<p>This study investigates the most important reasons behind the rst-year students' decision to select University of the Western Cape (UWC) as higher education institution.<br /> These reasons were organized into a few factors for easy interpretation. The data to be analyzed for this project is a subsection of the data collected during the orientation period of 2008. During the orientation week of 2008, the questionnaires were completed on a voluntary basis by new rst-year students. All questionnaires were anonymously completed and therefore the data does not contain any information that could be linked to any individual. For the purpose of this study, only the black African and coloured students were considered. The other racial groups were not analyzed due to too small sample sizes. Questionnaires with missing information on the reasons for selecting UWC were not&nbsp / nalyzed. We ended up with a sample of size 600. The data were statistically analyzed, using descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, factor analysis, coefficient of congruence and bootstrap factor analysis. The results indicated that the most important reasons aecting students to choose UWC were identied as good academic reputation, family member's advice, UWC graduates are successful and UWC graduates get good jobs. The least important reasons were found to be not accepted anywhere, parents / family members graduated from UWC, recruited by UWC and wanted to study near to home. The results also indicated that there were significant differences among students according to population groups, parent's monthly income and grade 12 average. Factor analysis of 12 variables yielded three extracted factors upon which student decisions were based. Similarities of these three factors were tested, and a high similarity among demographic characteristics and grade 12 average were found. Additional analyses were conducted to measure the accuracy of factor analyses models constructed using Spearman and Polychoric correlation matrices. The results indicated that both correlation matrices were&nbsp / nbiased, with higher variance and higher loadings when the Polychoric correlation matrix was used to construct a factor analysis model for categorical data.</p>

There has been a recent explosive growth in mobile data consumption. This, in turn, imposes many challenges for mobile services providers and regulators in many aspects. One of these primary challenges is maintaining the radio spectrum to handle the current and upcoming expansion in mobile data traffic. In this regard, a radio spectrum regulatory framework based on secondary spectrum access is proposed as one of the solutions for the next generation wireless networks. In secondary spectrum access framework, secondary (unlicensed) systems coexist with primary (licensed) systems and access the spectrum on an opportunistic base. In this thesis, aspects related to finding the free of use spectrum portions - called spectrum opportunities - are treated. One way to find these opportunities is spectrum sensing which is considered as an enabler of opportunistic spectrum access. In particular, this thesis investigates some topics in blind spectrum sensing where no priori knowledge about the possible co-existing systems is available. As a standalone contribution in blind spectrum sensing arena, a new blind sensing technique is developed in this thesis. The technique is based on discriminant analysis statistical framework and called spectrum discriminator (SD). A comparative study between the SD and some existing blind sensing techniques was carried out and showed a reliable performance of the SD. The thesis also contributes by exploring sensing parameters optimization for two existing techniques, namely, energy detector (ED) and maximum-minimum eigenvalue detector (MME). For ED, the sensing time and periodic sensing interval are optimized to achieve as high detection accuracy as possible. Moreover, a study of sensing parameters optimization in a real-life coexisting scenario, that is, LTE cognitive femto-cells, is carried out with an objective of maximizing cognitive femto-cells throughput. In association with this work, an empirical statistical model for LTE channel occupancy is accomplished. The empirical model fits the channels' active and idle periods distributions to a linear combination of multiple exponential distributions. For the MME, a novel solution for the filtering problem is introduced. This solution is based on frequency domain rectangular filtering. Furthermore, an optimization of the observation bandwidth for MME with respect to the signal bandwidth is analytically performed and verified by simulations. After optimizing the parameters for both ED and MME, a two-stage fully-blind self-adapted sensing algorithm composed of ED and MME is introduced. The combined detector is found to outperform both detectors individually in terms of detection accuracy with an average complexity lies in between the complexities of the two detectors. The combined detector is tested with measured TV and wireless microphone signals. The performance evaluation in the different parts of the thesis is done through measurements and/or simulations. Active measurements were performed for sensing performance evaluation. Passive measurements on the other hand were used for LTE downlink channels occupancy modeling and to capture TV and wireless microphone signals. / <p>QC 20150209</p>

This thesis presents the Differential Quadrature Method (DQM) for solving Helmholtz, modified Helmholtz and Helmholtz eigenvalue-eigenvector equations. The equations are discretized by using Polynomial-based and Fourier-based differential quadrature technique wich use basically polynomial interpolation for the solution of differential equation.

