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1
Askay, David Andrew. "Crowd control| Organizing the crowd at Yelp." Thesis, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3594049.
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This dissertation investigates how businesses are able to align the collective actions of a disconnected crowd with the strategic goals of the organization. I examined this questions within the context of the business review website Yelp through a quantitative analysis of nearly 60,000 business reviews, 17 in-depth qualitative interviews with reviewers, and a two-year ethnography. Interpreting the results of this data within the framework of the collective action space (Bimber, Flanagin, & Stohl, 2012) indicates that Yelp is able to manage the contributions of a relatively small subset of reviewers through the Yelp Elite Squad. Rather than simply motivating more reviews, the Elite Squad encouraged reviewers to interact more personally with other reviewers and accept increased institutional engagement with Yelp. In encouraging members of the crowd to produce online reviews within this context, Yelp was able to use organizational culture as a control strategy for encouraging Elite reviewers to adopt a pre-mediated reviewing approach to their reviews. This increased the frequency of moderate reviews and decreased the frequency of extreme reviews. This behavior ultimately furthers the organizational goals of Yelp, as moderate reviews are considered to be more helpful for reviews of businesses. Finally, implications for crowdsourcing, big data analysis, and theory are discussed.
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Seriani, Sebastian. "Crowd management on metro station platforms." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2018. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10048479/.
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To reduce problems of interaction at the platform train interface (PTI) crowd management measures (CMM) have been implemented in the London Underground (LU). As an example, platform edge doors (PEDs) are used as door positions indicators at the PTI. However, there is little research focused on the effect of these types of measures on the behaviour and interaction of passengers boarding and alighting. In addition, there is a lack of methods and frameworks to represent and evaluate their behaviour and interaction. A simple framework is proposed to help designers and planners to identify and benchmark the degree of interaction when CMM are used such as PEDs. This framework included a new method, in which the platform conflict area (PCA) is divided into layers of 50 cm each and 40 cm square cells. The framework is supported by observation at two existing stations (with and without PEDs) and laboratory experiments under controlled conditions at UCL’s Pedestrian Accessibility Movement Environmental Laboratory (PAMELA). A tracking tool was used to obtain the position of each passenger on the PCA. The results show that PEDs on their own have no overall negative impact on the boarding and alighting time (BAT) and that in most situations they encourage passengers to wait beside the doors. Measuring the density by layers was more representative of the interaction than average values of density. The space of alighting passengers can be represented as an asymmetrical ellipse and their speed not always increased when they have more space. In addition, if R (boarding/alighting) increases then the formation of flow lines decreases at the PTI. The new framework is able to describe well the phenomena of high interactions and can be used to evaluate suitable CMM in railway infrastructure. Possible applications of the framework, as well as further investigation, were discussed.
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Görzen, Thomas [Verfasser]. "Essays on crowd-based idea evaluation - empirical evidence from an anonymous online crowd / Thomas Görzen." Paderborn : Universitätsbibliothek, 2019. http://d-nb.info/1199439827/34.
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Hoteit, Sahar. "Resource and crowd management in mobile networks." Thesis, Paris 6, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014PA066245/document.
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L’Internet a été initialement conçu pour servir des usages fixes et sédentaires, cependant les projections montrent que les futurs utilisateurs d'Internet seront de plus en plus mobiles. A l'heure actuelle, la rapidité avec laquelle cette évolution se déroule et la gestion souvent insuffisante des réseaux d'accès représentent un obstacle majeur au développement de services avancés. Afin de résoudre ces problèmes et répondre aux besoins de l'Internet mobile, les fournisseurs de services ont besoin de maîtriser l'expansion de la capacité nécessaire dans leurs réseaux de collecte, sinon le trafic de donnés va pouvoir boucher leurs réseaux dans le futur. Le déploiement des nouvelles générations de réseaux fournit des hautes bandes passantes et débits mais implique souvent des grandes dépenses en capital et en exploitation. Une alternative économiquement et techniquement viable est représentée par les solutions de déchargement du trafic mobile. Ces solutions peuvent réduire la surcharge sur le spectre radio et sur les stations de base et sur le réseau de collecte. Les solutions de déchargement les plus couramment utilisées sont le déchargement sur les réseaux de femtocellules et les réseaux Wi-Fi. Dans le même contexte, pour résoudre le problème de congestion dans le réseau cellulaire, une nouvelle solution est récemment apparue: Information Centric networking permettant la mise en cache des contenus dans le réseau ce qui minimise le temps d'accès aux contenus. L'objectif de cette thèse est donc d'étudier ces nouvelles solutions de déchargement de trafic et de contenu dans les réseaux cellulaires en prenant en considération les schémas de mobilité et les comportements humainsThe Internet was initially conceived to serve fix and sedentary usages, while current socio-technological trends clearly show that future Internet users will be increasingly mobile and nomadic. At present, the speed at which this evolution takes place and the inadequate management of access networks represent a major obstacle in the development of advanced services. To solve these problems and to meet the needs of mobile Internet, service providers need to master the needed capacity expansion in their backhauling network, otherwise the data traffic will clog their networks in the future. Next-generation network deployments promise to deliver higher bandwidth and speed, but they often imply high capital and operational expenditures. An alternative economically and technically viable way is represented by mobile data offloading solutions. These solutions can reduce the load on radio spectrum, on base stations and on backhauling network. The most commonly used offloading solutions are over small-networks and over Wi-Fi networks. In the same context, and in order to solve the problem of congestion in the cellular network, a new solution has emerged recently : Information Centric Networking for in-network caching that permits to minimize content access latency. The objective of this thesis is to study these new traffic and content offloading solutions in cellular networks while taking into account the mobility patterns and human behavior
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Fu, Carolyn J. "Collective causality : building solution architectures with a crowd." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112063.
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Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, System Design and Management Program, 2017.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 54-55).
Traditional open innovation has operated on the assumption that by casting a wide net into the crowd, the likelihood of obtaining a desirable solution to a problem increases, due to the greater range of potential solutions that is obtained. This is typically implemented using a competitive format, where the best ideas are selected from a crowd, and the rest are discarded. Unfortunately, the drawback of such a format is that it fails to make use of the efforts behind discarded ideas. Each of these ideas represents a great deal of cognitive effort that has gone towards understanding and solving a problem, and discarding them sacrifices potentially useful insights that might be derived from ultimately unworkable solutions. This thesis explores how a more effective form of collective intelligence might be obtained - one where the half-baked solutions of many participants might be combined to produce something more effective than one participant's fully baked solution that is selected through competition. The specific format of a collaborative causal map is explored, where individuals can each contribute causes and causal links to an overall causal web, building an ever richer architecture of potential solutions (and their sub-solutions) to an overall problem. The goal is to integrate individuals' contributions such that they accumulate to an overall cohesive solution that is better than what any individual could have developed. A series of pilots are conducted to understand the group dynamics in both offline and online collaboration, and determine those factors that are material to the success of an online collaborative causal map. Such factors include how the question is framed, how users attend to others' contributions, or how users' contributions can be curated. These factors are ultimately incorporated into a prototype collaborative causal mapping website, which is developed for public use.
by Carolyn J. Fu.
S.M. in Engineering and Management
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Morrison, Alan D. "Reputation, opportunism and crowd behaviour in debt markets." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.365578.
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Andrews, S., T. Day, K. Domdouzis, L. Hirsch, Raluca Lefticaru, and C. Orphanides. "Analyzing Crowd-Sourced Information and Social Media for Crisis Management." Springer International Publishing, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/17662.
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YesThe analysis of potentially large volumes of crowd-sourced and social media data is central to meeting the requirements of the ATHENA project. Here, we discuss the various stages of the pipeline process we have developed, including acquisition of the data, analysis, aggregation, filtering, and structuring. We highlight the challenges involved when working with unstructured, noisy data from sources such as Twitter, and describe the crisis taxonomies that have been developed to support the tasks and enable concept extraction. State-of-the-art techniques such as formal concept analysis and machine learning are used to create a range of capabilities including concept drill down, sentiment analysis, credibility assessment, and assignment of priority. We ground many of these techniques using results obtained from a set of tweets which emerged from the Colorado wildfires of 2012 in order to demonstrate the applicability of our work to real crisis scenarios.
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Lipusch, Nikolaus [Verfasser]. "Crowd-Based Entrepreneurship : How Crowd-Based Infrastructures Can Be Leveraged to Unlock New Innovation Potential for Entrepreneurs, Customers and Actors of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems / Nikolaus Lipusch." Kassel : Universitätsbibliothek Kassel, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1212224116/34.
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Höglund, Fredrik. "The Use of Resilience Strategies in Crowd Management at a Music Festival : and the safety organization’s role in avoiding crowd conflict." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för datavetenskap, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-100117.
