The World Wide Web is the most important information space in the world. With the change of the web during the last decade, today’sWeb 2.0 offers everybody the possibility to easily publish information on the web. For instance, everyone can have his own blog, write Wikipedia articles, publish photos on Flickr or post status messages via Twitter. All these services on the web offer users all around the world the opportunity to interchange information and interconnect themselves with other users. However, the information, as it is usually published today, does not offer enough semantics to be machine-processable. As an example, Wikipedia articles are created using the lightweight Wiki markup language and then published as HyperText Markup Language (HTML) files whose semantics can easily be captured by humans, but not machines.

Transportsektorn är en av de sektorer som står för en stor andel utsläpp. Transporter står för cirka en tredjedel av Sveriges utsläpp av växthusgaser. För att minska denna siffra har flera kommunala samt privata initiativ startats. Ett av dem är företaget i fråga som detta arbete är gjort tillsammans med.Huvudsyftet med vårt arbete var att ta fram faktisk data i form av en simulering för att kunna styrka att detta privata initiativ faktiskt var ett grönare alternativ samt att kunna förmedla detta på ett bra och metodiskt sätt för användaren via en prototyp. Simuleringen gjordes på äldre data från företaget på faktiskt körda transporter. Prototypen är ett interaktivt verktyg för användaren för att se vilka effekter deras tänkta agerande kan åstadkomma. Kan man nu med denna prototyp få användare att bli mer villiga att använda sig utav tjänsten? Och är de beredda att betala mer när de ser vilka effekter det skulle ge? Detta undersöktes i form utav en användarundersökning. Vad simuleringen visade var att samlastning av gods är avsevärt mycket bättre gällande Co2-utsläpp, än att transportera godset själv. Utöver detta visade prototypen i samarbete med användarundersökningen att slutanvändare tyckte om utformningen utav prototypen samt att budskapet förmedlades, dvs vilka minskade Co2 utsläpp som kunde göras. Våra resultat visar på att budskapet om Co2:s påverkan hade tagit emot av användarna. Samt att de var villiga att betala 21% högre belopp för dessa typer av tjänster, med motivering att det skulle vara bra för miljön. / The transport sector is one of the sectors that accounts for a large proportion of emissions. The transport sector accounts for about one third of Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce this figure, several municipal and private initiatives have been started. One of them is the company in question with which this work has been written.The main purpose of our work was to produce actual data in the form of a simulation in order to prove that this private initiative was actually a greener alternative, and to be able to convey this in a good and methodical way for the user via a prototype. The simulation is done on older data from the company on actual transports. The prototype is an interactive tool for the user to see what effects their intended actions can bring. With this prototype, can users now be more willing to use the service? And are they prepared to pay more when they see what effects it would give? This was tested in the form of a user survey. This meant that the user was first asked about why they would like to use this form of service and what sums they were prepared to pay for a specific transport.Then they sat down and tested the prototype and entered various transports and goods to transport then saw what effects they had. Then they were asked what they thought of the prototype and the information they received, and what motivations they had to use the service or similar services. Lastly they were asked what amounts they were prepared to pay for this form of service.What the results show is that the simulation resulted in the collective transportation of goods being considerably much better with respect to Co2 emissions, than if it were to be transported by itself. In addition to this, the prototype in collaboration with the user survey showed that end users liked the design of the prototype and that the message that was conveyed, ie which reduced Co2 emissions could be done. This ended with the users' motivations for using this or similar services were similar to before, but this turn Co2 jumped up to one of the leading reasons, even when it wasn't a motivation at all before when they stated before they tested the prototype. As well as they were now willing to pay up to 21% higher amount for these types of services, justifying that it would be good for the environment.

Inadequate discharge planning for individuals with chronic illnesses or injuries is associated with increased readmissions to the hospital or rehabilitation facility where the original treatments were administered. To help ensure the recovery of discharged patients and avoid readmissions, discharge planners guide medication and care processes. The rate of readmissions was high in a stand-alone rehabilitation center due to ineffective discharge plans. Patients, family members, and caregivers lacked knowledge about medications, treatments, and self-care guidelines after the patient left the facility. The purpose of this project was to ascertain the impact of improved discharge processes using the (a) IDEAL Discharge Planning Overview, Process, and Checklist; (b) the teach-back Method training for discharge nurses; and (c) the Postdischarge Rehabilitation Services Follow-Up Tool incorporating telephone calls to all participants during Weeks 1, 2, and 4 postdischarge. Lewin's theory of planned change undergirded this project. According to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data, the rate of readmissions among the 50 participants was 4.4%, compared with 6% (all-facility readmission rate) during the same quarter of the prior year. Findings from this project suggest that reductions in readmissions were associated with improvements in discharge planning, training of caregivers, and the use of national tools to standardize practices in reducing readmissions. The implication of this project for positive social change is that patient-centered inpatient rehabilitation care and patient-centered care following discharge may reduce readmissions, reduce costs, improve reimbursement, and reduce deterioration of patients' conditions postdischarge.

