Every year many people all over the world are killed and severely injured in road traffic accidents. Even though driving too fast is a behaviour well known to contribute to both the number and the outcome of these accidents, drivers are still speeding. The general aim of this thesis, and its five empirical studies, is therefore to further the knowledge about drivers speeding behaviour by using the theory of planned behaviour and the model underpinning the driver behaviour questionnaire as frames of reference. The behavioural data used is obtained from field trials with intelligent speed adaptation and the speed reducing potential of this system is also examined. The results show that attitude towards exceeding the speed limits, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and moral norm from the theory of planned behaviour, but also violations and inattention errors from the model underpinning the driver behaviour questionnaire, can be used to predict drivers’ everyday speeding behaviour. These two models can also be combined in order to gain further knowledge about the causes of speeding. Identification of drivers’ beliefs about exceeding the speed limits gives further insight into the underlying cognitive foundation of their attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. This provides valuable information for future design of speed reducing measures. Regarding intelligent speed adaptation, the results show that the ISA speed-warning device greatly reduces the amount of time drivers spend above the speed limits, and to some extent also reduces their mean speeds, but that this effect decreases with time. Although the drivers are not totally satisfied with the experience of the ISA speed-warning device, they like the idea and can see its usefulness. As the device tested is a first generation ISA speed-warning device, further research has the potential to greatly improve the system.

Background and purpose: Tuberculosis (TB) is one kind of chronic infectious disease which caused by the mycobacterium tuberculosis, and still widely exists in the world. In Taiwan, there are approximately 15,000 new tuberculosis patients and 1,300 died annually. The incidence and mortality rate rank the number one among the legal reported disease in Taiwan. Therefore, how to prevent and control the tuberculosis becomes a crucial policy for Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Taiwan. Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course (DOTS) is a TB control program implemented in many countries aggressively by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1993. The implementation method is that patients are supervised by well-trained health care staff while medication is administered, to assure the clients taking each dose of medicine. This policy is intended to cure the patient in time, cutting off the infectious sources, prevent the efficacy of anti-tuberculosis drugs and cease the emerging of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) . For the long-term planning and the target of ¡§Halve the TB over the next ten years,¡¨ the CDC of Taiwan has been enforced the DOTS program since April 1st, 2006. The rate implementing DOTS in smear- positive case has been exceeded 90%. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of DOTS policy on the outcomes of Tuberculosis before and after the DOTS policy implementation. Methods: The secondary databases from the study hospital were retrieved. The data included 24 months before and after the DOTS implementing (April 1st, 2006). We investigated if there¡¦s significant improvement in treating tuberculosis after the DOTS. Both descriptive and Chi-square tests were used to depict the study sample and to examine the correlation between treatment outcome and DOTS, respectively. Results: There is no difference on treatment outcome between male and female. Male had higher cavity formation on the chest x-ray. There¡¦s more easy treatment completion when the clients were younger than 65 years old. No cavity on the chest x-ray was statistically associated with negative acid fast stain. The chest x-ray showed cavity was related to higher completion rate of treatment. There¡¦s no correlation between the acid fast stain and treatment completion. There¡¦s no significant difference on treatment outcome after the DOTS implementing. Conclusions: There¡¦s no difference in treatment result between the ¡§DOTS¡¨ and ¡§without DOTS¡¨ group after April 2006. The reason we deliberate that may be the study hospital is located at the urban area, which is high prevalence area in tuberculosis and thus have been under control for years. The completion rate in tuberculosis treatment is already high enough. No wonder there¡¦s no such difference. Anyway, we can not ignore the policy of the DOTS, we must keep cooperation with this policy, make great efforts on tuberculosis prevention and control in Taiwan.

The term resource is used to refer to a machine, tool-group, piece of equipment or personnel. Optimization models for resource maintenance are obtained in conjunction with other production related decisions like production planning, production scheduling, resource allocation and job inspection. Emphasis is laid on integrating the above inter-dependent decisions into a unified optimization framework. This is accomplished for large stationary resources, small non-stationary resources with high breaking rate and for resources that form a part of a network. Owing to large problem size and high uncertainty, the optimal decisions are determined by formulating and solving the above problems as Markov decision processes (MDPs). Approximate dynamic programming based algorithms are used for solving the large optimization problems at hand. The performance of resulting near optimal policies is compared with that of traditional formulations in all cases. The latter treat the resource maintenance decisions independent of other manufacturing related decisions. In certain formulations, the resource state is not completely observable. This results in a partially observable MDP (POMDP). An alternative algorithm for the solution of POMDP is developed, where several mixed integer linear programs (MILPs) are solved during each ADP iteration. This helps obtain better quality solutions for the POMDPs with very large or continuous action spaces in an efficient manner.

