In this thesis two collaborative localization techniques are studied: multidimensional scaling (MDS) and maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). A synthesis of a new location estimation method through a serial integration of these two techniques, such that an estimate is first obtained using MDS and then MLE is employed to fine-tune the MDS solution, was the subject of this research using various simulation and experimental studies. In the simulations, important issues including the effects of sensor node density, reference node density and different deployment strategies of reference nodes were addressed. In the experimental study, the path loss model of indoor environments is developed by determining the environment-specific parameters from the experimental measurement data. Then, the empirical path loss model is employed in the analysis and simulation study of the performance of collaborative localization techniques.

lt;p align="justify"gt;The Health Service Residuals (HSR) are the ones generated in a facility related to human or animal health. They represent 1% of the total of solid residuals and the inadequate manipulation is a source of risk for human health and the environment. Small-sized municipal districts also suffer from the problem of residuals and the greatest challenge is serving the legislation. The aim of this work is evaluating the HSR management and proposing low cost measures for its implementation and operation. It was a qualiquantitative approach, through the application of checklist, semi-structure and structured interviews, and a photographic record. Analyzing the classification, segregation, conditioning, identification, storing and transportation steps, not all the institutions attended the legal requirements. The municipal district has assumed that the responsibility of external transportation and final disposition didn’t attend the required technical specifications. The legal responsibility is from the generator source. It was perceived the lack of knowledge from professionals about HSR and the limitations in the use of individual protective equipment. It can be concluded that it is possible to attend the RDC 306/04 legislation highlighting low cost measures, in the focus on integrated management of shared residuals and responsibilities, and that these proposed measures can be applicable to the reality of other small-sized municipal districts.lt;/pgt; / lt;p align="justify"gt;Os Resíduos de Serviços de Saúde – RSS são aqueles gerados em estabelecimento relacionados à saúde humana e animal e mesmo representando apenas 1% do total de resíduos sólidos no município, o seu manejo inadequado representa grande risco para o meio ambiente. Nesse particular, os municípios de pequeno porte, apesar de produzirem pequena quantidade de RSS, enfrentam sérias dificuldades para gerir esses resíduos, considerando-se as limitações técnicas e financeiras para atender às legislações vigentes. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a percepção da gestão de RSS na cidade de Inhapim, Estado de Minas Gerais, e propor medidas de baixo custo para a operação dos serviços em todas as suas etapas, conforme preconiza a Resolução Deliberativa Colegiada (RDC) 306/04. Para isso, foi realizado o diagnóstico de percepção qualiquantitativo dos RSS gerados nos estabelecimentos de saúde localizados no município. Foram aplicados questionários (entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas) a gestores e servidores dos estabelecimentos de saúde, além de visitas in loco a todos os estabelecimentos de saúde e registro fotográfico. Foi analisada a gestão dos RSS em todas as suas etapas (classificação, segregação, acondicionamento, identificação, armazenamento e transporte) e chegou-se à conclusão de que os estabelecimentos de saúde de Inhapim não atenderam às exigências preconizadas pela RDC 306/04. Apesarda responsabilidade legal pela gestão dos RSS ser do gerador, o município de Inhapim tem assumido a responsabilidade do transporte externo e disposição final desses resíduos, mesmo dos estabelecimentos privados. De forma geral, conclui-se que há um desconhecimento dos gestores e servidores dos estabelecimentos de saúde sobre RSS e limitações no uso de equipamentos de proteção individual. Acredita-se que é possível atender à legislação RDC 306/04, valorizando medidas de baixo custo, dentro da ótica da gestão integrada de resíduos e responsabilidades compartilhadas, e que podem ser aplicáveis à realidade de outros municípios de pequeno porte.lt;/pgt;

