This study focuses on the telecommunication industry, specifically the mobile phone market at the base of the pyramid (BOP). A supply vs. demand stance is taken whereby demographic data offer insight into the demand while the location of telecommunication retail stores constitutes supply. The study furthermore makes extensive use of a GIS (geographical information system) which offers deeper insight into data and different applications thereof. Given the extensive nature of the data used in assessing the national market, a dashboard was developed as part of this research to ease data interpretation. The online map (GIS) and dashboard form an integral part of this report. Literature supports the targeting of the BOP as a viable market given the high volume of people in this market segment. Unconventional methods are, however, required to sustainably cater to this market. The development of multiple channels to target potential consumers has resulted in a dilution of the market in the retail environment. The retail channel however remains important in any company’s strategy to target the BOP. Telecommunication companies can not only benefit from the BOP but also offer benefits to the BOP. The World Bank has reported figures that show a 0.8% increase in GDP for every 10% increase in mobile penetration. Different sources identify the BOP by different income ranges. It became evident, however, that internationally the average applied to identify the BOP is households earning less than USD 3,000 (ZAR 31,440 at an exchange rate of R10.48 / USD) per annum. Although somewhat higher than the international average, the available data dictated that South Africa’s BOP be identified as households earning less than R38,200 per annum for the purposes of this research. Data indicate that 89% of households in South Africa have a mobile phone. By comparing the ownership of existing household goods this research found that of the 11% of households not owning a mobile phone, 6% would be willing to adopt a mobile phone. A tiered approach is followed in assessing the telecommunication opportunity for mobile phones in the BOP. The first tier assesses the entire market (all households in South Africa) at a municipal level. By including the total market, the opportunity in the BOP is put into perspective. The result was that the total BOP market offers a potential market of R563 million per month through 13.7 simcards. At the other end of the economic pyramid, the ROP offers a market of R2416 million per month through 14.6 million simcards. Thus, even though the BOP offers 48% of the total volume in the market, the value is only 19% of the total market. From a coverage perspective, 42% of BOP households are not covered by a telecom retailer whilst only 27% of the ROP households are not covered. A market of R247 million (through 5.8 million simcards) has been estimated in the BOP opposed to a R379 million market (through 5.8 million simcards) in the ROP. The second tier makes use of a case study to determine the viability of targeting the BOP. Moruleng Mall’s catchment area was analysed within the Moses Kotane municipality that offered a high opportunity as determined in the first tier of analysis. This case study made use of gravity modelling and found that Rustenburg’s retail offering would have limited influence and as such telecom retailers would have to revisit their strategy for the area. A number of shopping centre developments in rural areas were highlighted. Effectively while these developments are taking retail closer to the BOP or rual population, the market is diluted. From a retailer perspective, this makes it difficult to target an entire area through presence in one specific retail node or town. The ultimate finding of this this research suggests that it is in fact possible to target the BOP – however, that it is the ROP located between the BOP households that makes this a viable market. This suggests that it is rather not a question of the viability in targeting the BOP specifically but targeting the more dense rural areas that offer opportunity. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Much of recent progress in medical research and diagnostics has been enabled through the advances in molecular analysis technologies, which now permit the detection and analysis of single molecules with high sensitivity and specificity. Assay sensitivity is fundamentally limited by the efficiency of the detection method used for read-out. Inefficient detection systems are usually compensated for by molecular amplification at the cost of elevated assay complexity. This thesis presents microfluidic automation and digital quantification of targeted nucleic acid detection methods based on padlock and selector probes and rolling circle amplification (RCA). In paper I, the highly sensitive, yet complex circle-to-circle amplification assay was automated on a digital microfluidic chip. In paper II, a new RCA product (RCP) sensing principle was developed based on resistive pulse sensing that allows label free digital RCP quantification. In paper III, a microfluidic chip for spatial RCP enrichment was developed, which enables the detection of RCPs with an unprecedented efficiency and allows for deeper analysis of enriched RCPs through next generation sequencing chemistry. In paper IV, a smart phone was converted into a multiplex fluorescent imaging device that enables imaging and quantification of RCPs on slides as well as within cells and tissues. KRAS point mutations were detected (i) in situ, directly in tumor tissue, and (ii) by targeted sequencing of extracted tumor DNA, imaged with the smart phone RCP imager. This thesis describes the building blocks required for the development of highly sensitive low-cost RCA-based nucleic acid analysis devices for utilization in research and diagnostics.

