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Mortimer, Hannah. "A study to evaluate how the Music Makers Approach can be used as a training method to develop reflective practice in pre-school workers in the voluntary and private sectors." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.370057.
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Kridler, Jamie Branam, Camille Carter, and Sandra Nuttall. "The Sewing Circle Model for Community Collaboration: A Multicultural Approach." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/5873.
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Steiner, Raphael Sebastian. "The harmonic conjunction of automorphic forms and the Hardy-Littlewood circle method." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2018. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.752808.
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Nabigon, Herbert, Rebecca Hagey, Schuyler Webster, and Robert MacKay. ""The learning circle as a research method: The trickster and windigo in research"." School of Native Human Services, 1999. http://142.51.24.159/dspace/handle/10219/461.
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This study reports on how funded research - carried out by a recognized elder in selected communities on Manitoulin Island - affects the community experiences and perceptions of the emotional issues surrounding diabetes. In his research, this elder was able to assert and Aboriginal approach of achieving human subjects' review approval.
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Lee, Siu-lun Alan. "On the applications of the circle method to function fields, and related topics." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.619268.
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The main goal of this thesis is to demonstrate the adaptation of the Hardy-Littlewood circle method to the function field setting. Particular emphasis is placed on counting points on rather general varieties defined over function fields. With suitable notions for integral points and heights in this setting, asymptotic formulae are obtained for the number of integral points on these varieties with bounded heights, subject to certain conditions on the varieties and function fields at hand. Under the same conditions, weak approximation is also established for those varieties that are smooth. This counting problem is then specialised to the case of a cubic hypersurface, in which similar results are obtained, with further refinements available in terms of the invariant of the cubic involved. The thesis also addresses the particular case of Waring's problem for cubes over the integers. The representability of positive integers as the sum of four cubes, two of which are small, is investigated. A lower bound is obtained for how small these two cubes call be without impeding the representation of almost all natural numbers this way. An asymptotic formula is finally established for the number of such representations for almost all positive integers.
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Pershakova, Alexandra. "Modelling the dynamics of the human cardiovascular system : The stochastic circle map approach." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.514406.
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Svahn, Fabian. "Like a Rolling Circle : Developing in-situ genotyping of chromosomal barcodes in the DuMPLING method." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Molekylär systembiologi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-452675.
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DuMPLING is a newly developed high-throughput method to study singlecellphenotypes in a pooled and barcoded library using a microfluidicchip. The chip enables parallel biophysical measurements of singlecells, after which in-situ genotyping connects the cells to a certainstrain of the library. The method has been previously applied with abarcoded library, where genotyping was performed on barcodes presenton high copy number plasmids. In this project, I apply and developthe Rolling Circle Amplification method to amplify the signal frombarcodes present on the E. coli chromosome. A small librarycontaining three different chromosomal barcodes is investigated. Veryhigh efficiency of signal generation is achieved for the firstbarcode, good efficiency is achieved for the second, and no signal isachieved for the third. Genotyping is also successfully performed ona strain with two different barcodes present on the chromosome. Thegenotyping method described herein can be applied to screen foradditional barcodes that may be incorporated in a larger library thatin turn can be used to ask important biological questions, forexample using the high throughput DuMPLING method.
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Perry, Diana Lauren. "Talking Circle| A culturally appropriate approach to healing intergenerational trauma within an evidence-based paradigm." Thesis, California Institute of Integral Studies, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3559722.
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<p> There is currently widespread debate in the psychological community with regards to research on and provision of evidence-based practices. The American Psychological Association recently developed clinical and research guidelines for the implementation and investigation of culturally appropriate treatment interventions. As of 2000, there were 562 tribal entities recognized and eligible or funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Ogunwole, 2002). This United States Indigenous contingent continues to be marginalized by diagnostic classification and treatment interventions that perpetuate or discount the role of cultural oppression (Gone, 2009). Whereas current literature speaks to a relationship between colonization and intergenerational trauma (Gone & Alcántara, 2007; Duran & Duran, 1995), the reenactment of this relationship in the Evidence-Based paradigm is under-researched (Smith-Morris, 2007). </p><p> This integrative literature review (ILR) ucovers the benefits of Talking Circle for Native and Native-minded persons and communities. Advocates for the implementation of culturally-appropriate diagnostic, treatment, and research methodologies report that inclusion assists in healing socio-historical wounds (Gone & Alcántara, 2007; Sue, Zane, Hall, & Berger, 2009). This is extremely relevant for contemporary Indigenous individuals, families, and communities. </p><p> The current study presents the viability of Talking Circle for slowing the transmission of trauma by offering a compelling argument supporting its evidence-based nature through a comparison of available research on trauma-informed treatment models with published findings on Talking Circle. Assumptions, literature review, critique of the literature review, and commentary on and appraisal of potentially translatable healing rituals supports a postcolonial driven conceptual model for the treatment of the soul wound, the Native equivalent of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Disorder of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS). </p><p> This ILR assists in substantiating the logical inclusion of Talking Circle into the existing set of available evidence-based PTSD treatment interventions (as outlined in Jennings, 2004, 2008). Providing this conceptual model via an ILR allows for adequately assessing the specific aspects of the research on intergenerational trauma, available interventions, and existing needs. This project illuminates, in a multilayered way, the role of Talking Circle in indigenous life and for healing intergenerational trauma, the soul wound, in the Native community.</p>
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Schlipp, Katherine M. "Analytical method development a mathematical approach /." Electronic version (PDF), 2004. http://dl.uncw.edu/etd/2004/schlippk/katherinschlipp.pdf.
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Sohail, Raveed, and Sai Anuroop Nimmagadda Bhavani. "Calculation Method and Tool to Visualize Cable Harness Usage in Trucks." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för maskinteknik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-17754.
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Cable harness is an integral part of a modern-day automobile. The design of many mechanical components is based on the cable harness and hence it is important to accurately calculate the space occupied by cable harness. In this thesis, a theoretical model representing n arbitrarily sized cables was used to generate a packing of the cable harness, and the space occupied by them was calculated. The model was used to develop an algorithm that generated a feasible configuration and a container around that packing. The optimisation toolbox in MATLAB was also used to calculate the space and optimise the container size. A customised standalone tool was developed in MATLAB by utilising the established methods, that enables calculation of space occupied by cables at various points of interest along the truck chassis for Scania CV.
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Gattringer, Christa. "17th-Century Antwerp artists' studio practice : Rubens and his circle : an interdisciplinary approach in technical art history." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2014. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5135/.
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Early 17th-century Antwerp, despite political and religious troubles, was a thriving European art centre and home of such renowned artists as Peter Paul Rubens and other painters of his circle, like Jan Brueghel I, Frans Snyders, Anthony van Dyck and Hendrick van Balen. This interdisciplinary thesis in Technical Art History, after a general introduction to this specific art scene, looks at how specific aspects of their studio practice, such as collaborations within and outside their studios or the many copies and versions of their paintings, found manifestation in their works but also in their theoretical concepts. For this an in-depth study and examination of c.20 paintings from mainly Scottish collections (National Galleries of Scotland Edinburgh, Glasgow Museums, Hunterian Art Gallery of the University of Glasgow, Talbot Rice Gallery of the University of Edinburgh, Hopetoun House South Queensferry) was conducted, using detailed photography, multispectral imaging, tracings, dendrochronology, polarised light microscopy and SEM- EDX-analysis of paint samples in cross-sections. The technical examination and analysis, informed by art historical research, significantly aided the answering of questions regarding these paintings’ materials and techniques, as well as they helped to authenticate sometimes contested authorship and date. Four main chapters discuss Frans Snyders’ studio practice focussing on reappearing motifs, Rubens’ tronies, Jan Brueghel’s minute staffage figures in collaborative works, as well as Rubens’ and Brueghel’s painting Nature Adorned by the Graces. An own chapter critically discusses the test results of the application of Stable Lead Isotope Analysis on paint samples, which were carried out at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC).
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Aggarwal, Keshav. "Subconvexity Bounds and Simplified Delta Methods." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555064743753817.
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Zolfaghari, Ejlal Manesh Seyed Meysam. "International renewable energy entrepreneurship; a mixed-method approach." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/400755.