Le but de cette thèse est de trouver des bornes supérieures pour les valeurs propres des opérateurs naturels agissant sur les fonctions d’une variété compacte (M; g). Nous étudions l’opérateur de Laplace–Beltrami et des opérateurs du type laplacien. Dans le cas du laplacien, deux aspects sont étudiés. Le premier aspect est d’étudier des relations entre la géométrie intrinsèque et les valeurs propres du laplacien. Nous obtenons des bornes supérieures ne dépendant que de la dimension et d’un invariant conforme qui s’appelle le volume conforme minimal. Asymptotiquement, ces bornes sont consistantes avec la loi de Weyl. Elles améliorent également les résultats de Korevaar et de Yang et Yau. La méthode employée est intéressante en soi. Le deuxième aspect est d’étudier la relation entre la géométrie extrinsèque et les valeurs propres du laplacien agissant sur des sous-variétés compactes de RN et de CPN. Nous étudions un invariant extrinsèque qui s’appele l’indice d’intersection. Pour des sous-variétés compactes de RN, nous généralisons les résultats de Colbois, Dryden et El Soufi et obtenons des bornes supérieures qui sont stables par des petites perturbations. Pour des sous-variétés de CPN, nous obtenons une borne supérieure ne dépendant que du degré des sous-variétés. Pour des opérateur du type laplacien, une modification de notre méthode donne des bornes supérieures pour les valeurs propres des opérateurs de Schrödinger en termes du volume conforme minimal et de l’intégrale du potentiel. Nous obtenons également les bornes supérieures pour les valeurs propres du laplacien de Bakry–Émery dépendant d’invariants conformes. / The purpose of this thesis is to find upper bounds for the eigenvalues of natural operators acting on functions on a compact Riemannian manifold (M; g) such as the Laplace–Beltrami operator and Laplace-type operators. In the case of the Laplace-Beltrami operator, two aspects are investigated: The first aspect is to study relationships between the intrinsic geometry and eigenvalues of the Laplacian operator. In this regard, we obtain upper bounds depending only on the dimension and a conformal invariant called min-conformal volume. Asymptotically, these bounds are consistent with the Weyl law. They improve previous results by Korevaar and Yang and Yau. The method which is introduced to obtain the results, is powerful and interesting in itself. The second aspect is to study the interplay of the extrinsic geometry and eigenvalues of the Laplace–Beltrami operator acting on compact submanifolds of RN and of CPN. We investigate an extrinsic invariant called the intersection index studied by Colbois, Dryden and El Soufi. For compact submanifolds of RN, we extend their results and obtain upper bounds which are stable under small perturbation. For compact submanifolds of CPN, we obtain an upper bound depending only on the degree of submanifolds. For Laplace type operators, a modification of our method lead to have upper bounds for the eigenvalues of Schrödinger operators in terms of the min-conformal volume and integral quantity of the potential. As another application of our method, we obtain upper bounds for the eigenvalues of the Bakry–Émery Laplace operator depending on conformal invariants.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Apresentamos um mÃtodo para a obtenÃÃo de limites inferiores para o primeiro autovalor de Dirichlet em termos de campos vetoriais com divergÃncia positiva. Aplicando-o ao gradiente de uma funÃÃo distante, obtemos estimativas de de autovalor em bolas geodÃsicas em cut locus e dos domÃnios de subvariedades com curvatura mÃdia localmente limitada.Para subvariedades das variedade de Hadamard com limites mÃdios de curvaturas, estes limites inferiores dependem da dimensÃo das subvariedades e limite sobre sua curvatura mÃdia. / We present a method to obtain lower bounds for first Dirichlet eigenvalue in terms of vector fields with positive divergence. Applying this to the gradient of a distance function we obtain estimates of eigenvalue of geodesic balls inside the cut locus and of domains in submanifolds with locally bounded mean curvature. For submanifolds of Hadamard manifolds with bounded mean curvature these lower bounds depend only on the dimension of the submanifold and the bound on its mean curvature.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / This study investigates the most important reasons behind the rst-year students' decision to select University of the Western Cape (UWC) as higher education institution. These reasons were organized into a few factors for easy interpretation. The data to be analyzed for this project is a subsection of the data collected during the orientation period of 2008. During the orientation week of 2008, the questionnaires were completed on a voluntary basis by new rst-year students. All questionnaires were anonymously completed and therefore the data does not contain any information that could be linked to any individual. For the purpose of this study, only the black African and coloured students were considered. The other racial groups were not analyzed due to too small sample sizes. Questionnaires with missing information on the reasons for selecting UWC were not nalyzed. We ended up with a sample of size 600. The data were statistically analyzed, using descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, factor analysis, coefficient of congruence and bootstrap factor analysis. The results indicated that the most important reasons a ecting students to choose UWC were identi ed as good academic reputation, family member's advice, UWC graduates are successful and UWC graduates get good jobs. The least important reasons were found to be not accepted anywhere, parents / family members graduated from UWC, recruited by UWC and wanted to study near to home. The results also indicated that there were significant differences among students according to population groups, parent's monthly income and grade 12 average. Factor analysis of 12 variables yielded three extracted factors upon which student decisions were based. Similarities of these three factors were tested, and a high similarity among demographic characteristics and grade 12 average were found. Additional analyses were conducted to measure the accuracy of factor analyses models constructed using Spearman and Polychoric correlation matrices. The results indicated that both correlation matrices were&nbsp; nbiased, with higher variance and higher loadings when the Polychoric correlation matrix was used to construct a factor analysis model for categorical data. / South Africa

