision making. Since the context of the study was broad, extensive and complicated, the use of mixed-method research complemented and expanded on the findings by providing another layer of support and validation. This thesis highlights the complexity of innovation and presents the need for an organising framework that will encourage innovation but is sufficiently flexible to cater for diverse needs and risks. The study delivers several other, valuable contributions regarding what, how and why incidents occur within the real-world context of new product and service development. Several generic artefacts, such as risk processes and maturity frameworks, are also developed, which can guide risk and new product and service development practitioners to deliver more efficient product and services. This study offers several novel approaches to evaluating risks and provides practical support and recommendations, addressing shortcomings of fragmented research in similar, but smaller-scale studies that have been conducted in information systems. It is the premise of this research that a much wider number of risks need to be managed as new products and services are developed, than was noted in previous studies. Effective risk management in new product and service development could lead to competitive advantage for organisations by increasing knowledge and facilitating sustainable, informed risk decision-making.
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Wilson, Joseph Scott. "Uncertainty quantifiation with mitigation actions for aircraft conceptual design." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/53586.
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There are always differences between conceptual design estimates and the performance of a final product. These differences may result in constraint violations, which can have severe financial impacts. Such violations may necessitate downstream changes to recover aircraft performance. The ability to estimate the likelihood and impact of late-stage changes is key to mitigating the overall risk of a design.
Reliability methods can treat design uncertainty; however, existing methods do not account for aspects of aircraft design such as sizing processes, the design freeze after conceptual design, and late-stage ``mitigation actions'' taken when a performance constraint is violated. By accounting for these elements, new reliability metrics can be developed. In addition to the probability of compliance, the designer can determine the probability of recovery through mitigation actions, which helps determine the true likelihood that a design can meet the requirements.
Hypotheses are developed to fill the identified gaps, resulting in Aircraft Recovery through Mitigation & Optimization under Uncertainty for Reliability. ARMOUR augments reliability methods by integrating aircraft sizing, uncertainty margins, and mitigation actions. ARMOUR is demonstrated on the conceptual design of a large civil transport and is exercised to explore previously obscured relationships.
The field of probabilistic aircraft design is enhanced by the concurrent quantification of three elements in one design environment: probability of compliance, probability of recovery after failure, and traditional design criteria. ARMOUR enables the identification of designs which both meets reliability goals and optimizes a traditional performance metric, selecting a design that efficiently meets reliability requirements.
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King, Steven. "Economic valuation and optimisation of river barrier mitigation actions." Thesis, University of Kent, 2015. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/48582/.
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Infrastructure, such as dams, weirs and culverts, disrupt the longitudinal connectivity of rivers, causing adverse impacts on fish and other species. This compromises the ability of river ecosystems to provide a range of services that contribute to human well-being. Improving fish passage at artificial barriers is an economic river restoration policy option that can improve the delivery of river ecosystem services provision. Whilst a number of methodologies exist to cost-effectively prioritize barriers for mitigation action, there is also now considerable interest in estimating the economic benefits of increased ecosystem service provision from investing in this activity. This is relevant in a number of policy contexts, including the Water Framework Directive in the EU. This thesis presents a novel bio-economic model that addresses the dual problem of prescribing cost optimal river barrier mitigation solutions whilst, simultaneously, estimating the social benefit of undertaking this activity. Minimal cost solutions are obtained for the problem of barrier mitigation decisions using a mixed integer linear program (MILP). The benefit from marginal improvements in river connectivity and fish species responses is then estimated using the Choice Experiment method. Incorporating these benefit estimates into the MILP generates the final bio-economic model. The specific advantage of this approach is it can readily inform cost benefit analysis of river barrier mitigation policy. The methods are demonstrated using the River Wey in South East England, containing over 650 artificial barriers, as a case study. For the case study, the benefits of investing in river barrier mitigation exceed costs at all budget levels, with the most socially efficient level of investment identified as approximately £30M.
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Kim, Kyungwoo. "Effects of Disasters on Local Climate Actions: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Actions." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2017. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1062866/.
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This dissertation investigates the effects of natural disasters and political institutions on municipalities' climate change policies. Although most theoretical frameworks on policy adoption highlight the roles of extreme events as exogenous factors influencing policy change, most studies tend to focus on the effects of extreme events on policy change at the national level. Additionally, the existing theoretical frameworks explaining local policy adoption and public service provision do not pay attention to the roles of extreme events in local governments' policy choices. To fill those gaps, this dissertation explores the roles of natural disasters and political institutions on municipal governments' climate change policies. It does this by applying the theory of focusing events to local climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Based on the policy change framework, the political market model, and the institutional collective action frameworks, this dissertation develops and tests hypotheses to examine the effects of natural disasters and political institutions on municipalities' climate mitigation and adaptation policies. The dissertation uses 2010 National League of Cities (NLC) sustainability surveys and the 2010 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) sustainability survey to test the hypotheses. Analytical results show that floods and droughts influence local climate change policies and suggest that local governments can take advantage of extreme events when initiating a policy change. The results also suggest that political institutions can shape the effects of natural disasters on municipalities' climate mitigation and adaptation actions.
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Souza, Jeferson Afonso Lopes de. "Mitigação de falhas críticas em sistemas produtivos." Universidade de São Paulo, 2015. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/3/3152/tde-12072016-073519/.
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O cenário competitivo e globalizado em que as empresas estão inseridas, sobretudo a partir do século XXI, associados a ciclos de vida cada vez menores dos produtos, rigorosos requisitos de qualidade, além de políticas de preservação do meio ambiente, com redução de consumo energético e de recursos hídricos, somadas às exigências legais de melhores condições de trabalho, resultaram em uma quebra de paradigma nos processos produtivos até então concebidos. Como solução a este novo cenário produtivo pode-se citar o extenso uso da automação industrial, fato que resultou em sistemas cada vez mais complexos, tanto do ponto de vista estrutural, em função do elevado número de componentes, quanto da complexidade dos sistemas de controle. A previsibilidade de todos os estados possíveis do sistema torna-se praticamente impossível. Dentre os estados possíveis pode-se citar os estados de falha que, dependendo da severidade do efeito associado à sua ocorrência, podem resultar em sérios danos para o homem, o meio ambiente e às próprias instalações, caso não sejam corretamente diagnosticados e tratados. Fatos recentes de catástrofes relacionadas à sistemas produtivos revelam a necessidade de se implementar medidas para prevenir e para mitigar os efeitos da ocorrência de falhas, com o objetivo de se evitar a ocorrência de catástrofes. De acordo com especialistas, os Sistemas Instrumentados de Segurança SIS, referenciados em normas como a IEC 61508 e IEC 61511, são uma solução para este tipo de problema. Trabalhos publicados tratam de métodos para a implementação de camadas SIS de prevenção, porém com escassez de trabalhos para camadas SIS de mitigação. Em função do desconhecimento da dinâmica do sistema em estado de falha, técnicas tradicionais de modelagem tornam-se inviáveis. Neste caso, o uso de inteligência artificial, como por exemplo a lógica fuzzy, pode se tornar uma solução para o desenvolvimento do algoritmo de controle, associadas a ferramentas de edição, modelagem e geração dos códigos de controle. A proposta deste trabalho é apresentar uma sistemática para a implementação de um sistema de controle para a mitigação de falhas críticas em sistemas produtivos, com referência às normas IEC 61508/61511, com ação antecipativa à ocorrência de catástrofes.The competitive and globalized scenario in which the companies operate, especially from the twenty-first century, associated with shrinking life cycles of products, stringent quality requirements, and environmental preservation policies, reducing energy consumption and water resources, in addition of legal requirements for better working conditions, resulted in a paradigm shift in production processes previously designed. As a solution to this new production scenario may be mentioned the extensive use of industrial automation, which has resulted in ever more complex systems, both from a structural point of view, due to the high number of components, the complexity of control systems. The predictability of all possible states of the system becomes practically impossible. Among the possible states can mention the states of fault, depending on the severity of the effect associated with its occurrence, can result in serious damage to man, the environment and own facilities, if not properly diagnosed and treated. Recent events for disasters related to production systems show the need to implement measures to prevent and mitigate the effects of the occurrence of faults in order to prevent the occurrence of disasters. According to experts, the Safety Instrumented Systems - SIS, referenced in standards such as IEC 61508 and IEC 61511, are a solution to this problem. Published papers deal with methods for the implementation of SIS layers of prevention, but with shortage of jobs for mitigation SIS layers. Depending on the system dynamics of ignorance in a fault state, traditional modeling techniques become unviable. In this case, the use of artificial intelligence, such as fuzzy logic can become a solution to the development of the control algorithm, associated with editing tools, modeling and generation of control codes. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic for implementing a control system for the mitigation of critical failures in production systems, with reference to IEC 61508/61511 standards, with preemptive action to the occurrence of disasters.
