Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) Neurologist

Erasmus Darwin was the founder of evolutionary biology, a renown poet, an inventor, and a general medical practitioner. Erasmus Darwin wrote specifically about the evolutionary and phylogenetic development of the nervous system, neuroembryology, psychiatric illness (including delusions and depression), and electrical therapy for childhood hemiplegia. He conducted experiments in neuro-ophthalmology and wrote about color vision, afterimages, the blind spot, and visual memory.

PROFETA E LUZ: CATEGORIAS INTERCAMBIÁVEIS PARA CONSOLIDAR A IDENTIDADE DE JESUS NA LITERATURA JOANINA

Na Literatura Joanina, Jesus é apresentado ou se apresenta por meio de algumas categorias. Dentre elas, profeta e luz. Esta tese assume como ponto de partida o pressuposto de que o Quarto Evangelho foi literariamente composto em etapas redacionais: Tradição Básica (TB); Primeiro Evangelho (E1); Segundo Evangelho, que é denominada Evangelho Transformado (E2) e Terceiro Evangelho (E3) no qual inclui as epístolas joaninas. A categoria profeta (Jo 1,41; 4,19.25-29; 6,14; 7,40.52; 9.17) é encontrada somente na TB e é assumida também pelo E1. Nestas duas etapas traditivas esta categoria não se diferencia do título de Cristo/Messias para a Comunidade Joanina. Já a categoria luz (Jo 3,19-21; 5,35; 8,12; 9,5; 12,46-50) não é encontrada na TB e nem no E1. Somente aparece na camada traditiva do E2 e E3. Neste sentido, a narrativa da Cura do Cego de Nascença (Jo 9,1-41) é um espelho da comunidade. O debate em torno da afirmação do ex-cego de que Jesus é um profeta e da declaração de Jesus que se autorrevela como luz constroem um marco identitário. Na literatura joanina os conflitos são ―pedagógicos‖ na construção da identidade da comunidade. O seu interesse não é codificar os acontecimentos experienciados pela comunidade numa narrativa crítica dramática, mas apresentar a sua própria compreensão de Jesus, de modo a encorajar outros a crerem e permanecerem na fé. Nesta perícope percebe-se que as categorias profeta e luz são intercambiáveis e assumem papéis de categorias descritivas de Jesus. Esta intercambialidade, marcando um recorte de reconstrução da identidade da comunidade joanina, é o objeto de nossa pesquisa.

EU SOU A LUZ DO MUNDO: UM ESTUDO DO SIGNIFICADO DO TERMO LUZ EM JOÃO 9, 1-41

O termo luz se inscreve no encontro das tradições veterotestamentária e grego-romana como uma alternativa a certas necessidades da comunidade joanina: as culturas diferentes dos povos que receberam o evangelho; a diversidade dos problemas que pediam respostas diferentes; a diferença de classes dentro da comunidade; as tomadas de posição discordantes diante da política do império e o conflito entre judeus e cristãos. E é neste ínterim de conflito, tanto interno como externo, um momento doloroso para os dissidentes, porque os prejuízos não eram apenas religiosos, mas provocavam mudanças em todos os âmbitos da vida, que a comunidade joanina procurará alternativa. Por isso, a Narrativa da Cura do Cego de Nascença (Jo 9,1-41) é um espelho para a comunidade. Ela buscará em Jesus a luz de que precisa para continuar. O cego representa a comunidade antes de conhecer a Luz do Mundo. A solidariedade, a fraternidade e o amor mútuos são forças que ajudaram na resistência.(AU)

