Modelos baseados em fatoração de matrizes estão entre as implementações mais bem sucedidas de Sistemas de Recomendação. Neste projeto, estudamos as possibilidades de incorporação de informações provindas de redes sociais, para melhorar a qualidade das predições do modelo tanto em modelos tradicionais de Filtragem Colaborativa, quanto em Filtragem Colaborativa Neural. / Models based on matrix factorization are among the most successful implementations of Recommender Systems. In this project, we study the possibilities of incorporating the information from social networks to improve the quality of predictions of the model both in traditional Collaborative Filtering and in Neural Collaborative Filtering.

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar um novo método para a remoção do ruído Poisson em imagens de mamografia digital adquiridas com baixa dosagem de radiação. Sabe-se que a mamografia por raios X é o exame mais eficiente para a detecção precoce do câncer de mama, aumentando consideravelmente as chances de cura da doença. No entanto, a radiação absorvida pela paciente durante o exame ainda é um problema a ser tratado. Estudos indicam que a exposição à radiação pode induzir a formação do câncer em algumas mulheres radiografadas. Apesar desse número ser significativamente baixo em relação ao número de mulheres que são salvas pelo exame, existe a necessidade do desenvolvimento de meios que viabilizem a diminuição da dose de radiação empregada. No entanto, uma redução na dose de radiação piora a qualidade da imagem pela diminuição da relação sinal-ruído, prejudicando o diagnóstico médico e a detecção precoce da doença. Nesse sentido, a proposta deste trabalho é apresentar um método para a filtragem do ruído Poisson que é adicionado às das imagens mamográficas quando adquiridas com baixa dosagem de radiação, fazendo com que ela apresente qualidade equivalente àquela adquirida com a dose padrão de radiação. O algoritmo proposto foi desenvolvido baseado em adaptações de algoritmos bem estabelecidos na literatura, como a filtragem no domínio Wavelet, aqui usando o Shrink-thresholding (WTST), e o Block-matching and 3D Filtering (BM3D). Os resultados obtidos com imagens mamográficas adquiridas com phantom e também imagens clínicas, mostraram que o método proposto é capaz de filtrar o ruído adicional incorporado nas imagens sem perda aparente de informação. / The aim of this work is to present a novel method for removing the Poisson noise in digital mammography images acquired with reduced radiation dose. It is known that the X-ray mammography is the most effective exam for early detection of breast cancer, greatly increasing the chances of healing the disease. However, the radiation absorbed by the patient during the exam is still a problem to be treated. Some studies showed that mammography can induce breast cancer in a few women. Although this number is significantly low compared to the number of women who are saved by the exam, it is important to develop methods to enable the reduction of the radiation dose used in the exam. However, dose reduction led to a decrease in image quality by means of the signal to noise ratio, impairing medical diagnosis and the early detection of the disease. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to propose a new method to reduce Poisson noise in mammographic images acquired with low radiation dose, in order to achive the same quality as those acquired with the standard dose. The method is based on well established algorithms in the literature as the filtering in Wavelet domain, here using Shrink-thresholding (WTST) and the Block-matching and 3D Filtering (BM3D). Results using phantom and clinical images showed that the proposed algorithm is capable of filtering the additional noise in images without apparent loss of information.

