Autonomous driving requires tactical decision-making while navigating in a dynamic shared space environment. The complexity and uncertainty in this process arise due to unknown and tightly-coupled interaction among traffic users. This thesis work formulates an unknown navigation problem as a Markov decision process (MDP), supported by models of traffic participants and userspace. Instead of modeling a traditional MDP, this work formulates a Multi-policy decision making (MPDM) in a shared space scenario with pedestrians and vehicles. The employed model enables a unified and robust self-driving of the ego vehicle by selecting a desired policy along the pre-planned path. Obstacle avoidance is coupled within the navigation module performing a detour off the planned path and obtaining a reward on task completion and penalizing for collision with others. In addition to this, the thesis work is further extended by analyzing the real-time constraints of the proposed model. The performance of the implemented framework is evaluated in a simulation environment on a typical construction (quarry) scenario. The effectiveness and efficiency of the elected policy verify the desired behavior of the autonomous vehicle.

O estudo do sistema visual de macacos-prego representa importante questão devido ao aspecto evolutivo que a espécie apresenta. Foram utilizados cinco macacos-prego, 2 kg. Foi efetuda injeção intra-ocular de 100 <font face=\"symbol\">ml de solução aquosa de toxina colérica subunidade B (CTb) a 1%, sendo a perfusão realizada 15 dias após a injeção intra-ocular. As retinas intactas e os encéfalos foram submetidos à procedimento de imunoistoquímica para análise. A caracterização da retina evidenciou dois tipos distintos de células bipolares, além disto, subunidades de receptores gabaérgicos co-localizam em retinas de macacos-prego, diferente dos resultados apresentados em outras espécies. As projeções retinianas foram observadas em todas as estruturas do sistema visual primário, óptico acéssório e de temporização circadiana, além de projeções para áreas adicionais. Os resultados evidenciam diferenças interespecíficas sugerindo que a extrapolação dos resultados adquiridos em diferentes espécies devam ser extrapolados com cautela. / The diurnal habits and its complex SNC, make the tufted capuchin monkey an important subject for the study of the visual system. In the present study, five tufted capuchins received a single intraocular neuronal tracer subunit B of cholera toxin (CTb) injection and perfused 15 days later. The retina and brain were removed from the animals and processed with immunohistochemical techniques. The CTb analysis showed that the retina send projections to several structures, such as primary visual, optical accessory and circadian control systems. The immunohistochemical characterization also showed two different types of bipolar cells in the retina. These cells, differently from other species, were co-localized with gabaergic receptors. Overall our results showed several interspecies differences suggesting that comparison of the visual system between species must be undertaken with great caution.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T19:14:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 29 / Nenhuma / Este estudo teve como pressuposto investigar a ocorrência da teoria de equity market timing na formação da estrutura de capital das companhias abertas brasileiras. Equity market timing, ou janela de oportunidades de mercado, pode ser definido como o momento apropriado para a emissão de ações, que ocorre quando o quociente entre o valor de mercado e o valor contábil das empresas – market-to-book ratio (MB) &#8722; é alto, indicando que a firma está sobrevalorizada e que, respectivamente, seu custo de capital está baixo. Baker e Wurgler (2002) foram os expoentes dessa teoria e desenvolveram um modelo para testar a existência e a persistência de equity market timing na formação da estrutura de capital das companhias abertas americanas. Ao aplicarem o modelo no mercado norte-americano, nele constataram a existência de market timing, bem como sua persistência por cerca de uma década, a contar da data da oferta pública inicial de ações (IPO) das respectivas empresas, comprovando que as empresas norte-americanas se / This study examines the implications of the theory of equity market timing on the capital structure in the Brazilian public companies. Equity market timing, or windows of opportunities, can be defined as the right moment to issue equity when the market value is high, relative to book value, indicating that the firm is overvalued and the cost of capital is low. Baker and Wurgler (2002) developed a model to test the equity market timing theory in the American capital market. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that market timing has large and persistent effects on capital structure. Furthermore, they found out that the impacts persist for a decade after the IPO of the firms, proving that companies in United States take advantage of the windows of opportunities to form their capital structures. Assuming the Baker and Wurgler’s propositions, the equity market timing theory was tested in Brazilian capital market for a group of companies that went public between 1997 and 2007. Both market and book lever

