The basis for this thesis involved a four month Accelerate Canada internship at the Grand River Hospital Emergency Department in Kitchener, Ontario. The Emergency Department (ED) Process Committee sought insight into strategies that could potentially reduce patient length of stay in the ED, thereby reducing wait times for emergency patients. This thesis uses discrete event simulation to model the overall system and to analyze the effect of various operational strategies within the fast track area of the emergency department. It discusses the design and development process for the simulation model, proposes various operational strategies to reduce patient wait times, and analyzes the different scenarios for an optimal fast track strategy. The main contribution of this thesis is the use of simulation to determine an optimal fast track strategy that reduces patient length of stay, thereby reducing patient wait times. Wait times were most significantly reduced when there was an increased physician presence/availability towards the fast track system. This had the greatest impact on the total time spent in the ED and also on queue length. The second most significant reduction to the performance measures occurred when an additional emergency nurse practitioner was supplemented to the fast track system. Accordingly, the nurse practitioner’s percent utilization increased. There was only one two-way interaction effect that was statistically significant in reducing the primary performance measure of wait times; however, the effect did not change the queue length, a secondary performance measure, by a significant amount. Finally, the implementation of a See-and-treat model variant for fast track had a negligible effect on both the average length of stay and queue length.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka vilka källor de två tidningarna Dagens Nyheter och New York Times använt sig av i bevakningen av Kambodja. Två dramatiska händelser är i fokus. Den första händelsen inträffade den 17 april då gerillarörelsen, Röda Khmererna, tågade in i Kambodjas huvudstad Phnom Penh och tog över makten. Kontakten med omvärlden bröts inom loppet av några timmar. Förvirringen kring vad som verkligen skett blev påtaglig i medierna. Ingen visste säkert vad som hänt. Den andra händelsen jag valt att studera är Vietnams invasion av Kambodja den 7 januari 1979 och störtandet av den då styrande kommunistregimen med Pol Pot som diktatorisk premiärminister. Inte heller under denna händelse fanns information att tillgå. Åren mellan dessa två händelser var Kambodja så gott som stängt för västerländska journalister och de få västerländska diplomater som blev inbjudna att besöka Kambodja, vittnade om en lyckad revolution och förnekade att det pågick folkmord under Pol Pots styre. Vilka källor använde sig den svenska tidningen Dagens Nyheter och den amerikanska tidningen New York Times av då de rapporterade om ett land där kontakten med västvärlden brutits? Undersökningen, en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av text och bild, har utförts samma datum som dessa händelser inträffat samt fem dagar efter. Studiens resultat visar att tidningarna valde alternativa källor till sitt publicerade material såsom rykten, spekulationer och analyser och att varken Dagens Nyheter eller New York Times valde att intervjua de tusentals kambodjanska flyktingar som flytt över gränsen till Thailand, där då båda tidningarna hade korrespondenter på plats. Under 1970-talet fanns en utbredd oro för att det kalla kriget skulle bryta ut och konflikterna Kambodja påverkade denna maktbalans, då stormakterna på ett eller annat sätt hade intressen att försvara. Denna studie visar även att denna oro främst visade sig vara påtaglig i New York Times till skillnad från Dagens Nyheter, där den svenska biståndspolitiken var i fokus. Biståndspolitiken i Sverige var kanske också en anledning till att svenska diplomater och andra auktoritativa talesmän inte förmedlade en sanningsenlig bild av Kambodja. Vietnamkriget pågick i april 1975 och får mycket utrymme i båda tidningar, men av olika skäl. I USA för dess inblandning i Vietnamkriget och i Sverige för den starka vietnamvänliga och USA fientliga opinionen. Med mitt val av teori som främst består av Judith Butlers bok Krigets ramar. När blir livet sörjbart? (2009) söker jag visa att det journalistiska material som publicerades i Dagens Nyheter och New York Times om Kambodja under denna studies undersökningsperiod inte gjordes i syfte att öka läsarens närhet till nyheten, utan snarare att materialet ökade avståndet genom att tidningarna publicerade material som läsarna inte kunde känna närhet till, det vill säga identifiera sig med.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att belysa likheter och skillnader i nyhetsrapporteringen om den globala uppvärmingen mellan Sverige och USA. Vi har inriktat oss på New York Times och Dagens Nyheter. Hypotesen är att den amerikanska tidningen visar sig mer skeptisk till att miljöförändringarna är mänskligt skapade än den svenska tidningen. Tidsspannet vi valt är januari till och med december år 2006 då filmen An Inconvenient Truth hade premiär och skapade debatt i frågan. Undersökningen är av kvantitativ natur. Den mest uppseendeväckande skillnaden är hur tidningarna gestaltar problemen. Vi hade förväntat oss större skillnader mellan tidningarna. Den största likheten är att ingen av tidningarna hade en enda artikel som ställde sig helt förnekande till att människliga handlingar är orsaken till global uppvärmning.

