Traditionally, networking technology has been limited because of the networks inability to adapt resulting in sub-optimal performance. Limited in state, scope and response mechanisms, network elements consisting of nodes, protocol layers and policies have been unable to make intelligent decisions. Modern networks often operate in environments where network resources (e.g. node energy, link quality, bandwidth, etc.), application data (e.g. location of user) and user behaviors (e.g. user mobility and user request pattern) experience changes over time. These changes degrade the network performance and cause service interruption. In recent years, the words "cognitive" and "smart" have become the buzzwords and have been applied to many different networking and communication systems. Cognitive networks are being touted as the next generation network services which will perceive the current network conditions and dynamically adjust their parameters to achieve better productivity. Cognitive radios will provide the end-user intelligence needed for cognitive networks and provide dynamic spectrum access for better spectrum efficiency. We are interested in assessing the practical impact of Cognitive Networks on the Wireless Communication industry. Our goal is to propose a formal business model that will help assess the implications of this new technology in the real world and the practical feasibility of its implementation. We use the layered business model proposed by Ballon [8] which follows a multi-parameter approach by defining four levels on which business models operate and by identifying three critical design parameters on each layer. The Value Network layer identifies the important entities which come into the picture in the light of the new technology. The Functional layer addresses the issue of different architectural implementations of the Cognitive Networks. At the Financial layer, we propose a NPV model which highlights the cost/revenue implications of the technology in the real world and contrasts the different Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) schemes from a financial perspective. Finally, the Value Proposition layer seeks to explain the end-user flexibility and efficient spectrum management provided by the use of Cognitive radios and Cognitive networks. / Master of Science

The study of embodied communication requires access to multiple data sources such as multistream video and audio, various derived and meta-data such as gesture, head, posture, facial expression and gaze information. This thesis presents the data collection, annotation, and analysis for multiple participants engaged in planning meetings. In support of the analysis tasks, this thesis presents the multimedia Visualization for Situated Temporal Analysis for Macintosh (MacVisSTA) system. It supports the analysis of multimodal human communication through the use of video, audio, speech transcriptions, and gesture and head orientation data. The system uses a multiple linked representation strategy in which different representations are linked by the current time focus. MacVisSTA supports analysis of the synchronized data at varying timescales for coarse-to-fine observational studies. The hybrid architecture may be extended through plugins. Finally, this effort has resulted in encoding of behavioral and language data, enabling collaborative research and embodying it with the aid of, and interface to, a database management system. / Master of Science

