Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The globalisation of the world economy and world markets has had far reaching effects on national economies as governments try to allocate funding to potentially profitable market areas. Rapid technological change has accompanied the expansion and diversification of the higher education market in an environment of global competitiveness, as universities try to claim their market share. Universities now view themselves as businesses, with strong implications for university staff, who are subject to new forms of organisational controls which emphasise the importance of corporate goals. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2000

The availability of GPS signals is a major limitation for many existing and potential applications. Fortunately, with the development of Galileo by the European Commission (EC) and European Space Agency (ESA) and new funding for the restoration of the Russian GLONASS announced by the Russian Federation the future for satellite based positioning and navigation applications is extremely promising. This research primarily investigates the benefits of GNSS interoperability and GNSS/INS integration to Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) from a geometrical perspective. In addition to these investigations, issues regarding multiple outlier detection and identification are examined and integrity procedures addressing these issues are proposed. Moreover, it has been shown how the same RAIM algorithms can be effectively applied to the various static and kinematic navigation architectures used in this research.

Software reviews (inspections) have received widespread attention for ensuring the quality of software, by finding and repairing defects in software products. A typical review process consists of two stages critical for defect detection: individual review followed by group review. This thesis addresses two attributes to improve our understanding of the task model: (1) the need for review meetings, and (2) the use of roles in meetings. The controversy of review meeting effectiveness has been consistently raised in the literature. Proponents maintain that the review meeting is the crux of the review process, resulting in group synergism and qualitative benefits (e.g. user satisfaction). Opponents argue that against meetings because the costs of organising and conducting them are high, and there is no net meeting gain. The persistence of these diverse views is the main motivation behind this thesis. Although commonly prescribed in meetings, roles have not yet been empirically validated. Three procedural roles (moderator, reader, recorder) were considered. A conceptual framework on software reviews was developed, from which main research questions were identified. Two experiments were conducted. Review performance was operationalised in terms of true defects and false positives. The review product was COBOL code. The results indicated that in terms of true defects, group reviews outperformed the average individual but not nominal group reviews (aggregate of individual reviews). However, groups have the ability to filter false positives from the individuals' findings. Roles provided limited benefits in improving group reviews. Their main function is to reduce process loss, by encouraging systematic consideration of the individuals' findings. When two or more reviewers find a defect during individual reviews, it is likely to be carried through to the meeting (plurality effect). Groups employing roles reported more 'new' false positives (not identified from preparation) than groups without roles. Overall, subjects' ability at the defect detection was low. This thesis suggests that reading technologies may be helpful for improving reviewer performance. The inclusion of an author role may also reduce the level of false positive detection. The results have implications on the design and support of the software review process.

Aim: To investigate methods that can be used to predict and manage the effects of manufacturing variability on product quality during the design process. Methodology: The preliminary investigation is a review and analysis of probabilistic methods and quality metrics. Based on this analysis, convenient robustification methods are developed. In addition, the nature of the flow of variability in a system is considered. This is then used to ascertain the information needed for an input variable when predicting the quality of a proposed design. The second, and major, part of the investigation is a case-by-case analysis of a collection of manufacturing operations and material properties. Each is initially analysed from first principles. On completion, the fundamental causes of variability of the key characteristic(s) are identified. Where possible, the expected variability for each of those characteristics has been determined. Where this determination was not possible, qualitative conclusions about the variability are made instead. In each case, findings on the prediction and management of manufacturing variability are made.

This thesis investigates the feasibility of implementing a real time quality control program into a data stream of hydrometeorlogical data. The vast array of data used in the forecasting of river levels and avalanches calls for a point of entry quality control method that is both efficient from a communications standpoint and practical given the computer resources available. The first step in this process is to find a normalization scheme to enable the direct comparison of precipitation events between different stations. The normalization scheme derived uses the climatic database of historical records. The largest set of historical records available is in the daily time frame. However, the quick response needed in this type of forecasting calls for the testing of data in a hourly format. This calls for the need to develop some sort of transformation between events of differing time scales. Once the normalization scheme is in place four tests are used to analyze the data. These tests compare the incoming data to what is expected given the climate, forecasted value, previous weather, and what is occurring at neighboring stations. The results from these four tests are composited to make a final opinion of the validity of the incoming data. The data are then assigned two descriptive parameters. These parameters quantify the sophistication of the tests performed on the data, and the believed accuracy of the data. The two scores are then taken into account to give a final broad description of the program's "opinion" as to whether the data should be rejected, questioned, screened, or verified. Generally the program performs very well. The accuracy and precision of the tests are left somewhat vague at this point. The stress in the development of this test was in the modularity and portability of the program; the testing scheme is not meant to be limited to the purpose of flood forecasting or even precipitation data. The threshold parameters, therefore, need to be set by the end user. These thresholds will be defined by the type of data as well as the purpose and accuracy of the data checking needed. / Graduation date: 1997

