Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has been practiced in Canada since the early 1970s. However, its added value to policies plans and programs (PPPs) has yet to be fully realized. Consequently, many planners and decision makers are skeptical about the benefits of SEA, in part because of the lack of cases to indicate its added value to PPP development or downstream assessment. Much of the SEA evaluation research to date has focused on the procedural requirements and process elements of SEA rather than on its outputs and outcomes. The overall purpose of this research was to examine the efficacy of SEA and “SEA like” processes in Canada. The research examined how SEA practices have influenced PPP development, decision-making and subsequent actions in Canada. Data were collected using SEA efficacy evaluation criteria through semi-structured interviews with experts and non-experts across Canada based on their experience with and perspectives on the ‘impact’ of SEA. There has not been any study into the efficacy of SEA that is based on its added value. Most studies so far have focused on SEA inputs and process rather than outputs and broader outcomes in Canada. This research contributed not only to SEA efficacy studies, but also to improved SEA application and value added for PPP development in Canada.

In planning a suitable road network, planners put into consideration factors like gradients or slope of the area, available land-use and soil type, community or national landmarks and governmental interest. These different considerations and interest make the planning process complex and as such there might be confusion of interest in the decision making. The use of GIS and Multi-criteria analysis has helped planners to achieve desired and more accurate results and as such reducing the complex nature in the planning process allowing different stakeholders to reach a general conclusion. Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) prevents the imposition of limit on the form of criteria and gives opportunity to decision makers to enter their own judgments. This provides a better communication among the decision makers and the entire community and as such creating a more open choice for analysis and possible changes if necessary. The aim of this thesis is to introduce the possibility of using GIS and MCA in road path planning in Nigeria, using Lokoja, the capital of Kogi state as a case study. In actualizing the aim, satellite images of the area of study was obtained from the Landsat home page and analyzed to derive the land-use map. The land-use over the area of study was classified into five different classes using the unsupervised method of classification. A DEM over the area of study was downloaded from the website of the Consortium of Spatial information (CSI) and the DEM was used to derive the slope map over the area of study and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was used in weighting the criterions according to preference. As the conclusion of the analysis, a road path between two points was obtained. The start point of the road was located on an approximate coordinate of 219002, 958986 meters and the destination point on an approximate coordinate of 320322, 878101 meters. The start and destination point were selected randomly without any pre-knowledge of the area. The thesis has succeeded in showing that it is possible to determine a road path between two points using Geographic information system (GIS) and Multi-criteria analysis in Nigeria.

This paper is part of the research programme ViSuCity, a programme with the goal of creating more sustainable urban planning through the development of better visual tools, which ultimately means better communication between various parties of public planning. The paper concerns the implementation of MCE into a 3D program for visualization. Multi criteria evaluation (MCE) is a technique that has been developed during the last 20 years. It merges GIS with AHP, forming a decision making tool for localization of, for example, new buildings.The result is an automated tool that enables advanced analysis of geographic areas.The tool has a very high potential due to the completely automated MCE and it is adapted for people without a technical background, let alone formal training in MCE. It provides great opportunities to test different scenarios, something that should be an important advantage. The incorporation of MCE into 3D models has made it easier for users to relate the maps to reality, since a detailed 3D model is very easily understood in terms of geographical placement. A brand new feature that has not previously been used is the ability to import new objects and give feedback to the analysis. A summary of research on the MCE underlines the current situation, that relatively little research exists surrounding the use and demand of MCE. This paper unfortunately contributes to this fact since no user studies have been done due to lack of time. This is something future research should focus on. / ViSuCity

This report develops a method for probabilistic conceptual sensor modeling. The idea is to generate probabilities for detection, recognition and identification based on a few simple factors. The focus lies on FLIR sensors and thermal radiation, even if discussions of other wavelength bands are made. The model can be used as a hole or some or several parts can be used to create a simpler model. The core of the model is based on the Johnson criteria that uses resolution as the input parameter. Some extensions that models other factors are also implemented. In the end a short discussion of the possibility to use this model for other sensors than FLIR is made.

