Research suggests that there is a plethora of information on the size and shape of the average and plus sized women in South Africa (Winks, 1990; Pandarum, 2009; Muthambi, 2012; Afolayan & Mastamet-Mason, 2013 and Makhanya, 2015). However, there is very little information on petite women‟s body shapes, their body measurements and their shopping behaviour, especially in South Africa, for manufacturing ready-to-wear garments. The purpose of this petite women study was to investigate the shapes and sizes of a sample of petite South African women and develop size charts for the upper and lower body dimensions. This study used a mixed-method; purposive, non-probability sampling method to achieve the objectives of the study. A (TC)² NX16 3D full body scanner and an Adam‟s® medical scale were used to collect the body measurement data of 200 petite South African women, aged between 20-54 years with an average height range of 157cm, residing in Gauteng (Pretoria and Johannesburg). Other data collection instruments included a demographic questionnaire to collect the subjects‟ demographic information such as, age, height, weight, etc.; and the psychographic questionnaire to gather the petite subjects‟ demographics as well as their perceptions and preferences on currently available ready-to-wear shirt and trouser garments. Of the 200 subjects that were initially recruited, based on the petite women‟s body height that ranged from 5‟ 4” (163 cm) and below, the most prevalent body shape profile that emerged from the dataset, was the pear body shape which was evident in 180 of the 3D full body scanned petite women subjects. Therefore, the anthropometric data for these 180 subjects was used in the development of the experimental upper and lower body dimensions size charts and as the basis for the fit test garments developed in this study. The collected data was analysed and interpreted in Microsoft Excel and the IBM SPSS Statistics 24 (2016) software package, using principal component analysis (PCA) to produce the experimental size charts for the upper and lower body dimensions necessary for creating prototype shirt and trouser garments. Regression analysis was used to establish the primary and secondary body dimensions for the development of the size charts and for determining the size ranges. The experimental upper and lower body dimensions size charts were developed for sizes ranging from size 6/30 to size 26/50. Subsequently, the accuracy of the size charts developed in this study was evaluated by a panel of experts who analysed the fit of the prototype shirt and trouser garments, manufactured using measurements for a size 10/34 size range from the size chart, on a sample of the petite subjects. The fit of these garments was also compared with the fit of garments manufactured using the 3D full body scanned measurements of a size 10/34 petite tailoring mannequin, that is currently commercially available for use in the production of garments for petite women in South Africa. The shirt and trouser prototype garments developed using the size 10/34 upper and lower body dimensions size chart measurements had, overall, a better quality of fit than the garments made to fit the current, commercially available, size 10/34 mannequin. These findings thereby confirmed that the data extracted from the (TC)² NX16 3D full body scanner and the size charts subsequently developed using the data, has the potential to provide better/improved fit in garments for petite South African women than data hitherto published. From the evidence of this study, it is recommended that the South African garment manufacturing industry needs to revise the current sizing system for petite women to accommodate the body dimensions and shape variations that currently prevail amongst consumers. The South African garment manufacturers and retailers also need to familiarise themselves with the needs, challenges and preferences of the petite consumers‟ target market that purchase ready-to-wear shirt and trouser garments in South Africa. / Life and Consumer Sciences / M.ConSci. (Department of Life and Consumer Science)

Abstract Wetlands in arid and semi-arid regions are complex fragile ecosystems that are critical in maintaining and controlling environmental quality and biodiversity. These wetlands and specially closed lake systems depend on support processes in upstream parts of the basin or recharge zone, as small changes in river flow regime can cause significant changes in lake level, salinity and productivity. Recent strong alterations in river flow regimes due to climate and land use change have resulted in ecosystem degradation and desiccation of many saline lakes in arid and semi-arid regions. Because of the low economic value of these lakes, their hydrology has not been monitored accurately, making it difficult to determine water balance and assess the role of water use and climate in lake desiccation. Furthermore, available data are usually of coarse resolution on both spatial and temporal scale. New frameworks using all available data and refining existing information on lake basins were developed in this thesis to assess regional differences in