<p>This work is a research in the field of systems science, emphasising the importance of applying models and theories that have been developed in this area. This work studies the possibility of using James Miller's living systems theory (LST) as a diagnostic tool. The application area was project management processes used when developing computerised information systems. The focus on the analyses was on the critical subsystems that process information. Based on this study it was found that LST function as a diagnostic tool according to the following criteria: it was possible to identify the critical subsystems in the application, the critical subsystems covered relevant information flows in the application and LST could make a unique contribution in the analyses of the application.</p>

<p>This thesis studies the allocation of stock in a two-level inventory system with stochastic demand. The system consists of one central warehouse which supplies N non-identical retailers with one single product. Customer demand occurs solely at the retailers and follows independent Poisson processes. The purpose is to investigate the value of using a more advanced allocation policy than First Come-First Serve at the central warehouse. The focus is on evaluating how well the simple First Come-First Serve assumption works in a system where the warehouse has access to real-time point-of-sale data, and where shipments are time based and consolidated for all retailers. The considered allocation policy is a myopic policy where the solution to a minimization problem, formulated as a constrained newsvendor problem, determines how the warehouse allocates its stock to the retailers. The minimization problem is solved using (a heuristic method based on) Lagrangian relaxation, and simulation is used to evaluate the average inventory holding costs and backorder costs per time unit when using the considered policy. The simulation study shows that cost savings around 1-4 percent can be expected for most system configurations. However, there were cases where savings were as high as 5 percent, as well as cases where the policy performed worse than First Come-First Serve. The study also shows that the highest cost savings are found in systems with relatively low demand, few retailers, short transportation times and a short time interval between shipments.</p>

<p> </p><p>Crew costs are one of the largest expenses for airlines and effective manpower planning is therefore important to maximize profit. The focus of research in the field of manpower planning for airlines has mainly been on the scheduling of crew, while other areas, surprisingly, have received very little attention. This thesis provides an overview of some of the other problems facing manpower planners, such as designing a career ladder, planning transitions and making course schedules.</p><p>Mathematical models are presented for some of theses problems, and for the problem of allocating training and vacation in time the mathematical model has been tested on data from SAS Scandinavian Airlines. When allocating training and vacation there are many aspects to consider, such as avoiding crew shortage, access to resources needed for training, and vacation laws. Comparisons between solutions obtained with the model and SAS Scandinavian Airlines manual plan show encouraging results with savings around 10%.</p><p> </p>

<p>Integer programming can be used to provide solutionsto complex decision and planning problems occurring in a wide varietyof situations. Applying integer programming to a real life problembasically involves a first phase where a mathematical model isconstructed, and a second phase where the problem described by themodel is solved. While the nature of the challenges involved in therespective two phases differ, the strong relationship between theproperties of models, and which methods that are appropriate for theirsolution, links the two phases. This thesis constitutes of threepapers, of which the third one considers the modeling phase, while thefirst and second one consider the solution phase.</p><p> </p><p>Many applications of column generation yield master problems of setpartitioning type, and the first and second papers presentmethodologies for solving such problems. The characteristics of themethodologies presented are that all successively found solutions arefeasible and integral, where the retention of integrality is a majordistinction from other column generation methods presented in theliterature.</p><p> </p><p>The third paper concerns nurse scheduling and describes the results ofa pilot implementation of a scheduling tool at a Swedish nursing ward.This paper focuses on the practical aspects of modeling and thechallenges of providing a solution to a complex real life problem.</p>

Die Arbeit verfolgt die These, dass es sich beim Markt nicht um ein wirtschaftliches Phänomen handelt. Vor dem Hintergrund des wirtschaftssoziologischen Diskurses plädiert sie entsprechend für einen trans-ökonomischen Marktbegriff, auf dessen Grundlage sich auch Märkte in Erdregionen und Erdzeitaltern beobachten lassen, in denen Gesellschaft nicht funktional primär-differenziert ist oder war.

