Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Current Trends and Future Directions'

This thesis is an analysis of Public Private Partnership (PPP). PPP refers to the provision of public assets and service through the participation of the government, the private sector and the consumers. The purpose is to analyze the main risks involved in a PPP initiative and to understand how they affect its capital structure. To this aim, different datasets have been analyzed in order to trace consistent and coherent lessons. After that, this thesis aims at proposing PPP models for innovative project in the Smart City context, based on the assumption that innovative financial schemes can fit innovative projects. In particular several PPPs for Smart City projects have been analyzed and a Project Finance contract for the replacement of traffic light lamps has been proposed so that the applicability of the financial tool in new fields of application have been tested. The success of a PF initiative is strictly related to a careful analysis of all the risks associated with the project. As a matter of fact, many risks could occur during the life of the project and they can significantly affect its outcomes. For this reason risks have been categorized in sources and associated to their indicators. For each indicator, several parameters have been identified. The main sources of risk are Country, Financial, Market and Construction. First a dataset of worldwide toll road has been analyzed. The private concessionaire that constructs the infrastructure collects revenues generated by users, and the infrastructure by itself represents a solid collateral. The analysis highlights that inflation rate, the investment size, the construction duration, the financial strength of the Special Purpose Vehicle and the number of partners has a significant influence with the share of the equity into the total investment. This study might help the purpose of providing better opportunities for sponsors to improve the equity profitability and for lending agencies to better handle with risks associated with the debt supply. The analysis has been then focused on the British market, which is one of the most important ones and wherein the Project Finance is actually developed and the legislative context is well defined. Based on the idea that the Unitary Charge (UC) periodically corresponded by the public authority (and in turn the capital structure) is associated with the project risk profile, the study investigates risks that might have significant impacts on the UC of a PF hospital project. The study demonstrates that it is possible to achieve a higher level of Value for Money (VFM) in PF hospital projects within a good economic and political environment. In Italy the PF market has rapidly grown, in light of the need for the public sector to find a feasible way to construct or renovate infrastructures in a context of scarce public finance. Based on past projects developed in Italy an empirical analysis has been carried out in order to identify the main aspects that can impact on the success of a PF initiative. As a matter of fact, evidence has shown that not all the projects appear to fit for PF, and often a project fails to go further out of the early contract procurement phases. Therefore, there is the need to understand what are the key factors affecting the construction of a PF initiative. The study shows that large-sized projects developed in wealthy conditions in terms of political and economic stability and levels of GDP, have good chances to be constructed, especially whenever the time is given to parties to negotiate the contract provision. The analysis provides with a hint for policy makers to learn that PF is a valuable system to be used in stable and developed environments for large projects with little time pressure. PF mechanism was launched in Italy in 1999 and after ten years the Italian market is the second largest one in Europe, especially in the healthcare sector. However, financially freestanding privately-funded PF hospitals are rare and the capital structure of most projects requires a considerable share of public funding. The most proper amount of money invested by the public authority should cover the non-self-financing (and therefore the riskier ones) of the investment costs, but it often happens that the level of public contribution exceeds this limit. The results of the analysis highlight that the financial strength of the SPV, the number of services that are granted to the private partners, the level of borrowing of the public authority, and the duration of the concession period appear to be significant factors of the public fraction of financing required to deliver the project. These results originate some important considerations about the relevance of risks in the development of PF initiatives. PF better fits in stable politic and economic environments, but at the same time it is largely adopted in emerging countries with large demand of new infrastructures and high level of risk (in terms of level of transparency, corruptions, currency exchange). From a financial perspective a robust SPV is likely to better deal with the project with a positive impact on the capital structure. The market risk is associated with the number of customers that exploit the facility and the number of services that privates manage. If the demand of services is not enough to generate sustainable profits, the public party could reimburse an additional fee, in order to cover for this risk. The project risk is mainly related to the complexity of the project in terms of the number of partners in the SPV and the investment size. The last part of the thesis is associated to the future and potential scenarios associated to PF and more in general to PPP scheme. In fact the aim is to propose PPP models in the smart city (SC) arena, a promising field of innovation and investments. SC appears to be as a new paradigm to carry out innovation that marks a shift between traditional way of completing technology-push processes and the new approach based on the user’s needs. In this political and economic scenario, the PPP seems to be a solution for the development of smart projects and the design of PPP models should become an integral part of the SC agendas. As demonstrated in the development of traditional infrastructure, the involvement of privates allows to manage more efficiently the project.The analysis shows that PF is more applicable in case of projects with tangible assets, and the main strength of this scheme is the clear separation between the cash flows of the SPV and the cash flows of the investors. On the contrary, PF is more expensive in terms of contractual and transactional costs. These aspects related to PF have fostered to develop a proposal model for the application of this financial scheme in the Municipality of Torino. In particular the project is based on the replacement of the traditional lamps of the traffic lights with new ones exploiting the innovative LED technology that is supposed to guarantee savings in terms of energy consumption and maintenance cost. The project has proved to be bankable and profitable if the Public Authority corresponds a fee that includes both the availability of the lamps and the maintenance costs for ten years. On the contrary the project is only bankable and profits are not guaranteed if the fee paid by the public is only associated with the availability. The findings have validated the applicability of PF even in case of projects without assets systems as collateral and with small-medium investments size. Some first general guidelines for the policy maker are provided in order to foster the development of SC initiative even in a period of financial public shortage. Project Finance, and more in general the PPP, can be the engine of an efficient exploitation of the potentiality offered by the SC.

Environmental changes significantly impact health behavior. Active travel behavior is mostly affected by increasing motorization, urban sprawl, and traffic safety. Especially for children, active and independent travel can contribute to physical activity, social and motor development, and other health-related outcomes. A reduced number of children engaging in independent mobility over the last 20 years demanded researchers to further examine the construct of children’s independent mobility. By examining relevant literature, this narrative review aims to provide the current state of knowledge on children’s independent mobility, and identify future directions in research, as well as practical implications. From a public health perspective, considering children’s independent mobility in intervention programs is recommended, since it is associated with numerous health and environmental benefits. To develop interventions, multilevel socio-ecological influences on children’s independent mobility are widely examined; however, evidence is limited due to heterogeneous measurements and a lack of high-quality prospective studies. To oppose the decline in children’s independent mobility, further analysis using comparable measures is needed to understand the determinants of children’s independent mobility and to enable international comparison.

