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1
Hines, Sonia J. "Nurses' research literacy: A multi-methods exploration." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2022. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/229970/1/Sonia_Hines_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis explored the concept of nurses' research literacy – how nurses' read and understand research literature. Through two systematic reviews of the literature, a pilot study and a qualitative research study, insights were formed into how nurses perceive research and how improved research literacy could be facilitated. Forty registered nurses from around Australia shared their experiences of learning about, reading and using research which led to different ways of thinking about teaching research. A new intervention for increasing research literacy, using a language-based, genre-analysis approach, was developed and found to be feasible and effective.
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Goisque, Guillaume. "Optimization methods for multi-level lot-sizing problems." Thesis, Université de Lorraine, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017LORR0188/document.
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Dans cette thèse nous nous intéressons à plusieurs problèmes de gestion de stocks, à travers des modèles de dimensionnement de lots sur plusieurs niveaux, en tenant compte de capacités de production. Nous étudions tout d’abord un problème de dimensionnement de lots à deux niveaux en série avec des capacités de production identiques et stationnaires aux deux niveaux, pour lequel proposons un algorithme dynamique exact pouvant résoudre le problème en temps polynomial sous certaines hypothèses. Dans le chapitre suivant nous étendons ce résultat dans deux directions : nous considérons le problème de gestion de stocks sur un nombre quelconque de niveaux en série, et nous considérons des livraisons par lots. Nous présentons un algorithme exact de résolution, polynomial et très efficace, basé sur une décomposition originale en composantes connexes induites. Nous considérons ensuite des versions plus générales de ce problème, en établissant des résultats de NP-complétude lorsque chaque niveau à une capacité ou une taille de lot différentes. Nous proposons pour ces problèmes une 2-approximation, basé sur l’encadrement de la fonction objectif par deux fonctions affines. Pour finir nous étudions un problème sur un seul niveau mais dans un système de production composé de machines identiques fonctionnant en parallèle. L’originalité de ce problème est de considérer une limitation de la consommation énergétique. A chaque période, on doit décider combien de machines allumer ou éteindre, et quel volume produire et stocker. Des résultats de complexité sont proposés, montrant que ce problème est NP-difficile même sous des hypothèses fortes, et un algorithme dynamique exact est présenté pour le cas de paramètres d’énergie stationnairesIn this thesis we are interested in several multi-level lot-sizing problems taking into account production capacities. We first study a 2-level in series lot-sizing problem with identical and stationary capacities at both levels, for which we propose an exact dynamic algorithm running in polynomial time under some hypothesis. Next chapter extends this result on two main lines: we consider the multi-level in series lot-sizing problem with batch deliveries and with a number of level which is part of the input. We provide a very efficient exact algorithm for this problem, which is polynomial in the number of levels and in the number of periods, based on an original decomposition into induced connected components. Then, we consider more general versions of this problem, for which we provide NP-hardness results when batch sizes or capacities are level-dependent. We propose 2-approximation algorithms for these problems, based on the sandwiching of the objective function by two affine functions. Finally, we study a single-level lot-sizing problem in a system composed of identical machines working in parallel. The originality of this study is to consider a periodic energy limitation. At each period it must be decided how many machines to switch on or off and the volume to be produced and stored. Complexity results are provided, showing that this problem is NP-hard, even under some restrictive assumptions, and an exact dynamic algorithm running in polynomial time is proposed for the case of stationary energy parameters
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Keranen, Nancy Susan. "A multi-theoretical mixed-methods approach to investigating research engagement by university ELT staff." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.527158.
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Doci, Florida. "Emergency Contraception in Albania: A Multi-Methods Study of Awareness, Attitudes and Practices." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/36674.
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Modern methods of contraception are freely available in Albania, yet contraceptive prevalence among Albanians is relatively low (11%). Abortion on the other hand has long been the mainstay of family planning in the country. Emergency contraception is not very popular in Albania either, even though two different levonorgestrel-only EC pills (NorLevo® and Postinor®) are widely available in Albanian pharmacies. This study aimed to investigate potential factors that influence women’s choices of contraception. In 2016, we conducted a multi-method qualitative study with women and service providers in Albania. Women were invited to report their knowledge of, attitudes toward, and practices surrounding contraception in an online survey. Also, we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with key informants to better understand the current reproductive health landscape in the country. Additionally, we conducted structured interviews with pharmacists in Tirana to assess their training and practices with regard to different available contraceptive methods. Misinformation, lack of awareness, fear of judgement and embarrassment, and lack of infrastructure are the strongest influencers of women’s choice of contraception in Albania. Training of health service providers, as well as development of materials for distribution are warranted to improve knowledge and uptake of contraception among women.
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Persson, Oskar, and Samuel Svensson. "Exploring methods for dependency management in multi-repositories : Design science research at Saab Training and simulation." Thesis, Jönköping University, JTH, Avdelningen för datavetenskap, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-54102.
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Dependency problems for developers are like sneezing for people with pollen allergies during the spring, an everyday problem. This is especially true when working in multi-repositories. The dependency problems that occur do so as a byproduct of enabling developers to work on different components of a project in smaller teams, where everything is version controlled.Nearly all developers use version control systems, such as Git, Mercurial, or Subversion. While version control systems have helped developers for nearly 40 years and are constantly getting updated, there are still functionalities that do not exist. One example of that is having a good way of managing dependencies and allowing developers to download projects without having to handle dependency problems manually. The solutions that version control systems offer to help manage dependencies (e.g., Git’s submodules or Mercurial’s subrepositories), do not enable developers a fail-safe download or build the project if it contains dependency problems.In this study, a case study was conducted at Saab Training and Simulation to explore methods for dependency management as well as discuss and highlight some of the problems that emerge when working with dependencies in multi-repositories.An argument can be made that the functionality of dependency management systems, both package managers and version control systems’ solutions are not up to date on how dependencies are used in the development, during this time.In this paper, a novel approach to dependency management is introduced with the possibility to describe the dependencies dynamically by providing the utility to describes usages of a repository (such as simulation of hardware or the main project). As well as discussing the necessary functionalities that are required to handle such a system.By re-opening the dialog about dependency management as well as describing problems that arise in such environments, the goal is to inspire further research within these areas.
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Groschel, Uwe. "Audiences and participants : researching theatre users at Contact, Manchester." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/audiences-and-participants-researching-theatre-users-at-contact-manchester(ed0dbc91-5fc5-44ea-a7c8-627691ab8e1e).html.
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When people 'go to the theatre' we know that they are audiences. When young people go to Contact, however, they might be audiences, performers and/or theatre makers - they might play all three or more roles. Contact's users blur existing concepts and terminology. When we want to know more about theatre audiences, audience research offers models based on the distinction between audiences and theatre makers. If we want to know more about Contact's users, however, a model reflecting the blending of audiences and theatre makers' roles has yet to be developed. This thesis engages with Contact's users. It maps some of their multiple roles and experiences by asking two main questions: What are the practices of the people attending Contact and how can these practices be researched? A range of qualitative methods is necessary in order to investigate the wide variety of Contact's users' roles and experiences. Individual and group interviews are drawn from audience research, creative workshops are drawn from communication studies, and participant observation and visual research from the social sciences. Finally, a new method, Walking Fieldwork, is adapted for the use in theatre. A number of case studies are employed to investigate Contact's users. These case studies involve the observation of young actors during rehearsals and performances, the observation of participants in an outreach project, the investigation of audiences' experiences of two productions, and several short post-show interviews with general Contact audiences. This study found evidence that the relationship between theatre makers and audiences is changing. The term 'theatre user' is introduced as it opens up an area of overlap between the two and fits contemporary practices at Contact more closely. Contact's users function as communities, participants and co-creators. The descriptions of these roles and experiences contained in this thesis are understood as an initial exploration into practices of contemporary theatre users. However, further research is needed to build a more detailed understanding of these practices. In terms of research methods, this study found that the academic field of audience research needs to develop methods which are sensitive to both the backgrounds of theatre users and the theatrical context. The argument is put forward that audience research should become more aware of methods for the investigation of human experience and should enter into a 'methods-dialogue' with other academic fields of study.
