De nos jours, nous générons une quantité immensément grande de données juste en accomplissant nos simples tâches quotidiennes. L'analyse de ces données soulève des challenges ardus. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à deux aspects des données relationnelles. En premier lieu, nous considérons les données relationnelles dans lesquelles les relations sont pondérées. Un exemple concret serait le nombre commun de suiveurs entre deux utilisateurs de Twitter. Dans un deuxième temps, nous abordons le cas dynamique de ces données qui est inhérent à leur nature. Par exemple, le nombre de suiveurs communs pourrait changer au fil du temps. Dans cette thèse nous utilisons les graphes pour modéliser ces données qui sont à la fois complexes et évolutives. Les travaux de cette thèse s'articulent aussi autour de la détection de communautés pour les graphes pondérés et dynamiques. Pour un utilisateur expert, l'identification de ces communautés pourrait l'aider à comprendre la sémantique sous-jacente à la structure du graphe. Notre hypothèse repose sur l'utilisation des triangles comme ossature pour la détection de communautés. Cela nous a amenés à proposer plusieurs algorithmes : Séparation et évaluation, recherche gloutonne, heuristiques et algorithme génétique sont proposés. En se basant sur cet ensemble de triangles, nous proposons un algorithme de détection de communautés, appelé Tribase. L'idée conductrice de cet algorithme est de comparer les poids des communautés, permettant aux communautés dominantes d'acquérir plus de membres. Les résultats de l'étude comparative sur le benchmark LFR montrent que l'algorithme que nous proposons parvient à détecter les communautés dans les graphes dans lesquels une structure de communautés existe. De plus, l'applicabilité de notre algorithme a été testée sur des données réelles du projet ANR Info-RSN. Dans l'optique d'accompagner l'utilisateur expert dans son processus d'acquisition de l'information, une application visuelle et interactive a été implémentée. NLCOMS (Nœud-Lien et COMmunautéS) propose une panoplie de vues synchronisées pour la représentation de l'information. Par ailleurs, nous proposons dans cette thèse un algorithme de détection de communautés pour les graphes pondérés et dynamiques, appelé Dyci. Dyci permet de gérer les différents scénarios de mise à jour possibles de la structure du graphe. L'idée principale de Dyci est de guetter au cours du temps l'affaiblissement d'une communauté (en termes de poids) dans le but de reconsidérer localement sa place dans la structure, évitant ainsi une réindentification globale des communautés. Une étude comparative a été menée montrant que l'algorithme que nous proposons offre un bon compromis entre la solution obtenue et le temps de calcul. Finalement, l'intégration dans NLCOMS des visualisations adéquates pour la variante dynamique a été effectuée / Relational data in our society are on a constant increasing, rising arduous challenges. In this thesis, we consider two aspects of relational data. First, we are interested in relational data with weighted relationship. As a concrete example, relationships among Twitter's users could be weighted with regard to their shared number of followers. The second aspect is related to the dynamism which is inherent to data nature. As an instance, in the previous example the number of common followers between two Twitter's users can change over time. In order to handle these complex and dynamic relational data, we use the modelling strength of graphs. Another facet considered in this thesis deals with community identification on weighted and dynamic graphs. For an analyst, the community detection might be helpful to grasp the semantic behind the graph structure. Our assumption relies on the idea to use a set of disjoint pairwise triangles as a basis to detect the community structure. To select these triangles, several algorithms are proposed (i.e., branch-and-bound, greedy search, heuristics and genetic algorithm). Thereafter, we propose a community detection algorithm, called Tribase. In the latter, the weights of communities are compared allowing dominant communities to gain in size. Tribase is compared with the well-known LFR benchmark. The results show that Tribase identifies efficiently the communities while a community structure exists. Additionally, to asset Tribase on real-world data, we consider social networks data, especially Twitter's data, of the ANR-Info-RSN project. In order to support the analyst in its knowledge acquisition, we elaborate a visual interactive approach. To this end, an interactive application, called NLCOMS is introduced. NLCOMS uses multiple synchronous views for visualizing community structure and the related information. Furthermore, we propose an algorithm for the identification of communities over time, called Dyci. The latter takes advantage from the previously detected communities. Several changes' scenarios are considered like, node/edge addition, node/edge removing and edge weight update. The main idea of the proposed algorithm is to track whether a part of the weighted graph becomes weak over time, in order to merge it with the "dominant" neighbour community. In order to assess the quality of the returned community structure, we conduct a comparison with a genetic algorithm on real-world data of the ARN-Info-RSN project. The conducted comparison shows that Dyci algorithm provides a good trade-off between efficiency and consumed time. Finally, the dynamic changes which occur to the underlying graph structure can be visualized with NLCOMS which combines physical an axial time to fulfil this need

