Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Least Pth'

This thesis presents a study of impedance optimisation of active microstrip patch antennas to multiple frequency points. A single layered aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna has been optimised to match the source reflection coefficient of a transistor in designing an active antenna. The active aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna was optimised to satisfy Global Positioning System (GPS) frequency specifications. A rudimentary aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna consists of a rectangular antenna element etched on the top surface of two dielectric substrates. The substrates are separated by a ground plane and a microstrip feed is etched on the bottom surface. A rectangular aperture in the ground plane provides coupling between the feed and the antenna element. This type of antenna, which conveniently isolates any circuit at the feed from the antenna element, is suitable for integrated circuit design and is simple to fabricate. An active antenna design directly couples an antenna to an active device, therefore saving real estate and power. This thesis focuses on designing an aperture coupled patch antenna directly coupled to a low noise amplifier as part of the front end of a GPS receiver. In this work an in-house software package, dubbed ACP by its creator Dr Rod Waterhouse, for calculating aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna performance parameters was linked to HP-EEsof, a microwave computer aided design and simulation package by Hewlett-Packard. An ANSI C module in HP-EEsof was written to bind the two packages. This process affords the client the benefit of powerful analysis tools offered in HP-EEsof and the fast analysis of ACP for seamless system design. Moreover, the optimisation algorithms in HP-EEsof were employed to investigate which algorithms are best suited for optimising patch antennas. The active antenna design presented in this study evades an input matching network, which is accomplished by designing the antenna to represent the desired source termination of a transistor. It has been demonstrated that a dual-band microstrip patch antenna can be successfully designed to match the source reflection coefficient, avoiding the need to insert a matching network. Maximum power transfer in electrical circuits is accomplished by matching the impedance between entities, which is generally acheived with the use of a matching network. Passive matching networks employed in amplifier design generally consist of discrete components up to the low GHz frequency range or distributed elements at greater frequencies. The source termination for a low noise amplifier will greatly influence its noise, gain and linearity which is controlled by designing a suitable input matching network. Ten diverse search methods offered in HP-EEsof were used to optimise an active aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna. This study has shown that the algorithms based on the randomised search techniques and the Genetic algorithm provide the most robust performance. The optimisation results were used to design an active dual-band antenna.

The present thesis is devoted to the study of path probability of random motion on the basis of an extension of Hamiltonian/Lagrangian mechanics to stochastic dynamics. The path probability is first investigated by numerical simulation for Gaussian stochastic motion of non dissipative systems. This ideal dynamical model implies that, apart from the Gaussian random forces, the system is only subject to conservative forces. This model can be applied to underdamped real random motion in the presence of friction force when the dissipated energy is negligible with respect to the variation of the potential energy. We find that the path probability decreases exponentially with increasing action, i.e., P(A) ~ eˉγA, where γ is a constant characterizing the sensitivity of the action dependence of the path probability, the action is given by A = ∫T0 Ldt, a time integral of the Lagrangian L = K-V over a fixed time period T, K is the kinetic energy and V is the potential energy. This result is a confirmation of the existence of a classical analogue of the Feynman factor eiA/ħ for the path integral formalism of quantum mechanics of Hamiltonian systems. The above result is then extended to real random motion with dissipation. For this purpose, the least action principle has to be generalized to damped motion of mechanical systems with a unique well defined Lagrangian function which must have the usual simple connection to Hamiltonian. This has been done with the help of the following Lagrangian L = K - V - Ed, where Ed is the dissipated energy. By variational calculus and numerical simulation, we proved that the action A = ∫T0 Ldt is stationary for the optimal paths determined by Newtonian equation. More precisely, the stationarity is a minimum for underdamped motion, a maximum for overdamped motion and an inflexion for the intermediate case. On this basis, we studied the path probability of Gaussian stochastic motion of dissipative systems. It is found that the path probability still depends exponentially on Lagrangian action for the underdamped motion, but depends exponentially on kinetic action A = ∫T0 Kdt for the overdamped motion.

Two general goals were raised in this thesis: First, to establish a PLS model for patent value and to investigate causality relationships among variables that determine the patent value; second, to investigate the performance of Partial Least Squares (PLS) Path Modelling with Mode C inthe context of patent value models. This thesis is organized in 10 chapters. Chapter 1 presents an introduction to the thesis that includes the objectives, research scope and the document’s structure. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the different approaches for patent value from the perspective of technological change. Definitions related to patent documents and patent indicators are provided. Chaper 3 reports on patent sample descriptions. We present criteria to retrieve data, the procedure for calculating patent indicators, and a statistical data description. Chapter 4 provides an introduction to structural equation models (SEMs) including origins, basic background and recent developments. In addition, it provides guidelines for model specification and modelling process for SEMs. Special emphasis is placed on determining the reflective or formative nature of measurement models. Chapter 5 puts forward the main PLS algorithms: NIPALS, PLS Regression and PLS Path Modelling. We present two path modelling implementations: Lohmöller and Wold’s procedures. Additionally, insights are given on procedure sensitivity to starting weight values and weighting schemes; algorithm properties, such as consistency and consistency at large; and convergence. We briefly review some PLS Path Modelling extensions and relationships with other procedures. The chapter ends by describing validation techniques. Chapter 6 provides evidence about the accuracy and precision of PLS Path Modelling with Mode C to recover true values in SEMs with few indicators per construct. Monte Carlo simulations and computational experiments are carried out to study the performance of the algorithm. Chapter 7 addresses the formulation and estimation of patent value models. This entails the identification and definition of observable and unobservable variables, the determination of blocks of manifest variables and structural relationships, the specification of a first- and a second-order models of patent value, and the models’ estimation by PLS Path Modelling. In Chapter 8, the evolution of patent value over time using longitudinal SEMs is investigated. Two set-ups are explored. The first longitudinal model includes time-dependent manifest variables and the second includes time-dependent unobservable variables. The SEMs are estimated using PLS Path Modelling. In Chapter 9, there is a description of a Two-Step PLS Path Modelling with Mode C (TsPLS) procedure to study nonlinear and interaction effects among formative constructs. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to generate data and to determine the accuracy and precision of this approach to recover true values. This chapter includes an application of the TsPLS algorithm to patent value models. Finally, in Chapter 10, we provide a summary of conclusions and future researchs. The main contribution of this thesis is to set-up a PLS model for patent value, and around this issue, we have also contributed in two main areas: Contributions to the field of Technological Change are comprised of: (1) Evidence on the role of the knowledge stock, technological scope and international scope as determinants of patent value and technological usefulness. A stable pattern of path coefficients was found across samples in different time periods. (2) To conceptualize the patent value as a potential and a recognized value for intangible assets. It was also shown that the potential value of patent is small compared to the value that is given later. (3) Evidence for the importance of considering the longitudinal nature of the indicators in the patent value problem, especially for forward citations, which are the most widely used indicator of patent value. (4) To introduce a multidimensional perspective of the patent valuation problem. This novel approach may offer a robust understanding of the different varia bles that determine patent value. Contributions to the field of PLS Path Modelling are comprised of: (5) Empirical evidence on the performance of PLS Path Modelling with Mode C. If properly implemented, the procedure can adequately capture some of the complex dynamic relationships involved in models. Our research shows that PLS Path Modelling with Mode C performs according to the theoretical framework established for PLS procedures and PLS-models (Wold, 1982; Krämer, 2006; Hanafi, 2007; Dijkstra, 2010). (6) Empirical evidence for the consistency at large of the PLS Path Modelling with Mode A. (7) Empirical evidence for formative outer models with few manifest variables. (8) Empirical evidence on the performance of a Two-Step PLS Path Modelling with Mode C procedure to estimate nonlinear and interaction effects among formative constructs.
Dos objetivos general fueron planteados en esta tesis. Primero, establacer un modelo PLS para el valor de las patentes e investigar las relaciones de causalidad entre las variables que determinan el valor de las patentes. Segundo, investigar el desempeño del procedimiento Partial Least Squares (PLS) Path Modelling con Modo C en el contexto de los modelos de valor de las patentes. La tesis es organizada en 10 capítulos. El Capítulo 1 presenta una introducción a la tesis que incluye los objetivos, el alcance de la investigación y la estructura del documento. El Capítulo 2 entrega una presentación general de los diferentes enfoques para valoración de patentes desde una perspectiva del cambio tecnológico. También se entregan las definiciones necesarias relacionadas con los documentos e indicadores de patentes. El Capítulo 3 describe la muestra de patentes usada en esta investigación. Se presentan los criterios utilizados para recuperar los datos, el procedimiento seguido para calcular los indicadores de patentes y la descripción estadística de la muestra. El Capítulo 4 provee una introducción a los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (SEMs) incluyendo orígenes, antecedentes básicos y desarrollos recientes. Además se entregan los lineamientos para la especificación de los modelos y el proceso de modelamiento para SEMs. Este capítulo discute con especial énfasis la determinación de la naturaleza reflectiva o formativa de los modelos de medida. El Capítulo 5 presenta los principales algoritmos PLS: NIPALS, Regresión PLS y PLS Path Modelling. Se presentan dos implementaciones de PLS Path Modelling: los procedimientos de Lohmöller y Wold. Adicionalmente, se analyzan resultados previos relacionados con: la sensibilidad del procedimiento al valor inicial de los vectores de pesos y el esquema de ponderación, y las propiedades del algoritmo, tales como consistencia, consistencia “at large” y convergencia. También brevemente se revisan algunas extensiones del procedimiento y su relación con otros métodos. El capítulo termina describiendo las técnicas de validación. El Capítulo 6 provee evidencia acerca de la exactitud y precisión con que PLS Path Modelling con Modo C recupera valores verdaderos en SEMs con pocos indicadores por constructo. Simulaciones Monte Carlo y experimentos computacionales son llevados a cabo para estudiar el rendimiento del algoritmo. El Capítulo 7 trata la formulación y estimación de los modelos de valoración de patentes. Esto comprende la identificación y definición de las variables observables y no observables, la determinación de los bloques de variables manifiestas y las relaciones estructurales, la especificación de los modelos de primer y segundo orden del valor de las patentes y la estimación de los mismos con PLS Path Modelling. En el Capítulo 8, la evolución del valor de las patentes a través del tiempo es investigado usando SEMs longitudinales. Dos set-ups son explorados. El primer modelo longitudinal considera variables manifiestas dependientes del tiempo y el segundo incluye variables latentes dependientes del tiempo. Los SEMs son estimados usando PLS Path Modelling. En el Capítulo 9, el procedimiento Two-Step PLS Path Modelling con Modo C (TsPLS) es implementado para estudiar los efectos no lineales y de interacción entre constructos formativos. Simulaciones Monte Carlo son llevadas a cabo para generar datos y determinar la exactitud y precisión con que este enfoque recupera valores verdaderos. Este capítulo incluye una aplicación del procedimiento a los modelos de patentes. Finalmente, el Capítulo 10 provee un resumen de las conclusiones y lineamientos para futuras investigaciones. La principal contribución de esta tesis es proponer modelos PLS para el valor de las patentes, y alrededor de este objetivo, nosotros hemos también contribuido en dos áreas principales: Contribuciones en el área del Cambio Tecnológico comprenden: (1) Evidencia empírica del rol del stock de conocimiento, el alcance tecnológico y el alcance internacional como determinantes del valor de las patentes y la utilidad tecnológica. Un patrón estable de coeficientes de trayectoria fue encontrado al estimar los modelos con muestras en diferentes periodos de tiempo. (2) Conceptualizar el valor de las patentes en un valor potencial y uno reconocido. También proveer evidencia acerca de que el valor potencial es pequeño al compararlo con el valor que las patentes adquieren con posterioridad. (3) Evidencia acerca de la importancia de considerar la naturaleza longitudinal de los indicatores en el problema de valorización de patentes, especialmente de las citas recibidas, el indicador de valor más utilizado. (4) Introducir una perspectiva multidimensional en el problema de valoración de patentes. Este nuevo enfoque puede ofrecer un entendimiento robusto de las diferentes variables que determinar el valor de las patentes. Contribuciones en el área del PLS PLS Path Modelling comprenden: (5) Evidencia empírica acerca del desempeño de PLS Path Modelling con Modo C. Apropiadamente implemetado, el procedimiento puede adecuadamente capturar algunas de las complejas relaciones dinámicas en los modelos. Nuestra investigación muestra que PLS Path Modelling con Modo C se comporta de acuerdo al marco teórico establecido para los procedimientos PLS y los modelos PLS (Wold, 1982; Krämer, 2006; Hanafi, 2007; Dijkstra, 2010). Es decir, (a) las estimaciones PLS estan siempre sesgadas, (b) las relaciones internas son subestimadas, (c) las relaciones externas son sobrestimadas, (d) el Modo A carece de la propiedad de convergencia monótona, (3) el Modo B tiene la propiedad de convergencia monótona. (6) Evidencia empírica acerca de la convergencia “at large” de PLS Path Modelling con Modo A. (7) Evidencia empírica para los modelos formativos con pocos indicadores (8) Evidencia empírica del desempeño del procedimiento Two-Step PLS Path Modelling con Modo C para estimar efectos no lineales y de interacción entre constructos formativos.