Este trabalho trata da coordenação de robôs heterogêneos que consiste em um robô helicóptero e em múltiplos robôs móveis com rodas, de modo que estes sigam um líder. Para atingirmos este objetivo, neste trabalho desenvolve-se a estimação da atitude e posição de um robô utilizando filtros robustos. Os filros realizam a fusão dos sinais de uma unidade de medida inercial de baixo custo e de um receptor GPS (Global Positioning System) considerando um modelo de corpo rígido formulado em termos de quatérnios. Resultados experimentais são apresentados baseados em um estudo comparativo entre os filtros robustos e o filtro de Kalman. Desenvolve-se o controle de um robô móvel com rodas deslizantes e de um robô helicóptero. Para realizar o controle robusto utilzia-se um regulador robusto recursivo. Simulaçõoes do robô móvel com rodas deslizantes e do robô helicóptero são apresentadas utilizando os parâmetros de um robô móvel Pioneer 3AT e de um robô helicóptero RMAX. Desenvolve-se também um mini robô helicóptero e uma base de movimento para realização de testes de controle do mini robô helicóptero constiste de um mini helimodelo e de um piloto automático baseado em um microprocessador com conectividade Wi-Fi, uma unidade de medida inercial e uma placa de controle de servos motores. E por fim, desenvolve-se a coordenação de robôs heterogêneos de modo que estes sigam um líder. Para isto é utilziado um controlador descentralizado e cooperativo cuja finalidade é gerar trajetórias de referência para que os robôs heterogênos se movimentem em formação rígida. / This research deals with the coordination of the heterogeneous robots, consisting of a robotic helicopter and multiple uheeled mobile robots, to achieve this aim this work develops the estimation of attitude, heading and positions of a robot based on robust filters. The filters perform the fusion of the signals of a low-cost inertial measurement unit and a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver considering a rigid body model formulated in terms of quaternions. Experimental results are presented based on a comparative study of the robust filters and Kalman filter. It develops a robust control scheme of a ski-steering mobile robot and a robotic helicopter. The robust control is performed through a the robust recursive regulator. Simulations of the skid-steering mobile robot and a robotic helicopter are presented using the parameters of a Pioneer 3AT and a robotic helicopter RMAX. It also develops a mini robotic helicopter and a motion base to perform control test of a mini robotic helicopter. The mini robotic helicopter consists of a mini helicopter TREX 450 XL and an autopilot based on a microprocessor with Wi-Fi, an inertial measurement unit a servo control board. To finish, it develops the coordination of the heterogeneous robots in order to perform a leader strategy based on the concept of rigid formation.

Cette thèse porte sur l’analyse des signaux sEMG multicanaux à l’aide de la transformée en ondelettes, de la transformation de Hilbert-Huang et d’autres méthodes d’analyse ou de traitement des signaux, telles que le filtrage de Kalman et de Goertzel, pour détecter, mesurer, filtrer et décomposer les signaux sEMG afin d’identifier des tendances dans le temps et en fréquence des mouvements de flexion-extension des doigts de la main en observant les signaux myoélectriques des muscles superficiels. Le but est de prédire le mouvement des doigts de la main et de minimiser le temps de calcul pour permettre de contrôler des prothèses à l’aide de capteurs superficiels. L’hypothèse est fondée sur l’idée que tous les mouvements de la main sont une réponse active de l’activité myoélectrique des muscles spécifiques et que l’activité électrique peut être mesurée comme un signal associé à une séquence de mouvement des éléments de la main (doigts). Chaque doigt peut effectuer une trajectoire de la position de repos à la position finale, cette trajectoire qui n’est évidemment pas instantanée, engendre un signal myoélectrique lui-même non instantanée. L’activité électrique du muscle est présente sur les signaux enregistrés. Cette activité électrique peut être reconnue par un algorithme à partir d’une base de données de modèles de mouvement. Comparer l’activité électrique des muscles en temps réel par rapport à ces données peut permettre de détecter une tendance du comportement de la main et donc de prévoir le mouvement spécifique avant ou en même temps. Cette prédiction doit autoriser une baisse du temps de réponse de la prothèse / This thesis deals with the analysis of multichannel sEMG signals using wavelet transform, Hilbert-Huang transformation and other signal analysis or processing methods such as Kalman and Goertzel filtering, for detecting, measuring, filtering and decomposing sEMG signals to identify patterns in the time and frequency of flexion-extension movements of the fingers of the hand by analyzing the myoelectric signals of the superficial muscles. The aim is to predict the movement of the fingers of the hand and to minimize the computation time to allow the control of prostheses by means of superficial sensors. The hypothesis is based on the idea that all hand movements are an active response of the myoelectric activity of specific muscles and that electrical activity can be measured as a signal associated with a sequence of motion of the elements of the hand (fingers). Each finger can make a trajectory from the rest position to the final position, this trajectory which is obviously not instantaneous, generates a non-instantaneous myoelectric signal itself. The electrical activity of the muscle is present on the recorded signals. This electrical activity can be recognized by an algorithm from a database of the motion models. Comparing the electrical activity of the muscles in real time with respect to these data can make it possible to detect a tendency in the behavior of the hand and therefore to predict the specific movement before or at the same time. This prediction must allow a reduction in the response time of the prosthesis

