Impact of product-related environmental regulations in Asia : descriptive statistics from a survey of firms in Vietnam

This paper summarizes the main results of a unique firm survey conducted in Vietnam in 2011 on product-related environmental regulations (PRERs). The results of this survey are compared with the results of a corresponding survey of firms in Penang, Malaysia (Michida, et al. 2014b). The major findings are as follows. First, adaptation to PRERs involves changes in input procurement and results in market diversification, which potentially alters the structure of supply chains. This finding is consistent with the Malaysian survey result. Second, connections to global supply chains are key to compliance, but this requires firms to meet more stringent customer requirements. Third, government policy can play an important role in assisting firms to comply with PRERs.

Impact on Asian firms of product-related environmental regulations through global supply chains : a study of firms in Malaysia

This paper sheds light on the important role played by global supply chains in the adaptation to product-related environmental regulations imposed by importing countries, with a focus on chemicals management. By utilizing a unique data collected in Penang, Malaysia, we depict the supply chain structures and how differences among firms in participation to global supply chain link to differences in chemical management. We found that firms belonging to a supply chain are in a better position to comply with these regulations because information and requirements are transmitted through global supply chains. In contrast, those firms that are neither exporters nor a part of a global supply chain lack the knowledge and information channels relevant to chemical management in a product.

The policy impact of product-related environmental regulations in Asia

This paper focuses on EU chemical regulations, RoHS and REACH, and shows these EU regulations have driven Asian countries to introduce regulations that are similar yet modified versions to the EU regulations. Asia as the world manufacturing center has extensive production networks where parts and components of a final good are traded across borders. We discuss how product-related environmental regulations could impact on firms' activities then show that if Asian countries with complex supply chains introduce different product related chemical regulations without coordinating with neighboring countries, it could work as trade barrier for manufacturing activities in the region.

Effects of RoHs and REACH regulations on firm-level production and export, and the role of global value chains : the cases of Malaysia and Vietnam

This paper uses firm-level data to examine the impact of foreign chemical safety regulations such as RoHS and REACH on the production costs and export performance of firms in Malaysia and Vietnam. This paper also investigates the role of global value chains in enhancing the likelihood that a firm complies with RoHS and REACH. We find that in addition to the initial setup costs for compliance, EU RoHS (REACH) implementation imposes on firms additional variable production costs by requiring additional labor and capital expenditures of around 57% (73%) of variable costs. We also find that compliance with RoHS and REACH significantly increases the probability of export and that compliance with EU RoHS and REACH helps firms enter a greater variety of countries. Furthermore, firms participating in global value chains have higher compliance with RoHS and REACH regulations, regardless of whether the firm is directly exporting, when the firm operates in upstream or downstream industries of the countries' supply chain.

El Pisito 2011

Analyzing residential architecture in Spain today signifies tackling a complex, apparently fragmentary situation, one that makes comment or criticism quite difficult. In the last few years authority over housing and city planning has been transferred to the regions,1 and each has developed its own framework of laws, its own regulations and requirements, and has shaped urban and regional development on the basis of its own criteria. In parallel, schools of architecture have multiplied, reaching many of the zones previously regarded as ?peripheral.? It is easy to understand how the old administrative centrality has given way to a more pluralistic situation closer to the specific problems of each city and region. As a result cultural differences have been accentuated, even compromising the possibility of speaking of an ?architecture Spanish? or reducing it to a mere summation or mosaic of local circumstances. Part of the debate of recent years has been focused on underlining these differences. This essay takes the opposite approach. The premise from which it starts out is that analysis of the phenomenon of ?residential architecture in Spain? makes it possible to acknowledge the survival of a cultural unity that explains the present and the recent past and that does not conflict with the diversity of local experiences.

Conservation laws for liquid bridges

Conservation laws for an inviscid liquid bridge set into motion by conservative forces are given in integral form. These laws provide useful information on the overall motion of the bridge in the presence of unexpected or uncontrolled disturbances and could, in addition, be monitored in a computational solution of the problem as an accuracy check. Many of the resulting conservation laws are familiar to fluiddynamicists. Nevertheless, a systematic approach providing an exhaustive list of these laws reveals the existence of new conserved properties hardly deducible in the classical way. Although the present analysis concerns the case of axial, and constant, gravity it can be applied, with minor refinements, when the gravity field varies with time in both direction and intensity.

