My research considers both the challenges to and opportunities for implementing Smart Growth strategies in the City of Guelph’s urban growth centre, with a particular focus on the St. Patrick’s Ward neighbourhood. I follow the development of the downtown secondary plan-making process, spanning the time period from March 2010 to June 2011, which includes public participation by residents in the St. Patrick’s Ward and the city at large. The plan-making process started prior to, and continues after, my chosen timeframe, but the information collected in my case study brings to light the complexity of drafting a secondary plan for implementing Smart Growth strategies; the plan should ideally establish a framework for local interpretation and implementation of Smart Growth – the widely supported intensification and redevelopment strategy. I take the view that while a plan can be written to code and be argued rationally by experts, its effectiveness and ethical validity is a function of public participation in planning decisions that include values-rational anchoring, i.e. critical and ethical reflection on the value of a goal. Although many guiding principles and recommendations in the draft Plan are based on Smart Growth strategies, the physical scale of urban intensification is today very much focused on density numbers under the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The City of Guelph’s draft Downtown Secondary Plan primarily seeks to facilitate high-density, mid- to high-rise condominium and/or office developments. This may in turn lead to increased spatial segregation based on socioeconomic differences. Like in Toronto, Guelph’s Downtown Secondary Plan deregulates zoning by-laws and reduces bureaucratic ‘red tape’ for the high-density development industry through more flexible policies. Potential socioeconomic consequences like displacement of entire populations, services, and jobs from the newly re-valued places are, however, not addressed in the Plan; the policy language and conceptual thinking appears primarily geared toward redevelopment and infill. The overall lesson learned from studying the plan-making process leading up to the City of Guelph’s 1st Draft Downtown Secondary Plan concerns the role of planning in implementing Smart Growth; being a specific form of urban planning, Smart Growth implementation requires facilitation and education of stakeholders who are willing to compromise, but not beyond the point where “smart” is removed from “growth”. Given the overarching responsibility of the government to drive home this message, every stakeholder working for the public interest must collaboratively define, steer, and direct the process and private interests at each and every step along the road. The case of Guelph demonstrates the difficulty of prioritizing such a responsibility. Thus, potential future pressures to push and undermine Smart Growth’s synergistic and public participatory core value must be monitored and controlled with long-term objectives in mind.

<p>This dissertation explores the theoretical and methodological implications involved in the policy framework needed to intensify urban residential areas in a developing country. Metropolitan Khartoum, Sudan, has been chosen as a case study. The aim of the study is to further our understanding of the implications of transforming a sprawling city form to an intensified form. The objectives are: to identify the factors that have shaped Sudanese urban form in general and Metropolitan Khartoum in specific; to identify the policies that can intensify the urban residential neighborhoods in Metropolitan Khartoum; and, to influence both the demand and requisite housing needs for this intensified form. This research is qualitative in its nature: the complexity of the study problematic required the adoption of a constructivist paradigm as the fundamental set of beliefs. Inductive arguments are used in conjunction with a wide range of methods, including detailed descriptions of Sudan and metropolitan Khartoum, with special emphasis on how local environment, urban challenges, policy, legislation and practices affect the study problematic. The theoretical premises of intensification are reviewed along with development issues, urban infrastructure challenges and opportunities in developing countries and local acceptability of intensification. The different forces that can shape urban forms have been described and the suitability of metropolitan Khartoum, with different general urban intensification policies and practices and of urban management tools in large African cities has been investigated. The outcome of the study provides detail for a discussion of results that work to explain some of the cause and effect of urban sprawl in Metropolitan Khartoum. It also suggests possible change in both policy and regulation to induce successful city reform towards intensification.</p>

