Thesis (M.A.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2004. / "September 2004." Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-73). Also available online.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:53:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo1931_1.pdf: 3171518 bytes, checksum: 18e05da39f750dea38eaa754f1aa4735 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Atualmente, com o aumento do poder computacional e os estudos em usabilidade, sistemas de tempo real e foto-realismo, os requisitos de qualquer sistema de computador são mais complexos e sofisticados. Sistemas de Realidade Aumentada não são exceção em sua tentativa de resolver problemas da vida real do usuário com um nível reduzido de risco, tempo gasto ou complexidade de aprendizado. Tais sistemas podem ser classificados como baseados em marcadores ou livres de marcadores. O papel essencial da realidade aumentada sem marcadores é evitar o uso desnecessário e indesejável de marcadores nas aplicações. Para atender à demanda por tecnologias de realidade aumentada robustas e não-intrusivas, esta dissertação propõe uma cadeia de execução para o desenvolvimento de aplicações de realidade aumentada sem marcadores, especialmente baseadas na técnica de recuperação da estrutura a partir do movimento em tempo real

O uso da Estimulação Elétrica Transcutânea do Nervo (TENS) vem sendo muito pesquisado em pós-operatórios, todavia os estudos não analisam se a TENS de baixa freqüência -- que estimula a liberação de opióides endógenos -- seria eficiente em promover analgesia preemptiva. Objetivo. Analisar se essa modalidade de TENS, aplicada antes de colecistectomias por laparotomia, poderia proporcionar analgesia preemptiva. Casuística e método. A pesquisa -- clínica, controlada, randomizada e duplamente encoberta -- foi realizada no Hospital São Domingos Sávio, e teve uma amostra de 50 pacientes, todas do sexo feminino: grupo preemptivo (n = 25) e placebo (n = 25). As pacientes do primeiro grupo foram submetidas à aplicação da TENS de baixa freqüência antes da cirurgia: e as do grupo placebo, a uma falsa estimulação. Houve a padronização do cloridrato de bupivacaína (0,5%) como droga anestésica, associado ao fentanil (2 ml) para a realização das colecistectomias; e da medicação analgésica utilizada no pós-operatório: dipirona, prescrita de 6 em 6 horas, e diclofenaco de sódio, como medicação de resgate. A intensidade de dor pós-operatória foi mensurada pela Escala Numérica de Mensuração da Dor (END), em 8 momentos (2½, 3½, 4½, 5½, 7, 8 e 16 horas após a indução do bloqueio anestésico, além de uma última verificação no momento da alta hospitalar), e pelo Questionário de Dor McGill (MPQ), aplicado 16 horas após a indução do bloqueio anestésico. Outrossim, o grau de satisfação das pacientes com o tratamento foi mensurado pela Escala de Satisfação do Paciente (ESP). Os dados foram analisados por meio de testes estatísticos descritivos, Teste de Mann-Whitney, Teste-t de Student para amostras não-pareadas e qui-quadrado, sendo o nível de significância de 5%. Resultados. A intensidade de dor, mensurada pela END, foi significantemente menor no grupo preemptivo nas terceira e quarta coletas. Não houve diferença significante quanto aos índices obtidos pelo MPQ, e nem quanto à satisfação das pacientes, o consumo de drogas analgésicas no pós-operatório e o tempo para o primeiro requerimento de diclofenaco de sódio. Conclusão. A TENS de baixa freqüência proporcionou analgesia preemptiva após colecistectomia por laparotomia. / Introduction. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) has been searched in the postoperative period, however these studies don\'t analyze whether low frequency TENS -- that stimulates the release of endogenous opioids -- could be efficient to provide preemptive analgesia. Objective. The aim of this study was to verify whether low frequency TENS, applied before open cholecystectomies, could provide it. Cases and method. It was a controlled, randomized and double-blinded trial, carried out at the Hospital São Domingos Sávio (Aracaju city, Brazil), and had a sample of 50 patients: preemptive group (n = 25) and placebo (n = 25). The patients from the first group were submitted to the application of TENS before the surgery; and the placebo group to a false stimulation. There was the standardization of the bupivacaine (0,5 %) as anesthetic drug plus fentanyl (2 ml) for the accomplishment of the cholecystectomies; and of the analgesic medication used in the postoperative period: dipyrone, prescribed for every 6 hours, and diclofenac, only if the patients complained about pain. Pain intensity was measured by the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), in 8 moments (2½, 3½, 4½, 5½, 7, 8 e 16 hours after inducing the anesthesia besides one last verification at the hospital discharge), and by the Brazilian version of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (Br-MPQ), applied 16 hours after inducing the anesthesia. Patient satisfaction level in relation to the treatment was measured by the Patient Satisfaction Scale (PSS). The data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney Test, unpaired t-test and qui-square, being significant, those data with p < 0,05. Results. Pain intensity, measured by the NRS, was lower in the preemptive group in the third and fourth verifications. There was no difference neither in relation to the indexes obtained with the Br-MPQ, nor the PSS, consume of analgesics in the postoperative and time for the first request of diclofenac. Conclusion. Low frequency TENS provided preemptive analgesia after open cholecystectomy.

