The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) seismic bridge design process for an Ordinary Bridge described in the Seismic Design Criteria (SDC) directs the design engineer to meet minimum requirements resulting in the design of a bridge that should remain standing in the event of a Design Seismic Hazard. A bridge can be designed to sustain significant damage; however it should avoid the collapse limit state, where the bridge is unable to resist loads due to self-weight. Seismic hazards, in the form of a design spectrum or ground motion time histories, are used to determine the demands of the bridge components and bridge system. These demands are compared to the capacity of the components to ensure that the bridge meets key performance criteria. The SDC also specifies design detailing of various components, including abutments, foundations, hinge seats and bent caps. The expectation of following the guidelines set forth by the SDC during the design process is that the resulting bridge design will avoid collapse under anticipated seismic loads. While the code provisions provide different analyses to follow and component detailing to adhere to in order to ensure a proper bridge design, the SDC does not provide a way to quantitatively determine whether the bridge design has met the requirement of no-collapse. The objectives of this research are to introduce probabilistic fragility analysis into the Caltrans design process and address the gap of information in the current design process, namely the determination of whether the bridge design meets the performance criteria of no-collapse at the design hazard level. The motivation for this project is to improve the designer's understanding of the probabilistic performance of their bridge design as a function of important design details. To accomplish these goals, a new bridge fragility method is presented as well as a design support tool that provides design engineers with instant access to fragility information during the design process. These products were developed for one specific bridge type that is common in California, the two-span concrete box girder bridge. The end product, the design support tool, is a bridge-specific fragility generator that provides probabilistic performance information on the bridge design. With this tool, a designer can check the bridge design, after going through the SDC design process, to determine the performance of the bridge and its components at any hazard level. The design support tool can provide the user with the probability of failure or collapse for the specific bridge design, which will give insight to the user about whether the bridge design has achieved the performance objective set out in the SDC. The designer would also be able to determine the effect of a change in various design details on the performance and therefore make more informed design decisions.

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Sammanfattning Stressrelaterad psykisk ohälsa såsom utmattningssyndrom, är en komplex problematik som varit mycket omdebatterad. Åtskilligt är publicerat i ämnet, men bara ett fåtal studier finns där personer med utmattningssyndrom själva fått möjligheten att beskriva orsakssambanden. Olika förklaringsmodeller och perspektiv beskrivs i litteraturen, men den rådande uppfattningen om varför människor drabbas utgår ofta från ett arbetsrelaterat perspektiv. Vi ville utforska om den rådande föreställning i ämnet stämmer överens med den uppfattning människor som drabbats av utmattningssyndrom har om orsakerna till symtomen. Vår ansats var även att undersöka om det kan finnas fler eller andra orsakssamband till utmattningsprocessen.   Vårt syfte med studien är; dels undersöka hur individer med utmattningssyndrom upplever vilka orsaker som är av betydelse för utmattningsprocessen, dels försöka beskriva och analysera dessa utsagor i ett vidare perspektiv.   Till studien valdes en kvalitativ metod och data samlades in med hjälp av intervjuer utifrån specifika forskarfrågor. Sju respondenter med utmattningssyndrom och närbesläktade stressrelaterade diagnoser deltog.   Resultatet visar att utlösande faktorer kopplade till bland annat arbetet är en orsak i utmatt-ningsprocessen, Studiens resultat visar också att bakomliggande faktorer är om möjligt ännu viktigare och som presenteras i Bohlin-Hogen-Henner modellen. Bakomliggande orsaker menar vi kan vara påfrestande och belastande livshändelser i uppväxten, vilka kan bidra till oförmåga att tillgodose egna behov och en prestationsbaserad självkänsla. Genomgående mönster har visat sig vara problematik med gränssättningen, det vill säga, dysfunktionell gränssättning som är en konsekvens av de olika bakomliggande faktorerna och har en avgörande betydelse för utmattningsprocessen. / Abstract Stress related psychological health-problems such as burn-out syndrome are complex issues which have been much debated. Much have been published on this topic but only a handful of studies have been conducted where individuals diagnosed with burn-out syndrome have been given the opportunity to describe the cause-effect of their condition. Different explanations and perspectives are described in the literature concerning this topic but the current view as to why people are afflicted by burn-out syndrome is based on a work-related perspective. We wanted to explore if the current view on the topic is in accordance with the diagnosed individuals view on the causes of their symptoms. Our intention was also to investigate into the possibility that there could be more or other causality behind the burn-out process.     The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to investigate how individuals with burn-out syndrome rate different causes in terms of importance to their process of burning out. Second, to try to describe and analyze these statements in a wider context.   For this study, we chose to use a qualitative methodology. Data were collected from interviews where adapted research questions were asked. Seven respondents diagnosed with burn-out syndrome or other stress related disorders participated.   The results show that work-related factors often are the triggers for the process of burning out, but hidden factors, such as conditions in the childhood and traumatic life events which can contribute to performance-based self-esteem, are even more significant. Overall patterns for burn-out syndrome show an inability to create personal boundaries, “dysfunctional personal boundaries”. This dysfunction is, in our opinion, the consequence of the hidden factors and in itself plays a crucial role in the burn-out process.

