Two primary ideas contribute to the design of this Community Art Center in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, particularly, in the neighborhoods of Avenue west and Midtown. The quality of light expressed through the movement of shadows in time is casted in the interior by openings in the roof and on the exterior walls by columns surrounding the building. These exterior and interior walls of the building are the result of rigorous experimentation to maximize space for interaction. The walls and quality of light is expressed both in the interior and exterior of the building. The second main idea is center around creating a place for interaction to generate communication and collaboration within the community. The primary design is of the delicate undulating walls as it continues to define interaction space in the Community Art Center. It is the form of the walls and quality of light that express movement. As a secondary concern, these neighborhoods are on the edge of Milwaukeeâ s near west side that includes the Milwaukee High School of the Arts (MHSA). The community expresses art in the form of dance, music and creative writing. The building express art in the form of a decision. Each decision that is made expresses a quality about design. Each space is transformed into a place by the nature of its design. The building achieves a sense of community through the primary ideas expressed through the notion of emotions. / Master of Architecture

Shadow banks were one of the main contributors to the financial crisis of 2007-08. Due to their contribution to increase in systemic risk during the financial crisis they have been researched in the time period of the financial crisis in the USA to find the reason behind the increase in systemic risk from shadow banks. Because of the contribution to systemic risk from shadow banks post financial crisis have largely been ignored, especially in Europe.  This leads to the main research question of this paper, “Does shadow banking affect systemic risk?”  In this paper a ΔCoVaR method is used to measure the systemic risk contribution from shadow banks as well as traditional banks in the EU post financial crisis. CoVaR and VaR is also measured in order to give a better understanding of the systemic risk contribution from the banking sector.  The main results of this paper is that the variable Size which is the total assets, is the factor that increases the systemic risk contribution from traditional banks, which means that the bigger the traditional bank, the bigger their contribution to systemic risk. In the case of shadow banks the variables Total assets, movement to the market and Equity returns volatility, are the contributors to increase in systemic risk. The higher these variables are for the shadow banks, the higher is their contribution to systemic risk. The conclusion of this paper is that the increase in regulations have helped in decreasing the systemic risk contributions from shadow banks and traditional banks but it is not enough. There is a need for more regulations in order to decrease the systemic risk from the banking sector as they still affect systemic risk.

Este trabalho descreve as etapas de transformação de um exame de proficiência em inglês acadêmico, aplicado via lápis-e-papel, com itens de múltipla escolha administrados segundo o método de Medida de Probabilidade Admissível (Shuford Jr et al., 1966), utilizado no programa de pós-graduação do Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação da Universidade de São Paulo (ICMC-USP), em um teste adaptativo informatizado (TAI-PI) baseado em um modelo da Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI). Apesar do programa aceitar diversos exames que atestam a proficiência em inglês para indivíduos não-nativos de abrangência e reconhecimento internacionais, como o TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System) e CPE (Certicate of Proficiency in English), por exemplo, a sua obrigatoriedade é incoerente em universidades públicas do Brasil devido ao custo que varia de 200 a 300 dólares por exame. O software TAI-PI (Teste Adaptativo Informatizado para Proficiência em Inglês), que foi desenvolvido em Java e SQLite, será utilizado para a avaliação da proficiência em inglês dos alunos do programa a partir do segundo semestre de 2013, de forma gratuita. A metodologia estatística implementada foi definida considerando a história e objetivos do exame e adotou o modelo de resposta gradual unidimensional de Samejima (Samejima, 1969), o critério de Kullback-Leibler para seleção de itens, o método de estimação da esperança a posteriori para os traços latentes (Baker, 2001) e a abordagem Shadow test (Van der Linden e Pashley, 2010) para imposição de restrições (de conteúdo e tamanho da prova) na composição do teste de cada indivíduo. Uma descrição da estrutura do exame, dos métodos empregados, dos resultados das aplicações do TAI-PI a alunos de pós-graduação do ICMC e estudos de classificação dos alunos em aprovados e reprovados, são apresentados neste trabalho, evidenciando a boa qualidade da nova proposta adotada e aprimoramento do exame com a utilização dos métodos de TRI e TAI. / This work describes the steps for converting a linear paper-and-pencil English proficiency test for academic purposes, composed with multiple choice items that are administered following the admissible probability measurement procedure (Shuford Jr et al., 1966), adopted by the graduate program of Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Computing of University of São Paulo (ICMCUSP), Brazil, to a computerized adaptive test (TAI-PI) based on an item response theory model (IRT). Despite the Institute recognizes reliable international English-language exams for academic purposes and non-native speakers, as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and CPE (Cambridge English: Proficiency), for instance, it is inconsistent that public universities in Brazil require them as certification because of the cost of approximately US$ 200.00 to US$ 300.00 per exam. The software TAI-PI (computerized adaptive test for English proficiency) was implemented in Java language, used SQLite as database engine, and it shall be offered free of charge for English proficiency assessment of the graduate students from October 2013. The statistical methodology employed for TAI-PI construction was defined considering the history and the aims of the evaluation and adopted the Samejima\'s graded response model (Samejima, 1969), the Kullback-Leibler information criterion for item selection, the expected a posteriori Bayesian estimation for latent trait (Baker, 2001) and shadow test approach (Van der Linden e Pashley, 2010) for test constraints (content and size of the test, for example). A description of the test design, the employed statistical methods, study results of a real application of TAI-PI to graduate students are presented in this work and the validation studies of the new methodology for pass/fail classification, highlighting the good quality of the new evaluation system and examination of improvement with the use of the methods of IRT and CAT.

