Transplanted coral (Order: Scleractinia) colony condition was surveyed at five injury event sites, two coral nurseries, and one impact minimization location off the coast of Broward County, Florida, USA in 2012. Because stony corals are long-lived and slow growing, generally growing less than one centimeter in diameter per year, determining transplantation success requires long-term (greater than two years) monitoring. Long-term monitoring efforts, however, are rarely completed. This study is unique in that it examined stony coral transplantation success of several projects over a time period of 6-17 years. Control colonies were also surveyed in order to compare naturally growing coral colonies to the experimental (transplanted) colonies. Because the transplantation activities at the projects examined in this study occurred over a long time period (oldest population occurred 17 years prior to this study and the youngest occurred six years), colony percent partial mortality was used as a measure of success (colony condition). A successful effort should result in transplanted colonies experiencing partial morality similar to that of control colonies over extended periods of time. The control colonies used came from Broward County Annual Monitoring sites, and the M/V Firat and the C/V Hind ship grounding sites. The experimental colonies used came from five injury events (C/V Hind, Clipper Lasco, M/V Firat, and M/V Spar Orion ship grounding sites and Hillsboro Cable Drag location), two stony coral nurseries (DERM Modules and Warren Modules), and one impact minimization location (Broward County Mitigation Boulders). With all control colonies pooled and experimental colonies pooled, no significant differences in colony partial mortality were found between the experimental and control colonies. Once each experimental coral colony was reattached to the substrate, it generally appeared similar to the control colonies; the mean percent mortality for control colonies was 50% (2.95 ±SE) and the mean percent mortality for experimental colonies was 56% (1.24 ±SE). However, differences were found between stony coral species within each treatment (control and experimental). Colony mortality for identified control corals was greatest for Porites astreoides, Siderastrea siderea, and Montastrea annularis complex. For experimental colonies, S. siderea and P. astreoides had the most mortality. The least mortality of the control corals were found in Montastrea cavernosa, Solenastrea bournoni, and Meandrina meandrites. Of the experimental colonies, S. bournoni, M. meandrites, and Montastrea annularis complex had the least mortality. Resource managers need to consider colony transplantation location, coral species, and percent initial colony mortality when allocating efforts for injury and impact minimization events. Also, project initial restoration and final reports documenting transplantation locations and colony species, size and/or mortality should to be more detailed; this would be beneficial for future monitoring efforts.

L’atelier de Sinope (Turquie), cité située sur les rivages du Pont-Euxin, a émis des monnaies de bronze depuis la fondation coloniale, en 46 av. J.-C. jusqu’à l’arrêt des productions sous Gallien (260-268). Le présent ouvrage, qui s’accompagne d’un catalogue et de planches illustratives, en reconstitue l’histoire, en le replacant dans son contexte. La production est analysée selon deux grilles de lecture : l’objet-monnaie en tant que tel (sa diffusion, ses caractéristiques métrologiques, la répartition chronologique des émissions) et la monnaie comme support d’images et de textes, témoin privilégié de l’évolution de ses allégeances et de ses croyances, au premier chef desquels figure le dieu Sérapis. / The mint of Sinope (Turkey), a roman city on the Pontus Euxinus, has produced bronze coins since the colonial foundation in 46 a.C. up to Gallienus (260-268). This thesis, accompanied by a catalogue and illustrative plates, is devoted to explain its history. The coinage, contextualized, is studied within two approaches: the coin as an object (chronological and geographical distribution, intrinsic characteristics) and as a means to convey images and text. Those testify mainly of its allegiance and its beliefs, in first place the god Sarapis, and how they evolved.

Disruptions in the response of endothelial progenitor cells to changes in oxygen environment may present a possible mechanism behind multiple pediatric pulmonary disease models, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Using high-throughput fixed single-cell protein and RNA imaging, we have created "stop-motion" movies of Thymosin. 4 (T beta 4) and Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) protein expression and vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) mRNA in human umbilical cord-derived endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFC). ECFC were grown in vitro under both room air and hyperoxia (50% O-2). We find elevated basal T beta 4 protein expression in ECFC derived from prematurely born infants versus full term infants. T beta 4 is a potent growth hormone that additionally acts as an actin sequestration protein and regulates the stability of HIF-1 alpha. This basal level increase of T beta 4 is associated with lower HIF1 alpha nuclear localization in preterm versus term ECFC upon exposure to hyperoxia. We find altered expression in the pro-angiogenic genes vegf and eNOS, two genes that HIF-1 alpha acts as a transcription factor for. This provides a potential link between a developmentally regulated protein and previously observed impaired function of preterm ECFC in response to hyperoxia.