A reconstrução de superfícies a partir de nuvens de pontos faz parte de um novo paradigma de modelagem em que modelos computacionais para objetos reais são reconstruídos a partir de dados amostrados sobre a superfície dos mesmos. O principal problema que surge nesse contexto é o fato de que não são conhecidas relações de conectividade entre os pontos que compõe a amostra. Os objetivos do presente trabalho são estudar métodos implícitos para a reconstrução de superfícies e propor algumas melhorias pouco exploradas por métodos já existentes. O uso de funções implícitas no contexto da reconstrução conduz a métodos mais robustos em relação a ruídos, no entanto, uma das principais desvantagens de tais métodos está na dificuldade de capturar detalhes finos e sharp features. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho propõe o uso de abordagens adaptativas, tanto na poligonalização de superfícies quanto na aproximação de superfícies. Além disso, questões relativas à robustez das soluções locais e à qualidade da malha também são abordadas. Por fim, o método desenvolvido é acoplado aumsoftware traçador de raios afimde se obterumamaneira de modelar cenas tridimensionais utilizando nuvens de pontos, além dos objetos gráficos tradicionais. Os resultados apresentados mostram que muitas das soluções propostas oferecem um incremento à qualidade dos métodos de reconstrução anteriormente propostos / Surface reconstruction from point clouds is part of a new modeling paradigm in which computational models for real objects are reconstructed from data sampled from their surface. The main problem that arises in this context is the fact that there are no known connectivity relationships amongst the points that compose the sample. The objectives of the present work are to study implicit methods for surface reconstruction and to propose some improvements scarcely explored by previous work. The use of implicit functions in the context of surface reconstruction leads to less noise sensitive methods; however, one major drawback of such methods is the difficulty in capturing fine details and sharp features. Towards this, the present work proposes the use of adaptive approaches, not only in the polygonization but also in the surface approximation. Besides, robustness issues in local solutions and mesh quality are also tackled. Finally, the developed method is embedded in a ray tracer software in order to set a basis for modeling tridimensional scenes using point sets, in addition to traditional graphic objects. The presented results show that a great deal of the proposed solutions offer a quality increase to the reconstruction method previously proposed

Small business owners struggle to sustain their businesses over time. According to U.S. Census data in 2014, only half of all small businesses survived beyond the first 5 years of operation, and only a third survived longer than 10 years. Grounded with the strategic contingency theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies small service business owners used to succeed beyond the first 5 years of operation. The target population consisted of 4 owners of small service and retail businesses in Arlington, VA, with fewer than 50 employees who have succeeded in business longer than 5 years. Through a process of methodological triangulation, data collected from financial documents, publicly available records, and external sources supplemented semistructured interview data. Using thematic analysis by coding narrative segments, 3 themes emerged including developing a unique marketing strategy, developing strategic leadership skills, and required business skills for sustainability. Successful unique marketing strategies emerged from understanding customer needs. The results from this study could benefit business owners by improving business success rates, which would have a positive economic effect on local community, including job creation, and sustainable economic stability. The implications for positive social change might include the reversal of small business failure trends through the application of successful business strategies.

