Traffic modeling in computer networks has been researched for decades. A good model should reflect the features of real-world network traffic. With a good model, synthetic traffic data can be generated for experimental studies; network performance can be analysed mathematically; service provisioning and scheduling can be designed aligning with traffic changes. An important part of traffic modeling is to capture the dependence, either the dependence among different traffic flows or the temporal dependence within the same traffic flow. Nevertheless, the power of dependence models, especially those that capture the functional dependence, has not been fully explored in the domain of computer networks. This thesis studies copula theory, a theory to describe dependence between random variables, and applies it for better performance evaluation and network resource provisioning. We apply copula to model both contemporaneous dependence between traffic flows and temporal dependence within the same flow. The dependence models are powerful and capture the functional dependence beyond the linear scope. With numerical examples, real-world experiments and simulations, we show that copula modeling can benefit many applications in computer networks, including, for example, tightening performance bounds in statistical network calculus, capturing full dependence structure in Markov Modulated Poisson Process (MMPP), MMPP parameter estimation, and predictive resource provisioning for cloud-based composite services. / Graduate / 0984 / fdong@uvic.ca

This diploma thesis is dealing with the topic of civil society organization dependency on its environment (on resources taken from the outside). The paper is focusing three areas - understanding and manifestation of this dependency on the resources of the civic society organization, on so called border situation which occurs during the meantime between projects and last but not least on the strategies which the organization proceeds, either willfully or not, on the reaction to its dependency on the resources and to its border situation. This paper is grounded in the resource dependence theory, developed by Jeffrey Pfefffer and Gerald Salancik, and in already executed researches from abroad. The research design used in this work is a single case case study. Data were acquired by the methods of semi-structured interviews and by the analysis of the documents.

This diploma thesis deals with an issue of treatment of alcohol dependence and the process of social inclusion of people who have undergone this process. The thesis provides an overview of services and other forms of assistance that are targeted at this group. Attention is paid mainly to the current set-up of the services and assistance system to identify strong and weak aspects of the system. The work is based on a qualitative research. The research was conducted throught expert interviews and interviews with users of these services. Theoretical basis of the work is the ethiology of addiction, which offers various explanations of the origin and persistence of the problem of alcohol dependence. The work also uses the findings of the life course perspective, which allows to map the life trajectories of the interviewees, including the recognition of key events in their lives affecting the emergence and development of addicton. The last theoretical starting point of the work is the concept of social inclusion.

The purposes of this study were 1) to determine the field dependence/independence preference (FD/FI) of selected master's students and their choice of academic discipline, 2) to determine the FD/FI of selected master's students and their areas of specialization within their discipline (kinesiology, health promotion, recreation), 3) to determine the relationship between FD/FI and GRE scores, and 4) to determine the relationship between FD/FI and cumulative GPA. The Witkin Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) was used to test for FD/FI.