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Abdullah, Ghadah Mubarak. "Mentoring as a Knowledge Translation Intervention to Inform Clinical Practice: A Multi-Methods Study." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/32497.
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Background: Mentoring is an intervention for implementing evidence into practice, but little is known about this intervention. The overall aim of this dissertation was to examine mentoring as a knowledge translation (KT) intervention to inform clinical practice.
Methods: 1) A systematic review was used to determine the effectiveness of mentoring as a KT intervention. 2) An interpretive descriptive qualitative study was conducted to explore the use of mentoring in the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario’s Best Practice Guidelines Implementation/ Knowledge Transfer Fellowship program.
Findings: 1) Of 10,669 citations from 1988 to 2012, 10 studies were eligible. Findings showed that mentoring alone (n = 1 study) improved one behavioral outcome. When mentoring was used as part of a multi-faceted intervention (n = 9), there were various effects on knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, use of research evidence in clinical practice, and the impacts on healthcare professionals, patients and organizations. 2) Qualitative interviews with 6 fellows, 8 mentors and 4 program leaders revealed that mentoring involved building relationships, establishing a learning plan, and using teaching and learning activities. Mentors were described as accessible, dedicated, and having expertise; fellows were described as dedicated, self-directed, and having mixed levels of expertise. Mentoring was described as positively impacting upon mentoring relationships, fellows, mentors, and organizations. Participants reported no negative outcomes.
Conclusion: Mentoring was used as a KT intervention to support the implementation of evidence into clinical practice. The systematic review and qualitative study findings informed the Mentoring for Guideline Implementation model. Mentoring involved mentees selecting more experienced mentors who provided individualized support based on mentees’ learning needs, which resulted in mutual benefits for mentees and mentors. Future research is required to validate this new mentoring model, develop an instrument to measure the mentor-mentee relationship, and evaluate the effectiveness of mentoring as a KT intervention for guideline implementation in nursing.
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Makiya, George Kidakwa. "A Multi-Level Investigation into the Antecedents of Enterprise Architecture (EA) Assimilation in the U.S. Federal Government: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Research Study." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1338942189.
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Krein, Jonathan L. "Replication and Knowledge Production in Empirical Software Engineering Research." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4296.
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Although replication is considered an indispensable part of the scientific method in software engineering, few replication studies are published each year. The rate of replication, however, is not surprising given that replication theory in software engineering is immature. Not only are replication taxonomies varied and difficult to reconcile, but opinions on the role of replication contradict. In general, we have no clear sense of how to build knowledge via replication, particularly given the practical realities of our research field. Consequently, most replications in software engineering yield little useful information. In particular, the vast majority of external replications (i.e., replications performed by researchers unaffiliated with the original study) not only fail to reproduce the original results, but defy explanation. The net effect is that, as a research field, we consistently fail to produce usable (i.e., transferable) knowledge, and thus, our research results have little if any impact on industry. In this dissertation, we dissect the problem of replication into four primary concerns: 1) rate and explicitness of replication; 2) theoretical foundations of replication; 3) tractability of methods for context analysis; and 4) effectiveness of inter-study communication. We address each of the four concerns via a two-part research strategy involving both a theoretical and a practical component. The theoretical component consists of a grounded theory study in which we integrate and then apply external replication theory to problems of replication in empirical software engineering. The theoretical component makes three key contributions to the literature: first, it clarifies the role of replication with respect to the overall process of science; second, it presents a flexible framework for reconciling disparate replication terminology; and third, it informs a broad range of practical replication concerns. The practical component involves a series of replication studies, through which we explore a variety of replication concepts and empirical methods, ultimately culminating in the development of a tractable method for context analysis (TCA). TCA enables the quantitative evaluation of context variables in greater detail, with greater statistical power, and via considerably smaller datasets than previously possible. As we show (via a complex, real-world example), the method ultimately enables the empirically and statistically-grounded reconciliation and generalization of otherwise contradictory results across dissimilar replications—which problem has previously remained unsolved in software engineering.
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Annikova, Elena. "Public Service Announcement: the way to attract attention to problem in society and to change model of social behavior : a multi methods research, which is combined both of quantitative and qualitative methods, about Public Service Announcement." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Akademin för hälsa och arbetsliv, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-12310.
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This multi methods research, which is combined both of quantitative and qualitative methods, is about Public Service Announcement (PSA). This study is aimed to find out if something changes in behavior of people and their attitude to social problem in Russia by an impact of PSA and to understand whereby PSA impacts on changes in behavior of people and rise of attention to social problem in Russia. In order to achieve thesis aims, various types of data presented in this research: a survey of 50 people from different age and sex groups and interviews with a workers of two social organizations. To analyze a data, it were used a univariate and bivariate analysis for quantitative data. Analysis of qualitative data is done in a phenomenological way. According to the results, PSA performs its tasks, something it’s changed in people by impact of PSA, people of all ages noted an influence of PSA on them, they get to know about social problem, begin to think about or changed their behavior, begun to work as volunteers, made a donation. By all this aspects as emotion, feeling, sensation, design, PSA impact on changes in behavior of people and rise of attention to social problem in Russia. PSA impacts across effective psychological mechanism such as an emotional sphere of personality. Psychological aspects can be divided into cognitive and emotional. Emotion is one of the key factors of the PSAs. It is established that emotional memory is much stronger than other types of memory, affects human behavior. Cognitive component is related to how advertising information is perceived by people. All elements like an illustration, title, text, logo, layout and general features of the image determine the overall effect of advertising. PSA is a display of goodwill of society, its principled position on socially significant values. Social advertising can and should be considered as a mode of operation of social services.
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Clement, Stephen. "USING MAVT TO INCORPORATE PUBLIC PERCEPTION WHEN CHOOSING A NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE." VCU Scholars Compass, 2016. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4635.
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Nuclear energy is a source of carbon free power. With many countries striving to make deep carbon cuts in their energy sectors, nuclear energy could be a large part of the solution. One of the main obstacles standing in the way of the use of nuclear energy is the issue of used nuclear fuel disposal. According to the NEI, the U.S. creates about 2000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel per year and has generated around 76,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel over the last 4 decades. While there are technical problems that need to be solved, it is primarily the public and political opposition to the disposal of used nuclear fuel that stands in the way of progress in this area. This work addresses this issue through Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). To make a decision among ten different fuel cycles, we have brought together five stakeholders: Nuclear Scientists and Engineers, Environmental Scientists, Economists, Political Scientists, and The General Public. Using Multi-Attribute Value Theory (MAVT), we have been able to develop decision models for each stakeholder as well as a model that combines them all and came to the conclusion that of the ten fuel cycles considered, the best decision is to continue to use On Site Dry Cask Storage. This decision is made with small sample sizes but the methodology could be applied at much larger scales and can potentially be used to choose a fuel cycle that encounters much less political and social opposition to its implementation.
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Li, Rui [Verfasser], Burkhard [Akademischer Betreuer] [Gutachter] Rost, and Stefan [Gutachter] Kramer. "Data Mining and Machine Learning Methods for High-dimensional Patient Data in Dementia Research: Voxel Features Mining, Subgroup Discovery and Multi-view Learning / Rui Li ; Gutachter: Burkhard Rost, Stefan Kramer ; Betreuer: Burkhard Rost." München : Universitätsbibliothek der TU München, 2017. http://d-nb.info/1125018224/34.
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Griffis, Brent Patrick. "Multi-Criteria Decision Modeling for Best Value Selections in Target Value Design Integrated Project Delivery." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2014. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1729.
