The thesis focuses on concrete application of the selected agile methodologies on the designed new software development methodology in the company Firma 2.0. The theoretical section briefly characterizes agile methodologies in general and then focuses on their representative sample, and thus Scrum, Kanban, SAFe and LeSS and the DevOps movement, which build a framework for the practical section. The selected components, which are used in the second part, are emphasized. Importantly, all of the methodologies are based on the agile manifesto and thanks to that are mutually combinable. The practical section introduces the company Firmy 2.0 together with its existing software development methodology, which is currently insufficient. The shortages are described as bottlenecks of the methodology itself as well as issues of process management of the company. The newly designed software methodology eliminates those drawbacks and integrates new elements and terminology in order to better correspond with the current processes in the company. The main contribution of the thesis is seen in the new design of software development methodology for a small company, which can also be potentially used outside of the company Firma 2.0, associated with a sound theoretical background.

Human motion analysis is an important tool for assessing movement, rehabilitation progress, fall risk, progression of neurodegenerative diseases, and classifying gait patterns. Advancements in artificial intelligence models and high-performance computing technologies have given rise to marker-less human motion analysis that determine point correspondences between an array of cameras and estimate 3D joint coordinates using triangulation. However, existing methods have not considered the physical setup and design of a marker-less human motion analysis tool that could be deployed in an institutional environment for active use, such as an institutional hallway where individuals pass regularly on a daily basis (i.e., Smart Hallway). In this thesis, camera locations were modelled, four machine vision grade cameras connected to an NVIDIA Jetson AGX were set up in a simulated institutional hallway environment, and custom software was written to capture synchronized 60 frame per second video of a participant walking through the Smart Hallway capture volume. Software was also written to calculate 3D joint coordinates and extract outcome measures for various test conditions. These outcome measures were compared to ground truth body segment length measurements obtained from direct measurement and ground truth foot event timings obtained from direct observation. Body segment length measurements were within 1.56 (SD=2.77) cm of ground truth values. AI-based stride parameters were comparable with ground truth foot event timings and the implemented foot event detection algorithm was within 4 frames (67 ms), with an absolute error of 3 frames (50 ms) on the ground truth foot event labels. The Smart Hallway can be deployed in an unobtrusive manner and be temporally and spatially calibrated with ease. This multi-camera marker-less approach is viable for calculating useful outcome measures for clinical decision making. With these findings, marker-less motion capture is viable for non-invasive human motion analysis and compares well with marker-based systems. With future research and innovations, marker-less motion analysis will be the ideal approach for human motion analysis that requires minimal human resource to collect meaningful information.

Thesis (MEd (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2020 / This study investigates factors that affect the integration of Educational Technology (ET) by mathematics teachers for pedagogy in less affluent high schools in the Western Cape. ET has permeated the education system in the 21st century. It is now a norm for ET to be used in classrooms for educational purposes. Despite the prevalence of a variety of ETs, not all mathematics teachers are fully equipped to take advantage of the immense benefits posited by ET. This study reveals that a lot of mathematics teachers in public schools in the Western Cape still face critical challenges in their attempt to fully integrate ET for pedagogy.  The study employed a qualitative research design to explore the factors affecting the integration and use of ET for curriculum delivery by mathematics teachers in less affluent high schools in the Western Cape Province. The framework underpinning this study is the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework which guided the researcher in the analysis of the research findings. The researcher used two data collection instruments, namely, semi structured interviews and observations. Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 participants and themes were used for analysing data. Participants were fully furnished with information regarding their rights when participating in the study. They were informed that they could withdraw at any given stage during the interview process. Despite the permeance of technology in the education sphere, the study’s findings show that teachers in less affluent schools in the Western Cape still experience mitigating factors that militates against effective integration of technology in classrooms for pedagogy. For effective integration of ET to take place, several factors needed to be critically addressed. They included the lack of training, limited access to ET, lack of technical support, lack of time and the theft of ET resources.

