For decades, researchers have seen employee empowerment as the means to achieving a more committed workforce that would deliver better outcomes. The prior conceptual and descriptive research focused on structural empowerment, or workplace mechanisms for generating empowerment, and psychological empowerment, the felt empowerment. Responding to calls for intervention studies, this research experimentally tests the effects of structural empowerment changes, through different degrees of decision-making authority and access to customer-relationship information, on psychological empowerment and subsequent work-related outcomes. Using a virtual contact center simulation, crowdsourced workers responded to customer requests. Greater decision authority and access to customer-relationship information resulted in higher levels of psychological empowerment which in turn resulted in task satisfaction and task attractiveness outcomes among the crowdsourced customer service workers.

The total worldwide base of installed wind energy peak capacity reached 94 GW by the end of 2007, including 1846 MW in Canada. Wind turbine systems are being installed throughout Canada and often in mountains and cold weather regions, due to their high wind energy potential. Harsh cold weather climates, involving turbulence, gusts, icing and lightning strikes in these regions, affect wind turbine performance. Ice accretion and irregular shedding during turbine operation lead to load imbalances, often causing the turbine to shut off. They create excessive turbine vibration and may change the natural frequency of blades as well as promote higher fatigue loads and increase the bending moment of blades. Icing also affects the tower structure by increasing stresses, due to increased loads from ice accretion. This can lead to structural failures, especially when coupled to strong wind loads. Icing also affects the reliability of anemometers, thereby leading to inaccurate wind speed measurements and resulting in resource estimation errors. Icing issues can directly impact personnel safety, due to falling and projected ice. It is therefore important to expand research on wind turbines operating in cold climate areas. This study presents an experimental investigation including three important fundamental aspects: 1) heat transfer characteristics of the airfoil with and without liquid water content (LWC) at varying angles of attack; 2) energy losses of wind energy while a wind turbine is operating under icing conditions; and 3) aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil during a simulated icing event. A turbine scale model with curved 3-D blades and a DC generator is tested in a large refrigerated wind tunnel, where ice formation is simulated by spraying water droplets. A NACA 63421 airfoil is used to study the characteristics of aerodynamics and convective heat transfer. The current, voltage, rotation of the DC generator and temperature distribution along the airfoil, which are used to calculate heat transfer coefficients, are measured using a Data Acquisition (DAQ) system and recorded with LabVIEW software. The drag, lift and moment of the airfoil are measured by a force balance system to obtain the aerodynamics of an iced airfoil. This research also quantifies the power loss under various icing conditions. The data obtained can be used to valid numerical data method to predict heat transfer characteristics while wind turbine blades worked in cold climate regions.

Quarks and leptons are assumed to be fundamental particles in the Standard Model of particle physics. The Large Hadron Collider provided 7 TeV proton-proton collisions in 2010. These collisions permit the search for quark substructure at a smaller length scale than was previously possible. This thesis is an investigation of the angular distribution of high dijet mass events in 36 pb^{−1} of data recorded by the ATLAS detector. Further contributions to technical aspects of the analysis are described in the appendices. This analysis excludes quark substructure at Λ < 5.3 TeV, corresponding to 3.7 × 10^{−5} fm, at 95% confidence level. / Graduate / 0798 / frank@uvic.ca

