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<p>The study concerns the development of a methodology which will allow the rating of soil or land units in view of their sustained economic capacity. Some literature is surveyed to show that no known scheme justifies statistically the number of classes used;many schemes avoid the use of empirical crop yield data altogether. The factor analysis of farm activities and crop yield data will provide a set of scores, incorporating the important variables only, which may be grouped by the statistical method ·which is the core of the work. The Andean portion of the Province of Pichihcha, Ecuador, was the area studied. A number of farm types were discovered, differentiated by levels of investment and subsequently by type of activity. The strong crop yield/environmental correlations needed to create an improved land use capability scheme were found not to exist, but some important observations were made upon the profitability of the crop holdings and the fertility status of the soils. A number of land types with regional tendencies were found.</p> / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Food production security and resiliency require combination of agricultural management practices that are environmentally friendly and economically viable. Cover crops and tillage are two typical management practices that influence corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) production in Illinois and the Midwest, USA. Finding practices that could potentially reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and sequester carbon (C) in the soil can improve agricultural resiliency to climate change. Generally, shifting from reduced tillage (RT) to no-till (NT) improves soil structure and decreases C emissions or sequesters soil C but might increase N2O emissions. Including a legume cover crop such as hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L.) before corn is preferred to winter cereal cover crops (WCCCs) to avoid yield penalty in corn and ensure high grain production. Winter cereal cover crops such as winter cereal rye (Secale cereale) (WCR) could potentially decrease soil N2O emissions during fallow period by capturing residual N and reducing soil moisture. These conditions could change in soils with legacy tillage (RT vs. NT) effects due to changes in soil physical, chemical, and biological over time. We utilized a medium-term (six-year-old) trial to test several hypotheses. We hypothesized that RT increases the soil temperature, accelerates soil organic matter mineralization, and especially in combination with hairy vetch could increase soil N in the soil leading to increased corn grain yield and N2O emission (Chapter 1). We also hypothesized that WCR takes up residual N after harvesting corn, decrease soil N, use soil moisture, and therefore, could decrease soil N2O emission (Chapter 2). For study 1 (Chapter 1), our objective was to evaluate the influence of cover crop (hairy vetch) vs. a no CC control and tillage systems (RT vs. NT) on (i) corn yield, N uptake, removal, and N balance; (ii) N2O emissions during corn season; (iii) yield scaled N2O emissions on a long-term (eight years) tillage × cover cropping system during the corn growing season in 2019 and 2021. We also analyzed factors that influence N2O emissions via principal component analysis in corn season. In corn growing seasons, we found that corn grain yield was higher in RT than NT reflecting on more N in the soil in RT than NT. Hairy vetch increased corn grain yield, soil N, and N2O-N indicating increased corn grain yield by hairy vetch N contribution let to higher N loss. Yield-scaled N2O-N emissions in NT-2019 (3696.4 g N2O-N Mg-1) were twofold higher than RT-2019 (1872.7 g N2O-N Mg-1) and almost fourfold higher than NT-2021 and RT-2021 indicating in a wet year like 2019, yield-scaled N2O-N emissions were higher in NT than RT. Principal component analysis indicated N2O-N fluxes were less driven by soil N and more by environmental conditions and N balances reflecting on N application at planting in this trial. . The objectives for chapter 2 were to evaluate the legacy effect of tillage (RT vs. NT) and cover crops (WCR vs. a no cover crop control) on soil nitrate-N (NO3-N), volumetric water content (VWC), temperature, and N2O emission trends during a fallow period after corn in a six-yr trial. In spring 2020 we also estimated WCR biomass and N uptake as affected by tillage practices and compared WCR biomass to weeds in the no cover crop treatment. In rye growing season, winter cereal rye biomass was 55% higher than weeds in the fallow treatment. A linear positive relation between WCR biomass and N uptake (R2= 0.93) and C accumulation (R2 = 0.99) indicates WCR captures more N and adds more C inputs than weeds. Winter cereal rye biomass was also higher in RT than NT reflecting on higher soil temperature and N availability in RT than NT. Soil VWC was lower in WCR plots and there was a negative linear relation between days of the year (DOY) and VWC (R2 = 0.6). Despite all these differences, soil N2O-N values were mainly less than 5 g N2O-N ha-1d-1 in all sampling dates regardless of tillage or cover crop treatment. We conclude that in poorly drained Alfisols with claypan and fragipans, NT is not an effective strategy to decrease N2O-N fluxes. Hairy vetch benefits corn grain yield and supplement N but that increases N loss through N2O-N emissions. We concluded that we should focus on decreasing N2O emissions early in corn season since majority of N is lost during that time sometimes 300 times higher than those reported during the WCR phase. Some changes in management practices that could reduce N2O losses are shifting from upfront N application to sidedress N management, terminating hairy vetch at or even after corn planting, and combine these efforts with enhanced efficiency fertilizers that control nitrification and denitrification.