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Para abordar los desafíos relacionados con los combustibles fósiles y fomentar el desarrollo sostenible, los recientes progresos en el ámbito del espíritu empresarial han mostrado un creciente interés por las cuestiones de sostenibilidad y el desarrollo tecnológico respetuoso con el medio ambiente. Los adelantos prácticos y teóricos actuales bajo el nombre de emprendimiento sostenible (Schaltegger y Wagner, 2011; Dean y McMullen, 2007), eco-emprendimiento (Holt, 2011), emprendimiento ambiental (York & Venkataraman, 2010; (Hockerts & Wüstenhagen, 2010; Nikolaou, Ierapetritis, & Tsagarakis, 2011), y el emprendimiento social (Bull, 2008; Zahra, Gedajlovic, Neubaum, & Shulman, 2009) han hecho contribuciones significativas y diversas a este campo.
Sin embargo, debido a la importancia primordial de este tema, la actividad empresarial en el sector de la energía necesita un mayor examen. El emprendimiento energético, estudiado recientemente por Wüstenhagen y Wuebker (2011) implica "el papel de la actividad empresarial en el desarrollo y la comercialización de tecnologías energéticas innovadoras tanto en las empresas start-up como en las establecidas" (Wüstenhagen y Wuebker, 2011, página 3). Aquí, un empresario de energía se define como una persona que aprovecha los desafíos ambientalmente relevantes de las fuentes de combustible de alto carbono como oportunidades para lograr la rentabilidad. Este nuevo concepto en la intersección de la investigación emprendedora, social y ambiental provee una iniciativa teórica para determinar cómo las oportunidades relacionadas con la sostenibilidad y la energía surgen a través de las imperfecciones del mercado (Cohen & Winn, 2007) y el papel del emprendimiento en la resolución de fallos del mercado y la degradación ambiental emergente (Dean y McMullen, 2007).
Al introducir el concepto de emprendimiento energético internacional (EEI), ofrecemos una contribución adicional a la literatura sobre EE. IEE es un tema de investigación interdisciplinaria en la intersección de la EE y el emprendimiento internacional (IE). De acuerdo con la primera definición formal de McDougall y Oviatt (2000), IE es: "... una combinación de comportamiento innovador, proactivo y de búsqueda de riesgos que cruza las fronteras nacionales y tiene la intención de crear valor en las organizaciones" (página 903). Basándose en esta definición y en el concepto de EE en esta tesis doctoral, estudiamos el papel de la actividad empresarial en el desarrollo y la comercialización de nuevas tecnologías energéticas a través de las fronteras.
El principal objetivo de este estudio es conocer el estado del desarrollo, comercialización y difusión de tecnologías de energía renovable en los mercados internacionales. Para examinar esta cuestión, hemos basado esta tesis en datos recogidos de múltiples casos y una encuesta en la industria de las energías renovables. Las preguntas de investigación están diseñadas en cuatro niveles de análisis: empresarios, empresas, industria y políticas. En primer lugar, estamos interesados en identificar barreras y facilitadores para que los empresarios de energía ingresen a los mercados internacionales. A nivel de empresa, queremos determinar qué recursos y capacidades se requieren, y cómo impiden o facilitan el proceso de internacionalización. Finalmente, investigamos la importancia de los factores políticos e industriales en el desarrollo de esta industria.
Este estudio hace varias contribuciones avanzadas a la literatura de IE y EE. En primer lugar, desde el punto de vista teórico, proporcionamos el flujo de investigación IE con datos empíricos de la industria de las energías renovables como industria emergente. El estudio también contribuye al campo del IE examinando la literatura de emprendimiento de la sostenibilidad para entender cómo los principios de sostenibilidad podrían explicar la internacionalización de las empresas en esta industria específica. Además, aplicamos la teoría basada en los recursos, ya que la internacionalización es parte integrante de un proceso mediante el cual las empresas intentan acceder y aprovechar los recursos en su camino hacia la comercialización y el crecimiento internacional (Zahra, Matherne y Carleton, 2003). Desde el punto de vista metodológico, la realización de un análisis multinivel es otra aportación de este estudio al IE y a la literatura sobre emprendimiento sostenible. Los múltiples niveles de análisis, incluidos los empresarios, las empresas, la industria y las políticas, brindan la oportunidad de adoptar un enfoque más holístico de la internacionalización en la industria de las energías renovables. La investigación de métodos mixtos también nos permite examinar las preguntas de investigación y analizar los resultados utilizando fuentes de datos complementarias y desde diferentes perspectivas. Por último, los resultados de este estudio serán de gran utilidad para los encargados de formular políticas, ayudándolos a definir el punto de partida para la reforma y la creación de capacidad institucional, y establecer un entorno que favorezca el desarrollo de energías renovables. Además, los directivos y eco-empresarios pueden aprovechar los resultados de este estudio para fomentar el crecimiento internacional y mantenerse en el mercado.<br>To address challenges associated with fossil fuels and fostering sustainable development, recent progress in the field of entrepreneurship has shown increased interest in sustainability issues and environmentally friendly technological development. Current practical and theoretical advancements under the name of sustainable entrepreneurship (Schaltegger & Wagner, 2011; Dean & McMullen, 2007), eco-entrepreneurship (Holt, 2011), environmental entrepreneurship (York & Venkataraman, 2010; Young & Tilley, 2006), green entrepreneurship (Hockerts & Wüstenhagen, 2010; Nikolaou, Ierapetritis, & Tsagarakis, 2011), and social entrepreneurship (Bull, 2008; Zahra, Gedajlovic, Neubaum, & Shulman, 2009) have made significant and diverse contributions to this field.
However, due to the paramount importance of this subject, entrepreneurial activity in the energy sector needs further consideration. The notion of energy entrepreneurship (EE), introduced quite recently by Wüstenhagen and Wuebker (2011), involves “the role of entrepreneurial activity in the development and commercialization of breakthrough energy technologies in both start-up and established firms” (Wüstenhagen & Wuebker, 2011, p. 3). Here, an energy entrepreneur is defined as a person who seizes the environmentally relevant challenges of high-carbon fuel sources as opportunities for achieving profitability. This new concept at the intersection of entrepreneurship, social, and environmental research provides a theoretical initiative to determine how opportunities related to sustainability and energy arise through market imperfections (Cohen & Winn, 2007), and the role of entrepreneurship in the resolution of market failure and emerging environmental degradation (Dean & McMullen, 2007).
By introducing the concept of international energy entrepreneurship (IEE), we provide a further contribution to the EE literature. IEE is an interdisciplinary research subject at the intersection of EE and international entrepreneurship (IE). According to the first formal definition provided by McDougall and Oviatt (2000) IE is: “…a combination of innovative, proactive and risk-seeking behavior that crosses national borders and is intended to create value in organizations” (p. 903). Drawing upon this definition and the EE concept in this doctoral dissertation, we study the role of entrepreneurial activity in the development and commercialization of new energy technologies across borders.
The main objective of this study is to ascertain the state of the development, commercialization, and diffusion of renewable energy technologies in international markets. To examine this question, we based this thesis on data gathered from multiple cases and a survey in the renewable energy industry. The research questions are designed at four levels of analysis: entrepreneurs, firms, industry, and policy. First of all, we are interested in identifying motivators, barriers, and enablers for energy entrepreneurs to enter international markets. At the firm level, we wish to determine what resources and capabilities are required, and how they impede or facilitate the process of internationalization. Finally, we investigate the importance of policy and industrial factors in the further development of this industry.
This study makes several advanced contributions to the IE and EE literature. First, from the theoretical point of view, we provide the IE research stream with empirical data from the renewable energy industry as an emerging industry. The study also contributes to the IE field by examining the sustainability entrepreneurship literature to understand how sustainability principles might explain the internationalization of firms in this specific industry. Moreover, we apply resource-based theory as internationalization is an integrated part of a process by which companies try to access and leverage resources on their path towards commercialization and international growth (Zahra, Matherne, & Carleton, 2003). From the methodological perspective, performing a multi-level analysis is another contribution of this study to IE and the sustainable entrepreneurship literature. Multiple levels of analyses including entrepreneurs, firms, industry, and policy provide an opportunity to adopt a more holistic approach to internationalization in the renewable energy industry. Mixed methods research also allows us to examine the research questions and analyze the results using complementary data sources and from different perspectives. Finally, the results of this study will be of significant use to policymakers, assisting them in defining the starting point for reform and institutional capacity building, and establishing an environment that favors renewable energy development. In addition, managers and eco-/entrepreneurs can take advantage of the results of this study to foster international growth and survive.
