Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Departamento de Ciência da Computação, 2006. / Submitted by Natália Cristina Ramos dos Santos (nataliaguilera3@hotmail.com) on 2009-10-31T15:00:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_Daniela Pereira Alves.pdf: 755800 bytes, checksum: 8757605da6ec5e32fe3a9bd198bc3076 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luanna Maia(luanna@bce.unb.br) on 2010-06-11T15:45:14Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_Daniela Pereira Alves.pdf: 755800 bytes, checksum: 8757605da6ec5e32fe3a9bd198bc3076 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2010-06-11T15:45:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_Daniela Pereira Alves.pdf: 755800 bytes, checksum: 8757605da6ec5e32fe3a9bd198bc3076 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-11-09 / Uma solução computacional que utiliza troca de mensagens lida com a dificuldade em decidir qual a melhor ação a ser executada à medida que uma nova mensagem chega. No caso específico da área de tráfego aéreo, o uso de troca de mensagens é empregado para manter consistentes as informações distribuídas entre os aeroportos, sujeitas ás características estocásticas deste contexto. O uso de gerência em nível meta e a aprendizagem por reforço foram empregados, neste trabalho, com intuito de apresentar uma estratégia para tratar o problema de gerência da imensa quantidade de mensagens geradas no contexto de tráfego aéreo. A estratégia proposta fundamenta-se na busca pela adaptação por meio da aprendizagem durante o processo de tomada de decisão. A idéia é empregar uma camada adicional de controle em nível meta sobre a camada de controle já existente no sistema hospedeiro para auxiliar o processo de tomada de decisão. A decisão passa a ser tomada com uso da experiência adquirida pelo agente com a aprendizagem por reforço melhorada por heurísticas propostas. O trabalho, então, propõe um modelo de computação inteligente para auxílio do processo de tomada de decisão de um sistema distribuído aplicado a Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM). Ele é indicado para atuar na comunicação via troca de mensagens entre aeroportos, trabalhando como uma camada adicional em um aeroporto que usa os metadados das mensagens em suas decisões, com vistas à otimização na definição de uma hierarquia para atendimento às mensagens. O modelo é considerado inovador porque usa aprendizagem por reforço adequada às características deste ambiente estocástico, preocupando-se com a velocidade e qualidade do processo de tomada de decisão. Na modelagem, três estratégias foram propostas para a aprendizagem: heurística inicial, epsilon adaptativo e heurística baseada em performance. Elas são combinadas aos algoritmos de aprendizado por reforço: Q-learning e SARSA. Os estudos de caso avaliam o desempenho, a qualidade do aprendizado quanto às três melhorias propostas e também o comportamento do Q-learning quando são alterados parâmetros do algoritmo. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / A computational solution which uses message exchange deals with difficulty to decide what is the best action to execute when a new message arrives. In the specific case of Air Traffic field, the use of message exchange is employed to keep consistency among distributed airport information which are subject to random characteristics of the context. In this work meta-level management and reinforcement learning is employed, with the intention to present one strategy to deal with the problem of managing huge quantity of messages that are created in the aero air traffic context. The proposed strategy is based in the search for adapt action through the learning during the decision make process. The idea is to employ one additional meta-level control layer over the existing control layer in the host system to assist the decision process. The decision is then made using the experience acquired by the agent with the improved heuristical proposals. This work proposes one intelligent computational model to assist the decision make process in a distributed systems applied to the Air Traffic Flow Manage- ment - ATFM. It is indicated to deal with the communication through message exchanges between airports, working like an additional layer in an airport that uses message’s metadata in its decision of pursuing the optimization in the hie- rarchy to attendance messages. The model is considered innovative because it uses reinforcement learning adjusted to the characteristics of the random environment, concerned with the speed and quality in decision make process. In the modeling, three strategy was proposed for learning: initial heuristics, adaptative heuristics and performance heuristics. They are combined with algo- rithms: Q-learning and SARSA. The case studies evaluate by the three enhan- cements proposed - performance, learning quality and Q-learning behavior when parameters is modified.

