Interference is a key limiting factor in modern communication systems. In a wireless cellular network, the performance of cell-edge users is severely limited by the intercell interference. This thesis studies the use of interference-channel and relay-channel techniques to mitigate intercell interference and to improve the throughput and coverage of cellular networks. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate the benefit of the proposed interference mitigation schemes through both information theoretical studies and applications in the cellular network. There are three mains results in this thesis: First, it is shown that for the $K$-user cyclic Gaussian interference channel, where the $k$th user interferes with only the ($k -1$)th user (mod $K$) in the network, the Etkin-Tse Wang power splitting strategy achieves the capacity region to within 2 bits in the weak interference regime. For the special 3-user case, this gap can be sharpened to $1\frac{1}{2}$ bits by the time-sharing technique. Second, it is shown that for a two-user Gaussian interference channel with an in-band-reception and out-of-band transmission relay, generalized hash-and-forward together with Han-Kobayashi information splitting can achieve the capacity region of this channel to within a constant number of bits in a certain weak-relay regime. A generalized-degrees-of-freedom analysis in the high signal-to-noise ratio regime reveals that in the symmetric channel setting, each common relay bit improves the sum rate up to two bits. The third part of this thesis studies an uplink multicell joint processing model in which the base stations are connected to a centralized processing server via rate-limited digital backhaul links. This thesis proposes a suboptimal achievability scheme employing the Wyner-Ziv compress-and-forward relaying technique and successive-interference-cancellation decoding. The main advantage of the proposed approach is that it results in achievable rate regions that are easily computable, in contrast to previous schemes in which the rate regions can only be characterized by exponential number of rate constraints.

This thesis proposes a classification system of risk mitigation strategies based on literature search and industry interviews. Following that, a list of generic properties was generated to describe individual strategies. In parallel, populating the properties of a large number of identified strategies was attempted. The practical implications are discussed mainly focusing on knowledge management for risk mitigation strategies.

This dissertation develops contributions in the area of supply chain risk assessment and mitigation. In each of the three main chapters, we present and analyze a risk assessment or mitigation problem for supply chains. The first problem is to assess the impact of infrastructure disruptions on supply chain performance; the second problem is to develop an operational control approach to mitigate risks posed by uncertain events that disrupt network synchronization; and the third problem is to analyze the risk posed by an adversary seeking to use a supply chain as a weapon. Chapter II presents a methodology for assessing the excess supply chain costs that arise from a failure of or an attack on a critical supply chain infrastructure component. Different from many subjective risk assessment practices, our methodology provides a systematic approach to search for the most vulnerable supply chain components and measure the economic consequences of disruption. Modeling a supply chain using network flow models, we analyze the impact of disruption by linear programming theory, and propose an efficient assessment algorithm based on the dual network simplex method. Finally, a case study on the U.S. corn export supply chain is presented. Chapter III discusses the mitigation of risks created by transit time uncertainties in less-than-truckload (LTL) line-haul operations. Transit time uncertainty may undermine the performance of the load plan, which specifies the route for each shipment and is synchronized to reduce line-haul costs. In our study, risk assessment of a load plan is performed via a dispatch simulation under randomly generated travel time scenarios. The risk consequence is measured by the average excess operational cost, including transportation cost and handling cost. Compared to existing line-haul network models embedded within integer programming approaches for load plan optimization, the dispatch simulation can evaluate the performance of a load plan more realistically. In addition, a heuristic search algorithm based on "multi-tree pivots" is provided to obtain a cost-efficient load plan that is robust to transit time uncertainties. Chapter IV presents methodology to assess the consequence of risks which arise from the intentional contamination of a food supply chain. Different from many risk management practices, the source of risk in this problem is an intelligent adversary, e.g., a terrorist group, who intends to deliver chemical or biological toxins to consumers using the supply chain. First, a general modeling scheme based on state-space models is provided to describe the dissemination of toxin across consumed products in a food supply chain. Then, a case study based on a representative liquid egg supply chain is presented. Based on the system model, a risk assessment for different supply chain designs is performed by simulation. Moreover, an in-depth analysis is conducted to determine the worst-case consequence given an intelligent attack considering the operational characteristics of the system. The worst-case consequence tool developed is designed to be embedded within any risk assessment approach.