Genom historien har den svenska idrottsrörelsen kännetecknats som en folkrörelse. På senare tid har fotbollsföreningar i Sverige övergått från att vara en del av den organiserade demokratiska folkrörelsen vars främsta syfte är att främja folkhälsan till att idag bedrivas som företag med syftet att tjäna pengar. För att kunna bedriva elitidrottsverksamhet har organisationerna blivit allt mer professionella och kommersiella i sättet att införskaffa och säkerställa ekonomiska resurser. Den här studien ämnar undersöka om organisationsformen hos svenska fotbollsklubbar ger upphov till olika resursberoenden och hur de säkerställer resurser. Den teoretiska referensramen utgörs av resursberoendeteorin för att bland annat fältidentifiera värdefulla resurser och institutionell teori för att skapa en bredare bild för hur det svenska fotbollsfältet utvecklats. Studien är en kvalitativ fallstudie genomförd med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet visar att organisationerna liknar varandra både vad gäller resursberoende men även i säkerställande av resurser där legitimitet var av stor betydelse. Studiens slutsats konstaterar att organisationsformerna inte har någon påverkan på vare sig resursberoende eller säkerställande av resurser. Resultatet pekar istället på att det är fältet som påverkar organisationerna. / Throughout history, the Swedish sports movement has been characterized as a popular movement. Recently, Swedish football organizations have transitioned from being part of the organized democratic popular movement whose main purpose is to promote public health to today being run as a company with the aim of making money. In order to operate an elite sport organization, organizations have become increasingly professional and commercial in the way of acquiring and securing financial resources. The theoretical framework for this study consists of Resource Dependence Theory to identify, among other things, valuable resources and Institutional Theory to create a broader picture of how the Swedish football field has developed. The study is a qualitative case study conducted with the help of semi-structured interviews. The result shows that the organizations are similar to each other in terms of resource dependency as well in securing resources where legitimacy was of great importance. The study's conclusion states that the organizational forms have no effect on either resource dependency or the securing of resources. The result, instead, indicates that it is the field that affects the organizations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of exercise dependence, as well as conducting a re-evaluation of the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R) through a confirmatory factor analysis. The study was based on three Swedish data collections (N = 1101), collected through online questionnaires answered by physically active adults. The study found a prevalence of exercise dependence between 3.6-9%, primary exercise dependence between 1.7-2.2%, and a prevalence of primary exercise dependence with anxiety management as motivation of 1.8% across the three data-collections. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the hypothesized 21-item 7-factor structure of the EDS-R contributed to a tolerable fit of data with good psychometric properties, although a poor factor loading of item 19 in the factor ‘Reduction in other activities’ was found. This study concludes that the EDS-R is a valid measurement of exercise dependence, but further research is needed to evaluate the relation between primary exercise dependence and anxiety management, as well as the construct validity of the individual items. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka prevalensen av träningsberoende, samt utföra en omvärdering av träningsberoendeskalan-reviderad (EDS-R) genom en konfirmatorisk faktoranalys. Studien baserades på tre svenska datakollektioner (N = 1101), insamlade genom online-enkäter besvarade av fysiskt aktiva vuxna. Studien fann en prevalens av träningsberoende mellan 3.6-9%, primärt träningsberoende mellan 1.7-2.2%, och en prevalens av primärt träningsberoende med ångesthantering som motivation på 1.8% över de tre datakollektionerna. Den konfirmatoriska faktoranalysen avslöjade att den hypotiserade 21-objekt 7-faktor strukturen av EDS-R bidrog till en tolerabel passform av data med goda psykometriska egenskaper, även om en dålig faktorladdning av objekt 19 i faktorn 'Reduktion i andra aktiviteter' hittades. Denna studie drar slutsatsen att EDS-R är ett giltigt mått på träningsberoende, men ytterligare forskning behövs för att utvärdera relationen mellan primärt träningsberoende och ångesthantering, samt konstruktionsvaliditeten för de enskilda objekten.

