A pesquisa em questão pretendeu compreender o processo de construção de um território dos sentidos através do diálogo, no âmbito de um projeto de Educação Ambiental. Buscou-se investigar as relações de pertencimento e vínculo que se estabelecem entre os sujeitos e o ambiente da APA Embu-Verde através de um processo de diálogo e criação coletiva para uma leitura de mundo (FREIRE, 1996). Situada na região metropolitana de São Paulo, no município de Embu das Artes, a APA (Área de Proteção Ambiental) Embu-Verde é uma unidade de conservação criada pela Lei municipal n. 108/ 2008 (EMBU DAS ARTES, 2008). A pesquisa está inserida num projeto mais amplo de Diagnóstico Socioambiental da APA Embu- Verde, aprovado com recursos do FEHIDRO (Fundo Estadual de Recursos Hídricos) que envolve uma série de atores e instituições incluindo poder público, sociedade civil e Universidade de São Paulo. Neste contexto utilizou-se uma metodologia inovadora para a prática do diálogo The World Café (BROWN, 2001) que faz parte de um conjunto de metodologias intitulada Art of Hosting (Arte de anfitriar conversas significativas). Buscamos através do presente estudo responder a seguinte pergunta: Em que medida o World Café, entendido como método de diálogo pode contribuir nos processos de Educação Ambiental? Com a possibilidade de um estágio de doutorado-sanduíche nos EUA com apoio da Capes/Fulbright foi possível aprofundar o estudo sobre o World Café como método de diálogo e da abordagem do Art of Hosting no tratamento de questões complexas. Neste sentido foram realizadas 12 entrevistas com lideranças que vem utilizando tal abordagem na cidade de Columbus, Ohio, EUA para lidar com questões complexas em diversas áreas (Saúde, Educação, Moradia, Segurança alimentar). Os resultados destacam o forte componente de aprendizado presente em tais metodologias e a jornada pessoal de cada um dos anfitriões como parte essencial do processo. O referencial teórico é multirreferencial contando com o pensamento de autores de diversos campos: da Educação e complexidade ((FREIRE, MORIN) da Educação Ambiental (SORRENTINO, CARVALHO, SAUVÉ, JACOBI). A compreensão dos dados foi realizada segundo a hermenêutica, uma interpretação simbólica de cunho antropológico através da jornada interpretativa (FERREIRA-SANTOS, 2006) no campo da Antropologia da Educação. / This research aims to comprehend the process of building a territory of meanings through dialogue within the framework of an environmental education project. We sought to investigate the sense of belonging and connections established between people and the environment at the Embu Verde environmental protected area through a process of dialogue and collective creation for a reading of world (FREIRE, 1996). Situated in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, in the city of Embu das Artes, the APA (Environmental Protected Area) Embu Verde is a conservation unity recently created by a municipal law (n. 108/2008). This research is inserted into a bigger project called APA Embu Verde Social and Environmental Diagnosis, financially supported by FEHIDRO (Water Resources State Fund), which is composed by multiple stakeholders and institutions including the public sector, civil society and University of São Paulo. In this context we used The World Café methodology (BROWN, 2001) which is included at the Art of Hosting approach, a set of innovative methodologies to deal with complex issues. We sought through this study to answer the question: In which way The World Café, as a dialogue method, can contribute to the environmental education process? Through the opportunity of a Capes/Fulbright scholarship we could deeply understand the methodology principles in contact to The World Café Community Foundation. We did 12 interviews with host leaderships who have been using such an approach in various fields in the city of Columbus, Ohio (US) to deal with complex issues in areas like Health, Education, Homelessness, Food Security. The results highlights the strong learning component present in such methodologies and the personal journey of each host as an important part of the process. The theoretical reference has multidisciplinary sources, with the authors working on different fields, like Education and Complexity (FREIRE, MORIN), Environmental Education (SORRENTINO, CARVALHO, SAUVÉ, JACOBI). The analysis of the data was based on hermeneutics, which is a symbolic interpretation with an anthropological approach through an interpretative journey (FERREIRA-SANTOS, 2006) in the field of Anthropology of Education.

