Entrepreneurship in project management systems: proposal of a model and preliminary empirical evidence

This study analyzes the manifestation of the dimensions of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and Project Management Systems (PMS). We used a qualitative approach to conduct exploratory research through a study in literature and a pilot case in a software company. Data was collected from semi structured interviews, documents, and records on file, then triangulated and treated with content analysis. The model proposed for the relationship between the types of PMS (ad hoc, Classic PM, innovation, entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship) and the dimensions of EO (innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy), was partially corroborated by empirical studies. New studies are suggested to validate the applicability and setup of the model.

An Islanding Detection Method based on Impedance Estimation and Grid Identification for Grid-Tie Distributed Power Generation Systems

Power system policies are broadly on track to escalate the use of renewable energy resources in electric power generation. Integration of dispersed generation to the utility network not only intensifies the benefits of renewable generation but also introduces further advantages such as power quality enhancement and freedom of power generation for the consumers. However, issues arise from the integration of distributed generators to the existing utility grid are as significant as its benefits. The issues are aggravated as the number of grid-connected distributed generators increases. Therefore, power quality demands become stricter to ensure a safe and proper advancement towards the emerging smart grid. In this regard, system protection is the area that is highly affected as the grid-connected distributed generation share in electricity generation increases. Islanding detection, amongst all protection issues, is the most important concern for a power system with high penetration of distributed sources. Islanding occurs when a portion of the distribution network which includes one or more distributed generation units and local loads is disconnected from the remaining portion of the grid. Upon formation of a power island, it remains energized due to the presence of one or more distributed sources. This thesis introduces a new islanding detection technique based on an enhanced multi-layer scheme that shows superior performance over the existing techniques. It provides improved solutions for safety and protection of power systems and distributed sources that are capable of operating in grid-connected mode. The proposed active method offers negligible non-detection zone. It is applicable to micro-grids with a number of distributed generation sources without sacrificing the dynamic response of the system. In addition, the information obtained from the proposed scheme allows for smooth transition to stand-alone operation if required. The proposed technique paves the path towards a comprehensive protection solution for future power networks. The proposed method is converter-resident and all power conversion systems that are operating based on power electronics converters can benefit from this method. The theoretical analysis is presented, and extensive simulation results confirm the validity of the analytical work.

Perceived Accessibility of Public Transport as a Potential Indicator of Social Inclusion

Perceived accessibility has been acknowledged as an important aspect of transport policy since the 70s. Nevertheless, very few empirical studies have been conducted in this field. When aiming to improve social inclusion, by making sus-tainable transport modes accessible to all, it is important to understand the factors driving perceived accessibility. Un-like conventional accessibility measures, perceived accessibility focuses on the perceived possibilities and ease of en-gaging in preferred activities using different transport modes. We define perceived accessibility in terms of how easy it is to live a satisfactory life with the help of the transport system, which is not necessarily the same thing as the objec-tive standard of the system. According to previous research, perceived accessibility varies with the subjectively-rated quality of the mode of transport. Thus, improvements in quality (e.g. trip planning, comfort, or safety) increase the per-ceived accessibility and make life easier to live using the chosen mode of transport. This study (n=750) focuses on the perceived accessibility of public transport, captured using the Perceived Accessibility Scale PAC (Lättman, Olsson, & Fri-man, 2015). More specifically, this study aims to determine how level of quality affects the perceived accessibility in public transport. A Conditional Process Model shows that, in addition to quality, feeling safe and frequency of travel are important predictors of perceived accessibility. Furthermore, elderly and those in their thirties report a lower level of perceived accessibility to their day-to-day activities using public transport. The basic premise of this study is that sub-jective experiences may be as important as objective indicators when planning and designing for socially inclusive transport systems.

