To achieve information superiority in a coalition environment the U. S. has to seamlessly integrate coalition members, both NATO and Non-NATO, into its command and control processes along all echelons of military operations. In a coalition environment, it is extremely challenging to fuse multinational information systems to achieve seamless integration. This thesis focuses on the security issues that are involved in establishing coalition network interoperability. The coalition environment is defined in terms of purpose, command structure, mission area, and control functions. Network and information protection are discussed in terms of minimizing the threats to information systems security. Coalition information system user requirements are defined and some of the security mechanisms required to meet those requirements are discussed. Current solutions to secure coalition network interoperability are surveyed, followed by conclusions, recommendations and areas for further study. / US Navy (USN) author

Master of Science / Department of Statistics / Haiyan Wang / Motivation: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide an important avenue for investigating many common genetic variants in different individuals to see if any variant is associated with a trait. GWAS is a great tool to identify genetic factors that influence health and disease. However, the high dimensionality of the gene expression dataset makes GWAS challenging. Although a lot of promising machine learning methods, such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), have been investigated in GWAS, the question of how to improve the accuracy of the result has drawn increased attention of many researchers A lot of the studies did not apply feature selection to select a parsimonious set of relevant genes. For those that performed gene selections, they often failed to consider the possible interactions among genes. Here we modify a gene selection algorithm BMSF originally developed by Zhang et al. (2012) for improving the accuracy of cancer classification with binary responses. A continuous response version of BMSF algorithm is provided in this report so that it can be applied to perform gene selection for continuous gene expression dataset. The algorithm dramatically reduces the dimension of the gene markers under concern, thus increases the efficiency and accuracy of GWAS. Results: We applied the continuous response version of BMSF on the wheat phenotypes dataset to predict two quantitative traits based on the genotype marker data. This wheat dataset was previously studied in Long et al. (2009) for the same purpose but used only direct application of SVM regression methods. By applying our gene selection method, we filtered out a large portion of genes which are less relevant and achieved a better prediction result for the test data by building SVM regression model using only selected genes on the training data. We also applied our algorithm on simulated datasets which was generated following the setting of an example in Fan et al. (2011). The continuous response version of BMSF showed good ability to identify active variables hidden among high dimensional irrelevant variables. In comparison to the smoothing based methods in Fan et al. (2011), our method has the advantage of no ambiguity due to difference choices of the smoothing parameter.

Story of an alien who inhabits the body of middle-aged man George. Mission for Alien George is to convince a fertile, intelligent, attractive woman to move back with him to their planet to create a hybrid species. The major benefit for the woman is having the alien's elixir for her to live for thousands of years. George begins to feel human emotions for Connie, the young woman he initially picks. However, Connie is a lost drug addict who has no signs of a future. This does not appease George's alien guide. George must weigh his new human emotions with his almost eternal life with creating a new species. George is supposed to develop Connie's love to get back to his planet. But does love remain an idea aliens have studied or does George begin to feel what love feels like?

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) continue to rise in South Africa, accounting for 43% of total deaths in 2012. Smoking and a diet high in salt are among the major modifiable risk factors for NCDs that can be addressed through cost-effective policy interventions in the form of regulation or legislation and active multisectoral engagement. Population-based prevalence and mortality data are necessary for monitoring and evaluation such interventions. South Africa has developed a National Strategic Plan for NCDs but there is limited evaluation of NCD policies. Furthermore, there is a need to explore the availability of population-based data and the role that it can play to monitor interventions. Aim: The overall aim of the thesis is to assess the implementation of policies for reducing risk factors for chronic NCDs in South Africa, and to explore the role of population-based data in supporting environmental and policy approaches to prevent NCDs. The thesis will also examine whether there are differences in urban and rural settings in the implementation of tobacco control and salt reduction regulation as well as the barriers to implement the National Strategic Plan for prevention of NCDs. Methods: Multiple methods of data collection were used. A desk review of policies to address NCDs in South Africa was undertaken and semi-structured interviews with the NCD policymakers and managers in two provinces (the Eastern Cape and Western Cape) were undertaken, to explore challenges and successes of implementation of the NSP. The Cross-sectional baseline questionnaire and quantified food frequency data from the PURE study were used to determine the prevalence of smoking and the intakes of sodium and potassium in a selected urban and a rural community. Data collected using a validated community audit tool was used to assess the physical environment related to tobacco as well as questionnaire data from face-to-face interviews about perceptions about tobacco use in the urban and rural communities. Trends in mortality from tobacco related and high salt consumption related conditions together with prevalence data from national health surveys were reviewed to assess the health impact.