In dieser Arbeit untersuchen wir die Struktur von Gausschen Prozessen, die durch gewisse lineare Transformationen von zwei Gausschen Martingalen erzeugt werden. Die Klasse dieser Transformationen ist durch nanzmathematische Gleichgewichtsmodelle mit heterogener Information motiviert. In Kapital 2 bestimmen wir für solche Prozesse, die zunächst in einer erweiterten Filtrierung konstruiert werden, die kanonische Zerlegung als Semimartin-gale in ihrer eigenen Filtrierung. Die resultierende Drift wird durch Volterra-Kerne beschrieben. Insbesondere charakterisieren wir diejenigen Prozesse, die in ihrer eigenen Filtrierung eine Brownsche Bewegung bilden. In Kapital 3 konstruieren wir neue orthogonale Zerlegungen der Brownschen Filtrierungen. In den Kapitaln 4 bis 6 wenden wir unsere Resultate zur Charakterisierung Brownscher Bewegungen im Kontext nanzmathematischer Modelle an, in denen es Marktteilnehmer mit zusätzlicher Insider-Information gibt. Wir untersuchen Erweiterungen eines Gleichgewichtsmodells von Kyle [42] und Back [7], in denen die Insider-Information in verschiedener Weise durch Gaussche Martingale spezifiziert wird. Insbesondere klären wir die Struktur von Insider-Strategien, die insofern unaufallig bleiben, als sich die resultierende Gesamtnachfrage wie eine Brownsche Bewegung verhält. / In this thesis, we study Gaussian processes generated by certain linear transformations of two Gaussian martingales. This class of transformations is motivated by nancial equilibrium models with heterogeneous information. In Chapter 2 we derive the canonical decomposition of such processes, which are constructed in an enlarged ltration, as semimartingales in their own ltration. The resulting drift is described in terms of Volterra kernels. In particular we characterize those processes which are Brownian motions in their own ltration. In Chapter 3 we construct new orthogonal decompositions of Brownian ltrations. In Chapters 4 to 6 we are concerned with applications of our characterization results in the context of mathematical models of insider trading. We analyze extensions of the nancial equilibrium model of Kyle [42] and Back [7] where the Gaussian martingale describing the insider information is specified in various ways. In particular we discuss the structure of insider strategies which remain inconspicuous in the sense that the resulting cumulative demand is again a Brownian motion.

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar um novo método para a remoção do ruído Poisson em imagens de mamografia digital adquiridas com baixa dosagem de radiação. Sabe-se que a mamografia por raios X é o exame mais eficiente para a detecção precoce do câncer de mama, aumentando consideravelmente as chances de cura da doença. No entanto, a radiação absorvida pela paciente durante o exame ainda é um problema a ser tratado. Estudos indicam que a exposição à radiação pode induzir a formação do câncer em algumas mulheres radiografadas. Apesar desse número ser significativamente baixo em relação ao número de mulheres que são salvas pelo exame, existe a necessidade do desenvolvimento de meios que viabilizem a diminuição da dose de radiação empregada. No entanto, uma redução na dose de radiação piora a qualidade da imagem pela diminuição da relação sinal-ruído, prejudicando o diagnóstico médico e a detecção precoce da doença. Nesse sentido, a proposta deste trabalho é apresentar um método para a filtragem do ruído Poisson que é adicionado às das imagens mamográficas quando adquiridas com baixa dosagem de radiação, fazendo com que ela apresente qualidade equivalente àquela adquirida com a dose padrão de radiação. O algoritmo proposto foi desenvolvido baseado em adaptações de algoritmos bem estabelecidos na literatura, como a filtragem no domínio Wavelet, aqui usando o Shrink-thresholding (WTST), e o Block-matching and 3D Filtering (BM3D). Os resultados obtidos com imagens mamográficas adquiridas com phantom e também imagens clínicas, mostraram que o método proposto é capaz de filtrar o ruído adicional incorporado nas imagens sem perda aparente de informação. / The aim of this work is to present a novel method for removing the Poisson noise in digital mammography images acquired with reduced radiation dose. It is known that the X-ray mammography is the most effective exam for early detection of breast cancer, greatly increasing the chances of healing the disease. However, the radiation absorbed by the patient during the exam is still a problem to be treated. Some studies showed that mammography can induce breast cancer in a few women. Although this number is significantly low compared to the number of women who are saved by the exam, it is important to develop methods to enable the reduction of the radiation dose used in the exam. However, dose reduction led to a decrease in image quality by means of the signal to noise ratio, impairing medical diagnosis and the early detection of the disease. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to propose a new method to reduce Poisson noise in mammographic images acquired with low radiation dose, in order to achive the same quality as those acquired with the standard dose. The method is based on well established algorithms in the literature as the filtering in Wavelet domain, here using Shrink-thresholding (WTST) and the Block-matching and 3D Filtering (BM3D). Results using phantom and clinical images showed that the proposed algorithm is capable of filtering the additional noise in images without apparent loss of information.