Com os avanços tecnológicos, as aplicações multimídia de vídeo sob demanda (VoD) são cada vez mais utilizadas. Por ser aplicável na área comercial, na área de entretenimento e até na área educacional, vídeo sob demanda é, ou será, muito empregada em ambiente corporativo. Contudo, dados multimídia, em especial vídeo, requerem certas garantias de qualidade de serviço. O problema é como obter tais garantias em redes corporativas. Deste modo, este trabalho propõe um modelo para implementação de aplicações de vídeo sob demanda em ambientes corporativos. Sendo assim, serão apresentados os requisitos básicos do serviço, padrões e modelos, e os protocolos multimídia que podem ser aplicados no desenvolvimento do modelo e na validação, através de um protótipo. / Based on technological development, the applications of video multimedia related to video on demand (VoD) have been more and more used. Since it has been applicable to commercial, entertainment, and educational field, video on demand is, or will be, used in a corporative environment. Multimedia data, especially video, require such quality of service and guarantees, but the problem is: how to get such assurances into corporative networks. Therefore, this work proposes an implementation model for video on demand applications in corporative environments. For this reason, it will present the basic requirements of the service, as well as, it standards and models, and also multimedia protocols that can be put into effects to development of the model and to its validity through a prototype.

A pesquisa pretende estudar as interfaces gráficas, o desenho dos caixas eletrônicos e a arquitetura das salas de auto-atendimento das instituições bancárias mais representativas no cenário nacional, de acordo com seus índices de faturamento anual, desde a criação do Banco Central do Brasil na década de 1960 e os primeiros indícios de uma automação bancária, até o momento atual, sob a luz da funcionalidade, usabilidade e acessibilidade, dando início a uma abordagem crítica sobre o tema, investigando a partir de uma análise criteriosa, importantes aspectos do processo criativo, projetual e de implantação das interfaces gráficas, dos caixas eletrônicos e da arquitetura das salas de auto-atendimento. / This research intends to study the graphic interfaces, the design of the ATM machines and the remote banking rooms of the most representative bank institutions in the Brazilian scenario, according to their annual profits data, since the creation of the Central Bank of Brazil in the 1960\'s and the first appearances of the bank automation, until nowadays, focusing on the aspects of usability, function ability and accessibility, investigating important aspects of the creation, project and implantation processes of the graphic interfaces, the ATM machines and the remote banking rooms architecture.

Diferenças na espessura e regularidade da cartilagem da articulação temporomandibular (ATM) ocorrem como o resultado de áreas em crescimento ou em remodelamento. Esse aspecto dificulta a interpretação clínica das imagens e geralmente negligencia a presença da fibrocartilagem. O estudo, por meio da Ressonância Magnética utilizando bobinas microscópicas, possibilita uma melhor observação da cartilagem articular. Confirmamos essa evidência por meio do estudo que analisou 20 indivíduos (40 ATM), divididos em grupo sintomático (DTM) com 10 pacientes (20 ATM) apresentando queixa clínica e suspeita diagnóstica de DTM e, o grupo controle com 10 voluntários (20 ATM) assintomáticos ou que não apresentavam sinais e sintomas clínicos de DTM. As imagens de RM sagitais oblíquas ponderadas em DP SPIR da ATM foram capazes de mostrar a cartilagem com melhor evidência tanto na cabeça da mandíbula quanto na eminência articular proporcionado mensurações, as quais se apresentaram estatisticamente iguais entre os grupos e também a avaliação da regularidade com o mesmo comportamento entre os grupos e geralmente acompanhando a morfologia da cortical óssea. Em muitos casos, principalmente quando da presença de deslocamento para anterior do disco articular, a observação se torna mais difícil, requerendo mais prática para esse tipo de avaliação. Observamos que pacientes do grupo controle apresentaram deslocamento de disco. Dessa maneira, consideramos um exame muito útil como auxiliar no diagnóstico da DTM, e com o desenvolvimento de novas terapias para doenças degenerativas e traumas na cartilagem, as imagens de RM com o uso de bobina microscópica são de crescente importância clínica e poderão desempenhar um papel importante na avaliação da eficácia dessas terapias. / Differences in thickness and regularity of the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) cartilage occur as the result of areas of growth or remodeling. This fact leads to misinterpretations on diagnosis and generally neglects the presence of fibrocartilage. The present study, using MRI microscopic coils, allows better observation of the articular cartilage. This evidence was confirmed by this study that examined 20 individuals (40 TMJ), divided into: symptomatic group with temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) of 10 patients (20 TMJ) presenting clinical complaint and TMD diagnosis; and the control group of 10 volunteers (20 TMJ) that were asymptomatic or who had no clinical signs and symptoms of TMD. On both groups were measured cartilage thickness and if the cartilage was regular or not. The oblique sagital MR images of weighted SPIR protons density (PD\'s) TMJ were able to show the best cartilage images either in the mandibles head or on the articular eminence providing measurements. Both groups presented no statistically significant differences regarding to thickness and the evaluation of the regularity presented the same result. The regularity of the cartilage generally was similar to the morphology of the cortical bone. In many cases, especially when the presence of anterior articular disc displacement, the evaluation was more difficult, requiring practice. The control group with asymptomatic patients was found also to have disc displacements. Thus, we review a very useful tool in the diagnosis of TMD and its importance to evaluate the cartilage to development new therapies for degenerative diseases and trauma. The MRI images with the use of microscopic coil are of increasing clinical importance and might play an important role in assessing the effectiveness of these therapies.

