Yes / Background: stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in bone and dentine collagen have been used for over 30 years to estimate palaeodiet, subsistence strategy, breastfeeding duration and migration within burial populations. Recent developments in dentine microsampling allow improved temporal resolution for dietary patterns. Aim: We propose a simple method which could be applied to human teeth to estimate chronological age represented by dentine microsamples in the direction of tooth growth, allowing comparison of dietary patterns between individuals and populations. The method is tested using profiles from permanent and deciduous teeth of two individuals. Subjects and methods: using a diagrammatic representation of dentine development by approximate age for each human tooth (based on the Queen Mary University of London Atlas) (AlQahtani et al., 2010), we estimate the age represented by each dentine section. Two case studies are shown: comparison of M1 and M2 from a 19th century individual from London, England, and identification of an unknown tooth from an Iron Age female adult from Scotland. Results and conclusions: The isotopic profiles demonstrate that variations in consecutively-forming teeth can be aligned using this method to extend the dietary history of an individual, or identify an unknown tooth by matching the profiles.

Yes / This paper presents a novel closed-form covariance model using covariance matrix decomposition for both continuous-time and discrete-time stochastic systems which are subjected to Gaussian noises. Different from the existing covariance models, it has been shown that the order of the presented model can be reduced to the order of original systems and the parameters of the model can be obtained by Kronecker product and Hadamard product which imply a uniform expression. Furthermore, the associated controller design can be simplified due to the use of the reduced-order structure of the model. Based on this model, the state and output covariance assignment algorithms have been developed with parametric state and output feedback, where the computational complexity is reduced and the extended free parameters of parametric feedback supply flexibility to the optimization. As an extension, the reduced-order closed-form covariance model for stochastic systems with parameter uncertainties is also presented in this paper. A simulated example is included to show the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm, where encouraging results have been obtained. / National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61573022], [grant number 61290323] and [grant number 61333007]

<p dir="ltr"><b>Abstract</b></p><p dir="ltr"><b>Background</b> Previous research has indicated that it is difficult to maintain student motivation in gateway courses when students from multiple majors are taking the same course. Providing students with a choice in assignment is important because it creates a feeling that the students are in charge of their education, that they can tailor their education to their own needs, and it can improve their motivation in a course along with their satisfaction and overall learning. This study looks at the impact of giving students enrolled in an introductory microcontroller gateway course a choice in which assignments they complete in the laboratory portion of the course. The course is comprised of students from various majors such as electrical engineering technology, computer engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology, mechatronics, and robotics to mention a few. Allowing the students to pick their laboratory activities allows the students to take control of their educational experience and make it personal to them.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Purpose</b> This study examines the impact of providing students with a choice in assignments based on the self-determination framework to determine how choice effects the students’ interest/enjoyment in their education, their perceived value/usefulness of the educational experience, their perceived competence, and their perceived level of effort/importance.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Design/Methods</b> Students enrolled in an introductory microcontroller gateway course were given a choice of laboratory assignments that they complete during the last third of the semester. Survey data was collected using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) before and after the students were given a choice based on a single case pretest/posttest experimental design. A comparative study was then performed to determine the impact of giving the students a choice on the key traits of this study (perceived value/usefulness of the educational experience, perceived competence, and perceived level of effort/importance).</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Results</b> The results of the analysis indicated that there was not a significant change in the key values of interest in education, value of the education, and perceived effort between the pretest and posttest values when the class was analyzed as a whole. However, when the students were analyzed based on their perception of choice: a high level of perceived choice, a neutral level of perceived choice, and a low level of perceived choice, significant changes were detected. The results of this analysis indicated that students with a higher level of perceived choice reported significantly higher levels of interest, value, effort, and perceived competence when compared to students that reported a lower level of perceived choice.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Conclusions</b> Simply providing or giving students a choice is not enough to change the students’ overall interest/enjoyment in the education, their perception of the value/usefulness of the education, and the importance/effort level the students place on the educational experience. The way the students perceive the option of having a choice has a direct impact on these traits. Generally speaking, students with higher perceptions of choice reported: higher levels of interest in the education, higher value of the educational experience, placed more importance and effort into the educational experience, and showed higher levels of perceived competence when compared to students with lower levels of perception. The results also indicate that students with higher perceptions of choice select activities that they view as interesting and/or fun to do, while students with low perceptions of choice seem to select activities that they perceive to be easier to complete. The results of this research inquiry are important for informing future research and shaping instructional design in the microcontroller space.</p>

As autonomous vehicle (AV) technology evolves and matures, automated public transit (APT) is gaining attention due to its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency. This report explores various algorithms for allocating vehicles to passengers within APT systems. It aims to organize and propose effective allocation strategies and validate them through comparative analyses on test networks. Overall, the paper introduces several algorithms, with six specifically compiled and tested using the VIPSim simulator across four traffic networks. Two of these networks are basic, while the other two are more complex and represent real-world scenarios. Through these numerical experiments, the algorithm that maximizes network operational efficiency was identified, and several instructive conclusions were drawn from the comparative analysis.