2007年臺灣的電視圈在國內大環境欠佳、廣告市場大減，中視以高規格、高預算，製播【超級星光大道】，沒想到引發種種話題，節目爆紅。同年【超級星光大道】的受歡迎程度超過各類電視節目。使中視得以一整年靠一個節目的營收來維生。 【超級星光大道】亦甚至被媒體標示，「星光現象」成為一種異軍突起的社會文化現象。【超級星光大道】擁有什麼樣的關鍵元素，導致其瞬間爆紅。由於節目品質研究（叫好）與觀眾需求分析（叫座）向來是電視節目產製者最關注的兩大課題。故，本研究首開分析單一類型的節目是如何吸引觀眾的收視之學術性研究。 由節目產製構面的理論概念引伸，從閱聽人角度出發，在加上電視節目產製核心人物之剖析，從多種角度來觀察並分析【超級星光大道】的文本，利用學術研究方法，來回應業界所關切的問題。 本研究借用McQuail（1992）提出三類媒介表現的檢視途徑為設計概念，以Patton（1990）提出的方法（Method）三角測量法，借用多元方法取向蒐集資料，以檢驗研究發現的一致性，為尋求值得信賴的解釋。 對超級星光大道的分析上，利用文本分析，將每集節目內容、流程等進行解構，特別是收視率特別高的內容，找出其爭議點。在經由使用與滿足理論架構，描繪出閱聽眾接收與關切的節目元素。進而與焦點團體或是產製者訪談的資料進行mapping，找出其成功吸引觀眾的元素。 因此，研究結果依其對收視率表現之影響程度，分成三個層次：對收視率提升有顯著效果者有感動、多元、話題、娛樂；對樹立節目品質和口碑者有真實、專業；可能影響收視的負面元素則為操作與公平性。 本研究貢獻為學術面解決收視率無法真實解構文本的疑問，為產製面提供媒體未來複製同類型節目之觀眾輪廓或節目定位及修正節目策略的參考。 關鍵詞：歌唱選秀節目、關鍵元素、三角測量、收視率 / Due the domestic overall economy was poor in Taiwan during 2007, the advertisement market was shrunk largely for TV industry, while China Television Company (CTV) took an contrary way on the production of “One Million Star” with high standard and big budget, and to no one’s guess, the program was red hot to trigger all kinds of topics. In the same year, the degree of popularity from “One Million Star” surpassed all kinds of TV programs, allowing CTV to keep its operation for the whole year solely on this program. “One Million Star” is even tagged by the media, and “Superstar Phenomenon” has become a cultural phenomenon in the society all of a sudden. What the key elements are for “One Million Star” to become extremely popular all of a sudden. Due both program quality research (great quality) and audience demand analysis (great rating) have always been the two major issues concerned the most by the producers of TV programs, the paper will be the first ever to make analysis for academic research on how a single type of programs attract the audiences to watch them. By starting up from the angle of audiences, to develop from the theoretical concepts on the construct of program productions, plus to make analysis on the core people for TV program productions, and from various angles, to observe as well as to make analysis on the scripts of “One Million Star”, using academic research methods, to make response on the questions concerned by people in the industry. The paper borrows the examination route offered by McQuail(1992) on the presentation of three types of media as the design concept, and using Triangulation method offered by Patton (1990), to collect data with diverse methods for examining the consistency in the research findings, in order to seek for reliable explanations. For the analysis on “One Million Star”, by using scripts for analysis, to take down on matters such as program contents and process flows from each running show, and to find out any disputable points, especially on those contents with extremely high rating. Through the construct of uses and gratification theory, to illustrate the program elements that are received and concerned by the audiences. Next, to work on mapping with the data made from focus groups or interviews of program producers, in order to find out what are the successful elements to attract audiences. Accordingly, on the basis of effects to rating performances, the study results are divided into three categories: for those with significant effects on the increase of rating, they are to include sensation, diversity, topics, and entertainment; for those able to establish program quality and word-of-mouth, they are to include authenticity, and professionalism; for those possibly with negative effects on rating, they are to include operating and fairness. The contribution of the paper is to solve the question from academic aspect that rating is not able to truly break down scripts, and as reference of audience outline or program positioning and program strategy revisions for duplicating similar programs by the providing media from production aspect in the future. Keyword: Singing Contest Program, Key Elements, Triangulation, Rating