In the past several years, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has sponsored two Grand Challenges, races among autonomous ground vehicles in rural environments. These vehicles must follow a course delineated by Global Positioning System waypoints using no human guidance. Airborne LIDAR data and GIS can play a significant role in identifying barriers and least cost paths for such vehicles. Least cost paths minimize the sum of impedance across a surface. Impedance can be measured by steepness of slope, impenetrable barriers such as vegetation and buildings, fence lines and streams, or other factors deemed important to the vehicleâ s success at navigating the terrain. This research aims to provide accurate least cost paths for those vehicles using airborne LIDAR data. The concepts of barrier identification and least cost path generation are reviewed and forty-five least cost paths created with their performance compared to corresponding Euclidean paths. The least cost paths were found superior to the corresponding Euclidean paths in terms of impedance as they avoid barriers, follow roads and pass across relatively gentler slopes.
Master of Science

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This thesis explores the possibilities of developing fast grid parallel algorithms to solve the Weighted Region Least Cost Path problem. Two complimentary steps have been undertaken. First, an efficient sequential algorithm to solve the above problem was developed. the algorithm is a modification of a Gauss-Seidel-like algorithm for obtaining the minimum costs. The most salient feature of the algorithm is the reduction of the number of nodes and edges in cheaper regions of the grid. the reported experimental results ascertain the superiority of this algorithm with regard to computer running time at a modest reduction in the accuracy of the obtained solution. Parallel implementations of grid-based algorithms were studies. A simple grid-based variant was implemented on a network of Transputers. The overall approach is employed could be used to develop a parallel version of the above sequential algorithm on a Transputer network, combining both advantages of efficiency and parallelization.

This thesis examines America's response to civil war, dispossession, and humanitarian disaster in Sudan from the end of the Cold War up until the second Darfur uprising. While the number of scholarly works examining the overall conflict and humanitarian crisis are immense, less has been written in regard to America's foreign policy in Sudan. The contemporary nature of the crisis and dearth of historical analysis does make establishing trends difficult; but recent works suggest a U.S. policy that is ill informed and therefore ineffectual in halting both the conflict and crisis in Sudan. However, contrary to this opinion, the evidence may demonstrate that United States policy, rather than a series of misjudgments or being simply ineffectual, has been more systematic, informed and purposeful. This thesis argues that while the United States wished for peace in Sudan, the historical evidence suggests that the path taken by the United States knowingly prolonged the suffering of millions of Sudanese. Furthermore, American policy makers have entrusted peace in Darfur and in other disparate regions of Sudan, as well as along the newly formed borders with South Sudan, to the National Congress Party (NCP) a regime Congress has labeled untrustworthy and despotic. The bulk of the research used in this examination covered the period from 1989- 2008. However, the independence achieved by the Republic of South Sudan in the summer of 2011 is taken into account in the final analysis of the thesis. The secondary sources both cited and considered for the thesis were substantial; these included academic articles, studies, and texts published over several decades in several related fields of study germane to the thesis topic. While a wide range of primary sources were used, the thesis relied heavily on United States Congressional records from 1989-2008 for analysis. ?
ID: 031001389; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Adviser: Ezekiel Walker.; Title from PDF title page (viewed May 24, 2013).; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2012.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-134).
M.A.
Masters
History
Arts and Humanities
History

Given a grid of cells, each having a value indicating its cost per unit area, a variant of the least-cost path problem is to find a corridor of a specified width connecting two termini such that its cost-weighted area is minimized. A computationally efficient method exists for finding such corridors, but as is the case with conventional raster-based least-cost paths, their incremental orientations are limited to a fixed number of (typically eight orthogonal and diagonal) directions, and therefore, regardless of the grid resolution, they tend to deviate from those conceivable on the Euclidean plane. Additionally, these methods are limited to problems found on two-dimensional grids and ignore the ever-increasing availability and necessity of three-dimensional raster based geographic data. This thesis attempts to address the problems highlighted above by designing and testing least-cost corridor algorithms. First a method is proposed for solving the two-dimensional raster-based least-cost corridor problem with reduced distortion by adapting a distortion reduction technique originally designed for least-cost paths and applying it to an efficient but distortionprone least-cost corridor algorithm. The proposed method for distortion reduction is, in theory, guaranteed to generate no less accurate solutions than the existing one in polynomial time and, in practice, expected to generate more accurate solutions, as demonstrated experimentally using synthetic and real-world data. A corridor is then modeled on a threedimensional grid of cost-weighted cubic cells or voxels as a sequence of sets of voxels, called ‘neighborhoods,’ that are arranged in a 26-hedoral form, design a heuristic method to find a sequence of such neighborhoods that sweeps the minimum cost-weighted volume, and test its performance with computer-generated random data. Results show that the method finds a low-cost, if not least-cost, corridor with a specified width in a threedimensional cost grid and has a reasonable efficiency as its complexity is O(n2) where n is the number of voxels in the input cost grid and is independent of corridor width. A major drawback is that the corridor found may self-intersect, which is often not only an undesirable quality but makes the estimation of its cost-weighted volume inaccurate.
Med tanke på ett rutnät av celler, som vart och ett har ett värde som indikerar dess kostnad per areaenhet, är en variant av det billigaste banproblemet att hitta en korridor med en specificerad bredd som förbinder två terminaler så att dess kostnadsviktade område minimeras. Det finns en beräkningseffektiv metod för att hitta sådana korridorer, men som är fallet med konventionella rasterbaserade lägsta kostnadsspår är deras inkrementella orienteringar begränsade till ett fast antal (vanligtvis åtta ortogonala och diagonala) riktningar, och därför, oavsett nätupplösning tenderar de att avvika från de tänkbara på det euklidiska planet. Dessutom är dessa metoder begränsade till problem som finns i tvådimensionella nät och ignorerar den ständigt ökande tillgängligheten och nödvändigheten av tredimensionell rasterbaserad geografisk data. Denna avhandling försöker ta itu med problemen som belyses ovan genom att utforma och testa korridoralgoritmer till lägsta kostnad. Först föreslås en metod för att lösa det tvådimensionella rasterbaserade problemet med billigaste korridorer med minskad förvrängning genom att anpassa en distorsionsminskningsteknik som ursprungligen utformades för billigaste vägar och tillämpa den på en effektiv men distorsionsbenägen billigaste korridoralgoritm. Den föreslagna metoden för distorsionsminskning är i teorin garanterad att generera inte mindre exakta lösningar än den befintliga i polynomtid och i praktiken förväntas generera mer exakta lösningar, vilket demonstreras experimentellt med syntetiska och verkliga data. En korridor modelleras sedan på ett tredimensionellt rutnät av kostnadsvägda kubikceller eller voxels som en sekvens av uppsättningar av voxels, kallade "stadsdelar", som är ordnade i en 26-hedoral form, designar en heuristisk metod för att hitta en sekvens av sådana stadsdelar som sveper den lägsta kostnadsviktade volymen och testar dess prestanda med datorgenererade slumpmässiga data. Resultaten visar att metoden hittar en låg kostnad, om inte minst kostnad, korridor med en specificerad bredd i ett tredimensionellt kostnadsnät och har en rimlig effektivitet eftersom dess komplexitet är O (n2) där n är antalet voxlar i ingångskostnadsnätet och är oberoende av korridorbredd En stor nackdel är att korridoren som hittas kan korsa sig själv, vilket ofta inte bara är en oönskad kvalitet utan gör uppskattningen av dess kostnadsviktade volym felaktig.