<p>The thesis studies two communication<br />channels and corresponding error-correcting<br />codes. Multiset codes are introduced and<br />their applications described. Properties of<br />entropy and relative entropy are investigated.</p> / <p>U tezi su analizirana dva tipa komunikacionih<br />kanala i odgovarajući za&scaron;titni kodovi.<br />Uveden je pojam multiskupovnog koda i<br />opisane njegove primene. Proučavane su<br />osobine entropije i relativne entropije.</p>

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-25T19:29:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose de freitas.pdf: 3442616 bytes, checksum: 5906555f02beebcd88aa23986b2f4865 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-07-20 / The main diseases occurring in soybean (Glycine max) in Brazil have a great damage potential, requiring additional expenses to control through measures available today, highlighting the fungicides spray. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of fungicides spray at different growth stages of soybean, cultivar CD 206, and verify the relation between the severity of powdery mildew (Erysiphe diffusa) and of asian soybean rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi), on yield components. Two experiments were conducted on field one in Arapoti (experiment I) and another in Ponta Grossa (experiment II) in the region of Campos Gerais, Paraná. In both local the fungicide was sprayed trifloxystrobin + cyproconazole, in a rate of 56,4 + 24,0 mL a. i. ha-1, was added ajduvante methyl ester of soybean oil in a rate of 360,0 mL a. i. ha-1. The experimental design was randomized blocks with four replications. The treatments in a total of ten, were composed of fungicides spray in different numbers and growth stages: Experiment I, 1. Control (no spray); 2. R5.2; 3. R4 + R5.2; 4. R2 + R4 + R5.2; 5. V9 + R2 + R4 + R5.2; 6. V6 + V9 + R2 + R4 + R5.2; 7. V6 + V9 + R2 + R4; 8. V6 + V9 + R2; 9. V6 + V9 and 10. V6. Experiment II, 1. Control (no spray); 2. R5.1; 3. R3 + R5.1; 4. R1 + R3 + R5.1; 5. V8 + R1 + R3 + R5.1; 6. V5 + V8 + R1 +R3 + R5.1, 7. V5 + V8 + R1 + R3; 8. V5 + V8 + R1; 9. V5 + V8 and 10. V5. The treatments were composed in order to generate and compare different percentages of severity of powdery mildew and asian soybean rust obtained by the period of protection or exposure to these diseases. The severity of powdery mildew was evaluated experiment I growth stages R2, R4, R5.3 and R5.5 and in experiment II in R1, R3, R5.2, R5.3 and R5.5. The severity of asian soybean rust was evaluated experiment I in growth at stages R5.3, R5.4, R6 and R7.1, and in experiment II R5.1, R5.2, R5.3, R5.5 and R6. With the data of severity it was calculated the area under the disease progress curve. Were also evaluated defoliation, yield and their components (number of pods per plant, number of grains per plant, grain weight per plant and thousand grain weight). Powdery mildew showed low severity. The asian soybean rust was the disease predominant in high severity, with high damage potential. The fungicides spray reduced disease severity and there was a negative linear relationship with the yield. Long periods without protection of plants allowed rapid reinfection of powdery mildew and spray erradicativas resulted in low efficiency of control powdery mildew and asian soybean rust. The fungicides spray between growth stages R1 to R5.2 promoted protection since the beginning of the epidemic and residual effect, que resulted in less severity, less defoliation, increased grain yield and higher yield. / As principais doenças que ocorrem na cultura da soja (Glycine max) no Brasil apresentam grande potencial de dano, exigindo gastos adicionais para o controle através das medidas disponíveis atualmente, destacando-se as aplicações de fungicidas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito das aplicações de fungicidas em diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento da soja, cultivar CD 206, e verificar a relação entre a severidade do oídio (Erysiphe diffusa) e da ferrugem asiática da soja (Phakopsora pachyrhizi), sobre componentes de produtividade. Foram conduzidos dois experimentos de campo, um em Arapoti (experimento I) e o outro em Ponta Grossa (experimento II), na região dos Campos Gerais do Paraná. Em ambos os locais foi aplicado o fungicida trifloxistrobina + ciproconazol, na dose de 56,4 + 24,0 mL i. a. ha-1, adicionado de ajduvante éster metílico de óleo de soja na dose de 360 mL i. a. ha-1. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos em um total de dez, foram compostos de aplicações de fungicidas em diferentes números e estádios de desenvolvimento:Experimento I, 1. Testemunha (sem aplicação); 2. R5.2; 3. R4 + R5.2; 4. R2 + R4 +R5.2; 5. V9 + R2 + R4 + R5.2; 6. V6 + V9 + R2 + R4 + R5.2; 7. V6 + V9 + R2 + R4;8. V6 + V9 + R2; 9. V6 + V9 e 10. V6. Experimento II, 1. Testemunha (sem aplicação); 2. R5.1; 3. R3 + R5.1; 4. R1 + R3 + R5.1; 5. V8 + R1 + R3 + R5.1; 6. V5 + V8 + R1 + R3 + R5.1, 7. V5 + V8 + R1 + R3; 8. V5 + V8 + R1; 9. V5 + V8 e 10. V5. Os tratamentos foram compostos, a fim de gerar e comparar diferentes porcentagens de severidade de oídio e ferrugem asiática obtida pelo período de proteção ou exposição às estas doenças. A severidade do oídio foi avaliada no experimento I nos estádios de desenvolvimento R2, R4, R5.3 e R5.5 e no experimento II em R1, R3, R5.2, R5.3 e R5.5. A severidade da ferrugem asiática da soja foi avaliada no experimento I nos estádios de desenvolvimento R5.3, R5.4, R6 e R7.1, e no experimento II em R5.1, R5.2, R5.3, R5.5 e R6. Com os dados de severidade calculou-se a área abaixo da curva de progresso das doenças. Avaliouse também desfolha, produtividade e seus componentes (número de vagens por planta, número de grãos por planta, massa de grãos por planta e massa de mil grãos). O oídio apresentou baixa severidade. A ferrugem asiática foi a doença predominante em alta severidade, com alto potencial de dano. As aplicações de fungicidas reduziram a severidade das doenças e houve relação linear negativa com a produtividade. Longos períodos sem proteção das plantas permitiram reinfecção rápida do oídio e as aplicações erradicativas resultaram em baixa eficiência de controle do oídio e da ferrugem asiática. Aplicações do fungicida entre os estádios de desenvolvimento R1 a R5.2 promoveram proteção desde o início da epidemia e,efeito residual, resultaram em menor severidade, menor desfolha, maior massa de grãos e maior produtividade.

Dans un environnement en constant changement, les fonctions exécutives (FRE) nous permettent d'organiser l'information en provenance de sources multiples, de s'adapter à des situations sociales complexes et d'inhiber les comportements inappropriés. Les recherches sur le fonctionnement exécutif ont été initiées en neuropsychologie, après avoir observé chez des patients frontaux, des difficultés à organiser leurs comportements quotidiens sans pour autant présenter de difficultés de langage ou de mémoire. Un grand nombre de tests neuropsychologiques sont disponibles afin d'évaluer les FE. Cependant, ces tests sont souvent critiqués pour leur complexité et leur manque de validité de construction. Le champ des FE manque en réalité de modèles théoriques précis qui permettraient de décrire ces fonctions et leurs potentielles interactions pour le contrôle des comportements complexes. En conséquence, les tâches sont souvent construites de manière intuitive, dans le présent travail de thèse, après revue d'un état de l'art sur les FE (Ch1), je propose une nouvelle tâche, le spatial-tapping, qui pourrait être utilisée en remplacement des tâches classiques complexes (Ch2). Je promeus également le potentiel de cette tâche à être utilisée dans des contextes cliniques (Ch3). Je présente finalement comment les analyses réalisées pour le spatial-tapping afin d'étudier les FE peuvent être transférées à des situations motrices plus complexes, comme la coordination bi-manuelle (Ch4). En conclusion, les résultats présentés dans ce travail de thèse sont en faveur de l'idée selon laquelle notre organisation mentale reflète la manière dont on organise nos mouvements. / In a constant changing environment, executive abilities allow us to organize sensory information of multiple sources and to adapt to diverse stuations while at the same time inhibiting inappropriate behaviors. research on the executive functions (EFS) have historical roots on neuropsychology, with the description of frontal patients that were showing disruptions in organizing their daily behaviors independently of any impairment in memory, language or general intelligence. A wide range of neuropsychological tools is used today to evaluate executive abilities : tower of London for planning, go-no-go for inhibition, etc. However, the classical tasks often present methodological limitations and they lack of correpondence between process and behavior. Furthermore, the field lacks of a compelling theory that make links between the EFS themselves. The present PHD work was an attempt to propose a novel task to assess the EFS in the place of the classical batteries of neuropsychological tasks. After offering an overview of the EF literature and presenting simple motor tasks that seem to target similar EFS than those described in neuropsychology (Ch1), I present the spatial-tapping task as a challenging paradigm to understand the relationships between the different EFS (Ch2), and its potential to be used in clinical settings (Ch3). The I present how a similar approach can be used to investigate how EFS intervenes in the control of more complex motor sequences, E.G. bi-manual tasks (Ch4). Overall, the results presented here support an emboided perspective of cognition with mental organization reflecting the way one plans motor sequences for adaptive behavior.