Constructs in Knowledge Organization Systems: Rhythm in Time, Intention, and Form

In the context of the International Society for Knowledge Organization, we often consider knowledge organization systems to comprise catalogues, thesauri, and bibliothecal classification schemes – schemes for library arrangement. In recent years we have added ontologies and folksonomies to our sphere of study. In all of these cases it seems we are concerned with improving access to information. We want a good system.And much of the literature from the late 19th into the late 20th century took that as their goal – to analyze the world of knowledge and the structures of representing it as its objects of study; again, with the ethos for creating a good system. In most cases this meant we had to be correct in our assertions about the universe of knowledge and the relationships that obtain between its constituent parts. As a result much of the literature of knowledge organization is prescriptive – instructing designers and professionals how to build or use the schemes correctly – that is to maximize redundant success in accessing information.In 2005, there was a turn in some of the knowledge organization literature. It has been called the descriptive turn. This is in relation to the otherwise prescriptive efforts of researchers in KO. And it is the descriptive turn that makes me think of context, languages, and cultures in knowledge organization–the theme of this year’s conference.Work in the descriptive turn questions the basic assumptions about what we want to do when we create, implement, maintain, and evaluate knowledge organization systems. Following on these assumptions researchers have examined a wider range of systems and question the motivations behind system design. Online websites that allow users to curate their own collections are one such addition, for example Pinterest (cf., Feinberg, 2011). However, researchers have also looked back at other lineages of organizing to compare forms and functions. For example, encyclopedias, catalogues raisonnés, archival description, and winter counts designed and used by Native Americans.In this case of online curated collections, Melanie Feinberg has started to examine the craft of curation, as she calls it. In this line of research purpose, voice, and rhetorical stance surface as design considerations. For example, in the case of the Pinterest, users are able and encouraged to create boards. The process of putting together these boards is an act of curation in contemporary terminology. It is describing this craft that comes from the descriptive turn in KO.In the second case, when researchers in the descriptive turn look back at older and varied examples of knowledge organization systems, we are looking for a full inventory of intent and inspiration for future design. Encyclopedias, catalogues raisonnés, archival description, and works of knowledge organization in other cultures provide a rich world for the descriptive turn. And researchers have availed themselves of this.

Numerical simulation of fresh SCC flow in wall and beam elements using flow dynamics models

Abstract : Recently, there is a great interest to study the flow characteristics of suspensions in different environmental and industrial applications, such as snow avalanches, debris flows, hydrotransport systems, and material casting processes. Regarding rheological aspects, the majority of these suspensions, such as fresh concrete, behave mostly as non-Newtonian fluids. Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. Due to the limitations that exist in terms of workability and formwork filling abilities of normal concrete, a new class of concrete that is able to flow under its own weight, especially through narrow gaps in the congested areas of the formwork was developed. Accordingly, self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is a novel construction material that is gaining market acceptance in various applications. Higher fluidity characteristics of SCC enable it to be used in a number of special applications, such as densely reinforced sections. However, higher flowability of SCC makes it more sensitive to segregation of coarse particles during flow (i.e., dynamic segregation) and thereafter at rest (i.e., static segregation). Dynamic segregation can increase when SCC flows over a long distance or in the presence of obstacles. Therefore, there is always a need to establish a trade-off between the flowability, passing ability, and stability properties of SCC suspensions. This should be taken into consideration to design the casting process and the mixture proportioning of SCC. This is called “workability design” of SCC. An efficient and non-expensive workability design approach consists of the prediction and optimization of the workability of the concrete mixtures for the selected construction processes, such as transportation, pumping, casting, compaction, and finishing. Indeed, the mixture proportioning of SCC should ensure the construction quality demands, such as demanded levels of flowability, passing ability, filling ability, and stability (dynamic and static). This is necessary to develop some theoretical tools to assess under what conditions the construction quality demands are satisfied. Accordingly, this thesis is dedicated to carry out analytical and numerical simulations to predict flow performance of SCC under different casting processes, such as pumping and tremie applications, or casting using buckets. The L-Box and T-Box set-ups can evaluate flow performance properties of SCC (e.g., flowability, passing ability, filling ability, shear-induced and gravitational dynamic segregation) in casting process of wall and beam elements. The specific objective of the study consists of relating numerical results of flow simulation of SCC in L-Box and T-Box test set-ups, reported in this thesis, to the flow performance properties of SCC during casting. Accordingly, the SCC is modeled as a heterogeneous material. Furthermore, an analytical model is proposed to predict flow performance of SCC in L-Box set-up using the Dam Break Theory. On the other hand, results of the numerical simulation of SCC casting in a reinforced beam are verified by experimental free surface profiles. The results of numerical simulations of SCC casting (modeled as a single homogeneous fluid), are used to determine the critical zones corresponding to the higher risks of segregation and blocking. The effects of rheological parameters, density, particle contents, distribution of reinforcing bars, and particle-bar interactions on flow performance of SCC are evaluated using CFD simulations of SCC flow in L-Box and T-box test set-ups (modeled as a heterogeneous material). Two new approaches are proposed to classify the SCC mixtures based on filling ability and performability properties, as a contribution of flowability, passing ability, and dynamic stability of SCC.

