Automated data acquisition has revolutionized the reliability of product design in recent years. A noteworthy example is the improvement in the design of aircrafts through field data. This research proposes a similar improvement in the reliability of process design of earthmoving operations through automated field data acquisition. The segment of earthmoving operations addressed in this research constitutes the truck-loader operation. Therefore, the applicability of this research extends to other industries involving truck-operation such as mining, agriculture and forest logging and is closely related to wheel-based earthmoving operations such as scrapers. The context of this research is defined by data collection needed to increase the validity of the results obtained by analysis tools such as simulation, performance measures and graphical representation of variance in an activity's performance, and the relation between operating conditions and the variance in an activity's performance. The automated cycle time data collection is facilitated by instrumented trucks and the collection of information on operating conditions is facilitated by image database and paper forms. The cycle time data and the information on operating conditions are linked together to form the experience database. This research developed methods to extract, quantify and understand the variation in each component of the earthmoving cycle namely, load, haul and return, and dump activities. For the load activity, the simultaneous variation in payload and load time is illustrated through the development of a PLT (PayLoad Time) Map. Among the operating conditions, material type, load area floor, space constraints and shift are investigated. A dynamic normalization process of determining the ratio of actual travel time to expected travel time is developed for the haul and return activities. The length of the haul road, sequence of gear downshifts and shift are investigated for their effect on the travel time. The discussion on the dump activity is presented in a qualitative form due to the lack of data. Each component is integrated within the framework of the experience database. The implementation aspects with respect to developing and using the experience database are also described in detail. The practical relevance of this study is highlighted using an example. / Ph. D.

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This study addressed the complex issue of data collection in program evaluation. The researcher sought to understand the influences affecting the quality and utility of data in program evaluation. The data collection process was examined through a single case study of a bilingual education program located in California. Information for this study was obtained through open-ended interviews with project staff, classroom teachers, and external evaluators. Other sources of information included records, documents, a computer database, and electronic mail correspondence with program officers. The researcher used Non-numerical Unstructured Indexing Searching and Theory Building (NUD*IST) computer software to manipulate interview transcriptions, records and documents. Emerging from the data were key categories and themes that were presented in narrative form. The researcher found that data collection was grounded in the context in which it occurs and was therefore, highly dependent on program staff. Data collection requires willing, qualified staff with an understanding of technology, assessment, and evaluation methodology.

Выпускная квалификационная работа (магистерская диссертация) посвящена исследованию рынка инкассации в наличном денежном обороте. Предметом исследования выступают экономические отношения в области функционирования рынка инкассации. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка комплексной концепции совершенствования инкассаторских услуг в условиях внутриотраслевой конкуренции на основе изучения теоретических и практических аспектов конкурентной среды на рынке инкассаторских услуг. В заключении обозначены рекомендации по совершенствованию деятельности служб инкассации. / Final qualifying work (master's thesis) is devoted to the study of the collection market in cash turnover. The subject of the study are the economic relations in the area of the functional of the collection market. The main purpose of the master's thesis is to develop a comprehensive concept for improving collection services in the context of intra-industry competition based on a study of theoretical and practical aspects of the competitive environment in the collection services market. In conclusion, recommendations are given to improve the performance of the collection service.

As the workplace has evolved over the past few years, several studies have documented perceived differences in personalities, values, and preferences between generations in the workplace, including in public accounting. In this study, I examine whether exposure to a negative preconceived belief about a staff auditor's generation (generational stereotype) influences the affective state of staff auditors and ultimately causes them to reduce the extent to which they communicate with a client manager to gather the necessary information to perform an audit adequately. I also investigate whether attribute affirmation from a work buddy helps elicit positive affect to mitigate the effects that exposure to negative generational stereotypes may have on audit evidence collection. I conducted a 2 x 2 experiment using graduate auditing students as a proxy for staff auditors. I find that general affect (i.e., mood) rather than interpersonal affect (i.e., likability), drives the negative effect of exposure to generational stereotypes on willingness to collect more audit evidence. I also find that high levels of negative mood can negatively impact participants' self-efficacy. I, however, failed to find evidence of a moderated mediation. The presence of an attribute affirmation results in an insignificant increase in positive affect. When staff auditors are exposed to a negative generational stereotype, attribute affirmation does not evoke enough positive affect to help auditors overcome the generational stereotype threat.

