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Demers, Nancy. "La responsabilité légale des constructeurs, étude des articles 2118 C.c.q. et 2119 C.c.q." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/mq25551.pdf.
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Коваль, Василь Ярославович. "Проект дільниці ремонтного цеху для діагностики, технічного обслуговуваннята ремонту амортизаторів 2110-2905003, 2110-2915004 автомобілів ВАЗ-2112 з дослідженням робочих параметрів амортизаторів." Thesis, Тернопільський національний технічний університет імені Івана Пулюя, 2016. http://elartu.tntu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/19336.
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Захист відбудеться 24 лютого 2016 р. о 9.00 годині на засіданні екзаменаційної комісії №1 у тернопільському національному технічному університеті імені Івана Пулюя за адресою: 46001, м. Тернопіль, вул. Текстильна 28, навчальний корпус №9, ауд. 103При виконанні дипломної роботи розроблено проект дільниці ремонтного цеху для діагностики , технічного обслуговування та ремонту амортизаторів 2110-2905003 автомобілів ВАЗ-2112. Розглянуто питання з удосконалення ТО ТП і діагностики амортизаторів. Подано розрахунок виробничої програми по ТО і ремонту , вибір коригування нормативів, визначення кількості ТО і КР автомобіля за цикл. Описана технологія роботи зі стендом для перевірки амортизаторів і проведено розрахунок об’єкту проектування . Здійснено вибір технологічного устаткування і оснастки . здійснено аналіз існуючих конструкцій для перевірки підвісок , опис запропонованого пристрою та перевірочні розрахунки деталей на міцність. Розглянуто визначення вихідних даних для розрахунку економічного розділу, визначено вартість основних фондів. Проведено розрахунок єдиного фонду оплати праці і заходи по економії матеріальних та енергетичних ресурсів а також калькуляції собівартості робіт. Приведена дипломна робота актуальна і при відповідному доопрацюванні може бути впровадження у виробництво
In carrying out the thesis drafted station repair shop for diagnostics, maintenance and repair of shock absorbers 2110-2905003 VAZ-2112. The question of improving the TO TA and diagnostics shock. Posted calculation of the production program for maintenance and repairs, adjustments selection, determine the number of MOT and car CD for the series. The technology works on the stand to test shock absorbers and calculation of object design. The choice of process equipment and tooling. the analysis of existing structures for testing of suspensions, description of the device and testing calculation details of strength. Definition of baseline data to calculate the economic section defines the value of fixed assets. The calculation of the single payroll and measures for saving material and energy resources and costing work. Present thesis is relevant and appropriate in the revision may be implementation in production.
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Підкамінний, Ігор Русланович, and Ihor Ruslanovych Pidkaminnyi. "Проект дільниці ремонтного цеху для ремонту систем живлення двигуна моделі 2111 автомобіля ВАЗ-2110 з дослідженням впливу картерних газів на показники роботи системи живлення." Master's thesis, Тернопільський національний технічний університет імені Івана Пулюя, 2020. http://elartu.tntu.edu.ua/handle/lib/33511.
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Роботу виконано на кафедрі автомобілів Тернопільського національного технічного університету імені Івана Пулюя Міністерства освіти і науки України. Захист відбудеться 23 грудня 2020 р. о 11:30 годині на засіданні екзаменаційної комісії № 10 у Тернопільському національному технічному університеті імені Івана Пулюя за адресою: 46001, м. Тернопіль, вул. Текстильна, 28, навчальний корпус № 9, ауд. 106.В кваліфікаційній роботі розроблено технологію ремонту систем живлення двигуна моделі 2111 автомобіля ВАЗ-2110, а також досліджено вплив картерних газів на показники роботи системи живлення.
The qualification work developed the technology of repair of engine systems of the model 2111 car VAZ-2110, as well as investigated the impact of carter gases on the performance of the power system.
Вступ... 1 ЗАГАЛЬНО-ТЕХНІЧНИЙ РОЗДІЛ... 1.1 Структура та перспективи розвитку «Тернопільавто»… 1.2 Проблеми сумішоутворення в бензинових двигунах внутрішнього згорання… 1.3 Висновки та постановка завдання на магістерську роботу…. 2 ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНИЙ РОЗДІЛ… 2.1 Складання технологічних карт на ремонт систем живлення двигуна моделі 2111 автомобіля ВАЗ-2110... 2.2 Розрахунки потреб технічного обслуговування та капітального ремонту автомобіля... 2.3 Виробнича програма та її розрахунок... 2.4 Розподіл трудомісткості технічного обслуговування та поточного ремонту автомобілів по видам робіт... 2.5 Режими роботи, розрахунок річних фондів часу робітників, робочих постів і обладнання... 2.6 Перевірочний розрахунок штатів підприємства... 2.7 Організація робочих постів і місць... 2.8 Розрахунок та підбір технологічного обладнання дільниці... 2.9 Економічний розрахунок прийнятих рішень... 3 КОНСТРУКТОРСЬКИЙ РОЗДІЛ... 3.1 Призначення, конструкція та принцип роботи вузла... 3.2 Розрахунки основних конструктивних елементів вузла... 4 НАУКОВО-ДОСЛІДНИЙ РОЗДІЛ... 4.1 Експериментальне дослідження впливу картерних газів на показники роботи системи живлення... 4.2 Розгляд діаграм показників газоаналізатора... 5 ОХОРОНА ПРАЦІ ТА БЕЗПЕКА В НАДЗВИЧАЙНИХ СИТУАЦІЯХ... 5.1 Розробка засобів по протипожежній безпеці на ділянці... 5.2 Організація та основні завдання формувань цивільної оборони на об’єкті... ЗАГАЛЬНІ ВИСНОВКИ... БІБЛІОГРАФІЯ... ДОДАТКИ
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Nava, Manco Julissa Lisset. "Informe sobre Expediente N° 2116-2006/CPC." Bachelor's thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12404/19201.
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El caso materia de desarrollo del presente informe es de relevancia; dado
que, permite analizar y abordar los criterios que a lo largo de los años el
INDECOPI y el Tribunal Constitucional han desarrollado vinculados a la
discriminación. Asimismo, el caso permite abordar el estudio y desarrollo
de derechos fundamentales tal como el de igualdad, el mandato de no
discriminación y el respeto a la dignidad de todo ser humano, para lo cual
se recurre a nuestra Constitución Política del Perú de 1993 y disposiciones
internacionales.
Además, permite desarrollar si corresponde que la discriminación en el
consumo se distinga del trato ilícito, con lo que expongo mi postura
debidamente fundamentada empleando los criterios esbozados a lo largo
de estos años.
Finalmente, es necesario señalar que el caso materia de informe se rige
bajo el Decreto Legislativo N° 716 (derogada y el precedente del actual
Código de Protección y Defensa del Consumidor), que incorpora lo
estipulado en la Ley N° 27049, Ley que precisa el derecho de los
ciudadanos a no ser discriminados en el consumo, que entró en vigencia
en 1998 y fue la norma que por primera vez estableció en nuestro país de
manera expresa a nivel legislativo la prohibición de discriminar a los
consumidores.
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Adame, Michelle. "CdTe deposition on CdTe(211) and Si(211) substrates by the CSS technique." To access this resource online via ProQuest Dissertations and Theses @ UTEP, 2008. http://0-proquest.umi.com.lib.utep.edu/login?COPT=REJTPTU0YmImSU5UPTAmVkVSPTI=&clientId=2515.
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Пінчук, О. А. "Проєкт легкового автомобіля ВАЗ 2111 з модернізацією зчеплення." Thesis, Чернігів, 2021. http://ir.stu.cn.ua/123456789/23203.
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Пінчук, О. А. Проєкт легкового автомобіля ВАЗ 2111 з модернізацією зчеплення : випускна кваліфікаційна робота : 274 «Автомобільний транспорт» / О. А. Пінчук ; керівник роботи В. І. Венжега ; НУ "Чернігівська політехніка", кафедра автомобільного транспорту та галузевого машинобудування. – Чернігів, 2021. – 73 с.При виконанні розрахунково-графічної роботи будо визначено : – визначення силового навантаження на осі і вибір шин для автомобіля; – розрахунок і побудова зовнішньої характеристики двигуна для автомобіля; – розрахунок і вибір передавальних чисел механічної трансмісії; – розрахунок тягово-швидкісних характеристик автомобіля; – розрахунок динамічних характеристик і динамічного паспорта автомобіля; Також побудували – загальне креслення автомобіля, виконане в трьох проекціях, з простановкою основних розмірів – зовнішня швидкісна характеристика двигуна, тягова характеристика автомобіля
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Deshpande, Jaylaxmi N. "Study of phase relationships near 211 YBCO along 211-123 and 211-CuO phase fields : the preparation and characterization of a new phase Y₅Ba₁₀CuOx." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/20041.
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Сеневич, О. І. "Проект легкового автомобіля ВАЗ 2110 з модернізацією механізму зчеплення." Thesis, Чернігів, 2021. http://ir.stu.cn.ua/123456789/23188.
