"In this PhD dissertation, we propose distributed adaptation mechanisms for connected vehicles to deal with the connectivity challenges. To understand the system behavior of the solutions for connected vehicles, we first need to characterize the operational environment. Therefore, we devised a large scale fading model for various link types, including point-to-point vehicular communications and multi-hop connected vehicles. We explored two small scale fading models to define the characteristics of multi-hop connected vehicles. Taking our research into multi-hop connected vehicles one step further, we propose selective information relaying to avoid message congestion due to redundant messages received by the relay vehicle. Results show that the proposed mechanism reduces messaging load by up to 75% without sacrificing environmental awareness. Once we define the channel characteristics, we propose a distributed congestion control algorithm to solve the messaging overhead on the channels as the next research interest of this dissertation. We propose a combined transmit power and message rate adaptation for connected vehicles. The proposed algorithm increases the environmental awareness and achieves the application requirements by considering highly dynamic network characteristics. Both power and rate adaptation mechanisms are performed jointly to avoid one result affecting the other negatively. Results prove that the proposed algorithm can increase awareness by 20% while keeping the channel load and interference at almost the same level as well as improve the average message rate by 18%. As the last step of this dissertation, distributed cooperative dynamic spectrum access technique is proposed to solve the channel overhead and the limited resources issues. The adaptive energy detection threshold, which is used to decide whether the channel is busy, is optimized in this work by using a computationally efficient numerical approach. Each vehicle evaluates the available channels by voting on the information received from one-hop neighbors. An interdisciplinary approach referred to as entropy-based weighting is used for defining the neighbor credibility. Once the vehicle accesses the channel, we propose a decision mechanism for channel switching that is inspired by the optimal flower selection process employed by bumblebees foraging. Experimental results show that by using the proposed distributed cooperative spectrum sensing mechanism, spectrum detection error converges to zero."

A set S of vertices in a graph G is a connected dominating set of G if S dominates G and the subgraph induced by S is connected. We study the graphs for which adding any edge does not change the connected domination number.

The total lifecycle of a vehicle contains many phases, from production to sales to first customer to second customer and so on until the end of life. Each one of these phases includes different activities in different business areas and under different conditions. This means that the customers´ needs will vary depending on which lifecycle phase the vehicle is in and the offered services have to be adapted to this. Therefore it is important for truck developing companies to know when a transition, from one lifecycle phase to another has occurred. This study is based on a case study provided by Scania, a company that develops trucks and busses. Delimitations were that the study would focus on connected long-haulage trucks that are in Europe under their first life cycle phase, that the developed services would be described on a conceptual level and not cover any economic aspects. With this in mind, the following research questions were created: RQ1) What defines a transition phase? RQ2) How can the long-haulage trucks’ usage pattern be used to identify a transition phase? RQ3) Which data is needed to identify a transition phase? RQ4) Based on the results of RQ2 and RQ3, how could the transition alert service be designed? RQ5) Which applications could the transitions alert service be used for? The study included a literature study covering product lifecycle theory, servicification, second-hand market, big data, telematics, intelligent vehicles and statistic hypothesis testing. Further, two truck drivers were observed in order to get better understanding of the transportation business and the truck driving activities. Two qualitative interview studies were made with hauliers, service salesmen, truck salesmen and distributors from Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden. The results of the empirical studies were analysed and RQ1 could be answered. Transition phase is the period between two different vehicle owners and/or two different ways of utilizing the truck. The analysis also gave a good picture of how the trucks are used during their life and in the transition phases, which gave an idea about usage patterns that could answer RQ2. The answer was formulated as something named phase-DNA, composed by six parameters that should change during a transition phase: Geography, Route, Driver, Traffic Condition, Assignments and Services. Through a group brainstorming with experts in connected services, ideas of which data that could be used to describe each one of the parameters in the phase-DNA were found. These were sorted and evaluated until at least one data type for each parameter was set. The specific data types were chosen because they reflected their parameter well and because they were data that were accessible in order to conduct tests and validations. The final set of data types consisted of: Route Shape, Amount of Stops, Run Time, Idle Time, Distance Driven, Coasting, Driver ID, Average Speed, Fuel Consumption and Workshop History Data. This set of data types was used for the formulation of a hypothesis, that said that after a transition phase at least some of these data types should change. This was also the point where RQ3 was answered. II The hypothesis was analysed using an exploratory analysis by plotting all the data types over time and observing if a change could be seen close to the change of ownership. The result showed that Amount of Stops and Driver ID were the most indicative data types, these two were further analysed with a statistical hypothesis test and a visualisation method. The results were used to develop an algorithm that is able to give an indication if a transition phase has occurred. The algorithm searches for changes in the six data types: Driver ID, Amount of Stops, Run Time, Distance Driven, Idle Time and Route Shape. The results from the empirical studies were used to define requirements for the development of a service based on the information of phase transition called transition alert service (TAS), which is the answer to RQ4. Furthermore possible stakeholders that could be interested in the transition phase information were investigated together with an examination of their needs. TAS fulfils the five main needs identified from the stakeholders: ease start and cancellation of services, avoid unnecessary telecom expenses, avoid that information goes to the wrong customer, find new customers and customize services. In order to solve this, an algorithm detecting a transition phase was developed; it was done by searching for changes in the six data types: Driver ID, Amount of Stops, Run Time, Distance Driven, Idle Time and Route Shape. Moreover if the TAS information is combined with other information it could be used for creating new services. Through different idea generation workshops a large number of new ideas and concepts were generated, which became the answer to RQ5. In total eleven applications for the transition alert service were developed: nine connected to change in ownership and two connected to change in utilization. Additionally, one support service named "Vehicle History" that is based on collected historical TAS was created. Further, one total solution named "No Worries Second-Hand" was created that includes five of the developed services. This total solution offers the customer the perfectly suitable second-hand truck without having to spend time searching for it. It also consists of a contract saying that if the customer signs a R&M contract, the dealer will buy back the vehicle and offer a new used vehicle when the old one gets too old or used. TAS makes this total solution possible by giving the dealer access to information about the truck and through this predict phase transitions. In conclusion, the developed services and especially the combination of them into a total solution would, according to the authors, favour the transition from a product focused company to a total solution provider, and extend the knowledge about the second-hand market.

