Tesi sul tema "Nodus"

Orientador: Luiz Carlos Zeferino
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas
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Resumo: Objetivos: Avaliar a detecção do linfonodo sentinela em pacientes com câncer do colo do útero utilizando a combinação de azul patente com tecnécio99m e complicações associadas ao uso do azul patente. Sujeitos e métodos: Este foi um estudo de uma série de casos, para o qual foram selecionadas 56 mulheres com diagnóstico de câncer do colo do útero estádios Ia2,Ib1,Ib2 e IIa da FIGO, que se submeteram ao procedimento de identificação do linfonodo sentinela. O período de realização do estudo foi de maio de 2006 a dezembro de 2007. O estudo é apresentado em dois artigos: o primeiro consiste na detecção do linfonodo sentinela no câncer do colo do útero pela combinação do azul patente com tecnécio 99m e avalia a concordância entre a linfocintigrafia pré-operatória e o mapeamento linfático intra-operatório com o gama probe; o segundo consiste na avaliação das alterações da oximetria de pulso das pacientes submetidas à cirurgia após a injeção do azul patente. Resultados: No primeiro artigo identificou-se pelo menos um linfonodo sentinela em 83,13% das pacientes e a localização mais freqüente destes linfonodos foi na cadeia ilíaca externa. A sensibilidade, especificidade, valor preditivo positivo e valor preditivo negativo foram, respectivamente, 80%, 100%, 100% e 97,67% no histopatológico de congelação. Além disso, observou-se que linfocintigrafia pré operatória detecta um número consideravelmente menor de linfonodos sentinelas quando comparado ao mapeamento linfático intra-operatório com o gama probe. No segundo estudo observou-se que somente uma paciente apresentou reação anafilática. Treze pacientes apresentaram queda de oximetria de pulso (menor que 96% de saturação) após a injeção do azul patente no colo do útero, que durou em média cinco minutos e sem repercussões clínicas; essa queda se associou de forma limítrofe com tumores maiores e localizados ao redor do orifício externo do canal cervical. Conclusões: Concluiu-se que a combinação do azul patente com o tecnécio99m demonstrou excelentes resultados na detecção do linfonodo sentinela; a linfocintigrafia pré-operatória não oferece qualquer vantagem em relação ao mapeamento linfático intra-operatório com azul patente e tecnécio99m. Não houve repercussões clínicas devido à queda da oximetria de pulso e essas alterações se correlacionaram, embora com significância limítrofe, com tumores maiores e localizados ao redor do orifício cervical externo.
Abstract: Objectives: To evaluate sentinel lymph node detection in cervical cancer patients using a combination of patent blue dye and technetium99m and assess complications associated with the use of patent blue dye. Subjects and methods: This study investigated a case series that selected 56 women diagnosed with FIGO stage Ia2, Ib1, Ib2 and IIa cervical cancer who underwent a procedure for sentinel lymph node identification. The study was conducted from May 2006 to December 2007 and was described in two articles. The first article was about a study of sentinel lymph node detection in cervical cancer using a combination of patent blue dye and technetium99m. It assessed the agreement between preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative lymphatic mapping with a gamma probe. The second article focused on the evaluation of changes in pulse oximetry readings in patients undergoing surgery after patent blue injection. Results: In the first article, at least one sentinel lymph node was identified in 83.13% of the patients and the most frequent site for finding sentinel lymph nodes was the external iliac chain. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 80%, 100%, 100% and 97.67% respectively on histopathology examination of frozen biopsy. In addition, it was observed that preoperative lymphoscintigraphy detected a substantially lower number of sentinel lymph nodes when compared to intraoperative lymphatic mapping with a gamma probe. In the second study, only one patient presented with an anaphylactic reaction. Thirteen patients showed a decrease in pulse oximetry readings (less than 96% saturation) after patent blue injection into the cervix, which lasted an average of five minutes and had no clinical repercussions. There was a borderline association between this decline in oxygen saturation values and tumors that were larger and located around the external cervical os. Conclusions: It was concluded that a combination of patent blue dye and technetium99m demonstrated excellent results in the detection of sentinel lymph nodes. Preoperative lymphoscintigraphy offers no advantage in relation to intraoperative lymphatic mapping with patent blue dye and technetium99m. There were no clinical repercussions due to lower oxygen saturation values. These changes correlated with tumors that were larger and located around the external cervical os, although the significance of this correlation was borderline.
Doutorado
Ciencias Biomedicas
Doutor em Tocoginecologia