Plati tvarkaraščių sudarymo uždavinio sritis yra industrinių, taip vadinamų gamybinių, tvarkarščių sudarymas. Yra trys gaminių tvarkaraščių klasės: darbų fabrikas, atvirasis fabrikas ir srautinis fabrikas. Bendra uždavinio specifikacija gali būti apibrėžta tokiu būdu: yra darbų aibė ir mašinų aibė, kurios tarpusavyje turi sąveikauti tam tikru specifiniu būdu. Paprastai šios problemos yra sunkiai išsprendžiamos tradiciniais (tiksliaisias) metodais. Metaeuristiniai algoritmai dažniausiai pateikia tiktai artimus optimumui sprendinius, tačiau per apibrėžtą laiką. Šiame darbe įgyvendinta keletas metaeuristikų: genetiniai algoritmai (besiskiriantys jų parametrų reikšmėmis) ir tabu paieškos algoritmai (besiskiriantys sprendinio aplinka). Kai kurios genetinio algoritmo strategijos pasiūlytos kaip genetinio algoritmo parametrų tyrimo išvada. Aštuoni algoritmai yra tiriami atsitiktinėms gamybinių tvarkaraščių sudarymo problemoms, lyginant pradinius sprendinius ir minimumus, pasiektus sprendinius ir minimumus, skaičiavimo trukmes ir skirtumą tarp pradinių bei pasiektų sprendinių. Pabaigoje pateikiama išvada apie tai, kad vieno tipo genetiniai parametrai (kryžminimo ir mutacijos lygiai) yra ypač reikalingi algoritmo konvergavimo, diversifikacijos ir intensifikacijos prasme, kito tipo (iteracijų skaičius ir populiacijos dydis) turi priklausyti nuo resursų, trečio tipo (elitizmas) yra geri “buferiai”. Galiausiai, kuomet paprasčiausios formos tabu paieška yra silpnesis konkurentas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / A wide area of scheduling problem is industrial so called shop scheduling. There are three classes of shop scheduling: Job Shop, Open Shop and Flow Shop. General problem specification could be specified as follows: there is set of jobs and set of machines, which should interact with each other in some specific way. Typically these problems are hard to solve in traditional (exact) methods. Metaheuristics algorithms mostly produce only nearby-optima, but in proper time. We implemented several metaheuristics: genetic algorithms (separated by values of their parameters) and several Tabu search algorithms (separated by neighborhood of solution). Some strategies of genetic algorithms are suggested as conclusion of genetic algorithm parameter research. Eight algorithms are examined for random shop scheduling problems in terms of initial solutions and minimum, gained solutions and minimum, processing time and difference between initial and gained solutions. In the end, author concludes, that one kind of genetic parameters (crossover and mutation rates) are especially demanding in sense of algorithm convergence, diversification and intensification aspects, other (number of iterations and population size) should depend on resources, third (elitism) is good “buffers”. Finally, while with its simplest form, Tabu search seems to be less competitive in algorithm effectiveness research, its dynamic modification outperforms all proposed genetic algorithms, but both – tabu search with... [to full text]

Soil degradation and low crop productivity negatively affect the food security of smallholder farmers in West Africa. Various agricultural techniques have been developed as components of food security interventions, but their effectiveness in addressing food insecurity in part depends upon farmers’ willingness to adopt these techniques. Likewise, adoption depends upon the effectiveness of these techniques in fulfilling farmers’ objectives. The institutional and biophysical environments mediate not only the effectiveness of the techniques, but also how farmers value a technique. This study examined the evidence for fertilizer microdosing as a form of agricultural intensification and the socio-economic conditions that influence its adoption among smallholder farmers. A census was conducted in one village in northwest Benin that had recently seen the introduction of fertilizer microdosing. Key household-level determinants of adoption identified in the literature—household resources, household demographics, and access to inputs— were included in the household surveys. Using partial budgeting analysis and yield data from demonstration plots, the relative profitability of fertilizer microdosing was calculated as a necessary condition of adoption. Drawing from farmers’ stories, the potential value of microdosing was contextualized within the larger social and institutional context. Based upon the village census, there was little adoption outside of the research project that introduced microdosing to the village. Households using microdosing (predominantly found within the research project) had, on average, higher socio-economic status, more cultivable land and larger labour forces. Profitability analysis indicated that microdosing was on average less profitable than the point-source application of the recommended dosage rate in Benin (the common alternative). However, farmers still expressed a desire to microdose, due to poorly functioning input markets, poor infrastructure, and lack of access to financial instruments, all of which limited the availability, access and utilization of inorganic fertilizer.

