A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, February 2013. / This case study supports the National Department of Education’s (DoE) strategy of integrating information and communication technologies (ICTs) into the curriculum delivery in all South African schools to enhance teaching and learning. It examined the influence of a Mindset’s multimedia digital versatile disk (DVD) instruction of chemical systems core knowledge area, a section in the grade 11 Physical Science curriculum. The main emphasis was directed at examining the influence that the DVD material would have on learners’ understanding of scientific processes and concepts in that particular section. Secondary to this objective, it looked at the attitudes and perceptions of learners and their teacher towards the classroom integration of the DVD material, also taking note of the challenges and benefits attributed to the integration itself. This study was based on the distributive cognition framework which has its roots in the socio-cultural and situated learning theories. The framework suggests that the learning process of the scientific concepts by learners is situated in a social learning environment, where learning is mediated by technological tools and artifacts (Valanides & Angeli, 2008). Under this cognitive theory the learner is positioned at the centre of the learning environment that is formulated by other people (i.e. other learners, the teacher and the community), the learning material (i.e. the content) and learning resources (i.e. physical and technological tools).Learning therefore is regarded as a social process where other people and the learning resources actively interact (Hollan, Hutchkins & Kirsh, 2000). Through the DVD’s visuals and explanations, the artificial mining environment was brought into the classroom enabling learners to be exposed to the scientific processes involved in the mining industry as a social real world activity which learners could associate with. That on its own could enhance the comprehension of content. A quasi experimental design was adopted with two grade 11 Physical Science classes from the same school, one used as an experimental group and the other one as a control group. The study sample consisted of 56 learners, 24 in the control group and 32 in the experimental group. Both classes were taught the same content by the same teacher without using the DVD lessons for a period of three weeks. Thereafter, the experimental group was exposed to the multimedia-supported lessons for three more weeks (i.e. the teacher used the DVD lessons to supplement his traditional teaching methods) while during the same period the control group was taught the same content for the same duration using the traditional teaching methods only. The pre-test and post-test measures were administered on both groups using the same instruments in order to check if the difference in the teaching approach had a positive impact or not. In addition, the data was collected in the form of questionnaires and interviews for attitudes and perceptions about using the DVD material for teaching and learning. The null hypothesis tested was: “the mean result of the experimental group would be the same or lower than that of the control group”. The t-test results showed that there was no statistical difference between the performances of the two groups hence upholding the null hypothesis. Descriptively, the results showed that learners regarded a multimedia-supported learning environment as an exciting one. They mentioned that it posed more benefits than challenges. The teacher also displayed positive attitude and perceptions about using the DVD material for teaching and learning as he indicated that it is a useful teaching tool.