AD-HOC principles of minimum energy expenditure as corollaries of the constructal law the cases of river basins and human vascular systems

In a recent paper [1] Reis showed that both the principles of extremum of entropy production rate, which are often used in the study of complex systems, are corollaries of the Constructal Law. In fact, both follow from the maximization of overall system conductivities, under appropriate constraints. In this way, the maximum rate of entropy production (MEP) occurs when all the forces in the system are kept constant. On the other hand, the minimum rate of entropy production (mEP) occurs when all the currents that cross the system are kept constant. In this paper it is shown how the so-called principle of "minimum energy expenditure" which is often used as the basis for explaining many morphologic features in biologic systems, and also in inanimate systems, is also a corollary of Bejan's Constructal Law [2]. Following the general proof some cases namely, the scaling laws of human vascular systems and river basins are discussed as illustrations from the side of life, and inanimate systems, respectively.

Charge accumulation and transport in degenerately doped semiconducting polymers with mixed ionic and electronic conductivity

This thesis is part of the fields of Material Physics and Organic Electronics and aims to determine the charge carrier density and mobility in the hydrated conducting polymer–polyelectrolyte blend PEDOT:PSS. This kind of material combines electronic semiconductor functionality with selective ionic transport, biocompatibility and electrochemical stability in water. This advantageous material properties combination makes PEDOT:PSS a unique material to build organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), which have relevant application as amplifying transducers for bioelectronic signals. In order to measure charge carrier density and mobility, an innovative 4-wire, contact independent characterization technique was introduced, the electrolyte-gated van der Pauw (EgVDP) method, which was combined with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The technique was applied to macroscopic thin film samples and micro-structured PEDOT:PSS thin film devices fabricated using photolithography. The EgVDP method revealed to be effective for the measurements of holes’ mobility in hydrated PEDOT:PSS thin films, which resulted to be <μ>=(0.67±0.02) cm^2/(V*s). By comparing this result with 2-point-probe measurements, we found that contact resistance effects led to a mobility overestimation in the latter. Ion accumulation at the drain contact creates a gate-dependent potential barrier and is discussed as a probable reason for the overestimation in 2-point-probe measurements. The measured charge transport properties of PEDOT:PSS were analyzed in the framework of an extended drift-diffusion model. The extended model fits well also to the non-linear response in the transport characterization and results suggest a Gaussian DOS for PEDOT:PSS. The PEDOT:PSS-electrolyte interface capacitance resulted to be voltage-independent, confirming the hypothesis of its morphological origin, related to the separation between the electronic (PEDOT) and ionic (PSS) phases in the blend.