At present day, distributed computing is a widely used technique, where volunteers support different computing power needs organizations might have. This thesis sought to benchmark distributed computing performance limited to mobile device support since this type of support is seldom done with mobile devices. This thesis proposes two approaches to harnessing computational power and infrastructure of a group of mobile devices. The problems used for benchmarking are small instances of deep learning training. One requirement posed by the mobile devices’ non-static nature was that this should be possible without any significant prior configuration. The protocol used for communication was HTTP. The reason deep-learning was chosen as the benchmarking problem is due to its versatility and variability. The results showed that this technique can be applied successfully to some types of problem instances, and that the two proposed approaches also favour different problem instances. The highest request rate found for the prototype with a 99% response rate was a 2100% increase in efficiency compared to a regular server. This was under the premise that it was provided just below 2000 mobile devices for only particular problem instances. / För närvarande är distribuerad databehandling en utbredd teknik, där frivilliga individer stödjer olika organisationers behov av datorkraft. Denna rapport försökte jämföra prestandan för distribuerad databehandling begränsad till enbart stöd av mobila enheter då denna typ av stöd sällan görs med mobila enheter. Rapporten föreslår två sätt att utnyttja beräkningskraft och infrastruktur för en grupp mobila enheter. De problem som används för benchmarking är små exempel på deep-learning. Ett krav som ställdes av mobilenheternas icke-statiska natur var att detta skulle vara möjligt utan några betydande konfigureringar. Protokollet som användes för kommunikation var HTTP. Anledningen till att deeplearning valdes som referensproblem beror på dess mångsidighet och variation. Resultaten visade att denna teknik kan tillämpas framgångsrikt på vissa typer av probleminstanser, och att de två föreslagna tillvägagångssätten också gynnar olika probleminstanser. Den högsta requesthastigheten hittad för prototypen med 99% svarsfrekvens var en 2100% ökning av effektiviteten jämfört med en vanlig server. Detta givet strax under 2000 mobila enheter för vissa speciella probleminstanser.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-31T13:33:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EdnardoPR_DISSERT.pdf: 2329567 bytes, checksum: ab9bc3145d3823983047e9d57956c8d0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-01-30 / Fundação de Apoio a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte / The connection of wind generators might cause significant influences in the profile voltages, voltage unbalance, loading and the electrical losses in radial power distribution systems. This fact requires a specific study, called Hosting Capacity, which aims to analyze the maximum limit of the power increase on the network that makes the performance of the system acceptable to the established quality limits. This work shows an IEEE radial distribution system behavior, composed of 13 bus, in steady state, when a synchronous wind machine is engaged on the bus 680 in two ways: directly connected to the network and connected through the frequency converter. For each type of connection the power factor was varied from 0.9 capacitive to inductive 0.9. The parameters analyzed in connection bar were the degree of voltage unbalance, the losses in the system and the profile of voltages on the bus 680 for each case . The simulations were performed using the program Distribution Network Analysis with Generation Aeolian-Electric - ANAREDGEE, which was developed and validated with own results of the IEEE. It was found that there was a reduction in the degree of unbalance for all simulated situations, when compared to the original value of the system status, not exceeded the limits determined by imbalances entities NEMA, ANSI, IEEE and ANEEL. Regarding the profile of voltages in the various system buses, there was a slight decrease in some situations. In the original system, the voltage level of the phase B in the bus 680 exceeded the 5% voltage given by ANEEL, with a value of 1.0529 p.u. With the machine connected directly, there was an increase of this value in all simulations with different power factor, while the connection through frequency converter might causa a reduction