Oficialiai neapskaityta ekonomika apima visus oficialiosios statistikos neapskaitytus, bet į BVP įskaičiuojamus sandorius. Neapskaitoma ekonomika 2005 m. sudarė 18.7 proc. šalies bendrojo vidaus produkto. Šešėlinė ekonomika iškreipia oficialiąją statistiką, stabdo ekonomikos augimą, todėl būtina ją tirti, fiksuoti, ieškoti būdų ją pažaboti. Pagrindinis šio darbo tikslas - įvertinus šešėlinės ekonomikos susidarymo priežastis, šaltinius, mastą Lietuvoje, numatyti Lietuvai tinkamiausias šešėlinės ekonomikos prevencijos kryptis. Darbą sudaro 3 dalys: šešėlinės ekonomikos apžvalga, šešėlinės ekonomikos Lietuvoje įvertinimas ir šešėlinės ekonomikos prevencija. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje pateikta susisteminta įvairių Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių teorinė medžiaga apie šešėlinės ekonomikos koncepciją, tyrimo metodus, susidarymo priežastis ir šaltinius. Antroje dalyje nagrinėjamos esminės neapskaitomos ekonomikos sritys: nedeklaruojamos įmonių pajamos, užimtumas ir darbo apmokėjimas. Vertinama veiklos rūšių pridėtinės vertės apimtis. Taip pat analizuojamos ir vertinamos šios nelegalios veiklos rūšys: nelegali alkoholio gamyba ir pardavimas, narkotinių medžiagų gamyba ir pardavimas, seksualinės paslaugos, vogtų automobilių pardavimas, nelegali audio, vaizdo ir kitų įrašų bei kompiuterinių žaidimų kopijų gamyba ir platinimas. Trečioje dalyje išanalizavus ekonomikos prevencijos priemones bei įvertinus jų efektyvumą, remiantis atlikto sociologinio tyrimo „Viešosios nuomonės tyrimas dėl... [to full text] / The non-observed economy covers all transactions included in the GDP, which are not estimated by official statistics. The share of the non–observed economy in 2005 made 18.7 per cent of the country‘s GDP. The non-observed economy distorts the official statistics, damages economic growth. That’s why it is important research and to try to smash it. The main aim of this paper is to assess the derivation and reasons of non-observed economy formation, the extent of non-observed economy in Lithuania and suppose what kind of tools of prevention we need in Lithuania. The thesis consists of three parts: stocktaking of non-observed economy, estimation of non-observed economy in Lithuania, non-observed economy prevention. The first part examines the conception of non-observed economy, the main tools of estimation, the derivation and reasons of non-observed economy formation. The second chapter examines certain areas of the non-observed economy: no declared income of enterprise, employment and earnings. Value added generated by illegal activities is taken into consideration. It is also analyzed and assessed such illegal activities: illegal production and sales of alcoholic drinks, production and sales of drug substances, sales of stolen cars, sexual services, production and sales of illegal copies of audio, video and other recordings as well as computer games. The third chapter analyses the cures for non-observed economy, assess the efficiency of them, analyses results of... [to full text]

The study was aimed at developing a simple methodology for flow prediction in ungauged basins using existing data resources. For this purpose, the streamflow measurements across the Kentucky River Basin located in Kentucky, USA were obtained from United States Geological Survey (USGS) archive. The flow transferring characteristics of the subbasins of the Kentucky River Basin were obtained by combining downstream and upstream stream gauges. The flow transferring function thus derived were related to watershed, channel and flow characteristics of the subbasins by multiple regression analysis. The gauge pairs were divided into two classes of subbasins representing Upper and Lower Kentucky, which were characterized mainly by the geology of the watersheds. The regression models corresponding to the two groups of subbasins were applied to example gauge pairs to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed model to predict streamflow in downstream channel. The estimated hydrographs agreed with the observed hydrographs with the performance efficiency of greater than 90%. The proposed method was tested for its applicability in first-order streams in the Goose Creek, a tributary to the Kentucky River. The overland flow component for the first-order streams was determined using TOPMODEL with topography, soil and climatic factors as inputs. The overland flow was routed to the Goose Creek outlet using the transfer function obtained from measured flow records. The simulated hydrographs were reproduced with 80% accuracy when compared with the observed hydrographs. The flow prediction of first-order ungauged streams was automated by the back-calibration algorithm. The algorithm is supported by the Shuffled Complex Evolution - University of Arizona algorithm for its optimization routine. The back-calibration procedure optimizes each first-order stream with the aid of the flow transferring function. The back-calibration procedure was imbedded in a Visual Basic.NET environment to automatically predict flow on a daily time scale and predicted was published on the internet using ESRI Arc Internet Mapping Server (ArcIMS). The project thus provides daily streamflow estimation for streams on a first-order level on every day basis, which will facilitate flow prediction of streams regardless of the size of the watersheds.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--Georgia State University, 2008. / Title from file title page. Frances McCarty, committee chair; Derek G. Shendell, co-chair; Ike S Okosun, committee member. Electronic text (140 p. : col. ill., col. maps) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 15, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-108).

