The intention of implementing technology into healthcare practices is to reduce opportunity for errors in the delivery of providing health care. However, errors still occur, and many times are preventable. Configurations of health information technology systems should match clinical workflows to promote usage as intended. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the impact of revised system configurations and use of a blood product transfusion system for the administration of blood products after one year of implementation. The method of heuristic evaluation is a usability engineering method for finding problems in a user interface design with the input of a small workgroup of subject matter experts. The project site had experienced reported incidents of blood product administration error as well as problems with systems communication since the implementation of the blood transfusion system. There were 31 nurse clinical educator staff users of the system who completed a survey evaluation of their perceptions of the blood transfusion system before and after configuration changes. The findings revealed that the mean quality and productivity score after the system configuration occurred was significantly higher than the mean score prior to the system configuration change, t (30) = -7.93, p < .001. The correlation between the one survey was also statistically significant, r = .46, p = .009. This project supports positive social change by reducing the potential for error for system users in the process of the blood administration process through heuristic evaluation through the implementation of changes to the technological system.

L'introduction du boson de Higgs permet de résoudre le problème de l'origine de la masse des particules dans le modèle standard. A ce jour, il n'a pas encore été déecouvert et les expériences du LEP on établit à 95% de niveau de confiance une limite inférieure sur sa masse à 114.4 GeV. Au Tevatron qui est un collisionneur proton­antiproton, on le recherche produit en association avec un boson $W$, pour une masse inférieure à 135 GeV où la désintégration du boson de Higgs se fait en paire de quark $b\bar{b}$. Notre étude s'est faite dans la cadre de l'expérience $D0$. L'état final de tels événements s'appuie essentiellement sur les signaux du calorimètre et sur l'étiquetage des jets comme provenant de quark $b$ utilisant le détecteur de vertex, le déctecteur de trace à fibre scintillante et le solénoïde qui sont nouveaux pour $D0$ au le Run II. Nous avons étudié la calibration de la chaîne électronique de lecture et l'influence du bruit dans le calorimètre avant d'aborder l'analyse en utilisant une reconstruction calorimétrique optimisée : les électrons, l'énergie transverse manquante ainsi que les jets y sont correctement identifiés et peuvent être utilisés dans une analyse $W (\to e\nu)+$ jets. <br />L'étude du processus $W (\to e\nu)b\bar{b}$ qui est un bruit de fond irréductible du signal de boson de Higgs a été réalisée avec 174 pb$^{-1}$ de données. Elle a permis d'établir une limite supérieure sur sa section efficace de production de 20.3 pb. Cette étude a été suivie par une recherche d'un signal de boson de Higgs pour des masses comprises entre 105 GeV et 135 GeV. Des limites sur les sections efficaces de production multipliées par les rapports d'embranchement de désintégrations ont été obtenues. Pour une masse de boson de Higgs de 115 GeV, nous obtenons une limite supérieure de 12.4 pb.

In today‟s manufacturing environment, different parts manufactured in-house and bought from suppliers are often assembled together into a finished product. Competition has made it very important for companies to deliver a customized product on a promised date. However, when inventory items are missing at the time of production, lead times for products become uncertain and this makes it difficult to fulfill a customer order on the promised date. It is thus important to explore the causes of missing items at the time of production in order to solve such a problem. This Master of Science thesis carried out through a case study at Fläkt Woods in collaboration with Jönköping University is about the problem of not finding specific inventory items in the locations specified by the computer system. It is delimited to inventory items which are physically within the company premises or which according to the computer system are within the premises of the company. The questions at issue have been what the causes of the problem of missing items within the company are and how to effectively reduce the problem. The thesis has been carried out over an entire academic semester as a full-time work in the company. The sources of the problem have been found to be the result of the work procedure, the underlying software used during work (the in-house developed ERP system), stealing from orders, ineffective barcode scans, re-sequencing at the component manufacturing department (called pre-manufacturing in the company) due to the need to fulfill multiple objectives, set-up times at the component manufacturing department and human errors among others. The suggestions given include: modification of the work procedure and the underlying software used at work, increasing effective scanning and using some checks at critical points in the material flow. Areas for further research are given to further reduce the impact of the problem on the production system.

