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1
Giannone, Codiglione Giorgio. "Illeciti su internet e rimedi nel diritto d'autore." Doctoral thesis, Universita degli studi di Salerno, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10556/1445.
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2012 - 2013This research will discuss the relationship between digital copyright and access to knowledge in civil law systems, especially with regard to experience if United States and Italy. The focus will be specifically devoted to the between copyright enforcement and neutrality rules in the context of the web 2.0. This comparative analysis will take place also in a remedial perspective, taking into account the internal balance provided by law, in accordance with copyright traditional and opposite purposes: promoting creativity and disseminating knowledge...[edited by author]
XII n.s.
2
CHANG, CHE-SHYONG. "LARGE SCALE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS FOR CENTRAL URBAN AREAS." The University of Arizona, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/555317.
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Chilton, Tom. "Commercial Scale Recycling of Post-Consumer Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Waste." Thesis, Open University, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.520774.
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Al-Shayji, Khawla Abdul Mohsen. "Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization of large-Scale Commercial Desalination Plants." Diss., Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30462.
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This dissertation introduces desalination processes in general and multistage flash (MSF) and reverse osmosis (RO) in particular. It presents the fundamental and practical aspects of neural networks and provides an overview of their structures, topology, strengths, and limitations. This study includes the neural network applications to prediction problems of large-scale commercial MSF and RO desalination plants in conjunction with statistical techniques to identify the major independent variables to optimize the process performance.
In contrast to several recent studies, this work utilizes actual operating data (not simulated) from a large-scale commercial MSF desalination plant (48 million gallonsper day capacity, MGPD) and RO plant (15 MGPD) located in Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, respectively. We apply Neural Works Professional II/Plus (NeuralWare, 1993) and SAS (SAS Institute Inc., 1996) software to accomplish this task.
This dissertation demonstrates how to apply modular and equation-solving approaches for steady-state and dynamic simulations of large-scale commercial MSF desalination plants using ASPEN PLUS (Advanced System for Process Engineering PLUS) and SPEEDUP (Simulation Program for Evaluation and Evolutionary Design of Unsteady Processes) marketed by Aspen Technology, Cambridge, MA.
This work illustrates the development of an optimal operating envelope for achieving a stable operation of a commercial MSF desalination plant using the SPEEDUP model. We then discuss model linearization around nominal operating conditions and arrive at pairing schemes for manipulated and controlled variables by interaction analysis. Finally, this dissertation describes our experience in applying a commercial software, DynaPLUS, for combined steady-state and dynamic simulations of a commercial MSF desalination plant.
This dissertation is unique and significant in that it reports the first comprehensive study of predictive modeling, simulation, and optimization of large-scale commercial desalination plants. It is the first detailed and comparative study of commercial desalination plants using both artificial intelligence and computer-aided design techniques. The resulting models are able to reproduce accurately the actual operating data and to predict the optimal operating conditions of commercial desalination plants.Ph. D.
5
Ramirez, Jerome Luigi A. "Modelling a commercial-scale bagasse liquefaction plant using ASPEN Plus." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2018. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/120019/1/Jerome_Ramirez_Thesis.pdf.
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This project modelled a thermal liquefaction industrial facility for biofuel production from sugarcane bagasse using the process modelling software ASPEN Plus. Techno-economic models of liquefaction, pyrolysis and gasification processes were completed to assess the comparative feasibility of these thermochemical biofuel production processes. Model liquefaction biocrudes, were developed in ASPEN Plus using simulated distillation data and this method's utility in modelling biocrudes was validated.
6
Dube, Lighton. "Land tenure security and small scale commercial agriculture perfomance in Zimbabwe." University of Southern Queensland, Faculty of Business, 2009. http://eprints.usq.edu.au/archive/00006195/.
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[Abstract]The major objective of this study is to identify the effects of land tenure security on Small Scale Commercial agricultural productivity and development inZimbabwe. Using a probit model, the study draws the following conclusions:i. Under a more secure tenure system, farmers are likely to have some longterm investments, in this case in plantation crops.ii. The type of tenure system may not necessarily influence an investment in non-fixed assets like livestock.iii. Secure tenure is likely to influence investment in property improvement fixed assets such as fencing and woodlots.iv. Secure tenure is likely to positively influence an investment in permanent housing facilities but does not seem to influence an investment in associated infrastructure such as garages, workshops or shades.v. Secure tenure seems to be associated with a higher propensity to invest in improving existing farm infrastructure.vi. Freehold tenure system is associated with a higher propensity to access to credit.vii. Tenure security appears not to significantly affect medium term soil improvements. Medium-term and long-term investments on the farm do not seem to have any significant impact on the level of input use.viii. However, contrary to expectations, the results of this study indicate that tenure security may not necessarily result in higher productivity.
7
Stevens, Scott Michael. "Microbial intervention strategies for Salmonella and Campylobacter reduction in commercial turkey processing." Texas A&M University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/2378.
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One objective of the present investigation was to compare Salmonella and
Campylobacter recovery incidence from commercially processed turkeys immediately
prior to and following pre-chill and immersion chiller intervention strategies being used
in three distinct turkey processing facilities. In each plant, on a single day of processing,
100 carcass rinse samples prior to and following each post-evisceration, pre-chill
intervention and following immersion chilling were obtained for Salmonella and
Campylobacter recovery. Two of three plants demonstrated a trend of decreased
Salmonella on carcasses following the Inside Outside Bird Wash (IOBW), with
reductions of 13%, and 11% being observed for Plants 1 and 2, respectively. Results for
reductions of Campylobacter contamination were not as straightforward, with only Plant
3 showing decreased levels (11% reduction) following the IOBW. Plant 2 used an
additional pre-chill intervention, a low pressure, acetic acid final wash, which was not
shown to be effective in causing an additional reduction in either Salmonella or
Campylobacter on carcasses. In all three plants, properly managed immersion chilling
systems were the most effective microbial intervention for achieving Salmonella andCampylobacter reduction on processed turkey carcasses. While not as effective, the
IOBW present in each plant likely contributed to the effectiveness of immersion chiller
interventions. If managed properly these intervention points have demonstrated
themselves as a viable means to effectively reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter on
processed turkeys.
Another objective was to modify the scalder environment to an alkaline pH and
determine the effects of thermal killing of Salmonella and Campylobacter. In each
plant, on a single day of processing, 50 carcass rinse samples prior to and following
scald tank immersion and following feather removal were obtained for Salmonella and
Campylobacter recovery. Modification of the scald water to alkaline conditions (pH 9-
10) did not result in increased thermal killing of Salmonella or Campylobacter on turkey
carcasses, as hypothesized before the investigation. Alkaline conditions are known to
facilitate a more efficacious pluck and aid in the detachment of bacteria. Due to this, the
bacteria that were recovered at these points on the processing line could have had an
impact on the observed data.
8
Garcia-Hansen, Veronica Ruth. "Innovative daylighting systems for deep-plan commercial buildings." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2006. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16709/1/Veronica_Hansen_Thesis.pdf.
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The use of natural light is very beneficial in office buildings because energy consumption can be reduced, and working conditions can be enhanced, which positively affect workers' health and productivity. However, bringing natural light into deep plan office buildings is not possible with simple windows or skylights, and light transport systems are necessary to bring natural light into the deep cores of buildings. Light transport systems usually need sun-tracking devices to collect natural light that are complicated, expensive and require continual maintenance. Mirrored light pipes coupled with laser cut panels (LCP) are a passive and simpler daylight transport solution and are the focus of this PhD research. The primary aim has been to improve the technology and achieve the most efficient passive solution possible through the interactive use of theoretical modelling, experimental measurements and case studies.
Applications of this technology were investigated in two case studies: 1) as horizontal light pipes for daylight illumination of a high rise building proposal in the tropics; and 2) as vertical light pipes for daylight illumination of a middle-rise deep plan building proposal in a subtropical environment. In both cases, quantitative system performance under best (clear sunny sky) and worst (overcast) case scenarios was undertaken via scale model testing and mathematical modelling. The major conclusion for both case studies was that mirrored light pipe technologies, when coupled with LCP, were effective in introducing sufficient ambient light levels inside buildings and over distances > 20 m from the façade or roof. Average lux levels achieved in the space were 150 to 350 lux for the horizontal light pipes and 50 to 300 lux for vertical light pipes. However, as a passive solution, this technology has two major limitations: 1) the dependence on sun azimuth and elevation angles, which result in variations in illuminance levels during the day and the year; and potentially 2) pipe size, as pipes with a large diameter (e.g. 2 m in diameter for 20 m long pipes) are required for optimal performance, such that the large pipes may limit integration in building design.
Two other solutions were assessed to circumvent these limitations to the mirrored light pipe technology: 1) a passive collector that concentrate natural light by using a fluorescent panel to reduce the size of the pipe, and 2) an active collector comprising a LCP rotating 360 degrees in a 24 hour cycle to reduce system dependence on sun azimuth and elevation angles. The low light-to-light efficiency of the fluorescent panels made them inappropriate for collecting sufficient amounts of daylight necessary for daylighting of large buildings. In contrast, the rotating LCP is a very simple active system that by rotating constantly at 15 degrees per hour, reduces the deviation angle between the panel orientation and sun azimuth angle, and significantly increased the system performance. The performance was generally better (e.g. 2.5 times better for light collection under low sun elevation angles) than the passive light pipe system with fixed LCP. However, active systems raise other issues in terms of cost-benefit in constructing, operating and maintaining such systems.
Passive mirrored light pipes coupled with LCPs or simple active systems with rotating LCPs have great potential as daylight solutions for deep plan buildings as they can contribute to lowering overall energy consumption, improve workplace health and become an architectural design element. Research is still required on the implementation of the technology into buildings, but the growing trend towards 'green buildings', sustainable design and government regulations or building codes will require more daylighting use in buildings, and will motivate designers to increasingly consider and incorporate such daylighting strategies into future building designs.
9
Garcia-Hansen, Veronica Ruth. "Innovative daylighting systems for deep-plan commercial buildings." Queensland University of Technology, 2006. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16709/.
