Today, discrete event simulation is the only reliable tool for detailed analysis of complex behaviors of modern manufacturing systems. However, building high fidelity simulation models is expensive. Hence, it is important to improve the simulation modeling productivity. In this research, we explore two approaches for the improvement of simulation modeling productivity. One approach is the Virtual Factory Approach, using a general-purpose model for a system to achieve various simulation objectives with a single high fidelity model through abstraction. The other approach is the Reference Model Approach, which is to build fundamental building blocks for simulation models of any system in a domain with formal descriptions and domain knowledge. In the Virtual Factory Approach, the challenge is to show the validity of the methodology. We develop a formal framework for the relationships between higher fidelity and lower fidelity models, and provide justification that the models abstracted from a higher fidelity model are interchangeable with various abstract simulation models for a target system. For the Reference Model Approach, we attempt to overcome the weak points inherited from ad-hoc modeling and develop a formal reference model and a model generation procedure for discrete part manufacturing systems, which covers most modern manufacturing systems.

This thesis concerns the design, analysis and testing of adaptive controllers for rotary wing aircraft, in particular helicopters. A non-linear helicopter model is developed and validated by trim and dynamic response analyses. A inner-outer loop cascade controller is designed with a trajectory generator in the most outer layer and an adaptive neural network controller is implemented to the inner loop. Controller is then challenged to carry out complex maneuvers autonomously under turbulence. Finally, the center of gravity location is varied to severe values to observe adaptation characteristics to investigate the requirement on the knowledge of the center of gravity location during such adaptive controller design.

<p>Detta examensarbete är genomfört i samarbete med Thorbjörn Birging. Birging arbetar med RFID[1] och är även VD för CombiQ på Science Park i Jönköping. Under lång tid har han velat skapa en produkt som hjälper människor med sömnproblem, depression, ångest och stress. Författarens roll som ingenjörsstudent blev att utveckla hans ide till en färdig produkt. Birging upptäckte efter att ha läst en artikel om sömnproblem att det finns studier som visar att det är enklare att somna med ett svagt ljud i rummet för att andra personer i rummet inte skall störas. Birging fokuserade på att skapa en ny ljudkudde med denna teori som grund.</p><p> Målet med detta examensarbete blev att skapa en kudde med fokus på utmärkt stereoljud som hjälpredskap för människor med sömnproblem. Med ljudets användning blir insomningen betydligt lättare. Många människor söker hjälp för sina problem på sjukhus, men ofta får de bara recept på lugnande och antidepressiva mediciner. Ett annat problem med sömntabletter är risken för att utveckla ett beroende och en längre tids användning av medicinerna kan störa kroppens normala sömnfunktion, vilket läkaren Anders Isaksson som driver en privatklinik i Örebro kan intyga. Birging har haft kontakt med Anders under detta arbete och kan intyga detta.</p><p> Ett sätt att lindra sömnproblem är genom att patienten får lyssna till lugnande musik före insomnandet, vilket alltså är tanken med denna kudde. Författaren genomförde en undersökning för att ta reda på vad som är bra och dåligt med dagens ljudkuddar. En idégenerering och kravspecifikation påbörjades med hjälp av Birging. För att kunna veta vad kunderna önskar sig med denna nya produkt gjordes bland annat en designbrief, funktionsanalys och en QFD-matris. Designbriefen skapades både verbalt och visuellt för att se hur den nya produkten skall se ut på markanden. QFD-matrisen rangordnar kraven och konkurrenternas kuddar i förhållande till Birgings krav på den nya prototypen. QFD ger inte svar på vad kunden får för upplevelse med produkten vilket designbriefen kan åstadkomma. Konstruerandet av prototypen kan börja först när designbriefen och funktionsanalysen är klara. Materialvalet gjordes genom testfaser som ljudåtergivning och komfort. Skumplast materialen kommer ifrån Recticel AB i Gislaved och ett intresse för denna nya produkt finns i den framtida utvecklingen.</p><p> Denna nya produkt blev betydligt bättre än de ljudkuddar som finns på marknaden. Den nya produkten har egenskaper som tryckavlastning samt bättre ljudkvalitet vilket innebär att volymen inte behöver vara hög, vilket gör att omgivningen inte störs. Orsaken till att ljudet inte stör är att spridningen av ljudet mestadels riktas upp mot användaren. Kuddens mått är B50*H40*T5 cm innebär att man enkelt kan köpa vanliga örngott och att den inte ta onödig plats i sängen.</p><p>[1] Radio Frequency IDentification</p> / <p>This exam is done with the cooperation of Thorbjörn Birging. Birging does work with RFID[1] and he is also CEO at CombiQ at Science Park in Jönköping. For a long time he wanted to make an innovation to help people with sleeping problems, depression, anxiety and stress. The author’s role as an engineer student where to make his idea come true from scratch to prototype. Birging discovered after reading an article about sleeping problems that there were studies which showed that it is easier to sleep with a faint sound in the room so other people in the room does not get disturbed. Birging then focused to create a new pillow with sound integrated that should stand out from today’s pillows.</p><p> The goal with this exam was to create a pillow with excellent stereo sound with amplifiers, which help peoples sleeping problems. Many people with these problems seek help at hospitals, but they only get prescriptions for tranquillizer and anti-depressive pills. Another issue with sleeping pills is the risk of getting addicted and long time use might disturb the normal sleeping function, which Anders Isaksson can confirm. Birging He runs a private clinic in Örebro and has helped Birging in a previous project. Birging has been in contact with Anders under this project and can confirm this statement.</p><p> One way of relive sleeping problems might be to let the patient listen to calming music before the sleep period begins, which is the idea for this project. The author did an investigation to find any positives or negatives in today’s pillows with sound ability. Idea generating and require specification started soon after this with help of Birging. To know what the customers want with this new product a designbrief, function analytic and a QFD-matrix. The designbrief where made both verbal and visual to know how the product should look like as a customer. With the QFD-matrix we can rank the preferences with the competitors pillows in relation to Birgings requirements on the new prototype. The QFD doesn’t give any answers how the customer experience the product that the designbrief can accomplish. A prototype construction can only begin when the designbrief and function analytic are finished. The material selection was made by different test-phases with sound and comfort. Recticel AB in Gislaved has provided the author with different types of foam for the pillow and for this new product there is an interest to follow the development in the future. </p><p> The new developed product did manage to become better than the competitor’s pillows in many ways. The new product is pressure relieving, gives better sound which means the volume does not have to be high, and disturbance in the surroundings is minimized. The reason is that the material does spread the sound waves straight upwards the users ears. The pillows measurement are B50*H40*T5, that means you can have much space in bed and easy find a standard pillowcase. The user will get a comfortably sleeping period the entire night with this new product.</p><p>[1] Radio Frequency IDentification</p>

