The Mars Pathfinder (MPF) arrived on the Martian surface on 4 July 1997 to become only the third successful landed mission to Mars, recording surface meteorological data intermittently over a period of 83 Martian days ("sols"). The in situ observations made by the MPF meteorology (MET) experiment were recorded at much greater precision than those of the previous missions, Viking Landers 1 and 2. These observations have been analyzed, focusing primarily upon the four so-called "Presidential" sessions, which each covered a complete diurnal cycle. The signature of very strong convective activity was seen in the temperature data, beginning soon after sunrise with temperatures changing as much as 14.39 K over the four-second interval between observations, and ceasing in late afternoon at the collapse of the boundary layer. Less extreme variability occurred at most other times of day and night. Examination of the first ten tidal pressure harmonic amplitudes for each Presidential session revealed strong diurnal and semidiurnal amplitudes and smaller, yet significant, amplitudes at the higher tidal frequencies. The normalized diurnal amplitude was slightly more than 1.7% for one session and averaged ~2.5% for the other three sessions. The semidiurnal amplitude averaged ~1.3%. A pattern in the tidal pressure harmonic amplitudes exists, in which odd-numbered harmonics (excluding the diurnal frequency) have smaller amplitudes than those of the next lower and next higher, even-numbered harmonics. Wind direction data for one Presidential session show very high variability throughout most of the diurnal cycle, the most intense activity occurring during the daytime convective period. A generally clockwise rotation of the mean wind direction was observed throughout the session. Temperature and wind data were examined closely for evidence of contamination of the temperature data by thermal effects of the lander itself. No evidence was found for such "lander interference" in the morning, but lander interference may have occurred in the afternoon of the session examined. A study of a numerical simulation by the NASA Ames Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM) showed prominent minima and maxima, resembling those observed by MPF, in the diurnal pressure cycles of simulated sols corresponding to the Presidential sessions. Also well simulated in each sol is the very rapid increase in surface pressure immediately after the daily minimum. Maps of diurnal and semidiurnal tidal amplitudes for the simulated Presidential sols show that tidal harmonic amplitudes are very spatially dependent, and that large changes in the harmonic amplitudes at any given location are likely to result if the global amplitude pattern for one or more frequencies undergoes small shifts in areographic location. Simulated temperature has a classic "red" power spectrum, while simulated pressure power is concentrated in the tidal frequency range. These spectral shapes are roughly consistent with those computed from the MPF Presidential sessions. The ratios of simulated to observed temperature power spectral estimates for frequencies from 1 to 50 cycles/sol show that the MGCM's simulated temperature variability is too low at all frequencies and especially so at higher frequencies. / Graduation date: 2003

The study assessed the knowledge structure of Grade 11 physics students and their instructors using Pathfinder networks. Instructors’ structural knowledge was averaged to create a referent pathfinder network. Each student’s pathfinder network was compared with the referent pathfinder network in order to identify misconceptions. These misconceptions served as the basis for remedial instruction. The study was conducted in six sections of Grade 11. Three different types of remedial instruction based on three different chapters from the Grade 11 physics textbook were given to the students at three separate stages. In the first section, students were shown their own and referent pathfinder networks as an intervention during the first stage. The students were asked to reflect on the similarities and differences between them. The researcher gave written concept-oriented exercises based on the differences at the second stage, and multimedia concept-oriented instruction based on the differences was given to the students at the third stage. The order of instruction was counterbalanced in all the six sections. After each stage, students’ pathfinder networks were reassessed and the similarities between students’ and the referent pathfinder networks were calculated to measure the effect of a particular intervention. The study tried to determine which type of remedial instruction given to students best improved the knowledge structure of the students in the domain of physics. Results revealed that the similarity indices around the treatment concepts in the pathfinder networks of the students increased the most from pre- to post-intervention phase because of their reflections, followed by multimedia concept-oriented instruction and written concept-oriented exercises. Most likely, the major reason for this change was the interventions around the treatment concepts by the researcher at three different stages which stimulated and probably changed some of students’ misconceptions. To address the issue of validity, the similarity indices of control concepts in the students’ pathfinder networks were also checked for improvement. The result shows that there is no appreciable improvement in control concepts as there was no intervention around those concepts. Findings support the use of structural assessment of knowledge with pathfinder scaling technique to check the effectiveness of a classroom instruction.

