Future-Proofing: Seeking Resilience in the Historic Built Environment

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Action research to explore perceptions of risk in project management

Uses research in a major UK company on the introduction of an electronic document management system to explore perceptions of, and attitudes to, risk. Phenomenological methods were used; with subsequent dialogue transcripts evaluated with Winmax dialogue software, using an adapted theoretical framework based upon an analysis of the literature. The paper identifies a number of factors, and builds a framework, that should support a greater understanding of risk assessment and project management by the academic community and practitioners.

A printed hemispherical helical antenna for GPS receivers

A self-matched printed hemispherical helical antenna for potential use in global positioning system receivers is introduced. Unlike wired hemispherical helical antennas, its printed form renders it a much more stable and endurable structure and also easier for fabrication. The optimized antenna shows an impedance bandwidth of 6%, a 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 6%-7%, a return loss greater than 20 dB, and a gain of about 9 dB at the center frequency. The patterns of the antenna show a larger mainlobe in the upper half space with relatively small backlobes. Both theoretical and experimental results will be presented.

Team Evaluation: Solutions for Hotel Management and Productivity

Employee performance appraisal systems are controversial, especially when accomplished by a single rater. The authors, who have had experience with team evaluation systems, present evidence from that experience for over- coming obstacles to moving to a "less-biased" system of rating employees.

Iowa Scenic/Heritage Byway Evaluation, 2000

This report documents the results of the field inventory and evaluation of the nominated routes. Data is provided describing the visual and heritage character of the nominated routes and locations important to this character. Graphs, displays and maps were produced using the rating system described in the Iowa Scenic Byway Designation Guide. Discussions of specific inventory procedures and evaluation techniques can be found in two reports, Iowa Scenic Byway Evaluation, December 1992, and Iowa Scenic Byway Evaluation, November 1995.

Iowa Scenic/Heritage Byway Evaluation, 2001

This report documents the results of the field inventory and evaluation of the nominated routes. Data is provided describing the visual and heritage character of the nominated routes and locations important to this character. Graphs, displays and maps were produced using the rating system described in the Iowa Scenic Byway Designation Guide. Discussions of specific inventory procedures and evaluation techniques can be found in two reports, Iowa Scenic Byway Evaluation, December 1992, and Iowa Scenic Byway Evaluation, November 1995.

Upgrading Bridge Rails on Low-Volume Roads in Iowa, TR-679, 2016

Building on previous research, the goal of this project was to identify significant influencing factors for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) to consider in future updates of its Instructional Memorandum (I.M.) 3.213, which provides guidelines for determining the need for traffic barriers (guardrail and bridge rail) at secondary roadway bridges—specifically, factors that might be significant for the bridge rail rating system component of I.M. 3.213. A literature review was conducted of policies and guidelines in other states and, specifically, of studies related to traffic barrier safety countermeasures at bridges in several states. In addition, a safety impact study was conducted to evaluate possible non-driver-related behavior characteristics of crashes on secondary road structures in Iowa using road data, structure data, and crash data from 2004 to 2013. Statistical models (negative binomial regression) were used to determine which factors were significant in terms of crash volume and crash severity. The study found that crashes are somewhat more frequent on or at bridges possessing certain characteristics—traffic volume greater than 400 vehicles per day (vpd) (paved) or greater than 50 vpd (unpaved), bridge length greater than 150 ft (paved) or greater than 35 ft (unpaved), bridge width narrower than its approach (paved) or narrower than 20 ft (unpaved), and bridges older than 25 years (both paved and unpaved). No specific roadway or bridge characteristic was found to contribute to more serious crashes. The study also confirmed previous research findings that crashes with bridges on secondary roads are rare, low-severity events. Although the findings of the study support the need for appropriate use of bridge rails, it concludes that prescriptive guidelines for bridge rail use on secondary roads may not be necessary, given the limited crash expectancy and lack of differences in crash expectancy among the various combinations of explanatory characteristics.

Proposta de método para avaliação do desempenho térmico de residências unifamiliares em clima quente e úmido