This study involved families of young children with autism spectrum disorders to examine the feasibility of implementing an adapted version of the school-based Prevent-Teach- Reinforce (PTR) model. This research included two families who developed and implemented the intervention for their children in collaboration with the researcher. The PTR manual was modified for use in a family context. The PTR intervention was tested using a multiple baseline design across routines. Procedural fidelity was assessed during training and coaching, as well as family implementation fidelity and social validity. To examine the potential efficacy of the adapted PTR intervention, the children’s target problem behavior and functionally equivalent alternative behavior were measured using video observation across experimental conditions including a generalization probe. Results indicated that the adapted PTR model is associated with reduction in child problem behavior and increases in alternative behavior. This study expanded the current research on the PTR model and extended its use to a novel setting and population so that a standardized model for positive behavior support implementation can be developed in the family context.

The effects of coaching on teacher and student outcomes were compared to outcomes of classes randomized to professional development only and comparison conditions. Twenty-one teachers, trained to implement a Tier II reading intervention curriculum, were grouped by campus then randomized to one of three conditions: professional development plus coaching support (n=6), professional development only (n=7) and a comparison condition (n=8). Teachers in the coached and professional development only (un-coached) conditions were compared on measures of teacher knowledge and implementation fidelity as an indication of teacher practice. Student achievement scores on word attack, reading fluency and reading comprehension measures were compared for students in each of the three conditions. A multiple-gating procedure was used to help teachers identify the five lowest-performing readers in their first grade classrooms. Students completed a battery of seven reading ability assessments prior to and immediately following teacher-implementation of a seventeen-week reading intervention curriculum. Results of ANCOVA analyses indicated students in classes of teachers who received professional development and coaching support did not demonstrate significantly higher scores than teachers who only received professional development training on a battery of reading measures. Further analysis indicated students in the professional development plus coaching condition did have significantly higher scores than those in comparison conditions on five of the seven outcome measures. Teachers in coached and professional development only conditions completed a teacher knowledge survey to measure their knowledge of evidence-based reading practices. ANCOVA analysis revealed no significant differences between groups at posttest. Changes in teacher practice were measured as a function of intervention implementation fidelity. Intervention teachers were videotaped three times over the course of the intervention and taped classes were scored, rated and compared across conditions. Results of a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance on fidelity scores revealed a statistically significant difference in favor of the teachers who received professional development plus coaching. / text