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Each year people are injured and even die in crowd related accidents, often during planned events. Recent studies have emphasized the need for using a systems approach to study these events. In this study the systems approach of resilience theory is combined with the crowd psychology-models Extended Social Identity Model and the Aggravation and Mitigation Model to examine event safety at a music festival, a domain previously largely unexplored by these perspectives. By using an ethnographic approach as well as interviewing visitors the study set out to answer questions about when and how the safety organization adjusted itself under conditions relating to crowds. Another goal was to study the social identity of the visitors as well as the interaction between the safety organization and the visitors at the festival to explain the presence or absence of crowd conflict. Using thematic analysis several situations were identified where the safety organization adjusted itself, as well as the strategies that the organization used in these different circumstances. It was also concluded that the absence of crowd conflict could best be explained by three factors. First of all, no history of crowd conflict existed between the safety organization and the visitors, secondly, there were no groups present with the goal of creating conflict, and thirdly, the social processes taking place between the safety organization and the visitors were all mitigating in nature. The mitigating nature of the social processes was partly attributable to the strategies identified for adjusting to crowd conditions.
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Jones, Kyle Thomas. "Innovation Management and Crowdsourcing| A Quantitative Analysis of Sponsor and Crowd Assessments." Thesis, The George Washington University, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10686345.
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Crowdsourcing is an increasingly common method used for new product development in large engineering-focused companies. While effective at generating a large number of ideas, previous research has noted that there is not an efficient mechanism to sort ideas based on the sponsor's desired outcomes. Without such a mechanism, the sponsor is left to evaluate ideas individually in a labor-intensive effort. This paper evaluates the extent to which information revealed by the crowd during the course of a crowdsourcing event can be used to accurately predict sponsor selection of submitted ideas. The praxis reviews current literature relevant to new product development, innovation management, and crowdsourcing as well as methods for efficient sorting. Using a quantitatively-based methodology, the author develops and evaluates several predictive models using various attributes of the crowd reaction to crowdsourced ideas. Ultimately, the praxis proposes a model that can significantly reduce the burden of sorting through submissions and determining the submissions which merit further review.
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Khan, Imran. "Hajj crowd management: Discovering superior performance with agent-based modeling and queueing theory." Arabian Journals of Business and Management Review, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1993/13698.
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The thesis investigates how Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) and Queueing Theory (QT) techniques help manage mass gathering (MG) crowds. The techniques are applied to Hajj MG, which is one of the most complex annual MG, with a focus on its challenging Tawaf ritual. The objective is to develop a Tawaf Decision Support System (DSS) to better understand Tawaf crowd dynamics and discover decisions that lead to superior performance. TawafSIM is an ABMS model in the DSS, which simulates macro-level Tawaf crowd dynamics through micro-level pilgrim modeling to explore the impact of crowd characteristics, facility layout, and management preferences on emergent crowd behaviours with respect to throughput, satisfaction, health, and safety. Whereas, TawafQT is a QT model in the DSS to explore the impact of pilgrim arrival rate and Tawaf throughput on expected arrival, departure, and waiting times along with average queue length in the Tawaf waiting area.
The thesis provides several contributions, including the following. First, it is the only Tawaf research to use a hybrid ABMS and QT approach. Second, TawafSIM is a comprehensive Tawaf simulator. It incorporates features for pilgrim characteristics, facility design, and management preferences. It calculates eight metrics for Tawaf performance, which includes one for throughput, three for satisfaction, one for health, and three for safety. It is the only Tawaf simulator to estimate satisfaction and spread of infectious disease. It conducts 42 simulation experiments in 12 categories. It generates observations for emergent, tipping point, expected, and counter intuitive behaviours. It recommends a default scenario as the best decision along with a small subset of alternative scenarios, which provide above average Tawaf performance. It generates a Tawaf Crowd Management Guide to better understand Tawaf crowd dynamics and how to pursue above average Tawaf performance under different conditions. Third, TawafQT is the only study of the Tawaf waiting area. It uses an accurate queueing model with finite source, single service, and PH type distribution, which is not only applicable to the Tawaf and other Hajj related queueing systems but also to any queueing system, which has finite population and single service characteristics.
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Au, Siu Yam Zachary. "Assessing crowd safety risks : a research into the application of the risk assessment principles to improve crowd safety management and planning in major public venues." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2001. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/6834.
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This thesis considers the subject of crowd safety and investigates how the application of risk assessment can provide support for decision making in crowd safety management and planning. The focus is on major public venues and events where large crowds arc a normal part of the operation. Conventional methods of assessment tend to be ad hoc, reactive and rely on individual experiences. The risk assessment approach, which is comprehensive, systematic and pro-active, can help to overcome these shortfalls. Risk assessments have already been successfully applied in many workplaces, ranging from high hazard industrial plants to the office environment. However, this thesis argues that for it to be of benefit, the risk assessment must be appropriate to the nature of the operation and the nature and the extent of the hazards involved. The existing risk assessments are inappropriate to crowd safety in this respect and a more suitable methodology is required. In order to identify the methods and tools that could provide the potential solutions to the problems of assessing crowd and behaviour related hazards, a review of other risk assessments was conducted. It has highlighted a number of techniques and tools that could be applied to assess crowd safety risks. Based on the criteria mentioned above and the findings of this review, a prototype crowd safety risk assessment methodology was developed. A series of trials were conducted to evaluate the validity and usability of the prototype. Revisions were made accordingly to produce the final draft. Experiments and a questionnaire survey were then carried out on the final draft to test and verify the methodology. In general, they show that the methodology has led to an improvement in most aspects of crowd safety risk assessment. In the experiments that compared the methodology against methods representing the existing risk assessments and the conventional way of assessing crowd safety, subjects using the methodology tend to perform better in most areas. More hazards were identified. In the evaluation of risks, better consistency was achieved between individuals using the methodology. However, their judgements appeared to be less consistent over time. The use of a larger rating scheme with more choices available in the methodology could have an impact on consistency in risk evaluation. Another key factor could be that the subjects who took part in the experiments were all novice assessors. Possible learning effect may have occurred in between experiments, which could have resulted in a change of mind over time. If this is the case, this result could be an indication that the methodology is more sensitive to changes in risks or risk perception. It will be interesting to find out if experienced assessors can achieve better consistency. By and large, the experiments and questionnaire survey have served to verify, at least in part, the arguments that risk assessment is better than the conventional assessment method and that there are more benefits to be gained when the risk assessment is more appropriate to the nature and the extent of the crowd safety hazards that could arise in major public venues. Nevertheless, it is important to recognise that the research work presented in this thesis is merely the first step towards a crowd safety risk assessment methodology. There are outstanding issues yet to be resolved, not least the issue of the apparent lack of consistency over time in risk evaluation. This thesis has identified the research and development work that is required to resolve these issues and to further the benefits that risk assessment could bring to crowd safety.
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Kiptoo, Caroline Chepkoech. "An ontology and crowd computing model for expert-citizen knowledge transfer in biodiversity management." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62776.
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Knowledge transfer has been identified as a strategic process for bridging the persistent gap between theory and practice. In biodiversity management, experts generate different types of knowledge that is transferred to citizen communities for practice. On the other hand, citizens constantly interact with their biosphere and from time to time are requested to convey ground knowledge to the experts for scientific analysis and interpretation. The transfer of knowledge between experts and citizens is faced by different challenges key among them being the large volume of the knowledge, complexity of the knowledge, as well as variegated absorptive capacity among citizen communities. Knowledge transfer models adopted for expert-citizen engagement in the biodiversity management domain must therefore consider these characteristics of the domain. Advances in computing technologies present opportunities to create knowledge transfer models that can minimize these challenges. Current knowledge transfer models were created mainly for organizational knowledge transfer and without consideration of specific computing technologies as a mode of knowledge transfer. These challenges and opportunities highlighted a need to investigate how a technology-based knowledge transfer model for biodiversity management could be created. The focus of this study was to explore enhancement of knowledge transfer in the biodiversity management domain using two specific technologies; knowledge representation using ontologies and crowd computing. The research draws from existing knowledge transfer models and properties of the two technologies. This study assumed the pragmatist philosophical stance and adopted the design science research (DSR) approach which is characterised by two intertwined cycles of ‘build’ and ‘evaluate’. The research produced two main contributions from the two cycles. The build cycle led to creation of a technology-based model for knowledge transfer between experts and citizens in the biodiversity domain and was named the Biodiversity Management Knowledge Transfer (BiMaKT) model. Evaluation cycle resulted in development of a platform for transfer of biodiversity management knowledge between experts and citizens. The BiMaKT model reveals that two technologies; knowledge representation using ontologies and crowd computing, could be synergised to enable knowledge transfer between experts and citizens in biodiversity management. It is suggested that this model be utilised to guide development of biodiversity management applications where knowledge needs to be transferred between experts and citizens. The model also presents opportunity for exploration in other domains, especially where experts and citizens need to exchange knowledge. The knowledge transfer platform, reveals that the BiMaKT model could be used to guide development of biodiversity management knowledge transfer platforms. The study utilises a case of fruit fly control and management knowledge transfer between fruit fly experts and fruit farmers for evaluation of the contributions. An experiment using the case demonstrated that the challenges facing knowledge transfer in the domain could be reduced through ontological modelling of domain knowledge and harnessing of online crowds participation through crowd computing. The platform presents opportunity for more empirical studies on usage of the platform in knowledge transfer activities.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Informatics
PhD
Unrestricted
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Stötzel, Martin [Verfasser], and Michael [Akademischer Betreuer] Amberg. "The Crowd and the Chiefs. Two Perspectives for Organizing Open Innovation / Martin Stötzel. Gutachter: Michael Amberg." Erlangen : Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 2014. http://d-nb.info/1075664578/34.