En Afrique de l'Ouest, la diminution brutale de la pluviométrie depuis les années 1970 s'est produite en concomitance avec une augmentation des dommages liés aux inondations. Si une accentuation de la vulnérabilité des populations est indéniable, la question d'une évolution de l'aléa pluviométrique en particulier des pluies les plus intenses reste posée - notamment dans un contexte où le réchauffement climatique devrait s'accompagner d'une intensification du cycle hydrologique globale. Cette thèse s'attache améliorer nos connaissances sur le régime de pluies extrêmes en Afrique de l'Ouest sous-documenté à l'heure actuelle dans les sciences du climat et de l'hydrologie opérationnelle. Le travail s'articule autour des trois objectifs: (i) fournir une vision régionale intégrée de l'organisation spatiale des extrêmes, (ii) étudier l'évolution du régime de précipitations extrêmes en lien avec la variabilité décennale des cumuls pluviométriques annuels, (iii) caractériser les extrêmes pluviométriques en produisant des cartes d'aléa pluviométrique et en étudiant les liens d'échelles entre les extrêmes de pluie à différents résolutions spatio-temporelles. On se base ici sur les données journalières des réseaux nationaux disponibles depuis les années 1950 sur l'Afrique de l'Ouest et actualisées sur le Sahel Central jusqu'en 2010; les données de précipitation à haute résolution disponibles depuis 1990 sur l'observatoire AMMA-CATCH Niger. Les modèles statistiques classiques issus de la théorie des valeurs extrêmes, ont été adaptés pour incorporer des covariables représentant des non-stationnarités spatiales et temporelles dans les pluies extrêmes. On montre la grande robustesse de ces modèles pour estimer les quantiles rares et détecter les tendances régionales dans les séries d'extrêmes. Le cadre théorique des fractales a été utilisé pour modéliser les relations d'échelles spatio-temporelles. On montre ainsi qu'une représentation de type "simple scaling" permet de décrire de manière très satisfaisante ces relations sur la gamme des pas de temps allant de 1 à 24 heures. Les résultats climatologiques confirment que la sécheresse de la fin du XXeme siècle a été avant tout associée à une baisse de l'occurrence des précipitations, leur intensité demeurant relativement inchangée. On note en revanche un comportement singulier sur la dernière décennie durant laquelle un déficit persistant d'occurrence est compensé par une intensification des précipitations qui explique un retour vers une meilleure pluviométrie annuelle, associée cependant à des extrêmes plus marqués et donc porteurs de risque hydrologique.

Les mini ou nanoémulsions sont des systèmes fréquemment rencontrés dans différents domaines : cosmétique, pharmaceutique, biomédical... Plusieurs procédés permettent la préparation de nanoémulsions. Cependant, ils présentent tous des limitations en termes de taille des gouttelettes, d'énergie de mélange, de rapport de viscosité entre les phases dispersées et continues, de gamme de pression à appliquer... Ce travail s'intéresse au développement d'un nouveau dispositif basé sur un écoulement élongationnel pour l'élaboration de miniémulsions de monomères. La démarche a consisté d'abord à étudier l'influence des paramètres liés au procédé proprement dit puis à la formulation du système sur la taille des gouttelettes. Cette étude a permis de comprendre les mécanismes mis en jeu lors de la fragmentation des gouttes. Une analyse dimensionnelle a ensuite été développée afin de corréler les tailles obtenues aux paramètres étudiés, par l'utilisation des nombres adimensionnels appropriés. Finalement, des expériences de synthèse en miniémulsion ont été conduites pour tenter de combiner dans le même dispositif les fonctions d'émulsificateur et de réacteur de polymérisation, dans une perspective d'intensification du procédé.

