Quantifying the emissions due to the charging of the batteries of the plug-in hybrid electricity school bus operated by the Austin Independent School District (AISD) is the focus of this work. This plug-in hybrid school bus is one of only nineteen in the country, and was manufactured by IC Corporation. This hybrid school bus reduces fuel consumption and CO₂, NOx and PM emissions in comparison with conventional diesel buses. This reduction is good for the health of the children who take the school bus everyday as they are part of the population the most at risk because their lungs are still developing. In order to evaluate CO₂, NOx and PM emissions, measurements of the charging of the batteries versus time were taken for the two charging periods each day during the months of April and May 2009. These measurements were repeated in October 2009 when the route was changed for the new school year: 2009-2010. An analysis of the Austin electricity mix that provides electricity to the bus center was done hour by hour to evaluate the emissions, calculated on a g/mile basis. Measurements of the vehicle speed versus time and altitude were taken during February 2010 in order to explain some of the differences observed between the two routes. Different parameters were studied to analyze the results. The first parameter studied was the impact of the season on the emissions. The second parameter studied was the impact of the route and its characteristics (road length, traffic, grade, etc.). The last parameter studied was the difference between two methods used to evaluate the emissions using the electricity mix data. These two methods are different but each of them brings something to the analysis of the results. / text

The purpose of this study is to explore whether changes in consumption patterns contributed to the changes in waste composition in Jinan during 1999-2008 and to predict trend of the waste composition relevant total household consumer expenditure in the future 10 years. The results reveal that household consumption is the most significant contributors in changes of waste composition. Although this study points to the possibility of predictions for several important fraction such as food scraps, metal, glass, paper and plastic by according to household consumption, these predictions has not been strong enough to decrease errors, a trend can only be given in the future 10 years.

Devido à grande concorrência do mercado o controle de custos passa a ser peça fundamental no auxílio à tomada de decisão quanto à redução dos custos, visando uma lucratividade maior por parte das empresas. Essa dissertação trata sobre um novo modelo de custos, o RCA – Resource Consumption Accounting, que ainda não foi adotado por nenhuma empresa. Esse novo método de custeio foi aplicado como modelo piloto em uma empresa Americana onde os resultados foram favoráveis a ele em relação aos modelos existentes. Muitos autores defendem o RCA como sendo um grande aliado aos gestores e ao setor financeiro por ser de fácil entendimento, apurar a capacidade ociosa e principalmente por apurar os custos com maior precisão em relação aos métodos mais utilizados atualmente. O RCA deve superar ao método ABC – Activity Based Costing, pois ele possui algumas vantagens em relação a este, por exemplo, como tratar separadamente os custos fixos dos variáveis, evitando assim rateios arbitrários e gerando uma apuração dos custos dos produtos e das atividades com maior precisão, além de apurar a capacidade ociosa, auxiliando assim os gestores na tomada de decisão. O RCA, assim como o ABC, é caro de ser implantado, pois precisa ser utilizado junto com sistemas integrados, sendo a sua principal desvantagem. / Due to market competition, the cost control becomes a critical tool to assist managers in taking decisions pursuing the cost reduction improving the companies profitability. This dissertation is about a new cost management system, the RCA - Resource Consumption Accounting, which has not been adopted yet by any company. This new cost management system was applied as a pilot model for an American company and the results were favorable to him. Many authors support RCA as a great ally to managers and financial managers because it is easy to understand, work with embedded systems, and determine the idle capacity mainly determine costs with greater accuracy compared with the methods currently used. The RCA must overcome to ABC - Activity Based Costing, because presents some advantages over this, for example, treat separately the fixed costs of the variable ones, avoiding arbitrary apportionments and generating a calculation of the costs of products and activities more accurately, also determine the idle capacity, thereby assisting managers in taking decision. The RCA, as ABC, is expensive to deploy because it must be used with integrated systems, being its main disadvantage.

