Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-05-15T14:59:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 marcoshenriquefonsecaribeiro.pdf: 12873424 bytes, checksum: 2b2b91fd2a9726856a0486afa760fe2c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-05-17T16:01:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 marcoshenriquefonsecaribeiro.pdf: 12873424 bytes, checksum: 2b2b91fd2a9726856a0486afa760fe2c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-17T16:01:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 marcoshenriquefonsecaribeiro.pdf: 12873424 bytes, checksum: 2b2b91fd2a9726856a0486afa760fe2c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-10-03 / A Tomografia por Impedância Elétrica (TIE) consiste em uma técnica onde imagens são construídas a partir da injeção de uma corrente elétrica em determinado meios, seguida da leitura de valores de potencial elétrico em pontos do contorno externo de tal domínio. Desta maneira, conhecendo-se ou estimando-se a condutividade elétrica de regiões internas ao meio, pode-se inferir aspectos geométricos da composição do mesmo. Trabalhos na literatura aplicam esta técnica ao contexto de obtenção de imagens do tórax humano, com objetivo de estimar a geometria das cavidades cardíacas de um determinado paciente. O objetivo final de estudo deste trabalho, dentro do contexto de aplicação da TIE à obtenção de cavidades cardíacas, é propor uma metodologia para a estimação da Fração de Ejeção Cardíaca, ou simplesmente Fração de Ejeção (FE), que consiste em medir o percentual de volume de sangue expulso dos ventrículos ao final de um ciclo de batimento do coração. Este trabalho visa evoluir outros trabalhos já existentes que modelam o problema acima descrito como sendo um problema inverso, de otimização, onde se pretende minimizar a diferença entre valores de potencial elétrico medidos e valores simulados por modelos computacionais. A evolução se dá em níveis diferentes. No primeiro nível, é feito um avanço sobre as técnicas de otimização para a resolução do problema inverso, em sua formulaçãobidimensional. Paratal, épropostaumametaheurísticaqueauxiliamétodosde buscanaobtençãodevaloresmaisacurados. Estametaheurísticaéapresentadaemversões sequencial e paralela. São apresentados resultados computacionais de testes realizados para este primeiro nível. Em um segundo nível, é feita a modelagem em três dimensões das mesmas abordagens já encontradas na literatura, que, para a aplicação específica da determinação da FE, até então estão limitadas a modelos bidimensionais. Assim, todo o problema é revisto para uma nova proposta de modelagem, que inclui a criação de modelos geométricos tridimensionais para as regiões de interesse do problema. Como principal contribuição do trabalho neste segundo nível, encontra-se um esquema de parametrização das malhas de polígonos que modelam ventrículos do coração, de forma que se tenha uma maneira compacta de representar as mesmas e, ao mesmo tempo, diminuindo o custo computacional do método de otimização por meio de drástica redução do número de variáveis do problema. Por fim, também é realizado um estudo preliminar da sensibilidade da técnica à presença de ruídos nos dados de entrada. / The Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) consists in a technique where images are constructed from the measurements of the electrical potential in some points on the external boundary of some specific domain, caused by the injection of an electrical current in such domain. This way, knowing or estimating the electrical conductivity of some regions inside the domain, geometric aspects of the composition of that domain can be inferred. Works in literature apply this technique to the context of obtaining images from the human thorax, with the objective of estimating the geometry of some cardiac cavities of a specific patient. The final goal of this work, inside the context of the obtention of cardiac cavities, is to propose a methodology for estimating the Cardiac Ejection Fraction, orsimplyEjectionFraction(EF),whichconsistsinmeasuringthepercentualofthevolume of blood expelled from the ventricles at the end of a heart beat cicle. This work intends to evolute previous works, that models the above mentioned problem as an inverse problem, an optimization problem, where the intention is to minimize the difference between the values of measured electrical potentials and the values obtained through simulation using computational models. This evolution occurs in different levels. In the first level, is performedanimprovementoverthepre-existentoptimizationtechniquesforthesolutionof theinverseproblem,inatwodimensionalversion. Forthis,isproposedametaheuristicthat assistssearchmethodstowardstheobtentionofmoreaccuratedvalues. Suchmetaheuristic is presented in sequential and parallel versions. Computational results for performed tests for this level are presented. In a second level, a three dimensional modeling of the same approaches found in literature is done. Those approaches, for the specific application of determining the EF, are so far limited to two dimensional models. Therefore, the whole problem is reviewed in order to propose a new model, which includes the creation of three dimensional geometric models for the regions of interest of the problem. As the main contribution of this work in that second level, there is a parameterization schema of the polygon meshes that model heart ventricles, so that it provides a compact way of representing such meshes, and, at the same time, a way of reducing the computational cost of the optimization method by means of a drastic reduction of the number of variables of the problem. Finally, a preliminary study of the sensibility of the technique to the presence of noise in the input data is also performed.

