No description available.

A dominant trend in cyberpunk scholarship draws from Fredric Jameson's diagnosis of postmodernism as the logic of late capitalism, using Jameson's spatial pastiche, schizophrenic temporality, and waning of affect, along with Jameson's characterization of Baudrillard's simulacrum to interpret postmodern cultural artifacts. For many cultural critics, the city of cyberpunk is thoroughly postmodern because parallels can be drawn between the cyberpunk city and the postmodern condition. However, very little work has considered the ways in which cyberpunk can defamiliarize the necro-spatial and necro-temporal logic of neoliberalism. This project moves away from more traditional disciplinary aesthetic methods of analyzing power and urban systems, such as interpretation and representation. And, it problematizes the biopolitical present in three different ways. First, by weaving in and out of an analysis of the narratives, discourses, and spatio-temporalities of cyberpunk and neoliberalism, I seek to produce epistemological interferences within these genres/disciplines, and thus, to disrupt the conceptual and lived biopolitical status-quo of late-capitalism. The goal is to open the door for discomfort with and a critical awareness of the necrotic conditions of competition by highlighting the fictive nature of neoliberalism. Second, this study problematizes accelerationism as a viable alternative to leftist politics and suggests in the end that accelerationism is a form of neoliberal resilience. It does this through an analysis of the biohacker that reframes this subject in terms of accelerationism and the logic of intensity. I argue that the biohacker is the accelerationist subject Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek advocate for in their "Accelerationist Manifesto," suggesting that this accelerationist subject is, in the end, a neoliberal subject that fits easily within the conditions of competition. This study argues that the biohacker in its numerous forms reflects an underlying pure neoliberalism at work within accelerationism and its neoliberal governmentalities. I suggest that far from being an alternative to leftist politics, accelerationism may further the goals of neoliberalism in its desire to accelerate to a purified market space. And, finally, this study works towards offering a biopolitics that theorizes death in terms of ordinariness and suggests that biopolitics is still a useful analytic within neoliberalism. In other words, Foucault's biopolitics can do more than theorize a genealogy of biological racism and genocide. Rather than advocate for moving beyond biopolitics, this study argues instead that neoliberal biopolitics can still be understood in terms of Foucault's analytic, and that perhaps, we need to disentangle Foucault's work from Achille Mbembe's "Necropolitics." / Doctor of Philosophy / A dominant trend in cyberpunk scholarship draws from Fredric Jameson’s diagnosis of postmodernism as the logic of late capitalism, using Jameson’s spatial pastiche, schizophrenic temporality, and waning of affect, along with Jameson’s characterization of Baudrillard’s simulacrum to interpret postmodern cultural artifacts. For many cultural critics, the city of cyberpunk is thoroughly postmodern because parallels can be drawn between the cyberpunk city and the postmodern condition. However, very little work has considered the ways in which cyberpunk can defamiliarize the necro-spatial and necro-temporal logic of neoliberalism. This project moves away from more traditional disciplinary aesthetic methods of analyzing power and urban systems, such as interpretation and representation. It problematizes the biopolitical present in three different ways. First, by weaving in and out of an analysis of the narratives, discourses, and spatio-temporalities of cyberpunk and neoliberalism, I seek to produce epistemological interferences within these genres/disciplines, and thus, to disrupt the conceptual and lived biopolitical status-quo of late-capitalism. Second, this study problematizes accelerationism as a viable alternative to leftist politics and suggests in the end that accelerationism is a form of neoliberal resilience. And, finally, this study works towards offering a biopolitics that theorizes death in terms of ordinariness and suggests that biopolitics is still a useful analytic within neoliberalism. Methodologically, the project utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, pulling from political theory, genre studies, discourse analysis, and digital ethnographic research. Professionals and scholars interested in contesting neoliberalism will benefit from this study as it offers ways to problematize neoliberalism’s reality construction.

