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The use of base isolation to help mitigate and reduce the effects of earthquake excitations has become common place on many important structures. There is also a larger amount of heavier machinery and equipment being stored in some of these important structures; this means that there is a possibility that there are mass irregularities with in a structure. While the response of structures that have been base isolated has been studied they are typically design with floors having a uniform mass. This thesis investigates how mass irregularities affect the response of the floor accelerations and interstorey drifts within a flexural structure with and without a base isolation unit. The ductility demand of the isolator unit is also investigated at during the course of the analysis. The reason for observing the response of the structure is because often in building design there is a need to have floors that have larger masses then the rest of the structure, and understanding how these mass irregularities affect the response of the structure, then the designing of such structures will be simpler during the initial concept stage.

This study was initiated to quantify the effect of different degrees of irregularity on structures designed for earthquake using simplified analysis. The types of irregularity considered were: (a) Vertical Irregularity • Mass • Stiffness -Strength (b) Horizontal (Plan) Irregularity • Diaphragm Flexibility Simple models were used to allow many analyses to be conducted in a relatively short time. For vertical irregularity studies, simple shear-type structures were designed according to the New Zealand design Standard, NZS1170.5, firstly as regular structures, and then they were redesigned as irregular structures to the same target drift. Both regular and irregular structures were then subjected to a suite of records, and vertical irregularity effects evaluated from the difference in response. For the flexible diaphragm effect study, simple models of structures were developed with: (a) a rigid diaphragm assumption; and (b) a flexible diaphragm assumption. Flexible diaphragm effects were evaluated by conducting time-history analyses and comparing the responses of structures with rigid and flexible diaphragms. A mechanics based approach was developed to quantify flexible diaphragm effects, which was shown to produce consistent results with those from time-history analyses. Relationships between the degree of irregularity and the change in behaviour were developed. This information facilitates designers and plan checkers to rapidly evaluate the likely effect of irregularity on structures. It provides guidance as to: (a) when the effect of structural irregularity can be ignored, and (b) the change in demands for different degrees of structural irregularity. The relations developed also provide a rigorous technical basis for future regularity provisions in the NZS1170.5 and other world-wide seismic design codes.

The Dominican Order gradually evolved rules governing contact between a Dominican pastor and a woman penitent. In the context of these rules, the care given to Catherine of Siena as reported by Raymund of Capua and as confirmed in the letters of Catherine herself can only be termed irregular. The paper attempts to identify the principles underlying and legitimating pastoral irregularity.

<p> The steady state response for models of an actual six-axle locomotive running on a sinusoidally irregular track is investigated. Three mathematical models are set up, a simplified model which assumed no springing or damping of trucks or motors, and no creep forces, a full model for the "stationary" vehicle in which creep forces are assumed negligible and a full model for the "moving" vehicle, which creep forces, gravity stiffness effects and wheel tread profiles are considered. </p> <p> The steady state response of the vehicle components to varying input frequencies is calculated and the response curves are computer plotted in each case. The natural frequencies for the simplified and the full model are also calculated. For the "moving" vehicle responses for the cases of new and worn wheels are obtained. Effect of creep and wheel tread profiles is studied. </p> The accuracy with which each of the devised models describe the performance of the real railway vehicle is compared. A discussion of the conclusions drawn from the analysis, including the applications to the design of high speed railway vehicles is given. Much attention was devoted to the development and testing of five computer programs for which simplified flow charts are given in Appendix V. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:40:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TIAGO LEVERGGER PICCIRILLI.pdf: 1547203 bytes, checksum: e65b171ba35efb72a84100fe0a5088d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-23 / The Public Administration is responsible for the institution, receiving and control of taxes paid by taxpayers. This feature is indispensable to maintenance of its administrative structure and establishment public policies. To improve the control performed by the administration, it s necessary to invest in new technologies since the inspection department constantly receives large data movement economic and regularization of taxpayers. The current computational resources store information with a larger human perception of manipulation and knowledge extraction. In this context, appears in science an area called data mining, specific to extract unknown patterns and knowledge through databases. This study aimed to develop a model to classify taxpayers Tax Services (ISS) which showed some irregularity, with resources and techniques of data mining. The study was performed in the city of Goiania in finance secretary specifically of the Department of Revenue, covering the scenario presented in the year 2011. Among the models built with decision tree algorithm, presented as a result, the classification of irregular contributors with a hit rate of 92,03%. / A administração pública é responsável pela instituição, recebimento e controle de tributos pagos pelos contribuintes. Este recurso é imprescindível para manutenção de sua estrutura administrativa e estabelecimento de políticas públicas. Para aperfeiçoar o controle realizado pela administração é necessário investimento em novas tecnologias, visto que o departamento de fiscalização recebe constantemente inúmeros dados da movimentação econômica dos contribuintes e de regularização cadastral. Os recursos computacionais atuais armazenam informações com capacidade superior à condição humana de manipulação e extração de conhecimento. Nesse contexto, surge na ciência uma área denominada Mineração de Dados, especifica para extrair conhecimento e padrões desconhecidos por meio de bases de dados. Este trabalho apresenta um modelo para classificar os contribuintes do Imposto Sobre Serviços de Qualquer Natureza (ISS) que apresentaram alguma irregularidade, de posse dos recursos e técnicas da mineração. O trabalho foi realizado no Município de Goiânia na Secretaria de Finanças especificamente no departamento de Arrecadação, abrangendo o cenário apresentado no ano de 2011. Entre os modelos construídos com algoritmo de árvore de decisão, apresentou como resultado, a classificação dos contribuintes irregulares com um índice de acertos de 92,03%.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the likelihood of self-reporting a diagnosis for PCOS with the presentation of menstrual irregularity in a diverse, multiethnic population, based on data collected between August 9th, 2017 and October 24th, 2017 for the pilot of the Ovulation and Menstruation (OM) Study at Boston University School of Medicine. BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is the most common endocrine disorder among reproductive age women. It is typically diagnosed by variable combinations of menstrual irregularity, clinical or biochemical hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries on ultrasound. An alternative is its diagnosis as one of exclusion due to similarities in presentation to other endocrine disorders. As a result, PCOS may often be misdiagnosed and mismanaged in the course of a patient’s care, further exacerbated by a poor understanding of the syndrome, a lack of easily available resources, and patient frustration with clinician interactions. The early identification of key hallmarks of the disorder, such as menstrual irregularity, and awareness of its linkage to PCOS, could lead to early diagnosis and intervention. METHODS: 248 participants enrolled and participated in the Ovulation and Menstruation (OM) Health Study’s as members of its pilot cohort. Inclusion criteria were women ages 18-45 currently experiencing menstrual periods without a history of chemotherapy, radiation, or surgical menopause. Participants completed the relevant sections of the OM Study survey related to demographics, menstrual cycle patterns, and history of PCOS. Demographic questions pertained to the age, race/ethnicity, country of birth, and education levels of the participants. The menstrual cycle questions provided information regarding the age of menarche, length and pattern of menses and the menstrual cycle overall. The questions regarding history of PCOS ascertained the presence of an official or self-diagnosis for PCOS for the participant, and the age at which this was determined. The descriptive measures were presented for comparison before determining the concurrence of the presence of menstrual irregularity and the diagnosis of PCOS across demographic categories and calculating an associated prevalence ratio. RESULTS: Among women reporting a history of menstrual irregularity for 3 months or greater, PCOS was the second-highest self-reported cause for menstrual irregularity, with 20.7% of participants endorsing it as the cause for their irregularity. The presence of menstrual irregularity for 3 or more months was also more likely to be present in concurrence with a clinician diagnosis, or to a lesser extent, a self-diagnosis, for PCOS. Participants were also far more likely to have a clinician diagnosis for PCOS if they were White, US-born, young, or educated. The same applied for the likelihood of a self-diagnosis with the exception of age. CONCLUSIONS: The association between menstrual cycle irregularities and likelihood of being diagnosed with PCOS is supported by the data and appears to be influenced by demographic factors such as race/ethnicity, age, and education.

