Four works are selected to demonstrate the stature and demands of this craft and to represent a pinnacle in the art of contemporary woodwind doubling. Concerto for Doubles, by Thomas Filas, Concerto Tri-Chroma. by Michael Kibbe, Rhapsody Nova, by Clare Fischer and Suite for Solo Flute. Clarinet and Alto Saxophone by Claude Smith all represent rare, major solo works written specifically for three individual woodwind doublers. The paper will begin with a history of the practice of woodwind doubling from the fifteenth century to the present. The four works will then be examined by considering form, style and related performance practices.

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La recherche d'information vise à trouver des documents pertinents par rapport à une requête. Auparavant, de nombreux modèles traditionnels de la Recherche d'Informations ont été proposés. Ils essaient soit d'encoder la requête et les documents en vecteurs dans l'espace des termes et d'estimer la pertinence en calculant la similarité des deux vecteurs, soit d'estimer la pertinence par des modèles probabilistes. Cependant, pour les modèles d'espace vectoriel, l'encodage des requêtes et des documents dans l'espace des termes a ses limites: par exemple, il est difficile d'identifier les termes du document qui ont des sens similaires au termes exactes de la requête. Il est également difficile de représenter le contenu du texte à différents niveaux d'abstraction pouvant correspondre aux besoins différents d'information exprimés dans des requêtes. Avec le développement rapide des techniques d'apprentissage profond, il est possible d'apprendre des représentations utiles à travers une série de couches neurones, ce qui ouvre la voie à de meilleures représentations dans un espace dense latent plutôt que dans l'espace des termes, ce qui peut aider à identifier les termes non exactes mais qui portent les sens similaires. Il nous permet également de créer de différentes couches de représentation pour la requête et le document, permettant ainsi des correspondances entre la requête et les documents à différents niveaux d'abstractions, ce qui peut mieux répondre aux besoins d'informations pour différents types de requêtes. Enfin, les techniques d'apprentissage profond permettent également d'apprendre une meilleure fonction d'appariement. Dans cette thèse, nous explorons différentes techniques d'apprentissage profond pour traiter ces problèmes. Nous étudions d'abord la construction de plusieurs couches de représentation avec différents niveaux d'abstraction entre la requête et le document, pour des modèles basés sur la représentation et l'interaction. Nous proposons ensuite un modèle permettant de faire les matchings croisés des representations entre la requête et le document sur différentes couches pour mieux répondre au besoin de correspondance terme-phrase. Enfin, nous explorons l'apprentissage intégré d'une fonction de rang et les représentations de la requête et du document. Des expériences sur des jeux de données publics ont montré que nos méthods proposées dans cette thèse sont plus performantes que les méthodes existantes. / Information Retrieval aims to find relevant documents to a query. Previously many traditional information retrieval models have been proposed. They either try to encode query and documents into vectors in term space and estimate the relevance by computing the similarity of the two vectors or estimate the relevance by probabilistic models. However for vector space models, encoding query and documents into term space has its limitations: for example, it's difficult to catch terms of similar meanings to the exact query term in the document. It is also difficult to represent the text in a hierarchy of abstractions to better match the information need expressed in the query. With the fast development of deep learning techniques, it is possible to learn useful representations through a series of neural layers, which paves the way to learn better representations in latent dense space rather the term space, which may help to match the non exact matched but similar terms. It also allows us to create different layers of representation for query and document thereby enabling matchings between query and documents at different levels of abstractions, which may better serve the information needs for different queries. Finally, deep learning techniques also allows to learn better ranking function. In this thesis, we explore several deep learning techniques to deal with the above problems. First, we study the effectiveness of building multiple abstraction layers between query and document, for representation- and interaction-based models. Then we propose a model allowing for cross-matching of query and document representations at different layers to better serve the need of term-phrase matching. Finally we propose an integrated learning framework of ranking function and neural features from query and document. Experiments on public datasets demonstrate that the methods we propose in this thesis are more effective than the existing ones.

