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MSc (Eng), School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand / This study utilises the Life Cycle Environmental Management tool, Life cycle Assessment (LCA) to compare the overall environmental impact of the life cycles of three manufactured emulsions. The emulsions - Aquapel, Hi-phase/composite (liquid/solid rosin) - fulfil a specific function as a sizing agent in the cardboard box industry within the confines of South Africa. As the origins and use of these emulsions are different, the impact assessments of each were evaluated. Using the Simapro Impact 2002+ assessment method, the mid-point impact categories show the most significant impacts in descending order to be Toxicity Impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, Respiratory Inorganics, Climate Change and Non Renewable Energy resources. It would appear that toxicity impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, is the most significant impact. Emission of respiratory inorganics followed by effluent treatment, then electricity used in the emulsion process itself has the next highest contribution in all three processes. The higher contribution to respiratory inorganics by the process using liquid rosin is due to a relatively high contribution from the production of tall oil, a relatively energy intensive process. Climate change is the third most significant contribution. Non renewable energy resources for the Aquapel process shows the highest impact because of its raw material, wax. It is also based on a non-renewable energy resource, crude-oil, whilst the raw material for the Hi-phase/composite process, rosin, is bio-based. When comparing the three emulsion processes according to the Impact 2002+ damage or end point impact categories the relative contributions of the processes shows the relatively close performance of the three processes. The liquid rosin process shows slightly higher potential damages in three out of the four damage categories. The explanation for the differences between the systems follows from the explanations given for the mid-point impact categories. The sensitivity analysis for the Aquapel emulsion process shows negative impacts are produced in descending order for liquid effluent in the ecosystem and human health damage categories. For electricity and paraffin wax negative impacts in the human health and climate change damage categories. The best interventions to reduce life cycle damages is to reduce water and electricity consumption and if possible to find a substitute for paraffin wax. For the Hi-phase/composite liquid / solid rosin emulsion process shows negative impacts are produced in descending order for liquid effluent in the ecosystem and human health / climate change and resources damage categories respectively. The electricity and steam used in both the liquid / solid process produce negative impacts in the human health and climate change damage categories. The best interventions to reduce life cycle damages for the rosin emulsion process are to reduce water, electricity and steam consumption.

Software Architectures is an area that started to develop in the beginning of the 1990's. Through Software Architectures, software engineering developers have new improved opportunities for reusing, understanding, communication, analysis etc. To describe Software Architectures, Architecture Description Languages (ADLs) were proposed in the middle of the 1990's. There is not yet any common well-accepted definition of what an ADL really is. There are two tracks however; the first consider that an ADL's primary role is to provide formal syntax and a lower level of semantics; the second approach means that communication and understanding is the most important part for an ADL to play. Because of the lack of a common definition, numerous ADLs have been developed, each with their own strengths and weaknesses and all reflecting their developers' view on what an ADL is. The problem with these ADLs is that they work in a standalone fashion and can not use the facilities of the other ADLs. ACME has been developed to solve this problem. ACME is an Architecture Description Interchange Language, which means that it can serve as a bridge between different ADLs, i.e. that one ADL can use the features of another ADL. There are some software engineering researchers that consider ACME not to be an ADL, since ACME is the least common denominator of the present ADLs and is according to the researchers therefore not an ADL in itself. Therefore, in this report we will first compare ACME with other ADLs, and then present what features ACME needs to add to its environment to become an ADL.

In the previous decades, people raised the awareness of the shortage of fossil fuel in the coming forty to fifty years. Besides, the reduction of CO2 emission is paid attention. Among the renewable energies, solar energy has the highest potential to be the main energy source in the future to solve the mentioned problems. In the last few ten years, the technologies of solar energy were improved and used more widely as an energy source. The solar energy is used in several different ways. It can be used as heat energy for water heating or space heating. The solar thermal energy can be used with active or passive design. There are direct and indirect designs regardless the active or passive energy system. The efficient and the cost effectiveness are according to the designs of the systems. The places and the climate of the buildings where they locate are the main considerations of the system design. With understanding more about the differences of the existing solar energy systems, they can be applied in more efficient, cost effective and environmental friendly. Regardless the dimension of the system, solar energy is the trend of the energy source for heating and electric power. It is not only used in building, it can also used for producing hydrogen fuel cells which will be using in transportation.

The limit of bandwidth efficiency is well known in wireless radio communication. Therefore, making use of bandwidth efficiently is very important. Among various technologies which can increase the bandwidth efficiency, space-time coding system is very popular technology recently. In this article, we¡¦ll discuss three common schemes in ST system¡GSpace-Time Trellis Coding (STTC), Space-Time Block Coding (STBC) and Differential Space-Time Block Coding (DSTBC). First, we¡¦ll introduce the basic model of ST systems in chapter 2. And in chapter 3, the error probability, which is a close form, of STBC and DSTBC systems in slow fading channel will be derived, according to the derivation of error probability in multi-channel communication systems¡i10¡j. Then, the channel model will be defined as a fast fading channel and the error probability of STBC system in this channel model will be derived in chapter 4. Furthermore, we¡¦ll derive the error probability of STBC system in multi-path slow fading channel. Finally, we¡¦ll make a conclusion to the works we did in this article. The contribution of this article are¡G1. We derive a bit error probably which is a close form of STBC and DSTBC systems in slow fading channel. 2. We analyze the performace of STBC system in fast fading channel and derive a bit error probability in this case. 3. We analyze the performance of STBC system in multi-path slow fading channel and get a result that the diversity gain will increase when use the RAKE receiver mentioned in this article.