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-10-09T15:00:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LENICE SILVA - DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGRN) 2018.pdf: 1716487 bytes, checksum: 5ab6867163fdb29ffc164b11f5c6a772 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-09T15:00:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LENICE SILVA - DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGRN) 2018.pdf: 1716487 bytes, checksum: 5ab6867163fdb29ffc164b11f5c6a772 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06 / O objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi avaliar a sustentabilidade da caprinocultura nos municípios de São João do Cariri e São José dos Cordeiros, estado da Paraíba, fazendo-se o uso da metodologia MESMIS. Na pesquisa foram realizadas visitas em 30 propriedades localizadas nos municípios supracitados, na região semiárida do Estado, nos meses de junho e julho de 2017, utilizando-se questionários semiestruturados junto ao público alvo, os produtores de caprinos. A metodologia adotada foi proposta pela ferramenta MESMIS, que permitiu avaliar a sustentabilidade dos agroecossistemas considerando aspectos: ambientais sociais e econômicos dos produtores e suas famílias que tem na caprinocultura, a principal atividade produtiva. Os dados obtidos foram analisados por meio da estatística de análise multivariada, submetidas à distribuição de frequência, análise de correspondência múltipla e de agrupamento. A utilização da metodologia MESMIS permitiu a utilização de indicadores que possibilitaram a avaliação da sustentabilidade dos agroecossistemas desenvolvidos nas unidades de produção em caráter familiar que foram o objeto de estudo dessa pesquisa a partir de uma visão holística considerando fatores relacionados não só as questões sociais como também ambientais e econômicas. Possibilitando a observação dos pontos positivos e negativos da atividade produtiva estudada e as medidas tomadas no intuito de promover um desenvolvimento mais sustentável da mesma. A partir dos fatores elencados em cada uma das três categorias, foi possível observar que mesmo diante da escassez hídrica vivenciada pelos os municípios estudados, nos últimos anos, os produtores vêm caminhando em direção da sustentabilidade dos agroecossistemas, a partir da superação das limitações que se apresentaram em cada categoria analisada. / The general objective of this research was to evaluate the sustainability of goat breeding in the municipalities of São João do Cariri and São José dos Cordeiros, state of Paraíba, using the MESMIS methodology. In the survey, visits were made to 30 properties located in the aforementioned municipalities, in the semi-arid region of the State, in the months of June and July 2017, using semi-structured questionnaires with the target public, goat producers. The methodology adopted was proposed by the MESMIS tool, which allowed the evaluation of the sustainability of agroecosystems considering the social and economic environmental aspects of the producers and their families that have the main production activity in goat farming. The data obtained were analyzed using multivariate analysis statistics, submitted to frequency distribution, multiple correspondence analysis and clustering. The use of the MESMIS methodology allowed the use of indicators that enabled the evaluation of the sustainability of the agroecosystems developed in the family units that were the object of study of this research from a holistic view considering factors related not only to social issues but also environmental and economic conditions. Making it possible to observe the positive and negative points of the productive activity studied and the measures taken in order to promote a more sustainable development of the same. Based on the factors listed in each of the three categories, it was possible to observe that even in the face of the water scarcity experienced by the studied municipalities, in recent years, farmers have been moving toward the sustainability of agroecosystems, by overcoming the limitations that presented in each category analyzed.