Nowadays, evaluation methods to measure thermal performance of buildings have been developed in order to improve thermal comfort in buildings and reduce the use of energy with active cooling and heating systems. However, in developed countries, the criteria used in rating systems to asses the thermal and energy performance of buildings have demonstrated some limitations when applied to naturally ventilated building in tropical climates. The present research has as its main objective to propose a method to evaluate the thermal performance of low-rise residential buildings in warm humid climates, through computational simulation. The method was developed in order to conceive a suitable rating system for the athermal performance assessment of such buildings using as criteria the indoor air temperature and a thermal comfort adaptive model. The research made use of the software VisualDOE 4.1 in two simulations runs of a base case modeled for two basic types of occupancies: living room and bedroom. In the first simulation run, sensitive analyses were made to identify the variables with the higher impact over the cases´ thermal performance. Besides that, the results also allowed the formulation of design recommendations to warm humid climates toward an improvement on the thermal performance of residential building in similar situations. The results of the second simulation run was used to identify the named Thermal Performance Spectrum (TPS) of both occupancies types, which reflect the variations on the thermal performance considering the local climate, building typology, chosen construction material and studied occupancies. This analysis generates an index named IDTR Thermal Performance Resultant Index, which was configured as a thermal performance rating system. It correlates the thermal performance with the number of hours that the indoor air temperature was on each of the six thermal comfort bands pre-defined that received weights to measure the discomfort intensity. The use of this rating system showed to be appropriated when used in one of the simulated cases, presenting advantages in relation to other evaluation methods and becoming a tool for the understanding of building thermal behavior

Interview with Dana L. Roth

An interview in four sessions, January and February 2014, with longtime Caltech chemistry librarian Dana L. Roth. Roth received his undergraduate education at Pasadena City College and UCLA (BS in chemistry, 1962). In 1965, he received master’s degrees in chemistry from Caltech and in library science from UCLA; that summer, he became Caltech’s chemistry librarian. After consolidation of Caltech’s division libraries in Millikan Library in 1967, he undertook various administrative responsibilities at Millikan over the years, along with his continuing duties as chemistry librarian. Active in the chemistry division of the Special Libraries Association. In 2008, inducted into the SLA Hall of Fame. That year he also received the Thomas W. Schmitt Staff Prize, presented to a Caltech staff member whose contributions “embody the values and spirit that enable the institute to achieve excellence in research and education.” Retired April 2013. In this interview he discusses his initial education as a chemist, including his graduate education at Caltech, and his switch to library science. He traces the development of library science in general and at Caltech—from the card-catalog days to the growth of the electronic Caltech Library system and the present state of online access and databases.

Assessment and Life-Cycle Analysis of Recycled Materials for Sustainable Highway

Recycled materials replacing part of virgin materials in highway applications has shown great benefits to the society and environment. Beneficial use of recycled materials can save landfill places, sparse natural resources, and energy consumed in milling and hauling virgin materials. Low price of recycled materials is favorable to cost-saving in pavement projects. Considering the availability of recycled materials in the State of Maryland (MD), four abundant recycled materials, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), foundry sand (FS), and dredged materials (DM), were studied. A survey was conducted to collect the information of current usage of the four recycled materials in States’ Department of Transportation (DOTs). Based on literature review, mechanical and environmental properties, recommendations, and suggested test standards were investigated separately for the four recycled materials in different applications. Constrains in using these materials were further studied in order to provide recommendations for the development of related MD specifications. To measure social and environmental benefits from using recycled materials, life-cycle assessment was carried out with life-cycle analysis (LCA) program, PaLATE, and green highway rating system, BEST-in-Highway. The survey results indicated the wide use of RAP and RCA in hot mix asphalt (HMA) and graded aggregate base (GAB) respectively, while FS and DM are less used in field. Environmental concerns are less, but the possibly low quality and some adverse mechanical characteristics may hinder the widely use of these recycled materials. Technical documents and current specifications provided by State DOTs are good references to the usage of these materials in MD. Literature review showed consistent results with the survey. Studies from experimental research or site tests showed satisfactory performance of these materials in highway applications, when the substitution rate, gradation, temperature, moisture, or usage of additives, etc. meet some requirements. The results from LCA revealed significant cost savings in using recycled materials. Energy and water consumption, gas emission, and hazardous waste generation generally showed reductions to some degree. Use of new recycled technologies will contribute to more sustainable highways.

Proposta de método para avaliação do desempenho térmico de residências unifamiliares em clima quente e úmido

Nowadays, evaluation methods to measure thermal performance of buildings have been developed in order to improve thermal comfort in buildings and reduce the use of energy with active cooling and heating systems. However, in developed countries, the criteria used in rating systems to asses the thermal and energy performance of buildings have demonstrated some limitations when applied to naturally ventilated building in tropical climates. The present research has as its main objective to propose a method to evaluate the thermal performance of low-rise residential buildings in warm humid climates, through computational simulation. The method was developed in order to conceive a suitable rating system for the athermal performance assessment of such buildings using as criteria the indoor air temperature and a thermal comfort adaptive model. The research made use of the software VisualDOE 4.1 in two simulations runs of a base case modeled for two basic types of occupancies: living room and bedroom. In the first simulation run, sensitive analyses were made to identify the variables with the higher impact over the cases´ thermal performance. Besides that, the results also allowed the formulation of design recommendations to warm humid climates toward an improvement on the thermal performance of residential building in similar situations. The results of the second simulation run was used to identify the named Thermal Performance Spectrum (TPS) of both occupancies types, which reflect the variations on the thermal performance considering the local climate, building typology, chosen construction material and studied occupancies. This analysis generates an index named IDTR Thermal Performance Resultant Index, which was configured as a thermal performance rating system. It correlates the thermal performance with the number of hours that the indoor air temperature was on each of the six thermal comfort bands pre-defined that received weights to measure the discomfort intensity. The use of this rating system showed to be appropriated when used in one of the simulated cases, presenting advantages in relation to other evaluation methods and becoming a tool for the understanding of building thermal behavior

