In recent years, the popularity of wind energy has grown. It is starting to play a large role in generating renewable, clean energy around the world. In New Zealand, there is increasing recognition and awareness of global warming and the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels, as well as the increased difficulty of obtaining oil from foreign sources, and the fluctuating price of non-renewable energy products. This makes wind energy a very attractive alternative to keep New Zealand clean and green. There are many issues involved in wind farm development. These issues can be grouped into two categories - economic issues and environmental issues. Wind farm developers often use site selection process to minimise the impact of these issues. This thesis aims to develop GIS based models that provide effective decision support tool for evaluating, at a regional scale, potential wind farm locations. This thesis firstly identifies common issues involved in wind farm development. Then, by reviewing previous research on wind farm site selection, methods and models used by academic and corporate sector to solve issues are listed. Criteria for an effective decision support tool are also discussed. In this case, an effective decision support tool needs to be flexible, easy to implement and easy to use. More specifically, an effective decision support tool needs to provide users the ability to identify areas that are suitable for wind farm development based on different criteria. Having established the structure and criteria for a wind farm analysis model, a GIS based tool was implemented using AML code using a Boolean logic model approach. This method uses binary maps for the final analysis. There are a total of 3645 output maps produced based on different combination of criteria. These maps can be used to conduct sensitivity analysis. This research concludes that an effective GIS analysis tool can be developed for provide effective decision support for evaluating wind farm sites.

Failure diagnosis in large and complex systems is a critical task. In the realm of discrete event systems, Sampath et al. proposed a language based failure diagnosis approach. They introduced the diagnosability for discrete event systems and gave a method for testing the diagnosability by first constructing a diagnoser for the system. The complexity of this method of testing diagnosability is exponential in the number of states of the system and doubly exponential in the number of failure types. In this thesis, we give an algorithm for testing diagnosability that does not construct a diagnoser for the system, and its complexity is of 4th order in the number of states of the system and linear in the number of the failure types. In this dissertation we also study diagnosis of discrete event systems (DESs) modeled in the rule-based modeling formalism introduced in [12] to model failure-prone systems. The results have been represented in [43]. An attractive feature of rule-based model is it's compactness (size is polynomial in number of signals). A motivation for the work presented is to develop failure diagnosis techniques that are able to exploit this compactness. In this regard, we develop symbolic techniques for testing diagnosability and computing a diagnoser. Diagnosability test is shown to be an instance of 1st order temporal logic model-checking. An on-line algorithm for diagnosersynthesis is obtained by using predicates and predicate transformers. We demonstrate our approach by applying it to modeling and diagnosis of a part of the assembly-line. When the system is found to be not diagnosable, we use sensor refinement and sensor augmentation to make the system diagnosable. In this dissertation, a controller is also extracted from the maximally permissive supervisor for the purpose of implementing the control by selecting, when possible, only one controllable event from among the ones allowed by the supervisor for the assembly line in automaton models.

There is an ongoing debate about how to serve the number of students that are affected by mental health problems. Some schools have moved toward implementing whole school programs. The purpose of these programs is to teach adults who directly interact with school age children, such as parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, and caring citizens how to respond to an adolescent that is facing a crisis or a mental health challenge. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of such a program. The goals of this study are to (a) determine the short-term outcomes of this initiative from school staff perspective, and (b) determine new directions for improving the program based on school staff’s recommendations. Survey questionnaires will be used to collect data from staff members. Descriptive statistics will be used to inform recommendations for the next steps in the development of the program. Staff surveyed endorsed the satisfaction of the implementation of the mental health program in their schools.

