Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Coverages'

This thesis is about estimating the surface coverages (Г) of immobilised redox molecules at modified electrode surfaces using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique less sensitive than DPV technique because of the background current that can obscure the Faradaic current of the attached redox molecules. As a result, CV technique less sensitive for measurements of low surface concentrations of immobilised redox species. This is not the case for DPV. Currently, there is no specific agreed procedure to determine the surface coverages by DPV. Thus to establish the method to determine the surface coverages of immobilised redox molecules at the surface of the electrode by DPV measurement was a prime interest in this research. Secondary to that point, exploring a new strategy in preparing chemically modified electrodes in order to obtain a better surface coverages of covalently immobilised redox molecules at electrode surfaces was also an aim of this thesis. Enhanced DPV currents were obtained when an external resistance (Rext) of suitable magnitude was added in the DPV cell circuit for electrode modified with either for organic, DNA labelled or inorganic redox systems. This motivated us to develop an experimental model for estimating the DPV surface coverages (ГDPV, exp) of attached redox molecules at electrode surfaces at suitable Rext. Moreover, a simple equation for estimating the ΓDPV, exp based on DPV parameters is presented in this study and shown to work well, given several underlying assumptions. Our approach makes use of an additional Rext in the DPV cell circuit and several non-adjustable DPV parameters. Subsequently, the ΓDPV, exp of immobilised redox probes can be estimated by integrating the area under the oxidation peak of the differential pulse voltammograms (DPVs) at a suitable Rext. The experimental approach was verified by numerical modelling using a specially developed DPV simulation in MATLAB. The electrochemical parameters used for the DPV simulation, such as uncompensated solution resistance in an electrochemical cell (Ru), double layer capacitance (Cdl) and electrode kinetics (ks and α) were obtained from cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements made on the modified electrodes. Good agreement was obtained between the experimental DPV and the simulations. The second part of this thesis was focused on extracting thermodynamic and kinetic parameters such as the standard potential (E°), the diffusion coefficient (Do), surface coverages, the rate constant for adsorption (kA), the rate constant for homogenous reaction (kH), the rate of electron transfer (ks), and the transfer coefficient (α) for the electrochemical grafting of primary amine linkers onto GC electrode surfaces by numerical simulation. These parameters are impossible to access by experimental approaches. The grafting process was performed in two different solvents; by electrochemical grafting from neat ACN and by electrochemical grafting in a mixed solvent of ACN and sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3). In the case of the mixed-solution method, the ratio of ACN to NaHCO3 was 4:1. The primary amine of the EDA-Boc molecule was studied as an experimental model in this work. Using a specially developed CV simulation for inhibiting species at the surface of the electrode, the experimental CVs for the electrochemical grafting of EDA-Boc in the two solutions were simulated. Good agreement between experimental CV and the simulated CV was obtained. Moreover, this simulation allows us to extract the aforementioned parameters, which are not electrochemically accessible. To investigate the effect of the presence of NaHCO3 on immobilised EDA-Boc at the surface of GC electrodes, the anthraquinone (AQ) was covalently coupled to the grafted EDA (after removal of the Boc group). The CV and DPV surface coverages of covalently attached AQ on the EDA linker based on the two methods of electrografting were compared. The developed DPV simulation was also employed in this work in order to show the utility and flexibility. A good agreement between experimental and simulated DPV was achieved.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO
Esta dissertação mostra estudos de aplicações e revestimento do fibrobarro em diferentes contextos dentro do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Através da pesquisa efetuada dentro e fora do Laboratório de Investigação em Livre Desenho (LILD) foram desenvolvidas possibilidades de aplicação do fibrobarro aproveitando os recursos disponíveis. A pesquisa relata alguns materiais já utilizados para a cobertura de construções em materiais biocompatíveis. Durante o processo da pesquisa avergou-se possibilidades para a fabricação de compósitos, principalmente na abrangência de possíveis fibras quando o fibrobarro não for utilizado como principal elemento estrutural. O revestimento também é pesquisado com destaque para o uso da pasta de cal hidratada. Ao efetuar a pesquisa de campo em paralelo aos estudos em laboratório foi possível perceber a importância do gestual no ato de fazer artesanalmente objetos que buscam ser perenes respeitando o ambiente local e considerando-se o seu descarte. Durante o processo de pesquisa também foi observado a construção dos objetos arquitetônicos com voluntários de diferentes contextos socioeconômicos o que possibilitou perceber a importância dessa diversidade para atingir a convivencialidade (Illich, 1976) e como uma metodologia atenta e sensível, fundamental para desenvolvermos uma verdadeira ciência de construção respeitando as características sociais e ambientais de cada região.
This master thesis studies shows applications and finishes of fibersoil in different contexts inside the State of Rio de Janeiro. Through the work done inside and outside the Laboratory of Research in Free Drawing (LILD) investigate possible applications of fibersoil using the resources available. At the beginning of the work trace is already some materials used for covering buildings made with biocompatible materials inside and outside the LILD. During the process of research we discovered some possibilities for the manufacture of composites, especially in the range of possible using of fibers when it is not used as the main structural element. We also researched some possibilities for finishing construction of fibrosoil more careful in the use of hydrated lime paste. When we make the field research in parallel with laboratory studies we realized the importance of the gestures in the act of making objects that seek to be a evergreen respecting the local environment and considering your disposal. During the research process we also observed the construction of architectural objects with volunteers from different socioeconomic contexts which enabled us to realize the importance of gesture and an attentive and sensitive methodology is important to develop a true science of construction respecting the social and environmental characteristics of each region.

Today, the rapid development of the industry uses new materials for cutting tools. Besides the production of new types of solid high-speed steel and alloys, focuses on strengthening and surface protection products different surfaces. One of the main trends in this area is to develop wear-resistant coatings and their application to cutting tools [1], watches with PVD-coated, glasses with gold frames and others. This is made possible by the application as coating materials based on Ti and Zr, Mo and Cr on the use of technology in active gas mixture of nitrogen N [2].

Shallow lake wetlands, for which aquatic plants (macrophytes) and water clarity are the key indicators of ecological status, provide valuable services to wildlife and humanity. Conservation of these ecosystems requires development of rapid and large scale monitoring strategies, where remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be advantageous. In this study, high spatial resolution Quickbird and IKONOS and medium spatial resolution Landsat and Aster images were used for monitoring the aquatic plants and water clarity in Lakes Mogan and Eymir. Classification of emergent plants with high spatial resolution data yielded overall accuracies greater than 90% for both lakes, while overall accuracies obtained from the medium spatial resolution data ranged between 80% and 93% for Lake Mogan and between 70% and 78% for Lake Eymir. It was found that there was 23ha reed bed loss in Lake Mogan between 2002 and 2005 and an additional 14ha was lost between 2005 and 2006. In Lake Eymir, no significant change in reed bed area was detected from high spatial resolution images
however medium spatial resolution images revealed 8ha of change which was attributed to the presence of mixed pixels due to low resolution. The overall accuracies for submerged plant coverage classification from Quickbird images in Lake Mogan were 83% (2005) and 79% (2006) and for classification of submerged plants species were 72% (2005) and 69% (2006). Moreover, it was found that blue band together with the ratio of red band to blue band, were the best predictors of Secchi disc depth.

