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Duan, Yuyan. "A Modified Bayesian Power Prior Approach with Applications in Water Quality Evaluation." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/29976.
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This research is motivated by an issue frequently encountered in environmental water quality evaluation. Many times, the sample size of water monitoring data is too small to have adequate power. Here, we present a Bayesian power prior approach by incorporating the current data and historical data and/or the data collected at neighboring stations to make stronger statistical inferences on the parameters of interest.
The elicitation of power prior distributions is based on the availability of historical data, and is realized by raising the likelihood function of the historical data to a fractional power. The power prior Bayesian analysis has been proven to be a useful class of informative priors in Bayesian inference. In this dissertation, we propose a modified approach to constructing the joint power prior distribution for the parameter of interest and the power parameter. The power parameter, in this modified approach, quantifies the heterogeneity between current and historical data automatically, and hence controls the influence of historical data on the current study in a sensible way. In addition, the modified power prior needs little to ensure its propriety. The properties of the modified power prior and its posterior distribution are examined for the Bernoulli and normal populations. The modified and the original power prior approaches are compared empirically in terms of the mean squared error (MSE) of parameter estimates as well as the behavior of the power parameter. Furthermore, the extension of the modified power prior to multiple historical data sets is discussed, followed by its comparison with the random effects model.
Several sets of water quality data are studied in this dissertation to illustrate the implementation of the modified power prior approach with normal and Bernoulli models. Since the power prior method uses information from sources other than current data, it has advantages in terms of power and estimation precision for decisions with small sample sizes, relative to methods that ignore prior information.Ph. D.
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Patil, Vivek. "Criteria for Data Consistency Evaluation Prior to Modal Parameter Estimation." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1627667589352536.
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FUENTES, CRISTINA DE LAS NIEVES ARANEDA. "PROBABILISTIC EVALUATION OF PETROLEUM PROSPECTS PRIOR TO WILDCAT WELL DRILLING." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2004. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=5150@1.
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COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOREstudos econômicos de áreas com indícios de hidrocarbonetos estão imersos em incertezas de diferentes naturezas (geológicas, de engenharia e econômicas). No início do estudo, aspectos da geologia, dos fluidos, das rochas e do reservatório só são conhecidos por métodos indiretos que fornecem informações imprecisas. A redução dessas incertezas é limitada pelos elevados custos de perfuração de poços que permitam testes diretos. Conseqüentemente, decisões de investimentos de exploração têm que ser tomadas sob risco motivando, assim, o desenvolvimento de métodos para a avaliação econômica probabilística de propriedades. O foco desta dissertação é a avaliação econômica probabilística de recursos petrolíferos, antes da perfuração do poço pioneiro. O cálculo do valor econômico de uma propriedade depende das estimativas dos perfis temporais de receitas e custos associados ao seu desenvolvimento e produção (D e P). A obtenção de tais elementos requer um projeto de D e P para a propriedade que, em função dos dados disponíveis, é menos detalhado do que um projeto de simulação multicelular. Nesta dissertação, uma metodologia de avaliação baseada em simulação de Monte Carlo é apresentada juntamente com uma implementação- protótipo. A realização das numerosas replicações, necessárias para se obter uma avaliação probabilística, se torna viável graças a um programa capaz de gerar o projeto de D e P automaticamente. Esse programa foi desenvolvido pela Petrobras com base em regras fornecidas por um especialista. Além da justificativa para a abordagem adotada, da descrição e implementação do método, são feitas considerações sobre distribuições de probabilidade para codificar incertezas e sobre os resultados dos testes iniciais do sistema protótipo.
Economics studies of areas with indications of hydrocarbons are submerged in uncertainties of assorted natures (geological, of engineering and economical). At the start of the study, aspects concerning the geology, the fluids, the rocks and the reservoir are only known through indirect methods that yield imprecise information. The reduction of these uncertainties is limited by high costs of drilling wells that allow direct tests. Consequently, decisions on exploration investments have to be made under risk. This motivates the development of methods for probabilistic economic evaluation of properties. This dissertation addresses the probabilistic economic evaluation of petroleum resources, prior wildcat well drilling. Assessing the economic value of a property depends on estimates of incomes and costs time profiles associated to its development and production (D and P). Obtaining such elements requires a D and P project for the property that, due to the limited data available, is less detailed than a multi- cellular simulation project. In this thesis, a probabilistic evaluation methodology based on Monte Carlo simulation is presented along with a prototype implementation. Performing the numerous replications necessary to obtain a probabilistic evaluation becomes feasible thanks to a procedure capable of automatically generating the D and P project. That procedure was developed by Petrobras based on heuristic rules supplied by an expert. In addition to a justification for the proposed approach, the description of the method and its implementation, comments are made on probability density functions used for encoding uncertainties, and on the results of the initial tests with the prototype system.
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Raulf, Judith F. "An institutional evaluation of perceptions and expectations of prior learning assessment programs /." Access Digital Full Text version, 1992. http://pocketknowledge.tc.columbia.edu/home.php/bybib/1122938x.
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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1992.Includes tables. Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Elizabeth Kasl. Dissertation Committee: Stephen Brookfield. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-320).
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Balupuri, Shlokarth. "Evaluation of sub-optimal renal grafts and assessment of viability prior to transplantation." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.273496.
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Motaung, Mokabe Julia. "Quality assurance practice in the provisioning RPL (Recognition of prior learning)in higher education." Thesis, Pretoria : [s.n.], 2007. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09062007-162307/.
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Martin, John Timothy. "A re-evaluation of Protestant missionary work in China prior to the Communist era." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2008. http://www.tren.com/search.cfm?p001-1214.
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Rundin, Patrick. "Evaluation of a statistical method to use prior information in the estimation of combustion parameters." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Electrical Engineering, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-6255.
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Ion current sensing, where information about the combustion process in an SI-engine is gained by applying a voltage over the spark gap, is currently used to detect and avoid knock and misfire. Several researchers have pointed out that information on peak pressure location and air/fuel ratio can be gained from the ion current and have suggested several ways to estimate these parameters.
Here a simplified Bayesian approach was taken to construct a lowpass-like filter or estimator that makes use of prior information to improve estimates in crucial areas. The algorithm is computationally light and could, if successful, improve estimates enough for production use.
The filter was implemented in several variants and evaluated in a number of simulated cases. It was found that the proposed filter requires a number of trade-offs between variance, bias, tracking speed and accuracy that are difficult to balance. For satisfactory estimates and trade-off balance the prior information must be more accurate than was available.
It was also found that similar a task, constructing a general Bayesian estimator, has already been tackled in the area of particle filtering and that there are promising and unexplored possibilities there. However, particle filters require computational power that will not be available to production engines for some years.
Vid jonströmsmätning utvinns information om förbränningsprocessen i en bensinmotor genom att en spänning läggs över gnistgapet och den resulterande strömmen mäts. Jonströmsmätning används idag för knack- och feltändningsdetektion. Flera forskare har påpekat att det finns än mer information i jonströmmen, bl.a. om bränsleblandningen och cylindertrycket och har även föreslagit metoder för att utvinna och använda den informationen för skattning av dessa parametrar.
Här presenteras en förenklad Bayesisk metod i form av en lågpassfilter-liknande skattare som använder förkunskap till att förbättra estimat på relevanta områden. Algoritmen är beräkningsmässigt lätt och kan, om den är framgångsrik, leverera skattningar av förbränningsparametrar som är tillräckligt bra för att användas för sluten styrning av en bensinmotor.
Skattaren, eller filtret, implementerades i flera varianter och utvärderades i ett antal simulerade fall. Resultaten visade på att flera svåra avvägningar måste göras mellan förbättring i varians, avvikelse och följning eftersom förbättring i den ena ledde till försämring i de andra. För att göra dessa avvägningar och få goda skattningar krävs bättre förhandskunskap och mätdata än vad som var tillgängligt.
Bayesisk skattning är ett stort befintligt område inom statistik och signalbehandling och den mest generella skattaren är partikelfiltret som har många intressanta tillämpningar och möjligheter. De har hittills inte använts inom skattning av förbränningsparametrar och har således go potential för framtida utveckling. De är dock beräkningsmässigt tunga och kräver beräkningsresurser utöver vad som är tillgängliga i ett motorstyrsystem idag.
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Foong, A. L. S. "Accreditation of prior experiential learning : studies in the development of a competency-based evaluation system." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.285010.
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Barnet, Michael D. "Dreams Deferred| A Qualitative Study of Latino Youth Who Left High School Prior to Obtaining a Diploma." Thesis, The George Washington University, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3557487.
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Each fall, approximately one million children enter the ninth grade with little prospect of completing high school. Of the 1.1 million students projected to leave school without a diploma for the 2012 school year, a staggering 27 percent (approximately 310,000) will be of Latino descent (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2012). The purpose of this study—"Dreams Deferred: A Qualitative Study of Latino Youth Who Left High School Prior to Obtaining a Diploma"—was to examine the perceptions and beliefs of Latino youth as they attempted to make meaning of the factors that led to their leaving school before graduation. Utilizing phenomenological research methods, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with ten individuals who had the shared experience of leaving high school prematurely. The phenomenological in-depth interview research design was chosen because the occurrence of Latino students leaving school without a diploma cannot be examined without consideration of how the experience was defined and felt by the students. In addition, multiple factors must be considered including the subjective impact of the students' social, cultural and educational histories on their school experience. The individuals were participants in a community-based GED program and were selected through purposeful sampling based on pre-identified selection criteria. The study focused on the participants' perceptions of their school experience and the events and influences that precipitated their premature departure from school. Data were collected through the in-depth interviews and detailed field notes of observations made during the interviews and program activities. Data analysis consisted of coding responses and clustering relevant statements into themes and patterns, which were then synthesized into descriptions of the participants' school experience and the factors associated with their leaving school prior to graduation. Data from the study revealed that the participants began to feel disengaged in middle school, and they perceived that their interaction with school personnel had a significant impact on their school experience. In addition, the participants cited multiple factors outside of school that diverted their focus from learning and ultimately contributed to their leaving school without a diploma. Recommendations for practice and additional research are included following a discussion of data.
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Dumoulinneuf, Sandrine. "Evaluation a priori des impacts et performances d'actions proposées dans le cadre de la démarche de responsabilité sociétale d'une entreprise de distribution." Thesis, Saint-Etienne, EMSE, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014EMSE0735/document.
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Le développement et l'internationalisation des entreprises de distribution dont le succès repose sur des techniques de vente en masse à bas coûts se sont accompagnés d’une prise de conscience des conséquences sociales et environnementales de ces activités. Parallèlement, l'émergence du concept de responsabilité sociétale incite les entreprises à contribuer aux objectifs de développement durable de la société. Ainsi, des démarches de responsabilité sociétale (RSE) sont mises en œuvre par un nombre croissant d'entreprises, et notamment par les distributeurs, pour intégrer ces enjeux dans leur business model.Mais comment évaluer la pertinence des actions mises en oeuvre au regard des enjeux RSE des distributeurs ? Comment évaluer leur contribution aux objectifs RSE de l’organisation ? Comment évaluer celles visant à réduire un impact environnemental ciblé mais générant d’autres impacts sociaux et environnementaux, positifs comme négatifs ? Comment tenir compte de la multitude de parties prenantes, d’enjeux, parfois difficilement quantifiables, empreint d'incertitude et évolutifs dans le temps ? Malgré le foisonnement des méthodes existantes, celles-ci ne permettent pas, à notre connaissance, d’identifier et d’évaluer ces enjeux de manière satisfaisante.Menés au sein de la direction Environnement d’une entreprise multinationale de distribution, ces travaux proposent une méthode d’évaluation des impacts RSE d'actions, selon une approche a priori, qualitative et quantitative, structurée autour des domaines d’actions ISO 26 000. Afin d'identifier les limites et les apports de cette approche, celle-ci a été testée sur des actions de remplacement d’installations frigorifiquesThe development and internationalization of retailers whose success is based on new sales techniques on a mass scale at low prices were accompanied by an awareness of the social and environmental impacts of these activities. Meanwhile, the emergence of the concept of corporate social responsibility encourages companies to contribute to sustainable development goals. Thus, corporate social responsibility (CSR) approaches are implemented by a growing number of companies, including retailers, to integrate these issues into their business model.But how to evaluate the relevance of the actions against retailers' CSR issues? How to assess their contribution to companies' CSR goals? How to assess the multiple potential positive and negative effects of actions that are initially proposed to reduce one specific environmental impact? How to account for the multitude of stakeholders and issues, sometimes difficult to quantify, subject to uncertainty and changing over time? Despite the numerous existing methods, they do not adequately enable the identification and the assessment of these issues.Conducted within the Environment Department of a multinational retailer, this work tries to overcome these limitations by providing a methodological approach for a prior assessment of social and environmental impacts of actions both qualitatively and quantitatively on the basis of issues listed in the ISO 26000 standard. To identify the limitations and benefits of this approach, it was tested on actions aimed at remplacing commercial refrigeration equipments
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Walker, Lila Bowden. "The Effect of Membership in the Council of Adult and Experiential Learning on the Quality of Prior Learning Assessment Services in Senior Level Institutions Accredited by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1995. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc277929/.