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Сеневич, О. І. Проект легкового автомобіля ВАЗ 2110 з модернізацією механізму зчеплення випускна кваліфікаційна робота : 274 «Автомобільний транспорт / О. І. Сеневич ; керівник роботи В. М. Скляр ; НУ "Чернігівська політехніка", кафедра автомобільного транспорту та галузевого машинобудування. – Чернігів, 2021. – 72 с.Проведено аналітичний огляд легкових автомобілів певного класу й модельного ряду автомобілів. Проведено визначення масових показників та параметрів автомобіля та його двигуна. Проведено розрахунок зовнішньої швидкісної характеристики двигуна, силового балансу автомобіля та визначення параметрів трансмісії. Проведено розрахунок показників динамічності автомобіля при рівномірному та не рівномірному русі, метод силового балансу та динамічної характеристики. Проведено розрахунок паливної економічності автомобіля. Розглянули види гальмівних механізмів, виконали розрахунок та модернізацію гальмівної системи. При виконанні кваліфікаційної роботи розрахунки та креслення виконували в таких програмах, як: “Компас” та “Mathcad”.
An analytical review of cars of a certain class and model range of cars was conducted. The determination of mass indicators and parameters of the car and its engine is carried out. The calculation of the external speed characteristics of the engine, the power balance of the car and the definition of transmission parameters. The calculation of the dynamics of the car with uniform and non-uniform motion, the method of force balance and dynamic characteristics. The calculation of fuel efficiency of the car is carried out. The types of brake mechanisms were considered, the calculation and modernization of the brake system were performed.
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Saraiva, Tessalia Diniz Luerce. "Caracterização e avaliação das propriedades probióticas de lactococcus lactis NCDO 2118." Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1843/BUBD-9G3HMV.
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The prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) has increased in countries that adopt Western lifestyle, including Brazil. The two main IBD associated diseases are Ulcerative Colitis and Crohns Disease. Discovered nearly 100 years ago, the etiology of these diseases is not yet fully understood; however, there is growing evidence that IBD results from abnormal immune responses to the gut microbiota in individuals with genetic predisposition, resulting in a chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. The treatments currently available are accompanied by serious side effects. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential therapeutic use of probiotic bacteria in the treatment of these diseases, and many probiotics, have generat promising results. Most of them belong to the Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) group, which makes part of our healthy microbiota. However, little is known about the effects of transiting dairy bacteria that make part of our diet, including Lactococcus lactis. In this study we aimed to evaluate the immunomodulatory potential of three strains of L. lactis and analyzed their probiotic potential in the prevention of colitis in murine model. Firstly, we analyzed the potential immune modulatory effects of three L. lactis strains (L. lactis subsp. cremoris MG1363, L. lactis subsp. lactis IL1403 and L. lactis subsp. lactis NCDO 2118) in vitro. The supernatant and the L. lactis cells were co-cultured with intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2 cells) in the presence of the proinflammatory cytokine IL1-. Only one strain, L. lactis NCDO 2118, was able to reduce the IL1--induced IL-8 secretion in Caco-2 cells, suggesting a potential anti-inflammatory effect for this strain. In vivo, this strain was administered for 4 days to C57BL/6 mice during a remission period between a first and second course of colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium. L. lactis NCDO 2118 treatment resulted in a milder form of recurrent colitis than observed in mice administered medium during this same period. Administration was associated with early increase in IL-6 production and maintenance of IL-10 in colonic tissue. Mice fed with L. lactis NCDO 2118 had an increased number of regulatory T cells bearing surface TGF- in the form of latency-associated peptide (CD4+LAP+) in mesenteric lymph node and spleen as well as the number of tolerogenic dendritic cells. The results of this study allowed us to identify a new probiotic strain which may represent an alternative for IBD treatment.A prevalência das doenças inflamatórias intestinais (IBD, sigla do inglês inflammatory bowel diseases) tem aumentado em países que adotam um estilo de vida ocidental, incluindo o Brasil. As duas principais formas da IBD são a Colite Ulcerativa (UC, Ulcerative Colitis) e Doenças de Crohn (CD, Crohns Disease). Descobertas há quase 100 anos atrás, a etiologia dessas doenças ainda não é bem compreendida, entretanto, existem crescentes evidências que as IBD resultam de uma resposta imune anormal à microbiota do intestino em indivíduos com predisposição genética, resultando em uma inflamação crônica do trato gastrointestinal. Os tratamentos, atualmente disponíveis, acarretam sérios efeitos colaterais. Estudos recentes tem demonstrado o potencial terapêutico de bactérias probióticas no tratamento destas doenças apresentando resultados promissores. Grande parte dos probióticos pertence ao grupo das Bactérias Lácticas (BL), que fazem parte de uma microbiota saudável. Entretanto pouco se sabe sobre os efeitos de bactérias presentes em produtos lácteos que fazem parte da nossa dieta, incluindo Lactococcus lactis. Neste estudo objetivou-se avaliar o potencial imunomodulador de três linhagens de L. lactis e analisar o seu potencial probiótico na prevenção de colite em modelo murino. Em primeiro lugar, analisamos o potencial de modulação imunológica de três lihagens de L. lactis (L. lactis subsp. cremoris MG1363, L. lactis subsp. lactis IL1403 e L. lactis subsp. lactis NCDO 2118) in vitro. O sobrenadante e as células de L. lactis foram co-cultivadas com as células epiteliais do intestino (células Caco-2) na presença da citocina pró-inflamatória IL-1. Apenas uma linhagem, L. lactis NCDO 2118, foi capaz de reduzir os níveis de secreção de IL-8 induzida por IL-1 em células Caco-2, sugerindo um potencial efeito anti-inflamatório para esta linhagem. In vivo, esta linhagem foi administrada durante 4 dias em camundongos C57BL/6 durante um período de remissão entre um primeiro e um segundo curso de colite induzida por sulfato de sódio dextrano. O tratamento com L. lactis NCDO 2118 resultou em uma forma mais branda da colite recorrente do que a observada em camundongos que receberam apenas meio de cultura durante este mesmo período. Administração de L. lactis foi associada com o aumento precoce da citocina IL-6 e pela manutenção da citocina IL-10 no tecido do cólon. Camundongos que receberam L. lactis NCDO 2118 tiveram aumento no número de células T reguladoras que apresentam na superfície TGF- sob a forma de peptídeo associado à latência (CD4+LAP+) em linfonodos mesentéricos e no baço bem como de células dendrídicas tolerogênicas. Os resultados deste estudo permitiram identificar uma nova linhagem anti-inflamatória, que, no futuro, poderá representar uma alternativa ao tratamento de IBD.
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Melita, Marco. "Variazione della comunità microbica in un peculiare ambiente salmastro (lago di Ganzirri)in relazione ai flussi mareali." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2011. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/2119/.
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Guidi, Flavio. "Individuazione dei valori ottimali di crescita di dinoflagellate bentoniche, valutazione della tossicità e di interazioni allopatiche." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2011. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/2115/.
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Individuazione dei valori ottimali di crescita di dinoflagellate bentoniche, valutazione della tossicità e di interazioni allelopatiche.
Il fitoplancton rappresenta la base della catena trofica in ambiente marino, nonché oltre la metà della produzione primaria a livello mondiale. Le dinoflagellate, assieme alle diatomee, costituiscono la maggior parte del fitoplancton, comprendendo numerose e diversificate specie di microalghe dalla differente distribuzione, ecologia e fisiologia.
Alcune specie appartenenti a tale gruppo sono in grado di dare luogo, in determinate condizioni, a estesi fenomeni di fioriture algali, che diventano particolarmente impattanti se le specie coinvolte sono responsabili della produzione di biotossine, le quali possono direttamente uccidere altri organismi o accumularsi nei loro tessuti.
Gli effetti nocivi di questi fenomeni si ripercuotono pesantemente sull'ecosistema marino, con ingenti morie di organismi acquatici (da pesci a molluschi, dal bentos al necton) e profonde alterazioni nelle comunità specifiche. Un forte coinvolgimento si ha di conseguenza anche per le attività umane, in seguito a forti esternalità negative su pesca, turismo, attività ricreative, o spesso con rischi direttamente correlati alla salute umana, dovuti perlopiù ad ingestione di organismi contaminati o all'inalazione di tossine per via aerea.
Negli ultimi anni le fioriture algali tossiche si sono fortemente intensificate in distribuzione, estensione e frequenza, attirando l'interesse globale della comunità scientifica.
Diversi studi condotti in questo senso hanno portato all'identificazione di numerose specie di dinoflagellate tossiche e all'isolamento di una lunga serie di composti chimici con effetti dannosi da esse sintetizzate. Tuttavia si conosce ancora ben poco sull'ecologia di queste specie, in particolare su quali siano i fattori che possano indurre o regolare la proliferazione e lo sviluppo di un bloom algale.
Questo studio si è focalizzato su due specie di dinoflagellate bentoniche tossiche, Ostreopsis ovata e Coolia monotis, entrambe appartenenti alla famiglia Ostreopsidaceae, note già da tempo nei paesi tropicali poiché associate alla sindrome da ciguatera. Negli ultimi anni, Ostreopsis ovata è stata oggetto di numerose ricerche in Europa, poiché ha dato luogo a fenomeni di bloom, collegati con danni respiratori nell'uomo, anche lungo i litorali italiani; soltanto recentemente grazie ad una tecnica analitica basata sulla combinazione di cromatografia liquida e spettrometria di massa (LC-MS), è stato possibile isolare la diverse tossine responsabili. Durante i vari monitoraggi e campionamenti delle acque, questa dinoflagellata è stata sempre riscontrata in presenza di Coolia monotis (e Prorocentrum lima), di cui invece si conosce ben poco, visto che la sua tossicità in Mediterraneo non è ancora stata dimostrata, né la sua tossina caratterizzata.