本研究關注「手機使用」與「青少女日常生活脈絡」交互作用之下，編織出的文化意義，企圖理解手機這項媒體科技，如何嵌入青少女受制的文化結構裡，甚至成為無形的武器，被青少女挪用來與成人所建立的結構抗衡。 本研究首先探索青少女在日常生活中使用、挪用、與棄用手機的方式，並收集青少女手機內外的各種文本，進一步探究這些實踐與文本背後的動機與對青少女的意義，以找尋青少女在成人制定的結構中所處的位置。再以Lefebvre與de Certeau的日常生活理論，探討青少女藉由手機使用，展現出的能動性與抵抗結構的意涵。 本研究採質化研究取向，使用深度訪談法，並現場記錄蒐集青少女手機實踐的相關實物文本，最後輔以受訪者的一週手機使用日誌，將此三類資料交互分析論證。 研究發現，手機一方面型塑青少女日常生活在結構中循環的秩序與過程，另一方面卻也成為青少女與結構相抗衡、擾動秩序的資源。青少女藉由手機的集體使用，在分享與認同中形成與結構抗衡的基礎，並發展出在限制中游擊的戰術。此外，青少女也經由手機的使用，自行定義生命中的重要事件與場景，突破預先被結構設定的意義，讓詮釋、定義生活的權力，下放至青少女手中。 / Based on the theories about “everyday life” suggested by Lefebvre and de Certeau, this study aims at explicating how teenage girls appropriate mobile phones to overcome the limitations in their everyday lives. Rather than disrupting the norms, teenage girls establish the full-time intimate community with their peer group by mobile practice to form a concealed, local “tactic” to undermine the adult-controlled structures that govern their lives. For teenage girls, the characteristics of mobile phones and mobile communication are not inherent in the device, but are determined by social and cultural context and power relations in everyday life.

This study employed multiple assessments, including sleep/resting waking EEG (visual scoring and power spectral analysis) and psychomotor vigilance task, to access effects of varying pulse-modulated microwaves (such as: 'talk', 'listen' and 'standby' mode signals) emitted from a standard mobile phone. The idea was prompted by a finding that the pulse modulation frequencies of mobile phone signals correspond to the frequencies of brain delta and alpha waves. Thereby it is possible the brain is able to recognize and respond to the low-frequency components of the mobile phone signals. Supporting evidence comes from repetitively reported EEG alpha and spindle effects of the 2, 8 and 217-Hz pulsed microwave exposure. Furthermore, brain imaging (EEG and PET) studies reveal 'low-frequency pulse-modulated waves' rather than the 'microwave frequency carrier waves' is the sine qua non for inducing these brain physiological effects [Huber et al., 2002, 2005; Regel et al., 2007a]. On the other hand, recent converging evidence, from molecular, behavioural and electrophysiological level, have shown that brain plasticity is a continuous process from waking to sleep and, sleep, a well-defined physiological condition, is 'shaped' by the waking experiences. The latter findings suggest certain sleep EEG features may characterize levels of cortical plasticity during wakefulness. The work presented in this thesis was inspired by these studies and aimed to understand how the real mobile phone signals with different low-frequency pulsing components [such as 'talk' (8, 217 Hz pulsed), 'listen' (2, 8, 217 Hz pulsed) and 'stand by' mode < 2 Hz pulsed)] change human brain electrical activities from waking to sleep. We approached this question based on EEG analysis in two domains: (1) EEG visual scoring; (2) EEG spectral analysis from relaxed waking to the deeper stages of non-NREM sleep. We also looked at the effects on the psychomotor vigilance performance. Results suggest 'talk' and 'Iisten/standby' modes have inverse effects on the distinctive thalamo-cortical oscillation modes and may thus impart inverse effects on their sleep structures. The implications of this study are of practical importance as it suggests the thalamo-cortical oscillations can be modulated by synchronizing rTMS/tDCS/DBS and sleeplwaking EEG. This concept may be applied to modulate the brain oscillation modes for enhancing sleep-dependent brain plastiCity or information processing.

