Hurricanes have caused severe damage to the electric power system throughout the Gulf coast region of the U.S., and electric power is critical to post-hurricane disaster response as well as to long-term recovery for impacted areas. Managing hurricane risks and properly preparing for post-storm recovery efforts requires rigorous methods for estimating the number and location of power outages, customers without power, and damage to power distribution systems. This dissertation presents a statistical power outage prediction model, a statistical model for predicting the number of customers without power, statistical damage estimation models, and a physical damage estimation model for the gulf coast region of the U.S. The statistical models use negative binomial generalized additive regression models as well as negative binomial generalized linear regression models for estimating the number of power outages, customers without power, damaged poles and damaged transformers in each area of a utility company’s service area. The statistical models developed based on transformed data replace hurricane indicator variables, dummy variables, with physically measurable variables, enabling future predictions to be based on only well-understood characteristics of hurricanes. The physical damage estimation model provides reliable predictions of the number of damaged poles for future hurricanes by integrating fragility curves based on structural reliability analysis with observed data through a Bayesian approach. The models were developed using data about power outages during nine hurricanes in three states served by a large, investor-owned utility company in the Gulf Coast region.

O desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias tem provocado o crescimento da quantidade de informações disponíveis no mundo em escala exponencial. As organizações convivem com o excesso de dados e informações, muitas vezes desperdiçando ou não aproveitando o potencial que eles oferecem. Parece não haver dúvidas de que a informação é um ativo essencial nas organizações, mas o problema é que ela nem sempre está estruturada ou armazenada em bancos de dados. Muito já se estudou sobre governança corporativa e sobre governança de TI. A área de TI da grande maioria das organizações está focada no ‘T’ da TI, e isto é natural graças ao fascínio que a tecnologia exerce sobre os indivíduos. Mas a essência do termo TI não está no ‘T’, está no ‘I’. Como resposta à incapacidade da governança de TI de tratar da informação, surge o novo paradigma nas questões de governança, a governança da informação (GI). A governança da informação recoloca a informação como questão central para as organizações. Este trabalho identificou por intermédio dos elementos teóricos recuperados da teoria da Agência, da teoria da Visão Baseada em Recursos da Firma (RBV) e da teoria das Capacidades Dinâmicas, alguns fatores que devem compor um modelo de governança da informação (MGI). Para investigar esta questão da governança da informação, escolheu-se a indústria bancária. Dentre as motivações para a escolha desta indústria estão: o fato de ser uma das que mais investe em TI no Brasil e no mundo, de possuir processos de negócios muito bem definidos, e de ser muito dinâmica na adoção de novas tecnologias e processos. Neste contexto, a questão central de pesquisa proposta é: “Quais os efeitos dos fatores da governança da informação sobre o valor nos bancos?”. Para responder a esta questão, o trabalho realizou três fases complementares: revisão da literatura, análise qualitativa e análise quantitativa. Na primeira fase, foi feita uma revisão da literatura com o intuito de identificar os fatores da GI. Na segunda fase, foi feita uma série de entrevistas com altos executivos de TI em bancos no Brasil, em Hong Kong e nos Estados Unidos para a apresentação e validação dos itens e fatores da GI. Na terceira e última fase, foram utilizados os dados de uma pesquisa survey, realizada com os executivos de TI de bancos que atuam no Brasil, para testar o modelo de GI, que envolve mediação múltipla entre as variáveis, com a técnica de modelagem de regressão estrutural. Os resultados permitiram concluir que, na percepção dos executivos de TI dos bancos brasileiros que participaram da pesquisa, os fatores da governança da informação - políticas, sistemas (SI/TI) e estrutura - têm efeitos diretos e indiretos sobre o valor. E os fatores sistemas (SI/TI) e estrutura medeiam a relação entre o fator políticas e o valor. / The development of new technologies has caused the growth of the amount of information available in the world in exponential scale. Organizations coexist with the excess of data and information, often wasting or not leveraging the power they offer. There seems no doubt that information is a key asset in organizations, but the problem is that it is not always structured or stored in the databases. Much has been studied about corporate governance and IT governance. The IT department of most organizations is focused on the 'T' of IT, and it is natural due to the fascination that technology carries on individuals. But the essence of the term IT is not in the 'T' is in the 'I'. As a response to the inadequacy of IT governance to deal with information a new paradigm rises in governance issues, information governance (IG). Information governance puts back the information as a central issue for organizations. This work identified through the theoretical elements of the Agency theory, the theory of Resource Based View of the Firm (RBV) and the theory of Dynamic Capabilities, some factors that should compose an information governance framework (IGF). To investigate this issue was chosen the banking industry. Among the motivations for the choice of this industry, the fact that it is one of the biggest investors in IT in Brazil and in the world, it also has well defined business processes, and it is very dynamic in the adoption of new technologies and processes. In this context, the central research question was " What are the effects of information governance factors on value in banking?". To answer this question, the research was conducted in three complementary phases, literature review, qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. In the first phase, a review of the literature was performed in order to identify the factors of GI. In the second phase, there was a series of interviews with senior IT executives at banks in Brazil, Hong Kong and the United States for the presentation and validation of the items and factors of IG, with the subsequent content analysis. In the third and last phase, we used data from a survey research conducted with IT executives from Brazilian banks to test the IG model, which involves multiple mediation between the variables, with the technique of structural regression modeling. The results showed that in the perception of the IT executives of Brazilian banks who participated in the survey, the factors of information governance - policies, systems (IS / IT) and structure - have direct and indirect effects on value. And the factors systems (IS/IT) and structure mediate the relationship between the factor policies and value.

O desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias tem provocado o crescimento da quantidade de informações disponíveis no mundo em escala exponencial. As organizações convivem com o excesso de dados e informações, muitas vezes desperdiçando ou não aproveitando o potencial que eles oferecem. Parece não haver dúvidas de que a informação é um ativo essencial nas organizações, mas o problema é que ela nem sempre está estruturada ou armazenada em bancos de dados. Muito já se estudou sobre governança corporativa e sobre governança de TI. A área de TI da grande maioria das organizações está focada no ‘T’ da TI, e isto é natural graças ao fascínio que a tecnologia exerce sobre os indivíduos. Mas a essência do termo TI não está no ‘T’, está no ‘I’. Como resposta à incapacidade da governança de TI de tratar da informação, surge o novo paradigma nas questões de governança, a governança da informação (GI). A governança da informação recoloca a informação como questão central para as organizações. Este trabalho identificou por intermédio dos elementos teóricos recuperados da teoria da Agência, da teoria da Visão Baseada em Recursos da Firma (RBV) e da teoria das Capacidades Dinâmicas, alguns fatores que devem compor um modelo de governança da informação (MGI). Para investigar esta questão da governança da informação, escolheu-se a indústria bancária. Dentre as motivações para a escolha desta indústria estão: o fato de ser uma das que mais investe em TI no Brasil e no mundo, de possuir processos de negócios muito bem definidos, e de ser muito dinâmica na adoção de novas tecnologias e processos. Neste contexto, a questão central de pesquisa proposta é: “Quais os efeitos dos fatores da governança da informação sobre o valor nos bancos?”. Para responder a esta questão, o trabalho realizou três fases complementares: revisão da literatura, análise qualitativa e análise quantitativa. Na primeira fase, foi feita uma revisão da literatura com o intuito de identificar os fatores da GI. Na segunda fase, foi feita uma série de entrevistas com altos executivos de TI em bancos no Brasil, em Hong Kong e nos Estados Unidos para a apresentação e validação dos itens e fatores da GI. Na terceira e última fase, foram utilizados os dados de uma pesquisa survey, realizada com os executivos de TI de bancos que atuam no Brasil, para testar o modelo de GI, que envolve mediação múltipla entre as variáveis, com a técnica de modelagem de regressão estrutural. Os resultados permitiram concluir que, na percepção dos executivos de TI dos bancos brasileiros que participaram da pesquisa, os fatores da governança da informação - políticas, sistemas (SI/TI) e estrutura - têm efeitos diretos e indiretos sobre o valor. E os fatores sistemas (SI/TI) e estrutura medeiam a relação entre o fator políticas e o valor. / The development of new technologies has caused the growth of the amount of information available in the world in exponential scale. Organizations coexist with the excess of data and information, often wasting or not leveraging the power they offer. There seems no doubt that information is a key asset in organizations, but the problem is that it is not always structured or stored in the databases. Much has been studied about corporate governance and IT governance. The IT department of most organizations is focused on the 'T' of IT, and it is natural due to the fascination that technology carries on individuals. But the essence of the term IT is not in the 'T' is in the 'I'. As a response to the inadequacy of IT governance to deal with information a new paradigm rises in governance issues, information governance (IG). Information governance puts back the information as a central issue for organizations. This work identified through the theoretical elements of the Agency theory, the theory of Resource Based View of the Firm (RBV) and the theory of Dynamic Capabilities, some factors that should compose an information governance framework (IGF). To investigate this issue was chosen the banking industry. Among the motivations for the choice of this industry, the fact that it is one of the biggest investors in IT in Brazil and in the world, it also has well defined business processes, and it is very dynamic in the adoption of new technologies and processes. In this context, the central research question was " What are the effects of information governance factors on value in banking?". To answer this question, the research was conducted in three complementary phases, literature review, qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. In the first phase, a review of the literature was performed in order to identify the factors of GI. In the second phase, there was a series of interviews with senior IT executives at banks in Brazil, Hong Kong and the United States for the presentation and validation of the items and factors of IG, with the subsequent content analysis. In the third and last phase, we used data from a survey research conducted with IT executives from Brazilian banks to test the IG model, which involves multiple mediation between the variables, with the technique of structural regression modeling. The results showed that in the perception of the IT executives of Brazilian banks who participated in the survey, the factors of information governance - policies, systems (IS / IT) and structure - have direct and indirect effects on value. And the factors systems (IS/IT) and structure mediate the relationship between the factor policies and value.

O desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias tem provocado o crescimento da quantidade de informações disponíveis no mundo em escala exponencial. As organizações convivem com o excesso de dados e informações, muitas vezes desperdiçando ou não aproveitando o potencial que eles oferecem. Parece não haver dúvidas de que a informação é um ativo essencial nas organizações, mas o problema é que ela nem sempre está estruturada ou armazenada em bancos de dados. Muito já se estudou sobre governança corporativa e sobre governança de TI. A área de TI da grande maioria das organizações está focada no ‘T’ da TI, e isto é natural graças ao fascínio que a tecnologia exerce sobre os indivíduos. Mas a essência do termo TI não está no ‘T’, está no ‘I’. Como resposta à incapacidade da governança de TI de tratar da informação, surge o novo paradigma nas questões de governança, a governança da informação (GI). A governança da informação recoloca a informação como questão central para as organizações. Este trabalho identificou por intermédio dos elementos teóricos recuperados da teoria da Agência, da teoria da Visão Baseada em Recursos da Firma (RBV) e da teoria das Capacidades Dinâmicas, alguns fatores que devem compor um modelo de governança da informação (MGI). Para investigar esta questão da governança da informação, escolheu-se a indústria bancária. Dentre as motivações para a escolha desta indústria estão: o fato de ser uma das que mais investe em TI no Brasil e no mundo, de possuir processos de negócios muito bem definidos, e de ser muito dinâmica na adoção de novas tecnologias e processos. Neste contexto, a questão central de pesquisa proposta é: “Quais os efeitos dos fatores da governança da informação sobre o valor nos bancos?”. Para responder a esta questão, o trabalho realizou três fases complementares: revisão da literatura, análise qualitativa e análise quantitativa. Na primeira fase, foi feita uma revisão da literatura com o intuito de identificar os fatores da GI. Na segunda fase, foi feita uma série de entrevistas com altos executivos de TI em bancos no Brasil, em Hong Kong e nos Estados Unidos para a apresentação e validação dos itens e fatores da GI. Na terceira e última fase, foram utilizados os dados de uma pesquisa survey, realizada com os executivos de TI de bancos que atuam no Brasil, para testar o modelo de GI, que envolve mediação múltipla entre as variáveis, com a técnica de modelagem de regressão estrutural. Os resultados permitiram concluir que, na percepção dos executivos de TI dos bancos brasileiros que participaram da pesquisa, os fatores da governança da informação - políticas, sistemas (SI/TI) e estrutura - têm efeitos diretos e indiretos sobre o valor. E os fatores sistemas (SI/TI) e estrutura medeiam a relação entre o fator políticas e o valor. / The development of new technologies has caused the growth of the amount of information available in the world in exponential scale. Organizations coexist with the excess of data and information, often wasting or not leveraging the power they offer. There seems no doubt that information is a key asset in organizations, but the problem is that it is not always structured or stored in the databases. Much has been studied about corporate governance and IT governance. The IT department of most organizations is focused on the 'T' of IT, and it is natural due to the fascination that technology carries on individuals. But the essence of the term IT is not in the 'T' is in the 'I'. As a response to the inadequacy of IT governance to deal with information a new paradigm rises in governance issues, information governance (IG). Information governance puts back the information as a central issue for organizations. This work identified through the theoretical elements of the Agency theory, the theory of Resource Based View of the Firm (RBV) and the theory of Dynamic Capabilities, some factors that should compose an information governance framework (IGF). To investigate this issue was chosen the banking industry. Among the motivations for the choice of this industry, the fact that it is one of the biggest investors in IT in Brazil and in the world, it also has well defined business processes, and it is very dynamic in the adoption of new technologies and processes. In this context, the central research question was " What are the effects of information governance factors on value in banking?". To answer this question, the research was conducted in three complementary phases, literature review, qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. In the first phase, a review of the literature was performed in order to identify the factors of GI. In the second phase, there was a series of interviews with senior IT executives at banks in Brazil, Hong Kong and the United States for the presentation and validation of the items and factors of IG, with the subsequent content analysis. In the third and last phase, we used data from a survey research conducted with IT executives from Brazilian banks to test the IG model, which involves multiple mediation between the variables, with the technique of structural regression modeling. The results showed that in the perception of the IT executives of Brazilian banks who participated in the survey, the factors of information governance - policies, systems (IS / IT) and structure - have direct and indirect effects on value. And the factors systems (IS/IT) and structure mediate the relationship between the factor policies and value.

