Thesis. 1978. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Louis E. Slesin. / Ph.D.

The number of citizens living in urban areas worldwide is predicted to increase in future decades. However, this projected increase is mainly due to the magnetic power of so-called megacities. Worldwide, many intermediate cities, especially in the most developed countries, have had considerable population losses in the past decades and this trend is expected to continue. When a city loses a high percentage of its population within a short period of time, the traces of that loss become strongly apparent. Abandonment is followed by dereliction, such that the urban fabric can become randomly punctuated with uninhabited spaces where previously present human constructions have been destroyed, and social instability can ensue. The attraction of the city to newcomers then becomes increasingly compromised, and the cycle of decline is harder to overcome. Some cities have developed strategies to redress the situation, such as restricting urban sprawl, demolitions, urban agriculture, rightsizing infrastructure or permitting biodiversity sanctuaries. However, few academic studies have focused on the ways that residents, and potential newcomers, perceive this situation and react to it. Obtaining a deeper understanding of residents¹ perceptions might allow the development of targeted strategies to promote healthier, more attractive and safer environments for these communities, as well as enhancing their potential for newcomers. The research aim, therefore, is to understand the key factors that determine the attractiveness of these urban abandoned spaces for different stakeholder groups, namely, residents of depopulating, and growing, neighbourhoods, and house searchers. Three different methods were used sequentially to explore this quest: interviews with experts, focus groups and conjoint analysis. Conjoint analysis is one of the most robust methods to explore people¹s preferences, by presenting respondents with possible future change scenarios. The study was undertaken in Lisbon (PT) and Genoa (IT), two southern European cities that have experienced population decline, in some areas, in the last three decades. The results of the interviews and focus groups, for both cities, show that while people are naturally resilient to de-densification scenarios, one key concern, when discussing their neighbourhoods in this context, is related to community support. The results from the conjoint analysis corroborate the importance of having a close community for people living in depopulating environments, namely, in Lisbon. The results also show that good quality green spaces are an attraction factor for house searchers. These differences show how the provision of social support in depopulating urban environments might be a determining factor in the stabilization of these neighbourhoods and also, how the presence of good quality green spaces might enhance its attractiveness to newcomers. Social support, therefore, should be given serious consideration in any political, social, architectural intervention within depopulating contexts. Moreover, the presence of green spaces of better quality might be not only a key factor in attracting new residents, but simultaneously, play a crucial role in enhancing the physical and mental health of particularly vulnerable communities, and enhance social interaction.

A telepresença, como um refinamento da teleoperação, permite que o indivíduo controle não apenas a simulação mas a própria realidade. Uma vez que, esta proporciona a habilidade de manipular a realidade física remotamente em tempo real, através de sua representação virtual. Através da tecnologia de realidade virtual, pode-se criar uma grande diversidade de ambientes apropriados aos mais variados tipos de aplicações, possibilitando simulações de situações do mundo real em um ambiente ou mundo virtual. A aplicação de ambientes virtuais no processo de manufatura está relacionada tanto com a manutenção e treinamento, como também a criação e simulação de protótipos virtuais antes de sua utilização no chão-de-fábrica. O uso de redes de Petri para modelagem de ambientes virtuais, mostra-se como uma poderosa ferramenta gráfica/matemática que pode capturar naturalmente as principais características dos sistemas de realidade virtual, além de proporcionar resultados empíricos interessantes na verificação automática de concorrência e sistemas de tempo real. Por permitir modelar a computação não determinística e paralela, a modelagem de ambientes virtuais com redes de Petri é adequada não apenas para simulação, verificação e validação desses sistemas, mas para o próprio controle dos ambientes modelados. Ao associar os elementos de uma rede de Petri com os elementos do paradigma orientado à objetos de um conjunto de classes que constituem os objetos que irão compor os ambientes virtuais e os sistemas de telepresença, obtém-se uma valiosa ferramenta para o controle dos métodos dos objetos virtuais e reais a serem invocados. O objetivo deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento do modo de associação de redes de Petri com objetos virtuais e reais para controle de ambientes virtuais imersivos e telepresença, com base na descrição de um sistema de autoria de telepresença com controle em RP. Os resultados obtidos trarão avanços quanto ao desenvolvimento e implantação de aplicações de manufatura virtual em um ambiente de visualização 3D imersivo. / The telepresence, as a refinement of teleoperation, allows the individual not only to control the simulation but also the own reality. Since this provides the ability to manipulate the physical reality remotely in real time, through its virtual representation. Through the technology of virtual reality, one can create a wide variety of environments suitable for all kinds of applications, enabling simulations of the situations in a real world environment or virtual world. The application of virtual environments in the manufacturing process is related to both the maintenance and training, and also the creation and simulation of virtual prototypes before their use in the shop-floor. The use of Petri nets for modeling virtual environments, shows itself as a powerful graphics/mathematics tool that can capture the main features of virtual reality systems, as well as offering interesting empirical results in automatic verification of concurrence and real time systems. By allowing to model non-deterministic and parallel computation, modeling of virtual environments with Petri nets is appropriate not only for simulation, verification and validation of these systems, but also for controlling the environments modeled. By associating the elements of a Petri net with the elements of the object oriented paradigm of a set of classes that are the objects that will compose the virtual environments and telepresence systems, one gets a valuable tool for controlling of the methods of virtual and real objects to be invoked. The objective of this work is the development of the mode of association of Petri nets with virtual and real objects for controlling immersive virtual environments and telepresence, based on the description of a telepresence authoring system controlled by PN. The results will bring progress on the development and deployment of virtual manufacturing applications in an immersive 3D visualization environment.

