Le contrôle de santé des structures par méthodes vibratoires se heurte à l'influence prédominante des effets thermiques et suscite le besoin de méthodes d'assimilation thermique en temps réel pour éliminer ces effets. On propose des algorithmes qui permettent de reconstituer, à un instant donné, le champ de température dans une structure tridimensionnelle à partir de mesures ponctuelles enregistrées sur un intervalle de temps précédant cet instant. La démarche adoptée est celle de la méthode adjointe tirée de la théorie du contrôle optimal : on résout un problème de minimisation au sens des moindres carrés d'une fonction de coût mesurant l'écart entre les données et le champ de température reconstruit. La minimisation dans un espace de type H1 lève la difficulté habituelle de la méthode adjointe à la fin de la fenêtre d'observation, ce qui permet la reconstruction précise de la température à l'instant courant. La définition des valeurs ponctuelles du champ de température impose le choix d'espaces de contrôle de régularité importante. Pour pouvoir utiliser des méthodes usuelles de discrétisation malgré un second membre formé de masses de Dirac, l'état adjoint est défini par des techniques spécifiques fondées sur la transposition. Le formalisme dual adopté conduit à poser le problème dans un espace essentiellement unidimensionnel. En réduisant la quantité de calculs en ligne, au prix d'une série de précalculs, il donne lieu à des algorithmes d'assimilation en temps réel applicables à des structures tridimensionnelles de géométrie complexe. La robustesse des méthodes par rapport aux erreurs de modélisation et au bruit de mesure est évaluée numériquement et validée expérimentalement.

Ce travail de recherche que nous avons développé dans ce mémoire porte sur une contribution d'approximation de problème d'identification et décomposition de domaine pour les équations d'élasticité. Le premier axe présente un algorithme alternatif pour résoudre un problème inverse d'identification de données en élasticité linéaire. Une procédure de relaxation est développée afin d'assurer et d'accélerer la convergence de l'algorithme et deux critères de sélection pour le paramètre de relaxations sont discutés. La méthode des éléments frontière est utilisée pour approcher le problème et de mettre en oeuvre numériquement l'algorithme de reconstruction de données. Nous discutons la résolution des systèmes linéaires obtenus en utilisant des méthodfes itératives de type Krylov, nous avons présenté des résultats de la convergence et la stabilité lorsque les données sont perturbées par un bruit. Dans ce deuxième travail, nous nous intéressons à l'application de la méthode de décomposition en sous-domaines à un problème d'élasticité linéaire. L'approximation se fait par les équations intégrales et les éléments de frontières. Nous décrivons les systèmes algébriques issus des méthodes de décomposition avec recouvrement et sans recouvrement. Nous présentons ensuite deux algorithmes. Les résultats numériques illustrent la convergence de ces deux algorithmes vers la solution du problème d'élasticité linéaire dans différents domaines. Enfin, une méthode de décomposition de domaine sans recouvrement pour les équations d'élasticité basée sur une formulation en contrôle optimal est présenté. L'existence d'une solution est démontrée et la convergence d'une suite des solutions approchées à la solution du problème continu est démontrée. Nous avons présenté aussi un algorithme d'optimisation et les résultats numériques démontrent l'efficacité de notre algorithme et confirment le résultat de convergence.

<p> </p><p>Det talas idag om ett minskat stöd och identifikation till politiska partier. Forskning visar att unga människor spenderar mer tid och är mer benägna än äldre att använda Internet för att skaffa politisk information. I en enkätundersökning med 125 deltagare i fyra åldersgrupper undersöktes om unga i större utsträckning än äldre identifierar sig med icke-parlamentariska rörelser som för fram sina budskap på Internet. Hos deltagarna mättes graden av parlamentarisk och icke-parlamentarisk identifikation som funktion av ålder och Internettid. Unga hade en signifikant högre Internettid än äldre. Dock påvisades inga andra signifikanta skillnader mellan åldersgrupperna avseende identifikation. Området kring Internetmediet och dess effekt på politisk identifikation förefaller vara relativt begränsad, varför det skulle vara intressant att utveckla denna forskning i Sverige</p>

Despite our knowledge of environmental risk factors for psychopathology, the equifinality and multifinality observed in the extant literature reveals how little is known about the role of these risk factors in the development of psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to identify processes that differentiate internalizing, externalizing and co-occurring psychopathology. Specifically, emotion identification skill and cognitive appraisal style were examined as processes where individual differences may contribute to the development of mental illness. To date no study has been conducted to examine whether emotion identification and appraisal style may differentiate forms of internalizing, externalizing and co-occurring psychopathology and lack of clinically significant problems in one study. A better understanding of predictors or processes that differentiate forms of psychopathology may improve our understanding of developmental psychopathology as well as inform prevention and intervention efforts. One hundred and fifty eight participants were included in this study. Data supported emotion identification skill as important for predicting specific behavioral problem profiles. Implications for conceptualizations of psychopathology and directions for future studies are discussed.

