4,919 research outputs found

    A Decision Support System for Economic Viability and Environmental Impact Assessment of Vertical Farms

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    Vertical farming (VF) is the practice of growing crops or animals using the vertical dimension via multi-tier racks or vertically inclined surfaces. In this thesis, I focus on the emerging industry of plant-specific VF. Vertical plant farming (VPF) is a promising and relatively novel practice that can be conducted in buildings with environmental control and artificial lighting. However, the nascent sector has experienced challenges in economic viability, standardisation, and environmental sustainability. Practitioners and academics call for a comprehensive financial analysis of VPF, but efforts are stifled by a lack of valid and available data. A review of economic estimation and horticultural software identifies a need for a decision support system (DSS) that facilitates risk-empowered business planning for vertical farmers. This thesis proposes an open-source DSS framework to evaluate business sustainability through financial risk and environmental impact assessments. Data from the literature, alongside lessons learned from industry practitioners, would be centralised in the proposed DSS using imprecise data techniques. These techniques have been applied in engineering but are seldom used in financial forecasting. This could benefit complex sectors which only have scarce data to predict business viability. To begin the execution of the DSS framework, VPF practitioners were interviewed using a mixed-methods approach. Learnings from over 19 shuttered and operational VPF projects provide insights into the barriers inhibiting scalability and identifying risks to form a risk taxonomy. Labour was the most commonly reported top challenge. Therefore, research was conducted to explore lean principles to improve productivity. A probabilistic model representing a spectrum of variables and their associated uncertainty was built according to the DSS framework to evaluate the financial risk for VF projects. This enabled flexible computation without precise production or financial data to improve economic estimation accuracy. The model assessed two VPF cases (one in the UK and another in Japan), demonstrating the first risk and uncertainty quantification of VPF business models in the literature. The results highlighted measures to improve economic viability and the viability of the UK and Japan case. The environmental impact assessment model was developed, allowing VPF operators to evaluate their carbon footprint compared to traditional agriculture using life-cycle assessment. I explore strategies for net-zero carbon production through sensitivity analysis. Renewable energies, especially solar, geothermal, and tidal power, show promise for reducing the carbon emissions of indoor VPF. Results show that renewably-powered VPF can reduce carbon emissions compared to field-based agriculture when considering the land-use change. The drivers for DSS adoption have been researched, showing a pathway of compliance and design thinking to overcome the ‘problem of implementation’ and enable commercialisation. Further work is suggested to standardise VF equipment, collect benchmarking data, and characterise risks. This work will reduce risk and uncertainty and accelerate the sector’s emergence

    TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF EFFORTFUL FUNDRAISING EXPERIENCES: USING INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS IN FUNDRAISING RESEARCH

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    Physical-activity oriented community fundraising has experienced an exponential growth in popularity over the past 15 years. The aim of this study was to explore the value of effortful fundraising experiences, from the point of view of participants, and explore the impact that these experiences have on people’s lives. This study used an IPA approach to interview 23 individuals, recognising the role of participants as proxy (nonprofessional) fundraisers for charitable organisations, and the unique organisation donor dynamic that this creates. It also bought together relevant psychological theory related to physical activity fundraising experiences (through a narrative literature review) and used primary interview data to substantiate these. Effortful fundraising experiences are examined in detail to understand their significance to participants, and how such experiences influence their connection with a charity or cause. This was done with an idiographic focus at first, before examining convergences and divergences across the sample. This study found that effortful fundraising experiences can have a profound positive impact upon community fundraisers in both the short and the long term. Additionally, it found that these experiences can be opportunities for charitable organisations to create lasting meaningful relationships with participants, and foster mutually beneficial lifetime relationships with them. Further research is needed to test specific psychological theory in this context, including self-esteem theory, self determination theory, and the martyrdom effect (among others)

    The crisis of cultural authority in museums : contesting human remains in the collections of Britain