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Velichety, Srikar, and Srikar Velichety. "Essays on Data Driven Insights from Crowd Sourcing, Social Media and Social Networks." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/620677.
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The beginning of this decade has seen a phenomenal raise in the amount of data generated in the world. While this increase provides us with opportunities to understand various aspects of human behavior and mechanisms behind new phenomena, the technologies, statistical techniques and theories required to gain an in depth and comprehensive understanding haven't progressed at an equal pace. As little as 5 years back, we used to deal with problems where there is insufficient prior social science or economic theory and the interest is only in prediction of the outcome or where there is an appropriate social science or economic theory and the interest is in explaining a given phenomenon. Today, we deal with problems where there is insufficient social science or economic theory but the interest is in explaining a given phenomenon. This creates a big challenge the solution to which is of equal interest to both academics and practitioners. In my research, I contribute towards addressing these challenges by building exploratory frameworks that leverage a variety of techniques including social network analysis, text and data mining, econometrics, statistical computing and visualization. My three essay dissertation focuses on understanding the antecedents to the quality of user generated content and on subscription and un-subscription behavior of users from lists on Social Media. Using a data science approach on population sized samples from Wikipedia and Twitter, I demonstrate the power of customized exploratory analyses in uncovering facts that social science or economic theory doesn't dictate and show how metrics from these analyses can be used to build prediction models with higher accuracy. I also demonstrate a method for combining exploration, prediction and explanatory modeling and propose to extend this methodology to provide causal inference. This dissertation has general implications for building better predictive and explanatory models and for mining text efficiently in Social Media.
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Alsubaie, Hatab. "Crowd control and management enterprise modelling (CCMEM) utilising the MECCA (mega event coordination and control architecture) framework." Thesis, Kingston University, 2014. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/28756/.
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Crowds are often an integral part of an event or an activity that may potentially be overlooked, yet present a substantial threat to the health and safety of all those attending such an event. In the majority of crowd control situations, the importance of managing the event will not simply rest with the event managers themselves, but is likely to involve having to create efficient enterprise wide systems which several third parties would need to interact with, in order to deal with difficulties, should they arise, such as the need to liaise with the police or fire service, as appropriate. This research focuses on the practices of crowd management and the way in which those involved in crowd management should potentially change their approach, in order to enhance safety, but also to enhance the efficiency of managing and controlling the crowd, something which is becoming increasingly important, given the economic impact that large-scale events can have on a region. To enable the above a Crowd Control and Management Enterprise Modelling (CCMEM) framework was developed. The first stage of this was the synthesis of the appropriate components within various existing crowd management models found in literature. This synthesis, formed the basis of the theoretical components from which the Mega Event Command and Control Architecture (MECCA) framework was developed. This framework was evaluated with two case studies involving very large or mega events, ! namely the Hajj to Mecca and the London Olympics 2012. A research study that used both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect primary data was designed, which further developed and validated the CCMEM and the MECCA frameworks. The application of MECCA framework with the two case studies was evaluated using the Crowd Management Evaluation Components (CMEC). When looking at the results of the data collected and the case studies in this particular research, it became apparent that the enterprise wide view understanding of mega event management enabled the effective mapping of and development of associated integrated systems for each of the components of the framework. This in turn leads to more efficient and effective crowd management. Also this better understanding enables officials to react much more effectively and much more quickly to changes in the crowd dynamics. Further work can be carried out to develop the various integrated information systems which will be required and this will be based on the enterprise wide CCMEM - MECCA framework.
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Vu, Binh Verfasser], Matthias [Akademischer Betreuer] Hemmje, Matthias [Gutachter] Hemmje, and Kevitt Paul [Gutachter] [Mc. "A Taxonomy Management System Supporting Crowd-based Taxonomy Generation, Evolution, and Management / Binh Vu ; Gutachter: Matthias Hemmje, Paul Mc Kevitt ; Betreuer: Matthias Hemmje." Hagen : FernUniversität in Hagen, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1209359308/34.
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Taibah, Hassan. "Investigating Communication and Warning Channels to Enhance Crowd Management Strategies: a Study of Hajj Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2015. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc801945/.
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The global increase in the number of mass gatherings and crowded events has brought with it new emergencies and unintended consequences for public administrators and first responders. Crowd managers attempt to overcome these challenges by enhancing operations, alleviating financial losses, keeping event organizers safe from liability and, most importantly, keeping the attendees safe. Effective communication among and between officials and guests has been identified as a key element in this process. However, there is a lack of risk communication studies, especially about heterogeneous crowds that congregate at religious events. With this gap in mind, this research aims to investigate the use of major communication channels available and/or preferred by Muslim pilgrims in Makkah, Saudi Arabia during Hajj to gauge their effectiveness in communicating risk information. This annual religious pilgrimage was chosen because it attracts over 2 million pilgrims from more than 140 countries, most of whom speak different languages and belong to different cultures but perform the same rituals at the same time. This dissertation seeks to answer three broad research questions: “what are the most popular communication channels used by pilgrims,” “what are the weaknesses of the current communication strategies,” and “what can be done to improve risk communication among pilgrims, and between pilgrims and authorities to enhance crowd control and crowd management strategies.” The protective action decision model (PADM) is used as the theoretical framework to understand the influence of six factors (environmental cues, social cues, information sources, channel access and preferences, warning messages, and receiver characteristics) on risk communication. In collaboration with the Transportation and Crowd Management Center of Research Excellence (TCMCORE) of Saudi Arabia, a convenience sampling strategy was employed to interview 348 pilgrims in the Prophet’s Mosque area, during the Hajj of 2013. The surveys were conducted in Arabic and English and included pilgrims from different backgrounds and countries. Data analysis included an evaluation of the correlation between the use of risk communication channels and receiver characteristics, message content, and information sources. Findings highlight low percentages in the overall use of communication channels. It also demonstrated an over-dependence on channels that foster the passive top-down communication strategy (such as TV stations, messages at mosques, billboard, text messages, and pamphlets), while marginalizing channels that foster the horizontal and bottom-up strategies (such as bilingual staff outreach and social media). The findings also show the differences in risk communication channels used by pilgrims from different socio-demographic groups. The study concludes that adopting bottom-up and horizontal strategies is key to effective risk communication. Additionally, crowd managers must recognize the importance of social media and use this medium more proactively. They can also work towards increasing the overall effectiveness of risk communication channels by addressing the impact of information sources, channel access, and receiver characteristics to better suit the needs of pilgrims. Finally, the study states the limitations and future research directions.
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Durward, David [Verfasser]. "The future of digital labor : exploring crowd work as a new phenomenon in information systems / David Durward." Kassel : kassel university press c/o Universität Kassel - Universitätsbibliothek, 2021. http://d-nb.info/1232215929/34.
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Donnelly, Allan R. (Allan Richard). "Measuring the effects of explicit instructions and incentives on the idea generation rate of a crowd-based population." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/90686.
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Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 57-60).
Management researchers have long sought strategies for increasing the rate and quality of ideas generated among workers. Additionally, the advent of internet-based communications has created opportunities for valuable ideas to be generated - and harnessed - from crowds of individuals. The first section of this paper reviews the early and recent literature on measuring creativity, focusing specifically on the effects of incentives and explicit instructions on the rate of idea generation. The following section describes the crowdsourcing platform through which the research was conducted - Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) - and reviews recent work that has utilized this platform for experimental research. The project at hand engages participants in a divergent thinking exercise to measure the rate of idea generation for the crowd-based population. The findings show more unique ideas occur later in the response period, demonstrating the presence of the serial order effect; that explicitly instructing respondents to "Be Creative" increases the rate of idea generation; and that offering a bonus incentive for "especially creative ideas" decreases the rate of idea generation for specific demographics of respondents. The paper continues with a discussion of research limitations and areas for further exploration. Conclusions and insights are offered at the end.
by Allan R. Donnelly.
S.M. in Engineering and Management
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Liang, Huiguang. "Tattle - "Here's How I See It" : Crowd-Sourced Monitoring and Estimation of Cellular Performance Through Local Area Measurement Exchange." Research Showcase @ CMU, 2015. http://repository.cmu.edu/dissertations/529.