La lithographie et la loi de Moore ont permis des avancées extraordinaires dans la fabrication des circuits intégrés. De nos jours, plusieurs systèmes très complexes peuvent être embarqués sur la même puce électronique. Les contraintes de développement de ces systèmes sont tellement grandes qu’une bonne planification dès le début de leur cycle de développement est incontournable. Ainsi, la planification de la gestion énergétique au début du cycle de développement est devenue une phase importante dans la conception de ces systèmes. Pendant plusieurs années, l’idée était de réduire la consommation énergétique en ajoutant un mécanisme physique une fois le circuit créé, comme par exemple un dissipateur de chaleur. La stratégie actuelle est d’intégrer les contraintes énergétiques dès les premières phases de la conception des circuits. Il est donc essentiel de bien connaître la dissipation d’énergie avant l’intégration des composantes dans une architecture d’un système multiprocesseurs de façon à ce que chaque composante puisse fonctionner efficacement dans les limites de ses contraintes thermiques. Lorsqu’une composante fonctionne, elle consomme de l’énergie électrique qui est transformée en dégagement de chaleur. Le but de ce mémoire est de trouver une affectation efficace des composantes dans une architecture de multiprocesseurs en trois dimensions en tenant compte des limites des facteurs thermiques de ce système. / Lithography and Moore’s law have led to extraordinary advances in integrated circuits manufacturing. Nowadays, many complex systems can be embedded on the same chip. Development constraints of these systems are so significant that a good planning from the beginning of the development stage is essential. Thus, the planning of energy management at the beginning of the development cycle has become important in the design of these systems. For several years, the idea was to reduce energy consumption by adding a cooling system once the circuit is created, a heat sink for example. The current strategy is to integrate energy constraints in the early stages of circuits design. It is therefore important to know the energy dissipation before the integration of the components in the architecture of a multiprocessor system so that each component can work within the limits of its thermal stresses. When a component is running, it consumes electric energy which is converted into heat. The aim of this thesis is to find an efficient assignment of components in a multiprocessor system architecture in three dimensions, taking into account the limits of its thermal factors.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:29:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruno Pierin Furiati.pdf: 1371264 bytes, checksum: 8738b62e9c4a2fd5fde69c8c23ed3b52 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-27 / This work discusses the securitization s basic foundation, which is the effective and irrevocable transference of credits by the assignee to the assignor - the true sale. Nevertheless, to understand the its correct meaning, it is necessary to analyze each and every aspect of the components of the transaction, including the assignment. The result of the consideration of the North American law s concepts will create the way for the definition in the scope of the Brazilian law. Indeed, this is why aspects of Brazilian law will be laying side by side with the North-American doctrine. In addition, to be able to reach the assignment s analysis on a bankruptcy event, it is necessary to go over the aspects of the contracts law, which will be discussed on the second section. It is not only a Brazilian law review, but also a study with a background on the European legal system. This will be necessary to accomplish a concrete solution for this work. Finally, the last section will go through the commercial law s aspects, a the same time connecting it with some subjects of the contract law theory. The bankruptcy and the issues attached to it shall be formally addressed in a systemic way, so it would be able to answer the questions that arouse from the true sale / O presente trabalho trata da fundamentação básica para a securitização, qual seja, a transferência efetiva e irrevogável dos créditos do cedente para o cessionário. A chamada true sale. Todavia, para uma correta