The past century has witnessed significant developments in the field of Performance Measurement Systems (PMSs) in a wide range of disciplines, such as business management, engineering and computer science. Since 2007, PMSs have emerged in the Building Information Modelling (BIM) domain, with at least sixteen BIM Assessment Methods (BIM-AMs) developed to date, in both academia and industry. The need for BIM-AMs has been widely recognised, since they help businesses to track their progress of BIM Implementation and compare their capabilities against other companies. But despite these recent developments, BIM-AMs still face some fundamental challenges, in particular the way most assessments still rely on qualitative and subjective judgements, raising questions over accuracy, practicality and validation. This research presents a new approach to BIM-AMs and combines theory with practice. On the theoretical side, the thesis starts with a comparative overview of current Assessment Methods (AMs) to explore their various characteristic including what they evaluate (projects, organisations, teams or individuals), their range of measures and the way in which they communicate results. On the practical side, three AMs are applied to real case study projects in association with multiple Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) companies. This combination of theory and practice expands and challenges what is currently known about BIM-AMs. It offers a solid foundation to build more in-depth research on BIM measurement. In order to optimise the current AMs, an automated plug-in is developed to measure the Level of Detail of model elements. The automation of BIM assessment is shown to have the potential to deliver less qualitative, more objective and practical approaches of assessment. It has the potential to turn subjective and qualitative measures into quantifiable and objective data and provides fast and user-friendly assessment for the AEC businesses. The positive impact of BIM-AMs has been recognised by academics, professionals and policy-makers. Existing AMs have contributed enormously to the field of BIM assessment, but they will only lead to sharper and more efficient businesses if coupled with automation in evaluation and innovation in choosing appropriate measures.

The diploma thesis is committed to mapping CRM applications available in cloud and trends within. The goal is to describe what CRM is, how it evolved into Cloud CRM, analyze main differences between the two approaches and analyze trends that can be observed in CRM market and CRM applications. This is coupled with description of the most common CRM solutions and products available both on-premises as well as on-demand. In the first part, the thesis introduces theory behind Customer Relationship Management and its different understanding by various authors. It also describes the most common functionality of CRM. The second part explores the world of CRM application, characterizing infrastructure behind, deployment models, access options, licensing models and technology. In the next part the three on-premise solutions -- Oracle Siebel, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SAP 360 Customer are described in terms of their look and feel, functionality, social and mobile CRM capabilities and pricing. The next part finally deals with CRM in the form of Cloud, introduces the term cloud computing, clarifies when cloud is the right choice and generally compares costs of running CRM on-demand and on-premise. This is followed by trends description on CRM market and functionality. The last chapter describes two cloud CRM solutions for each of the enterprise, medium and small company target segments.

Mindfulness, “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment and non judgementally to the unfolding of experience” (Kabat-Zinn, 2003; p.145) is associated with improved well-being, cognitive functioning and distress in a range of chronic disorders in adults and is additionally becoming more prevalent in the treatment of a number of clinical difficulties in young people, such as anxiety and ADHD. Evidence suggests mindfulness may promote young people’s social and emotional functioning and academic performance. This has led to a growing interest in teaching mindfulness in schools to children and adolescents who do not have clinical diagnoses, where it is possible to use mindfulness in a universal, proactive way, to increase well-being and resilience in the face of potential challenges, rather than having a reactive focus on the alleviation of symptoms and problem behaviours. As with any emerging intervention, examining whether it works must be considered alongside the question of why it works. Focusing on mindfulness training delivered in schools, this paper updates a preliminary review (Burke, 2010) examining the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions delivered to children and adolescents, and provides an initial exploration of the possible underlying mechanisms of change facilitated by mindfulness in young people (e.g. relaxation, metacognitive awareness). There is increasing evidence to suggest that mindfulness training has a positive impact on a range of outcomes, however methodological issues remain and outcomes are less well established for some young people, for example adolescents in typical secondary settings. The review is therefore followed by a study that aimed to evaluate the effects of the ‘.b’ (Stop-Breathe-Be) mindfulness course on early adolescents’ well-being and academic functioning. 120 11 to 12 year olds from a mainstream secondary school took part in the intervention or control groups. Following the eight-week ‘.b’ course, as hypothesised, participants in the intervention group (N=72) demonstrated increased resilience and improved experience of stress, as well as improved inattentive behaviour (as rated by teachers) compared to passive control group participants (N=48). There were no significant differences between groups on measures of mindfulness, aggressive behaviour or academic achievement. Implications for teaching mindfulness in schools are discussed.

Antiretroviral drugs are fundamental to the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), effectively inhibiting viral replication, the emergence of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and subsequent mortality. Combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) is the cornerstone of HIV treatment, and has been adopted by agencies around the world. An estimated 18.2 million individuals accessed cART worldwide in 2016. However, HIV drug resistance to cART leads to ineffective HIV treatment, is associated with AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, and the potential onward transmission of drug resistant HIV strains. Since cART became available in BC in the mid-1990s, antiretroviral drugs and clinical guidelines for HIV management have evolved to reflect best practices. Over the past two decades, genetic testing for HIV drug resistance has become an important tool for HIV care. Next generation massively parallel sequencing has proven to be a powerful sequencing tool rivaling the gold standard Sanger sequencing method, however it is not yet widely adopted for HIV-related genetic testing in BC. There are three primary objectives discussed in this thesis: 1) identification of long-term trends in transmitted and acquired HIV drug resistance in BC, Canada; 2) determination of sociodemographic covariates of drug resistance development and testing uptake; and 3) validation and application of an HIV-related next generation sequencing (NGS) assay for abacavir hypersensitivity screening. Prevalence data of acquired and transmitted drug resistance over the past two decades are presented. Acquired resistance was examined in further detail in order to assess the effect of therapy duration on drug resistance, as well as temporal effects and other factors. Covariates of acquired drug resistance were also examined over calendar time, with a particular focus on adherence to treatment regimens, including sociodemographic predictive factors, as well as sociodemographic covariates of resistance testing uptake. After characterizing historical trends of drug resistance, a glimpse at the future of HIV-related genetic testing is presented: an NGS assay for abacavir hypersensitivity screening was validated and applied as a proof of principle on the Illumina MiSeq platform. This assay was shown to be highly accurate and reliable, providing higher resolution sequencing compared to currently used methods, and expediting testing.<br>Medicine, Faculty of<br>Experimental Medicine, Division of<br>Medicine, Department of<br>Graduate

Yes<br>This paper defines concepts of capacity and capacity development for agricultural water management, and particularly the contributions made by ICID in this area in the recent past. Working from a theoretical framework of overlapping domains of capacity development ¿ the enabling environment, the organisational and the individual domains, with knowledge management as a cross-cutting theme ¿ the paper reviews previous work in the field and then summarises a range of case studies from the sector which illuminate key aspects of these different domains. The paper notes the need to accommodate a rapidly-changing context for agricultural water management to take account of the increasing demand for water resources in all sectors, and the consequent requirement for support of new approaches to capacity development. These new approaches emphasise the growing importance of authentic knowledge, internally-generated learning and self-development, whether at the level of the organisation or the individual. The paper also recognises the need for continuing and long-term support of capacity development, particularly in processes of organisational and institutional change, where there is no single set of guidelines or practices which will fit every situation. Specific directions for future work are suggested, including increased attention to monitoring and evaluation of capacity development, and closer links to emerging work on water governance.<br>None

As more and more output from research institutions is born digital, a means for capturing and preserving the results of this investment is required. To begin to understand and address the problems surrounding this task, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories collaborated with MIT Libraries over two years to develop DSpace, an open source institutional repository software system. This paper describes DSpace in the context of the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) reference model. Particular attention is given to the preservation aspects of DSpace, and the current status of the DSpace system with respect to addressing these aspects. The reasons for various design decisions and trade-offs that were necessary to develop the system in a timely manner are given, and directions for future development are explored. While DSpace is not yet a complete solution to the problem of preserving digital research output, it is a production-capable system, represents a significant step forward, and is an excellent platform for future research and development.

