Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Charles Q. Pavitt, Dept. of Communication. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / The date on cover and spine was mis-printed as "1995." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-173).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / The date on cover and spine was mis-printed as "1995". Includes bibliographical references (leave 146-173). Also available in print.

The popularity of peer-to-peer networks has grown tremendously in recent times as a result of the ever-improving capabilities of host entities at the edge and the ubiquitous reach of the Internet. The growth has fueled the realization of many peer-to-peer networks in both academia and the commercial arena. Peer-to-peer networks generally fall into one of these categories ??? centralized systems with server-like entities in the network; unstructured systems with random topology and message routing, and structured systems with deterministic topology and routing behavior. Surveying the major peer-to-peer networks in each category, one can conclude that the each of the categories exhibit very different characteristics and properties from one another. This thesis addresses the problems in the peer-to-peer networking space by employing two overarching principles. Firstly, desirable properties of systems in one category can be adopted by another to achieve restructuring. In short, restructuring involves the injection of structure into unstructured networks and conversely loosening the rigidity in structured systems. Secondly, as much as possible, participating peers in the network are designed to be homogeneous in functionality recognizing that they are heterogeneous in capabilities. True to the concept of the peer-to-peer paradigm, this principle keeps participants functioning as fellow peers rather than imposing hierarchical differences in the roles within the network. We describe three contexts in which the issues pertaining to the peer-to-peer networks in view can be addressed by applying the principle of restructuring. For the Mobile Agent Peer-to-Peer architecture, we adopt centralized concepts into the unstructured peer-to-peer network while maintaining homogeneity in functionality through the use of mobile agents. The architecture shields excessive traffic from peers with limited resources and allows more capable peers to share others??? burden. Through the use of mobile agents, logical hierarchy is avoided and thus the second overarching principle of homogeneity is preserved. For Gnutella Clusters, concepts from the structured systems are adopted to facilitate the formation and maintenance of clustering in unstructured networks. Clustering limits the amount of flooding in the network and thus conserves bandwith. The clustering algorithm is decentralized to all peers, and does not need a set of participants to have special functionality ??? thus preserving the generic nature of all peers. In Autonomic Decentralized Service Directory platform, structure is released from the underlying Chord network to provide better support for service registration and searching. The strict requirements for deterministic routing and lookup which characterize structured systems are granted some leniency for the ability to avoid misbehaving nodes and provide incentives for peers to behave properly.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the professional interaction and interpersonal communication factors in the management of biomedical instructional development projects which involved the use of electronic media. Reference is made, repeatedly, in instructional development literature to the need to include interpersonal communication skills in the education and training of present and future instructional systems developers. It has been suggested that subject specialist consultation is one of the most vital instructional design skills. However, this skill may not be taught in educational and training programs. Before specific skills can be identified and included in the professional preparation of ISDs, it is necessary to determine what the communication factors are, as well as exactly where and when interpersonal communication conflicts occur within the ISD process. To provide relevancy, these issues need to be linked to actual occurrences in actual settings. This study provides insight into actual roles, relationships and interpersonal communication factors in the context within which they occur. / Graduation date: 1995

An evolutionary model of long-term romantic relationship termination is proposed. According to the model, relationship termination is the functional output of psychological mechanisms evolved to solve adaptive problems faced by humans over evolutionary history. To the extent that men and women have faced similar adaptive problems in romantic relationships, their psychologies of romantic relationship termination are expected to be similar. To the extent that these adaptive problems have differed, their psychologies of relationship termination are expected to differ. Consequently, men and women are hypothesized to have evolved similar, but distinct psychological mechanisms that underlie the decision rules in the termination of long-term romantic relationships. Specific hypotheses and predictions about the contexts and tactics of relationship termination have been derived from this perspective, including: 1) a greater sensitivity in men than in women to declines in their long-term mate's physical attractiveness; 2) a greater sensitivity in women than in men to declines in their long-term mate's investment of resources in them. To test these and other hypotheses about functional design in the psychological mechanisms underlying mating relationship termination several studies were conducted to investigate: 1) perceptions regarding the contexts in which men and women are likely to terminate romantic relationships; 2) perceptions regarding the tactics men and women employ to terminate romantic relationships; 3) thoughts of relationship termination; and 4) personal accounts of relationship termination. Men were judged more sensitive than women to decreases in their long-term mate's physical attractiveness, but did not differ from women in reporting decreased physical attractiveness as a cause of relationship termination. Women were judged more sensitive than men to a partner the decreasing investment of resources in them and reported decreased investment more frequently as a cause of relationship termination. Because several tests of the hypotheses described in this dissertation were disconfirmed, the results should be interpreted with caution. / text

The popularity of peer-to-peer networks has grown tremendously in recent times as a result of the ever-improving capabilities of host entities at the edge and the ubiquitous reach of the Internet. The growth has fueled the realization of many peer-to-peer networks in both academia and the commercial arena. Peer-to-peer networks generally fall into one of these categories ??? centralized systems with server-like entities in the network; unstructured systems with random topology and message routing, and structured systems with deterministic topology and routing behavior. Surveying the major peer-to-peer networks in each category, one can conclude that the each of the categories exhibit very different characteristics and properties from one another. This thesis addresses the problems in the peer-to-peer networking space by employing two overarching principles. Firstly, desirable properties of systems in one category can be adopted by another to achieve restructuring. In short, restructuring involves the injection of structure into unstructured networks and conversely loosening the rigidity in structured systems. Secondly, as much as possible, participating peers in the network are designed to be homogeneous in functionality recognizing that they are heterogeneous in capabilities. True to the concept of the peer-to-peer paradigm, this principle keeps participants functioning as fellow peers rather than imposing hierarchical differences in the roles within the network. We describe three contexts in which the issues pertaining to the peer-to-peer networks in view can be addressed by applying the principle of restructuring. For the Mobile Agent Peer-to-Peer architecture, we adopt centralized concepts into the unstructured peer-to-peer network while maintaining homogeneity in functionality through the use of mobile agents. The architecture shields excessive traffic from peers with limited resources and allows more capable peers to share others??? burden. Through the use of mobile agents, logical hierarchy is avoided and thus the second overarching principle of homogeneity is preserved. For Gnutella Clusters, concepts from the structured systems are adopted to facilitate the formation and maintenance of clustering in unstructured networks. Clustering limits the amount of flooding in the network and thus conserves bandwith. The clustering algorithm is decentralized to all peers, and does not need a set of participants to have special functionality ??? thus preserving the generic nature of all peers. In Autonomic Decentralized Service Directory platform, structure is released from the underlying Chord network to provide better support for service registration and searching. The strict requirements for deterministic routing and lookup which characterize structured systems are granted some leniency for the ability to avoid misbehaving nodes and provide incentives for peers to behave properly.

Thesis (B.Sc.Hons.))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1978.