abstract: Interictal spikes, together with seizures, have been recognized as the two hallmarks of epilepsy, a brain disorder that 1% of the world's population suffers from. Even though the presence of spikes in brain's electromagnetic activity has diagnostic value, their dynamics are still elusive. It was an objective of this dissertation to formulate a mathematical framework within which the dynamics of interictal spikes could be thoroughly investigated. A new epileptic spike detection algorithm was developed by employing data adaptive morphological filters. The performance of the spike detection algorithm was favorably compared with others in the literature. A novel spike spatial synchronization measure was developed and tested on coupled spiking neuron models. Application of this measure to individual epileptic spikes in EEG from patients with temporal lobe epilepsy revealed long-term trends of increase in synchronization between pairs of brain sites before seizures and desynchronization after seizures, in the same patient as well as across patients, thus supporting the hypothesis that seizures may occur to break (reset) the abnormal spike synchronization in the brain network. Furthermore, based on these results, a separate spatial analysis of spike rates was conducted that shed light onto conflicting results in the literature about variability of spike rate before and after seizure. The ability to automatically classify seizures into clinical and subclinical was a result of the above findings. A novel method for epileptogenic focus localization from interictal periods based on spike occurrences was also devised, combining concepts from graph theory, like eigenvector centrality, and the developed spike synchronization measure, and tested very favorably against the utilized gold rule in clinical practice for focus localization from seizures onset. Finally, in another application of resetting of brain dynamics at seizures, it was shown that it is possible to differentiate with a high accuracy between patients with epileptic seizures (ES) and patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). The above studies of spike dynamics have elucidated many unknown aspects of ictogenesis and it is expected to significantly contribute to further understanding of the basic mechanisms that lead to seizures, the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Electrical Engineering 2012

Countries participating in a common currency area increase their integration within the area. This paper investigates the impact common currency areas have for economic integration with economies of different characteristic outside the area. Results for a common currency group compares to a sovereign currency group. The common currency group consists of three countries who have adopted the euro, while the sovereign currency group consist of three European countries with sovereign currencies. The level of economic integration is examined towards three different economies; European drivers, global markets and emerging markets. The period ranges from 1993M01 to 2017M09 and includes industrial production indices and stock market indices. Economic integration is studied through a DCC-EGARCH model, on both aggregated and time-dependent level, which yield correlations. In comparison to previous studies, this paper also applies a cross-quantilogram method to examine the impact of different market conditions have on the correlations. Higher correlations for the common currency group than for the sovereign currency group do exist with the European drivers and the global countries. With the emerging markets such pattern is not found, instead low correlations are mainly examined. Besides the correlation with the emerging countries, the results indicate membership in a common currency area, in this case the EMU, to increase the economic integration. Overall, highest levels of correlation are found with the European drivers, followed by the US as a global economy, corresponding with the importance of homogeneity for high economic integration. Due to no conclusive change in correlations during the euro implementation, membership in a common currency area per se does not increase economic integration. However, a common currency area with a strong currency do along with other characteristics influence the economic integration. We find evidence that market regimes have an impact on economic integration. Adverse market conditions overall seem to influence the integration in a higher degree than normal or good conditions. The results indicate that the adverse conditions increase the economic integration, this is in particularly seen for the common currency countries correlation with the European drivers and the US.

