Accurately simulating human motions is a major function of and challenge to digital human models and integrating humans in computer-aided design systems. Numerous successful applications of human motion simulation have already demonstrated their ability to improve occupational efficiency, effectiveness, and safety. In this dissertation, a novel motion simulation model using fuzzy logic control is presented. This model was motivated by the fact that humans use linguistic terms to guide their behaviors while fuzzy logic provides mathematical representations of linguistic terms. Specifically in this model, fuzzy logic was used to specify a neural controller which was generally considered as the part in the postural control system that plans human motions. Fuzzy rules were generated according to certain trends observed from actual human motions. An optimization procedure was performed to specify the parameters of the membership functions by minimizing the differences between the simulated and actual final postures. This research contributed to the field of human movement science by providing a motion simulation model that can accurately predict novel human motions and provide interpretations of potential human motion planning strategies. Understanding balance control is another research focus in this dissertation. Investigating balance control may aid in preventing unnecessary fall-related incidents and understanding the postural control system. Since human behaviors are generally effective and efficient, balance control models (both two- and three-dimensional) based on an optimal control strategy were developed to aid in better understanding balance control. Specifically, the neural controller was considered as an optimal controller that minimizes a performance index defined by physical quantities relevant to sway. Free model parameters, such as weights of relevant physical quantities and sensory delay time, were determined by an optimization procedure whose objective was to minimize a scalar error between simulated and experimental center-of-pressure (COP) based measures. Many factors, such as aging, localized muscle fatigue, and external loads, have been found to adversely affect balance control. At the same time, behaviors during upright stance are commonly characterized by COP-based measures. Thus, changes in COP based measures with aging, LMF, and external loads were addressed by using the proposed models, and possible postural control mechanisms were identified by interpreting these changes. Findings from these studies demonstrated that the proposed models were able to accurately simulate human sway behaviors and provide plausible mechanisms regarding how the postural control system works when maintaining upright balance. / Ph. D.

The effectiveness of exercise has been increasingly studied as exercise has been popular for the improvement of physical performance and rehabilitation of lumbar spine. A variety of exercises have been used to reduce back pain or spinal degeneration. However, there are no studies to determine effects of exercise on lumbar spine kinematics, including lumbar-pelvic coordination and instantaneous axis of rotation. The current study aimed to examine these lumbar spine kinematical changes due to exercise and therapy. We hypothesized that exercise and therapy will affect the changes of lumbar spine kinematics. Lumbar-Pelvic motions were recorded from 86 healthy subjects while performing lifting and lowering tasks of 10% and 25% of body weight. The influence of exercise was quantified from coefficients of curve-fitting for pelvic and lumbar angles. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) for the range of lumbar motion (distribution, D) between the control group and the cardiovascular exercise group after 12-week program. However, there was no significance for lumbar-pelvic coordination, C. A second study was performed to investigate the changes of instantaneous axis of rotation (IAR) at which trunk angle reached 25º. Results indicated that a superior-inferior location of IAR was significantly (p<0.05) modified by the cardiovascular exercise after 12 weeks, but there was no significant effectiveness of the physical therapy exercise. Finding of lumbar spine kinematics during lifting and lowering a weight which are the most popular manual handling activities may provide great understanding of the exercise effectiveness. Future studies are recommended to assess whether the changes of lumbar spine kinematics lead to the decrease instances of lumbar spine injuries or low back pain. / Master of Science

Motivated by Robert Mast's original papers on lifting stability, this research study provides a method for predicting beam behavior during lifting, with application in the construction of bridges. A beam lifting cracking limit state is developed based on analytical equations for calculating the roll angle of the beam, the internal forces and moments, the weak-axis and strong-axis deflections, and the cross-sectional angle of twist. Finite element simulations are performed to investigate the behavior of concrete beams during lifting and to validate the proposed method. Additionally, a statistical characterization of beam imperfections is presented, based on recently conducted field measurements of beam lateral sweep and eccentricity of lift supports. Finally, numerical examples for two typical precast prestressed concrete beam cross-sections are included to demonstrate the proposed method. / Master of Science

Thirteen male college students volunteered to participate in this study. All subjects were students at Virginia Tech University and were between the ages of 18 and 34. The subjects were studies to determine their blood pressure responses to two weight lifting movements. Statistical significance was found for all conditions of systolic blood pressure and for peak diastolic blood pressure. It was concluded by the investigator that systolic blood pressure response is positively affected by both the mode of exercise and the loading of the exercise. / M.S.