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Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) combined with Target Value Design (TVD) is a better way to deliver value for the client than traditional guaranteed maximum price (GMP) methods. With traditional GMP delivery methods, the interests of the parties are often at odds. The goal of IPD is to align all party interests in order to achieve a win-win scenario. Due to the aligning nature of IPD and the fact that each party’s success is dependent on achieving the project objectives as a whole; a non-biased, transparent, decision-making process is necessary in order to deliver the project objectives within the constraints of the TVD. Thus delivering the expected value for the client and ensuring that all parties achieve project success. The need for this transparent decision-making process is compounded by the fact that a “target” based system rapidly declines to a less than optimal state if there is no unbiased decision-making process in place. If we treat the entire lifespan of a project as the complex system that it is, we can begin to take advantage of the hierarchical nature of complex systems. The goal of this paper is to show that by modeling the life span of a project through a multi-criteria decision making model, built on a hierarchical framework will allow you to find a non-inferior solution to your TVD. I’m proposing to use Hierarchical Holographic Modeling (HHM) as the framework for an Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) multi-criteria decision-making model complete with post-optimality analysis as the preferred project management method.
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Cook, Edward. "Group Decision-Making." VCU Scholars Compass, 2019. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5928.
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The present work explores improvements in group decision-making. It begins with a practical example using state-of-the-art techniques for a complex, high-risk decision. We show how these techniques can reveal a better alternative. Although we created an improved decision process, decision-makers were apt to protect their own organizations instead of the project. This tendency was reduced over the course of the decision-making process but inspired the first conceptual component of this work.
The first concept describes the “Cost of Conflict” that can arise in a group decision, using game theory to represent the non-cooperative approach and comparing the outcome to the cooperative approach. We demonstrate that it is possible for the group to settle on a non-Paretto Nash equilibrium. The sensitivity of the decision-maker weights is revealed which led to the second conceptual portion of this work.
The second concept applies social network theory to study the influence between decision-makers in a group decision. By examining the number and strength of connections between decision-makers, we build from intrinsically derived weights to extrinsically derived weights by adding the network influences from other decision-makers. The two conceptual approaches provide a descriptive view of non-cooperative decisions where decision-makers still influence each other. These concepts suggest a prescriptive approach to achieving a higher group utility.
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Duncan, James M. PhD CFLE DAV, Kayla PhD Reed-Fitzke, Anthony J. PhD Ferraro, Armeda S. PhD Wojciak, Alexus MS Hamilton, and Hilary MS Pippert. "Where is the Resilience in Army STARRS? Evaluating Psychometrics of a Multi-Dimensional Resilience Construct." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2020. https://dc.etsu.edu/secfr-conf/2020/schedule/49.
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Using two independent samples of Army soldiers-in-training, this study explores the measurement of resilience in the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience among Servicemembers (Army STARRS) New Soldier Study Component (NSS). Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify a three-factor structure of resilience within the Army STARRS. Confirmatory factor analysis was then used to confirm the three-factor structure, and then internal reliability was assessed. Determination of how resilience can be measured within the Army STARRS NSS will aid scholars who wish to examine resilience among Army soldiers-in-training.
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Emmungil, Levent. "Effect Of Constructed Web-supported Instruction On Achievement Related To Research Methods." Master's thesis, METU, 2004. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605287/index.pdf.
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This study examined the effect of constructed web-supported instruction on students&rsquoachievement related to research methods. Also, in this study, constructed web site was tracking the activities of students, namely entrance and exit time, logs of each entrance to the tests as well as the results of each entrance, and posts to the forum. Another intention of the study was to construct a web support system for traditionally offered courses in order to decrease both instructor and students efforts to communicate and reach for sources. In addition, the web site was prepared as a dynamic web site to decrease the instructor&rsquo
s construct and update time of the web site to the minimum level. The subjects of the study were 24 graduate students of SSME 520 Research Methods in Education course offered by the SSME Department of METU. None of the subjects was offered an on-line course before. The study used both quantitative and qualitative measurements to analyze the effectiveness of the site and. The results of the study showed that students had an average achievement value of 68%. There was significant correlation between the summary section usage of web site and research methods achievement, and test section usage of web site and research methods achievement. But there was no significant correlation between forum section usage of web site and research methods achievement. Another result showed that supportive web site should provide asynchronous communication for more effective usage. It can also be concluded that the speed and the visual design of the web site is very important for the students. During the development process, properties of web-based course management systems were taken as the models. Preferences of those systems were tried to accomplish. Unlike those systems, the developed site was not created for stand-alone course management systems but for an aid to the traditionally delivered courses. The framework was prepared not only for graduate courses, but also for other courses, because the study has intended to end up with a framework which would be easily adapted for all courses.
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Bernroider, Edward, Stefan Koch, and Volker Stix. "A Comprehensive Framework Approach using Content, Context, Process Views to Combine Methods from Operations Research for IT Assessments." Taylor and Francis, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10580530.2013.739896.
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Motivated by IT evaluation problems identified in a large public sector organization, we propose how
evaluation requirements can be supported by a framework combining different models and methods
from IS evaluation theory. The article extends the content, context, process (CCP) perspectives of
organizational change with operations research techniques and demonstrates the approach in practice
for an Enterprise Resource Planning evaluation.
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Clements, Taylor J. "INFORMAL TEACHER LEADERSHIP FOR TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION: A MULTI-SITE CASE STUDY OF DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP." UKnowledge, 2018. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edsc_etds/35.
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The goal of this study was to understand how a secondary principal uses a distributed perspective of leadership to support informal teacher leaders (ITLs) to improve classroom technology integration. Using a phenomenological lens, I employed a multi-site case study to inform the research goals. A conceptual framework based on Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory and Wenger’s (1998) communities of practice theory was used to guide the study’s methods and data collection.
Data were collected in three phases. At each site, the first phase consisted of a digital survey with only closed-ended questions that was administered to all classroom teachers. The survey was analyzed using social network analysis to identify the ITLs at each school. During the second phase, individual interviews with the ITLs and the principal as well as a follow-up focus group interview with ITLs at each school were conducted. During the final phase of data collection, I observed the ITLs at work to understand how they embodied informal teacher leadership.
Analyses of diverse data revealed how a principal influences the nature of informal teacher leadership in a school. Findings revealed that principals establish cultural expectations using teacher voice in leadership decisions, modeling the effective use of education technology, providing in-school and out-of-school leadership opportunities for ITLs, and establishing expectations for all teachers to assume roles of instructional leadership. It was clear in this study that although principals are not directly connected to the informal leading and learning network that occurs in a school, they indirectly influence the informal network by establishing school-wide cultural expectations for informal teacher leadership and by personally interacting with the ITLs.
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Warren, Scott Joseph. "A Multi-Methodology Study of the Historic Impact of Soft Systems Methodology and Its Associated Data Visualization Approach in the Context of Operations and Business Strategy." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2018. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1404615/.
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The purpose of this three-essay dissertation was to expand knowledge and theory regarding soft systems methodologies (SSMs) and data visualization approaches in business, engineering, and other social sciences. The first essay depicts a bibliometric analysis study of the historic impacts of SSM from 1980-2018 on business, engineering, and other social sciences fields. This study found 285 articles that described or employed SSM for research and included outcomes such as top SSM authors, author citation impacts, common dissemination outlets, time-bound distribution of publications, and other relevant findings. This study provided a picture of who, what, why, when, and where SSM has had the greatest impact on academic thought and practice. The second essay presents research on the academic impact of Systemigrams, an associated data visualization approach, finding examples of conceptual or research development that employed Systemigrams to depict complex problem situations. Recommendations for improvement of designing these data visualizations to increase their field use resulted from this study. The final essay leverages a selection of the articles as use cases to produce a grounded theory study to identify phenomena that arose from the use of SSM for operations and firm strategy research. This study identified two broad themes including (i) scope, structure, and process challenges and (ii) performance and evaluation limitations. These themes were explained by six patterns that emerged from the publications. Each produced change recommendations for SSM process, practice, and reporting to support its continued viability and adoption in business and operations research.
