Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-08-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:27:15Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 zviecovich_wg_me_ilha.pdf: 671253 bytes, checksum: fa917bf3d6aa15db73057717470be218 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Ensino Pesquisa e Extensão de Ilha Solteira (FEPISA) / A reconfiguração de sistemas de distribuição de energia elétrica consiste em alterar a topologia das redes através da abertura/fechamento das chaves de interconexão. Normalmente este procedimento é feito para fins de isolamento de faltas, minimização de perdas ativas, balanceamento de cargas entre alimentadores ou para melhoria dos níveis de tensão. Atingir estes objetivos é difícil, devido ao grande número de variáveis envolvidas e das restrições impostas, sendo a radialidade uma restrição de difícil representação matemática. Este problema pode ser classificado dentro dos problemas de programação não linear inteiro misto (PNLIM) e apresenta o fenômeno da explosão combinatória. Neste trabalho tem-se como principal objetivo o desenvolvimento de uma metaheurística chamada Busca em Vizinhança Variável para a reconfiguração de sistemas de distribuição de energia elétrica com respostas no planejamento da operação em função da razonalidade da carga. Verificamos que este método mostrou ser eficiente, pois através de uma metodologia simples, obteve-se resultados melhores em relação aos apresentados na literatura. / The network reconfiguration of electric power distribution consists of changing the topology of networks through the opening/closing of interconnection switches. This pro- cedure is usually done to isolate faught, reduction real power losses, balance the load among feeders or for improvement of tension levels. To reach these objectives is diffi- cult, due to the great number of involved variables and the imposed constraints, being the constraint of radial structure of difficult mathematical representation. This problem can be classified as nonlinar mixed integer programming problems and it presents the phenomenon of combinatorial explosion. The main objective og this work is to develop a metaheuristic called Variable Neighbourhood Search for network reconfiguration of elec- tric power distribution for operation planning based on rationality of load. This method showed to be efficient using a simple methodology, getting better results in relation to the presented in Literature.

Orientador: Rubén Augusto Romero Lázaro / Banca: José Roberto Sanches Mantovani / Banca: Luiz Carlos Pereira da Silva / Resumo: A reconfiguração de sistemas de distribuição de energia elétrica consiste em alterar a topologia das redes através da abertura/fechamento das chaves de interconexão. Normalmente este procedimento é feito para fins de isolamento de faltas, minimização de perdas ativas, balanceamento de cargas entre alimentadores ou para melhoria dos níveis de tensão. Atingir estes objetivos é difícil, devido ao grande número de variáveis envolvidas e das restrições impostas, sendo a radialidade uma restrição de difícil representação matemática. Este problema pode ser classificado dentro dos problemas de programação não linear inteiro misto (PNLIM) e apresenta o fenômeno da explosão combinatória. Neste trabalho tem-se como principal objetivo o desenvolvimento de uma metaheurística chamada Busca em Vizinhança Variável para a reconfiguração de sistemas de distribuição de energia elétrica com respostas no planejamento da operação em função da razonalidade da carga. Verificamos que este método mostrou ser eficiente, pois através de uma metodologia simples, obteve-se resultados melhores em relação aos apresentados na literatura. / Abstract: The network reconfiguration of electric power distribution consists of changing the topology of networks through the opening/closing of interconnection switches. This pro- cedure is usually done to isolate faught, reduction real power losses, balance the load among feeders or for improvement of tension levels. To reach these objectives is diffi- cult, due to the great number of involved variables and the imposed constraints, being the constraint of radial structure of difficult mathematical representation. This problem can be classified as nonlinar mixed integer programming problems and it presents the phenomenon of combinatorial explosion. The main objective og this work is to develop a metaheuristic called Variable Neighbourhood Search for network reconfiguration of elec- tric power distribution for operation planning based on rationality of load. This method showed to be efficient using a simple methodology, getting better results in relation to the presented in Literature. / Mestre