Full textAbstract:
The use of natural light is very beneficial in office buildings because energy consumption can be reduced, and working conditions can be enhanced, which positively affect workers' health and productivity. However, bringing natural light into deep plan office buildings is not possible with simple windows or skylights, and light transport systems are necessary to bring natural light into the deep cores of buildings. Light transport systems usually need sun-tracking devices to collect natural light that are complicated, expensive and require continual maintenance. Mirrored light pipes coupled with laser cut panels (LCP) are a passive and simpler daylight transport solution and are the focus of this PhD research. The primary aim has been to improve the technology and achieve the most efficient passive solution possible through the interactive use of theoretical modelling, experimental measurements and case studies. Applications of this technology were investigated in two case studies: 1) as horizontal light pipes for daylight illumination of a high rise building proposal in the tropics; and 2) as vertical light pipes for daylight illumination of a middle-rise deep plan building proposal in a subtropical environment. In both cases, quantitative system performance under best (clear sunny sky) and worst (overcast) case scenarios was undertaken via scale model testing and mathematical modelling. The major conclusion for both case studies was that mirrored light pipe technologies, when coupled with LCP, were effective in introducing sufficient ambient light levels inside buildings and over distances > 20 m from the façade or roof. Average lux levels achieved in the space were 150 to 350 lux for the horizontal light pipes and 50 to 300 lux for vertical light pipes. However, as a passive solution, this technology has two major limitations: 1) the dependence on sun azimuth and elevation angles, which result in variations in illuminance levels during the day and the year; and potentially 2) pipe size, as pipes with a large diameter (e.g. 2 m in diameter for 20 m long pipes) are required for optimal performance, such that the large pipes may limit integration in building design. Two other solutions were assessed to circumvent these limitations to the mirrored light pipe technology: 1) a passive collector that concentrate natural light by using a fluorescent panel to reduce the size of the pipe, and 2) an active collector comprising a LCP rotating 360 degrees in a 24 hour cycle to reduce system dependence on sun azimuth and elevation angles. The low light-to-light efficiency of the fluorescent panels made them inappropriate for collecting sufficient amounts of daylight necessary for daylighting of large buildings. In contrast, the rotating LCP is a very simple active system that by rotating constantly at 15 degrees per hour, reduces the deviation angle between the panel orientation and sun azimuth angle, and significantly increased the system performance. The performance was generally better (e.g. 2.5 times better for light collection under low sun elevation angles) than the passive light pipe system with fixed LCP. However, active systems raise other issues in terms of cost-benefit in constructing, operating and maintaining such systems. Passive mirrored light pipes coupled with LCPs or simple active systems with rotating LCPs have great potential as daylight solutions for deep plan buildings as they can contribute to lowering overall energy consumption, improve workplace health and become an architectural design element. Research is still required on the implementation of the technology into buildings, but the growing trend towards 'green buildings', sustainable design and government regulations or building codes will require more daylighting use in buildings, and will motivate designers to increasingly consider and incorporate such daylighting strategies into future building designs.
10
Olewnik, Maureen Cecilia Noonan. "Predicting commercial scale baking quality characteristics of wheat and flour using NIR /." Search for this dissertation online, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ksu/main.
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Avey, Karen D. "Development of a standardized abrasive scale an analysis of commercial prophylaxis pastes /." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2004. https://etd.wvu.edu/etd/controller.jsp?moduleName=documentdata&jsp%5FetdId=3698.
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Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004.Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 74 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-57).
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Barbaros, Yavuz Selim. "Creation Of The Commercial Node: Sogutozu, Ankara." Master's thesis, METU, 2005. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/2/12605849/index.pdf.
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The aim of the study is to discuss and determine the property relations, development patterns and major agents at Sögü
tö
zü
region in Ankara, where is claimed to be new central business node, developing with ultimate architectural, constructional efforts and highly sophisticated land speculations. Rapid transformation in characteristic of Sö
gü
tö
zü
region from agricultural use to commercial uses at twenty years does not only display contemporary space creation efforts, but also shows tendencies of private entrepreneurs in Ankara. Increasing commercial activities on the land and introduce of new modes of interaction patterns, which are related with the rise of private property in neo-liberal era after 1980, also brings out changing protocols on property ownership patterns. In this context, Sö
gü
tö
zü
case is related with discourses about repositioning of private initiatives on urban issues. However this becomes critical, when reconsidering, the capital city was designed to be modern cradle of republic by the public comprehensive planning initiatives. The current situation at the region is bringing new sets of confronting concepts between comprehensive planning approaches and property capital&rsquo
s space creation methods. Figuring out basics of space creation agencies and achieving appropriate design guidelines at Sö
gü
tö
zü
may not only provide efficient well-growth of the specific sector of the city, but also bring out alternative solutions to achieve urban compromise in Ankara. For that reason, determinations on property formation, physical developments at Sö
gü
tö
zü
should be studied in historical context.
13
Mburu, David Ng'ang'a. "Weed control in vegetable crops for small-scale commercial vegetable farmers in Kenya." Thesis, University of Reading, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.360056.
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Wicoff, Emily. "Development of a simplified commercial-scale aquaponic facility for implementation in northern Uganda." Thesis, Kansas State University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/8848.
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Master of ScienceDepartment of Civil Engineering
Steven K. Starrett
Current aquaponic technology ranges from backyard hobbyist to technologically advanced commercial production. A single source for protein (fish) and nutrients/vitamins (vegetables), development of a technologically simplified commercial-scale system is a realistic solution for many impoverished nations. This study develops a simplified aquaponic facility to be implemented in rural northern Uganda. Research objectives were to: (1) identify simplified commercial-scale system design components, (2) establish a water quality baseline, (3) identify plant/tilapia production ratios, (4) identify construction materials available in northern Uganda, (5) integrate culturally familiar elements, (6) complete preliminary facility design, and (7) calculate facility water balance. The study established that a viable simplified design achieves: (1) water circulation with weir gravity flow and one return pump, (2) tank cleaning with strategically sloped floors and manual waste siphoning, and (3) breeding control with raised bottom fishnets. Submerged aeration is critical to optimal fish growth, and cannot be eliminated despite surface aeration’s low energy appeal. Baseline water quality parameter values of DO > 3 mg/L, pH > 5.5, and TAN > 3 mg/L (2 mg/L average) were established for the pilot study configuration and hydraulic retention time (HRT). A plant/tilapia ratio of 2.5 ft[superscript]2/lb was identified for the proposed facility’s design. The simplified design was assessed compatible with concrete block construction local to northern Uganda. Incorporating the following culturally familiar elements will facilitate technology adoption: utilize native fish (tilapia) and vegetable crops identified in community markets, replace commercially produced plant tank raft components with woven matting from locally available natural materials, and identify the unfamiliar proposed tank design with newly adopted raceway culture techniques at a well-known Ugandan national fishery institute. A proposed facility preliminary design represents local materials, identified plant/tilapia ratio, minimum HRT, and simplified design components for tilapia densities ranging from 12 to 3 gal/lb. With the facility supplied by both rainwater and groundwater, corresponding water balances for 12 to 3 gal/lb densities ranged from a 9,735 gal/yr well supply demand to a 10,984 gal/yr rainwater surplus.
15
Rowe, Rebecca L. "Implications for biodiversity of the deployment of commercial scale short rotation willow coppice." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2011. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/195559/.
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Willow short rotation coppice (SRC) is seen as an important renewable energy source within temperate regions including the UK and its deployment within the agri-environment is supported by a number of goverment policies. Willow SRC represents a significant land use change and its deployment has raised questions regarding the possible impacts on biodiversity and the delivery of ecosystem services. This work assessed the impact of three commercial willow SRC plantations on ecosystem processes through the use of herbivory, decomposition and predation bioassays. Comparisons were also made between the willow SRC plantations and the abundance and diversity of: summer ground flora and winged invertebrates in the alternative land use options of set-aside and cereal crops; predatory ground invertebrates and small mammals in winter wheat and barely. In comparison to cereal crops the willow SRC plantations contained a higher abundance and species richness of ground flora and small mammals, and a higher abundance and family richness of predatory ground invertebrates. Ground flora richness was higher in the set-aside land than within the willow SRC. The ground flora community within the willow SRC was markedly different to both set aside and arable land with a shift from an annual and ruderal to competitive and perennial dominated community. The composition of winged invertebrate Orders also varied between the land uses with higher numbers of Hymenoptera and Hemiptera trapped within the willow SRC plantations than within the arable and set-aside land. No differences were detected on rates of predation on invertebrate prey, seedling herbivory and decomposition between willow SRC and set-aside land. In comparison to cereal crops higher rates of decomposition and higher rates of predation by small mammals in the autumn were recorded in willow SRC. Overall the results suggest that, willow SRC plantations may benefit farm-scale biodiversity by providing a habitat where plants and animals that are uncommon on alternative land use can persist. Moreover positive effects on the species richness of small mammals and the abundance and richness of predatory invertebrates may have positive implication for natural pest control both within willow SRC plantations and possibly on surrounding landscape. Comparisons to set-aside did, however, highlight that willow SRC is not a panacea for all species and care must be taken in the location and fraction of the landscape that is devoted to this crop
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Proctor, Keith E. "Answer Distortion on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale During the Commercial Driver Medical Examination." Scholar Commons, 2010. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1744.
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Commercial vehicle drivers are required to maintain Department Of Transportation medical certification which entails a Commercial Driver Medical Examination (CDME) and optimally leads to a two-year certification. The examination must be performed by a licensed "medical examiner" administered by a variety of health care providers including physicians, advanced registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants and doctors of chiropractic. Unfavorable findings in the examination can yield either a shortened medical certification period or denial of certification. Sleep disorders including sleep apnea are assessed by a single question located in the health history portion of the CDME form which is filled-out by the examinee. A positive response to this single item often prompts the medical examiner to further supplement this question using a subjective questionnaire, such as the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. This particular questionnaire generates a total score based on the examinee's subjective responses to eight items regarding the propensity to doze-off or fall asleep in different scenarios, thus indicating daytime sleepiness. Commercial drivers depend on the medical certification for their livelihood and it is hypothesized that subjective responses regarding daytime sleepiness are distorted in an effort to attain optimal DOT certification.
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Genis, Amelia Jasmine. "Accumulation and differentiation: the dynamics of change in the large-scale commercial farming sector of South Africa." University of the Western Cape, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4673.
