The recent Decision Model and Notation (DMN) establishes business decisions as first-class citizens of executable business processes. This research note has two objectives: first, to describe DMN's technical and theoretical foundations; second, to identify research directions for investigating DMN's potential benefits on a technological, individual and organizational level. To this end, we integrate perspectives from management science, cognitive theory and information systems research.

The ability to probe many-particle systems on a microscopic level has revolutionized the way we do statistical physics. As computational capabilities continue to grow exponentially, larger and more complex systems come within reach of microscopic analysis. In the field of network growth, the classical model has given way to competitive processes, in which networks are guided by some criteria at every step of their formation. We develop and analyze a new competitive growth process that permits intervention on growing networks using only local properties of the network when evaluating how to add new connections. We establish the critical behavior of this new method and explore potential uses in guiding the development of real-world networks. The classical system of electrons diffusing within a conductor similarly permits a microscopic analysis where, to date, studies of the macroscopic properties have dominated the literature. In order to extend our understanding of the theory that governs this diffusion—the fluctuation-dissipation theorem—we construct a physical model of the Johnson-Nyquist system of electrons embedded in the bulk of a conductor. Constructing the model involves deriving how the motion of each individual electron comes about via scattering processes in the conductor, then connecting this collective motion to the macroscopic observables of voltage and current that define Johnson-Nyquist noise. Once the equilibrium properties have been fully realized, an external perturbation can be applied in order to probe the behavior of the model as it deviates away from equilibrium. In much the same way that competitive network growth revolutionized classical network theory, we aim to establish a model which can guide future research into nonequilibrium fluctuation-dissipation by providing a method for interacting with the system in a precise and well-controlled manner as it evolves over time. This model is presented in its present form in Chapter 3. Chapter 2, which covers this work, has been published in Physical Review E as a Rapid Communication [1]. The writing and analysis were performed by me as the primary author. Eric Corwin and Georgios Tsekenis are listed as co-authors for their contribution to the analysis and for advisement on the work. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished co-authored material.

This Master of Science Thesis focuses on the modeling of an automotive system. Several of the main automotive systems are combined to represent a full vehicle model. One system is a road plane model with degrees of freedom in yaw and lateral acceleration. The model at first includes a two dimensional representation of a steering system and then later expands the steering model to three dimensions. Also included is a five degree of freedom, two-dimensional multibody model in order to model the response of the chassis/suspension system due to an applied step steer input. The tire system incorporates the Magic Formula tire model. Furthermore, a graphic user interface is developed to facilitate setting up the initial conditions and inputs to the full vehicle model, and to ease the use of the simulation.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Saugata Datta / In specific lithologic and hydrogeological settings, Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) projects using vadose zone wells have the potential to outperform infiltration basins in terms of volume of water recharged. Numerical modeling can assist in determining which recharge method is most efficient in infiltrating water to unconfined alluvial aquifers of differing unsaturated zone lithologic complexities. The Sagamore Lens Aquifer (SLA) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts is an example of an aquifer with minimal lithologic complexity while the Hueco Bolson Aquifer (HBA) near El Paso, Texas has greater lithologic complexity. This research combines two U.S. Geological Survey numerical models to simulate recharge from infiltration basins and vadose wells at these two locations. VS2DTI, a vadose zone model, and MODFLOW-2005, a saturated zone model, were run sequentially at both sites and with both vadose well and infiltration basin recharge methods simulated. Results were compared to determine the relative effectiveness of each method at each location and to determine the effects of vadose zone complexity on recharge. At the HBA location, soil samples were tested for conductivity and grain size distribution and a microgravity survey was begun to constrain the models. The infiltration basin structure proved to be more efficient, infiltrating more water volume at both locations. Lithologic complexity formed perched conditions in the HBA model, significantly affecting infiltration rates from both infiltration methods at that location. Methods and conclusion from this study can assist in the modeling and design of future MAR projects, especially in locations with thick or lithologically complex vadose zones.