Performance-based engineering (PBE) requires advances in hazard characterization, structural modeling, and nonlinear analysis techniques to fully and efficiently develop the fragility expressions and other tools forming the basis for risk-based design procedures. This research examined and extended the state-of-the-art in hazard characterization (wind and surge) and risk-based design procedures (seismic). State-of-the-art hurricane models (including wind field, tracking and decay models) and event-based simulation techniques were used to characterize the hurricane wind hazard along the Texas coast. A total of 10,000 years of synthetic hurricane wind speed records were generated for each zip-code in Texas and were used to statistically characterize the N-year maximum hurricane wind speed distribution for each zip-code location and develop design non-exceedance probability contours for both coastal and inland areas. Actual recorded wind and surge data, the hurricane wind field model, hurricane size parameters, and a measure of storm kinetic energy were used to develop wind-surge and wind-surge-energy models, which can be used to characterize the wind-surge hazard at a level of accuracy suitable for PBE applications. These models provide a powerful tool to quickly and inexpensively estimate surge depths at coastal locations in advance of a hurricane landfall. They also were used to create surge hazard maps that provide storm surge height non-exceedance probability contours for the Texas coast. The simulation tools, wind field models, and statistical analyses, make it possible to characterize the risk-consistent hurricane events considering both hurricane intensity and size. The proposed methodology for event-based hurricane hazard characterization, when coupled with a hurricane damage model, can also be used for regional loss estimation and other spatial impact analyses. In considering seismic hazard, a risk-consistent framework for displacement-based seismic design of engineered multistory woodframe structures was developed. Specifically, a database of probability-based scale factors which can be used in a direct displacement design (DDD) procedure for woodframe buildings was created using nonlinear time-history analyses with suitably scaled ground motions records. The resulting DDD procedure results in more risk-consistent designs and therefore advances the state-of-the-art in displacement-based seismic design of woodframe structures.

Η παρούσα διατριβή έχει ως θέμα την σεισμική αποτίμηση υφισταμένου τριώροφου δομήματος οπλισμένου σκυροδέματος. Συγκεκριμένα γίνεται έλεγχος των μέτρων επέμβασης για το κτήριο αιθουσών διδασκαλίας του ΤΕΛ Ναυπάκτου. Για τον σκοπό αυτό χρησιμοποιούνται μη-γραμμικές αναλύσεις (στατικές και δυναμικές) με βάση τις αρχές των κανονιστικών κειμένων ΚΑΝ.ΕΠΕ και EC8 για την αποτίμηση και τον ανασχεδιασμό κατασκευών. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο γίνεται τεκμηρίωση του υφιστάμενου δομήματος. Δίνονται στοιχεία για την θέση, την γεωμετρία, τις κατασκευαστικές μεθόδους που εφαρμόστηκαν. Δίνονται τα αποτελέσματα των οπτικών και των ενόργανων ελέγχων και προσδιορίζεται η γεωμετρία του φορέα. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο δίνονται οι παραδοχές και οι αρχές με βάση τις οποίες έγινε η εξιδανίκευση του φορέα για την πραγματοποίηση των μη γραμμικών στατικών αναλύσεων. Για τις αναλύσεις χρησιμοποιείται το πακέτο λογισμικού ANSRuop που έχει αναπτυχθεί στο Εργαστήριο Κατασκευών του Τμήματος. Το μοντέλο μονότονης και ανακυκλιζόμενης φόρτισης που χρησιμοποιείται είναι το γνωστό προσομοίωμα Τakeda με εννέα κανόνες υστέρησης. Προσδιορίζονται οι παραδοχές για τον υπολογισμό των διαθέσιμων αντιστάσεων σε όρους παραμορφώσεων και δυνάμεων που υιοθετούνται από τον ΚΑΝΕΠΕ και τον EC8 καθώς και τα κριτήρια που αποδέχεται το κάθε κείμενο για την επιθυμητή στάθμη αποτίμησης και ανασχεδιασμού του φορέα. Ακόμα γίνεται αναφορά στο μοντέλο προσομοίωσης του λικνισμού των θεμελίων