Battlestar Galactica (2003) is a textually rich cultural product with much to say about the ever-changing global dynamics and social relations of Earthly inhabitants. Through the familiar science fiction tropes of catastrophe, space travel, and cyborgs, this study aims to reveal the discursive frameworks that inform identity politics and knowledge production as they relate to self/Other. Postcolonial theory guides the structure of this study through the influential insights of Homi Bhabha, James Clifford, and Robert J.C. Young. The first chapter investigates the ways in which colonial discourse exercises power and sanctions difference through the stereotype. Chapter two explores the justifications for and ramifications of physical colonization of subjugated peoples, while chapter three reads several characters in BSG as occupying a third space whereby binary notions of subjectivity are problematized in favor of hybridity. Overall, this study argues that through the allegorical interplay between a recognizable self and alien other, viewers can come to better understand the discursive conditions of their existence and, perhaps, locate sites of resistance inside the ideological prison within which we are all prisoners. / text

Sustainable development is a growing concern for inhabitants of the planet earth. Consumption of fossil sources keeps up the depletion of nature’s capital and causes environmental impacts. One solution to have a sustainable society is to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and substitute them by renewable energy sources. Among different types of renewable energy, biofuels have great potential for development and improvement. Though, the production of biofuels is criticized by many experts from the energy efficiency, environmental and economical points of view. Biogas as one type of first generation biofuels is achieved from the wastes and by-products of other industries, and can be used as a transportation fuel in the form of biomethane. The use of by-products may give added value as inputs to the biogas production process, a process which may be called "upcycling." The aim of upcycling is to convert wastes into new materials with higher quality or higher environmental value in order to reduce the consumption of raw materials which results in decreasing of energy usage and environmental impacts The aim of this thesis is to study the possibility of a biogas plant to act as an upcycler of wastes and by-products through anaerobic digestion process by the use of exergy analysis and economic evaluation. An imaginary biogas plant which uses a major by-product of brewing industry, i.e. Brewer’s Spent Grain (BSG), is considered to quantify the added value by biogas production process. The results of the exergy analysis show that the exergy of the input BSG (78,320 MJ) is upgraded into two main products as biomethane (47,430 MJ) and biofertilizer (37,026 MJ) with a total exergy amount of 84,456 MJ. On the other hand, the economic analysis of the studied biogas production process indicates that the biogas plant has the added value for the input material. In the economic analysis, the annual costs and benefits of the biogas production is calculated. The results show that the production of biomethane and biofertilizer from the by-product of brewing industry is profitable. However, the price of input BSG and also the variation price of the biofertilizer in different seasons, have great impact on the economy of a biogas plant. The outcomes from exergy and economic analysis are indicated that the biogas production process is an "upcycling" process which has the added value for the inputs, from both economic and quality points of view. The exergy and economic evaluation may be used as indicators of the sustainable development, but only increasing the exergy and the economic value of a production process alone should not be considered as the sustainability of a system.

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With increasing environmental awareness and natural resource limitations, researchers must begin to incorporate sustainability into their process and product designs. One target for green engineering is in reaction and separation design. This is typically done in a wasteful and often toxic manner with organic solvents and lack of recycle. The following thesis discusses alternatives to these costly separations by means of ionic liquids, benign extraction, separation with carbon dioxide, and near critical water. Ionic liquids are combined with carbon dioxide to induce melting point depressions of up to 124 degrees Celsius. Using this system as a reaction medium will offer control over the reaction phases while utilizing green solvents. Benign extractions are performed on both ferulic acid and on proteins from biomass by replacing alkaline solvents and costly protein separation techniques with simple liquid-liquid extraction. This means simpler systems and less waste than from previous methods. This thesis also discusses an opportunity for more efficient separation and recycle of a pharmaceutical catalyst, Mn-Salen. Using carbon dioxide with the organic aqueous tunable solvent system, the reaction can be run homogeneously and the product and catalyst separated heterogeneously, thus creating an extremely efficient process. Lastly, near critical water is used as an extraction and reaction medium by extracting ferulic acid from Brewers Spent Grain and then catalyzing its transformation to 4-vinylguaiacol. In this manner a simple, benign process is used to turn waste into valuable chemicals. Although somewhat different, each of the studied processes strives to eliminate waste and toxicity of many commonly used reaction and separation techniques, thus creating safe and sustainable processes.