interpretação doutrinária de seu sentido, faz-se necessário analisar todos os componentes da operação, inclusive a própria cessão. A partir dos conceitos do direito norte-americano, constituem-se os caminhos para a definição no âmbito do direito brasileiro. Em razão disso é que na primeira parte deste trabalho os aspectos do direito nacional estão alocados lado a lado aos do direito norte-americano. Adicionalmente, para que se possa chegar à aplicação da falência na cessão se faz necessário transcorrer pelos aspectos do direito civil, na segunda parte. Não é apenas uma visão brasileira, busca-se também sua fundamentação no direito europeu, procurando-se chegar a determinações concretas. Ao final, ingressa-se no campo do direito empresarial. Não sem pincelar alguns pontos de direito civil. A falência e os conceitos a ela atrelados são postos de forma sistemática, a fim de que se possa problematizar com rigor a questão da true sale

Sie entwickeln Entwurfssysteme für elektronische Baugruppen? Dann gehören für Sie die mit der Pinzuordnung verbundenen Optimierungskriterien - die Verdrahtbarkeit im Elektronikentwurf - zum Berufsalltag. Um die Verdrahtbarkeit unter verschiedenen Gesichtspunkten zu verbessern, werden in diesem Buch neu entwickelte Algorithmen vorgestellt. Sie ermöglichen erstmals die automatisierte Pinzuordnung für eine große Anzahl von Bauelementen in hochkomplexen Schaltungen. Alle Aspekte müssen in kürzester Zeit exakt erfasst, eingeschätzt und im Entwurfsprozess zu einem optimalen Ergebnis geführt werden. Die beschriebenen Methoden reduzieren den Entwicklungsaufwand für elektronische Systeme auf ein Minimum und ermöglichen intelligente Lösungen auf der Höhe der Zeit. Die vorliegende Arbeit behandelt die Optimierung der Pinzuordnung und die dafür notwendige Verdrahtbarkeitsvorhersage im hierarchischen Layoutentwurf. Dabei werden bekannte Methoden der Verdrahtbarkeitsvorhersage aus allen Schritten des Layoutentwurfs zusammengetragen, gegenübergestellt und auf ihre Eignung für die Pinzuordnung untersucht. Dies führt schließlich zur Entwicklung einer Vorhersagemethode, die speziell an die Anforderungen der Pinzuordnung angepasst ist. Die Pinzuordnung komplexer elektronischer Geräte ist bisher ein vorwiegend manueller Prozess. Es existieren also bereits Erfahrungen, welche jedoch weder formalisiert noch allgemein verfügbar sind. In den vorliegenden Untersuchungen werden Methoden der Pinzuordnung algorithmisch formuliert und damit einer Automatisierung zugeführt. Besondere Merkmale der Algorithmen sind ihre Einsetzbarkeit bereits während der Planung des Layouts, ihre Eignung für den hierarchisch gegliederten Layoutentwurf sowie ihre Fähigkeit, die Randbedingungen differenzieller Paare zu berücksichtigen. Die beiden untersuchten Aspekte der Pinzuordnung, Verdrahtbarkeitsvorhersage und Zuordnungsalgorithmen, werden schließlich zusammengeführt, indem die neue entwickelte Verdrahtbarkeitsbewertung zum Vergleichen und Auswählen der formulierten Zuordnungsalgorithmen zum Einsatz kommt. / This work deals with the optimization of pin assignments for which an accurate routability prediction is a prerequisite. Therefore, this contribution introduces methods for routability prediction. The optimization of pin assignments, for which these methods are needed, is done after initial placement and before routing. Known methods of routability prediction are compiled, compared, and analyzed for their usability as part of the pin assignment step. These investigations lead to the development of a routability prediction method, which is adapted to the specific requirements of pin assignment. So far pin assignment of complex electronic devices has been a predominantly manual process. Hence, practical experience exists, yet, it had not been transferred to an algorithmic formulation. This contribution develops pin assignment methods in order to automate and improve pin assignment. Distinctive characteristics of the thereby developed algorithms are their usability during layout planning, their capability to integrate into a hierarchical design flow, and the consideration of differential pairs. Both aspects, routability prediction and assignment algorithms, are finally brought together by using the newly developed routability prediction to evaluate and select the assignment algorithms.

