The accuracy of target location and the coverage range of sensor network are two factors that affect each other in target tracking. When the flocking sensor network has a larger coverage area, it can increase the range of detecting target and the scope of environmental information. The network can also pass the information to a query source or other sensors which do not belong to the flocking network. However, the accuracy of measurements at sensors may be affected by the distances between the target and the sensors. We use mobile sensors as agents in flocking algorithm for target tracking. Every mobile sensor exchanges information with its neighbors, and keeps an appropriate separation distance with neighbors to maintain flocking. Flocking algorithm is a distributed control method for mobile sensor which can catch up the target and maintain flocking formation. In the thesis, we derive the cost function based on the accuracy of target positioning and range coverage. The proposed adaptive flocking algorithm combines the amount of information and the distance changes between neighbors based on the cost function. Each mobile sensor adaptively adjusts distance separation with all its neighbors within communication range. Sensors closer to the target shortens the separation distance between neighbors, therefore they will move toward the target and obtain better measurement. Kalman-consensus information filter is used for target positioning. The accuracy of target position can therefore be improved in the overall network. On the other hand, the sensors located far from the target will widen the distance separation between neighbors to expand the overall network area. In the thesis, we use Kalman-consensus information filter to estimate the state of a target, and use adaptive flocking algorithm for maintaining the formation of mobile sensors. Simulations show that adaptive flocking algorithm effectively improves location accuracy while maintaining approximate generally same coverage area when compared with other methods.

The need for high resolution, continuously sustained imaging drives the interest in space-borne, distributed aperture, interferometric (amplitude, heterodyne, or intensity correlation) systems. This paper will discuss the maneuver controls for a system of multiple space-based telescopes to secure optimal image quality. Such distributed aperture systems eff ectively measure the Fourier Transform of the collected light so that the observed wave pattern is seen in the frequency plane. This Fourier Transform representation of physical spacecraft maneuvers may be interpreted as coverage regions (discs) in the frequency plane. Superior coverage of the frequency plane, which is directly related to image quality, is investigated for imaging distant objects using interferometric techniques where apertures are distributed on multiple space-based telescopes. The corresponding cost function is based on the optimality of the spacecraft maneuvers, which in turn is based on achieving a high image quality. This study builds on previous research wherein the first-order necessary conditions (FONC) were derived. The FONC are derived for specialized rectilinear motion and expanded to incorporate varying coverage disc velocities. These linearized equations are verifi ed to be consistent with those for the constant velocity case. Next, linearized first-order necessary conditions are shown to correspond closely with the fully nonlinear case. After that, the conditions for optimal overlap of the coverage paths will be given; these conditions lead to the optimal cost based on frequency plane parameters. Finally, a heuristic approach will be used to compare diff erent frequency plane coverage strategies. An analogy to painting will be presented to demonstrate adequate signal-to-noise ratio required for a desired image quality.

We consider a hierarchical maximal covering location problem to locate p health centers and q hospitals in such a way that maximum demand is covered, where health centers and hospitals have successively inclusive hierarchy. Demands are 3 types: demand requiring low-level service only, demand requiring high-level service only, and demand requiring both levels of service at the same time. All types of requirements of a demand point should be either covered by hospital providing both levels of service or referred to hospital via health center since a demand point is not covered unless all levels of requirements are satisfied. Thus, a health center cannot be opened unless it is suitable to refer its covered demand to a hospital. Referral is defined as coverage of health centers by hospitals. We also added partial coverage to this complex hierarchic structure, that is, a demand point is fully covered up to the minimum critical distance, non-covered after the maximum critical distance and covered with a decreasing quality while increasing distance to the facility between minimum and maximum critical distances. We developed an MIP formulation to solve the Hierarchical Maximal Covering Location Problem with referral in the presence of partial coverage. We solved small-size problems optimally using GAMS. For large-size problems we developed a Genetic Algorithm that gives near-optimal results quickly. We tested our Genetic Algorithm on randomly generated problems of sizes up to 1000 nodes.