L'énergie est fondamentale pour maintenir le confort et façonne notre vie moderne. Avec la demande excédentaire en énergie, les systèmes de gestion de l’énergie résidentielle apparaissent avec le temps. Ils visent à réduire ou moduler la consommation d’énergie tout en maintenant un niveau de confort acceptable. Des systèmes efficaces de gestion de l'énergie domestique devraient intégrer une représentation comportementale d'un système domestique, y compris les habitants. Il établit des relations entre différentes variables environnementales et des phénomènes hétérogènes présents dans une maison. Par conséquent, ces systèmes sont complexes à construire et à comprendre pour les habitants. Pour cette raison, les concepteurs ont essayé d'automatiser autant que possible les systèmes de CVC, les éclairages ... afin de promouvoir le concept de "faire à la place". Cela était justifié car il était presque impossible d'impliquer les occupants et de créer une relation entre les occupants et les systèmes énergétiques. Ce concept crée différents problèmes car les occupants sont détachés du système énergétique et ne comprennent pas ses fonctionnalités ni son fonctionnement.Pour surmonter cette difficulté, ce travail met en avant le concept de "faire avec" en essayant d'impliquer l'occupant dans la boucle avec son système de gestion de l'énergie. C'est là que l'explication est nécessaire pour permettre aux occupants de découvrir les connaissances du système énergétique et de développer leur capacité à comprendre comment le système fonctionne et pourquoi il recommande différentes actions. L'explication est le moyen de découvrir de nouvelles connaissances et, par conséquent, d'impliquer les occupants. Pour les humains, l'explication joue un rôle important dans la vie. C'est l'un des principaux outils d'apprentissage et de compréhension. Il est même utilisé dans la communication et les aspects sociaux. Les gens ont tendance à l'utiliser en plus d'apprendre à montrer leurs connaissances sur un sujet pour gagner la confiance des autres ou pour clarifier une situation. Mais générer des explications n’est pas une tâche facile. C'est l'un des problèmes scientifiques récurrents de plusieurs décennies. Les explications ont de nombreuses formes, types et niveaux de clarté. Cette étude se concentre sur les explications causales. Comme il s’agit de la forme d’explication la plus intuitive à comprendre par les occupants, elle est conçue pour transférer les connaissances issues de systèmes complexes tels que les modèles énergétiques. Le défi scientifique est de savoir comment construire des explications de causalité pour les habitants à partir d’un flux de données de capteurs observées. / Energy is fundamental to maintain comfort and it shapes our modern life. With the excess demand for energy, home energy management systems are appearing with time. They aim at reducing or modulating energy consumption while keeping an acceptable level of comfort. Efficient home energy management systems should embed a behavioral representation of a home system, including inhabitants. It establishes relationships between different environmental variables and heterogeneous phenomena present in a home. Therefore, those systems are complex to build and to understand for inhabitants. For this reason, the designers did try to automatize as much as possible the HVAC systems, the lightings ... so they promoted the concept of “doing instead”. This was justified as it was nearly impossible to implicate occupants and to create a relation between occupants and energy systems. This concept does create different problems as occupants are detached from the energy system and they don’t understand its functionality nor how it is working.To overcome this difficulty this work promotes the concept of “doing with” as it tries to implicate the occupant in the loop with their energy management system. This is where the explanation is needed to allow occupants to discover the knowledge in the energy system and to develop their capacity of understanding how the system is working and why it is recommending different actions. The explanation is the way to discover new knowledge and consequently, to involve occupants. For humans, explanation plays an important role in life. It is one of the main tools for learning and understanding. It is even used in communication and social aspects. People tend to use it besides learning to show their knowledge about a subject to gain the confidence of others or to clarify a situation. But generating explanations is not an easy task. It is one of the ongoing scientific problems from several decades. Explanations have numerous forms, types, and level of clearness. This study is focusing on the causal explanations. As it is the most intuitive form of explanation to be understood by occupants and is adapted to transfer the knowledge from complex systems like energy models. The scientific challenge is how to construct causal explanations for the inhabitants from a flow of observed sensor data.