Uvod: Hirurško lečenje nodozne bolesti štitaste žlezde predstavlja jednu od najčešće izvođenih operacija u endokrinoj hirurgiji. Pored klasičnih hirurških metoda, poslednjih godina su se pojavile različite tehnike minimalno invazivne tireoidektomije kao rezultat sveukupnog trenda razvoja minimalno invazivnih hirurških tehnika. Kliničke indikacije i prednosti izvođenja minimalno invazivne video-asistirane tiroidektomije (MIVAT) u odnosu na klasičnu hiruršku tehniku u lečenju nodozne bolesti štitaste žlezde su i dalje nedovoljno definisane i u fokusu su savremenih istraživanja. Cilj istraživanja je procena učestalosti komplikacija (intraoperativno i postoperativno krvarenje, pareza i paraliza laringealnog živca, hipoparatireoidizam) tokom i nakon minimalno invazivne tireoidektomije u nodoznim benignim oboljenjima štitaste žlezde uz poređenje sa klasičnom tireoidektomijom, da se ispita intenzitet postoperativnog bola, merenjem pomoću vizuelno analogne skale tokom sedam postoperativnih dana, nakon minimalno invazivne tireoidektomije u nodoznim benignim oboljenjima štitaste žlezde uz poređenje sa klasičnom tireoidektomijom, kao i da se ispita dužina bolničkog boravka nakon minimalno invazivne tireoidektomije u nodoznim benignim oboljenjima štitaste žlezde uz poređenje sa klasičnom tireoidektomijom. Metodologija: Ispitivanje je sprovedeno kao prospektivna, kontrolisana randomizirana studija, u trajanju od novembra 2014. do aprila 2016. godine i obuhvatila je analizu 100 pacijenata operisanih na Klinici za grudnu hirurgiju Instituta za plućne bolesti Vojvodine zbog nodozne bolesti štitaste žlezde. Svi ispitanici su podeljeni u dve osnovne grupe u odnosu na operativnu tehniku: klasična metoda (KM) i minimalno invazivna videoasistirana metoda (MIVAM). Faze u toku ispitivanja su obuhvatile: analizu podataka o preoperativnim morfo-funkcionalnim dijagnostičkim testovima za nodoznu bolest štitaste žlezde (karakteristike ultrazvučnog nalaza nodozne promene i vrednosti volumena izmenjenog režnja štitaste žlezde), nalaz citološkog pregleda punktata tiroidnog nodusa dobijenog tankom iglom, laboratorijski pokazatelji poremećaja štitaste žlezde u cilju definisanja funkcionog stanja, odnosno postojanja autoimunog oboljenja štitaste žlezde; analizu perioperativnih karakteristika hirurških metoda [dužina incizije (cm), operativno vreme (min), težina odstranjenog patoanatomskog supstrata (gr), intraoperativni gubitak krvi (ml)], analiza ranih postoperativnih komplikacija (krvarenje i hematom, povreda donjeg rekurentnog laringealnog živca (nalaz direktne laringoskopije na kraju operacije), hipokalcemija, kolaps traheje, edem larinksa, serom, infekcija, dehiscencija], analiza nehirurških komplikacija, dužina hospitalizacije u danima, intenzitet i dužina trajanja postoperativnih bolova [(upotreba vizuelno analogne skale (VAS) bola 1, 2 i 7 postoperativnog dana)], kasne postoperativne komplikacije (6 meseci nakon operacije), stepen zadovoljstva esteskim rezultatom (anketa sprovedena na kontrolnom pregledu 6 meseci nakon operacije-kozmetski skor). Rezultati: U periodu izvođenja studije od novembra 2014. do aprila 2016. godine, nakon primene kriterijuma za uključivanje/isključivanje iz studije od 175 preostalo je 102 ispitanika, zbog patohistološkog nalaza maligniteta ex tempore biopsije kod jednog pacijenta, a kao i zbog intraoperativno uočenih izraženih adhezivnih promena kod jednog pacijenta urađena je konverzija, odnosno promena operativne tehnike minimalno invazivne u klasičnu metodu. U statističku obradu je uključeno ukupno 100 ispitanika podeljenih u dve grupe: grupu I bolesnika - KM (n = 50) i grupu II bolesnika - MIVAM (n = 50). U ispitivanje je ukupno uključeno 78 žena i 22 muškarca. U odnosu na polnu strukturu u ispitivanim grupama nije uočena postojanje statistički značajne zastupljenosti u zastupljenosti muškog (p = 0,18), odnosno ženskog pola (p = 0,59). Takođe, uočeno je da među grupama ispitanika ne postoji statistički značajna razlika po godinama života (p = 0,16). Nije bilo statistički značajne razlike između ispitivanih grupa u odnosu na vrstu oboljenja štitaste žlezde i funkcioni status, kao ni u odnosu na ultrazvučne karakteristike solitarnog (dominantnog) nodusa kod ispitanika (veličine nodusa, ehogenost nodusa, ivica nodusa, kalcifikacija, vaskularizacije), u odnosu na citološku dijagnozu aspirata uboda tankom iglom (benigni, neodgovarajući, sumnjivi), te u odnosu na volemn izmenjenog režnja. Analizom perioperativnih pokazatelja hirurških metoda u grupi MIVAM je utvrđena statički značajno manja dužina incije u odnosu na KM grupu (2,0 ± 0,5 cm vs. 7 ± 1,9 cm, p = 0,00), dok se težina patoanatomskog supstata (18,3 ± 6,4 vs. 19,6 ± 5,2 gr, p = 0,21), operativno vreme za izvođenje lobektomije (54 ± 14 vs. 61 ± 16 min, p = 0,25), odnosno operativno vreme za izvođenje tireoidektomije (72 ± 27 vs. 85 ± 24 min, p = 0,36) nisu statitički značajno razlikovali između ispitivanih grupa. U grupi MIVAM, rane postoperativne komplikacije (krvarenje, povreda donjeg rekurentnog laringealnog živca I hipokalcemija) su se javile kod 8% (4/50), a u KM grupi kod je 10% (5/50), što nije bilo statistički značajno (p = 0,72). U odnosu na kasne postoperativne komplikacije, samo je kod jednog pacijenta iz MIVAM grupe registrovano postojanje keloida, dok se (trajni hipoparatiroidizam, recidivantni hipertiroidizam, reakcija na strano telo) nije zabeleženo. Nije uočena statistički značajna razlika (p > 0,005 za sve) u zastupljenosti vrste nalaza patohistološkog pregleda odstranjenog supstrata (koloidna struma, folikularni adenoma, cista, papilarni karcinom i Hashimoto tiroiditis). Pacijenti iz MIVAM grupe statistički značajno imaju manji prosečan intenzitet bola po VAS skali u vremenskim intervalima nakon operacije 6h, 24h i 48 h (p < 0,05, za sve). Ukupni kozmetski skor je bio statistički značajno viši u MIVAM grupi u odnosu na KM grupu (18,9 ± 1,4 vs. 15,8 ± 1,3, p = 0,00). Zaključci:Učestalost ranih postoperativnih komplikacija (intraoperativno i postoperativno krvarenje, pareza i paraliza laringealnog živca, hipokalcemija) je bez signifikantne razlike, praktično podjedanaka kod pacijenata operisanih minimalno invazivnom metodom u komparaciji sa klasičnom metodom. Prosečna dužina trajanja minimalno invazivne tireoidektomije i klasične tireoidektomije je bez signifikatne razlike, što može govoriti o odgovarajućem nivou hirurške tehnike koji omogućava prednosti minimalne invazivnosti kao hirurškog principa. Dužina hospitalizacije nakon minimalno invazivne tireoidektomije je značajno kraća u odnosu na klasičnu tireoidektomiju, što značajno doprinosi sveukupnom oporavku pacijenta, a na taj način i troškovi lečenja se umanjuju.Primena minimalno invazivne tireoidektomije u odnosu na klasičnu tireoidektomiju, dovodi do smanjenja subjektivnog osećaja postoperativnog bola, u toku hospitalizacije (6 i 24 h), kao i sedam dana nakon intervencije. Kozmetski skor, kao pokazatelj zadovoljstva pacijenta sa izgledom ožiljka je statistički značano viši kod pacijenata koji su operisani minimalno invazivnom hirurškom tehnikom u odnosu na pacijente koji su operisani klasičnom metodom, što je u odnosu na predominantnu zastupljenost ženskog pola u ispitivanim grupama od posebnog značaja pri odabiru terapijskog tretmana. Prema rezultatima studije, nameće se opravdanost i potreba uvođenja minimalno invazivne tiroidektomije u standardnu kliničku praksu kao metode hirurškog lečenja nodozne bolesti štitaste žlezde kod pacijenata sa urednim funkcionim statusom štitaste žlezde, kod kojih je veličina solitarnog/dominantnog nodusa do 35 mm.
INTRODUCTION: Surgical treatment of nodular thyroid disease is one of the most commonly performed procedures in endocrine surgery. In addition to traditional surgical methods, different techniques of minimally invasive thyreoid surgery have been developed. Clinical indications for the surgical treatment of nodular thyroid disease with minimally invasive video-assisted surgical technique are still insufficiently defined. The aim of the study was to estimate the incidence of complications (intraoperative and postoperative bleeding, paresis and paralysis of the laryngeal nerve, hypoparathyroidism) during and after minimally invasive thyroidectomy in benign nodular thyroid disease with a comparison with conventional thyroidectomy, to examine the intensity of postoperative pain, measured by a visual analog scale for seven postoperative days after surgery, as well as to examine the length of hospitalisation after minimally invasive thyroidectomy with a comparison with conventional thyroidectomy. METHODOLOGY: The study was conducted as a prospective, randomized controlled studies, from November 2014 to April 2016 and included the analysis of 100 patients operated at the Clinic for Thoracic Surgery, Institute for Pulmonary Diseases due to nodular thyroid disease. All subjects were divided into two basic groups according to the surgical technique: classical method (KM) and minimally invasive video-assisted method (MIVAM). Stages during the study included: analysis of data on preoperative morpho-functional diagnostic tests for thyroid disease (characteristic ultrasound findings, nodule caracteristics, volume of exchanged thyroid gland lobe), cytologic examination of aspirates of thyroid nodules obtained by fine needle, laboratory indicators of thyroid disorders gland in order to define the functional status and the presence of autoimmune thyroid disease; analysis of perioperative characteristics of surgical methods [incision length (cm), operative time (min), weight of removed pathoanatomic substrate (gr), intraoperative blood loss (ml)], the analysis of early postoperative complications (bleeding and hematoma, injury to lower recurrent laryngeal nerve (finding direct laryngoscopy at the end of the operation), hypocalcemia, the collapse of the trachea, laryngeal edema, seroma, infection, dehiscence] analysis nonsurgical complications, length of hospitalisation in hours, the intensity and duration of postoperative pain [(use of the visual analog scale (VAS) pain 1, 2 and 7 postoperative days)], late postoperative complications (6 months after surgery), the level of aesthetic satisfaction score (on control examination 6 months after surgery-cosmetic score). RESULTS: In the period of the study from November 2014 to April 2016, from 175 patients with nodular thyreoid disease 102 was observed after application of the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Since in the further analysis two patients was exluded (due to histological findings of malignancy ex tempore biopsy in one patient, and because of a perceived intraoperatively expressed adhesive changes in one patient underwent conversion) in statistical analysis patients were devided into two groups: group I patients - KM (n = 50) and group II patients - MIVAM (n = 50). The study included a total of 78 women and 22 men, it was observed that between the groups there was no statistically significant difference according to age (p = 0,16). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of the type of thyroid gland function and functional status, as well as in relation to the ultrasonographic characteristics of solitary (dominant) nodule in the subjects (the size of nodules, echogenicity nodes, the edge nodes, calcification, vascularization), the cytological diagnosis of fine needle aspiration puncture (benign, inappropriate, suspicious) and with respect to the lobe volume. The analysis of indicators of perioperative surgical methods in the group MIVAM was significantly smaller length compared to KM group (2,0 ± 0,5 cm vs. 7 ± 1,9 cm, p = 0,00), until the weight of pathoanatomic supstrate (18,3 6 ± 4 vs. 19 ± 6 5 2 g, p = 0,21), the operating time for performing a lobectomy (54 ± 14 vs. 61 ± 16 min, p = 0,25) or operative time to perform the surgery (72 ± 27 vs. 85 ± 24 min, p = 0,36) were not significantly different between the groups. The group MIVAM, early postoperative complications (bleeding, injury to the lower recurrent laryngeal nerve and hypocalcemia) occurred in 8% (4/50), and KM group in 10% (5/50), which was not statistically significant (p = 0,72). Compared to late postoperative complications, only one patient from group MIVAM registered the existence of keloids, while (permanent hypoparathyroidism, recurrent hyperthyroidism, a reaction to a foreign body) was not recorded. There was no statistically significant difference (p > 0,005 for all) in the presence of histological types of findings review the removed substrate (colloid goiter, follicular adenoma, cysts, papillary carcinoma and Hashimoto's thyroiditis). Patients in MIVAM groups have significantly lower average pain intensity by VAS scale at intervals after surgery 6h, 24h and 48 h (p < 0,05, for all). Total cosmetic score was significantly higher in MIVAM group compared to the KM group (18,9 ± 1,4 vs. 15,8 ± 1,3, p = 0,00). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of early postoperative complications (intraoperative and postoperative bleeding, paresis and paralysis of the laryngeal nerve, hypocalcemia) were without significant differences between patients operated with minimally invasive method in comparison to the classical method. The average duration of minimally invasive thyroidectomy and classical thyroidectomy were without statistical significance difference, suggesting the appropriate level of surgical technique that enables the advantages of minimal invasiveness as surgical principles. Length of hospitalization after minimally invasive thyroidectomy was significantly shorter compared to conventional thyroidectomy, which significantly contributes to the overall recovery of the patient, lowering the cost of treatment. Minimally invasive thyroidectomy compared to conventional thyroidectomy, decreases the subjective feeling of postoperative pain, during hospitalization (6 and 24 h), as well as seven days after the intervention. In one-fifth of patients who underwent minimally invasive surgery method in the postoperative course of the subjective sensation of pain was not recorded. Cosmetic score as an indicator of patient satisfaction with the appearance of the scar was statistically higher in patients who underwent surgery less invasive surgical technique compared to patients who were operated by the classical method. According to the study, minimally invasive thyroidectomy has been demonstrated to be safe and superior to conventional open techniques for surgical treatment of nodular thyroid disease in patients with normal thyroid function with solitary/dominant nodule size < 35 mm.

Within each web service there is a bottleneck which limits the maximum throughput. In this thesis the bottleneck of the media web service is in the task of transcoding. We explore the option of creating new transcoding nodes on-demand to deal with the computationally expensive task of video transcoding. The thesis presents a prototype for controlling the expansion of a transcoding service into the cloud. Using cloud infrastructure-as-a-service allows for creation of new nodes, without any modication to the software and via a prototype RESTful API using a simple syntax. The prototype also includes a systems integration framework (Chef) to configure new nodes to run any specified service. Due to licensing issues, we could not install the transcoding software itself while performing system testing. A substitute configuration of software of similar complexity was installed instead, and a large suite of tests shows that a single new node can be fully configured and a host notified about the node's existence within approximately 7 minutes. Updates/configurations can then be pushed out to all existing nodes, or a subset of nodes thereof. The destruction of nodes takes less than a minute and implicitly disassociate the nodes with all related resources, allowing for resource management. The thesis also explores the theoretical possibility of using MapReduce as a distributed model for a video transcoding service. Concepts in cloud computing, virtualization, video compression and transcoding are discussed as a part of an in-depth-study.

Ce mémoire analyse certaines pratiques artistiques actuelles (cinéma, performance, photographie) empreintes d’interrogations identitaires et de dualités rejoignant celles de mon projet pictural nous, les autres. La composition inhabituelle du corps et de l’objet-vêtement, dans ce travail, permet de favoriser la controverse et de renouveler les perceptions du regardeur. Tout au long des trois chapitres, six œuvres cinématographiques, performatives et photographiques côtoieront ma série de peintures pour en dévoiler le parcours. De l’identité à la perception, le sujet-objet de mes toiles se joue d’abord de l’image trouble renvoyée au spectateur, tel que le fait l’acteur au cinéma. Entre opposition et annulation, surgit ensuite la fiction neutre et duelle qui émane du performatif, d’où émerge comique et poétique. Finalement, c’est entre hasard et propension que mes choix artistiques de mise en image équilibrent imprévus et réflexes, tout comme la photographie harmonise l’ensemble. Ce mélange matière et couleurs constituant nous, les autres est pour le regardeur une œuvre ouverte prête à déambuler.
This essay explores certain current artistic practices (cinema, performance, photography) marked by identity questions and dualities mirroring those of my pictorial project nous, les autres. Through an unusual composition of body and clothing objects, fictional entities fuel controversy and renew the viewer’s perceptions. In the three chapters, two cinematographic works, two performances and two photographs will stand alongside my series of paintings to reveal their journey. De l’identité à la perception, the subject-object of my paintings, toys with the blurred image shown to the spectator, much like an actor in a movie. Entre opposition et annulation evokes the neutral and dual fiction stemming from a performance giving rise to the poetic and the comical. Finally, entre hasard et propension provides a backdrop for my artistic choice of images to balance mishaps and reflexes, much like photography complementing an ensemble. Through this mixture of matter and colour, nous, les autres takes the form of open artwork.

