Agile based development seems to become a favorable model for offshore development. It allows both on and offshore team to work in small iterations minimizing the effect of change in software requirements and at the same time developing regular communication between them. However different factors such as physical distance and lack of communication between on and offshore team becomes a hurdle between them leading to misunderstandings about software requirements. This research work gives an insight about these challenges from the software industry by presenting and discussing the responses of four software companies located in different countries, collected through an online questionnaire. The authors found that lack of communication between on and offshore site is seen as a major challenge for better understanding of software requirements. Shorter iterations at the offshore site require more communication with the onshore site. The language problem seems to exist only when both on and offshore site who are non-English speakers communicate in English. Regular long distance meetings would help in better understanding of software requirements. Previous domain and product knowledge is helpful in better understanding of software requirements. This research work would allow different stakeholders within agile based on/offshore setting to better understand these challenges and deal accordingly with them.

The fishery for octopus in Northwest Mexico has increased to over 2,000 tons annually, but to date the specific composition of the catch has been ignored. With at least three main species targeted by artisanal fisheries in the region with distinct life histories, the lack of basic biological information about the distribution, metapopulation size and structure of each species could impede effective fisheries management to avoid overexploitation. We tested if different life histories of three species of octopus could help predict observed patterns of genetic diversity, population dynamics, structure and connectivity and how this information could be relevant to the sustainable management of the fishery. We sequenced two mitochondrial genes and genotyped seven nuclear microsatellite loci to identify the distribution of each species in 20 locations from the Gulf of California and the west coast of the Baja California peninsula. We tested five hypotheses derived from population genetic theory based on differences in the fecundity and dispersal potential for each species. We discovered that Octopus bimaculoides with low fecundity and direct development (without a planktonic phase) had lower average effective population size and genetic diversity, but higher levels of kinship, population structure, and richness of private alleles, than the other two species. These features indicated limited dispersal and high local recruitment. In contrast, O. bimaculatus and O. hubbsorum with higher fecundity and planktonic phase as paralarvae had higher effective population size and genetic diversity, and overall lower kinship and population structure than O. bimaculoides. These observations supported higher levels of gene flow over a larger geographical scale. O. bimaculatus with the longest planktonic paralarval duration and therefore larger dispersal potential had differences in the calculated parameters possibly associated with increased connectivity. We propose O. bimaculoides is more susceptible to over exploitation of small, isolated populations and could have longer recovery times than the other two species. This species may benefit from distinct fishery management within each local population. O. bimaculatus and O. hubbsorum may benefit from fishery management that takes into account metapopulation structure over larger geographic scales and the directionality and magnitude of larval dispersal driven by ocean currents and population connectivity among individuals of each locality. The distribution of each species and variations in their reproductive phenology is also important to consider when establishing marine reserves or seasonal fishing closures.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Animal Sciences and Industry / Megan Rolf / In the future, water may not be as readily available due to an increase in competition from a growing human population, wildlife, and other agricultural sectors. To better understand water demands in the beef industry, water intake has to be accurately measured. It also critical to understand if water intake is a heritable trait and to determine its relationship to other production traits. This dissertation examines the number of days to accurately measure water intake in beef cattle, how to predict water intake in beef cattle using individual intakes, and estimates genetic parameters for water intake, dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), water efficiency measures, feed efficiency measures, and carcass traits. Study 1 investigates the test duration required to accurately measure water intake. Water intakes were collected over 70 d and shortened test periods (7 day intervals) were correlated with the full 70 day test to determine the minimum number of days required to accurately measure water intake. Water intake can be collected over a 35 to 42-day test period, with a minimal decrease in accuracy. Study 2 developed a water intake prediction equation that included different weather variables and average daily temperature (TAVG), average relative humidity (HVAG), solar radiation (SRAD), and wind speed (WSPD). Water intakes and feed intakes on individual animals were collected over a 70-day period along with (TAVG), (HVAG), (SRAD), (WSPD) for each day. Five different prediction equations were developed: summer, winter, slick bunk feed management, ad libitum feed management, and overall. All models included variables of DMI, metabolic mid test weight, TAVG, HAVG, SRAD, and WSPD, with R-squared values ranging from 0.34 to 0.41. Study 3 investigated the relationships between water intake and DMI, ADG, and water and feed efficiency traits. Variance components and genetic correlations were estimated using single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), incorporating genotypes on approximately 150,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Water intake was moderately heritable (0.39) and had moderate genetic correlations with DMI and residual feed intake, high genetic correlations with residual water intake, water to gain ratio, and feed to gain ratio, and had a low genetic correlation with ADG. Study 4 investigated the relationship between water intake and carcass traits. Single-Step GBLUP was used to estimate variance components and genetic correlations between water intake and carcass traits. Similar to study 3, water intake was moderately heritable (0.42). Water intake was moderately correlated with hot carcass weight (0.38), back fat (0.36), yield grade (0.29), and final body weight (0.29), but had a low genetic correlation with longissimus muscle area (0.08) and marbling (0.17). More research must be done to determine the relationships between water intake and other economically important traits in beef cattle and to better understand how environment and genetic background affect water intake. Improvements in water efficiency could decrease the amount of water cattle consume and assist producers in managing on-farm water resources during times of water scarcity.

