Thesis (M.S.)--University of New Mexico, 2005. / "July, 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-51). Distplot can be accessed with a web-browser.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Karl E. Wommack, Dept. of Plant & Soil Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Med. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006.

Thesis (B.S.) Summa Cum Laude--Butler University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 30-31).

Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 8, 2007) In the 520 where natIn-DOTA⁰ appears nat should be superscripted. Includes bibliographical references.

The present investigation examined the use of choice in task sequence to increase on-task behavior for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a school setting. Three conditions were utilized to conduct a parametric analysis of choice in task sequence. Participants experienced the three conditions: Teacher Choice of Sequence, Student Choice of Sequence, and Partial Student Choice of Sequence in a multielement design. Conditions were paired with condition-correlated stimuli and presented to participants in a randomized order. Sessions were integrated into the participants’ school day. Preference was assessed upon concluding the choice evaluation. Results indicated that choice in task sequence, across all three conditions, does not increase on-task behavior for children with ASD. However, all participants demonstrated a preference for choice of task sequence when provided the opportunity to choose a condition. Practical applications based on these findings are discussed. Limitations and future research are identified in the discussion.

En stor del av fordonsindustrin tillverkar mot order och använder sig av modulsystem för att effektivt kunna anpassa produkterna efter varierande kundbehov. Ett ökat antal varianter av moduler har bidragit till utvecklingen av just-in-sequence (JIS), ett koncept som har vidareutvecklats från just-in-time och ställer krav på att leveranser sker vid rätt tidpunkt, i rätt mängd, av rätt kvalitet och dessutom i en förbestämd sekvens. Produktionsstopp eller störningar som uppstår i sekvenserna kan orsaka stora kostnader hos kunden, vilket gör leverantören till en viktig aktör. Syftet med studien har i och med detta varit att undersöka hur leverantörer med ett kundorderstyrt produktionsflöde kan säkerställa sekvensleveranser, med fokus på planering och uppföljning. En fallstudie har genomförts på Scania Ferruform i Luleå och mer specifikt på företagets tillverkning av sidobalkar. Företaget genomför uppföljning av produktionen genom att bland annat mäta sekvensriktigheten, vilket speglar hur stor andel av färdigvarulagret som kan levereras i rätt sekvens till kunderna. Risken att störningar uppstår hos kunden, både internt och externt, kan reduceras genom att förbättra sekvensriktigheten. Studien har utifrån detta undersökt hur sekvensriktigheten kan förbättras, med avseende på planering och uppföljning. Planeringen har avgränsats till att främst undersöka körplaneringen, vilken sker efter frisläppning av order till verkstaden. Med hjälp av den upprättade teoretiska referensramen kunde empiriska data analyseras. Först och främst visar slutsatserna på att det finns en tydlig koppling mellan uppföljning och körplaneringen, men även till sekvensriktigheten. Körplaneringen är huvudsakligen operatörsstyrd, dock med grund i en initial körplan. Detta innebär att verkstadspersonalen har stor möjlighet att påverka produktionsordningen utifrån frisläppta order. Ofta sker även detta i syfte att optimera den egna processen, vilket i detta flöde innefattar bland annat minimering av omställningstid, skrotminimering och uppfyllande av nyckeltal. Den automatiska planeringsfunktionen som används har visat sig vara bristfällig och tillsammans med begränsningar i produktionens utformning skapar detta ett behov av att manuellt genomföra körplanering. Slutsatserna kring uppföljning i produktionen är att den i nuläget inte skapar några incitament till att prioritera sekvensriktigheten. Istället finns ett fokus inom produktionen att uppnå det skiftmål som finns, vilket beskriver antalet balkar som bör tillverkas under skiftet. Detta innebär vid tillfälle att den balk som ur sekvensperspektiv bör tillverkas prioriteras bort i syfte att uppnå målet angående antal balkar. Det som även kan konstateras genom studien är det faktum att produktionens utformning många gånger begränsar möjligheten att tillverka enligt sekvens, vilket ibland tvingar fram beslut som inte gynnar sekvensriktigheten. Rekommendationerna till företaget innebär att på kort sikt skapa incitament till att förbättra sekvensriktigheten, genom att införa nyckeltal som är anpassade efter detta. Sekvensriktighet kan införas som ett nyckeltal, men på grund av att procentsiffran kan vara svårtolkad rekommenderas även kompletterande mått. På längre sikt innebär rekommendationerna att utveckla den automatiska funktionen för produktionsplanering. Om denna kan ta hänsyn till de faktorer som leder till manuell körplanering i nuläget, kan detta reducera behovet av att genomföra körplanering i flödets olika processer. I sin tur kan detta skapa förutsättningar för en bättre sekvensriktighet och minskad risk för suboptimering. / A majority of the automotive industry are applying a make-to-order strategy in the manufacturing process. Many of them also use a modular system to efficiently adapt the products to changing customer requirements. An increasing amount of variations of the modules has led to the development of just-in-sequence, a concept that has developed further from just-in-time and that requires deliveries at the right time, in the right amount, of the right quantity and in a predetermined sequence. Disturbances that occur in the sequence can cause problems and high costs for the customer, which increases the role of the supplier. The purpose of the study has therefore been to examine how suppliers with a customer order driven production flow can ensure sequenced deliveries. A case study has been conducted at Scania Ferruform in Luleå and more specifically at the sidemember production unit. The sequence correctness is one measure that is used for monitoring and follow-up, and it reflects the share of the finished good inventory that can be delivered in sequence to the customers. Improving the sequence correctness can decrease the risk of disturbances occurring in the delivery and thereby at the customer, both internally and externally. The study has therefore had the focus of exploring how the sequence correctness can be improved, with regards to planning and monitoring. In this particular study, the planning has been limited to shop planning of production orders only. The empirically collected data were analysed with the theoretical frame of reference as a basis. The conclusions first of all show that there is a distinct connection between the follow-up process and shop planning, but also that these are directly connected to the sequence correctness. The operators in the different processes mainly control the shop planning, although with the basis of an initial plan based on the released orders. This means that the shop floor operators have a great opportunity to affect the production sequence. This planning is often performed in the purpose of optimizing an individual process of choice, which in this production flow involves for example minimizing setup time, minimizing scrap and fulfilling performance measures that are used. The automatic planning function that is used has proven to be inadequate, which creates a need for manually adjusting the sequence planning. When it comes to monitoring and follow-up of the production, the conclusion is that these do not give any incentives for prioritizing the sequence correctness. Instead there is a focus on achieving the goal of the number of sidemembers to be produced during each working shift. At some points, this means that sidemembers that should be produced with regards to the sequence correctness are not prioritized for the purpose of achieving the target of the number of sidemembers produced. Something that can also be stated is the fact that the production and facility layout limits the possibility to produce according to the customer sequence, which sometimes compels decisions that do not facilitate the sequence correctness. The recommendations to the company in short-term is to create incentives to improve the sequence correctness by implementing performance measures in the production that are adapted to this. Sequence correctness can be one of these measures, but measures to complement this are suggested because of the difficulty of interpreting the result. In the long-term however, the automatic production planning function should be developed. The need for adapting the shop plan in the different processes can be reduced if it can automatically take factors into account that today require manual planning. In turn, this can create a possibility of achieving better sequence correctness and reduce the risk of sub optimization.