The ultra-wideband (UWB) technology has a vast unlicensed frequency spectrum, which can support precise indoor positioning in orders of centimeters. The features of UWB signals can be utilized for variety of applications. In this project first we present an empirical channel models to analyze the localization accuracy of the UWB technology for interactive electronic gaming (Ping-Pong) in Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Obstructed LOS (OLOS) scenarios. Then we introduce a new concept that we refer to as micro-gesture detection to handle the more refined motions of the hand, such as rotation, while one antenna is held by the user using features of UWB signal. We use four specific features of the UWB signals: time of arrival, power of the first peak, total power, and the Root-Mean Square (RMS) of the delay spread, for this purpose. As the hand rotates the position of the antenna in the hand and the external antenna changes from LOS to OLOS. We demonstrate that features of the UWB signals are more useful than the RSS signal of the Wi-Fi to detect this class of micro-gestures. We foresee this micro-gesture detection capabilities become helpful for the people with limited ability or visually impaired for implementation of simplified sign language to communication with electronic devices located away from a person. We compare gesture detection using multiple features of the UWB signal with traditional gesture detection using the received signal strength (RSS) of the Wi-Fi signal.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-12-20T14:04:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Marco Aurélio Queiroz de Souza.pdf: 1275828 bytes, checksum: 18876b9577a9b5c15cbc48e934b9e034 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-20T14:04:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marco Aurélio Queiroz de Souza.pdf: 1275828 bytes, checksum: 18876b9577a9b5c15cbc48e934b9e034 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-13 / This dissertation aims at the study of the right to special retirement in the Social Security System (SSS), taking into account the activities in which there is exposure to agents harmful to the health or physical integrity of the public servant (article 40, § 4º, III, of CF/88). Faced with the absence of a federal regulatory standard, it is intended to question, in the light of the Federal Constitution, infraconstitutional norms and court decisions, the adoption of differentiated requirements and criteria for granting the benefit. In attempting to sediment the study, one draws an approach to historical evolution; concept and legal nature of special retirement; the exposure of public servants to harmful agents and the association of agents; the documents necessary for proving the right; the use of protective equipment; and the position of the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) in the enforcement of the right to special retirement of the public servant by injunction orders, with the subsequent edition of Binding Summary 33, which determined the application, by analogy, of Law n. 8,213/91. On the other hand, it focuses on the contested aspects and on the legislative competence of the federated entities to establish, in their scope, general rules and specific rules on special retirement. It concludes with the presentation of Draft Complementary Law n. 555/2010 and Proposed Constitutional Amendment n. 287/2016, as well as judged by some Courts of Accounts / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo o estudo do direito à concessão da aposentadoria especial no Regime Próprio de Previdência Social (RPPS), tendo como prisma as atividades em que há a exposição a agentes nocivos à saúde ou à integridade física do servidor público (art. 40, § 4º, III, da CF/88). Diante da ausência de norma federal regulamentadora, pretende-se questionar, à luz da Constituição Federal, normas infraconstitucionais e decisões dos tribunais, a adoção de requisitos e critérios diferenciados para a concessão do benefício. No intento de sedimentar o estudo, traça-se uma abordagem da evolução histórica; conceito e natureza jurídica da aposentadoria especial; a exposição dos servidores públicos aos agentes nocivos e associação de agentes; os documentos necessários para a comprovação do direito; o uso de equipamentos de proteção; e a posição do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) na efetivação do direito à aposentadoria especial do servidor público por meio de mandados de injunção, com a posterior edição da Súmula Vinculante 33, que determinou a aplicação, por analogia, da Lei n. 8.213/91. Adentra, por outro lado, nos aspectos controvertidos e na competência legislativa dos entes federados para estabelecer, no seu âmbito, normas gerais e normas específicas sobre a aposentadoria especial. Conclui-se com a apresentação do Projeto de Lei Complementar n. 555/2010 e a Proposta de Emenda Constitucional n. 287/2016, bem como julgados de alguns Tribunais de Contas