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In this thesis, we aim at modeling some aspects of the functional role of emotions on an autonomous embodied agent. We begin by describing our robotic prototype, Cherry--a robot with the task of being a tour guide and an office assistant for the Computer Science Department at the University of Central Florida. Cherry did not have a formal emotion representation of internal states, but did have the ability to express emotions through her multimodal interface. The thesis presents the results of a survey we performed via our social informatics approach where we found that: (1) the idea of having emotions in a robot was warmly accepted by Cherry's users, and (2) the intended users were pleased with our initial interface design and functionalities. Guided by these results, we transferred our previous code to a human-height and more robust robot--Petra, the PeopleBot™--where we began to build a formal emotion mechanism and representation for internal states to correspond to the external expressions of Cherry's interface. We describe our overall three-layered architecture, and propose the design of the sensory motor level (the first layer of the three-layered architecture) inspired by the Multilevel Process Theory of Emotion on one hand, and hybrid robotic architecture on the other hand. The sensory-motor level receives and processes incoming stimuli with fuzzy logic and produces emotion-like states without any further willful planning or learning. We will discuss how Petra has been equipped with sonar and vision for obstacle avoidance as well as vision for face recognition, which are used when she roams around the hallway to engage in social interactions with humans. We hope that the sensory motor level in Petra could serve as a foundation for further works in modeling the three-layered architecture of the Emotion State Generator.

Tesis por compendio / [ES] La investigación de la presente Tesis doctoral busca estudiar la respuesta del consumidor a productos enriquecidos en fibra mediante la incorporación de subproductos de la industria alimentaria.Se estudió el interés de los consumidores uruguayos en diferentes mejoras nutricionales, el tipo de elaboración y cómo ha cambiado en los últimos diez años. Los resultados muestran que la respuesta de los consumidores es distinta dependiendo del tipo de queso. Solo en el queso untable, hay interés en la reducción de grasa. Respecto a los cambios con el tiempo, se observó para el queso semi-blando, un aumento en el interés por la elaboración artesanal. Se estudió el uso de distintos subproductos como ingredientes en el enriquecimiento en fibra de productos de consumo habitual. Se trabajó con el descarte de la producción de jugo de arándanos. Este se transformó en una harina y se incorporó a la formulación de galletas. Las expectativas de los consumidores al observar la etiqueta de esta galleta fueron tan buenas como una galleta sin fibra. Sin embargo, cuando la probaron sin tener información les gustó menos que la galleta sin fibra, pero al conocer que era rica en fibra aumentó su aceptabilidad ligeramente. Por lo tanto, aunque les interesan las galletas ricas en fibra, no están dispuestos a comprometer aspectos hedónicos por atributos saludables. El segundo subproducto estudiado fue el generado durante la producción de jugo de manzana. La pulpa que se transformó en harina, se usó para el enriquecimiento en fibra de un bizcochuelo. Se estudió la respuesta de los consumidores al bizcochuelo enriquecido en fibra en presencia o no de la etiqueta con información "fuente de fibra" y "con fibra de manzana", comparativamente con un producto comercial sin fibra. Se evaluó la aceptabilidad y los motivos por los que lo compraría o no. Los resultados indican que la aceptabilidad del bizcochuelo enriquecido en fibra aumentó significativamente con la información, lo que indica que además de la declaración "fuente de fibra", la indicación del origen de la fibra "con fibra de manzana" aumenta la aceptabilidad que el consumidor percibe de estos productos. Como tercer subproducto se utilizó el residuo de la industria cervecera, BSG (brewery spent grain). Se desarrollaron tres productos (pan, pasta y leche chocolatada) enriquecidos con fibra mediante la adición de BSG. Se evaluó el impacto del enriquecimiento de la fibra en las características sensoriales, la aceptabilidad y la intención de compra de los consumidores y luego en las emociones que el producto transmitía. La incorporación de fibra en los tres productos tuvo impacto significativo en las características sensoriales. Estas afectaron de forma distinta a la aceptabilidad y a la intención de compra dependiendo del producto. En lo que respecta a las emociones, se puede percibir una ambivalencia según los diferentes productos enriquecidos dependiendo si la fibra es percibida