Several industrial and environmental chemicals cause distal and/or central neuropathy among other diverse toxic effects. Spague-Dawley derived rats were fed doses of 2,5-hexanedione, acrylamide, tri-o-tolyl phosphate, leptophos and methylmercury via gavage. The dose levels and administration periods were established in previous experiments designed to assess clinical neuropathy using rats trained to walk on a rotorod apparatus fitted with an electrode floor. After intravenous injections of 3H-Tryptophan, whole rat brain homogenates were analyzed using liquid scintillation and spectrofluorometric techniques for levels of tryptophan, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. Serotonin turnover rates were calculated using the specific activities of tryptophan and serotonin at two different time periods. The levels of serotonin as well as the serotonin turnover rates were unaffected by dosages of 5 to 50 mg acrylamide/kg given daily doses, while whole brain concentrations of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid increased significantly in a dose-dependent manner. the rise in 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels coupled with no effects on the other levels in acrylamide and 2,5-hexanedione-fed animals suggests a possible inhibition of the energy-dependent 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid efflux system in the brain. Animals given five doses of Leptophos (4.5 to 45 mg/kg) or six doses from 30 to 300 mg/kg tri-o-tolyl phosphate, administered every third day, showed slightly eleveated, non-significant, serotonin turnover rates while levels of serotonin and tryptophan remained unchanged with a slight decrease in 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels at the highest dosages. Levels of endogenous indole compounds in methylmercury treated rats showed no significant differences from control values; however, the turnover rates and levels of serotonin were slightly lower in the two lower treatment levels, while the highest dose level had no apparent effect on turnover rates or concentrations. Further studies involving longer treatment periods, alternate species or examination of discrete brain areas, may further clarify the effects of these chemicals on brain biochemistry.

Les miroirs multicouches trouvent de nombreuses applications utilisant les rayons X produits par les synchrotrons et les lasers à électrons libres et doivent relever de nouveaux challenges apparus avec l'amélioration de ces sources de rayonnement. Pour étudier les causes des contrastes d'intensité produits dans le faisceau réfléchi, des mesures expérimentales et une modélisation numérique ont été effectuées.Plusieurs méthodes d’analyse de la structure des multicouches et du front d’onde réfléchi par un miroir multicouches ont été mises en œuvre sur la ligne de lumière BM05 de l'ESRF. Les méthodes de mesure de 'Rocking Curve Imaging' et 'theta/2theta Imaging' ont été appliquées et adaptées pour la première fois aux miroirs multicouches. Des mesures du front d'onde réfléchi par une multicouche ont aussi été effectuées à partir des techniques d’holographie et de tavelure en champ proche. Les résultats obtenus permettent de mieux comprendre les effets de phase produits par les multicouches ainsi que leurs origines et de reconstruire la topographie de défauts de hauteur d'un miroir multicouches par l'utilisation du modèle numérique développé durant cette thèse.Un modèle numérique basé sur les équations de Takagi-Taupin a été modifié pour tenir compte de défauts dans la structure multicouches d'un miroir. Des simulations de défauts simples ont été effectuées afin de caractériser les performances et les limites du modèle numérique. La propagation et la cohérence de faisceau réfléchi ont été simulées. Les résultats expérimentaux et simulés ont alors permis de montrer que les défauts de hauteur dans la structure multicouches des miroirs constituent la cause principale des contrastes d'intensité. Les simulations effectuées conduisent à conclure que les effets induits par les défauts de hauteur dans une multicouche sont analogues aux effets de phase produits par ces même défauts de hauteur sur une surface réfléchissante.Ces modèles et ces simulations peuvent être utiliser pour spécifier les caractéristiques des défaut de hauteur qui minimise la production du contraste d'intensité. Les techniques expérimentales développées permettront de caractériser avec les rayons X les futures multicouches. / Multilayer mirrors find numerous X-ray applications in synchrotron and X-rays free electron lasers. These multilayers optical devices must take up new challenges raised with the upgrade these radiation sources. To study the origin of intensity contrast in reflected beam, experimental measurements and numerical modeling were performed.Several techniques for multilayer structure charactérization have been implemented at the ESRF beamline BM05. Measurements methods based on 'Rocking Curve Imaging' and 'theta/2theta' Imaging were performed and applied for the first time to multilayer mirrors. Measurements of the wavefront reflected by multilayers were performed using holography and near field speckle techniques. The results obtained allowed a better understanding of the phase effects induced by multilayer reflection of their origin and to reconstruct the topography of the height defects within a multilayer mirror using the numerical model developped in the course of this PhD thesis.A numerical model based on Takagi-Taupin equations was modified to account for defects present in the multilayer mirror structure. Simulations for simple defects were performed to evaluate performance and limits of the numerical model. The propagation and the coherence of the reflected beam were simulated. The measurement and simulation results show the main influence of defect heights on the generation of the intensity contrast observed. The simulations also lead to conclude the equivalency phase effect resulting of the same height defects in multilayers mirror structure and reflecting surface.These modelization and simulations results can be usefull to specify defect feature which minimise reflected intensity contrast. The new developped experimental technics will allows X-rays caracterization for next multilayer mirrors.