Il primo step di questo studio è stato quello di valutare, attraverso il mantenimento di colture in vitro, l'importanza della temperatura nella crescita di O. ovata e C. monotis (singolarmente) provenienti dalla zona del monte Conero (Ancona, Marche). Esistono già studi di questo tipo su ceppi adriatici di O. ovata, tuttavia è stato effettuato un esperimento similare utilizzando un nuovo ceppo, isolato in anni recenti; per C. monotis invece non sono presenti molti studi in letteratura, in particolare nessuno riguardante ceppi italiani.
La valutazione della crescita è stata effettuata attraverso conteggio delle cellule, misura dell'efficienza fotosintetica e consumo dei macronutrienti. Quindi, visto che le due specie vivono in associazione nell'ambiente marino, si è cercato di evidenziare l'instaurarsi di eventuali processi competitivi o di fenomeni di allelopatia.
Dall'analisi dei risultati è emerso che, se coltivate individualmente, sia C. monotis che O. ovata mostrano un optimum di crescita alla temperatura di 20°C, con tasso di crescita, numero di cellule e rendimento fotosintetico raggiunti più elevati, seppure non di molto rispetto alle colture a 25°C.
Le colture a 30°C al contrario hanno mostrato valori sensibilmente inferiori.
Se fatte crescere assieme, invece, C. monotis mantiene lo stesso pattern riscontrato nella monoculture a 20 e 25°C, seppur raggiungendo numeri di cellule inferiori, mentre a 30°C ha una crescita bassissima. Al contrario, O. ovata alla temperatura più elevata raggiunge lo stesso numero di cellule della monocultura, alla temperatura intermedia registra il tasso di crescita, ma non il numero di cellule, più elevato, mentre alla temperatura più bassa (che era l'optimum per la monocultura) si ha il maggior stress per la specie, evidenziando forti fenomeni di competizione.
Esperimenti su C. monotis fatta crescere in un filtrato di O. ovata non hanno invece chiarito l'esistenza o meno di eventuali effetti allelopatici di Ostreopsis su Coolia, dato che non sono apparse differenze evidenti tra il controllo e il filtrato, mentre hanno messo in luce l'importanza dei batteri associati alle microalghe come supporto alla loro crescita, poiché le colture cresciute in filtrato sterile hanno manifestato tutte quante un rendimento quantico fotosintetico inferiore.
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Ambu, Zaira. "Impact of Ocean Acidification on respiration and regenerative capabilities of Amphiura filiformis and on Ostrea edulis larvae stages." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2011. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/2113/.
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Pearson, Michael Peter. "Aspects of the energy budget of the Caribbean reef building coral Montastrea cavernosa (Linnaeus) : a preliminary in situ investigation." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1985. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2111/.
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Chen, Chiung-Mei. "Investigating the functional consequences of expanded triplet repeat sequence in a mouse model of Huntington's Disease (HD)." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2002. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2114/.
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A PCR strategy showed that a number of total mtDNA molecules was significantly decreased (~30%) in the striatum (no reduction in the cortex and cerebellum) of 24-month old HD mice, but not a 15 months of age, when compared to wild-type mice, suggesting mtDNA depletion is a progressive rather than a developmental phenomenon. In light of the ~30% reduction of total mtDNA in the striatum, expression levels of the mitochondrial DNA-encoded respiratory complex enzymes, cytochrome b(Cytb), cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) and cytochrome c oxidase II (COII) were investigated in different brain regions of HD mice. At ~25 months of age, there were no significant differences in mRNA levels of CoII and Cytb in any brain region (striatum, cortex and cerebellum) studied when compared to normal littermates. However, HD mice showed significantly decreased CO-I protein levels and marginally decreased CoI mRNA levels in the striatum. Reduced levels of mtDNA may be caused by decreased replication of mtDNA or increased oxidative damage of mtDNA. Increased levels of 8-OHdG, a marker of increased oxidative stress, were detected in the dorsomedial, dorsolateral and ventromedial striatum, but not in the cortex of 24-month old HD mice providing direct evidence that increased oxidative stress specifically occurs in the striatum of HD mice. As no alterations in the mitochondrial transcription factor (mtTFA) in the striatum of HD mice could be detected, it is likely that mtDNA depletion in the HD mice is caused by increased levels of oxidative stress rather than decreased replication. The results provide a basis for further studies investigating how mutant huntingtin causes increased levels of oxidative stress and for identifying novel therapeutic targets.
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Terfas, Osama Abdulhamid. "Quantification of constraint in three-dimensional fracture mechanics." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2010. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2119/.
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Abstract The role of crack tip constraint in three dimensional fracture mechanics has been investigated under elastic-plastic conditions using finite element techniques. Out-of-plane constraint loss has been identified by comparing the mean stress of the three dimensional cracked body with a reference plane strain configuration. This has allowed the quantification of constraint loss due to thickness. This is important for fitness-for-service procedures where the use of standard thick deeply cracked samples inherently leads to conservative assessments. The proximity to plane–strain conditions was investigated, as well as the J-integral along the crack fronts of typical fracture mechanics specimens. It was shown that deep cracks (a/w=0.5) were significantly affected by out-of-plane constraint loss, while the effect was smaller for shallow cracks (a/w=0.1) when in-plane effects were dominant, where a is the crack length and w is the width of the specimen. The out-of-plane effect was confirmed experimentally with a series of fracture mechanics tests on thin and thick deeply cracked fracture mechanics samples. Computational and experimental studies showed that geometries with B/w=0.2 maintained high constraint conditions at the centre plane and exhibited a low fracture toughness, where B is the thickness of the specimen. As such they can be used to measure the plane strain fracture toughness (JIc) as long as the thickness and the ligament exceed 20J/σ0. The increased slope of the resistance JR curve and enhanced fracture toughness were correlated to the loss of out-of-plane constraint that developed in thinner samples (B/w=0.1). A procedure to incorporate the effects of out-of-plane constraint in the R6 failure assessment diagram was proposed. A procedure was developed to determine ductile crack growth of semi-elliptical surface cracks in flat plates. The procedure used the J-a resistance curve developed from standard high and low constraint geometries in conjunction with an analysis of the crack tip stress field using finite element modelling. This allowed the evolution of crack shape under ductile tearing to be modelled. The majority of the work was devoted to the study of surface breaking semi-elliptical cracks subject to bending, uniaxial tension or biaxial loading. Both the mean stress and J-integral were geometry and load dependent, and were non-uniformly distributed around the crack front. Crack growth was dependent on the level of crack tip constraint, and the original crack shape was generally not retained after ductile tearing. In bending the crack growth was suppressed in the thickness direction and the crack extended significantly sub-surface in a stable manner so that the crack adopted a boat shape. In tension the crack extended through the thickness and this was accompanied with extensive growth in the angular range 45ْ-70ْ. In biaxial loading higher constraint levels were observed, however the overall trend of crack growth was similar to uniaxial tension. Finally, the results from the finite element modelling and the crack growth procedure were verified with experimental data. Excellent agreement in the crack shape patterns was observed between the test data and the crack growth models.
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Sveinsdottir, Thordis. "Virtual identity as practice : exploring the relationship between role-players and their characters in the massively multiplayer online game 'Star Wars Galaxies'." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2008. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2112/.
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The objective of this research is firstly, to evaluate claims that cyberspace, due to its inherent qualities, has had an unprecedented effect on how we construct, present and think about our collective and individual identities online and offline. Secondly, it will highlight how people use shared understandings of popular culture products in order to maintain social formations in cyberspace.
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Yang, Siyu. "On the development of a stochastic optimisation algorithm with capabilities for distributed computing." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2009. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2119/.
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In this thesis, we devise a new stochastic optimisation method (cascade optimisation algorithm) by incorporating the concepts from Markov process whilst eliminating the inherent sequential nature that is the major deficit preventing the exploitation of advances in distributed computing infrastructures. This method introduces partitions and pools to store intermediate solution and corresponding objectives. A Markov process increases the population of partitions and pools. The population is distributed periodically following an external certain. With the use of partitions and pools, multiple Markov processes can be launched simultaneously for different partitions and pools. The cascade optimisation algorithm is suitable for parallel and distributed computing environments. In addition, this method has the potential to integrate knowledge acquisition techniques (e. g. data mining and ontology) to achieve effective knowledge-based decision making. Several features are extracted and studied in this thesis. The application problems involve both the small-scale and the large-scale optimisation problems. Comparisons with the stochastic optimisation methods are made and results show that the cascade optimisation algorithm can converge to the optimal solutions in agreement with other methods more quickly. The cascade optimisation algorithm is also studied on parallel and distributed computing environments in terms of the reduction in computation time.
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Gooch, P. "A modular, open-source information extraction framework for identifying clinical concepts and processes of care in clinical narratives." Thesis, City University London, 2012. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/2112/.
