Air photography Samoylov Island

For the qualitative description of surface properties like vegetation cover or land-water-ratio of Samoylov Island as well as for the evaluation of fetch homogeneity considerations of the eddy covariance measurements and for the up-scaling of chamber flux measurements, a detailed surface classification of the island at the sub-polygonal scale is necessary. However, up to know only grey-scale Corona satellite images from the 1960s with a resolution of 2 x 2 m and recent multi-spectral LandSat images with a resolution of 30 x 30 m were available for this region. Both are not useable for the desired classification because of missing spectral information and inadequate resolution, respectively. During the Lena 2003 expedition, a survey of the island by air photography was carried out in order to obtain images for surface classification. The photographs were taken from a helicopter on 10.07.2002, using a Canon EOS100 reflex camera, a Soligor 19-23 mm lens and colour slide film. The height from which the photographs were taken was approximately 600 meters. Due to limited flight time, not all the area of the island could be photographed and some regions could only be photographed with a slanted view. As a result, the images are of a varying quality and resolution. In Potsdam, after processing the films were scanned using a Nikon LS-2000 scanner at maximal resolution setting. This resulted in a ground resolution of the scanned images of approximately 0.3x0.3 m. The images were subsequently geo-referenced using the ENVI software and a referenced Corona image dating from 18.07.1964 (Spott, 2003). Geo-referencing was only possible for the Holocene river terrace areas; the floodplain regions in the western part of the island could not be referenced due to the lack of ground reference points. In Figure 3.7-1, the aerial view of Samoylov Island composed of the geo-referenced images is shown. Further work is necessary for the classification and interpretation of the images. If possible, air photography surveys will be carried out during future expeditions in order to determine changes in surface pattern and composition.

Cartography for cooperative manoeuvres with autonomous land vehicles

This article presents a cartographic system to facilitate cooperative manoeuvres among autonomous vehicles in a well-known environment. The main objective is to design an extended cartographic system to help in the navigation of autonomous vehicles. This system has to allow the vehicles not only to access the reference points needed for navigation, but also noticeable information such as the location and type of traffic signals, the proximity to a crossing, the streets en route, etc. To do this, a hierarchical representation of the information has been chosen, where the information has been stored in two levels. The lower level contains the archives with the Universal Traverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates of the points that define the reference segments to follow. The upper level contains a directed graph with the relational database in which streets, crossings, roundabouts and other points of interest are represented. Using this new system it is possible to know when the vehicle approaches a crossing, what other paths arrive at that crossing, and, should there be other vehicles circulating on those paths and arriving at the crossing, which one has the highest priority. The data obtained from the cartographic system is used by the autonomous vehicles for cooperative manoeuvres.

Localization and Tracking in Energy-Constrained Networks with Dynamic Connectivity