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Méchin, Agnès. "Dimensionner les mesures de compensation écologique : des outils opérationnels pour une meilleure appropriation par les acteurs de l’aménagement du territoire." Thesis, Montpellier 3, 2020. http://www.theses.fr/2020MON30006.
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La réglementation française prévoit dans son code de l’environnement, l’obligation pour un maître d’ouvrage d’éviter, réduire et enfin de compenser les impacts négatifs résiduels significatifs causés par ses installations, ouvrages, travaux, ou activités sur la nature. Dans un contexte mondial de perte de biodiversité alarmante, les différents acteurs du dispositif partagent le constat d’une application insuffisante de la séquence ERC dont les raisons sont multiples. L’une d’entre elles tient au manque de méthodes partagées par l’ensemble des acteurs (aménageurs, bureaux d’études, services de l’Etat) pour évaluer l’équivalence écologique et dimensionner la compensation. Ce manque est à relier en particulier, à la complexité scientifique et technique du sujet, comme le montrent les nombreuses publications scientifiques traitant de la question. La proposition de méthodes d’évaluation représente donc un enjeu important à la fois pour les acteurs des territoires, praticiens d’ERC et pour les chercheurs.Plusieurs équipes de chercheurs travaillent, en France, à la proposition de méthodes, avec un objectif affiché d’opérationnalité, c’est-à-dire de proposer un outil « qui est prêt à entrer en activité, à fournir le résultat optimal voulu, à réaliser parfaitement une opération » (dictionnaire Larousse). Pourtant les travaux de recherche réalisés sur ces méthodes, au niveau international, ne traitent pour ainsi dire pas de cette dimension opérationnelle, au profit de la dimension technique (choix des indicateurs, des formules de calcul). Nous formulons les hypothèses suivantes : (1) les enjeux opérationnels ne sont pas pris en compte lors de la conception des méthodes, (2) les méthodes ainsi développées sont potentiellement peu opérationnelles, (3) cela peut constituer un frein à l’appropriation de ces outil par les acteurs de la séquence ERC (bureaux d’études, services de l’Etat, aménageurs), et (4) il est possible d’agir sur la conception des méthodes et leur fonctionnement pour qu’elles soient opérationnelles.Notre question de recherche est la suivante : comment concevoir des méthodes opérationnelles d’évaluation de l’équivalence écologique et de l’absence de perte nette de biodiversité afin de faciliter leur appropriation par les acteurs de la séquence ERC ? Pour y répondre, nous mobilisons des concepts et des méthodes issue de l’ergonomie, discipline qui cherche à comprendre les interactions entre les humains et les autres composantes d’un système.Nous proposons une définition de l’opérationnalité adaptée à notre problématique de recherche. Nous l’accompagnons de critères issus de l’analyse des pratiques de dimensionnement des acteurs de la séquence ERC, ainsi que des repères pour un processus de conception orienté opérationnalité inspirés du design centré utilisateur. Nous analysons la prise en compte de l’opérationnalité dans les processus de conception de sept méthodes françaises. Enfin, après avoir testé l’opérationnalité d’une des méthodes étudiées, nous les lui appliquons afin de proposer des améliorations et la rendre plus opérationnelle.Notre approche ouvre des perspectives pour mieux comprendre les enjeux de l’interface entre recherche et action dans le champ de l’aménagement du territoire et proposer une meilleure prise en compte de l’opérationnalité dans les projets de recherche appliquéeIn the global context of alarming biodiversity loss, French regulations require developers to avoid, reduce and finally offset (ARO sequence) the ecological impacts caused by their projects with the aim of no net loss of biodiversity (NNL). Different authors, in dedicate scientific literature, conclude on the weakness in mitigation hierarchy implementation. One of the reasons is the lack of methods shared by all stakeholders (applicants/developers, environmental consultants, public regulators) to assess the ecological equivalence and the achievement of the No Net Loss goal. This is linked, in particular, to the scientific and technical complexity of the subject, as shown by scientific publications. Proposing methods for assessing the attainment of NNL is an important issue for ARO practitioners and for researchersSeveral teams of researchers are working in France to propose offsetting methods, with a stated objective of practicality, meaning to offer a tool "which is ready to start operating, to provide the desired optimal result, to carry out an operation perfectly” (Larousse dictionary). However, the research work focused on these methods show that the operational dimension isn’t really considered, in favor of the technical dimension (choice of ecological indicators, calculation formulas). We formulate the following hypothesis: (1) operational issues are not taken into account during the design phase of methods, (2) thus the methods developed are not operational, (3) this can constitute a weakness to enhance their application by ARO sequence’s stakeholders (applicants/developers, environmental consultants, public regulators), and (4) it’s possible to act on the method design in the aim to a better practicality.Our problematic of research is: how to design operational methods to assess and sizing ecological equivalence, under no net loss of biodiversity policy, with a view that the stakeholders (developers, environmental consultants, public regulators) are able to use these methods more effectively. In this aim, we will use concepts and methods from Ergonomics research. This discipline studies the interactions between humans and other components of a system.We analyze the practices of the ARO practitioners. We propose a definition of an operational tool accompanied by several criterion, as well as guidelines for an operational design process inspired by user-centered design theory.We analyze how designing process of seven French methods deals with practicality. Then, after a test with one of the studied methods, we suggest improvements.Our approach opens up perspectives to better understanding the challenges of the science-policy interface, in the field of environmental planning, and proposing a better consideration of practicality in applied research projects to enhance ARO sequence application, in the aim of a NNL policy
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Tafsirojjaman, Tafsirojjaman. "Mitigation of seismic and cyclic loading actions on steel structures by FRP strengthening." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2021. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/207918/1/Tafsirojjaman_Tafsirojjaman_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis aimed to develop an effective technique to mitigate the cyclic and seismic loading actions on steel structure by FRP strengthening. Extensive study has been done to understand the structural performance of FRP strengthened steel members, beam-column connections under monotonic and cyclic loading and FRP strengthened steel frames under seismic loading through experimental testing, finite element (FE) modelling and theoretical approach. The developed finite element and theoretical model predicted the structural responses of FRP strengthened steel structures accurately. The results showed that the FRP strengthening can effectively mitigate the cyclic and seismic loading actions on the steel structure.