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In this thesis, a synthesis is presented of the knowledge models required by clinical informa- tion systems that provide decision support for longitudinal processes of care. Qualitative research techniques and thematic analysis are novelly applied to a systematic review of the literature on the challenges in implementing such systems, leading to the development of an original conceptual framework. The thesis demonstrates how these process-oriented systems make use of a knowledge base derived from workflow models and clinical guidelines, and argues that one of the major barriers to implementation is the need to extract explicit and implicit information from diverse resources in order to construct the knowledge base. Moreover, concepts in both the knowledge base and in the electronic health record (EHR) must be mapped to a common ontological model. However, the majority of clinical guideline information remains in text form, and much of the useful clinical information residing in the EHR resides in the free text fields of progress notes and laboratory reports. In this thesis, it is shown how natural language processing and information extraction techniques provide a means to identify and formalise the knowledge components required by the knowledge base. Original contributions are made in the development of lexico-syntactic patterns and the use of external domain knowledge resources to tackle a variety of information extraction tasks in the clinical domain, such as recognition of clinical concepts, events, temporal relations, term disambiguation and abbreviation expansion. Methods are developed for adapting existing tools and resources in the biomedical domain to the processing of clinical texts, and approaches to improving the scalability of these tools are proposed and evalu- ated. These tools and techniques are then combined in the creation of a novel approach to identifying processes of care in the clinical narrative. It is demonstrated that resolution of coreferential and anaphoric relations as narratively and temporally ordered chains provides a means to extract linked narrative events and processes of care from clinical notes. Coreference performance in discharge summaries and progress notes is largely dependent on correct identification of protagonist chains (patient, clinician, family relation), pronominal resolution, and string matching that takes account of experiencer, temporal, spatial, and anatomical context; whereas for laboratory reports additional, external domain knowledge is required. The types of external knowledge and their effects on system performance are identified and evaluated. Results are compared against existing systems for solving these tasks and are found to improve on them, or to approach the performance of recently reported, state-of-the- art systems. Software artefacts developed in this research have been made available as open-source components within the General Architecture for Text Engineering framework.
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Assis, Paulo. "Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians in field theory." Thesis, City University London, 2009. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/2118/.
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This thesis is centred around the role of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians in Physics both at the quantum and classical levels. In our investigations of two-level models we demonstrate [1] the phenomenon of fast transitions developed in the PT -symmetric quantum brachistochrone problem may in fact be attributed to the non-Hermiticity of evolution operator used, rather than to its invariance under PT operation. Transition probabilities are calculated for Hamiltonians which explicitly violate PT -symmetry. When it comes to Hilbert spaces of infinite dimension, starting with non-Hermitian Hamiltonians expressed as linear and quadratic combinations of the generators of the su(1; 1) Lie algebra, we construct [2] Hermitian partners in the same similarity class. Alongside, metrics with respect to which the original Hamiltonians are Hermitian are also constructed, allowing to assign meaning to a large class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians possessing real spectra. The finding of exact results to establish the physical acceptability of other non-Hermitian models may be pursued by other means, especially if the system of interest cannot be expressed in terms of Lie algebraic elements. We also employ [3] a representation of the canonical commutation relations for position and momentum operators in terms of real-valued functions and a noncommutative product rule of differential form. Besides exact solutions, we also compute in a perturbative fashion metrics and isospectral partners for systems of physical interest. Classically, our efforts were concentrated on integrable models presenting PT - symmetry. Because the latter can also establish the reality of energies in classical systems described by Hamiltonian functions, we search for new families of nonlinear differential equations for which the presence of hidden symmetries allows one to assemble exact solutions. We use [4] the Painleve test to check whether deformations of integrable systems preserve integrability. Moreover we compare [5] integrable deformed models, which are thus likely to possess soliton solutions, to a broader class of systems presenting compacton solutions. Finally we study [6] the pole structure of certain real valued nonlinear integrable systems and establish that they behave as interacting particles whose motion can be extended to the complex plane in a PT -symmetric way.
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Yang, Qian. "Proteomic investigation of the group B streptococcus." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2011. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/2119/.
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The Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a Gram-positive opportunistic pathogen which is a leading cause of neonatal disease globally. In 2000-2001, the general incidence of neonatal GBS infection was 0.72 per 1000 live births in U.K. and the mortality rate is about 10%, because of which neonatal GBS disease is a significant burden on society. GBS is part of the commensal flora, colonising the vagina and gastrointestinal tract of women. Vertical transmission is the main cause of early onset GBS disease. During the process of GBS neonatal disease, GBS must be able to survive in several very different host environments, including the vagina, amniotic fluid, the neonate's lung and blood. The vagina is normally acidic, low oxygen and with limited nutrients while the neonate's lung and blood are neutral, high oxygen and with abundant nutrient. Proteomic investigations of GBS protein expression under conditions representing those associated with benign maternal colonisation and foetal exposure may help us understand the molecular basis of GBS virulence. GBS growth characteristics, long term survival, acid adaptation, viable but non-culturable state and biofilm formation were investigated to help us understand how GBS survives in different environments and also help us to develop an in vitro model to reflect in vivo conditions during GBS disease development. An in vitro model of GBS growth under conditions reflecting maternal vaginal carriage (low pH, low oxygen, nutrient stress) and exposure to body fluids during invasive disease (neutral pH, aeration, nutrient sufficient) was established. Proteins expressed under each growth conditions were separated by two dimensional electrophoresis. Individual proteins were subjected to in-gel trypsin digestion and identified using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with peptide mass fingerprinting followed with bioinformatic research. A total of 76 proteins were identified and 16 of these were expressed differentially. The putative virulence factor C protein β antigen and proteins involved in responses to oxidative stress were up-regulated under the conditions reflecting neonatal exposure. Another in vitro model of GBS growth on Todd Hewitt agar in the presence or absence of 10% human serum was established and followed by proteomic investigation of proteins differentially expressed under these two conditions, as this model reflects GBS neonatal septicaemia (exposure to serum). A total of 84 proteins were identified and 11 of which were expressed differentially. The putative virulence factor C protein β antigen, arginine deiminase, an ABC transporter substrate-binding protein and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase were up-regulated in the presence of human serum.
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Hung, Wen-Shai. "An economic analysis of retirement decisions in Taiwan." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2114/.
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Over the last 20 years there has been a growth in the relative importance of labour economics as an area of economics, particularly for labour force participation, retirement, and labour force transition. However in Taiwan, due to a lack of suitable data, most of the work in this area has been cross-sectional and time-series data analyses. This thesis uses micro panel data to fill this gap. The data is from the Survey of Health and Living Status of the Middle Aged and Elderly in Taiwan, a rich source of information on employment history from 1989 to 2003. The main econometric methods use the binary response models and continuous-time hazard models to analyse labour force participation, retirement, and labour force transition, paying particular to gender differences. The main empirical results show that older workers, female workers, Mainlander workers, and workers with poor health have a lower probability of labour force participation and a higher hazard rate of retirement. In contrast, Hakka workers, workers with better educational attainment, married male workers, and rural workers have a higher probability of participation in work and a lower hazard rate of retirement. In particular, there is an interesting and conditional result for the Pension variable that for workers with less than 35 years employment duration, the survival curve for workers eligible for a pension lies above that of workers ineligible for a pension; and after 35 years, die results are expected to change, particularly for women. Furthermore, workers with higher predicted earnings have a lower hazard rate of retirement, and workers with higher predicted pension income have a higher hazard rate of retirement. Finally, in the case of labour force transitions, the duration models incorporate time-varying covariate factors and show that being in poor health increases the hazard rate of retirement, other things being equal. In addition, as the models consider unobserved heterogeneity factors and find that most estimated coefficients on the regressors are lightly larger in magnitude than the corresponding coefficients in the reference model. Further, unobserved heterogeneity factors are also found to be less serious once time-varying covariates are included in the hazard model
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Hwang, S. E. Kwang. "“Same but different” : a visual ethnography of the everyday lives of siblings with autistic children in South Korea." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2117/.
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This study explores the ordinary daily lives of siblings of autistic children in South Korea and draws on four theoretical perspectives: social psychological, young carers, the new sociology of childhood and cross-cultural. Building on knowledge of sibling’s of autistic and other disabled children in western context, I used techniques of visual ethnography to extend understanding of the everyday lives of children with autistic siblings. Nine children, aged between aged 7 and 15, in two South Korean cities were given cameras to make 'video diaries' and 'home movies' over a two week period. This was followed by reviewing sessions with the researcher to discuss the films and invitations to prepare further, age appropriate, visual representations of family life. Interviews were also held with nine mothers and two fathers to elicit their understandings of the expectations and experiences of the child participants. Despite the modernising effects of globalisation in South Korea, the values and normative expectations of Confucian familism still provided firm foundations for family life and family expectations. Reflected by limited support from the State or voluntary organisations, the children carried important responsibilities for their autistic siblings. Important insights into their ordinary daily lives included: i) 'sacrifice' as a key part of the fulfilment of filial obligation across the life span, ii) children conceptualized their relationships with their autistic siblings as 'same but different' from those of other children; iii) the children and their autistic siblings developed 'Jeong' (strong interpersonal ties) and 'Woori’ (togetherness) that are typical of sibling relationships in Korea, iv) high value was placed on 'harmonious family life' with significant implications for the siblings' daily lives, v) autism was integrated as part of everyday life despite experiences of stigmatising attitudes and vi) invisible vulnerabilities were reinforced by the strength of traditional expectations that discouraged consideration of die 'costs' of’ being a good sibling’. The voices and world views of the children in this study lead to the conclusion that Confucian familist values represent a source of strength as well as challenges for the siblings of autistic children in South Korea.
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Montgomery, Victoria. "New statistical methods in risk assessment by probability bounds." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2113/.
