Internationella händelser såsom 11 september och tsunamikatastrofen har förändrat förutsättningarna för resebranschen på många sätt. Bland annat har ett ökat säkerhetstänkande hos resenärer manat fram ett paradigmskifte gällande synen på krishantering. Syftet med denna uppsats är att öka förståelsen för och kartlägga hur en medelstor resebyrå hanterade den internationella kris som uppkom i samband med tsunamikatastrofen. De förutsättningar som gäller för utarbetandet av en god krishanteringsplan beskrivs och förslag ges på hur företaget bör arbeta i framtiden när det gäller krishantering. Forskningsbidraget med denna uppsats blir således att utifrån ett organisatoriskt perspektiv undersöka i vilken mån en krishanteringsplan förbättrar förutsättningarna för krishantering. Undersökningen har genomförts i form av en fallstudie, där tillvägagångssättet varit en kvalitativ ansats. Den teoretiska syntesen utgörs av The Best Practice Model med utgångspunkt från krisers olika stadier. Den empiri som ligger till grund för analysarbetet är av primär karaktär och har samlats in genom intervjuer med nyckelpersoner på resebyrån Resecity. Det framgick att företaget lyckades väl med att hantera krisen som uppkom i samband med tsunamikatastrofen, trots att man inte hade en nedskriven krishanteringsplan. De lärdomar som drogs från denna internationella kris var bland annat erfarenheterna som katastrofen bidrog med, samt att de anställda blev mer känslomässigt förberedda inför framtida kriser. De slutsatser som författarna kom fram till är att företaget bör formalisera den nuvarande muntliga krishanteringsplanen samt att företaget bör överväga att inkludera scenarioplanering i krishanteringsarbetet. Detta för att öka den positiva reaktionsförväntan som anses avgörande för effektiv krishantering. / International events such as the terror attacks of 9/11 and the tsunami disaster have changed what people think about travelling. An increased awareness of one’s own safety has brought forward a paradigm shift within the travelling industry regarding crisis management. The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding and describe how a mid sized travelling agency dealt with the international crisis that arose as a cause of the tsunami disaster. The prerequisite concerning the process of developing a good crisis management plan is described, and advice is given on how the organisation should work with crisis management in the future. On the basis of the empirical data, it was concluded that the organisation managed well in coping with the tsunami disaster, despite not having a formal crisis management plan. The experience gained during this crisis is considered to be the foremost lesson learnt. The authors’ recommendations for the organisation are to formalise their crisis management plan, as soon as possible, and also consider incorporating scenario planning. This aims to increase the so called positive expectational ability to react, which is considered important for efficient crisis management.

Constructing the genomic median of several given genomes is crucial in developing evolutionary trees, since the genomic median provides an estimate for the ordering of the genes in a common ancestor of the given genomes. This is due to the fact that the content of DNA molecules is often similar, but the difference is mainly in the order in which the genes appear in various genomes. The mutations that affect this ordering are called genome rearrangements, and many structural differences between genomes can be studied using genome rearrangements. In this thesis our main focus is on applying combinatorial optimization techniques to genomic median problems, with particular emphasis on the breakpoint distance as a measure of the difference between two genomes. We will study different variations of the breakpoint median problem from signed to unsigned, unichromosomal to multichromosomal, and linear to circular to mixed. We show how these median problems can be formulated in terms of problems in combinatorial optimization, and take advantage of well-known combinatorial optimization techniques and apply these powerful methods to study various median problems. Some of these median problems are polynomial and many are NP-hard. We find efficient algorithms and approximation methods for median problems based on well-known combinatorial optimization structures. The focus is on algorithmic and combinatorial aspects of genomic medians, and how they can be utilized to obtain optimal median solutions.

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.

Constructing the genomic median of several given genomes is crucial in developing evolutionary trees, since the genomic median provides an estimate for the ordering of the genes in a common ancestor of the given genomes. This is due to the fact that the content of DNA molecules is often similar, but the difference is mainly in the order in which the genes appear in various genomes. The mutations that affect this ordering are called genome rearrangements, and many structural differences between genomes can be studied using genome rearrangements. In this thesis our main focus is on applying combinatorial optimization techniques to genomic median problems, with particular emphasis on the breakpoint distance as a measure of the difference between two genomes. We will study different variations of the breakpoint median problem from signed to unsigned, unichromosomal to multichromosomal, and linear to circular to mixed. We show how these median problems can be formulated in terms of problems in combinatorial optimization, and take advantage of well-known combinatorial optimization techniques and apply these powerful methods to study various median problems. Some of these median problems are polynomial and many are NP-hard. We find efficient algorithms and approximation methods for median problems based on well-known combinatorial optimization structures. The focus is on algorithmic and combinatorial aspects of genomic medians, and how they can be utilized to obtain optimal median solutions.