Rigid and non-rigid point-based medical image registration

The primary goal of this dissertation is to develop point-based rigid and non-rigid image registration methods that have better accuracy than existing methods. We first present point-based PoIRe, which provides the framework for point-based global rigid registrations. It allows a choice of different search strategies including (a) branch-and-bound, (b) probabilistic hill-climbing, and (c) a novel hybrid method that takes advantage of the best characteristics of the other two methods. We use a robust similarity measure that is insensitive to noise, which is often introduced during feature extraction. We show the robustness of PoIRe using it to register images obtained with an electronic portal imaging device (EPID), which have large amounts of scatter and low contrast. To evaluate PoIRe we used (a) simulated images and (b) images with fiducial markers; PoIRe was extensively tested with 2D EPID images and images generated by 3D Computer Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance (MR) images. PoIRe was also evaluated using benchmark data sets from the blind retrospective evaluation project (RIRE). We show that PoIRe is better than existing methods such as Iterative Closest Point (ICP) and methods based on mutual information. We also present a novel point-based local non-rigid shape registration algorithm. We extend the robust similarity measure used in PoIRe to non-rigid registrations adapting it to a free form deformation (FFD) model and making it robust to local minima, which is a drawback common to existing non-rigid point-based methods. For non-rigid registrations we show that it performs better than existing methods and that is less sensitive to starting conditions. We test our non-rigid registration method using available benchmark data sets for shape registration. Finally, we also explore the extraction of features invariant to changes in perspective and illumination, and explore how they can help improve the accuracy of multi-modal registration. For multimodal registration of EPID-DRR images we present a method based on a local descriptor defined by a vector of complex responses to a circular Gabor filter.

Rigid and Non-rigid Point-based Medical Image Registration

The primary goal of this dissertation is to develop point-based rigid and non-rigid image registration methods that have better accuracy than existing methods. We first present point-based PoIRe, which provides the framework for point-based global rigid registrations. It allows a choice of different search strategies including (a) branch-and-bound, (b) probabilistic hill-climbing, and (c) a novel hybrid method that takes advantage of the best characteristics of the other two methods. We use a robust similarity measure that is insensitive to noise, which is often introduced during feature extraction. We show the robustness of PoIRe using it to register images obtained with an electronic portal imaging device (EPID), which have large amounts of scatter and low contrast. To evaluate PoIRe we used (a) simulated images and (b) images with fiducial markers; PoIRe was extensively tested with 2D EPID images and images generated by 3D Computer Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance (MR) images. PoIRe was also evaluated using benchmark data sets from the blind retrospective evaluation project (RIRE). We show that PoIRe is better than existing methods such as Iterative Closest Point (ICP) and methods based on mutual information. We also present a novel point-based local non-rigid shape registration algorithm. We extend the robust similarity measure used in PoIRe to non-rigid registrations adapting it to a free form deformation (FFD) model and making it robust to local minima, which is a drawback common to existing non-rigid point-based methods. For non-rigid registrations we show that it performs better than existing methods and that is less sensitive to starting conditions. We test our non-rigid registration method using available benchmark data sets for shape registration. Finally, we also explore the extraction of features invariant to changes in perspective and illumination, and explore how they can help improve the accuracy of multi-modal registration. For multimodal registration of EPID-DRR images we present a method based on a local descriptor defined by a vector of complex responses to a circular Gabor filter.

Desenho de deficiência visual: uma experiência no ensino de artes visuais na perspectiva da educação inclusiva

Over the past 30 years, Art Education in interface with disabilities has been a subject of increasing interest in research in academia, especially with regard to Special Education, but still has some shortages in terms of socialization studies to discuss this type of teaching from the perspective of inclusive education. In this scenario, this paper presents an analysis from the field of teaching Visual Arts in the context of school inclusion, with emphasis on teaching drawing to the visually impaired. The conducted literature indicates a number of authors who discuss teaching drawing to people with visual disabilities, who are dedicated primarily to the Special Education context. In this sense, the shortage of research that discuss this teaching from the perspective of inclusive education, this research aimed at the inclusive approach to teaching drawing in the school context. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a proposal for a pedagogical intervention in Visual Arts, with reference to drawing and its construction process, with the participation of seeing and unseeing students. Therefore, the methodological approach, which was qualitative, was the intervention research, in the light of the Bakhtinian principles of dialogism and otherness, with exploratory study characteristics. The locus of the research was the State School Admiral Newton Braga Faria, which is located in Alecrim, on the East Zone of Natal / RN and is near the Institute for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind - IERC / RN. The class chosen for intervention was the 7th grade “C” afternoon shift, which had children aged 12 to 16, with 27 students enrolled, three students with disabilities: 02 blind girls and 01 deafblind boy with light hearing and visual loss. As interlocutors of the research, we could also count on the Art teacher who served as a collaborator, as well as teacher in the school’s Multifunction Resource Room. The instruments and research procedures were observation, semi-structured interview, field diary and the photo / video recording. In the development of research, we conducted 10 workshops with multisensory teaching sequences, articulating the physical, tactile and graphical expressions as intrinsic to the reading and production of drawing for both seeing and unseeing students. The process and data built on research allowed for a reflection on cultural experiences with drawing in the school context and on the interactions between seeing and unseeing students in the production and analysis of tactile-visual drawings. They also point out the construction of a teaching approach to drawing, in the context of the common class, from educational workshops that enable artistic and aesthetic interactions from the perspective of school inclusiveness. Thus, we argued that the mobilization of the tactile, physical and graphical expressions can be adopted in a multisensory approach that enables a pedagogical focus that involves all students and is not restricted to the presence of students with visual impairment.

