Unconventional resources will play an important role in filling the gap between supply and demand for future world energy. In North America, the impact of unconventional resources on energy supplies is growing continuously. However, around the world they have yet to serve as a major contributor to the energy supply, partly due to the scarcity of information about the exploration and development technologies required to produce them. Basin analogy can be used to estimate the undiscovered petroleum potential in a target basin by finding a geological analog that has been explored enough that its resource potential is fully understood. In 2006, Singh developed a basin analog system BASIN (Basin Analog Systems INvestigation) in detail that could rapidly and consistently identify analogous reference basins for a target basin. My research focused on continuing that work, comprehensively improving the basin analog system in four areas: the basin analog method; the database; the software functionality; and the validation methods. The updated system compares basins in terms of probability distributions of geological parameters. It compensates for data that are sparse or that do not represent basin-level geological parameters, and it expands the system's ability to compare widely varying quantitative parameters. Because the updated BASIN database contains more geologic and petroleum systems information on reference (existing) basins, it identifies analog basins more accurately and efficiently. The updated BASIN software was developed by using component-based design and data visualization techniques that help users better manage large volumes of information to understand various data objects and their complicated relationships among various data objects. Validation of the improved BASIN software confirms its accuracy: if a basin selected as the target basin appears in the reference basin list with other basins, the target basin is 100% analogous only to itself. Furthermore, when a target basin is analyzed by both BASIN and PRISE (Petroleum Resources Investigation and Summary Evaluation) software, results of the improved BASIN closely matched the PRISE results, which provides important support for using BASIN and PRISE together to quantitatively estimate the resource potential in frontier basins.

When users are searching for documents, they must sift through a collection of potentially relevant documents assessing, categorizing and prioritizing them based on the current task at hand, a process we refer to as document triage. Since users' time is precious, as much information as possible should be presented to them to aid the process of document triage. This thesis presents a simple visualization and a set of features that can help users in identifying information of interest. As a part of this thesis, the System Layer of the Visual Knowledge Builder (VKB) was developed as a tab strip container. Each of the tabs presents a different type of information about Web Documents. The types of information currently included in VKB are: a summary of the Web Document, keywords based on users' interests provided by the Interest Profile Manager (IPM), popular keywords from a social bookmarking site, metadata about the Web Document, a list of outgoing links of the Web Document, and the history of the Web Document. We performed a heuristic evaluation to assess the usefulness of the new visualization and features. During the evaluation, participants were asked to rate the usefulness of each of the new web document features over a scale of 1 to 7, where a value of 1 indicated strong disagreement, and 7 indicated strong agreement. Our results indicate that the document summary, the keywords from IPM, popular tags, and the history of the Web Document are expected to be most useful during the process of document triage.

Panel data, also known as longitudinal data, are composed of repeated measurements taken from the same subject over different time points. Although it is generally used in time series applications, forecasting can also be used in panel data due to its time dimension. However, there is limited number of studies in this area in the literature. In this thesis, forecasting is studied for panel data with binary response because of its increasing importance and increasing fundamental roles. A simulation study is held to compare the efficiency of different methods and to find the one that gives the optimal forecast values. In this simulation, 21 different methods, including na&iuml / ve and complex ones, are used by the help of R software. It is concluded that transition models and random effects models with no lag of response can be chosen for getting the most accurate forecasts, especially for the first two years of forecasting.

Final Master Thesis report EGI 2010-2013   Thesis Title: The Role of Renewable Energies in Energy supply Planning and   Management for Sustainable    Development “Case of Rwanda”. ABSTRACT   This report provides an overview of the main results from the scenarios analysed in the Rwanda energy policy strategy, planning and prospective energy initiatives and alternatives (Hydropower, Biomass, Solar, Methane, Peat, etc.) as well as other Government Development Frameworks meant for poverty reduction strategies and economic development. Under this context, the report attempts to assess the role of renewable energies particularly micro hydropower in solving Rwanda energy supply and management issues for sustainable development. The main conclusion is that renewable energies (micro hydropower) substantially contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving diversification of the energy production and supply into the national grid as well as independent off-grid systems particularly in rural based areas that are far from the grid. This becomes even more significant and relevant when considering that electricity access in the country stands at about 14% leaving about 86% of the population especially in rural areas without power supply. Although other technologies are still used to meet urgent and pressing power demand, Renewable energy sources are well placed in offering medium and long term solution in a sustainable manner. To this effect therefore, the report has tried to outline the impacts, costs and benefits of ambitious renewable energy targets for Rwanda in the medium and long term perspectives.

