The current method of determining component failure rates for probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) in the nuclear industry is to take the total number of failures divided by the time over which the failures occurred. The method proposed in this study is the reliability growth method and involves taking into account the fact that the amount of failures per additional year of operation generally decreases yearly because the operational staff becomes familiar with the equipment. The reliability growth method will result in lower component failure rates which when used in PRA studies could result in a lower core melt frequency value. The component failure rate would be expected to be higher in the early stages and should gradually decrease as time goes on. This study will compare the final core melt frequency of the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant using both methods. The Nuclear Power Reactor Data System (NPRDS) data base from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) was used in this study. The components which were examined for the reliability growth method are motor operated valves, service water pump/motors and emergency diesel generator air chargers. These data were screened to ensure that only true failures were reported. A comparison was made of the overall core melt frequency between the conventional failure rate method and reliability growth method for the motor operated valves. The overall core melt frequency was decreased by 1.8 % when using the reliability growth method compared to the conventional method. / Graduation date: 1993

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Computer and Information Science

Based on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, this dissertation shows how the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario (OCC) – whose object is to speak for the dead to protect the living – is shaped by risk management priorities. It illustrates how the OCC, like many contemporary organizations, has altered its operations and decision making to manage threats to its reputation. The result of these moves has been the privatization of public safety decision making with bereaved families, the general public, and even front line coroners, increasingly excluded from speaking for the dead. This is to say, policy recommendations that shape how life in Ontario is lived tend to be generated in private sessions by OCC managers. While much of this can be attributed to the OCC’s focus on reputational risk management, there are other important factors affecting the privatization of public safety. Drawing on research in the sociology of culture, the dissertation finds that the OCC’s experience of risk management is moderated by other, layered institutional structures. These ‘institutional structures’ are analytic constructs with moral and methodological dimensions that inform the way work in the OCC is carried out. The dissertation demonstrates that the moral priorities and method preferences of doctors, lawyers, managers, families, and modern governments are layered over and under risk management. These layers augment or diminish risk management’s impact on the way death is determined and public safety regimes are developed. In addition to offering a window on death investigators and their work, the dissertation proposes a theoretical toolset for better understanding how contemporary organizations are organized and run.

A numerical investigation of the interaction of a planar shock wave with a rigid wedge and cone in an air-filled shock tube is performed by computing the unsteady flow field of the interaction process. The Euler and Navier-Stokes equations are solved in two dimensions to produce flow solutions for regular and Mach reflections with and without the viscous and thermal boundary layer on the inclined surface. The transition boundary between these two patterns is determined by changing both the shock strength and the angle of the inclined surface so that the simulations are perpendicular to the theoretical transition boundary. The numerically determined boundaries are compared to the theoretical boundaries predicted by two- and three- shock theories and with results obtained from experiments. The results show that the transition boundary between regular and Mach reflection is different not only for wedges and cones but also for inviscid and viscous numerical solutions.

Subject to Change is the culmination of a two-year investigation of the idea of home. This thesis discusses the journey of creating a home for my family and the work it spawned. Various cultural and artistic influences that shape the work include Grimm’s fairytales, my upbringing in Germany, Sigmund Freud, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Josef Beuys. This work reflects a situation and transforms material that takes on symbolic meaning.

Background: There are many people waiting for a kidney transplant. To get a kidney from a living donor has many advantages. The gift is about giving and receiving. The decision is characterized by life-philosophy of the donor. Aim: To highlight the experiences of the kidney donation process. Methods: A systematic literature review in which 11 articles were included, seven qualitative and four quantitative. The articles are quality and ethically reviewed, the results are analyzed according Granskär & Höglund and Polit & Beck. Results: The results were gathered under two themes: the decision-process shows the path from idea to decision and implementation-process treats the donation and confirmation of the gift. The results indicate that the donation process is a complex experience for the donor. Many emotions are involved,  no feeling is right or wrong. It is mainly out of concern that living donations are carried out and a sense of strong validation for the donor to give the gift of life. Conclusion: Giving the gift of life, a piece of oneself, out of altruism and solicitude for one another according Martinsens philosophy of caring will provide a confirmation and satisfaction with life-long perspective of the donor.