Electrical contacts provide a well-proven solution to switching various loads in a wide variety of applications, such as power distribution, control applications, automotive and telecommunications. However, electrical contacts are known for limited reliability due to degradation effects upon the switching contacts due to arcing and fretting. Essentially, the life of the device may be determined by the limited life of the contacts. Failure to trip, spurious tripping and contact welding can, in critical applications such as control systems for avionics and nuclear power application, cause significant costs due to downtime, as well as safety implications. Prognostics provides a way to assess the remaining useful life (RUL) of a component based on its current state of health and its anticipated future usage and operating conditions. In this thesis, the effects of contact wear on a set of electromagnetic relays used in an avionic power controller is examined, and how contact resistance combined with a prognostic approach, can be used to ascertain the RUL of the device. Two methodologies are presented, firstly a Physics based Model (PbM) of the degradation using the predicted material loss due to arc damage. Secondly a computationally efficient technique using posterior degradation data to form a state space model in real time via a Sliding Window Recursive Least Squares (SWRLS) algorithm. Health monitoring using the presented techniques can provide knowledge of impending failure in high reliability applications where the risks associated with loss-of-functionality are too high to endure. The future states of the systems has been estimated based on a Particle and Kalman-filter projection of the models via a Bayesian framework. Performance of the prognostication health management algorithm during the contacts life has been quantified using performance evaluation metrics. Model predictions have been correlated with experimental data. Prognostic metrics including Prognostic Horizon (PH), alpha-Lamda (α-λ), and Relative Accuracy have been used to assess the performance of the damage proxies and a comparison of the two models made.

<p>The aim of the Master’s Thesis work is to study and develop algorithms for autonomous travel of a UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle). A vehicle for the mounting of sensors has been constructed in order to perform the work. Since the UGV is to be used outdoor in urban areas, GPS can be used. To improve precision and robustness, inertial navigation is used in addition to GPS, since GPS reception is likely to be diminished in such areas. The sensors used for navigation are consequently GPS, magnetometers, accelerometers, gyroscopes, tachometers and ultra sonic sensors measuring distance to be used in detection of obstacles. The system has been implemented in Matlab. Two alternative methods of navigation with sensor fusion have been developed; one is a decentralized method with Kalman filtering using an error model and the other is a centralized particle filter using an all-embracing model of the vehicle. The two methods have been evaluated and compared. Test results show that the two methods perform equivalently.</p><p>The autonomous travel is undertaken between predetermined waypoints. In order to steer the vehicle a PID-controller based on the error between heading and its reference value is used. The computation of the reference value is based on position and heading in comparison to the desired path. The system has been tested using different routes and the results show an evident improvement of the precision in navigation compared to using only GPS-data. This holds for both navigation methods. Simulation of collision avoidance using virtual force fields shows satisfying results as well as terrain navigation with coordinate map referencing.</p> / <p>Examensarbetet är en studie i utveckling av algoritmer för autonom förflyttning av en UGV (eng Unmanned Ground Vehicle). För ändamålet har en farkost konstruerats där budgetsensorer för navigering används. Farkosten är tänkt att färdas utomhus i tätbebyggt område och GPS används. För förbättring av noggrannhet och robusthet vid dålig GPS-mottagning används även sensorer för tröghetsnavigering vilket här innebär magnetometrar, accelerometrar, gyron och tachometrar. För hinderdetektering finns avståndsmätande ultraljudssonar. Systemet som tagits fram har implementerats i realtid i Matlab. Två olika navigeringsmetoder med sensorfusion har utprovats; en decentraliserad variant med kalmanfilter som är uppbyggd kring felmodeller och en centraliserad variant med ett partikelfilter som använder en helhetsmodell för farkosten. De båda navigeringsmetoderna har utvärderats och jämförts. Resultat visar att de båda metoderna presterar likvärdigt.</p><p>Den autonoma förflyttningen utförs mellan förutbestämda brytpunkter. För att styra farkosten har en PID-regulator baserad på felet mellan kurs och börvärde använts. Börvärdet på kurs baseras på nuvarande position och riktning relativt den önskade färdvägen. Olika körsituationer har testats och resultaten visar en markant förbättring av navigeringsprecisionen jämfört med endast GPS-mätningar för både kalman- och partikelfilter. Simuleringar på vektorfältsstyrning med virtuella kraftfält för att undvika hinder har utförts med goda resultat liksom simuleringar av kartreferenspositionering.</p>