για θεώρηση διαφόρων εδαφών. Εν συνεχεία στο τρίτο Κεφάλαιο γίνεται αναφορά στους στόχους σχεδιασμού που θέτει ο κάθε κανονισμός και στις στάθμες επιτελεστικότητας για τον κάθε κανονισμό. Γίνεται παρουσίαση των τεχνητών σεισμικών καταγραφών που λήφθηκαν υπόψη για την πραγματοποίηση των μη γραμμικών δυναμικών αναλύσεων. Οι καταγραφές είναι κανονικοποιημένες πάνω στο φάσμα του EC8 για τύπο εδάφους C που διαφέρει από το φάσμα σχεδιασμού κατά ΕΑΚ για την στάθμη επιτελεστικότητας «Προστασία ζωής και περιουσίας των ενοίκων » μόνο κατά τον εδαφικό συντελεστή S. Ακόμα δίνεται η μεθοδολογία που υιοθετήθηκε για την εκτίμηση της ικανότητας του κτηρίου έναντι των απαιτήσεων που θέτει ο κανονισμός και προτείνεται εναλλακτικά και από τα δύο κείμενα. Στα κεφάλαια 4 και 5 παρουσιάζονται τα αποτελέσματα των μη-γραμμικών αναλύσεων. Συνολικά πραγματοποιήθηκαν 56 μη-γραμμικές στατικές αναλύσεις και 84 μη-γραμμικές δυναμικές. Για τις μη-γραμμικές στατικές αναλύσεις παρουσιάζονται οι καταγραφές τέμνουσας βάσης μετατόπισης κορυφής ενώ τα αποτελέσματα των μη-γραμμικών δυναμικών αναλύσεων δίνονται με την μορφή των μέσων όρων των δεικτών βλάβης. Τέλος στο 6ο κεφάλαιο γίνεται προσπάθεια ερμηνείας των αποτελεσμάτων για τις αναλύσεις πρίν και μετά την δομητική επέμβαση. / The present project deals with a seismic assessment analysis of an existing reinforced concrete building. A fully performance-based procedure is adopted based on the principals of the draft Greek Retrofitting Code and the draft part 3 of the Eurocode 8 : Assessment and retrofitting of Buildings. The method is subjected on an existing building, which has been constructed, during early 70’ s, prior to the principals of the modern codes for earthquake resistant design. The building is located in the area of Nafpaktos. In the first chapter a summary of the characteristics of the existing building is given. Special data concerning the site, the geometry and the construction methods at the time in which the building was constructed. The results of the damage investigation according to the visual and the instrumental inspection are also given. The basic principals according to which the modelling and the non-linear analysis procedures took place is given in the 2nd chapter. For the analysis procedures the program ANSR University of Patras is used which has been developed in the Structural Laboratory of The Civil Engineering Department of the University of Patras. One-component, point-hinge macromodels are used for the RC members, to relate the end-moment to the chord rotation at member ends within each plane of bending. The M-θ relation in monotonic loading is taken bilinear, with a post-yield hardening ratio p computed assuming antisymmetric bending and using empirical expressions according to the Greek Retrofitting Code and Part-3 of the EC8 (according to the selected limit state). The hysteresis rules supplementing the bilinear monotonic M-θ curve are of the modified-Takeda type. Also the monotonic M-θ relation which is used for the modelling of the foundation uplift is given. In the 3rd chapter the performance objectives of the assessment procedure are given according to the appropriate levels of protection for the selected limit state. The synthetic accellerograms which are used for the Nonlinear dynamic procedure are compatible to the EC8 elastic spectrum for type soil C for the limit state of Significant Damage. Moreover the methodology of the determination of the target displacement according to the Annex B of the EC8-part 1 and the draft Greek Retrofitting Code. Finally in chapters 4 and 5 the results of the nonlinear static and dynamic analysis are presented. For the nonlinear static procedures the results are given in terms of base shear vs roof displacement and in terms of Spectral acceleration vs Spectral displacement for the determination of the target displacement. The results of the NonLinear dynamic procedures are given in terms of mean values of the damage index.