The effect of acoustic screens on orchestra musicians

La Directiva 2003/10/CE del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo, del 6 de febrero de 2003, espec��fica con arreglo al apartado 1 del art��culo 16 de la Directiva 89/391/CEE las disposiciones m��nimas de seguridad y de salud relativas a la exposici��n de los trabajadores a los riesgos derivados de los agentes f��sicos (ruido). En la industria musical, y en concreto en los m��sicos de orquesta, una exposici��n de m��s de ocho horas al d��a a un nivel de presi��n sonora de 80dB(A) o m��s es algo muy com��n. Esta situaci��n puede causar a los trabajadores da��os auditivos como la hiperacusia, hipoacusia, tinitus o ruptura de la membrana basilar entre otros. Esto significa que deben tomarse medidas para implementar las regulaciones de la forma m��s razonable posible para que la interpretaci��n del m��sico, la din��mica y el concepto musical que se quiere transmitir al p��blico se vea lo menos afectada posible. Para reducir la carga auditiva de los m��sicos de orquesta frente a fuertes impactos sonoros provenientes de los instrumentos vecinos, se est�� investigando sobre el uso de unos paneles ac��sticos que colocados en puntos estrat��gicos de la orquesta pueden llegar a reducir el impacto sonoro sobre el o��do hasta 20dB. Los instrumentos de viento metal y de percusi��n son los responsables de la mayor emisi��n de presi��n sonora. Para proteger el o��do de los m��sicos frente a estos impactos, se colocan los paneles en forma de barrera entre dichos instrumentos y los m��sicos colocados frente a ellos. De esta forma se protege el o��do de los m��sicos m��s afectados. Para ver el efecto pr��ctico que producen estos paneles en un conjunto orquestal, se realizan varias grabaciones en los ensayos y conciertos de varias orquestas. Los micr��fonos se sit��an a la altura del o��do y a una distancia de no m��s de 10cm de la oreja de varios de los m��sicos m��s afectados y de los m��sicos responsables de la fuerte emisi��n sonora. De este modo se puede hacer una comparaci��n de los niveles de presi��n sonora que percibe cada m��sico y evaluar las diferencias de nivel existentes entre ambos. As�� mismo se utilizan configuraciones variables de los paneles para comparar las diferencias de presi��n sonora que existen entre las distintas posibilidades de colocarlos y decidir as�� sobre la mejor ubicaci��n y configuraci��n de los mismos. A continuaci��n, una vez obtenidos las muestras de audio y los diferentes archivos de datos medidos con un analizador de audio en distintas posiciones de la orquesta, todo ello se calibra y analiza utilizando un programa desarrollado en Matlab, para evaluar el efecto de los paneles sobre la percepci��n auditiva de los m��sicos, haciendo especial hincapi�� en el an��lisis de las diferencias de nivel de presi��n sonora (SPL). Mediante el c��lculo de la envolvente de las diferencias de nivel, se eval��a de un modo estad��stico el efecto de atenuaci��n de los paneles ac��sticos en los m��sicos de orquesta. El m��todo est�� basado en la probabilidad estad��stica de varias muestras musicales ya que al tratarse de m��sica tocada en directo, la din��mica y la sincronizaci��n entre los m��sicos var��a seg��n el momento en que se toque. Estos factores junto con el hecho de que la partitura de cada m��sico es diferente dificulta la comparaci��n entre dos se��ales grabadas en diferentes puntos de la orquesta. Se necesita por lo tanto de varias muestras musicales para evaluar el efecto de atenuaci��n de los paneles en las distintas configuraciones mencionadas anteriormente. El estudio completo del efecto de los paneles como entorno que influye en los m��sicos de orquesta cuando est��n sobre el escenario, tiene como objetivo la mejora de sus condiciones de trabajo. Abstract For several years, the European Union has been adopting many laws and regulations to protect and give more security to people who are exposed to some risk in their job. Being exposed to a loud sound pressure level during many hours in the job runs the risk of hearing damage. Particularly in the field of music, the ear is the most important working tool. Not taking care of the ear can cause some damage such as hearing loss, tinnitus, hyperacusis, diplacusis, etc. This could have an impact on the efficiency and satisfaction of the musicians when they are playing, which could also cause stress problems. Orchestra musicians, as many other workers in this sector, are usually exposed to a sound level of 80dB(A) or more during more than eight hours per day. It means that they must satisfy the law and their legal obligations to avoid health problems proceeding from their job. Putting into practice the new regulations is a challenge for orchestras. They must make sure that the repertoire, with its dynamic, balance and feeling, is not affected by the reduction of sound levels imposed by the law. This study tries to investigate the benefits and disadvantages of using shields as a hearing protector during rehearsals and orchestral concerts.

