Katastrofer kräver omedelbara beslut och åtgärder för att minimera allvarliga konsekvenser. Undersökningar och analyser från tidigare katastrofer visar att utbildning, övning, samverkan och ledarskap behöver förbättras för att evidensbaserat beslutsfattande ska uppnås. I Sveriges hälso- och sjukvård är det regional Tjänsteman i Beredskap, TiB, som i de flesta fall initialt fattar de övergripande beslut om mobilisering och fördelning av resurser och behov av medicinsk kompetens vid katastrof och allvarlig händelse. Syftet med denna studie var att kartlägga den kunskap och erfarenhet som innehavare av funktionen TiB har för att vara förberedda för sin uppgift. Studien är kvantitativ och bygger på en enkät konstruerad av författaren som har skickats till innehavarna av funktionen regional TiB inom hälso- och sjukvård i Sverige. Resultatet analyserades med deskriptiv statistik och analytisk statistik. En jämförelse gjordes mellan de respondenter som hade medicinsk utbildningsbakgrund och de som inte hade sådan. Resultatet visar att det finns vissa skillnader beträffande kunskaper och erfarenheter och behovet av sådan. De som inte hade medicinsk utbildningsbakgrund hade övervägande specialkunskaper i katastrofmedicin och de ansåg också i högre grad att medicinsk kompetens var viktig för funktionen som TiB. Studiens resultat kan vara till stöd gällande utbildning och planering inför allvarliga händelser. / Disasters and major incidents require immediate decisions and actions to minimize serious consequences. Studies and analyzes from previous disasters show that education, practice, collaboration and management need to be improved. This together with learning from experiences will make the planning of relevant preparations easier. The purpose of this study was to do a survey of the knowledge and experience of a defined operative  level of strategic management (command and control) who can make the overall decisions regarding mobilization and distribution of resources, distribution of casualties and need of medical skills to be prepared  for their tasks in case of disaster and major incident. In Sweden this function is called Tjänsteman i Beredskap (TiB). The study is quantitative and based on a questionnaire constructed by the author and sent to the holders of the function TiB in Sweden. The results were analyzed by descriptive statistics and analytical statistics. A comparison was made between those respondents who had medical education background and those who did not have one. The result shows that there are some differences in knowledge and experience and the need for such. Those who had medical education background had vast expertise in disaster medicine and they also considered relatively more medical skills were important for the function of TiB. Study findings can provide support with training and planning for major events.

Lateral diffusion of membrane components (lipids and proteins) is an important membrane property to measure since the essential process of absorption of anti-cancer and other drugs -some of which are not soluble in lipids and therefore would not be able to penetrate the cell membrane through passive diffusion- lies on it. In particular, the procedure of diffusion into the cell cytoplasm is reliant on free volumes in the membrane (passive diffusion) as well as carrier proteins (facilitated diffusion). By enhancing the mobility of lipids and/or proteins, the possibility of the carrier protein to "encapsulate" pharmacological components maxim- izes, as a "scanning" of the proteins gets performed due to the fluid phase of a biological membrane. At the same time, the increased mobility of the lipids facilitates the passage of lipid-soluble molecules into the cell. Thus, given that the success of anticancer treatments heavily depends on their absorption by the cell, a significant enhancement of the cell mem- brane permeability (permeabilisation) is rendered vital to the applicability of the technique. For this reason, there is augmented interest in combined methods such as Nanotechnology based drug delivery that is focused on the development of optimally designed therapeutic agents along with the application of shock waves to enhance the membrane permeability to the agents. This study examines the impact of shock waves on a numerical model of a biological membrane. Cont/d.