Ce mémoire est l’aboutissement de mes efforts à nommer et rendre concret ce qui voyage entre les synapses de mon cerveau en ce qui a trait à l’art, à mes visions de l’art, à mes manières de faire de l’art. À la place de l’art comme moteur de changement personnel et social. À la recherche en art. Bref, à l’art comme expérience sensorielle, conceptuelle et esthétique. Personnelle et collective. Se rapprochant plus du style « écrit d’artiste » que d’un texte théorique, ce mémoire propose des réflexions en lien au commun dans ses deux significations. Soit celle qui réfère au banal et celle qui renvoie au collectif. Nous sommes plusieurs se veut une ode au précaire. À l’intuition, aux débuts, au processus. À l’ordinaire, au banal et au commun. À la communauté. Depuis toujours, je baigne dans ces eaux. Je tourne autour de ce pot : le quotidien. Les lectures entreprises associées à ce champ de recherche ont été des plus révélatrices. Ce texte aborde donc les thématiques du quotidien, de l’excellence ordinaire, et des problématiques en lien avec les termes vulgaire, ambigu et superficiel.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-91).
Can one build, and efficiently use, networks of arbitrary size and topology using a "standard" node whose resources, in terms of memory and reliability, do not need to scale up with the complexity and size of the network? This thesis addresses two important aspects of this question. The first is whether one can achieve efficient connectivity despite the presence of a constant probability of faults per node/link. Efficient connectivity means (informally) having every pair of regions connected by a constant fraction of the independent, entirely non-faulty paths that would be present if the entire network were fault free - even at distances where each path has only a vanishingly small probability of being fault-free. The answer is yes, as long as some very mild topological conditions on the high level structure of the network are met - informally, if the network is not too "thin" and if it does not contain too many large "holes". The results go against some established "empyrical wisdom" in the networking community. The second issue addressed by this thesis is whether one can route efficiently on a network of arbitrary size and topology using only a constant number c of bits/node (even if c is less than the logarithm of the network's size!). Routing efficiently means (informally) that message delivery should only stretch the delivery path by a constant factor. The answer again is yes, as long as the volume of the network grows only polynomially with its radius (otherwise, we run into established lower bounds). This effectively captures every network one may build in a universe (like our own) with finite dimensionality using links of a fixed, maximum length and nodes with a fixed, minimum volume. The results extend the current results for compact routing, allowing one to route efficiently on a much larger class of networks than had previously been known, with many fewer bits.
by Enoch Peserico.
Ph.D.

The number of users adopting cellular system technologies over the past years has been enormous. This rapid adoption is not comparable in any other technology. Additionally, this has meant that these users have (at least some of the time) the possibility of connectivity to others and to remote services (advanced data and voice services, such as video conferences, mobile TV, navigation, and location services). Increasingly there is no longer a clear boundary between the wide area cellular network and Internet services, as the wide area cellular network is evolving from circuit switched based technologies to an IP based system; hence these wide area cellular systems are simply becoming part of the Internet. This evolution has become a challenge for the telecommunication operators, who have been used to completely controlling their network services and billing. In an attempt to maintain this traditional role for telecommunication operators, telecommunication vendors have introduced the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). A system designed to enable telecommunication operators to be able to bill the user for all of the different services accessed through the wide area cellular network. The goal of such a system is to prevent the telecommunication operators from becoming a "bit pipe" (i.e., simply providing "commodity priced" connectivity). Another relevant change that has direct impact upon this project is the role of mobile handsets as gateways between sensor networks and other networks (especially the wide area cellular networks or Internet). This has lead to integrated solutions, such as the smart house concept, mobile health monitoring, and others. This thesis project is a collaboration between Ericsson Research and SUUNTO, in which we have implemented a system for monitoring a user’s heart rate via IMS. The system (has a special focus on sports activities, but it could easily be adapted for health care) is based on internetworking sensor networks, specifically a heart rate belt that transmits data wirelessly, with the IMS network through a mobile phone or a PC. The implemented service runs on top of the SIP Presence service. This project examines two alternatives. The first is a mobile scenario, in which a person is jogging outdoors, in this setting the sensor node communicates via the person’s mobile phone, through the IMS network to a monitoring application. The second scenario is more fixed; such as a gym environment, where the sensor node communicates with a personal computer which in turn publishes the data via IMS. Once the data has been published to the Presence and group management sever, an application server subscribed to the athlete’s Presence service will be notified. The people interested in viewing this data will be able to see it through any web-browser. It will even be possible to archive, and download the data for later use by other applications. The system is not optimized yet for a truly real-time communication, as the Presence service does not offer this as other technologies (RTP, SRTP or XMPP) do. There is a big delay difference between the mobile and the fixed solution. We can say that the fixed solution is almost a real-time system for transmitting low frequency data as heart rate information. This project is a first approach to a final high performance system.
Antalet användare som har fått tillgång till mobiltelefon under de senaste åren har varit enorm. Detta snabbt antagande är inte jämförbar med någon annan teknik. Dessutom innebär också detta att dessa användare har (åtminstone ibland) möjligheten till anslutning till andra och till avlägsna tjänster (avancerad data-och taltjänster, t.ex. videokonferenser, mobil TV, navigation och lokaliseringstjänster). Idags läget finns det inte längre en tydlig gräns mellan cellulära nätet och Internettjänster. Efter cellulära nätets utveckling från kretskopplad teknik till ett IP-baserat system, så håller dom cellulära systemem på att bli en del av Internet. Denna utveckling har blivit en utmaning för telekommunikationsföretag, som har varit vana att helt kontrollera sina nättjänster och fakturering. I ett försök att bevara denna traditionella roll för telekommunikationsföretag, har telekom-leverantörer infört IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). Ett system som syftar på att kunna göra telekommunikationsföretagen kapabla till att debitera användaren för alla dem olika tjänsterna som han har tillgång till via deras cellulära nät. Målet med ett sådant system är att förhindra telekommunikationsföretagen från att bli en "bit pipe" (dvs bara ge prissatt konnektivitet). En annan betydelsefull förändring som har direkt inverkan på detta projekt är den roll som mobiltelefoner kan utföra som gateways mellan sensornätverk och cellulära nät eller Internet. Detta har påverkat flera integrerade lösningar, såsom smarta hus begrepp, mobil hälsoövervakning och andra. Denna examensarbetes projekt är ett samarbete mellan Ericsson Research och Suunto, där vi har implementerat ett system för övervakning av en användares hjärtslag genom IMS. Systemet (har en särskild inriktning på sport, men det kan lätt anpassas för hälso-och sjukvård) är baserad på Internetworking sensornätverk, särskilt en hjärtfrekvens bälte som överför data trådlöst till en mobiltelefon eller en dator, som sedan skickar ut datan via IMS-nätverket. Tjänsten genomförs ovan på SIP Presence service. Projektet undersöker två alternativ. Den första är en mobil scenario; exempelvis där en person joggar utomhus, vid ett sådant tillfälle kommunicerar sensorn noden genom personens mobiltelefon, via IMS-nätverk med en övervaknings application. Det andra scenariot är mer statiskt och ger inte samma rörlighet, denna lösning passar bättre in på gym activiteter eller liknande. I denna implementering kommunicerar sensorn noden med en persondator som i sin tur publicerar uppgifterna via IMS. När uppgifterna har publicerats hos Presence and group management (PGM) servern. En applikations server som är uppskriven på att få friidrottarens närvaro tjänst kommer att meddelas. De människor som intresserade av att se denna data kommer att kunna göra det via någon webbläsare. Det kommer även att vara möjligt att arkivera och hämta datan för senare en användning men andra tillämpningar. Systemet är inte optimerad ännu för en verkligt realtid, eftersom Presence service inte erbjuder detta ännu som andra tekniker (RTP, SRTP eller XMPP) gör. Det finns en stor fördröjning skillnad mellan den mobila och fasta lösningen. Vi kan säga att den fasta lösningen är nästan ett realtids-system för överföring av lågfrekventa uppgifter som hjärtslag information. Detta projekt är en första strategi för en slutlig högpresterande system.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa requires sustained economic growth in order to alleviate the poverty of its urban population. This study is based on the hypothesis that in order to sustain the existing "good" infrastructure and secure the "high-quality" human resource base of our country, it is necessary to be proactive with regard to the management of commercial/business nodes in order to ensure that they do not deteriorate or become stifled and/or excluded from delivering their full economic potential/contribution towards the urban economy. This study contains a synopsis of the research conducted by the author on behalf of the City of Cape Town - Economic Development and Tourism Directorate during 2003. The purpose was to develop a uniform model to ascertain and monitor the economic health of business areas within the Cape Town metropole. The research was presented to the City of Cape Town in the form of a protocol, which has subsequently been utilised to establish economic profiles for the Athlone Central Business District, Gatesville/Rylands business centre and Airport Industria. The focus and purpose of the protocol was to place tbe City Council in a position whereby the relative economic health of specific business/mixed-use areas within the Cape Metropolitan Area can be properly assessed, selected interventions made where necessary and results monitored. The point of departure that was adopted from the outset was that the assessment need not just relate to negative trends or indications of economic distress, but that there is substantial merit in assessing nodes that are seemingly "getting it right" or "booming".
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika benodig volgehoue ekonomiese groei ten einde die armoede van sy stedelike bevolking te verlig. Hierdie navorsing is gebaseer op die hipotese dat ten einde die bestaande "goeie" infrastruktuur te handhaaf en ons land se menslike hulpbronbasis van hoë gehalte te verseker, dit nodig is om proaktief te wees ten opsigte van die bestuur van kommersiële/sakepunte ten einde te verseker dat hulle nie agteruitgaan of doodwurg en/of uitgesluit raak van die lewering van hulle volle ekonomiese potensiaal/bydrae tot die stedelike ekonomie nie. Hierdie tesis bevat 'n sinopsis van die navorsing wat die outeur gedurende 2003 namens die Stad Kaapstad - Direktoraat: Ekonomiese _Ontwikkeling en Toerisme - gedoen het. Die doel was die ontwikkeling van 'n eenvormige model om die ekonomiese welstand van sakegebiede binne die Kaapstadse metropool te bepaal en te monitor. Die navorsing is in die vorm van 'n protokol aan die Stad Kaapstad gelewer. Die protokol is daarna aangewend om ekonomiese profiele vir die Athlone Sentrale Sakegebied, Gatesville/Rylands sakesentrum en Airport Industria op te stel. Die fokus en doel van die protokol was om die Stadsraad in 'n posisie te plaas waardeur die relatiewe ekonomiese welstand van spesifieke sakegebiede of gebiede met verskillende ondernemings in die Kaapse Metropolitaanse Gebied behoorlik geassesseer kan word, geselekteerde intervensies waar nodig gemaak kan word en resultate gemonitor kan word. As uitgangspunt is van die begin aanvaar dat die behoefte aan assessering nie net met negatiewe tendense of aanduidings van ekonomiese nood verband hou nie, maar dat daar ook wesenlike meriete lê in die assessering van gebiede wat op die oog af "dinge regkry" of "floreer".

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is currently performed using radioisotope and blue dye injections. Drawbacks to using radioisotopes include exposure to radiation, limited global availability and a short half-life. A newly developed magnetic technique for identification of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) can overcome these problems. The magnetic technique is nonradioactive as it uses iron oxide particles as a magnetic tracer. The tracer causes a brown colour change in the SLN, which is visualised at surgery and it can be localised intraoperatively using a handheld magnetometer. The aims of this thesis were to evaluate multiple parameters of the magnetic technique using an animal model and to test the feasibility of this technique to identify the SLN(s) in melanoma. In addition, the imaging characteristics of magnetic tracers were investigated, including pre-operative lymphatic staging and postoperative effects of the injection of the magnetic tracer on MRI. A porcine animal model was used to test the magnetic technique and a total of 92 magnetic SLNB procedures were performed in 46 mini-pigs. A range of injected volumes, from 0.06 mL to 2.0 mL, was tested. Histological assessment, magnetic counts, iron content, concentration and time elapse since injections were evaluated. The technique was successfully applied to the porcine model, as evidenced by a 100% identification of the SLN(s) (92/92). The magnetic technique was successful using volumes of as low as 0.06 mL and magnetic tracer was taken up in the SLN(s) within minutes. The MELAMAG trial of the magnetic technique in melanoma, reported in this thesis, evaluated SLN identification rate per patient, with the radioisotope/blue dye and magnetic techniques. The magnetic technique was found to be feasible for SLNB in melanoma with a high SLN identification rate. The magnetic iron oxide tracer can be used as contrast agent for MRI with high sensitivity and specificity for lymphatic staging. This thesis includes a meta-analysis of contrast enhanced MRI for axillary staging in early breast cancer. Is also includes and investigation of the susceptibility artefact of magnetic tracer in the breast following SLN identification using the magnetic technique and it reports its potential impact on subsequent MRI scans.

