Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, March, 2002. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (M.Sc. Physics and Electronic Engineering)--University of Waikato, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-86) Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri--Rolla, 2007. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed October 24, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Computer Science and Engineering. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-79). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11842

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Physics and Astronomy. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-174). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11763

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-86).

Thesis (MScEng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Handwritten signatures are provided extensively to verify identity for all types of transactions and documents. However, they are very rarely actually verified. This is because of the high cost of training and employing enough human operators (who are still fallible) to cope with the demand. They are a very well known, yet under-utilised biometric currently performing far below their potential. We present an on-line/dynamic handwritten signature verification system based on Hidden Markov Models, that far out performs human operators in both accuracy and speed. It uses only the local signature features-sampled from an electronic writing tablet-after some novel preprocessing steps, and is a fully automated system in that there are no parameters that need to be manually fine-tuned for different users. Novel verifiers are investigated which attain best equal error rates of between 2% and 5% for different types of high quality deliberate forgeries, and take a fraction of a second to accept or reject an identity claim on a 700 MHz computer. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geskrewe handtekeninge word gereeld gebruik om die identiteit van dokumente en transaksies te bevestig. Aangesien dit duur is in terme van menslike hulpbronne, word die integrit eit daarvan selde nagegaan. Om handtekeninge deur menslike operateurs te verifieër. is ook feilbaar-lOO% akkurate identifikasie is onrealisties. Handtekeninge is uiters akkurate en unieke identifikasie patrone wat in die praktyk nie naastenby tot hul volle potensiaal gebruik word nie. In hierdie navorsing gebruik ons verskuilde Markov modelle om dinamiese handtekeningherkenningstelsels te ontwikkel wat, in terme van spoed en akkuraatheid heelwat meer effektief as operateurs is. Die stelsel maak gebruik van slegs lokale handtekening eienskappe (en verwerkings daarvan) soos wat dit verkry word vanaf 'n elektroniese skryftablet. Die stelsel is ten volle outomaties en geen parameters hoef aangepas te word vir verskillende gebruikers nie. 'n Paar tipes nuwe handtekeningverifieërders word ondersoek en die resulterende gelykbreekpunt vir vals-aanvaardings- en vals-verwerpingsfoute lê tussen 2% en 5% vir verskillende tipes hoë kwaliteit vervalsde handtekeninge. Op 'n tipiese 700 MHz verwerker word die identiteit van 'n persoon ill minder as i sekonde bevestig.

L'objectif de cette thèse est de concevoir une approche transparente originale apte à détecter en temps-réel l'occurrence d'une action, dans un flot non segmenté et idéalement le plus tôt possible. Ces travaux s'inscrivent dans une collaboration entre deux équipes de l'IRISA-lnria de Rennes, à savoir lntuidoc et MimeTIC. En profitant de la complémentarité des savoir-faire des deux équipes de recherche, nous proposons de reconsidérer les besoins et les difficultés rencontrées pour modéliser, reconnaître et détecter une action 30 en proposant de nouvelles solutions à la lumière des avancées réalisées en termes de modélisation de gestes manuscrits 20. Les contributions de cette thèse sont regroupées en trois parties principales. Dans la première partie, nous proposons une nouvelle approche pour modéliser et reconnaître une action pré­segmentée. Dans la deuxième partie, nous introduisons une approche permettant de reconnaître une action dans un flot non segmenté. Enfin, dans la troisième partie, nous étendons cette dernière approche pour la caractérisation précoce d'une action avec très peu de d'information. Pour chacune de ces trois problématiques, nous avons identifié explicitement les difficultés à considérer afin d'en effectuer une description complète pour permettre de concevoir des solutions ciblées pour chacune d'elles. Les résultats expérimentaux obtenus sur différents benchmarks d'actions attestent de la validité de notre démarche. En outre, à travers des coopérations ayant eu lieu au cours de la thèse, les approches développées ont été déployées dans trois applications, dont des applications en animation et en reconnaissance de gestes dynamiques de la main. / The objective of this thesis is to design an original transparent approach able to detect in real time the occurrence of an action, in an unsegmented flow and ideally as early as possible. This work is part of a collaboration between two IRISA-lnria teams in Rennes, namely lntuidoc and Mime TIC. By taking advantage of the complementary expertise of the two research teams, we propose to reconsider the needs and difficulties encountered to model, recognize and detect a 30 action by proposing new solutions in the light of the advances made in terms of 20 handwriting modeling. The contributions of this thesis are grouped into three main parts. In the first part, we propose a new approach to model and recognize a pre-segmented action. Indeed, it is first necessary to develop a representation able to characterize as finely as possible a given action to facilitate recognition. In the second part, we introduce an approach to recognize an action in an unsegmented flow. Finally, in the third part, we extend this last approach for the early characterization of an action with very little information. For each of these three issues, we have explicitly identified the difficulties to be considered in order to make a complete description of them so that we can design targeted solutions for each of them. The experimental results obtained on different benchmarks of actions attest to the validity of our approach. In addition, through collaborations that took place during the thesis, the developed approaches were deployed in three applications, including applications in animation and in dynamic hand gestures recognition.

