The results of this thesis concern folding of one-dimensional objects in two dimensions: planar linkages. More precisely, a planar linkage consists of a collection of rigid bars (line segments) connected at their endpoints. Foldings of such a linkage must preserve the connections at endpoints, preserve the bar lengths, and (in our context) prevent bars from crossing. The main result of this thesis is that a planar linkage forming a collection of polygonal arcs and cycles can be folded so that all outermost arcs (not enclosed by other cycles) become straight and all outermost cycles become convex. A complementary result of this thesis is that once a cycle becomes convex, it can be folded into any other convex cycle with the same counterclockwise sequence of bar lengths. Together, these results show that the configuration space of all possible foldings of a planar arc or cycle linkage is connected. These results fall into the broader context of folding and unfolding <I>k</I>-dimensional objects in <i>n</i>-dimensional space, <I>k</I> less than or equal to <I>n</I>. Another contribution of this thesis is a survey of research in this field. The survey revolves around three principal aspects that have received extensive study: linkages in arbitrary dimensions (folding one-dimensional objects in two or more dimensions, including protein folding), paper folding (normally, folding two-dimensional objects in three dimensions), and folding and unfolding polyhedra (two-dimensional objects embedded in three-dimensional space).

The results of this thesis concern folding of one-dimensional objects in two dimensions: planar linkages. More precisely, a planar linkage consists of a collection of rigid bars (line segments) connected at their endpoints. Foldings of such a linkage must preserve the connections at endpoints, preserve the bar lengths, and (in our context) prevent bars from crossing. The main result of this thesis is that a planar linkage forming a collection of polygonal arcs and cycles can be folded so that all outermost arcs (not enclosed by other cycles) become straight and all outermost cycles become convex. A complementary result of this thesis is that once a cycle becomes convex, it can be folded into any other convex cycle with the same counterclockwise sequence of bar lengths. Together, these results show that the configuration space of all possible foldings of a planar arc or cycle linkage is connected. These results fall into the broader context of folding and unfolding <I>k</I>-dimensional objects in <i>n</i>-dimensional space, <I>k</I> less than or equal to <I>n</I>. Another contribution of this thesis is a survey of research in this field. The survey revolves around three principal aspects that have received extensive study: linkages in arbitrary dimensions (folding one-dimensional objects in two or more dimensions, including protein folding), paper folding (normally, folding two-dimensional objects in three dimensions), and folding and unfolding polyhedra (two-dimensional objects embedded in three-dimensional space).

The thesis investigates potential methods of linking transportation planning in Texas, principally long range planning, with the environmental clearance process required of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The purpose of the research is to achieve time and monetary savings by streamlining the NEPA process. These savings result principally by reducing duplicative efforts performed during transportation planning and the NEPA process. To achieve this goal, the thesis reviews the effectiveness of practices and efforts done in Texas and around the country designed to encourage planning documentation that supports the NEPA process. The thesis then assesses the challenges involved with implementing these practices in Texas and makes a series of recommendations designed to be implemented by various agencies in Texas that would provide linkages between transportation planning and the NEPA process. / text