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Over the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of adults enrolling in institutions of higher education across America. Adult students presently constitute nearly one-half of all undergraduate enrollment. This influx of adults has generated interest in nontraditional programs, including external degree programs, degree completion programs, and prior learning assessment programs. The purpose of this study was to determine if an association existed between membership in the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and quality in prior learning assessment services as provided by senior level institutions in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accrediting region. CAEL has been a pioneer in developing adult degree programs and commissioned Urban Whitaker in 1989 to define the standards for quality in such programs. A survey instrument utilizing these standards, principles, and procedures as the criteria for quality prior learning assessment services was mailed to a random sample of CAEL member and non-member institutions in the Southern Association accrediting region. Member and non-member responses were compared utilizing the Chi-square statistical analysis to determine any differences.
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Abbasi, Gharacheh Majid. "Microstructural Evaluation in Friction Stir Welded High Strength Low Alloy Steels." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2011. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3099.
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Understanding microstructural evolution in Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of steels is essential in order to understand and optimize the process. Ferritic steels undergo an allotropic phase transformation. This makes microstructural evolution study very challenging. An approach based on Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) and phase transformation orientation relationships is introduced to reconstruct pre-transformed grain structure and texture. Reconstructed pre-transformed and post-transformed grain structures and textures were investigated in order to understand microstructural evolution. Texture results show that there is evidence of shear deformation as well as recrystallization in the reconstructed prior austenite. Room temperature ferrite exhibits well-defined shear deformation texture components. Shear deformation texture in the room temperature microstructure implies that FSW imposes deformation during and after the phase transformation. Prior austenite grain boundary analysis shows that variant selection is governed by interfacial energy. Variants that have near ideal BCC/FCC misorientation relative to their neighboring austenite and near zero misorientation relative to neighboring ferrite are selected. Selection of coinciding variants in transformed prior austenite Σ3 boundaries supports the interfacial-energy-controlled variant selection mechanism.
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Boen, Randall. "Evaluation of General and Specific Assistive Technology Knowledge Among Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Environments." OpenSIUC, 2014. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/1431.
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The use of technology has become fairly integrated into our personal, educational, and professional lives. Students with disabilities attending postsecondary institutions may require the use of Assistive Technology (AT) for their educational pursuits and access to other technology. This study quantified students' general knowledge of AT and specific knowledge of Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. In addition, this study examined the relationship between disability support services received and current knowledge of AT among students with disabilities in a postsecondary environment. Participants were recruited from those who received disability support services at a midsize university in Illinois. An online survey was administered to 41 participants that included the Prior Knowledge of Assistive Technology Instrument (PKATI). Results indicated that participants' knowledge was influenced by three factors; prior training in AT within a postsecondary institution, access and availability to AT within postsecondary environments, and personal confidence in understanding of AT.
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Abit, Sergio Jr Manacpo. "Evaluation of subsurface solute transport and its contribution to nutrient load in the drainage ditches prior to restoration of a Carolina Bay." NCSU, 2005. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11152005-183644/.
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Subsurface solute transport is a major mechanism that contributes to the contaminant load in both surface and ground waters. Among these contaminants are plant nutrients that if transported in excessive amounts to surface waters can cause adverse effects on humans and animals, as well as negative impacts on aquatic life. The general objective of this study was to conduct a field evaluation of subsurface solute transport in the capillary fringe (CF) and shallow ground water (SGW) and their contribution to nutrient load in the ditches prior to restoration of a Carolina Bay. Specifically, this study was aimed at evaluating: a) the horizontal flow of bromide (Br-) in the CF and SGW under field conditions, b) the fate of nitrate (NO3-) in the CF and SGW in a sandy field site drained by ditches, and c) the possible contribution of subsurface flow to the increased nutrient load in drainage ditches at a drained Carolina Bay following storm events. The study was conducted in Juniper Bay, a drained Carolina Bay in Robeson County, NC. A solute transport experiment was conducted at a sandy site in the Bay where a solution containing Br- and NO3- was applied into an auger hole dug to about 10 cm above the CF during the time of application. The transport of Br- and NO3- in the CF and SGW was monitored by frequently collecting soil water samples using tension lysimeters installed at depths of 45, 60, 75, 90 and 105 cm at lateral distances of 20, 60, 120, 220 and 320 cm from the auger hole along the general direction of the ground water flow. A representative monitoring site from each of the Bay?s mineral and organic soil areas was also chosen for a year-long monitoring of fluctuations in nutrient concentrations in water samples from the Bay?s main ditch exit as well as from the vadose zone, ground water and lateral ditches. Soil solution from the vadose zone and ground water samples were collected using tension lysimeters installed at 15-cm depth intervals from 15 to 120, and 30 to 180 cm depths at the mineral and organic soil sites, respectively. Ground water samples were collected from three fully perforated wells. Seven piezometers installed at each site also allowed collection of ground water samples from different depth intervals below the water table The direction and magnitude of the subsurface hydraulic gradient at the monitored sites were also determined using the three-point technique. Lateral transport of Br- in the CF was observed in the direction of ground water movement up to 320 cm from the auger hole where solutes were applied. The Br- plume from the unsaturated zone that entered into the CF tended to stay and move horizontally in the CF until it was partially moved into the ground water by the fluctuating WT following rain events. The normalized concentrations (concentration in soil solution/concentration in the applied solution) of both NO3- and Br- in water samples collected from CF were comparable for all distances from the application spot. However, in the groundwater, the normalized concentration of NO3- was substantially lower than the normalized Br- concentrations. We believe the reduction in NO3- concentration in the ground water was due to denitrification. Results from the nutrient monitoring experiment reveal that the sample taken from the main ditch exit following a 5 cm d-1 storm event had higher concentrations of total organic carbon (TOC), phosphates (PO4-P), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) compared to the average of samples collected during baseflow conditions. The same was also observed for samples collected from the vadose zone especially at depths closer to the soil surface where organic carbon and extractable Ca, Mg and PO4-P contents were higher. Higher concentrations of these solutes in the ditches and vadose zone coincided with observed increase in the magnitude of the groundwater hydraulic gradient. In addition, it was observed that following the storm events, the direction of the ground water hydraulic gradient tended to become more perpendicular to the nearby lateral ditch suggesting that the route taken by the water as it moves in the subsurface towards the ditch is shortened. We believe that the increase in concentration of PO4-P, Ca, Mg and TOC in the soil solution at certain depths in the soil profile coupled with their higher rate of movement in the subsurface towards the ditch following the storm event should have contributed to the increase in concentration of such nutrients in the ditches.
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Windish, Daniel. "Central Florida Educational Leaders' Professional Opinions of the Race to the Top Grant Components Concerning Teacher Evaluation and Compensation Prior to Implementation." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2012. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/5577.
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This mixed-methods study was conducted to explore the professional opinions of educational leaders regarding selected components in the Race to the Top (RTTT) grant concerning teacher evaluation and compensation and the potential impact on student achievement. A target university was selected that had students who were professionals in the field of education in either instructional or administrative jobs and were pursuing their doctorates in both Education and Educational Leadership. A researcher created survey and follow-up interview were utilized to gather both quantitative and qualitative data for analysis. Quantitative findings revealed that statistically significant differences in the opinions of educational leaders about the potential impact of the RTTT grant teacher evaluation and compensation components on student achievement existed between two types of professional classification (instructional or administrative). No statistically significant relationship was found between self-reported knowledge of the RTTT and opinions of the fairness of the RTTT teacher evaluation and compensation components. Also, no statistically significant difference was found in the professional opinions about the potential impact of the RTTT grant teacher evaluation and compensation components on student achievement when self-reported school poverty percentage was considered. From qualitative findings, themes emerged surrounding the uncertainty and lack of understanding about the RTTT grant's implementation. Though this study provided baseline data on the opinions of educational leaders on the RTTT teacher evaluation and compensation components, there is still much to be learned about the RTTT grant.Ed.D.
Doctorate
Educational and Human Sciences
Education and Human Performance
Educational Leadership
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Hicks, Tyler Aaron. "What You Know Counts: Why We Should Elicit Prior Probabilities from Experts to Improve Quantitative Analysis with Qualitative Knowledge in Special Education Science." Scholar Commons, 2015. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5493.
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Qualitative knowledge is about types of things, and their excellences. There are many ways we humans produce qualitative knowledge about the world, and much of it is derived from non-quantitative sources (e.g., narratives, clinical experiences, intuitions). The purpose of my dissertation was to investigate the possibility of using Bayesian inferences to improve quantitative analysis in special education research with qualitative knowledge.
It is impossible, however, to fully disentangle philosophy of inquiry, methodology, and methods. My evaluation of Bayesian estimators, thus, addresses each of these areas. Chapter Two offers a philosophical argument to substantiate the thesis that Bayesian inference is usually more applicable in education science than classical inference. I then moved on, in Chapter Three, to consider methodology. I used simulation procedures to show that even a minimum amount of qualitative information can suffice to improve Bayesian t-tests' frequency properties. Finally, in Chapter Four, I offered a practical demonstration of how Bayesian methods could be utilized in special education research to solve technical problems.
In Chapter Five, I show how these three chapters, taken together, evidence that Bayesian analysis can promote a romantic science of special education - i.e., a non-positivistic science that invites teleological explanation. These explanations are often produced by researchers in the qualitative tradition, and Bayesian priors are formal mechanism for strengthening quantitative analysis with such qualitative bits of information. Researchers are also free to use their favorite qualitative methods to elicit such priors from experts.
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Mobarak, Kaashiefa. "An analysis of university policy responses in the Western Cape to government policy on the recognition of prior learning." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_7581_1183469893.
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The South African government plays a direct and active role in facilitation the development of a skilled workforce. The effective mobilisation, development and utilisation of South Africa's human resource capacity are critical for the success of the economy, institution building and the transformation process. In this context, the development of a system of Recognition of Prior Learning is one of the government's significant initiatives. This research examined whether the policy documents of the universities in the Western Cape comply with the requirements of the National Government Recognition of Prior Learning policy.
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Katsara, Maria-Alexandra [Verfasser], Michael [Gutachter] Nothnagel, Meaux Juliette [Gutachter] de, and Thomas [Gutachter] Wiehe. "Evaluation of a prior-incorporated statistical model and established classifiers for externally visible characteristics prediction / Maria-Alexandra Katsara ; Gutachter: Michael Nothnagel, Juliette de Meaux, Thomas Wiehe." Köln : Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek Köln, 2021. http://d-nb.info/1237814405/34.
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Rotshtein, Regina. "Coordination of Theory and Evidence and the Role of Personal Epistemology and Prior Knowledge When Reading About the Controversial Topic of Vitamin Supplement Use." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo156104274336628.