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Day, Elizabeth Mary. "A rich portrait of the non-violent resistance multi-parent therapeutic programme." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/582696.
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Non-violent resistance group therapy is an innovative way of working with parents whose children are violent and out of control. The programme brings about change on a number of levels, some of which were beyond our expectations. This research aims to both look into the clinical practice and to develop a research method which can do it justice. My aim was to research into those areas which are ‘felt’: beyond the known and the written about. In order to do this I take aspects of the research method portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot and Hoffmann Davis, 1997) and bring them together with rich description, rich pictures and arts research practices, so as to create a new qualitative inquiry method which I call ‘rich portraiture’. I describe the development of rich portraiture as a research method and show how I applied it to my practice. At the heart of my dissertation is a complex and layered rich portrait which inquires into the particular experiences of the facilitators of and participants in this groupwork programme (Day and Heismann, 2010). Rich portraiture draws on the performative abilities of clinicians: music, poetry, film, quilt making, painting, dance, sculpture, writing. Detailed narrative portraits of participants and facilitators are located in their social and political context and combined with a juxtapositioning of performance and text which moves into that tacit dimension in which we know more than we can tell (Polanyi, 1966). This is ‘performance in use’ (Cho and Trent, 2009, p 1). My preferred performance method is painting. I made artworks which resonated with the lived experiences of the facilitators and parents who participated in the non-violent resistance therapy programme. As additional layers of performance the paintings were shown in venues where they were viewed by audiences at events during which I spoke and showed films of me working. In this thesis I show how participants and facilitators embody the principles of non-violent resistance and how they perform them in the group. This ‘living’ of non-violent resistance creates change in people’s lives on a number of levels, some of them profound. I argue that there is a gap in the research methods which we use to look at our systemic practice. We constantly seek to creatively enhance our clinical practice so we should also be exploring emerging embodied and performative research practices. This would reflect the shift, in our therapeutic work with clients, towards embodiment (Shotter, 2010), the corporeal (Sheets-Johnstone, 2009) affective or performance turn (Denzin, 2003, 2006). My thesis both describes clinical practice in detail and sets out a new research method.
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Ahmadi, Forooshani Sayedhabibollah. "Examining the impact of trauma on young people's social adjustment: Developing a multi-dimensional intervention." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2021. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/225898/1/Sayedhabibollah_Ahmadi%20Forooshani_Thesis.pdf.
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Trauma-related difficulties with social adjustment can be resistant to improvement in response to psychological interventions because the specific links between trauma and social adjustment difficulties have been overlooked in the designs of these interventions. To address this gap, an intervention mapping exercise was conducted to design a preliminary intervention protocol based on research literature reviews, meta-analytical and mixed methods studies. Based on the findings, this research identified and integrated the most effective therapeutic strategies into a short-term intervention to target impaired capacities of social adjustment in young people with a trauma history.
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Kroener, Martina Ursula. "Multi-level Analytic Network Process Model to Mitigate Supply Chain Disruptions in Disaster Recovery Planning." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2016. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1540.
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Over the past few decades, environmental changes have led to more frequent occurrences and greater intensities of natural disasters worldwide. In terms of globally connected supply chains, this has resulted in an enormous economical loss for corporations. Therefore, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) planning and management has become essential for businesses in order to protect their critical business flow. Yet there is a lack of systematic and transparent methodologies for companies to handle this problem.
Hence, this thesis introduces a novel approach to combine consecutive steps of the Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) process within one application. The multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) tool called the Analytic Network Process (ANP) is employed to identify critical products of a business and match them with optimal disruption mitigation strategies based on an evaluation of benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks (BOCR).
To validate the method developed in this thesis, a case study using historical data of a U.S. company (Company XYZ) is introduced. The results of the ANP mathematical modeling demonstrate that the developed methodology provides a valuable approach to analyze and confirm BC/DR planning decisions. Moreover, an expert of Company XYZ confirmed that the suggested solution established through this case study is in agreement with the preferable choice based on his expertise and professional decision-making.
Further research could extend the proposed methodology to other fields of BC/DR planning, such as IT Disaster Recovery Planning or Human Disaster Relief.
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Hsien, Kuang-Hung, and 薛光宏. "Research and Applications of Multi-Objective Optimization Methods." Thesis, 2013. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/93839414374237922132.
Full textAbstract:
博士國立高雄應用科技大學
機械與精密工程研究所
101
In recent years, the optimization method is applied in a variety of fields to solve a variety of complex practical problems. The Taguchi method is one of the most used method and save the cost of experiments. The optimal problems usually have multiple objectives, so that users can not easily set the weight of the objective, and the optimal solution obtained does not meet the requirements. The objective of this dissertation is to study multi-objective optimization problem based on the Taguchi method, such as Taguchi, Utility and Fuzzy multi-objective optimization methods. By application of statistical of the contribution of ANOVA determining the weights of the objective functions, the multi-objective problems can be able to obtain more reasonable optimal solution satisfying the real requirement. Through redefined and improved the multi-objective optimization problems, several new methods, TMOO, W-Utility, HTB-Utility, W-Fuzzy and L-Fuzzy, were developed. The results shown these methods enable more efficient processing of multi-objective problems. By mixing up above methods, some hybrid multi-objective optimization methods were developed as follows: HTU (Hybrid Taguchi-utility), HUF (Hybrid utility-fuzzy), HTF (Hybrid Taguchi-fuzzy) and HTUF (Hybrid Taguchi-utility-fuzzy). The results shown these hybrid multi-objective optimization methods can define the weights for every objective functions clearly, and can obtain the more reasonable optimal solution.
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Li, Chun-I., and 黎均毅. "Research of Hierarchical Methods for Multi-Objects Segmentation in Home Environment." Thesis, 2012. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/02408542991214930127.
Full textAbstract:
碩士淡江大學
電機工程學系碩士班
100
As the growth of technology and industry in the past few years, the robotic technique has been fully developed and applied in many different fields. In homecare and home service, many function can be replace by robots. To design a homecare robot must be proved with many functions, like navigation and positioning, interaction, serving for family members and so on. Before solving the following problems, robot vision is very important for system input to analysis images. There are many methods to recognize objects for robot vision, such as histogram compare, Adaboost, SVM, template matching, and etc. But most of them depend on database to classify the models in database and object recognition. If some objects which don’t exist in the database appear in images, it must construct models for database by manual. It is inconvenient to recognize objects and increase the cost of home service robots. This paper proposed a new method which combined depth image processing and Grab Cut to segment objects and saving models from image, it can solve above problems. We present a hierarchical scheme with coarse layer segmentation and fine layer segmentation for object segmentation. It can fine the coarse location and area of multi-objects by processing depth image in coarse layer. Then, it can well segment objects and find its’ contour by using Grab Cut in fine layer. Finally, the proposed method uses SIFT/SURF to extract feature points and recognize objects. The proposed method can automatically segment static objects in different home environment and correct data of objects can be close to segmentation by manual. The automatic constructed image database can maintain good recognition accuracy rate.
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Rahimi, Vahed Alireza. "Heuristic solution methods for multi-attribute vehicle routing problems." Thèse, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1866/9069.
Full textAbstract:
Le Problème de Tournées de Véhicules (PTV) est une clé importante pour gérér efficacement des systèmes logistiques, ce qui peut entraîner une amélioration du niveau de satisfaction de la clientèle. Ceci est fait en servant plus de clients dans un temps plus court. En terme général, il implique la planification des tournées d'une flotte de véhicules de capacité donnée basée à un ou plusieurs dépôts. Le but est de livrer ou collecter une certain quantité de marchandises à un ensemble des clients géographiquement dispersés, tout en respectant les contraintes de capacité des véhicules.
