LARGE MOTION VISUALIZATION AND ESTIMATION FOR FLAPPING WING SYSTEMS

Studies of fluid-structure interactions associated with flexible structures such as flapping wings require the capture and quantification of large motions of bodies that may be opaque. Motion capture of a free flying insect is considered by using three synchronized high-speed cameras. A solid finite element representation is used as a reference body and successive snapshots in time of the displacement fields are reconstructed via an optimization procedure. An objective function is formulated, and various shape difference definitions are considered. The proposed methodology is first studied for a synthetic case of a flexible cantilever structure undergoing large deformations, and then applied to a Manduca Sexta (hawkmoth) in free flight. The three-dimensional motions of this flapping system are reconstructed from image date collected by using three cameras. The complete deformation geometry of this system is analyzed. Finally, a computational investigation is carried out to understand the flow physics and aerodynamic performance by prescribing the body and wing motions in a fluid-body code. This thesis work contains one of the first set of such motion visualization and deformation analyses carried out for a hawkmoth in free flight. The tools and procedures used in this work are widely applicable to the studies of other flying animals with flexible wings as well as synthetic systems with flexible body elements.

Three dimensional visualization of the World Wide Web

Although large-scale public hypermedia structures such as the World Wide Web are popularly referred to as "cyberspace", the extent to which they constitute a space in the everyday sense of the word is questionable. This paper reviews recent work in the area of three dimensional (3D) visualization of the Web that has attempted to depict it in the form of a recognizable space; in other words, as a navigable landscape that may be visibly populated by its users. Our review begins by introducing a range of visualizations that address different aspects of using the Web. These include visualizations of Web structure, especially of links, that act as 3D maps; browsing history; searches; evolution of the Web; and the presence and activities of multiple users. We then summarize the different techniques that are employed by these visualizations. We conclude with a discussion of key challenges for the future.

IVIS: Search and visualization on heterogeneous information networks

We build a system to support search and visualization on heterogeneous information networks. We first build our system on a specialized heterogeneous information network: DBLP. The system aims to facilitate people, especially computer science researchers, toward a better understanding and user experience about academic information networks. Then we extend our system to the Web. Our results are much more intuitive and knowledgeable than the simple top-k blue links from traditional search engines, and bring more meaningful structural results with correlated entities. We also investigate the ranking algorithm, and we show that the personalized PageRank and proposed Hetero-personalized PageRank outperform the TF-IDF ranking or mixture of TF-IDF and authority ranking. Our work opens several directions for future research.

Visualization of flow fields in the web platform

Visualization of vector fields plays an important role in research activities nowadays -- Web applications allow a fast, multi-platform and multi-device access to data, which results in the need of optimized applications to be implemented in both high-performance and low-performance devices -- Point trajectory calculation procedures usually perform repeated calculations due to the fact that several points might lie over the same trajectory -- This paper presents a new methodology to calculate point trajectories over highly-dense and uniformly-distributed grid of points in which the trajectories are forced to lie over the points in the grid -- Its advantages rely on a highly parallel computing architecture implementation and in the reduction of the computational effort to calculate the stream paths since unnecessary calculations are avoided, reusing data through iterations -- As case study, the visualization of oceanic currents through in the web platform is presented and analyzed, using WebGL as the parallel computing architecture and the rendering Application Programming Interface

Subjective comparison of consumer television technologies for 3D visualization

This paper presents a comparison among different consumer 3D display technologies by means of a subjective assessment test. Therefore, four 55-in displays have been considered: one autostereoscopic display, one stereoscopic with polarized passive glasses, and two with active shutter glasses. In addition, a high-quality 3D video database has been used to show diverse material with both views in high definition. To carry out the test, standard recommendations have been followed considering also some modifications looking for a test environment more similar to real home viewing conditions, with the objective of obtaining more representative conclusions. Moreover, several perceptual factors have been considered to study the performance of the displays, such as picture quality, depth perception, and visual discomfort. The obtained results show interesting issues, like the performance improvement of active shutter glasses technology, the high performance of the polarized glasses technology in terms of quality and comfort, and the need of improvement of the autostereoscopic displays to complement the visual comfort to reach a global high-quality visual experience.