Recently the National Reading Panel concluded that systematic and direct instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension that is informed by ongoing assessments of student progress results in positive student achievement (NICHHD, 2002). For students with moderate to severe disabilities and students with autism, reading instruction has historically focused on functional sight words. Unfortunately, very little research exists that has examined how the literacy achievement of students with moderate to severe disabilities can be impacted by a more comprehensive, data-driven instructional model. A special education program that serves students with moderate to severe disabilities and students with autism sought to improve reading instruction and literacy outcomes for these students and began the Educational and Life Skills (ELS) Literacy Initiative during the 2005-2006 school year. The purpose of the literacy initiative was to improve teacher skill and confidence in teaching reading, increase the alignment of literacy instruction with the identified best practices, improve the quality of the instructional planning process, and improve student outcomes in the area of literacy. The literacy initiative provided teachers with extensive curricular resources and professional development opportunities in order to achieve the desired outcomes. This study is an evaluation of the ELS Literacy Initiative. More specifically, the goals of this study were to (a) examine how the literacy initiative was being implemented, (b) determine to what extent the anticipated short-term and intermediate outcomes of the initiative were being realized, and (c) determine the next steps in implementation of the literacy initiative. To answer the evaluation questions, a mix of qualitative and quantitative data were collected, including teacher and parent surveys, teacher focus group interviews, and student outcome data. Overall, the outcomes of the ELS Literacy Initiative have been positive, with teachers feeling more confident and supported, instruction being more aligned with best practices, and students having made gains in their literacy skills. However, particular areas of improvement, such as the instructional planning process and curricular resources, should be addressed to meet the needs of students who are nonverbal. A set of recommendations regarding the next steps in the implementation of the ELS Literacy Initiative is included.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第24285号 / 医博第4901号 / 新制||医||1061(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 髙折 晃史, 教授 小杉 眞司, 教授 佐藤 俊哉 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

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國人自殺死亡自1997年起已經連續10年進入國人十大死因之列，且其排名及自殺率有逐年上升的趨勢。國防部相當重視自殺防治工作1977年起國軍即設置有「趙老師」負責心理諮商與輔導工作，1994年更推廣設立心輔官制度，其主要目的就是要在部隊中從事心理衛生的防治工作，以避免自殺事件的發生。但從1997至2008年統計數據分析，軍中自我傷害死亡自1997年起逐年上升，至2002年達最高峰，2003年後雖有降低，但各年度因自我傷害死亡仍在20人以上。從數據來看，軍中自我傷害事件並未因國防部大力推動自我傷害防治工作下降。因此，本文的目的在於找出影響官兵自我傷害的原因，提供國防部在自我傷害防治策略上有更為周全的決策考量，以降低國軍官兵自我傷害事件的發生。 / Suicide has been one of the top ten reasons behind the deaths of our countrymen since 1997. In addition, its ranking and suicide rate are both climbing over the years. The Ministry of Defense puts a lot of efforts into suicide prevention. Since 1977, the military has set up ‘Teacher Zhao’ to be in charge of psychological consultations and counseling work. In addition, ‘counseling officers’ system has been set up and its main purpose is to do prevention work about mental health in the military in order to prevent the occurrence of suicides. However, analyzing the statistics from 1997 to 2008, deaths due to self-mutilations in the military are increasing since 1997 and peaked in 2002. Although the number decreases since 2003 but there are still over 20 deaths due to self-mutilations every year. Looking at the statistics, self-mutilations in the military did not decrease even though the Military of Defense pushes for prevention of self-mutilations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to find out the reasons affecting self-mutilations, provide the Ministry of Defense a well-rounded decision making mechanism on how to prevent self-mutilations in order to decrease the occurrence of self-mutilations in the military.