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FRONGIA, SARA. "Economic evaluation of flood damages and identification of priorities defining mitigation measures actions." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11584/249545.
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Flood risk is one of the most important topics under study of international researches usually associated at climate changes and unrestrained urbanisation resulting in a strong instability of weather conditions requiring a better control and forecast of climate trends and land use. A glance on current disasters around the world shows the relevance of flood risk and a continuous adjournment guarantees the awareness of the population about the dangerousness of flood effects. The analysis of potential floods shows several and different types of flood that could be grouped mainly in flash flood, fluvial flooding, coastal flooding and urban flooding. The most part of damages caused by these floods are linked with gaps on urban regulations that allow the realisation of built-up areas on unstable land as reclaimed lagoon, banks river area that create river path diversions, on coastal area as dunes or close to beaches, or even along river paths used to discharge volume of dams when the water level is close to the acceptable maximum level. Even though the improvement on technology, the impossibility to predict accurately weather conditions and the consequent uncertainty are worsening the situation of areas usually under flood risk. The deepened analysis conducted on flood event underlines the necessity to enhance the management of the flood risk forecasting the disasters and modelling potential scenarios with adequate hydrologic and hydraulic models in order to ensure right depicting of flood process development. The modelling of results as flow rate, water depth and flow velocity is fundamental to get hazard and risk flood maps that act as a springboard on a success predisposition of flood risk management plans. In the flood risk management plans, the identification of flood hazard and flood risk maps are used to define mitigation measures, usually divided in two main groups: structural and no-structural measures. The choice on the activation of structural and no-structural mitigation measures is mainly based on financial availability, time-step in measure realization, stakeholders preferences and government authority decisions. The considerable costs in realisation of mitigation measure is usually shore up by costs-benefits analysis methodologies representing a relevant support for decision makers. This research is focused on the definition and implementation of methodologies to evaluate potential flood damage of a baseline scenario and to support definition of mitigation measure scenarios. The work aims to identify the magnitude of the flood in terms of potential damages assessed considering the two main categorises of tangible and intangible damages. The flood damage evaluation is, herein, conducted with methodologies for an economic appreciation of the damage and implementation of models able to evaluate the potential number of fatalities and injuries due to flood meant as intangible damages reducible with efficient warning and evacuation issuances of flood emergency plans. These methodologies include different fields of research as hydrologic, hydraulic, agrarian, social, geological and political subjected at relevant uncertainties data included on the study.Finally, the damage reduction could be obtained implementing no-structural mitigation measures as the predisposition of flood management plans that include rules and tasks proper of flood emergency plans. Recent floods reveal that a correct preparedness of population and authorities on flood emergency reduce significantly damages and in particular victims and wounded. In fact, the second aim of in the project study the civil protection actions identified as crucial in the emergency management to prevent damages so much to require the identification of proper warning and evacuation time issuance, how they should be disseminated by the civil protection and local authorities after an accurate monitoring of climate conditions and management of people moves towards safe haven.
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Carnrite, Catherine Lee. "Earthquake hazard awareness and mitigative action, a case study of two communities." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1996. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp05/mq24101.pdf.
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Viebke, André, and Wenwei Tan. "Calendar 2.0 : The mitigation of calendar friction." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för datavetenskap (DV), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-27681.
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Calendar applications have been a primary tool for time management, although they have been slowly developed and improved. The slow development of calendar applications has created friction of usage. In this report, we propose a friction mitigation strategy for calendar applications. A set of characteristics are identified: active, intelligent, personal, extensible, information-centred and dynamic view, which describes the notion of friction. The goal is to develop a framework, supporting the prototype and providing reusable components for future development. The prototype is evaluated by participants and the result is used to conclude that friction can be mitigated to some extent.Kalenderapplikationer är, och har varit, ett primärt verktyg för tidshantering även om de har utvecklats och förbättrats långsamt. Den långsamma utvecklingen av kalenderapplikationer har skapat en friktion vid användning. I den här rapporten föreslår vi en strategi för att mildra friktionen som skapas av kalenderapplikationer. En uppsättning av egenskaper identifieras: aktiv, intelligent, personlig, extensible (tänjbar), informations centrerad och dynamisk vy, vilka beskriver begreppet friktion. Målet är att utveckla ett ramverk som supporterar prototypen och innehåller återanvändbara komponenter för framtida utveckling. Prototypen utvärderas av användare och resultatet används för att dra slutsatsen att friktionen kan mildras i viss utsträckning.
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Amin, Farooq Ul. "Integrated Tunable LC Higher-Order Microwave Filters for Interference Mitigation." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/91481.
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Modern and future communication and radar systems require highly reconfigurable RF front-ends to realize the vision of Software-Defined Radio (SDR), where a single digitally-enabled radio is able to cover multiple bands and multiple operating standards. However, in the increasingly hostile RF environment, filtering becomes a bottleneck for SDRs as the traditional off-chip filters are fixed frequency and bulky. Therefore, tunable filtering is a critical building block for the reconfigurable RF front-ends and on-chip implementations are needed to meet size and weight constraints. On-chip passive components are lossy, especially inductors, and to fulfill the tunability requirements a number of active circuit techniques, e.g. N-path, Q-enhanced, discrete-time filters etc., have been developed. Most of these active filtering techniques, however, are limited to RF frequency range of few GHz and below. Additionally, these techniques lack or have very limited bandwidth tunability. On the other hand, Q-enhanced tunable LC filtering has the potential to be implemented at Microwave frequencies from 4~20 GHz and beyond.
In this dissertation, a number of Q-enhanced parallel synthesis techniques have been proposed and implemented to achieve high-order, frequency tunable, and wide bandwidth tunable filters. First, a tunable 4th-order BPF was proposed and implemented in Silicon Germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS technology. Along with center frequency tuning, the filter achieves first ever reported 3-dB bandwidth tuning from 2% to 25%, representing 120 MHz to 1.5 GHz of bandwidth at 6 GHz. A new set of design equations were developed for the 4th-order parallel synthesis of BPF. A practical switched varactor control scheme is proposed for large tuning ratio varactors to reduce the nonlinear contribution from the varactor substantially which improves the tunable LC BPF filter linearity. Second, parallel addition and subtraction techniques were proposed to realize tunable dual-band filters. The subtraction technique is implemented in SiGe BiCMOS technology at X and Ku bands with more than 50 dB of out-of-band attenuation. Finally, a true wideband band-reject filter technique was proposed for microwave frequencies using parallel synthesis of two band-pass filters and an all-pass path. The proposed band-reject scheme is tunable and wide 20 dB attenuation bandwidths on the order of 10s of MHz to 100s of MHz can be achieved using this scheme.
The implementation of the proposed parallel synthesis techniques in silicon technology along with measured results demonstrate that Q-enhanced filtering is favorable at higher microwave frequencies. Therefore, such implementations are suitable for future wireless communication and radar systems particularly wide bandwidth systems on the order of 100s of MHz to GHz. Future research includes, high-order reconfigurable band-pass and band-reject filters, automatic tuning control, and exploring the parallel synthesis techniques in Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology for high RF power applications.PHD
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Dolan, Corrine Mae. "Living with Wildfire in Arizona: A Homeowner Survey of Risk Perceptions, Mitigation Actions, and Educational Preferences." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/193369.
