Sharing a single, large touchscreen between several collaborating users is the research area of multi-user touchscreen interfaces, also named collaborative groupware. Collaborative groupware concerns how to best facilitate teamwork over such shared digital spaces. The technology is used in a number of high-technological and expert-dominated domains including emergency coordination, urban planning, military strategy, etc. This thesis investigates the problem of how to facilitate such mixed-focus work on a multi-user touchscreen in a two-dimensional geospatial context - a digital map - while avoiding the problematic use of widgets and click interfaces. Through a background study of previous work, a new solution is suggested. It is a handchord-input-based interface that uses hand-pattern recognition to interface with multiple users simultaneously and provides graphical tools to enable and enhance geospatial collaborative work. This solution is implemented and evaluated in two user studies. The first investigates the solution in the aspects of practical interfacing, tool impact, and hybrid collaboration on small teams of two. A second smaller expert user study evaluates the technique in the aspects of responsiveness, effectiveness, and representation; with more formalized procedures. The results show that a strong majority of users in the first study could successfully and quickly learn chord-input interfacing, and use it to access a variety of functionality with effectivity and enhancement of collaboration. The results of the second survey received moderately positive feedback in all aspects, with reserved opinions for its usage potential. These results indicate that chord-based interfacing, successfully implemented, could contribute to improved teamwork and task-solving in relevant collaborative contexts. / Kollaborativa gruppprogramet är området som faciliterar samarbete på delade digitala utrymmen. Den här tesen utreder problemet om hur man faciliterar kollaborativ, mix-fokuserad arbete på en fleranvändarpekskärm i en geospatial konext utan att använda problematiska knappar och klickbara gränssnitt. Kollaborativa geospatiala gränsnittanvänds i ett flertal av högteknologiska expertdominerade domäner som inkluderar nödsituationskoordinering, , militär strategi, etc. Den föreslagna lösningen är ett handackordsbaserat gränsnitt som använder fingeringenkänning för att interagera flera användare samtidigt och förse verktyg som möjliggör och förbättrar geospatialt samarbete. Denna lösning implementeras och är möjligtvis den mest omfattande implementationen av hand-ackord, men med signifikanta buggar. Denna utvärderas i två användarstudier. Den första undersöker lösningen i aspekterna av handackordsinteraktion, verktygens påverkan och hybridsamarbete i små lag om två. En andra, mindre studie utvärderar tekniken i termer av gensvar, effektivet och representation. Resultatet visar att ackord-baserade gränssnitt kan framgångsrikt förse en mångfald av funktionalitet med effektivtet och förbättring av samarbete i en geospatial kontext. Resultatet av den första studien visar att handackordbaserade kan bidra till förbättrat samarbete och problemlösning i geospatiala kontexter på en fleranvändarpekskärm, där vissa användare finner det mer praktiskt och enklare att bemästra än andra. Resultatet av den andra studien påvisade tämligen positiv respons i alla aspekter, med reservation för dess tillämpningspotential.

