A distância de visibilidade de parada deve ser garantida ao longo de toda a extensão de uma rodovia por questões de segurança. Elementos da seção transversal podem se tornar obstruções que interferem nas distâncias de visibilidade do projeto. Este é o caso do uso de barreiras ao invés de canteiros centrais em rodovias bidirecionais, especialmente ao longo de curvas à esquerda. Desta forma, este trabalho analisa o posicionamento de barreiras em cenários hipotéticos aclives planos e declives com uso de simulações gráficas tridimensionais. O afastamento lateral da barreira, em relação à pista de rolamento, foi definido em função de cada velocidade de projeto e de cada raio de curva horizontal analisados. Os diagramas gerados foram comparados com modelo de afastamento de objetos fixos em curvas horizontais, presente como recomendações em manuais nacionais. As diferenças encontradas indicam a viabilidade da metodologia utilizada, em que o projeto foi considerado como um todo, o qual se desenvolve tridimensionalmente. / Stopping Sight Distance must be guaranteed throughout of a highway for safety reasons. However, cross section elements can become obstructions which interfere on design sight distances. This occurs when barriers are used instead of medians on bidirectional highways, especially along left curves. Therefore, this paper analyzes the barriers placement on hypothetical scenarios upgrades, plans and downgrades using three-dimensional graphics simulations. The lateral offset of the barrier in relation to the roadway was defined according to each design speed and each radius of the horizontal curve analysis. For each scenario were generated diagrams, which use compared with offset model of fixed objects on horizontal curves presents as recommendation in national manuals. The differences indicate the viability of the methodology used, where the project was considered as a whole, which develops three-dimensionally.

A capacidade de executar uma obra à primeira vista no violão é considerada por muitos uma tarefa de difícil execução. Um dos principais motivos para isto é o fato de uma mesma nota poder ser tocada em diferentes lugares da escala do violão, gerando diversas possibilidades de digitação para uma mesma passagem. A presente pesquisa investigou os procedimentos utilizados por 11 estudantes de graduação em violão durante a execução de uma tarefa de leitura à primeira vista. Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram filmados e entrevistados e os dados relativos ao histórico de cada sujeito foram acessados pela aplicação de questionário. Foram considerados como variáveis influentes na execução dessa tarefa fatores como as diferentes possibilidades de digitação para uma mesma passagem, o conhecimento das possibilidades expressivas do instrumento, e a habilidade motora. A digitação e a tonalidade apresentaram-se como as principais dificuldades. As questões expressivas foram deixadas em segundo plano, considerando a quantidade de decisões a serem tomadas no tempo de um minuto dado a leitura silenciosa. Assim, nem sempre a execução mais correta em termos de acertos de notas e tempo foi a de resultado mais expressivo. Evidenciou-se na pesquisa que nem sempre o tempo de estudo reflete no melhor resultado quando se trata da tarefa de leitura à primeira vista. Os sujeitos de melhores desempenhos na tarefa de leitura à primeira vista responderam em questionário que praticam música de câmara e/ou canto coral, mostrando que essas práticas podem influenciar positivamente o desenvolvimento da habilidade de leitura à primeira vista. Com relação ao teste de habilidade motora, os sujeitos com os melhores desempenhos na execução do teste de leitura à primeira vista (considerando fluência de tempo, evitando correções de notas e ritmos) ultrapassaram os sujeitos de menor desempenho em marcas metronômicas. / Sight-reading a piece on the guitar is often considered a difficult task. One reason for this may be the fact that the same note on the guitar may be played in different ways, thus generating various fingering possibilities for the same passage. The present study investigated the procedures adopted by 11 undergraduate guitar students in a sight-reading exercise. The subjects were filmed and interviewed and their background was taken from a written questionnaire. Distinct fingering possibilities for the same passage, knowledge of expressive possibilites of the guitar and mechanical dexterity were considered as influential variables in this study. Fingering and tonality proved to be the main difficulties. Expressive aspects were not considered the most important, considering the number of decisions to be made in the one minute allotted for silent reading before the sight-reading began. Thus, the best performances in terms of correct notes and tempo were not necessarily the most expressive. The best outcomes came from students who engage in choral or chamber music activities, therefore, these may have a positive influence on sight-reading. The mechanical ability exercise applied showed that the subjects that did better on the sight-reading passsage (considering tempo, correct notes and rhythm) surpassed those that had lower metronomical markings.