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The production of cereals, especially maize, which is a staple food in sub-Saharan Africa, is challenged by pests and diseases. In addition, climate change will exacerbate the magnitude of these challenges and agriculture in general. Lepidopteran stemborers are major pests of cereal crops in sub-Saharan Africa. Two indigenous noctuids, Busseola fusca and Sesamia calamistis and one exotic crambid, Chilo partellus, occur as single and mixed-species communities infesting cereal crops in East and southern Africa. The composition of these communities however varies with altitude and over seasons. Interactions between the species especially when in combination, can affect the level of damage to cereal crops. The objective of this study was to describe the intraspecific and interspecific interactions between the three stemborer species when they make use of the same resources. This study involved field surveys in maize fields in major agro-ecological zones and also different experiments under greenhouse and laboratory conditions to describe the interactions between the species as well as the effect of temperature, species density and duration of the period of competition on outcomes of these interactions. Results showed that stemborer communities are composed of single and mixed species of B. fusca, S. calamistis and C. partellus, which varied with the different agro-ecological zones and also along altitudinal gradients. Temperature was the most important abiotic factor that influenced the composition of stemborer communities. However, infestation patterns varied with season. This study also showed that female moths of the three species did not avoid oviposition on plants that were previously infested by stemborers. Busseola fusca showed a high preference for heterospecific-infested plants, while C. partellus preferred conspecific-infested plants. Sesamia calamistis did not show a significant preference for one plant over the other. This study further showed that both intra- and interspecific competition characterise communities of these stemborer species which ultilise the same resources. Interspecific competition was stronger between the noctuids and the crambid than between the two noctuid species. Temperature had a significant influence on the competitive outcomes between the three species. Finally the study showed that densitydependent effects and the duration of the interactions are also important factors which influence the level of competitive outcomes between the species. Climate change is likely to influence the interactions and composition of stemborer communities. / PhD (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Long-term cosmic-ray modulation studies using ab initio numerical modulation models require an understanding of the solar-cycle dependence of the heliospheric diffusion tensor. Such an understanding requires information as to possible solar-cycle dependences of various basic turbulence quantities. In this study, 1-minute resolution data for the N-component of the heliospheric magnetic field spanning from 1974 to 2012 is analysed using second-order structure functions constructed assuming a simple three-stage power-law frequency spectrum. This spectrum is motivated observationally and theoretically, and has an inertial, an energycontaining and a cutoff-range at small frequencies to ensure a finite energy density. Of the turbulence quantities calculated from 27-day averaged second-order structure functions, only the magnetic variance and the spectral level show a significant solar-cycle dependence, much less so the spectral index in the energy range. The spectral indices in the inertial range, as well as the turnover and cutoff scales do not appear to depend on the level of solar activity. The ratio of the variance to the square of the magnetic field also appears to be solar-cycle independent. These results suggest that the dominant change in the spectrum over several solar-cycles is its level. Comparisons of the results found in this study with relevant published observations of turbulence quantities are very favourable. Furthermore, when the magnetic variances and heliospheric magnetic magnitudes calculated in this study are used as inputs for theoretically motivated expressions for the mean free paths and turbulence-reduced drift lengthscale, clear solar-cycle dependencies in these quantities are seen. Values for the diffusion and drift lengthscales during the recent unusual solar minimum are found to be significantly higher than during previous solar minima. / MSc (Space Physics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The production of cereals, especially maize, which is a staple food in sub-Saharan Africa, is challenged by pests and diseases. In addition, climate change will exacerbate the magnitude of these challenges and agriculture in general. Lepidopteran stemborers are major pests of cereal crops in sub-Saharan Africa. Two indigenous noctuids, Busseola fusca and Sesamia calamistis and one exotic crambid, Chilo partellus, occur as single and mixed-species communities infesting cereal crops in East and southern Africa. The composition of these communities however varies with altitude and over seasons. Interactions between the species especially when in combination, can affect the level of damage to cereal crops. The objective of this study was to describe the intraspecific and interspecific interactions between the three stemborer species when they make use of the same resources. This study involved field surveys in maize fields in major agro-ecological zones and also different experiments under greenhouse and laboratory conditions to describe the interactions between the species as well as the effect of temperature, species density and duration of the period of competition on outcomes of these interactions. Results showed that stemborer communities are composed of single and mixed species of B. fusca, S. calamistis and C. partellus, which varied with the different agro-ecological zones and also along altitudinal gradients. Temperature was the most important abiotic factor that influenced the composition of stemborer communities. However, infestation patterns varied with season. This study also showed that female moths of the three species did not avoid oviposition on plants that were previously infested by stemborers. Busseola fusca showed a high preference for heterospecific-infested plants, while C. partellus preferred conspecific-infested plants. Sesamia calamistis did not show a significant preference for one plant over the other. This study further showed that both intra- and interspecific competition characterise communities of these stemborer species which ultilise the same resources. Interspecific competition was stronger between the noctuids and the crambid than between the two noctuid species. Temperature had a significant influence on the competitive outcomes between the three species. Finally the study showed that densitydependent effects and the duration of the interactions are also important factors which influence the level of competitive outcomes between the species. Climate change is likely to influence the interactions and composition of stemborer communities. / PhD (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015