<p>A lane departure warning system relying exclusively on a camera has several shortcomings and tends to be sensitive to, e.g., bad weather and abrupt manoeuvres. To handle these situations, the system proposed in this thesis uses a dynamic model of the vehicle and integration of relative motion sensors to estimate the vehicle’s position on the road. The relative motion is measured using vision, inertial, and vehicle sensors. All these sensors types are affected by errors such as offset, drift and quantization. However the different sensors are sensitive to different types of errors, e.g., the camera system is rather poor at detecting rapid lateral movements, a type of situation which an inertial sensor practically never fails to detect. These kinds of complementary properties make sensor fusion interesting. The approach of this Master’s thesis is to use an already existing lane departure warning system as vision sensor in combination with an inertial measurement unit to produce a system that is robust and can achieve good warnings if an unintentional lane departure is about to occur. For the combination of sensor data, different sensor fusion models have been proposed and evaluated on experimental data. The models are based on a nonlinear model that is linearized so that a Kalman filter can be applied. Experiments show that the proposed solutions succeed at handling situations where a system relying solely on a camera would have problems. The results from the testing show that the original lane departure warning system, which is a single camera system, is outperformed by the suggested system.</p>

Abstract Much warranted attention over the past few decades has been devoted to the problem of retaining women faculty in academe, particularly in areas where they poorly represented such as in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This study uses descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling techniques to test an existing model of general faculty departure intentions (Zhou & Volkwein, 2004) on three samples of faculty (a) women faculty, (b) women faculty in STEM, and (c) women faculty in non-STEM fields. Findings revealed that although several significant pathways to intention to leave for women faculty in STEM and in non-STEM fields were identified, the tested model is not an overall good fit of the data for any of the three samples, implying the need for new models of faculty departure intentions specifically for women in STEM and non-STEM disciplines. Implications for practice, theory, and future research are discussed.

Background In a global market where competition is constantly growing, organizations need to staff employees from the home country company in the subsidiaries abroad in order to create a local presence and sustain the international competition which is referred to as expatria-tion. The expatriation process requires lots of planning and training before departure and adaptation when on place and also re-adaptation of oneself when coming back to the home country. Problems that occur during the international assignment might lead to ex-patriate failure which is termination of the assignment prematurely. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to contribute with an understanding of problems expatriates encounter during their expatriation period and how the expatriation process can be im-proved. Method A qualitative study with in-depth interviews has been carried out. Seven case studies have been conducted with seven expatriates from three different organizations, who have been working in different countries. The personnel who work with the expatriation process have also been interviewed in order to gain a better understanding about how the expatriation process is planned and supported. Conclusion The empirical findings show that the pre-departure training expatriates receive are focused on work related issues, hence cultural awareness training are often neglected. This leads to problems for the expatriates, like for example integration problems, adjustment problems for the expatriate and his/her family members, and not being able to communicate in the local language. Also the support received from the home country company are many times insufficient, and the home country companies rarely provide the expatriates with any form of repatriation program to ease their re-adjustment process. This study shows that many organizations need to improve the different parts of their expatriation process. The organizations should especially focus on developing their pre-departure training to include cultural training for both the expatriate and the spouse, and develop a sufficient repatria-tion program.

This thesis addresses the possibility of using a delay-on-ground concept in which flights with less than 1 hour flying time (often referred to as pop-up flights) absorb their arrival sequencing delay at the departure gate by being issued their Arrival Manager (AMAN)-scheduled time as a Required Time of Arrival (RTA) that is inserted into the Flight Management System (FMS). Due to their short duration these flights are currently often inserted into the AMAN sequence shortly before Terminal Manoeuvring Area (TMA) entry and thereby often need to absorb their arrival sequencing delay in the inefficient manner of airborne holding or vectoring close to the arrival airport. The literature review examines current operational procedures of AMANs and Departure Managers (DMANs), the current FMS RTA function and live trials in which the delay-on-ground concept was tested in real operations. A case study airport in Europe that has potential to benefit from the concept is identified. The performance of the delay-on-ground concept for the case study airport is then assessed by performing 180 fast-time Monte Carlo simulation runs. For each run the arrival flow to the case study airport and the departure flows from two medium-sized airports from which the pop-up flights originate are simulated. Each run represents an operational day and variations in departure/arrivals time is put into the timetables to simulate the variation in actual departure/arrival times resulting from operational factors normally encountered in day-to-day operations. An algorithm is written in Matlab to simulate an AMAN-DMAN cooperation in which pop-up flights are locked to the required departure times to meet their RTAs. It is shown that a significant reduction in airborne delay time and fuel consumption can be achieved at the case study airport by using the concept. It is also shown that it is possible to ensure that the pop-up flights depart at the required times to meet their RTAs without negatively affecting the departure sequences.

