De Quincey's writing has already been thoroughly examined from the point of view of his critical statements, and attempts have been made to resolve some of the many contradictions which occur in such statements. In this thesis, however, De Quincey's work is approached not from a consideration of critical theory but through an examination of his ideas and techniques as they related to the well established literary and psychological category of the sublime. De Quincey's interpretation of the sublime in literature relates closely to his theory of the literature of power, and provides a central standpoint from which to examine many different aspects of his writing. De Quincey's general application of the theory of sublimity reveals a concentration upon a certain number of fixed formulae which can be used as guidelines to his criticism of literature as well as his own creative processes. De Quincey's ideas relating to sublimity provide, in addition, a religious and philosophical background from which to approach both the areas of criticism and creation. Ideas connected with the sublime also allow a convenient approach to De Quincey's theory of symbolism, his use of opium, and the dreams which haunted his life and became the substance of his creative writing. To observe the close relationship between these various aspects of De Quincey's life and thought is to become aware of the patterns which dominated his literary processes. Having shown the various modes of the sublime as exemplified by De Quincey's works in general, the thesis proceeds to a detailed examination of some passages in his literary criticism as they specifically relate to these modes. The emphasis is not upon the value and meaning of the criticism per se, but rather upon the extent to which it expresses De Quincey's continuing search for the powerful or sublime effect in literature. The critical contexts examined are seen to function on the basic principles already established, and these same principles are then applied to De Quincey's major fiction. The same patterns, involving paradox, symbolism and revelation, are clearly in evidence, and, indeed, reveal the main intention of these works. The English Mail-Coach, The Confessions of an English Opium Eater, and the Suspiria De Profundis are all discussed in considerable detail, and while considerations other than that of the principle of the sublime are included, this principle remains always the basic starting point. From an analysis of the workings of the sublime principle in De Quincey's writing, a new kind of unity becomes apparent in his work, a unity of symbols and images, of mood and emotion. An awareness of this special kind of unity contributes to an understanding of a writer who seems, on many occasions, to be discontinuous, erratic and wildly mistaken. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis introduces a new method especially designed to control the instantaneous power in voltage sourced converters operating under unbalanced conditions, including positive, negative and zero sequence content. A transformation technique, labelled mno transformation, was developed to enable the decomposition of the total instantaneous power flowing on three-phase transmission topologies into constant and oscillating terms. It is applied to three-wire and four-wire schemes, especially accommodating zero sequence unlike previous approaches. Classical and modern electric power theories are presented, particularly focusing on their definitions for adverse AC scenarios. The main mathematical transformations conceived to analyze such situations are summarized, showing their respective advantages and disadvantages. An enhanced instantaneous power theory is introduced. The novel proposed power equations, named mno instantaneous power components, expands the application of the p-q theory, which is attached to the αβ0 transformation. The mno instantaneous power theory is applied to develop an innovative power control method for grid connected voltage sourced converters in order to minimize power oscillations during adverse AC scenarios, particularly with zero sequence content. The method permits to sustain constant instantaneous three-phase power during unbalanced conditions by controlling independently the constant and the oscillating terms related to the instantaneous power. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach and the proposed power conditioning scheme was demonstrated using electromagnetic transient simulation of a VSC connected to an AC system. / May 2017

The CEO bonus of banking companies has become a hot media topic around the world accelerated by the recent financial crisis of 2007-2008 where the excessive pay and risk-taking in the banking sector were recognized. This has raised public concerns around executive remuneration and the transparency of the companies. According to the regulations, the bonus of the CEO is indexed to the firm´s performance. However, the compensation of many CEO’s has been paid out during the financial crisis although the firms have lost money. This has consequently led to rigorous regulations of the financial institutions with the attempt to ensure long-term focus and consider outstanding risk through variable remuneration payments.   Although the remuneration, and specifically annual bonus, has caught a lot of attention by the public and the media, it has been mostly overlooked by regulatory authorities and academics up until today. This research represents the first attempt to examine the disclosure and transparency of CEO annual bonus plans of twenty leading EU banks through the employment of in-depth and descriptive approach.. The purpose of this study is to explore the issue of CEO annual bonus plan with respect to the disclosure of the information provided in the banking companies’ financial reports of 2011. The level of transparency of the companies are scrutinized and measured accordingly to five bonus features, which may contribute to the transparency of annual bonus plans. The bonus plan is regarded as transparent if the majority of the following bonus criteria are fulfilled by the companies; (1) the application of simple targets through a single performance condition; (2) the application of published targets accessible to shareholders; (3) the disclosure of methods applied in order for shareholders and other stakeholders to determine whether the given performance target(s) has been fulfilled; (4) bonus payments in form of cash; (5) the disclosure of annual bonus cap.   The findings of this study show that a significant part of the banks can be considered as non-transparent due to the failure of fulfilling the given bonus plan features, meaning that the issue of disclosure and transparency of annual bonus plans should raise concern for shareholders and regulators, both on the EU-level and nationally. This study evidently shows that the level of information disclosed as to bonus plans of CEO various tremendously between the countries and sometimes also between the companies in the same country, which indicate the issue of disclosure and transparency of annual bonus plans need to be enhanced through regulations.

