Thesis (D. Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-132).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Colorado, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-118). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Colorado, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-118).

Memristor-based neural networks refer to the utilisation of memristors, the newly emerged nanoscale devices, in building neural networks. The memristor was first postulated by Leon Chua in 1971 as the fourth fundamental passive circuit element and experimentally validated by one of HP labs in 2008. Memristors, short for memory-resistor, have a peculiar memory effect which distinguishes them from resistors. By applying a bias voltage across it, the resistance of a memristor, namely memristance, is changed. In addition, the memristance is retained when the power supply is removed which demonstrates the non-volatility of the memristor. Memristor-based neural networks are currently being researched in order to replace complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices in neuromorphic circuits with memristors and to investigate their potential applications. Current research primarily focuses on the utilisation of memristors as synaptic connections between neurons, however in any application it may be possible to allow memristors to perform computation in a natural way which attempts to avoid additional CMOS devices. Examples of such methods utilised in neural networks are presented in this thesis, such as memristor-based cellular neural network (CNN) structures, the memristive spiking-time dependent plasticity (STDP) model and the exploration of their potential applications. This thesis presents manifold studies in the topic of memristor-based neural networks from theories and feasibility to approaches to implementations. Studies are divided into two parts which are the utilisation of memristors in non-spiking neural networks and spiking neural networks (SNNs). At the beginning of the thesis, fundamentals of neural networks and memristors are explored with the analysis of the physical properties and $v-i$ behaviour of memristors. In the studies of memristor-based non-spiking neural networks, a staircase memristor model is presented based on memristors which have multi-level resistive states and the delayed-switching effect. This model is adapted to CNNs and echo state networks (ESNs) as applications that benefit from memristive implementations. In the studies of memristor-based SNNs, a trace-based memristive STDP model is proposed and discussed to overcome the incompatibility issues of the previous model with all-to-all spike interaction. The work also presents applications of the trace-based memristive model in associative learning with retention loss and supervised learning. The computational results of experiments with different applications have shown that memristor-based neural networks will be advantageous in building synchronous or asynchronous parallel neuromorphic systems. The work presents several new findings on memristor modelling, memristor-based neural network structures and memristor-based associative learning. These studies address unexplored research areas in the context of memristor-based neural networks to the best of our knowledge, and therefore form original contributions.

La thèse explore les œuvres de Blaise Cendrars, de Victor Segalen et d’Albert Londres sous l’angle de « l’éclat du voyage » et se propose d’analyser les effets produits par la présence du voyage sur un plan diégétique, métadiégétique et stylistique. Chez ces trois auteurs, la notion de voyage dépasse en effet sa vocation thématique pour se faire véritable matière à travailler le langage, le texte et atteindre la sphère de la littérarité en exerçant sur le texte une menace d’éclatement. Le texte affecté par le voyage, loin d’être mis en péril, s’inscrit ainsi dans une modernité littéraire : en prenant le risque, par le détour du voyage, d’une écriture déformant, re-formant, re-définissant la littérature, les trois œuvres examinées illuminent quelques chemins de traverse dans lesquels s’engagent œuvres et critiques contemporaines. Cette étude interroge les premiers écrits de Cendrars (1912-1938) en explorant par quelles voies la présence conjointe du motif du voyage et de l’éclatement conduit à la création d’une représentation fractale du monde. La mise en évidence de trajectoires chaotiques des personnages cendrarsiens au cœur d’un monde ontologiquement fracturé permet l’édification textuelle d’une « anarchitecture » poétique et moderne. L’examen du cycle polynésien de Segalen met en évidence la présence du voyage comme le résultat d’un écart désirant, véritable menace de déchirure entre l’ici et l’ailleurs, soi et l’autre, soi et soi. Cet écart aboutit, à travers une présence textuelle, à la formation d’une poétique littéraire de la diffraction, poussant ainsi l’œuvre aux limites d’un hors-littérature. Enfin, à travers l’étude des reportages d’Albert Londres, la thèse montre comment l’écriture du voyage trouve un regain de force par le détour du reportage.

