This thesis proposes an object localization and image retrieval framework, which trains a discriminative feature set for each object class. For this purpose, a hierarchical learning architecture, together with a Neighborhood Tree is introduced for object labeling. Initially, a large variety of features are extracted from the regions of the pre-segmented images. These features are, then, fed to the training module, which selects the &quot / best set of representative features&quot / , suppressing relatively less important ones for each class. During this study, we attack various problems of the current image retrieval and classification systems, including feature space design, normalization and curse of dimensionality. Above all, we elaborate the semantic gap problem in comparison to human visual system. The proposed system emulates the eye-brain channel in two layers. The first layer combines relatively simple classifiers with low level, low dimensional features. Then, the second layer implements Adaptive Resonance Theory, which extracts higher level information from the first layer. This two-layer architecture reduces the curse of dimensionality and diminishes the normalization problem. The concept of Neighborhood Tree is introduced for identifying the whole object from the over-segmented image regions. The Neighborhood Tree consists of the nodes corresponding to the neighboring regions as its children and merges the regions through a search algorithm. Experiments are performed on a set of images from Corel database, using MPEG-7, Haar and Gabor features in order to observe the power and the weakness of the proposed system. The &quot / Best Representative Features&quot / are found in the training phase using Fuzzy ARTMAP [1], Feature-based AdaBoost [2], Descriptor-based AdaBoost, Best Representative Descriptor [3], majority voting and the proposed hierarchical learning architecture. During the experiments, it is observed that the proposed hierarchical learning architecture yields better retrieval rates than the existing algorithms available in the literature.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2001. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-234).

Submitted by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-23T12:44:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRFVS.pdf: 2728458 bytes, checksum: 4d07aa40b8f58f835e1e857098ff74a8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-23T12:45:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRFVS.pdf: 2728458 bytes, checksum: 4d07aa40b8f58f835e1e857098ff74a8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-23T12:45:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRFVS.pdf: 2728458 bytes, checksum: 4d07aa40b8f58f835e1e857098ff74a8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-23T12:45:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRFVS.pdf: 2728458 bytes, checksum: 4d07aa40b8f58f835e1e857098ff74a8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / The production scheduling activity is considered as one of the most complex activities in production management. This activity is part of the class of NP-Hard problems found in the area of computer science, that is, those problems that can not be solved deterministically in polynomial time. In addition, the complexity of this activity may increase according to the constraints imposed on each programming system/problem. In this research, the problem of programming of production the Flexible Job Shop (JSF) is studied. This problem is considered an extension of the Job Shop programming problem. In JSF, a group of jobs (i.e., products, items, part of an item) formed by a set of operations and each operation must be programmed by a resource (i.e., machine) that belongs to a group of resources that have the same functional characteristics (e.g., cut, sanding, painting). This problem is characterized in two sub-problems being routing and sequencing activity. Routing involves determining which resource will process a given operation. Sequencing is the order in which each operation will be processed on a resource. Through established programming, the objective of this research is to optimize performance multicriteria: the makespan (i.e., time spent to produce a set of jobs), processing time spent on the resource that worked by more time and total production time. In order to reach the objectives mentioned above, a hybrid swarm approach is proposed in this research. In this approach, two auxiliary methods are used to treat the abovementioned sub-problems: genetic operator of mutation to perform the routing activity and for the sequencing activity, an adaptive method of neighborhood structures is proposed. In order to deal with the multiobjectivity of the problem, we propose the Pareto dominance method. Experimental results obtained through commonly used benchmarks