Orientador: José Antenor Pomilio / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T18:11:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Guerreiro_JoelFilipe_M.pdf: 10178060 bytes, checksum: 342fb378bb2d1fd88084a0360e541d24 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Filtros Ativos de Potência Aeronáuticos (FAPA) são geralmente utilizados para melhoria da Qualidade da Energia em Sistemas Elétricos de Potência Aeronáuticos (SEPA). Os FAPA compensam os harmônicos de corrente, aumentam o fator de potência e minimizam os efeitos de cargas desbalanceadas. Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento, simulação e implementação de um FAPA pra um SEPA avançado de velocidade e frequência variável. O SEPA é muito diferente dos sistemas elétricos residenciais e industriais, nesses sistemas a frequência pode variar de 360 Hz a 800 Hz, além do mais a carga se reconfigura repetidamente. Deste modo, uma estratégia avançada de filtragem ativa é necessária para SEPAs, O FAPA proposto neste trabalho é composto por um inversor multinível do tipo cascata assimétrica, o algoritmo de controle é implementado utilizando a teoria da potência conservativa e a sincronia do FAPA com o SIPA é realizada por meio de um algoritmo PLL com filtro de Kalman. Um protótipo trifásico é implementado para validar ambos o FAPA e as simulações / Abstract: Aircraft Active Power Filters (AAPFs) are most commonly used to improve energy quality in Aircraft Electrical Power Systems (AEPS by means of mitigating current harmonics, improving the source power factor and minimizing the effects of unbalanced loads. This work presents the design, simulation and implementation of a Multilevel AAPF for a Variable Speed Variable Frequency (VSVF) advanced aircraft electric power system. The AEPS is very different than the residential and industrial power systems, in these systems, the frequency may vary between 360 Hz and 800 Hz, and the load dynamics is often modified. For aircraft purposes an enhanced filtering technique is required. The proposed AAPF topology is composed by an Asymmetrical Multilevel Inverter (AMI), controlled by the Conservative Power Theory (CPT) and synchronized by a Kalman Filter Phase-Locked Loop (KF-PLL). A three phase AAPF prototype was implemented in order to investigate the proper system operation and accurateness to the simulations / Mestrado / Energia Eletrica / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

The thesis is an exploratory qualitative analysis of conversations between two out of three leading characters in Woody Allen’s motion picture Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). Due to a perception of invisible power relations, it is hypothesized that what seems like a powerful position in discourse, in fact is an indication of the opposite, and that what seems like a powerless position, is an indication of power. Three features based on scholarship connected to Conversation Analysis (CA), Dyadic Power Theory (DPT) and power relations in verbal interaction are chosen to test the hypotheses: first and second positions in sequences as dicussed by Hutchby (1996), control attempts as elaborated by DPT, and mitigating strategies as argued for by Mullany (2004). Findings confirm the hypotheses, but also reveal ambiguities and contrasting results. Connecting the data to sources based on talk in the private sphere, in particular within family discourse, is mentioned as one way to further illuminate the subject in future research.