The present work introduces a methodology to obtain a discrete time state space representation of an electrical network using the nodal [G] matrix of the Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP) solution. This is the first time the connection between the EMTP nodal analysis solution and a corresponding state-space formulation is presented. Compared to conventional state space solutions, the nodal EMTP solution is computationally much more efficient. Compared to the phasor solutions used in transient stability analysis, the proposed approach captures a much wider range of eigenvalues and system operating states. A fundamental advantage of extracting the system eigenvalues directly from the EMTP solution is the ability of the EMTP to follow the characteristics of nonlinearities. The system's trajectory can be accurately traced and the calculated eigenvalues and eigenvectors correctly represent the system's instantaneous dynamics. In addition, the algorithm can be used as a tool to identify network partitioning subsystems suitable for real-time hybrid power system simulator environments, including the implementation of multi-time scale solutions. The proposed technique can be implemented as an extension to any EMTP-based simulator. Within our UBC research group, it is aimed at extending the capabilities of our real-time PC-cluster Object Virtual Network Integrator (OVNI) simulator. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

In structural analysis and design it is important to consider the effects of uncertainties in loading and material properties in a rational way. Uncertainty in material properties such as heterogeneity in elastic and mass properties can be modeled as a random field. For computational purpose, it is essential to discretize and represent the random field. For a field with known second order statistics, such a representation can be achieved by Karhunen-Lo`eve (KL) expansion. Accordingly, the random field is represented in a truncated series expansion using a few eigenvalues and associated eigenfunctions of the covariance function, and corresponding random coefficients. The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the covariance kernel are obtained by solving a second order Fredholm integral equation. A closed-form solution for the integral equation, especially for arbitrary domains, may not always be available. Therefore an approximate solution is sought. While finding an approximate solution, it is important to consider both accuracy of the solution and the cost of computing the solution. This work is focused on exploring a few numerical methods for estimating the solution of this integral equation. Three different methods:(i)using finite element bases(Method1),(ii) mid-point approximation(Method2), and(iii)by the Nystr¨om method(Method3), are implemented and numerically studied. The methods and results are compared in terms of accuracy, computational cost, and difficulty of implementation. In the first method an eigenfunction is first represented in a linear combination of a set of finite element bases. The resulting error in the integral equation is then minimized in the Galerkinsense, which results in a generalized matrix eigenvalue problem. In the second method, the domain is partitioned into a finite number of subdomains. The covariance function is discretized by approximating its value over each subdomain locally, and thereby the integral equation is transformed to a matrix eigenvalue problem. In the third method the Fredholm integral equation is approximated by a quadrature rule, which also results in a matrix eigenvalue problem. The methods and results are compared in terms of accuracy, computational cost, and difficulty of implementation. The first part of the numerical study involves comparing these three methods. This numerical study is first done in one dimensional domain. Then for study in two dimensions a simple rectangular domain(referred toasDomain1)is taken with an uncertain material property modeled as a Gaussian random field. For the chosen covariance model and domain, the analytical solutions are known, which allows verifying the accuracy of the numerical solutions. There by these three numerical methods are studied and are compared for a chosen target accuracy and different correlation lengths of the random field. It was observed that Method 2 and Method 3 are much faster than the Method 1. On the other hand, for Method 2 and 3, additional cost for discretizing the domain into nodes should be considered whereas for a mechanics-related problem, Method 1 can use the available finite element mesh used for solving the mechanics problem. The second part of the work focuses on studying on the effect of the geometry of the model on realizations of the random field. The objective of the study is to see the possibility of generating the random field for a complicated domain from the KL expansion for a simpler domain. For this purpose, two KL decompositions are obtained: one on the Domain1, and another on the same rectangular domain modified with a rectangular hole (referredtoasDomain2) inside it. The random process is generated and realizations are compared. It was observed from the studies that probability density functions at the nodes on both the domains, that is, on Domain 1 and Domain 2, are similar. This observation leads to a possibility that a complicated domain can be replaced by a corresponding simpler domain, thereby reducing the computational cost.

