This thesis introduces a new algorithm to search for optimal spatial sampling design. It is found in previous studies of Zhu and Stein (2006) that the optimal sampling design for spatial prediction with estimated parameters is nearly regular with a few clustering points. The pattern is similar to the generalized Neyman-Scott (GNS) process introduced by Yau and Loh (2012), which allows for regularity in the parent process. This motivates the use of a realization of the GNS process as a spatial sampling design. This method translates the high dimensional optimization problem of selecting sampling sites into a low dimensional optimization problem of searching for the optimal parameter sets in the GNS process. Simulation studies indicate that the proposed sampling design algorithm is more computationally efficient while the result of criterion minimization is comparable to traditional methods. / 本文介紹了一種新的算法來搜索最優空間採樣設計。先前Zhu和Stein（2006）的研究發現，按被估計參數的空間預測的最優採樣設計是近乎有規律的，同時伴隋一些聚類點。該圖案與Yau和Loh（2012）介紹的廣義Neyman-Scott（GNS）過程相似，其中的父過程擁有規律性。這驅使我們使用GNS過程的實現作為空間採樣設計。這種方法把選擇採樣點的高維優化問題轉化為搜索最優GNS過程參數集的低維優化問題。模擬實驗顯示，該採樣設計的算法是計算效率更高，同時其最小化判別函數的結果是可以媲美傳統的方法。 / Lai, Sai Yu. / Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-34). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 18, October, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

Introduction: Increased temperature as a stress factor in aquatic environments has recently received much attention. Human population growth accompanied by expanded demands for electrical energy has resulted in increased construction of power generating facilities. Conventional fossil fuel power plants are being built to produce many times the electricity of those built in previous years. Nuclear power plants, not economically feasible in small sizes, are being constructed to generate even more electrical energy per unit than the new conventional units. Nuclear power facilities produce heat less efficiently and, thus, require approximately fifty percent more cooling per BTU than usual methods (Kolflat, 1968). Increased exposure of populations and communities of aquatic organisms to thermal pollution can thus be anticipated when natural water systems are utilized as a cooling source. The majority of research effort relative to the effects of heated waste waters on aquatic systems has been directed towards macro- as opposed to micro-organisms. While the use of microorganisms in general pollution monitoring is not a nevi concept; for examples see Kolkwitz and Marsson (1908); Butcher (1947); Fjerdingstad (1962), most of the existing effort has been in the area of correlation of species to various polluted situations. The major disadvantages of such approaches as well as the use of populations and communities of microorganisms in pollution monitoring are discussed in Cairns and Lanza (1971) and Cairns, etc. (submitted)... <i>Vita removed Nov. 30, 2011. GMc</i> / Ph. D.

Advances in air technology have resulted in increased cartridge performance requirements which are crowding the present "state of the art" design performance. Process control, which would seem mandatory, is not implemented by contractors for several justifiable reasons. Further, because production lots are small and infrequent, and because destructive testing is involved; the problem of confidence level and minimum sample size becomes paramount in acceptance tests. The use of control charts in production acceptance tests by the Government can provide: 1. additional confidence in lot acceptance because additional information is available 2. valuable information feedback to the design engineer and contractor for the resolution of design and production problems 3. partial lot acceptance. Control charting could be readily incorporated into current cartridge production lot acceptance procedures where MIL-STD-IOSD is employed with variables datao Cartridge serialization and production records would be the only additional requirements. / Master of Science

Abortion has become a common practice in modern China since the implementation of birth limitation policy in the 1950s. In recent decades, the growing prevalence of abortion among young unmarried migrant workers has aroused public concern. Socially, abortion among this group of young women is often seen as a reproductive health problem or anomalous phenomenon that needs to be managed and handled; at the individual level, abortion is singled out as a behavioural misconduct of young women, which signifies their moral failure. However, these indiscreet and injudicious perceptions fail to acknowledge the complexity and structural dynamics behind their choices.While past studies have examined abortion through perspectives including law, morality, policy and reproductive health, or analyzed its impact on macro politics and institutions at a societal level, few of them have looked into the authentic experiences of these women and examined the whole issue from the perspective of interpersonal and gender dynamics. To fill the gap of knowledge, the present study aims at comprehending this distinctive life event of women and reflecting women’s agency. Through conducting intensive ethnographic observation and in-depth interviews with 20 unmarried female migrant workers aged from 17 to 28 years old with diverse background, the underlining forces behind the occurrence of abortion are revealed, such as the influence of state family planning policy, the complex changes of lifestyle under market reform,and the heavy influence of partners and families on the decisions concerning marriage and childbirth. This study also traces the process within which abortion decisions are made, from sexual contacts, contraceptive uses, abortion decision-making,to the negotiation between partners, depicting women’s responses to structural constraints and how their choices are made under the influence of migration. / 人工流產(人流)議題一直是不同社會的關注焦點之一，它不但與婦女生殖健康和心理健康密切相關，同時亦涉及公共衛生及人口政策等領域。在中國，自五十年代計劃生育政策實施以降，人流成為解決意外懷孕的主要方法，近年來，未婚年輕女性的人流現象愈見普遍，當中不少是來自農村到城市打工的未婚流動女性，益發成為研究者關注的現象。有別於過去集中在人流的普遍性及對婦女生理健康的影響的定量研究，本研究以未婚流動女性的角度出發，以其第一身的敘述，理解她們的人流經歷及其在過程中展現的能動性。研究自去年六月進行，與二十位有人流經歷的未婚年輕女性進行深入訪談，以檢視其選擇避孕及決定人流的經過，瞭解她們與親密伴侶及雙方家庭在決定過程中的協調，同時透過觀察其生活環境、工作歷史，以及親密關係的互動方式與權力動態，以釐清政策、市場和人際動態在人流過程中所扮演的角色，及對這些女性的人流經歷所產生的影響。 / Lai, Yuen Shan. / Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-124). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 11, October, 2016). / Lai, Yuen Shan. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

This doctoral thesis addresses in a sequence of five essays the question how fiscal policy and economic output are interrelated in emerging Europe and how this relationship is shaped by the respective politico-economic environment and the individual-level support for economic reforms. Following main findings can be highlighted: (1) Countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) respond to a fiscal expansion in the euro area with fiscal easing at home, while the GDP response is mixed across countries.(2)Automatic fiscal stabilizers are comparatively small and discretionary fiscal policy has been largely pro-cyclical in CESEE. (3) The public spending and revenue structure is more "growth-friendly" in CESEEthan in the EU-15. (4) In transition economies with more democratic institutions and a better quality of governance, individuals with high market-relevant skills show a significantly larger support of the privatization status quo than individuals with low market skills. (5) The society in Russia - triggered by a lack of social capital - chooses to demand more state regulationand tolerate corruption to reduce negative externalities imposed by private business.(author's abstract)