In 2018, Revisorsinspektionen (RI) revised the requirements to become an authorized auditor. The new requirement aims to make the education more efficient and to make the auditor profession more attractive. RI considered the previous auditor education both too long and too complicated compared to other high-education professions and sometimes it could take ten years to become an authorized auditor. The reform aims to make it possible for more people to become an auditor because now you only need a bachelor’s degree. The length of the education is now reduced and the bachelor’s degree does not need to be in business administration. The future auditor thus needs less education than today's auditors and not the same demands in business administration. What, in fact, do the RIs stakeholders think of the new requirements to become an authorized auditor? In 2017, RI published a memorandum with proposals for the new requirements and mentioned44 stakeholders who was affected of the revise and gave them a chance to express their opinions. Until 8th of March 2018, 25 organisations had comment on RI revision. The purpose of the study is to examine the stakeholders’ views about the revision of the requirements to become an authorized auditor. By categorize the organisations into stakeholder groups and then analyze every answer, this study contributes with knowledge about which stakeholders’ who had the most influence in the revision. The Comment letters received on RIs memorandum have been categorized by the following stakeholder groups: Authorities, Universities, Accounting firm and Trade association. The results shows that there is different opinions depending on the interest of the organizations and the stakeholder group with least influence were universities. Furthermore the study shows that the universities did not have any influence in the revision and the stakeholders with most influence were the audit firms and authorities. The essay is hereinafter written in Swedish. / Revisorsinspektionen (RI) ändrade 2018 på de formella kraven för att bli auktoriserad revisor. De nya bestämmelserna syftar framförallt allt till att effektivisera utbildningen och göra revisorsyrket mer attraktivt. RI anser att den tidigare revisorsutbildningen var både för lång och komplicerad jämfört med andra kvalificerade akademiska yrken och att det kan ta upp till tio år att bli auktoriserad revisor. Reformen gör det möjligt för fler att bli revisorer eftersom det i nuläget räcker med en valfri kandidatexamen från högskola eller universitetsutbildningens längd reduceras samtidigt som kravet på akademisk examen inom företagsekonomi tas bort. Framtidens revisorer behöver alltså mindre akademisk utbildning än dagens revisorer för att bli auktoriserad och behöver dessutom inte vara ekonomer. Vad har egentligen Revisorsinspektionens intressenter för synpunkter och ställningstagande till de nya reglerna för att bli auktoriserad revisor? RI skickade 2017 ut en promemoria till 44 olika remissinstanser där åsikter och svarefterfrågades på myndighetens framtagna förslag. Av dessa var det till slut 25 instanser som valde att inkomma med remissvar. Syftet med studien är att undersöka intressenters ställningstaganden till de nya utbildningskraven för att bli auktoriserad revisor genom att granska och sammanställa de remissvar som inkom till RI. Dessa intressenter har delats in i olika intressentgrupper utifrån en egen modifierad intressentmodell. Studien har bidragit med att skildra intressenternas ställningstaganden till Ris utbildningsreform. Resultatet visar att det totalt sett var ungefär lika många som tillstyrker som avstyrker förslaget, men inom intressentgrupperna var det mer enhetliga ställningstaganden och det är framförallt lärosätena som är kritiska till reformen. I studiens analys och slutsatser presenteras ett antal mönster bland intressenternas ställningstaganden. Dessutom redogörs för möjliga underliggande orsaker och motiv tillintressenternas ställningstaganden.

As outer space becomes more commercialized, humans have invested more time and efforts into the use and exploration of the outer space domain. Captured by the display of opportunities, space is becoming increasingly overcrowded. Currently, the only framework fully embracing the exploration and use of outer space is the Outer Space Treaty (OST), put forward by the United Nations in 1967. While the OST is detailing how space faring nations ought to peacefully use outer space as a joint arena for technological development, the discourse on outer space governance still experience some serious definitional limitations. This paper examines two interconnected deficiencies in the literature on outer space; first, the insufficient research and development of a space power theory and; second, the absence of, and the challenges in constructing and all- encompassing definition and/or delimitation of outer space. To support the discussion and to reach some definitive conclusions of the current status of these issues, a selection of historical theories and contemporary cases have been applied to enrich the debate. By identifying gaps in the literature, this paper strives to highlight some of the controversies in the outer space discourse.

Balance-of-Power theory was tested by examining the 1977-1978 Ethiopian-Somali conflict and its outcome. The theory, according to Waltz (1979), claims to explain the international outcome arising from realpolitik or power politics, namely, the formation of balances of power. Given the close fit between the major developments leading to the eruption of conflict and the principal propositions of balance-of-power theory, the outcome of the conflict was expected to be consistent with that posited by the theory. This expectation was borne out by the study's finding which indicated that the conflict has produced a similar result. Confirmation of the theory was achieved by further subjecting the finding to the verification test established by Waltz.