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Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThe general image of large-scale commercial farming in South Africa is one of technological dynamism and international competitiveness. However, such a generalisation obscures considerable differentiation in terms of size, scale, capital reproduction strategies and future directions of change between and within farming regions. My study on reproduction, accumulation and differentiation in the large-scale commercial farming sector makes a small contribution towards explaining this substantive diversity, as well as the underlying processes at work, in three different agro-ecological regions of the country. A framework to analyse the strategies of large-scale commercial farmers was derived from volume 1 of Marx’s Capital and interpretations thereof by Marxist scholars, e.g. Ernest Mandel, Henry Bernstein, David Harvey, Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho. The four strategies or processes are broadly identified as a) expanding the scale or scope of production, in other words, to increase the capital intensity of production and/or geographic size, and/or the number of products, b) expanding the scale or scope of the business by expanding into new enterprises either up or down the value chain, c) increasing economic efficiency, which can be achieved by means of lowering the cost of commodity production, increasing productivity in terms of yield per hectare or per animal through technical and biological efficiency, or by organising workers and tasks to make workers as productive as possible, and d) taking part in political action in order to reduce uncertainties and/or establish preferential access to and control over key resources, markets or policy processes. Data from a questionnaire survey conducted with 141 large-scale commercial farmers in Limpopo, the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces, as well as semi-structured interviews with 32 farmers in these regions were analysed to determine the most prevalent strategies and assess their outcomes. The outcomes of these strategies varied between and within regions and resulted in the differentiation of capitalist farmers into “accumulators”, “successful reproducers”, “struggling reproducers” and “simple commodity producers”. This approach helps to uncover processes and patterns of agrarian change, and provides a richer, more detailed, understanding of the dynamics of change in the large-scale farming sector of South Africa which can help inform debates on policy optionsfor the sector and for land reform.
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Chhatre, Sunil. "Evaluation of the financial and technical impacts of changing commercial-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing processes." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2008. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1445999/.
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Growing pressures in the pharmaceutical industry are driving the need to optimise processes used for the manufacture of drugs at commercial-scale, in order to improve cost of goods, product throughput and production times. Evaluating the impacts of process optimisation upon these metrics presents a challenge due to complexities and trade-offs that are often encountered when developing a typical bioprocess. Such factors have resulted in a range of novel simulation- and experimental- based techniques being developed which enable rapid, accurate and cost effective assessment of manufacturing options for commercial-scale production. This thesis proposes a combination of modelling and experimental methods for evaluating the business- and process-related impacts of implementing changes to pre-existing commercial-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. The approaches are illustrated through an industrial case study, focusing upon a process operated by Protherics U.K. Limited for the manufacture of the FDA-approved rattlesnake anti-venom CroFab (Crotalidae Polyvalent Immune Fab (Ovine)). The novel methods developed and illustrated in this thesis include: Investigating the effects of process changes upon calculated yields and processing times within the production framework for a pre-existing FDA-approved bio-manufacturing process Evaluating the impacts of both developing and implementing process changes, combining output metrics into a single value to simplify the assessment Developing a multi-layered simulation methodology for the rapid and efficient evaluation of bio- manufacturing process options Applying advanced sensitivity analysis techniques to identify the most critical factors that influence product yield and throughput Evaluating a novel synthetic Protein A matrix for the recovery and purification of polyclonal antibodies from hyperimmunised ovine serum Developing decision-support software to aid the design of chromatography steps for antibody purification at industrial scale Demonstrating the utility of such models by application to data and constraints derived from a full-scale industrial facility.
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Stebbins, Emily. "Technical and Economic Feasibility of Biodiesel Production in Vermont: Evidence from a Farm-Scale Study and a Commercial-Scale Simulation Analysis." ScholarWorks @ UVM, 2009. http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/221.
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Concerns about Vermont‘s dairy farm viability, greenhouse gas emissions, and reliance on fossil fuels have prompted growing interest in the production of biodiesel and oilseed meal from Vermont-grown oilseed crops. The idea is that Vermont farmers could grow and harvest oilseed crops; the seed or beans could be pressed into vegetable oil and oilseed meal; and the oil could be processed into biodiesel, thereby producing both liquid biofuel and protein meal for livestock from Vermont crops. Results from this study indicate that oil, meal, and biodiesel production from sunflowers grown in Vermont is technically feasible, and may be economically feasible at both the farm and commercial scales, depending on scale and market conditions. Farmers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers are intrigued by the potential to decrease Vermont‘s dependency on imported fuels and feed, reduce farms‘ production costs, realize local economic benefits from import substitution, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the promise of ―Vermont-made‖ biodiesel and oilseed meal, however, it remains largely an unproven concept. Production of oilseed crops is relatively rare in Vermont, especially in quantities sufficient for biodiesel or livestock meal production. The equipment, capital, acreage, and expertise needed to successfully grow, harvest, and process these crops have not been identified, and the economic feasibility, optimal scale, and environmental and macroeconomic impacts of these new enterprises in Vermont is unknown. This study investigates the technical and economic feasibility of producing biodiesel and livestock feed from Vermont oilseeds at a farm scale and a commercial scale. Technical feasibility at the farm scale is assessed using data from two Vermont farms. Enterprise budgets are used to assess the economic feasibility and profitability of the crop, oil and meal, and biodiesel enterprises individually and as a whole under two sets of market conditions. Economic feasibility and environmental and economic impacts of a commercial-scale biodiesel facility in Vermont are assessed using a simulation model. None of the farm-scale enterprises were profitable as budgeted in this analysis, although the commercial-scale plant was more profitable as crude oil prices rose. The most promising enterprise at the farm scale appears to be oil and meal production. This study prompts additional questions regarding the extent to which Vermont crop production should shift to include oilseeds for biodiesel production, the net energy return to the farm, and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from on-farm production.
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Devi, Bernadetta Puspita. "Governing the interface of commercial mining and artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Indonesia." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2021. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/209570/1/Bernadetta_Devi_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis examines the governance of the interface between commercial mining and artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Indonesia. It does so from the under-addressed perspective of artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Using a critical governmentality lens, the research discovered artisanal and small-scale gold miners are neglected because of governmental techniques adopted by global and national bodies to eliminate mercury use. Concurrently, these miners have created alternative knowledge and practices through counter-discourses, conduct and strategies to ensure their mining agenda can progress. This research advocates for inclusion of artisanal and small-scale miners in mining governance to promote mining sustainability.
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Struthers, William Alistair. "The economic feasibility of a commercial scale Manila clam (Tapes philippinarum) hatchery on Vancouver Island." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/mq24247.pdf.
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Mulcan, Amanda. "Environmental siting suitability analysis for commercial scale ocean renewable energy| A southeast Florida case study." Thesis, Florida Atlantic University, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1527082.
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Chávez-Presa, Jorge A. "Economies of scale, economies of scope and structural change in the Mexican commercial banking system /." The Ohio State University, 1988. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu14875882498246.
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Camacho, Rodriguez Jesus. "Efficient techniques for large-scale Web data management." Thesis, Paris 11, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014PA112229/document.
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Le développement récent des offres commerciales autour du cloud computing a fortement influé sur la recherche et le développement des plateformes de distribution numérique. Les fournisseurs du cloud offrent une infrastructure de distribution extensible qui peut être utilisée pour le stockage et le traitement des données.En parallèle avec le développement des plates-formes de cloud computing, les modèles de programmation qui parallélisent de manière transparente l'exécution des tâches gourmandes en données sur des machines standards ont suscité un intérêt considérable, à commencer par le modèle MapReduce très connu aujourd'hui puis par d'autres frameworks plus récents et complets. Puisque ces modèles sont de plus en plus utilisés pour exprimer les tâches de traitement de données analytiques, la nécessité se fait ressentir dans l'utilisation des langages de haut niveau qui facilitent la charge de l'écriture des requêtes complexes pour ces systèmes.Cette thèse porte sur des modèles et techniques d'optimisation pour le traitement efficace de grandes masses de données du Web sur des infrastructures à grande échelle. Plus particulièrement, nous étudions la performance et le coût d'exploitation des services de cloud computing pour construire des entrepôts de données Web ainsi que la parallélisation et l'optimisation des langages de requêtes conçus sur mesure selon les données déclaratives du Web.Tout d'abord, nous présentons AMADA, une architecture d'entreposage de données Web à grande échelle dans les plateformes commerciales de cloud computing. AMADA opère comme logiciel en tant que service, permettant aux utilisateurs de télécharger, stocker et interroger de grands volumes de données Web. Sachant que les utilisateurs du cloud prennent en charge les coûts monétaires directement liés à leur consommation de ressources, notre objectif n'est pas seulement la minimisation du temps d'exécution des requêtes, mais aussi la minimisation des coûts financiers associés aux traitements de données. Plus précisément, nous étudions l'applicabilité de plusieurs stratégies d'indexation de contenus et nous montrons qu'elles permettent non seulement de réduire le temps d'exécution des requêtes mais aussi, et surtout, de diminuer les coûts monétaires liés à l'exploitation de l'entrepôt basé sur le cloud.Ensuite, nous étudions la parallélisation efficace de l'exécution de requêtes complexes sur des documents XML mis en œuvre au sein de notre système PAXQuery. Nous fournissons de nouveaux algorithmes montrant comment traduire ces requêtes dans des plans exprimés par le modèle de programmation PACT (PArallelization ConTracts). Ces plans sont ensuite optimisés et exécutés en parallèle par le système Stratosphere. Nous démontrons l'efficacité et l'extensibilité de notre approche à travers des expérimentations sur des centaines de Go de données XML.Enfin, nous présentons une nouvelle approche pour l'identification et la réutilisation des sous-expressions communes qui surviennent dans les scripts Pig Latin. Notre algorithme, nommé PigReuse, agit sur les représentations algébriques des scripts Pig Latin, identifie les possibilités de fusion des sous-expressions, sélectionne les meilleurs à exécuter en fonction du coût et fusionne d'autres expressions équivalentes pour partager leurs résultats. Nous apportons plusieurs extensions à l'algorithme afin d’améliorer sa performance. Nos résultats expérimentaux démontrent l'efficacité et la rapidité de nos algorithmes basés sur la réutilisation et des stratégies d'optimisationThe recent development of commercial cloud computing environments has strongly impacted research and development in distributed software platforms. Cloud providers offer a distributed, shared-nothing infrastructure, that may be used for data storage and processing.In parallel with the development of cloud platforms, programming models that seamlessly parallelize the execution of data-intensive tasks over large clusters of commodity machines have received significant attention, starting with the MapReduce model very well known by now, and continuing through other novel and more expressive frameworks. As these models are increasingly used to express analytical-style data processing tasks, the need for higher-level languages that ease the burden of writing complex queries for these systems arises.This thesis investigates the efficient management of Web data on large-scale infrastructures. In particular, we study the performance and cost of exploiting cloud services to build Web data warehouses, and the parallelization and optimization of query languages that are tailored towards querying Web data declaratively.First, we present AMADA, an architecture for warehousing large-scale Web data in commercial cloud platforms. AMADA operates in a Software as a Service (SaaS) approach, allowing users to upload, store, and query large volumes of Web data. Since cloud users support monetary costs directly connected to their consumption of resources, our focus is not only on query performance from an execution time perspective, but also on the monetary costs associated to this processing. In particular, we study the applicability of several content indexing strategies, and show that they lead not only to reducing query evaluation time, but also, importantly, to reducing the monetary costs associated with the exploitation of the cloud-based warehouse.Second, we consider the efficient parallelization of the execution of complex queries over XML documents, implemented within our system PAXQuery. We provide novel algorithms showing how to translate such queries into plans expressed in the PArallelization ConTracts (PACT) programming model. These plans are then optimized and executed in parallel by the Stratosphere system. We demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of our approach through experiments on hundreds of GB of XML data.Finally, we present a novel approach for identifying and reusing common subexpressions occurring in Pig Latin scripts. In particular, we lay the foundation of our reuse-based algorithms by formalizing the semantics of the Pig Latin query language with extended nested relational algebra for bags. Our algorithm, named PigReuse, operates on the algebraic representations of Pig Latin scripts, identifies subexpression merging opportunities, selects the best ones to execute based on a cost function, and merges other equivalent expressions to share its result. We bring several extensions to the algorithm to improve its performance. Our experiment results demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of our reuse-based algorithms and optimization strategies
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Nembilwi, Daniel. "Evaluation of broiler performance under small-scale and semi-commercial farming conditions in the Northern Province." Thesis, Port Elizabeth Technikon, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/92.