Dans le monde du Web, on retrouve les formats RSS et Atom (feeds) qui sont, sans doute, les formats XML les plus populaires et les plus utilisés. Ces formats permettent aux, entre autres, communautés Web, industriels, et services web de publier et d'échanger des documents XML. En outre, ils permettent à un utilisateur de consulter librement des données/informations sans avoir à basculer d'un site à un autre, et cela à l'aide d'applications logicielles. Dans ce cas, l'utilisateur enregistre ses fournisseurs de flux favoris, chaque fournisseur diffuse la liste des nouveaux éléments qui ont été modifiés depuis le dernier téléchargement. Cependant, l'enregistrement d'un certain nombre de sources de flux dans un agrégateur de flux engendre à la fois des problèmes d'hétérogénéité (à cause des différences structurelles et de contenu) et des problèmes de surcharges d'information. Par ailleurs, aucun des agrégateurs de flux existants n'offre une approche qui intègre (ou fusionne) les flux en tenant compte de leurs similarités, du contexte de l'utilisateur et de ses préférences. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons un framework formel qui permet de traiter l'hétérogénéité, l'intégration et l'interrogation des flux d'actualités. Ce framework est fondé sur une représentation arborescente d'un flux et possède trois éléments principaux qui sont les suivants: comparateur de flux, intégrateur de flux, et processeur de requêtes. Le comparateur de flux permet de mesurer le degré de similarité entre deux éléments/flux en utilisant une base de connaissance intégrant une approche ascendante et progressive. Nous proposons une mesure de similarité à base de concept capable de calculer la similarité entre les flux selon le nombre de leurs concepts communs (et différents) et leurs proximités sémantiques. Nous montrons également comment définir et identifier la relation exclusive entre deux textes ou éléments. L'intégrateur de flux permet de fusionner plusieurs flux provenant de différentes sources tout en tenant compte du contexte de l'utilisateur. Nous montrons dans notre étude comment représenter le contexte d'utilisateur ainsi que ses préférences. Nous fournissons un ensemble prédéfini de règles de fusion qui peuvent être enrichies et adaptées par chaque utilisateur. Quant au processeur de requêtes, il se base sur une étude formelle et plus précisément sur une algèbre dédiée à la fusion des flux continus d'actualités que nous proposons ici. Les opérateurs proposés dans cette algèbre sont aidés par des fonctions à base de similarité. Nous catégorisons les opérateurs de flux selon trois catégories: opérateurs d'extraction, opérateurs ensemblistes et opérateur de fusion. Nous montrons que l'opérateur de fusion généralise l'opération de jointure et les opérateurs ensemblistes. Nous fournissons également un ensemble de règles de réécriture et d'équivalence de requêtes pour la simplification et l'optimisation des requêtes. Enfin, nous présentons un prototype nommé "Easy RSS Manager" (EasyRSSManager). Ce prototype est un lecteur sémantique de flux et un composant sémantique pour l'interrogation des fenêtres de flux. EasyRSSManager a été utilisé pour valider, démontrer et tester la faisabilité des différentes propositions de notre étude. En particulier, nous avons testé la complexité en temps et la pertinence de nos approches en utilisant à la fois des données réelles et syntaxiques.

Ubiquitous location-aware systems and services are becoming a reality as made evident by the widely known Global Position System (GPS). However, indoor location-aware sensing systems are not yet commercially viable since: (i) for a GPS-based system, the signals attenuate and can multipath indoors causing weak signal and poor location (ii) for a Radiolocation-based system, the propagation of radio signals are complex and difficult to model. In this paper, we present RadLoco, a location-sensing system that uses IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN survey techniques to create a radio Received Signal Strength (RSS) map of the propagation environment. To provide accurate location estimation, we make use of a kernel-window estimation algorithm that is used to approximate the probability density function of RSS measurement and location. Unlike parametric estimators, this non-parametric kernel approach requires less knowledge of the distributions of location and measurements, and also makes use of the prior knowledge of mobile terminal location to reduce the estimation error. The novelty of the system is an innovative radio/ultrasonic sensory network which allows for rapid data collection whereas the standard technique of defining a grid of survey points with measuring rulers, chalk, and tape would require a great amount of manpower. Using this sensory network, a 2000m sq. office building is surveyed in four hours by a single technician. Our experimental results indicate the mobile terminal is located on the correct oor with over 98% accuracy and with a mean error of less than 2.5m from the true location.

