Cost of poor quality describes what the lack of quality costs an organization. By understanding what the concept is and how it can be translated into a specific organization, it creates the conditions for eliminating them, and it can generate a saving of up to 30% of the organization's turnover. The study has been carried out at ABB Industrial Automation Control Technologies in Västerås within the group ABB AB. This work has focused on visualizing the problem and how it could be attacked. The purpose of the thesis is, "… to generate evidence about the management of drawings, as well as to propose measures that can improve this process. The aim is also to help ensure that there is a process where suppliers always produce based on the right and most recent edition. " The processes of drawing management have been visualized based on information from interviews, observations and secondary data that have been based on information from routines together with governing documents. Thereafter, deficiencies in this drawing management process have been identified and also the causes. The result from the thesis is a process mapping with identified shortcomings and the causes of these. A specification has been prepared for guidelines on how ABB Industrial Automation Control Technologies will work with improvements on this process. / Kvalitetsbristkostnader beskriver vad avsaknaden av kvalitet kostar en organisation. Genom att förstå vad begreppet är och hur det kan översättas till en specifik organisation skapas förutsättningarna för att eliminera dessa samt på så sätt spara upp till 30 % av organisationens omsättning. Studien har genomförts på ABB Industrial Automation Control Technologies i Västerås inom koncernen ABB AB. ABB Industrial Automation Control Technologies har en förståelse om vad kvalitetsbristkostnader är och därmed har ett problemområde presenterats. Detta arbete har inriktats på att visualisera problemet samt hur det skulle kunna angripas. Examensarbetets syfte är, ”Avsikten med detta arbete är att generera underlag kring hantering av ritningar samt att även föreslå åtgärder som kan förbättra denna hantering. Syftet är även att bidra till säkerställandet av att ha en process där leverantörer alltid producerar efter rätt och senaste upplaga av ritningar.” Processen ritningshantering har visualiserats baserat på information från intervjuer, observationer samt baserat på sekundärdata som information om befintliga rutiner och styrande dokument. Därefter har brister inom denna ritningshanteringsprocess identifierats samt medföljande orsaker åskådliggjorts. Studiens resultat är en processkartläggning med identifierade brister och orsakerna till bristerna. En kravspecifikation har tagits fram som skapar grunden till förbättringsarbetet som ABB Industrial Automation Control Technologies står inför.

