Thesis (Ph.D.) - Simon Fraser University, 2007. / Theses (Dept. of English) / Simon Fraser University. Senior supervisor: David Stouck -- Dept. of English. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Fartygstransport drivs av marina bränslen som avger avgasutsläpp. När fartygen står i hamn förbränner de sitt eget bränsle för elgenerering ombord, förbränningen orsakarluftföroreningar och buller i hamnområdet. Genom de luftföroreningar som sker från koldioxid, koloxid, svaveloxid, kväveoxid och partiklar fås negativa effekter på människa, miljö och ger samhället höga kostnader. För att minska utsläppen kan man ansluta fartygen till elnät på land. Syftet med arbetet var att undersöka elnätets potential till fartygsanslutningar i hela Umeå Hamn. Bakgrunden var att Kvarken Ports (ägare av Umeå Hamn och färjan) planerar en ny färja som skall sjösättas år 2020 och trafikera sjöleden mellan Umeå och Vasa. De vill utreda möjligheterna att landansluta fartyget till elnätet och elnätsägaren Umeå energi måste undersöka förutsättningarna.Arbetet är utfört med bakgrund av totalt sex fartyg fördelade på tre hamnplatser, färjeterminalen, inre hamnen och Gustavs udde med ett effektkrav på totalt 3,755 MVA. Vid dimensionering undersöktes två lösningar för inkoppling av landström, den ena genom inkoppling på genomgående vindkraftkabel och andra vid närmaste uttagspunkt för befintligt nät.För att undersöka landströmmens fördelar undersöktes miljöpåverkan och kostnadsvinster. Vindkraften som produceras vid Umeå hamn består av tre verk som under år 2014 producerade 13,9 GWh medan den beräknade energiåtgången för fartygen är beräknat till 3,95 GWh/år. Producerande enhet i form av vindkraft är inte kontinuerligt och andra energikällor behövs. Kablarna som går genom Umeå hamn är inkopplade till Holmsunds fördelningsstation som kan försörja fartygsanslutningarna vid låg vindkraftsproduktion. Arbetet visade på starkt elnät oberoende val av lösning. Fartygsanslutningar i hamnen krävde utbyggnad av elnätet med en investering mellan 800 tkr upp till 1,7 Mkr beroende på val av lösning. Vid inkoppling till landström blir elpriset för fartygen billigare eftersom de kan köpa landel till lägre pris än kostnaden för dem att själva producera ombord. Utsläppen vid inkoppling av landström reduceras till över 98 % jämfört med bränslegenererad el. Utsläppsminskningenger ekonomisk besparingen genom lägre samhällskostnader till följd av en bättre hälsa för människa, miljö och natur. Det här bevisar att landström kan bidra till att starkt reducera utsläppen i områden runt hamnen och minska kostnader. / When ships are at dock they burn their fuel to generate electricity onboard, causing air and noise pollution in the port area. The pollution obtains negative effects on people, the environment and gives the community high costs. One solution to reduce these pollutions is to connect the ships to the on land electrical grid; this method is called cold ironing. To see if this is a solution the grid owner Umeå Energi has to investigate the condition of the grid for ship connection.The thesis is done with a background of six ships on three wharves with a power requirement of 3,755 MVA. The report suggests two potential solutions for engaging the shore, one with the wind power cable and the other with the nearest grid for the ports. The investigation showed a strong grid and an expansion of the grid for the cold ironing would need an investment for 800 thousand up to 1,7 million Swedish kronor, depending on the choice of solution. To find out the benefits for cold ironing in the area for environmental and social cost reduction. There is three wind power plants near Umeå harbor and they produced year 2014 13, 9 GWh, while the estimated energy consumption for the vessels is at 3, 95 GWh. Wind energy production is not continuous and other energy sources is needed. The cables in the harbor are connected to Holmsund distribution station which can supply the vessels at low wind power production. When connected to shore power the price of electricity for ships is less expensive when cold ironing instead of on board generation.Emissions at the shore could reduce to over 98% compared with fuel generated electricity. The reduction in emissions provides economic savings through lower social costs due to better health for people, the environment and nature. This proves that cold ironing can help to greatly reduce emissions in areas around the port and reduce costs.

