Patients with heart failure (HF) must monitor and recognize escalating symptoms to manage worsening HF in a timely manner. However, routine symptom monitoring is not commonly performed by this population. Providing a symptom diary along with an education and counseling session may help HF patients promote symptom monitoring and interpretation. The accumulated information about changes in daily symptoms will allow patients to easily compare current symptom status to the past without depending on memory and can rapidly capture worsening HF. To date, few studies have tested the effect of a daily symptom diary. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop and test a symptom diary intervention to improve outcomes in HF patients. Prior to testing the intervention, preliminary work included: (1) determining the impact of symptom clusters on cardiac event-free survival; (2) evaluating the quality of existing symptom measures designed for HF patients; (3) evaluating the effect of physical symptom items that were often included in a depressive symptom instrument on cardiac event-free survival; and (4) evaluating the association between symptom monitoring and self-care management. Based on this information, a randomized, controlled pilot study was conducted to test the effect of a symptom diary with an education and counseling intervention on prognosis, healthrelated quality of life (HRQOL), and self-care maintenance at 3 months follow-up. A total of 44 hospitalized patients with HF were randomly assigned to either usual care or intervention providing a daily symptom diary with education and counseling. There were trends toward fewer HF events and improved self-care maintenance in the intervention group compared to the usual care group. However, there was no difference in HRQOL between the two groups. The results of this dissertation suggest the importance of assessing symptom clusters and further studies to improve the quality of existing HF symptom measures. Results from this dissertation also provided the evidence of the advantages of regular symptom monitoring to facilitate early identification of worsening HF and initiation of timely responses. However, further studies are needed to provide additional evidence of the positive impact of a use of daily symptom diary in patients with HF.

Wayfinding is the process of using one or more tools to move from one location to another in order to accomplish a task or to achieve a goal. This qualitative study explores the process of wayfinding as it applies to locating information in a public library. A group of volunteers were asked to find a selection of items in three types of libraries-traditional, contemporary, and modern. The retrieval process was timed and the reactions of the volunteers were recorded, documented, and analyzed. The impact of various wayfinding tools-architecture, layout, color, signage, computer support, collection organization-on the retrieval process was also identified. The study revealed that many of the wayfinding tools currently available in libraries do not facilitate item retrieval. Inconsistencies, ambiguities, obstructions, disparities, and operational deficiencies all contributed to end-user frustration and retrieval failure. The study suggests that failing to address these issues may prompt library patrons-end users who are increasingly interested in finding information with minimal expenditures of time and effort-may turn to other information-retrieval strategies and abandon a system that they find confusing and frustrating.

Master of Science / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Malgorzata J. Rys / Before year 2012 the US States must implement and continue using an assessment or management method to maintain traffic signs’ retro-reflectivity at or above the minimum levels adopted by FHWA. Overhead guide signs are a particular problem because past research has shown that with available sheeting types, external illumination may still be necessary. Newer sheeting types and more energy efficient and cost-effective lighting systems are currently available. Over the next several years there is potential for savings of tens of thousands of dollars if the states don’t have to use external illumination for their overhead guide signs, or, if more energy efficient, low cost lighting systems are used when necessary. A detailed literature review was conducted on minimum retro-reflectivity values for overhead guide signs, the legibility distance under reduced sign luminance and the lighting systems available for external illumination. There is no agreement found in the previous research studies as to what is the optimum or minimum luminance of the guide signs. In addition, a survey was sent to all state DOTs. This survey was focused on finding states’ policies regarding the use of sheeting type and external illumination requirement, and methods and lighting systems for maintaining minimum values for overhead guide sign luminance. The total response rate was 56% (28 out of 50 state DOTs responded). Out of 28 respondents 19 said that they have usage policy for the type of sheeting material used for overhead guide signs and 18 of them provided details about their policy. An equipment to control the illumination levels from vehicle headlamps was built and pilot tests were conducted in the laboratory. A pulse-with-modulation dimming circuit designed around the Atmel ARM-based microcontroller board and power MOSFETs was used to control the brightness of the headlights for the high- and low-beams. Field tests were conducted in the later stages during nighttime to evaluate three different types of sheeting materials using 10 human subjects from age group 18-34. The materials DG3 and Type IV were found to perform better than Type I material for nighttime visibility but they were not significantly different from each other.