Adaptive evolution is the process by which natural selection, acting on variation within a population, promotes the survival of individuals that are more successful at reproducing and contributing to future generations. Evolutionary processes in microbes occur at the intersection of population genetics, natural selection, and underlying mechanistic constraints, to give rise to the repertoire of adaptation observed in nature. Understanding microbial adaptive evolution is of critical importance for human health for example, through the emergence of pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance. Moreover, the stability and function of natural and artificial ecosystems is contingent on the evolving interactions between microbes, and between microbes and the environment. We present a modelling framework, based on the theory of adaptive dynamics, to investigate how cellular resource allocation trade-offs affect the adaptation process. We used resource-consumer theory, which explicitly models the interactions between cells and their environment, together with matrix models of structured populations, to implement phenotype-determined cellular strategies of resource allocation between mutually exclusive processes. We then analyse the outcome of competitions between different phenotypes across environmental and competitive conditions. We applied our methods to the evolution of strategies (phenotypes) for resource allocation between two competing cellular process in microbial populations growing in chemostat-like environments. We calculated the adaptively stable strategies for several models and showed how state-structured population models can be mapped to simpler chemostat models on invariant manifolds. We then extended our analysis to the case where a limiting nutrient may be utilized using two alternative metabolic pathways. We described how the total population fitness of a metabolic strategy can be constructed from the individual decisions of its constituent members. We developed numerical methods to simulate and analyse general models of adaptive dynamics using principles from graph theory and discrete Markov processes. The methods were used to explore the evolution of nutrient use strategies for microbial populations growing on two and three substitutable nutrients. We highlight the importance of the ancestral phenotype in channelling the adaptation process, which, together with the choice of the mutational kernel, influences the adaptively stable strategies and modes of co-existence. In a related finding, we show how some phenotypes are adaptively stable only in the presence of a competitor lineage that modifies the environment in a manner that permits another phenotype to invade. Our methods also reveal instances where historical contingency and chance have an important effect on determining the stable nutrient use strategies. Finally, we demonstrate the existence of adaptively stable periodic solutions whereby, under some conditions, phenotype successions are cyclical. Our work builds on the foundation of adaptive dynamics theory to provide a general framework for analysing models of microbial adaptation. We focused on understanding the implications of underlying constraints and cellular resource allocation trade-offs in the context of adaptive evolution.

The goal of this thesis is to gain a deep understanding of inverse problems arising from 2D image and 3D surface reconstruction, and to design effective techniques for solving them. Both computational and theoretical issues are studied and efficient numerical algorithms are proposed. The first part of this thesis is concerned with the recovery of 2D images, e.g., de-noising and de-blurring. We first consider implicit methods that involve solving linear systems at each iteration. An adaptive Huber regularization functional is used to select the most reasonable model and a global convergence result for lagged diffusivity is proved. Two mechanisms---multilevel continuation and multigrid preconditioning---are proposed to improve efficiency for large-scale problems. Next, explicit methods involving the construction of an artificial time-dependent differential equation model followed by forward Euler discretization are analyzed. A rapid, adaptive scheme is then proposed, and additional hybrid algorithms are designed to improve the quality of such processes. We also devise methods for more challenging cases, such as recapturing texture from a noisy input and de-blurring an image in the presence of significant noise. It is well-known that extending image processing methods to 3D triangular surface meshes is far from trivial or automatic. In the second part of this thesis we discuss techniques for faithfully reconstructing such surface models with different features. Some models contain a lot of small yet visually meaningful details, and typically require very fine meshes to represent them well; others consist of large flat regions, long sharp edges (creases) and distinct corners, and the meshes required for their representation can often be much coarser. All of these models may be sampled very irregularly. For models of the first class, we methodically develop a fast multiscale anisotropic Laplacian (MSAL) smoothing algorithm. To reconstruct a piecewise smooth CAD-like model in the second class, we design an efficient hybrid algorithm based on specific vertex classification, which combines K-means clustering and geometric a priori information. Hence, we have a set of algorithms that efficiently handle smoothing and regularization of meshes large and small in a variety of situations. / Science, Faculty of / Mathematics, Department of / Graduate

