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This thesis examines charging of electric vehicles with charging power of 3,7 kW, in connection to an apartment building in Sweden. Also the power consumption of six electric vehicles are investigated. The charging-simulations of the electric vehicles were performed with the electric vehicle charging model (Grahn-Munkhammar) in MatLab. To simulate general energy use for a housing complex, the measured energy consumption per year for a building with 24 apartments was used. Three different systems with charging over a year were simulated. One system included six different models of electric vehicles, another system included six Tesla model S and yet another one included six Mitsubishi Outlanders. The simulations of electric vehicle charging resulted in a charging pattern with a considerable variability and an aggregation effect with a value over 20 % for all three systems. Results show that electric vehicle charging adds to the power peaks of the apartment building. However, according to the model, the aggregation effect implies that effect values of total electric vehicle charging were not harmful to an apartment building with a fuse of 63 A.

Este trabalho é dedicado à investigação de diferentes aspectos da física de monocamadas de grafeno suspenso e epitaxial. A descrição do grafeno é baseada no modelo quase-relativístico de Dirac. Isso permite a aplicação dos métodos da Teoria Quântica de Campos (TQC) na investigação dos efeitos de interação entre o grafeno e o campo eletromagnético (EM). Usando o formalismo de integral de trajetória, nós formulamos uma teoria efetiva do campo EM na presença de monocamadas de grafeno. Esta teoria é governada pelo operador de polarização das quase-partículas de Dirac. Dois fenômenos importantes são investigados: as propriedades óticas do grafeno (o efeito Faraday em particular) e a interação de Casimir entre uma camada de grafeno e um metal paralelo. Em primeiro lugar, estudamos a propagação de ondas eletromagnéticas na presença de camadas de grafeno. A dinâmica de ondas é governada pelas equações modificadas de Maxwell obtidas a partir da teoria efetiva para o campo EM. Nós calculamos os coeficientes de reflexão e transmissão de luz polarizada linearmente e investigamos detalhadamente o efeito quântico de Faraday no campo magnético externo. Em particular, mostramos que as previsões do modelo de Dirac estão em boa concordância com os recentes resultados experimentais sobre a transmissão de luz e rotação de Faraday gigante em regime de ressonância cíclotron. Novos regimes também são previstos. Em segundo lugar, investigamos a interação de Casimir entre filmes suspensos de grafeno com um condutor ideal. O efeito é investigado tanto no caso ideal (temperatura nula, amostras ideais) quanto para configurações mais realistas (temperatura não nula e a presença de potencial químico). No caso de temperatura nula, a força de Casimir entre grafeno e condutor ideal é aproximadamente 2.6% da força entre dois condutores ideais. Ao mesmo tempo, no limite de temperatura elevada, o efeito mostra-se ser muito forte cerca de 50% de efeito entre metais ideais. / This research is devoted to investigation of several aspects of the physics of suspended and epitaxial graphene monolayers. The description of graphene is based on the quasi--relativistic Dirac model which permits application of the methods of the Quantum Field Theory to investigation of the interaction of graphene with electromagnetic field. Basing on the path integral formalism we formulate the effective theory for EM field in presence of graphene monolayers which is governed by the polarization operator of the Dirac quasi-particles in graphene. The two main phenomena in the interaction of graphene with electromagnetic field are studied: the optical properties of graphene (the Faraday rotation in particular), and Casimir interaction between graphene samples and parallel metal. First, we study the propagation of electromagnetic waves in presence of suspended and epitaxial graphene layers. Their dynamics is governed by the modified Maxwell equations obtained from the effective theory for EM field. We calculate the reflection and transmission coefficient for linearly polarized light and investigate in detail the quantum Faraday effect in external magnetic field. In particular it is showed that the prediction of the Dirac model are in good agreement with recent experimental results on transmission and giant Faraday rotation in cyclotron resonance. New regimes are also predicted Secondly, we investigate Casimir interaction between suspended graphene films with ideal conductor. The effect is investigated both in the idealistic case (zero temperature, ideal samples) and for realistic configurations (non zero temperature and/or presence of impurities and chemical potential). For zero temperature the Casimir force between graphene and a conductor is about 2.7% of that between two ideal conductors. At the same time in the high temperature limit the effect is showed to be greatly enhanced being about 50% of that between ideal metals.