Eine Graph-Visualisierung von Daten findet Einsatz in verschiedenen Domänen und erleichtert die Gewinnung von Erkenntnissen über Relationen. Viele Datensätze haben eine dynamische Natur und verändern sich über die Zeit. Dynamische Graphen kodieren die temporalen Änderungen der Objekte und ihrer Relationen. Der Vorteil der hochauflösenden Displaywand besteht darin, dass durch einen vergrößerten Darstellungsraum ein guter Überblick über die strukturellen Zusammenhänge entsteht. Der Einsatz der heutzutage sehr verbreiteten mobilen Endgeräte bietet eine lokale nutzerspezifische Darstellung für die Exploration und Manipulation der Graphen einschließlich ihrer dynamischen Komponente. Während sich viele Arbeiten auf die Analyse statischer Strukturen fokussieren, wird das Problem der Exploration und Visualisierung dynamischer Graphen vergleichsweise wenig adressiert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die grundlegenden Aufgaben für die dynamischen Graphen sowie der Stand der Forschung über den interaktiven Raum der kombinierten Anwendung Displaywand und Mobilgerät untersucht. Auf dieser Basis werden die Interaktionskonzepte für die Exploration dynamischer Graphen und die Visualisierung der Änderungen erarbeitet. Der interaktive Raum bietet dabei die räumlichen Freiheitsgrade für die Gestaltung der Interaktionen. Die entstandene Konzeption dient abschließend als Grundlage für die prototypische Umsetzung in einem existierenden Projekt zur Exploration von Graphen mithilfe mobiler Endgeräte. / Graph visualization for data is used in various domains. It facilitates the extraction of knowledges about the relationships. Many datasets have a dynamic nature and change over time. Dynamic graphs ecode the temporal changes of objects and their relations. The advantage of the high-resolution displaywall is providing a good overview of the structural relations caused by an enlarged representation space. The use of nowadays widespread mobile devices provides a local user-specific view for the exploration of the graphs including their dynamic component. While many studies focuse on the analysis of static data structures, the issue of exploration and visualization of dynamic graphs is adressed by only a few works. This thesis investigates the basic tasks for dynamic graphs and state of research into the interaction space of combined applications of displaywall and mobile device. On this basis the interaction concepts for the exploration of dynamic graphs and the visualization of the changes are developed. The interaction space provides the spatial degrees of freedom for the design of interactions. The resulting set of concepts is the basis for the prototypical implementation in the existing project for the exploration of graphs using the mobile devices.

This thesis examines determinants of an Internet and mobile phones diffusion and potentially different impacts of these determinants in case of developing and developed countries. For this purpose panel data from 199 countries for period from 1995 to 2012 are used. There is a number of variables including economic, technological, political and human capital factors. Benefits of this thesis are that the research uses updated dataset and it also adds new variables into its econometric model. This thesis also examines in detail the adoption of information and communication technologies in the Czech Republic, which has not been published previously. One of the conclusions is a finding that penetration of mobile phones and the Internet is faster in developing countries than in developed countries. Fixed effects method in the global testing also showed that the economic wealth of a country is an important determinant for the Internet only for developed countries, while for the mobile phones the GDP is a significant variable in both groups of countries. Analysis of the Czech Republic brings different results for both technologies, but the unemployment rate, which was added to the basic model, has proven to be an important determinant for both the Internet and mobile phones. Key words: Mobile phone,...