Devido à grande concorrência do mercado o controle de custos passa a ser peça fundamental no auxílio à tomada de decisão quanto à redução dos custos, visando uma lucratividade maior por parte das empresas. Essa dissertação trata sobre um novo modelo de custos, o RCA – Resource Consumption Accounting, que ainda não foi adotado por nenhuma empresa. Esse novo método de custeio foi aplicado como modelo piloto em uma empresa Americana onde os resultados foram favoráveis a ele em relação aos modelos existentes. Muitos autores defendem o RCA como sendo um grande aliado aos gestores e ao setor financeiro por ser de fácil entendimento, apurar a capacidade ociosa e principalmente por apurar os custos com maior precisão em relação aos métodos mais utilizados atualmente. O RCA deve superar ao método ABC – Activity Based Costing, pois ele possui algumas vantagens em relação a este, por exemplo, como tratar separadamente os custos fixos dos variáveis, evitando assim rateios arbitrários e gerando uma apuração dos custos dos produtos e das atividades com maior precisão, além de apurar a capacidade ociosa, auxiliando assim os gestores na tomada de decisão. O RCA, assim como o ABC, é caro de ser implantado, pois precisa ser utilizado junto com sistemas integrados, sendo a sua principal desvantagem. / Due to market competition, the cost control becomes a critical tool to assist managers in taking decisions pursuing the cost reduction improving the companies profitability. This dissertation is about a new cost management system, the RCA - Resource Consumption Accounting, which has not been adopted yet by any company. This new cost management system was applied as a pilot model for an American company and the results were favorable to him. Many authors support RCA as a great ally to managers and financial managers because it is easy to understand, work with embedded systems, and determine the idle capacity mainly determine costs with greater accuracy compared with the methods currently used. The RCA must overcome to ABC - Activity Based Costing, because presents some advantages over this, for example, treat separately the fixed costs of the variable ones, avoiding arbitrary apportionments and generating a calculation of the costs of products and activities more accurately, also determine the idle capacity, thereby assisting managers in taking decision. The RCA, as ABC, is expensive to deploy because it must be used with integrated systems, being its main disadvantage.

Devido à grande concorrência do mercado o controle de custos passa a ser peça fundamental no auxílio à tomada de decisão quanto à redução dos custos, visando uma lucratividade maior por parte das empresas. Essa dissertação trata sobre um novo modelo de custos, o RCA – Resource Consumption Accounting, que ainda não foi adotado por nenhuma empresa. Esse novo método de custeio foi aplicado como modelo piloto em uma empresa Americana onde os resultados foram favoráveis a ele em relação aos modelos existentes. Muitos autores defendem o RCA como sendo um grande aliado aos gestores e ao setor financeiro por ser de fácil entendimento, apurar a capacidade ociosa e principalmente por apurar os custos com maior precisão em relação aos métodos mais utilizados atualmente. O RCA deve superar ao método ABC – Activity Based Costing, pois ele possui algumas vantagens em relação a este, por exemplo, como tratar separadamente os custos fixos dos variáveis, evitando assim rateios arbitrários e gerando uma apuração dos custos dos produtos e das atividades com maior precisão, além de apurar a capacidade ociosa, auxiliando assim os gestores na tomada de decisão. O RCA, assim como o ABC, é caro de ser implantado, pois precisa ser utilizado junto com sistemas integrados, sendo a sua principal desvantagem. / Due to market competition, the cost control becomes a critical tool to assist managers in taking decisions pursuing the cost reduction improving the companies profitability. This dissertation is about a new cost management system, the RCA - Resource Consumption Accounting, which has not been adopted yet by any company. This new cost management system was applied as a pilot model for an American company and the results were favorable to him. Many authors support RCA as a great ally to managers and financial managers because it is easy to understand, work with embedded systems, and determine the idle capacity mainly determine costs with greater accuracy compared with the methods currently used. The RCA must overcome to ABC - Activity Based Costing, because presents some advantages over this, for example, treat separately the fixed costs of the variable ones, avoiding arbitrary apportionments and generating a calculation of the costs of products and activities more accurately, also determine the idle capacity, thereby assisting managers in taking decision. The RCA, as ABC, is expensive to deploy because it must be used with integrated systems, being its main disadvantage.