Produtos de software com diferentes complexidades são criados diariamente através da elicitação de demandas complexas e variadas juntamente a prazos restritos. Enquanto estes surgem, altos níveis de qualidade são esperados para tais, ou seja, enquanto os produtos tornam-se mais complexos, o nível de qualidade pode não ser aceitável enquanto o tempo hábil para testes não acompanha a complexidade. Desta maneira, o teste de software e a geração automática de dados de testes surgem com o intuito de entregar produtos contendo altos níveis de qualidade mediante baixos custos e rápidas atividades de teste. Porém, neste contexto, os profissionais de desenvolvimento dependem das estratégias de geração automáticas de testes e principalmente da seleção da técnica mais adequada para conseguir maior cobertura de código possível, este é um fator importante dados que cada técnica de geração de dados de teste possui particularidades e problemas que fazem seu uso melhor em determinados tipos de software. A partir desde cenário, o presente trabalho propõe a seleção da técnica adequada para cada classe de um software com base em suas características, expressas por meio de métricas de softwares orientados a objetos a partir do algoritmo de classificação Naive Bayes. Foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica de dois algoritmos de geração, algoritmo de busca aleatório e algoritmo de busca genético, compreendendo assim suas vantagens e desvantagens tanto de implementação como de execução. As métricas CK também foram estudadas com o intuito de compreender como estas podem descrever melhor as características de uma classe. O conhecimento adquirido possibilitou coletar os dados de geração de testes de cada classe como cobertura de código e tempo de geração a partir de cada técnica e também as métricas CK, permitindo assim a análise destes dados em conjunto e por fim execução do algoritmo de classificação. Os resultados desta análise demonstraram que um conjunto reduzido e selecionado das métricas CK é mais eficiente e descreve melhor as características de uma classe se comparado ao uso do conjunto por completo. Os resultados apontam também que as métricas CK não influenciam o tempo de geração dos dados de teste, entretanto, as métricas CK demonstraram correlação moderada e influência na seleção do algoritmo genético, participando assim na sua seleção pelo algoritmo Naive Bayes
Software products with different complexity are created daily through analysis of complex and varied demands together with tight deadlines. While these arise, high levels of quality are expected for such, as products become more complex, the quality level may not be acceptable while the timing for testing does not keep up with complexity. In this way, software testing and automatic generation of test data arise in order to deliver products containing high levels of quality through low cost and rapid test activities. However, in this context, software developers depend on the strategies of automatic generation of tests and especially on the selection of the most adequate technique to obtain greater code coverage possible, this is an important factor given that each technique of data generation of test have peculiarities and problems that make its use better in certain types of software. From this scenario, the present work proposes the selection of the appropriate technique for each class of software based on its characteristics, expressed through object oriented software metrics from the naive bayes classification algorithm. Initially, a literature review of the two generation algorithms was carried out, random search algorithm and genetic search algorithm, thus understanding its advantages and disadvantages in both implementation and execution. The CK metrics have also been studied in order to understand how they can better describe the characteristics of a class. The acquired knowledge allowed to collect the generation data of tests of each class as code coverage and generation time from each technique and also the CK metrics, thus allowing the analysis of these data together and finally execution of the classification algorithm. The results of this analysis demonstrated that a reduced and selected set of metrics is more efficient and better describes the characteristics of a class besides demonstrating that the CK metrics have little or no influence on the generation time of the test data and on the random search algorithm . However, the CK metrics showed a medium correlation and influence in the selection of the genetic algorithm, thus participating in its selection by the algorithm naive bayes

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата технічних наук за спеціальністю 05.17.01 – технологія неорганічних речовин. – Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут", Харків, 2015 р. Дисертація присвячена розробці фізико-хімічних основ технології кадмійвмісних багатошарових покриттів з фотоелектричними властивостями, які можуть бути використані для виготовлення фотоелектричних перетворювачів на їх основі. На підставі термодинамічних розрахунків взаємодії компонентів системи CdCl₂ – NH₃ – NaOH – CS(NH₂)₂ та вивчення кінетичних закономірностей встановлено механізм утворення плівки CdS, що надало змогу керувати процесом осадження шляхом змінення концентрації компонентів системи. Обгрунтовано концентраційні межі компонентів обраної системи та розглянуто вплив легуючих домішок на морфологію отриманих покриттів, фотоелектричні показники отриманих плівок. Проведено дослідження впливу технологічних параметрів на процес осадження кадмійвмісних багатошарових покриттів: температури, рН розчину, концентрації аміаку, хлориду кадмію, тіокарбаміду та часу осадження. Запропонована технологічна схема процесу та реактор для осадження, який дозволяє здійснити процес нанесення плівки з раціональними витратами реагентів та енергоресурсів. Розроблено принципову технологічну схему та розраховано техніко-економічні показники.
The thesis for a candidate’s degree of technical science by specialty 05.17.01 − Technology of inorganic substances. – National Technical University "Kharkov Polytechnic Institute", Kharkov, 2015. The dissertation is developed of technology of cadmium sulfide with the preset properties. The choice of use of cadmium sulfide as the basic component for photoelectric converters use is proved. The design of PEC with working layer of CdS on the basis of a barrier of Shotki is offered. Thermodynamic researches of interaction are conducted in system CdCl₂ – NH₃ – NaOH – CS(NH₂)₂ and kinetic laws are studied, the mechanism of formation of a film of cadmium sulfide is established. Influence of technological parameters on process of reception CdS is studied: temperatures, рН, concentration of additives, durations of process, influence of concentration of components of process on morphology of a surface of received coverings. On the basis of the received data the mathematical model of process of sedimentation is offered. The optimum parameters of conducting process are established. On the basis of the spent researches the design of the reactor. The basic technological scheme is offered and technical and economic indicators are calculated. Successful trial tests of the developed technology have shown a high efficiency.

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата технічних наук за спеціальністю 05.17.01 – технологія неорганічних речовин. – Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут", Харків, 2015 р. Дисертація присвячена розробці фізико-хімічних основ технології кадмійвмісних багатошарових покриттів з фотоелектричними властивостями, які можуть бути використані для виготовлення фотоелектричних перетворювачів на їх основі. На підставі термодинамічних розрахунків взаємодії компонентів системи CdCl₂ – NH₃ – NaOH – CS(NH₂)₂ та вивчення кінетичних закономірностей встановлено механізм утворення плівки CdS, що надало змогу керувати процесом осадження шляхом змінення концентрації компонентів системи. Обгрунтовано концентраційні межі компонентів обраної системи та розглянуто вплив легуючих домішок на морфологію отриманих покриттів, фотоелектричні показники отриманих плівок. Проведено дослідження впливу технологічних параметрів на процес осадження кадмійвмісних багатошарових покриттів: температури, рН розчину, концентрації аміаку, хлориду кадмію, тіокарбаміду та часу осадження. Запропонована технологічна схема процесу та реактор для осадження, який дозволяє здійснити процес нанесення плівки з раціональними витратами реагентів та енергоресурсів. Розроблено принципову технологічну схему та розраховано техніко-економічні показники.
The thesis for a candidate’s degree of technical science by specialty 05.17.01 − Technology of inorganic substances. – National Technical University "Kharkov Polytechnic Institute", Kharkov, 2015. The dissertation is developed of technology of cadmium sulfide with the preset properties. The choice of use of cadmium sulfide as the basic component for photoelectric converters use is proved. The design of PEC with working layer of CdS on the basis of a barrier of Shotki is offered. Thermodynamic researches of interaction are conducted in system CdCl₂ – NH₃ – NaOH – CS(NH₂)₂ and kinetic laws are studied, the mechanism of formation of a film of cadmium sulfide is established. Influence of technological parameters on process of reception CdS is studied: temperatures, рН, concentration of additives, durations of process, influence of concentration of components of process on morphology of a surface of received coverings. On the basis of the received data the mathematical model of process of sedimentation is offered. The optimum parameters of conducting process are established. On the basis of the spent researches the design of the reactor. The basic technological scheme is offered and technical and economic indicators are calculated. Successful trial tests of the developed technology have shown a high efficiency.

Daily usage of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) in business life for specific purposes has became much more critical than before since it is sometimes crucial to have wireless connectivity and seamless roaming around the working environment. In this thesis, steps required in order to design and implement a large scale outdoor IEEE 802.11g WLAN will be shown. This WLAN project has been deployed in north of Sweden and target coverage was an open area consisting of a deep pit mine, connecting roads, workshops, offices, dumps and storage areas. All telecommunications equipment used in this project is from the manufacturer Cisco using centralized solution. The special purpose of this project is to collect and analyze a series of coverage measurement data and correlate this data to predict the coverage area. Linux bash scripting and Gnuplot has been used to analyze coverage data. Finally, WRAP spectrum management and radio planning software has been used in modeling and designing of the whole network.

