Our society is heavily dependent on commodities, as water and electricity, supplied to final users by engineered systems, which are known as critical infrastructures. In such context, the understanding of how such systems handle damaging events is an important aspect and is a current concern of researchers, public agents, and society. How much of performance a system loses due to damages is related to its vulnerability, and the ability to absorb and recover successfully from damages is its resilience. In this study, approaches to assess the vulnerability and resilience of power distribution systems by evaluating dynamic features, as the processes of failure and repair, and system reconfiguration for vulnerability, and the effects of extreme weather scenarios for resilience together with the processes of failure of repair are presented. Such approaches were applied on systems previously presented in the literature, and also on a Brazilian power distribution system. A Monte Carlo simulation was applied to evaluate this systems, models for time-to-failure and time-to-repair under different circumstances were obtained from historical data, and a method to use the models of time-to-failure during the vulnerability analysis was introduced. In addition, an assessment of the impact of reconfiguration capability on vulnerability is also carried out, and a resilience assessment under different climate scenarios has been developed. The time-to-failure and repair models highlighted how external factors modifies the Brazilian system failure and repair dynamics, the use of time-to-failure models during vulnerability analysis showed that the consideration of the failure dynamic of the types of elements give different results, and the time domain allows new analysis\' perspectives. The investigation indicated that the vulnerability reduction due to reconfiguration is affected by the number of switches and also the maximum load capacity of the distribution system feeders. The resilience assessment showed that for structural connectivity, larger distribution networks are less resilient, while for electricity delivery, a set of features, related with the topological and electrical organization of such networks, seems to be associated with the network service resilience, such information is useful for system planning and management. The dynamics evaluated in this study are relevant to vulnerability and resilience of such systems, and also to other critical infrastructures. Moreover, the developed approaches can be applied to other systems, as transportation and water distribution. In future studies, other power distribution systems features, as distributed generation and energy storage, will be considered in both, vulnerability and resilience analysis. / Nossa sociedade é altamente dependente de commodities, como água e eletricidade, fornecidas para os usuários por sistemas de engenharia, conhecidos como infraestruturas críticas. A compreensão de como tais sistemas lidam com eventos prejudiciais é uma preocupação atual de pesquisadores, agentes públicos e sociedade. A perda de desempenho de um sistema devido a danos é relacionada à sua vulnerabilidade, e a capacidade de absorver e se recuperar dos danos é a resiliência. Neste estudo, são apresentadas abordagens para avaliar a vulnerabilidade e resiliência de sistemas de distribuição de energia considerando características dinâmicas, como os processos de falha e reconfiguração do sistema, para a vulnerabilidade, e os efeitos de climas extremos na resiliência com os processos de falha e reparo. Tais abordagens foram aplicadas em sistemas previamente apresentados na literatura, e também em um sistema brasileiro. Simulação de Monte Carlo foi utilizada para avaliar as dinâmicas de falha e reparo do sistema utilizando de modelos obtidos a partir de dados históricos, e um método para usar os modelos de tempo-até-falha durante a análise de vulnerabilidade também foi apresentado. Além disso, uma avaliação do impacto da dinâmica de reconfiguração na vulnerabilidade foi realizada e uma avaliação de resiliência sob diferentes cenários climáticos foi desenvolvida. Os modelos tempo-para-falha e reparo destacaram como fatores externos modificam as dinâmicas de falha e reparo do sistema brasileiro, o uso de modelos de confiabilidade na análise de vulnerabilidades mostrou que a consideração dos diferentes tipos de elementos geram resultados diferentes e o domínio de tempo permite novas perspectivas de análise. A investigação da reconfiguração indicou que a redução da vulnerabilidade devido à reconfiguração é afetada pelo número de chaves e também pela máxima capacidade de carga dos alimentadores do sistema de distribuição. A avaliação de resiliência mostrou que, para conectividade estrutural, redes de distribuição maiores são menos resilientes, enquanto que para fornecimento de energia, um conjunto de características, relacionados com a organização topológica e elétrica dessas redes parece ser associado à resiliência do serviço, informação útil para o planejamento. As dinâmicas avaliadas neste estudo são relevantes para a vulnerabilidade e resiliência de tais sistemas, e também para outras infraestruturas críticas. Além disso, essas abordagens podem ser aplicadas a outros sistemas, como transporte e distribuição de água. Em estudos futuros, outras características de sistemas de distribuição de energia, como geração distribuída e armazenamento de energia, serão consideradas nas análises de vulnerabilidade e resiliência.

Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Silvana Maria Zioni / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Planejamento e Gestão do Território, 2015. / Esta dissertação consiste em uma reflexão sobre os sistemas urbanos que estruturam a cidade, nomeadamente de que modo as decisões globais sobre os mesmos transformam as dinâmicas dos espaços locais. Tomando como pretexto e ponto de partida os espaços residuais de infraestruturas viárias urbanas, apresenta um estudo acerca dos espaços públicos que sobraram no processo de planejamento urbanístico. Aborda os locais considerados como restos ou sobras de urbanização; resultantes do processo de implantação e construção de grandes infraestruturas, áreas que perderam sua identidade enquanto parte da vida da cidade. Duas visões opostas geralmente polarizam a discussão sobre estes espaços. A primeira, em relação ao desperdício que eles representam na cidade. A segunda, pelo contrário, destaca o seu potencial interesse como espaços de liberdade em um ambiente urbano, que é cada vez mais padronizado e regulamentado. A partir do entendimento de que esse processo de produção de espaços residuais é cheio de contradições e tensões, esta pesquisa procura compreender quais seriam os agentes e os processos em sua origem. Para isso, são investigadas as possibilidades de apropriação existentes em espaços remanescentes de intervenções urbanísticas e obras de infraestrutura, especialmente na região central da cidade de São Paulo, e para aferições de resultados, elege o Centro Cultural de São Paulo, a Praça Roosevelt, o Elevado Costa e Silva, e o Viaduto do Café, como exemplos e referências contextuais para o desenvolvimento do tema ¿ surgimentos de espaços residuais urbanos. / This dissertation consists of a reflection on urban systems that structure the city, including how global decisions on them transform the dynamics of local spaces. Taking as a pretext and starting point the residual spaces of urban road infrastructure, a study of public spaces left over in the urban planning process. The study addresses the sites considered to be debris or urbanization remains; resulting from the process of implementation and construction of major infrastructure, areas that have lost their identity as part of city life. Two opposing visions generally polarize the discussion about these spaces. First, regarding the waste in the city they represent. The second, on the contrary, highlights their potential interest as spaces of freedom in an urban environment, which is increasingly standardized and regulated. From the understanding that this waste spaces production process is full of contradictions and tensions, this research seeks to understand what are the agents and processes in origin. This research investigates the existing ownership opportunities in remaining spaces of urban interventions and infrastructure, especially in the central region of São Paulo, and measurements of results, elects the Cultural Center of São Paulo, the Roosevelt Square, the Elevado Costa e Silva - Minhocão, and the Viaduto do Café, as exemple and contextual references to the issue of development - arisings of urban residual spaces.

