This dissertation consists of three essays that evaluate various types of health care policies from the social welfare perspective. Chapter 1 introduces the main ideas and framework of this dissertation. Chapter 2 evaluates the new co-payment policy, enacted on July 15, 2005 under Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI). We show...
The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is a species of concern in the western United States due to its association with mature structural stage forests. I employed a use-versus-availability study design to quantify the vegetative, physiographic, and landscape variables associated with goshawk breeding habitat selection in the San Juan Mountains of...
In modern on-chip memories, an increasing demand for higher performance, lower power, reduced area, and improved robustness creates a rising need for advanced microarchitecture and circuit design techniques. Particularly in large-signal multi-ported register files, these advanced design techniques include: (i) multi-banked arrays, (ii) multi-frequency arrays, (iii) multi-bit width gating, (iv)...
The complexity of forest management has increased with the scope of resources of concern and the level of scrutiny from stakeholders. The design and use of specialized computer software, often referred to as “decision support systems” (DSS), is one method for helping managers deal with this complexity. DSS have proven...
The Northern California Current (NCC) ecosystem exhibits extreme seasonal, interannual and interdecadal shifts in the abiotic environment and shifts in primary and higher production. This variability is also apparent in the spatial structure of the ecosystem with nearshore-shelf waters (<150 m isobath) being highly productive and having a different community...
We present an approach for generating a character’s response in anticipation of an impending impact. Protective anticipatory movement is built upon several simple actions that have been identified as response mechanisms in monkeys and in humans. These actions are parameterized by a model of the interaction based on the approaching...
This thesis develops a geology training manual for the Interpretation staff of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (CRMO) in southern Idaho. The manual will help the staff convey geologic principles to park visitors who are experiencing a landscape formed by volcanic processes. Basic geology and the most...
The objective of this project was to investigate technical efficiency and productivity growth in the Pacific Northwest sawmilling industry over the period 1968-2002. Productivity growth was decomposed into three components: technical change, efficiency change, and scale efficiency change. In addition, using econometric methods, changes in output elasticities and input substitution...