Este trabalho é dedicado à investigação de diferentes aspectos da física de monocamadas de grafeno suspenso e epitaxial. A descrição do grafeno é baseada no modelo quase-relativístico de Dirac. Isso permite a aplicação dos métodos da Teoria Quântica de Campos (TQC) na investigação dos efeitos de interação entre o grafeno e o campo eletromagnético (EM). Usando o formalismo de integral de trajetória, nós formulamos uma teoria efetiva do campo EM na presença de monocamadas de grafeno. Esta teoria é governada pelo operador de polarização das quase-partículas de Dirac. Dois fenômenos importantes são investigados: as propriedades óticas do grafeno (o efeito Faraday em particular) e a interação de Casimir entre uma camada de grafeno e um metal paralelo. Em primeiro lugar, estudamos a propagação de ondas eletromagnéticas na presença de camadas de grafeno. A dinâmica de ondas é governada pelas equações modificadas de Maxwell obtidas a partir da teoria efetiva para o campo EM. Nós calculamos os coeficientes de reflexão e transmissão de luz polarizada linearmente e investigamos detalhadamente o efeito quântico de Faraday no campo magnético externo. Em particular, mostramos que as previsões do modelo de Dirac estão em boa concordância com os recentes resultados experimentais sobre a transmissão de luz e rotação de Faraday gigante em regime de ressonância cíclotron. Novos regimes também são previstos. Em segundo lugar, investigamos a interação de Casimir entre filmes suspensos de grafeno com um condutor ideal. O efeito é investigado tanto no caso ideal (temperatura nula, amostras ideais) quanto para configurações mais realistas (temperatura não nula e a presença de potencial químico). No caso de temperatura nula, a força de Casimir entre grafeno e condutor ideal é aproximadamente 2.6% da força entre dois condutores ideais. Ao mesmo tempo, no limite de temperatura elevada, o efeito mostra-se ser muito forte cerca de 50% de efeito entre metais ideais. / This research is devoted to investigation of several aspects of the physics of suspended and epitaxial graphene monolayers. The description of graphene is based on the quasi--relativistic Dirac model which permits application of the methods of the Quantum Field Theory to investigation of the interaction of graphene with electromagnetic field. Basing on the path integral formalism we formulate the effective theory for EM field in presence of graphene monolayers which is governed by the polarization operator of the Dirac quasi-particles in graphene. The two main phenomena in the interaction of graphene with electromagnetic field are studied: the optical properties of graphene (the Faraday rotation in particular), and Casimir interaction between graphene samples and parallel metal. First, we study the propagation of electromagnetic waves in presence of suspended and epitaxial graphene layers. Their dynamics is governed by the modified Maxwell equations obtained from the effective theory for EM field. We calculate the reflection and transmission coefficient for linearly polarized light and investigate in detail the quantum Faraday effect in external magnetic field. In particular it is showed that the prediction of the Dirac model are in good agreement with recent experimental results on transmission and giant Faraday rotation in cyclotron resonance. New regimes are also predicted Secondly, we investigate Casimir interaction between suspended graphene films with ideal conductor. The effect is investigated both in the idealistic case (zero temperature, ideal samples) and for realistic configurations (non zero temperature and/or presence of impurities and chemical potential). For zero temperature the Casimir force between graphene and a conductor is about 2.7% of that between two ideal conductors. At the same time in the high temperature limit the effect is showed to be greatly enhanced being about 50% of that between ideal metals.

Planning and estimating are important parts of Agile methodologies. Estimating aproject or sprint backlog for Agile teams is often quite challenging but there are many benefits of doing accurate estimations. Teams do not want to spend too much time esti-mating backlog items and are usually doing this by adopting methods such as planning poker. To estimate the size of the sprint backlog, the amount of work required for eachitem needs to be set, and also what pace the team is working with (Velocity) must betaken into consideration. This thesis is about finding guidelines for developing a tool toassist with sprint planning and to ease planning decisions such as how much work shouldbe included in each sprint and what kind of metrics should be visualized for influencingthe Scrum team and to increase team efficiency. The planning tool was evaluated byconducting user studies and collecting data from several sprints across different Scrumteams. The conducted user studies show that many teams did become more efficient byusing the planning tool. Although more extensive research would have to be made tofurther support this claim.

