Offshore wind power is attracting increasing levels of research and investment. The use of HVDC transmission and the development of DC grids are topics with similar high levels of interest that go hand in hand with the development of large scale, far from shore wind farms. Despite increased capital cost of some components, DC power transmission can have significant advantages over AC transmission, in particular in the offshore environment. These advantages are well established for large scale, long distance point to point transmission. This thesis assesses the suitability of a multi-terminal DC power collection network, with short cables and relatively small amounts of power, addresses a number of the technical challenges in realising such a network and shows methods for overall system cost reduction. Technical and modelling challenges result from the interaction between power electronic DC-DC converters and the cables in a DC transmission network. In particular, the propagation of the ripple current in bipole DC transmission cables constructed with a metallic sheath and armour is examined in detail. The finite element method is used to predict the response of the cable to the ripple current produced by the converters. These results are used along with wave propagation theory to demonstrate that cable design plays a crucial role in the behaviour of the DC system. The frequency dependent cable models are then integrated with time domain DC-DC converter models. The work in the thesis is, broadly, in two parts. First, it is demonstrated that care and accuracy are required in modelling the cables in the DC transmission system and appropriate models are implemented and validated. Second, these models are combined with DC-DC converter models and used to demonstrate the practicality of the DC grid, make design recommendations and assess its suitability when compared with alternative approaches (e.g. AC collection and/or transmission).

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Michael Woolverton / To meet the demand of the 2007 Energy Bill will require a new approach to ethanol production in the United States. The question persists: how can the ethanol industry in the United States produce 21 billion gallons of ethanol from cellulosic sources? This challenge will require changes in the facilities currently manufacturing ethanol, the collection and storage methods to which the Midwestern farmer is accustomed, and a drastic change in farm production practices. Several different methods of cellulosic ethanol production are being examined. One such method is to change the focus from starch based ethanol to ethanol produced by harvest, collection, and manufacture from corn cobs. Research has included surveys, development of economic models, and focus group meetings to determine the feasibility of corn cobs as a viable raw material source for cellulosic ethanol. Findings indicate that: corn cob collection is feasible for the Midwestern farmer. According to the economic models presented in this thesis, Midwestern farmers can benefit economically from the collection of corn cobs. Further, the collection of corn cobs allows for current ethanol plants to be upgraded with new technology without major change in the manufacturing processes. The focus of this research was to determine which method of corn cob collection was preferable for Midwestern corn producers.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 F86 / Master of Science / Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering

This diploma thesis consists of two parts. The first part deals with theory and practice of credit risk management in non-financial enterprises in the Czech Repulic. The other part focuses on collection agencies - it defines their services, describes legislation that regulates their business, state their advantages and disadvantages in comparison to other ways of collecting debts and provides an analysis of the debt collection agencies market in the Czech Republic based on a questionnaire survey.

Este trabajo de investigación tiene como título “Impacto de la informalidad del sector comercial del Damero A en el Emporio de Gamarra en la recaudación tributaria peruana respecto al impuesto a la renta de 2017”. Esta investigación pretende identificar cuál es el impacto de la informalidad en la recaudación tributaria respecto a impuesto a la renta en Gamarra. La informalidad es uno de los muchos factores que causa la disminución tributaria por ello se eligió el emporio Gamarra. El Emporio Gamarra es conocido por su alto grado de comercialización y por su nivel de informalidad. En cuanto a recaudación tributaria, esta se divide en lo que son impuestos, contribuciones y tasas. Entre todos los impuestos los más recaudados por Sunat son: el Impuesto a la renta (IR) y el Impuesto General a la ventas (IGV). Sin embargo, en el 2017 el IR tendió a disminuir. La metodología de este trabajo es mixta, puesto que se han realizado análisis cuantitativos y cualitativos. Para la investigación cualitativa se utilizó la recolección y análisis de datos, por ello se realizaron entrevistas a expertos tributarios de las auditoras y estudio de abogados más importantes del país. Asimismo, se entrevistaron a expertos del sector, específicamente,a representantes del Gremio “La coordinadora de Empresarios de Gamarra” uno de los más importantes del emporio. Con ello se pudo obtener una visión más completa y clara de cómo se manejan los negocios, informalidad y recaudación.Para la investigación cualitativa se realizaron encuestas a empresas del sector comercial del Damero A de Gamarra. / This research work have as tittle “Impact of the informal sector of the commercial sector of Damero A in the Emporium of Gamarra in the Peruvian tax collection with respect to the income tax of 2017”. This research aims to identify which is the impact of the informality in the tax collection with respect to income tax in Gamarra. The informality is one of the many factors that cause the tax decrease for which the Gamarra emporium was chosen. The Gamarra emporium it’s known for its high grade of commercialization and informality level. Regarding tax collection, this is divided into what are taxes, contributions and fees. Between taxes, the most collected for Sunat are the income tax(IR/IT) and the General tax for sells(IGV/GTS). However, in 2017 the IR tended to decrease. The methodology of this work is mixed, the quantitative and qualitative analysis has been carried out. For the qualitative investigation it was used the collection and analysis of data, for that reason we made the interview to tax experts from the audit and study of lawyers most important of the country. Likewise, they interview to the expert of the sector, specifically, the representants of the guild “The business coordinator of Gamarra” one of the most important of the emporium. With this, it was possible to obtain a vision more complex and clear of how do they manage the business there doing them also questions about the informality and collection. For the investigation qualitative we made interviews to companies of the commercial sector of the Damero A of Gamarra. / Tesis