Union between top-down and bottom-up assembly is inevitable when scaling down physical, chemical, and biological sensors and probes. Current sensor/probe-based technologies are firmly founded on top-down manufacturing, with limitations in cost of production, manufacturing methods, and material constraints. As an alternative to such limitations, contemporary synthesis techniques for one-dimensional nanostructures have been combined with established methods of micro-fabrication for the development of novel tools and techniques for nanotechnology. More specifically, this dissertation is a systematic study of the synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanostructures for piezoelectric applications. Within this study the following goals have been achieved: 1) rational design and control of a diversity of novel ZnO nanostructures, 2) improved understanding of polar-surface-dominated (PSD) phenomena among Wurtzite crystal structures, 3) confirmation of Taskers Rule via the synthesis, characterization, and modeling of polar-surface-dominated nanostructures, 4) measurement of the surface-charge density for real polar surfaces of ZnO, 5) confirmation of the electrostatic polar-charge model used to describe polar-surface-dominated phenomena, 6) dispersion of ZnO nanobelts onto the selective layers of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices for gas sensing applications, 7) manipulation of ZnO nanostructures using an atomic force microscope (AFM) for the development of piezoelectric devices, 8) fabrication of bulk acoustic resonator (BAR) and film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) devices based on the integrity of individual ZnO belts, 9) electrical characterization of a ZnO belt BAR device, 10) prediction and confirmation of the electrical response from a BAR device using a one-dimensional Krimholt-Leedom-Matthaei (KLM) model, and 11) development of a finite element model (FEM) to accurately predict the electrical response from ZnO belt BAR and FBAR devices in 3D.

On the basis of coastal disaster mitigation and protection, a beach must have sufficient width for preventing the destruction to public facilities, as well as protecting the safety of life and private property during storm events. The requirement of such a horizontal extent from the initial shoreline to the probable erosion landward to safeguard against the onslaught of a storm is referred to as ¡¥storm beach buffer width¡¦. Upon neglecting the effects of global warming and sealevel rise on a beach and berm with profile in equilibrium, numerical calculations are conducted first to validate the range of the most important parameters (K »P £` ) in the SBEACH model using the results of profile changes available from the CERC¡¦s large wave tank (LWT) tests in 1960s. These results are then applied to assess the profile changes for a beach with a vertical seawall and the other without sufficient berm, subject to the normal incidence of storm waves over a specific duration. Finally, a total of 48 cases with sufficient beach width are then investigated, from which a multiple linear regression model is proposed to determine the extent of berm retreat, as well as the location and height of a submerged offshore bar, for the benefit of coastal profession on preliminary design of storm buffer. Our modeling results using SBEACH reveal that: (1) A seawall without or with insufficient fronting beach could result in serious scour at its toe and even the total loss of the entire beach berm; (2) A beach with sufficient berm, natural or artificially nourished, is capable of protecting the back beach, despite the temporary erosion in the early hours of a storm action; (3) Under the same conditions of wave height and period, a wide buffer is necessary for a beach with small mean sand grain, and the berm height should be designed at 1.6 times of the designed storm surge level, in order to effectively absorb storm wave energy and maintain the provision of a storm buffer; and (4) The multiple linear regression model proposed in this study can be used to evaluate the scour depth and retreat of the berm, as well as the width of a storm beach buffer, upon the input of wave conditions and mean beach sand grain etc.