My research considers both the challenges to and opportunities for implementing Smart Growth strategies in the City of Guelph’s urban growth centre, with a particular focus on the St. Patrick’s Ward neighbourhood. I follow the development of the downtown secondary plan-making process, spanning the time period from March 2010 to June 2011, which includes public participation by residents in the St. Patrick’s Ward and the city at large. The plan-making process started prior to, and continues after, my chosen timeframe, but the information collected in my case study brings to light the complexity of drafting a secondary plan for implementing Smart Growth strategies; the plan should ideally establish a framework for local interpretation and implementation of Smart Growth – the widely supported intensification and redevelopment strategy. I take the view that while a plan can be written to code and be argued rationally by experts, its effectiveness and ethical validity is a function of public participation in planning decisions that include values-rational anchoring, i.e. critical and ethical reflection on the value of a goal. Although many guiding principles and recommendations in the draft Plan are based on Smart Growth strategies, the physical scale of urban intensification is today very much focused on density numbers under the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The City of Guelph’s draft Downtown Secondary Plan primarily seeks to facilitate high-density, mid- to high-rise condominium and/or office developments. This may in turn lead to increased spatial segregation based on socioeconomic differences. Like in Toronto, Guelph’s Downtown Secondary Plan deregulates zoning by-laws and reduces bureaucratic ‘red tape’ for the high-density development industry through more flexible policies. Potential socioeconomic consequences like displacement of entire populations, services, and jobs from the newly re-valued places are, however, not addressed in the Plan; the policy language and conceptual thinking appears primarily geared toward redevelopment and infill. The overall lesson learned from studying the plan-making process leading up to the City of Guelph’s 1st Draft Downtown Secondary Plan concerns the role of planning in implementing Smart Growth; being a specific form of urban planning, Smart Growth implementation requires facilitation and education of stakeholders who are willing to compromise, but not beyond the point where “smart” is removed from “growth”. Given the overarching responsibility of the government to drive home this message, every stakeholder working for the public interest must collaboratively define, steer, and direct the process and private interests at each and every step along the road. The case of Guelph demonstrates the difficulty of prioritizing such a responsibility. Thus, potential future pressures to push and undermine Smart Growth’s synergistic and public participatory core value must be monitored and controlled with long-term objectives in mind.

Submitted by Débora de Avilez Calmon Nogueira da Gama (calmon5@hotmail.com) on 2015-07-06T17:33:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Debora_Calmon_assinada.pdf: 920267 bytes, checksum: f645a0be9d2538f154cc4f3208251710 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by GILSON ROCHA MIRANDA (gilson.miranda@fgv.br) on 2015-07-28T13:00:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Debora_Calmon_assinada.pdf: 920267 bytes, checksum: f645a0be9d2538f154cc4f3208251710 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-07-30T12:56:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Debora_Calmon_assinada.pdf: 920267 bytes, checksum: f645a0be9d2538f154cc4f3208251710 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-30T12:56:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Debora_Calmon_assinada.pdf: 920267 bytes, checksum: f645a0be9d2538f154cc4f3208251710 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-22 / This work analyzes the connection between cattle ranching and deforestation, focusing on the livestock intensification as a method to reduce forest pressure. The first analyze is a business case with cattle ranches over Alta Floresta, where the internal return rate and livestock rate from each property were calculated and then correlated. Following, a study over the Censo Agropecuário 2006 data were realized in order to identify which variables weigh over livestock intensification rates. Results suggest that higher livestock intensification rates are not linked with higher internal return rates, showing the need of financial incentives in order to expand the implementation of this strategy. Furthermore, higher livestock intensification levels have a positive relation with higher deforestation rates within the properties, managers with higher education levels, they are placed where the land prices are higher and have better credit access. / Este trabalho analisa a relação entre pecuária e desmatamento, com enfoque sobre o papel da intensificação de pastagens como método de redução de pressões sobre florestas. Em um primeiro momento, foi realizado um estudo de caso com propriedades que aplicam um sistema de ciclo completo de pecuária em Alta Floresta, onde foram analisadas e correlacionadas as respectivas taxas internas de retorno e taxas de lotação. Em segundo momento, é realizada uma análise com dados do Censo Agropecuário 2006 onde o objetivo é identificar quais características comuns de propriedades de acordo com seu nível intensificação. Os resultados sugerem que níveis de intensificação mais relevantes não significam maior taxa de retorno para pecuaristas de pequeno porte, sugerindo assim que este grupo não tenha incentivos privados à adoção de técnicas de pecuária sustentável. Além disto, observa-se que existe uma relação positiva entre maiores níveis de intensificação e maior nível de desmatamento, assim como as pastagens mais intensificadas possuem dirigentes com melhores níveis educacionais, se encontram em locais onde o preço da terra é mais valorizado e tem melhor acesso ao mercado de crédito.