A dissertação que se apresenta é uma investigação realizada a partir da experiência de ativismo de bairro desenvolvida entre os anos de 2012 e 2014 no bairro Jardim Universitário, em Viamão – RS. A experiência foi construída na relação entre moradores, estudantes acadêmicos e militantes de organizações sociais que primaram pela produção do espaço a partir da concepção dos próprios sujeitos que vivem no bairro. Esta proposta diverge da lógica de produção do espaço gerenciada pelo Estado ou pelo setor privado que, em geral, produzem intervenções na perspectiva tecnocrática, negligenciado os interesses dos sujeitos que possuem acúmulo de vivências em determinado espaço. Com este pressuposto, colocamos em movimento o seguinte questionamento: ―como a produção do espaço é condicionado e condicionante dos sujeitos que o vivenciam?‖. Pela ótica teórica de Henri Lefebvre com a Produção do Espaço e de Cornelius Castoriadis, com o Projeto de Autonomia, além de um referencial conceitual composto por autores de matrizes afins, objetivamos sistematizar e refletir a produção do espaço originária de relações sociais inspiradas na geração de autonomia. Metodologicamente, a pesquisa é organizada em uma parte descritiva, que serve de base para o diálogo entre o discurso dos sujeitos que participaram da experiência e o referencial teórico e conceitual. A Geografia como uma ciência do pensar-fazer epistêmico e político dos sujeitos na transformação do espaço e de suas relações sociais. / The presented dissertation is based on an investigation performed since an experience of neighbourhood activism developed between 2012 and 2014 in the Jardim Universitário district, part of Viamão city - RS. The experience was built over the relations among the dwellers, the academic students and militant members of social organizations, which aimed to achieve a production of space established according the concepts of the own dwellers of the district. This proposal diverges from the management applied by the governmental logic for the production of space or by the private sectors that, in general, produce interventions under a technocratic point of view and that neglects the individual ambitions of those who have accumulated experiences in an specific space. According to this assumption, the following query emerges: "How is the production of space a conditioner and it is conditioned by the individuals that experience that?". Regarding to the theoretical perspective of Henri Lefebvre with the concept of Production of Space, and the Project of Autonomy, developed by Cornelius Castoriadis, it is aimed to systematize and to reflect the production of space that is generated by social relations inspired by the production of autonomy. Methodologically, this research is organized with a descriptive section that bases the dialogue between the individuals' speech that took part in the Jardim Universitário experience and the conceptual and theoretical references of this work. The Geography, as a science, belongs to the epistemic and politic "thinking-making" of the individuals in the transforming process of space and about their social relations.