First, I attempt to present a unified approach to the study of transport phenomena in multicoponent anisotropic space plasmas. In the limit of small temperature anisotropies this system of generalized transport equations reduces to Grad's 13-moment system of transport equations. In the collisionless limit, the generalized transport equations account for collisionless heat flow, cillisionless viscosity, and large temperature anisotropies. Also, I show that with the appropriate assumptions, the system of generalized transport equations reduces to all of the other major systems of transport equations for anisotropic plasmas that have been derived to date. Next, for application to aeronomy and space physics problems involving strongly magnetized plasma flows, I derive momentum and energy exchange collision terms for interpenetrating bi-Maxwellian gases. Collision terms are derived for Coulomb, Maxwell molecule, and constant collision cross section interaction potentials. The collision terms are valid for arbitrary flow velocity differences and temperature differences between the interacting gases as well as for arbitrary temperature anisotropies. The collision terms have to be evaluated numerically and the appropriate coefficients are presented in tables However, the collision terms are also fitted with simplified expressions, the accuracy of which depends on both the interaction potential and the temperature anisotropy. In addition, I derive the closed set of transport equations that are associated with the momentum and energy collision terms. Finally, I study the extent to which Maxwellian and bi-Maxwellian series expansions can describe plasma flows characterized by non-Maxwellian velocity distributions, with emphasis given to modeling the anisotropic character of the distribution function. The problem considered is the steady state flow of a weakly-ionized plasma subjected to homogeneous electric and magnetic fields, and different collision models are used. In the case of relaxation collision model, a closed form expression is found for the ion velocity distribution function, while for more regorous models (polarization and hard sphere) I have to use the Monte Carlo simulation. These provided a basis for determining the adequacy of a given series expansion. I find that, in general, the bi-Maxwellian-based expansions for the velocity distribution function is better suited to describing anisotropic plasmas than the Maxwellian-based expansions. (166 pages)

We propose solution strategies for hard Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) problems, with a focus on distributed parallel MIP optimization. Although our proposals are inspired by the Less-than-truckload (LTL) freight routing problem, they are more generally applicable to hard MIPs from other domains. We start by developing an Integer Programming model for the Less-than-truckload (LTL) freight routing problem, and present a novel heuristic for solving the model in a reasonable amount of time on large LTL networks. Next, we identify some adaptations to MIP branching strategies that are useful for achieving improved scaling upon distribution when the LTL routing problem (or other hard MIPs) are solved using parallel MIP optimization. Recognizing that our model represents a pseudo-Boolean optimization problem (PBO), we leverage solution techniques used by PBO solvers to develop a CPLEX based look-ahead solver for LTL routing and other PBO problems. Our focus once again is on achieving improved scaling upon distribution. We also analyze a technique for implementing subtree parallelism during distributed MIP optimization. We believe that our proposals represent a significant step towards solving big-data driven optimization problems (such as the LTL routing problem) in a more efficient manner. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation is a vital part of Canada's economy, with revenues running into billions of dollars and a cascading impact on many other industries. LTL operators often have to deal with large volumes of shipments, unexpected changes in traffic conditions, and uncertainty in demand patterns. In an industry that already has low profit margins, it is therefore vitally important to make good routing decisions without expending a lot of time. The optimization of such LTL freight networks often results in complex big-data driven optimization problems. In addition to the challenge of finding optimal solutions for these problems, analysts often have to deal with the complexities of big-data driven inputs. In this thesis we develop several solution strategies for solving the LTL freight routing problem including an exact model, novel heuristics, and techniques for solving the problem efficiently on a cluster of computers. Although the techniques we develop are inspired by LTL routing, they are more generally applicable for solving big-data driven optimization problems from other domains. Experiments conducted over the years in consultation with industry experts indicate that our proposals can significantly improve solution quality and reduce time to solution. Furthermore, our proposals open up interesting avenues for future research.