The European Commission has for some time indicated a desire to remove the remaining restrictions on cabotage. Such liberalization is expected to result in significant changes on some domestic road transport markets. The Scandinavian markets are among these and the local hauilers fear that the lower wages of Easter European hauliers will leave them out of business. In this thesis a scenario of full cabotage liberalization is assumed. Representatives from associations with interest within the Scandinavian road transport markets has been approached with a qualitative survey on carrier selection criteria. Respondents are asked to determine the importance of the criteria, as well as the relevance to the competition between Scandinavian and Eastern European hauliers. Finally they are asked to assess whether the advantage of each criterion lies with Scandinavian or Eastern European hauliers. The qualitative orientation of the survey is achieved though justification and follow up questions. Reliability of pickups and deliveries is still regarded the most important criteria. Also competitive prices received a high rating. It is concluded that the significant price difference between Scandinavian and Eastern European hauliers will benefit Eastern European hauliers considerably in the competition for the simple “from A to B” shipments. For more complicated shipments, entailing a higher level of service, communication and supply chain integration, the local hauliers are expected to stand their ground.

Multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques are developed to address challenging classification problems arising in engineering management and elsewhere. MCDA consists of a set of principles and tools to assist a decision maker (DM) to solve a decision problem with a finite set of alternatives compared according to two or more criteria, which are usually conflicting. The three types of classification problems to which original research contributions are made are <ol> <li>Screening: Reduce a large set of alternatives to a smaller set that most likely contains the best choice. </li> <li>Sorting: Arrange the alternatives into a few groups in preference order, so that the DM can manage them more effectively. </li> <li>Nominal classification: Assign alternatives to nominal groups structured by the DM, so that the number of groups, and the characteristics of each group, seem appropriate to the DM. </ol> Research on screening is divided into two parts: the design of a sequential screening procedure that is then applied to water resource planning in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; and the development of a case-based distance method for screening that is then demonstrated using a numerical example. <br /><br /> Sorting problems are studied extensively under three headings. Case-based distance sorting is carried out with Model I, which is optimized for use with cardinal criteria only, and Model II, which is designed for both cardinal and ordinal criteria; both sorting approaches are applied to a case study in Canadian municipal water usage analysis. Sorting in inventory management is studied using a case-based distance method designed for multiple criteria ABC analysis, and then applied to a case study involving hospital inventory management. Finally sorting is applied to bilateral negotiation using a case-based distance model to assist negotiators that is then demonstrated on a negotiation regarding the supply of bicycle components. <br /><br /> A new kind of decision analysis problem, called multiple criteria nominal classification (MCNC), is addressed. Traditional classification methods in MCDA focus on sorting alternatives into groups ordered by preference. MCNC is the classification of alternatives into nominal groups, structured by the DM, who specifies multiple characteristics for each group. The features, definitions and structures of MCNC are presented, emphasizing criterion and alternative flexibility. An analysis procedure is proposed to solve MCNC problems systematically and applied to a water resources planning problem.

This thesis is intended to be a survey on the comparison theorems and oscillation theorems for second order linear differential equations. We shall discuss four comparison theorems in detail: Sturm-Picone, Levin, Reid and Leighton comparison theorems. For oscillation properties, we shall study Hille-Kneser theorems, and Wintner and Leighton oscillation criteria, which involves analysis of a Riccati equation. In 1969, J.S.W. Wong had some deep results about oscillatory and nonoscillatory differential equations. We shall explain these results and some of the examples in detail. This survey is mainly based on the monographs of Swanson [12], and Deng [20], plus a paper of Wong [18]. In some places, we give simplifications and extensions.