Fault localization is a costly task in the debugging process. Usually, developers analyze failing test cases to search for faults in the programs code. Visualization techniques have been proposed to help developers grasp the source code and focus their attention onto locations more likely to contain bugs. In general, these techniques utilize two-dimensional visualization approaches. We introduce a three-dimentional visual metaphor, called CodeForest, which represents a software as a cacti forest. In the CodeForest, nodes (sets of statements executed in sequence) are thorns, methods are branches, and classes are cacti. Heuristicsbased on the frequency that lines of codes are executed in successful and failing test cases are used to assign suspiciousness values to the elements (thorns, branches, and cacti) of the forest. The new metaphor was implemented as a plug-in targeted to the Eclipse Platform. This plug-in includes the mapping of suspiciousness values to elements of a virtual forest, a parameterized trimmer, which filters elements based on their score or text, and a list of most suspicious methods (also known as \"roadmap\"), to guide the developer on his/her debugging session. An exploratory experiment was conducted; the results indicates that the tool supports developers with and without experience. Users with low or no experience utilized the roadmap and the virtual 3D environment to investigate the defect. More experienced users prefer to use the roadmap as a guide to narrow which parts of the source code should be explored.
Localizar falhas é uma tarefa custosa do processo de depuração. Normalmente, os desenvolvedores analisam casos de teste que falham para procurar por defeitos no código fonte de um programa. Técnicas de visualização têm sido propostas para ajudar os desenvolvedores a entender o código fonte e focar sua atenção nos locais com a maior probabilidade de conterem defeitos. Geralmente, essas técnicas utilizam abordagens de visualização bidimensional. Nesse trabalho é introduzida uma metáfora visual em três dimensões, chamada CodeForest, que representa um programa como uma floresta de cactus. Na CodeForest, nós (conjunto de comandos executados em sequência) são representados como espinhos, métodos como galhos e classes como troncos. Para associar valores de suspeição aos elementos da floresta (espinhos, galhos e troncos) utilizam-se heurísticas, baseadas na frequência com que linhas de código são executadas em casos de teste finalizados com sucesso e com falha. A nova metáfora foi implementada como um complemento da plataforma Eclipse de desenvolvimento de programas. Esse complemento inclui o mapeamento dos valores de suspeição para elementos de uma floresta, uma ferramenta de poda parametrizada - que filtra elementos com base em seu texto e valor de suspeição - e uma lista dos métodos mais suspeitos (conhecida como roteiro) para guiar o desenvolvedor em sua sessão de depuração. Um experimento exploratório foi conduzido e os resultados indicam que a ferramenta apoia a tarefa de depuração tanto de desenvolvedores experientes quanto inexperientes. Usuários com pouca ou nenhuma experiência utilizaram o roteiro e o ambiente virtual 3D para investigar o defeito. Usuários mais experientes preferiram utilizar o roteiro como um guia para restringir quais partes do código fonte deveriam ser exploradas.

Doutoramento em Matemática
Tal como o título indica, esta tese estuda problemas de cobertura com alcance limitado. Dado um conjunto de antenas (ou qualquer outro dispositivo sem fios capaz de receber ou transmitir sinais), o objectivo deste trabalho é calcular o alcance mínimo das antenas de modo a que estas cubram completamente um caminho entre dois pontos numa região. Um caminho que apresente estas características é um itinerário seguro. A definição de cobertura é variável e depende da aplicação a que se destina. No caso de situações críticas como o controlo de fogos ou cenários militares, a definição de cobertura recorre à utilização de mais do que uma antena para aumentar a eficácia deste tipo de vigilância. No entanto, o alcance das antenas deverá ser minimizado de modo a manter a vigilância activa o maior tempo possível. Consequentemente, esta tese está centrada na resolução deste problema de optimização e na obtenção de uma solução particular para cada caso. Embora este problema de optimização tenha sido investigado como um problema de cobertura, é possível estabelecer um paralelismo entre problemas de cobertura e problemas de iluminação e vigilância, que são habitualmente designados como problemas da Galeria de Arte. Para converter um problema de cobertura num de iluminação basta considerar um conjunto de luzes em vez de um conjunto de antenas e submetê-lo a restrições idênticas. O principal tema do conjunto de problemas da Galeria de Arte abordado nesta tese é a 1-boa iluminação. Diz-se que um objecto está 1-bem iluminado por um conjunto de luzes se o invólucro convexo destas contém o objecto, tornando assim este conceito num tipo de iluminação de qualidade. O objectivo desta parte do trabalho é então minimizar o alcance das luzes de modo a manter uma iluminação de qualidade. São também apresentadas duas variantes da 1-boa iluminação: a iluminação ortogonal e a boa !-iluminação. Esta última tem aplicações em problemas de profundidade e visualização de dados, temas que são frequentemente abordados em estatística. A resolução destes problemas usando o diagrama de Voronoi Envolvente (uma variante do diagrama de Voronoi adaptada a problemas de boa iluminação) é também proposta nesta tese.
As the title implies, this thesis studies limited range coverage problems. Given a set of antennas (or any wireless device able to send or receive some sort of signal), the objective of the discussion that follows is to calculate the antennas’ minimum range so that a path between two points within a region is covered by the antennas, a path known as a safe route. The definition of coverage is variable and depends on the applications. In some instances, for example, when monitoring is critical as in the case of fires or military, the definition of coverage necessarily involves the use of multiple antennas to increase the effectiveness of monitoring. However, it is also desirable to extend a network’s lifespan, normally achieved by minimising the antennas’ range. Therefore the focus of this thesis will be the resolution of this dual problem and an affective solution is offered for each case. Although this question has been researched as an issue of coverage, it is also possible to establish a relation between coverage and illumination and visibility, known as Art Gallery problems. To conceptualise coverage problems as Art Gallery problems, all that is needed is to consider a set of lights instead of a set of antennas, which are subject to a similar set of restrictions. The main focus of the Art Gallery problems addressed in this thesis is 1-good illumination. An object is 1-well illuminated if it is fully contained by the convex hull of a set of lights, making this a type of quality illumination. The objective of the discussion that follows is therefore to minimise the lights’ range whilst maintaining a quality illumination. Moreover, two variants of 1-good illumination are also presented: orthogonal good illumination and good ! -illumination. The latter being related to data depth problems and data visualisation that are frequently used in statistics. The resolution of these problems using the Embracing Voronoi diagram (a variant of Voronoi diagrams adapted to good illumination) is also discussed in this thesis.

This research focuses on the problem of determining the location of RFID antennas required to read RFID tags from all items in a facility, such that the number of antennas is minimized. We formulate the problem as a Set Covering optimization problem. We develop a heuristic algorithm for this NP-Complete problem. We also develop a computerized system, RFIDMIN, which enables for the automated calculation of the minimum number and location of RFID antennas, given the size of the facility and antenna specifications. RFIDMIN can be used by companies to implement an effective RFID system at lowest hardware costs.

Verification is a critical phase of the development cycle. It confirms the compliance of a design implementation with its functional specification. Coverage measures the progress of the verification plan. Structural coverage determines the code exercised by the functional tests. Modified Condition Decision Coverage (MC/DC) is a structural coverage type. This thesis is based on a comprehensive study for MC/DC conventions. It provides a new MC/DC test generation algorithm, presents associated MC/DC empirical work from which it draws novel insights into MC/DC utilization as a coverage metric, and investigates the design faults detection strength of MC/DC. The research results have had significant impact on industry. The MC/DC study in hardware verification is motivated by the MC/DC certification requirements for critical software applications, the MC/DC foundation on hardware principles like controllability and observability, and the linear growth of MC/DC test set. A new MC/DC test generation algorithm named OBSRV is developed, implemented, and optimized based on the D-algorithm. It is distinguished from conventional techniques as it is mainly based on logic analysis. The thesis provides the empirical work, and associated results that represent an exhaustive validation of OBSRV. It has identified novel MC/DC insights represented by the minimal MC/DC requirements optimization, the MC/DC compositionality aspects, and the design options for MC/DC fulfillment. The research has had direct impact on industrial MC/DC applications. A major EDA MC/DC product has been completely re-architected, and the verification of an industrial safety critical embedded processor has been guided for MC/DC fulfillment. It demonstrates the feasibility of MC/DC as an applicable solution for structural, and functional coverage by an evaluation that proves the MC/DC detection strength for main design faults in microprocessors. The results motivate the continuity of future research leading to MC/DC adoption as main metric for functional verification coverage closure in hardware, and software domain.

