Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 1999. / Title from PDF t.p.

A discussion on visibility of lesbian women creates an opportunity to understand what it means to Zimbabwean lesbian identifying women to be 'lesbian' and how that identity is visibilised or invisibilised depending on resulting benefit or possible detriment. The study investigates the experiences of lesbian women in Zimbabwe which have been subsumed in a 'homosexual' visibility discourse. Placing the focus of lesbian identity on the visibility locus helps foreground the possibilities and paradoxes of how visibility of an identity impacts personal experience. The intention of this study is to make lesbian identity more visible, bringing it out of the shadows where it has been concealed by a homosexuality discourse that revolves largely around gay men. The study also seeks to understand when visibility matters, for what purpose and when it may be problematic. My approach does not assume that there are ahistorical, transcultural truths about lesbian identity. Instead my question tracks the production of a lesbian identity in Zimbabwe, how it operates and how best its prevailing operation can be described. How is lesbian identity in/visibilised? What is the social and political consequence of in/visibility on the experiences of lesbian identifying women in Zimbabwe? Does a human rights framework positively impact visibility? / tm2017 / Centre for Human Rights / MPhil / Unrestricted

[pt] Este trabalho tem por objetivo investigar o efeito de dutos troposféricos nas ligações em visibilidade. O modelo matemático desenvolvido para analisar o problema é baseado na ótica geométrica. Através desta formulação é possível estimar a influência dos parâmetros de uma ligação (distância e altura das antenas) e da estrutura dos dutos no comportamento do sinal recebido. O modelo matemático é aplicado na interpretação das medidas experimentais de um enlace onde os dados meteorológicos disponíveis indicaram uma forte evidência de formação de dutos de superfície na região. A conclusão final mais importante do trabalho é a sugestão do emprego de diversidade em espaço para aumentar a confiabilidade do sistema. / [en] This work deals with the effect of tropospheric ducts in line-of-sight links. The mathematical model used is based on the geometrical optics. Through this formulation it is possible to estimate the influence of link parameters (distance and antenna heigths) and duct structure on the behaviour of the received signal. The mathematical model is applied to explain experimental data from a link where mereorological conditions have shown a strong evidence of surface duct formation. The most important final conclusion is the recommendation to use space diversity as a solution to improve system realiability.

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Today, almost 305,000 U.S. college students are taking advantage of study abroad opportunities throughout the world. While study abroad experiences have has been increasing in number and scope, there continue to be questions about the importance and value of study abroad on the students' growth and development. This study highlights a summer study abroad program at Virginia Tech from 2008 – 2012. Reflection and transformative learning serve as the primary theoretical frameworks for this study. The work of Dewey (1933), Mezirow (1991, 1997), Moon (2004), Whitney and Clayton (2011) and others help to provide additional insight into better understanding reflection and transformative learning. The methodological framework is a qualitative case study focusing on the student participants from summer 2012 and examines the role of reflection in the academic components of the program and whether or not reflection helped to further enhance the influence and impact of the experience on the students. I collected data from photo journals, weekly reflection papers and their final exam paper, all of which comprised the academic requirements for this credit-bearing course. The participants consisted of seven female identified students and four male identified students, representing the following academic disciplines: Human Development, Geography, Political Science, Journalism, Studio Art and International Studies. Through content analysis (Mayan, 2009; Merriam, 1998), I discovered the themes of self-awareness and visibility and presence. These two themes provide a deeper understanding about how the study abroad experience has a distinct influence on the students, as can be evidenced through their academic work. While the two themes help to further reinforce the importance of reflective practice, the study also reveals that reflection can be problematic as well. / Ph. D.

Overtaking and passing maneuvers on two-lane rural roads is still one of the most complex situations drivers are faced with in everyday driving. In passing, drivers must judge the speed, acceleration and deceleration capabilities of their own vehicle, that of the impeding vehicle and the speed and rate of closure of the oncoming vehicle. They also have to make decisions on the adequacy of an acceptable gap and sight distance. This report presents an investigation of the adequacy of the current "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices" (MUTCD) for marking on two-lane, two-way roads. It examines the existing criteria, problems associated with it and its reasonableness. Passing sight distances which incorporates both the option of aborting or completing the passing maneuver is presented. A model describing the kinematics of vehicle trajectories during the passing maneuver on two-lane roads is utilized for this purpose. The model is based on the presence of a delima zone during the passing maneuver. At this point, the decision to complete or abort the passing maneuver provides the same factor of safety. This critical position is located using the model. The parameters that strongly influence the required sight distance are investigated. Thus passing sight distances that will provide reasonable margin of safety throughout the passing maneuver will be achieved. It is realized from the results that the current MUTCD passing sight distance is inadequate from a safety standpoint, except for high accelerations and high decelerations. / Master of Science

Visibility analysis is an important GIS tool that is used in a diverse array of disciplines ranging from earth sciences to telecommunications. Multi-visibility, as a cumulative type of visibility, combines many point-to-point results into a multi-value array. Points, lines, or areas can be used as sources or targets / and the combined values can be calculated in both ways. Through multi-visibility, a special 2.5D visibility value surface can be constructed over a digital elevation model. The effectiveness of multi-visibility can be increased with weighted target zones. Other types of weighting criteria can be defined, such as distance and angle. Open source GIS tools offer a limited amount of support for that type of multivisibility analysis. In this study, a weighted multi-visibility methodology has been developed which accepts a path as the source. The path can have a specific direction to account for moving subjects that have a specific view angle based on their direction. A software tool has been developed to apply the methodology in a practical and automated way. The tool was written in Python programming language and can be run as a plugin to the open source Quantum GIS software. The proposed weighted multi-analysis methodology and its software tool can be used to assess the quality of visibility through the generation of value surfaces and calculation of a combined quantitative visibility value for the full path.