Specialised policing of critical incidents has previously been underexplored within scholarly research. Simultaneously, this type of policing has been recognised as a highly complex endeavour which hinges on an organisationalability to make sense of uncertainty and external contingencies. To build knowledge on the subject of specialised policing, the present thesis aims to explore processes of sensemaking and organising in the work context of specialised police units dedicated to the policing of high risk incidents. Two research questions have guided the thesis project viz.: 1) what ascribed meanings are coupled to specialised police unit work practice and; 2) how can organising of specialised police units be enacted in a reliable manner. These questions are empirically addressed through four part-studies: Study A amounts to a contextual literature study of previous research on specialised police units and aims at conceptual development of anomenclature describing police specialisation as a professional context. Study B in the thesis examines symbolic meanings connected to specialised police units and how such meanings relate to constructions of occupational identity of police officers working in a specialised police unit. With these studies as a contextual frame, study C within the thesis examines how leadership, management and ICT system within a specialised police unitimpacts organisational reliability and sensemaking during incident management. Finally, study D examines organisational reliability on an interpersonal level during incident management as it entails a study of collaboration between police practitioners conducting an intervention. The thesis employs a mainly ideographic and close practice approach to researchas the empirical examinations are focused upon one specific specialised police unit, namely the Swedish police’s National Counter-Terrorist Unit (NI). Using data collected through interviews, observations and archival sources, the thesis aims to contribute both to organisational developmentand to knowledge development within the scholarly community. In overview, the results of the thesis indicate that specialised policing on a level of ascribed meaning tend to be represented as exceptional, sensational and surrounded by inferences of elitism, machismo and violence. In extent, such representations inform serving police officers occupational identity workeither by spurring identification or dis-identification with prevailing accounts of meaning. On a level of organising, resilient policing of high risk incidents is shown to be dependent on an ability to favour flexibility, both through the organisational frameworks that frames incident management and in interpersonal enactment during task execution. This conclusion challenges day-to-day conceptualisation of specialised police units’ work practice as instrumental applications of coercion.

Informationssäkerhet är ett begrepp som blir allt mer aktuellt inom organisationer idag. Hotnivån som dagens allt mer ihopkopplade system ställs införär hög. Detta ställer krav på att organisationer och myndigheter skall kunna hantera störningar som orsakas av sådana attacker. Målet är att verksamheten skall påverkas så lite som möjligt eller att eventuella effekter skall vara kortlivade, verksamheten skall kunna hållas kontinuerlig eller oavbruten. Detta mål kräver att avbrotts- och katastrofscenarion förutses och planläggs innan de inträffar. Syftet med denna uppsats är att ge kunskap om hur kontinuitet för IT-stödet inom Landstinget i Östergötland säkerställs. Arbetet med att förutse och planera för störningar har på senare tid blivit allt vanligare och kallas vanligen för kontinuitetsplanering. Vi ser kontinuitetsplaneringen som en process som producerar en kontinuitetsplan. Delar som termer och definitioner, säkerhetspolicy, informationssäkerhet och förvaltning utgör råvarorna i planeringen och kontinuitetsplanen är produkten. I denna uppsats har vi kommit fram till att ett system eller en verksamhet kan befinna sig i ett av två tillstånd, normalfas och insatsfas. I insatsfasen har en planerad eller oplanerad störning inträffat som kan göra att vardagliga rutiner inte räcker till för att klara av situationen. Arbetet med att upprätthålla kontinuitet går ut på att planera för- och minimera tiden som verksamheten befinner sig i insatsfasen.

Automatic Incident Detection Algorithms (AIDA) have been part of freeway management system software from the beginnings of ITS deployment. These algorithms introduce the capability of detecting incidents on freeways using traffic operations data. Over the years, several approaches to incident detection have been studied and tested. However, the size and scope of the urban transportation networks under direct monitoring by transportation management centers are growing at a faster rate than are staffing levels and center resources. This has entailed a renewed emphasis on the need for reliability and accuracy of AIDA functionality. This study investigates a new approach to incident detection that promises a significant improvement in operational performance. This algorithm is formulated on the premise that the current conditions facilitate the prediction of future traffic conditions, and deviations of observations from the predictions beyond a calibrated level of tolerance indicate the occurrence of incidents. This algorithm is specifically designed for easy implementation and calibration at any site. Offline tests with data from the Georgia-Navigator system indicate that this algorithm realizes a substantial improvement over the conventional incident detection algorithms. This algorithm not only achieves a low rate of false alarms but also ensures a high detection rate.

