A programme of field sampling was undertaken to quantify total carbon fluxes (DOC, POC, HCO3, free CO2 and CH4) from peatland catchments in Glen Dye, NE Scotland and Plynlimon, Mid-Wales. This was integrated with temporal and spatial sampling to investigate controls on contrasting concentrations and fluxes and to determine carbon sources or sinks within the stream system. Microcosms containing radiolabelled ( 14C) biofilms were also used to investigate removal of DOC from streamwater. Carbon fluxes from acidic peatlands were dominated by DOC (115-215 kg C ha-1 yr-1) and POC (8.15-97.0 kg ha -1 yr-1). In the majority of headwaters studied, DIC was exported as free CO2 (2.62-8.49 kg ha-1 yr -1). Methane-C fluxes at the outlets of catchments were <0.01 kg ha-1 yr-1. Small-scale (diurnal) temporal variations in free CO2, HCO3- and pH at the NE Scotland catchments were small compared to more productive systems; DOC showed no diurnal fluctuations. In addition, diurnal patterns were masked by marked variations in discharge. Small-scale downstream spatial changes in Brocky Burn, NE Scotland and the Upper Hafren, Mid-Wales showed that variation in climate, in particular precipitation, was also a major controlling factor on concentrations and fluxes of the different forms of carbon. However, the actual amount of carbon stored within the soils acted as an initial control on the potential DOC load within the streamwater. A peatland stream continuum linked to terrestrial carbon cycling is presented. Initially terrestrial inputs of DOC, POC, free CO2 and CH 4 dominated the upper headwaters. The soil-stream linkage was progressively reduced downstream due to autochthonous and atmospheric factors. A critical area in the peatland stream continuum occurred approximately 1 km downstream from the gaseous carbon-rich peats.

L'électroencéphalographie (EEG) consiste à mesurer l'activité électrique du cerveau à l'aide d'électrodes placées à la surface du cuir chevelu. Cette technique est principalement utilisée pour le diagnostic de l'épilepsie. Certains grapho-éléments comme des ondes lentes et des pointes-ondes peuvent apparaitre sur l'EEG permettant au neurologue de détecter une souffrance épileptique. Malheureusement, cette activité peut être fortement contaminée par des signaux parasites appelés artefacts. Ces artefacts ont pour origines principales l'activité oculaire, l'activité musculaire, le rythme cardiaque et les légers déplacements d'électrodes. Les fréquences des grapho-éléments pathologique recouvrent celles des artefacts et nous avons alors recours à des filtres spatiaux, reposant sur la séparation de sources. Le principe est de déterminer un ensemble de sources d'origines cérébrales et un ensemble de sources d'artefacts. Les sources d'artefacts sont supprimées et les sources cérébrales sont utilisées pour reconstruire le signal. Nous présentons dans cette thèse plusieurs méthodes combinant les filtres spatiaux et les filtres frèquentiels afin d'automatiser le filtrage. Une démarche quantitative a été définie afin de valider ces méthodes, nous permettant de choisir la méthode la plus performante appelée Adaptive Filtering by Optimal Projection (AFOP). Les tests sur des enregistrements cliniques de patient épileptiques, ont montré, selon l'avis du neurologue, l'efficacité d'AFOP sur la plupart des types d'artefacts ainsi que son respect des rythmes cérébraux. / The electroencephalography (EEG) consists in measuring brain electrical activity thanks to electrodes located on the scalp surface. This technique is mainly used for the diagnostic of epilepsy. Sorne grapho-elements like slow waves and spike waves can appear on the EEG, enabling the neurologist to detect an epilepsy pain. Unfortunately, this activity can be highly contaminated by parasitical signals called artifacts. These artifacts have for main origins, the ocular activity, the muscular activity, the cardiac rhythm and tight electrode displacements. The frequencies of pathological grapho-elements recover those of artifacts, and it is then required to use spatial filter which rests on source separation. The principle is to determine a set of cerebral sources and a set of artifacts sources. Artifact sources are then cancelled and the cerebral ones are used to rebuild the signal. This thesis presents several methods using both spatial and frequential filters, making the EEG filtering automated. A quantitative approach of filtering validation is defined, which enables the author to choose the most efficient called Adaptive Filtering by Optimal Projection (AFOP). According to the neurologist, tests on clinical recordings of epileptic patients prove AFOP efficiency on cancelling most of artifact types as well as on respecting cerebn rhythms.

