Business Improvement Districts, BID, är en internationellt etablerad platssamverkansmodell som möjliggör samverkan mellan offentlig och privat sektor inom vilket offentliga och privata aktörer, fastighetsägare och handel samverkar för utveckling och förvaltning av den fysiska miljön. Det första BID-projektet lanserades i Toronto, Kanada, under 1960-talet och modellen har sedan dess utvecklats och idag tillämpas modellen i flertalet länder runt om i världen. Internationellt är BID ofta reglerat genom lagstiftning där fastighetsägare och näringsidkare, på geografiskt avgränsade platser, är förpliktade att bidra genom ekonomiska avgifter och engagemang för att öka attraktivitet och trygghet. I Sverige finns det i dagsläget ingen lagstiftning avseende BID-inspirerad platssamverkan. Istället samarbetar den offentliga och privata sektorn genom frivilligt engagemang och åtagande för att skapa attraktiva och trygga platser. En kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ forskningsmetod har tillsammans med en tolkande analys tillämpats för att besvara studiens forskningsfrågor. Studien påvisar demografiska och ekonomiska effekter som uppkommit till följd av BID-inspirerad platssamverkan i fem svenska kommuner. Vidare fastslås fyra generella framgångsfaktorer som anses väsentliga för ett lyckat projekt. Studien visar även att det ur ett svenskt perspektiv inte är relevant att ändra befintlig lagstiftning likt internationell implementering. Istället föreslås en nationell paraplyorganisation som tillhandahåller kunskap och erfarenheter kring BID-inspirerad platssamverkan. / Business Improvement Districts, BID, is an internationally established model which enables cooperation between the public and private sector together with real estate owners, retailers and actors to develop and manage the built environment. The first BID project was established in Toronto, Canada, in the 1960’s and the model has since been improved and applied in numerous countries worldwide. Internationally, BID is regulated by law where real estate owners and businesses, on a geographically delimited site, are obliged to contribute by tolls and engagement in order to increase the attractiveness and safety on site. In Sweden, such regulations are absent. Instead, collaboration between the private and public are conducted through non-compulsory work. By a qualitative and quantitative method, following study states that it is possible to distinguish demographical and economical effects created by BID in five Swedish municipalities. Further, the study identifies important key factors which generate a successful BID project. The study also discusses if Sweden should, like what has been done internationally, legislate a BID model suitable for Sweden.

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The domain of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) has witnessed growing interest in recent years due to the escalating threats posed by cyberattacks. As Internet of Things (IoT) becomes increasingly integrated into our every day lives, we widen our attack surface and expose more of our personal lives to risk. In the same way the Human Immune System (HIS) safeguards our physical self, a similar solution is needed to safeguard our digital self. This thesis presents the Artificial Immune inspired Intrusion Detection System (AIS-IDS), an IDS modeled after the HIS. This thesis proposes an architecture for AIS-IDS, instantiates an AIS-IDS model for evaluation, conducts a robust set of experiments to ascertain the efficacy of the AIS-IDS, and answers key research questions aimed at evaluating the validity of the AIS-IDS. Finally, two expansions to the AIS-IDS are proposed with the goal of further infusing the HIS into AIS-IDS design.

Continuum robots are biologically inspired robots that capture the extraordinary abilities of biological structures such as elephant trunks, octopus tentacles, and mamma-lian tongues. They are given the term continuum robots due to their ability to bend conti-nuously rather than at specific joints such as with traditional rigid link robots. They are used in applications such as search and rescue operations, nuclear reactor repairs, colo-noscopies, minimal invasive surgeries, and steerable needles. In this thesis, a model that predicts the shape of a continuum robot is presented and verified. A verification system to verify the validity and accuracy of the model is presented which allows easy and accu-rate measurement of a continuum robot tip position. The model was verified against a flexible rod, the core component of a continuum robot, resulting in an accuracy of 0.61%. Finally, this thesis introduces a novel robot design, consisting of a single rod for the backbone which can be manipulated by applying external forces and torques.

