Passive force-deflection behavior for densely compacted backfills must be considered in bridge design to ensure adequate resistance to both seismic and thermally induced forces. Current codes and practices do not distinguish between skewed and non-skewed bridge abutment geometries; however, in recent years, numerical models and small-scale, plane-strain laboratory tests have suggested a significant reduction in passive force for skewed bridge abutments. Also, various case studies have suggested higher soil stresses might be experienced on the acute side of the skew angle. For these reasons, three large-scale tests were performed with abutment skew angles of 0, 15 and 30 degrees using an existing pile cap [11-ft (3.35-m) wide by 15-ft (4.57-m) long by 5.5-ft (1.68-m) high] and densely compacted sand backfill confined by MSE wingwalls. These tests showed a significant reduction in passive force (approximately 38% as a result of the 15 degree skew angle and 51% as a result of the 30° skew angle. The maximum passive force was achieved at a deflection of approximately 5% of the backwall height; however, a substantial loss in the rate of strength gain was observed at a deflection of approximately 3% of the backwall height for the 15° and 30° skew tests. Additionally, the soil stiffness appears to be largely unaffected by skew angle for small displacements. These results correlate very well with data available from numerical modeling and small-scale lab tests. Maximum vertical backfill displacement and maximum soil pressure measured normal to the skewed backwall face were located on the acute side of the skew for the 15° and 30° skew test. This observation appears to be consistent with observations made in various case studies for skewed bridge abutments. Also, the maximum outward displacement of the MSE wingwalls was located on the obtuse side of the skew. These findings suggest that changes should be made to current codes and practices to properly account for skew angle in bridge design.

Bridge abutments are designed to withstand lateral pressures from thermal expansion and seismic forces. Current design curves have been seen to dangerously over- and under-estimate the peak passive resistance and corresponding deflection of abutment backfills. Similar studies on passive pressure have shown that passive resistance changes with different types of constructed backfills. The effects of changing the length to width ratio, or including MSE wingwalls determine passive force-deflection relationships. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of the wall heights and of the MSE support on passive pressure and backfill failure, and to compare the field results with various predictive methods. To compare the effects of backfill geometries, three large-scale tests with dense compact sand were performed with abutment backfill heights of 3 ft (0.91 m), 5.5 ft (1.68 m), and 5.5 ft (1.68 m) confined with MSE wingwalls. Using an existing pile cap 11 ft (3.35 m) wide and 5.5 ft (1.68 m) high, width to height ratios for the abutment backfills were 3.7 for the 3ft test, and 2.0 for the 5.5ft and MSE tests. The failure surface for the unconfined backfills exhibited a 3D geometry with failure surfaces extending beyond the edge of the cap, increasing the "effective width", and producing a failure "bulb". In contrast, the constraint provided by the MSE wingwalls produced a more 2D failure geometry. The "effective width" of the failure surface increased as the width to height ratio decreased. In terms of total passive force, the unconfined 5.5ft wall provided about 6% more resistance than the 5.5ft MSE wall. However, in terms of passive force/width the MSE wall provided about 70% more resistance than the unconfined wall, which is more consistent with a plane strain, or 2D, failure geometry. In comparison with predicted forces, the MSE curve never seemed to fit, while the 3ft and 5.5ft curves were better represented with different methods. Even with optimizing between both the unconfined curves, the predicted Log Spiral peak passive forces were most accurate, within 12% of the measured peak resistances. The components of passive force between the unconfined tests suggest the passive force is influenced more by frictional resistance and less by the cohesion as the height of the backwall increases.