Le principal objet de cet thèse réside dans la modélisation et l’optimisation de services de transport à la demande aussi différents soient-ils (ou seront-ils). Les techniques de supervision doivent alors pouvoir supporter différents objectifs et différentes contraintes pour s’adapter aux services actuels et futurs. Ainsi, ce rapport de thèse développe différentes variantes du DARP - ang. Dial-a-Ride Problem -, le problème de Recherche Opérationnelle modélisant et optimisant un service classique de transport à la demande. Le DARP standard a été étendu de façon à prendre en compte des hypothèses de fonctionnement prometteuses, comme le fait de séparer les composants d’une même requête pour les dispatcher sur des véhicules différents ou encore la présence de mécanismes d’intermodalité. Cette thèse permet également d’inscrire les véhicules autonomes tels que les VIPA dans de nouvelles problématiques de la Recherche Opérationnelle tout en restant dans le domaine du transport à la demande. La modélisation puis l’optimisation de ces systèmes permet de créer les plannings de ces nouveaux véhicules. A long terme, l’évolution technologique devrait permettre de ne plus se soucier du fait qu’ils sont automatiques. Ces travaux tentent de fournir un cadre suffisamment générique permettant à la fois de fournir une solution exploitable aujourd’hui et qui soit adaptable demain. / The main objective of the thesis is modeling and optimization of several on-demand transportation services. Supervision techniques must be able to handle numerous criteria and numerous constraints to adapt to the current and future services. Thus, this research develops several types of DARP - Dial-a-Ride Problem -, the operation research problem modeling and optimizing an on-demand transportation system. The standard DARP has been adapted to promising systems, such as those allowing to split the components of the same request and the possibility to dispatch them on different vehicles or the presence of intermodal mechanisms. This thesis also formulates new Operations Research problems in order to integrate autonomous vehicles such as the VIPA in an optimized on-demand transportation system. Modeling and optimizing these systems create schedules of these new vehicles. In the future, technological evolutions are expected and the automatic feature of the vehicles will not be taken into account anymore. These studies attempt to provide a generic framework in order to provide a usable tool for today and an adaptable tool for tomorrow.