Für den Umstieg von Closed Access auf Open Access haben sich Article Processing Charges (APCs) als vorherrschendes Geschäftsmodell mit Verlagen etabliert. Die Bearbeitung und das Monitoring von APCs stellt, so die Ausgangsthese dieser Arbeit, Universitätsbibliotheken vor große Herausforderungen, da Publikationszahlen und -kosten stetig steigen. Die Arbeit erhebt den aktuellen Stand an acht Einrichtungen mittels leitfadengestützter qualitativer Expert*inneninterviews. Zur Auswertung der Interviews kam die inhaltlich-strukturierende qualitative Inhaltsanalyse zur Anwendung. Leitende Forschungsfragen für die Untersuchung waren: Wie gestalten sich die Workflows bei der Bearbeitung und dem Monitoring von APCs an deutschen Universitätsbibliotheken? Welche Arbeitsinstrumente kommen zum Einsatz? Sind die eingesetzten Systeme interoperabel? Welche Metadaten werden wo erfasst? Was wissen die Bibliotheken über dezentrale Kosten? Die Auswertung der Studie zeigt, dass effiziente und skalierbare Arbeitsprozesse und -instrumente an deutschen Universitätsbibliotheken nur begrenzt etabliert sind, sich jedoch im Aufbau befinden. Die Workflows sind oftmals von fehlender Interoperabilität der eingesetzten Arbeitsinstrumente geprägt. Die acht Einrichtungen organisieren die einzelnen Workflowschritte sehr heterogen. Eine zentrale Rechnungsabwicklung für alle Publikationskosten einer Universität ist nicht üblich. Für die Bearbeitung und Überwachung von APCs kommen in der Regel mehrere Arbeitsinstrumente zum Einsatz, die von Bibliothek zu Bibliothek variieren. Die wenigsten Bibliotheken dokumentieren alle für das Monitoring empfohlenen Metadaten. Zudem erfasst kaum eine Einrichtung alle Metadaten in einem einzigen Informationssystem. Sehr detaillierte Kenntnisse besitzen die Bibliotheken bezüglich der Kosten, die über Publikationsfonds abgewickelt werden. Hier ist das Monitoring etabliert und funktioniert gut. Anders verhält es sich mit dezentralen Kosten, sodass ein Überblick über die Gesamtkosten des Publizierens oftmals fehlt.:1 Einleitung 2 Hintergrund – Open-Access-Transformation 2.1 Open Access 2.2 Der Goldene Weg 2.3 Geschäftsmodell Article Processing Charges 2.4 Publikationsfonds 2.5 Kosten 2.6 Initiativen 3 Ausgangslage – Bearbeitung und Monitoring von APCs 3.1 Workflows zur Bearbeitung von APCs 3.2 Arbeitsinstrumente für die Bearbeitung und das Monitoring von APCs 3.3 Interoperabilität zwischen den Arbeitsinstrumenten 3.4 Erfassung von Metadaten 3.5 Erfassung dezentraler Kosten 4 Methodisches Vorgehen 4.1 Forschungsdesign 4.2 Erhebungsmethode – leitfadengestütztes qualitatives Expert*inneninterview 4.2.1 Erhebungsinstrument – Interviewleitfaden 4.2.2 Stichprobe – Auswahl der Expert*innen 4.2.3 Durchführung der leitfadengestützen Expert*inneninterviews 4.3 Aufbereitung des Materials – Transkription 4.4 Auswertungsmethode – inhaltlich-strukturierende qualitative Inhaltsanalyse 5 Ergebnisbericht 5.1 Workflow zur Bearbeitung von APCs 5.1.1 Arbeitsschritte 5.1.2 Medienbrüche 5.1.3 Zusammenarbeit mit Dienstleistern 5.1.4 Verantwortlichkeiten 5.2 Arbeitsinstrumente für die Bearbeitung und das Monitoring von APCs 5.3 Interoperabilität der Arbeitsinstrumente 5.4 Erfassung Metadaten 5.4.1 Erfasste Metadaten und Arbeitsinstrumente 5.4.2 Erfassung dezentraler Kosten 5.4.3 Reports 5.5 Herausforderungen bei der Bearbeitung und beim Monitoring von APCs 5.6 Was funktioniert gut bei der Bearbeitung und beim Monitoring von APCs 5.7 Bewertung des Geschäftsmodells APC 6 Zusammenfassung und Diskussion der Ergebnisse 6.1 Workflow zur Bearbeitung von APCs 6.2 Arbeitsinstrumente für die Bearbeitung und das Monitoring von APCs 6.3 Interoperabilität zwischen den Arbeitsinstrumenten 6.4 Erfassung von Metadaten 6.5 Herausforderungen bei der Bearbeitung und beim Monitoring von APCs 6.6 Was funktioniert gut bei der Bearbeitung und beim Monitoring von APCs 6.7 Bewertung des Geschäftsmodells APCs 7 Fazit

Yes / In England, primary care patients have access to Patient Access Portals (PAPs), enabling them to book appointments, request repeat medication prescriptions, send/receive messages and review their medical records. Few studies have elicited user views and value of PAPs, especially in a publicly funded primary care setting. This study aimed to elicit the value users of PAPs place on online access to medical records and linked services. Secondary data analysis of the completed electronic survey (available 2 May 2015–27 June 2015) distributed via the EMIS PAP to all its registered users. EMIS designed the survey; responses were voluntary. There were 62,486 responders (95.7% self-completed). The PAP was mainly used for medication requests (86.3%) and online appointment bookings (78.4%), and, to a lesser extent, medical record viewing (18.3%) and messaging (9.5%). The majority (70%) reported a positive impact from using it. One in five rated it as their favourite online service second only to online banking. Almost three out of four responders stated that availability of online access would influence their move to another practice. Nonetheless, responders were reluctant to award a high monetary value to it. These findings correlated with the number of long-term conditions. The majority of users place a relatively high value, but not monetary value, on the PAP and report a positive impact from using it. The potential for PAPs to enhance patient experience, especially for those with long-term conditions, appears to be largely untapped. Research exploring the reasons for non-use is also required.