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In recent years, we have seen a diverse range of crises and controversies concerning food safety, animal health and environmental risks including foot and mouth disease, dioxins in seafood, GM crops and more recently the safety of Irish pork. This has led to the recognition that the handling of uncertainty in risk assessments needs to be more rigorous and transparent. This would mean that decision makers and the public could be better informed on the limitations of scientific advice. The expression of the uncertainty may be qualitative or quantitative but it must be well documented. Various approaches to quantifying uncertainty exist, but none are yet generally accepted amongst mathematicians, statisticians, natural scientists and regulatory authorities. In this thesis we discuss the current risk assessment guidelines which describe the deterministic methods that are mainly used for risk assessments. However, probabilistic methods have many advantages, and we review some probabilistic methods that have been proposed for risk assessment. We then develop our own methods to overcome some problems with the current methods. We consider including various uncertainties and looking at robustness to the prior distribution for Bayesian methods. We compare nonparametric methods with parametric methods and we combine a nonparametric method with a Bayesian method to investigate the effect of using different assumptions for different random quantities in a model. These new methods provide alternatives for risk analysts to use in the future.
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Nakagawa, Takeshi. "Rare-earth based fullerides : tuning the onset of valency transitions." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2112/.
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In this thesis, the recent advances in studies on rare-earth metal intercalated fullerene solids with emphasis on their structural, electronic, and magnetic properties. The investigations on the rare-earth based fullerides have been concentrated on their structural, electronic, and magnetic properties. Intercalation of C(_60) with rare-earth metals results in interesting compounds not only for the appearance of superconductivity but also for the magnetic properties and mixed valence phenomena related to the localised 4f electrons. Of particular interest, I discuss the results obtained from various experiments on rare-earth based mixed valence fullerides, of which displays a remarkable sensitivity of rare-earth valency to external stimuli, such as temperature and pressure. Among the family of rare-earth fullerides, Sm(_2.75)C(_60) was the first known molecular-based material to show valence fluctuation associated with the highly-correlated narrow-band behaviour of the 4f electrons in Sm ions. Improvement in the synthetic technique to produce single-phase rare-earth doped fullerides have opened the way to carry out detailed and systematic study of the structural properties of the RE(_2.75)C(_60) (RE = Sm, Eu, and Yb) as a function of temperature and pressure, which were carried out using the synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction technique. The obtained results have lead us to find a rich variety of temperature- and pressure-driven abrupt or continuous valence transitions. In addition, we have observed that by taking precise control on the nature of dopants, the tuning of the onset temperature and pressure of this valence transition were possible. Direct measurements on the valence states of the rare-earth ions in the fulleride salts as a function of temperature were carried out using X-ray absorption spectroscopy using the alkaline-earth and rare-earth mixed compound, (Sm(_2/3)Ca9_1/3))(_2.75) C(_60). The obtained spectra have provided clear evidence to confirm the electronic nature of the low-temperature first-order valence transition.
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O'Neil, Rebecca. "Bayesian sampling design for contaminated land investigation." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2111/.
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The problem of sampling design for contaminated land investigation is approached using Bayesian methods. We develop a decision tool designed to aid site investigators and decision makers in the process of site investigation. Current legislation and guidance is considered, and used to drive the development of a spatial model to describe the contamination levels over a site. This model is updated using a full Bayes approach and combined with a detailed loss structure in order to calculate the expected losses associated with the possible decisions. A sampling search algorithm looks for good designs with which we can further update beliefs and improve decision making ability through reduced uncertainty and therefore increased confidence. We also offer an MCMC approach to learn about multiple contaminants which are believed to be related. The decision tool provided offers a flexible environment in which multiple decisions, outcomes and contaminants may be considered simultaneously in order to assist the site investigator in implementing a cost effective sampling strategy
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Hussien, Abdelaziz Mohamed A. "Designing a reading literacy curriculum for secondary school students in Egypt." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2116/.
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The key contribution of this research is to produce a proposal for a reading literacy curriculum design (RLCD) for secondary school students (15-17 year-old) in Egypt. This proposal includes four major components: targets, assessment, instruction, and content. Two complementary dimensions are investigated: the theoretical analysis (the researcher’s perspective based upon analysis of reading literacy research) and the fieldwork (the empirical study using a questionnaire for teachers and supervisors and a semi-structured interview for other professionals). Those two dimensions are charted through seven chapters and introduction to and conclusion of these chapters. Following an introduction to the research problem, purposes, questions, structure, rationale, and parameters, the successive focus of these chapters is on: - Clarifying the Egyptian context in terms of education system, culture of learning, critical analysis of the actual reading situation and how all of these elements reveal the gap between 'what is' and 'what ought to be' in RLCD in the secondary school in Egypt (Chapter one);- Reading literacy theory: the concept of reading literacy, dimensions, and models and how these can be used a baseline for RLCD (Chapter two);- Theoretical analysis of reading literacy targets and assessment, the first two components of RLCD (Chapter three);- Theoretical analysis of reading literacy instruction and content, the other two components of RLCD (Chapter four);- Research methodology, where survey design was employed and mixed methods were used: a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The major aim was to collect data to find out if the practitioners (i.e. secondary school teachers and supervisors) and other professionals (i.e. specialists in curriculum and instruction) in Egypt agree with the reading literacy research (chapter five);- Data analysis, where a descriptive statistical analysis was conducted for data provided by the questionnaire and a cross-sectional or code and retrieve analysis strategy was applied for data provided by the semi-structured interview. Results indicated that the practitioners' perceptions on the questionnaire and the professionals' answers in the semi-structured interview supported what was revealed by the theoretical analysis regarding RLCD. This suggests that the proposed RLCD is a practical proposition and it is timely to do it. It also raises the confidence in RLCD by triangulation of data by using the questionnaire for the practitioners and the semi-structured interview for other professionals and relating all of this to literature analysis (Chapter six);-Developing the proposal (RLCD): its scope, framework, and components: targets, assessment, instruction, and content. The researcher combines all sources of data: the theoretical analysis, the questionnaire data, and the semi-structured interview data (Chapter seven).The conclusion of the research is introduced. It presents a summary of the research and most importantly, it provides a summary of the contribution of the present research to reading literacy curriculum in theory and practice. Deriving from its results, some recommendations for practice and further research are made and a closing reflective epilogue on the research and the researcher is provided.
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Novack, Jennifer Leigh. "New kids on the European block : Finnish and Swedish adaptation to the European Union?" Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2002. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2112/.
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This thesis examines Finnish and Swedish membership in the European Union since the two Nordic countries joined (along with Austria) in January 1995 to become "new kids on the European block." The author compares the strategies that national decision-makers have pursued in EU policy-making to assess the nature and extent of their adaptation to the European Union. This analysis relies on case studies of three policy areas: 1) Economic and Monetary Union (with a focus on the decision on whether or not to adopt the Euro in the first wave); 2) relations with non-EU neighbours in Northern Europe (with particular attention given to EU enlargement and the Northern Dimension Initiative); and 3) public access to documents. Although the thesis concentrates primarily on empirical analysis, it also provides a theoretical critique. The author argues that differences in the historical backgrounds, institutions, cultures, and identities of Finland and Sweden have led to differences in their approaches to the EU. The thesis presents a challenge to existing theoretical frameworks that leave little or no room for the four factors that are emphasised here, with particular attention given to the approaches of Andrew Moravcsik (1998) and Christine Ingebritsen (1998).
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Meyer-Sahling, Jan-Hinrik. "Governance by discretion : civil service reform in post-communist Hungary." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2003. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2116/.
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This thesis analyses civil service reform and policy developments in Hungary since 1990 as an extreme case of the discrepancy between attempts to establish professional, de-politicised civil services and the persisting politicisation of personnel policy in post-communist central executives. At the theoretical level, it applies the insights of new institutionalist approaches to executive politics, in particular the body of so-called 'delegation studies' rooted in the new economics of organisations. The thesis develops four ideal types of personnel policy regimes that are distinguished on the basis of the concept of formal political discretion, which is defined as the extent to which the government of the day, or its ministers, has the possibility to exercise personnel policy authority and the extent to which the exercise of this authority is subject to specific procedural constraints. The thesis argues that a low degree of formal political discretion built into civil service legislation can enhance the informational role of ministerial bureaucracies in policy-making. However, governments do only have an incentive to establish or maintain a low degree of formal political discretion built into civil service legislation, if they have no problems of political trust towards the bureaucracy. The empirical analysis of civil service reform outcomes in Hungary reveals that three reforms since 1990 have led to the emergence of a personnel policy regime that allows governments to exercise a considerable degree of political discretion over personnel policy, in particular, the allocation of civil servants in managerial ranks. The analysis of civil service reform processes shows that the communist legacy of over-politicised personnel policy, the radical anti-communism of centre-right parties and four wholesale changes of government since 1990 have tended to reproduce severe problems of political trust in the relation between governments and the ministerial bureaucracy. The thesis shows that incoming governments have therefore continuously exercised political discretion over personnel policy, in particular, by recruiting (often politically affiliated) senior personnel from outside public administration. At the same time, successive governments have been unwilling to make a commitment to a de-politicised civil service system because of their distrust in the loyalty of bureaucrats associated with previous governments. Moreover, as the group of senior bureaucrats who seek a career in public administration has shrunk, the de-politicisation of the civil service has increasingly come to contradict the career interest of senior bureaucrats whose tenure is bound to that of the government and who commute between public administration, politics and the private sector. Setting Hungarian civil service reform and policy developments into a comparative post-communist perspective, the thesis concludes that the context of post-communist transformation tends to lock in a pattern of civil service governance characterised by high levels of political discretion.