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Kwaśnicka, Dominika. "Novel multi-method approach investigating behaviour change maintenance." Thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/3010.
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Background: Behaviour change, if maintained, can lead to significant health improvements. The aim of this thesis was to advance psychological theory of behaviour change maintenance and the design of behavioural interventions to improve health. This thesis used a novel multi-method approach to explore behaviour maintenance, with a particular focus on weight loss maintenance (WLM). Methods: A three stage, multi-method approach included: (1) A systematic review of behavioural theories to identify theoretical explanations for behaviour maintenance and to examine the relationships between these explanations; (2) An N-of-1 study of WLM assessing theoretical predictors of maintained behaviour based on the systematic theory review, which employed ecologic momentary assessment, wireless body scales, and activity monitors in 12 obese people who had lost at least 5% weight in the previous year, analysed through cross-correlations of time series; (3) Data-prompted semi-structured, longitudinal interviews with individuals who participated in the N-of-1 study to explore their experiences of WLM, prompted by personal data including summaries of N-of-1 data, pictures, notes and graphs, analysed using the Framework method. Findings: (1) Systematic review: out of 117 identified behaviour theories, 100 met the inclusion criteria. The main theoretical themes identified to underpin behaviour change maintenance included maintenance motives, self-regulation, habits, psychological resources and environmental/social influences; (2) N-of-1 study: for 12 participants a range of maintenance-related theoretical variables showed differential impact on ability to maintain weight, engage in physical activity and x follow a personal WLM plan. The combination of predicting variables that had significant impact on outcome variables was unique for each individual; (3) Data-prompted interviews: most of the theoretical explanations from the systematic theory review adequately accounted for participants’ experiences. Additional emergent themes included: competing goals, prioritising, and preparatory strategies that enhanced self-regulation. Using personal data summaries proved valuable in evoking narratives regarding unique experiences of WLM. Discussion: A range of theoretical explanations were identified and proved useful in explaining behaviour maintenance in the area of WLM. The main conclusion derived from the thesis is that behavioural interventions need to tap into relevant behavioural explanations and deliver intervention components in a timely manner to support individuals to maintain behaviour change. Interventions should include elements of choice and customisation and should be adaptable to personal needs. The main study strengths included employment of novel methods and technology. The main limitation included N-of-1 analytical challenges and scalability of the applied design. Future research should develop behaviour maintenance theory further and explore which combinations of WLM strategies, in which individuals, support effective WLM.
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Rashidpour, Koorosh. "Using Improved AHP Method in Maintenance Approach Selection." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för innovation, design och teknik, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-19466.
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This research intends to introduce a model in order to choose the best Maintenance Strategy based on the condition of the relevant company. Basically, it is divided into three main parts. First part is the theoretical part and deals with the Maintenance approaches, conceptions, cost, software, and management. Second part explains the structure of selecting maintenance strategy by using improved Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) method and describes some definitions and equations in this scientific method. In the third part, a hypothetical example shows the accuracy of the method and the way it works.
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Fudger, Jonathan Paul. "A canonical approach to completing the MHV method." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.539068.
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Domènech, Montaña Antoni. "Exploring urban visitors' mobilities. A multi-method approach." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/672917.
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Aquesta tesi doctoral sorgeix de la necessitat d’aprofundir en el coneixement de les mobilitats dels visitants, entendre les decisions que configuren el seu comportament espacio-temporal i identificar i explorar els efectes que les seves mobilitats tenen sobre les destinacions urbanes. La tesi es desenvolupa entorn a quatre objectius específics que s’emmarquen en l’àmbit de recerca relacionat amb el seguiment de l’activitat dels visitants en destinacions turístiques urbanes. Cadascun d’aquests objectius es desenvolupa en cadascun dels articles científics que conformen aquesta tesi doctoral, publicats tots ells en revistes de revisió per parells. El primer article es proposa com a objectiu identificar els factors, relacionats amb el perfil socioeconòmic dels turistes i amb les característiques de la seva estada, que determinen la selecció d’opcions de transport i mobilitat sostenible per moure’s per la destinació urbana. El segon article pretén analitzar i comprendre com afecta el comportament espacio-temporal dels turistes en els seus patrons de consum econòmic i, per tant, en la generació d’ingressos per a l’economia local. El tercer article es proposa analitzar la influència de l’espai urbà sobre la forma en què els visitants es desplacen per la destinació. I finalment, el quart article té per objectiu reconstruir trajectòries i/o fluxos espacio-temporals a partir de dades geolocalitzades de les xarxes socials per tal de detectar patrons de mobilitat dels visitants de destinacions urbanes. Les fonts de dades i els mètodes utilitzats per complir amb els objectius de partida són diverses. En aquest sentit, la tesi aporta també una àmplia radiografia dels pros i les contres de les diferents fonts de dades disponibles per a l’anàlisi de les mobilitats dels visitants en destinacions turístiques.<br>Esta tesis doctoral surge de la necesidad de profundizar en el conocimiento de las movilidades de los visitantes,entender las decisiones que configuran su comportamiento espaciotemporal e identificar y explorar los efectos que sus movilidades tienen sobre los destinos urbanos. La tesis se desarrolla en torno a cuatro objetivos específicos que se enmarcan en el ámbito de investigación de seguimiento de visitantes, y que se desarrollan en cada uno de los artículos científicos, publicados todos ellos en revistas de revisión por pares, que conforman esta tesis. El primer artículo se propone como objetivo identificar los factores, relacionados con el perfil socioeconómicos de los turistas y con las características de su estancia, que determinan la selección de opciones de transporte y movilidad sostenible para moverse por el destino urbano. El segundo artículo pretende analizar y comprender cómo afecta el comportamiento espaciotemporal de los turistas en sus patrones de consumo económico y, por tanto, en la generación de ingresos para la economía local. El tercer artículo se propone analizar la influencia del espacio urbano sobre la forma en que los visitantes se desplazan por el destino. Y finalmente, el cuarto artículo tiene por objetivo reconstruir trayectorias y / o flujos espaciotemporales a partir de datos geolocalizados de las redes sociales para detectar patrones de movilidad de los visitantes de destinos urbanos. Las fuentes de datos y los métodos utilizados para cumplir con los objetivos de partida son diversos. En este sentido, la tesis aporta también una amplia radiografía de los pros y contras de las diferentes fuentes de datos disponibles para el análisis de las movilidades de los visitantes en destinos turísticos.<br>This dissertation arises from the need to deepen the knowledge of the mobility of visitors, understand the decisions that shape their spatiotemporal behaviour and identify and explore the effects that their mobility has on urban destinations. The thesis is developed around four specific objectives that fall within the scope of visitor tracking research, and that are developed in each of the scientific articles, all of them published in peer-reviewed journals, that make up this thesis. The first article aims to identify the factors, related to the socioeconomic profile of tourists and the characteristics of their stay, that determine the selection of sustainable transport and mobility options to move within the urban destination. The second article aims to analyse and understand how the visitors’ spatiotemporal behaviour affects their patterns of economic consumption and, therefore, the generation of income for the local economy. The third article aims to analyse the influence of the built environment on the visitors’ mobilities at destination. And finally, the fourth article aims to reconstruct trajectories and / or spatiotemporal flows from geolocated data obtained from social networks in order to detect visitors’ mobility patterns at urban destinations. The data sources and methods used to meet the objectives are multiple. In this sense, the thesis also provides an extensive x-ray of the pros and cons of the different data sources available for the analysis of visitors’ mobilities in tourist destinations.
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Bogunovic, Hrvoje. "Geometric modeling and characterization of the circle of willis." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/94141.