The incidence of bus crashes in the US have been trending upwards, with accident, injury and fatality rates increasing 171%, 37.8%, and 5.1% respectively, between 2003 and 2007. Reversing the upward trend is an important objective of both transit providers and the society in general. This study introduces an operator-based safety methodology that utilizes data recovered from transit Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies and related systems to identify and assess factors contributing to bus operations safety incidents at TriMet, the transit provider for the Portland, Oregon metropolitan region. The analysis specifically focuses on collision, non-collision and total incidents, as well as on preventability of incidents that occurred between 2006 and 2009. Regression analysis established that bus operator age, experience, short duration absenteeism from work, operator's work span and variability in daily work span/assignments are empirically correlated with bus safety incidents. In addition, schedule adherence pressures and bus lift operations are also related to safety incidents. The other factors that influence safety performance are operators' responsive action events and customer complaints about unsafe bus operation. These findings make some contributions to the understanding of the factors that are empirically related to the frequency of safety incidents as well as offer insights into operation practices and policies that hold promise for reducing bus safety incidents.

The reason for the study is that IT-enabled organizational change processes such as information system implementations have high costs and disappointing results. Studies to identify causes of the mentioned failures are mainly based on a variance approach. This study applies another approach which is not yet performed in this field of research and affects several themes. Based on a process approach data is compared with ideal-process theories to identify the generative mechanisms causing the unfolding of the process. Thus, the study identifies a recipe and not the ingredients.

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Thesis(M.Com. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the use of mobile technology in SMEs for the improvement of the supply chain. The study uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Technology Readiness Index (TRI) as theories. This study has four objectives: (1) To identify the determinants of the use of mobile technology in supply chains of SMEs, (2) To determine the level of adoption of mobile technology in the supply chain of SMEs, (3)To determine the relationships between determinants of the use of mobile technology and the adoption of mobile technology in the supply chain of SMEs, and (4) To determine the relationship between mobile technology adoption and supply chain performance. The study uses a quantitative approach. Exploratory and correlation research is used to determine the determinants of adoption of mobile technology. The study population are SMEs in Polokwane Local Municipality. A sample of 122 is used and aself administered questionnaire is used to collect primary data. Data analysis is carried out utilising SPSS version 27. A Cronbach alpha test is carried out to measure the internal reliability of the research instrument. The results show that there are positive relationships between determinants of the use of mobile technology and the adoption of mobile technology in the supply chain of SMEs and that there is a positive relationship between mobile technology adoption and supply chain performance. It is recommended to businesses to take into consideration the determinants of mobile technology adoptionin attempting to improve their supply chain performance and to adopt the mobile technology to enhance productivity and the processes of supply chain for those who have not adopted it. The research contributes to the knowledge about the factors influencing the use of mobile technology in SMEs for the improvement of supply chains / Service SETA