A lane departure warning system relying exclusively on a camera has several shortcomings and tends to be sensitive to, e.g., bad weather and abrupt manoeuvres. To handle these situations, the system proposed in this thesis uses a dynamic model of the vehicle and integration of relative motion sensors to estimate the vehicle’s position on the road. The relative motion is measured using vision, inertial, and vehicle sensors. All these sensors types are affected by errors such as offset, drift and quantization. However the different sensors are sensitive to different types of errors, e.g., the camera system is rather poor at detecting rapid lateral movements, a type of situation which an inertial sensor practically never fails to detect. These kinds of complementary properties make sensor fusion interesting. The approach of this Master’s thesis is to use an already existing lane departure warning system as vision sensor in combination with an inertial measurement unit to produce a system that is robust and can achieve good warnings if an unintentional lane departure is about to occur. For the combination of sensor data, different sensor fusion models have been proposed and evaluated on experimental data. The models are based on a nonlinear model that is linearized so that a Kalman filter can be applied. Experiments show that the proposed solutions succeed at handling situations where a system relying solely on a camera would have problems. The results from the testing show that the original lane departure warning system, which is a single camera system, is outperformed by the suggested system.

<p>Background</p><p>In a global market where competition is constantly growing, organizations need to staff employees from the home country company in the subsidiaries abroad in order to create a local presence and sustain the international competition which is referred to as expatria-tion. The expatriation process requires lots of planning and training before departure and adaptation when on place and also re-adaptation of oneself when coming back to the home country. Problems that occur during the international assignment might lead to ex-patriate failure which is termination of the assignment prematurely.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to contribute with an understanding of problems expatriates encounter during their expatriation period and how the expatriation process can be im-proved.</p><p>Method</p><p>A qualitative study with in-depth interviews has been carried out. Seven case studies have been conducted with seven expatriates from three different organizations, who have been working in different countries. The personnel who work with the expatriation process have also been interviewed in order to gain a better understanding about how the expatriation process is planned and supported.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The empirical findings show that the pre-departure training expatriates receive are focused on work related issues, hence cultural awareness training are often neglected. This leads to problems for the expatriates, like for example integration problems, adjustment problems for the expatriate and his/her family members, and not being able to communicate in the local language. Also the support received from the home country company are many times insufficient, and the home country companies rarely provide the expatriates with any form of repatriation program to ease their re-adjustment process. This study shows that many organizations need to improve the different parts of their expatriation process. The organizations should especially focus on developing their pre-departure training to include cultural training for both the expatriate and the spouse, and develop a sufficient repatria-tion program.</p>