Depuis sa découverte en 1995 à Fermilab, le quark Top fait l'objet d'une grande attention. Il complète la troisième famille de quarks du Modèle Standard de la physique des particules, et la mesure de ses propriétés contraint fortement ce modèle. Il constitue également une voie d'accès privilégiée à la nouvelle physique attendue à une énergie de l'ordre du TeV. Ce travail de thèse, réalisé auprès du détecteur ATLAS du LHC, présente les méthodes mises en œuvre afin de mesurer précisément la masse du quark Top dans le canal lepton+jets. Différentes stratégies d'analyse sont présentées en fonction des performances du détecteur, notamment sa capacité d'identification des jets beaux. La mesure précise de la masse du Top passe par une connaissance approfondie de l'échelle d'énergie des jets. Ce document propose une stratégie d'étalonnage des jets légers qui s'appuie sur la contrainte de la masse du boson W, et montre qu'une précision de l'ordre du GeV/c² sur la mesure de la masse du Top est tout à fait possible. Une évaluation du potentiel de découverte de résonances ttbar, prévues dans le cadre de modèles au-delà du Modèle Standard, est également menée.

Dredging is often conducted to maintain authorized depths in coastal navigation channels. Placement of dredged sediment in the form of nearshore berms is becoming an increasingly popular option for disposal. Compared to direct beach placement, nearshore berms have fewer environmental impacts such as shore birds and turtle nesting, and have more lenient sediment compatibility restrictions. Understanding the potential morphological and sedimentological evolution is crucial to the design of a nearshore berm. Furthermore, the artificial perturbation generated by the berm installation provides a unique opportunity to understand the equilibrium process of coastal morphodynamics. Matanzas Pass and Bowditch Point, located on the northern tip of Estero Island in west-central Florida were dredged in October 2009. The dredged material was placed approximately 600 ft offshore of Fort Myers Beach and 1.5 miles southeast of Matanzas Pass, in the form of an artificial berm. Time-series surveys and sediment sampling were conducted semi-annually in order to quantify sedimentological characteristics and morphological changes within the first year after construction of the berm. The artificial berm at Fort Myers Beach is composed mainly of fine sand. Patches of mud were found throughout the study area, with the highest concentrations being in the trough landward of the berm, and offshore southeast of the berm area. The highest concentration of carbonates was found in the swash zone, as well as at the landward toe of the berm, which coincides with the coarsest sediment. The overall mud content of the berm is lower than that of the dredged sediment, thus indicating a coarsening of the berm over time. The reduction in fines as compared to the original dredged sedimet could also indicate a selective transport mechanism that moves finer material offshore, and coarser material landward, a desirable trend for artificial berm nourishment. During the course of the first year, the berm migrated landward and increased in elevation. Onshore migration occurred mostly within the first 6 months. Along with onshore migration, the shape of the berm changed from a symmetrical bell curve to an asymmetrical shape with a steep landward slope. There is no clear spatial trend of volume change alongshore within the berm area, indicating that sediment transport is mostly cross-shore dominated. A salient was formed landward of the northern portion of the berm. Several gaps were created during berm construction due to dredging and placement techniques. These dynamic gaps are likely maintained by rip currents through them. This study showed that the Fort Myers Beach berm is active, due to its landward migration during the first year after construction.

Šiame baigiamajame magistro darbe nagrinėjama temperatūros įtaka plieninių strypinių konstrukcijų darbui. Darbas susideda iš teorinės ir eksperimentinės dalių. Teorinėje dalyje atlikta literatūros apžvalga. Aptarti naujai pasiūlyti strypinių sistemų ir atskirų elementų, bei jų sujungimo skaičiavimo metodai ir eksperimentiniai rezultatai, veikiant aukštoms (gaisro) temperatūroms. Aprašyta temperatūros pokyčio įtaka elemento deformacijai, pateikiamas matematinis modelis tamprioms-plastinėms strypinėms konstrukcijoms skaičiuoti, įvertinant temperatūros pokyčius. Eksperimentinėje dalyje atliekama rėmo, kai elementus veikia visame skerspjūvio aukštyje vienoda temperatūra, ir kai apatiniuose ir viršutiniuose elementų sluoksniuose ji skiriasi, analizė. Skaičiavimams atlikti panaudotas simbolinės matematikos paketas Matlab. Aprašomi rezultatai, suformuluojamos išvados ir pasiūlymai. Darbą sudaro šios dalys: įvadas, literatūros apžvalga, matematinio modelio sudarymas, skaitinis eksperimentas, išvados ir pasiūlymai, literatūros sąrašas. Darbo apimtis – 90 p. teksto, 54 iliustracijos, 9 lentelės, 37 bibliografiniai šaltiniai. / This final master thesis deals with the impact of temperature on steel-framed structures. The thesis consists of theoretical and experimental parts. The theoretical part covers the review of literature. New methods of calculations and experimental results of steel-framed structures, separate members and connections at elevated temperatures are analysed. The impact of temperature changes on deformation of the elements is described, the mathematical model for calculating elastic-plastic bar structures with estimation of temperature changes is given. The experimental part covers the analysis of the frame, when the temperature is the same throughout the whole cross-section of members and when it is different in the bottom and top parts of sections. Software pack Matlab was used for calculations. Results of calculations are given, conclusions and suggestions presented. Structure: introduction, review of literature, mathematical model, experimental part, conclusions and suggestions, references. Volume of the thesis: 90 pages of text, 54 pictures, 9 tables, 37 references.

