Some highway agencies in the United States are experiencing frequent distresses in asphalt pavements on bridge approaches/departures. Commonly observed distresses include alligator cracking and rutting, which reduce roadway smoothness and safety. To lessen the distresses in pavements it is needed to investigate the extent and root causes of the problem. Based on Florida highway conditions, this research study mainly focused on1. Literature review and identification of the extent of the problem; 2. Collection of relevant pavement condition data and descriptive analysis; 3. Development of statistical models to determine factors influencing the distresses in asphalt pavements on bridge approaches/departures. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first study that uses a statistical model to determine the factors that are responsible for causing asphalt pavement distresses on bridge approaches/departures. As part of the literature review, a nationwide questionnaire survey was targeted towards U.S state DOTs. The data collection and analysis specific to the Florida highways found that in 2015 on Florida Interstate highways, about 27% bridges with asphalt pavements on their approaches/departures showed signs of cracking, and about 20% bridges have noticeable rutting in their approach or departure pavements. A random parameter linear regression model was applied to examine the factors that may influence distresses in asphalt pavements in Florida. Pavement condition was evaluated based on the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) 2015 pavement condition data and video log images, and other relevant data were collected from various sources such as FDOT Roadway Characteristics Inventory (RCI) database, FDOT pavement management reports, and FDOT Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey reports. A constraint existed in the availability of the GPR data that can give pavement layer thickness, which limited the number of bridge approach pavement sections included in the statistical modeling. Based on the limited data, the estimated results from the random parameter linear regression model showed that the variables influencing distresses in asphalt pavements on bridge approaches/departures, in terms of rutting and roughness, may include pavement age, annual average daily truck traffic, and surface friction course.

Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about their foods and more particularly, the origin of their foods and the ingredients they contain. In light of the demand for additional origin information, the 100% Canadian milk branding initiative was launched in 2009 as a means of informing consumers about the origin of milk in their dairy products. The information is indicated by the presence of the 100% Canadian milk symbol on dairy products and can be characterized a form of co-branding. The literature on co-branding stipulates that co-branding can result in changed product perceptions either negatively or positively. In addition, the willingness to pay (WTP) literature stipulates that WTP is determined by product attributes and individuals’ characteristics. This thesis therefore seeks to ascertain the factors affecting consumers’ preferences and WTP for products with the 100% Canadian milk symbol. Specifically, the effects of individual characteristics such as health consciousness, patriotic values and risk perceptions on preferences for dairy products with the symbol are evaluated. Concurrently, the study explores the relationship between respondents’ knowledge of the Canadian dairy industry and WTP for the symbol. Data were gathered from a total of 1012 milk and ice cream consumers using two nationwide internet surveys. Estimations are carried out using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) and the Random Parameter Logit models (RPL). The results suggest that consumers in general have positive perceptions of milk and ice cream with the 100% Canadian milk symbol but negatively perceive store brand and organic labels. However, in some cases, combining a store brand label or organic label with the 100% Canadian milk symbol, are shown to alter consumers’ perceptions of the product. Some socio-demographic variables and individual characteristics were also found to be influential in intended purchase behaviours and WTP for milk and ice cream. The findings from this study provide information on consumers’ perceptions and attribute preferences and are expected therefore to contribute to the marketing strategies of the Canadian dairy industry as a whole.