Systems used for target localization, such as goods, individuals, or animals, commonly rely on operational means to meet the final application demands. However, what would happen if some means were powered up randomly by harvesting systems? And what if those devices not randomly powered had their duty cycles restricted? Under what conditions would such an operation be tolerable in localization services? What if the references provided by nodes in a tracking problem were distorted? Moreover, there is an underlying topic common to the previous questions regarding the transfer of conceptual models to reality in field tests: what challenges are faced upon deploying a localization network that integrates energy harvesting modules? The application scenario of the system studied is a traditional herding environment of semi domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in northern Scandinavia. In these conditions, information on approximate locations of reindeer is as important as environmental preservation. Herders also need cost-effective devices capable of operating unattended in, sometimes, extreme weather conditions. The analyses developed are worthy not only for the specific application environment presented, but also because they may serve as an approach to performance of navigation systems in absence of reasonably accurate references like the ones of the Global Positioning System (GPS). A number of energy-harvesting solutions, like thermal and radio-frequency harvesting, do not commonly provide power beyond one milliwatt. When they do, battery buffers may be needed (as it happens with solar energy) which may raise costs and make systems more dependent on environmental temperatures. In general, given our problem, a harvesting system is needed that be capable of providing energy bursts of, at least, some milliwatts. Many works on localization problems assume that devices have certain capabilities to determine unknown locations based on range-based techniques or fingerprinting which cannot be assumed in the approach considered herein. The system presented is akin to range-free techniques, but goes to the extent of considering very low node densities: most range-free techniques are, therefore, not applicable. Animal localization, in particular, uses to be supported by accurate devices such as GPS collars which deplete batteries in, maximum, a few days. Such short-life solutions are not particularly desirable in the framework considered. In tracking, the challenge may times addressed aims at attaining high precision levels from complex reliable hardware and thorough processing techniques. One of the challenges in this Thesis is the use of equipment with just part of its facilities in permanent operation, which may yield high input noise levels in the form of distorted reference points. The solution presented integrates a kinetic harvesting module in some nodes which are expected to be a majority in the network. These modules are capable of providing power bursts of some milliwatts which suffice to meet node energy demands. The usage of harvesting modules in the aforementioned conditions makes the system less dependent on environmental temperatures as no batteries are used in nodes with harvesters--it may be also an advantage in economic terms. There is a second kind of nodes. They are battery powered (without kinetic energy harvesters), and are, therefore, dependent on temperature and battery replacements. In addition, their operation is constrained by duty cycles in order to extend node lifetime and, consequently, their autonomy. There is, in turn, a third type of nodes (hotspots) which can be static or mobile. They are also battery-powered, and are used to retrieve information from the network so that it is presented to users. The system operational chain starts at the kinetic-powered nodes broadcasting their own identifier. If an identifier is received at a battery-powered node, the latter stores it for its records. Later, as the recording node meets a hotspot, its full record of detections is transferred to the hotspot. Every detection registry comprises, at least, a node identifier and the position read from its GPS module by the battery-operated node previously to detection. The characteristics of the system presented make the aforementioned operation own certain particularities which are also studied. First, identifier transmissions are random as they depend on movements at kinetic modules--reindeer movements in our application. Not every movement suffices since it must overcome a certain energy threshold. Second, identifier transmissions may not be heard unless there is a battery-powered node in the surroundings. Third, battery-powered nodes do not poll continuously their GPS module, hence localization errors rise even more. Let's recall at this point that such behavior is tight to the aforementioned power saving policies to extend node lifetime. Last, some time is elapsed between the instant an identifier random transmission is detected and the moment the user is aware of such a detection: it takes some time to find a hotspot. Tracking is posed as a problem of a single kinetically-powered target and a population of battery-operated nodes with higher densities than before in localization. Since the latter provide their approximate positions as reference locations, the study is again focused on assessing the impact of such distorted references on performance. Unlike in localization, distance-estimation capabilities based on signal parameters are assumed in this problem. Three variants of the Kalman filter family are applied in this context: the regular Kalman filter, the alpha-beta filter, and the unscented Kalman filter. The study enclosed hereafter comprises both field tests and simulations. Field tests were used mainly to assess the challenges related to power supply and operation in extreme conditions as well as to model nodes and some aspects of their operation in the application scenario. These models are the basics of the simulations developed later. The overall system performance is analyzed according to three metrics: number of detections per kinetic node, accuracy, and latency. The links between these metrics and the operational conditions are also discussed and characterized statistically. Subsequently, such statistical characterization is used to forecast performance figures given specific operational parameters. In tracking, also studied via simulations, nonlinear relationships are found between accuracy and duty cycles and cluster sizes of battery-operated nodes. The solution presented may be more complex in terms of network structure than existing solutions based on GPS collars. However, its main gain lies on taking advantage of users' error tolerance to reduce costs and become more environmentally friendly by diminishing the potential amount of batteries that can be lost. Whether it is applicable or not depends ultimately on the conditions and requirements imposed by users' needs and operational environments, which is, as it has been explained, one of the topics of this Thesis.

A water footprint assessment of a pair of jeans: the influence of agricultural policies on the sustainability of consumer products.