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The wildland fire risk in Arizona is increasing due to shifting land uses, growing residential communities, and changing climate. As the fire hazard increases, land managers and fire educators are faced with educating wildland-urban interface residents about their risk to influence homeowner behavior. To determine how homeowners perceive their risk and what information they use to make decisions about risk and mitigation, this study surveyed residents in previously identified high risk areas in Arizona in three different vegetation types. Results show that ponderosa pine residents are more savvy about their risk and more active in mitigating that risk. Grassland and desert scrub residents consistently report a lower perceived risk to wildland fire than their forest counterparts and perform less mitigation. Results suggest that grassland and desert scrub communities may benefit from the production and dissemination of fire-related materials detailing risk specific to these areas.
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Storvann, Vegar. "Maintaining Voltage Stability : An Analysis of Voltage Stability Indicators and Mitigating Actions." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for elkraftteknikk, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-19039.
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The society's dependency of a reliable power supply is increasing, and properly identifying the distance to the stability limits of the power system and avoiding large disturbances is thus becoming increasingly important. In this thesis, a system integrity protection scheme (SIPS) for voltage instability is proposed. First, six voltage stability indicators are studied and compared, and their performance is tested in several power system models. They are first tested in a two-bus system where the load impedance is gradually increased until the load-side voltage reaches zero. The performance of the indicators is then tested under circuit contingencies in models of the IEEE Reliability Test System and of the Norwegian power system. From the results, the most reliable indicators seem to be the ones that are based on local measurements (SDI, ISI and VSIscc).Several actions to mitigate voltage instability are described and tested in the power system models, including load shedding, switching of reactive compensation equipment, increasing AVR set points and increasing the active power generation. Of the unconventional actions, increasing AVR set points appears to be the most effective mitigation action.A SIPS is proposed based on the above mitigation actions, voltage stability indicators and signals from activation of OELs. The principle behind the scheme is to avoid load shedding as far as possible by using indicator values and OEL activation signals to initiate preventive mitigation actions to relieve the situation when the system is approaching instability. This also reduces the necessary amount of load to shed to stabilise the system.Simulations show that the proposed SIPS works as long as it has an adequate amount of mitigation actions available. In the simulations in the model of the Hammerfest/Skaidi region in Northern Norway, there was a general lack of possible mitigation actions, providing no alternative other than shedding large amounts of load to prevent voltage collapse after critical contingencies.
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Cherry, Katherine. "Investigating assessment methods for the evaluation of actions mitigating nitrate loss to water." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2011. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12036/.
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Diffuse nitrate (N) loss from agriculture is degrading surface and groundwater quality throughout Europe, leaving waterbodies at risk of not reaching targets set by the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Although a wide range of mitigation methods to reduce diffuse N loss have been identified, their appropriateness and effectiveness is not fully understood, especially at the catchment scale where a wide range of environmental and agricultural conditions exist. Suitable assessment methods are required to quantify the impact of mitigation and provide confirmation of their effectiveness. This study aimed to investigate the applicability of measurement and nutrient budgets for the evaluation of mitigation effectiveness at the field, farm and catchment scale; nutrient budgets represent an alternative approach where long transit times delay observable responses to mitigation in measurement. Investigations focused on two catchments in SW England, Milborne St Andrew (MSA) and Empool / Eagle Lodge (EMEL). Soil surface budgets were calculated for a total of 84 fields and farmgate surpluses / efficiency for 34 farms between 2005 and 2008. Soil mineral nitrogen (SMN) and porous pot (PP) sampling was undertaken in 115 and 57 fields respectively, and groundwater / stream water monitored at 171 sites. Sampling was carried out in 2007 and 2008, and a range of mitigation methods adopted on farm in 2008. Comparing results before and after mitigation, measurement approaches displayed contradictory responses – SMN significantly decreased, PP leached load and concentration significantly increased, and groundwater responses varied between sites. Results suggest an overriding sensitivity to environmental condition and the need for longer timescales especially at the catchment scale. Nutrient budgets at the field and farm scale tended to return lower surpluses post mitigation with 79% / 77% farms improving their farmgate surplus / efficiency. However only in EMEL were improvements in field or farm scale surpluses significant, a result of modest mitigation induced change and sensitivity to economic and environmental drivers. Comparing measurement and budget approaches, budgets were more responsive to changes in nutrient management in the short term and offered higher levels of farmer accountability. However long term measurements are required to provide confirmation that improvements in nutrient budgets transpire in water quality. As such a combined approach is suggested. With direct links to economic benefits likely to aid farmer engagement, and providing more complete representations of mitigation response and feedback, the use of farm scale budgets / efficiency over field scale budgets is advocated.
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McHugh, Garrett R. "An Experimental Investigation in the Mitigation of Flutter Oscillation Using Shape Memory Alloys." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1479119992818089.
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Johansson, Linda. "The transformative potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions : An assessment of the concepts’ ability to contribute to transformational change." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema Miljöförändring, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-128609.
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This mixed methods study aims at evaluating the transformative potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). Earlier studies on the subject have outlined a lack of clarity both on the concept of NAMAs and on how developing countries will use it in their climate actions and thus its ability to contribute to transformational change. The mixed method approach used was: quantitative content analysis of Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) from developing countries referring to NAMAs combined with qualitative thematic analysis of NAMA proposals from eight selected countries. An explanatory sequential design was used which means that the first quantitative phase aimed at giving an initial understanding of NAMAs transformative potential. The purpose with the second phase, the qualitative analysis was then to deepen that understanding, by applying transformation theories. The two phases of analysis was integrated in the discussion section to get a more complete picture of the transformative potential. The result shows that the intent with NAMAs in the INDC consists of great uncertainties. A variety of NAMA designs was found in both phases of the study. In all of the eight more closely studied countries elements of transformation could be identified, which indicates that NAMAs could be designed to have transformative potential.
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Pinto, Ameet John. "Upset Events At Wastewater Treatment Plants: Implications for Mitigative Strategy Development and Bioreactor Microbial Ecology." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/77295.
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This study consists of three research phases. First, we developed corrective action strategies to mitigate the impact of calcium hypochlorite and cadmium pulse shocks for the Plum Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Charleston, SC. The corrective action strategies were developed in consultation with industrial consultants and operational personnel from the utility. These strategies were tested using a laboratory scale system, which was constructed and operated similar to the parent facility. Two corrective actions were tested for calcium hypochlorite, while only one strategy was tested for the cadmium at the laboratory scale. This study shows that no corrective action strategies are required for an acute hypochlorite stress. This is due to the fact that hypochlorite is highly reactive and dissipates rapidly on contact with the wastewater matrix, thus causing only low level process deterioration. In fact, implementation of corrective action strategies results in greater process deterioration as compared to the non-intervention approach. The corrective action tested for cadmium stress showed potential for reducing the peak impact of the toxin and allowed for faster process recovery as compared to the unstressed control.
For the second phase, the corrective actions were tested at a pilot scale facility operated at the Plum Island wastewater treatment plant. We tested two different corrective action strategies for cadmium, while only one strategy was tested for hypochlorite during the pilot scale study. Similar to the laboratory scale experiments, we conclude that no mitigative approaches are necessary for an acute hypochlorite stress. Additionally, the implementation of mitigative approaches for the pilot scale cadmium stress events resulted in greater process deterioration as compared to the non-intervention approach. In contrast to the laboratory scale experiments, theoretical effluent blending calculations showed that corrective actions may not reduce the impact of the cadmium stress. This was attributed to the lower intensity of process deterioration caused by the simulated cadmium stress. The pilot scale study shows that prior to implementing a corrective action strategy, the operator should determine the probable extent of process deterioration due to the detected chemical contaminant before deciding if a corrective action is needed. The pilot scale study also evaluated the effectiveness of current sensor technologies towards the upstream detection of influent anomalies and reliable monitoring of process performance during an upset event. Multivariate analysis on the rate of change of influent sensor signals was reliably able to detect the presence of both toxins tested during this study.
