123 research outputs found
Implementation and evaluation of thermal avoidance strategies in arid, cost-constrained climates aimed at improving indoor thermal comfort : a case study in Bhuj, India
No full textThesis: S.M. in Building Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2018.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 150-155).The use of air conditioning in the buildings sector has been rapidly increasing. The International Energy Agency projects that rising income and greater access to air conditioning equipment in many developing countries will increase CO₂-equivalent emissions, energy consumption, and urban heat island effects. India is a prime example of a region where new building trends, hot climatic conditions, increasing social aspirations, and rapid population growth is likely to spread the adoption of air conditioning. To reduce the need for air conditioning, the research team has worked to develop, implement, and evaluate methods to reduce temperatures within the built environment using largely passive means. Building on the past work of Nelson and Gradillas, the thesis presents the results of long-term temperature monitoring within four homes in Bhuj, India. Results from the collective work have helped to inform future designs for the region, and resulted in an innovative roof concept. Using scale models, thermal simulations, and full-scale housing, results from the thesis explore new methods of implementing solutions for reduced solar heat gain, reduced heat absorption, and increased heat rejection. The research concludes by presenting early work on additional techniques and implications of using indigenous products to better thermal comfort conditions. Applicable outside of India, the techniques can be utilized in other regions and climates, as well as concurrently with active cooling systems to reduce energy consumption or extend existing capacity. Further work will seek to improve the design and adaptability of the system to different regions.by Johnathan J. Kongoletos.S.M. in Building Technolog
Simulation Optimization of Operating Room Schedules for Elective Surgeries
No full textThis is an accepted manuscript version of a conference paper published as Maltseva, D., Chen, S., Lex, J., Abbas, A., Whyne, C. (2024). Simulation Optimization of Operating Room Schedules for Elective Surgeries. In: Fujita, H., Cimler, R., Hernandez-Matamoros, A., Ali, M. (eds) Advances and Trends in Artificial Intelligence. Theory and Applications. IEA/AIE 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14748. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4677-4_31Our specific problem is to create daily schedules of elective surgeries in a multiple operating room setting with the goals of minimizing the amount of overtime incurred and maintaining patient volumes. While surgical durations cannot always be perfectly estimated and vary by procedure and surgeon, our approach relies on leveraging the stochastic nature of surgical durations to simulate each operating day and understand the probability of incurring overtime under a certain schedule of surgeries. The heuristic optimization component of our approach investigates the probabilistic evaluation and strategically re-schedules surgeries. Through experimentation with three optimization techniques, two showed promising results being able to reduce the total number of overtime surgeries by 12–15%, equivalent to approximately 1h of total monthly overtime. Compared to the literature, this approach serves solely as a tool for improving schedules and can be used for supporting decision making at the hospital. Our contribution involves introducing the simulation optimization model and describing the data-driven approach to analyzing the scheduling problem.(Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada|RGPIN-2022-04524
Machine Learning to Predict and Optimize Lower Extremity Arthroplasty Resource Utilization
No full textTotal knee and hip arthroplasty (TKA and THA, respectively) are common and resource intensive procedures contributing to significant burden on healthcare systems. The overall aim of this thesis project is to identify and develop strategies to improve elective surgical scheduling for TKA and THA. Machine learning and optimization to predict resource utilization-related outcomes such as duration of surgery and length of stay for arthroplasty patients were identified. A predict-then-optimize approach utilizing neural network models and linear programming was compared to historic scheduling strategies. Data sources for this work include the administrative National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and an institutional database from the Holland Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The most important features of the neural network models for outcome prediction were identified and compared between databases. Together, these findings are the foundation upon which to develop a “smart” surgical scheduling system and improve the efficiency of operating room utilization.M.A.S
Students' perception of the relevance of graduate education in business: dimensionality and assessment of MBA programs among selected Nigerian universities, 1984
No full textManagement education in Nigeria is being subjected to increasing criticism on a number of grounds. One criticism is that curriculum in organizational behavior courses has focused on conceptual and analytical training based on foreign texts. There is also a growing concern that tomorrow's private and public management executives need a broader education along a number of dimensions. The expectation that differences exist between a Humanist and Bureaucrat in leadership roles receives implicit support in the theory of human relations. Literature reviews on Nigerian management thoughts and practices provide no empirical evidence on the impact on the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs in Nigeria
Paradigms (Optimal and Otherwise): A case for scepticism
No full textThis paper aims to contribute to the debate on the status of inflectional paradigms in grammatical theory, with special reference to the theory of Optimal Paradigms (OP, McCarthy 2005), a particular version of Paradigm Uniformity. OP proposes that certain systematic phonological differences between nouns and verbs should be analyzed as arising from contingent facts about the individual affixes making up the nominal and verbal inflectional paradigms. I argue here that the Arabic data presented in OP does not support the OP model (as against, for example, cyclic alternatives) and that consideration of similar phenomena in Itelmen, a language with richer inflectional paradigms, suggests that it is morpho-syntactic category and not paradigm properties, that determine phonological behaviour.This is a revised version of the paper presented at the MIT Paradigms Workshop 2004.The definitive version of this paper is published in Infectional Identity and is available at http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199219643.do#.Ug5j7xlgNeIBobaljik, J.D. (2008). Paradigms (Optimal and Otherwise): A case for scepticism. In A. Bachrach & A.I. Nevins (Eds.), Inflectional Identity. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Portions of the research reported in this paper have been supported by grants from FCAR (2002-NC-75019) and SSHRC (410-2002-0581).ISBN: 9780199219643 (Published book)Peer reviewe
Whitehorse climate change adaptation plan
No full text"The main role of the Whitehorse Community Climate Change Adaptation Project Local Advisory Committee (WLAC) has been to provide a local perspective to the project and to guide the allocation of money for pilot adaptation projects.The WLAC members were chosen to balance the broad and overlapping interests/jurisdictions that co-exist in Whitehorse while striving for solutions which will be effective and widely supported--from Forward
A Transcription of Rebecca Clarke’s Sonata for Viola and Piano for Clarinet and Piano by Johnathan Christian Robinson
No full textabstract: Throughout centuries of great classical music, many clarinet compositions have been adapted from a wealth of literature for string instruments and instruments of similar ranges. Viola, violin, and cello literature can often be adapted into challenging literature for the clarinet. While the works of English composer and violist, Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), have gained popularity in the early 2000s, many of her compositions have yet to be discovered by musicians performing on wind instruments of similar ranges.
While legendary western composers such as Mozart, Weber, and Brahms, will continue to be enduring icons in classic clarinet literature, performers and educators alike should always consider the integration of transcribed works for the expansion and diversity of the repertoire. Although a sizeable amount of literature for clarinet is contained in orchestral and chamber works of the late-Romantic era, the availability of solo clarinet literature in this style is lacking. The purpose of the project is the addition of Rebecca Clarke’s 1919 Viola Sonata for B-flat soprano clarinet and piano to the solo clarinet repertoire. The transcription preserves the integrity of the original music while exploring the virtuosic nature of the clarinet and its interaction with the piano. Comments on the historical background of Clarke’s Viola Sonata and the transcription procedures are provided as well.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Music 201
Who is Little Enis
No full text25 x 22 cm.Folded broadside of the poem 'Who Is Little Enis?' by Johnathan Williams, with photo by Make-Hay Studios, designed by Captain Vague & the Edgarologist, signed by author 'for David', ca. 1974. 25 x 22 cm
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