Neste trabalho avaliou-se a influência das condições operacionais da célula a combustível microbiana (CCM) na remoção de matéria orgânica de águas residuárias e na geração de energia elétrica direta. As Hipóteses 1, 2 e 3 verificaram respectivamente as influências do tempo de detenção hidráulica (TDH), das condições mesofílica (25 ºC) e termofílica (55 ºC) de temperatura e da razão de recirculação (R) do efluente no cátodo da CCM (0, 1, 3 e 5) na geração de energia elétrica, na adesão e na comunidade microbiana e na remoção de DQO em CCM sem membrana de íon seletiva alimentada com água residuária sintética a base de sacarose. As Hipóteses 1, 2 e 3 foram aceitas. A redução do TDH permitiu maior geração de energia e dominância na comunidade microbiana e menor adesão da comunidade microbiana ao eletrodo. Enquanto que longos TDH removeram mais DQO, porém geraram menores valores de tensão elétrica. As condições termofílicas apresentaram maiores valores de tensão elétrica gerada e maior dominância da comunidade microbiana e menor adesão microbiana ao eletrodo e eficiência de remoção de DQO. A constante cinética aparente em condição termofílica ( 0,035 h-1) foi duas vezes menor que em condição mesofílica ( 0,083 h-1). O aumento da R melhorou a geração de energia e a remoção de DQO, pois houve melhor transferência de massa do meio líquido para os microrganismos e do meio gasoso para liquido e menor concentração de biomassa aderida ao eletrodo do cátodo aumentando a tensão elétrica gerada. Na Hipótese 4, verificou-se o uso e o efeito do TDH no tratamento de vinhaça de cana de açúcar em CCM sem membrana trocadora de íon seletivo operada em condição termofílica. A CCM foi capaz de remover a matéria orgânica da vinhaça de cana de açúcar e gerar energia elétrica direta, validando a Hipótese 4. As hipóteses 5, 6 e 7 avaliaram as influências da relação DQO, nitrogênio e fósforo da água residuária de produção de vinho, do tempo de retenção celular (TRC) e da configuração do eletrodo no desempenho de CCM de duas câmaras usando membrana de íon seletivo. Acataram-se as hipóteses 5, 6 e 7. O desbalanceamento entre DQO, nitrogênio e fósforo da água residuária de produção de vinho é um dos principais obstáculos para o uso desta tecnologia e a relação de DQO:N:P de 700:10:1 tem elevado potencial para gerar energia elétrica direta em CCM, embora não seja eficiente na remoção de matéria orgânica. A geração de energia aumenta com a redução do TRC, visto que há seleção dos microrganismos eletrogênicos e aumento da carga orgânica volumétrica específica reduzindo a competição por substrato. Entretanto, o TRC não influenciou a remoção de matéria orgânica, pois somente uma pequena parte da DQO foi removida similar em todos os TRC. As características físicas do eletrodo como a porosidade, a rugosidade e a densidade de área do eletrodo e a biocompatibilidade do eletrodo são fatores determinantes para aumentar o desempenho da CCM. Entre os eletrodos estudados, o feltro de carbono foi o melhor material encontrado. / In this work the influence of the operational conditions of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) were evaluated in organic matter removal from wastewater treatment and in the power generation. Hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 respectively checked the influences of hydraulic retention time (HRT), of mesophilic and thermophilic conditions (25 °C and 55 °C, respectively) and the recirculation ratio (R) of the effluent in cathode of MFC (0, 1, 3 and 5) in the power generation, microbial adhesion and community and COD removal of membraneless MFC fed with synthetic wastewater based on sucrose. Hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 have been accepted. Reducing the HRT increased the power generation and the dominance in microbial community and decreased the COD removal efficiency and microbial adhesion to the electrode. Long HRT more efficiently removed the organic matter but generated lower voltages. The thermophilic conditions yielded a more dominant microbial community that favored power generation compared with the mesophilic conditions because of reduced microbial adhesion to the electrode. The COD removal efficiencies were higher under mesophilic conditions than under thermophilic conditions due to the higher apparent kinetic constant at mesophilic conditions (0.083 h-1) than in thermophilic conditions (0.035 h-1). Increasing the R improved the power generation and the COD removal, because the mass transfer in the liquid medium for microorganisms was improved and the biomass adhered to the cathode electrode decreased increasing the voltage. In Hypothesis 4, the use and effect of HRT in treating sugar cane vinasse in membraneless MFC operated at thermophilic conditions were evaluated. The CCM was able to remove the COD of sugarcane vinasse and generate electricity directly, confirming the hypothesis 4. Hypotheses 5, 6 and 7 assessed the influences of COD, nitrogen and phosphorus ratio in winery wastewater, of sludge retention time (SRT) and of electrode configuration in dual chamber MFC. Hypotheses 5, 6 and 7 were adopted. The misbalance between COD, nitrogen and phosphorus from winery wastewater is a major obstacle to the use of this technology and COD:N:P ratio of 700:10:1 had high potential to generate power in MFC, although it is not effective in removing organic matter. The power generation increases with the reduction of the SRT, since there were the selection of bioeletrogenic microorganisms and increased the volumetric organic load rate reducing competition for substrate. However, the SRT did not affect the removal of organic matter, because only a small part of COD was removed regardless of SRT. Physical characteristics of the electrode as porosity, roughness and the electrode area density and the biocompatibility of the electrode are key factors to increase the performance of CCM. The carbon felt was the best studied material having the highest values of porosity, roughness and the electrode area density.