For the third phase of this research, we investigated the impact of cadmium stress on the structure and function of bioreactor microbial communities. We observed significant increases in post-stress heterotrophic and autotrophic bacterial respiration rates for the bioreactors subjected to cadmium stress. The higher respiration rates were due to an increase in bacterial abundance in the cadmium stressed reactors. We were also able to show that the increase in bacterial abundance was not due to changes in community structure or due to cadmium induced deflocculation. In fact, this study demonstrates that transient cadmium stress reduces predator abundance within the activated sludge community and this reduction in predator grazing was responsible for the increase in bacterial abundance. This research highlights the importance of higher life forms, specifically eukaryotic microorganisms, in regulating bacterial community dynamics in systems undergoing chemical perturbations.Ph. D.
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Malki, Luai. "Mitigation of Background Harmonic Amplification at PCC Using Active Filtering of STATCOM." Thesis, KTH, Elkraftteknik, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-223618.
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Shunt compensation devices have been a powerful candidate for expanding the limits of transmission facilities, allowing more active power transport and supporting voltage and overall stability of the network. An example of such devices is the Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) which is based on Voltage Source Converter (VSC) which synthesizes output voltage and current for mainly reactive power compensation. STATCOMs might be accompanied with a Thyristor Switched Capacitor (TSC) or Reactor (TSR) which are controllable shunt devices for extra VARs required, along with passive filters for absorbing the switching harmonics generated by the VSC. Such STATCOM topology is referred as the Hybrid STATCOM.However, such configuration typically results in parallel resonances with the maingrid’s passive elements at different harmonic frequencies. This leads to amplification of background harmonics, if any exist, at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC) where the Hybrid STATCOM is connected. This thesis deals with the VSC control in the STATCOM to mitigate the harmonic amplification behavior by active filtering,which is based on emulating an impedance by the control. Also, the overall system passivity is essentially studied, which ensures a passive system with respect to harmonics.Shunt-kompensationsanordningar har varit en kraftfull kandidat för att öka gränserna för överföringsanläggningar, vilket möjliggör högre aktiv effekt och understöderspännings-stabilitet och övergripande stabilitet i kraftnätet. Ett exempel på sådana enheter är Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) som är baserat på Voltage Source Converter (VSC) som syntetiserar utspänning och ström för huvudsakligen reaktiv effektkompensation. STATCOMs kan åtföljas av en Thyristor Switched kapacitor (TSC) eller Reaktor (TSR) som är kontrollerbara shunt-apparater som ökar kapaciteten för reaktiv effekt (VARs), tillsammans med passiva filter för att absorbera övertoner som genereras av VSC. Sådan STATCOM-topologi kallas HybridSTATCOM. Emellertid, en sådan konfiguration resulterar i parallella resonanser med huvudnätets passiva element vid olika övertoner. Detta leder till förstärkning av bakgrundsövertoner, om någon existerar, vid Point of Common Coupling (PCC) där Hybrid STATCOM är ansluten. Denna avhandling behandlar hur VSC kontrolleras i STATCOM för att mildra förstärkningen av nivåer för övertoner genom aktivfiltrering, vilket är baserat på att VSC kontrollen emulerar en impedans. Dessutom studeras övergripande systempassivitet, vilket säkerställer ett passivt system med avseende på övertoner.
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De, La Torre Sebastián Ane. "Cities and climate change actions : Comparison between five european cities." Thesis, KTH, Industriell ekologi, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-33065.
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During the last few years cities are taking the lead against climate change. Theyare aware of the big contribution they can make to mitigate the climate change, so theyare working actively in this field. This thesis’ aim is to study what cities are doing andthe chance they have to be successful. The cities selected for this thesis were Madrid,Barcelona, London, Manchester an Dublin. The method followed to active the aim wasto read all the information available from the selected cities’ Councils about themeasures they are carrying out. Then, transform that information to a way that all thecities’ information can be compared. As a result, it can be seen that there are fewdifferences in their lines of action,excluding some punctual facts. All the cities areworking actively to reduce transport sector’s emissions, to improve the energy use athomes and to increase the importance of the renewable energies. Spanish cities’emissions reduction targets are still not ambitious enough, while London’s are the mostambitious among the studied cities. As a conclusion, it can be said that cities shouldwork together to face the challenge of climate change, because there’s still much to do,targets have to be more ambitious and measures stricter.Estos últimos años las ciudades están tomando la iniciativa en contra del cambioclimático. Son conscientes de las grandes oportunidades que tienen para mitigarlo, asíque están trabajando activamente en este sentido. El propósito de esta tesis es estudiar loque están haciendo las ciudades para mitigar el cambio climático y las oportunidadesque tienen de tener éxito. Las ciudades seleccionadas para este estudio son Madrid,Barcelona, Londres, Manchester y Dublín. El método para conseguir el propósito fueleer toda la información disponible por parte de los ayuntamientos de las distintasciudades acerca de las medidas que están llevando a cabo. A continuación transformaresa información a unos parámetros comunes a todas las ciudades y compararla. Comoresultado se observa que hay muy pocas diferencias en sus líneas de acción, con algunaexcepción puntual. Todas las ciudades están trabajando activamente para reducir lasemisiones del sector transporte, mejorar el aprovechamiento energético doméstico ypara aumentar la proporción de energías renovables. Las ciudades Españolas todavía notienen objetivos de reducción de emissiones suficientemente ambiciosos, al contrarioque Londres. Como conclusión, las ciudades deberían trabajar unidas en contra delcambio climático, porque todavía queda mucho por conseguir, los objetivos deben sermás abiciosos y las medidas más estrictas.
www.ima.kth.se
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Mohamed, Mohd Amizan Bin. "The impacts of FOREX fluctuations on construction business performance: An organisational capabilities (OC) perspective." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2022. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/228524/1/Mohd%20Amizan%20Bin_Mohamed_Thesis.pdf.
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This mixed-method research aims to appraise how FOREX fluctuations impact business performance through the lens of organisational capability (OC). It has been done from the perspective of Malaysian construction organisations when undertaking projects overseas. This research found three (3) main capabilities essential to the organisation in mitigating the impacts of FOREX fluctuations; financial capability, technical capability and business management capability.
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Hunt, Stephen J. "Semi-active smart-dampers and resetable actuators for multi-level seismic hazard mitigation of steel moment resisting frames." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Mechanical Engineering, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/1256.