Problemas de otimização de restrições distribuídas (DCOP - Distributed Constraint Optimization Problem) formam uma classe de problemas de grande interesse de estudo na ciência da computação em função da complexidadecomputacionaL O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de comparar os três algoritmos mais populares em DCOP (ADOPT, OptAPO e DPOP) em termos de eficiência computacional e de solução proposta. Para tal estudo, é utilizado como domínio um problema de controle semafórico. Esse tipo de problema de controle é de fundamental importânciapara que se tenha uma administração eficiente do fluxo de veículos em uma malha viária. Além disso, envolve muitas interdependências entre variáveis da rede, como ocupação das vias e tempos de sinal verde dos semáforos, para que sejam determinadas as melhores configurações de controle. Nesse sentido, as estratégias devem fornecer bons resultados em nível de aplicação, e também em nível de computação, no que diz respeito ao uso da infra-estrutura computacional disponível, o que casa perfeitamente com os objetivos das implementações de DCOP. Ao longo deste trabalho, os temas relacionados à coordenação em sistemas multiagentes, otimização de restrições e controle de semáforos são estudados. Os modelos DCOP são utilizados com a finalidade de comparar os algoritmos.No que diz respeito aos resultados, percebe-se uma melhora no controle, obtida com o uso dos algoritmos DCOP em relação ao uso de controle fixo sincronizado e não sincronizado. Isso é verificado em nível de utilização das vias da rede. Além disso, outro tipo de resultado é verificado na execução dos algoritmos, tratando de questões como o tempo de execução. Foi possível estabelecer um comparativo entre os algoritmos e frente ao aumento do problema em quantidade de semáforos. / Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems (DCOP) have a significant importance in ComputerScience, due to its computationalcomplexity. The objective of this work is to compare the three most popular algorithms for DCOP (ADOPT,OptAPO and DPOP) in terms of computational efficiency and quality of the proposed solution. In arder to do that, a trafficcontrol scenario is used. This kind of problem is very important when considering an efficientadministration of the trafficnetwork,which involvesa lot of interdependencies among variables such as the occupation of the links and the split of the lights. The control strategies should be able to provide good results in terms of the domain application and consider the computational infrastructure available,matching exactly the objectives of the DCOP implementations. The present work is related to multiagent systems, constraint optimization and traffic light controI. The DCOP models are used in order to perfarm the comparison among the algorithms. The results show that is possible to improve the efficiency of the control over the c1assicapproaches of fixed traffic light timing. This is verifiedconsidering the utilization leveIof the network and the occurrence of trafficjams. Besides that, some computational issues are considered to compare the algorithms, for instance, the execution time.

Submitted by Evelyn Nunes (evelynmpn@fgvmail.br) on 2010-08-03T23:17:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertation.pdf: 770950 bytes, checksum: 602a7a41a940936db41a2d5cfb7f6d3a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Andrea Virginio Machado(andrea.machado@fgv.br) on 2010-08-04T11:54:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertation.pdf: 770950 bytes, checksum: 602a7a41a940936db41a2d5cfb7f6d3a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2010-08-04T18:50:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertation.pdf: 770950 bytes, checksum: 602a7a41a940936db41a2d5cfb7f6d3a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-07-20 / While several models assume that price changes are staggered over time, both theory and empirical evidence are ambiguous. This work attempts to identify the behavior of price setters by analyzing a large Brazilian data set. It is found an evidence of staggering, but the more aggregated the data are, the closer the price changes are to perfect synchronization. The Brazilian economy also presents a heterogeneous frequency and synchronization of price adjustments among product categories, which also vary with the inflation rate. / Apesar de diversos modelos assumirem que os preços não se ajustam sincronizadamente, tanto a evidência empírica quanto a teórica são ambíguas. Este trabalho tem por objetivo identificar o comportamento dos reajustes de preço, analisando uma extensa base de dados brasileira. Foi encontrada uma evidência de escalonamento, mas quanto mais agregado são os dados, mais perto da sincronização perfeita eles estão. A economia brasileira também mostrou um alto grau de heterogeneidade, tanto na frequência quanto na sincronização dos ajustes de preço entre os produtos, as quais ainda variam com a taxa de inflação.

[pt] O presente texto aborda aspectos do problema de sincronização em sistemas de telecomunicações, com enfoque nas funções de demodulação síncrona, regeneração, multiplexação/demultiplexação (TDM) e comutação (digital). São tratados os métodos de obtenção de referência de portadora e de referência de relógio, os recursos de malha de amarração de fase (PLL) e de memória elástica. O objetivo final consiste na descrição dos métodos de sincronização de rede, nas modalidades plesiócrona (e plesiócrona com justificação), mestre-escravo e sincronização mútua. As subredes de sincronização são analisadas em termos de topologia, segurança, determinação de freqüência e fases de operação e de compensação de defasagens na transmissão. A apresentação é feita em termos de um texto didático para a descrição dos problemas e de suas soluções. / [en] This text deals with aspects of synchronization in telecommunication systems, with emphasis on the operational functions of synchronous demodulation, signal regeneration, multiplexing/demultiplexing (TDM) and digital switching. The methods of carrier recovery, clock recovery, phase locked loop and elastic store are presented. The final goal consists on the description of network synchronization methods, in the plesiochronous (and plesiochronous with justification), master-slave and mutual synchronization modalities. The synchronization subnetworks are analised in terms of topology, safety, operation frequency and phases, and transmission phase delay compensation. The presentation is made in a didactical way, describing the problems and their possible solutions.

