Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Andrew Dzurik, Florida State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Title and description from dissertation home page (June 18, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 3, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-94).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brown University, 2008. / Vita. Advisor : Roderic Beresford. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 161 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49).

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

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A risk review of a fuel cell-based distributed co-generation (FC-Based DCG) system was conducted to identify and quantify the major technological system risks in a worst-case scenario. A risk review entails both a risk assessment and a risk analysis of a designed system, and it is part of risk engineering. Thorough literature reviews and expert interviews were conducted in the field of fuel cells. A thorough literature review of the risk engineering field was also conducted. A procedure for a risk review of the FC-Based DCG System was developed. The representative system design was identified by the current DCG design technology. The risk assessment was carried out, identifying the system components and potential failure modes and consequences. Then, using probabilities of failure for the various system components, the risk associated with a particular system design was determined. A Monte Carlo simulation on the total system reliability was used to evaluate the potential for system failure at a time of 1 hour, 5 hours, 10 hours, 50 hours, 100 hours and 500 hours of continuous operation. The original system was found to be acceptable at the initial times, but after 100 hours was predicted to fail. The components which consistently contribute significantly to the overall system risk are the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and the nickel-metal foam flow fields. A revised system was analyzed with the reliability of the MEA and the Ni-foam set to 100%. After the revision, the components which contributed significantly to the system risk were the pumps. Simulations were run for several alternative systems to provide feedback on risk management suggestions. The risk engineering process developed with the design approach for this research is applicable to any system and it accommodates the use of many different risk engineering tools.

The present study examined the interrelationship of risk for recidivism, treatment readiness and responsivity, treatment-related change, treatment attrition, and recidivism among sexual offenders. It provided a cross validation of selected risk assessment measures, including the Static-99R, STABLE 2007, and Violence Risk Scale – Sexual Offender version (VRS-SO), as well as a clinical rating scale, the Treatment Readiness, Responsivity, and Gain Scale: Short Version (TRRG:SV). The primary focus of the study was to evaluate the relationship between treatment-related change and recidivism. The study was archival and participants included 185 federally incarcerated adult male sex offenders who participated in the Clearwater Sex Offender Treatment Program at the Regional Psychiatric Centre (Saskatoon, SK) between 1997 and 2001 and were followed up for an average of 9.3 years (SD = 3.0) post-release. Twenty percent of the sample was convicted for a new sexual offense, 45% for any new violent (including sexual) conviction, and 61% for any new conviction. The Static-99R, STABLE 2007, and VRS-SO all predicted violent recidivism (AUC = .62 to .72), as did the TRRG:SV (AUC = .32 to .37). Moreover, the dynamic risk measures demonstrated significant incremental validity, controlling for the Static-99R, in the prediction of sexual and violent recidivism. Treated participants made significant pre- to post-treatment changes on the VRS-SO, STABLE 2007, and TRRG:SV. Changes on the VRS-SO were significantly associated with lower rates of violent recidivism, with and without controlling for pre-treatment risk. Changes on the TRRG:SV were significantly associated with lower rates of sexual and violent recidivism. Significant predictors of treatment attrition were identified in the domains of criminal history, pre-treatment risk, treatment readiness and responsivity issues, and institutional adjustment. Implications for offender assessment, management, and rehabilitation are discussed.

This thesis is based on an industry project with Teekay Shipping Co ., which is an international transportation service provider for oil companies, refiners and traders. Teekay is interested in knowing which factors contribute most to its operating incidents and accidents. Based on available data, namely vessel name, team, type, hull, and age, as well as incident and accident records, we quantified in this thesis the effects of these factors on the incident and accident frequency. The thesis presented the technical details of the Poisson regression analysis, which we used for quantifying the risk factors. Teekay is also interested in having a consistent method to present Teekay's overall risk picture, and to indicate best investment areas for its risk reducing purpose. Teekay has already implemented an Online Root Cause Analyses (ORCA) system, which collects the direct cause and root cause soon after an incident happens. We reviewed the ORCA system and made suggestions about certain parts of the system which were subsequently revised. Furthermore, we designed a bubble chart tool to present the overall risk faced by Teekay. The bubble chart tool has the capacity to indicate best investment areas clearly, and it is consistent over time, thereby enabling Teekay to evaluate easily the risk mitigation effect of its earlier investment in risk management. Finally, we designed a continuous monitoring tool, which allows Teekay managers to interactively explore the relationships among near misses, incidents and accidents, and to compare event frequencies of various vessel groups, such as vessel team, age, type and hull structure. The powerful continuous monitoring tool provides Teekay managers a full- range view of the risks the company faces. The design and the sample usage of this continuous monitoring tool are discussed in this thesis.