[pt] A Web Semântica permite a divulgação de dados na Internet através de um formato comum com o objetivo de integrar ou combinar bases de dados provenientes de diversas fontes. O Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA possui várias coleções de dados, principalmente científicos, que podem ser divulgadas e utilizadas na pesquisa e desenvolvimento da Amazônia e para o progresso da ciência. O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar como a utilização das tecnologias da Web Semântica, dentre elas os recursos da ferramenta Rexplorator, pode melhorar o processo de pesquisa, através do processamento da semântica, das coleções de dados biológicos do instituto. A abordagem utilizada é de desenvolver casos de uso junto com os próprios pesquisadores, através de operações simples em cima dos modelos RDFS (Resource Description Framework Schema) das próprias bases. Os casos de uso poderão ser reutilizados por outros pesquisadores, inclusive de domínios de pesquisa diferentes. Neste processo de reutilização é possível que os casos de uso sejam customizados e evoluídos colaborativamente no próprio ambiente em que foram desenvolvidos. Como resultado do processo são geradas aplicações Web que abstraem os modelos RDF (Resource Description Framework) nos quais os dados estão representados tornando possível o acesso às informações por outros pesquisadores que não conhecem esses modelos. Essa facilidade de acesso, além de permitir consultas a bases semânticas por usuários leigos em um dado domínio de pesquisa, também visa permitir que pesquisadores possam realizar consultas transdisciplinares enriquecendo sua visão no desenvolvimento da pesquisa, bem como seu poder nas tomadas de decisões políticas, econômicas e sociais, e, consequentemente, uma melhor gestão do conhecimento. / [en] The Semantic Web enables the dissemination of data on the Internet through a common format in order to integrate or combine databases from different sources. The National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) has several collections of data, mainly scientific, that can be disclosed and used in the research and development of the Amazon as well as for the advancement of science. The objective of this study is to investigate how the use of Semantic Web technologies, among them the tool Rexplorator, can improve the research process by processing the semantics in collections of biological data. Use cases are developed with input from INPA researchers. Queries are constructed based on RDFS (Resource Description Framework Schema) created for INPAs existing collections. Use cases can be reused by other researchers, including researchers from different fields. In this process of reuse, the customization and collaborative development of use cases is possible. The result of this process is the generation of Web applications that abstract the RDF model on which data are represented. Consequently, other researchers unfamiliar with the RDF model are also able to access information. In addition to enabling semantic queries in databases by lay users in a given field of research, this ease of access enables researchers to make transdisciplinary queries enriching their vision of research development, as well as their power in political, economic and social decision-making, and hence better knowledge management.