Full textAbstract:
Introduction: In the Northern region of the Northern Province, there is an increase in the number of small-scale and semi-commercial farms in all sectors of agriculture. This includes the production of grains, vegetables, fruits and livestock. Broiler production seemed to be a much-preferred alternative of development in community based projects and emerging farmers have shown keen interest. This is because broiler production requires less space than ruminants and is ready for human consumption within a very short period of time. Poultry production provides a constant source of income and protein with a big customer demand. By the year 2000, broiler production is expected to reach 4000 million and 7.5 million tons of poultry feeds in the world. Many countries have initiated programs aimed at improving small-scale poultry as a means of helping to bring socio- economic benefits to rural communities (Panda, 1989). In order to feed the ever rising population of 4.9 million in the Northern Province (1996 Census), there must be an increase in the production of broilers as a primary source of top quality animal protein. With the high unemployment rate (46%) in the Northern Province, self- employment projects are needed which comply with agro- processing. More than 90 community projects based on poultry production in the Northern region of the Northern Province had been established in order to reduce the high rate of unemployment. Today more people have engaged themselves in community projects especially in poultry production than ever before. Some of the constrains of broiler production at both small-scale and semi-commercial farming condition includes inadequate ventilation system. Lack of suitable health care facilities and frequently the absence of efficient marketing structures form part of the obstacles to the rapid development of poultry production. Feed costs which remain the highest input cost in the production of broilers represent between 60 to 70% or more of the total costs of broiler productions (Benyi and Habi, 1998). Lack of management skills and training for small and semi-commercial farmers makes it difficult to obtain optimum performance. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of broilers as influenced by environmental factors under small.
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Joubert, Gerard Michel. "A production model for commercial integrated aquaculture development in KwaZulu-Natal using family scale modular units." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50275.
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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the status of world aquaculture with a primary focus on Sub-Saharan and Chinese freshwater aquaculture, and proposes a commercial integrated farming model for implementation in rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal. The model combines the paradigms of age-old Chinese integrated pond farming principles with a commercial approach in the socio-economic context of Sub-Saharan Africa. The project's objective is to contribute to the alleviation of poverty through economic development in rural areas using environmentally and economically sustainable farming practices. The project's medium-term goal is to achieve the critical production volume to warrant vertical integration into a hatchery, feed mill and processing facility. Integration would reduce operating costs and afford better standards of basic services. The project's long-term goal is to grow and expand the model to make a contribution to global food security through distributing a fish-based, nutritionally balanced meal to famine relieve efforts in low-income food deficiency countries (LIFDC). The model proposes the development of individual farms each with a production capacity of 40 to 60 tons of fish per annum. The species available include tilapia, catfish, carp, mullet, bass and eels. The farms will each consist of eight grow-out fishponds totalling 4 hectares of water surface area, a basic homestead and 6 hectares for crops and livestock rearing. The farms are designed to utilize the nutrient rich effluent from the fishponds to flood-irrigate crops planted in the fields below. Through application of the principles of the integrated approach to fish-crops-livestock farming as applied by the Chinese over the last 2,000 years, the farms are designed in a way that nothing is wasted. The waste product from one system becomes input for the next system. The integrated approach is extremely cost effective and lends itself to total organic farming adhering to environmentally responsible and sustainable farming principles. Two hundred such farming units would produce a total of 8,000 to 12,000 ton per year that equates to double the current combined freshwater aquaculture production from all the SADC member countries.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die werkstuk bied 'n oorsig van akwakultuur in die wêreld, met 'n primêre fokus op die stand van varswater akwakultuur in Sub-Sahara en China. 'n Ontwikkelingsmodel vir geïntegreerde kommersiële boerdery word voorgestel, in die plattelandse dele van KwaZulu-Natal word woorhou. Die model koppel die konsepte van eeue-oue Chinese beginsels van geïntegreerde visboerdery met kommersiële winsgewendheid, binne die sosio-ekonomiese konsep van sub- Sahara Afrika. Die doel van die model is om 'n beduidende rol te speel in die verligting van armoede deur die ontwikkeling van ekonomiese aktiwiteit in plattelandse gebiede d.m.v. omgewings- en ekonomies volhoubare boerderypraktyke. Die projek se mediumtermyndoelwit is om die kritiese produksievolume te bereik wat vertikale integrasie met 'n visbroeiery, 'n voermeule en 'n prosesseringsfasiliteit sal regverdig. Dit saloperasionele kostes verminder en beter beheer verseker oor hierdie basiese insette. Die langtermyndoelwit is om die model uit te brei ten einde 'n bydrae te maak tot globale voedselvoorsiening deur die verspreiding van 'n voedsame, gebalanseerde maaltyd met vis as basis, as hongersnoodverligting in lae inkomste lande met 'n voedseltekort. Die model stel 'n reeks individuele plase voor, elk met 'n produksiekapasiteit van 40 tot 60 ton vis per jaar. Die beskikbare spesies sluit in tilapia, baber, harder, swartbaars en paling. Elke plaas sal bestaan uit agt uitgroeidamme van 'n halwe hektaar elk, 'n totaal van vier hektaar wateroppervlakte, 'n woonhuis en ses hektaar vir gewasse en veë. Die plase is ontwerp ten eide die voedingsryke uitvloeisel van die visdamme te gebruik vir besproeiing van die laerliggende landerye. Deur gebruik te maak van die beginsel van integrasie van 'n vis-, gewas- en vee-boerdery, aan die hand van die Chinese ontwikkelingsmodel oor die afgelope 2,000 jaar, word gepoog om niks te vermors nie. Die afvalproduk van een stelsel word 'n inset in die volgende. Hierdie benadering is uiters koste-effektief en leen homself tot organiese boerdery praktyke wat voldoen aan bewaringsbewuste en volhoubare boerderymetodes. Tweehonderd plaaseenhede sal 'n gesamentlike bydrae van 8,000 tot 12,000 ton per jaar lewer, wat gelykstaande is aan dubbeld die huidige gekombineerde varswater akwakultuurproduksie van al die SADC-Iedelande.
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Harris, Charles G. "Development of air/fuel ratio control and secondary combustion for a commercial-scale biomass-fueled boiler." Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76044.
Full textAbstract:
The development, testing, and modeling of a multi-fuel biomass combustion system is described. The system is developed by adding air/fuel ratio control and catalytic secondary combustion to a commercially available 150 kW biomass-fueled boiler. The basis of the air/fuel ratio control system is an inexpensive electrochemical oxygen sensor. A catalytic secondary combustion system is developed from monolithic noble metal catalytic combustor segments commonly used on domestic wood burning equipment. The development and understanding of the combustion system is supported by both experimental measurements and theoretical modeling of the combustion process. Experimentally measured variables include gas temperatures, combustion air and exhaust gas flow rates, exhaust gas CO and CO₂ concentrations, and useful heat output. Both equilibrium and chemical kinetic models of the gas-phase combustion process are developed. In the kinetic model, mixing is modeled by assuming the combustion passages behave as a series of perfectly mixed reactors.
The modified boiler reduces CO output to about 10 to 15 percent of the CO produced by the baseline unit in steady operation. Results of the combustion modeling indicate that the combustion proceeds nearly to equilibrium except when operating with fuel/air equivalence ratios less than about 0.7 and immediately after addition of a batch of fuel. Under these conditions the gas temperatures are usually low enough to impose a kinetic limit on the combustion process. Equilibrium calculations reveal that more than one-half of the total heat transfer from the combustion products occurs in the combustion zone, indicating that there may be opportunity to reduce kinetic limitations by restricting heat losses from the combustion zone.Master of Science
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Maxkwee, Esther Nova Ho. "Consumer Acceptance, Quality, and Functionality of Heat-Ozone-Pasteurized Whole Eggs Processed with Commercial Scale Equipment." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366213938.
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Koeneke, Roberto. "Spatial Characterization of Puerto Rican Commercial Fisheries: Gear Usage Across Habitat Classes and Bathymetry Ranges." Scholarly Repository, 2011. http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_theses/251.
Full textAbstract:
The spatial characterization of Puerto Rican commercial fisheries describing fishing gear use in relation to habitat classes and bathymetry ranges was achieved through the collection and analysis of spatial fisheries data. An extensive field data gathering session was conducted in the entire Puerto Rican territory during the summer months of 2009, from June to October. The field data was digitized and analyzed using geographic information systems (GIS) and computer spreadsheet software, and gear usage charts and graphs, fishing grounds maps, and fishing intensity maps were produced for four gear categories: line, net, dive, and trap gears. Patterns and evidence of likely relationships linking gear usage and benthic habitat, and between gear utilization and water depth ranges, were presented. The importance of the spatial characterization of the commercial fishery for Puerto Rican fisheries management, and other recommendations were given within the concluding chapter.
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Leibe, Mary. "Creating Healthy Urban Environments: Commercial Landscaping, Preference and Public Health." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2016. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2262.
Full textAbstract:
Landscape development[1] can provide many benefits, including the reduction of stormwater runoff and the creation of habitats for wildlife. It can also provide health benefits. Researchers, such as Roger Ulrich and Rita Berto have demonstrated that views of trees and other vegetation are associated with lower blood pressure and reduced recovery times in hospitals and that environments with more natural elements may lessen mental fatigue (R. Ulrich 1984) and (Berto 2005).
As rebuilding in New Orleans continues 11 years after Hurricane Katrina, landscape development has been limited or lacking, especially in the redevelopment of commercial properties. Two prominent reasons for this deficiency are a lack of funding and, until August of 2015, the absence of a comprehensive landscape ordinance.
