Two heretofore unanalyzed aspects are addressed in this dissertation: 1. Building a model capable of predicting phone duration of Lithuanian. All existing investigations of phone durations of Lithuanian were performed by linguists. Usually these investigations are the kind of exploratory statistics and are limited to a single factor, affecting phone duration, analysis. Phone duration dependencies on contextual factors were estimated and written in explicit form (decision tree) in this work by means of machine learning method. 2. Construction of language independent method for creating phone duration models using very large, multi-speaker, automatically annotated speech corpus. Most of the researchers worldwide use speech corpus that are: relatively small scale, single speaker, manually annotated or at least validated by experts. Usually the referred reasons are: using multi-speaker speech corpora is inappropriate because different speakers have different pronunciation manners and speak in different speech rate; automatically annotated corpuses lack accuracy. The created method for phone duration modeling enables the use of such corpus. The main components of the created method are: the reduction of noisy data in speech corpus; normalization of speaker specific phone durations by using phone type clustering. The performed listening tests of synthesized speech, showed that: the perceived naturalness is affected by the underlying phones durations; The use of contextual... [to full text] / Disertacijoje nagrinėjamos dvi iki šiol netyrinėtos problemos: 1. Lietuvių kalbos garsų trukmių prognozavimo modelių kūrimas Iki šiol visi darbai, kuriuose yra nagrinėjamos lietuvių kalbos garsų trukmės, yra atlikti kalbininkų, tačiau šie tyrimai yra daugiau aprašomosios statistikos pobūdžio ir apsiriboja pavienių požymių įtakos garso trukmei analize. Šiame darbe, mašininio mokymo algoritmo pagalba, požymių įtaka garsų trukmei yra išmokstama iš duomenų ir užrašoma sprendimo medžio pavidalu. 2. Nuo kalbos nepriklausomų garsų trukmių prognozavimo modelių kūrimo metodas, naudojant didelės apimties daugelio, kalbėtojų automatiškai, anotuotą garsyną. Dėl skirtingų kalbėtojų tarties specifikos ir dėl automatinio anotavimo netikslumų, kuriant garsų trukmės modelius visame pasaulyje yra apsiribojama vieno kalbėtojo ekspertų anotuotais nedidelės apimties garsynais. Darbe pasiūlyti skirtingų kalbėtojų tarties ypatybių normalizavimo ir garsyno duomenų triukšmo atmetimo algoritmai leidžia garsų trukmių modelių kūrimui naudoti didelės apimties, daugelio kalbėtojų automatiškai anotuotus garsynus. Darbo metu atliktas audicinis tyrimas, kurio pagalba parodoma, kad šnekos signalą sudarančių garsų trukmės turi įtakos klausytojų/respondentų suvokiamam šnekos signalo natūralumui; kontekstinės informacijos panaudojimas garsų trukmių prognozavimo uždavinio sprendime yra svarbus faktorius įtakojantis sintezuotos šnekos natūralumą; natūralaus šnekos signalo atžvilgiu, geriausiai vertinamas yra... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

L’apparition du véhicule s’inscrit dans l’espace géographique du Proche-Orient ancien qui joue un rôle de premier plan dans la domestication, le dressage et le contrôle des grands mammifères. Dès les origines, à la fin du IVème millénaire, une iconographie se développe en lien étroit avec l’idéologie royale qui s’exprime sous la forme de rites collectifs. La fonction sociale du véhicule est donc privilégiée au dépend d’un rôle dans le transport dont l’importance reste incertaine. Une composante religieuse paraît souvent présente en arrière plan avec, en particulier, la présence de modèles réduits en terre cuite au rôle probablement votif. La production de ces représentations se poursuit au moins jusqu’au premier millénaire avant J.C. avec des thèmes constants : chasse, domination, ennemi piétiné. Un apogée, dans la variété des scènes et des supports, se situe aux DA IIIb. La production globale reste assez irrégulière et semble associée à des sites spécifiques, souvent dans des périodes d’apogée politique. / The appearance of the vehicule in the Ancient Near East occurs in a space who is a leader for the taming, the training and the control of the big mammals. From the origins, at the end of the 4th millennium, an iconography develops linked with royal ideology (with social rituals). The social function is more important than the transport function. There is always a link with religion. Probably terracotta models have a votive function. There are numerous vehicles in the iconography at least until the first millennium BC. The themes are : hunting, domination, trampled enemy. There is a peak of quality in the ED IIIb. Globally the production is irregular: in some powerful estates.