prove the efficacy and superiority of the proposed approach when compared to other approaches also applied to the problem studied. / A atividade de programação da produção é considerada como uma das atividades mais complexas no gerenciamento da produção. Essa atividade faz parte da classe de problemas NP-Difícil encontrados na área da ciência da computação, ou seja, aqueles problemas que não podem ser solucionados deterministicamente em tempo polinomial. Além disso, a complexidade dessa atividade pode aumentar de acordo com as restrições impostas a cada sistema/problema de programação. Nesta pesquisa, estuda-se o problema de programação da produção Job Shop Flexível (JSF). Esse problema é considerado como uma extensão do problema de programação Job Shop. No JSF, deve-se programar um grupo de jobs (i.e., produtos, itens, parte de um item) formados por um conjunto de operações e cada operação é processada por um recurso (i.e., máquina) que pertence a um grupo de recursos que possuam mesmas caraterísticas funcionais (e.g., cortar, lixar, pintar). Esse problema é caracterizado em dois sub-problemas, sendo eles, a atividade de roteamento e de sequenciamento. O roteamento implica em definir qual recurso irá processar uma determinada operação. O sequenciamento é a ordem em que cada operação será processada em um recurso. Por meio da programação estabelecida objetiva-se nessa pesquisa, otimizar multicritérios de desempenho, sendo eles: makespan (i.e., tempo gasto para produzir um conjunto de jobs), tempo de processamento gasto no recurso que trabalhou por mais tempo e tempo total de produção. Para alcançar os objetivos supracitados é proposto nessa pesquisa uma abordagem híbrida de enxame de abelhas. Nessa abordagem, utiliza-se dois métodos auxiliares para tratar os sub-problemas supracitados, sendo eles: operador genético de mutação para realizar a atividade de roteamento e para a atividade de sequenciamento é proposto um método adaptativo de estruturas de vizinhança. Para tratar a multiobjetividade do problema, propõe-se o método dominância de Pareto. Resultados experimentais obtidos por meio de benchmarks comumente usados comprovam a eficácia e a superioridade da abordagem proposta quando comparada com outras abordagens também aplicadas ao problema estudado.

La relation entre immigrations et espace urbain connaît actuellement de profondes recompositions dans le contexte athénien. Des nouvelles territorialités voient le jour, induites surtout par des vagues migratoires récemment arrivées. Le but de cette thèse est d'étudier comment l'immigration chinoise, tout en faisant partie de ces vagues migratoires, se différencie et trace des parcours économiques et sociospatiaux autres. Le principal quartier d'installation des ces migrants, situé dans la partie ouest du centre d'Athènes, est au coeur de notre recherche. La question centrale de notre thèse est, d'une part, d'identifier les caractéristiques du tissu social et urbain qui ont permit ce regroupement et, d'autre part, de voir quelles mutations découlent de la présence chinoise dans le quartier. La méthodologie adoptée fait appel à quatre outils principaux : entretiens semi-directifs avec des commerçants et habitants chinois et non chinois, enquête par questionnaire sur deux immeubles du terrain d'étude, relevés et observations du quartier en question, enfin, recueil et traitement des données encore non publiées. Ce travail a suggéré qu'un « quartier chinois », tourné sur l'activité du commerce de gros, est en effet apparu. À côté de sa forte dimension économique, il s'agit d'un lieu de référence pour la population étudiée. Nous montrerons que ce regroupement ethnique coexiste avec d'autres dynamiques qui se manifestent dans le même espace. Les migrants chinois contribuent aux réhabilitations atypiques que connaît leur quartier d'installation, tandis que leur contribution procède de l'imbrication de l'échelle globale et de l'échelle locale. Faisant partie de la diaspora chinoise, ils mobilisent des réseaux transnationaux dans le processus de leur installation. En même temps, le quartier d'installation se transforme aussi pour devenir un nouveau pôle au sein de la toile migratoire chinoise. Finalement, cette étude a montré la nécessité de changer de regard sur la présence des migrants dans l'espace urbain. Contrairement au discours qui associe les migrants au déclin urbain, nous mettons l'accent sur l'aspect positif de leur rôle en tant qu'acteurs du changement urbain. / The relation between migration flows and urban space is experiencing significant recompositions in Athens. Recently arrived migration flows follow new territorialities in the city, thus reshaping its social and urban fabric. Aim of the thesis is to study the Chinese migration as part of those international flows and to further demonstrate the distinct sociospatial trajectories that the latter follow. The