Wireless mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) have come into prominence due to potentially rapid and infrastructure-less deployment in military operations and also in emergency and disaster-relief situations. However, the unreliability of wireless links between nodes, possibility of mobile nodes being captured or compromised, break down of cooperative algorithms, all lead to increased vulnerability. No matter how supposedly secure a system is, unrelenting attackers eventually succeed in infiltrating it. This underscores the need to monitor what is taking place in a system and look for suspicious behavior. An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) does just that: monitors audit data, looks for intrusions in the system, and initiates a proper response. Bandwidth constraints of MANETs necessitate the need for efficiency of any security scheme in order to prevent the overloading of the network. In this thesis, we have proposed an effective and efficient IDS for MANETs that aims to combine misuse detection with anomaly detection. Experimental validation has provided significant results about not only the accuracy and robustness of the scheme but also the non-degradability of network performance upon induction of our security scheme. It is not affected by factors such as node density, node mobility, traffic load and percentage of malicious nodes. On an average, our IDS, implemented using Destination-Sequenced Distance-Vector (DSDV) protocol, detects intrusions with an accuracy of over 90% and is generally insensitive to false alarms. Moreover, performance metrics such as end-to-end delay, packet delivery ratio and normalized routing load are only marginally affected (about 2% decrease in performance). / Master of Science

The understanding of a space is a diverse and limitless endeavor. My investigations leading up to this design proposal addressed three(3), admittedly broad, notions of spatial adjacency and relation:path, threshold, and layering. / Master of Architecture

What is the opportunity afforded by a distinction in geography? Can a building respond to a threshold, or meeting point between two distinct geographical conditions? In particular, the duality of land and water and the moment when these two elements meet, could indicate and influence form and structure. What is a potential response to such a condition in geography, what are the mechanisms and means by which a building could respond to such a condition? This project seeks to highlight and celebrate the distinction between land and water, a meeting point where land ends and a river begins. The building's form, structure, and material are a reaction to the geographic condition. / Master of Architecture

Inflation and output growth relationship is of interest to policymakers and researchers. In the West African Monetary Zone, the attainment of low inflation rate is considered as one of the convergence criteria for the successful implementation of monetary union in the zone. Although there has been empirical evidence that the relationship between inflation and output growth in the WAMZ is non-linear, the question yet to be answered is, “at what level is inflation detrimental to economic growth?” This paper extends the link of analysis by investigating the optimal inflation for the WAMZ countries using the quadratic approach to threshold estimation. The findings drawing from economic theory and analysis suggests that inflation rate in the WAMZ is significantly associated with lower growth only after it reaches 12.86 percent. The result further indicates that there are significant differences in the inflation threshold levels in the WAMZ countries. The findings of this research are not surprising given the institutional features and structure of the different countries in the zone. The findings of the research suggest that monetary authorities in the WAMZ countries could accommodate inflation rate up to the threshold level, even when that is higher than what is currently being targeted in the zone, so as not to stifle growth in the area. Also, although the WAMZ countries belong to the same geographical area, which could enhance group formation; there could be other sources of heterogeneity like different political, legal, economic, and national policies that drive individual growth processes in the zone. / Central Bank of Nigeria

This dissertation is comprised of four chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to<br />Economic application of time series analysis and discusses the topics covered in each of the following chapters along with some main results therein. <br />    In Chapter 2, I construct a measure of information asymmetry in the financial markets in U.S., by estimating an index of agency cost pertaining to U.S. manufacturing firms. The cyclical behavior of the unobservable agency cost is derived by a novel application of the Kalman filter within a Bayesian framework, using firm level data from 1984-2006. The preliminary results provide support to the financial accelerator mechanism in the business cycle literature. <br />    In Chapter 3, I show that people\'s expectation of uncertainty in financial markets is a significant factor impacting short-term real exchange rate movements. Specifically, a sudden increase in expectation of stock market volatility in a low interest rate country tends to appreciate their currencies against high interest rate currencies. I construct a measure of conditional expected uncertainty from volatility of returns of the dominant portfolio (indices) of 7 industrialized countries. I identify uncertainty shocks and its impact on dollar real exchange rate, and explain my results in the context of currency carry trade.<br />    Chapter 4 of my dissertation documents the presence of significant non-linearity in the deficit-interest rate relationship in the U.S. economy. Using an asymptotic threshold test as per Hansen (2000), I find strong evidence for threshold effects in the impact of expected deficit on future long-term interest rates. I find that a percentage point increase in expected deficit in a regime where the expected deficit/GDP ratio is above 1.8 percent (the estimated threshold value) increases future nominal long term interest rates by 29-30 basis point, and a "news shock" to expectation of future deficit increases future real long term interest rates by 12-18 basis points. When expected deficit/GDP ratio is below 1.8 percent, an increase in expected deficit has no impact on future long-term interest rates. <br /> / Ph. D.