Master of Science / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Todd W. Easton / Integer programs (IP) are used in companies and organizations across the world to reach financial and time-related goals most often through optimal resource allocation and scheduling. Unfortunately, integer programs are computationally difficult to solve and in some cases the optimal solutions are unknown even with today’s advanced computing machines. Lifting is a technique that is often used to decrease the time required to solve an IP to optimality. Lifting begins with a valid inequality and strengthens it by changing the coefficients of variables in the inequality. Often times, this technique can result in facet defining inequalities, which are the theoretically strongest inequalities. This thesis introduces a new type of lifting called synchronized simultaneous lifting (SSL). SSL allows for multiple sets of simultaneously lifted variables to be simultaneously lifted which generates a new class of inequalities that previously would have required an oracle to be found. Additionally, this thesis describes an algorithm to perform synchronized simultaneous lifting for a binary knapsack inequality called the Synchronized Simultaneous Lifting Algorithm (SSLA). SSLA is a quadratic time algorithm that will exactly simultaneously lift two sets of simultaneously lifted variables. Short computational studies show SSLA can sometimes solve IPs to optimality that CPLEX, an advanced integer programming solver, alone cannot solve. Specifically, the SSL cuts allowed a 76 percent improvement over CPLEX alone.

Ο κυματιδικός μετασχηματισμός αποτελεί το πλέον σύγχρονο μαθηματικό εργαλείο για την ανάλυση σήματος σε βάση συναρτήσεων. Σε σχέση με άλλες παρόμοιες τεχνικές (π.χ. Fourier) παρουσιάζει εμφανή πλεονεκτήματα με κυρίοτερο την τοπικότητα στο χρόνο των συναρτήσεων βάσης. Η δύναμη του κυματιδιακού μετασχηματισμού βρίσκεται στη διακριτή του έκδοση (Discrete Wavelet Transform), που υπολογίζεται με τη βοήθεια διατάξεων FIR φίλτρων ακολουθούμενων από υποδειγματοληψία. Η ταχύτερη και πιο σύγχρονη τεχνική υπολογισμού του DWT ονομάζεται σχήμα lifting και βασίζεται στην παραγοντοποίηση των πινάκων μετασχηματισμού σε γινόμενο αραιών πινάκων. Στο πλαίσιο της εργασίας σχεδιάστηκε και υλοποιήθηκε σε γλώσσα VHDL μία VLSI αρχιτεκτονική ικανή να εκτελεί οποiοδήποτε φίλτρο (ευθύ και αντίστροφο) του DWT τροποποιημένο με τη μέθοδο lifting. Τα φίλτρα είναι αποθηκευμένα σαν μικροπρογράμματα σε μνήμη ελέγχου για ευκολία στη σχεδίαση και δυνατότητα επαναπροσδιορισμού του συστήματος. Το σύστημα εξομοιώθηκε για ορθή λειτουργία κατά την εκτέλεση των φίλτρων του προτύπου JPEG2000, ενώ έγινε και σύνθεση σε FPGA. / The wavelet transform is the most powerful mathematical tool for analysing signals into function bases. Comparing with other such technics (e.g. Fourier transform), wavelets show obvious advantages, with the most important being the spatial locality of the basis functions. The real power of wavelet transform is the Discrete Wavelet Tranfsorm (DWT), which is a filtering operation followed by downsampling. Recently, a new, fast approach for calculating these filter banks has been developed, named the lifting scheme. This method is based on the factorization of the transform matrices into a product of some sparse matrices. Α VLSI architecture that executes wavelet filters (forward and inverse) modified by the lifting scheme is designed and implemented in VHDL code. The filters are considered as microprogramms placed in the system

This diploma thesis deals with digital image lossy compression. Lossy compression in general inserts some kind of distorsion to the resulting image. The distorsion should not be interupting or even noticable in the better case. For image analysis there is used process called transformation and for choosing relevant coefficients process called coding. Evaluation of image quallity can be done by objective or subjective method. There is encoder introduced and realized in this work. Encoder utilizes two-dimension wavelet transform and SPIHT algortihm for coefficient coding. It was made use of accelerated method of wavelet transform computation by lifting scheme. Coder can proccess color information of images using modificated original SPIHT algorithm. For implementation the JAVA programming language was employed. The object-oriented design principes was made use of and thus the program is easy to extended. At demonstaration pictures there are shown effectiveness and characteristic way of distorsion of the proposed coder at high compression rates.

