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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
31

The analysis of information technology best practice adoption in Saudi Arabia

Alsawadi, Hussameddin Abdullah January 2017 (has links)
Drawing on Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and Organisational Learning (OL) theories, the present study examined the CSFs of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) implementations. Organisations evaluated their manners of managing Information Technology (IT) and decided to move from technology management toward service management that is called Information Technology Service Management (ITSM). ITIL represents one of the most famous ITSM best practices. However, with the absence of a practical ITIL implementation approach based on a theoretical solid ground, many organisations faced unpredictable obstacles and waste valuable resources. The present research aimed to identify a theoretical basis that allows understanding the success of ITIL implementations. Therefore, I first reviewed and analysed the literature of ITIL implementation CSFs to identify appropriate theoretical basis. The analysis led to proposing 4i framework as an OL model to interpret the successful and failed ITIL implementations. I then investigated empirically three case studies: successful, failed and partially successful ITIL implementations. Interviews were used to collect retrospective data from essential people involved in ITIL implementations. The present research applied method triangulation as it also used documents as another data source to understand the longitudinal aspects of the case studies. Collected data was thoroughly analysed qualitatively using two analytical methods. First, to analyse the case studies, I used a thematic analysis approach, namely Framework analysis method. While the Framework analysis findings implied the existence of interrelations among ITIL implementation CSFs, it also exposed the influential roles of the time element and the order of events on learning. Therefore, I then reanalysed the case studies using the event narrative method that concentrated on the events of ITIL implementations and their sequences. The findings of the event narrative analysis proposed a network of CSFs of ITIL implementations. Accordingly, the present research introduce four conceptual terms related to CSFs: contextual CSF, dynamic CSF, supreme CSF and network of CSFs. Finally, through the discussion of research findings in light of related literature of ITSM, CSFs and OL, I extended the network of CSFs to propose the Model of Implementing ITIL Successfully (MIIS) as an extension of 4i framework to understand success and failure of ITIL implementations.
32

Development and application of novel computational intelligence techniques to the multivariate analysis of metabolomics biofluids datasets

Bamba, Mamadou January 2017 (has links)
The present decades have witnessed major advances in the development and applications of Computational Intelligence Techniques (CITs), which are commonly associated with metabolomics and omics analyses related to diseases diagnosis. This includes, amongst others, research work performed on Niemann-Pick class 1 and 2 diseases (NPC1 and NPC2 respectively), the severest form of which may involve liver dysfunction. Some of the main reasons for the high frequency of CITs use in metabolomics studies are also related to the development of techniques to detect major discriminatory metabolite variables for the purpose of disease diagnosis and progression. Alongside this, is the major demanding requirement to further understand potential metabolic pathways involved in order to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying NPC1 disease. NPC1 is a rare neurodegenerative disorder attributable to NPC1 gene function loss, which causes adverse fat storage at the lysosomal levels (Mathieson, 2013; Xu et al., 2010). However, plasma metabolite profiling can provide insights into disease diagnosis and prognosis, while providing a clear ‘picture’ of the underlying metabolites altered during disease processes, including their early stages. Currently, biomarker discovery appears as the most effective solution to employ regarding the monitoring of disease progression (Mathieson, 2013; Ruiz-Rodado et al., 2014). In the present thesis, the intelligent tri-modelling techniques (ITMTs) which are combination of CITs applied to the multivariate (MV) analysis of biofluid datasets is proposed. The ITMTs serves as a combination of the scalar visualisation algorithm (SVA) for data visualisation and high-dimensional data representation into bi or tri-dimensional spaces. The optimum super support vector machine (OSVM) is also employed for the MV classification of metabolic datasets. Moreover, principal component regression (PCR) was also employed for data iv probabilistic classification and regression purposes. This was followed by investigations of correlations between these biomolecular diseases features. Furthermore, the tri-ranking techniques (TRTs) was developed in order to establish a ranking between the NPC1 disease features, in addition to those available for the NPC1 liver dysfunction disease features in a mouse model system to determine their importance in the further development of these diseases. High-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) is used as high-throughput multicomponent analytical technique to generate very large quantities of metabolic data, which hold essential and useful information regarding the metabolites analysed. Prior to the performance of MV metabolomics analysis, a robust data handling technique based on balancing the dataset, feature selection, and stratified cross-validation of datasets is involved. Furthermore, the intelligent task technology fit theory has been proposed here, enabling a swift, consistent and rational model development through threshold settings for model validations. Application of the intelligent tri-modelling techniques (ITMTs) using SVA, OSVM and PCR, combined with the tri-ranking techniques (TRTs) have allowed the discovery of major discriminatory variables for NPC1 disease. Hence, using the blood plasma dataset the scalar visualisation algorithm could diagnose NPC1 disease through the following potential biomarkers: hexacosanoate acid, (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate, L-fucose, lactate, 3-hydroxyisovalerate, Citrate, N-acetyl-4-O-acetylneuraminate, methionine, and glutamine. Additionally, the SVA strategy highlighted the following major biomarkers in the 1H NMR NPC liver dysfunction dataset, including glycogen, glutamate, glutamine, taurine, glycerophosphocholine, acetoacetate, taurine, myo-inositol, lactate, leucine, isoleucine, and alanine. However, the PCR approach established a significant correlation between biomarker features for NPC1 disease, in addition to the mouse model of NPC liver dysfunction progression. Moreover, the OSVM technique could clearly segregate between the two classes of patients/animals in both disease pathogenesis studies. This thesis presents the Intelligent Tri-Model Techniques (ITMTs), using 1H NMR-linked metabolite profiling, new biomarkers for NPC1 disease diagnosis, and the NPC1-based liver dysfunction were discovered; these biomarkers displayed very high-performance accuracies. v This may represent a major advance regarding the diagnosis of NPC1 disease and its pathological sequelae. Such biomarkers may serve as valuable assets for monitoring the effectiveness of appropriate treatments for this debilitating condition, for example miglustat.
33

