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Video traffic constitutes a major part of the Internet traffic nowadays. Yet most video delivery services remain best-effort, relying on server bandwidth over-provisioning to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS). Cloud computing is changing the way that video services are offered, enabling elastic and efficient resource allocation through auto-scaling. In this thesis, we propose a new framework of cloud workload management for multimedia delivery services, incorporating demand forecast, predictive resource allocation and quality assurance, as well as resource pricing as inter-dependent components. Based on the trace analysis of a production Video-on-Demand (VoD) system, we propose time-series techniques to predict video bandwidth demand from online monitoring, and determine bandwidth reservations from multiple data centers and the related load direction policy. We further study how such quality-guaranteed cloud services should be priced, in both a game theoretical model and an optimization model.Particularly, when multiple video providers coexist to use cloud resources, we use pricing to control resource allocation in order to maximize the aggregate network utility, which is a standard network utility maximization (NUM) problem with coupled objectives. We propose a novel class of iterative distributed solutions to such problems with a simple economic interpretation of pricing. The method proves to be more efficient than the conventional approach of dual decomposition and gradient methods for large-scale systems, both in theory and in trace-driven simulations.

Video traffic constitutes a major part of the Internet traffic nowadays. Yet most video delivery services remain best-effort, relying on server bandwidth over-provisioning to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS). Cloud computing is changing the way that video services are offered, enabling elastic and efficient resource allocation through auto-scaling. In this thesis, we propose a new framework of cloud workload management for multimedia delivery services, incorporating demand forecast, predictive resource allocation and quality assurance, as well as resource pricing as inter-dependent components. Based on the trace analysis of a production Video-on-Demand (VoD) system, we propose time-series techniques to predict video bandwidth demand from online monitoring, and determine bandwidth reservations from multiple data centers and the related load direction policy. We further study how such quality-guaranteed cloud services should be priced, in both a game theoretical model and an optimization model.Particularly, when multiple video providers coexist to use cloud resources, we use pricing to control resource allocation in order to maximize the aggregate network utility, which is a standard network utility maximization (NUM) problem with coupled objectives. We propose a novel class of iterative distributed solutions to such problems with a simple economic interpretation of pricing. The method proves to be more efficient than the conventional approach of dual decomposition and gradient methods for large-scale systems, both in theory and in trace-driven simulations.

Recognised as an excellent tool for competition in the current liberalised framework of international air transport, code-sharing is becoming a common practice, as an integral part of the activity of an airline, with obvious implications for both airlines and passengers. / This thesis presents two predominant legal implications of such a practice, involving two carriers for a single flight: the contracting carrier and the operating carrier. / First, this study aims at examining the relationship between users/passengers and code-share partners, more particularly identifying the practice as misleading due to the non-disclosure of the actual operator of the flight, which is magnified by the inaccuracy and shortcomings of computerised reservation systems (CRS). The regulatory framework in this regard is described and the legal obligation to disclose the identity of the actual carrier is given top priority. The delimitation of operational responsibilities will also be addressed (inadmissible passengers, overbooking and baggage concerns). The private agreement between the code-share partners will be given importance in ascertaining the liability issues. / Second, the current international liability regime is analysed with a view to consider the code-sharing scenario. The potential conflict between the different international legal regimes governing air carriers' liability is highlighted in order that this aspect be taken into account by the code-share partners in their contractual agreement. / Last but not least, some provisions of the new Montreal Convention of 28 May 1999 will be examined. A closer look will be given specifically to those provisions of Chapter V that are particularly applicable to a code-sharing situation.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the current status of healthcare delivery on American Indian reservations. In particular, the study sought to determine if the Indian Health Service was actually meeting its goals in delivering healthcare to American Indians, and if not, were there alternatives to public medicine for healthcare? The Indian Health Service has not met its own goals in delivering healthcare, and private medicine in the form of private practicing physicians and other medical personnel have filled the void left by the Indian Health Service. The study also discusses the possibility of private medicine being the only realistic alternative in the future for Indian healthcare delivery.

This study challenges a popular Canadian national myth that characterizes Settlers as "benevolent" peacemakers - not perpetrators of violence in our relations with Indigenous peoples. I trace this foundational myth from its historical roots in 19th century treatymaking to a contemporary discourse of reconciliation that purports to be transformative, but simply perpetuates colonial relations. I argue that Settler violence against Indigenous peoples is woven into the fabric of Canada's national history in an unbroken thread from past to present that we must "unsettle" and "restory." making substantive space for Indigenous history: counternarratives of diplomacy, law and peacemaking practices, on transformative pathways to decolonizing Canada. This requires a better understanding of what role myth, ritual and history play in perpetuating or transforming Indigenous-Settler conflict. I propose a pedagogical strategy for "unsettling the Settler within" to explore the unsettling, potentially decolonizing and transformative power of testimony in public acts of restitution, apology. truth-telling and remembrance; and restorying- the making of space for Indigenous history. diplomacy. law, and peacemaking practices enacted in story, ceremony and ritual. I suggest that Settlers must confront our real identity as perpetrators - a deeply unsettling task. Dislodging the false premise of the benevolent peacemaker myth requires a paradigm shift that moves Settlers from a culture of denial that is the hallmark of perpetrators of violence towards an ethics of recognition that guides our attempts to become authentic peacemakers and Indigenous allies. The study mirrors this process. linking theory to my own critical. reflective practice. I critique reconciliation discourse in a case study of Canada's approach to settling Indian residential school claims. I describe my personal experience in an apology feast held for Gitxsan residential school survivors as an example of unsettling the Settler within and restorying that, despite its specificity, has broader applicability for designing truth-telling and reconciliation processes.

This paper studies airline customers' online search and purchase behaviors. Two fundamental aspects of online behavior are examined: (1) the link between search behavior and buying behavior and (2) the evolution of inter-temporal search and purchase decisions of strategic buyers. In the first study, we examine online customers' dynamic conversion behaviors using clickstream data. A new model based on Markov chains that incorporates discrete choices and decision-timing is proposed to capture key search effects on consumer decisions as well as dynamics of browsing behavior both within and across visits. Empirical results show that within-site search activities lead to strong consumer engagement and thus increase purchase and revisit propensities. Fit comparison between first and second order Markov chains allows us to conclude that consumer decisions are primarily influenced by the current search. Furthermore, we observe that consumers dynamically adjust their browsing behavior both within and across visits. The second study investigates the evolution of inter-temporal search and purchase decisions of strategic buyers. Risk neutral buyers follow simple behavioral rules based on future and current prices and options available. We show that the trade-off between waiting and purchasing will become less and less favorable to waiting. Price elasticity should therefore drop as departure date approaches. With stationary price distributions, search and purchase efforts increase with proximity to the deadline. We extend the base model to allow for price evolution and demand uncertainty. We find that increases in mean price and price dispersion may attenuate increasing propensities for search and purchase. We demonstrate our models through a logit estimation on a unique data set from a major online travel agency.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.