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Sehil, Nouha. "Montages contractuels : qualification, enjeux et perspectives, contribution à l'analyse en droit privé et en droit public." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014AIXM1090.
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Issu de la pratique, le phénomène des montages contractuels est devenu une réalité quotidienne de la vie des affaires, des relations de travail, voire du droit économique. La question se pose alors de sa réception par le droit positif. Absent du vocabulaire juridique, le montage est un concept à définir. D'un point de vue théorique, il représente une articulation d'un ensemble d'actes ou d'opérations en vue d'une finalité propre. Cependant, il est loin de refléter une réalité uniforme. En droit privé, comme en droit public, il est une dialectique entre la norme et la pratique, voire entre la complexité et la complication, puisqu'il déroge au schéma classique du contrat simple, ce qui soulève la question de son insertion dans l'ordre contractuel. D'un point de vue pratique, il représente un phénomène pluridisciplinaire et diversifié qui ne saurait être dissocié des impératifs économiques. Une analyse des aspects financiers et fiscaux permet une meilleure compréhension de son caractère transversal. Mais, comme toute ingénierie, la jurisprudence et le législateur tendent à l'appréhender. Dans les montage mettant en présence des problématiques croisées de droit public et privé, la mise en place des solutions contractuelles relatives au financement privé d'équipements publics,telles que les formules de partenariat public-privé de prestations (CP, BEA, AOT), les délégations de service public (concessions, régie intéressée, affermage) ou encore les concessions de travaux, est indispensable. De même, en matière de promotion immobilière, ces solutions doivent permettre une externalisation de la maîtrise d'ouvrage technique des opérations de construction (VEFA, lease-back, contrats de promotion immobilière)Stemming from the practice,the phenomenon of the contractual editings became a daily reality of business'life, labor relations, and even economic law. The question settles then of its reception by positive law. Absent in the legal vocabulary, the editing is a concept to be defined. From a theoretical point of view, it represents an articulation of a set of acts or operations with the aim of an appropriate purpose. However, it's far from reflecting a uniform reality. In private law, as in public law, it's a dialectic between standard and practice, even between the complexity and the complication because it departs from the classic contract's plan, what raises the question of its insertion in the contractual order. From a practical point of view,it appears as a multidisciplinary and diversified phenomenon which couldn't be separated from the economic imperatives.An analysis of the various financial and fiscal aspects allows a better understanding of its transverse character. As any engineering, the jurisprudence and the legislator try to get grips with. For the editings putting in the presence of the crossed problems of public and private law, the implementation of the contractual solutions relative to the financing deprived of public equipments such as the formulae of Public Private Partnership of services (CP, GAPED, essential AOT ), works contracts (interested state control, lease), is essential. Also, regarding real-estate development, these solutions have to allow an outsourcing of the technical project ownership of the construction's operations (VEFA, lease-back, contracts of real-estate development..)
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Geange, Shane Wallace. "An evaluation of prior residency and habitat effects on the persistence of settling reef fishes : a thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Biology /." ResearchArchive@Victoria e-Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10063/1169.
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Mahmoud, Mohamed Karmi Hussein. "Studies on pathogenic mechanisms of prion diseases and evaluation of prion strains properties." Diss., Munich Verl. Dr. Hut, 2009. http://d-nb.info/992892376/04.
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Wilkinson, Christopher Raphael. "Evaluating the role of prior experience in inclusive design." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2012. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/267891.
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This thesis investigates the role of prior experience of products and its affect upon interaction. It has been shown within this work that technological experience of products is related to age, and that this has implications for the success of subsequent interaction. This research adds weight to a growing body of literature that has identified age related and generational differences toward product interaction. Implications for intuitive design such as the use of familiar features and icon design are also identified. The adoption of a novel inclusive design approach, framing interaction using an interactional, behavioural model, is proposed as a potential method to identify issues that cause unnecessary interactional complexity. The effect of prior experience and design upon interaction was investigated by performing three main experimental studies that assessed individuals’ performance with products and identified the problems real users’ experience through inadequate product design. The findings reveal that older participants’ ability to learn and transfer knowledge for successful product interaction may be adversely affected by design. Older users recognised fewer features and iconic warning symbols than younger users, and this appears to place them at a disadvantage in terms of learning and intuitive interaction. Technological experience was found to decrease with age, further compromising older users’ ability to draw accurate inference from products. The contribution of this work is to provide the design community with new knowledge and a greater awareness of the diversity of user needs, and particularly the needs and skills of older people. The hope is that the awareness of this knowledge can, in turn, assist toward the community’s development of better design methods. The approach introduced can be applied to new and existing products alike and can aid the development of products that are more accessible and easier to use for a wider proportion of the population.
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Seabury, Christopher Mark. "Genetic evaluation of the ovine and bovine prion protein genes (PRNP)." Texas A&M University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/3333.
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Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases, are a
group of inevitably fatal neurodegenerative diseases that occur in mammalian species.
Ovine susceptibility to scrapie, the prototypical TSE, is predominantly modulated by
nonsynonymous polymorphisms within exon 3 of the ovine prion protein gene (PRNP).
Investigation of PRNP exon 3 for two hair-sheep breeds revealed a novel predicted
amino acid substitution (P116) associated with the ovine ARQ allele (P116A136R154Q171).
Additionally, two novel ovine PRNP genotypes (PARQ/ARR; PARQ/ARQ) also were
detected, and most of the hair sheep sampled possessed PRNP exon 3 genotypes
associated with some degree of resistance to scrapie and/or experimental BSE (bovine
spongiform encephalopathy).
Unlike sheep, expression of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle
and other bovids has not been associated with nucleotide variation within bovine PRNP
exon 3. However, BSE susceptibility has been tentatively associated with specific
insertion-deletion (indel) polymorphisms within the putative bovine PRNP promoter,
and to a lesser extent intron 1, for a few German cattle breeds. Evaluation of the patterns
of nucleotide variation associated with bovine PRNP exon 3 provided evidence that
strong purifying selection has intensely constrained bovine exon 3 over the long-term
evolutionary history of the subfamily Bovinae, as well as evidence for significant
purifying selection in regions of bovine PRNP exon 3 that are considered to be of
functional, structural, and pathogenic importance in other mammalian species.
Evaluation of the frequencies of known indel polymorphisms within the putative bovine
PRNP promoter for a panel of U. S. cattle sires revealed no significant differences in the
distribution of promoter alleles and/or genotypes between U. S. cattle sires and BSEaffected
German cattle.
Notably, a nonsynonymous PRNP exon 3 polymorphism (T50C) identified in
American bison (Bison bison) was tentatively associated with Brucella spp.
seropositivity. Specifically, a significant overabundance (P = 0.021) of Yellowstone
National Park bison possessing the CC genotype were Brucella spp. seropositive.
Furthermore, the T-allele and TT genotype were observed at significantly higher
frequencies in three bison populations that were either founded from Brucella spp.
seronegative stock or previously subjected to test-and-slaughter management to eradicate
brucellosis.
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Rius, Ferrer Ignasi. "Motion Priors for Efficient Bayesian Tracking In Iluman Sequence Evaluation." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/5798.
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La reconstrucció del moviment huma mitjançant l'analisi visual és una area de recerca de la visió per computador plena de reptes amb moltes aplicacions potencials. Els enfocs de seguiment basat en models, i en particular els fltres de partícules, formulen el problema com una tasca d'inferencia Bayesiana l'objectiu de la qual és estimar seqüencialment la distribució sobre els parametres d'un model del cos huma al llarg del temps. Aquests enfocs depenen en gran mesuta d'emprar bons models dinamics i d'observació per tal de predir i actualitzar les confguracions del cos huma en base a mesures extretes de les dades d'imatge. No obstant, resulta molt difícil dissenyar models d'observació, i en especial pel cas de seguiment a partir d'una sola vista, que siguin capaços d'extreure informació útil de les seqüencies d'imatges de manera robusta. Per tant, per tal de superar aquestes limitacions és necessari emprar un fort coneixement a priori sobre el moviment huma i guiar així l'exploració de l'espai d'estats. El treball presentat en aquesta Tesis esta enfocat a recuperar els parametres de moviment 3D d'un model del cos huma a partir de mesures incompletes i sorolloses d'una seqüencia d'imatges monocular. Aquestes mesures consisteixen en les posicions 2D d'un conjunt redult d'articulacions en el pla d'imatge. Amb aquesta fnalitat, proposem un nou model de moviment huma específc per cada acció, que és entrenat a partir de bases de dades de captures de moviment que contenen varies execucions d'una acció en particular, i que és utilitzat com a coneixement a priori en un esquema de fltratge de partícules.
Les postures del cos es representen emprant un model articulat simple i compacte que fa ús dels cosinus directors per tal de representar la direcció de les parts del cos en l'espai Cartesia 3D. Llavors, donada una acció, s'aplica l'Analisis de Components Principals (PCA) sobre les dades d'entrenament per tal d'aplicar reducció de dimensionalitat sobre les dades d'entrada altament correlacionades. Previament al pas d'entrenament del model d'acció, les seqüencies de moviment d'entrada són sincronitzades mitjançant un nou algoritme d'adaptació dens basat en Programació Dinamica. L'algoritme sincronitza totes les seqüencies de moviment d'una mateixa classe d'acció i és capa¡ de trobar una solució óptima en temps real.
Aleshores, s'apren un model d'acció probabilístic a partir dels exemples de movi¬ment sincronitzats que captura la variabilitat i l'evolució temporal del moviment del cos sencer durant una acció concreta. En particular, per cada acció, els parametres apresos són: una varietat representativa de l'acció que consisteix en l'execució mitjana de la mateixa, la desviació estandard de l'execució mitjana, els vectors de direcció mitjans de cada subseqüencia de moviment d'una llargada donada i l'error esperat en un instant de temps donat.
A continuació, s'utilitza el model específc per cada acció com a coneixement a priori sobre moviment huma que millora l'efciencia i robustesa de tot l'enfoc de seguiment basat en fltratge de partícules. En primer lloc, el model dinamic guia les partícules segons situacions similars apreses previament. A continuació, es restringeix l'espai d'estats per tal que tan sols les postures humanes més factibles siguin acceptades com a solucions valides a cada instant de temps. En conseqüencia, l'espai d'estats és explorat de manera més efcient ja que el conjunt de partícules cobreix les postures del cos més probables.
Finalment, es duen a terme experiments emprant seqüencies de test de varies bases de dades. Els resultats assenyalen que el nostre esquema de seguiment és capa d'estimar la confguració 3D aproximada d'un model de cos sencer, a partir tan sols de les posicions 2D d'un conjunt redult d'articulacions. També s'inclouen proves separades sobre el metode de sincronització de seqüencies i de la tecnica de comparació probabilística de les subseqüencies de moviment.
Recovering human motion by visual analysis is a challenging computer vision research area with a lot of potential applications. Model based tracking approaches, and in particular particle flters, formulate the problem as a Bayesian inference task whose aim is to sequentially estimate the distribution of the parameters of a human body model over time. These approaches strongly rely on good dynamical and observation models to predict and update confgurations of the human body according to mea surements from the image data. However, it is very difcult to design observation models which extract useful and reliable information from image sequences robustly. This results specially challenging in monocular tracking given that only one viewpoint from the scene is available. Therefore, to overcome these limitations strong motion priors are needed to guide the exploration of the state space.
The work presented in this Thesis is aimed to retrieve the 3D motion parameters of a human body model from incomplete and noisy measurements of a monocular image sequence. These measurements consist of the 2D positions of a reduced set of joints in the image plane. Towards this end, we present a novel action specifc model of human motion which is trained from several databases of real motion captured performances of an action, and is used as a priori knowledge within a particle fltering scheme.
Body postures are represented by means of a simple and compact stick fgure model which uses direction cosines to represent the direction of body limbs in the 3D Cartesian space. Then, for a given action, Principal Component Analysis is applied to the training data to perform dimensionality reduction over the highly correlated input data. Before the learning stage of the action model, the input motion performances are synchronized by means of a novel dense matching algorithm based on Dynamic Programming. The algorithm synchronizes all the motion sequences of the same action class, fnding an optimal solution in real time.
