A qualidade microbiológica de medicamentos é fundamental para garantir sua eficácia e segurança. Os métodos convencionais para identificação microbiana em produtos não estéreis são amplamente utilizados, entretanto são demorados e trabalhosos. O objetivo deste trabalho é desenvolver método microbiológico rápido (MMR) para a identificação de contaminantes em produtos farmacêuticos utilizando a espectrofotometria de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier com reflectância total atenuada (FTIR-ATR). Análise de componentes principais (PCA) e análise de discriminantes (LDA) foram utilizadas para obter um modelo de predição com a capacidade de diferenciar o crescimento de oriundo de contaminação por Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Candida albicans (ATCC 10231), Enterococcus faecium (ATCC 8459), Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739), Micrococcus luteus (ATCC 10240), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027), Salmonella Typhimurium (ATCC 14028), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) e Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228). Os espectros de FTIR-ATR forneceram informações quanto à composição de proteínas, DNA/RNA, lipídeos e carboidratos provenientes do crescimento microbiano. As identificações microbianas fornecidas pelo modelo PCA/LDA baseado no método FTIR-ATR foram compatíveis com aquelas obtidas pelos métodos microbiológicos convencionais. O método de identificação microbiana rápida por FTIR-ATR foi validado quanto à sensibilidade (93,5%), especificidade (83,3%) e limite de detecção (17-23 UFC/mL de amostra). Portanto, o MMR proposto neste trabalho pode ser usado para fornecer uma identificação rápida de contaminantes microbianos em produtos farmacêuticos. / Microbiological quality of pharmaceuticals is fundamental in ensuring efficacy and safety of medicines. Conventional methods for microbial identification in non-sterile drugs are widely used, however are time-consuming and laborious. The aim of this paper was to develop a rapid microbiological method (RMM) for identification of contaminants in pharmaceutical products using Fourier transform infrared with attenuated total reflectance spectrometry (FTIR-ATR). Principal components analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were used to obtain a predictive model with capable to distinguish Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Candida albicans (ATCC 10231), Enterococcus faecium (ATCC 8459), Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739), Micrococcus luteus (ATCC 10240), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027), Salmonella Typhimurium (ATCC 14028), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228) microbial growth. FTIR-ATR spectra provide information of protein, DNA/RNA, lipids, and carbohydrates constitution of microbial growth. Microbial identification provided by PCA/LDA based on FTIR-ATR method were compatible to those obtained using conventional microbiological methods. FTIR-ATR method for rapid identification of microbial contaminants in pharmaceutical products was validated by assessing the sensitivity (93.5%), specificity (83.3%), and limit of detection (17-23 CFU/mL of sample). Therefore, the RMM proposed in this work may be used to provide a rapid identification of microbial contaminants in pharmaceutical products.

L'avènement du numérique permet de stocker de grandes quantités de parole à moindre coût. Malgré les récentes avancées en recherche documentaire audio, il reste difficile d'exploiter les documents à cause du temps nécessaire pour les écouter. Nous tentons d'atténuer cet inconvénient en produisant un résumé automatique parlé à partir des informations les plus importantes. Pour y parvenir, une méthode de résumé par extraction est appliquée au contenu parlé, transcrit et structuré automatiquement. La transcription enrichie est réalisée grâce aux outils Speeral et Alize développés au LIA. Nous complétons cette chaîne de structuration par une segmentation en phrases et une détection des entités nommées, deux caractéristiques importantes pour le résumé par extraction. La méthode de résumé proposée prend en compte les contraintes imposées par des données audio et par des interactions avec l'utilisateur. De plus, cette méthode intègre une projection dans un espace pseudo-sémantique des phrases. Les différents modules mis en place aboutissent à un démonstrateur complet facilitant l'étude des interactions avec l'utilisateur. En l'absence de données d'évaluation sur la parole, la méthode de résumé est évaluée sur le texte lors de la campagne DUC 2006. Nous simulons l'impact d'un contenu parlé en dégradant artificiellement les données de cette même campagne. Enfin, l'ensemble de la chaîne de traitement est mise en œuvre au sein d'un démonstrateur facilitant l'accès aux émissions radiophoniques de la campagne ESTER. Nous proposons, dans le cadre de ce démonstrateur, une frise chronologique interactive complémentaire au résumé parlé.

