The Cycle of Value The Cycle of Value -- A Conservationist Approach to Economics

A representation of economic activity in the form of a law of conservation of value is presented based on the definition of value as potential to act in an environment. This allows the encapsulation of the term as a conserved quantity throughout transactions. Marginal value and speed of marginal value are defined as derivatives of value and marginal value, respectively. Traditional economic statements are represented here as cycles of value where value is conserved. Producer-consumer dyads, shortage and surplus, as well as the role of the value in representing the market and the economy are explored. The role of the government in the economy is also explained through the cycles of value the government is involved in. Traditional economic statements and assumptions produce existing hypotheses as outcomes of the law of conservation of value

To treat or not to treat: the evolution of wastewater treatment management approaches

2018 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.The research presented in this thesis focuses on wastewater management practices to further the understanding of the evolution of wastewater treatment approaches. Within this thesis, wastewater treatment technologies and processes are categorized into four groups: dilution dependent, conventional, alternative, and emerging. The evolution of wastewater treatment technologies is initiated with initial investment by a society to self-organize; transformed when there are alterations in the way the society lives, primarily considering the urbanization and industrialization of societies; and satisfied when the society has incorporated sustainable practices that can ensure water security for future generations. The motivation of this research is to interpret how the concept of conventional wastewater treatment can be driven to encompass more sustainable approaches in both the developed and developing world. In order to facilitate understanding of this, we aim to address the following: what wastewater technologies are available and how practical are they?, what are some significant drivers that have driven the evolution of wastewater treatment up till now?, how do institutional arrangements affect implementation of technologies?, and how does public perception play a role in the adoption or repudiation of wastewater treatment technologies? To investigate these questions, South Africa and the United States were used as primary case studies. There is an abundance of technologies used in the field of wastewater treatment; however, the resources (natural, financial, and technical) of a society will determine the practicality of implementing certain technologies. The major drivers that lead to the transformation of treatment technologies include the following: population growth and urbanization, public health initiatives, actions to prevent the degradation of the natural environment, capacity building within institutional arrangements such as societal organization and regulation, concerns of climate change, objectives to minimize conflict, the demand on water from energy and food sectors, and social perception of science. In the United States, "conventional" technologies have been pushed to encompass secondary treatment standards for point source wastewater through policy measures. South Africa, due to its historical Apartheid era, has an additional layer of water management methods that pertains to the access to sanitation services as a human right. In both countries, development of industry has been clashing with preserving the environment and protecting public health. Sustainable, emerging technologies are trying to harmonize economic growth and environmental conservation by treating wastewater as a feed of resources to be recovered. In the exploratory Wastewater Treatment Survey presented in this thesis, responses from 655 U.S. participants were analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of surveys to produce social perception data for water managers. From the survey, it was observed that over 35% of U.S. participants were not at all likely or not so likely able to explain what happens to their wastewater. Even within the STEM field respondents, 30% were unsure what happens to their wastewater. This exemplifies a wide gap in the link between humans and their waste disposal. Of the 655 U.S. respondents, over 90% were moderately to extremely concerned about water pollution. A higher level of concern for wastewater pollution was also correlated with people who believed they had a better understanding of wastewater treatment. Those who were more concerned about water pollution were also more likely to get involved in water resources management activities. The respondents chose protecting public health and the integrity of the environment as the two main reasons why wastewater treatment is necessary. Of the U.S. respondents, around three-quarters of the participants believe that no longer can dilution be treated as the solution to pollution with the majority of the other participants believing that it may only be conditionally sufficient. Many alternative and emerging technologies are being heavily scrutinized by the public. Public buy-in is necessary to transform the wastewater field and will only be accomplished when societal perception and wastewater treatment technologies are linked. From the survey data, almost 60% of the U.S. participants were willing to increase a utility bill by at least 3 additional USD to pay for improvements in their wastewater treatment plant's treatment capabilities whereas only 46% were willing to pay at least 3 additional USD for improvements in their wastewater treatment plant's energy efficiency. In the real world, these improvements for a treatment plant may not be mutually exclusive; however, this type of information may help a water manager build public buy-in for the project. Only 14.35% of U.S. respondents were completely willing to drink direct potable reuse water, with an additional 22.29% very willing to drink it

Greening the Saskatchewan Grid

Saskatchewan is home to one of the most greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensive electricity sectors in Canada. To contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, and comply with Canadian coal-fired electricity regulations, the province must transform its electricity sector in the coming decades. This dissertation asks, what is the cost of reducing Saskatchewans electricity sector GHG emissions by 80% or more by 2050, using a mix of renewable electricity generating technologies? A renewable focused Greening the Saskatchewan Grid scenario is compared with a business-as-usual scenario and alternative pathways for reducing GHG emissions. Scenarios are selected using a linear programming model called the Saskatchewan Investment Model (SIM). The resulting scenarios are then tested using the Will-It-Run-Electricity Model (WIRE) to understand whether a given electricity generation mix can adequately meet hourly electricity demand. Scenarios are compared using indicators such as electricity cost, GHG emissions, land impact, water impact, and radioactive waste, and sustainability criteria such as path dependence. It is found that a Greening the Grid scenario can reduce electricity sector GHG emissions to near zero levels by 2040. There is an added financial cost for taking this leadership path, but the cost of the Greening the Grid scenario becomes comparable to competing scenarios when an escalating carbon price is assumed. This dissertation also presents the results of a deliberative modelling exercise. Three workshops were held in Saskatchewan that brought together diverse participants interested in the future of the Saskatchewan electricity system. The goal of the workshops was to understand whether deliberation, supported by an interactive version of SIM, could encourage shared understanding of the barriers to and opportunities for expanding renewable energy in Saskatchewan. Workshop participants did not shift their positions to a great extent, except to find consensus that there are political and policy barriers to renewable energy expansion. This research contributes to the energy transitions literature by providing a case study of the costs and barriers faced when pursuing a renewable energy focused electricity system. It also contributes to the field of deliberative ecological economics and provides an example of an ecological economics approach to energy policy modelling

