Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-223).

Texas is home to many dance halls, but only 18 are known to have been built with a “round” (non-orthogonal) plan. Their common design was first conceived by the Austin County carpenter Joachim Hintz in 1897 for the twelve-sided Bellville Turnverein Pavilion. For the next 40 years, variations on the building type were disseminated and constructed exclusively in Central and South Texas farming communities settled by German and Czech immigrants. These structures were probably based on the octagonal barn plans promoted heavily in the agricultural press at the end of the nineteenth century, yet they look nothing like the round barns of New York and New England or the domed masonry dairy barns of the upper Midwest. This building type is unique to Texas. The majority of the state’s six-, eight-, and 12-sided dance halls were built in a line along State Highway 36 and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad. This thesis explores the architectural history and physical characteristics of these very special Texas dance halls. / text

I studied round-tailed ground squirrels (Spermophilus tereticaudus) to determine if presence of water or green vegetation significantly increased reproductive success. I compared the number of juveniles produced, body weights, and diets of squirrels during 1981-84 on 2 plots with green vegetation and no free water, on 3 plots with free water and no green vegetation, and 2 control plots. Reproductive success and body weights of adult and juvenile squirrels were significantly higher (P ≥ 0.001) on plots with green vegetation than on either watered or control plots. Body weights of squirrels on plots with water only and control plots were not significantly different (P ≥ 0.05). Adult squirrels without access to green vegetation during winter and spring failed to reproduce even though free water was readily available. Percent of diet overlap, diversity, and evenness of squirrel diets on control and watered plots were not significantly different. Green vegetation appeared to be the limiting factor for round-tailed ground squirrels.

Syfte: Studien syftade till att undersöka nyutexaminerade kvinnliga sjuksköterskors upplevelser avseende rondsituationen och arbetsledarrollen.   Metod: Kvalitativ deskriptiv studie. Åtta semi- strukturerade intervjuer genomfördes och analyserades med innehållsanalys.   Resultat: Nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor upplever svårigheter att hantera ronden och rollen som arbetsledare. Trots sitt omvårdnadsansvar upplever sjuksköterskan att omvårdnaden prioriteras ner och att mer tid går till att fördela och utföra läkarordinationer i det dagliga arbetet. På arbetsplatserna saknas rondstruktur och praktisk vägledning i hur en rond ska gå till, vilket även upplevs som bristfälligt under utbildningens gång. Det finns otillräcklig kunskap och tid för att förbereda sig för en rond på bästa sätt. Sjuksköterskorna har olika upplevelser, både negativa och positiva, av den kommunikation som finns med läkare under rondsituationer. Att arbetsleda är svårt dels på grund av utbildningens otillfredsställande förberedelser och dels på grund av svårigheterna att som ny personal på arbetsplatsen förväntas ta kommando och för första gången leda en annan yrkesgrupp.   Slutsats: Nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor upplever svårigheter att hantera rondsituationer på grund av bristande struktur samt problematik i rollen som arbetsledare för omvårdnaden. Kommunikation och samarbete mellan läkare och sjuksköterska har stor betydelse för rondens utgång. Omvårdnad upplevs generellt vara nedprioriterat i förhållande till medicinsk vetenskap. / Objective: The study aims to examine newly qualified female nurses' experiences regarding the ward round and leadership role.   Method: Qualitative descriptive study. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using content analysis.   Results: Graduate nurses are experiencing difficulties in managing the round and the leadership role. Despite their nursing responsibilities they experience a lack of priority in nursing, and that most time is spent to distribute and perform medical prescriptions in their daily work. The workplace has no structure and practical guidance regarding rounds, which is also perceived as deficient during the education. There is insufficient knowledge and time to prepare for a round in the best way. The nurses have different experiences, both positive and negative, of the communication with doctors during round situations. The leadership role is difficult partly because of inadequate preparation and training. Also because of the difficulties in which the newly graduated nurse in the new workplace is expected to take command, and for the first time take the lead of a different profession.   Conclusion: Newly graduated nurses are experiencing difficulties in managing the ward round due to lack of structure as well as problems in the leadership role of nursing. Communication and cooperation between doctors and nurses are of great importance for the round outcome. Nursing is generally perceived to not be prioritized in relation to medical science.

