Heart rate variability (HRV) is the time variation between adjacent heartbeats. This variation is regulated by the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and its two branches, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. HRV is considered as an essential clinical tool to estimate the imbalance between the two branches, hence as an indicator of age and cardiac-related events.This thesis focuses on the ECG recordings during nocturnal rest to estimate the influence of HRV in predicting the age decade of healthy individuals. Time and frequency domains, as well as non-linear methods, are explored to extract the HRV features. Three feature-based methods (support vector machine (SVM), random forest, and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost)) were employed, and the overall test accuracy achieved in capturing the actual class was relatively low (lower than 30%). SVM classifier had the lowest performance, while random forests and XGBoost performed slightly better. Although the difference is negligible, the random forest had the highest test accuracy, approximately 29%, using a subset of ten optimal HRV features. Furthermore, to validate the findings, the original dataset was shuffled and used as a test set and compared the performance to other related research outputs.

La thèse de ce travail de recherche se pose la question de la place de l’intuition dans le processus décisionnel en environnement big data. Il s’appuie sur une étude de cas exploratoire développée près des décideurs du Centre d’Information et de Commandement (CIC) de la Police Nationale (PN) des Bouches du Rhône. Ces derniers évoluent en environnement big data et doivent régulièrement gérer des situations imprévues. Le corpus des données de terrain a été construit par triangulation de 28 entretiens individuels et collectifs, d’observations non participantes ainsi que d’archives et de rapports officiels. Ces nouvelles informations sont autant d’indices qui permettent aux décideurs de mieux anticiper les imprévus, les conduisant à reconfigurer leurs attentes, leurs objectifs et leurs actions. Ces aspects positifs sont cependant à évaluer au regard du risque induit par le volume conséquent d’informations dorénavant à disposition des décideurs. Ils doivent maîtriser les nouveaux systèmes et les applications qui permettent d’exploiter l’environnement big data. Les résultats suggèrent que lorsque les décideurs ne maîtrisent pas ces systèmes, l’environnement big data peut conduire un décideur expert métier à redevenir un novice. / Godé and Vazquez have previously demonstrated that French Police team operate in extreme contexts (Godé & Vazquez, 2017), simultaneously marked by high levels of change, uncertainty and mainly vital, material and legal risks (Godé, 2016), but also technological. In this context, the notion of big data environment, can affect the police decision-making process. The problematic of this thesis is : "What is the status of intuition in decision-making process in a big data environment?". We explain how the growth of available information volumes, the great diversity of their sources (social networks, websites, connected objects), their speed of diffusion (in real time or near real time) and their unstructured nature (Davenport & Soulard, 2014) introduces new decision-making challenges for National Police forces.

The Bulk Electric System (BES) in the United States includes transmission lines of 100kV and above, transformers of 100kV and above on Low Voltage (LV) side and generating units that step up to 100 kV and above. The BES is a power network that connects different states and utility companies via tie lines for exchange of Power. To maintain the integrity of power systems, it is very important to keep the BES intact and for that the regulatory authority, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), has developed over 100s of reliability standards and is responsible to enforce them. During the past several years, the U.S has experienced power system instability events in which a fault occurred on one part of a system and travelled through the entire interconnection. Some of the extreme events are a major concern for power systems in the U.S that consists of Cascading, Uncontrolled Separation and natural disasters damaging the transmission circuits. Protection System plays important role towards the stability of power systems, but most important aspect of protection system is the Critical Fault Clearing Time. This case study focused on the Critical Fault Clearing Time enhancement by making a comparison between a Gang Operated (GO) and Independent Pole Operated (IPO) Breaker. An extreme event was considered as a fault scenario for the case study that consisted of three phase fault followed by breaker failure scenario. PSS®E 33.9 software was used to perform dynamic study on three different power plants to show the comparison between GO breaker and IPO breaker. A tremendous improvement was achieved using IPO breaker with more than 100% increase in Critical Fault Clearing Time.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyze the Network of the French National Front and grasp the environment in which the party lives. The network of this French political party is represented by organizations of various types and is expanded through party press. The work examines how the party's associates influence activity within the political party and whether they are beneficiaries of the parties success and its continual development. At first there is the definition of the far right which is complemented by the historical evolution of the term. Following this is a description of far-right groups influencing the emergence of the National Front in 1972. These groups can be observed with some similarities in the organizational structure of the groups within the National front. Therefore it is important to describe the current organizational structure of the party so it can be understood how the party is presently managed. Every political party needs enough qualified people to effectively function, in this chapter the process for recruiting new members and their training is explored. The central part of the thesis is an analysis of associated organizations which aid the party in infiltrating society to disseminate propaganda, recruit new voters and activists and last but not least, raise...

This diploma thesis analyzes the coalition ties that have been established within the anti- Islamic scene in the Czech Republic. The analysis includes the most important counter- Islamic entities in the Czech Republic, namely the National Democracy, the Workers' Party of Social Justice, Dusk and its followers, and the Bloc against Islam and its followers. The theoretical basis of the thesis is the theory of coalitions. The aim of the thesis is to answer the questions why the anti-Islamic subjects of the coalition or other forms of co-operation follow up and why they do not follow them, even if they are offered because of their situation. Another aim of the thesis is to point out the possibility of using part of the theoretical approaches of the theory of coalition with certain modifications to the specific environment of the anti-Islamic scene in the Czech Republic, which is quite different from the national environment, for which the concepts of coalition theory were predominantly created. The thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical part introduces theoretical concepts and approaches that have been used in the work. The second, empirical, part presents the development of individual subjects and, above all, the established coalition ties and cooperation. The last chapter summarizes the...