Cooperation has been identified as an essential requirement for the strategic performance of air transport organisations. From an academic perspective, the debate on theory and practice of such cooperation mainly centres on questions regarding aspects of the increasingly strategic alliances among airlines. Recent developments in the air navigation service (ANS) industry, point towards a new organisational philosophy for ANS provision, which would incorporate the concept of international cooperation. This research shifts the focus and expands the growing body of knowledge in air transport cooperation, by exploring comprehensively, from ~a strategic management perspective, the area of cooperation involving air-navigation service providers (ANSPS), which potentially could improve service provision and reduce costs -in the future. The research presented in this thesis follows a conceptual path, beginning with, an analysis of air transport cooperation literature in great detail, to extract lessons applicable for ANSPS in their quest to cooperate. The ANS business model and its a international regulatory environment are .examined comprehensively to get an overview of how these are evolving and discover the underlying traits. From a empirical perspective, findings of two consecutive questionnaire surveys performed on ANSPs are presented, to develop insights into and understanding of, the current status and the future direction of cooperation in the key areas of ANS and cooperation between ANSPs and their industry partners. Having identified the future direction of cooperation, together with a critical review of the associated drivers and barriers to cooperation, enables the research, to develop solution methods in the form of recommendations to the stakeholders on how to enhance cooperation in ANS. The findings indicate conclusively that future progress is dependent on the scale and dynamics of the ANS industry, including the strategies ANSPs employ to interact with the regulatory and public bodies. Furthermore, cooperation to date has been driven by operational requirements to improve operational efficiency. Strategic cooperation does not come naturally° but is now being driven by commercialisation objectives -and is supported in 'Europe by changes in the regulatory framework. Where cooperation is likely to significantly impact the core business there are still significant issues outside the control of the ANSPS, and which require intervention from political and other stakeholders to collectively devise a outcome. This research highlights that standardisation is a key strategic issue for the industry as' more benefits and intense' cooperation can be expected, after standardisation is achieved in procedures, technology, air traffic control training content and safety management system product. To investigate another interesting aspect of this research, the European air traffic management (ATM) was examined in order to compare it with the South East (SE) Asia ATM situation. To support the point, that cross border rationalisation initiatives require a related business case as a complementary planning tool to build an economic argument against political barriers, this research developed a comprehensive sample business case methodology incorporating a quantitative cost benefit analysis which was used to validate the recommendation that SE Asian ANSPS consolidate the entire regions CNS infrastructure into a Regional CNS Organisation.

Cooperation has been identified as an essential requirement for the strategic performance of air transport organisations. From an academic perspective, the debate on theory and practice of such cooperation mainly centres on questions regarding aspects of the increasingly strategic alliances among airlines. Recent developments in the air navigation service (ANS) industry, point towards a new organisational philosophy for ANS provision, which would incorporate the concept of international cooperation. This research shifts the focus and expands the growing body of knowledge in air transport cooperation, by exploring comprehensively, from ~a strategic management perspective, the area of cooperation involving air-navigation service providers (ANSPS), which potentially could improve service provision and reduce costs -in the future. The research presented in this thesis follows a conceptual path, beginning with, an analysis of air transport cooperation literature in great detail, to extract lessons applicable for ANSPS in their quest to cooperate. The ANS business model and its a international regulatory environment are .examined comprehensively to get an overview of how these are evolving and discover the underlying traits. From a empirical perspective, findings of two consecutive questionnaire surveys performed on ANSPs are presented, to develop insights into and understanding of, the current status and the future direction of cooperation in the key areas of ANS and cooperation between ANSPs and their industry partners. Having identified the future direction of cooperation, together with a critical review of the associated drivers and barriers to cooperation, enables the research, to develop solution methods in the form of recommendations to the stakeholders on how to enhance cooperation in ANS. The findings indicate conclusively that future progress is dependent on the scale and dynamics of the ANS industry, including the strategies ANSPs employ to interact with the regulatory and public bodies. Furthermore, cooperation to date has been driven by operational requirements to improve operational efficiency. Strategic cooperation does not come naturally° but is now being driven by commercialisation objectives -and is supported in 'Europe by changes in the regulatory framework. Where cooperation is likely to significantly impact the core business there are still significant issues outside the control of the ANSPS, and which require intervention from political and other stakeholders to collectively devise a outcome. This research highlights that standardisation is a key strategic issue for the industry as' more benefits and intense' cooperation can be expected, after standardisation is achieved in procedures, technology, air traffic control training content and safety management system product. To investigate another interesting aspect of this research, the European air traffic management (ATM) was examined in order to compare it with the South East (SE) Asia ATM situation. To support the point, that cross border rationalisation initiatives require a related business case as a complementary planning tool to build an economic argument against political barriers, this research developed a comprehensive sample business case methodology incorporating a quantitative cost benefit analysis which was used to validate the recommendation that SE Asian ANSPS consolidate the entire regions CNS infrastructure into a Regional CNS Organisation.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.<br>The lessening of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union have brought about projected reductions in defense spending and attendant manpower drawdowns. However, manpower analysts and policymakers in the Department of Defense and the services' secretariates are faced with frequent changes in world events that portend threats to the interests of the United States. At the same time, the supply and demographic complexion of American youth that is available to fill manpower needs is changing. This thesis examines changing labor force, demographic, and social trends into the early 21st century, focusing on 18 to 24 year-olds-the military's traditional source of accessions. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Defense Manpower Data Center statistics are used, along with recent legislation, to make projections concerning the availability of quality youth for the services' recruiting efforts. Recommendations are made concerning policies to continue attracting and retaining quality personnel for the 'high tech' military of the future.

Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 1990.<br>Thesis Advisor(s): Mehay, Stephen L. ; Eitelberg, Mark J. "December 1990." Description based on title screen as viewed on March 31, 2010. DTIC Identifier(s): Manpower, Military Planning, Military Personnel, Demography, AVF (All Volunteer Force), Accessions, Recruits, Military Forces (United States), Trends, Futurism, Theses. Author(s) subject terms: Youth Labor Force, Demographics, Immigration, Regional Migration, Recruiting, Retention. Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-77). Also available in print.