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Canesin / Resumo: Nesta tese é apresentado o desenvolvimento inédito de um equipamento de medição de parâmetros de qualidade de energia elétrica embarcado em um dispositivo FPGA, incorporando funcionalidades que o caraterizam como medidor inteligente. Dessa forma, obteve-se uma plataforma capaz de realizar monitoramento e verificação, em tempo real, do comportamento de sistemas de energia elétrica quando estes operam em condições de desequilíbrio, desbalanços, assimetria nos ângulos de defasagem e presença de componentes harmônicas, impostas pelo comportamento das cargas e/ou pelas tensões de alimentação do sistema. Para isso, foram empregadas as metodologias de cálculos de potência definidas pelo padrão IEEE 1459-2010 e a Teoria da Potência Conservativa. Técnicas de processamento digital de sinais são aplicadas para a descrição dos módulos de sincronismo e janelamento, baseados na norma NBR-IEC-61000-4-30:2010, assim como filtros digitais e deslocadores de fase adaptativos para a extração das componentes fundamentais e componentes fundamentais de sequência positiva. Adicionalmente, são detalhados todos os estágios relacionados com o condicionamento e amostragem dos sinais elétricos, cálculos de potência, cálculo de harmônicos, interface de usuário, acesso aos dados e comando para desconexão/religamento de cargas remotas. Os resultados experimentais obtidos em um sistema trifásico a 4 fios, para diferentes cenários de operação, incluindo a presença de elementos de geração distribuída, evidenci... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In this thesis, the development of a novel power quality equipment embedded in an FPGA device, incorporating smart-metering features, is presented. Thus, a platform capable of real-time monitoring and verification of power systems operating under sinusoidal, non-sinusoidal, balanced and / or unbalanced conditions, was obtained. For this purpose, power calculation methods defined by both the IEEE 1459-2010 standard and the Conservative Power Theory (CPT) are reviewed and implemented. Based on NBR-IEC-61000-4-30: 2010 standards, digital signal processing techniques for the synchronization and windowing tasks, as well as, adaptive digital filters and adaptive phase shifters for obtaining the extraction of fundamental components as well as the positive-sequence fundamental components, are applied. Likewise, the complete developed stages regarding conditioning and sampling of electrical signals, power calculations, harmonic component calculations, graphical user interface, remote data access, and disconnection/reconnection commands for remote loads, are detailed. The experimental results obtained from a three-phase 4-wire system, under several operations scenarios, including the presence of distributed generation (DG) elements, highlight the advantages of the implemented methodologies, when compared with commercial power quality analyzers, which use traditional definitions of power quantities. / Doutor

Στην παρούσα διατριβή αναπτύσσονται κατάλληλα μοντέλα για τις επιμέρους μονάδες φωτοβολταϊκού (ΦΒ) συστήματος συνδεδεμένου στο δίκτυο. Στόχος είναι να αντιμετωπιστούν ταυτόχρονα και αποτελεσματικά οι ιδιαιτερότητές του, που οφείλονται στη συμπεριφορά των διακοπτικών στοιχείων και στα μη γραμμικά χαρακτηριστικά της ΦΒ γεννήτριας και του μετασχηματιστή απομόνωσης. Αναπτύσσονται μέθοδοι που αυξάνουν την ταχύτητα εξομοίωσης. Αυτό επιτυγχάνεται με χρήση αυξητικών μοντέλων για τα μη γραμμικά στοιχεία και αποτελεσματικών αλγορίθμων για την αντιμετώπιση της μεταβλητής τοπολογίας. Τα μοντέλα που παρουσιάζονται μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν για συνδεδεμένα στο δίκτυο ΦΒ συστήματα οποιασδήποτε διάταξης. Μέσω εξομοιώσεων της λειτουργίας ενός οικιακού ΦΒ συστήματος συνδεδεμένου στο δίκτυο διερευνάται η ευαισθησία της αρμονικής παραμόρφωσης τάσεων και ρευμάτων σε μεταβολές παραμέτρων του συστήματος. Στη συνέχεια παρουσιάζεται ένα νέο μοντέλο για τη ροή ενέργειας σε κυκλώματα με μη ημιτονοειδείς κυματομορφές. Το μοντέλο παρέχει μαθηματική περιγραφή μέσω του πολυδιανύσματος της ισχύος, το οποίο