With rising demand for a workforce that can work cross-culturally (Mangan, 2011; Orahood, Woolf, & Kruze, 2008), it is not surprising that study abroad numbers continue to increase to a range of countries, destinations, and program types (Open Doors, 2012). However, while study abroad is often touted as the ideal means to incite linguistic and cultural competence, the reality of student learning is not a given (Alred & Byram, 2002; de Nooy & Hanna, 2003; Einbeck, 2002; Freed, 1995; Kearney, 2010; Kinginger, 2008; Kinginger, 2009; Rivers, 1998; Wilkinson, 2000). If higher education wishes to endorse study abroad as a means to acquire the crucial knowledge, skills, and attitudes of a globalized workforce (Miller, 2009), it is imperative that colleges and universities promote and integrate study abroad into the curriculum to foster the development of 21st century global citizens. In order to examine what businesses actually valued in hiring, Trooboff, Vande Berg, and Rayman (2007) surveyed employers and found not only that they valued study abroad as a form of international education, but also that they specifically valued many intercultural skills. However, on average, the respondents did not believe that studying abroad led to the enhancement of these skills, echoing the dominant discourse of study abroad being a frivolous endeavor for wealthy white women (Gore, 2005). Trooboff et al. (2007) noted that students need to be better trained to translate their experiences for their potential employers. In a similar vein, Root and Ngampornchai (2012) recommended that students be trained in intercultural communication to better help them articulate their learning. Nevertheless, Deardorff (2008) noted that intercultural training should not be limited to pre-departure orientation, but that a series of workshops or even a course could help address intercultural learning needs. While a number of courses of this nature have been offered either before departure or upon return (eg. With rising demand for a workforce that can work cross-culturally (Mangan, 2011; Orahood, Woolf, & Kruze, 2008), it is not surprising that study abroad numbers continue to increase to a range of countries, destinations, and program types (Open Doors, 2012). However, while study abroad is often touted as the ideal means to incite linguistic and cultural competence, the reality of student learning is not a given (Alred & Byram, 2002; de Nooy & Hanna, 2003; Einbeck, 2002; Freed, 1995; Kearney, 2010; Kinginger, 2008; Kinginger, 2009; Rivers, 1998; Wilkinson, 2000). If higher education wishes to endorse study abroad as a means to acquire the crucial knowledge, skills, and attitudes of a globalized workforce (Miller, 2009), it is imperative that colleges and universities promote and integrate study abroad into the curriculum to foster the development of 21st century global citizens. In order to examine what businesses actually valued in hiring, Trooboff, Vande Berg, and Rayman (2007) surveyed employers and found not only that they valued study abroad as a form of international education, but also that they specifically valued many intercultural skills. However, on average, the respondents did not believe that studying abroad led to the enhancement of these skills, echoing the dominant discourse of study abroad being a frivolous endeavor for wealthy white women (Gore, 2005). Trooboff et al. (2007) noted that students need to be better trained to translate their experiences for their potential employers. In a similar vein, Root and Ngampornchai (2012) recommended that students be trained in intercultural communication to better help them articulate their learning. Nevertheless, Deardorff (2008) noted that intercultural training should not be limited to pre-departure orientation, but that a series of workshops or even a course could help address intercultural learning needs. While a number of courses of this nature have been offered either before departure or upon return (eg. Brewer & Solberg, 2009; Downey, 2005), it appears that only one study to date examined the process of intercultural learning as it relates to study abroad (Anderson & Cunningham, 2009). The current study attempts to fill the gap in research by examining the effectiveness of a three-credit general education course in intercultural communication on the process of becoming interculturally competent. Additionally, it also examined the ability of post-study abroad students who enrolled in this course to articulate what they had learned while abroad in comparison with post-study abroad students who had not enrolled in the course. While most of the students (n = 33) participating in this study had enrolled in the course in intercultural communication were preparing to study abroad, there were also a number of participating students (n = 6) who had previously studied abroad. In this mixed-methods research, whose findings are reported in three separate, yet related, articles, answers to the following research questions were sought: 1. How does intercultural competence develop in post-study abroad students over the span of a semester-long course focused on the development of intercultural communication skills through critical reflection? The first article of this dissertation examines the process of unpacking the study abroad experience two students went through upon return to the home campus through the lens of experiential learning (Kolb, 1984), transformative learning (Mezirow, 2000), and ethnocentric versus ethnorelative worldviews (Bennett, 1993). The second article uses these same frameworks to investigate the learning process for four pre-study abroad students enrolled in this same course to answer the question: 2. Are there noticeable differences in the development of intercultural competence in pre-study abroad students who are enrolled in a semester-long course focused on the development of intercultural competence? Lastly, the third article examines how post-study abroad students articulated their learning abroad differently by answering the question: 3. Are post-study abroad

