This thesis is a study on an unconventional slow speed direct drive permanent magnet (PM) generator. Unlike a standard permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) which has the copper coils wound around iron teeth, the work in this thesis will present a generator where the copper coils are directly mounted on the stator which eliminates the slots and teeth in the generator. By having a slotless design it is possible to eliminate cogging torque, iron losses in teeth and achieve a lightweight design. These characteristics can prove useful when developing generators for an application such as wind turbines, or more specifically vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in remote areas where weight and serviceability is of concern. This thesis consists of two main parts where the main focus was on the design and simulation of slotless generators. The second part of the thesis was to investigate an available slotless axial flux machine. For the simulations, three different models were created in 2D using CAD software. Two of the models were double-rotor slotless generators and one was a single rotor variant. The electromagnetic properties of these models were analysed using FEMM and COMSOL. The results showed that the double rotor variant with the smaller magnets were more favourable considering the price of magnets and no iron core losses. The experimental results of the axial flux machine gave insight into the construction of commercially available axial slotless generators which could be used to further analyse these types of machines.

La pollution atmosphérique particulaire constitue l'un des facteurs de risques impliqués dans l'incidence élevée de pathologies respiratoires et cardio-vasculaires. Afin d'intégrer les variations liées aux sources d'émission et aux saisons, des aérosols atmosphériques particulaires (PM₂.₅) ont été prélevés à Dunkerque sous influence urbaine (U) et/ou industrielle (I) et à Rubrouck sous influence rurale (R), au printemps-été 2008 (1) et à l'automne 2009 (2). La caractérisation physico-chimique des six échantillons particulaires a montré une granulométrie fine (79 à 98 % < PM₂.₅) et des aires spécifiques de 3 à 6 m²/g. Leurs concentrations en espèces ioniques différaient, comme celles en éléments métalliques majoritaires (Fe > Al > Mn > Zn > Cu > Ti ; I > U > R). Des différences ont également été observées quant à leurs concentrations en éléments organiques (HAP : I2 > U2 > I1 > U1 > R2 > R1 ; PCDD/F et PCB : I2 > I1 > U2 > U1 > R1 > R2) ; eu égard des influences considérées (PMindustriel > PMurbain > PMrural), et des saisons de prélèvements. Après évaluation de la cytotoxicité globale in vitro des échantillons particulaires, dans les cellules épithéliales bronchiques humaines (BEAS-2B), nous avons montré la capacité des composés organiques absorbés à la surface de ces particules à induire l'expression génique des enzymes de métabolisation (CYP 1A1 et 1B1, et à moindre mesure NQO1). De plus, la production excessive des ERO intracellulaires dans les cellules BEAS-2B exposées aux six PM₂.₅ a induit des dommages oxydatives (production de MDA, formation de 8-OHdG et/ou altération du statut de glutathion). Un développement d'une réponse inflammatoire excessive a aussi été observé par l'expression et/ou la sécrétion significative des cytokines (notamment IL-6 et IL-8). Ces réponses ont été observées d'une manière dose et/ou temps dépendante. En revanche, nous n'avons pu observer de mutations géniques au niveau des acteurs principaux de la voie EGFR/KRAS/BRAF. / Particulate air pollution constitutes one of the major risk factors implicated in the high incidence of respiratory and cardio-vascular pathologies. In order to integrate the variation linked to emission sources and seasons, atmospheric particulate matter (PM₂.₅) were collected at Dunkerque under urban (u) and/or industrial influence (I) and at Rubrouck (R) under rural influence, in spring-summer 2008 and autumn-winter 2009. The physico-chemical characterization of the six particulate samples has shown a fine granulometry (79 to 98 % < PM₂.₅) and a specific surface of 3 to 6 m²/g. Their concentrations in ionic species as well as in major metallic elements were different (Fe > Al > Mn > Zn > Cu > Ti ; I > U > R). Differences were also been observed in their organic element constitution (PAH : I2 > U2 > I1 > U1 > R2 > R1 ; PCDD/F and PCB : I2 > I1 > U2 > U1 > R1 > R2) with respect to considered influences (PMindustriel > PMurban > PMrural) and sampling seasons. After in vitro evaluation of particulate samples global cytotoxicity in human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B), we had shown the capacity of the organic components absorbed to the surface of these particles to induce gene expression of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes (CYP 1A1 and 1B1, and to a lesser extent, NQO1). Moreover, excessive intracellular production of reactive oxygen species within BEAS-2B cells exposed to the six PM₂.₅ samples induced oxidative damage (MDA production, 8-OHdG formation and/or glutathione status alteration). There was also a development of an excessive inflammatory response based on statistically significant increases in gene expression and/or protein secretion of cytokines (notably IL-6 and IL-8). These obtained responses were dose and/or time dependant. However, we couldn't observe mutations in the principal acting genes in the pathway EGFR/KRAS/BRAF.

Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients with pulmonary metastases (PM) experience a significant decrease in 5-year survival rates, ranging from 15 % to 50 % compared to 81 % without metastases. Despite this clinical challenge, there is a lack of consensus regarding the optimal treatment approach for PM in STS. To address this, a convolutional neural network (CNN) was developed, utilising transfer learning from a MED3D base model with added custom layers. The CNN aimed to predict surgical treatment response and extract relevant radiological parameters via attribution maps from the CT images of PMs.  The CNN demonstrated promising performance with a balanced distribution of true positive and true negative predictions, giving precision, recall and F1-scores of 0.8. However, the limited size of the data set calls for caution in interpreting the statistical validity of these results.  The evaluation of the attribution maps revealed the classifier assigning significance to regions lacking anatomical relevance, except for one region – the dorsal lobe near a metastasis – showing lower blood vessel density. Nonetheless, no definitive pathological conclusions can be drawn from this observation currently.  In conclusion, this study presents a CNN-based approach for predicting surgical treatment response in STS patients with PMs. However, the small data set warrants further validation and exploration of clinical implications associated with the identified regions of significance.

Permanent magnet (PM) machines offer several advantages in traction applications such as high efficiencyand high torque per volume ratio. The iron losses in these machines are estimated mostly with empiricallaws taken from other types of machines or with finite element simulations (FEM). In the first part of thisthesis the objective is to define an accurate analytical model for the stator yoke, teeth and rotor of a PMmotor which should work well enough for all operating point (different loads and frequency).This analytical model is found using an iterative process. After building a loss matrix and flux matrix basedon FEM simulations, it is possible to curve fit each of the lines or the rows of the matrix in order to achievethe best fitting for every operating point. This is a very new approach; it was shown that it gives thepossibility, even with a very limited number of FEM simulations, to achieve an accurate estimation of thelosses.The second part of this report focuses on optimizing this analytical method, comparing it with otherpossibilities, analyzing limits and advantages. Special attention is also given to the effects of the losses onthe temperatures in different parts of the machine. In the last part of the thesis, the analytical model isused to test a new control strategy. Its goal is to reduce the total losses of the motor and optimize the ratiobetween torque and total losses for a given driving cycle.

Våld i nära relationer beskrivs som ett stort folkhälsoproblem och rapporter vittnar om ökat våld i hemmen under Covid-pandemin. Alla kan drabbas, men kvinnor utsätts oftare för våld i nära relationer än vad män gör. Andra sårbara grupper finns också identifierade. Våldsutsatta söker sig ofta till sjukvården som den första kontakten utanför relationen, vilket ger vården en unik möjlighet att upptäcka våld i nära relationer. Utsatthet för våld är relaterat till flera aspekter av ohälsa. Våld i nära relationer har fått ökat fokus i jämställdhetspolitiken och i myndigheters styrdokument. Hur dessa styrdokument översätts i vardagliga rutiner på landets akutmottagningar verkar inte vara studerat. Syfte: Att, inom kontexten svensk akutsjukvård, identifiera lokala riktlinjer för våld i nära relationer, beskriva dess innehåll och jämföra om och hur dessa riktlinjer skiljer sig sinsemellan och i relation till nationella styrdokument. Metod: Studien är kvalitativ med en induktiv ansats. Genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys med manifest tolkning beskrivs lokala promemoria (PM) utifrån frågorna ”Vad tar man upp i PM?” och ”Hur skiljer sig olika rutiner från varandra?” Resultat: Innehållet i 34 PM (n=34) från 32 av 67 akutmottagningar (N=67) innehåller 38 kategorier som kan sammanfattas i fem huvudkategorier: kunskap om våld i nära relationer, särskilda grupper som utsätts för eller utöver våld, tecken på våld, omhändertagande av våldsutsatta och dokumentation. PM skiljer i detaljrikedom och i frågan vem som ska tillfrågas om våld på rutin. 3/60 Slutsats: PM är generellt lika vad gäller faktiskt innehåll. Primärt skiljer de sig i detaljrikedom och i balansen mellan att vara informativa och/eller instruerande. Synen på vem som ska tillfrågas om våld på rutin skiljer mellan PM. I övrigt stämmer lokala rutiner väl överens med styrdokument, med reservation för kravet om individuell vårdplan som sällan nämns. / <p>Betyg i Ladok 220204.</p>

