The thesis reviews the current situation related to the Industry 4.0 and puts it into context. In the first part of the thesis, there is an introduction to the current economic situation and the major challenges. The concept and vision of Industry 4.0 is introduced together with the world's leading initiatives and examples of Industry 4.0 technologies in manufacturing processes presented by tech leaders. The thesis also includes examples of readiness models and simulated calculation ROCE. The finding of the thesis is that, although the very concept of Industry 4.0 is not well known, digitization and automation of production continues and both are considered a necessity. Interviews with experts from the business practice in the Czech Republic introduces key opportunities and challenges arising from new technologies and when they might become the new standard.

This thesis describes the implementation of a Digital Twin tied to Virtual Reality environment thatcould, by easy means be expanded to Augmented Reality-solution. The field is of interest due to thefact that movement into Industry 4.0 puts the traditional operator in a new seat of work. Previoushands-on tasks are replaced with system monitoring and supervision roles. New interconnectedindustrial hardware allows for extensive data collection, while interactive technology like VR/ARhelps monitoring live systems in completely new manners. An operator can overview and debugindustrial systems while not even being in close proximity of the physical system. This provides theopportunity to increase the level of system information presented to the operator. The Cyber PhysicalFactory created by Festo was targeted to be represented as a digital twin. The question asked: What arethe advantages and/or disadvantages of monitoring and troubleshooting a Festo CP-Factory by meansof a digital twin-driven visualization? proved to be extensive and the work included mapping ofimportant factory data and DRM-research to find visual improvements between the provided solutionsby Festo, and an implemented digital twin. The solution we produced focuses on overview anddebugging and it connects to OPC-servers on each mapped module of the Cyber Physical Factory andacquires the data. This data can then be used to expand, test and debug previous sessions. Each realimplementation of a factory has some type of logging of data, our solution allows visualization of thoselog entries as close to reality as possible, reducing the need to search databases for indications ofproblems. The Unity 3D created software also handles dynamic connections where the operator canmodify which nodes to connect to in an intuitive way, this enables our software to abstract and modifyinformation outside of the source code.

Present research into critical embedded control systems tends to focus on the computational elements and largely ignore the link between the computational and physical elements. This link is very important since the computational capability of the computer can greatly affect the performance and dynamics of the system it controls. The control computer is in the feedback loop of control systems and contributes to feedback delay in addition to already existing mechanical delays. While mechanical delays are compensated in control design, variable computational delays cause system to underperform in its intended physical behavior and impose a cost in terms of fuel or time. For this reason, the scheduler in a real-time operating systems should not focus only on the task deadlines, but also on efficient scheduling which minimizes the effect of computational delay on the controlled plant. The proposed work provides a systematic framework to manage and evaluate the implications of computational delay in vehicles. The work also includes cost sensitive real-time control task scheduling heuristics and Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS) for better energy/thermal control. We show through simulations that our heuristic achieves a significant improvement in cost over the traditional real-time scheduling algorithm Earliest Deadline First (EDF) and show that it can adjust according to energy constraints imposed on the system.

<p>Precision livestock farming (PLF) has emerged as a solution to address global challenges related to food scarcity, increasing demand for animal products, slim profit margins in livestock production, and growing societal concerns regarding farm animal welfare. By offering individualized care for animals, PLF aims to provide labor savings, enhanced monitoring, and improved control capabilities within complex farming systems, enabled by digital technologies. The adoption of an individual-centric approach to farming through PLF is anticipated to enhance farm productivity and ensure ethical treatment of animals while mitigating concerns associated with labor shortages in modern intensive farming operations. Real-time continuous monitoring of each animal enables precise and accurate health and well-being management. However, to achieve these benefits, large-scale animal farms require commercially viable technological solutions for individualized care and welfare. Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) offer precise monitoring and control and present a promising avenue for PLF but pose significant implementation challenges.</p> <p>  In this work, a generalizable CPS architecture was formalized with active robotic nodes that can realize adaptive continuous real-time animal health monitoring to maximize productivity, animal welfare, and sustainability. Taking the example of dairy farming, a resource- and criticality-aware CPS was developed that enables real-time resource-aware sensing, adaptive control, and agile networking with an emphasis on handling emergencies autonomously. Using a decentralized approach, each node was made capable of optimizing its operation to be resource conscious, while also being able to identify emergency conditions in real-time. In this novel design, we accommodate the social dynamics of the herd and effectively address the various types of emergencies possible in PLF. Moreover, the communication was customized for the unique needs of animal agriculture, wherein it reduced latency and power consumption while ensuring collision-free two-way synchronization with adaptive range extension for emergency conditions. Further, since the CPS was centered around animals, a special robust security layer was also developed and implemented to protect the active embodied nodes against known and unknown malicious attacks. The proposed CPS reference architecture provides a foundation for implementing individualized care and welfare, ultimately improving the efficiency and sustainability of livestock operations.</p>