Consider distinct latin squares, L and M, of order n. Then the pair (T1, T2) where T1 = L \M and T2 = M \ L is called a latin bitrade. Furthermore T1 and T2 are referred to as latin trades, in which T2 is said to be a disjoint mate of T1 (and vice versa). Drápal (1991) showed that, under certain conditions, a partition of an equilateral triangle of side length n, where n is some integer, into smaller, integer length sided equilateral triangles gives rise to a latin trade within the latin square based on the addition table for the integers modulo n. A partial latin square P of order n is said to be completable if there exists a latin square L of order n such that P ⊆ L. If there is only one such possible latin square, L, of order n then P is said to be uniquely completable and P is called a defining set of L. Furthermore, if C is a uniquely completable partial latin square such that no proper subset of C is uniquely completable, C is said to be a critical set or a minimal defining set. These concepts, namely latin trades and defining sets in latin squares, are intimately connected by the following observation. If L is a latin square and D ⊆ L is a defining set, then D intersects all latin bitrades for which one mate is contained in L. In Part I of this thesis Dr´apal’s result is applied to investigate the structure of certain defining sets in latin squares. The results that are obtained are interesting in themselves; furthermore, the geometric approach to the problem yields additional appealing results. These geometric results are discussed in Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6. They pertain to partitioning regions (polygons in R2 that satisfy certain obvious conditions) into equilateral, integer length sided, triangles, such that no point, in the region, is a corner of more than three distinct triangles. In Chapter 2 one of the main two theorems on defining sets is established, as is a method for using the above geometric results to prove the nonexistence of certain types of defining sets. In Part II of this thesis, intersection problems, for latin squares and Steiner triple systems, are considered. The seminal works, for problems of these types, are due to Lindner and Rosa (1975) and Fu (1980). A natural progression, from the established literature, for intersection problems between elements in a pair of latin squares or Steiner triple systems is to problems in which the intersection is composed of a number of disjoint configurations (isomorphic copies of some specified partial triple system). In this thesis solutions to two intersection problems for disjoint configurations are detailed. An m-flower, (F,F), is a partial triple system/configuration, such that: F = {{x, yi, zi} | {yi, zi} ∩ {yj , zj} = ∅, for 0 ≤ i, j ≤ m − 1, i 6= j}; and F = UX∈FX. The first such problem considered in this thesis asks for necessary and sufficient conditions for integers k and m ≥ 2 such that a pair of latin squares of order n exists that intersect precisely in k disjoint m-flowers. The necessary terminology, constructions, lemmas and proof for this result are contained in Chapters 7, 8 and 9. The second such problem considered in this thesis asks for necessary and sufficient conditions for integers k such that a pair of Steiner triple systems of order u exists that intersect precisely in k disjoint 2-flowers. This result relies on the solution to the latin square problem and an additional result from Chapter 9. The further constructions and lemmas used to prove this result are detailed in Chapter 10.

Le détecteur interférométrique d'ondes gravitationnelles Virgo est en phase de mise au point, il devrait atteindre une sensibilité lui permettant de prendre des données scientifiques dès la deuxième moitié de l'année 2006. La préparation à l'analyse de ces données est en cours et le mémoire traite de plusieurs aspects :<br />- Un environnement d'analyse, VEGA, a été mis au point. Il permet à un utilisateur physicien d'accéder et de gérer les données provenant de Virgo, de développer un code d'analyse spécifique, de disposer d'outils de traitement du signal et de manipuler et visualiser des données dépendantes du temps. L'ensemble est intégré et basé sur ROOT.<br />- Un ensemble de pages web a été développé permettant l'affichage de données de contrôle en quasi temps-réel. Il tire parti de VEGA pour la création des graphiques.<br />- Un algorithme de tessellation d'un espace de paramètres a été développé dans le cadre des recherches de signaux provenant de la coalescence de binaires d'objets compacts (étoiles à neutrons ou trous noirs). Ces recherches utilisent communément des méthodes d'extraction de signal par filtrage optimal qui rendent nécessaire l'utilisation d'un grand nombre de calques (formes d'onde théoriques) dans un espace de paramètres. La tessellation de cet espace détermine les calques qui seront utilisés. Le mémoire traite également des performances de l'algorithme observées lors de son utilisation dans la collaboration Virgo, ainsi que ses possibles extensions.

Dans cette thèse, une représentation originale d'objets tridimensionnels est introduite: les maillages simplexes. un k-maillage simplexe est un maillage ou chaque sommet est connecte à k + 1 sommets voisins. Ainsi un contour est représenté par un 1-maillage simplexe et une surface tridimensionnelle par un 2-maillage simplexe. La structure d'un maillage simplexe est duale de celle des triangulations. Plusieurs propriétés topologiques et géométriques originales rendent l'utilisation des maillages simplexes particulièrement bien adaptée à la représentation de surfaces déformables. Nous introduisons la notion d'angle simplexe, de courbure moyenne discrète et de paramètre métrique à chaque sommet du maillage. La propriété géométrique essentielle des maillages simplexes est la possibilité de représenter localement la forme d'un k-maillage en un sommet à l'aide de (k + 1) quantités adimensionnées. Les maillages simplexes déformables sont alors utilisés dans un système de modélisation d'objets tridimensionnels. En présence d'images volumiques ou de profondeur, un maillage simplexe est déformé sous l'action de forces régularisantes et de forces externes. Les maillages simplexes sont adaptatifs à plusieurs titres. D'une part, les sommets se concentrent aux endroits de fortes courbure et d'autre part, le maillage peut être raffiné ou décimé en fonction de la proximité des sommets aux données. Enfin, l'utilisation de maillages simplexes sphériques quasi-réguliers permet la reconnaissance de forme d'objets tridimensionnels, même en présence d'occultations. La forme d'un objet est alors représentée par l'ensemble des valeurs des angles simplexes du maillage simplexe déformé, projeté sur le maillage sphérique originel. La forme de deux objets est comparée par l'intermédiaire de leur image simplexe (simplex angle image)