The study assessed the knowledge structure of Grade 11 physics students and their instructors using Pathfinder networks. Instructors’ structural knowledge was averaged to create a referent pathfinder network. Each student’s pathfinder network was compared with the referent pathfinder network in order to identify misconceptions. These misconceptions served as the basis for remedial instruction. The study was conducted in six sections of Grade 11. Three different types of remedial instruction based on three different chapters from the Grade 11 physics textbook were given to the students at three separate stages. In the first section, students were shown their own and referent pathfinder networks as an intervention during the first stage. The students were asked to reflect on the similarities and differences between them. The researcher gave written concept-oriented exercises based on the differences at the second stage, and multimedia concept-oriented instruction based on the differences was given to the students at the third stage. The order of instruction was counterbalanced in all the six sections. After each stage, students’ pathfinder networks were reassessed and the similarities between students’ and the referent pathfinder networks were calculated to measure the effect of a particular intervention. The study tried to determine which type of remedial instruction given to students best improved the knowledge structure of the students in the domain of physics. Results revealed that the similarity indices around the treatment concepts in the pathfinder networks of the students increased the most from pre- to post-intervention phase because of their reflections, followed by multimedia concept-oriented instruction and written concept-oriented exercises. Most likely, the major reason for this change was the interventions around the treatment concepts by the researcher at three different stages which stimulated and probably changed some of students’ misconceptions. To address the issue of validity, the similarity indices of control concepts in the students’ pathfinder networks were also checked for improvement. The result shows that there is no appreciable improvement in control concepts as there was no intervention around those concepts. Findings support the use of structural assessment of knowledge with pathfinder scaling technique to check the effectiveness of a classroom instruction.

Radio frequency identification, also known as RFID technology, has been commercially available since World War II. In recent years, interest has turned toward using RFID in supply chain management, such as monitoring and tracking business processes. There are many businesses that have already invested in an RFID supply chain management solution but little is known about the current state of diffusion of RFID technology and the role of advocacy groups in the diffusion process. This research investigated the current state of RFID diffusion in New Zealand according to diffusion of innovation and Moore’s theory to provide insight into the role of innovation advocacy groups such as New Zealand RFID Pathfinder Group (referred as the NZ RFID Pathfinder Group). RFID in supply chain management terms is inter-organisational and much of the role of advocacy groups is in networking between players in the supply chain management context. Therefore, this research focused on industry group leaders. The research was conducted in two main parts, an online questionnaire survey and a follow up interview. The online questionnaire survey used a quantitative approach while the interview used a qualitative one. In summary, the result show that: 14% industries (seven out of 51) have already adopted RFID technology, the industries were from importer, research institute, manufacturing, and distribution; 36% have plans (16 out of 44) to adopt RFID technology in the near future, the industries were from importer, research institute, manufacturing, and distribution; and 64% industries (28 out of 44) did not any plan to adopt RFID. The strong recommendation was to standardise each aspect of the technology, making the products available to clients and creating competition between RFID technology service suppliers, thus bringing down the cost through market forces. Increasing the number of members of advocacy group could also encourage RFID adoption. One group of potential RFID adopters in the future will be local branches of international companies with a mandate to adopt RFID technology. The results suggest that the NZ RFID Pathfinder Group should set the direction of NZ RFID adoption; get involved in national pilots; and the activities of lobbying governments and associations and information sharing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of the Geophysical Sciences, June 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