of the phase B voltage levels to below 1.05 pu in situations where the power factors were equal to 0.9 capacitive and unitary. The system losses were reduced in all cases, but showed lower values when the synchronous machine was integrated into the system by frequency convertor. It was also observed a significant reduction in the degree of system imbalance after connecting the synchronous machine, this reduction, in most cases, occurred in proportion to the increase in power injected into the connection bar / A conexão de geradores eólio-elétricos pode causar influências significativas no perfil de tensões, desequilíbrio de tensão, no carregamento e nas perdas elétricas em sistemas de distribuição de energia radiais. Este fato requer um estudo específico, denominado Hosting Capacity, que tem por finalidade analisar o limite máximo do incremento de potência na rede que torna a performance do sistema aceitável para os limites de qualidade estabelecidos. Este trabalho demonstra o comportamento do sistema de distribuição radial do IEEE, composto de 13 barras, em regime permanente, quando uma máquina eólica síncrona é acoplada na barra com o maior nível de tensão do sistema, de duas formas distintas: diretamente conectada à rede e conectada por meio de conversor de frequência. Para cada tipo de conexão o fator de potência foi variado de 0.9 capacitivo a 0.9 indutivo. Os parâmetros analisados na barra de conexão foram o grau de desequilíbrio de tensão, as perdas no sistema e o perfil das tensões. As simulações foram realizadas através do programa Análise de Redes de Distribuição com Geração Eólio-Elétrica - ANAREDGEE, que foi desenvolvido e validado com resultados próprios do IEEE. Verificou-se que houve uma redução no grau d e desequilíbrio para todas as situações simuladas, quando comparadas ao valor da situação original do sistema, não superado os limites de desequilíbrios determinados por entidades como NEMA, ANSI, IEEE e ANEEL. Com relação ao perfil das tensões nas diversas barras do sistema, houve uma ligeira diminuição em algumas situações. No sistema original, o valor de tensão na fase B da barra 680 superava os 5% de sobretensão determinado pela ANEEL, apresentando um valor de 1,0529 p.u. Com a máquina diretamente conectada houve um aumento deste valor em todas as simulações com diferentes fatores de potência, enquanto que a conexão por meio de conversor de frequência possibilitou uma diminuição dos níveis de tensão da fase B para valores abaixo de 1,05 p.u. nas situações em que os fatores de potência eram iguais a 0.9 capacitivo e unitário. As perdas no sistema foram reduzidas em todos os casos, entretanto apresentaram menores valores quando a máquina síncrona era integrada ao sistema por meio de conversor de frequência. Foi observado também uma redução considerável do grau de desequilíbrio do sistema após a conexão da máquina síncrona, esta redução, na maioria dos casos, se deu de forma proporcional ao aumento da potência injetada na barra de conexão

The diploma thesis is focused on the evaluation of effectiveness of information system of the selected company. For this evaluation was primarily used method HOS8. In the first part of the thesis are clarified theoretical basis of the work, then the second is an analysis of the company and its information system, in the third part based on the results of the analysis are stated suggestions for increasing the efficiency of the examined information system.

Thesis Price models and SLA for shared services of data centers has as objective to establish best practice, so-called "best practices" of SLA and price models for data center services. Work is divided into two parts, theoretical and practical part. The theoretical section is wants to familiarize the reader with the basic concepts such as outsourcing, reasons and risks of use. I describe the base models for providing IT services as well as pricing models for services as described in the literature. I will focus on data centers and TIER standard categorization, too. The practical part is based on an analysis of information that I got from an interview with the experts working for the biggest data center companies in the Czech Republic. Based on this information, I tried to compile the best practices for creating pricing models for data center services that are actually used in practice. Specifically, the server housing, server hosting and virtual server services. Also, for these services create an SLA that can be used by some data center company in the Czech Republic.