Esta Tese tem como questão central o processo de transformações recentes das periferias urbanas da metrópole de São Paulo, no contexto do mundo do trabalho (políticas neo-liberais pós anos 70). Com base neste questionamento, realizou-se uma pesquisa sobre a estruturação da indústria da reciclagem, enquanto objeto plenamente implicado pela questão inicialmente posta. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida a partir de três premissas. A primeira diz respeito ao processo de formação da periferia urbana, bem como de suas transformações recentes, tendo como fundamento as determinações do mundo do trabalho. A segunda premissa se refere às formas de inserção dos trabalhadores pobres urbanos no processo de industrialização-urbanização. Parte-se do pressuposto de que o urbano sempre ocupou contigentes de trabalhadores pobres não inseridos em atividades formais. Trata-se, nesta pesquisa, de compreender os termos pelos quais, no contexto da urbanização crítica (Damiani), a indústria da reciclagem se ergue arregimentando milhares de catadores, na condição de trabalhadores sobrantes. A terceira premissa se remete ao fortalecimento do Terceiro Setor, enquanto parte constitutiva do Estado em reforma, cujo fundamento se encontra no contexto das políticas neo-liberais, pós anos 70. Com base nestes fundamentos, a pesquisa foi realizada de acordo com os Níveis e Dimensões do urbano (Henri Lefebvre, 1999) correspondentes aos níveis do real. Por sua vez, privilegiou-se o Nível Misto, propriamente urbano. Enfatiza-se a (re)inserção produtiva de trabalhadores sobrantes nas atividades inscritas no urbano periférico, noção desenvolvida no escopo da Tese. Neste contexto, as periferias urbanas constituem territórios da base desta indústria, inclusive como frentes de formação de capital. Caracterizam-se, neste sentido, como territórios de expropriação, ou ainda, como território de escassez da riqueza produzida. / The central question of this thesis is the transformation process of the recent urban peripheries in the city of São Paulo, concerning to the world of work (neoliberal policies after 70s). Based on this question, was held a search on the structuring of the recycling industry, while object fully involved in the issue originally called. The research was conducted from three premises. The first concerns the formation of the urban periphery, as well as its recent changes, with the plea determinations of the world of work. The second premise refers to integration forms of poor urban workers in the process of industrialization-urbanization. It is assumed that the city always held contingent of working poor not entered into formal activities. It is, in this research, to understand the terms by which, in the context of urbanization critical (Damiani), the recycling industry is built recruit thousands of cart-pullers on the condition of spare-workers. The third premise is referring to the strengthening of the Third Sector as a constituent part of the reforming State, whose foundation is in the context of neo-liberal policies, post 70s. Based on these reasons, the search was carried out according to the Levels and Dimensions of Urban (Henri Lefebvre, 1999) corresponding to the levels of reality. In turn, the emphasis is the Mixed Level, as a proper urban. We emphasize the productive (re) integration of spare-workers in the activities shown in the peripheral urban, developed concept within the scope of the thesis. In this context, the outskirts of urban areas are underpinned this industry, including as fronts for capital formation. They are characterized, in this sense, as areas of expropriation or, as territory of the shortage of wealth.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo descrever e conceituar o habitual sistema de remoção dos resíduos de construção e demolição, ou RCD, através do preenchimento de recipientes metálicos avulsos posicionados nos espaços públicos urbanos fronteiros às obras - mais conhecido como sistema de caçambas estacionárias - particularmente quando praticado em comunidades de médio porte do interior, e das conseqüências ou influencias de sua adoção sobre a malha viária urbana local, mediante uma análise de sua efetivação em seis cidades médias situadas no centro-oeste do Estado de São Paulo, assim como aportar subsídios sobre esse assunto, preconizando o desenvolvimento de metodologia apropriada. / The objective of this work is to describe and to concept the commonly system used to remove away the C&DD (construction and demolition debris), by filling single mettalic open up boxes located in the nearest urban public spaces of the building site - that it\'s so-called stationary skips or dump-cart system - specially when used in medium size communities in the Brazil\'s hinterland, and the consequences or influencies of its adoption concerning the local urban street\'s net, based upon an analysis of its reality in six medium towns in the middle-west of São Paulo State, as well to increase knowledge about this matter, and precognize the development of one proper methodology.