Then, a probabilistic action model is learnt, based on the synchronized motion examples, which captures the variability and temporal evolution of full body motion within a specifc action. In particular, for each action, the parameters learnt are: a representative manifold for the action consisting of its mean performance, the stan dard deviation from the mean performance, the mean observed direction vectors from each motion subsequence of a given length and the expected error at a given time instant.
Subsequently, the action specifc model is used as a priori knowledge on human motion which improves the efciency and robustness of the overall particle fltering tracking framework. First, the dynamic model guides the particles according to similar situations previously learnt. Then, the state space is constrained so only feasible human postures are accepted as valid solutions at each time step. As a result, the state space is explored more efciently as the particle set covers the most probable body postures.
Finally, experiments are carried out using test sequences from several motion databases. Results point out that our tracker scheme is able to estimate the rough 3D confguration of a full body model providing only the 2D positions of a reduced set of joints. Separate tests on the sequence synchronization method and the subsequence probabilistic matching technique are also provided.
Keywords: Human Motion Modeling; Particle fltering; Monocular Full Body 3D Tracking.
Topics: Image Processing; Computer Vision; Scene Understanding; Machine Intelligence; Machine Vision Applications; Video-Sequence Evaluation
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Luo, Lei. "Biological evaluation of drug delivery systems for anti-prion compounds." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2013. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/5583/.
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Ujamaa, Dawud A. "Assessing the Effect of Prior Distribution Assumption on the Variance Parameters in Evaluating Bioequivalence Trials." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2006. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/math_theses/13.
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Bioequivalence determines if two drugs are alike. The three kinds of bioequivalence are Average, Population, and Individual Bioequivalence. These Bioequivalence criteria can be evaluated using aggregate and disaggregate methods. Considerable work assessing bioequivalence in a frequentist method exists, but the advantages of Bayesian methods for Bioequivalence have been recently explored. Variance parameters are essential to any of theses existing Bayesian Bioequivalence metrics. Usually, the prior distributions for model parameters use either informative priors or vague priors. The Bioequivalence inference may be sensitive to the prior distribution on the variances. Recently, there have been questions about the routine use of inverse gamma priors for variance parameters. In this paper we examine the effect that changing the prior distribution of the variance parameters has on Bayesian models for assessing Bioequivalence and the carry-over effect. We explore our method with some real data sets from the FDA.
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Rontard, Jessica. "Evaluation expérimentale du risque prion lié aux porteurs asymptomatiques chez l'Homme et le macaque." Thesis, Paris Sciences et Lettres (ComUE), 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018PSLET008/document.
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La détection de la protéine prion anormale dans les tissus lymphoïdes de patients britanniques suggère qu’après exposition à l’agent de la variante de la maladie de Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vMCJ) plus de 99% des contaminations pourraient demeurer cliniquement silencieuses. Ces données soulignent un risque de transmission secondaire par transfusion sanguine ce qui nous a conduit à une étude expérimentale. En parallèle des formes classiques de vMCJ, nos modèles murins et simiens de retransmission ont mis en evidence des phenotypes atypiques. Ces phénotypes échappent actuellement aux critères de diagnostic puisqu’aucune protéine prion anormale (PrPres) n’est détectée.Nos travaux ont eu pour but principal d’évaluer expérimentalement le risque sanguin au travers d’études de retransmission et de caractérisation de la replication des souches classiques et atypiques aux niveaux périphérique et central.Nous observons une très forte hétérogénéité dans la réplication de la PrP anormale dans les différents tissus lymphoïdes des macaques transfusés développant une vMCJ. Le niveau de contamination des tissus lymphoïdes apparait proportionnel à l’infectiosité sanguine de ces animaux et au risque de transmission de la maladie in vivo. Concernant les formes atypiques, la majorité des macaques transfusés n’ont pas de réplication dans les tissus lymphoïdes bien que ces phénotypes soient transmissibles expérimentalement à des modèles murins. Des transmissions à des souris immunodéficientes révèlent que les souches atypiques sont transmissibles par voie périphérique en l’absence d’un système immunitaire fonctionnel.Une alternative à l’expérimentation animale a été réalisée grâce aux « mini-brains » mimant la complexité du cerveau humain. Ces organoïdes cultivés en trois dimensions sont sensibles à au moins un isolat de prion associé aux formes sporadiques humaines. Les mini-brains pourraient ainsi constituer un nouvel outil d’étude des maladies à prions et permettre à termes la caractérisation des souches atypiquesThe detection of abnormal prion protein in the lymphoid tissues of UK patients suggests that after exposure to the agent of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), more than 99% of contaminations may remain clinically silent. These data highlight a risk of secondary transmission through blood transfusion. In parallel to the classical vCJD forms, our experimental models in mice and macaques revealed another group which avoids the current diagnostic criteria, including the absence of abnormal prion protein (PrPres).The main goal of our work was to experimentally assess the risk of blood through retransmission studies and characterization of the abnormal replication of classical and atypical strains examined at peripheral and central levels.We observed a high heterogeneity of the distribution of the abnormal PrP in the lymphoid tissues of vCJD transfused macaques. The global level of contamination in lymphoid tissues seems proportional to the blood infectivity in these animals and to the risk of in vivo transmission of the disease. Regarding atypical forms, despite an absence of replication in lymphoid tissues, these phenotypes are experimentally transmissible. Transmissions to immunodeficient mice reveal that atypical strains are transmissible through peripheral routes in the absence of functional immune system.An alternative to animal testing has been achieved using to "mini-brains" mimicking the complexity of the human nervous system. These organoids cultured in three dimensions are sensitive to at least one prion isolate associated with human sporadic forms. Thus, mini-brains could constitute a new tool for studying prion diseases and improve the characterization of atypical strains
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Princeton, Judith. "Pratiques innovantes d'exploitation des réseaux routiers en lien avec une mobilité durable : une nouvelle approche de l'évaluation." Thesis, Paris Est, 2011. http://www.theses.fr/2011PEST1152/document.
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La gestion du trafic sur les réseaux routiers se heurte aux nouveaux enjeux du développement durable. L'objectif n'est plus seulement de proposer aux usagers des temps de parcours raisonnables. Il faut aussi limiter la consommation énergétique et les émissions des gaz à effet de serre et des polluants qui y sont associées, afin de garantir une meilleure qualité de vie pour les générations actuelle et futures. Les exigences en matière de sécurité routière sont également renforcées et visent à éliminer le nombre de tués sur les routes. Les exploitants ont donc recours à diverses stratégies, souvent innovantes, pour au moins approcher la situation idéale. Néanmoins, si les décideurs disposent d'une plus grande capacité à mettre en œuvre leurs programmes dans le domaine, ils ont également l'obligation d'en évaluer les performances à divers stades. Cette thèse analyse les nouvelles stratégies de gestion des réseaux autoroutiers en identifiant leurs domaines d'application ainsi que leurs impacts potentiels et réels. Les limites des méthodes existantes d'évaluation a priori et/ou a posteriori sont mises en évidence et une nouvelle approche est proposée. Celle-ci associe les trois principaux critères d'une mobilité durable à un seul concept: le niveau de service, largement employé par les exploitants de réseaux. La méthodologie a fait l'objet d'une validation sur différentes opérations. Par ailleurs, se basant sur les résultats obtenus sur un ensemble d'opérations d'affectation variable des voies au niveau européen, la thèse propose un outil d'aide au choix d'une stratégie d'exploitation d'un réseau en fonction de la configuration de l'infrastructure et du niveau de congestion. Cet outil se présente sous la forme d'un catalogue de cas-types applicable au réseau d'Ile-de-France. La nouvelle approche d'évaluation proposée dans cette thèse présente l'intérêt de pouvoir facilement s'intégrer aux outils de simulation du trafic. Les impacts d'une opération d'exploitation routière sur la congestion, la sécurité et l'environnement peuvent ainsi être fournis par ces simulateurs dans le cadre de l'évaluation a priori. L'intégration est également possible au niveau des systèmes des centres de gestion du trafic, pour l'évaluation a posteriori. Par ailleurs, la thèse identifie des pistes potentielles pour des investigations futures. Tout d'abord, la gravité des accidents pourrait être prise en compte dans l'approche d'évaluation proposée, qui considère pour l'instant tous les accidents corporels confondus en raison du manque de données. De même, seules quatre stratégies d'affectation variable des voies sont proposées dans le catalogue de cas-types. Celui-ci pourrait donc être étendu à l'ensemble des opérations d'exploitation en suivant la même méthodologie décrite dans la thèseTraffic management is facing the new issues of the sustainable development concept. The objective is not only to guarantee acceptable travels times over the networks anymore. Energy consumption as well as associated greenhouse gaz and pollutant emissions must be reduced for a better quality of life for current and future generations. Standards in road safety have also been reinforced and aim at cutting off the number of accident fatalities. Thus, traffic operators use the most innovating strategies. Nevertheless, if decision-makers have greater possibilities to implement their programmes, they also are committed to assess their performance at different stages. This doctoral thesis analyses the new strategies in motorway network management by identifying their respective domains of application as well as their potential and real impacts. Limitations of existing a priori and a posteriori evaluation methods are highlighted and a new approach is proposed. It associates the three main criteria of sustainable mobility to one concept: the level of service, which is widely used by network operators. The methodology is validated on several operations. Besides, based on results obtained from the various lane management operations implemented all accross Europe, the thesis proposes a tool to help in choosing the appropriate strategy according to the motorway layout and congestion level. The tool is presented in the form of a catalog of typical cases for the Ile-de-France motorway network. The new evaluation approach proposed in this thesis may be easily integrated in the available traffic simulation tools. Hence, the impacts of a traffic management operation on congestion, safety and the environment may be obtained as output from those simulators in the framewok of an a priori evaluation. This integration is also possible in the traffic management center systems, for a posteriori evaluations. Besides, the thesis identifies potential subjects for future research. Firstly, accident severity could be considered in the proposed evaluation approach, which takes into account all injury accidents at once by now, due to a lack of data. Likewise, only four manged lane strategies are included in the catalog, which could be extended to all the existing traffic management operations through the same methodology described in the thesis
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Wolf, Remi. "Quantification de la qualité d'un geste chirurgical à partir de connaissances a priori." Thesis, Grenoble, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013GRENS042/document.