Abstract The concept of ecological building is not clear. The concept, which belongs to thematic context of sustainable development, is difficult to understand because it combines two individual concepts which originate from two different sciences. The word ecology implies to organism's interaction mechanisms and to ecosystem dynamics, whereas the word building implies to architecture, artifacts and semantics. In ecological building the whole interaction dynamics has to be reassessed. The interaction between artifacts and environment conveys the same principles as the interaction between organism and ecosystem. Buildings and towns have the same kind of genotypic and phenotypic features as organisms have. Genotypic features can be paralleled to materialistic, atomistic, features. Phenotypic features result from the interaction process, in which the modifying environment consists of culture, local conditions, style and time. Localism is crucial in the context of ecological building. Localism is a geographically defined entity, but also it is primarily a process. In this research the connection between ecological building and localism has been examined in two neighbourhood units. Buildings in Rovaniemi (Ounasrinne) and in Mikkeli (Peitsari) built on non-profit and social housing basis were selected. The criticism against the ontology of ecological building is based on the questionnaires and the personal interviews, which were targeted at the tenants of the selected tenements, selected designers, contractors and the board of the real estate companies. In addition, the managing directors of the real estate companies and the representatives of the Finnish Housing Fund and the Ministry of Environment were interviewed. Migration during the entire lifecycle of the tenements, which is an indicator of localism and sustainable development, was researched by analyzing the registers of occupants. The research revealed that the actors have defined the concept of ecological building in different ways. Most often ecological building is related to material features. Ecological material is not automatically related to high quality material and local materials are not the first priority. The responsibilities are contradictory in the implementation of ecological building. The primary presumption seems to be that the state is responsible for the implementation. Environmental consciousness and ecological building have positive status. In the future the mode of building, which is assumed to be ecological, will increase and environmentalism is regarded as a benefit in business competition (contracting and designing). The research also revealed that the need for change in values, which is usually connected to the thematic of ecological building and the sustainable development, is groundless; the actors think that the nature as such conveys intrinsic value. Instead, ecological issues should be an interest, which affects the decisions made during the process. The tools, which are used in the process, should more effectively support the implementation of ecological building. Free will is not sufficient any more. The research revealed that the periods of occupancy are short in the examined tenements and we can talk about new kind of nomadism. In these neighbourhood units lifelong occupancy is not realism. The renovations, which have been designed according to the tenant's will, must be revaluated, because the median period of occupancy is approximately 1½-2 years. Technical renovations did not lengthen the periods of occupancy in Ounasrinne, vice versa. In neighbourhood units attention must be paid to the tenements; the support for housing should be defined locally according to the actual tenement sizes. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksessa ekologisen rakentamisen ja paikallisuuden välistä yhteyttä on tutkittu kahdessa lähiössä. Tutkimukseen mukaan valittiin yleishyödyllisen rakennuttamisen ja sosiaalisen asuntotuotannon kohteita Rovaniemen Ounasrinteeltä ja Mikkelin Peitsarista. Ekologisen rakentamisen ontologian kritiikki perustuu kysely- ja haastattelututkimukseen. Paikallisuutta ja kestävän kehityksen tematiikkaa indikoivaa muuttamista vuokratalojen koko elinkaaren aikana tutkittiin talokirjojen avulla. Tutkimus paljasti, että toimijoilla on toisistaan poikkeava käsitys ekologisen rakentamisen sisällöstä. Useimmiten ekologisuus liitetään materiaalin ominaisuuksiin. Ekologista materiaalia ei mielletä automaattisesti laadukkaaksi eikä paikallisia materiaaleja priorisoida. Ekologisen rakentamisen implementoinnissa vastuukysymykset ovat ristiriitaiset. Ensisijaisesti edellytetään, että valtio on vastuussa ekologisten tekijöiden implementoinnista. Ympäristötietoisuus ja ekorakentaminen koetaan myönteisesti. Tulevaisuudessa ns. ekologiseksi rakentamisen oletetaan lisääntyvän ja ympäristötietoisuus on kilpailuetu liiketoiminnassa (urakointi ja suunnittelu).Tutkimus paljasti, että kestävän kehityksen tematiikkaan ja ekologiseen rakentamiseen liitetty vaatimus arvomuutoksesta on perusteeton; toimijatahot arvostavat luontoa sen itsensä vuoksi. Sen sijaan ekologisuudesta pitäisi tulla intressi, joka ohjaa prosessin aikana tehtäviä päätöksiä. Prosessin hallinnassa käytettyjen työkalujen on selkeämmin tuettava ekologisen rakentamisen implementointia. Tutkimus osoitti, että tutkituissa vuokrataloissa asutaan lyhyitä aikoja ja voidaankin puhua uudesta nomadismista. Näissä lähiöissä elämänkaariasuminen ei ole realismia. Asukkaiden toiveiden mukaiset korjaukset tulevat myös uudelleen arvioitaviksi, koska asumisaikojen mediaani on 1½-2 vuotta. Tekniset korjaukset eivät muuttaneet asumisaikoja Ounasrinteellä; päinvastoin. Lähiöissä tuleekin huomioida asuntojakauma asumistukia määritettäessä.

In this paper, we introduce two algorithms to address the two-echelon capacitated location-routing problem (2E-CLRP). We introduce a branch-and-cut algorithm based on the solution of a new two-index vehicle-flow formulation, which is strengthened with several families of valid inequalities. We also propose an adaptive large-neighbourhood search (ALNS) meta-heuristic with the objective of finding good-quality solutions quickly. The computational results on a large set of instances from the literature show that the ALNS outperforms existing heuristics. Furthermore, the branch-and-cut method provides tight lower bounds and is able to solve small- and medium-size instances to optimality within reasonable computing times.