M.Ing. (Transportation) / Consecutive green phases at signalized intersections are separated by an amber and sometimes all-red period to allow a safe changeover from flow in one direction to another. Al though this signal change interval consists of only a few seconds, existing practice in setting this signal change interval varies considerably. Research on this subj ect has focused on understanding how individual drivers react when they are confronted by a change signal. Identifying the factors that describe the need for different change intervals can most easily be determined by measuring the aggregated behaviour of motorists under conditions where these factors vary. Evidence suggests that the South African driver overseas counterpart regarding his attitude towards interval differs from his the signal change Field observations of drivers' aggregated behaviour when confronted by a change interval were made at 17 approaches to 9 different intersections. The linear relationship between the signal change interval and various factors which apparently have an influence on the need for such a period were determined. The regression models were also structured to allow evaluation of existing models such as the well-known ITE-formula. The results were evaluated statistically. It was not possible to calibrate the ITE-formula for South African conditions. The approach adopted here conforms to tiling designs that use a constant (for a specific approach) amber interval. This constant is probably a summation of the influence of all the factors which influence the need for a signal change interval. The use of the clearance time for a crossing, as the all-red period, is also ascertained.

Neste trabalho são feitas comparações entre os principais sinais horizontais de trânsito (Parada Obrigatória, Faixa de Pedestre e Lombada) padronizados pelo Código de Trânsito Brasileiro (CTB), com modelos alternativos que sofreram variações na forma e/ou cor, alguns deles já usados em algumas cidades brasileiras, com o objetivo de identificar se essas alterações melhoram ou não a percepção do sinal (impacto visual). Para isso são utilizados dois métodos da Psicofísica. Numa primeira etapa a análise é feita utilizando o Método de Comparação aos Pares, para um grupo de quatro estímulos para cada sinal estudado. Em seguida, aplicando o Método de Estimativa das Categorias, foi avaliado o impacto visual do sinal horizontal de Parada Obrigatória quanto à presença ou ausência de orla externa. Por fim, também pelo Método de Comparação aos Pares, foi avaliado o impacto visual causado pelo uso conjugado de sinais horizontais em cruzamentos não semaforizados. Foram estudadas as combinações entre os sinais de parada obrigatória, faixa de pedestres e faixa de retenção. Os resultados obtidos permitem inferir as seguintes conclusões: as alterações na forma e cor propostas para os sinais de parada obrigatória e faixa de pedestres causam maior impacto visual quando comparadas ao modelo padronizado pelo CTB mas, no caso das lombadas, a sinalização padrão mostrou-se ser mais perceptível; quanto a presença ou não da orla externa no sinal de parada obrigatória, esta demonstrou ser positiva; o uso conjugado dos sinais de parada obrigatória, faixa de pedestres e faixa de retenção é a combinação que mais desperta a atenção dos usuários. / This work compares the main horizontal traffic signs (Obligatory Stop, Zebra Crossing and Bump Mark) standardized by the Brazilian Traffic Code (CTB), with alternative models that suffered variations in the form and/or color, some of them already used in some Brazilians cities, with the objective of identifying those alterations get inpruve better or not the perception ofe the sign (visual impact). Two Psychophysics Methods are used in this comparisons. In a first stage the analysis is made using the Comparision in Pair Method, for a group of four stimulus for each studied sign. Afterwards, applying the Categories Estimative Method, the visual impact of Stop sign was evaluated considering the presence or absence of the border. Finally, also using the Comparison in pairs Method, the visual impact caused by the conjugated use of horizontal signs in intersections without traffic lights was evaluated. The combinations among the signs of Stop, Zebra Crossing and Retention Strip were studied. The obtained results allow to infer the following conclusions: the alterations in the form and color proposed for Stop and Zebra Crossing signs cause higher visual impact when compared to the standardized models by CTB, but in the case of the bumps marks, the standard sign has shown to be more perceptible; with the presence or not of the external border in the Stop sign, this was demonstrated to be positive; The conjugated use of the Stop, Zebra Crossing and Retention Strip signs is the combination that more attracts the users attention.