water resource availability, impacts of human activities on river flow regime alteration and agricultural land use change. The frameworks were applied to study causes and impacts of desiccation of a major lake, Lake Urmia, one of the largest saltwater lakes on Earth. This highly endangered ecosystem is on the brink of a major environmental disaster resembling that around the Aral Sea. The spatial pattern of precipitation across the Lake Urmia basin was investigated, to shed light on regional differences in water availability. Using large numbers of rainfall records and a wide array of statistical descriptors, precipitation across space and time was evaluated. Another important research component involved examining streamflow records for headwaters and lowland reaches of the Lake Urmia basin, in order to determine whether observed changes are mainly due to climate change or anthropogenic activities (e.g. water withdrawal for domestic and irrigation purposes). Principal component and clustering analyses of all available precipitation data for the lake basin revealed a heterogeneous precipitation pattern, but also permitted delineation of three homogeneous precipitation areas within the region. Further analysis identified variation in seasonal precipitation as the most important factor controlling the spatial precipitation pattern in the basin. The results showed that climate change impact on headwaters is insignificant and that irrigation is the main driving force for river flow regime alterations in the basin. This is supported by evidence that the headwaters have relatively remained unaffected by agriculture and by lack of significant changes in the historical records. The approach presented, involving clear in terpretation of existing information, can be useful in communicating land use and climate change information to decision makers and lake restoration planners. / Tiivistelmä Kuivilla aridisilla ja semiaridisilla alueilla sijaitsevat kosteikot ovat hauraita ekosysteemejä. Ne ovat myös tavallista tärkeämpiä, koska ne ylläpitävät ja säätelevät ympäristön laatua sekä luonnon monimuotoisuutta. Nämä kosteikot, kuten valtaosa muistakin kosteikoista, ovat riippuvaisia vesistöalueen ylemmillä osilla tehdyistä toimista kuten vesistöjen säännöstelystä. Jopa pienet muutokset jokien virtauksissa voivat aiheuttaa merkittäviä muutoksia järvien vedenpinnan korkeuteen, suolapitoisuuteen ja tuottavuuteen. Viimeaikaiset ilmastonmuutoksen ja maankäytön muutosten aiheuttamat voimakkaat muutokset jokien virtaamiin ovat johtaneet ekosysteemien rappeutumiseen sekä monien suolajärvien kuivumiseen kuivilla ja puolikuivilla alueilla. Kuivilla alueilla sijaitsevien suolajärvien hydrologiaa ei ole tarkkailtu riittävästi niiden alhaisemman taloudellisen arvon vuoksi. Se hankaloittaa vesitaseen määrittämistä. Tarkkojen tietojen puuttuessa on vaikea arvioida myös sitä, miten vedenkäyttö ja ilmasto ovat vaikuttaneet järvien kuivumiseen. Lisäksi saatavilla olevat tiedot ovat yleensä sekä ajallisesti että alueellisesti epätarkkoja. Analysointiin tarvittavien tietojen ja välineiden puute saattaa pahimmillaan johtaa ristiriitaisiin oletuksiin. Väitöstyön päätavoite on tarjota puitteet, joilla parannetaan ymmärrystä vesivarojen alueellisista eroista, ihmisen toiminnan vaikutuksista jokien virtausten muutoksiin ja maatalouden maankäytön muutoksista käyttäen kaikkea saatavilla olevaa dataa sekä täsmentäen samalla vesistöistä jo olemassa olevaa tietoa. Väitöskirja tutkii yhden suuren järven kuivumisen syitä ja seurauksia. Urmiajärvi on yksi maapallon suurimmista suolajärvistä sekä erittäin uhanalainen ekosysteemi. Järvi on samankaltaisen ympäristökatastrofin partaalla, joka aiheutti Araljärven kuivumisen. Väitöskirja antaa tietoa veden saatavuuden alueellisista eroista tutkimalla sademäärien alueellista jakautumista Urmiajärven valuma-alueella. Tutkielmassa arvioidaan sadannan ajallista ja paikallista vaihtelua erilaisten tilastollisten menetelmien avulla. Tutkielman toinen tärkeä osa keskittyy vesialtaan latvavesistön ja tasankoalueiden valumatietoihin. Tämän osuuden päätavoite on määritellä johtuvatko havaitut muutokset järvessä pääasiassa ilmastonmuutoksesta vai ihmisen toiminnasta kuten kastelusta. Sadantatietojen pääkomponentti- ja ryhmittelyanalyysien tulokset osoittavat, että Urmiajärven allas on sadannaltaan heterogeeninen alue. Analyysi johti seudun jakamiseen kolmeen homogeeniseen sadanta-alueeseen. Analyysi osoitti, että sademäärien kausittainen vaihtelu on merkittävin järvialtaan alueellisiin sademääriin vaikuttava tekijä. Tulokset osoittavat, että ilmastonmuutoksen vaikutukset latvavesistöön eivät olleet merkittäviä ja keinokastelu on ylivoimaisesti merkittävin järvialtaan jokien virtausten muutoksiin vaikuttava tekijä. Tätä johtopäätöstä tukee se tosiseikka, että maanviljelys ei ole juurikaan vaikuttanut latvavesistöihin eikä niissä näy historiallisten lähteiden perusteella merkittäviä muutoksia. Tutkimuksen hyöty on siinä, että se tulkitsee saatavilla olevan tiedon selkeästi, joka on avuksi, kun maankäyttöön ja ilmastonmuutokseen liittyviä tietoja välitetään päättäjille ja järven kunnostusta suunnitteleville tahoille.

