El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / The waste and reprocess problem in Peruvian apparel companies is greater than expected. After reviewing a history of losses and reprocesses, an innovative technical solution based on a combination of Lean Manufacturing and Agile tools is presented herein. This innovative proposal is implemented in the areas of cutting, embossing, and sewing in an apparel company. Value Stream Mapping results before and after implementing the proposed model are compared. The major achievement of this model is the significant reduction in loss percentage after two weeks of implementation.

The National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC) contains a compilation of information on the beta decays of Gallium isotopes. In the mass range A = 74 to 77, the Germanium daughters lie close to or at the valley of stability leading us to believe the decays would have been well studied. However, closer inspection indicates significant conflict for placement of gamma rays and energy levels between different measurements, especially for upper-lying states. Detailed beta-decay studies for the 74-77Ga isotopes were performed using a high resolution four clover Hyper-Pure Germanium (HPGe) detector system with two beta scintillators in the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) to better understand the structure of the corresponding 74-77Ge daughter nuclei. In our experiments, use of a high-resolution mass separator greatly improved the purity of the samples in comparison to previous measurements. Besides that, the efficiency of the detector system we utilized was much higher than used in previous studies. We also established a method to determine statistically significant gamma gamma coincidence relationships to add reliability to the placement of gamma rays to energy levels and avoid experimental biases. From our analysis, we have established comprehensive decay schemes for all four Germanium nuclei in this study. In most cases, we have extended the energy levels to cover more of the energy window available for beta decay. Our proposed 74Ge decay scheme contains 44 energy levels occupying up to 4.36-MeV with the placement of 99 gamma rays. Similarly, 75Ga decay scheme contains 72 gamma rays with 29 energy levels occupying up to 2.75 MeV. The 76Ga decay scheme has 49 excited states with 100 gamma rays occupying up to 4.81 MeV. And, the 77Ge decay scheme has 68 gamma rays and 34 energy levels occupying up to 3.14 MeV. Based on the expanded level schemes, betaeeding intensity and log(ft) value lower limits were calculated and attempts were made to assign the spin-parity of the observed states. The resulting level schemes were then compared with the Nushellx theoretical predictions.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a next-generation space telescope that will be capable of making transformative observations of planetary transits. As its launch date grows ever closer, it becomes imperative that astronomers have access to accurate simulations of JWST observations in order to best plan observations and devise data analysis pipelines. Unfortunately, available simulation tools do not provide the most accurate or realistic simulations, including noise and systematic errors. In this thesis, I present an open-source time-domain simulator of planetary transits that is capable of accurately modeling these effects in observations made by JWST.

Medium-voltage (MV) motor drives have found widespread applications in various heavy industries, such as in the oil and gas sectors, production plants, and process industries. Conventional cascaded H-bridge (CHB) multilevel inverters dominate the medium-voltage industrial drives domain due to their modularity, scalability, and reliability. The most prevalent CHB topology in the drive industry is based on the diodes-front-end (DFE) rectifier, which greatly limits the industrial application of the conventional CHB drives where the ability of handling regeneration is required. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a low-cost, high performance, reliable regenerative CHB drive. The thesis is concentrating on reducing the grid-tied filter size, shrinking the DC-link capacitors, improving the system’s performance and reliability through advanced control techniques. First, to reduce the number of passive filter components, a new sideband harmonic active filtering strategy based on the carrier-shifting method is proposed for regenerative CHB drives. This proposed approach extends the carrier shifted PWM method for regenerative CHB drives to further reduce the required passive filter size significantly and thus improves the overall size, cost, and efficiency while complying with IEEE Std 519-2014 grid standard. Second, a novel voltage ripple controller is proposed to reduce the dc-link capacitance in the three-phase regenerative CHB drive without adding extra measurements. Third, to achieve a faster dynamic response and the multi-objective performance during the control