This paper reviews and summarises the results of selected empirical studies on performance gaps between multinational enterprises and their domestic counterparts. Performance gaps arise in such fields as productivity, profitability, wages, skills, factor intensity and growth. Of central interest is the question to what extent is foreign ownership an explanatory factor of performance gaps? Empirical evidence supports the existence of performance gaps between foreign and domestic firms, yet foreign ownership is a much less important explanatory factor than normally assumed. Structural factors like industry, size and multi-nationality per se are more important. It is argued that such results are broadly consistent with those derived in the literatures on ownership change, on foreign entry and on spillovers. The concluding section discusses the normative issue whether there is a case for investment promotion policies to discriminate between firms on the basis of performance gaps by ownership.<br>Series: Working Papers Series "Growth and Employment in Europe: Sustainability and Competitiveness"

This presentation was given in Session 3.1 on Wednesday, January 7, entitled "Forecasting the Future and Formulating Strategy", at the ALISE 2004 Conference in San Diego, CA. It contains a survey on PhD students in some LIS programs. The research analyzes the population of the students being surveyed: their background before entering a PhD program, their concentrations of research in the program, and their expectations for a job in varied fields. It finds that most of the students are not library science focused. Hopefully, the survey will be able to provide suggestions for LIS programs to reconsider their curricula and training strategies. Two files are presented here. The Powerpoint file (20 slides) is a concise version of the Word file.

This thesis provides a review of 199 papers published on Green IT/IS between 2007&#8722;2014, in order to present taxonomy of segments in Green IT/IS publications, where the segments are later used for multiple analyses to facilitate future research and to provide a retrospective analysis of existing knowledge and gaps thereof. This research also attempts to make a unique contribution to our understanding of Green IT/IS, by consolidating papers it observes current patterns of literature through approach analysis and segmentation, as well as allocating studies to the technology, process, or outcome (TPO) stage. Highlighting the necessity of a consolidated approach, these classification systems have been combined into a TPO matrix so that the studies could be arranged according to which stage of the Green IT/IS cycle they were focused on. We believe that these analyses will provide a solid platform from which future Green IT/IS research can be launched.

This research provides an analysis of the disparate notions and ideas, to form an overview of the possible trends in residential property for the Victorian coastal areas of the Surf Coast and the Bellarine Peninsula. It examines the interaction of the consumers, space producers and infrastructure providers as they are influenced by the three key determinants of the market, the demographic factors, economic conditions and statutory factors. While examining the patterns of urban development on coastal Victoria over the next 20 years, the research also investigates the validity of myths that have emerged concerning the Sea Change experience, the investment market in coastal areas and the adequacy of the relevant infrastructure. The qualitative data used in this research comes from both primary and secondary sources. The primary qualitative and quantitative data was developed on the basis of the responses to a mail out questionnaire to residents from seven towns on the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast and from a number of interviews with local property experts from these areas. The secondary qualitative and quantitative data came from the results of various government surveys, demographers, the press and the census. The main thrust of this research is to answer the question

The purpose of this study was to determine qualifications for the position of librarian as advertised in Chronicle of Higher Education, (February 1991 through May 1991 issues). An assessment of library science catalogs of all schools currently accepting students (n a 58), which are approved by the American Library Association (ALA), was conducted. This assessment included issues relating to faculty, courses, entry and graduation requirements, and distance education. These qualifications of skill and training, as advertised in The Chronicle of Higher Education, were compared to the curricula of currently ALA-approved schools to determine whether library science curricula is supporting the current job market. Study findings of advertised positions in The Chronicle 2! Higher Education included the following: (1) technical computing skills are being requested by the current job market in the areas of online database searching and automation, not programming, and (2) request for experience in supervision points to the need to enhance the managerial aspects of training in library science. There were geographical differences (alpha = .05) in salaries and the availability of positions among these advertisements when compared to the six regions as designated by the ALA. Study findings based upon official catalogs from the 58 responding ALA-accredited library science schools showed no significant differences between library science school programs and regions by the following: (a) computer programming, (b) availability of the M.L.S. as distance education, (c) tuition cost for the M.L.S. program, (d) financial aid availability for the M.L. S., (e) doctoral program availability, (f) availability of the doctorate as distance education, (g) financial aid availability for doctoral education, (h) tuition for doctoral program, (i) Financial aid availability for the doctoral program, (j) Number of years required for doctoral education, (k) Number of course hours required for a doctorate, (l) Computer requirement for a doctorate, (m) Number of faculty degrees from employing school, (n) total number of technical courses offered, and (0) number of joint degrees offered. As a result of this study it is recommended that: (1) Library science schools enhance curricula related to managerial skills, (2) library science school deans explore the possibility of offering joint degrees with business schools which emphasize the non-profit nature of libraries, (3) the American Library Association offer a publicly accessible clearinghouse for nationwide educational opportunities open to librarians, (4) library science school deans cooperatively monitor the current job market on trends including, but not limited to, regional job offerings and salaries, and (5) library science school deans give increased attention to information, or lack thereof, included in school catalogs.

Thesis (S.M. in Ocean Systems Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering; and, (S.M. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering, 1999.<br>Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-98).<br>This thesis is an analysis of the Global Ship-repair market. This subject is of great interest to all involved in the shipping industry, as it is one of the industry's major components. There are many yards that specialize in ship-repair and bear the necessary equipment and facilities to meet shipowners' needs and specifications. The service mix varies though, depending upon the strategic decisions made by the different shipyards so as to optimize their efficiencies. Different shipyards and geographical regions offer different varieties of services and specialization. Thereby, my aim is to define, analyze, and understand the mechanisms of the ship-repair market. To do so, I will first look on the market as a single unit. I will then segment the whole ship-repair industry into geographical regions, analyze them separately, and compare them. Through this process, I shall establish a way for a shipowner to more appropriately choose the shipyard that best meets his needs. So as to carry out the above analysis, I will have to compare the different yards on a common basis. For that purpose, a dry docking specification for an existing 34,000 dwt bulk-carrier vessel was sent to numerous yards around the globe on request for offers. Collecting data was not trouble-free; some shipyards did not respond to our drydocking specification at all, while others did not have free space to facilitate the vessel. After several attempts, more than thirty offers from around the world were aggregated, providing an ample set of data to carry out the necessary calculations. What follows next is a look into the future trends of the ship-repair market.<br>by Pantelis Aristeidis Pittas.<br>S.M.in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering<br>S.M.in Ocean Systems Management

The study examined current and future trends in computer use in elementary school settings. A survey instrument was developed and validated for distribution to a random sample of 200 technology coordinators in the public school districts in the state of Texas from whom 95 responses were received. The survey instrument was used to obtain information about five areas of computer use in elementary schools. These areas are: physical configurations, instructional uses, implementation issues, training and staff development, and Internet use. The study found that all public school districts that participated in the study have acquired computer hardware in their elementary schools. In addition, some other advanced computer technology components are starting to be found in elementary schools, such as teacher workstations, CD-ROM, interactive video, computer multimedia, LCD panels, and laser printers. Respondents reported that elementary school teachers in their districts have incorporated computers into their classrooms as an instructional tool and many changes have occurred in teachers’ teaching styles due to computers. However, there are some problems that hinder the effective use of computers. The major problem is lack of training. A high percentage of respondents, 81.3%, indicated that the majority of their elementary school teachers had completed less than 30 hours of technology related professional development. Another problem was lack of funding which prevents most school districts from acquiring computer hardware and software. Currently, elementary schools in 87% of districts that participated in the study are connected to the Internet and the plan is that by the year 2001 all elementary schools will be connected.