This thesis explores the role of citizen participation in a post-disaster flood hazard mitigation planning program in Peterborough, Ontario. Recognizing that citizen participation is an integral element of hazards mitigation planning, a review of the relevant literature identifies six strategic planning choices that should be considered in the design of a citizen participation program. The study applies this framework to the Flood Reduction Master Plan (FRMP) study and planning process in Peterborough, undertaken following the July 2004 flood event, to analyze citizen participation in hazard mitigation planning practice. Existing documentation, including the FRMP, and fifteen key informant interviews provided the main sources of research data. Data were analyzed in terms of the framework and other hazards mitigation theory found in the literature to produce the findings of the study. There existed many strengths and several weaknesses of the citizen participation aspect of the planning program. Many of the decisions made regarding citizen participation in the FRMP process can be considered successful by the standards set in the literature.

Increasingly the body of research shows that tourism is vulnerable to climate change. Tourism is also a non-negligible contributor to climate change, primarily through rapidly increasing air travel. Recently, a number of tourism destinations that are dependent on long-haul tourism have expressed concerns about the impact of climate policy (both implemented and proposed) on tourist mobility and arrivals to their countries. This thesis examines outcomes from a model which projects how climate mitigation policy could influence arrival numbers to the Caribbean region; an area projected to be disproportionately impacted by climate change. While impacts on this region are likely to be both physical as well as economical, mitigation policy restricting emissions from international aviation is likely to be the first wave of climate change effects felt. This policy, coupled with the fluctuation of global oil prices, may be a significant deterrent for travelers to the Caribbean. Different scenarios using likely mitigation policy costs on international flights and oil price fluctuations were modeled to understand how these tourism-dependent nations might fair with increases in travel cost due to conditions beyond their control. Both region-wide and destination specific results were examined showing that visitor numbers could decrease versus a business as usual scenario with climate policy and heightened oil prices, but not significantly until climate policy with deeper emission cuts and carbon prices higher than currently suggested are put in place. Result are not uniform across the region, and show that certain destinations are projected to be more vulnerable to climate mitigation policy than others. Recommendations focusing on both the aviation industry’s inclusion in climate policy and those to aid the region’s tourism sector are provided.