The purpose of the research presented here is to determine the degree to which community residents express a preference for healthier commercial environments. As part of my research, I measured community perceptions of four potential redevelopment concepts for a blighted strip shopping center utilizing attention restoration theory (ART), which postulates that certain environmental qualities contribute to reductions in mental fatigue. I found that commercial environments with the most quality landscaping[2] are those that neighborhood residents most prefer and are most conducive to better health.
Keywords: mental fatigue, attention restoration theory, perceived restoration scale, commercial landscape quantity, public health, healthy urban environment
[1] Refer to operational definitions (pages 4-6).
[2] Refer to operational definitions (pages 4-6).
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Yates, Barrett Elizabeth. "Country regulation of large scale commercial and industrial real estate development in the southwest : is it effective?" Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37450.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2006.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 45).
Real estate developers and county officials were surveyed to determine the existence, content and accessibility of county regulatory guidelines for land use and real estate development projects in the southwestern US. Further, the developers and county officials were interviewed to understand the relationship between the quality of the regulatory guidelines and the associated process, and the quality of real estate development in the specified counties. The results from the survey and interview processes were analyzed to assess the efficacy of the county regulatory process for large scale commercial and industrial real estate development. In most counties where the surveys were conducted, guidelines covering zoning and zoning related processes, planning, public works and transportation did exist but their currency and relevancy was questionable. All county regulatory bodies surveyed were in the process of updating the guidelines to make them current, clear and comprehensive for the existing communities, many of which were experiencing rapid population growth. County officials and developers agreed that quality of regulation significantly affects the quality of real estate development, thus impacting future economic development.
(cont.) This thesis recommends updating guidelines to focus on certain key aspects for each guideline area studied: zoning and zoning related processes, planning, public works and transportation. Further, this thesis recommends bifurcating the guidelines and approval processes for large developments which can dramatically impact infrastructure, transportation and community sustainability versus small developments which may have a negligible impact on these areas. Additionally, this thesis contemplates the establishment of regional bodies to oversee certain aspects of land use planning unifying neighboring areas and reducing duplication of planning efforts in adjacent counties.
by Barrett Elizabeth Yates.
S.M.
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Rantlo, Montoeli Ashby. "Integration of small-scale mohair farmers into the commercial agricultural economy in Lesotho: a new institutional economics approach." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62275.
Full textAbstract:
Agriculture continues to be a strategic sector in the development of most low-income countries like Lesotho where small-scale farming is the dominant livelihood activity that provides income and employment to the people. Smallholder farmers' integration into the commercial agricultural markets is a crucial element for economic development and has become a part of development strategies for developing countries and the objectives of international development institutions. The integration of the smallholders into these markets is dependent upon a number of factors including formal and informal institutions. Factors like population growth and demographic changes, technological change and introduction of new commodities, development of infrastructure and market institutions, development of the nonfarm sector and broader economy, rising labour opportunity costs, and macroeconomic, trade and sectoral policies affecting prices and other driving forces determine market participation. In addition, development of input and output markets, institutions like property rights and land tenure, market regulations, cultural and social factors affecting consumption preferences, production and market opportunities and constraints, agro-climatic conditions, and production and market related risks are other factors that affect the commercialisation process. On the other hand, factors like smallholder resource endowments including land and other natural capital, labour, physical capital, and human capital among others are household specific and considered internal determinants of market participation. Nevertheless, the decision to participate in agricultural markets lies with the individual farming household. Under the New Institutional Economics (NIE), this decision is influenced by institutional factors such as risk and preferences, factors which affect household production and the level of costs associated with market transactions. These market transactions are commonly referred to as transaction costs. The study focused on investigating the institutions that limit the integration of small-scale mohair farmers into the commercial agricultural economy in Lesotho. The documentation and evaluation of the institutional structure of the mohair industry is performed whereby the institutional factors influencing participation of small-scale mohair farmers in formal, informal and illegal markets in Lesotho and factors contributing to transaction costs associated with the integration of small-scale farmers into the commercial mohair sector are investigated. Therefore, the investigation will help to address the institutional problems hindering the development of an effective marketing structure for the commercialisation of small-scale mohair producers in Lesotho. The results of the study show that the small-scale mohair farmers that use the formal markets are integrated into the commercial agricultural economy and these farmers' integration into the mainstream economy is influenced by access to government support in the form of shearing sheds, transport subsidies and advisory services. They also have access to market information, marketing infrastructure, knowledge of grades and standards and secure property rights. Other factors that helped their integration into the commercial economy is their contractual agreements with mohair buyers, path dependent based decision making as well as the collective approach to mohair farming. The small-scale mohair farmers using the informal markets do not receive the advantages received by the famers in the formal markets. These small-scale mohair farmers are not integrated into the commercial markets and their only option is the informal markets and their participation in these markets is enhanced by their marketing arrangements with the informal traders, culture influenced decisions, social capital and prompt payments. Despite integration into the commercial agricultural economy, small-scale farmers that use formal markets face the challenges of power imbalances, mistrust and conflicts which may affect this integration into the commercial markets if left unchecked. The study concludes that in the face of institutional challenges, the small-scale mohair farmers using the formal markets are integrated into the commercial agricultural economy and there is potential for improvement of their integration as well as the integration of the small-scale mohair farmers that use the informal markets if institutional challenges are addressed.
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Gatrell, Matt. "An empirical investigation into contributory factors of change and fault propensity in large-scale commercial object-oriented software." Thesis, Brunel University, 2012. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/6974.
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Object-Oriented design and development dominates both commercial and open source software projects. One of the principal goals of object-oriented design is to aid reuse, and hence, reduce future maintenance efforts of software systems. However, the on-going maintenance of large-scale software systems (both changes and faults) continues to be a significant proportion of the lifecycle of the system and the total investment cost. Understanding and thus being able to predict - or even reduce - the impact of the contributing factors of future maintenance efforts of a software system is thus highly beneficial to software practitioners. In this Thesis we empirically study a large, commercial software system with the principal aim to determine the contributing factors to the change and fault propensity over a three-year period. We consider the object-oriented design context of the software, specifically its inheritance characteristics, coupling and cohesion properties, object-oriented design pattern participation, and size. We also explore the effect of refactoring and test classes in the software. Our results show that several aspects of the design context of a class have an impact to the change and fault-proneness of the software. Specifically, we show that classes with high afferent or efferent coupling are more change and fault-prone; we also identify a number of design patterns whose participants tend to have a higher change and fault propensity than non-participants and we identify a range of inheritance characteristics (in terms of depth of inheritance and number of children) that result in an increase to change and fault-proneness. Furthermore we show that refactoring is a commonly occurring maintenance activity, although it is largely limited to simpler types of refactorings. Finally, we provide some insight into the co-evolution of production and test code during refactoring.
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MacLauchlin, Kari. "Local ecological knowledge, limitations, and perceptions of conservation and management of small-scale commercial fishermen in Biscayne National Park." [Gainesville, Fla.] : University of Florida, 2006. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0015864.
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Bayham, Samuel C. "Iron-Based Coal Direct Chemical Looping Process for Power Generation: Experimental Aspects, Process Development, and Considerations for Commercial Scale." The Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1425759077.
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Jaison, Mukai Ratidzo. "A Critical Realist Exploration of Intergenerational Relations to Land in Small Scale Commercial Farming Families, Mushawasha Masvingo, Zimbabwe, 1953-2014." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46186.
Full textAbstract:
The land reform process in Zimbabwe has raised critical questions about land with
regard to ownership and access, productivity of land and the most suitable size of land
(small scale or large scale). Over a decade after the most recent phase of land reform
in Zimbabwe, critical questions about land are continually debated in an ever-growing
literature on land. These questions span a wide margin, from ownership, access, and
productivity to who exactly should benefit from land reform processes. One important
debate has centred on the question of whether the primary consideration of land reform
processes should be aimed at addressing the more ideational aspects of land (return
to ancestral land, land as central to personal identities and the subsequent political
and social processes of determining who belongs and who is a stranger) or material
concerns (relating to questions of food security, livelihood making and the concerns
with environmental change). Subsequently, literature dealing with land is often
organised around a particular theme such as identity, tenure, politics, political
economy, livelihoods and questions relating to environmental change. Using the case
of small scale commercial farming families of Mushawasha in Masvingo Zimbabwe
who came to own the land as purchase area farmers as a result of the 1930 Land
Apportionment Act, this thesis constitutes an attempt to integrate multiple approaches
to the question of land, using a critical realist framework. I argue that the link between
people and land, which is explored generationally and in the context of broader
economic, political, historical and social change in Zimbabwe, is ever changing and is
influenced by a number of factors. For that reason, viewing the question of land in a
reductionist fashion from either an ideational or a material paradigm is unsatisfactory.
What this research reveals is that the links between people and land are tempered
numerous factors including generation, gender and residential status.Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
tm2015
Sociology
MSocSci
Unrestricted
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Vara, Mary Janine. "Developing an In-season Predictor of Commercial Landings for Quota Monitoring in the U.S. Virgin Islands." Scholar Commons, 2014. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5142.
Full textAbstract:
The lack of timely reporting of commercial fisheries landings interferes with effective management of fisheries in United States Virgin Islands (USVI). Federal law requires that landings be limited to prevent annual catch limits (ACLs) from being exceeded. Previous attempts to predict total landings have used historic data from prior fishing seasons to predict future landings rather than leveraging available in-season data to provide a more real-time prediction of landings. This study presents an in-season model that predicts total landings using partial reports from the current fishing year. This estimate of total landings, including error bounds around that estimate, can then be compared to the ACL established for the species to estimate potential deviations from the allowable landings and adjust effort accordingly. The performance of the model was tested in a retrospective analysis on historical commercial landings data. Differences between predicted and observed fishing year landings by defined cut-off dates were used to identify reasonable deadlines for fishery managers to begin making reliable predictions on total annual landings. On average, predictions can be made with less than 9% error with at least four months of partial data, and with less than 5% error with at least seven months of partial data. This model's in-season predictions should be useful to managers to prevent ACL overages, and to guide fishers in their application of effort within and among components of the fishery, for example, to shift effort from one fishery management unit to another in response to excessive landings.
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Cockrell, Marcy Lynn. "Spatial Dynamics and Productivity of a Gulf of Mexico Commercial Reef Fish Fishery Following Large Scale Disturbance and Management Change." Scholar Commons, 2018. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7611.