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the differences between the study and policy sites impact the performance of benefit function transfer. For this purpose, simulated data are created where all information necessary to conduct the benefit function transfer is available. We consider the six cases of difference between the study and policy sites- scale parameter, substitution possibilities, observable characteristics, population preferences, measurement error in variables, and a case of preference heterogeneity at the study site and fixed preferences at the policy site. These cases of difference were considered one at time and their impact on quality of transfer is investigated. RUM model based on reveled preference was used for this analysis. Function estimated at the study site is transferred to the policy site and willingness to pay for five different cases of policy changes are calculated at the study site. The willingness to pay so calculated is compared with true willingness to pay to evaluate the performance of benefit function transfer. When the study and policy site are different only in terms of scale parameter, equality of estimated and true expected WTP is not rejected for 89.7% or more when the sample size is 1000. Similarly, equality of estimated preference coefficients and true preference coefficients is not rejected for 88.8% or more. In this study, we find that benefit transfer performs better only in one direction. When the function is estimated at lower scale and transferred to the policy site with higher scale, the transfer error is less in magnitude than those which are estimated at higher scale and transferred to the policy site with lower scale. This study also finds that transfer error is less when the function from the study site having more site substitutes is transferred to the policy site having less site substitutes whenever there is difference in site substitution possibilities. Transfer error is magnified when measurement error is involved in any of the variables. This study do not suggest function transfer whenever the study site's model is missing one of the important variable at the policy site or whenever the data on variables included in study site's model is not available at the policy site for benefit transfer application. This study also suggests the use of large representative sample with sufficient variation to minimize transfer error in benefit transfer. / Master of Science

Ce sujet de thèse s'intéresse à l'étude des effets des charges aérodynamiques sur le comportement dynamique non linéaire d'une éolienne à axe vertical de type Darrieus. Cette dernière présente, comparativement aux autres éoliennes, des profits très importants à exploiter, notamment dans les milieux urbains. Il s'agit d'une technologie fiable caractérisée surtout par son fonctionnement omnidirectionnel ainsi que son adaptation à tout type de vent. Généralement, ces éoliennes, ayant des phénomènes aérodynamiques complexes, sont affectées par des vibrations au niveau de leur système de transmission de puissance. En fait, ces vibrations commencent à se manifester à partir des pales du rotor jusqu'au génératrice. L'écoulement autour de ses pales présente également un fort caractère instationnaire. Cette caractéristique augmente d'avantage les vibrations aérodynamiques, qui sont automatiquement transmise au système d'engrenage d'éolienne. À ce niveau, nous avons développé un code de calcul numérique permettant de simuler la complexité des aspects aérodynamiques instationnaires tout en gardant un compromis entre la fiabilité des prédictions et la rapidité de calcul. Les simulations sont réalisées suivant une méthode de mécanique des fluides numérique (CFD) instationnaire bidimensionnel. Les résultats de simulation comparés avec ceux disponibles dans la littérature sont en bonne concordance, le rendement aérodynamique étant optimisé, qui présente un apport scientifique notable. Cette étude numérique a été l'objectif de l'analyse de l'impact des charges aérodynamiques vis-à-vis le comportement dynamique du système d'engrenage de l'éolienne en régime non-stationnaire. Dans ce contexte, une étude paramétrique a été développée afin d'établir le fonctionnement optimal de l'éolienne, caractérisé par un couple aérodynamique plus performant associé à des niveaux de vibrations dynamiques acceptables. En général, il est difficile d'identifier précisément la réponse dynamique des éoliennes à cause du caractère turbulent et stochastique des charges aérodynamiques. Par conséquent, il est indispensable de tenir en compte la variabilité des paramètres d'entrée pour assurer la robustesse du système étudié. Adoptons l'objectif de dimensionnement robuste. Une méthode d'évaluation basée sur des approches stochastiques, particulièrement la méthode du Chaos Polynomial, est utilisée pour simuler le comportement dynamique non-linéaire du système d'engrenage d'éolienne, en tenant compte des incertitudes. Ces dernières sont au niveau des charges aérodynamiques, inhérentes au calcul des niveaux vibratoires du système d'engrenage. Ce qui implique un apport scientifique important. Les résultats obtenus par l'approximation par Chaos Polynomial démontrent une forte dispersion des charges aérodynamiques aléatoires dans la réponse dynamique du système d'engrenage, contrairement aux études déterministes. Ce qui prouve l'insuffisance de telles études pour