Le mésothéliome pleural est considéré comme très spécifique d’une exposition à l’amiante. Cependant, certains aspects de l’étiologie de cette maladie n’ont pas encore été bien caractérisés. Les objectifs de cette étude sont : i) d’estimer la relation dose-effet entre exposition professionnelle aux fibres d’amiante et survenue de mésothéliome pleural selon différents indicateurs temporels d’exposition ; ii) d’étudier l’effet d’une exposition professionnelle aux laines minérales et aux poussières alvéolaires de silice cristalline libre sur le risque de survenue de mésothéliome pleural et iii) d’identifier les professions et secteurs d’activité à risque de survenue de mésothéliome pleural à partir de données recueillies sur une période de 20 ans. Les cas provenaient de ceux recrutés dans une précédente étude cas-témoins réalisée entre 1987 et 1993 et des cas enregistrés dans le programme national de surveillance du mésothéliome entre 1998 et 2006 (1 199 hommes). Les témoins ont été appariés en fréquence sur l’année de naissance et le sexe (2 378 hommes). L’exposition professionnelle à l’amiante, aux laines minérales et à la silice a été évaluée à partir de matrices emplois-exposition. Les relations dose-effet ont été estimées à l’aide du modèle logistique et leur forme a été obtenue grâce à l’utilisation de fonctions splines cubiques restreintes. Si la relation dose-effet à l’amiante est bien confirmée (particulièrement aux faibles doses), cette étude apporte de nouveaux résultats sur la relation temps-effet (rôle du temps écoulé depuis la dernière exposition ou effet de l’âge à la première exposition). Elle ouvre également de nouvelles perspectives sur le rôle des co-expositions (laines minérales) et permet d’identifier de nouvelles activités à risque, comme les mécaniciens automobiles. / Asbestos exposure is recognized as the primary cause of pleural mesothelioma. However, some aspects of etiology of this disease have not been well characterized. The objective of this study was to elucidate dose-response relationships of temporal pattern of occupational asbestos exposure in males, using case-control data, to study effect of man made vitreous fibers and silica dust on the risk of pleural mesothelioma and finally, to describe occupations and industries at high risk for this cancer among men in France according a period of twenty years of observation. Cases came from a French case-control study conducted in 1987-1993 and from the French National Mesothelioma Surveillance Program in 1998-2006 (1,199 males). Population controls were frequency matched by sex and year of birth (2,378 males). Occupational asbestos exposure was evaluated with a job-exposure matrix. The dose-response relationships were estimated using logistic regression models and form of this relationship were estimated using restricted cubic spline functions. Dose-response relationship was confirmed (particularly for lowest doses). However, this study provides new results about time-effect relationships (role of time since last exposure or effect of age at first exposure). This study opens up new prospects on the role of co-exposure (mineral wool) and permit to identify new activities at risk for pleural mésothéliome as motor vehicle mechanics.