使用無線網路時常會遇到傳送訊號衰減、通訊死角或氣候不佳等原因，造成傳輸失敗。高畫質影像H.264/MPEG-4 編碼考慮影音封包具有不同重要性，對影音封包須制定不同的重傳機制。本研究改善WiMAX2中HARQ（Auto Repeat Request）的流程，將高畫質影像藉由TCP-Like方式傳輸影像，辨識影音封包資訊，確保GOP-Tree中＂骨幹＂節點的抵達率並利用Lagrange Method of Multiplier方法，對GOP-Tree中非骨幹節點提出合適的Trade-off。IEEE 802.16m標準支援Mobile Multi-hop Relay （MMR）的架構，針對目前基地台覆蓋範圍不足及遮蔽效應等問題提出中繼傳輸站(Relay Station，RS）來提升網路吞吐量並增進無線通訊品質。但也因此需要有較多的連線頻道及頻寬。然而此方式不能保證所有頻道都處於良好傳輸狀態，此而常有相當高的資料傳送失敗率。 混和自動重傳要求（Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest, HARQ）的提出就是用來確保資料傳遞成功的機制。HARQ早在IEEE 802.16-2004就被提出，然而我們發現HARQ機制在IEEE 802.16m效能不佳，更無法保證QoS (Quality of Service）的服務品質要求。在本研究中我們改善Chen [4]所提出的Dynamic Pre-allocation HARQ（DP-HARQ）機制，考慮當slot分配不足，封包在發生非連續錯誤時造成延遲時間增加等問題。我們所提出的方法加入具服務品質感知（QoS aware）的機制，來降低整體延遲時間（delay）並能有效提高吞吐量（throughput）。在模擬實驗中，我們以具二個hop，二個BS及十個SS以上的模擬環境，對不同方法做不同效能的評比，並以PSNR值檢驗所提出之方法是否能提升畫質，以確保影像傳輸品質。我們透過實驗數據證明提出的方法優於IEEE 802.16m的HARQ機制。 / This research focus on running high definition video over WiMAX2.It is usually that transmission fails through wireless network as it encounters factors like (transmission) signal attenuation, dead zone, bad weather, etc. The high definition video coding in H.264/MPEG-4 involves different degress of important video frames considering the video package. It defines different re-transmission mechanisms for video package. This research starts with the enhancement on the process of HARQ （Hybrid Auto Repeat Request）over WiMAX2, transmitting high definition video signals by“TCP-Like”protocol and indentifying the video package information to ensure a stable arrival rate of the “backbone” nodes in GOP-Tree. Furthermore, we apply Lagrange’s Method of Multiplier and propose an appropriate customization to the non-backbone part in GOP-Tree. Though the IEEE 802.16 standards has the concept of Mobile Multi-hop Relay（MMR）, yet there are problems to be resolved and improved when it comes to reality due to the facts like coverage deficiency of base stations and shadow effect. The IEEE 802.16m standard uses Relay Station (RS）to enhance network traffic throughput and improve QoS over wireless network.Relay transmission stations are set for data transmission in Mobile Multi-hop Relay (MMR),thus it requires more connection channels and bandwidth. The thesis concludes with performance comparison under the simulation environments of 2 hops, 2 BSs and 10 SSs, evaluation of the methodology with PSNR for enhancing the QoS of HD video transmission.The proposed method is proved to surpass the HARQ methodology in IEEE 802.16m.

No description available.

Many people may have become increasingly concerned about the risks associated with vaccines. At the same time, there is a lack of qualitative research on the impact of various vaccinations schedules on individuals' physio-psychological health. In addition, "mandatory" versus "nonmandatory, but recommended" vaccines are still under debate in some Western countries. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to provide an in-depth understanding of the beliefs, experiences, and perceptions of adolescents, parents, and health care providers regarding different vaccination schedules. The health belief model was used as the theoretical framework. The sample consisted of adolescents and parents from different vaccination backgrounds, as well as of healthcare providers who were involved with vaccination schedules (N=72). Purposeful sampling strategy was applied and individual interviews were conducted. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and the obtained data were analyzed thematically. According to the results of the study, participants' perceptions on vaccination were generally positive, and a mandatory vaccination schedule was mostly recommended. Adolescents who received mandatory vaccination reported that this scheme was appropriate against several diseases. Further, health care members indicated that vaccination side effects were mainly emotional, and they suggested that public health agencies should disseminate more scientifically-sound information on the benefits and risks of vaccination. The findings of this study may be used as the basis for the formulation of an effective public health policy to adopt a nationally-and internationally-accepted vaccination schedule.

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This thesis presents the novel use of Coherent Point Drift in improving the robustness of a number of computer vision applications. CPD approach includes two methods for registering two images - rigid and non-rigid point set approaches which are based on the transformation model used. The key characteristic of a rigid transformation is that the distance between points is preserved, which means it can be used in the presence of translation, rotation, and scaling. Non-rigid transformations - or affine transforms - provide the opportunity of registering under non-uniform scaling and skew. The idea is to move one point set coherently to align with the second point set. The CPD method finds both the non-rigid transformation and the correspondence distance between two point sets at the same time without having to use a-priori declaration of the transformation model used. The first part of this thesis is focused on speaker identification in video conferencing. A real-time, audio-coupled video based approach is presented, which focuses more on the video analysis side, rather than the audio analysis that is known to be prone to errors. CPD is effectively utilised for lip movement detection and a temporal face detection approach is used to minimise false positives if face detection algorithm fails to perform. The second part of the thesis is focused on multi-exposure and multi-focus image fusion with compensation for camera shake. Scale Invariant Feature Transforms (SIFT) are first used to detect keypoints in images being fused. Subsequently this point set is reduced to remove outliers, using RANSAC (RANdom Sample Consensus) and finally the point sets are registered using CPD with non-rigid transformations. The registered images are then fused with a Contourlet based image fusion algorithm that makes use of a novel alpha blending and filtering technique to minimise artefacts. The thesis evaluates the performance of the algorithm in comparison to a number of state-of-the-art approaches, including the key commercial products available in the market at present, showing significantly improved subjective quality in the fused images. The final part of the thesis presents a novel approach to Vehicle Make & Model Recognition in CCTV video footage. CPD is used to effectively remove skew of vehicles detected as CCTV cameras are not specifically configured for the VMMR task and may capture vehicles at different approaching angles. A LESH (Local Energy Shape Histogram) feature based approach is used for vehicle make and model recognition with the novelty that temporal processing is used to improve reliability. A number of further algorithms are used to maximise the reliability of the final outcome. Experimental results are provided to prove that the proposed system demonstrates an accuracy in excess of 95% when tested on real CCTV footage with no prior camera calibration.