Thesis (Ed. D.) -- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2005. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Feb. 13, 2006). Thesis advisor: Vena M. Long. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate from two viewpoints an order-induced topology on a set X.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-180).

Many military children face obstacles during their lives, and these obstacles can affect their classroom environment due to their mobility, social-emotional behavior, and academics. The purpose of this study was to identify challenges, if any, that teachers indicate exist while educating military-connected students in public schools and teacher actions to address any challenges. Existing literature on military connected students and teacher perceptions of military-connected challenges was reviewed. This study examined teacher perceptions of the challenges, responses to challenges and training these teachers experienced while teaching military-connected students. A Likert-type survey of questions was administered through an online survey tool to elementary school teachers in two public school divisions in Virginia. The survey instrument was developed by Mittleberg (2014). After collecting the data, the researcher examined and analyzed data based on the survey responses. The following research questions were addressed: What challenges do teachers identify related to educating military-connected students? What practices do teachers use to address the perceived challenges? What do teachers indicate as their level of training to teach military-connected students? The study concluded with eight findings and eight implications. The findings provided teachers with the tools necessary to address the needs of military-connected students as well as provided schools and school divisions with information that could impact their professional learning decisions. Findings included but were not limited to how teachers perceived that assessment of students' background knowledge was a challenge when teaching military-connected students, how filling in students' knowledge gaps was a challenge, and how adjustment to students leaving and arriving at various times during the school year were a challenge when teaching military-connected students. A few implications were, school leaders should investigate ways to assist teachers in assessing students' background knowledge. It should be a consideration that personnel be provided with resources to help focus on meeting the needs of the students who have knowledge gaps and the development of a handbook of team building and getting to know you resources should be given to teachers to assist in building a strong classroom environment. / Doctor of Education / There are many public school divisions in the United States that service military-connected students. Of the 132 school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia, there is at least one military-connected student in each school division. According to Wykes (2015), Virginia is one of the top 10 states for military presence with 10% (Wykes, 2015, p. 23). Teachers in these school divisions face perceived challenges that need to be addressed. Some of those challenges include mobility, academics, and the social-emotional well-being of the military- connected student. This quantitative study focused on the perceived challenges public school teachers face when teaching military-connected students. Data were collected using a Likert-type survey with participants from two school divisions who service military-connected students. There were limitations in this study beyond the researcher's control such as the accuracy and honesty by the respondents and response rate. This study produced eight findings and eight implications. Of the eight findings, three were teachers perceived the adjustment to students leaving and arriving at various times, having a routine in place when new military-connected students arrive into the classroom after the start of the school year, and receiving the level of training needed to prepare them to support parents/guardians of military connected students in their classroom were a challenge. A few of the implications included, the need for teacher preparation programs to address the challenges military connected students face, the development of a handbook of team building activities for teachers to use in the classroom as a resource and the need for resources that could focus on meeting the needs of students' knowledge gaps to support those military connected students.

Advanced connected and automated vehicle technologies offer new opportunities for highway traffic smoothing by optimizing automated vehicle trajectories. As one of the pioneering attempts, this study proposes an efficient trajectory optimization algorithm that can simultaneously improve a range of performance measures for a platoon of vehicles on a signalized highway section. This optimization is centered at a novel shooting heuristic (SH) for trajectory construction that considers realistic constraints including vehicle kinematic limits, traffic arrival patterns, carollowing safety, and signal operations. SH has a very parsimonious structure (e.g., only four acceleration parameters) and a very small computational complexity. Therefore, it is suitable for real-time applications when relevant technologies are in place in the near future. This study lays a solid foundation for devising holistic cooperative control strategies on a general transportation network with emerging technologies.

In this collection of connected stories, the inhabitants of the imaginary Mediterranean village of Marcenac struggle with daily situations that often take allures of a farce, simply because they occur in Marcenac. The stories explore the influence southern France's Roussillon region has on people, the way the proximity of the Spanish border and the Mediterranean shapes the inhabitants of Marcenac's daily lives, and the influence of the climate. Often, the Tramontane, the region's predominant wind, becomes a character. While some of the stories are told from a collective point of view, others reveal the inner thoughts of children and adults, male and female. Because the stories are connected, characters visit different stories and help tell the collective tale of Marcenac. Even though the stories stand on their own, they form cohesion, united by the progression of the seasons and the underlying theme of death. Each story reveals a particularity of the region's weather and culture. Some stories are entertaining and lighthearted. Others are serious. Each invites the reader to share the most intimate thoughts of the characters as they seek solace from various degrees of grief and frustration. Some characters are gauche, naive, some tender, others bitter, but all are resilient and amicable. The characters' speech and the narrative are often peppered with French, which makes for humorous situations and takes the reader deep within a foreign culture without giving the feeling of an anthropology lesson. As a result, the characters become cultural guides as they ruminate over the past or go about their daily lives. They give the reader a unique insight into the habits and values of the region.