The study assessed the knowledge structure of Grade 11 physics students and their instructors using Pathfinder networks. Instructors’ structural knowledge was averaged to create a referent pathfinder network. Each student’s pathfinder network was compared with the referent pathfinder network in order to identify misconceptions. These misconceptions served as the basis for remedial instruction. The study was conducted in six sections of Grade 11. Three different types of remedial instruction based on three different chapters from the Grade 11 physics textbook were given to the students at three separate stages. In the first section, students were shown their own and referent pathfinder networks as an intervention during the first stage. The students were asked to reflect on the similarities and differences between them. The researcher gave written concept-oriented exercises based on the differences at the second stage, and multimedia concept-oriented instruction based on the differences was given to the students at the third stage. The order of instruction was counterbalanced in all the six sections. After each stage, students’ pathfinder networks were reassessed and the similarities between students’ and the referent pathfinder networks were calculated to measure the effect of a particular intervention. The study tried to determine which type of remedial instruction given to students best improved the knowledge structure of the students in the domain of physics. Results revealed that the similarity indices around the treatment concepts in the pathfinder networks of the students increased the most from pre- to post-intervention phase because of their reflections, followed by multimedia concept-oriented instruction and written concept-oriented exercises. Most likely, the major reason for this change was the interventions around the treatment concepts by the researcher at three different stages which stimulated and probably changed some of students’ misconceptions. To address the issue of validity, the similarity indices of control concepts in the students’ pathfinder networks were also checked for improvement. The result shows that there is no appreciable improvement in control concepts as there was no intervention around those concepts. Findings support the use of structural assessment of knowledge with pathfinder scaling technique to check the effectiveness of a classroom instruction.

abstract: ABSTRACT The cold and the flu are two of the most prevalent diseases in the world. Many over the counter (OTC) medications have been created to combat the symptoms of these illnesses. Some medications take a holistic approach by claiming to alleviate a wide range of symptoms, while others target a specific symptom. As these medications become more ubiquitous within the United State of America (USA), consumers form associations and mental models about the cold/flu field. The goal of Study 1 was to build a Pathfinder network based on the associations consumers make between cold/flu symptoms and medications. 100 participants, 18 years or older, fluent in English, and residing in the USA, completed a survey about the relatedness of cold/flu symptoms to OTC medications. They rated the relatedness on a scale of 1 (highly unrelated) to 7 (highly related) and those rankings were used to build a Pathfinder network that represented the average of those associations. Study 2 was conducted to validate the Pathfinder network. A different set of 90 participants with the same restrictions as those in Study 1 completed a matching associations test. They were prompted to match symptoms and medications they associated closely with each other. Results showered a significant negative correlation between the geodetic distance (the number of links between objects in the Pathfinder network) separating symptoms and medications and frequency of pairing symptoms with medication. This provides evidence of the validity of the Pathfinder network. It was also seen that, higher the relatedness rating between symptoms and medications in Study 1, higher the frequency of pairing symptom to medication in Study 2, and the more directly linked those symptoms and medications were in the Pathfinder network. This network can inform pharmaceutical companies about which symptoms they most closely associate with, who their competitors are, what symptoms they can dominate, and how to market their medications more effectively. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Engineering 2020

Multi-threading is commonly applied in modern computer programs, bringing many conveniences but also causing concurrency issues. Among the various error debugging tools, Java Pathfinder (JPF) can detect latent errors of multithreaded Java programs through model checking. However, the text-based format of the output trace is hard to read, and previous attempts in visualizing JPF traces show limitations. For long-term development, popular trace analytic platform such as Trace Compass (TC) is extended to adapt to JPF traces. In this thesis, the development of JPF and TC makes it possible to analyze JPF traces on TC with a user interface including visual diagrams. The development solves the conceptual differences between the tools and successfully visualize important trace data. The implementation can help provide a generic approach for analyzing JPF traces with visualization. / Multitrådning används ofta i moderna datorprogram, vilket har många fördelar men kan också orsaka samtidighetsproblem. Bland olika felsökningsverktyg kan Java Pathfinder (JPF) upptäcka latenta fel hos multitrådade Javaprogram genom modellkontroll. Spårningsinformationen i form av text har låg läsbarhet, och tidigare försök att visualsera JPF-spår har visat begränsningar. För långsiktig utveckling har populära spårningsanalysplattformar som Trace Compass (TC) utvidgats för att anpassas till JPF-spår. I examensprojektet gör utvecklingen av JPF och TC det möjligt att analysera JPF-spår på TC med ett användargränssnitt baserat på visuella diagram. Utvecklingen löser den konceptuella skillnaden mellan verktygen och visualiserar spårdata på ett framgångsrikt sätt. Implementeringen bidrar med ett generiskt tillvägagångssätt för att analysera JPF spår med hjälp av visualisering.