A 1.57 kb XhoI restriction fragment derived from the TOL plasmid pDKI was subcloned into the E. Coli plasmid pUC19. The complete nucleotide sequence of this XhoI fragment was determined using both the chemical cleavage and chain termination DNA sequencing methods.

The mental sequence line is a cognitive construct by which sequences are perceived as beginning on the left and extending rightwards. Its developmental origins are unknown. In the first experiment, 4- and 5-year-old children placed items in order from four ordinal sequences, two of which they may have seen in print (i.e., letters and numbers) and two they would not have (i.e., times of day and meals). Four-year-olds systematically ordered letters from left to right; by age 5, numbers and times of day, but not meals, were ordered this way as well. These data suggest experience that cultural text direction, rather than inherent cortical organization, is responsible for development of the mental sequence line. The second experiment measured the mental sequence line in 6-, 7-, and 8-year-old children, and assessed its relation to visuospatial skills and mathematics ability. Mental sequence lines were measured by Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) and distance effects. Children’s mental rotation ability was moderately correlated (r=.303) with the distance effect but neither it nor the SNARC effect correlated with mathematic ability. These data suggest the mental sequence line is not at the core of children’s number sense, as previously hypothesized. The final experiment assessed consistency across time of SNARC and distance effects in adults for numbers, weekdays, and months. Despite often being described as trait variables, SNARC and distance effects were only moderately consistent for numbers, with even more variable results for months and weekdays, results suggesting mental sequence lines are not byproducts of stable, inflexible neural architectures. Combined, my data show sequence-space associations first emerge for letters, and subsequent development supports an enculturation hypothesis. By middle childhood, individual differences are evident in these effects that, as in adults, correlate with measures of spatial cognition. By adulthood, those individual differences have become modestly stable. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Automotive assembly plants work on a pre-planned job sequence in order to optimize the performance of the assembly line. However, the job sequence becomes scrambled due to factors such as plant layout, process design, variability and uncertainty. Assembly plants use either a mix-bank or an automatic storage and retrieval system to regenerate the sequence before final assembly. A mix-bank, which is a set of parallel lanes, is the most common method used in the automotive industry to reconstruct the sequence. Only the first vehicles on the lanes are available for sequencing in a mix-bank set-up. Hence the lane selection policy and the lane configuration of a mix-bank play crucial roles in recreating the sequence. This thesis addresses the problem of identifying a superior lane selection policy for a mix-bank re-sequencing area. Simulation models of a re-sequencing area are used to evaluate lane selection policies. Varying the lane configurations and the nature of sequence tests the effectiveness of the selection policies.