Tesi sul tema "Cause-effect analysis"

Production plants used in modern process industry must produce products that meet stringent environmental, quality and profitability constraints. In such integrated plants, non-linearity and strong process dynamic interactions among process units complicate root-cause diagnosis of plant-wide disturbances because disturbances may propagate to units at some distance away from the primary source of the upset. Similarly, implemented advanced process control strategies, backup and recovery systems, use of recycle streams and heat integration may hamper detection and diagnostic efforts. It is important to track down the root-cause of a plant-wide disturbance because once corrective action is taken at the source, secondary propagated effects can be quickly eliminated with minimum effort and reduced down time with the resultant positive impact on process efficiency, productivity and profitability. In order to diagnose the root-cause of disturbances that manifest plant-wide, it is crucial to incorporate and utilize knowledge about the overall process topology or interrelated physical structure of the plant, such as is contained in Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs). Traditionally, process control engineers have intuitively referred to the physical structure of the plant by visual inspection and manual tracing of fault propagation paths within the process structures, such as the process drawings on printed P&IDs, in order to make logical conclusions based on the results from data-driven analysis. This manual approach, however, is prone to various sources of errors and can quickly become complicated in real processes. The aim of this thesis, therefore, is to establish innovative techniques for the electronic capture and manipulation of process schematic information from large plants such as refineries in order to provide an automated means of diagnosing plant-wide performance problems. This report also describes the design and implementation of a computer application program that integrates: (i) process connectivity and directionality information from intelligent P&IDs (ii) results from data-driven cause-and-effect analysis of process measurements and (iii) process know-how to aid process control engineers and plant operators gain process insight. This work explored process intelligent P&IDs, created with AVEVA® P&ID, a Computer Aided Design (CAD) tool, and exported as an ISO 15926 compliant platform and vendor independent text-based XML description of the plant. The XML output was processed by a software tool developed in Microsoft® .NET environment in this research project to computationally generate connectivity matrix that shows plant items and their connections. The connectivity matrix produced can be exported to Excel® spreadsheet application as a basis for other application and has served as precursor to other research work. The final version of the developed software tool links statistical results of cause-and-effect analysis of process data with the connectivity matrix to simplify and gain insights into the cause and effect analysis using the connectivity information. Process knowhow and understanding is incorporated to generate logical conclusions. The thesis presents a case study in an atmospheric crude heating unit as an illustrative example to drive home key concepts and also describes an industrial case study involving refinery operations. In the industrial case study, in addition to confirming the root-cause candidate, the developed software tool was set the task to determine the physical sequence of fault propagation path within the plant. This was then compared with the hypothesis about disturbance propagation sequence generated by pure data-driven method. The results show a high degree of overlap which helps to validate statistical data-driven technique and easily identify any spurious results from the data-driven multivariable analysis. This significantly increase control engineers confidence in data-driven method being used for root-cause diagnosis. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the approach and presents ideas for further development of the methods.

When provided with spatial niches by growth in static nutrient medium, Pseudomonas fluorescens diversifies through adaptive radiation into several well-defined phenotype classes. One of these classes, named wrinkly spreader (WS) for its morphology on agar medium, forms a biofilm at the air-liquid interface through mutations in one of several loci including the genes wspF and awsX. These genes code for negative regulators of di-guanylate cyclases (DGCs). These DGCs catalyse synthesis of cyclic-di-GMP, a second messenger, overproduction of which effects physiological changes leading to overproduction of a cellulose polymer and the WS phenotype. Intriguingly, a diverse range of wspF mutations leads to diversity both in colony morphology and strain fitness.In this study, I investigate genetic and fitness diversity in wrinkly spreaders with the aim of identifying the causal factors that link genetic diversity and physiological factors with diversity in fitness. I approach the subject from several directions, examining the historical context of genetic diversity in wspF and awsX, distribution of control over output in the Wsp pathway and overall fitness effects of different causal factors. I investigate the genetic basis of wrinkly spreader evolution through generation of a large number of novel WS strains and exploration of the distribution of mutations in the wspF and awsX genes. In combination with this I calculate estimates of the past rates of mutation in these genes, derived from a phylogenetic investigation of a group of orthologues. I examine the response of the Wsp pathway to change in WspF function through a novel computational analysis that is capable of revealing valuable information on control in a biological system based purely on model structure. In addition I show how this analysis can be refined through specification of broad estimates of system parameters, thereby avoiding issues related to over-reliance on specific parameter values. Finally, I investigate the fitness implications of these factors, as well as a variety of others, through assays of fitness in a group of WS strains combined with machine learning analyses of predictive relationships between protein and mutation characteristics and experimentally measured strain fitness, and consider the implications of this analysis in the context of intermediate physiological effects.I find that mutations in the WspF protein that lead to the WS phenotype tend to be located in regions of historically strong conservation, the first time that any such pattern to WS mutations has been identified. Mutations in AwsX, on the other hand, do not fit such a pattern. Computational analysis of the Wsp pathway shows that, regardless of model parameters, pathway output is always more sensitive to changes in methylesterase activity by WspF than to changes in phosphorylation of WspF, which may explain the greater frequency of mutations fixed in vivo seen in the methylesterase domain. Despite these patterns, none of a wide range of mutation and sequence-based biochemical characteristics, including local rates of past evolution and size and position of mutations, exhibited any predictive power over WS fitness. Overall, the findings in this study point towards an essential role for complex pleiotropic effects in strongly modulating the fitness effect of different mutations in wspF.