La datation de l’âge de génération des hydrocarbures et de la déposition de la roche mère fournit des informations importantes dans la prospection pétrolière. Dans ce travail, différentes stratégies ont été étudiées pour la détermination des métaux traces, et des rapports isotopiques du plomb dans des produits pétroliers par des techniques de spectrométrie de masse. Les stratégies d’analyses développées dans ce travail ont été utilisées pour estimer l’âge de génération du pétrole, ainsi que l’âge de déposition de la roche mère âge du « New Albany shales » dans le basin d’Illinois, en utilisant les géochronomètres U-Th-Pb. Les ages déterminés par la méthode U-Th-Pb sont en très bon accord avec ceux prédits par les modèles numériques géologiques, ce qui démontre le potentiel de cette approche pour étudier l’histoire de la formation des hydrocarbures et dans la recherche de nouvelles sources d'hydrocarbures. / Timing crude oil generation and source rock deposition provides important clues in petroleum prospection. In this work, different analytical procedures were developed for trace metals and Pb isotope ratio were determination crude oils and related products. These analytical strategies were then used, for the first time, to assess the applicability of the U-Th-Pb geochronometers for timing source rock deposition age and crude oil generation in the Illinois Basin. Ages determined are in good agreement with those predicted by geological numerical models, demonstrating the potential of these geochronometers to study the history of hydrocarbons formation and to find new hydrocarbon sources.

Orientador: Rogério Peres Soratto / Banca: Ciro Antonio Rosolem / Banca:Antonio Luiz Fancelli / Resumo: Com o aumento do cultivo de feijão no sistema plantio direto, torna-se necessário o conhecimento da reposta dessa cultura ao nitrogênio em solo sem preparo convencional por diferentes períodos de tempo, já que a disponibilidade desse nutriente pode ser alterada pelo sistema de manejo do solo. O objetivo foi avaliar o efeito da aplicação antecipada e/ou em cobertura do nitrogênio no feijoeiro cultivado em áreas com sistema plantio direto recém-implantado ou consolidado. O experimento foi conduzido durante o período "da seca", nos anos agrícolas 2007/08 e 2008/09, em um Nitossolo Vermelho, no município de Botucatu-SP. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos casualizados em esquema de parcelas subdivididas, com quatro repetições. As parcelas foram representadas por quatro sistemas de manejo (SPDR: sistema plantio direto recém-implantado (a cultura do feijão será a primeira cultura a ser implantada no sistema de plantio direto); SPDC: sistema plantio direto consolidado (23 anos após a implantação); SPDR+N: sistema plantio direto recém-implantado com aplicação de 60 kg ha-1 de nitrogênio antecipado; SPDC+N: sistema plantio direto consolidado com aplicação de 60 kg ha-1 de nitrogênio antecipado). As subparcelas foram constituídas por quatro doses de nitrogênio em cobertura (0, 30, 60 e 120 kg ha-1). A adubação de cobertura foi efetuada no estádio fenológico V4, nos dois anos agrícolas. O tempo que a área permaneceu sob sistema plantio direto não influenciou a resposta do feijoeiro à adubação nitrogenada. A antecipação do N contribuiu para a manutenção da população de plantas almejada. A aplicação de N antecipado e em cobertura aumentou o número de vagens por planta, a massa dos grãos, o teor de proteína nos grãos e a produtividade de grãos do feijoeiro.Houve maior eficiência de uso do N quando este foi antecipado, do que quando... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: With the increase in common bean growth under no-tillage, it is necessary to know the response of this crop to nitrogen in soil without conventional tillage for different periods of time, since the availability of this nutrient can changed by the system of soil management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen early and/or sidedressed application for common bean crop, grown in newly implemented and established no-tillage system. The experiment was conducted during the dry period, in the 2007/08 and 2008/09 cropping seasons, on a Red Nitosol (Alfisol) located in Botucatu County, São Paulo State, Brazil. A randomized complete block design, in split-plot scheme, and four replications was used. The plots were composed by four management systems (NNT: newly implemented no-tillage system (common bean crop was the first to be cropped in no-tillage system); ENT: established no-tillage system (23 years without soil tillage); NNT+N: newly implemented notillage system with application of 60 kg ha-1 of nitrogen early at common bean sowing, and ENT+N established no-tillage system with application of 60 kg ha-1 of nitrogen early at common bean sowing). The subplots were composed by four sidedressed nitrogen doses (0, 30, 60, and 120 kg ha-1). The nitrogen sidedressing fertilization was performed in the V4 growth stage, in both cropping seasons. The time that area remained under no-tillage system did not influence the response of common bean plants to nitrogen fertilization. Nitrogen early application at common bean sowing contributed to maintaining the desired plant population. Nitrogen early and sidedressing application increased pods number per plant, grains weight,protein concentration in grains and grain yield of common bean. Nitrogen early application was more efficient than sidedressing application / Mestre