Property valuation of commercial real estates is often seen as complicated. The actors think that their valuation method is the best and the results of the valuation depend on whom you ask. There are many attributes that have to be given a value and information about these attributes is often difficult to get. A possible explanation for these problems is the decline of the transparency in the Swedish real estate market over the last years. Essential information about commercial real estates is lost because they are traded as companies. This makes it problematic to make optimal valuations. The co-operative apartment market is very different from the commercial real estate market. The transparency is high and the transactions are many. The prices in the co-operative apartment market continue to rise and they are much easier to valuate. The purpose of this thesis is to see if there is a connection between market values in the condominium market and market values for office buildings. If a connection is found it may be helpful in the valuation process of office buildings. The first objective is to look at the ratio square meter co-operative apartment prices divided with square meter office building prices. The first part of the thesis is based on analogy and digital literature. Next part will consist of valuations with yield methods of office buildings and observed transactions. The result of this thesis shows no given connection between office and co-operative apartment prices, but the highest residence prices are found in the same areas with highest office prices. The ratio that is mentioned above was not useful for the purpose. The results have shown the difficulties of finding information and valuating real estate. / Värderingar av kontorsfastigheter anses ofta komplicerade. Olika aktörer anser sin värderingsmetod som bäst och resultatet av bedömda värden beror på vem du frågar. Det är många parametrar som kan bedömas och ges ett värde, samtidigt som informationen ofta är svår att få tag i. En anledning till problemet skulle kunna vara den minskning av transparens som skett på svenska fastighetsmarknaden under senare år, troligtvis till följd av att allt fler fastigheter ingår i bolagsförvärv. För att kunna göra en optimal värdering av en kontorsfastighet krävs lättillgänglig information om liknande transaktioner. Därför krävs en öppenhet på kontorsmarknaden som i dag försvårats av tidigare nämnda bolagsförvärv. Tittar man istället på bostadsrättsmarknaden är läget annorlunda. Informationen är lättillgänglig och transaktionerna många. Trots att priserna Stockholmsområdet fortsätter att stiga kan man med relativt hög säkerhet värdera en bostadsrätt. Syftet med denna rapport är att undersöka om det finns någon koppling mellan marknadsvärden på bostadsrättsmarknaden och marknadsvärden kontorsmarknaden. Om denna koppling finns, kan den vara till hjälp vid värdering av kontorsfastigheter. Målet är först och främst att se om kvoten, bostadrättspris dividerat med kontorspris, är användbar. Rapportens första del bygger på analog och digital litteratur. Den andra delen består av värderingar med direktavkastningsmetoden och jämförelser som gjorts med hjälp av aktuella transaktioner och riktvärden. Resultatet visar inget självklart samband mellan priser på bostadsrätter och kontor, men de högsta kontorspriserna återfinns i områden med högst bostadspriser. Det har inte gått att styrka användningen av ovan nämnda kvot. Rapporten har framförallt resulterat i en bekräftelse av de svårigheter informationssökning och värdering av kontor innebär.

Reliable and scalable manufacturing of nanofabrics entails significant challenges. Scalable nano-manufacturing approaches that employ the use of lithographic masks in conjunction with nanofabrication based on self-assembly have been proposed. A bottom-up fabrication of nanoelectronic circuits is expected to be subject to various defects and identifying the types of defects that may occur during each step of a manufacturing pathway is essential in any attempt to achieve reliable manufacturing. This thesis aims at analyzing the sources of defects in a nano-manufacturing flow and estimating the resulting yield loss. It integrates physical fabric considerations, manufacturing sequences and the resulting defect scenarios. This is in contrast to most current approaches that use conventional defect models and assume constant defect rates without analyzing the manufacturing pathway to determine the sources of defects and their probabilities. The manufacturing pathway will be analyzed for identifying the defects introduced during each manufacturing step in the sequence, followed by yield loss estimation.

The catalysis reaction performance, such as yield, is very crucial in organic chemistry. And predicting the reaction yield is still very challenging. In this thesis, machine learning is used to predict the reaction yield in a C–N cross-coupling approach. The reaction data are from the high-throughput experimental data with four variables: reactants, Pd catalysts, additives, and bases. Each reaction data will give the corresponding yield. The data are from the literature, which has been uploaded. The total data number used in machine learning is 7910. The method mainly consists of four steps. First, load the csv data and import modules. Second, encode data with molecular fingerprint or one-hot encoding. The data will be normalized if there is need. Third, split the dataset into train and test set with the size ratio of 7/3 or 8/2. Fourth, use six machine learning models to learn the data and evaluate their performance. Then, compare the prediction yield of the test set. The accuracy in prediction (RMSE value and R-squared) and running time will be considered for evaluation. By comparing the RMSE and R-squared values of different models, we can decide which one has better performance and better fitting results. Improved reaction performance, or high-performance catalysts and their characteristics may be obtained.