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine if student nurse participation in root cause analysis has the potential to reduce harm to patients from medication errors by increasing student nurse sensitivity to signal and responder bias. Background: Schools of nursing have traditionally relied on strategies that focus on individual characteristics and responsibility to prevent harm to patients. The modern patient safety movement encourages utilization of systems theory strategies like Root Cause Analysis (RCA). The Patient Risk Detection Theory (Despins, Scott-Cawiezell, & Rouder, 2010) supports the use of nurse training to reduce harm to patients. Method. Descriptive and inferential analyses of the demographic and major study variables were conducted. Validity and reliability assessments for the instruments were performed. The Safe Administration of Medications-Revised Scale (Bravo, 2014) was used to measure sensitivity to signal. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ; Sexton et al., 2006) was used to assess responder bias; this was the first use of this instrument with nursing students. Results: The sample consisted of 125 senior-level nursing students from three universities in the southeastern United States. The SAQ was found to be a valid and reliable test of safety attitudes in nursing students. Further support for the validity and reliability of the SAM-R was provided. A significant difference in safety climate between schools was observed. There were no differences detected between the variables. Conclusion: The results of this study provide support for the use of the SAQ and the SAM-R to further test the PRDT, and to explore methods to improve nursing student ability to administer medications safely.

This thesis sets out to design and execute an in-depth study of the True Fruits controversial advertisements by applying Encoding/Decoding as a theoretical model. It aims at examining visual rhetoric and through Critical Discourse Analysis understanding the cause and effect of the controversial True Fruits advertisements in their 2017 campaign. The research attempts to answer the question: ‘What happened on social media after True Fruits published their controversial advertisements in 2017?’. The thesis presents an analysis of True Fruits´ visual rhetoric in #jetztösterreichts campaign advertisements and then reveals consumer responses to it on social media in 2017. Thus, the thesis presents a comprehensive review of the relevant literature leading toward the key themes of German advertisement, controversial advertisement, and the representation of immigration in advertisements. Towards the end, it states the final remarks concluding the entire discussion and reflects upon the attempts that True Fruits made to communicate a political message and how consumers in social media responded to it.

Through identifying failure manufacturing companies compete in today’s world to gain beneficial attributes. The purpose if this thesis is to develop a model towards identifying failure and the root cause. The model developed to identify failure and the root cause toward it, which should result it decrease in failure time (nonfunction machine). The developed model has tested and analyzed in a manufacturing company. The model has been established through studies based on preventive and predictive maintenance: FMEA & RCA.

Many automotive systems are real-time systems, which means that not only correct operationsbut also appropriate timings are their main requirements. Considering the in uence that end-to-end delay might have on the performance of the systems, the calculation of it is of necessity.Abundant techniques have actually been proposed, and some of them have already been applied intopractical systems. In spite of this, some further work still needs to be done. The target of thisthesis is to evaluate and compare two end-to-end timing analysis methods from dierent aspectssuch as data age, consumption time, and then decide which method is a prior choice for end-to-end timing analysis. The experiments can be divided into three blocks, system generation andend-to-end delay calculation by two methods respectively. The experiments focus on two kinds ofperformance parameters, data age and the consumption time that these two methods cost duringtheir execution. By changing the system generating parameters like task number and periods, thechanges of performances of the two methods are analyzed. The performances of the two dierentmethods are also compared when they are applied into the same automotive systems. According tothe results of the experiments, the second method can calculate more accurate data age and consumeless time than the rst method does.

In recent years, there has been growing interest towards integrating industry into the teaching and learning processes. This is due to many factors including increased concerns about the mismatch between the skills and abilities of the talent pool, strengthening partnership and improving quality of engineering education. Thus, greater emphasis on the teaching and learning processes to enhance the students’ learning experience leads to the university-industry partnership to the forefront interest of the university. On the other hand, exclusion of industry’s engagement in the teaching and learning processes have been identified as the main source of chronic criticism on the higher engineering education segment in recent years. This study demonstrates a research model that hypothesised the influence of teaching and learning domains on the university-industry partnership towards enhancing the learning experience of the engineering students. Using the structural equation modelling (SEM), the hypothesis was tested on the primary data collected from 212 communities of the industry. Furthermore, the study investigated the preference of industry on the type of linkages to foster university-industry partnership using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The results revealed that nine out of the thirteen hypotheses had significant associations including six direct paths and three indirect effects in the model. The findings indicated the need for industry-university partnership in three main constructs including cooperation in education, the mobility of people and intellectual enhancement. Moreover, internship programme was the important linkage in achieving the overall university-industry partnerships goals, followed by the staff training programme, academic development, consultancy work, student learning activity and publication activity. In summary, the study demonstrates that teaching and learning relevance could be enhanced through optimizing industry’s enrichment activities into the learning process, improving the measures for accreditation in narrowing the gap between theory and practice and proactively improving the quality of teaching by exploring the staff training programmes.