Common snook, Centropomus undecimalis, is a popular game fish species that occurs throughout central and southern Florida, yet many questions remain unanswered regarding their reproductive strategies, including estimates of fecundity with relation to size, age, and condition of the female. These relationships are critical to improving stock assessments and fundamental to estimating spawning potential ratio, the measure by which snook are managed. Spawning snook were collected from a known spawning site, Rattlesnake Key, Tampa Bay, Florida, during three consecutive spawning seasons (2009-2011) and batch fecundity for snook was reported for the first time. Of the 43 females suitable for fecundity analysis, batch fecundity was highly variably and ranged from 258,913 to 2,663,737 eggs. The mean batch fecundity was (984,689 eggs/batch, median = 781,330 eggs/batch) and the mean relative fecundity was 465 eggs/gram body weight (median = 402 eggs/gram body weight). Average batch fecundity did not vary by collection year, despite a severe cold event in the winter of 2010, which killed about 25% of the spawning population. However, analysis of proximate composition indicated that liver lipid percent was significantly reduced in 2010, likely due to reduced prey availability, increased energetic expenditures, or both, while enduring and recovering from cold exposure. A significant positive relationship in 2009 between batch fecundity and condition was reported that entirely disappeared in 2010. Additionally, in a preliminary investigation, we detected sub-population differences between known-spawning `bay fish' and `river fish' using barium as an indicator of freshwater habitat usage via otolith microchemistry. Our results are directly relevant to enhancing stock assessments and indicated that reproductive strategies of snook are both complicated and robust. Future research should further investigate reproductive strategies (e.g. skipped spawning) and possible sub-population life history, as both can have significant impacts on stock assessment models.

Improvement of biodiesel’s cold flow properties still remains one of the major challenges for using it as an alternative fuel in diesel engines. Therefore, the main objective of the present research was to use newly developed liquid biofuels, 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters and ethers, as an additive for improving biodiesel cold weather properties. Test results revealed that blending with 10% 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters (C4, C6, C8 and C12) improved biodiesel volatility, cloud point, flash point and kinematic viscosity without a significant loss in LHV. However, blending biodiesel with 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters negatively affected the oxidation stability which was then found to improve by blending with 3-hydroxyl fatty acid ethers (1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD). The latter novel fuel substance (1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD) exhibited much higher evaporation rate compared to biodiesel and only slightly lower than that of decane, gasoline or ethanol. Moreover, the LHV of 1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD was found to be almost equal to that of canola biodiesel, and higher than that of methanol and ethanol. These findings suggest that 1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD have the potential to be used as additive to improve biodiesel cold weather combustion performance or as standalone fuels. / February 2016

Chemical vapor deposition is a process that enables the deposition of thin films material with a high degree of thickness control, composition and film quality. In an ultra-high vacuum environment (UHV), films of high purity and controlled crystal structure can be achieved. The control of the crystal structure is achieved thanks to reduced contamination, e.g. oxygen, which allows the grown film to align itself with the underlying substrate. The film purity is also ensured by the reduced amount of contaminants present in the UHV environment. This master’s thesis discusses the design and construction of a cold wall reactor using a pyrolytic graphite heater encased in a thin layer of pyrolytic boron nitride, and an Oerlikon-Leybold Turbovac 361 turbomolecular pump. This heater is shown to achieve temperatures greater than 1200°C, as well as reach pressures in the 10-10 Torr range. Graphene growth on copper is discussed as well as the ultra-high vacuum annealing of graphene devices on boron nitride substrates. The graphene growth experiments coupled with this system’s annealing capabilities demonstrate the functionality and versatility of this type of chemical vapor deposition system. / text