Ένα e-portfolio είναι μία συλλογή περιεχομένου την οποία κατασκευάζει και διατηρεί ένας χρήστης στο Web. Το περιεχόμενο μπορεί να περιλαμβάνει κείμενο, αρχεία, εικόνες, multimedia, blogs κτλ. και μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί για διάφορους σκοπούς. Σκοπός της εργασίας αυτής ήταν η δημιουργία πλατφόρμας παραγωγής eportfolios, με στόχο τη διαδικτυακή της χρήση. Η όλη πλατφόρμα δημιουργήθηκε με τη χρήση των γλωσσών προγραμματισμού HTML,PHP, Javascript, Ajax και τον εξυπηρετητή βάσεων δεδομένων Mysql. Ειδικότερα, υλοποιήθηκε μια πλατφόρμα παραγωγής προσωποποιημένων eportfolio με ιδιαίτερη βαρύτητα σε λειτουργίες κοινωνικής δικτύωσης. Στα eportfolios που δημιουργούνται, ο ιδιοκτήτης έχει τη δυνατότητα να ανεβάζει εικόνες, βίντεο και έγγραφα, να τα παρουσιάζει σε galleries, να τα οργανώνει σε κατηγορίες και να παρουσιάζει πληροφορίες αναφορικά με το άτομό του. Οι χρήστες, από την άλλη, μπορούν να επισκέπτονται τα eportfolios, να βλέπουν τα αρχεία που έχει ανεβάσει ο ιδιοκτήτης, να τα σχολιάζουν, να κάνουν share ή like με τη χρήση του facebook λογαριασμού τους ή tweet με τον ατίστοιχο λογαριασμό twitter. Με τον τρόπο αυτό επιτυγχάνεται μια θετική ανάδραση μεταξύ άυτών και του ιδιοκτήτη στοχεύοντας στην ανταλλαγή απόψεων, στη βελτίωση των ικανοτήτων του κατόχου, αλλά και του συστήματος γενικότερα. Στα πρωτοποριακά χαρακτηριστικά του συστήματος περιλαμβάνεται η δυνατότητα αναζήτησης στα δύο μεγαλύτερα κοινωνικά δίκτυα (Facebook και Twitter) για οτιδήποτε σχετικό με κάποιο από τα αρχεία που έχει ανεβάσει κάποιος χρήστης στο eportfolio του. Χρησιμοποιείται για το σκοπό αυτό το API του facebook. Επίσης, το σύστημα έχει τη δυνατότητα να προτείνει στους χρήστες του να επισκεφτούν eportfolios άλλων χρηστών με παρόμοια θεματολογία με τη χρήση tags και του Jaccard index. Τέλος, δίνεται η δυνατότητα στους χρήστες να ενημερώνονται για τις τελευταίες δραστηριότητες που υπάρχουν σε όλα τα eportfolios, μέσω της υπηρεσίας RSS, εόσον βέβαια κάνουν εγγραφή σε αυτή. ολο το σύστημα υλοποιήθηκε με βασικό γνώμονα την ευχρηστία και την καλύτερη εξυπηρέτηση των χρηστών. Η εφαρμογή μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθέι άμεσα για προσωπική χρήση από κάθε ενδιαφερόμενο, αλλά και για διδακτικούς σκοπούς στην εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευση. / An electronic portfolio is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web. Such electronic evidence may include inputted text, electronic files, images, multimedia, blog entries and can be used for various purposes. The aim of this thesis was the creation of an Eportfolio Development Platform, which will be used on Web. The whole platform was developed by using the HTML, PHP, Ajax and Javascript Programming Languages and the Mysql Database Management System. Specifically, the eportfolios that will be created are personalized eportfolios with many social features. The owner can upload pictures, videos and documents, present them in galleries, organize them in categories and share information about himself and his career/work. Visitors, on the other hand, can view the uploaded files, comment, share or like via facebook or tweet via twitter. As a result, there can be a very positive feedback between the owner and the visitors. The desirable outcome will be the improvement of the owner’ s skills and abilities as well as the system’s features. The new features that the system provide, include searching on the two biggest online social networks (Facebook and Twitter) for anything that is relevant to the files that are presented in the system's eportfolios. This was implemented, using the Facebook Graph API. Also, the system can suggest its users to visit eportfolios whose topic is close to their own eportfolio's topic, using tags and Jaccard index. Finally, users can be informed of the recent activity in any eportfolio, through the RSS service, if they had been subscribed on it. The whole platform was implemented with the basic concern being the usability and the best servicing for the users. The system can be used easily either for personal reasons or for elearning.