Promouvoir des choix alimentaires en accord avec les quatre dimensions de l’alimentation durable, à savoir la nutrition (en lien avec la santé), l’économie, le socio-culturel et l’environnement, est une priorité nationale et mondiale.L’objectif de cette thèse était de proposer une approche de prévention nutritionnelle sur-mesure, à destination des individus, prenant en compte différentes dimensions de l’alimentation durable. Pour cela, nous avons i) compilé des données hétérogènes issues de sources variées ; ii) proposé une méthode d’analyse multicritère ; iii) réalisé un outil permettant de générer des conseils en accord avec les préférences de chacun.Nous avons réalisé une revue de la littérature, qui souligne l’intérêt d’utiliser l’optimisation des consommations alimentaires pour identifier des régimes durables. Une méthodologie reproductible de compilation de données a été développée et appliquée à la construction d’une base de données unique, nommée « SUStable », intégrant les métriques associées à chaque dimension de la durabilité pour plus de 200 aliments couramment consommés en France.Sur la base de théories du changement de comportement, nous avons développé « Mon Alimentation Sur-Mesure », un prototype d’application web de conseils alimentaires sur-mesure. Un questionnaire de fréquence alimentaire de 94 items, intégré dans l’application, a été validé théoriquement afin d’estimer l’erreur de mesure induite par la structure du questionnaire (utilisation d’une liste finie d’items et de tailles de portions). Avec « Mon Alimentation Sur-Mesure », l’utilisateur peut connaitre la qualité de ses consommations alimentaires, le coût de son alimentation et son niveau d’activité physique. L’utilisateur est acteur de son changement : il précise ses préférences alimentaires ; il choisit, parmi trois modèles d’optimisation des consommations alimentaires, celui qui correspond le mieux à ses attentes ; il choisit les conseils qui lui semblent réalistes.Le prototype d’application développé est innovant dans la mesure où il considère l’alimentation dans sa globalité et rend l’utilisateur actif pour générer les conseils qui lui conviennent le mieux. Cette application pourrait être un futur outil de prévention en santé qui contribuerait à la reprise en main des individus sur leur alimentation. / Promoting food choices in line with the four dimensions of diet sustainability, namely nutrition related to health, economy, socio-cultural and environment, is a national and global priority.The aim of this thesis was to develop a tailored nutrition counselling approach for individuals, taking into account several dimensions of diet sustainability. To achieve this, we have: i) compiled heterogeneous data from various sources; ii) proposed a method for multi-criteria assessment; iii) developed a tool to provide dietary advices which are in accordance with individual’s preferences.We have written a narrative review that demonstrates the added value of diet optimization to identify sustainable diets. A reproducible methodology was developed and applied to the creation of a unique food database, named SUStable, integrating metrics associated with each dimension of diet sustainability for more than 200 foods representative of the French food consumption.We developed a theory-based web application, named “Mon Alimentation Sur-Mesure”, which provides tailored dietary advices. A food frequency questionnaire of 94 items was validated theoretically in order to estimate the error due to the inherent structure of the questionnaire (use of a finite list of items and portion sizes). With “Mon Alimentation Sur-Mesure”, the user can obtain a picture of the nutritional quality of her/his diet, her/his diet cost and her/his level of physical activity. The user is actor in her/his own dietary changes: she/he specifies her/his food preferences; she/he selects, among three diet optimization models, the one that best suits her/his expectations; she/he chooses dietary advices that she/he considers achievable.The application prototype is innovative: it uses a whole-diet approach and allows the user to act to choose her/his advices. This prototype could be a future online health promotion tool which could help individuals to take in hand their diet.

[pt] As técnicas de aprendizado profundo têm mostrado contribuições significativas em vários campos, incluindo a análise de imagens. A grande maioria dos trabalhos em visão computacional concentra-se em propor e aplicar novos modelos e algoritmos de aprendizado de máquina. Para tarefas de aprendizado supervisionado, o desempenho dessas técnicas depende de uma grande quantidade de dados de treinamento, bem como de dados rotulados. No entanto, a rotulagem é um processo caro e demorado. Uma recente área de exploração são as reduções dos esforços na preparação de dados, deixando-os sem inconsistências, ruídos, para que os modelos atuais possam obter um maior desempenho. Esse novo campo de estudo é chamado de Data-Centric IA. Apresentamos uma nova abordagem baseada em Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL), cujo trabalho é voltado para a preparação de um conjunto de dados em problemas de detecção de objetos, onde as anotações de caixas delimitadoras são feitas de modo autônomo e econômico. Nossa abordagem consiste na criação de uma metodologia para treinamento de um agente virtual a fim de rotular automaticamente os dados, a partir do auxílio humano como professor desse agente. Implementamos o algoritmo Deep Q-Network para