Worldwide demographic transformations occurring in the 21st century entail, among others, the main aspect of population ageing, process bringing about economic, social and political implications and challenges which have been gaining growing attention in recent years. If developed Western countries have experienced this process over a reasonably extended period of time and, consequently, thanks to their favorable economic conditions as well, have had the opportunity of adequately dealing with it in terms of care support provided to elders, for China, the situation has been totally different and more arduous. In fact, due to political, economic, social and cultural factors peculiar to this country, China found itself to cope with an ageing population by means of a limited amount of resources and an inadequate care regime bound to the deep-rooted traditional culture determined by Confucianism. Following the description of the above said factors, this thesis will assert that developments in the system of institutional support to elders in respect of social and long term care have been achieved recently; nevertheless, challenges still hindering the success of such system can be overcome only if positive and effective models and trends lately emerged are pursued in the future on a national basis. A conclusive chapter showing the state of affairs of aged care in the ultra ageing Chinese city of Suzhou will be employed as a demonstration of the findings illustrated in the previous sections.

Few countries have ever had the opportunity to rethink their architectural dogma as abruptly and radically as South Africa since the few years leading up to the democratic elections of 1994. With only a few exceptions, the pre-democratic South African architecture of the 20th century has always lacked a unique identity. But, coinciding with trends towards Critical-Regionalism and ‘green’ initiatives, the emergence of a new South Africa has inspired the profession as a whole to search for new directions.

Thesis (M.S.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1994.<br>Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2890. Abstract precedes thesis as [1] preliminary leaf. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [46]-[56]).