No / This paper presents a novel and hardware-efficient architecture for power-of-two FFT processors. The proposed design is based on the phase-amplitude splitting technique which converts a DFT to cyclic convolutions and additions. The cyclic convolutions are implemented with a filter-like structure and the additions are computed with several stages of butterfly processing units. The proposed architecture requires no multiplier, and comparisons with other designs show it can save up to 39% total equivalent gates for an 8-bit 16-point FPGA-based FFT processor.

Police officers continue to sustain injuries during close proximity encounters with non-compliant and combative suspects. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine whether the use of less-lethal instruments, such as conducted energy devices, oleoresin capsicum, impact batons, and hands/feet defensive tactic reduced police officer injury during confrontations with uncooperative suspects at a medium-sized police department in a southern state. Fichtelberg's democratic policing was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Data were acquired from Suspect Resistant Reports (n = 409) written by police officers over a 10-year period (1/05 - 12/14). The dependent variable was police officer injury and the categorically ranked independent variable was the less-lethal instrument. A significant association was found between officer injuries and less-lethal instruments using chi-square analysis (p

Malkostrake Krebse zeigen im postnauplialen Keimstreif ein invariantes Zellteilungsmuster und eine Zelllinie. Embryonen eines Isopoden (Porcellio scaber) und eines Amphipoden (Orchestia cavimana) wurden bezüglich ihrer Zelllinie vergleichend Untersucht. Mittels immunhistochemischer Färbungen wurde das Expressionsmuster der Gene engrailed und Distal-less in Hinblick auf die Zelllinie und die Morphogenese der Segmente und der Beinentwicklung analysiert. Die Zelllinie wurde bei Porcellio scaber mit der Methode der 4D-Mikroskopie untersucht. Mit Zellablationsexperimenten wurden Abhängigkeiten der Zellen untereinander aufgezeigt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchungen zeigen: I. Die Genexpression von Distal-less und engrailed wird unabhängig von der Zelllinie reguliert. II. Die Bildung der konvergenten einästigen Beine im Thoraxbereich beider Krebse erfolgt durch unterschiedliche Regulation des Gens Distal-less - bei Orchestia cavimana wird die Expression des Gens in den lateralen Zellen abgeschaltet, während diese Zellen bei Porcellio scaber erst gar nicht Distal-less exprimieren. III. Die Anwendung des Systems der 4D-Mikroskopie zeigte unter anderem, dass in den vorderen Reihen nichtektoteloblastischen Ursprungs bei Porcellio scaber die Zelllinie variabel ist und eine Zellsortierung und Zellimmigration stattfindet. IV. Die Ähnlichkeit der Bildung dieser Reihen bei Porcellio scaber mit der der Tanaidaceen lässt auf ein Schwestergruppenverhältnis der Taxa Isopoda und Tanaidacea schliessen. Die Dissertation enthält fünf Videoaufnahmen als separate AVI-Dateien. / Malacostracan crustaceans show in their postnaupliar germ-band an invariant cleavage pattern and a cell-lineage. A comparative analysis of this cell-lineage in an Isopod (Porcellio scaber) and an amphipod (Orchestia cavimana) was done in this thesis. Immunohistochemical stainings of the gene products Distal-less and Engrailed were used, to show the relation of these genes to the morphogenesis of segments and legs. Further, the cell-lineage of Porcellio scaber was analyzed with a 4D-microscope system. Cell-ablation experiments were used to show regulational networks in the development of the germ-band. The results of this work show: I. The regulation of the genes Distal-less and engrailed is independent of the cell-lineage. II. The morphogenesis of the convergent monoramous limbs in the thorax is reflected by different expression patterns of the gene Distal-less - in Orchestia cavimana the expression of Distal-less is switched off in the lateral cells, in Porcellio scaber these cells do not start the Distal-less expression. III. The 4D-microscopy analysis show, that the cell-lineage in the cellrows wich have a non-ectoteloblastic origin is not invariant. In these rows of cells show cell sorting. IV. The formation of these rows in the isopod Porcellio scaber shows similarity to the formation in tanaidaceans. A sister group relationship of Tanaidacea and Isopoda is strongly supported. This dissertation contains five video recordings as separate AVI files.