As information continues to grow at a very fast pace, our ability to access this information effectively does not, and we are often realize how harder is getting to locate an object quickly and easily. The so-called personalization technology is one of the best solutions to this information overload problem: by automatically learning the user profile, personalized information services have the potential to offer users a more proactive and intelligent form of information access that is designed to assist us in finding interesting objects. Recommender systems, which have emerged as a solution to minimize the problem of information overload, provide us with recommendations of content suited to our needs. In order to provide recommendations as close as possible to a user&rsquo / s taste, personalized recommender systems require accurate user models of characteristics, preferences and needs. Collaborative filtering is a widely accepted technique to provide recommendations based on ratings of similar users, But it suffers from several issues like data sparsity and cold start. In one-class collaborative filtering, a special type of collaborative filtering methods that aims to deal with datasets that lack counter-examples, the challenge is even greater, since these datasets are even sparser. In this thesis, we present a series of experiments conducted on a real-life customer purchase database from a major Turkish E-Commerce site. The sparsity problem is handled by the use of content-based technique combined with TFIDF weights, memory based collaborative filtering combined with different similarity measures and also hybrids approaches, and also model based collaborative filtering with the use of Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Our study showed that the binary similarity measure and SVD outperform conventional measures in this OCCF dataset.

The presence of vibration is an important problem in many engineering applications. Various passive techniques have traditionally been used in order to reduce waves and vibrations, and their harmful effects. Passive techniques are, however, difficult to apply in the low frequency region. In addition, the use of passive techniques often involve adding mass to the system, which is undesirable in many applications. As an alternative, active techniques can be used to manipulate system dynamics and to control the propagation of waves and vibrations. This thesis deals with modeling, estimation and active control of systems that have resonant dynamics. The systems are exposed to stochastic disturbances. Some of them excite the system and generate vibrational responses and other corrupt measured signals. Feedback control of a beam with attached piezoelectrical elements is studied. A detailed modeling approach is described and system identification techniques are employed for model order reduction. Disturbance attenuation of a non-measured variable shows to be difficult. This issue is further analyzed and the problems are shown to depend on fundamental design limitations. Feedforward control of traveling waves is also considered. A device with properties analogous to those of an electrical diode is introduced. An `ideal´ feedforward controller based on the mechanical properties of the system is derived. It has, however, poor noise rejection properties and it therefore needs to be modified. A number of feedforward controllers that treat the measurement noise in a statistically sound way are derived. Separation of overlapping traveling waves is another topic under investigation. This operation also is sensitive to measurement noise. The problem is thoroughly analyzed and Kalman filtering techniques are employed to derive wave estimators with high statistical performance. Finally, a nonlinear regression problem with close connections to unbalance estimation of rotating machinery is treated. Different estimation techniques are derived and analyzed with respect to their statistical accuracy. The estimators are evaluated using the example of separator balancing.