Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-12T20:22:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mauro Hinz.pdf: 2658972 bytes, checksum: 50ee82c291499d5ddc390671e05329d4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The outsourcing of computing services has been through constant evolutions in the past years, due to the increase of demand for computing resources. Accordingly, data centers are the main suppliers of computing service and cloud-based computing services provide a new paradigm for the offer and consumption of these computing resources. A substantial motivator for using cloud computing is its pricing model, which enables to charge the customer only for the resources he used, thus adopting a pay-as-you-use cost model. Among cloud-based computing services, the service type Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is the one mostly used by companies that would like to outsource their computing infrastructure. The IaaS service, in most cases, is offered through virtual machines. This paper revisits the cost models used by data centers and analyses the costs of supply of virtual machines based on IaaS. This analysis identifies that electricity represents a considerable portion of this cost and that much of the consumption comes from the use of processors in virtual machines, and that this aspect is not considered in the identified cost models. This paper describes the Virtual Power Model, a cost model based on energy consumption of the processor in cloud-based, virtual machines in IaaS. The model is based on the assumptions of energy consumption vs. processing load, among others, which are proven through experiments in a test environment of a small data center. As a result, the Virtual Power Model proves itself as a fairer pricing model for the consumed resources than the identified models. Finally, a case study is performed to compare the costs charged to a client using the cost model of Amazon for the AWS EC2 service and the same service charged using the Virtual Power Model. / A terceirização dos serviços de computação tem passado por evoluções constantes nos últimos anos em função do contínuo aumento na demanda por recursos computacionais. Neste sentido, os data centers são os principais fornecedores de serviço de computação e os serviços de computação em nuvem proporcionam um novo paradigma na oferta e consumo desses recursos computacionais. Um considerável motivador do uso das nuvens computacionais é o seu modelo de tarifação que possibilita a cobrança do cliente somente dos recursos que ele utilizou, adotando um modelo de custo do tipo pay-as-you-use. Dentre os serviços de computação em nuvem, o serviço do tipo IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) é um dos mais utilizados por empresas que desejam terceirizar a sua infraestrutura computacional. O serviço de IaaS, na grande maioria dos casos, é ofertado através de instâncias de máquinas virtuais. O presente trabalho revisita os modelos de custos empregados em data centers analisando a formação dos custos no fornecimento de máquina virtuais em nuvens baseadas em IaaS. Com base nesta análise identificasse que a energia elétrica possui uma parcela considerável deste custo e que boa parte deste consumo é proveniente do uso de processadores pelas máquinas virtuais, e que esse aspecto não é considerado nos modelos de custos identificados. Este trabalho descreve o Modelo Virtual Power, um modelo de custo baseado no consumo de energia do processador por máquina virtual em nuvens IaaS. A constituição do modelo está baseada nas premissas de consumo de energia vs. carga de processamento, entre outros, que são comprovados através de experimentação em um ambiente de testes em um data center de pequeno porte. Como resultado o Modelo Virtual Power mostra-se mais justo na precificação dos recursos consumidos do que os modelos identificados. Por fim, é realizado um estudo de caso comparando os custos tarifado a um cliente empregando o modelo de custo da Amazon no serviço AWS EC2 e o mesmo serviço tarifado utilizando o Modelo Virtual Power.

This paper presents a method to value the residential real estate portfolio of an economy by summarizing the future discounted values of the net operating income. The motivation for this choice of subject is the concern for a house bubble in Sweden due to the double-digit rise in housing prices which the economy has experienced during many consecutive years. However, the method is general and can be applied anywhere where relevant statistics is available. The challenge to use an income approach to residential real estate valuation lies in the fact that there is no obvious net operating income, as the owner and the end user is in many cases the same person. To solve this challenge, we determine the maximum possible net operating income by taking the households’ disposable incomes and subtracting their expenses. This will be a fictional value for the maximum possible net operating income or the imputed income for real estate owners. When this fictional net operating income is compared to the mean prices of properties, a maximum potential yield to capital invested in residential real estate is extracted. The current number for this maximal potential yield on the Stockholm market seem to be 6,4 percent, 2017. The main contribution of this paper to the science of economy is that it presents a way to use classical fundamental valuation methods to evaluate the price level of residential real estate, that, due to lack of tangible net operating income is not as straightforward as the valuation of the commercial real estate market.

