Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Submitted by EDUARDO BATISTA DE MORAES BARBOSA null (ebmb@yahoo.com) on 2016-07-22T20:43:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis-Full.pdf: 4249671 bytes, checksum: 293e98d71cda47dab135797fedb06e6f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-07-25T17:18:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 barbosa_ebm_dr_guara.pdf: 4249671 bytes, checksum: 293e98d71cda47dab135797fedb06e6f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-25T17:18:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 barbosa_ebm_dr_guara.pdf: 4249671 bytes, checksum: 293e98d71cda47dab135797fedb06e6f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-01 / A configuração de parâmetros de algoritmos, em especial, das meta-heurísticas, nem sempre é trivial e, frequentemente, é realizada ad hoc de acordo com o problema sob análise. A fim de resolver o problema de sintonização de meta-heurísticas, a presente pesquisa propõe uma metodologia que combina o uso de técnicas estatísticas robustas (ex.: Planejamento de Experimentos) e métodos eficientes de Inteligência Artificial (ex.: Algoritmos de Corrida). A ideia central desta metodologia é um método heurístico, denominado Algoritmo de Corrida Orientada por Heurística (HORA), capaz de explorar o espaço de busca para perseguir diferentes alternativas na vizinhança de uma configuração de parâmetros promissora e encontrar sistematicamente boas configurações candidatas para diferentes algoritmos. Em síntese, o método HORA concentra as buscas sobre configurações candidatas promissoras, criadas dinamicamente em um processo iterativo, e utiliza uma técnica estatística robusta para avaliar as diferentes alternativas e descartar aquelas de qualidade inferior, assim que reunir evidências estatísticas suficientes contra elas. A partir dos resultados de diversos estudos computacionais, em que diferentes meta-heurísticas foram aplicadas sobre dois problemas clássicos de otimização combinatória, apresentam-se evidências estatísticas que as sintonizações obtidas pelo HORA são competitivas em relação ao método de Corrida e seu tempo no processo de sintonização é amplamente vantajoso. Em um estudo complementar, um algoritmo já bem configurado da literatura foi sintonizado por meio da metodologia proposta e os resultados da nova sintonização foram comparados com a literatura. Os resultados demonstram que a sintonização obtida pelo HORA pode encontrar soluções de melhor qualidade em relação à sintonização original. Portanto, a partir dos resultados apresentados nesta pesquisa conclui-se que a metodologia para sintonização de meta-heurísticas por meio do método HORA é uma abordagem promissora que pode ser aplicada sobre diferentes meta-heurísticas para resolução de uma diversidade de problemas de otimização. / The fine-tuning of the algorithms parameters, specially, of the meta-heuristics, it is not always trivial and often is performed by ad hoc methods according to the problem under analysis. In order to solve the problem of tuning metaheuristics, this research proposes a methodology combining statistical robust techniques (e.g.: Design of Experiments) and efficient methods from Artificial Intelligence (e.g.: Racing Algorithms). The key idea of this methodology is a heuristic method, called Heuristic Oriented Racing Algorithm (HORA), which explores the search space looking for alternatives near of a promising candidate and consistently finds good candidates configuration for different algorithms. Briefly, HORA focuses its searches over the promising candidates configuration, dynamically created in an iterative process, and employs a robust statistical method to evaluate and discarding them, as soon as gather enough statistical evidence against them. The results of several studies, where different metaheuristics were applied to solve two classical combinatorial optimization problems, present statistical evidences that the settings obtained by HORA are competitive to the Racing Algorithms and its time in the fine-tuning process is widely advantageous. In a complementary study, an already well setting algorithm from the literature was tuned by means of the proposed methodology and the new settings were compared with the literature. The results show that the fine-tuning from HORA can find better quality solutions than the original ones. Therefore, from the results presented in this study it is concluded that the methodology for fine-tuning of metaheuristics by means of HORA is a promising approach, which can be applied on different metaheuristics to solve a diversity of optimization problems.

Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2006 / This research examines the ways in which local residents living in close proximity to the event perceived the Berg River Canoe Marathon as a major event in the Western Cape. By identif'ying these different patterns ofperceptions within the community, it is possible to gain a better understanding of both the tangible and intangible impacts of events and how they differently affect the quality of life of local residents as individuals and the community as a whole. The research method was based on a convenient sampling approach. A questionnaire survey of two hundred residents was conducted and five different dimensions of perceiving the impacts of events were examined ranging from extremely negative to very positive. The impacts analysed included social, economic and environmental impacts. The residents in all the five locations perceived community pride and entertainment to be very positive and were in favour ofthe continuation of the event. 1n profiling the residents who held each of the representations identified, it was found that the most negative group was those residents who had little or no involvement in tourism and are not interested in canoeing as a sport. Thus, it is necessary for event organisers and event managers to get the members of community involved in the planning and management of the event to spread the benefits to a larger portion of the community.

Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, 2006 / The concept of service quality within sport tourism is important and plays a major role in differentiating each sport tourism product from its competitors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of service quality within South African sport tourism and in the tourism industry in general, by focusing on a specific case study, the Berg River Canoe Marathon. The study discussed the importance of service quality within sport tourism, while the methods and instruments applicable to assess the level of service quality within sport tourism, were also addressed. The survey was conducted across selected viewpoints, which included the starting and the finishing points of the marathon. A total of 100 survey questionnaires were distributed to spectators and participants at the event using purposive sampling, while stratified random sampling was used to determine the viewpoints. The SERVQUAL dimensions were incorporated in the questionnaires as the basis to determine the level of service delivery at the event. The key fmdings for the study include a lack of service delivery consistency across the selected areas, the acceptance of service delivery by some respondents owing to the nature of the event and less interaction between event organisers and spectators. In addition, the starting and the finishing points were the areas, which were found to deliver high quality services

Thesis (DTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management ))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / The relationship between sport and tourism is symbiotic and offers valued visitor experiences that aid sport tourism development. The growth of sport tourism justifies critical consideration, as sport is an important activity within tourism, while tourism is fundamentally associated with several types of sport. Sport and tourism have become significant economic activities in both the developed and the developing world. Sport tourism events is an essential category of sport tourism and because of their special characteristics, require particularly good organisation. Hence, the monitoring and evaluation of sport tourism events are integral to developing a sustainable sport tourism event industry in South Africa. The focus of this study was a comparative analysis of the management and socio-economic impacts of sport tourism events in Durban and Cape Town, utilising a case study approach. The study specifically evaluates the Comrades Marathon (CM), the Hansa Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon (DCM), the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon (OMTOM) and the Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon (BR). Of importance in this study is stakeholders‟ involvement, perceptions, attitudes and understanding relating to the costs and benefits linked to the events. These particular events provided excellent case studies for comparative event impact analysis, as they are well-known sport tourism events, namely two running marathons and two canoe marathons that are held at popular tourist destinations. These case studies reflect a cross-section of experiences contrasting institutional dynamics, management issues, resident perceptions, sport event types as well as socio-economic and spatial contexts. As stakeholders have a direct influence on managerial decision making, a stakeholder analysis was undertaken. Stakeholders included individuals and organisations that were actively involved in the sport tourism events and whose interests may have been positively or negatively affected by the sport tourism event, viz. spectators, managers, sponsors, local government officials and residents. Due to the outdoor nature of the events, the movement of several people at spectator areas and along routes and the surveys being conducted face to face, a multistage, stratified, spatially-based purposive sampling method was used for spectators and residents. Two surveys were conducted at the events: a spectator questionnaire (n = 200 per event) and a service quality questionnaire (n = 100 per event). Spectators were approached while within the various spectator congregation points of each of the sport tourism events, whereas residents located within a 10-km radius of the sport tourism event route were surveyed (n = 200 per event) after the events. Structured key informant interviews were conducted with sponsors, managers and local government authorities.

Att skapa en bra ANN-förare handlar inte bara om att ha en bra struktur på sitt nätverk. Det är minst lika viktigt att data som används vid träningen av nätverket är av bra kvalité. I detta arbete utvärderas i huvudsak två olika förbehandlingstekniker för att se vilken påverkan de har på slutresultatet. Båda teknikerna, reduceringsutjämning och kategoriutjämning är skapade baserat på resultat från tidigare forskningsarbeten. Förare med olika kombinationer av dessa förbehandlingstekniker och spegling utvärderades på olika banor (spegling innebär att man kopierar alla exempel och vänder håll på dem). Resultatet var tyvärr inte så bra som förväntat då förbehandlingsteknikerna visade sig vara felkonstruerade. Förbehandlingsteknikerna gjorde därför inte sina uppgifter på rätt sätt vilket gav ett lite opålitligt resultat. Det positiva i studien var att förare med en kombination av båda förbehandlingsteknikerna lärde sig bäst. Detta visar på potential hos förbehandlingsteknikerna som därför skulle kunna vidareutvecklas i framtida arbeten.

