Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Daniel A. Andresen / A software application or a hardware device performs well under favorable conditions. Practically there can be many factors which effect the performance and functioning of the system. Scenarios where the system fails or performs better are needed to be determined. Logging is one of the best methodologies to determine such scenarios. Logging can be helpful in determining worst and effective performance. There is always an advantage of levels in logging which gives flexibility in logging different kinds of messages. Determining what messages to be logged is the key of logging. All the important events, state changes, messages are to be logged to know the higher level of progress of the system. Medical Device Coordination Framework (MDCF) deals with device connectivity with MDCF server. In this report, we propose a logging component to the existing MDCF. Logging component for MDCF is inspired from the flight data recorder, “black box”. Black box is a device used to log each and every message passing through the flight‟s system. In this way it is reliable and easy to investigate any failures in the system. We will also be able to simulate the replay of the scenarios. The important state changes in MDCF include device connection, scenario instantiation, initial state of MDCF server, destination creation. Logging in MDCF is implemented by wrapping Log4j logging framework. The interface provided by the logging component is used by MDCF in order to log. This implementation facilitates building more complex logging component for MDCF.

The University of Arizona AzRISE (Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy) and Tucson Electric Power solar test yard is currently undergoing renovations to upgrade and standardize the data acquisition capabilities throughout the yard. Test yard improvements have enabled increased data collection reliability through state-of-the-art and environmentally-robust data logging and real-time analysis. Enhanced capabilities include 10 msec max. data resolution, precision PV backside temperature monitoring of both individual and strings of modules, measurement of both AC and DC outputs as well as GHI and POA irradiance, active data backup to eliminate data intermittency, and robust Ethernet connectivity for data collection. An on-site weather station, provides wind speed and direction, relative humidity, and air temperature data. The information collected is accessed remotely via web server and includes raw performance and environmental conditions as well as extracted figures of performance for systems under test. Complementing the UA's existing accelerated environmental-testing chamber, the new test yard acquisition capabilities have enabled high fidelity system and sub-system-level operational testing under a range of field-level test conditions. The combined facilities, thus, provide a full-spectrum testing resource for photovoltaic performance and degradation analysis. Specific measurement characteristics and sample data collected from a polysilicon module test string are utilized to illustrate test yard capabilities.

With the different threats sea turtles are currently facing, such as habitat reduction and pollution, increase of fishing and harvesting of aquatic resources by Humans, or invasive species, it is important to learn as much as possible about their biology and behaviour in order to ensure the success of conservation programs. In this study, loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) feeding behaviour duration as well as energy expenditure approximation during a feeding event were tested and compared using two different types of food: green shore crabs (Carcinus maenas) or Japanese clam (Ruditapes phillipinarum) or Venus clams (Chamelea gallina). The data show that the turtles took longer to approach the crabs but took more time to eat the clams. However, comparison of energy expenditure values for the feeding phase showed no significant differences. The turtles were observed to eat the clams’ shell as well as their meat. These shells are rich in calcium, which is one possible explanation for this behaviour. This study shows that data loggers represent a viable tool for studying the behaviours of marine animals.