of CHB drives, a novel high-performance predictive control with long prediction horizons is proposed to improve the control performance of the CHB multilevel inverters. The formulation of the proposed high-performance finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) is explained in detail and analyzed to reduce the real-time computation burden. Last, when a fault is detected in the regenerative CHB drive system, the reliability and fault-tolerant ability are considered as the main issues. To improve the drive system reliability, a non-symmetrical selective harmonic elimination (SHE) formulation is proposed to extend the output voltage range with a good harmonic profile under post-fault conditions. Experimental validation of the proposed algorithms is presented for the operation of a scaled-down seven-level regenerative CHB drive system. These proposed techniques make the regenerative CHB drive a promising solution for future medium-voltage regenerative drive applications in terms of cost, performance, and reliability. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Denna studie undersöker elevers och lärares erfarenheter och åsikter kring distansundervisning i ämnet bild på gymnasiet. Beståndsdelarna, i form av teori och ramverk, belyser distansundervisning i ämnet bild från olika vinklar. Eftersom distansundervisning kräver användande av olika medier baseras teorin på en kartläggning av dels David Buckinghams tankar om vad media är, dels Gert Biestas tankar om utbildning. Vidare går undersökningens teoridel djupare in på hur formativ bedömning förhåller sig till distansundervisning. Det här examensarbetet handlar med andra ord även om – och synliggör ifall – det finns svårigheter med att följa, kunna förstå och bedöma elevernas arbete rättvist i distansundervisning. Förhoppningsvis kommer detta i förlängningen att hjälpa bildlärare som arbetar på distans.   Kvalitativ forskning ger svar på frågorna som tas upp i undersökningen, med hjälp av tematisk analys och personliga intervjuer. Empirin består av information och åsikter från två lärare och sex elever på en gymnasieskola.   Genom intervjuernas transkribering och efterföljande samtalsanalys ger studien svar på frågorna: Hur påverkar distansbaserad undervisning utveckling av ämneskunnande för elever, respektive vad gör undervisningsformen för betygssättning i ämnet bild? Gestaltningen sker med hjälp av fotografier tagna/bearbetade på olika sätt på olika platser vid olika tillfällen. Dessa bilder är miniatyriserade och tryckta på A4-papper för att känna av avståndet; som är främsta kännetecken för distansundervisningens förutsättningar. Bilderna är synliga med hjälp av ett elektroniskt mikroskop. Genom hörlurarna blir elevers och lärares åsikter även skönjbara i poetisk form.

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Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka betydelsen av mobilkameraalbumet som visuellt medium. Med relevans för mitt framtida yrke väljer jag att rikta in mig på gymnasieungdomar. Lärare behöver bli bättre på att använda vardagsbilder i undervisningen och inhämta mer kunskap om elevernas visuella kultur och hur man kan diskutera och problematisera den i undervisningen. I egenskap av bildlärare vill jag vidga utrymmet för ungdomars visuella kultur i skolan. Jag har ett intresse för hur mina blivande elever ser på bilder och bildkommunikation, visuella identiteter och visuella kommunikationsredskap, det är detta intresse som ligger till grund för uppsatsen. Jag tror att det är i kombinationen av elevernas tekniska skicklighet och visuella kunskap, och lärarens bildpedagogiska och metaskickliga kompetens som ny kunskap kan utvecklas. Utifrån mina frågeställningar, hur gymnasieungdomar använder mobilkameran samt kameraalbumet, vilket innehåll som finns i kameraalbumet och vilken innebörd ungdomarna ger mobilkameraalbumet och dess bilder, har jag valt kvalitativa samtalsintervjuer för insamling av empirin och valt att arbeta utifrån en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. Eftersom jag inte har ett direkt kontaktnät till gymnasieskolor vände jag mig till familj, vänner och kollegor, för att på så sätt komma i kontakt med gymnasieelever. Respondenterna uppgår till totalt nio, sex tjejer och tre killar. Samtliga intervjuer har genomförts via Skype, en internetbaserad kommunikationstjänst som möjliggör videosamtal över avstånd. Gymnasieungdomarna i min studie visar bland annat att sociala medier blir en naturlig knutpunkt där man delar med sig av sina bilder. De visar även att bilder från kameraalbumet introduceras vid interaktion ansikte till ansikte och att det sker i större utsträckning. Gymnasieleverna använder kameraalbumets innehåll till att inkludera och exkludera artefakter som de förknippar med sig själva. Minnesbilden blir skev när ungdomarna beskriver hur de undermedvetet filtrerar sin vardag. Gymnasieungdomarna i min studie beskriver även hur bilderna används för att skapa gemenskap, både online och offline, samt för att minnas och förstå sig själva.