o no. Cuando la detectan se sienten más confiados en consumir el producto y con menos culpa. Por lo tanto, las características sensoriales que el consumidor percibe asociado a la fibra puede, en algunos productos, aumentar la intención de compra del consumidor y hacerle sentir mejor.Se estudió el efecto de la forma de comunicación del enriquecimiento de BSG en la respuesta del consumidor a hamburguesas de carne y si dependía de la marca comercial. Se consideraron tres marcas (una líder, una de bajo precio y una artesanal) y utilizando su empaque original se diseñaron tres etiquetas incluyendo diferente tipo de información y un símbolo representando sustentabilidad. La marca fue el único factor estudiado que afectó la intención de compra y sin embargo el tipo de información no tuvo efecto. Por todo lo obtenido podemos decir que es posible utilizar subproductos de la industria alimentaria como ingredientes para enriquecer nutricionalmente otros alimentos. / [CA] La investigació de la present Tesi doctoral busca estudiar la resposta del consumidor a productes enriquits en fibra per mitjà de la incorporació de subproductes de la indústria alimentaria.Se va estudiar l'interés dels consumidors uruguaians en diferents millores nutricionals, el tipus d'elaboració i com ha canviat en els últims deu anys. Els resultats mostren que la resposta dels consumidors és distinta depenent del tipus de formatge. Només en el formatge untable, hi ha interés en la reducció de greix. Respecte als canvis amb el temps, es va observar per al formatge semi-blando, un augment en l'interés per l'elaboració artesanal. Es va estudiar l'ús de distints subproductes com a ingredients en l'enriquiment en fibra de productes de consum habitual. Es va treballar amb el descart de la producció de suc de nabius. Este es va transformar en una farina i es va incorporar a la formulació de galletes. Les expectatives dels consumidors a l'observar l'etiqueta d'esta galleta van ser tan bones com una galleta sense fibra. No obstant això, quan la van provar sense tindre informació els va agradar menys que la galleta sense fibra, però al conéixer que era rica en fibra va augmentar la seua acceptabilitat lleugerament. Per tant, encara que els interessen les galletes riques en fibra, no estan disposats a comprometre aspectes hedònics per atributs saludables. El segon subproducte estudiat va ser el generat durant la producció de suc de poma. La polpa que es va transformar en farina, es va usar per a l'enriquiment en fibra d'un bizcochuelo. Es va estudiar la resposta dels consumidors al bizcochuelo enriquit en fibra en presència o no de l'etiqueta amb informació;"fuente de fibra"; "con fibra de manzana";, comparativament amb un producte comercial sense fibra. Es va avaluar l'acceptabilitat i els motius pels quals ho compraria o no. Els resultats indiquen que l'aceptab. Com a tercer subproducte es va utilitzar el residu de la indústria cervesera, BSG (brewery spent grauet) . Es van desenrotllar tres productes (pa, pasta i llet xocolatada) enriquits amb fibra per mitjà de l'addició de BSG. Es va avaluar l'impacte de l'enriquiment de la fibra en les característiques sensorials, l'acceptabilitat i la intenció de compra dels consumidors i després en les emocions que el producte transmetia. La incorporació de fibra en els tres productes va tindre impacte significatiu en les característiques sensorials. Estes van afectar de forma diferent de l'acceptabilitat i a la intenció de compra depenent del producte. Pel que fa a les emocions, es pot percebre una ambivalència segons els diferents productes enriquits depenent si la fibra és percebuda o no. Quan la detecten se senten més confiats a consumir el producte i amb menys culpa. Per tant, les característiques sensorials que el consumidor percep associat a la fibra pot, en alguns productes, augmentar la intenció de compra del consumidor i fer-li sentir mejor.Se va estudiar l'efecte de la forma de comunicació de l'enriquiment de BSG en la resposta del consumidor a hamburgueses de carn i si depenia de la marca comercial. Es van considerar tres marques (una líder, una de baix preu i una artesanal) i utilitzant el seu prestància original es van dissenyar tres etiquetes incloent diferent tipus d'informació i un símbol representant sustentabilidad. La marca va ser l'únic factor estudiat que va afectar la intenció de compra i no obstant això el tipus d'informació no va tindre efecte. Per tot allò que s'ha obtingut podem dir que és possible utilitzar subproductes de la indústria alimentària com a ingredients per a enriquir nutricionalment altres aliments. / [EN] The main focus of this work is studying the consumer's response to fibre enriched products by incorporating by-products from the food industry. The interest of Uruguayan consumers in different nutritional improvements and the method of preparation was studied. In the last