This project is made for a deeper understanding ofhow frequency and amplitude of the waves that create the controlwave in a Pulse Width Modulated 2-level inverter affect the powerquality and power losses. The results were that a high frequencyreduces the Total Harmonic Distortion but increases the powerloss. The amplitude, however, reduces both the Total HarmonicDistortion and the power loss as it increases. All the analyseswere done in a simulation program called Simulink. The resultscan be applied when improving High Voltage Direct Currentinverters to develop a functional High Voltage Direct Currentgrid that enables wider use of renewable energy sources.
Projektet syftar till att få en djupare förståelse för hur frekvensen och amplituden på de vågor som skapar kontollvågen i en pulsbreddsmodulerad likspänningsomvandlare med två nivåer påverkar effektkvalitén och effektförlusterna. Resultatet av studien var att en hög frekvens minskar ”Total Harmonic Distortion” men ökar effektförlusterna. Amplituden å andra sidan reducerar både ”Total Harmonic Distortion” och effektförlusterna när den ökar. Alla analyserna är gjorda i simuleringsprogrammet Simulink. Resultaten kan appliceras när högspända likspänningsomvandlare vidareutvecklas för att skapa ett fungerande högspänt-likströms elnät som öppnar upp för en bredare användning av förnyelsebara energikällor.
Kandidatexjobb i elektroteknik 2020, KTH, Stockholm

Le monde connaît un intérêt croissant pour l'IoT (Internet des Objets) et de l'écosystème qui y est rattaché. Afin de minimiser l'impact environnemental et les coûts de maintenance rattachés à ces noeuds, il est nécessaire de les alimenter en excluant l'usage de piles et des batteries, pour des coûts environnementaux et de maintenance. Cette thèse a pour vocation d'étudier la faisabilité architecturale de tels noeuds et leur robustesse, afin d'en tirer des conclusions sur d'éventuelles techniques et méthodes d'implémentation qui seront nécessaires à leur mise en oeuvre dans le monde réel. Elle étudiera aussi leurs limitations ou des optimisations pour des situations particulières (différents débits de données, type de données à capter, fréquence d'émission...)
The world is becoming increasingly interested in the IoT (Internet of Things) and the associated ecosystem. In order to minimize the environmental impact and the maintenance costs associated with such nodes, it is necessary to minimize the use of batteries for both environmental and maintenance costs. This thesis aims to study the architectural feasibility of such nodes and their robustness, in order to draw conclusions about techniques and implementation methods that will be necessary for real-world applications. It will also study their limits or possible optimizations for certain situations (data rate, types of data to be captured, frequency of transmission, etc.)

Humans find themselves in increasingly isolated conditions and locked into interaction with mechanical devices. In order to survive in this environment we must question what it is to live at the end of the 20th century. What are we to do if our worst fears for the future come true and what structures can we create to respond to a hostile living environment?
Master of Architecture

L'objectiu de la tesi és analitzar els procediments per avaluar concordança entre mesures, centrant-se en el cas de dades quantitatives.
Al primer capítol es presenta un resum dels mètodes que s'apliquen actualment per analitzar concordança i error de mesura.
Al segon capítol s'analitza el coeficient de concordança en dos sentits: primer es compara amb el coeficient de correlació intraclasse i, posteriorment, s'estudia la seva aplicació en dades de recompte.
Al capítol tres es presenta el model d'equació estructural com un procediment útil per avaluar bioequivalència.
Finalment, en el quart capítol s'ha inclòs el resum de la tesi i les principals conclusions.

L'analyse de la société utopique imaginée par Zamiatine en 1921 dans son roman nous autres permet de dégager les liens de cette œuvre avec la vie politique, intellectuelle, artistique et littéraire durant les premières années du pouvoir soviétique. L'époque de la guerre civile et du communisme de guerre (1917-1921) vit l'instauration en Russie d'une société bolchevique fondée sur des principes radicalement nouveaux. Les rapports de l'état avec l'individu, avec l'art, avec la science et la religion subirent de profondes transformations que Zamiatine a perçues avec une remarquable perspicacité. La première partie de notre étude, "l'individu et l'état", porte sur la formation de l'état soviétique et de l'état universel dans nous autres. La deuxième partie, "l'art et l'état", traite du statut de l'écrivain et de la fonction de l'art. Dans la troisième partie, la science est considérée dans ses réalisations scientifiques et en tant que théorie de la société. L'attitude des bolcheviques vis-à-vis de la religion est analysée à travers les articles de Lénine, Bogdanov, lounatcharski et Gorki. Les années 1917-1921 sont essentielles pour la compréhension de l'idéologie bolchevique
The utopian society as imagined by Zamiatin in his 1921 novel we provides a good insight into the political, intellectual, artistic and literary life during the first years of soviet power. This period (1917-1921) of civil war and wartime communism saw the emergence in Russia of a bolchevik society based upon radically new principles. With remarquable awareness of these events, Zamiatin showed the deep transformation that occurred in the relationships between the state and the individual, the state and art, the state and science and religion. The first part of this work, "the state and the individual", refers to the making of the soviet state as well as the universal state in we. The second part, "the state and the art", looks into the role of a writer and the purpose of art. In the third part science is considered for its accomplishments within the bolchevik society and equally as a theory of that society. The bolchevik attitude towards religion is analysed through the writings of Lenin, Bogdanov, Lunatcharski and Gorki. These years 1917 to 1921 are essential for a proper understanding of bolchevik ideology

Cette recherche examine la définition et la mise en forme d'une identité régionale en Roussillon - terre catalane annexée par la France en 1659 - par une série d'intellectuels locaux, entre la fin du XVIII ème siècle et le début du XXI ème siècle. Elle décrit la manière dont ces hommes ont reçu, adapté, contesté parfois, les théories nationales, française d'abord, puis catalane à partir de la fin du XIxème siècle, et la place qu'ils ont essayé de ménager aux Roussillonnais au sein de la nation française. Elle s'attache à suivre le dialogue que nouent les intellectuels tous sillonnais et catalans au long de ces deux siècles, pour comprendre dans quelle mesure l'idée que les Roussillonnais se font de leurs voisins et de l'Espagne, et celle que les Catalans leur renvoient du Roussillon et de la France, agissent dans ce processus de construction identitaire
This research is about definition and wording of regional identity in Roussillon -catalonian country annexed to France in 1659 -by a pool of local intellectuals, between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 21 st century. It shows the way those men received, adapte d, contested sometimes, french national theory first, and catalonian one, for the end of XIXth century, and the place they try to make for people of Roussillon into french nation. It follows specially the discussions between people of Roussillon and Catalonians during those two centuries, to understand the way the idea french Catalonians have of their neighbours and Spain, and the one Catalonians have of Roussillon and France, act on this process of identity building

À l'heure de l'hyperconsommation, de l'hypersexualité et de l'individualisme ou les grandes vérités s'effondrent, le couple, en tant que modèle unissant deux personnes dans l'exclusivité amoureuse et sexuelle, éclate. Adoptant la forme d'un roman épistolaire, la première partie de la thèse en création littéraire, Sarcophages mon amour, nous aurons vécu nous non plus, témoigne du vide suscité par une certaine désubstantialisation du couple et de l'apparition d'une nouvelle réalite amoureuse. La deuxième partie, L'analyse du vide postmoderne, approfondit la définition de ce mal-être contemporain lié à la perte de sens des modèles amoureux. Dans un premier temps, certaines notions théoriques ont permis de mieux saisir les enjeux philosophiques, sociologiques et littéraires du vide postmoderne. Dans un deuxième temps, j'ai mis l'accent sur trois romans québécois qui ont fait du vide postmoderne leur trame de fond: Le principe du geyser de Stéphane Bourgignon, Marie-Hélène au mois de mars de Maxime-Olivier Moutier et Unless d'Hélène Monette. J'ai effectué enfin un retour sur Sarcophages mon amour, nous aurons vécu nous non plus, tout en explicitant le lien qui unit le vide au genre épistolaire. En somme, ma thèse offre une perspective à la fois créatrice et critique du vide postmoderne.