Supply chain optimization is one of the key components for the effective management of a company with a complex manufacturing process and distribution network. Companies with a global presence in particular are motivated to optimize their distribution plans in order to keep their operating costs low and competitive. Changing condition in the global market and volatile energy prices increase the need for an automatic decision and optimization tool. In recent years, many techniques and applications have been proposed to address the problem of supply chain optimization. However, such techniques are often too problemspecific or too knowledge-intensive to be implemented as in-expensive, and easy-to-use computer system. The effort required to implement an optimization system for a new instance of the problem appears to be quite significant. The development process necessitates the involvement of expert personnel and the level of automation is low. The aim of this project is to develop a set of strategies capable of increasing the level of automation when developing a new optimization system. An increased level of automation is achieved by focusing on three areas: multi-objective optimization, optimization algorithm usability, and optimization model design. A literature review highlighted the great level of interest for the problem of multiobjective optimization in the research community. However, the review emphasized a lack of standardization in the area and insufficient understanding of the relationship between multi-objective strategies and problems. Experts in the area of optimization and artificial intelligence are interested in improving the usability of the most recent optimization algorithms. They stated the concern that the large number of variants and parameters, which characterizes such algorithms, affect their potential applicability in real-world environments. Such characteristics are seen as the root cause for the low success of the most recent optimization algorithms in industrial applications. Crucial task for the development of an optimization system is the design of the optimization model. Such task is one of the most complex in the development process, however, it is still performed mostly manually. The importance and the complexity of the task strongly suggest the development of tools to aid the design of optimization models. In order to address such challenges, first the problem of multi-objective optimization is considered and the most widely adopted techniques to solve it are identified. Such techniques are analyzed and described in details to increase the level of standardization in the area. Empirical evidences are highlighted to suggest what type of relationship exists between strategies and problem instances. Regarding the optimization algorithm, a classification method is proposed to improve its usability and computational requirement by automatically tuning one of its key parameters, the termination condition. The algorithm understands the problem complexity and automatically assigns the best termination condition to minimize runtime. The runtime of the optimization system has been reduced by more than 60%. Arguably, the usability of the algorithm has been improved as well, as one of the key configuration tasks can now be completed automatically. Finally, a system is presented to aid the definition of the optimization model through regression analysis. The purpose of the method is to gather as much knowledge about the problem as possible so that the task of the optimization model definition requires a lower user involvement. The application of the proposed algorithm is estimated that could have saved almost 1000 man-weeks to complete the project. The developed strategies have been applied to the problem of Caterpillar’s global supply chain optimization. This thesis describes also the process of developing an optimization system for Caterpillar and highlights the challenges and research opportunities identified while undertaking this work. This thesis describes the optimization model designed for Caterpillar’s supply chain and the implementation details of the Ant Colony System, the algorithm selected to optimize the supply chain. The system is now used to design the distribution plans of more than 7,000 products. The system improved Caterpillar’s marginal profit on such products by a factor of 4.6% on average.

Numerous organizations collect and distribute non-aggregate personal data for a variety of different purposes, including demographic and public health research. In these situations, the data distributor is responsible with the protection of the anonymity and personal information of individuals. Microaggregation is one of the most commonly used statistical disclosure control methods. In microaggregation, the set of original records is first partitioned into several groups. The records in the same group are similar to each other. The minimum number of records in each group is k. Each record is replaced by the mean value of the group (centroid). The confidentiality of records is protected by ensuring that each group has at least a minimum of k records and each record is indistinguishable from at least k-1 other records in the microaggregated dataset. The goal of this process is to keep the within-group homogeneity higher and the information loss lower, where information loss is the sum squared deviation between the actual records and the group centroids. Several heuristics have been proposed for the NP-hard minimum information loss microaggregation problem. Among the most promising methods is the multivariate Hansen-Mukherjee (MHM) algorithm that uses a shortest path algorithm to identify the best partition consistent with a specified ordering of records. Developing improved heuristics for ordering multivariate points for microaggregation remains an open research challenge. This dissertation adapts a version of the population-based ant colony optimization algorithm (PACO) to order records within which MHM algorithm is used iteratively to improve the quality of grouping. Results of computational experiments using benchmark test problems indicate that P-ACO/MHM based microaggregation algorithm yields comparable or improved information loss than those obtained by extant methods.