This study explored the influence of motivations on the volunteer experience. The relationship among motivations. volunteer satisfaction, acceptance and support of the organizational goals, and outcomes of success in the volunteer role (pattern of participation and ombudsman effectiveness) were explored using Multiple Linear Regression analyses. Motivational Systems Theory (Ford, 1992) was applied to the investigation of relationships among these variables. It was proposed that alignment between the individual volunteer's motivations and the organization's goals should predict higher levels of satisfaction, organizational commitment, and success. Psychological aspects of the volunteer experience proved valuable to the explanation of certain indicators of success in the Ombudsman role. The rates of case reporting and the time devoted to the Ombudsman role seemed to be influenced by the importance of particular motivations toward volunteerism, the extent to which these motivations are fulfilled by involvement with the Ombudsman program, and the commitment expressed toward the organization. Communal (offering) motivations were rated among the most important for the majority of volunteers. However, satisfaction scores were higher for both agentic and affiliation motivational factors than for the communal motivational factor. Overall, Ombudsmen were least motivated by motivations characterized as agentic or self-oriented. Volunteers with lower importance ratings for agentic motivations had moderately higher reporting rates than did participants attributing less importance to self-oriented motivations. Volunteers expressed high levels of organizational commitment and overall satisfaction in the role. The more committed these participants were to the organization, the more likely they were to experience satisfaction in their roles, and the more likely they were to express high levels of importance for all factors of motivation in this model. A significant effect was found for the influence of organizational commitment on time commitment, case reporting, and the frequency of visits. Motivational Systems Theory was found to be a useful framework for analyzing the effects of personal characteristics and psychological aspects of the volunteer experience on success and satisfaction in the Ombudsman role. / Graduation date: 2000

Tolerance analysis is a major link between design and manufacturing. An assembly or a part should be designed based on its functions, manufacturing processes, desired product quality, and manufacturing cost. Assembly tolerance analysis performed at the design stage can reduce potential manufacturing and assembly problems. Several commonly used assembly tolerance analysis models and their limitations are reviewed in this research. Also, a new assembly tolerance analysis model is developed to improve the limitations of the existing assembly tolerance analysis models. The new model elucidates the impact of the flatness symbol (one of the Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) specification symbols) and reduces design variables into simple mathematical equations. The new model is based on beta distribution of part dimensions. In addition, a group of manufacturing variables, including quality factor, process tolerance, and mean shift, is integrated in the new assembly tolerance analysis model. A computer integrated system has been developed to handle four support systems for the performance of tolerance analysis in a single computer application. These support systems are: 1) the CAD drawing system, 2) the Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) specification system, 3) the assembly tolerance analysis model, and 4) the tolerance database operating under the Windows environment. Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) is applied to exchange the data between two different window applications, resulting in improvement of information transfer between the support systems. In this way, the user is able to use this integrated system to select a GD&T specification, determine a critical assembly dimension and tolerance, and access the tolerance database during the design stage simultaneously. Examples are presented to illustrate the application of the integrated tolerance analysis system. / Graduation date: 1995

External radiotherapy is a common treatment technique for cancer. It has been shown that radiation therapy is a both clinically and economically effective treatment for many types of cancer, even though the equipment is expensive. The technology is in constant evolution and more and more sophisticated and complex techniques are introduced. One of the main tasks for physicists at a radiotherapy department is quality control, i.e. making sure that the treatments are delivered in accordance with the dosimetric intentions. Over dosage of radiation can lead to severe side effects, while under dosage reduces the probability for patient cure. The present thesis is mainly focused on the verification of the calculated dose. Requirements for independent dose calculation software are identified and the procedures using such software are described. In the publications included in the thesis an algorithm specially developed for verification of dose calculations is described and tested. The calculation uncertainties connected with the described algorithm are investigated and modeled. A brief analysis of the quality assurance procedures available and used in external radiotherapy is also included in the thesis. The main conclusion of the thesis is that independent verification of the dose calculations is feasible in an efficient and cost effective quality control system. The independent calculations do not only serve as a protection against accidents, but can also be the basis for comparisons of the dose calculation performance at different clinics.