Methodology for an AMB system commissioning

This master’s thesis is focused on the active magnetic bearings system commissioning. The scope of the work is to test the existent procedures with old and new prototypes of an AMB system and additionally automate necessary steps instead of their hand tuning, because determination of rotor clearances and finding effective rotor-origins are time consuming and error prone. The final goal is to get a documented and mostly automated step by step methodology for end efficient system’s commissioning.

METHODOLOGY FOR AUTOMATICALLY DELIMITING PERMANENT PRESERVATION AREAS ALONG WATER COURSES - THE USE OF GIS IN THE HYDROLOGICAL BASIN OF THE SERGIPE RIVER, BRAZIL

ABSTRACT Permanent Preservation Areas (PPAs) along watercourses have been the focus of numerous studies, not only because of the fragility and ecological relevance of riverine vegetation, but also because of the inefficiency demonstrated in conforming to the legislation protecting it. One of the major difficulties encountered in terms of guaranteeing the effective conservation of these riverside areas is the absence of methodologies that can be used to define them rapidly and accurately without manually determining the widths of the rivers or assigning only uniform linear values for the entire watercourse. The present work sought to develop a spatial analysis methodology capable of automatically defining permanent preservation areas along watercourses using geographic information system (GIS) software. The present study was undertaken in the Sergipe River basin, "considering the river itself and its principal affluents. We used the database of the Digital Atlas of Hydrological Resources (SEMARH/SE), and the delimitations of the PPAs were performed using ArcGIS 10.1 and the XToolPro 9.0 extension. A total of 5,003.82 hectares of Permanent Preservation Areas were delimited along the margins of the rivers analyzed, with a margin of error of <1% in delimiting the widths of the rivers within the entire area considered. The methodology described here can be used to define PPAs efficiently, relatively rapidly, and with very small margins of error, thus representing a technological advance in terms of using GIS for land management.

GPS receivers for georeferencing of spatial variability of soil attributes

The characterization of the spatial variability of soil attributes is essential to support agricultural practices in a sustainable manner. The use of geostatistics to characterize spatial variability of these attributes, such as soil resistance to penetration (RP) and gravimetric soil moisture (GM) is now usual practice in precision agriculture. The result of geostatistical analysis is dependent on the sample density and other factors according to the georeferencing methodology used. Thus, this study aimed to compare two methods of georeferencing to characterize the spatial variability of RP and GM as well as the spatial correlation of these variables. Sampling grid of 60 points spaced 20 m was used. For RP measurements, an electronic penetrometer was used and to determine the GM, a Dutch auger (0.0-0.1 m depth) was used. The samples were georeferenced using a GPS navigation receiver, Simple Point Positioning (SPP) with navigation GPS receiver, and Semi-Kinematic Relative Positioning (SKRP) with an L1 geodetic GPS receiver. The results indicated that the georeferencing conducted by PPS did not affect the characterization of spatial variability of RP or GM, neither the spatial structure relationship of these attributes.

Evapotranspiration and crop coefficients of melon plants measured by lysimeter and estimated according to FAO 56 methodology

Aiming at contributing to an adequate management of water resources, this study aimed to analyze and compare evapotranspiration (ETc) and crop coefficients (Kc) of melon plants measured by a lysimeter and estimated according to the FAO 56 methodology, in the city of Mossoró, state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Brazil. In order to measure ETc, weighing lysimeters with an area of 2.25m² were used, with two repetitions. The Penman-Monteith equation parameterized by FAO was used to estimate the reference evapotranspiration, and crop coefficients were those recommended in FAO-56 Bulletin adjusted to local climatic conditions. The required climatic data and lysimeter measurements were collected by an automatic weather station installed at the site. The results were compared by means of statistical indicators: of precision (r), of accuracy (d), and performance (c), in daily and weekly intervals. The data estimated by the FAO 56 methodology were adjusted optimally to the values measured by the lysimeters in accordance with index "c" in the two time scales assessed, indicating the potential of the method proposed by FAO to irrigation management in the climatic conditions of Agripole Assú-Mossoró.

Positioning of fertilizer in corn sowing

The aim of this study was to determine whether the form of placing the fertilizer by the planter during the sowing under mulch in the no till system affects the yield of corn. The treatments consisted of placing the fertilizer during the seeding 0.05 m below and beside the seed, in front of the cutting blade and without fertilizer, in 03 farms during 03 cropping years. The experimental design at each farm was the randomized block, with 08 repetitions, whose plots had 30 m² each. The initial population and yield components were evaluated. Under the experimental conditions it is concluded that base fertilization can affect the yield. Fertilizer placement can affect the initial stand, but not the yield.