A numerical method is used to predict flow fields and forces for squeeze film dampers (SFDs). A two dimensional SFD is modeled with different amplitudes and frequencies of the journal orbiting inside the wall. In addition to the typical circular centered orbit (CCO) motion prescribed in most studies, orbits can vary greatly from circular to linear. The study is divided into two distinctive models including single phase flow model and two phase flow model. The single phase flow model cases including three amplitudes, i.e. 0.002, 0.001, and 0.0005 inches, and three frequencies, i.e. 10, 50, and 200 Hz, of journal motions are conducted to portray flow fields and forces and ultimately determine their relationships. The numerical prediction shows that the journal amplitude and frequency affect flow and consequently force in the SFD. The force is directly proportional to frequency and motion amplitude. Owing to the presence of cavitation in the practical SFD, the two phase flow model is also presented with the journal amplitude of 0.0002 and three frequencies of 10, 50, and 100 Hz, respectively. The ambient pressure condition was set up for numerical processing ranging from 0.001 Mpa to 100 Mpa. The results indicate that the operating pressure has an integral role in suppressing the presence of the cavitation. The caviation disappears if the operating pressure is high enough above the vapor pressure of the lubricant.

The concept of Due Process of Law originates from the concept of rule of law in 18century in the Anglo-American legal tradition. Due process of law ensures the government will respect all of a person's legal rights instead of just some or most of those legal rights, when the government deprives a person of life, liberty, or property. In the USA, the Fifth Amendment contains a guarantee of basic due process applicable only to actions of the federal government: "No person shall be... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...." The Fourteenth Amendment contains the same phrase, but expressly applied to the States. The Due Process Clause has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as placing limitations on laws and legal proceedings in order to guarantee fundamental fairness, justice, and liberty. In Taiwan, most scholars would agree that the 8th provision of Constitution embodies the Due Process of Law. After the Grand Judge Committee formally quoted the Due Process of Law in the No. 384 Interpretation, there are some Interpretation imposed restrictions on legal procedures based on Due Process of Law to highlight the fulfillment of Rule of Law as a safeguard of the Fundamental Right. In 2001, the No. 535 Interpretation clearly notifies that the regulations of police temporary search , a stop-and-frisk law enforcement procedure, are not conformed to the constitutional principle of ¡§Gesetzesvorbehalt,¡¨ and sets out the enactment of the Police Authority Performing Act ¡]PAPA¡^in 2004. However, there is some latent verbal ambiguity in the law and regulations concerning police temporary search. This thesis thus aims at the clarifying the legitimacy of the discretion in the stop-and-frisk law enforcement procedure, distinguishing the contents of police temporary search as the administrative examine from those as criminal investigation, and discussing the evidential effect of items from illegal police temporary search through the comparative study of German, American, and Japanese law and regulations.

The subject of this research is the investigation officials from eight different regions. With convenience sampling, data are collected through questionnaire survey. Individual variable is set as independent variable, and the quality of work life, work pressure and job satisfaction are set as dependent variables. Differences and correlation are explored within each variable. Next, the quality of work life is set as mediator variable to investigate the mediator effect and the paths of relations on the dependent variables of work pressure and job satisfaction. The total number of 231 copies of effective questionnaires is collected. The return rate is 68.69%. Data are analyzed with descriptive statistics analysis, reliability analysis, factor analysis, t-test, One-way ANOVA, Pearson¡¦s product-moment correlation and canonical correlation analysis. The research reaches several significant conclusions: 1. The officials hold positive opinions toward their working quality. Result also shows that factors of marital status, age, years of working, and job position may cause obvious differences. 2. The officials¡¦ general work pressure reveals the fact of acceptable pressure. The region of service, job position and job duty are the factors that cause different levels of work pressure. 3. The officials¡¦ job satisfaction shows that officials are generally pleased with their works. Differences can be found in marital status, age, years of working and education level. 4. The officials¡¦ quality of work life and work pressure are partially related. 5. The officials¡¦ quality of work life and job satisfaction are partially related. 6. The officials¡¦ work pressure and job satisfaction have partial correlation. 7. The officials¡¦ quality of work life has partial effect on work pressure and job satisfaction. With practical investigation and relevant literature review, this research also advances suggestions for the Bureau of Investigation and its supervising department, officials, and other researchers as the reference for future implementation of management.

The purpose of the present study is to signify the explanatory value of the Meno on the coherence as well as the disparateness of the Plato&rsquo / s early and middle dialogues. Indeed, the Meno exposes the transition on the content and form of these dialogues. The first part of the dialogue resembles the Socrates&rsquo / way of investigation, the so-called Elenchus, whereas Plato presents his own philosophical project in the second part of the dialogue. Three fundamental elements of Plato&rsquo / s middle dialogues explicitly arise for the very first time in the Meno, namely / the recollection, the hypothetical method and reasoning out the explanation. Therefore, the connexion of the early and middle dialogues can be understood better if the structure of the Meno is analyzed properly. In other words, the Meno is the keystone dialogue which enables the readers of Plato to sense the development in Socratic-Platonic philosophy.