The Jubilant City Almanac is a collection of short stories set in the magical Jubilant City, a city founded by a group of Black women in 1736. These stories bridge the whimsical and magical with the realities of poverty, classicism, addiction, abuse and health disparities. “Got His Alligator” follows the journey of two codependent addicts as they try to get their fashion designs onto Jubilant City’s premiere drama, Girl, Please. The characters in “Carbon Copy” use a magical phone to bring Denzel Washington to the city. “Jeremiah the Conqueror” summons Black American folk legend, High John. THrough an exploration of magical realism and speculative fiction, The Jubilant City Almanac tells the stories of Black families and Black complexity.

The contaminated book as a cultural asset is presented from three perspectives: philosophy, microbiology and cultural studies including medieval studies. The prejudice of the microbe as the enemy of the collection is questioned. Instead, the microbe is brought to the fore and made contextually visible as a book-biographical sign: traces on the book, including microbial ones, can bear witness to fire, flood, evacuation, and historical epidemics. For this witnessing, different readings of 'world' and of 'dead/living' must be considered, working toward a theory of things. It is based on studies of objects in medieval anthologies in the holdings of the Leipzig University Library, which have also been studied using microbiological and molecular biological methods at the DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures in Braunschweig. For the determination of the book biographies, both collections form mutual references. A new readability of the 'world as a book' is shown, which is made readable through its DNA, but also through its cultivation needs. With the idea of the book as habitat, a new view of the relationship between cultural property and microbe is opened - against destructive contamination towards the microbe as innovation potential for collections.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第24506号 / 医博第4948号 / 新制||医||1064(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 万代 昌紀, 教授 松田 秀一, 教授 中本 裕士 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

That data is being collected surely, does not come as a surprise to users. Although, the question that should be asked today goes more in the lines of, do we know to what extent? Do we need to be aware? Is it bad, is it good? Big data collection is a worm hole of endless discussion and general complexity but is at the same time essential to understand to some degree. This study tries to examine how Meta, as one of the biggest companies today, pushes material in their newsflow in relation to how audiences perceive data collection as a phenomenon. Through theoretical foundation and previous research it is argued how negligence and unawareness can present itself unhealthy in the dynamic of how data is collected. This is illustrated through qualitative methods using thematic analysis by interviews and qualitative analysis of text. Results came to show that there is an interesting point to make in the data dynamic where negligence and unawareness might be a fact.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) typically consist of a significant number of inexpensive sensor nodes, each of which is powered by a battery or another finite energy source that is difficult to replace because of the environment they are in or the cost of doing so. The applications of WSNs include military surveillance, disaster management, target tracking and monitoring environmental conditions. In order to increase the lifespan of WSNs, energy-efficient sensing and communication approaches for sensor nodes are essential. Recently, there has been an increase in interest in using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as portable data collectors for ground sensor nodes in WSN. Several approaches to solving effective communication between sensor nodes and the fusion center have been investigated in this thesis. Because processing, sensing range, transmission bandwidth, and energy consumption are always limited, it is beneficial not to use all the information provided at each sensor node in order to prolong its life span and reduce communication costs. In order to address this problem, first, efficient measurement quantization techniques are proposed using a single fusion center and multiple sensors. The dynamic bit distribution is done among all the sensors and within the measurement elements. The problem is then expanded to include multiple fusion centers, and a novel algorithm is proposed to associate sensors to fusion centers. The bandwidth distribution for targets which are being monitored by several sensors is addressed. Additionally, how to use the situation in which the sensors are in the coverage radius of multiple fusion centers in order to share the targets between them is discussed. Finally, performance bounded data collection algorithms are proposed where the necessary accuracy for each target is specified. In order to determine the minimum number of data collectors needed and their initial placement, an algorithm is proposed. When there are fewer fixed data collectors than there are regions to collect the data from, a coverage path planning method is developed. Since the optimal solution requires an enormous computational requirement and not realistic for real-time online implementation, approximate algorithms are proposed for multi-objective integer optimization problems. In order to assess each suggested algorithm's effectiveness, many simulated scenarios are used together with baselines and simple existing methods. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)