Exhibition design conjoins distinct architectural and curatorial requirements. It is proposed that the common language of architecture and curatorship is space: how displays are arranged to be viewed in particular sequences and visual frames, placed in fields of co-visibility or grouped according to their spatial arrangement as well as their stylistic, historical or other classificatory labels. As visitors become immersed in exhibition space they are exposed to an informally staged pedagogy aimed at enhancing their enjoyment and understanding of the exhibition. The second floor of the High Museum of Art, with the permanent collection of objects, opened in 1983, is chosen as a case study. Meier designed the original building and decorative arts exhibition. Scogin and Elam produced a significant modification in 1997 to house a thematic exhibition. Lord Aeck and Sargent restored a simplified version of the original layout in 2003. Rigorous quantitative analyses document these successive changes and identify the fundamental shifts in exhibition design principles that they represent. Visual relationships, the break up of space and patterns of movement are analyzed using standard space-syntax methodologies. New techniques are proposed in order to describe and quantify overlapping patterns of spatial grouping. It is shown that the original design encouraged visitors to view and compare objects in alternative ways, generating open-ended readings and multiple understanding. The 1997 layout dictated sequences of viewing and framed frontal views in order to communicate how art engages human experience, including the body or the environment. The 2003 layout re-instated multiple viewing points and comparative groupings while emphasizing the individual work. The dissertation examines how architecture and curatorship interacted in a unique building which provides great experiential richness as well as design constraints. In addition, it demonstrates how descriptive theory can help bridge between architectural and curatorial intents by capturing the principles of arrangement which are fundamental to both.

Die Versorgung mit adäquater Information ist eine der Hauptfunktionen von Performance Measurement-Systemen (PMS), gleichzeitig aber auch ihr größter Mangel und der Grund für das häufige Scheitern ihres Einsatzes in Unternehmen. Dabei gibt es derzeit keine Möglichkeit zu bestimmen, inwieweit ein eingesetzes PMS den Beteiligten auch tatsächlich gut und passgenau Informationen liefern kann. Diese Untersuchung geht von der Grundfrage aus, welche Informationen erhoben werden müssen, damit nicht nur die Darstellung der Performance selbst adressiert wird, sondern die auch für ein besseres Verständnis über das PMS und seine organisationale Verankerung und damit Akzeptanz und Nützlichkeit genutzt werden können. Sie folgt damit einem Verständnis von PMS als Informationssysteme, die für die adäquate Versorgung mit Domänenwissen sorgen müssen, und nicht lediglich als Controllinginstrumente, die Performance-Daten liefern sollen. Im Ergebnis steht die Entwicklung einer Theorie, die erklärt, weshalb das bisherige Problem des Scheiterns von PMS auftritt. Damit einhergehend wird der Indikator der Visibility of Performance konstruiert, der über eine einfache Anwendung aussagen kann, wie gut ein PMS bezüglich seiner Wissensversorgung für ein Unternehmen passt. Mithin zeigt er die Güte der performancerelevanten Informationsversorgung in einem PMS eines Unternehmens an. / The supply with adequate information is one of the main functions of Performance Measurement Systems (PMS), but also still one of its drawbacks and reason for their failure. Not only the collection of indicators is crucial, but also the stakeholders’ understanding of the about their meaning, purpose and contextual embedding. Today, companies are faced to seek for a PMS without a way to express the goodness of a solution, indicating its ability to deliver appropriate information and to address these demands. The goal of this investigation is to explore the mechanisms that drive information and knowledge supply in PMS in order to model a way to express this goodness. Using a grounded Theory approach, a theory of visibility of performance is developed, featuring a catalog of determinants for the goodness of PMS. Companies can conveniently use them to assess their PMS and to improve the visibility of their performance.

Abstract   Title: Search Engine Marketing in SMEs Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Authors: Kamilla Fahlström & Caroline Jensen Supervisor: Jens Eklinder Frick Date: 2016 January Purpose: The purpose of this study is to use Expectancy theory to describe and analyze small company owners’ motivations for their usage of Search Engine Marketing, in terms of their perceived Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality. Method: To research the aim of this study a qualitative research approach was used. The empirical data was compiled through ten semi-structured interviews from a varied selection of Swedish companies in the service sector. The data was analyzed with previous research to create an understanding of the motivations for using Search Engine Marketing. Conclusions: The result of this study, when analyzed alongside Expectancy theory, indicates that small business owners are motivated to use Search Engine Marketing. Furthermore, which method of Search Engine Marketing that the owners are motivated to use is dependent on their perceptions of the different methods. Future research: Due to the lack of research into the attitudinal and psychological aspects of Search Engine Marketing and the limitations of this study, it would be interesting if more research were done into this area. For example, it would be interesting to study if trust-based companies are motivated to use Search Engine Marketing, and if demographics affect the motivations. Contribution: This study contributes with results on a previously unexplored area within the research field of Search Engine Marketing. The study also contribute with some information to practice regarding small service company owners’ thoughts about their usage of Search Engine Marketing.  Key words: Search Engine Marketing, SMEs, Expectancy theory, Motivation, Website visibility