Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Geography, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-72).

The purpose of this two phased study was to determine the challenges to implementing food safety and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) in school foodservice and the adherence to food safety procedures in 15 schools. In phase one, food safety and HACCP procedures were studied utilizing a focus group and a national mailing of a three part survey instrument to school foodservice directors. The instrument examined the challenges and attitudes of directors toward the use of HACCP programs and food safety practices in their operations. Phase two examined the food safety procedures used in school kitchens. The researcher and two trained observers audited 15 middle school kitchens using an audit form developed by the researcher. Practices audited included temperature monitoring, personal hygiene, cold storage procedures, cleanliness of facility and other observable food safety practices. The survey yielded a response rate of 58% and the challenge and attitude statements were tested for reliability and analyzed using factor analysis and multiple regression. The responses indicated that the school foodservice directors did not perceive the same challenges to food safety as those revealed by the focus group participants. In general, the directors were positive about the use of HACCP programs and food safety practices. However, they did perceive the time and money necessary to maintain these programs to be a challenge. Results from the food safety audits revealed that food safety practices could be improved among the audited operations. Poor food safety practices were observed in the areas of hand washing, temperature monitoring, hair restraints, and sanitizing of equipment. This study suggests that school foodservice directors need to be committed to food safety programs if they are to be effective. Directors need to continually train and monitor employees and maintain a positive attitude about the necessity of food safety in order to assure safe food handling practices. / Graduation date: 2002

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (February 23, 2006) Includes bibliographical references.

Earthquake ground motions are needed to evaluate the seismic performance of new and existing structures and facilities. In seismically active regions the strong ground motion recordings database is usually sufficiently large to physically constrain the earthquake estimation for seismic risk assessment. However, in areas of low seismicity rate, particularly in the Central and Eastern United States, the estimation of strong ground motions for a specified magnitude, distance, and site conditions represents a significant issue. The only available approach for ground motion estimation in this region is numerical simulation. In this study, earthquake ground motions have been generated for the Upper Mississippi Embayment using a numerical wave propagation formulation. The effects of epistemic and aleatory uncertainties in the earthquake source, path, and site processes, the effect of non-linear soil behavior, and the effects of the geometry of the Embayment have been incorporated. The ground motions are intended to better characterize the seismic hazard in the Upper Mississippi Embayment by representing the amplitude and variability that might be observed in real earthquakes and to provide resources to evaluate the seismic risk in the region.

The results of seismic hazard analysis (SHA) play a crucial role in assessing seismic risks and mitigating seismic hazards. SHA calculations generally involve magnitude and distance distribution models, and ground motion prediction models as components. Many alternatives have been proposed for these component models. SHA calculations may be demanding in terms of processing power depending on the models and analysis parameters involved, and especially the size of the site for which the analysis is to be performed. In this thesis, we develop a grid-based SHA application which provides the necessary computational power and enables the investigation of the effects of applying different models. Our application not only includes various already implemented component models but also allows integration of newly developed ones.

Ports play a critical role in transportation infrastructure, but are vulnerable to seismic hazards. Downtime and reduced throughput from seismic damage in ports results in significant business interruption losses for port stakeholders. Current risk management practices only focus on the effect of seismic hazards on individual port structures. However, damage and downtime of these structures has a significant impact on the overall port system's ship handling operations and the regional, national, and even international economic impacts that result from extended earthquake-induced disruption of a major container port. Managing risks from system-wide disruptions resulting from earthquake damage has been studied as a central element of a Grand Challenge project sponsored by the National Science Foundation Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) program. The following thesis presents the concepts and methods developed for the seismic risk management of a port-wide system of berths. In particular the thesis discusses the framework used to calculated port losses: the use of spatially correlated ground motion intensity measures to estimate damage to pile-supported marginal wharves and container cranes of various configurations via fragility relationships developed by project team members, repair costs and downtimes subsequently determined via repair models for both types of structures, and the impact on cargo handling operations calculated via logistical models of the port system. Results are expressed in the form of loss exceedance curves than include both repair/replacement costs and business interruption losses. The thesis also discusses how the results from such an analysis might be used by port decision makers to make more informed decisions in design, retrofit, operational, and other seismic risk management options.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on December 22, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. Brent L. Rosenblad. Includes bibliographical references.

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) - Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Jeofizik Mühendisliği Anabilim Dalı, 2007. / Kaynakça var.

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) - Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Jeofizik Mühendisliği Anabilim Dalı, 2008. / Kaynakça var.

The rigid sliding-block analysis introduced by Newmark in 1965 has become a popular method for assessing the stability of slopes during earthquakes. Estimates of sliding displacement calculated using this methodology serve as an index of seismic performance and are used for mapping seismic landslide hazard potential. The original approach of rigorously integrating ground acceleration time-histories to compute estimates of sliding displacement has been replaced by the use of simple, empirical models that predict displacement as a function of a slope's yield acceleration and one or more measures of ground shaking. To be useful the results of these models must be compared with observations of landslides from previous earthquakes. Seven different empirical models were evaluated by comparing predicted displacements with an inventory of observed landslides from the 1994 Northridge, California earthquake. Using a comprehensive set of ground motion data and shear strength properties from the Northridge earthquake, sliding displacements were calculated within a geographic information system (GIS) and the accuracy of each model was computed. The influence of factors such as landslide size, geologic unit, slope angle, and material strength on the prediction of landslides was also evaluated. The results were used to show that the accuracy of the predictive models depends less on the model used and more on the uncertainty in the model parameters, specifically the assigned shear strength values. Because current approaches do not take into account the spatial variability of strength within individual geologic units, the accuracy of the predictive models is controlled by the distribution of slope angles within observed and predicted landslide cells. Assigning overly conservative (low) shear strength values results in a higher percentage of landslides accurately identified, but also results in a large over-estimation of the seismic landslide hazard. / text