A mathematical framework for finite strain elastoplastic consolidation. Part 1: Balance laws, variational formulation, and linearization

A mathematical formulation for finite strain elasto plastic consolidation of fully saturated soil media is presented. Strong and weak forms of the boundary-value problem are derived using both the material and spatial descriptions. The algorithmic treatment of finite strain elastoplasticity for the solid phase is based on multiplicative decomposition and is coupled with the algorithm for fluid flow via the Kirchhoff pore water pressure. Balance laws are written for the soil-water mixture following the motion of the soil matrix alone. It is shown that the motion of the fluid phase only affects the Jacobian of the solid phase motion, and therefore can be characterized completely by the motion of the soil matrix. Furthermore, it is shown from energy balance consideration that the effective, or intergranular, stress is the appropriate measure of stress for describing the constitutive response of the soil skeleton since it absorbs all the strain energy generated in the saturated soil-water mixture. Finally, it is shown that the mathematical model is amenable to consistent linearization, and that explicit expressions for the consistent tangent operators can be derived for use in numerical solutions such as those based on the finite element method.

The secret to legal foretelling: generic and inter-generic aspects of vagueness in contracts, patents and regulations

In this genre analysis research paper, we compare U.S. patents, contracts, and regulations on technical matters with a focus upon the relation between vagueness and communicative purposes and subpurposes of these three genres. Our main interest is the investigation of intergeneric conventions across the three genres, based on the software analysis of three corpora (one for each genre, 1 million words per corpus). The result of the investigation is that intergeneric conventions are found at the level of types of expressed linguistic vagueness, but that intergeneric conventions at the level of actual formulations are rare. The conclusion is that at this latter level the influence from the situation type underlying the individual genre is more important than the overarching legal character of the genres, when we talk about introducing explicit vagueness in the text.

The evolution of the laws of software evolution. A discussion based on a systematic literature review

After more than 40 years of life, software evolution should be considered as a mature field. However, despite such a long history, many research questions still remain open, and controversial studies about the validity of the laws of software evolution are common. During the first part of these 40 years the laws themselves evolved to adapt to changes in both the research and the software industry environments. This process of adaption to new paradigms, standards, and practices stopped about 15 years ago, when the laws were revised for the last time. However, most controversial studies have been raised during this latter period. Based on a systematic and comprehensive literature review, in this paper we describe how and when the laws, and the software evolution field, evolved. We also address the current state of affairs about the validity of the laws, how they are perceived by the research community, and the developments and challenges that are likely to occur in the coming years.

Studying the laws of software evolution in a long-lived FLOSS project

ome free, open-source software projects have been around for quite a long time, the longest living ones dating from the early 1980s. For some of them, detailed information about their evolution is available in source code management systems tracking all their code changes for periods of more than 15���years. This paper examines in detail the evolution of one of such projects, glibc, with the main aim of understanding how it evolved and how it matched Lehman's laws of software evolution. As a result, we have developed a methodology for studying the evolution of such long-lived projects based on the information in their source code management repository, described in detail several aspects of the history of glibc, including some activity and size metrics, and found how some of the laws of software evolution may not hold in this case

Normalizar la utop��a: Un proyecto de sistematizaci��n de la normativa en vivienda social = Normalizing Utopia: A Project of Systematization of Regulations on Social Housing