The aim of this thesis is to inspect and identify available technologies and services in order to develop a prototype web application, based on acrowd funding idea, for a startup company. The prototype is going to be used for attracting investments, for further development, and it implements essential functionality such as social login, and a user interface focused on statistics and a payment service.The project was conducted in three main areas, a research phase, a development phase and a documentation phase. All the choices that have been made during the project have been considered with other possible solutions at the research phase by investigating the advantages and disadvantages of the solutions. In conclusion, the thesis examines the web application prototype as a final result, evaluates design decisions and solution choices made in there search phase and recommends possible extension routes of the system for further application development. The thesis hopes to offer useful information and a good starting point for students that are considering developing an application based on a crowd funding model or an Enterprise application using similar technologies. / Syftet med denna studien är att undersöka och identifiera tillgängligateknologiska lösningar och tjänster för utveckling av en webbapplikation prototyp, baserad på en crowdfunding idé, för ett nystartat företag. Prototypen kommer att användas för att locka inverterare som är villiga att vidareutveckla prototypen. De grundläggande funktionaliteten såsom social inloggning, och et tanvändargränssnitt med fokus på statistik och en betaltjänst är implementerat i prototypen. Projektet utfördes i tre huvudsakliga delar, en undersöknings fas, en utvecklins fas och dokumentations fas. Alla valen som har gjorts under projektets gång har övervägts med andra möjliga val under undersökningsfasen genom att ta fram för och nackdelar. Avslutningsvis undersöker studien den slutliga prototypen som ett slutresultat, utvärderar designbeslut och lösnings val som har gjorts under forskningsfasen och rekommenderar eventuella tilläggsmöjligheter för vidareutveckling. Studien förväntas kunna ge användbar information och en bra utgångspunkt för projekt som överväger att utveckla ett program som bygger på en crowdfunding modell eller ett Enterprise program med liknande teknologi.

<p>System emulation and firmware re-hosting are popular techniques to answer various security and performance related questions, such as, does a firmware contain security vulnerabilities or meet timing requirements when run on a specific hardware platform. While this motivation for emulation and binary analysis has previously been explored and reported, starting to work or research in the field is difficult. Further, doing the actual firmware re-hosting for various Instruction Set Architectures(ISA) is usually time consuming and difficult, and at times may seem impossible. To this end, I provide a comprehensive guide for the practitioner or system emulation researcher, along with various tools that work for a large number of ISAs, reducing the challenges of getting re-hosting working or porting previous work for new architectures. I layout the common challenges faced during firmware re-hosting and explain successive steps and survey common tools to overcome these challenges. I provide emulation classification techniques on five different axes, including emulator methods, system type, fidelity, emulator purpose, and control. These classifications and comparison criteria enable the practitioner to determine the appropriate tool for emulation. I use these classifications to categorize popular works in the field and present 28 common challenges faced when creating, emulating and analyzing a system, from obtaining firmware to post emulation analysis. I then introduce a HALucinator [1 ]/QEMU [2 ] tracer tool named HQTracer, a binary function matching tool PMatch, and GHALdra, an emulator that works for more than 30 different ISAs and enables High Level Emulation.</p>

The demand for electrical power is growing due to factors such as population growth, urbanisation, and the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. To be able to keep up with the changes in electricity demand, the Swedish power grid must connect more renewable power generation, but also  increase its transmission capacity. Traditionally, power grids are expanded to increase the transmission capacity which requires a lot of time and investments. In order not to hinder the electrification of society, it is important to adequately estimate the current transmission capacity and plan the expansions accordingly. In the past, the generation of electrical power was primarily based on dispatchable energy sources, and the planning of new connections to the grid was assessed according to the stable and controllable nature of the electricity supply. However, renewable sources like solar and wind power are affected by weather variations. Therefore, the traditional methods of planning the power grid are no longer sufficient. Instead, there is a need to develop and implement new methods that account for the variable nature of renewable energy sources, and also the possible complementarity between different renewable power sources. This can possibly allow more connection of renewable power generation to the grid, without the need of expanding it. The aim of this thesis is to investigate two different methods for analysing how much renewable power generation that can be connected to the power grid, so-called hosting