No / Z. W. Pylyshyn and R. W. Storm (1988) have shown that human observers can accurately track four to five items at a time. However, when a threshold paradigm is used, observers are unable to track more than a single trajectory accurately (S. P. Tripathy & B. T. Barrett, 2004). This difference between the two studies is examined systematically using substantially suprathreshold stimuli. The stimuli consisted of one (Experiment 1) or more (Experiments 2 and 3) bilinear target trajectories embedded among several linear distractor trajectories. The target trajectories deviated clockwise (CW) or counterclockwise (CCW) (by 19°, 38°, or 76° in Experiments 1 and 2 and by 19°, 38°, or 57° in Experiment 3), and observers reported the direction of deviation. From the percentage of correct responses, the ¿effective¿ number of tracked trajectories was estimated for each experimental condition. The total number of trajectories in the stimulus and the number of deviating trajectories had only a small effect on the effective number of tracked trajectories; the effective number tracked was primarily influenced by the angle of deviation of the targets and ranged from four to five trajectories for a ±76° deviation to only one to two trajectories for a ±19° deviation, regardless of whether the different magnitudes of deviation were blocked (Experiment 2) or interleaved (Experiment 3). Simple hypotheses based on ¿averaging of orientations,¿ ¿preallocation of resources,¿ or pop-out, crowding, or masking of the target trajectories are unlikely to explain the relationship between the effective number tracked and the angle of deviation of the target trajectories. This study reconciles the difference between the studies cited above in terms of the number of trajectories that can be tracked at a time.

If Architecture can express the joy of birth and all the infinite aspects of human life, then Architecture can celebrate death as a final rite of passage. Can Architecture celebrate man's transition into the afterlife? How does this celebration translate literally into something tangible? How does this celebration translate figuratively into something tactile? / Master of Architecture

This thesis explores the role of barrier and threshold as a form of differentiation between objects and situations. Building elements such as façade, structure, and space become the means by which to distinguish between separate parts, functions, and experiences. Sited in downtown Washington D.C. the proposed office building becomes the permeable barrier between street and lawn. Within the building there is contrasting differentiation between service space and occupiable office space through the role of different building parts that make up an office building. / Master of Architecture

Yes / An innovative new midwifery programme leading to midwifery registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) developing potential registrants at both BSc and MSc levels commenced in September 2016. The programme is delivered utilising problem-based learning (PBL) as both a content delivery method and a philosophical approach, underpinning student learning at the UK's University of Bradford, School of Midwifery. A requirement for NMC revalidation at a five-year juncture and institutional programme reapproval acted as a catalyst for change. The programme team embraced a new curriculum framework which emphasised a move to reviewing stage and programme outcomes rather than concentrating on the minutiae of module outcomes. This new approach suited the holistic nature of PBL ensuring an intellectually challenging and inclusive method of teaching and learning for midwifery practice. A further progression for the programme team was to develop an understanding of, and to integrate, ‘threshold concepts’ or ‘troublesome knowledge’. These are defined as knowledge, principles or components which students find difficult to understand and therefore to utilise to improve practice and deliver high-quality care. This article explores the integration of threshold concepts into a problem-based midwifery curriculum.

Hintergrund: Der genaue Pathomechanismus zur Entstehung des benignen Faszikulations- Crampus-Syndrom ist nicht bekannt, und es wurde noch nie eine größere Anzahl dieser Patienten mittles des threshold trackings untersucht. Material und Methoden: 18 Patienten mit einem BFCS und 15 gesunde Probanden wurden mithilfe des threshold trackings, welches eine Methode zur Messung von Exzitabilitätsparametern von peripheren Nerven in vivo ist, untersucht und die Ergebnisse verglichen. Ergebnisse: Die stärksten Unterschiede zeigten sich im threshold electrotonus, der current/threshold relationship und der stimulus-response-curve. Im threshold electrotonus war insbesondere die Schwellenwertzunahme auf hyperpolarisierende Reize signifikant geringer bei einer Reizstärke von -40%, -70% und -100% des Kontrollimpulses (p < 0,01). Die current/threshold relationship war in hyperpolasierender Richtung bei den BFCS Patienten steiler als bei der gesunden Kontrollgruppe (p < 0,05). Außerdem benötigten sie eine deutlich geringere Reizintensität, um 50% des maximalen Summenaktionspotentials des Muskels auszulösen (p < 0,05). Schlussfolgerung: Die Ergebnisse weisen auf eine veränderte Expression oder Kinetik der HCN-Kanäle an peripheren Nerven der Patienten mit einem BFCS hin und geben folglich neue Hinweise auf die Entstehung dieser Erkrankung. Da zum ersten Mal ein Zusammenhang zwischen der Veränderung der HCN-Kanäle und dem BFCS gezeigt werden konnte, sollten sich zukünftige Studien darauf konzentrieren, genauere Informationen über diese Pathologie zu erlangen.