[ES] La Teoría de Modos Característicos (TCM), desarrollada por R.F. Harrington a mediados de los años 60, se ha convertido desde los inicios del siglo XXI, en una herramienta fundamental para el diseño sistemático de antenas, gracias a la visión física que aporta de los fenómenos de radiación. Actualmente, numerosos grupos de investigación a nivel mundial han adoptado esta teoría dentro de su metodología de diseño. No obstante, la teoría de modos característicos ha sido utilizada mayormente para el análisis de estructuras planas, existiendo pocos ejemplos de aplicación de la teoría a estructuras 3D, dada la dificultad que implica su análisis. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo diseñar antenas multi-alimentadas con un gran ancho de banda usando la TMC. La principal novedad que aporta, es la aplicación de la teoría de modos característicos al análisis de estructuras 3D y el empleo de multi alimentación para excitar de forma selectiva modos concretos de radiación. Inicialmente se presenta un análisis de estructuras planas que interactúan entre sí, y se utiliza una combinación de puertos para forzar la excitación de ciertos modos con buen comportamiento radiante. Además, se demuestra que las resonancias de una antena, no solamente son causadas por un modo en resonancia, sino que también aparecen como resultado de la combinación de modos magnéticos y eléctricos. En la tesis se proponen diseños de antenas con muy bajo perfil, obtenidas a partir del plegado progresivo de las estructuras planas previamente estudiadas. Con las técnicas de plegado se consiguen antenas compactas y de bajo perfil, fácilmente integrables, que presentan muy buenas características de radiación y una forma de excitación sencilla. Se realiza un estudio sistemático de estructuras canónicas en 3 dimensiones, como las guías de onda rectangular y circular. En primer lugar, las guías de onda y cavidades equivalentes se analizan con un enfoque clásico, obteniendo los modos de campo transversal eléctrico TE y transversal magnético TM. A continuación, se analizan las mismas guías y cavidades aplicando la teoría de modos característicos, unificando y comparando por primera vez los dos tipos de analisis. Las conclusiones extraídas del análisis de las guías de onda rectangular y circular, se han aplicado para diseñar dos tipos de antenas, que proporcionan buen ancho de banda y características de radiación óptimas para aplicaciones 5G. La tesis incluye un capítulo en el que se proponen distintos prototipos de antenas, diseñados a partir de la aplicación de la teoría de modos característicos. Se aprovechan las conclusiones obtenidas en cada uno de los capítulos de la tesis y se aplican a diseños específicos, demostrando que empleando la TCM, es posible diseñar antenas que tengan buenas características de radiación y que pueden integrarse fácilmente en dispositivos que operen con nuevas tecnologías, como 5G o IoT. / [CA] La Teoria de Modes Característics (TCM), desenvolupada per R.F. Harrington a mitjans dels anys 60, s'ha convertit des dels inicis de segle XXI, en una eina fonamental per al disseny sistemàtic d'antenes, gràcies a la visió física que aporta dels fenòmens de radiació. Actualment, nombrosos grups d'investigació a nivell mundial han adoptat aquesta teoria dins de la seva metodologia de disseny. No obstant això, la teoria de modes característics ha estat utilitzada majorment per l'anàlisi d'estructures planes, i hi ha pocs exemples d'aplicació de la teoria a estructures 3D, donada la dificultat que implica el su anàlisi. Aquesta tesi té com a objectiu dissenyar antenes multi-alimentades amb un gran ample de banda usant la TMC. La principal novetat que aporta és l'aplicació de la teoria de modes característics a l'anàlisi d'estructures 3D i l'us de multi alimentació per excitar de forma selectiva modes concrets de radiació. Inicialment es presenta un anàlisi d'estructures planes que interactuen entre si, i s'utilitza una combinació de ports per forçar l'excitació de determinats modes amb bon comportament radiant. A més, es demostra que les ressonàncies d'una antena, no solament són causades per un mode en ressonància, sinó que també apareixen com a resultat de la combinació de modes magnètics i elèctrics. A la tesi es proposen dissenys d'antenes amb molt baix perfil, obtingudes a partir del plegat progressiu de les estructures planes prèviament estudiades. Amb les tècniques de plegat s'aconsegueixen antenes compactes i de baix perfil, fàcilment integrables, que presenten molt bones característiques de radiació i una forma d'excitació senzilla. Es realitza un estudi sistemàtic d'estructures canòniques en 3 dimensions, com les guies d'ona rectangular i circular. En primer lloc, les guies d'ona i cavitats equivalents s'analitzen amb un enfocament clàssic, obtenint els modes de camp transversal elèctric ET i transversal magnètic TM. A continuació, s'analitzen les mateixes guies i cavitats aplicant la teoria de modes característics, unificant i comparant per primera vegada els dos tipus d'anàlisi. Les conclusions extretes de l'anàlisi de les guies d'ona rectangular i circular, s'han aplicat per dissenyar dos tipus d'antenes, que proporcionen bon ample de banda i característiques de radiació òptimes per a aplicacions 5G. La tesi inclou un capítol en el qual es proposen diferents prototips d'antenes, dissenyats a partir de l'aplicació de la teoria de modes característics. S'aprofiten les conclusions obtingudes en cada un dels capítols de la tesi i s'apliquen a dissenys específics, demostrant que emprant la TCM, és possible dissenyar antenes que tinguen bones característiques de radiació i que poden integrar-se fàcilment en dispositius que operen amb noves tecnologies, com 5G o IoT. / [EN] The Theory of Characteristic Modes (TCM), developed by R.F. Harrington in the mid 1960's, has