In multi-camera surveillance, association of people detected in different camera views over time, known as person re-identification, is a fundamental task. Re-identification is a challenging problem because of changes in the appearance of people under varying camera conditions. Existing approaches focus on improving the re-identification accuracy, while no specific effort has yet been put into efficiently utilising the available resources that are normally limited in a camera network, such as storage, computation and communication capabilities. In this thesis, we aim to perform and improve the task of re-identification under constrained resources. More specifically, we reduce the data needed to represent the appearance of an object through a proposed feature selection method and a difference-vector representation method. The proposed feature-selection method considers the computational cost of feature extraction and the cost of storing the feature descriptor jointly with the feature's re-identification performance to select the most cost-effective and well-performing features. This selection allows us to improve inter-camera re-identification while reducing storage and computation requirements within each camera. The selected features are ranked in the order of effectiveness, which enable a further reduction by dropping the least effective features when application constraints require this conformity. We also reduce the communication overhead in the camera network by transferring only a difference vector, obtained from the extracted features of an object and the reference features within a camera, as an object representation for the association. In order to reduce the number of possible matches per association, we group the objects appearing within a defined time-interval in un-calibrated camera pairs. Such a grouping improves the re-identification, since only those objects that appear within the same time-interval in a camera pair are needed to be associated. For temporal alignment of cameras, we exploit differences between the frame numbers of the detected objects in a camera pair. Finally, in contrast to pairwise camera associations used in literature, we propose a many-to-one camera association method for re-identification, where multiple cameras can be candidates for having generated the previous detections of an object. We obtain camera-invariant matching scores from the scores obtained using the pairwise re-identification approaches. These scores measure the chances of a correct match between the objects detected in a group of cameras. Experimental results on publicly available and in-lab multi-camera image and video datasets show that the proposed methods successfully reduce storage, computation and communication requirements while improving the re-identification rate compared to existing re-identification approaches.

This thesis explores themes of visibility in the work of Jacques Rancière, Judith Butler and Adriana Cavarero. It argues that visibility is important for each author: for Rancière the making visible of particular existents; for Butler the making visible of violences; and for Cavarero the making visible of another’s uniqueness. However, these commitments to visibility reach a limit when confronted with those who exist in indifference to visibility, for example, the fugitive politics of the enslaved as detailed by Saidiya Hartman. In these instances there is a danger that a fugitive politics is overlooked if visibility is one’s primary frame of analysis. This thesis is interdisciplinary, bringing each author into conversation with the others but not attempting to synthesise their thought into a whole, nor to resolve the tensions in their work by privileging one author over the others. Instead, and following Rancière, it reads each author for their aesthetic contribution to making sense of the world with the aim of identifying the forms of existence that are opened up in their work, but also those that are closed down. The first chapter identifies themes of visibility in Rancière’s account of politics, arguing that there is an ambivalence in Rancière’s politics but that in either case politics is linked to the making visible of forms of existence that are otherwise rendered insensitive. The second and third chapters identify themes of visibility in Butler’s account of violence, arguing that Butler’s reflections on violence’s visibility are overlooked in her consideration of nonviolence. The fourth and fifth chapters identify themes of visibility in Cavarero’s work, arguing that her insistence on making another’s uniqueness visible is made urgent because of scenes of violence. The sixth chapter argues that Butler and Cavarero’s work should be understood as an insurrectionary humanism centred on the paraontology of vulnerability. The seventh chapter reads Rancière, Butler and Cavarero in relation to Hannah Arendt, arguing that it is Arendt’s proximity to each author that enables a politics of fugitivity to become tangible in their work. The eighth chapter reads Rancière, Butler and Cavarero against Saidiya Hartman’s account of the Middle Passage, plantation slavery and its legacies to demonstrate the limits of their commitment to visibility and to further manifest a sense of a fugitive politics indifferent to visibility.

Diplomová práce porovnává postoj ke snižování nezaměstnanosti prostřednictvím aktivní politiky zaměstnanosti v ČR a VB. VB má jednu z nejnižších měr nezaměstnanosti, a proto je zajímavé, porovnávat ji se zemí, která má míru nezaměstnanosti velmi vysokou. První kapitoly se týkají teorie aktivní politiky zaměstnanosti obecně, řešení APZ v každém státě zvlášť, i jaký postoj má k nezaměstnanosti EU. V ostatních kapitolách jsou na základě SWOT analýzy porovnávány silné a slabé stránky a příležitosti a hrozby obou států ? míra nezaměstnanosti, rizikové skupiny, vzdělání, instituce trhu práce aj. Na závěr je nutná komparace obou států a především nastínění určitých doporučení pro ČR.