Geospatial Data Indexing Analysis and Visualization via Web Services with Autonomic Resource Management

With the exponential growth of the usage of web-based map services, the web GIS application has become more and more popular. Spatial data index, search, analysis, visualization and the resource management of such services are becoming increasingly important to deliver user-desired Quality of Service. First, spatial indexing is typically time-consuming and is not available to end-users. To address this, we introduce TerraFly sksOpen, an open-sourced an Online Indexing and Querying System for Big Geospatial Data. Integrated with the TerraFly Geospatial database [1-9], sksOpen is an efficient indexing and query engine for processing Top-k Spatial Boolean Queries. Further, we provide ergonomic visualization of query results on interactive maps to facilitate the user’s data analysis. Second, due to the highly complex and dynamic nature of GIS systems, it is quite challenging for the end users to quickly understand and analyze the spatial data, and to efficiently share their own data and analysis results with others. Built on the TerraFly Geo spatial database, TerraFly GeoCloud is an extra layer running upon the TerraFly map and can efficiently support many different visualization functions and spatial data analysis models. Furthermore, users can create unique URLs to visualize and share the analysis results. TerraFly GeoCloud also enables the MapQL technology to customize map visualization using SQL-like statements [10]. Third, map systems often serve dynamic web workloads and involve multiple CPU and I/O intensive tiers, which make it challenging to meet the response time targets of map requests while using the resources efficiently. Virtualization facilitates the deployment of web map services and improves their resource utilization through encapsulation and consolidation. Autonomic resource management allows resources to be automatically provisioned to a map service and its internal tiers on demand. v-TerraFly are techniques to predict the demand of map workloads online and optimize resource allocations, considering both response time and data freshness as the QoS target. The proposed v-TerraFly system is prototyped on TerraFly, a production web map service, and evaluated using real TerraFly workloads. The results show that v-TerraFly can accurately predict the workload demands: 18.91% more accurate; and efficiently allocate resources to meet the QoS target: improves the QoS by 26.19% and saves resource usages by 20.83% compared to traditional peak load-based resource allocation.

Jointly event extraction and visualization on Twitter via probabilistic modelling

Event extraction from texts aims to detect structured information such as what has happened, to whom, where and when. Event extraction and visualization are typically considered as two different tasks. In this paper, we propose a novel approach based on probabilistic modelling to jointly extract and visualize events from tweets where both tasks benefit from each other. We model each event as a joint distribution over named entities, a date, a location and event-related keywords. Moreover, both tweets and event instances are associated with coordinates in the visualization space. The manifold assumption that the intrinsic geometry of tweets is a low-rank, non-linear manifold within the high-dimensional space is incorporated into the learning framework using a regularization. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can effectively deal with both event extraction and visualization and performs remarkably better than both the state-of-the-art event extraction method and a pipeline approach for event extraction and visualization.

Direct visualization of magnetic-field-induced magnetoelectric switching in multiferroic Aurivillius phase thin films

Multiferroic materials displaying coupled ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order parameters could provide a means for data storage whereby bits could be written electrically and read magnetically, or vice versa. Thin films of Aurivillius phase Bi6Ti2.8Fe1.52Mn0.68O18, previously prepared by a chemical solution deposition (CSD) technique, are multiferroics demonstrating magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature. Here, we demonstrate the growth of a similar composition, Bi6Ti2.99Fe1.46Mn0.55O18, via the liquid injection chemical vapor deposition technique. High-resolution magnetic measurements reveal a considerably higher in-plane ferromagnetic signature than CSD grown films (MS = 24.25 emu/g (215 emu/cm3), MR = 9.916 emu/g (81.5 emu/cm3), HC = 170 Oe). A statistical analysis of the results from a thorough microstructural examination of the samples, allows us to conclude that the ferromagnetic signature can be attributed to the Aurivillius phase, with a confidence level of 99.95%. In addition, we report the direct piezoresponse force microscopy visualization of ferroelectric switching while going through a full in-plane magnetic field cycle, where increased volumes (8.6 to 14% compared with 4 to 7% for the CSD-grown films) of the film engage in magnetoelectric coupling and demonstrate both irreversible and reversible magnetoelectric domain switching.