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The operating environment of cellular networks can be in a constant state of change due to variations and evolutions of technology, subscriber load, and physical infrastructure. One cellular operator, which we interviewed, described two key difficulties. Firstly, they are unable to monitor the performance of their network in a scalable and fine-grained manner. Secondly, they find difficulty in monitoring the service quality experienced by each user equipment (UE). Consequently, they are unable to effectively diagnose performance impairments on a per-UE basis. They currently expend considerable manual efforts to monitor their network through controlled, small-scale drive-testing. If this is not performed satisfactorily, they risk losing subscribers, and also possible penalties from regulators. In this dissertation, we propose Tattle1, a distributed, low-cost participatory sensing framework for the collection and processing of UE measurements. Tattle is designed to solve three problems, namely coverage monitoring (CM), service quality monitoring (QM) and, per-device service quality estimation and classification (QEC). In Tattle, co-located UEs exchange uncertain location information and measurements using local-area broadcasts. This preserves the context of co-location of these measurements. It allows us to develop U-CURE, as well as its delay-adjusted variant, to discard erroneously-localized samples, and reduce localization errors respectively. It allows operators to generate timely, high-resolution and accurate monitoring maps. Operators can then make informed, expedient network management decisions, such as adjusting base-station parameters, to making long-term infrastructure investment. We propose a comprehensive statistical framework that also allows an individual UE to estimate and classify its own network performance. In our approach, each UE monitors its recent measurements, together with those reported by co-located UEs. Then, through our framework, UEs can automatically determine if any observed impairment is endemic amongst other co-located devices. Subscribers that experience isolated impairments can then take limited remedy steps, such as rebooting their devices. We demonstrate Tattle's effectiveness by presenting key results, using up to millions of real-world measurements. These were collected systematically using current generations of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile devices. For CM, we show that in urban built-up areas, GPS locations reported by UEs may have significant uncertainties and can sometimes be several kilometers away from their true locations. We describe how U-CURE can take into account reported location uncertainty and the knowledge of measurement co-location to remove erroneously-localized readings. This allows us to retain measurements with very high location accuracy, and in turn derive accurate, fine-grained coverage information. Operators can then react and respond to specific areas with coverage issues in a timely manner. Using our approach, we showcase high-resolution results of actual coverage conditions in selected areas of Singapore. For QM, we show that localization performance in COTS devices may exhibit non-negligible correlation with network round-trip delay. This can result in localization errors of up to 605.32m per 1,000ms of delay. Naïve approaches that blindly accepts measurements with their reported locations will therefore result in grossly mis-localized data points. This affects the fidelity of any geo-spatial monitoring information derived from these data sets. We demonstrate that using the popular localization approach of combining Global-Positioning System together with Network-Assisted Localization, may result in a median root-mean-square (rms) error increase of over 60%. This is in comparison to simply using the Global-Positioning System on its own. We propose a network-delay-adjusted variant of U-CURE, to cooperatively improve the localization performance of COTS devices. We show improvements of up to 70% in terms of median rms location errors, even while subjected to uncertain real-world network delay conditions, with just 3 participating UEs. This allows us to refine the purported locations of delay measurements, and as a result, derive accurate, fine-grained and actionable cellular quality information. Using this approach, we present accurate cellular network delay maps that are of much higher spatial-resolution, as compared to those naively derived using raw data. For QEC, we report on the characteristics of the delay performance of co-located devices subscribed to 2 particular cellular network operators in Singapore. We describe the results of applying our proposed approach to addressing the QEC problem, on real-world measurements of over 443,500 data points. We illustrate examples where “normal” and “abnormal” performances occur in real networks, and report instances where a device can experience complete outage, while none of its neighbors are affected. We give quantitative results on how well our algorithm can detect an “abnormal” time series, with increasing effectiveness as the number of co-located UEs increases. With just 3 UEs, we are able to achieve a median detection accuracy of just under 70%. With 7 UEs, we can achieve a median detection rate of just under 90%.
1 The meaning of Tattle, as a verb, is to gossip idly. By letting devices communicate their observations with one another, we explore the kinds of insights that can elicited based on this peer-to-peer exchange.
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Carter, Holly Elisabeth. "Crowd behaviour in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies : behavioural and psychological responses to incidents involving emergency decontamination." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2014. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/48843/.
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Planning for incidents involving mass decontamination has focused almost exclusively on technical aspects of decontamination, with little attempt to understand public experiences and behaviour. This thesis aimed to examine relevant theory and research, in order to understand public behaviour during incidents involving mass decontamination, and to develop theoretically-derived recommendations for emergency responders. As these incidents involve groups, it was expected that social identity processes would play an important role in public responses. A review of small-scale incidents involving decontamination is presented, along with a review of decontamination guidance documents for emergency responders. This literature shows that responder communication strategies play an important role in public experiences and behaviour, but that the importance of communication is not reflected in guidance documents. Theories of mass emergency behaviour, in particular the social identity approach, are reviewed, in order to generate hypotheses and recommendations for the management of incidents involving mass decontamination. It is hypothesised that effective responder communication will increase public compliance and cooperation, and reduce anxiety, mediated by social identity variables (e.g. perceptions of responder legitimacy, identification with emergency responders and other members of public, and collective agency). The empirical research presented in this thesis tests the hypotheses and recommendations derived from the social identity approach. The research includes: a responder interview study; three studies of volunteer feedback from field exercises; a visualisation experiment; and a mass decontamination field experiment. Findings show that effective responder communication consistently results in increased willingness to comply with decontamination, and increased public cooperation; this relationship is mediated by social identity variables. Results support the hypotheses, and show that an understanding of the social identity approach facilitates the development of effective responder communication strategies for incidents involving mass decontamination. Four theoretically-derived, and evidence-based, recommendations for emergency responders are generated as a result of this thesis.
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Robertson, C. M. "The role of crowd-sourced energy performance feedback in low-energy building design and management in the context of industry pressures." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2014. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1436119/.
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The European Performance of Buildings Directive and the United Kingdom Climate Change Act have resulted in a range of measures aimed at lowering building energy consumption. This framework uses regulatory, market based and other levers to encourage reductions in consumption and associated carbon emissions. Parallel to this is a set of drivers generated by social, economic and broader professional responsibilities. These include reputational pressures, personal and organisation ambitions, economic risks and societal pressures. This study used a mixed methodology to define this combination of influences as the ‘contextual pressures’. An initial literature review was combined with a phase of empirical research through participant observation in the early stage development of the CarbonBuzz platform to add practitioner insight to the framework. The role that energy information feedback currently plays in design, construction and management practice was then investigated. Three data collection and analysis phases were carried out: an industry-wide web-based survey; secondary energy consumption data from the CarbonBuzz platform and semi-structured interviews aimed at understanding which pressures have greatest impact on actors’ practice. A framework is proposed for the future role that crowd sourced energy information feedback could play in design, construction and management practice. The final phase synthesises the quantitative and qualitative data to identify what a future crowd sourced data platform must offer to meet the aspirations and motivations of actors working within the contextual pressures and the macro-aim of lower carbon emissions. This concludes with suggested alterations required to the contextual pressures to facilitate this. Recommendations are made for adjustments to the framework to increase participation in building evaluation targeted at the specifics of the energy gap and the motivations of industrial actors. Finally, further work is identified to facilitate and evaluate any future changes to the contextual pressures.
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Masini, Simone. "Sviluppo di una piattaforma di crowdsensing per l'analisi di dati." Bachelor's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2015. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/8375/.
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Piattaforma di raccolta e analisi dei dati ambientali, raccolti da vari dispositivi. Server in node.js per ricevere e salvare i dati, client android per catturare i dati, client web per analizzare i dati attraverso una mappa e dei grafici.
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Oskarsson, Frida. "Vad händer om det händer? : Projektledares och säkerhetsansvarigas syn på evenemangssäkerhet avseende publikens beteende." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Handelshögskolan (from 2013), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-85288.
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The aim with this study was to investigate project managers` and security officers` perceptions of event safety in large event projects regarding audience behavior. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews with ten project managers and security officers of event projects in Sweden. Using inductive thematic analysis, three themes were defined: Preventive work, designing an experience, and different perceptions of event safety. For preventive work, three sub-themes were defined: Cooperation with other actors, artist and audience profile, and prerequisites for the right action. The results show that prevention planning is the greatest and most important part of an event. Cooperation with other actors is of great importance during the risk analysis, but also when identifying the needs of different target groups. The artist and audience profile contributes to the definition of security risks and what measures to consider. The flows of crowds can be controlled by using well-established analysis models, but prerequisites to respond to unexpected incidents are crucial. By designing the visitor's experience into something safe and positive, the risk of inappropriate behavior is reduced. Positive treatment of visitors is essential for well-functioning events. Moreover, the study points out differences in managers' motivation and level of knowledge regarding event safety.Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur projektledare och säkerhetsansvariga i stora evenemangsprojekt förhåller sig till evenemangssäkerhet avseende publikens beteende. Data samlades in genom tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med projektledare och säkerhetsansvariga för evenemangsprojekt i Sverige. Med induktiv tematisk analys definierades tre teman: Förebyggande arbete, att forma en upplevelse och skilda uppfattningar om evenemangssäkerhet. I temat förebyggande arbete definierades tre underteman: Samverkan med andra aktörer, artist- och publikprofil och förutsättningar för rätt agerande. Studien visade att planering med förebyggande arbete utgör den största och viktigaste delen av ett evenemang. Samverkan med andra aktörer är av stor vikt vid riskanalysen, men också vid identifiering av olika målgruppers behov. Artist- och publikprofilen bidrar till definitionen av säkerhetsrisker och vilka åtgärder som ska vidtas. Folkmassors flöden kan styras genom välgrundade analysmodeller, men förutsättningar för att kunna agera vid oväntade händelser är avgörande. Genom att forma besökarens upplevelse till något tryggt och positivt minskar risken för oönskade beteenden. Det goda värdskapet är grogrunden för välfungerande evenemang. Studien pekar också på skillnader i arrangörers motivation och kunskapsnivå avseende evenemangssäkerhet.