In this Thesis we explore the problem of structural alignment of protein molecules using statistical shape analysis techniques. The structural alignment problem can be divided into three smaller ones: the representation of protein structures, the sampling of possible alignments between the molecules and the evaluation of a given alignment. Previous work done in this field, can be divided in two approaches: an adhoc algorithmic approach from the Bioinformatics literature and an approach using statistical methods either in a likelihood or Bayesian framework. Both approaches address the problem from a different scope. For example, the algorithmic approach is easy to implement but lacks an overall modelling framework, and the Bayesian address this issue but sometimes the implementation is not straightforward. We develop a method which is easy to implement and is based on statistical assumptions. In order to asses the quality of a given alignment we use a size and shape likelihood density which is based in the structure information of the molecules. This likelihood density is also extended to include sequence infor- mation and gap penalty parameters so that biologically meaningful solution can be produced. Furthermore, we develop a search algorithm to explore possible alignments from a given starting point. The results suggest that our approach produces better or equal alignments when it is compared to the most recent struc- tural alignment methods. In most of the cases we managed to achieve a higher number of matched atoms combined with a high TMscore. Moreover, we extended our method using Bayesian techniques to perform alignments based on posterior modes. In our approach, we estimate directly the mode of the posterior distribution which provides the final alignment between two molecules. We also, choose a different approach for treating the mean parameter. In previous methods the mean was either integrated out of the likelihood density or considered as fixed. We choose to assign a prior over it and obtain its posterior mode. Finally, we consider an extension of the likelihood model assuming a Normal density for both the matched and unmatched parts of a molecule and diagonal covariance structure. We explore two different variants. In the first we consider a fixed zero mean for the unmatched parts of the molecules and in the second we consider a common mean for both the matched and unmatched parts. Based on simulated and real results, both models seems to perform well in obtaining high number of matched atoms and high TMscore.

This thesis examines how the Spanish film legislation that was passed between 1982 and 2010 has shaped the production, circulation and reception of contemporary Spanish cinema. The study of film legislation is crucial to understanding how the cultural value of contemporary Spanish cinema is created since laws are the main instrument through which the Spanish state has established the funding policies directed towards the production of films. Owing to the weak nature of the Spanish production sector since its inception, and the lack of private investment, the Spanish state, and, since 1999, the public and private television companies, have been the major financial support for the production of films. Furthermore, film legislation itself defines the type of films that are considered to be worthy enough to receive state funding, and, therefore, the type of films promoted by the state to be nationally consumed and internationally exported. Consequently, it is essential to understand why and how the funding policies have been established, by whom, and towards the support of what type of films. My thesis' argues that film legislation should be regarded as the key instrument through which a state tries to regulate the national film industry. It is nonetheless necessary to point out that the Spanish case is more complex, since film legislation has also been mainly enacted to solve the Spanish film industry's endemic problems. More importantly, my thesis' main contention is that film legislation has to be regarded as the site in which the debate about the type of cinema wanted for the nation acquires its main expression. In order to critically address the political, economic and cultural functions of the different funding policies established between 1982 and 2010 my thesis is informed by Pierre Bourdieu's theory of cultural production; in particular, on his notions of field, capital and habitus as specifically stated in Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgements of Taste ([1984] 2010) and The Rules of Art ([1996] 2012). Through this theoretical framework, my thesis argues that film legislation does not emerge in a vacuum because the laws respond to different demands from those involved in creating the cultural value of Spanish cinema: the policymakers in charge of the film policies, the film professionals, and, to a lesser extent, the key film critics. My thesis accounts for the ways in which the cultural value of these films has been created by locating and interrogating the main demands of the type of films regarded to be worthy of the state financial support and by pointing out who have raised them; secondly, it identifies whether those demands have been enshrined in the laws and it demonstrates the ways in which the interests of those involved in the creation of the cultural value of Spanish films have informed the funding policies set by the laws. Thirdly, it provides an understanding of how the key policymakers have acquired their ideas about cinema and how those ideas have been reflected in the laws. Finally, through four case studies, my thesis analyses the modes of cinematic production that those funding policies have led to and the types of films that they have fostered.