Recent years have witnessed a surge in demand for infrastructure and services to cover high demands on processing big chunks of data and applications resulting in a mega Cloud Datacenter. A datacenter is of high complexity with increasing difficulties to identify, allocate efficiently and fast an appropriate host for the requested virtual machine (VM). Establishing a good awareness of all datacenter’s resources enables the allocation “placement” policies to make the best decision in reducing the time that is needed to allocate and create the VM(s) at the appropriate host(s). However, current algorithms and policies of placement “allocation” do not focus efficiently on awareness of the resources of the datacenter, and moreover, they are based on conventional static techniques. Which are adversely impacting on the allocation progress of the policies. This thesis proposes a new Agent-based allocation/placement policy that employs some of the Multi-Agent system features to get a good awareness of Cloud Datacenter resources and also provide an efficient allocation decision for the requested VMs. Specifically, (a) The Multi-Agent concept is used as a part of the placement policy (b) A Contract Net Protocol is devised to establish good awareness and (c) A verification process is developed to fully dimensional VM specifications during allocation. These new results show a reduction in response time of VM allocation and the usage improvement of occupied resources. The proposed Agent-based policy was implemented using the CloudSim toolkit and consequently was compared, based on a series of typical numerical experiments, with the toolkit’s default policy. The comparative study was carried out in terms of the time duration of VM allocation and other aspects such as the number of available VM types and the amount of occupied resources. Moreover, a two-stage comparative study was introduced through this thesis. Firstly, the proposed policy is compared with four state of the art algorithms, namely the Random algorithm and three one-dimensional Bin-Packing algorithms. Secondly, the three Bin-Packing algorithms were enhanced to have a two-dimensional verification structure and were compared against the proposed new algorithm of the Agent-based policy. Following a rigorous comparative study, it was shown that, through the typical numerical experiments of all stages, the proposed new Agent-based policy had superior performance in terms of the allocation times. Finally, avenues arising from this thesis are included. / Al al-Bayt University in Jordan.

Startups indeed play a pivotal role in society as agents of innovation and generators of employment. Despite this, a large proportion of startups fail. As a substantial amount of these temporary project-like companies called startups engage in software development and as application of project management has been correlated with project success, this research exploits a gap in the literature concerned with best practices as it pertains to project management methodologies for software development in startups. Given that a significant number of academic studies have already been conducted in the area of software development practices in startups spanning project management methodologies and software development methodologies, this research applies a strategy of systematic review as along with the application of thematic synthesis is appropriate for ascertaining the current state of knowledge and the search for some consensus. Consequently, this has been deemed to be an appropriate strategy for answering the research question: What are the best practices in applying Project Management Methodologies for software development projects in startups? The scope of the systematic review is the last decade (from 2012 to 2022) and the PRISMA framework has been used to facilitate the identification and screening of records. As a result, 17 studies with varying methods were deemed eligible and of high quality according to the quality assessment guidelines by Garousi et al. The main findings of this study identify three high-order themes for best practices in applying project management methodologies for software development in startups: Agility &amp; Maturity, Empower &amp; Value People, Tool Usage &amp; Support.