Trends in blindness due to diabetic retinopathy among adults aged 18-69 years over a decade in Ireland

Aims: To describe trends in the incidence of visual impairment and blindness due to diabetic retinopathy among adults aged 18–69 years in Ireland between 2004 and 2013. Methods: Data on visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy in adults aged 18–69 years or over who are registered with the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, (2004–2013) were analysed. Annual incidence rates were calculated for the adult population and the population with diagnosed diabetes. Poisson regression was used to test for changes in rates over time. The relative, attributable and population risk of blindness and visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy were calculated for 2013. Results: Over the decade, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes increased from 2.1% to 3.6%. Among people with diagnosed diabetes, the incidence of visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy increased from 6.4 (95% CI 2.4–13.9) per 100,000 in 2004 to 11.7 (95% CI 5.9–21.0) per 100,000 in 2013. The incidence of blindness due to diabetic retinopathy varied from 31.9 per 100,000 (95% CI 21.6–45.7) in 2004 to 14.9 per 100,000 (95% CI 8.2–25.1) in 2013. Conclusions: Our findings indicate the need for increased attention to preventive measures for microvascular complications among adults with diabetes in Ireland. Retinopathy screening has been standardised in Ireland, these findings provide useful baseline statistics to monitor the impact of this population-based screening programme.

Linear Hyperspectral Unmixing Using L0-norm Approximations and Nonnegative Matrix Factorization

Spectral unmixing (SU) is a technique to characterize mixed pixels of the hyperspectral images measured by remote sensors. Most of the existing spectral unmixing algorithms are developed using the linear mixing models. Since the number of endmembers/materials present at each mixed pixel is normally scanty compared with the number of total endmembers (the dimension of spectral library), the problem becomes sparse. This thesis introduces sparse hyperspectral unmixing methods for the linear mixing model through two different scenarios. In the first scenario, the library of spectral signatures is assumed to be known and the main problem is to find the minimum number of endmembers under a reasonable small approximation error. Mathematically, the corresponding problem is called the $\ell_0$-norm problem which is NP-hard problem. Our main study for the first part of thesis is to find more accurate and reliable approximations of $\ell_0$-norm term and propose sparse unmixing methods via such approximations. The resulting methods are shown considerable improvements to reconstruct the fractional abundances of endmembers in comparison with state-of-the-art methods such as having lower reconstruction errors. In the second part of the thesis, the first scenario (i.e., dictionary-aided semiblind unmixing scheme) will be generalized as the blind unmixing scenario that the library of spectral signatures is also estimated. We apply the nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) method for proposing new unmixing methods due to its noticeable supports such as considering the nonnegativity constraints of two decomposed matrices. Furthermore, we introduce new cost functions through some statistical and physical features of spectral signatures of materials (SSoM) and hyperspectral pixels such as the collaborative property of hyperspectral pixels and the mathematical representation of the concentrated energy of SSoM for the first few subbands. Finally, we introduce sparse unmixing methods for the blind scenario and evaluate the efficiency of the proposed methods via simulations over synthetic and real hyperspectral data sets. The results illustrate considerable enhancements to estimate the spectral library of materials and their fractional abundances such as smaller values of spectral angle distance (SAD) and abundance angle distance (AAD) as well.