Bakgrund: På grund utav den ökade globala konkurrensen, den snabba teknologiska utveckligen och skiftet till ett kundorienterat synsätt, ställs högre krav på ständiga förbättringar inom verksamheter. Detta ställer i sin tur högre krav på effektiva processer och flöden. Genom att tillämpa Lean och verktyget Value Stream Mapping kan icke- värdeadderande aktiviteter, relaterade till slöserier, identifieras och minimeras för att maximera både material- och informationsflödet inom processer. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera slöserier inom Företagets inleverans- respektive utleveransprocess genom tillämpning av verktyget Value Stream Mapping. Vidare syftar studien till att urskilja rotorsakerna för respektive identifierat slöseri. Därefter avser studien att föreslå åtgärder som slutligen bidrar till att de identifierade slöserierna kan minimeras, alternativt elimineras. Metod: Studien baseras på en kvalitativ fallstudie av Företagets inleverans- respektive utleveransprocess, utifrån ett deduktivt angreppsätt. Den teoretiska referensramen utgår främst ifrån litterära källor från Linnéuniversitetets bibliotek samt vetenskapliga artiklar hämtade ifrån databaser. Empirisk data har samlats in under observationer samt semistrukturerade intervjuer. Urvalet av respondenterna utgår ifrån ett bekvämlighersurval som bottnar i ett snöbollsurval. Slutsatser: Utifrån de CSM som har illustrerats för inleverans- respektive utleveransprocessen kunde slöserierna väntetid, rörelse och överarbete identifieras, relaterat till icke-värdeadderande aktiviteter. Genom att undersöka dessa närmare identifierades rotorsaker layout, begränsade resurser och bristande rutiner. För att nå det tillstånd som beskrivs i FSM och minimera, alternativt eliminera, slöserierna har studien resulterat i följande förbättringsförslag; nedmontering av kontor och stängsel vid inleveransytan samt implementering av FIFU-system, implementering av 5S rapportering av felaktiga pallar och implementering av ett elektroniskt orderplockningsystem.
Background: As a consequence of the increased global competition, the rapid technological changes and the shift to a customer-oriented approach, it becomes more important with continuous improvements to achive efficient processes and flows. By applying Lean and Value Stream Mapping wastes can be identified, minimized in order to maximize both the material- and the information flow within a business process. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify wastes in a company’s inbound- and outbound process by applying the tool Value Stream Mapping. Furthermore, the study aims to identify the root causes and propose actions that contribute to minimize or eliminate the identified wastes. Method: The study is based on a qualitative case study of a company’s inbound- and outbound process. Empirical data has been collected during observations and semi- structured interviews. The theoretical framework is primarily based on literary sources that are retrieved from the Linnaeus University’s library and also scientific articles retrieved from databases. The selection is based on a convenience sample, a snowball sample. Conclusions: Based on the two CSMs that has been illustrated for the inbound- and outbound process, wastes were identified as waiting, motion and over processing, related to non-value added activities. By examining these wastes the root causes were identified as layout, limited resources and inadequate procedures. To reach the state described in the two FSMs by minimizing, or eliminating, the identified wastes, the study results in following proposals; dismantling of office and fence at the inbound area together with the implementation of a FIFU-system, implementation of 5S to report incorrect pallets and implementation of an electronic orderpicking system.

El presente trabajo se enfoca en la mejora de la calidad concerniente a los elementos estructurales de un centro comercial, a efectos de reducir y minimizar las No Conformidades más relevantes que se presentaron en obra. El proyecto se basó en la construcción y ampliación de locatarios de un centro comercial que tendrá como fin su alquiler. Mediante la aplicación del Análisis Causa Raíz y con las herramientas de diagrama de Ishikawa y diagrama de Pareto, se pudo encontrar las posibles causas del incumplimiento de la calidad en los elementos estructurales, las que subsecuente se validaron a fin de determinar acciones correctivas. En el primer capítulo se señala el planteamiento del problema, problemas principales, secundarios, justificación del estudio, limitación y los objetivos generales y específicos. En el Segundo Capitulo se señala el marco teórico, donde menciona la calidad en el Perú, la gestión de la calidad total, los costos de la calidad en la construcción, ingeniería de la calidad y definiciones. En el tercer capítulo se indica la utilización del Análisis Causa Raíz, las herramientas Diagrama Causa Efecto y Diagrama de Pareto. En el cuarto capítulo, se presenta el desarrollo del análisis de causa raíz mediante una secuencia de pasos. En el quinto capítulo, La Evaluación Económica, Presupuesto de obra, Costo de Reparación y Análisis del Gasto Incurrido. Finalmente, en el capítulo seis, se presentará las conclusiones y recomendaciones del presente trabajo.
This work focuses on quality improvement concerning the structural elements of a shopping center, in order to reduce and minimize the most relevant Non-Conformities that occurred on site. The project was based on the construction and expansion of tenants of a shopping center that will be rented as its purpose. By applying the Root Cause Analysis and using the Ishikawa diagram and Pareto diagram tools, it was possible to find the possible causes of quality noncompliance in the structural elements, which were subsequently validated in order to determine corrective actions. In the first chapter the problem statement, main and secondary problems, justification for the study, limitation and general and specific objectives are indicated. In the Second Chapter the theoretical framework is pointed out, where it mentions the quality in Peru, the total quality management, the costs of quality in construction, quality engineering and definitions. The third chapter indicates the use of Root Cause Analysis, the Cause Effect Diagram and Pareto Diagram tools. In the fourth chapter, the development of root cause analysis is presented using a sequence of steps. In the fifth chapter, The Economic Evaluation, Construction Budget, Repair Cost and Incurred Expense Analysis. Finally, in chapter six, the conclusions and recommendations of this work will be presented.
Trabajo de investigación

Process plants that produce chemical products through pre-designed processes are fundamental in the Chemical Engineering industry. The safety of hazardous processing plants is of paramount importance as an accident could cause major damage to property and/or injury to people. HAZID is a computer system that helps designers and operators of process plants to identify potential design and operation problems given a process plant design. However, there are issues that need to be addressed before such a system will be accepted for common use. This research project considers how to improve the usability and acceptability of such a system by developing tools to test the developed models in order for the users to gain confidence in HAZID s output as HAZID is a model based system with a library of equipment models. The research also investigates the development of computer-aided safety applications and how they can be integrated together to extend HAZID to support different kinds of safety-related reasoning tasks. Three computer-aided tools and one reasoning system have been developed from this project. The first is called Model Test Bed, which is to test the correctness of models that have been built. The second is called Safe Isolation Tool, which is to define isolation boundary and identify potential hazards for isolation work. The third is an Instrument Checker, which lists all the instruments and their connections with process items in a process plant for the engineers to consider whether the instrument and its loop provide safeguards to the equipment during the hazard identification procedure. The fourth is a cause-effect analysis system that can automatically generate cause-effect tables for the control engineers to consider the safety design of the control of a plant as the table shows process events and corresponding process responses designed by the control engineer. The thesis provides a full description of the above four tools and how they are integrated into the HAZID system to perform control safety analysis and hazard identification in process plants.