QC 20210309

In the planning and design of sewer networks, most of the decisions are spatially dependent because of the right of way considerations and the desire to have flow by gravity. This research addresses the application of combined optimization-geographic information system (GIS) technology in the design process. The program developed for the design uses selected manhole locations to generate the candidate potential sewer networks. The design area is delineated into subwatersheds for determining the locations for lift stations when gravity flow is not possible. Flows from upstream subwatersheds are transported to the downstream subwatersheds via a force main. The path and destination of each force main in the system is determined by applying the Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm to select the least cost path from a set of potential paths. This method seeks to minimize the total dynamic head. A modified length is used to represent the length of each link or force main segment. The modified length is the physical length of the link (representing the friction loss) plus an equivalent length (representing the static head). The least cost path for the force main is the path with the least total modified length. The design approach is applied to two areas in the town of Blacksburg, Virginia. The resulting network and the force main paths are discussed.

Master of Science

In response to a call for more advanced and more inclusive models for measuring difficulty of international expansion, the resistance index (RI) was created and is advanced in this paper. The RI includes several factors that contribute (detract) to the success (failure) of firms regarding cross border expansion. The RI features variables that represent country specific advantages (CSA), firm specific advantages (FSA), and government specific advantages (GSA). These three areas are represented by a diverse set of data obtained from such widely recognized agencies as the World Bank and Thomson Reuters. Taking data from different sources, may render better predictability for firms than using the popular cultural distance index. Therefore, it is proposed that the RI may be a more relevant tool for firms to use when they are considering international expansion into a particular country, or for researchers to employ in undertaking success or failure in international expansion.

Seasonal road design in mountainous terrain consists of four main phases: route selection, field investigation, surveying, and analysis. The first phase, route selection, consists of two parts: selecting control points at strategic locations, and then determining potential routes between those points. Two geographic information system (GIS) geoprocessing automations were developed to aid a road planner in determining routes between control points. Both automations utilized Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) ArcGIS software package. The first method developed was the least cost path method, which makes use of ArcGIS’s cost path tool to find a route between points following a gradual slope. The second automation was the side hill method, which utilized a variety of ArcGIS tools to maintain a uniform grade along the side of a hill between two points. The two methods were compared and contrasted based on control point locations. The least cost path method was determined to be preferable for main thoroughfares along flat valleys and ridge lines, while the side hill method was preferable for secondary roads that could be used to access steeper ground. It was concluded that the two methods can save time and increase accuracy of GIS road features for land managers planning new seasonal roads.

This thesis examines some of the best known algorithms for solving the shortest point-to-point path problem, and evaluates their performance on real metropolitan area networks. The focus has mainly been on Dijkstra‟s algorithm and different variations of it, and the algorithms have been implemented in C# for the practical tests. The size of the networks used in this study varied between 358 and 2464 nodes, and both running time and representative operation counts were measured.

The results show that many different factors besides the network size affect the running time of an algorithm, such as arc-to-node ratio, path length and network structure. The queue implementation of Dijkstra‟s algorithm showed the worst performance and suffered heavily when the problem size increased. Two techniques for increasing the performance were examined: optimizing the management of labelled nodes and reducing the search space. A bidirectional Dijkstra‟s algorithm using a binary heap to store temporarily labelled nodes combines both of these techniques, and it was the algorithm that performed best of all the tested algorithms in the practical tests.

This project was initiated by Netadmin Systems i Sverige AB who needed a new path finding module for their network management system NETadmin. While this study is primarily of interest for researchers dealing with path finding problems in computer networks, it may also be useful in evaluations of path finding algorithms for road networks since the two networks share some common characteristics.

Landbased Studies Foundation and Bachelor degrees (FD and BSc) are generally taught in specialist FE landbased colleges, with teachers typically teaching both FE (Ofqual RQF Levels 0–3) and HE (Ofqual RQF Levels 4–6). Such teachers are designated in the literature as being HE in FE (Higher Education in Further Education) or CBHE (College Based Higher Education) teachers. Using a single case study landbased college, this study adopts a qualitative, naturalistic methodology using intensive interviewing and classroom observations of six Animal, Equine and Veterinary Nursing Studies HE in FE teachers. Characterised as an under-represented group within UK education research, these teachers teach both HE and FE within a small, UK landbased college. The study examines the nature of HE teacher pedagogic practice enactments, and factors which enable and constrain them within an FE college environment. Conceived within a interpretivist socio-constructivist framework, this study is influenced by the anti-dualist social philosophy of Practice Theory (PT) whereby people, places and material objects all contribute to how practice is enacted. Rather than considering material artefacts to be merely background objects and a college being simply an inert container where teaching takes place, a sensitivity to Practice Theory considers the FE context, material aspects and teacher pedagogic practices as a whole, rather than from one or other side of the structure versus agency divide. Within this study a particular variant of Practice Theory, Practice Architectures (PA) (Kemmis and Grootenboer, 2008), has been used to sensitise the study. The study adopts a Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) approach as a means of exploring a neglected and under-theorised area of Post-Compulsory education. The CGT methodology influenced and guided the research design and interpretive data iv analysis. Using purposive sampling of teacher participants, theoretical sampling, and the iterative cycles of constant comparison associated with Grounded Theory (GT), the data was used to construct four key categories. From these categories three main theoretical themes were identified from the data; Surveillance and Control, Teacher Identity and Agency, and Pedagogic Risk Aversion. The interpretive analysis suggests that HE pedagogic practice enactments are influenced and constrained by the college as a site, by its management, and by the wider neoliberal landscape of surveillance and auditing, as well as by the teachers themselves, the HE students, and material, non-human physical spaces and artefacts. The resultant HE pedagogic practice enactments are risk averse, tending towards instrumentalism and teacher-centeredness. The final CGT theoretically accounts for the HE practice enactments of the HE in FE teachers at the college and is discussed in relation to HE in FE literature, and to a number of pertinent theories within and beyond education. The CGT contributes to an enhanced understanding of HE teacher pedagogic practice enactments, and has potential for generalisability beyond the specific college. The original contributions to knowledge consists of: devising a novel methodology whereby PT/PA and CGT are articulated; adding to the body of literature for HE in FE pedagogy; and adding to the pauce corpus of literature for landbased education.

This study examined the impact intervening environment has on gene flow in the insect pollinated understory tree, Cornus florida L., by combining GIS and landscape genetic techniques (Least Cost Path Analysis, Circuit Theory, and Conditional Genetic Distance). Traditional population genetic analysis indicated pair-wise relatedness was significantly correlated to distance (Pearson; r = -0.312, P < 0.001) suggesting a spatial component to offspring relatedness. Dispersal throughout the study site was non-random, exhibiting a high degree of pollen pool structure due to restricted gene flow (Two-Generation Analysis; Φft = 0.161, P = 0.001). Forest structure was quantified in GIS layers representing coniferous canopies, mixed hardwood canopies, C. florida canopies, open understory (roads), and open understory/canopy due to tree removal. Of these layers, landscape isolation for the roads layer provided the best-fit model for describing genetic differentiation among sampled pollen pools (Mantel; r = 0.542, P = 0.001). These data also suggest that improved biological inferences can be gained by examining a range of landscape isolation models.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) dispersal and excursion movements impact gene flow, population dynamics, and disease spread. Knowledge of movement characteristics and habitat selection during dispersal could provide the ability to predict how deer may relocate themselves within the landscape while providing managers valuable information regarding corridors for gene flow and disease spread. My objectives were to 1) test the hypothesis that extra-home-range movements occur as a strategy to broaden mating opportunities or as a means of searching for higher quality resources in this fragmented landscape, 2) compare occurrence rates and path movement metrics for dispersal and excursion movements to determine if underlying differences in behavior exist that would allude to mechanisms for accepting the risk of leaving a home range, 3) create and test the performance of expert opinion and step selection function resistance models at predicting deer dispersal movements, and 4) fit single and multiple random walk models to dispersal path data to determine movement states occurring within this behavior. During 2011-2014, I placed GPS collars programmed to take hourly locations on 49 fawn and yearling white-tailed deer in agricultural east-central Illinois to record dispersal and excursion movement paths. Linear mixed effects models were used to test for differences in path characteristics between sexes and ages (e.g., distance, straightness, duration, and speed). I used known-fate models, with demographic, temporal, and home range variables as covariates, to obtain dispersal and excursion occurrence rate estimates. Ten dispersal and 54 excursion movement paths were recorded during the study. Dispersal paths were longer and straighter (P < 0.001), and trended toward being longer in duration (P = 0.080) and faster in speed (P = 0.085), than excursion paths. Dispersal rates differed by sex (annual estimate ± SE with ages pooled: males 0.81 ± 0.12, females 0.16 ± 0.15) and were greatest during the breeding season (14-day estimates for males: winter 0.00 ± 0.01, fawning 0.02 ± 0.1, prebreeding 0.01 ± 0.01, and breeding 0.31 ± 0.15, and females: winter 0.00 ± 0.01, fawning 0.01 ± 0.1, prebreeding 0.01 ± 0.01, and breeding 0.04 ± 0.03). In contrast, I found no evidence that excursion rates were influenced by demographic, temporal, or home range variables (annual: 0.78 ± 0.06). I compared 2 methods of resistance modeling for predicting deer dispersal paths. I created an expert opinion survey and calculated a dispersal step selection function (SSF) to rank habitat variables and create 2 types of resistance maps to dispersal movements. I created least-cost paths with the starting and ending points coinciding with recorded dispersal paths within these 2 resistance maps. I compared the created paths to actual paths and a null straight line path using a path deviation index (PDI), path straightness, and path cost/m as variables of interest. Experts ranked land cover variables differently by season, applying a lower resistance value to agriculture cover during the summer/fall period, so 2 versions of the expert opinion resistance maps were created. For the SSF, I found that both forest cover and streams had significant nonlinear effects on deer dispersal movements. Assuming that all other factors remained constant, deer were more likely (≥ 0.50 probability) to move toward forested habitat when located < 335 m and when > 2795 m away. Deer dispersal movement behavior relating to streams followed a similar trend but with deer always having > 0.56 probability to move toward a stream than away. For least-cost path comparison, I conducted 3 ANOVAs (α = 0.05 throughout) to test for mean differences in calculated path metrics for all paths with path type as a within-subjects effect. I found no difference between the expert opinion survey model, the SSF model, and the null straight line model at predicting dispersal paths. PDI values were similar among all models (F1,9 = 0.004, P = 0.99). The SSF paths (0.91 ± 0.02) were significantly straighter then both the expert opinion (0.57 ± 0.03) and actual deer paths (0.44 ± 0.06; F1, 9 = 32.65, P < 0.001), but the expert opinion path did not differ from the actual path (P = 0.08). Path costs differed within the expert opinion survey resistance map (F1, 9 = 14.21, P < 0.001) with the expert opinion least cost paths (23.64 ± 3.14) having lower resistance/m than both the actual (46.15 ± 3.85) and straight line paths (48.74 ± 3.94; P < 0.001 for both). However, the actual and straight line paths did not differ (P = 0.872). There were no difference in path costs between the actual, SSF least-cost path, and straight line paths within the SSF resistance map (F1, 9 = 0.454, P = 0.64). I constructed and attempted to fit single and multiple random models to collected dispersal locations using WinBUGS v. 1.4.3. I was able to fit a single random walk model to deer dispersal paths but the more complex random walk models did not converge. I used the average parameter values derived from the single model to simulate deer dispersal paths and compared them to observed Net Squared Displacement. My simulated paths underpredicted deer displacement for 0.90 of individuals. Deer in east-central Illinois are very mobile and commonly make excursion movements throughout the year. The fact that I recorded differing dispersal rates within the same study area over a temporally short period from a previous study highlight the need for managers to obtain recent estimates of population parameters when making management decisions. The frequency of excursion movements should not be overlooked by managers as it is a behavior that can influence gene flow and potentially spread disease across the landscape at a localized scale. The preference for forest and stream habitats during dispersal can allow managers to focus surveillance or culling efforts around these types of habitats. The application of the least-cost path modeling technique appears to be ineffective at predicting deer dispersal paths, which emphasizes the importance of validating these types of models with actual data. The results from the random walk analysis highlight the need to collect as many locations as possible during temporally-short movements to understand the mechanisms acting upon them.