Aprender decorre da interpretação que cada pessoa faz do que está a sua volta e lhe emite signos. Este pressuposto norteou a construção deste texto, a partir de uma prática docente desenvolvida em duas turmas de estudantes do sexto ano do Ensino Fundamental, por meio da qual se propôs a elaboração do conceito de fração, levando-se em consideração diferentes contextos e significados para essa forma de representação dos números racionais. Os estudantes, em geral, apresentaram elementos indicadores de uma aprendizagem do conteúdo proposto, não concluída em termos de um acabamento conceitual, visto que a representação fracionária referente ao conceito de número racional é móvel, conforme seu contexto de significação. As constatações e percepções experimentadas nessa prática expressaram-se por meio de um fazer compartilhado entre os alunos, complementado por momentos de reflexão individual, e aqui são relatadas por meio da análise dos registros e produções realizadas. Enquanto professor-pesquisador, acompanhado de Deleuze, percebi-me como alguém, cujo fazer docente em um cotidiano de vivências de afetos e decifração de signos altera-se e me afeta de maneira contínua. / Learning derives from the interpretation that each person makes of what surrounds him or her and emits signs. This assumption guided the construction of this text, based on a teaching experience carried out in two classes of sixth grade elementary school students, through which the elaboration of the concept of fraction was proposed, taking into account the different contexts and meanings of this form of representation of rational numbers. In general, the students presented elements that indicate that they learned the proposed content, although not finished in terms of its conceptual completion, considering that the fractional representation of the concept of rational numbers is mobile, according to the context of its meaning. The findings and perceptions experienced in such a practice were expressed through a shared performance among the students, which was complemented by moments of individual reflection, and are reported here through the analysis of records and productions made. As a teacher-researcher, accompanied by Deleuze, I realized myself as a person continuously changed and affected by teaching in a daily life of affections and decipherment of signs.