An examination of factors impacting the implementation of Information Technology Shared Services (ITSS) in UK local government bodies

Okwaro, Isaack Onyango January 2018 (has links)
The Conservative and Liberal Democrats coalition government was formed in the year 2010 and embarked on austerity measures aimed at reducing the UK’s budget deficit. Among the measures that were proposed was the need for local governments to find ways of reducing their cost of operations. One way of reducing costs was through sharing resources. This measure was proposed in the Gershon report, commissioned by the central government. Information technology is a vital resource for running the operations of local governments. Sharing of information technology became crucial in facilitating sharing of other resources by Local Government bodies. There is, however, the need to take into consideration a number of factors in order to ensure that sharing of Information technology (Information Technology Shared Services – ITSS) resources is successful. Factor consideration involves implementation processes that take into account the constraints or facilitators that can be categorised into Technological, Organisational and Environmental categories. Through the review of academic literature, government records, news articles and from the interviews that were held with respondents from Local Government bodies, using advanced qualitative research method and Nvivo as an analytical tool, it was found that beside the reduction of costs and efficiency motives, sharing of Information Technology also impacted work culture and changes to internal processes. The main contribution of this thesis is that Information Technology Shared Services led to long term (or permanence of) association among Local Councils. This degree of permanence of association is beneficial for meeting the main objectives of each council, but also has the potential to lead to loss of autonomy by individual local authorities. Local government managers (management bodies) had to consider the ‘How? When? What?’ questions in order to implement the sharing of information technology resources. This research proposes further examination of the Technological, Organisational and Environmental (TOE) framework through the prism of a Technology Sharing Implementation Framework (TSIF). The proposed framework examines the impacts of TOE factors on implementing sharing of information technology processes / resources and why these factors have to be examined jointly, not disparately, when seeking to implement information technology resources. Mention has been made about examining these factors by assigning weights on them and using quantitative measures to show the importance of the factors. Implementation process of ITSS has been proposed for local government managers.
34