decade, products with extra benefits have become much more common in the market, and the variation of this interest in recement years was also studied. The results show that the response of consumers is different depending on the type of cheese. Only in spreadable cheese, there is a certain degree of interest only in the reduction of fat. Regarding the changes over time, an increase in interest in artisanal production was observed for semi-soft cheese. Contrary to expectations, there was no increase in consumer interest for any of the nutritional improvements. The use of different by-products as ingredients for the fibre enrichment of products of habitual consumption was studied. The first by-product used was the residue from the blueberry juice production. This was transformed into a flour and incorporated into the cookie. The hedonic consumer expectations for this cookie when looking at the label were as good as a non-fibre cookie. However, when they tasted it without information, they liked it less than the non-enriched cookie, although knowing that it was rich in fibre increased its acceptability slightly. Therefore, while consumers are interested in high fibre cookies, they are not willing to compromise hedonic aspects for healthy attributes. The second by-product studied was the one generated during the production of apple juice. This pulp that was transformed into flour and used for the fibre enrichment of a sponge cake. The response of consumers to the fibre enriched sponge cake was studied with and without information on the label ("source of fibre" and "with apple fibre") in comparison with a commercial product. Product's acceptability were studied. The results show that the acceptability of the fibre enriched sponge cake increased significantly with the information, indicating that in addition to the claim "source of fibre", knowing the of origin of the fibre "with apple fibre" increases the acceptability that the consumer perceives. The third by-product used was the residue from the brewing industry, BSG (brewery spent grain). Three different products were developed (bread, pasta and chocolate milk) enriched with fibre by adding BSG. First, the impact of fibre enrichment on sensory characteristics, acceptability and purchase intention of consumers was evaluated. Finally, the effect of the products on the emotions of the consumers was studied. The incorporation of fibre in the three products had a significant impact on the sensory characteristics. However, these affected acceptability and purchase intention differently depending on the product. Regarding emotions, an ambivalence can be perceived in what is generated by the different enriched products depending on whether the fibre is perceived or not. When they detect it, they feel more confident in consuming the product and with less guilt. Therefore, the sensory characteristics that the consumer perceives associated with fibre can, in some products, not only increase the consumer's purchase intention but also make them feel better. The effect of the way to communicate the BSG enrichment on the consumer's response to meat burgers, and whether it depended on the commercial brand was studied. Three brands were considered (one leading, one low-priced and one artisanal) and using their original packaging, three labels were designed including different types of ways of conveying the information and a symbol representing sustainability. The brand was the only factor studied that affected purchase intention, and the way used to convey the information had no effect. In conclusion, it is possible to use by-products from the food industry as ingredients to nutritionally enrich other foods. / The financial support of Generalitat Valenciana (Project Prometeo 2017/189) and LATU, Uruguay for Arcia’s stay at IATA, are all gratefully acknowledged. / Curutchet González, A. (2021). Uso de subproductos de la industria agroalimentaria como fuente de fibra. Respuesta de los consumidores [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/180385 / Compendio

Carsta Genäuß-Kühn (* 30. Nov. 1959 Dresden) – vom Elbepaddeln zur Weltklassekanutin, Olympiasiegerin und siebenfachen Weltmeisterin. Aufgezeigt wird der Lebensweg einer der erfolgreichsten Kanurennsportlerinnen aller Zeiten, einer Frauenpersönlichkeit, die Höhen und Tiefen der sportlichen Laufbahn kennenlernte und deren sportliche Erfolge sie an die Weltspitze führten. Zumeist waren es die Gold-Plätze auf dem sogenannten Siegertreppchen, die von der Dresdner Sportlerin eingenommen wurden, wenn sie zwischen 1973 bis 1985 weltweit unzählige Wettbewerbe, DDR-Meisterschaften, Europa- und Weltmeisterschaften bestritt, oder 1980 olympisches Gold aus Moskau in ihre Heimatstadt Dresden brachte. Trainiert wurde sie durch den SC Einheit Dresden, einem der erfolgreichsten Leistungssportzentren im Sportsystem der DDR.