In Ericsson Radio Base Station (RBS) products a very high quality is crucial. To achieve such a high quality, the production test must be capable of detecting all potential faults introduced in the production process. During the production phase it is very important to achieve the maximum coverage possible on a HW implementation. The major test strategies that will be evaluated in this Project will be BSCAN (Boundary Scan Testing), FT (Functional Testing) and AOI (Automated Optical Inspection) and the PCB that will be tested under these test strategies is TCU board. Searching the commerce for a valuable Fault Coverage Analysis tool is the basic step in order to test the PCB. Next, a suitable method for the use of the tool will be reported to Ericsson and recommendations also to Ericsson AB on whether to use the tool or not should be the conclusion of this Project.

In this work, the problem of deploying a team of mobile sensing agents to provide coverage of an environment is addressed. We propose a novel distributed algorithm to generate a sequence of waypoints for each agent, based on intermittent communication between the agents. The algorithm is shown to converge to an equilibrium configuration, while a measure of the environment coverage is shown to be monotonically nondecreasing. To fulfill the task of moving the agents to the designated waypoints, we develop a non-linear control algorithm based on backstepping, as well as a path planning strategy that uses potential field navigation and collision avoidance. All the proposed algorithms are tested in a simulated environment and on real-world aerial robots.

In this thesis, I investigate the role of investor attention in financial markets by examining the media’s coverage of corporate earnings news. The first paper studies the potential impact of information in the financial press by identifying systematic differences between aggregate corporate earnings news coverage in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, and measures of expected coverage based on contemporaneous earnings information flows as reported in JJBIEIS. I find that publication-specific estimates of “excess” aggregate positive or negative coverage exhibit strong serial correlation, consistent with media bias. Furthermore, unexplained negative (positive) weekly coverage predicts positive (negative) returns for small-stock indices and the equal-weighted NYSE, suggesting that the effects of predictability in financial news coverage are economically significant and may be related to informational inefficiency with respect to smaller firms. The second paper examines media coverage decisions to identify the determinants of investor attention with respect to events and firms. Using ex ante predicted probability of media coverage (PMC) with respect to earnings news as a measure of attention in this context, I study the returns experienced by low-attention stocks from 1984 and 2005. As in prior studies, I find high risk-adjusted returns for “neglected” stocks, which appears to be highly consistent with, e.g., Merton’ s (1987) investor recognition hypothesis, or an information risk setting (Easley et al. (2002)). However, in examining the event-specific determinants of media coverage, I find evidence of a significant “negativity bias” in attention: holding other factors constant, bad news is more likely to attract coverage than is good news regarding an otherwise-identical firm. Given recent evidence in the literature regarding stock-price underreaction to low-attention events, this suggests asymmetric investor attention as a potential explanation for an apparent neglected firm premium in the cross-section of stock returns. Consistent with this hypothesis, I find that the excess returns to low-PMC portfolios are attributable to drift in the stock prices of low-attention “good news” firms, while low-attention “bad news” firms appear to be efficiently priced.

With an ever-growing competition among software vendors in supplying customers with tailored, high-quality systems, an emphasis is put on creating products that are well-tested and reliable. During the last decade and a half numerous articles have been published that deal with code coverage and its effect, whether existent or not, on reliability. The last few years have also witnessed an increasing number of software tools for automating the data collection and presentation of code coverage information for applications being tested. In this report we aim at presenting available and frequently used measures of code coverage, the practical applications and typical misconceptions of code coverage and its role in software development nowadays. Then we take a look at the notion of reliability in computer systems and which elements that constitute a software reliability model. With the basics of code coverage and reliability estimation in place, we try to assess the status of the relationship between code coverage and reliability, highlight the arguments for and against its existence and briefly survey a few proposed models for connecting code coverage to reliability. Finally, we examine an open-source tool for automated code coverage analysis, focusing on its implementation of the coverage measures it supports, before assessing the feasibility of integrating a proposed approach for reliability estimation into this software utility.

Wide-coverage parsing is an area that attracts much attention in natural language processing research. This is due to the fact that it is the first step tomany other applications in natural language understanding, such as question answering. Supervised learning using human-labelled data is currently the best performing method. Therefore, there is great demand for annotated data. However, human annotation is very expensive and always, the amount of annotated data is much less than is needed to train well-performing parsers. This is the motivation behind making the best use of data available. Turkish presents a challenge both because syntactically annotated Turkish data is relatively small and Turkish is highly agglutinative, hence unusually sparse at the whole word level. METU-Sabancı Treebank is a dependency treebank of 5620 sentences with surface dependency relations and morphological analyses for words. We show that including even the crudest forms of morphological information extracted from the data boosts the performance of both generative and discriminative parsers, contrary to received opinion concerning English. We induce word-based and morpheme-based CCG grammars from Turkish dependency treebank. We use these grammars to train a state-of-the-art CCG parser that predicts long-distance dependencies in addition to the ones that other parsers are capable of predicting. We also use the correct CCG categories as simple features in a graph-based dependency parser and show that this improves the parsing results. We show that a morpheme-based CCG lexicon for Turkish is able to solve many problems such as conflicts of semantic scope, recovering long-range dependencies, and obtaining smoother statistics from the models. CCG handles linguistic phenomena i.e. local and long-range dependencies more naturally and effectively than other linguistic theories while potentially supporting semantic interpretation in parallel. Using morphological information and a morpheme-cluster based lexicon improve the performance both quantitatively and qualitatively for Turkish. We also provide an improved version of the treebank which will be released by kind permission of METU and Sabancı.

Tasks such as street mapping and security surveillance seek a route that traverses a given space to perform a function. These task functions may involve mapping the space for accurate modeling, sensing the space for unusual activity, or searching the space for objects. When these tasks are performed autonomously by robots, the constraints of the environment must be considered in order to generate more feasible paths. Additionally, performing these tasks in the real world presents the challenge of operating in dynamic, changing environments. This thesis addresses the problem of effective graph coverage with environmental constraints and incomplete prior map information. Prior information about the environment is assumed to be given in the form of a graph. We seek a solution that effectively covers the graph while accounting for space restrictions and online changes. For real-time applications, we seek a complete but efficient solution that has fast re-planning capabilities. For this work, we model the set of coverage problems as arc routing problems. Although these routing problems are generally NP-hard, our approach aims for optimal solutions through the use of low-complexity algorithms in a branch-and-bound framework when time permits and approximations when time restrictions apply. Additionally, we account for environmental constraints by embedding those constraints into the graph. In this thesis, we present algorithms that address the multi-dimensional routing problem and its subproblems and evaluate them on both computer-generated and physical road network data.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-183).
Sensor-networks can today measure physical phenomena at spatial and temporal scales that were not achievable earlier, and have shown promise in monitoring the environment, structures, agricultural fields and so on. A key challenge in sensor-networks is the coordination of four actions across the network: measurement (sensing), communication, motion and computation. The term coverage is applied to the central question of how well a sensor-network senses some phenomenon to make inferences. More formally, a coverage problem involves finding an arrangement of sensors that optimizes a coverage metric. In this thesis we examine coverage in the context of three sensing modalities. The literature on the topic has thus far focused largely on coverage problems with the first modality: static event-detection sensors, which detect purely binary events in their immediate vicinity based on thresholds. However, coverage problems for sensors which measure physical quantities like temperature, pressure, chemical concentrations, light intensity and so on in a network configuration have received limited attention in the literature. We refer to this second modality of sensors as estimation sensors; local estimates from such sensors can be used to reconstruct a field. Third, there has been recent interest in deploying sensors on mobile platforms. Mobility has the effect of increasing the effectiveness of sensing actions. We further classify sensor mobility into incidental and intentional motion. Incidentally mobile sensors move passively under the influence of the environment, for instance, a floating sensor drifting in the sea. We define intentional mobility as the ability to control the location and trajectory of the sensor, for example by mounting it on a mobile robot. We build our analysis on a series of cases. We first analyze coverage and connectivity of a network of floating sensors in rivers using simulations and experimental data, and give guidelines for sensor-network design. Second, we examine intentional mobility and detection sensors.
(cont.) We examine the problem of covering indoor and outdoor pathways with reconfigurable camera sensor-networks. We propose and validate an empirical model for detection behavior of cameras. We propose a distributed algorithm for reconfiguring locations of cameras to maximize detection performance. Finally, we examine more general strategies for the placement of estimation sensors and ask when and where to take samples in order to estimate an unknown spatiotemporal field with tolerable estimation errors. We discuss various classes of error-tolerant sensor arrangements for trigonometric polynomial fields.
by Ajay A. Deshpande.
Ph.D.