CAPES / Recentemente, alguns sistemas estão sendo transferidos para a plataforma web. Muitos serviços e aplicações, incluindo sistemas de simulação e planejamento de energia e sistemas de automação, são desenvolvidos com interfaces baseadas na Internet. A usabilidade é a principal característica de uma interface e está associada com as funcionalidades de um sitema. Ela descreve o quão bem um produto pode ser utilizado para os fins propostos por seus usuários com eficácia, eficiência e satisfação. Este trabalho apresenta a aplicação de técnicas de Reconhecimento de Padrões na detecção e classificação automática de problemas de usabilidade na interface de um sistema web. O foco inicial do trabalho é centrado na identificação de possíveis problemas de usabilidade em formulários web. Os potenciais problemas de usabilidade do formulário web são definidos a partir das recomendações descritas na literatura. As tarefas realizadas pelo usuário são obtidas através da análise da interação do usuário armazenada em arquivos de log. A classificação de quais tarefas são realizadas conforme o esperado e quais são consideradas potenciais problemas de usabilidade é realizada através de uma Rede Neural Artificial. / Recently, some systems have been transferred to the web-based platform. Many services and applications, including those of power systems simulating and planning and automation systems, are developed with Internet-based interface. Usability is mainly a characteristic of the interface and is associated with the functionalities of the systems. It describes how well a product can be used for its intended purpose by its users with efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. This paper presents the application of pattern recognition techniques in automatic detection and classification of usability problems in the interface of a web system. The initial focus of this work is focused on identifying potential usability problems in web forms. The potential usability problems of the web form are defined based on the recommendations described in the literature. The tasks performed by the user are obtained through analysis of user interaction stored in log files. The classification of tasks which are performed as expected and what are considered potential usability problems is performed by an Artificial Neural Network.

Algumas bactérias específicas denominadas coletivamente de rizóbios são capazes de formar nódulos em raízes de leguminosas como o feijoeiro e a soja; o resultado desta associação é um processo biológico que torna possível fixar nitrogênio atmosférico no solo. A fixação biológica do nitrogênio é um processo chave para a agricultura e para o ambiente, permitindo a substituição de fertilizantes nitrogenados, reduzindo a poluição da água por nitrato, bem como a emissão de gases de efeito estufa. Os solos contêm inúmeras estirpes pertencentes ao gênero Bradyrhizobium, que estabelecem simbiose com uma variedade de plantas. No entanto, devido à alta conservação dos genes ribossomal 16S RNAr, considerados a espinha dorsal da taxonomia das espécies de procariontes, poucas espécies desse gênero foram delineadas. A metodologia de Multilocus Sequence Analysis (MLSA), que inclui a análise de múltiplos genes housekeeping, tem-se demonstrado promissora e poderosa para a definição de espécies bacterianas e neste estudo foi aplicada à espécie Bradyrhizobium, aumentando a compreensão sobre a diversidade de bactérias fixadoras de nitrogênio. A classificação de bactérias importantes para a agricultura e a manipulação biotecnológica conduzida para melhorar a produtividade agrícola são relevantes para a biodiversidade. Este estudo propõe a construção de um banco de dados disponível na internet que irá fornecer informações e ferramentas utilizando a metodologia MLSA, visando melhorar a caraterização filogenética e taxonômica do gênero Bradyrhizobium, permitindo a comparação de sequências genômicas com as estirpes tipo e representativas de cada espécie. No total estão disponíveis para consulta 280 sequencias de DNA, referentes a 19 espécies do gênero Bradyrhizobium. Um banco de dados para a identificação taxonômica e filogenética do gênero Bradyrhizobium utilizando MLSA irá facilitar a utilização de dados biológicos disponíveis através de uma interface web amigável e intuitiva. As sequências armazenadas no banco de dados podem ser comparadas com sequências de outras linhagens de forma simples e ágil, com o uso de algoritmos de alinhamento e rotinas computacionais integradas ao banco de dados. As ferramentas para alinhamento de sequencias individuais e múltiplas do banco de dados e as rotinas computacionais desenvolvidas para o pré e pós processamento de dados estão disponíveis em http://mlsa.cnpso.embrapa.br, e podem ser usadas de forma gratuita por pesquisadores de todo mundo para classificar estirpes de Bradyrhizobium; reproduzir as experiências apresentadas neste trabalho, bem como para gerar novos experimentos. O próximo passo será a expansão da base de dados para incluir outras espécies de rizóbios. / Some specific bacterias collectively called rhizobia are able to form nodules on the roots of legumes such as beans and soybeans plants, and the result of this combination is a biological process that makes it possible to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil.. Biological nitrogen fixation, with an emphasis on the legume-rhizobia symbiosis, is a key process for agriculture and the environment, allowing the replacement of nitrogen fertilizers, reducing water pollution by nitrate as well as the emission of greenhouse gases. Soils contain numerous strains belonging to the bacterial genus Bradyrhizobium, which establish symbioses with a variety of legumes. However, due to the high conservation of the ribosomal genes 16S RNAr of Bradyrhizobium-considered as the backbone of the taxonomy of prokaryotes-few species have been delineated so far. The multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) methodology, consisting of the analysis of housekeeping genes, has been shown to be promising and powerful for defining bacterial species, and in this study it was applied to Bradyrhizobium species, increasing our understanding of the diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Classification of bacteria of agronomic importance is relevant to the biodiversity knowledge, as well as to biotechnological manipulation to improve agricultural productivity. We propose the construction of an on-line database that will provide information and tools using the MLSA to improve phylogenetic and taxonomic characterization of Bradyrhizobium, allowing the comparison of genomic sequences with those of type and representative strains of each species.In total are available for viewing 280 sequences relating to 19 species of the genus. A database for the taxonomic and phylogenetic identification of the Bradyrhizobium genus, using MLSA, will facilitate the use of biological data available through an intuitive web interface. Sequences stored in the on-line database can be compared with multiple sequences of other strains with simplicity and agility through multiple alignment algorithms and computational routines integrated into the database. Tools for alignment of individual threads and multiple database and computational routines developed for pre and post processing of data are available at http://mlsa.cnpso.embrapa.br, and can be used, free of charge, by researchers worldwide to classify Bradyrhizobium strains; the database and software can be applied to replicate the experiments presented in this study as well as to generate new experiments. The next step will be expansion of the database to include other rhizobial species.