Cette thèse présente une étude de la sensibilité à la physique au delà du modèle standard et en particulier aux couplages anormaux entre les photons et les bosons W. Ceci est réalisé en détectant dans ATLAS les protons intacts après interaction et en mesurant leur temps de vol avec une précision de quelques pico-secondes de part et d’autre du détecteur central.Je décrirai également les photo-détecteurs de grande superficie avec une précision de quelques pico-secondes et les algorithmes de reconstruction de temps basés sur l’échantillonnage rapide du signal. Le circuit intégré spécifique SamPic pour une mesure de temps de très haute précision sera enfin présenté ainsi que les premiers résultats de mesure avec ce circuit. Ils montrent en particulier une précision exceptionnelle, meilleure que 5 ps, sur la mesure de temps entre deux impulsions. / In this thesis, we present a study of the sensitivity to Beyond Standard Model physics brought by the design and installation of picosecond time-of-flight detectors in the forward region of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The first part of the thesis present a study of the sensitivity to the quartic gauge anomalous coupling between the photon and the W boson, using exclusive WW pair production in ATLAS. The event selection is built considering the semi-leptonic decay of WW pair and the presence of the AFP detector in ATLAS. The second part gives a description of large area picosecond photo-detectors design and time reconstruction algorithms with a special care given to signal sampling and processing for precision timing.The third part presents the design of SamPic: a custom picosecond readout integrated circuit. At the end, its first results are reported, and in particular a world-class 5ps timing precision in measuring the delay between two fast pulses.

Technology scaling has increased the transistor's susceptibility to process variations in nanometer very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits. The effects of such variations are having a huge impact on performance and hence the timing yield of the integrated circuits. The circuit optimization objectives namely power, area, and delay are highly correlated and conflicting in nature. The inception of variations in process parameters have made their relationship intricate and more difficult to optimize. Traditional deterministic methods ignoring variation effects negatively impacts timing yield. A pessimistic worst case consideration of variations, on the other hand, can lead to severe over design. In this context, there is a strong need for re-invention of circuit optimization methods with a statistical perspective. In this dissertation, we model and develop novel variation aware solutions for circuit optimization methods such as gate sizing, timing based placement and buffer insertion. The uncertainty due to process variations is modeled using interval valued fuzzy numbers and a fuzzy programming based optimization is proposed to improve circuit yield without significant over design. In addition to the statistical optimization methods, we have proposed a novel technique that dynamically detects and creates the slack needed to accommodate the delay due to variations. The variation aware gate sizing technique is formulated as a fuzzy linear program and the uncertainty in delay due to process variations is modeled using fuzzy membership functions. The timing based placement technique, on the other hand, due to its quadratic dependence on wire length is modeled as nonlinear programming problem. The variations in timing based placement are modeled as fuzzy numbers in the fuzzy formulation and as chance constraints in the stochastic formulation. Further, we have proposed a piece-wise linear formulation for the variation aware buffer insertion and driver sizing (BIDS) problem. The BIDS problem is solved at the logic level, with look-up table based approximation of net lengths for early variation awareness.In the context of dynamic variation compensation, a delay detection circuit is used to identify the uncertainty in critical path delay. The delay detection circuit controls the instance of data capture in critical path memory flops to avoid a timing failure in the presence of variations. In summary, the various formulation and solution techniques developed in this dissertation achieve significantly better optimization compared to related works in the literature. The proposed methods have been rigorously tested on medium and large sized benchmarks to establish the validity and efficacy of the solution techniques.