<p>This thesis explores and explains the existence of a best practice model to optimise the transfer of funds (&ldquo / the transfer funding process&rdquo / ) between funders and service providers in the public sector. Using ideas about best practice in a specific context, the Health environment, it investigates the perceptions of managers about the transfer of funds between the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the Local Authority of the City of Cape Town, the existence of a formula that will indicate appropriate amounts to transfer to service providers, and how information systems might assist with the process and the formula.</p>

Countries seek to control exposure to hazardous substances and environments by the enactment of legislation. In the past thirty years, two major different approaches to occupational health and safety legislation have been devleoped by countries around the world. The performance-based legislative approach has been linked with the emergence of occupational health and safety management systems but no research has previously been done to determine whether or not the legislative approach taken by government influences the introduction or form of occupational health and safety management systems used by organisations. Similarly, although the reasons why Australia and other countries have moved to performance-based legislation have been explained in terms of social, political and economic factors that influenced the change, little research has been done on the effectiveness of this approach compared with the prescriptive approach of countries such as Korea. -I- The overall aim of this research is to develop a conprehensive understanding of the management of expusre to heavy metals in selected industries in Korea and Australia. The specific objectives of the study are to determine: The effectiveness of heavy metal exposure management in the fluorescent lamp manufacturing industry in Korea, and an Oral Health Service, and lead-risk workplaces in Queensland, Australia; The management of the legislative arrangements for health surveillance in Korea and Queensland, Australia; The characteristics of the occupational health and safety management systems that are in use in the heavy metal industries in Korea in Australia; and The effectiveness of prescriptive and performance based legislative systems in protecting the health and safety of workers in heavy metal based industries. Secondary analysis of biological monitoring data from 6 fluorescent lamp manufacturing companies (8 workplaces) in Korea was used to examine the extent of mercury exposure and the effectiveness of the health surveillance system in that country. A survey of dental workers in an oral health service in Queensland provided data on the extent of mercury exposure to the workforce and workers' attitudes to the management of occupational risks. The efficiency of the lead health surveillance in Queensland was examined by way of a questionnaire survey of lead designated doctors in the state. A survey of registered lead-risk companies and the oral health servies in Queensland, and 5 of the fluorescent lamp manufacturing companies in Korea provided data on the occupational health and safety management systems in place in these organisations. The health surveillance system for mercury exposed workers in Korea was found to have reduced the incidence of workers with biological levels of mercury above the Baseline Level from 14% in 1994 to 7% in 1999. Bilogical testing of dental workers in Queensland discovered no workers with biological levels of mercury approaching the Baseline Level and air monitoring failed to locate any areas where workers were likely to be exposed to levels approaching the Workplace Exposure Standard. The staff of the Oral Health Service were generally aware of the occupational health and safety management systems in place but only 43% felt that mercury management in the workplace effectively prevented exposure. The lead surveillance system in Queensland was found to be inadequately managed with approximately 37% of registered doctors no longer practicing in the field and their being no way for the government to collect reliable data on the extent of lead exposure in workplaces. The occupational health and safety management systems in the companies surveyed in Queensland and Korea were found to be influenced by the legislative arrangements in place in each of the locations. The Korean systems were more geared to meeting the regulatory requirements whereas the Queensland systems were geared more towards a risk management approach. However substantial differences were also noted depending on the size of the organisation in each case. Legislative arrangements in Korea and Queensland were found to provide reasonable protection from heavy metal exposure to workers however improvements in both systems are needed. The legislation was also found to influence the occupational health and safety management systems in place with performance-based legislation producing systems having a wide risk management focus while a narrower regulatory based focus was noted in Korea where more prescriptive legislation is in force. A confounding factor in the nature of the occupational health and safety management system in place is the size of the organisation and particular attention needs to be paid to this when legislative approaches are considered.