Тема моей работы магистра Герой и среда в раннем творчестве Л. Н. Толстого. В раннем творчестве Л. Н. Толстой особенное внимание уделяет раскрытию человека в необычных условиях жизни. В связи с этим, особое з��ачение приобретает аспект взаимоотношения человека со средой. В нашей работе магистра взято пять произведений раннего творчества Л. Н. Толстого, в них различные герои, различная среда, различные развязки влияния ��реды на характеры, судьбы героев. В рассказе «Записки маркёра» изображена гибель героя в порочной среде, в повести «Утро помещика» видим неудавшиеся попытки героя изменить среду, в рассказе «Люцерн» герой сталкивается со средой людей высокой цивилизации, в повести «Семейное счастье» героиня, покинув деревенскую среду, пытается найти счастье в светской среде, но разочаровывается в ней и с мужем возвращается обратно в деревню, в повести «Казаки» попытки героя найти счастье в экзотической среде всё же заканчиваются неудачей. В перечисленных произведениях раннего Толстого, герои не находят того, чего искали, чего надеялись, они терпят неудачу, это обусловлено как субъективными свойствами их самих, так и влиянием среды. / Darbo įžangoje trumpai apibūdinama tai, kaip ankstyvoji Tolstojaus kūryba buvo vertinama jo metų literatūros kritikų ir vėlesnių tyrinėtojų darbuose. Tema „Herojus ir aplinka ankstyvojoje L. Tolstojaus kūryboje“ nebuvo išsamiai nagrinėta darbuose apie rašytoją. Todėl mūsų tikslas – išnagrinėti ją remiantis penkiais rašytojo kūriniais, kurie priskiriami ankstyvajam kūrybos periodui. Pagrindinė darbo dalis susideda iš penkių skyrių: I. Skyrius. Herojaus žuvimas ydingoje aplinkoje ( „Markerio užrašai“ ); II. Skyrius. Herojaus pastangos pakeisti aplinką ( „Dvarininko rytas“ ); III. Skyrius. Herojus aukštos civilizacijos žmonių aplinkoje ( „Liucernas“ ); IV. Skyrius. Patrauklios aplinkos pavojus ( „Šeimyninė laimė“); V. Skyrius. Herojaus pastangos atrasti laimę egzotiškoje aplinkoje ( „Kazokai“ ). Pirmame kūrinyje „Markerio užrašuose“ pagrindinis herojus Nechliudovas, jaunas, turtingas žemvaldys neturėjo jokio užsiėmimo, gyvenimo tikslo, todėl atvykęs į Peterburgą pasidavė degradavusios aplinkos įtakai, kuri jį galiausiai ir įstūmė į pražūtį. Lošėjo aistra užvaldė herojų, jis neteko visko, ką turėjo. Jaunuolis pražudė ne tik save. Dėl Nechliudovo kaltės sunkioje padėtyje atsidūrė ir jo valstiečiai. Pamatęs savo kaip žmogaus visišką smukimą ir negalėdamas išbristi iš purvo, herojus nusižudė. Apsakyme „Dvarininko rytas“... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / An introduction is a short description telling about the critics evaluation of the works of Leo Tolstoy. The theme The hero and the medium in the early works of Leo Tolstoy hasn’t received a detailed investigation yet. Consequently, our aim is to analyze the theme on five early writer’s works basis. My work’s background consists of five chapters: I. Chapter. The death of the hero in the faulty medium. («Записки маркёра»); II. Chapter. The attempts of the hero to change the medium. («Утро помещика»); III. Chapter. The hero surrounded by the people of advanced civilization. («Люцерн»); IV. Chapter. The danger of the attractive medium. («Семейное счастье»); V. Chapter. The attempts of the hero to find happiness in the exotic medium. («Казаки»). The main hero of the first work is young and rich landlord. He hadn’t any occupation, any aim of life. Due to this reason, the hero had been influenced by the faulty medium, which caused his death after the arrival in Saint-Peterburg. The hero was enslaved by the gambler’s passion, he lost everything he had. Such hero’s actions were harmful not only to himself but also to his peasants. Admitting any possibility to change his life and hopeless about the future he committed suicide. The main hero of the second work gives up his studies and goes to the countryside in order to help peasants. He isn’t able to fulfill his dreams. People disbelieved in good hero’s intentions. Even young landlord didn’t know... [to full text]

Darbo objektas – išvykstamojo turizmo UAB „Baltijos kelionių agentūra“ darbuotojų kompetencijos. Darbo tikslas – įvertinti išvykstamojo turizmo UAB „Baltijos kelionių agentūra“ darbuotojų kompetencijas. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti mokslinę literatūrą išvykstamojo turizmo darbuotojų kompetencijų tematika. 2. Išsiaiškinti UAB „Baltijos kelionių agentūra“ darbuotojų nuomonę apie reikiamas kompetencijas. 3. Nustatyti UAB „Baltijos kelionių agentūra“ darbuotojų kompetencijas vadovo požiūriu. 4. Atlikti darbuotojų ir vadovo kompetencijų vertinimo lyginamąją analizę. Pirmoje darbo dalyje išanalizuota išvykstamojo turizmo darbuotojų kompetencijos teoriniai aspektai. Antroje darbo dalyje atliktas tyrimas bei vadovo interviu parodė, kad UAB „Baltijos kelionių agentūra“ vadovui svarbiausios darbuotojų kompetencijos – produkto žinojimas bei užsienio kalbos mokėjimas, tuo tarpu įmonės darbuotojų socialinio intelekto kompetencijų svarbumas yra silpniau vertinamas negu profesinių kompetencijų. / The object - outbound tourism JSC "Baltic travel agency" employee competence. The aim - to assess the outbound tourism JSC "Baltic travel agency" staff competencies. The goals: 1. Analyze scientific literature outbound tourism employees' competencies topics. 2. Analyze JSC "Baltic travel agency" staff views on required competencies. 3. Set JSC "Baltic travel agency" staff competencies in terms of head. 4. Perform employee and manager competency assessment benchmarking. The first part analyzes outbound tourism staff competence theoretical aspects. In the second part of a study and the Head of the interview showed that JSC "Baltic travel agency" manager of employee competencies - product knowledge and foreign language, while the employees of social intelligence competencies significance is less valued than professional competence.