Le PTV, comme classe de problèmes d'optimisation discrète et de grande complexité, a été étudié par de nombreux au cours des dernières décennies. Étant donné son importance pratique, des chercheurs dans les domaines de l'informatique, de la recherche opérationnelle et du génie industrielle ont mis au point des algorithmes très efficaces, de nature exacte ou heuristique, pour faire face aux différents types du PTV. Toutefois, les approches
proposées pour le PTV ont souvent été accusées d'être trop concentrées sur des versions simplistes des problèmes de tournées de véhicules rencontrés dans des applications réelles. Par conséquent, les chercheurs sont récemment tournés vers des variantes du PTV qui auparavant étaient considérées trop difficiles à résoudre. Ces variantes incluent les attributs et les contraintes complexes observés dans les cas réels et fournissent des solutions qui sont exécutables
dans la pratique. Ces extensions du PTV s'appellent Problème de Tournées de Véhicules Multi-Attributs (PTVMA).
Le but principal de cette thèse est d'étudier les différents aspects pratiques de trois types de problèmes de tournées de véhicules multi-attributs qui seront modélisés dans celle-ci. En plus, puisque pour le PTV, comme pour la plupart des problèmes NP-complets, il est difficile de résoudre des instances de grande taille de façon optimale et dans un temps d'exécution raisonnable, nous nous tournons vers des méthodes approcheés à base d’heuristiques.The Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) is an important key to efficient logistics system management, which can result in higher level of customer satisfaction because more customers can be served in a shorter time. In broad terms, it deals with designing optimal delivery or collection routes from one or several depot(s) to a number of geographically scattered customers subject to side constraints. The VRP is a discrete optimization and computationally hard problem and has been extensively studied by researchers and practitioners during the past decades. Being complex problems with numerous and relevant potential applications, researchers from the fields of computer science, operations research and industrial engineering have developed very efficient algorithms, both of exact and heuristic nature, to deal with different types of VRPs. However, VRP research has often been criticized for being too focused on oversimplified versions of the routing problems encountered in real-life applications. Consequently, researchers have recently turned to variants of the VRP which before were considered too difficult to solve. These variants include those attributes and constraints observed in real-life planning and lead to solutions that are executable in practice. These extended problems are called Multi-Attribute Vehicle Routing Problems (MAVRPs). The main purpose of this thesis is to study different practical aspects of three multi-attribute vehicle routing problems which will be modeled in it. Besides that, since the VRP has been proved to be NP-hard in the strong sense such that it is impossible to optimally solve the large-sized problems in a reasonable computational time by means of traditional optimization approaches, novel heuristics will be designed to efficiently tackle the created models.
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Papież, Anna. "Integrative data analysis methods in multi-omics molecular biology studies for disease of affluence biomarker research." Rozprawa doktorska, 2019. https://repolis.bg.polsl.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?showContent=true&id=59005.
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Papież, Anna. "Integrative data analysis methods in multi-omics molecular biology studies for disease of affluence biomarker research." Rozprawa doktorska, 2019. https://delibra.bg.polsl.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?showContent=true&id=59005.
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Shu-Min, Liu, and 劉淑敏. "The Research of Multi-Sensory Instruction methods on Learning Disability Students with Word Recognition Difficulties at Elementary Schools." Thesis, 2013. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/46643604756024096328.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立臺東大學
特殊教育學系碩士在職專班
102
The research of the thesis investigated the learning results by using multi-sensory instruction methods at learning disability students, who had word recognition difficulties and observed the learning effects immediately and retain effects after courses. The thesis also investigated the opinions and suggestions of participators、regular class teachers and participator′s parents on the teaching method. The research of the thesis used a Single-subject design and A-B-A′ reversal design. Two elementary school students, who had word recognition difficulties participated the design of experimental teaching method during twenty courses. The teaching results of experimental courses were analyzed by visual analysis and C statistic. And then interviewed with the participators、their regular class teachers and participator′s parents to understand their opinions of experimental results and the effects after the courses. Briefly description of instruction results after experiment courses as below： 1. There were immediate effects of the two participators by using multi-sensory instruction method in assessment of “the word recognition performance”, “writing down the word with phonetic cue”, “choosing the word with phonetic cue”, “reading the Chinese characters on display” and “making up lexicons”. 2. There were retain effects of the two participators in the post test by using multi-sensory instruction method in assessment of “the word recognition performance”, “writing down the word with phonetic cue”, “choosing the word with phonetic cue”, “reading the Chinese characters on display” and “making up lexicons”. 3. After the experiment courses, the participators、their regular class teachers and participator’s parents all had positive reaction to support the design of the multi-sensory instruction method. Consequently, the research of the thesis by using multi-sensory instruction method on learning disability students with word recognition difficulties had good social validity. According to the experiment results of multi-sensory instruction method, the thesis also provided the suggestion and the future works on word recognition at elementary school learning disability students.
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LIU, HO-JIN, and 劉和錦. "Design and Application Research of Front Shifting and Side-holding Shifting Methods by Multi-mode Patient Lifting Device." Thesis, 2018. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/w86jae.
Full textAbstract:
碩士南臺科技大學
機械工程系
106
Aiming at the multi-mode patient lifting device with a holding module, the shifting method of a lower limb disabled person is designed and applied in this study. First, research on existing bare-hand shifting methods is analyzed. The transfer of a patient lifting device is further studied, aiming at time and strength saving, to develop front shifting and side-holding shifting methods for nurse aides protecting the safety of disabled people as well as reducing the occupational injury. A normal person is further simulated as a sick person for the shifting experiment. The man-machine-environment system is used for analyzing the potential problems at each step and finding out the solutions. The test result, with a normal person as the simulation case, shows the operation time for leaving a bed and a wheelchair, with the front shifting method, 2’7” and 1’46”, respectively, and the operation time for leaving a bed and a shower chair, with the side-holding shifting method, 1’54” and 1’42”, respectively. According to the film screenshot to make the shifting process data, the education and training manual is developed as the guidance for nurse aides. Eventually, cases with lower limb disabilities are preceded the clinical experiment in the field to prove the practicability of the front shifting and the side-holding shifting methods. Three participants are tested the front shifting, where the average time for leaving a bed and a wheelchair appears 2’58” and 2’35”, respectively. Another four participants are proceeded the side-holding experiment, where the average time for leaving a bed and a shower chair is 3’4” and 1’45”, respectively. The operation time is correlated with the nurse aides’ familiarity with the shifting methods and the disability degree of cases. Overall speaking, “front and side-holding shifting methods” could effectively solve the shifting problems among beds, wheelchairs, and shower chairs. The large reduction of operation time could enhance the shifting efficiency, improve nurse aides’ working environment and cases’ safety, as well as largely reduce nurse aides’ occupational injuries.
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WENG, MING-SHENG, and 翁銘賸. "Design and Application Research of the Shift Methods of Standing and Straddling by Multi-mode Patient Lifting Device." Thesis, 2018. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/cw3999.
Full textAbstract:
碩士南臺科技大學
機械工程系
106
In consideration of the lifestyles with walking and standing difficulties, the use of existing shifting methods and commercial shifters are analyzed in this study. Innovative “standing shifting method” and “straddling shifting method” are developed through a “multi-mode patient device” with rapid and simple methods and applied to clinical fields to conform to the market needs. With man-machine-environment system to analyze the shifting method, the motion analysis is used for finding out the problems at each step. Empirical research is further applied to find out the optimal shifting method. First, “standing shifting method” referring to common motions of “sitting to standing” in daily life. A “multi-mode patient device” matched with standing-related module to complete the shifting process. An auxiliary scheme is also provided for nurse aides assisting people with weak lower limbs in standing for stretching lower lime muscles. Different accessories could be matched for expanding the application. Second, a “straddling shifting method” is based on sitting shifting, assisted with lower limb support, and matched with a straddling module shifter to complete the shifting process. A soft pad could be added for long-time sitting. The shifting method presents rapid and simple operation and could omit the step of current shifting through a wheelchair to directly shift to the destination. The optimal shifting method and steps are presented with a man-machine-environment system, allowing nurse aides testing each operation step. Besides, a teaching film is made for the education and training of clinical application. According the experimental results of applying such two shifting methods to lower-limb disabled people, the practicability of the shifting methods are proved to reduce nurse aides’ burden, release the problem of manpower shortage, enhance the comfort and safety of cases in the daily life, and provide effective shifting solutions for people with lower limb disabilities. Keywords: multi-mode patient lifting device, man-machine-environment system, standing shifting method, straddling shifting method
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Kafilongo, Kindu Wa Mulumba. "The use of pair-programming to enhance the academic performance of tertiary level software development students." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10352/285.