Understanding and communicating user requirements in a software requirement analysis effort is very important. Misunderstandings of user requirements between stakeholders will cause problems in terms of satisfying their needs, reduction of defects, cost and schedule during the software development process. This dissertation presents a new technique that has the ability to represent the mental models of the user, developers, project managers and sponsors (collectively referred to as ?stakeholders?) as network representations. The requirements are modeled as nodes and the perception of stakeholders is modeled as the interrelationships (links) among the requirements. The requirements are first extracted from a requirements document. The requirements are then categorized into related groups as perceived by each stakeholder. The relatedness (proximity) data collected from the categories is then fed into the Pathfinder generation program that results in the generation of pathfinder network(PFNETs). The PFNETs of stakeholders are then compared for similarities/dissimilarities using a graph similarity metric referred to as a correlation coefficient. During preliminary research work, this technique was applied to multiple student projects with real customers at Mississippi State University (MSU), and to a project at NORTEL, Dallas, Texas with encouraging results. This research was successful in identifying duplicate, ambiguous and misunderstood requirements. The next step was to validate this technique on small-scale and medium-scale projects in an industrial setting. During the summer of 2003, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and AmerInd Inc. jointly sponsored a collaborative industry-university research effort to validate the proposed technique. It was found that this technique is easy to apply and useful to gauge an overall understanding of requirements and identify potentially misunderstood requirements for small and medium scale projects. This technique scaled well from a small-scale project with two stakeholders to a medium-scale project with a little over one hundred requirements and six stakeholders. The correlations helped focus discussions on the requirements that were potentially misunderstood among stakeholders. Duplicate, misunderstood and ambiguous requirements were identified during the facilitation sessions. We also present a new technique that applies information theory-based software metrics to measure consensus about requirements among stakeholders.

Continuously changing system configurations and attack methods make information system risk management using traditional methods a formidable task. Traditional qualitative approaches usually lack sufficient measurable detail on which to base confident, cost-effective decisions. Traditional quantitative approaches are burdened with the requirement to collect an abundance of detailed asset value and historical incident data and to apply complex calculations to measure the data precisely in work environments where there are limited resources to collect and process it. To ensure that safeguards (controls) are implemented to protect against a majority of known threats, industry leaders are requiring information processing systems to comply with security standards. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Information Risk Management Framework (RMF) and the associated suite of guidance documents describe the minimum security requirements for non-national-security federal information and information systems as mandated by the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), enacted into law on December 17, 2002, as Title III of the E-Government Act of 2002. This study proposes using the Pathfinder procedure to mathematically model an information system FISMA-required security control state and an actual information system security control state. A comparison of these two security control states using the proposed method will generate a quantitative measure of the status of compliance of the actual system with the FISMA-required standard. The quantitative measures generated should provide information sufficient to plan risk mitigation strategy, track system compliance to standard, and allow for the discussion of system compliance with the FISMA-required standard in terms easily understood by participants at various levels of an organization without requiring all to have detailed knowledge of the internals of the security standard or the targeted system. The ability to clearly articulate system compliance status and risk mitigation requirements is critical to gaining the support of upper-level management whose responsibility it is to allocate funds sufficient to support government security programs.