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Vallanti, Giovanna. "Employment dynamics, growth and institutions : empirical evidence from OECD countries." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2004. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2119/.
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This thesis focuses on the determinants of unemployment in the OECD countries. In particular, we look at three different explanations of unemployment and analyse their potential impact on labour market dynamics. The three explanations under consideration are technological factors, capital flows and capital market integration, and labour market institutions. Chapter 1 and 2 focus on the relationship between technological progress and unemployment. We specify and estimate a structural model of labour demand, wage setting, and capital accumulation, for a panel of EU countries, the United States and Japan over the period 1960-1995. The adjustment paths of unemployment, following a shock to productivity growth, are traced explicitly in simulation exercises. Chapter 3 focuses on the labour market effects of high international (physical) capital mobility. The aim of this part of the thesis is to assess whether, and to what extent, capital flows contribute to unemployment volatility. We test the effects of capital mobility on unemployment persistence and on the adjustment dynamics of unemployment in response to TFP shocks. Finally, Chapters 4 and 5 examine job flows characteristics in the 1990s for a sample of 16 European countries. Using unique homogenous firm-level data, we provide comparable estimates of job flows and identify cross-country differences and similarities. We also look at the impact of institutional differences on job reallocation. The effects of the business cycle on job flows, and to what extent flring restrictions may affect the cyclicality of job flows, are also considered.
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Anderson-Jaquest, Tommie Crowell. "Restructuring the Soviet-Ethiopian relationship : a case study in asymmetric exchange." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2002. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2110/.
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This thesis aims to explore the dynamics of exchange operating in special relationships initially formed and largely sustained on an amicable basis between two states of vastly unequal power. The claim is made that the weak state is likely to be adversely affected in the longer term by the persistence of negative patterns of asymmetric exchange, despite the accrual of considerable benefits. To test the validity of this proposition, selected theoretical perspectives on exploitation and manipulation are examined and applied to the analyses of political, military, economic and development issues arising in respect of the Soviet-Ethiopian relationship in the Brezhnev and Gorbachev periods. The findings indicate that the dynamics of asymmetric exchange are much more complex than originally envisaged. The Soviet-Ethiopian relationship involved far more than the changing interests of officials whose interests and priorities were sometimes compatible and sometimes conflicting. A special relationship developed between ruling elites in these two sovereign states in the Brezhnev era, largely as a consequence of Cold War competition and ideological bonding. Although evidence indicates that Mengistu's administration had a lot to do with the relationship's progression, the negative patterns of asymmetric exchange that subsequently developed adversely affected Ethiopia more than they did the Soviet Union. These patterns persisted after Gorbachev assumed power, and the adverse impact lingered on after both sovereign states had fragmented. The complex dynamics and adverse impacts of asymmetric exchange are not unique to the Soviet Union and its relationship with non-capitalist states like Ethiopia. In this thesis, Cold War conditions may have largely determined the process of pattern formation, but the findings indicate that similar patterns have been demonstrated in relationships between powerful and weak states in the past and they continue to appear in the present.
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Nagaradjasarma, Jayalaxshmi. "Path-dependent functionals of constant elasticity of variance and related processes : distributional results and applications in finance." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2003. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2118/.
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The present thesis provides an analysis of some path-dependent functionals of Constant Elasticity of Variance (CEV) processes. More precisely, we study the continuous arithmetic average of the process over time, plain or sometimes multiplied by a knock-out indicator. We start by describing its mathematical properties and provide new distributional results (moments, densities, moment generating function among others). Some of these results also pertain to the joint distribution of the integral and the process itself. The versatility of the process enables us to consider diverse financial applications: fixed and floating strike Asian options on equities, European vanilla options on equity in the presence of stochastic volatility as well as zero-coupon bonds, guaranteed endowment options and average-rate claims under stochastic interest rates. We devote a great part of the present work to the square-root process and the geometric Brownian motion, two important subcases of the CEV process. For both these nested diffusions, a number of mathematical and financial quantities have been solved for in the literature in closed-form, in terms of Laplace transforms. In this thesis, we derive these quantities in a fully explicit form, which is advantageous both from a theoretical point of view, to gain insight in their mathematical structure and from a practical stand, as the numerical evaluation of our formulae appear more robust and efficient than other numerical methods for some ranges of parameters. In the general CEV case, for which the integrated process has scarcely been considered in the literature, we derive semi-closed form expressions.
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Skyers, Sophia Teresa. "Reconnecting people and communities? : participation in partnerships and the labour market : the impact of local regeneration initiatives." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2003. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2115/.
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In response to some of the negative economic consequences of globalisation, there is considerable international interest in participatory styles of engaging local communities. This method of community engagement also has local expression in response to social and economic exclusion. A number of theoretical approaches and debates on social exclusion, which have occurred on both sides of the Atlantic are explored. In the UK and in the US current policies are set within a supply side context. This attributes social exclusion to the characteristics of people and deprived places, leading to targeted area interventions. In contrast with previous approaches, the current policy framework requires explicit community participation. This thesis explores the concept of participation, specifically in relation to targeted programmes in Hackney, East London, and with reference to urban programmes in New York. A qualitative approach is employed to address a specific set of research questions concerned with; identifying the extent to which an ethnically diverse constituency of local stakeholders have been engaged in and empowered by local initiatives; what they consider to be the benefits and constraints of such strategies and their effectiveness in addressing what they consider as their most pressing concerns, including forms of labour market discrimination. A number of theoretical issues concerning community, capacity building, and empowerment in the context of partnerships are also addressed. The key conclusions are that local interventions provide value for participants in relation to extending networks and acquiring specific skills. However, the thesis also concludes that effective participation as envisaged by policy makers is difficult to achieve. There are constraints on local actors in their ability to affect the fortunes of their localities. While recognising the limitations of area interventions to address the consequences of processes over which they have little control, the thesis concludes by making suggestions on how future policies might address local issues more effectively.
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Stephens, Elizabeth. "United States policy towards Israel : the politics, sociology, economics & strategy of commitment." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2003. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2117/.
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The rationale for Washington's enduring and often forbearing commitment to Israel has long been a puzzle. During the Cold War it was argued that Israel, a "bastion of democracy" amidst a world of semi-authoritarian and often pro-Soviet states, was a natural ally. But the Cold War is over, and the Arab world awash with oil, a resource that is always in short supply in the US. Yet the American commitment to Israel, a small state that is largely oil free, and of little tangible economic benefit, remains. An alternative view is that the US commitment is underwritten by the Jewish lobby which exercises a disproportionate influence on American policy. Yet the Jews comprise little more than six million out of a total of nearly 300 million people. Even when combined with the influence of Protestant fundamentalists who for largely religious reasons, increasingly support Israel, it is still questionable whether interest group politics could determine American foreign policy to such an extent. Yet irrespective of transitions between Republican and Democratic presidents, bureaucratic support for Israel remains relatively constant indicating that support for Israel is not a product of partisan politics but a given firmly ingrained in the political agenda and discourse. This thesis examines some of the commonplace theories of explanation and finds them wanting. Instead it proposes to explain the American commitment to Israel in terms of a somewhat imprecise and yet still serviceable concept - that of political culture. For reasons that are elaborated in this thesis, the concept best solves the puzzle of an American commitment that is often costly in both economic and diplomatic terms. This thesis does not seek to argue that political culture is the sole explanatory factor in the development of US policy toward Israel, but that it has played a key role in serving to shape and define the American approach to foreign affairs, thus contributing to decisions and operations that cannot easily be explained solely in geopolitical, economic or military terms. It is argued that in perceiving their society to be a beacon of what they like to call 'freedom' and 'democracy', in a world in which these values are largely absent, Americans have been encouraged to believe that they share a political kinship with societies similarly imbued and that they have an obligation to assist where such values are under threat. It is this belief that sets Israel apart from other nations and forms the bedrock of the US-Israeli 'special relationship.' The relevance of the concept of political culture in accounting for US policy toward Israel is examined in a series of case studies. These focus on crisis decision-making during the presidencies of Johnson, Nixon, Reagan and Bush Sr., when domestic and organisational constraints were somewhat relaxed and decision-makers tended to act on pre-existing values and beliefs. In comparing and contrasting US decision-making both during and following the Cold War, the thesis attempts to provide an explanation for the relative continuity in US policy toward Israel in times of significant international and domestic change.
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Mamarelis, Argyrios. "Rise and fall of the 5/42 regiment of evzones : a study on national resistance and civil war in Greece, 1941-1944." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2003. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2114/.
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This thesis addresses a neglected dimension of Greece under German and Italian occupation and on the eve of civil war. Its contribution to the historiography of the period stems from the fact that it constitutes the first academic study of the third largest resistance organisation in Greece, the 5/42 regiment of evzones. The study of this national resistance organisation can thus extend our knowledge of the Greek resistance effort, the political relations between the main resistance groups, the conditions that led to the civil war and the domestic relevance of British policies. The thesis seeks to establish the nature of the 5/42, the factors behind its rise and fall and its significance within the national resistance movement. The research for this thesis has been based on various sources. A large number of personal interviews (forty-seven) were conducted with veterans of the 5/42 and EAM- ELAS. This was placed alongside extensive archival research and documentary analysis. Both types of sources were supplemented by secondary sources on the history of the period. This thesis distinguishes the history of the 5/42 regiment across three levels of analysis: The micro-level analysis highlights the agents, the circumstances and the events that influenced the emergence of the 5/42 in the Fokida region. It looks at the group dynamics of the 5/42. It examines the social political and economic environment within which the 5/42 was formed, the group's structure and internal politics, the strategies and objectives of the group's leaders. The meso-level analysis looks at the 5/42 in the context of the civil war between different resistance groups and highlights the role that the regiment played in the political antagonisms. It discusses the domestic politics of the 5/42 and the strategies that the regiment's leaders adopted against EAM-ELAS, it depicts the actual military and political causes behind the regiment's disbandment and it assesses the impact of Colonel Psarros' murder during the last months of the occupation. The macro-level looks at the place of the 5/42 in the context of the British policies in Greece during the occupation. It focuses on the political and military relationship between the British and the 5/42 and on the attitude that the British adopted against the regiment during the last 5/42-ELAS crisis that led to the final disbandment.