This work demonstrates the connections that exist in rhetoric and planning between the Irish plantation projects in the Ards, Munster , Ulster and the Jamestown colony in Virginia . The planners of these projects focused on the creation of internal stability rather than the mission to 'civilize' the natives. The continuity between these projects is examined on several points: the rhetoric the English used to describe the native peoples and the lands to be colonized, who initiated each project, funding and financial terms, the manner of establishing title, the manner of granting the lands to settlers, and the status the natives were expected to hold in the plantation. Comparison of these points highlights the early English colonial idea and the variance between rhetoric and planning.

As estratégias de mapeamento utilizando múltiplos robôs móveis possuem uma série de vantagens quando comparadas àquelas estratégias baseadas em um único robô. As principais vantagens que podem ser elucidadas são: flexibilidade, ganho de informação e redução do tempo de construção do mapa do ambiente. No presente trabalho, um método de integração de mapas locais é proposto baseado em observações inter-robôs, considerando uma nova abordagem para a exploração do ambiente. Tal abordagem é conhecida como Sistema de Vigilância baseado na Modificação do Sistema Colônias de Formigas, ou IAS-SS. A estratégia IAS-SS é inspirada em mecanismos biológicos que definem a organização social de sistemas de enxames. Especificamente, esta estratégia é baseada em uma modificação do tradicional algoritmo de otimização por colônias de formiga. A principal contribuição do presente trabalho é a adaptação de um modelo de compartilhamento de informações utilizado em redes de sensores móveis, adaptando o mesmo para tarefas de mapeamento. Outra importante contribuição é a colaboração entre o método proposto de integração de mapas e a estratégia de coordenação de múltiplos robôs baseada na teoria de colônias de formigas. Tal colaboração permite o desenvolvimento de uma abordagem de exploração que emprega um mecanismo não físico para depósito e detecção de feromônios em ambientes reais por meio da elaboração do conceito de feromônios virtuais integrados. Resultados obtidos em simulação demonstram que o método de integração de mapas é eficiente, de modo que os ensaios experimentais foram realizados considerando-se um número variável de robôs móveis durante o processo de exploração de ambientes internos com diferentes formas e estruturas. Os resultados obtidos com os diversos experimentos realizados confirmam que o processo de integração é efetivo e adequado para executar o mapeamento do ambiente durante tarefas de exploração e vigilância do mesmo / The multiple robot map building strategies have several advantages when compared to strategies based on a single robot, in terms of flexibility, gain of information and reduction of map building time. In this work, a local map integration method is proposed based on the inter-robot observations, considering a recent approach for the environment exploration. This approach is based on the Inverse Ant System-Based Surveillance System strategy, called IASSS. The IAS-SS strategy is inspired on biological mechanisms that define the social organization of swarm systems. Specifically, it is based on a modified version of the known ant colony algorithm. The main contribution of this work is the fit of an information sharing model used in an mobile sensor network, adapting the method for mapping tasks. Another important contribution is the collaboration between the local map integration method and the multiple robot coordination strategy based on ant colony theory. Through this collaboration it is possible to develop an approach that uses a mechanism for controlling the access to pheromones in real environments. Such mechanism is based on the integrated virtual pheromones concept. Simulation results show that the map integration method is efficient, the trials are performed considering a variable number of robots and environments with different structures. Results obtained from several experiments confirm that the integration process is effective and suitable to execute mapping during the exploration task

