published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

No description available.

This is a tale about energy and power. It describes the geographer Halford Mackinder’s geopolitical theories and compares them with current views outlined by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Michael T Klare, among others. With a critical approach it also provides a historical account of a Europe that stands in front of an energy struggle so severe that the current world order seems destined to fall. Oil and natural gas, has since the beginning of the 20th century, been used as a geopolitical tool in order to create dependence, control and even sometimes overthrow empires. USA has for example dominated the “protectorates” Europe and Japan by controlling the flow of oil in the Middle East. But this seems to change. It can’t be ruled out that the cities of Europe in the long run will be shrouded in darkness. The background is that Europe’s own deposits of fossil energy are decreasing at such vast speed that almost the entire demand will have to be imported by the year 2020. Awareness of this forecast, and the undertaking to reduce the carbon emissions in accordance with the Kyoto treaty, led to a grand proclamation in March 2007 to reduce the need for fossil fuels. This commitment seems however to be insufficient if independence towards other regions shall be maintained. Only a small part of the demand can be met by domestically produced fuels. Neither will the proposed energy reducing measures increase the energy security. The conclusion is that there is no time to develop new technology in order to save Europe from its difficult situation. The dependence on Russia will instead grow stronger. The current geopolitical order, where the United States has acted as a military protector and guarantor of the energy security, looks like it is going to fall. The US is bogged down in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars at the same time as Europe’s dependence on energy from the East grows. The US also has economic troubles and their own energy security dilemma. Russia has on the other hand acted with greater self confidence and purposefully built alliances with China, the Middle East and its former republics in Central Asia. Russia may soon dictate the future of Europe with its energy trump card. If Europe keeps its alliance with US and tries to challenge or subjugate Russia into its “unipolar” order it will deepen the risk for conflict. In such a conflict, Moscow has the power to darken and cool down the European room. Since every country is dependent on the dwindling energy resources for their survival, it may escalate into a full blown war. But the new order may be short. Within two decades there will probably be no surplus of energy to export for Russia, or any other nation for that matter. Europe will by then be without it’s own energy resources and simultaneously lose the option to import. / Det här är en berättelse om energi och makt. Den beskriver geografen Halford Mackinders geopolitiska teorier från början av 1900-talet och jämför dem med moderna uppfattningar från bland annat Zbigniew Brzezinski och Michael T Klare. Med en kritisk utgångspunkt ges även en historia om ett Europa som står inför en så svår energiutmaning att den nuvarande ordningen ser ut att falla. Sedan oljan och senare naturgasen började nyttjas har energin använts som ett geopolitiskt verktyg för att skapa beroenden, kontroll och även för att störta imperier i sank. USA har exempelvis dominerat sina ”protektorat” Europa och Japan genom att kontrollera oljeflödet från Mellanöstern. Men detta ser ut att förändras. I förlängningen går det inte utesluta att mörkret permanent lägger sig över Europas städer. Bakgrunden är att de egna lagren av fossil energi minskar i en sådan takt att i stort sett hela behovet måste importeras inom 20 år. Medvetenheten om detta, samt åtagandet att minska koldioxidutsläppen i enlighet med Kyotoavtalet, gjorde att EU i mars 2007 proklamerade att en stor satsning skulle vidtas för att reducera behovet av fossila bränslen. Denna satsning visar sig dock vara otillräcklig för att upprätthålla ett oberoende från andra regioner. Endast en mindre del av behovet kan tillgodoses med inhemskt producerade bränslen. Inte heller de energisparande åtgärderna kan dramatiskt höja energisäkerheten. Tiden är alltför knapp för att ny fantastisk teknik ska kunna rädda Europa ur sin besvärliga situation. Istället blir beroendet av Ryssland allt större. Detta leder till att den rådande geopolitiska ordningen, där USA både har agerat som Europas militära beskyddare och garant av energisäkerheten, riskerar att falla ihop. Samtidigt som Europa blir mer beroende av energin från öst går USA:s krig i Irak och Afghanistan allt sämre. USA har även ekonomiska bekymmer och ett eget energisäkerhetsproblem. Ryssland har i sin tur agerat med allt större självaktning och målmedvetet byggt allianser med Kina, Mellanöstern och sina forna delrepubliker i Centralasien. Med energin som trumfkort kan Ryssland komma att diktera EU:s framtid. Om EU bibehåller sin allians med USA och försöker utmana eller inlemma Ryssland i sin ”unipolära” ordning ökar risken för en allvarlig konflikt. Moskva har i ett sådant läge makt att både mörklägga och kyla ner det europeiska rummet. Eftersom alla behöver energin för sin överlevnad finns en risk att en marsch inleds mot ett fullskaligt krig. Den nya ordningen kan dock bli kort. Inom två decennier kan troligtvis inte längre Ryssland – eller någon annan region – exportera ett överskott. Europa kommer då att sakna både egna energiresurser samt importmöjligheter för att driva sina energisystem. Vad som då händer med det gamla Europa återstår att se.