O propósito desta dissertação é apresentar algumas idéias sobre o emprego das palavras relacionadas à visão no texto do Livro I das Histórias de Heródoto. O principal destaque é dado à relação entre ver e saber e as investigações de Heródoto. O segundo propósito, decorrente do primeiro, é verificar a importância dos oráculos no Livro I e buscar a relação (se existe) entre oráculos, sonhos, visões e a busca do conhecimento. / The purpose of this dissertation is to show some ideas about the use of words related to sight in the text of HerodotusHistories, Book I . The main focus is given to the existing relationship between seeing and knowing and Herodotus researches. The second purpose, built from the first one, is to evaluate the importance of oracles described in Book I and to seek the relationship of (if it exists) oracles, dreams, visions and the search for knowledge.

This thesis examines the belief that ideologies about blindness which have their provenance in religious, mythical and symbolic belief are 'infused into our literature and art' to become 'an important part of the way we perceive ourselves and others'. Depictions of the enduring power and influence ot symbolic belief is examined in fictional and autobiographical writings from 1600-1995. The history of theories of causation of disease in general is discussed in the first chapter. This is tollowed in the second chapter by an examination of the myths, meanings, symbols and ideologies which have become attached to blindness from pre-Christian times to the present day. The third chapter is devoted to an assessment of the influential meanings given to his own blindness by the poet John Milton and to an appraisal oi the responses, in the following century and a half, both by his adherents, notably Marveli, Dryden and the Romantic Poets, and his detractors, not least among whom was Samuel Johnson. The tollowing two chapters are given to an examination of the influence of ideology on depictions of blindness in Nineteenth and twentieth Century literature. Special attention is given to portrayals of blindness in recent works for children, in view of the belief and recommendation that writings about and for handicapped children should be realistic and tree from stereotype. Both chapters are underpinned by brief surveys of the then current social situation of the blind and of the state of medical knowledge at the time. Finally, fictional representations of blindness are compared with a number of experiental accounts taken from autobiographies of blind people written between 1870-1990.

The visibility-aware path planner addresses the problem of path planning for target visibility. It computes sequences of motions that afford a line of sight to a stationary visual target for sensors on a robotic platform. The visibility-aware planner uses a model of the visible region, namely, the region of the task space in which a line of sight exists to the target. The planner also takes the orientation of the sensor into account, utilizing a model of the field of view frustum. The planner applies a penalty to paths that cause the sensor to lose target visibility by exiting the visible region or rotating so the target is not in the field of view. The planner applies these penalties to the edges in a probabilistic roadmap, providing weights in the roadmap graph for graph-search based planning algorithms. This thesis presents two variants on the planner. The static multi-query planner precomputes penalties for all roadmap edges and performs a best-path search using Dijkstra's algorithm. The dynamic single-query planner uses an iterative test-and-reject search to find paths of acceptable penalty without the benefit of precomputation. Four experiments are presented which validate the planners and present examples of the path planning for visibility on 6-DOF robot manipulators. The algorithms are statistically tested with multiple queries. Results show that the planner finds paths with significantly lower losses of target visibility than existing shortest-path planners. / Science, Faculty of / Computer Science, Department of / Graduate

