Kidney Cancer has numerous subtypes with Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (ccRCC) being the most common. Pre-existing prognostic models have not been validated in Canadian patients for recurrence free survival (RFS) and other outcomes. We conducted four studies: 1) externally validated pre-existing RCC prognostic models; 2) assessed the impact of baseline hazard function miscalibration on model assessment; 3) created new models and risk groups for RFS in non-metastatic ccRCC patients; 4) compared new risk groups to existing Canadian guidelines and created new imaging schedules. Pre-existing model performance varied considerably with some models performing well. The effect of baseline hazard function miscalibration varied across distribution shapes but the calibration slope was useful in relatively ranking prognostic model performance. The CKCis prognostic model and risk groups performed better than the existing CUA risk groups. Based on CKCis risk groups fewer scans are recommended in low-risk patients and more scans are recommended in higher risk patients. External validation of the CKCis model is required to assess clinical utility in different populations.

Game design principles have been discussed and developed since the late 1990's and are still created and discussed today. There have been many efforts to collect, identify, and create these principles, yet no effort has been made to test their implementation. This thesis presents an approach to formally analyzing games with game design principles. We gathered 50 game design principles from textbooks, Internet journals, collection efforts, and academic papers. Informal analysis of all 50 were performed, specifically looking at their ability to apply directly to games itself, as well as how much knowledge of things external were required. Of these 50, 5 were selected and a more in depth analysis was done. For each of these 5 principles we present a specification one would use to model their game, and verify that the game design principle at hand applies. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / We present a formal analysis of many Game Design principles, giving formal models for each.

South Africa is characterised as having high unemployment rates, low GDP forecast growth rates and a high percentage of the population living in rural areas. Therefore, the research explored the ability of microfinance, using the Grameen Bank model, to increase economic development in the rural areas of South Africa. Grameen Bank is considered to be the mother of conscience driven microfinance. The Bank's approach to poverty alleviation provides the poor with direct access to micro loans in order to increase their earnings from productive self-employment activities. Among other things, the loans are characterised as being advanced to small groups without the requirement of collateral. These loans are considered to have helped to alleviate poverty and increase physical and human resources, and confirm that poverty alleviation and human resource development is possible with targeted credit (Khandker, 1996). The model has been successful in improving the livelihoods of the borrowers using various measures such as providing the ability to afford three meals a day, electricity in their homes and to educate their children. In addition, borrowers are able to grow business and create employment in their communities. Although the Grameen Bank model has been successfully applied throughout the world, it has attainted limited success in South Africa. The business model has not been able to achieve operational or financial sustainability due to high staff and regulatory costs in relation to other emerging markets compounded by the inability to utilise borrower savings. In addition, borrowers are unable to create microenterprises that effectively compete with the formal economy. Microfinance institutions could address operational inefficiency by making use of the community based lending structures already operating under the Grameen philosophy, known as stokvels, and by embracing cell phone technology. In addition, institutions that provide social upliftment should focus on the skills training required by entrepreneurs to operate more successfully and for the employee to be more employable. The Grameen Bank model is not a panacea for South African growth based poverty alleviation. However, when combined with wide reaching economic and social policies, microfinance may assist in the creation of long term economic growth and social upliftment while improving the current lives of the poor.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis studies critical zones of automated vehicles. The goal is for the automated vehicle to complete a car-following or lane change maneuver without collision. For instance, the automated vehicle should be able to indicate its interest in changing lanes and plan how the maneuver will occur by using model predictive control theory, in addition to the autonomous vehicle toolbox in Matlab. A test bench (that includes a scenario creator, motion logic and planner, sensors, and radars) is created and used to calculate the parameters of a critical zone. After a trajectory has been planned, the automated vehicle then attempts the car following or lane change while constantly ensuring its safety to continue on this path. If at any point, the lead vehicle brakes or a trailing vehicle accelerates, the automated vehicle makes the decision to either brake, accelerate, or abandon the lane change.

The George County Reservoir Lake Project in Mississippi is proposed in order to maintain flow of the southern portion of the Pascagoula River and public recreation as a secondary use. Possible reservoir sites include basins of both the Big Cedar Creek and the Little Cedar Creek. The purpose of this study is to develop a numerical model that could be used to determine the rate the reservoir would fill and to reach saturation levels in the strata adjacent to the reservoir. The groundwater models predicted the groundwater levels withstand pumping and drought stress, thus likely to be able to sufficiently hold the 100 million gallons the county and areas to the south would need. However, there should be extreme caution on the construction of the reservoirs and the dams and further model calibration would need to be incorporated at the time of construction.

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