As school districts integrate evidence-based prevention programs into their daily regime, they may struggle with implementing these programs with fidelity. This is a multi-method, multi-source, retrospective explanatory study of the implementation factors associated with program installation and partial implementation of an evidence-based violence prevention program, Second Step, in six elementary schools within a large urban school district. The goals of this study were to provide a better understanding of (a) the factors that support implementation of evidence-based programs in K-12 public schools, (b) the factors that constrain implementation, and (c) how developers and researchers might facilitate the application of research to practice. Schools that identified as implementing Second Step school-wide (Level 1) were matched to schools that identified as implementing in individual classes or grades (Level 2). Matching of paired schools was done through statistical peer grouping using statistical cluster analysis to identify groups of similar schools to help support the internal validity of the study by controlling for external variables that might affect implementation factors associated with program installation and partial implementation differently between the schools (Dunavin, 2005). This present study used a variety of data collection methods, including principal, counselor, and teacher interviews, school staff focus groups, an implementation checklist, and document reviews. Propositions and their indicators were proposed. Data were collected to determine the extent schools were implementing two of the stages identified by Fixsen et al. (2005), program installation and initial implementation. Raters were trained to rate the responses of the interviewees and focus group participants to test whether responses supported the propositions proposed, were against the proposition, or showed no evidence either way. Those scores were averaged and comparisons were made between matching Level 1 schools that identified using the program school-wide, and Level 2 schools that identified as using in individual classrooms and grades. T-tests were completed to examine the interview and focus group ratings and the checklist. There were no significant differences between schools implementing school-wide and those implementing in particular classrooms or grades accept for two proposition indicators. There was evidence that school staff received training on the Second Step curriculum and there was evidence that Second Step was delivered school-wide. However, the t-test results were opposite of what was predicted. Whether a school implemented school-wide or in individual classes or grades, schools were challenged by their competing priorities. Conditions that lead to fidelity in prevention program were often adapted to better meet the everyday life of the schools. School staff understood the importance of fidelity, but no school provided the program as designed. Staff suggests that with programs designed with flexibility and clear recognition of school culture, they might better be able to implement programs as designed.

Human-caused destruction of xeric habitats in Florida that support gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus Daudin) is occurring at a rapid rate. One conservation strategy that has been used for numerous taxa is translocation. The effects of translocation on the health, reproductive activity, and movements of translocated and resident telemetered individuals was evaluated for a population of gopher tortoises in central-Florida from 2001 to 2004. Only one of the 13 individuals released left the site during the study. The home range estimates of resident individuals were not significantly different before and after the release of the translocated individuals on the site, and all mean home ranges fit within the range of estimates reported in the literature for natural populations of gopher tortoises. Habitat use of several individual resident gopher tortoises was significantly different after the translocation events. The degree that the home ranges of the residents were overlapped by other individuals in the study was not significantly different. The spatial locations of the home ranges of resident and translocated individuals were significantly different. There was evidence of reproduction for both resident and translocated females a year after the release of the translocates. The body condition of the resident individuals was higher at the end of the study relative to the start, although this may be explained by other factors. This study illustrates some of the problems associated with studies designed to assess translocation success, namely the lack adequate baseline data for the population and the challenge of balancing the sample sizes necessary for acceptable statistical power with the mechanics of translocation. The results of this study suggest that translocation is a potentially useful conservation strategy, although there are other potential consequences of translocation that need to be considered prior to its implementation.