Orientadores: Sergio Valdir Bajay, Gilberto De Martino Jannuzzi / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T02:38:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paccola_JoseAngelo_M.pdf: 1894026 bytes, checksum: 35049932286f9b2cae4ab204843bfb40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Durante as últimas décadas, têm-se introduzido poucas modificações no setor elétrico brasileiro no que se refere às novas modalidades de tarifas para os consumidores finais. As mudanças mais radicais foram implantadas no início da década de oitenta com a introdução das tarifas horosazonais verde e azul. O objetivo desta dissertação é testar as possibilidades de se formular novas tarifas horosazonais no País, através de uma análise crítica da aplicação destas no Brasil e no mundo, e a realização de um estudo de caso envolvendo pesquisas de campo, entrevistas e medições em consumidores industriais atendidos na categoria tarifária A4. A análise da experiência nacional aborda a implantação e o desenvolvimento das tarifas horosazonais - verde, azul e amarela - e tarifas de fornecimento interruptível no País por meio de um histórico completo dos fatos mais importantes, ocorridos desde 1957 até 2006, e de uma avaliação dos resultados a que se chegou com a implantação destas tarifas. Na análise da experiência internacional, examinaram-se os casos de França, Canadá, Estados Unidos e Portugal. O estudo de caso envolveu três pesquisas de campo. A primeira delas teve como objetivo escolher os segmentos industriais com maior potencial para a modulação de carga. Com a segunda pesquisa, conseguiu-se conhecer melhor os consumidores dos segmentos de calçados e de móveis, em termos de perfil de demanda e de detalhes de seus processos produtivos, visando estabelecer, com mais segurança, suas possibilidades de modulação de carga. A terceira pesquisa de campo permitiu o levantamento dos dados técnicos e econômicos, necessários para se fazer simulações e uma avaliação quantitativa dos impactos econômicos decorrentes de um terceiro posto tarifário para estes consumidores, na madrugada. As análises custo/benefício, realizadas no estudo de caso, levaram em conta tanto a ótica do consumidor como a da concessionária. Os resultados das simulações realizadas mostraram que os custos com mão-de-obra chegam a ser 35 vezes maiores do que aqueles com a fatura de eletricidade nestes segmentos industriais. Isto desestimula um possível deslocamento de parte da produção para o período noturno, por conta do adicional noturno no custo da mão-de-obra, mesmo com tarifas de energia elétrica muito baixas neste período / Abstract: During the last decades, the Brazilian electric sector has introduced little changes in tariffs for end-use consumers. The most radical changes were implanted at the beginning of the eighties, with the introduction of a seasonal tariff structure called green and blue. The objective of this work is to test some possibilities to formulate a new seasonal tariff in Brazil, through a critical analysis of these tariffs in Brazil and in other countries. This was made through field researches, interviews and the measuring of some industrial consumers. The national experience analysis includes the implementation and development of the seasonal tariffs - green, blue and yellow -, the supply curtailable rate and a complete historical of the more important facts occurred since 1957 up to 2006, together with an evaluation of the impacts in the implementation of these tariffs. In the analysis of the international experience, it was examined tariffs in France, Canada, United States and Portugal. The case study involved three researches on the field. The first one was to choose the industrial segments with larger potential for load modulation. The second research explored both footwear and furniture industries in terms of theirs demand profile and productive processes, with the objective of establishing their load modulation change possibilities more accurately. The third field research obtained the necessary technical and economical data, to work with simulations in a quantitative analysis of the economic impacts of a third tariff position during night time. The cost-benefit analysis considered both consumers and Utility's point of views. The results of the simulations has shown that the cost of labor is sometimes 35 times higher than electricity bills in the footwear and furniture industries, rendering useless a possible load modulation change during the night. Furthermore, during night time the cost of labor increases / Mestrado / Planejamento de Sistemas Energeticos / Mestre em Planejamento de Sistemas Energéticos