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Soon, Neo Thiam. "Lifelong learning in eastern and western culture organizations in Singapore." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2110/.
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In Singapore, the government has recognized the importance of lifelong learning at the workplace. It is the new educational reality as knowledge is highly marketable in the knowledge society and organizations will benefit and prosper so long as they continue to capitalize upon their intellectual resources. All companies operating in Singapore will need to assume responsibility in establishing an organization learning curriculum, both formal and informal but as Singapore is a multicultural environment with companies from different parts of the world, it can be hypothesized that they will react differently to this need. The main purpose of this study is to seek a better understanding of the impact of Eastern and Western cultural differences on the development of lifelong learning at their workplace in a learning organization in Singapore. The instruments used in this study include questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with employees from an Eastern-Singapore and a Western-German culture case-study organizations. The questionnaires comprised four main measures concerning: (1) The development of subject matter expertise; (2) Problem-solving techniques; (3) The development of reflective skills and (4) The climate of personal and social relationships in the organizations studied. Both quantitative and qualitative data show that the Eastern-Singaporean and Western-German culture case-study companies have positive patterns of development towards establishing some form of corporate curriculum. There is no significant difference in the way they drive for lifelong learning at workplace. On the other hand there are some differences such as the intensity and scope of training which can be explained by reference to theories of cultural difference. On the other hand, there is no evidence to show that the case-study companies provided skills training in areas outside the employees' current domains. This somewhat negative conclusion has implications that it is not just culture that explains the restricted training programmes of these companies. Perhaps, the local economic situation of Singapore, under pressure for business effectiveness, is a much more decisive factor encouraging managers to interpret their needs for training in some restricted way. Based on the research, it is concluded that in Singapore where globalization activities are very intense, the impact of business survival is closing the gap between the Eastern and Western culture organizations in the field of Gaining development. It is also concluded that lifelong learning at the workplace of both the Eastern-Singaporean and Western-German culture organizations is very much limited to the current domains that the employees are assigned to.
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Hoskisson, James. "Explorations of four and five dimensional black hole spacetimes." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2115/.
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This thesis concentrates on four and five dimensional black holes and their associated geodesies. Some coordinate charts are presented, which are useful in the analysis of both static and rotating black holes, and their mathematical properties investigated before some methods of solving Einstein's vacuum field equations are examined. The Myers-Perry black hole metric is derived before going on to describe the Inverse Scattering Method of generating new vacuum solutions. The Inverse Scattering Method is used to generate the single and doubly spinning black ring metrics and then the physical properties of these solutions is explored in detail. The latter part of this thesis looks at different ways of visualising geodesies in various spacetimes and examines the pros and cons of each particular method, as well as looking at several examples of geodesies with different parameters. The geodesies of the singly spinning black ring are calculated and it is shown that they cannot in general be analytically integrated. In light of this, some restricted analytic scenarios are investigated with the intention of gaining some insight into how the geodesies behave in the spacetime as a whole. Finally, a method is presented which allows string charges to be added to any vacuum solution to Einstein's equations. The properties of this new charged solution are then compared with the neutral starting solution. The doubly spinning black ring is used as a model to demonstrate how the method can be used to charge up a specific black hole solution and the resulting thermodynamic properties of this charged doubly spinning black ring are then examined.
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Wood, Michael Anthony. "Development of a commercial process to produce 1,4-butanediol and tetrahydrofuran." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2118/.
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This thesis details the experimental programme and research into the formation of 1,4-butanediol and tetrahydrofuran from a novel feedstock dialkylmaleate. This encompassed the evaluation of a range of heterogeneous copper-based catalysts (containing chromium) and subsequent selection and optimisation of one of these catalysts for extended life time studies and eventual use in a commercial facility. The selected operating conditions (temperature of 190 - 205 ºC, pressure 885 psi[g]) ensured that the reaction was performed in the vapour-phase at moderate temperature and pressure to maximise the yield of the main product 1,4- BDO (>95%) and THF (<5%). The thesis details the development of several variants of non-chromium containing Cu-based catalysts, which then enabled a multi-variable product process to be realised. The selection of operating conditions further enhanced the flexibility of the process by operating at temperatures in the 205 - 220 ºC range to increase the selectivity to THF (50 - 95%) responding to changing market conditions. The development of both process options encompasses initial testing, screening and ultimately optimisation of the catalysts using laboratory-based reactors generating data that was suitable for commercial design. The catalysts generated were shown to produce 1,4-BDO and THF over extended periods from the preferred feedstock; dialkylmaleate. The thesis also outlines the importance of the pre-treatment of the catalyst for use in a vapour-phase hydrogenolysis process and that this is a key consideration in achieving any commercially viable process. The operation of the carefully pre-treated catalyst in the vapour-phase enabled a highly efficient process to be developed in the laboratory environment generating design data for commercial facilities, in which all of the development steps were later confirmed in commercial operations in several countries. The development of a solid acid catalyst, used to catalyse the conversion of an acid to ester, is detailed. The ion-exchange resin used as the catalyst was optimised to minimise the main by-products by structuring acid sites on the surface of the solid support only. This enabled high conversions of the acid >99 wt% to be achieved at low temperatures in the region of 95 - 120 ºC, which was an extremely efficient process. The subsequent design and development of a unique reactor for the esterification of the acid species is also outlined in this thesis. The reactor, which is based on a counter-current reactive distillation concept, enabled maximum utilisation of the solid acid catalyst developed and is also reported. This aspect of the thesis involved not only studying the chemical transformation but also a detailed study of the fluid dynamics that would be present in the commercial reactor; this encompassed the build and operation of several cold flow models evaluating not only gas distribution but liquid/resin movement in the reactor. The combination of the two transformations gave a world leading technology to convert maleic anhydride to 1,4-BDO and THF. The work reported in this thesis Is the basis on which further testwork, in both the hydrogenation and esterification, is performed. These process improvements are being researched to ensure the technology remains one of the main manufacturing routes to produce 1,4-BDO and THF from a diaikylmaleate feedstock.
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Debbri, Hawa Abdulgader. "Plant extracts as treatment for diabetes mellitus." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1996. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2113/.
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The herbal extract of Artemisia has been regarded to be anti-hyperglycaemic since olden times and is commonly used by diabetics in Libya. The present work was designed to evaluate, test and determine which fraction or component of the herb had the hypoglycaemic effects in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The plant extract was administered to the animals in their drinking water and body weight, food and fluid intake and urine volume were all monitored daily. Food and fluid intake and body weight gain in normal rats were not altered by treatment with the plant extract but there was a rise in the urine glucose in the first six rats but rats 7, 8 and 9 were not affected by treatment with plant. Urine volume was increased in all rats suggesting Artemisia judaica is a mild diuretic. The streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model, used in this study, was associated with the characteristic diabetic symptoms of hyperphagia, hyperglycaemia, polydipsia, weight loss and urinary glucose excretion. When a crude aqueous extract of Artemisia was given in their drinking water, it had little effect on these symptoms after 10 days of treatment. Urine glucose was reduced in the last two days and ketones in the urine were abolished by this treatment. Diabetes mellitus is known to affect many and varied parameters in rat liver. Insulin, biguanides and sulphonylureas are known antidiabetic diabetic treatments. Artemisia judaica extract was tested for its effect on hepatic steroid metabolism and glycogen phosphorylase a activity in comparison with the above drugs. Clearly Artemisia does act as an insulin-mimetic in these assays by reversing all the effects produced by the administration of streptozotocin. In particular the changes in the enzyme activities of cytochrome P-450 (2E1, 2B and 2C) on androst-4-ene-3, 17-dione metabolism are all reversed by the administration of Artemisia extract to diabetic rats.
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Barber, Matthew David. "Metabolic abnormalities in advanced pancreatic cancer and their modulation by an eicosapentaenoic acid-based preparation." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2001. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2118/.
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A combination of a nutritional supplement and eicosapentaenoic acid was given to patients with advanced pancreatic cancer to assess its effect on the ongoing cachectic process. The administration of a fish oil-enriched nutritional supplement providing 2g eicosapentaenoic acid and around 600kcal per day resulted in a significant change in the metabolic disposition of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Consumption of the supplement resulted in a reversal of weight loss and a gain in lean body mass in association with a reversal of negative nitrogen balance. Performance status and appetite improved. Production of interleukin-6 was reduced and the acute phase protein response stabilised, insulin concentration increased and proteolysis inducing factor excretion fell. These changes were associated with a rise in energy intake, a fall in relative resting energy expenditure and a normalisation of the metabolic response to feeding and substrate utilisation. The increase in acute phase protein synthesis with feeding was abolished after the administration of the fish oil-enriched nutritional supplement. The progressive nutritional and functional deterioration of advanced pancreatic cancer patients thus seems to be associated with broadly pro-inflammatory metabolic mediators and a progressive acute phase protein response. This deterioration may in part be resistant to conventional nutritional supplementation because of further stimulation of acute phase protein production by feeding. The provision of a fish oil-enriched nutritional supplement normalises the metabolic milieu, stabilises the acute phase protein response and abolishes the stimulation of acute phase protein production by feeding. One explanation to account for the effects observed after intervention would be that it to allows dietary amino acids to be used for lean tissue anabolism with the consequent potential for quality of life and survival benefit.