Exploration is a fundamental problem in robotics that requires robots to navigate through unknown environments to autonomously gather information about their surroundings while executing collision-free paths. In this project, we propose a method for producing smooth paths during the exploration process in indoor environments using UAVs to improve battery efficiency and enhance the quality of pose estimation. The developed framework is built by merging two approaches that represent the state of the art in the field of autonomous exploration with UAVs. The overall exploration logic is given by GLocal, a paper that introduces a hybrid, i.e. both sampling-based and frontier-based, framework that is able to cope with the issue of odometry drift when exploring indoor environments due to the absence of absolute localization, e.g. through GNSS. The second approach is FUEL, which introduces a frontier-based exploration methodology which computes the ’drones path as an optimized non-uniform B-Spline. The framework described in this thesis borrows the optimized B-Spline trajectory generation from FUEL and implements it in GLocal. To do this, the original cost function defined by GLocal for each exploration viewpoint was modified and the resulting samples were used to select the initial control points of the B-Spline. Furthermore, we extended the underlying state machine governing the entire algorithm and we revisited the original re-planning logic. The presented system is evaluated in various simulated environments, showcasing the advantages and disadvantages of this method. These evaluations demonstrate its improved state estimation performance and absolute observed volume, albeit at the expense of longer traveled trajectories in big and complex environments. / Utforskning är ett grundläggande problem inom robotteknik som kräver att robotar navigerar genom okända miljöer för att autonomt samla in information om sin omgivning samtidigt som de utför kollisionsfria banor. I det här projektet föreslår vi en metod för att producera jämna banor under utforskningsprocessen i inomhusmiljöer med hjälp av UAV:er för att förbättra batterieffektiviteten och förbättra kvaliteten på posestimeringen. Det utvecklade ramverket bygger på en sammanslagning av två metoder som representerar den senaste tekniken inom autonom utforskning med UAV:er. Den övergripande utforskningslogiken ges av GLocal, en artikel som introducerar en hybrid, i.e. både samplingsbaserad och gränsbaserad, ram som kan hantera problemet med odometridrift vid utforskning av inomhusmiljöer på grund av frånvaron av absolut lokalisering, e.g. genom GNSS. Den andra metoden är FUEL, som introducerar en gränsbaserad utforskningsmetod som beräknar drönarens bana som en optimerad icke-uniform B-Spline. Ramverket som beskrivs i denna avhandling lånar den optimerade B-Spline-banegenereringen från FUEL och implementerar den i GLocal. För att göra detta modifierades den ursprungliga kostnadsfunktionen som definierades av GLocal för varje utforskningspunkt och de resulterande samplen användes för att välja de initiala kontrollpunkterna för B-Spline. Dessutom utökade vi den underliggande tillståndsmaskinen som styr hela algoritmen och vi reviderade den ursprungliga logiken för omplanering. Det presenterade systemet utvärderas i olika simulerade miljöer, vilket visar fördelarna och nackdelarna med denna metod. Dessa utvärderingar visar på förbättrad prestanda för tillståndsuppskattning och absolut observerad volym, om än på bekostnad av längre färdvägar i stora och komplexa miljöer.

Comme plusieurs pays industrialisés, le Canada fait face à un vieillissement de sa population qui est exacerbé par la baisse de la mortalité aux âges adultes et avancés. Pour atténuer les conséquences du vieillissement de la population, le Canada a recours à une immigration internationale qui s’est beaucoup diversifiée quant au lieu de naissance des arrivants depuis quelques décennies. Dans ce contexte, il est intéressant de s’interroger sur le comportement différentiel des immigrants selon leur provenance en comparaison avec les Canadiens de naissance. Notre recherche s’inscrit plus précisément sous la thématique mortalité et elle a pour objectif d’étudier les disparités dans la distribution des décès par âge et par sexe selon la provenance, cette dernière étant comprise d’une double manière, soit selon une perspective géographique, soit selon le niveau de développement du pays de naissance. En utilisant une approche de lissage par P-splines, nous estimons l’âge modal (i.e. le plus commun) au décès et la dispersion des durées de vie au mode pour les divers groupes d’immigrants à l’étude et les natifs. Nos résultats montrent que la mortalité aux grands âges résumée par l’âge modal au décès, M, est plus faible pour l’ensemble des immigrants qu’au sein de la population native. L’écart est plus élevé chez les hommes et relativement faible chez les femmes, tout en étant statistiquement significatif. La répartition des décès selon l’âge des immigrants est plus concentrée autour de son centre que celle des natifs, indiquant une plus grande homogénéité des durées de vie individuelles aux âges avancés. L’âge modal au décès estimé pour chacune des catégories de provenance considérées séparément, soit selon la région géographique, soit selon l’indice de développement humain, présente des différences statistiquement significatives par rapport à la population native, à l’exception des femmes Britanniques et celles de l’Afrique et du