Análisis de las barreras para la unificación de una Historia Clínica Electrónica -HCE- en Colombia

Objetivo: Identificar las barreras para la unificación de una Historia Clínica Electrónica –HCE- en Colombia. Materiales y Métodos: Se realizó un estudio cualitativo. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a profesionales y expertos de 22 instituciones del sector salud, de Bogotá y de los departamentos de Cundinamarca, Santander, Antioquia, Caldas, Huila, Valle del Cauca. Resultados: Colombia se encuentra en una estructuración para la implementación de la Historia Clínica Electrónica Unificada -HCEU-. Actualmente, se encuentra en unificación en 42 IPSs públicas en el departamento de Cundinamarca, el desarrollo de la HCEU en el país es privado y de desarrollo propio debido a las necesidades particulares de cada IPS. Conclusiones: Se identificaron barreras humanas, financieras, legales, organizacionales, técnicas y profesionales en los departamentos entrevistados. Se identificó que la unificación de la HCE depende del acuerdo de voluntades entre las IPSs del sector público, privado, EPSs, y el Gobierno Nacional.

Data protection by design in the e-health care sector: theoretical and applied perspectives

In the digital age, e-health technologies play a pivotal role in the processing of medical information. As personal health data represents sensitive information concerning a data subject, enhancing data protection and security of systems and practices has become a primary concern. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the concept of Privacy by Design, which aims at developing a product or a service in a way that it supports privacy principles and rules. In the EU, Article 25 of the General Data Protection Regulation provides a binding obligation of implementing Data Protection by Design technical and organisational measures. This thesis explores how an e-health system could be developed and how data processing activities could be carried out to apply data protection principles and requirements from the design stage. The research attempts to bridge the gap between the legal and technical disciplines on DPbD by providing a set of guidelines for the implementation of the principle. The work is based on literature review, legal and comparative analysis, and investigation of the existing technical solutions and engineering methodologies. The work can be differentiated by theoretical and applied perspectives. First, it critically conducts a legal analysis on the principle of PbD and it studies the DPbD legal obligation and the related provisions. Later, the research contextualises the rule in the health care field by investigating the applicable legal framework for personal health data processing. Moreover, the research focuses on the US legal system by conducting a comparative analysis. Adopting an applied perspective, the research investigates the existing technical methodologies and tools to design data protection and it proposes a set of comprehensive DPbD organisational and technical guidelines for a crucial case study, that is an Electronic Health Record system.

Peculiarities of the Electronic Educational and Methodological Complex under the Point-rating Technology

At present in the sphere of electronic learning in the light of solving tasks put by the Bologna Declaration an important place is being taken by electronic educational and methodological complexes (EMC).The authors have put forward new components of EMC necessary for the organization of educational process and for the determination of labour intensity according to modules and students’ activity type. They also suggested a technology of defining the rating of the grade in the credit-module system.

Electronic And Structural Study Of Pt-modified Au Vicinal Surfaces: A Model System For Pt-au Catalysts.

Two single crystalline surfaces of Au vicinal to the (111) plane were modified with Pt and studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) in ultra-high vacuum environment. The vicinal surfaces studied are Au(332) and Au(887) and different Pt coverage (θPt) were deposited on each surface. From STM images we determine that Pt deposits on both surfaces as nanoislands with heights ranging from 1 ML to 3 ML depending on θPt. On both surfaces the early growth of Pt ad-islands occurs at the lower part of the step edge, with Pt ad-atoms being incorporated into the steps in some cases. XPS results indicate that partial alloying of Pt occurs at the interface at room temperature and at all coverage, as suggested by the negative chemical shift of Pt 4f core line, indicating an upward shift of the d-band center of the alloyed Pt. Also, the existence of a segregated Pt phase especially at higher coverage is detected by XPS. Sample annealing indicates that the temperature rise promotes a further incorporation of Pt atoms into the Au substrate as supported by STM and XPS results. Additionally, the catalytic activity of different PtAu systems reported in the literature for some electrochemical reactions is discussed considering our findings.