Object tracking seeks to determine the object size and location in the following video frames, given the appearance and location of the object in the first frame. The object tracking approaches can be divided into categories: online trained trackers and offline trained tracker. First group of trackers is based on handcrafted features like HOG or Color Names. This group is characterised by high inference speed, but struggles from lack of highly deterministic features. On the other hand the second group uses Convolution Neural Networks as features extractors. They generate highly meaningful features, but limit the inference speed and possibility of learning object appearance in the offline phase. The following report investigates the problem of tracking a soccer ball on mobile devices. Keeping in mind the limited computational resources of mobile devices, we propose the fused tracker. At the beginning of the video the simple online trained tracker is fired. As soon as the tracker looses the ball, the more advanced tracer, based on deep neural networks is fired. The fusion allows to speed up the inference time, by using the simple tracker as much as possible, but keeps the tracking success rate high, by using the more advanced tracker after the object is lost by the first tracker. Both quantitative and qualitative experiments demonstrate the validity of this approach. / Objektspårning syftar till att bestämma objektets storlek och plats i följande videoramar, med tanke på objektets utseende och plats i den första bilden. Objektspårningsmetoderna kan delas in i kategorier: online-utbildade trackers och offline-utbildade trackers. Första gruppen av trackers är baserad på handgjorda funktioner som HOG eller Color Names. Denna grupp kännetecknas av hög inferenshastighet, men kämpar från brist på mycket deterministiska egenskaper. Å andra sidan använder den andra gruppen Convolution Neural Networks som funktioner för extrahering. De genererar mycket meningsfulla funktioner, men begränsar sluthastigheten och möjligheten att lära sig objekt i offlinefasen. Följande rapport undersöker problemet med att spåra en fotboll på mobila enheter. Med tanke på de begränsade beräkningsresurserna för mobila enheter föreslår vi den smälta trackern. I början av videon sparkas den enkla utbildade spåraren online. Så snart trackern förlorar bollen avfyras den mer avancerade spåraren, baserad på djupa neurala nätverk. Fusionen gör det möjligt att påskynda inferenstiden genom att använda den enkla trackern så mycket som möjligt, men håller spårningsfrekvensen hög, genom att använda den mer avancerade trackern efter att objektet förlorats av den första trackern. Både kvantitativa och kvalitativa experiment visar att detta tillvägagångssätt är giltigt.

Attitude and position determination systems in satellites are absolutely necessary to keep the desired trajectory. A very accurate, reliable and most used sensor for attitude determination is the star tracker, which orient itself in space by observing and comparing star constellations with known star patterns. For on earth tests of movements and docking maneuvers of spacecrafts, the new Spacecraft Maneuvering and Docking (SMD) facility at the chair of Aerospace Information Technology at the University of Würzburg has been built. Air bearing systems on the space ve- hicles help to create micro gravity environment on a smooth surface and simulate an artificial space-like surrounding. A new star tracker based optical sensor for indoor application need to be developed in order to get the attitude and position of the vehicles. The main objective of this thesis is to research on feasible star tracking algorithms for the SMD facility first and later to implement a star detection software framework with new developed voting methods to give the star tracker system its fully autonomous function of attitude determination and position tracking. Furthermore, together with image processing techniques, the software framework is embedded into a controller board. This thesis proposes also a wireless network system for the facility, where all the devices on the vehicles can uniquely communicate within the same network and a devel- opment of a ground station to monitor the star tracker process has also been introduced. Multiple test results with different scenarios on position tracking and attitude determination, discussions and suggestions on improvements complete the entire thesis work.

Cette thèse présente trois études différentes basées sur les données de CMS du Run 2. Les deux premières sont des mesures des propriétés des amas dans le trajectographe à pistes de silicium de CMS, liées respectivement aux particules hautement ionisantes (HIP) et au partage de charge entre les pistes voisines (également appelé diaphonie). Le dernier sujet abordé dans ce document est la recherche du partenaire supersymétrique du quark top, appelé stop. Une augmentation de l’inefficacité de reconstruction des hits dans le trajectographe à pistes de silicium de CMS a été observée au cours des années 2015 et 2016. Les particules hautement ionisantes ont été identifiées comme une cause possible de ces inefficacités. Cette thèse apporte des résultats qualitatifs et quantitatifs sur l’effet HIP et sa probabilité. Le HIP n’était pas la source la plus importante d’inefficacité et, une fois la source identifiée et corrigée, les nouvelles données révèlent qu’après cette correction, le HIP représente à présent la principale source d’inefficacité. La seconde étude présentée porte sur les conditions utilisées dans la simulation du trajectographe par CMS afin de fournir des résultats réalistes. Ces conditions changent avec les conditions de fonctionnement du trajectographe et évoluent avec le vieillissement du trajectographe résultant des dommages causés par le rayonnement. Nous avons constaté que les paramètres de diaphonie obsolètes avaient une grande incidence sur la forme de l’amas. Dans cette thèse, les paramètres ont été réévalués et il a été confirmé que les nouveaux paramètres améliorent grandement l’accord des amas entre données et simulation. La dernière partie décrit en profondeur la recherche de stop en utilisant les données collectées en 2016 (correspondant à ∫L = 35.9 fb−1) avec un lepton dans l’état final. Aucun excès n’a été observé par rapport aux prédictions attendues par le modèle standard et les résultats ont été interprétés en terme de limites d’exclusion sur des modèles simplifiés. / This thesis presents three different studies based on the CMS Run 2 data. The first two are measurements of the cluster properties in the CMS silicon strip tracker related respectively to the highly ionizing particles (HIP) and the charge sharing among neighboring strips (also known as cross talk). The last topic discussed in this document is the search for the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, called the stop. An increase in the hit inefficiency of the CMS silicon strip tracker was observed during the years 2015 and 2016. The highly ionizing particles were identified as a possible cause of these inefficiencies. This thesis brings qualitative and quantitative results on the HIP effect and its probability. The HIP was found not to be the largest source of inefficiency at that time and once the source was identified and fixed, the new data revealed that after this fix the HIP now represents the major source of the hit inefficiency. The second study presented in this thesis focuses on the conditions plugged in CMS tracker simulation in order to provide realistic results. These conditions change with the tracker operating conditions and also evolve with tracker ageing resulting from the radiation damage. We identified that the outdated cross talk parameters largely impact the cluster width and seed charge. In this thesis the parameters were remeasured and it was confirmed that the new parameters largely improve the agreement of clusters between data and simulation. The last part describes deeply the stop analysis using data recorded in 2016 (corresponding to ∫L =35.9 fb−1) with single lepton in the final state. No excess was observed in the full 2016 data (∫L = 35.9 fb−1) with respect to the standard model background predictions and therefore exclusion limits in terms of simplified model spectra were derived.