Big data analytics and modeling for Human Mobility

The fast development of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) offers new opportunities to realize future smart cities. To understand, manage and forecast the city's behavior, it is necessary the analysis of different kinds of data from the most varied dataset acquisition systems. The aim of this research activity in the framework of Data Science and Complex Systems Physics is to provide stakeholders with new knowledge tools to improve the sustainability of mobility demand in future cities. Under this perspective, the governance of mobility demand generated by large tourist flows is becoming a vital issue for the quality of life in Italian cities' historical centers, which will worsen in the next future due to the continuous globalization process. Another critical theme is sustainable mobility, which aims to reduce private transportation means in the cities and improve multimodal mobility. We analyze the statistical properties of urban mobility of Venice, Rimini, and Bologna by using different datasets provided by companies and local authorities. We develop algorithms and tools for cartography extraction, trips reconstruction, multimodality classification, and mobility simulation. We show the existence of characteristic mobility paths and statistical properties depending on transport means and user's kinds. Finally, we use our results to model and simulate the overall behavior of the cars moving in the Emilia Romagna Region and the pedestrians moving in Venice with software able to replicate in silico the demand for mobility and its dynamic.

Integration of heterogeneous data sources and automated reasoning in healthcare and domotic IoT systems

In recent years, IoT technology has radically transformed many crucial industrial and service sectors such as healthcare. The multi-facets heterogeneity of the devices and the collected information provides important opportunities to develop innovative systems and services. However, the ubiquitous presence of data silos and the poor semantic interoperability in the IoT landscape constitute a significant obstacle in the pursuit of this goal. Moreover, achieving actionable knowledge from the collected data requires IoT information sources to be analysed using appropriate artificial intelligence techniques such as automated reasoning. In this thesis work, Semantic Web technologies have been investigated as an approach to address both the data integration and reasoning aspect in modern IoT systems. In particular, the contributions presented in this thesis are the following: (1) the IoT Fitness Ontology, an OWL ontology that has been developed in order to overcome the issue of data silos and enable semantic interoperability in the IoT fitness domain; (2) a Linked Open Data web portal for collecting and sharing IoT health datasets with the research community; (3) a novel methodology for embedding knowledge in rule-defined IoT smart home scenarios; and (4) a knowledge-based IoT home automation system that supports a seamless integration of heterogeneous devices and data sources.

Decentralized systems for the protection and portability of personal data

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been designed to help promote a view in favor of the interests of individuals instead of large corporations. However, there is the need of more dedicated technologies that can help companies comply with GDPR while enabling people to exercise their rights. We argue that such a dedicated solution must address two main issues: the need for more transparency towards individuals regarding the management of their personal information and their often hindered ability to access and make interoperable personal data in a way that the exercise of one's rights would result in straightforward. We aim to provide a system that helps to push personal data management towards the individual's control, i.e., a personal information management system (PIMS). By using distributed storage and decentralized computing networks to control online services, users' personal information could be shifted towards those directly concerned, i.e., the data subjects. The use of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) and Decentralized File Storage (DFS) as an implementation of decentralized systems is of paramount importance in this case. The structure of this dissertation follows an incremental approach to describing a set of decentralized systems and models that revolves around personal data and their subjects. Each chapter of this dissertation builds up the previous one and discusses the technical implementation of a system and its relation with the corresponding regulations. We refer to the EU regulatory framework, including GDPR, eIDAS, and Data Governance Act, to build our final system architecture's functional and non-functional drivers. In our PIMS design, personal data is kept in a Personal Data Space (PDS) consisting of encrypted personal data referring to the subject stored in a DFS. On top of that, a network of authorization servers acts as a data intermediary to provide access to potential data recipients through smart contracts.

