Human-machine interaction could support many daily activities in making it more convenient. The development of smart devices has flourished the underlying smart systems that process smart and personalized control of devices. The first step in controlling any device is observation; through understanding the surrounding environment and human activity, a smart system can physically control a device. Human activity recognition (HAR) is essential in many smart applications such as self-driving cars, human-robot interaction, and automatic systems such as infrared (IR) taps. For human-centric systems, there are some requirements to perform a physical task in real-time. For human-machine interactions, the anticipation of human actions is essential. IR taps have delay limitations because of the proximity sensor that signals the solenoid valve only when the user’s hands are exactly below the tap. The hardware and electronics delay causes inconvenience in use and water waste. In this thesis, an alternative control based on deep learning action anticipation is proposed. Humans interact with taps for various tasks such as washing hands, face, brushing teeth, just to name a few. We focus on a small subset of these activities. Specifically, we focus on the activities carried out sequentially during an Islamic cleansing ritual called Wudu. Skeleton modality is widely used in HAR because of having abstract information that is scale-invariant and robust against imagery variances. We used depth cameras to obtain accurate 3D human skeletons of users performing Wudu. The sequences were manually annotated with ten atomic action classes. This thesis investigated the use of different Deep Learning networks with architectures optimized for real-time action anticipation. The proposed methods were mainly based on the Spatial-Temporal Graph Convolutional Network. With further improvements, we proposed a Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) model with Spatial-Temporal Graph Convolution Network (ST-GCN) backbone to extract local temporal features. The GRU process the local temporal latent features sequentially to predict future actions. The proposed models scored 94.14% recall on binary classification to turn on and off the water tap. And higher than 81.58-89.08% recall on multiclass classification.

This thesis deals with the effect of the design on hand tools. In the first theoretical part of this thesis, individual manual operations carried out during manufacturing are being further analyzed. The next part then focuses on the individual aspects of the product design and its influence on the hand tools. Followed by the processing of achieved parameters in handwork. The experimental part of this thesis deals with adjustments of the tap wrench´s handles made for manual cutting of internal threads. The utilization of the material when selecting a semi-finished product from blanks as well as the evaluation of the manufacturing in this way itself are also closely described in this part.

In this thesis the scheduling algorithms Earliest Due Date (EDD) and Tube-tap were compared to each other. They were compared to see which algorithm generated more net profit. They were compared to each other in four different scenarios. In each scenario there were two different machines and five different jobs. Each machine had a cost and a processing rate, and each job had a length, a deadline, and a profit. In every scenario all jobs could not be completed before their deadline. The net profit was calculated by subtracting the gross profit by the machine cost. The results for the Tube-tap and EDD algorithms were almost the same for both algorithms in the different scenarios. There was one scenario where Tube-tap gained 0.5 more in profit. This was because Tube-tap had 0.5 in machine cost for one of the scenarios. The conclusions was that there should be more experimentation to see how more profitable Tube-tap can be. Specifically, there should be testing on scenarios where all jobs cannot be completed before their deadlines, but the number of operations does not exceed the available space before the last deadline.

The purpose of this thesis is to study whether target-like articulation of the Spanish tap [ɾ] and trill [r] is achieved by second language learners who have lived in a Spanish-speaking environment for an extensive period of time. The subjects of this study were students at Brigham Young University (BYU) who had spent 18 months to two years in a Spanish-speaking country. Most of the subjects had little to no previous Spanish instruction, but rather learned the language primarily through their contact with native speakers while abroad. In addition to whether or not subjects achieved target-like pronunciation of these two Spanish sounds, this study sought to observe whether or not certain linguistic factors (e.g., neighboring sounds, syllable stress, etc.) and extra-linguistic factors (e.g., previous Spanish instruction, instructors who were native speakers of Spanish, articulation in formal or informal speech, etc.) had influence on their articulation. The results of this study reveal that the subjects were generally successful in articulating the Spanish rhotic sounds. The majority of the subjects pronounced the rhotics in a target-like manner over 80% of the time. Furthermore, while previous studies have claimed that the transfer of the American English approximant [ɹ] is the most common error when acquiring the Spanish tap and trill, the current study suggests that the most common error of L2 speakers who have lived abroad is developmental: the production of the tap [ɾ] in place of the trill /r/. Lastly, it reveals, through the results of a variable rule analysis, that the two most significant factors in accurate tap and trill articulation are its phonetic context and whether or not the participants had received adequate Spanish instruction prior to having lived abroad.