This thesis sought to understand reasons for noncompliant respondents and ineffective leadership in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) by Texas public safety training officers. Research has been conducted on the policies and their implications for NIMS, organizational culture and its impact on NIMS, and the hierarchy network of the Incident Command System (ICS). However, research evaluating the attitudes and perceptions regarding the effectiveness of NIMS is scarce. Training officers from rural fire departments, emergency medical services, and law enforcement agencies were the population for this study (n=33). The results of this study have implications for combined fire department, emergency medical services, and law enforcement training (interoperability), simplification of the management structure, and a mentoring program. This study should be explored further in an urban setting, based on this model. This study showed that respondents agreed that rural emergency responders tend to be noncompliant with NIMS. Respondents mentioned that rural emergency responders disagree with the effectiveness of NIMS. This study showed that a correlation occurred between the effectiveness of NIMS and the number of times a respondent was involved in a formal NIMS incident command. The following recommendations were made based on the findings and conclusions of this study. Researchers should continue to look at what public safety training officers believe affects the adaptability of NIMS. Training officers should consider contributing to the future NIMS curriculum. Training officers should focus on interoperability issues through increased field exercises. Research should be conducted to determine what improvements to curriculum effect future NIMS compliance. Further research should be conducted on the effectiveness of individual compliance, and achievement.

The Research of the Relationship between the U.S., China and Taiwan After the 911 Incident Abstract The traditional diplomacy of America puts its main focus on Europe with little attention on Asia, however after having the 911 Attack in the U.S.2001, Bush junior administration has immediately adjusted the pace of global strategies. The main strategy has shifted its focus towards Asia, it shows that the US makes National Defences the first priority and seeks for the support of counter- terrorism from China in Asia. Before the 911 incident, China was not at the very heart of American policy in Asia policy, as a result of 1999 Chinese Embassy bombing in Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia Republic of Serbia and the April 2001 Hainan reconnaissance plane incident, there had been an awkward tension between U.S. and China. After seeking the cooperation of counter terrorism with China, it presented an opportunity that the U.S. and China can use to improve their relationship. Since the normalisation between U.S. and China, it has been through from the ¡§strategy cooperation relations¡¨ which was established to against Russia to the neorealism of ¡§constructive relations,¡¨ Clinton era formed a ¡§comprehensive association¡¨ with mainland China and advanced it into ¡§ constructive strategy partnership,¡¨ yet, before 911 Attack, the relationship of Bush junior Administration and China were ¡§strategic competitors¡¨, then after 911 incident, due to the strategy transformation of U.S., both parties developed ¡§ Constructive cooperation relations, ¡¨ even though there are still conflicts on the benefits, U.S.-China relation has ameliorated to some extent. As far as U.S. concerns, China is regarded a partner of counter terrorism and benefit exchanger by the world, yet U.S. recognises China as a potential strategic adversary, in some ways, U.S. still exposes the threatening gesture to China. Bush junior has indicated to China that U.S. does not support the independence of Taiwan, but if China force invades Taiwan on the premise that Taiwan does not declare independence, U.S. does not rule out the possibility of assisting Taiwan by the means of miliary. It has shown the U.S. strategy has changed from ¡§strategic ambiguity¡¨ to ¡§strategic clear¡¨ since Clinton to Bush junior. After the 911 incident, the relationship of U.S. and China has definitely improved in a short period, in terms of the long run, both parties still have serious differences regarding to the problem of Taiwan, human rights, economics impacts and anti nuclear proliferation. These conflicts still restrain the development of U.S and China relationship, in addition, U.S. has troops in middle Asia, in terms of the military strategy, the benefit of Mainland China is deprived. In terms of long term U.S-China relationship, it represents a cooperative yet defensive relationship, on the basis of that Taiwan does not declare independence, according to U.S.-Taiwan relationship, U.S. will secure the safety of Taiwan, and maintain the peace cross-straits.

Laser spot welding on a stainless steel plate was investigated numerically and experimentally. A numerical method was applied to predict the dimensions of fusion zone and temperature distribution in the welding process. In the numerical approach, a three-dimensional heat source equation is used to model laser beam intensity distribution, which is assumed to be a Gaussian distribution in the radial direction and exponential decay in the penetration direction. The parameters of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser spot welding include pulse energy, pulse duration, and incident angles of laser beam. Experiments were also conducted in the study. The characteristic lengths of welded spot were measured by metallographic method, and then, the dynamical behavior of the laser welding process was visualized by a high-speed video camera. Finally, the temperature variations during the laser-spot welding process were measured by an infrared pyrometer system. It is demonstrated that the numerical results by proposed model agree well with experimental observations in predicting the characteristic lengths of welded spots. From this study, it is found that weld dimensions is a strong function of incident angles of laser beam, laser energy, and pulse duration time.