La presente tesis doctoral aborda el estudio del proyecto de vivienda colectiva social desde la noci��n de norma, entendida desde la sistematizaci��n o normalizaci��n de los instrumentos del proyecto arquitect��nico de vivienda protegida. Esto es, desde una idea de tipificaci��n taxon��mica en cuanto ajuste a un conjunto de reglas comunes productoras de sistemas normativos. La hip��tesis de partida se basa en la consideraci��n de la vivienda p��blica como un laboratorio de estudio hist��rico de los ideales de confort y calidad de vida. Este campo de pruebas ha constituido una s��lida base que ha servido como punto de encuentro muy particular entre proyecto y normativa desde las primeras vanguardias europeas hasta la actualidad. El principal objetivo de la investigaci��n es la revalorizaci��n de una normativa de vivienda que ha producido ejemplos de innegable calidad en el contexto nacional e internacional, as�� como un intento de actualizaci��n de su codificaci��n. La investigaci��n se sirve de los instrumentos espec��ficos de la disciplina arquitect��nica para explicar una disociaci��n detectada desde la segunda mitad del siglo pasado entre la utop��a del proyecto social de vivienda y el pragmatismo de la norma que lo regula, m��s all�� de los aspectos sociales y culturales asociados a las nuevas composiciones familiares, las tecnolog��as cambiantes, los ritos dom��sticos contempor��neos o el valor creciente del tiempo libre. La propuesta de una nueva terminolog��a que aborde nuevas relaciones en el acercamiento al proyecto de vivienda desde la normativa espa��ola deriva en un conjunto de estrategias de proyecto desde las que proponer sistemas normativos. Dichas estrategias se basan principalmente en mecanismos de cualificaci��n espacial que permitan un nuevo acercamiento entre dichas normas y las formas de habitar actuales. ABSTRACT This doctoral thesis deals with the study of the project of social collective housing from the notion of rule, understanding it from the systematization or standardization of the instruments of architectural project for social housing. Thus, it deals with an idea of taxonomic typification as an adjustment to a set of common rules which produce regulation systems. The initial hypothesis is based on the consideration of public housing as a laboratory for studying the historical ideals of comfort and quality of life. This testing ground has been a solid base that has served as a very specific meeting point between project and regulations from the first European avant���garde to nowadays. The main objective of this research is the revaluation of housing regulations, which have produced examples of undeniable quality in the national and international stage, as well as an attempt to update their codification. The research assumes the specific tools of the discipline of architecture for explaining a dissociation detected between the utopia of the project for social housing and the pragmatism of the regulations from the second half of last century, beyond social and cultural aspects associated to the new family arrangements, the changing technologies, the contemporary domestic rituals or the rising value of leisure time. The proposal of a new terminology that tackles new relations in the approach to housing project from the Spanish legislation results in a set of strategies to propose regulation systems. Those strategies are mainly based on mechanisms for spatial qualification which allow a new approach between these rules and the current ways of living.

Fishing effort control regulations influence on stability, safety and operability of small fishing vessels: study of a series of stability related accidents occurred in Spain between 2004 and 2007