The construction of dams and hydro-power stations are some of the most common anthropogenic changes of watercourses and rivers. While being important to humans and society by providing electricity, these obstructions of watercourses can have severe consequences for the aquatic ecosystems. One consequence is that dams often hinder the important movement of migrating fish species between habitats. This can lead to decline and even extinction of important fish populations. To prevent these negative effects, a number of different fish passage systems, including nature-like fishways, have been developed. Nature-like fishways mimic natural streams in order to function as a natural corridor for a wide range of species. Planning and construction of a nature-like fishway is a complex task that often involves many different interests. In the present study a combination of multi-criteria decision analysis and least-cost path analysis is used for determining the best location for a nature-like fishway past Strömdalen dam in Gavleån, Sweden. An anisotropic least-cost path algorithm is applied on a friction-layer and a digital elevation model, and the least-cost path for a nature-like fishway is determined. The results show that the method is useful in areas of varying topography and steep slopes. However, because low slope is a very important factor when constructing a nature-like fishway, slope becomes the dominating factor in this analysis at the expense of e.g. distance to roads. Combining the methods with results from biological studies of fish behavior and detailed hydrological modelling would provide a very strong tool for the planning of nature-like fishways.

In this work we explore online secondary path modelling (SPM) in the context of spatial active noise control (ANC). Specifically, we are interested in the reduction of broadband noise over a three-dimensional region, without restrictions on microphone and loudspeaker array placement. As spatial ANC generally requires many channels, both ANC and SPM methods must have low computational cost. The SPM methods are intended to be used with a specific spatial ANC algorithm based on kernel interpolation. By incorporating SPM, the spatial ANC method is enabled to operate under timevarying secondary paths. Four SPM methods are considered in detail, of which three are based on the auxiliary noise technique. Descriptions of the algorithms are presented for the multichannel case, in addition to block-based implementations taking advantage of the fast Fourier transform to drastically reduce computational cost. Impulse responses to simulate a soundfield are recorded using a programmable robot arm. The algorithms are evaluated through simulations to show their respective strengths and weaknesses. It is found that the auxiliary noise based SPM methods have good convergence properties for both control filter and secondary path estimate, although the auxiliary noise’s degrading effect on the residual noise leads to a similar total noise reduction as the auxiliary noise free method. For all algorithms, the noise control performance worsens, and the convergence time increases by more than an order of magnitude, compared to when the secondary paths are known. It is verified that the kernel interpolation based spatial ANC method successfully reduces noise over a region even when used with online SPM.
I detta projekt undersöks sekundärvägsmodellering för spatial aktiv brusreducering. Fokus ligger på minskning av brus över en tredimensionell region, för metoder utan några restriktioner när det gäller mikrofon- och högtalarplacering. Efterssom spatial brusreducering generellt kräver många kanaler, behöver både sekundärvägsmodellering samt brusreducering ha mycket låg beräkningskostnad. Metoderna för sekundärvägsmodellering är menade att användas tillsammans med en specifik spatial brusreduceringsalgoritm baserad på kärninterpolation. Genom att inkludera sekundärvägsmodellering kan den spatiala brusreduceringsmetoden operera även då sekundärvägarna är tidsvarierande. Fyra metoder för sekundärvägsmodellering är undersökta i detalj, tre av vilka är baserade på auxiliärbrusprincipen. Dessa algoritmer är beskrivna för multikanalsfallet, tillsammans med blockbaserade implementationer som utnyttjar den snabba Fouriertransformen för att drastiskt minska sina beräkningskostader. Impulssvar som kan användas för att simulera ett ljudfält är inspelade med hjälp av en programmerbar robotarm. Algoritmerna är utvärderade genom simuleringar för att visa deras respektive styrkor och svagheter. Experimenten visade att de algoritmer som använder sig av auxiliärbrus har bra konvergenskaraktäristik för både kontrollfilter och sekundärvägsestimat. Däremot, på grund av auxiliärbrusets negativa inverkan på residualbruset i rummet, är den totala brusreduceringen snarlik det den auxiliärbrusfria metoden ger. För alla algoritmer blir brusreduceringen försämrad och konvergenstiden ökad med mer än en storleksordning när sekundärvägsmodellering används, jämfört med när sekundärvägarna är kända. Det verifierades också att den spatiala brusreduceringsmetoden baserad på kärninterpolation kan reducera brus över en region även när den används tillsammans med sekundärvägsmodellering.

Planners who are involved in locational decision making often use raster-based geographic information systems (GIS) to quantify the value of land in terms of suitability or cost for a certain use. From a computational point of view, this process can be seen as a transformation of one or more sets of values associated with a grid of cells into another set of such values through a function reflecting one or more criteria. While it is generally anticipated that different transformations lead to different ‘best’ locations, little has been known on how such differences arise (or do not arise). Examples of such spatial decision problems can be easily found in the literature and many of them concern the selection of a set of cells (to which the land use under consideration is allocated) from a raster surface of suitability or cost depending on context. To facilitate GIS’s algorithmic approach, it is often assumed that the quality of the set of cells can be evaluated as a whole by the sum of their cell values. The validity of this assumption must be questioned, however, if those values are measured on a scale that does not permit arithmetic operations. Ordinal scale of measurement in Stevens’s typology is one such example. A question naturally arises: is there a more mathematically sound and consistent approach to evaluating the quality of a path when the quality of each cell of the given grid is measured on an ordinal scale? The thesis attempts to answer the questions highlighted above in the context of path planning through a series of computational experiments using a number of random landscape grids with a variety of spatial and non-spatial structures. In the first set of experiments, we generated least-cost paths on a number of cost grids transformed from the landscape grids using a variety of transformation parameters and analyzed the locations and (weighted) lengths of those paths. Results show that the same pair of terminal cells may well be connected by different least-cost paths on different cost grids though derived from the same landscape grid and that the variation among those paths is affected by how given values are distributed in the landscape grid as well as by how derived values are distributed in the cost grids. Most significantly, the variation tends to be smaller when the landscape grid contains more distinct patches of cells potentially attracting or distracting cost-saving passage or when the cost grid contains a smaller number of low-cost cells. The second set of experiments aims to compare two optimization models, minisum and minimax (or maximin) path models, which aggregate the values of the cells associated with a path using the sum function and the maximum (or minimum) function, respectively. Results suggest that the minisum path model is effective if the path search can be translated into the conventional least-cost path problem, which aims to find a path with the minimum cost-weighted length between two terminuses on a ratio-scaled raster cost surface, but the minimax (or maximin) path model is mathematically sounder if the cost values are measured on an ordinal scale and practically useful if the problem is concerned not with the minimization of cost but with the maximization of some desirable condition such as suitability.
Planerare som arbetar bland annat med att fatta beslut som hänsyftar till vissa lokaler använder ofta rasterbaserade geografiska informationssystem (GIS) för att sätta ett värde på marken med avseende på lämplighet eller kostnad för en viss användning. Ur en beräkningssynpunkt kan denna process ses som en transformation av en eller flera uppsättningar värden associerade med ett rutnät av celler till en annan uppsättning sådana värden genom en funktion som återspeglar ett eller flera kriterier. Medan det generellt förväntas att olika omvandlingar leder till olika "bästa" platser, har lite varit känt om hur sådana skillnader uppstår (eller inte uppstår). Exempel på sådana rumsliga beslutsproblem kan lätt hittas i litteraturen och många av dem handlar om valet av en uppsättning celler (som markanvändningen övervägs tilldelas) från en rasteryta av lämplighet eller kostnad beroende på kontext. För att underlätta GISs algoritmiska tillvägagångssätt antas det ofta att kvaliteten på uppsättningen av celler kan utvärderas som helhet genom summan av deras cellvärden. Giltigheten av detta antagande måste emellertid ifrågasättas om dessa värden mäts på en skala som inte tillåter aritmetiska transformationer. Användning av ordinal skala enligt Stevens typologi är ett exempel av detta. En fråga uppstår naturligt: Finns det ett mer matematiskt sunt och konsekvent tillvägagångssätt för att utvärdera kvaliteten på en rutt när kvaliteten på varje cell i det givna rutnätet mäts med ordinalskala? Avhandlingen försöker svara på ovanstående frågor i samband med ruttplanering genom en serie beräkningsexperiment med hjälp av ett antal slumpmässigt genererade landskapsnät med en rad olika rumsliga och icke-rumsliga strukturer. I den första uppsättningen experiment genererade vi minsta-kostnad rutter på ett antal kostnadsnät som transformerats från landskapsnätverket med hjälp av en mängd olika transformationsparametrar, och analyserade lägen och de (viktade) längderna för dessa rutter. Resultaten visar att samma par ändpunkter mycket väl kan vara sammanbundna med olika minsta-kostnad banor på olika kostnadsraster härledda från samma landskapsraster, och att variationen mellan dessa banor påverkas av hur givna värden fördelas i landskapsrastret såväl som av hur härledda värden fördelas i kostnadsrastret. Mest signifikant är att variationen tenderar att vara mindre när landskapsrastret innehåller mer distinkta grupper av celler som potentiellt lockar eller distraherar kostnadsbesparande passage, eller när kostnadsrastret innehåller ett mindre antal låg-kostnad celler. Den andra uppsättningen experiment syftar till att jämföra två optimeringsmodeller, minisum och minimax (eller maximin) sökmodeller, vilka sammanställer värdena för cellerna som är associerade med en sökväg med summanfunktionen respektive maximum (eller minimum) funktionen. Resultaten tyder på att minisumbanemodellen är effektiv om sökningen av sökvägen kan översättas till det konventionella minsta kostnadsproblemet, vilket syftar till att hitta en väg med den minsta kostnadsvägda längden mellan två terminaler på en ratio-skalad rasterkostyta, men minimax (eller maximin) banmodellen är matematiskt sundare om kostnadsvärdena mäts i ordinär skala och praktiskt användbar om problemet inte bara avser minimering av kostnad men samtidigt maximering av någon önskvärd egenskap såsom lämplighet.