Au cours des 60 dernières années le développement des infrastructures de transports (Autoroutes, Lignes Grandes Vitesse, Nationales doubles voies) a fragmenté l'habitat des cerfs élaphe (Cervus elaphus). D'après les observations naturalistes, cette anthropisation a causé la fragmentation de deux populations géographiques existantes en sept dans la partie Sud et d'une en trois dans la partie Nord. Afin d'évaluer l'impact de ces infrastructures sur la structuration génétique de ces populations de cerfs, nous avons échantillonné chacune de ces populations grâce à la coopération de trois fédérations de chasse. Le cours laps de temps écoulé depuis la construction de ces infrastructures nous a conduits à choisir comme marqueurs moléculaires les microsatellites, efficaces dans l'inférence d'évènements récents. Les nouvelles techniques de séquençages (NGS) permettent d'obtenir d'importants jeux de données rapidement, nous avons choisi d'utiliser ces méthodes de séquençage pour obtenir nos données. Aucun logiciel ne permettant de traiter les données de séquençage haut débit des microsatellites pour des espèces dont le génome n'est pas complètement séquencé, nous avons alors réalisé un programme, MicNeSs qui permet de génotyper rapidement et objectivement (sans intervention humaine) un grand nombre d'individus et de locus. Nous avons utilisé MicNeSs pour génotyper 345 individus pour 17 locus microsatellites. A partir de ce jeu de données, nous avons montré l'existence d'une structuration génétique des populations de cerfs élaphe en Île-de-France en liaison avec les infrastructures routières et ferroviaires. Nous avons mis en évidence un effet fort des jumelages autoroutes/LGV et une efficacité différentielle des passages grande faune de 2ème et 3ème génération sur les populations de cerfs élaphe en Île-de-France. / During the last 60 years, the development of urban areas, main roads, highways and railways in Île de France, has fragmented the habitat of the red deer (Cervus elaphus). According to naturalistic observations, it caused the fragmentation of the two existing putative populations in the South in to seven putative populations and one in three in the North.In order to estimate the impact of the infrastructure on the genetic structure of these populations we sampled each of the putative population with the help of three hunting societies. Due to the short time passed since the first highway construction we chose microsatellite loci as molecular markers, efficient in the inference of recent events. The next generation sequencing (NGS) enable to have quickly important data set, we chose to use this technic to obtain our data. No software permits to treat microsatellites data from NGS for the species without complete genome, we made one program, MicNeSs which genotypes quickly and objectively a lot of individuals and loci. We used MicNeSs to genotype 345 individuals for 17 microsatellite loci. With this data set we showed the presence of a genetic structure of the red deer populations in association with the road and rail infrastructure. We highlighted a strong impact of the paired of highway/railway and a differential efficiency of the wildlife passages of the second and third generation on the red deer populations in Île-de-France.

Complex socio-technical problems such as climate change and the opioid epidemic strain current conceptions of public problem solving. Practitioners, including technical communication researchers, need methods that address immediate needs while supporting sustained community and policy response. Drawing on new materialist theory, technical communication research methods, and participatory research design, I trace the 2015 outbreak of HIV in Scott County, Indiana, and the subsequent passage of syringe exchange legislation, to craft frameworks for collaborative research calibrated to the messiness of wicked problems. My study draws on analysis of publicly available documents related to the outbreak, and interviews with public health practitioners, and community activists in order to identify sensitizing metaphors, and map how different metaphors organize work. Mapping these differences, and the networks they create for policy-making, operational response and research makes visible the embedded work of technical communication. I hope my research will help scholars and practitioners work more closely and communicate more effectively with more interdisciplinary and diverse audiences, contributing to critical scholarship that builds better communities. <br>

Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls retain soil on steep, unstable slopes with crest loads. Over the last decade, they are becoming quite popular due to their low cost-to-benefit ratio, design flexibility, and ease of construction. Like any civil infrastructure, MSE walls need to be continuously monitored according to transportation asset management criteria during and after the construction stage to ensure that their expected serviceability measures are met and to detect design and/or construction issues, which could lead to structural failure. Current approaches for monitoring MSE walls are mostly qualitative (e.g., visual inspection or examination). Besides being time consuming, visual inspection might have inconsistencies due to human subjectivity. Other monitoring approaches are based on using total station, geotechnical field instrumentations, and/or Static Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS). These instruments are capable of providing highly accurate, reliable performance measures. However, the underlying data acquisition and processing strategies are time-consuming and are not scalable. This research focuses on a comprehensive strategy using a Mobile LiDAR Mapping System (MLS) for the acquisition and processing of point clouds covering the MSE wall. The strategy produces standard serviceability measures, as defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) – e.g., longitudinal and transversal angular distortions. It also delivers a set of recently developed measures (e.g., out-of-plane offsets and 3D position/orientation deviations for individual panels constituting the MSE wall). Moreover, it is also capable of handling MSE walls with smooth or textured panels with the latter being the focus of this research due to its more challenging nature. For this study, an ultra-high-accuracy wheel-based MLS has been developed to efficiently acquire reliable data conducive to the development of the standard and new serviceability measures. To illustrate the feasibility of the proposed acquisition/processing strategy, two case studies in this research have been conducted with the first one focusing on the comparative performance of static and mobile LiDAR in terms of the agreement of the derived serviceability measures. The second case study aims at illustrating the feasibility of the proposed strategy in handling large textured MSE walls. Results from both case studies confirm the potential of using MLS for efficient, economic, and reliable monitoring of MSE walls.