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Los derrames cerebrales son una de las causas principales de morbilidad y mortalidad en los países desarrollados. Esto ha motivado una búsqueda de configuraciones del sistema vascular que se cree que están asociadas con el desarrollo de enfermedades vasculares. En la primera contribución se ha mejorado un método de segmentación vascular para lograr robustez en la segmentación de imágenes procedentes de diferentes modalidades y centros clínicos, con una validación exhaustiva. Una vez que el sistema vascular está correctamente segmentado, en la segunda contribución se ha propuesto una metodología para caracterizar ampliamente la geometría de la arteria carótida interna (ACI). Esto ha incluido el desarrollo de un método para identificar automáticamente la ACI a partir del árbol vascular segmentado. Finalmente, en la tercera contribución, esta identificación automática se ha generalizado a una colección de arterias incluyendo su conectividad y sus relaciones topológicas. Finalmente, la identificación de las arterias en un conjunto de individuos puede permitir la comparación geométrica de sus árboles arteriales utilizando la metodología introducida para la caracterización de la ACI.<br>Stroke is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the developed countries. This motivated a search for the configurations of vasculature that is assumed to be associated with the development of vascular diseases. In the first contribution we improve a vascular segmentation method to achieve robustness in segmenting images coming from different imaging modalities and clinical centers and we provide exhaustive segmentation validation. Once the vasculature is successfully segmented, in the second contribution we propose a methodology to extensively characterize the geometry of the internal carotid artery (ICA). This includes the development of a method to automatically identify the ICA from the segmented vascular tree. Finally in the third contribution, this automatic identification is generalized to a collection of vessels including their connectivity and topological relationships. Identifying the corresponding vessels in a population enables comparison of their geometry using the methodology introduced for the characterization of the ICA.
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Watters, Bernard J. W. "Change, closing the circle to a collaborative learning community : leading, loving, learning : an elementary classroom approach to learning assistance." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0007/MQ41840.pdf.
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Shields, Tracy, and Medhat H. Rahim. "Teaching Derivations of Area and Measurement Concepts of the Circle: A Conceptual-Based Learning Approach through Dissection Motion Operations." Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2012. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-83083.
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Cardoso, Nungaray Víctor Eduardo. "Discrete volume method : a variational approach for brittle fracture." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/565906.
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This thesis presents a proposal to simulate mechanics and dynamics of brittle fracture. A variational formulation is used to describe Lagrangian mechanics, by minimizing the difference between potential and kinetic energy of the system, obtaining a pair of partial differential equations; the solution of these equations corresponds to the displacement field and damage phase-field respectively. Such an equations are coupled in the sense that the damage field is used in the first equation and the displacement field is used in the second one.
In this work we propose a numerical method based on control volumes to solve the differential equations, extending the formulation to support the separation of control volumes, processing these volumes as discrete entities. This treatment results in accurate calculations of stress field and the nucleation of new internal fractures that can be propagated through domain creating multiple bifurcations.
To integrate equations inside control volumes we introduce a family of polynomial splines that we refer as homeostatic splines, since its derivatives are null at vertices with a smooth function variation between adjacent volumes. Furthermore, we propose a shape function with trigonometric components for dynamic analysis, allowing bigger time steps that with traditional approaches.
Finally, we perform ten numerical experiments to show the effectiveness of the method and to compare our results with those published by other authors.<br>La tesis presenta una propuesta para simular la mecánica y dinámica del fenómeno de fractura frágil. Se plantea una formulación variacional que consiste en minimizar la diferencia entre la energía potencial y la energía cinética del sistema, obteniendo así un par de ecuaciones diferenciales parciales, cuya solución corresponden al campo de desplazamientos y al campo de daño respectivamente. Estas ecuaciones están acopladas en el sentido de que el campo de daño se usa en la primera ecuación y el de desplazamientos en la segunda. En este trabajo se propone un método numérico basado en volúmenes de control para resolver las ecuaciones diferenciales, además el modelo se extiende para soportar la separación de los volúmenes de control, tratándolos posteriormente como entidades discretas, esto permite calcular con precisión el campo de esfuerzos y la aparición de fracturas internas que pueden propagarse a través del dominio y crear múltiples bifurcaciones. Para integrar las ecuaciones dentro de los volúmenes de control se introducen una familia de splines polinomiales, que se les refiere como splines homeostáticos, ya que sus derivadas son nulas en los vértices y el cambio de la función entre dos volúmenes contiguos es suave. Además, se propone una función de forma con componentes trigonométricas para el análisis dinámico, permitiendo pasos de tiempo más grandes que con enfoques tradicionales. Finalmente se realizan diez experimentos numéricos para mostrar la eficacia del método y contrastar los resultados con aquéllos publicados por otros autores.
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Yazici, Ceyda. "A Computational Approach To Nonparametric Regression: Bootstrapping Cmars Method." Master's thesis, METU, 2011. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613708/index.pdf.
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Bootstrapping is a resampling technique which treats the original data set as a population and draws samples from it with replacement. This technique is widely used, especially, in mathematically intractable problems. In this study, it is used to obtain the empirical distributions of the parameters to determine whether they are statistically significant or not in a special case of nonparametric regression, Conic Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (CMARS). Here, the CMARS method, which uses conic quadratic optimization, is a modified version of a well-known nonparametric regression model, Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS). Although performing better with respect to several criteria, the CMARS model is more complex than that of MARS. To overcome this problem, and to improve the CMARS performance further, three different bootstrapping regression methods, namely, Random-X, Fixed-X and Wild Bootstrap are applied on four data sets with different size and scale. Then, the performances of the models are compared using various criteria including accuracy, precision, complexity, stability, robustness and efficiency. Random-X yields more precise, accurate and less complex models particularly for medium size and medium scale data even though it is the least efficient method.
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Gerace, Salvadore. "A Meshless Method Approach for Solving Coupled Thermoelasticity Problems." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2006. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1223.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.<br>Bachelors<br>Engineering and Computer Science<br>Mechanical Engineering
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Rosengren, Hellman Jonas. "Modular Battery Base Unit : A Method-Based Design Approach." Thesis, KTH, Maskinkonstruktion (Inst.), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-183421.
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This thesis covers a product development process carried out in collaboration with Ericsson –Enclosure & Power and their development of Radio Base Stations (RBS). As Ericsson expands into new markets, the different customer demands on their support systems increases in number and variation. In order to improve their business structure and still provide a wide array of product solutions, they are currently developing a new modular product family. Today numerous methods for product modularization exist, but there is a lack of experience of using such methods at Ericsson – Enclosure & Power. This thesis is an exploration of what methods could be suitable to use in this context, and how to implement them in a beneficial way. The object of study is the Battery Base Unit (BBU), a mounting base for RBS cabinets that contains a compartment for backup batteries. A methodology is suggested for developing this product in a way that secures a proper modular structure. Part of the methodology consists of standard product development methods such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD), concept selection and prototyping. The other part consist of the modularization methods Function Structure Heuristics and Design Structure Matrix (DSM), that are employed first on functional level before developing concepts and secondly on component-based level while detailing the final concept. The thesis describes how these implementations have been made, how the product have been developed from idea to prototype and the resulting product modularity. The final design is evaluated against the product specification and the benefits and drawbacks of using a formalized modularization process for product development at Ericsson – Enclosure & Power are discussed.<br>Detta arbete handlar om den produktutveckling som utförts i samarbete med Ericsson –Enclosure & Power och deras utveckling av kabinett för radiobasstationer (RBS). Ericssons expansion på nya marknader ökar mängden krav på deras olika supportsystem. För att kunna vidareutveckla sin verksamhet och samtidigt erbjuda ett stort antal produktlösningar utvecklar de för närvarande en ny modulbaserad produktfamilj. Idag finns ett flertal metoder för produktmodularisering men man saknar erfarenhet av att arbeta med sådana metoder på Ericsson– Enclosure & Power. Detta arbete undersöker vilka metoder som är lämpliga att använda i detta sammanhang, och hur man på bästa sätt ska implementera dem. Objektet för denna studie är Batteribasenheten (BBUn) som är ett fundament för montering av RBS kabinettet med ett utrymme för reservbatterier. Ett övergripande tillvägagångssätt föreslås för att säkerställa att utvecklingen av denna produkt inkluderar en bra modulär uppbyggnad. Delvis består tillvägagångssättet av vanliga produktutvecklingsmetoder såsom Quality Function Deployment (QFD), koncepturval och prototyper. I övrigt består det i modulariseringsmetoderna Function Structure Heuristics och Design Structure Matrix (DSM) som används först på funktionsnivå innan konceptgenereringsfasen och därefter på komponentnivå under detaljutvecklingen av det slutliga konceptet. Detta arbete beskriver hur dessa metoder har implementerats, hur produktenhar utvecklats från idé till prototyp samt den resulterande produktmodulariteten. Den slutliga utformningen utvärderas mot den angivna kravspecificeringen och fördelarna och nackdelarna med att använda en formaliserad metod för produktutveckling på Ericsson – Enclosure & Power diskuteras.