PhD, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / The South African gold-mining workforce has an unusually high incidence of Mycobacterium kansasii disease, yet little is known about the possible sources of M. kansasii infection, genetic diversity and the basis for this organism’s pathogenicity. The purpose of this study was to investigate these issues in a gold-mining environment. Five M. kansasii isolates and 10 other potentially pathogenic mycobacteria were cultured mainly from showerhead biofilms. PCR-restriction analysis (PRA) of the hsp65 gene on 191 clinical and on the 5 environmental M. kansasii isolates revealed 160 subtype I (157 clinical and 3 environmental), 8 subtype II (clinical) and 6 subtype IV (5 clinical and 1 environmental) strains. Twenty-two isolates (21 clinical and 1 environmental) did not show the typical M. kansasii PRA patterns. After confirmation by DNA sequencing as belonging to the M. kansasii species, the results suggested that these isolates were probably new subtypes of M. kansasii. In contrast to the clonal population structure found amongst the subtype I isolates from studies in other countries, DNA fingerprinting of 114 subtype I clinical and environmental isolates showed genetic diversity amongst the isolates. One of the 2 environmental isolates showed 100% identity with a clinical isolate, suggesting that water distribution systems are the possible sources of M. kansasii infection for the miners. An investigation into the genetic differences between clinical (subtype I) and environmental (III, IV and V) isolates, using Hybridisation Monitored Differential Analysis (HMDA), identified 45 open reading frames (ORFs) encoding predominantly membrane-associated proteins that include six potential virulence factors, two family members of transcription regulators for drug and xenobiotic metabolism, three family members of multidrug efflux systems, a number of proteins associated with lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and transport, and a number of hypothetical proteins with unknown function. Immunological analysis of M. kansasii isolates, using the Lymphocyte Transformation and Cytometric Bead Array assays, showed that M. kansasii modulates immune responses through suppression of lymphocyte blastogenesis and by altering the expression of Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokines by human lymphocytes in vivo for its own survival. This study demonstrated for the first time that water distribution systems in South Africa are possible sources of M. kansasii infection, and showed that subtype I strains of M. kansasii from the study region display genetic diversity and have unique or divergent genes not found in other subtypes. It also demonstrated that immunosuppression is one of the pathogenic mechanisms employed by M. kansasii.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Finance & Investment in the Faculty of Commerce Law and Management Wits Business School, Johannesburg 2016 / This thesis reviewed research papers, reports, conference documents and policy documents that looked at financial models used to finance RE projects in Brazil, China, India and South Africa.The comparison between the financing models revealed the following; Both Brazil and China’s financing model is a centralised government led model which might not necessarily work in the South African context. The India decentralised model is similar to the South African model, with the exception that corporate finance is widely used in India and Project Finance in South Africa. Thus there are lessons to be learnt from each country, however no single country financing model was found to be suitable for South Africa. Accordingly, this paper therefore recommends that South Africa’s model be altered to incorporate project bonds. The use of these bonds in the current financial model will ensure that banks are able to lend to projects on short term basis; thus, managing their liquidity and their asset--liability effectively. Further, some institutional investors have shown an interest in funding projects at the construction stage, and the inclusion of project bonds would ensure that more of these investors play a role in financing projects. Key Words GDP-Gross Domestic Product; GW- Gigawatts; DoE-Department of Energy; REIPPPP- Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme; BEE-Black Economic Empowerment; RE-Renewable Energy; SSA-Sub Saharan Africa; PPA-Power Purchase Agreement; FIT-Feed In Tariff; DFIDevelopment Finance Institution; MDB-Multilateral Development Bank / GR2018

Ce travail de recherche porte sur le problème de l'identification des sources de bruit en espace clos. La motivation principale était de proposer une technique capable de localiser et quantifier les sources de bruit à l'intérieur des véhicules industriels, d'une manière efficace en temps. Dans cette optique, la méthode pourrait être utilisée par les industriels à des fins de réduction de bruit, et donc construire des véhicules plus silencieux. Un modèle simplifié basé sur la formulation par sources équivalentes a été utilisé pour résoudre le problème. Nous montrerons que le problème est mal conditionné, dans le sens où il est très sensible face aux erreurs de mesure, et donc des techniques dites de régularisation sont nécessaires. Une étude détaillée de cette question, en particulier le réglage de ce qu'on appelle de paramètre de régularisation, a été important pour assurer la stabilité de la solution. En particulier, un critère de régularisation basé sur une approche bayésienne s'est montré très robuste pour ajuster le paramètre de régularisation de manière optimale. L'application cible concernant des environnements intérieurs relativement grands, nous a imposé des difficultés supplémentaires, à savoir: (a) le positionnement