L’Impact des caractéristiques spatiales sur les dynamiques de développement urbain est d’un grand intérêt dans les études urbaines. L’interaction entre les résidents et les caractéristiques spatiales est d’un intérêt particulier dans le contexte des modèles urbains car de nombreux modèles urbains sont fondés sur le processus d’installation des individus dans des parties spécifiques des villes. Il s’agit d’une étude sur la dynamique de développement urbain avec des Automates Cellulaires et un Système Multi-Agent. Le développement urbain de cette étude recouvre le « urban renewal » et la mobilité résidentielle. Il correspond à la mobilité résidentielle des ménages qui sont attirés par le confort résidentiel et le confort de centralité ; ces conforts sont localisés dans quelques quartiers de Strasbourg. La diversité et la qualité de ces conforts deviennent des critères pour les choix résidentiels de telle façon que chaque ménage recherche la proximité de ces conforts. Dans cette étude l’Automate Cellulaire modélise les caractéristiques techniques des unités spatiales, celles-ci sont identifiées par des attributs inhérents qui sont égaux aux conforts dans les résidences et dans les zones urbaines. Dans le Système Multi-Agent la population de la ville de Strasbourg interagit entre elle et avec la ville. Les agents représentent les classes socio-professionnelles des ménages. Pendant un changement spatio- temporel, l’aspiration des ménages forme le développement socio-spatio-temporelle de la ville. / The impact of spatial characteristics on the dynamics of urban development is a topic of great interest in urban studies. The interaction between the residents and the spatial characteristics is of particular interest in the context of urban models where some of the most famous urban models have been based on the process of individual settlements in some specific parts of cities.This research investigates the dynamism of urban development modeled by Cellular Automata and Multi-Agent System. The urban development, in this study embraces urban renewal and residential mobility. It corresponds to the residential mobility of households, attracted by residential and centrality comfort; these comforts are crystallized in some areas and residences of Strasbourg. The diversity and quality of these comforts become criteria for residential choice in a way that the households seek for proximity to these comforts.The Cellular Automata in this study, models the spatial characteristics of urban spatial units and they are identified by some inherent attributes that are equal to the comfort in residences and urban areas. The Multi- Agent System represent a system in which the population of the city interact between them and between them and the city; the agents delegate the socio-professional classes of households. During the spatiotemporal change, the aspiration of households forms the socio-spatio-temporal development of the city.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T13:51:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniela Vantil Agrizzi.pdf: 2677028 bytes, checksum: 1e5aaf2da2a89c65f2268ae294932188 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-17 / Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a qualidade da água de nascentes no assentamento Paraíso, localizado no município de Alegre, ES. A pecuária leiteira é a principal atividade econômica desenvolvida na região e, em 2006, o INCRA, junto aos assentados, iniciou um trabalho de recomposição das APP s das nascentes que resultou atualmente em diferentes tratamentos ao redor dos olhos d água, de acordo com os cuidados e expectativas de cada produtor. Das 25 nascentes existentes, oito foram selecionadas: N1, em meio à floresta remanescente de Mata Atlântica; N2, N3, N4, N5, N6 e N7 estão em recuperação, sendo que as nascentes estão cercadas, porém, variando no tamanho da área cercada, na topografia, no estágio de recuperação alcançado e no tipo de vegetação existente; e a N8, sem cerca e com acesso livre dos animais de criação. Três amostras de água foram coletadas em cada nascente entre novembro/2011 e março/2012 e analisados 17 parâmetros: coliformes totais e termotolerantes, pH, alcalinidade, oxigênio dissolvido (OD), demanda bioquímica de oxigênio (DBO), nitrogênio total, fósforo total, ferro, cálcio, magnésio, temperatura, turbidez, condutividade elétrica (CE) e sólidos suspensos, dissolvidos e totais. Os resultados foram comparados com os padrões normativos da legislação para potabilidade e para qualidade ambiental da água, tendo-se calculado o Índice de Qualidade de Água seguindo metodologia adaptada da Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (CETESB), na qual foram retirados os parâmetros pH e OD, por terem sidos considerados não importantes para o cálculo de qualidade para essas nascentes. Técnicas de análise estatística multivariada foram utilizadas para facilitar a interpretação do grande número de parâmetros, por meio da análise de componentes principais (ACP) e análise de agrupamento (AA). A partir da ACP, selecionaram-se dois componentes que explicaram 67,60% da variância total dos dados, e os parâmetros que mais explicam as variações entre as nascentes são: coliformes termotolerantes e totais, DBO, CE, alcalinidade, turbidez, sólidos suspensos totais e temperatura. Na AA três grupos foram formados, distinguindo-se o grupo I, formado pelas nascentes cercadas, o grupo II, composto pela N1, e o grupo III, composto pela N8. O grupo I apresentou a melhor qualidade de água e o grupo III a pior, revelando a importância da proteção de nascentes. A qualidade da água em meio à floresta foi pouco inferior às do grupo I por ter tido mais contato com contaminantes microbiológicos (excrementos de animais silvestres) e por ter recebido maior aporte de matéria orgânica e sedimentos que aquelas protegidas pelo adensamento de gramíneas forrageiras / The objective of this study was to evaluate