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Scheiman, Kevin S. "A Parallel Spectral Method Approach to Model Plasma Instabilities." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1527424992108785.
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Rossi, Laura. "The epigrams ascribed to Theocritus : a method of approach /." Leuven ; Paris ; Sterling (Va.) : Peeters, 2001. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb39233621x.
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MASCIULLI, TOMMASO. "Control of Cyber-Physical Systems: a Formal Method approach." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi dell'Aquila, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/11697/192062.
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Over the past few decades, the rapid evolution of computing has brought to the born of
more complex and detailed paradigms of system, named Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS),
i.e. systems where physical processes, generally described by continuous dynamics, interact
with computing units, generally described by (discrete) models of computation,
using a (nonideal) communication infrastructure. The generality of CPS to achieve different
and complex scenarios translates in a difficulty to provide systematic methods to
their analysis and control. A promising solution is given by hybrid systems, that are dynamical
models that combine behaviours of purely continuous dynamics with discrete
dynamics. The rich and complex behaviour of such models poses difficulties about how
to approach the design of control systems.
In the last twenty years, researchers working in the area of computer science and control
theory have explored formal methods as an automatic tool for addressing analysis and
control design of this complex kind of systems. Central to this approach is the construction
of symbolic system that approximate purely continuous or hybrid plants and
preserve the same properties of the Cyber-Physical Systems while hiding the details
that are of no interest. A symbolic system is an abstract description of a purely continuous
or hybrid system where each state corresponds to an aggregate of continuous/hybrid
states and each label to an aggregate of continuous/hybrid inputs. The relevance of this
approach is corroborated by considering complex logic specifications and mathematical
models that can directly incorporate constraints on hardware and software architectures.
The contribution of this thesis is to enhance the amount of possible scenario accounted
by symbolic systems.
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Sánchez, Mónica Vanesa. "Interactive virtual method applied in urban design education. Mixed Approach." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Ramon Llull, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/669741.
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La memòria d'aquesta tesi tracta sobre l'ús de la transformació digital en l'ensenyament i els processos de disseny urbà, a través de conceptes innovadors i metodologies pràctiques. L'objectiu és promoure l'ús de tecnologies digitals, en particular per avaluar la inclusió de la realitat virtual en diversos entorns d'ensenyament formals i informals del disseny urbà col·laboratiu, per tal de millorar, accelerar i augmentar el seu impacte social de forma positiva i millorar l'ensenyament universitària ajudant al fet que els estudiants consolidin amb major efectivitat les seves habilitats.
Amb les característiques d’un sistema de realitat virtual, podem provar la nostra hipòtesi en funció de demostrar: (1) La implementació d'estratègies virtuals gamificades en el camp del disseny urbà generarà una millora i motivació en la participació ciutadana i dels estudiants, ja que l’entorn és més dinàmic, real i permet un disseny col·laboratiu àgil gràcies a les tecnologies visuals immersives, mentre avaluen críticament el resultat d'un disseny urbà i prenen decisions. (2) L'ús de sistemes virtuals interactius per a la comprensió de l'espai tridimensional millora en els estudiants i professionals la percepció de la comprensió de l'espai, generant major enteniment de les condicions d'ubicació, dimensions i relacions dels espais urbans, i defensar els arguments de projectes urbans i propostes urbanes definides interactivament que proven diverses estratègies d'acció.
Per provar les nostres hipòtesis, fem servir un mètode quantitatiu i qualitatiu aplicat en diferents escenaris i als diferents perfils d'usuaris, estudiants, professionals i usuaris finals. Els resultats mostraran que és possible potenciar la transformació digital, millorar la motivació pública, la implicació i la satisfacció en els processos de presa de decisions urbanes, així com complementar l'adquisició de competències urbanes específiques necessàries per a la professió en estudiants d'Arquitectura.<br>La memoria de esta tesis trata sobre el uso de la transformación digital en la enseñanza y los procesos de diseño urbano, a través de conceptos innovadores y metodologías prácticas. El objetivo es promover el uso de tecnologías digitales, en particular para evaluar la inclusión de la realidad virtual en diversos entornos de enseñanza formales e informales del diseño urbano colaborativo, con el fin de mejorarlo, acelerar y aumentar su impacto social positivo y mejorar la enseñanza universitaria ayudando a que los estudiantes consoliden con mayor efectividad sus habilidades.
Con las características de un sistema de realidad virtual, podemos probar nuestra hipótesis en función de demostrar: (1) El uso de sistemas virtuales interactivos para la comprensión del espacio tridimensional mejora en los estudiantes y profesionales la percepción de la comprensión del espacio, generando mayor entendimiento de las condiciones de ubicación, dimensiones y relaciones de los espacios urbanos, y defender los argumentos de proyectos urbanos y propuestas urbanas definidas interactivamente que ensayan diversas estrategias de acción. (2) La implementación de estrategias virtuales gamificadas en el campo del diseño urbano generará una mejora y motivación en la participación ciudadana y en los estudiantes, ya que es un entorno de colaboración más dinámico, real y ágil gracias a las tecnologías visuales inmersivas, mientras evalúan críticamente el resultado de un diseño urbano y toman decisiones.
Para probar nuestras hipótesis, utilizamos un método cuantitativo y cualitativo aplicado en diferentes escenarios y a diferentes perfiles de usuarios, estudiantes, profesionales y usuarios finales. Los resultados mostrarán que es posible potenciar la transformación digital, mejorar la motivación pública, la implicación y la satisfacción en los procesos de toma de decisiones urbanas, así como complementar la adquisición de competencias
urbanas específicas necesarias para la profesión en estudiantes de Arquitectura.<br>The memory of this thesis deals with the use of digital transformation in the teaching and processes of urban design, through innovative concepts and practical methodologies. The objective is to promote the use of digital technologies, in particular, to evaluate the inclusion of virtual reality in various formal and informal teaching environments of collaborative urban design, in order to improve it, speed up, and increase its positive social impact and improve university teaching by helping students consolidate their skills more effectively.
With the characteristics of the VR system, we can test our hypothesis based on demonstrating: (1) The use of virtual-interactive systems for the understanding of three- dimensional space improve in students and professionals the perception of the comprehension of the space, generating a greater understanding of the location conditions, dimensions and relationships of urban spaces, and defend the arguments of urban projects and interactively defined urban proposals rehearsing various strategies of action. (2) The implementation of virtual gamified strategies in the field of urban design will generate improvement and motivation in citizen participation and students as it is a more dynamic, real and agile collaborative environment thanks to the immersive visual technologies as they critically evaluate the result of the urban design and make decisions.
To validate our hypothesis, we use a quantitative and qualitative method applied in different scenarios and to a different profile of users, students, professionals and end users. The results will show that it is possible to empower digital transformation, to improve public motivation, implication, and satisfaction in urban decision-making processes as well as complementing the improvement of the perception of the comprehension of the space needed for the profession in Architecture students.
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Katamine, Eiji, Hideyuki Azegami, and Akiyoshi Okitsu. "Shape Optimization Analysis of Flow Field : Growth-Strain Method Approach." 日本機械学会, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/2237/12157.
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Vafaeyan, Shadi. "A new approach to the Rough Set multicriteria optimisation method." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/28031.
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In the recent years, enormous amount of attention has been given to multicriteria optimisation problems. These are problems with conflicting objectives, to which it is impossible to obtain an optimum solution that contains the best value for every criterion simultaneously, therefore the decision maker must decide on a reasonable compromise. There have been numerous developments of optimisation methods to aid the decision-maker in addressing such problems. These methods can be divided to two categories based on the use or not of the Pareto domain (PD). The Pareto domain is the set of all non-dominated solutions to the multicriteria problem, where no solution is better or worse than any other in the set when all the criteria are considered equal in importance.