This thesis is done during the spring semester 2016 for the Bachelor of Science in Innovation and Design programme at Karlstad University. The mission of the thesis was provided by the company 3TEMP AB in Arvika. In order to serve large quantities of coffee at big events, festivals and fairs a powerful coffee machine is required. Due to its size the machine is difficult handle during transport. This project is about finding a solution that makes the transport of the coffee machine and its related equipment safer and easier to handle during transportation between events. The goal of the project was to find a possible solution that makes the transportation of the equipment more efficient and ergonomic. In order to find as many ideas as possible the design process has been used. This includes a research followed by an ideation, concept development and concept evaluation. The project ended with one concept presented in the form of a layout design in CAD together with assembly drawings, sketches and a model. In this project interviews and observations has been done together with the people who transport coffee equipment on a daily basis. The results of the observations were later compared with the recommended lifting weight for manual lifting tasks using NOISH lifting equation. In the event business different types of vehicles are used to transport equipment at the event areas. Everything from ATVs and snowmobiles to tractors and caterpillar vehicles are used. In the project there has been a search for a common denominator between those vehicles. During the project benchmarking of similar products has also been done to find inspiration for new ideas. To further evaluate the concepts an examination of laws and regulations for transportation of equipment in traffic and off-road has been done. The equipment also has to withstand long distance transport by rail, road, sea and air. To meet these requirements interviews were made with the company MariTerm AB who works with educating in cargo securing of goods for worldwide shipment. / Detta examensarbete är utfört under vårterminen 2016 för högskoleingenjörsprogrammet i innovationsteknik och design på Karlstad universitet. Uppdraget tillhandahölls av företaget 3TEMP AB i Arvika. För att kunna servera stora mängder kaffe på stora event, festivaler och mässor krävs kraftfulla kaffemaskiner som är svåra att transportera. Det här projektet handlar om att ta fram ett förslag på en lösning som gör transporten av kaffemaskinen med tillhörande utrustning lättare och mindre påfrestande för brukaren i samband med förflyttning mellan olika event. Målet med projektet har varit att föreslå en lösning på hur transport av kaffemaskin och kringutrustning kan ske effektivt och ergonomiskt. För att hitta så många möjliga lösningar som möjligt användes designprocessen. Detta inkluderade en förstudie, idegenerering, konceptutveckling och konceptutvärdering. Resultatet av arbetet slutade med ett koncept som presenteras i from av en layoutkonstruktion i CAD med tillhörande sammanställningsritningar, skisser och en modell. I det här projektet intervjuaedes och observerades brukaren vid det befintliga arbetet. Resultatet av observationerna jämfördes sedan med den rekommenderade lyftvikten för manuella lyftarbeten genom att använda NOISH lyftekvation. Vid event används olika typer av hjälpmedel för att förflytta olika typer av utrustningen på eventområdena. Det används allt från fyrhjulingar och snöskotrar till traktorer och larvfordon. I projektet söktes en gemensam nämnare mellan dessa fordon. I projektet genomfördes även benchmarking på liknande produkter samt en undersökning av vilka lagar och regler som finns i samband med transport på landsväg och i terräng. Utrustningen skall gå att transportera längre sträckor på räls, landsväg, båt eller flyg. För att lösningen skall uppfylla dessa krav har intervjuer gjorts med Mariterm AB som arbetar med utbildning av lastsäkring av olika gods för transport över hela världen.

Avaliar a biocompatibilidade do fio lifting biológico - fio serrilhado de poliuretana de óleo de mamona - e sua eficácia no rejuvenescimento facial. Na primeira etapa deste trabalho implantamos os fios no dorso de camundongos, que foram sacrificados com 03, 07, 15 e 30 dias com posterior análise histológica por microscopia óptica. Na segunda fase implantamos os fios na face de pacientes com flacidez dérmica e analisamos, fotograficamente e através de uma modelagem numérico-computacional o resultado (rejuvenescimento), com intervalos entre 07 e 60 dias. As análises histológicas demonstraram uma rápida integração do fio ao tecido celular subcutâneo com formação abundante de colágeno e as fotografias dos pacientes revelaram uma maior firmeza da derme e um rejuvenescimento facial, comprovados pela análise computacional. Suas características químicas e físicas e os resultados iniciais nos permitem acreditar que o fio lifting biológico - fio serrilhado de poliuretana do óleo de mamona - apresenta elevada biocompatibilidade com uma rápida integração ao tecido subcutâneo sendo uma excelente opção no rejuvenescimento facial. / Evaluate the biological lifting thread - castor oil polyurethane serrulate thread - bio-compatibility and it´s eficacy on facial rejuvenation. At first we implanted the threads in subcutaneous tissues on mice backs that were sacrificed after 03, 07, 15 and 30 days, followed by histological analysis of material by using optical microscopy. Later, implants were carried out in patients with facial dermal flaccidity, and comparisons were made through photographs between 7 and 60 days, than we made a numerical-computational modelling comparision of this photographs. Histological analysis showed a quick thread integration with the celular subcutaneous tissue by a large amount of colagen syntesis and the patients photographs showed facial rejuvenation with improvement of the skin flaccidity comproved by numerical modelling. It`s chemical and physical characteristics and the initial results allow us belive that the biological lifting thread - castor oil polyurethane serrulate thread - has good bio-compatibility and fast integration with the celular subcutaneous tissue being an excellent option for the facial rejuvenation.

Les travaux développés dans cette thèse portent la transformée en ondelettes 2D non-séparable appliquée dans le domaine de la compression d'images. L'implémentation en schéma lifting réduit la complexité de la transformée. Notre premier objectif consiste à factoriser un banc de filtres bidimensionnels non-séparables en schéma lifting quinconce. La solution apportée s'applique aux filtres à symétrie octogonale. Nous proposons une implémentation au fil de l'eau du schéma lifting quinconce. Les coûts de l'implémentation et le gain en mémoire et en complexité par rapport au filtrage par banc de filtres sont évalués. Le second objectif consiste à définir un schéma lifting en fonction des propriétés statistiques de l'image. Le but est de définir un schéma optimisant les performances, en adéquation avec les méthodes d'allocation de débit. Ces méthodes ont pour objectif de fournir un algorithme de compression approprié et efficace pour des images directement échantillonnées en quinconce.