This thesis presents an investigation of statistical analytical methods applied to the analysis of the shape of the arterial pressure waveform. The arterial pulse is analysed by a selection of both supervised and unsupervised methods of learning. Supervised learning methods are generally better known as regression. Unsupervised learning methods seek patterns in data without the specification of a target variable. The theoretical relationship between arterial pressure and wave shape is first investigated by study of a transmission line model of the arterial tree. A meta-database of pulse waveforms obtained by the SphygmoCor"??" device is then analysed by the unsupervised learning technique of Self Organising Maps (SOM). The map patterns indicate that the observed arterial pressures affect the wave shape in a similar way as predicted by the theoretical model. A database of continuous arterial pressure obtained by catheter line during sleep is used to derive supervised models that enable estimation of arterial pressures, based on the measured wave shapes. Independent component analysis (ICA) is also used in a supervised learning methodology to show the theoretical plausibility of separating the pressure signals from unwanted noise components. The accuracy and repeatability of the SphygmoCor?? device is measured and discussed. Alternative regression models are introduced that improve on the existing models in the estimation of central cardiovascular parameters from peripheral arterial wave shapes. Results of this investigation show that from the information in the wave shape, it is possible, in theory, to estimate the continuous underlying pressures within the artery to a degree of accuracy acceptable to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. This could facilitate a new role for non-invasive sphygmographic devices, to be used not only for feature estimation but as alternatives to invasive arterial pressure sensors in the measurement of continuous blood pressure.

This thesis examines why law firms are organised as they are. It develops a theoretical framework of reflexive archetype theory which is constructed from structuring theory (Ranson, Hinings and Greenwood 1980), archetype theory (Hinings and Greenwood 1988), and circuits of power theory (Clegg 1989). It emphasises the reflexivity and integration of the process of organising within law firms. Empirical data are collected from fifteen Sydney law firms and interpreted within reflexive archetype theory. These data confirm the reflexivity and integration of elements within law firms that are theoretically postulated. A research agenda is developed and the contributions of the thesis to the field of organisational analysis are enumerated. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The advent of digital media has affected the nature of global communications, amplifying the interaction between populations and massively expanding the information load that an audience may be forced to consider. The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has proposed a digital strategy for the 2008 Olympics, which will open up a wide range of challenges for information gathering and dissemination. My research project has two related components: The first is an exegesis which sets the context for the project, identifies its main issues and presents a background research plan that, on the one hand, focuses on journalists and their likely orientations to a Digital Media Centre such as the one I propose, and, on the other, seeks to discover in other digital media centres the elements of best practice and innovation that might be adopted for Beijing. The second is a development project to explore and present innovation in Internet-based digital media operations, as exemplified by the challenges presented by the 2008 Olympic Games.

The advent of digital media has affected the nature of global communications, amplifying the interaction between populations and massively expanding the information load that an audience may be forced to consider. The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has proposed a digital strategy for the 2008 Olympics, which will open up a wide range of challenges for information gathering and dissemination. My research project has two related components: The first is an exegesis which sets the context for the project, identifies its main issues and presents a background research plan that, on the one hand, focuses on journalists and their likely orientations to a Digital Media Centre such as the one I propose, and, on the other, seeks to discover in other digital media centres the elements of best practice and innovation that might be adopted for Beijing. The second is a development project to explore and present innovation in Internet-based digital media operations, as exemplified by the challenges presented by the 2008 Olympic Games.

Many of the insightful writings on clusters identify the role of entrepreneurs as key agents in the formation of firms and clusters. This thesis argues instead that local entrepreneurship is not ceased once firms and clusters are established; local entrepreneurship is about the continuous (re)creation of both businesses and clusters in global spaces. Global spaces for local entrepreneurship emphasises how firms collectively become an agent of continuous renewal. Firms enact an organising context materialising in networks that stretch relations and collaborations according to the issues being dealt with. These networks are localised but are extended beyond the geographical boundaries of clusters. One important example of this, which is in focus in this doctoral thesis, is that firms operating in clusters often interact with actors whom they have met at international trade fairs (ITFs). ITFs are those attractive events that individuals, firms and institutions attend temporarily to exhibit and trade products in foreign and national markets. This thesis is based on the work contained in a cover and five papers. Each paper contributes to the research objective and questions brought forward in the thesis cover. The empirical evidence has been mostly drawn from several case studies conducted in the Lammhult cluster in Sweden. The findings show that firms build their organising contexts in order to stretch the reach and accessibility to local and non-local actors; they jointly co-create potential opportunities. The organising contexts are mapped in networks using three proximity orders. The empirical findings report three types of situations in which there is a potential opportunity for continuous renewal. By emphasising the opportunities that can be originated when a business is not realised or when a new or improved product or process has not been generated yet, this thesis aims to stimulate a theoretical reappraisal of global spaces for local entrepreneurship. With the conceptual development of global spaces for local entrepreneurship, we put forward the idea that such spaces enhance an ability to renew firms and clusters. The underlying reason is that local entrepreneurship is centered on the social interaction between individuals, firms and/or institutions; it materialises in intended and unintended dialogical situations when there is a commitment to the continuous renewal of firms and clusters. Such dialogical situations carry with them an opportunity for co-creating new businesses, new products and new processes.

