Petroleum Transportation Systems (PTSs) have a significant impact on the flow of crude oil within a Petroleum Supply Chain (PSC), due to the great demand on this natural product. Such systems are used for safe movement of crude and/or refined products from starting points (i.e. production sites or storage tanks), to their final destinations, via land or sea transportation. PTSs are vulnerable to several risks because they often operate in a dynamic environment. Due to this environment, many potential risks and uncertainties are involved. Not only having a direct effect on the product flow within PSC, PTSs accidents could also have severe consequences for the humans, businesses, and the environment. Therefore, safe operations of the key systems such as port, ship and pipeline, are vital for the success of PTSs. This research introduces an advanced approach to ensure safety of PTSs. This research proposes multiple network analysis, risk assessment, uncertainties treatment and decision making techniques for dealing with potential hazards and operational issues that are happening within the marine ports, ships, or pipeline transportation segments within one complete system. The main phases of the developed framework are formulated in six steps. In the first phase of the research, the hazards in PTSs operations that can lead to a crude oil spill are identified through conducting an extensive review of literature and experts’ knowledge. In the second phase, a Fuzzy Rule-Based Bayesian Reasoning (FRBBR) and Hugin software are applied in the new context of PTSs to assess and prioritise the local PTSs failures as one complete system. The third phase uses Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in order to determine the weight of PTSs local factors. In the fourth phase, network analysis approach is used to measure the importance of petroleum ports, ships and pipelines systems globally within Petroleum Transportation Networks (PTNs). This approach can help decision makers to measure and detect the critical nodes (ports and transportation routes) within PTNs. The fifth phase uses an Evidential Reasoning (ER) approach and Intelligence Decision System (IDS) software, to assess hazards influencing on PTSs as one complete system. This research developed an advance risk-based framework applied ER approach due to its ability to combine the local/internal and global/external risk analysis results of the PTSs. To complete the cycle of this study, the best mitigating strategies are introduced and evaluated by incorporating VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) and AHP to rank the risk control options. The novelty of this framework provides decision makers with realistic and flexible results to ensure efficient and safe operations for PTSs.

The long-term (>1 Ga) thermal histories of cratons are enigmatic, with geologic data providing only limited snapshots of their evolution. We use zircon (U-Th)/He (zircon He) thermochronology and age composition correlations to understand the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic thermal history of Archean Wyoming province rocks exposed in the northern Laramide ranges of western North America. Zircon He ages from the Wind River Range (54 dates) and Bighorn Mountains (32 dates) show negative correlations with effective uranium (eU), a proxy for radiation damage. Zircon dates from the Bighorns are between 960 Ma (low-eU) and 20 Ma (high-eU) whereas samples from the Wind Rivers are between 582 Ma (low-eU) and 33 Ma (high-eU). We applied forward modeling using the zircon radiation damage and annealing model ZrDAAM to understand this highly variable dataset. A long-term t-T path that is consistent with the available geologic constraints successfully reproduced age-eU correlations. The best fit to the Wind Rivers data involves two phases of rapid cooling at 1800-1600 Ma and 900-700 Ma followed by slower cooling until 525 Ma. During the Phanerozoic, these samples were heated to maximum temperatures between 160 and 125 degrees C prior to Laramide cooling to 50 degrees C between 60 and 40 Ma. Data from the Bighorn Mountains were successfully reproduced with a similar thermal history involving cooler Phanerozoic temperatures of similar to 115 degrees C and earlier Laramide cooling between 85 and 60 Ma. Our results indicate that age-eU correlations in zircon He datasets can be applied to extract long-term thermal histories that extend beyond the most recent cooling event. In addition, our results constrain the timing, magnitude and rates of cooling experienced by Archean Wyoming Province rocks between recognized deformation events, including the >1 Ga period represented by the regionally-extensive Great Unconformity.