[EN] The Facilities Layout Problem in a industrial plant (FLP) pursues the good ordenation of the integrating elements (that in this work they will call themselves facilities, understan-ding those elements of the production system that they require space) of a production system and it contemplates, among other, geometric and economic aspects. The eco-nomic aspect has to do with the installation of the plant and with its operation while the geometric one is related with the architecture of the system. Under consideration of these aspects they are derived different formulations of the problem according to the geometric model adopted for represent the solution and according to the function to optimize that can include quantitative terms as installation costs and operation cost (manu-tención) and qualitative terms derived of the chart establishing relationship of activities from the met-hodology SLP. Certain tradition exists in the Educational Unit of Buildings and Architectu-re Industrial (at the moment U.D of Industrial Buldings), on the resolution of this FLP from diverse focuses, what there is origin that already from the years 90, myself, author of this thesis, as well as other partners, let us have implemented some computer applications of several types for the resolution of the same, based, by way of example, in genetic algo-rithms or in fuzzy logic. The last one goal was this one implemented with ACO ("Ant Co-lony Optimization") that this work shows. Anyway, this applications, often used in other works or even with educational ends, they have provided satisfactory results so much in the investigating scheduling as in the academic. At the beginning of the 2000, when the normative of Industrial Buldings Fire Proofing appears, when being starting from then of a preceptive normative in the greater part of industries of new installation, and the position that was continued in the real works was: in a first phase the elaboration of the layout, while in a second phase the application of the preceptive normative of fire proofing was demanded against fires to the layout obtained previously, with obligatory character so much in the industrial field, like in the subsidiary uses that aren't industrials, different from the main one. Any layout that it doesn't complete the fire proofing normative approaches in all the areas, be these industrial or not, it lacks legal validity and therefore it's not viable. In a third phase it is endowed of the thermal appropriate atmosphere, higroscopic, acous-tic and lighting to the obtained solution. In front of this reality, more and more commenda-ble starting from the appearance of the Technical Code of Buildings, that impels the per-formance designing and not in prescriptions, of the non convenience of unlying the design phases, we have started including the approach of the compartmentalization in the design like another objective in the quality of the final adopted solution, and therefore optimizable like any another. Hence in this work we have been carried out a proposal of compart-mentalization algorithm that works starting from the information and approaches that the normative of fires use, and we have also defined a proposal of objective function, as well as a series of parameters that allows to consider like it influences this compartmentaliza-tion in the flow of materials through the different facilities. / [ES] El problema de la distribución en planta de procesos industriales (FLP) persigue la ordenación óptima de los elementos (que en este trabajo se llamarán actividades, conceptuándose como aquellos elementos del sistema de producción que requieren espacio) de un sistema de producción y contempla, entre otros, aspectos geométricos y económicos. El aspecto económico tiene que ver con la instalación de la planta y con su operación mientras que el geométrico se relaciona con la arquitectura del sistema. De la consideración de estos aspectos se derivan diferentes formulaciones del problema según el modelo geométrico adoptado para representar la solución y según la función a optimizar, que puede incluir términos cuantitativos como costes de instalación y de operación (manutención) y términos cualitativos derivados de la tabla relacional de actividades establecida desde la metodología SLP. Existe cierta tradición en la Unidad Docente de Construcción y Arquitectura Industrial (actualmente U.D de Construcciones Industriales), sobre la resolución de este problema de distribución en planta desde diversos enfoques, lo que ha originado que ya desde los años 90, yo mismo, autor de esta Tesis Doctoral, así como otros compañeros, hayamos implementado algunas aplicaciones informáticas de varios tipos para la resolución del mismo, basadas, a modo de ejemplo, en algoritmos genéticos o en lógica borrosa. El último caso el de la aplicación informática que utiliza ACO ("Ant Colony Optimization") que se presenta en este trabajo. En cualquier caso, dichas aplicaciones, a menudo utilizadas en otras investigaciones o incluso con fines docentes, han proporcionado resultados satisfactorios tanto en el plano investigador como en el académico. A principios de los 2000, cuando aparece la normativa de Protección Contra Incendios en Establecimientos Industriales, al tratarse a partir de entonces de una normativa de obligado cumplimiento en la gran mayoría de actividades de nueva planta, y el planteamiento que se siguió al realizar los trabajos y proyectos sobre casos reales fue en una primera fase la elaboración de la distribución en planta, mientras que en una segunda fase se exigía la aplicación de la normativa