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2015-10-23T12:19:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DanielPauloDeAndradeSilva_DISSERT.pdf: 17808940 bytes, checksum: edf3523e7135ef718ad85bc4a273a7dc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Elisangela Moura (lilaalves@gmail.com) on 2015-10-23T12:44:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DanielPauloDeAndradeSilva_DISSERT.pdf: 17808940 bytes, checksum: edf3523e7135ef718ad85bc4a273a7dc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-23T12:44:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DanielPauloDeAndradeSilva_DISSERT.pdf: 17808940 bytes, checksum: edf3523e7135ef718ad85bc4a273a7dc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-05 / O seguinte trabalho apresenta como tema a seguran?a contra inc?ndio aplicada a uma edifica??o de interesse hist?rico, sendo proposto o anteprojeto arquitet?nico de reuso do antigo Grupo Escolar Augusto Severo, localizado na cidade de Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, como pano de fundo para esta discuss?o. A proposta arquitet?nica contempla a instala??o do Centro de Extens?o, Cidadania e Cultura da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte na referida edifica??o e, partiu de uma demanda real da institui??o que na data da pesquisa desenvolvia o mesmo projeto em seu ?mbito t?cnico-administrativo. No desenvolvimento do trabalho ? proposto a aplica??o da legisla??o local de prote??o e combate contra inc?ndio e tamb?m a an?lise de risco de inc?ndio proposta pela metodologia do Programa Monumenta, a qual ? adotada pelo Instituto do Patrim?nio Hist?rico e Art?stico Nacional (IPHAN) atrav?s dos seus Cadernos T?cnicos. As duas quest?es apresentadas se diferem por se tratar a primeira de um modelo tradicional e prescritivo (aplica??o estrita da lei), e a segunda de um modelo n?o prescritivo que procura crit?rios de desempenho da edifica??o para elencar as medidas de prote??o a serem adotadas, portanto, o trabalho procura abranger na situa??o de projeto proposta tanto as quest?es legais, como tamb?m considerando o real risco que a edifica??o apresenta (de acordo com a metodologia escolhida). Estes riscos, no caso de pr?dios hist?ricos, podem ser maiores que os normalmente associado as edifica??es contempor?neas devido a uma s?rie de fatores, tais como a baixa compartimenta??o, falta de prote??o passiva, uso de materiais com maior poder de combust?o e adapta??es diversas decorrente dos usos que a edifica??o apresentou ao longo de seu tempo. Ap?s esta an?lise de risco ser? desenvolvido tanto o anteprojeto arquitet?nico como o projeto b?sico de combate contra inc?ndio, em conson?ncia com as interfer?ncias e demandas geradas pela quest?o da seguran?a contra inc?ndio e p?nico na edifica??o de interesse patrimonial.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2016-05-10T23:15:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LaurencioMenezesDeAquino_DISSERT.pdf: 3273680 bytes, checksum: 4982fedac0d5976934573b82309d6f08 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-05-18T00:03:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 LaurencioMenezesDeAquino_DISSERT.pdf: 3273680 bytes, checksum: 4982fedac0d5976934573b82309d6f08 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-18T00:03:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LaurencioMenezesDeAquino_DISSERT.pdf: 3273680 bytes, checksum: 4982fedac0d5976934573b82309d6f08 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-14 / A legisla??o aplicada ? Seguran?a Contra Inc?ndio nas edifica??es e ?reas de risco no Rio Grande do Norte, promulgada h? mais de quarenta anos, carece de um aprofundado estudo no sentido de atualiza??o do seu texto ? luz das novas concep??es decorrentes do desenvolvimento cient?fico e tecnol?gico da seguran?a contra inc?ndio e das medidas para controle de p?nico. As exig?ncias atualmente aplicadas pelo Corpo de Bombeiros do Estado n?o est?o em conson?ncia com a legisla??o aprovada, suscitando muitas d?vidas e questionamentos entre projetistas e demais profissionais que atuam nesta ?rea. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo apresentar a proposta de uma nova legisla??o de Seguran?a Contra Inc?ndio e P?nico para o Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, elaborado atrav?s do estudo da legisla??o e normas t?cnicas relacionadas ? prote??o contra inc?ndio no Brasil e em outros pa?ses. Nesse sentido, foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliogr?fica e documental com especial enfoque ? legisla??o aplicada nos estados brasileiros, notadamente onde a seguran?a contra inc?ndio alcan?ou maior n?vel de desenvolvimento. Tamb?m foi aplicado um question?rio aos Corpos de Bombeiros de todo o pa?s, visando apresentar um diagn?stico da atual situa??o da legisla??o de Seguran?a Contra Inc?ndio no Brasil. Constatou-se que ainda existe uma grande defasagem quanto ao n?vel de exig?ncia de requisitos de prote??o contra inc?ndio em grande parte dos estados brasileiros, existindo uma tend?ncia na ado??o de Instru??es T?cnicas elaboradas pelo Corpo de Bombeiros do estado de S?o Paulo, o que j? se tornou realidade em muitos estados, uma vez que n?o existe uma legisla??o aplicada em ?mbito nacional. / The