Darbe formuluojama ginčų dėl nedidelių sumų nagrinėjimo sąvoka, pristatomi ir apibūdinami šios sumarinio proceso rūšies pagrindiniai procesiniai požymiai, uždaviniai bei tikslai. Analizuojant darbe keliamus klausimus pagrindinis tyrimo objektas buvo šiame procese pagrindinį vaidmenį atliekantis teismas, įstatymų jam suteikta prerogatyva šio proceso atžvilgiu. Autorius analizuoja Lietuvos Respublikos Civilinio proceso kodekse įtvirtintas bylinėjimosi ginčų dėl nedidelių sumų formas ir daro prielaidą, jog šios rūšies procese įstatymo leidėjas teismui suteikia per didelę prerogatyvos teisę. Atsižvelgiant į tai, jog pastarasis procesas laikytinas bylinėjimosi forma, kuria siekiama greitesnio nei įprasta bylos išnagrinėjimo ir nereikalaujama tokio bylos aplinkybių ištyrimo laipsnio, koks yra būtinas nagrinėjant bylas bendrąja ginčo teisena dar nereiškia, jog šalims neturi būti suteikta atstovavimo teisė, ribojama teisė būti išklausytam. Tačiau įvertinant tai, jog yra suteikta galimybė surašyti trumpesnį, supaprastintos formos sprendimą, kuris palengvina teismo bei pagalbinio personalo darbą, nestabdo civilinės apyvartos ilgais bylinėjimosi laikotarpiais ir yra veiksminga proceso koncentruotumo priemonė, teismas savo nuožiūra galėtų ir turėtų labiau populiarinti bei praktikuoti šį civilinio proceso kodekse reglamentuojamą ginčų sprendimo būdą. / In the work Small claims litigation: does the implementation of the Court’s discretion have limits? the conception of Small claims litigation is formulated, the main attributes, goals and objectives of this sort of summary process are determined and described. When analyzing the problems, raised in this work, the main object of the research became the Court, which plays the leading role in this process due to prerogative power, given by the law. The author of this work analyzes the different forms of Small claims litigation, established in the Civil Process Code of the Republic of Lithuania, and makes an assumption that in this sort of process the prerogative power given to the Court by legislative bodies is excessive. Although the process in question is regarded to as a form of litigation, which is used to speed up investigation of a case without requiring the level of fact-finding as high as it is necessary in cases of common legal proceedings, it does not mean that the parties’ should not be given the right to be represented, or their right to be heard should be limited. Considering the fact, that the opportunity has been given to draw up a more concise and streamlined solution, which would facilitate the work of the Court and ancillary staff, would not impede civil turnover with long litigation periods, and would be a good measure of process concentration, the Court at its discretion should put more efforts popularizing and practicing this method of dispute procedure... [to full text]

[Formulae and special characters can only be approximated here. Please see the pdf version of the abstract for an accurate reproduction.] This thesis is a new proposal for analysing spatial point patterns in spatial statistics using the outputs of popular techniques of (classical, non-spatial, multivariate) cluster analysis. The outputs of a chosen hierarchical algorithm, named fusion distances, are applied to investigate important spatial characteristics of a given point pattern. The fusion distances may be regarded as a missing link between the fields of spatial statistics and multivariate cluster analysis. Up to now, these two fields have remained rather separate because of fundamental differences in approach. It is shown that fusion distances are very good at discriminating different types of spatial point patterns. A detailed study on the power of the Monte Carlo test under the null hypothesis of Complete Spatial Randomness (the benchmark of spatial statistics) against chosen alternative models is also conducted. For instance, the test (based on the fusion distance) is very powerful for some arbitrary values of the parameters of the alternative. A new general approach is developed for analysing a given point pattern using several graphical techniques for exploratory data analysis and inference. The new strategy is applied to univariate and multivariate point patterns. A new extension of a popular strategy in spatial statistics, named the analysis of the local configuration, is also developed. This new extension uses the fusion distances, and analyses a localised neighbourhood of a given point of the point pattern. New spatial summary function and statistics, named the fusion distance function H(t), area statistic A, statistic S, and spatial Rg index, are introduced, and proven to be useful tools for identifying relevant features of spatial point patterns. In conclusion, the new methodology using the outputs of hierarchical clustering algorithms can be considered as an essential complement to the existing approaches in spatial statistics literature.