Hard real-time systems in robotics, space and military missions, and control devices are specified with stringent and critical time constraints. On the other hand, soft real-time applications arising from multimedia, telecommunications, Internet web services, and games are specified with more lenient constraints. Real-time systems can also be distinguished in terms of their implementation into preemptive and non-preemptive systems. In preemptive systems, tasks are often preempted by higher priority tasks. Non-preemptive systems are gaining interest for implementing soft-real applications on multithreaded platforms. In this dissertation, I propose a new algorithm that uses a two-level scheduling strategy for scheduling non-preemptive soft real-time tasks. Our goal is to improve the success ratios of the well-known earliest deadline first (EDF) approach when the load on the system is very high and to improve the overall performance in both underloaded and overloaded conditions. Our approach, known as group-EDF (gEDF), is based on dynamic grouping of tasks with deadlines that are very close to each other, and using a shortest job first (SJF) technique to schedule tasks within the group. I believe that grouping tasks dynamically with similar deadlines and utilizing secondary criteria, such as minimizing the total execution time can lead to new and more efficient real-time scheduling algorithms. I present results comparing gEDF with other real-time algorithms including, EDF, best-effort, and guarantee scheme, by using randomly generated tasks with varying execution times, release times, deadlines and tolerances to missing deadlines, under varying workloads. Furthermore, I implemented the gEDF algorithm in the Linux kernel and evaluated gEDF for scheduling real applications.

The purpose of this study was to inductively examine the content of the popular comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by analyzing its latent and subjective meaning to discover basic social psychological issues associated with family recreation. The entire collection of 1,360 Calvin and Hobbes strips was evaluated using Grounded Theory techniques influenced by the art scholarship evaluation tool iconography. Review of the strip suggests one way to assess the meaning associated with time use is through preemptive retrospection by which a person looks at current experiences through the lens of an anticipated future to estimate how meaningful that time will be. Overall, Calvin and Hobbes suggests that meaningful time use is a key attribute of a life well lived. One key element of meaningful time use is time spent with family. The strip also helps us see the value in continuing to seek that meaning with family despite apparent setbacks. This analysis brought to light issues associated with gathering meaning from comic strips, which are also discussed. Recommendations are made for future research in the field.

Priority based scheduling disciplines are widely used by existing computer operating systems. However, the mathematical analysis and modelling of these systems present great difficulties since priority schedulling is not compatible with exact product form solutions of queueing network models (QNM's). It is therefore, necessary to employ credible approximate techniques for solving QNM's with priority classes. The principle of maximum entropy (ME) is a method of inference for estimating a probability distribution given prior information in the form of expected values. This principle is applied, based on marginal utilisation, mean queue length and idle state probability constraints, to characterise new product-form approximations for general open and closed QNM's with priority (preemptive-resume, non-preemtive head-of-line) and non-priority (first-come-first-served, processor-sharing, last-come-first-served with, or without preemtion) servers. The ME solutions are interpreted in terms of a decomposition of the original network into individual stable GIG11 queueing stations with assumed renewal arrival processes. These solutions are implemented by making use of the generalised exponential (GE) distributional model to approximate the interarrival-time and service-time distributions in the network. As a consequence the ME queue length distribution of the stable GE/GEzl priority queue, subject to mean value constraints obtained via classical queueing theory on bulk queues, is used as a 'building block' together with corresponding universal approximate flow formulae for the analysis of general QNM's with priorities. The credibility of the ME method is demonstrated with illustrative numerical examples and favourable comparisons against exact, simulation and other approximate methods are made. / Algerian government

No description available.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Twenty-three years ago, Israeli fighter pilots destroyed the Osiraq nuclear reactor and made a profound statement about global nuclear proliferation. In light of the recent preventive regime change in Iraq, a review of this strike reveals timely lessons for future counterproliferation actions. Using old, new, and primary source evidence, this thesis examines Osiraq for lessons from a preventive attack on a non-conventional target. Before attacking Osiraq, Israeli policymakers attempted diplomatic coercion to delay Iraq's nuclear development. Concurrent with diplomatic actions, Israeli planners developed a state of the art military plan to destroy Osiraq. Finally, Israeli leaders weathered the international storm after the strike. The thesis examines Israeli decisionmaking for each of these phases. The thesis draws two conclusions. First, preventive strikes are valuable primarily for two purposes: buying time and gaining international attention. Second, the strike provided a one-time benefit for Israel. Subsequent strikes will be less effective due to dispersed/hardened nuclear targets and limited intelligence. / Major, United States Air Force