Neste trabalho são feitas comparações entre os principais sinais horizontais de trânsito (Parada Obrigatória, Faixa de Pedestre e Lombada) padronizados pelo Código de Trânsito Brasileiro (CTB), com modelos alternativos que sofreram variações na forma e/ou cor, alguns deles já usados em algumas cidades brasileiras, com o objetivo de identificar se essas alterações melhoram ou não a percepção do sinal (impacto visual). Para isso são utilizados dois métodos da Psicofísica. Numa primeira etapa a análise é feita utilizando o Método de Comparação aos Pares, para um grupo de quatro estímulos para cada sinal estudado. Em seguida, aplicando o Método de Estimativa das Categorias, foi avaliado o impacto visual do sinal horizontal de Parada Obrigatória quanto à presença ou ausência de orla externa. Por fim, também pelo Método de Comparação aos Pares, foi avaliado o impacto visual causado pelo uso conjugado de sinais horizontais em cruzamentos não semaforizados. Foram estudadas as combinações entre os sinais de parada obrigatória, faixa de pedestres e faixa de retenção. Os resultados obtidos permitem inferir as seguintes conclusões: as alterações na forma e cor propostas para os sinais de parada obrigatória e faixa de pedestres causam maior impacto visual quando comparadas ao modelo padronizado pelo CTB mas, no caso das lombadas, a sinalização padrão mostrou-se ser mais perceptível; quanto a presença ou não da orla externa no sinal de parada obrigatória, esta demonstrou ser positiva; o uso conjugado dos sinais de parada obrigatória, faixa de pedestres e faixa de retenção é a combinação que mais desperta a atenção dos usuários. / This work compares the main horizontal traffic signs (Obligatory Stop, Zebra Crossing and Bump Mark) standardized by the Brazilian Traffic Code (CTB), with alternative models that suffered variations in the form and/or color, some of them already used in some Brazilians cities, with the objective of identifying those alterations get inpruve better or not the perception ofe the sign (visual impact). Two Psychophysics Methods are used in this comparisons. In a first stage the analysis is made using the Comparision in Pair Method, for a group of four stimulus for each studied sign. Afterwards, applying the Categories Estimative Method, the visual impact of Stop sign was evaluated considering the presence or absence of the border. Finally, also using the Comparison in pairs Method, the visual impact caused by the conjugated use of horizontal signs in intersections without traffic lights was evaluated. The combinations among the signs of Stop, Zebra Crossing and Retention Strip were studied. The obtained results allow to infer the following conclusions: the alterations in the form and color proposed for Stop and Zebra Crossing signs cause higher visual impact when compared to the standardized models by CTB, but in the case of the bumps marks, the standard sign has shown to be more perceptible; with the presence or not of the external border in the Stop sign, this was demonstrated to be positive; The conjugated use of the Stop, Zebra Crossing and Retention Strip signs is the combination that more attracts the users attention.

Esta dissertação é um estudo sobre o cinema de Eugène Green. A sua estrutura se dividirá de acordo com o que se supõe ser - do ponto de vista da recepção do espectador - o aspecto central de seus filmes: de um lado, Green conduzirá o seu espectador a se relacionar com o filme pela via da \"leitura\"; de outro, pela via do \"empirismo\". Essa importante distinção dará início a uma série de desdobramentos que serão tratados ao longo da análise de dez cenas selecionadas dos seus dois primeiros longas metragens: Toutes les nuits (2001) no primeiro capítulo e Le Monde vivant (2003) no segundo. Na conclusão da dissertação, trataremos ainda de uma questão suscitada a partir da colocação, lado a lado, dos dois filmes acima citados. / This dissertation is a study of Eugène Green\'s films. Its structure will be divided according to what we suppose to be - in terms of the spectator\'s reception - the central aspect of his films: on one hand, Green will lead the spectator to establish with the film a connection based on the \"reading\"; on the other hand, a connection based on the \"experience\". This important distinction will be developed throughout the analysis of ten selected scenes from Green\'s first two feature films: Toutes les nuits (2001) in the first chapter, and Le Monde vivant (2003) in the second. At the end of the dissertation, a final question will be brought to light by putting together both films.

During the early modern period, practitioners in oftentimes unrelated arts and sciences began to experiment with transcribing and disseminating technical information by means of new symbolic notations. Algebra, music, chemistry, dance—whole fields of knowledge were quite literally rewritten with plus signs, treble clefs, affinity tables, and step symbols. “The Art of Signs” examines why early modern people working within and across disciplinary boundaries converged on the idea that developing complex symbolic notations would ultimately be worthwhile by reconstructing the reasons that they gave for doing so. It argues that symbolic notations appealed because they enabled powerful techniques of “visual thinking” that had no analogue in more conventional methods of inquiry. Notations transformed problems of information into problems of visualization whose solutions could then be derived by manipulating the properties of the drawn, two-dimensional plane. Indeed, early modern proponents of notations frequently described them in terms of vision, of being able to “see” things with them that they had not recognized before. However, because established methods of reasoning were predominantly verbal or empirical, symbolic notations and the visual thinking that they entailed necessarily challenged received ideas about how information ought to be represented and how knowledge ought to be discovered. Critics of the new notations argued that, at best, they amounted to a form of intellectual obscurantism that stymied rather than facilitated the circulation of knowledge. At worst, notations harbored disturbing implications for human ingenuity if the generation of new ideas truly could be reduced to the ranging and rearranging of symbols on a piece of paper. All told, “The Art of Signs” argues that early modern debates about the use and abuse of symbolic notations represent an underappreciated component of the epistemological ruptures that characterize the Scientific Revolution. Moreover, by recovering early modern understandings of symbolic notation, this dissertation demonstrates that a historical treatment of early modern semiotic thought can be leveraged to take a fresh look at perennial questions of representation that concern scholars across the humanities.