As a musical instrument construction material, wood is both musically and aesthetically pleasing. Easy to work and abundant, it has traditionally been the material of choice. Unfortunately, wood is also a very inconsistent material. Due to great environmental and climatic variations, wooden specimens present large variations in their mechanical properties, even within species of a similar region. Surprisingly, an industry based entirely on acoustics has done very little to account for these variations. For this reason, manufactured wooden guitars are acoustically inconsistent. Previous work has shown that varying the dimensions of a guitar soundboard brace is a good method for taking into account variations in the mechanical properties of the wooden soundboard plate. In this thesis, the effects of a scalloped-shaped brace on the natural frequencies of a brace-plate system have been studied and tools have been developed in order to calculate the dimensions of the brace required to account for variations in the mechanical properties of the plate. It has been shown that scalloped braces can be used to modify two natural frequencies of a brace-plate system simultaneously. Furthermore, the most important criteria in modifying any given frequency of a brace-plate system is the mass and stiffness properties of the brace at the antinode of the given frequency’s associated modeshape. Subsequently, designing a brace for desired system natural frequencies, by taking into account the mechanical properties of the wooden plate, is an inverse eigenvalue problem. Since few methods exist for solving the inverse eigenvalue problem of general matrices, a new method based on the generalized Cayley-Hamilton theorem was proposed in the thesis. A further method, based on the determinant of the generalized eigenvalue problem was also presented. Both methods work well, although the determinant method is shown to be more efficient for partially described systems. Finally, experimental results were obtained for the natural frequencies of simply supported wooden plates, with and without a brace, as well as the inverse eigenvalue determinant method. Good correlation was found between theoretical and experimental results.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude de la méthode PAW (projector augmented-wave) et d'une de ses modifications, baptisée méthode PAW variationnelle (VPAW), pour le calcul de l'état fondamental d'Hamiltoniens en géométrie périodique. Ces méthodes visent à améliorer la vitesse de convergence des méthodes d'ondes planes (ou méthodes de Fourier) en appliquant une transformation inversible au problème aux valeurs propres initial agissant au voisinage de chaque site atomique. Cette transformation permet de capter une partie des difficultés dues aux singularités coulombiennes. La méthode VPAW est analysée pour un opérateur de Schr\"odinger unidimensionnel avec des potentiels de Dirac. Les fonctions propres de ce modèle comprennent des sauts de dérivées similaires aux cusps électroniques. Le saut de dérivée des fonctions propres du problème aux valeurs propres issu de la méthode VPAW est réduit de façon importante. Cela entraîne une accélération de convergence en ondes planes du calcul des valeurs propres corroborée par une étude numérique. Une étude de la méthode VPAW est conduite pour des Hamiltoniens 3D périodiques avec des singularités coulombiennes, parvenant à des conclusions similaires. Pour la méthode PAW, la transformation inversible comporte des sommes infinies qui sont tronquées en pratique. Ceci introduit une erreur, qui est rarement quantifiée en pratique. Elle est analysée dans le cas de l'opérateur de Schrödinger unidimensionnel avec des potentiels de Dirac. Des bornes sur la plus basse valeur propre en fonction des paramètres PAW sont prouvées conformes aux tests numériques. / This thesis is devoted to the study of the PAW method (projector augmented-wave) and of a variant called the variational PAW method (VPAW). These methods aim to accelerate the convergence of plane-wave methods in electronic structure calculations. They rely on an invertible transformation applied to the eigenvalue problem, which acts in a neighborhood of each atomic site. The transformation captures some difficulties caused by the Coulomb singularities. The VPAW method is applied to a periodic one-dimensional Schr\"odinger operator with Dirac potentials and analyzed in this setting. Eigenfunctions of this model have derivative jumps similar to the electronic cusps. The derivative jumps of eigenfunctions of the VPAW eigenvalue problem are significantly reduced. Hence, a smaller plane-wave cut-off is required for a given accuracy level. The study of the VPAW method is also carried out for 3D periodic Hamiltonians with Coulomb singularities yielding similar results. In the PAW method, the invertible transformation has infinite sums that are truncated in practice. The induced error is analyzed in the case of the periodic one-dimensional Schrödinger operator with Dirac potentials. Error bounds on the lowest eigenvalue are proved depending on the PAW parameters.