This research proposes a risk management framework and develops generic risk-based decision-making, and risk-assessment models for dealing with potential Hazard Events (HEs) and risks associated with uncertainty for Operational Safety Performance (OSP) in container terminals and maritime ports. Three main sections are formulated in this study: Section 1: Risk Assessment, in the first phase, all HEs are identified through a literature review and human knowledge base and expertise. In the second phase, a Fuzzy Rule Base (FRB) is developed using the proportion method to assess the most significant HEs identified. The FRB leads to the development of a generic risk-based model incorporating the FRB and a Bayesian Network (BN) into a Fuzzy Rule Base Bayesian Network (FRBN) method using Hugin software to evaluate each HE individually and prioritise their specific risk estimations locally. The third phase demonstrated the FRBN method with a case study. The fourth phase concludes this section with a developed generic risk-based model incorporating FRBN and Evidential Reasoning to form an FRBER method using the Intelligence Decision System (IDS) software to evaluate all HEs aggregated collectively for their Risk Influence (RI) globally with a case study demonstration. In addition, a new sensitivity analysis method is developed to rank the HEs based on their True Risk Influence (TRI) considering their specific risk estimations locally and their RI globally. Section 2: Risk Models Simulations, the first phase explains the construction of the simulation model Bayesian Network Artificial Neural Networks (BNANNs), which is formed by applying Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). In the second phase, the simulation model Evidential Reasoning Artificial Neural Networks (ERANNs) is constructed. The final phase in this section integrates the BNANNs and ERANNs that can predict the risk magnitude for HEs and provide a panoramic view on the risk inference in both perspectives, locally and globally. Section 3: Risk Control Options is the last link that finalises the risk management based methodology cycle in this study. The Analytical Hierarchal Process (AHP) method was used for determining the relative weights of all criteria identified in the first phase. The last phase develops a risk control options method by incorporating Fuzzy Logic (FL) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to form an FTOPSIS method. The novelty of this research provides an effective risk management framework for OSP in container terminals and maritime ports. In addition, it provides an efficient safety prediction tool that can ease all the processes in the methods and techniques used with the risk management framework by applying the ANN concept to simulate the risk models.

This research aims to develop realistic solutions to enhance the efficiency of port operations. By conducting a comprehensive literature review on logistic problems at seaports, some important gaps have been identified for the first time. The following contributions are made in order to close some of the existing gaps. Firstly, this thesis identifies important realistic features which have not been well-studied in current academic research of berth planning. This thesis then aims to solve a discrete dynamic Berth allocation problem (BAP) while taking tidal constraints into account. As an important feature when dealing with realistic scheduling, changing tides have not been well-considered in BAPs. To the best of our knowledge, there is no existing work using meta-heuristics to tackle the BAP with multiple tides that can provide feasible solutions for all the test cases. We propose one single-point meta-heuristic and one population-based meta-heuristic. With our algorithms, we meet the following goals: (i) to minimise the cost of all vessels while staying in the port, and (ii) to schedule available berths for the arriving vessels taking into account a multi-tidal planning horizon. Comprehensive experiments are conducted in order to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the algorithms and compare with both exact and approximate methods. Furthermore, lacking tools for examining existing algorithms for different optimisation problems and simulating real-world scenarios is identified as another gap in this study. This thesis develops a discrete-event simulation framework. The framework is able to generate test cases for different problems and provide visualisations. With this framework, contributions include assessing the performance of different algorithms for optimisation problems and benchmarking optimisation problems.

Maritime container supply chains (MCSCs) is exposed to various risks arising from both internal operations and the external environment, and the increasing complexity of the modern global logistics system makes the situation even worse, thus causing a significant challenge to the effective risk management of MCSCs. However, systematic studies on this topic are relatively few. In view of this, this study aims to explore and analyse various MCSC risks, develop suitable risk assessment methods, and evaluate the overall performance of MCSCs from a systematic perspective, so as to ensure the safety, reliability, and resilience of MCSCs. This research starts with the identification and classification of all possible risk factors that may be involved in an MCSC based on a comprehensive literature review, and the research results are further validated through a Delphi expert survey. The identified risk factors are then analysed, screened, and assessed in detail. The novelty of this study lies not only on the risk assessment of MCSCs under an uncertain environment from a supply chain level but also on the consideration of the impact of risk condition of each individual MCSC on the overall performance of the entire container supply network. The research results will provide useful insights and valuable information for both researchers and practitioners on the risk analysis and assessment of MCSCs, which is beneficial to different types of stakeholders involved in the maritime shipping industry. The work is also able to provide a theoretical foundation for risk-based decision making and shipping route optimisation in further work. Although the risk assessment methods are presented on the basis of the specific context in MCSCs, it is believed that, with domain-specific knowledge and data, they can also be tailored for a wide range of applications to evaluate the reliability and performance of other supply chain systems, especially where a high level of uncertainty is involved.