Over the last few decades, transistor miniaturization has enabled a tremendous increase in the processing capability of commercial electronic devices, which, combined with the reduction of production costs, has tremendously fostered the usage of the Information and communications Technologies (ICTs) both in terms of number of users and required data rates. In turn, this has led to a tremendous increment in the energetic demand of the ICT sector, which is expected to further grow during the upcoming years, reaching unsustainable levels of greenhouse gas emissions as reported by the European Council. Additionally, the autonomy of battery operated devices is getting reduced year after year since battery technology has not evolved fast enough to cope with the increase of energy consumption associated to the growth of the node¿s processing capability. Energy harvesting, which is known as the process of collecting energy from the environment by different means (e.g., solar cells, piezoelectric generators, etc.), has become a potential technology to palliate both of these problems. However, when energy harvesting modules are placed in wireless communication devices (e.g., sensor nodes or hand-held devices), traditional transmission strategies are no longer applicable because the temporal variations of the node¿s energy availability must be carefully accounted for in the design. Apart from not considering energy harvesting, traditional transmission strategies assume that the transmission radiated power is the unique energy sink in the node. This is a reasonable assumption when the transmission range is large, but it no longer holds for low consumption devices such as sensor nodes that transmit to short distances. As a result, classical transmission strategies become suboptimal in short-range communications with low consumption devices and new strategies should be investigated. Consequently, in this dissertation we investigate and design transmission strategies for Wireless Energy Harvesting Nodes (WEHNs) by paying a special emphasis on the different sinks of energy consumption at the transmitter(s). First, we consider a finite battery WEHN operating in a point-to-point link through a static channel and derive the transmission strategy that minimizes the transmission completion time of a set of data packets that become available dynamically over time. The transmission strategy has to satisfy causality constrains in data transmission and energy consumption, which impose that the node cannot transmit data that is not yet available nor consume energy that has not yet been harvested. Second, we consider a WEHN that has an infinite backlog of data to be transmitted through a point-to-point link in a time-varying linear vector Gaussian channel and study the linear precoding strategy that maximizes the mutual information given an arbitrary distribution of the input symbols while satisfying the Energy Causality Constraints (ECCs) at the transmitter. Next, apart from the transmission radiated power, we take into account additional energy sinks in the power consumption model and analyze how these energy sinks affect to the transmission strategy that maximizes the mutual information achieved by a WEHN operating in a point-to-point link. Finally, we consider multiple transmitter and receiver pairs sharing a common channel and investigate a distributed power allocation strategy that aims at maximizing the network sum-rate by taking into account the energy availability in the different transmitters and a generalized power consumption model.
Durant les últimes dècades, la miniaturització del transistor i la reducció dels seus costos de fabricació han provocat un augment substancial del nombre de terminals de comunicacions i del tràfic de dades requerit per aquests dispositius. Així doncs, el consum energètic del sector de les Tecnologies de la Informació i Comunicacions ha incrementat notablement. A més a més, s’espera que aquest consum segueixi creixent durant els propers anys arribant a nivells insostenibles d’emissions de gasos d’efecte hivernacle segons ha informat el Consell Europeu. D’altra banda, la tecnologia de les bateries no ha evolucionat suficientment ràpid com per fer front a l’augment del consum energètic associat al creixement de la capacitat de processament dels dispositius. Això ha ocasionat que l’autonomia dels dispositius que operen amb bateries empitjori any rere any. Les energies renovables (per exemple, energia solar, cinètica, etc.) s’han convertit en una solució potencial per pal•liar aquests dos problemes. No obstant això, quan els dispositius de comunicació sense fils incorporen mòduls de captació d’energies renovables, les estratègies tradicionals de transmissió deixen de ser vàlides, ja que les variacions temporals de la disponibilitat d’energia en el dispositiu han de ser considerades en el disseny. A més a més, les estratègies de transmissió tradicionals assumeixen que la potència radiada és l’única font de consum energètic del node. Aquesta és una suposició raonable per distàncies de transmissió llargues, però deixa de ser vàlida quan es consideren dispositius de baix consum que transmeten en distàncies curtes. Com a resultat, les estratègies de transmissió clàssiques són subòptimes en comunicacions de curt abast amb dispositius de baix consum i per això, s’han d’investigar noves estratègies. En conseqüència, en aquesta tesi doctoral s’investiguen i es dissenyen noves estratègies de transmissió per nodes sense fils que operen amb energies renovables (WEHN) posant un èmfasi especial en les diferents fonts de consum d’energia en el transmissor. En primer lloc, la tesi investiga l’estratègia de transmissió en un enllaç¸ punt a punt a través d’un canal estàtic que minimitza el temps de transmissió d’un conjunt de paquets de dades que s’adquireixen al llarg del temps. L’estratègia de transmissió ha de satisfer les limitacions per causalitat en la transmissió de dades i en el consum d’energia les quals imposen que el node no pot transmetre dades que no han estat encara obtingudes o utilitzar energia que encara no ha estat adquirida. En segon lloc, es considera un WEHN que sempre disposa de dades per a transmetre a través d’un enllaç¸ punt a punt en un canal lineal Gaussià amb variacions temporals. En aquest escenari i, també, donada una distribució arbitrària dels símbols d’entrada, s’estudia l’estratègia de precodificació lineal que maximitza la informació mútua alhora que satisfà la causalitat d’energia en el transmissor. A continuació, a part de la potència radiada en transmissió, s’inclouen en el model de consum energètic els costos d’activació per accés al canal i per portadora. Donat aquest model, s’analitza com aquestes fonts de consum addicionals afecten a l’estratègia de transmissió que maximitza la informació mútua d’un WEHN que opera en un enllaç punt a punt. Finalment, la tesi considera diversos parells transmissor i receptor que comparteixen un canal comú i investiga una estratègia d’assignació de potència distribuïda la qual té com a objectiu maximitzar la suma de les taxes de transmissió dels diferents nodes tenint en compte la disponibilitat energètica en cada transmissor que està basada en un model de consum energètic generalitzat.

Networks are important. They provide a general framework for representing the relationships or interactions which impose dependencies between entities. Network nodes represent entities and the links between them represent relations/interactions. Nodes' attributes contain non-structural features of the entities. For example, in a social network where nodes represent people and links represent friendships, attributes could represent features such as age, race or gender. In many situations it is easy to observe the link structure of a network, but not the attributes of the nodes. For example, in an on-line social network it may be possible to observe all friendships, but the observability of attributes are determined by the user's privacy settings. As a result the state-of-the-art of learning in networks tend to either focus on clustering nodes with similar link patterns (i.e functional communities) or predicting the missing attribute of nodes (i.e. node labels). In this work we bring these two ideas together to examine how the identification of communities and related structures can be used to predict the hidden attributes of the network nodes. The models we present are effective, flexible and principled. They are effective in their ability to predict discrete (either binary or multivalued) and continuous node attributes in real world network datasets. They are flexible in that they can adapt to and identify a wide range of network structures. They are principled in that they are based on sound theoretical methods of Bayesian statistics. We achieve this by a series of novel extensions to the stochastic blockmodel, a probabilistic generative model for identifying functional communities.

Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2006.
Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrónica e Telecomunicações
Recentemente , as redes ópticas de nova geração têm sido motivo de acesa discussão nos meios científicos. Com o aumento verificado nos últimos anos do numero de utilizadores e o aparecimento de novos serviços disponibilizados através das redes de acesso, torna-se cada vez mais claro que a fibra óptica é a única solução para disponibilizar a largura de banda necessária. Neste trabalho é apresentado um novo método passivo capaz de aumentar os níveis de escalabilidade e reconfigurabilidade destas redes. O método consiste no controlo da quantidade de potência de bomba entregue a um amplificador ou conjunto de amplificadores remotos em série, permitindo o controlo independentemente do ganho fornecido por cada amplificador. Utilizando o método proposto consegue-se evitar o uso de componentes activos, ou mais complexos, para controlo da quantidade de potência de bomba a fornecer aos amplificadores remotos, tornando o processo de amplificação simultaneamente passivo e reconfigurável. Foi também desenvolvido, no âmbito deste trabalho, uma ferramenta de simulação baseada em algoritmos genéticos, capaz de simular e determinar a melhor solução para diversos cenários, optimizando os diversos parâmetros. Foi também realizada a caracterização de uma fibra óptica dopada com érbio, onde foi estudado o comportamento do ganho da fibra dopada quando bombeada por um sinal de bomba diferente dos comprimentos de onda nominais, 980nm e 1480nm. Ainda, o caso de bombeamentos com diferentes comprimentos de onda multiplexados foi motivo de estudo. ABSTRACT: Recently, the new generation optical networks are being the focus of several discussions in the scientific forums. With the observed increase of users in the last years, and the emergence of new services supplied through the access networks, it became even clearer that optical fiber is the best solution to provide the required bandwidth. In this work it is presented a new passive method capable to improve the scalability and reconfigurability of those networks. The method consist in controlling the amount of pump power to be supplied to one or various remotely pumped optical amplifiers disposed in series, and by this, adjust independently the gain of each. Using the proposed method, it is possible to dismiss the use of active or/and complex components, to control the remote amplifiers conditions, making all this amplification process passive and reconfigurable. It was also developed during this work, a simulation tool based in genetic algorithms, capable to simulate and reach the best solution for different network scenarios, optimizing the several parameters. A laboratory characterization of an erbium doped fiber amplifier it was also performed, where it was studied the gain behaviour of the doped fiber, when it is pumped by a signal which wavelength is different of the nominal wavelengths, 980nm and 1480nm. In this characterization it was also studied the gain behaviour when the amplifier is pumped with multiple multiplexed pump signals.

This study is devoted to investigating and developing WSN based localisation approaches with high position accuracies indoors. The study initially summarises the design and implementation of localisation systems and WSN architecture together with the characteristics of LQI and RSSI values. A fingerprint localisation approach is utilised for indoor positioning applications. A k-nearest neighbourhood algorithm (k-NN) is deployed, using Euclidean distances between the fingerprint database and the object fingerprints, to estimate unknown object positions. Weighted LQI and RSSI values are calculated and the k-NN algorithm with different weights is utilised to improve the position detection accuracy. Different weight functions are investigated with the fingerprint localisation technique. A novel weight function which produced the maximum position accuracy is determined and employed in calculations. The study covered designing and developing the centroid localisation (CL) and weighted centroid localisation (WCL) approaches by using LQI values. A reference node localisation approach is proposed. A star topology of reference nodes are to be utilized and a 3-NN algorithm is employed to determine the nearest reference nodes to the object location. The closest reference nodes are employed to each nearest reference nodes and the object locations are calculated by using the differences between the closest and nearest reference nodes. A neighbourhood weighted localisation approach is proposed between the nearest reference nodes in star topology. Weights between nearest reference nodes are calculated by using Euclidean and physical distances. The physical distances between the object and the nearest reference nodes are calculated and the trigonometric techniques are employed to derive the object coordinates. An environmentally adaptive centroid localisation approach is proposed. Weighted standard deviation (STD) techniques are employed adaptively to estimate the unknown object positions. WSNs with minimum RSSI mean values are considered as reference nodes across the sensing area. The object localisation is carried out in two phases with respect to these reference nodes. Calculated object coordinates are later translated into the universal coordinate system to determine the actual object coordinates. Virtual fingerprint localisation technique is introduced to determine the object locations by using virtual fingerprint database. A physical fingerprint database is organised in the form of virtual database by using LQI distribution functions. Virtual database elements are generated among the physical database elements with linear and exponential distribution functions between the fingerprint points. Localisation procedures are repeated with virtual database and localisation accuracies are improved compared to the basic fingerprint approach. In order to reduce the computation time and effort, segmentation of the sensing area is introduced. Static and dynamic segmentation techniques are deployed. Segments are defined by RSS ranges and the unknown object is localised in one of these segments. Fingerprint techniques are applied only in the relevant segment to find the object location. Finally, graphical user interfaces (GUI) are utilised with application program interfaces (API), in all calculations to visualise unknown object locations indoors.

Wireless sensor networks are composed of sensor nodes, which can monitor an environment and observe events of interest. These networks are applied in various fields including but not limited to environmental, industrial and habitat monitoring. In many applications, the exact location of the sensor nodes is unknown after deployment. Localization is a process used to find sensor node's positional coordinates, which is vital information. The localization is generally assisted by anchor nodes that are also sensor nodes but with known locations. Anchor nodes generally are expensive and need to be optimally placed for effective localization. Passive localization is one of the localization techniques where the sensor nodes silently listen to the global events like thunder sounds, seismic waves, lighting, etc. According to previous studies, the ideal location to place anchor nodes was on the perimeter of the sensor network. This may not be the case in passive localization, since the function of anchor nodes here is different than the anchor nodes used in other localization systems. I do extensive studies on positioning anchor nodes for effective localization. Several simulations are run in dense and sparse networks for proper positioning of anchor nodes. I show that, for effective passive localization, the optimal placement of the anchor nodes is at the center of the network in such a way that no three anchor nodes share linearity. The more the non-linearity, the better the localization. The localization for our network design proves better when I place anchor nodes at right angles.

This thesis describes a method for determining weak nodes in power systems which may cause divergence in Newton-Raphson loadflow methods. When divergence occurs in production loadflow programs, information related to the cause of divergence is not available. The "Weak Node Method" of this thesis provides such information by identifying one or more weak nodes. The development of the Weak Node Method required extensive experimentation with the Newton-Raphson method. The behaviour of the vectors and matrices of the Newton-Raphson method during divergence are discussed in an effort to familiarize the reader with observed trends. These trends suggested the techniques which comprise the Weak Node Method. With this method, a "quasi" solution is sought first, and, secondly, three analysis procedures are then used to pinpoint the weak nodes. The method was tested using three test cases which would normally have caused the Newton-Raphson loadflow method to diverge.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of
Graduate

Uppsatsens syfte är att klargöra vad principen novus actus interveniens innebär. Principen kan möjliggöra att det skadeståndsrättsliga ansvaret begränsas och upphävs för den initiala skadevållaren, om en utomstående tredje man medverkar eller orsakar en skadas inträffande. Med hjälp av principen novus actus interveniens bryts orsakssambandet och den tredje mannen övertar ansvaret för skadan som inträffat. En skada som orsakas av extraordinära naturhändelser eller av den skadelidande själv kan också medföra att principen novus actus interveniens kan appliceras. Det råder oklarheter om principen utgör gällande rätt i Sverige och därmed jämförs rättsläget avseende principen novus actus interveniens med den engelska skadeståndsrätten. Inom den engelska rätten har principen tillämpats i praxis och den nämns även i den engelska doktrinen. Framställningen grundas huvudsakligen på material som hämtats från doktrinen och praxis i svensk och engelsk rätt. För att en mellankommande handling ska kunna bryta orsakssambandet uppställs vissa krav, bland annat ska handlingen ha varit oförutsebar och ha företagits med minst vårdslöshet. En klar formel för hur principen kan tillämpas existerar inte, utan det beror på omständigheterna i varje enskilt fall. Principen novus actus interveniens nämns inte vid sitt latinska namn i den svenska doktrinen, men det framkommer resonemang i den svenska doktrinen och det finns praxis som kan härledas till principen. Därmed kan det konstateras att det inte är omöjligt att principen kan komma att användas, trots att de svenska domstolarna har ett restriktivt förhållningssätt mot principen.