No description available.

No description available.

ABSTRACT INVESTIGATION OF LIGHT ATTENUATION IN LAKE EYMIR Selen ATIKER M.Sc, Department of Environmental Engineering Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayseg&uuml / l Aksoy Co-Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Selim Sanin January 2012, 164 pages. Light penetration and attenuation has significant impact on the water quality of lakes. Algal activity, which is important for the levels of several water quality parameters, is dependent on light penetration besides availability of nutrients. In this study, change in light penetration and attenuation in Lake Eymir was studied. The relationships of extinction coefficient (ke), and water quality parameters were investigated. The effect of ke on Chl-a over nutrients were investigated. The water quality parameters measured were / total suspended solid (TSS), phosphate, ammonium, nitrate, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Secchi disk depth and lake Depth. The measurements were conducted at five different stations in Lake Eymir. Secchi disk, PAR and lake depth measurements were done on site, while TSS, Chl-a and phosphate analyses were done in laboratory, using standard methods. Nitrate and ammonium analyses were conducted through laboratory kits. Linear and non-linear regression models of ke and Chl-a were developed to understand their relationships with the the measured parameters, using XLSTAT software. Analyses of the data at sampling stations revealed that Station 2 and 3 were the most representative stations in general. The model results indicated that ke is as important as nutrients for Chl-a abundance. Secchi disk and Chl-a are the most correlated parameters with ke. Moreover Secchi disk depth is nonlinearly correlated with ke, while linearly correlation is present between Chl-a and ke. &emsp

Woody residues are byproducts with high lignocellulosic content, such as mill residues, logging residues, and other woody waste. This study estimated the impact of different mill characteristics, procurement attributes, constraints, and geospatial features on the utilization of woody residues to produce bioenergy by primary forest products manufacturers in the southern United States. Data were collected using a mail survey, and USDA and Esri geodatabases. Data analysis was conducted using analysis of variance, two-stage least squares, binary logit, and spatial logistic regression models. Approximately 70% of mills utilized woody residues for bioenergy purposes and 11% were willing to utilize additional logging residues to produce electricity. Mills were willing to pay US$12 (2012 dollars) per metric ton of logging residues at the mill gate and haul them for up to 93 kilometers. Mills with a larger capacity to utilize woody residues were more willing to utilize additional logging residues, pay a higher gate price, and haul them over longer distances. Regarding a mill type, pulp, paper, and paperboard mills and composite wood products mills were the largest woody residue utilizers and were willing to increase utilization of logging residues, pay higher prices, and haul them over longer distances. Utilization of woody residues increased with a processing capacity increase, equipment upgrades, and lower transportation costs logging residues. Mill willingness to utilize additional logging residues was higher for mills with the larger utilization of woody residues, lower quantities of disposable mill residues, anticipated equipment upgrades, and low importance for lack of storage space. Mills were more likely to utilize additional logging residues within proximity to a sawmill; pulp, paper, and paperboard mill; and a major road system, and less likely if a mill was in the vicinity of a river, forest, and mill producing other forest products. Results will help formulate future bioenergy policies, guide biomass energy investments and financial incentives, and help mill and land managers make more informed decisions regarding production and utilization of woody biomass. Future research is needed to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing logging residues by other facilities such as power plants and bioenergy facilities.

No description available.

Several studies in hydrology have reported differences in outcomes between models in which spatial autocorrelation (SAC) is accounted for and those in which SAC is not. However, the capacity to predict the magnitude of such differences is still ambiguous. In this thesis, I hypothesized that SAC, inherently possessed by a response variable, influences spatial modeling outcomes. I selected ten watersheds in the USA and analyzed them to determine whether water quality variables with higher Moran’s I values undergo greater increases in the coefficient of determination (R²) and greater decreases in residual SAC (rSAC) after spatial modeling. I compared non-spatial ordinary least squares to two spatial regression approaches, namely, spatial lag and error models. The predictors were the principal components of topographic, land cover, and soil group variables. The results revealed that water quality variables with higher inherent SAC showed more substantial increases in R² and decreases in rSAC after performing spatial regressions. In this study, I found a generally linear relationship between the spatial model outcomes (R² and rSAC) and the degree of SAC in each water quality variable. I suggest that the inherent level of SAC in response variables can predict improvements in models before spatial regression is performed. The benefits of this study go beyond modeling selection and performance, it has the potential to uncover hydrologic connectivity patterns that can serve as insights to water quality managers and policy makers.