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Reece, Kristie M. "Fighting Urban Blight through Community Engagement and GIS." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1544810680015951.
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Carbaugh, Eric Douglas. "A comparison of crown attributes for six genotypes on Pinus taeda as affected by site and management intensity." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/56963.
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This study was designed to investigate the development of the crown architecture of six genotypes of loblolly pine across a variety of growing conditions, and also to investigate the stability of the crown ideotype for these genotypes over a range of site and silvicultural management regimes. The objectives were to determine whether the crown dimensions that determine the crown ideotype of four clones, a mass-control-pollinated family, and an open-pollinated family of Pinus taeda L. are consistent within their respective genotypes, and to determine whether those same crown dimensions and genotypes follow consistent patterns even when established on different sites with contrasting qualities and different silvicultural regimes. The study was conducted on a 5-year-old plantation with an initial spacing of 1,235 trees per hectare. The plots had not reached crown closure, which provided the opportunity to assess the crown characteristics of individual trees of each genotype and how they developed over in a variety of growing conditions, without the interactions of other individuals. The study was a split-split plot design with the whole plot divided between two sites of contrasting quality; one site established in the Virginia Piedmont and a second site established in the North Carolina Coastal Plain. The sub plots were divided between high and low intensity silviculture. The sub-sub plots were divided among the six genotypes of loblolly pine. Seventeen tree and crown characteristics were measured, and means were compared using analysis of variance and Tukey's HSD test. We hypothesized that the branch and crown attributes would follow consistent patterns among these genotypes on the two sites and between the two silvicultural regimes. The results generally confirm these hypotheses. When the genotypes were compared, interactions only occurred with total branches, internode length, total foliage mass, and total leaf area. Tree height, diameter at breast height (dbh), stem volume, and crown volume averaged 4.8 m, 7.5 cm, 0.03 m3, and 7.1 m3, respectively at the site in Virginia, compared to values of 4.1 m, 6.2 cm, 0.02 m3, and 4.9 m3 at the site in North Carolina. Tree height, dbh, stem volume, branch diameter, branch length, and crown volume averaged 4.7 m, 7.5 cm, 0.03 m3, 1.3 cm, 90.3 cm, and 7.3 m3, respectively under high intensity silviculture compared to values of 4.3 m, 6.2 cm, 0.02 m3, 1.1 cm, 68.7 cm, and 4.7 m3 under low intensity silviculture. There were differences among the genotypes in branch diameter, branch length, and crown volume, with the branch diameter of clones 1 and 3 averaging 1.2 cm compared to an average of 1.3 cm for clones 2 and 4. Branch length for clone 1 averaged 72.4 cm and clone 3 averaged 77.0 cm, while branch length for clone 2 averaged 83.3 cm and clone 4 averaged 86.7 cm. Crown volume for clone 1 averaged 4.9 m3 and clone 3 averaged 6.3 m3, while clone 2 averaged 7.1 m3 and clone 4 averaged 7.2 m3. These differences conform to the crown ideotype for these clones, where clones 1 and 3 were considered narrow crowned and clones 2 and 4 were considered broad crowned. The branch diameter and branch length of the open pollinated family (OP) was similar in size to the broad crowned clones (1.3 cm and 84 cm, respectively), while the branch diameter and branch length of the mass control pollinated (MCP) family was smaller than the narrow crowned clones (1.1 cm and 71.2 cm, respectively). Crown volume for the OP family was intermediate between the clonal ideotypes, averaging 5.9 m3, while the MCP family had the smallest crown volume, averaging 4.7 m3. A single-degree-of-freedom ANOVA comparing the two clonal ideotypes yielded similar results. There were interactions with branch diameter, total branches, internode length, and total leaf area, but the broad crown ideotype was larger in every measured parameter than the narrow crown ideotype. The lack of interactions and the general conformity to crown ideotype in this study indicated stability among these genotypes across this variety of growing conditions.Master of Science
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Heard, Edward. "Establishment of blackberries and detection and management of raspberry crown borer." Master's thesis, Mississippi State : Mississippi State University, 2006. http://library.msstate.edu/etd/show.asp?etd=etd-12012006-133945.
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Zhang, Yunhao S. M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Identify experts through Revealed Confidence : application to Wisdom of Crowds." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129085.
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Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, September, 2020Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 52-54).
We propose our Revealed Confidence (RC) algorithm that improves Wisdom of Crowds (WoC) by identifying experts from the crowds. We highlight the important distinction between first- and second-order uncertainty, which also serves as an explanation for rational overconfidence. Under our proposed belief updating mechanism, we analyze the performance of RC algorithm and show the algorithm could identify the more accurate prior estimates even if all agents report the same prior confidence under conventional confidence elicitation, e.g. confidence interval. Our empirical analysis shows that (1) RC improves upon other wisdom of Crowds methods by overweighting the more accurate agents in the aggregation (2) verifies one key prediction of our theoretical result that the distance effect indeed affects belief-updating henceforth RC algorithm's performance, which should be carefully controlled for in order to optimize the algorithm..
by Yunhao Zhang.
S.M. in Management Research
S.M.inManagementResearch Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management
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Matthews, Lesley D. S. "Management and planning of recreation access on crown land in British Columbia." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape8/PQDD_0019/MQ47659.pdf.
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Joly, Adrien. "A Context Management Framework based on Wisdom of Crowds for Social Awareness applications." Lyon, INSA, 2010. http://theses.insa-lyon.fr/publication/2010ISAL0081/these.pdf.
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At a time when social networking sites revolutionize the usages on the Web 2. 0, it has become rich, easy, and fun to share private or professional content. Sharing personal information in real-time (such as news, moods, etc…), supports the maintenance of social ties at a high scale. However, the information overload which emerged from the growing quantity of signals exchanged on these services, often in real-time, motivates a regulation of these signals (called "mediated interactions"), in order to reduce the temporal cost for maintaining social networks, and implied interruptions, which have a negative impact on productivity on tasks that require long-lasting attention. In the frame of this thesis, we have developed a filtering and recommendation system that relies on contextual similarity between users that produce and consume social signals, as relevance criteria. In our approach, contextual information is aggregated and interpreted on users' terminal(s), before being submitted on-demand to a server in the form of a set of weighted tags. In this thesis, we present a broad state of the art on context-awareness, social networks and information retrieval, we propose a formalization of our filtering problem, and we implement and evaluate its application for enterprise social networkingA l'heure où les sites de réseaux sociaux transforment les usages sur le Web, les échanges entre personnes deviennent de plus en plus faciles, ludiques et riches. Le partage en temps réel de nouvelles, d'humeurs, et autres contenus (personnels ou personnellement sélectionnés) permet de tisser, de maintenir et de renforcer des liens sociaux entre personnes à des échelles encore inédites. Cependant, la quantité sans cesse croissante d'information circulant sur ces réseaux, souvent en temps réel, motive une régulation des signaux (ici appelées "interactions médiatisées"), de manière à réduire le temps nécessaire pour suivre ses réseaux sociaux, et modérer les interruptions induites, non favorables à une bonne productivité sur le traitement de tâches demandant une attention continue. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons développé un système de filtrage et de recommandation de ces signaux qui repose sur la similarité contextuelle entre utilisateurs, producteurs et consommateurs de ces signaux, pour évaluer leur pertinence. Notre approche consiste à agréger et interpréter les données de contexte sur les terminaux des utilisateurs, sous forme de mots-clés pondérés (tags), avant qu'elles ne puissent être exploitées par le serveur de recommandation, à la demande de l'utilisateur. Dans ce mémoire, nous présenterons un état de l'art couvrant la gestion de données contextuelles, les réseaux sociaux et leurs pratiques actuelles sur internet, et des techniques de recherche d'information. Ensuite, nous proposerons une formalisation de notre problématique de filtrage contextuel, l'implémentation d'une application de réseautage social d'entreprise, et nous discuterons les résultats expérimentaux obtenus auprès d'utilisateurs
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Stewart, Gayle Lorraine. "Repositioning BC ferries : from Crown corporation to administrative hybrid." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/2646.