Nous abordons le problème de la synchronisation automatique d'un contenu audiovisuel avec une procédure textuelle qui le décrit. La stratégie consiste à extraire des informations sur la structure des deux contenus puis à les mettre en correspondance. Nous proposons deux outils d'analyse vidéo qui extraient respectivement : * les limites des évènements d'intérêt à l'aide d'une méthode de quantification de type dictionnaire * les segments dans lesquels une action se répète en exploitant une méthode d'analyse fréquentielle : le YIN. Ensuite, nous proposons un système de synchronisation qui fusionne les informations fournies par ces outils pour établir des associations entre les instructions textuelles et les segments vidéo correspondants. Une "Matrice de confiance" est construite et exploitée de manière récursive pour établir ces associations en regard de leur fiabilité. / We address the problem of automatic synchronization of an audiovisual content with a procedural text that describes it. The strategy consists in extracting pieces of information about the structure from both contents, and in matching them depending on their types. We propose two video analysis tools that respectively extract: * Limits of events of interest using an approach inspired by dictionary quantization. * Segments that enclose a repeated action based on the YIN frequency analysis method. We then propose a synchronization system that merges results coming from these tools in order to establish links between textual instructions and the corresponding video segments. To do so, a "Confidence Matrix" is built and recursively processed in order to identify these links in respect with their reliability.

Flamingos belong to the Phoenicopteridae family. They are occurred from India, through southern Europe to South Africa, flamingo cover Caribbean and southern half of South America at the Western Hemisphere. They consist mainly monogamous couples and their nesting is highly synchronized. They lay usually one egg, even if there are the records about laying two eggs. Incubation of the Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) takes 26-32 days. The thesis was performed in Zoo Ohrada Hluboká nad Vltavou, where observation of nesting behavior at Greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus) was the main focus of observation. It was used the method of the direct observation, add a notes of zoo-keeper. Birds were recognition by color rings with a three-letter code. The main aims were the observation nesting activities which were compared at different times, between males and females and between individuals. Evaluating the parameters of the breeding to improve breeding was other aim. There were determined, that nesting activities were different among individuals, among couples and also among sex of individuals. Display of nesting activities also depended on the situation, in which individuals found, if it had an empty nest, egg or chick, or if the egg were lost and had to lay new one. It was determined, that the nesting activities of individuals varies accord the season. They are too high synchronization in the period of laying eggs and hatching chicks. Observing individuals did more non-nesting activities.

Problemas de otimização de restrições distribuídas (DCOP - Distributed Constraint Optimization Problem) formam uma classe de problemas de grande interesse de estudo na ciência da computação em função da complexidadecomputacionaL O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de comparar os três algoritmos mais populares em DCOP (ADOPT, OptAPO e DPOP) em termos de eficiência computacional e de solução proposta. Para tal estudo, é utilizado como domínio um problema de controle semafórico. Esse tipo de problema de controle é de fundamental importânciapara que se tenha uma administração eficiente do fluxo de veículos em uma malha viária. Além disso, envolve muitas interdependências entre variáveis da rede, como ocupação das vias e tempos de sinal verde dos semáforos, para que sejam determinadas as melhores configurações de controle. Nesse sentido, as estratégias devem fornecer bons resultados em nível de aplicação, e também em nível de computação, no que diz respeito ao uso da infra-estrutura computacional disponível, o que casa perfeitamente com os objetivos das implementações de DCOP. Ao longo deste trabalho, os temas relacionados à coordenação em sistemas multiagentes, otimização de restrições e controle de semáforos são estudados. Os modelos DCOP são utilizados com a finalidade de comparar os algoritmos.No que diz respeito aos resultados, percebe-se uma melhora no controle, obtida com o uso dos algoritmos DCOP em relação ao uso de controle fixo sincronizado e não sincronizado. Isso é verificado em nível de utilização das vias da rede. Além disso, outro tipo de resultado é verificado na execução dos algoritmos, tratando de questões como o tempo de execução. Foi possível estabelecer um comparativo entre os algoritmos e frente ao aumento do problema em quantidade de semáforos. / Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems (DCOP) have a significant importance in ComputerScience, due to its computationalcomplexity. The objective of this work is to compare the three most popular algorithms for DCOP (ADOPT,OptAPO and DPOP) in terms of computational efficiency and quality of the proposed solution. In arder to do that, a trafficcontrol scenario is used. This kind of problem is very important when considering an efficientadministration of the trafficnetwork,which involvesa lot of interdependencies among variables such as the occupation of the links and the split of the lights. The control strategies should be able to provide good results in terms of the domain application and consider the computational infrastructure available,matching exactly the objectives of the DCOP implementations. The present work is related to multiagent systems, constraint optimization and traffic light controI. The DCOP models are used in order to perfarm the comparison among the algorithms. The results show that is possible to improve the efficiency of the control over the c1assicapproaches of fixed traffic light timing. This is verifiedconsidering the utilization leveIof the network and the occurrence of trafficjams. Besides that, some computational issues are considered to compare the algorithms, for instance, the execution time.

