In the discipline of librarianship there is very little existing research from which conclusions regarding attitudes toward computers and related technology can be drawn. Furthermore, there is no significant data available which indicates that attitudes differ between various groups or types of librarians. It is reasonable to assume that librarians' attitudes toward computers vary. This study examines a group of academic librarians and a group of public librarians and tests for significant differences in their respective attitudes toward computers, desktop publishing systems and expert systems.

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Sweden is currently facing a paradigm shift in its security policy as it has applied for membership in the military alliance NATO. According to the current government, Swedish NATO membership is the best way to safeguard Sweden in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Previous research indicates a connection between trust and risk perceptions, as well as a difference in risk perceptions between men and women. Trust in governmental institutions also becomes central during crises and disasters. The theoretical framework of this study draws on Ulrich Beck's theories of the risk society and cosmopolitanism, Anthony Giddens' concept of trust in expert systems, and a socialization theory of gender by Davidson and Freudenburg. The purpose of this pilot study is to examine how students' trust in governmental institutions influences their risk perceptions regarding NATO membership. Furthermore, the aim is to investigate whether the relationship between trust in governmental institutions and risk perceptions is influenced by factors such as attitudes towards NATO and gender, and whether there are differences in risk perceptions between men and women regarding NATO membership. This study uses a quantitative method in the form of surveys to address the research questions. The sample for the study consists of the group "They call us students" on Facebook and a discussion forum for all students enrolled in the bachelor's program in Social Analysis. Data from the survey were analyzed through means comparison, correlation, and regression analyses. The results of the study indicate that a high trust in governmental institutions leads students to perceive fewer risks associated with NATO membership. Women also tend to perceive more risks with NATO membership, and a positive attitude towards NATO results in fewer perceived risks with NATO membership. This pilot study has demonstrated the relevance of investigating the relationship between trust in governmental institutions and risk perceptions regarding NATO membership. It would also be interesting for future research to examine other factors that influence individuals' risk perceptions, such as social class and ethnicity. / Sverige står just nu inför ett paradigmskifte i den svenska säkerhetspolitiken då Sverige har ansökt om ett medlemskap i militäralliansen Nato. Enligt den nuvarande regeringen är ett svenskt Natomedlemskap det bästa sättet att värna Sverige efter Rysslands invasion av Ukraina. Tidigare forskning visar att det finns ett samband mellan tillit och riskuppfattningar samt att det finns en skillnad i mäns och kvinnors riskuppfattningar. Tillit till statliga institutioner blir också centralt under kriser och katastrofer. Studiens teoretiska referensram utgår från Ulrich Becks teorier om risksamhället samt kosmopolitism, Anthony Giddens begreppet om tilliten till expertsystem och en socialisationsteori om genus av Davidson och Freudenburg. Syftet med denna pilotstudie är att undersöka hur studenters tillit till statliga institutioner påverkar deras riskuppfattning gällande ett Natomedlemskap. Vidare är syftet att undersöka om sambandet mellan tillit till statliga institutioner och riskuppfattningar påverkas av faktorerna inställning till Nato och kön samt om det skiljer sig i män och kvinnors riskuppfattningar gällande ett Natomedlemskap. I denna studie används kvantitativ metod i form av enkätundersökningar för att besvara studiens frågeställningar. Studiens urval består av gruppen “Dom kallar oss studenter” på Facebook samt ett diskussionsforum för alla som läser kandidatprogrammet för samhällsanalys. Data från undersökningen analyserades genom medelvärdesjämförelse, korrelation och regressionsanalyser. Resultat från studien visar att en hög tillit till statliga institutioner leder till att studenter upplever mindre risker med ett Natomedlemskap. Kvinnor tenderar även att uppleva mer risker med ett Natomedlemskap samt att en positiv inställning till Nato leder till mindre upplevda risker med ett Natomedlemskap. Denna pilotstudie har visat relevansen att undersöka förhållandet mellan tillit till statliga institutioner och riskuppfattningar med ett Natomedlemskap. Det skulle även vara intressant för vidare forskning att undersöka andra faktorer som påverkar individers riskuppfattningar såsom klass och etnicitet.

Combining the arts with science and technology has had many beneficial results. Computers and music have been connected for many years. Computers have been used in music composition, electronic keyboards, music publishing and digital sound processing. Artificial intelligence has been used in creating expert systems for training people in various fields. An attempt will be made to tie together expert systems for training with current computerized music technology. This research report proposes that an expert system be developed to teach piano lessons. The fields of music and artificial intelligence will be drawn upon in developing this expert system structure. While existing technology makes the choice of an electronic keyboard the logical one, using an acoustic piano will also be addressed.

Real-time control of traffic diversion during non-recurrent congestion continues to be a challenging topic. Especially, with the advent of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), the need for models and algorithms that will control the diversion in real-time, responding to the current traffic conditions has become evident. Several researchers have tried to solve this on-line control problem by adopting different approaches such as, expert systems, feedback control, and mathematical programming. In order to ensure the effectiveness of real-time traffic diversion, an implementation framework capable of predicting the impact of the incident on the traffic flow, generating feasible alternate routes in real-time, and controlling traffic in order to achieve a pre-set goal based on a system optimal or a user equilibrium concept is required. In this dissertation, a framework that would satisfy these requirements is adopted consisting of a "diversion initiation module", a "diversion strategy planning module", and a "control and routing module" which determines the route guidance commands in real-time. The incident duration data collected by the Northern Virginia incident management agencies is analyzed to determine major factors that affect the incident clearance duration. Next, prediction/decision trees are developed for different types of incidents. Based on the validation of these trees using the data that is not employed for the development of the trees, it is found that they perform well for the majority of the incidents. A simple deterministic queuing approach is used to predict the delays that will be caused by the incident for which the clearance duration is predicted using the prediction/decision trees. The diversion strategy planning module, Network Generator, is developed as a knowledge based expert system that uses simple expert rules in conjunction with historical and realtime data to determine the incident impact zone, and to eliminate links that are not suitable for diversion. Finally, it generates alternate routes for diversion using this modified network. Network generator is tested using simulation on a small portion of the Fairfax network. Finally, feedback control models for dynamic traffic routing models, both in distributed and lumped parameter settings, are developed. Methods for developing controllers for these models are also discussed. Two heuristic and analytic feedback controllers for the space discretized lumped parameter models are developed and their effectiveness for realtime traffic control is shown by simulating several scenarios on a simple network. An analytic feedback controller is also designed using a feedback linearization technique for the space discretized model. This controller also performed very well during simulations of various scenarios and proved to be an effective solution to this feedback control problem. / Ph. D.