In the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, direct searches for the elusive Higgs boson will be conducted, as well as for physics beyond the Standard Model. The charged Higgs boson (H±) is interesting both as a part of the Higgs sector, and as a clear sign of new physics. This thesis focuses on H± searches, with H± production in top-antitop pair events, and in particular the  bW± bH±, H±→τhadν, W±→qq channel. Its potential was investigated  as  part of a larger study of the expected performance of the entire ATLAS experiment. Full simulation of the ATLAS detector and trigger was used, and all dominant systematics considered. It was shown to be the most promising H± discovery channel for mH±<mt. As hadronic τ decays are important for H± searches, their correct identification is critical. Possibilities of improving tau-jet identification in  pile-up and top-antitop pair events were investigated. Redundant or even performance-reducing variables in the default likelihood identification were identified, as were new variables showing discriminatory power. This allows for increased rejection of QCD jets in these environments, and higher robustness of the method. Before any physics studies, a commissioned and well-understood detector is required. The Lorentz angle of the ATLAS Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) barrel was measured using 2008 cosmic-ray data. It is an important observable for the performance of several detector aspects. Potential sources of systematics were investigated and evaluated. The Lorentz angle in the SCT barrel was measured as θL = 3.93 ± 0.03(stat) ± 0.10(syst) degrees, agreeing with the model prediction. The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a proposed successor to the LHC. The potential for charged and heavy neutral Higgs bosons at CLIC was investigated, in terms of both discovery and precision measurement of parameters like tanβ or the Higgs masses, up to and beyond 1 TeV, which would be challenging at the LHC

A promising line of research attempts to bridge the gap between detector and tracker by means of considering jointly optimal parameter settings for both of these subsystems. Along this fruitful path, this thesis study focuses on the problem of detection threshold optimization in a tracker-aware manner so that a feedback from the tracker to the detector is established to maximize the overall system performance. Special emphasis is given to the optimization schemes based on two non-simulation performance prediction (NSPP) methodologies for the probabilistic data association filter (PDAF), namely, the modified Riccati equation (MRE) and the hybrid conditional averaging (HYCA) algorithm. The possible improvements are presented in two domains: Non-maneuvering and maneuvering target tracking. In the first domain, a number of algorithmic and experimental evaluation gaps are identified and newly proposed methods are compared with the existing ones in a unified theoretical and experimental framework. Furthermore, for the MRE based dynamic threshold optimization problem, a closed-form solution is proposed. This solution brings a theoretical lower bound on the operating signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) concerning when the tracking system should be switched to the track before detect (TBD) mode. As the improvements of the second domain, some of the ideas used in the first domain are extended to the maneuvering target tracking case. The primary contribution is made by extending the dynamic optimization schemes applicable to the PDAF to the interacting multiple model probabilistic data association filter (IMM-PDAF). Resulting in an online feedback from the filter to the detector, this extension makes the tracking system robust against track losses under low SNR values.

