Rates of population growth in developing country cities are straining the capacity of sanitation service providers. In spite of widespread sector recognition of the need to adopt low-cost, people centred approaches, 80 per cent of investments in the water and sanitation sector continue to be allocated to high cost technologies for urban elites. Household level, on-plot sanitation systems potentially offer a solution to the sanitary needs of the urban poor. Nevertheless, commonly held assumptions amongst sector professionals that lower cost, on-plot systems are inappropriate and unacceptable in urban communities impede-their wider application. There is little empirical evidence to justify this position. The scope of this work examines the technical appropriateness and user acceptability of on-plot sanitation options. The thesis contributes to an improved understanding of the context in which on-plot systems operate, what factors constrain their application, and what issues need consideration when deciding on sanitary options in low-income communities. The research adopted a mix of methodological techniques to improve the reliability and validity of findings, with both quantitative and qualitative methods applied during fieldwork. Findings from Ghana, Mozambique and India are included in the thesis in order to permit sampling of key latrine types used internationally. The thesis concludes that user based perceptions of the performance and acceptability of on-plot systems varies markedly to those of sector professionals, particularly in relation to plot size, satisfaction levels and reasons for absence of household latrine. Furthermore, user based criteria of performance are developed for consideration practitioners when narrowing decision making on sanitary options. The implications of the study highlight the need for integration of user concerns into strategic planning for sanitation, more effective stimulation and negotiation of demand for sanitation systems and challenges for agencies in adopting a user oriented approach. The recommendations from the thesis include practitioner focused policy changes that affect project planning and support systems for user education. Potential areas of further research interest include ranking user perceptions, an holistic understanding of excreta management processes and institutional constraints affecting user-service provider consultations.

The thesis work discuss about how the materials mechanical properties are influenced by the microstructure. The most common way of altering the microstructure of the material is by heat treatment.The mechanical properties that are of interest are strength, toughness, ductility, creep and fatigue. The material under consideration iswidely used superalloy In718. Two different sets of specimens areheat treated at different temperatures and influence of heat treatmenton the grain size is analyzed. In order to get better understanding ofthe grain size on mechanical properties, microstructural investigation was done using SEM. Efforts are made to understand the influence of different elements on the overall characteristic of the material. The tensile, creep and stress relaxation tests were conducted and the results were discussed. / Master Thesis

This thesis addresses the capital replacement modelling problems associated with a mixed, or inhomogeneous, fleet and also takes account of the fleet size problem. Applications considered relate to a fleet of buses and a fleet of medical equipment. The initial chapters introduce the notion of capital replacement modelling and review previous work in the field, as well as reviewing the fleet size problem. Replacement policies are also put in the context of the fleet rather than the context of a 'typical plant'. In the third chapter, we present our first attempt to model capital replacement with variable fleet size over a finite planning horizon. A two cycle model is developed in which the notion of penalty cost for breakdown is introduced. This cost is incurred when demand is not met. To take account of the cost of unmet demand, a simple failure model for plant is proposed. The replacement model is applied to a fleet of ventilators in an intensive care unit of a hospital. In the fourth chapter we develop various models for the case of replacement of a sub-fleet within a mixed fleet. These models themselves have variable finite planning horizon of variable length and build on developments described earlier in the thesis. Other aspects such as the increased cost of sub-optimal policy due to delayed replacement, smaller replacement sub-fleet etc. are also considered. The models developed in chapter 4 are applied, in the following chapter, to a fleet of buses operated by a Malaysian inter-city bus company. Sensitivity analysis on different factors is also carried out. Finally the sensitivity of optimal decision policy to the choice of the replacement model is described in the context of the bus application.

Innovation and commercialization are crucial for the competitiveness and economic well-being of countries. Despite the importance of innovation, recent studies have showed that Canada is lagging behind other countries in terms of its innovation and commercialization performance. The claim is often made that Canada performs well in generating the knowledge needed for innovation; however, the problem lies in transforming this knowledge into commercial success. Thus, a major preoccupation is how to turnaround this weak commercialization performance. Despite the wide range of programs, policies and regulations implemented by the Canadian Government along with its provincial counterparts to engender a turnaround, little has changed in Canada’s commercialization performance. Therefore, the search for solutions continues. Given that commercialization takes place at the firm-level, this study will explore the relationship between firm-size and commercialization. Several existing studies have examined the link between innovation and firm size, but few have examined the link between commercialization and firm size. Despite the arguments supporting medium-sized firms’ ability to commercialize innovations, there is a weak empirical base that explores the position of Canadian medium-sized firms and their innovation and commercialization capabilities. This study will contribute to the existing knowledge by covering the gap in the literature concerning the role of medium-sized firms in commercialization, compared to small and large firms. This study provides evidence suggesting that small and medium-sized firms should be considered differently.