Nous abordons, par une modélisation à base de graphes, deux problèmes de structuration de données. Phylogénie: Nous utilisons la famille de graphes associée à une dissimilarité pour définir la notion nouvelle de distance triangulée, plus générale qu'une distance additive d'arbre. Nous proposons un algorithme d'ajustement de données à une distance triangulée par triangulation des graphes associés. Nous introduisons pour cela le concept nouveau de sous-triangulation maximale, afin de prendre en compte la sous-évaluation intrinsèque des données phylogénétiques. Nous procédons ensuite à une étude théorique complémentaire. Analyse Formelle de Concepts: Nous codons une relation binaire R et son treillis des concepts L(R) par un graphe non orienté co-biparti G(R). Nous montrons que les éléments de L(R) sont en bijection avec les séparateurs minimaux de G(R), et que les chaînes maximales de L(R) sont en bijection avec les triangulations minimales de G(R). Des procédés algorithmiques appliqués à G(R) trouvent ainsi leurs correspondants dans L(R). En particulier, des treillis de taille polynomiale peuvent être obtenus à partir de L(R), par plongement de G(R) dans un graphe faiblement triangulé. Nous mettons ensuite en évidence un ordre de domination sur les modules complets maximaux de G(R), domination qui s'hérite quand on parcourt une chaîne maximale de L(R). Une structure de données, la table de domination, gère dynamiquement les relations de domination. Nous utilisons cette table pour deux applications algorithmiques: - Mise à jour d'une sous-hiérarchie de Galois matérialisant une hiérarchie d'héritage orienté-objet; - Génération efficace d'un treillis des concepts.

<p>This thesis presents a complete and fully automatic method for estimating the volume of an airbag, through all stages of its inflation, with multiple synchronized high-speed cameras.</p><p>Using recorded contours of the inflating airbag, its visual hull is reconstructed with a novel method: The intersections of all back-projected contours are first identified with an accelerated epipolar algorithm. These intersections, together with additional points sampled from concave surface regions of the visual hull, are then Delaunay triangulated to a connected set of tetrahedra. Finally, the visual hull is extracted by carving away the tetrahedra that are classified as inconsistent with the contours, according to a voting procedure.</p><p>The volume of an airbag's visual hull is always larger than the airbag's real volume. By projecting a known synthetic model of the airbag into the cameras, this volume offset is computed, and an accurate estimate of the real airbag volume is extracted. </p><p>Even though volume estimates can be computed for all camera setups, the cameras should be specially posed to achieve optimal results. Such poses are uniquely found for different airbag models with a separate, fully automatic, simulated annealing algorithm.</p><p>Satisfying results are presented for both synthetic and real-world data.</p>

This dissertation aims to examine the various ways in which three Victorian novels, such as Wilkie Collins?s The Woman in White (1860), Anne Bront�?s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Charlotte Bront�?s Villette (1853), address the relationship between storytelling and self-formation, showing that a subject formulates a sense of self by storytelling. The constructed nature of self and storytelling in Collins?s The Woman in White shows that narrative is a significant way of attributing meaning in our lives and that constructing stories about self is connected to the construction of self, illustrating that storytelling is a form of self-formation. Anne Bront�?s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall exemplifies Bront�?s configuration of the relational and contextual aspect of storytelling and self-formation in her belief that self is formed not merely through the story he/she tells but through the triangular relationship of the storyteller, the story, and the reader. This novel proves that even though the writer?s role in constructing his/her self-concept through his/her narrative is important, the narrator?s triangular relationship with the reader and the text is also a significant component in his/her self-formation. Charlotte Bront�?s Villette is concerned with unnarration, in which the narrative does not say, and it shows that the unnarrated elements provide useful resource for the display of the narrator?s self. For Charlotte Bront�, unnarration is part of the narrative configuration that contributes to constructing and presenting the storyteller?s self-formation. These three novels illuminate that narrative is more than linguistic activities of the symbolic representation of the world, and that it cannot be fully conceived without taking into consideration the storyteller?s experience and thoughts of the world.