Certaines œuvres théâtrales de ce XXIème siècle semblent inscrire au cœur de leur projet esthétique une mise en question de l’ordre perceptif en créant de nouvelles manières de voir, d’entendre et d’être affecté. Le drame ‒ comme action ‒ s’y trouve réactualisé dans une forme s’adressant aux perceptions du spectateur au travers d’une dramaturgie visuelle, voire perceptuelle, prenant appui sur une fabrique d’images scéniques. Notre étude propose d'investir dans le champ du théâtre une part de la recherche sur l’image en mettant en perspective les questions esthétiques, philosophiques, voire politiques que soulève la notion d’image scénique. L’œuvre du metteur en scène italien Romeo Castellucci est représentative de la spécificité du plasticien qui trouve sur la scène un nouveau support de création d’images, un médium particulier mettant en jeu le corps, l’espace, la forme et où le texte, pourtant largement muet, hante la scène. Ce théâtre plastique remet en cause les fondements du théâtre traditionnel (action, personnage, fiction), invente un drame proprement figural et cherche à déplacer le regard du spectateur. Dans une oscillation entre apparition et disparition du visible, représentation et ineffable, il offre au spectateur un processus expérientiel au sein d’un laboratoire où l’image joue contre l’image, inquiète le regard et les perceptions convenues de la réalité.Le déplacement de la théorie de l’image dans le champ du théâtre nous permettra, au travers de la démarche singulière de Romeo Castellucci, d’apporter notre contribution à l’analyse des modalités opératoires de son efficace esthétique et des enjeux critiques et politiques du théâtre contemporain. / Some theatrical pieces from this 21st century seem to include in their esthetical project a question of the perceptive order by creating new ways of seeing, hearing and being affected. The drama ‒ as an action ‒ finds itself updated in a form addressing to the spectator’s perceptions through visual dramaturgy, even perceptive, based on a factory of scenic images. Our study offers to invest in the theater field a part of the research and thoughts about the image by putting into perspective the esthetical, philosophical, and even political questions that the notion of scenic image raise.The particular piece from the Italian director Romeo Castellucci is representative of the visual artist’s specificity who finds on the stage a new creating support for images, a particular way of involving body, space, shape, matter and where the text, although especially mute, is haunting the stage. This plastic theater questions the foundations of traditional theater (action, character, fiction), creates a properly figural drama and tries to move the spectator’s sight. In an oscillation between visual appearance and disappearance, representation and unspeakable, he offers to the spectator an experiential process in a laboratory where image plays against image, worries the sight and the accepted perceptions of reality.The displacement of the image’s theory in the theatrical field will allow us, through Romeo Castellucci’s singular approach, to make our contribution to the operating procedures analysis of his aesthetic’s efficiency, reception mechanism of the spectator and critical and political skates of the contemporary theater.

The thesis is concerned with the instances of the figures of mythology of the antiquity in the works of Jean Cocteau and their application. It focuses on the character of Narcissus, which is examined in connection to Oedipus and Orpheus, while concentrating mainly on the topic of mirroring and the related motives of the eye and sight. This mirroring is then not examined only on the level of an aesthetic object, but also in relation to the recipient and in mutual interferences between various media. The thesis is methodologically based on selected philosophical theses by Maurice Merlau-Ponty and the theoretical concepts of Pierre Brunel, Mieke Bal and Mary Ann Caws. Within the works of Jean Cocteau the thesis is primarily concerned with the analysis of the novels The Holy Terrors (Les Enfants Terribles), Le Livre Blanc and their illustrations, the poem "Tombeau de Narcisse", the play La Machine infernale and the films Blood of a Poet, Orpheus and The Testament of Orpheus.

This thesis is focused on culturally historical specifics of South Bohemian Region. To get the aim of the thesis there is undertaken a contents study of documents as well as questionnaire survey of proprietors of historic sights. Contents study of documents is focused on documents of South Bohemian Region in the field of protection and support of culturally historical potential on region´s area. Questionnaire survey gets information about financing and promotion of cultural sights in the region of South Bohemia from the view of the sights proprietors. Undertaken study of questioned spheres provides requested information. Whole thesis is targeted on culturally historical potential of South Bohemian Region, as well as their financing and promotion and includes final solution proposals of those matters.