<p>Morphological characters from the gametophyte and sporophyte generations have been used in land plants to infer relationships and construct classifications, but sporophytes provide the vast majority of data for the systematics of vascular plants. In bryophytes both generations are well developed and characters from both are commonly used to classify these organisms. However, because morphological traits of gametophytes and sporophytes can have different genetic bases and experience different selective pressures, taxonomic emphasis on one generation or the other may yield incongruent classifications. The moss order Hookeriales has a controversial taxonomic history because previous classifications have focused almost exclusively on either gametophytes or sporophytes. The Hookeriales provide a model for comparing morphological evolution in gametophytes and sporophytes, and its impact on alternative classification systems. Sometimes, placement of certain groups within Hookeriales remains challenging even at the molecular level. That is the case of the genus <italic>Calyptrochaeta</italic>. We study diversification dynamics in this genus to elucidate possible mechanisms obscuring its placement and we address biogeographic questions using the Tropical Conservatism scenario as our null hypothesis. Furthermore, to better understand biogeographic patterns in the Southern Hemisphere, infraspecific molecular patterns are compared in two species of the genus <italic>Calyptrochaeta</italic> (i.e., <italic>C. apiculata</italic> and <italic>C. asplenioides</italic>) and vicariance and recent long distance dispersal are tested to explain the disjunct distributions observed in these species. </p><p>In this study we reconstruct relationships among pleurocarpous mosses in or associated to the Hookeriales, in <italic>Calyptrochaeta</italic>, and within <italic>Calyptrochaeta</italic>. Six molecular markers are explored in total from all three genome compartments to reconstruct the evolution of morphological characters and habitat preferences in our phylogenies. Divergence times are estimated in a Bayesian framework using a relaxed molecular clock, and diversification rates are calculated on the chronograms resulting from these estimations. </p><p>As a result, we found that the Hookeriales, as currently circumscribed, are monophyletic and that both sporophyte and gametophyte characters are labile. We documented parallel changes and reversals in traits from both generations. We show that diversification rates in <italic>Calyptrochaeta</italic> have changed through its history. Also, though we lack support to clearly reject the tropical conservatism hypothesis, our data point to a more complex scenario where both temperate and tropical species can be ancient and give rise to one another, since shifts between tropical and temperate regions seem to be possible in any direction. Finally, we have show that recent long distance dispersal best explains the distribution of both <italic>C. apiculata</italic> and <italic>C. asplenioides</italic> in the Southern Hemisphere.</p> / Dissertation

The focuses of this dissertation are problems of batch production scheduling problems for perishable products with setup times, with the main applications in answering production planning problems faced by manufacturers of perishable products, such as beers, vaccines and yoghurts. The benefits of effective production plans can help companies reduce their total costs substantially to gain the competitive advantages without reduction of the service level in a globalize economy. We develop concepts and methodologies that are applied in two fundamental problems: (i) the batch production scheduling problem for perishable products with sequence-independent setup times (BPP-SI) and (ii) the batch production scheduling problem for perishable products with sequence-dependent setup times (BPP-SD). The problem is that given a set of forecast demand for perishables products to be produced by a set of parallel machines in the single stage of batch production, with each product having fixed shelf-life times and each machine requiring setup times before producing a batch of product, find the master production schedule which minimizes total cost over a specified time horizon. We present the new models for both problems by formulating them as a Mixed Integer Program (MIP) on the discrete time. Computational studies in BPP-SI and BPP-SD for industrial problems are presented. In order to efficiently solve the large BPP-SI problems in practice, we develop the five efficient heuristics. The extensive computational results show that the developed heuristics can obtain the good solution for the very large problem size and require very short amount of computational time.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the concept of time in Dickens¡¦s novels including A Christmas Carol, Hard Times and A Tale of Two Cities with the newly discovered concepts of time in physics, geology and social economy. I intend to use them to build possible parallels, which will help to clarify the working of time and its influences imposed upon the characters in Dickens¡¦s novels. The thesis, in a sense, is an experiment of cross-boundary study and, through a close examination of the three books, tends to provide an alternative way to rethink the relationship between time, characters, the world and the author in Dickens¡¦s novels.