O ambiente de terras baixas no sul do Brasil é predominantemente explorado com a cultura do arroz irrigado. Baseado em um sistema agrícola pouco diversificado, é comum o uso sucessivo das mesmas áreas ano após ano, com práticas de manejo que envolvem o revolvimento do solo. Isto acarreta em prejuízos tais como a degradação do solo e recursos naturais, além de recorrente baixa rentabilidade da atividade. O cultivo de espécies forrageiras hibernais, associado com o não revolvimento do solo, pode trazer melhorias ao sistema produtivo, seja com seu uso como plantas de cobertura ou com o pastejo animal. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os benefícios e potencialidades que a utilização destas espécies podem proporcionar e, para tanto, dois estudos principais foram realizados. O primeiro, conduzido no município de Cachoeirinha, RS, avaliou o estado de agregação e o incremento do teor de carbono orgânico do solo, comparando cultivos sucessivos de arroz irrigado em um experimento de longa duração. Os tratamentos foram um sistema manejado na forma convencional, com revolvimento do solo, e outros três sob semeadura direta, com coberturas de: azevém, cornichão e vegetação espontânea. Os resultados indicaram que, na camada de 0 a 5 cm de profundidade, os tratamentos sob semeadura direta apresentaram maiores teores de carbono orgânico e agregação do que o convencional. Já na camada de 5 a 10 cm, para os agregados, o tratamento azevém se destacou em relação aos demais. O segundo estudo foi conduzido no município de Cristal, RS. Foram avaliadas a produção animal e de forragem durante três anos no período hibernal, em diferentes combinações de sistemas integrados de produção agropecuária (SIPA). Os cultivos estivais trataram-se de arroz irrigado, soja, capim sudão e campo de sucessão, enquanto as pastagens hibernais consistiram de azevém e consórcios desta espécie com trevo branco e cornichão. Os resultados confirmaram a adaptabilidade destas espécies forrageiras ao ambiente de terras baixas e demonstraram as potencialidades que a exploração pecuária possui, sendo necessários, porém, novos estudos para o melhor ajuste do manejo das áreas. Por fim, foi realizado um terceiro estudo, comparando a relação entre a massa de forragem e altura de pastos hibernais em SIPA conduzidos em terras altas com SIPA em terras baixas. A relação no ambiente de terras baixas é menor, corroborando a necessidade de maiores estudos neste ambiente, visto que as alturas ótimas preconizadas para o manejo do pasto se originam de estudos conduzidos em terras altas. / The lowland environment in Southern Brazil is predominantly explored with the irrigated rice crop. Based on a very low diversified system, in such environment is very common the successive use of the same areas year after year, with management practices that involve soil tillage. This leads to damages such as the degradation of soil and natural resources, in addition to recurrent profitability problems. The insertion of winter pasture species associated with the no-till, as cover crops or for animal grazing, may bring improvements to the system. The objective of the current work was to evaluate the benefits and potentialities that the utilization of such plants can provide. For this, two main studies were performed. The first, conducted in the Cachoeirinha County (Rio Grande do Sul State – RS), evaluated the soil aggregation status and its organic carbon content, by comparing successive irrigated rice croppings in a long-term experiment. The treatments consisted of one system under conventional soil tillage and three others under no-till, being the treatments the following cover crops: Italian ryegrass, birdsfoot trefoil and spontaneous vegetation. The results indicated that, in 0 to 5 cm soil layer, the treatments under no-till presented higher organic carbon contents and greater aggregation, as compared to the conventional system. In the 5 to 10 cm soil layer, the treatment with Italian ryegrass has its aggregation highlighted among the