Orientadora: Larissa Maués Pelucio Silva / Banca: Heloisa Pait / Banca: Jorge Alberto Silva Machado / Resumo: Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo central a compreensão do modo pelo qual as pessoas trans têm se apropriado de espaços online de interação a fim de fomentar debates políticos, e tecer redes de solidariedade e sociabilidade, e de que forma essas interlocuções repercutem na formação de uma consciência política em torno dos direitos dessas pessoas. Para tal, parto da investigação da proliferação desses espaços, tomando como ponto de partida um grupo da plataforma Facebook, (mas não permanecendo apenas nele), visto não somente o quantitativo de membros no grupo, mas, principalmente, as temáticas frequentemente discutidas e a participação ativa de um elevado número de participantes nas discussões. Utilizo-me da etnografia multissituada como aporte teóricometodológico, especialmente no que diz respeito ao entrecruzamento entre as interações on e offline, tendo em vista que o acesso a novas possibilidades tecnológicas e a novos espaços de discussão, associada a transformações sociais e políticas tendem a modificar a forma com que as pessoas trans experienciam os sentidos atribuídos ao ser e se tornar pessoa trans, e a buscar alternativas de enfrentamento em relação aos mecanismos que garantem a delimitação de espaços, dinâmicas e direitos. Desse modo, ao buscar analisar os discursos que são acionados a partir das discussões nesses espaços e a forma com que eles marcam espaços offline de interação, utilizo-me do referencial teórico Queer, e dos estudos feministas, além do estudo sóci... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This research aimed to understand the way in which trans people have appropriated online spaces of interaction in order to foment political debates, and to create networks of solidarity and sociability, and in what way these interlocutions have repercussions in the formation of a political awareness of the rights of these people. To do so, I proceed from the investigation of the proliferation of these spaces, taking as a starting point a group of the Facebook platform, (but not remaining only in it), seen not only the number of members in the group, but mainly the topics often discussed and the active participation of a large number of participants in the discussions. I use multi-situational ethnography as a theoretical and methodological contribution, especially in relation to the interlinking between on and offline interactions, given that access to new technological possibilities and new spaces of discussion, associated with social and political transformations tend to to change the way in which trans people experience the meanings attributed to being and become a trans person, and to seek alternatives to coping with the mechanisms that guarantee the delimitation of spaces, dynamics and rights. Thus, in seeking to analyze the discourses that are triggered from the discussions in these spaces and the way in which they mark offline spaces of interaction, I use Queer's theoretical framework and feminist studies, as well as the anthropological socio-digital study on digital me... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