the water quality of springs in the Paraíso settlement, located in city of Alegre,ES. The dairy production is the main economic activity developed in the region and in 2006, the National Institute of Colonization and Land Reform (INCRA), joined the settlers, started a project of reconstruction of Mandatory Preservation Areas (APP S) of the springs which resulted in different treatments around the springs, according to the treatment and expectations of each producer. Out of 25 existing springs, eight were selected: N1, in an Atlantic Forest remnant; N2,N3,N4,N5,N6,N7 are in recovery, being that the springs are fenced, however, ranging in size of the fenced area, in topography, recovery stages reached and type of existing vegetation; and the N8 wasn t fenced and access the farm animals had free access. Three samples of water were collected in each spring between November/2011 and March/2012 and 17 parameters were analyzed: total and thermotolerant coliforms, pH, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total nitrogen, total phosphorus, iron, calcium, magnesium, temperature, turbidity, electrical conductivity (EC) and dissolved suspended total solid. The results were compared to the normative standards of legislation for environmental quality and portability of water and was calculated the Water Quality Index following the method adapted from a Environmental Company of São Paulo (CETESB), in which the parameters pH and DO were taken out because they werent consider important for the quality calculation of these springs. Multivariate statistical analysis technique was utilized to facilitate the interpretation of the large number of parameters thru the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA). Based on the ACP, two components were selected which explained 67.60% of total variance of the data and the parameters best explains the variation between the springs are: total and thermotolerant coliforms, BOD, EC, alkalinity, the turbidity, suspended total solids and temperature. In the CA, three groups were formed, distinguishing group I, formed by the fenced springs, group II, consisting N1 and group III consisting N8. Group I presented the best water quality and group III the worst, revealing the importance of the protection of springs. The water quality in the forest was slightly lower than group I to have had more contact with microbiological contaminants (excrement of wild animals) and to have received greater input of organic matter and sediments than those protected by the density of forage grasses

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Métodos estocásticos oferecem uma poderosa ferramenta para a execução da compressão de dados e decomposições de matrizes. O método estocástico para decomposição de matrizes estudado utiliza amostragem aleatória para identificar um subespaço que captura a imagem de uma matriz de forma aproximada, preservando uma parte de sua informação essencial. Estas aproximações compactam a informação possibilitando a resolução de problemas práticos de maneira eficiente. Nesta dissertação é calculada uma decomposição em valores singulares (SVD) utilizando técnicas estocásticas. Esta SVD aleatória é empregada na tarefa de reconhecimento de faces. O reconhecimento de faces funciona de forma a projetar imagens de faces sobre um espaço de características que melhor descreve a variação de imagens de faces conhecidas. Estas características significantes são conhecidas como autofaces, pois são os autovetores de uma matriz associada a um conjunto de faces. Essa projeção caracteriza aproximadamente a face de um indivíduo por uma soma ponderada das autofaces características. Assim, a tarefa de reconhecimento de uma nova face consiste em comparar os pesos de sua projeção com os pesos da projeção de indivíduos conhecidos. A análise de componentes principais (PCA) é um método muito utilizado para determinar as autofaces características, este fornece as autofaces que representam maior variabilidade de informação de um conjunto de faces. Nesta dissertação verificamos a qualidade das autofaces obtidas pela SVD aleatória (que são os vetores singulares à esquerda de uma matriz contendo as imagens) por comparação de similaridade com as autofaces obtidas pela PCA. Para tanto, foram utilizados dois bancos de imagens, com tamanhos diferentes, e aplicadas diversas amostragens aleatórias sobre a matriz contendo as imagens. / Stochastic methods offer a powerful tool for performing data compression and decomposition of matrices. These methods use random sampling to identify a subspace that captures the range of a matrix in an approximate way, preserving a part of its essential information. These approaches compress the information enabling the resolution of practical problems efficiently. This work computes a singular value decomposition (SVD) of a matrix using stochastic techniques. This random SVD is employed in the task of face recognition. The face recognition is based on the projection of images of faces on a feature space that best describes the variation of known image faces. These features are known as eigenfaces because they are the eigenvectors of a matrix constructed from a set of faces. This projection characterizes an individual face by a weighted sum of eigenfaces. The task of recognizing a new face is to compare the weights of its projection with the projection of the weights of known individuals. The principal components analysis (PCA) is a widely used method for determining the eigenfaces. This provides the greatest variability eigenfaces representing information from a set of faces. In this dissertation we discuss the quality of eigenfaces obtained by a random SVD (which are the left singular vectors of a matrix containing the images) by comparing the similarity with eigenfaces obtained by PCA. We use two databases of images, with different sizes and various random sampling applied on the matrix containing the images.