This master thesis investigates the possible factors that can influence green entrepreneurship in a transition economy. For this purpose, the case of SMEs in Romania was analyzed. This study uses qualitative methods for data collection. These data were collected through questionnaires and interviews in order to discover society's view on the current entrepreneurial environment for green business and to understand the motives, challenges, and obstacles of green entrepreneurs. A policy analysis was also undertaken using the latest data published from Small Business Act for Europe to present Romania's performance between 2008-2016. The main results reveal that in Romania green entrepreneurship is not policy driven and the society needs more information about the concept of green entrepreneurship. In order to identify similarities or differences in green orientated businesses in a transition economy, a comparison between the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania was conducted. It can be concluded that there are resemblances between the countries which have a transition economy but in the same time entrepreneurial culture, the economic and political frame are different in each country and can lead to different performances.

Theory and methods of processing speckle interferometry data from close visual binary stars are presented and implemented. The effects of the optical systems used for observing close visual binary stars are explained and simulated from both the geometrical and physical optical viewpoints. The atmospheric phase distortion and shot noise responsible for the observed speckle patterns are simulated. The deconvolution technique originally presented by Labeyrie is implemented to extract astrometric data from close visual binary stars. This method is applied to both simulated and experimental data from Kitt Peak National Observatory as validation. Parts of the deconvolution process are optimized to allow for near real time calculations in an automated observatory.

Thesis (M.A. Agricultural Management (Plant Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023 / Okra is an indigenous vegetable consumed in Southern Africa. Its growth and yield are negatively affected by water and nutrient deficit. There is insufficient scientific information on the growth and yield attributes of underutilised indigenous vegetables such as okra. The information on enhancement and evaluation of growth, yield, nutrients, and phytochemical compositions of okra using the climate-smart OMET growing technique has not been documented. The Organic Medium Enclosed Trough (OMET) system was developed as a non-drainable growing technique which improves crop yield by reducing water and nutrient seepage. The aim of this study was to develop scientific information on the effects of the OMET growing technique and growing environment on growth and yield, nutritional composition and phytochemical composition in okra. The objectives of this study were to (1) investigate the effect of the OMET growing technique and growing environment on growth and yield attributes, (2) nutritional composition and (3) the phytochemical composition of okra grown under greenhouse and micro-plots conditions. To achieve the objectives, four-week-old okra seedlings were transplanted on the established OMET and non-OMET growing technique concurrently in both the growing environment (greenhouse and micro-plot) following a randomised complete block design (RCBD) for a period of 110 days, with three replications and twelve plants per replicate. The amount of irrigation water used in both experiments was recorded until harvest and computed as cumulative irrigation water. The mean separation was done using a parametric T-test at the significance level of 5% using the Genstat version 18.0 statistical package. The growth attributes which included plant height and stem diameter (n=9) were taken on a weekly basis. At harvest, yield components including the number of branches per plant, plant biomass, fresh pod weight, number of pods per plant, fresh pod length and fresh pod diameter width were recorded. The harvested leaves and pods were then used for nutritional and phytochemical composition analysis. The OMET growing technique significantly (p≤0.05) affected the growth and yield attributes of okra regardless of the growing condition. At termination (110 days after transplanting), the OMET growing technique had significantly increased the stem diameter by 40 and 37%, while the plant height was increased by 68 and 48% under greenhouse and micro-plot experiments respectively. When evaluating the yield attributes, a