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Le développement de la chirurgie laparoscopique entraîne de nouveaux défis pour le chirurgien, sa perception visuelle et tactile du site opératoire étant modifiée par rapport à son expérience antérieure. De nombreux dispositifs ont été développés autour de la procédure chirurgicale afin d'aider le chirurgien à réaliser le geste avec la meilleure qualité possible. Ces dispositifs visent à permettre au chirurgien de mieux percevoir le contexte dans lequel il intervient, à planifier de façon optimale la stratégie opératoire et à l'assister lors de la réalisation de son geste. La conception d'un système d'analyse de la procédure chirurgicale, permettant d'identifier des situations à risque et d'améliorer la qualité du geste, est un enjeu majeur du domaine des Gestes Médico-Chirurgicaux Assistés par Ordinateur. L'évaluation de la qualité du geste explore plusieurs composantes de sa réalisation : les habiletés techniques du chirurgien, ainsi que ses connaissances théoriques et sa capacité de jugement. L'objectif de cette thèse était de développer une méthode d'évaluation de la qualité technique des gestes du chirurgien à partir de connaissances a priori, qui soit adaptée aux contraintes spécifiques du bloc opératoire sans modifier l'environnement du chirurgien. Cette évaluation s'appuie sur la définition de métriques prédictives de la qualité du geste chirurgical, dérivées des trajectoires des instruments au cours de la procédure. La première étape de ce travail a donc consisté en la mise au point d'une méthode de suivi de la position des instruments laparoscopiques dans la cavité abdominale au cours de la chirurgie, à partir des images endoscopiques et sans ajout de marqueurs. Ce suivi combine des modèles géométriques de la caméra, de l'instrument et de son orientation, ainsi que des modèles statistiques décrivant les évolutions de cette dernière. Cette méthode permet le suivi de plusieurs instruments de laparoscopie dans des conditions de banc d'entraînement, en temps différé pour le moment. La seconde étape a consisté à extraire des trajectoires des paramètres prédictifs de la qualité du geste chirurgical, à partir de régressions aux moindres carrés partiels et de classifieurs k-means. Plusieurs nouvelles métriques ont été identifiées, se rapportant à la coordination des mains du chirurgien ainsi qu'à l'optimisation de son espace de travail. Ce dispositif est destiné à s'intégrer dans un système plus large, permettant d'apporter au chirurgien, en temps réel, des informations contextualisées concernant son geste, en fusionnant par exemple les données issues de la trajectoire à des données multi-modales d'imagerie per-opératoireThe development of laparoscopic surgery has led to new challenges for surgeons, their visual and tactile perception of the operating field having been modified compared to their prior experience. Numerous devices have been designed around the surgical process in order to help the surgeon to perform the best possible intervention. These devices aim at enhancing the surgeon's perception of the operating context, optimally planning the surgical strategy, and assisting him/her during the intervention. The design of a system dedicated to the analysis of the surgical process, enabling the identification of risky situations and improving the quality of the surgery, is a major issue in the field of Computer Assisted Medical Interventions. The assessment of quality in surgery covers different aspects: the technical skills of the surgeon, as well as his/her theoretical knowledge and decision-making abilities. The objective of this thesis was to develop a technical skills assessment device for laparoscopic surgery, using a priori knowledge, suitable for the operating room's specific constraints without modifying the surgeon's environment. This assessment is based on the definition of predictive metrics for the quality of the surgery, derived from the instruments' trajectories during the procedure. The first step of this work consisted in the implementation of an instrument tracking method, based on endoscopic images without addition of any markers, in order to retrieve the 3D position of the instrument's tip inside the abdominal cavity during the surgical procedure. This tracking combines geometric models of the camera, the instrument and its orientation, with statistical models describing the evolutions of the latter. This method allows for simultaneous off-line tracking of multiple instruments within a training bench environment. The second step consisted in the extraction, from these trajectories, of predictive metrics for the assessment of the technical skills of the surgeon, using partial least squares regression and k-means classifiers. Several new metrics were identified, relating to the coordination of the surgeon's hands and the optimization of his/her workspace. This device is intended to be integrated in a more general system, in order to provide the surgeon with context-aware information regarding the surgical process, for example by merging data obtained from the trajectory with per-operative multi-modal image data
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Hsskia, Ahmed Majeed Jassem. "Synthesis of heterocyclic compounds using ketoacids-based multicomponent reactions and evaluation of their anti-prion activities." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2018. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/21716/.
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Prion disease is also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). They are incurable and fatal neurodegenerative diseases influencing both humans and animals. There is no effective cure for the TSEs currently available and this is of special concern in European countries. TSEs can be potentially represented as inherited, sporadic and iatrogenic. In this project a library of heterocyclic compounds synthesised was screened in scrapie cell line (SMB) hoping to find novel anti-prion lead compounds. The work outlined in this thesis consists of ten chapters: Chapter one contains a general introduction of heterocyclic compounds and their use in drug discovery. It also contains an overview of ketoacids chemistry, isocyanides and multicomponent reactions as efficient ways for synthesising diverse and various heterocyclic compounds. In addition, explains subject aims and objectives. Chapter two describes a method for the synthesis of keto acids, isocyanides and convertible isocyanide from cheap stating materials and the synthesis of cyclic amides (lactams) by multicomponent reactions (3C-4C-Ugi reaction). The methodology which depends on the activation of keto acids (Carboxylic group) using PPTS is an excellent route to accomplish Meyer’s lactamaztion in good yields. The optimisation and diastereoselectivity of all reactions are also discussed. Chapter three describes the synthesis of Ugi-tetrazole derivatives and information about using flow chemistry in this work. The results were investigated of similar reactions achieved using either batch or flow machines. Chapter four describes efforts towards using a microwave technique for synthesis a group of pyrazol-oxopyrrolidine derivatives with satisfactory yields. Chapter five includes an efficient methodology utilized to synthesize isoqunoline and isoindoline libraries from α-ketoacids and β-ketoacids in order to showcase the benefit of α- and β-ketoacids for synthesis of diverse heterocyclic compounds. Chapter six outlines exploiting post-transformations of multicomponent products for synthesis of diverse and various heterocycles with good yields. A central goal of further expansion is to provide collections of stereo chemically and structurally diverse compounds in order to evaluate their biological systems. The reaction of convertible isocyanide for synthesising pyroglutamic acid analogues is described. A developed method includes using bifunctional keto acids or amines via multicomponent reactions and their post-transformations for synthesis of tetrazole-lactams, diones, pyrrole-oxopyrrolidine and a set of medicinally-valuable pyrrolo-pyridine derivatives under mild conditions are also described. Chapter seven describes the main target of all synthesised compounds evaluated as anti-prion diseases. These compounds are designed to bind a putative binding pocket of PrPC and stabilise the normal isoform. This should prevent its conversion into the infectious isoform (PrPS) in brain. Chapter eight, nine and ten contain conclusion and future work, data of all experimental procedures and references respectively.
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Matentjie, Tshepiso. "The impact of the National Qualifications Framework on Higher Education with specific reference to access, teaching and learning : a case study." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/16615.
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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the NQF on higher education institutions focussing specifically on access, teaching and learning. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: What was the impact of the NQF on increasing access to higher education? In particular how did the RPL process facilitate access into the University of Pretoria? Secondly, how did the NQF influence the processes of teaching and learning at this particular institution? And finally, why did the NQF have differential impacts on different faculties within the same higher education institution? To gain the end-users’ perspective, a case study of the University of Pretoria was conducted. Data was gathered using interviews with ten senior members of staff at the university working in nine different departments, and student records indicating admissions through RPL into the University of Pretoria as well as relevant institutional documents. The findings suggest that the impact of the NQF on access, teaching and learning differed across departments, resulting in a partial implementation of the policy. This was facilitated by factors inherent in the policy itself and factors inherent to the institution. The influence of external factors such as professional bodies on teaching and learning practices of end-users at the University of Pretoria posed a major challenge against NQF implementation. The motivations leading to NQF implementation are not directly linked to the NQF policy per se, although they resulted in portraying the extent of change to access, teaching and learning along a continuum that distinguished between departments that ‘blindly complied’, that selectively adapted and those that strategically avoided implementation of the policy. Indications for further research are that a wider look at the impact of the NQF on access, teaching and learning in higher education is less revealing than a more focussed investigation. Future research should zoom-in on individual departments within higher education institutions to reveal the deeper and more nuanced impact of the NQF.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om die impak van die NKR (NQF) op veral toegang, onderrig en leer in hoër onderwysinstellings te ondersoek. Die studie poog om die volgende navorsingsvrae te beantwoord: Watter impak het die NKR op toenemende toegang tot hoër onderwys? Hoe fasiliteer die EVL-proses ("RPL process") toegang tot die Universiteit van Pretoria? Hoe beïnvloed die NKR die onderrig- en leerproses aan hierdie spesifieke instelling? Ten slotte, waarom het die NKR 'n differensiële invloed op verskillende fakulteite binne dieselfde hoër onderwysinstelling? Ten einde die uiteindelike gebruiker se perspektief te bepaal, is 'n gevallestudie aan die Universiteit van Pretoria uitgevoer. Data is ingesamel uit onderhoude met tien senior personeellede wat in nege verskillende departemente werk, studenterekords aangaande toelating tot die Universiteit van Pretoria deur EVL, en ook relevante institutêre dokumente. Die bevindinge impliseer dat die impak van die NKR op toegang, onderrig en leer van departement tot departement verskil en dat dit lei tot 'n gedeeltelike implementering van die beleid. Dié verskil is aangehelp deur faktore wat inherent is aan die beleid, maar ook faktore inherent aan die instelling. Die invloed wat eksterne faktore soos professionele liggame op die onderrig- en leerpraktyke van finale gebruikers aan die Universiteit van Pretoria het, is 'n groot struikelblok vir die implementering van die NKR. Motiverings wat lei tot die implementering van die NKR is nie noodwendig aan die NKR-beleid gekoppel nie, alhoewel dit daartoe gelei het dat die mate van verandering in toegang, onderrig en leer op 'n kontinuum aangedui is. Hierdie kontinuum onderskei tussen departemente wat die beleid "blindelings navolg", ander wat dit selektief aanpas en nog ander wat die implementering van die beleid strategies vermy. Aanduidings vir verdere navorsing is dat 'n breë ondersoek van die NKR se impak op toegang, onderrig en leer in hoër onderwys minder beduidend is as 'n meer spesifieke ondersoek. Toekomstige navorsing behoort te fokus op individuele departemente binne hoër onderwysinstellings ten einde 'n indringender en meer genuanseerde impak van die NKR te bepaal.
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Grislin, Martial. "Définition d'un cadre pour l'évaluation à priori des interfaces homme-machine dans les systèmes industriels de supervision." Valenciennes, 1995. https://ged.uphf.fr/nuxeo/site/esupversions/b30e1b1f-c360-4167-8032-e5d135c765aa.
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Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le domaine de la communication homme-machine dans les systèmes industriels de supervision. Elle s'articule autour de deux thèmes principaux qui sont l'analyse critique des méthodes et techniques d'évaluation, et la définition d'un cadre pour l'évaluation a priori des IHM. Après avoir défini l'espace de notre travail en présentant les systèmes homme-machine de supervision et leur cycle de développement, le mémoire décrit la problématique de la recherche: l'évaluation des IHM de supervision. Après une discussion des différentes situations d'évaluation interface existante ou inexistante, les méthodes et techniques utilisables pour l'évaluation des IHM industrielles de supervision sont recensées selon trois approches: centrées sur les utilisateurs, centrées sur une expertise humaine ou papier, et centrées sur une modélisation de l'interface et/ou de l'interaction homme-machine. Il s'avère que ce sont surtout des évaluations à tendance empirique qui sont effectuées, après la réalisation de l'IHM de supervision. Aussi, des lacunes introduites lors des étapes de spécification-conception sont détectées tardivement alors qu'une évaluation a priori les aurait sans doute décelées plus tôt. C’est pourquoi un cadre pour faciliter l'évaluation a priori des IHM, au cours du développement d'un système industriel de supervision, est ensuite défini. Celui-ci est fonde sur une description de l'interaction homme-machine au moyen de modèles formels, cette formalisation est structurée autour d'un canevas théorique spécifique. L’évaluation est ensuite réalisée par comparaison des modèles obtenus, en s'intéressant aux propriétés de l'utilité et de l'utilisabilité de l'IHM. Notre recherche a pour finalité de prendre en compte l'évaluation comme un processus parallèle a la conception et de souligner qu'une équipe d'évaluation doit pouvoir utiliser un ensemble d'outils à chaque étape de la vie d'un système homme-machine de supervision. Le cadre défini dans ce mémoire a été applique sur une maquette de laboratoire et débouche sur plusieurs perspectives de recherchesThis Ph. D thesis concerns the field of Human-Machine communication in supervision industrial systems. It deals with two major topics, which are the critical analysis of evaluation methods and techniques, and the definition of a framework for HMI a priori evaluation. After defining our work space by the presentation of the Human-Machine supervision systems and their development cycle, this thesis describes the research problem : the evaluation of supervision HMI. After a discussion about the different evaluation situations – existent or nonexistent interface - , the methods and techniques usable for the evaluation of supervision industrial HMI are classified into three approaches: one is centred on the users, the second one is centred on a human or paper expertise , and the third one on a model of the interface and/or the Human-Machine interaction. It appears that empirical evaluations mainly are realised, after the achievement of the supervision HMI. Therefore deficiencies introduced during specification-design steps are detected too late whereas an a priori evaluation would have revealed them earlier. That is why a framework to facilitate the a priori evaluation of HMI, during the development of a supervision industrial system, is defined then. It is based on a description of the human-machine interaction with the help of formal models, this formalization is structured by a specific theoretical frame. This evaluation is then realised by comparing obtained models, according to the HMI utility and usability. The finality of our research work is to see the evaluation as a process paralleling the design and to underline that an evaluation team should have at its disposal a set of tools for every step in the life of the supervision human-machine system and opens several research perspectives
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Penin, Rémi. "Evaluation à priori des performances environnementales d'un noyau magnétique de transformateur triphasé sur la base de tests simplifiés." Thesis, Artois, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014ARTO0209/document.