No presente estudo realizou-se a avaliação da eficácia do exame de imagem por ressonância magnética (IRM) e de reconstruções digitais bi e tridimensionais da ATM, em diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento. Foi criado um protocolo próprio de exame de IRM, o qual foi aplicado em embriões e fetos humanos, entre 22 a 160mm de comprimento céfalo-caudal (CRL), correspondendo da 7 a a 18 a semana de vida intra-uterina (IU). Em cada amostra foram realizadas duas seqüências de imagens sagitais da cabeça inteira, com distância de 1,0mm entre os cortes. Em seguida, as imagens foram intercaladas digitalmente, gerando uma seqüência de cortes de 0,5mm distância. Estas imagens foram importadas para um programa específico que realizou a reconstrução digital, criando modelos bi e tridimensionais. Para avaliar a formação e desenvolvimento das estruturas articulares de cada uma das amostras, foram realizados cortes histológicos da ATM. O exame histológico determinou o grau de maturação da ATM e a qualidade da matriz colágena presente. Os resultados demonstraram que o protocolo desenvolvido foi capaz de capturar e processar as imagens de IRM, principalmente após a 13 a semana de vida IU, em seu estágio de maturação articular. Os cortes histológicos comprovaram que, a partir desta fase, pode-se identificar melhor as estruturas articulares no exame de IRM devido a uma maior diferenciação celular e da matriz colágena, que passa de uma composição predominante de fibras colágenas tipo III para fibras do tipo I. A criação de modelos bi e tridimensionais mostrou ser uma ferramenta eficiente no diagnóstico do desenvolvimento facial, além de facilitar sua compreensão e aprendizado, embora ainda sejam necessários maiores avanços tecnológicos para a sua aplicação na formação das estruturas da ATM. / The present study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and bi and three-dimensional digital reconstructions of the TMJ in different stages of development, by the comparison with histological sections. A proper protocol of IRM examination was developed, which was applied in formalin-preserved human embryos and fetuses, ranging from 22 to 160mm of crown-rump length (CRL), between 7 and 18 weeks of intrauterine life (IU). Two sequences of sagital images of the entire head of each specimen were performed, with interslice gap of 1,0mm. Consequently, images were digitally intercalated, creating a slice sequence of 0,5mm of interslice gap. These images were imported to the MRIcro Ò program for bi and three-dimensional digital reconstruction. In order to evaluate the development of the articular structures of each one of the specimens, histological sections of the TMJ were obtained. The maturation’s degree and the quality of the collagen matrix of the TMJ were determined by the histological sections . The results showed that the developed protocol was capable of capture and process MR images, mainly in the articular maturation stage, after the 13 th week of IU. Histological findings also showed that articular structures are better identified in this stage by RMI examination. This can be explained due to an increase of cellular and collagen matrix differentiation, which undergoes conversion from collagen type III to type I. Bi and three-dimensional models seem to be an efficient tool for the diagnosis of facial development, facilitating its understanding and learning. Further studies and technological advances may be necessary for its application in TMJ’s structures in intrauterine period.