This thesis provides a way of mapping the temperature development of the tap-changer oil for some different standardized loading cases. The project was in collaboration with Hitachi Energy for one of their production cites situated in Ludvika, Sweden. The software used for the simulation environment was COMSOL 6.1 which is a finite element solver. Heat transfer from the tap-changer oil to the ambience is an important property to understand in order to be able to model the future tap-changers that can withstand harsch working environments. CAD files for the housing of a tap-changer model, as well as a mathematical model for the oil and heat transfer number, was made. Combined with COMSOLS inbuilt physics tools various temperature plots of the oil and housing could be made, following the creation of the user app that was shared with the company. The resulting temperature plots made it is possible to distinguish which models that operates below the temperature limits, and the ones passing the limit can then be adressed accordingly. Since it is a quite simple model, not including the fluidic dynamics of the oil and with a simple geometry, some errors is to be expected. An interesting finding in this project was the change of placement for the maximum temperature for one specific operation cycle. This could be of use for a future thermal management study that could be implemented into other operation cycles.

<p dir="ltr">This dissertation investigates the Transition Assistance Program and its effectiveness in preparing United States Veterans for post-military civilian life. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combines qualitative and quantitative data collection to provide comprehensive insights into Veterans' transition experiences, needs, and expectations. The research addresses the limited understanding of Veterans' perceptions of the Transition Assistance Program and highlights the need for comprehensive assessment. It includes online questionnaires to capture Veterans' perspectives. Key findings reveal challenges faced by Veterans during transition and emphasize the need for customization and robust resources. Recommendations propose integrating various technologies to aid Veterans during and after their transition. In conclusion, this study illuminates the Transition Assistance Program's efficacy and proposes innovative ways to support Veterans during their transition to civilian life. It provides valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to enhance Veterans' transition experiences.</p>

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), remains a debilitating disease that affects the health of millions annually. Understanding its ability to persist within host and resist eradication by antibiotics is of utmost importance in the effort to develop new interventions. This study will focus on the transcriptional activator WhiB7 and its regulation of the multidrug Tap efflux pump encoded by Rv1258c. WhiB7 is thought to respond to redox stress induced by antibiotics and a variety of in vivo stresses by activating multiple genes including Rv1258c. Much remains to be determined regarding the role of WhiB7 and downstream genes in Mtb virulence and drug resistance. We will create a tool for studying WhiB7-mediated gene regulation by engineering a strain of the nonpathogenic bacterium Msm expressing the mCherry fluorescent protein controlled by the Rv1258c promoter. Knocking out the native WhiB7 gene in Msm via homologous recombination will allow clear introduction of wild type and mutant versions of Mtb WhiB7. Changes in the fluorescent activity of Rv1258c promoter fusion to mCherry will indicate the effects of WhiB7 mutagenesis. Secondly, we can also use this system to confirm additional genes identified by microarray analysis that are potentially regulated by WhiB7. This will be done by cloning other promoters in front of mCherry in the Msm strain containing wild-type Mtb WhiB7. Understanding WhiB7’s role in Mycobacterium tuberculosis macrophage survival and antibiotic resistance may provide new strategies for developing drugs that can lead to a cure.

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For eight years, dancers in the United States performed and taught as employees of the federal government. They were eligible for the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), a Department of Labor program that assisted the unemployed during the recession of the late 1970s. Dance primarily occurred in artistic or leisure contexts, and employing dancers as federal government workers shifted dance to a labor context. CETA dancers performed “public service” in senior centers, hospitals, prisons, public parks, and community centers. Through a combination of archival research, qualitative interviews, and philosophical framing, I address how CETA disrupted public spaces and forced dancers and audiences to reconsider how representation functions in performance. I argue that CETA supported dance as public service while local programs had latitude regarding how they defined dance as public service. Part 1 is entitled Intersections: Dance, Labor, and Public Art and it provides the historical and political context necessary to understand how CETA arts programs came to fruition in the 1970s. It details how CETA arts programs relate to the history of U.S. federal arts funding and labor programs. I highlight how John Kreidler initiated the first CETA arts program in San Francisco, California, and detail the national scope of arts programming. In Part 2 of this dissertation, CETA in the Field: Dancers and Administrators, I focus on case studies from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York, New York CETA arts programs to illustrate the range of how dance was conceived and performed as public service. CETA dancers were called upon to produce “public dance” which entailed federal funding, free performances in public spaces, and imagining a public that would comprise their audiences. By acknowledging artists and performers as workers who could perform public service, CETA was instrumental in shifting artists’ identities from rebellious outsiders to service economy laborers who wanted to be part of society. CETA arts programs reenacted Works Progress Administration (WPA) arts programs from the 1930s and adapted these ideas of artists as public servants into the Post-Fordist, service economy of the 1970s United States. CETA dancers became bureaucrats responsible for negotiating their work environments and this entailed a number of administrative duties. While this made it challenging for dancers to manage their basic schedules and material needs, it also allowed for a degree of flexibility, schedule gaps, and opportunities to create new performance and teaching situations. By funding dance as public service, CETA arts programs staged a macroeconomic intervention into the dance field that redefined dance as public service. / Dance