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This thesis explores the creation and assessment of semi-active control algorithms for both squat shear buildings and tall flexible structures. If cost-effective, practicable, semi-active structural control systems can be developed, the potential reduction in loss of both property and lives due to seismic events is significant. Semi-active controllers offer many of the benefits of active systems, but have power requirements orders of magnitude smaller, and do not introduce energy to the structural system. Previous research into semi-active controllers has shown their potential in linear simulations with single earthquake excitations. The distinguishing feature of this investigation is the use of appropriate non-linear modelling techniques and realistic suites of seismic excitations in the statistical assessment of the semi-active control systems developed. Finite element time-history analysis techniques are used in the performance assessment of the control algorithms developed for three and nine story structural models. The models include non-linear effects due to structural plasticity, yielding, hysteretic behaviour, and P-delta effects. Realistic suites of earthquake records, representing seismic excitations with specific return period probability, are utilised, with lognormal statistical analysis used to represent the response distribution. In addition to displacement focused control laws, acceleration and jerk regulation control methods are developed, showing that potential damage reduction benefits can be obtained from these new control approaches. A statistical assessment of control architecture is developed and undertaken, examining the distribution of constant maximum actuator authority for both squat shear buildings, and tall slender structures, highlighting the need to consider non-linear structural response characteristics when implementing semi-active control systems. Finally, statistical analysis of all results and normalised values shows the efficacy of each control law and actuator type relative to different magnitude seismic events. As a result, this research clearly presents, for the first time, explicit tradeoffs between control law, architecture type, non-linear structural effects, and seismic input characteristics for the semi-active control of civil structures.
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Gruwell, Ammon Bradley. "High-Speed Programmable FPGA Configuration Memory Access Using JTAG." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6321.
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Over the past couple of decades Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have become increasingly useful in a variety of domains. This is due to their low cost and flexibility compared to custom ASICs. This increasing interest in FPGAs has driven the need for tools that both qualify and improve the reliability of FPGAs for applications where the reconfigurability of FPGAs makes them vulnerable to radiation upsets such as in aerospace environments. Such tools ideally work with a wide variety of devices, are highly programmable but simple to use, and perform tasks at relatively high speeds. Of the various FPGA configuration interfaces available, the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) standard for serial communication is the most universally compatible interface due to its use for verifying integrated circuits and testing printed circuit board connectivity. This universality makes it a good interface for tools seeking to access FPGA configuration memory. This thesis introduces a new tool architecture for high-speed, programmable JTAG access to FPGA configuration memory. This tool, called the JTAG Configuration Manager (JCM), is made up of a large C++ software library that runs on an embedded micro-processor coupled with a hardware JTAG controller module implemented in programmable logic. The JCM software library allows for the development of custom JTAG communication of any kind, although this thesis focuses on applications related to FPGA reliability. The JCM hardware controller module allows these software-generated JTAG sequences to be streamed out at very high speeds. Together the software and hardware provide the high-speed and programmability that is important for many JTAG applications.
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BONIARDI, LUCA. "A PARTICIPATORY APPROACH TO ASSESS CHILDREN PERSONAL EXPOSURE TO BLACK CARBON IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SPATIAL ANALYSIS, PERSONAL MEASUREMENTS, AND POSSIBLE MITIGATION ACTIONS." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2434/722301.
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Introduction:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ambient and household air pollution are currently a major cause of death and disease globally. However, air pollution does not affect the whole population in the same way. In particular, a larger impact is reported being linked to the most susceptible subgroups of the population, such as children. To effectively tackle this public health threat, strengthen actions to protect the most vulnerable ones are needed, as well as environmental education interventions aiming to effectively raise awareness among the public. This is especially true for the city of Milan, which is located in one of the most polluted areas in Europe.
Moreover, since a multitude of new evidences shows up on the relation between air pollution and health outcomes, reducing exposure misclassification in epidemiological studies remains an important challenge in the framework of exposure science.
The aim of this dissertation is to present a novel participatory approach to assess schoolchildren exposure to air pollution with different approaches and to find possible exposure-mitigation actions. The common thread of the whole research process is black carbon (BC), an important component of particulate matter, a well-known indicator of traffic-related air pollution, linked with both long- and short-term health outcomes. In this process, some of the newest approaches in the framework of the exposure science are experienced.
Methods:
A four-step research project was set up. In the first part, BC was monitored on fixed sites during two seasons in a school catchment area. The monitoring sites were identified by involving the school, schoolchildren parents and the residents of the neighborhood. The spatial distribution of the contaminant was studied and modelled as well, focusing in particular on the morning rush hour. In the second part, a two-module environmental education intervention was carried out with a participatory and experienced-based approach. In the third part, more than 100 schoolchildren were involved in a two-season personal monitoring campaign to identify the weight of different microenvironments (MEs) on the overall daily personal exposure to BC. Finally, a validation of the previously developed spatial model focused on morning rush hour was conducted by using personal BC concentration, measured during home-to-school paths in order to assess the effectiveness of the tool in the identification of the cleanest routes.
Results and conclusions:
The two seasonal fixed-sites monitoring campaigns showed that the cold season is the most critical period for BC concentrations, while the morning rush hour is the most critical daily time-window. In general, according to our data, increasing concentrations are linked to the period during which people move, whether they go to work or to school (weekly morning rush hour), or spend time in the city for leisure activities (weekend nighttime). These findings especially highlight the need for actions to mitigate personal exposure during weekly morning rush hours, the time during which children go to school. The six developed spatial models show that traffic variables are the main factors that explain BC distribution inside the school catchment area, suggesting that traffic mitigation actions can be useful to lower BC concentrations.
In the second part of the project, 128 schoolchildren were involved in a multitude of ludical activities on air pollution, raising their awareness and their level of engagement in the research process. This participatory approach helped to recruit volunteers for the following step: the two-season personal monitoring campaigns. The measured personal concentrations of BC, matched with time-activity diaries and GPS data, showed that indoor MEs are the most relevant source of personal exposure. Moreover, although it accounts only for 5-10% of the overall daily personal exposure, transportation-related exposure is actually the most intense, i.e. it exposes schoolchildren to the highest peaks of concentration in a very short period. Among the others, home-to-school commuting period is confirmed as the highest critical time-window for personal exposure for both warm- and cold-season.
Furthermore, the comparison between spatial model estimates and personal exposure data collected during the home-to-school routes shows moderate to good agreement, suggesting that a modelling approach is a valuable choice to identify and predict the cleanest routes to school. Moreover, although the model tends to a systematic underestimation of personal measured concentrations, this can be a valuable starting point toward more refined tools for lowering exposure misclassification bias in the framework of environmental epidemiology studies.
In summary, starting from the analysis and the spatial modelling of a selected air pollutant, passing by the personal exposure assessment, to the validation of the model with personal exposure data, this dissertation confirms that a participatory approach is a valuable choice that can add social value to the research project without losing in scientific quality.
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Sallar, Grace A. "Modeling and Validation of the Resettable Semi-Passive Stiffness Damper." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1417079222.
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Almohana, Mohammad. "Legal risks faced by investors in dealing with Islamic financial transactions and mitigation actions/strategies to keep off legal risks : the case of Murabaha transaction." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/31041.
Full textAbstract:
Background: This research project is based on the subject of legal risks that has faced by investors in dealing with Murabaha Islamic transaction. This research project portrays background history of Sharia law and about Murabaha Islamic transaction. In the context of this Islamic transaction, legal risks and actions/strategies to deal with risks of Murabaha has represented under this research study. Aim and Objectives: The main aim of the research is thus to explore the legal risks associated with Murabaha transactions, and to identify ways of mitigating such risks. The research objectives are directed to represent about Murabaha transaction, risks involved in Murabaha transaction and solutions/actions to mitigate risks. Methodology: The data collection process has initiated with collection of secondary sources, along with the examination of contracts formed between banks and clients. This will be helpful in acquiring relevant information about the legal risks involved in Murabaha Islamic financial transaction. Results and Analysis: It has been analysed that legal risks in Murabaha Islamic financial transaction has negatively impacted interests of the parties involved in it. In contrast to the other investment options, it is considered as a highly risky due to high probability of bad debt risk. It has been analysed that banks can prevent harm from risks involved in this transaction through effective financial strategy. Conclusion: It can be concluded that Murabaha transaction is highly risky investment option in Islamic banking that have involved different legal risks, such as credit risk, liquidity risk, mark-up risk, operational risk, unauthorised agreement risk, transparency risk, commodity risks and others. It can be concluded that lack of new amendments in the Sharia system is the big issue that emerges risks in Murabaha financial transaction. It is crucial for Islamic banks and other parties involved in Murabaha to do proper scrutiny and processing prior undertaken this Islamic financial transaction.