Moyen-Orient. De plus, certaines différences significatives en matière d’âge modal au décès sont observées lors de la comparaison des groupes d’immigrants entre eux. Le phénomène de sélection, à la fois dans le pays de provenance et dans celui de destination, est l’explication la plus plausible pour ces différences et elle est discutée dans ce mémoire. / Like many industrialized countries, Canada is facing an aging population that is exacerbated by the decline in mortality in adulthood and advanced ages. To mitigate the consequences of an aging population, Canada has resorted to international immigration, which has greatly diversified in terms of the place of birth of arrivals in recent decades. In this context, it is interesting to study the differential behavior of immigrants according to their origin compared to native-born Canadians. Our research focuses specifically under the theme of mortality and its objective is to study the disparities in the distribution of deaths by age and sex according to origin, the latter being twofold, i.e., from a geographical perspective, or according to the level of development of the country of birth. Using a P-spline smoothing approach, we estimate the modal (i.e., the most common) age at death and the dispersion of mode lifespans for the various immigrant groups under study and natives. Our results show that mortality at older ages, summarized by the modal age at death, M, is lower among immigrants than for the native population. The difference is higher for men and relatively small for women, while still being statistically significant. The distribution of deaths by age of immigrants is more concentrated around its center than that of natives, indicating a greater homogeneity of individual lifespans at advanced ages. The estimated modal age at death for each of the categories of origin considered separately, either by geographic region or by HDI, shows statistically significant differences compared to the native population, with the exception of women from the United Kingdom and from Africa and the Middle East. In addition, some significant differences in the modal age at death are observed when comparing immigrant groups with each other. The phenomenon of selection in both the country of origin and the country of destination is the most plausible explanation for these differences and is discussed in this thesis.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

Since the origin of the automotive at the end of the 19th century, the traffic flow is subject to a constant increase and, unfortunately, involves a constant augmentation of road accidents. Research studies such as the one performed by the World Health Organization, show alarming results about the number of injuries and fatalities due to these accidents. To reduce these figures, a solution lies in the development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) which purpose is to help the Driver in his driving task. This research topic has been shown to be very dynamic and productive during the last decades. Indeed, several systems such as Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Parking Manoeuvre Assistant (PMA), Dynamic Bending Light (DBL), etc. are yet market available and their benefits are now recognized by most of the drivers. This first generation of ADAS are usually designed to perform a specific task in the Controller/Vehicle/Environment framework and thus requires only microscopic information, so requires sensors which are only giving local information about an element of the Vehicle or of its Environment. On the opposite, the next ADAS generation will have to consider more aspects, i.e. information and constraints about of the Vehicle and its Environment. Indeed, as they are designed to perform more complex tasks, they need a global view about the road context and the Vehicle configuration. For example, longitudinal control requires information about the road configuration (straight line, bend, etc.) and about the eventual presence of other road users (vehicles, trucks, etc.) to determine the best reference speed. [...]

Un nouvel point de vue est proposé pour la simulation des plasmas utilisant le modèle cinétique qui couple les équations de Vlasov pour la distribution des particules et les équations de Maxwell pour la contribution des champs électromagnétique. On part du principe que les équations de la Physique sont des objets mathématiques qui mettent en relation des objets géométriques. Afin de conserver les propriètés géométriques des différents objets intervenant dans une équation, on utilise, pour l'étude théorique et numérique, la géométrie différentielle. Il s'avère que toutes les équations de la Physique peuvent s'écrire à l'aide des formes différentielles et que sous ce point de vue celles-ci sont indépendantes du choix des coordonnées. On propose alors une discrétisation des formes différentielles en utilisant les B-splines comme fonctions d'interpolation. Afin d'être cohérent avec la théorie, on proposera également une discrétisation des différentes opérations de la géométrie différentielle agissant sur les formes différentielles. On teste notre schéma tout d'abord sur les équations de Maxwell avec plusieurs conditions aux bords et puisque ce schéma numérique obtenu est indépendant du système de coordonnées, on le teste également lorsque l'on effectue un changement de coordonnées. Enfin, on applique la même méthode sur les équations de Vlasov-Poisson 1D et on propose plusieurs schémas numériques.

