Exploring coordinated relationships is an important task in data analytics. For example, an intelligence analyst may want to find three suspicious people who all visited the same four cities. However, existing techniques that display individual relationships, such as between lists of entities, require repetitious manual selection and significant mental aggregation in cluttered visualizations to find coordinated relationships. This work presents a visual analytics approach that applies biclusters to support coordinated relationships exploration. Each computed bicluster aggregates individual relationships into coordinated sets. Thus, coordinated relationships can be formalized as biclusters. However, how to incorporate biclusters into a visual analytics tool to support sensemaking tasks is challenging. To address this, this work features three key contributions: 1) a five-level design framework for bicluster visualizations, 2) BiSet, highlighting bicluster-based edge bundling, seriation-based multiple lists ordering, and interactions for dynamic information foraging and management, and 3) an evaluation of BiSet. / Ph. D.

Atualmente, diversas áreas de aplicação necessitam de mecanismos mais efetivos para analisar dados provenientes de naturezas distintas. Tipicamente, esses dados são abstratos, não estruturados e possuem uma natureza multidimensional (e.g., coleções de documentos). Dados que não possuem uma natureza multidimensional podem ser representados como tal por meio da aplicação de algoritmos extratores de características (e.g., coleções de imagens). Assim, técnicas de visualização de informação projetadas para interpretar dados multidimensionais podem ser aproveitadas para analisar dados não estruturados. Esta tese empregou técnicas de visualização de informação para construir mapas de similaridade a partir de dados multidimensionais como uma forma de representação desses dados, uma vez que as técnicas para construilos tem evoluído com a expansão dos campos de aplicação. Novas técnicas para coordenação de múltiplas visões foram desenvolvidas para permitir a exploração de conjuntos de dados, a partir de mapas de similaridade gerados por diferentes técnicas de construção de mapas, diferentes parâmetros ou ainda diferentes conjuntos de dados. As técnicas de coordenação desenvolvidas são baseadas em identificador, em distância, em tópicos, na identificação de tópicos em coleções que evoluem no tempo, e em uma técnica que combina o mapeamento de diferentes técnicas de coordenação. Esta tese também apresenta aplicações das técnicas de coordenação desenvolvidas e das ferramentas construídas para análise de coleções de documentos, coleções de imagens e dados volumétricos, empregando coordenações de mapas de similaridade. As técnicas de coordenação desenvolvidas são apoiadas por um modelo de coordenação que estende um modelo previamente proposto na literatura. O modelo estendido permite a configuração de técnicas de coordenação durante a exploração, admitindo diferentes tipos de mapeamentos. Uma característica importante do modelo é permitir o desenvolvimento de mapeamentos dinâmicos para técnicas de coordenação, isto é, mapeamentos que podem mudar o comportamento de acordo com a interação do usuário. Como resultado desta tese, está disponível um arcabouço para visualização coordenada de múltiplos mapas de similaridade, composto por um modelo, um conjunto de técnicas e um conjunto de ferramentas que efetivamente permitem a análise visual de conjuntos de dados multidimensionais / Currently, various fields of application need effective mechanisms to analyse data differing in nature. Typically these data are abstract, unstructured and multidimensional (e.g. document collections). Data that do not present multidimensional description can be represented as such by means of feature extraction algorithms (e.g. image collections). Thus, information visualization techniques designed to interpret multidimensional data sets can be employed to analyse unstructured data. This thesis employed information visualization techniques that build similarity maps from multidimensional data as a form of data representation, since the techniques to construct them have evolved lately with expanding fields of application. Novel techniques for coordination of multiple views were developed that allow exploration of data sets, from similarity maps generated using different techniques for building maps, different parameters or even different data sets. The developed coordination techniques are based on identity relationships, on distance relationships, on topic coverage (for text or other annotated data) and on evolution of topic coverage (also for text). An approach to combine different coordination techniques was also developed. This thesis also reports on applications of the coordination techniques developed, and on tools built for analysis of image, text and volumetric data employing coordinated similarity maps. The techniques developed in this work are supported by a coordination model that extends a model previously proposed in literature. The extended model allows the definition and configuration of coordination techniques during coordination tasks and performing various types of mappings. An important feature of the model is to support the development of dynamic mappings, which are mappings that may change behavior according to user interaction. As a result of this thesis, a framework is available for coordinated visualization of multiple similarity maps, composed by a model, a set of techniques and a set of implemented tools that effectively support the visual analysis of multidimensional data sets