The main objective of the present thesis was to propose a procedure to optimize genotypic information value in small dairy cattle populations and investigate the impacts of including genotypes and phenotypes of cows chosen by different strategies over the performance of genome-wide association studies and genomic selection. The first study was designed to propose innovative methods that could support alternative inference over population structure in livestock populations using graph theory. It reviews general aspects of graphs and how each element relates to theoretical and practical concepts of traditional pedigree structure studies. This chapter also presents a computational application (PedWorks) built in Python 2.7 programming language. It demonstrates that graph theory is a suitable framework for modeling pedigree data. The second study was aimed asses how graph community detection algorithms could help unraveling population partition. This new concept was considered to develop a method for stablishing new cow genotyping strategies (community-based). Results obtained showed that accounting for population structure using community detection for choosing cows to get included in the reference population may improve results from genomic selection. Methods presented are easily applied to animal breeding programs. The third study aimed to observe the impacts of different genotyping strategies (including the proposed community-based) over the ability to detect quantitative trait loci in genome-wide association studies. Distinct models for genomic analysis were also tested. Results obtained showed that including cows with extreme phenotypic observations proportionally sampled from communities can improve the ability to detect quantitative trait loci in genomic evaluations. The last chapter was designed study possible deleterious impacts of the presence of preferential treatment (in different levels) in a small dairy cattle population environment over accuracy and bias of genomic selection. Different proportions of cows with artificially increased phenotypic observations were included in the reference population. Observed results suggest that both accuracy and bias are affected by the presence of preferential treatment of cows in the evaluated population. Preferential treatment is expected to have much more effect on the performance of genomic selection in small than in large dairy cattle populations for the higher (proportional) value of the information from cows in such reduced-size breeds. / O principal objetivo da presente tese foi propor um procedimento capaz de otimizar o valor da informação genotípica em pequenas populações de gado de leite e investigar os impactos da inclusão de genótipos e fenótipos de vacas escolhidas por diferentes estratégias sobre o desempenho de estudos de associação genômica ampla e seleção genômica. O primeiro estudo foi delineado para elaborar um método que permita uma inferência alternativa sobre a estrutura populacional de populações de animais de produção usando como base a teoria de grafos. Este revê os aspectos gerais de grafos e como cada elemento se relaciona com conceitos teóricos e práticos de estudos de estrutura de pedigree tradicionais. Este capítulo também apresenta um aplicativo computacional (PedWorks) construído em linguagem de programação Python 2.7. Resultados observados demonstraram que a teoria de grafos é uma estrutura adequada para modelar dados de pedigree. O segundo estudo teve como objetivo avaliar como os algoritmos de detecção de comunidades de grafos poderiam ajudar revelar o particionamento de uma população. Este novo conceito foi considerado para desenvolver um método para o estabelecimento de novas estratégias de genotipagem de vacas (baseadas em comunidades). Os resultados obtidos mostraram que a contabilização da estrutura populacional usando a detecção de comunidades para a escolha de vacas a serem incluídas na população de referência pode melhorar os resultados da seleção genômica. Os métodos apresentados sugerem ser facilmente introduzidos em programas de melhoramento animal. O terceiro estudo teve como objetivo observar os impactos de diferentes estratégias de genotipagem (incluindo a anteriormente proposta baseada em comunidades) sobre a capacidade de detectar locos relacionados características quantitativas por meio de estudos de associação genômica ampla. Modelos distintos para análise genômica também foram testados. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que incluir vacas com observações fenotípicas extremas amostradas proporcionalmente das comunidades pode melhorar a capacidade de detectar locos de características quantitativas em avaliações genômicas. O último capítulo foi desenhado para estudar possíveis impactos deletérios da presença de tratamento preferencial no ambiente de pequenas populações de gado leiteiro sobre resultados da seleção genômica. Diferentes proporções de vacas com observações fenotípicas aumentadas artificialmente foram incluídas na população de referência. Os resultados observados sugerem que tanto a acurácia quanto o viés são afetados pela presença de tratamento preferencial de vacas na população avaliada. Espera-se que o tratamento preferencial tenha muito mais efeito sobre o desempenho da seleção genômica em populações pequenas de gado de leite que em grandes populações devido a maior relevância das informações de vacas em raças de tamanho reduzido.