It is noticed that success of sporting activity is positively influenced by certain motives. That prompted to perform a research enabling to determine prevailing sporting activity motives of high peak performance handball players. There is a sporting activity motivation of high peak performance men handball players (n=57) analysed in the final paper of the Master studies. Having analysed sporting activity motives of high peak performance men handball players (n=29) and women handball players (n=28) it was established that prevailing motives of high peak performance men handball players’ sporting activity is “cooperation”, “orientation to activity content” and “collaboration”, however just the motive of “cooperation” is statistically reliable. An average failure evasion level and success motivation level are also prevailing, however there is no a statistically significant difference. Analysing sporting activity motives of high peak performance men handball players in the aspect of sex, we have established that a motive of “cooperation” of social motivation level is the most archetypal for men as well as for women, however statistically reliable difference was not determined; there is a statistically reliable motive of “cooperation” prevailing among men. Statistically unreliable “motive of orientation to activity content” is prevailing among women; an average failure evasion level and success motivation level are most of all expressed among high peak performance men handball... [to full text]

No description available.

A rapid growth in the national electricity demand is placing an ever-increasing demand on the national electricity supply utility, Eskom. Projections show that the load demand in South Africa may exceed the installed capacity by as early as 2007. This is mainly due to the increase in demand in the residential sector as a result of the electrification of rural and previously disadvantaged communities. However, the industrial and commercial sectors also have a role in this increase. In an attempt to reduce the demand for electricity Eskom has adopted its Demand Side Management (DSM) initiative. This initiative is aimed at lowering the electricity demand in peak times through energy efficiency (EE) or load shift, out of peak demand times. Eskom is implementing the DSM strategy by financing Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to reduce the demand load of major electricity end-users during peak times. Buildings consume a large percentage of the total energy supply in the world. Most of the energy consumed in buildings is used by the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, as well as lighting. However, a large potential for energy savings exists in buildings. Studies have shown that up to 70% of the electricity consumption of a building can be saved through retrofit studies. However, to capitalise on these opportunities, the ESCOs require tools and procedures that would enable them to accomplish energy savings studies quickly and efficiently. It should be a holistic approach to the typical ESCO building audit. A study of current available software programs showed the lack of holistic tools aimed specifically at retrofit audits, and therefore also the need for such a program. The building simulation program most suited to the retrofit study was chosen and it was used in a retrofit audit. By emulating a retrofit audit with this software, its performance in the field, both positive and negative, could be established. With the experience gained from the retrofit study, as well as input from ESCOs in the industry, a need for such a retrofit tool was established. The simulation program that was tested in the retrofit study is the tool Quickcontrol, as well as the newer version of the program, entitled QEC. The case study showed that even though these packages are well suited to ESCO work, they have certain drawbacks in view of the holistic project approach. The ESCOs require a simple, fast, and integrated procedure for energy audits. This procedure should be embodied in a software program. This study proposes a new integrated procedure for energy audits and the analyses of buildings, in the form of a software tool. This new tool is geared towards the ESCO building audit, in both South A6ica and internationally. It is designed to enable a diplomate engineer to accomplish a building energy and retrofit analysis in two weeks, leading the user through all the main project steps, from data acquisition to writing of the final project report. This is a significant improvement, since it normally takes 50 man-days for an experienced and trained engineering team to complete a full building audit. This tool was used in a case study to test its validity and accuracy. It was found that certain situations would arise in which the criteria that were set for the program would not be adequate. The results from the case study were favourable and satisfied the criteria that were set for the procedure. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

A workflow for the discrimination of multi-peak anomalies due to an unexploded ordnance (UXO) is presented. The effects of changes in the depth and orientation of a subsurface target on its TEM response are explored. Further, the variation of the peak separation, peak widths, maxima to minimum ratios and maxima values through time are modelled. Models of spatial and temporal variations are performed for both one and twotargets. These models are devoid of noise and focus primarily on the 3lb FLBGR bomb. It is found that the decay of the magnitudes of the anomaly maxima are related to the decay of the characteristic polarization curves of the UXO that creates them. The behaviour of the decay of the magnitudes of the maxima values of multi-peak anomalies is determined to be a good indication of target number in the subsurface. Observing these decays, it is possible to distinguish between two multi-peak scenarios, namely: a) a multipeak anomaly produced by a single UXO or two UXOs of the same type; and b) a multipeak anomaly produced by two UXOs of different types.