QC 20181002

The e-government phenomena has become more important with the ever increasing number of implementations world wide. A model explaining the e-government adoption and the related measurement instrument a survey had been developed and validated in this study. In a post technology acceptance model (TAM) approach, theory of planned behavior (TPB) was extended to t the requirements of e-government context. The adoption of student loans service of the higher education student loans and accommodation association (KYK) was investigated to obtain data for empirical validation. The instrument was administered to over four-hundred students and partial least squares path modeling was employed to analyze the data. The results indicate that the model was an improvement over TAM in terms of predictive power. The constructs investigated in the study successfully explained the intention to use an e-government service.

This thesis consists of four independent papers concerningdifferent aspects of interior methods for optimization. Threeof the papers focus on theoretical aspects while the fourth oneconcerns some computational experiments.

The systems of equations solved within an interior methodapplied to a convex quadratic program can be viewed as weightedlinear least-squares problems. In the first paper, it is shownthat the sequence of solutions to such problems is uniformlybounded. Further, boundedness of the solution to weightedlinear least-squares problems for more general classes ofweight matrices than the one in the convex quadraticprogramming application are obtained as a byproduct.

In many linesearch interior methods for nonconvex nonlinearprogramming, the iterates can "falsely" converge to theboundary of the region defined by the inequality constraints insuch a way that the search directions do not converge to zero,but the step lengths do. In the sec ond paper, it is shown thatthe multiplier search directions then diverge. Furthermore, thedirection of divergence is characterized in terms of thegradients of the equality constraints along with theasymptotically active inequality constraints.

The third paper gives a modification of the analytic centerproblem for the set of optimal solutions in linear semidefiniteprogramming. Unlike the normal analytic center problem, thesolution of the modified problem is the limit point of thecentral path, without any strict complementarity assumption.For the strict complementarity case, the modified problem isshown to coincide with the normal analytic center problem,which is known to give a correct characterization of the limitpoint of the central path in that case.

The final paper describes of some computational experimentsconcerning possibilities of reusing previous information whensolving system of equations arising in interior methods forlinear programming.

Keywords:Interior method, primal-dual interior method,linear programming, quadratic programming, nonlinearprogramming, semidefinite programming, weighted least-squaresproblems, central path.

Mathematics Subject Classification (2000):Primary90C51, 90C22, 65F20, 90C26, 90C05; Secondary 65K05, 90C20,90C25, 90C30.

The use of past archaeological survey data for examination of landscape dynamics became very popular during the last decades of the 20th century, when Geographical Information Systems analysis were introduced in archaeology. In the present thesis, past survey data from Northern Messenia’s Middle and Late Helladic periods are combined to the topography and the environment of the region. These data are examined under the GIS prism, which attempts to update our knowledge on this geographical area.             The main scope of this thesis is to examine potential settlement patterns and land use, connectivity between sites and sites’ hierarchies. In the first query, the Kernel Density analysis has been used for estimating settlements’ patterns, and to consequently estimate preference of specific topographical features for land use, such as slope. Based on the patterns formed as a result of the analysis conducted in the first query, connectivity and hierarchy between sites is being tested with the use of cost connectivity and visibility tools.             The outcome of this analysis shows that the inhabitants of the past were significantly interacting with the landscape, since they preferred to nest around the protective slopes of the Soulima and the Kyparissian valleys. The area around their settlements reveals that these inhabitants opted to cultivate in flat or marginal land, while visibility from the sites seems to be an important factor for monitoring the region. However, it has been proved that a good number of collaborating sites were required to supervise the entire territory, which disproves any hierarchical ranking between them. On the other hand, connectivity depicts potential movement over Northern Messenia’s terrain and indicates that a few sites in the heart of the study area were to be considered as panoptic meeting grounds of the eastern and the western side. In conclusion, the overall analysis reveals a potential spatial bond between sites rather than a relationship based on rivalry.

As ecosystems become increasingly fragmented, there has been a proliferation of research into fields such as resource use, movement ecology and habitat connectivity. To understand how species may adapt to threats associated with habitat fragmentation it is necessary to study these processes in dispersing individuals. However, this is seldom done. Dispersal is one of the most important life-history traits involved in species persistence and evolution, but the consequences of dispersal are determined primarily by those that survive to reproduce. Although dispersal is most effectively studied as a three-stage process (departure, transience and settlement), empirical studies rarely do so and an investigation into the entire process has probably never been carried out on any one species. Here I investigate the survival, resource use, movement ecology and connectivity of African lions (Panthera leo) in all three dispersal phases in addition to adulthood. I make use of a longterm dataset incorporating radio-telemetry and observational data from lions in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Dispersal is inherently risky and my results show that male lions that disperse while young suffer high mortality, young dispersal being brought about by high off-take of territorial males. Dispersing males may be aware of risks associated with territorial adults as they position themselves far from them and utilise habitats and resources differently. However, dispersers, compared to adult males and females, are far less averse of risky, anthropogenic landscapes, suggesting they are the demographic most prone to human-lion conflict. The ontogenetic movement behaviour of lions reflects a transition from directional movement during transience, suggestive of sequential search strategies, to random or periodic use of a fixed territory after settlement. In terms of habitat connectivity, I show that radically different conclusions emerge depending on which demographic is used to parameterise connectivity models. Understanding the shifting mechanisms that species adopt throughout ontogeny is critical to their conservation in an increasingly fragmented world.

En Analyse Sensorielle, les préférences des consommateurs sont généralement modélisées en fonction de données sensorielles par les méthodes de cartographie des préférences. L'objectif de cette thèse est de modéliser les préférences des consommateurs en intégrant, en plus des données sensorielles, de nouvelles variables relatives à leur perception des produits. Nous appellerons ces variables les dimensions subjectives. Elles recouvrent des dimensions pragmatiques liées à l'utilisation du produit et des dimensions plus symboliques telles que l'esthétisme, la modernité, l'originalité…Les problématiques relatives aux dimensions subjectives ont d'abord été étudiées lors d'une étude exploratoire sur des tasses à café. L'ensemble du travail a ensuite été réalisé sur 11 sièges de voitures. Dans un premier temps, des entretiens qualitatifs ont été réalisés auprès de 16 consommateurs d'une part et de 2 designers d'autre part. Ces entretiens ont permis d'identifier les dimensions subjectives caractéristiques des sièges. Une évaluation quantitative des dimensions subjectives et des préférences a ensuite été réalisée par 110 consommateurs. Enfin, les sièges ont été caractérisés sensoriellement par des experts. Les préférences des consommateurs ont été modélisées en fonction des données sensorielles et des dimensions subjectives par des modèles d'équations structurelles à variables latentes, plus précisément par Partial Least Square Path Modeling. Quatre modèles, fondés sur les groupes de préférences, ont été mis en place. Selon le groupe étudié, la contribution des deux jeux de données diffère et quatre profils de clients sont identifiés. D'un point de vue méthodologique, ce travail fournit des éléments de réponse sur l'intérêt des dimensions subjectives pour la modélisation des préférences. L'ensemble de la démarche est en cours d'application sur un produit alimentaire : le chocolat
In Sensory Science, preference mapping is used to explain consumers' preferences with sensory data. This PhD aims to integrate not only sensory data but also new variables that are related to consumers' perception of the product in the modelling of consumers' preferences. These variables are labelled as subjective dimensions. They address the pragmatic dimensions that cover the context of use of the products and more symbolic dimensions, such as aesthetics, modernity, originality…An exploratory study based on coffee cups was a first mean to approach the issues related to subjective dimensions. Then, all the work was done on a study of 11 car seats. The first step consisted in qualitative interviews of 16 consumers and of 2 designers. These interviews allowed identifying the subjective dimensions that characterize car seats. 110 consumers then performed a quantitative evaluation of their preferences and subjective dimensions. Finally, the seats were characterized by experts with sensory descriptors. The consumers' preferences were modelled according to both sensory data and subjective dimensions, using structural equations: the Partial Least Square Path Modeling. Four models based on preferences clustering were established. The contribution of two kinds of data differed according to the considered cluster, which led to the identification of four customer profiles. From a methodological point of view, this work provides first elements about the benefit of subjective dimensions in preference modelling. The methodology is being implemented on a food product: chocolate

Le maintien de la connectivité à travers les paysages urbains, par nature très fragmentés, est un enjeu majeur de conservation de la biodiversité urbaine. On observe une prise en compte croissante de la connectivité dans les politiques d’aménagement du territoire, notamment avec l’établissement de la trame verte et bleue. De multiples outils cartographiques permettent de mettre en évidence les continuités écologiques (zones de forte connectivité), mais leur validation fonctionnelle fait souvent défaut. L’objectif de cette thèse est de valider les prédictions d’un modèle de chemin de moindre coût, sur plusieurs villes et avec différents modèles biologiques. Les espèces étudiées présentent différents modes et capacités de dispersion (vol, marche, reptation) et des exigences écologiques spécifiques (préférences pour les milieux herbacés ou boisés). Des protocoles de validation basés sur l’écologie du mouvement et la génétique du paysage sont appliqués, dans un souci de réplication (au sein de plusieurs villes) et de contrôle de la variabilité inter-individuelle. Nos résultats montrent des mouvements accrus au sein des continuités écologiques comparés à ceux observés en contextes paysagers prédits comme non connectés : les hérissons transloqués s’y déplacent sur des distances plus longues, plusieurs passereaux répondent à la repasse de chant sur de plus longues distances et les papillons de nuit montrent des taux de recapture beaucoup plus élevés. Par ailleurs, les analyses indirectes réalisées sur l’escargot petit-gris montrent une relation assez faible entre la différenciation génétique des populations et les modèles de connectivité. Ce travail fournit des arguments scientifiques pour soutenir la mise en place de continuités écologiques en milieu urbain
Maintaining connectivity across urban landscape, intrinsically fragmented, is a major issue of urban biodiversity conservation. Connectivity is increasingly taken into account by policy and stakeholders, especially through the establishment of the blue-green infrastructure. Multiple mapping tools allow to detect ecological networks (highly connected areas), however their functionnal validation is often lacking. The objective of this study is to validate least cost path analysis predictions in several cities with different biological models. Studied species vary in terms of dispersal means and capacities (flight, walk, crawling) and habitat requirement (e.g. herbaceous or forested habitats). Several protocols based on movement ecology and landscape genetic are applied, focusing on replication (within and among cities) and control of inter-individual variability. Our results indicate that movement is increased in predicted ecological networks when compared with areas predicted as poorly connected: the translocated hedgehogs travelled longer distances, several passerine responded to song playback over longer distances, and moths showed increased recapture rates. Indirect analysis on the garden snail showed a weak relation between population genetic differentiation and connectivity models. This work provides scientific support for the establishment of ecological networks in urban landscapes

