The internet advertising market is growing much faster than any other advertising vertical. The technology for serving advertising online goes more and more towards automated processes that analyze the page content and the user’s preferences and then matches the ads with these parameters. The task at hand was to research and find methods that could be suitable for matching web documents to ads automatically, build a prototype system, make an evaluation and suggest areas for further development. The goals of the system was high throughput, accurate ad matching and fast response times. A requirement on the system was that human input could only be done when adding ads into the system for the system to be scalable. The prototype system is based on the vector space model and a td-idf weighting scheme. The cosines coefficient was used in the system to quantify the similarity between a web document and an ad. A technique called stemming was also implemented in the system together with a clustering solution that aided the ad matching in cases where few matches could be done on the keywords attached to the ads. The system was built with a threaded structure to improve throughput and scalability. The tests results show that you accurately can match ads to a website’s content using the vector space model and the cosines-coefficient. The tests also show that the stemming has a positive effect on the ad matching accuracy.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T16:00:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo6092_1.pdf: 1754951 bytes, checksum: 29f0cd3115cc36a8a890dbc3a4def5bb (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Freqüentemente, pessoas precisam, para realização de sua tarefa, de determinado conhecimento que só pode ser obtido através de experiência e prática, que elas podem não possuir. Elas podem economizar tempo e esforço se puderem interagir, informalmente, com outras pessoas que já possuam esse conhecimento. A colaboração informal facilita a troca de experiências e permite o reuso de conhecimento entre os indivíduos. Sistemas de Recomendação de Especialistas (SRE) podem ser usados para promover a colaboração informal através da identificação de especialistas que possam ajudar indivíduos na realização de suas tarefas. No entanto, os SRE existentes são centrados no especialista, em vez do usuário, e não levam em consideração o contexto dos envolvidos na recomendação. O objetivo deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento de um SRE que utiliza o contexto do usuário e do especialista para fazer recomendações mais ajustadas às necessidades do primeiro e, dessa maneira, facilitar a colaboração informal: o ICARE (Intelligent Context Awareness for Recommending Experts). Para tanto, é preciso entender o contexto das pessoas e como determinar as suas especialidades, definir as informações contextuais que devem ser consideradas e um processo de aquisição das especialidades e, finalmente, definir uma heurística de classificação dos especialistas a recomendar de acordo com o contexto de especialista e usuário. As principais contribuições deste trabalho são a inserção de sensibilidade a contexto no processo de recomendação de especialistas, uma ausência identificada nos sistemas existentes, e o desenvolvimento de um SRE sensível ao contexto. No experimento realizado, a sensibilidade a contexto do ICARE foi aprovada e os resultados gerados pelas recomendações realizadas foram bem avaliados pelos participantes