Commonly the thermal maturity of the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian Woodford shale found on the flanks of the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma is determined by vitrinite reflectance, values ranging from 0.3-1.5%. Using phyllosilicate minerals, specifically diagenetic mixed layer illite/smectite and diagenetic illite, an understanding of the extent and processes leading to the thermal maturation may be developed. Analysis by XRD of the clay mineralogy of the Woodford shale found kaolinite and mixed layer illite/smectite with <5% smectite and R≥3 stacking order. Modeling of the Woodford shale also suggests the percentage of smectite present in mixed layer illite/smectite to be <5% and commonly <2.5%. Deconvolution of the illite (001) peak supports the low smectite content and high illite crystallinity. The long range ordered illite, R≥3, and high illite crystallinity values are indicative of diagenesis to anchizone conditions suggesting a higher thermal maturity relative to previously measured values of vitrinite reflectance.

Darbo objektas – kariūnų blauzdą tiesiančių ir lenkiančių raumenų funkcinių ypatybių nustatymas ir palyginimas metų eigoje. Tikslas – nustatyti, kaip pasikeičia kariūnų blauzdos raumenų funkcinės ypatybės per 6 mėnesių trukmės fizinio rengimo ciklą. Uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti blauzdą tiesiančių ir lenkiančių raumenų susitraukimo vidutinį galingumą, maksimalią jėgą, susitraukimo kampą, nuovargį ir atsigavimo kaitą. 2. Palyginti blauzdos raumenų nuovargio ir atsigavimo skirtumą, tarp pirmojo ir antrojo testavimo, esant dinaminiam raumens susitraukimui. Hipotezė - manome, kad atliekant antrąjį testavimą kariūnai po 6 mėn. studijų turi būti fiziškai pajėgesni, labiau turi pasireikšti blauzdą tiesiančių ir lenkiančių raumenų nuovargis ir atsigavimas. Išvados: 1. Abiejų testavimų metu blauzdą tiesiančių ir lenkiančių raumenų susitraukimo vidutinė galia krūvio metu sumažėjo, o praėjus 5 min. po krūvio atsigavo. 2. Blauzdą tiesiančių raumenų maksimali jėga bei atliktas darbas I-ojo testavimo metu yra didesnis negu blauzdą lenkiančių raumenų, tačiau II-ojo testavimo metu pastebimas didesnis nuovargis abiejų raumenų. 3. Blauzdą tiesiančių raumenų maksimalios jėgos kampas abiejų testavimų metu yra vienodas, tačiau blauzdą lenkiančių raumenų II-ojo testavimo metu yra didesnis. 4. Pastebimas ryškus blauzdos raumenų atsigavimas abiejų testavimų metu. / Object of this work – to determine function features of cadets’ shank straighten and bend muscle and to make comparison in the course of year. Aim – to find out how function features of cadets’ shank muscle are changing during 6 months physical training period. Tasks: 1. To establish contraction average power, maximum power, peak torque, tiredness and recuperation alternation of shank straighten and bend muscle. 2. To compare the difference between 1st and 2nd test of shank muscle tiredness and recuperation when there is dynamic contraction of the muscle Hypothesis – it is thought that during 2nd test after 6 months cadets should have more physical power, there should be displayed more intense tiredness and recuperation of shank straighten and bend muscle. Conclusions: 1. During 1st and 2nd test muscle contraction average power in the course of strain has decreased and after 5 min. it has recuperated. 2. Maximum power of shank straighten muscle and work done during the 1st test is bigger than of bend muscle, but during 2nd test there is seen larger tiredness of both muscle. 3. Peak torque of shank straighten muscle during both tests is the same, but peak torque of shank bend muscle is bigger during the 2nd test. 4. There is seen a distinct shank muscle recuperation during both test.