criar o agente virtual e desenvolvemos uma abordagem de aconselhamento para facilitar a comunicação do humano professor com o agente virtual estudante. Para completar nossa implementação, utilizamos o método de aprendizado ativo para selecionar casos onde o agente possui uma maior incerteza, necessitando da intervenção humana no processo de anotação durante o treinamento. Nossa abordagem foi avaliada e comparada com outros métodos de aprendizado por reforço e interação humano-computador, em diversos conjuntos de dados, onde o agente virtual precisou criar novas anotações na forma de caixas delimitadoras. Os resultados mostram que o emprego da nossa metodologia impacta positivamente para obtenção de novas anotações a partir de um conjunto de dados com rótulos escassos, superando métodos existentes. Desse modo, apresentamos a contribuição no campo de Data-Centric IA, com o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia de ensino para criação de uma abordagem autônoma com aconselhamento humano para criar anotações econômicas a partir de anotações escassas. / [en] Deep learning techniques have shown significant contributions in various fields, including image analysis. The vast majority of work in computer vision focuses on proposing and applying new machine learning models and algorithms. For supervised learning tasks, the performance of these techniques depends on a large amount of training data and labeled data. However, labeling is an expensive and time-consuming process. A recent area of exploration is the reduction of efforts in data preparation, leaving it without inconsistencies and noise so that current models can obtain greater performance. This new field of study is called Data-Centric AI. We present a new approach based on Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL), whose work is focused on preparing a dataset, in object detection problems where the bounding box annotations are done autonomously and economically. Our approach consists of creating a methodology for training a virtual agent in order to automatically label the data, using human assistance as a teacher of this agent. We implemented the Deep Q-Network algorithm to create the virtual agent and developed a counseling approach to facilitate the communication of the human teacher with the virtual agent student. We used the active learning method to select cases where the agent has more significant uncertainty, requiring human intervention in the annotation process during training to complete our implementation. Our approach was evaluated and compared with other reinforcement learning methods and human-computer interaction in different datasets, where the virtual agent had to create new annotations in the form of bounding boxes. The results show that the use of our methodology has a positive impact on obtaining new annotations from a dataset with scarce labels, surpassing existing methods. In this way, we present the contribution in the field of Data-Centric AI, with the development of a teaching methodology to create an autonomous approach with human advice to create economic annotations from scarce annotations.

Disertation deals in value of marriadge for young couples of these days. There is briefly described historic evolution of marriadge and changes in understanding its value. The main reason for getting married is actually love. Disertation countinuous reflecting some probable risks of marriadge especially in first years of marriadge life. It also introduces situation, posibilities and perspectives marriadge and family counselling in the Czech republic.

Based on a broad survey of the reception of Firdausī’s Shāhnāma in medieval times, this dissertation argues that Firdausī’s oeuvre was primarily perceived as a book of wisdom and advice for kings and courtly élites. The medieval reception of the Shāhnāma is clearly manifested in the comments of medieval authors about Firdausī and his work, and in their use of the Shāhnāma in the composition of their own works. The production of ikhtiyārāt-i Shāhnāmas (selections from the Shāhnāma) in medieval times and the remarkable attention of the authors of mirrors for princes to Firdausī’s opus are particularly illuminating in this regard. The survey is complemented by a close textual reading of the Ardashīr cycle in the Shāhnāma in comparison with other medieval historical accounts about Ardashīr, in order to illustrate how history in the Shāhnāma is reduced to only a framework for the presentation of ideas and ideals of kingship. Based on ancient Persian beliefs regarding the ideal state of the world, I argue that Ardashīr in the Shāhnāma is represented as a Saviour of the world. Within this context, I offer new interpretations of the symbolic tale of Ardashīr’s fight against a giant worm, and explain why the idea of the union of kingship and religion, a major topic in almost all medieval Persian mirrors for princes, has often been attributed to Ardashīr. Finally, I compare the Ardashīr cycle in the Shāhnāma with nine medieval Persian mirrors for princes to demonstrate that the ethico-political concepts contained in them, as well as the portrayal of Ardashīr, remain more or less the same in all these works. Study of the Shāhnāma as a mirror for princes, as this study shows, not only reveals the meaning of its symbolic tales, but also sheds light on the pre-Islamic roots of some of the ethico-political concepts presented in the medieval Perso-Islamic literature of wisdom and advice for kings and courtiers.