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T19:24:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernando Giordani.pdf: 1656973 bytes, checksum: f029153643eb744e0e86dcc008e9b311 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-07-18 / The data acquisition systems are present in many studies, cooperating on collection, storage and analyses of data. On farming field, these systems are used in experiments of agricultural machines, soil characteristics study, as well as in other applications where data collection by sensors is needed. In the present study, a data acquisition system was developed. It includes nine channels to collect pulse data, three, to sensors PT100-type and one, to the connection of a load cell. The user interacts with the system by passing configuration parameters through a matrix keyboard and monitoring its operation through a liquid-crystal display. The collected data by the sensors were stored in a pen-drive-memory type, similar to a text-file to be processed later by an application developed for the Microsoft Windows platform. The developed application contained three basic functions: plot graphics and exhibit statistics in realtime, load data from a text-file generated by a collection, exhibit graphics, correlated statistic data and finally, generate two other files based on an original one. One contains the data in unit format of engineering and the other with statistics data for each existent replication in the file. To exemplify the system value in farming researches, the application includes the analysis of some predominant factors for the experiment of farming implements, such as wheeled skidding of a tractor vehicle, fuel consumption by a motor, power exert in a specific point, rotations and temperatures. A data collection of three types of sensors, assisted by the system, was done and it showed data accuracy and exactness. / Os Sistemas de Aquisição de Dados estão presentes em muitos estudos e colaboram na coleta, armazenamento e análise de dados. No campo agropecuário, esses sistemas são usados em ensaios de máquinas agrícolas, estudos das características do solo dentre outras aplicações em que é necessária a coleta de dados através de sensores. Neste trabalho foi desenvolvido um Sistema de Aquisição de Dados que contempla 9 canais para coleta de dados de pulso, 3 para sensores do tipo PT100 e 1 para a conexão de uma célula de carga. O usuário interage com o sistema ao passar parâmetros de configuração por meio de um teclado matricial e monitorar o seu funcionamento através de um display de cristal líquido. Os dados coletados pelos sensores são armazenados em uma memória do tipo pen-drive em forma de arquivo-texto para posteriormente serem processados por um aplicativo desenvolvido para plataforma Microsoft Windows. O aplicativo desenvolvido possui 3 funções básicas: plotar gráficos e exibir dados estatísticos em tempo real; carregar dados de um arquivo-texto gerado por uma coleta e exibir gráficos e dados estatísticos correlacionados e, finalmente, gerar dois outros arquivos a partir de um original, um contendo os dados no formato de unidade de engenharia e outro com dados estatísticos resumidos para cada repetição existente no arquivo. Para exemplificar a utilidade do sistema em pesquisas agropecuárias, o aplicativo contempla a análise de alguns fatores preponderantes para o ensaio de implementos agrícolas, os quais são: patinagem do rodado de um veículo trator, consumo de combustível por um motor, força empregada em determinado ponto, rotações e temperaturas. Foi realizada uma coleta de dados com os três tipos de sensores assistidos pelo sistema a fim de serem verificadas a precisão e a exatidão dos dados.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-12T14:47:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernando Giordani.pdf: 1656973 bytes, checksum: f029153643eb744e0e86dcc008e9b311 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-07-18 / The data acquisition systems are present in many studies, cooperating on collection, storage and analyses of data. On farming field, these systems are used in experiments of agricultural machines, soil characteristics study, as well as in other applications where data collection by sensors is needed. In the present study, a data acquisition system was developed. It includes nine channels to collect pulse data, three, to sensors PT100-type and one, to the connection of a load cell. The user interacts with the system by passing configuration parameters through a matrix keyboard and monitoring its operation through a liquid-crystal display. The collected data by the sensors were stored in a pen-drive-memory type, similar to a text-file to be processed later by an application developed for the Microsoft Windows platform. The developed application contained three basic functions: plot graphics and exhibit statistics in realtime, load data from a text-file generated by a collection, exhibit graphics, correlated statistic data and finally, generate two other files based on an original one. One contains the data in unit format of engineering and the other with statistics data for each existent replication in the file. To exemplify the system value in farming researches, the application includes the analysis of some predominant factors for the experiment of farming implements, such as wheeled skidding of a tractor vehicle, fuel consumption by a motor, power exert in a specific point, rotations and temperatures. A data collection of three types of sensors, assisted by the system, was done and it showed data accuracy and exactness. / Os Sistemas de Aquisição de Dados estão