A small number of eastern north Pacific gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), known as the Pacific Coastal Feeding Group (PCFG) forage during the summer months in the coastal waters between California and Alaska. Although several studies have analyzed the population structure of the PCFG, maternal learning and predator/prey dynamics have not been studied in detail. In this study I characterize fine scale habitat use and site fidelity of eastern north Pacific gray whales in one foraging site within the PCFG’s foraging range. I approach this study by examining site fidelity to Clayoquot Sound in increasing detail at different time scales. Using the variability recorded in 17 field seasons of whale census surveys (1997-2013) as a proxy for fluctuations in prey, I suggest that the combination of physical properties of the study area and the life history characteristics of the primary prey species type enable Clayoquot Sound to persist as a foraging site through time. The analysis of photographic identification data collected between 1998-2013 indicates that Clayoquot Sound is one site within a larger foraging range, and that annual fluctuations in prey density are related to site fidelity and residency time. By identifying cow/calf pairs using photographic identification data collected between 1998-2013 I characterize internal recruitment via maternal learning within Clayoquot Sound. A calf’s site fidelity is related to its mother’s site fidelity, but its residency time is related to annual fluctuations in prey density. In contrast, a cow’s residency time is not related to changes in prey, but increases in duration when accompanied by a calf. The interplay between fluctuations in prey productivity, and the age and gender of individuals, are the variables that most likely influence the distribution of PCFG whales intra- and inter-annually. / Graduate / 0306

In this thesis, a novel approach is presented for blade loss simulation of an aircraft gas turbine rotor mounted on rolling element bearings with squeeze film dampers, seal rub and enclosed in a flexible housing. The modal truncation augmentation (MTA) method provides an efficient tool for modeling this large order system with localized nonlinearities in the ball bearings. The gas turbine engine, which is composed of the power turbine and gas generator rotors, is modeled with 38 lumped masses. A nonlinear angular contact bearing model is employed, which has ball and race degrees of freedom and uses a modified Hertzian contact force between the races and balls and for the seal rub. This combines a dry contact force and viscous damping force. A flexible housing with seal rub is also included whose modal description is imported from ANSYS. Prediction of the maximum contact load and the corresponding stress on an elliptical contact area between the races and balls is made during the blade loss simulations. A finite-element based squeeze film damper (SFD), which determines the pressure profile of the oil film and calculates damper forces for any type of whirl orbit is utilized in the simulation. The new approach is shown to provide efficient and accurate predictions of whirl amplitudes, maximum contact load and stress in the bearings, transmissibility, thermal growths, maximum and minimum damper pressures and the amount of unbalanced force for incipient oil film cavitation. It requires about 4 times less computational time than the traditional approaches and has an error of less than 5 %.

Developing appropriate management plans for species at risk requires information about their population structure and abundance. For most cetacean populations, few reliable population estimates are available and even fewer distributions have been mapped. Accurate abundance estimates can be determined from capture-recapture data if assumptions are met, however this can be difficult when the animal in question demonstrates both strong site fidelity and large-scale migrations, and different models can result in dramatically different results. I explored these issues by examining a 15-year dataset (1992-2006) of photo-identifications of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in British Columbia (BC), Canada. I used multiple capture-recapture models to compare how the definition of population and variation in effort affected estimates of population size, and I explored means to correct for these biases. I also considered stock structure by examining individual breeding ground destinations, movement, and localized site-fidelity within BC. Across the six models considered, the BC humpback whale abundance in 2006 ranged between 1,428 and 3,856 individuals. The Lincoln-Petersen estimate (1,428-1,892) likely best described the number of humpback whales in BC during summer 2006. The effort-standardized Jolly-Seber model (1,970-2,331) is more representative of the larger population of humpback whales that uses or passes through BC over multiple years. Ultimately, selecting the best estimation model requires defining the ‘population’ of interest and accounting for spatial and temporal distribution of sampling effort. British Columbia provides feeding habitat and a potential migratory corridor for whales that breed in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Forty-four percent of the 1,986 humpback whales considered were sighted in BC in more than one year. Identifications were highest from May to October, with a peak in September, but humpback whales were present in BC in all months of the year. Whales showed strong site fidelity with a median re-sighting distance of 75 km between years, and a maximum re-sighting distance that ranged from 0.41 km to 842 km. Matching rate within BC decreased as a function of north-south distance, though no clear north-south boundary could be established. Stock structure of humpback whales in British Columbia is complex and should be considered in managing this population.