No description available.

Cette thèse porte sur le problème de la navigation basée sur la vision pour les robots mobiles dans les environnements intérieurs. Plus récemment, de nombreux travaux ont été réalisés pour résoudre la navigation à l'aide d'un chemin visuel, à savoir la navigation basée sur l'apparence. Cependant, en utilisant ce schéma, le mouvement du robot est limité au chemin visuel d'entrainement. Le risque de collision pendant le processus de navigation peut faire écarter le robot de la trajectoire visuelle courante, pour laquelle les repères visuels peuvent être perdus. Dans l'état de nos connaissances, les travaux envisagent rarement l'évitement des collisions et la perte de repère dans le cadre de la navigation basée sur l'apparence. Nous présentons un cadre mobile de navigation pour le robot afin de renforcer la capacité de la méthode basée sur l'apparence, notamment en cas d'évitement de collision et de contraintes de champ de vision. Notre cadre introduit plusieurs contributions techniques. Tout d'abord, les contraintes de mouvement sont considérés dans la détection de repère visuel pour améliorer la performance de détection. Ensuite, nous modélisons l'obstacle en utilisant B-Spline. La représentation de B-Spline n'a pas de régions accidentées et peut générer un mouvement fluide pour la tâche d'évitement de collision. En outre, nous proposons une stratégie de contrôle basée sur la vision, qui peut gérer la perte complète de la cible. Enfin, nous utilisons l'image sphérique pour traiter le cas des projections d'ambiguité et d'infini dus à la projection en perspective. Les véritables expériences démontrent la faisabilité et l'efficacité de notre cadre et de nos méthodes. / This thesis is concerned with the problem of vision-based navigation for mobile robots in indoor environments. Many works have been carried out to solve the navigation using a visual path, namely appearance-based navigation. However, using this scheme, the robot motion is limited to the trained visual path. The potential collision during the navigation process can make robot deviate from the current visual path, in which the visual landmarks can be lost in the current field of view. To the best of our knowledge, seldom works consider collision avoidance and landmark loss in the framework of appearance-based navigation. We outline a mobile robot navigation framework in order to enhance the capability of appearance-based method, especially in case of collision avoidance and field-of-view constraints. Our framework introduces several technical contributions. First of all, the motion constraints are considered into the visual landmark detection to improve the detection performance. Next then, we model the obstacle boundary using B-Spline. The B-Spline representation has no accidented regions and can generate a smooth motion for the collision avoidance task. Additionally, we propose a vision-based control strategy, which can deal with the complete target loss. Finally, we use spherical image to handle the case of ambiguity and infinity projections due to perspective projection. The real experiments demonstrate the feasability and the effectiveness of our framework and methods.

In this thesis, we consider the properties of diffeomorphisms of R3 called trace maps. We begin by introducing the definition of the trace map. The group B3 acts by trace maps on R3. The first two chapters deal with the action of a specific element of B3,called αn. In particular, we study the fixed points of αn lying on a topological subspace contained in R3, called T . We investigate the duality of the fixed points of the action ofαn, which will be defined later in the thesis.Chapter 3 involves the study of the fixed points of an element called γnm, and it generalizes the results of chapter 2. Chapter 4 involves a study of the period two points of γnm. Chapters 5-8 deal with surfaces and curves induced by trace maps, in a manner described in chapter 5. Trace maps define surfaces, and we study the intersection of those surfaces. In particular, we classify each such possible intersection.

No description available.

Presented are case studies of two children as they make the transition from Mexican immigrant homes to kindergarten in an English-dominant school in the United States. In the first case, Victor adapts by keeping his attention focused on the teacher, which allows him to avoid disorientation and take on the role of exemplary student. In the second, Natalie adapts to kindergarten through her relationships with peers and the teacher. She often participates in class activities, however, without understanding the narrative or rationale behind them. Cross-case comparisons suggest that each student adapted in a way suited to his or her own needs and resources. The journey from disorientation to adaptation is described through the application of the holistic, systems-oriented, interactionalistic developmental approaches of Werner, Wapner, and Koizumi.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of ear points pressing at ear meridian points on obesity-related parameters( body weight, body fat, body mass index, waist, hip circumferences, and WC/HC ratio) between treatment and control groups, and we also apply the Self-Determination Theory to discuss the relationship between motivation and performance of body weight control. Methods: The study was an cross over open-parallel randomized control trial and the sample consisted of 189 volunteers who were randomly divided into two groups and the baseline characteristics were similar. In the experimental (immediate treatment) group (n=93), ear points pressing at five ear meridian points and lifestyle education were applied, while volunteers in the control (delay treatment) group (n=96) just receive lifestyle education in the first 8 weeks. At baseline, 24th, 32nd and each week of the sixteen weeks study, the outcomes mentioned above were examined in all volunteers, and related SDT questionnaires were checked during the period of 32 weeks study. Results: The result showed a statistically significant drop in BW, BMI, Waist circumference and Hip circumference during the 32 weeks in experimental (immediate treatment) and control (delay treatment) group, and better effect while using ear points pressing in the same group. But, no significant differences were found between the two groups. A SEM analysis showed that autonomous support, relatedness and original autonomy can get better competence and was related to positive consequences in BW control. And it was relative an adequate model to test the self determination theory. Conclusion: Even though the result showed a statistically significant drop in BW, BMI, WC, HC during the 32 weeks treatment in experimental (immediate treatment) and control (delay treatment) groups, and better effect while using ear points pressing in the same group. But, no statistical significance change in BW related parameters were found between the two groups. Further studies are needed to detect the effect of ear points pressing and model fit of SDT application by increasing research time, and sample sizes.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.) in Quaternary Studies--University of Maine, 2002. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-208).

The purpose of the thesis was to develop a method that simplifies the analysis between reduction of delivery lead time and inventory costs, when the reduction of delivery lead time is achieved through repositioning of the customer order decoupling point.

The melting points of rigid, hydrogen bonding, and non-hydrogen bonding organic compounds have been estimated from their chemical structure. The estimation was accomplished through the use of both additive and non-additive non-constitutive properties of the molecule. The melting points of the aforementioned compounds can be estimated by the equation: TM = TMPN + TIHBN + TPACK + 8.9*EXPAN + 73.1*SIGMAL + 196.3 where the dependent variable, TM, is the melting point of the compound in Kelvin, SIGMAL is the logarithm of the symmetry number for the molecule, EXPAN is the eccentricity of the molecule taken to the third power, TMPN is the summation of the melting point number for each functional group in the molecule, TIHBN is the summation of an intramolecular hydrogen bonding index and TPACK is a packing efficiency index. The solubility of naphthalene in binary, ternary, and quinary cosolvent-water mixtures was determined by HPLC analysis. The samples were equilibrated for 48 hours on a test tube rotator, centrifuged, diluted with acetonitrile, and then injected onto a C8 10 micron column. The cosolvent mixtures used were hydro-organic solutions consisting of water with either methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, acetonitrile, propylene glycol or a combination of these as the cosolvent. The propylene glycol-water mixtures were allowed to equilibrate for 10 days. In all cases, naphthalene solubilities in binary cosolvent mixtures were found to obey log-linear relationships: log X = SIGMA(FRAC) - log X(w) where X is the mole fraction solubility of naphthalene in the mixture, X(w) is the mole fraction solubility in pure water, FRAC is the volume fraction of the cosolvent, and SIGMA is the slope. SIGMA can be estimated by using the UNIFAC method to predict the solubility in 100% cosolvent and by using the generalized solubility equation of Yalkowsky to estimate the water solubility. These binary equations can then be used to generate ternary and higher multicomponent equations.