The role of the new media in young people’s lives has led to a debate about the potential of the internet as a means of influencing identity formation and youth participation. A growing body of academic research has shown an interest in understanding this influence. This thesis sets out to study political participation as a form of online engagement through the use of the various new media platforms and how it may affect the process of identity development of Arab youth in Britain. Prior to the recent political developments in the Middle East and the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, British Arab youth were suffering identity uncertainty and had expressed little interest in political participation. During the early stages of the Arab Spring, British Arab youth became involved, in one way or another, in political activities, mainly online. This research combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies in order to achieve accurate results. The targeted group for this study is those between 18 and 25 years old, who were born in Britain or have been living continuously in Britain for at least 10 years. Data collected includes a total of 178 questionnaire samples, and forty individual semi-structured interviews. The core argument of this study is that British Arab youth are willing to participate in politics as long as it is meaningful to them and to the people of their countries of origin. This engagement helps them to balance their cultural identity (Arab) with the host culture (British). That may not contradict with the fact that British Arab youth describe Britain as ‘home’ with confidence. In fact, the balance between Arab and British cultures serves as a stabiliser in the process of identity formation and reformation. The thesis also explores how this active political engagement is reflected, in general, on their own identity construction and development. The evidences of this study suggest that, while online media has a role in providing British Arab youth with accessible and effective online tools, the mechanism of participating and debating all issues without reservation, may contradict the cultural heritage of stepping back from political participation. Therefore, this research affirms the importance of online media tools for British Arab youth reaching new horizons. Participating in political activities is one form of negotiating identity formation or reformation, that in one way or another can contribute to a more effective role of the British Arab community in the public, political and cultural spheres of multicultural Britain.