Introdução. O uso da Estimulação Elétrica Nervosa Transcutânea (TENS) para o tratamento da dor pós-operatória tem sido objeto de estudo há alguns anos. Todavia, em quase a totalidade dos trabalhos, a TENS foi aplicada somente após os procedimentos cirúrgicos, à exceção de uma única pesquisa em que foi empregada no período pré-operatório. Em ambas as situações, esse recurso foi eficiente para o tratamento da dor, seja por meio da redução da sua intensidade ou do consumo de analgésicos. Porém, ainda hoje, não se sabe qual o papel que o seu momento de aplicação (somente antes da cirurgia; apenas após a operação; ou antes e após) pode vir a exercer no grau de analgesia obtido. Objetivo. Analisar a influência do momento de aplicação da TENS, na modalidade de alta freqüência, como recurso analgésico em pacientes do sexo masculino submetidos a herniorrafias inguinais pela técnica de Bassini. Casuística e método. A pesquisa clínica, controlada, aleatória e duplamente encoberta foi realizada no Hospital São José, entre abril de 2007 e junho de 2008, com amostra de 125 pacientes, distribuídos em 5 grupos: TENS depois (n = 25), TENS antes (n = 25), TENS antes e depois (n = 25), Placebo (n = 25) e Controle (n = 25). Todas as anestesias foram realizadas via raquidiana, com cloridrato de bupivacaína (0,5%); e a medicação analgésica utilizada no pós-operatório foi: dipirona, como medicação de resgate; e cetoprofeno, em horário programado. A mensuração da dor foi feita com a escala numérica (0-10 cm) e com a versão brasileira do Questionário de Dor McGill (Br-MPQ). Foram considerados estatisticamente significantes os valores de p 0,05. Resultados. Os grupos que foram tratados com a TENS apresentaram redução significante da dor, sendo os resultados mais expressivos naqueles pacientes em que a TENS foi aplicada tanto no período pré, quanto pós-operatório (TENS antes e depois). Houve também redução significante da administração de dipirona no período pós-operatório. Conclusão. O uso pré e pós-operatório da modalidade de alta freqüência da TENS, em pacientes submetidos a herniorrafias inguinais com técnica de Bassini, proporcionou analgesia mais satisfatória do que aquela obtida somente com a aplicação em um desses momentos. / Introduction. The use of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) to treat postoperative pain has been searched lately. However, in the most of studies, TENS has been applied only after surgeries, excepting one where TENS was utilized before. In the two situations, this resource has presented good benefits for pain treatment, observed not only by a reduction in its intensity but also in consumption of analgesics. Nevertheless, there is a doubt about the role that TENS applications moment can exert in analgesias level obtained in the postoperative period. Objective. To analyze the influence of applications moment of high frequency TENS as an analgesic resource in male patients submitted to inguinal herniorraphy (Bassini technique). Cases and method. It was a placebo-controlled, randomized and double-blinded trial, carried out at the Hospital São José (Aracaju, SE, Brazil), between April 2007 and June 2008, and had a sample of 125 patients, distributed in 5 groups: pre TENS (n = 25), post TENS (n = 25), pre- and post TENS (n = 25), Sham (n = 25) and Control (n = 25). There was the standardization of the bupivacaine (0,5 %) as an anesthetic drug, as well as postoperative analgesic prescription: dipyrone, only if the patient complained about pain; and ketoprofen, prescribed for every 8 h. Pain intensity was measured by the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), in 8 moments (2½, 3, 3½, 4, 5, 6 and 7 h after inducing the anesthesia besides one last verification at the hospital discharge). Brazilian version of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (Br-MPQ) was used 4 h following the inducing of the anesthesia. P values .05 were considered significant. Results. Patients treated with TENS showed less pain intensity, and the most expressive results occurred in pre- and post TENS, moreover there was also significant reduction in dipyrone consumption. Conclusion. The pre- and postoperative use of high frequency TENS in inguinal herniorraphy provided major analgesia than the one obtained by TENS application only in the pre- or postoperative period.