I den här fallstudien undersöks hur undervisningskvaliteten inom högre utbildning påverkas av ett prestationsbaserat resursfördelningssystem vid Luleå tekniska universitet. Författarna har även undersökt under vilka förutsättningar undervisningen kan få högre (lägre) kvalitet vid en tilldelning av större (mindre) ekonomiska resurser. Som grund till denna studie ligger den kritik som det befintliga systemet har fått och Regeringens vision att ta fram ett nytt resursfördelningssystem för högre utbildning. Enligt dagens system fördelas delar av ersättningen till universitet baserat på hur många studenter som examineras och godkänns på kurser och utbildningsprogram. Teorierna i studien baseras på Simons modell över styrningens hävstänger, strategisk styrning, professionsteori samt prestationsbaserad styrning för att få en djupare förståelse kring ämnet. Det insamlade materialet bestod av kvalitativa intervjuer med lärare på universitetet och med lärarnas uppfattning i fokus. Resultatet av studien indikerar att undervisningskvaliteten inom högre utbildning inte påverkas i någon nämnvärd utsträckning av ett prestationsbaserat resursfördelningssystem. Det ligger inte i lärares natur att manipulera resultat i ett ekonomiskt syfte vilket kan förklaras av yrkesstoltheten inom deras profession. Vidare kan en förutsättning för att en större tilldelning ekonomiska resurser kan leda till högre kvalitet i undervisningen, vara att lärare inte ska behöva arbeta på fritiden i lika stor utsträckning. Lärares återhämtning är viktig och kan på lång sikt påverka kvaliteten i undervisningen. För vidare forskning föreslår författarna en större undersökning omfattande flera universitet. Det för att möjliggöra jämförelse och för att få en mer generell uppfattning om hur undervisningskvaliteten påverkas av ett prestationsbaserat resursfördelningssystem.

Hospitals are regarded as some of the most important structures in society due to the service that they provide. Knowing this, governments spend large amounts of money on these facilities. Also, codes of design require to provide them more reserve capacity than that for conventional structures. However, large damages (such as collapses and permanent or temporary interruptions of their functionality) have still been observed in hospitals during strong earthquakes. Unfortunately, it is precisely after this type of event that their service is in high demand and failure in providing that service could lead to further disastrous or fatal consequences. Therefore, the use of protective technologies, combined with rational procedures of design, would help to reduce damage and probable losses of functionality in hospital structures. In this thesis, a procedure for seismic design of structures equipped with a type of protective technology, namely, buckling-restrained braces (BRBs), is proposed. Then, the results of experimental and numerical studies are presented to understand the benefits of using BRBs in structures. This study highlights that BRBs are very effective to dissipate seismic energy and can act as structural fuses, i.e. disposable devices that may be replaced after an earthquake without interruptions in the functionality of the structure. One of the advantages of the proposed procedure is that it takes into account explicitly the characteristics and contributions of both, the main structure and the BRBs. It is based on the assumption that a structure protected with BRBs can rationally be represented by a dual SDOF system whose parts yield at different displacement levels. Other advantages include: 1) better control of the displacement demands on the structure; 2) achievement of the fuse concept beforehand; and 3) rapid assessment of the probabilistic performance of the structure. The experimental studies consisted of testing steel and concrete models, with and without BRBs, on a shaking table. In addition to calibrate and validate the proposed method of design, the tests have helped to find that, due to BRBs: 1) the damping ratio is increased significantly; and 2) the dynamic response, to ground motions characteristic of the lakebed zone of Mexico City, is reduced in terms of lateral displacements, inter-storey drifts, floor velocities and floor accelerations. The numerical studies are: 1) a study of the response of typical hospitals improved with BRBs; 2) a study of residual displacements in conventional and dual systems; and 3) evaluation of the economic benefits of using BRBs in structures. On these studies, hypothetical hospitals located in the lakebed zone of Mexico City were considered. The results show that the use of BRBs is very beneficial in medium- and low-rise buildings, while adverse effects may be observed in high-rise structures.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / This thesis explores and explains the existence of a best practice model to optimise the transfer of funds (the transfer funding process) between funders and service providers in the public sector. Using ideas about best practice in a specific context, the Health environment, it investigates the perceptions of managers about the transfer of funds between the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the Local Authority of the City of Cape Town, the existence of a formula that will indicate appropriate amounts to transfer to service providers, and how information systems might assist with the process and the formula. / South Africa