Thesis (M.S. in Astronautical Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Brij Agrawal, Marcello Romano. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-102). Also available online.

As redes Peer-to-Peer (P2P) tornaram-se nos últimos anos um método atrativo para a distribuição de conteúdo multimídia através da Internet. Muitos fatores contribuíram para esse sucesso, mas os custos baixos de distribuição e a escalabilidade inerente das redes P2P, na qual os consumidores de conteúdo também são fontes potenciais, estão entre os mais proeminentes. Entretanto, a efetividade e desempenho de várias redes P2P populares (como as que usam o protocolo BitTorrent) é consideravelmente dependente de quão bem o tracker (que é o elemento responsável pela identificação e gerência dos participantes de uma rede P2P do tipo BitTorrent) seleciona os peers que irão fornecer o conteúdo. Os peers escolhidos pelo tracker irão afetar diretamente a percepção do usuário sobre o desempenho do serviço e o uso dos recursos de rede. Além disso, as redes P2P usualmente não tem percepção de localidade, resultando em uma utilização não otimizada dos recursos de rede. A fim de abordar estas questões, nesta tese é apresentada uma proposta inédita de uma arquitetura de trackers hierárquicos para localidade orientada a redes P2P gerenciadas e baseadas no protocolo BitTorrent. Na tese é identificado, através de experimentação, que o uso da arquitetura proposta conduz a uma melhora significativa no desempenho da rede sem comprometer a experiência do usuário. Dentre as melhorias, a principal é o controle do tráfego de dados trafegado entre os peers através da escolha dos peers feita pelo tracker com base em informações da rede e regras de negócio. Essa melhoria permite que a rede possa ser gerenciada de maneira pró-ativa e o dinamismo de adaptação da rede às condições adversas possa ser obtido por meio de políticas de configuração que são acionadas por gatilhos pré-determinados. Nesta tese são usados gatilhos baseados em tempo (data/horário) para exemplificar a abordagem de mudança de políticas programável. / Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks have become an attractive method for distributing multimedia content over the Internet in the last years. Several factors contributed to this success, but the low distribution costs and the inherent scalability of P2P networks, in which content consumers are also potential sources, are among of the most prominent. However, the effectiveness and performance of several popular P2P networks (such as those that use the BitTorrent protocol) is considerably dependent on how well the tracker (which is the element responsible for the identification and management of participants in BitTorrent P2P networks) selects peers that will provide the content. The peers chosen by the tracker will directly affect the user\'s perception about the service performance and proper deployment of the of network resources. In addition, P2P networks usually have no sense of locality, resulting in a non-optimal utilization of network resources. In order to address these issues, this thesis presents a novel hierarchical tracker architecture using P2P locality for managed networks based on a modified version of the BitTorrent protocol. This thesis shows, through experimentation, that the adoption of the proposed architecture leads to significant network efficiency improvements without compromising end-user experience. Among the improvements, the principal is the data flow control between the peers through the choice of peers given by tracker based on network information and business rules. This enhancement allows to manage the network proactively and to perform dynamic adaptation of the network due to adverse conditions. The network control can be achieved by setting policies that are driven by predetermined triggers. This thesis uses time-based triggers (date / time) to exemplify the approach of programmable policy change.