The thesis deals with problems regarding management of risks during the development of a project. First, methodological basis and procedures for evaluating the development of the project are introduced. In the practical part of the thesis, company is presented and development of specific bridge construction with all the risks involved is analyzed. The aim of the thesis is execution of risk analysis on specific project and suggestion for precautions eliminating its risks.

The aim of this work is to develop a universal procedure introducing the concept of IT Governance using COBIT methodology to a small business environment. This thesis understands COBIT as a tool with which is possible to create a new business strategy for a firm and which will provide more competitive force for the firm in the competitive fight. The main contribution of this thesis is a theoretical research, which resulted in the proposal as how should a small company (which close-up characteristic is described in more detail in the work) proceed in a case that it decides to efficiently manage, manage and control the business IS / IT. This theoretical approach is then tested as a case study on a real small enterprise.

[EN] Wheelchair users represent around 1% of the population. This group is characterised through the number of hours spent each day in a seated position. This can lead to health problems linked mainly to the development of pressure ulcers. In addition, the position in the wheelchair is critical in order to be able to perform different activities comfortably. The aim of the cushions, integrated in the whole seating system, is to contribute to the prevention, positioning and comfort of the person in a wheelchair. Incorporating the user adequately into the assessment, prescription and development of new cushions is a key aspect, clearly identified in the bibliography, which requires the use of innovation models to produce this incorporation systematically. This research paper adopts the cause-effect model, successfully used in other fields such as the car or shoe making industries, but to date not used in the field of tissue management cushions. The use of this model has allowed for the identification of different links between the consequences of the interaction person-cushion (developed perception of the user) with the cushion and person characteristics, as well as with the physiological and biomechanical response resulting from this interaction. This was a necessary step to obtain design and selection criteria for the cushions. The physiological and biomechanical variables which have been analysed are pressure and microclimate. To study the consequences of this interaction we have considered the user perception obtained by means of a questionnaire. Thirty-six wheelchair users have participated in this study which includes the assessment of twenty-five cushions. The main criteria for the inclusion of users in the study has been the risk level of risk of developing pressure ulcers. The inclusion of cushions was based on the market representation and consideration of the different typologies. From the point of view of the user's opinion this research paper has allowed for the identification of the quality perception factors (F1. Stability, F2.Heat-pain, F3. Fitting, F4. Collapse, F5. Size-aesthetics and F6. Weight-cold) and for the calculation of their weight on the global factors of goodness and evolution of the cushions. In addition, the comparison of the pressure values obtained directly from the wheelchair users and those measured using the dummy highlights a clear divergence between both behaviour. We have also defined design criteria and limit values, admissible and recommendable, for a group of variables, as well as the relation of the subjective variables with these quality factors. The results of this research support the importance of a comprenhensive approach to the cushions, including the design, development and prescription processes whereby the users may become more of a protagonist than they have been so far.
[ES] Las personas en silla de ruedas representan alrededor del 1% de la población. Este colectivo se caracteriza por pasar muchas horas al día sentado. Esto puede comportar problemas de salud vinculados principalmente al desarrollo de úlceras por presión. Por otra parte, el posicionamiento en la silla de ruedas es crítico para poder realizar actividades diversas de forma confortable. El objetivo de los cojines, integrados dentro del sistema de sedestación, es contribuir a la prevención, el posicionamiento y el confort de la persona en la silla de ruedas. Incorporar el usuario de forma adecuada en la evaluación, prescripción y desarrollo de nuevos cojines es un aspecto clave, identificado claramente en la bibliografía, que requiere el uso de modelos de innovación que faciliten esta incorporación de forma sistemática. En este trabajo de investigación se ha adoptado el modelo de evaluación causa-efecto, empleado con éxito en ámbitos como la automoción o el calzado, pero que hasta el momento no se había utilizado en el campo de los cojines antiescaras. El uso de este modelo ha permitido la identificación de diversos encadenamientos entre las consecuencias de la interacción cojín-persona (percepción desarrollada en el usuario) con las características del cojín y la persona, así como con la respuesta fisiológica y biomecánica resultante de esta interacción. Éste era el paso previo para poder obtener criterios de diseño y selección de cojines. Las variables fisiológicas y biomecánicas analizadas han sido la presión y el microclima. Para estudiar las consecuencias de la interacción hemos considerado la percepción del usuario obtenida mediante cuestionarios. Treinta y seis personas en silla de ruedas han participado en este estudio que ha incluido la valoración de veinticinco cojines. El principal criterio para la inclusión de usuarios en el estudio ha sido el nivel de riesgo de desarrollar úlceras por presión. La inclusión de los cojines se ha basado en la representatividad del mercado y la inclusión de tipologías diferentes. Desde el punto de vista de la opinión de los usuarios este trabajo de investigación ha permitido identificar los factores de calidad percibida (F1. Estabilidad, F2. Calor-dolor, F3. Encajonamiento, F4. Colapso, F5. Tamaño-estética y F6. Peso-frío) y calcular el peso de ellos sobre los factores globales de bondad y evolución de los cojines. Por otra parte, la comparación de los valores de presión obtenidos con las personas en silla de ruedas y los medidos con el maniquí constata una clara divergencia en el comportamiento. También se han definido criterios de diseño y valores límite, admisibles y recomendables, para un conjunto de variables, así como su relación con los factores de calidad y las variables subjetivas agrupadas en estos factores. Los resultados de este trabajo apoyan la importancia de una aproximación global a los cojines, que incluya los procesos de diseño, desarrollo y prescripción, donde los usuarios sean mucho más protagonistas de lo que han sido hasta ahora.
[CAT] Les persones en cadira de rodes representen al voltant de l'1% de la població. Aquest col·lectiu es caracteritza per passar moltes hores al dia damunt la cadira, cosa que pot comportar problemes de salut vinculats principalment al desenvolupament d'úlceres per pressió. Per altra banda, el posicionament en la cadira de rodes és crític per poder realitzar activitats diverses i que aquestes puguen fer-se de forma confortable. L'objectiu dels coixins, integrats dins del sistema de sedestació, és contribuir a la prevenció, el posicionament i el confort de la persona en la cadira de rodes. Incorporar l'usuari de forma adequada en l'avaluació, prescripció i desenvolupament de nous coixins és un aspecte clau, identificat clarament a la bibliografia, que requereix l'ús de models d'innovació que faciliten aquesta incorporació de forma sistemàtica. En aquest treball d'investigació s'ha adoptat el model d'avaluació causa-efecte, emprat amb èxit en àmbits com l'automoció o el calcer, però que fins al moment no s'havia utilitzat en el camp dels coixins antiescares. L'ús d'aquest model ha permès la identificació de diversos encadenaments entre les conseqüències de la interacció coixí-persona (percepció desenvolupada en l'usuari) amb les característiques del coixí i la persona, així com amb la resposta fisiològica i biomecànica resultant d'aquesta interacció. Aquest era el pas previ per poder obtenir cri teris de disseny i selecció de coixins. Les variables fisiològiques i biomecàniques analitzades han estat la pressió i el microclima. Per a estudiar les conseqüències de la interacció hem considerat la percepció de l'usuari obtinguda mitjançant l'ús de qüestionaris. Trenta-sis persones en cadira de rodes han participat en aquest estudi que ha inclòs la valoració de vint-i-cinc coixins. El principal criteri per a la inclusió d'usuaris en l'estudi ha estat el nivell de risc de desenvolupar úlceres per pressió. Per a la inclusió dels coixins s'ha buscat la representativitat del mercat i la inclusió de tipologies diferents. Des del punt de vista de l'opinió dels usuaris aquest treball d'investigació ha permès identificar els factors de qualitat percebuda (F1. Estabilitat, F2. Calor-dolor, F3. Encaixament, F4. Col·lapse, F5. Grandària-estètica i F6. Pes-fred) i calcular el pes d'ells sobre els factors globals de bondat i evolució dels coixins. Per altra banda, la comparació dels valors de pressió obtinguts amb les persones en cadira de rodes i els mesurats amb el maniquí constata una clara divergència en el comportament. També s'han definit criteris de disseny i valors límit, admissibles i recomanables, per a un conjunt de variables i la seua relació amb els factors de qualitat i les variables subjectives. Els resultats d'aquest treball suporten la importància d'una aproximació global als coixins, que incloga els processos de disseny, desenvolupament i prescripció, on els usuaris siguen molt més protagonistes del que ho han estat fins ara.
Barbera Guillem, R. (2016). Identificació de criteris de disseny i selecció de coixins antiescares, a partir d'aspectes funcionals dels coixins i les característiques particulars i preferències dels usuaris [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/61463
TESIS