La collection demeure un puissant moteur de curiosité en perpétuelle effervescence. Elle relève de la sphère artistique et participe de l’indicible. Elle échappe à la logique et à la rationalité. Elle nous dépasse et ne relève que de l’ordre du sensible. C’est pourquoi en parlant des relations entre l’art et la société, la collection occupe une place singulière. Pourtant, si les études juridiques consacrées aux œuvres d’art sont nombreuses, il en irait autrement pour les collections, alors même qu'elles sont heurtées depuis plusieurs décennies par de nombreux bouleversements économiques et artistiques peu étudiés par le droit. Un tel constat conduit à ramener les collections dans le champ d’une analyse juridique. Celui-ci n’est pas seulement académique et il implique de réelles conséquences pratiques. Comment la collection est-elle appréhendée par le droit ? Quel est son avenir juridique ? Telles sont les interrogations qui vont permettre de remonter aux sources de ce corpus pour mieux envisager son devenir. Pour ce faire, il convient d’appréhender la consistance même de la collection par le prisme de la propriété et ses régimes de protection. Puis, il sera permis d'envisager la gestion et la transmission juridique de ces patrimoines artistiques qui s’enracinent dans le cadre d’une activité culturelle des collectionneurs publics et privés. Dans une approche pluridisciplinaire, l’étude présente de façon à la fois globale et cohérente l’appréhension de la collection par le droit. Il s’agit de contribuer à une compréhension accrue des instruments permettant le fonctionnement de cet ensemble dans la relation qu’il entretient avec le droit, son marché et ses divers protagonistes. En mettant en évidence la contradiction entre la volonté du législateur d’encourager le développement des collections et les restrictions qu’il impose, l’étude participe, à sa mesure, à la connaissance juridique de cet objet, à sa valorisation et à sa conservation sur le territoire afin de déployer une nouvelle « culture de la collection ». C’est ainsi que l’on peut vérifier une nouvelle fois que le droit est un outil d’intelligence de réalité sociale pour la collection et un matériau directement expérimentable par le collectionneur pour aller au-delà du droit. / The collection remains a powerful engine of curiosity in perpetual effervescence. It concerns the artistic sphere and takes part of the inexpressible one. She escapes from logic and rationality. She’s beyond us and raises only about the sensitive one. Therefore, speaking of the relationship between art and society, the collection occupies a singular place. However, if the legal studies devoted to artworks are numerous, it would be different for collections, while at the same time they have been run up against for several decades by many economic and artistic upheavals, little studied by the law. Such a report led to bring back the collections in the field of a legal analysis. It’s not only academic and involves real practical consequences. How is the collection apprehended by the law? Which is its legal future? These are the questions that will help to go back to the sources of these corpus to better consider their destiny. With this intention, it’s advisable to appreciate the consistency of the through the prism of the property and its protection schemes. Then it’ll be possible to consider the management and the legal transmission of such artistic heritage which roots in the context of a cultural activity of public and private art collectors. In a multidisciplinary approach, the study presents so both comprehensive and coherent apprehension of the collection by the law. This is to contribute to an increased understanding of the instruments allowing the operation of this set in its relationship with law, its market and its various protagonists. By highlighting the contradiction between legislator’s desire to encourage the development of collections and the restrictions it imposes, the study involved in its extent, the legal knowledge of this subject, its valorization, and its conservation on the territory in order to deploy a new "collection’s culture". Thus one can verify once again that the law is a tool of intelligence of social reality for the collection and a material directly usable by the art collector to go beyond the law.

Student Number : 0063608J - MSc(Eng) dissertation - School of Electrical and Information Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / “You can see the computer age everywhere except in the productivity statistics”. This offhand remark by Robert Solow, the Nobel prize-winning economist [1] has stimulated many other economists to conduct more rigorous analyses on the impact of information technology on productivity. The research presented in this dissertation has been conducted on a large telecommunications utility. An important business process of the utility, that of collecting information on its geographically dispersed network assets, was automated using mobile computing and wireless technologies. The research compared this newly developed automated process with the current, manual, process of sourcing the field network asset data using paper-based templates, and capturing the data manually from the templates. The results of the pilot for this automated business process were encouraging and demonstrated an improvement of over 50% in the productivity of the data collection process, and its integrity. An important aspect of the research outlined in this dissertation was to design and implement the mobile computer-based electronic data collection prototype to minimise user obstruction to the technology deployed. The prototype was tested for technology acceptance by the targeted field workers. This test also proved successful. The research demonstrated that an improvement in productivity of over 50% was achievable from a well-considered investment in information technology. The results from the research also pointed the way for the deployment of this data collection solution in other utilities, e.g. electricity distribution, water reticulation, and municipalities. Through user prototype tests and a cultural intervention process on the targeted users (field workers), the research also demonstrated how the automated business process can be geared for use by low-skilled field workers, so important to improve productivity in developing economies such as those in Africa.