Les entrepôts de données (ED) sont devenus une technologie mature. L'accentuation des demandes d'analyse est motivée par l'évolution technologique, Les nouveaux paradigmes de programmation et L'ingénierie Dirigée par les Modèles (!DM). Avant d'utiliser ces progrès technologiques, l'entrepôt de données doit être construit et préparé pour sa bonne exploitation.La phase de construction a vu l'utilisation massive des efforts de description et de méta-modélisation afin de faciliter la définition des correspondances entre les schémas locaux des sources de données et le schéma de l'ED et de réduire l'hétérogénéité entre les sources. La phase d'exploitation et sa tâche physique, en particulier n'ont pas eu la même utilisation des solutions de description et de méta-modélisation, bien qu'elle est considérée comme un tunnel de toutes les phases de cycle de vie de conception d,un ED. Durant cette phase; des modèles de coût mathématiques sont utilisés pour quantifier la qualité des solutions proposées. Le développement de ces derniers nécessite des efforts de collection et d'analyse des paramètres pertinents.Pour bien simuler le fonctionnement d'un ED, toutes les dimensions d'un SGBD doivent être intégrées. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons de décrire en détail ces dimensions avec des mécanismes de méta-modélisation. Vu la similarité et la hiérarchisation gui existent entre les supports de stockage, nous avons développé une ontologie de domaine dédiée aux supports de stockage.Elle permet d'expliciter leurs propriétés. Les similarités entre ces supports nous a motivé à hybrider le cache mémoire avec les mémoires flashs pour augmenter sa capacité afin de stocker un nombre important de résultats intermédiaires partagés par plusieurs requêtes décisionnelles. La réutilisation de ces résultats permet d'augmenter la performance du SGBD. Nos contributions sont validées à l'aide des expérimentations en utilisant nos modèles de coût théoriques et le SGBD Oracle. / Data warehouses (DW) have become a mature technology. The emphasis of the analysis requests is driven by technological change, the new programmig paradigms and ModelDriven Engineering (MDI). Before using these technological advances, the DW must be buil tand prepared for its proper operation. The construction phase bas seen massive description efforts and meta modeling to facilitate the definition of correspondence between local data sources schemas and DW schema and to reduce heterogeneity between sources. Despite its importance in all stages of the design life cycle of an DW, the operational phase and in particular its physical task, did not have the same interest in term of description and meta modeling. During this phase, mathematical cost models are used to quantify the quality of the solutions proposed. The development of these models requires collection efforts and analysis of relevant parameters. To simulate the operation of a DW, all the dimensions of a DBMS must be integrated. In this thesis, we propose to describe in detail these dimensions with meta-modeling mechanisms. Given the singularity and hierarchy between storage media, we have developed an ontology dedicated to storage media, which makes explicit their properties. The similarities between these supports motivated us to develop a hybrid cache based on flash memory. This increases the cache ability to store a large number of intermediate results shared by multiple decision-support queries. The reuse of these results will increase the overall performance of fue DBMS. Our contributions are validated with experiments using our theoretical cost models and the Oracle DBMS.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Separation between the South American and African plate’s occurred along the present day Atlantic margin during the Middle to Late Jurassic leading to the formation of a passive margin along the west coast of Southern Africa. The margin then later developed into the large Orange Basin flanking the west coasts of South Africa and Namibia. The Orange Basin on the west coast of South Africa covers an area of roughly 130 000 square kilometers relevant to the 200 m isobath and has roughly one well drilled for every 4000 square kilometers. The basin has proven hydrocarbon reserves and potential for further discoveries. The study area is located within South African exploration licencing blocks 3A/4A and 3B/4B and covers a region of roughly 97 km by 150 km. The study aims at understanding the geological processes responsible for the formation of the Orange Basin with a focus on the evolution of source rock maturity. The methodology involved utilizing the Petrel software for seismic interpretation and well correlation utilising twodimensional seismic data and all the relevant well data including geological well logs, petrophysical well logs, well top data, check-shot data, borehole temperature data and geochemical well data such as Rock Eval and vitrinite reflectance data. PetroMod (IES, Version 10) was utilized to simulate the Orange Basin evolution and the affect on source rock maturity. Seismic interpretation of the Post-Hauterivian succession shows a relative thickening of the sedimentary sequence westward as the basin evolves from the early drift to complete drift phase. Results from the petroleum system modeling indicate that the Barremian - Early Aptian source rock is at present overmature and producing mostly gas in the shelf areas whereas the potential for oil are most likely present in the deep water area of the basin where Tertiary progradation has resulted in renewed petroleum generation. Petroleum system modeling results indicate that the younger Cenomanian - Turonian source rock is less mature than the older Barremian - Early Aptian source rock as indicated by a lower transformation ratio and is mainly producing oil.

Imitation is a core deficit often observed in children diagnosed with autism. Video modeling has been shown to be effective for teaching children with autism a variety of skills, but there is little research demonstrating the effectiveness of this technique with core skills such as imitation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a video modeling intervention to teach a preschool-age child with autism to imitate novel and acquired actions (with and without objects) in natural contexts (i.e., songs and toy play activities). A general case approach was used to examine the instructional universe of common preschool songs in order to select the exemplars that were most likely to facilitate generalization. In addition to video modeling, additive components that included highlighting the critical features of the video examples and prompting/fading were required to demonstrate a functional relationship. Experimental control was evident in a multiple baseline design across three imitation activities. The results are discussed with reference to previous research, future research directions, and implications for practice in educational settings. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The aim of the thesis is to rationalize the water heaters welding area in Tatramat company - ohrievače s.r.o. The rationalization consists of three parts. The first part deals with the arrangement of the workplaces, the second part re-evaluates the monthly production planning. The third part describes in detail the production of one type, which based on simulations created in the simulation software Witness, compares the recorded time in company informartion system Orfert to the real production time in the operation. Each individual part offers optimization proposals and merging them into one unit, will create an efficient, transparent and economically value adding rationalization of the water heaters welding area.