Thesis (Ph.D)--Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: MacIntyre, Blair; Committee Member: Bolter, Jay; Committee Member: Guzdial, Mark; Committee Member: Mateas, Michael; Committee Member: Mynatt, Elizabeth. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boise State University, 2009. / Title from t.p. of PDF file (viewed June 22, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-102).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2005. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-103).

We present an algorithm to store data robustly in a large, geographically distributed network by means of localized regions of data storage that move in response to changing conditions. For example, data might migrate away from failures or toward regions of high demand. The PersistentNode algorithm provides this service robustly, but with limited safety guarantees. We use the RAMBO framework to transform PersistentNode into RamboNode, an algorithm that guarantees atomic consistency in exchange for increased cost and decreased liveness. In addition, a half-life analysis of RamboNode shows that it is robust against continuous low-rate failures. Finally, we provide experimental simulations for the algorithm on 2000 nodes, demonstrating how it services requests and examining how it responds to failures.

In the current dissertation an implementation of shared memory abstraction on top of contemporary multi-core and many-core clusters has taken place. The results of the presented research effort are mainly depicted in the implementation of the cluster middleware platform Pleiad. Pleiad is a Java-based prototype that incorporates best practices from the field of distributed shared memory systems and also includes some prototype characteristics. Next we review briefly the main results and contributions of the current dissertation: • e presented middleware, Pleiad, is characterized by a highly modular design. Moreover, contrast to most other related efforts, which are usually bound to a specific implementation of consistency, Pleiad has the infrastructure to incorporate many implementations for a certain mechanism and can even interchange such implementations during runtime. • Reference implementations are offered for the relaxed consistency models of Lazy Release Consistency (LRC) and Scope Consistency (ScC). Pleiad is the first Javabased middleware to incorporate implementations for both protocols. • In the current dissertation is taking place one of the few evaluations on a cluster that is supplied with low-power processors (Intel Atom) and thus can be thought as a characteristic case of embedded oriented multi-core clusters. • In the current dissertation one of the first implementations of shared memory abstraction on top of GPU clusters is presented. Shared memory abstraction is evaluated under two schemes. On the first scheme shared memory programming with GPU clusters is achieved under a hybrid combination of the first commercial implementation of OpenMP for clusters, the Intel Cluster OpenMP, and the CUDA platform. e evaluated scheme is the first evaluation of OpenMP and CUDA in the context of GPU clusters. e second scheme involves the enhancement of Pleiad in order to support utilization of GPU clusters. Such implementation is one of the few unified implementation of a shared memory abstraction programming environment that • For the moment there is no establishment of available and widely used benchmarks or application codes that utilize multiple GPUs, either on a cluster or a single node. us, among the thesis contributions is considered the evaluation of shared memory abstraction with real application codes, since the few related systems either have used simple kernels or have been evaluated on a single node. • Specifically, in the current thesis applications from two characteristic domains, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and data clustering, have been implemented and evaluated using GPU clusters and single GPUs. In the first case, a computationally intensive CDF code that operates on structured grids has been accelerated on a GPU cluster, while a simulation that manipulates unstructured grid has been accelerated in the context of a single GPU and demonstrates its potential for GPU cluster acceleration. Accordingly, a partitional data clustering algorithm is accelerated using shared memory abstraction on GPU clusters and a preliminary implementation of a hierarchical data clustering algorithm on GPUs is described. / -

This study aimed to understand how parents’ experience of titration contributes to the adaptive tasks and coping skills associated with their child’s Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses. The primary research question asks: How does participation in the stimulant titration and Shared Decision-Making (SDM) process help parents create adaptive tasks and coping skills? The participants included 4 parents who have undergone the titration and SDM process as a part of treatment that addresses their child’s ADHD diagnosis. Analysis was conducted via an adapted grounded theory approach and resulted in 11 themes related to the core emergent theme of titration. Themes that were representative of the titration experience were related to the participant’s source of stress, cognitive appraisal of the ADHD diagnosis, adaptive tasks, coping skills, outcomes, and suggested improvements. The results have important implications for improving the titration process. The results also emphasize how titration has promoted adaptive tasks and coping skills which assisted participants to feel more in control and create a new sense of normalcy regarding their child’s ADHD diagnosis.

With the advancement of technology, multi-cores with shared cache have been used in real-time applications. In such systems, some cores run real-time applications and some cores run other non-critical applications that do not have strict deadline. Due to the sharing of cache by multi-core processors, problems predicting the actual execution time and the execution time of real-time applications have emerged. To address these problems, cache memory with prioritized replacement policy is proposed. Most of the work is carried out in high-level hardware designs and software based application level designs. No low-level hardware implementations of cache memory with prioritized replacement circuits have been designed to the best of my knowledge. My thesis focuses on designing a LRU replacement circuit that is prioritized based on the application the processor is running. Real-time applications acquire priority in using the cache memory over other applications which enhance the seamless execution of the real-time application and hence supports execution time predictability which in turn helps improve the potential of multi-core computing of real-time systems. The speed, size and power overhead are analyzed by placing the N-way set associative LRU as a part of cache of size 128KB designed using 65nm CMOS technology.