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.

To connect different electrical, network and data devices with the minimum cost and shortest path, is a complex job. In huge buildings, where the devices are placed at different locations on different floors and only some specific routes are available to pass the cables and buses, the shortest path search becomes more complex. The aim of this thesis project is, to develop an application which indentifies the best path to connect all objects or devices by following the specific routes.To address the above issue we adopted three algorithms Greedy Algorithm, Simulated Annealing and Exhaustive search and analyzed their results. The given problem is similar to Travelling Salesman Problem. Exhaustive search is a best algorithm to solve this problem as it checks each and every possibility and give the accurate result but it is an impractical solution because of huge time consumption. If no. of objects increased from 12 it takes hours to search the shortest path. Simulated annealing is emerged with some promising results with lower time cost. As of probabilistic nature, Simulated annealing could be non optimal but it gives a near optimal solution in a reasonable duration. Greedy algorithm is not a good choice for this problem. So, simulated annealing is proved best algorithm for this problem. The project has been implemented in C-language which takes input and store output in an Excel Workbook

The thesis discusses the backpacking culture in Ecuador. It proposes a clarification of the issue and discusses the problem from two perspectives. Questions are raised about the backpacking identity, the backpacking travel style and how they use given facilities in the host country. The work focuses and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the destination through the lens of a backpacker. The empirical material is taken from intensive interviews conducted in Ecuador. A discussion reviews the backpacking identity, how and why backpackers travel; and the backpacker’s opinion about sustainable tourism in South America. In addition, the thesis concentrates on the travellers’ finances and how they prepare for an extended journey.

Because of the need to move large amounts of data effienciently, optical based communications are a critical component of modern telecommunications. And as a key enabler of optical communications, electrical components play a critical role in optical data links. Optoelectronic integrated circuits provide the bridge between the optical and electrical realms. Electronic integrated circuits are also integral parts of the optical link, interfacing with post processing circuitry and compensating for any limitations along the link. In this investigation, three circuits for optical data link applications are studied. Two optoelectronic integrated circuit front-ends for freespace and long haul applications, respectively and an active filter for near end cross talk cancellation associated with high data rate transmission. The first circuit is an 8x8 monolithic receiver array for a Spatial Division Multiplexing optical link. A compact and low power 8x8 array was designed and demonstrated a channel that received data at rates of 1Gb/s. It is the first completely monolithic demonstration of a 2D receiver array within a conventional ion implanted GaAs MESFET process. The second circuit demonstrated a long wavelength (1.55 m) optoelectronic receiver for long haul applications. The circuit utilized a TWA topology, which maximizes the available bandwidth from the GaAs MESFET process. It incorporated a thin-film inverted MSM photodetector to achieve nearly monolithic integration. The final circuit is a tunable high pass active filter in 0.18 m CMOS technology. As part of a NEXT noise canceller architecture, it will provide the means to extend data transmission in FR-4 legacy backplanes into the tens of Gb/s datarate.

This study is an attempt to explore the multifarious aspects of Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Ammunition Transfer System (ATS) is the electro-mechanical system of the Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (ARV) which will be used to meet T-155 mm Firtina howitzers&rsquo / ammunition demand for tactical requirements of higher firing rate by off-road mobility and survivability. The transfer of ammunitions from ARV to Firtina is to be optimized for an effective improvement of firing rate. In this thesis the transferring order of carried ammunitions is being optimized to minimize the total ammunition transferring time. This transfer problem is modeled as a modification of Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP). The given locations of the ammunitions are treated as cities to be visited and the gripper of ATS is treated as the traveling salesman. By GAMS / the small-size problems are solved optimally but large-size ones get only local optimum. A heuristic algorithm that contains nearest neighbor heuristics as construction method and 2-opt exchange heuristic as improvement method is developed to obtain same or better solutions obtained by GAMS with less computational time.