A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, February 2013. / The degree that different landscape features influence elephants use of space in the Kruger National Park and surrounding private game reserves (Balule, Timbavati, Klaserie and Umbabat) is not known. The aim of my study was to assess landscape features which influence elephant space use at two different spatial scales: at a large scale representing home range selection within the landscape and a small scale representing core area selection within the total home range. I investigated the space use of 15 male and 6 female adult elephants over a three year period (June2007-May 2010), using GPS data and satellite mapping analysis. The features selected for analysis as possible barriers to elephant space use were anthropogenic (fences, roads, railway lines and infrastructure) and natural features (rivers, geological features and vegetation). I also investigated the total and core home range size of elephants and whether elephant space use differed by sex and season. Males had larger total home ranges than females irrespective of season, but there were no size or seasonal differences of core home range size between the sexes. Elephants used features differently at the two spatial scales, differed in the use of features between seasons, and there was a difference between the sexes in the use of features. Fences, railways, rivers (in the wet season), geological features and vegetation types were the features that influenced elephant space use, and could be possible barriers at the large scale. Elephants occurred close to fences which possibly restricted their space use. Elephants also occurred close to railway lines but they might not have crossed the railway line. As expected elephants occurred less often at close distances to rivers in the wet season which could possibly be as a result of higher rainfall in this season, preventing elephants from crossing their usual riverbed corridors. Male and female elephants differed in the use of vegetation types found on particular geological features: males selected basalt and females selected granite areas for both the dry and wet seasons. Both male and female elephants were associated with a wider variety of vegetation types in the dry season, possibly because the limited food availability causes elephants to cover larger areas in search of food. Elephant space use was therefore governed by several features that may or may not restrict space use. My study, using satellite mapping analysis, can suggest what hinders movements of elephants and what is essential for assisting elephant space use, which could help conservation efforts for reserve design and corridor formation between reserves.

No description available.

Knowledge of how animals utilize their space can be important when they are held in captivity. This is especially true for animals that are on the edge of extinction as such knowledge can possibly help to improve their captive breeding programs. One of these animals is the dhole, Cuon alpinus. The aim for this study was to assess how the dholes at Kolmården zoo utilize their space, if they share space and if they prefer to use specific pathways. The study took place at Kolmården zoo during 12 days and included a total of 72 hours of visual observation. A summarized map, with subdivision into 14 zones, of the dholes’ enclosure was used when recording the dholes’ location. For location recordings scan sampling was used. The dholes showed marked differences in utilization of zones ranging from the most popular zone with 1341 markings to the least popular zone with 71 markings. There was a clear preference for three zones during the whole observation period. No marked differences for utilization of zones were found between feeding vs. non-feeding days and morning vs. afternoon. Furthermore, the dholes showed a tendency for sharing space and utilization of two pathways. This project makes it evident that the dholes at Kolmården zoo prefer certain zones within their enclosure. This is probably due to that the zones preferred provides locations with access to resting, lookout possibilities etc that is important for the dholes to express a natural behavior.

Tsang Chun Man. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2002-2003, design report." / Chapter 00 --- Background --- p.01 / Chapter 01 --- Theoretical Research --- p.02-47 / Chapter 01.1 --- Reading Research & Quotations --- p.02-03 / Chapter 01.2 --- Observations in Hong Kong --- p.04-05 / Chapter 01.3 --- Library Research / Chapter 01.3.1 --- Library Development Time-Line --- p.06-11 / Chapter 01.3.2 --- Precedent Studies --- p.12-33 / Chapter 01.3.3 --- HK Library Studies --- p.34-39 / Chapter 01.4 --- Popular Reading Space --- p.40-47 / Chapter 02 --- Thesis Design Studies --- p.48-70 / Chapter 02.1 --- Design Intention --- p.48 / Chapter 02.2 --- Site Conditions --- p.49-53 / Chapter 02.3 --- Design Proposal / Chapter 02.3.1 --- Programmatic Studies --- p.54-55 / Chapter 02.3.2 --- Conceptual Studies --- p.56-60 / Chapter 02.3.3 --- Building Studies --- p.61-66 / Chapter 02.3.4 --- Furniture Concept --- p.67-70 / Chapter 03 --- Presentation Model --- p.71-77 / Chapter 03.1 --- Model Photo --- p.71-76 / Chapter 03.2 --- CD-ROM --- p.77 / Chapter - --- Quotations from Reference Reading / Chapter - --- Power-point Presentation

D.Litt. et Phil. (Library and Information Science) / Since the first library building was built in 1900 at the University of Stellenbosch no scientific study of library buildings as seen from the viewpoint of the librarian in the RSA has been done. No South African criteria for libraries at tertiary institutions exist, but SAPSE building norms have been available since the late seventies. The shift of priority from merely collecting information to providing information and updating developments in information and telecommunication technology, have resulted in the philosophy of the library building being adapted. With the primary problem area of the study being the functionality of the modern library building, in the RSA, the research area was defined according to period, type of library building and kind of institution. This study covers the period 1946 through 1983. A thorough literature study on the planning of libraries overseas and in the RSA has been conducted. The type of libraries analised in this study are the main library buildings at universities, teacher training colleges and technikons in use at the end of 1983. Eighteen university library buildings, nineteen teacher training college library buildings and seven technikon library buildings were considered. Each library has been visited and personal interviews were conducted with heads of libraries and senior members of the staff. The personal interview was supplemented by a structured questionnaire dealing with the history, planning, functional areas and the influence of technology on the building. This was completed during the interview. One university library did not occupy a planned library building in 1983. Two universities built two new main library buildings during the period thirteen universities built one each, while one expanded in linear fashion through several academic departments. At teacher training colleges ten new main libraries were constructed, one library was housed in a converted hall and eight were in temporary facilities. Three technikon libraries were in converted halls, three in temporary facilities and one in a library building which was built in 1923...