This research explored the extent to which two hospitals in the City of Victoria are prepared for a future earthquake event. The goal is to examine the level of emergency preparedness of two tertiary care hospitals in Victoria for dealing with the potential damage caused by an earthquake in the region. The research objectives are aimed at highlighting current strengths regarding health sector emergency preparedness, reducing the vulnerability of the health sector by identifying key areas of improvement, and ultimately, increasing the capacity of the health sector to respond to the damages sustained by earthquakes. A small-scale mixed-methods approach was taken to assess hospital preparedness. A structured survey was administered to 26 key informants who were selected specifically based on their prior knowledge, experience and current roles and responsibilities pertaining to Disaster and Emergency Management in the province. A concerted effort was made to include a sample of participants from each of five target populations at the Provincial, Health Authority, and Local Health Authority levels. Data analysis included quantitative and qualitative techniques to generate simple statistics and thematic coding of the interview transcripts to identify main themes and patterns. Both quantitative and qualitative insights were used to provide a clearer picture of hospital preparedness and to foster credibility and dependability of key results. The findings and results confirm that there are excellent levels of engagement and integration between the Local Government, BC Ambulance Service and Fire Departments. There is room for improvement in regards to engaging and integrating NGOs with Hospital planning. Robust plans and protocols were found to be in place for Communication Systems, Emergency Operations Centres and Public Information and Media Relations. Hospital level respondents reported having less Emergency Management education and Training and had participated in fewer disaster exercises compared to Provincial and Local Emergency Managers. Although 76% of respondents had participated in a disaster exercise, only 5 % had responded to an earthquake. Only 23% of respondents had activated their planning in response to an earthquake. The results emphasize the immediate need for increased engagement and integration of earthquake response planning between health system stakeholders, communities and all levels of government. At the hospital level, increased attention needs to be directed to the following operational areas: Mass Casualty Planning, Resource Stockpiling, Department Level Contingency Plans, Evacuation and Relocation Protocols and Procedures, Volunteer Coordination Protocols, and Internal and External Traffic flow. Lastly, the results highlight the need for increased disaster education and training for front line acute care employees, hospital administrators and management staff. In addition to training and education, multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency exercises should be undertaken to engage all key community stakeholders and to promote a more integrated and optimal response in the event of an earthquake. / Graduate

Magister Artium - MA / Solid waste management in South Africa is in a phase of transitioning. This transition entails the valorisation and diversion of recyclable waste away from landfills for the creation of a new secondary recycling economy. However, reclaimers within the Global South have been engaged in valorising waste through market-driven pricing. Localised and ‘informal’ as they are, they remain a significant source of labour for global capital. Their presence runs parallel to the emergence of green models such as the circular economy, coupled with contentious initiatives that aim at formalising and integrating reclaimers. Given the revitalised emphasis on the urban waste economy, inadequate attention has been given to understanding the linkages between the formal processing companies and informal waste reclaimers operating at the level of the street and landfill.

This research, conducted via interviews at 32 biotechnology firms, which provide rare information on actual firm interactions, elucidates the factors that influence the location and growth of the biotechnology sector in a typical American metropolitan area. Results indicate that most of the biotechnology firms within the Cincinnati region are there because of entrepreneurial ties with universities and research hospitals in the area, not because the region has specific advantages for biotechnology firms compared to other metropolitan areas of similar size. The authors find that interfirm linkages range from extremely weak to nonexistent. No specialized labor force exists to support biotechnology firms, nor are there specialized infrastructure and business services. No biotechnology-dedicated government office exists. In summary, the authors see more colocation than interactive clustering of biotechnology firms, implying that economic development efforts to enhance interfirm linkages are likely to be less effective than support for hospital and university research and education.

This paper investigates the vulnerability of South Africa to the shocks that originate from its major trading partners over time using a structural vector autoregressive framework. We examine the impact of shocks emanating from the EU, the US, China, Japan, India and Brazil on South Africa’s output growth through both direct and indirect trade linkages, by considering the changing trade patterns from 1996 to 2017. The results suggest that the South African economy has become more integrated with emerging economies. Furthermore, China has increased its impact on the output growth of the other sample economies through trade linkages, which implies that developments in China are of increasing importance to other economies. The US and the EU are still dominated in propagating shocks despite their declining impact on the output growth of other economies in this sample.

