Nowadays, prolonged sitting among office workers is a widespread problem, which is highly related to several health problems. Many proposals have been reported and evaluated to address this issue. However, motivating and engaging workers to change health behavior to a healthier working life is still a challenge. In this project, a specific application has been deployed for real-time monitoring and alerting office workers for prolonged sitting. The proposed system consists of three distinct parts: The first one is an android smartwatch, which was used to collect sensor data e.g., accelerometer and gyro data, with a custom android wear app. The second one is an android application, which was developed to act as a gateway for receiving the smartwatch’s data and sending them to IBM Bluemix cloud with MQTT protocol. The final part is a Node-Red cloud application, which was deployed for storing, analyzing and processing of the sensor data for activity detection i.e., sitting or walking/standing. The main purpose of the last one was to return relevant feedback to the user, while combining elements from gaming contexts (gamification methods), for motivating and engaging office workers to a healthier behavior. The system was firstly tested for defining appropriate accelerometer thresholds to five participants (control group), and then evaluated with five different participants (treatment group), in order to analyze its reliability for prolonged sitting detection. The results showed a good precession for the detection. No confusing between sitting and walking/standing was noticed. Communication, storage and analysis of the data was successfully done, while the push notifications to the participants, for alerting or rewarding them, were always accurate and delivered on time. Every useful information was presented to the user to a web-based dashboard accessed through a smartphone, tablet or a PC.     The proposed system can easily be implemented at a real-life scenario with office workers. Certainly, there is a lot space for improvement, considering mostly the type of data registered at the system, the method for sitting detection, and the user interface for presenting relevant information. / Numera är förlängt sittande bland kontorsarbetare ett utbrett problem som är väldigt relaterat till flera hälsoproblem. Många förslag har rapporterats och utvärderas för att ta itu med denna fråga. Tydligen är det fortfarande en utmaning att motivera och engagera arbetstagare för att förändra deras hälsobeteende till hälsosammare arbetsliv. I detta projekt har en särskild applikation använts för realtidsövervakning och varnar kontorsarbetare för förlängt sittande. Det föreslagna systemet består av tre olika delar: Den första är en android smartwatch, som användes för att samla sensordata t.ex. accelerometer och gyrodata, med en anpassad android wear app. Den andra är en en androidapplikation som fungerade som en gateway för att ta emot smartwatchens data och skickar datan till IBM Bluemix-Cloud med MQTT-protokollet. Den sista delen är en Node-RED Cloud-Applikation som användes för lagring, analysering och behandling av sensordata för aktivitetsdetektering. Detta innebär sittande eller gå/stående med det huvudsakliga ändamålet att returnera relevant återkoppling till användaren, samtidigt som man kombinerar element från spelkontekster (gamification metoder), för att motivera och engagera arbetarna till ett hälsosammare beteende. Systemet testades först för att definiera lämpliga accelerometertrösklar till fem deltagare (kontroll grupp) och utvärderades sedan med fem olika deltagare (behandingsgrupp) för att analysera dess tillförlitlighet för långvarig sittdetektering. Resultaten visade en bra precession för detektionen. Ingen förvirring mellan att sitta och gå / stående märktes. Kommunikation, lagring och analys av data gjordes framgångsrikt, medan push-meddelandena till deltagarna, för att varna eller belöna dem, var alltid korrekta och levererade i tid. All användbar information presenterades för användaren på en webbaserad dashboard som nås via en smartphone surfplatta eller en dator. Det föreslagna systemet kan enkelt implementeras i ett verkligt scenario med kontorsarbetare. Visst finns det mycket utrymme för förbättring om man tänker på majoriteten av data som registrerats i systemet, metoden för sittande detektion och användargränssnittet för presentering av relevant information.

Simultaneous solution of the conservation equations for energy and chemical species in conjunction with radiative transfer equation was carried out by coupling a previously developed and tested system model of fluidized bed combustion (FBC) to an existing radiation model. The predictive accuracy of the coupled code was assessed by applying it to 0.3 MWt METU Atmospheric Bubbling Fluidized Bed Combustor (ABFBC) Test Rig burning lignite in its own ash and comparing its predictions with the measured temperatures and concentrations of gaseous species along the combustor and radiative heat fluxes incident on the refractory-lined freeboard walls on two combustion tests, with and without recycle. The predictions of the coupled code were found to be in good agreement with the measurements. For the investigation of the significance of coupling of the radiation model to the system model, temperature predictions of the coupled code were compared with those obtained by the original system model. It was found that the effect of incorporating a radiation model into the system model on the predictions was not significant because the high temperatures of refractory-lined freeboard walls and high surface to volume ratio of the test rig under consideration cause the incident radiative heat fluxes to be dominated by walls rather than the particle laden gas emissions. However, in industrial boilers, freeboard is surrounded by water-cooled membrane walls and boilers have much lower surface to volume ratio. In order to examine the effects of both on radiation in industrial boilers, an investigation was carried out on 16 MWt Stationary Fluidized Bed Boiler (SFBB) by applying radiation model, in isolation from the system model, to the freeboard of the boiler. It was found that in the boiler, incident radiative heat fluxes were dominated by particle laden gas emissions. In brief, the coupled code proposed in this study proves to be a useful tool in qualitatively and quantitatively simulating the processes taking place in an atmospheric fluidized bed boilers.

