Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-114).

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2010.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-91). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph.D.)(Agricultural Economics)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wid Web.

This dissertation centres on Montevideo’s political and moral economy of discards as experienced through the lives and labour of waste-pickers around Uruguay’s largest landfill, Felipe Cardoso. These workers are known as clasificadores [classifiers] in recognition of their role separating whatever can be recovered from the waste stream from that which cannot. Conducted from a base next to the landfill as a resident of the COVIFU housing cooperative, 12 months of continuous fieldwork and several subsequent visits consisted principally of participant observation conducted with neighbours who worked the waste stream at nearby dumps, recycling plants, and informal yards. The thesis builds on post-human discard studies by recognising the agentive role of the non-human in consecrating materials not only as waste, but also as a ‘commons’. A central idea is that Montevideo’s waste stream is comparable to the historic English commons in several key regards. These include the manner in which disputes over property status centre on use/ access rather than exchange/ ownership; the customary rights which are claimed by vulnerable subjects; and the provision of a refuge from wage labour. A central disciplinary contribution is forged by combining a renewed ethnographic interest in the commons with a historical perspective and the insights of the anthropology of infrastructure, kinship, and materiality. The commons that emerges is neither romantic nor post-capitalist but a vital, temporarily de-commodified space that thrives in the shadow of municipal infrastructure. The thesis is structured by the relationship between Montevideo’s waste commons and its attempted enclosure. Chapter two weaves ethnography of private and public sector waste managers with the history of municipal waste disposal in the city. It pinpoints technologies of containment and elimination as integral to a policy of ‘hygienic enclosure’ deemed necessary to limit waste’s capacity for hygienic and aesthetic chaos as part of attempts to grasp an ever-elusive infrastructural modernity. Chapter three moves from enclosure to the commons. It draws on ethnography conducted at the Felipe Cardoso landfill and explores waste-picker resistance to attempted hygienic enclosure before turning to historical comparison with the English commons. Chapter four narrows in on two material encounters – with melted ice-cream and plastic potatoes – that draw attention to the ways that particular materialities and affordances of what clasificadores call requeche (leftovers) prefigure both their emplacement in the waste stream and their extraction from it. Clasificador praxis is also shown to disturb the boundaries of the landfill as well as those separating subjects from objects and rural from urban commons. Chapter five returns to infrastructure, demonstrating how waste sustains relations of care while also being ‘reversed’ by the social infrastructure of clasificador kin-based labour. The final chapter draws on ethnography conducted at Montevideo’s Aries recycling plant, arguing that recent government waste policy blends clasificadores’ value-based approach to the waste-stream with a Catholic orientation towards the accompaniment of the poor. In privileging jobs for clasificadores, the state maintains a link between waste and vulnerability but encloses only a small fraction of waste-pickers in hygienic plants while dispossessing many more.

p. 1 - 85 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-01-16T19:08:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 eeeeee.pdf: 454271 bytes, checksum: 96256a74ffc101bf2cebfe8339aed767 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-16T19:08:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 eeeeee.pdf: 454271 bytes, checksum: 96256a74ffc101bf2cebfe8339aed767 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar como o ambiente institucional pode influenciar a realização dos investimentos em infraestrutura portuária, tomando como referência o Estado da Bahia. Foi utilizado como pano de fundo teórico a teoria institucional, a partir de uma leitura sobre as estruturas de governança utilizadas na provisão de serviços portuários. Foram analisados os aspectos regulatórios e identificadas as principais instituições e organizações que atuam no subsetor. Posteriormente, a partir de observação participante do autor, análise documental e entrevistas realizadas junto a atores relevantes envolvidos com o sistema portuário baiano, são apresentados os principais impactos do atual modelo de governança na implementação dos investimentos necessários ao desenvolvimento do subsetor. O que se pode perceber é que o modelo de governança hoje existente precisa de muitos ajustes. A omissão, a falta de iniciativa e o baixo desempenho por parte dos agentes responsáveis pela gestão do subsetor são apontados, pelos atores envolvidos, como os principais fatores do não atendimento às demandas inerentes ao melhor desempenho do subsetor portuário. Este conjunto de entrevistas e a análise teórica e documental apresentam não só um número significativo de entraves, mas também trazem à tona propostas para equacionar estes problemas, que merecem, no mínimo, uma discussão mais aprofundada. / Salvador