de l'antenne de capteurs à l'intérieur de l'espace; (b) le nombre d'inconnues (sources potentielles) beaucoup plus important que le nombre de positions de mesure. Une formulation par pondération itérative a ensuite été proposé pour surmonter les problèmes ci-dessus de manière à: (1) corriger pour le positionnement de l'antenne de capteurs dans l'habitacle ; (2) obtenir des résultats corrects en terme de quantification des sources identifiées. Par ailleurs, l'approche itérative nous a conduit à des résultats avec une meilleure résolution spatiale ainsi qu'une meilleure dynamique. Plusieurs études numériques ont été réalisées afin de valider la méthode ainsi que d'évaluer sa sensibilité face aux erreurs de modèle. En particulier, nous avons montré que l'approche est affectée par des conditions non-anéchoïques, dans le sens où les réflexions sont identifiées comme des vraies sources. Une technique de post-traitement qui permet de distinguer entre les chemins directs et réverbérants a été étudiée. La dernière partie de cette thèse porte sur des validations expérimentales et applications pratiques de la méthode. Une antenne sphérique constituée d'une sphère rigide et 31 microphones a été construite pour les tests expérimentaux. Plusieurs validations académiques ont été réalisées dans des environnements semi-anéchoïques, et nous ont illustré les avantages et limites de la méthode. Enfin, l'approche a été testé dans une application pratique, qui a consisté à identifier les sources de bruit ou faiblesses acoustiques à l'intérieur d'un bus. / This thesis is concerned with the problem of noise source identification in closed spaces. The main motivation was to propose a technique which allows to locate and quantify noise sources within industrial vehicles, in a time-effective manner. In turn, the technique might be used by manufacturers for noise abatement purposes such as to provide quieter vehicles. A simplified model based on the equivalent source formulation was used to tackle the problem. It was shown that the problem is ill-conditioned, in the sense that it is very sensitive to errors in measurement data, thus regularization techniques were required. A detailed study of this issue, in particular the tuning of the so-called regularization parameter, was of importance to ensure the stability of the solution. In particular, a Bayesian regularization criterion was shown to be a very robust approach to optimally adjust the regularization parameter in an automated way. The target application concerns very large interior environments, which imposes additional difficulties, namely: (a) the positioning of the measurement array inside the enclosure; (b) a number of unknowns ("candidate" sources) much larger than the number of measurement positions. An iterative weighted formulation was then proposed to overcome the above issues by: first correct for the positioning of the array within the enclosure and second iteratively solve the problem in order to obtain a correct source quantification. In addition, the iterative approach has provided results with an enhanced spatial resolution and dynamic range. Several numerical studies have been carried out to validate the method as well as to evaluate its sensitivity to modeling errors. In particular, it was shown that the approach is affected by non-anechoic conditions, in the sense that reflections are identified as "real" sources. A post-processing technique which helps to distinguish between direct and reverberant paths has been discussed. The last part of the thesis was concerned with experimental validations and practical applications of the method. A custom spherical array consisting of a rigid sphere and 31 microphones has been built for the experimental tests. Several academic experimental validations have been carried out in semi-anechoic environments, which illustrated the advantages and limits of the method. Finally, the approach was tested in a practical application, which consisted in identifying noise sources inside a bus at driving conditions.

Orientador: Nelson Ramos Stradiotto / Banca: Marcelo Firmino de Oliveira / Banca: André Luiz dos Santos / Resumo: A alta demanda de energia no mundo atual, bem como o grande número de problemas ambientais existentes, resultam em uma crescente necessidade por novas fontes de energia, estimulando assim o interesse por fontes alternativas para os combustíveis de origem fóssil. Surge então o Biodiesel, combustível biodegradável derivado de fontes renováveis. No entanto, este biocombustível apresenta certos contaminantes que podem causar sérios danos ao motor e ao ambiente dependente de seus teores. Dentre estes, estão os acilgliceróis, remanescentes da matéria prima para a produção do biodiesel. Por exemplo, a alta concentração destes compostos aumenta a viscosidade do biocombustível, provocando depósitos nos cilindros e nas válvulas diminuindo assim a vida útil do motor. Assim, foi avaliado neste trabalho o comportamento voltamétrico do mono, di e trilinoleato de glicerina através da técnica de Redissolução Adsortiva com Voltametria AC. As curvas analíticas para o mono e trilinoleato de glicerina apresentaram linearidade de 4,0 x 10-8 a 1,6 x 10-6 mol L-1, com limites de detecção da ordem de 10-8 mol L-1. A curva analítica do dilinoleato de glicerina mostrou-se linear de 4,0 x 10-9 a 4,0 x 10-7 mol L-1, com limite de detecção da ordem de 10-9 mol L-1. Os limites de quantificação foram da ordem de 10-8 mol L-1 para o mono e o dilinoleato de glicerina e 10-7 mol L-1 para o trilinoleato de glicerina. Porém, estes não puderam ser determinados simultaneamente e, por isso, utilizou-se um método cromatográfico com detecção eletroquímica para a separação e posterior detecção destes compostos. Os acilgliceróis foram separados em coluna de fase reversa (C-18) operando em modo isocrático com fase móvel tampão fosfato pH 3,0/MeOH 60:40 (v/v) com adição de ácido ascórbico / Abstract: Currently, the high energy demand in today's world, as well as the environmental problems result in an increased need for developing renewable energy sources, thereby stimulating interest in alternative sources to fossil fuels. Then, Biodiesel comes as a biodegradable fuel derived from renewable sources. However, this biofuel has certain contaminants that can cause serious damage to the engine and the environment if they are present in inadequate amounts. Among these contaminants are the glycerides, remnants of the raw material for biodiesel production. For example, the high concentration of these compounds increases the viscosity of the biofuel causing deposits in the cylinders and valves reducing the engine lifetime. Thus, it was evaluated in this study the voltammetric behavior of glyceryl mono, di and trilinoleate by Adsorptive Stripping technique with AC voltammetry. The analytical curves for mono and tri showed linearity from 4.0 x 10-8 to 1.6 x 10-6 mol L-1, with detection limits of about 10-8 mol L-1. The analytical curve of glyceryl dilinoleate was linear from 4.0 x 10-9 to 4.0 x 10-7 mol L-1, with a detection limit of about 10-9 mol L-1. The quantification limits were in the order of 10-8 mol L-1 for mono and dilinoleate and 10-7 mol L-1 for trilinoleate. However, these could not be determined simultaneously and therefore it was developed a chromatographic method with electrochemical detection for separation and detection of these compounds. The glycerides were separated on a reversed phase column (C-18) operating in isocratic mode with mobile phase pH 3.0 phosphate buffer / MeOH 60:40 (v/v) with addition of ascorbic acid / Mestre

A RMSP (Região Metropolitana de São Paulo) tem a maior concentração de habitantes e constitui o pior caso de poluição atmosférica em todas as Regiões Metropolitanas do Brasil. Muitas medidas foram pensadas para a redução deste grave problema, causado principalmente pela frota de veículos. Este trabalho objetivou analisar o ônibus a gás natural como alternativa para a redução da poluição atmosférica de origem veicular na RMSP. O estudo estimou benefícios econômicos e ambientais decorrentes da substituição da atual frota de ônibus urbanos movidos a óleo diesel por uma nova frota de ônibus a óleo diesel, obedecendo aos limites de emissões do PROCONVE para I996, ou por uma nova frota de ônibus a gás natural. Esta comparação considerou: . Fatores de emissões de poluentes atmosféricos; . O estado da arte do PROCONVE (Programa Nacional de Controle de Poluição por Veículos Automotores); . Estimativa do \"ganho ambiental obtido através da adoção do gás natural como combustível da frota de ônibus urbanos da RMSP; . A estimativa do período de retorno dos investimentos realizados para as duas alternativas, baseada em dados operacionais da atual frota a diesel da RMSP; . Os pontos de vista dos agentes econômicos envolvidos nas atividades relacionadas ao gás natural veicular. Governos Federal, Estaduais e Municipais, proprietários de frotas de ônibus urbanos, distribuidores do gás natural, passageiros; . A disponibilidade de gás natural para suprir a frota a gás na RMSP; . A capacidade de resposta da indústria automobilística à demanda gerada pela substituição considerada; . A estimativa dos impactos da substituição considerada na Balança Comercial do Brasil; . A redução estimada da emissão de poluentes na RMSP, assim como uma estimativa de seu benefício monetário. O estudo concluiu que o ônibus a gás é ambientalmente desejável no âmbito da RMSP. Entretanto há necessidade de políticas bem definidas para garantir a sua viabilidade econômica. / The RMSP (Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area) has the largest concentration of inhabitants and is the worst case of air pollution in all Metropolitan Areas of Brazil. Many measures have been thought to reduce this major problem, that is mostly caused by its vehicle eet. This work\'s purpose was the analysis of the natural gas propelled bus as alternative for the reduction of vehicular air pollution within RMSP. The study estimated economical and environmental benefits due to the substitution of the present diesel oil propelled convencional bus fleet of the RMSP by a new diesel oil propelled eet, according the PROCONVE emission limits for I996, and by a natural gas propelled eet. This comparison has considered: . Air pollutants emmission factors; . The \"state of art\" of PROCONVE (National Program for the Control of the Pollution Originated by Automotive Vehicles); . Estimative of the environmental gain obtained trough the adoption of natural gas as the fuel of the urban bus fleet within RMSP; . Estimated investments return period for both alternatives, based on operational data of the present diesel oil conventional bus eet of the RMSP. . The points of view of the economic agents involved in the activities related to natural gas for vehicles: Federal, State and City Governments, urban bus fleet owners, natural gas distributors, passengers; . The availability of natural gas to supply an urban gas propelled bus eet within RMSP; . The capability of the automotive industry to respond to the new demand generated by the considered substitution; . Estimated redution of pollutants emimission by vehicles within RMSP; . Estimative of the impacts of the considered substitution in Brazil\'s Trade Balance; . Estimated redution of pollutants emission within RMSP. as well as an estimative of its monetary benefit. The study concluded that the adoption of natural gas propelled bus in the urban bus fleet of RMSP is environmentally desirable within RMSP. However, there\'s a need of well defined politics in order to grant its economical viability.