En busca del tiempo homérico con la mirada y la palabra de Antonio Prieto (lectura de "El ciego de Quíos")

En El ciego de Quíos, el novelista Antonio Prieto inventa la vida de Homero alimentándola con figuras y hechos procedentes de la Ilíada y, sobre todo, de la Odisea. El relato se enriquece con el conocimiento histórico en torno a los dos grandes poemas, y lo enmarca un amplio despliegue mitológico. Más allá, la novela alcanza un significado trascendente. Descubrimos como motor narrativo el esfuerzo homérico por vencer la fugacidad humana mediante la escritura, lo que crea un vínculo atemporal con el propio anhelo de nuestro autor; así, la novela nos ofrece un ejemplo máximo del fenómeno bautizado como fusión mítica por Antonio Prieto.

A study on independent component analysis over galois fields

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, 2015.

Sources de variation intra-populationelle de la morphologie des otolithes: asymétrie directionnelle et régime alimentaire

Otoliths are calcified structures located in Osteichthyes’ inner ear that are involved in audition and balance. Their morphology is used as an indicator of various ecological processes or properties. This application requires identifying the endogenous and exogenous factors that act simultaneously as sources of shape variation. This thesis aims at detecting and quantifying the relative contributions of directional asymmetry and diet to otolith shape variation at the intra-population level. Directional asymmetry between left and right otoliths was found in flat-fishes, the blind-side otolith being always longer and larger, whereas it was negligible in round-fishes. However, asymmetry amplitude never exceeded 18 %, which suggests evolutionary canalization of otolith shape symmetry. A correlation between global diet and otolith was detected in 4 species studied in situ. Diet composition contributed more than food amount to morphological variation and affected otolith shape both globally and locally. An experimental study on sea bass (Dicentrarchus larbrax) showed that diet composition in terms of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids at larval stage affects otolith morphogenesis during juvenile stage without impacting on individuals’ somatic growth. This result suggests a direct effect of diet on otolith shape and not an indirect one through the somatic-otolith growth relationship. This effect disappeared at later stages, morphogenetic trajectories converging back to a similar shape, which suggests ontogenetic canalization of otolith shape.

Acessibilidade e usabilidade em curso online : um desafio para as escolas de governo

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Educação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação, 2016.

Reconciling Function- and Affordance-Based Design

Traditional engineering design methods are based on Simon's (1969) use of the concept function, and as such collectively suffer from both theoretical and practical shortcomings. Researchers in the field of affordance-based design have borrowed from ecological psychology in an attempt to address the blind spots of function-based design, developing alternative ontologies and design processes. This dissertation presents function and affordance theory as both compatible and complimentary. We first present a hybrid approach to design for technology change, followed by a reconciliation and integration of function and affordance ontologies for use in design. We explore the integration of a standard function-based design method with an affordance-based design method, and demonstrate how affordance theory can guide the early application of function-based design. Finally, we discuss the practical and philosophical ramifications of embracing affordance theory's roots in ecology and ecological psychology, and explore the insights and opportunities made possible by an ecological approach to engineering design. The primary contribution of this research is the development of an integrated ontology for describing and designing technological systems using both function- and affordance-based methods.

BabyNet Program CONSOLIDATED Financial Activity Report

This is the state’s interagency BabyNet financial statement, depicting the BabyNet revenues and expenditures of: South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness, The South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, The South Carolina Department of Mental Health, The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, The South Carolina Department of Social Services

Creating Partnerships: Computer Training with Assistive Technology for Senior Adults

Currently, at the SC Commission for the Blind, there is no opportunity for computer training for adults in the Older Blind Program. The Older Blind Program has to look for outside partners to make this service viable again. This project proposes that the OB Program partner with regional senior and recreation centers to establish a community-based training program that is both effective and is of minimal cost to the agency and to the partnering centers.