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    Museums in Britain have displayed and researched human remains since the eighteenth century. However, in the last two decades human remains in collections have become subject to claims and controversies. Firstly, human remains associated with acquisition during the colonial period have become increasingly difficult to retain and have been transfered to culturally affiliated overseas indigenous groups. Secondly, a group of British Pagans have formed to make claims on ancient human remains in collections. Thirdly, human remains that are not requested by any community group, and of all ages, have become the focus of concerns expressed about their treatment by members of the profession. A discourse arguing for 'respect' has emerged, which argues that all human remains should be treated with new care. The claims made on human remains have been vigourously but differentially contested by members of the sector, who consider the human remains to be unique research objects. This thesis charts the influences at play on the contestation over human remains and examines its construction. The academic literature tends to understand changes to museums as a result of external factors. This thesis argues that this problem is influenced by a crisis of legitimacy and establishes that there are strong internal influences. Through a weak social constructionist approach I demonstrate that the issue has been promoted by influential members of the sector as part of a broader attempt to distance themselves from their foundational role, as a consequence of a crisis of cultural authority stimulated by external and internal factors. The symbolic character of human remains in locating this problem is informed by the unique properties of dead bodies and is influenced by the significance of the body as a scientific object; its association with identity work and as a site of political struggle, in the high modem period

    Photography and Aesthetics: a critical study on visual and textual narratives in the lifework of Sergio Larraín and its impact in 20th century Europe and Latin America

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    The main focus of this study is a theoretical exploration of critical approaches applicable to the work of the Chilean photographer Sergio Larraín (1931-2012). It presents analytical tools to contextualise and understand the importance and impact of his work in photographic studies and his portrayal of twentieth-century Latin American and European culture. It inspects in depth a large portion of his photo work, which is still only partially published and mostly reduced to his "active" period as a photojournalist, aside from the personal photographic exploration of his early and late career (C. Mena). This extended material creates a broader scope for understanding his photographs and him as a canonical photographer. This study analyses the photographer's trajectory as discourses of recollection of historical memory in time (Mauad) to trace Larraín's collective memory associated with his visual production. Such analysis helps decode his visual imagery and his projection and impact on the European and Latin American culture. This strategy helps solve a two fold problem: firstly, it generates an interpretive consistency to understand the Chilean's photographic practice; secondly, it explores the power of images as an aesthetic experience in the installation of nationalist ideologies and the creation of imaginaries (B. Anderson 163)

    Optimización del rendimiento y la eficiencia energética en sistemas masivamente paralelos