Technological advancements in computing have led to a reality where computational devices are more mobile, connected and context aware than ever before. Several of these devices are primarily designed for or support the creation of digital content via built-in or attachable sensors, e.g. mobile phones. The portability and connectivity of mobile devices make them suitable tools to support learning experiences; their features can be used to generate digital content and metadata related to the particular learning situation. These types of objects, referred to as Emerging Learning Objects (ELOs), introduce challenges in terms of metadata enrichment as their metadata should reflect aspects related to the particular learning situation in which they were created to be properly indexed. A claim made in this thesis is that semantic interoperability of ELO metadata is an integral concern that needs to be explored in order to benefit from these metadata outside custom tailored applications and systems. Therefore, the main research question explored in this thesis focuses on the ability to enrich ELOs with semantically interoperable contextual metadata. This thesis is comprised of a collection of five peer-reviewed articles that describe interrelated stages of research in pursuit of an answer to the main research question. The overall research process consisted of three main stages: a literature review; the development a system artefact; and the exploration of the technological solution (Linked Data) applied in the system artefact. An instantiation of the Unified Process guided the development of the system artefact. The outcomes of these activities provide insights on how to perceive the relationship between context and contextual metadata, as well as properties related to a particular technological solution, namely data distribution, flexibility and expressivity. In order to decouple the findings from a particular instance of technology, a generalization effort in the analysis identified two generic factors that affect the semantic interoperability of metadata: the level of ontological consensus and the level of metadata expressivity. The main conclusion of this thesis is that until the constituent parts of context are agreed upon, metadata expressivity is an important feature for promoting semantic interoperability of ELO contextual metadata.Technological advancements in computing have led to a reality where computational devices are more mobile, connected and context aware than ever before. Several of these devices are primarily designed for or support the creation of digital content via built-in or attachable sensors, e.g. mobile phones. The portability and connectivity of mobile devices make them suitable tools to support learning experiences; their features can be used to generate digital content and metadata related to the particular learning situation. These types of objects, referred to as Emerging Learning Objects (ELOs), introduce challenges in terms of metadata enrichment as their metadata should reflect aspects related to the particular learning situation in which they were created to be properly indexed. A claim made in this thesis is that semantic interoperability of ELO metadata is an integral concern that needs to be explored in order to benefit from these metadata outside custom tailored applications and systems. Therefore, the main research question explored in this thesis focuses on the ability to enrich ELOs with semantically interoperable contextual metadata. This thesis is comprised of a collection of five peer-reviewed articles that describe interrelated stages of research in pursuit of an answer to the main research question. The overall research process consisted of three main stages: a literature review; the development a system artefact; and the exploration of the technological solution (Linked Data) applied in the system artefact. An instantiation of the Unified Process guided the development of the system artefact.The outcomes of these activities provide insights on how to perceive the relationship between context and contextual metadata, as well as properties related to a particular technological solution, namely data distribution, flexibility and expressivity. In order to decouple the findings from a particular instance of technology, a generalization effort in the analysis identified two generic factors that affect the semantic interoperability of metadata: the level of ontological consensus and the level of metadata expressivity. The main conclusion of this thesis is that until the constituent parts of context are agreed upon, metadata expressivity is an important feature for promoting semantic interoperability of ELO contextual metadata.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to examine the user experience of Narhalsan.se, the website of the regional public primary healthcare organisation, as well as forward suggestions on how different aspects on the website can be developed to improve the user experience. To evaluate the user experience on Närhälsans website we’re using both quantitative and qualitative methods, such as a survey as well as Contextual Inquiry in combination with think-aloud. The methods used are followed out from a usability perspective, and are focused on the needs, preferences and user experience of the target group. The suggestions for development of the website include simplifying the structure, reducing information on the contact page and further development of the searchresults.

Exposure to environmental stressors may challenge children’s developing self-regulatory abilities and increase their risk of developing emotional and behavior problems. Interventions aimed at improving children’s self-regulatory skills, specifically emotion regulation and attentional control, may reduce children’s risk for adjustment problems. The present study proposed a novel theoretical model which describes how participation in yoga may increase children’s self-regulatory skills and increase children’s mindfulness, or the ability to focus attention on the present moment. Both self-regulation and mindfulness were expected to be associated with fewer anxiety problems. Components of the theoretical model were evaluated using a very small sample of at-risk, elementary-aged children who participated in a school-based yoga program. Consistent with expectations, emotion regulation was statistically and significantly associated with better mindfulness and less anxiety; attentional control was associated with fewer anxiety problems. Contrary to expectations, attentional control was unrelated to mindfulness. Moreover, mindfulness did not interact with either attentional control or emotion regulation to predict anxiety. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical implications and critical next steps needed to evaluate yoga as a potential tool for reducing children’s risk for problem behavior by way of strengthening self-regulatory mechanisms.

The proposed thesis project consists of an art presentation precinct where art works will be exhibited, presented and performed before being presented to under-exposed communities in outlying areas of Tshwane and beyond. The dissertation responds to certain identified requirements. Its approach will be preservation based, while being sensitive to the distinctiveness of the site. The aim is that the aesthetics will add to the character of the site and that, at completion, visual appropriateness will be prominent. Please note that the text on pages 28-39, 44, 46-64, 71-77, Images and Bibliography is illegible / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Architecture / unrestricted

Feminist activism has a rich history in Canada, but mobilization on the issue of violence against women specifically gained considerable momentum during what is often referred to as the “second wave” of the feminist movement. Since this time, the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have seen a proliferation of both grassroots and public policy responses to intimate partner violence and sexual violence. This study is an effort to construct a feminist history of the activism that occurred between 1970 and 2010, as well as to make sense of feminist claims-making strategies using a social constructionist approach to social problems and to make sense of feminist activism as a social movement using social movement impact theory. In constructing a feminist history, documents from the Canadian Women’s Movement Archives were consulted and interviews with current and former feminist activists were conducted. The historical component of this study focuses on how feminist activists first recognized and responded to the problem of violence against women. This analysis suggests that throughout the last forty years, feminist activists have engaged in a multi-pronged project of providing feminist services for victims of intimate partner and sexual violence, advocating for social and legal change as the “official” response to violence against women, and conducting their own research on the extent and nature of violence against women. Various strategies were used in this process, including forming partnerships and coalitions, but activists also faced challenges from within and outside the movement, including internal debates, struggles to fit in, and backlash from counter movements. The final chapter discusses how the history of feminist activism on violence against woman cannot easily fit into strict constructionist approach to understanding social problems and, as a social movement, is difficult to evaluate given the myriad goals, mechanisms for reaching those goals, and interpretations of success associated with the movement. Future research directions are also suggested, including looking at evidence of claims-making from other sources; bridging the gap, theoretically and pragmatically, between the “mainstream” feminist movement and other streams of women’s activism; and, more conceptual work on feminist movements and the separation between intimate partner and sexual violence.

