This thesis deals with possibility use ordinary optical distance sensor as a 3D laser proximity scanner. The thesis is aimed at design mechanical part of scanner for shifting laser beam in two axes. In the scanner is applied indirect shifting of the beam by a mirror. Next is described test control circuit, which has a controlling of direction of beam shifting and data acquisition for task. The control circuit is based on microcontroller ATmega48 with controlling program. On the end of thesis are shown results of measuring reached with designed scanner.

The primary objective of this master’s thesis is to discuss a design and development of proximity touch control panel, which contains two simulated buttons and one rotary slider simulating functions of the potentiometer using specialized sensor controllers. The first part is describing functions and different technologies used to create touch sensors. It also introduces its usage in practice, advantages and disadvantages of different technologies which provides the readers with basic theoretical knowledge and introduction into the touch sensors. The second part as follows describes the definition of Integrated Circuits MPR083 and MPR084, outline of the features and methods of their functions. Displays internal connection of these circuits and describes forms of the serial communication with microcontroller connected to I2C bus. In these part there are in details described individual internal registers of these Integrated Circuits and theirs typical setups. It shows how it is possible to use the external interrupts and examples of their practical application. In the last chapter of these thesis is described the layout of the individual modules and construction of the whole designed device. The work is introducing two different concepts of programming the microcontrollers and consequently also construction of the appropriate ISP and JTAG programmers. It also introduces construction of the display units for visual feedback with the user and approach of the communication for the control LED matrix and graphical LCD display. The main part of this thesis is the construction of the control circuit, which includes key part, microcontroller ATmega16. It also presents the description of the program written in development environment AVR Studio in programming language C and his specific functions. In conclusion of the thesis are listed real measured behavior of the communication on I2C bus and their description.

Depuis quelques années, les groupes de distribution alimentaires français ont développé de nouveaux concepts de magasins de proximité et on note une augmentation régulière de leurs parts de marché. Les raisons du succès de ces magasins peuvent s’expliquer par certains facteurs sociodémographiques (vieillissement, taille réduite des ménages) mais aussi par une modification des attentes temporelles des consommateurs. A travers cette recherche, nous nous interrogeons sur les notions de proximité et de temporalité dans la distribution et tentons de prédire l’intention des consommateurs de fréquenter ces nouveaux concepts de magasins de proximité. L’analyse de 22 entretiens qualitatifs auprès de distributeurs et de consommateurs nous a permis de proposer un modèle conceptuel qui a ensuite été testé de manière empirique auprès de deux échantillons de 250 consommateurs chacun, en se basant sur une analyse par équations structurelles de type PLS. Les résultats montrent que les libres-services alimentaires de proximité fidélisent leur clientèle essentiellement par la proximité relationnelle et fonctionnelle qu’ils apportent, ainsi que par la possibilité qu’ils offrent aux consommateurs, de mieux gérer leur temps. En effet, certaines de leurs caractéristiques (amplitude d’ouverture, faible taille du magasin et des assortiments, temps limité d’attente aux caisses) permettent, aux consommateurs, non seulement de gagner du temps (chronos), mais surtout de fréquenter ces magasins au moment voulu, et de manière immédiate (kaïros). Ces concepts de magasins semblent donc entrer en résonnance avec les attentes du consommateur post-moderne en quête de lien social et vivant de plus en plus dans le présentisme et l’immédiateté. / Since few years, French food retailers have developed new concepts of convenience stores and their market share increase regularly. The reasons for their success can be explained by socio-demographic factors (aging, smaller households) but also by a change in temporal consumer expectations. Through this research, we question the notions of proximity and temporality in retailing and try to predict the intention to patronize these new concepts of convenience stores by consumers. The analysis of 22 qualitative interviews with retailers and consumers has enabled us to propose a conceptual model which was then tested empirically with two samples of 250 consumers each, based on a PLS structural equation modeling. Results show that customers patronize convenience stores primarily through the relational and functional proximity they bring, as well as the opportunity they offer to consumers to better manage their time. Indeed, some of their characteristics (opening hours, small store size and assortment, limited waiting time at checkout) allow consumers not only to save time (chronos), but mainly frequent these stores at the right time and immediately (kaïros). This store concepts seem then to meet post-modern consumer’s expectations seeking for social links and living increasingly in presentism and immediacy.

As various of wireless techniques have been proposed to achieve fast and efficient data communication, it’s becoming increasingly important to protect wireless communications from being undermined by adversaries. A secure and reliable wireless physical layer design is essential and critical to build a solid foundation for upper layer applications. This dissertation present two works that explore the physical layer features to secure wireless communications towards the data confidentiality and user authentication. The first work builds a reliable wireless communication system to enforce the location restricted service access control. In particular, the work proposes a novel technique named pinpoint waveforming to deliver the services to users at eligible locations only. The second work develops a secure far proximity identification approach that can determine whether a remote device is far away, thus preventing potential spoofing attacks in long-haul wireless communications. This dissertation lastly describes some future work efforts, designing a light-weight encryption scheme to facilitate sensitive data encryption for applications which cannot support expensive cryptography encryption operations such as IoT devices.