Submitted by Andre Luiz Correa (andreluizcorrea@outlook.com) on 2018-09-19T14:36:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_André Luiz Corrêa.pdf: 1701858 bytes, checksum: 65f09c0b53af1e89dac3e1238dd5ec93 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Neli Silvia Pereira null (nelisps@fcav.unesp.br) on 2018-09-19T19:42:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 correa_al_me_jabo.pdf: 1701858 bytes, checksum: 65f09c0b53af1e89dac3e1238dd5ec93 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-19T19:42:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 correa_al_me_jabo.pdf: 1701858 bytes, checksum: 65f09c0b53af1e89dac3e1238dd5ec93 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-31 / O objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi identificar em que grau os princípios de gestão da qualidade estão inter-relacionados. O primeiro objetivo específico foi identificar o nível de implementação dos princípios de gestão da qualidade na organização. O segundo objetivo específico foi reduzir o conjunto inicial de vinte e uma variáveis para poucas variáveis que expliquem como esses princípios de gestão estão inter-relacionados. O terceiro objetivo foi direcionar a organização para a implementação de ações de melhoria sobre os princípios de gestão que minimizem esforços e recursos necessários. Foi realizado um estudo de caso em uma organização industrial certificada ISO 9001 envolvida na cadeia de suprimentos sucroenergética. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi elaborado tendo como referência a norma ISO 10014. Inicialmente o questionário foi aplicado para um grupo de doze respondentes de perfis distintos para verificar o nível de dificuldade no entendimento das questões. Foi calculado o coeficiente de Cronbach sendo obtido um valor de ∝=0,94, demonstrando forte consistência interna no questionário. Foram obtidas 98 respostas completas que foram analisadas por meio de técnicas estatísticas descritivas e multivariadas, como a análise de fatores por componentes principais e análise de agrupamentos. Para as análises estatísticas foram utilizados os softwares Excel® 2016 e Statistica® 7.0. Por meio da análise de fatores as vinte e uma variáveis iniciais foram reduzidas a dois fatores, que foram denominados gestão de processos e gestão de pessoas. Foram realizadas análises de agrupamentos por métodos hierárquicos e não-hierárquicos e verificou-se que as variáveis pertencentes a cada grupo são as mesmas variáveis com cargas fatoriais elevadas em cada fator. Conclui-se que que os objetivos da pesquisa foram plenamente alcançados demonstrando a eficácia da aplicação de técnicas multivariadas para compreensão de fenômenos resultantes da ação de variáveis inter-relacionadas. Salienta-se que os resultados da pesquisa não podem ser generalizados para outras organizações, devido a análise específica de um caso. / The general objective of this research was to identify to what degree the principles of quality management are interrelated. The first specific objective was to identify the level of implementation of the principles of quality management in the organization. The second specific objective was to reduce the initial set of twenty-one variables to a few variables that explain how these management principles are interrelated. The third objective was to direct the organization to the implementation of improvement actions on the management principles that minimize the efforts and necessary resources. A case study was carried out in an ISO 9001 certified industrial organization involved in the sugarcane supply chain. The data collection instrument was developed with reference to ISO 10014. Initially the questionnaire was applied to a group of twelve respondents from different profiles to verify the level of difficulty in understanding the issues. The Cronbach coefficient was calculated and a value of α = 0.94 was obtained, showing a strong internal consistency in the questionnaire. A total of 98 responses were obtained, which were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques, such as principal components factor analysis and cluster analysis. For the statistical analysis, the software Excel® 2016 and Statistica® 7.0 were used. Through the factor analysis, the twenty-one initial variables were reduced to two factors, which were called process management and people management. Cluster analyses were performed by hierarchical and non-hierarchical methods and it was verified that the variables belonging to each group are the same variables with high factor loads in each factor. It is concluded that the objectives of the research were fully achieved demonstrating the effectiveness of the application of multivariate techniques to understand phenomena resulting from the action of interrelated variables. It should be noted that the results of the research cannot be generalized to other organizations, due to the specific analysis of a case.