Atualmente, diversas áreas de aplicação necessitam de mecanismos mais efetivos para analisar dados provenientes de naturezas distintas. Tipicamente, esses dados são abstratos, não estruturados e possuem uma natureza multidimensional (e.g., coleções de documentos). Dados que não possuem uma natureza multidimensional podem ser representados como tal por meio da aplicação de algoritmos extratores de características (e.g., coleções de imagens). Assim, técnicas de visualização de informação projetadas para interpretar dados multidimensionais podem ser aproveitadas para analisar dados não estruturados. Esta tese empregou técnicas de visualização de informação para construir mapas de similaridade a partir de dados multidimensionais como uma forma de representação desses dados, uma vez que as técnicas para construilos tem evoluído com a expansão dos campos de aplicação. Novas técnicas para coordenação de múltiplas visões foram desenvolvidas para permitir a exploração de conjuntos de dados, a partir de mapas de similaridade gerados por diferentes técnicas de construção de mapas, diferentes parâmetros ou ainda diferentes conjuntos de dados. As técnicas de coordenação desenvolvidas são baseadas em identificador, em distância, em tópicos, na identificação de tópicos em coleções que evoluem no tempo, e em uma técnica que combina o mapeamento de diferentes técnicas de coordenação. Esta tese também apresenta aplicações das técnicas de coordenação desenvolvidas e das ferramentas construídas para análise de coleções de documentos, coleções de imagens e dados volumétricos, empregando coordenações de mapas de similaridade. As técnicas de coordenação desenvolvidas são apoiadas por um modelo de coordenação que estende um modelo previamente proposto na literatura. O modelo estendido permite a configuração de técnicas de coordenação durante a exploração, admitindo diferentes tipos de mapeamentos. Uma característica importante do modelo é permitir o desenvolvimento de mapeamentos dinâmicos para técnicas de coordenação, isto é, mapeamentos que podem mudar o comportamento de acordo com a interação do usuário. Como resultado desta tese, está disponível um arcabouço para visualização coordenada de múltiplos mapas de similaridade, composto por um modelo, um conjunto de técnicas e um conjunto de ferramentas que efetivamente permitem a análise visual de conjuntos de dados multidimensionais / Currently, various fields of application need effective mechanisms to analyse data differing in nature. Typically these data are abstract, unstructured and multidimensional (e.g. document collections). Data that do not present multidimensional description can be represented as such by means of feature extraction algorithms (e.g. image collections). Thus, information visualization techniques designed to interpret multidimensional data sets can be employed to analyse unstructured data. This thesis employed information visualization techniques that build similarity maps from multidimensional data as a form of data representation, since the techniques to construct them have evolved lately with expanding fields of application. Novel techniques for coordination of multiple views were developed that allow exploration of data sets, from similarity maps generated using different techniques for building maps, different parameters or even different data sets. The developed coordination techniques are based on identity relationships, on distance relationships, on topic coverage (for text or other annotated data) and on evolution of topic coverage (also for text). An approach to combine different coordination techniques was also developed. This thesis also reports on applications of the coordination techniques developed, and on tools built for analysis of image, text and volumetric data employing coordinated similarity maps. The techniques developed in this work are supported by a coordination model that extends a model previously proposed in literature. The extended model allows the definition and configuration of coordination techniques during coordination tasks and performing various types of mappings. An important feature of the model is to support the development of dynamic mappings, which are mappings that may change behavior according to user interaction. As a result of this thesis, a framework is available for coordinated visualization of multiple similarity maps, composed by a model, a set of techniques and a set of implemented tools that effectively support the visual analysis of multidimensional data sets