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Le transformateur est aujourd’hui l’un des convertisseurs statiques les plus utilisé notamment dans la distribution électrique. Les tôles magnétiques servant à la construction de leurs circuits magnétiques sont devenues de plus en plus performantes permettant une réduction des pertes produites. Néanmoins, les tests normalisés permettant de caractériser les tôles magnétiques ne reflètent pas totalement le comportement énergétique du transformateur. De plus, une autre problématique a gagné en importance durant ces dernières années : le bruit acoustique émis. Malheureusement, il n’y pas encore de lien entre la qualité de la tôle à grains orientés choisie pour construire le circuit magnétique et le bruit acoustiques que va produire celui-ci. L’objectif de cette thèse est de répondre à cette double problématique à partir de tests simplifiés. En effet, de nombreux dispositifs expérimentaux et méthodologies ont été développés tels que la méthode des trois cadres, permettant d’étudier la répartition des pertes fer dans le transformateur, les circuits magnétiques décalés, permettant d’étudier les phénomènes à l’origine des bruit acoustique, et des modèles de transformateurs monophasés et triphasés. De plus, des simulations numériques ont été effectuées afin d’approfondir nos analyses des résultats expérimentaux. L’étude des dispositifs ont permis de mettre en évidence trois paramètres relatifs à la qualité des tôles magnétiques, entrainant des différences de répartition d’induction set donc des différences de répartition de pertes fer, d’une part, et de bruit acoustique dans les transformateurs, d’autre partThe transformer is now a static converter most notably used in electrical distribution. The electrical steel sheet used in the construction of their magnetic circuits have become more efficient to reduce losses occurred. However, standardized tests to characterize the electromagnetic steel do not fully reflect the energy behavior of the transformer. In addition, another issue has gained importance in recent years: the acoustic noise. Unfortunately, there is no link between the quality of grain oriented steel selected to construct the magnetic circuit and acoustic noise that will produce it. The objective of this thesis is to answer this dual problem from simplified test. Indeed, many experimental devices and methodologies have been developed such as the method of three frames, to study the distribution of core losses in the transformer, the magnetic circuits shifted, to study phenomena at the origin of acoustic noise, and models of single and three phase transformers. In addition, numerical simulations were performed to deepen our analysis of the experimental results. The study of the devices have allowed to identify three parameters relating to the quality of grain oriented electrical steel, resulting from differences in the distribution of the flux density and therefore, first, the differences in distribution of core loss and, hand, acoustic noise in transformers
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Dugdill, Jonathan. "Evaluating the benefit of implementing 'motivation modification' prior to 'belief modification' in the treatment of delusional beliefs in clients with psychosis." Thesis, Bangor University, 1997. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/evaluating-the-benefit-of-implementing-motivation-modification-prior-to-belief-modification-in-the-treatment-of-delusional-beliefs-in-clients-with-psychosis(d94641fb-0c94-45af-94df-75d8c177b395).html.
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Cognitive-behaviour therapy was used in an attempt to modify the delusional beliefs of six clients with psychosis. It was hypothesised that the empirically vindicated "belief modification" (BM) package (Chadwick & Lowe, 1994) would benefit from being augmented by a "motivation modification" (MM) package which focuses directly on the client's motivation to change. Using single-case methodology, these two cognitive therapies were employed in different phases over two conditions. Three clients received MM therapy before BM therapy, and three clients received BM therapy before MM therapy. Belief conviction was reduced in four of the six participants, whilst two participants demonstratedn o changein belief conviction. The resultst entativelyi ndicatet hat clients receiving MM before BM demonstrateda greater reduction in belief conviction than clients receiving BM before MM. The implications of these results are discussed, and it is argued that motivational issues play an important role in the maintenance of delusions. Future research directions are forwarded for deriving useful models of underlying processesin volved in using motivation modification as an adjunct to belief modification.
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Danglade, Florence. "Traitement de maquettes numériques pour la préparation de modèles de simulation en conception de produits à l'aide de techniques d'intelligence artificielle." Thesis, Paris, ENSAM, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015ENAM0045/document.
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Maitriser le triptyque coût-qualité-délai lors des différentes phases du Processus de Développement d’un Produit (PDP) dans un environnement de plus en plus concurrentiel est un enjeu majeur pour l’industrie. Le développement de nouvelles méthodes et de nouveaux outils pour adapter une représentation du produit à une activité du PDP est l’une des nombreuses pistes d’amélioration du processus et certainement l’une des plus prometteuses. Cela est particulièrement vrai dans le domaine du transfert de modèles de Conception Assistée par Ordinateur (CAO) vers des activités de simulations numériques. Actuellement, les méthodes et outils de préparation d’un modèle CAO original vers un modèle dédié à une activité existent. Cependant, ces processus de préparation sont des tâches complexes qui reposent souvent sur les connaissances des experts et sont peu formalisés, en particulier lorsque l’on considère des maquettes numériques riches comprenant plusieurs centaines de milliers de pièces. Pouvoir estimer a priori l’impact de la préparation de la maquette numérique sur le résultat de la simulation permettrait d’identifier dès le début le meilleur processus et assurerait une meilleure maitrise des processus et des coûts de préparation. Cette thèse a pour objectif de relever ce défi en utilisant des techniques d’intelligence artificielles capables d'imiter et de prévoir un comportement à partir d'exemples judicieusement choisis. L’idée principale est d’utiliser des exemples de préparation de maquettes numériques comme entrées d’algorithmes d’apprentissage pour configurer des estimateurs de la performance d’un processus. Lorsqu’un nouveau cas se présente, ces estimateurs pourront alors prédire a priori l’impact de la préparation sur le résultat de l’analyse sans avoir à la réaliser. Afin d'atteindre cet objectif, une méthode a été développée pour construire une base d’exemples représentatifs, identifier les variables d’entrée et de sortie déterminantes et configurer des modèles d’apprentissage. La performance d’un processus de préparation sera évaluée à l’aide de critères tels que des coûts de préparation, des coûts de simulation et des erreurs sur le résultat de l’analyse dues à la simplification des modèles CAO. Ces critères seront les données de sortie des algorithmes d’apprentissage. Le premier challenge de l’approche proposée est d’extraire les données des modèles 3D complétées par des données relatives au cas de simulation qui caractérisent au mieux un processus de préparation , puis d’identifier les variables explicatives les plus déterminantes. Un autre challenge est de configurer des modèles d’apprentissage capables d’évaluer avec une bonne précision la qualité d’un processus malgré un nombre limité d’exemples de processus de préparation et de données disponibles (seules les données relatives aux modèles CAO originaux, aux cas de simulation sont connues pour un nouveau cas). Au final, l’estimateur de la performance d’un processus aidera les analystes dans le choix d'opérations de préparation de modèles CAO. Cela ne les dispensera pas de la simulation mais permettra d'obtenir plus rapidement un modèle préparé de meilleure qualité. Les techniques d’intelligence artificielles utilisées seront des classifieurs de type réseaux de neurones ou arbres de décision. L’approche proposée sera appliquée à la préparation de modèles CAO riches pour l’analyse CFDControlling the well-known triptych costs, quality and time during the different phases of the Product Development Process (PDP) is an everlasting challenge for the industry. Among the numerous issues that are to be addressed, the development of new methods and tools to adapt to the various needs the models used all along the PDP is certainly one of the most challenging and promising improvement area. This is particularly true for the adaptation of CAD (Computer-Aided Design) models to CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering) applications. Today, even if methods and tools exist, such a preparation phase still requires a deep knowledge and a huge amount of time when considering Digital Mock-Up (DMU) composed of several hundreds of thousands of parts. Thus, being able to estimate a priori the impact of DMU preparation process on the simulation results would help identifying the best process right from the beginning, and this will ensure a better control of processes and preparation costs. This thesis addresses such a difficult problem and uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to learn and accurately predict behaviors from carefully selected examples. The main idea is to identify rules from these examples used as inputs of learning algorithms. Once those rules obtained, they can be used as estimators to be applied a priori on new cases for which the impact of a preparation process can be estimated without having to perform it. To reach this objective, a method to build a representative database of examples has been developed, the right input and output variables have been identified, then the learning model and its associated control parameters have been tuned. The performance of a preparation process is assessed by criteria like preparation costs, analysis costs and the errors induced by the simplifications on the analysis results. The first challenge of the proposed approach is to extract and select most relevant input variables from the original and 3D prepared models, which are completed with data characterizing the preparation processes. Another challenge is to configure learning models able to assess with good accuracy the quality of a process, despite a limited number of examples of preparation processes and data available (the only data known to a new case are the data that characterize the original CAD models and simulation case). In the end, the estimator of the process’ performance will help analysts in the selection of CAD model preparation operations. This does not exempt the analysts to make the numerical simulation. However, this will get faster a simplified model of best quality. The rules linking the output variables to the input ones are obtained using AI techniques such as well-known neural networks and decision trees. The proposed approach is illustrated and validated on industrial examples in the context of CFD simulations
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O'Leary, Rebecca A. "Informed statistical modelling of habitat suitability for rare and threatened species." Queensland University of Technology, 2008. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/17779/.
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In this thesis a number of statistical methods have been developed and applied to habitat suitability modelling for rare and threatened species. Data available on these species are typically limited. Therefore, developing these models from these data can be problematic and may produce prediction biases. To address these problems there are three aims of this thesis. The _rst aim is to develop and implement frequentist and Bayesian statistical modelling approaches for these types of data. The second aim is develop and implement expert elicitation methods. The third aim is to apply these novel approaches to Australian rare and threatened species case studies with the intention of habitat suitability modelling. The _rst aim is ful_lled by investigating two innovative approaches for habitat suitability modelling and sensitivity analysis of the second approach to priors. The _rst approach is a new multilevel framework developed to model the species distribution at multiple scales and identify excess zeros (absences outside the species range). Applying a statistical modelling approach to the identi_cation of excess zeros has not previously been conducted. The second approach is an extension and application of Bayesian classi_cation trees to modelling the habitat suitability of a threatened species. This is the _rst `real' application of this approach in ecology. Lastly, sensitivity analysis of the priors in Bayesian classi_cation trees are examined for a real case study. Previously, sensitivity analysis of this approach to priors has not been examined. To address the second aim, expert elicitation methods are developed, extended and compared in this thesis. In particular, one elicitation approach is extended from previous research, there is a comparison of three elicitation methods, and one new elicitation approach is proposed. These approaches are illustrated for habitat suitability modelling of a rare species and the opinions of one or two experts are elicited. The _rst approach utilises a simple questionnaire, in which expert opinion is elicited on whether increasing values of a covariate either increases, decreases or does not substantively impact on a response. This approach is extended to express this information as a mixture of three normally distributed prior distributions, which are then combined with available presence/absence data in a logistic regression. This is one of the _rst elicitation approaches within the habitat suitability modelling literature that is appropriate for experts with limited statistical knowledge and can be used to elicit information from single or multiple experts. Three relatively new approaches to eliciting expert knowledge in a form suitable for Bayesian logistic regression are compared, one of which is the questionnaire approach. Included in this comparison of three elicitation methods are a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of these three methods, the results from elicitations and comparison of the prior and posterior distributions. An expert elicitation approach is developed for classi_cation trees, in which the size and structure of the tree is elicited. There have been numerous elicitation approaches proposed for logistic regression, however no approaches have been suggested for classi_cation trees. The last aim of this thesis is addressed in all chapters, since the statistical approaches proposed and extended in this thesis have been applied to real case studies. Two case studies have been examined in this thesis. The _rst is the rare native Australian thistle (Stemmacantha australis), in which the dataset contains a large number of absences distributed over the majority of Queensland, and a small number of presence sites that are only within South-East Queensland. This case study motivated the multilevel modelling framework. The second case study is the threatened Australian brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata). The application and sensitivity analysis of Bayesian classi_cation trees, and all expert elicitation approaches investigated in this thesis are applied to this case study. This work has several implications for conservation and management of rare and threatened species. Novel statistical approaches addressing the _rst aim provide extensions to currently existing methods, or propose a new approach, for identi _cation of current and potential habitat. We demonstrate that better model predictions can be achieved using each method, compared to standard techniques. Elicitation approaches addressing the second aim ensure expert knowledge in various forms can be harnessed for habitat modelling, a particular bene_t for rare and threatened species which typically have limited data. Throughout, innovations in statistical methodology are both motivated and illustrated via habitat modelling for two rare and threatened species: the native thistle Stemmacantha australis and the brush-tailed rock wallaby Petrogale penicillata.