This thesis is a collection of two papers that focuses on a new approach to the Rough Set multicriteria optimisation technique. Rough Set method (RSM) requires the determination of the PD as the first step to the optimisation process. In the suggested new approach to RSM, a more systematic way in the selection of points from the PD, that is given to the expert for ranking and then the generation of rules by which the entire PD is ranked, is presented. The RSM that operates based on this new approach was applied to three case studies in paper 1 and to "Beer quality optimisation" in the second paper. The results were compared to the ones obtained by the traditional RSM, Net Flow method and the simple Least Squares method. In conclusion, the new RSM showed to be the most reliable and robust method of all.
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Xia, Feng. "A simultaneous transfer capability analysis method based on probabilistic approach." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/14908.
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Blake, James Murray. "Method or madness? : a contextual approach to researching environmental values." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.325010.
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Evans, David Lewis. "Emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder : a multi-method approach." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.610461.
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Lui, Yik-man Jodie, and 呂亦敏. "Self-perceived burden in cancer patients : a multi-method approach." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/206345.
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Patients’ perception of being a burden to others, termed self-perceived burden (SPB), is a phenomenon commonly reported by terminally-ill patients. SPB elicits psychological outcomes such as loss of dignity, hopelessness, anxiety, and depression (Wilson et al., 2005). To extend our knowledge on this understudied construct, this project employed a multi-method approach with three studies to examine the experience of SPB among Chinese cancer patients.
Study 1 is the first longitudinal investigation on the relationship between SPB and non-terminal cancer patients’ trajectories of psychological adjustment. Results from hierarchical linear modeling showed that patients with higher levels of SPB reported higher levels of depression and anxiety, as well as lower levels of mental health over time. Results also revealed that SPB predicted cancer patients’ pattern of change in anxiety over time. As the high SPB group had a higher anxiety level at baseline, their anxiety level remained higher than that of the low SPB group despite a sharper decrease.
Study 2 is the first quantitative study to scrutinize the psychological process of how cancer patients attempted to cope with SPB. A new Self-perceived Burden Coping Scale was developed. Our findings indicated that the scale displayed good content, construct, and discriminant validities, and most subscales show acceptable reliability. Results from principal components analysis showed that cancer patients adopted six coping modes in an attempt to deal with SPB: (a) positive outlook, (b) managing the needs of others, (c) resigned acceptance, (d) making preparations, (e) entitlement, and (f) concealing need. Specially, the coping modes of resigned acceptance and concealing need were related to poorer adjustment, whereas managing the needs of others and entitlement were related to better adjustment. Stress-buffering effects of managing the needs of others and making preparations were also found.
Finally, Study 3 adopted a qualitative paradigm to explore perception as care-receivers, aspects of SPB, and coping with SPB among Chinese non-terminal cancer patients. Narratives from patients revealed four perspectives regarding to their perception as care-receivers: self-reliance, acceptance, overwhelming, and SPB. Results revealed that the SPB experience among Chinese non-terminal cancer patients was similar to those observed in Western terminal cancer patients, with a new aspect of financial burden. In addition to the six coping modes of SPB found in Study 2, a potential new coping mode of being compliant with others was found, which may be unique among Chinese cancer patients in the context of SPB. Findings from these studies may advance our knowledge on SPB, provide insights for future research, as well as shed lights on the development of counseling services, psychological interventions, and public policies for cancer patients.<br>published_or_final_version<br>Psychology<br>Doctoral<br>Doctor of Philosophy
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Otoo, Grace. "Understanding primary health care counselling through a multi-method approach." Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.368882.
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Boskovic, Irena. "A multi-method approach to the detection of fabricated symptoms." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 2018. https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/a-multimethod-approach-to-the-detection-of-fabricated-symptoms(cbcc6a02-c5fa-4a56-ad8e-4becbc9913f8).html.
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Malingering is defined as the intentional false presentation of symptoms driven by an external incentive, which can be financial (e.g., compensation), legal (e.g., diminished criminal responsibility), or for other types of personal gain (e.g., to obtain medication). Malingering occurs on a non-trivial scale in both civil and criminal contexts, and causes serious legal and social consequences. The aim of this thesis was to examine whether a multi-method assessment of symptoms might enhance the detection of malingering, and whether an assessor's cultural background impacted their perceptions of malingering. In this thesis, three different methods for detecting malingering were tested across a total of eight studies. Specifically, we tested a novel lie-detection tool, the Verifiability Approach (VA) in order to investigate whether the VA could contribute to the credibility assessment of physical symptom reports. The logic behind the VA is that people who are telling the truth should produce more verifiable details - information that can, in principle, be checked - compared to liars. Liars, in contrast, tend to avoid verifiable information and report non-verifiable details instead. Next, we critically examined the utility of a controversial task, the Modified Stroop task (MST), a reaction time measure of attentional bias among patients, in detection of malingering. The MST is comprised of disorder-related and neutral words presented in different colors. The task is to color-name the words while disregarding their semantic meaning. The idea behind the MST is that genuine patients should show prolonged reaction time (RT) when presented with disorder-related, compared to neutral, words (i.e., the MST effect). We also applied a newly developed measure of over-reporting, the Self-Report Symptom Inventory (SRSI), in order to investigate symptom endorsement among malingerers. The SRSI includes two scales of symptoms: genuine (plausible) symptoms and pseudosymptoms (unlikely complaints). The rationale behind the SRSI is that genuine patients will endorse more of genuine and fewer of the pseudosymptoms, while malingerers will overendorse both types of symptoms. Finally, we investigated whether the cross-cultural background of practitioners influenced their view of exaggerated symptoms. In the first experimental chapter (Chapter 2), we report the findings of research designed to test the VA with respect to the detection of fabricated symptom statements. We investigated the extent to which people with genuine symptoms compared to malingerers differed in the provision of checkable details. In Study 1, we examined statements of students genuinely suffering from various physical symptoms (e.g., headache, backpain), and students instructed to malinger such experiences. We found that malingerers, compared to truth tellers, produced longer statements that contained fewer verifiable details. In Study 2, we repeated the task, but participants were informed that their statements would be inspected for verifiable information. Providing this additional information to participants led to non-significant differences between malingerers and truth tellers in terms of both verifiable and non-verifiable information, and the overall length of statements. In Study 3, we experimentally induced symptoms (physical exercise) in one group of students (truth tellers), while two other groups received instructions to malinger having been engaged in physical exercise. Participants were not informed about the type of information they should provide. The results confirmed our findings from Study 1. We observed longer statements containing more non-verifiable information for both malingering groups (cf. control group). In other words, an extensive amount of non-verifiable details was indicative of fabricated symptom reports in both Study 1 and Study 3. In Chapter 3, we tested whether a reaction time task, the MST, used in combination with the SRSI, might assist in the detection of fabricated anxiety-related symptoms. In Study 4, we focused on test-anxiety using a within-subject design. Students who were not suffering from test anxiety were asked to first genuinely respond to the MST task and the SRSI, and seven days later they were instructed to feign having test-anxiety and to repeat the tasks. We found that students in the latter session produced the MST effect typically found in genuine test-anxiety patients, while the MST effect did not emerge in the first session. Participants in the second session overendorsed genuine symptoms and pseudosymptoms related to anxiety, compared with the first session, which led to the detection rate of 77% of test anxiety malingerers. In Study 5, we investigated PTSD-related symptoms, and included three groups of participants: 1) participants with current high impact aversive experiences, 2) participants with low impact aversive experiences, and 3) actors, who also had a low impact history but were asked to simulate being under the effects of a high impact of aversive experience. The MST effect did not emerge in any of the groups, however, the actors produced longer response latencies than both high and low impact groups. Actors also overendorsed items of the SRSI, thus 89% of these malingerers were successfully detected as such. Problematically, however, 27% of the honest group were also classified as malingerers. In Chapter 4, we focused on the SRSI alone, and its utility for detecting fabricated physical (pain-related) and psychological (anxiety-related) symptoms (Study 6). In a between subjects design we included an honest comparison group and two groups of simulators (pain and anxiety symptoms). The simulators of pain and simulators of anxiety endorsed more genuine symptoms and pseudosymptoms than participants in the honest group. Also, both simulators groups over-endorsed symptoms corresponding to their alleged conditions. The detection rates reached 48% for simulators of pain, and 74% for simulators of anxiety, suggesting that the SRSI has a low sensitivity to simulated physical complaints. In Chapter 5 (Study 7), using a combination of the VA and SRSI, we wanted to examine malingerers' strategies in fabricating exposure narratives and symptom reports in a PTSD-related condition. In a between subjects design, the honest comparison group was experimentally induced with PTSD-like symptoms, using a Virtual Reality (VR) paradigm. The other group was not exposed to the VR, but was instructed to simulate that experience (malingerers). We applied the VA to examine the veracity of their exposure narratives, and our findings were consistent with the general results reported in Chapter 2. Malingerers produced longer statements containing more non-verifiable details, while the honest group included a higher proportion of verifiable information. The quality of the symptom reports was investigated using the subscales of the SRSI describing genuine and pseudosymptoms pertaining to anxiety and PTSD complaints. Malingerers endorsed more of both genuine symptoms and pseudosymptoms than honest group. Finally, in Chapter 6 (Study 8), we investigated the influence of the cultural background of practitioners on their plausibility judgments concerning various symptoms. We included Western and non-Western practitioners, and presented them with a mix of atypical symptoms, dissociative symptoms, and every-day complaints. Their task was to rate the plausibility of each symptom from exaggerated to authentic. There were no significant differences between culturally diverse practitioners in their plausibility judgments. All practitioners rated atypical and dissociative items as significantly less authentic than every-day complaints, but they did not distinguish between atypical symptoms and dissociative symptoms. In sum, our results indicated that, with certain adjustments, the VA might contribute to symptom validity assessment. The MST, however, was shown to be an unreliable detection tool, the use of which should be avoided to detect symptom fabrication. The SRSI appears to be a promising method for detecting symptom over-reporting. Further research is necessary to establish the generalizability of our findings to different samples, such as patients.