En dépit de ses qualités, le Rorschach en Système Intégré présente des problèmes psychométriques substantiels que le nouveau système Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) ne permet pas de résoudre. Aussi, l’objectif principal de la thèse que nous défendons est de développer une approche psychométrique du Rorschach qui soit satisfaisante sur les plans statistique et clinique. Une Analyse Parallèle et Une Analyse en Composantes Principales réalisée sur un échantillon normatif de 695 participants Belges, Français et Finlandais permet de définir un modèle du Rorschach en 12 Composantes. Si ces dimensions sont cohérentes avec les principes de cotation et les connaissances empiriques sur le Rorschach, elles font également apparaître certaines difficultés de cotation, des aspects du Rorschach qui ont été négligés dans la recherche, de même qu’elles remettent en question certains indices du Système Intégré. Ce modèle est appliqué à deux problèmes empiriques : l’expression de particularités culturelles au Rorschach et la capacité du test à identifier des stratégies de résolution de problème (qui est un aspect central du Système Intégré). Les normes américaines du Système Intégré ainsi que les normes internationales du R-PAS ne peuvent s’appliquer de manière universelle et il faut donc recourir à des valeurs de références nationales. De plus, le Rorschach ne permet pas d’identifier des stratégies de résolution de problème de manière fiable. Ces études montrent que certains principes fondamentaux du Système Intégré et du R-PAS sont à remettre en question et qu’il est nécessaire de développer un nouveau système d’interprétation du Rorschach selon une approche psychométrique. / In spite of its quailties, the Rorschach Comprehensive System (RCS) presents substantial psychometric issues which are not solved by the new Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS). Thus, the main objective of this dissertation is to develop a satisfying psychometrical approach of the Rorschach test. A Parallel Analysis and a Principal Component Analysis performed on a normative sample of 695 Belgian, French and Fins participants define a 12 Components model of the Rorschach. If these dimensions are coherent with scoring principles and empirical evidences for the Rorschach they also reveal some scoring issues, neglected aspects of the Rorschach in the research field as well as they question the validity of some indices of the RCS. This model was applied to two empirical problems : the cross-cultural study of the Rorschach and its ability to assess problem solving strategies (which is a key feature of the RCS). The american norms of the RCS and the international reference values of the R-PAS cannot be used universally and it is necessary to use national norms. Moreover, the Rorschach does not assess problem solving strategies in a satisfying manner. These studies demonstrate that some fondamental principles of the RCS and the R-PAS must be questionned and the necessity to develop a new interpretation system for the Rorschach based on a psychometrical approach.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Monitoring of process control systems is extremely important for industries to ensure the quality of the product and the safety of the process. Predictive controllers, also known by MPC (Model Predictive Control), usually has a well performance initially. However, after a period, many factors contribute to the deterioration of its performance. This highlights the importance of monitoring the MPC control systems. In this work, tools based on multivariate statistical methods are discussed and applied to the problem of monitoring and Performance Assessment of predictive controllers. The methods presented here are: PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and ICA (Independent Component Analysis). Both are techniques that use data collected directly from the process. The first is widely used in Performance Assessment of predictive controllers. The second is a more recent technique that has arisen, mainly in order to be used in fault detection systems. The analyzes are made when applied in simulated processes characteristic of the petrochemical industry operating under MPC control. / O monitoramento de sistemas de controle de processos é extremamente importante no que diz respeito às indústrias, para garantir a qualidade do que é produzido e a segurança do processo. Os controladores preditivos, também conhecidos pela sigla em inglês MPC (Model Predictive Control), costumam ter um bom desempenho inicialmente. Entretanto, após um certo período, muitos fatores contribuem para a deterioração de seu desempenho. Isto evidencia a importância do monitoramento dos sistemas de controle MPC. Neste trabalho aborda-se ferramentas, baseada em métodos estatísticos multivariados, aplicados ao problema de monitoramento e avaliação de desempenho de controladores preditivos. Os métodos aqui apresentados são: o PCA (Análise por componentes principais) e o ICA (Análise por componentes independentes). Ambas são técnicas que utilizam dados coletados diretamente do processo. O primeiro é largamente utilizado na avaliação de desempenho de controladores preditivos. Já o segundo, é uma técnica mais recente que surgiu, principalmente, com o intuito de ser utilizado em sistemas de detecção de falhas. As análises são feitas quando aplicadas em processos simulados característicos da indústria petroquímica operando sob controle MPC.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:55:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 IloneideCOR.pdf: 1010601 bytes, checksum: 76bbc04aa0a456f079121fb0d750ea74 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-03-03 / The problems of combinatory optimization have involved a large number of researchers in search of approximative solutions for them, since it is generally accepted that they are unsolvable in polynomial time. Initially, these solutions were focused on heuristics. Currently, metaheuristics are used more for this task, especially those based on evolutionary algorithms. The two main contributions of this work are: the creation of what is called an -Operon- heuristic, for the construction of the information chains necessary for the implementation of transgenetic (evolutionary) algorithms, mainly using statistical methodology - the Cluster Analysis and the Principal Component Analysis; and the utilization of statistical analyses that are adequate for the evaluation of the performance of the algorithms that are developed to solve these problems. The aim