Entre los a��os 2004 y 2007 se hundieron por problemas de estabilidad cinco pesqueros espa��oles de peque��a eslora, de caracter��sticas parecidas, de relativamente poca edad, que hab��an sido construidos en un intervalo de pocos a��os. La mayor��a de los tripulantes de esos pesqueros fallecieron o desaparecieron en esos accidentes. Este conjunto de accidentes tuvo bastante repercusi��n social y medi��tica. Entre ingenieros navales y marinos del sector de la pesca se relacion�� estos accidentes con los condicionantes a los dise��os de los pesqueros impuestos por la normativa de control de esfuerzo pesquero. Los accidentes fueron investigados y publicados sus correspondientes informes; en ellos no se explor�� esta supuesta relaci��n. Esta tesis pretende investigar la relaci��n entre esos accidentes y los cambios de la normativa de esfuerzo pesquero. En la introducci��n se expone la normativa de control de esfuerzo pesquero analizada, se presentan datos sobre la estructura de la flota pesquera en Espa��a y su accidentalidad, y se detallan los criterios de estabilidad manejados durante el trabajo, explicando su relaci��n con la seguridad de los pesqueros. Seguidamente se realiza un an��lisis estad��stico de la siniestralidad en el sector de la pesca para establecer si el conjunto de accidentes estudiados supone una anomal��a, o si por el contrario el conjunto de estos accidentes no es relevante desde el punto de vista estad��stico. Se analiza la siniestralidad a partir de diversas bases de datos de buques pesqueros en Espa��a y se concluye que el conjunto de accidentes estudiados supone una anomal��a estad��stica, ya que la probabilidad de ocurrencia de los cinco sucesos es muy baja considerando la frecuencia estimada de p��rdidas de buques por estabilidad en el subsector de la flota pesquera en el que se encuadran los cinco buques perdidos. A continuaci��n el trabajo se centra en la comparaci��n de los buques accidentados con los buques pesqueros dados de baja para construir aquellos, seg��n exige la normativa de control de esfuerzo pesquero; a estos ��ltimos buques nos referiremos como ���predecesores��� de los buques accidentados. Se comparan las dimensiones principales de cada buque y de su predecesor, resultando que los buques accidentados comparten caracter��sticas de dise��o comunes que son sensiblemente diferentes en los buques predecesores, y enlazando dichas caracter��sticas de dise��o con los requisitos de la nueva normativa de control del esfuerzo pesquero bajo la que se construyeron estos barcos. Ello permite establecer una relaci��n entre los accidentes y el mencionado cambio normativo. A continuaci��n se compara el margen con que se cumpl��an los criterios reglamentarios de estabilidad entre los buques accidentados y los predecesores, encontr��ndose que en cuatro de los cinco casos los predecesores cumpl��an los criterios de estabilidad con mayor holgura que los buques accidentados. Los resultados obtenidos en este punto permiten establecer una relaci��n entre el cambio de normativa de esfuerzo pesquero y la estabilidad de los buques. Los cinco buques accidentados cumpl��an con los criterios reglamentarios de estabilidad en vigor, lo que cuestiona la relaci��n entre esos criterios y la seguridad. Por ello se extiende la comparativa entre pesqueros a dos nuevos campos relacionados con la estabilidad y la seguridad delos buques: ��� Movimientos a bordo (operatividad del buque), y ��� Criterios de estabilidad en condiciones meteorol��gicas adversas El estudio de la operatividad muestra que los buques accidentados ten��an, en general, una mayor operatividad que sus predecesores, contrariamente a lo que suced��a con el cumplimiento de los criterios reglamentarios de estabilidad. Por ��ltimo, se comprueba el desempe��o de los diez buques en dos criterios espec��ficos de estabilidad en caso de mal tiempo: el criterio IMO de viento y balance intenso, y un criterio de estabilidad de nueva generaci��n, incluyendo la contribuci��n original del autor de considerar agua en cubierta. Las tendencias observadas en estas dos comparativas son opuestas, lo que permite cuestionar la validez del ��ltimo criterio sin un control exhaustivo de los par��metros de su formulaci��n, poniendo de manifiesto la necesidad de m��s investigaciones sobre ese criterio antes de su adopci��n para uso regulatorio. El conjunto de estos resultados permite obtener una serie de conclusiones en la comparativa entre ambos conjuntos de buques pesqueros. Si bien los resultados de este trabajo no muestran que la aprobaci��n de la nueva normativa de esfuerzo pesquero haya significado una merma general de seguridad en sectores enteros de la flota pesquera, s�� se concluye que permiti�� que algunos dise��os de buques pesqueros, posiblemente en busca de la mayor eficiencia compatible con dicha normativa, quedaran con una estabilidad precaria, poniendo de manifiesto que la relaci��n entre seguridad y criterios de estabilidad no es un��voca, y la necesidad de que ��stos evolucionen y se adapten a los nuevos dise��os