A burgeoning mega-club in the heart of Montreal's gay village, Sky embodies many forces active in gay club cultures and villages across North America at the end of the twentieth century. This project documents the daily operations of Sky--as a complex architectural site, a complicated set of managerial practices, and a popular space in Montreal's Village--and outlines the theoretical implications of such an establishment for both the gay community and for club culture more generally. A large entertainment complex currently undergoing a major expansion, Sky cannot be theorized as either a wholly oppressive or completely liberatory development. Although Sky presents some of the advantages of a mega-club for the gay community--increased diversity, accessibility and community--it also highlights the disadvantages in the development of such establishments: concentration of ownership, the removal of a gay presence from city streets, and the promotion of certain gay identities and cultures over others.

The tensile resistance of No. 15 lap spliced reinforcing bars with varying transverse spacing and lap splice length was evaluated in full-scale concrete block wall splice specimens. The range of the transverse spacing between bars was limited to that which allowed the bars to remain within the same cell, and included the evaluation of tied spliced bars in contact. Two-and-a-half block wide by three course tall double pullout specimens reinforced with contact lap splices were initially used to determine the range of lap splice length values to be tested in the wall splice specimens such that bond failure of the reinforcement occurred. The double pullout specimens were tested in direct tension with six replicates per arrangement. Three values of lap splice length: 150, 200, and 250 mm, were selected from the testing of the double pullout specimens and tested in the wall splice specimens in combination with three values of transverse spacing: 0, 25, and 50 mm, with three replicates per configuration. A total of twenty-seven two-and-a-half block wide by thirteen course tall wall splice specimens reinforced with two lap splices were tested in four-point loading. Both the double pullout and the wall splice specimens were constructed in running bond with all cells fully grouted. The tensile resistance of the lap spliced bars in the double pullout specimens was measured directly. The contact lap splices with a 150, 200, and 250 mm lap splice length developed approximately 38, 35 and 29% of the theoretical yield load of the reinforcement, respectively. The difference between the mean tensile resistances of the three reinforcement configurations tested in the double pullout specimens was found to be statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. Different than expected, the tensile resistance of the lap spliced reinforcing bars in the double pullout specimens was inversely proportional to the lap splice length provided. For the short lap splice lengths used in this investigation, the linear but not proportional relationship between bond force and lap splice length known from reinforced concrete is believed to have caused this phenomenon. An iterative sectional analysis using moment-curvature response was used to calculate the tensile resistance of the lap spliced reinforcement in the wall splice specimens. The calculated mean tensile resistance of the reinforcement increased with increasing lap splice length, and was greater when the bars were in contact. Securing the bars in contact may have influenced the tensile capacity of the contact lap splices as higher stresses are likely to develop as a result of the bar ribs riding over each other with increasing slip. Results of the data analysis suggest that the tensile resistance of non-contact lap splices within the same cell is generally independent of the spacing between the bars. A comparison of the experimental results for the wall splice specimens with the development and splice length provisions in CSA S304.1-04 and TMS 402-11 indicate that both the Canadian and U.S. design standards are appropriate for both contact and non-contact lap splices located within the same cell given the limited test database included in this investigation.