Thesis--Göttingen. / Lebenslauf. Bibliography, p. 6-7.

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Thèses (M.Sc.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 2006. / In ProQuest dissertations and theses. Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 17 oct. 2007). Publié aussi en version papier.

Thèses (M.Sc.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 2006. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 8 nov. 2007). In ProQuest dissertations and theses. Publié aussi en version papier.

Robots are inherently limited by physical constraints on their link lengths, motor torques, battery power and structural rigidity. To thrive in circumstances that push these limits, such as in search and rescue scenarios, intelligent agents can use the available objects in their environment as tools. Reasoning about arbitrary objects and how they can be placed together to create useful structures such as ramps, bridges or simple machines is critical to push beyond one's physical limitations. Unfortunately, the solution space is combinatorial in the number of available objects and the configuration space of the chosen objects and the robot that uses the structure is high dimensional. To address these challenges, we propose using constraint satisfaction as a means to test the feasibility of candidate structures and adopt search algorithms in the classical planning literature to find sufficient designs. The key idea is that the interactions between the components of a structure can be encoded as equality and inequality constraints on the configuration spaces of the respective objects. Furthermore, constraints that are induced by a broadly defined action, such as placing an object on another, can be grouped together using logical representations such as Planning Domain Definition Language (PDDL). Then, a classical planning search algorithm can reason about which set of constraints to impose on the available objects, iteratively creating a structure that satisfies the task goals and the robot constraints. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework, we present both simulation and real robot results with static structures such as ramps, bridges and stairs, and quasi-static structures such as lever-fulcrum simple machines.

The purpose of this study is to expound the dilemma that, in spite of the huge wealth of Saudi Arabia, its drive for development and modernization is stumbling. This situation is due to a large extent to the country's severe administrative limitations.

Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Includes abstract in English.

Through the lens of the Hispanic Paradox, this thesis examines healthy and unhealthy life expectancy changes occurring from 1997 to 2015 among Hispanics, non-Hispanic blacks, and non-Hispanic whites in the United States. The goal is to determine how Hispanics –disaggregated by nativity status– fare relative to other racial-ethnic groups in regard to changes in the percentage of total life expectancy that is lived in a healthy state (i.e. compression and expansion of morbidity). Using the Sullivan method, multi-state life tables were created with functional limitation prevalence data from the National Health Interview Survey. Results indicate that most subpopulation groups experienced periods of both morbidity compression and expansion from 1997 to 2015, though patterns of change varied by race-ethnicity and gender. Partial support was found for the Hispanic paradox given that similar trends in the percentage of total life expectancy lived disabilityree existed between non-Hispanic whites and foreign-born Hispanics.

Limitations imposed on control functions can significantly affect the performance of a linear controller. When applied to the real physical system, such limitations convert a linear function to a nonlinear input signal that alters the convergence or stability of the solution. The main focus of this study is to identify, classify and propose appropriate techniques to overcome such problems. In this regard, we propose an exact definition for a conditionally controllable problem and investigate control function formulations for such problems under the lenses of planning-based and optimization-based methods.

Objective: To examine the workplace challenges of lupus patients. Methods: A cross sectional study surveyed lupus patients seen at the Toronto Lupus Clinic in the last 2 years. We included questions on health, work context and psychosocial perceptions. Descriptive statistics described the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the sample; multivariable analysis examined factors associated with workplace activity limitations, job strain, and job accommodations. Results: 362 respondents completed the questionnaire (60% response). 49.7% were currently employed. Participants who recently left work had higher disease activity and workplace activity limitations. Employed participants had low to moderate job strain. Seventy percent of employed participants used job accommodations. Health, work context, and psychological factors were significantly associated with workplace activity limitations, job strain and job accommodations. Conclusion: Persons living with lupus are faced by different challenges at the workplace. Workplace difficulties and needs of individuals with lupus should be assessed by health professionals.