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Posthumanist rhetoric is informed by developments in the sciences and the humanities which suggest that mind and body are not distinct from each other and, therefore, claims of humans’ superiority over other animals based on cognitive differences may not be justified. Posthumanist rhetoric, then, seeks to re-imagine the human and its relationship to the world. Though “post-” implies after, like other “post-” terms, posthumanism also coexists with humanism. This dissertation develops a concept of posthumanist rhetoric as questioning humanist assumptions about subjectivity while remaining entangled in them. The destabilization of the human subject means that new identifications between humans and nonhumans are possible, and the ethical implications of the rhetorical strategies used to build them have yet to be worked out. Identification, a key aim of rhetoric in the theory of Kenneth Burke and others, can persuade an audience to value others. However, it can also obscure the realities of who does and does not benefit from particular arguments, particularly when animal suffering is framed as human-like trauma with psychological and cultural as well as physical effects. I argue that a posthumanist practice of rhetoric demonstrates ways of circumventing this problem by persuading readers not only to care about others, but also to understand that our ability to comprehend another’s subjectivity is limited and that acknowledging these limitations is a method of caring. his dissertation locates instances of resistance to and/or deployment of posthumanist critique in recent works of literature; identifies language commonly used in appeals that create identifications between humans and animals; and analyzes the implications of these rhetorical strategies. To that end, I have selected texts about human and animal suffering that engage particular themes of identification that recur in posthumanist rhetoric. The chapters pair texts that develop each theme differently. Most undermine human superiority as a species, but many reify the importance of certain qualities of the liberal humanist subject by granting them to nonhumans. The points of identification created between humans and nonhumans will inform how we re-imagine the human subject to account for our connections, and therefore our responsibilities, to other beings.

An accurate determination of muscle force is desired in many applications in different fields such as ergonomics, sports medicine, prosthetics, human-robot interaction and medical rehabilitation. Since individual muscle forces cannot be directly measured, force estimation using recorded electromyographic (EMG) signals has been extensively studied. This usually involves interpretation and analysis of the recorded EMG to estimate the underlying neuromuscular activity which is related to the force produced by the muscle. Although invasive needle electrode EMG recordings have provided substantial information about neuromuscular activity at the motor unit (MU) level, there is a risk of discomfort, injury and infection. Thus, non-invasive methods are preferred and surface EMG (SEMG) recording is widely used. However, physiological and non-physiological factors, including phase cancelation, tissue filtering, cross-talk from other muscles and non-optimal electrode placement, affect the accuracy of SEMG-based force estimation. In addition, the relative movement of the muscle bulk and the innervation zone (IZ) with respect to the electrode attached to the skin are two major challenges to overcome in force estimation during dynamic contractions. The objective of this work is to improve the accuracy of SEMG-based force estimation under static conditions, and devise methods that can be applied to force estimation under dynamic conditions. To achieve this objective, a novel calibration technique is proposed, which corrects for variations in the SEMG with changing joint angle. In addition, a modeling technique, namely parallel cascade identification (PCI) that can deal with non-linearities and dynamics in the SEMG-force relationship is applied to the force estimation problem. Finally, a novel integrated sensor that senses both SEMG and surface muscle pressure (SMP) is developed and the two signal modalities are used as input to a force prediction model. The experimental results show significant improvement in force prediction using data calibrated with the proposed calibration method, compared to using non-calibrated data. Joint angle dependency and the sensitivity to the location of the sensor in the SEMG-force relationship is reduced with calibration. The SEMG-force estimation error, averaged over all subjects, is reduced by 44\% for PCI modeling compared to another modeling technique (fast orthogonal search) applied to the same dataset. Significantly improved force estimation results are also achieved for dynamic contractions when joint angle based calibration and PCI are combined. Using SMP in addition to SEMG leads to significantly better force estimation compared to using only SEMG signals. The proposed methods have the potential to be combined and used to obtain better force estimation in more complicated dynamic contractions and for applications such as improved control of remote robotic systems or powered prosthetic limbs. / Thesis (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-20 20:46:56.897