A key challenge for maximizing the world’s food supply is crop yield prediction. In this study, three machine models are used to predict the fresh weight (yield) of lettuce plants that are grown inside indoor farms hydroponically using the vertical farming infrastructure, namely, support vector regressor (SVR), random forest regressor (RFR), and deep neural network (DNN).The climate data, nutrient data, and plant growth data are passed as input to train the models to understand the growth pattern based on the available features. The study of evaluation metrics majorly covers Mean Squared Error (MSE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), R-squared, and Adjusted R-squared values.The results of the project have shown that the Random Forest with all the features is the best model having the best results with the least cross-validated MAE score and good cross-validated Adjusted R-squared value considering that the error of the prediction is minimal. This is followed by the DNN model with minor differences in the resulting values. The Support Vector Regressor (SVR) model gave a very poor performance with a huge error value that cannot be afforded in this scenario. In this study, we have also compared various evaluating metrics mentioned above and considered the cross-validated MAE and cross-validated Adjusted R-squared metrics. According to our study, MAE had the lowest error value, which is less sensitive to the outliers and adjusted R-squared value helps to understand the variance of the target variable with the predictor variable and adjust the metric to prevent the issues of overfitting.

No description available.

Tidigare studier visar på att blodtrycket hos gravida sjunker under andra trimestern och sedanökar i ett senare skede av graviditeten. Högt blodtryck hos gravida kan medföra hälsorisker, vilket gör mätningar av blodtryck relevanta. Dock uppstår det osäkerhet då olika personer inom vården hanterar blodtrycksmätningarna på olika sätt. Delar av vårdpersonalen avrundarmätvärden och andra gör det inte, vilket kan leda till svårigheter att tolkablodtrycksutvecklingen. I uppsatsen behandlas ett dataset innehållandes blodtrycksvärden hos gravida genom att skatta nio olika linjära regressionsmodeller med blandade effekter. Därefter genomförs en simuleringsstudie med syfte att undersöka hur mätproblem orsakat av avrundningar påverkar parameterskattningar och modellval i en linjär blandad modell. Slutsatsen är att blodtrycksavrundningarna inte påverkar typ 1-felet men påverkar styrkan. Dock innebär inte detta något problem vid fortsatt analys av blodtrycksvärdena i det verkliga datasetet.

This research had an objective of exploring the role of MSEs in LED through analysis of wood-work MSE value chain. The basic research questions underscore what the domestic wood-work value chain looks like; what major weaknesses and challenges confront the operation of MSEs; what major areas of upgrading and inter-firm relations are evident in the sector; and what MSE value chains contribute to LED. The research exercise was based on review of related literature and a field survey, involving MSE operators drawn from the study area (Addis Ababa). Mixed method of analysis (quantitative and qualitative) was employed to deal with the data collected through questionnaires and interviews. Porter’s model of VC (1985) and UNIDO’s description of wood-work VC (2005) were used to provide conceptual framework. The wood-work sub-sector in Ethiopia has a domestic value chain since main inputs are from local sources, designs are by local producers, and products are for domestic markets. Domestic actors govern the allocation of resources and the distribution of benefits. Public enterprises control plantations hence primary inputs. Wholesalers in turn control inputs, which finally reach MSEs through retailers. Design, production and marketing decisions are made by MSE operators. Middlemen are minor as most of the products reach consumers directly. The value-chain’s downstream is thus described by a short distribution-channel. Horizontal, non-market, linkages characterize inter-firm relations; whereas, arm’s length market linkages dominate the supplier-MSE-buyer relations. In the absence of “lead firms”, wood-work MSE value chains fail to qualify for the mainstream “buyer-driven” model. Without buyer-dominated quasi-hierarchical relationship, MSEs exercise “incremental upgrading” through learning-by-doing. Measures taken to upgrade the production process are considerably inclined to the physical (hardware) aspects of the firm. The MSE value-chain is restrained by internal and external problems. The current state of design marks underdeveloped links in the chain and delays entry into competitive markets. Despite the drawbacks, MSEs enable localities mobilize fragmented resources and create employment. MSEs contribute to LED through the value chain, right from input-sourcing to production and marketing. Inter-firm relations and upgrading efforts uphold the contributions. / Development Studies / Ph. D. (Development Studies)