Submitted by PPG Engenharia El?trica (engenharia.pg.eletrica@pucrs.br) on 2018-06-08T13:54:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO_VINICIUS_DOTH_DIS.pdf: 9281309 bytes, checksum: d26fbf7274d4c8eb7158a2d987437b1b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sheila Dias (sheila.dias@pucrs.br) on 2018-06-18T12:49:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO_VINICIUS_DOTH_DIS.pdf: 9281309 bytes, checksum: d26fbf7274d4c8eb7158a2d987437b1b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-18T12:58:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO_VINICIUS_DOTH_DIS.pdf: 9281309 bytes, checksum: d26fbf7274d4c8eb7158a2d987437b1b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-27 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) systems acquire large area aerial images in real time to provide accurate situational awareness information from a region (BLASCH et al., 2014). This system is applied for urban aerial monitoring. Unfavorable environmental conditions, such as shadow regions, are factors that increase system complexity by compromising the effectiveness of tracking algorithms and human visual interpretation (PORTER; FRASER; HUSH, 2010). Several techniques of shadow removal in aerial images have been developed, however due to the characteristics of the shadow and aerial image, a specific method to evaluate and compare the removal is unknown. The main objective of this study is to develop a method to evaluate shadow removal algorithms in aerial images acquired by the WAMI system. This work proposes a radiometric approach modifying the illumination in a controlled environment, simulating an aerial scene, acquiring images with and without the presence of shadows. The image with shadows is processed by the evaluated shadow removal algorithm, with the ideal output being the shadow free image. Shadow detection is evaluated using the confusion matrix concept. Shadow removal is evaluated using the structural similarity index (SSIM). As a result the reduced scale aerial scene model is presented to generate shadow and freeshadow images and the evaluation of 3 shadow removal methods using the data sets of images obtained from the scale model applying the methodology developed. / Sistemas WAMI (Wide Area Motion Imagery) adquirem imagens a?reas de grandes ?reas em tempo real para prover informa??es precisas de uma determinada regi?o (BLASCH et al., 2014). Este sistema ? aplicado para monitoramento a?reo urbano. Condi??es ambientais desfavor?veis, como ?reas sombreadas, s?o fatores que aumentam a complexidade do sistema comprometendo a efic?cia de algoritmos de rastreamento e a interpreta??o visual humana (PORTER; FRASER; HUSH, 2010). Diversas t?cnicas de remo??o de sombra em imagens a?reas foram desenvolvidas, no entanto devido ?s caracter?sticas da sombra e da imagem a?rea ? desconhecido um m?todo espec?fico para avaliar e comparar a remo??o de sombras em imagens a?reas. O objetivo principal deste estudo ? desenvolver um m?todo para avaliar algoritmos de remo??o de sombra em imagens a?reas adquiridas pelo sistema WAMI. Este trabalho prop?e uma abordagem radiom?trica modificando a ilumina??o em um ambiente controlado, simulando uma cena a?rea, adquirindo imagens com e sem sombras. A imagem com sombra ? processada pelo algoritmo de remo??o de sombra avaliado, sendo a imagem sem sombra o resultado ideal a ser alcan?ado. A detec??o de sombra ? avaliada utilizando o conceito de matriz de confus?o (error matrix). A remo??o de sombra ? avaliada utilizando o ?ndice de similaridade estrutural entre duas imagens (SSIM). Foram desenvolvidos o modelo de cena a?rea em escala reduzida para gerar imagens com e sem sombra e a avalia??o de 3 m?todos de remo??o de sombras utilizando os data sets de imagens obtidas do modelo em escala aplicando a metodologia descrita.