En el pasado, la investigación de los motores de combustión interna se ha centrado en la reducción del combustible y las emisiones, manteniendo constante el rendimiento. Además, en los últimos años la presión está aumentando aún más para los fabricantes de motores. La nueva homologación es un gran desafío, principalmente debido a la introducción de los ciclos de emisiones de conducción reales (RDE), lo que obligará a homologar los coches en condiciones reales de conducción, más dinámicas y con un amplio rango de condiciones ambientales, donde la altitud ambiente puede llevar a los 1300 metros sobre el nivel del mar. Hoy en día, los fabricantes tienen diferentes formas de ensayar los motores y los automóviles en condiciones de altitud. Pruebas en altitud real, donde el automóvil, los ingenieros y los sistemas de medida y ensayo deben desplazarse a un lugar en altitud durante largos períodos de tiempo. La otra solución es ensayar el automóvil en una cámara hipobárica, donde se puede controlar la presión. Sin embargo, estas cámaras son costosas, difíciles de operar e intensivas en espacio y recursos. En la presente tesis, se desarrolla un simulador de altitud, que presentará otra alternativa para el ensayo de motores en altitud. En este simulador de altitud, el motor está a presión ambiente y solo sus conductos de admisión y escape están a la altitud del ensayo. En la tesis, se describe el principio de operación del simulador de altitud, sus diferentes elementos y su efecto sobre el rendimiento del simulador de altitud, así como las estrategias de control aplicadas para controlar las diferentes variables y elementos. Para estudiar el potencial del simulador de altitud, un motor diésel turboalimentado se ha ensayado a diferentes altitudes y su rendimiento y emisiones se han comparado con los obtenidos en una cámara hipobárica. Además, el motor se ha ensayado a diferentes altitudes en ciclos dinámicos y se ha analizado su rendimiento y emisiones, cuyos resultados muestran que la estrategia de control del motor cuando está operando en altitud se centra en la protección de los diferentes elementos sin tener en cuenta las emisiones. Por estas razones, es importante estudiar diferentes estrategias para reducir las emisiones de los motores en altitud. Finalmente, se han realizado diferentes estudios paramétricos cambiando la geometría de las válvulas del motor y colector de escape para analizar su efecto sobre la temperatura de entrada de los sistemas de postratamiendo y el consumo especifico de combustible, como una forma de reducir el tiempo que tardan dichos sistemas en alcanzar la temperatura objetivo con mayor eficiencia de trabajo. / In the last decades, the internal combustion engines research has been focused in the reduction of the fuel consumption and emissions while keeping constant the performance. Besides, in the last years the pressure is increasing even more to the engine manufacturers. The new homologation is a big challenge, mainly because of the introduction of the real driving emissions cycles, which will force to homologate the cars under real driving conditions, more dynamic and with an extended range of ambient conditions. The ambient altitude can reach up to 1300 meters above sea level. Nowadays, the manufacturers have different ways to test the engines and cars in altitude conditions. Real altitude tests, where the car, engineers and testing systems have to be displaced to an altitude place during long periods of time. The other solution is to test the car in a hypobaric chamber, where the pressure can be controlled. However, these chambers are expensive, difficult to operate and intensive in space and resources. In the present thesis, an altitude simulator is developed, which will introduce another alternative to test engines in altitude. In this altitude simulator, the engine or car is at room pressure and only its intake and exhaust pipes are at the tested altitude. In the thesis, it is described the altitude simulator operation principle, its different elements and their effect on the altitude simulator performance, as well as the control strategies applied to control the different variables and elements. In order to proof the potential of the altitude simulator, a turbocharged diesel engine is tested at different altitudes and its performance and emissions results are compared with those obtained in a hypobaric chamber. Also the engine is tested at the different altitudes in dynamic cycles and its performance and emissions are analyzed, showing that the engine control strategy when it is operating in altitude is focused in the protection of the different elements without taking into account the emissions. For these reason, it is important to study different strategies to reduce engine emissions in altitude. Finally, different parametric studies changing different geometries of the engine valves and exhaust manifold in order to analyze its effect on the aftertreatment inlet temperature and the specific fuel consumption, as a way to reduce the time that it takes to the aftertreatment to reach the target conversion efficiency temperature. / En el passat, la investigació dels motors de combustió interna s'ha centrat en la reducció del combustible i les emissions, mantenint constant el rendiment. A més, en els últims anys la pressió està augmentant encara més per als fabricants de motors. La nova homologació és un gran desafiament, principalment a causa de la introducció dels cicles d'emissions de conducció reals (RDE), el que obligarà a homologar els cotxes en condicions reals de conducció, més dinàmiques i amb un ampli rang de condicions ambientals, on l'altitud ambient pot portar els 1300 metres sobre el nivell del mar. Avui dia, els fabricants tenen diferents formes d'assajar els motors i els automòbils en condicions d'altitud. Proves en altitud real, on l'automòbil, els enginyers i els sistemes de mesura i assaig han de desplaçar-se a un lloc en altitud durant llargs períodes de temps. L'altra solució és assajar l'automòbil en una cambra hipobàrica, on es pot controlar la pressió. No obstant això, aquestes càmeres són costoses, difícils d'operar i intensives en espai i recursos. En la present tesi, es desenvolupa un simulador d'altitud, que presentarà una altra alternativa per a l'assaig de motors en altitud. En aquest simulador d'altitud, el motor està a pressió ambient i només els seus conductes d'admissió i escapament estan a l'altitud de l'assaig. A la tesi, es descriu el principi d'operació del simulador d'altitud, els seus diferents elements i el seu efecte sobre el rendiment del simulador d'altitud, així com les estratègies de control aplicades per controlar les diferents variables i elements. Per estudiar el potencial del simulador d'altitud, un motor dièsel turboalimentat s'ha assajat a diferents altituds i el seu rendiment i emissions s'han comparat amb els obtinguts en una cambra hipobàrica. A més, el motor s'ha assajat a diferents altituds en cicles dinàmics i s'ha analitzat el seu rendiment i emissions, els resultats mostren que l'estratègia de control del motor quan està operant en altitud se centra en la protecció dels diferents elements sense tenir en compte les emissions. Per aquestes raons, és important estudiar diferents estratègies per reduir les emissions dels motors en altitud. Finalment, s'han realitzat diferents estudis paramètrics canviant la geometria de les vàlvules del motor i col·lector d'escapament per analitzar el seu efecte sobre la temperatura d'entrada dels sistemes de postratamiendo i el consum especäifico de combustible, com una forma de reduir el temps que triguen aquests sistemes en arribar a la temperatura objectiu amb major eficiència de treball. / Gómez Gil, J. (2018). Development of an altitude simulator and analysis of the performance and emissions of turbocharged Diesel engines at different altitudes [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/101284