Orientador: José de Anchieta Castro e Horta Júnior / Resumo: O estado nutricional materno durante períodos críticos de desenvolvimento da prole (fetal e neonatal) é considerado um importante indutor de Programação. No sistema nervoso central, as alterações poderiam ocorrer especialmente em áreas importantes para o controle do comportamento alimentar, como o núcleo do trato solitário (NTS) que se desenvolve durante o período embrionário. A sinalização relacionada à saciedade é mediada pelos aferentes primários glutamatérgicos provenientes do estômago e duodeno, imunorreativos ao transportador vesicular de glutamato – tipo 2 (VGLUT2) e modulada por diversos neuropeptídeos como o hormônio concentrador de melanina (MCH) e o transcrito regulado pela cocaína e anfetamina (CART). Assim, nosso objetivo foi comparar a organização citoarquitetônica e a imunorreatividade ao MCH, ao CART e ao VGLUT2 no NTS de ratos cujas mães foram submetidas à restrição calórica durante a gestação e lactação. Para sua execução, foram realizados acasalamentos de ratos adultos da linhagem Wistar para obtenção das proles, as quais foram objeto de estudo. Após a detecção da prenhez, as fêmeas foram separadas para a formação de dois grupos experimentais: grupo controle (GC), dieta normal ad libitum, e grupo restrição calórica (GR), dieta de 50% de restrição em relação ao grupo controle durante os períodos de gestação e lactação. Os filhotes machos, provenientes dos grupos restrição (GR) e controle (GC), foram divididos em quatro subgrupos etários (n=5) de 21, 28, 50 e... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Maternal nutritional status during critical periods of offspring development (fetal and neonatal) is considered an important Programming inductor. In the central nervous system, alterations could occur especially in areas important for food behavior control, such as the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) that develops during the embryonic period. Signs related to satiety are mediated by glutamatergic primary afferents from the stomach and duodenum, immunoreactive to the vesicular glutamate transporter type 2 (VGLUT2) and modulated by various neuropeptides such as melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) and the transcript regulated by cocaine and amphetamine (CART). So, our objective was to compare the cytoarchitectonic organization and immunoreactivity to MCH, CART and VGLUT2 in the NTS of rats whose mothers were subjected to caloric restriction during pregnancy and lactation. For their execution, mating of adult Wistar rats was carried out to obtain proles, which were the object of study. After detection of pregnancy, the females were separated to form two experimental groups: control group (CG), normal ad libitum diet, and caloric restriction group (GR), a 50% restriction diet in relation to the control group during pregnancy and lactation periods. The male offspring from the restriction (GR) and control (CG) groups were divided into four age groups (n = 5) of 21, 28, 50 and 90 days. The number of animals from each offspring, postnatal weight 1, weight and naso-anal length, fo... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to send a human exploration team to Mars within the next 25 years. In support of this effort Hamilton Standard Space Systems International (HSSSI), current manufacturers of the Space Shuttle spacesuit, began exploring alternative solutions for supporting an astronaut during a Martian surface exploration. A design concept was developed by HSSSI to integrate a minimally equipped Martian spacesuit with a robotic support cart capable of providing life support assistance, communications, and independent navigational functions. To promote NASA's visionary efforts and increase university relations, HSSSI partnered with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to develop a proof-of-concept robotic support cart system, FIDOE - Fully Independent Delivery of Expendables. As a proof-of-concept system, the primary goal of this project was to demonstrate the feasibility of current technologies utilized by FIDOE's communication and controls system for future Martian surface explorations. The primary objective of this project was to procure selected commercial-off-the-shelf components and configure these components into a functional robotic support cart. The design constraints for this project, in addition to the constraints imposed by the Martian environment and HSSSI's Martian spacesuit, were a one-year time frame and a $20,000 budget for component procurement. This project was also constrained by the protocols defined by the NASA demonstration test environment. The final design configuration comprised of 37 major commercial off-the-shelf components and three individual software packages that integrated together to provide FIDOE's communications and control capabilities. Power distribution was internally handled through a combination of a main power source and dedicated power supplies. FIDOE also provided a stowage area for handling assisted life support systems and geological equipment. The proof-of-concept FIDOE system proved that the current technologies represented by the selected components are feasible applications for a Mars effort. Specifically, the FIDOE system demonstrated that the chosen technologies can be integrated to perform assisted life support and independent functions. While some technologies represented by the proof-of-concept system may not adequately address the robustness issues pertaining to the Mars effort, e.g., voice recognition and power management, technology trends indicate that these forms of technology will soon become viable solutions to assisting an astronaut on a Martian surface exploration."