Refrigeration systems, air-conditioning units and heat pumps have been recognized as indispensable machines in human life, and are used for e.g. food storage, provision of thermal comfort. These machines are dominated by the vapor compression refrigeration system and consume a large percentage of world-wide electricity output. Moreover, CO2 emissions related to the heating and cooling processes contribute significantly to the total amount of CO2 emission from energy use. The ejector refrigeration system (ERS) has been considered as a quite interesting system that can be driven by sustainable and renewable thermal energy, like solar energy, and low-grade waste heat, consequently, reducing the electricity use. The system has some other remarkable merits, such as being simple and reliable, having low initial and running cost with long lifetime, and providing the possibility of using environmentally-friendly refrigerants, which make it very attractive. The ERS has received extensive attention theoretically and experimentally. This thesis describes in-depth investigations of vapor ejectors in the ERS to discover more details. An ejector model is proposed to determine the system performance and obtain the required area ratio of the ejector by introducing three ejector efficiencies. Based on this ejector model, the characteristics of the vapor ejector and the ERS are investigated from different perspectives. The working fluid significantly influences the ejector behavior and system performance as well as the ejector design. No perfect working fluid that satisfies all the criteria of the ERS can be found. The performance of nine refrigerants has been parametrically compared in the ERS. Based on the slope of the vapor saturation curve in a T-s diagram, the working fluids can be divided into three categories: wet, dry and isentropic. A wet fluid has a negative slope of the vapor saturation curve in the T-s diagram. An isentropic expansion process from a saturated vapor state will make the state after the expansion to fall inside the liquid-vapor area of the T-s diagram which will result in droplet formation. Generally, an isentropic expansion for a dry fluid will not occur inside the liquid-vapor area, and consequently no droplets will form. An isentropic fluid has a vertical slope of the vapor saturation curve in the T-s diagram and an isentropic expansion process will hence follow the vapor saturation curve in the T-s diagram, ideally without any droplet formation. However, when the saturation condition is close to the critical point, it is possible that the isentropic expansion process of a dry fluid and an isentropic fluid occurs inside the liquid-vapor area of the T-s diagram, resulting in formation of droplets. In order to avoid droplet formation during the expansion, a minimum required superheat of the primary flow has been introduced before the nozzle inlet. Results show that the dry fluids have generally better performance than the wet fluids and the isentropic fluid. Hence the thesis mostly focuses on the features of vapor ejectors and the ERS using dry fluids. Exergy analysis has been proven to be very useful to identify the location, magnitude, and sources of exergy destruction and exergy loss, and to determine the possibilities of system performance improvement. This method is applied to the ejector and the ERS. The ejector parameters are closely interacting. The operating condition and the ejector area ratio have a great impact on the ejector overall efficiency and system COP. The ejector efficiencies are sensitive to the operating conditions, and they significantly influence the system performance. A so-called advanced exergy analysis is adopted to quantify the interactions among the ERS components and to evaluate the realistic potential of improvement. The results indicate that, at the studied operating condition, the ejector should have the highest priority to be improved, followed by the condenser, and then the generator. Thermoeconomics, which combines the thermodynamic analysis and economic principles, is applied to reveal new terms of interest of the ERS. The economic costs of the brine side fluids (fluids that supply heat to the generator and evaporator and remove heat from the condenser) play very essential roles in the thermoeconomic optimization of the ERS. Depending on different economic conditions, the system improvement from a thermodynamic point of view could be quite different from the thermoeconomic optimization. The ERS is economically sound when using free heat sources and heat sink. An ejector test bench has been built to test the entrainment ratio of different ejectors. Although the experiments do not achieve the desired results, they could still be discussed. The insignificant effect of the superheat of the secondary flow found in the theoretical study is validated. The assumption of neglecting the velocities at the ejector inlets and outlet are confirmed. The quantification of the ejector efficiencies shows that they largely depend on the operating conditions and the ejector dimensions. / <p>QC 20141102</p>

This research has shown that a knowledge-based system is an effective tool to help novice simulation users interpret and understand simulation output. The thesis describes the development and empirical evaluation of the prototype. A simulation program which adopts the discrete-event simulation approach simulates the behaviour of a local area network protocol, i.e., the Ethernet, with different sets of parameter values. The knowledge-based system carries out the 'analysis' of the simulation output covering the protocol efficiency and throughput. The knowledge-based system summarises the simulation output and upon request from the user, provides explanations to a conclusion arrived at. The summary is the relationship between any pair of variables; and the explanation is the justification as to how the pair are related. The strategy for building the knowledge base using production rules is also elaborated. There are different functions performed by the different sets of rules (or rule-sets). Their major functions, In parallel with the development objective, are interpreting numerical data, presenting output to users and providing explanations interactively. The rules are grouped accordingly to make the knowledge bases easier to maintain. In the explanation aspect, the few approaches attempted by other researchers to improve expert system explanation is discussed. It is argued that a mere regurgitation of 'fired' rules to explain the Ethernet behaviour is not adequate in this case. To circumvent this problem, a 'constructive' approach to explanation is employed. The explanation procedure rewrites the 'fired' rules in a more understandable form than the if-then rules. Unnecessary parts of the rules are ommitted to make the explanations clearer. Finally, an experiment carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the prototype is described in detail. The effectiveness is measured from a few different perspectives. These are test scores, completion time for the test and the users' degree of confidence, both in the interpretation and explanation tasks. The results show that although some responses are mixed, there is evidence to suggest that the knowledge-based simulation system environment is beneficial to the target users.

The stability of drops forced by both wind and gravity is a fluid mechanics problem relevant to heat exchangers, fuel cells, and aircraft icing. To investigate this phenomenon, drops from 15 micro-liters to 400 micro-liters were placed on the rough aluminum (RA = 3.26 micrometers) floor of a tiltable wind tunnel and brought to critical conditions, when the drop begins to run downstream. Various combinations of drop size, inclination angle, and flow speed were employed. A measurement technique capable of measuring full 3D drop profiles was implemented to investigate the drops' evolution toward runback. The measurement requires the comparison of the speckle pattern captured by an overhead drop image with a corresponding image of the dry surface. Stability limits for 235 drops are measured as functions of drop volume and surface inclination. Drops experiencing airflow alone are found to shed at a Weber number of 8.0 +/- 0.5. From measurement sequences of reconstructed drop profiles, the evolution of contact lines, drop profiles, and contact angle distributions are detailed. Contact line integral adhesion forces are calculated from contact angle distributions and related to the forcing air velocity. Drops whose stability limits are dominated by gravity are found to exhibit significantly different evolution toward runback than those dominated by airflow.