Oral mucositis is a common adverse side-effect caused by cancer treatments and can lead to mucosa toxicity. Patients with oral mucositis may experience extreme pain and may not be able to eat, drink and talk and, as a result, their quality of life is impaired. Thirty to eighty five percent of patients undergoing chemotherapy would develop oral mucositis. Preventing or reducing incidence of oral mucositis and its severity can help reduce patients’ sufferings. One of the methods to achieve this objective is the oral cryotherapy, which is a prophylactic intervention. However, there is no evidence-based guideline to instruct nurses on providing oral cryotherapy to cancer patients. The aims of this study are 1) to establish an evidence-based guideline on applying cryotherapy to reduce the incidence and severity of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis, 2) to develop a standard nursing care and assess its transferability and feasibility, and 3) to develop a communication plan and evaluation plan for this guideline in an oncology ii- department for the targeted local hospitals in Hong Kong. A systematic search of four electronic journal databases identified seven articles corresponding to 6 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on using oral cryotherapy for adult cancer patients. Five RCTs with high to weak quality reported supporting evidence for the beneficial effect of oral cryotherapy on chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis, whereas 1 RCT with moderate quality failed to identify supportive evidence for the use of oral cryotherapy. However, potential confounding factors were identified to be presented in that insignificant RCT. Hence, there was sufficient evidence to show that oral cryotherapy can significantly reduce chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in adult cancer patients. An evidence based guideline for using cryotherapy on chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in adult cancer patients was established. The transferability and feasibility of the proposed oral cryotherapy guideline were assessed. As identified, the clinical situation and patient characteristics in the local settings are similar to those who reported in the reviewed studies. Staff readiness, skills and resources are also readily available in the target clinical settings. Findings from the reviewed studies of oral cryotherapy can be transferred to the local target settings and are feasible to be implemented. It is also estimated that the innovated guidelines for cryotherapy can save HK$3,210,745 per year for the target setting. Stakeholders for the innovated guideline in the local setting were identified. And a communication plan was developed. A pilot study lasting for 10 weeks will be conducted to test the feasibility of the staff training session and the implementation of the oral cryotherapy guideline. Modification of innovated guidelines will be made after evaluating the data collected from the pilot study. Eventually, the final version of the evidence-based guideline will be established. A six months evaluation plan will be used to evaluate the implementation of the new guideline. The policy for adopting the oral cryotherapy will be determined with the outcome measures, including the incidence of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis, mean of the oral mucositis score, staff satisfaction level, and the cost and benefit ratio of the innovated guideline. / published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

The structural behaviour of single shear bolted connections and double shear bolted connections of cold-formed stainless steel at elevated temperatures and post-fire condition has been investigated in this study. The current design rules on bolted connections of cold-formed stainless steel are mainly based on those of carbon steel, and are applicable for room (ambient) temperature condition only. These design rules may not be applicable for elevated temperatures. Therefore, design guidelines should be prepared for bolted connections of cold-formed stainless steel structures at elevated temperatures. The key findings of the investigation are described in the following paragraphs. A total of 25 tensile coupon tests were conducted to investigate the material deterioration of three different grades of stainless steel at elevated temperatures. The stainless steels are austenitic stainless steel EN 1.4301 (AISI 304) and EN 1.4571 (AISI 316Ti having small amount of titanium) as well as lean duplex stainless steel EN 1.4162 (AISI S32101). Totally 434 tests on bolted connections of stainless steel were performed in the temperature ranged from 22 to 950 ºC using both steady state and transient state test methods. The test results were compared with the nominal strengths calculated from the American Specification, Australian/New Zealand Standard and European codes for stainless steel structures. In calculating the nominal strengths of the connections, the material properties at elevated temperatures were used in the design equations for room temperature. It is shown that the nominal strengths predicted by these specifications are generally conservative at elevated temperatures. A total of 78 cold-formed stainless steel single shear and double shear bolted connections were tested in post-fire condition. The test results were compared with those tested at room temperature. Generally, it is found that the bolted connection strengths in post-fire condition cooling down from 350 and 650 ºC are higher than those tested at room temperature for all three grades of stainless steel. Finite element models for single shear and double shear bolted connections were developed and verified against the experimental results. Static analysis technique was used in the numerical analyses. Extensive parametric studies that included 450 specimens were performed using the verified finite element models to evaluate the bearing resistances of bolted connections of stainless steel at elevated temperatures. Design equations for bearing resistances of cold-formed stainless steel single shear and double shear bolted connections were proposed based on both the experimental and numerical results in the temperature ranged from 22 to 950 ºC. The bearing resistances of bolted connections obtained from the tests and the finite element analyses were compared with the nominal strengths calculated using the current design rules and also compared with the predicted strengths calculated using the proposed design equations. It is shown that the proposed design equations are generally more accurate and reliable in predicting the bearing resistances of bolted connections at elevated temperatures than the current design rules. The reliability of the current and proposed design rules was evaluated using reliability analysis. The proposed design equations are recommended for bolted connections assembled using cold-formed stainless steels. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The aim of this study is to investigate and analyze the views that the three metropolitan Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet had on the Vietnam issue between 1969 and 1973. The source material consists of clips from Swedish newspapers from press archives at the Department of Government at Uppsala University, which is in the form of microfilm at Umeå University Library. The source material has been studied using quantitative content analysis with qualitative elements.The results shows that there is a difference in the perception of Vietnam issue between, on the one hand, social-democrat Aftonbladet and liberal Dagens Nyheter and conservative Swedish Dagbladet on the other hand, during the whole investigation period. Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter denounced the American war and presence in Vietnam and took a stand for North Vietnam; The United States was regarded as a great power which had goat on a small and poor country. From this perspective, small Nations had the right to independence from the great powers, regardless of social system. The two newspapers regarded the United States as the party to the conflict who did not want to negotiate and instead wanted to continue the war. Svenska Dagbladet regarded the United States instead as the guarantor of freedom and democracy in South-East Asia. The United States would defend South Vietnamese people from Communist North Vietnam, which was regarded as the offending party in the conflict: from this perspective United States deserved thus support. Svenska Dagbladet's view of the conflict was thus marked by the cold war. The newspaper regarded the United States as the party of the conflict who wanted peace and wanted to negotiate, in contrast to North Vietnam.The investigation also shows that Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter supported the Swedish Government, who supported North Vietnam and condemned the American presence in Vietnam; the Government's policy on the other hand, got a harsh criticism from Svenska Dagbladet, that considered that the Government's stance towards the United States would be harmful to the Swedish neutrality policy. Keywords: Vietnam War, Cold War, Swedish press, Social-democratic Party, Liberal Party, Conservative Party, negotiations, Swedish Government, Unites States, Communism