Deformable image registration (DIR) is an essential tool in medical image processing. It provides a means to combine image datasets, allowing for intra-subject, inter-subject, multi-modality, and multi-instance analysis, as well as motion detection and compensation. One of the most popular DIR algorithms models the displacement vector field (DVF) as B-splines, a sum of piecewise polynomials with coefficients that enable local shape control. B-splines have many advantageous properties in the context of DIR, but they often struggle to adequately model steep local gradients and discontinuities. This dissertation addresses that limitation by proposing the replacement of conventional B-splines with a generalized formulation known as a Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS). Beginning with the 1D fitting, heuristic rules are developed to determine the values of the additional free parameters introduced by NURBS. These rules are subsequently modified and extended to the 2D and 3D fitting of anonymized and publicly available patient DVFs. Based on the lessons learned from these increasingly complex test cases, a 2D DIR scheme is developed and tested on slices from a thoracic computed tomography (CT) scan. Finally, an automatic, non-uniform scheme is presented, and its registration performance is compared to the conventional uniform methods.

Selon le Groupe Intergouvernemental d'experts sur l'Évolution du Climat (GIEC), il est important de connaitre le climat passé afin de replacer le changement climatique actuel dans son contexte. Ainsi, de nombreux chercheurs ont travaillé à l'établissement de procédures permettant de reconstituer les températures ou les précipitations passées à l'aide d'indicateurs climatiques indirects. Ces procédures sont généralement basées sur des méthodes statistiques mais l'estimation des incertitudes associées à ces reconstructions reste une difficulté majeure. L'objectif principal de cette thèse est donc de proposer de nouvelles méthodes statistiques permettant une estimation précise des erreurs commises, en particulier dans le cadre de reconstructions à partir de données sur les cernes d'arbres.De manière générale, les reconstructions climatiques à partir de mesures de cernes d'arbres se déroulent en deux étapes : l'estimation d'une variable cachée, commune à un ensemble de séries de mesures de cernes, et supposée climatique puis l'estimation de la relation existante entre cette variable cachée et certaines variables climatiques. Dans les deux cas, nous avons développé une nouvelle procédure basée sur des modèles bayésiens semi- paramétriques. Tout d'abord, concernant l'extraction du signal commun, nous proposons un modèle hiérarchique semi-paramétrique qui offre la possibilité de capturer les hautes et les basses fréquences contenues dans les cernes d'arbres, ce qui était difficile dans les études dendroclimatologiques passées. Ensuite, nous avons développé un modèle additif généralisé afin de modéliser le lien entre le signal extrait et certaines variables climatiques, permettant ainsi l'existence de relations non-linéaires contrairement aux méthodes classiques de la dendrochronologie. Ces nouvelles méthodes sont à chaque fois comparées aux méthodes utilisées traditionnellement par les dendrochronologues afin de comprendre ce qu'elles peuvent apporter à ces derniers. / As stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is important to reconstruct past climate to accurately assess the actual climatic change. A large number of researchers have worked to develop procedures to reconstruct past temperatures or precipitation with indirect climatic indicators. These methods are generally based on statistical arguments but the estimation of uncertainties associated to these reconstructions remains an active research field in statistics and in climate studies. The main goal of this thesis is to propose and study novel statistical methods that allow a precise estimation of uncertainties when reconstructing from tree-ring measurements data. Generally, climatic reconstructions from tree-ring observations are based on two steps. Firstly, a hidden environmental hidden variable, common to a collection of tree-ring measurements series, has to be adequately inferred. Secondly, this extracted signal has to be explained with the relevant climatic variables. For these two steps, we have opted to work within a semi-parametric bayesian framework that reduces the number of assumptions and allows to include prior information from the practitioner. Concerning the extraction of the common signal, we propose a model which can catch high and low frequencies contained in tree-rings. This was not possible with previous dendroclimatological methods. For the second step, we have developed a bayesian Generalized Additive Model (GAM) to explore potential links between the extracted signal and some climatic variables. This allows the modeling of non-linear relationships among variables and strongly differs from past dendrochronological methods. From a statistical perspective, a new selection scheme for bayesien GAM was also proposed and studied.