Afin de réaliser la convergence de l'infrastructure optique des réseaux d'accès fixes et mobiles, l'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier les solutions pour la distribution de porteuses radio natives à travers des réseaux d'accès optiques typiques. La première partie décrit les contextes et les principales propriétés physiques des réseaux d'accès optiques et radio : depuis les systèmes Fiber To The Home (FTTH) actuellement déployés et leurs évolutions attendues, en passant par l'actuel système radio Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) jusqu'aux exigences des futurs systèmes modernes de téléphonie mobile. Ceci permet de fixer le cadre de l'environnement optique dans lequel les fonctionnalités Radio over Fiber (RoF) devront être intégrées, et d'anticiper les figures de mérite, se rapportant aux systèmes radios, auxquelles une attention particulière devra être protée durant la mise en oeuvre. La seconde partie montre l'intérêt et les possibilités de réutiliser l'infrastructure optique des réseaux d'accès fixes pour les systèmes de radio distribuée. Ensuite est proposé un inventaire des techniques RoF analogiques et numériques, ainsi qu'une discussion quant à leur intégrabilité dans des systèmes FTTH courants. La troisième partie traite du calcul formel et de simulations d'un système de transmission RoF analogique, où la liaison optique est soit passive ou optiquement pré-amplifiée, et voire amplifiée à l'émission. L'objectif est de fournir des résultats numériques en complément aux résultats pratiques (seconde moitié de la quatrième partie) pour lesquels le rapport signal à bruit est le souci majeur. Pour cela nous utilisons successivement des expressions formelles, et des résultats numériques obtenus pour des signaux sinusoïdaux et pour des signaux UMTS plus réalistes. La quatrième et dernière partie concerne les résultats expérimentaux : d'une part ceux concernant les architectures à base de récepteur APD et à portée étendue grâce à un SOA exploité de manière bidirectionnelle, et ayant pour figure de mérite principale l'EVM ; d'autre part les résultats ayant pour figure de mérite l'ACLR, qui pour les systèmes radio dans le sens descendant, est un paramètre critique, et s'avérant être plus important que l'EVM. C'est pourquoi sont présentées des architectures RoF compatibles avec les budgets PON, permettant de surmonter les non-linéarités d'ordre 3 induites par la dispersion chromatique et le chirp du laser, qui dégradent les performances de ACLR / In order to realize the convergence of the optical infrastructure of fixed and mobile access networks, the objective of this thesis is to study the solutions for distributing native radio carriers through typical optical access networks.The first Part describes the contexts and the main physical properties of the optical and radio access networks: from nowadays deployed Fiber To The Home (FTTH) systems, and their expected evolutions, to the current radio system Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) towards the expected requirements of modern mobile radio systems. This allows to settle the optical environment in which the Radio over Fiber(RoF)-functionalities will have to be integrated, and to know on which radio systems'figures of merits to focus on when implementing it. The second Part shows the benefit and possibilities of re-using the optical infrastructure of the fixed access networks for distributed radio systems. Then a review of the analog and digital RoF techniques is proposed, and their feasibility of integration into legacy FTTH systems is discussed. The third part deals with the computing and simulations of an analog RoF-system where the optical link is either passive or optically pre-amplified, and even boosted. The goal is to provide numerical results to the practical lab. results of the second half of the fourth part where the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) matters. Therefore successively formal expressions, numerical results for simple 2-tone signals and more realistic UMTS signals are considered. The fourth and last part deals with the obtained practical results. These can be split into two main categories : Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)-oriented results where an Avalanche Photo-Detector (APD) is used for legacy and extended-reach PON architectures using a direction shared Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA) ; and an Adjacent/Alternate Channel power Leakage Ratio (ACLR)-driven part where the focus is seton a very critical figure of merit of radio systems, especially in the downlink. The latter part turned out to be mandatory and prevailing over the initially considered EVM concerns. Hence several RoF architectures, compatible with PONs, are introduced in order to overcome the non-linearities undergone by the RoF-signals, induced by the chromatic dispersion of the PON's fiber and the laser chirp, and degrading the ACLR performances