Increasing computational demand of simulations motivates the use of parallel computing systems. At the same time, this parallelism poses challenges to application developers. The Message Passing Interface (MPI) is a de-facto standard for distributed memory programming in high performance computing. However, its use also enables complex parallel programing errors such as races, communication errors, and deadlocks. Automatic tools can assist application developers in the detection and removal of such errors. This thesis considers tools that detect such errors during an application run and advances them towards a combination of both precise checks (neither false positives nor false negatives) and scalability. This includes novel hierarchical checks that provide scalability, as well as a formal basis for a distributed deadlock detection approach. At the same time, the development of parallel runtime tools is challenging and time consuming, especially if scalability and portability are key design goals. Current tool development projects often create similar tool components, while component reuse remains low. To provide a perspective towards more efficient tool development, which simplifies scalable implementations, component reuse, and tool integration, this thesis proposes an abstraction for a parallel tools infrastructure along with a prototype implementation. This abstraction overcomes the use of multiple interfaces for different types of tool functionality, which limit flexible component reuse. Thus, this thesis advances runtime error detection tools and uses their redesign and their increased scalability requirements to apply and evaluate a novel tool infrastructure abstraction. The new abstraction ultimately allows developers to focus on their tool functionality, rather than on developing or integrating common tool components. The use of such an abstraction in wide ranges of parallel runtime tool development projects could greatly increase component reuse. Thus, decreasing tool development time and cost. An application study with up to 16,384 application processes demonstrates the applicability of both the proposed runtime correctness concepts and of the proposed tools infrastructure.

Due to the considerable advantages of cloud computing, such as cost efficiency, flexibility, and scalability, the technology has transformed the means of IT service provisioning. To realize the proclaimed benefits, critical infrastructure providers, as the backbone of societal life, increasingly deploy their IT services, processes, and functions in cloud environments. However, as the control over the underlying cloud infrastructure and the corresponding security measures is delegated to the cloud provider, the outsourcing to cloud environments exposes critical infrastructures to security risks. This is especially crucial since critical infrastructures highly rely on IT systems for dependable service provisioning. In addition, each cloud deployment is afflicted with individual risks depending on the selected cloud service and deployment model. Due to the strict requirements and regulations regarding the IT security of their landscapes, the management of IT security risks related to the adoption of cloud services is of significant importance for critical infrastructures. Thus, the objective of this thesis is to examine the IT security risk management of cloud services in critical infrastructures. For this purpose, frameworks, conceptual models, prototypical tools, action recommendations, and implications are developed. Besides the investigation of the status quo of cloud computing service adoption in German critical infrastructures, implications and methods for an adequate management of IT security and the corresponding risks resulting from the adoption of cloud computing services are derived. Further, in the context of the interaction between critical infrastructure and cloud computing service providers, the role of trust is examined. In addition, frameworks and prototypes for a tool support for the IT security risk management of cloud services in critical infrastructures are developed. As an underlying analytical framework, a multi-method approach is chosen to examine the field from a behavioral- as well as a design-oriented perspective by applying various qualitative and quantitative research methods. The results of this dissertation can support decision makers and researchers in the field of the IT security risk management of cloud computing services in critical infrastructures.