Submitted by Andressa Lima (andressa@uepb.edu.br) on 2016-08-15T17:14:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Gabriela da Paz Araújo.pdf: 984552 bytes, checksum: 5ef9b9be263ddec257b5960cd4e4bf1d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Medeiros (luciana@uepb.edu.br) on 2016-08-17T17:40:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Gabriela da Paz Araújo.pdf: 984552 bytes, checksum: 5ef9b9be263ddec257b5960cd4e4bf1d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T17:40:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Gabriela da Paz Araújo.pdf: 984552 bytes, checksum: 5ef9b9be263ddec257b5960cd4e4bf1d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-10 / This study aims at investigating the fusion of the diverse cultures that outcome from the social relations among Portuguese Language Speaking Countries, which are under an ongoing process of identity construction, namely in the novels Nação crioula and As mulheres do meu pai, by the Angolan writer José Eduardo Agualusa. It is peculiar to the English Language Literatures the reflexive relations around social-cultural manifestations the mark the historical journey of the African countries. This way, one can observe how much the above cited works are inserted in diversified scenery, establishing an everlasting dialogue between Angola´s fiction and history. The alluded novels are included in a socio-historical panel marked by several facts that deeply influenced the cultural formation of the Angolans, or what one can call “angolanity”. These writings have as basis the interaction between present and past as a way of revealing the construction of the Nation. In this sense they collaborate for the affirmation of a multifaceted identity, respecting the cultural coverage of the Angolan people. The development of the present research is the result of the comparative analysis of the above mentioned novels with the goal of identifying elements that signal this cultural multiplicity, constructed up from the union of the lusophone peoples by the means of the interlace of cultures. It becomes essential the emphasis in the relationship established among Brazil – Portugal – Angola, with interest in highlighting the questions of “travelling” and “migration” as elements that enable the acquisition of characteristics of different cultures that influence actively in the decisions and in the personalities of the characters. The reading of the novels will be theoretically based in Hamilton (1999); Hall (2001); Santos (2001); Glissant (2005); Caetano (2007); Haesbaert (2007); Said (2011); Duarte (2012); Gilroy (2012); Bhabha (2013); Woodward (2014); entre outros, among others, and Will search to analyze in which way the crossing made by the characters influences in the constitution of the beings involved in the journey through the African space, for Brazil, and Portugal. / É objetivo desta pesquisa investigar nos romances As mulheres do meu pai e Nação crioula, do escritor angolano José Eduardo Agualusa, a fusão de culturas diversas, advinda das relações sociais existentes entre os países de Língua Portuguesa, que estão em constante processo de construção identitária. É inerente ao estudo das literaturas de Língua Portuguesa a relação reflexiva acerca das manifestações sociais e culturais que marcaram o percurso histórico dos países africanos. Dessa forma, observam-se o quanto as obras citadas estão inseridas em um cenário diversificado, estabelecendo um permanente diálogo entre a ficção e a história de Angola. Os romances em análise inserem-se em um painel histórico-social marcado por diversos acontecimentos que influenciaram a constituição da formação cultural dos Angolanos, ou o que denominamos de “angolanidade”. As obras possuem uma escrita que se fundamenta na interação entre o presente e o passado, como forma de revelar a construção da Nação. Nesse sentido, colaboram para a afirmação de uma identidade multifacetada, respeitando a abrangência cultural do povo angolano. O desenvolvimento da presente pesquisa é decorrente da análise comparatista dos romances, com o objetivo de identificar elementos que possibilitem a identificação da multiplicidade cultural, construída a partir da união dos povos lusófonos, por meio do entrelace de culturas. Torna-se essencial a ênfase na relação estabelecida entre Brasil – Portugal – Angola, com interesse em destacar a viagem e o deslocamento como elementos que possibilitam a aquisição de características de diferentes culturas que influenciam ativamente nas decisões e na personalidade das personagens. A leitura das obras As mulheres do meu pai e Nação Crioula irá fundamentar-se teoricamente em Hamilton (1999); Hall (2001); Santos (2001); Glissant (2005); Caetano (2007); Haesbaert (2007); Said (2011); Duarte (2012); Gilroy (2012); Bhabha (2013); Woodward (2014); entre outros, e analisa de que maneira a travessia realizada pelas personagens influencia na constituição dos seres envolvidos na jornada pelo espaço africano, pelo Brasil e por Portugal.