According to the US Department of Transportation, around 20 people die on a daily basis in a signalized intersection, with most of these resulting from angle or head-on collisions. The US-DoT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has identified modern roundabout intersections to be substantially safer than signalized intersections, due in part to the reduction in conflict points from 32 in a traditional signalized intersection to 8 in a modern roundabout. Despite the increased adoption of modern roundabouts across the US, there are a number of specific design elements for which the direct impact they have on operational and safety related performance of the roundabout remains unknown. To be specific, there is currently no conclusive research on the direct effects related to the introduction of a reverse curve (S-curve) on the approach to a roundabout. Moreover, what are the impacts of S-curves of varying geometries on the approach to a roundabout? This research employed a series of microsimulation-based analyses to investigate the speed related impacts related to the introduction to S-curves on the entry to a roundabout. An existing roundabout, in Amherst, MA, USA was used as a case study for this experiment. The data at each approach of the roundabout was collected by a static camera strategically placed to attain both the pedestrian and vehicle count during peak traffic hours. The data was manually reviewed to determine the upstream and downstream vehicle counts. The dimensions and angles of the existing roundabout were measured from Google earth and the image was extracted to AutoCaD Civil 3D. Since the objective is to check whether S-curves near an approach have a significant impact in speed, the deflection angle of the roundabout was not altered. The turning radius and angle at the approach was cross verified by measuring it on site. The existing roundabout was considered as the base model. The four approaches of the roundabout have different entry angles and radii. The revised models were drafted by strategically placing the S-curve at each approach and by steadily increasing their deflection angle and approach radius. The base and revised models cases were initially modelled, after which the conventional linear approach was modified to an S-curve and evaluated. Field data from the locations were to and calibrate microsimulation models on AIMSUN. The resulting trajectory data was analyzed for both the base case as well as three levels of experimental S-curves (ranging from 30 to 60 degrees) on each roundabout approach (16 total). The results provide evidence to suggest that a significant reduction in speed can be realized with a minimal amount of the reverse curvature on the roundabout approach. The trajectory output files were then imported into the Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM) to determine the number and type of conflicts experienced at each approach under each scenario evaluated in AIMSUN.

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable measure and attendant rating scale for the assessment of the sight-reading skills of classical guitarists at the beginning of collegiate study. This study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What musical components and their ranges of values should be measured in a sight-reading assessment for entry-level collegiate classical guitarists? 2. Can a valid and reliable sight-reading assessment for classical guitarists be constructed? 3. Can a rating scale or other scoring mechanism be constructed that would be easy to use and promote a high degree of objectivity and reliability? Tentative standards were drawn from data acquired by means of an electronic survey questionnaire sent to collegiate guitar teachers throughout North America (N = 1,193) which yielded 241 responses. Musical elements that emerged from the survey results were validated by comparison with specific works from the guitar’s literature that were recommended by survey respondents as appropriate for testing sight-reading skills at the college-entry level, as well as with published sample sight-reading exams. The emergent elements were constructed into six short musical exams and a rating sheet for each, loosely patterned after the scoring mechanism of the Watkins-Farnum Performance Scale. These exams constituted the pilot test, which was administered to 14 student volunteers by their college guitar instructors. Internal reliability coefficients were obtained using several methods, all of which were strong (generally in the .82 to .98 range). Interrater reliability coefficients were also strong (.91 to .99). Based on analysis of the pilot results and suggestions from teachers, one of the original assessments was slightly modified, a new assessment was constructed, and rating sheets developed. The same procedures used in the pilot test were followed in the field test, which was administered to 28 volunteer students. Internal reliability using several methods resulted in coefficients generally in the .90 to .96 range, and interrater reliabilities ranged from .87 to .98.