Optimizing the internal reuse of wireless network equipment

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 46).Reusing high-value wireless network equipment can allow telecommunications providers to achieve both financial and environmental benefits. However, without standardized processes and tools to reuse equipment, the reuse process can be highly inefficient and a significant amount of reusable equipment may remain in inventory. This thesis examines the reuse of wireless network equipment at Verizon Wireless (VzW) and presents tools and processes to increase the amount and efficiency of network equipment reuse within VzW. An analytical model is presented to differentiate between items that can be reused and items that should be immediately resold or scrapped. Once a pool of reusable items is identified, incentives to promote equipment sharing across internal VzW regions are discussed. A web-based tool and process to increase the ease and speed of identifying and requesting equipment is then examined. Finally, a framework by which reuse metrics can be evaluated is presented.by Jessica Lin.M.B.A.S.M

Cultural differences in intimacy: The influence of gender-role ideology and individualism-collectivism

Two studies examined emotional intimacy in European Canadian and Chinese Canadian dating relationships. Cultural differences in gender-role ideology and individualism–collectivism were hypothesized to differentially contribute to selfdisclosure and responsiveness, and in turn, intimacy. Study 1 revealed that Chinese Canadians’ lower intimacy relative to European Canadians was mediated by their greater gender-role traditionalism but not by their individualism or collectivism. Study 2 further linked greater gender-role traditionalism to lower self-disclosure, and in turn, lower intimacy. Results also revealed that Chinese Canadians’ lower intimacy mediated their lower relationship satisfaction and higher rate of relationship termination in Study 1, but that Chinese Canadians were not any more likely to terminate their relationships in Study 2

Risk Spillovers in Oil-Related CDS, Stock and Credit Markets

This paper examines risk transmission and migration among six US measures of credit and market risk during the full period 2004-2011 period and the 2009-2011 recovery subperiod, with a focus on four sectors related to the highly volatile oil price. There are more long-run equilibrium risk relationships and short-run causal relationships among the four oil-related Credit Default Swaps (CDS) indexes, the (expected equity volatility) VIX index and the (swaption expected volatility) SMOVE index for the full period than for the recovery subperiod. The auto sector CDS spread is the most error-correcting in the long run and also leads in the risk discovery process in the short run. On the other hand, the CDS spread of the highly regulated, natural monopoly utility sector does not error correct. The four oil-related CDS spread indexes are responsive to VIX in the short- and long-run, while no index is sensitive to SMOVE which, in turn, unilaterally assembles risk migration from VIX. The 2007-2008 Great Recession seems to have led to “localization” and less migration of credit and market risk in the oil-related sectors

The Dynamics of Energy-Grain Prices with Open Interest

This paper examines the short- and long-run daily relationships for a grain-energy nexus that includes the prices of corn, crude oil, ethanol, gasoline, soybeans, and sugar, and their open interest. The empirical results demonstrate the presence of these relationships in this nexus, and underscore the importance of ethanol and soybeans in all these relationships. In particular, ethanol and be considered as a catalyst in this nexus because of its significance as a loading factor, a long-run error corrector and a short-run adjuster. Ethanol leads all commodities in the price discovery process in the long run. The negative cross-price open interest effects suggest that there is a money outflow from all commodities in response to increases in open interest positions in the corn futures markets, indicating that active arbitrage activity takes place in those markets. On the other hand, an increase in the soybean open interest contributes to fund inflows in the corn futures market and the other futures markets, leading to more speculative activities in these markets. In connection with open interest, the ethanol market fails because of its thin market. Finally, it is interesting to note that the long-run equilibrium (cointegrating relationship), speeds of adjustment and open interest across markets have strengthened significantly during the 2009-2011 economic recovery period, compared with the full and 2007-2009 Great Recession periods