Full textAbstract:
M. Tech. (Information Technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences, Vaal University of TechnologyThe number of students passing computer programming modules at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa at first year level is low. Only with the second attempt do most students pass. This delay results in students completing their three-year undergraduate qualification in four or even five years. One potential contribution towards addressing this problem is the introduction of a collaborative (cooperative) pedagogical approach where students develop software in teams, known in the Information Technology (IT) sector as pair-programming. This study endeavoured to investigate the impact of pair-programming on the academic progress of students registered for the Information Technology qualification at HEIs in South Africa. The study warranted the selection of action research as the most appropriate research strategy. Multi-methods data collection was carried out over two consecutive semesters. The data collection methods included a semi-structured interview, observations and empirical assessment. The participants were students registered for the Information Systems module, which focuses on software development. Pair-programming was introduced to one group of software development students, while a second group continued with the normal solo-programming approach. Semi-structured interviews were held with the students before commencement and after completion of the pair-programming intervention, to establish a change, if any, in the academic performance, attitude and enjoyment level of students introduced to pair-programming compared to those who continued with solo-programming. Observations were conducted throughout the course of the practical sessions over both semesters. Empirical assessments were done by means of tests given to both groups of students during the practical sessions, three tests per semester. Data analysis techniques included t-tests and thematic analysis. The findings concluded that pair-programming had a significant positive impact on the academic progress of IT students, including an increase in the enjoyment level and a more positive attitude towards software development.
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Ghane, Parisa. "Silent speech recognition in EEG-based brain computer interface." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/9886.
Full textAbstract:
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)A Brain Computer Interface (BCI) is a hardware and software system that establishes direct communication between human brain and the environment. In a BCI system, brain messages pass through wires and external computers instead of the normal pathway of nerves and muscles. General work ow in all BCIs is to measure brain activities, process and then convert them into an output readable for a computer. The measurement of electrical activities in different parts of the brain is called electroencephalography (EEG). There are lots of sensor technologies with different number of electrodes to record brain activities along the scalp. Each of these electrodes captures a weighted sum of activities of all neurons in the area around that electrode. In order to establish a BCI system, it is needed to set a bunch of electrodes on scalp, and a tool to send the signals to a computer for training a system that can find the important information, extract them from the raw signal, and use them to recognize the user's intention. After all, a control signal should be generated based on the application. This thesis describes the step by step training and testing a BCI system that can be used for a person who has lost speaking skills through an accident or surgery, but still has healthy brain tissues. The goal is to establish an algorithm, which recognizes different vowels from EEG signals. It considers a bandpass filter to remove signals' noise and artifacts, periodogram for feature extraction, and Support Vector Machine (SVM) for classification.
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Zehtabian, Shohre. "Development of new scenario decomposition techniques for linear and nonlinear stochastic programming." Thèse, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1866/16182.
Full textAbstract:
Une approche classique pour traiter les problèmes d’optimisation avec incertitude à
deux- et multi-étapes est d’utiliser l’analyse par scénario. Pour ce faire, l’incertitude de
certaines données du problème est modélisée par vecteurs aléatoires avec des supports
finis spécifiques aux étapes. Chacune de ces réalisations représente un scénario. En utilisant
des scénarios, il est possible d’étudier des versions plus simples (sous-problèmes)
du problème original. Comme technique de décomposition par scénario, l’algorithme de
recouvrement progressif est une des méthodes les plus populaires pour résoudre les problèmes
de programmation stochastique multi-étapes. Malgré la décomposition complète
par scénario, l’efficacité de la méthode du recouvrement progressif est très sensible à certains
aspects pratiques, tels que le choix du paramètre de pénalisation et la manipulation
du terme quadratique dans la fonction objectif du lagrangien augmenté. Pour le choix
du paramètre de pénalisation, nous examinons quelques-unes des méthodes populaires,
et nous proposons une nouvelle stratégie adaptive qui vise à mieux suivre le processus
de l’algorithme. Des expériences numériques sur des exemples de problèmes stochastiques
linéaires multi-étapes suggèrent que la plupart des techniques existantes peuvent
présenter une convergence prématurée à une solution sous-optimale ou converger vers la
solution optimale, mais avec un taux très lent. En revanche, la nouvelle stratégie paraît
robuste et efficace. Elle a convergé vers l’optimalité dans toutes nos expériences et a
été la plus rapide dans la plupart des cas. Pour la question de la manipulation du terme
quadratique, nous faisons une revue des techniques existantes et nous proposons l’idée
de remplacer le terme quadratique par un terme linéaire. Bien que qu’il nous reste encore
à tester notre méthode, nous avons l’intuition qu’elle réduira certaines difficultés
numériques et théoriques de la méthode de recouvrement progressif.In the literature of optimization problems under uncertainty a common approach of dealing with two- and multi-stage problems is to use scenario analysis. To do so, the uncertainty of some data in the problem is modeled by stage specific random vectors with finite supports. Each realization is called a scenario. By using scenarios, it is possible to study smaller versions (subproblems) of the underlying problem. As a scenario decomposition technique, the progressive hedging algorithm is one of the most popular methods in multi-stage stochastic programming problems. In spite of full decomposition over scenarios, progressive hedging efficiency is greatly sensitive to some practical aspects, such as the choice of the penalty parameter and handling the quadratic term in the augmented Lagrangian objective function. For the choice of the penalty parameter, we review some of the popular methods, and design a novel adaptive strategy that aims to better follow the algorithm process. Numerical experiments on linear multistage stochastic test problems suggest that most of the existing techniques may exhibit premature convergence to a sub-optimal solution or converge to the optimal solution, but at a very slow rate. In contrast, the new strategy appears to be robust and efficient, converging to optimality in all our experiments and being the fastest in most of them. For the question of handling the quadratic term, we review some existing techniques and we suggest to replace the quadratic term with a linear one. Although this method has yet to be tested, we have the intuition that it will reduce some numerical and theoretical difficulties of progressive hedging in linear problems.
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(10875660), Hamed Asadi. "Multi-Modal Sensing Approach for Objective Assessment of Musculoskeletal Fatigue in Complex Work." Thesis, 2021.
Find full textAbstract:
Surface electromyography (sEMG) has been used to monitor muscle activity and predict fatigue in the workplaces. However, objectively measuring fatigue is challenging in complex work with unpredictable work cycles, where sEMG may be influenced by the dynamically changing posture demands. The sEMG is affected by various variables and substantial change in mean power frequencies (MPF), and a decline over 8-9% is primarily considered musculoskeletal fatigue. These MPF thresholds have been frequently used, and there were limited efforts to test their appropriateness in determining musculoskeletal fatigue in live workplaces (which predominantly consist of complex tasks). In addition, the techniques that consider both muscular and postural measurements that incorporate dynamic posture changes observed in complex work have not yet been explored. The overall objective of this work is to leverage both postural and muscular cues to identify musculoskeletal fatigue in complex tasks/jobs (i.e., tasks involving different levels of exertions, durations, and postures). The work was completed in two studies.