The worship service of the Yoruba Baptist Churches of the Nigerian Baptist Convention reflects the Western ways of life. The Nigerian Baptist pastors are oriented from the seminary where suits and ties are the official dress for ministration, the teaching of theology is Western oriented, many of the worship services are conducted in English language, most brides and bridegrooms often put on Western clothes during their wedding ceremonies and Western music and musical instruments are used to the detriment of the indigenous ones. Most of the African ways of life are not encouraged. Consequently, the worshippers are alienated, confused, disoriented and dissatisfied. This alienation is the result of what I describe in this research as ‘psychological slavery’.In this research, I argue that the Yoruba Baptist Christian of Nigeria, like other tribes in the world, have their cultural heritage which ought to be used in the place of the foreign elements/materials of worshipping the Lord. Some of the elements/materials I emphasize in this research include akara (local cake) and sobo drink (juice extracted from Hibiscus sabdariffa) in the place of bread and wine for Eucharist, indigenous clothes for the pastors and couples in the place of Western clothes during ministration and the wedding service respectively, indigenous music and musical instruments, oriki Olodumare (God praise-name) and the use of the Yoruba command-language in prayer. The aim of this thesis is to propose a contextual form of worship whereby the Yoruba Baptist Christians have a holistic worship fulfilled within their socio-religio-cultural context.

The aim of this study was to find aspects for improvement of the user experience on the website of the company Derome Mark & Bostad, a company that builds and sells houses and apartments. Before this study no such evaluation had been done on the website, and the company did not know their customer very well. For the evaluation the methods Contextual Inquiry (CI) and survey were used. For the CI:s the participants performed a number of tasks on the website, while giving feedback on the website. The survey was designed to involve the aspects that came up in the CI:s, and it was sent out to former customers. The most important aspect on the website for the participants was the information. This included information on price and size, and pictures. Overall the participants wanted a bit more information and more complete information. The second most important aspect was the information architecture. The menu was an important feature here, one that needed to be improved. Long pages with text were also a problem. Third came the design of the website. This was important both for the feel of the site, which in this case was nice and modern, and to help make important information clearer. What the website lacked a bit in this aspect was a more consistent and neat layout. Last in the study, suggestions were made on how these aspects on the website can be improved, based on the results of the CI:s and survey.

In his thesis, Mother bird hovering over the city: space, spirituality and a community-based urban praxis, the promovendus adopted a trans-disciplinary, praxis-approach to consider participatory, critical and liberationist planning and city-building processes. His journey was about the soul of the city, embodied in its spaces and its people. It reflected on unfolding urban spaces, tracing dynamics in the Berea-Burgers Park neighbourhood of Tshwane’s inner city between 1993 and 2016. The narratives emerging from this neighbourhood was brought into conversation with a range of other narratives, hoping to discern and propose a vision for a community-based urban praxis. The journey originated from a deliberate option for the city’s most vulnerable people, hoping to contribute towards a city characterised by radical forms of inclusion, sustainability and justice. It recognised that space is not neutral and spatial constructs are shaped by deep value frameworks that are prejudiced, exclusive and oppressive, or equalising, inclusive, and life-affirming. What the promovendus sought to discern and outline was a spirituality that can infuse planning praxis and spatial thinking: making spaces that will mediate dignity, justice and well-being. Part I of the study considered a new epistemology, identity and methodology, expressed in the metaphor of “becoming like children”, requiring a new selfunderstanding for those involved in planning, city-building or place-making, but also amongst urban citizens and vulnerable urban dwellers: to reclaim their own voice and agency in processes of city-making. In Part II of the study, after describing and deconstructing urban spaces and discourses in a contextual-narrative way, a spirituality and ethic of urban space are developed. It argues for a radical shift from planning as bureaucracy and technocracy, to planning as immersed, participatory artistry: opening up to the “genius” or (S)pirit of space – the Mother bird – hovering over urban spaces, responsive to urban cries, of humans and earth alike, and inviting us to be co-constructors of new and surprising spaces, mending and making whole. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Town and Regional Planning / PhD / Unrestricted