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    RESUMEN Los sistemas heterogéneos son cada vez más relevantes, debido a sus capacidades de rendimiento y eficiencia energética, estando presentes en todo tipo de plataformas de cómputo, desde dispositivos embebidos y servidores, hasta nodos HPC de grandes centros de datos. Su complejidad hace que sean habitualmente usados bajo el paradigma de tareas y el modelo de programación host-device. Esto penaliza fuertemente el aprovechamiento de los aceleradores y el consumo energético del sistema, además de dificultar la adaptación de las aplicaciones. La co-ejecución permite que todos los dispositivos cooperen para computar el mismo problema, consumiendo menos tiempo y energía. No obstante, los programadores deben encargarse de toda la gestión de los dispositivos, la distribución de la carga y la portabilidad del código entre sistemas, complicando notablemente su programación. Esta tesis ofrece contribuciones para mejorar el rendimiento y la eficiencia energética en estos sistemas masivamente paralelos. Se realizan propuestas que abordan objetivos generalmente contrapuestos: se mejora la usabilidad y la programabilidad, a la vez que se garantiza una mayor abstracción y extensibilidad del sistema, y al mismo tiempo se aumenta el rendimiento, la escalabilidad y la eficiencia energética. Para ello, se proponen dos motores de ejecución con enfoques completamente distintos. EngineCL, centrado en OpenCL y con una API de alto nivel, favorece la máxima compatibilidad entre todo tipo de dispositivos y proporciona un sistema modular extensible. Su versatilidad permite adaptarlo a entornos para los que no fue concebido, como aplicaciones con ejecuciones restringidas por tiempo o simuladores HPC de dinámica molecular, como el utilizado en un centro de investigación internacional. Considerando las tendencias industriales y enfatizando la aplicabilidad profesional, CoexecutorRuntime proporciona un sistema flexible centrado en C++/SYCL que dota de soporte a la co-ejecución a la tecnología oneAPI. Este runtime acerca a los programadores al dominio del problema, posibilitando la explotación de estrategias dinámicas adaptativas que mejoran la eficiencia en todo tipo de aplicaciones.ABSTRACT Heterogeneous systems are becoming increasingly relevant, due to their performance and energy efficiency capabilities, being present in all types of computing platforms, from embedded devices and servers to HPC nodes in large data centers. Their complexity implies that they are usually used under the task paradigm and the host-device programming model. This strongly penalizes accelerator utilization and system energy consumption, as well as making it difficult to adapt applications. Co-execution allows all devices to simultaneously compute the same problem, cooperating to consume less time and energy. However, programmers must handle all device management, workload distribution and code portability between systems, significantly complicating their programming. This thesis offers contributions to improve performance and energy efficiency in these massively parallel systems. The proposals address the following generally conflicting objectives: usability and programmability are improved, while ensuring enhanced system abstraction and extensibility, and at the same time performance, scalability and energy efficiency are increased. To achieve this, two runtime systems with completely different approaches are proposed. EngineCL, focused on OpenCL and with a high-level API, provides an extensible modular system and favors maximum compatibility between all types of devices. Its versatility allows it to be adapted to environments for which it was not originally designed, including applications with time-constrained executions or molecular dynamics HPC simulators, such as the one used in an international research center. Considering industrial trends and emphasizing professional applicability, CoexecutorRuntime provides a flexible C++/SYCL-based system that provides co-execution support for oneAPI technology. This runtime brings programmers closer to the problem domain, enabling the exploitation of dynamic adaptive strategies that improve efficiency in all types of applications.Funding: This PhD has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU16/03299 grant), the Spanish Science and Technology Commission under contracts TIN2016-76635-C2-2-R and PID2019-105660RB-C22. This work has also been partially supported by the Mont-Blanc 3: European Scalable and Power Efficient HPC Platform based on Low-Power Embedded Technology project (G.A. No. 671697) from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (H2020 Programme). Some activities have also been funded by the Spanish Science and Technology Commission under contract TIN2016-81840-REDT (CAPAP-H6 network). The Integration II: Hybrid programming models of Chapter 4 has been partially performed under the Project HPC-EUROPA3 (INFRAIA-2016-1-730897), with the support of the EC Research Innovation Action under the H2020 Programme. In particular, the author gratefully acknowledges the support of the SPMT Department of the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS)

    Study of the Degradation of New Lubricant Oil Formulations with the Design and Demands of Current and Future Engines