The ways that people use libraries have changed drastically over the past few decades. Proliferation of computers and the internet have led to the purpose of libraries expanding from being only places where information is stored, to spaces where people teach, learn, create, and collaborate. Due to this, the ways that people occupy the space in a library have also changed. To keep up with these changes and improve patron experience, institutions collect data to determine how their spaces are being used. This thesis involves the development a system that collects, stores, and analyzes data relevant to occupancy to learn how a space is being utilized. Data is collected from a temperature and humidity sensor, passive Infrared sensor, and an Infrared thermal sensor array to observe people as they occupy and move through a space. Algorithms were developed to analyze the collected sensor data to determine how many people are occupying a space or the directions that people are moving through a space. The algorithms demonstrate the ability to track multiple people moving through a space as well as count the number of people in a space with an RMSE of roughly 0.39 people.

To design a pedestrian crossing area reasonably can be a demanding task for traffic planners. There are several challenges, including determining the appropriate dimensions, and ensuring that pedestrians are exposed to the least risks. Pedestrian safety is especially obscure to analyze, given that many people in Stockholm cross the street illegally by running against the red light. To cope with these challenges, computational approaches of trajectory data visual analytics can be used to support the analytical reasoning process. However, it remains an unexplored field regarding how to visualize and communicate the street-crossing spatio-temporal data effectively. Moreover, the rendering also needs to deal with a growing data size for a more massive number of people. This thesis proposes a web-based interactive visual analytics tool for pedestrians' street-crossing behavior under various flow rates. The visualization methodology is also presented, which is then evaluated to have achieved satisfying communication and rendering effectiveness for maximal 180 agents over 100 seconds. In terms of the visualization scenario, pedestrians either wait for the red light or cross the street illegally; all people can choose to stop by a buffer island before they finish crossing. The visualization enables the analysis under multiple flow rates for 1) pedestrian movement, 2) space utilization, 3) crossing frequency in time-series, and 4) illegal frequency. Additionally, to acquire the initial trajectory data, Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance (ORCA) algorithm is engaged in the crowd simulation. Then different visualization techniques are utilized to comply with user demands, including map animation, data aggregation, and time-series graph. / Att konstruera ett gångvägsområde kan rimligen vara en krävande uppgift för trafikplanerare. Det finns flera utmaningar, bland annat att bestämma lämpliga dimensioner och se till att fotgängare utsätts för minst risker. Fotgängarnas säkerhet är särskilt obskyrlig att analysera, eftersom många människor i Stockholm korsar gatan olagligt genom att springa mot det röda ljuset. För att klara av dessa utmaningar kan beräkningsmetoder för bana data visuell analys användas för att stödja den analytiska resonemangsprocessen. Det är emellertid ett oexplorerat fält om hur man visualiserar och kommunicerar gataövergången spatio-temporal data effektivt. Dessutom måste rendering också hantera en växande datastorlek för ett mer massivt antal människor. Denna avhandling föreslår ett webbaserat interaktivt visuellt analysverktyg för fotgängares gatöverföring under olika flödeshastigheter. Visualiseringsmetoden presenteras också, som sedan utvärderas för att ha uppnått tillfredsställande kommunikation och effektivitet för maximal 180 agenter över 100 sekunder. Vad beträffar visualiseringsscenariot, väntar fotgängare antingen på det röda ljuset eller tvärs över gatan; alla människor kan välja att stanna vid en buffertö innan de slutar korsa. Visualiseringen möjliggör analysen under flera flödeshastigheter för 1) fotgängarrörelse, 2) rymdutnyttjande, 3) korsfrekvens i tidsserier och 4) olaglig frekvens. För att förvärva den ursprungliga bana-data är Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance (ORCA) algoritmen förknippad med folkmassimuleringen. Därefter utnyttjas olika visualiseringstekniker för att uppfylla användarnas krav, inklusive kartanimering, dataaggregering och tidsserier.