Shutter-less infrared cameras based on microbolometer focal plane arrays (FPAs) are the most widely used cameras in thermography, in particular in the fields of handheld devices and small distributed sensors. For acceptable measurement uncertainty values the disturbing influences of changing thermal ambient conditions have to be treated corresponding to temperature measurements of the thermal conditions inside the camera. We propose a compensation approach based on calibration measurements where changing external conditions are simulated and all correction parameters are determined. This allows to process the raw infrared data and to consider all disturbing influences. The effects on the pixel responsivity and offset voltage are considered separately. The responsivity correction requires two different, alternating radiation sources. This paper presents the details of the compensation procedure and discusses relevant aspects to gain low temperature measurement uncertainty.

Autonomous driving might increase safety and profitability of trucks in many applications. The mining industry, with its enclosed and controlled areas, is ideal for early implementation of autonomous solutions. The possibility of increased productivity, profitability and safety for the mining industry and the mining area as a ground for development could, through collaboration, result in many benefits for both mining companies and truck manufactures. Scania must investigate how these autonomous vehicles should be constructed. The project goal is thereby to develop a chassis layout concept for an autonomous truck. The concept should improve profitability and safety for transportation of materials within the mining industry while minimizing the introduction of new components to Scania. The chosen approach is based on the Ulrich & Eppinger method for product development including generation and selection of concepts. Product requirements were specified from identified customer needs. The generated concepts were evaluated against these requirements and comparisons were performed with weighted matrices. Some benefits of the final chassis layout concept are a higher load carrying capacity, more robust component placement and higher ground clearance. The vehicle concept would also be able to operate in underground mines with low roof clearance which could open new market segments for Scania. However, the concept requires development to gain higher performance on load carrying components in the chassis front. The suggested concept shows that Scania could build and deliver autonomous mining vehicles with optimized chassis layouts based on Scania’s existing components within a near future. / Autonom körning kan öka säkerheten och lönsamheten för lastbilar i många applikationer. Gruvindustin, med dess avgränsade och kontrollerade områden, är ideal för tidig implementation av autonoma lösningar. Möjligheten till ökad produktivitet, lönsamhet och säkerhet med gruvindustrin och gruvområderna som plats för utveckling kan, genom samarbete, resultera i många fördelar för både gruvföretagen och lastbilstillverkarna. Scania måste därmed undersöka hur dessa autonoma fordon bör konstrueras. Projektmålet är därmed att ta fram ett koncept på en chassilayout för en autonom lastbil. Konceptet bör öka lönsamheten och säkerheten för transport av material inom gruvindustrin medan introduktionen av, för Scania, nya komponenter minimeras. Det valda angreppssättet är baserat på Ulrich & Eppingers metod för produktutveckling inkluderande generering och urval av koncept. Produktkraven specificerades utifrån de identifierade kundkraven. De framtagna koncepten utvärderades mot dessa krav och jämförelser genomfördes med viktade matriser. Några fördelar hos det slutgiltiga chassilayoutskonceptet är högre lastkapacitet, mer robust komponentplacering och högre markfri gång. Fordonskonceptet har även möjlighet att köra i underjordiska gruvor med låg takhöjd vilket kan öppna upp nya marknadssegment för Scania. Dock kräver konceptet utveckling för att nå högre prestanda hos lastbärande komponenter i främre chassi. Det föreslagna konceptet visar att Scania skulle kunna bygga och leverera autonoma gruvbilar med optimerad chassilayout baserat på Scanias existerande komponenter inom en snar framtid.