As redes de sensores sem fio (RSSF) ganham maior visibilidade a cada ano, e a sua utilização é cada vez mais imprescindível no sensoriamento dos mais diversos ambientes. Estas redes podem ser instaladas em praticamente todos os tipos de ambientes, graças ao seu tamanho reduzido, sua facilidade de comunicação e seu baixo custo. Esta tecnologia permite transportar os dados através de nós que utilizam algoritmos de roteamento oferecendo resistência a falhas. O conhecimento das principais arquiteturas e dos protocolos envolvidos na comunicação, bem como do comportamento destas redes em ambientes reais, é de extrema importância para a compreensão do funcionamento da rede e dos fenômenos que afetam o seu desempenho. Este trabalho apresenta a utilização de uma RSSF baseada no dispositivo Mica2dot, desenvolvido pela Universidade de Berkeley, no monitoramento de parâmetros ambientais de uma sala limpa utilizada na construção de dispositivos semicondutores. Apresentamos a caracterização dos dispositivos e do ambiente em questão; também avaliamos dois protocolos de roteamento neste ambiente e fatores que afetam o funcionamento do sistema de rádio, como a variação do RSSI (Receive Signal Strength Indicator). Os protocolos de roteamento escolhidos para esta avaliação foram o TOSB (TinyOs Beaconing), que é o protocolo padrão do sistema operacional TinyOS, e o PROC (Proactive ROuting with Coordination), que apresenta características de pró-atividade. Os protocolos foram avaliados segundo as métricas de consumo de energia e taxa média de entrega de pacotes. / Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are growing year after year, and its use is being more and more indispensable in sensing the most varied environments. These networks can be installed in almost all kinds of environments, thanks to its reduced size, its easiness of communication and its low cost. One of the main characteristics of this technology is the capacity of transporting data through the nodes that use router algorithms, offering a good resistance to failures. The knowledge of the main architectures and of the protocols involved in communication, as well the behavior of these networks in real environments, is of extreme importance to the understanding of the working conditions of the network and of the phenomena that affect its performance. This piece of work aims to present a study related to the use of a WSN based on the Mica2dot device developed by the University of Berkeley, in the monitoring of the environmental parameters of a clean room used to the construction of semiconductor devices. This work presents the characterization of the devices and of the environment in question, as well evaluates some factors that affect the working of the radio system and evaluates two router protocols in this environment. The chosen router protocols for this evaluation were TOSB (TinyOs Beaconing) that is the standard protocol of the operational system TinyOS, and PROC (Proactive Routing with Coordination), that presents some pro-active characteristics. The protocols were evaluated according to the measurement of the energy consumption and average rate of deliver of packages.

A telepresença, como um refinamento da teleoperação, permite que o indivíduo controle não apenas a simulação mas a própria realidade. Uma vez que, esta proporciona a habilidade de manipular a realidade física remotamente em tempo real, através de sua representação virtual. Através da tecnologia de realidade virtual, pode-se criar uma grande diversidade de ambientes apropriados aos mais variados tipos de aplicações, possibilitando simulações de situações do mundo real em um ambiente ou mundo virtual. A aplicação de ambientes virtuais no processo de manufatura está relacionada tanto com a manutenção e treinamento, como também a criação e simulação de protótipos virtuais antes de sua utilização no chão-de-fábrica. O uso de redes de Petri para modelagem de ambientes virtuais, mostra-se como uma poderosa ferramenta gráfica/matemática que pode capturar naturalmente as principais características dos sistemas de realidade virtual, além de proporcionar resultados empíricos interessantes na verificação automática de concorrência e sistemas de tempo real. Por permitir modelar a computação não determinística e paralela, a modelagem de ambientes virtuais com redes de Petri é adequada não apenas para simulação, verificação e validação desses sistemas, mas para o próprio controle dos ambientes modelados. Ao associar os elementos de uma rede de Petri com os elementos do paradigma orientado à objetos de um conjunto de classes que constituem os objetos que irão compor os ambientes virtuais e os sistemas de telepresença, obtém-se uma valiosa ferramenta para o controle dos métodos dos objetos virtuais e reais a serem invocados. O objetivo deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento do modo de associação de redes de Petri com objetos virtuais e reais para controle de ambientes virtuais imersivos e telepresença, com base na descrição de um sistema de autoria de telepresença com controle em RP. Os resultados obtidos trarão avanços quanto ao desenvolvimento e implantação de aplicações de manufatura virtual em um ambiente de visualização 3D imersivo. / The telepresence, as a refinement of teleoperation, allows the individual not only to control the simulation but also the own reality. Since this provides the ability to manipulate the physical reality remotely in real time, through its virtual representation. Through the technology of virtual reality, one can create a wide variety of environments suitable for all kinds of applications, enabling simulations of the situations in a real world environment or virtual world. The application of virtual environments in the manufacturing process is related to both the maintenance and training, and also the creation and simulation of virtual prototypes before their use in the shop-floor. The use of Petri nets for modeling virtual environments, shows itself as a powerful graphics/mathematics tool that can capture the main features of virtual reality systems, as well as offering interesting empirical results in automatic verification of concurrence and real time systems. By allowing to model non-deterministic and parallel computation, modeling of virtual environments with Petri nets is appropriate not only for simulation, verification and validation of these systems, but also for controlling the environments modeled. By associating the elements of a Petri net with the elements of the object oriented paradigm of a set of classes that are the objects that will compose the virtual environments and telepresence systems, one gets a valuable tool for controlling of the methods of virtual and real objects to be invoked. The objective of this work is the development of the mode of association of Petri nets with virtual and real objects for controlling immersive virtual environments and telepresence, based on the description of a telepresence authoring system controlled by PN. The results will bring progress on the development and deployment of virtual manufacturing applications in an immersive 3D visualization environment.