Water quality is a substantial issue in rural and urban areas in the Midwestern United States. Water resources, such as streams, are often impaired by pollution. This can pose a threat to the natural ecosystem and the health of those that live within it. In the Lower Kaskaskia River region, Illinois communities are faced with impaired water resources. In order to effectively manage for healthy waterways, communities must have skills and resources to address threats to water quality. This study assessed capacity for effective watershed management in four communities within the Lower Kaskaskia River region. Each community exists within a subwatershed of the Lower Kaskaskia River Watershed. A stratified, random sample of 3,609 residents living within the four watersheds was taken to gather data on several community capacity indicators for each watershed community. A questionnaire was distributed to individuals living within the study area to measure dimensions of community capacity and familiarity with water conservation practices. With data from the questionnaire, it was possible to measure collective action, community empowerment, and shared vision for each of the communities within the study area. Exploratory factor analysis yielded outcomes that differed from theoretical literature on the topic. A stepwise regression analysis illustrated the importance of community empowerment in explaining the greatest amount of variability (39%) in community capacity. Once reliable measures of community capacity were established, it was possible to examine them across urban and rural areas. A multivariate analysis showed no significant difference between urban and rural community type in regards to levels of community empowerment, collective action, shared vision, and community capacity. Measurements of community capacity were not significantly different at á = 0.05 across urban and rural communities; however, practical differences between urban and rural communities were identified. Understanding practical differences in community capacity between different community types will assist in the development of outreach and education techniques that are relevant for both urban and rural communities that exist within the study area. Outreach and education strategies will allow for the implementation of effective natural resource management within the study communities, while informing citizens and leaders on watershed conservation practices that can be implemented at the individual and community levels.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Patrick A. Knight / The present study examined onboarding information acquisition and the mediated impact of shared mental model on newcomers' organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to quit. Onboarding is the initial stage of the socialization process that provides information pertinent to facilitating newcomers' transition into the organization. Previous research stated that a dearth in the socialization literature existed pertaining to intra-individual cognitive mediators. As a result, the present study identified and evaluated the variable, shared mental model, as an underlying mechanism through which information acquisition operated within the onboarding process. The study postulated that newcomers actively evaluated for perceived congruency their own mental models with those espoused by the organization with these perceptions influencing individual organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to quit. Data were collected via Qualtrics from 305 full-time employees who were experiencing onboarding at the time of study. Participants completed a series of scales relevant to newcomer information seeking behavior, clarity of job role and work processes, and specific organizational outcomes (e.g., organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to quit) through an online data collection hub. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the factor structures for each of the latent variables (the antecedent, mediator, three socialization outcomes) evaluated in the present study. The proposed mediated socialization process was then examined by way of structural equation modeling. Results showed that shared mental models did mediate the relationships between newcomer employee behaviors and specific socialization outcomes. Furthermore, relationships between the antecedent, newcomer employee behaviors, and two of the socialization consequences, organizational commitment and job satisfaction, appeared to be fully mediated by the presence of shared mental models in the analysis (the intentions to quit relationship was partially mediated). Practical and theoretical implications, in addition to limitations and recommendations of the research are discussed.

Bakgrund: Vården har under många år arbetat utifrån ett paternalistiskt synsätt, där sjukvårdspersonal varit den aktiva beslutsfattaren och patienten varit den passiva. Detta har inneburit att patientens autonomi, perspektiv och preferenser inte tagits tillvara. Det paternalistiska synsättet har gradvis gått över till en mer patientcentrerad vård, där patienten blir en del av vårdteamet. För att öka patientdelaktigheten och självbestämmande inom dagens vård, rekommenderas sjukvårdspersonalen att arbeta efter SDM-modellen, en modell som ska hjälpa både patient och sjukvårdspersonal att tillsammans komma fram till de olika beslut som ska tas i olika vårdsituationer. Syfte:  Att beskriva patienters upplevelser av Shared decision making inom den somatiska vården. Metod: En allmän litteraturöversikt med beskrivande sammanställning, baserad på sju stycken kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultat: Patienternas upplevelse av SDM-modellen delades in i tre huvudkategorier med två underkategorier. Resultatet visar vikten av att som patient få information på ett språk som är begripligt för att kunna agera beslutsfattare. Men även att som patient känna tillit till sjukvårdspersonal samt att känna sig respekterad och uppleva trygghet. Diskussion: Genom att sjukvårdspersonal arbetar med personcentrerad vård sätts fokus på patienten och ökar inte endast patientens delaktighet utan gör också att patientens autonomi respekteras. Det är sjukvårdspersonalens ansvar att delge patienter rätt information samt bjuda in till samtal för att öka patienters delaktighet i vårdsammanhanget.