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Gollee, Henrik. "A non-linear approach to modelling and control of electrically stimulated skeletal muscle." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1998. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2110/.
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This thesis is concerned with the development and analysis of a non-linear approach to modelling and control of the contraction of electrically stimulated skeletal muscle. For muscle which has lost nervous control, artificial electrical stimulation can be used as a technique aimed at providing muscular contraction and producing a functionally useful movement. This is generally referred to as Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and is used in different application areas such as the rehabilitation of paralysed patient and in cardiac assistance where skeletal muscle can be used to support a failing heart. For both these FES applications a model of the muscle is essential to develop algorithms for the controlled stimulation. For the identification of muscle models, real data are available from experiments with rabbit muscle. Data for contraction with constant muscle length were collected from two muscle with very different characteristics. An empirical modelling approach is developed which is suitable for both muscles. The approach is based on a decomposition of the operating space into smaller sub-regions which are then described by local models of simple, possibly linear structure. The local models are blended together by a scheduler, and the resulting non-linear model is called a Local Model Network (LMN). It is shown how a priori knowledge about the system can be used directly when identifying Local Model Networks. Aspects of the structure selection are discussed and algorithms for the identification of the model parameters are presented. Tools of the analysis of Local Model Networks have been developed and are used to validate the models. The problem of designing a controller based on the LMN structure is discussed. The structure of Local Controller Networks is introduced. These can be derived directly from Local Model Networks. Design techniques for input-output and for state feedback controllers, based on pole placement, are presented. Aspects of the generation of optimal stimulation patterns (which are defined as stimulation patterns which deliver the smallest number of pulses to obtain a desired contraction) are discussed, and various techniques to generate them are presented. In particular, it is shown how a control structure can be used to generate optimal stimulation patterns. A Local Controller Network is used as the controller with a design based on a non-linear LMN model of muscle. Experimental data from a non-linear heat transfer process have been collected and are used to demonstrate the basic modelling and control principles throughout the first part of the thesis.
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Mohammad, M. S. "Technical/vocational secondary education planning in Iraq." Thesis, University of Salford, 1989. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2115/.
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has proposed that economic growth in developing countries can best be achieved through a good delivery of technical/vocational education targeted to the specific needs of the country and its economy. In Iraq, the state regards technical/vocational education within the secondary system of education as the main source of the middle-rank skilled labour needed to satisfy the requirements of the economy. This study analyses the development of technical/vocational secondary education policies in Iraq. It seeks to examine this system in relation to the country's geopolitical, economic, social and cultural circumstances. The first chapter considers the arguments for and against I technical and vocational: education. The second chapter is concerned with Iraq's geopolitical position and examines the structure of its society. It will also examine the evolution and development of the Iraqi economy, with the main focus on the period after 1968. The third chapter is an analysis of the existing Iraqi educational system, including principles, aims and priorities, levels of education and quantitative growth, education finance and administration, curriculum and examination system. The fourth chapter reviews the nature of and growing need for technical and vocational education throughout the history of the country. The fifth chapter evaluates the existing system of technical and vocational education by firstly, examining its characteristics and then the problems facing it. Implications for planning and the reform of technical and vocational education in Iraq emerge from the conclusions and suggestions which constitute the final part.
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Byrne, B. "The introduction of information and communications technology into physical communities : an action case study." Thesis, University of Salford, 2003. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2117/.
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The role of information and communications technology, which has been mostly limited to use within business and government organisations, is now moving through society and touching all sections, groups and individuals therein. Information and communications technology is now pervading physical, or real, communities, as opposed to communities created through information technology, virtual communities. For the purposes of this research study, a traditional view of community is taken and defined as people sharing experiences and interrelations with others living in a physical locality, comprising all residents, workforce, official bodies and authorities that exist or have business within a defined physical area. There is potential for positive change within physical communities through the use of such technology to change the way people work, interact with local government, and the way people access information. There are also potential dangers that cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the technology and the speed of advances in the technology, some dangers may be overlooked. Much of the research work concerning these issues tends to be focused on the technological aspects of the phenomenon, or takes a utopian view of the implementation of technological advances within communities. This research study takes a more critical view of the issues involved and is based upon an exploration of the issues associated with the introduction of information and communication technologies within the physical community. The study uses an ethics-based framework to explore these issues, together with a unified conceptual framework covering all aspects of the research study. An ethics-based approach was chosen because of its applicability to issues that have potentially harmful social effects, and was closely related to prior research work. An action case research method was employed to engage with a selected research subject. This allowed the researcher to conduct the study while acting close to the main participants within a community. Research uncovered a number of research findings or lessons, including, but not limited to, the finding that: the introduction of ICT into physical communities has divergent issues that stem from a broad spectrum of domains; arguments portraying aspects of projects as being amoral must be countered, that ethics is not just about big questions; that ethical analysis is important, both to the subject area of this research and others; the contingent nature of IS research in context means IS research cannot follow the waterfall model. Research also led to the formation of two important ideas, the notion engagement and in-situ ethical analysis.
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Wilson, I. E. "Digitally enabling the construction virtual enterprise." Thesis, University of Salford, 2003. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2118/.
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The construction industry is highly fragmented, consisting of a large number of very small companies that come together as members of non-collocated teams to complete building projects, and who subsequently may never work together again. The industry still faces various challenges in terms of human and organisational issues. The Virtual Enterprise (VE), and other variations of the paradigm, relies on networking organisations as elements forming an alliance or aggregation towards some specific purpose or opportunity. Rather than the VE being a completely new organisational form, the construction industry has adopted many of its characteristics in its modus operandi for some considerable time. The construction industry does not operate effectively as a VE and in consequence faces many problems. These problems could be addressed by the development of ICT solutions geared towards digitally enabling the VE. The success of collaborative work, and the successful design and uptake of such ICT tools to support that work relies not merely on the introduction of different technologies, however, but also on critically analysing `human' aspects of organisation. Using applied research and drawing on a central case study in which a VE solution was developed, tested and evaluated in the context of `real world' scenarios, the thesis addresses the socio-organisational aspects of technological intervention and seeks to answer four research questions dealing with the above. The main results include recognition that whilst ICT are advanced enough to offer adapted solutions to digitally enabling the construction VE, the technology alone is not sufficient. The construction industry is not yet ready to move to an approach employing latest ICT development, due to the need to manage human and organisational issues central to technological intervention. The thesis finally offers business recommendations highlighting and mapping the critical human and organisational decisions that need to be considered.
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Munir, S. K. "A declarative model of clinical information systems integration in intensive care." Thesis, University of Salford, 2004. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2119/.
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The findings of this multi-site study emphasise the importance of Organisational Culture for integrating clinical information systems into intensive care units. A novel model, the Iterative Systems Integration Model, has two principle components, these being Organisational Culture and the Actual Usefulness of the clinical information system. The model is derived from empirical data collected in four intensive care sites in England and Denmark, with one site being used to validate the model. The model highlights clinical information systems as directly affecting the work processes of the sites investigated, which in turn affect the Organisational Culture and Actual Usefulness of the clinical information system used, and these features affect clinical information system integration. This forms an iterative process of change as clinical information systems are introduced and integrated. Intensive care units are complex organisations, with complex needs and work processes. The impact of clinical information systems on these work processes is investigated in this thesis using Role Activity Diagrams. These diagrams are analysed to show that although clinical work processes are consistent at each site, the information processes differ. Intensive care information processes are found to have the potential to be much simplified with the introduction of seamless clinical information systems. Qualitative data collectio n methods were deployed, i. e., observations, interviews, and shadowing of clinical staff, together with a questionnaire at each site for further validation. Data were analysed using grounded theory to extract salient variables, which informed the development of the model. These factors were indicative of the Organisational Culture of the sites investigated and the Actual Useftilness of the clinical information systems being used. It was posited that clinical information systems that reconcile expectations of both hospital management and clinical staff - and that have the potential to adapt to their organisational environment - have a greater chance of surviving in complex environments such as intensive care. Despite decades of Health Infon-flatics, no such systems exist in their entirety; this research shows that 'ancient problems' of clinical information systems integration are still prevalent, and presents the Iterative Systems Integration Model, the application of which may assist with the integration of clinical information systems in intensive care.
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Willis, Anthony Francis. "An investigation of styles of purchasing and their effect on consumer decision processes in a tourism context." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2003. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2117/.
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Wishart, Jocelyn. "User involvement with microcomputer software." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1988. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2118/.
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Tzitzinou, Aikaterini. "Physical characterisation of acrylic latex film formation." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1999. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2115/.
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Sivavakeesar, S. "Quality of service support for multimedia applications in mobile ad hoc networks." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2005. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2110/.
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Skinner, T. C. "Personal model beliefs in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus : the influence of social support and personality." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2000. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2111/.
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White, Andrew Mark. "Novel redox composited poylmer electrodes for potential supercapacitors." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2002. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2116/.
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