This study examines how economic growth is framed in the UN post-2015 development agenda, which is centered on the Sustainable Development Goals. It uses a transdisciplinary approach combining Ecological Economics and Critical Theory. Through a qualitative content analysis of nine official documents from different work streams in the post-2015 process, the thesis seeks to answer what the goal of ‘sustained, inclusive, and sustainable’ growth actually means, how it relates to the aim of transformative change which is central to the agenda, and how the agenda addresses the relationship between growth and the environment. The results show that there is a strong consensus to maintain and increase growth levels, while changing the quality of growth to make it more socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Thus, the agenda reinforces the ‘sustainable development’ concept which has been established over the last three decades as the mainstream approach to international environmental governance. No limits to growth are recognized; poverty reduction and greater equality are to be achieved mainly by aiming for higher growth rates in developing countries than developed ones. It is acknowledged that the GDP metric has many shortcomings and needs to be revised to better account for externalities and complemented by alternative measures of welfare and well-being. However, no existing alternative measures are used in the SDGs. The goal is to develop better ones by 2030, which effectively postpones the necessary shift away from GDP. The documents express a strong belief in ‘green growth’ (the decoupling of growth from material resource use and emissions), but this optimism seems to be unfounded since the documents fail to account for several aspects that are crucial to determining the feasibility of green growth. Most notably, there appears to be no evidence of absolute decoupling ever having occurred. At the same time, the scale of decoupling that is required appears to be physically impossible to achieve. Since the agenda does not question growth dependency at all, and fails to distinguish between the intrinsic and instrumental value of GDP growth, my conclusion is that it does not fulfill the promise of transformative change.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

The main purpose of this thesis was to develop a printed circuit board for Autoliv Electronics AB. This circuit board should be placed in their test equipment to support some of their camera vision systems used in cars. The main task was to combine the existing hardware into one module. To be able to achieve this, the most important factors in designing a printed circuit board was considered. A satisfying power distribution network is the most crucial one. This was accomplished by using decoupling capacitors to achieve low enough impedance for all circuits. Calculations and simulations were executed for all integrated circuits to find the correct size and numbers of capacitors. The impedance of the circuit board was tested with a network analyzer to confirm that the impedance were low enough, which was the case. System functionality was never tested completely, due to delivery problems with some external equipment.

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Academics, practitioners and media agree that the topic of work-life balance is on the agenda and valued by the new business generation. Although Sweden might be considered a working friendly country, the management consultancy industry is not recognized to be the same. With an institutional perspective we will through a discourse analysis investigate the communication on Swedish management consultancies web pages in order to explore how consultancies relate to the work-life balance discourse. In this study we look at work-life balance communication as a continuum with abstract and concrete as two opposites where the level of concreteness will decide the level of responsibility dedicated from the organizations regarding employees` work-life balance. Our findings suggest that the discourse is mostly composed of abstract descriptive talk, which indicates that the communication exists as a legitimizing result of institutional pressures, and might not be an essential matter for the concultancies` everyday practice. A big part of the responsibility to achieve a work-life balance is put upon the individual employee and even though initiatives are presented they are seldom followed up by concrete targets or supported with results.

A técnica de dupla ressonância unidimensional para alta resolução em líquidos constitui o objetivo deste trabalho. Para isso construiu-se uma sonda de dupla ressonância, apropriada para experiências heteronucleares do tipo 13C-{1H}. Empregam-se algumas sequências de pulsos para permitir as medidas do EON e do desacoplamento nuclear entre 1H e 13C. Emprega-se o EON com a finalidade de obter um aumento na intensidade do sinal de RMN do 13C; emprega-se o desacoplamento para eliminar a estrutura fina que surge devido ao acoplamento nuclear entre 1H e 13C. Inclui-se uma breve revisão sobre a teoria com a fmalidade de unificar o tratamento desta com as aplicações. As técnicas experimentais são discutidas e alguns espectros são mostrados para ilustrar os principais resultados / The one dimensional double resonance technique for high resolition in liquids is the main purpose of this work. For this we have built a double resonance probe, suitable for heteronuclear 13C-{1H} experiment. Some pulse sequences are employed to allow the NOE and decoupling between 1H e 13C to be measured. The NOE is employed in order to obtain a three-fold enhancement of the 13C NMR signal; decoupling is employed to eliminate the fme structW\'e arising from spin coupling between 1H e 13C. A short review about theory is included to provide unified treatment with applications. The experimental techniques are discussed and some spectra are shown to illustrate the main results.