Doctoral thesis Life cycle cost model of an apartment building includes the process of modeling, starting with the theoretical definition and ending up with testing it for practical usage, the error measurement and its recalling abilities. The aim is to construct a model for simulating the life cycle costs of an apartment building during the phase of purchasing it followed with the simulation of life cycle costs having the conditions defined in advance. The method of the model construction shall be found in stating an appropriate representative, setting the entrance parameters and defining the condition under which it is supposed to work. The last step is to test the created model in order to find possible mistakes. Mathematically-statistical methods shall be used for setting the model. Another researching method comprises of creating several exemplary studies which shall correct the costs model and expand its applicability.

Producing the strongest bio-based material called nanocellulose, in the form of filaments, has shown to be technically feasible at lab-scale, but the production costs remain unknown. The research has focused on technical feasibility and less on costs, which is a common phenomenon when developing new technologies. Constructing a Process-Based Cost Model (PBCM) can link the technical aspects of a technology to its costs of production. However, the accuracy of such a model might be dependent on the data availability of the technology. In this study, the technology of producing nanocellulose filaments has been evaluated along the scale of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to understand the maturity of the technology and a PBCM has been constructed to show the economic prerequisites for the production of nanocellulose filaments. The main results indicate that at TRL 4, with parts of TRL 5 fulfilled, parameters such as Capital Expenditures cannot be allocated to unit production cost, only Operational Expenditures. Therefore, the relevant cost elements become material and energy as these constitute the currently available data. The PBCM can thus be used to estimate the production costs of different scenarios while highlighting the areas of future research. In the empirical context of nanocellulose filament production, utilizing deionized water in the production is a more promising option compared to utilizing solvents as the cost of recovering the solvent becomes high. Furthermore, using deionized water also becomes more promising due to the fact that other scenarios have not yet been evaluated experimentally. However, as the technology matures and more data becomes available, the model accuracy will increase as more parameters can be included in the model and the basis increases for decisionmaking regarding techno-economic concerns of the technology. / Produktionen av världens starkaste biobaserade material, nanocellulosa i filamentform, har visat sig vara tekniskt möjligt på labbskala, men produktionskostnaderna är idag okända. Forskning som fokuserar mer på den tekniska genomförbarheten och mindre på produktionskostnader är ett vanligt förekommande fenomen i utveckling av ny teknologi. Genom att konstruera en processbaserad kostnadsmodell (PBCM) kan en teknologis tekniska aspekt länkas till dess produktionskostnader. Dock påverkas en sådan modells noggrannhet av datatillgängligheten för teknologin. I denna studie har teknologin för produktionen av nanocellulosa filament utvärderats längs med Technology Readiness Level (TRL) skalan för att förstå teknologins mognadsgrad. Därefter har en PBCM konstruerats för att visa de ekonomiska förutsättningarna för en produktion av nanocellulosafilamenten på industriell skala. Huvudresultaten indikerar att på TRL 4, med delar av TRL 5 uppfyllda, kan somliga parametrar såsom investeringskostnader inte allokeras till enhetsproduktionskostnaden, utan bara löpande kostnader. De relevanta kostnadselementen blir därför material och energi då dessa utgör den aktuellt tillgängliga datan. PBCM kan därför användas för att beräkna produktionskostnader av olika scenarion och lyfta fram områden för framtida forskning. I den empiriska kontexten av produktionen av nanocellulosafilament är användningen av avjoniserat vatten ett mer lovande alternativ jämfört med användningen av lösningsmedel då kostnaden för återvinningen av lösningsmedlet blir högt. Dessutom är användningen av avjoniserat vatten mer lovande eftersom övriga scenarion inte har testats experimentellt än. Allteftersom teknologin mognar och mer data blir tillgänglig, så kommer modellens noggrannhet öka då fler parametrar kan inkluderas i modellen och därmed kan underlaget öka för beslutsfattning gällande teknoekonomiska frågor om teknologin.