become, since the beginning of the 21st century, a fundamental tool for systematic antenna design, thanks to the physical vision it provides of radiation phenomena. Currently, many research groups worldwide have adopted this theory as part of their design methodology. However, the theory of characteristic modes has been used mainly for the analysis of planar structures, and there are few examples of application of the theory to 3D structures, given the difficulty involved in its analysis. This thesis aims to design multi-fed antennas with high bandwidth using TCM. The main novelty contribution is providing the application of characteristic modes theory to the analysis of 3D structures and the use of multi-feed to selectively excite specific radiation modes. Initially, an analysis of plane structures that interact with each other is presented, and a combination of ports is used to force the excitation of certain modes with good radiant behavior. Furthermore, it is shown that the resonances of an antenna are not only caused by a resonance mode, but also appear as a result of the combination of magnetic and electrical modes. The thesis proposes antenna designs with very low profile, obtained from the progressive folding of the previously studied planar structures. With the folding techniques, compact and low-profile antennas are designed, easily integrated, with very good radiation characteristics and a simple form of excitation. A systematic study of 3-dimensional canonical structures, such as rectangular and circular waveguides, is carried out. First, the waveguides and equivalent cavities with a classical approach are analyzed, obtaining the transverse electric TE and transverse magnetic TM field modes. Then, the same waveguides and cavities are analyzed applying the theory of characteristic modes, unifying and comparing for the first time the two types of analysis. The conclusions drawn from the analysis of the rectangular and circular waveguides have been applied to design two types of antennas, which provide good bandwidth and optimal radiation characteristics for 5G applications. The thesis includes a chapter in which different antenna prototypes are proposed, designed from the application of the characteristic modes theory. The conclusions obtained in each chapters of the thesis are taken advantage of and applied to specific designs, showing that using TCM, it is possible to design antennas that have good radiation characteristics and that can be easily integrated into devices that operate with new technologies. like 5G or IoT. / Peñafiel Ojeda, CR. (2021). Design of Multi-feed UWB Antennas using the Theory of Characteristic Modes [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/175186 / TESIS

Elements of continuous variation such as tremolo, vibrato and portamento enable dimensions of their own in expressive melodic music in styles such as in Indian Classical Music. There is published work on parametrically modeling some of these elements individually, and to apply the modeled parameters to automatically generated musical notes in the context of machine musicianship, using simple rule-based mappings. There have also been many systems developed for generative musical accompaniment using probabilistic models of discrete musical elements such as MIDI notes and durations, many of them inspired by computational research in linguistics. There however doesn't seem to have been a combined approach of parametrically modeling expressive elements in a probabilistic framework. This documents presents a real-time computational framework that uses a multi-attribute trie / n-gram structure to model parameters like frequency, depth and/or lag of the expressive variations such as vibrato and portamento, along with conventionally modeled elements such as musical notes, their durations and metric positions in melodic audio input. This work proposes storing the parameters of expressive elements as metadata in the individual nodes of the traditional trie structure, along with the distribution of their probabilities of occurrence. During automatic generation of music, the expressive parameters as learned in the above training phase are applied to the associated re-synthesized musical notes. The model is aimed at being used to provide automatic melodic accompaniment in a performance scenario. The parametric modeling of the continuous expressive elements in this form is hypothesized to be able to capture deeper temporal relationships among musical elements and thereby is expected to bring about a more expressive and more musical outcome in such a performance than what has been possible using other works of machine musicianship using only static mappings or randomized choice. A system was developed on Max/MSP software platform with this framework, which takes in a pitched audio input such as human singing voice, and produces a pitch track which may be applied to synthesized sound of a continuous timbre. The system was trained and tested with several vocal recordings of North Indian Classical Music, and a subjective evaluation of the resulting audio was made using an anonymous online survey. The results of the survey show the output tracks generated from the system to be as musical and expressive, if not more, than the case where the pitch track generated from the original audio was directly rendered as output, and also show the output with expressive elements to be perceivably more expressive than the version of the output without expressive parameters. The results further suggest that more experimentation may be required to conclude the efficacy of the framework employed in relation to using randomly selected parameter values for the expressive elements. This thesis presents the scope, context, implementation details and results of the work, suggesting future improvements.