Tableau d’honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2015-2016
Tableau d’honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2015-2016
Nous abordons deux problèmes différents et complémentaires : le problème du chemin couvrant (ou CPP) et le problème du chemin de recherche optimal (ou OSP). Le CPP est un défi important en robotique mobile alors que l’OSP est un classique de la théorie de la recherche. Nous effectuons d’abord une revue de littérature qui souligne leurs différences et leurs similitudes du point de vue d’une opération de recherche. Le CPP et l’OSP sont comparés par rapport aux données connues sur la position d’un objet de recherche. Ensuite, nous formalisons une généralisation du problème CPP aux détections imparfaites et distantes nommée CPPIED. Nous présentons un algorithme heuristique efficace qui utilise à la fois la programmation dynamique et une réduction au problème du voyageur de commerce (TSP). Nous appliquons l’algorithme dans le contexte des opérations de déminage sous-marin sur des cartes qui contiennent plus de 21 000 cellules. Nous poursuivons par l’étude d’un nouveau modèle de programmation par contraintes (CP) pour l’OSP pour lequel nous proposons une amélioration de la définition de la fonction objectif. Cette nouvelle définition permet un filtrage plus fort des variables de probabilité prodiguant ainsi une amélioration des performances du modèle. Nous proposons, pour l’OSP, une nouvelle heuristique nommée « détection totale » (ou TD). Les résultats expérimentaux démontrent que notre modèle, utilisé avec l’heuristique TD, est compétitif avec des algorithmes de séparation et d’évaluation (ou branch-and-bound) spécifiques au problème de l’OSP (l’approche CP étant plus générale). Cette dernière observation supporte notre assertion que la CP est un bon outil pour résoudre des problèmes de la théorie de la recherche. Finalement, nous proposons la contrainte de transition de Markov (Mtc) en tant que nouvel outil de modélisation pour simplifier l’implémentation de modèles basés sur les chaînes de Markov. Nous démontrons, tant empiriquement que formellement, que l’arithmétique des intervalles est insuffisante pour l’atteinte de la cohérence de bornes, c’est-à-dire, pour filtrer les variables de probabilité de cette contrainte. Or, l’arithmétique des intervalles est l’outil utilisé par les solveurs CP pour filtrer une Mtc lorsque celle-ci est décomposée en contraintes arithmétiques individuelles. Nous proposons donc un algorithme basé sur la programmation linéaire qui atteint la cohérence de bornes. Du fait que la programmation linéaire est coûteuse en temps de calcul pour un solveur CP lorsqu’utilisée à chaque noeud de l’arbre de recherche, nous proposons aussi une approche intermédiaire basée sur le problème du sac à dos fractionnel. L’utilisation des Mtcs est illustrée sur l’OSP.
Nous abordons deux problèmes différents et complémentaires : le problème du chemin couvrant (ou CPP) et le problème du chemin de recherche optimal (ou OSP). Le CPP est un défi important en robotique mobile alors que l’OSP est un classique de la théorie de la recherche. Nous effectuons d’abord une revue de littérature qui souligne leurs différences et leurs similitudes du point de vue d’une opération de recherche. Le CPP et l’OSP sont comparés par rapport aux données connues sur la position d’un objet de recherche. Ensuite, nous formalisons une généralisation du problème CPP aux détections imparfaites et distantes nommée CPPIED. Nous présentons un algorithme heuristique efficace qui utilise à la fois la programmation dynamique et une réduction au problème du voyageur de commerce (TSP). Nous appliquons l’algorithme dans le contexte des opérations de déminage sous-marin sur des cartes qui contiennent plus de 21 000 cellules. Nous poursuivons par l’étude d’un nouveau modèle de programmation par contraintes (CP) pour l’OSP pour lequel nous proposons une amélioration de la définition de la fonction objectif. Cette nouvelle définition permet un filtrage plus fort des variables de probabilité prodiguant ainsi une amélioration des performances du modèle. Nous proposons, pour l’OSP, une nouvelle heuristique nommée « détection totale » (ou TD). Les résultats expérimentaux démontrent que notre modèle, utilisé avec l’heuristique TD, est compétitif avec des algorithmes de séparation et d’évaluation (ou branch-and-bound) spécifiques au problème de l’OSP (l’approche CP étant plus générale). Cette dernière observation supporte notre assertion que la CP est un bon outil pour résoudre des problèmes de la théorie de la recherche. Finalement, nous proposons la contrainte de transition de Markov (Mtc) en tant que nouvel outil de modélisation pour simplifier l’implémentation de modèles basés sur les chaînes de Markov. Nous démontrons, tant empiriquement que formellement, que l’arithmétique des intervalles est insuffisante pour l’atteinte de la cohérence de bornes, c’est-à-dire, pour filtrer les variables de probabilité de cette contrainte. Or, l’arithmétique des intervalles est l’outil utilisé par les solveurs CP pour filtrer une Mtc lorsque celle-ci est décomposée en contraintes arithmétiques individuelles. Nous proposons donc un algorithme basé sur la programmation linéaire qui atteint la cohérence de bornes. Du fait que la programmation linéaire est coûteuse en temps de calcul pour un solveur CP lorsqu’utilisée à chaque noeud de l’arbre de recherche, nous proposons aussi une approche intermédiaire basée sur le problème du sac à dos fractionnel. L’utilisation des Mtcs est illustrée sur l’OSP.
We tackle two different and complementary problems: the coverage path planning (CPP) and the optimal search path (OSP). The CPP is a main challenge in mobile robotics. The OSP is a classic from search theory. We first present a review of both problems that highlights their differences and their similarities from the point of view of search (coverage) operations. Both problems are positioned on the continuum of the a priori knowledge on the whereabouts of a search object. We then formalize an extension of the CPP we call the CPP with imperfect extended detections (CPPIED). We present a novel and powerful heuristic algorithm that uses dynamic programming and a traveling salesman (TSP) reduction. We apply the method to underwater minesweeping operations on maps with more than 21 thousand cells. We then study a novel constraint programming (CP) model to solve the OSP.We first improve on using the classical objective function found in the OSP definition. Our novel objective function, involving a single modification of the operators used to compute the probability of success of a search plan, leads to a stronger filtering of the probability variables of the model. Then, we propose a novel heuristic for the OSP: the total detection (TD) heuristic. Experiments show that our model, along with the proposed heuristic, is competitive with problem-specific branch-and-bounds supporting the claim that CP is a good technique to solve search theory problems. We finally propose the Markov transition constraint (Mtc) as a novel modeling tool in CP to simplify the implementation of models based on Markov chains. We prove, both empirically and theoretically, that interval arithmetic is insufficient to filter the probability variables of a single Mtc, i.e., to enforce bounds consistency on these variables. Interval arithmetic is the only available tool to filter an Mtc when it is decomposed into individual arithmetic constraints. We thus propose an algorithm based on linear programming which is proved to enforce bounds consistency. Since linear programming is computationally expensive to use at each node of the search tree of a CP solver, we propose an in-between solution based on a fractional knapsack filtering. The Mtc global constraint usage is illustrated on a CP model of the OSP.
We tackle two different and complementary problems: the coverage path planning (CPP) and the optimal search path (OSP). The CPP is a main challenge in mobile robotics. The OSP is a classic from search theory. We first present a review of both problems that highlights their differences and their similarities from the point of view of search (coverage) operations. Both problems are positioned on the continuum of the a priori knowledge on the whereabouts of a search object. We then formalize an extension of the CPP we call the CPP with imperfect extended detections (CPPIED). We present a novel and powerful heuristic algorithm that uses dynamic programming and a traveling salesman (TSP) reduction. We apply the method to underwater minesweeping operations on maps with more than 21 thousand cells. We then study a novel constraint programming (CP) model to solve the OSP.We first improve on using the classical objective function found in the OSP definition. Our novel objective function, involving a single modification of the operators used to compute the probability of success of a search plan, leads to a stronger filtering of the probability variables of the model. Then, we propose a novel heuristic for the OSP: the total detection (TD) heuristic. Experiments show that our model, along with the proposed heuristic, is competitive with problem-specific branch-and-bounds supporting the claim that CP is a good technique to solve search theory problems. We finally propose the Markov transition constraint (Mtc) as a novel modeling tool in CP to simplify the implementation of models based on Markov chains. We prove, both empirically and theoretically, that interval arithmetic is insufficient to filter the probability variables of a single Mtc, i.e., to enforce bounds consistency on these variables. Interval arithmetic is the only available tool to filter an Mtc when it is decomposed into individual arithmetic constraints. We thus propose an algorithm based on linear programming which is proved to enforce bounds consistency. Since linear programming is computationally expensive to use at each node of the search tree of a CP solver, we propose an in-between solution based on a fractional knapsack filtering. The Mtc global constraint usage is illustrated on a CP model of the OSP.