This study reports the results of a water footprint (WF) assessment of five types of textiles commonly used for the production of jeans, including two different fibres (cotton and Lyocell fibre) and five corresponding production methods for spinning, dyeing and weaving. The results show that the fibre production is the stage with the highest water consumption, being cotton production particularly relevant. Therefore, the study pays particular attention to the water footprint of cotton production and analyses the effects of external factors influencing the water footprint of a product, in this case, the incentives provided by the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the relevance of agricultural practices to the water footprint of a product is emphasised. An extensification of the crop production led to higher WF per unit, but a lower overall pressure on the basins water resources. This study performs a sustainability assessment of the estimated cotton WFs with the water scarcity index, as proposed by Hoekstra et al. (2011), and shows their variations in different years as a result of different water consumption by crops in the rest of the river basin. In our case, we applied the assessment to the Guadalquivir, Guadalete and Barbate river basins, three semi-arid rivers in South Spain. Because they are found to be relevant, the available water stored in dams and the outflow are also incorporated as reference points for the sustainability assessment. The study concludes that, in the case of Spanish cotton production, the situation of the basin and the policy impact are more relevant for the status of the basin s water resources than the actual WF of cotton production. Therefore, strategies aimed at reducing the impact of the water footprint of a product need to analyse both the WF along the value chain and within the local context.

Some advances in extensive bridge monitoring using low cost dynamic characterization

Dynamic measurements will become a standard for bridge monitoring in the near future. This fact will produce an important cost reduction for maintenance. US Administration has a long term intensive research program in order to diminish the estimated current maintenance cost of US$7 billion per year over 20 years. An optimal intervention maintenance program demands a historical dynamical record, as well as an updated mathematical model of the structure to be monitored. In case that a model of the structure is not actually available it is possible to produce it, however this possibility does not exist for missing measurement records from the past. Current acquisition systems to monitor structures can be made more efficient by introducing the following improvements, under development in the Spanish research Project “Low cost bridge health monitoring by ambient vibration tests using wireless sensors”: (a) a complete wireless system to acquire sensor data, (b) a wireless system that permits the localization and the hardware identification of the whole sensor system. The applied localization system has been object of a recent patent, and (c) automatization of the modal identification process, aimed to diminish human intervention. This system is assembled with cheap components and allows the simultaneous use of a large number of sensors at a low placement cost. The engineer’s intervention is limited to the selection of sensor positions, probably based on a preliminary FE analysis. In case of multiple setups, also the position of a number of fixed reference sensors has to be decided. The wireless localization system will obtain the exact coordinates of all these sensors positions. When the selection of optimal positions is difficult, for example because of the lack of a proper FE model, this can be compensated by using a higher number of measuring (also reference) points. The described low cost acquisition system allows the responsible bridge administration to obtain historical dynamic identification records at reasonable costs that will be used in future maintenance programs. Therefore, due to the importance of the baseline monitoring record of a new bridge, a monitoring test just after its construction should be highly recommended, if not compulsory.

Contribución a la localización en interiores basada en comunicaciones inalámbricas