Modeling and Analysis of Power Processing Systems (MAPPS), initial phase 2

The overall objective of the program is to provide the engineering tools to reduce the analysis, design, and development effort, and thus the cost, in achieving the required performances for switching regulators and dc-dc converter systems. The program was both tutorial and application oriented. Various analytical methods were described in detail and supplemented with examples, and those with standardization appeals were reduced into computer-based subprograms. Major program efforts included those concerning small and large signal control-dependent performance analysis and simulation, control circuit design, power circuit design and optimization, system configuration study, and system performance simulation. Techniques including discrete time domain, conventional frequency domain, Lagrange multiplier, nonlinear programming, and control design synthesis were employed in these efforts. To enhance interactive conversation between the modeling and analysis subprograms and the user, a working prototype of the Data Management Program was also developed to facilitate expansion as future subprogram capabilities increase

Multi-Agent Systems

This Special Issue ""Multi-Agent Systems"" gathers original research articles reporting results on the steadily growing area of agent-oriented computing and multi-agent systems technologies. After more than 20 years of academic research on multi-agent systems (MASs), in fact, agent-oriented models and technologies have been promoted as the most suitable candidates for the design and development of distributed and intelligent applications in complex and dynamic environments. With respect to both their quality and range, the papers in this Special Issue already represent a meaningful sample of the most recent advancements in the field of agent-oriented models and technologies. In particular, the 17 contributions cover agent-based modeling and simulation, situated multi-agent systems, socio-technical multi-agent systems, and semantic technologies applied to multi-agent systems. In fact, it is surprising to witness how such a limited portion of MAS research already highlights the most relevant usage of agent-based models and technologies, as well as their most appreciated characteristics. We are thus confident that the readers of Applied Sciences will be able to appreciate the growing role that MASs will play in the design and development of the next generation of complex intelligent systems. This Special Issue has been converted into a yearly series, for which a new call for papers is already available at the Applied Sciences journal’s website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/Multi-Agent_Systems_2019

Spatializing Partisan Gerrymandering Forensics: Local Measures and Spatial Specifications

abstract: Gerrymandering is a central problem for many representative democracies. Formally, gerrymandering is the manipulation of spatial boundaries to provide political advantage to a particular group (Warf, 2006). The term often refers to political district design, where the boundaries of political districts are “unnaturally” manipulated by redistricting officials to generate durable advantages for one group or party. Since free and fair elections are possibly the critical part of representative democracy, it is important for this cresting tide to have scientifically validated tools. This dissertation supports a current wave of reform by developing a general inferential technique to “localize” inferential bias measures, generating a new type of district-level score. The new method relies on the statistical intuition behind jackknife methods to construct relative local indicators. I find that existing statewide indicators of partisan bias can be localized using this technique, providing an estimate of how strongly a district impacts statewide partisan bias over an entire decade. When compared to measures of shape compactness (a common gerrymandering detection statistic), I find that weirdly-shaped districts have no consistent relationship with impact in many states during the 2000 and 2010 redistricting plan. To ensure that this work is valid, I examine existing seats-votes modeling strategies and develop a novel method for constructing seats-votes curves. I find that, while the empirical structure of electoral swing shows significant spatial dependence (even in the face of spatial heterogeneity), existing seats-votes specifications are more robust than anticipated to spatial dependence. Centrally, this dissertation contributes to the much larger social aim to resist electoral manipulation: that individuals & organizations suffer no undue burden on political access from partisan gerrymandering.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Geography 201

Reform of the public healthcare system in Ukraine: problems and perspectives

1. The development of a public health system in Ukraine is possible only through the implementation and adoption of the relevant Law, as well as the introduction of the basic approach Health in All Policies. 2. It is necessary to prepare a comparable to Health in All Policies National Plan for the Development of Staffing System of the Public Health Care Sector for interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral purposes and for determining the real and possible needs of specialists of different qualifications and educational levels. 3. It is compulsory to learn from valuable European and international experience; then develop and approve educational programs and standards in the sector of public health in order to provide three education levels bachelor's (first cycle), master's (second cycle) and doctoral (third cycle) and continuous professional development. 4. It is essential to introduce Amendments to the National Classifier of Ukraine DK 003: 2010 Occupational Classification in the Public Health sector

A Practitioner’s Guide to Applied Sustainability: Initial Explorations

For decades, coal has been king in central Appalachia. The people of this region have devoted their lives to providing energy to the nation, fueling the first and second industrial revolutions and providing nearly 40 percent of the energy used in the United States today. Known as one of the unhealthiest communities in the nation, the city of Williamson, located in southern West Virginia, is working to encourage healthy living by diversifying its energy portfolio, providing new economic opportunities for businesses, creating a strong workforce with competitive skill sets, growing local food systems to encourage healthy living, and increasing the quality of life for this community. Operating under the banner of “Sustainable Williamson” and utilizing the emerging concept of applied sustainability, this community is developing a “praxis of theory” approach with a specific focus upon the socio-economic effects of ideology. This thesis explores the theoretical intersections between ideology and new materialism in order to provide existing and emerging practitioners of applied sustainability with an initial framework for developing successful projects in central Appalachia and beyond