Mathematical models displaying travelling waves appear in a variety of domains. These waves are often faced with different kinds of perturbations. In some cases, these perturbations result in propagation failure, also known as wave-blocking. Wave-blocking has been studied in the case of several specific models, often with the help of numerical tools. In this thesis, we will display a technique that uses symmetry and a center manifold reduction to find a criterion which defines regions in parameter space where a wave will be blocked. We focus on waves with low velocity and small symmetry-breaking perturbations, which is where the blocking initiates; the organising center. The range of the tools used makes the technique easily generalizable to higher dimensions. In order to demonstrate this technique, we apply it to the bistable equation. This allows us to do calculations explicitly. As a result, we show that wave-blocking occurs inside a wedge originating from the organising center and derive an expression for this wedge to leading order. We verify our results with some numerical simulations.

Mathematical models displaying travelling waves appear in a variety of domains. These waves are often faced with different kinds of perturbations. In some cases, these perturbations result in propagation failure, also known as wave-blocking. Wave-blocking has been studied in the case of several specific models, often with the help of numerical tools. In this thesis, we will display a technique that uses symmetry and a center manifold reduction to find a criterion which defines regions in parameter space where a wave will be blocked. We focus on waves with low velocity and small symmetry-breaking perturbations, which is where the blocking initiates; the organising center. The range of the tools used makes the technique easily generalizable to higher dimensions. In order to demonstrate this technique, we apply it to the bistable equation. This allows us to do calculations explicitly. As a result, we show that wave-blocking occurs inside a wedge originating from the organising center and derive an expression for this wedge to leading order. We verify our results with some numerical simulations.

Specialised policing of critical incidents has previously been underexplored within scholarly research. Simultaneously, this type of policing has been recognised as a highly complex endeavour which hinges on an organisationalability to make sense of uncertainty and external contingencies. To build knowledge on the subject of specialised policing, the present thesis aims to explore processes of sensemaking and organising in the work context of specialised police units dedicated to the policing of high risk incidents. Two research questions have guided the thesis project viz.: 1) what ascribed meanings are coupled to specialised police unit work practice and; 2) how can organising of specialised police units be enacted in a reliable manner. These questions are empirically addressed through four part-studies: Study A amounts to a contextual literature study of previous research on specialised police units and aims at conceptual development of anomenclature describing police specialisation as a professional context. Study B in the thesis examines symbolic meanings connected to specialised police units and how such meanings relate to constructions of occupational identity of police officers working in a specialised police unit. With these studies as a contextual frame, study C within the thesis examines how leadership, management and ICT system within a specialised police unitimpacts organisational reliability and sensemaking during incident management. Finally, study D examines organisational reliability on an interpersonal level during incident management as it entails a study of collaboration between police practitioners conducting an intervention. The thesis employs a mainly ideographic and close practice approach to researchas the empirical examinations are focused upon one specific specialised police unit, namely the Swedish police’s National Counter-Terrorist Unit (NI). Using data collected through interviews, observations and archival sources, the thesis aims to contribute both to organisational developmentand to knowledge development within the scholarly community. In overview, the results of the thesis indicate that specialised policing on a level of ascribed meaning tend to be represented as exceptional, sensational and surrounded by inferences of elitism, machismo and violence. In extent, such representations inform serving police officers occupational identity workeither by spurring identification or dis-identification with prevailing accounts of meaning. On a level of organising, resilient policing of high risk incidents is shown to be dependent on an ability to favour flexibility, both through the organisational frameworks that frames incident management and in interpersonal enactment during task execution. This conclusion challenges day-to-day conceptualisation of specialised police units’ work practice as instrumental applications of coercion.

<p>The central question investigated in this project was whether clustering of gene expression patterns could be done more biologically accurate by providing the clustering technique with additional information about the genes as input besides the expression levels. With the term biologically accurate we mean that the genes should not only be clustered together according to their similarities in expression profiles, but also according to their functional similarity in terms of functional annotation and metabolic pathway. The data was collected at AstraZeneca R&D Mölndal Sweden and the applied computational technique was self-organising maps. In our experiments we used the combination of expression profiles together with enzyme classification annotation as input for the self-organising maps instead of just the expression profiles. The results were evaluated both statistically and biologically. The statistical evaluation showed that our method resulted in a small decrease in terms of compactness and isolation. The biological evaluation showed that our method resulted in clusters with greater functional homogeneity with respect to enzyme classification, functional hierarchy and metabolic pathway annotation.</p>

Mathematical models displaying travelling waves appear in a variety of domains. These waves are often faced with different kinds of perturbations. In some cases, these perturbations result in propagation failure, also known as wave-blocking. Wave-blocking has been studied in the case of several specific models, often with the help of numerical tools. In this thesis, we will display a technique that uses symmetry and a center manifold reduction to find a criterion which defines regions in parameter space where a wave will be blocked. We focus on waves with low velocity and small symmetry-breaking perturbations, which is where the blocking initiates; the organising center. The range of the tools used makes the technique easily generalizable to higher dimensions. In order to demonstrate this technique, we apply it to the bistable equation. This allows us to do calculations explicitly. As a result, we show that wave-blocking occurs inside a wedge originating from the organising center and derive an expression for this wedge to leading order. We verify our results with some numerical simulations.