Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-237).

Thesis (M.A)--Washington State University, May 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 28, 2009). "Department of Anthropology." Includes bibliographical references (p. [47]-56).

Thesis (M.A.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-128). Also available on the World Wide Web.

The pedagogoues at a kindergarten has an obligation to give all the children the same opportunity to develop their abilities and interests without being limited by gender-rolls. Our studies purpose is to investigate how the kindergartens activities are planned in a norm-critical perspective. The study describes how three kindergarten pedagogues works with gender, children’s influence, children’s participation and what kind of approach the pedagogues have with the both sexes during gatherings. We have in this study interviewed three kindergarten pedagogues about what they think of gender, influence and participation and also how they use the kindergarten curriculum when they plan gatherings with the children. The result shows us that it is harder to be equal if a pedagogue is stressed or under a lot of pressure, for example if the colleagues are sick and the pedagogues have to handle a lot of children at the same time. We have also observed that it is hard to avoid gender-rolls even if all the pedagogue-colleagues are participation during a gathering, due to the fact that people use to act different around girls and boys.

The main focus of this thesis is on data gathering process in the chosen company. The main goal of the thesis is to map the process of data gathering, analyse the current situation and suggest improvements based on revealed problems. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the theoretical foundation of data gathering. There are mentions of the basics of quality management and parts of the ISO 9001:2015 which can be applied to data gathering systems, process and the tools for its mapping and the methods of data gathering. There is a part which focuses on FMEA method, which is used for the analysis of the current state of the process. The second part introduces chosen company. There are used a few tools to map the process with the focus on spots where the data are gathered. According to the FMEA method and its process, there is an analysis of the current system. The attention is paid to the problematic parts of the process of data gathering. Then there can be found few propositions how to make the data gathering process in the company better.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Gurdip Singh / Wireless sensor networks are characterized by severe energy constraints, one to many flows and low rate redundant data. Most of the routing algorithms for traditional networks are address centric, and the ad hoc nature of wireless sensor network makes them unsuitable for practical applications. Also the algorithms designed for mobile ad hoc networks are unsuitable for wireless sensor networks due to severe energy constraints that require nodes to perform for months with limited resources, as well as the low data rate which the constraint implies. This thesis examines a model driven data gathering algorithm framework for wireless sensor networks. It was designed with a goal to decrease the overall cost in transmission by lowering the number of messages transmitted in the network. A combination of data- centric and address-centric approaches was used as guidelines during the design process. A shortest path heuristic where intermediate nodes forward interest messages whenever it is of lower cost is one of the heuristics used. Another heuristic used is the greedy incremental approach to build a lower cost tree from a graph with various producers and consumers. A cost division heuristic is used to divide cost of shared path into distinct paths as the path forks in a tree. This thesis analyzes the effects of these heuristics on the performance of the algorithm and how it lowers the overall cost with the addition of each heuristic.

Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia is a unique mass gathering event that attracts approximately 3 million pilgrims from around the globe. This diverse pilgrim population coupled with the nature of the performed activities raise major public health concerns in the host country with potential global implications. Although gastroenteritis and diarrhea are common among the pilgrims performing Hajj, the microbial etiologies of these infections are still unknown. We used molecular and antigenic approaches to identify the main pathogens associated with Hajj diarrhea. 544 fecal samples from pilgrims suffering from diarrhea whilst performing Hajj during three consecutive seasons (2011-2013) and 99 control samples from 2011 were screened for 16 pathogens that include bacterial, parasitic and viral etiologies that are commonly associated with diarrheal infections. At least one of the screened pathogens could be detected in 42% (n=228) of the samples from the diarrheal cases. Bacteria were the main agents detected in 83% (n=189) of the positive samples, followed by viral and parasitic agents detected in 6% (n=14) and 5% (n=12) respectively. We have also standardized a 16S-based metagenomic approach to identify the gut microbiome in diarrheal cases and non-diarrheal controls in 76 samples. Also, we have standardized a shotgun metagenomics protocol for the direct characterization (diagnosis) of enteric pathogens without cultivation. This approach was used successfully to identify viral (adenovirus) and bacterial causes of Enterotoxigenic E. coli diarrhea from Hajj samples. The findings in this study fill in clear gaps in our knowledge of the etiologies associated with diarrheal infections during Hajj. Foodborne bacteria were the major contributors to Hajj-diarrheal infections. This was coupled with the increased incidences of antimicrobial resistance loci associated with the identified bacteria. These findings would help the public health policy makers to develop and introduce appropriate public health measures to improve the food safety during Hajj.

This dissertation examines the meaning of the African philosophy of Ubuntu in an emerging multi-racial community within the new context of democracy in South Africa from a narrative research perspective. South Africa has been embedded with notions of tribalism, homelands, segregation, racism, violence which have origins and ethnological prejudices mirrored in colonialism and apartheid. This dissertation is broadly shaped by the following three questions: • Is the concept of Ubuntu applicable in a multiracial community? • South Africa is viewed as an unequal society in terms of socio-economics, racial prejudice and resulting in political instability. How does this inequality affect people's relationships with one another and with the leaders in a diverse community? • How do people living in a multi-racial society in a post-democratic country perceive peace, forgiveness, the ideal of a Rainbow Nation and reconciliation in their communities? To appropriate the meaning of Ubuntu through narrative research in a multiracial community, the researcher embarked on a qualitative research, social constructionism, postmodernism and postfoundationalism in specific reference to the community of Olievenhoutsbosch Township. This is one of the rare urban townships in South Africa where almost all the races, classes, socio-economic statutes, ethnic groupings and foreigners are found. This study proceeded from a narrative research approach to listen to the stories of people living in this township. The aim of the research was to understand how meaning was being constructed with regard to Ubuntu. Ubuntu was frequently mentioned by the co-researchers as the African philosophy embracing 'Batho Pele' (People first), Rainbow Nation, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation in South Africa. The study traces the historical experiences of human settlement from colonialism, apartheid to post-apartheid. The research proceeded to transversal interdisciplinary conversation where academics from the fields of Clinical Psychology, Political Sciences and Education, reflected their voices. The study concludes with findings, reflections and recommendations that Ubuntu is essential for human beings and the lack of Ubuntu results to corruption in South Africa. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are agile and are able to fly in and out of areas that are either dangerous for humans or have complex terrains making ground robots unsuitable. For their autonomous operation, the ability to explore unmapped areas is imperative. This has applications in data gathering tasks, search and rescue etc.  The objective of this thesis is to ascertain that it is, in fact, possible and feasible to use UAVs equipped with 2D laser scanners to perform autonomous exploration tasks in indoor environments. The system is evaluated by testing it in different simulated and real environments. The results presented show that the system is capable of completely and safely exploring unmapped and/or unexplored regions. / Obemannade flygfarkoster (UAV) är smidiga och kan flyga in och ut ur områden som är farliga för människor eller är svårtillgängliga för markrobotar. För att nå höga nivåer av autonomitet måste en UAV kunna utforska och kartlägga ett okänt område på egen hand. Det finns flera tillämpningar för detta, så som räddningsuppdrag och datainsamling. Målet med denna avhandling är att visa attdet är möjligt att använda en UAV utrustad med 2D-laserskannrar för att utföra autonoma kartläggningsuppdrag i inomhusmiljöer. Systemet utvärderas genom att testa det i olika simulerade och verkliga miljöer. De presenterade resultaten visar att systemet kan utforska okända områden på ett säkert sätt.