The imposition of penalties on the concurrence of criminal offenses Abstract This work deals with the issue of punishing the concurence of criminal offenses. In its introduction, the most important criminal law institutes are briefly analyzed, knowledge of which is a prerequisite for a proper understanding of the following chapters. This defines the concepts of concurrence of crimes, recidivism and the continuation of a criminal offense. Similarly, the general issues of sentencing are outlined. The very core of the thesis is devoted to the gradual analysis of the individual aspects of penalisation of concurrent criminal offenses, together with the questions of combining with other special cases of punishment, especially with the punishment of the continuation of the crime. In addition, some procedural issues and selected special cases are dealt with, consisting of the subject's specialty, the consequences of a misappropriation of the punishment, and finally the question of punishment for the crime of drunkenness. The thesis is supplemented by an international comparison of the issues studied with common law countries. The main aim of the work is to create a complex processing of the topic, which would allow its possible practical application. In addition to the conclusions of the doctrine, the work puts a...

abstract: A core principle in multiple national quality improvement strategies is the engagement of chronically ill patients in the creation and execution of their treatment plans. Numerous initiatives are underway to use health information technology (HIT) to support patient engagement however the use of HIT and other factors such as health literacy may be significant barriers to engagement for older adults. This qualitative descriptive study sought to explore the ways that older adults with multi-morbidities engaged with their plan of care. Forty participants were recruited through multiple case sampling from two ambulatory cardiology practices. Participants were English-speaking, without a dementia-related diagnosis, and between the ages of 65 and 86. The older adults in this study performed many behaviors to engage in the plan of care, including acting in ways to support health, managing health-related information, attending routine visits with their doctors, and participating in treatment planning. A subset of patients engaged in active decision-making because of the point they were at in their chronic disease. At that cross roads, they expressed uncertainly over which road to travel. Two factors influenced the engagement of older adults: a relationship with the provider that met the patient's needs, and the distribution of a Meaningful Use clinical summary at the conclusion of the provider visit. Participants described the ways in which the clinical summary helped and hindered their understanding of the care plan. Insights gained as a result of this study include an understanding of the discrepancies between what the healthcare system expects of patients and their actual behavior when it comes to the creation of a care plan and the ways in which they take care of their health. Further research should examine the ability of various factors to enhance patient engagement. For example, it may be useful to focus on ways to improve the clinical summary to enhance engagement with the care plan and meet standards for a health literate document. Recommendations for the improvement of the clinical summary are provided. Finally, this study explored potential reasons for the infrequent use of online health information by older adults including the trusting relationship they enjoyed with their cardiologist. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Nursing and Healthcare Innovation 2015

Concluding Remarks: Problems and PerspectivesThe text doesn´t have an abstract / El artículo no presenta resumen

O tema proposto para estudo gravitou em torno da pertinência de introdução de técnica de aperfeiçoamento do método estatal de solução de controvérsias, mediante o aprimoramento da tutela antecipada genericamente prevista em nosso sistema processual em conformidade com o artigo 273 do Código de Processo Civil. Assim, procurou-se demonstrar que, a partir das mesmas bases consolidadas para concessão do provimento antecipatório, pode-se também admitir sua função definidora do litígio entre as partes, dotando-o de características que vão além da esfera processual de produtor de efeitos práticos almejados pelo jurisdicionado em tutela final de mérito. Para o cumprimento desse desiderato, observa-se a necessidade de alterações de seus elementos estruturais instrumentalidade e provisoriendade, a conduzir a tutela antecipada para o rol dos provimentos sumários autônomos, tornando, assim, o contraditório pleno em atividade cognitiva completa apenas eventual, a depender de impulso processual da parte interessada e legitimada a fazê-lo. Por fim, analisou-se a intensidade da estabilidade do provimento antecipatório, com considerações que apontaram para sua capacidade de usufruir da imutabilidade decorrente da coisa julgada material. / The theme proposed for study gravitated toward the appropriateness of introducing technical improvement on the state method for dispute settlement, by improving the summary injunction generally provided in ourprocedural system in accordance with Article 273 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Thus, we sought to demonstrate that, from the sameconsolidated basis for granting anticipatory provision, one can alsoadmit its defining function of the dispute between the parties, giving itfeatures that go beyond the mere procedural practical effects targeted forprotection by the interested party. To fulfill this goal, there is the need for modification of its structural elements of instrumentality and temporariness, leading the summary injunction to the list of autonomous summaries provisions, thus rendering the full contradictory an onlyeventual cognitive activity, depending on a procedural impulse from the legitimized party. Finally, we analyzed the intensity of the stability ofanticipatory provision, with considerations that pointed to their ability tobenefit from the immutability of res judicata.