Submitted by LUCIANO HENRIQUE SILIANO RICCO null (luciano.silianoricco@gmail.com) on 2016-03-03T12:32:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_LucianoRicco.pdf: 7937141 bytes, checksum: 4631857aac8f308808dda1e44b0c0f03 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-03-04T16:21:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ricco_lhs_me_ilha.pdf: 7937141 bytes, checksum: 4631857aac8f308808dda1e44b0c0f03 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-04T16:21:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ricco_lhs_me_ilha.pdf: 7937141 bytes, checksum: 4631857aac8f308808dda1e44b0c0f03 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-29 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Investigou-se teoricamente um sistema composto por um interferômetro do tipo Aharonov- Bohm com dois pontos quânticos, onde um deles encontra-se acoplado à um fio de Kitaev na fase topológica, nos casos em que se desconsidera a interação de Coulomb entre os pontos quânticos (caso não interagente) e quando a mesma é levada em conta (caso interagente). Na primeira situação, verificou-se a presença robusta da anomalia de voltagem zero para ambos os regimes de interferência Fano adotados. Além do mais, constatou-se que o estado de Majorana isolado possui uma maneira singular de quebrar a simetria dos perfis de densidade de transmitância em função da diferença simétrica de energia dos pontos quânticos e da energia de Fermi dos terminais metálicos. Tais perfis podem ser obtidos experimentalmente por medidas de condutância. Na situação de pontos quânticos interagentes em ressonância, verificou-se que a razão entre a magnitude da repulsão de Coulomb e o acoplamento fio-ponto quântico altera a largura da anomalia de voltagem zero em ambos os regimes Fano analisados. Esse fato sugere que a correlação eletrônica influencia o tempo de vida do estado de Majorana no ponto quântico hibridizado diretamente com o fio. Ademais, para a situação de pontos quânticos não ressonantes, a inversão dos valores de energia dos mesmos também modifica a largura da anomalia de voltagem zero, fenômeno que não ocorre para o caso não interagente. Acredita-se que o dispositivo proposto neste trabalho constitui um mecanismo experimental alternativo para detectar excitações de Majorana. / We investigate theoretically a setup composed by an Aharonov-Bohm-like interferometer with two quantum dots, where one of them is coupled to a Kitaev wire within the topological phase, which is explored in two cases: (i) the interdot Coulomb correlation is disregarded (noninteracting case) and (ii) the same is taken into account (interacting case). In the situation (i), we verify the presence of the zero-bias anomaly for the both Fano regimes of interference adopted. Furthermore, we found that an isolated Majorana state has a particular way of breaking the symmetry in transmittance profiles, which can be accessed experimentally by performing electrical conductance measurements. In the situation (ii), for interacting quantum dots in resonance, we notice that the ratio between the Coulomb repulsion strength and the wire-dot coupling changes the width of the zero-bias peak for both Fano regimes analyzed. This feature suggests that the electronic correlation modifies the Majorana state lifetime in the dot directly coupled to the wire. Moreover, for the off-resonance situation, the swap between the energy levels of the dots also changes the width of the Majorana peak, which is not observed in the noninteracting case. The results obtained here can guide experimentalists that pursuit a way of revealing Majorana signatures. / FAPESP: 2014/14143-0

This study aims to identify and explain relationships between some major factors associated with successful reading at Grade 5 level in South African primary schools. In South Africa, grave concerns with regards to low levels of student achievement pervade research initiatives and educational debates. Despite considerable investments in educational inputs (such as policy and resources) and processes (such as curriculum provision and teacher support), outcomes (such as student achievement) remain disappointingly low. The South African population is characterized by great diversity and variation. With 11 official languages, current educational policy in South Africa advocates an additive bilingualism model and students in Grade 1 to 3 are taught in their mother tongue. Thereafter, when these students progress to Grade 4, the language of learning and teaching changes to a second language, which in most cases is English. At this key developmental stage students are also expected to advance from learning to read to a stage where they can use reading in order to learn. With this complexity of issues in mind, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to determine the effect of a number of explanatory variables at learner and school level on reading achievement as outcome variable, while controlling for language using the South African Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 data. As an international comparative evaluation of reading literacy involving more than 40 countries, PIRLS 2006 was the second, after PIRLS 2001, in a series of planned five-year cycles of assessment to measure trends in children’s reading literacy achievement, policy and practices related to literacy. Grade 5 learners in South African primary schools who participated in PIRLS 2006 were not able to achieve satisfactory levels of reading competence. The gravity of this finding is exacerbated by the fact that these learners were tested in the language