une analyse de robustesse. Les résultats mettent également en évidence la forte corrélation entre les phénomènes aérodynamiques complexes et les vibrations dynamiques. Le couplage établi constitue l'originalité de notre travail. / This thesis focuses on the study of the aerodynamic loads effects on the nonlinear dynamic behavior of Darrieus--type vertical axis wind turbine. The latter has received more attention due to its efficiency in urban regions compared to other wind turbines. In fact, the wind flow speed in urban regions continuously changes direction and is extremely turbulent. The inherent characteristics of its omni-directionality make it more suitable to harnessing this kind of flow. It is known that Darrieus wind turbine is characterized by an inherently unsteady aerodynamic behavior and a complex flow around rotor blades. The non-stationary behavior of the mentioned turbine increases vibration. These aerodynamic vibrations are transmitted to the gearing mechanism. We have, firstly, developed a numerical simulation, allowing to simulate the complexity of the unsteady aerodynamic phenomena keeping a compromise between the reliability of prediction and the rapidity of calculation. This numerical simulation has been carried out using a two-dimensional unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. Simulation results compared to those available in the literature are in good agreement. The Darrieus turbine efficiency is also optimized; thus introducing a significant scientific contribution. The latter is the objective of analyzing the aerodynamic load impact in the dynamic behavior of the Darrieus turbine in non-stationary regime. In this context, a parametric study has been developed in order to find optimal functioning of the studied turbine, which is characterized by the most performing aerodynamic torque associated with acceptable levels of dynamic vibration. In general, it is difficult to predict the dynamic response of the wind turbine with a good level of accuracy due to the aerodynamic loads turbulence and uncertain characteristics. It becomes necessary to take into account the uncertainty in the input parameters to ensure the robustness of the Darrieus turbine geared system. In a robustness study objective, the Polynomial Chaos method is adopted to predict the nonlinear dynamic behavior of the gearing system taking into account uncertainties which are associated to the performance coefficient of the input aerodynamic torque. This leads to an important scientific research contribution. The results have shown a large dispersion of the random parameter in the dynamic response of the gearing system compared to the deterministic study. That proves the insufficiency of that study for a robustness analyses. They have also proved that the Polynomial Chaos method is an efficient probabilistic tool for uncertainty propagation. Finally, the new proposed robust mechanical analysis indicates a good capacity to investigate the dynamic behavior of the Darrieus turbine thanks to its superior predictive capabilities in coupling complex aerodynamic phenomena with a mechanical gearing system vibration. Where the originality of such correlation in our work.

The overall goal of this study was to analyse the welfare effect of improved wastewater treatment with the view of making policy recommendations for sustainable urban and peri-urban irrigation agriculture in Kenya. This goal was achieved by investigating three specific objectives. The first objective was to assess the farmers’ awareness of health risks in urban and peri-urban wastewater irrigation. Second objective was to analyse the factors that affect the choice of low-risk adaptations in reuse of untreated wastewater for irrigation. The third objective was to estimate the value that urban and peri-urban farmers who practice wastewater irrigation impute to improvements in specific characteristics of the wastewater input in agriculture. In order to achieve the first objective, an ordered probit model was used to identify the factors that influence farmers’ awareness of health risks in untreated wastewater irrigation. The model was fitted to data collected from a cross-sectional survey of 317 urban farm households in the Kibera informal settlement of Kenya. Results of this study show that gender of household head, household size, education level of household head, farm size, ownership of the farm, membership to farmers’ group, and market access for the fresh produce significantly affect awareness of farmers about health risks in wastewater irrigation. Therefore, there is need for awareness programs to promote public education through regular training and local workshops on wastewater reuse in order to improve the human capital of the urban and peri-urban farmers. To achieve the second objective, the study used a multinomial logit model to analyse the farmers’ choice of low-risk adaptations in untreated wastewater irrigation. A survey of 317 urban and peri-urban farmers