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Downie, Jonathan. "Stakeholder expectations of interpreters : a multi-site, multi-method approach." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10399/3086.
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This thesis uses a multi-method approach to examine the expectations of interpreting stakeholders in two different multilingual church organisations. Drawing on concepts from skopos theory and homiletics and on methodologies and findings from research on client expectations and interpreters’ perceptions of their work, it posits a four part correlational model to explain and predict how the skopos of an interpreted event will relate to stakeholders’ generic and event-specific expectations of interpreters. Results from a survey, interviews and participant observations all suggest that, contrary to existing theory, there is little evidence of a direct relationship between skopos and expectations of interpreters. On the contrary, it appears that organisational attitudes to interpreting are a much more salient factor in the conceptualisation of the work of interpreters and on the strategies they are expected to use to solve problems. The implications of these results for church interpreting research, theories of interpreting and interpreting practice are discussed, alongside the need to rethink and redesign the methods used in stakeholder expectations research, especially when this involves the use of surveys.
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Reece, Lindsey. "Treatment of severe obesity in adolescents : a mixed method approach." Thesis, Sheffield Hallam University, 2016. http://shura.shu.ac.uk/14306/.
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Adolescent obesity is a public health problem associated with significant immediate and long-term health complications (Kelly et al. 2013). Amongst obese adolescents, a third are severely obese (BMI >99.6th centile UK90 reference charts) (Ogden et al. 2012) with severe obesity the fastest growing classification in this age group (Wang et al. 2011). The evidence for managing and treating child and adolescent obesity generally is poor, with multidisciplinary lifestyle programmes failing to derive significant and sustained weight loss and often reporting high attrition (Luttikhuis et al. 2009). Furthermore, this evidence has predominantly focused on young people as a whole with little differentiation of treatment and outcomes by age and severity of obesity. As a result, successful treatments for severely obese adolescents are lacking with permanent bariatric surgery increasingly considered. This thesis aimed to enhance the understanding of the needs of obese adolescents, contribute to what is known about current treatment options for severely obese adolescents specifically and pilot a novel treatment approach within this population. A qualitative enquiry (Study 1) of the lived experiences of obese adolescents (n = 12) reinforced the complexity of the impact of obesity on the lives of obese adolescents across social, emotional, behavioural and cultural contexts. All participants experienced low self-esteem and feelings of shame and there were frequent accounts of debilitating bullying. Adolescents required intensive support to develop skills for coping and managing emotional choices, and the importance of family-support within treatment was highlighted. Data confirmed weight loss programmes need to consider the complex experience of obese adolescents in their design, focusing on how to implement long-term lifestyle changes into their ‘real’ lives. Informed by the findings from Study 1 and a comprehensive review of existing treatment options for severely obese adolescents, the use of an intra-gastric balloon alongside a lifestyle support programme (BOB; Study 2) to promote weight loss was piloted in 12 severely obese adolescents (5 males, 7 females; mean age 15 yrs; BMI >3.5 SD; puberty stage 4 or above). Mean weight loss at 12 months (n=9) was 3.05 kg ± 14.69; d=0.002 with improvements in psychosocial health, physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness also maintained at 12 months. Although, the use of an intra-gastric balloon as an adjunct to a lifestyle programme was well tolerated by participants, large variations in outcome data suggest alternative treatment solutions in this population are warranted. That said, the comprehensive reporting of the intervention and the focus on validated behaviour change techniques to support change is a strength of this study. The qualitative experiences of treatment for participants and their family members were captured throughout treatment (Study 3). All participants acknowledged the experience was harder than anticipated, but recognised the importance of creating shared ownership over making lifestyle changes. Single case data pointed to successful and sustained weight loss where the whole family were actively engaged in treatment, modelling positive lifestyle changes alongside the adolescent. Future studies are encouraged to explore the most effective methods for engaging family members in treatment.
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Brown, Denise. "Insight into method : a cognitive-notional method for the implementation of a semiotic approach in language pedagogy." Thesis, University of Macau, 1987. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1636165.
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Alalwan, Nasser Alwan. "Ontological approach for database integration." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/5150.
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Database integration is one of the research areas that have gained a lot of attention from researcher. It has the goal of representing the data from different database sources in one unified form. To reach database integration we have to face two obstacles. The first one is the distribution of data, and the second is the heterogeneity. The Web ensures addressing the distribution problem, and for the case of heterogeneity there are many approaches that can be used to solve the database integration problem, such as data warehouse and federated databases. The problem in these two approaches is the lack of semantics. Therefore, our approach exploits the Semantic Web methodology. The hybrid ontology method can be facilitated in solving the database integration problem. In this method two elements are available; the source (database) and the domain ontology, however, the local ontology is missing. In fact, to ensure the success of this method the local ontologies should be produced. Our approach obtains the semantics from the logical model of database to generate local ontology. Then, the validation and the enhancement can be acquired from the semantics obtained from the conceptual model of the database. Now, our approach can be applied in the generation phase and the validation-enrichment phase. In the generation phase in our approach, we utilise the reverse engineering techniques in order to catch the semantics hidden in the SQL language. Then, the approach reproduces the logical model of the database. Finally, our transformation system will be applied to generate an ontology. In our transformation system, all the concepts of classes, relationships and axioms will be generated. Firstly, the process of class creation contains many rules participating together to produce classes. Our unique rules succeeded in solving problems such as fragmentation and hierarchy. Also, our rules eliminate the superfluous classes of multi-valued attribute relation as well as taking care of neglected cases such as: relationships with additional attributes. The final class creation rule is for generic relation cases. The rules of the relationship between concepts are generated with eliminating the relationships between integrated concepts. Finally, there are many rules that consider the relationship and the attributes constraints which should be transformed to axioms in the ontological model. The formal rules of our approach are domain independent; also, it produces a generic ontology that is not restricted to a specific ontology language. The rules consider the gap between the database model and the ontological model. Therefore, some database constructs would not have an equivalent in the ontological model. The second phase consists of the validation and the enrichment processes. The best way to validate the transformation result is to facilitate the semantics obtained from the conceptual model of the database. In the validation phase, the domain expert captures the missing or the superfluous concepts (classes or relationships). In the enrichment phase, the generalisation method can be applied to classes that share common attributes. Also, the concepts of complex or composite attributes can be represented as classes. We implement the transformation system by a tool called SQL2OWL in order to show the correctness and the functionally of our approach. The evaluation of our system showed the success of our proposed approach. The evaluation goes through many techniques. Firstly, a comparative study is held between the results produced by our approach and the similar approaches. The second evaluation technique is the weighting score system which specify the criteria that affect the transformation system. The final evaluation technique is the score scheme. We consider the quality of the transformation system by applying the compliance measure in order to show the strength of our approach compared to the existing approaches. Finally the measures of success that our approach considered are the system scalability and the completeness.