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Cucu, Graindorge Tatiana. "Contribution à une méthodologie d'évaluation à priori des projets de transport urbain durable." Thesis, Bordeaux 1, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012BOR14488/document.
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L’objectif de ces travaux de proposer aux autorités locales un outil d’aide à la décision pour formaliser une démarche participative tout au long de la conception d’un projet de transport urbain durable, dans un contexte multicritères et multi acteurs. La méthodologie développée repose sur l’évaluation a priori des impacts d’un projet local, en impliquant les acteurs dès la phase de diagnostic. Cette phase permet d’identifier des groupes d’acteurs selon leur perception des phénomènes urbains, des interactions et des préférences déclarées d’évolution. Elle permet d’établir une liste d’indicateurs communs qui seront évalués. Le choix des alternatives à étudier est le résultat de l’application conjointe de techniques de transférabilité - fondées sur l’étude de projets développés dans d’autres villes - et de l’étude des préférences déclarées des usagers locaux. La probabilité d’utilisation du service s’évalue à l’aide d’un modèle comportemental agrégé qui intègre la perception floue et l’indécision des usagers devant une situation nouvelle. Les changements de comportement des usagers sont pris en compte à l’aide d’un indicateur de robustesse qui teste les effets des paramètres exogènes sur l’évolution de la probabilité d’utilisation du service. Un micro-simulateur de trafic permet d’évaluer les impacts des différents scénarii sur le trafic, l’environnement et le bien-être des citoyens sous la forme monétarisée, afin d’illustrer les coûts et les bénéfices indirects attendus de l’implantation du projet. Une solution de compromis est proposée : elle vise à fournir la solution qui contenterait au mieux l’ensemble des représentants des groupes d’acteurs - et non la solution optimale en termes d’impactsThe objective of this research is to provide to the local authorities a decision aid tool in order to formalize a participatory approach during the conception of a sustainable urban transport project, in a multi-criteria and multi-actors context. The methodology is based on the a priori evaluation of the impacts of a local project, involving stakeholders as soon as the diagnosis phase. This phase aims at identifying groups of actors according to their perception of urban phenomena, their interactions and their stated preferences of evolution. The diagnosis phase leads to the setting-up of a list of common indicators to be evaluated. The choice of alternatives to be studied is the result of the transferability techniques - based on the projects developed in other cities - and the stated preferences of local users. The probability of using the service is evaluated using an aggregated behavioral model that takes into account the fuzzy perception and the indecision of users in a new situation. Changes in the behaviour of the users are taken into account thanks to an indicator of robustness that tests the impact of exogenous parameters on the evolution of the probability of using a service. A traffic micro--simulator aims at assessing the impacts of the various scenarios on traffic, environment and the welfare of citizens– which is monetized. It illustrates the costs and indirect benefits expected with the implementation of project. A compromise solution is proposed: it aims at identifying an alternative that would best satisfy the representatives of the stakeholder groups – and not necessarily the optimal solution in terms of impacts
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Oger, Julie. "Méthodes probabilistes pour l'évaluation de risques en production industrielle." Phd thesis, Université François Rabelais - Tours, 2014. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00982740.
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Dans un contexte industriel compétitif, une prévision fiable du rendement est une information primordiale pour déterminer avec précision les coûts de production et donc assurer la rentabilité d'un projet. La quantification des risques en amont du démarrage d'un processus de fabrication permet des prises de décision efficaces. Durant la phase de conception d'un produit, les efforts de développement peuvent être alors identifiés et ordonnés par priorité. Afin de mesurer l'impact des fluctuations des procédés industriels sur les performances d'un produit donné, la construction de la probabilité du risque défaillance est développée dans cette thèse. La relation complexe entre le processus de fabrication et le produit conçu (non linéaire, caractéristiques multi-modales...) est assurée par une méthode de régression bayésienne. Un champ aléatoire représente ainsi, pour chaque configuration du produit, l'information disponible concernant la probabilité de défaillance. Après une présentation du modèle gaussien, nous décrivons un raisonnement bayésien évitant le choix a priori des paramètres de position et d'échelle. Dans notre modèle, le mélange gaussien a priori, conditionné par des données mesurées (ou calculées), conduit à un posterior caractérisé par une distribution de Student multivariée. La nature probabiliste du modèle est alors exploitée pour construire une probabilité de risque de défaillance, définie comme une variable aléatoire. Pour ce faire, notre approche consiste à considérer comme aléatoire toutes les données inconnues, inaccessibles ou fluctuantes. Afin de propager les incertitudes, une approche basée sur les ensembles flous fournit un cadre approprié pour la mise en oeuvre d'un modèle bayésien imitant le raisonnement d'expert. L'idée sous-jacente est d'ajouter un minimum d'information a priori dans le modèle du risque de défaillance. Notre méthodologie a été mise en oeuvre dans un logiciel nommé GoNoGo. La pertinence de cette approche est illustrée par des exemples théoriques ainsi que sur un exemple réel provenant de la société STMicroelectronics.
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Fichet, Guillaume. "Evaluation du risque lié à la résistance des prions et développement de techniques adaptées à leur élimination et /ou : inactivation." Paris 6, 2005. http://www.theses.fr/2005PA066137.
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Utada, Satoshi. "Effect of a Prior Plastic Deformation during Heat Treatments on the Mechanical Properties of Ni-Based Superalloys for Turbine Blade Application Evolution of superalloy for turbine airfoil and development of recycling technology Platinum containing new generation nickel-based superalloy for single crystalline application Tensile, low cycle fatigue and very high cycle fatigue characterizations of advanced single crystal nickel-based superalloys Creep Property and Phase Stability of Sulfur-Doped Ni-Base Single-Crystal Superalloys and Effectiveness of CaO Desulfurization Evaluation and comparison of damage accumulation mechanisms during non-isothermal creep of cast Ni-based superalloys." Thesis, Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, Ecole nationale supérieure de mécanique et d'aérotechnique, 2020. http://www.theses.fr/2020ESMA0019.
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Les superalliages monocristallins base Ni sont utilisés pour la conception des aubes de turbines en raison de leur excellente durabilité à haute température. Lors de la production d'une aube de turbine, une déformation plastique (DP)inattendue peut être introduite dans le matériau. Dans cette étude, les matériaux monocristallins ont été pré-déformés entre les traitements thermiques de mise en solution et de revenu pour simuler la DP pouvant être rencontrée lors des étapes de production. Des tests mécaniques sur les matériaux pré-déformés ont été effectués pour comprendre l'effet de cette DP.Au cours des traitements thermiques de revenu du superalliage monocristallin AM1 pré-déformé, un grossissement des précipités γ′ plus rapide et une nucléation accélérée de pores ont été observés à proximité des bandes de glissement introduites lors de la DP à température ambiante. Au cours de la déformation par fluage de l’AM1 pré-déformé dans des conditions de haute température/basse contrainte (≥ 950 °C), les bandes à microstructure grossière sont des sites préférentiels d’accumulation du dommage de fluage induit par diffusion, induisant de la recristallisation et une réduction drastique des propriétés de fluage. Dans des conditions de basse température/haute contrainte (≤ 850 °C), le cisaillement de la microstructure est facilité dans les bandes à microstructure grossière et il réduit également les propriétés de fluage.La recristallisation n'est pas été observée dans des ces conditions de fluage à basse température car les mécanismes diffusifs sont ralentis. Ces résultats ont été confirmés via des essais de fluage sur des matériaux pré-déformés suivant différent chemin de pré-déformation (température, position de la DP dans le cycle thermique…). Le superalliage monocristallin CMSX-4 Plus a été testé de manière similaire à l'AM1 pour comprendre l'effet de la composition chimique. L'effet de la DP sur la microstructure de l'alliage est plus limité pour cet alliage par rapport à celui sur l’AM1. Par conséquent, la pré-déformation n'a pas montré de chute de la durée de vie pour le CMSX-4 Plus à des températures inférieures à 1050 °C. Par contre, pendant le fluage de CMSX-4 Plus à 1150 °C, la pré-déformation a montré un impact spectaculaire sur la durée de vie et la ductilité via les mêmes mécanismes que ceux observés pourl’AM1 à 1050 °C.Afin de régénérer les propriétés des superalliages monocristallins pré-déformés, un traitement thermique de restauration a été ajouté après la DP. Le traitement de restauration a permis de restaurer la microstructure après la DP à température ambiante avec succès, et les propriétés de fluage des matériaux restaurés sont équivalentes à celles de l'AM1 et duCMSX-4 Plus vierges de pré-déformationNi-based single crystal (SX) superalloys are used for turbine blade applications because of their high-temperature durability. During the production of a turbine blade, unexpected plastic deformation (PD) can be introduced to the material. In this study, SX materials were pre-deformed in between solution and aging heat treatments to mimic PD during production. Mechanical tests on the pre-deformed materials have been performed to understand the effect of the prior PD.During aging treatments of pre-deformed AM1 SX superalloy, faster coarsening of γ′ precipitates and enhanced void nucleation were observed in the vicinity of slip bands which were introduced by PD at room-temperature. During creep deformation of pre-deformed AM1 at high temperature/low stress conditions (≥ 950 °C), the microstructure coarsened bands act as diffusion induced creep damage accumulating paths, further triggering recrystallization and resulting in drastic reduction of creep properties. At low temperature/high stress conditions (≤ 850 °C), microstructure shearing was facilitated in the microstructure coarsened band and it decreased creep properties. Recrystallization was not observed at lower temperature creep because the diffusion damage was suppressed. These relationships have been explained by creep tests on pre-deformed materials prepared by different pre-deformation temperatures and heat treatment procedures.CMSX-4 Plus SX superalloy was tested similarly to AM1 to understand the effect of the chemical composition. Effect of pre-deformation on alloy’s microstructure was mild in CMSX-4 Plus compared to that in AM1. Therefore, the predeformation did no exhibit large creep life debit in CMSX-4 Plus at temperatures lower than 1050 °C. However, during creep of CMSX-4 Plus at 1150 °C, pre-deformation presented huge impact on creep life and ductility by the same mechanisms as the ones observed for AM1 at 1050 °C.In order to restore properties of pre-deformed SX superalloys, rejuvenation heat treatment was added after PD.Rejuvenation treatment successfully restored microstructure after PD at room-temperature, and creep properties of rejuvenated specimens were shown to be equivalent to that of original AM1 and CMSX-4 Plus without PD
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Princeton, Judith, and Judith Princeton. "Pratiques innovantes d'exploitation des réseaux routiers en lien avec une mobilité durable : une nouvelle approche de l'évaluation." Phd thesis, Université Paris-Est, 2011. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00703206.
