Thesis abstract. Applying species distribution modeling for the conservation of Iberian protected invertebrates

This article outlines the approaches to modeling the distribution of threatened invertebrates using data from atlases, museums and databases. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are useful for estimating species’ ranges, identifying suitable habitats, and identifying the primary factors affecting species’ distributions. The study tackles the strategies used to obtain SDMs without reliable absence data while exploring their applications for conservation. I examine the conservation status of Copris species and Graellsia isabelae by delimiting their populations and exploring the effectiveness of protected areas. I show that the method of pseudo‐absence selection strongly determines the model obtained, generating different model predictions along the gradient between potential and realized distributions. After assessing the effects of species’ traits and data characteristics on accuracy, I found that species are modeled more accurately when sample sizes are larger, no matter the technique used.

Compact filters using metal-dielectric inserts

A novel filter based on e-plane metal-dielectric insert in rectangular waveguide is proposed. Properties of the structure containing metallic septa, C- and I-shaped resonators placed in waveguide are investigated. Pseudo-elliptic cross-coupled filter with direct source-load coupling is designed, simulated and fabricated. Experimental results are presented to prove feasibility of the filter. Significant size reduction is achieved.

Locally Periodic Signal Estimation and Pitch Detection, and Acoustic Communication in American and Northwestern Crows

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-03

Io Ancora Sono l’amore: algumas considerações sobre amor e adultério femininos no filme de Luca Guadagnino

Este trabalho analisa a protagonista do filme “Io sono l’amore”a partir do imaginário ocidental que impeliu a identidade das mulheres para o amor. Porno- tropic russo a ser inseminado pela civilização italiana, Emma será a propriedade erotizada que encontra no adultério a possibilidade de transgredir contra a identidadeque sustenta. Porém, se a infidelidade ameaça a ordem para qual as mulheres servem de base, elaainda colaboracom a inteligibilidade que liga as mulheres ao imaginário amoroso dito livre.

Copper and lead removal by peanut hulls: equilibrium and kinetic studies

This research work aims to study the use of peanut hulls, an agricultural and food industry waste, for copper and lead removal through equilibrium and kinetic parameters evaluation. Equilibrium batch studies were performed in a batch adsorber. The influence of initial pH was evaluated (3–5) and it was selected between 4.0 and 4.5. The maximum sorption capacities obtained for the Langmuir model were 0.21 ± 0.03 and 0.18 ± 0.02 mmol/g, respectively for copper and lead. In bi-component systems, competitive sorption of copper and lead was verified, the total amount adsorbed being around 0.21 mmol of metal per gram of material in both mono and bi-component systems. In the kinetic studies equilibrium was reached after 200 min contact time using a 400 rpm stirring rate, achieving 78% and 58% removal, in mono-component system, for copper and lead respectively. Their removal follows a pseudo-second-order kinetics. These studies show that most of the metals removal occurred in the first 20 min of contact, which shows a good uptake rate in all systems.

A multi-objective approach for the motion planning of redundant manipulators

Kinematic redundancy occurs when a manipulator possesses more degrees of freedom than those required to execute a given task. Several kinematic techniques for redundant manipulators control the gripper through the pseudo-inverse of the Jacobian, but lead to a kind of chaotic inner motion with unpredictable arm configurations. Such algorithms are not easy to adapt to optimization schemes and, moreover, often there are multiple optimization objectives that can conflict between them. Unlike single optimization, where one attempts to find the best solution, in multi-objective optimization there is no single solution that is optimum with respect to all indices. Therefore, trajectory planning of redundant robots remains an important area of research and more efficient optimization algorithms are needed. This paper presents a new technique to solve the inverse kinematics of redundant manipulators, using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. This scheme combines the closed-loop pseudo-inverse method with a multi-objective genetic algorithm to control the joint positions. Simulations for manipulators with three or four rotational joints, considering the optimization of two objectives in a workspace without and with obstacles are developed. The results reveal that it is possible to choose several solutions from the Pareto optimal front according to the importance of each individual objective.