γεφυρώνει το χάσμα μεταξύ στιγμιαίας και φαινομένης ισχύος, όπως η μιγαδική ισχύς υπό ημιτονοειδείς συνθήκες. Το πολυδιάνυσμα της ισχύος επιτρέπει συστηματική και ενιαία αντιμετώπιση όλων των περιπτώσεων. Το μοντέλο ροής ενέργειας που παρουσιάζεται περιγράφει τις συνιστώσες ισχύος όχι μόνο ποσοτικά, αλλά και ποιοτικά. Από φυσικής πλευράς βασίζεται στη γενίκευση της έννοιας της αμοιβαίας σύζευξης. Η προσέγγιση που ακολουθείται επιτρέπει την φυσική ερμηνεία όλων των συνιστωσών της ισχύος, οι οποίες συνδέονται με μια αναπαράσταση μέσω ισοδυνάμου κυκλώματος. Οι προϋπάρχουσες μέθοδοι μπορούν να προκύψουν ως ειδικές περιπτώσεις του μοντέλου. Η βαθύτερη κατανόηση των φαινομένων ισχύος που παρέχει θέτει το θεωρητικό υπόβαθρο για την επίλυση πρακτικών προβλημάτων, όπως η αντιστάθμιση. Ακολούθως εξετάζεται η επιλογή του βέλτιστου μεγέθους παθητικών φίλτρων με παράλληλους συντονιζόμενους κλάδους. Η διερεύνηση λαμβάνει υπόψη όχι μόνο πηγές αρμονικών ρευμάτων λόγω μη γραμμικών φορτίων αλλά και την παρουσία προϋπάρχουσας αρμονικής παραμόρφωσης της τάσης. Μέσω αναλυτικής μεθόδου προκύπτουν εκφράσεις κλειστής μορφής για απλοποιημένες περιπτώσεις. Αυτές μπορούν να βοηθήσουν στην κατανόηση της επίδρασης διαφόρων παραμέτρων. Επίσης διαμορφώνεται η γενικότερη περίπτωση του προβλήματος και αντιμετωπίζεται με Γενετικούς Αλγόριθμους. Μέσα από εκτεταμένες εξομοιώσεις για διάφορα επίπεδα αρμονικών τάσης και ρεύματος, διερευνώνται διεξοδικά οι δυνατότητες των παθητικών φίλτρων. Τα πρακτικά συμπεράσματα που προκύπτουν μπορούν να βοηθήσουν στη λήψη αποφάσεων για τον έλεγχο των αρμονικών σε διάφορες εφαρμογές. / In this thesis, appropriate models for the individual components of a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system are developed. The aim is to simultaneously and efficiently handle its peculiarities, which are due to the switching action of the switching devices and the nonlinear characteristics of the PV generator and the isolation transformer. Methods that increase simulation speed are developed. This is accomplished by using incremental models for the nonlinear components and efficient algorithms to handle the variable topology. The presented models can be used for grid-connected PV systems of any configuration. Through simulations of the performance of a residential grid-connected PV system the sensitivity of the harmonic distortion of voltages and currents to variations in system parameters is investigated. Next, a novel model for the energy flow in circuits with nonsinusoidal waveforms is presented. This model provides a mathematical description through the power multivector, which bridges the gap between the instantaneous and apparent power, like the complex power does under sinusoidal conditions. The power multivector permits a systematic and uniform treatment of all cases. The presented energy flow model describes power components not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. From a physical perspective it is based on the generalization of the concept of mutual coupling. The approach that is followed permits the physical interpretation of all power components, which are associated with an equivalent circuit representation. Pre-existing methods can be derived as special cases of the model. The deeper understanding of power phenomena it provides sets the theoretical foundation for the solution of practical problems, such as compensation. Next, the optimal sizing of shunt, passive, single-tuned filters is examined. The investigation takes into account not only harmonic current sources due to nonlinear loads but also the presence of background voltage harmonic distortion. Through an analytical approach closed-form expressions are derived for simplified cases. These can help in the comprehension of the influence of various parameters. Moreover, the general case of this problem is formulated and solved using Genetic Algorithms. Through extensive simulations for various current and voltage harmonic levels, the potentialities of these filters are thoroughly investigated. The practical conclusions that are drawn can facilitate decisions regarding harmonic control in various applications.