Der Autor versucht mit dieser kurzen Einführung eine Übersicht über den Stand der Forschung zu einem Thema zu geben, das in der Forschung bisher noch nicht ausreichend berücksichtigt wurde: der außerschulischen, privatwirtschaftlich organisierten Zusatzbildung, der sogenannten Shadow Education. Der Fokus der Arbeit richtet sich dabei auf die Länder Japan, welches bereits seit den 1970er Jahren ein System außerschulischer Bildungsinstitutionen besitzt, dessen Einfluss auf den Bildungserwerb junger Menschen so stark ist wie in kaum einem anderen Land, und Deutschland, dessen Schattenbildungs- oder Nachhilfesystem noch keinen derartig starken Einfluss ausübt, jedoch in den vergangenen Jahren steten Zuwachs verzeichnen konnte. Interessierten soll dieser Einblick durch die umfangreiche Bibliographie eine Hilfe bei der Recherche zu diesem Thema bieten. / With this short introduction the author tries to provide an overview about the status of research about a theme that has not been sufficiently taken into consideration by researchers yet: the out-of-school, privately organized remedial education or private tutoring, the so called shadow education. Hereby this work focuses on the countries Japan and Germany. While in Japan a system of shadow education exists for decades, which shall lead the Japanese youth to superior results compared to compulsory school education, a comparable influence of institutionalized private tutoring can’t be found in Germany so far. This work shall provide a help to those who want to research about this theme, especially through its comprehensive bibliography.

Virtual crowd rendering have been used in film industry with offine rendering methods for a long time. But its existence in interactive real-time applications such as video games is not so common due to the limited rendering power of current graphics hardware. This thesis describes a novel method to improve shadow mapping performance of a crowded scene by taking into account the screen space visibility of the casted shadow of a crowd instance when rendering the shadow maps. A grid-based visibility mask creation method is proposed which is irrelevant to scene complexity. This improves the rendering performance especially when there are many occluded instances of the crowd which is a common scenario in urban environments and accelerates the usage of crowds in real time applications, such as games. We compute visibility of all agents in a crowd in parallel on the graphics processing unit(GPU) without having a requirement of a stencil buer or light direction dependent shadow mask. Technique also improves the view space rendering time by reducing the visibility check cost of the agents that are located on the invisible areas of the scene. The methodology introduced in this thesis gets more effective in each shadow map rendering pass by re-using the same visibility mask for shadow caster culling and enables many local lights with shadows. We also give a brief information about the state of the art of crowd rendering and shadowing, explaining how suitable the method with the implementations of different shadow mapping approaches. The technique is very well compatible with the modern crowd rendering techniques such as skinned instancing, dynamic level of detail(LOD) determination and GPU-based simulation.

Rectangular-shaped building detection from high resolution aerial/satellite images is proposed for two different methods. Shadow information plays main role in both of these algorithms. One of the algorithms is based on Hough transformation, the other one is based on mean shift segmentation algorithm. Satellite/aerial images are firstly converted to YIQ color space to be used in shadow segmentation. Hue and intensity values are used in computing the ratio image which is used to segment shadowed regions. For shadow segmentation Otsu&rsquo / s method is used on the histogram of the ratio image. The segmented shadow image is used as the input for both of two building detection algorithms. In the proposed methods, shadowed regions are believed to be the building shadows. So, non-shadowed regions such as roads, cars, trees etc. are discarded before processing the image. In Hough transform based building detection algorithm, shadowed regions are firstly segmented one by one and filtered for noise removal and edge sharpening. Then, the edges in the filtered image are detected by using Canny edge detection algorithm. Then, line segments are extracted. Finally, the extracted line segments are used to construct rectangular-shaped buildings. In mean shift based building detection algorithm, image is firstly segmented by using mean shift segmentation algorithm. By using shadow image and segmented image, building rooftops are investigated in shadow boundaries. The results are compared for both of the algorithms. In the last step a shadow removal algorithm is implemented to observe the effects of shadow regions in both of two implemented building detection algorithms. Both of these algorithms are applied to shadow removed image and results are compared.