Η παρούσα μεταπτυχιακή διατριβή εντάσσεται ερευνητικά στην περιοχή της Στατιστικής Θεωρίας Αποφάσεων και ειδικότερα στην εκτίμηση των παραμέτρων στο μοντέλο της διπαραμετρικής εκθετικής κατανομής με παράμετρο θέσης μ και παράμετρο κλίμακος σ. Θεωρούμε το πρόβλημα εκτίμησης των παραμέτρων κλίμακας μ και θέσης σ, όταν μ≤c, όπου c είναι μία γνωστή σταθερά. Αποδεικνύουμε ότι σε σχέση με το κριτήριο του Μέσου Τετραγωνικού Σφάλματος (ΜΤΣ), οι βέλτιστοι αναλλοίωτοι εκτιμητές των μ και σ, είναι μη αποδεκτοί όταν μ≤c, και προτείνουμε βελτιωμένους. Επίσης συγκρίνουμε του εκτιμητές αυτούς σε σχέση με το κριτήριο του Pitman. Επιπλέον, προτείνουμε εκτιμητές που είναι καλύτεροι από τους βέλτιστους αναλλοίωτους εκτιμητές, όταν μ≤c, ως προς την συνάρτηση ζημίας LINEX. Τέλος, η θεωρία που αναπτύσσεται εφαρμόζεται σε δύο ανεξάρτητα δείγματα προερχόμενα από εκθετική κατανομή. / The present master thesis deals with the estimation of the location parameter μ and the scale parameter σ of the two-parameter exponential distribution. We consider the problem of estimation of locasion parameter μ and the scale parameter σ, when it is known apriori that μ≤c, where c is a known constant. We establish that with respect to the mean square error (mse) criterion the best affine estimators of μ and σ in the absence of information μ≤c are inadmissible and we propose estimators which are better than these estimators. Also, we compare these estimators with respect to the Pitman Nearness criterion. We propose estimators which are better than the standard estimators in the unrestricted case with respect to the suitable choise of LINEX loss. Finally, the theory developed is applied to the problem of estimating the location and scale parameters of two exponential distributions when the location parameters are ordered.

This research had an objective of exploring the role of MSEs in LED through analysis of wood-work MSE value chain. The basic research questions underscore what the domestic wood-work value chain looks like; what major weaknesses and challenges confront the operation of MSEs; what major areas of upgrading and inter-firm relations are evident in the sector; and what MSE value chains contribute to LED. The research exercise was based on review of related literature and a field survey, involving MSE operators drawn from the study area (Addis Ababa). Mixed method of analysis (quantitative and qualitative) was employed to deal with the data collected through questionnaires and interviews. Porter’s model of VC (1985) and UNIDO’s description of wood-work VC (2005) were used to provide conceptual framework. The wood-work sub-sector in Ethiopia has a domestic value chain since main inputs are from local sources, designs are by local producers, and products are for domestic markets. Domestic actors govern the allocation of resources and the distribution of benefits. Public enterprises control plantations hence primary inputs. Wholesalers in turn control inputs, which finally reach MSEs through retailers. Design, production and marketing decisions are made by MSE operators. Middlemen are minor as most of the products reach consumers directly. The value-chain’s downstream is thus described by a short distribution-channel. Horizontal, non-market, linkages characterize inter-firm relations; whereas, arm’s length market linkages dominate the supplier-MSE-buyer relations. In the absence of “lead firms”, wood-work MSE value chains fail to qualify for the mainstream “buyer-driven” model. Without buyer-dominated quasi-hierarchical relationship, MSEs exercise “incremental upgrading” through learning-by-doing. Measures taken to upgrade the production process are considerably inclined to the physical (hardware) aspects of the firm. The MSE value-chain is restrained by internal and external problems. The current state of design marks underdeveloped links in the chain and delays entry into competitive markets. Despite the drawbacks, MSEs enable localities mobilize fragmented resources and create employment. MSEs contribute to LED through the value chain, right from input-sourcing to production and marketing. Inter-firm relations and upgrading efforts uphold the contributions. / Development Studies / Ph. D. (Development Studies)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:40:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Valdir Donizete Segato.pdf: 1566486 bytes, checksum: 0466b46a2ebe3438da9eeeeefc33df35 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-18 / This study aims to reflect on the main difficulties encountered in the adoption of International Accounting Standards by Micro and Small Entities (MSEs) in Brazil, whose annual gross income is up to R$ 3,600,000.00, based on Technical Interpretation General, established in Resolution n. 1418/12 (ITG 1000), the Federal Accounting Council (CFC). Methodologically, the research is categorized as the objectives in exploratory and descriptive and on the procedures in literature and documents. For the literature review was conducted