Innan en patient som bedöms vara i behov av insatser från kommunens socialtjänst eller annan öppenvård med mera skrivs ut från slutenvården måste en vårdplanering utföras. Vårdplaneringen utförs av patientansvarig sjuksköterska tillsammans med ett antal representanter från öppenvården. Syftet med studien är att belysa hur sjuksköterskor inom landstinget upplever samordnad vårdplanering. Metoden som användes var en kvalitativ enkätundersökning. Resultatet baseras på tio enkäter ifyllda av sjuksköterskor på lungmedicin på KSS i Skövde. Dessa enkätsvar gick sedan igenom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys för att urskilja upplevelser hos sjuksköterskorna. I resultatet framkom att sjuksköterskorna upplevde stress, frustration, dåligt samvete samt bristande samarbete men att sjuksköterskorna accepterade situationen och jobbade vidare. / A coordinated care plan must be carried out before a patient in closed care, that need help from the municipality social services or other open care institutions, can be discharged. This coordinated care planning is accomplished by a team consisting of the nurse responsible for the patient together with a number of representatives from the municipal care. The aim with the study is to elucidate how nurses within the county council experience the coordinated care planning. The method used in this study was a qualitative questionnaire survey and the answers were assessed by using a qualitative content analysis. The results are based on ten questionnaires answered by nurses working at the lung medicine ward in Kärnsjukhuset, Skövde. This study revealed that the nurses experienced stress, frustration, bad conscience and inadequate cooperation in the coordinated care planning; however, they accepted the situation and kept on working.

Coordinated or synchronized tasks can always be found in various manufacturing processes, e.g., machining along spatial trajectories, coordinated operations of multi-manipulators, and vacuum pumps, etc. The vacuum pump is a typical device with synchronized motion among those examples. The vacuum pump has played an important role in current semiconductor manufacturing processes. Its pumping feature is achieved by synchronized motion of two mating pump rotors. A common approach to accomplish the synchronized motion is by idle gears. Nevertheless, this design cannot meet serious requirements of vacuum systems demanded by growing manufacturing techniques. In order to provide a complete and proper control strategy for synchronized motion, and to overthrow traditional architecture of vacuum pumps by raising a better control scheme for new generation oil-less products, the paper focuses on synchronized motion control for dual motors. The first objective of here is to develop a control method for synchronized motion of two separated motors. Both system uncertainties and unknown disturbances occurring in actual implementation need to be carefully considered. An experimental setup will also be established for examinations and verifications. And then synchronized motion control of dual motors including two mating screw rotors then will be investigated. During this period, the emphasis will be on solution finding for unexpected contact collision between two rotors. An effective and efficient control strategy will be developed for synchronized motion control of dual motors. Longer operation time and better synchronization performance for two motors can therefore be anticipated.

Abstract Coordinated or synchronized tasks can always be found in various manufacturing processes, e.g., machining along spatial trajectories, coordinated operations of multi-manipulators, and vacuum pumps, etc. The vacuum pump is a typical device with synchronized motion among those examples. The vacuum pump has played an important role in current semiconductor manufacturing processes. Its pumping feature is achieved by synchronized motion of two mating pump rotors. A common approach to accomplish the synchronized motion is by idle gears. Nevertheless, this design cannot meet serious requirements of vacuum systems demanded by growing manufacturing techniques. In order to provide a complete and proper control strategy for synchronized motion, and to overthrow traditional architecture of vacuum pumps by raising a better control scheme for new generation oil-less products, the paper focuses on synchronized motion control for dual motors. The first objective of here is to develop a control method for synchronized motion of two separated motors. Both system uncertainties and unknown disturbances occurring in actual implementation need to be carefully considered. An experimental setup will also be established for examinations and verifications. And then synchronized motion control of dual motors including two mating screw rotors then will be investigated. During this period, the emphasis will be on solution finding for unexpected contact collision between two rotors. An effective and efficient control strategy will be developed for synchronized motion control of dual motors. Longer operation time and better synchronization performance for two motors can therefore be anticipated.