law applied to fire safety in buildings and hazardous areas in Rio Grande do Norte was enacted for over forty years. Thus lacks updates of your text in the light of new concepts resulting from scientific and technological development of fire safety and measures to control panic. The requirements currently applied by the state fire department are not in line with the approved legislation, raising many doubts and questions among designers and other professionals working in this area. In this scenario, this study aims to present a proposal for new rules of fire safety and panic to the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The proposal was drawn up based on the laws of other states, especially where fire safety achieved higher level of development, and was based on technical standards related to fire protection in Brazil and other countries. It was also applied a questionnaire to Fire Stations across the country, aiming to present a diagnosis of the current state of fire safety legislation in Brazil. It was found that there is still a large gap in the level of demand for fire protection requirements in most Brazilian states, there is a tendency in the adoption of technical instructions drawn up by the Fire Department of S?o Paulo, which already It came true in many states, since there is no legislation applied nationwide. This research supported the study commission appointed by the General of Rio Grande do Fire Brigade North Commander in proposing a bill to upgrade the fire safety standards for the Rio Grande do Norte.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2017-09-04T21:06:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ArturHenriqueSouzaSaldanha_DISSERT.pdf: 2798754 bytes, checksum: 3d0f4758fb9c195e823f40a6600942b8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-09-06T22:40:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ArturHenriqueSouzaSaldanha_DISSERT.pdf: 2798754 bytes, checksum: 3d0f4758fb9c195e823f40a6600942b8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-06T22:40:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArturHenriqueSouzaSaldanha_DISSERT.pdf: 2798754 bytes, checksum: 3d0f4758fb9c195e823f40a6600942b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-17 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (CAPES) / Os extintores de combate a inc?ndio s?o equipamentos importantes que auxiliam no combate ao fogo. No intuito de maximizar a preven??o e minimizar os impactos oriundos de poss?veis sinistros, os extintores devem se encontrar com a recarga v?lida e n?o devem possuir nenhum tipo de avaria ou irregularidade que possa afetar seu desempenho durante o uso. Atualmente a maioria das ind?strias, com?rcios, laborat?rios e entre outros, n?o possuem um controle eficiente de todos os extintores de inc?ndio, pois ainda se utilizam como maneira de controle o aux?lio de planilhas manuais. A partir de estudo realizado, foi caracterizada a necessidade de se criar um sistema que fosse capaz de gerenciar as manuten??es dos extintores quanto a: vencimento das recargas, validade do teste hidrost?tico, irregularidades encontradas e que otimizasse o tempo de inspe??o. O software S.G.I realiza o gerenciamento das manuten??es dos extintores, utilizando-se de tecnologias Web e Mobile associadas a uma base de dados de geolocaliza??o dos extintores. A programa??o da parte Web foi desenvolvida atrav?s da linguagem PHP, com uso do framework gratuito denominado CakePHP. J? para o desenvolvimento do aplicativo mobile, foi utilizado a linguagem HTML5, CSS3 e JavaScript em um ambiente de desenvolvimento h?brido, que permite a constru??o e utiliza??o do aplicativo para multi-plataformas, sem que haja perda de desempenho para o usu?rio. Para realizar o teste do sistema desenvolvido, foi escolhido o laborat?rio de produ??o de medicamentos NUPLAM localizado na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), em virtude do grau de risco existente devido a manipula??o de compostos inflam?veis. / Fire extinguishers are important equipment that help in the fight against fire. In order to maximize prevention and minimize impacts from possible accidents, extinguishers must meet valid recharge and must not have any type of malfunction or irregularity that may affect their performance during use. Currently most industries, shops, laboratories and others, do not have an efficient control of all fire extinguishers, as the use of manual spreadsheets is still used as a control. From the study carried out, it was characterized the need to create a system that could manage the maintenance of extinguishers as to: expiration of the recharges, validity of the hydrostatic test, irregularities found and that optimized the time of inspection. S.G.I software manages fire extinguisher maintenance, using Web and Mobile technologies associated with a geolocation database of fire extinguishers. The programming of the Web part was developed through the PHP language, using the free framework called CakePHP. As for the development of the mobile application, HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript were used in a hybrid development environment, which allows the construction and use of the application for multi-platforms, without loss of performance for the user. To carry out the test of the developed system, the NUPLAM drug production laboratory located at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) was chosen because of the degree of risk that exists due to the handling of flammable compounds.