No description available.

Performance and stability of many iterative algorithms such as stochastic gradient descent largely depend on a fixed and scalar step-size parameter. Use of a fixed and scalar step-size value may lead to limited performance in many problems. We study several existing step-size adaptation algorithms in nonstationary, supervised learning problems using simulated and real-world data. We discover that effectiveness of the existing step-size adaptation algorithms requires tuning of a meta parameter across problems. We introduce a new algorithm - Autostep - by combining several new techniques with an existing algorithm, and demonstrate that it can effectively adapt a vector step-size parameter on all of our training and test problems without tuning its meta parameter across them. Autostep is the first step-size adaptation algorithm that can be used in widely different problems with the same setting of all of its parameters.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-230). / Microfiche. / xiv, 230 leaves, bound 29 cm

Replacement gilts and early parity sows constitute a large, and increasing, proportion of modern breeding herds. Breeding herd profitability is therefore increasingly dependant on the efficiency of gilt management strategies as well as litter size at first farrowing; however, incidences of reproductive failures and small first litter sizes are common within cohorts of replacement gilts. Hence, this thesis had two primary aims which were addressed in four experiments; one, to identify whether the puberty stimulation and mating strategies developed for genotypes of 20 to 30 years ago are suitable for today’s heavier yet leaner genotypes; and two, to better understand the influence of pre-pubertal growth rate and metabolic status on reproductive maturation, puberty attainment and potential litter size. In experiment 1, 192 Large White/Landrace crossbred gilts were used to compare the effects on puberty attainment of commencing boar exposure at 161, 182 or 203 days of age, and the effect of first mating gilts at either the pubertal or second oestrus on ovulation rate and early embryo survival. Gilts were artificially inseminated at the allocated oestrus, with the reproductive tracts collected at 22.8 ± 0.4 days after first mating (mean ± S.E.M), and the numbers of corpora lutea and viable embryos recorded. Delaying first boar contact until 182 or 203 days of age significantly (P < 0.01) reduced days-to puberty and increased the proportion of gilts attaining puberty within 10 days of start of boar exposure. Gilt age at mating had no effect on potential litter size; however, there was a tendency for gilts mated at their second oestrus to shed 0.6 more ova, and possess one more embryo at day 20 of pregnancy. Experiment 2 determined the effects of long- (chronic) and short- (acute) term moderate dietary restriction on ovarian development and oocyte developmental competence in 161- and 175- day old, pre-pubertal gilts. Both chronic and acute periods of moderate feed restriction reduced the number of medium follicles present on the ovaries of 161- and 175-day old gilts, as well as the proportion of oocytes reaching Metaphase II in vitro. However, feeding level during the 14 days prior to ovary collection had the greatest effect on follicular growth and oocyte quality. Experiments 3 and 4 investigated the effects of the same dietary treatments on the timing of puberty attainment in response to boar exposure and potential litter size following mating at the pubertal oestrus. Chronic dietary restriction during the pre-pubertal period delayed puberty attainment, but the timing of the pubertal response was unaffected by acute, moderate dietary restriction of previously well-fed gilts during the period immediately prior to, and coincident with, boar exposure. Acute dietary restriction or repletion stimulated an increase or decrease, respectively, in pubertal ovulation rates; however, neither the number of viable embryo present on day 22 of gestation nor embryo survival were affected by the nutritional treatments used in these studies. Overall, these results demonstrate that the timing and synchrony of puberty attainment is significantly improved when gilts first receive boar exposure at 182 days of age (or older). It is, therefore, concluded that sexual maturity, as measured by responsiveness to boar contact, occurs later in modern genotypes. It is also evident that within the age range investigated, delaying first mating until the second oestrus does not significantly increase either ovulation rate or embryo number at day 20 post-mating. Further, the current data provide the first evidence that despite profoundly affecting the size and morphology of the antral follicle pool as well as pubertal ovulation rates, subtle alterations in dietary intake have no affect on the number or proportion of embryos surviving the pre-and peri-implantation period. It is evident the litter size of gilts mated at the pubertal oestrus is not determined by the number of ova shed, with the current data demonstrating that increasing ovulation rates results in increased embryo mortality. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1339082 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, 2008