Untangle sustainable development goal 8 through data visualization and HCI methods

Following the approval of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, sustainability became a hotly debated topic. In order to build a better and more sustainable future by 2030, this agenda addressed several global issues, including inequality, climate change, peace, and justice, in the form of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that should be understood and pursued by nations, corporations, institutions, and individuals. In this thesis, we researched how to exploit and integrate Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Data Visualization to promote knowledge and awareness about SDG 8, which wants to encourage lasting, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. In particular, we focused on three targets: green economy, sustainable tourism, employment, decent work for all, and social protection. The primary goal of this research is to determine whether HCI approaches may be used to create and validate interactive data visualization that can serve as helpful decision-making aids for specific groups and raise their knowledge of public-interest issues. To accomplish this goal, we analyzed four case studies. In the first two, we wanted to promote knowledge and awareness about green economy issues: we investigated the Human-Building Interaction inside a Smart Campus and the dematerialization process inside a University. In the third, we focused on smart tourism, investigating the relationship between locals and tourists to create meaningful connections and promote more sustainable tourism. In the fourth, we explored the industry context to highlight sustainability policies inside well-known companies. This research focuses on the hypothesis that interactive data visualization tools can make communities aware of sustainability aspects related to SDG8 and its targets. The research questions addressed are two: "how to promote awareness about SDG8 and its targets through interactive data visualizations?" and "to what extent are these interactive data visualizations effective?".

PIATTAFORMA DI DATA VISUALIZATION GUIDATA DALLA MODELLAZIONE STATISTICA DEI DATI Applicazione a dati sanitari di pazienti oncologici della regione Emila-Romagna

Una gestione, un’analisi e un’interpretazione efficienti dei big data possono cambiare il modello lavorativo, modificare i risultati, aumentare le produzioni, e possono aprire nuove strade per l’assistenza sanitaria moderna. L'obiettivo di questo studio è incentrato sulla costruzione di una dashboard interattiva di un nuovo modello e nuove prestazioni nell’ambito della Sanità territoriale. Lo scopo è quello di fornire al cliente una piattaforma di Data Visualization che mostra risultati utili relativi ai dati sanitari in modo da fornire agli utilizzatori sia informazioni descrittive che statistiche sulla attuale gestione delle cure e delle terapie somministrate. Si propone uno strumento che consente la navigazione dei dati analizzando l’andamento di un set di indicatori di fine vita calcolati a partire da pazienti oncologici della Regione Emilia Romagna in un arco temporale che va dal 2010 ad oggi.

Data Visualization e Sonification per aumentare la consapevolezza sull'inquinamento attraverso un'applicazione web interattiva

Nonostante la consapevolezza sulle condizioni non ottimali della qualità dell'aria sia sempre più diffusa, a molte persone risulta ancora insidioso comprendere il significato dei dati sull'argomento tramite la sola rappresentazione grafica. L'obbiettivo di questo progetto è quello di presentare, tramite un'applicazione web interattiva, le informazioni sull'inquinamento atmosferico in maniera più semplice e coinvolgente. La strategia scelta è la Sonificazione: un processo che trasforma un dato di qualsiasi natura in un suono che ne rispecchia le caratteristiche. Su questa base, vengono approfondite le problematiche dell'inquinamento, le metodologie di rappresentazione e le debolezze di queste ultime. Dopo essere entrato in dettaglio sul funzionamento della Sonificazione e sulle sue applicazioni, il volume segue lo sviluppo del sistema in tutte le sue fasi: l'analisi dei requisiti, la scelta delle tecnologie, l'implementazione e i test. L'elaborato presta particolare attenzione a spiegare in dettaglio la realizzazione della traccia audio di Sonificazione, l'elemento più importante di tutto l'applicativo.