of the Operon is to construct good quality dynamic information chains to promote an -intelligent- search in the space of solutions. The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is intended for applications based on a transgenetic algorithmic known as ProtoG. A strategy is also proposed for the renovation of part of the chromosome population indicated by adopting a minimum limit in the coefficient of variation of the adequation function of the individuals, with calculations based on the population. Statistical methodology is used for the evaluation of the performance of four algorithms, as follows: the proposed ProtoG, two memetic algorithms and a Simulated Annealing algorithm. Three performance analyses of these algorithms are proposed. The first is accomplished through the Logistic Regression, based on the probability of finding an optimal solution for a TSP instance by the algorithm being tested. The second is accomplished through Survival Analysis, based on a probability of the time observed for its execution until an optimal solution is achieved. The third is accomplished by means of a non-parametric Analysis of Variance, considering the Percent Error of the Solution (PES) obtained by the percentage in which the solution found exceeds the best solution available in the literature. Six experiments have been conducted applied to sixty-one instances of Euclidean TSP with sizes of up to 1,655 cities. The first two experiments deal with the adjustments of four parameters used in the ProtoG algorithm in an attempt to improve its performance. The last four have been undertaken to evaluate the performance of the ProtoG in comparison to the three algorithms adopted. For these sixty-one instances, it has been concluded on the grounds of statistical tests that there is evidence that the ProtoG performs better than these three algorithms in fifty instances. In addition, for the thirty-six instances considered in the last three trials in which the performance of the algorithms was evaluated through PES, it was observed that the PES average obtained with the ProtoG was less than 1% in almost half of these instances, having reached the greatest average for one instance of 1,173 cities, with an PES average equal to 3.52%. Therefore, the ProtoG can be considered a competitive algorithm for solving the TSP, since it is not rare in the literature find PESs averages greater than 10% to be reported for instances of this size. / Os problemas de otimiza??o combinat?ria t?m envolvido um grande n?mero de pesquisadores na busca por solu??es aproximativas para aqueles, desde a aceita??o de que eles s?o considerados insol?veis em tempo polinomial. Inicialmente, essas solu??es eram focalizadas por meio de heur?sticas. Atualmente, as metaheur?sticas s?o mais utilizadas para essa tarefa, especialmente aquelas baseadas em algoritmos evolucion?rios. As duas principais contribui??es deste trabalho s?o: a cria??o de uma heur?stica, denominada Operon, para a constru??o de cadeias de informa??es necess?rias ? implementa??o de algoritmos transgen?ticos (evolucion?rios) utilizando, principalmente, a metodologia estat?stica - An?lise de Agrupamentos e An?lise de Componentes Principais -; e a utiliza??o de an?lises estat?sticas adequadas ? avalia??o da performance de algoritmos destinados ? solu??o desses problemas. O Operon visa construir, de forma din?mica e de boa qualidade, cadeias de informa??es a fim de promover uma busca -inteligente- no espa?o de solu??es. O Problema do Caixeiro Viajante (PCV) ? focalizado para as aplica??es que s?o realizadas com base num algoritmo transgen?tico, denominado ProtoG. Prop?e-se, tamb?m, uma estrat?gia de renova??o de parte da popula??o de cromossomos indicada pela ado??o de um limite m?nimo no coeficiente de varia??o da fun??o de adequa??o dos indiv?duos, calculado com base na popula??o. S?o propostas tr?s an?lises estat?sticas para avaliar a performance de algoritmos. A primeira ? realizada atrav?s da An?lise de Regress?o Log?stica, com base na probabilidade de obten??o da solu??o ?tima de uma inst?ncia do PCV pelo algoritmo em teste. A segunda ? realizada atrav?s da An?lise de Sobreviv?ncia, com base numa probabilidade envolvendo o tempo de execu??o observado at? que a solu??o ?tima seja obtida. A terceira ? realizada por meio da An?lise de Vari?ncia n?o param?trica, considerando o Erro Percentual da Solu??o (EPS) obtido pela percentagem em que a solu??o encontrada excede a melhor solu??o dispon?vel na literatura. Utiliza-se essa metodologia para a avalia??o da performance de quatro algoritmos, a saber: o ProtoG proposto, dois algoritmos mem?ticos e um algoritmo Simulated Annealing. Foram realizados seis experimentos, aplicados a sessenta e uma inst?ncias do PCV euclidiano, com tamanhos de at? 1.655 cidades. Os dois primeiros experimentos tratam do ajuste de quatro par?metros utilizados no algoritmo ProtoG, visando melhorar a performance do mesmo. Os quatro ?ltimos s?o utilizados para avaliar a performance do ProtoG em compara??o aos tr?s algoritmos adotados. Para essas sessenta e uma inst?ncias, conclui-se, sob testes estat?sticos, que h? evid?ncias de que o ProtoG ? superior a esses tr?s algoritmos em cinq?enta inst?ncias. Al?m disso, para as trinta e seis inst?ncias consideradas nos tr?s ?ltimos experimentos, nos quais a avalia??o da performance dos algoritmos foi realizada com base no EPS, observou-se que o ProtoG obteve EPSs m?dios menores que 1% em quase metade das inst?ncias, tendo atingido a maior m?dia para uma inst?ncia composta por 1.173 cidades, com EPS m?dio igual a 3,52%. Logo, o ProtoG pode ser considerado um algoritmo competitivo para solucionar o PCV, pois n?o ? raro serem reportados, na literatura, EPSs m?dios maiores que 10% para inst?ncias desse porte.