Abstract Title: How to assess risks in weak links in cold chain distribution process? Authors: Shuchang Lu, Yufan Gu & Radzion Predko Tutor: Åsa Gustafsson Examiner: Dr. Lars-Olof Rask Course: 4FE06E - Master Thesis Research Questions: • Why do cold chain products have quality risk? -  What kind of weak links exist in distribution process of cold chain? -  What kind of risks exist in weak links of distribution process of cold chain? -  How to assess risks in weak links of distribution process of cold chain? Background: The increasing food wastes and starving people have made food preserved by cold chain as a significant and profitable issue. An effective and efficiency cold chain can make a big difference in the whole food supply chain around the world. With the improvements of modern technologies, cold chain distribution is experiencing changes. Purpose: To identify weak links in distribution channel of cold chain products. What kind of risks exist in these weak inks and how to assess them. Method: Positivistic is used throughout the paper. Multiple exploratory case study is our way of research our problems. Data were gathered from interview, documents and company’s website. Conclusions: Human handling in delivery process, the way retailers deal with frozen products, how do different participants manage their resources and safety of product and its quality are main reasons for quality risk. Risks in weak links can cause product quality problem in cold chain distribution channel. Therefore, assess these risks can help managers to deal with them. Keywords: Cold chain distribution, quality problem, weak link, risk

This thesis is the study of Great Power nvaliy during 1958-1963, a period of both increasing political and economic cooperation in Western Europe and transatlantic relations within NATO against a background of the Cold War France and Britain are the focus of our analysis. The two states show the same characteristics in this period: Both powers had come out of World War H as victors and, despite having been much weakened by the war, had won an international status a Great Powers thanks to a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. They were both colonial powers tiying to adjust to a new world order based on East-West bipolarity and the domination of the two super-powers. Against a background of international decline from pre-war power, both France and Britain were looking for new ways to secure their rank and international influence through both NATO and the EEC, while trying to adapt to a changed bi-polar and post-colonial world order. NATO and Europe are therefore the main issue area of this thesis, which is structured as a series of studies into the main areas of Anglo-French rivalry in the above period. We show that the real reasons for failed negotiations - whether over the Free Trade Area, tripartism in NATO, or British membership of the EEC - are to be found in Great Power rivahy for a leading place in Europe. We thus contend that Anglo-French political rivalry ultimately led to a breakdown of negotiations, rather than any of the negotiations themselves breaking down, and that NATO affairs and European affairs were closely linked. Each state failed to accept the other within its respective sphere of influence, since each had mutually exclusive interests, a factor which in the end, despite sincere efforts in both Paris and London, wrecked Anglo-French cooperation on Europe and NATO and thus prevented the two states from working together on restoring their declining international rank.