People value music mainly for its abilities to induce emotions. Yet little is known about these experiences. The aim of this thesis was thus to investigate the nature and prevalence of emotional reactions to music, and what factors in the listener, the music, and the situation might contribute to such reactions. Study I explored the prevalence of musical emotions and possible factors influencing such experiences through the use of a questionnaire sent out to a random and nationally representative sample. The results indicated that a majority of the responders frequently reacted emotionally to music, and that their reactions included both basic and complex emotions. Prevalence correlated with personality, gender, age, and music education. Study II was designed to obtain a representative sample of situations where music induced emotions in listeners. The results showed that emotional reactions to music occurred in 24% of all episodes, and that the prevalence of specific emotions varied depending on the situation (e.g., other people present). However, causal inferences could not be drawn from Study I and II, so it was considered important to test predictions in a more controlled setting. Study III showed in an experiment that listeners experienced more intense emotions (a) to self-chosen music than to randomly selected music and (b) when listening with a close friend or partner than when listening alone. Moreover, Openness to experience correlated with emotion intensity. All three factors were linked to positive emotions. Overall, the thesis shows that (a) musical emotions are relatively common, (b) music can induce a variety of emotions, and (c) there are several features in the listener, the music, and the situation that may influence emotional reactions to music.

Computer models or simulators are becoming increasingly common in many fields in science and engineering, powered by the phenomenal growth in computer hardware over the past decades. Many of these simulators implement a particular mathematical model as a deterministic computer code, meaning that running the simulator again with the same input gives the same output. Often running the code involves some computationally expensive tasks, such as solving complex systems of partial differential equations numerically. When simulator runs become too long, it may limit their usefulness. In order to overcome time or budget constraints by making the most out of limited computational resources, a statistical methodology has been proposed, known as the "Design and Analysis of Computer Experiments". The main idea is to run the expensive simulator only at a relatively few, carefully chosen design points in the input space, and based on the outputs construct an emulator (statistical model) that can emulate (predict) the output at new, untried locations at a fraction of the cost. This approach is useful provided that we can measure how much the predictions of the cheap emulator deviate from the real response surface of the original computer model. One way to quantify emulator error is to construct pointwise prediction bands designed to envelope the response surface and make assertions that the true response (simulator output) is enclosed by these envelopes with a certain probability. Of course, to be able to make such probabilistic statements, one needs to introduce some kind of randomness. A common strategy that we use here is to model the computer code as a random function, also known as a Gaussian stochastic process. We concern ourselves with smooth response surfaces and use the Gaussian covariance function that is ideal in cases when the response function is infinitely differentiable. In this thesis, we propose Fast Bayesian Inference (FBI) that is both computationally efficient and can be implemented as a black box. Simulation results show that it can achieve remarkably accurate prediction uncertainty assessments in terms of matching coverage probabilities of the prediction bands and the associated reparameterizations can also help parameter uncertainty assessments.

The question of whether outsourcing is a good or bad organizational practice has traditionally come down to whether the positive financial impact of outsourcing overcomes the potential organizational liabilities. The theoretical model proposed in this thesis argues that such thinking underestimates the positive organizational benefits that arise from outsourcing by giving inadequate consideration to impacts that outsourcing has on the innovation cycle of outsourcing providers. This research adds to our understanding of outsourcing decision-making in three important ways. First, the thesis presents how innovation benefits can arise from outsourcing and proposes four potential innovation benefits from outsourcing – the motivation for creativity, innovation scale, innovation scope and complementarity of capability. The central hypotheses argue that these beneficial factors should increase the likelihood of a decision to outsource an activity. Second, this research extends our understanding of outsourcing by examining the moderating effect of value appropriation on the decision to outsource. Third, the thesis provides a rigorous empirical utility theoretical approach – best-worst scaling and discrete choice modeling – to understanding managerial preferences and the components of outsourcing decision making. The findings reveal that a significant segment of managers do indeed look beyond cost in choosing to outsource, focusing instead to concentrate broadly on a supplier’s commitment to innovation, complementarity of capabilities and the ability of an outsourcing contract to appropriate value created in a relationship. This implies that the managerial application of outsourcing is not restricted to a short-term solution for cost savings, but can potentially be thought of, and used as, a strategic mechanism to drive innovation in organizations. Some benefits may not be immediately obvious (e.g., a supplier’s motivation for innovation) and require more awareness from managers. Together, the theory and empirics provide insight into outsourcing decision-making and the opportunities for extending outsourcing as a strategic mechanism to drive innovation more broadly.

The Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment(RICE) located at the South Pole, is designed to detect the coherent broad-band radio Cherenkov radiation emitted when a high energy (10¹⁵ to 10¹⁸ eV) neutrino interacts with a nucleon in the ice. Observations have identified that Gamma Ray Bursts(GRBs) are possible sites for high energy neutrino production. We consider here GRBs which occurred in the years 2001 to 2005 inclusive during the operational times of RICE. Using GRB photon spectral data, we calculate the neutrino spectra predicted for these GRBs and the subsequent event number expected in RICE. We re-analyze RICE data in small time windows surrounding the GRB burst start times using a refined method involving by eye analysis of this reduced data set and find no neutrino events in the data set. Using the effective volume of RICE appropriate for each GRB we calculate neutrino flux limits for the GRBs. Although the flux limits are several orders of magnitude weaker than the expected flux, the RICE GRB neutrino limits are the only limits in the PeV to EeV energy range.