A method to incorporate grain size effects into crystal plasticity is presented. The classical Hall-Petch equation inaccurately predicts the macroscopic yield strength for materials with non-equiaxed grains or materials that contain unequal grain size distributions. These deficiencies can be overcome by incorporating both grain size and orientation characteristics into crystal plasticity theory. Homogenization relationships based on a viscoplastic Taylor-like approach are introduced along with a new function, the grain size and orientation distribution function (GSODF). Estimates of the GSODF for high purity α-titanium are recovered through orientation imaging microscopy coupled with the chord length distribution. A comparison between the new method and the traditional viscoplastic Taylor approach is made by evaluating yield surface plots.

Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) is an important native shrub in the Great Basin because of its wide distribution where it dominates over 60 million ha and provides essential habitat and forage for many varied species. The hand collection of sagebrush seed often results in seed scarcity and the available seed quantities are at times inadequate to revegetate large areas that have been disturbed, resulting in a demand for sagebrush seed. Study locations were selected near Scipio and Sahara sand dunes of Utah, and treatments were 1-) control, no treatment applied area left undisturbed 2-) general chemical strip thinning 3-) general chemical thinning of entire stand, 4-) general mechanical strip thinning, and 5-) general mechanical thinning of the entire stand. Significant differences among treatments in seed yields were collected in 2011 at Scipio but not at Sahara. At Scipio, the mechanical strip of competing sagebrush in 3m strips was the most effective of all treatment and produced 2.47kg/ha compared to 4.624kg/ha in the control, but the mechanical land area was only utilizing half the compared control area. The chemical treatments produced 1.819kg/ha and 1.31kg/ha. The percent of sagebrush mortality by each treatment determined the level of competition killed in treatment areas. All treatments at both locations killed at least 57% of the sagebrush. Chemical treatments had a consistent kill rate at both locations, although lower than anticipated, but mechanical kill was the highest at 93% in Scipio. Both mechanical and chemical treated plots had increased cover levels of cheatgrass when compared to the control plots.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been investigated over the past three decades and is currently an approved therapeutic modality for skin cancer, the treatment of superficial bladder, early lung and advanced esophageal cancers, and age-related macular degeneration in a number of countries. In PDT, the absorption of light by a chromophore generates cytotoxic species such as reactive singlet oxygen, leading to irreversible destruction of the treated tissue. The measurement of the singlet oxygen quantum yield is an important determinant used to evaluate the efficiency of new photodynamic therapy agents developed in the laboratory, to screen potential photosensitizers in aqueous media.The singlet oxygen quantum yield is a quantitative measurement of the efficiency in which photosensitizers are able to use energy, in the form of light, to convert oxygen in the ground state to the reactive species singlet oxygen useful in photodynamic therapy. Singlet oxygen quantum yields of photosensitizers differ when measured in different solvents. The majority of the existing quantum yield values found in literature for various photosensitizers are documented with the sensitizers in organic solvents though values in aqueous media are more valuable for actual applications. Determination of accurate and precise quantum yield values in aqueous solution is a much more difficult problem than in organic media. Problems in aqueous solution arise primarily from the physicochemical properties of singlet oxygen in water. Singlet oxygen has a much shorter lifetime in water than it does in organic solvents, causing challenges with respect to quantitative detection of singlet oxygen.The ensuing pages are an attempt to explore the theory and document the procedures developed to provide the accurate measurement of singlet oxygen in aqueous media. Details of this experimental method and singlet oxygen quantum yield results of new compounds relative to established photosensitizers will be presented.

Microalgal biomass is a candidate feedstock for biofuel production. To improve the sustainability of algae biofuel production, following biofuel recovery, the biomass nutrients should be recycled for additional algae growth. Anaerobic digestion of algae or oil-extracted algae is a means of recovering carbon and other nutrients, while offsetting algae production electricity demand. The major limiting factor in microalgae digestion is the low biodegradability of the cell walls. In the present study, various pretreatment technologies were tested at bench scale for their ability to improve raw, non-lipid-extracted algae biodegradability, which was assessed in terms of methane yield, volatile solids destruction, and solubilization of N, P, and K. The microalgae were harvested by sedimentation from outdoor wastewater-fed raceways ponds operated in coastal southern California. Four pretreatment methods (sonication, high-pressure homogenization, autoclaving, and boiling) were used on the algae slurries, each followed by batch anaerobic digestion (40 days at 35oC). Biomass sonication for 10 minutes showed the highest methane yield of 0.315 L CH4/ g VSIN, which is a 28% increase over the untreated control. Conversely, autoclaved algae slurry inhibited methane production (0.200 vs. 0.228 L CH4/ g VSIN for the treatment and control). A preliminary energy balance indicated that none of the pretreatments led to a net increase in energy conversion to biomethane. However, pretreatment did increase the initial N and P solubilization rates, but, after digestion, the ultimate N and P solubilization was nearly the same among the treatments and controls. After 40 days of digestion, solubilization of N, P, and K reached, respectively, 50-60% of average total Kjeldahl N, 40-50% of average total P, and 80-90% of average total K. Descriptive first-order models of solubilization were developed. Overall, certain pretreatments marginally improved methane yield and nutrient solubilization rate, which cast doubt on the efficacy of, or even the need for, algae biomass pretreatment prior to anaerobic digestion.