<p>Innan en patient som bedöms vara i behov av insatser från kommunens socialtjänst eller annan öppenvård med mera skrivs ut från slutenvården måste en vårdplanering utföras. Vårdplaneringen utförs av patientansvarig sjuksköterska tillsammans med ett antal representanter från öppenvården. Syftet med studien är att belysa hur sjuksköterskor inom landstinget upplever samordnad vårdplanering. Metoden som användes var en kvalitativ enkätundersökning. Resultatet baseras på tio enkäter ifyllda av sjuksköterskor på lungmedicin på KSS i Skövde. Dessa enkätsvar gick sedan igenom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys för att urskilja upplevelser hos sjuksköterskorna. I resultatet framkom att sjuksköterskorna upplevde stress, frustration, dåligt samvete samt bristande samarbete men att sjuksköterskorna accepterade situationen och jobbade vidare.</p> / <p>A coordinated care plan must be carried out before a patient in closed care, that need help from the municipality social services or other open care institutions, can be discharged. This coordinated care planning is accomplished by a team consisting of the nurse responsible for the patient together with a number of representatives from the municipal care. The aim with the study is to elucidate how nurses within the county council experience the coordinated care planning. The method used in this study was a qualitative questionnaire survey and the answers were assessed by using a qualitative content analysis. The results are based on ten questionnaires answered by nurses working at the lung medicine ward in Kärnsjukhuset, Skövde. This study revealed that the nurses experienced stress, frustration, bad conscience and inadequate cooperation in the coordinated care planning; however, they accepted the situation and kept on working.</p>

One outcome of ever increasing competition and consolidation in the financial services industries has been the declining significance of the mutual organizational form in the U.S. life insurance industry. The process of converting from a mutual to a stock company gives rise to a variety of issues. The first three essays in this dissertation focus on the growing movement toward demutualization in the U.S. life insurance industry where essay one discusses industrial organization background. In essay two, I improve on the existing literature regarding the determinants of life insurer demutualizations by investigating an expanded data set and utilizing more robust econometric techniques to allow for different forms of demutualization. I also model the demutualization process as a two step process to account for the timing of demutualization, time-varying covariates, and censoring. These models yield results that strongly support the access to capital hypothesis. In essay three, I examine changes in risk management and investment strategies of demutualizing life insurers following conversion. The empirical tests reveal that demutualizing life insurers increase total risk after conversion consistent with their increased abilities and incentives for risk taking. They achieve this increase by hedging interest rate risk and increasing their core-business risks as proxied by investments in various illiquid asset classes. The final essay is on diversifying mergers and acquisitions. Conventional wisdom suggests diversification reduces risk. However, the change in the riskiness of the firm after diversifying acquisitions has not been directly tested in the literature. Using a sample of diversifying M&As, I find that total firm risk does not decrease significantly after these transactions. I then show that while total firm risk does not change, core-business risk increases significantly after the diversifying M&A transactions. I also find that capital expenditures in the acquirers’ core business segments increase significantly more after diversifying transactions relative to that of non-diversifying transactions. Overall, the evidence in this essay adds to the risk management literature that says hedging is a means of allocating risk rather than reducing risk and offers an alternative explanation for why firms diversify.

This study is a retrospective evaluation of the Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) coordinated school health program. An abundant amount of research has been conducted concerning CATCH, but no data exist that represents the characteristics and attitudes of individuals implementing the program. This study looked to examine organizational readiness, commitment to change, leadership, implementation barriers, innovation perceptions and their influence on the diffusion of CATCH. The primary purpose of this study is to describe and explain why schools in the same area that receive the same CATCH training result in different implementation practices. This study included a retrospective evaluation that evaluated school employees' motivation of CATCH implementation over the 2011-2012 school year. A survey of 284 school employees and health department partners consisting of 33 school administers, 197 classroom teachers, 27 physical education teachers, 21 cafeteria supervisors, and 6 health department partners at elementary school located in the southernmost counties of southern Illinois was conducted. Particular attention was focused upon the differences between classroom teachers, physical education teachers, cafeteria supervisors, and health department partners. Degree of CATCH implementation was the best among cafeteria supervisors and physical education teachers while classroom teachers implemented roughly 50% of the CATCH classroom curriculum. Organizational readiness was a significant predictor of classroom teacher degree of implementation while school leadership served as a significant predictor of degree of implementation by physical education teachers. The study utilizes CATCH; however, this study could be helpful concerning other school health programs to enhance program implementation practices and delivery. The significance of these data provide health educators with evidence of why schools have different implementation practices, what constructs influence degree of implementation, and how addressed constructs that influence implementation can be rectified through school preparation and training protocols to enhance degree of implementation. Additional variables are also discussed that could account for further variation in school employee degree of implementation.

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