The need for construction to change its traditional working practices has been repeatedly expressed in government, industry, and academic publications. The Internet has been a major catalyst for change in most industry sectors, including the construction sector. The implementation of Internet-based technologies, such as ecommerce for achieving business targets, bring about changes in an organisation, its current practices, systems, processes and workflows. It is therefore important to evaluate the business process implications of adopting e-commerce in construction organisations. This was the focus of this study. The early stages of the research established the possible benefits, barriers, and drivers for the adoption of e-commerce technologies within construction. This was done by conducting an industry-wide survey that explored attitudes, current usage, barriers and enablers of IT and e-commerce within the UK construction sector. Survey results indicated that the exact benefits of using e-commerce within the construction industry were not known and more needed to be done to establish the effects of incorporating e-commerce applications into construction business processes and to demonstrate the opportunities of e-commerce for construction. To address this need a typical business process model that used the principles of business process re-engineering and demonstrated opportunities for e-commerce, was developed. Using this model it was possible to illustrate how, with the use of ecommerce applications, different members of the construction supply chain could derive business benefits and overcome traditional process inefficiencies. In order to effectively adopt e-commerce technologies in construction, companies may have to reengineer their current working methods, which could lead to a step change in current work practices. To facilitate such a step change it was essential to study and document the impact of specific e-commerce applications on their current end-user business processes. Case studies were conducted for this purpose. The case study findings showed that the end-user companies had accrued several business benefits from using e-commerce tools. Issues related to management buy-in and organisational culture were the main barriers to the wider use of e-commerce within the construction industry. The case studies and earlier findings indicated that e-commerce is 'here to stay' and it will not be long before it becomes an industry norm. Taking this into account, construction companies who are currently using, and those who have yet to use, e-commerce tools need to take measures to successfully adopt and benefit from these tools. It is important for companies that seek to adopt ecommerce to assess their 'e-readiness' for adopting e-commerce tools to ensure a productive and beneficial implementation of these tools. To address this need an ereadiness model for construction organisations and a prototype application, VERDICT, that assess e-readiness were developed and implemented. The model is based on the premise that for any company to be e-ready, its management, people, process and technology have to be e-ready in order to derive maximum business benefits. The research findings indicate that the use of e-commerce is still in its infancy within the construction industry. The current use of e-commerce has resulted in process automation, however, there is no evidence of process re-engineering. Such practices, although beneficial in the short-term, can have long-term implications in that the end-users are not necessarily making full use of the technology and hence not deriving full benefits from it. The model and e-readiness assessment prototype developed as part of this study will enable construction organisations to successfully adopt e-commerce and exploit its potential.

This thesis considers the ways in which a multimodal approach to teaching writing process can help students better understand the choices available as they navigate first-year writing and beyond. Such an approach destabilizes their understanding of what counts as writing, beyond the strictly text-based practices they may normally associate with writing. This destabilization emphasizes the uncertainty of writing as a productive frame of mind, as it encourages a more critical approach for students as they develop and adapt their writing processes. A multimodal perspective on writing process encourages a more proactive approach to students’ development of a repertoire of writing knowledge and practice to increase their chances of transfer.

A Variable Stability Flight Simulator is being developed in the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Sydney, Australia. The device is being developed both as a teaching tool for use in flight mechanics courses in the department and as a research tool. It is reasonable to state that learning is enhanced through the experience of concepts outside of the classroom environment. It is intended that the device will be integrated into the department�s teaching program in aircraft flight mechanics. Initial studies centred around a PC based flight simulation developed at the Cranfield College of Aeronautics in the United Kingdom. This system utilises a distributed architecture with several computers connected via Ethernet. It also employs a Primary Image three channel visual system. The system has been further enhanced by the addition of a Link flight simulator provided by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The RAAF had been using the simulator as a training tool for some years until it had become surplus to requirements. Most of the work in the project has centred around re-engineering this simulator into a viable research/education tool. The Cranfield system has been incorporated into the Link simulator�s hardware to provide a fixed base simulation. The majority of the work described in this thesis revolved around the re-engineering of the flight control loading and motion systems. Previously these items were controlled by analogue circuitry with minimal digital interfaces to the main simulation software. The systems have been re-designed to replace much of the single model analogue circuitry with re-configurable digital control software. Doing so allows changes to be made to the systems in real time through a software interface. The software resides on a common computer that extensively interfaces with the rest of the simulation. To support the hardware involved and to provide for system operation and safety, an extensive Supervisory system has also been implemented. This system along with the motion and control loading software has been implemented in the Matlab / Real-Time Workshop environment. This gives the capability of making real-time changes to any part of the overall simulation. A variable stability module (vsm) is under development. The addition of this module will allow changes to be made to the simulation itself in real-time. The simulator is now functional with the motion and control loading systems operating as designed. Tuning of both systems has been done subjectively by the author. An initial objective analysis of the motion system has been undertaken in an attempt to verify the fidelity of the motion cues generated. A significant outcome of this project has been to create a safe, easily maintainable, re-configurable flight simulator from a large, complex, legacy system. The facility now forms a significant research and teaching tool in areas such as flight mechanics, propulsion, aircraft handling qualities and human factors.