[pt] Nesta dissertação são investigadas situações em que se faz necessária a sobreposição de informações digitais ao ambiente físico em que o usuário está, uma condição proporcionada pela utilização do recurso da Realidade Aumentada (RA). São consideradas, na pesquisa, aplicações da tecnologia que empregam a técnica de Video See-Through (VST) para utilização em celulares. São apresentadas diferentes definições de RA, delimitando-se conceitos tangentes à tecnologia, tais como Realidade Virtual e Computação Ubíqua, para promover uma discussão acerca das definições levantadas. Em seguida, se apresentam algumas soluções, mais encontradas no mercado, de aplicativos de RA para celular, analisando-se os impactos da utilização de ferramentas específicas no seu processo de criação e desenvolvimento. Considerando-se ainda aspectos sociais e filosóficos inerentes à tecnologia, busca-se uma melhor compreensão dos conceitos-base de espaço, tempo e realidade a que a RA recorre para operar, a fim de subsidiar a discussão acerca da tecnologia e criar o embasamento teórico para as análises subsequentes. / [en] This dissertation investigates situations that require the overlay of digital information to the user environment, a condition provided by the use of Augmented Reality (AR) technology. In the research, there are considered applications of the technology that uses the Video See-Through (VST) technique on mobile phones. The dissertation presents different definitions of AR, delimiting tangent concepts such as Virtual Reality and Ubiquitous Computing, to arouse a discussion about the definitions. Then, it presents some of the mobile applications most used in the market, analyzing the impact on using some specific tools in its creation and development process. Considering further social and philosophical aspects inherent to the technology, it seeks to better understand the basic concepts of space, time and reality that the AR uses to operate, in order to support the discussion about the technology and to create the theoretical basis for subsequent analysis.

[pt] Com rápido crescimento nos últimos anos, o mercado de telecomunicações está ficando cada vez mais saturado. Como a comunicação tradicional por meio de serviços de voz já é amplamente utilizada, as operadoras têm enfrentado dificuldades em atrair novos usuários. Neste cenário, as operadoras têm direcionado cada vez mais esforços nas ações de cross-selling para rentabilizar sua base de clientes, oferecendo e estimulando o uso de novos serviços. Nesta pesquisa, serão utilizados dados existentes no banco de dados de uma operadora de telefonia móvel do mercado brasileiro para testar um modelo que facilita a identificação dos clientes mais propensos à contratação de novos serviços. Os dados foram tratados por meio de técnicas de mineração de dados e árvore de decisão. Os resultados sugerem que, com base na modelagem proposta, ações de cross-selling podem ser otimizadas com o aumento da taxa de retorno e, conseqüentemente, redução no custo das abordagens e menos desgaste da base de clientes com contatos irrelevantes. / [en] Due to its fast growth in recent years, the wireless market is becoming increasingly saturated. Since traditional communication through voice services is already widely used by most individuals, wireless carriers are facing difficulties in finding and attracting new users for such services. Given this scenario, enterprises are turning their attention to cross-selling campaigns to monetize their client base, offering and stimulating the use of new services. In this research, an existent data set from a Brazilian mobile telecom carrier was used to test a model that could facilitate the identification of current customers more likely to be interested in acquiring new services. The data were analyzed and modeled via data mining and decision tree. The results suggest that, if the proposed model is used, cross-selling campaigns could be optimized, achieving an increased rate of return, reduction in the cost of contacts and less wear of the client base with irrelevant offers.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:12:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elaine Souza Resende Sklorz.pdf: 4197226 bytes, checksum: bcc6fb1e1daca799116f0c0c7336ac58 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-24 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The cultural appropriations of mobile phones used in public transportation in situations of stop-and-go traffic in the cities of São Paulo and Frankfurt are the object of this research. As objective it was sought to identify in which way individuals, in the possession of their devices, take the time during the prolonged journeys caused by continuous traffic jams. It was intended to get to local translations of this global phenomenon of pervasive