central neighborhood of their establishment, located in the west part of the city center, is at the core of our study. The principal question is, on the one hand, to identify the sociospatial characteristics of the neighborhood that allowed their establishment and, on the other hand, to analyze the visible changes of the area of establishment carried out by the Chinese presence. The research combines four methodological approaches: in depth interviews carried out with shopkeepers and inhabitants, both Chinese and non Chinese, survey by questionnaire in neighborhoods' apartment buildings, in situ observation and systematic mapping of the commercial activities and finally, gathering and processing of secondary data, such as population census and business registries. The thesis argues that Chinese migrants, mainly focused on wholesale commercial activities, formed a distinct “Chinese” area in Athens' city center. Next to its dominant economic dimension, the area also constitutes a meeting place for the majority of the Chinese migratory group, which proved to be highly heterogeneous in socioeconomic terms. The thesis further pointed out that this ethnic establishment coexists with the concomitant urban dynamics of the neighborhood. Further on, we showed that they do not only coexist, but they actively contribute to the atypical rehabilitation processes of Metaxourgio area. Their contribution is better understood as an outcome of the local / global scale intertwining. In fact, Chinese migrants, as integral part of a larger diaspora, mobilized transnational social networks in the process of their establishment. This process gave finally rise to a new "pole" of the Chinese diaspora in southern Europe. Following the study's findings, the thesis highlights the necessity of a theoretical shift towards the understanding of migrants' presence and role in the urban space. Contrary to the dominant, discriminating discourses that link migrants' presence to urban decline, this thesis, ultimately, manages to underline the positive effects of Chinese migrants their active role as agents of the urban change.

[pt] Esta tese faz um estudo do problema do Conjunto Dominante, um problema NP-difícil de grande relevância em aplicações relacionadas ao projeto de rede sem fio, mineração de dados, teoria de códigos, dentre outras. O conjunto dominante mínimo em um grafo é um conjunto mínimo de vértices de modo que cada vértice do grafo pertence a este conjunto ou é adjacente a um vértice que pertence a ele. Três variantes do problema foram estudadas; primeiro, uma variante na qual considera pesos nos vértices, buscando um conjunto dominante com menor peso total; segundo, uma variante onde o subgrafo induzido pelo conjunto dominante está conectado; e, finalmente, a variante que engloba essas duas características. Para resolver esses três problemas, propõe-se um algoritmo híbrido baseado na meta-heurística busca tabu com componentes adicionais de programação matemática, resultando em um método por vezes chamado de mateurística, (matheuristic, em inglês). Diversas técnicas adicionais e vizinhanças largas foram propostas afim de alcançar regiões promissoras no espaço de busca. Análises experimentais demonstram a contribuição individual de todos esses componentes. Finalmente, o algoritmo é testado no problema do código de cobertura mínima, que pode ser visto como um caso especial do problema do conjunto dominante. Os códigos são estudados na métrica Hamming e na métrica Rosenbloom-Tsfasman. Neste último, diversos códigos menores foram encontrados. / [en] This thesis addresses the Dominating Set Problem, an NP- hard problem with great relevance in applications related to wireless network design, data mining, coding theory, among others. The minimum dominating set in a graph is a minimal set of vertices so that each vertex of the graph belongs to it or is adjacent to a vertex of this set. We study three variants of the problem: first, in the presence of weights on vertices, searching for a dominating set with smallest total weight; second, a variant where the subgraph induced by the dominating set needs to be connected, and,finally, the variant that encompasses these two characteristics. To solve these three problems, we propose a hybrid algorithm based on tabu search with additional mathematical-programming components, leading to a method sometimes called matheuristic. Several additional techniques and large neighborhoods are also employed to reach promising regions in the search space. Our experimental analyses show the good contribution of all these individual components. Finally, the algorithm is tested on the covering code problem, which can be viewed as a special case of the minimum dominating set problem. The codes are studied for the Hamming metric and the Rosenbloom-Tsfasman metric. For this last case, several shorter codes were found.