Addressing good governance in management system of occupational risks, the authorities cannot, without setting adequate goals and objectives, establishment of criteria for assessment of achieved results and the management of forces and resources needed to solve these problems. In the field of public administration and economy, these issues were extremely important, due to the relative abstractness and remoteness of the final result, and permanent role of the state, as a hired Manager, who has the means taken from the population. In this case the role of the individual institutions involved in the control of the system of management of professional risks. So the activities of the Federal service in the sphere of consumer rights protection and human welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), which receiver system of sanitary-epidemiological surveillance of the USSR, in this direction, in the context of the ongoing administrative reform, can be used as an object of study the economic aspects of the efficiency of decisions and the choice of further course of action in creating a new paradigm of a national system of occupational risk management. / Решение вопросов эффективного управления в системе менеджмента профессиональными рисками органами власти невозможно, без постановки адекватных целей и задач, создания критериев оценки достигнутых результатов и управления силами и средствами, необходимыми для решения данных задач. В сфере государственного управления и экономики эти вопросы крайне важны, в силу относительной абстрактности и отдаленности конечного результата, и перманентной роли государства, как наёмного управленца, средствами, взятыми у населения. При этом большое значение имеет роль отдельных институтов, на практике осуществляющих контроль за системой управления профессиональными рисками. Так деятельность Федеральной службы в сфере защиты прав потребителей и благополучия человека (Роспотребнадзор), являющейся приемником системы санитарно-эпидемиологического надзора СССР, в данном направлении, в условиях продолжающейся административной реформы, может использоваться, как объект изучения экономических аспектов эффективности принимаемых решений и выбора дальнейшего направления действий в формировании новой парадигмы национальной системы управления профессиональными рисками.

The original FlexiChain and its descendants are a revolutionary distributed ledger technology (DLT) for cyber-physical systems (CPS) and their embedded systems (ES). FlexiChain, a DLT implementation, uses cryptography, distributed ledgers, peer-to-peer communications, scalable networks, and consensus. FlexiChain facilitates data structure agreements. This thesis offers a Block Directed Acyclic Graph (BDAG) architecture to link blocks to their forerunners to speed up validation. These data blocks are securely linked. This dissertation introduces Proof of Rapid Authentication, a novel consensus algorithm. This innovative method uses a distributed file to safely store a unique identifier (UID) based on node attributes to verify two blocks faster. This study also addresses CPS hardware security. A system of interconnected, user-unique identifiers allows each block's history to be monitored. This maintains each transaction and the validators who checked the block to ensure trustworthiness and honesty. We constructed a digital version that stays in sync with the distributed ledger as all nodes are linked by a NodeChain. The ledger is distributed without compromising node autonomy. Moreover, FlexiChain Layer 0 distributed ledger is also introduced and can connect and validate Layer 1 blockchains. This project produced a DAG-based blockchain integration platform with hardware security. The results illustrate a practical technique for creating a system depending on diverse applications' needs. This research's design and execution showed faster authentication, less cost, less complexity, greater scalability, higher interoperability, and reduced power consumption.