Public institutions own the greater proportion of the world’s forests and wooded areas —about 86%. In general, there are important regional variations of the proportion of state and private or municipal ownership. Recent European studies in the forestry sector show that nearly half of the European Union (EU) forests are publicly owned – around 42%. Considering the importance of forest resources, it is essential to ensure they are used sustainably. National governments and different agreements regulate use of forest resources; however, the actual manager has the greatest responsibility over the exploitation of the resource. Bearing in the mind the ownership structure of the forests in Europe, state forest organizations play an important role in the management of forest resources. This key place is justified by the overall duties they are dealing with and of course by their resourcefulness and significant influence on stakeholders. The future of forests and forestry strongly depends on the direction of state forest organizations development. In fact, the forestry sector has undergone enormous changes in the past decades, but the forest institutions in many countries have been slow to adapt to these changes. Changes in the forest sector normally do not happen quickly, it takes a longer time that in other sectors. The main reasons to explain this fact are that, firstly, investments in forestry may take several generations to yield returns. Secondly, foresters are generally conservative, feeling more comfortable with forest botany rather than with social concerns that prevail forestry nowadays. Therefore, while the demands and expectations of society have changed, the structure of most forest institutions have remained largely unchanged. Despite the conservative mode of most forest institutions, a number of changes have taken place in the sector. Agrawal, Chhatre, and Hardin (2008) state that major features of modern forest governance include decentralization of forest management, logging concessions in publicly owned commercially valuable forests, and timber certification, mainly in temperate forests in the developed world and, additionally privatization of state-owned enterprises. In addition, the rise of labor costs and a decrease in timber prices forced the sector to undertake radical rationalization of production processes. It resulted in intensive mechanization of harvesting and personnel reduction. Despite the importance of state owned forest and the changes it faces, there is little literature about management of state forests, the lack of such literature is particularly palpable in the European countries. Therefore, this work aims to contribute to narrowing the knowledge gap about the topic by clarifying the role of state forest in the EU countries, its status, trends, challenges and opportunities. The work applies a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including a review of reporting system, qualitative, quantitate data analysis, Principal Component Analysis, cluster analysis and case study research. Chapter II of the dissertation investigates the reporting system of State Forest Management Organizations (SFMOs). This chapter explores how SFMOs report about their activities, what kind of information is available and the way they present it to the public. Therefore, the questions of transparency and accountability of State organizations are examined. Chapter III seeks to group SFMOs in the EU according to their management priorities and to see if they are influenced by characteristics of the forest sector of their countries. The existence of different forest management alternatives is essential for sustainable forest management (SFM) and this knowledge should be shared between forest experts, the forest industry, and various interest groups. Chapter IV presents a discussion about a management model of the Cansiglio (CF) forest in Italy (a publicly owned forest) as a case study. In this case, I analyze the main priorities, outcomes and possible scenarios for the future development of this publicly owned forest. In terms of the main findings about the information disclosure of SFMOs, there is the lack of a coordinated reporting framework or a minimum standard of indicators in common use. Comparability between SFMOs is limited due to the use of different indicators, periods and units of measure. Another important focus of the dissertation is the comparative synthesis of different management models of SFMOs; it can be observed that the countries under study show an application of different management priorities and SFMOs apply diverse business strategies. With the help of the cluster analysis, we obtained three SFMOs’ clusters (C1, C2, and C3) and three outliers (O1, O2 and O3). The clusters present different approaches SFMOs use in prioritizing pillars of SFM: C1 has diversified goals, C2 behaves as a protector of public interests and C3 is commercially oriented. This division is partly defined by natural conditions of the country where the organizations are located, but also by the decisions of an organization itself (e.g. profit-oriented in Ireland, a country with a low forest cover and, on the other side, Czech Republic – profit oriented SFMO in the country with a high forest cover). The case study (the Cansiglio forest in Italy, Veneto region) presents a management model of a publicly owned forest with clear objectives and a vision for the next 5-10 years. The CF has diversified goals providing production of timber and social services. Specific attention is given to recreational activities as there is an increased demand from society for ecotourism and outdoor recreation. The management of the forest is performed by the regional administration together with some private actors (e.g. concessioner, logging companies). Among four presented scenarios, the fourth scenario "Long-term forest concessions signed by private enterprises" was evaluated as the most promising. To conclude, SFMOs in Europe have adopted different organizational models in their management. However, they have common tendencies. Among the most notable are (i) they are owned by the state but function as a private unit; (ii) functions of supervision and management are separated and divided between different institutions; (iii) SMFOs often engage the help of private companies to perform some activities; (iv) SFMOs increase attention to the environmental and social pillar of SFM; (v) SFMOs have low level of information disclosure. As the main recommendations to SFMOs, there are two clear priorities: the need to optimize the balance between the three SFM pillars (social, economic and ecological) and also a need for improvement in their reporting systems and communications with the public.<br>Le istituzioni pubbliche sono proprietarie della maggior parte delle foreste e delle altre aree boscate del mondo, circa l’86%. Esistono tuttavia importanti differenze a livello regionale nella proporzione tra proprietà statali, private o comunali. Studi europei nel settore forestale mostrano che quasi la metà delle foreste dell'Unione europea (UE) sono di proprietà pubblica - circa il 42%. Considerando l'importanza delle risorse forestali, è essenziale assicurarne un uso sostenibile. I governi nazionali e diversi accordi intergovernativi regolamentano l'utilizzo delle risorse forestali, tuttavia, sono i gestori forestali che hanno la più alta responsabilità sullo sfruttamento delle risorse forestali. Tenendo presente la struttura fondiaria delle foreste europee, le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali hanno un ruolo importante nella gestione delle risorse forestali. Questa importanza è giustificata dagli impegni globali che hanno assunto e, naturalmente, dalle numerose risorse a disposizione e dall’influenza che hanno sugli stakeholder. Il futuro delle foreste e della gestione forestale dipende quindi fortemente dalla direzione di sviluppo delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali. Il settore forestale ha subito enormi cambiamenti negli ultimi decenni, ma le istituzioni forestali di molti paesi sono state lente ad adattarsi a questi cambiamenti. I cambiamenti nel settore forestale normalmente non sono rapidi e sicuramente sono più lenti che in altri settori. Le ragioni principali per spiegare questo sono diverse. In primo luogo, gli investimenti forestali possono richiedere diverse generazioni per produrre ritorni d’investimento. In secondo luogo, i forestali sono generalmente conservatori, sentendosi più a proprio agio con la botanica forestale piuttosto che con le questioni sociali che prevalgono il settore oggi. Pertanto, mentre le esigenze e le aspettative della società sono cambiate, la struttura della maggior parte dei dipartimenti forestali è rimasta sostanzialmente invariata. Nonostante l’approccio conservativo della maggior parte dei dipartimenti forestali, numerose modifiche hanno avuto luogo nel settore. Agrawal, Chhatre e Hardin (2008) affermano che le principali caratteristiche di una moderna governance forestale includono il decentramento della gestione, concessioni di taglio in foreste pubbliche di alto valore commerciale e la certificazione forestale, soprattutto nelle foreste temperate del mondo sviluppato, oltre alla privatizzazione delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali. In aggiunta, l'aumento del costo del lavoro e la diminuzione dei prezzi del legname hanno costretto il settore a intraprendere una radicale razionalizzazione dei processi produttivi, risultata in intensa meccanizzazione delle utilizzazioni e della riduzione del personale. Nonostante l'importanza delle foreste statali e dei cambiamenti che sta vivendo, c'è una scarsa letteratura scientifica sulla gestione delle foreste statali, e questa mancanza è particolarmente riscontrabile in Europa. Pertanto, questo lavoro mira a contribuire alla riduzione del divario conoscitivo sul tema chiarendo il ruolo delle foreste statali nei paesi dell'UE, il suo status, le tendenze, le sfide e le opportunità. Il lavoro si basa su una combinazione di metodi qualitativi e quantitativi, tra cui una revisione del sistema di reporting, l'analisi quantitativa e qualitativa dei dati, la Principal Component Analysis, l'analisi dei cluster e casi studio. Il capitolo II della tesi esamina il sistema di reporting delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali. Questo capitolo esplora come le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali riportano le loro attività, quali informazioni sono disponibili e il modo in cui le presentano al pubblico. Pertanto, anche le questioni della trasparenza e della responsabilità delle organizzazioni statali sono incluse. Il capitolo III tenta di raggruppare le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali dell'UE in base alle loro priorità e vedere se sono influenzate dalle caratteristiche del settore forestale dei loro paesi. L'esistenza di diverse alternative di gestione forestale è essenziale per una Gestione Forestale Sostenibile e questa conoscenza dovrebbe essere condivisa tra esperti forestali, industria e gruppi di interesse. Il capitolo IV presenta una discussione sul modello di gestione della foresta di Cansiglio in Italia (foresta di proprietà pubblica) come caso di studio. In questo caso, sono analizzate le principali priorità gestionali, i risultati e le direzioni future. Dai principali risultati sulla divulgazione di informazioni delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali, emerge la mancanza di un quadro di reporting coordinato o di uno standard minimo di indicatori di uso comune. La comparabilità tra le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali è tuttavia limitata a causa dei differenti indicatori, periodi e unità di misura. Un altro aspetto importante della tesi è la sintesi comparativa di diversi modelli di gestione delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali; si può osservare che i paesi in esame mostrano un'applicazione di diverse priorità di gestione e le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali applicano diverse strategie di business. Con l'aiuto dell'analisi cluster abbiamo ottenuto tre cluster (C1, C2 e C3) e tre outliers (O1, O2 e O3). I cluster presentano diversi approcci che le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali usano per le priorità dei pilastri della Gestione Forestale Sostenibile: C1 ha obiettivi diversificati, C2 si comporta come protettore di interessi pubblici e C3 è commerciale. Questa divisione è in parte definita dalle condizioni naturali del paese in cui si trovano le organizzazioni, ma anche dalle decisioni dell’organizzazione stessa (ad esempio, da un lato, in Irlanda è orientata al profitto in un paese con una bassa copertura forestale, dall'altro, in Repubblica Ceca, l’organizzazione di gestione delle foreste demaniali è orientata al profitto in un paese con invece un'alta copertura forestale). Il caso studio (foresta del Cansiglio in Italia, regione Veneto) presenta un modello di gestione di una foresta pubblica con traguardi specifici e una prospettiva di sviluppo per i prossimi 5-10 anni. La foresta del Cansiglio si pone diversi obiettivi per la produzione di legname e la fornitura di servizi sociali. Una particolare attenzione è rivolta alle attività ricreative in quanto vi si è creata una crescente domanda da parte della società per l'ecoturismo e la ricreazione all'aperto. La gestione della foresta viene eseguita dall'amministrazione regionale insieme ad alcuni gestori privati (ad esempio concessionari, imprese boschive). Tra i quattro scenari presentati, il quarto scenario "Concessioni forestali a lungo termine firmate da imprese private" è stato valutato come il più promettente. Per concludere, le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali in Europa hanno adottato diversi modelli organizzativi nella loro gestione. Tuttavia, hanno delle tendenze comuni. Tra i più notevoli sono le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali (i) che sono posseduti dallo Stato ma che funzionano come unità privata; (ii) la maggior parte delle quali decide di separare le funzioni di supervisione e di gestione tra le varie istituzioni; (iii) che spesso impegnano l'aiuto di società private per svolgere alcune attività; (iv) che aumentano l'attenzione sul pilastro ambientale e sociale di gestione sostenibile delle foreste; (v) che hanno un basso livello di divulgazione di informazioni. Le prioritarie raccomandazioni per le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali sono due: la necessità di ottimizzare l'equilibrio tra i tre pilastri di gestione sostenibile delle foreste (sociale, economico e ecologico) e di migliorare i propri sistemi di comunicazione con il pubblico.

The aeronautical industry is an area in constant change. The aircraft as a product is evolving, making use, most of the times, of new revolutionary materials and manufacturing processes. At the same time, the global market is expanding quickly and new players are entering the market in increasing competition. At this point, it is, thus important to analyze the options that manufacturers have at their disposal to tackle with this new environment. Having this in mind, this work aimed at assessing the current manufacturing technologies, focused on the biggest part of the aircraft, the airframe, analyzing in particular the application of composite materials and lightweight metal alloys and their implications in production and operations. In this scope, the current state and future trends of materials, environmental sustainability, processes, joining, repairing and inspection methods, are assessed, always from the point of view of the design, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of composite materials and of the lightweight metal alloys, as well as the obstacles to their development and application. When analyzing the future trends in material’s application, a study is presented to quantify those trends for the most important materials in aircraft construction, from which conclusions were derived covering aspects related with the evolution of the mix of materials, in the years to come, in what aircraft construction is concerned, based on historical data from a substantial collection of aircraft data.

The advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have received large attention in recent years and increased awareness has led to massive societal benefits and new opportunities for industries able to capitalize on these emerging technologies. The pulp and paper industry is going through one of the most considerable transformations into Industry 4.0. Integrating AI technology in the manufacturing process of the pulp and paper industry has shown great potential, but there are uncertainties which direction companies are heading. This study is an investigation of the pulp and paper industry in collaboration with IBM that aims to fill a gap between academia and the progress companies are making. More specifically, this thesis is a multiple case study of the current state and barriers of AI technology in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, the future trends and expectations of AI and the way organizations are managing AI initiatives Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 participants from three perspectives and the data was thematically coded. Our analysis shows that the use of AI varies, and companies are primarily experimenting with a still immature technology. Several trends and areas with future potential were identified and it was shown that digital innovation management is highly regarded. We conclude that there are several barriers hindering further use of AI. However, continued progress with AI will provide large benefit long term in areas such as predictive maintenance and process optimization. Several measures taken to support initiatives with AI were identified and discussed. We encourage managers to take appropriate actions in the continued work toward AI integration and encourage further research in the area of potential reworks in R&amp;D.<br>Framgångarna inom Artificiell Intelligens (AI) har fått stor uppmärksamhet de senaste åren och ökad medvetenhet har lett till stora fördelar för samhället liksom nya möjligheter för industrier som tar vara på dessa nya teknologier. Pappers- och massa industrin genomgår en av de mest omfattande transformationerna mot Industri 4.0. Integreringen av AI-teknologi i industrins tillverkningsprocesser has visat stor potential, men också osäkerhet kring vilken riktning företag är på väg mot. Denna studie är en undersökning av den svenska pappers- och massaindustrin, i samarbete med IBM, som syftar till att minska gapet mellan akademin och framstegen företag inom industrin tar. Mer specifikt är denna uppsats en kombinerad fallstudie av det nuvarande läget, barriärerna till AI-teknik i den svenska pappers- och massa industrin, de framtida trenderna och förväntningarna på AI och metoderna företag använder för att stötta AI-initiativ. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med 11 deltagare från tre olika perspektiv och datan var tematiskt kodad. Vår analys visar att användning av AI varierar och företag experimenterar huvudsakligen med omogen teknik. Flera trender och områden med potential för framtiden identifierades och det visades att digital innovationshantering är högt ansedd. Vi sammanfattar med att det finns flera barriärer som hindrar fortsatt användning av AI. Fortsatt arbete med AI-tekniken kommer leda till stora fördelar på lång sikt inom områden som prediktivt underhåll och fortsatt processoptimering. Flera åtgärder för att stötta AI-initiativ var identifierade och diskuterades. Vi uppmuntrar industrin att genomföra lämpliga åtgärder i det fortsatta arbetet mot AI-integration och uppmuntrar fortsatt forskning inom potentiella omstruktureringar inom FoU.

The aim of this thesis was to examine the evidence for physiotherapy intervention for children with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is the most common activity limiting disability in children and adolescents with the incidence being approximately 2-3 per 1,000 live births worldwide. The severity of cerebral palsy is highly variable, but inevitably results in some degree of activity limitation due to motor impairment. However, from the physiotherapist’s point of view the presence of motor impairments – and the subsequent effect that these impairments have on a child’s activity and participation – is the most relevant for intervention. Therefore, determining the most effective form of physiotherapy intervention to address motor impairment, to promote physical activity and enable community participation is an important issue. Four studies were undertaken in this thesis. The first study was a summary of systematic reviews of physiotherapy intervention for children with cerebral palsy and was conducted in order to identify the evidence located on electronic databases. This study found evidence for six physiotherapy interventions – casting, physiotherapy intervention in conjunction with botulinum toxin type-A, electrical stimulation, constraint-induced movement therapy, strength training and cardiorespiratory training. However, the evidence for the effect of intervention was equivocal due to the small numbers of randomised controlled trials, poor reporting of data in the trials and inconclusive results. Since there were a number of trials examining cardiorespiratory training in children with cerebral palsy, which is also an important focus in other areas of physiotherapy intervention, it was decided to investigate this further. In the second study, a systematic review was conducted to examine the evidence for improving cardiorespiratory fitness in children with cerebral palsy. This review showed that it was possible to increase cardiorespiratory fitness in these children. However, the improved fitness did not carry over into their everyday activity. This raised the question of whether there was a relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and activity and led to the third study. The third study was a feasibility study which examined whether cardiorespiratory fitness or walking capacity influenced the amount of physical activity undertaken by children with cerebral palsy who had mild impairment and were able to walk. This study found that children with cerebral palsy had low cardiorespiratory fitness levels compared to reported values in typically-developing children. However, as there was a moderate correlation between peak heart rate and oxygen uptake during the progressive exercise test, these children demonstrated that they had a normal cardiorespiratory response to exercise of increasing intensity. To control for environmental influences, the children with cerebral palsy were compared to a matched group of siblings to examine the amount of their physical activity. The results revealed that the children with cerebral palsy were performing as much daily physical activity as their age-matched siblings, but that this activity was less than recommended guidelines for both groups. Overall, no relation was found between the cardiorespiratory fitness or walking capacity of the children with cerebral palsy, and the amount of their physical activity. Given that the amount of activity was not determined by the child’s physical characteristics (cardiorespiratory fitness or walking capacity), the fourth study was undertaken in order to identify whether there were barriers which were preventing the child performing activities. Parents were asked to indicate what they saw as being the barriers which were either preventing their child from performing an activity, or which were influencing how frequently their child performed the activity. This study found that these children were regularly engaged in physical activities which are fairly representative of typically-developing children. However, parents perceived cost as being the largest barrier to their child’s activities. Of concern, was that cost was preventing the child from being engaged in activities which could be performed frequently. Generally, children with cerebral palsy just want to engage in activities alongside their typically-developing peers. For children who are ambulant and capable of physical activity, it is important that they are given the opportunity to engage in regular activity which is performed at a moderate to vigorous level. Furthermore, identifying the barriers which are preventing physical activity means that there is a greater chance that children with cerebral palsy will have a more active lifestyle.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited<br>Heavy involvement in international peacekeeping has put a drain on U.S. and U.N. resources and the future ability to field effective U.N. peacekeeping forces is questionable. If Latin American countries were able to support future peacekeeping operations in their region, as they do internationally, this would provide relief to the United Nations and the United States. The purpose of this thesis is to determine what factors influence nations to participate in international peacekeeping and to predict whether participation in international peacekeeping will translate into successful regional peacekeeping. This thesis examines the involvement of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile in Peacekeeping Operations (PKO). The thesis begins with a theoretical framework for analyzing peacekeeping participation using three major factors that affect the likelihood of a country's involvement in peacekeeping: 1) civil- military relations, 2) foreign policy objectives, and 3) military budget and missions. Ultimately the thesis provides a model to predict which nations are likely to participate in international and regional peacekeeping missions in the future. The conclusions of this thesis will be valuable to policy makers forecasting and determining the likely composition of a future peacekeeping force in Latin America.