Along with the rapid expansion of information technology and the urgent demand of Decision Support System, only in a few years, data warehouse have been converting absolute theory into practical technology. More and more enterprises have been plunging into the data warehouse system for supporting business process and decision. Data warehouse system does transfer big data of enterprise to useful resource or information and will not impact current history data. The data warehouse depends on enterprise various demands and plays the role of Decision Support System. It is the reason that enterprise pays attention and positive investment. This paper identifies as a set of evaluating criteria on the literature review and consults the expert to decide vendor level, design the questionnaire and retrieve weight. At last the paper uses the real case evaluating data warehouse system by ELECTRE I. The result of this study can not only contribute to the understanding of functionalities of a data warehouse system but can provide a practical guideline for selection of a data warehouse system.

This study analyzed venture capital investment criteria of Taiwan¡¦s movie industry by the method of literature review and in-depth interviews. There are four directions to estimate whether a movie is investment-worthy or not. There are followed by movie marketing, the team of movie-making, movie financial status and movie contents. 1.Movie Marketing Movie marketing contains the following factors: the movie proposal contents are made by producers or directors when searching for venture capital investments, film making team¡¦s marketing and selling abilities. 2.The Team of Movie-making The team of movie making contains the following factors: the director and the producer¡¦s experience and personalities; the quality of cooperation in the movie-making team, and the last one factor is other movie investors, who are estimated by their experience. 3.Movie Financial Status This part is made of the following factors: the cash flow of the film making team, and the financing and operation ability of the team. 4.Movie Contents This part contains the following factors: first, the skills of movie-making, including cinematography skills, written skills, post-producing skills and etc.. Second, the feature of the movie. It contains stars, story and etc.. The last factor is cost controlling abilities of movie-making.

The Criteria and Relative Suggestions of Elementary School Teachers in Selecting Chinese Textbooks Abstract The purpose of the research is to analyze teachers¡¦ opinions about the criteria and their suggestions for selecting the Chinese textbook. In order to achieve the research goal, the researcher¡A based on documentary analysis ¡A makes self-written materials about ¡§survey of teachers on criteria and suggestion of selecting the Chinese textbook in the elementary school.¡¨ The population of this survey was elementary school teachers in Kaohsiung area. 563 teachers were stratifiedly sampled from 48 elementary schools were the samples by using Stratified Sampling. Among Them 403 returning surveys were effecitve. The data analysis was conducted through the Descriptive statistics, T-test,and One-Way ANOVA. 1. According to the teachers¡¦ opinions on criteria of selecting the Chinese textbook,the order of importance is Teaching-Related Attributes, Physical-Related Attributes, Publication-Related Attributes, Outside-Related Attributes, and Context-Related Attributes of textbook. 2. In the Context-Related Attributes, teachers stressed on the correction of the content, and the capability of approaching the grade 1-9 curriculum competence indicators. 3. In Teaching-Related Attributes, teachers focused on the attraction of students' motivation and the instructional strategies of conforming the grade 1-9 curriculum competence indicators in the selecting book. 4. In Physical-Related Attributes, teachers emphasized the most on the size of typeface basing on the suitability of reading. 5. In Publication-Related Attributes, teachers emphasized the most on the continuance of the research which the publisher could make in linguistic field. 6. In Outside-Related Attributes, teachers stressed the most on the experience of using Chinese textbook and the educational philosophy in the textbook. 7. Female teachers paid more attention to Teaching-Related Attributes and Context-Related Attributes than the male teachers. 8. The teachers in large-scale schools paid more attention to Publication-Related Attributes of textbook than the teachers in other schools. 9. The elementary school teachers in remote districts paid more attention to all attributes of textbook than the teachers in cities and towns. 10. 62.8% of the elementary school teachers agreed that teachers are the major population who could make the choice of textbooks to use. 11. 97.9% of the elementary school teachers thought that teachers should be the faculties who could select textbooks to use, but they lacked consistency of thoughts that parents of the students also need to select textbooks. 12. Only a few elementary school teachers expressed that there were continual evaluations of textbook proceeding in their schools. Based upon the above conclusions, this research provides suggestions to and reference material for teachers, schools, publishers, educational administration and future research. Keywords: textbook. criteria of selecting the Chinese textbook. the suggestion of selecting the Chinese textbook