The thesis tests the efficacy of Principal-Agent (PA) theory in explaining the creation and development of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). As such, the thesis is subject as well as theory-driven. Empirically, the focal point is how the interaction between the EU member states and the European Commission affected the development of the ENP. It is a theme which is largely overlooked in the ENP literature. In terms of theory, the ENP represents a fascinating case study for PA analysis not only because it has rarely been applied to the field of EU foreign policy but also because PA has seldom been used for studying the evolution of a policy (both pre and post-delegation). Conceptualising EU member states as principals and the European Commission as agent, the thesis examines PA dynamics through the following three ENP policy stages: formulation (2002-2004), finalisation (2004-2006), and implementation (2007-2009). Three hypotheses are tested for each stage of the ENP. Two hypotheses are rooted in PA scholarship, and address the influence of the agent as an informal agenda-setter, while the third distinguishes the agent's influence between different stages of the policy development. Methodologically, the research design is based on within-case process-tracing while the empirical data is drawn from a triangulation of official documents, secondary sources and elite interviews. The thesis findings show that during the initial stages of the policy, the Commission took advantage of its favourable position (e.g. informational asymmetries and uncertainty among the member states) to establish itself as the key actor in the ENP. As the ENP evolved, the Commission’s influence has diminished while the member states, collectively and individually, became more engaged in determining the course of the policy. However, contrary to PA assumptions, member states' increased oversight over the Commission did not come as a response to disobedient behaviour. Based on the empirical data, the Commission, as an agent, was in fact trying to implement the ENP following the guidelines which were previously agreed by its principals. Thus, in the case of the ENP, my PA analysis shifts from the traditional inquiry of how principals control opportunistic agents, to examining how principals could hinder the work of the agent. This phenomenon, broadly defined by Thompson (2007) as the ‘principal problem’, is an anomaly in existing PA literature dominated by an agency-biased standpoint and has previously not been analysed in the context of the European Union. Finally, the wider implication of this thesis is that there is still room for broadening the scope of PA analysis while highlighting the necessity to keep a watchful eye on both the principals and the agent.

Essay 1: This paper studies tipping behaviour in the residential mobility of the native population inSweden between 1990 and 2007. Using regression discontinuity methods, we find that thegrowth in native population in a neighbourhood discontinuously drops once aneighbourhood’s immigrant share exceeds the identified tipping point. In the 1990s the dropcan be attributed both to increased out-migration of natives (native flight) and to thedecreased in-migration of natives (native avoidance) while native flight appears to be drivingthe segregation pattern between the years 2000 and 2007. Further, we find native migrationfrom neighbourhoods that have tipped is selective, in the sense that natives with a high levelof educational attainment are the most likely to move from such neighbourhood. We concludethat the native residential mobility has contributed to increased ethnic segregation but it alsoappears to have increased socio-economic segregation in Sweden between 1990 and 2007. Essay 2: This paper focuses on second-generation immigrants and analyses the short- and long-termeffects of immigrant and ethnic group concentration in childhood neighbourhood on earnings,unemployment, reliance on income support and educational attainment. The results show thata high immigrant concentration in a childhood neighbourhood is negatively associated witheconomic outcomes of both second-generation immigrants and natives. Ethnic groupconcentration seems to work in the opposite direction, improving economic outcomes forsecond-generation immigrants. Furthermore, the results highlight the importance of includingtime dynamics in any analysis of the effect of childhood neighbourhood ethnic compositionon economic outcomes.