For the global business school community, the twenty-first century inaugurated a season of introspection. As global sustainability concerns grew in prominence, critical debate about the purpose of business and its role in society could not be left without an educational response. At the same time, however, it raised the question of whether business schools were at all ready to equip their students for leadership in a world faced by crucial economic, social, and environmental challenges. The answer is not self-evidently positive. Various authors grapple with questions on the purpose of business schools and their relationship with business and society. This empirical study examines the influence of EQUIS accreditation standards on business school practices in the areas of institutional strategies, programmes, faculty, research, and development, as well as in responsible management education at large. Although accreditation is not the only factor that determines what business schools believe, do, and become, it is an important shaper of the direction in which they will find their way forward in the face of twenty-first–century management education imperatives. This has especially become the case since the inclusion of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability (ERS) in the revised EQUIS standards. The analysis is drawn from a qualitative multi-case study where the author outlined a theoretical framework by developing an understanding of the organisational responses to EQUIS standards, using interviews and document review as the primary source of information. The case study included private, public, stand-alone, and university-embedded business schools. The findings show that business schools engage in a variety of ERS activities in their research and education portfolio. However, different stakeholder expectations pressure business schools to become more ethical, responsible, and sustainable, which leads to a decoupling of the schools’ “ERS talk” from their “ERS actions”. The decoupling can be seen as the consequence of a school’s translation, editing, and imitation activities in order to appear committed to society’s demands. Despite budget constraints and limited autonomy, public business schools seem to be more engaged in ERS education and research as compared to private institutions. Also, a multidisciplinary environment further supports ERS development as compared to stand-alone business schools. The research proposes core changes and developments that business schools may take into consideration to provide a systematic response to EQUIS ERS standards and criteria.

As mudanças climáticas globais e a expansão da cultura da cana-de-açúcar para regiões com menor suprimento hídrico elevaram a importância de estimativas consistentes das necessidades de água da cultura. Na tentativa de contribuir nesse campo, o presente trabalho buscou analisar o consumo hídrico da cana-de-açúcar em três diferentes escalas espaciais: folha, planta e dossel, além de uma ferramenta de simulação (DSSAT/CANEGRO) quanto ao seu desempenho na estimativa do consumo hídrico da cana-de-açúcar. Foram realizadas medidas de evapotranspiração do dossel pelo método do balanço de energia-razão de Bowen (MRB) e de transpiração das plantas por meio do balanço de calor nos colmos (BC) e das folhas com um analisador de gás à infravermelho (IRGA). Duas áreas experimentais foram utilizadas, sendo a primeira com a variedade CTC 12, na safra 2011/2012, irrigada por gotejamento subsuperficial; a segunda área com a variedade RB867515, irrigada por aspersão por meio de um pivô central, na safra 2012/2013. O acoplamento planta-atmosfera também foi avaliado. As análises do MRB indicaram um fluxo de calor latente médio de 70% da energia disponível no ambiente, com 25% de fluxo de calor sensível e 5% no fluxo de calor no solo. Com a mesma metodologia a evapotranspiração da cultura média (ETc) foi estimada em 3,92 e 3,25 mm dia-1 para as variedades CTC 12 e RB867515, respectivamente, resultando em um coeficiente de cultura (Kc) médio de 1,37, na fase de pleno desenvolvimento vegetativo. No período experimental, o canavial permaneceu mais acoplado à atmosfera (Ω médio=0,37) e a transpiração avaliada pelo BC chegou a 4,7 e 3,62 mm dia-1, respectivamente para CTC 12 e RB867515. A metodologia do IRGA resultou em perda de água ao nível foliar da faixa de até 1 mm h-1. Conforme a demanda atmosférica, o Kc da cultura apresentou-se variável em função da evapotranspiração de referência (ETo). O modelo DSSAT/CANEGRO mostrou-se eficiente na simulação da ETc e transpiração do canavial, com resultados mais satisfatórios (R2=0,59) quando utiliza-se a metodologia FAO 56 nas simulações. / Global climate change and the sugarcane crop expansion to regions with lower water supply became more important the real estimate of crop water requirements. This study aimed to contribute on this regard by analyzing the sugarcane water consumption at three different spatial scales: leaf, plant and canopy. The DSSAT/CANEGRO crop model was also evaluated with respect to sugarcane transpiration and evapotranspiration. Bowen ratio energy balance (BREB) method was performed to measure crop canopy evapotranspiration and the transpiration were measured with sap flow by stem heat balance for plant scale and infra-red gas analyzer (IRGA) for leaf scale. Two experimental sites were used: the first with CTC 12 cultivar and drip irrigation, on 2011/2012 season; in the second experiment the RB867515 variety was grown under sprinkler irrigation by a central pivot, on the 2012/2013 growing season. The plant-atmosphere decoupling factor was also evaluated. BREB method showed latent heat flux representing 70% of the available energy, 25% for sensible heat flux, and 5% for soil heat flux. BREB crop evapotranspiration (ETc) ranged from 3.92 to 3.25 mm day-1 for CTC 12 and RB867515, respectively, resulting in a mean crop coefficient (Kc) of 1.37 at the full vegetative growth stage. In the experimental period, sugarcane crop was coupled to the atmosphere (Ω=0.37) and transpiration assessed by HB reached 4.7 and 3.62 mm day-1 for CTC 12 and RB867515, respectively. IRGA method showed a leaf water loss up to 1 mm h-1. Kc varied with reference evapotranspiration (ETo) The DSSAT/CANEGRO crop model was efficient in the ETc and transpiration simulation, with better results (R2=0.59) when using FAO 56 ETo method in the simulations.