Customers adoption of Internet banking has become a widely-researched topic, although it is fair to state that some research gaps still exist. This research aims to fill some of the research gaps by examining the factors that determine the relevant behaviour of three different categories of Internet banking customers in China (i.e. current users, non-users, and discontinued users), and by developing two conceptual models that are derived from different, but complementary, theoretical approaches. The Decision Making Model and the Service and Relationship Evaluation Model are developed in this research. The Decision Making Model is grounded in the technology acceptance model (TAM) and it incorporates an additional construct of perceived value of using Internet banking. Additionally, the Service and Relationship Evaluation Model is derived from the service quality evaluation and relationship quality evaluation literature. Unlike in most other Internet banking adoption studies, these two conceptual models are used complementarily to deliver a comprehensive understanding of customers Internet banking adoption in China. The models are tested using a sample of 614 Chinese Internet banking customers collected via mall-intercept personal interviews based on questionnaires. Partial Least Square (PLS) path modelling and mediation analysis are applied to test the hypotheses advanced in the two models. The key findings of this research show that perceived value is a major factor for explaining customers Internet banking adoption, thus indicating to the banks that they should reduce costs associated with using Internet banking while providing more (perceived) benefits to customers; the importance of incorporating perceived value in Internet banking adoption model(s) is also demonstrated. The findings also confirm that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are important factors that determine the adoption of Internet banking by all categories of customers. Current users and non-users perceptions of their behavioural control over using Internet banking contribute to their adoption of Internet banking, and such control perceptions are shaped by self-efficacy, perceived government support and technological support. Additionally, it is demonstrated that both current users and discontinued users perceived value and perceived service quality of Internet banking have positive associations with their satisfaction with Internet banking, which lead to their Internet banking adoption. Moreover, the findings reveal that current users are more likely to continue with Internet banking if they are affectively committed to their banks; they are less likely to continue with Internet banking if they are calculatively committed to their banks due to the costs associated with leaving the banks. These therefore indicate the importance of establishing high-quality customer-bank relationships and placing less strict switching cost barriers that impose less pressure on their existing customers. This research contributes to the Internet banking adoption literature by (i) identifying the important category of Internet banking discontinued users, apart from current users and non-users; and (ii) using two complementary conceptual models, which are grounded in different theoretical streams, to investigate the relevant adoption behaviour of all three categories of Internet banking customers. It hence delivers a comprehensive understanding of personal customers adoption of Internet banking in China.

The fundamental content of this thesis corresponds to the development of the GNM-NIPALIS, GNM-PLS2 and GNM-RGCCA methods, used to quantify qualitative variables parting from the first k components given by the appropriate methods in the analysis of J matrices of mixed data. These methods denominated GNM-PLS (General Non Metric Partial Least Squares) are an extension of the NM-PLS methods that only take the first principal component in the quantification function. The transformation of the qualitative variables is done through optimization processes, usually maximizing functions of covariance or correlation, taking advantage of the flexibility of the PLS algorithms and keeping the properties of group belonging and order if it exists; The metric variables are keep their original state as well, excepting standardization. GNM-NIPALS has been created for the purpose of treating one (J = 1) mixed data matrix through the quantification via ACP type reconstruction of the qualitative variables parting from a k components aggregated function. GNM-PLS2 relates two (J = 2) mixed data sets Y~X through PLS regression, quantifying the qualitative variables of a space with the first H PLS components aggregated function of the other space, obtained through cross validation under PLS2 regression. When the endogenous matrix Y contains only one answer variable the method is denominated GNM-PLS1. Finally, in order to analyze more than two blocks (J = 2) of mixed data Y~X1+...+XJ through their latent variables (LV) the GNM-RGCCA was created, based on the RGCCA (Regularized Generalized Canonical Correlation Analysis) method, that modifies the PLS-PM algorithm implementing the new mode A and specifies the covariance or correlation maximization functions related to the process. The quantification of the qualitative variables on each Xj block is done through the inner Zj = Σj ej Yj function, which has J dimension due to the aggregation of the outer Yj estimations. Zj, as well as Yj estimate the ξj component associated to the j-th block.
El contenido fundamental de esta tesis corresponde al desarrollo de los métodos GNM-NIPALS, GNM-PLS2 y GNM-RGCCA para la cuantificación de las variables cualitativas a partir de las primeras k componentes proporcionadas por los métodos apropiados en el análisis de J matrices de datos mixtos. Estos métodos denominados GNM-PLS (General Non Metric Partial Least Squares) son una extensión de los métodos NM-PLS que toman sólo la primera componente principal en la función de cuantificación. La trasformación de las variables cualitativas se lleva a cabo mediante procesos de optimización maximizando generalmente funciones de covarianza o correlación, aprovechando la flexibilidad de los algoritmos PLS y conservando las propiedades de pertenencia grupal y orden si existe; así mismo se conservan las variables métricas en su estado original excepto por estandarización. GNM-NIPALS ha sido creado para el tratamiento de una (J=1) matriz de datos mixtos mediante la cuantificación vía reconstitución tipo ACP de las variables cualitativas a partir de una función agregada de k componentes. GNM-PLS2 relaciona dos (J=2) conjuntos de datos mixtos Y~X mediante regresión PLS, cuantificando las variables cualitativas de un espacio con la función agregada de las primeras H componentes PLS del otro espacio, obtenidas por validación cruzada bajo regresión PLS2. Cuando la matriz endógena Y contiene sólo una variable de respuesta el método se denomina GNM-PLS1. Finalmente para el análisis de más de dos bloques (J>2) de datos mixtos Y~X1+...+XJ a través de sus variables latentes (LV) se implementa el método NM-RGCCA basado en el método RGCCA (Regularized Generalized Canonical Correlation Analysis) que modifica el algoritmo PLS-PM implementando el nuevo modo A y especifica las funciones de maximización de covarianzas o correlaciones asociadas al proceso. La cuantificación de las variables cualitativas en cada bloque Xj se realiza mediante la función inner Zj de dimensión J debido a la agregación de las estimaciones outer Yj. Tanto Zj como Yj estiman la componente ξj asociad al j-ésimo bloque.

Tato práce je zaměřena na odhad letových parametrů malého letounu, konkrétně letounu Evektor SportStar RTC. Pro odhad letových parametrů jsou použity metody "Equation Error Method", "Output Error Method" a metody rekurzivních nejmenších čtverců. Práce je zaměřena na zkoumání charakteristik aerodynamických parametrů podélného pohybu a ověření, zda takto odhadnuté letové parametry odpovídají naměřeným datům a tudíž vytvářejí předpoklad pro realizaci dostatečně přesného modelu letadla. Odhadnuté letové parametry jsou dále porovnávány s a-priorními hodnotami získanými s využitím programů Tornado, AVL a softwarovéverze sbírky Datcom. Rozdíly mezi a-priorními hodnotami a odhadnutými letovými paramatery jsou porovnány s korekcemi publikovanými pro subsonické letové podmínky modelu letounu F-18 Hornet.

The following study was conducted at an upper secondary school in Sweden and attempts to explore the question of what influences male pupils’ reading habits. Many quantitative international studies, including PISA, PIRLS and IEA Reading Literacy, have sought to answer this question, but only partially succeeded due to the limitations of their methods. Therefore, this study seeks to explore this question in more depth using qualitative methods, including interviews and classroom observations, but also minor tests. Two facts which the previously mentioned international studies have found is that boys and particularly immigrant boys tend to have worse reading results than their counterparts. It is therefore the aim of this study to study four male students in upper secondary school; of which two are native Swedes and the other two are unaccompanied refugee children; one from Afghanistan and the other from Morocco. The findings of this study are as follows. Firstly, necessity was found to be the single most important factor for the reading habits of these four pupils; especially the two refugees. Both refugees learnt to read under harsh circumstances in madrassas in their respective home countries. Moreover, the Moroccan pupil learnt to speak and read Spanish fluently during his seven years as a homeless child. Furthermore, in the absence of necessity, interest was found to be decisive in determining the pupils’ reading habits. In addition to this, the study theorizes that an interest in reading generally arises before the ability to read and not vice versa. However, teachers can in fact affect their pupils’ reading habits even in upper secondary school.

Trabalho de Projeto apresentado como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Estatística e Gestão de Informação
O trabalho proposto enquadra-se no âmbito da estatística computacional, tendo como objectivo primário o desenvolvimento de um software estatístico para a implementação do algoritmo PLS - PM (Partial Least Square - Path Modeling). O algoritmo foi programado na sua totalidade em SAS-IML (SAS - Interactive Matrix Language) e complementado com dois módulos de simulação para a estimação da signi cância dos parâmetros do modelo. O trabalho apresenta uma parte metodológica baseada na revisão da literatura relevante no âmbito do PLS - PM. De seguida foram apresentadas todas as fases de análise e implementação do software em questão. Foram indicados sucessivos testes realizados a um conjunto de dados, utilizando o software desenvolvido e outro presente no mercado, de modo a comparar o desempenho de cada um e os resultados obtidos. A comparação dos outputs originou resultados positivos, isto é, os resultados produzidos dos dois softwares são iguais. Além dos resultados de base associados ao PLS-PM, o software criado disponibiliza uma nova técnica de simulação que permite adequar o cálculo da signi cância às exigências do investigador. Outra vantagem que o programa traz é a possibilidade de executar uma metodologia(PLS-PM) que não está implementada no ambiente SAS. Este projecto apresenta a particularidade de poder ser potenciado, tornandose uma ferramenta de arranque para desenvolvimentos futuros devido à circunst ância de ter sido desenvolvido e livremente disponibilizado para a comunidade cientí ca.