Determinar con buena precisión la posición en la que se encuentra un terminal móvil, cuando éste se halla inmerso en un entorno de interior (centros comerciales, edificios de oficinas, aeropuertos, estaciones, túneles, etc), es el pilar básico sobre el que se sustentan un gran número de aplicaciones y servicios. Muchos de esos servicios se encuentran ya disponibles en entornos de exterior, aunque los entornos de interior se prestan a otros servicios específicos para ellos. Ese número, sin embargo, podría ser significativamente mayor de lo que actualmente es, si no fuera necesaria una costosa infraestructura para llevar a cabo el posicionamiento con la precisión adecuada a cada uno de los hipotéticos servicios. O, igualmente, si la citada infraestructura pudiera tener otros usos distintos, además del relacionado con el posicionamiento. La usabilidad de la misma infraestructura para otros fines distintos ofrecería la oportunidad de que la misma estuviera ya presente en las diferentes localizaciones, porque ha sido previamente desplegada para esos otros usos; o bien facilitaría su despliegue, porque el coste de esa operación ofreciera un mayor retorno de usabilidad para quien lo realiza. Las tecnologías inalámbricas de comunicaciones basadas en radiofrecuencia, ya en uso para las comunicaciones de voz y datos (móviles, WLAN, etc), cumplen el requisito anteriormente indicado y, por tanto, facilitarían el crecimiento de las aplicaciones y servicios basados en el posicionamiento, en el caso de poderse emplear para ello. Sin embargo, determinar la posición con el nivel de precisión adecuado mediante el uso de estas tecnologías, es un importante reto hoy en día. El presente trabajo pretende aportar avances significativos en este campo. A lo largo del mismo se llevará a cabo, en primer lugar, un estudio de los principales algoritmos y técnicas auxiliares de posicionamiento aplicables en entornos de interior. La revisión se centrará en aquellos que sean aptos tanto para tecnologías móviles de última generación como para entornos WLAN. Con ello, se pretende poner de relieve las ventajas e inconvenientes de cada uno de estos algoritmos, teniendo como motivación final su aplicabilidad tanto al mundo de las redes móviles 3G y 4G (en especial a las femtoceldas y small-cells LTE) como al indicado entorno WLAN; y teniendo siempre presente que el objetivo último es que vayan a ser usados en interiores. La principal conclusión de esa revisión es que las técnicas de triangulación, comúnmente empleadas para realizar la localización en entornos de exterior, se muestran inútiles en los entornos de interior, debido a efectos adversos propios de este tipo de entornos como la pérdida de visión directa o los caminos múltiples en el recorrido de la señal. Los métodos de huella radioeléctrica, más conocidos bajo el término inglés “fingerprinting”, que se basan en la comparación de los valores de potencia de señal que se están recibiendo en el momento de llevar a cabo el posicionamiento por un terminal móvil, frente a los valores registrados en un mapa radio de potencias, elaborado durante una fase inicial de calibración, aparecen como los mejores de entre los posibles para los escenarios de interior. Sin embargo, estos sistemas se ven también afectados por otros problemas, como por ejemplo los importantes trabajos a realizar para ponerlos en marcha, y la variabilidad del canal. Frente a ellos, en el presente trabajo se presentan dos contribuciones originales para mejorar los sistemas basados en los métodos fingerprinting. La primera de esas contribuciones describe un método para determinar, de manera sencilla, las características básicas del sistema a nivel del número de muestras necesarias para crear el mapa radio de la huella radioeléctrica de referencia, junto al número mínimo de emisores de radiofrecuencia que habrá que desplegar; todo ello, a partir de unos requerimientos iniciales relacionados con el error y la precisión buscados en el posicionamiento a realizar, a los que uniremos los datos correspondientes a las dimensiones y realidad física del entorno. De esa forma, se establecen unas pautas iniciales a la hora de dimensionar el sistema, y se combaten los efectos negativos que, sobre el coste o el rendimiento del sistema en su conjunto, son debidos a un despliegue ineficiente de los emisores de radiofrecuencia y de los puntos de captura de su huella. La segunda contribución incrementa la precisión resultante del sistema en tiempo real, gracias a una técnica de recalibración automática del mapa radio de potencias. Esta técnica tiene en cuenta las medidas reportadas continuamente por unos pocos puntos de referencia estáticos, estratégicamente distribuidos en el entorno, para recalcular y actualizar las potencias registradas en el mapa radio. Un beneficio adicional a nivel operativo de la citada técnica, es la prolongación del tiempo de usabilidad fiable del sistema, bajando la frecuencia en la que se requiere volver a capturar el mapa radio de potencias completo. Las mejoras anteriormente citadas serán de aplicación directa en la mejora de los mecanismos de posicionamiento en interiores basados en la infraestructura inalámbrica de comunicaciones de voz y datos. A partir de ahí, esa mejora será extensible y de aplicabilidad sobre los servicios de localización (conocimiento personal del lugar donde uno mismo se encuentra), monitorización (conocimiento por terceros del citado lugar) y seguimiento (monitorización prolongada en el tiempo), ya que todos ellas toman como base un correcto posicionamiento para un adecuado desempeño. ABSTRACT To find the position where a mobile is located with good accuracy, when it is immersed in an indoor environment (shopping centers, office buildings, airports, stations, tunnels, etc.), is the cornerstone on which a large number of applications and services are supported. Many of these services are already available in outdoor environments, although the indoor environments are suitable for other services that are specific for it. That number, however, could be significantly higher than now, if an expensive infrastructure were not required to perform the positioning service with adequate precision, for each one of the hypothetical services. Or, equally, whether that infrastructure may have other different uses beyond the ones associated with positioning. The usability of the same infrastructure for purposes other than positioning could give the opportunity of having it already available in the different locations, because it was previously deployed for these other uses; or facilitate its deployment, because the cost of that operation would offer a higher return on usability for the deployer. Wireless technologies based on radio communications, already in use for voice and data communications (mobile, WLAN, etc), meet the requirement of additional usability and, therefore, could facilitate the growth of applications and services based on positioning, in the case of being able to use it. However, determining the position with the appropriate degree of accuracy using these technologies is a major challenge today. This paper provides significant advances in this field. Along this work, a study about the main algorithms and auxiliar techniques related with indoor positioning will be initially carried out. The review will be focused in those that are suitable to be used with both last generation mobile technologies and WLAN environments. By doing this, it is tried to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each one of these algorithms, having as final motivation their applicability both in the world of 3G and 4G mobile networks (especially in femtocells and small-cells of LTE) and in the WLAN world; and having always in mind that the final aim is to use it in indoor environments. The main conclusion of that review is that triangulation techniques, commonly used for localization in outdoor environments, are useless in indoor environments due to adverse effects of such environments as loss of sight or multipaths. Triangulation techniques used for external locations are useless due to adverse effects like the lack of line of sight or multipath. Fingerprinting methods, based on the comparison of Received Signal Strength values measured by the mobile phone with a radio map of RSSI Recorded during the calibration phase, arise as the best methods for indoor scenarios. However, these systems are also affected by other problems, for example the important load of tasks to be done to have the system ready to work, and the variability of the channel. In front of them, in this paper we present two original contributions to improve the fingerprinting methods based systems. The first one of these contributions describes a method for find, in a simple way, the basic characteristics of the system at the level of the number of samples needed to create the radio map inside the referenced fingerprint, and also by the minimum number of radio frequency emitters that are needed to be deployed; and both of them coming from some initial requirements for the system related to the error and accuracy in positioning wanted to have, which it will be joined the data corresponding to the dimensions and physical reality of the environment. Thus, some initial guidelines when dimensioning the system will be in place, and the negative effects into the cost or into the performance of the whole system, due to an inefficient deployment of the radio frequency emitters and of the radio map capture points, will be minimized. The second contribution increases the resulting accuracy of the system when working in real time, thanks to a technique of automatic recalibration of the power measurements stored in the radio map. This technique takes into account the continuous measures reported by a few static reference points, strategically distributed in the environment, to recalculate and update the measurements stored into the map radio. An additional benefit at operational level of such technique, is the extension of the reliable time of the system, decreasing the periodicity required to recapture the radio map within full measurements. The above mentioned improvements are directly applicable to improve indoor positioning mechanisms based on voice and data wireless communications infrastructure. From there, that improvement will be also extensible and applicable to location services (personal knowledge of the location where oneself is), monitoring (knowledge by other people of your location) and monitoring (prolonged monitoring over time) as all of them are based in a correct positioning for proper performance.