While the newly envisioned smart grid will result in a more efficient and reliable power grid, its use of fine-grained meter data has widely raised concerns of consumer privacy. This thesis implements a data obfuscation approach to preserve consumer privacy and assesses its feasibility on a large-scale advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) network built upon the new IEEE 802.11s wireless mesh standard. This obfuscation approach preserves consumer privacy from eavesdroppers and the utility companies while preserving the utility companies' ability to use the fine-grained meter data for state estimation. The impact of this privacy approach is assessed based on its impact on data throughput and delay performance. Simulation results have shown that the approach is feasible to be used even when the network size grows. Additional adaptations to the approach are analyzed for their feasibility in further research.

Climate models have anticipated higher future extreme precipitations and streamflows for various regions. Urban stormwater facilities are vulnerable to these changes as the design assumes stationarity. However, recent climate change studies have argued about the existence of non-stationarity of the climate. Distribution method adopted on extreme precipitation varies spatially and may not always follow same distribution method. In this research, two different natural extremities were analyzed for two separate study areas. First, the future design storm depth based on the stationarity of climate and GEV distribution method was examined with non-stationarity and best fit distribution. Second, future design flood was analyzed and routed on a river to estimate the future flooding. Climate models from North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) were fitted to 27 different distribution using Chi-square and Kolmogorov Smirnov goodness of fit. The best fit distribution method was used to calculate design storm depth as well as design flood. Climate change scenarios were adopted as delta change factor, a downscaling approach to transfer historical design value to the climate adopted future design value. Most of the delta change factor calculated were higher than one, representing strong climate change impact on future. HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS models were used to simulate the stormwater infrastructures and river flow. The result shows an adverse effect on stormwater infrastructure in the future. The research highlights the importance of available climate information and suggests a possible approach for climate change adaptation on stormwater design practice.

Purpose: Rejuvenating the water and sewer system is called a renewal step, which is a planned replacement of ground wiring in the field, which restores the operation of the wiring or improves its capacity. Most of Sweden's VA pipelines are built in the 19th century. They are now in need to be renewed. The county's in Sweden finance and manage the VA networks using a VA-tax which is paid by all users. Sweden has had a low VA-tax for many years. A low VA tax can lead that county's are not afford to replace the existing pipeline network. The purpose is to provide the reader with the knowledge that Sweden's municipalities have at the renewal stage of the VA network, and the approach to the choice of prioritization measures. Method: The work has focused on qualitative and quantitative processing in form of literature studies, document analysis and interviews. The work contains seven qualitative semi-structured and five structured interviews. The document analysis shows a clear picture of the renewal and renewal needs in VA organizations. Findings: All requested VA managers use some type of GIS system, in the category of database-based decision support systems specified by Power (2002), as a way to handle and analyse large amounts of structured data. The municipalities that are most worried about not being able to finance the renewal act are the municipalities that are small and have less resources to work with, for example, fees, work teams and civil servants. In the question of what measures must be taken to increase focus on the existing VA network and a stepping stone to the renewal act. The VA tax should be designed more according to the actual cost, despite politicians consider. This in order to avoid shock increases in the farm fee that goes against a long-term planning. Implications: The report has focused on gaining insight into why the renewal rate is too low. This may have several reasons, however VA-organizations describe that they are not used to work in decision support systems and the importance of making decisions in combination with other methods. Limitations: This thesis shows only county's decision-making process and what kind of decision support system they have in use in their operations. The thesis focuses on why the renewal pact is not prioritized higher but does not go into detail why another priority is costlier or timelier to implement. Keywords: Decision-making process, Decision Support System, Lead network, Revenue, Renewable needs, Self-sufficiency, Sewer planning, Sewage System Taxes, Water Services Act.