In this study, flue gas emissions and combustion efficiencies during combustion and co-combustion of olive cake and coal are investigated in a bubbling fluidized bed with an inside diameter of 102 mm and a height of 900 mm and 1900 mm. Tun&ccedil / bilek lignite coal and Edremit olive cake were used in the experiments as fuels. Temperature distributions along the combustion column were continuously measured. Flue gas concentrations of O2, CO, SO2 and NOx were measured during combustion experiments. Four sets of experiments were performed in order to examine the effect of fuel composition, excess air ratio, freeboard extension and limestone addition on flue gas emissions and combustion efficiency. The olive cake addition to coal were 25, 50, 75 % by wt. The bed temperature on the average was 850 oC. The results of the experiments showed that coal combustion occurs at lower parts of the combustion column whereas olive cake combustion takes place more in the freeboard region. As olive cake percentage in the fuel mixture increased, CO emissions increased, SO2 and NOx emissions decreased. The reason for the decrease of NOx emissions with increasing percentage of olive cake in the fuel mixture was due to a reducing atmosphere created in the combustion column. Mostly combustion losses resulted mainly from the unburnt carbon in the fly ash. With the freeboard extension, noticeable decrease in CO emissions and slight increase in combustion efficiencies were observed. Among the limestones tested, &Ccedil / an limestone gave the best result with Ca/S = 3 at an optimum bed temperature of 850 oC. The SO2 reduction was 87% at this Ca/S ratio. For co-combustion experiments, it was observed that SO2 adsorption efficiency of limestone increased with the addition of olive cake to the fuel mixture.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / In this work we approach four research lines, where we began with the study of isometrically immersed hypersurfaces in a horoball. Next we studied Liouville type theorems in a complete Riemannian manifold for general operators. After we studied hypersurfaces f-minimal closed on a manifold with density, and nally we studied properly embedded minimal hypersurfaces with free boundary in a n-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold. Continuing, we obtain under a more general class operator than '-Laplacian, a Liouville type theorem for a complete Riemannian manifold, so that, prove a classication theorem for Killing graph of a foliation. Firstly, we are going to assume a weak maximum principle and that immersion is contained in a horoball, i.e., the set of bounded above Bussemann functions . We obtain an estimate for the highest quotient of r-curvatures. Moreover, under certain conditions on sectional curvature and assuming that the immersion is contained in a horoball, we forced the validity of the weak maximum principle and obtain the same estimates. Next, we establish a Choi-Wang type estimate for the rst eigenvalue of the weighter Laplacian on spaces with density in responding partially to Yau's conjecture for the rst eigenvalue weighter Laplacian for spaces with density, and moreover, we obtain an inequality Poincare type. With the estimates obtained, we establish an estimate of volume for a closed surface immersed in a space with density. Still following the study of spaces with density, we obtain a type Hientze-Karcher inequality for a compact manifold with nonempty boundary , so that, we obtain that if holds the equality than the manifold is isometric to a Euclidian ball. As consequence, we obtain under same conditions that if the f-mean curvature satisfy a bounded below than the manifold is isometric to a Euclidian ball. Finally, we obtain an estimate for the nonzero rst Steklov eigenvalue, where we are giving a answer partial to a conjecture by Fraser and Li. Moreover, as a consequence we establish an estimate for the total length of the boundary of the properly embedded minimal surfaces with free boundary in terms of its topology, thus, we proved the same when the surface is embedded in the Euclidean ball 3-dimensional. / Neste trabalho, abordamos quatro linhas de estudo, onde iniciamos com o estudo de hipersuperfcies isometricamente imersas sobre uma horobola. Em seguida estudamos Teoremas tipo Liouville para uma variedade Riemanniana completa em operadores mais gerais que o Laplaciano. Alem disso, estudamos hipersuperfcies f-mÃnimas fechadas em uma variedade com densidade