To study the history of processes that shape the Earth’s surface, geologists look for markers in the landscape that they can date and use to measure change. Rivers leave such markers in their deposits and terrace landforms and in the overall shape of their elevation profile from head to toe. This thesis uses luminescence and cosmogenic methods to date the sediment in terraces to determine when the river deposited it. Field mapping and global positioning system (GPS) surveying are also used to measure the distance between terrace levels to quantify how much change has occurred. This study seeks to answer questions about when, how quickly, and why streams near Moab in Utah’s Canyonlands region have incised into bedrock. It seeks also to determine the history, rates, and patterns of the active and incremental sinking of Moab and Spanish valleys. The results from this work show that the incision of canyons along Mill and Pack creeks upstream from Moab accelerated around 200,000 years ago to between 0.44 and 0.62 millimeters per year (mm/yr). The sinking of Moab and Spanish valleys also appears to have quickened around the same time and has occurred at up to 1.35 mm/yr in Moab Valley and around 0.45 mm/yr in Spanish Valley over the last 100,000 years. The Kayenta Heights fault zone (KHFZ) accommodates part of the sinking of Moab Valley and has slipped at an average rate of 0.44 mm/yr in the last 100,000 years. This study’s mapping of the length and width of individual fault strands supports prior interpretations that the KHFZ does not pose an earthquake hazard, though it can still be expected to produce active rock fall and rupture the ground surface locally. That the sinking of Moab and Spanish valleys and the down-cutting of the upstream canyons has occurred at similar rates, and may indeed have sped up at a similar time in the past, indicates a linkage of the two processes. This is consistent with an existing hypothesis that Moab and Spanish valleys are sinking because groundwater is dissolving the buried salt deposits and transporting them out through the Colorado River. This process is able to continue because as the Colorado River and its tributaries incise lower into the landscape, groundwater follows and can reach greater depths in the salt deposits. The results of this study paint a picture of the recent and accelerated sinking of Moab and Spanish valleys, which has occurred jointly with incision of the regional drainage network. This acceleration of incision, which has been documented throughout the Canyonlands region, may relate to the Colorado River’s carving of Grand Canyon around 6 million years ago or may have come from a more recent and unknown downstream source.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture Program, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p>Adverse birth outcomes like preterm birth and infant mortality are unevenly distributed across socio-economic groups. Risks are usually lowest in groups with high socio-economic status and increase with decreasing status.</p><p>The general aim of this thesis was to contribute to the understanding of the relation between socio-economic status and birth outcomes, focussing on maternal education and class, studying a range of birth outcomes. More specific aims were to investigate the relation between maternal education and infant health, to study the combined influence of maternal childhood and adult social class on inequalities in infant health and to explore the contribution of maternal working conditions to class inequalities in birth outcomes. The studies are population based, focussing on singletons births 1973-1990. During the period under study, educational differences in birth outcomes increased, especially between those with the lowest and highest education. The low birth weight paradox emerged, suggesting that the distribution of determinants for low birthweight infants differs for these groups.</p><p>Further, an independent association was found between maternal childhood social class and low birthweight and neonatal mortality, but not for postneonatal mortality. Since this was found for the two outcomes closest to birth, this indicates that the association is mediated through the maternal body.</p><p>Finally, there is a contribution of maternal working conditions to class inequalities in birth outcome. Lower job control, higher job hazards and higher physical demands were all to some degree related to increased risk of the following adverse birth outcomes: infant mortality, low birthweight, very low birthweight, foetal growth, preterm birth, very and extremely preterm birth. Working conditions demonstrated disparate associations with the birth outcomes, indicating a high complexity in these relationships.</p>

<p>Fast changes and external demands have made companies to continuously needing to improve their performance. Banks in particular have come to make a complete changeover to keep up with the competition. They have gone from bureaucratic structures to become more sales oriented.</p><p>This has come to affect the management model banks use, meaning that the tools to control and navigate the company had to be modernized and adapted to measure new activities. Before the structure change, it was usually enough for a bank to use financial measurements only focusing on indicators such as ROI, when measuring performance. Today, banks have realized the value of the company’s employees, they are a crucial factor for reaching success. Therefore the banks have realized that they need to measure the employees performance. By measuring the employees the bank will be able to know how to improve their performance in order to reach greater success. However, measuring the employees performance has backsides, in some cases it has created unwanted behavior.</p><p>My problem definitions goes: How are the Swedish banks motives to reach sales goals, creating a conflict between employees actions towards customer relations and banks results? My purpose is to increase my and banks understanding in how sales goals affect the employees and their actions in a bank. I will increase my and banks understanding by finding what factors with the sales goals foster a certain behavior. I am also interested in finding a way to prevent certain behavior that occurs with sales goals.</p><p>In order to answer my purpose I have conducted seven qualitative un-structured interviews with bank employees. I believe that I can take part of their reality by interpreting their answers. Therefore I argue for a hermeneutic view. The theoretical framework includes theories which I believe are relevant in order to increase my understand about the situation. The theoretical framework will be brought together with the seven interviews and together they will act as a platform for my analysis.</p><p>I have conducted unstructured interviews, consisting of one sales manager and six bank employees. The interviews were conducted in one company, the purpose was to understand the actions in one context. During these interviews I used an interview guide as an aid. I found that employees are affected by the sales goals due to the fact that they have not participated in deciding them. Meaning that the goals are not of much value for them. Furthermore I found that the employees perceive that the bank is neglecting them, which I found was a result of how the manager values the management model. The behavior of the employees is affected by what parts of the management model the manager chooses to communicate.</p>