碩士
國立清華大學
工業工程與工程管理學系
98
This research proposes a conflict analysis and problem solving process based on contradiction analysis and TRIZ problem solving approaches. The approaches integrate both Cause-Effect Chain and Root Contradiction Analysis to quickly identify the key functional disadvantages and the underlying contradictory parameters simultaneously. Three process flows were identified and integrated for conflict identification and problem solving. Inventive principles, separation/transition principles, and solution directives are used in the processes to solve the contradictions. The proposed Cause-effect and Contradiction Chain Analysis (CACCA) also identifies contradiction families and provides a quantitative method that can used to evaluate contradictions for prioritization. Contributions of this research include: 1) providing an integrated method which can identify key contradiction and contradictory parameters simultaneously; 2) Integrating a 3-passages integrated approach for problem analysis and problem solving; 3) identifying a new “Combine” relation in addition to the existing AND and OR relationship; 4) Identifying Families of contradictions; and 5) Providing a quantitative method to prioritize the importance of contradictions.

碩士
東吳大學
企業管理學系
105
Abstract In recent years, there are many labor disputes about postal business and customer complaints increased yearly in the Chunghwa Post Company. In order to maintain the company's image, Chunghwa Post Company must address the needs of employees and enhance their performance. The couriers were the study objects in this research. The path analysis method of AMOS was used to confirm the proposed cause-effect model of engagement for the couriers. This research found that this cause-effect model does apply to couriers work. Adding found 1. Differences in the personnel system will produce the opposition among couriers and affect the emotions and performance in work. 2. Through the use of incentives, can improve the performance of job engagement and to form a good cycle in the cause-effect model. Finally, this research presents some suggestions on how to improve the job's engagement, e.g. to improve the postal process, to meet customer needs, strengthen communication and advocacy, to establish a unified personnel system, etc. Keywords : dedicated work engagement, path analysis, the cause-effect model、couriers

碩士
國立中央大學
營建管理研究所
106
Quality management is one of the important goals in the construction industry, and the quality degree of the project depends on whether the owner’s needs and various regulatory requirements are met in the project or not. Cause and effect (CE) analysis is one of the tools and techniques for quality management. It is widely used in construction quality management practices for identifying all possible causes associated with a particular problem. CE analysis requires participation and brainstorming of domain experts and experienced practitioners; however, such a brainstorming session is usually time-consuming and labor-intensive, making the CE analysis process inefficient. Therefore, this research project aims at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of performing CE analysis by proposing an ontology-based approach to formally organize and reason about the CE analysis knowledge of domain experts and practitioners to benefit the reutilization of the knowledge. The following steps will be taken to execute this research project: understanding and analyzing the features and compositions of CE analysis knowledge; establishing a CE analysis knowledge base with ontological modeling technique; creating a prototype system for reasoning about and retrieving CE analysis knowledge from the knowledge base; and collecting real CE analysis cases from the industries to validate the proposed approach and to demonstrate the pros and cons of the approach. The expected results of this research project include.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
經濟學研究所
99
The oil price has been rising in recent years. From 2002 to 2006 the West Texas Cruel Oil price was increasing from $26 to $66 per barrel, almost 2.54 doubles. The rising level of price was reaching high to 153.85％ and the annual level was to 38.5％. At the same time, it caused the foreign exchange appreciation for all the Asian countries. This paper examines the long-term relationship between real exchange rate and real oil price and its causality using the monthly data from 1980 to 2009 for nine Asian countries including India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan. We also simultaneously consider the panel data and unilateral country’s time series data by applying the co-integration test including Pedroni(2004)panel cointegration tests、Engle and Granger(1987) two stage procedures to discuss if there exists the long-term relationship between real exchange and real oil price. Besides, this paper studies the leading and the lagging relationship between the two variables through the Granger-causality test. Finally, we can explain the recursive and dynamic impact of real oil price shock on real exchange rate via impulse response function by the VAR. Also, through the variance decomposition, we can see explanatory power under the different prediction intervals.