bibliographic research and in electronic media, content analysis of documents relating to accounting standards, raising opinions through questionnaires and interviews, and a description of the data, based on the elaboration of a materiality matrix, which pondered priorities established by key stakeholders, who are the users of accounting information in relation to the issues involved. The research is justified because of the economic and social importance of this segment which contributes to boost supply chains of large corporations and represents - the Brazilian Service of Support for research Micro and Small Entities (SEBRAE) - 99% of the total of 6.4 millions of existing businesses in Brazil, accounting for 52% (16.1 million) of formal jobs in the private sector. The results showed that the main difficulties for the adoption of this International Accounting Standards by MSEs are not related to the conceptual part of these standards, but the difficulties of structural and operational, as prices services charged (fees) incompatible with the responsibility and technical risk of the work, the absence of management and internal control system, the standard practice of tax evasion, among others, added to some of fact interest that the entrepreneur owner of MSEs demonstrates in relation to accounting as a management tool / Este estudo tem por objetivo refletir sobre as principais dificuldades encontradas na adoção do padrão contábil internacional pelas Microempresas e Empresas de Pequeno Porte (MPEs) no Brasil, cuja receita bruta anual é de até R$ 3.600.000,00, com base na Interpretação Técnica Geral, instituída na Resolução nº. 1.418/12 (ITG1000), do Conselho Federal de Contabilidade (CFC). Metodologicamente, a pesquisa se classifica quanto aos objetivos em exploratória e descritiva e quanto aos procedimentos em bibliográfica e documental. Foram realizados levantamentos bibliográficos e em meio eletrônico, análise de conteúdo dos documentos referentes às normas contábeis, levantamento de opiniões por meio de questionários e entrevistas, bem como a descrição dos dados, com base na elaboração de uma matriz de materialidade, que ponderou as prioridades estabelecidas pelos principais stakeholders, que são os usuários das informações contábeis, em relação aos temas envolvidos. A pesquisa se justifica em razão da importância econômica e social deste segmento que contribui para dinamizar as cadeias produtivas das grandes corporações e representa  pela pesquisa do Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas (SEBRAE)  99% do total de 6,4 milhões de empresas existentes no Brasil, respondendo por 52% (16,1 milhões) dos empregos com carteira assinada no setor privado. Os resultados obtidos permitem concluir que as principais dificuldades, para a adoção deste padrão contábil internacional pelas MPEs, não estão relacionadas com a parte conceitual destas normas, e sim às dificuldades de ordem estrutural e operacional, como os preços dos serviços cobrados (honorários) incompatíveis com a responsabilidade e risco técnico do trabalho, a inexistência de sistema de gestão e controle interno, a prática recorrente de sonegação de impostos, entre outros, somado ao fato do pouco interesse que o empresário, proprietário das MPEs demonstra em relação à Contabilidade como instrumento de gestão

This research project addresses the following: how topical talk operates in the organisation and management of MSE interactions; and how topical talk operates in the co-ordination of specific service requests and service provisions. It draws on a corpus of audio-recorded and transcribed interactions between general practitioners and persons seeking general medical services in suburban clinics in Brisbane, Australia. The corpus comprised a total of 67 medical service events (henceforth MSEs), audio-taped with the full informed consent of the participants. Many contemporary medical sociological accounts of the operation of topical talk in MSEs, typified by the work of Mishler (1981, 1984) and Waitzkin (1991), remain anchored to the 'professional dominance' thesis (Freidson 1970a; 1970b), arguing for the fundamental conflict between two perspectives - lay and professional. Topical talk has been formulated as one expression of this conflict in 'doctor-centred' communicative 'styles' (Byrne and Long 1976; Silverman 1987). Within such accounts, familiar interactional patterns in MSEs, including the content and structure of topics, have been theorised as instruments of power and control whereby the dominance of specialised medical knowledge and expertise are established and maintained. Mishler's (1984) characterisation of the conflict between a biomedically oriented 'voice of medicine' used by professional physicians (henceforth GPs) and a 'voice of the lifeworld' used by persons seeking medical services (henceforth Ps) is an expression of the 'professional dominance' thesis. The voices are characterised as attesting to a fundamental, theoretically problematic, asymmetry of power relations between GPs and