The first study aimed to (1) predict subjective fatigue using objective measurements in non-repetitive tasks, (2) determine whether the musculoskeletal fatigue thresholds in non-repetitive tasks differed from the previously reported threshold, and (3) utilize the empirically calculated thresholds to test their appropriateness in determining musculoskeletal fatigue in live surgical workplaces. The findings showed that the multi-modal measurements indicate better sensitivity than single-modality (sEMG) measurements in detecting decreases in MPF, a predictor of fatigue. In addition, the results showed that the thresholds in dynamic non-repetitive tasks, like surgery, are different than the previously reported 8% threshold. Additionally, implementing muscle-specific thresholds increased the likelihood of more accurately reporting subjective fatigue. The second study aimed to develop a multi-modal fatigue index to detect musculoskeletal fatigue. A controlled laboratory study was performed to simulate the non-repetitive physical demands at different postures. A series of experiments were conducted to test the effectiveness of various metrics/models to identify subjective fatigue in complex tasks. Next, the composite fatigue index (CFI) function was developed using the time-synced integration of both muscular signals (measured with sEMG sensors) and postural signals (measured with Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors). The variables from sEMG (amplitude, frequency, and the number of muscles showing signs of fatigue) and IMU (the prevalence of static and demanding postures and the number of shoulders in static/demanding posture) sensors were integrated to generate the CFI function. The prevalence of static/demanding postures was developed using the cumulative exposures to static/demanding postures based on the material fatigue failure theory. The single value fatigue index was obtained using the resultant CFI function, which incorporates both muscular and postural variables, to quantify the muscular fatigue in dynamic non-repetitive tasks. The findings suggested that the propagation of musculoskeletal fatigue can be detected using the multi-modal composite fatigue index in complex tasks. The resultant CFI function was then applied to surgery tasks to differentiate the fatigued and non-fatigued groups. The findings showed that the multi-modal fatigue assessment techniques could be utilized to incorporate the muscular and postural measurements to identify fatigue in complex tasks beyond single-modality assessment approaches.
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Guo, Wei. "Overseas trained teachers and employment strategies : a multi-method study of teacher recruitment issues in Australia." Thesis, 2009. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/44121.
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The research project reported in this thesis investigated the experiences of overseas trained teachers in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas of New South Wales (Australia) in order to better understand their search for employment as teachers and the nature of the work of those employed as teachers. It is in this sense that this thesis explores issues troubling policy-makers in Australia regarding the attraction and retention of teachers. This thesis began by reviewing current knowledge in the research literature about overseas trained teachers, as well as problems experienced by overseas trained teachers. The literature reviewed was not limited to Australia but also drew on research from other English speaking countries. In terms of theory, this research project used concepts from the work of Bourdieu (1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2005) to argue and interpret the evidence. For instance, the participants in this study were interpreted as being ‘positioned’ as overseas trained teachers with ‘cultural capital’ and ‘habitus’ in the New South Wales (NSW) ‘education field’. These concepts helped afford a better understanding of the interactive relationships between overseas trained teachers—the practice subjects—and the specific education ‘field’: what kinds of ‘strategies’ were taken by both parties in the struggle for dominant ‘positions’ in the field? Sassen’s (1998, 2006) concepts of citizenship and digital network also helped to interpret the evidence of global labour mobility. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were adopted in this study, which included surveys, semi-structured interviews, and policy analysis. The surveys provided statistical data about the overseas trained teachers’ demographic features and details about their experiences overseas and in Australia. The interviewees were selected from those survey respondents who indicated their interest in providing more information through specific questions. Policy documents were also collected for policy analysis. The data collection and analysing processes were based on principles of validity and reliability to ensure rigorous outcomes. Through analysing this evidence, this study found that family reasons and lifestyle change were two main incentives for the overseas trained teachers coming to NSW, rather than professional development. However, due to the lack of a single national recruitment and registration system, the overseas trained teachers in this study who had already passed the nation’s skills recognition process, or who had registered as teachers in other States, had to re-register in NSW. This set up registration barriers. There were gaps between the needs of the overseas trained teachers and the State education authorities. Work locations, qualifications and work experience were the focus of additional barriers. The requirements emphasised local work experience, which marginalised the qualifications and knowledge of overseas trained teachers. The overseas trained teachers also experienced identity struggles, insofar as they were treated as both beginning teachers and experienced teachers. Importantly, this research found that collegial support networks were effective for helping newly arrived overseas trained teachers to adjust to the NSW education culture. With sufficient professional help, those overseas trained teachers with good English proficiency were able to adjust into this new work environment. On the basis of these findings, this thesis argues that there are various barriers in the NSW public education system, restraining overseas trained teachers with considerable knowledge from getting involved in the system. And this leads to the loss of qualified overseas trained teachers who actually can bring benefits to the NSW education system. It is argued that failing to carry out
efficient overseas trained teacher recruitment and employment strategies has a negative effect on this state’s ability to make transnational knowledge connections.
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Pretorius, William Lyon. "The development of a criminological intervention model for the Rosslyn industrial environment in Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/19682.
Full textAbstract:
The problem investigated in this research is the ongoing crime threat and the extreme risks which impact negatively on the sustainability of the Rosslyn Industry - the industrial hub of Tshwane in the Gauteng Provence of South Africa. Businesses in Rosslyn are desperate for a solution that will mitigate these crime threats and risks, and ensure the future sustainability of this important industrial community. An intervention model is urgently required to prevent this type of crime, not only as a short term solution but as a sustainable long term intervention.
This research study initiated the collaboration required for the successful implementation of a Crime Prevention Intervention Model (CPIM) in the Rosslyn industrial environment. The intended crime prevention model has been designed in such a way that it addresses the entire environment of crime that prevails in the Rosslyn area involving both the offender and the victim. This design is rooted in the ontology of Environmental Criminology and more specific on the applied epistemology of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).
Participants in this project are representatives who are responsible for all security functions in both big businesses and small enterprises. And with their dedicated assistance the research findings disclosed the current crime status of the Rosslyn environment regarding the threat, risk, security vulnerabilities, controls and needs:
• Crime and its causal factors, in Rosslyn, are rife and no noteworthy action has been implemented to mitigate these threats.
• Collaboration between Rosslyn role players (neighbours, local government and law enforcement) is for all purposes non-existent.
• And to complicate matters even more, knowledge of how to effectively mitigate crime is limited and handicapped by the re-active physical security methods currently being used.
• The implication of these findings is that the status quo will eventually render business in Rosslyn unsustainable. Thus a CPIM in Rosslyn is inevitable.
What was crucial to this research and to the CTPED design is the detailed sourcing of accurate data addressing the experiences and the needs the respondents identified in the current Rosslyn crime situation concerning; status, the threat, risk, security, vulnerabilities and controls.
In order to achieve this level of data sourcing and assimilation, the essential features of the research method were based on a mixed approach where quantitative and qualitative methods were implemented in parallel. The diverse fields, sources and respondent mix required for a Rosslyn Industry CPIM also necessitated a MIT (Multi,-Inter,-Trans,-Disciplinary) approach. This MIT requirement is successfully facilitated through the applied criminological CPTED approach.
The CPIM is based on the combined outcomes of the following three research fields:
• Field-one: Environmental criminology theories are researched through an in-depth literature review to demonstrate the criminological grounding of crime prevention and to guide its application through the development of an applied CPTED SUITE.
• Field-two: Supply Chain Security (SCS) are researched through an in-depth literature review to establish its criminological relevance and applications. SCS requirements are identified and built into the Field-Three research process and tested for relevance and for incorporation in the CPTED SUITE.
• Field-three: Based on a mixed research process, using a custom designed Criminological Risk Analyses tool incorporating scheduled interviews and questionnaires, the crime and needs profile of the Rosslyn Industry are uncovered and analysed. The results are filtered through the CPTED SUITE to indicate the correct criminological approach for mitigating the identified problems and needs.
