The impact of contextual factors on the predicted bulk water pipe repair times in Wellington City : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Emergency Management at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Lifelines, like the water supply, are essential for the survival of people, communities, and businesses. In the event of a significant natural disaster, like an earthquake, it can be expected that these regional lifelines will be severely damaged. Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, contains many lifelines that are highly vulnerable to failure. The water supply is especially susceptible, as it crosses the Wellington Fault multiple times and carries water through landslide prone corridors. Because of the risk, and potential impact on people, several predictive models have been created to calculate the likely downtimes so individuals and organisations can prepare for the loss. Many of these predictive models are comprehensive in what they calculate. However, they require improvement as they do not include local and contextual factors or the influence of other lifelines. For example, they do not include the impact of staff logistics, assume access to required equipment is a given, and ignore interdependencies between lifelines, such as the loss of access to repair sites because of damage to the transportation network. This research aims to improve these current models by investigating the magnitude of these site-specific and interdependency factors. Following a sequential mixed methods approach and using a pragmatic viewpoint, experts directly involved in the repair and maintenance of lifelines were selected for interviews. In total 20 professionals were contacted using a snowball and convenience sampling technique. Out of these 20, five were available for in-depth semi-structured phone interviews. From these interviews, anything stated to affect the repair times was highlighted, the most prominent of which were incorporated into current predictive models and their influence on repair times calculated. In total 12 different issues were discussed, 4 of which were examined further. These factors were: staff logistical problems; the slope of the land affecting damage inspection processes; the impact of uncommon pipe diameters on the repair process; and access problems. Once identified, these factors were incorporated into current predictive models, and the impact on repair times calculated. By including these contextual influences, it was found that they increased repair times by between 3 and 13 days depending on the water source and 31 and 111 days when incorporating the influence of landslides. Thus, proving contextual influences have a significant impact on repair times. Overall this study 1) revealed the importance of including contextual factors into predictive calculations and 2) created more accurate downtime predictions for the water supply in Wellington City, allowing for people, organisations, and planners to better prepare for the potential risk

Fractal Location and Anomalous Diffusion Dynamics for Oil Wells from the KY Geological Survey

Utilizing data available from the Kentucky Geonet (KYGeonet.ky.gov) the fossil fuel mining locations created by the Kentucky Geological Survey geo-locating oil and gas wells are mapped using ESRI ArcGIS in Kentucky single plain 1602 ft projection. This data was then exported into a spreadsheet showing latitude and longitude for each point to be used for modeling at different scales to determine the fractal dimension of the set. Following the porosity and diffusivity studies of Tarafdar and Roy1 we extract fractal dimensions of the fossil fuel mining locations and search for evidence of scaling laws for the set of deposits. The Levy index is used to determine a match to a statistical mechanically motivated generalized probability function for the wells. This probability distribution corresponds to a solution of a dynamical anomalous diffusion equation of fractional order that describes the Levy paths which can be solved in the diffusion limit by the Fox H function ansatz.Comment: : 8 pages, 3 figures, AIPG Conference Meeting, Grand Junction CO, Oct. 200

Kepler-like Multi-Plexing for Mass Production of Microlens Parallaxes

We show that a wide-field Kepler-like satellite in Solar orbit could obtain microlens parallaxes for several thousand events per year that are identified from the ground, yielding masses and distances for several dozen planetary events. This is roughly an order of magnitude larger than previously-considered narrow-angle designs. Such a satellite would, in addition, roughly double the number of planet detections (and mass/distance determinations). It would also yield a trove of brown-dwarf binaries with masses, and distances and (frequently) full orbits, enable new probes of the stellar mass function, identify isolated black-hole candidates. We show that the actual Kepler satellite, even with degraded pointing, can demonstrate these capabilities and make substantial initial inroads into the science potential. We discuss several "Deltas" to the Kepler satellite aimed at optimizing microlens parallax capabilities. Most of these would reduce costs. The wide-angle approach advocated here has only recently become superior to the old narrow-angle approach, due to the much larger number of ground-based microlensing events now being discovered.Comment: ApJ Letters, in press, 12 pages, 4 figure

Response by Bivard et al to letter regarding article, "Impact of Computed Tomography Perfusion Imaging on the Response to Tenecteplase in Ischemic Stroke: Analysis of 2 Randomized Controlled Trials"

No abstract available

Adoption of managerial innovations: effect of adoption rationales on the adoption process

The aim of the research is to explore the complex phenomenon of the adoption of managerial innovations by organisations, with an attempt to identify relationships between various elements of this process. Four case studies were compiled using interview data from selected managers. The data provided a means of subjecting the rationales that Sturdy (2004) posited for the adoption of managerial innovations to empirical inquiry. The study also seeks to explore how the identified rationales may relate to two main characteristics of the subsequent adoption process, namely, the timing of adoption in the life cycle of the innovation and how long the adoption process takes. To our knowledge, this study represents the first empirical exploration of the adoption rationales posited by Sturdy and their subsequent impact on the adoption process. The findings of the study will be of value to academics interested studying the adoption of managerial innovations and also practising managers who must make adoption decisions and manage the adoption process. It is recognised that the study is exploratory in nature and suggestions for further research are proposed

A Developmental Perspective on College & Workplace Readiness

Reviews research on and identifies the physical, psychological, social, cognitive, and spiritual competencies high school graduates need to transition into college, the workplace, and adulthood. Includes strategies for meeting disadvantaged youths' needs