Solar energy has come to the forefront as a scalable and largely underutilized renewable energy resource. The current cost of solar electricity, namely from photovoltaics, along with other logistics factors, has prevented the widespread adaptation of the technology. A key determinant of efficiency and cost for a solar cell is the current collector grid. This work presents the Collimated Aerosol Beam Direct Write (CAB-DW) system as a non-contact printing method that can achieve current collector grid finger widths of less than 10 μm which are amenable to decreasing both resistive and optical losses. The ability to produce high aspect ratio grid fingers, and deposit optimized grid structures on high efficiency SHJ solar cells using silver nanoparticle inks is also demonstrated. A decrease in shadowing and via profile modification of the grid fingers is presented, along with a study of aging and degradation of electrical properties within silver nanoparticle inks.

Este trabalho aborda diversas implicações de ordem tecnológica, ambiental e social relacionados ao uso de carvão vegetal nos pólos guseiros. Através de coleta de dados em publicações técnicas, visitas a centros de tecnologia guseira e entrevistas com especialistas da área, foram levantadas as informações que serviram de base à elaboração deste trabalho. A análise e interpretação dos resultados obtidos mostram que a manutenção da produção de ferro-gusa depende do contínuo fornecimento de carvão vegetal, como termo-redutor de boa capacidade calorífica, preço baixo e fácil acesso. Todavia, nas condições atuais, o suprimento de carvão vegetal à indústria está relacionado à exploração intensiva de florestas nativas e uma correspondente falta de áreas reflorestadas capazes de suprir a demanda de lenha para carvoejamento. Além do carvão vegetal, outros insumos também podem ser usados na redução do minério de ferro: o gás natural (na produção integrada de aço) o carvão de coco de babaçu, o carvão vegetal de espécies nativas da Amazônia e mesmo o carvão mineral. Estes insumos, entretanto, apresentam problemas ainda não totalmente quantificados, como suprimento, tecnologia adequada de uso e custos de exploração. O uso intensivo de carvão vegetal se baseia na existência de uma rede de carvoejadores e fornos, que operam num ritmo de trabalho intenso (às vezes cerca de quinze horas por dia), baixa remuneração por madeira carvoejada (meio dólar por metro cúbico de carvão vegetal) e falta de seguridade social. De modo geral, os produtos de gusa pouco consideram o uso de carvão de florestas plantadas, pois admitem que um carvão de maior custo, constituir-se-ia em ameaça à própria continuação da produção de ferro-gusa. / The aim of this work is to discuss implications technological, environmentally and social limitations of the pig-iron´s production using charcoal. Through technical papers, technical visits to research centers and interview with experts, a data basis was collected to produce this work. The analysis of data showed that: the continuity of pig-iron making depends on continuos supply of charcoal, at low cost, with good heat capacity, and with easy acess. However, under current conditions, the charcoal supply to industry is depending of a intensive exploration of native forest. At the same time, there is a lack of land suitablefor reforestation to provide wood to renewable charcoal making. Nevertheless, there are several resources that can be used to reduce the iron ore: charcoal of babassu coconut, charcoal of native amazonic trees, natural gas (integrated plants) and even coal. Some of them are candidates to replace the charcoal, but further technological, infrastructural and economic developments are still required. The intensive utilization of charcoal by siderurgy is based in a network of kilns and charcoal makers working under extreme conditions (indeed, some work fifteen hours per day), they have no social security and extremely low wages (some receive only half a dollar per cubic metre of charcoal). In general, pig-iron´s makers do not consider the use of charcoal from forested wood, because its higher cost may challenge the viability of pig-iron production.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE / Bibliography: leaves 29-30. / by Rupert LaWendell Seals. / M.S.