The environmental question has being a great society s concern, besides being a relevant theme in the national and international governmetal politics. The current moment demands new models of management and, consequently, new ways of environmental management with a bigger social responsibility. The aim of this study is propose a new model of Environmental Management to Santa Maria/RS Nephrology Services. The methodology used was the descriptive quantitative exploratory with multicase techniques. Three different instruments were used to the data collect, which were answered by interviewees in the period of December 2005. The following professionals form the sample: nurses, managers, Nursing technicians and servants, besides patients who suffered of chronicle renal insufficiency and who were submitted to hemodialysis treatment. The detailed analyses of the processes identified opportunities of improvement as well as the diagnosis, which enabled the collect of data to the identification and to the evaluation of the non-conformities of the Environmental Management services, based on the valid legislation. The instrument of evaluation applied in three different groups showed being an efficient tool in the identification of the non-conformity factors, what enabled the elaboration of a propose of environmental management system applicable in the nephrology services. The implantation of the Environmental Management in services brought many benefices such as the reduction of residues and liquids effluents, the natural resources preservation, the use of materials and inputs more environmentally correct to the preservation of the human health and to the environment as well. / A questão ambiental vem sendo uma grande preocupação da sociedade, além de ser um tema relevante nas políticas governamentais nacionais e internacionais.O momento atual exige novos modelos de gestão, e conseqüentemente, novas formas de gestão ambiental com maior responsabilidade social. Este estudo teve como objetivo propor um modelo de Gestão Ambiental para os Serviços de Nefrologia, a partir do diagnóstico situacional realizado em três serviços de Nefrologia de Santa Maria/RS. A metodologia utilizada foi do tipo exploratório-descritiva quantitativa com técnica de multicaso. Para coleta de dados, foram utilizados três instrumentos diferentes, os quais foram respondidos pelos entrevistados, no período de dezembro de 2005. A amostra constitui-se de profissionais: enfermeiros, administradores, técnicos em enfermagem e serventes, além de pacientes com insuficiência renal crônica, em tratamento de hemodiálise. A análise detalhada dos processos identificou oportunidades de melhoria, e o diagnóstico possibilitou a obtenção de dados para a identificação e avaliação das não conformidades da gestão ambiental dos serviços, baseado nas legislações vigentes.O instrumento de avaliação, aplicado aos três diferentes grupos, demonstrou ser uma ferramenta eficaz na identificação de fatores de não conformidades, o que possibilitou a elaboração de uma proposta de sistema de gestão ambiental aplicável aos serviços de nefrologia. A implantação do Sistema de Gestão Ambiental nos serviços trouxe inúmeros benefícios que vão desde a redução de resíduos e efluentes líquidos à preservação dos recursos naturais, ao uso de materiais e insumos mais ambientalmente corretos, à preservação da saúde humana e do meio ambiente.

The web has evolved much through the years. From being a place where author and reader were clearly distinguished, it now invites everyone to take part in the development of both content and technology. Social services are central in what is called Web 2.0. Wikis, blogs and folksonomies are all examples of how the users and their communities are key to the development of services. Collaborative writing, tags and API:s are central. Social services are given an extra dimension through integration. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether it was possible to integrate an encyclopedia with a photosharing service. The issue was whether it was possible to find relevant images to the article they were connected to. The method for examining the issue was to create a service which functions was investigated through user tests. Wickrpedia was created, which is an integration of Wikipedia and Flickr. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia in the shape of a wiki, while Flickr is used to store, organize and share photos. The result shows that the images added someting to the encyclopedia; it became more entertaining and pleasant and the users’ knowledge was increased. The relevance of the images was good. The service can and should be improved. The conclusion is still that the service worked well and was seen as an improvement by the users. / Webben har förändrats mycket de senaste åren. Från att tidigare haft en tydlig uppdelning mellan läsare och författare inbjuds nu alla att delta i utvecklingen av både innehåll och teknik. Sociala tjänster är det centrala i det som benämns Web 2.0. Wikis, bloggar och folksonomies är alla exempel på hur användarna och deras gemenskap är nyckeln till utveckling av tjänster. Kollaborativt skrivande, taggar och API:er är centrala. Sociala tjänster får en ytterligare dimension genom integrering. Denna studies syfte var att utreda hur det gick att integrera ett uppslagsverk med en fotodelningstjänst. Frågan är om det gick att göra på ett sådant sätt att bilderna hade relevans för de artiklar de kopplades till. Metoden för att utreda frågan var att skapa en tjänst vars funktion undersöktes med hjälp av användartester. Wickrpedia skapades, vilket är en intregrering av Wikipedia och Flickr. Wikipedia är en encyklopedi i form av en wiki, medan Flickr används för att förvara, organisera och dela med sig av bilder. Resultatet visar att bilderna tillförde något till uppslagsverket; det blev roligare och trevligare och användarna fick en ökad kunskap. Relevansen hos bilderna var god. Tjänsten har brister, och den går att vidareutveckla. Slutsatsen var ändå att tjänsten fungerade och var en förbättring för användarna.