This thesis deals with ray tracing methods and their acceleration. It gives partial study and review of algorithms from classical ray shooting algorithm to recursive approach up to distributed ray tracing algorithm. Significant part of this thesis is devoted to BSP tree structure and its subclass of k-D tree, it shows simple algorithm for its construction and traversal. The rest of thesis is dealing with k-D tree construction techniques, which are based on the right choice of the splitting plane inside the every cell of k-D tree. The techniques upon the thesis is based on are space median, object median and relatively new cost model technique named SAH, otherwise as surface area heuristic. All three techniques are put into testing and performance comparison. In the conclusion the results of tests are reviewed, from where SAH is coming out as a winner.

Project control is essential to ensure that the investment on a project is providing the intended benefits and is valuable to the customers. Previous methods offer project performance monitoring and forecasting tools, but they lack accuracy and the associated techniques omit the project financial risk (any unplanned event that has an impact on schedule and budget); the main factor of project failure. Poor project execution, and particularly failure to control and accurately forecast the project performance, may lead to increased costs, upset customers and eventually loss of market share. These gaps have been filled in this study by the development of novel models that use statistical analysis of the previous project performance, including risk evaluation techniques. The proposed models succeeded in providing remarkably improved forecasts in three project dimensions: duration, cost and resources. The robustness of the models has been verified by testing them on real projects. The results show superiority in terms of accuracy and easy application compared to any existing method, proving that the risk inclusion provides improvement compared to previous studies. The most important features of the models are: risk-based adjustment of the forecasted values, periodic and completion forecasts, statistical processing and holistic approach. The greatest advancements have been made in the cost forecast, for which the risk adjustment inclusion is examined for the first time. The resources (man-hours) forecast is another pioneer element of the proposed models. All the above provide a complete image of the project status and paint the picture of future performance. The models results are fed in a Decision Support System, which highlights the overperforming and underperforming areas of the project. This confirms the proposition that the model results can be used to initiate restorative action. The contribution of this study to the project management field is easy-to-use and accurate models, which include the financial risk and facilitate the project manager’s decisions and actions. Anticipation of the project performance, by considering the risk, can result to significant time and cost savings, crucial for project success.