Recurrent congestion in urban traffic networks, especially on arterials, is a growing problem. Non-recurrent congestion, mainly due to incidents, only aggravates the problem. Any solution requires monitoring of the network, for which many developing countries, such as Turkey, do not have the traditional surveillance systems on arterials mainly due to high costs. An alternative solution is the utilization of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, which is increasingly used in traffic monitoring. It is easy and cheap to obtain the GPS track information,even in real-time, from a probe-vehicle or a fleet of vehicles / and spatial variation of speed and travel time of the vehicle(s) in a network can be determined. GPS-based data, especially with only one probe-vehicle, would not provide information on the concurrent states of upstream and downstream traffic, needed to define the state of traffic in a network. To overcome this obstacle, a methodology based on statistical analysis of archival traffic conditions obtained through different sources is proposed to analyze traffic fluctuations and identify daily traffic pattern. As a result, bottleneck and resulting queues can be detected on a corridor. Thus, it enables detection of recurrent congestion and queues that may result from incidents. The proposed methodology is tested on a corridor the roadway between METU and Kizilay of in&ouml / n&uuml / Boulevard. The results show that the methodology can effectively identify bottleneck locations on the corridor and also an incident observed during the data collection is detected correctly by the proposed algorithm.

The Critical Factors of Service Encounter satisfaction: Research on Restaurant Industry Author: Shao-Feng Chao Advisor: Dr. Yi-Heng Chou Abstract According to Directorate-general of Budget Accounting and Statistics Executive Yuan¡¦s survey of commerce and service industries in 1996, the statistics showed that the weight of Taiwan¡¦s restaurant industry became more and more influential in commerce. Its contribution to economic productivity cannot be ignored. However, the smaller business size and the easiness for entry enhance the competition and make it hard for operators to survive. To succeed in operation, the managers of restaurants have to emphasize not only the quality of physical goods but also the excellence of service quality, delivering what customers need and want. Many researchers have studied on service quality in recent years. They mainly use the closed questionnaire to measure how factors influence quality. It helps to understand service quality, but there are still some disadvantages. For example, its measure is closed and customers are no more than attitude accountants. Furthermore, the results can only show a part of service process, expressing no service encounters. To see more details about the service encounter between customers and service providers, this research adopts ¡§Critical Incident Technique¡¨(CIT). Customers¡¦ and service employees¡¦ opinions about the critical incidents which impacts on service encounters of fast-food restaurants and deluxe restaurants were collected, coded, and analyzed under the dramaturgical theory and Bitner¡¦s standard (BBM principle). It is to compare customers¡¦ view with service employees¡¦ and to identify the critical factors to service encounter satisfaction of fast-food restaurants and deluxe restaurants in Taiwan. The finding of the research is as followed. I. The critical factors to service encounter satisfaction of fast-food restaurants are: A. service employees¡¦ attitude and behavior, B. service employees¡¦ professional skills, C. the timely provision of service and the response to unreasonably delay, D. the performance of service processes and systems and the response to core service failure. II. The critical factors to service encounter satisfaction of deluxe restaurants are: A. the allocation of service environment, B. service employees¡¦ attitude and behavior, C. the quality of physical products, D. the timely provision of service and the response to unreasonably delay, E. the performance of service processes and systems and the response to core service failure. III. Service employees¡¦ attitude and behavior, the timely provision of service, and the performance of service processes and systems are all the critical factors to service encounter satisfaction no matter in fast-food restaurants of in deluxe restaurants. V. The factors, service employees¡¦ professional skills and the attention to customers, are only critical to service encounter satisfaction of fast-food restaurants. VI. The factors, the allocation of service environment, the quality of physical products, and the response to customers¡¦ preference, are only critical to service encounter satisfaction of deluxe restaurants. Key words: service quality, service encounter, dramaturgical theory, critical incident technique, restaurant industry