[Formulae and special characters can only be approximated here. Please see the pdf version of the abstract for an accurate reproduction.] This thesis reviews, extends and applies to urban traffic analysis the entropy concept of Shannon and Luce's mathematical psychology in a fairly complex and mathematically demanding model of human decision making, if it is solved as a deeply nested structure of logit calculus. Recognising consumers' different preferences and the universal propensity to seek the best choice when going to some desired goal (k), a transparent mathematical program (MP) is developed: the equivalent of a nested multinomial logit model without its inherent computational difficulty. The MP model makes a statistical assessment of individual decisions based on a randomised (measurable) utility within a given choice structure: some path through a diagram (Rk, Dk), designed a priori, of a finite number of sequential choices. The Equivalence Theorem (ET) formalises the process and states a non-linear MP with linear constraints that maximises collective satisfaction: utility plus weighted entropy, where the weight (1/θn) is a behavioural parameter to be calibrated in each case, eg for the Perth CBD. An optimisation subject to feasible routes through the (Rk, Dk) network thus captures the rational behaviour of consumers on their individually different best-choice decision paths towards their respective goals (k). This theory has been applied to urban traffic assignment before: a Stochastic User Equi-librium (SUE). What sets this thesis apart is its focus on MP models that can be solved with standard Operations Research software (eg MINOS), models for which the ET is a conditio sine qua non. A brief list of SUE examples in the literature includes Fisk's logit SUE model in (impractically many) route flows. Dial's STOCH algorithm obviates path enumeration, yet is a logit multi-path assignment procedure, not an MP model; it is nei-ther destination oriented nor an optimisation towards a SUE. A revision of Dial's method is provided, named STOCH[k], that computes primal variables (node and link flows) and Lagrangian duals (the satisfaction difference n→k). Sheffi & Powell presented an unconstrained optimisation problem, but favoured a probit SUE, defying closed formulae and standard OR software. Their model corresponds to the (constrained) dual model here, yet the specifics of our primary MP model and its dual are possible only if one restricts himself to logit SUE models, including the ET, which is logit-specific. A real world application needs decomposition, and the Perth CBD example is iteratively solved by Partial Linearisation, switching from (measured) disutility minimisation to Sheffi & Powell's Method of Successive Averages near the optimum. The methodology is demonstrated on the Perth Central Business District (CBD). To that end, parameter Θ is calibrated on Main Roads' traffic count data over the years 1997/98 and 1998/99. The method is a revision of Liu & Fricker's simultaneous estimation of not only Θ but an appropriate trip matrix also. Our method handles the more difficult variable costs (congestion), incomplete data (missing observations) and observation errors (wrong data). Finally, again based on Main Roads' data (a sub-area trip matrix), a Perth CBD traffic assignment is computed, (a) as a logit SUE and - for comparison - (b) as a DUE (using the PARTAN method of Florian, Guélat and Spiess). The results are only superficially similar. In conclusion, the methodology has the potential to replace current DUE models and to deepen transport policy analysis, taking into account individual behaviour and a money-metric utility that quantifies 'social benefits', for instance in a cost-benefit-analysis.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-03-05T15:35:28Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Micael Oliveira Massula Carvalho de Mello - 2014.pdf: 489311 bytes, checksum: 15900b2c2d82201091cb1f73eeb459f4 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-03-06T10:37:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Micael Oliveira Massula Carvalho de Mello - 2014.pdf: 489311 bytes, checksum: 15900b2c2d82201091cb1f73eeb459f4 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-06T10:37:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Micael Oliveira Massula Carvalho de Mello - 2014.pdf: 489311 bytes, checksum: 15900b2c2d82201091cb1f73eeb459f4 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are infrastructures with autonomic properties, such as self-organization and self-recovery, which can be developed with widely available technologies and low cost solutions. Besides their current applications, such as community networks and broad-band Internet access, WMNs can offer contributions in the context of the Internet of Things and help to build robust infrastructures to smart energy networks, among other uses. However, WMNs usually have performance issues due to overload in certain parts of the network and interference in wireless links. In this context, it is important that solutions are used to promote load-balancing and to mitigate interference between wireless links. Research in this area shows that one of the most promising approaches are in the subject of the joint routing and channel assignment. However, most of the previous works depends on the knowledge of the network traffic and handle flows with low granularity. In this thesis, we handle the performance problem in WMNs, in particular those having multiple radios and multiple available channels, using a joint approach, but without the mentioned restrictions. Our proposal is a joint heuristic, whose main contribution is the routing, which pursues the compromise between load-balancing and the path length of the network flows. We have developed our proposal in the Network Simulator 3 (ns-3) and have compared it with other works in literature. We found that our heuristic provides throughput improvements in most of the analyzed scenarios, besides promote greater justice between the flows that compete for resources. / Redes em Malha Sem Fio - Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) são infraestruturas com propriedades autonômicas, como auto-organização e autorrecuperação, que podem ser implementadas com tecnologias amplamente disponíveis e de custo acessível. Além de suas aplicações atuais, como redes comunitárias e redes de acesso à Internet, as WMNs podem auxiliar na comunicação de Internet das Coisas e constituir infraestruturas robustas para redes inteligentes de energia, dentre outros usos. No entanto, WMNs geralmente apresentam questões relativas a desempenho devido a fatores como sobrecarga em determinadas partes da rede e interferências nos enlaces sem fio. Nesse contexto, é importante que sejam utilizadas soluções que promovam balanceamento de carga na rede e que minimizem as interferências entre os enlaces sem fio. A pesquisa nessa área tem mostrado que uma das abordagens mais promissoras consiste em tratar de maneira conjunta o roteamento e a atribuição de canais. Porém, a maior parte dos trabalhos dependem de conhecimento prévio do tráfego da rede e tratam fluxos com baixa granularidade. Nesta dissertação, tratamos o problema de desempenho em WMNs, em especial as que possuem múltiplos rádios e múltiplos canais disponíveis, utilizando uma abordagem conjunta, mas sem as restrições anteriores. Nossa proposta é uma heurística conjunta, cuja principal contribuição está no roteamento, o qual persegue um compromisso entre o balanceamento de carga e o comprimento dos caminhos seguidos pelos fluxos. Implementamos nossa proposta no Network Simulator 3 (ns-3) e a comparamos com outros trabalhos da literatura. Verificamos que nossa heurística apresenta ganhos de vazão na maior parte dos cenários avaliados, além de promover maior justiça entre os fluxos que concorrem pelos recursos.