This research examines the social construction of hope in a community mental health system of care. Groopman (2004) defines hope as the elevating feeling we experience when we see a path to a better future. A year-long ethnographic study of a children's mental health system of care team found that members of the mental health care team construct hope for themselves and for the family they're helping by cycling through the dialectical tensions of hegemony and equality, marginalization and normalization, relating and othering, empowerment and disempowerment, and control and emotionality. They reconcile these tensions in dialogic moments of empathy toward the family and other team members, engagement of all team members in the process, creation of a human connection within the team, vulnerability to each other, creation of possibilities for themselves and for each other, social support, and blended voices.

This dissertation is a case study of the public performances of Gregory Bateson at The Esalen Institute. The case study is a reconsideration of the work of Gregory Bateson from the perspective of performance studies. The author brings together performativity, cybernetics, and the sacred to argue that Gregory Bateson, in his public performances, was striving for grace in encounters with others. The author has conducted archival research into Bateson’s presentations and has spoken with several close to Bateson to get a sense of how his process of public presentation paralleled his ideas—a process of continually working through ideas in conversation with others. In his dissertation the author tries to present the work in a form fitting with Bateson's own process.

This research investigates the public perception of hurricane forecasting and warning systems with a view to improving response activities. The hazard literature shows that the effectiveness of such systems is contingent upon on the smooth operation of all components of the system and that warning recipients fully understand the implications of the warning message by taking appropriate action. It is argued that public perception of warning systems will vary depending on various socio-demographic factors, such as age, gender, level of education, socioeconomic status and area, factors that will ultimately influence overall effectiveness. To test this, a questionnaire survey was undertaken of local residents in Lake Wales, Florida, a town that was severely impacted by three hurricanes in the 2004 season. Results indicate that some demographic factors appear to influence an individual's willingness and ability to respond. Overall, level of education and income seem to have a larger affect on response than age or gender. The two sampling areas in Lake Wales elicited more significant differences than do the other variables but, the area variable takes into account all of the other factors of age, gender, level of education, and socioeconomic status. In fact, what is argued here is that area actually acts as a surrogate variable for the others. Therefore, it is not where one is located that makes a difference but the composition of the people in the location itself.

Theories of cognition and theories of social practices and institutions have often each separately acknowledged the relevance of the other; but seldom have there been consistent and sustained attempts to synthesize these two areas within one explanatory framework. This is precisely what my dissertation aims to remedy. I propose that certain recent developments and themes in philosophy of mind and cognitive science, when understood in the right way, can explain the emergence and dynamics of social practices and institutions. Likewise, the view I construct explains how social practices and institutions shape the character of cognition of their constituent agents. Moreover, I explain both cognitive and social agency under the single explanatory framework provided by Dynamic Systems Theory. Drawing upon the phenomenological tradition, "embodied, "extended", "embedded", "enactive", and "ecological" approaches to cognition, as well as the conceptual resources of Dynamic Systems Theory, I construct a theory of agency that sees cognitive and social agents as far-from-equilibrium, open, recursively self-maintenant dynamic systems. Depending on the specifics of concrete circumstances, such systems, which I call "Dynamic Embodied Agents" (or DEAs), may develop and possess emergent capacities for error-detection, flexible learning, normative behavior, representation, self-reflection, various modes of pattern-recognition, a temporal sense of self, and even moral responsibility. Some such systems are also sensitive to perceived social influences (practices and institutions); while reciprocally constituting and causally affecting them.

High-throughput methods systematically measure the internal state of the entire cell, but powerful computational tools are needed to infer dynamics from their raw data. Therefore, we have developed a new computational method, Eigen-genomic System Dynamic-pattern Analysis (ESDA), which uses systems theory to infer dynamic parameters from a time series of gene expression measurements. As many genes are measured at a modest number of time points, estimation of the system matrix is underdetermined and traditional approaches for estimating dynamic parameters are ineffective; thus, ESDA uses the principle of dimensionality reduction to overcome the data imbalance. We identify degradation dynamic patterns of a genomic system using ESDA. We also combine ESDA and Principal-oscillation-pattern (POP) analysis, which has been widely used in geosciences, to identify oscillation patterns. We demonstrate the first application of POP analysis to genome-wide time-series gene-expression data. Both simulation data and real-world data are used in this study to demonstrate the applicability of ESDA to genomic data. The biological interpretations of dynamic patterns are provided. We also show that ESDA not only compares favorably with previous experimental methods and existing computational methods, but that it also provides complementary information relative to other approaches. / text