Thesis (M.C.S.) - Carleton University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-96). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2002. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Thomas J. Housel, Glenn R. Cook. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82). Also available online.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-61).

Thesis (M.E.)--University of Florida, 2002. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Computer Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-159). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71641.

The thesis examines sequential mining approaches in the context of treatment recommendation for Gliblastoma (GBM) patients. GBM is the most lethal and biologically the most aggressive forms of brain tumor with median survival of approximately 1 year. A significant challenge in treating such rare forms of cancer is to make the best decision about optimal treatment plans for patients after standard of care. We tailor the existing sequential mining approaches by adding constraints to mine significant treatment options for cancer patients. The goal of the work is to analyze which treatment patterns play a role in prolonging the survival period of patients. In addition to the treatment analysis, we also discover some interesting clinical and genomic factors, which influence the survival period of patients. A treatment advisor tool has been developed based on the predictive features discovered. This tool is used to recommend treatment guidelines for a new patient based on the treatments meted out to other patients sharing clinical similarity with the new patient. The recommendations are also guided by the influential treatment patterns discovered in the study. The tool is based on the notion of patient similarity and uses a weighted function to calculate the same. The recommendations made by the tool may influence the clinicians to have the patients record some vital data on their own. With the progression of the treatment the clinicians may want to add to or modify some of the vital data elements previously decided to be recorded. In such a case a static database would not be very efficient to record the data since manual intervention is inevitable to incorporate the changes in the database structure. To solve this problem we have developed a dynamic database evolution framework, which uses a form based interface to interact with the clinician to add or modify the data elements in a database. The clinicians are flexible to create a new form for patients or modify existing forms based on a patient’s condition. As a result, appropriate schema modifications would be done in the relational database at the backend to incorporate these changes maintaining relational consistency.

This research examines and compares the distributions of archaeological sites and materials in order to investigate native settlement patterns and resources use throughout 12,000 years of prehistory and protohistoric time within the Apalachicola/Lower Chattahoochee River valley of northwest Florida, southwest Georgia, and southeast Alabama. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used to map the distributions of sites from different time periods and to explore their relation to various environmental characteristics that are now available in digital format. I employ tools now available in GIS to examine several longstanding research questions and expand upon archaeological interpretations within this region, where the University of South Florida (USF) has an ongoing research program. The results of this work illustrate change through time and space as cultures begin to adapt to post-Pleistocene ecological change, develop food production and complex societies, and react to the appearance of European groups.

There is a large amount of geotechnical data. By putting it into a database, it can be applied to design reliable offshore foundations. The goal of this research is to improve the efficiency and transparency of the implementation of the previously developed reliability-based framework to streamline the process for analyzing and developing an offshore site in the Gulf of Mexico by looking at spatial variations among data sets. This thesis documents how to store soil behavior information in the database and how to use that information for offshore foundation design. The process is illustrated through observing the steps with figures provided directly from the database so the user can more readily use the database to produce results. This makes the database more transparent for the user to follow the flow of information from input to analysis and to follow the calculation process as well. Enhancements were also made to the database to provide a more readily accessible interface. There is now an allowance of data to streamline the data input process. There is also a set amount of fifty data points to be used in each spatially conditioned analysis. These detailed explanations and consistencies in data collection help the user to understand the models. This database provides a synthetic image of the site using both physical and statistical parameters where there might not be exact data at a desired foundation location. By providing the industry with a database that uses reliability-based design from actual data and spatial variation analysis, this project will continue to provide a more efficient design process. / text

The prestress loss estimation provision in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications was recalibrated in 2005 to be more accurate for "high-strength [conventional] concrete." Greater accuracy may imply less conservatism, the result of which may be flexural cracking of beams under service loads. Concern with a potential lack of conservatism and the degree of complexity of these recalibrated prestress loss estimation provisions prompted the investigation to be discussed in this dissertation. The primary objectives of this investigation were: (1) to assess the conservatism and accuracy of the current prestress loss provisions, (2) to identify the benefits and weaknesses of using the AASHTO LRFD 2004 and 2005 prestress loss provisions, and (3) to make recommendations to simplify the current provisions. These objectives were accomplished through (1) the fabrication, conditioning, and testing of 30 field-representative girders, (2) the assembly and analysis of a prestress loss database unmatched in size and diversity when compared with previously assembled databases, and (3) a parametric study investigating the design implications and sensitivity of the current loss provisions. Based on the database evaluation coupled with the experimental results, it was revealed that the use of the AASHTO LRFD 2005 prestress loss provisions resulted in underestimation of the prestress loss in nearly half of all cases. A loss estimation procedure was developed based on the AASHTO LRFD 2005 provisions to greatly simplify the procedure and provide a reasonable level of conservatism. / text