This research is designed to explore the ever-building international image of Taiwan by reviewing the news reports about Taiwan affairs from the American elitist publications. With the unprecedented advancement of communications and media developments, many people in the world has realized foreign affairs through media broadcasting. In the meantime, the perspectives about national images held by average people are greatly influenced by media reports, especially international news. The forming of Taiwan¡¦s image is no exception. Any piece of news about Taiwan has affected the projected image on the world stage one way or another. This study applies the methodology of content analysis to the news reports, letters, editorials and column reviews about Taiwan in the American elitist newspapers of The New York Times and The Washington Post, ranging from 1986 to 2005. The research acquires the samples form LEXIS-NEXIS database and analyzes the theme, main covered area, US-related content, independence-related content, leadership-related content, direction (strength) category and statement category from every sample. The researcher tries to investigate the distribution, important issues of different news themes, strength of content reports and the ever-constructing Taiwan international image. This research reveals: 1. In terms of themes and main covered area, nation-wide reports are the major. 2. In terms of US-related content, it is stressed on themes about foreign affairs, economy and trade, cross-strait relations and national defense technology. It shows these news themes are the very issues about Taiwan the US is most focused on. 3. In terms of Taiwanese leadership-related content, politics and cross-strait relations reports take up the most proportion. This shows political and cross-strait relations reports were what Taiwanese leaders were most involved during the two decades. 4. Among the themes of the news, neutral reporting is the major, positive reporting the second, negative the least. However, Constitution Reform in the politics category, Foreign Policies and Relations in the foreign affairs category, Literature, Art and Recreations in the education, science and culture categories mostly appear positive reporting. Only foreign spot news, society and laws, accidents and disasters are the few with more negative reporting than positive. Besides, in light of the quantitative ratio of news report samples, among all the news themes the most three categories are cross-strait relations, national defense and domestic politics. If we combine the small items broken down from the big categories, the category of cross-strait relations makes up the most proportion, followed by politics, foreign affairs, national defense and economy. The category of cross-strait relations totally takes up 38.09% and becomes the spotlighted issue of news reporting outstandingly. Finally, based on the sample statistics gathered from The New York Times and The Washington Post, the top five accumulated amounts of Taiwan news reports are 2000 (72 items), 2001 (45 items), 1996 (43 items), 1999 (41 items) and 2004 (35 items). 2000 tops the list of reporting on Taiwanese affairs; it¡¦s mainly because the second general election in Taiwan occurred on 2000. Chen Sui Bian and Liu Xiou Lien were elected as president and vice president. It was the first regime change ever in Taiwan¡¦s history and the DPP took the reins. On the other hand, the KMT was voted out of office for the first time and became the opposition, which attracted the international media and led to a significant increase on reporting. In addition, owing to the first regime change, the DPP that was generally perceived as pro-independence came into power and made China highly concerned, which contribute to the increase on news about cross-strait relations and policies, national defense and independence-related issues in this year.

The most important market segmentation in sports and entertainment industry is the competition between customers that buy bundle and single tickets. A common selling practice is starting the selling season with bundle ticket sales and switching to selling single tickets later on. The aim of this practice is to increase the number of customers that buy bundles, to create a fund before the season starts and to increase the load factor of the games with low demand. In this thesis, we investigate the effect of time dependent demand on dynamic switching times and the potential revenue gain over the case where the demand rate is assumed to be constant with time.

Cognitive control allows us to function in a world filled with constant stimulation. For example, the act of reading a book requires the ability to inhibit irrelevant information while focusing attention towards the letters on the page. Our cognitive control system regulates what information receives attention and what is denied resources. The goal of the current paper is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the activation and maintenance of the control system and how this process changes in healthy aging. First, the ability of younger and older adults to activate and maintain control in response to trial type manipulations is investigated. Second, improvements are made to recent experimental evidence suggesting younger adults are able to modulate performance based on specific stimulus history. Third, this work is extended to an older population suggesting the ability to modulate performance based on specific stimulus history is maintained in healthy aging. Finally, it is demonstrated that current theories of control fail to account for age-related differences in performance based on the comparison of trial type and specific stimulus manipulations.

Research in the field of travel time measurement using Bluetooth technology has been an area of great interest in recent years as transportation professionals strive to increase the cost-effectiveness, accuracy, anonymity, and safety of travel time data collection methods. Commonly used travel time data collection methods include the use of inductive loops, video cameras, and probe vehicles. However, Bluetooth, a globally accepted wireless technology, serves as the medium being utilized by more and more transportation consultants, public agencies, and academics in the collection of travel time data. This study seeks to develop a methodology for measuring travel times on arterial roads using Bluetooth technology. A literature review of general travel time methods and Bluetooth travel time methods was conducted to provide the context for a Bluetooth field deployment development and implementation. The study presents the deployment plan and data analysis of a case study conducted on Spring Street in Atlanta, Georgia. Variable heights, Bluetooth to Bluetooth interference, and detection of Bluetooth devices in probe vehicles are investigated and recommendations are suggested for future Bluetooth travel time studies.