[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo a utilização de modelos de regressão linear para a taxa de penetração de banda larga, baseados nas variáveis desemprego, PIB per capita, grau de competividade do mercado e diversidade tecnológica, utilizando uma análise dos modelos em diferentes países, com ênfase no Brasil, onde, nos últimos anos, tem sido analisadas diferentes alternativas para alcançar os objetivos do Plano Nacional de Banda Larga. A aplicação da metodologia apresentará a relação destas variáveis para os países com índices de adoção de banda larga ainda baixos, onde o Brasil está incluído, mas também apresenta a análise para países mais maduros neste índice. Estas análises poderão auxiliar na tomada de decisão das políticas públicas adequadas para o Brasil, buscando a aproximação dos países desenvolvidos neste setor. / [en] This thesis has as objective the developing of a model to estimate the broadband density penetration based on the unemployment rate, Gross Domestic Product per capita, market share and technological diversity. In addition of a global analysis, the thesis is focused in the Brazilian scenario, which is in a process of decision in which government policies to achieve the results expected by the National Broadband Plan. The methodoly will present the relation between these variables for the countries with lower broadband indexes, where Brazil is included, and the analysis for the countries with better indexes. These analyses can help Brazilian government in which policies should help Brazil to achieve results closer than the more mature countries in this sector.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the '\Vitwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy / THIS STUDY identifies and evaluates factors that affect call connections in the South African public data networks, modelling these factors to aid data network planning. The research shows the relationship between the economic rank of each region served and the data communication resources required for that region. Moreover, it shows the resources required between regions. THE THRUST of this thesis is that the volume of cans from a region can be estimated from its economic ...k and more than 75% olthe variation in the volume of calls between regions can be explained using the ranks of the originating and terminating regions. To prove this, records of more than four million calls are accumulated for all regions of the South African packet switched data network. An appropriate filtering and aggregation method is developed. EXISTING growth models including the gravity model are separately examined. Based on probability and dimensional arguments, the Bell System growth model is selected. It is revealed that the success of this model depends on one premise being satisfied: this model tacitly anti implicitly assumes that the originating and terminating calls are statistically independent. RETURNING to the data network, it is found that the call connections (after filtering and aggregation) display dependence of destination on origin. Reasons for the dependence are discovered. Multiple linear regression reveals the nature of this dependence. Surprisingly, distance is not a factor. The importance of regional ranks and an inter-regional indicator variable are also discovered. FINALL Y, call volume from a node is shown to be directly linked with the weighted Gross Regional and Industrial Product of the region. This quantity, in tum, is inversely related to the rank of the region. Call connections are then modelled to be equal to the call connections within the first tanked region divided by the product of the originating region's rank and the terminating region's rank. This simple and economical model explains 76% of the variations that occur in call connections. It has proved its use by being included in the data transfer services product-line report. / Andrew Chakane 2018

A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment School of Electrical and Information Engineering August 2017 / Modular web content management systems (WCMS) are widely adopted software plat- forms that facilitate the creation of web applications through a process of con guration and assembly of add-on modules. Although WCMSs have been used in a variety of ap- plication domains (e-commerce, news) no clear guidance as to when it is suitable to use a WCMS could be found. This work proposes a methodology to evaluate the suitability of a WCMS in a particular context. This is done by evaluating the suitability indicators (capability, e ort and ease of implementation) for a given WCMS application. The met- hodology evaluates each indicator per application requirement. Capability is evaluated on a Yes/No basis. E ort is evaluated using e ort level, a relative indicator of e ort. E ort levels are de ned in terms of increasing e ort, varying from 0 (feature present in the product) through to 5 (feature requires a custom module to be written). Ease of implementation is evaluated using a qualitative measure (easy, moderate or di cult) of the implementation di culty. The methodology has been successfully validated through the development and evaluation of a web application for a school within a university faculty. In this instance the WCMS capability was evaluated at 100%, as all require- ments could be implemented. The e ort level analysis showed 16% of requirements were present by default in the core product, 22% required some con guration of the core pro- duct, 32% required a single add-on module to be installed, and 30% required multiple add-on modules to be installed. The ease of implementation analysis showed that 86% of requirements were easy, 7% moderate and 7% di cult. The analysis is presented in order to demonstrate the operation of the methodology. Further data would be nee- ded to extrapolate general trends. With repeated use of the methodology in various contexts, it would be possible to build up a useful reference for those considering the use of a WCMS. In addition, this data would permit analysis of overall strengths and weaknesses of a particular WCMS. / MT2018

Thesis advisor: James Gips / This paper examines the impact of a multicultural approach on the usability of web and software interface designs. Through the use of an eye-tracking system, the study compares the ability of American users to navigate traditional American and Japanese websites. The ASL R6 eye-tracking system recorded user search latency and the visual scan path in locating specific items on the American and Japanese pages. Experimental results found statistically significant latency values when searching for left- or right-oriented navigation menus. Among the participants, visual observations of scan paths indicated a strong preference for initial movements toward the left. These results demonstrate the importance of manipulating web layouts and navigation menus for American and Japanese users. This paper further discusses the potential strengths resulting from modifications of interface designs to correspond with such cultural search tendencies, and suggestions for further research. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Computer Science. / Discipline: College Honors Program.