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Gkantsidis, Christos. "Algorithmic performance of large-scale distributed networks a spectral method approach /." Available online, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006, 2006. http://etd.gatech.edu/theses/available/etd-12062005-141254/.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006.<br>Mihail, Milena, Committee Chair ; Ammar, Mostafa, Committee Member ; Dovrolis, Constantinos, Committee Member ; Faloutsos, Michalis, Committee Member ; Zegura, Ellen, Committee Member.
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Gkantsidis, Christos. "Algorithmic performance of large-scale distributed networks: A spectral method approach." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/10420.
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Complex networks like the Internet, peer-to-peer systems, and emerging sensor and ad-hoc networks are large distributed decentralized communication systems arising repeatedly in today's technology. In such networks it is critical to characterize network performance as the size of the network scales. The focus of my work is to relate basic network performance metrics to structural characteristics of underlying network topologies, and to develop protocols that reinforce and exploit desired structural characteristics. For the case of the Internet at the Autonomous System level, we relate the graph theoretic notions of conductance and spectrum to network clustering and network congestion. In particular, we show how spectral analysis can identify clusters, and how the presence of clusters affects congestion. This is important for network prediction and network simulation. For the case of peer-to-peer networks we relate conductance and spectral gap to the fundamental questions of searching and topology maintenance. We propose new protocols for maintaining peer-to-peer networks with good conductance and low network overhead. We compare the performance of the traditional method of search by flooding to searching by random walks. We isolate cases of practical interest, such as clustered and dynamic network topologies, where the latter have superior performance. The improvement in the performance can be directly quantified in terms of the conductance of the underlying topology. We introduce further hybrid search schemes, of which flooding and random walks are special instances, which aim to improve the performance of searching by using locally maintained information about the network topology.
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Yilmaz, Gokcen. "An Automated Defect Detection Approach For Cosmic Functional Size Measurement Method." Master's thesis, METU, 2012. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12614646/index.pdf.
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Software size measurement provides a basis for software project management and plays an important role for its activities such as project management estimations, process benchmarking, and quality control. As size can be measured with functional size measurement (FSM) methods in the early phases of the software projects, functionality is one of the most frequently used metric. On the other hand, FSMs are being criticized by being subjective.
The main aim of this thesis is increasing the accuracy of the measurements, by decreasing the number of defects concerning FSMs that are measured by COSMIC FSM method. For this purpose, an approach that allows detecting defects of FSMs automatically is developed. During the development of the approach, first of all error classifications are established. To detect defects of COSMIC FSMs automatically, COSMIC FSM Defect Detection Approach (DDA) is proposed. Later, based on the proposed approach, COSMIC FSM DDT (DDT) is developed.
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AZEGAMI, Hideyuki, and Zhi Chang WU. "Domain Optimization Analysis in Linear Elastic Problems (Approach Using Traction Method)." 日本機械学会, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/2237/12156.
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Sveinsson, Hrafn Mar. "Constrained Hydrogel swelling in Biological Sensors : A Finite Element Method Approach." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for fysikk, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-19103.
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Material models has been developed for anionic and/or cationic hydrogels, with a simulation framework implemented in MATLAB and the finite element software ABAQUS. The geometry of the simulations is a hemispheroidal hydrogel, divided into a core with a shell, covalently attached to an optical fiber. The material models have been used to estimate the chemical parameters of poly-acrylamide hydrogels containing anionic or cationic monomer groups. Simulations comparing free and constrained swelling has been conducted in order to determine the effect of the geometrical constriction to the optical fiber. Constrained hydrogel swelling featuring shells with different properties than the core was also investigated.The aim of the study was to validate the material models and examine the effects of geometrical constrictions together with shell-impregnation. The anionic material model was shown to reproduce experimental swelling data, while the cationic material model only reproduced the data for ionic strength greater than 100 mM. Restricting the hydrogel to an optical fiber resulted in decreased change in volume and an increase in the axial swelling. The model was able to reproduce reported reduction in the swelling for an impregnated anionic hydrogel by using a neutral shell in the simulations, but failed to recreate the shape of the swelling curve. With the reduction of swelling as a basis, a new method for estimating thin-layer properties has been developed.
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Kasraee, Pezhman, and Chong Lin. "Readability of Method Chains : A Controlled Experiment with Eye Tracking Approach." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för programvaruteknik, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-12836.
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Context. Source codes with lower level of readability impose a higher cost to software maintainability. Research also exposed the importance of readability as a vital factor on software maintainability. Therefore, readability has recently investigated by software engineers. Readability involves human’s interactions making the study on readability difficult. In this study, we explore the readability of method chain and non-method chain in Java source codes with the means of an eye tracking device as a newly-introduced approach. Objectives. Objectives of this study are: 1. we investigated if the number of methods in a method chain affects the readability of Java source codes, and 2. we investigated the readability of two programming styles: method chain and non-method chain. Methods. To achieve both objectives of this study, two controlled experiments were conducted inside a laboratory with the means of an eye tracker device. In the first experiment, treatment groups were exposed separately to method chains with different number of methods. In the second experiment, the treatment groups were exposed separately to two different programming styles: method chain and non-method chain. Results. Participants of this study were students with the average age of 24.56 years old. Fixation durations of participants’ reading was measured in millisecond (ms). In the first experiment, the average of fixation durations per method with lower number of methods was 600.93 ms, and with higher number of methods was 411.53 ms. In the second experiment, the average of fixation durations per method for non-method chain style was 357.94 ms, and for method chain style was 411.53 ms. Conclusions. In the first experiment, the analysis of fixation durations indicates that method chains with higher number of methods are slightly more readable. Analysis of t-test (t − value = −0.5121, significance level = 0.05, and two-tailed prob-ability) confirms that the results of the first experiment does not show a significant difference at p < 0.05. The results of the second experiment show that non-method chain style is slightly more readable in comparison with method chain style. Analysis of t-test (t − value = 3.1675, significance level = 0.05, and two-tailed probability) confirms that the results of the second experiment show a significant difference at p < 0.05.
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Xing-Kaeding, Yan. "Unified approach to ship seakeeping and maneuvering by a RANSE method." Hamburg Arbeitsbereiche Schiffbau, Techn. Univ. Hamburg-Harburg, 2006. http://doku.b.tu-harburg.de/volltexte/2006/303/.
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Zalewski, Bartlomiej F. "Uncertainties in the solutions to boundary element method an interval approach /." online version, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view.cgi?acc%5Fnum=case1212440501.
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Daly, John William. "Replication and a multi-method approach to empirical software engineering research." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 1996. http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=9350.
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Ormandy, Elizabeth Mary. "Examining the behaviour of re-gifting using a multi-method approach." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Management, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/6212.
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This study investigated the behaviour of re-gifting using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Re-gifting is the gift-giving behaviour of giving a gift that was previously given to you, to another with the pretence that you purchased the gift. The qualitative phase used semi-structured interviews to uncover an initial understanding of re-gifting behaviour from participants’ selected using purposive sampling. The main findings arising from this phase showed that re-gifters used three main factors to determine when it is appropriate to re-gift. These three factors, relationship, occasion and gift were used as the basis of the conceptual framework. This framework was then analysed using an online experiment with the use of vignette techniques which was the focus of the quantitative phase.
The study focused on understanding what influences individuals decisions to re-gift. The main factors of interest were how the gift, occasion and relationships involved influenced re-gifting intentions. Re-gifting attitudes where analysed using the factors gift-giving attitudes, previous re-gifting experiences and frequency of re-gifting. A total of 211 responses were collected from Web users from around the world. The study suggests that re-gifters are influenced by the relationships involved and the type of gift, not the occasion. Re-gifting attitudes can be influenced by previous re-gifting experiences. This study has numerous practical implications, more specifically for retailers and charity organisations. This study adds major contributions to both gift-giving and disposition literature and introduces the area of re-gifting. Future research in cultural differences, gender differences and re-gifters versus non re-gifters suggested.