Os biomateriais podem ser definidos como substâncias de origem natural ou sintética que são tolerados de forma transitória ou permanente pelos diversos tecidos que constituem os órgãos dos seres vivos. Dentre esses biomateriais podemos citar o Agregado de Trióxido Mineral (ATM), que foi desenvolvido na Universidade de Loma Linda na década de 90. Desde então, não cessaram trabalhos de pesquisa envolvendo esse material e o Cimento Portland (CP); que embora não seja um material de uso odontológico direto, pode-se afirmar que possui basicamente os mesmos componentes químicos do ATM. O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi avaliar a biocompatibilidade do cimento Portland comum (CP-I) e do cimento Portland branco (CPB) não estrutural, incluídos na calvária de ratos. Foram selecionados vinte ratos, dois foram previamente utilizados como grupo piloto; os dezoito restantes foram distribuídos em três grupos de seis ratos que avaliados nos tempos experimentais de 30, 60, 90 dias foram mortos para análise histopatológica. Cada animal recebeu um implante, sendo três de Cimento Portland Comum (CP-I) e três de Cimento Portland Branco (CPB). Os resultados mostraram que não houve conseqüências de uma proliferação microbiológica em nenhum dos cimentos e tempos pesquisados. Observou-se tecido conjuntivo denso, celular e ricamente vascularizado. Também foi visualizado uma matriz óssea recém formada, adjacente aos osteoblastos ativos e que não estava ainda calcificada; apresentava-se menos mineralizada e com ausência de lamelas. Durantes os tempos histológicos de 30, 60 e 90 dias, o infiltrado inflamatório disperso no tecido apresentou-se: intenso, moderado e discreto. Sugerindo a mudança do processo inflamatório de agudo a crônico respectivamente / The biomaterials can be defined as substances of natural or synthetic origin that are tolerated on a temporary or permanent by the various tissues that make up the organs of living beings. Among these biomaterials can quote the mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), which was developed at the University of Loma Linda, in the 90s. Since then, it stopped work on research involving this material and Portland cement (PC), which although not a dental material to use direct, one can say that basically has the same chemical components of the ATM. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of common Portland cement (PC-I) and the white Portland cement (CPB) no structural, included in the skull of rats. Twenty rats were selected, two were previously used as a pilot group and the eighteen others were divided into three groups of six rats that were killed and evaluated in experimental stroke, 30, 60, and 90 days. Each animal received an implant, three of Common Portland Cement (PC-I) and three of White Portland Cement (CPB). The results show that there were no consequences of a microbial proliferation in any of cement and times searched. There was also the formation of bone tissue with characteristics of immaturity, showing gaps in some areas without osteocytes; presence of moderate and cell tissue, richly vascularized, showing characteristics of biocompatibility, and the potential for bone and cell differentiation.

As air traffic is forecasted to increase, air traffic control software subsequently needs to be more sophisticated. To efficiently push development forward, testing is important in order to determine usability. The tests need to be adapted to fit a particular purpose and carried out with methods that preserve the validity of the results. This thesis describes an implementation project carried out at the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre, Bretigny-sur-Orge, France. The purpose of the project is to create an application that enables a user to create datasets of air traffic to be used for these tests. The application allows for manual work or bulk imports from external data sources. Furthermore it compiles scenarios as output datasets intended for prototype air traffic control software developed at Linköping University. The application design rationale and development process is described. Some time is spent on demonstrating the flexibility of the application and how its usage fits in a bigger picture.

Today the utilization of all kind of multimedia services in networks increases and due to this demand for real-time communication gets higher for every day. One of the most common protocols used today is Ethernet. It is of interest to find real-time protocols that are useful together with already existing protocols since it is expensive to rebuild the network infrastructure. Several new protocols have been proposed to solve the upcoming problems. The objective of this project is to make an inventory and a comparison between Ethernet and these new protocols. During this project four different protocols capability to fulfill the demands for real-time communication have been studied and compared with Ethernet. Three of the protocols are built on the same basic technique as Ethernet and these are PCSMA, CSMA-DCR and DOD-CSMA-CD. The fourth protocol is ATM and it transmits in a different way over communication networks. The analysis of this project is pointing out advantages, similarities and differences between the protocols from a real-time perspective. All four protocols are more suitable for real-time requirements than Ethernet.