Full textAbstract:
The Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery has experienced significant management changes and disturbance in recent years, including transitioning two major fisheries from a traditional open access system into a limited entry individual fishing quota (IFQ) system in 2007 and 2010. Also in 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWH) released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf (~206 million U.S. gallons), and is still the largest U.S. environmental disaster to date. Emergency fishing closures initiated shortly after the oil spill began were successful in keeping tainted seafood from reaching markets. However, effects of DWH closures on fisher decision making, fishery productivity, and distribution of fishing effort all remain poorly understood. Understanding the range and magnitude of fishers’ responses to perturbations — including regulatory change and human-induced environmental disasters — is critical for designing effective management and disaster response policies that can meet biological, ecological, economic, social, and sustainability objectives.
This work characterized the spatial and temporal patterns of productivity and fishing effort for the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) commercial reef fish fishery. Patterns of productivity and effort distribution were used to examine the response of fishers to management change and large-scale disturbance, namely the DWH fishing closures. Fisheries-dependent logbook trip reports were used to quantify revenue and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) patterns from 2000-2014. Novel to fisheries work in the GoM, complementary vessel monitoring systems (VMS) satellite tracking data were used to quantify high-resolution spatial distribution patterns over time, relative to the DWH fishing closures. A general linear modeling (GLM) approach was also used to examine which variables may have contributed to resilience of fishers after DWH closures.
Results suggested that this fishery was largely resilient to the DWH fishing closures in 2010, although exact outcomes varied by region. Overall fleet-level productivity steadily increased over time, but regional patterns were based on major species in catch. Productivity in the western GoM was consistently highest over time, and trips in the west and central GoM were dominated by Red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and Vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens). Trips in the east were dominated by Red grouper (Epinephelus morio) and Gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis). Shifts in spatial distribution to new productive fishing grounds or reduced competition via fewer vessels or trips may explain the increases in productivity observed over the study period.
Consolidation in the fleet was apparent, with fewer individual vessels and fewer total trips over time. However, the rate of vessel drop out after DWH (5%) was far below the annual background attrition rate of ~14-20%. Relative productivity patterns inside vs. outside the boundaries of fishing closures did not change over time, and there were even some increases in productivity observed during and after DWH in the eastern GoM. Yet, vessels that dropped out after DWH were concentrated in the north-central and eastern GoM. Distribution of fishing grounds before and after DWH were highly similar, and there were increases in effort along the outer West Florida Shelf. Variability in revenue and CPUE, CPUE magnitude, and magnitude of grouper landings were significant predictors of dropping out of the fishery in the GLMs. Synergies with the Red snapper or Grouper-Tilefish IFQs may have “primed” the fishery for resilience by eliminating inconsistent or marginal fishers before the oil spill, and may further explain some of the spatially varying patterns of productivity and attrition after 2010. Resilience was likely also enhanced by the more than $2 billion in emergency compensation payments made to captains, crew, and vessel owners for lost fishing income and assistance with oil remediation efforts.
This work stands to make a significant contribution to our understanding of how the DWH oil spill impacted fisheries and communities in the GoM. The results add to a growing body of literature suggesting that the acute population- and ecosystem-level impacts of the DWH oil spill were not as strong or severe as initially anticipated. This work also stands to make contributions to the broader understanding of how this fishery has performed in the wake of recent management change and major environmental disturbance.
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Moll, Peter Graham. "The structure of commercial agriculture in South Africa : a quantitative approach to economies of scale, farm size change and technical change." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.302977.
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Scherer, Nicole Marion Doris [Verfasser], and Gerhard [Akademischer Betreuer] Winter. "Leachable and extractable studies on single-use system technologies in commercial scale drug filling lines / Nicole Marion Doris Scherer ; Betreuer: Gerhard Winter." München : Universitätsbibliothek der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 2019. http://d-nb.info/1194835325/34.
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Schumacher, Anna Louise. "Development and evaluation of a nanometer-scale hemocompatible and antithrombotic coating technology for commercially available intracranial stents and flow diverters." Diss., University of Iowa, 2017. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6851.
Full textAbstract:
An intracranial aneurysm is a local dilation of an artery in the cerebral circulation. While the etiology of intracranial aneurysms is unknown, they likely result from a combination of factors including the weakening and degeneration of the collagen fibers and the internal elastic lamina comprising the arterial wall, as well as hemodynamic-associated stress resulting from blood pulsation inside the aneurysm sac. Intracranial aneurysm rupture leads to a devastating sequela, as 50% of patients die. In the U.S. alone there are approximately 30,000 cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage annually, a prevalence which has pushed practitioners to aggressively treat the aneurysm disease. Traditionally, intracranial aneurysms were managed with open craniotomy and microsurgical clipping; however, these treatment modalities carry relatively high morbidity and mortality depending upon the aneurysm location and surgical experience. In 2002 the International Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Aneurysm Trial established the superiority of the endovascular coiling of intracranial aneurysms compared to microsurgical clipping. This trial led to a paradigm shift in treating intracranial aneurysms with marked use of intracranial stenting, including devices used to assist endovascular coiling and stand-alone flow diverting devices. However, the placement of intracranial devices in the cerebral circulation mandates the adjunctive application of dual anti-platelet pharmaceuticals to minimize thromboembolic events, despite being associated with increased patient risk. This dissertation proposes a novel multilayer, nanometer-scale coating technology suitable for commercially available intracranial stents and flow diverting devices to minimize the use of dual anti-platelet therapy in the elective setting and expand the use of intracranial devices in the acute setting of ruptured intracranial aneurysms. A combination of qualitative and quantitative chemical characterization techniques was used to assess the composition, uniformity, and thickness of each coating layer on commercially available flow diverting devices; overall the coating was found to be relatively uniform and conformal to the device wires. Furthermore, in-vitro and in-vivo testing on commercially available intracranial devices suggest some hemocompatible and antithrombotic properties. Finally, the proposed coating technology can be modified for use as a platform for the attachment of FDA-approved molecules. With further optimization and testing this technology has the potential to minimize the adjunctive use of dual-antiplatelet therapy in the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms.
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Park, Sehwan. "Les abus de puissance économique dans les relations commerciales déséquilibrées." Thesis, Strasbourg, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017STRAA013.
Full textAbstract:
La loi doit trouver le moyen de prévenir et sanctionner de façon efficiente les abus de puissance économique constatés dans les relations commerciales déséquilibrés mais sans provoquer d’effets pervers sur le marché et sans ruiner l’efficacité des autres règles relevant du droit de la concurrence. Lorsque les rapports de force entre les parties sont particulièrement déséquilibrés, la partie forte peut imposer des conditions inégales à la partie faible, notamment à la faveur du « facteur crainte ». En effet, tant que le contrat est en cours d’exécution, la partie faible ne réagit pas de peur que la relation commerciale ne se termine. De ce fait, en dépit de la présence de nombreux textes réprimant les abus, la réalité montre qu’ils ne cessent de se répandre. Le législateur agit généralement dans la précipitation, abuse de palliatifs et néglige la faculté d’adaptation des entreprises les plus puissantes qui trouvent souvent le moyen de contourner les règles. En définitive, seul un marché plus équilibré, c’est-à-dire moins concentré, permettrait de remédier durablement aux abus de puissance économique. Dans ces conditions, la mise en place d’une véritable injonction structurelle mériterait d’être de nouveau envisagée. Le présent travail se propose de comparer les principales mesures de prévention et de sanction des abus mises en place en France et en Corée du sud qui, face à un phénomène similaire, adoptent parfois des réponses différentesCompetition provisions seek to regulate the abuse of economic power in unequal commercial relationships. However, in the process, such provisions should not have the effect of adversely impacting the market or harming the proper functioning of other competition rules. When there exists a significant power disparity between parties, the stronger party can impose unequal conditions on the weaker party, particularly through what is called the "fear factor". During the duration of the contractial relationship, the weaker party will not be able to stand up to the stronger party in fear of the commercial relationship being terminated. This is why oppressive behaviors continue in reality, despite the presence of numerous regulations designed to prevent such behaviors. Law makers have a tendency to react by hastily enacting ad hoc regulations. The adaptability of powerful corporations to circumvent the rules is often overlooked. Ultimately, abuses of economic power can only be regulated on a sustainable basis through the creation of a more balanced and less concentrated market. It is in this context that a truly structural approach should be considered. This analysis compares the principal measures against abuses of economic power employed in France and Korea, which sometimes adopt different responses to similar circumstances
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Terada, Takashi. "External US pressure on Japan's policy reform in the case of large-scale retail store law." Thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/123186.
Full textAbstract:
The Structural Impediments Initiative (SII) talks held from September 1989 to
July 1990 represented the first attempt by Japan and the United States to
harmonise their domestic problems in international trade negotiations. These
bilateral talks were also the first of their kind to delve into a comprehensive
review of domestic laws and intrinsic business practices. In this sense, the SII
talks may be seen as a preamble to mutual arrangements by domestic
economies of their respective institutions and practices. This is likely to feature
more prominently in the field of international relations, as seen recently in the
European Community (EC) and the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). In this context, as the United States and Japan are the two largest
and most technologically advanced economies in the world, accounting for
more than 40 per cent of the world total gross national product, it is significant
that they started harmonising their domestic rules through the SII talks, which
are examined in this thesis.
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Grace-Mccaskey, Cynthia. "Fishermen, Politics, and Participation: An Ethnographic Examination of Commercial Fisheries Management in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4054.
Full textAbstract:
Currently, there is widespread debate regarding the overall status of the world's fisheries, with some researchers projecting their total collapse in only a few decades, and others concluding the situation is not quite as bleak. Additional debates include what strategies should be used to manage fisheries at various scales, and further research is needed to determine which strategies are most appropriate for use in particular situations and locales, as context is critical.
Recently, prominent common pool resources scholars have expressed the need for ethnographic approaches to studying resource management institutions in order to move beyond the current focus of simply identifying the factors and conditions that lead to the self-organization of resource users and long-term sustainability of management institutions. These authors describe the need for examining the larger context in which management institutions exist and taking various historical, political, and sociocultural factors into account when examining common pool resources. This dissertation is a response to that request.
This research is the result of over 20 months of ethnographic research in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands (USVI). Drawing on research in political ecology and building on anthropological critiques of common pool resource institutions, I describe the historical, social, and political factors that influence how fisheries management occurs at the federal and territorial levels, and how commercial fishers, managers, and other stakeholders experience and participate in multi-scale management processes. Ethnographic data suggest that there are a variety of historical, social, and political factors that influence how commercial fishers, managers, and other stakeholders perceive the federal fisheries management process, the extent of their participation in that process, as well as interactions within and between stakeholder groups. Additionally, the mismatch that exists between the centralized management structure of the US federal system and the small-scale, multi-method nature of St. Croix's fishery creates a complex management environment in which few stakeholders participate.
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Rezaei, Mona. "Combining Balanced Score Card and Data Envelopment Analysis for Analyzing the Performance of Small Scale Fisheries." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/31892.