Les miopaties inflamatòries són un grup de malalties neuromusculars molt heterogeni que es caracteritzen clínicament per la presència de debilitat muscular que pot arribar a ser invalidant. Aquest grup de malalties inclou la dermatomiositis (DM), la polimiositis, la miopatia per cossos d’inclusió i recentment s’hi ha inclòs la miopatia necrotitzant autoimmune. Per arribar a un diagnòstic precís és necessari l’estudi de la biòpsia muscular entre d’altres paràmetres clínics. La biòpsia muscular d’aquest grup de pacients es caracteritza per la presència d’infiltrats inflamatoris que fenotípicament i quantitativament varia a cada entitat. A més, s’observa la sobreexpressió del complexe major d’histocompatibilitat de classe I (MHC-I) a les fibres musculars havent-li atribuït un paper patogènic. Fins ara no hi ha evidències de l’etiologia de la DM, havent-hi dues hipòtesis principals: la primera considera que la malaltia comença amb un atac autoimmune contra un antigen desconegut de l’endoteli muscular provocant la destrucció dels capil•lars i una hipòxia tissular. De fet a les biòpsies de pacients amb DM és característica una disminució dels capil·lars que, com a conseqüència, es pensa que provoca la típica atròfia perifascicular. La segona atribueix un paper principal a l’ interferó (IFN) ja que múltiples gens induïts per IFN s’han trobat sobreregulats a la DM. L’origen de l’IFN s’ha atribuït als infiltrats inflamatoris. Per estudiar específicament la contribució del múscul a la patogènia d’aquestes malalties, evitant l’efecte confusor dels infiltrats inflamatoris, vam aïllar fibres musculars patològiques mitjançant microdissecció làser a partir de biòpsies musculars d’aquests pacients. L’anàlisi transcriptòmic de les fibres aïllades va demostrar una contribució específicament a la DM de la immunitat innata, de l’IFN de tipus I (IFN-I) i de la hipòxia. En particular, es va observar una sobreregulació de RIG-I a la DM, un receptor de la immunitat innata induïble per IFN i que fisiològicament reconeix àcids nucleics vírics per iniciar una resposta antivírica a través de IFN-I. Els estudis de immunofluorescència van demostrar que la sobreexpressió de RIG-I colocalitzava amb fibres MHC-I positives a la DM. Els estudis in vitro utilitzant miotubs humans va demostrar la capacitat de RIG-I d’induïr una resposta de IFNβ –un subtipus de IFN-I- i com a conseqüència es sobreexpressava MHC-I i altre vegada RIG-I suggerint un mecanisme inflamatori auto-sustentat a la DM. A partir d’aquest primer resultat l’estudi va evolucionar al paper de la hipòxia en relació a la immunitat innata. La hipòxia està modulada principalment per un factor de transcripció clau anomenat HIF1α que indueix l’expressió de gens que continguin al seu promotor unes seqüències específiques. Els estudis in silico i in vitro van demostrar que RIG-I és un gen induït per HIF1α. Els resultats experimentals conclouen que la hipòxia és un fenomen primerenc en la seqüència d’esdeveniment fisiopatogènics en la DM ja que la sobreexpressió de RIG-I era capaç d’induir la seva activació i per tant, de promoure l’expressió d’IFN-I i en canvi, l’expressió de HIF1α no es modificava per l’estimulació amb interferons. Finalment es va avaluar la utilitat de RIG-I com a biomarcador histològic per la DM. A partir de 115 biòpsies musculars incloent malalties neuromusculars que podien confondre’s clinicament o histologicament amb la DM, vam demostrar que RIG-I és un biomarcador mes sensible que la atrofia perifascicular per la DM (50% a la DM vs 11% a la resta). De fet, en els pacients amb DM on a la biòpsia l’atròfia perifascicular no era evident, un 32% dels pacients eren RIG-I positius. Analitzant la reproductibilitat de la interpretació de l’atròfia perifascicular i RIG-I, vam trobar que RIG-I era un biomarcador més fàcilment interpretable que la atrofia perifascicular. Com a conclusió, aquesta tesi unifica les dues hipòtesis patogèniques actuals sobre la DM on la hipòxia es el primer esdeveniment que a través de RIG-I explica la signatura de IFN-I.
Inflammatory myopathies are an heterogeneous group of neuromuscular diseases that are clinically characterized by the presence of muscle weakness that leads to disability. This group of diseases includes dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis, inclusion body myositis and recently, necrotizing autoimmune myopathies have also been included. The study of the muscle biopsy, among other parameters, is necessary to obtain an accurate diagnosis. The muscle biopsy of these patients is characterized by the presence of inflammatory infiltrates that vary phenotypically and quantitatively in each entity. However, overexpression of the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) is shared by all these entities and it is believed that it has a pathogenic role. Until now, the etiology of DM is a matter of debate but there are two main hypotheses: The first hypothesis considers that the disease starts with an autoimmune attack against unknown antigens in the endothelium leading to the destruction of capillaries promoting, eventually, tissular hypoxia and muscle fiber atrophy. In fact, in the muscle biopsies of DM patients there is a characteristic reduction in the number of capillaries and perifascicular atrophy. The second hypothesis is based on the role of type I interferons (IFN-I). Experiments of gene expression analysis have demonstrated upregulation of multiple IFN-I-induced genes in DM. The origin of this IFN-I has been attributed to perimysial inflammatory infiltrates. To study the pathological mechanisms that occur specifically in the muscle fibers we isolated MHC-I positive muscle fibers using laser-microdissection from the muscle biopsies of these patients. This technology allowed us to exclude inflammatory infiltrates that could interfere with the results. The transcriptomic profile of the isolated fibers demonstrated a significant contribution of innate immunity, IFN-I and hypoxia specifically in DM. In particular, we observed the upregulation of RIG-I in DM, a receptor of the innate immunity that recognizes nucleic acids derived from virus to initiate an antiviral response and promoting IFN-I. Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that RIG-I is overexpressed in MHC-I-expressing fibers in DM. In vitro studies using human myotubes showed the ability of RIG-I to induce the secretion of IFNβ – an IFN-I subtype – and as a consequence, induced the expression of MHC-I and RIG-I itself, suggesting a self sustained autoimmune mechanism in DM. These results prompted us to evaluate the relation between hypoxia and innate immunity. Hypoxia is mainly modulated by a key transcription factor named HIF1α that induces the expression of genes that contain specific sequences in its promoter. Our studies in silico and in vitro demonstrated that RIG-I is an HIF-inducible gene. From these studies, we concluded that hypoxia is a primary event in the pathogenic sequence of events in DM because the overexpression of RIG-Iwas able to induce its own activation promoting the expression of IFN-I-stimulated genes. In contrast, the expression of HIF1α was not modified by the stimulation of IFNs. Finally we evaluated the utility of RIG-I as a histological biomarker for DM. We studied 115 muscle biopsies using immunohistochemistry including diseases that may be confused clinically or histologically with DM. We demonstrated that RIG-I has a higher sensitivity than perifascicular atrophy for DM diagnosis (50% in DM vs 11 % in non-DM). Interestingly, 32% of patients with DM in whom perifascicular atrophy was not evident, showed expression of RIG-I at the perifascicular areas. We analyzed the reproducibility of perifascicular atrophy and RIG-I staining and we found that RIG-I has a higher reproducibility and therefore constitutes a more easily interpretable biomarker than perifascicular atrophy. We conclude that this thesis unifies both current hypotheses on DM pathogenesis and shows that hypoxia contributes to the pathology of DM by activating the RIG-I signaling pathway and consequently inducing IFN-I expression.

En aquest treball ens plantegem dos tipus de problemes. El primer fa referència a la qüestió de l’estacionalitat en el context de les sèries temporals discretes, mentre que en la segona part es tracten models autoregressius de primer ordre amb innovacions no gaussianes. Les sèries temporals a valors enters apareixen en molts i molt variats contextos. L’anàlisi clàssica de sèries temporals contínues pot resultar poc adequada a l’hora de modelitzar fenòmens basats en recomptes, ja que assumeix normalitat en les variacions aleatòries de la sèrie, premissa que difícilment es compleix en el cas de les sèries de nombres enters. Aquest fet motiva l’estudi de models basats en distribucions discretes (Poisson, binomial negativa, …). Tanmateix, en el context dels models habituals de sèries temporals discretes (INAR, INMA,…) no s’han desenvolupat tècniques suficients per tractar amb possibles comportaments estacionals en les dades, i per tant, calen eines adients per modelitzar fenòmens amb aquesta característica, com per exemple, la incidència de malalties com grip, al·lèrgies, pneumònies… En aquest treball proposem una variació del model INAR(2) per tal d’incloure-hi una component estacional i estudiem com es pot aplicar per analitzar dades relatives a ingressos hospitalaris per grip. Seguint amb el mateix exemple, es plantegen diversos mètodes per realitzar prediccions sobre l’ocupació futura de llits hospitalaris basats en aquest tipus de models de sèries temporals de recomptes, a curt i llarg termini. La segona qüestió que s’aborda en aquest treball apareix com un problema de caracterització de distribucions, en un context de models autoregressius de primer ordre, motivada per un resultat sorprenent de McKenzie que afirma que donat un procés Y t amb estructura AR(1), i considerant la sèrie exponenciada Xt = eY t, la funció d’autocorrelació de Xt és la mateixa que la de la sèrie original Y t si i només si la distribució estacionària de Xt és una gamma. Amb aquest punt de partida, el nostre objectiu principal ha estat generalitzar aquest resultat de McKenzie, en el sentit de caracteritzar la distribució de les innovacions en aquest context, i desenvolupar un contrast de bondat de l’ajust basat en la funció distribució empírica per tal de decidir si és raonable pensar, amb un cert nivell de confiança, que la distribució de les innovacions és una distribució concreta. En particular, aquest contrast es pot utilitzar, en la situació clàssica, per tal de comprovar si les innovacions en un model autoregressiu de primer ordre són gaussianes. Aquest contrast s’ha aplicat en primer lloc sobre les captures de peix a l’oceà Atlàntic i golf del riu St. Lawrence, entre 1990 i 1996 per tal d’estudiar si l’assumpció de normalitat de les innovacions és raonable o no. En segon lloc s’ha realitzat el contrast sobre les dades del deflactor del producte interior brut espanyol des de 1962 fins a 2011. Finalment, es presenta un estudi de la potència del contrast, en diferents situacions, considerant diversos valors per al primer coeficient d’autocorrelació, diferents mides mostrals i diverses distribucions marginals.
In this work we consider two kinds of problems. The first concerns the issue of seasonality in the context of discrete time series, while the second part will deal with first-order autoregressive models with non-Gaussian innovations. Integer valued time series appear in many different contexts. The classical analysis of continuous time series can be inadequate when modeling phenomena based on counts, as the assumption of normal random variations is hardly achieved in the case of integer series. This motivates the study of models based in discrete distributions (Poisson, negative binomial, …). However, in the context of standard models of discrete time series (INAR, INMA, …) there is a lack of techniques focused on dealing with possible seasonal behavior in the data, and therefore there is a need of suitable tools to model phenomena presenting this feature, as, for example, the incidence of diseases such as flu, allergies, pneumonia,… In this work we propose a variation of the INAR(2) model to include a seasonal component, and we study how can it be applied to analyze data concerning hospital admissions caused by influenza. Following the same example, we consider several methods to make predictions about future occupation of hospital beds based on this type of time-series models of counts in the short and long term. The second issue addressed in this work appears as a problem of characterization of distributions in the context of first-order autoregressive models, prompted by a surprising result by McKenzie, establishing that a process Y t with AR(1) structure, and considering the exponentiated series Xt = eYt, the autocorrelation function of Xt is the same as the original series Y t if and only if the stationary distribution of Xt is gamma. Using this result as a starting point, our main goal has been to generalize this result by McKenzie in the sense of characterizing the distribution of the innovations in this context, and develop a goodness of fit test based on the empirical distribution function in order to decide whether it is reasonable to assume, at some level of confidence, that the the innovations follows a specific distribution. In particular, this contrast can be used in the classical situation, in order to check if the innovations of a first-order autoregressive model are Gaussian. This contrast has been applied on a data set concerning fish catches in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of St. Lawrence River between 1990 and 1996 to study whether the assumption of normality of the innovations is reasonable or not. As a second example, the contrast has been made on data concerning the deflator of the Spanish gross domestic product from 1962 to 2011. Finally, a study of the power of the test, in different situations is presented, considering different values for the first autocorrelation coeffcient, different sample sizes and different marginal distributions.