Glass has sophisticated front properties and are used as facades in high buildings. During cold periods, these glass facades could cause thermal discomfort, due to cold downdraught. Cold downdraught can be countered by placing heaters under glass surfaces. Nowadays technology offers highly insulating windows, which is why there is an interest to investigate the indoor climate with only underfloor heating. The research in this area is limited, and few empirical methods are available. Theoretical analysis has begun but it still brand new. The aim of this investigation was to present the thermal indoor climate influenced by various parameters, such as outdoor temperature, U-value and the glass height. The results were also meant to be used as reference tools in future projects. A reference building was modeled in simulation software called CFD Star-CCM+. The assignment was initiated by Incoord, a leading consulting company in energy, indoor climate and installation planning. The results showed that the air velocity increases with decreasing outdoor temperature and decreases with increasing thermal insulation (lower U-value). At the edges of the glass the air velocity becomes twice as large compared to the velocity of the air in the middle of the atrium. The air velocity (maximum and average) at 0.1 m above the floor is always higher than at 2.0 m. The lowest air velocities start from about 0.25 m/s at 0 ℃ and reaches to 0.60 m/s at -20 ℃. That means these air velocities are too high for what is accepted as a good indoor climate, where the maximum allowable air velocity is 0.15 m/s. The outdoor temperatures and the glass facade’s U-value also have an effect on the surface temperature of the glass facade. This decreases the surface temperature with decreased outdoor temperature, and the surface temperature increases at lower U-value. The height of the glass facades proved to affect both the air velocity in the occupied zone and in the glass surface temperature. The air velocity increases with the glass’ height. The increase is higher at 0.1 m than at 2.0 m above the floor. The result shows also that the average air velocity is lower than 0,15 m/s at window height lower than 5 m. But, at the same height the maximum air velocity is higher than 0.3 m/s. The surface temperature of the glass facades increases with the glass’ height. This is because the indoor heat transfer coefficient increases with height. The outdoor heat transfer coefficient is a function of the wind speed and was assumed to be constant. The underfloor heating, which is represented in the simulations with a floor surface temperature of 27 ℃, is not enough to maintain a good indoor climate in any of simulations. The results of this thesis showed a strong relation between indoor climate, outdoor temperature, U-value and the glass height. This study also showed that the floor heating is not enough to counteract the cold draft during extreme cold periods, in high glass buildings. The presented results can be used as a reference tool for the assessment of air velocities and surface temperatures, in similar high buildings.

This master thesis describes early attempts at using electroglottography (EGG) to capture such changes in vocal fold vibration patterns that could be of interest to teachers of contemporary commercial music. After initial explorations, focus is placed on detecting potentially detrimental phonation; more specifically on the pressed quality often associated with loud singing in high register (belting). FonaDyn, a program written in the SuperCollider language, is used to detect pressedness using an algorithm based on K-means clustering of Fourier components of EGG cycles. Results indicate that pressedness affects phonation in ways detectable using EGG. Changes caused by pressedness seem to vary between registers and this variation is similar between subjects. Detection of pressedness in a subject is quite successful when training the algorithm on the same subject, but not always across subjects. / Denna masteruppsats beskriver inledande försök att använda elektroglottografi (EGG) för att avläsa sådana förändringar i stämbandens vibrationsmönster som skulle kunna vara av intresse för sånglärare inom icke-klassisk stil. Tidiga undersökningar leder till att fortsatt fokus läggs på att detektera fonationstyper som kan orsaka röstskador; mer specifikt den typ av pressad röstkvalitet som ofta förknippas med stark sång i högt register (s.k. belting). FonaDyn, ett datorprogram skrivet i språket SuperCollider, används för att detektera pressad fonation med hjälp av K-means-klustring av EGG-cykler baserat på deras Fourierkomponenter. Resultaten indikerar att pressad fonation går att urskilja med hjälp av EGG. Kännetecknen för pressad fonation tycks skilja sig mellan röstregister och denna skillnad är snarlik hos olika försökspersoner. Programmet klarar av att känna igen pressad fonation hos samma person som algoritmen tränats på men inte alltid om algoritmen tränats på en annan sångare.

Managing chronic conditions is seen as the public health challenge of the 21st century. The number of Americans with chronic conditions is expected to rise to 157 million by 2020. Diabetes prevalence and costs contribute to the growing problem. Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2006. Nationally, the cost of diabetes is expected to be $138 billion in 2020. Diabetes leads to multiple and significant complications. The desired outcomes of management of chronic conditions are improvement in clinical status, avoidance of complications, prevention of co-morbid conditions and avoidance of the costs associated with complications. In the 1990s, disease management programs were implemented in an attempt to effectively manage chronic conditions. The primary approach in these programs focuses on individual-level interventions. Despite these efforts, poor outcomes exist. As a result, other approaches to diabetes management are being explored. This study examines a system-level approach to diabetes management versus an individual level one. The system level approach is based on full implementation of the Chronic Care Model, framed in Social Ecology Theory. This retrospective, non-experimental study explores changes in adherence to select diabetes screening guidelines based on the approach to adopted by two health plans. Analyses were conducted on adherence to LDL, A1c, retinopathy and nephropathy screening 2 ½ years after program implementation. In addition, logistic regression analyses were conducted on the predictive impact of approach to chronic care management in relation to changes in adherence. Other variables known to impact health behaviors were factored into the analysis. There were two main findings of the study. The first is that for each of the screenings, there was a statistically significant difference between participants in the two plans. Comparisons of changes in adherence by approach from before implementation to after implementation resulted in a small number of subjects in some cells which can lead to accepting the null hypothesis when it is false. The second is that approach to management was associated with changes in adherence to three of the four screenings. The logistic models, however, account for less than 23% of the variance in adherence, a moderate effect size.