Background: Obesity and physical inactivity rates have reached epidemic levels in Canada, but differ based on whether they are self-reported or directly measured. Canadian research examining the combined and independent effects of social and built environments on adult physical activity (PA) and body mass index (BMI) is limited. Furthermore there is a lack of Canadian studies to assess these relationships using directly measured PA and BMI. Objectives: The objectives of this thesis were to systematically compare self-reported and directly measured PA and to examine associations between neighbourhood built and social environmental factors with both self-reported and directly measured PA and overweight/obesity in adults living in Ottawa, Canada. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify observational and experimental studies of adult populations that used both self-report and direct measures of PA and to assess the agreement between the measures. Associations between objectively measured neighbourhood-level built recreation and social environmental factors and self-reported individual-level data including total and leisure-time PA (LTPA) and overweight/obesity were examined in the adult population of Ottawa, Canada using multilevel models. Neighbourhood differences in directly measured BMI and PA (using accelerometry) were evaluated in a convenience sample of adults from four City of Ottawa neighbourhoods with contrasting socioeconomic (SES) and built recreation (REC) environments. Results: Results from the review generally indicate a poor level of agreement between self-report and direct measures of PA, with trends differing based on the measures of PA, the level of PA examined and the sex of the participants. Results of the multilevel analyses identified that very few of the built and social environmental variables were ii significantly associated with PA or overweight/obesity. Greater park area was significantly associated with total PA in females. Greater green space was shown to be associated with lower odds of male LTPA. Factors from the social environment were generally more strongly related to male outcomes. Further to the recreation and social environment, factors in the food landscape were significantly associated with male and female PA and overweight/obesity. Results of the directly measured PA and BMI investigation showed significant neighbourhood-group effects for light intensity PA and sedentary time. Post-hoc tests identified that the low REC/high SES neighbourhood had significantly more minutes of light PA than the low REC/low SES. BMI differed between the four neighbourhoods, but the differences were not significant after controlling for age, sex and household income. Conclusions: Results of this dissertation show that the quantity of PA can differ based on its method of measurement (i.e. between self-report and direct methods) with implications for the interpretation of study findings. It also identifies that PA and BMI can differ by neighbourhood and recognizes that the relationships between neighbourhood environments and PA and body composition are complex, may be differ between males and females, and may not always follow intuitive relationships. Furthermore it suggests that other factors in the environment not examined in this dissertation may influence adult PA and BMI and that longitudinal and intervention studies are needed.

Enhancing primary care is key to the Canadian health care reform. Considered as an indicator of primary care access and quality, hospitalisations for ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions are commonly reported by Canadian organisations as sentinel events signaling problems with the delivery of primary care. However, the literature calls for further research to identify what lies behind ACS hospitalisation rates in regions with a predominantly urban population benefiting from universal access to health care. A theoretical model was built and, using an ecological design, multiple regressions were implemented to identify which neighbourhood characteristics explained the socio-economic gradient in ACS hospitalisation rates observed in Ottawa. Among these neighbourhoods, healthy behaviour and - to a certain extent - health status were significantly associated with ACS hospitalisation rates. Evidence of an association with primary care accessibility was also signaled for the more rural neighbourhoods. Smoking prevention and cessation campaigns may be the most relevant health care strategies to push forward by policy makers hoping to prevent ACS hospitalisations in Ottawa. From a health care equity perspective, targeting these campaigns to neighbourhoods of low socio-economic status may contribute to closing the gap in ACS hospitalisations described in this current study. Reducing the socio-economic inequalities of neighbourhoods would also contribute to health equity.

Many health geography studies, including the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study (ONS), have faced significant challenges uncovering local variation in patterns of community health in rural areas. This is due to the fact that sparsely populated rural areas make it difficult to define neighbourhoods that are representative of the social and resource utilization patterns of the individuals therein. Moreover, rural areas yield small samples from population-based regional health surveys and this leads to insufficient sample sizes for reliable estimation of health determinants and outcomes. In response to this issue this thesis combines geographical and statistical techniques which allow for the simulation of health variables within small areas and populations within rural Ottawa. This methodological approach combines the techniques of dasymetric mapping and statistical micro-simulation in an innovative way, which will allow health geography researchers to explore health determinants and health outcomes at small spatial scales in rural areas. Dasymetric mapping is used to generate a statistical population surface over Ottawa and then estimate socio-economic (SES) variables within small neighbourhood units within rural Ottawa. The estimated SES variables are then used as correlate variables to simulate health determinant and health outcome variables form the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) using statistical micro-simulation. Through this methodology, simulations of specific health determinants and outcome can be investigated at small spatial scales within rural areas. Dasymetric mapping provided neighbourhood-level population estimates that were used to re-weight as set of SES variables that were correlates with those in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). These neighbourhood-level correlates allowed microsimulation and consequent spatial exploration of prevalence for smoking, binge drinking, obesity, self-rated mental health, and the presence of two or more chronic conditions. The methodology outlined in this paper, provides and innovative way of exploring health determinants and health outcomes in neighbourhoods for which population and health statistics are not traditionally collected at levels that would allow traditional statistical analyses of prevalence.