[pt] Em vários problemas de distribuição e logística, os produtos devem ser coletados em uma origem e entregues em um destino. Exemplos incluem o transporte de pessoas com deficiência, serviços de correio expresso, logística de suprimentos médicos, etc. O problema de roteamento abordado neste trabalho, conhecido como Traveling Salesman Problem with Pickup and Delivery (TSPPD), é da classe de problemas do caixeiro viajante com restrições de precedência. Neste problema, existe um mapeamento um-para-um entre coleta-entrega no qual cada cliente do tipo coleta possui um cliente do tipo entrega associado. Os clientes do tipo entrega somente podem ser visitados posteriormente à coleta associada. O TSPPD é um problema NP-difícil uma vez que generaliza o Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). O TSP pode ser visto como um caso particular do TSPPD onde cada coleta coincide espacialmente com a respectiva entrega. As variantes com restrições de capacidade, janelas de tempo e diferentes políticas de carregamento têm recebido maior atenção na última década, embora ainda existam significantes avanços a serem realizados em termos de qualidades de soluções na versão básica do problema. Para resolver este problema, propomos um algoritmo meta-heurístico híbrido com vizinhanças largas exploradas eficientemente em O(n2). Nossos experimentos demonstram uma redução significativa no tempo computacional e também melhoria na qualidade de soluções previamente conhecidas na literatura. / [en] In various distribution and logistics issues, products must be collected at one source and delivered to a destination. Examples include disabled people transportation, express mail services, medical supplies logistics, etc. The routing problem addressed by this work, known as Traveling Salesman Problem with Pickup and Delivery (TSPPD), belongs to the class of traveling salesman problems with precedence constraints. In this problem, there is a one-to-one pickup-delivery mapping in which, for each pickuptype client, there is exactly one associated delivery-type client. Delivery clients can only be visited after the associated pickup. Since the TSPPD generalizes the TSP it is also a NP-hard problem, as the TSP is a particular casa of TSPPD where each pickup matches spatially with it s respective delivery. Variants with capacity constraints, time windows and different loading policies have received more attention in the last decade, although there are still significant advances to be made in terms of solution quality for the basic version of the problem. To solve this problem, we propose a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm with large neighborhoods efficiently explored in O(n2). Our experiments demonstrate a significant computational time reduction and also solutions quality improvement compared to the previous works.

Cette thèse porte sur le développement de modèles mathématiques et d’algorithmes d’optimisation pour la conception de chaînes logistiques durables. Nous proposons des modèles mono-périodiques, multi-produits et multi-modes de transport à quatre niveaux (fournisseurs, unités de production, entrepôts et clients) couvrant les piliers économique et environnemental du développement durable. Les variables de décision concernent la localisation des sites logistiques intermédiaires (unités de production et entrepôts), les choix de technologie et de mode de transport, et la détermination des flux de produits. Un premier modèle est basé uniquement sur la minimisation des coûts totaux. Ce modèle est étendu au cas bi-objectif en considérant la minimisation des émissions de CO2. Nous proposons une procédure d’optimisation basée sur la recherche à voisinage large (LNS : Large Neighborhood Search). L’application de cette méthode à un problème à variables mixtes tel que la conception de chaîne logistique est inédite. Notre extension au cas bi-objectif fait intervenir l’algorithme récent de recherche locale multi-directionnelle. Les expérimentations numériques permettent d’évaluer la pertinence de nos modèles et de comparer les performances de nos algorithmes à celles d’un solveur du marché. / This thesis focuses on the development of mathematical models and optimization algorithms for the design of sustainable supply chains. We propose single-period, multi-commodity, multi-mode, four level models (suppliers, production facilities, warehouses and customers) covering economic and environmental pillars of sustainable development. The decision variables are related to the location of the intermediate logistics sites (production units and warehouses), the choice of technology and mode of transport, and the determination of product flow. A first model is based solely on minimizing total costs. This model is extended to bi-objective minimization by considering CO2 emissions. We propose an optimization procedure based on the Large Neighborhood Search (LNS) metaheuristic, which had almost never been applied to problems with mixed variables such as design supply chain. Our extension to the bi-objective case involves the use of the multi-directional local search (MDLS). Extensive numerical experiments assess the relevance of our model and compare the performance of our algorithms to those of a state-of-the-art solver.