This thesis is focused on the topic of collaborative strategies, their design and application in the field of business. Collaborative strategy is represented as a series of recommendations for companies (and other organizations) that are considering participation in a shared economy. Collaborative strategy can be also used in company which is already involved in shared economy. This document is based on the analysis of the business models and associated IT platforms which are used by organizations operating in the shared economy. In the thesis are identified key mechanisms and technical resources that enable the businesses to implement a sharing of resources between suppliers and users of these resources. Based on the obtained data were compiled individual strategies, each containing recommendations for the area of ICT, business models, law and summary of business fields in which they can be implemented. The conclusion of thesis contains a procedure for the identification of enterprise resources suitable for use in the shared economy. The final results together with collaborative strategies can be used by companies (and other organizations) to find new business potential, to participate in a shared economy and for innovation of business processes and business models. The benefit of this approach is a new perspective on the collaborative use of corporate resources. Combined with modern technology it helps to increase competitiveness and helps save the resources required for primary processes and also creates new ways to reach customers.

While a lot of efforts have been on outdoor intelligent systems, internal living environment system that suits the occupancy’s behaviour has not received much attention. The intelligent living environment designed in this study has three components; the physical world (environment), the database and the decision maker. The study sought to design a model that senses ever changing home conditions such as lights, doors and windows. Other variables that were looked at include, but not limited to the number of people in the room and inside thermodynamics and human activity. Global information such as temperature, gas or electricity usage and time of the day will also be received by the system through various sensing facilities. The information will be sent to a rules engine for a decision on an appropriate action to be taken. The action may include just turning off the lights, in the case of a mild abnormality or a high alert to an emergency response unit in a most severe case. The study proposes a context aware and proactive neural networks control system to control a living environment with a main focus on the aged citizens living alone. The proposed living environment was not developed to an actual or “mock” building containing a representation of subset of sensors, actuators and controllers as used in the actual systems due to lack of funding. However, the study will report on the modelling and simulation of the home system variables based on the chosen Artificial Intelligent technique using MATLAB/SIMULINK. These results indicate a possibility of implementing the designed living environment to increase the resident’s security. / Electrical and Mining Engineering / M. Tech. (Engineering: Electrical)

MRDV / Instutute for Rural Development / Health and wellbeing of humans is affected by their eating habits, patterns and choice of meals. This research discusses food consumption patterns of selected households of Mbilwi and Matavhela villages in Thulamela Municipality, Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study identified types of food consumed and the nutritional knowledge of households living in the study area. In addition, the study assessed the knowledge of households on how food choices affect their health. Lastly an analysis of socio-economic factors that influence food consumption patterns in households living in Mbilwi and Matavhela villages was investigated. Using purposive sampling, qualitative and quantitative inquiry were used to explore the research objectives. A sample size of 50 and 47 households from each village were selected respectively and the heads of each household were interviewed. Thematic content analysis was used to categorise data into themes, to address and interpret qualitative data. Themes were generated as the units for analysis based on the objectives of the study to enable interpretation of qualitative information. The quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. The findings indicated that there was no variety in foods consumed by households in both the weekly food consumption pattern and 24-hour food recall. There was also limited nutrition knowledge of the foods consumed in households of both villages. Households usually consumed energy giving foods such as carbohydrates and body building foods such as proteins. There was low consumption of milk and milk products, fruit and vegetable food groups. Various socio-economic factors such as income, living conditions, health, nutrition knowledge, culture, religion and lack of time to prepare food, affected eating habits. Some foods were recommended or condoned based on religious and cultural factors. Most households were unemployed and relied on government grants and remittances from family members working in the metropolitan centres. The findings in this study provide a better understanding of food access, availability and consumption in rural areas which can also assist in the formulation of policies that would improve quality of food consumption in rural areas. This study presented an opportunity that can be filled by institutions working in rural areas to support and strengthen their activities. Information sharing with households on the benefits of balanced diets can contribute to the health and the well-being of the society. The emphasis must be on strengthening backyard vegetable/fruit gardens and community food gardening programmes for household consumption v and sale, to generate income. These programmes can also offer fruit/vegetable preservation skills to households in order to help improve the shelf life of the produce. Policy makers must encourage provision of nutritional knowledge to households through different media and channels such as television, clinics, hospitals, schools, and newspapers.