This thesis is concerned with the theoretical and practical development of reliable and robust localisation algorithms for autonomous land vehicles operating at high speeds in unstructured, expansive and harsh environments. Localisation is the ability of a vehicle to determine its position and orientation within an operating environment. The need for such a localisation system is motivated by the requirement of developing autonomous vehicles in applications such as mining, agriculture and cargo handling. The main drivers in these applications are for safety, efficiency and productivity. The approach taken to the localisation problem in this thesis guarantees that the safety and reliability requirements imposed by such applications are achieved. The ...

Context Mediation is a field of research that is concerned with the interchange of information across different environments, which provides a vehicle to bridge semantic gaps among disparate entities. Knowledge Discovery is concerned with the extraction of actionable information from large databases. A challenge that has received relatively little attention is knowledge discovery in a highly disparate environment, that is multiple heterogeneous data sources, multiple domain knowledge sources and multiple knowledge patterns. This thesis tackles the problem of semantic interoperability among data, domain knowledge and knowledge patterns in a knowledge discovery process using context mediation. Context fundamentals are introduced, which encompasses the concepts of context identity, sem...

I. Introduction The actuality of the abortion issue is explained in this chapter. The author expresses his determination to explore philosophical and historical background of this problem in the United States and Germany emphasising the legal development of abortion regulations. The comparative legal method was used as a proper means to illuminate Croatian controversial situation concerning the termination of pregnancy and to contribute in a modest way to probable law reforms. The objective of this thesis is to prove, despite very different substantive rules of abortion regulations in these countries, the similarities behind formal differences which witness about the universality of abortion dilemmas. Bearing this in mind, it is possible to propose suitable legal solutions and to foresee...

This book offers an introduction to transfer pricing with particular reference to China, for those who are looking for an overview that can be rapidly comprehended and who value diagrammatic images as a vehicle for learning. The subject is of importance both for Chinese and foreign personnel engaged in foreign company activity in China and for those who are similarly engaged in Chinese-owned companies already operating abroad, or which are to be extended to foreign locations.

This thesis describes the theory and methods of an original somatic approach to movement education. Based on the five Elements of ancient philosophical tradition, Elemental Movement integrates somatic and alchemical principles, processes, and practice. It employs movement as the primary vehicle for a wide range of personal explorations, using the Elements both as a framework and as a set of symbolic tools. The first two sections offer a review of the literature on Elemental, alchemical, and psychological theory related to the development of Elemental Movement. The third section outlines a basic conceptual framework, and the fourth describes the methodology of the approach. In addition to describing the historical, theoretical, and methodological bases of Elemental Movement, this book is...

This dissertation examines the sociological process of conflict resolution and consensus building in South Florida Everglades Ecosystem Restoration through what I define as a Network Management Coordinative Interstitial Group (NetMIG). The process of conflict resolution can be summarized as the participation of interested and affected parties (stakeholders) in a forum of negotiation. I study the case of the Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (GCSSF) that was established to reduce social conflict. Such conflict originated from environmental disputes about the Everglades and was manifested in the form of gridlock among regulatory (government) agencies, Indian tribes, as well as agricultural, environmental conservationist and urban development interests. The purpose of t...

Understanding risk is important. Prior to 2008, as the yields on safe assets hit rock bottom, investors began to focus on an alphabet soup of more complex instruments. These complex securities were rated AAA and appeared as safe as U.S. Treasuries, but with much higher yields. The 2008 financial crisis revealed, however, that higher yields on these instruments came with higher risk, albeit too late for these investors. This study seeks to understand the risk--return tradeoff, managerial skill, and factor exposures on the risk-return tradeoff in two financial instruments that have been limitedly investigated: commodity trading advisors (CTAs) and managed futures funds (MFFs).This study begins by documenting the differences between CTAs/MFFs and hedge funds and mutual funds, starting with th...

The purpose of this book is to examine the birth of bilateral strategic arms control between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Johnson Administration, from 1964 to 1969. It is about the time and the place of the birth of bilateral strategic arms control as it came about in the United States through the efforts of President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the 1960s. This is the time of the birth of what quickly came to be known as SALT, or the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. This inquiry firstly considers whether the move towards bilateral strategic arms control was institutional or personal. It then looks for the motivating factors: both theoretical and substantive. As few things have only a single cause, it is likely that we shall find th...

Various business models have been presented each reflecting their strengths and weaknesses. The first model demonstrates consumer purchase behavior. The second model demonstrates marketing strategies. The third model demonstrates the use of various advertising vehicles and the last model demonstrates the human aspect that combines salesmanship and leadership with ethical business codes of conduct. This researcher found a multitude of articles, books, journals, and websites on each topic and recognized the need for these models to merge. Based on the readings, you will observe the pros and cons which lead to the end results. Results from which decisions are judged as ethical including the decision making that requires the means to be ethical as well.

This thesis reconstructs Reformed—and later, Presbyterian—thought by analysing the influences on the formation, changes in conception, and purposes of Scotland’s covenants from the emergence of covenantalism at the initial Reformation in 1557 to the Glorious Revolution of 1689—90. To achieve this, it has relied primarily on covenant documents and sermons. It has challenged the idea that Presbyterians comprised a homogeneous and fixed group in opposition to the crown’s ostensibly Episcopalian policies. Rather, this thesis argues that Presbyterian thought was transitory and was influenced by particular historical contexts, biblical exemplars, and to a lesser extent cultural norms such as the promissory nature of Scots contract law. It is not possible to investigate Presbyterians in...