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In this paper. I analyze how political, economic, and administrative issues were major factors in the BC Liberal government's creation of a complex hybrid operating structure for BC Ferries. The model evolved as the result of a number of circumstances, including the former NDP government's "fast ferry" debacle and the Liberal government's decision to conduct a Core Services Review of all government services, including those provided by Crown corporations. BC Ferries' new structure has similarities to other administrative models that have been introduced as a result of New Public Management initiatives and other factors in a number of Westminster jurisdictions. The resulting operating entities are having significant impacts on the nature and scope of public accountabilities and on reporting structures.
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Matheron, Michael E., and Martin Porchas. "Evaluation of Fungicides as Potential Management Tools for Phytophthora Crown Rot on Pepper Plants." College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/215030.
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Phytophthora blight of peppers (Capsicum annuum) is caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici. In Arizona, the root and crown rot phase of the disease initially can appear on plants early in the growing season in areas of the field where soil remains saturated with water after an irrigation or rainfall event. Disease severity can increase dramatically due to summer rains during July and August in the southeastern Arizona production area. The efficacy of the systemic fungicide mefenoxam (Ridomil Gold)) for control of Phytophthora blight on pepper has been documented; however, in many pepper production regions, populations of the pathogen insensitive to this fungicide have developed. Other chemistries, including dimethomorph (Acrobat) as well as some new fungicides in development, have activity on some species of Phytophthora and associated diseases on crops other than pepper. The objective of the following study was to evaluate additional chemistries for efficacy in suppressing development of root and crown rot on pepper plants grown in soil naturally infested with Phytophthora capsici. In the first trial, nontreated pepper plants were all dead after an average elapsed time of 5 days in soil infested with P. capsici. In the same trial, no plants died after 66 days when the soil was treated with Ranman (cyazofamid), V-10161 (fluopicolide), and Reason (fenamidone) + Previcur Flex (propamocarb). Additionally, only one out of five pepper plants died when treated with Omega (fluazinam), NOA-446510 (mandipropamid) and AgriFos (mono- and di-potassium salts of phosphorous acid). For all of these treatments, the duration of plant survival and fresh weight of plant shoots and roots did not differ significantly from plants grown in sterilized soil. Similar results were obtained in the second trial. The results from these trials suggest that several fungicides currently not registered for use on peppers may be effective components of a management program for Phytophthora root and crown rot. The data is promising; however, additional studies in field soil naturally infested with P. capsici are needed to confirm the preliminary findings of these initial experiments.
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Shukla, Amol. "TCP Connection Management Mechanisms for Improving Internet Server Performance." Thesis, University of Waterloo, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/1030.
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This thesis investigates TCP connection management mechanisms in order to understand the behaviour and improve the performance of Internet servers during overload conditions such as flash crowds. We study several alternatives for implementing TCP connection establishment, reviewing approaches taken by existing TCP stacks as well as proposing new mechanisms to improve server throughput and reduce client response times under overload. We implement some of these connection establishment mechanisms in the Linux TCP stack and evaluate their performance in a variety of environments. We also evaluate the cost of supporting half-closed connections at the server and assess the impact of an abortive release of connections by clients on the throughput of an overloaded server. Our evaluation demonstrates that connection establishment mechanisms that eliminate the TCP-level retransmission of connection attempts by clients increase server throughput by up to 40% and reduce client response times by two orders of magnitude. Connection termination mechanisms that preclude support for half-closed connections additionally improve server throughput by up to 18%.
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Gair, George Frederick. "Managing change as a Minister of the Crown." AUT University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10292/936.
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During my years as a Cabinet Minister in New Zealand, the relationship between a Minister and his key officials was strongly modelled on the Westminster system as then applied in Britain. As in Britain, the ministers were the product of the political and parliamentary processes. The leader of the political party with the majority in the House was called upon by the Queen's representative (our Governor General) to form the new Government. All Ministerial appointees were necessarily chosen entirely from members then in Parliament. As in Britain, also, the key officials to serve each Minister in their portfolios were provided by the career Public Service, the long-serving body of officials who were there to advise and manage the system for successive governments. The Minister did not choose his departmental head, nor did that departmental head choose his minister. There were many assumptions inherited from the past which helped to make the relationship work. Policy decisions were shaped by the Minister representing the political side of the equation. Execution and management was carried out by the head official, responsible for the operation of the bureaucratic machine he headed. In explaining my thesis message - "Managing Change as a Minister of the Crown" - a very strong autobiographical dimension to my experience and comments is inevitable. In the political setting, the relationship between Minister and Head of Department, though a key factor, is but one of many. All change affects many people - some positively and beneficially, and some the reverse. The effects of change can be anticipated rather than actually felt. Perceptions can sometimes become bigger problems to manage than realised consequences. Change in politics invariably reaches out far beyond those obviously and directly affected. Handling change therefore involves making plans for how one can best point the change in a forward-looking and constructive way, and put a socially positive spin on one's efforts and the outcome. If one's efforts are done openly, and one's arguments are well founded, real progress can be made. One of life's constants is change itself. It affects us all in some measure. In communities categorized as "developed", it can be particularly fast and sweeping. This means, inevitably, that the forms of its infrastructures - from public services to business enterprises - which enable society and the economy to function effectively must adapt, and constructively, to those changes. From my experience, in facing a variety of problems calling for change in handling portfolio responsibilities, I have found every case is different from the others, and each solution had to be shaped to meet the characteristics of that particular case. The only common denominator I would call the "people factor". Compounding the challenge, that "people factor" had to be fashioned as appropriate for the personalities with whom I was working, and the characteristics of the problem being addressed. I did, however, find that there were some common fundamentals in the "people factor" which I address in my conclusion. They helped facilitate co-operation in managing change.
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Moya, Ernesto Antonio. "Distribution and interaction of Fusarium crown rot and common root rot pathogens of wheat in Montana and development of an integrated management program for Fusarium crown rot." Thesis, Montana State University, 2010. http://etd.lib.montana.edu/etd/2010/moya/MoyaE0810.pdf.
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This thesis had three objectives: i) Determining distribution of FCR and common root rot (CRR) of wheat in Montana; ii) Determining population dynamics between F. pseudograminearum and Bipolaris sorokiniana at different wheat development stages, and iii) Development of an integrated disease management program for Fusarium crown rot (FCR) using biological and fungicide seed treatments, cultivar resistance, and induced systemic resistance (SAR). Surveys of 91 fields over two years using qPCR identified FCR in 57% and CRR in 93% of the fields surveyed. Bipolaris sorokiniana, F. culmorum and F. pseudograminearum were isolated from 15, 13 and 8% of tillers respectively. FCR distribution was highly clustered while CRR was uniformly distributed with soil type, elevation and growing degree days influencing distribution. Data from intensively sampled fields estimated yield losses caused by FCR and CRR at 3.2 to 34.9% with losses influenced by pathogen population. This study is the first time qPCR was used to survey the distribution of FCR and CRR and to study the interaction of the respective pathogens. The effect of F. pseudograminearum and B. sorokiniana inoculum applied singly or in combination at three rates showed high and low rates of F. pseudograminearum inoculum reduced Bipolaris populations, while B. sorokiniana inoculations did not affect Fusarium populations in stems. Populations of both pathogens increased from heading until harvest with Fusarium colonizing stems earlier than Bipolaris. Mixed inoculations increased incidence of infection and co-infection relative to that observed in production fields. Both fungi alone or combined reduced the seedling counts. Grain yield was inversely correlated with Fusarium populations. Difenoconazole-mefenoxam seed treatment reduced FCR severity between 29.3-50% and fungal and bacterial seed treatments were ineffective. The cv. Volt was identified as partially resistant and had the highest levels of chitinase and beta-1, 3-glucanase activity of cultivars evaluated. Induction of SAR by Bacillus mycoides isolate BmJ or acibenzolar Smethyl significantly reduced the severity of FCR compared to water controls. Integration of cultivar resistance plus fungicide seed treatment or SAR induction provided equal control in greenhouse and irrigated trials. In a dryland field trial, integration of all management tools reduced FCR more than individual tools.
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Bayala, Jules. "Tree crown pruning as a management tool to enhance the productivity of parklands in West Africa." Thesis, Bangor University, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.247299.
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Illuminati, Michele. "L'introduzione di un computerized maintenance management system in un'azienda di produzione: il caso di Crown Aerosols Italia." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2010. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/1024/.
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Matheron, Michael E., and Martin Porchas. "Efficacy of New Fungicides as Potential Management Tools for Phytophthora Crown and Root Rot on Pepper Plants." College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/215006.