Au cours des dernières années, l’utilisation des téléphones portables et tablettes s’est vue croitre de façon significative. De plus, la disponibilité et l’ubiquité de l’accès sans fil a permis de créer un environnement dans lequel les utilisateurs partout où ils sont accèdent en tout temps à des services se trouvant dans le cloud. Cet environnement appelé cloud sans fil consomme une quantité d’énergie significative et est responsable d’émissions considérables en carbone. Cette consommation massive d’énergie et émissions en carbone deviennent un problème majeur dans le secteur des technologies de la communication. Dans ce contexte, nous nous intéressons dans cette thèse à la réduction de la consommation d’énergie et des empreintes en carbone des réseaux d’accès de type mesh et réseaux de campus ainsi que les data centers des infrastructures cloud. Dans la première partie, nous nous intéressons aux réseaux mesh de type TDMA. Nous proposons des solutions pour le problème de routage et ordonnancement des liens qui permettent de réduire la consommation d’énergie dans le réseau. Nous étendons par la suite cette approche pour les réseaux de campus dans un contexte compatible avec le paradigme SDN. Dans la deuxième partie, nous nous intéressons à la réduction de la consommation l’énergie et des empreintes en carbone des infrastructures cloud distribuées, avec des couts variables de l’électricité et d’émission en carbone. Nous proposons des approches d’optimisations dans deux cas de figures : le cas d’un fournisseur cloud souhaitant réduire ses couts et dans le cas où les utilisateurs cloud spécifient des contraintes en carbone sous forme de Green SLA. / Over the last decade, there has been an increasing use of personal wireless devices, such as laptops, smartphones and tablets. The widespread availability of wireless access created an environment in which anywhere at anytime users access data and services hosted in cloud infrastructures. However, such wireless cloud network consumes a non-negligible amount of energy and generates a considerable amount of carbon, which is becoming a major concern in IT industry. In this context, we address the problem of reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint, as well as building green infrastructures in the two different parts of the wireless cloud: (i) wireless access networks including wireless mesh and campus networks, and (ii) data centers in a cloud infrastructure. In the first part of the thesis, we present an energy-efficient framework for joint routing and link scheduling in multihop TDMA-based wireless networks. At a later stage, we extended this framework to cover campus networks using the emerging Software Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm. In the second part of this thesis, we address the problem of reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint of cloud infrastructures. Specifically, we propose optimization approaches for reducing the energy costs and carbon emissions of a cloud provider owning distributed infrastructures of data centers with variable electricity prices and carbon emissions in two different setups: the case of a cloud provider trying to reduce its carbon emissions and operational costs as well as the case where green constraints are specified by the cloud consumers in the form of Green SLAs.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to undergo a rapid digital transformation, including a shift towards remote-hybrid work structures. This has disrupted traditional ways of working, including strategic knowledge management (SKM). Effective SKM is crucial for organizations to succeed under remote-hybrid working arrangements and requires modernization of knowledge management strategies. Despite significant research on SKM and remote-hybrid work separately, there is a lack of understanding of how remote- hybrid work structures affect SKM, and the development of effective strategies to manage strategic knowledge in this new digital environment. Purpose: This thesis aims to investigate how remote-hybrid work structures influence the management of strategic knowledge in organizations. It aims to bridge the fields of SKM and hybrid organizations by exploring how organizations can design their infrastructures and processes to succeed with SKM under a remote-hybrid work structure. Method: This study adopts a critical realism research philosophy, an abductive research approach, and an exploratory single case study design to explore SKM in the context of remote- hybrid work structures. Data was collected through seven semi-structured interviews with CEOs and partners at different offices of the case company, as well as four observation sessions. The analysis of data was conducted in three steps, namely empirical analysis, abstraction, and retroduction. Conclusion: This study offers a unique perspective on the relationship between remote-hybrid work structures and SKM processes in organizations. By highlighting the importance of digital infrastructure and knowledge-sharing culture, the study identifies key factors for successfully managing strategic knowledge in this new work context. The study also provides a new conceptual framework that bridges the fields of remote-hybrid work and SKM, emphasizing the interlinks between infrastructures, organizational culture, and SKM processes. These insights provide a valuable contribution to both SKM research and practical implications for managers seeking to design effective SKM infrastructures and processes that provide a strategic advantage.

Elevated railway structures (ERS) has for more than a century been evolving as an urban archetype. Present in various forms in cities across the globe, to transport the increasing number of citizens, ERS are urban infrastructures that perform a vital role in curbing congestion and pollution that plague cities so often. In spite of their sustainable transport benefits, ERS are often viewed negatively as noisy, ugly and severing urban form, amongst other problems which will be elaborated on - problematising ERS. A theorisation of these problems follows, looking at ERS as an urban type, an infrastructural typeand other typologies. 39 types of ERS interventions are described as the result of a global literary and experiential search of various instances of ERS and projects that seek their urban integration. It is a search for the potentials of ERS to contribute to urban life and urban form, beyond their main transport function - potentializing ERS.