This thesis explored the public value (PV) concept as strategic management to (re)introduce the concept of social responsibility and ethics within the public sector. Public sector governance relied on the assumption that the specific attributes of the various public sector governance approaches influenced public managers’ actions and decisions. The attributes of the management approach became more aligned with the PV concept as it moved along a public sector reform (PSR) continuum. To compare and contrast the PV concept in the various cultures and institutional settings through the lens of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)-related policies and programmes, three countries at the different stages of PSR were chosen. The results showed there were varying degrees of PSR acceptance and compliance at the various government levels. Thus, more than one dominant PSR model existed simultaneously in a country. The extent to which the changes were accepted and complied with depended on several dynamics. Additionally, the results discovered that the PV concept influenced public managers’ practices despite the governance traditions. This discovery validated the fact that a country did not have to be at the most sophisticated PSR stage to strategise using the PV concept. Finally, the results supported the view that ITS enabled easy and continuous data collection for the public managers. This ease of data collection advanced the process of knowledge exchange to co-create/co-produce or share PV with the public. The knowledge collaboration and sharing could lead to innovation, sustainability and the perception of value by the public.

This thesis adopts an integrated tourism research approach to investigate the role of tourism in sustainable rural development. It identifies what the key ingredients of sustainable rural tourism development (SRTD) could be, which include an effective policy framework, good partnerships between stakeholders and a strong connection between tourism and local resources. A qualitative approach is adopted in investigating the cases of the Puli, Yuchih, and Renai townships in Taiwan, and the investigation focuses on three key concepts of policy, partnership and place (3Ps). Several issues emerged from the investigation. Due to dependence on central government support, the public-private partnership appears problematic; however, the strong level of business support networks and community organisations engaging in tourism strengthens local initiative in promoting sustainable development. The effects of tourism on local development are perceived as having more positive outcomes than negative ones, even though, the contribution of tourism to SRTD is still considered limited due to the scale of the rural decline problem it is trying to address. The influential correlations between policy, partnership, and place that emerged from the empirical findings evidently support the 3 Ps integrated tourism concept proposed by this research. This provides a more realistic and holistic understanding of tourism in rural areas. The thesis contributes to the literature by introducing the 3 Ps integrated tourism concept, and empirically, through the case studies, it also contributes to the understanding of current rural tourism development in an East Asian context.

As the People’s Republic of China begins to accumulate influence on the international stage through strategic usage of soft power, the history and application of soft power throughout the history of China will be important to future scholars of the politics of Beijing. This study will examine Beijing and its government official’s perceptions of its soft power and how there have been historical parallels between the modern People’s Republic of China and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in regard to soft power politics and China’s search for its legitimacy as a rising global power. This study will use two examples that have similar parallels: The eunuch admiral Zheng He (1371-1433) and his journey’s through the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East and the Confucius Institute, a teaching and cultural exchange program under the auspices of the Office of Chinese Language International, known colloquially as Hanban, an organization under the direct control of the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership. What connects these two topics is the subject of soft power, a term coined by Joseph S. Nye, relating to the kind of power wielded by countries that does not involve military force and uses a “Charm Strategy” to support favorable treatment amongst its trading partners. Zheng He sailed the oceans to neighboring countries, in an attempt to give legitimacy to Ming China through the imperial tribute trade system. The Confucius Institute continues that legacy today, teaching a view of China that is shaped in Beijing. I will show the parallels between this historical figure and that of the Confucius Institute, showing that the pursuit of soft power is not a recent phenomenon in Chinese politics but a theory and a motivation that has existed in China since medieval times in China’s endless search for legitimacy in the eyes of its neighbors. I will be researching the life and journeys of Zheng He, along with the controversies surrounding the Confucius Institute and how all of these factors relate to China attempting to re-instate a legacy that the nation has was lost over since the nineteenth century’s “Century of Humiliation”. This loss of prestige was a result of European colonial power’s ambitions in the area. I will also use evidence to prove the importance of Confucianism in regard to the development of soft power in China. As China seeks to find its legitimacy, we will see that this has been some centuries in the making and plays a crucial part of Chinese politics today. The re-assertion of China’s place in the world as a rising world power will have geopolitical implications for decades to come.

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Thesis (M.S.)--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 (February 5, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.