Asymmetric Adjustment in the Ethanol and Grains Markets

This paper examines the long- and short-run asymmetric adjustments for nine pairs of spot and futures prices, itemized as three own pairs for three different bio-fuel ethanol types, three own pairs for three related agricultural products, namely corn, soybeans and sugar, and three cross pairs that included hybrids of the spot price of each of the agricultural products and an ethanol futures price. Most of the spreads’ asymmetric adjustments generally happen during narrowing. The three ethanol pairs that contain the eCBOT futures with each of Chicago spot, New York Harbor spot and Western European (Rotterdam) spot show different long-run adjustments, arbitrage profitable opportunities and price risk hedging capabilities. The asymmetric spread adjustments for the three grains are also different, with corn spread showing the strongest long-run widening adjustment, and sugar showing the weakest narrowing adjustment. Among others, the empirical analysis indicates the importance of potentially hedging the spot prices of agricultural commodities with ethanol futures contracts, which sends an important message that the ethanol futures market is capable of hedging price risk in agricultural commodity markets. The short-run asymmetric adjustments for individual prices in the nine pairs (with exception of the corn own pair underscore the importance of futures prices in the price discovery and hedging potential, particularly for ethanol futures

Entropic Interactions in Suspensions of Semi-Flexible Rods: Short-Range Effects of Flexibility

We compute the entropic interactions between two colloidal spheres immersed in a dilute suspension of semi-flexible rods. Our model treats the semi-flexible rod as a bent rod at fixed angle, set by the rod contour and persistence lengths. The entropic forces arising from this additional rotational degree of freedom are captured quantitatively by the model, and account for observations at short range in a recent experiment. Global fits to the interaction potential data suggest the persistence length of fd-virus is about two to three times smaller than the commonly used value of $2.2 \mu {m}$.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PRE rapid communication

Proteinlike behavior of a spin system near the transition between ferromagnet and spin glass

A simple spin system is studied as an analog for proteins. We investigate how the introduction of randomness and frustration into the system effects the designability and stability of ground state configurations. We observe that the spin system exhibits protein-like behavior in the vicinity of the transition between ferromagnet and spin glass. Our results illuminate some guiding principles in protein evolution.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Flexible nitrogen oxide (NOx) abatement from power plants in the eastern United States

Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-93).Ozone formation is a complex, non-linear process that depends on the atmospheric concentrations of its precursors, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), as well as on temperature and the available amount of sunlight. The dependence of ozone formation on meteorology makes the timing of emissions important, suggesting the need for a temporally differentiated regulation for NOx emissions. Such a flexible NOx regulation policy, so-called "smart trading", which is designed to target ozone episodes by reducing NOx emissions prior to and during forecasted episodes, has the potential for reducing the compliance cost and helping to solve the persistent ozone non-attainment problem in the Eastern United States. However, the total compliance cost of this new policy depends critically on the accuracy of ozone forecasting. This thesis aims to address the question of whether a NOx trading program that differentiates across emissions by time could reduce ozone concentrations more cost-effectively than the conventional command-and-control method in the Eastern U.S. given the uncertainty in ozone forecasting. A cost-effectiveness analysis is conducted to compare the average cost for achieving a certain amount of ozone reduction under the proposed smart trading plan and the command-and-control policy. The probability distribution of the compliance cost under a smart trading policy is simulated using a stochastic decision model based on the simulated electricity generation and air quality data.(cont.) This study demonstrates the scientific and economic feasibility of a time-differentiated trading scheme. I explore whether such a regulatory design is justifiable with respect to ozone forecast accuracy by conducting sensitivity analysis of ozone prediction errors and discover that uncertainty in ozone forecasting may not be a major limiting factor for the feasibility of a time-differentiated NOx cap-and-trade program.by Lin Sun.S.M.in Technology and Polic

Serious game to educate non-experts about energy related design and living

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2009.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-100).Climate Change is one defining issue of our time. With the increasingly sophisticated uses of energy, we have to face the problem as energy shortage and global warming. Since almost one-fourth of US energy is consumed by homes, creating high-performance low-energy houses and educating people about energy-related decision making, is perhaps the first and most cost-effective way of addressing energy issue. Towards this end, I propose a learning tool to educate non-experts about energy-related design and decision-making of their own homes. This tool, BIM Game, is based on BIM (Building Information Modeling) and E-learning game. By integrating BIM and Serious Game together, the new responsive model can change design education from the professionals to all people who care about energy issue and living environment. Through learning by playing, it is able to create a deep-learning environment and also add emotion to the problem-solving process. It also explores innovative shifts in building industry for consumer participative design and file-to-factory fabrication strategies, change the role of the consumer from the last benefit end-user to the first decision maker. So finally it will take advantage of the inexpensive computation, to raise the public awareness of participative design, energy efficiency, healthy living, and sustainability.by Lin Yang.S.M