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / Skeletal muscle consists of muscle fiber types that have different physiological and biochemical characteristics. Basically, the muscle fiber can be classified into type I and type II, presenting, among other features, contraction speed and sensitivity to fatigue different for each type of muscle fiber. These fibers coexist in the skeletal muscles and their relative proportions are modulated according to the muscle functionality and the stimulus that is submitted. To identify the different proportions of fiber types in the muscle composition, many studies use biopsy as standard procedure. As the surface electromyography (EMGs) allows to extract information about the recruitment of different motor units, this study is based on the assumption that it is possible to use the EMG to identify different proportions of fiber types in a muscle. The goal of this study was to identify the characteristics of the EMG signals which are able to distinguish, more precisely, different proportions of fiber types. Also was investigated the combination of characteristics using appropriate mathematical models. To achieve the proposed objective, simulated signals were developed with different proportions of motor units recruited and with different signal-to-noise ratios. Thirteen characteristics in function of time and the frequency were extracted from emulated signals. The results for each extracted feature of the signals were submitted to the clustering algorithm k-means to separate the different proportions of motor units recruited on the emulated signals. Mathematical techniques (confusion matrix and analysis of capability) were implemented to select the characteristics able to identify different proportions of muscle fiber types. As a result, the average frequency and median frequency were selected as able to distinguish, with more precision, the proportions of different muscle fiber types. Posteriorly, the features considered most able were analyzed in an associated way through principal component analysis. Were found two principal components of the signals emulated without noise (CP1 and CP2) and two principal components of the noisy signals (CP1 and CP2 ). The first principal components (CP1 and CP1 ) were identified as being able to distinguish different proportions of muscle fiber types. The selected characteristics (median frequency, mean frequency, CP1 and CP1 ) were used to analyze real EMGs signals, comparing sedentary people with physically active people who practice strength training (weight training). The results obtained with the different groups of volunteers show that the physically active people obtained higher values of mean frequency, median frequency and principal components compared with the sedentary people. Moreover, these values decreased with increasing power level for both groups, however, the decline was more accented for the group of physically active people. Based on these results, it is assumed that the volunteers of the physically active group have higher proportions of type II fibers than sedentary people. Finally, based on these results, we can conclude that the selected characteristics were able to distinguish different proportions of muscle fiber types, both for the emulated signals as to the real signals. These characteristics can be used in several studies, for example, to evaluate the progress of people with myopathy and neuromyopathy due to the physiotherapy, and also to analyze the development of athletes to improve their muscle capacity according to their sport. In both cases, the extraction of these characteristics from the surface electromyography signals provides a feedback to the physiotherapist and the coach physical, who can analyze the increase in the proportion of a given type of fiber, as desired in each case. / A musculatura esquelética é constituída por tipos de fibras musculares que possuem características fisiológicas e bioquímicas distintas. Basicamente, elas podem ser classificadas em fibras do tipo I e fibras do tipo II, apresentando, dentre outras características, velocidade de contração e sensibilidade à fadiga diferentes para cada tipo de fibra muscular. Estas fibras coexistem na musculatura esquelética e suas proporções relativas são moduladas de acordo com a funcionalidade do músculo e com o estímulo a que é submetido. Para identificar as diferentes proporções de tipos de fibra na composição muscular, muitos estudos utilizam a biópsia como procedimento padrão. Como a eletromiografia de superfície (EMGs) nos permite extrair informações sobre o recrutamento de diferentes unidades motoras, este estudo parte da hipótese de que seja possível utilizar a EMGs para identificar diferentes proporções de tipos de fibras em uma musculatura. O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar as características dos sinais EMGs que sejam capazes de distinguir, com maior precisão, diferentes proporções de tipos de fibras. Também foi investigado a combinação de características por meio de modelos matemáticos apropriados. Para alcançar o objetivo proposto, sinais emulados foram desenvolvidos com diferentes proporções de unidades motoras recrutadas e diferentes razões sinal-ruído. Treze características no domínio do tempo e da frequência foram extraídas do sinais emulados. Os resultados de cada característica extraída dos sinais emulados foram submetidos ao algorítimo de agrupamento k-means para separar as diferentes proporções de unidades motoras recrutadas nos sinais emulados. Técnicas matemáticas (matriz confusão e técnica de capabilidade) foram implementadas para selecionar as características capazes de identificar diferentes proporções de tipos de fibras musculares. Como resultado, a frequência média e a frequência mediana foram selecionadas como capazes de distinguir com maior precisão as diferentes proporções de tipos de fibras musculares. Posteriormente, as características consideradas mais capazes foram analisadas de forma associada por meio da análise de componentes principais. Foram encontradas duas componentes principais para os sinais emulados sem ruído (CP1 e CP2) e duas componentes principais para os sinais com ruído (CP1 e CP2 ), sendo as primeiras componentes principais (CP1 e CP1 ) identificadas como capazes de distinguirem diferentes proporções de fibras. As características selecionadas (frequência mediana, frequência média, CP1 e CP1 ) foram utilizadas para analisar sinais EMGs reais, comparando pessoas sedentárias com pessoas fisicamente ativas praticantes de treinamentos físicos de força (musculação). Os resultados obtidos com os diferentes grupos de voluntários mostram que as pessoas fisicamente ativas obtiveram valores mais elevados de frequência média, frequência mediana e componentes principais em comparação com as pessoas sedentárias. Além disto, estes valores decaíram com o aumento do nível de força para ambos os grupo, entretanto, o decaimento foi mais acentuado para o grupo de pessoas fisicamente ativas. Com base nestes resultados, presume-se que os voluntários do grupo fisicamente ativo apresentam maiores proporções de fibras do tipo II, se comparado com as pessoas sedentárias. Por fim, com base nos resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que as características selecionadas foram capazes de distinguir diferentes proporções de tipos de fibras musculares, tanto para os sinais emulados quanto para os sinais reais. Estas características podem ser utilizadas em vários estudos, como por exemplo, para avaliar a evolução de pessoas com miopatias e neuromiopatia em decorrência da reabilitação fisioterápica, e também para analisar o desenvolvimento de atletas que visam melhorar sua capacidade muscular de acordo com sua modalidade esportiva. Em ambos os casos, a extração destas características dos sinais de eletromiografia de superfície proporciona um feedback ao fisioterapeuta e ao treinador físico, que podem analisar o aumento na proporção de determinado tipo de fibra, conforme desejado em cada caso. / Mestre em Ciências