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Statistics and Information Management, specialization in Marketing Research e CRM
The assessment of nonlinear relationships in the context of Partial Least Squares Path Modelling (PLS-PM) has received a growing interest in recent years. One important contribution to this subject has been the work of Henseler, Fassot, Dijkstra and Wilson (2012) on the analysis of four different approaches to quadratic effects. The Smooth Partial Least Squares (PLSs) estimation technique studied in this work removes any assumptions on the structure of the nonlinear relationships between latent variables, by applying smoothing spline techniques to the structural model. Performance results of the PLSs show that it is a powerful tool in the context of predictive research, for instance to support the definition of targeted policies. Building from the hybrid approach to the PLS algorithm introduced by Wold (1982), we compare the performance of alternative spline designs, including natural cubic splines, P-Splines and Thin Plate Regression Splines (TPRS). For this purpose, Monte-Carlo simulations are carried with a conceptual model drawn from a comprehensive set of nonlinear relationships, in different sample sizes. All model configurations are compared using Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and absolute bias results. The benchmarking exercise shows that, in most contexts, P-Splines perform slightly better than TPRS and natural cubic splines.

The Keystone XL has a big role for transforming Canadian oil to the USA. The function of the pipeline is decreasing the dependency of the American oil industry on other countries and it will help to limit external debt. The proposed pipeline seeks the most suitable route which cannot damage agricultural and natural water recourses such as the Ogallala Aquifer. Using the Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, the suggested path in this study got extremely high correct results that will help in the future to use the least cost analysis for similar studies. The route analysis contains different weighted overlay surfaces, each, was influenced by various criteria (slope, geology, population and land use). The resulted least cost path routes for each weighted overlay surface were compared with the original proposed pipeline and each displayed surface was more effective than the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Between 1988 and 1989, an intensive archaeological survey of a small drainage known as Roan Mare coulee in southern Saskatchewan was conducted by Dr. Ernest Walker (Walker 1990). Among the 120 archaeological sites in the area, seven bison kills and a vast array of associated drivelines were identified. This study focuses upon the spatial interaction amongst the kills, the drivelines and the local environment in relation to the bison hunting strategies used on the Northern Plains. This is done by modelling where bison are likely to move in the terrain as well as how the topography obstructs their line of sight. As this problem covers a large spatial area and multiple different data sources, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are integrated into the research design in the form of Least Cost Path and Viewshed analyses. Both archaeological data from Walker's survey and environmental data such as elevation and water sources served as the input datasets required by ArcGIS's spatial analysis tools. The results of the Least Cost Path analyses were compared visually to both the location and orientation of the driveline evidence, while the viewshed results were compared to the trap's location at the valley edge. The results of this research showed that the drivelines found at Roan Mare coulee appear to be following the general orientation of the landscape at the broadest scales, and likely served to funnel bison over large distances. There also appear to be several locations on the landscape that are amenable to moving bison to several different sites. The viewshed evidence shows the smaller scale nuances between bison vision and the terrain in a hypothetical drive event. The differences in the viewable area available to the bison at each site likely played a role in the chosen strategy employed when that site was used. It is hoped that this style of research can be continued with higher quality data and additional variables to help clarify many of the subtleties found in a Plains bison drive.

I identified suitable locations for highway wildlife crossing mitigations across the TransCanada Highway (TCH) in the area of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Park (MRGNP), British Columbia. Highways fragment natural landscapes leading to habitat loss, reduced ecosystem connectivity and direct wildlife mortality though motor vehicle collisions. Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) are vulnerable to the effects of habitat and population fragmentation. Highway wildlife crossing mitigations improve ecosystem connectivity by increasing the permeability of transportation corridors to wildlife. I identified high-quality habitat patches using a resource selection function (RSF) based on 1,703 radio telemetry locations from 59 grizzly bears. Least-cost path analysis (LCP) among habitat patches identified 6 linkage zones across the TCH. Electric circuit theory was used to generate current maps that classify linkage zones as high-volume crossing areas or tenuous linkages. Linkage zones occurred where high-quality habitat aligned with physical features conducive to cross-valley wildlife dispersal.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies
A large number of casualties occur during emergencies in highly-crowded public spaces of major events like annual anniversaries, religious festivals, big parties and football matches due to stampedes. It has been often observed that poor resource management is one of the key areas that could be improved to solve this problem. In this study,a geo-game-based approach has been adopted to alert responsible authorities of highly crowded regions as an early warning system and also provide them with optimal dispersal routes. In the Android-based game that was developed for this study, the players could draw polygons on real-time imageries of the area under study obtained from unmanned aerial vehicles and classify them into categories based on how crowded the region is. This data is submitted to a web server which is processed to find suitable least-cost routes by which the people in the crowded regions can be brought to safety in case of an emergency. The spatial distribution of people could be forwarded to appropriate authorities in-charge of the administration highlighting extremely crowded regions which need their attention thereby prompting redirection of security personnel. Additionally, the calculated dispersal routes could be used by them as suggestions to avoid a stampede and ensure safety in case the situation turns worse.

Dissertation presented as partial requirement for obtaining the Master’s degree in Information Management, with a specialization in Information Analysis and Management
The traditional approach to PLS-PM estimated the scores of the formative latent variables as exact linear combinations of their associated manifest variables, not allowing for modelling other relationships besides the linear ones. The present study intends to overcome this limitation, introducing the P-IRLS-PM. The P-IRLS-PM is a new approach to the variance based structural equations models, which intends to widen the spectra of how the formative latent scores are represented by its associated manifest variables. Throughout this work the core concepts of the algorithm P-IRLS-PM will be introduced, followed by a Monte Carlo experiment comparing the new approach with the traditional PLS-PM.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies
In Western Honduras, most of people live in rural areas under extreme conditions of poverty. This area is part of the Centro American dry corridor which is affected by droughts and, therefore, water scarcity. Access to water is limited; which affects human welfare and agricultural production. As a plausible solution, this thesis work provides a tool to identify feasible water catchments for small irrigation projects in Western Honduras based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and surface features. This tool can support decision makers to address water catchments in the study area. Two versions of this tool were developed. Both desktop and online versions allow the user to find potential sites to take water from streams through hosepipes. The suggested paths, over which these hosepipes can be installed, are modeled by using the Least-Cost Path (LCP) approach. We contrasted the results provided by the tool with two actual cases. The results showed the potential of this tool to find possible water intakes different from the current cases. In both cases, the tool was capable of finding water intakes very close to the current sites. This thesis proves that the use of GIS technologies in combination with decision rules and surface features can provide a novel solution to the real problem of water scarcity in Western Honduras.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used and developed for decades across various domains and research fields such as, among others, psychology, sociology, and business research. Although no unique definition exists, SEM is best understood as the entirety of a set of related theories, mathematical models, methods, algorithms, and terminologies related to analyzing the relationships between theoretical entities -- so-called concepts --, their statistical representations -- referred to as constructs --, and observables -- usually called indicators, items or manifest variables. This thesis is concerned with aspects of a particular strain of research within SEM -- namely, composite-based SEM. Composite-based SEM is defined as SEM involving linear compounds, i.e., linear combinations of observables when estimating parameters of interest. The content of the thesis is based on a working paper (Chapter 2), a published refereed journal article (Chapter 3), a working paper that is, at the time of submission of this thesis, under review for publication (Chapter 4), and a steadily growing documentation that I am writing for the R package cSEM (Chapter 5). The cSEM package -- written by myself and my former colleague at the University of Wuerzburg, Florian Schuberth -- provides functions to estimate, analyze, assess, and test nonlinear, hierarchical and multigroup structural equation models using composite-based approaches and procedures. In Chapter 1, I briefly discuss some of the key SEM terminology. Chapter 2 is based on a working paper to be submitted to the Journal of Business Research titled “Assessing overall model fit of composite models in structural equation modeling”. The article is concerned with the topic of overall model fit assessment of the composite model. Three main contributions to the literature are made. First, we discuss the concept of model fit in SEM in general and composite-based SEM in particular. Second, we review common fit indices and explain if and how they can be applied to assess composite models. Third, we show that, if used for overall model fit assessment, the root mean square outer residual covariance (RMS_theta) is identical to another well-known index called the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR). Chapter 3 is based on a journal article published in Internet Research called “Measurement error correlation within blocks of indicators in consistent partial least squares: Issues and remedies”. The article enhances consistent partial least squares (PLSc) to yield consistent parameter estimates for population models whose indicator blocks contain a subset of correlated measurement errors. This is achieved by modifying the correction for attenuation as originally applied by PLSc to include a priori assumptions on the structure of the measurement error correlations within blocks of indicators. To assess the efficacy of the modification, a Monte Carlo simulation is conducted. The paper is joint work with Florian Schuberth and Theo Dijkstra. Chapter 4 is based on a journal article under review for publication in Industrial Management & Data Systems called “Estimating and testing second-order constructs using PLS-PM: the case of composites of composites”. The purpose of this article is threefold: (i) evaluate and compare common approaches to estimate models containing second-order constructs modeled as composites of composites, (ii) provide and statistically assess a two-step testing procedure to test the overall model fit of such models, and (iii) formulate recommendation for practitioners based on our findings. Moreover, a Monte Carlo simulation to compare the approaches in terms of Fisher consistency, estimated bias, and RMSE is conducted. The paper is joint work with Florian Schuberth and Jörg Henseler
Strukturgleichungsmodellierung (SEM) wird seit Jahrzehnten in verschiedenen Bereichen und Forschungsgebieten wie zum Beispiel der Psychologie, der Soziologie und den Wirtschaftswissenschaften verwendet und weiterentwickelt. SEM umfasst dabei die Gesamtheit einer Reihe verwandter Theorien, mathematischer Modelle, Methoden, Algorithmen und Terminologien im Zusammenhang mit der Analyse der Beziehungen zwischen theoretischen Entitäten - so genannten Konzepten -, ihrer statistischen Repräsentation - als Konstrukte bezeichnet - und Beobachtungsgrößen - üblicherweise Indikatoren, Items oder manifeste Variablen genannt. Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit Aspekten eines bestimmten Forschungszweigs innerhalb der SEM, den Komposit-basierten SEM Verfahren. Komposit-basiertes SEM ist ein Überbegriff für alle SEM Methoden, die Kompositen - d.h. gewichtete Linearkombinationen aus Beobachtungen - zur Schätzung unbekannter Größen verwenden. Der Inhalt der Arbeit basiert auf einem Arbeitspapier (Kapitel 2), einem veröffentlichten referierten Zeitschriftenartikel (Kapitel 3), einem weiteren Arbeitspapier (Kapitel 4) und einer stetig wachsenden Dokumentation, die ich für das R-Paket cSEM geschrieben habe, bzw. kontinuierlich weiterschreibe (Kapitel 5). Das Paket cSEM - geschrieben von mir und Florian Schuberth, meinem ehemaligen Kollegen an der Universität Würzburg - stellt Funktionen zur Verfügung, um lineare, nichtlineare, hierarchische und Multigruppen-Strukturgleichungsmodelle mit Hilfe von Komposit-basierten Ansätzen und Verfahren zu schätzen, zu analysieren, zu bewerten, zu testen und zu untersuchen. In Kapitel 1 gehe ich zunächst kurz auf einige der wichtigsten SEM Begriffe ein. Kapitel 2 basiert auf einem Arbeitspapier mit dem Titel „Assessing overall model fit of composite models in structural equation modeling“, das im Journal of Business Research eingereicht werden wird. Der Artikel befasst sich mit dem Thema der Bewertung der Gesamtgüte des Modells (eng. overall model fit) im Kontext des Komposit-Modells. Das Papier leistet drei zentrale Beiträge zur Literatur zu diesem Thema. Erstens wird das Konzept der Modellgüte in der SEM im Allgemeinen und der Komposit-basierten SEM im Besonderen eingehend erörtert. Zweitens wird auf gängige Fit-Indizes eingegangen und erläutert, ob und wie sie zur Beurteilung eines Komposit-Modells angewendet werden können. Drittens wird gezeigt, dass der root mean square outer residual covariance (RMS_theta) identisch mit einem anderen bekannten Index, dem standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) ist, falls der RMS_theta als Maß für die Modellanpassungsgüte verwendet werden soll. Kapitel 3 basiert auf einem in Internet Research veröffentlichten Zeitschriftenartikel mit dem Titel „Measurement error correlation within blocks of indicators in consistent partial least squares: Issues and remedies“. Der Artikel entwickelt das consistent partial least squares (PLSc) Verfahren weiter, um konsistente Parameterschätzungen für Populationsmodelle zu erhalten, deren Indikatorblöcke korrelierte Messfehler enthalten. Dies wird erreicht, indem die Korrektur für die Dämpfung (eng. attenuation), wie sie ursprünglich von PLSc angewandt wird, so modifiziert wird, dass sie a priori Annahmen über die Struktur der Messfehlerkorrelationen innerhalb der Indikatorblöcke enthält. Um die statistische Gültigkeit der Modifikation zu beurteilen, wird eine Monte Carlo Simulation durchgeführt. Das Papier wurde gemeinsam mit Florian Schuberth und Theo Dijkstra verfasst. Kapitel 4 basiert auf einem zur Veröffentlichung in Industrial Management & Data Systems anstehenden Zeitschriftenartikel mit dem Titel „Estimating and testing second order constructs using PLS-PM: the case of composites of composites“. Der Zweck dieses Artikels ist ein dreifacher: (i) Bewertung und Vergleich gängiger Ansätze zur Schätzung von Modellen, die Konstrukte zweiter Ordnung enthalten, die als Komposite von Kompositen modelliert wurden; (ii) ein zweistufiges Testverfahren vorzustellen und statistisch zu bewerten, um die allgemeine Modellanpassung solcher Modelle zu testen und (iii) auf der Grundlage unserer Ergebnisse Empfehlungen für Praktiker zu formulieren. Darüber hinaus wurde eine Monte Carlo Simulation durchgeführt, um die Ansätze in Bezug auf Fisher-Konsistenz, geschätzte Verzerrung und RMSE zu vergleichen. Das Papier wurde gemeinsam mit Florian Schuberth und Jörg Henseler verfasst. Kapitel 5 stellt das R-Paket cSEM vor. Zum Zeitpunkt der Einreichung dieser Dissertation zur Begutachtung ist cSEM im Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) als Version 0.2.0 verfügbar