碩士
開南大學
商學院碩士在職專班
102
The main purpose of this study, with combination of an improving method, known as Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (HFMEA), and another method, known as Root Cause Analysis (RCA), to analyze the clinical adverse events, sort out the potential risk factors and understand the main causes of the accidents happening during hospitalization, with a great hope to provide an effect and better solution. We organised a group of medical staffs for quality management for patient safety, with main regards to medical adverse events in our hospital, which was a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan, by analysing the acquired data, clarifying the possible risks and confirming the main causes of clinical adverse events, corrective plans were formulated to make improvements. Systematical investigation of the main causes of the mishappening was particularly emphasized, rather blaming on personal responsibility. Cautious monitoring of mishappening, and continuous collection of the necessary data will lead to implementation of the corrective measures. The results and experience of improvements were learnt and shared together by all the members, as a teamwork, so that effective and practical standard operating procedures could be established, with a great aim to prevent further incidents happening again. HFMEA and RCA is regarded as an effective management tool to evaluate the risk of medical adverse events and to improve the safety of medical examinations. With HFMEA and RCA, the main causes of the medical errors would be revealed and recognized, and it would not be misleaded by the bias of individual mistakes with unnecessary accusation. By learning the mistakes of the past, most of the medical accidents in the hospital could be avoided, and daily basic health care would be improved, providing essential, qualified, effective and safe patient-orientated medical environment.

碩士
國立清華大學
工業工程與工程管理學系碩士在職專班
101
Most methods for camouflage assessment are designed to place two or more camouflage patterns into the same backgrounds, and compare the effect based on detection time or detection distance. The result only shows the performance of one pattern surpasses the others, but lacks the information about how good the pattern is. Those methods left out the factor that backgrounds may be one of the factors that cause long searching time. Originally, one needs longer searching time for backgrounds of high complexity; therefore, one pattern may possess longer detection time than another, but may be shorter than the searching time of the background itself. It implies the performance of the pattern is not good enough. We present an idea that backgrounds may affect the way how observers search and this factor should be taken into consideration for camouflage assessment. The experiment, in which the observers were asked to search in five images taken from different likely battle fields, is meant to find if the model of visual search differs from diverse backgrounds. The observers’ eye movement data including fixation, saccade, fixation duration, blink rate and total search time during the experiment was recorded and established for further analysis of the features of the backgrounds resulting in the diversity of searching in a way of quantification. The conclusion provides a quite objective basis for camouflage assessment.

碩士
東吳大學
企業管理學系
104
Generally, a bank’s operating performance is often influenced by the employees’ engagement toward their jobs. But what factors will influence the employees’ engagement on their jobs? Regarding to this, an experiment has been conducted on the employees of the Land Bank of Taiwan with the regression analysis, to discover the major factors that has an impact toward an employee’s work engagement. As a result, with regression coefficients in descending arrangement, relationship between colleagues, work morale, customer’s satisfaction and job stability all are influencing factors. In addition, it has also been discovered that the employees’ engagement and their satisfaction has a sharp cause and effect relationship. Furthermore, incidental findings also indicate that different positions and ages results in different levels of job engagement and satisfaction. However, different sex does not have any influence in this matter. Finally, with the result of the findings, specific recommendations for improvements on the four major factors influencing the employees’ engagement has been made. Correspondingly, the bank manager could use the recommendations to conceive and enhance the employees’ engagement toward their job, ensuring the bank’s operating performance.

碩士
中原大學
企業管理研究所
96
As the industrial type continuous to change, the position of the Service industry become more and more important and Service Failure is an inevitable problem while in the Service Delivering process. So promptly solving the core Failure Problems will become the core competence of the business. By promptly solving the core Failure Problem, it can help the business to detain the existing customers, on one hand it can bring them to consume again, while on the other hand it can reduce the business’s loss which was cause by the Service Failure Problems. But when the business is having the Service Failure Problems, the administrator usually only focus on the problem’s appearance aspect and develop out the solution, at last, the problems are still not be solve. In fact, the administrator will overlook some hidden problems. In Taiwan, most of the researches about Service Failure mostly focus analyzing on one aspect, For example：They only focus on the cost aspect to analyze the Service Failure Problems or only focus on the correlation of the Service Failure Problems to analyze. There are fewer researches on totally analyzing on the correlation and the cost aspect of the Service Failure Problems. This study will make an integration analyze between the correlation and the cost aspect of the Service Failure Problems, by using the result from the above analyze to find out the core Service Failure Problem. Finally by adding the reformation fee to improve the Service Failure Problem so as to find out how much beneficial result will the business gain after solving the Failure Problems and developing out the sequence of solving problems. Then apply the theory so that the manager can analyze and really solving Failure Problems in the shortest time. This study will be analyze as the following sequence： 1.Introduction：The characteristic of Service Failure, the cause of Service Failure and the type of Service Failure. 2.Introduction：The characteristic of Customer Complains and the type of Customer Complains. 3.The quantification of correlation between Service Failure Problems：Utilize the analyze model – DEMATEL (DECISION MAKING TRAIL AND EVALUATION LABORATORY) to find out the correlation between Service Failure Problems. 4.The Cost Degree which cost by the Service Failure Problems：Utilize the analyze model – Pareto Analysis to find out how was the cost degree which cause by the Service Failure Problems. 5.Empirical evidence：Conducting interviews with R. Ltd. To find out the main and the secondary problems in order to develop the sequence of Problem Solving. 6.Conclusion：Simplifying the complexity of Service Failure Problems and clarifying meaning of the hidden Failure Problems so as to find out the core problems and applying it in management, so that it can be used as Problem solving model in Service Problems solving.