No description available.

Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / This research report investigated job satisfaction and organisational commitment in a changing environment at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU). The desire to this enquiry was a result of the recent de-merger and name change experienced at the University hence the researcher developed curiosity to determine if employees are still satisfied with their jobs and whether they are still committed to work for the organisation. The research also investigated the perceptions of employees regarding management of change at SMU. Evidence from the obtained data shows that employees are generally satisfied to work for SMU hence it seems to suggest that they are also committed to work for SMU. The research was quantitative in nature utilising convenient sampling method. A convenient sample size of (114) was utilised in the execution of this research. The sample was drawn from both administrative and academic staff of the institution. Sections A, B and C of the questionnaire were analysed using SPSS version 22 and section D of the questionnaire was analysed using thematic analysis.

Though composition studies has long sought to leverage new technologies of literacy to help students go public, we remain anxious about our ability to do so, as students commonly enter our classrooms already composing for diverse public audiences in a variety of digital contexts. Yet students, too, are often anxious about these new modes of composition, which circulate in a destabilized rhetorical environment where traditional understandings of authority, argument, and audience no longer hold. This article identifies five topoi of this new rhetorical landscape—presence, persistence, permeability, promiscuity, and power—describing the anxieties and affordances they present for student writers, the dispositions toward writing they foster, and the challenges and opportunities they pose for composition. This framework provides a critical vocabulary for compositionists seeking to help students negotiate emerging networked publics.

Book Summary: Gode læringsmiljøer for børn giver ideer til, hvordan man kan skabe gode udviklings- og læringsmiljøer i daginstitution og skole, så børn på samme tid kan have gode børneliv og lære noget i inspirerende og spændende omgivelser.

Increasing global urbanization has altered landscapes for many wildlife species, including carnivores. Some carnivore species have been able to adapt to and even thrive in urban environments, including coyotes (Canis latrans). As coyotes continue to settle in more urban areas, human-coyote conflicts, such as attacks on humans or pets, are also increasing. Understanding the various factors affecting space use of urban coyotes may assist wildlife officials in reducing such conflicts. We conducted three studies of urban coyotes at varying spatial scales. First, using a captive population of coyotes at a fine spatial scale, we tested whether coyotes preferred urban, natural, or a mixture of habitat structures and whether sex, behavioral profile, biological season, or food manipulation affected coyote patch choice. When investigating novel environments, coyotes, especially females and bold animals, preferred a mixture of urban and natural structures rather than uniform structure. Food had no effect on patch choice, and coyotes appeared to be primarily motivated by the structure of the habitat rather than by the amount of food within each habitat. Second, we examined home-range size, habitat use, and resource selection of 22 coyotes at a local, population scale in the Denver metropolitan area. Mean (± SD) home-range size of resident coyotes (11.6 ± 11.0 km2) was smaller than ranges of transient coyotes (200.7 ± 232.4 km2). Home-range size did not vary by season or sex, but resident coyotes during the day had smaller home ranges than during the night. Coyotes had high percentages of developed lands (44.5 ± 18.9%) within their home ranges, but the percentage of coyote locations in natural lands (48.9 ± 22.4%) was higher than in developed lands (20.6 ± 11.7%). Coyotes selected for natural lands over developed lands, and they increased activity at night. Finally, we surveyed 105 urban areas in the United States, focusing on the occurrence of coyotes and conflicts on a national scale. Larger urban areas were more likely to contain both coyotes and conflicts, and were also more likely to have greater numbers of conflicts. Urban areas in the western regions with larger amounts of high-intensity development and less forested and agricultural areas were more likely to have conflicts. Most urban areas considered the management of conflicts to be of low priority. We conclude from these three studies that coyotes residing in urban areas prefer to spend their time in natural lands where human activity is minimized, especially forested and riparian areas that provide cover for coyotes and their native prey. Habitat management practices, such as sustainable urban planning and landscape design incorporating wildlife habitat requirements, may be an important tool in reducing human-coyote conflicts in highly urbanized environments.