This thesis is devoted to the shadow detection and compensation in aerial images with application of the detection results to building height detection. Shadows could be defined as the parts of the scene that is not directly illuminated by a light source due to obstructing object or objects. Usually the shadows in images or video are undesirable, since they could cause degradation of the expected results during processing of the image or video for object detection, segmentation, scene surveillance or similar purposes. However shadow information could also be used for beneficial purposes like revealing information about the object&rsquo / s shape, orientation and even about the light source. In this thesis firstly shadow detection methods are overviewed. Beside the selected methods from literature, some novel approaches are also proposed and experimented. Then shadow compensation methods are overviewed and experimented. Finally an example of beneficial utilizations of shadow information is studied, where buildings&rsquo / heights are estimated from their shadow length and sun angles.

Este trabalho descreve as etapas de transformação de um exame de proficiência em inglês acadêmico, aplicado via lápis-e-papel, com itens de múltipla escolha administrados segundo o método de Medida de Probabilidade Admissível (Shuford Jr et al., 1966), utilizado no programa de pós-graduação do Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação da Universidade de São Paulo (ICMC-USP), em um teste adaptativo informatizado (TAI-PI) baseado em um modelo da Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI). Apesar do programa aceitar diversos exames que atestam a proficiência em inglês para indivíduos não-nativos de abrangência e reconhecimento internacionais, como o TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System) e CPE (Certicate of Proficiency in English), por exemplo, a sua obrigatoriedade é incoerente em universidades públicas do Brasil devido ao custo que varia de 200 a 300 dólares por exame. O software TAI-PI (Teste Adaptativo Informatizado para Proficiência em Inglês), que foi desenvolvido em Java e SQLite, será utilizado para a avaliação da proficiência em inglês dos alunos do programa a partir do segundo semestre de 2013, de forma gratuita. A metodologia estatística implementada foi definida considerando a história e objetivos do exame e adotou o modelo de resposta gradual unidimensional de Samejima (Samejima, 1969), o critério de Kullback-Leibler para seleção de itens, o método de estimação da esperança a posteriori para os traços latentes (Baker, 2001) e a abordagem Shadow test (Van der Linden e Pashley, 2010) para imposição de restrições (de conteúdo e tamanho da prova) na composição do teste de cada indivíduo. Uma descrição da estrutura do exame, dos métodos empregados, dos resultados das aplicações do TAI-PI a alunos de pós-graduação do ICMC e estudos de classificação dos alunos em aprovados e reprovados, são apresentados neste trabalho, evidenciando a boa qualidade da nova proposta adotada e aprimoramento do exame com a utilização dos métodos de TRI e TAI. / This work describes the steps for converting a linear paper-and-pencil English proficiency test for academic purposes, composed with multiple choice items that are administered following the admissible probability measurement procedure (Shuford Jr et al., 1966), adopted by the graduate program of Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Computing of University of São Paulo (ICMCUSP), Brazil, to a computerized adaptive test (TAI-PI) based on an item response theory model (IRT). Despite the Institute recognizes reliable international English-language exams for academic purposes and non-native speakers, as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and CPE (Cambridge English: Proficiency), for instance, it is inconsistent that public universities in Brazil require them as certification because of the cost of approximately US$ 200.00 to US$ 300.00 per exam. The software TAI-PI (computerized adaptive test for English proficiency) was implemented in Java language, used SQLite as database engine, and it shall be offered free of charge for English proficiency assessment of the graduate students from October 2013. The statistical methodology employed for TAI-PI construction was defined considering the history and the aims of the evaluation and adopted the Samejima\'s graded response model (Samejima, 1969), the Kullback-Leibler information criterion for item selection, the expected a posteriori Bayesian estimation for latent trait (Baker, 2001) and shadow test approach (Van der Linden e Pashley, 2010) for test constraints (content and size of the test, for example). A description of the test design, the employed statistical methods, study results of a real application of TAI-PI to graduate students are presented in this work and the validation studies of the new methodology for pass/fail classification, highlighting the good quality of the new evaluation system and examination of improvement with the use of the methods of IRT and CAT.

The thesis is dedicated to clarifying the origins and main causes of the economic crisis. In the first part I ilustrate the connection between the monetary policies of central banks and the changes in structure of the production and investments with the help of Austrian Business Cycle Theory. These theoretical assumptions are confronted with the empirical findings from USA throughout the 20th century. The second part discusses other factors leading to the crises, mainly focusing on the 2009 economic crises and various free market and state controlled factors. The thesis discusses these factors from the point of view of theoretical and empirical knowledge of economic science.