Allowing decorative pattern to take flight is a theme that has preoccupied my art practice ever since becoming infected by Deleuze and Guattari’s writing, A Thousand Plateaus:Capitalism and Schizophrenia, while completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Textiles. It is evident as an underlying thread or feeling in my making processes and thinking. According to Deleuze and Guattari (1987), to think new thoughts involves ‘a wrenching of concepts away from their usual configurations, outside the systems in which they have a home and outside the structures of recognition that constrain thought to the already known’ (p276). In this project I have found myself continually challenged by the intent and consequences of ‘shaking things up’, as I believe this quote implies. A wrenching of concepts away from their usual configurations has come through drawing a comparison between the conceptual structure of decorative pattern and the orders and structures of everyday life. What has emerged is a synthesis of ideas which create a picture of the dis/order that is evident within decorative pattern and in everyday life. I have come to conclude that decorative pattern is passive aggressive. It occurs to me that I could have described decorative pattern in a more positive tone in terms of passive resistance. But, in my mind, this implies a heroic gesture of superseding dominant orders. In this project I consciously employ the term ‘passive aggressive’ as an analogy because it acknowledges human flaw as a pattern that is inherent in everyday life. It alludes to the actuality of a relation to order and subsequent disorder that is not heroic, but rather implies humanness and the everyday struggle. While my challenge has been to present a new way of thinking about decorative pattern, underlying this has been a questioning of the structures that define my practice itself. This is evident in the experimental works that I have produced. It has been an evolutionary process that has played out according to a rhythm of shattering and shoring up. I see the resolution of this exploration coming in two parts. One is as the sum of my experimental works and how these artworks inform each other and are read in relation to the text. The other comes through a final installation of work which employs the system for making that has subsequently evolved, moving according to ‘the path of least resistance’.

There is growing consensus that unless resource-rich developing countries improve their domestic governance systems, rising exploitation of mineral, oil and gas resources may result in long-term adverse developmental outcomes associated with the “resource curse”. Despite the consensus, reforms do not abound. This dissertation investigates the obstacles to such reforms, and the mechanisms and strategies that can possibly overcome these obstacles. I argue that two trapping mechanisms are binding these countries to a “weak governance curse”. One mechanism is the phenomenon of path dependence, which makes a dysfunctional governance path initiated at a past historical juncture resistant to change over time. The other mechanism is rent-seeking behaviour associated with high resource rents, which creates perverse incentives for political and economic actors to resist reforms. The Law and Development literature has recently produced a rich body of knowledge on governance reform in developing countries, yet it has largely neglected the potential role of innovative global regulatory mechanisms, beyond development assistance, in this process. I argue that this evolving literature ought to draw from global regulation studies to investigate the interaction between unconventional global regulatory mechanisms and domestic governance reform. In this thesis I analyze whether extraterritorial home country regulations, such as anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and securities disclosure regulations, and transnational public-private partnerships, such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, may offer institutional opportunities for external and internal actors to facilitate policy reforms in resource-rich and governance-poor countries. My conclusion is twofold. First, there is reason for cautious optimism regarding the potential for unconventional global regulatory mechanisms to provoke positive feedback effects in domestic governance reform. These mechanisms can open innovative institutional pathways of influence to outsiders and insiders promoting governance reform. Second, instead of searching for a regulatory silver bullet, the most promising way to promote reforms in resilient dysfunctional governance systems is to make use of the wide range of conventional and unconventional mechanisms available. A constellation of regulatory instruments opens up the possibility for outside and inside reformers to benefit from a different policy mix of available mechanisms, depending on the specific circumstances of a given country at a particular time.

Understanding the events and processes responsible for patterns of within species diversity, provides insight into major evolutionary themes like adaptation, species distributions, and ultimately speciation itself. Here, I combine ecological, genetic and spatial perspectives to evaluate the roles that both historical and contemporary factors have played in shaping the population structure and genetic variation of foxsnakes (Pantherophis gloydi). First, I determine the likely impact of habitat loss on population distribution, through radio-telemetry (32 individuals) at two locations varying in habitat patch size. As predicted, individuals had similar habitat use patterns, but restricted movements to patches of suitable habitat at the more disturbed site. Also, occurrence records spread across a fragmented region were non-randomly distributed and located close to patches of usable habitat, suggesting habitat distribution limits population distribution. Next, I combined habitat suitability modeling with population genetics (589 individuals, 12 microsatellite loci) to infer how foxsnakes disperse through a mosaic of natural and altered landscape features. Boundary regions between genetic clusters were comprised of low suitability habitat (e.g. agricultural fields). Island populations were grouped into a single genetic cluster suggesting open water presents less of a barrier than non-suitable terrestrial habitat. Isolation by distance models had a stronger correlation with genetic data when including resistance values derived from habitat suitability maps, suggesting habitat degradation limits dispersal for foxsnakes. At larger temporal and spatial scales I quantified patterns of genetic diversity and population structure using mitochondrial (101 cytochrome b sequences) and microsatellite (816 individuals, 12 loci) DNA and used Approximate Bayesian computation to test competing models of demographic history. Supporting my predictions, I found models with populations which have undergone population size drops and splitting events continually had more support than models with small founding populations expanding to stable populations. Based on timing, the most likely cause was the cooling of temperatures and infilling of deciduous forest since the Hypisthermal. On a smaller scale, evidence suggested anthropogenic habitat loss has caused further decline and fragmentation. Mitochondrial DNA structure did not correspond to fragmented populations and the majority of foxsnakes had an identical haplotype, suggesting a past bottleneck or selective sweep.
Thesis (Ph.D, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2011-01-11 10:40:52.476

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has been established as the leading imaging technique for structural studies from small proteins to whole cells at a molecular level. The great advances in cryo-EM have led to the ability to provide unique insights into a wide variety of biological processes in a close to native, hydrated state at near-atomic resolutions. The developments of computational approaches have significantly contributed to the exciting achievements of cryo-EM. This dissertation emphasizes new approaches to address image processing problems in cryo-EM, including tilt series alignment evaluation, simultaneous determination of sample thickness, tilt, and electron mean free path based on Beer-Lambert law, Model-Based Iterative Reconstruction (MBIR) on tomographic data, minimization of objective lens astigmatism in instrument alignment and defocus and magnification dependent astigmatism of TEM images. The final goal of these methodological developments is to improve the 3D reconstruction of cryo-EM and visualize more detailed characterization.