Drug metabolism is a specialised subset of xenobiotic metabolism, pertaining to the breakdown and elimination of pharmaceutical drugs. The enzymes involved in these pathways are the cytochrome P450 family of isozymes. Metabolism is an important factor in determining the pharmacological effects of drugs. The main aim of this study was to develop a system whereby the major metabolites of drugs can be produced in vitro. An in vitro system was developed and optimised using commercially prepared microsomes from rat liver and coumarin (by monitoring its conversion to 7-hydroxycoumarin) as a model. The optimum running conditions for the incubations were 50 μM coumarin, 50 μg protein/ml microsomes, 1 mM NADP⁺, 5 mM G6P and 1U/ml G6PDH incubated for 30 minutes at 38℃. The HPLC method for the detection of coumarin and 7-hydroxycoumarin was also validated with respect to linearity, reproducibility, precision, accuracy and lower limits of detection and quantification. The system developed was then tested using microsomes prepared from fresh bovine liver on these ten drugs of interest in doping control in horse racing: diazepam, nordiazepam, oxazepam, promazine, acepromazine, chlorpromazine, morphine, codeine, etoricoxib and lumiracoxib. The bovine liver microsomes were prepared using differential centrifugation and had activity on a par with the commercial preparations. This in vitro system metabolised the drugs and produced both phase I and II metabolites, similar to those observed in humans and horses in vivo. For example, the major metabolites of the benzodiazepine drug, diazepam, nordiazepam, temazepam and oxazepam as well as the glucuronidated phase II products were all found after incubations with the bovine liver microsomes. The metabolism of the drugs was also investigated in silico using the computational procedure, MetaSite. MetaSite was able to successfully predict known metabolites for most of the drugs studied. Differences were observed from the in vitro incubations and this is most likely due to MetaSite using only human cytochrome P450s for analysis.

The facility for the development and promotion of motorsport in South Africa will aim to serve as a precedent for future race track development. It is an exploration into the culture of motor racing and how the culture of architecture is enhanced within this very realm. The aim of this discourse is to establish the criteria required for an improved experience trackside and create a relationship between motor racing and architecture that will exhibit the fundamental purpose of being at the track - the racing. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Architecture / unrestricted

Vehicle suspension optimisation is a complex and difficult task, as there are a variety of factors influencing the dynamic performance of a vehicle. During suspension development, the optimisation of a selected few of these factors is often to the detriment of others, as they are all inter-related. In addition, expertise in vehicle setup and suspension tuning is scarce, and is limited to experienced racing teams and large automotive manufacturers with extensive research and development capabilities. The motivation for this research was therefore to provide objective and user-friendly methodologies for vehicle suspension optimisation, in order to support student projects like Formula Student, while having relevance to the needs of the South African automotive industry and racing community. With the onset of digital data acquisition, it has become feasible to take real-time measurements of tyre temperatures, to provide information on how a tyre is performing at a specific point on the track. Measuring the tyre surface temperature can provide a useful indication on whether the tyre is loaded equally or not, and what suspension adjustments should be made to improve tyre load distribution.

This paper seeks to continue the research started by scholars such as W. Liebeschuetz and P. Bell in order to challenge the traditional argument put forth by Al. Cameron, namely that the circus factions did not have a political role in society. The objective of this study is to examine the political importance of the circus factions from the reign of Anastasius (491-518) to Heraclius (610-641). Furthermore, it explores the political motivations behind the factions’ violent behaviour, the evidence for their involvement in the military, and their role in accession ceremonies. The methodology includes establishing a typology for sixth century riots, an examination of the hippodrome and its role as a medium between people and emperor, tracing the shift in the focus of imperial ideology, and a re-evaluation of the primary sources, with a focus on the literary and epigraphic evidence, to determine if there was a political aspect to the factions. The study concludes that Cameron did undervalue the factions’ political importance and outlines the conditions that were influential in their rise in importance.