others. The second study was conducted in the Cristal County (RS). The animal and pasture production was evaluated during three years in the winter season, under different combinations of integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS). The summer croppings were irrigated rice, soybean, Sudan grass and a succession field (native pasture), while the winter pastures consisted of Italian ryegrass and its mix with white clover and birdsfoot trefoil. The results confirmed the adaptability and potentiality of such pasture species and livestock exploration in the lowland environment. However, it is needed further studies for a better management adjustment of the areas. Finally, a third study was performed, comparing the relationship between forage mass and winter pasture height in ICLS conducted in highland and lowland. It was demonstrated that in lowland such relationship is lower, corroborating the necessity of more studies in these conditions, because the optimum heights preconized for pasture management are originated from studies conducted in highlands.

Há expectativas entre os demógrafos que a população humana global aumente nos próximos 50 anos alcançando o número de 9,2 bilhões. Esse fenômeno implicará a necessidade de obter 109 hectares de terras adicionais a fim de se produzir alimentos para toda sociedade, ou seja, uma área aproximada ao tamanho do Brasil. Por outro lado, não há essencialmente a quantidade de terras com a qualidade necessária a esta finalidade. Sendo assim, torna-se importante às grandes cidades uma remodelação em suas formas de planejamento urbano envolvendo modelos alternativos e assistenciais à fomentação da produção de alimentos, tendo como junção o rural com o urbano. É sob essa perspectiva que o presente trabalho tem como objetivo esboçar uma discussão sobre a importância dos sistemas de produção rural verticalizados para a manutenção da oferta de alimentos, equilíbrio dos preços médios e o bem estar às gerações futuras. Para tanto, o método utilizado para averiguação de viabilidade desse modelo verticalizado de produção rural foi uma pesquisa in locu na Companhia Alterrus Vertical Crop localizado em Vancouver – Canadá sob a condição observatório participante aplicando o Teste NCIC. Os resultados desse trabalho mostraram uma viabilidade econômica favorável à implantação de modelos verticalizados de produção rural em grandes centros urbanos, bem como uma discussão por meio de uma matriz SWOT das principais virtudes desse modelo ressaltando os pontos fortes, fracos, oportunidades e ameaças ao que se pode definir como modelos horizontais de produção rural. / There are expectations among demographers that the global human population increase in the next 50 years reaching number 9.2 billion. This phenomenon will lead to the need for 109 acres of additional land in order, to produce food for the entire society, in other words, an area approximately the size of Brazil. Moreover, there is essentially to the amount of land required quality for this purpose. Thus , it - is important to the big cities a reshuffle in its forms of alternative models involving urban planning and the fostering care of food production , with the junction rural with urban . It is from this perspective that this paper aims to outline a discussion on the importance of production systems to rural upright representing the maintenance of food supply, balance of average prices and welfare for future generations. Therefore, the method used to investigate the viability of this vertical model of rural production was a survey in locus Alterrus Vertical Crop the Company located in Vancouver - Canada under the condition observatory participant applying Test NCIC. The results of this study showed a favorable economic viability of the deployment models upright rural production in large urban centers, as well as a discussion through a SWOT matrix of the main virtues of this model highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that can compare to models horizontal rural production.