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[pt] Em diversos problemas encontrados na literatura, se faz necessária alguma coordenação entre os agentes para que a tarefa seja realizada de forma ótima. Entretanto, pode ser difícil a obtenção desta coordenação por conta da quantidade e características dos agentes, dinâmica do ambiente e/ou complexidade da tarefa. O objetivo principal deste estudo é propor um modelo que possa se adaptar a problemas heterogêneos de coordenação e de dimensões elevadas, com aprendizado autônomo e que tenha convergência satisfatória, o qual foi denominado Modelo de Neuro Co-Evolução com Inspiração Quântica (NCoQ). O modelo se utiliza dos paradigmas da física quântica e da co-evolução biológica, evoluindo concomitantemente sub-populações de indivíduos quânticos para obter ganhos de convergência. A representação dos indivíduos por pulsos quânticos consegue reduzir o número de indivíduos em cada população, além de ser a mais recomendada para a utilização de neuro-evolução por conta da representação real. Ressalta-se também a capacidade do modelo em obter de forma autônoma a melhor configuração de arquitetura para as redes neurais de cada agente, não exigindo do programador a escolha deste parâmetro. Foram propostos novos operadores quânticos de crossover e mutação que foram comparados na otimização de funções de diversas dimensões. Para testar o desempenho do modelo, foram desenvolvidas, em linguagem MATLAB, simulações para o problema presa predador, para o benchmark multi-rover de exploração de ambientes e uma simulação para cobertura telefônica. Foram feitas comparações com outros modelos neuro-evolutivos encontrados na literatura, tendo o modelo NCoQ apresentado os melhores resultados. / [en] Many problems in the literature require some coordination among agents so a specific task can be executed more efficiently. However, this coordination can be difficult because of the quantity and characteristics of the agents, environment dynamics and/or task complexity. The main contribution of this Thesis is the proposal of a model, called Quantum Inspired Neuro Co-Evolution (NCoQ), that can adapt to heterogeneous multi-agent problems in high dimensions utilizing self-learning and that has satisfactory convergence. The model is inspired in quantum physics and biological co-evolution paradigms and evolves concomitantly subpopulations of quantum individuals to get convergence gains. The representation of individuals for quantum functions is able to reduce the numbers of individuals in each population and it is the most recommended for real neuro-evolution representation. It s also important to point out the model capacity in self-finding the best architecture of the neural networks agents, not requiring an a priori definition of this parameter. New crossover and mutation quantum operators were also proposed and compared in functions optimization of multiple dimensions. To test the model performance, three MATLAB simulations were developed: prey-predator task, multi-rover task and cell phone coverage area simulation. Comparisons were made against others neuro-evolution models found in literature and the NCoQ model attained the best results.

This dissertation explores the modular learning in artificial neural networks that mainly driven by the inspiration from the neurobiological basis of the human learning. The presented modularization approaches to the neural network design and learning are inspired by the engineering, complexity, psychological and neurobiological aspects. The main theme of this dissertation is to explore the organization and functioning of the brain to discover new structural and learning inspirations that can be subsequently utilized to design artificial neural network. The artificial neural networks are touted to be a neurobiologicaly inspired paradigm that emulate the functioning of the vertebrate brain. The brain is a highly structured entity with localized regions of neurons specialized in performing specific tasks. On the other hand, the mainstream monolithic feed-forward neural networks are generally unstructured black boxes which is their major performance limiting characteristic. The non explicit structure and monolithic nature of the current mainstream artificial neural networks results in lack of the capability of systematic incorporation of functional or task-specific a priori knowledge in the artificial neural network design process. The problem caused by these limitations are discussed in detail in this dissertation and remedial solutions are presented that are driven by the functioning of the brain and its structural organization. Also, this dissertation presents an in depth study of the currently available modular neural network architectures along with highlighting their shortcomings and investigates new modular artificial neural network models in order to overcome pointed out shortcomings. The resulting proposed modular neural network models have greater accuracy, generalization, comprehensible simplified neural structure, ease of training and more user confidence. These benefits are readily obvious for certain problems, depending upon availability and usage of available a priori knowledge about the problems. The modular neural network models presented in this dissertation exploit the capabilities of the principle of divide and conquer in the design and learning of the modular artificial neural networks. The strategy of divide and conquer solves a complex computational problem by dividing it into simpler sub-problems and then combining the individual solutions to the sub-problems into a solution to the original problem. The divisions of a task considered in this dissertation are the automatic decomposition of the mappings to be learned, decompositions of the artificial neural networks to minimize harmful interaction during the learning process, and explicit decomposition of the application task into sub-tasks that are learned separately. The versatility and capabilities of the new proposed modular neural networks are demonstrated by the experimental results. A comparison of the current modular neural network design techniques with the ones introduced in this dissertation, is also presented for reference. The results presented in this dissertation lay a solid foundation for design and learning of the artificial neural networks that have sound neurobiological basis that leads to superior design techniques. Areas of the future research are also presented. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this investigation is to examine how landscape architecture can create a different kind of threshold between land and water without controlling the edge between the two entities, but merely guiding the natural process of exchange. The design of Oyster Harbor on the Eastern Shore of Virginia is in contrast to normative development of waterfront sites. The hard edge of common practices of waterfront development stands in tension to the more natural evolving edge of many harbors.When creating a dialogue between land and water, the solution has always been to create a sea wall separating the two entities. It becomes the hard dividing line between a solid surface and liquid life. Is there a way to create a threshold that does not divide? How can landscape architecture create an exchange of qualities with land and water? Does the sea wall become the precedent to all concerns of tide and sea usurping lands edge? The edge between land and water is ever changing, so why not celebrate and personify that edge through creating a natural exchange between water and land. In order to create such an exchange, we must first look at the nature of water and land. Water is a free element that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen. It is inclined to motion, reflection, rise and fall. It holds a unique quality independent of man-induced control. Land is a more solid entity created by layers of stone and elements broken down by water. Land capacity is gauged by water, as in the water table. Throughout history, man has maintained a controlling relationship with land. However this is the opposite with water. Man has an inherent fear of water, the representative of both life and death. Though man tries, he cannot control water, he must work within the bounds set by water. How does one understand the evolutionary relationship of land and water without trying to control the elements that allow the relationship to occur? Through research, it is revealed that land actually usurps water through both a push and pull method of tides and water run off from land. Through time and tide, land builds up and infringes upon the natural edge of land and water. The plains move down, the vegetative roll moves forward, the beach ridges reconfigure, and the tidal flats create a shelf that extends out into the ocean floor.This evolution of land continually cycles on moon and sun paths that dictate the change in light, shade, wind, tides, motion, and human cycles. Whether recognizable or not recognizable, these macro and micro environmental cycles become a dance in the realm of landscape architecture. How does one reveal macro and micro environmental aspects through design with human interaction at the edge between land and water? / Master of Landscape Architecture