In this study, a bi-objective capacitated facility location problem is presented which includes partial coverage concept and relocation of facility nodes. In partial coverage, a predefined distance between a demand node and a facility node is assumed to be fully covered. After the predefined distance, the service level commences to decay linearly. The problem is designed to consider the existence of already functioning facility nodes. It is allowed to close these existing facilities and open new facilities in potential sites. However, existing facility nodes are strongly favored against new facility nodes. The objectives are the maximization of the weighted total coverage and the minimization of number of facility nodes. A novel interactive multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is proposed to solve this problem, I-TREA. I-TREA is originated from NSGA-II and designed for interactive methods benefiting from quality infeasible solutions. The performance of I-TREA is benchmarked with a modified version of NSGA-II on randomly generated problems with various sizes and utility functions.

Airburst projectiles increase the effectiveness of air defense, by forming clouds of small pellets. In this work, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of airburst projectiles, Single Shot Kill Probability (SSKP) is computed at different burst distances by using three lethality functions defined from different measures of effectiveness. These different measures are target coverage, number of sub-projectile hits on the target and kinetic energy of sub-projectiles after burst. Computations are carried out for two different sub-projectile distribution patterns, namely circular and ring patterns. In this work, for the determination of miss distance, a Monte Carlo simulation is implemented, which uses Modified Point Mass Model (MPMM) trajectory equations. According to the results obtained two different distribution patterns are compared in terms of effectiveness and optimum burst distance of each distribution pattern is determined at different ranges.

Web pages serve a huge number of internet users in nearly every area. An adequate testing is needed to address the problems of web domains for more efficient and accurate services. We present an automated tool to test web applications against execution errors and the errors occured when many users connect the same server concurrently. Our tool, called NaMoX, attains the clickables of the web pages, creates a model exerting depth first search algorithm. NaMoX simulates a number of users, parses the developed model, and tests the model by branch coverage analysis. We have performed experiments on five web sites. We have reported the response times when a click operation is eventuated. We have found 188 errors in total. Quality metrics are extracted and this is applied to the case studies.

Northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) are an important cultural, ecological, and economical part of the southern Texas landscape. I used radio-telemetry data from 2000?2005, part of a long-term, bobwhite study in southern Texas, to test the nest-concealment hypothesis, develop a stochastic simulation model for bobwhite populations, and evaluate the influence of brush canopy coverage (BCC) on short- and long-term demographic performance of bobwhites. Bobwhite nests tend to be situated in taller and denser vegetation than would be expected if nest-site location was a random process. I compared 4 microhabitat variables between successful (n = 135) and depredated nests (n = 118). I documented similar microhabitat attributes between successful and depredated nests. The discriminant function correctly classified only 48?59% of nest fates into the correct group, but only 18% of the variation in nest fate. Thus, my results did not support the nest-concealment hypothesis. My stochastic simulation model for bobwhite populations is based on difference equations (?t = 3 months) and simulations run for 100 years using STELLA� 9.0.2. The probability of persistence for 100 years for the spring population was 74.2% and 72.5% for the fall population. Simulated population parameters were similar to those observed in the field for 5 of 6 population parameters. Only simulated male adult annual survival differed by 275.0% from field estimates. Despite this difference, my model appears to be a good predictor of bobwhite populations in the Rio Grande Plains of Texas. I estimated bobwhite density, survival, and production (proportion of hens nesting, nesting attempts per hen, and clutch size) in 3 study areas with ~10%, ~25%, and >30% BBC. All demographic parameters were similar among the 3 BCC classes. However, simulation modeling indicated that long-term demographic performance was greater on the ~25% and >30% BCC classes. The probability of fall population persistence was greater in the ~25% (90.8%) and >30% (100.0%) BCC classes than in the ~10% BCC class (54.2%). My study highlights the shortcoming of considering only short-term effects when comparing habitat given that short- and long-term effects of habitat on demographic performance can differ.