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Hull, Sarah M. "Mitigating Risk: A Legal and Quantitative Study of Institutional Actions in the Development and Implementation of Undergraduate Education Abroad Programs." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1558819803772172.
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Ding, Tao. "Gas hydrates to capture and sequester CO₂." Master's thesis, Mississippi State : Mississippi State University, 2004. http://library.msstate.edu/etd/show.asp?etd=etd-11102004-141404.
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Bernasconi, Matteo. "The use of active sonar to study cetaceans." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2580.
Full textAbstract:
Cetacean species face serious challenges worldwide due to the increasing noise pollution brought to their environment by human activities such as seismic exploration. Regulation of these activities is vaguely defined and uncoordinated. Visual observations and passive listening devices, aimed at preventing conflicts between human wealth and cetaceans’ health have some fundamental limitations and may consequently fail their mitigation purposes. Active sonar technology could be the optimal solution to implement mitigation of such human activities. In my thesis, the proper sonar unit was used to test the feasibility to detect cetaceans in situ. Omnidirectional sonars could be the optimal solution to monitor the presence of cetaceans in the proximity of potential danger areas. To use this class of sonar in a quantitative manner, the first step was to develop a calibration method. This thesis links in situ measurements of target strength (TS) with variation trends linked to the behavior, morphology and physiology of cetacean. The butterfly effect of a cetacean’s body was described for a fin whale insonified from different angles. A relationship between whale respiration and TS energy peaks was tested through a simple prediction model which seems very promising for further implementation. The effect of lung compression on cetacean TS due to increasing depth was tested through a basic mathematical model. The model fit the in situ TS measurements. TS measurements at depth of a humpback whale, when post-processed, correspond to TS measurements recorded at the surface. Sonar technology is clearly capable of detecting whale foot prints around an operating vessel. Sonar frequency response shows that frequencies between 18 and 38 kHz should be employed. This work has established a baseline and raised new questions so that active sonar can be developed and employed in the best interest for the whales involved in potentially harmful conflicts with man.
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Henriksson, Tomas. "Driver Assistance Systemswith focus onAutomatic Emergency Brake." Thesis, KTH, Fordonsdynamik, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-121306.
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This thesis work aims at performing a survey of those technologies generally called DriverAssistance Systems (DAS). This thesis work focuses on gathering information in terms ofaccident statistics, sensors and functions and analyzing this information and shall thruaccessible information match functions with accidents, functions with sensors etc.This analysis, based on accidents in United States and Sweden during the period 1998 – 2002and two truck accident studies, shows that of all accidents with fatalities or sever injuriesinvolving a heavy truck almost half are the result of a frontal impact. About one fourth of theaccidents are caused by side impact, whereas single vehicle and rear impact collisions causesaround 14 % each. Of these, about one fourth is collision with unprotected (motorcycles,mopeds, bicycles, and pedestrians) whereas around 60 % are collision with other vehicles.More than 90 % of all accidents are partly the result of driver error and about 75 % aredirectly the result of driver error. Hence there exist a great opportunity to reduce the numberof accidents by introducing DAS.In this work, an analysis of DAS shows that six of the systems discussed today have thepotential to prevent 40 – 50 % of these accidents, whereas 20 – 40 % are estimated to actuallyhaving the chance to be prevented.One of these DAS, automatic emergency brake (AEB), has been analyzed in more detail.Decision models for an emergency brake capable to mitigate rear-end accidents has beendesigned and evaluated. The results show that this model has high capabilities to mitigatecollisions.
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Geury, Thomas. "Smart matrix converter-based grid-connected photovoltaic system for mitigating current and voltage-related power quality issues on the low-voltage grid." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/243967.
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The increasing penetration of distributed energy resources, in particular Photovoltaic (PV) production units, and the ever-growing use of power electronics-based equipment has led to specific concern about Power Quality (PQ) in the Low-Voltage (LV) grid. These include high- and low-order current harmonics as well as voltage distortion at the point of common coupling. Solutions to overcome these issues, meeting international grid codes, are being proposed in the context of smart energy management schemes.This work proposes a novel three-phase topology for a PV system with enhanced PQ mitigation functionality, tackling the corresponding control challenges.First, a single-stage current-source inverter PV system with active filtering capability is preferred to the more common two-stage voltage-source inverter topology with additional voltage-step-up converter. The system also guarantees a nearly unitary displacement power factor in the connection to the grid and allows for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) with direct control of the PV array power. The grid-synchronised dq-axis grid current references are generated for the mitigation of nonlinear load low-order current harmonics, without the need for additional measurements. Active damping is used to minimise grid-side filter losses and reduce high-order harmonics resulting from the converter switching.Results on a 500W laboratory prototype confirm that active damping reduces the switching harmonics in the grid currents and active filtering properly mitigates the low-order current harmonics. The MPPT algorithm works effectively for various irradiance variations. Second, a PV system with a novel Indirect Matrix Converter (IMC)-based unified power quality conditioner topology is developed for enhanced current and voltage compensation capability, with compactness and reliability advantages. PQ issues such as current harmonics, and voltage sags, swells, undervoltage and overvoltage are mitigated by the shunt and series converters, respectively.The more common Space Vector Modulation (SVM) method used in IMCs is developed for this specific topology. In particular, a new shunt converter modulation method is proposed to additionally control the PV array current with zero switching vectors, resulting in a specific switching sequence.A direct sliding mode control method is also studied separately for the shunt and series converters, so that the zero-vector modulation method of the shunt converter can be used, with no sensitive synchronisation of the switching signals; this contrasts with the SVM method. A new dc link voltage modulation method with 12 voltage zones, instead of 6, is proposed to help overcome the limitation in the choice of shunt converter switching vectors due to the positive dc link voltage constraint.Results are obtained for the direct method on a 1 kW laboratory prototype with optimised IMC dc link connection and alternative shunt converter switching transitions to guarantee a positive dc link voltage. Current and voltage compensation capabilities are confirmed by tests in various operating conditions.Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
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Guerreiro, Thais de Cássia Martinelli. "Acidentalidade no transporte coletivo da cidade de São Carlos." Universidade de São Paulo, 2008. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/18/18144/tde-29092008-232017/.