presentes em muitos estudos e colaboram na coleta, armazenamento e análise de dados. No campo agropecuário, esses sistemas são usados em ensaios de máquinas agrícolas, estudos das características do solo dentre outras aplicações em que é necessária a coleta de dados através de sensores. Neste trabalho foi desenvolvido um Sistema de Aquisição de Dados que contempla 9 canais para coleta de dados de pulso, 3 para sensores do tipo PT100 e 1 para a conexão de uma célula de carga. O usuário interage com o sistema ao passar parâmetros de configuração por meio de um teclado matricial e monitorar o seu funcionamento através de um display de cristal líquido. Os dados coletados pelos sensores são armazenados em uma memória do tipo pen-drive em forma de arquivo-texto para posteriormente serem processados por um aplicativo desenvolvido para plataforma Microsoft Windows. O aplicativo desenvolvido possui 3 funções básicas: plotar gráficos e exibir dados estatísticos em tempo real; carregar dados de um arquivo-texto gerado por uma coleta e exibir gráficos e dados estatísticos correlacionados e, finalmente, gerar dois outros arquivos a partir de um original, um contendo os dados no formato de unidade de engenharia e outro com dados estatísticos resumidos para cada repetição existente no arquivo. Para exemplificar a utilidade do sistema em pesquisas agropecuárias, o aplicativo contempla a análise de alguns fatores preponderantes para o ensaio de implementos agrícolas, os quais são: patinagem do rodado de um veículo trator, consumo de combustível por um motor, força empregada em determinado ponto, rotações e temperaturas. Foi realizada uma coleta de dados com os três tipos de sensores assistidos pelo sistema a fim de serem verificadas a precisão e a exatidão dos dados.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of environmental design parameters on thermal comfort conditions in the METU Faculty of Architecture Building located in Ankara. The building had some problems in terms of indoor climatic conditions, both in winter and in summer. It was evident that some design parameters caused this undesirable situation. The study therefore focused on understanding and evaluating the effects of design-dependent elements such as thermal mass, the size and orientation of windows, shading and vegetation on thermal comfort conditions in the case study building. While conducting this study, data loggers were used to record temperature and humidity data in predetermined rooms. Data was collected during certain periods in July, August, and September 2006. The data collected was analyzed statistically and hypotheses were tested using ANOVA. This study showed that the effect of thermal mass was almost the same for the rooms investigated owing to the fact that the entire building had been constructed with concrete curtain walls. In terms of thermal performance the number and orientation of the exterior walls, orientation and size of windows, room heights and also sun shading with surrounding vegetation were most effective design parameters for the rooms investigated

An understanding of the ecology and behavior of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is necessary for proper conservation and management, especially in the face of emerging infectious diseases. The objectives of my study were to estimate juvenile survival, compare methods of quantifying contact rates (simultaneous GPS locations vs. proximity loggers [PLs]), and investigate the impact of group depopulation on contact rates of remnant adult female and juvenile deer. To achieve these goals, I captured, radiotracked, and monitored adult female and juvenile white-tailed deer in southern Illinois during 2011-2014. Survival analysis of juveniles revealed that main causes of mortality were capture related and predation, though some dead animals also showed signs of hemorrhagic disease. Comparison between simultaneous GPS locations and PLs showed evidence that deer coming within the general vicinity of each other are less likely to come in close contact if they are in neighboring social groups than deer whose home ranges overlap little, if at all. Finally, experimental removal of group members caused few if any remnant adult females to alter their contact rates or space-use, but caused remnant juveniles to have lower space-use fidelity compared to control deer and to increase their direct contact rates with other groups temporarily. Using these results, I discuss the large effects that severe weather events can have on juvenile survival, the importance of social structure on the potential transmission of disease agents among female and juvenile deer, and the difference between adult females and juvenile deer in their need for social interactions. My research provides ecologists, wildlife biologists, and managers with valuable information concerning the potential impacts of the environment, infectious diseases, and management strategies on white-tailed deer populations.