Climate change is one of the greatest and probably most challenging environmental, social and economical threats facing the world this century. Human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of significant quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which remain in the atmosphere for long periods of time and intensify the natural greenhouse effect. Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, mainly CO2, are likely to accelerate the rate of climate change. Concerns are growing about how increases in CO2 caused by human activities are contributing to the natural greenhouse effect and raising the Earth's average temperature. Electricity generation, especially from fossil fuel, and petroleum industries contribute the most to greenhouse gases emissions in Canada. As of 2004, they contributed to about 37% of total (GHGs). Risks of climate change and subsequent future environmental regulations are pressing electricity and petroleum refining industries to minimize their greenhouse gas emissions, mainly CO2. Fossil fuel power plants and refineries are now being challenged to comply with the Kyoto protocol by the United Nations Framework Convention and Climate Change (UNFCC). Canada’s target is a reduction in CO2 emissions of 6% from 1990 level. In this thesis, an optimization approach for integrating planning and CO2 reduction is developed for electricity and refinery sectors. Three different CO2 mitigation options are considered in each case. For the electricity sector, these mitigation options were 1) fuel balancing (optimal adjustment of the operation of existing generating stations to reduce CO2 emissions without making structural changes to the fleet), 2) fuel switching (switching from carbon intensive fuel to less carbon intensive fuel, essentially switching from coal to natural gas) and 3) implementing different technologies for efficiency improvement. The optimization model takes into account meeting electricity demand and achieving a certain CO2 reduction target at a minimum overall cost. The model was formulated as a Mixed Integer Non Linear Program (MINLP) and was implemented in GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling System). Exact linearization techniques were employed to facilitate solution development. The computer program was capable of determining the best strategy or mix of strategies to meet a certain CO2 reduction target at minimum cost. The model was illustrated on a case study for Ontario Power Generation (OPG) fleet. The results showed that for 1% CO2 reduction target, only fuel balancing need to be applied and even a decrease of about 1.3% in overall cost was obtained. The optimizer chose to increase production from all non fossil fuel power plants and to decrease production from natural gas power plant. This is because natural gas is the most expensive fuel that OPG uses. For higher reduction targets, it was necessary to implement fuel switching. For 30% reduction, for example, 11 boilers out of 27 (4 are already natural gas) are switched from coal to natural gas and the cost increases by about 13%. Applying efficiency improvement technologies such as installing new turbine blades was a good option only at small reduction targets. As the reduction target increases, the optimizer chose not to implement efficiency improvement technologies and only fuel switching was the best option to select in addition to fuel balancing. For the refinery sector, a similar strategy was applied. An optimization model was developed to maximize profit from selling final products and to meet a given CO2 reduction target with products demand and specifications. Three CO2 mitigation options were considered and these were: 1) balancing that implies the increase in production from units that emit less CO2 emissions provided that demand is met, 2) fuel switching that involves switching from current carbon intensive fuel to less carbon intensive fuel such as natural gas, 3) implementation of CO2 capture technologies. Chemical absorption (MEA) process was used as the capture process. Prior to the development of the refinery planning model, a sub-model was developed for each unit in a refinery layout. Then, the sub-models were integrated into a master planning model to meet final products demand and specifications with the objective of maximizing profit without CO2 mitigation options. The model was solved first as a Non Linear Program (NLP). Then, binary variables representing the existence or no existence of fuel switching option and CO2 capture processes were introduced into the model. The model was formulated as a Mixed Integer Non Linear Program (MINLP), coded in GAMS, and applied to different case studies. The results showed that the refinery planning model tends to produce more from the most profitable product, which is gasoline, and chose to blend products into the most profitable pool unless the demand needs to be satisfied for certain other products. The model, for example, chose to send kerosene from the diesel hydrotreater to the kerosene pool and not to the diesel pool since kerosene has higher selling value than diesel. When CO2 mitigation options were introduced into the model, only 0.4% CO2 reduction was achieved by simply decreasing production from the hydrocracker (HC) unit and increasing production from the fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) unit. This was done because the FCC unit tends to emit less CO2 compared to the HC unit. At higher reduction target such as 1%, fuel switching was implemented by choosing the FCC to run with natural gas. The profit decreased slightly because of the retrofit cost of switching. It was noticed also that fuel switching can achieve a maximum of 30% reduction in CO2 emissions. This was achieved by switching all units to run with natural gas that emits less CO2 emissions. For a reduction target higher than 30%, CO2 capture technologies need to be applied. For 60% reduction, the optimization chose to switch three units (out of 8) and to capture CO2 emissions coming from four units. Only the FCC remained unchanged. A decrease in the profit was noticed as the reduction target increases since more units need to be switched and more CO2 need to be captured. The results showed that adding sequestration cost further decreased the profit. However, it was noticed that the selling price of final products had the most effect on the profit. An increase of 20%, for example, in final products’ prices, leads to a 10% increase in profit even when the CO2 reduction target was as high as 80%. When the retrofit cost for switching and capture was decreased by 30%, the effect on the profit was noticed only at higher reduction targets since more units were switched and more CO2 capture units were implemented

This thesis explores the role of citizen participation in a post-disaster flood hazard mitigation planning program in Peterborough, Ontario. Recognizing that citizen participation is an integral element of hazards mitigation planning, a review of the relevant literature identifies six strategic planning choices that should be considered in the design of a citizen participation program. The study applies this framework to the Flood Reduction Master Plan (FRMP) study and planning process in Peterborough, undertaken following the July 2004 flood event, to analyze citizen participation in hazard mitigation planning practice. Existing documentation, including the FRMP, and fifteen key informant interviews provided the main sources of research data. Data were analyzed in terms of the framework and other hazards mitigation theory found in the literature to produce the findings of the study. There existed many strengths and several weaknesses of the citizen participation aspect of the planning program. Many of the decisions made regarding citizen participation in the FRMP process can be considered successful by the standards set in the literature.

Increasingly the body of research shows that tourism is vulnerable to climate change. Tourism is also a non-negligible contributor to climate change, primarily through rapidly increasing air travel. Recently, a number of tourism destinations that are dependent on long-haul tourism have expressed concerns about the impact of climate policy (both implemented and proposed) on tourist mobility and arrivals to their countries. This thesis examines outcomes from a model which projects how climate mitigation policy could influence arrival numbers to the Caribbean region; an area projected to be disproportionately impacted by climate change. While impacts on this region are likely to be both physical as well as economical, mitigation policy restricting emissions from international aviation is likely to be the first wave of climate change effects felt. This policy, coupled with the fluctuation of global oil prices, may be a significant deterrent for travelers to the Caribbean. Different scenarios using likely mitigation policy costs on international flights and oil price fluctuations were modeled to understand how these tourism-dependent nations might fair with increases in travel cost due to conditions beyond their control. Both region-wide and destination specific results were examined showing that visitor numbers could decrease versus a business as usual scenario with climate policy and heightened oil prices, but not significantly until climate policy with deeper emission cuts and carbon prices higher than currently suggested are put in place. Result are not uniform across the region, and show that certain destinations are projected to be more vulnerable to climate mitigation policy than others. Recommendations focusing on both the aviation industry’s inclusion in climate policy and those to aid the region’s tourism sector are provided.

