The self-avoiding walk in a strip

We review the existence of the infinite length self-avoiding walk in the half plane and its relationship to bridges. We prove that this probability measure is also given by the limit as $\beta \rightarrow \beta_c-$ of the probability measure on all finite length walks $\omega$ with the probability of $\omega$ proportional to $\beta_c^{|\omega|}$ where $|\omega|$ is the number of steps in $\omega$. The self-avoiding walk in a strip $\{z : 0<\Im(z)<y\}$ is defined by considering all self-avoiding walks $\omega$ in the strip which start at the origin and end somewhere on the top boundary with probability proportional to $\beta_c^{|\omega|}$ We prove that this probability measure may be obtained by conditioning the SAW in the half plane to have a bridge at height $y$. This observation is the basis for simulations to test conjectures on the distribution of the endpoint of the SAW in a strip and the relationship between the distribution of this strip SAW and SLE$_{8/3}$.Comment: 30 pages, 3 figure

Moving up or moving out : new job demands, ability to cope and burnout among television news producers and executive producers

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 20, 2009).Thesis advisor: Jennifer Reeves.M.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.This study is a qualitative analysis of the effects of job stressors on producers and executive producers in local television newsrooms. The industry is currently in a state of flux, with a flagging economy and changing technology. Shifting industry demands and new business practices are redefining the work of producing - expanding the demands and, in some cases, diminishing resources. Interviews with television producers and executive producers in five television markets reveal emotional struggles against exhaustion, cynicism and burnout. This study compares the journalists' responses with the components of Maslach's Burnout Inventory as well as with Karasek's Job Demand Control model. The researcher sought to understand how issues of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced personal accomplishment, job demand and control over work affected perceptions of job satisfaction among study participants. Additionally, this study examines the role longevity, or veteran journalist status, may play in the coping skills of producers and executive producers.Includes bibliographical references

New insights into pedestrian flow through bottlenecks

Capacity estimation is an important tool for the design and dimensioning of pedestrian facilities. The literature contains different procedures and specifications which show considerable differences with respect to the estimated flow values. Moreover do new experimental data indicate a stepwise growing of the capacity with the width and thus challenge the validity of the specific flow concept. To resolve these differences we have studied experimentally the unidirectional pedestrian flow through bottlenecks under laboratory conditions. The time development of quantities like individual velocities, density and individual time gaps in bottlenecks of different width is presented. The data show a linear growth of the flow with the width. The comparison of the results with experimental data of other authors indicates that the basic assumption of the capacity estimation for bottlenecks has to be revised. In contradiction with most planning guidelines our main result is, that a jam occurs even if the incoming flow does not overstep the capacity defined by the maximum of the flow according to the fundamental diagram.Comment: Traffic flow, pedestrian traffic, crowd dynamics, capacity of bottlenecks (16 pages, 8 figures); (+ 3 new figures and minor revisions