de protección contra incendios a la distribución en planta obtenida con anterioridad, con carácter obligatorio tanto en el ámbito industrial, como en los usos subsidiaros no industriales diferentes del principal. Cualquier distribución en planta que no cumpla los criterios normativos en todas las zonas, sean éstas industriales o no, carece de validez legal y por tanto no es viable. En una tercera fase se dota del adecuado ambiente térmico, higroscópico, acústico y lumínico a la solución obtenida. Frente a esta realidad, cada vez más plausible a partir de la entrada en vigor del Código Técnico de la edificación, que impulsa el diseño basado en prestaciones y no en prescripciones, de la no conveniencia de desligar las fases de diseño, se ha comenzado por incluir el criterio de la sectorización en el diseño como un objetivo más mesurable en la calidad de la solución final adoptada, y por lo tanto optimizable como cualquier otro. Por ello en este trabajo se ha realizado una propuesta de algoritmo de sectorización, que funciona a partir de la información y criterios que las normativas de incendios utilizan, y se ha definido también una propuesta de función objetivo, así como una serie de parámetros que permiten considerar cómo influye esta sectorización en el trasiego de materiales (fundamentalmente flujos) a través de las distintas actividades. / [CAT] El problema de la distribució en planta de processos industrials (FLP) perseguix l'ordena-ció òptima dels elements (que en este treball es cridaran activitats, conceptuant-se com aquells elements del sistema de producció que requerixen espai) d'un sistema de pro-ducció i contempla, entre altres, aspectes geomètrics i econòmics. L'aspecte econòmic té a veure amb la instal·lació de la planta i amb la seua operació mentres que el geo-mètric es relaciona amb l'arquitectura del sistema. De la consideració d'estos aspectes es deriven diferents formulacions del problema segons el model geomètric adoptat per a representar la solució i segons la funció a optimitzar, que pot incloure termes quantitatius com a costos d'instal·lació i d'operació (manutenció) i termes qualitatius derivats de la taula relacional d'activitats establida des de la metodologia SLP. Hi ha una certa tradició en la Unitat Docent de Construcció i Arquitectura Industrial (actualment U.D de Cons-truccions Industrials) , sobre la resolució d'este problema de distribució en planta des de diversos enfocaments, la qual cosa ha originat que ja des dels anys 90, jo mateix, autor d'esta tesi, així com altres companys, hàgem implementat algunes aplicacions informàti-ques de diversos tipus per a la resolució del mateix, basades, a manera d'exemple, en algoritmes genètics o en lògica borrosa. L'últim cas el de l'aplicació informàtica que uti-litza ACO ("Ant Colony Optimization") que es presenta en este treball. En tot cas, les dites aplicacions, sovint utilitzades en altres investigacions o inclús amb fins docents, han pro-porcionat resultats satisfactoris tant en el pla investigador com en l'acadèmic. A principis dels 2000, quan apareix la normativa de Protecció Contra Incendis en Establiments In-dustrials, al tractar-se a partir de llavors d'una normativa de compliment obligatori en la gran majoria d'activitats de nova planta, i el plantejament que es va seguir en els treballs i projectes reials va ser en una primera fase l'elaboració de la distribució en planta, men-tres que en una segona fase s'exigia l'aplicació de la normativa de protecció contra in-cendis a la distribució en planta obtinguda amb anterioritat, amb caràcter obligatori tant en l'àmbit industrial, com en els usos subsidiar-vos no industrials diferents del principal. Qualsevol distribució en planta que no complisca els criteris normatius en totes les zones, siguen ést. En una tercera fase es dota de l'adequat ambient tèrmic, higroscòpic, acústic i lumínic a la solució obtinguda. Enfront d'esta realitat, cada vegada més plausible a partir de l'entrada en vigor del Codi Tècnic de l'Edificació, que impulsa el disseny basat en prestacions i no en prescripcions, de la no conveniència de deslligar les fases de disseny, s'ha començat per incloure el criteri de la sectorització en el disseny com un objectiu més mesurable en la qualitat de la solució final adoptada, i per tant optimizable com qualsevol altre. Per això en este treball s'ha realitzat una proposta d'algoritme de sectorització, que funciona a partir de la informació i criteris que les normatives d'incendis utilitzen, i s'ha definit també una proposta de funció objectiu, així com una sèrie de paràmetres que permeten considerar com influïx esta sectorització en el trasbals de materials (fonamen-talment fluxos) a través de les distintes activitats. / Jaén Gómez, PI. (2015). Algoritmos híbridos para la resolución del F.L.P. (Facility Layout Problem) basados en colonias de hormigas [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/59447 / TESIS