was conducted and measures for risk-reduction in wastewater reuse were analysed. The urban and peri-urban farmers were found to have adopted low-risk wastewater irrigation techniques such as cessation of irrigation before harvesting, crop restriction and safer application methods. Results of the study show that adoption of risk-reduction measures is significantly influenced by the following factors: household size, age of the household head, education of household head, access to extension, access to media, access to credit, farmers’ group membership, and risk awareness. Also, marginal analysis of the coefficients confirmed the socio-economic characteristics are key determinants in adoption of low-risk measures in wastewater reuse. The study recommends that policies in support of low-risk urban and peri-urban irrigation agriculture should disaggregate farmers according to their socio-economic and institutional characteristics in order to achieve their intended objectives. To achieve the third objective, the study employed the discrete choice experiment approach to estimate the benefits farmers impute to improvements in attributes of the wastewater irrigation input, whose aim is to reduce the health risks associated with untreated wastewater irrigation. Urban and peri-urban farmers who practice wastewater irrigation drawn from Motoine-Ngong River in Nairobi were randomly selected for the study. A total of 241 farmers completed the presented choice cards for the choice model estimation. A random parameter logit model was used to estimate the individual level willingness to pay for wastewater treatment. The results show that urban and peri-urban farmers are willing to pay significant monthly municipality taxes for treatment of wastewater. Conclusion of this study was that, quality of treated wastewater, quantity of treated wastewater and the riverine ecosystem restoration are significant factors of preference over policy alternative designs in wastewater treatment and reuse. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

No description available.

Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons aux questions de l’hétérogénéité inobservée et des solutions en coin dans les modèles de choix d’assolements. Pour répondre à ces questions, nous nous appuyons sur un modèle de choix de production multicultures avec choix d’assolement de forme NMNL, dont nous proposons des extensions. Ces extensions conduisent à des problèmes spécifiques d’estimation, auxquels nous apportons des solutions. La question de l’hétérogénéité inobservée est traitée en considérant une spécification à paramètres aléatoires. Ceci nous permet de tenir compte des effets de l’hétérogénéité inobservée sur l’ensemble des paramètres du modèle. Nous montrons que les versions stochastiques de l’algorithme EM sont particulièrement adaptées pour estimer ce type de modèle.Nos résultats d’estimation et de simulation montrent que les agriculteurs réagissent de façon hétérogène aux incitations économiques et que ne pas tenir compte de cette hétérogénéité peut conduire à des effets simulés de politiques publique biaisés.Pour tenir compte des solutions en coin dans les choix d’assolement, nous proposons une modélisation basée sur les modèles à changement de régime endogène avec coûts fixes associés aux régimes. Contrairement aux approches basées sur des systèmes de régression censurées, notre modèle est cohérent d’un point de vue micro-économique. Nos résultats montrent que les coûts fixes associés aux régimes jouent un rôle important dans le choix des agriculteurs de produire ou non certaines cultures et qu’ils constituent, à court terme, un déterminant important des c / In this thesis, we are interested in questions of unobserved heterogeneity and corner solutions in acreage choice models. To answer these questions, we rely on a NMNL acreage share multi-crop models, of which we propose extensions. These extensions lead to specific estimation problems, to which we provide solutions.The question of unobserved heterogeneity is dealt with by considering a random parameter specification. This allows us to take into account the effects of the unobserved heterogeneity on all the parameters of the model. We show that the stochastic versions of the EM algorithm are particularly suitable for estimating this type of modelOur estimation and simulation results show that farmers react heterogeneously to economic incentives and that ignoring this heterogeneity can lead to biased simulated effects of public policies.In order to take account of the corner solutions in acreage choices, we propose modelling based on endogenous regime switching models with regime fixed costs. Unlike approaches based on censored regression systems, our model is “fully” consistent from a micro-economic viewpoint. Our results show that the regime fixed costs play an important role in farmers’ choice to produce or not some crops and they are, in the short term, an important determinant of acreage choices.