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo descrever e conceituar o habitual sistema de remoção dos resíduos de construção e demolição, ou RCD, através do preenchimento de recipientes metálicos avulsos posicionados nos espaços públicos urbanos fronteiros às obras - mais conhecido como sistema de caçambas estacionárias - particularmente quando praticado em comunidades de médio porte do interior, e das conseqüências ou influencias de sua adoção sobre a malha viária urbana local, mediante uma análise de sua efetivação em seis cidades médias situadas no centro-oeste do Estado de São Paulo, assim como aportar subsídios sobre esse assunto, preconizando o desenvolvimento de metodologia apropriada. / The objective of this work is to describe and to concept the commonly system used to remove away the C&DD (construction and demolition debris), by filling single mettalic open up boxes located in the nearest urban public spaces of the building site - that it\'s so-called stationary skips or dump-cart system - specially when used in medium size communities in the Brazil\'s hinterland, and the consequences or influencies of its adoption concerning the local urban street\'s net, based upon an analysis of its reality in six medium towns in the middle-west of São Paulo State, as well to increase knowledge about this matter, and precognize the development of one proper methodology.

O interesse pela área de análise e caracterização de materiais biomédicos cresce, devido a necessidade de selecionar de forma adequada, o material a ser utilizado. Dependendo das condições em que o material será submetido, a caracterização poderá abranger a avaliação de propriedades mecânicas, elétricas, bioatividade, imunogenicidade, eletrônicas, magnéticas, ópticas, químicas e térmicas. A literatura relata o emprego da técnica de árvores de decisão, utilizando os algoritmos SimpleCart(CART) e J48, para classificação de base de dados (dataset), gerada a partir de resultados de artigos científicos. Esse estudo foi realizado afim de identificar características superficiais que otimizassem a atividade celular. Para isso, avaliou-se, a partir de artigos publicados, o efeito de tratamento de superfície do titânio na atividade celular in vitro (células MC3TE-E1). Ficou constatado que, o emprego do algoritmo SimpleCart proporcionou uma melhor resposta em relação ao algoritmo J48. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo aplicar, para esse mesmo estudo, os algoritmos CHAID (Chi-square iteration automatic detection) e CHAID Exaustivo, comparando com os resultados obtidos com o emprego do algoritmo SimpleCart. A validação dos resultados, mostraram que o algoritmo CHAID Exaustivo obteve o melhor resultado em comparação ao algoritmo CHAID, obtendo uma estimativa de acerto de 75,9% contra 58,6% respectivamente, e um erro padrão de 7,9% contra 9,1% respectivamente, enquanto que, o algoritmo já testado na literatura SimpleCart(CART) teve como resultado 34,5% de estimativa de acerto com um erro padrão de 8,8%. Com relação aos tempos de execução apurados sobre 22 mil registros, evidenciaram que o algoritmo CHAID Exaustivo apresentou os melhores tempos, com ganho de 0,02 segundos sobre o algoritmo CHAID e 14,45 segundos sobre o algoritmo SimpleCart(CART). / The interest for the area of analysis and characterization of biomedical materials as the need for selecting the adequate material to be used increases. However, depending on the conditions to which materials are submitted, characterization may involve the evaluation of mechanical, electrical, optical, chemical and thermal properties besides bioactivity and immunogenicity. Literature review shows the application decision trees, using SimpleCart(CART) and J48 algorithms, to classify the dataset, which is generated from the results of scientific articles. Therefore the