in which they had been receiving instruction during the Foundation Phase of schooling. This study found most significant factors associated with reading literacy at learner-level, but this does not mean that the existence of teacher- and school-level factors is not of importance. While some explanatory factors at learner-level can more easily become the target of reading interventions, the higher level effect of the classroom and school are not diminished by this study. Creemers’ Comprehensive Model of Educational Effectiveness was utilized as theoretical point of departure. Creemers’ model was adapted for the purposes of this study to reflect a South African model of reading effectiveness in contrast with Creemers’ original use of it as a model of school effectiveness. Evidence was provided that the conceptual framework was inadequate in identifying factors affecting reading achievement for all South African language groupings. More specifically, the adapted South African reading effectiveness model was only appropriate in explaining reading achievement scores for the Afrikaans and English language groupings than for those from African language groupings. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

A própolis verde brasileira é um dos produtos de abelha mais consumidos no mundo devido às suas atividades antioxidantes, antiinflamatórias, antimicrobianas e antitumorais. Coletada pela espécie Apis mellifera, esta própolis possui a maior porcentagem de Artepilina C dentre as demais própolis. A molécula, derivada do ácido cinâmico, possui dois grupos prenilados, o que favorece a afinidade do composto pelo ambiente lipofílico. Um grupo carboxila também está presente na estrutura da Artepilina C, tornando-a um composto sensível ao pH, o que pode modular sua atividade biológica relacionada a interações com a membrana celular de organismos e tecidos. Neste trabalho investigamos as propriedades da Artepilina C em solução aquosa e interações entre Artepilina C e agregados anfifílicos comumente usados como modelos de membranas, ou seja, micelas e vesículas unilamelares, usando absorção óptica e espectroscopias de fluorescência em estado estacionário e resolvida no tempo. O grupo carboxila pode estar tanto na forma protonada quanto na forma desprotonada, mostrando equilíbrio em pH 4,65. Em pH abaixo do valor de pKa, uma banda de absorção aumentou em torno de 350 nm em concentração de Artepillin C acima de 50 M devido à agregação da molécula. Em pH neutro, com excitação a 310 nm, a Artepilina C apresenta dupla emissão a 400 e 450 nm, onde a segunda pode estar relacionada com diferentes interações entre as formas isoméricas da molécula. O tempo de vida fluorescente foi ajustado por uma função triexponencial, dominada por uma componente muito curta, em torno de 60 ps. Desta forma, a emissão fluorescente ocorreu antes da despolarização, resultando em valores muito altos de anisotropia de fluorescência. A interação da Artepilina C e membranas modelo foi estudada com micelas aniônicas, catiônicas e zwitteriônicas (respectivamente SDS, CTAB e HPS) e com vesículas unilamelares grandes de DMPC, DMPG e DODAB. Devido às cargas na superfície das micelas e das vesículas, o pH local é diferente do meio (bulk) e os espectros de absorção óptica mostraram que o estado de protonação do composto depende deste pH local. A polaridade em torno da Artepilina C diminuiu na presença de micelas e vesículas de acordo com os espectros de emissão de fluorescência, levando-nos a acreditar que a molécula está localizada na interface água/lipídio. A carga negativa do composto em estado desprotonado favorece a interação com micelas catiônicas e vesículas neutras. Os efeitos são mais proeminentes quando vesícula lipídica está na fase fluida. / Brazilian green propolis is one of the most consumed bee product in the world because of its known antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antitumor activities. Collected by the species Apis mellifera, this propolis has the major percentage of Artepillin C among others worldwide propolis. The molecule, derived of cinnamic acid, has two prenylated groups, which improves the affinity of the compound for lipophilic environment. A carboxylic group is also present in the Artepillin C structure, making it a pH-sensitive compound, what may modulate its biological activity related to interactions with the cellular membrane of organisms and tissues. In this work we investigated the properties of Artepillin C on aqueous solution and interactions between Artepillin C and amphiphilic aggregates commonly used as membrane models, namely, micelles and unilamellar vesicles, using optical absorption, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopies. The carboxyl group may be either in protonated or deprotonated form, showing equilibrium at pH 4,65. In pH below the pKa value, an absorption band raised around 350 nm at Artepillin C concentration above 50 M, due to aggregation of the molecule. In neutral pH, with excitation at 310 nm, Artepillin C presents dual emission at 400 and 450 nm, where the second one could be related with different interactions between isomeric forms of the molecule. The fluorescent lifetime is a three-exponential function dominated by a very short component, around 60 ps. Therefore, the emission occurred before fluorescence depolarization, resulting in very high values of fluorescence anisotropy. The interaction of Artepillin C and membrane models was studied with anionic, cationic and zwitterionic (respectively SDS, CTAB and HPS) micelles, and with large unilamellar vesicles of DMPC, DMPG and DODAB. Due to the charges in micelles and in vesicles surfaces, the local pH was different from the bulk and the optical absorption spectra showed that the protonation state of the compound depends on this pH. The polarity around Artepillin C decreased in the presence of micelles and vesicles according to fluorescence emission spectra, leading us to believe that the molecule should be located at the water/lipid interface. The negative charge of the compound in deprotonated state favors the interaction with cationic micelles and neutral vesicles. The effects are more prominent when the lipid vesicles are in the fluid phase