<p dir="ltr">Conjugated polymers are organic macromolecules that are characterized by a backbone chain of alternating double- and single-bonds. This alternating pattern results in delocalized π electronic systems, contributing to electronic conduction. In the solid state, conjugated polymers exhibit weak intermolecular interactions, rendering them soft nature in comparison to many of their inorganic counterparts, such as silicon, which consist of ‘hard' three-dimensional networks of rigid covalent bonds. In electrolyte, this weak intermolecular interaction creates free pathways for ion penetration and facilitates mixed ionic-electronic coupling. The ionic-electronic coupling of conjugated polymers impacts nearly all their properties, including light absorption, electronic conductivity, mechanical strength, etc.</p><p dir="ltr">Organic iono-optoelectronics represent a class of devices where the ionic-electronic coupling in conjugated polymers can be synergistically or independently controlled by light irradiation and electrical voltage, enabling multimode electronic and optical functionalities. This dissertation explores two types of organic iono-optoelectronic devices: electrochromic devices and artificial eyes. In electrochromic devices, the ionic-electronic coupling is dynamically modulated by electrical voltage, which induces optical changes of conjugated polymers for applications in information visualization, thermal management, camouflage, etc. Conversely, artificial eyes utilize optical stimulation to tailor the electronic-ionic coupling, with electrical potential changes serving as readout. This paradigm shift opens the door to the development of light-driven biomedical electronics and intelligent visual systems. In the development of electrochromic devices, we introduce two strategies that expand the color palette and enhance the optical control of electrochromic devices, promoting their potential use in display and camouflage. In the development of artificial eye development, we introduce an electrochemical transistor device with integrated functions of light perception, memorization, and recognition by leveraging photon-modulated ion-electronic coupling. This device demonstrates great potential for intelligent visual systems and promises future optoelectronic neural interfaces.</p>

As current social problems grow more complex, public organizations have to deal with more complicated problems and values than in the past. Public organizations arguably need more knowledge to effectively address such complex problems. However, there is little study of the relationship between knowledge sharing and government performance. This study has several primary purposes. First, it tries to find out more about the roles and effects of knowledge sharing on program performance in public organizations. Second, by examining the factors affecting the relationships between knowledge sharing and program performance, the study explores the importance of individual and organizational conditions in connecting knowledge sharing to program performance. Lastly, the study helps clarify the effect of knowledge sharing on program performance by also examining other factors that are likely to affect program performance. To explore the relationships among explicit and tacit knowledge sharing, public service motivation, self-set goals, red tape, economic conditions, staffers' professionalism, budgetary resources, and program performance, I examined Virginia's Child Protective Services program. The Virginia Department of Social Services determines the guidelines and policies for the state's CPS program and supervises its implementation by local agencies. I focused on the implementation of the CPS program. The study examined the relationships between CPS program performance and the degree and dynamics of knowledge sharing at the local jurisdictional and at the individual social worker levels in each of the 23 local CPS departments in which staffers responded to an on-line survey. In addition to these relationships, the study examined the effects of individual, organizational, and financial factors in Virginia local CPS departments on the relationships between knowledge sharing and program performance. The study yielded numerous findings. First, at the local agency level evidence showed that explicit knowledge sharing played an important role in affecting CPS program performance. At the individual level, only the reported usefulness of explicit knowledge sharing affected CPS program performance, while the usefulness of tacit knowledge sharing and time devoted to explicit knowledge sharing affected usefulness of explicit knowledge sharing. The personal motivation of CPS staffers influenced program performance through tacit knowledge sharing, and red tape evidently affected CPS program performance by decreasing explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Even when factors like local economic conditions and available financial resources were taken into account, the usefulness of explicit knowledge sharing still affected CPS program performance. Second, the relationships among time devoted to, usefulness of, and access to explicit and tacit knowledge sharing were diverse. They affected CPS program performance through the reported usefulness of explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Third, individual and organizational factors influenced the relationship between knowledge sharing and CPS program performance. The personal motivation of CPS staffers had a positive effect on tacit knowledge sharing, but red tape appeared to have a negative effect on explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Fourth, the study showed that several factors other than knowledge sharing such as local economic conditions, work training of CPS staffers, family assessments, CPS staffer education, and additional budgetary resources also affected CPS program performance. / Ph. D.

Child sexual assault is a problem of epidemic proportions in the United States with some research suggesting up to one fifth of our nations children being victimized before reaching adulthood. Research has suggested females could be responsible for up to 20% of child sexual abuse cases, and at the same time only represent only 1% of sexual offenders incarcerated the US. This creates a situation where a large group of relatively under-researched offenders are evading detection. Numerous calls for further research have been made, but relatively few studies have had the ability to shed significant light on this phenomenon on a national level. This project utilizes a dataset of virtually every reported child protective services case in the United States for the fiscal year 2010 in order to investigate the dynamics of perpetrator gender on child sexual offending in substantiated cases. Offense characteristics, as well as case level components, were assessed to investigate not only the differences in offending behavior but also the ways gender affects how offenders enter and exit our child protective systems and the services they receive while there. Extensive differences were uncovered as related to perpetrator gender. Models were informed by the female sexual offending literature. Practice and policy implications are discussed.

FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / The obstetric nurse returns to the scenery of reproductive health with their responsibilities enlarged, as strategy proposed by the World Organization of Health - OMS, for the reduction of the maternal and perinatal mortality rates. This fact increases the demands of better professional qualification, so that the interventions implemented for the protection of womenâs and childrenâs health are effective and efficacious. In this perspective, we developed this documental study, aiming to propose a guideline for the nursesâ clinical actions in prenatal consultations in the physiological dimension, subsidized in the International Classification for the Practice of Nursing-CIPE. It was developed at the Center of Natural Childbirth of the Center of Family Development - CEDEFAM/UFC, located in the city of Fortaleza-CE. The population was constituted of 253 records of pregnant women that attended the prenatal nursing consultation in the period between July 2003 and August 2004, and the sample was composed of 62 records selected at random. We used an instrument for data collection that contained the Nursing phenomena according to the CIPE - alpha version. The data were collected in the months of May and August 2004. We detected that the more prevalent phenomenon in the pregnant women were: intermittent sleep (56,5%); functional dyspnea (51,6%); edema (37,1%); orthopnea (35,5%) and constipation (32,2%). We carried out the tests of association qui-square and Firsher, but there was not association of the phenomenon among themselves, nor with the other variables of the study. The conduct guideâs development made it possible to verify that the construction of technologies is something accessible to Nursing and that the CIPE can contribute to a better organization of the nurseâs actions during prenatal period, starting from the answers of the pregnant women facing the physiological alterations caused by pregnancy / O enfermeiro obstetra volta ao cenÃrio da saÃde reprodutiva com suas responsabilidades ampliadas, como estratÃgia proposta pela OrganizaÃÃo Mundial da SaÃde â OMS, para a reduÃÃo dos Ãndices de morbi-mortalidade materna e perinatal. Este fato, torna maior a exigÃncia de melhor qualificaÃÃo profissional, para que as intervenÃÃes implementadas para proteÃÃo à saÃde da mulher e da crianÃa sejam efetivas e eficazes. Nesta perspectiva, desenvolvi este estudo documental, objetivando propor um guia de conduta para as aÃÃes clÃnicas dos enfermeiros em consulta prÃ-natal na dimensÃo fisiolÃgica, subsidiado na ClassificaÃÃo Internacional para a PrÃtica de Enfermagem-CIPE. Foi desenvolvido no Centro de Parto Natural, do Centro de Desenvolvimento Familiar (CEDEFAM) da Universidade Federal do Cearà (UFC), localizado na cidade de Fortaleza-CE. A populaÃÃo se constituiu de 253 prontuÃrios de gestantes que se submeteram a consulta de enfermagem em prÃ-natal no perÃodo compreendido entre julho de 2003 a agosto de 2004, e a amostra foi composta por 62 prontuÃrios randomicamente selecionados. Utilizei um instrumento para coleta de dados que continha os fenÃmenos de Enfermagem segundo a CIPE - versÃo alfa. Os dados foram coletados nos meses de maio a agosto de 2004. Detectei que os fenÃmenos mais prevalentes nas gestantes foram: sono intermitente (56,5%); dispnÃia funcional (51,6%); edema (37,1%); ortopnÃia (35,5%) e constipaÃÃo (32,2%). Efetivei os testes de associaÃÃo de qui-quadrado e Firsher, mas nÃo houve associaÃÃo dos fenÃmenos entre si e nem com as demais variÃveis do estudo. O desenvolvimento do guia de conduta me possibilitou verificar que o uso de tecnologias à algo acessÃvel à Enfermagem e que a CIPE pode contribuir para melhor organizaÃÃo das aÃÃes do enfermeiro no prÃ-natal, a partir das respostas das gestantes frente Ãs alteraÃÃes fisiolÃgicas ocasionadas pela gravidez