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    [ES] El análisis de los aceites lubricantes de motor, englobado dentro de las tareas realizadas en el Oil Condition Monitoring (OCM), resulta ser una herramienta poderosa con la cual se es capaz de extraer información de utilidad. Por este motivo, en esta Tesis se decidió explotar este campo realizando un estudio en profundidad centrado en tres aspectos: mejorar las técnicas y protocolos ya existentes, desarrollar procedimientos propios acorde con las necesidades y requisitos del momento y, para terminar, poner en valor la información obtenida del análisis de los lubricantes mediante el uso de tratamientos estadísticos y quimiométricos. Bajo estas tres premisas, se ha desarrollado toda la tarea de investigación de esta Tesis. En primer lugar, en relación con el análisis de los aceites lubricantes, se realizó un estudio acerca de la degradación de cuatro formulaciones de aceites lubricantes. En este estudio se analizaron aspectos propios de los aceites como: su viscosidad cinemática, oxidación, nitración, caída de los aditivos antioxidantes, etc. así como parámetros de desgaste de motor (monitorizando la presencia de metales). Como resultado de este estudio fue posible encontrar limitaciones en las técnicas actuales, lo cual condujo a realizar mejoras y/o adaptaciones de estas técnicas para conseguir obtener la información deseada. El siguiente aspecto tratado en esta Tesis es una consecuencia de la necesidad de, en ciertas situaciones, disponer de información acerca de uno o varios parámetros de una determinada forma y con un grado de precisión elevado. El caso en cuestión analizado en la Tesis está relacionado con la cuantificación de hollín en el aceite lubricante. Respecto a la cuantificación del hollín se requirió encontrar una técnica que fuera capaz de aportar información de una forma rápida y, además, poder detectar pequeños cambios. Esta técnica fue la espectroscopia Ultravioleta-Visible, con la cual se diseñó un protocolo analítico que permitiera trabajar con muestras de aceites lubricante con muy poco uso y, por ende, poca cantidad de hollín disuelta, consiguiendo resultados muy satisfactorios en periodos de tiempo cortos. Por último, debido a la disponibilidad de una cantidad de datos considerable fruto del trabajo realizado durante todo el tiempo de duración de la Tesis, se decidió emplear toda ella para conseguir extraer la máxima información posible gracias al uso de tratamientos estadísticos y quimiométricos. Este trabajo, nuevo en la línea, se dividió en dos vertientes: la primera focalizada en el conjunto de datos de los aceites ya caracterizados (procedentes del estudio de la degradación de los aceites) y la otra parte en encontrar sinergias entre las técnicas espectroscópicas (FT-IR y NIR) y los ensayos de caracterización de los lubricantes. Como resultado de ello, se obtuvieron relaciones entre parámetros que anteriormente no se tenían presentes, así como modelos predictivos de propiedades de los lubricantes a partir del análisis de sus espectros. El presente documento de Tesis se encuentra redactado en dos idiomas: en español y en inglés. Principalmente el documento se encuentra redactado en inglés para hacer especial énfasis en aquellas labores de investigación desarrolladas en esta etapa, así como los resultados derivados de los diferentes estudios realzados. Mientras que, la parte confeccionada en español hace referencia a aquellos aspectos más descriptivos del documento de Tesis.[CA] L'anàlisi dels olis lubrificants de motor, englobat dins de les tasques realitzades en el Oil Condition Monitoring (OCM), resulta ser una eina poderosa amb la qual s'és capaç d'extraure informació d'utilitat. Per aquest motiu, en aquesta Tesi es va decidir explotar aquest camp realitzant un estudi en profunditat centrat en tres aspectes: millorar les tècniques i protocols ja existents, desenvolupar procediments propis d'acord amb les necessitats i requisits del moment i, per a acabar, posar en valor la informació obtinguda de l'anàlisi dels lubrificants mitjançant l'ús de tractaments estadístics i quimiomètrics. Sota aquestes tres premisses, s'ha desenvolupat tota la tasca d'investigació d'aquesta Tesi. En primer lloc, en relació a l'anàlisi dels olis lubrificants, es va realitzar un estudi sobre la degradació de quatre formulacions d'olis lubrificants. En aquest estudi es van analitzar aspectes propis dels olis com: la seua viscositat cinemàtica, oxidació, nitració, caiguda dels additius antioxidants, etc. així com paràmetres de desgast de motor (monitorant la presència de metalls). Com a resultat d'aquest estudi va ser possible trobar limitacions en les tècniques actuals, la qual cosa va conduir a realitzar millores i/o adaptacions d'aquestes tècniques per a aconseguir obtindre la informació desitjada. El següent aspecte tractat en aquesta Tesi és una conseqüència de la necessitat de, en unes certes situacions, disposar d'informació sobre un o diversos paràmetres d'una determinada forma i amb un grau de precisió elevat. El cas en qüestió analitzat en la Tesi està relacionat amb la quantificació de sutge (soot en anglès). Respecte a la quantificació del soot es va requerir trobar una tècnica que fora capaç d'aportar informació d'una forma ràpida i, a més, poder detectar xicotets canvis. Aquesta tècnica va ser l'espectroscòpia Ultravioleta-Visible, amb la qual es va dissenyar un protocol analític que permetera treballar amb mostres d'oli lubrificant amb molt poc ús i, per tant, poca quantitat de soot dissolta, aconseguint resultats molt satisfactoris en períodes de temps curts. Finalment, a causa de la disponibilitat d'una quantitat de dades considerable fruit del treball realitzat durant tot el temps de duració de la Tesi, es va decidir emprar tota ella per a aconseguir extraure la màxima informació possible gràcies a l'ús de tractaments estadístics i quimiomètrics. Aquest treball, nou en la línia, es va dividir en dos vessants: la primera focalitzada en el conjunt de dades dels olis ja caracteritzats (procedents de l'estudi de la degradació dels olis) i l'altra part a trobar sinergies entre les tècniques espectroscòpiques (FT-IR i NIR) i els assajos de caracterització dels lubrificants. Com a resultat d'això, es van obtindre relacions entre paràmetres que anteriorment no es tenien presents així com models predictius de propietats dels lubrificants a partir de l'anàlisi dels seus espectres. El present document de Tesi es troba redactat en dos idiomes: en espanyol i en anglès. Principalment el document es troba redactat en anglès per a fer especial èmfasi en aquelles labors d'investigació desenvolupades en aquesta etapa així com els resultats derivats dels diferents estudis realitzats. Mentre que, la part confeccionada en espanyol, fa referència a aquells aspectes més descriptius del document de Tesi.