碩士
朝陽科技大學
工業工程與管理系碩士班
94
TRIZ is a set of systematic approaches for inventive product solving. Its theory includes 39 engineering parameters, 40 inventive principles, 76 standard explanations, substance-field analysis, …, and so on. On the other hand, patent analysis can be used to rapidly understand the research and development focuses and core technologies of competitors. Furthermore, interdependence between companies, correlation between technical research and development, investment on manpower and capitals, etc, can also be revealed from patent analysis. The objective of this research is to study feasible methodologies of research, development, and innovation based on the theory of substance-field analysis in TRIZ and patent analysis. From the viewpoint of smiling curve,“research and development”on the left side of the curve is one of the most important functions for industries to gain profit. However, successful research and development needs to be based on the thorough consideration of objective, product marketability, and technology capability. Otherwise, no matter how much the investment is, the outcome of research and development can be trivial. Form the viewpoint of S-curve, it is also clear that innovative strategies for effectively shortening product development cycle is a key step for industries to remain competitive. Therefore, the purpose of the research is the verify the application feasibility of using cause-effect model in TRIZ and patent analysis on innovative product research and development. In order to investigate this problem, this research uses linear transmission mechanism as a study case. Use cause-effect model and patent analysis to investigate products from earlier ACME screw to ball screw, and possible future evolutions of linear transmission mechanism. Study will on one hand show the results of evolution trend analysis, and on the other hand compare the prediction results between cause-effect model and patent analysis.

碩士
淡江大學
運輸管理學系碩士班
97
Public transportation system construction usually improves the local accessibility. The contribution of increasing accessibility makes asset value jump high which also leads to the change of the intensity of land use in term of population growth and intensive activities. This study focuses on exploring the cause-effect relationships among the transportation accessibilty, division of neighborhood, location, and asset value along Tucheng Line of Taipei Mass Rapid Transit Systems. Employing LISREL, the formulated model reveals the details in depth of asset value on all aspects in the discussion.

碩士
國立中正大學
法律所
96
Financial holding companies through the banking, securities and insurance industries are the horizontal and vertical diversification and combining objective is to expand the operation scale, a view to reducing operating costs and enhance operating efficiency, although in theory help to achieve economies of scale and financial institutions to integrate resources to enhance efficiency, maintain financial stability, as if through a high market concentration, May be a monopoly or oligopoly market, can control and decide the market price, the market price of failure function, I am afraid, will cause a decline in the overall economic interests, in accordance with the principles of economics, the competition will not lead to entirely unnecessary losses (the total reduction surplus of producers and consumers ), in the end of the second financial reform is treating the symptoms of this problems, the success or failure？ It has been six years of implementation, is an outcome of the test, if working well, the second change to the financial holding company merger, of course, the government should promote, if poorly performing, they should review and adjust the secondary financial reform, reform to the third innovation, not continue the wrong policy. In this study, to convert the establishment of financial holding companies after the parent bank depositors continued: Jihsun bank of Jihsun financial holding company, Esun bank of Esun financial holding company , Taishin bank of Taishin financial holding company , First bank of First financial holding company , Huanan bank of Huanan financial holding company, Chinatrust bank of Chinatrust financial holding company ,from 1997 to 2006 for the analysis of financial data base, the use of information envelope curve analysis (DEA) to make an econometric analysis. The purpose of this study can be divided into the following points: I、From 1997 to 2006 of 10 years Jihsun financial holding company, Esun financial holding company, Taishin financial holding company, First financial holding company, Huanan financial holding company, Chinatrust financial holding company''s bank operating efficiency. II、Compared Jihsun financial holding company, Esun financial holding company, Taishin financial holding company, First financial holding company, Huanan financial holding company, Chinatrust financial holding company, such as the establishment of financial holding companies before and after their individual bank''s efficiency and overall efficiency changes. III、On the financial holding company for the upgrading of efficiency and production resources should be adjusted in the future direction and the amount proposed. IV、 The current Fair Trade Commission and the Financial Industry Competent Authority, the financial holding company with control of the cause of practical recommendations. The results from this study found: I、From the overall performance of financial holding companies to discover after the establishment of 2002 to 2006 of the total five-year average operating efficiency for 0.959133, before the establishment of financial holding companies, 1997 to 2001 of the total five-year average operating efficiency of 0.990133, the financial holding company after the founding of the decline in operating efficiency, meant that the decline in standards of economic welfare, economic development and finance the entire construction will have a negative impact, it is worth the attention and the attention of the relevant units. II、Six banks in the establishment of financial holding company, First financial holding company, Huanan financial holding company, Esun financial holding company, appearing deterioration of operating efficiency,Chinatrust financial holding companies keeping the same operating efficiency, only Taishin financial holding company of a slight increase efficiency, can be seen clearly, the establishment of financial holding company after the operating efficiency of the impact, whether it is a whole or individually, have produced a decline in operating efficiency worsen situation . III、Pre-tax net benefit from the conversion to observe the establishment of financial holding company of its pre-tax net benefit not by anti-reduction, not because of cross-industry business and expand the operation scale benefited, all the more to make it less. There are a number of financial holding companies, their banks operating efficiency and performance of pre-tax net benefit, and so far set up its poor financial holding company, its overall economic interests of not less than the interests of restricting competition, in accordance with Article 12 of the provisions of the Fair Trade Law , The Fair Trade Commission should not permit the establishment of financial holding companies, or should declare an announcement made during the dispute, but the Fair Trade Commission has allowed its clearance, resulting in the cause of restricting competition after the interests of not greater than the economic interests of the whole situation is have taken place, history has proved the control of poorly performing the past, it is worth reviewing the relevant units to improve financial institutions and the cause of control policies, on the superficial views on the individual to make recommendations to the government''s policy for the future benefit.