La thèse se positionne au croisement de la problématique de la publicisation des problèmes sociaux et de celle de la transformation des engagements militants. La recherche entend expliquer, par une double approche locale et internationale, l’essor de la participation associative depuis les années 1970 dans les quartiers populaires urbains situés en périphérie de Paris et de Buenos Aires. La première partie est consacrée à l’analyse des théories politiques du fait associatif et à leur insertion au sein d’une sociologie empirique de la participation associative. La généalogie de la notion de société civile est mise en relation avec l’avènement de la démocratie moderne afin d’inscrire l’essor associatif des dernières décennies dans une perspective historique de longue portée. Notre approche de la participation associative est ensuite explicitée en référence à trois grandes thématiques du fait associatif : le tiers secteur, le capital social et l’engagement militant.La deuxième partie articule la participation associative avec les transformations socio-économiques des classes populaires et le développement des politiques sociales territorialisées. L’analyse d’une association dans le territoire français illustre d’abord les possibilités offertes par la désagrégation du système politique communiste des « banlieues rouges » et l’intervention croissante de l’État dans les quartiers populaires au travers de la politique de la ville. L’étude de l’activité et du fonctionnement de cette association, des années 1980 aux années 2000, met en lumière à la fois la capacité des acteurs à s’auto-organiser en référence à un problème public local et les tensions générées par la relation partenariale avec les pouvoirs publics. En Argentine, les conséquences de la fragilisation de la société salariale sur les formes de sociabilités populaires dans la périphérie urbaine de Buenos Aires sont analysées au travers d’une association qui s’inscrit dans le prolongement du mouvement social des travailleurs au chômage (piqueteros). Le rôle d’intermédiaire des politiques sociales joué par cette association permet de questionner les liens qui unissent ces organisations populaires aux pouvoirs publics et le possible redéploiement des réseaux politiques clientélaires du péronisme.La troisième partie s’attache à analyser la participation associative en relation avec les évolutions des principaux partis politiques des classes populaires et les changements intervenus dans les configurations politiques locales. Dans le cas français, les phénomènes de désengagement communiste et de désarticulation des « organisations satellites » du parti sont intégrés à l’analyse d’une association regroupant d’anciens militants communistes. Les trajectoires de ces militants et le fonctionnement de cette association permettent de cerner les raisons d’un changement dans les formes d’engagement et de s’interroger sur le processus d’autonomisation des associations locales à l’égard des systèmes politiques. Dans le cas argentin, la recomposition des liens entre le parti justicialiste et les classes populaires est questionnée au travers de l’analyse d’une association fondée par des militants péronistes dans le contexte d’un discrédit des institutions politiques. L’adaptation de ces militants politiques à la forme associative illustre les changements dans les modalités d’engagement et permet une réflexion sur la proximité entre les associations locales et les partis politiques. / This thesis is situated at the intersection of two historical phenomena: the publicization of social problems and the transformation of activist commitment. The research undertaken has sought to explain, through an approach that is both local and international in scope, the rise of grassroots volunteering since the 1970s in working-class urban neighborhoods on the periphery of Paris and Buenos Aires. The first part presents an analysis of the various political theories which relate to the voluntary movement, and discusses their place within an empirical sociological study of grassroots volunteering. The intellectual genealogy of the notion of civil society is considered in relation to the appearance of modern democracy, in order to situate the rise of volunteerism in recent decades within a larger historical perspective. Attention is given to the emergence of three characteristic themes: the third sector, social capital, and activism. The second part relates volunteerism to socio-economic transformations within the working class and to the development of social policy at the local community level. The study of grassroots organization in France reveals the importance of possibilities created by the breakdown of the communist political system in certain Paris suburbs (banlieues rouges) along with increased state intervention in working-class neighborhoods through urban policy initiatives. An analysis of the activities and the workings of the grassroots organizations which appeared in these neighborhoods between the 1980s and the 2000s, reveals that these organizations had the capacity to self-organize for the purpose of addressing public problems at a local level, and that tensions resulted from partnership arrangements with local public authorities. In Argentina, consequences of the labor society’s weakening in terms of working-class social solidarity in neighborhoods on the outskirts of Buenos Aires are analyzed through the prism of grassroots organizations operating in the wake of social movements among unemployed workers (piqueteros). The grassroots organization’s role as an intermediary for social policy raises questions concerning the link between these popular movements and public authorities, and the possible redeployment of Peronist corporatism. The third part relates volunteer participation to historical transformations within the principal working-class political parties and to the changes observed in the local political landscape. In France, popular withdrawal from communism and the disassociation of the Party’s former “satellite organizations” are considered through an analysis of a grassroots organization composed primarily of former communist partisans. Their personal trajectories as activists, as well as the workings of their organization, reveal the causes of a change in the operative forms of political commitment and give rise to questions concerning the processes by which these local organizations are made autonomous of political systems. In Argentina, new links emerging between the Justicialist party and the working class are considered through the study of an organization founded by Peronist partisans in a context where political institutions are represented as lacking legitimacy. The adaptation of these political activists to grassroots volunteerism is likewise indicative of changes in the operative forms of political commitment and gives rise to questions concerning the proximity between grassroots organizations and political parties.