In this thesis, three versions of the IP/$O\sb2$-chains coverage criterion, namely the original IP/$O\sb2$-chains coverage criterion, applicable IP/$O\sb2$-chains coverage criterion and subdomain-based IP/$O\sb2$-chains coverage criterion, are compared to the other control and data-flow-oriented software testing criteria under "strictly includes" and "properly covers" relations. The precise positions of these three versions of the IP/$O\sb2$-chains coverage criterion in three hierarchies are given. Then, a new version of IP/$O\sb{n}$-chains coverage is defined. It is proved that: (i) Applicable new IP/$O\sb2$-chains coverage criterion strictly includes applicable all-uses criterion; (ii) For any given program P, there exists a number n such that subdomain-based new IP/$O\sb{n}$-chains coverage criterion covers subdomain-based all-uses criterion; (iii) For any given program P, there exists a numbern such that for each IP/$O\sb{j}$-chain c, if one duplicates the subdomain of c l(c) times, where $j\leq n$ and l(c) is the length of c, then subdomain-based new IP/$O\sb{n}$-chains coverage criterion is better than subdomain all-uses criterion under measure M; (iv) Subdomain-based new IP/$O\sb{n}$-chains coverage criterion and subdomain-based required k-tuples$\sp+$ criterion are incomparable in "universally properly covers" relation; (v) For any given program P, there exists a number n such that for each IP/$O\sb{j}$-chain c, if one duplicates the subdomain of c m(c) times, where $j\leq n$ and m(c) is the total number of df-chains on c, then subdomain-based new IP/$O\sb{n}$-chains coverage criterion properly covers the subdomain-based required k-tuples$\sp+$ criterion.

An area coverage control law in cooperation with reinforcement learning techniques is proposed for deploying multiple autonomous agents in a two-dimensional planar area. A scalar field characterizes the risk density in the area to be covered yielding nonuniform distribution of agents while providing optimal coverage. This problem has traditionally been addressed in the literature to date using locational optimization and gradient descent techniques, as well as proportional and proportional-derivative controllers. In most cases, agents' actuator energy required to drive them in optimal configurations in the workspace is not considered. Here the maximum coverage is achieved with minimum actuator energy required by each agent. Similar to existing coverage control techniques, the proposed algorithm takes into consideration time-varying risk density. These density functions represent the probability of an event occurring (e.g., the presence of an intruding target) at a certain location or point in the workspace indicating where the agents should be located. To this end, a coverage control algorithm using reinforcement learning that moves the team of mobile agents so as to provide optimal coverage given the density functions as they evolve over time is being proposed. Area coverage is modeled using Centroidal Voronoi Tessellation (CVT) governed by agents. Based on [1,2] and [3], the application of Centroidal Voronoi tessellation is extended to a dynamic changing harbour-like environment. The proposed multi-agent area coverage control law in conjunction with reinforcement learning techniques is implemented in a distributed manner whereby the multi-agent team only need to access information from adjacent agents while simultaneously providing dynamic target surveillance for single and multiple targets and feedback control of the environment. This distributed approach describes how automatic flocking behaviour of a team of mobile agents can be achieved by leveraging the geometrical properties of centroidal Voronoi tessellation in area coverage control while enabling multiple targets tracking without the need of consensus between individual agents. Agent deployment using a time-varying density model is being introduced which is a function of the position of some unknown targets in the environment. A nonlinear derivative of the error coverage function is formulated based on the single-integrator agent dynamics. The agent, aware of its local coverage control condition, learns a value function online while leveraging the same from its neighbours. Moreover, a novel computational adaptive optimal control methodology based on work by [4] is proposed that employs the approximate dynamic programming technique online to iteratively solve the algebraic Riccati equation with completely unknown system dynamics as a solution to linear quadratic regulator problem. Furthermore, an online tuning adaptive optimal control algorithm is implemented using an actor-critic neural network recursive least-squares solution framework. The work in this thesis illustrates that reinforcement learning-based techniques can be successfully applied to non-uniform coverage control. Research combining non-uniform coverage control with reinforcement learning techniques is still at an embryonic stage and several limitations exist. Theoretical results are benchmarked and validated with related works in area coverage control through a set of computer simulations where multiple agents are able to deploy themselves, thus paving the way for efficient distributed Voronoi coverage control problems.

This thesis analyzes rape coverage in a Grahamstown newspaper, Grocott’s Mail. Critical discourse analysis is used to discuss and analyze articles about rape that appear in Grocott’s Mail between October 14th 2008 and October 29th 2009. Drawing on existing literature on ‘rape myths’ in media coverage of rape, this thesis argues that Grocott’s Mail perpetuates racial and gender stereotypes through the way in which it reports on rape. While not all of the articles included in the analysis use rape myths, most use one or more when discussing rape incidents. Specifically, Grocott’s Mail tends to use rape myths that blame the victim for the rape and de-emphasize the role of the perpetrator in the rape. This is problematic as it sustains existing racial and gender inequalities.

Test coverage is an important parameter of analyzing how well the product is being tested in any domain within the IT industry. Unit testing is one of the important processes that have gained even more popularity with the rise in Test driven development (TDD) culture.This degree project, conducted at NASDAQ Technology AB, analyzes the existing unit tests in one of the products, and compares various coverage models in terms of quality. Further, the study examines the factors that affect code coverage, presents the best practices for unit testing, and a proven test process used in a real world project.To conclude, recommendations are given to NASDAQ based on the findings of this study and industry standards.
Testtäckning är en viktig parameter för att analysera hur väl en produkt är testad inom alla domäner i IT-industrin. Enhetstestning är en av de viktiga processerna som har ökat sin popularitet med testdriven utveckling. Detta examensarbete, utfört på NASDAQ Technology AB, analyserar de befintliga testen i en av produkterna, och jämför olika kvalitetsmodeller. Vidare undersöker undersökningen de faktorer som påverkar koddekning, presenterar de bästa metoderna för enhetstestning och en beprövad testprocess som används i ett verkligt världsprojekt. Avslutningsvis ges rekommendationer till NASDAQ baserat på resultaten från denna studie och industristandarder.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (January 11, 2006) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2008.
"May 2008." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree [of] Master of Science in Industrial Engineering." "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." Major professor: Tali Freed, Ph.D. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-49). Also available online and on microfiche (1 sheet).