本論文從詞彙語義的角度探討二語英語中的低被動化現象。本文將就常見的低被動化英語動詞，以動詞語義為基礎，進行類型劃分及解析。通過審視一個香港學習者語料庫中的低被動化結構，本文將確定二語英語中低被動化結構的性質以及分佈情況。基於一組因果及物性的語義特徵，語料庫中經常被學習者低被動化的動詞，將劃分為四類型：一）改變位置動詞，二）三方動詞，三）動態效應動詞，及四）非施事動詞；四主類型再劃分為九次類型。本論文將以語義特徵，例如力傳遞、因果關係和結束點，詳細解析每個低被動化動詞。這項就二語英語中低被動化動詞的類型劃分，不單能夠從語義的角度解析低被動化現象，亦可以用作分析其他與語態有關的二語現象，如泛被動化，以及應用於語言教學。
This dissertation is a lexical semantic study of underpassivized verbs in L2 English. By adopting a verb-oriented and meaning-based approach to underpassivization, this study produces a lexical semantic classification and analysis of frequently underpassivized verbs. A Hong Kong learner corpus is examined in order to determine the nature and extent of underpassivized constructions in L2 English. Based on a set of semantic features of cause-effect transitivity, underpassivization-prone verbs in the corpus are classified into four types, namely 1) Change of position verbs, 2) Tripartite verbs, 3) Dynamic effect verbs and 4) Non-agentive verbs. A total of nine sub-types are identified, and each verb is analyzed according to semantic features such as force transmission, causation, affectedness and telicity. The typology not only provides a lexical semantic account of L2 underpassivization but can also be applied to analyze other voice-related L2 phenomena such as overpassivization and to inform pedagogical practices.
The present study is an initial attempt to apply findings from lexical semantics to the description and explanation of learner errors. Previous studies mainly regard L2 underpassivization as a syntactic phenomenon that can be accounted for using transfer, and argue that L2 underpassivization is the result of the transfer of the topic-comment structure in L1s such as Chinese and Japanese to English (Yip 1995). The transfer theory overlooks the role verb meaning plays in voice-related errors, and is limited in its ability to explain the L2 phenomenon fully. This study investigates underpassivization as a lexical semantic phenomenon, drawing from previous works on proto-roles (Dowty 1991), event structure (Croft 1994) and transitivity (Hopper & Thompson 1980; Tsunoda 1985), and following the tradition in lexical semantics of analyzing verb meaning based on argument alternations (Pinker 1989; Levin 1993). It is believed that when learners underpassivize verbs, they are detransitivizing and decausativizing an originally transitive event. Using the features of cause-effect transitivity, the study shows that reduced transitivity will cause problems for learners in their construal of the event’s cause-effect relation and hence their allocation of thematic roles in the verb’s argument structure, resulting in underpassivization. It is hoped that by focusing on argument structure and event dynamics, this study can offer insights into the impact of verb meaning in the construal of transitivity and the use and misuse of grammatical voice.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Wong, Suzanne Shu-Shan.
Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-235).
Abstracts also in Chinese.
Wong, Suzanne Shu-Shan.

碩士
中州科技大學
機械與自動化工程系
102
ABSTRACT In recent years, with the development of the living stander, mountain climbing has become one of the most common activities in Taiwan. The main purpose of this research is to inquire thoroughly into the following matters, the reason of mountain accident, and means of recue when the accident occurred, which are the proper equipment for different type of mountain accident, and how to prevent mountain acceding form happening. This research is analyzed trough in – depth interviews and literature reviews. Taking Taichung city as the case study. Firstly, trough studying statistic of causes and figures from mountain accident happened in the pass. Then analyze literature reviews regarding the risks of mountain climbing, the equipment used in rescue, and others matters in mountain accident. Lastly, by in-depth interview with the Taichung city Fire Department, Taiwan Mountain Rescue Association, and Taichung Forest District Office conclude the results of this research as follows: 1. The causes of mountain accident can categorize into tree: natural factor, human factor, and both natural and human factor. 2. The means of mountain rescues are, climber self-rescuing, aircraft rescuing, and land rescuing. 3. Rescue equipment can divided into two genera, navigation equipment and communications equipment. The choice of rescue equipment should be based on types of accident. 4. The key factor to preventing accident in mountain climbing is a complete risk profile before going in to the mountain.

Strategic management is fundamental for organizational development. It plays a critical role in the accomplishment of business performance and, as result, in the achievement of competitive advantage. Currently, the increased use of strategic management has intentional impacts on a company’s performance and differentiation, specifically in a globalized market. From this perspective, organizational evaluation is important, as well as the development of strategic management frameworks that can guarantee the achievement of sustainable competitive advantages for organizations. One of the most well-known frameworks for organizational resource assessment is the Value, Rarity, Inimitability and Organizational-oriented (VRIO) framework. It is worth noting, however, that this tool is not without limitations (e.g., how to identify and weight resources and capabilities in the evaluation process), which have prevented progress. Hence, this dissertation aims to enhance the VRIO framework, allowing for its quantification in a transparent and robust manner. To reach this aim, the VRIO framework is combined with the DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method, and a reallife application is carried out. The incentives and shortcomings of this structured evaluation model are also analyzed and discussed.