Increased temperatures, changed snow conditions, increasing demand for skiing and other winter sports lead to increased demand and production of artificial snow. Besides the positive aspects of artificial snow, it is important to understand potentially negative effects of artificial snow on the environment and vegetation. This study investigated the differences between artificial snow and natural snow in two adjacent ski slopes. This was done by measuring and comparing the snow depth, duration of the snow cover, snow density, and ground vegetation between the slopes. Snow depth and density showed differences between artificial snow and natural snow. The artificial snow cover stayed about 11 days longer than the natural snow. A few variations in the vegetation were also found; earlier flowering and more species and colors in the natural snow slope compared to in the slope using artificial snow. Therefore, it is clear that there is a difference between artificial snow and natural snow, and that this results in effects on the environment, but it is difficult to assess to what extent and how large the negative impact is. For more general conclusions, I think it is important to study the vegetation under artificial snow during a longer period and in several areas.

LONG-TERM CHANGES IN CLOUDINESS AND SUNSHINE DURATION IN EUROPE Abstract The aim of this paper is to study long-term changes of two climatological parameters known as sunshine duration (SD) and cloudiness (CC) using several stations data located in Europe in the period 1965 - 2016. This paper is devided into two main parts. First part is paying attention to the literary research, which firstly introduce the chosen climatical variables (SD and CC) and then introduce the issue of the already known long term changes of this variables. Second part of this work is based on practical research. This paper uses a statistical linear regression to find out the seasonal and annual trends in sunshine duration and cloudiness. Data series were obtained from database ECA&D in total from 48 european climatic stations. Klíčová slova: cloud cover, sunshine duration, climate change, trends, Europe

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第16391号 / 工博第3472号 / 新制||工||1525(附属図書館) / 29022 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科建築学専攻 / (主査)教授 中島 正愛, 教授 河井 宏允, 教授 竹脇 出 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

This dissertation includes three studies that examined the impact of inadequate sleep duration in adolescents and young adults on asthma and systemic inflammation. We used data from the Florida Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), years 2009-2013, and from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add health), which was conducted between 1994 and 2008. The first study used data from 16,738 high school students participating in the Florida YRBS. We examined the cross-sectional association between sleep duration and asthma, and the interactive effects of sleep duration and BMI. We found that short and long sleep durations were associated with increased odds of current asthma. Compared with 7-8 hours of sleep per night, sleeping for(95% CI) of 1.22 (1.07, 1.40), while sleeping for ≥ 9 hours had and OR of 1.31 (1.06, 1.63). We found a significant effect modification by BMI, with the associations between sleep duration and asthma mostly limited to overweight adolescents. Compared with normal weight students who sleep for 7-8 hours per night, those who are overweight and sleep for≥ 9 hours have approximately twice the odds of having current asthma [OR= 1.75 (1.45, 2.11), and OR=2.00 (1.32, 3.02) respectively]. No significant associations were found in normal-weight adolescents. The second study used data from 12,633 adolescents (age 13-19) participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add health), and followed through 4 waves of interviews through their young adulthood (age 24-32). We constructed trajectories of sleep duration through 4 waves of data for participants without asthma at wave I (n=11,016), and examined the association between sleep duration and the risk of asthma by young adulthood. Similarly, we constructed trajectories of sleep duration for participants with asthma at wave I (n=1,395) through 3 waves of data, and examined the association between sleep duration and persistence of asthma into young adulthood. Sleep trajectories in non-asthmatic participants showed that 13.8% of them had persistent short sleep duration, while 80.7% had adequate sleep durations from adolescence though young adulthood. Those with consistently short sleep had 1.59 times the risk of new onset asthma by age 32 (95% CI 1.12, 2.26), compared with consistently adequate sleepers. Among adolescents with asthma, 10.2% had consistently short sleep through age 24, while 81.2% had adequate sleep. Short sleepers were 2.35 times more likely than adequate sleepers to have their asthma symptoms persist into young adulthood (95% CI 1.12, 4.96). The third study used data from waves III and IV of the Add health study, and examined the association between sleep trajectories over a 6-year follow-up in young adulthood, and the risk of elevated high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation. Short sleep trajectories were associated with a significant increase in log-transformed hs-CRP (coefficient=0.11, p-value 0.03), and with a significant increase in the odds of having hs-CRP levels >3 mg/dl (OR=1.85, 95% CI 1.29, 2.67). The association was modified by sex, with the association between short sleep duration and hs-CRP limited to males. In males, both the continuous (coefficient 0.117, p-value=0.0362) and the categorized hs-CRP (OR= 2.21, 95% CI 1.48, 3.30) were significantly increased with short sleep durations, while no significant associations were seen in females with short sleep durations. By contrast, there was a significant increase in log hs-CRP in females with long sleep durations (coefficient=0.232, p-value=0.0296), and a non-significant increase in the odds of having hs-CRP levels greater than 3 mg/dl (OR=1.48, 95% CI 0.75, 2.93), while there were no associations with long sleep duration in males. The results of this dissertation research point to the detrimental effects of sleep loss on the bodies of adolescents and young adults. We found sleep loss to be associated with the incidence of asthma and its persistence, in addition to heightened systemic inflammation, which is a likely pathway that links sleep duration with the above outcomes. Our findings indicate that males are more susceptible to the effect of insufficient sleep on the risk of heightened inflammation, while females are more susceptible to the effects of long sleep durations. Interestingly, adolescents in the more recent YRBS study had shorter sleep durations than those who participated in the earlier Add health study. The prevalence of sleeping less than 7 hours was 16.5% in the add health study (years 1994-1995), compared with 47.2% in the YRBS study (years 2009-2013), indicating a progressive decrease in the average sleep duration of adolescents.