Full textAbstract:
Phytophthora blight of peppers (Capsicum annuum) is caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici. In Arizona, the root and crown rot phase of the disease initially can appear on plants early in the growing season in areas of the field where soil remains saturated with water after an irrigation or rainfall event. Disease severity can increase dramatically due to summer rains during July and August in the southeastern Arizona production area. Fungicides are an important component of a Phytophthora disease management system, when used in combination with other management practices such as crop rotation, raised beds, and water management. The efficacy of the systemic fungicide mefenoxam (Ridomil Gold) for control of Phytophthora blight on pepper has been documented; however, in many pepper production regions, populations of the pathogen insensitive to this fungicide have developed. Other chemistries, including dimethomorph (Acrobat) as well as some new fungicides in development, have activity on some species of Phytophthora and associated diseases on crops other than pepper. The objective of the following study was to evaluate these additional chemistries for efficacy in suppressing development of root and crown rot on pepper plants grown in soil naturally infested with Phytophthora capsici in a greenhouse environment. The mean duration of survival for Aristotle bell pepper plants in untreated soil infested with P. capsici was 29 days. On the other hand, a significant increase in pepper plant survival was achieved when soil was treated with Reason (fenamidone) + Previcur Flex (propamocarb), SA-110201, Ranman (cyazofamid), Omega (fluazinam), Ridomil Gold (mefenoxam), V-10161(fluopicolide), Forum (dimethomorph), NOA-446510 (mandipropamid), IR-6141 (kiralaxyl), and Maestro (captan). The data from this study suggest that several fungicides currently not registered for use on peppers may be effective components of a management program for Phytophthora crown and root rot. The data is promising; however, additional studies in field soil naturally infested with P. capsici are needed to confirm these preliminary findings as well as to determine the optimal application rate and timing for each new chemistry.
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Smith, Nakeischea Loi. "Whose land is it anyway? : an analysis of the management and distribution of Crown Land in the Bahamas." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39941.
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Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-138).
Like many islands throughout the Caribbean, The Bahamas are now experiencing rapid growth and development in the form of large-scale luxury resorts and second homes. Consistent with a long history going back to the colonial era, these development trends are being driven by external factors - including the aging of the Baby Boomer generation, a scarcity of affordable waterfront land in North America, and shifting travel preferences post-9/11. But major policy decisions, now hotly debated, have also played an important role in shaping these development trends and their impacts. Through an economic development strategy known as the Anchor Projects, the Bahamian Government has tapped foreign demand for prime Bahamian land with the aim of reducing crowding on the capital island-city of Nassau, boosting the economies of the sparsely populated Family Islands, and providing residents of those islands with much-needed employment and infrastructure.
(cont.) As a key concession to spur the Anchor Projects, Government has granted large tracts of publicly owned "Crown Land" at favorable prices to developers; but in a nation where natives are tied closely to Crown Land and where there is lack of a comprehensive land use framework that includes environmental management and public participation in development, this policy has triggered significant conflict among Government, developers, and Bahamians. resent Crown Land disposition policies that seem to benefit foreign investors and visitors at great expense to current and future generations of Bahamians; particularly where such policies are seemingly threatening to make housing unaffordable, overwhelm small-island cultures with newcomer needs, privatize cherished community commons, and generate conflicts over labor shortage. Using information gleaned from interviews with key informants, newspapers and journal articles, and data gathered from various Government agencies, this study examines the history of Crown Land management in The Bahamas, as well as the current valuation, pricing, and allocation of this vital public resource.
(cont.) The thesis explores the risks in a non-sustainable development model where land tenure, tracking, and planning traditions are either missing or weak. Based on my findings, I offer several major recommendations: Create and implement a National Development and Land Use Plan, improve agency integration, clarify land tenures, implement and legislate programs for environmental protection and management, improve fiscal management of land resources, deepen the democracy, and address issues of sovereignty and changing social structure.
by Nakeischea Loi Smith.
M.C.P.
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Chow, Samuel W. "Can Nintendo get its crown back? : examining the dynamics of the U.S. video game console market." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42380.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-125).
Several generations of video game consoles have competed in the market since 1972. Overall, the entire market shares many similar characteristics, such as network effects and switching cost, which are found in other network-based markets. However, on closer examination, the video game console industry experienced several generations of technological change with each generation bringing a different competitive environment and different set of competitors from the previous one. Consistent with the Schumpeterian market model, both new and later entrants have competed successfully with their strong portfolios of technological innovations. Yet, some firms with dominant market position and strong complementary assets were not able to extend their advantage to the next generation. The dynamic cause and effect relationships associated with the multi-generation video game console industry makes an intriguing subject for economic research. This thesis provides a conceptual framework for analyzing the elements and dynamics of the competitive video game console market. Using qualitative findings and empirical data found in recent research literature on market competition and innovation, a historical analysis of the video game console market was performed. In addition, a system dynamics model was created to validate and support the analysis of the industry. The results from the simulation of the model under various competitive scenarios not only confirm some of the findings from established studies done in this area but also provide us with new qualitative insights into the dynamics operating in the market.
by Samuel W. Chow.
S.M.
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Deaker, Dione. "Resilience of juvenile crown of thorns starfish and the implications for population outbreaks." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2021. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28204.
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Population outbreaks of the corallivorous crown of thorns starfish (COTS, Acanthaster sp.) are one of the leading causes of coral loss throughout the Indo-Pacific. Decades of research and significant investment have been directed towards understanding and managing the potential causes of outbreaks with a focus on the larval and adult stages. However, the role of the juvenile stage in population dynamics of COTS is poorly understood. This thesis provides new insights on the biology and ecology of juvenile COTS addressing critical knowledge gaps in their growth, diet, behaviour and physiology.
Juvenile COTS are initially obligate herbivores with a known diet of crustose coralline algae (CCA) before they transition to a coral diet. I found that juveniles are also capable of eating a geniculate coralline algae, Amphiroa sp., and can survive on biofilm with diet-dependent growth rates. An important finding is that the juveniles exhibited extreme growth plasticity and paused their growth for more than six years on an algal diet in the absence of coral and continue growing when offered coral. During the transition to coral, juveniles were injured and killed by coral and, if they survived, they regenerated the damaged tissue. Juveniles also exhibited defensive behaviours that were affected by the presence of their natural enemy, coral guard crabs. I also determined the metabolic rate of both herbivorous and corallivorous juveniles.
To reduce the loss of critical coral reef habitat and manage COTS outbreaks, it is crucial to understand and address the inherent biology of COTS that underlie their success. The growth plasticity and diet flexibility of juvenile COTS is a novel finding of this thesis that is likely to drive their resilience in unfavourable conditions, their success when conditions benefit their development, and contribute to the boom-and-bust dynamics of COTS populations.
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Pedynowski, Dena. "Beyond the borders and across the continental divide : environmental management of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, Cananda/USA." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.249856.
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Peduzzi, Alicia. "Estimating forest attributes using laser scanning data and dual-band, single-pass interferometric aperture radar to improve forest management." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/39456.
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The overall objectives of this dissertation were to (1) determine whether leaf area index (LAI) (Chapter 2), as well as stem density and height to live crown (Chapter 3) can be estimated accurately in intensively managed pine plantations using small-footprint, multiple-return airborne laser scanner (lidar) data, and (2) ascertain whether leaf area index in temperate mixed forests is best estimated using multiple-return airborne laser scanning (lidar) data or dual-band, single-pass interferometric synthetic aperture radar data (from GeoSAR) alone or both in combination (Chapter 4). In situ measurements of LAI, mean height, height to live crown, and stem density were made on 109 (LAI) or 110 plots (all other variables) under a variety of stand conditions. Lidar distributional metrics were calculated for each plot as a whole as well as for crown density slices (newly introduced in this dissertation). These metrics were used as independent variables in best subsets regressions with LAI, number of trees, mean height to live crown, and mean height (measured in situ) as the dependent variables. The best resulting model for LAI in pine plantations had an R2 of 0.83 and a cross-validation (CV) RMSE of 0.5. The CV-RMSE for estimating number of trees on all 110 plots was 11.8 with an R2 of 0.92. Mean height to live crown was also well-predicted (R2 = 0.96, CV-RMSE = 0.8 m) with a one-variable model. In situ measurements of temperate mixed forest LAI were made on 61 plots (21 hardwood, 36 pine, 4 mixed pine hardwood). GeoSAR metrics were calculated from the X-band backscatter coefficients (four looks) as well as both X- and P-band interferometric heights and magnitudes.
Both lidar and GeoSAR metrics were used as independent variables in best subsets regressions with LAI (measured in situ) as the dependent variable. Lidar metrics alone explained 69% of the variability in temperate mixed forest LAI, while GeoSAR metrics alone explained 52%. However, combining the LAI and GeoSAR metrics increased the R2 to 0.77 with a CV-RMSE of 0.42. Analysis of data from active sensors shows strong potential for eventual operational estimation of biophysical parameters essential to silviculture.Ph. D.
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Rose, Juliet. "The Role of Strategic Partnerships, Policy and Funding Mechanisms in Strategic Management Planning for the Crown Wastes on St Helena Island, South Atlantic." Thesis, University of Reading, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.485348.