Ps, thereby reinforcing the ideological status of professionals in general and the medical profession in particular. Further, recommendations regarding correctives to 'professional dominance' centre on advice GPs to attend to the primacy of Ps' talk on their experiences of illnesses rather than apparently 'ignoring' or transforming these topics into biomedical accounts of disease. This research project critiques this formulation of topical talk and the traditional theoretical and empirical bases on which it has drawn. This critique arises from the application of ethnomethodological approaches to the study of MSEs. Such approaches, as outlined in Chapters 2 and 3, are characterised by a number of conceptual and analytic premises: First, particular social structural features of social activities and the institutional contexts within which activities occur should not be assumed to be the primary criteria for judging the import and adequacy of situated action. Second, the parties to situated social events mutually constitute those events in the real world. Third, issues of agency are collaborative situated accomplishments such that the management of everyday social activities is accomplished by the people involved who show one another the rationalities of their actions as they assemble the familiar scenic features of those same institutional events (Garfinkel 1967; Sacks 1992a, 1992b). These assumptions have been applied in ethnomethodological analyses of social action, including the analysis of professional service encounters that have critiqued the 'professional dominance' thesis (Eglin and Wideman 1986; Sharrock 1979). The novelty of this study is the analysis of the operation of topic organisation as a phenomenon of order. This study also draws on recommendations within Ethnomethodology (Hester & Eglin 1997b; Watson 1997) that sequential and categorial organisations are mutually informative in the analysis of the rationality of situated social action. One of the particular contributions of this thesis is that it not only jointly applies both conversation analysis and membership categorisation analysis but also extends this recommendation to the inclusion of topic analysis as was originally provided for by Sacks (1992a , 1992b) and Garfinkel and Sacks (1970). Within this study a model of analysis has been constructed that has enabled the analytical consideration of four dimensions of social organisation: local sequential, extended sequential, topical and categorial organisations. The theoretical and empirical concepts of ethnomethodogical analysis have thus been developed and extended within this project. The central findings of this study are that in institutional service events, the 'service topic' is both significant and consequential, and that persons constitute themselves as bona fide incumbents of the categories GP or P by attending to their actions as topically organised. The local adequacy of any particular interactional move (such as questioning-answering, greetings, the design of a topic proposal, etc) is shown to be referenced to the service topic. This study found no evidence of potential or actual "struggles" between the 'voice of the life-world and the voice of medicine'. Rather, this study finds routine recognition on the part of both Ps and GPs of the centrality of the service topic and, thereby, the service task, and no evidence of orientation to distinctive biographical contributions staged in competition with biomedically relevant service topics. It is found that Ps' biographical references were made in the context of an assembled service topic such that particular service tasks, however conventional, were constituted as both relevant and reasonable as medical goods and service for the specific service recipient and provider. At the most general level, it is concluded that the service topic operates as a phenomenon of order in MSEs where order, as defined by Garfinkel and Weider (1992: 202), refers to all of the rationalities evident in the generic features of institutional events and settings, that is, the situated logic and intelligibility as well as the procedures whereby they are constituted as recognisable social events. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for the theorisation, policy-making, medical education, and practices of GPs and Ps within MSEs. Overall, the significance of this work for researchers into medical interactions is that the relevance of the service topic and its pervasive organisational consequences need to be considered analytically. A major outcome of this thesis is the establishment of a new order of interest within the study of institutional interactions. The project demonstrates the pervasive consequences of service topics and thus provides a step forward in the study of institutional service interactions and ways of theorising their rationality, a step that extends beyond social structural pre-theorisations of power and domination and also beyond interactional accounts of the primary relevance of turn taking structures.