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Bakgrund: Som en del av den digitala utvecklingen har e-handeln vuxit med stormsteg de senaste åren. Parallellt med denna utveckling finns det ett växande fokus på miljömässig hållbarhet, vilket gör att e-handeln, ur miljösynpunkt, framstår som negativ. Leveranserna för de varor som köps på internet bidrar exempelvis till en stor mängd koldioxidutsläpp. Både företag och konsumenter delar därför ett ansvar att motverka negativ miljöpåverkan som en konsekvens av exempelvis konsumtion. Syfte: Syftet har varit att undersöka svenska e-handelskonsumenters val av och betalningsvilja för ett klimatkompenserat leveransalternativ. Hänsyn har även tagits till konsumenternas grad av miljöengagemang för att avgöra om det har en avgörande betydelse för relationen mellan valet av klimatkompenserat leveransalternativ och betalningsviljan. Tillsammans med syftet utformades fyra frågeställningar med tillhörande hypoteser. Metod: Tvärsnittsstudien omfattades av en enkätundersökning som genomfördes online. Urvalet har varit studenter och totalt samlades 195 användbara enkätsvar in. Regressionsanalyser, inklusive en multipel regressionsanalys med en moderator, har genomförts för att testa hypoteserna. Resultat: Resultatet gav stöd för samtliga hypoteser. 1) E-handelskonsumenter som väljer ett klimatkompenserat leveransalternativ har en större betalningsvilja för ett sådant leveransalternativ. 2) Miljöengagerade e-handelskonsumenter är mer benägna att välja ett klimatkompenserat leveransalternativ. 3) Miljöengagerade e-handelskonsumenter är mer benägna att betala för ett klimatkompenserat leveransalternativ. 4) Graden av miljöengagemang har en modererande effekt på relationen mellan e-handelskonsumenters val av ett klimatkompenserat leveransalternativ och betalningsviljan för ett sådant leveransalternativ. Slutsats och bidrag: Resultatet från studien har kunnat anknytas till teorier från tidigare forskning, där några av dessa berör lågkostnads-/högkostnadsmodellen, självkontrollkapacitet, ekoskuld samt moral licensing. Studien bidrar med insikter på relationen som miljöengagerade e-handelskonsumenter har till klimatkompenserade leveransalternativ. Det är tänkbart att resultatet kan användas av e-handelsföretag och distributörer när det kommer till hur de arbetar med hållbara leveransalternativ och vad som erbjuds e-handelskonsumenter. I och med att studiens resultat tyder på att e-handelskonsumenter, främst de som är miljöengagerade, är villiga att välja samt betala för att få ett klimatkompenserat leveransalternativ, är det därför viktigt att ett sådant alternativ går att välja. / Background: As part of digital development, e-commerce has grown very much the recent years. In parallel with this development, there is a growing focus on environmental sustainability, which makes e-commerce, from an environmental point of view, appear negative. For example, the deliveries of the goods purchased online contribute to a large amount of carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, both companies and consumers share a responsibility to counteract negative environmental impacts as a consequence of, for example, consumption. Purpose: The purpose has been to examine Swedish e-commerce consumers' choice of and willingness to pay for a climate-compensated delivery option. Consideration has also been taken of consumers' degree of environmental commitment to determine whether it is of decisive importance for the relationship between the choice of climate-compensated delivery option and the willingness to pay. Together with the purpose, four research questions were formulated with associated hypotheses. Methodology: The study was conducted with an online survey. The sample was students and a total of 195 useful questionnaire responses were collected. Regression analyzes, including a multiple regression analysis with a moderator, were performed to test the hypotheses. Findings: The results provided support for all hypotheses. 1) E-commerce consumers who choose a climate-compensated delivery alternative have a greater willingness to pay for such a delivery alternative. 2) Environmentally committed e-commerce consumers are more likely to choose a climate-compensated delivery alternative. 3) Environmentally committed e-commerce consumers are more likely to pay for a climate-compensated delivery alternative. 4) The degree of environmental commitment has a moderating effect on the relationship between e-commerce consumers' choice of a climate-compensated delivery alternative and the willingness to pay for such a delivery option. Conclusion and contribution: The results from the study could be linked to theories from previous research, where some of these concern the low-cost / high-cost model, self-control capacity, eco-debt, and moral licensing. The study contributes insights into the relationship that environmentally committed e-commerce consumers have with climate-compensated delivery options. It is possible that the results can be used by e-commerce companies and distributors when it comes to how they work with sustainable delivery options and what is offered to e-commerce consumers. As the results of the study indicate that e-commerce consumers, mainly those who are environmentally committed, are willing to choose and pay for a climate-compensated delivery option, it is therefore important that such an alternative can be chosen. (This paper is written in Swedish.)

What makes real life contractual arrangements? How does the law influence real life contractual arrangements? These are everyday questions for businesspeople and commercial lawyers. The traditional ‘imperative’ view of law assumes that business people contract ‘in the shadow of the law’ and contractual arrangements conform to what the law says. But empirical studies on contract practice suggest that contract law may, in fact, play a very insignificant role in real life contractual arrangements. This thesis provides a sociological view of the role of contract law in real life contractual arrangements in the context of the Vietnamese market. Specifically, this thesis applies an institutional law & economics approach to investigate how social structures of the market influence contractual arrangements to marginalize contract law in the Vietnamese market. Drawing on two surveys of contract behaviour in the Vietnamese market, this thesis finds that real life contractual arrangements respond to the institutional structure of the market as a whole, rather than only ‘the shadow of the law’. Institutional changes in the Vietnamese market suggest that there exists a merchant law system, constituted of traditional moral norms and social structures in the market. This merchant law system continues to order contractual arrangements in the market, despite the introduction of a transplanted contract law system. Disagreeing with the imperative approach, this thesis claims that contract law reform should conform to the institutional structure of the market to reduce transaction costs of contracting and to provide an effective framework for real life contractual arrangements.