Full textAbstract:
The balanced scorecard (BSC) is an accepted methodology for putting strategy into action. The BSC provides a comprehensive performance measurement for an organization with respect to both financial and non-financial perspectives, including the triple bottom line of planet, people, and profit. Through various implementations to companies, organizations, and sectors, balanced scorecards have been used widely both for strategic purposes, as well as for more tactical focus for auditing current performance. BSC implementation is particularly adequate when integrated with the operational processes of the organization. The integration between the strategic plan and the financial and operational plans proceed via the business process model that covers the operational processes associated with the objectives of the organization in the strategy map. In this way, BSC is a tool for real-time monitoring of performance as well as providing the crucial linkage to the organization’s strategy that enables the proper implementation of the organization’s strategy. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been widely applied for measuring the efficiency of a specific decision-making unit (DMU) against a projected point on an efficiency frontier. DEA is therefore particularly suitable for measuring the organizational efficiency based on the BSC indicators, which are defined as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). In the commercial fisheries sector, sustainable strategy of fisheries organizations can be gained by running the current operations more effectively, and by integrating processes enabling adaptation to change. The efficiency frontier of the DEA model can be used to calculate the efficiency of fisheries operations. The proposed research is undertaken as part of the Canadian Fisheries Research Network (CFRN) to investigate the application of BSC and DEA for defining commercial fisheries performance evaluation variables with respect to the objectives of environmental sustainability, economic viability, and social and cultural stability in compliance with, and in the absence of, performance monitoring alleged in the Fisheries and Oceans, Canada Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMP). The combination of BSC-DEA methodologies is developed in this research as a required performance monitoring system suitable for IFMPs for analyzing the relative efficiency of commercial fisheries case studies across Canada towards incorporating best sustainable practices in the industry.
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Bunt, John Reginald. "A new dissection methodology and investigation into coal property transformational behaviour impacting on a commercial-scale Sasol-Lurgi MK IV fixed-bed gasifier / John Reginald Bunt." Thesis, North-West University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/4293.
Full textAbstract:
Gasification behaviour is particle dependent, whilst gasifier (reactor) behaviour is an averaging process of individual responses of each particle [Glover, 1991]. It was hypothesized in the case of the present study that if it were possible to extract and analyse particles from different reaction zones within a gasifier, it may be likely to enhance the understanding as to the contribution that these particles make towards gasification. This better understanding of the particle-type compositional responses could act as an enabler to further influence gasifier performance.
The primary focus of this study was to develop a "new-to-Sasol" sequential (axial) sampling methodology of the entire GG41 commercial-scale Sasol-Lurgi FBDB MK IV gasifier (isolated after running on medium load), having a Bosman skirt feeder configuration and standard ash grate. Detailed characterisation profiles of the chemical, physical, and petrographical properties in the sample increments were expected to deliver distinct profiles of the drying, pyrolysis, reduction, and combustion (ash-bed) zones. The input value of this experimental data, in the form of a "pancake" model to the existing one-dimensional kinetic models at Sasol Technology R+D were expected to advance the prediction capability significantly. The Sasol Gasification Operations could then possibly benefit in terms of an improved control philosophy of their process, yielding better gasification stability, improved efficiency and availability. The kinetic model development was not considered to be part of this particular study.
The "controlled" GG41 gasifier turn-out and sampling methodology employed, provided excellent residual internal profile results, clearly showing the complexity and heterogeneity of the coal properties studied with respect to transformational behaviour during gasification. By keeping the turn-out sample increment size constant (3m3), whilst maintaining a constant ash-grate discharge speed (3rph) to assimilate plug-flow conditions; 32 fractional "slices" of the entire gasifier contents (100t) were successfully extracted. Truck "sub-sampling" of the increments taken, was also found to be successful. The entire sampling methodology is considered to be plausible when observing the "pan-cake" model derived for the GG41 gasifier, in that minimal scatter in the data trends are evident.
The GG41 drying zone was found to be prevalent in the Bosman skirt feeder region in the uppermost part of the fixed bed gasifier. Volatile matter recondensation and some evidence of particle size segregation and primary fragmentation was observed as the charge descended within this reaction zone. The pyrolysis zone was found to be the largest reaction zone, followed by the reduction zone and the combustion (ash-bed) zones. Whilst the boundary of the pyrolysis zone was very clearly defined by the residual volatile matter distribution profile, distinctive regional overlap characterised by a "fast devolatilisation" region and a "slow pyrolysis with gasification" region, observed in the bottom half of the pyrolysis zone, were evident.
A gasification region was observed to occur at the end of the pyrolysis zone, where the coal char C02 reactivity was found to reach a maximum, midway into the reduction zone, characterising the onset of an oxidation front occurring above the combustion zone position, where 65 % carbon conversion had occurred and the char was subsequently rapidly consumed. Melting of the ash-forming minerals tended to act as a "glue", agglomerating particles together and thereby increasing the amount of the coarse +25mm fraction in the bottom half of the gasifier. Rapid carbon consumption occurred in the low ash-bed, but 8% fixed carbon was still evident in the ash at the grate position at the base of the reactor. The char types responsible for the carbon losses have however been quantified in this study.
From the unique petrographic char morphology results obtained, it was found that the maceral type appears to play a pivotal role in the changes experienced by carbon particles when exposed to increasing temperature. Whole vitrinite particles and vitrinite bands within particles devolatilised first, followed at higher temperatures by reactive inertinite types. The porous chars remained predominantly isotropic, while the mixed and dense chars showed varying degrees of anisotropy, which is related to the aromaticity of the carbon. At the end of pyrolysis, all the coal was found to be essentially converted to char, but chars continued to increase as the charge further descended within the gasifier, becoming consumed in the oxidation / combustion zone.
Comparison of the GG41 gasifier (4 m diameter) internal profile, on a factorised basis with a quarter-scale Lurgi gasifier (1.13 m diameter) operating on Indian coal, provided an excellent basis for comparison. The good agreement obtained, substantiates credibility of the current findings with respect to repeatability, albeit that different coal types and reactor geometries were being compared. This also has implications regarding scale-ability to smaller gasifier sizes, should the need arise to conduct small scale gasification experiments, which can be scaled up to a commercial sized 4m diameter reactor. The positive "bench-mark" findings indicate that considerable benefit could be obtained by carrying out more extensive and detailed studies on other Sasol-Lurgi MK IV gasifier operating systems, i.e. low load and high load conditions; as well as internal mechanical influences on performance, such as the rubble finger positioned on the ash grate, and "Unifeeder" compared with the Bosman skirt feeder configuration.
The findings of this study also clearly indicate where optimisation opportunities exist for the MK IV gasifier, i.e. the char type responsible for carbon-loss, the oxygen scavenging effect of minerals, volatile matter recondensation in the cooler zone of the gasifier, localised oxygen sparging that causes hot-spots just above the ash grate and reduction of the top size of the feed coal to a "thermally stable" size, which could result in a more stable gasifier operation with possible process efficiency benefits.
It is likely that this thesis will ultimately have a major impact on the profitability of many existing and new Sasol-Lurgi gasification plants. It also represents a contribution towards a better understanding of the key phenomena involved in the fixed-bed gasification processThesis (Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006
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Dzvukamanja, T. N. (Tembiwe Nunana). "Development of provisional guidelines for the treatment of scale and resolution in assessing streamflow reduction impacts of alien plant infestations and commercial afforestation in water resources modelling studies." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50319.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MScEng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Experiments conducted on afforested catchments in South Africa have shown that alien trees can cause substantial reductions in catchment runoff (Scott et ai, 2000). In recognition of the impact which alien trees can have on the country's water resources, commercial afforestation was declared a stream flow reduction activity (SFRA) in terms of the National Water Act (NW A) (No. 36 of 1998), and the Department of Water affairs and forestry launched the Working for Water Programme (WfW) in 1995 with the recovery of water resources lost to Invasive alien plants (lAPs) as one of the Programme's objectives. These initiatives have intensified the need to quantify SFR; for example, for licensing purposes to satisfy the requirements of the NWA and for predicting the effects of lAP clearing by WfW projects. Of interest to water resources practitioners, is the impact of SFR on mean annual runoff (MAR), on low flows and on water resource system, or reservoir, yield. In South Africa two basic methods of streamflow reduction (SFR) estimation have been developed for commercial afforestation and lAPs. These are • free-standing empirical relationships in the form of the CSIR SFR CUNes, used in conjunction with the monthly, calibration-based, Pitman model. • component modules in the physically-based, land-use sensitive ACRU rainfall-runoff catchment model, run at a daily time step with relatively fine subcatchment delineation. There has been a strong need for an evaluative comparison of the impacts of SFR estimated via these two methods. This study aimed to meet this need by using both methods to estimate SFR for a number of commercial afforestation and lAP scenarios in three study systems, the Berg, Sabie and Mhlatuze, representing different bioclimatic conditions in South Africa, and running the SFR sequences from the two estimation methods through the Water Resources Yield Model to determine the impact of the SFR on yield. The analysis differentiated between upland and riparian SFR, and between SFR produced by different tree classes. Study conclusions included the following points: • Both the ACRU and SHELL models are capable of achieving a reasonable average seasonal correspondence of high and low flows with the observed averages, though the actual averages produced by the two models can differ substantially. In general, ACRU simulates less SFR than SHELL, and gains in SFR after afforestation or invasion by lAPs may be simulated by ACRU during dry periods. The selection of crop factors for different plant species has a strong influence on the relative water use of the species modelled in ACRU. • The impacts on yield of SFR due to lAPS and afforestation tends to be greater than the impact on MAR, and impacts tend to be more severe for small subcatchments than for the total catchment. A simulated reduction in MAR can result in a simulated increase in yield of a given assurance, if the portion of the flow sequence occurring during the critical period is dominated by streamflow gains, and vice versa. Research recommendations centred on improving the availability of reliable field measurements of parameters and processes required tor the effective modelling of SFR. Based on the results of the study, guidelines were formulated for SFR modelling, focussing on the choice of SFR estimation method and the treatment of various parameters and considerations which influence the outcomes of SFR modelling.