The influence of new media technologies on African literature

Isong, Anietie January 2018 (has links)
This study investigates the role of new media technologies in the development of African literature. It examines the different ways that these new technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones have revolutionised the way Africans write and read literary works on the continent. African literature refers to literary works written mostly by Africans in any language. Over the last decade, new African writers have created a stir in the arenas of creative writing. Uses and gratification as well as diffusion of innovation theories were adopted as the theoretical framework for this study. A total of 30 African writers and 300 readers completed a survey questionnaire designed to elicit responses on how new media has influenced African literature. Some of the writers interviewed have distinguished themselves in their fields, their works have appeared alongside works of other international writers. The readers were chosen from a popular literary society. The results of the study indicate that the Internet has a big impact on reception of African literature, creating endless opportunities, easy accessibility, promotion of work and networking with peers and literary community. The findings also show that social media also increases networking opportunities and provides a platform where readers access, share and discuss African literature. Mobile phones also play a significant and functional role in the reception and promotion of African literature. Overall, these findings suggest that new media technologies have created opportunities for African literature to be appreciated globally, and have enabled readers to access, share and discuss new works.
35

Bistability and electrical characterisation of two terminal non-volatile polymer memory devices

Alhalafi, Zahra January 2018 (has links)
Polymer blended with nanoparticle and ferroelectric materials in two terminal memory devices has potential for electronic memory devices that may offer increased storage capacity and performance. Towards understanding the memory performance of a combination of an organic polymer with a ferroelectric or unpolarised material, this research is concerned with testing the memory programming and capacitance of these materials using two-terminal memory device structures. This research contributes to previous investigation into the internal working mechanisms of polymer memory devices and increases understanding and verifies the principles of these mechanisms through testing previously untested materials in different material compositions. This study makes a novel contribution by testing the electrical bistability of new materials; specifically, nickel oxide, barium titanate and methylammonium lead bromide and considers their properties which include nanoparticles, ferroelectric, perovskite structures and organic-inorganic composition. Due to their material properties which have different implications for internal switching and memory storage. Nanoparticles have a greater band gap between the valence band and conduction band compare to bulk material which is exploited for memory storage and ferroelectric properties and perovskite materials have non-volatile properties suitable for switching mechanisms. Specific attributes of memory function which include charging mechanism, device programming, capacitance and charge retention were tested for different material compositions which included, blend and layered with a PVAc polymer, and as a bulk material with a single crystal structure using MIM memory devices and MIS device structures. The results showed that nickel oxide was the most effective material as a blend with the polymer for memory performance, this was followed by barium titanate, however, methylammonium lead bromide performed poorly with polymer but showed promise as a single crystal structure. The results also showed that an increase in concentration of the tested material in a blend composition resulted in a corresponding increase in memory function, and that blend compositions were much more effective than layered compositions.
36

A novel method for adaptive control of manufacturing equipment in cloud environments