<p>During the last decades organizations have made large investments in Information Technology (IT). The effects of these investments have been studied in business and academic communities over the years. A large amount of research has been conducted on the relation between the investments in IT and productivity growth. Productivity is a central measure of national and organizational success and is often considered in economic decisionmaking. Researchers have however found it difficult to present a clear-cut answer to the effect of IT investments on productivity growth; an inability defined as the productivity paradox.</p><p>Within the Impact of IT on Productivity (ITOP) research program the relevance of the productivity measure as an indicator of the value of IT is questionned. IT has over the years replaced physical interfaces with digital and in this way enabled new ways to process information. A retrospective research approach is therefore applied where the effects of digitized information flows are studied within specific organizational settings.</p><p>In this thesis the effects of digitized information flows within Swedish grocery distribution are studied. A comprehensive presentation of the development is first conducted and three focal areas are thereafter presented. These describe supply chain information flows including order information, information on new items and analysis of point-of-sales information. The presentation of the focal areas identifies a number of effects from the digitization of information flows. The effects are analyzed according to a predefined analytical framework. The effects are divided into five categories and are thereafter evaluated when it comes to potential for generating value.</p><p>The study shows that the digitization of information flows has generated numerous, multifaceted effects. Automational, informational, transformational, consumer surplus and other effects are observed. They are difficult to evaluate using a single ndicator. Specific indicators that are closely related to the effects can however be defined. The study also concludes that the productivity measure does not capture all positive effects generated by digitized information flows.</p> / ISRN/Report code: LiU-Tek-Lic-2005:39

<p>This thesis examines how IT and the digitization of information have transformed processes of the graphic industry. The aim is to show how critical production processes have changed when information in these processes have been digitized. Furthermore it considers if this has influenced changes in productivity while also identifying other significant benefits that have occurred as a result of the digitization. The debate concerning the productivity paradox is one important starting point for the thesis. Previous research on this phenomenon has mainly used different types of statistical databases as empirical sources. In this thesis though, the graphic industry is instead studied from a mainly qualitative and historical process perspective.</p><p>The empirical study shows that digitization of information flows in the graphic industry began in the 1970s, but the start of the development and use of digitized information happened in the early 1980s. Today almost all types of materials in the industry, for example text and pictures, have developed into a digital form and the information flows are hereby more or less totally digitized. A common demand in the industry is that information produced should be adaptable to the different channels in which it may be presented. The consequences from use of IT and the digitization of information flows are identified in this thesis as different outcomes, effects, and benefits. The outcomes are identified directly from the empirical material, whilst the resulting effects are generated based on theories about IT and business value. The benefits are in turn generated from a summarization of the identified effects.</p><p>Identified effects caused by IT and digitization of information include integration and merging of processes; vanishing professions; reduced number of operators involved; decreased production time; increased production capacity; increased amount and quality of communication; and increased quality in produced originals. One conclusion drawn from the analysis is that investments and use of IT have positively influenced changes in productivity. The conclusion is based on the appearance of different automational effects, which in turn have had a positive influence on factors that may be a part of a productivity index. In addition to productivity other benefits, based on mainly informational effects, are identified. These benefits include increased capacity to handle and produce information, increased integration of customers in the production processes, increased physical quality in produced products, and options for management improvements in the production processes. The conclusions indicate that it is not always the most obvious benefit, such as productivity, that is of greatest significance when IT is implemented in an industry.</p> / ISRN/Report code: LiU-Tek-Lic-2005:38