The centrality of the thesis is the impact upon the individual Greek migrant who chose to leave his place of birth by emigrating, repatriating, and subsequently re-emigrating, and how the surreptitious nature of acculturation alters perceptions and thoughts. The causes of such migratory translocations will be analyzed within the sociocultural and historicoeconomic conditions that appertained at the time the decisions were taken to deracinate oneself. The study will provide an analysis of diachronic Hellenic migration and Australian immigration policies (since its inception as a federated state). There will also be an analysis of Australia�s diachronic and dedicated immigration control mechanisms since federation, its various post-immigration integration policies of immigrants, the mass immigration program activated in the post-WWII period, and the adoption and incorporation of multiculturalism as the guiding force in migrant selection and integration. Australia�s history, its cultural inheritance, its socioeconomic development, and its attraction as a receiving country of immigrants are analyzed, as are Australia�s xenophobia and racism at its inception, and how these twin social factors influenced its immigration program. The study examines limitations placed upon social intercourse, employment opportunities, and other hindrances to Greek (and other non-British migrants) immigrants because of Australia�s adoption of restrictive, racially-based immigration policies. The study focuses upon the under-development of Hellas in the first half of the twentieth century, its high unemployment and under-employment rates, and the multiple other reasons, aside form unemployment, which forced thousands of Hellenes to seek an alternative (for a better life) through internal or external migration. Particular emphasis will be placed upon historic occasions in Greece�s history and the influence of foreign powers upon internal Greek politics. The motivations for each distinct stage of translocation, in the lives of the respondents, will be examined within the ambit of social, cultural, economic, and historical context, which will place emphasis on the socioeconomic development of Hellas, the development of Hellenic Diaspora, Australia�s development as a receiving immigrant country, and the effects of acculturation and nostalgia upon first-generation Greek-Australians. Given that the thesis is based upon personal recollections and detailed information that span decades of the respondents� lives, the thesis is divided into four parts for greater clarity and comprehension: the first examines respondents� lives in region of birth, their families� economic, educational, and social environment, scholastic achievements by respondents, employment status, future prospects, religiosity, hopes and aspirations, and reasons for seeking to migrate. The second part examines respondents� lives in Australia, within the contextuality of accommodation, employment, family creation, social adaptation, language acquisition, attitude towards unionism and religion, expectations about Australia, and reasons for repatriating. The third part analyzes repatriation and life in Greece through resettlement, accommodation, children�s schooling and adaptation, relatives� and friends� attitude, disappointments, and longing for things Australian, while it also examines re-emigratory causes and the disillusionment suffered through repatriation. The final part assesses resettlement in Australia, and all associated social, economic, and environmental aspects, as well as respondents� children�s readaptation to different lifestyle and educational system. The thesis concludes with recommendations for possible further studies associated with the thesis� nature.

Manufacturers of digital circuits test their products to find defective parts so they are not sold to customers. Despite extensive testing, some of their products that are defective pass the testing process. To combat this problem, manufacturers have developed a metric called defective part level. This metric measures the percentage of parts that passed the testing that are actually defective. While this is useful for the manufacturer, the customer would like to know how long it will take for a manufacturing defect to affect circuit operation. In order for a defect to be detected during circuit operation, it must be excited and observed at the same time. This research shows the correlation between defect detection during automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) testing and normal operation for both combinational and sequential circuits. This information is then used to formulate a mathematical model to predict the expected latency to failure due to manufacturing defects.

The Strain Index (SI) has repeatedly shown high levels of validity for differentiating between safe and hazardous tasks for the distal upper extremity (DUE). One limitation of the SI is the lack of reliability data. This study was designed to evaluate the test-retest repeatability of the SI. Fifteen raters, divided into five teams of three, were asked to use the SI to analyze 73 video AVI files of different job tasks; initially as individuals and then as teams. Several months later, raters were asked to repeat individual and team job task assessments. Raters were instructed to analyze tasks using five of six SI task variables, while the sixth was held constant. For three of these task variables, additional data was collected such as peak force and duration of job cycle. Test-retest repeatability was measured using Pearson's R, Spearman's rho, and tetrachoric correlation according to the nature of the variable. Spearman's rho values for individual and team task variable ratings ranged from 0.68 to 0.96 (0.88 average). Pearson's R for task variable data ranged from 0.76 to 0.99 for both teams and individuals with an average of 0.91. The Strain Index's rho values for individuals and teams were 0.70 and 0.84, respectively. For hazard classification, the tetrachoric correlation for individuals was 0.81 and 0.88 for teams. Results of this study support the conclusion that the Strain Index is repeatable when used by teams as well as individuals.