Full textAbstract:
Neste trabalho é apresentado o resultado de estudo sobre a acidentalidade no transporte coletivo da cidade de São Carlos - Brasil, utilizando como fontes de informações os registros contidos em boletins de ocorrência de acidentes da polícia militar e em relatórios de ocorrências, elaborados pela empresa operadora do transporte coletivo, ambos relativos aos anos de 2005 e 2006. O método utilizado compreende as seguintes etapas: i) Coleta dos dados; ii) Processamento e sistematização dos dados; iii) Caracterização dos acidentes; iv) Análise das informações e preparação de diagnóstico; e, v) Elaboração de ações mitigadoras. O processamento e a sistematização dos dados foram realizados utilizando o Banco de Dados de Acidentes de Trânsito (BDAT) da cidade de São Carlos, ao passo que a caracterização foi realizada com foco na gravidade, tipologia, distribuição temporal e espacial dos acidentes. De forma a identificar os pontos, interseções, trechos e regiões críticas de ocorrência de acidentes de trânsito, utilizou-se um sistema de informação geográfica - SIG, aplicado à área de transportes. Como principais resultados obtiveram-se: i) maior ocorrência de acidentes que resultaram em danos materiais e de acidente do tipo colisão transversal; ii) acidentes que resultaram em vítimas não fatais ocorreram em maior número às sextas-feiras e os que resultaram em vítimas fatais aos finais de semana; iii) os acidentes encontraram-se espalhados por toda a cidade, com maior concentração no eixo norte-sul e próximo a pólos de serviços de saúde, dentre outros. As ações mitigadoras propostas foram de caráter geral, como por exemplo, melhoria da sinalização, realização de campanhas educativas, dentre outros; e de caráter específico, direcionada para o cruzamento que apresentou o maior número de acidente no período em estudo.This work presents the results of a study on accident occurrence in public transportation (buses) in the city of São Carlos - Brazil, using as information sources the records from police accident reports from the local police and accident reports performed by the company responsible for the public transportation (buses), both for calendar years 2005 and 2006. The method applied comprises the following steps: i) Data collection; ii) Processing and data systematization; iii) Accident characterization; iv) Information analysis and diagnosis preparation; and v) Development of mitigation actions. Processing and data systematization were carried out using Traffic Accident Database (BDAT) from the city of São Carlos, whereas characterization was done focusing on severity, typology, temporal and spatial distribution of accidents. Geographic information system (GIS) applied to transportation field was used to identify intersections, road stretches and critical areas of traffic accident occurrence. The main results obtained were: i) most accidents resulted in property damage and side impacts ii) most nonfatal accidents occurred in greater number on fridays and fatal ones on weekends ii) accidents took place throughout the city, with greater concentration on north-south routes and around heath care centers, among others. Proposed mitigation actions were of general nature, such as improvements to signals, educational campaigns, among others; and specific ones towards the intersection that presented the highest number of accidents during this study.
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Minnie, Johan Charles. "Habitat and foraging models as aids in the identification of priority areas for mitigating actions to reduce the incidence of electrocutions of the threatened Cape Griffon Gyps coprotheres in the Eastern Cape." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1047.
Full textAbstract:
The Cape Griffon Gyps coprotheres is listed as a globally threatened species, because of threats posed by, inter alia, poisoning, loss of habitat, food shortages, electrocutions and drowning in high-walled farm reservoirs. The Cape Griffon has undergone major decline in South Africa, including the Eastern Cape. A detailed investigation into the causes of this decline is vital to ensure the survival of the species. Since it is known that electrocution on powerlines is a major cause of mortality of the griffons in the Eastern Cape, the study therefore focuses on this factor in this region. More specifically, the overall aim or objective of the study is to investigate, through the application of appropriate GIS techniques, the use of descriptive, empirical, habitat and foraging models to prioritise powerline networks, in the Eastern Cape, for mitigation to prevent electrocution of Cape Griffons Gyps coprotheres. The specific activities associated with the aim of the study are: (1) to identify the broad habitat types used by the griffons, (2) to determine the mean daily foraging range size of the griffons, (3) to map currently active foraging ranges and to categorise them according to their role, and the level of importance, in the foraging and breeding behaviour of the species, (4) to map the locations of networks of griffon-unfriendly powerline networks, and (5) to integrate the outcomes of (1) to (4) above, to produce a spatially explicit product that ranks griffon-unfriendly powerline networks according to their priority level for mitigation. The study uses simple descriptive models to investigate, spatially, the threat posed by griffon-unfriendly powerlines to the Cape Griffon in the Eastern Cape. The modelling approach includes a broad level simple habitat model (Categorical model), a Maxent model, a spatial foraging model and an electrocution model. Several map outputs were produced from the analyses. Cape Griffon habitat was successfully modelled using ecological input variables: biome, vegetation xvii type (suitable/unsuitable for griffon foraging), stock (cattle, sheep and goats), and stock farming types (commercial & communal). All outputs were modelled through the use of a Geographical Information System (GIS). Opportunistic sightings data were used for the study, which means that the data were collected on a non-systematic basis and are therefore considered incomplete. In ecology and zoogeography, incomplete datasets are common. To address this issue, a maximum entropy (Maxent) model was applied to the available dataset. Maxent produces predictions or conclusions from incomplete information, and was therefore useful for this study. The mean daily foraging area (coverage) of the Cape Griffon in the study area was estimated from published and unpublished marked bird studies conducted elsewhere, but in generally similar habitats. Based on all the data from these studies, it was considered appropriate to use a circular area, with a radius of 40 km, to represent the mean daily foraging range of the Cape Griffon in the Eastern Cape. It was considered appropriate to use a roughly circular area to depict the daily foraging area, given that the Cape Griffon qualifies as a central place forager. This means that the griffons are tied to a permanent site (roosting site or breeding site) and forage within a certain area around that central site. The mean daily foraging area (40 km) was applied to the currently active griffon sites: breeding sites, regular roosting sites, seasonal/occasional sites, and roosting sites (uncertain status). This produced four foraging area types, which formed the basis for the creation of two spatial foraging area models: Hierarchical Foraging Area Model (HFAM) and the Intersecting Foraging Area Model (IFAM). The HFAM produced three outputs: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Foraging Areas. These three areas represent the hierarchical presentation of the relative importance of the four foraging area types. The outcome was areas of different predicted griffon occurrence: ‘high’, ‘medium’, ‘low’. The IFAM is essentially an extension of the HFAM, which represents a single area where foraging ranges based on all four types are intersected. The outcome represents the area of predicted highest griffon occurrence. The identified areas of different predicted griffon occurrence, or density (outputs of the HFAM and IFAM), were individually intersected with the layer that indicates the locations of the ‘unsafe’ powerlines. These intersects are depicted in hierarchical mode and expressed according to a number of four risk categories (very high, high, medium and low). The final spatial output of the study is a map that identifies priority powerlines for mitigation against griffon mortality caused by electrocutions and collisions with powerline infrastructure.
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Westerman, John Thomas. "Wherefore by Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them: An Actor-Network Theory Analysis of Mercy Corps' Peaceful Communities Initiative in Central Asia." PDXScholar, 2011. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/286.
Full textAbstract:
The motivation for this research comes from the belief that an over reliance on a social constructivist perspective has caused development studies in general, and post-development in particular, to under-theorize the role of discourse in development. A key issue in post-development studies concerns whether or not development organizations depoliticize their interventions. The notion of depoliticization provides a perfect occasion for examining more deeply the role of discourse in development. This research uses the actor-network theory constructivist framework to analyze a USAID funded development program in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan): Mercy Corps' Peaceful Communities Initiative (PCI). The research approach used in this study involved both traditional ethnographic methods and document analysis. The ethnographic case material comes from multiple field visits to PCI offices in Central Asia and multiple visits to a variety of PCI community sites. The documentary evidence comes from a variety of organization and project specific documents. The embedded case studies demonstrate that materiality cannot be easily separated from sociality and that indeed the two are inseparable. Thus development discourse cannot be solely understood as a social phenomenon but could instead be understood as an assemblage of material elements through which both power and sociality flow.