Organizational performance measurement is an issue in any large-scale organizational change effort. In general, an organizational performance management system is the set of people, methods and tools for generating, analyzing, portraying, discriminating and evaluating data and information about multiple dimensions of performance at the individual, group and organization level for multiple constituencies. Measurement subsystems within the umbrella organizational performance measurement system include, for example, process and work measurement, individual performance appraisals, measurement of team effectiveness, measurement of organizational outcomes, measurement of customer satisfaction, measurement of quality of work life, financial and accounting systems. This dissertation addresses the problem of a gap in the body of knowledge about development, application, and evaluation of organizational performance measurement systems. The body of knowledge, as used here, includes practitioner experience, researcher experience, popular literature, and the scholarly literature. Research questions that define the gap include: (1) Guided by theory, how can practitioners develop valid organizational performance measurement systems that reflect normative attributes in the body of knowledge? (2) How can practitioners establish organizational performance measurement systems in a way that encourages disciplined, multi-level, plan-do-study-act improvement processes? (3) What impact does an intervention to improve organizational performance measurement systems have on people in the organization? The gap in the body of knowledge framed by the research questions is general; many organizations face the problem of creating more valid and useful measurement systems. To address the general problem, this research developed, applied, and evaluated a prototype organizational performance measurement system—the treatment. The treatment was called a Visual Management System or VMS. The research identified normative measurement system attributes from the body of knowledge; created Visual Management System treatment components and methods based on the normative attributes; applied the VMS treatment to multiple sites within one organization; modeled individual to group to organization performance linkages; evaluated the impact of the treatment; and identified critical success factors to control for in building an organizational performance measurement system. / Ph. D.

The essays in this dissertation represent theoretical and empirical contributions to urban economics and regional science, focusing on the growing importance of nonmarket interactions. There is increasing evidence that the process of globalization is rendering the world "spiky" rather than "flat". Nonmarket interactions, such as knowledge spillovers, innovation or amenity-based externalities, play a central role in this process. As economic activity is not evenly spread across space, a detailed understanding of the economic linkages between regions is key to the design of effective public policy. This is particularly important in the context of economic linkages between regions or cities, highlighting the key adjustment mechanisms -- via both market and nonmarket transactions -- and their long-run implications for incomes, the cost of living, and the spatial distribution of population. Both the neoclassically-grounded field of urban economics and the rapidly expanding New Economic Geography (NEG) literature pioneered by Krugman offer a variety of models and (not infrequently competing) predictions about the factors and processes that shape the spatial structure of the economy. At the same time, the dialogue between qualitative and quantitative discourses in regional science has been marred by an increasingly embittered dispute over methodology. While acutely pronounced in economics, this development has re-shaped large parts of its sister disciplines as well, particularly sociology and geography. Across the board, proponents of quantitative science methodology increasingly likened themselves to their natural science counterparts, whereas qualitative methods had become the last bastion of "true social scientists". Today, these so-called "science wars" have rendered "qualitative" and "quantitative" analysis into almost mutually exclusive concepts. / Ph. D.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / John W. Keller / The purpose of this report is to identify the role of transportation linkages in facilitating economic development in Portland, Maine, and the surrounding region, beginning with the city’s 19th century maritime economy. In the process, this study demonstrates how the evolution of Portland’s economy, from early mercantile capitalism, through the industrial and post-industrial eras, was greatly shaped by a succession of transportation developments, engineered by city leaders. Research reveals that these achievements were coordinated through both public sector planning and private sector entrepreneurship, to cultivate comparative advantages for the city. Evidence of this implicit collaboration is apparent in the growth of new economic sectors to support local shipping, rail, freight, and eventually commercial airline service. As a result of these efforts, Portland maintains a status as a regional economic gateway that is disproportionate to its modest population of fewer than 70,000 residents. In support of this argument, this report will also present relevant historical anecdotes to provide context for the growth of the city and broader region as a whole, from colonization through globalization. As part of the city’s economic history, this discussion demands an examination of the macroeconomic forces that contributed to the rise and fall of the local maritime industries, manufacturing, and the 21st century service sector economy. Additionally, this report will discuss the impact of major global events, including war, recession, and the telecommunication revolution, all of which have precipitated major socio-economic changes across the United States. The report concludes by offering insight into Portland’s future, with specific respect to the 2008 economic crisis and the resulting impact on the local real estate and financial markets. Despite an economic climate that threatens the viability of small cities across the United States, Portland’s history of resilience provides hope for a prosperous future. In light of the city’s modern economic trajectory, the ability to a chart a new course will rely upon progressive leadership that can capitalize on the region’s natural geographic resources. These future developments will, no doubt, parallel a new wave of investment in local infrastructure and transportation linkages.