<p>Denna avhandling undersöker hur investeringar i IT, och digitaliseringen av informationsflöden, har påverkat produktiviteten inom sjukvården. Genom empiriska undersökningar av avgränsade sjukvårdsprocesser – samt diskussioner baserade på idéer och teorier relaterade till ekonomi, ”produktivitetsparadoxen”, så kallade General Purpose Technologies (GPTs), och medicinsk informatik – detekteras och analyseras effekter av digitaliseringen.</p><p>Produktivitetsparadoxen – vilken ställer frågan varför tidigare omfattande investeringar i IT till synes inte har genererat de förväntade produktivitetsökningarna – är en viktig utgångspunkt i föreliggande studie. Forskare har dryftat detta dilemma i många år men</p><p>hittills har inga fullständigt tillfredsställande förklaringar lagts fram. Detta beror till stor del på att tidigare forskning huvudsakligen har inriktat sig på makroekonomisk statistik och aggregerade data, vilket har resulterat i otydliga eller ofullständiga slutsatser angående IT och ekonomisk tillväxt. För att verkligen beskriva effekterna av digitaliseringen är denna forskning istället baserad på undersökningar på mikronivå (organisations- eller avdelningsnivå) ur ett historiskt och kvalitativt perspektiv.</p><p>En annan viktig tanke som genomsyrar denna avhandling är att för snäva definitioner av IT och produktivitet har bidragit till förbiseende av många nyttor till följd av digitalisering. Därför utvidgas termen IT här till att inkludera teknologi för att samla, lagra, bearbeta, återfå och kommunicera data, text, bilder och tal. Dessutom omfattar denna definition både administrativ och inbäddad IT. Vidare ifrågasätts de traditionella definitionerna av produktivitet, och begreppet ges en bredare betydelse för att fånga upp alla möjliga nyttor och/eller nackdelar som kan härledas till IT investeringar.</p><p>Resultaten och analysen som presenteras i denna studie visar att produktiviteten inom sjukvården har ökat enormt tack vare IT-investeringar. Generellt sett så har sjukvårdsprocesserna snabbats upp avsevärt, sjukvårdskvaliteten har förbättrats, och kostnadseffektiviteten har ökat. Med andra ord, genom att introducera nya tankar gällande produktivitetsparadoxen, har fler effekter kunnat detekteras och analyseras. Det finns emellertid också många problem förknippade med implementering, användande och spridning av IT, vilka ges tillbörlig uppmärksamhet i denna undersökning.</p><p>I förlängningen bidrar analysen av digitaliseringseffekterna till en ökad förståelse för hur IT-fieringen” av modern sjukvård påverkar dess produktivitet i form av exempelvis bättre (och även helt nya) behandlingsmetoder, förkortad konvalescens och snabbare patientflöden. Vidare ges förslag på hur implementeringsförfaranden kan skötas smidigare än tidigare, vilka problem relaterade till digitalisering som bör beaktas och lösas, samt vilka möjliga framtida nyttor som skulle kunna realiseras och hur.</p><p>Detta torde vara av intresse för yrkesverksamma inom sjukvården, patienter, politiker som kall besluta om sjukvård, och även samhället i stort. Det övergripande målet med avhandlingen är således att underlätta utvecklingen mot en alltmer digitaliserad – och förhoppningsvis därav förbättrad – sjukvård genom att fördjupa förståelsen för relationen mellan IT och produktivitet.</p> / <p>This thesis examines how investments in IT, and the digitization of information flows, have affected health care productivity. Through empirical investigations of health care processes – along with discussions based on notions derived from theories related to e.g. economics, the Productivity Paradox, General Purpose Technologies, and medical informatics – effects from digitization are detected and analyzed.</p><p>An important point of departure is the so called Productivity Paradox, which raises the question why previous comprehensive investments in IT seemingly have not generated the anticipated productivity growth. Researchers have debated this dilemma for many years now but no sufficient explanations have been put forth. This is so due to a prior focus on snapshot descriptions, founded on macroeconomic statistics and aggregated data, which has resulted in ambiguous conclusions about IT and economic development. Thus, in order to really describe the effects from digitization, the process investigations mainly are carried out at the organization or department level, and from a qualitative and historical perspective.</p><p>Furthermore, in the current research, it is believed that too narrow definitions of IT and productivity have contributed to the overlooking of benefits from digitization. Therefore the term IT is extended to include technology for collecting, storing, processing, retrieving, and communicating data, text, images and speech. Moreover, this definition includes both administrative and embedded IT. Also, the traditional definitions of productivity are questioned, and the concept is given a broader meaning in order to capture all possible benefits and/or disadvantages from IT investments.</p><p>The results and analysis presented in this thesis show that productivity within health care has increased immensely thanks to investments in IT. In general, the treatment processes have been speeded up, health care quality has improved, and the cost effectiveness has been significantly enhanced. In other words, by introducing new thoughts regarding the Productivity Paradox, more effects from digitization are detected and analyzed. However, there are some problems connected to the implementation, adoption and diffusion of IT within health care, and they are also given proper attention throughout the current work.</p> / Report code: LIU-TEK-LIC-2007:37.