objective of this study was to identify surface characteristics that optimizes the cellular activity. Based on published articles, the effect of the surface treatment of titanium on the in vitro cells (MC3TE-E1 cells) was evaluated. It was found that applying SimpleCart algorithm gives better results than the J48. In this sense, the present study has the objective to apply the CHAID (Chi-square iteration automatic detection) algorithm and Exhaustive CHAID to the surveyed data, and compare the results obtained with the application of SimpleCart algorithm. The validation of the results showed that the Exhaustive CHAID obtained better results comparing to CHAID algorithm, obtaining 75.9 % of accurate estimation against 58.5%, respectively, while the standard error was 7.9% against 9.1%, respectively. Comparing the obtained results with SimpleCart(CART) results which had already been tested and presented in the literature, the results for accurate estimation was 34.5% and the standard error 8.8%. In relation to execution time found through the 22.000 registers, it showed that the algorithm Exhaustive CHAID presented the best times, with a gain of 0.02 seconds over the CHAID algorithm and 14.45 seconds over the SimpleCart(CART) algorithm.

2007年8月美國爆發次貸危機(Subprime Crisis)，如此新型態的金融危機是否可由金融危機預警系統預測？是本文所欲探討的目標。本文採用訊號方法、固定效果下的Panel Logit Model和CART(Classification and Regression Tree)三種計量方法建構危機預警模型。最後利用美國2006年至2008年資料，驗證本文所建構之預警模型是否能夠有效預測次貸危機的發生。 / “Could banking early warning systems help to predict Sub-prime crisis?” That is the main issue that we want to discuss. We combine three kinds of early warning systems models – Signal Approach, fixed effect panel logit model, and CART approach – to create a new banking early warning system(EWS). We will use the US 2006-2008 data to examine whether this new EWS could predict the Sub-prime crisis correctly.

Tesis por compendio / La exposición crónica a sustancias de abuso lleva a cambios adaptativos en el cerebro que implican alteraciones en la expresión génica. Se ha propuesto que los factores de transcripción CREB y deltaFosB serían dianas moleculares para la regulación de la plasticidad, la cual lleva a la adicción.En este trabajo hemos estudiado los cambios en la activación de CREB, en PVN y NTS, y las quinasas que mediarían su activación durante la dependencia y síndrome de abstinencia a morfina, así como la respuesta del eje HHA durante dicho síndrome. También se investigó la posibilidad de que la activación de CREB y su coactivador transcripcional TORC1 dependan de la activación de receptores adrenérgicos. Además se evaluaron las posibles modificaciones en la expresión de FosB/deltaFosB en diferentes áreas cerebrales implicadas en la adicción, así como los cambios neuroendocrinos/neuroquímicos responsables de las alteraciones metabólicas observadas durante el tratamiento crónico con morfina. / Chronic exposure to opioids and other abused drugs results in adaptive changes in the brain involving alterations in gene expression. It is proposed that the transcription factors CREB and deltaFosB be molecular targets for the regulation of plasticity, which leads to addiction.In this work we studied changes in activation of the cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) in PVN and NTS and the kinases that may mediate this activation during dependence and morphine withdrawal and the HPA axis response after naloxone-induced morphine withdrawal. We also investigated the possibility that the activation of CREB and the transcriptional coactivator of CREB, TORC1, arises from the activation of adrenergic receptors. We also evaluated the possible modifications in FosB/deltaFosB expression in several brain areas involved in addiction and neuroendocrine/neurochemical changes that are responsible for the metabolic alterations seen during chronic morphine treatment.