Clustering is actively used in several research fields, such as pattern recognition, machine learning and data mining. This dissertation focuses on clustering algorithms in the data mining area. Clustering algorithms can be applied to solve the unsupervised learning problem, which deals with finding clusters in unlabeled data. Most clustering algorithms require the number of cluster centers be known in advance. However, this is often not suitable for real world applications, since we do not know this information in most cases. Another question becomes, once clusters are found by the algorithms, do we believe the clusters are exactly the right ones or do there exist better ones? In this dissertation, we present two new Swarm Intelligence based approaches for data clustering to solve the above issues. Swarm based approaches to clustering have been shown to be able to skip local extrema by doing a form of global search, our two newly proposed ant clustering algorithms take advantage of this. The first algorithm is a kernel-based fuzzy ant clustering algorithm using the Xie-Beni partition validity metric, it is a two stage algorithm, in the first stage of the algorithm ants move the cluster centers in feature space, the cluster centers found by the ants are evaluated using a reformulated kernel-based Xie-Beni cluster validity metric. We found when provided with more clusters than exist in the data our new ant-based approach produces a partition with empty clusters and/or very lightly populated clusters. Then the second stage of this algorithm was applied to automatically detect the number of clusters for a data set by using threshold solutions. The second ant clustering algorithm, using chemical recognition of nestmates is a combination of an ant based algorithm and a consensus clustering algorithm. It is a two-stage algorithm without initial knowledge of the number of clusters. The main contributions of this work are to use the ability of an ant based clustering algorithm to determine the number of cluster centers and refine the cluster centers, then apply a consensus clustering algorithm to get a better quality final solution. We also introduced an ensemble ant clustering algorithm which is able to find a consistent number of clusters with appropriate parameters. We proposed a modified online ant clustering algorithm to handle clustering large data sets. To our knowledge, we are the first to use consensus to combine multiple ant partitions to obtain robust clustering solutions. Experiments were done with twelve data sets, some of which were benchmark data sets, two artificially generated data sets and two magnetic resonance image brain volumes. The results show how the ant clustering algorithms play an important role in finding the number of clusters and providing useful information for consensus clustering to locate the optimal clustering solutions. We conducted a wide range of comparative experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness of the new approaches.

A mobile ad hoc network is a collection of wireless mobile devices which dynamically form a temporary network, without using any existing network infrastructure or centralised administration. Each node in the network effectively becomes a router, and forwards packets towards the packet’s destination node. Ad hoc networks are characterized by frequently changing network topology, multi-hop wireless connections and the need for dynamic, efficient routing protocols. <p.This work considers the routing problem in a network of uniquely addressable sensors. These networks are encountered in many industrial applications, where the aim is to relay information from a collection of data gathering devices deployed over an area to central points. The routing problem in such networks are characterised by: <ul> <li>The overarching requirement for low power consumption, as battery powered sensors may be required to operate for years without battery replacement;</li> <li>An emphasis on reliable communication as opposed to real-time communication, it is more important for packets to arrive reliably than to arrive quickly; and</li> <li>Very scarce processing and memory resources, as these sensors are often implemented on small low-power microprocessors.</li> </ul> This work provides overviews of routing protocols in ad hoc networks, swarm intelligence, and swarm intelligence applied to ad hoc routing. Various mechanisms that are commonly encountered in ad hoc routing are experimentally evaluated under situations as close to real-life as possible. Where possible, enhancements to the mechanisms are suggested and evaluated. Finally, a routing protocol suitable for such low-power sensor networks is defined and benchmarked in various scenarios against the Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) algorithm. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Computer Science / Unrestricted