Adverse birth outcomes like preterm birth and infant mortality are unevenly distributed across socio-economic groups. Risks are usually lowest in groups with high socio-economic status and increase with decreasing status. The general aim of this thesis was to contribute to the understanding of the relation between socio-economic status and birth outcomes, focussing on maternal education and class, studying a range of birth outcomes. More specific aims were to investigate the relation between maternal education and infant health, to study the combined influence of maternal childhood and adult social class on inequalities in infant health and to explore the contribution of maternal working conditions to class inequalities in birth outcomes. The studies are population based, focussing on singletons births 1973-1990. During the period under study, educational differences in birth outcomes increased, especially between those with the lowest and highest education. The low birth weight paradox emerged, suggesting that the distribution of determinants for low birthweight infants differs for these groups. Further, an independent association was found between maternal childhood social class and low birthweight and neonatal mortality, but not for postneonatal mortality. Since this was found for the two outcomes closest to birth, this indicates that the association is mediated through the maternal body. Finally, there is a contribution of maternal working conditions to class inequalities in birth outcome. Lower job control, higher job hazards and higher physical demands were all to some degree related to increased risk of the following adverse birth outcomes: infant mortality, low birthweight, very low birthweight, foetal growth, preterm birth, very and extremely preterm birth. Working conditions demonstrated disparate associations with the birth outcomes, indicating a high complexity in these relationships.

Fast changes and external demands have made companies to continuously needing to improve their performance. Banks in particular have come to make a complete changeover to keep up with the competition. They have gone from bureaucratic structures to become more sales oriented. This has come to affect the management model banks use, meaning that the tools to control and navigate the company had to be modernized and adapted to measure new activities. Before the structure change, it was usually enough for a bank to use financial measurements only focusing on indicators such as ROI, when measuring performance. Today, banks have realized the value of the company’s employees, they are a crucial factor for reaching success. Therefore the banks have realized that they need to measure the employees performance. By measuring the employees the bank will be able to know how to improve their performance in order to reach greater success. However, measuring the employees performance has backsides, in some cases it has created unwanted behavior. My problem definitions goes: How are the Swedish banks motives to reach sales goals, creating a conflict between employees actions towards customer relations and banks results? My purpose is to increase my and banks understanding in how sales goals affect the employees and their actions in a bank. I will increase my and banks understanding by finding what factors with the sales goals foster a certain behavior. I am also interested in finding a way to prevent certain behavior that occurs with sales goals. In order to answer my purpose I have conducted seven qualitative un-structured interviews with bank employees. I believe that I can take part of their reality by interpreting their answers. Therefore I argue for a hermeneutic view. The theoretical framework includes theories which I believe are relevant in order to increase my understand about the situation. The theoretical framework will be brought together with the seven interviews and together they will act as a platform for my analysis. I have conducted unstructured interviews, consisting of one sales manager and six bank employees. The interviews were conducted in one company, the purpose was to understand the actions in one context. During these interviews I used an interview guide as an aid. I found that employees are affected by the sales goals due to the fact that they have not participated in deciding them. Meaning that the goals are not of much value for them. Furthermore I found that the employees perceive that the bank is neglecting them, which I found was a result of how the manager values the management model. The behavior of the employees is affected by what parts of the management model the manager chooses to communicate.

A well known birthday paradox is one the most important problems in cryptographic applications. Incremental hash functions or digital signatures in public key cryptography and low-weight parity check equations of LFSRs in stream ciphers are examples of such applications which benet from birthday problem theories to run their attacks. Wagner introduced and formulated the k-dimensional birthday problem and proposed an algorithm to solve the problem in O(k.m^ 1/log k ). The generalized birthday solutions used in some applications to break Knapsack based systems or collision nding in hash functions. The optimized birthday algorithms can solve Knapsack problems of dimension n which is believed to be NP-hard. Its equivalent problem is Subset Sum Problem nds the solution over Z/mZ. The main property for the classication of the problem is density. When density is small enough the problem reduces to shortest lattice vector problem and has a solution in polynomial time. Assigning a variable to each element of the lists, decoding them into a matrix and considering each row of the matrix as an equation lead us to have a multivariate polynomial system of equations and all solution of this type can be a solution for the k- list problem such as F4, F5, another strategy called eXtended Linearization (XL) and sl. We discuss the new approaches and methods proposed to reduce the complexity of the algorithms. For particular cases in over-determined systems, more equations than variables, regarding to have a single solutions Wolf and Thomea work to make a gradual decrease in the complexity of F5. Moreover, his group try to solve the problem by monomials of special degrees and linear equations for small lists. We observe and compare all suggested methods in this