根據恐懼管理理論（Terror Management Theory, 1986）人們會適時地管理死亡想法的威脅，故Pyszczynski、Greenberg及Solomon（1999）依據此理論提出了一套雙元歷程模式來解釋人們的防衛方式：近端防衛與遠端防衛。在遠端防衛中文化世界觀尤為重要，在過去的西方研究之中，發現人們常以對自身文化世界觀持正向或偏好的態度，來防衛死亡想法的威脅；然而這樣的現象卻在亞洲研究中難以得到驗證，因此本研究的目的即在於重新檢驗文化世界觀的防衛方式。本研究操弄參與者的死亡想法，並藉由分心作業的方式，使其死亡想法掉入意識邊陲之中，以探究遠端防衛的本質。本研究除了以偏好的評估作為依變項外，且從認知的注意力面向出發，探討文化世界觀與防衛死亡想法之間的關係。本研究設計兩個實驗：實驗一以視覺搜尋作業的派典進行研究，以對自身文化的偏好、正確率與反應時間當作依變項。結果發現當參與者進行遠端防衛時，會對於與自身文化有關的線索，表現出較高的正確率，但在對自身文化的偏好，與反應時間的變項上，未能發現有顯著差異。實驗二以眼動追蹤儀器當作研究工具，並以眼動指標中首次凝視位置的數量，以及凝視時間作為依變項。結果發現當參與者進行遠端防衛時，會對於與自身文化有關的線索，表現出較長的凝視時間，但在首次凝視位置的數量上，亦未能發現有顯著差異。因此，綜合以上兩個實驗，本研究並未能完全支持文化世界觀的遠端防衛效果。 / According to terror management theory (1986), people can manage the threat from death thought. Thus, Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Solomon (1999) proposed a dual-process model to explain how people defend the death. There are two defense routes: the proximal defense and the distal defense. The culture-worldview is an important function in the distal defense. In the western research, it was found that people were more positive or preferred to self-culture-worldview. However, there are mixed findings in the eastern research. In order to investigate the distal defense mechanism, this study manipulated participants’ death thought, and let the thought drop into the unconscious level via a distracting task. Furthermore, this study examined the relationship between the culture-worldview and the death defense from attentional paradigms. We conducted two experiments. In the first experiment, we adopted the visual search paradigm, and the dependent variables were self-cultural preference, reaction time and the rate of accuracy. We found it was more accurate when participants were asked to search the self-related cultural cue after reminding one’s death comparing to those are not reminding about death. But they were no significant difference in the self-cultural preference and reaction time. In the second experiment, we adopted the eye-tracker as the instrument, and the dependent variables were the index of number of first fixation and the duration of fixations. We found the fixation duration was longer for the self-related cultural cues than for the non-self-related cultural cues when participants being reminded about one’s death. But it was no significant difference in the number of first fixation. So, through these two experiments we found an inconsistent result in the distal defense.

Este trabalho propõe introduzir conteúdos de Física, de modo a torná-los atrativos para alunos de 8ª série, através do estudo de situações divertidas, como os movimentos presentes em atividades esportivas e de lazer do seu cotidiano. Os movimentos foram filmados pelos alunos utilizando uma câmera fotográfica digital e, após, foi usado um programa de análise de imagens (Tracker). A escolha dos temas a serem filmados e analisados partiu de sugestões dos próprios alunos em sala de aula, orientados pela professora de Ciências e pelo autor dessa proposta de trabalho. As filmagens foram realizadas pelos alunos no pátio e no salão esportivo da escola; a análise dos movimentos filmados e sua descrição foram realizadas no laboratório de informática. A proposta foi aplicada no Colégio São José, de Caxias do Sul, RS, com cinco turmas de oitava série na disciplina de Ciências, durante os meses de setembro a novembro de 2008, inserindo as atividades paralelamente à apresentação dos conteúdos. Todo material desenvolvido e utilizado nesta proposta foi disponibilizado, gradualmente, no decorrer de sua aplicação na página Web do Colégio. O planejamento e a execução desta proposta foram embasados na teoria interacionista de Lev Vygotsky. Essa escolha se deu, principalmente, pelos objetivos pretendidos neste trabalho que previam que os alunos trabalhassem em grupo com a mediação dos professores, proporcionando e estimulando o gosto por aprender. A avaliação da proposta foi feita pelos alunos no final de sua aplicação através de um questionário de opinião. Segundo as respostas dos alunos, na medida em que atividades e tecnologias do seu cotidiano são utilizadas nas aulas de Física, faz com que essas se tornem mais motivadoras e interessantes. O material instrucional produzido, acompanhado de um guia de informações e orientações será publicado na série “Hipermídias de Apoio ao Professor de Física”, onde serão descritos os objetivos, a justificativa e a metodologia utilizados, com o intuito de que possam ser aplicados por outros professores associados à disciplina de Ciências da 8ª série. / This work proposes an alternative introduction of 8th grade Physics school contents through the study of Kinematics concepts present, e.g., in the students' daily sporting and leisure activities, in order to make these concepts more attractive and motivating to them. The situations have been registered in the schoolyard and gymnasium by the students themselves using a digital camera. The videoclips were then analyzed using an image analysis software (Tracker) in the school's computer laboratory. The subjects on the videoclips were selected among students' suggestions and assisted by the Science class teacher together with the author. The proposal has been carried out in Colégio São José, of Caxias do Sul, RS, with five different groups of 8th graders during Science classes, from September to November of 2008, these activities being alternated with regular classes. All material developed and used in the proposal was made available, during its application, on the School's Webpage. The planning and execution of this proposal are oriented along the social interaction theory of Lev Vygotsky. This choice is mainly motivated by the goal of promoting collaborative students work, intermediated by the teachers, providing and stimulating the taste for learning. The students evaluated the work by its conclusion through an opinion questionnaire. According to the students' answers to the questionnaire, when their daily activities were introduced in the Physics classes making use of available technology through electronic and computer devices, the Physics learning was rendered more interesting and motivating. The instructional material produced during the project application together with an information guide orienting other 8th grade Science teachers on its application will be published in the series “Hipermídias de Apoio ao Professor de Física”, where aims and methodology will also be described.