e, por fim, estudamos hipersuperfÃcies mÃnimas com bordo livre, propriamente imersas em uma variedade Riemanniana compacta n-dimensional. Primeiramente, assumindo um princpio do maximo fraco e que a imersÃo està contida em uma horobola, i.e., um conjunto em que a funcÃo de Busemann à limitada superiormente, obtemos uma estimativa para o supremo do quociente das r-Ãsimas curvaturas. AlÃm disso, sob certas condiÃÃes sobre as curvaturas seccionais e assumindo que a imersÃo està contida em uma horobola, forÃamos a validade do princÃpio do mÃximo fraco e obtemos as mesmas estimativas. Prosseguindo, obtemos, para um operador mais geral que o '-Laplaciano, um teorema tipo-Liouville para uma variedade Riemanniana completa. Como aplicaÃÃo provamos um teorema de classificaÃÃo para grÃficos de Killing de uma folheaÃÃo. Em seguida, estabelecemos uma estimativa tipo Choi e Wang para o primeiro autovalor do f-Laplaciano em espaÃos com densidade, no sentido de responder parcialmente à conjectura de Yau para o primeiro autovalor do Laplaciano; alÃm disso, obtemos uma desigualdade tipo Poincarà para esse operador. Com a estimativa obtida, pudemos estabelecer uma estimativa de volume para uma superfÃcie fechada mergulhada em um espaÃo com densidade. Ainda seguindo o estudo de espaÃos com densidade, obtemos uma desigualdade tipo Heintze-Karcher para uma variedade compacta com bordo e verificamos que, se vale a igualdade, entÃo a variedade à isomÃtrica a uma bola Euclidiana. Como consequÃncia, obtemos que, nas mesmas condiÃÃes, e se a f-curvatura mÃdia satisfizer uma certa limitaÃÃo inferior, entÃo a variedade ainda à isometrica a uma bola Euclidiana. Finalmente, obtemos uma estimativa para o primeiro autovalor de Steklov, dando uma resposta parcial a uma conjectura devida a Fraser e Li. AlÃm disso, como consequÃncia, estabelecemos uma estimativa para o comprimento do bordo de uma superfÃcie mÃnima, compacta e propriamente megulhada com bordo livre em termos de sua topologia; assim, provamos o mesmo resultado quando a superfÃcie està mergulhada em uma bola Euclidiana 3-dimensional.

Le refroidissement seculaire du manteau terrestre et de la lithosphere continentale se traduit par l'augmentation de la surface de terres emergees. L'augmentation corollaire des processus d'alteration et d'erosion des silicates a des consequences majeures pour les enveloppes externes. Nous avons developpe un modele physique qui permet d'evaluer la surface de terres emergees en fonction de la temperature du manteau, de la surface totale de continents, et de la distribution des altitudes continentales. Nos resultats numeriques montrent qu'a la fin de l'Archeen, moinsde 15% de la surface terrestre etaient emergee, en accord avec nombre d'observations geologiques et geochimiques. Pour estimer le refroidissement seculaire de la lithosphere continentale, nous avons combine des modeles thermo-mecaniques avec des observations de terrain. Nos resultats, contraints par des donnees geologiques, suggerent que la temperature au Moho a diminue de ~ 200ºC en 2,7 Ga dans le craton des Pilbaras. Pour evaluer l'effet de la croissance continentale sur l'evolution de la surface de terres emergees, nous avons developpe un modele base sur un modele d'evolution thermique publie. Nos resultats suggerent que la surface emergee, de moins de 5% de la surface terrestre a l'Archeen, depend peu de la croissance continentale. Ceci permet de reconcilier l'evolution du 87Sr/86Sr oceanique avec une croissance continentale precoce. Les continents sont enrichis en phosphate, element essentiel a la biosphere. Leur emergence aurait donc engendre une augmentation de la production d'oxygene par des micro-organismes photosynthetiques, contribuant ainsi a l'oxydation de l'atmosphere il y a 2,4 Ga.

This master’s thesis deals with communication system design via the NFC and Wi-Fi interface. The thesis has two basic goals. The first goal is to create a device that is capable of storing of data and its subsequent transfer via the NFC interface. The second aim is to utilize this device for measuring various physical variables. The IoT technology is employed to fulfill the aforementioned goal. IoT technology is capable of visualizing data in real time and make them accessible via the Internet. The result of this work is an universal device, that contains the most popular communication interfaces, such as I2C, SPI and that is capable of processing measurement data from digital, analogue, and wireless sensors.