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St Helena in the South Atlantic has undergone centuries ofdegradation, followed by decades ofunmanaged re-vegetation. The island's landscape is dominated by the Crown Wastes: wastelands ofbare soil and sparse mainly exotic scrub which accounts for over 60% ofthe island's land area. The Crown Wastes need a managed recovery programme that can meet the island's needs through a range ofdifferent objectives that include endemic plant conservation, agriculture, forestry, tourism and housing. Implementing an environmental management approach with complex and varied objectives carnes with it a considerable management responsibility, and a requirement for sufficient and consistent technical, financial and human capacity. However, extremely limited hmnan, technical and financial resources are available for environmental management on St Helena due a range ofpolitical, social and economic issues associated with the island. This study looks specifically at three ofthe obstacles integral to effective environmental management and recovery on St Helena and the Crown Wastes in particular: b~ding capacity; resources; and guidance and explores the role ofstrategic partnerships. (Government and NGO), funding and policy mechanisms in helping to overcome them. These three areas are explored uSing a combination ofstakeholder and documentary analysis methodologies. A semi-structured interview technique was chosen for stakeholder consultation and the results displayed as role- and conceptually-ordered matrices.This study concludes that while the island faces a complex range of challenges to environmental management, there is a no less daunting array ofopportunities that will require considerable effort to-exploit effectively. Strategic partnerships, policy and funding mechanisms all have specific and important roles to play in the development ofa . strategic environmental management plan for the Crown Wastes.
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Loh, Irene Joo Phaik. "The constitutional position of the British Civil Service : an assessment of the impact of managerialism on the notion of 'the servant of the Crown' via a case study of HM Prison Service." Thesis, University of Hull, 2000. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:8058.
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The institution of the civil service is of much contemporary interest here in Britain and elsewhere. The phenomenon of civil service reform forms a significant part of the wider movement to remould public services or in the now legendary phrase, to ‘reinvent government’ on what could be perceived as a global scale, ranging from the more sophisticated democracies such as in the USA, Britain, Sweden, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, to the newly emerging ones such as Eastern Europe and South Africa. The apparent trend of globalisation is arguably not only confined to the field of public service reform; it can also be seen in other contexts such as the growth of the intergovernmental cooperations within Europe and the Far-East, as well as the proliferation of the Information Superhighway which facilitates an electronic exchange of ideas across geographical frontiers. The reasons for this apparent global convergence fall outside the immediate province of this chapter. This thesis questions one of the enigmas of the modern British constitution, which is that the civil service does not have a statutory footing. So, it is the Executive rather than Parliament which has the prerogative power of regulating the civil service. The enigma is encapsulated in the position where the Executive regulates the civil service, which in turn serves the Executive qua their historical status as 'servants of the Crown'. The thesis is concerned with the cumulative impact of managerial reforms within the British civil service during the Conservative administration from 1979 - 1997 on the idea of civil servants as 'servants of the Crown'. It argues that the key managerial initiatives introduced into the civil service by the Conservative government during this period, illustrate the dangers of the notion of 'servant of the Crown' being captured by the Executive for their short-term political ends. The thesis shows that the managerial transformation collides not only with established constitutional doctrines relating to the civil service but also with the broader norm or theory of constitutionalism embedded in British constitutional history.
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Gilchrist, John Steel. "The government as proprietor, preserver and user of copyright material under the Copyright Act 1968 (CTH)." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/62189/1/John_Gilchrist_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis examines the role of government as proprietor, preserver and user of copyright material under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and the policy considerations which Australian law should take into account in that role. There are two recurring themes arising in this examination which are significant to the recommendations and conclusions. The first is whether the needs and status of government should be different from private sector institutions, which also obtain copyright protection under the law. This theme stems from the 2005 Report on Crown Copyright by the Copyright Law Review Committee and the earlier Ergas Committee Report which are discussed in Chapters 2 and 8 of this thesis. The second is to identify the relationship between government copyright law and policy, national cultural policy and fundamental governance values. This theme goes to the essence of the thesis.
For example, does the law and practice of government copyright properly reflect technological change in the way we now access and use information and does it facilitate the modern information management principles of government? Is the law and practice of government copyright consistent with the greater openness and accountability of government? The thesis concludes that government copyright law and practice in each of the three governmental roles recognised under the Copyright Act 1968 has not responded adequately to the information age and to the desire and the ability of individuals to access information quickly and effectively.
The solution offered in this thesis is reform of the law and of public policy that is in step with access to information policy, the promotion of better communication and interaction with the community, and the enhanced preservation of government and private copyright materials for reasons of government accountability, effective administration and national culture and heritage.
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Hansen, Christopher Felix. "Lidar Remote Sensing Of Forest Canopy Structure: An Assessment Of The Accuracy Of Lidar And Its Relationship To Higher Trophic Levels." ScholarWorks @ UVM, 2015. http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/356.
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Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data can provide detailed information about three-dimensional forest horizontal and vertical structure that is important to forest productivity and wildlife habitat. Indeed, LiDAR data have been shown to provide accurate estimates to forest structural parameters and measures of higher trophic levels (e.g., avian abundance and diversity). However, links between forest structure and tree function have not been evaluated using LiDAR. This study was designed and scaled to assess the relationship of LiDAR to multiple aspects of forest structure and higher trophic levels (arthropod and bird populations), which included the ground-based collection of percent crown and understory closure, as well as arthropod and avian abundance and diversity data. Additional plot-based measures were added to assess the relationship of LiDAR to forest health and productivity. High-resolution discrete-return LiDAR data (flown summer of 2009) were acquired for the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in New Hampshire, USA. LiDAR data were classified into four canopy structural categories: 1) high crown and high understory closure, 2) high crown and low understory closure, 3) low crown and high understory closure, and 4) low crown and low understory closure. Nearby plots from each of the four LiDAR categories were grouped into "blocks" to assess the spatial consistency of data. Ground-based measures of forest canopy structure, site, stand and individual tree measures were collected on nine 50 m-plots from each LiDAR category (36 plots total), during summer of 2012. Analysis of variance was used to assess the relationships between LiDAR and a suite of tree function measures. Our results show the novel ability of LiDAR to assess forest health and productivity at the stand and individual tree level. We found significant correspondence between LiDAR categories and our ground-based measures of tree function, including xylem increment growth, foliar nutrition, crown health, and stand mortality. Furthermore, we found consistent reductions in xylem increment growth, decreases in foliar nutrition and crown health, and increases in stand mortality related to high understory closure. This suggests that LiDAR measures can reflect competitive interactions, not just among overstory trees for light, but also interactions between overstory trees and understory vegetation for resources other than light (e.g., nutrients). High-resolution LiDAR data show promise in the assessment of forest health and productivity related to tree function.
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Lacy, Philip Alan Physical Environmental & Mathematical Sciences Australian Defence Force Academy UNSW. "Burning Under Young Eucalypts." Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy. Physical, Environmental & Mathematical Sciences, 2009. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/43663.
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Fuels management in eucalyptus plantations is essential to minimise the impact of wildfire. Prescribed burning has the potential to reduce the fuel hazard in plantations, but is not routinely conducted due to concerns relating to tree damage. Through a series of experimental burns, the issues of tree damage are addressed and minimum tree sizes are recommended that are capable of withstanding the effects of low to moderate intensity fires. Data was collected between 2005 and 2007 over six sites, two species, and three age classes. Tree response results came from multiple measurements of over 1700 individual trees. The fuel characteristics commonly found in sub-tropical eucalypt plantations from age four to eleven are described and quantified. These fuel characteristics are related to fire behaviour and new fire behaviour models, specific to young eucalypt plantations, are presented. The fuel characteristics that most influence fire behaviour in young eucalypt plantations are fuel load, fuel height, and fuel moisture content. These characteristics can be used to predict the rate of spread of a plantation fire under benign wind conditions. A novel technique for assessing the extent of stem damage in eucalypts is developed and described. This technique enables immediate assessment of stem damage following fire; previous assessment techniques recommend waiting a considerable period of time (up to 2 years) until dead bark dropped off and fire scars were evident. This new assessment technique is likely to be suitable for post-fire assessment of any eucalypt species and will provide forest managers with the capability of deciding whether to leave a stand to ???grow-on??? or commence recovery operations. Minimum stem sizes recommended to ensure no long-term damage are between 5 ??? 8 cm DBH (diameter at breast height, i.e. 1.3m above ground level) for Eucalyptus dunnii (Dunn???s white gum) and 5 ??? 13 cm DBH for Corymbia spp. (spotted gum) depending on the quantity of fuel around the stem. Stem sizes vary between species because of the variation in bark thickness between species. This thesis provides all the necessary information to conduct prescribed burning operations in young eucalypt plantations.
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Janda, Jan. "KURZOVÉ RIZIKO V MEZINÁRODNÍM OBCHODĚ A MOŽNOSTI JEHO ŘÍZENÍ." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2012. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-165296.
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The aim of the thesis was to develop an effective hedge strategy for a Czech importing pharmaceutical company. To this goal, I used both theoretical knowledge from the first and second chapter, and internal data of the company. Particularly, this thesis is dedicated to its management, however, it may also inspire those who are interested in this issue.