<p>Software Architectures is an area that started to develop in the beginning of the 1990's. Through Software Architectures, software engineering developers have new improved opportunities for reusing, understanding, communication, analysis etc. To describe Software Architectures, Architecture Description Languages (ADLs) were proposed in the middle of the 1990's. There is not yet any common well-accepted definition of what an ADL really is. There are two tracks however; the first consider that an ADL's primary role is to provide formal syntax and a lower level of semantics; the second approach means that communication and understanding is the most important part for an ADL to play.</p><p>Because of the lack of a common definition, numerous ADLs have been developed, each with their own strengths and weaknesses and all reflecting their developers' view on what an ADL is. The problem with these ADLs is that they work in a standalone fashion and can not use the facilities of the other ADLs. ACME has been developed to solve this problem. ACME is an Architecture Description Interchange Language, which means that it can serve as a bridge between different ADLs, i.e. that one ADL can use the features of another ADL.</p><p>There are some software engineering researchers that consider ACME not to be an ADL, since ACME is the least common denominator of the present ADLs and is according to the researchers therefore not an ADL in itself. Therefore, in this report we will first compare ACME with other ADLs, and then present what features ACME needs to add to its environment to become an ADL.</p>

Magnitudes of numbers influence numerical inequality judgments of people. Do symbols representing numbers also affect numerical inequality judgments? To answer the question, I manipulated digit similarity in two-digit number comparison tasks. During the experiment, the participants took part in two comparison tasks – the judging-larger task and the judging-smaller task. Given pairs of two-digit numbers, the participants were required to make numerical inequality judgments (judging larger or judging smaller). To investigate the effect of digit similarity, two kinds of number pairs were used. Two-digit number pairs consisting of same-digits numbers (e.g., 21 – 12) and two-digit number pairs consisting of different-digits numbers (e.g., 21 – 30) were presented at random. The participants needed more time to compare the same-digits number pairs than the different-digits pairs. The result was independent of the findings in number comparison studies such as the numerical-distance effect (Moyer & Landauer, 1967) and the unit-decade compatibility effect (Nuerk, Weger, & Willmes, 2001). The present study poses challenge to the current theories of two-digit number comparison. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-02 11:59:06.647

Previous research on motivation by role models has not examined how the source of a role model’s success might influence motivation. In Studies 1 and 2 participants were asked to estimate their motivation in response to role models. In Study 3 role models were provided and behavioural intentions were assessed. The results of these first three studies indicate that both talented and hardworking role models are motivating, but that they motivate different things: Talented role models motivate people to access their talents, and hardworking role models motivate people to work hard. Having established that both types of role models can activate motivation, implicit theories orientation was examined as a possible moderator of the effect. In Study 4 participants completed an implicit theories induction task before reading about a role model. There were no differences observed between the entity and incremental conditions. In Study 5 entity and incremental theorists were recruited and exposed to a role model. Incremental theorists who had read about a hardworking role model were motivated to work hard.

Previous research on motivation by role models has not examined how the source of a role model’s success might influence motivation. In Studies 1 and 2 participants were asked to estimate their motivation in response to role models. In Study 3 role models were provided and behavioural intentions were assessed. The results of these first three studies indicate that both talented and hardworking role models are motivating, but that they motivate different things: Talented role models motivate people to access their talents, and hardworking role models motivate people to work hard. Having established that both types of role models can activate motivation, implicit theories orientation was examined as a possible moderator of the effect. In Study 4 participants completed an implicit theories induction task before reading about a role model. There were no differences observed between the entity and incremental conditions. In Study 5 entity and incremental theorists were recruited and exposed to a role model. Incremental theorists who had read about a hardworking role model were motivated to work hard.

In this thesis I aim to answer two questions: Are alternatives for choice ever incomparable? and, In what ways can items be compared? I argue that there is no incomparability among bearers of value and that the ways in which items can be compared are richer and more varied than commonly supposed. The two questions are closely related; in arguing against incomparability a positive picture of comparability emerges. The case against incomparability is a case for a new conception of comparability more capacious than has been traditionally conceived. This 'broad' conception of comparability has three distinctive features: it distinguishes incomparability from noncomparability, it includes the possibility of 'emphatic' comparability, or comparisons between 'higher' and 'lower' goods; and it makes logical space for a fourth generic value relation - what I shall call 'on a par' - beyond the standard trichotomy of relations of 'better than', 'worse than', and 'equally good'. Each of these features arises out of defects of certain incomparabilist arguments. Indeed, the approach to the broad conception of comparability via examination of incomparabilist arguments makes clear that much of the intuitive pull of incomparability depends on a narrow and impoverished conception of comparability. Investigation of comparability and incomparability is motivated by a proposed substantive account of practical justification according to which there can be no justified choice without the comparability of the alternatives. The existence of widespread incomparability, then, undermines the rationality of practical life. This thesis' argument against incomparability and for a broad conception of comparability serves to vindicate the role of practical reason in choice.