No description available.

The human health impacts of anthropogenic climate change continue to intensify. Perhaps most concerning is the rapid rise in ambient temperature, with 10 of the hottest years ever recorded having occurred over the last 15 years (IPCC, 2018; NASA, 2019). A robust literature has accumulated characterizing an extensive list of adverse health effects of heat exposure, identifying a number of groups particularly vulnerable (Ebi et al., 2018). The most recent group identified as highly vulnerable to heat exposure is expectant mothers (Bekkar et al., 2020; Chersich et al., 2020). A consistent relationship has been observed between increased ambient temperature and adverse pregnancy events, including increase in preterm delivery (PTD), small for gestational age, and stillbirth (Bekkar et al., 2020; Chersich et al., 2020) . Utilizing birth records and fetal death records from 2000-2004, we carried out two case-crossover studies assessing the impact of ambient temperature on preterm delivery and stillbirth across the contiguous United States, where 1 in 10 births results in a preterm delivery and 1 in 160 births results in a stillborn fetus. Our aim was to assess how increased temperature, singularly and in combination with air pollution exposure, impacts the odds of experiencing a preterm delivery or stillbirth (Aims 1 and 2). Our third aim, performed with a case-control study, expanded on the exploration of air pollution exposure, examining how traffic related air pollution (measured by maternal residential proximity to major roadways) impacts placental-associated stillbirth (Aim 3). We identified significantly increased odds of preterm delivery and stillbirth associated with a 10-degree Fahrenheit increase in average apparent temperature in the week preceding delivery for babies delivered in the warm season (May – October) and the meteorological summer (June – August). These increases were strongest in the Southern half of the United States and modified by maternal race/ethnicity for both preterm delivery and stillbirth. The increased odds were independent of air pollution exposure (ozone and PM2.5), which had no impact on the odds of preterm delivery or stillbirth. Furthermore, we did not observe a meaningful increase in overall odds of placental-associated stillbirth with increased proximity of the maternal residence to major roads. These studies contribute to the growing literature on the vulnerability of pregnant women to heat exposure and enhance the understanding of environmental risk factors of preterm birth and stillbirth, a chronically understudied health outcome. / 2023-05-14T00:00:00Z

As society moves towards being more and more digitalised, so does agriculture as well. Hopefully these digital tools will help us reach environmental goals through optimizing the use of resources in the agricultural sector. However, there are a few barriers to overcome for the digital transition to run smoothly. This thesis investigates a small portion of the agricultural innovation network in Sweden. This is done through multiple interviews and literary research. We can clearly see how this innovation network during the last decades has moved towards becoming more knowledge centered and how the model triple helix now easily can be applied to the network. The network is then analysed using Ron Boschma’s five proximity factors and it becomes clear that concerning the agricultural innovation network, the cognitive and institutional proximity is of great importance for the innovational strength. It also becomes clear that the different proximity factors seldom act alone, but instead build upon each other to increase the negative respectively positive outcomes. Moreover it is shown that regarding the agricultural innovation network in Sweden, it can only benefit from improving the proximity factors, which is different from other types of industries.