The wheelchair tennis evidence base has developed considerably in recent years. For those with a spinal cord injury (SCI), or severe physical impairment, tennis participation represents an opportunity for skill and motor development, and potential for disease risk reduction (Abel et al., 2008). However, as a complex series of technical, tactical and physical elements are implicated, participation for novice, developmental or low-skill players can be challenging. Hence, extension of the evidence base to consider the responses of such groups during play is of considerable value. Initial experimental studies in this thesis investigated the validity, reliability and applicability of instrumentation for the assessment of wheelchair tennis court-movement. Comparisons were made between a global positioning system (GPS) and the data logger (DL) device (Study 1). GPS underestimated criterion distance in tennis-specific drills and reported lower match-play values than the DL. In contrast, DL placed on the outside wheel offered an accurate representation of distance. However, underestimations for DL were revealed at speeds > 2.50 m·s-1 during treadmill testing. Consequently, Study 2 extended this work with consideration of DL applicability for wheelchair tennis match-play. Examination of speed profiles revealed that time spent below the threshold for accuracy was trivial, confirming DL applicability for court-movement assessment. Further between-group comparisons for rank [highly-ranked (HIGH), low-ranked (LOW)], sex (male, female) and format (singles, doubles) revealed that LOW were stationary for longer than HIGH and spent more time at low propulsion speeds. Time in higher speed zones was greatest for HIGH and doubles players. Between-group differences (rank) were further scrutinised in Study 3 with attention paid to describing the physiological response of competitive match-play aligned to court-movement. Set outcome (result) was also examined. Independent of result, HIGH covered greater overall, forwards, reverse and forwards-to-reverse distances than LOW. Interestingly, HIGH winners covered greater distances than HIGH losers and had a higher mean average and minimum heart rate (HR) than LOW winners. In contrast, LOW losers had a higher mean average and mean minimum HR than LOW winners. Collectively, these outcomes suggest an enhanced ability for HIGH to respond to ball movement and the physiological and skill challenges of match-play. While this thesis confirmed that the activity duration and playing intensity is sufficient to confer health-related effects (Study 3), differences identified for rank suggested that strategies to 4 enable performance improvements in LOW were merited. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has suggested that all starter players should be able to serve, rally and score from their first lesson (ITF, 2007). The reality however, is that chair propulsion whilst holding a racket is complex, and therefore, tennis play is challenging for novice and developmental players. Hence, the remainder of experimental work focused on interventions to enable increased court-movement and development of wheelchair tennis-specific court-mobility for LOW. The ITF have endorsed the use of a low-compression ball (LCB) for novices. An LCB bounces lower and moves more slowly through the air than a standard-compression ball (SCB). Novel findings from Study 4 revealed that greater total and forwards distances, greater average speeds and less time stationary result from use of the LCB. Increased movement activity occurred without associated increases in physiological cost, but was considered advantageous, with players adopting stronger positions for shot-play. Further examination of the linkage between movement and physiological variables were explored in the final experimental investigation (Study 5). A short period of organised practice enabled higher overall and forwards distances, and peak and average speeds to be achieved during match-play, without associated increases in physiological cost. Changes were desirable and represented enhanced court-mobility and mechanical efficiency (ME). Wheelchair tennis players were also more self-confident in tennis-specific chair-mobility, post-practice. The racket was a constraint, with lower distances and speeds, and a lower peak physiological response, achieved during tennis practice completed with a racket. This thesis advocates the use of an LCB and a short period of pre-match court-mobility practice for the novice wheelchair tennis player. Collectively, these interventions are likely to prompt greater court-movement enabling better court-positioning, develop confidence in court-mobility and shot-play, develop competence in racket handling whilst pushing, and enhancing ME. These characteristics are likely to enable participation with the likely inference being that greater competence, skill and self-confidence promotes greater enjoyment and therefore enhances longer-term compliance. This is of considerable practical significance given that tennis typically attracts new players to the game, but is less successful at retaining them (ITF, 2007).

Fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2), being a major greenhouse gas, are of great importance to understand and monitor. Findings have shown that while CO2 emissions enhanced by humans triggered the greenhouse gas effect, several significant CO2 fluxes in nature that are climate sensitive may still be poorly constrained, especially those from inland waters and its surrounding soils and sediments. This including different processes such as decomposers degrading organic material. At present, direct measurements of CO2 from soils, waters or CO2 concentrations in surface water, are typically labour intensive or require costly equipment. Therefore, small inexpensive CO2 mini loggers, originally made for indoor air quality monitoring, are for this project being developed further for field use, as a convenient equipment to measure CO2 emissions. However, a requirement is that the mini loggers are stable and robust against interference by other air components, including water vapour, and physical factors such as temperature. Therefore, the mini loggers were for this project studied further under different environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity in a controlled environment. The results were analysed using multiple regression analysis where the CO2 concentration (CO2), measured by the LGR instrument, versus the logger IR signal (IR), temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) were studied. Unlike some previous studies, this project studied a large CO2 concentration interval (400 – 10 000 ppm).  The results show that there was a strong regression for IR versus CO2. The regression for both RH and the T was on the other hand very weak. However, there were factors that could have affected the mini logger. This since it was noticed that the mini loggers’ ability to calculate the CO2 concentration was worsened when the humidity was increased during the experiments. It is believed that the cause was condensed water, gathering in the inner parts of the mini logger. This because the sensor chamber had a lower temperature than the hot air entering the sensor chamber from the humidity bottle, together with the CO2, leading to condensation. Hence, prevention of condensation inside the measurement cell is important. However, the results from the analysis shows that the factors; RH and T do not need to be taken into account when studying the CO2 concentration over a larger interval, as long as the conditions are not condensing.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning is used in a lot of different areas, one of those areas is image recognition. In the production of a TV-show or film, image recognition can be used to help the editors to find specific objects, scenes, or people in the video content, which speeds up the production. But image recognition is not working perfect all the time and can not be used in the production of a TV-show or film as it is intended to. Therefore the image recognition algorithms needs to be trained on large datasets to become better. But to create these datasets takes time and tools that can let users create specific datasets and retrain algorithms to become better is needed. The aim of this master thesis was to investigate if it was possible to create a tool that can annotate objects and people in video content and using the data as training sets, and a tool that can retrain the output of an image recognition to make the image recognition become better. It was also important that the tools have a good workflow for the users. The study consisted of a theoretical study to gain more knowledge about annotation, and how to make a good UX-design with a good workflow. Interviews were also held to get more knowledge of what the requirements of the product was. It resulted in a user scenario and a workflow that was used together with the knowledge from the theoretical study to create a hi-fi prototype by using an iterative process with usability testing. This resulted in a final hi-fi prototype with a good design and a good workflow for the users, where it is possible to annotate objects and people with a bounding box, and where it is possible to retrain an image recognition program that has been used on video content. / Artificiell intelligens och maskininlärning används inom många olika områden, ett av dessa områden är bildigenkänning. Vid produktionen av ett TV-program eller av en film kan bildigenkänning användas för att hjälpa redigerarna att hitta specifika objekt, scener eller personer i videoinnehållet, vilket påskyndar produktionen. Men bildigenkänningsprogram fungerar inte alltid helt perfekt och kan inte användas i produktionen av ett TV-program eller film som det är tänkt att användas i det sammanhanget. För att förbättra bildigenkänningsprogram så behöver dess algoritm tränas på stora datasets av bilder och labels. Men att skapa dessa datasets tar tid och det behövs program som kan skapa datasets och återträna algoritmer för bildigenkänning så att de fungerar bättre. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka om det var möjligt att skapa ett verktyg som kan markera(annotera) objekt och personer i video och använda datat som träningsdata för algoritmer. Men även att skapa ett verktyg som kan återträna algoritmer för bildigenkänning så att de blir bättre utifrån datat man får från ett bildigenkänningprogram. Det var också viktigt att dessa verktyg hade ett bra arbetsflöde för användarna. Studien bestod av en teoretisk studie för att få mer kunskap om annoteringar i video och hur man skapar bra UX-design med ett bra arbetsflöde. Intervjuer hölls också för att få mer kunskap om kraven på produkten och vilka som skulle använda den. Det resulterade i ett användarscenario och ett arbetsflöde som användes tillsammans med kunskapen från den teoretiska studien för att skapa en hi-fi prototyp, där en iterativ process med användbarhetstestning användes. Detta resulterade i en slutlig hi-fi prototyp med bra design och ett bra arbetsflöde för användarna där det är möjligt att markera(annotera) objekt och personer med en bounding box och där det är möjligt att återträna algoritmer för bildigenkänning som har körts på video.