Adamson, Goran January 2018 (has links)
The ability to adaptively control manufacturing equipment, both in local and distributed environments, is becoming increasingly more important for many manufacturing companies. One important reason for this is that manufacturing companies are facing increasing levels of changes, variations and uncertainty, caused by both internal and external factors, which can negatively impact their performance. Frequently changing consumer requirements and market demands usually lead to variations in manufacturing quantities, product design and shorter product life-cycles. Variations in manufacturing capability and functionality, such as equipment breakdowns, missing/worn/broken tools and delays, also contribute to a high level of uncertainty. The result is unpredictable manufacturing system performance, with an increased number of unforeseen events occurring in these systems. Events which are difficult for traditional planning and control systems to satisfactorily manage. For manufacturing scenarios such as these, the use of real-time manufacturing information and intelligence is necessary to enable manufacturing activities to be performed according to actual manufacturing conditions and requirements, and not according to a pre-determined process plan. Therefore, there is a need for an event-driven control approach to facilitate adaptive decision-making and dynamic control capabilities. Another reason driving the move for adaptive control of manufacturing equipment is the trend of increasing globalization, which forces manufacturing industry to focus on more cost-effective manufacturing systems and collaboration within global supply chains and manufacturing networks. Cloud Manufacturing is evolving as a new manufacturing paradigm to match this trend, enabling the mutually advantageous sharing of resources, knowledge and information between distributed companies and manufacturing units. One of the crucial objectives for Cloud Manufacturing is the coordinated planning, control and execution of discrete manufacturing operations in collaborative and networked environments. Therefore, there is also a need that such an event-driven control approach supports the control of distributed manufacturing equipment. The aim of this research study is to define and verify a novel and comprehensive method for adaptive control of manufacturing equipment in cloud environments. The presented research follows the Design Science Research methodology. From a review of research literature, problems regarding adaptive manufacturing equipment control have been identified. A control approach, building on a structure of event-driven Manufacturing Feature Function Blocks, supported by an Information Framework, has been formulated. The Function Block structure is constructed to generate real-time control instructions, triggered by events from the manufacturing environment. The Information Framework uses the concept of Ontologies and The Semantic Web to enable description and matching of manufacturing resource capabilities and manufacturing task requests in distributed environments, e.g. within Cloud Manufacturing. The suggested control approach has been designed and instantiated, implemented as prototype systems for both local and distributed manufacturing scenarios, in both real and virtual applications. In these systems, event-driven Assembly Feature Function Blocks for adaptive control of robotic assembly tasks have been used to demonstrate the applicability of the control approach. The utility and performance of these prototype systems have been tested, verified and evaluated for different assembly scenarios. The proposed control approach has many promising characteristics for use within both local and distributed environments, such as cloud environments. The biggest advantage compared to traditional control is that the required control is created at run-time according to actual manufacturing conditions. The biggest obstacle for being applicable to its full extent is manufacturing equipment controlled by proprietary control systems, with native control languages. To take the full advantage of the IEC Function Block control approach, controllers which can interface, interpret and execute these Function Blocks directly, are necessary.
37

Large eddy simulation of transitional separated-reattached flow over geometries characterized by different aspect ratios and with different intensities of free stream turbulence

Diabil, Hayder Azeez Neamah January 2018 (has links)
In the current study, changes in the physics of transitional separated-reattached flow due to changes of a geometry nature and an increase of intensity of free stream turbulence have been investigated numerically using the large eddy simulation approach. Numerical simulations have been carried out using the Open FOAM tool box. Six case studies are selected and divided into two groups of the flows: a low level of intensity of free stream turbulence (< 0.2%) and a high level of intensity of free stream turbulence (3.7%). Each group involves three geometrical shapes: a two-dimensional flat plate, a three-dimensional geometry with an aspect ratio value of 1 and a three-dimensional geometry with an aspect ratio value of 2. To the best of the author’s knowledge, the current study is the first work to explore transitional separated-reattached flow over three-dimensional geometries. In a comparison among the case studies, the separation bubble that formed on the flat plate is longer than that on other geometries, leading to longer temporal and spatial evolution of the transition. In addition, maximum values of the Reynolds stresses in the flat plate are larger than that in other geometries. Furthermore, all case studies show that the transition in the free shear layer is driven by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability mechanism. Spectral analysis is carried out to cover all the computational domains employing both Fourier transform and wavelet power transform methods. In the current geometries for both incoming flows (with high and low levels of intensity of free stream turbulence), the regular shedding frequencies are in a good agreement with that reported in the literature. In addition, these frequencies are compatible with the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability conditions. Moreover, the spectral analysis indicates that the low frequency of the free shear layer flapping is absent. The evolution of coherent structures is identified by performing flow visualisation techniques. Different evolution processes of transformation of large-scale structures from Kelvin-Helmholtz rolls to hairpin structures are observed depending on the geometry shapes and on the level of intensity of free stream turbulence. The development of the turbulent boundary layer after the reattachment is also examined. For all case studies used here, a dominant observation is that there is no apparent effect of the geometry nature on the delay in the recovery of the reattached turbulent boundary layer.
38

Robust appearance based modelling for effective visual object tracking

Jenkins, Mark David January 2016 (has links)
No description available.
39

Investigation of stability of smart distribution network with high DGs penetration using battery energy storage systems

Bangash, Kashif Naeem January 2016 (has links)
No description available.
40

Security-aware communication in multi-core architectures

Saeed, Ahmed January 2016 (has links)
No description available.

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