Every day data communication networks carry more and more information, which sometimes is very important and needs to be delivered in time. To achieve that, data transfer networks must meet quality requirements that are formed in SLA contracts between clients and service providers. Supplied data transfer link’s quality is described by worldwide defined quality metrics, which include: one way delay, IP delay variation, link loss and round trip time. In order to measure these metrics, special software was created during projects “QoS monitoring system” first phase. This paper continues the project and explores available tuning methods for created software including time synchronization and mobility problems in order to provide better accuracy with higher mobility. New system topology and time offset correction using measurement packets were proposed during the analysis part. Possible system improvements were put to test in order to evaluate the efficiency during the experiment.

For scientists, the accuracy of their results is a constant concern. As the programs they write to support their research grow in complexity, there is a greater need to understand what causes the inaccuracies in their outputs, and how they can be mitigated. This problem is difficult because the inaccuracies in the outputs come from a variety of sources in both the scientific and computing domains. Furthermore, as most programs lack a testing oracle, there is no simple way to validate the results. We define a model for the analysis of error propagation in software. Its novel combination of interval arithmetic and automatic differentiation allows for the error accumulated in an output to be measurable at runtime, attributable to individual inputs and functions, and identifiable as either input error, round-off error, or error from a different source. This allows for the identification of the subset of inputs and functions that are most responsible for the error seen in an output and how it can be best mitigated. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our model by analyzing a small case study from the field of nuclear engineering, where we are able to attribute the contribution of over 99% of the error to 3 functions out of 15, and identify the causes for the observed error. / Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-24 14:12:25.659

This thesis aims to improve sales forecasting in the context of passenger airlines. We study two important issues that could potentially improve forecasting accuracy: day-to-day price change rather than price itself, and linking flights that are likely to be considered as pairs for a round trip by passengers; we refer to the latter as the Round-Trip Model (RTM). We find that price change is a significant variable regardless of days remaining to flight in the last three weeks to flight departure, which opens the possibility of planning for revenue maximizing price change patterns. We also find that the RTM can improve the precision of the forecasting models, and provide an improved pricing strategy for planners. In the study of the effect of price change on sales, analysis of variance is applied; finite regression mixture models were tested to identify linked traffic in the two directions and the linked flights on a route in reverse directions; adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is applied to develop comparative models for studying sales effect between price and price change, and one-way versus round-trip models. The price change model demonstrated more robust results with comparable estimation errors, and the concept model for the round-trip with only one linked flight reduced estimation error by 5%. This empirical study is performed on a database with 22,900 flights which was obtained from a major North American passenger airline.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Univ., 2002. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