<p>  </p> <p>Sensing systems have evolved significantly in recent years as a result of several advances in a number of sensor manufacturing approaches. The proximity measuring of approaching objects is a challenging, costly, and critical operation that permits the detection of any impediments without coming into touch with them and causing an unfavorable occurrence. However, developing a flexible proximity sensor capable of operating throughout a wide range of object motion continues to be a difficulty. The current work describes a polymer-based sensor that makes use of a nanostructure composite as the sensing element. The sensor will be used in healthcare and automotive applications in the near future. Composites comprising Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) are capable of sensing the presence of an external item at a great distance. The sensor model's performance was then enhanced further by microfabricating an integrated model with a certain shape. The design and production techniques for the TPU/CNTs proximity sensor are basic, and the sensor's performance demonstrates repeatability, as well as high electrical sensitivity and mechanical flexibility. The sensing process is based on the comparison of stored charges at the composite film sensor to the sensor's base voltage. The sensor operates reliably across a detection range of 2-20 cm. Tunneling and fringing effects are used to explain substantial capacitance shifts as sensing mechanisms. The structure's fringing capacitance effect has been thoroughly examined using ANSYS Maxwell (Ansoft) FEA simulation, as the measurements perfectly confirm the simulation's sensitivity trend. A novel mathematical model of fringe capacitance and subsequent tests demonstrate that the distance between an item and the sensor may be determined. Additionally, the model argues that the change in capacitance is significantly influenced by sensor resistivity, with the starting capacitance varying between 0.045pF and 0.024pF in the range 103-105 mm. This analytical model would enable the sensor's sensitivity to be optimized.</p> <p>Additionally, a new generation of durable elastomeric materials is commercially accessible for 3D printing, allowing the development of an entirely new class of materials for wearable and industrial applications. By using functional grading and adjusting to diverse users, the mechanical reaction of soft 3D-printed objects may now be modified for increased safety and comfort. Additionally, electronics may be included into these 3D printed lattice and wearable structures to offer input on the movement of objects associated with healthcare devices as well as automotive components. Thus, in order to investigate the influence of additive manufacturing on the sensitivity of TPU/CNT sensors, samples with equal thickness and size but varied orientations are printed and compared to hot-press samples. Among the many 3D printed patterns, the [0,0] direction has the highest sensitivity, and may be used as an optimum method for increased sensitivity. In contrast to the hot-press samples, the 3D-printed TPU/CNT film features a crystalline network, which may aid in the passage of surface charges and hence increase capacitance changes.</p> <p>To have a better understanding which feature, and parameter can give us the most sensitivity we need to do an optimization. This will be accomplished by collecting experimental and computational results and using them as a basis for establishing a computationally and experimentally supported Genetic Algorithm Assisted Machine Learning (GAML) framework combined with artificial neural network (ANN) to develop TPU/CNT nanocomposite flexible sensors in which material characterizations will be coupled to strain, tactile, electronic and proximity characteristics to probe intermolecular interactions between CNTs and polymers. The proposed framework provides enhanced predictive capabilities by managing multiple sets of data gathered from physical testing (material characterization and sensor testing) and multi-fidelity numerical models spanning all lengths scales. The GAML-ANN framework will allow the concurrent optimization of processing parameters and structural features of TPU/CNT nanocomposites, enabling fabrication of high-performance, lightweight flexible sensor systems.</p> <p>Our suggested nanocomposite sensor establishes a new mainstream platform for ultrasensitive object perception, demonstrating a viable prototype for wearable proximity sensors for motion analysis and the automobile sector.</p>

Un grand nombre de données sont représentables sous la forme d'un graphe (ensemble de nœuds liés par des liens). Dans cet exposé, je montrerai que deux problèmes majeurs concernant l'analyse de ces graphes de terrain, à savoir la détection de communautés (définies comme des groupes de nœuds qu'il est pertinent de rassembler) et la mise au point de mesures de proximité (évaluant dans quelle mesure deux nœuds sont topologiquement proches), sont fortement intriquées. En particulier, je présente une méthode qui permet, à l'aide d'une mesure de proximité, d'isoler des groupes de nœuds. Son principe général de fonctionnement est plutôt simple et peut être décrit comme suit. Étant donné un nœud d'intérêt dans le graphe, on calcule la proximité de chaque nœud dans le graphe à ce nœud d'intérêt. Ensuite, si un petit groupe de nœuds obtient une proximité très élevée à ce nœud d'intérêt et que tous les autres nœuds du graphe ont une proximité très faible, alors on peut directement conclure que le petit groupe de nœuds est "la communauté" du nœud d'intérêt. Je montre ensuite comment décliner cette idée pour résoudre efficacement les trois problèmes suivants : (i) trouver des communautés auxquelles un nœud donné appartient, (ii) compléter un ensemble de nœuds en une communauté et (iii) trouver des communautés recouvrantes dans un réseau. / Many kinds of data can be represented as a graph (a set of nodes linked by edges). In this thesis, I show that two major problems, community detection and the measure of the proximity between two nodes have intricate connexions. Particularly, I will present a framework that, using a proximity measure, can isolate a set of nodes. Its general principle is rather straightforward and can be described as follows. Given a node of interest in a graph, the proximity of all nodes in the network to that node of interest is computed. Then, if a small set of nodes have a high proximity to the node of interest while all other have a small proximity, we can directly conclude that the small set of nodes is the community of the node of interest. I'll then show how to tweak this idea to (i) find all communities of a given node, (ii) complete a set of nodes into a community and (iii) find all overlapping communities in a network. I will validate these methods on real and synthetic network datasets.

Tradition spacecraft proximity operations require large and expensive on-board sensors and significant ground support. Relative angle measurements can be obtained from small, simple, and inexpensive on-board sensors, but have not traditionally been used for proximity operation because of difficulty generating rang information. In this thesis it is shown that useful relative range data can be generated provided that the spacecraft is experiencing a small continuous thrust such as would be provided by a low-thrust propulsion system.