de buques pesqueros para continuar garantizando su seguridad. Tambi��n se concluye que la estabilidad es un aspecto transversal del dise��o de los buques, por lo que cualquier reforma normativa que afecte al dise��o de los pesqueros o su forma de operar deber��a estar sujeta a evaluaci��n por parte de las autoridades responsables de la seguridad mar��tima con car��cter previo a su aprobaci��n. ABSTRACT Between 2004 and 2007 five small Spanish fishing vessels sank in stability related accidents. These vessels had similar characteristics, had relatively short age, and had been built in a period of a few years. Most crewmembers of these five vessels died or disappeared in those accidents. This set of accidents had significant social and media impact. Among naval architects and seamen of the fishing sector these accidents were related to the design constraints imposed by the fishing control effort regulations. The accidents were investigated and the official reports issued; this alleged relationship was not explored. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between those accidents and changes in fishing effort control regulations. In the introduction, the fishing effort control regulation is exposed, data of the Spanish fishing fleet structure and its accident rates are presented, and stability criteria dealt with in this work are explained, detailing its relationship with fishing vessel safety. A statistical analysis of the accident rates in the fishing sector in Spain is performed afterwards. The objective is determining whether the set of accidents studied constitute an anomaly or, on the contrary, they are not statistically relevant. Fishing vessels accident rates is analyzed from several fishing vessel databases in Spain. It is concluded that the set of studied accidents is statistically relevant, as the probability of occurrence of the five happenings is extremely low, considering the loss rates in the subsector of the Spanish fishing fleet where the studied vessels are fitted within. From this point the thesis focuses in comparing the vessels lost and the vessels that were decommissioned to build them as required by the fishing effort control regulation; these vessels will be referred to as ���predecessors��� of the sunk vessels. The main dimensions between each lost vessel and her predecessor are compared, leading to the conclusion that the lost vessels share design characteristics which are sensibly different from the predecessors, and linking these design characteristics with the requirements imposed by the new fishing control effort regulations. This allows establishing a relationship between the accidents and this regulation change. Then the margin in fulfilling the regulatory stability criteria among the vessels is compared, resulting, in four of the five cases, that predecessors meet the stability criteria with greater clearance than the sunk vessels. The results obtained at this point would establish a relationship between the change of fishing effort control regulation and the stability of vessels. The five lost vessels complied with the stability criteria in force, so the relation between these criteria and safety is put in question. Consequently, the comparison among vessels is extended to other fields related to safety and stability: ��� Motions onboard (operability), and ��� Specific stability criteria in rough weather The operability study shows that the lost vessels had in general greater operability than their predecessors, just the opposite as when comparing stability criteria. Finally, performance under specific rough weather stability criteria is checked. The criteria studied are the IMO Weather Criterion, and one of the 2nd generation stability criteria under development by IMO considering in this last case the presence of water on deck, which is an original contribution by the author. The observed trends in these two cases are opposite, allowing to put into question the last criterion validity without an exhaustive control of its formulation parameters; indicating that further research might be necessary before using it for regulatory purposes. The analysis of this set of results leads to some conclusions when comparing both groups of fishing vessels. While the results obtained are not conclusive in the sense that the entry into force of a new fishing effort control in 1998 caused a generalized safety reduction in whole sectors of the Spanish fishing fleet, it can be concluded that it opened the door for some vessel designs resulting with precarious stability. This evidences that the relation between safety and stability criteria is not univocal, so stability criteria needs to evolve for adapting to new fishing vessels designs so their safety is still guaranteed. It is also concluded that stability is a transversal aspect to ship design and operability, implying that any legislative reform affecting ship design or operating modes should be subjected to assessing by the authorities responsible for marine safety before being adopted.