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Eksperimente wat in bebosde opvanggebiede in Suid-Afrika uitgevoer is, het getoon dat uitheemse bome aansienlike verminderings in opvanggebied-afloop kan veroorsaak (Scott et al,2000). Ter erkenning van die impak wat uitheemse bome op die land se waterbronne kan he, is kornrnersiele bebossing verklaar as 'n stroomvloei-verminderingsaktiwiteit (SVVA) in terme van die Nasionale Waterwet (NWW) (Nr. 36 van 1998). Die Departement van Waterwese en Bosbou het ook die Werk-vir-Water Program (WvW) in 1995 geloods met, as een van die doelwitte, die herwinning van waterbronne wat deur uitheemse indringerplante (UIPe) opgebruik word. Hierdie inisiatiewe het die behoefte om SVV te kan kwantifiseer verskerp; by voorbeeld; for liksensiermqsdoeleindes om die vereistes van die NWW te bevredig, of om die impakte van UIP-opruiming in WvW-projekte te voorspel. Van besondere belang vir waterbron-praktisyns is die impak van SVV op gemiddelde jaarliks afloop (GJA), op lae vloeie en op die lewering van waterbronne, of -stelsels. In Suid-Afrika is twee basiese metodes vir SVV-raming ontwikkel vir komrnersiele bebossing en UIPe, soos volg: • losstaande empiriese verbande in die vorm van die WNNR se SVV-krommes, wat gebruik word saam met die maandelikse, kalibrasie-gebaseerde, Pitman-model wat in die SHELL-sagteware-omgewing ingebou is. • Modules wat komponente vorm in die fisies-gebasserde, grondgebruik-gevoelige ACRU reenval-atloop opvanggebiedmodel, wat op 'n daaglikse tydstap loop, met relatiewe fyn subopvanggebied-indelings. Daar bestaan al lank 'n sterk behoefte aan 'n takserende vergelyking van die impakte van SVV so os geraam via hierdie twee metodes. Hierdie navorsing het beoog om hierdie behoefte te bevredig deur beide metodes in 'n aantal kornrnersiele bebossings- en UIPscenario's in drie stelsels, die Berg, Sabie en Mhlatuze, te gebruik. Sodoende word drie verskillende bio-klimaatstreke gedek. Die maandelikse SVV-tydreekse van die twee ramingsmetodes was toe ingevoer in 'n waterbronstelselmodel (WRYM) om die impak van die SVV op die lewering te bepaal. Die ontledings het tussen oewer- en nie-oewer-SVV, asook tussen SVV wat deur verskillende boom-klasse veroorsaak is, onderskei. Die gevolgtrekkings uit die studie het die volgende punte ingesluit: • Seide die ACRU- en SHELL-modelle is in staat om 'n redelike ooreenkoms in seisoenale hoe en lae vloeie met waargenome gemiddeldes te verskaf, alhoewel die eintlike gemiddeldes wat deur die twee modelle gelewer word, aansienlik kan verskil. • Oor die algemeen simuleer ACRU laer SVV as SHELL en klein toenames in vloeie na bebossing of indringing deur UIPe kan soms tydens droe tydperke deur ACRU gesimuleer word. Die keuse van gewasfaktore vir verskillende planttipes het 'n groot invloed op die relatiewe waterverbruik van die planttipes wat in ACRU gemodelleer word. • Die impakte op lewering van SVV te wyte aan beide UIPe en bebossing neig om groter te wees as die impak op GJA, en die impakte neig om meer ernstig te wees vir klein subopvanggebiede as vir die totale opvanggebied. 'n Gesimuleerde vermindering in GJA kan soms saamval met 'n gesimuleerde toename in lewering teen 'n spesifieke betroubaarheid, as die gedeelte van die tydreeks wat gedurende die kritieke tydperk voorkom, heelwat UIP-gebaseerde stroomvloei-toenames bevat en vice versa. Navorsingsaanbevelings fokus op die verbetering van die beskikbaarheid van betroubare veldwaarnemings van parameters en prosesse wat vereis word vir betroubare modellering van SVV. Riglyne vir SVV-modellering is geformuleer, gebaseer op die resultate van hierdie navorsing, met 'n fokus op die keuse van SVV-ramingsmetode, die behandeling van verskeie parameters en oorwegings wat die uitslag van SVV-modellering sou kon bemvloed.
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Mwandu, Siyeni Yvonne. "Expanding Water Service Delivery through Partnership between Water Utility and Small Scale Water Providers in Lusaka, Zambia : A Case of Lusaka's Peri-Urban Areas." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Water and Environmental Studies, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-15305.
Full textAbstract:
Zambia is a highly urbanized country with 60% of its urban population residing in low cost areas also called peri-urban, slum or informal settlements. The increase in urban population attributed to rapid migration and urbanization due to political and economic changes has taken a toll on service provision as the infrastructure development and service provision has failed to meet the demand. For the 33 peri-urban areas in Lusaka, the water supply and sanitation has been poor, inadequate and unreliable with the coverage being slightly above 50% for water while 90% of the urban population does not have access to the much needed sanitation. The low coverage is a result of lack the financial capacity on the part of the service providers to extend services to un served areas.
This research focuses on the strategies to provide sustainable water and sanitation services to peri-urban areas to ensure improved accessibility through the expansion of infrastructure and attainment of full cost recovery. In this era of increasing migration to unplanned settlements where the services are inadequate, alternatives to public provision of water and sanitation services need to be put in place. One of the alternatives is the public-private partnership which encompasses the society, private and the civil society. As has been found in the study the best alternative should not only be completely bottom up but should also be more demand driven and be able to provide for reater contributions from the affected communities.
The hypothesis of the study is to ascertain if provision of water supply to the Peri-Urban Areas (PUAs) can be achieved through the partnership between the water utility and the small scale water providers. Therefore, the objectives of the research are to: evaluate and compare the current service provision to the peri-urban areas by the utility and small scale providers in terms of technical, social and institutional arrangements and determine the best way of ensuring sustained service provision to peri urban areas and show how partnership can be the best solution to improving service delivery to these areas.
Service provision in PUAs can not be achieved without the involvement of all the stakeholders especially the community who are also the users and whose major role is paying for the service to enhance sustainability. In this study the Small Scale Water Providers (SSWP) users were found to be satisfied with the service provided than the utility users who felt that more needed to be done. The two providers are found to have different strengths which when combined would enhance service provision. The collaboration between utility with its competence in water supply, technical installations, water quality testing and SSWP with theirs in community involvement, cost recovery, effective operation and maintenance and demand driven water schemes have to be merged to achieve the intended goal and it is also an indication that the two can complement each other. Utility should therefore consider opening investment accounts for all the areas so as to detach PUAs needs from the general plan and eventually budget as they would be self sustaining and enhance illingness to pay for the users. The SSWP should therefore be viewed as partners by all and licensing should be considered by the government for the benefit of the urban poor.
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Mwandu, Siyeni Yvonne. "Expanding Water Service Delivery through Partnership between Water Utility and Small Scale Water Providers in Lusaka, Zambia : A Case of Lusaka’s Peri-Urban Areas." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Water and Environmental Studies, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-15508.
Full textAbstract:
Zambia is a highly urbanized country with 60% of its urban population residing in low cost areas also called peri-urban, slum or informal settlements. The increase in urban population attributed to rapid migration and urbanization due to political and economic changes has taken a toll on service provision as the infrastructure development and service provision has failed to meet the demand. For the 33 peri-urban areas in Lusaka, the water supply and sanitation has been poor, inadequate and unreliable with the coverage being slightly above 50% for water while 90% of the urban population does not have access to the much needed sanitation. The low coverage is a result of lack the financial capacity on the part of the service providers to extend services to un served areas.
This research focuses on the strategies to provide sustainable water and sanitation services to peri-urban areas to ensure improved accessibility through the expansion of infrastructure and attainment of full cost recovery. In this era of increasing migration to unplanned settlements where the services are inadequate, alternatives to public provision of water and sanitation services need to be put in place. One of the alternatives is the public-private partnership which encompasses the society, private and the civil society. As has been found in the study the best alternative should not only be completely bottom up but should also be more demand driven and be able to provide for greater contributions from the affected communities.
The hypothesis of the study is to ascertain if provision of water supply to the Peri-Urban Areas (PUAs) can be achieved through the partnership between the water utility and the small scale water providers. Therefore, the objectives of the research are to: evaluate and compare the current service provision to the peri-urban areas by the utility and small scale providers in terms of technical, social and institutional arrangements and determine the best way of ensuring sustained service provision to peri urban areas and show how partnership can be the best solution to improving service delivery to these areas.
Service provision in PUAs can not be achieved without the involvement of all the stakeholders especially the community who are also the users and whose major role is paying for the service to enhance sustainability. In this study the Small Scale Water Providers (SSWP) users were found to be satisfied with the service provided than the utility users who felt that more needed to be done. The two providers are found to have different strengths which when combined would enhance service provision. The collaboration between utility with its competence in water supply, technical installations, water quality testing and SSWP with theirs in community involvement, cost recovery, effective operation and maintenance and demand driven water schemes have to be merged to achieve the intended goal and it is also an indication that the two can complement each other. Utility should therefore consider opening investment accounts for all the areas so as to detach PUAs needs from the general plan and eventually budget as they would be self sustaining and enhance willingness to pay for the users. The SSWP should therefore be viewed as partners by all and licensing should be considered by the government for the benefit of the urban poor.
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Muldoon-Smith, Kevin. "Taking stock : an investigation into the nature, scale and location of secondary commercial office vacancy in the UK and an appraisal of the various strategies and opportunities for its management and amelioration." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2016. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/32571/.
Full textAbstract:
There has been little comprehensive investigation of secondary office vacancy in the UK, nor its potential management or amelioration. In response, this thesis is a study of the nature, scale and location of this situation and an appraisal of the various strategies for its management and amelioration. There are three strands of research. An investigation into the nature, scale and location of secondary commercial office vacancy in the UK. An appraisal of potential management strategies and the development of policy recommendations in relation to the potential amelioration of this situation. An appraisal of the literature was conducted to develop an initial theoretical interpretation of secondary office vacancy. A multi attribute database of commercial office vacancy was then developed to evidence the stock of secondary office vacancy in the UK. Finally, a Delphi exercise was conducted to understand the underlying conditions of this phenomenon, its management and potential amelioration. Findings indicate that secondary office vacancy is ambiguous and colloquial. Vacant secondary office property exists in abundance while prime office property is in short supply. The institutions of the commercial office market over simplify and potentially disguise its manifestation. The incidence of secondary office vacancy is primarily caused by a structural change in the nature of demand. It can be held in reserve to support prime office supply, however, it can also overhang less buoyant locations. Consequently, the management strategies for secondary office vacancy are stratified, ranging from exploitation, to demand repositioning, to renewal and finally removal and redevelopment. Findings suggest that these management strategies should be predicated upon the demonstration of economic viability and mediated by the relative era of construction and underlying institutional characteristics. Finally, policy recommendations suggest that the amelioration of secondary office vacancy would be assisted by the promotion of more agile ways of working based on functional tolerance, and optionality.