La mesure cardiaque sans contact réalisée grâce aux méthodes de photopléthysmographie sans contact est un domaine de recherche très actif. Depuis l'introduction en 2010 d'une nouvelle méthode de mesure avec des capteurs optiques d'entrée de gamme (webcam PC), les travaux de recherche se sont multipliés. Ainsi, on observe une plus grande diversité des méthodes proposées afin de réaliser la mesure. Egalement, la précision de la mesure a grandement progressé et les scénarios et possibilités d'usage de la technologie sont aujourd'hui très nombreux. Au cœur de ce processus de mesure, la segmentation dans l'image de la ou les zones d'intérêt est une étape clé. Nous proposons dans cette thèse une méthode innovante afin de réaliser la mesure photoplethysmographique sans contact en identifiant implicitement les zones de peau vivante dans la vidéo. Nous avons montré que notre approche permet d'améliorer la qualité de la mesure en favorisant les zones dans l'image où le signal est de plus grande qualité. Afin de rendre possible l'intégration de notre solution, nous avons proposé une nouvelle méthode de segmentation en superpixels, nommée IBIS, qui permet de réduire la complexité algorithmique de cette étape du traitement. Ce faisant, nous avons démontré la faisabilité de l'intégration de notre solution au sein d'une plateforme embarquée. Les différentes méthodes ont été évaluées au travers de plusieurs expérimentations afin de valider leurs performances. Notre méthode de segmentation en superpixels est comparée aux méthodes de l'état de l'art tandis que nous avons implémenté plusieurs des méthodes de mesure du signal photoplethysmographique afin de discuter de l'impact de notre approche sur la qualité de la mesure photoplethysmographique. Que ce soit pour la segmentation en superpixels ou pour l'estimation du rythme cardiaque sans contact, nous avons montré une importante plus-value de nos méthodes comparées à celles disponibles dans la littérature. Les différents travaux présentés dans ce document ont été valorisés au travers de publications en conférences et revue. / Heart-rate estimation performed with remote photoplethysmography is a very active research field. Since pioneer works in 2010, which demonstrated the feasibility of the measure with low-grade consumers’ camera (webcam), the number of scientific publications have increased significantly in the domain. Hence, we observe a multiplication of the methods in order to retrieve the photoplethysmographic signal which has led to an increased precision and quality of the heart-rate estimation. Region of interest segmentation is a key step of the processing pipeline in order to maximize the quality of the measured signal. We propose a new method to perform remote photoplethysmographic measurement using an implicit living skin identification method. Hence, we have shown that our approach lead to an improvement in both quality of the signal measured and precision of the heart-rate estimation by favoring more contributive area. As we are working with hardware integration constraint, we propose a new superpixels segmentation method which requires significantly less computation power than state of the art methods by reducing the algorithmic complexity of this step. Moreover, we have demonstrated the integration and real time capabilities by implementing our solution to an embedded device. All of our proposed method have been evaluated through different experimentations. Our new segmentation method, called IBIS, have been compared to state of the art methods to quantify the quality of the produced segmentation. To quantify the impact of our approach on the quality of the photoplethysmographic measure, we have implemented and compared state of the art methods with our proposed method. For both the superpixels segmentation and remote heart-rate estimation, our methods have shown great results and advantages compared to state of the art ones. Our works have been reviewed by the scientific community through several conference presentations and journal publications.