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Mecânica. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2009

<p>In this thesis a predefined design parameters are used to present theoretical guidelines for design of low voltage, and low power DC-DC converter with high power efficiency and low levels of EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference). This converter is used to alter the DC voltage supplied by the power source. Several DC-DC converters of different types and topologies are described and analyzed. Switched converter of buck topology is found to satisfy the design criteria most adequately and therefore is chosen as the solution for the task of the thesis. Three control schemes are analysed PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation), PFM (Phase-Frequency Modulation), and Sliding control. PWM is found to be most appropriate for implementation with this type of converter. Further, basic operation of the buck converter which includes two modes of operation CCM (Continuous-Conduction Mode) and DCM (Discontinuous-Conduction Mode) is described. Power losses associated with it are analysed as well. Finally several techniques for power conversion improvement are presented.</p>

<p>The toxicity of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was measured. When Caco-2 cells from human adenocarcinoma are cultivated on a filter a monolayer is formed with properties similar to human duodenum epithelium. The Caco-2 cells grown on filter were exposed to the environmental contaminants PFOS and PFOA. The effects on the Caco-2 epithelium were examined by four different methods: trans-epithelial resistance (TEER), leakage of the intracellular protein lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), 14C-mannitol passage through the epithelium and protein content of the epithelium. TEER and C-mannitol passage show the Caco-2 cellmonolayer integrity, LDH leakage gives information of cytotoxicity and protein content of the epithelium shows cell adhension to the filter.</p><p>In the first study TEER decreased at the highest concentrations of PFOS and PFOA (1Mm). The 14C-mannitol passage increased at the highest PFOS concentration. No cytotoxicity was shown and protein-loss was not observed. The second study with PFOS doses of 0, 1, 10, 100 and 500µM and 1 and 10mM showed that the effect of PFOS on TEER was dose-dependent. The 14C-mannitol passage was very high at the highest PFOS-concentration (10mM) and a dose-response was indicated. No cytotoxicity was demonstrated and protein-quantity was not affected. In the third study it was demonstrated that the toxicity of PFOS did not depend on the different concentrations of the oil-emulsion used to dissolve PFOS and PFOA.</p>

In this thesis a predefined design parameters are used to present theoretical guidelines for design of low voltage, and low power DC-DC converter with high power efficiency and low levels of EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference). This converter is used to alter the DC voltage supplied by the power source. Several DC-DC converters of different types and topologies are described and analyzed. Switched converter of buck topology is found to satisfy the design criteria most adequately and therefore is chosen as the solution for the task of the thesis. Three control schemes are analysed PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation), PFM (Phase-Frequency Modulation), and Sliding control. PWM is found to be most appropriate for implementation with this type of converter. Further, basic operation of the buck converter which includes two modes of operation CCM (Continuous-Conduction Mode) and DCM (Discontinuous-Conduction Mode) is described. Power losses associated with it are analysed as well. Finally several techniques for power conversion improvement are presented.

This study has two purposes: First, the catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) method to produce high performance and high utilization of electrode, and the other is to enhance the fuel cell performance with the heterogeneous carbon fiber bunch framework of stack. First, to establish an ideal electrode structure, there has an intensive triple phase boundaries. We will describe how the procedure of reliable and practical electrode improved following the optimization of (1) the spray system, and (2) the catalyst dispersion. We will also focus (3) modification of the spray system, and (4) electrode performance analysis. In addition, investigate of the single cell performance in heterogeneous carbon fiber bunch framework. We will find that: (1) Increasing the catalyst loading and concentrated the catalyst activation reaction, can be improve the electrode performance and catalyst utilization. (2) Coating a thin conductive layer onto membrane electrode (ME), be a precise hot-pressue process in the Stack and MEA or GDL and ME, can be reduce the contact resistance. Specially, reduce the carbon fiber coverage fraction with electrode area, result the activation reaction decay and ohmic loss obviously. (3) Increasing the gas flow rate, can enhance the mass transfer performance, but increase the pressure of the reaction gas, can¡¦t significant effect on performance. Besides, when the stack is anode side up, seems favorable to the exclusion the generate water of cathode.