similar trend was observed where the OMET system significantly increased the yield attributes of okra as follows: biomass by 64 and 50%, number of branches by 67 and 50%, number of pods per plant by 60 and 49%, fresh pod weight by 75 and 53%, pod length by 64 and 51% in both the growing environment, while the pod diameter width was increased by 68% in the greenhouse environment and there was no significant difference on the micro-plot trial. The OMET growing technique significantly affected the nutritional composition of okra leaves and pods (p≤0.05). Both the essential and non-essential amino acids were determined and quantified in the leaves and pods of okra grown under OMET and Non-OMET growing techniques. The OMET growing technique significantly improved the essential amino acid composition of okra leaves with Thr (0.57 mg/kg), Val (0.70 mg/kg) Leu (0.90 mg/kg) and Phe (1.03 mg/kg) being higher than the non-OMET grown okra leaves. The pods showed that the OMET growing technique also significantly improved the accumulation of all the tested non-essential amino acids with Lys being the highest (p≤0.05). It was observed that the micro-plot experiment resulted in the OMET growing technique significantly enhancing the accumulation of all the tested essential amino acids in both the leaves and pods with Phe and Lys (1.53 and 0.70 mg/kg) being the highest in the leaves and pods respectively. The non-essential amino acid composition was also significantly improved using the OMET growing technique in both the leaves and pod with Glu.. The non-essential amino acid composition was also significantly improved using the OMET growing technique in both the leaves and pod of okra grown under micro-plot with Glu (2.73 mg/kg and 4.05 mg/kg) being the highest respectively. The OMET growing technique showed the ability to maintain a daily recommended amino acids ratio coefficient equal to 1 by consuming 100g of the tested okra. The nutritional composition which includes proteins, mineral elements and amino acids of the tested okra leaves and pods grown using the OMET system regardless of the growing condition has resulted in an increase in the % protein content compared to the non-OMET grown okra. Nutritional elements Ca, K, P, Mg and Na were predominant in okra leaves and pods irrespective of the growing environment and growing technique (OMET). The results generated showed that the OMET system significantly (p≤0.05) improved the nutritional composition in okra leaves and pods regardless of the growing condition, though the micro-plot experiment resulted in higher nutritional composition as compared to the greenhouse experiment. Untargeted metabolites, phenolic acids and antioxidant activity were also determined and compared for both the okra leaves and pods extract grown using the OMET and non-OMET growing techniques in both the growing conditions. For untargeted metabolites, methanol extracts were analysed using UPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS. The UPLC-MS untargeted metabolites profile detected 161 polar analytes classified within the glucuronic acid, tricarboxylic acids, O-glycosyl derivatives, flavonoid-O-glycosides, iridoid o-glycosides and terpene glycosides. Explorative principle component analysis demonstrated three main clusters according to metabolites heterogeneity in plant tissue (pods and leaves) and growing conditions (greenhouse or mirco-plot). There was major heterogeneity in the metabolome profile of leaves tissue along the vertical PC1 suggesting their metabolic moiety. Okra leaves grown under micro-plot were highly predominated by the 2-O-caffeoylglucaric acid (286.13 mg/kg) and 2-(E)-O-feruloyl-D-galactaric acid (111.69 mg/kg). Leaves samples grown in non-OMET were predominated by citroside A (412.04 mg/kg). Okra pods grown under OMET micro-plot enhanced the accumulation of quercetin 3-galactoside (87.83 mg/kg) and quercetin 3-galactoside-7-glucoside (150.00 mg/kg). The OMET under greenhouse conditions encouraged the accumulation of icariside F2 and benzyl beta-D-apiofuranosy (49.21 mg/kg). The results generated showed that flavonoids were the major contributors to the total antioxidant activity and OMET enhanced the accumulation of the majority of the metabolites. Phytochemical analysis showed that the OMET growing technique significantly increased the concentration of total phenolics and flavonoids in both the growing environment (p≤0.05). The OMET growing technique significantly affected the antioxidant activity in both growing conditions. / Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and National Research Foundation (NRF)