Thesis (D.P.H.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 7, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:46:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 HamiltonLPA_DISSERT.pdf: 2325757 bytes, checksum: 4c70eabc46308c4d9bf73b20baa2c003 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-28 / Universidade Potiguar / Tuberculosis is an ancient disease that remains a serious problem of Public Health, requiring a pressing attention. Advances in the knowledge and technology available to control it has not been sufficient to significantly impact on morbidity and mortality, especially in developing countries. To enable patient compliance with TB treatment, preventing the abandonment of this to ensure the correct use of medicines has been suggested the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment - Short course) or directly Observable Short Course Treatment. This study focuses on the incorporation of two technical components of the DOTS strategy at the Family Health, namely, active search for respiratoy symptoms and Supervisioned Treatment (ST). The West Sanitary District was considered best suited to be the focus of study because it is assumed that those sites that were better structured would provide better information about the situation of the strategy in the municipality. Its purpose is to analyze the organization of DOTS as the active search for respiratory symptoms and Directly Observed Therapy in Health Teams Family belonging to a Health District in the city of Natal, Brazil. An exploratory descriptive study with a quantitative approach which involved health professionals from 11 units of Family Health, West Sanitary District, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. We interviewed 62 professionals on the professional category, their involvement in the DOTS strategy, managers' contributions to the sustainability of the strategy, actions Search for symptomatic diagnosis and supervised treatment of TB cases and difficulties and facilities for the sustainability of the DOTS strategy. It is concluded that the actions taken by the professionals of the FHS West Health District are organized in more supervised treatment, a fact noted in their perceptions about DOTS / A Tuberculose ? uma doen?a antiga que persiste como problema s?rio de Sa?de P?blica, necessitando de uma urgente aten??o. Os avan?os no seu conhecimento e na tecnologia dispon?vel para control?-la n?o tem sido suficientes para impactar significativamente em sua morbi-mortalidade, principalmente nos pa?ses em desenvolvimento. Para possibilitar a ades?o dos pacientes com TB ao tratamento, prevenindo o abandono deste por garantir o uso correto dos medicamentos foi sugerido o DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment - Short course) ou Tratamento de Curta Dura??o Diretamente Observ?vel. O presente estudo tem como foco a incorpora??o de dois componentes t?cnicos do DOTS na Estrat?gia de Sa?de da Fam?lia, sendo eles a Busca Ativa de Sintom?ticos Respirat?rios (BSR) e Tratamento Supervisionado (TS). O Distrito Sanit?rio Oeste foi considerado o mais indicado para ser o foco do estudo, pois pressup?e-se que aqueles locais que estiverem melhor estruturados forneceriam melhores informa??es acerca da situa??o da estrat?gia no munic?pio. Tem por objetivo analisar a organiza??o do DOTS quanto ? Busca Ativa dos sintom?ticos respirat?rios e Tratamento Supervisionado em Equipes de Sa?de da Fam?lia pertencentes a um Distrito Sanit?rio localizado na cidade de Natal, RN. Estudo descritivo-explorat?rio com abordagem quantitativa que envolveu profissionais da sa?de de 11 Unidades de Sa?de da Fam?lia, Distrito Sanit?rio Oeste, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. Foram entrevistados 62 profissionais quanto ? categoria profissional, envolvimento deles na estrat?gia DOTS, contribui??es dos gestores para a sustentabilidade da estrat?gia, A??es de Busca Ativa de Sintom?ticos Respirat?rios, diagn?stico e Tratamento Supervisionado dos casos de TB e Dificuldades e facilidades para a sustentabilidade da Estrat?gia DOTS. Concluise que as a??es realizadas pelos profissionais da ESF do Distrito Sanit?rio Oeste se organizam mais no Tratamento Supervisionado, fato esse observado nas suas percep??es acerca do DOTS