abstract: Determining the factors associated with the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods in the household may help in understanding the varying complexities that contribute to obesity among children and help design interventions to impact children's food consumption behaviors. This study examined factors that are associated with the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods in children's home food environments (HFE). Data was collected from a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 1708 households, with at least one child between 3-18 years of age, located in five low-income New Jersey cities. HFE was assessed based on responses to a set of six items that measured availability of specific healthy and unhealthy foods in the respondent's home. These items contributed to construction of three HFE scales used as dependent variables in these analyses: healthy HFE, unhealthy HFE, and a ratio of healthy to unhealthy foods in the HFE. Independent variables included household socio-demographics, parental perceptions of their own weight and diet health, frequency of family meals, proximity to food outlets, and perception of access to healthy foods in the neighborhood food environment. Significant differences were observed in the HFE by race and ethnicity, with Non-Hispanic black children having fewer healthy foods and Non-Hispanic white children having more unhealthy food items available at home. Parents who reported being overweight or obese had a healthier HFE and those perceiving their own eating as healthy had more healthy and less unhealthy foods in the household. Food-secure households had more unhealthy compared to healthy foods at home. Households located farther from a supermarket had a greater number of unhealthy food items and a lower healthy/unhealthy food availability ratio. Parental perception of better access to fruits and vegetables and low-fat foods was associated with availability of a greater number of healthy food items at home. Overall, the HFE varied by parental and demographic characteristics, parental perceptions about the food environment and the actual features of the built neighborhood food environment. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Nutrition 2012

Studiens syfte var att undersöka vilken betydelse införandet av grannsamverkan har på antalet bostadsinbrott. Den försökte även besvara vilka typer av åtgärder inom grannsamverkan som används samt likheter och skillnader mellan dessa, kopplat till områden i Södermalms stadsdelsområde. Ett matchat urval skapades varpå data insamlades genom strukturerade intervjuer med ombudsmän för grannsamverkan. I resultatet framställdes hur nivåerna över bostadsinbrott såg ut fem år innan-, samt ett till fem år efter, grannsamverkan implementerats. Materialet analyserades genom komparativ analys, varpå slutsatserna drogs att åtgärder som främst används var skyltning, säkerhetsdörrar, god belysning, god kontakt med boende i området, koll när granne reser bort samt uppmärksamhet på misstänkta i området. Skillnader och likheter mellan använda åtgärder fanns, vilket gör att generella slutsatser kring skillnader och likheter inte går att dra då inga områden är identiska. Gällande införande av grannsamverkan och dess betydelse för bostadsinbrott är resultaten tvetydiga då det skiljer sig hos områdena. / The aim of this study was to examine if the introduction of neighborhood watch affects the number of burglary. The questions asked were; which types of methods of neighborhood watch were used, and what kind of differences there were between selected areas in Södermalm, Stockholm. We created a matched sample of areas and contacted mediators of neighborhood watch in these areas. We conducted a quantitative study using structured interviews and presented data per burglary rates in the areas five years before and one to five years after neighborhood watch was implemented. The results were analyzed by comparative analysis and concluded that common methods of neighborhood watch were e.g. signage, security doors, good contacts between neighbors and attention to suspects in the area. The differences between the methods used means that general conclusions about differences and similarities cannot be concluded. The impact of neighborhood watch differed, and the results were ambiguous.