As redes Peer-to-Peer (P2P) tornaram-se nos últimos anos um método atrativo para a distribuição de conteúdo multimídia através da Internet. Muitos fatores contribuíram para esse sucesso, mas os custos baixos de distribuição e a escalabilidade inerente das redes P2P, na qual os consumidores de conteúdo também são fontes potenciais, estão entre os mais proeminentes. Entretanto, a efetividade e desempenho de várias redes P2P populares (como as que usam o protocolo BitTorrent) é consideravelmente dependente de quão bem o tracker (que é o elemento responsável pela identificação e gerência dos participantes de uma rede P2P do tipo BitTorrent) seleciona os peers que irão fornecer o conteúdo. Os peers escolhidos pelo tracker irão afetar diretamente a percepção do usuário sobre o desempenho do serviço e o uso dos recursos de rede. Além disso, as redes P2P usualmente não tem percepção de localidade, resultando em uma utilização não otimizada dos recursos de rede. A fim de abordar estas questões, nesta tese é apresentada uma proposta inédita de uma arquitetura de trackers hierárquicos para localidade orientada a redes P2P gerenciadas e baseadas no protocolo BitTorrent. Na tese é identificado, através de experimentação, que o uso da arquitetura proposta conduz a uma melhora significativa no desempenho da rede sem comprometer a experiência do usuário. Dentre as melhorias, a principal é o controle do tráfego de dados trafegado entre os peers através da escolha dos peers feita pelo tracker com base em informações da rede e regras de negócio. Essa melhoria permite que a rede possa ser gerenciada de maneira pró-ativa e o dinamismo de adaptação da rede às condições adversas possa ser obtido por meio de políticas de configuração que são acionadas por gatilhos pré-determinados. Nesta tese são usados gatilhos baseados em tempo (data/horário) para exemplificar a abordagem de mudança de políticas programável. / Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks have become an attractive method for distributing multimedia content over the Internet in the last years. Several factors contributed to this success, but the low distribution costs and the inherent scalability of P2P networks, in which content consumers are also potential sources, are among of the most prominent. However, the effectiveness and performance of several popular P2P networks (such as those that use the BitTorrent protocol) is considerably dependent on how well the tracker (which is the element responsible for the identification and management of participants in BitTorrent P2P networks) selects peers that will provide the content. The peers chosen by the tracker will directly affect the user\'s perception about the service performance and proper deployment of the of network resources. In addition, P2P networks usually have no sense of locality, resulting in a non-optimal utilization of network resources. In order to address these issues, this thesis presents a novel hierarchical tracker architecture using P2P locality for managed networks based on a modified version of the BitTorrent protocol. This thesis shows, through experimentation, that the adoption of the proposed architecture leads to significant network efficiency improvements without compromising end-user experience. Among the improvements, the principal is the data flow control between the peers through the choice of peers given by tracker based on network information and business rules. This enhancement allows to manage the network proactively and to perform dynamic adaptation of the network due to adverse conditions. The network control can be achieved by setting policies that are driven by predetermined triggers. This thesis uses time-based triggers (date / time) to exemplify the approach of programmable policy change.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-224). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of astronomy and astrophysics, December 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Increasing evidence that ordinary cues paired with reward can acquire value indicates that the incentive properties of rewards are capable of being transferred onto cues, making them incentive stimuli. Studies have begun focusing on isolating components of the reward circuit involved in imparting incentive salience onto a cue with the goal of identifying rats with susceptibilities to drug addiction. Such studies have found that under a Pavlovian Conditioned Approach (PCA) paradigm, sign-tracking rats are at increased risk for instilling incentive salience onto conditioned stimuli and for engaging in drug-related behavior. With better understanding of the neural basis of sign tracking and its behavioral aspect of drug seeking comes a better chance of discovering treatment methods for drug addiction. This study examines the potential behavioral outcomes of altering the pathway starting in the Ventral Pallidum (VP) and ending in the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) by using Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs). While there is some evidence of an interaction between the effects of DREADDs on this neural circuit and behavior, not all results presented here reach significance. Additional studies are needed to confirm the hypothesis of specific inhibitory DREADDs from the VP to the VTA causing increased amounts of sign tracking in rats as a way to assess whether this pathway is implicated in predisposing rats to sign-tracking behavior. / 2018-07-11T00:00:00Z

Thesis (Sc.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND AERO. / Vita. / Bibliography: p. 232-237. / by W. Michael Bowles. / Sc.D.

This dissertation is organized in a traditional format while including three essays that address specific research questions. Essay 1 examined the relationship between physical activity and community engagement and their effect on mental well-being among older men and women. Data from National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) from 2018 to 2020 were explored and the posited relationships were tested. This essay provides empirical support that older adults who are reasonably active and involved in the community have greater mental well-being than those who isolate themselves. Essay 2 provides insight into older adults' motivation to improve their physical activity through the use of a fitness tracker. The key finding from this study is that wearables, especially fitness trackers, can significantly facilitate increased physical activity. Essay 3 is a mixed-methods study to understand older adults' perception of the usefulness of fitness trackers and interaction with such devices. Findings suggest that to increase the adoption of fitness trackers among older adults, makers could improve the esthetics and quality of the wristband in addition to the battery life of the tracker.

Visual object tracking is a classical and very popular problem in computer vision with a plethora of applications such as vehicle navigation, human computer interface, human motion analysis, surveillance, auto-control systems and many more. Given the initial state of a target in the first frame, the goal of tracking is to predict states of the target over time where the states describe a bounding box covering the target. Despite numerous object tracking methods that have been proposed in recent years [1-4], most of these trackers suffer a degradation in performance mainly because of several challenges that include illumination changes, motion blur, complex motion, out of plane rotation, and partial or full occlusion, while occlusion is usually the most contributing factor in degrading the majority of trackers, if not all of them. This thesis is devoted to the advancement of generic object trackers tackling different challenges through different proposed methods. The work presented propose four new state-of-the-art trackers. One of which is 3D based tracker in a particle filter framework where both synchronization and registration of RGB and depth streams are adjusted automatically, and three works in correlation filters that achieve state-of-the-art performance in terms of accuracy while maintaining reasonable speeds.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Design Center of the Naval Postgraduate School. The objective of this simulator is to provide on-the-ground simulation of the dynamics and control of spacecraft for high precision Acquisition, Tracking and Pointing applications associated with space based laser relay. The required initial attitude determination accuracy for the Bifocal Relay Mirror test-bed is 10 æ-radians. Normally, in laboratories where very high initial attitude knowledge is required, actual (space qualified) star trackers are incorporated into the testbed design. This is not possible at NPS as the laboratory does not have a skylight to allow visual access to the stars, and the photosensitive nature of many of the experiments would make such an opening inconvenient. Since it is critical to the operation of the testbed to provide accurate attitude knowledge, a substitute system was required. The present thesis documents the development of a new attitude sensor capable of providing attitude information within the required 10æ-radians (within a field of view of the order of 1 deg). The concepts leading up to the final design, the testing and selection of the equipment used in the final configuration, and a detailed explanation of how the final system calibration was performed are discussed in detail. / Lieutenant, United States Navy