Even though this study takes an applied crime preventative approach, the criminological-philosophical mould of crime prevention is imperative for the effective application of the CPTED. Security and crime prevention training, planning and application, without this approach will remain underdeveloped and outdated.
Finally the underlying intention of this research is for this Crime Prevention Intervention Model (CPIM) to be adapted and implemented and to serve as a guide or a benchmark for security practitioners in any industrial environment that has the same crime threats and crime risk challenges.Criminology and Security Science
D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)
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Kéloufi, Ghalia K. "Algorithme de branch-and-price-and-cut pour le problème de conception de réseaux avec coûts fixes, capacités et un seul produit." Thèse, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1866/15870.
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Gonzalez-Feliu, Jesus. "Models and Methods for the City Logistics: The Two-Echelon Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem." Phd thesis, 2008. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00844731.
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La distribution de marchandises est un secteur en constant développement et constitue un facteur économique important. Par contre, dans les villes, il contribue notamment aux problèmes de congestion, pollution, bruit et d'autres dérangements à la population des villes. Pour faire face à ces problèmes, une nouvelle discipline est née à la fin du XXe siècle, la " City Logistics ", qui a comme objectifs principaux la réduction de la congestion, la pollution et le bruit occasionné par le transport de marchandises en ville. Dans les dernières années, plusieurs études et expériences se sont développées en toute l'Europe, mais pour l'instant une politique commune en matière de logistique urbaine n'a pas encore été proposée par l'Union Européenne. En Italie, seulement certaines villes de petite taille ont expérimenté des politiques de " city logistics " avec succès, mais sans un lien entre elles. Nous observons que ces expériences utilisent des centres urbains de distribution de marchandises, ce qui peut se traduire en un système de transport à deux ou plus niveaux. Plusieurs études en recherche opérationnelle ont traité des problématiques liées à des systèmes à niveaux multiples pour la distribution de marchandise. Néanmoins, l'optimisation des coûts de transport est en générale réalisé en considérant chaque niveau indépendant des autres, ou en approximant les coûts du transport dans certains niveaux pour simplifier. Un autre problème est le manque d'une unification de la terminologie utilisée dans ces études, qui difficulte la recherche bibliographique. Le but de cette recherche est, d'un coté, proposer des lignes guide d'accion en matière de planification de la distribution urbaine de marchandises, en unifiant certains termes, et d'un autre coté présenter une famille de problèmes d'optimisation de routes des véhicules qui considère les systèmes à niveaux multiples dans son ensemble et pas comme une somme de systèmes indépendants. Dans un premier temps, nous présentons les principales expériences de " city logistics " en Italie, ainsi que des lignes d'action dans la planification des systèmes de distribution urbaine des marchandises qui puissent devenir opérationnels et efficients. Ensuite nous présentons les principales problématiques et limites de l'optimisation de systèmes de transports à niveaux multiples, en unifiant les concepts et la notation. Nous proposons une nouvelle famille de problèmes d'optimisation de routes de véhicules pour des systèmes à niveaux multiples, en détaillant le cas basique : le problème de routes de véhicules à deux niveaux. Nous proposons des modèles mathématiques pour ce problème et des résultats numériques pour illustrer les avantages et les limites de la modélisation de ces systèmes.
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Halbe, Johannes. "Governance of Transformations towards Sustainable Water, Food and Energy Supply Systems - Facilitating Sustainability Innovations through Multi-Level Learning Processes." Doctoral thesis, 2017. https://repositorium.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-2017022715609.
Full textAbstract:
A fundamental change in societal values and economic structures is required to address increasing pressures on ecosystems and natural resources. Transition research has developed in the last decades to analyze the co-dynamics of technological, institutional, social and economic elements in the provision of key functions such as energy, water and food supply. This doctoral dissertation provides conceptual and methodological contributions to the pro-active governance of sustainability transitions. Three research gaps are identified that are addressed in this dissertation. First, a comprehensive conceptualization of learning in sustainability transitions is currently missing that comprises learning at multiple societal levels (ranging from individuals to policy-actors). Learning concepts are often not explicitly discussed in transition research even though learning is considered as fundamental for innovation processes, niche formation and development as well as breakthrough and diffusion of innovations. Second, methods for the analysis and design of transition governance processes are lacking that specify case-specific intervention points and roles of actors in the implementation of innovations. Third, participatory modeling approaches are only applied to a limited extent in transition research despite a high potential for supporting communication and learning.
The conceptualization of multi-level learning developed in this doctoral research conceptualizes learning at different societal levels as specific learning contexts ranging from individual and group contexts to organizational and policy contexts. The conceptual framework further differentiates between learning processes, intensity, objects, outcomes, subjects and factors, allowing for a more detailed analysis of learning within and across learning contexts. Thus, learning contexts can be linked by processes that involve actors from different learning contexts (e.g., community groups and policy-makers), as well as exchanges of physical aspects, institutions and knowledge (in the form of ‘learning factors’). This research has also provided a classification of model uses in transition research that supports a purposeful discussion of the opportunities of modeling and promising future research directions.
The methodology developed in this doctoral research aims at the analysis and design of transition governance processes by specifying the various opportunities to contribute to sustainability transitions through purposeful action at different societal levels, as well as related roles of stakeholders in implementing such processes of change. The methodology combines different streams of previous research: 1) a participatory modeling approach to identify problem perceptions, case-specific sustainability innovations as well as related implementation barriers, drivers and responsibilities; 2) a systematic review to identify supportive and impeding learning factors from the general literature that can complement case-specific factors; and 3) a method for the analysis and design of case-specific transition governance processes. Three case studies in Canada (topic: sustainable food systems), Cyprus (water-energy-food nexus) and Germany (sustainable heating supply) have been selected to test and iteratively develop the methodology described above.
The results for each case study reveal that there are learning objects (i.e., learning requirements) in all learning contexts, which underscores the importance of multi-level learning in sustainability transitions, ranging from the individual to the group, organizational and policy levels. Actors have various opportunities to actively facilitate societal transformations towards sustainable development either directly through actions at their particular societal levels (i.e., context-internal learning) or indirectly through actions that influence learning at other societal levels. In fact, most of the learning factors require cooperation across learning contexts during the implementation process. The comparing of learning factors across case studies underline the importance of several factor categories, such as ‘physical a ‘disturbance or crisis’, ‘information and knowledge’. Of the 206 factors identified by stakeholders, 40 factors are case-specific and not contained in the general, review-based factor list. This underscores the value of participatory research, as general, top-down analyses might have overlooked these case-specific factors.
The methodology presented in this dissertation allows for the identification and analysis of case-specific intervention points for sustainability transitions at multiple societal levels. The methodology furthermore permits the analysis of interplay between individual, group, organizational and policy actions, which is a first step towards their coordination. The focus on sustainability innovations links the broad topic of sustainability transitions to a set of opportunities for practical interventions and overcoming their implementation barriers. The methodology presented allows for the analysis and design of these interlinkages between learning contexts. While the methodology cannot provide any ‘silver bullets’ for inducing sustainability transitions, it is flexible enough to identify an appropriate abstraction level for analyzing and designing transition governance processes. The methodology developed in this doctoral research also provides several contributions for the development of participatory modeling methods in transition research. Thus, the participatory method supports an integrated analysis of barriers and drivers of sustainability innovations, and allows application in practice and education.
The concepts and methods developed in this research project allow for reflection on transition governance processes from a systemic viewpoint. Experiences in the case studies underline the applicability of the concepts and methods developed for the analysis of case-specific transition governance processes. Despite substantial differences in the geographic location, culture and topics addressed, all case studies include promising sustainability innovations and the engagement of multiple actors in their implementation. The diversity and multitude of initiatives in the case study regions provides an optimistic outlook on future opportunities for large-scale sustainability transitions.