La transformación de las grandes estaciones europeas con la llegada de la Alta Velocidad. El caso de Atocha

La aparición del tren de alta velocidad en Europa en las últimas décadas del siglo XX supuso el resurgir de un medio de transporte en progresivo declive desde la popularización del automóvil y del avión. La decadencia del ferrocarril había supuesto en muchos casos el abandono, o incluso la demolición, de estaciones históricas y el deterioro de su entorno urbano. Como reacción a esa desatención surgió, también en el último cuarto de siglo, una mayor conciencia social preocupada por la conservación del patrimonio construido del ferrocarril. La necesidad de adaptación de las grandes estaciones de ferrocarril para dar servicio al nuevo sistema de transporte, junto con el interés por poner en valor sus construcciones históricas y su céntrico entorno, ha dado como resultado la realización de importantes transformaciones. El objeto de la presente investigación es el estudio de las transformaciones que han sufrido las grandes estaciones europeas del siglo XIX con la llegada del tren de alta velocidad, profundizando de manera especial en el caso más significativo que tenemos en nuestro país: la estación de Atocha. En el ámbito europeo es donde se localizan los ejemplos más relevantes de estaciones que tuvieron gran trascendencia en el siglo XIX y que ahora, con la llegada de la Alta Velocidad, vuelven a recuperar su grandeza. En España, el crecimiento de la Alta Velocidad en los últimos años ha sido extraordinario, hasta situarse como el segundo país del mundo con más kilómetros de líneas de alta velocidad en operación y, en consecuencia, se ha construido un gran número de estaciones adaptadas a este servicio. El caso más notable es el de la estación de Atocha, que desde la llegada del AVE en 1992 hasta el día de hoy, se ha convertido en uno de los complejos ferroviarios más importantes del mundo. El trabajo parte del estudio de otros referentes europeos, como las Gares de París, la estación de St Pancras en Londres y de otras cinco estaciones del centro de Europa –Amsterdam Centraal, Antwerpen Centraal, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof y la Gare de Strasbourg–, para establecer el marco analítico sobre el que se profundiza con la estación de Atocha. El proceso de transformación de la estación de Atocha se ha gestado a través de una serie de proyectos que han ido configurando la estación hasta el momento actual y planteando la previsión de futuro: el proyecto del Plan General de Madrid, el concurso de ideas para el diseño de la estación, la estación de Cercanías, la estación de Alta Velocidad y Largo Recorrido, la ampliación de esta para separar los flujos por niveles, los Estudios Informativos del Nuevo Complejo Ferroviario de la Estación de Atocha y su primera fase de construcción. Estos siete proyectos son objeto de un análisis en tres niveles: análisis cronológico, análisis funcional y análisis formal. La estación de Atocha fue la primera estación histórica europea en sufrir una gran transformación vinculada a la llegada de la Alta Velocidad. Aporta el entendimiento de la estación como un todo y la intermodalidad como sus principales valores, además de la gran mejora urbana que supuso la «operación Atocha», y adolece de ciertas carencias en su desarrollo comercial, vinculadas en parte a la presencia del jardín tropical, y de un pobre espacio en las salas de embarque para los pasajeros de salidas. La estación de Atocha completa su transformación a partir de su renovación funcional, manteniendo la carga simbólica de su historia. De la confrontación del caso de Atocha con otras importantes estaciones europeas resulta la definición de las principales consecuencias de la llegada de la Alta Velocidad a las grandes terminales europeas y la identificación de los elementos clave en su transformación. Las consecuencias principales son: la potenciación de la intermodalidad con otros medios de transporte, el desarrollo comercial no necesariamente destinado a los usuarios de los servicios ferroviarios, y la puesta en valor de la antigua estación y de su entorno urbano. Por su parte, los elementos clave en la transformación de las grandes estaciones tienen que ver directamente con la separación de flujos, el entendimiento de la estación por niveles, la dotación de nuevos accesos laterales y la construcción de una nueva gran cubierta para los nuevos andenes. La preeminencia de unos elementos sobre otros depende del carácter propio de cada estación y de cada país, de la magnitud de la intervención y, también, de la estructura y composición de los equipos encargados del diseño de la nueva estación. En la actualidad, nos encontramos en un momento interesante respecto a las estaciones de Alta Velocidad. Tras el reciente atentado frustrado en el Thalys que viajaba de Ámsterdam a París, se ha acordado establecer controles de identidad y equipajes en todas las estaciones de la red europea de alta velocidad, lo que implicará modificaciones importantes en las grandes estaciones que, probablemente, tomarán el modelo de la estación de Atocha como referencia. ABSTRACT The emergence of the high speed train in Europe in the last few decades of the 20th century represented the resurgence of a means of transport in progressive decline since the popularization of the car and the airplane. The railway decay brought in many cases the abandonment, or even the demolition, of historical stations and the deterioration of its urban environment. In response to that neglect, a greater social awareness towards the preservation of the railway built heritage raised up, also in the last quarter-century. The need for adaptation of the great railway stations to serve the new transport system, along with the interest in enhancing the historical buildings and its central locations, had resulted in important transformations. The subject of current investigation is the study of the transformations that the great 19th century European stations have experienced with the arrival of the high speed rail, deepening in particular in the most significant case we have in Spain: Atocha railway station. At European level is where the most relevant examples of stations which have had a great significance in the 19th century and now, with the arrival of the high speed train, have regain their greatness, are located. In Spain, the growth of the high speed rail over the past few years has been outstanding. Today is the second country in the world with the longest high speed rail network in operation and, therefore, with a great number of new stations adapted to this service. The most remarkable case is Atocha station. Since the arrival of the AVE in 1992, the station has become one of the world's most important railway hub. The research starts with the study of other European reference points, as the Gares of Paris, St Pancras station in London and five other stations of Central Europe –Amsterdam Centraal, Antwerpen Centraal, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof y la Gare de Strasbourg–, to establish the analytical framework that will be deepen with Atocha station. The transformation process of Atocha station has been created through a number of projects that have forged the station to date and have raised the sights in the future: the project of the General Urban Development Plan, the ideas competition for the station design, the Suburban train station, the High Speed and Long Distance station, its enlargement in order to separate passenger flows in different levels, the 'Masterplans' for the new Atocha transport hub and its first phase of construction. These seven projects are under scrutiny at three levels: chronological analysis, functional analysis and formal analysis. Atocha station was the first European historical station to undergo a great transformation tied to the arrival of the high speed rail. It brings the understanding of the station as a whole and the intermodality as its greatest values, besides the great urban improvement of the 'Atocha operation', and suffers from certain shortcomings in its commercial development, partly linked to the presence of the tropical garden, and from a poor space in the departure lounges. Atocha station completes its transformation on the basis of its functional renewal, keeping the symbolic charge of its history. The confrontation of Atocha case with the great European stations results in the definition of the principal consequences of the high speed rail arrival to the great European terminals and the identification of the key elements in its transformation. The principal consequences are: the empowering of the intermodality with other means of transport, of the commercial development, not necessarily intended for railway services users, and the enhancement of the old station and its urban environment. On the other hand, the key elements in the transformation of the great stations are directly related with the separation of passenger flows, the understanding of the station in different levels, the placement of new lateral accesses and the construction of a new deck over the new platforms. The pre-eminence of some elements over the others depends on the particular nature of each station and each country, on the scale of the intervention and also in the structure and composition of the teams in charge of the new station design. Nowadays, this is an interesting time concerning the high speed rail stations. After the recent foiled terrorist attempt in the Thalys train travelling from Amsterdam to Paris, it was agreed to establish passenger and luggage controls in every European high speed rail station. This will mean important changes in these great stations, which probably will take Atocha station's model as a reference.