This thesis builds on the established body of research into the suitability of a country joining other countries in a monetary union by focusing on the potential costs resulting from the loss of monetary policy independence that is a corollary to forming a monetary union. We continue in the tradition of several other authors by extracting supply and demand shocks for a range of countries from VAR analysis and comparing the symmetry of these economic shocks between potential members of a monetary union. The theoretical contribution of this thesis is that we explicitly incorporate the size of each potential currency union member in the analysis. This contribution is motivated by the observation that a large country would be a more significant part of a given currency union than would a small country. Thus the monetary policy settings of a given currency union would to a larger extent reflect the economic dynamics of a given country the larger that country is relative to the size of the union overall. Previous authors have largely neglected this issue. We explicitly incorporate the size of each potential members' economy in our analytical framework and re-assess the merits of a range of regions forming a currency union. Using the framework developed, we also inquire into the optimality of current monetary regimes in two regions, the North American continent and in Australia. The first of these is motivated by Mundell's seminal article on currency unions where he asked in largely qualitative terms whether the US and Canada are better currency realms than a hypothetical north south divide of the continent. The second is motivated by the observation that Australia’s economy embodies (economically) very different sub-regions due to the difference importance of commodities production in different parts of the country. We ask whether these different regions experience symmetrical or largely idiosyncratic shocks and find support for the latter.

Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine) / This work investigates a number of issues. Firstly it examines ultrasonic fetal biometry, the parameters and techniques for accurate measuring and reviews the procedure adopted for graph formation and application of regression analysis for a mathematical model to describe the relationship between fetal size and weeks of gestation. Next it establishes new Australian fetal measurement charts for the crown rump length, head circumference and abdominal circumference, based on an Australian population, to replace the charts currently in use that are over 20 years old and relate to middle class white American and British women. The new graphs, along with previous work completed by the author in 1999 on the BPD, OFD femur and humerus length, were subsequently accepted by the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine (ASUM) in 2001 as the new Australian standard for ultrasonic fetal measurements. The accuracy of first trimester ultrasound dating is also investigated, displaying the variations seen in the crown-rump length due to fetal flexion and the implications of inaccurate measuring. The third study examines inter- and intra-sonographer ultrasonic fetal measurement reproducibility in the final 6 weeks of pregnancy. The study highlights the importance of sonographer competence, standardised measuring protocols, image planes and reference charts, particularly for patients undergoing ultrasound examinations for fetal growth assessment at different practices. The fourth study looks at the incidence of fetal macrosomia and birth complications in Chinese women and Caucasian women in two time periods, 1992 and 1999/2000. The results showed a rise in macrosomic babies born to Chinese immigrants from 4% of total Chinese births in 1992 to 9.8% in 1999/2000. There was also a rise in the rate of macrosomia among Caucasian women with respective rates of 11 and 14% for the same periods. The incidence of post partum haemorrhage increased significantly over this time in both Chinese immigrant and Caucasian women. Interventions declined in all Caucasian birth-weight ranges whilst interventions for Chinese births remained stable except between 3500grams and 4000grams, where interventions rose from 35.7% to 60.5%. Fetal macrosomia is a complication of pregnancy that is increasing in incidence. One of the causes of fetal overgrowth is uncontrolled gestational diabetes mellitus and so if women thus diagnosed are closely monitored, the risks of a macrosomic baby and associated birth complications may be reduced. The final study examines the effect of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on fetal growth. GDM is a complication of mid to late pregnancy caused by glucose intolerance. In the Australian population up to 8% of all pregnancies can be affected. In the Australian Chinese community the GDM rate is as high as 15% compared with 4% in Caucasian women. The risks to the fetus as a result of GDM include increased perinatal mortality, large for gestational dates, macrosomia and prematurity. The aim of this study was to determine whether the fetuses of women diagnosed with GDM were significantly larger for dates for any of the commonly ultrasonically measured fetal parameters, than in the general pregnant population. The results show that if the glycaemic levels are properly controlled, fetal size should not be compromised. The abdominal circumference measurement appears to be the important marker for fetal macrosomia, particularly in the Chinese population. The study also assessed fetal weight gain from 36 weeks gestation to term in Caucasian women with GDM and Chinese pregnancies both with and without GDM. No statistically significant difference was seen in daily weight gain between the groups investigated.