<p>Recently many academic researchers have become interested in the retailers as part of the distribution channel. Today retailers have grown so influential, that sometimes they take the functions of the wholesalers. The retailers constitute the road for manufacturers to the end market. Therefore, knowing retailers’ decision variables and assortment considerations is important for manufacturers when designing upon their marketing strategies. The study is conducted with focus on the Bulgarian office products retail industry. The purpose of the present research is to get a deeper understanding of retailers’ assortment criteria and analyze how the latter relates to market coverage strategy. Retailers’ assortment criteria concern decision variables such as profitability and sales, economic conditions, assortment considerations, consumer evaluation, marketing, supplier characteristics, competitive considerations, distributive factors, tactical considerations. The meaning underlying the assortment criteria is applied for arguing what market coverage strategy would best serve the Bulgarian retailers of office products. The research is performed employing qualitative method, in particular, in-depth semi- structured interviews providing the possibility for a broad discussion.</p><p>The results of the study revealed some common patterns pertaining to four main inductive categories including product, brand positioning, promotion and distributor’s attributes. The patterns corresponding to the categories were further related to the market coverage strategy alternatives, namely, intensive, selective and exclusive coverage strategy. The results of the study showed that the nature of the product requires considerable effort from the distributors’ side to persuade the retailers to become customers who are aware of the products’ attributes. In other words, the nature of the office products calls for certain knowledge and skills that the retailers have to gain in order to be successful as traders to their own customers and that can be best achieved if selective coverage strategy is employed. Further, the results of the study reveal that manufacturers of office products that would like to position their brands on the high quality dimension should pursue highly selective distribution as this creates a superior product image. The results of the study also show that greater selectivity is suitable since it guarantees that the retailers’ requirements related to promotion are met. Last, the authors suggest that higher degrees of selectivity is the most appropriate way for a manufacturer to follow the performance of distributors and thus, to ensure that the desired by the retailers distributor’s attributes are present.</p>

Beim Austausch von Intellectual Properties (IP) entsteht das Problem, daß der Anwender oftmals nicht sicher feststellen kann, ob die gewünschte Parameterkombination unterstützt wird bzw. ob die IP mit den gewünschten Einstellungen korrekt arbeitet. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, eine mögliche Lösung zur Parameterprüfung bereitzustellen. Im Rahmen des vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) geförderten Projekts Intellectual Property Qualifikation für effizientes Systemdesign [IPQ] wurde dazu das Entwurfswerkzeug entwickelt. Anhand einer durch den Entwerfer vorgegebenen formalen Beschreibung der Parameter und ihrer Abhängigkeiten untereinander prüft eine vom Werkzeug automatisch generierte Testbenchkomponente, ob alle Bedingungen eingehalten werden. Des weiteren berechnet diese Komponente auf der Basis vorgegebener Gleichungen verschiedene Systemeigenschaften, wie beispielsweise die maximale Taktfrequenzabweichung zwischen Sender und Empfänger einer seriellen Übertragungsstrecke. Diese können dann vom Anwender mit der ihm vorliegenden Spezifikation verglichen werden. ist außerdem in der Lage, anhand der Parameterabhängigkeiten die verschiedenen Kombinationen von Einstellungen zu berechnen, die nötig sind, um den kompletten Parameterraum abzudecken, und diese in Form eines Parameter-Domänen-Graphen darzustellen. Mit Hilfe dieses Graphen ist der Anwender in der Lage, Kombinationen gezielt so auszuwählen, daß ein möglichst hoher Verifikationsgrad der IP erreicht wird, ohne unnötig viele Simulationen durchführen zu müssen.

On April 23, 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 ("Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act") into law. This legislative effort raised questions about how political and legal thought are immersed in talk of citizenship in our present time. While the Supreme Court rejected the majority of this law two years after it was signed, concerns over issues of legality, law enforcement, and citizenship still remain. The main questions posed in this dissertation are the following: How are Latinos portrayed as citizens by media? What types and tones of citizenship are advanced in SB 1070 news coverage? To learn more about citizenship constructions, I analyzed newspaper coverage of SB 1070 by using a critical approach that combines quantitative and rhetorical analyses. I examined the following six newspapers were examined: Los Angeles Times and La Opinión (Los Angeles); Miami Herald and Diario Las Américas (Miami); Arizona Republic and Prensa Hispana (Phoenix). They were reviewed over a six month period, specifically from December 1, 2009, to May 31, 2010. I searched each edition by using physical copies, microfilm, and internet databases, for stories on immigration, Latinos, and citizenship as it related to SB 1070. After these newspapers were collected, a content analysis was conducted followed by a close textual analysis. The data reveals three major findings. The first finding is that both English and Spanish newspapers tend to frame citizenship as legal status. The second finding is that Spanish newspapers require their news consumers to translate between languages (specifically English and Spanish), as well as consider different cultures (American and Latino customs) and diverse politicians (international political figures). The third finding is that Spanish newspapers provide many more photos, especially of protests against this legislative effort. The two main conclusions of this dissertation are (1) that Spanish newspapers require their readers to have a double-consciousness, and (2) that there is value in using more than one kind of methodology. / text