Le compresseur d'air alimentant en oxygène la pile est un élément important dans les systèmes pile à combustible. Le compresseur peut consommer jusqu'à 20% de l'électricité produite dans les cas les plus défavorables. Le choix et le dimensionnement du compresseur, ainsi que son système de contrôle associé, sont directement liés à la performance du système global. La taille et le poids du système de compression d'air doivent être réduits pour le rendre plus adapté aux applications automobiles. En outre, le contrôle du système de compression d'air est également une problématique importante car il affecte l'efficacité et la sécurité de fonctionnement de la pile à combustible. Pour éviter une sous-alimentation en oxygène de la pile, le débit massique d’air fourni doit être géré de façon appropriée en fonction de la demande de la charge électrique. Pendant ce temps, la pression ne doit pas montrer de trop grandes variations ou ondulations qui peuvent endommager la membrane de la pile.Un contrôle à découplage proposé récemment dans la littérature, nommé contrôle à découplage de perturbation (DDC), est utilisé pour le système de compression centrifuge. Le DDC traite les interactions internes comme une perturbation, puis les éliminent dans le contrôle. Les performances du DDC sont comparées à un dispositif de commande en mode glissant décentralisé. Grâce à la comparaison de ces deux contrôleurs, les résultats montrent que le DDC proposé est performant tant pour des cas stables que dynamiques. Le compresseur centrifuge est donc utilisable pour les systèmes pile à combustible automobiles. Sur un banc d'essai hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), le contrôleur proposé est validé avec un modèle de pile à combustible de 10 kW avec des demandes de charge variables. En outre, une méthode d'évitement d’instabilité, à savoir un limiteur de référence, est proposé pour empêcher le dépassement de la ligne de pompage du compresseur. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent que, dans tous les cas, la zone d’utilisation du compresseur est bien cantonnée à droite de la ligne de pompage. / Air compressor supplying the oxygen to the stack is an important component in the fuel cell systems. The compressor can consumes up to 20 % of the generated power in the most severe cases. The selecting of the compressor and corresponding control are directly related to the performance of the fuel cell. The size and weight of the air compressor has to be reduced to make them more feasible for automotive applications. Moreover, the control of the air compression system is also an important issue, which affects the efficiency and the safety of the fuel cell. To avoid oxygen starvation of the stack, the mass flow of the supplied air has to be controlled appropriately according to the load demand. Meanwhile, the pressure should not have large deviations or ripples which may damage the stack membrane.A recently proposed disturbance decoupling control (DDC) is used for the centrifugal compression system. DDC treats the internal interactions as a disturbance and then eliminates them in the control. The performance of the DDC is compared with a decentralized sliding mode controller. Through the comparison of those two controllers, the results show that the proposed DDC performs better in both the steady state and dynamic conditions, making the centrifugal compressor is capable of applying to the fuel cell in automotive applications. On a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbench, the proposed controller is validated with a 10 kW fuel cell model under varied load demands. Moreover, a surge avoidance method, namely reference limiter, is proposed to prevent the compressor from surging. The experimental results show that the operation is restricted to the right of the surge line.

Master’s Thesis in Logistics and Supply Chain Management _____________________________________________________ Title:                 Postponement in Retailing Industry- A case study of SIBA Authors:         Ahmed Kemal & Naqvi Syed Mohammad Tutor:               Helgi Valur Fredriksson, Dr. Date:               May, 2010 Key Words:   Speculation, Postponement, Customer Order Decoupling point, Retailing, Supply Chain Flexibility, Agility ______________________________________________________________ Abstract Problem: Today's business environment is characterized by changing customer demands, increasing cost pressures on retailers, shorter product life cycles and products becoming obsolete shortly after their introduction. The above factors make it difficult for electronics retailers to balance the costs of dealing with excessive inventory and not be out of stock. To be competitive, retailers should delay some of their activities until customer demand becomes visible. This brings us to the phenomenon of postponement. Electronics market in Sweden faces continuous growth, although at a declining rate. This is indicative of a saturation that this sector, as a whole, is approaching to. The above problems are due to the speculative approaches and standardized products policies that are in practice. Loss of sales and customers result from these practices. The current study analyses the importance of postponement strategy and the benefits it offers. This study also tries to explore the potential solutions for retailers that postponement may relate to.   Purpose: The scope of this study is to identify possible postponement strategies needed for SIBA. Method: A case study approach has been taken. The choice of the method is qualitative with an inductive approach. This involved personal communications during interviews with the managers of SIBA, using semi structured questions to collect data.   Results: The concepts of postponement, supply chain flexibility, agility and customer order decoupling points (CODP) are closely related to one another and it has been shown that as the depth of postponement increase from right to left in the CODP continuum, the CODP changes its position, moving along the CODP continuum from right to left and towards the upstream. With this movement, the flexibility and agility in the chain increases. Our finds suggest that postponement is rather underutilized and that wastes (by way of lost sales and customers, obsolete inventory costs and storage costs) in the retailing process occur due to speculative approaches in application at the retail level. We have suggested logistics postponement for two out of three product categories and enumerated the ensuing benefits that the retailer can derive by way of enhanced flexibility, agility and reductions in wastages and satisfied customers.