Congestion on the freeways of the U.S. has increased multifold over the past few years. A significant portion of this congestion is caused by non-recurring events such as incidents. Diversion has been accepted as a method that can reduce delays during incidents. The process of diversion involves the selection of the alternate routes, which is currently done off-line and is not responsive to each incident case. The volumes on these preselected routes on that particular day are also ignored. The preselected routes, in most cases, serve only to bypass the link on which the incident occurs. Considering the volumes that flow on the freeways, this leads to considerable delays in terms of lost time and productivity. Another important issue that is currently neglected is user compliance. The network generator is used to reduce the delays in selection of these alternate routes. It uses characteristics such as the congestion levels and available capacities in selection of alternate routes in real-time. Also, used in selecting alternate routes are feasibility criteria, that significantly affect the available capacities on the links. These include presence of trip generators (schools, offices, etc.) or safety factors (icy bridges, height restrictions, etc.). The model thus generates a reduced network and a set of alternate routes to divert the traffic upstream of the incident. Disutilities that drivers associate with route-choice, such as the number of left-turns and signals, the relative time spent on the freeway and arterials are attached to each route. The routes with the minimum disutilities are displayed to the user. A user-equilibrium assignment module to predict traffic flows in the future is also incorporated into the framework. As a precursor to the network generator, there is a module which calculates the clearance time for an incident. It uses other characteristics of the incident such as the weather and time of occurrence in order to predict if the delays are significant to initiate diversion. Numerous tests were conducted in order to validate the rules and functions developed. The tests were based on varying incident and traffic conditions. The results showed that the model, was able to select better routes for off-peak conditions rather than peak conditions. There is a threshold value of the delay caused by the incident, beyond which the model is very effective. / Master of Science

Direct dissemination of expert knowledge to agricultural producers through computer programs will increase product quality as well as profit margin. The construction of an expert system to help farmers manage apple orchards is reported. The system provides advice regarding specific pest management, treatment of winter injuries, drought control and general pesticide selection. The knowledge structures employed in the construction of the system are explained, and some sample interactions are provided. A model of the apple scab disease cycle is incorporated into POMME to give the system a more fundamental reasoning capability than available from the use of infection tables. Extension experts who have run trial cases on the system have approved its release for use by commercial apple growers. / Master of Science

Yes / Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is a well-established and well-understood technique, widely used for dependability evaluation of a wide range of systems. Although many extensions of fault trees have been proposed, they suffer from a variety of shortcomings. In particular, even where software tool support exists, these analyses require a lot of manual effort. Over the past two decades, research has focused on simplifying dependability analysis by looking at how we can synthesise dependability information from system models automatically. This has led to the field of model-based dependability analysis (MBDA). Different tools and techniques have been developed as part of MBDA to automate the generation of dependability analysis artefacts such as fault trees. Firstly, this paper reviews the standard fault tree with its limitations. Secondly, different extensions of standard fault trees are reviewed. Thirdly, this paper reviews a number of prominent MBDA techniques where fault trees are used as a means for system dependability analysis and provides an insight into their working mechanism, applicability, strengths and challenges. Finally, the future outlook for MBDA is outlined, which includes the prospect of developing expert and intelligent systems for dependability analysis of complex open systems under the conditions of uncertainty.

An essential task of university administration is to monitor the financial position of its auxiliary enterprises. This is an ill-defined and complex task which often requires more administrative time and information than is available. In order to perform this task in an adequate manner a large amount of expertise is required to: (1) determine what constitutes reasonable performance, (2) define unacceptable levels of performance, and (3) suggest courses of action which will alleviate an unacceptable situation. Thorough analysis requires a substantial amount of an expert’s time. The purpose of this research is to explore the opportunities for the enhancement of the financial analysis of auxiliary enterprises through the use of expert systems. The research has included: (1) a comprehensive review of analytical techniques that can be used in financial position analysis, (2) a determination of the the applicability of such techniques to auxiliary enterprises, and (3) an assessment of their amenability to expert system development. As a part of the above described research, an expert system prototype was developed which addresses several of the above issues for one auxiliary enterprise at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. It integrates the knowledge of an expert with both accounting data from the VPI & SU accounting system and other types of data from the auxiliary enterprise operation. The system provides a comprehensive, systematic analysis of the financial position of the Tailor Shop at VPI & SU. This analysis is performed in much less time than would be required by an expert. As a result of the research conducted, it has been concluded that building such a system is possible and it can provide significant benefits to a user. However, financial position analysis requires a substantial amount of data and numerical calculations, both of which require large amounts of computer memory and computations. Therefore, designing an expert system to efficiently perform this task requires the use of a package or a language that efficiently utilizes computer memory and CPU. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2009