Design and characterization of automated agricultural vehicle systems

Nowadays, technological advancements have brought industry and research towards the automation of various processes. Automation brings a reduction in costs and an improvement in product quality. For this reason, companies are pushing research to investigate new technologies. The agriculture industry has always looked towards automating various processes, from product processing to storage. In the last years, the automation of harvest and cultivation phases also has become attractive, pushed by the advancement of autonomous driving. Nevertheless, ADAS systems are not enough. Merging different technologies will be the solution to obtain total automation of agriculture processes. For example, sensors that estimate products' physical and chemical properties can be used to evaluate the maturation level of fruit. Therefore, the fusion of these technologies has a key role in industrial process automation. In this dissertation, ADAS systems and sensors for precision agriculture will be both treated. Several measurement procedures for characterizing commercial 3D LiDARs will be proposed and tested to cope with the growing need for comparison tools. Axial errors and transversal errors have been investigated. Moreover, a measurement method and setup for evaluating the fog effect on 3D LiDARs will be proposed. Each presented measurement procedure has been tested. The obtained results highlight the versatility and the goodness of the proposed approaches. Regarding the precision agriculture sensors, a measurement approach for the Moisture Content and density estimation of crop directly on the field is presented. The approach regards the employment of a Near Infrared spectrometer jointly with Partial Least Square statistical analysis. The approach and the model will be described together with a first laboratory prototype used to evaluate the NIRS approach. Finally, a prototype for on the field analysis is realized and tested. The test results are promising, evidencing that the proposed approach is suitable for Moisture Content and density estimation.

Characterization of pyrolysis and oxidation processes of biomaterials, biomasses and biofuels

The urgent need for alternative solutions mitigating the impacts of human activities on the environment has strongly opened new challenges and opportunities in view of the energy transition. Indeed, the automotive industry is going through a revolutionary moment in its quest to reduce its carbon footprint, with biofuels being one of the viable alternatives. The use of different classes of biofuels as fuel additives/standalone components has attracted the attention of many researchers. Despite their beneficial effects, biofuel’s combustion can also result in the production of undesirable pollutants, requiring complete characterization of the phenomena occurring during their production and consumption. Industrial scale-up of biomass conversion is challenging owing to the complexity of its chemistry and transport phenomena involved in the process. In this view, the role of solid-phase and gas-phase chemistry is paramount. Thus, this study is devoted to detailed analysis of physical-chemical phenomena characterizing biomass pyrolysis and biofuel oxidation. The pyrolysis mechanism has been represented by 20 reactions whereas, the gas-phase kinetic models; manually upgraded model (KiBo_MU) and automated model (KiBo_AG), comprises 141 species and 453 reactions, and 631 species and 28329 reactions, respectively. The accuracy of the kinetic models was tested against experimental data and the models captured experimental trends very well. While the development and validation of detailed kinetic mechanisms is the main deliverable of this project, the realized procedure integrating schematic classifications with methodologies for the identification of common decomposition pathways and intermediates represents an additional source of novelty. Besides, the fundamentally oriented nature of the adopted method allows the identification of most relevant reactions and species under the operating conditions different industrial applications, paving the way for reduced kinetic mechanisms. Ultimately, the resulting detailed mechanisms can be used to integrate with more complex fluid dynamics model to accurately reproduce the behavior of real systems and reactors.

Governing the water conservation in the Urmia Lake Basin: addressing macro systems’ fit and micro users’ behavior

To change unadapted water governing systems, and water users’ traditional conducts in line with climate change, understanding of systems’ structures and users’ behaviors is necessary. To this aim, comprehensive and pragmatic research was designed and implemented in the Urmia Lake Basin where due to the severe droughts, and human-made influences, especially through the agricultural development, the lake has been shrunken drastically. To analyze the water governance and conservation issues in the basin, an innovative framework was developed based on mathematical physics concepts and pro-environmental behavior theories. Accordingly, in system level (macro/meso), the problem of fit of the early-shaped water governing system associating with the function of “political-security” and “political-economic” factors in the basin was identified through mean-field models. Furthermore, the effect of a “political-environmental” factor, the Urmia Lake Restoration Program (ULRP), on reforming the system structure and hence its fit was assessed. The analysis results revealed that by revising the provincial boundaries (horizontal alternation) for the entity of Kurdistan province to permit that interact with the headquarter of West Azerbaijan province for its water demand-supply initiatives, the system fit can increase. Also, the constitution of the ULRP (vertical arrangement) not only could increase the structural fit of the water governing system to the basin, but also significantly could enhance the system fit through its water-saving policy. Besides, in individual level (micro), the governing factors of water conservation behavior of the major users/farmers were identified through rational and moral socio-psychological models. In rational approach, incorporating PMT and TPB, the SEM results demonstrated that “Perceived Vulnerability”, “Self-Efficacy”, “Response Efficacy”, “Response Cost”, “Subjective Norms” and “Institutional Trust” significantly affect the water-saving intention/behavior. Likewise, NAM based analysis as a moral approach, uncovered the significant effects of “Awareness of Consequences”, “Appraisal of Responsibility”, “Personal Norms” as well as “Place Attachment” and “Emotions” on water-saving intention.