INTRODUCTION: Women’s gymnastics has the highest injury incidence rates for NCAA female college athletes. Gymnastics maneuvers may require support and transfer of the entire body weight from the feet to the hands. Such motions cause excessive loading and stress across joint surfaces which on occasion can exceed the mechanical strength of upper limb joints and supportive musculoskeletal structures, resulting in injuries ranging from acute fractures to chronic overuse injuries like osteochondritis dissecans. Recent technological advances have only now made it possible to analyze the complex and simultaneous motions in multiple planes required for evaluation of even the most basic gymnastic maneuvers like the round-off back handspring (ROBHS). OBJECTIVES: There is a paucity of data characterizing upper extremity injury causation and biomechanical risk factors in the small number of gymnastics studies conducted. The first hand contact for any gymnastics skill has never been quantitatively assessed. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to perform a detailed 3D biomechanical characterization of the round-off back handspring (ROBHS) first hand contact and evaluate any potential correlations to upper extremity injury determinants. METHODS: A 3D motion capture camera and force plate system captured the relative positon of reflective markers affixed to 62 anatomical positions on subjects during performance of an ROBHS. A virtual model of each subject was constructed using Nexus C-motion software. Programming with Visual3D and MATLAB software was used to calculate desired force, kinematic and kinetic variables such as joint torques and angles. Past medical history questionnaires were administered, and clinical range of motion and strength measures were assessed. RESULTS: Compared with other factors analyzed, hand contact order appeared to have the highest degree of influence on upper extremity biomechanics at both the time of initial contact and throughout the entire movement sequence. The second contact limb was correlated with a larger average ground contact force, whereas while the first contact limb was related to a shorter time to peak force development and larger magnitude rotational kinematic variables, especially at the elbow—the primary site of upper extremity injury. For the first hand contact, torque development at the elbow and shoulder appeared to be related, and wrist and shoulder variables were presumably related to ground reaction force (GRF) development. The proposed literature elbow injury mechanism may need some adjustment to reflect the impact of elbow flexion angle on GRF and elbow valgus torque, key variables tied to chronic elbow joint capsule overload injuries. CONCLUSIONS: The novel information provided by this study can be used to guide future recommendations for the prevention of upper extremity injury in gymnastics training and competition. Improved understanding of associated force, kinetic, and kinematic biomechanical variables like joint torque could have implications for movement specific body positioning with the potential for extrapolation to gymnastics moves with similar loading patterns. Possible protective technique interventions based on study findings include increasing second hand elbow flexion during the round-off phase of motion or minimizing the time between hand contacts.

Objetivos: Descrever as dimensões e a posição da crista fenestra no interior do nicho ósseo da janela redonda, assim como identificar sua presença através da tomografia computadorizada (TC) de alta resolução. Métodos: Uma amostra de 10 ossos temporais humanos adultos foi dissecada para o estudo microscópico do nicho ósseo da janela redonda. Resultados: Em todos os ossos estudados, a membrana da janela redonda foi totalmente visualizada somente após a remoção dos bordos do nicho ósseo. A crista fenestra revelou-se uma afilada saliência óssea situada sempre nos bordos anterior e inferior do nicho da janela redonda. Sua área variou entre 0,28 e 0,80 mm2 (média: 0,51 mm2). A proporção da área ocupada pela crista fenestra no lúmen da janela redonda variou entre 23 e 50% (média: 36%). Foi observada uma tendência de que nichos estreitos alberguem cristas de menores dimensões (coeficiente de Spearman: 0,491). Em todos os casos, a avaliação radiológica não foi capaz de definir a presença da crista fenestra. Conclusões: A crista fenestra ocupa uma variável porém significativa área no lúmen do nicho ósseo da janela redonda. Sua presença representa um expressivo obstáculo para o acesso à rampa timpânica. A TC de alta resolução não acrescenta informações pré-operatórias relevantes acerca da sua presença e das suas dimensões. / Objectives: To describe the dimensions and position of the crista fenestra within the round window niche and determine its presence by means of highresolution computed tomography (CT). Methods: A series of 10 adult human temporal bones were dissected for microscopic study of the round window niche. Results: In all specimens, the round window membrane was fully visualized only after complete removal of its bony overhangs. The crista fenestra was identified as a sharp bony crest located in the anterior and inferior borders of the niche, and its area ranged from 0.28 to 0.80 mm2 (mean, 0.51 mm2). The proportion of the area occupied by the crista fenestra in the whole circumference of the round window ranged from 23 to 50% (mean, 36%). Narrower niches tended to have smaller crests (Spearman coefficient: 0.491). In all cases, radiological assessment was unable to determine the presence of the crista fenestra. Conclusion: The crista fenestra occupies a variable but expressive area within the bony round window niche. Its presence is an important obstacle to adequate access to the scala tympani. High-resolution CT scan provides no additional preoperative information with regard to the presence of the crista fenestra or its linear dimensions.