Pallets play a very important role in whole distribution systems through the supply chain. Such a fact alone shows the importance of pallets in today’s fast growing global logistics. Due to the increasing number of regulations and policies regarding natural resource conservations and also sustainable development, the issue of pallet utilization, reuse and recycling matters became the core concern in most of the researches performed in this field.As a consequence, the presented report discusses the current problems, requirements and debates around pallets utilization in distribution systems in depth along with the other affecting factors such as Cost, Environment, Materials, Sustainability, Information Technology and so forth. To achieve such goals, the first step is recognizing the mass Industrial production factors and global market requirements for the current and future of pallet utilization in order to achieve the desired efficiency and effectiveness in practice with focus on standardized pallets utilization in specific regions like European Union.The second step is the considering of various pallet types compatibility in different environments with respect to unit load assignments both at present and future. The third step is to challenge the obtained data and observed results and also, to verify them according to the foreseen future requirements, tendencies and demands of pallets and unit loads assignments through the international logistics providers. The last step which is as well the most important part of this thesis report is, to put the information together in order to clarify and specify the encountered difficulties regarding usage of pallets with concentration on cost, environment and ergonomic issues.

This study was designed to investigate the current policies and practices of secondary school governance in Eritrea. There is a basic need to investigate the nature of parental involvement in school governance, particularly in relation to policies enshrined in the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) guidelines. The study examined the parents' commitment to execute their school governance role properly and to determine their capacity to fulfil their responsibilities with respect to the powers and functions vested in them. Education was merely the domain of the school and parents were discouraged from interfering in matters of school governance, therefore parental participation has been very limited. Thus, the focus of the study was to investigate the prevailing problems that curtail parental involvement and identify appropriate strategies for improving and strengthening school governance.

UA Open Access Publishing Fund<br>Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a mode of extracorporeal life support that augments oxygenation, ventilation and/or cardiac output via cannulae connected to a circuit that pumps blood through an oxygenator and back into the patient. ECMO has been used for decades to support cardiopulmonary disease refractory to conventional therapy. While not robust, there are promising data for the use of ECMO in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, and cardiogenic shock and the potential indications for ECMO continue to increase. This review discusses the existing literature on the potential use of ECMO in critically ill patients within the emergency department.

Master of Landscape Architecture<br>Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning<br>Howard D. Hahn<br>Landscape architecture’s scope of knowledge and professional practice is continuously broadening. Formalized certification and certification standards do not exist to date; as a result, limiting the depth of knowledge in landscape architects. Beyond competency in core skills like natural systems, site planning and design, and visualization graphics, the general knowledge base of most landscape architects spans a variety of disciplines. This ability to “see the bigger picture” offers certain strengths when “placemaking”, interacting with allied professionals, and leading project teams; yet there are limited opportunities for landscape architects to formally develop a depth of expertise. An extensive literature search identified forty-one knowledge domains that exist in landscape architecture. This report identifies fourteen domains that landscape architects need in current and future work supported with identified core skills and knowledge in the profession. This report seeks to update the Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Board’s (CLARB) identification of knowledge domains by layering skills and knowledge found in sixty current job postings, literature search, and structured interviews. In addition, this report identifies future trends in the profession and marketplace and future dilemmas landscape architects must address in the next twenty years. Content analysis of certification programs offered to landscape architecture students at accredited schools was conducted. A certification precedent study was conducted to understand the range of certification standards that exist in order to propose a standardized certification program. Thirteen themes are identified in the structured interviews that are incorporated into themes of this report. Overall, professionals feel that landscape architecture’s strength as a generalist profession makes the profession unique from its allied professions. However, some professionals acknowledge that as a landscape architect progresses in his or her career, they tend toward areas of specialization. This report suggests that certifications be offered to graduate students and professionals, explains specialization in the profession, and identifies areas landscape architects need to increase their skills and knowledge in, to stay relevant.

La riche contribution de la SC et des ONG palestinienne à travers son histoire, leurs contributions aux efforts en faveur de la construction de l'Etat et à la fourniture entre autres choses des services sociaux, et la recherche d'une solution autre que la solution à deux Etats qui s'effondre– ont présidé le choix du sujet de ma thèse : « La SC et la construction d'un Etat : Tendances passées, dilemmes actuels et défis futurs posés aux ONG ». En tant que concept théorique, la construction de l'Etat a connu un intérêt accru durant les dernières décennies avec le nombre croissant de sociétés touchées par des conflits. Cependant, le point focal de notre thèse n'est pas tant les théories abstraites de la construction de l'Etat que son histoire et ses aspects pratiques en conjonction et/ou à l'intersection de l'évolution de la SC et des ONG. La compréhension de la construction de l'Etat telle que promue par l'OCDE « Concepts et dilemmes de la construction de l'Etat dans des situations fragiles » imprègne et la rationalité et la méthodologie de notre recherche<br>The richness of the contribution of CS and NGOs to Palestine on its history, their contribution to state-building efforts and the provision of social services among other things, and the search of an alternative solution to the flawed two-state solution to the conflict – governed the choice of the topic of my dissertation “CS &amp; State-Building: Past Trends, Current Dilemmas and Future Challenges Faced by NGOs”.As a theoretical concept, state-building has gained prominence during the past decades with the growing number of conflict-affected societies. Yet, the focus of our dissertation was not so much on abstract theories of state-building as on its history and practicality in conjunction and/or in intersection with the evolution of CS &amp; NGOs. The perspective on state-building as promoted by the OECD entitled “Concepts and Dilemmas of State-Building in Fragile Situations” impregnates both the rationale and the methodology of our research

Since 2002, Mongolia's commitment to international peace-support operations has dramatically increased and broadened the country's bilateral and multilateral military engagement throughout the world. By participating in UN peacekeeping and other peace-support operations, Mongolia and its military have gained tremendous experience, learned valuable lessons, and identified challenges in several critical areas that needed improvement. This thesis argues that Mongolias commitment to international peace-support operations is based on its national interest of survival between two great powers. Additionally, that commitment to peace-support operations strengthens Mongolias position in the world arena and increases its prestige, gaining it international recognition from other countries, international organizations, and international security institutions. Moreover, active involvement in peace-support operations creates favorable conditions for an independent foreign and defense policy and accelerates military modernization. Mongolias participation in peace-support operations influenced the acceleration towards modernization and transformation of its military, helping to identify the vulnerabilities in old military planning, training, equipment, and acquisition processes that desperately required changes. The existing literature on Mongolias participation in international peace-support operations is very limited. Therefore, this study will contribute a deeper and more detailed analysis and assessment of Mongolias commitment to international peace-support operations for scholars.