La métaphysique de Gabriel Marcel, exposée généralement dans une dispersion flagrante, se réduit à une métaphysique du "nous sommes". C'est par là que se définit toute question ontologique. Les relations intersubjectives se caractérisent essentiellement par la promesse de fidélité qui se veut créatrice, renouvelant les sujets en communion. Ces relations ne prennent leur véritable sens que lorsqu'elles s'élèvent à un ordre spirituel par la foi au transcendant. En évoquant le concept d'harmonie caractérisant la fidélité intersubjective, il est possible de considérer le monde comme une grande table d'harmonie. Le contexte socioreligieux suggère également cette harmonie qui dépasse largement les limites dyadiques fixées fallacieusement selon les catégories de l'avoir : l'être aime n'est pas un avoir aimé. L'iconoclaste de Gabriel Marcel met en évidence cet avoir impliqué dans l'union physique comme altération et comme un certain "centre tonique" de l'harmonie intersubjective
Gabriel Marcel's metaphysic, generally expounded in a flagrant scattering, reduces itself in a metaphysic of a "we are". All the ontologic question is defined in this way. Intersubjective relations have essentially as characteristics fidelity promise which wants itself to be creative, renovating united subjects. These relations take their real meaning only while they rise themselves by the faith to the transcendent. By calling the concept of harmony up, which characterizes intersubjective fidelity, we can consider the world as a great harmony table. The socio-religious context suggests alike this harmony which exceeds largely the dyadic limits falaciously fixed according to the property categories: the loved being isn't a loved thing. The "l'iconoclaste" of Gabriel Marcel makes evident this property implied in the physic union as alteration and as a some "little tonic center" of the intersubjective harmony

A un moment de l’histoire où l’émotion se veut l’adjuvant moteur de l’exercice et de l’action publique, ce travail de recherche s’inscrit à rebours d’une conception faisant de l’instantané et de l’événement les modes d’appréhension et d’expression de « sociétés liquides ». Fondé sur une approche critique, interdisciplinaire et humaniste, il étudie le comportement organisationnel dans un monde social lourdement impacté par un « managérialisme » mutilant l’histoire, la culture, et l’identité de cadres dirigeants publics dans les collectivités territoriales. Réhabilitant l’approche biographique comme stratégie d’accès au réel, la recherche met en évidence un « contrat psychologique » fondé sur un « équilibre stable » fruit d’une « double transaction biographique et relationnelle » autour de « l’éthique du bien commun », entre éthique de conviction et éthique de responsabilité. Elle étudie par la suite les logiques d’action qui se construisent aujourd’hui dans les administrations territoriales, où « l’image de l’organisation » comme « prison psychique » fait émerger des comportements allant de la défection à la résistance
At a time in history when emotion wants to be an auxiliary driver in running local government, this research reverses the concept where snapshots and events are seen as ways of expressing and dealing with "fluid societies." Based on a critical, interdisciplinary and humanistic approach, it studies organisational behaviour in a social world seriously affected by a "managerialism" that is mutilating the history, culture, and identity of managers in local authorities. Reinstating the biographical approach as a strategy for getting to the core of reality, the research highlights a "psychological contract" based on a "stable equilibrium", the result of a "double biographical and relational transaction" which focusses on "the ethics of the common good", the midpoint between the ethics of conviction and responsibility. It then examines the working principles that are surfacing in local government today, where "the organisation's image" as a "mental prison" leads to behaviour ranging from defection to resistance

Le phenomene de fragmentation qui s'est de plus en plus repandu tout au long du 20eme siecle dans le domaine des arts, semble difficilement compatible avec une des fonctions principales du theatre a savoir : celle de la communication sociale pour les sujets de culture et de moeurs. Il s'avere en effet que celle-ci est par ce mode d'expression tres menacee en cette fin de siecle. Aussi apparait-ilnecessaire d'elucider plus en profondeur la nature de l'expression fragmentaire au theatre et ses rapports avec la theatralite, soit "le fragment comme theatralite". Nous avons opte pour une approche phenomenologique de ce qui au depart etait assez flou, a savoir la notion de fragment et celle de theatralite, cela sans nous attacher au domaine exclusif du theatre mais a celui de la vie en generalet des arts en particulier. Notre reflexion se developpe en trois parties : phenomenologie de la fragmentation et de la theatralite, modernite espace de rencontre , vivre la mort de dieu. Dans ces trois parties, en nous appuyant sur l'esthetique englobante de f. Nietzsche, nous avons tente de theoriser l'espace theatral, d'en montrer la genese et le fonctionnement. L'evolution de l'espace tragiquenous a permis de constater que la mimesis est la creation de la conscience imageante et que le fragment n'est pas un phenomene propre et exclusif a/de de la periode contemporaine, mais le signe persistant de notre avancee chancelante au coeur de la mort de dieu.

The past few years have seen an increasing interest in the development of wireless sensor networks. But the unsatisfactory or limited available energy source is one of the major bottlenecks which are limiting the wireless sensor technology from mass deployment. Ambient energy harvesting is the most promising solution towards autonomous sensor nodes by providing low cost, permanent, and maintenance-free energy source to wireless sensor nodes. In this paper, we first invested available energy source such as solar, vibration, thermal and other potential energy sources, and described the mathematical model of each energy source. Secondly, a novel adaptive topology maximum point power tracking method is proposed. This method is that changes the solar cells array from series to parallel or series-parallel mixed way to find out a best array that output the maximum power. This method also can be used in other energy source. At last, we purchased the matured energy generator: vibration, thermal, and solar panels to measure and verify the output power of each energy source. The experimental result showed that the conversion efficiency of this novel MPPT method can reach 60%-80% in outdoor and it is able to supply sufficient power to wireless sensor nodes.

An ad hoc network consists of wireless nodes that communicate through cooperation with each other, and operate independently of additional network devices such as routers and switches. These networks are self-sufficient and distributed in nature which are most widely used in the areas where there is little or no infrastructure available, like battlefields, weather forecast applications, etc. Recently ad hoc networks have been deployed in many places and have become a part of everyone’s life. Devices such as laptops, smartphones, and netbooks are using it as one option for wireless networks. This emerging trend poses a serious security issue. As there is no centralized authority, establishing trust between devices in an ad hoc network is very important. Trust management among the nodes in an ad hoc network, or between the nodes of different networks, is a must and needs to be managed without compromising node functionality. In this thesis, a new trust method is proposed which manages directly and indirectly connected nodes, and is also able to resolve issues concerning the unfair trust value grading between neighbors and the destination node.
Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Thesis (M.S.)--Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2009.
Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed August 25, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Selbstorganisierte drahtlose (ad hoc) Multihopnetzwerke können als einfach einsetzbare, robuste und rekonfigurierbare Kommunikationsinfrastruktur zum Beispiel in Katastrophenszenarien eingesetzt werden. Solche drahtlosen Netzwerke nutzen die Luft als geteiltes Kommunikationsmedium, was bedeutet, dass die Parameter des Netzwerks sehr orts- und zeitveränderlich sowie verrauscht sind. Intelligente Roboter können als Netzwerkknoten diese Herausforderungen bewältigen, indem sie sensomotorische Interaktion ausnutzen. Für einzelne Roboter wurde ein Algorithmus zur Exploration unbekannter Netzwerke entwickelt. Außerdem wurde gezeigt, dass eine Klasse gradientenbasierter Navigationsalgorithmen für den Fall von Signalstärkemessungen konvergiert. Es wurde zudem gezeigt wie diese Art von Algorithmen sich auf andere Aufgaben als das Finden von Netzwerkknoten erweitern lassen. Zusätzlich wurde ein Algorithmus basierend auf internen Modellen, der dem Roboter zum Beispiel ermöglicht Netzwekknoten finden oder zwei Netzwerkknoten zu überbrücken, entwickelt. Alle Algorithmen wurden in Simulation oder mit echten Robotern implementiert und evaluiert. Für den Fall mehrerer Roboter existieren bereits viele interessante Algorithmen in der Literatur. Allerdings wird im Moment keiner dieser Algorithmen in realen Systemen eingesetzt. Einer der Gründe hierfür ist, dass naive Sachwarmalgorithmen meist nicht sicher und zuverlässig genug sind. Um dieses Problem zu lösen wurde eine Architektur, die auf internen Modellen basiert und interne Simulation nutzt, untersucht. Es wurden zwei Testszenarien analysiert: Im ersten Experiment sollte ein Roboter andere Roboter davor bewahren zu Schaden zu kommen und dabei gleichzeitig seine eigene Sicherheit gewährleisten und eine Aufgabe erfüllen. Im zweiten Experiment musste ein Roboter durch einen Korridor navigieren ohne mit anderen Robotern zusammenzustoßen. Die vorgeschlagene Architektur hat sich als sehr effektiv erwiesen.
Self-organized wireless multihop (ad hoc) networks can form an easily deployable, robust and reconfigurable communication infrastructure, which can be employed for example in a disaster scenario, when static communication infrastructure has been destroyed. As such wireless networks use the air as a shared physical medium, the parameters of these networks often show very space- and time-varying noisy characteristics. Intelligent robotic network nodes can overcome these problems posed by these dynamics and measurement noise by exploiting sensorimotor interaction. For single robots, an algorithm for network exploration of unknown networks for large scale outdoor scenarios has been developed. Furthermore, a class of gradient-based algorithms for navigation in wireless networs hase been shown to converge for the case of signal strength measurements. Additionally, it was shown how these algorithms can be extended to other tasks than locating a network node. Additionally, an internal model-based algorithm to solve tasks like locating a node or bridging two nodes has been developed. All algorithms have been implemented and evaluated either in simulation or on real robots. For the case of multiple robots, a lot of interesting algorithms for example for optimal placement of mobile network nodes have been presented in literature. However, none of them are being used in real world scenarios. One of the reasons for that is insufficient safety and fault tolerance of naive algorithms. To overcome this problem the use of an internal model-based architecture using internal simulation has been investigated. Two test scenarios have been investigated using this architecture: in the first experiment a robot had to prevent other robots from coming to harm while ensuring its own safety and fulfilling a task. In a second experiment, a robot had to navigate through a narrow corridor without colliding with other robots. The proposed architecture has been shown to be very effective.