Bare-tape scaling laws for de-orbit missions in a space debris environment

El entorno espacial actual hay un gran numero de micro-meteoritos y basura espacial generada por el hombre, lo cual plantea un riesgo para la seguridad de las operaciones en el espacio. La situaci��n se agrava continuamente a causa de las colisiones de basura espacial en ��rbita, y los nuevos lanzamientos de sat��lites. Una parte significativa de esta basura son sat��lites muertos, y fragmentos de sat��lites resultantes de explosiones y colisiones de objetos en ��rbita. La mitigaci��n de este problema se ha convertido en un tema de preocupaci��n prioritario para todas las instituciones que participan en operaciones espaciales. Entre las soluciones existentes, las amarras electrodin��micas (EDT) proporcionan un eficiente dispositivo para el r��pido de-orbitado de los sat��lites en ��rbita terrestre baja (LEO), al final de su vida ��til. El campo de investigaci��n de las amarras electrodin��micas (EDT) ha sido muy fruct��fero desde los a��os 70. Gracias a estudios te��ricos, y a misiones para la demostraci��n del funcionamiento de las amarras en ��rbita, esta tecnolog��a se ha desarrollado muy r��pidamente en las ��ltimas d��cadas. Durante este per��odo de investigaci��n, se han identificado y superado m��ltiples problemas t��cnicos de diversa ��ndole. Gran parte del funcionamiento b��sico del sistema EDT depende de su capacidad de supervivencia ante los micro-meteoritos y la basura espacial. Una amarra puede ser cortada completamente por una part��cula cuando ��sta tiene un di��metro m��nimo. En caso de corte debido al impacto de part��culas, una amarra en s�� misma, podr��a ser un riesgo para otros sat��lites en funcionamiento. Por desgracia, tras varias demostraciones en ��rbita, no se ha podido concluir que este problema sea importante para el funcionamiento del sistema. En esta tesis, se presenta un an��lisis te��rico de la capacidad de supervivencia de las amarras en el espacio. Este estudio demuestra las ventajas de las amarras de secci��n rectangular (cinta), en cuanto a la probabilidad de supervivencia durante la misi��n, frente a las amarras convencionales (cables de secci��n circular). Debido a su particular geometr��a (longitud mucho mayor que la secci��n transversal), una amarra puede tener un riesgo relativamente alto de ser cortado por un ��nico impacto con una part��cula de peque��as dimensiones. Un c��lculo anal��tico de la tasa de impactos fatales para una amarra cilindrica y de tipo cinta de igual longitud y masa, considerando el flujo de part��culas de basura espacial del modelo ORDEM2000 de la NASA, muestra mayor probabilidad de supervivencia para las cintas. Dicho an��lisis ha sido comparado con un c��lculo num��rico empleando los modelos de flujo el ORDEM2000 y el MASTER2005 de ESA. Adem��s se muestra que, para igual tiempo en ��rbita, una cinta tiene una probabilidad de supervivencia un orden y medio de magnitud mayor que una amarra cilindrica con igual masa y longitud. Por otra parte, de-orbitar una cinta desde una cierta altitud, es mucho m��s r��pido, debido a su mayor per��metro que le permite capturar m��s corriente. Este es un factor adicional que incrementa la probabilidad de supervivencia de la cinta, al estar menos tiempo expuesta a los posibles impactos de basura espacial. Por este motivo, se puede afirmar finalmente y en sentido pr��ctico, que la capacidad de supervivencia de la cinta es bastante alta, en comparaci��n con la de la amarra cilindrica. El segundo objetivo de este trabajo, consiste en la elaboraci��n de un modelo anal��tico, mejorando la aproximaci��n del flujo de ORDEM2000 y MASTER2009, que permite calcular con precisi��n, la tasa de impacto fatal al a��o para una cinta en un rango de altitudes e inclinaciones, en lugar de unas condiciones particulares. Se obtiene el numero de corte por un cierto tiempo en funci��n de la geometr��a de la cinta y propiedades de la ��rbita. Para las mismas condiciones, el modelo anal��tico, se compara con los resultados obtenidos del an��lisis num��rico. Este modelo escalable ha sido esencial para la optimizaci��n del dise��o de la amarra para las misiones de de-orbitado de los sat��lites, variando la masa del sat��lite y la altitud inicial de la ��rbita. El modelo de supervivencia se ha utilizado para construir una funci��n objetivo con el fin de optimizar el dise��o de amarras. La funci��n objectivo es el producto del cociente entre la masa de la amarra y la del sat��lite y el numero de corte por un cierto tiempo. Combinando el modelo de supervivencia con una ecuaci��n din��mica de la amarra donde aparece la fuerza de Lorentz, se elimina el tiempo y se escribe la funci��n objetivo como funci��n de la geometr��a de la cinta y las propietades de la ��rbita. Este modelo de optimizaci��n, condujo al desarrollo de un software, que esta en proceso de registro por parte de la UPM. La etapa final de este estudio, consiste en la estimaci��n del n��mero de impactos fatales, en una cinta, utilizando por primera vez una ecuaci��n de l��mite bal��stico experimental. Esta ecuaci��n ha sido desarollada para cintas, y permite representar los efectos tanto de la velocidad de impacto como el ��ngulo de impacto. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que la cinta es altamente resistente a los impactos de basura espacial, y para una cinta con una secci��n transversal definida, el n��mero de impactos cr��ticos debidos a part��culas no rastreables es significativamente menor. ABSTRACT The current space environment, consisting of man-made debris and tiny meteoroids, poses a risk to safe operations in space, and the situation is continuously deteriorating due to in-orbit debris collisions and to new satellite launches. Among these debris a significant portion is due to dead satellites and fragments of satellites resulted from explosions and in-orbit collisions. Mitigation of space debris has become an issue of first concern for all the institutions involved in space operations. Bare electrodynamic tethers (EDT) can provide an efficient mechanism for rapid de-orbiting of defunct satellites from low Earth orbit (LEO) at end of life. The research on EDT has been a fruitful field since the 70���s. Thanks to both theoretical studies and in orbit demonstration missions, this technology has been developed very fast in the following decades. During this period, several technical issues were identified and overcome. The core functionality of EDT system greatly depends on their survivability to the micrometeoroids and orbital debris, and a tether can become itself a kind of debris for other operating satellites in case of cutoff due to particle impact; however, this very issue is still inconclusive and conflicting after having a number of space demonstrations. A tether can be completely cut by debris having some minimal diameter. This thesis presents a theoretical analysis of the survivability of tethers in space. The study demonstrates the advantages of tape tethers over conventional round wires particularly on the survivability during the mission. Because of its particular geometry (length very much larger than cross-sectional dimensions), a tether may have a relatively high risk of being severed by the single impact of small debris. As a first approach to the problem, survival probability has been compared for a round and a tape tether of equal mass and length. The rates of fatal impact of orbital debris on round and tape tether, evaluated with an analytical approximation to debris flux modeled by NASA���s ORDEM2000, shows much higher survival probability for tapes. A comparative numerical analysis using debris flux model ORDEM2000 and ESA���s MASTER2005 shows good agreement with the analytical result. It also shows that, for a given time in orbit, a tape has a probability of survival of about one and a half orders of magnitude higher than a round tether of equal mass and length. Because de-orbiting from a given altitude is much faster for the tape due to its larger perimeter, its probability of survival in a practical sense is quite high. As the next step, an analytical model derived in this work allows to calculate accurately the fatal impact rate per year for a tape tether. The model uses power laws for debris-size ranges, in both ORDEM2000 and MASTER2009 debris flux models, to calculate tape tether survivability at different LEO altitudes. The analytical model, which depends on tape dimensions (width, thickness) and orbital parameters (inclinations, altitudes) is then compared with fully numerical results for different orbit inclinations, altitudes and tape width for both ORDEM2000 and MASTER2009 flux data. This scalable model not only estimates the fatal impact count but has proved essential in optimizing tether design for satellite de-orbit missions varying satellite mass and initial orbital altitude and inclination. Within the frame of this dissertation, a simple analysis has been finally presented, showing the scalable property of tape tether, thanks to the survivability model developed, that allows analyze and compare de-orbit performance for a large range of satellite mass and orbit properties. The work explicitly shows the product of tether-to-satellite mass-ratio and fatal impact count as a function of tether geometry and orbital parameters. Combining the tether dynamic equation involving Lorentz drag with space debris impact survivability model, eliminates time from the expression. Hence the product, is independent of tether de-orbit history and just depends on mission constraints and tether length, width and thickness. This optimization model finally led to the development of a friendly software tool named BETsMA, currently in process of registration by UPM. For the final step, an estimation of fatal impact rate on a tape tether has been done, using for the first time an experimental ballistic limit equation that was derived for tapes and accounts for the effects of both the impact velocity and impact angle. It is shown that tape tethers are highly resistant to space debris impacts and considering a tape tether with a defined cross section, the number of critical events due to impact with non-trackable debris is always significantly low.

Determination of the influence of specific building regulations in smart buildings

The automation of domestic services began to be implemented in buildings since the late nineteenth century, and today we are used to terms like ���intelligent buildings���, ���digital home��� or ���domotic buildings���. These concepts tell us about constructions which integrate new technologies in order to improve comfort, optimize energy consumption or enhance the security of users. In conjunction, building regulations have been updated to suit the needs of society and to regulate these new facilities in such structures. However, we are not always sure about how far, from the quantitative or qualitative point of view, legislation should regulate certain aspects of the building activity. Consequently, content analysis is adopted in this research to determine the influence of building regulations in the implementation of new technologies in the construction process. This study includes the analysis of different European regulations, the collection and documentation of such guidelines that have been established and a study of the impact that all of these have had in the way we start thinking an architectural project. The achievements of the research could be explained in terms of the regulatory requirements that must be taken into account in order to achieve a successful implementation of a home automation system, and the key finding has been the confirmation of how the design of smart buildings may be promoted through specific regulatory requirements while other factors, such as the global economic situation, do not seem to affect directly the rate of penetration of home automation in construction.