Dynamics of the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ stock indexes

The goal of this study is the analysis of the dynamical properties of financial data series from worldwide stock market indices. We analyze the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ∧ DJI) and the NASDAQ Composite ( ∧ IXIC) indexes at a daily time horizon. The methods and algorithms that have been explored for description of physical phenomena become an effective background, and even inspiration, for very productive methods used in the analysis of economical data. We start by applying the classical concepts of signal analysis, Fourier transform, and methods of fractional calculus. In a second phase we adopt a pseudo phase plane approach.

Filtering method in backlash phenomena analysis

The behavior of robotic manipulators with backlash is analyzed. Based on the pseudo-phase plane two indices are proposed to evaluate the backlash effect upon the robotic system: the root mean square error and the fractal dimension. For the dynamical analysis the noisy signals captured from the system are filtered through wavelets. Several tests are developed that demonstrate the coherence of the results.

Brotherly love and filial obedience: the commemorative programme of the Avis princes at Santa Maria da Vitória, Batalha

This dissertation focuses on a rare 15th century commemorative programme that has thus far received little scholarly attention: the collective monument erected in the Founder’s Chapel, at the Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, Batalha, to house the remains of four Avis princes, members of what would become known as ‘the Illustrious Generation’. A patron is proposed for the commission of this erudite monument - the princes’ eldest brother, king Duarte I - arguing its integration into a broader propaganda programme to glorify the memory of the Avis dynasty founder, king João I. The dissertation then proceeds to discuss various highly innovative features of the monument, such as its pseudo-architectural character, its use of sophisticated heraldry and personal badges, the apparent absence of religious iconography on the tombs and, importantly, the collective nature of the programme, key to its interpretation. Using a semiotic approach, a discussion is also offered on the way the various formal, iconographic and conceptual novelties of the princes’ monument impacted on the 15th century monumental landscape in Portugal. Finally, the monument and the chapel housing it are looked at through the prism of the various readings that successive generations of viewers have projected onto it, from the time of its creation to the turn of the 20th century, in order to offer a more comprehensive understanding of the object as it stands today.

Une approche philosophique de la médecine des confins de la vie, pour le patient Alzheimer ou en soins palliatifs