The major objective of this study was to investigate various alternatives for lowering the cost of transporting sugar cane in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. These alternatives included both irrigation and non-irrigation possibilities. Production costs for sugar cane were determined by using studies completed by the USAID-Utah State University study team, budget studies of Senor Carlos Castro of the Guabira' sugar cane mill in Santa Cruz and a study undertaken by Senor Enrique Gomez, a graduate student at Utah State University. A Cane registry commissioned by the National Sugar Cane Commission was used in conjunction with a least-cost transportation model in order to determine a least-cost distribution system for the transport of existing sugar cane production. This model was also used to investigate various alternative for reducing transportation costs to the producers. Analysis of the least-cost transportation studies showed that over $61,000,000 could be saved in transportation costs of "zones of influence" were established for each of the existing mills. Other feasible alternatives were to close the San Aurelio mill and increase the capacity of La Belgica and Guabira' by 25 percent and the development of irrigation projects from rivers in the southern region capable of irrigating 2137 hectares of sugar cane.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(情報学) / 甲第20516号 / 情博第644号 / 新制||情||111(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院情報学研究科数理工学専攻 / (主査)教授 永持 仁, 教授 太田 快人, 教授 山下 信雄 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Informatics / Kyoto University / DFAM

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The concept of a circular economy (CE) has recently gained attention within the field of corporate sustainability, including the textile sector. Although CE-related literature often mentions actors from the outdoor sporting goods industry (OSGI) as forerunners, an analysis of their CE implementation is missing. Thus, in this paper, we attempt to identify the structure of the current state of CE activities in this field. To develop the study, we used a qualitative methodology through content analysis of documents as well as expert interviews, taking an institutional theory (IT) view to support that analysis. Our findings indicate that many outdoor brands and retailers are engaged in practices related to the CE and that homogeneity among these practices varies between moderate to high. Thus, we assume that processes of institutional isomorphism are in place and that there will be increasingly uniform CE practices in the OSGI in the future. Our study not only contributes to a more organised understanding of the diverse CE playing field, as it adds an industry-specific perspective to the literature, but it also helps managers to draw practical implications.

Strawberry production in California is limited by plant diseases such as Macrophomina root rot (caused by Macrophomina phaseolina) and Botrytis fruit rot (BFR) (caused by Botrytis cinerea). Current disease management strategies are compromised due to fumigant regulations or ineffective disease management practices. This thesis investigated methods to potentially improve the management of these two diseases. Host plant resistance evaluations for Macrophomina root rot were conducted for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 growing seasons. Fifty-one strawberry genotypes were screened in two field experiments where plants were inoculated artificially with Macrophomina phaseolina in both seasons. A wide range of plant resistance to Macrophomina root rot was observed. The three most resistant genotypes based on final plant mortality were ‘17C721P606’, ‘Yunuen’, and ‘Xareni’ in 2020-2021; ‘UCD Mojo’, ‘Mariposa’, and ‘Dayana’ in 2021-2022. A summary of similar experiments done in the previous four years showed ‘Osceola’ as highly resistant. Disease severity varied among years for specific genotypes as well as the average final mortality for all genotypes in the experiments. Strong positive associations were found for soil temperature during the first month after planting (R2= 0.79, P2= 0.79, P A survey of BFR levels in commercial strawberry fields with and without fungicide applications was conducted in Santa Maria, CA in 2021 and 2022. Weather stations were installed at each field to collect leaf wetness duration and temperature data and calculate the BFR risk factor based on the Strawberry Advisory System (StAS) developed at the University of Florida. There were no statistically significant differences between fungicide and no-fungicide treatments for both in-field and postharvest BFR incidence in 2021 and in-field BFR incidence in 2022, while no-fungicide treatment showed higher postharvest BFR incidence in 2022. BFR levels were low in both years. In 2021, average in-field BFR incidence for fungicide and no-fungicide treatments were 2.6 ± 0.3% and 2.5 ± 0.4%, respectively. Average postharvest BFR incidence for fungicide and no-fungicide treatments were 1.8 ± 0.2% and 2.0 ± 0.3%, respectively. In 2022, average in-field BFR incidence for fungicide and no-fungicide treatments were 3.0 ± 0.4% and 3.7 ± 0.4%, respectively. Average postharvest BFR incidence for fungicide and no-fungicide treatments were 0.6 ± 0.1% and 1.5 ± 0.2%, respectively. Risk factor from StAS was significantly associated with BFR incidence in 2021, but not in 2022. Screening new strawberry genotypes against Macrophomina root rot should be ongoing as part of a standard process for determining the susceptibility of currently grown and potentially new cultivars. Additional research under more diverse weather conditions is necessary to verify the impacts of reducing fungicide use in BFR management and to validate the use of StAS in making fungicide use decisions in California fields.

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