capacity methods. The first method is a deterministic method which is traditionally used in power system analyses since it is a fast, simple and conservative method. This method does neither consider the intermittent nature of solar and wind power, nor any complementarity. The second method is a time series method which considers the complementarity and intermittency of solar and wind power but requires much data. The methods are compared in regards to assessed hosting capacities, risks and reliability of results. The study is performed on a regional grid case in the middle of Sweden. Solar and wind power plants with different capacities are modeled at ten buses in the power grid. The power grid is analysed in PSS/E with loading of lines and voltage levels determining the assessed hosting capacities. A correlation map presenting the temporal correlations of solar and wind power over the grid case area is also created in order to evaluate the complementarity in the area and its possible effects on the assessed hosting capacities.  The results show that the time series method is more reliable than the deterministic method. This is due to the difficulties in identifying accurate worst case hours that are used for the deterministic method. The time series method is also preferred as it considers complementarity between solar and wind power. However, the correlation map argues that the grid case area has weakly positive correlations, meaning low complementarity between solar and wind power. This suggests that the differences in hosting capacity between the two methods are more likely dependent on the temporal variations in existing load and power generation. The differences in assessed hosting capacity between the ten buses in the power grid are probably not due to the local complementarity either, but rather the structural differences of the grid in terms of components, local loads and existing power generation.

Today's cybercriminals must carefully manage their network resources to evade detection and maintain profitable businesses. For example, a rogue online enterprise has to have multiple technical and business components in place, to provide the necessary infrastructure to keep the business available. Often, cybercriminals in their effort to protect and maintain their valuable network resources (infrastructures), they manipulate two fundamental Internet protocols; the Domain Name System (DNS) and the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). A popular countermeasure against cybercriminal infrastructures are Autonomous Systems (AS) reputation systems. Past research efforts have developed several AS reputation systems that monitor the traffic for illicit activities. Unfortunately, these systems have severe limitations; (1) they cannot distinguish between malicious and legitimate but abused ASes, and thus it is not clear how to use them in practice, (2) require direct observation of malicious activity, from many different vantage points and for an extended period of time, thus delaying detection. This dissertation presents empirical studies and a system that help to counteract cybecriminal infrastructures. First, we perform empirical studies that help to advance our understanding, about how these infrastructures operate. We study two representative types of infrastructures: (1) fast-flux service networks which are infrastructures based on DNS manipulation, (b) malicious ASes (hubs of cybercriminal activities) which are infrastructures that are primarily based on BGP manipulation. Second, we build on our observations from these studies, and we design and implement, ASwatch; an AS reputation system that, unlike existing approaches, monitors exclusively the routing level behavior of ASes, to expose malicious ASes sooner. We build ASwatch based on the intuition that, in an attempt to evade possible detection and remediation efforts, malicious ASes exhibit agile routing behavior (e.g. short-lived routes, aggressive re-wiring). We evaluate ASwatch on known malicious ASes, and we compare its performance to a state of the art AS reputation system.

M.Comm. (Economics) / The financial involvement of the public sector in bidding for and hosting major international sporting events has taken various forms, including guarantees of events, sponsorships and direct government expenditure. The primary argument for the substantial use of public funds in the hosting of major events focuses on the ability to generate economic benefits for the public that exceed the costs involved. The scarcity of public funds in the public sector has led to growing scrutiny of allocation of public funds to support sporting events. The dissertation assesses whether or not the overall impact of major sporting events can justify the public funds used. The socio-economic and other impacts of different events, in both developed and developing countries, based on their experiences in hosting different sporting events as well as South Africa’s own experience, have been evaluated in this study. It is the contention of this dissertation that although major international sporting events ostensibly have positive economic spin-offs for the host country, this does not appear to be supported by evidence. Given the weak evidence or lack of evidence that major international sporting events can produce net benefits, it is not clear what motivates countries to fiercely contest for hosting rights. This dissertation therefore questions whether the hosting of major international sporting events is pursued for pure economic reasons.