After 1989 a lot of non-democratic regimes crumbled in Central and Eastern Europe. These regimes had started their way towards democracy and its consolidation. This way differed case by case but some aspects that affected them were common. One of the most important aspects is European Union, a strong international actor and a possibility for future development for these countries. This paper tries to examine the influence of possible future accession of Romania into the EU on its democratic consolidation. It is mainly focused on issues of national minorities and their protection and on extreme nationalist political parties and their position within Romanian society. Additional topics are democratic consolidation in broader sense and Europeanization. The conclusion shows that Romanian democracy in studied fields has become more consolidated and the influence of the EU o this change can be traced.

In this diploma thesis current state of vegetation cover was analyzed after spring flood in 2006 on the lower section of the Sázava river. Immediately after the flood there were 38 sites with alluvial deposits identified in the floodplain. The differences in species composition and species diversity between sites with alluvial deposits and sites without deposits were analyzed. The data were collected by using phytosociological relevés in pairs i.e. - plot with an alluvial deposit and plot without. There were 86 vascular plant species recorded out of which 10 species were non-native but not invasive species and 7 species were non-native invasive species. Results of this thesis revealed that species composition and diversity of invasive species differ between plots with alluvial deposits and plots without alluvial deposits. Moreover, plots without alluvial deposits host more invasive species. Keywords: vegetation succession, river floodplain, extreme floods, species diversity, plant invasion

<p>Cilj ovog istraživanja je kreiranje algoritma za pobolj&scaron;anje spolja&scaron;njeg<br />termalnog komfora u velikim urbanim sredinama, uzimajući u obzir<br />određene geometrijske parametre izgrađenog okruženja, primenom<br />softverskih aplikacija za parametarsko modelovanje. Algoritam za<br />pobolj&scaron;anje spolja&scaron;njeg termalnog komfora ima opciju automatske<br />izmene lokacije čoveka, &scaron;to omogućava procenu termalnog komfora u<br />području velikih razmera, kao &scaron;to su bulevari, blokovski prostori, trgovi i<br />drugi. Takođe, algoritam za pobolj&scaron;anje spolja&scaron;njeg termalnog komfora<br />omogućava i automatsko menjanje visina zgrada u cilju postizanja<br />optimalnog urbanog dizajna koji podrazumeva najbolji spolja&scaron;nji termalni<br />komfor.</p> / <p>The aim of this research is to create an algorithm for improvement of<br />outdoor thermal comfort conditions in urban areas taking into account<br />certain geometrical parameters of built urban environment, applying<br />parametric modelling and different software packages. The algorithm<br />for improving the outdoor thermal comfort offers the option of<br />automated change of a man&rsquo;s location, which enables the evaluation<br />of outdoor thermal comfort in large-scale urban areas, such as<br />boulevards, courtyards, squares etc. In addition, the algorithm for<br />improving the outdoor thermal comfort also allows automatic<br />variations of building height in order to achieve the optimal urban<br />design which implies the best outdoor thermal comfort.</p>

History has proved that too much power, in any form, is detrimental to the greater good of the society concerned. People at the hands of the power-hungry face discrimination and are often subjected to extreme violence and abuse. Society has undergone several changes and progressions through time, including economic, political and social changes. One thing that has remained unchanged however, is man‟s power over woman. Patriarchal power is present in all sectors and scenarios of society, from the home to the international legal system. My study focuses on the notion that an abundance of power leads to fear, violence and total disarray at the micro and macro levels of society. I argue that the essential problem in the relationship between man and woman is not a man‟s abuse of power, but rather that he has too much power in the first place. A culture of entitlement breeds among men, enabling them to treat women as inferior, sub-human objects. Definitions of male and female prove to be concreted into specific roles and gendered identities within the home and the greater society. People fall automatically into these roles, blindly and unquestioningly. It is for this reason that I maintain all members of society ensure the survival of patriarchy – even if they do so unconsciously. While the difference in the understanding of rape and sexual intercourse should be stark, it is blurred because they are defined according to male terms. Man‟s entitlement allows him to think it his right to take sex from a woman, even if she does not offer it willingly. Culture and tradition serve as major obstacles in any possibility of society‟s progression. Culture has proved such an undisputed order in society that it even trumps the international legal system of human rights. Culture justifies, or at least trivialises, the abuse of women. The social stigmatisation of sexual abuse silences women, providing further endorsement for men to continue asserting their power. A woman‟s life, as determined by male hierarchy, gender bias, culture and social stigmas, is therefore fated. It is with this in mind that I strongly question the progression of society into a true form of liberality and equality. In order for society to attain such a transcended state, it will have to disregard everything that it knows and deconstruct everything that has defined it up to that point. Until this is achieved, women will continue to live their lives in fear of the silent weapon in war and peace. / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Climate changes are causing extreme weather conditions, which is expected to increase. Extreme precipitation is an example of this, which, through flooding, affects humans and buildings. This study aims to investigate how management of extreme precipitation takes place in two Swedish municipalities, the city of Gothenburg and Örebro municipality. Based on a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with employees in the municipalities and document analysis of the municipalities' strategic planning documents, this study takes shape. The theoretical approach is based on what the existing research considers to be the most successful strategic, practical and organizational approaches. The result of this study shows that there is a need for better knowledge and clearer regulations regarding the management of extreme precipitation. The municipalities have come further in the work with strategic planning than with practical measures. Multifunctional facilities are a priority and, based on the study material, is the most effective way to implement practical measures.