Audio description is considered a relatively new research field, and in South Africa it is not yet being used extensively to make visual channels accessible to blind audiences. Therefore research in this field is necessary. The literature review of this study shows that very little empirical research has been done where real audiences were tested. This study set out to test the impact of audio described film on the transportation, identification and comprehension of real audiences. The focus was on mise-en-shot elements specifically and the impact they have on the transportation, identification and comprehension of audiences. A thorough analysis of the two scenes and their audio descriptions showed that in the audio description the emphasis tends to be on the visual elements and not on the way these elements are presented (which forms part of mise-en-shot elements). The way the film is showed to the audience contributes to the film‟s meaning and the director often shows the film to the audience in a specific way to reach a certain effect or feeling in the film. If these mise-en-shot elements are not presented in the audio description of the film it, the blind audience cannot be expected to experience an equivalent effect to that of the sighted audience. In order to test the impact of mise-en-shot elements a methodology based on Bortolussi and Dixon‟s (2010) Psyconarratology was used. Immersion and transportation studies (Green and Brock, 2000 and Tal-Or & Cohen, 2010) were used to develop an experiment for the study. Two groups of respondents were tested by exposing one group to all the available channels of the film and another to only the audio description and soundtrack. The initial hypothesis of this study was that the audience exposed to the audio description and soundtrack of the film would experience less transportation, identification and comprehension due to the loss of mise-en-shot elements in the film. By using T-tests and qualitative comparisons of the responses it was found that the lack of mise-en-shot elements in the film had no statistically significant impact on the transportation of the audience. Furthermore it was found that the lack of mise-en-shot elements has an impact on the identification of the audience. The group that had access to all the channels were more able to identify with the characters. In terms of comprehension it was discovered that there were bigger differences between the two groups in the scenes were the director relied on the visual elements of the film. Thus there are opportunities for further research pertaining to the identification of the audience. Furthermore it is recommended that further research be done to include other film genres as well as alternative ways of doing audio description. South Africa as well as other countries can gain tremendously from the use of audio description to make visual channels accessible to blind audiences. To reach such a goal further research is needed in the field, not only to master the art of audio describing but to also create awareness for this aid. / Thesis (MA (Language Practice))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Localization and motion control (navigation) are two major tasks for a successful mobile robot navigation. The motion controller determines the appropriate action for the robot’s actuator based on its current state in an operating environment. A robot recognizes its environment through some sensors and executes physical actions through actuation mechanisms. However, sensory information is noisy and hence actions generated based on this information may be non-deterministic. Therefore, a mobile robot provides actions to its actuators with a certain degree of uncertainty. Moreover, when no prior knowledge of the environment is available, the problem becomes even more difficult, as the robot has to build a map of its surroundings as it moves to determine the position. Skilled navigation of a differential drive mobile robot (DDMR) requires solving these tasks in conjunction, since they are inter-dependent. Having resolved these tasks, mobile robots can be employed in many contexts in indoor and outdoor environments such as delivering payloads in a dynamic environment, building safety, security, building measurement, research, and driving on highways. This dissertation exploits the use of the emerging Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology for the design and implementation of cost-effective and modular control techniques for navigating a mobile robot in an indoor environment. A successful realization of this process has been addressed with three separate navigation modules. The first module is devoted to the development of an indoor navigation system with a customized RFID reader. This navigation system is mainly pioneered by mounting a multiple antenna RFID reader on the robot and placing the RFID tags in three dimensional workspace, where the tags’ orthogonal position on the ground define the desired positions that the robot is supposed to reach. The robot generates control actions based on the information provided by the RFID reader for it to navigate those pre-defined points. On the contrary, the second and third navigation modules employ custom-made RFID tags (instead of the RFID reader) which are attached at different locations in the navigation environment (on the ceiling of an indoor office, or on posts, for instance). The robot’s controller generates appropriate control actions for it’s actuators based on the information provided by the RFID tags in order to reach target positions or to track pre-defined trajectory in the environment. All three navigation modules were shown to have the ability to guide a mobile robot in a highly reverberant environment with variant degrees of accuracy.

Previous research has shown that simultaneous auditory identification of the target in a visual search task can lead to more efficient (i. e. ?flatter?) search functions (Spivey et al. , 2001). Experiment 1 replicates the paradigm of Spivey et al. , providing subjects with auditory identification of the search target either before (<em>Consecutive</em> condition) or simultaneously with (<em>Concurrent</em> condition) the onset of the search task. RT x Set Size slopes in the <em>Concurrent</em> condition are approximately 1/2 as steep as those in the <em>Consecutive</em> condition. Experiment 2 employs a distractor ratio manipulation to test the notion that subjects are using the simultaneous auditory target identification to ?parse? the search set by colour, thus reducing the search set by 1/2. The results of Experiment 2 do not support the notion that subjects are parsing the search set by colour. Experiment 3 addresses the same question as Experiment 2, but obtains the desired distractor ratios by holding the amount of relevantly-coloured items constant while letting overall set size vary. Unlike Experiment 2, Experiment 3 supports the interpretation that subjects are using the auditory target identification to parse the search set.