Text in English / The goals of this research were to explore, describe and explain the crime of associated robbery, which at the time of this study, was a scientifically unknown phenomenon. Associated robbery is defined as “a bank-related robbery (by association) of cash or attempt thereto, committed against a bank client or his/her delegate, at any stage while en-route to or from a bank branch, ATM or cash centre or inside the branch to effect a deposit, or, withdrawal” (SABRIC 2013:4) This robbery is divided into two main categories, namely robbery before cash deposit and robbery after cash withdrawal. As found in literature and also evident in the findings of this study, more incidents and related cash losses are reported from robbery after withdrawal, which is sub-divided into muti scam, money bomb and spiked drink. This study followed an exploratory, sequential, mixed-method research approach where the qualitative phase took place first – followed by the quantitative phase. The topic was firstly explored by collecting qualitative data via in-depth, one-on-one interviews (from a phenomenological point of view) where mutual meaning was sought, as understood by victims of associated robbery. To gather quantitative data, 500 bank clients (i.e. individuals, small business owners and stokvel/saving club members) completed a survey questionnaire. Their perspective on the phenomenon of associated robbery was thus explained and described through the use of descriptive statistics, particularly univariate and bivariate statistical analysis. The most significant contribution made by this study, is embedment of the preventative measures used by the banking industry and other stakeholders such as the SAPS into the Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles approaches. This model is heavily grounded on 12 SCP strategies, namely: access control; deflecting offenders; controlling facilitation; entry/exist screening; formal surveillance; surveillance by employees; natural surveillance; target removal; reducing temptation; rule setting; stimulating conscience; and facilitating compliance. Furthermore, the model emphasises that the combating of associated robberies is a collaborative effort and thus the individual (bank client), the banking industry, the criminal justice system (CJS) and the general public all have to work together in fighting this endemic. The lack of knowledge mainly from a victim’s perspective was identified as one of the challenges faced. However, this presented an opportunity for this study to make a significant contribution to the development of scientific literature. Moreover, the use of opportunity theories to explain the reasons why individuals are victimised placed the phenomenon in the criminological research milieu – thus pioneering a way for researchers who may wish to conduct future research on the same topic. / Criminology and Security Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)

Despite the fact that albinism affects several South Africans, it is a condition that remains deeply misunderstood. Albinism is steeped in myth and false notions, and is perceived by many as a curse and contamination. For years, persons living with albinism have been treated with doubt and suspicion. Also in schools and in the wider community, children with albinism are subjected to violence and ridicule. In certain areas on the African continent, including Southern Africa, persons living with albinism are killed for the trade in body parts for use as sacramental medicines, or sexually assaulted as a result of the belief that raping them may offer a cure for HIV/AIDS. All of this highlights the extreme vulnerability of persons living with albinism, not to mention the many violations of their fundamental rights that follow from the manner in which they are treated. Within the social context that frames the experience of persons living with albinism, the primary purpose of this study is to highlight some of the pertinent challenges faced by persons living with albinism in South Africa which compromise the full enjoyment of their fundamental rights as enshrined in the South African Constitution. The thesis makes a number of practical recommendations that will assist in promoting the legal position of this vulnerable group, while also contributing to a better understanding of albinism in general which will ultimately change negative perceptions and debunk the myths surrounding the condition. / Jurisprudence / LL. D.