Devido à constante necessidade de construções de novas embarcações, quer seja pela demanda do mercado, quer seja pela renovação da frota, o desenvolvimento de programas computacionais que auxiliem na fase inicial de projeto torna-se bastante útil. Assim, o desenvolvimento de um procedimento de análise que permita obter formas de melhor desempenho vem a agregar valor nesta etapa de conceituação da geometria do navio. O trabalho aqui apresentado tem como objetivo discorrer sobre um método capaz de otimizar a geometria de um casco de deslocamento conhecido em relação a sua resistência ao avanço, sem perder, porém, as suas características principais, como corpo paralelo médio, por exemplo. Para tanto, dentro deste processo de otimização já estão inseridas algumas restrições que garantem a viabilidade da solução final, tais como variação máxima no comprimento, no volume total e na estabilidade do navio. A modelagem da embarcação pode ser feita através de funções B-Splines cúbicas de superfície, cujos pontos de controle (parâmetros inerentes à função) podem ser modificados de tal sorte a atingir um valor ótimo para a resistência ao avanço. Esta, por sua vez, será obtida através da soma de duas parcelas, sendo uma referente ao atrito e outra à geração de ondas pelo casco. Como a maior parte da resistência provém desta segunda parcela para a velocidade de projeto a ser considerada (alto número de Froude), a redução da resistência total pode ser assumida como conseqüência da diminuição da resistência devido à geração de ondas, a qual pode ser obtida através da formulação apresentada por Michell, em 1898. O cálculo das propriedades hidrostáticas como deslocamento, estabilidade ( KM transversal) e superfície molhada, usada para cálculo da resistência ao avanço, pode ser encontrado fazendo-se uso do cálculo vetorial. O procedimento a ser descrito foi desenvolvido em linguagem C++ (modelagem do casco) e com o auxílio do MATLAB® (método de otimização). Este trabalho foi realizado no Dep. de Eng. Naval e Oceânica da USP. / Due to an increasing necessity of building new vessels, whether by new orders or fleet renewal, the development of computational programs that could allow optimization of hull shapes is always helpful, saving project time and ensuring better performance at sea. Thus, the development of a synthesis procedure that allows obtaining shapes with better performance adds value to the initial phase of the ship geometry concept. The work to be presented herein objectives the presentation of a methodology to achieve optimal shapes for displacement hulls in relation to the total resistance, starting from an initial geometry given, describing hull form and applying specific constraints to optimization problem with the purpose of guarantee a reliable solution. Therefore, inside this optimization process there are included some constraints that ensure a feasible final solution, as maximum variation of ship length, total volume and stability. Hull geometry is described by using B-Spline surface functions and the ship wave resistance is calculated using Michell\'s formulation as a first approximation of the total resistance for high Froude numbers. Once vessel surface is well defined, B-Spline parameters are varied until an optimal form is attained and the minimum resistance is achieved. It can take a little time to calculate, depending on ship definition (number of buttocks and waterlines) and the problem complexity (number of constraints and variables). Ship displacement and other hydrostatic properties as stability, given by transversal KM , wetted surface, used for calculating ship resistance, can be obtained using the vectorial calculus. This work has been developed using C++ language, except the optimization process which makes use of a MATLAB® function called fmincon. This study has been held at the Department of Naval and Ocean Engineering of the University of São Paulo, Brazil.