Distributed and synchronized measurements for the wide-area observation of electric power systems in distorted and low-inertia conditions

With the aim of heading towards a more sustainable future, there has been a noticeable increase in the installation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in power systems in the latest years. Besides the evident environmental benefits, RES pose several technological challenges in terms of scheduling, operation, and control of transmission and distribution power networks. Therefore, it raised the necessity of developing smart grids, relying on suitable distributed measurement infrastructure, for instance, based on Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). Not only are such devices able to estimate a phasor, but they can also provide time information which is essential for real-time monitoring. This Thesis falls within this context by analyzing the uncertainty requirements of PMUs in distribution and transmission applications. Concerning the latter, the reliability of PMU measurements during severe power system events is examined, whereas for the first, typical configurations of distribution networks are studied for the development of target uncertainties. The second part of the Thesis, instead, is dedicated to the application of PMUs in low-inertia power grids. The replacement of traditional synchronous machines with inertia-less RES is progressively reducing the overall system inertia, resulting in faster and more severe events. In this scenario, PMUs may play a vital role in spite of the fact that no standard requirements nor target uncertainties are yet available. This Thesis deeply investigates PMU-based applications, by proposing a new inertia index relying only on local measurements and evaluating their reliability in low-inertia scenarios. It also develops possible uncertainty intervals based on the electrical instrumentation currently used in power systems and assesses the interoperability with other devices before and after contingency events.

Mechanical behaviour and durability assessment of Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) strengthening systems.

In recent years, the seismic vulnerability of existing masonry buildings has been underscored by the destructive impacts of earthquakes. Therefore, Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) retrofitting systems have gained prominence due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, compatibility with substrates, and potential reversibility. However, concerns linger regarding the durability of these systems when subjected to long-term environmental conditions. This doctoral dissertation addressed these concerns by studying the effects of mild temperature variations on three FRCM systems, featuring basalt, glass, and aramid fibre textiles with lime-based mortar matrices. The study subjected various specimens, including mortar triplets, bare textile specimens, FRCM coupons, and single-lap direct shear wallets, to thermal exposure. A novel approach utilizing embedded thermocouple sensors facilitated efficient monitoring and active control of the conditioning process. A shift in the failure modes was obtained in the single lap-direct shear tests, alongside a significant impact on tensile capacity for both textiles and FRCM coupons. Subsequently, bond tests results were used to indirectly calibrate an analytical approach based on mode-II fracture mechanics. A comparison between Cohesive Material Law (CML) functions at various temperatures was conducted for each of the three systems, demonstrating a good agreement between the analytical model and experimental curves. Furthermore, the durability in alkaline environment of two additional FRCM systems, characterized by basalt and glass fibre textiles with lime-based mortars, was studied through an extensive experimental campaign. Tests conducted on single yarn and textile specimens after exposure at different durations and temperatures revealed a significant impact on tensile capacity. Additionally, FRCM coupons manufactured with conditioned textile were tested to understand the influence of aged textile and curing environment on the final tensile behavior. These results contributed significantly to the existing knowledge on FRCM systems and could be used to develop a standardized alkaline testing protocol, still lacking in the scientific literature.