The kidney is an organ that plays a major role in the homeostasis of the body. The kidney has several roles such as fluid management, electrolyte balance, vitamin D production, blood pressure control, removal of wastes, red blood cell production, and pH balance. Damage to the kidney can result in severe comorbidities and even mortality. Currently, kidney disease affects over 800 million individuals today (United States Renal Data System, 2022). One of the primary methods to treat kidney disease is using dialysis as a form of renal replacement. The two current dialysis modalities are peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a background in the kidney, kidney disease, and dialysis. With this background, this thesis aims to present the advantages and disadvantages of each of the three dialysis access: arteriovenous grafts, arteriovenous fistulas, and central venous catheters. By exploring the creation methods, dialysis use, and patient perspective, this thesis has demonstrated that arteriovenous fistulas are the supreme access. However, arteriovenous grafts and central venous catheters provide important alternatives and should not be ignored.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 29-November 02, 1990 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Various PN codes for use in TTC spread-spectrum systems are considered. The evaluation is based on peak magnitudes and amplitude distributions of both the even and the odd autocorrelation and crosscorrelation functions. Furthermore the influence of the phase of a sequence on the correlation parameters is studied, multiple-access characteristics in terms of the total interference parameter are evaluated and synchronous as well as asynchronous code generation is considered.1

School districts have implemented filtering and safety policies in response to legislative and social mandates to protect students from the proliferation of objectionable online content. Subject related literature suggests these policies are more restrictive than legal mandates require and are adversely affecting information access and instruction. There is limited understanding of how filtering and safety policies are affecting teaching and learning because no comprehensive studies have investigated the issues and trends surrounding filtering and safety policy implementation. In order to improve existing safety policies, policymakers need research-based data identifying end user access issues that limit technology integration in the kindergarten-12th grade (K-12) educational setting. This study sought to examine Internet filtering and safety policy implementation issues in South Carolina's K-12 public schools to determine their influence on information access and instruction. A mixed methods research design, which includes both quantitative and qualitative approaches, was used to investigate the research problem. Quantitative data were collected from information technology (IT) administrators who were surveyed regarding filtering and safety policy implementation, and school library media specialists (SLMS) were surveyed concerning the issues they encounter while facilitating information access in a filtered environment. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with a subset of the SLMS population, thereby providing further insight about Internet access issues and their influence on teaching and learning. School districts' Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) were analyzed to determine how they addressed recent legislative mandates to educate minors about specific Web 2.0 safety issues. The research results support the conclusions of previous anecdotal studies which show that K-12 Internet access policies are overly restrictive, resulting in inhibited access to online educational resources. The major implication of this study is that existing Internet access policies need to be fine-tuned in order to permit greater access to educational content. The study recommends Internet safety practices that will empower teachers and students to access the Internet's vast educational resources safely and securely while realizing the Internet's potential to enrich teaching and learning.

ITC/USA 2015 Conference Proceedings / The Fifty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2015 / Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV / Spectrum sharing between Federal and commercial users is a technique proposed by the FCC and NTIA to open up the 3.5 GHz band for wireless broadband use and small cell technology is one of the candidates for its' realization. The traffic on small cells is temporal and their chances of interfering with other services in shared spectrum are limited. DoD has a documented requirement of 865 MHz by 2025 to support telemetry but only 445 MHz is presently available. DoD is conducting researches to realize test and evaluation spectrum efficient technology with the aim to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate technology components required to enable flight and ground test telemetry operations. This paper will provide an overview on spectrum sharing using small cell technology for LTE-Advanced and dynamic spectrum access would be briefly described. Research challenges for protocols and algorithms would be addressed for future studies.

published_or_final_version / Transport Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The following thesis concerns the conceptualization of openness within the open access movement. Open accesscan be understood as a phenomenon or a movement that aims at changing the current system of scholarly communication.Consequentially, the movements goals arose in relation to the escalating serials crisis in scholarly communicationand the increasing power of commercial publishers. The purpose of the thesis is to study three centralopen access declarations with the aim of uncovering the different conceptualizations of openness found withinthese texts. Leaning on the theoretical position known as actor-network theory, the declarations role within a surroundingnetwork is explored by focusing on how openness as a concept has been produced and reproduced bycentral actors. Two overarching questions frames the study: How is openness conceptualized within the declarations?And how can openness, as a concept, be understood as an effect generated by a larger network?The first part of the study focuses on the first question. In order to provide an answer I have conducted athematically structured text analysis of the declarations. The results of this part show that openness, in relation toopen access, is part of a discourse where research is considered a public good. I claim that this indicates thatopenness is related to the larger questions of information freedom and the enclosure of intellectual commons.The purpose of openness is described within the declarations as contributing to mechanisms of decentralized controlover information, which in itself generates a greater efficiency and lower costs in regards to scholarly communication.The second part of the study is concerned with the larger, overarching network and in what way the conceptualizationof openness can be seen as a network generated effect. To answer this question I deploy the theoreticaltools provided by ANT. Focus lies on how the declarations relate to each other and on how central actors havecontributed to the conceptualizations. The results show that openness and open access has shifting meanings thathave been modified in various ways. They also show that actors through a collective negotiation process defineand shape the meaning of openness by circulating ideas on electronic dissemination and distributed processes