and ubiquitous using of mobile phones, mapping until which point this indiscriminate use impacts social, professional and personal relations. Does a larger appropriation of digital techniques or instruments, by itself, ensure advantage on the route in metropolises? To what extends the fact of carrying along a cell phone or any other mobile technology drives away the discomfort of an infallible traffic jam? Do cultural and social conditions of the user show by their use habits of these technologies? It was analyzed subway and bus users during the periods of traffic jams peaks: from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Sao Paulo and in Frankfurt, Germany. As hypothesis it was understood that there are local translations of full time use and in movement use of mobile phone. Because of this idea of cultural appropriation, the adopted method, which consisted on bibliographic surveys and theoretical and epistemological reflections on the study s object, also used questionnaires among cell phone users, through traffic, on public transportation platforms of the two metropolises. The theoretical picture included postulates of Amalio Pinheiro on Latin America, its mosaics and miscegenations; from Bastide; Maffesoli; Castells; Certeau; Flusser; Bauman; Augé; De Souza e Silva; Santaella; Lemos e Ferrara on local translations, environment, hybridism, similarity, city s transformations, marketability, urban space, place, territory, nomadism, mobility and cell phone. This research concluded that socio-cultural standards of a certain population result in unique ways of use of technology. These technological appropriations and reappropriations indicate that consumption, way beyond possession, set up ways of being and living that interact with subjectivity s construction, what implies saying that social groups secluded from access to digital technologies and to technological mobility, above all by economical matters, in some extend are secluded from the processes of movement and social mobility. Global sharing and consumption of technologies favor constant tension between the heterogeneity of local practices and the cultural homogenization / As apropriações culturais dos telefones celulares em uso nos transportes públicos das cidades de São Paulo e de Frankfurt, em situações de lentidão de trânsito, é objeto desta pesquisa. Como objetivo buscou-se identificar de que forma os indivíduos, de posse de seus aparelhos, consomem o tempo envolvido nos deslocamentos prolongados por contínuos engarrafamentos. Como problemática da pesquisa pretendeu-se chegar às traduções locais desse fenômeno global de utilização pervasiva e ubíqua de telefones celulares, mapeando até que ponto esse uso indiscriminado impacta as relações sociais, profissionais e pessoais. Uma maior apropriação de técnicas ou instrumentais digitais, por si só, garantem vantagem no percurso móvel das metrópoles? Em que medida o fato de carregar consigo um celular ou qualquer outra tecnologia móvel afugenta o mal-estar diante de um irremediável congestionamento no trânsito? A condição social e cultural do usuário é extravasada por meio dos hábitos de uso dessas mesmas tecnologias? No recorte estão usuários de metrô, trem e ônibus em trânsito nos períodos de pico de congestionamento: das 7h às 10h e das 17h às 20h em São Paulo e em Frankfurt, na Alemanha. Como hipótese entendeu-se que há traduções locais para a utilização full time e em movimento do telefone celular. Por conta dessa ideia de apropriação cultural, o método adotado, que consistiu em levantamento bibliográfico e em reflexões teóricas e epistemológicas sobre o objeto de estudo, também se utilizou da aplicação de questionários entre usuários de celular, em trânsito, nas plataformas de transportes públicos das duas metrópoles. O quadro teórico incluiu postulados de Amalio Pinheiro sobre a América Latina, seus mosaicos e mestiçagens; de Bastide; Maffesoli; Castells; Certeau; Flusser; Bauman; Augé; De Souza e Silva; Santaella; Lemos e Ferrara sobre traduções locais, ambiências, hibridismos, convergência, transformações da cidade, liquidez, espaços urbanos, lugar, territórios, nomadismo, mobilidades e telefone celular. A pesquisa concluiu que os padrões socioculturais de uma população resultam em modos singulares de uso de uma tecnologia. Essas apropriações e reapropriações tecnológicas indicam que as práticas de consumo, muito além da posse, estabelecem modos de ser e de viver que interagem com a construção de subjetividades, o que implica dizer que grupos sociais alijados do acesso às tecnologias digitais, à mobilidade tecnológica, sobretudo por questões econômicas, em alguma medida são alijados dos processos de deslocamento físico e de mobilidade social. O compartilhamento e consumo global de tecnologias promovem uma tensão constante entre a valorização das práticas heterogêneas de cada cultura e a homogeneização da mesma