Non traduit
The introduction of nanometer technologies, has allowed the semiconductor industry to create nanoscale devices in combination with gigascale complexity. However, new technologies bring with them new challenges. In the era of large systems embedded in a single System-On-Chip and fabricated in continuously shrinking technologies, it is important to test and ensure fault-free operation of the whole system. The cost involved in semiconductor test has been steadily growing and testing techniques for integrated circuits are today facing many exciting and complex challenges. Although important advances have been made, existing test solutions are still unable to exhaustively cover all types of defects in advanced technology nodes. Consequently, innovative solutions are required to cope with new failure mechanisms under the constraints of higher density and complexity, cost and time to market pressure, product quality level and usage of low cost test equipment.The work of this thesis is focused on the development of silicon test and characterization methodologies that aid in the accurate detection and resolution of issues that may arise due to variability, manufacturing defects, wear-out or interference. A wide spectrum of these challenges has been addressed from a test perspective to ensure that the availability of effective test solutions does not become a bottleneck in the path towards further scaling. Additionally the advances and innovations introduced in the myriad domains of electronic design, reliability management, manufacturing process improvements etc. that call for the development of advanced, modular and agile test methodologies have been effectively covered within the scope of this work.This thesis presents the significant contributions made for enabling resolution of state of the art industrial test challenges via the design and implementation of novel test strategies (targeting the 28nm FDSOI technology node) for:•Detection & diagnosis of timing faults in standard cells.•Analysis of Setup and Hold margins within silicon.•Verification & reliability analysis of innovative test structures.•Analysis of on-chip self heating.•Enabling characterization and performance evaluation of high speed digital IPs

Wireless visual sensor network is an emerging field which has proveduseful in many applications, including industrial control and monitoring,surveillance, environmental monitoring, personal care and the virtual world.Traditional imaging systems used a wired link, centralized network, highprocessing capabilities, unlimited storage and power source. In manyapplications, the wired solution results in high installation and maintenancecosts. However, a wireless solution is the preferred choice as it offers lessmaintenance, infrastructure costs and greater scalability.The technological developments in image sensors, wirelesscommunication and processing platforms have paved the way for smartcamera networks usually referred to as Wireless Visual Sensor Networks(WVSNs). WVSNs consist of a number of Visual Sensor Nodes (VSNs)deployed over a large geographical area. The smart cameras can performcomplex vision tasks using limited resources such as batteries or alternativeenergy sources, embedded platforms, a wireless link and a small memory.Current research in WVSNs is focused on reducing the energyconsumption of the node so as to maximise the life of the VSN. To meet thischallenge, different software and hardware solutions are presented in theliterature for the implementation of VSNs.The focus in this thesis is on the exploration of energy efficientreconfigurable architectures for VSNs by partitioning vision tasks on software,hardware platforms and locality. For any application, some of the vision taskscan be performed on the sensor node after which data is sent over the wirelesslink to the server where the remaining vision tasks are performed. Similarly,at the VSN, vision tasks can be partitioned on software and the hardwareplatforms.In the thesis, all possible strategies are explored, by partitioning visiontasks on the sensor node and on the server. The energy consumption of thesensor node is evaluated for different strategies on software platform. It isobserved that performing some of the vision tasks on the sensor node andsending compressed images to the server where the remaining vision tasks areperformed, will have lower energy consumption.In order to achieve better performance and low power consumption,Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are introduced for theimplementation of the sensor node. The strategies with reasonable designtimes and costs are implemented on hardware-software platform. Based onthe implementation of the VSN on the FPGA together with micro-controller,the lifetime of the VSN is predicted using the measured energy values of theplatforms for different processing strategies. The implementation resultsprove our analysis that a VSN with such characteristics will result in a longerlife time.

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrónica e Telecomunicações
O presente documento tem por objectivo demonstrar, analisar e optimizar nós remotos passivos para redes ópticas passivas baseadas numa topologia de anel de dupla fibra com multiplexagem no comprimento de onda onde estão penduradas árvores mono fibra baseadas na multiplexagem no tempo. A rede ‘Scalable Advanced Ring-based passive Dense Access Network Architecture’ (SARDANA) baseada nesta topologia é apresentada e demonstrada. Na rede SARDANA a interligação entre o anel e as árvores é realizada pelo intermédio de um nó especial denominado de nó remoto. Esse nó remoto é um elemento fundamental para o funcionamento, resiliência e escalabilidade da rede. Neste documento são apresentadas e comparadas diferentes topologias para a implementação desse nó remoto. É também apresentada a reconfigurabilidade remota desses mesmos nós remotos através de módulos de conversão energética e controlo, implementada nos nós remotos. Um factor importante para a optimização dos nós remotos é a amplificação remota realizada por intermédio de fibras dopadas de érbio pelo que o seu estudo é também apresentado. Finalmente é demonstrado um protótipo de um nó remotamente reconfigurado e eficiente. ABSTRACT: The objective of this document is to demonstrate, analyze and optimize remote nodes for passive optical networks based on double fiber ring multiplexed in wavelength connected to single fiber trees multiplexed in time. The network ‘Scalable Advanced Ring-based passive Dense Access Network Architecture’ (SARDANA) based on this topology is presented and demonstrated. In the SARDANA network the interconnection between the ring and the trees is done by means of a special node, the remote node. This node is a fundamental element to the operation, resiliency and scalability of the network. This document presents and compares different topologies to the implementation of the remote node. Remotely reconfigurability of the remote nodes is also demonstrated by means of optical conversion and control modules. An important factor to the optimization of the remote nodes is the remote amplification done by means of erbium doped fibers being presented the analysis of the amplifier. Finally is demonstrated a prototype of a node remotely reconfigured and efficient.

Doutoramento conjunto MAPi em Informática
Over the last decade, the most widespread approaches for traditional management were based on the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP). However, they both have several problems in terms of scalability, due to their centralization characteristics. Although the distributed management approaches exhibit better performance in terms of scalability, they still underperform regarding communication costs, autonomy, extensibility, exibility, robustness, and cooperation between network nodes. The cooperation between network nodes normally requires excessive overheads for synchronization and dissemination of management information in the network. For emerging dynamic and large-scale networking environments, as envisioned in Next Generation Networks (NGNs), exponential growth in the number of network devices and mobile communications and application demands is expected. Thus, a high degree of management automation is an important requirement, along with new mechanisms that promote it optimally and e ciently, taking into account the need for high cooperation between the nodes. Current approaches for self and autonomic management allow the network administrator to manage large areas, performing fast reaction and e ciently facing unexpected problems. The management functionalities should be delegated to a self-organized plane operating within the network, that decrease the network complexity and the control information ow, as opposed to centralized or external servers. This Thesis aims to propose and develop a communication framework for distributed network management which integrates a set of mechanisms for initial communication, exchange of management information, network (re) organization and data dissemination, attempting to meet the autonomic and distributed management requirements posed by NGNs. The mechanisms are lightweight and portable, and they can operate in di erent hardware architectures and include all the requirements to maintain the basis for an e cient communication between nodes in order to ensure autonomic network management. Moreover, those mechanisms were explored in diverse network conditions and events, such as device and link errors, di erent tra c/network loads and requirements. The results obtained through simulation and real experimentation show that the proposed mechanisms provide a lower convergence time, smaller overhead impact in the network, faster dissemination of management information, increase stability and quality of the nodes associations, and enable the support for e cient data information delivery in comparison to the base mechanisms analyzed. Finally, all mechanisms for communication between nodes proposed in this Thesis, that support and distribute the management information and network control functionalities, were devised and developed to operate in completely decentralized scenarios.
Durante a última década, protocolos como Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) ou Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) foram as abordagens mais comuns para a gestão tradicional de redes. Essas abordagens têm vários problemas em termos de escalabilidade, devido às suas características de centralização. Apresentando um melhor desempenho em termos de escalabilidade, as abordagens de gestão distribuída, por sua vez, são vantajosas nesse sentido, mas também apresentam uma série de desvantagens acerca do custo elevado de comunicação, autonomia, extensibilidade, exibilidade, robustez e cooperação entre os nós da rede. A cooperação entre os nós presentes na rede é normalmente a principal causa de sobrecarga na rede, uma vez que necessita de colectar, sincronizar e disseminar as informações de gestão para todos os nós nela presentes. Em ambientes dinâmicos, como é o caso das redes atuais e futuras, espera-se um crescimento exponencial no número de dispositivos, associado a um grau elevado de mobilidade dos mesmos na rede. Assim, o grau elevado de funções de automatiza ção da gestão da rede é uma exigência primordial, bem como o desenvolvimento de novos mecanismos e técnicas que permitam essa comunicação de forma optimizada e e ciente. Tendo em conta a necessidade de elevada cooperação entre os elementos da rede, as abordagens atuais para a gestão autonómica permitem que o administrador possa gerir grandes áreas de forma rápida e e ciente frente a problemas inesperados, visando diminuir a complexidade da rede e o uxo de informações de controlo nela gerados. Nas gestões autonómicas a delegação de operações da rede é suportada por um plano auto-organizado e não dependente de servidores centralizados ou externos. Com base nos tipos de gestão e desa os acima apresentados, esta Tese tem como principal objetivo propor e desenvolver um conjunto de mecanismos necessários para a criação de uma infra-estrutura de comunicação entre nós, na tentativa de satisfazer as exigências da gestão auton ómica e distribuída apresentadas pelas redes de futura geração. Nesse sentido, mecanismos especí cos incluindo inicialização e descoberta dos elementos da rede, troca de informação de gestão, (re) organização da rede e disseminação de dados foram elaborados e explorados em diversas condições e eventos, tais como: falhas de ligação, diferentes cargas de tráfego e exigências de rede. Para além disso, os mecanismos desenvolvidos são leves e portáveis, ou seja, podem operar em diferentes arquitecturas de hardware e contemplam todos os requisitos necessários para manter a base de comunicação e ciente entre os elementos da rede. Os resultados obtidos através de simulações e experiências reais comprovam que os mecanismos propostos apresentam um tempo de convergência menor para descoberta e troca de informação, um menor impacto na sobrecarga da rede, disseminação mais rápida da informação de gestão, aumento da estabilidade e a qualidade das ligações entre os nós e entrega e ciente de informações de dados em comparação com os mecanismos base analisados. Finalmente, todos os mecanismos desenvolvidos que fazem parte da infrastrutura de comunicação proposta foram concebidos e desenvolvidos para operar em cenários completamente descentralizados.