Based on a broad survey of the reception of Firdausī’s Shāhnāma in medieval times, this dissertation argues that Firdausī’s oeuvre was primarily perceived as a book of wisdom and advice for kings and courtly élites. The medieval reception of the Shāhnāma is clearly manifested in the comments of medieval authors about Firdausī and his work, and in their use of the Shāhnāma in the composition of their own works. The production of ikhtiyārāt-i Shāhnāmas (selections from the Shāhnāma) in medieval times and the remarkable attention of the authors of mirrors for princes to Firdausī’s opus are particularly illuminating in this regard. The survey is complemented by a close textual reading of the Ardashīr cycle in the Shāhnāma in comparison with other medieval historical accounts about Ardashīr, in order to illustrate how history in the Shāhnāma is reduced to only a framework for the presentation of ideas and ideals of kingship. Based on ancient Persian beliefs regarding the ideal state of the world, I argue that Ardashīr in the Shāhnāma is represented as a Saviour of the world. Within this context, I offer new interpretations of the symbolic tale of Ardashīr’s fight against a giant worm, and explain why the idea of the union of kingship and religion, a major topic in almost all medieval Persian mirrors for princes, has often been attributed to Ardashīr. Finally, I compare the Ardashīr cycle in the Shāhnāma with nine medieval Persian mirrors for princes to demonstrate that the ethico-political concepts contained in them, as well as the portrayal of Ardashīr, remain more or less the same in all these works. Study of the Shāhnāma as a mirror for princes, as this study shows, not only reveals the meaning of its symbolic tales, but also sheds light on the pre-Islamic roots of some of the ethico-political concepts presented in the medieval Perso-Islamic literature of wisdom and advice for kings and courtiers.

This Master Thesis is the research done in the country of Rwanda. The project leads to study the climate of this country in order to establish whether this climate could be used to produce energy from air and to implement the first wind turbine for serving the nation.   After an introduction about the historical background of wind power, the thesis work deals with assessment of wind energy potential of Rwanda in focusing of the most suitable place for wind power plants. The best location with annual mean wind speed, the rate of use of turbine with hub height for an annual production per year, the mean wind speeds for 6 sites of Rwanda based on ECMWF for climatic data for one year at relief of altitude of 100m and coordinates are reported too.   The result of energy produced and calculations were done based on power hitting wind turbine generator in order to calculate Kinetic energy and power available at the best location to the measurement over the period of 12 months, that could be hoped for long term.   With help of logarithmic law, where wind speed usually increases with increasing in elevation and the desired wind speeds at all 6 sites were used. The annual energy production was taken into account at the best site with desired wind speed at the initial cost of turbine as well as the cost of energy (COE).However, with comparison of the tariff of EWSA, the price of Wind designed in this Research per kWh is cheaper and suitable for people of Rwanda. / <p><em>Rwanda has considerable opportunities development energy from hydro sources, methane gas, solar and peat deposits. Most of these energy sources have not been fully exploited, such as solar, wind and geothermal. As such wood is still being the major source of energy for 94 per cent of the population and imported petroleum products consume more than 40 per cent of foreign exchange. Energy is a key component of the Rwandan economy. It is thus recognized that the current inadequate and expensive energy supply constitutes a limiting factor to sustainable development. Rwanda’s Vision 2020 emphasizes the need for economic growth, private investment and economic transformation supported by a reliable and affordable energy supply as a key factor for the development process. To achieve this transformation, the country will need to increase energy production and diversify into alternative energy sources. Rwandan nations don’t have small-scale solar, wind, and geothermal devices in operation providing energy to urban and rural areas. These types of energy production are especially useful in remote locations because of the excessive cost of transporting electricity from large-scale power plants. The application of renewable energy technology has the potential to alleviate many of the problems that face the people of Rwanda every day, especially if done so in a sustainable manner that prioritizes human rights.</em></p>