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of operational excellence has driven organizations to seek innovative approaches to ensure the uninterrupted functionality of machinery and equipment. Predictive maintenance (PM) provides a pivotal strategy to achieve this goal by detecting faults earlier and predicting maintenance before the system enters a critical state. This thesis proposed a fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) method for predictive maintenance using particle filter resampling and a particle tracking technique. To develop this FDD method, particle filter and hidden Markov model efficiency in the forecasting system state variables are studied on a hydraulic wind power transfer system with different noise levels and system faults. Furthermore, a particle tracker is developed to analyze the particle filter's resampling process and study the particle selection process. After that, the proposed FDD method was developed and validated through three simulation tests employing system degradation models. Furthermore, the system's remaining useful life (RUL) is estimated for those simulation tests.

Die vorliegende Untersuchung behandelt den Homogenitätsbereich, sowie die strukturellen und physikalischen Eigenschaften der Clathrat-I-Phasen im System Ba-Au-Ge. Im Zustandsdiagramm existieren zwei separate Phasenbereiche mit Clathrat-I-Phasen unterschiedlicher Symmetrie, welche durch Au-Gehalt und Leerstellenkonzentration bestimmt wird. Bei niederem Goldgehalt existiert die Clathrat-I-Phase mit einer 2 × 2 × 2 Überstruktur des Basistyps in der Raumgruppe Ia-3d. Der Existenzbereich dieser Phase reicht bei 800 °C bis zur Zusammensetzung Ba8Aux•3–0.563xGe43–0.437x mit x = 1.1. Nach einem schmalen Zweiphasenbereich im Bereich 1.1 < x < 1.6 folgt für höhere Au-Konzentrationen eine neue, tetragonale Clathrat-I-Variante mit Raumgruppe P42/mmc. Diese umfasst den gesamten Homogenitätsbereich von x = 1.6 - 5.4. Für höherer Au-Konzentrationen nähert sich die Symmetrie dem Pm-3n-Basistyp an. Der thermoelektrische ZT-Wert steigt jeweils mit der Temperatur und erreicht für die Proben im Bereich x ≈ 5.4 bei 670 K ein Maximum von ≈ 0.9. Die Aufskalierung der Präparation und Voraussetzungen für den Generatorbau werden untersucht. / The present study deals with the homogeneity range as well as the structural and physical properties of clathrate I phases in the Ba-Au-Ge system. The phase diagram comprises phases with the clathrate I type of structure in two separate regions. The symmetry of the respective crystal structures is governed by both, Au content and vacancy concentration. At low gold content, the clathrate I phase forms a 2 × 2 × 2 superstructure of the base type with space group Ia-3d. At 800 °C this phase exists for the general composition formula Ba8Aux•3–0.563xGe43–0.437x till x = 1.1. After a narrow two-phase range in the region 1.1 < x < 1.6, a new, tetragonal clathrate I variant with space group P42/mmc follows for higher Au concentrations x = 1.6 - 5.4. For higher Au concentrations the crystal symmetry gradually approximates the common Pm-3n type of structure. The thermoelectric ZT value increases with temperature reaching a maximum of ≈ 0.9 for the samples in the range x ≈ 5.4 at 670 K. The upscaling of the preparation and other requirements for generator construction are examined.