A MAP/PH/1 queue is a queue having a Markov arrival process (MAP), and a single server with phase-type (PH -type) distributed service time. This thesis considers the departure process from these type of queues. We use matrix analytic methods, the Jordan canonical form of matrices, non-linear filtering and approximation techniques. The departure process of a queue is important in the analysis of networks of queues, as it may be the arrival process to another queue in the network. If a simple description were to exist for a departure process, the analysis of at least feed-forward networks of these queues would then be analytically tractable. Chapter 1 is an introduction to some of the literature and ideas surrounding the departure process from MAP/PH/1 queues. Chapter 2 sets up the basic notation and establishes some results which are used throughout the thesis. It contains a preliminary consideration of PH -type distributions, PH -renewal processes, MAP s, MAP/PH/1 queues, non-linear filtering and the Jordan canonical form. Chapter 3 is an expansion of "The Output process of an MMPP/M/1 queue", where the question of whether a MAP description can exist for the departure process of a non-trivial MAP/M/1 queue is considered. In a 1994 paper, Olivier and Walrand conjectured that the departure process of a MAP/PH/1 queue is not a MAP unless the queue is a stationary M/M/1 queue. This conjecture was prompted by their claim that the departure process of an MMPP/M/1 queue is not MAP unless the queue is a stationary M/M/1 queue. We show that their proof has an algebraic error, which leaves open the above question of whether the departure process of an MMPP/PH/1 queue is a MAP or not. In Chapter 4, the more fundamental problem of identifying stationary M/M/1 queues in the class of MAP/PH/1 queues is considered. It is essential to be able to determine from its generator when a stationary MAP is a Poisson process. This does not appear to have been discussed in the literature prior to the author's paper, where this deficiency was remedied using ideas from non-linear filtering theory, to give a characterisation as to when a stationary MAP is a Poisson process. Chapter 4 expands upon "When is a MAP Poisson". This investigation of higher order representations of the Poisson process is motivated by first considering when a higher order PH -type distribution is just negative exponential. In Chapter 5, we consider the related question of minimal order representations for PH -type distributions, an issue which has attracted much interest in the literature. A discussion of other authors' ideas is given and these ideas are then inter-related to the work presented in Chapter 4 on the PH -type distributions. The MAP/M/1 queue is then considered in Chapter 6 from the perspective of whether having an exact level and phase independent stationary distribution of the geometric form [Formula - Not available: see pdf version of the abstract] implies that the MAP is Poisson. The answer is in the affirmative for this question, but the converse is not strictly true. Apart from showing the ubiquitous asymptotic form of level and phase independence exhibited by all stable MAP/M/1 queues, we prove that a very large class of stable queues, exhibits what we have termed shift-one level and phase independence. Stable MAP/M/1 queues exhibiting shift-one level and phase independence, are characterised by a stationary distribution of the following form: [Formula - Not Available: see pdf version of the abstract] In Chapter 7, a family of approximations is proposed for the output process of a stationary MAP/PH/1 queue. To check the viability of these approximations, they are used as input to another single server queue. Performance measures for the second server are obtained analytically in both the tandem and approximation cases, thus eliminating the need for simulation to compare results. Comparison of these approximations is also made against other approximation methods in the literature. In Chapter 8, we show that our approximations from Chapter 7 have the property of exactly matching the inter-departure time distribution. Our kth approximation also accurately captures the first k-1 lag-correlation coefficients of the stationary departure process. The proofs of this direct association between lag-correlation coefficients and the level of complexity k are given. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Applied Mathematics, 1999.