O objetivo principal deste estudo foi investigar o efeito da posição de coordenação, proposta no método da coordenação motora de Piret e Béziers (1992), na resposta de torque em preensão digital. Dezesseis jovens adultos (24,7 ± 2,2 anos de idade) foram solicitados a realizar duas tarefas distintas: produção de torque máximo em preensão digital e controle de torque em preensão digital constante e contínuo. Ambas as tarefas foram avaliadas em quatro diferentes posições do cotovelo (posição livre, em extensão, 45º de flexão e 90º de flexão) e três níveis relativos distintos de torque máximo (20%, 40% e 60%). Pique do torque máximo, variabilidade, irregularidade e precisão da resposta motora foram utilizados como variáveis dependentes. Os resultados não revelaram efeito da posição do cotovelo na produção de torque em preensão digital máximo e nem na resposta de controle de torque em preensão digital. Todavia, a resposta de controle de torque mostrou-se mais variável, mais irregular e menos precisa com o incremento dos níveis relativos de torque máximo. Tais achados não oferecem suporte à premissa do método da coordenação motora, o qual preconiza a existência de uma posição articular ótima do membro superior para a coordenação e controle motor. Além disso, os resultados permitem a constatação de que maiores níveis de torque demandam ajustes neuromotores mais complexos no sistema sensório-motor, todavia a posição do cotovelo parece não caracterizar-se como uma restrição determinante da tarefa de torque em preensão digital. / The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the coordination position, proposed by the coordination method (Piret & Bézier, 1992), on the thumb-index torque production. Sixteen young adults (24,7 ± 2,2 years old) were asked to perform two different tasks: Maximum thumb-index torque production and constant thumb-index torque. Both tasks were evaluated in four different elbow positions (free position, extension, 45º of flexion and 90º of flexion) and three relative levels of maximum thumb-index torque production (20%, 40% & 60%). Maximum peak torque, variability, irregularity and accuracy were used as dependent variables. The results showed neither effects of the elbow position on the maximum thumb-index torque production nor in the constant thumb-index torque task. However, the constant thumb-index torque responses were more variable, more irregular and less accurate with increased relative levels of the thumb-index torque production. These findings do not support the coordination method premise that we have an optimum upper-limb position which provides a better coordination and motor control. Furthermore, the results allow the interpretation that larger level of the thumb-index torque production demands more complex neuromuscular adjustments of the motor-sensory system; however, the elbow position does not appear to be a determinant constraint during a thumb-index torque task.

O objetivo principal deste estudo foi investigar o efeito da posição de coordenação, proposta no método da coordenação motora de Piret e Béziers (1992), na resposta de torque em preensão digital. Dezesseis jovens adultos (24,7 ± 2,2 anos de idade) foram solicitados a realizar duas tarefas distintas: produção de torque máximo em preensão digital e controle de torque em preensão digital constante e contínuo. Ambas as tarefas foram avaliadas em quatro diferentes posições do cotovelo (posição livre, em extensão, 45º de flexão e 90º de flexão) e três níveis relativos distintos de torque máximo (20%, 40% e 60%). Pique do torque máximo, variabilidade, irregularidade e precisão da resposta motora foram utilizados como variáveis dependentes. Os resultados não revelaram efeito da posição do cotovelo na produção de torque em preensão digital máximo e nem na resposta de controle de torque em preensão digital. Todavia, a resposta de controle de torque mostrou-se mais variável, mais irregular e menos precisa com o incremento dos níveis relativos de torque máximo. Tais achados não oferecem suporte à premissa do método da coordenação motora, o qual preconiza a existência de uma posição articular ótima do membro superior para a coordenação e controle motor. Além disso, os resultados permitem a constatação de que maiores níveis de torque demandam ajustes neuromotores mais complexos no sistema sensório-motor, todavia a posição do cotovelo parece não caracterizar-se como uma restrição determinante da tarefa de torque em preensão digital. / The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the coordination position, proposed by the coordination method (Piret & Bézier, 1992), on the thumb-index torque production. Sixteen young adults (24,7 ± 2,2 years old) were asked to perform two different tasks: Maximum thumb-index torque production and constant thumb-index torque. Both tasks were evaluated in four different elbow positions (free position, extension, 45º of flexion and 90º of flexion) and three relative levels of maximum thumb-index torque production (20%, 40% & 60%). Maximum peak torque, variability, irregularity and accuracy were used as dependent variables. The results showed neither effects of the elbow position on the maximum thumb-index torque production nor in the constant thumb-index torque task. However, the constant thumb-index torque responses were more variable, more irregular and less accurate with increased relative levels of the thumb-index torque production. These findings do not support the coordination method premise that we have an optimum upper-limb position which provides a better coordination and motor control. Furthermore, the results allow the interpretation that larger level of the thumb-index torque production demands more complex neuromuscular adjustments of the motor-sensory system; however, the elbow position does not appear to be a determinant constraint during a thumb-index torque task.