abstract: The current work investigated the emergence of leader-follower roles during social motor coordination. Previous research has presumed a leader during coordination assumes a spatiotemporally advanced position (e.g., relative phase lead). While intuitive, this definition discounts what role-taking implies. Leading and following is defined as one person (or limb) having a larger influence on the motor state changes of another; the coupling is asymmetric. Three experiments demonstrated asymmetric coupling effects emerge when task or biomechanical asymmetries are imputed between actors. Participants coordinated in-phase (Ф =0o) swinging of handheld pendulums, which differed in their uncoupled eigenfrequencies (frequency detuning). Coupling effects were recovered through phase-amplitude modeling. Experiment 1 examined leader-follower coupling during a bidirectional task. Experiment 2 employed an additional coupling asymmetry by assigning an explicit leader and follower. Both experiment 1 and 2 demonstrated asymmetric coupling effects with increased detuning. In experiment 2, though, the explicit follower exhibited a phase lead in nearly all conditions. These results confirm that coupling direction was not determined strictly by relative phasing. A third experiment examined the question raised by the previous two, which is how could someone follow from ahead (i.e., phase lead in experiment 2). This was tested using a combination of frequency detuning and amplitude asymmetry requirements (e.g., 1:1 or 1:2 & 2:1). Results demonstrated larger amplitude movements drove the coupling towards the person with the smaller amplitude; small amplitude movements exhibited a phase lead, despite being a follower in coupling terms. These results suggest leader-follower coupling is a general property of social motor coordination. Predicting when such coupling effects occur is emphasized by the stability reducing effects of coordinating asymmetric components. Generally, the implication is role-taking is an emergent strategy of dividing up coordination stabilizing efforts unequally between actors (or limbs). / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2015

abstract: Mobile data collection (MDC) applications have been growing in the last decade especially in the field of education and research. Although many MDC applications are available, almost all of them are tailor-made for a very specific task in a very specific field (i.e. health, traffic, weather forecasts, …etc.). Since the main users of these apps are researchers, physicians or generally data collectors, it can be extremely challenging for them to make adjustments or modifications to these applications given that they have limited or no technical background in coding. Another common issue with MDC applications is that its functionalities are limited only to data collection and storing. Other functionalities such as data visualizations, data sharing, data synchronization and/or data updating are rarely found in MDC apps. This thesis tries to solve the problems mentioned above by adding the following two enhancements: (a) the ability for data collectors to customize their own applications based on the project they’re working on, (b) and introducing new tools that would help manage the collected data. This will be achieved by creating a Java standalone application where data collectors can use to design their own mobile apps in a userfriendly Graphical User Interface (GUI). Once the app has been completely designed using the Java tool, a new iOS mobile application would be automatically generated based on the user’s input. By using this tool, researchers now are able to create mobile applications that are completely tailored to their needs, in addition to enjoying new features such as visualize and analyze data, synchronize data to the remote database, share data with other data collectors and update existing data. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2016