[pt] Esta dissertação visa encontrar os determinantes da duração da dívida pública brasileira no período pós-Real. Primeiramente, discutem-se os modelos de gestão de dívida pública existentes na literatura e em que medida as considerações dos mesmos se aplicam à gestão da maturidade (particularmente, da duração) da dívida pública brasileira no período estudado. A seguir, apresenta-se uma análise da gestão da dívida, em termos da evolução do tamanho, composição e denominação e maturidade da mesma. É realizado um exercício de decomposição da dívida, a partir do qual se verifica que o principal responsável pelo aumento da Dívida Mobiliária Federal de R$ 57.632 milhões em julho de 1994 para R$ 600.018 milhões em dezembro de 2002 é a parcela de juros, o que é reflexo de questões estruturais. É importante estudar a evolução do tamanho e da composição da dívida devido à sua influência sobre a escolha da maturidade. Finalmente, realiza-se um estudo empírico dos determinantes da duração da dívida pública brasileira no período de agosto de 1996 a dezembro de 2002, em que se mostra que quanto maiores forem o tamanho da dívida pública (medido pela razão dívida-PIB) e a Necessidade de Financiamento do Setor Público (NFSP), menor será a duração da mesma. / [en] This dissertation aims to find out the determinants of Brazilian public debt duration after the Real Plan. First, one discusses the models of public debt management and to what extent they can be applied to the evolution of Brazilian duration in the period studied. Then, an analysis of Brazilian public debt management is made, concerning debt´s size, composition, denomination and maturity. In a decomposition exercise, it can be verified that the main factor responsible for the enormous growth of the Federal Bonded Debt are interest payments, which are consequence of structural questions. The reason to study debt´s size and composition is due to their influence in terms of maturity. Finally, an empirical study is conducted evaluating the determinants of Brazilian public debt duration from August 1996 to December 2002. The results show that the higher is debt´s size (measured by the ratio debt/GDP) and the PSBR (Public Sector Borrowing Requirements), the lower is the duration.

Les bases neurobiologiques de l’autisme semblent actuellement bien établies. Cependant des interventions spécifiques paraissent pouvoir influencer le développement des enfants atteints, ou au moins diminuer les conséquences du trouble. Cette question est examinée à partir de l’évolution, sur un an, d’un échantillon de 77 enfants avec autisme, âgés de 3 à 5 ans. Après avoir décrit les caractéristiques de leurs prises en charge spécialisées et scolaires, nous étudions les relations entre leurs durées hebdomadaires et les caractéristiques individuelles des enfants. Nous présentons par la suite, les évolutions observées sur le plan de la symptomatologie et des comportements adaptatifs et nous examinons les liens entre les durées hebdomadaires des prises en charge et l’évolution des comportements adaptatifs. Nos résultats montrent des évolutions variables selon les domaines étudiés. L’étude statistique met en évidence des liens entre les durées des interventions et l’évolution des compétences adaptatives dans les domaines spécifiquement ciblés lorsque les durées hebdomadaires dépassent un certain seuil. / The neurobiological bases of autism seem now well established. However studies have shown that specific interventions could influence the development of children diagnosed with autism, or at least, reduce the effects of the disorder. We study this question based on one-year outcome of symptomatology and adaptive behaviours of a group of 77 autistic children, aged 3 to 5. First we describe both treatment of children in specialized settings and their inclusion in regular classroom settings. In a second time we study the correlation between the weekly hours of both types of interventions and the individual characteristics of children. Subsequently, we examine the relationships between the weekly hours of both interventions and the children’s progress on adaptive behaviours. Statistical analyses demonstrate significant links between the weekly hours of interventions and progress in the adaptive area specifically targeted when duration of weekly interventions exceeds a certain level.

Children with ASD often display behavior problems that can lead to daily academic and social disruptions. Many teachers and therapists have sought to create classroom interventions that improve the length of time a child stays seated and focused on the required task. This has led to the introduction of stability balls as an alternative seating method for children, both on the autism spectrum and with other needs. This study used a multiple baseline design and duration data to evaluate the effects of stability ball seating on attending and in-seat behavior for children with ASD who received ABA therapy in their homes. The intervention replaced their standard seating method with a stability ball. In the final phase participants chose their own seating method before beginning table work to assess preference. Following intervention the stability ball was found to increase both attending and in-seat durations for children with ASD.