Résumé. Mon travail s'articule en deux parties, chacune formée de deux chapitres, consacrées successivement au faire et à l'être, pour passer sans cesse du medicus faber au medicus sapiens, deux identités en interaction constante, pour une médecine des confins de la vie qui se veut responsable. I. La question du faire pour la médecine des confins de la vie. -Le premier chapitre sera dédié à la démesure, l'hybris de notre médecine moderne. L'action de Prométhée, par le feu donné, me permettra d'acquérir le savoir, la science nécessaire à un artisanat d'honnête homme. Il s'agit de faire juste car, sans cela, la médecine est une imposture. Inverser les priorités, privilégier la culture de l'être au détriment des compétences du faire, risque bien de déboucher sur la tromperie d'un pseudo être qui recouvre une incompétence coupable. Mais la foi dans le faire seul, dans une action détachée d'une réflexion critique prenant en compte l'être, mène à l'hybris, à la démesure de l'homme qui se croit et se proclame Dieu. Et nous voici ainsi menés face à Némésis, la vengeance qui punit l'hybris. -Dans le deuxième chapitre, cette action, y compris dans sa tendance à la démesure, l'hybris, se verra plongée dans l'utilitarisme qui imprègne la pensée occidentale moderne et oriente tout notre contexte moral objectif, ce bruissement ambiant d'idées qui baigne et infléchit notre réflexion quotidienne. Nous verrons, dans le chapitre dédié à cette grammaire éthique, que lorsqu'il s'agit de donner au plus grand nombre le plus de bonheur possible, les patients des confins de la vie se trouvent toujours du côté des perdants, des sacrifiés du bonheur. Cette part de mon travail me permettra de poser les principes de l'utilitarisme et d'en critiquer tant les fondements que les applications dans le cadre de la médecine des confins de la vie. Puis la politique, qui gère les affaires de la Cité, entrera en jeu et l'étai de pénurie, de différence entre les besoins réels ou ressentis et les ressources, donnera un cadre contraignant à cette réflexion communautaire. J'examinerai de manière critique diverses facettes des solutions proposées par la pensée utilitariste puis chercherai avec John Rawls et Antigone la manière la plus sage d'atteindre, selon le mot de Ricoeur, «une vie bonne avec et pour les autres dans une société juste. » II : La question de l'être pour la médecine des confins de la vie -Dans le troisième chapitre, consacré à la dignité, je tenterai de cerner cette idée pour le patient des confins de la vie, et j'aborderai cette notion par deux chemins complémentaires et convergents : le temps congelé et le trou de dignité. Je m'interrogerai tout d'abord, réfléchissant quelque instant à propos de l'embryon congelé, sur le temps figé de celui qui, dans la démence, n'a plus ni hier ni demain. Suspendu dans un présent qui s'éternise, il échappe à la mortalité et à l'humaine condition jusqu'à ce que la mort le surprenne, de l'extérieur de lui-même. Pour réinscrire le patient dans sa temporalité, pour lui rendre sa mortalité propre et reconstruire ainsi son statut d'être humain, sa dignité, il nous faudra faire appel à ce que je nomme la contagion temporelle. Elle est le fait de l'entourage du patient, de celles et ceux qui forment son contexte, la famille et les proches comme les professionnels. Puis j'examinerai plusieurs significations du mot dignité, en particulier la dignité dite ontologique, liée à l'être, et celle que l'on peut dire conditionnelle, relative à divers attributs, comme le paraître ou la raison, dont l'homme peut être ou non pourvu. Entre ces deux dignités se creuse le trou de dignité toujours menaçant car il comporte l'idée d'une brisure, d'une frontière entre les hommes, qui distingue et sépare entre les humains, leur attribuant une valeur. Cette valeur réifie l'homme et menace ainsi la dignité de chacun. Le patient des confins de la vie, qu'il soit égaré dans l'intemporalité ou dans le trou de dignité, doit être impérativement maintenu dans la communauté comme dans la continuité de sa propre vie jusqu'à ce que sa propre mort marque l'achèvement de son propre chemin. Ce devoir, pour celles et ceux qui cheminent avec lui, de près ou de loin, échappe au particulier et au circonstanciel pour acquérir un statut normatif, catégorique et universel. -Dans le quatrième chapitre, deux philosophes nous permettront d'aspirer le trou de dignité jusqu'à le rendre virtuel. Avec Martin Buber, nous examinerons le rapport Je-Cela et la relation Je-Tu dans le contexte particulier des interactions qui unissent le patient des confins de sa vie et son médecin. Puis il nous faudra bien réaliser que cette relation se trouve mise en danger dans les Je-Tu brisés par la démence ou l'état confusionnel. Comment, dans les confins de la vie, maintenir la relation lorsque Tu n'en veut ou n'en peut plus ? Emmanuel Levinas, et le visage de l'autre qui m'oblige et m'en rend responsable absolument, viendra à la rescousse, nous permettant ainsi d'éviter au patient des confins la perte de son ultime dignité dans la Shoah intime qui le menace dans ce temps de la vie. Cette thèse va donc parcourir un chemin qui partant du faire ne pourra que me mener à un questionnement sur l'être. Il s'agit d'un travail d'homme actif qui a pour but, dans ma trajectoire de vie, de donner un sens à mon artisanat du soin. Nous verrons donc que le faire, l'acte, ne pourra que se montrer complémentaire de l'être, de la dignité et que ces deux approches tisseront et entremêleront leurs brins dans ce tapis chatoyant de la vie, de celle, de celui, qu'r en atteint les confins, comme de la mienne.

Spurious hyperphosphatemia in a patient with alteplase-locked central venous catheter.

Alteplase has been shown to be effective in preventing central venous access clotting in patients on hemodialysis. Because of a high phosphorus content in its excipient, it can inadvertently contaminate blood samples, leading the physician in care of the patient to erroneously increase dialysis time or change diet in order to control the pseudo-hyperphosphatemia.