Este trabalho propõe introduzir conteúdos de Física, de modo a torná-los atrativos para alunos de 8ª série, através do estudo de situações divertidas, como os movimentos presentes em atividades esportivas e de lazer do seu cotidiano. Os movimentos foram filmados pelos alunos utilizando uma câmera fotográfica digital e, após, foi usado um programa de análise de imagens (Tracker). A escolha dos temas a serem filmados e analisados partiu de sugestões dos próprios alunos em sala de aula, orientados pela professora de Ciências e pelo autor dessa proposta de trabalho. As filmagens foram realizadas pelos alunos no pátio e no salão esportivo da escola; a análise dos movimentos filmados e sua descrição foram realizadas no laboratório de informática. A proposta foi aplicada no Colégio São José, de Caxias do Sul, RS, com cinco turmas de oitava série na disciplina de Ciências, durante os meses de setembro a novembro de 2008, inserindo as atividades paralelamente à apresentação dos conteúdos. Todo material desenvolvido e utilizado nesta proposta foi disponibilizado, gradualmente, no decorrer de sua aplicação na página Web do Colégio. O planejamento e a execução desta proposta foram embasados na teoria interacionista de Lev Vygotsky. Essa escolha se deu, principalmente, pelos objetivos pretendidos neste trabalho que previam que os alunos trabalhassem em grupo com a mediação dos professores, proporcionando e estimulando o gosto por aprender. A avaliação da proposta foi feita pelos alunos no final de sua aplicação através de um questionário de opinião. Segundo as respostas dos alunos, na medida em que atividades e tecnologias do seu cotidiano são utilizadas nas aulas de Física, faz com que essas se tornem mais motivadoras e interessantes. O material instrucional produzido, acompanhado de um guia de informações e orientações será publicado na série “Hipermídias de Apoio ao Professor de Física”, onde serão descritos os objetivos, a justificativa e a metodologia utilizados, com o intuito de que possam ser aplicados por outros professores associados à disciplina de Ciências da 8ª série. / This work proposes an alternative introduction of 8th grade Physics school contents through the study of Kinematics concepts present, e.g., in the students' daily sporting and leisure activities, in order to make these concepts more attractive and motivating to them. The situations have been registered in the schoolyard and gymnasium by the students themselves using a digital camera. The videoclips were then analyzed using an image analysis software (Tracker) in the school's computer laboratory. The subjects on the videoclips were selected among students' suggestions and assisted by the Science class teacher together with the author. The proposal has been carried out in Colégio São José, of Caxias do Sul, RS, with five different groups of 8th graders during Science classes, from September to November of 2008, these activities being alternated with regular classes. All material developed and used in the proposal was made available, during its application, on the School's Webpage. The planning and execution of this proposal are oriented along the social interaction theory of Lev Vygotsky. This choice is mainly motivated by the goal of promoting collaborative students work, intermediated by the teachers, providing and stimulating the taste for learning. The students evaluated the work by its conclusion through an opinion questionnaire. According to the students' answers to the questionnaire, when their daily activities were introduced in the Physics classes making use of available technology through electronic and computer devices, the Physics learning was rendered more interesting and motivating. The instructional material produced during the project application together with an information guide orienting other 8th grade Science teachers on its application will be published in the series “Hipermídias de Apoio ao Professor de Física”, where aims and methodology will also be described.