Cuttlebone, the endoskeleton of cuttlefish, offers an intriguing biological structural model for designing low-density cellular ceramics with high stiffness and damage tolerance. Cuttlebone is highly porous (porosity ~93%) and lightweight (density less than 20% of seawater), constructed mainly by brittle aragonite (95 wt%), but capable of sustaining hydrostatic water pressures over 20 atmospheres and exhibits energy dissipation capability under compression comparable to many metallic foams (~4.4 kJ/kg). Here we computationally investigate how such a remarkable mechanical efficiency is enabled by the multiscale structure of cuttlebone. Using the common cuttlefish, Sepia Officinalis, as a model system, we first conducted high-resolution synchrotron micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) and quantified the cuttlebone's multiscale geometry, including the 3D asymmetric shape of individual walls, the wall assembly patterns, and the long-range structural gradient of walls across the entire cuttlebone (ca. 40 chambers). The acquired 3D structural information enables systematic finite-element simulations, which further reveal the multiscale mechanical design of cuttlebone: at the wall level, wall asymmetry provides optimized energy dissipation while maintaining high structural stiffness; at the chamber level, variation of walls (number, pattern, and waviness amplitude) contributes to progressive damage; at the entire skeletal level, the gradient of chamber heights tailors the local mechanical anisotropy of the cuttlebone for reduced stress concentration. Our results provide integrated insights into understanding the cuttlebone's multiscale mechanical design and provide useful knowledge for the designs of lightweight cellular ceramics. Upon the prior curvature analysis of the cuttlebone walls, we discovered that the walls were primarily "saddle-shaped". Thus, the characterization of different curvatures, varying between flat, domed, saddled, or cylindrical surfaces, were explored. A mathematical model was utilized to generate multiple walls with different curvature characteristics. We observed the mechanical performance of these walls via finite-element analysis and formulated different techniques for designing effective ceramic structures through incorporation of curvature. / Master of Science / The cuttlefish is a marine species that instead of having an inflatable swim bladder like fish, is a mollusk capable of swimming by utilizing their skeleton, called the cuttlebone. The cuttlefish can freely traverse the waters by controlling the flow of water in and out of their brittle skeletons, changing their buoyancy. For this reason, the cuttlebone must be very porous yet strong to withstand the deep-water pressures, enticing an interest for closer observation of the structure which may be useful in engineering applications involving ceramic structures. In this study, we examined an actual cuttlebone structure to better visualize its features with high-resolution synchrotron micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) and tabulated its mechanical performance through a variety of tests using computational software. The skeletal design of the cuttlebone consists of multiple layered chambers supported by wavy, pillar-like walls. It was revealed that the cuttlebone is remarkable due to its multiscale design: the asymmetric geometry of the walls are designed to tolerate considerable amounts of energy while a stiff construction; at the chamber level, variation of walls (number, pattern, and waviness amplitude) helps avoid complete destruction of the structure in the event of an excessive force; at the entire skeletal level, various of chamber heights reduces inflicted stress in concentrated regions of the cuttlebone. The wavy walls were also observed to retain a saddle-shaped curviness, versus simple flat, domed, or cylindrical shaped walls. This created an incentive to explore the effects of curvature on the structural integrity of brittle ceramic structures. We developed an effective way for generating walls with different curvatures and observed the mechanical performance of each wall by crushing them in computer simulations. It was identified that adding curvature to brittle walls prolonged the failure period significantly. While the cylindrical walls were found to be rather stiff, saddle-shaped walls, although not capable of withstanding as much force as flat or cylindrical walls, has a more progressive failure behavior meanwhile maintaining high energy absorption, hence the saddled walls of the cuttlebone to allow maintenance and self-repair in damaged regions.