Spinal fusion is used to treat diseases or disorders of the spine by fusing together two or more vertebrae. Two associated risks with spinal fusion are infection and blood loss. Administration of tranexamic acid is used to prevent blood loss, and transfusions are given following blood loss. Surgical site infections are prevented with vancomycin powder spread into the surgical wound, while established infections are treated by debridement and delivery of antibiotics for 4 to 6 weeks. The present research explored an alternate method to prevent and treat blood loss or infection in spinal fusion. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres was used to encapsulate vancomycin for 42 days to treat infection. Vancomycin encapsulated in gelatin microspheres had a controlled release of 7 days to prevent infection. Tranexamic acid was dissolved into phosphate-buffered saline or carboxymethylcellulose to provide a release of 6 hours to prevent blood loss after surgery. The microspheres and tranexamic acid were delivered to a target region using a water based spray system. The spray system demonstrated the delivery and distribution of drugs to a target region. The microsphere spray system is capable of spraying drugs onto a target region to prevent or treat blood loss and infection over time.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1999.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-160 ).
With the rapid increase in the number of transistors that can be fabricated on a single chip, digital systems have become very complex. The increase in the complexity of the digital systems, and the desire to achieve faster time-to-market has made the use of the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools indispensable. Designers typically start with writing behavioral or Register-Transfer level (RTL) description of the system functionality using a Hardware Description Language (HDL). After that they transform the HDL description to the gate-level, transistor level, and finally generate mask-level layout which is used to manufacture the chip. CAD tools are used extensively to execute transformations between different levels of abstraction. They also help to optimize the design so as to achieve better performance and meet different constraints relating to speed, power consumption, and area. In order to have a working chip, the designer has to make sure that the original HDL description is correct and also that no error is introduced during transformations to the lower levels. Currently validation of the initial HDL description and verifying the design in different levels of abstraction against each other is a major bottleneck in the design process. Because the HDL description is usually the first description of the design, simulation is the primary methodology for validating it. Simulation-based verification is necessarily incomplete because it is not computationally feasible to exhaustively simulate designs. It is important therefore to quantitatively measure the degree of verification coverage of the design. Simulation-based validation has suffered from a disconnect between the metrics used to measure the coverage of a set of simulation vectors and the vector generation process. This disconnect has resulted in the simulation of virtually endless streams of vectors which achieve enhanced coverage only infrequently. Another drawback has been that most coverage metrics proposed have either been too simplistic or too inefficient to compute. This thesis provides the details of an efficient method to compute an Observability-based Code COverage Metric (OCCOM) that can be used while simulating complex HDL designs. It also introduces a new method for generating test vectors under any coverage metric. In this thesis the problem of generating test vectors for both combinational and sequential circuits under OCCOM is discussed. A prototype system which generates test vectors under the OCCOM coverage metric has been built. The system can be used during the design process, as well as during post-design debugging to validate the initial HDL description.
by Farzan Fallah.
Ph.D.

CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO
Este trabalho aborda a utilização de repetidores na implantação de sistemas móveis celulares. Esta técnica permite estender a cobertura dos sistemas móveis celulares com baixo custo e curto tempo de implantação a áreas ou ambientes onde a utilização de estações rádio base seria dispendiosa ou demorada.O impacto da inclusão deste elemento na interface rádio é detalhadamente analisada visando obter uma metodologia para o seu dimensionamento e para o cálculo das degradações produzidas na rede. É apresentada ainda uma metodologia completa para projetos com repetidores e descrita sua aplicação na implantação de um sistema GSM.
This work deals with the use of active repeaters in the planning and deployment of cellular mobile systems. This technique allows the extension of the coverage of the cellular systems, with low cost and short building time, to areas where the use of radio base stations would be costly or difficult to implement.The impact of the inclusion of the active element in the radio interface is analyzed in full detail to provide methods for the calculation of the degradations produced in the network. A complete design methodology for projects with repeaters is also presented, as well as a case study for a GSM system.

Introduction: Software testing is a very important activity which assures the quality of the software under test. It becomes crucial in safety-critical systems, where an unexpected behavior of the software can even cause loss of human life or environmental disasters. However, in such complex systems it becomes infeasible to test all possible software scenarios for possible faults. Experience shows that software faults, which can cause unexpected software behavior, are caused by the interactions of variables of the tests. Combinatorial testing is the technique which focuses on the variable interactions of the tests and aims to reduce the number of tests needed to cover all software scenarios while still preserving a high fault detection rate. Background: Manual testing is the technique used to assure software quality in Bombardier Transportation AB, a Swedish company whose focus is on rail transport and development of trains. Since this process depends on the skills of the engineers, it can result in a large portion of tests not created and consequently in a large number of scenarios uncovered with tests. Therefore, combinatorial testing technique is used to measure the combinatorial coverage of these tests created from experienced engineers. Many comparisons of manual testing and other testing techniques in terms of test coverage, code coverage or mutation analysis. To the best of our knowledge there are no other studies in literature that have measured the combinatorial coverage of manual tests designed from experienced engineers, for different strength interactions of the variables of the tests nor other available tools that generate the number of missing tests to achieve full combinatorial coverage for specific interactions. Aim: The goal of this thesis is to answer the two research questions: RQ1. What is the combinatorial coverage achieved by tests manually created by experienced engineers in industry? RQ2. Can the effectiveness of manually created tests be improved in terms of combinatorial coverage using combinatorial testing? Method: In this thesis we investigate the combinatorial coverage of manually created tests by engineers working in industry and the implications of using combinatorial testing in practice. The Combinatorial Coverage Measurement2(CCM) NIST tool is used to measure the test coverage achieved. The research questions are answered by the following steps: 1) Review the scientific literature for related work, 2) Refine thesis research questions based on the previous step, 3) Propose the case study design and perform the measurements needed for data analysis, 4) and the results are analyzed and discussed in terms of test efficiency (i.e., number of test cases) and effectiveness (i.e., achieved combinatorial coverage). Results: The 2-way interaction combinatorial coverage achieved by manual tests is 78.6% on average, 57% for 3-way combinatorial coverage, 40.2% for 4-way combinatorial coverage, 20.2% for 5-way combinatorial coverage and 13% for 6-way combinatorial coverage. Full combinatorial coverage can be achieved for 2-way and 3-way interactions by adding eight and 66 missing tests on average, respectively. For 4-way interactions full combinatorial coverage can achieved by adding 658 missing tests. For 5-way and 6-way interactions full combinatorial coverage can be achieved by adding 5163 and 6170 missing tests on average respectively. Conclusion: The combinatorial coverage decreases as the strength of interactions increases. The effectiveness of the tests can be improved for 2-way and 3-way interactions and fully or partially improved for 4-way interactions, depending on the decision of engineers to add all missing tests or part of them, since the number of missing tests is increasing significantly, thus resulting in a very large number of tests to be added. It is not particularly efficient to improve test effectiveness by augmenting manual tests cases using combinatorial testing for higher strength interactions, since in most of the tests suites we studied one would need to generate additional 10.000 missing tests. This is explained by the exponential growth of the number of variable combination for such interactions.

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Elétrica, Florianópolis, 2016.
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Os veículos da atualidade vêm integrando um número crescente de eletrônica embarcada, com o objetivo de permitir uma experiência mais segura aos motoristas. Logo, a garantia da segurança física é um requisito que precisa ser observada por completo durante o processo de desenvolvimento. O padrão ISO 26262 provê medidas para garantir que esses requisitos não sejam negligenciados. Injeção de falhas é fortemente recomendada quando da verificação do funcionamento dos mecanismos de segurança implementados, assim como sua capacidade de cobertura associada ao diagnóstico de falhas existentes. A análise exaustiva não é obrigatória, mas evidências de que o máximo esforço foi feito para acurar a cobertura de diagnóstico precisam ser apresentadas, principalmente durante a avalição dos níveis de segurança associados a arquitetura implementada em hardware. Estes níveis dão suporte às alegações de que o projeto obedece às métricas de segurança da integridade física exigida em aplicações automotivas. Os níveis de integridade variam de A à D, sendo este último o mais rigoroso. Essa Tese explora o estado-da-arte em soluções de verificação, e tem por objetivo construir uma metodologia que permita acelerar a verificação da cobertura de diagnóstico alcançado. Diferentemente de outras técnicas voltadas à aceleração de injeção de falhas, a metodologia proposta utiliza uma plataforma de hardware dedicada à verificação, com o intuito de maximizar o desempenho relativo a simulação de falhas. Muitos aspectos relativos a ISO 26262 são observados de forma que a presente contribuição possa ser apreciada no segmento automotivo. Por fim, uma arquitetura OpenRISC é utilizada para confirmar os resultados alcançados com essa solução proposta pertencente ao estado-da-arte.