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La gestion du trafic sur les réseaux routiers se heurte aux nouveaux enjeux du développement durable. L'objectif n'est plus seulement de proposer aux usagers des temps de parcours raisonnables. Il faut aussi limiter la consommation énergétique et les émissions des gaz à effet de serre et des polluants qui y sont associées, afin de garantir une meilleure qualité de vie pour les générations actuelle et futures. Les exigences en matière de sécurité routière sont également renforcées et visent à éliminer le nombre de tués sur les routes. Les exploitants ont donc recours à diverses stratégies, souvent innovantes, pour au moins approcher la situation idéale. Néanmoins, si les décideurs disposent d'une plus grande capacité à mettre en œuvre leurs programmes dans le domaine, ils ont également l'obligation d'en évaluer les performances à divers stades. Cette thèse analyse les nouvelles stratégies de gestion des réseaux autoroutiers en identifiant leurs domaines d'application ainsi que leurs impacts potentiels et réels. Les limites des méthodes existantes d'évaluation a priori et/ou a posteriori sont mises en évidence et une nouvelle approche est proposée. Celle-ci associe les trois principaux critères d'une mobilité durable à un seul concept: le niveau de service, largement employé par les exploitants de réseaux. La méthodologie a fait l'objet d'une validation sur différentes opérations. Par ailleurs, se basant sur les résultats obtenus sur un ensemble d'opérations d'affectation variable des voies au niveau européen, la thèse propose un outil d'aide au choix d'une stratégie d'exploitation d'un réseau en fonction de la configuration de l'infrastructure et du niveau de congestion. Cet outil se présente sous la forme d'un catalogue de cas-types applicable au réseau d'Ile-de-France. La nouvelle approche d'évaluation proposée dans cette thèse présente l'intérêt de pouvoir facilement s'intégrer aux outils de simulation du trafic. Les impacts d'une opération d'exploitation routière sur la congestion, la sécurité et l'environnement peuvent ainsi être fournis par ces simulateurs dans le cadre de l'évaluation a priori. L'intégration est également possible au niveau des systèmes des centres de gestion du trafic, pour l'évaluation a posteriori. Par ailleurs, la thèse identifie des pistes potentielles pour des investigations futures. Tout d'abord, la gravité des accidents pourrait être prise en compte dans l'approche d'évaluation proposée, qui considère pour l'instant tous les accidents corporels confondus en raison du manque de données. De même, seules quatre stratégies d'affectation variable des voies sont proposées dans le catalogue de cas-types. Celui-ci pourrait donc être étendu à l'ensemble des opérations d'exploitation en suivant la même méthodologie décrite dans la thèse
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Angerville, Ruth. "Evaluation des risques écotoxicologiques liés au déversement de Rejets Urbains par Temps de Pluie (RUTP) dans les cours d'eau : Application à une ville française et à une ville haïtienne." Phd thesis, INSA de Lyon, 2009. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00446988.
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Les Rejets Urbains par Temps de Pluie (RUTP) contiennent des polluants sous forme soluble ou particulaires, issus du lessivage des bassins-versants qu'ils drainent. Ces rejets sont le plus souvent déversés dans les milieux récepteurs, en particulier les cours d'eau péri-urbains, sans traitement préalable. Il en résulte, dans certaines configurations, un risque de toxicité pour les écosystèmes des milieux concernés. Cette thèse propose deux démarches méthodologiques pour évaluer les risques écotoxicologiques (EDREcotox) liés à un tel scénario: une démarche a priori et une démarche a posteriori. La démarche a priori a été développée selon 3 approches complémentaires de caractérisation des effets écotoxicologiques: i) une «approche substances», ii) une «approche substances avec effets combinés» et iii) une «approche matrice». Cette démarche a priori a été par la suite appliquée à un scénario d'une ville française et à un scénario d'une ville haïtienne. Pour une optimisation de la méthodologie proposée dans le cadre de la démarche a priori, nous avons procédé, dans un premier temps, à une étude de l'écotoxicité et des effets combinés des principaux polluants généralement présents dans les RUTP, vis-à-vis de Daphnia magna puis de Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. En ce qui concerne l'«approche matrice», nous avons procédé à une caractérisation écotoxicologique d'échantillons de RUTP provenant des 2 sites étudiés. La démarche a posteriori a été développée sur la base d'une comparaison entre un «état amont» et un «état aval», par rapport au point de déversement des RUTP dans la rivière du site français, pour 3 horizons (eau de surface, zone benthique et zone hyporhéique). L'application de ces 2 démarches méthodologiques a conduit à des résultats cohérents qui mettent en évidence un risque important pour les organismes du cours d'eau récepteur, avec une accentuation de ce risque pour les organismes des zones benthique et hyporhéique. Au titre des perspectives, la poursuite du développement de ces premières méthodologies pourra prendre en compte certains aspects additionnels comme la biodisponibilité des polluants, leur bioaccumulation, etc.
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Derrington, Kathryn. "Comparative analysis of perceptions of metacognitive processes in traditional school leavers and mature age entry students in their first year of university education." Queensland University of Technology, 2006. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16443/.
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Within the educational psychology literature there is an abundance of research in the field of metacognition. The concentration of this research however has been in primary and secondary school contexts with little attention given to tertiary students' understanding or use of metacognition; there has been even less attention to whether age is a factor in tertiary students' perceptions of their metacognitive processes. The primary purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of two distinct groups of first year university students, towards their understanding and usage of metacognitive processes and strategies. The two groups defined were traditional school leavers and mature age students. The findings from the exploration of these perceptions were compared to ascertain the similarities and differences in metacognitive processes between the two cohorts. The data collected for this study were obtained through a process of individual face-to-face in- depth interviews. The choice of this methodology was deliberate in order to gather rich data about the students' perceptions and experiences rather than attempt to measure their levels of metacognition against some predetermined standard. Data were collected and analyzed on the two constructs of metacognition which were identified in the literature search. These were metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive control. A range of affective variables such as self efficacy, motivation and expectancy of success, which impact on students' metacognitive abilities and processes, were also considered in the data collection and analysis. The findings indicated that age was a factor in determining some differences and similarities in students' perceptions of their own and others metacognitive processes. In certain cases the traditional school leavers' recency of experience with formal study was deemed an advantage; in others the life experience of the mature age students was perceived an advantage. In some instances the age of the student had no discernable impact on their understanding of, and ability to, utilize metacognitive strategies. These findings assist to broaden the understanding of student perceptions of metacognition in the tertiary context. The findings also make it imperative that tertiary institutions make fewer assumptions about the skills and abilities of their commencing students based on the criterion of age and offer more opportunities to assist students to understand the value of developing and improving their metacognitive processes.
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Poveda, Mario. "Evaluation of physico-chemical pretreatment methods for landfill leachate prior to sewer discharge." 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1993/30377.
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The City of Winnipeg, MB currently hauls by truck the leachate from the landfill, to be co-treated with the municipal wastewater at a wastewater treatment plant. Pre-treating the leachate with physico-chemical methods would allow for direct discharge to the sewer system, avoiding transportation. The goal of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of different pre-treatment options as well as their impact on a biological nutrient removal system.
In Phase I, the four pre-treatment options evaluated were air stripping, chemical coagulation, electro-coagulation and advanced oxidation with sodium ferrate. Chemical coagulation and air stripping reported the best COD and ammonia removal rates, respectively.
Phase II evaluated the effectiveness of the selected pre-treatment methods in the response of a biological treatment system. The pre-treatment was successful in allowing complete nitrification by lowering the influent ammonia concentration. However, if the ratio of leachate to wastewater is low enough; pre-treatment may not be needed as the dilution lowers the impact of the leachate’s higher concentrations.
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Lee, Kuei-Mei, and 李貴美. "Research on the Prior Legal Risk Evaluation and Deals Control in Real Estate." Thesis, 2015. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/8b49wj.
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碩士國立雲林科技大學
科技法律研究所
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People in Taiwan tend to buy a house of their own just to pursue a settled, tranquiland stable status. According to the official statistics from Ministry of the Interior, the total volume of house deals amounted to 14000 PCS and this deals number doesn’t include the advance booking house. Obviously, the keen deals in house not only stimulate the real estate industry to a booming status, the economic development is also jointly affected that makes the real estate a very significant role to the contribution of whole national economic growth. Despite increasing volume in house deals, disputations over the buyer and the real estate agency happened very often. The“Earnest Money,”which is the charge against the buyer requested by the real estate agency, are one of the problems because many real estate seldom return it for some reason if deal fails, while some disputations, for example, is the incomplete disclosure of the actual status of the house because of the dishonest real estate agency, such as leaking house, wall molds, cracking in main structure, haunted house, the disposition confiscation, document fabrication, all of these often make the buyers unaware of the actual status of a house. However, this negligence is not necessarily caused by the real estate agency. Prior legal risk evaluation in real estate is ignored in Taiwan. Preventive measures will only be seriously taken by the government or real estate agency when the problem emerges. Research of this study will focus on how to avoid problems to a real estate agency through the legal risk evaluation earlier. The researching area will locate in Yunlin County; The real estate owner, real estate agency and those people work in this field will be the subject in this research. Also, reference from the academic paper, interviewing with people, and Delphi Method will be adopted. Preventive methods such as management in personnel disposition and sales contract drafting in real estate agency will be taken. After the classification, evaluation, prevention and management on those tricky problems that form as a conclusion will be the content in this study and hope this will be a source for future reference and suggestion.
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Lin, Yu Yun, and 林玉雲. "STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS GOVERNING THE LAUNCH OF BIOCHIPS PRIOR PRE-MARKET APPROVAL AND EVALUATION." Thesis, 2011. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/43953080623666166172.
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Dixon, Sharmaine. "Development of a recognition of prior learning assessment model for the hospitality industry to be used by tertiary education institutions." Thesis, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10321/2818.
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Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Food and Beverage Management at the Durban Institute of Technology, 2003.Historically, any large hotel of standing/rating in South Africa would staff the top levels of their kitchen brigade with educated, professional cooks imported from all over the world from such places as Germany, Switzerland, England or France, to name but a few
M
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Winkler, Scott. "Evaluation of In-House Windrow Composting as a Poultry Litter Treatment Prior to Land Application." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/151332.
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The land application of poultry litter as a fertilizer is a common practice due to the low cost and high availability of poultry litter in some regions. However, land application can create concerns related to runoff water quality and odor. An experiment was conducted to determine the effectiveness of in-house windrow composting (IWC) of poultry litter prior to land application in terms of bacteria, odors and nutrients compared to untreated (fresh) litter. In the second part of the research, the objective was to quantify the number and distribution within poultry houses of selected water quality indicator bacteria in litter.
Comparison of fresh and IWC litter showed that Escherichia coli (E. coli) was present in very low concentrations on day 1 in fresh litter (20 cfu/g) and IWC litter (55 cfu/g), but the levels were undetectable in both litter types on day 9 in Trial 1. In Trial 2, E. coli levels were undetectable in IWC litter before and after the IWC process. Similarly, fresh litter had undetectable E. coli levels on day 1, but 185 cfu/g on day 10. Additionally, nutrient analysis and moisture content results showed no significant differences between fresh and IWC litter.
To evaluate odor differences between fresh and IWC litter, volatile gases were collected onto sorbent tubes and into Tedlar bags from wind tunnel flux chambers placed directly on litter piles prior to land application. The concentrations of 13 compounds commonly associated with animal manure were then determined by GC/MS. Analysis of volatile gas samples resulted in significant changes of various individual odorants, while olfactometry analysis of Tedlar bag air samples resulted in reduced detection threshold values for IWC litter compared to the fresh litter. These results indicate the possible mitigating effects IWC may have on odors associated with litter.
In the survey of bacterial distribution within poultry houses, litter counts varied greatly within house sections and between farms. Regression analysis revealed that bacterial counts and litter moisture content are significantly related, thus explaining much of the variation in litter bacterial counts within a house.
These results indicate that IWC could be a useful best management practice to reduce E. coli levels and odor associated with poultry litter prior to land application, but factors such as moisture content, initial bacteria concentrations, and windrow size all affect the level of bacteria and odor reduction.