Alternative methodology for calculating the modulus of elasticity of wooden beams of structural dimensions

This study aims to present an alternative calculation methodology based on the Least Squares Method for determining the modulus of elasticity in bending wooden beams of structural dimensions. The equations developed require knowledge of three or five points measured in displacements along the piece, allowing greater reliability on the response variable, using the statistical bending test at three points and non-destructively, resulting from imposition of measures from small displacements L/300 and L/200, the largest being stipulated by the Brazilian norm NBR 7190:1997. The woods tested were Angico, Cumaru, Garapa and Jatoba. Besides obtaining the modulus of elasticity through the alternative methodology proposed, these were also obtained employing the Brazilian norm NBR 7190:1997, adapted to the condition of non-destructive testing (small displacements) and for pieces of structural dimensions. The results of the modulus of elasticity of the four species of wood according to both calculation approaches used proved to be equivalent, implying the good approximation provided by the methodology of calculation adapted from the Brazilian norm.

Application of response surface methodology to study the biological removal of nitrogen from effluent of cattle slaughterhouse in a sequencing batch reactor

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) on biological removal of nitrogen from cattle slaughterhouse wastewater by nitrification/denitrification processes. The effects of initial concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen were investigated at 100; 150 and 200 mg L-1 and air flow rate at 0.125; 0.375 and 0.625 L min¹ Lreactor-1 on the nitrogen compounds removal, by a Central Composite Rotational Design (CCRD) configuration. There were variations from 9.2 to 94.9%, 4.0 to 19.6% and 20.8 to 92.0% in the conversion of ammoniacal nitrogen to nitrate and nitrite concentration and removal of total nitrogen, respectively. The increase of air flow rate and decrease of the initial concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen resulted in higher efficiencies of total nitrogen removal, as well as the conversion of ammoniacal nitrogen to nitrate. During the pre-established intervals of this study, the removal and conversion efficiencies of nitrogen compounds above 85% were achieved in air flow rate variations from 0.375 to 0.725 L min-1 Lreactor-1 and initial concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen from 80 to 200 mg L-1. On denitrification process, we obtained efficiencies from 91.5 to 96.9% on the removal of nitrite/nitrate and from 78.3 to 87.9% on the removal of organic matter.

Methodology for spatialization of intense rainfall equation parameters

The aim of this study was to generate maps of intense rainfall equation parameters using interpolated maximum intense rainfall data. The study area comprised Espírito Santo State, Brazil. A total of 59 intense rainfall equations were used to interpolate maximum intense rainfall, with a 1 x 1 km spatial resolution. Maximum intense rainfall was interpolated considering recurrence of 2; 5; 10; 20; 50 and 100 years, and duration of 10; 20; 30; 40; 50; 60; 120; 240; 360; 420; 660; 720; 900; 1,140; 1,380 and 1,440 minutes, resulting in 96 maps of maximum intense rainfall. The used interpolators were inverse distance weighting and ordinary kriging, for which significance level (p-value) and coefficient of determination (R²) were evaluated for the cross-validation data, choosing the method that presented better R² to generate maps. Finally, maps of maximum intense precipitation were used to estimate, cell by cell, the intense rainfall equation parameters. In comparison with literature data, the mean percentage error of estimated intense rainfall equations was 13.8%. Maps of spatialized parameters, obtained in this study, are of simple use; once they are georeferenced, they may be imported into any geographic information system to be used for a specific area of interest.

Developing a Brand Positioning Model for International Strategic Marketing

The target of this thesis is to develop a brand positioning process model for the case company’s international operations. The model will make the process more effective and decrease the risk of relevant aspects being forgotten. The focus is on the international operations although generally the brand positioning can be seen as a standardized subject and, thus, there is no need to distinguish market areas. Constructive research approach is chosen as a research method. Internal interviews are done in order to give the much needed insight about the case company’s current processes and circumstances. Based on theory, interviews as well as internal and external material the model is built. The most difficult part in building the model is to determine the order of each phase. Also, deciding the number of each phase can be problematic. The model should be brief and assertive in order to reduce the risk of misunderstanding between employees from different units. Based on the analysis of the interviews and the theory the brand positioning process model is presented with indication of the order of each phase. The model is divided to three main groups: Analyzing the Environment, Determining the Brand Position, and Documenting the BPS. The benefits of the model are that overlapping work can be reduced, too similar brands can be noticed and it is easier to train new employees.

De-escalation of commitment management strategy in IT project management methodology: case of ERP implementation project by IT consulting company