Introdução - Desde 2009, a legislação do Programa de Alimentação Escolar Nacional (PNAE) estabelece que, do total dos recursos financeiros alocados pelo governo federal aos estados e municípios para a alimentação escolar, pelo menos 30 por cento devem ser usados na compra de produtos diretamente da agricultura familiar. Objetivos Descrever as principais características da venda direta da agricultura familiar para o PNAE, em municípios do estado de São Paulo e as mudanças com relação à produção, comercialização e renda dos agricultores que possam ter ocorrido depois do início desta venda até 2012. Métodos Para melhor compreensão da vinculação PNAE com a agricultura familiar, foi construído um modelo lógico desta iniciativa. Foram entrevistados os principais atores que participaram da elaboração da legislação. Para a descrição da venda e das mudanças, foram entrevistados, em 2012, 110 agricultores familiares que venderam diretamente para o PNAE em 16 municípios do estado de São Paulo. Resultados A maioria dos agricultores começou a vender para o PNAE em 2011, era do sexo masculino (75,4 por cento ), entre 41 e 60 anos (57,3 por cento ) e vendeu através de associação ou cooperativa (81,8 por cento ). A maioria dos produtos vendidos era composta por grande variedade de produtos frescos. A totalidade ou parte da produção de 42 por cento dos agricultores era orgânica, mas apenas quatro deles (8,7 por cento ) eram certificados; 64 por cento dos agricultores não tinham sido contactados pelo nutricionista do município para a identificação dos alimentos produzidos; 65 por cento não receberam apoio do nutricionista durante o processo de venda; 54 por cento receberam apoio de alguma instituição da agricultura; para 44 por cento dos agricultores, o preço pago pelo PNAE era maior do que outros mercados. Após o início da venda para o PNAE, 76 por cento aumentaram sua renda; 34,6 por cento passaram a produzir novos produtos para comercializar; a maioria relatou aumento da quantidade produzida (63,6 por cento ) e da área cultivada (55 por cento ); cerca de um terço (36,4 por cento ) mudou a maneira de planejar a produção; um pouco mais que a metade (52,7 por cento ) afirmou que passou a utilizar mais técnicas e/ou insumos e 40,9 por cento relataram ter investido mais em infraestrutura. Conclusão Os resultados mostraram que a vinculação entre o PNAE e a agricultura familiar permitiu a comercialização de produtos frescos e saudáveis para as escolas e parece ter contribuído para mudanças positivas na produção e comercialização, assim como para o aumento da renda dos agricultores. No entanto, a fim de maximizar os resultados, é necessário fortalecer o apoio aos agricultores por parte dos nutricionistas e entidades de assistência técnica a nível local. / Introduction - Since 2009, legislation of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE, for its initials in Portuguese) states that out of the total financial resources allocated by the federal government to the states and municipalities for school feeding, at least 30 per cent must be used to purchase products directly from family farming. Objectives To describe the main characteristics of the direct sales from family farming to PNAE in municipalities of São Paulo state and the changes related to production, marketing and farmers´ income that may have occurred after the beginning of the sales up to 2012. Methods To better understand the linkage between PNAE and family farming, a logic model of this initiative was developed. Key actors who participated in the drafting of the legislation were interviewed. For characterirization of the sales and the changes, interviews were carried out, in 2012, with 110 farmers who sold directly to PNAE in 16 municipalities of São Paulo state. Results The majority of the farmers began selling to PNAE in 2011, was male (75.4 per cent ), between 41 and 60 years (57.3 per cent ) and sold through an association or cooperative (81,8 per cent ). The majority of the sales consisted of a wide variety of fresh produce. All or part of the production of 42 per cent farmers was organic, but only four of them (8.7 per cent ) were certified; 64 per cent of farmers had not been contacted by the program´s nutritionist for identification of their production; 65 per cent did not receive support from the nutritionist during the sale process; 54 per cent received support from some institution of agriculture; to 44 per cent of the farmers, the price paid by PNAE was higher than other markets. After starting selling to PNAE, 76 per cent had their income increased; 34.6 per cent began to produce new products; the majority reported increases in the amount produced (63.6 per cent ) and in the cropland (55 per cent ); about a third (36.4 per cent ) changed the way of planning the production; slightly more than half (52.7 per cent ) started using more techniques and/or agricultural inputs, and 40.9 per cent reported having invested more in infraestructure. Conclusion - The results showed that the linkage between PNAE and family farming allowed the marketing of fresh and healthy products for the schools and may have contributed with positive changes in the production and marketing, as well as to the increase of farmers\' income. However, in order to maximize results, there is a need to strenghten the support to farmers by the nutritionists and institutions of technical assistance at local level.