Aumentare la consapevolezza sul benessere digitale: Data Visualization e Sonification in un’applicazione mobile

La tecnologia gioca un ruolo importante nella vita della maggior parte delle persone, ma come possiamo assicurarci che migliori effettivamente la vita piuttosto che distrarci da essa? Con gli smartphone di oggi, i social media e i flussi infiniti di contenuti, molte persone sono pronte a condannare la tecnologia sulla base della loro convinzione che questi prodotti siano dannosi per la salute mentale e il benessere. Ma concentrarsi solo su questi effetti potenzialmente dannosi non ci aiuta a raccogliere tutti i vantaggi che questi strumenti hanno da offrire, gestendo anche i loro rischi. Da qui nasce il digital wellbeing: un termine utilizzato per descrivere l’impatto delle tecnologie e dei servizi digitali sulla salute mentale, fisica, sociale ed emotiva delle persone. Lo scopo di questa tesi è quello di aumentare la consapevolezza sul reale utilizzo dei dispositivi e sulle proprie abitudini salutari attraverso la sonificazione, un processo di traduzione dei dati in suono, a volte in un contesto musicale utilizzato come metodo per superare le barriere della comunicazione scientifica. Questo metodo è particolarmente vantaggioso per la sua capacità di rappresentare i dati scientifici per le persone con disabilità visive, che spesso non sono in grado di interagire con le tradizionali visualizzazioni dei dati. Per raggiungere l'obiettivo della tesi viene preso in esame una solo tipologia di dispositivi, gli iPhone, per la quale verrà creata un'applicazione che riesca ad ottenere i dati sulla salute, sulla forma fisica e di utilizzo dello smartphone.

On The Distinct Molecular Architectures Of Dipping- And Spray-lbl Films Containing Lipid Vesicles.

The introduction of spraying procedures to fabricate layer-by-layer (LbL) films has brought new possibilities for the control of molecular architectures and for making the LbL technique compliant with industrial processes. In this study we show that significantly distinct architectures are produced for dipping and spray-LbL films of the same components, which included DODAB/DPPG vesicles. The films differed notably in their thickness and stratified nature. The electrical response of the two types of films to aqueous solutions containing erythrosin was also different. With multidimensional projections we showed that the impedance for the DODAB/DPPG spray-LbL film is more sensitive to changes in concentration, being therefore more promising as sensing units. Furthermore, with surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) we could ascribe the high sensitivity of the LbL films to adsorption of erythrosin.

Longitudinal Analysis Of Hippocampal T2 Relaxometry In Fmtle.

To investigate the degree of T2 relaxometry changes over time in groups of patients with familial mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (FMTLE) and asymptomatic relatives. We conducted both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of T2 relaxometry with Aftervoxel, an in-house software for medical image visualization. The cross-sectional study included 35 subjects (26 with FMTLE and 9 asymptomatic relatives) and 40 controls; the longitudinal study was composed of 30 subjects (21 with FMTLE and 9 asymptomatic relatives; the mean time interval of MRIs was 4.4 ± 1.5 years) and 16 controls. To increase the size of our groups of patients and relatives, we combined data acquired in 2 scanners (2T and 3T) and obtained z-scores using their respective controls. General linear model on SPSS21® was used for statistical analysis. In the cross-sectional analysis, elevated T2 relaxometry was identified for subjects with seizures and intermediate values for asymptomatic relatives compared to controls. Subjects with MRI signs of hippocampal sclerosis presented elevated T2 relaxometry in the ipsilateral hippocampus, while patients and asymptomatic relatives with normal MRI presented elevated T2 values in the right hippocampus. The longitudinal analysis revealed a significant increase in T2 relaxometry for the ipsilateral hippocampus exclusively in patients with seizures. The longitudinal increase of T2 signal in patients with seizures suggests the existence of an interaction between ongoing seizures and the underlying pathology, causing progressive damage to the hippocampus. The identification of elevated T2 relaxometry in asymptomatic relatives and in patients with normal MRI suggests that genetic factors may be involved in the development of some mild hippocampal abnormalities in FMTLE.

Avoiding Pitfalls Of Intraoperative Peripheral Endovascular Surgery With The Aid Of Osirix: Expanding The Use Of Virtual Fluoroscopy.

We have shown how the analysis of the angiotomography reconstruction through OsiriX program has assisted in endovascular perioperative programming. We presented its application in situations when an unexpected existence of metallic overlapping artifact (orthopedic osteosynthesis) compromised the adequate visualization of the arterial lesion during the procedure. Through manipulation upon OsiriX software, with assistance of preview under virtual fluoroscopy, it was possible to obtain the angles that would avoid this juxtaposition. These angles were reproduced in the C-arm, allowing visualization of the occluded segment, reducing the need for repeated image acquisitions and contrast overload, allowing the continuation of the procedure.