Many valued algebraic structures as measures of comparison

This thesis studies the properties and usability of operators called t-norms, t-conorms, uninorms, as well as many valued implications and equivalences. Into these operators, weights and a generalized mean are embedded for aggregation, and they are used for comparison tasks and for this reason they are referred to as comparison measures. The thesis illustrates how these operators can be weighted with a differential evolution and aggregated with a generalized mean, and the kinds of measures of comparison that can be achieved from this procedure. New operators suitable for comparison measures are suggested. These operators are combination measures based on the use of t-norms and t-conorms, the generalized 3_-uninorm and pseudo equivalence measures based on S-type implications. The empirical part of this thesis demonstrates how these new comparison measures work in the field of classification, for example, in the classification of medical data. The second application area is from the field of sports medicine and it represents an expert system for defining an athlete's aerobic and anaerobic thresholds. The core of this thesis offers definitions for comparison measures and illustrates that there is no actual difference in the results achieved in comparison tasks, by the use of comparison measures based on distance, versus comparison measures based on many valued logical structures. The approach has been highly practical in this thesis and all usage of the measures has been validated mainly by practical testing. In general, many different types of operators suitable for comparison tasks have been presented in fuzzy logic literature and there has been little or no experimental work with these operators.

[Recueil]

S. Augustinus, De baptismo parvulorum (1-30). - S. Anselmus Cantuariensis, Epistola ad monasterium Sancti Albani super Trinitatem (30-30v). - S. Gregorius, Epistolae (30v-31). - Remigius Autissiodorensis, Tractatus in Cantica canticorum (32-58). - Alcuinus, Expositio super Ecclesiastem (58-79v). - S. Augustinus, Altercatio contra Felicianum Arriomantem de unitate Trinitatis (79v-87). - Pseudo-Augustinus, De quattuor virtutibus caritatis (87-87v). - Alcuinus, De virtutibus et vitiis (88-94).- Liber Scintillarum (94-116v). - Isidorus Hispalensis, Sententiae de exemplis sanctorum (116v-121v). - De sacramentis ecclesiae (121v-124). - Teobaldus Stapensis, Epistola ad abbatem Saloberiensem (124-124v). - S. Bernardus Claraevallensis, Parabola de conflictu civitatis Babilonie et Jerusalem (124v-132v). - S. Augustinus, De incarnatione Domini contra Judeos (132v-133), Liber de predestinatione (133-136). - Hugo de Sancto Victore, Quaestio ("De eo quod dicitur: funes ceciderunt mihi in praeclaris") (136-136v). - S. Gregorius, Regula pastoralis (136v-137v). - S. Anselmus Cantuariensis, Cur Deus homo (138-155). - Robertus Pullus, Sermo (155-156). - Elucidarium (156-173v). - Adso Dermensis, D761De Antichristo ejusque signis (173v-174). - S. Augustinus, De libero arbitrio (174v). - Anselmus Lauduniensis, Sententiae de matrimonio (174v-177). - Sententiae variae (177-181).

[Recueil]

Julianus Pomerius, De vita activa et contemplativa (1-45). - Prosperus Aquitanus, De vocatione gentium (45v-74v), Epistola ad Rufinum de gratia et libero arbitrio (74v-80), De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio contra collatorem (80-101v), Responsiones ad excerpta Genuensium (101v-107), Responsiones ad capitula objectionum Gallorum (107-113), Responsiones ad capitula objectionum Vincentianarum (113-117), Sententiae ex operibus sancti Augustini (117-137), Epigrammata (137v-147v). - Pseudo Paulanus Nolensis, Poema conjugis ad uxorem (147v-148). - Pseudo Prosperus, Confessio (148-148v). - S. Leo, Sermones XVI et XVII [fragments] (149-149v).

[Recueil].

Pseudo-Augustinus, De spiritu et anima (1-8). - Ricardus de Sancto Victore, De gradibus caritatis (8v-17v). - Hugo de Sancto Caro, Speculum ecclesiae (17v-22). - De canone missae (22-34v). - Instructio confessorum (34v-36). - Sermones [Nicolaus de Byard et alii] (37-193v). - Adelardus Bathoniensis, Quaestiones naturales perdifficiles (195-210v). - Alanus de Insulis, Quaestiones naturales (210v-227). - Marbodus Redonensis, Liber lapidum (227-231v). - Zacharias de Salerno, Liber de passionibus oculorum (231v-238v). - Versus de signis tempestatum (238v-239v).