Context. Software Development has been witnessing great innovations over past few years with good number of technologies, tools and practices invading the industry. Client demands and collaboration in the development process are also seen increasing. So many new practices and methodologies are coming up and Agile is one of prominent practices adopted by many. Even in Agile, Scrum methodology is picking up more demand presently. As Software Development process and practices are changing so are the leadership styles in the same. Leadership is critical for success of any team. This study intended to explore this model and requirement of leadership in Scrum based Software Development in a practical scenario. Objectives. Leadership, which is essential in any Software project, differs from Traditional Methodology to Scrum Methodology of Agile practices in Software Development. Through a case study, the author attempted to investigate and explore the perspective of Leadership requirement in Scrum based Software Development in a practical scenario. The study aimed to gather and analyze the Leadership model implemented in two domestic projects in an Indian company, involved in two distinctive domains, and sum up the impressions gained in the same. The study aimed to assess whether the gathered knowledge adds up to the existing body of knowledge on the phenomenon or on the contrary whether any suggestions for improvement can be given to the case units. Methods. Case Study method was chosen for undertaking this explorative study. A literature review was conducted prior to the case study to gain knowledge on the phenomenon, which also answered one of the Research Questions and helped partially the other. A multiple case study was conducted through semi structured personal interviews, tools analysis and direct observation in the case units. Qualitative data analysis was made using Grounded Theory on this three orders of collected data. The results were compared with the Literature and conformity or variance analyzed. This comparative analysis is used for making recommendations to the case units for improvement or for additions to the existing body of knowledge. Results. Through the results of Literature Review, Leadership models in Software Development including Agile Scrum were summed up. And through the results of the case study, the leadership models and features implemented in the case units have been identified. These results are further validated and contrasted with the results of the literature review. How the literature models and the case unit models of leadership differed is studied. The justification for the implemented leadership model in the practical situation is also analyzed. Following, a review of the models employed at the case environments, the perspective of leadership in the two Scrum based Software Development projects is summed up. At the end, it is assessed what effect the case study would have on the existing body of knowledge on the phenomenon and modifications that can be proposed to the case units based on the results and analysis. Conclusion. It is concluded that the Case Units are implementing Situational Leadership and Transformational Leadership in a mixed way. Telling and Selling models in Situational Leadership are prominent while Participating and Delegating are ranking less. Some of the important features of Transformational Leadership like Self Management, Organizational Consciousness, Adaptability and Proactive are in implementation but not all features of the model are assumed. Even Scrum is implemented in a modified way, extending only controlled autonomy with higher monitoring and it had a direct effect on the leadership. On the whole it is directive leadership that is in play with co-existence of collaborative one situationally.

[pt] Referências fracas e finalizadores constituem uma alternativa elegante para se obter controle sobre a interação entre a aplicação e o coletor de lixo. No entanto, em alguns contextos, finalizadores são desnecessários, pois é possível estender o mecanismo de referências fracas a fim de dar suporte a finalização. Neste trabalho, realizamos um estudo detalhado sobre os usos desses mecanismos e mostramos como é possível substituir finalizadores por referências fracas propondo uma implementação baseada em referências fraca para cada uso de finalizadores. Baseado nesse estudo, desenvolvemos um mecanismo de finalização via referências fracas para a linguagem Lua. Motivados por nossa proposta de uma maior exploração do mecanismo de referências, desenvolvemos um algoritmo para um importante problema relacionado a ciclos em tabelas fracas, uma estrutura criada a partir de referências fracas. A existência de referências cíclicas entre chaves e valores impede que os elementos que compõem o ciclo sejam coletados, mesmo que eles não sejam mais utilizados pelo programa. Isso acaba dificultando o uso de tabelas fracas em determinadas aplicações. A linguagem Haskell resolveu esse problema através de uma adaptação do mecanismo de ephemerons ao seu coletor de lixo. Partindo desse fato, modificamos a implementação do coletor de lixo de Lua para que este oferecesse suporte ao mecanismo de ephemerons. Dessa forma, pudemos eliminar o problema de ciclos em tabelas fracas nessa linguagem. / [en] Weak References and finalizers constitute an elegant alternative to obtain control over the interaction between the application and the garbage collector. However, in some contexts, finalizers are not necessary because it`s possible to extend the weak reference mechanism in order to give support to finalization. In this work, we present a survey of the most common uses of these mechanisms. We also show how weak references can replace finalizers proposing a weak reference based implementation for each finalizer use. Based on this survey, we developed a finalization mechanism based on weak references for the Lua programming language. Motivated by our proposal of a better exploration of the weak reference mechanism, we developed a solution for an important problem related to cycles on weak tables, an structure created using weak references. Cyclic references between keys and values prevents the elements inside the cycle from being collected, even if they are no more reachable. This ends up bringing difficulties to the use of weak tables in certain kinds of applications. The Haskell programming language solved this problem implementing an adaptation of a mechanism called ephemerons. Based on this fact, we modified the Lua garbage collector in order to offer support to ephemerons. As a result, we were able to solve the problem of cycles on weak tables in Lua.