[EN] The analysis of engine lubricating oils, encompassed within the tasks carried out in Oil Condition Monitoring (OCM), is a powerful tool with which it is possible to extract useful information. For this reason, in this Thesis it has been decided to exploit this field by carrying out an in-depth study focusing on three aspects: improving existing techniques and protocols, developing our own procedures in accordance with current needs and requirements and finally, adding value to the information obtained from the analysis of lubricants through the use of statistical and chemometric treatments. All the research work in this Thesis has been carried out under these three premises. Firstly, in relation to the analysis of lubricating oils, a study was carried out on the degradation of four lubricating oil formulations. This study analysed aspects of the oils, such as their kinematic viscosity, oxidation, nitration, antioxidant additives depletion, etc. as well as engine wear parameters (monitoring the presence of metals). Using this study, it was possible to find limitations in the current techniques, which led to improvements and/or adaptations of these techniques in order to obtain the desired information. The next aspect dealt with in this Thesis is a consequence of the need, in certain situations, to have information about one or more parameters in a certain form and with a high degree of accuracy. The case in question analysed in the Thesis is related to the quantification of soot. With regard to soot quantification, it was necessary to find a technique that was capable of providing information quickly and, in addition, being able to detect small changes. This technique was Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy, with which an analytical protocol was designed to work with samples of lubricating oils with very little use and therefore, with a small amount of dissolved soot, achieving very satisfactory results in short periods of time. Finally, due to the availability of a considerable amount of information resulting from the work carried out throughout the duration of the Thesis, it was decided to use all of these data to extract as much information as possible, thanks to the use of statistical and chemometric treatments. This work, new in the research line, was divided into two parts: the first focused on the dataset of oils already characterised (from the study of oil degradation) and the other on finding synergies between spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR and NIR) and lubricant characterisation tests. As a result, relationships between previously unknown parameters were obtained, as well as predictive models of lubricant properties based on the analysis of their spectra. This Thesis document is written in two languages: Spanish and English. The document is mainly written in English in order to place special emphasis on the research work carried out at this stage, as well as the results derived from the different studies carried out. The part written in Spanish refers to the more descriptive aspects of the Thesis document.García Barberá, A. (2022). Study of the Degradation of New Lubricant Oil Formulations with the Design and Demands of Current and Future Engines [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/181668TESI

    Knowledge Transfer for and through the Replication of Organisational Routines in Franchise Systems

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    Routines are dispositions to behave according to established sets of rules that are also repositories of the organisational memory about “how things get done”. Franchise systems are organisational forms which expand through the replication of routines by new units owned by franchisees. Drawing on insights from the literatures on organisational learning, organisational evolution (under generalised Darwinism), and cognitive psychology, this thesis identifies the building blocks for a conceptual explanation of routine replication in franchise systems. It then proposes an original case study of Yázigi, a large Brazilian franchise system of language schools, which is used to develop a novel process model that captures how knowledge is transferred for and through the replication of routines within an expanding franchise system. Four principal lessons are derived. First, when direct knowledge transfer is not available, artefacts, most notably template representations of routines, are essential. Second, intermediaries, as agents of routine compilation who direct participants to template representations, are crucial to the process of routine replication. Third, just as routines are analogues of habits, routine compilation seems to reproduce habit compilation. Finally, existing learning-related habits of thought may work in favour of or against the adoption of new habits in the replication process. This thesis outlines the prescriptive implications of these lessons for franchise practitioners and details opportunities for future research
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