O desempenho e a viabilidade econômica dos processos de separação por membranas (PSM) estão diretamente relacionados com o fluxo de permeado e a retenção de substâncias. Em escala de laboratório, onde são utilizadas pequenas áreas de permeação, pode ser observada uma elevada variabilidade dos parâmetros de desempenho dos PSM, quando comparada com a obtida para os módulos industriais. Isto pode dificultar a análise de resultados, a comparação com dados da literatura e as ações de escalonamento. Apesar dos avanços constantemente obtidos na área de membranas, os resultados obtidos para estes parâmetros ainda são susceptíveis a problemas de repetitividade e reprodutibilidade. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a variabilidade experimental de membranas comerciais de ultrafiltração (UF) de polietersulfona (PES), poli(fluoreto de vinilideno) (PVDF) e poliacrilonitrila (PAN) com diferentes massas molares de corte (MMC). Os experimentos foram realizados em dois módulos de permeação com área efetiva de membrana de 28 e 60 cm2. Durante os ensaios de UF foram avaliados os seguintes parâmetros de desempenho: fluxo inicial e final de água pura, tempo de compactação da membrana, redução do fluxo (RF), permeância hidráulica antes e após a filtração da solução de polietilenoglicol (PEG), fluxo de permeado com a solução de PEG e retenção observada. A variabilidade experimental foi investigada através da identificação dos efeitos principais do processo de UF a partir da análise de variância (ANOVA). O teste F foi utilizado para identificar diferenças significativas entre as variâncias obtidas para os parâmetros de resposta determinados A partir das análises de microscopia eletrônica de varredura e de ângulo de contato observou-se que as membranas fabricadas a partir do mesmo material apresentaram estrutura e caráter hidrofílico semelhantes, não sendo observadas diferenças significativas na estrutura das membranas quando comparadas às membranas novas e às membranas após a UF. Na etapa de compactação foi observado que as membranas de mesmo material apresentaram tempo de compactação estatisticamente igual e que a RF para as membranas de PAN é semelhante. De forma geral a variabilidade experimental é menor conforme as membranas são reutilizadas no processo. Os efeitos principais de MMC e material têm influência significativa sobre os parâmetros de resposta da etapa de compactação, com exceção do efeito do material da membrana sobre o tempo de compactação e sobre a RF. Os efeitos principais de MMC, material e pressão de operação também exercem influência significativa sobre a permeância hidráulica antes e após a filtração da solução de PEG e sobre o fluxo de permeado com a solução de PEG Quando comparadas as variâncias obtidas para os parâmetros de desempenho, estas são estatisticamente semelhantes para membranas de mesmo material. Estes resultados indicam que a variabilidade experimental do processo UF (entre 10 e 40 %) não é alta o suficiente para impedir a correta identificação dos efeitos principais das variáveis do processo dentro das condições de operação avaliadas. A retenção observada foi superior a 88 % para as membranas de PES e PVDF, porém este resultado não condiz com a MMC informada pelo fabricante, uma vez que foram utilizadas soluções de PEG com massa molar menor que a MMC da membrana e a distribuição de massa molar dos PEG utilizados estão dentro da faixa especificada. Uma tendência de aumento da variabilidade dos parâmetros de resposta foi obtida quando utilizado o módulo com menor área de permeação, indicando que para as condições de área investigadas a variabilidade é aparentemente dependente da área de permeação. / The performance and the economic viability of the membrane separation processes (PSM) are directly related to permeate flux and solute retention. In laboratory scale, where small permeation areas are used, a large variability in the performance parameters of the PSM could be observed, when compared with the obtained for industrial modules. This variability may difficult analysis of the results, comparison with literature data and scale-up actions. Despite the advances that are constantly achieved in membrane technology, the results obtained experimentally for the membranes performance parameters are still prone to repeatability and reproducibility problems. In this context, the objective of this work was to evaluate the experimental variability of commercial ultrafiltration (UF) membranes of polyethersulfone (PES), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with different molar mass cut-off (MMCO). The experiments were performed in a lab-scale cross-flow unit in two permeation modules with effective membrane area of 28 and 60 cm2. During the UF tests were evaluated the performance parameters: initial and final pure water flux, membrane compaction time, flux reduction (RF), hydraulic permeance before and after the filtration of the polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution, permeate flux with the PEG solution and observed retention. The experimental variability was investigated through the identification of the main effects of the UF process using the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The F-test was used to identify significant differences between the variances obtained for the response parameters determined According to the scanning electron microscopy and the water contact angle analysis, membranes made from the same material presented similar structure and hydrophilic character and were not observed significant differences in the membranes structure, when compared the new membranes with the membranes after the UF. In the compaction step it was