Abstract : Modern vehicles are integrating a growing number of electronics to provide a safer experience for the driver. Therefore, safety is a non-negotiable requirement that must be considered through the vehicle development process. The ISO 26262 standard provides guidance to ensure that such requirements are implemented. Fault injection is highly recommended for the functional verification of safety mechanisms or to evaluate their diagnostic coverage capability. An exhaustive analysis is not required, but evidence of best effort through the diagnostic coverage assessment needs to be provided when performing quantitative evaluation of hardware architectural metrics. These metrics support that the automotive safety integrity level ? ranging from A (lowest) to D (strictest) levels ? was obeyed. This thesis explores the most advanced verification solutions in order to build a methodology to accelerate the diagnostic coverage assessment. Different from similar techniques for fault injection acceleration, the proposed methodology does not require any modification of the design model to enable acceleration. Many functional safety requisites in the ISO 26262 are considered thus allowing the contribution presented to be a suitable solution for the automotive segment. An OpenRISC architecture is used to confirm the results achieved by this state-of-the-art solution.

This dissertation investigates how to plan paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for the task of covering an environment. Three increasingly complex coverage problems based on the environment that needs to be covered are studied. The dissertation starts with a 2D point coverage problem where the UAV needs to visit a set of sites on the ground plane by flying on a fixed altitude plane parallel to the ground. The UAV has limited battery capacity which may make it infeasible to visit all the points. A novel symbiotic UAV and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) system where the UGV acts as a mobile recharging station is proposed. A practical, efficient algorithm for solving this problem using Generalized Traveling Salesperson Problem (GTSP) solver is presented. Then the algorithm is extended to a coverage problem that covers 2D regions on the ground with a UAV that can operate in fixed-wing or multirotor mode. The algorithm is demonstrated through proof-of-concept experiments. Then this algorithm is applied to covering 2D regions, not all of which lie on the same plane. This is motivated by bridge inspection application, where the UAV is tasked with visually inspecting planar regions on the bridge. Finally, a general version of the problem where the UAV is allowed to fly in complete 3D space and the environment to be covered is in 3D as well is presented. An algorithm that clusters viewpoints on the surface of a 3D structure and has an UAV autonomously plan online paths to visit all viewpoints is presented. These online paths are re-planned in real time as the UAV obtains new information on the structure and strives to obtain an optimal 3D coverage path.
Doctor of Philosophy
This dissertation investigates how to plan paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Three increasingly complex coverage problems based on the environment that needs to be covered are studied. The dissertation starts with a 2D point coverage problem where the UAV needs to visit a set of sites on the ground by flying at a fixed altitude. The UAV has limited battery capacity which may make it impossible to visit all the points. A novel symbiotic UAV and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) system where the UGV acts as a mobile recharging station is proposed. A practical, efficient algorithm for solving this problem using Generalized Traveling Salesperson Problem (GTSP) solver is presented. Then the algorithm is extended to coverage of 2D regions on the ground with a hybrid UAV. The algorithm is demonstrated through proof-of-concept experiments. Then this algorithm is applied to covering 2D regions on 3D structures. This is motivated by bridge inspection application, where the UAV is tasked with visually inspecting regions on the bridge. Finally, a general version of the problem where the UAV is allowed to fly in 3D space and the environment to be covered is in 3D as well is presented. An algorithm that clusters points on the surface of a 3D structure and has an UAV autonomously plan online paths to visit all viewpoints is presented. These online paths are re-planned in real time as the UAV obtains new information on the structure and strives to obtain an optimal 3D coverage path.

We present an efficient algorithm for solving an interval coverage problem. Given n intervals of the same length on a line L and a line segment B on L, we want to move the intervals along L such that every point of B is covered by at least one interval and the sum of the moving distances of all intervals is minimized. As a fundamental computational geometry problem, it has applications in mobile sensor barrier coverage in wireless sensor networks. The previous work gave an O(n2) time algorithm for it. In this thesis, by discovering many interesting observations and developing new algorithmic techniques, we present an O(nlogn) time algorithm for this problem. We also show that Ω(n log n) is the lower bound for the time complexity. Therefore, our algorithm is optimal. Further, our observations and algorithmic techniques may be useful for solving other related problems.

The role of analysts in corporate governance has been examined extensively in the accounting literature. Two conflicting representations of the influence of analysts have emerged. Analysts are either viewed as external monitors of corporate behavior, thereby reducing agency costs; or they are viewed as exerting additional pressure on management to meet earnings forecasts, which may contribute to aggressive corporate behavior. Studies exist that examine the impact of analyst coverage in a financial reporting context. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of analysts in the corporate tax reporting context. This dissertation examines the impact of analyst coverage on corporate tax aggressiveness using a cross-section of publicly traded firms between 1992 and 2006. Permanent discretionary book-tax differences are used to proxy for tax aggressiveness. The relation is examined using ordinary least squares regression as well as two-stage least squares regression using expected coverage and inclusion in the S&P 500 index as instrumented variables to account for the endogeneity of analyst coverage selections. Additional analyses investigate the impact of analyst characteristics: experience as an analyst, experience covering a specific firm and identification as a top analyst. Results indicate that analyst coverage is associated with lower levels of tax aggressiveness. This finding suggests that analysts serve as external monitors of corporate tax behavior. In addition, more experienced analysts are associated with lower levels of tax aggressiveness indicating an improvement in monitoring ability with experience. Analysts identified as All-American analysts by Institutional Investor magazine are associated with higher levels of tax aggressiveness. This result suggests that top analysts may view aggressive tax behavior as a wealth creation tool for firms.
Ph. D.

Many scholars have noted the increasingly widespread combination of politically-relevant information and entertaining or sensational media formats and presentational styles over the past several decades, falling broadly under the umbrella term of ‘infotainment.’ However, in spite of this burgeoning infotainment literature very little research has been done on the nature and dynamics of infotainment within the Canadian context. This is especially true of research on infotainment within Canada’s traditional news media outlets. To being filling this gap, this study undertakes a mixed-methods content analysis of Canadian newspapers’ coverage of the 2019 federal election to evaluate the scope and nature of infotainment therein. Building off of a systematic review and mapping of the existing infotainment literature, this study develops a comprehensive conceptual and analytical framework for defining and evaluating infotainment characteristics within ‘hard news’ coverage. The quantitative and qualitative results are outlined in detail before being evaluated for their potential implications on citizens’ information processing and political knowledge, as well as some broader evaluations of potential implications for Canadian politics. These ethico-political considerations are developed by drawing on insights from a number of literatures, including political psychology and decision-making, strategic voting, and broader media and infotainment research.

Test coverage criteria introduces metrics to measure the adequacy of a test suite as well as defined rules for performing software testing. This makes it possibly to formally define requirements for testing in various industries where software quality is essential, such as in aviation. This bachelor thesis aims to study the effectiveness of 11 different coverage criteria in two ways. Firstly how effective they are at finding faults and secondly their cost effectiveness. Test cases were created for each individual criteria for three different programs. The effectiveness of these test cases was then measured using mutation analysis. The results revealed that the scale of the experiment was too small to truly draw any conclusions regarding effectiveness. It was however shown that due to the “test noise” effect, the effectiveness of the test criteria can differ notably. It was also shown that test coverage criteria alone may not be sufficient in order to perform efficient testing.