According to several surveys and observations, the percentage of successfully conducted IT projects without over-budgeting and delays in time schedule are extremely low. Many projects also are evaluated as failures in terms of delivered functionality. Nuldén (1996) compares IT projects with bad movies; after watching for 2 hours, one still tries to finish it even though one understands that it is a complete waste of time. The argument for that is 'I've already invested too much time to terminate it now'. The same happens with IT projects: sometimes the company continues wasting money on these projects for a long time, even though there are no expected benefits from these projects. Eventually these projects are terminated anyway, but until this moment, the company spends a lot. The situation described above is a consequence of “escalation of commitment” - project continuation even after a manager receives negative feedback of the project’s success probability. According to Keil and Mähring (2010), even though escalation can occur in any type of project, it is more common among complex technological projects, such as IT projects. Escalation of commitment very often results in runaway projects. In order to avoid it, managers use de-escalation strategies, which allow the resources to be used in more effective. These strategies lead to project termination or turning around, which stops the flow of wasted investments. Numbers of researches explore escalation of commitment phenomena based on experiments and business cases. Moreover, during the last decade several frameworks were proposed for de-escalation strategy. However, there is no evidence of successful implementation of the de-escalation of commitment strategy in the literature. In addition, despite that fact that IT project management methodologies are widely used in the companies, none of them cover the topic of escalation of commitment risks. At the same time, there are no researches proposing the way to implement de-escalation of commitment strategy into the existing project management methodology The research is focused on a single case of large ERP implementation project by the consulting company. Hence, the main deliverables of the study include suggestions of improvement in de-escalation methods and techniques in the project and in the company. Moreover, the way to implement these methods into existing project management methodology and into the company general policies is found.

Evaluation of follicular lymphoid depletion in the Bursa of Fabricius: an alternative methodology using digital image analysis and artificial neural networks

Fifty Bursa of Fabricius (BF) were examined by conventional optical microscopy and digital images were acquired and processed using Matlab® 6.5 software. The Artificial Neuronal Network (ANN) was generated using Neuroshell® Classifier software and the optical and digital data were compared. The ANN was able to make a comparable classification of digital and optical scores. The use of ANN was able to classify correctly the majority of the follicles, reaching sensibility and specificity of 89% and 96%, respectively. When the follicles were scored and grouped in a binary fashion the sensibility increased to 90% and obtained the maximum value for the specificity of 92%. These results demonstrate that the use of digital image analysis and ANN is a useful tool for the pathological classification of the BF lymphoid depletion. In addition it provides objective results that allow measuring the dimension of the error in the diagnosis and classification therefore making comparison between databases feasible.

Aineettoman pääoman ilmeneminen verkostolentoyhtiössä strategianäkökulmasta

Tämän tutkimustyön tavoitteena on tutkia strategianäkökulmaan perustuvan aineettoman pääoman ilmenemistä ja arvonluontia verkostolentoyhtiö Finnairissa. Aineeton pääoma koostuu kolmesta pääomaluokasta: inhimillisestä pääomasta, suhdepääomasta ja rakennepääomasta. Aineettomalle pääomalle on luonteenomaista, että sitä on vaikea kopioida, korvata, muuntaa, jakaa, siirtää ja erityisesti – tunnistaa. Yritykset luovat arvoa vasta, kun ne hyödyntävät aineettomia resurssejaan tehokkaasti. Tutkimusmetodiksi valittiin ladullinen sisällönanalyysi. Tutkimusaineistona ovat Finnairin viralliset yritysjulkaisut. Tutkimuksessa ilmeni, että Finnairin yritysstrategiasta löytyi varsin paljon staattisia aineettomia resursseja, mutta johtohenkilöiden teksteistä analysoituna osumien määrä oli huomattavasti pienempi. Tutkittaessa arvonluontia yrityksen strategiasta löytyi vain vähän dynaamisia aineettomia resursseja, ja johtohenkilöiden teksteistä analysoituna osumia ei saatu lainkaan. Aineiston avulla oli kuitenkin mahdollista vastata molempiin tutkimuskysymyksiin. Empiriassa lähteenä käytetyt yritysviestinnän julkaisut antoivat dokumentteina suppeahkon tutkimuspohjan, joiden täydentäminen haastatteluin tai kyselyin antaisi laajemman ja vakaamman näkemyksen tutkittavasta aiheesta.

Transition management and the sustainable nutrients economy in the Netherlands; positioning paper

In this positioning paper transition management (TM) and the sustainable nutrient economy are addressed. We discuss TM from its scholarly origins in the 1990’s to its implementation as a comprehensive sector-wide policy program on sustainability in The Netherlands during the first decade of the 2000´s. Although the program was innovative and provoked a new approach to environmental policy and governance, the program at large failed to set the right conditions under which sustainable transition take place. Lessons from the Netherlands, both successful and less successful, are addressed in this positioning paper to inform Finnish governmental and knowledge institutes on how (not) to implement TM on environmental issues. When looking at sustainable nutrient economy the paper takes a historical view at how problems with nutrients (especially phosphates) were dealt with in the Netherlands during the post World War II era. This transition did not occur easily. In the agricultural sector environmental policies to prevent nutrient problems were not easily accepted, as large agricultural economic interests were at stake and the sector’s main actors were generally opposed to (radical) environmental transition. Currently, sustainable nutrient economy initiatives are starting to receive attention on the political agenda once again. In 2011 a sector- and chain-wide covenant was signed, showing that sustainable nutrient transition goals get commitment from stakeholders throughout the nutrient chain. We judge that TM provides useful elements that are applicable to Finnish governance modes to support sustainable nutrient economy transition. However, the Finnish government should be careful when implementing TM to prevent making the same mistakes the Dutch government made in previous years.