Aujourd'hui, le problème de stationnement devient l'un des enjeux majeurs de la recherche dans la planification des transports urbains et la gestion du trafic. En fait, les conséquences de l'absence de places de stationnement ainsi que la gestion inadéquate de ces installations sont énormes. L'objectif de cette thèse est de fournir des algorithmes efficaces et robustes afin que les conducteurs gagnent du temps et de l'argent et aussi augmenter les revenus des gestionnaires de parking. Le problème est formulé comme un problème d'affectation multi-objectifs dans des environnements statique et dynamique. Tout d'abord, dans l'environnement statique, nous proposons de nouvelles heuristiques en deux phases pour calculer une approximation de l'ensemble des solutions efficaces pour un problème bi-objectif. Dans la première phase, nous générons l'ensemble des solutions supportées par un algorithme dichotomique standard. Dans la deuxième phase, nous proposons quatre métaheuristiques pour générer une approximation des solutions non supportées. Les approches proposées sont testées sur le problème du plus court chemin bi-objectif et le problème d'affectation bi-objectif. Dans le contexte de l'environnement dynamique, nous proposons une formulation du problème sous forme d'un programme linéaire en nombres entiers mixtes qui est résolue à plusieurs reprises sur un horizon de temps donné. Les fonctions objectives considérées, permettent un équilibre entre la satisfaction des conducteurs et l'intérêt du gestionnaire de parking. Deux approches sont proposées pour résoudre ce problème d'affectation dynamique avec ou sans phase d'apprentissage. Pour renforcer la phase d'apprentissage, un algorithme à estimation de distribution est proposé pour prévoir la demande future. Pour évaluer l'efficacité des algorithmes proposés, des essais de simulation ont été effectués. Aussi une mise en œuvre pilote a été menée dans le parking à l'Université de Valenciennes en utilisant une plateforme existante, appelée Context Aware Transportation Services (CATS), qui permet le déploiement dynamique de services. Cette plate-forme peut dynamiquement passer d'une approche à l'autre en fonction du contexte. Enfin cette thèse s'inscrit dans le projet SYstem For Smart Road Applications ( SYFRA). / The parking problem is nowadays one of the major issues in urban transportation planning and traffic management research. In fact, the consequences of the lack of parking slots along with the inadequate management of these facilities are tremendous. The aim of this thesis is to provide efficient and robust algorithms in order to save time and money for drivers and to increase the income of parking managers. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective assignment problem in static and dynamic environments. First, for the static environment, we propose new two-phase heuristics to calculate an approximation of the set of efficient solutions for a bi-objective problem. In the first phase, we generate the supported efficient set with a standard dichotomic algorithm. In the second phase we use four metaheuristics to generate an approximation of the non-supported efficient solutions. The proposed approaches are tested on the bi-objective shortest path problem and the biobjective assignment problem. For the dynamic environment, we propose a mixed integer linear programming formulation that is solved several times over a given horizon. The objective functions consist of a balance between the satisfaction of drivers and the interest of the parking managers. Two approaches are proposed for this dynamic assignment problem with or without learning phase. To reinforce the learning phase, an estimation of distribution algorithm is proposed to predict the future demand. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, simulation tests have been carried out. A pilot implementation has also been conducted in the parking of the University of Valenciennes, using an existing platform called framework for context aware transportation services, which allows dynamic deployment of services. This platform can dynamically switch from one approach to another depending on the context. This thesis is part of the project SYstem For Smart Road Applications (SYFRA).