Abstract Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 explain only about 20% of familial aggregation of breast cancer, suggesting involvement of additional susceptibility genes. In this study five DNA damage response genes, ATM, ATR, MRE11, NBS1 and RAD50, were considered as putative candidates to explain some of the remaining familial breast cancer risk, and were screened for germline mutations in families displaying genetic predisposition. Analysis of ATM indicated that clearly pathogenic mutations seem to be restricted to those reported in ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). However, a cancer risk modifying effect was suggested for a combination of two ATM polymorphisms, 5557G>A and IVS38-8T>C, as this allele seemed to associate with bilateral breast cancer (OR 10.2, 95% CI 3.1–33.8, p = 0.001). The relevance of ATM mutations, originally identified in Finnish A-T patients, in breast cancer susceptibility was evaluated by a large case-control study. Two such alleles, 6903insA and 7570G>C, in addition to 8734A>G previously associated with breast cancer susceptibility, were observed. The overall mutation frequency in unselected cases (7/1124) was higher than in controls (1/1107), but a significantly elevated frequency was observed only in familial cases (6/541, p = 0.006, OR 12.4, 95% CI 1.5–103.3). These three mutations showed founder effects in their geographical occurrence, and had different functional consequences at protein level. In ATR no disease-related mutations were observed, suggesting that it is not a breast cancer susceptibility gene. The mutation screening of the Mre11 complex genes, MRE11, NBS1 and RAD50, revealed two novel potentially breast cancer associated alleles: NBS1 Leu150Phe and RAD50 687delT were observed in 2.0% (3/151) of the studied families. The subsequent study of newly diagnosed, unselected breast cancer cases indicated that RAD50 687delT is a relatively common low-penetrance susceptibility allele in Northern Finland (cases 8/317 vs. controls 6/1000, OR 4.3, 95% CI 1.5–12.5, p = 0.008). NBS1 Leu150Phe (2/317) together with a novel RAD50 IVS3-1G>A mutation (1/317) was also observed, both being absent from controls. Loss of the wild-type allele was not observed in the tumors of the studied mutation carriers, but they all showed an increase in chromosomal instability of peripheral T-lymphocytes. This suggests an effect for RAD50 and NBS1 haploinsufficiency on genomic integrity and susceptibility to cancer.

Abstract The current Internet infrastructure must be architected to handle future media-rich, and content rich applications. The success of applications such as video-on-demand, multicast and content distribution depends on Quality of Service and bandwidth guarantees. Over the years, the Internet has encompassed many changes in traffic profiles and applications, in bandwidths and utilization, but the future Internet infrastructure necessitates a very different architecture supporting Quality of Service (QoS). A satellite, distinguished by features such as global coverage, bandwidth flexibility, broadcast, multicast, and reliability, is an excellent candidate to provide broadband integrated Internet access. The aim of this thesis is to explore suitability of satellite technologies for broadband Internet services with significant emphasis on the question of defining, assessing, and developing QoS models for satellite ATM and IP broadband networks with and without onboard processing. For the satellite Internet, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) performance is degraded due to long propagation delays, link errors, and bandwidth asymmetry. In this thesis, for satellite ATM, fundamental questions such as buffer requirements, TCP/ATM efficiency, fairness, and multiple access are addressed through extensive simulations in a quantitative way. Buffer designs for TCP over satellite ATM Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) service are performed. A buffer size equal to half the round trip delay-bandwidth product of the TCP connections provides high efficiency for TCP over satellite UBR. An extensive TCP analysis via simulation study for various TCP mechanisms and end system policies show that for satellite environment end system policies are more important than switch drop policies in terms of efficiency and fairness for World Wide Web traffic. A bandwidth allocation scheme is proposed and analytical model for supporting voice and video service over a broadband satellite network is developed. The study results demonstrate that non-contiguous allocation can afford higher gain in uplink utilizations. In this thesis, for the first time, Integrated Services and Differentiated Services based QoS architectures for broadband satellite IP networks are proposed and analyzed. In multimedia applications where User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is used along with TCP, a fair excess bandwidth allocation is not possible because TCP is congestion sensitive whereas UDP is congestion insensitive. An extensive simulation model is developed to study the effect of precedence levels for reserved rate utilization and fairness with different buffer management policies. The simulation results indicate that three levels of precedence are required for better utilization. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) over Satellite network has been proposed and a simulation model developed to study the throughput performance impacts for TCP and UDP. The traffic engineering of MPLS facilitates efficient and reliable network design to optimize the utilization of network resources and enhance the network QoS. A novel Code Division Multiple Access based Spread ALOHA single code multiple access scheme for broadband satellite return channel is proposed as an alternative to Multifrequency-Time Division Multiple Access based Digital Video Broadcasting-Return Channel via Satellite protocol. It is shown through Monte Carlo simulations that throughput for Spread ALOHA One Long Code equivalent to packet length, is better than Spread ALOHA One Code in which spreading sequence repeats every symbol. The reduction of throughput due to multi-user interference for different number of users is shown. Further research on QoS architectures, performance models for TCP enhancements, interworking functions, interoperability, and standardization efforts is included.