Det är allt vanligare inom tredjepartslogistik att kunder hyr en yta för lagring. För den uthyrande parten, i detta fall Delta Terminal, är arean den begränsande faktorn för hur stor yta som kan hyras ut. Idag använ-der sig Delta Terminal av beslutsunderlag i form av lokalernas area och erfarenhet vart gods ska placeras och har inget hjälpmedel för att beräkna vart och hur mycket gods som kan allokeras för att använda så liten yta som möjligt. Studiens syfte har därför varit att ta fram ett faktabaserat hjälpmedel som kan användas som beslutsunderlag. För att uppnå syftet har en matematisk modell utvecklats för att optimera hur gods kan placeras till olika lokaler för att använda så liten area som möjligt och även kunna simulera förändringar. Modellen testades genom att jämföra den maximala godsvolym som lagrades 2012 mot optimeringsmodellens lösning baserat på samma gods- och lokaldata. De vanligaste godstyperna hos Delta terminal var bulk, storsäck och pall och användes i modellen. För dessa så approximerades den förväntade area- och volymåtgång vilket också gav beslutsfattaren en förväntad volymkapacitet för respektive lokal och gods. Resultatet i den optime-rade lösningen visade att ett av godsen skulle kunna flyttas till en annan lokal vilket skulle innebära att ungefär 25 procent mindre area används jämfört med den area som godsets placering upptar idag. Dessutom innebar den optimerade lösningen att tre lokaler frigjordes. Resultatet från simulering av volymkapaciteten för respektive gods och lokal kan hjälpa till vid en beslutssituation om en viss godsvolym får plats i lokalen eller inte och kan därmed hjälpa till att anpassa lokalens kapaci-tet mot godsets volym. Modellen fungerar teoretiskt och skulle kunna implementeras som ett användbart verktyg för beslutsfattaren i frågor som rör optimering eller simulering av ytorna. Vid en implementering gäller det emellertid att modellen valideras och jämförs mot verkliga utfall. / An increasingly common part in third party logistics is that customers rent an area for storage. For the party that leases out the area, in this case Delta Terminal, the area is the limiting factor for the amount of how much can be let out to lease. Today Delta Terminal uses decision sup-port in the form of premises area and experience where goods should be placed and have no means to calculate where and how much goods that can be allocated to use as small space as possible. The purpose of this study was therefore to develop a data based tool that can be used as support in the decision process. To achieve the objective a mathematical model was developed to optimize how freight can be placed at different locations to use as small an area as possible and also be able to simulate changes. The model was tested by comparing the maximum amount of cargo during 2012 against optimization model solution based on the same freight and local data. The most common goods handled at Delta Terminal were bulk, big bags and EUR-pallets and were used in the optimization model. For those goods an approximation of the expected area and volume was made that gave the decision maker an expected volume capacity for each local and goods. The result showed with the optimized solution that one of the goods could be moved to another storage place which would release approximate 25 percent reduction in area compared to where the goods are placed today and also three of the local spaces were released. The result from simulation of the volume capacity of each goods and local can help in a decision situation if a given volume of goods will fit in the local space and thus help to adapt the local capacity against the goods volume. Theoretically the model works and could be implemented as a useful tool for decision-makers on issues related to optimization or simulation of surfaces. However, when implementing the optimization model it is important to validate and compare the model’s result against actual outcomes.

This is a study of the spatial affordances of buildings that allow them to organize and transmit cultural ideas and to support the performance of organizational roles. The particular affordances under consideration are those that arise from the manner in which buildings structure the visual fields that are potentially available to a situated observer. In studying directed visibility patterns, supported by the development of appropriate analytical tools, we focus on a previously specified set of visual targets and ask how many become visible from each occupiable location. Parametric restrictions concerning the direction into which a subject faces and the viewing angle sustained by the target object are also taken into consideration. The aim is to demonstrate how such refinements of visibility analysis, lead to more precise and penetrating insights as to how building users tune their behavior to the spatial affordances of environment, and how the environment impacts their understanding in turn. Three different studies were presented. The fist used directed visibility measures to evaluate the affordances of different nursing-unit designs relative to how well nurses are able to survey patients in different rooms as they go about their duties. The second study focuses on the manner in which nurses and physicians position themselves in a Neuro Intensive Care Unit (ICU), particularly when interacting. The third study investigates how aware exhibition visitors become of the visual structure of environment and how the visibility structure of exhibitions affects the ability of visitors to conceptually group paintings according to their thematic content. The case studies support the following conclusions. 1) The way in which people position themselves in an environment as they perform their assigned tasks is tuned to the way in which visual fields are structured. 2) The visual structure of environment is contingent upon the interaction between the underlying structure of visual fields and paths of movement. 3) Directed visibility analysis leads to stronger correlations with behavior and performance than generic visibility analysis. This implies that environments are layered. Their underlying spatial structure is charged by the distribution of the contents that are programmatically primary.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture (Professional))--Tshwane University of Technology, 2010. / Major effort and substantial financing has gone into the recent upgrade of South African stadiums, exclusively for the FIFA World Cup 2010. It included building new stadiums, upgrading existing ones and improving infrastructure and services. After the Soccer World Cup, the country is obliged to maintain these very expensive stadiums and the infrastructure. In order to maintain them, it will not be sufficient only to organise events, but it will also require regular daily activities as well as further usage in order for them to be viable in the future. This thesis specifically focuses on the FNB Stadium in Nasrec, Johannesburg, in terms of the context mentioned above. By providing educational and research facilities, the Stadium, the venue and the surrounding area becomes a more diversified and community friendly place. The educational facilities envisaged are intended to accommodate a Soccer Academy.