The Woodlands, Texas, is a 27,000-acre new town created with Ian McHarg's ecohydrological planning approach. The Woodlands is the best example of ecologically based new town planning in the United States during the 1970s. The Woodlands survived storms in excess of one-hundred-year levels in 1979 and 1994 with little property damage, while Houston, 31 miles away, was severely flooded in both events. For the past three decades, very few studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of McHarg's planning approach. The objective of this study is three fold: (1) To document McHarg's ecohydrological planning concepts, implementation and unveil the barriers to continue his approach; (2) To compare flood mitigation effectiveness of different drainage systems used in The Woodlands development; and (3) To simulate "what if" land-use scenarios using different planning approaches. Original development information is collected from published monographs, journal articles, newspapers and designers' collections. Geographic Information System (GIS) parcel data are obtained from Montgomery County Appraisal District. Streamflow data are acquired from the USGS website. Weather data are downloaded from the NOAA website. Land use and land cover data are collected from various national datasets. Two GIS hydrologic models--the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the Kinematic Runoff and Erosion model (KINEROS)--are used for watershed simulation. The statistic analysis tool SPSS is used for correlation analysis. Results show that McHarg's planning approach was followed in the early phases of development (1974-1996) but was largely abandoned in the later phases when its ownership was changed in 1997. McHarg's approach ceased to be implemented because of the low public acceptance of ecohydrological planning strategies and the conflicts between short-term investment return and long-term environmental stewardship. In addition, comparative study shows that the early phases of development responded to rainfall similarly to its pre-development forest conditions. However, the later phases generated runoff volumes three times greater than the early phases. Therefore, McHarg's ecohydrological planning approach demonstrates flood mitigation effectiveness that is superior to the conventional approach. Finally, using soil permeability to coordinate development density and land use presents a viable solution for mitigating environmental impacts from a stormwater perspective.

In 2003, the U.S. Department of Energy created regional joint governmentindustry partnerships as part of a larger incentive to develop carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies to address the issue of climate change. As part of their missions, DOE and their partners are responsible for creating and distributing public outreach and education materials discussing climate change and CCS technologies. In this dissertation, I sought to evaluate processes for communicating CCS to the public by examining different pathways including direct communication through DOE and regional partnership websites (Chapter I), news media from states with energy projects proposed or underway (Chapter II), and alternative strategies for communication such as an online educational game for youth (Chapter IV). My study also included focus groups in communities where CCS technologies have been piloted to determine public knowledge and acceptance of CCS (Chapter III). In Chapter I, a critique of DOE and partnership websites, I found authority to be a dominant theme throughout DOE and partnership website content, often incorporating technical jargon beyond laymen understanding and, in many cases, targeting industry audiences over the intended public. In Chapter II, I analyzed newspaper articles from the states of Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Texas using Luhmann’s social theory and the SPEED framework to determine how CCS has been framed by the media. Findings indicated that political, legal, economic and technical frames dominated, with emphasis on benefits, rather than risks of adoption. I also found that CCS reporting increased dramatically as pilot projects started to come on line. In my study of community acceptance of CCS in the American Southwest, Chapter III, I found that participants focused their conversations on industry and government knowledge, risks and unknowns of CCS and processes for decision-making. These topics also provided an impetus for caution. Skepticism and distrust of government entities and corporations influenced participant willingness to accept storage risks to mitigate for CO2 emissions. After open discussion of pros and cons associated with the technology, however, participants were more willing to consider CCS as an option, indicating a need to talk through the issue and to come to their own conclusions. Finally, in focus groups used to evaluate of an online game titled The Adventures of Carbon Bond, I found that it was difficult for participants to discuss environmental issues with students that are viewed as contentious (i.e. climate change and CCS), but that gaming was a valuable tool for addressing such sensitive subjects. Overall, these four chapters demonstrate that communication of CCS has only reached portions of the public and has not consistently connected with those potentially impacted by the technology. They also show that CCS must overcome numerous barriers to deployment, foremost of which is public acceptance.