observed that membranes of the same material presented statistically equal compaction time and the RF for the PAN membranes is similar. In general, the experimental variability is lower as the membranes are reused in the process. The main effects of MMCO and material have significant influence on the response parameters of the compaction step, the exception occur for the membrane material effect on the compaction time and RF. The main effects of MMCO, material and transmembrane pressure also exert significant influence on the hydraulic permeance before and after the PEG filtration and on the permeate flux with the PEG solution. When comparing the variances obtained for the performance parameters, they are statistically similar for membranes of the same material These results indicate that the experimental variability of the UF process (between 10 and 40%) was not high enough to prevent the correct identification of the effects of the main process variables within the evaluated operation conditions. The observed retention was greater than 88 % for the PES and PVDF membranes, but this result is not consistent with the MMCO reported by the manufacturer, since PEG solutions with lower molar mass than membrane MMCO were used and the molar mass distribution of the PEGs are within the specified range. A tendency to increase the experimental variability of the response parameters was observed when using the modulus with lower permeation area, indicating that for the range of effective membrane area investigated the variability is apparently dependent of the permeation area.

One of the defining features of cancer is cell migration: the tendency of malignant cells to become motile and move significant distances through intervening tissue. This is a necessary precondition for metastasis, the ability of cancers to spread, which once underway permits more rapid growth and complicates effective treatment. In addition, the emergence and development of cancer is currently believed to be an evolutionary process, in which the emergence of cancerous cell lines and the subsequent appearance of resistant clones is driven by selection. In this thesis we develop minimal models of the relationship between motility, growth, and evolution of cancer cells. These should be simple enough to be easily understood and analysed, but remain realistic in their biologically relevant assumptions. We utilise simple simulations of a population of individual cells in space to examine how changes in mechanical properties of invasive cells and their surroundings can affect the speed of cell migration. We similarly examine how differences in the speed of migration can affect the growth of tumours. From this we conclude that cells with a higher elastic stiffness experience stronger resistance to their movement through tissue, but this resistance is limited by the elasticity of the surrounding tissue. We also find that the growth rate of large lesions depends weakly on the migration speed of escaping cells, and has stronger and more complex dependencies on the rates of other stochastic processes in the model, namely the rate at which cells transition to being motile and the reverse rate at which cells cease to be motile. To examine how the rates of growth and evolution of an ensemble of cancerous lesions depends on their geometry and underlying fitness landscape, we develop an analytical framework in which the spatial structure is coarse grained and the cancer treated as a continuously growing system with stochastic migration events. Both the fully stochastic realisations of the system and deterministic population transport approaches are studied. Both approaches conclude that the whole ensemble can undergo migration-driven exponential growth regardless of the dependence of size on time of individual lesions, and that the relationship between growth rate and rate of migration is determined by the geometrical constraints of individual lesions. We also find that linear fitness landscapes result in faster-than-exponential growth of the ensemble, and we can determine the expected number of driver mutations present in several important cases of the model. Finally, we study data from a clinical study of the effectiveness of a new low-dose combined chemotherapy. This enables us to test some important hypotheses about the growth rate of pancreatic cancers and the speed with which evolution occurs in reality. We test a moderately successful simple model of the observed growth curves, and use it to infer how frequently drug resistant mutants appear in this clinical trial. We conclude that the main shortcomings of the model are the difficulty of avoiding over-interpretation in the face of noise and small datasets. Despite this, we find that the frequency of resistant mutants is far too high to be explained without resorting to novel mechanisms of cross-resistance to multiple drugs. We outline some speculative explanations and attempt to provide possible experimental tests.