A própolis verde brasileira é um dos produtos de abelha mais consumidos no mundo devido às suas atividades antioxidantes, antiinflamatórias, antimicrobianas e antitumorais. Coletada pela espécie Apis mellifera, esta própolis possui a maior porcentagem de Artepilina C dentre as demais própolis. A molécula, derivada do ácido cinâmico, possui dois grupos prenilados, o que favorece a afinidade do composto pelo ambiente lipofílico. Um grupo carboxila também está presente na estrutura da Artepilina C, tornando-a um composto sensível ao pH, o que pode modular sua atividade biológica relacionada a interações com a membrana celular de organismos e tecidos. Neste trabalho investigamos as propriedades da Artepilina C em solução aquosa e interações entre Artepilina C e agregados anfifílicos comumente usados como modelos de membranas, ou seja, micelas e vesículas unilamelares, usando absorção óptica e espectroscopias de fluorescência em estado estacionário e resolvida no tempo. O grupo carboxila pode estar tanto na forma protonada quanto na forma desprotonada, mostrando equilíbrio em pH 4,65. Em pH abaixo do valor de pKa, uma banda de absorção aumentou em torno de 350 nm em concentração de Artepillin C acima de 50 M devido à agregação da molécula. Em pH neutro, com excitação a 310 nm, a Artepilina C apresenta dupla emissão a 400 e 450 nm, onde a segunda pode estar relacionada com diferentes interações entre as formas isoméricas da molécula. O tempo de vida fluorescente foi ajustado por uma função triexponencial, dominada por uma componente muito curta, em torno de 60 ps. Desta forma, a emissão fluorescente ocorreu antes da despolarização, resultando em valores muito altos de anisotropia de fluorescência. A interação da Artepilina C e membranas modelo foi estudada com micelas aniônicas, catiônicas e zwitteriônicas (respectivamente SDS, CTAB e HPS) e com vesículas unilamelares grandes de DMPC, DMPG e DODAB. Devido às cargas na superfície das micelas e das vesículas, o pH local é diferente do meio (bulk) e os espectros de absorção óptica mostraram que o estado de protonação do composto depende deste pH local. A polaridade em torno da Artepilina C diminuiu na presença de micelas e vesículas de acordo com os espectros de emissão de fluorescência, levando-nos a acreditar que a molécula está localizada na interface água/lipídio. A carga negativa do composto em estado desprotonado favorece a interação com micelas catiônicas e vesículas neutras. Os efeitos são mais proeminentes quando vesícula lipídica está na fase fluida. / Brazilian green propolis is one of the most consumed bee product in the world because of its known antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antitumor activities. Collected by the species Apis mellifera, this propolis has the major percentage of Artepillin C among others worldwide propolis. The molecule, derived of cinnamic acid, has two prenylated groups, which improves the affinity of the compound for lipophilic environment. A carboxylic group is also present in the Artepillin C structure, making it a pH-sensitive compound, what may modulate its biological activity related to interactions with the cellular membrane of organisms and tissues. In this work we investigated the properties of Artepillin C on aqueous solution and interactions between Artepillin C and amphiphilic aggregates commonly used as membrane models, namely, micelles and unilamellar vesicles, using optical absorption, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopies. The carboxyl group may be either in protonated or deprotonated form, showing equilibrium at pH 4,65. In pH below the pKa value, an absorption band raised around 350 nm at Artepillin C concentration above 50 M, due to aggregation of the molecule. In neutral pH, with excitation at 310 nm, Artepillin C presents dual emission at 400 and 450 nm, where the second one could be related with different interactions between isomeric forms of the molecule. The fluorescent lifetime is a three-exponential function dominated by a very short component, around 60 ps. Therefore, the emission occurred before fluorescence depolarization, resulting in very high values of fluorescence anisotropy. The interaction of Artepillin C and membrane models was studied with anionic, cationic and zwitterionic (respectively SDS, CTAB and HPS) micelles, and with large unilamellar vesicles of DMPC, DMPG and DODAB. Due to the charges in micelles and in vesicles surfaces, the local pH was different from the bulk and the optical absorption spectra showed that the protonation state of the compound depends on this pH. The polarity around Artepillin C decreased in the presence of micelles and vesicles according to fluorescence emission spectra, leading us to believe that the molecule should be located at the water/lipid interface. The negative charge of the compound in deprotonated state favors the interaction with cationic micelles and neutral vesicles. The effects are more prominent when the lipid vesicles are in the fluid phase