ESTUDO DAS FORMAS E DIMENSÕES LINGUAIS DAS ARCADAS DENTÁRIAS EM INDIVÍDUOS BRASILEIROS COM OCLUSÃO NORMAL

A preocupação com o estudo das formas e dimensões das arcadas dentárias sempre esteve presente na ciência ortodôntica. Para a Ortodontia Lingual, que surgiu no final da década de 70, o primeiro artigo publicado foi o Fujita, onde relatou sobre a forma do arco a ser utilizado nesta técnica, a forma de cogumelo. Apesar de estar sendo divulgada de uma maneira mais intensa nestes últimos anos como uma solução estética definitiva e eficaz, o enfoque dos estudos sobre esta técnica tem sido a fabricação de novos materiais, técnicas de montagem do aparelho lingual e soluções clínicas, com poucas menções sobre a morfologia das arcadas dentárias. O presente trabalho tem a finalidade de estudar as formas e dimensões linguais das arcadas dentárias de indivíduos leucodermas com oclusão normal. Foram utilizados 47 pares de modelos de gesso de oclusão normal digitalizados pela face olcusal, previamente desgastadas até o terço médio da coroa para proporcionar melhor visualização. Por meio do programa CorelDraw 12 foram determinados pontos de referências e criados alguns pontos virtuais necessários para a realização das medidas. Os resultados determinaram três formas das arcadas dentárias linguais: cogumelo, árvore de Natal e mista. A maior prevalência foi a forma árvore de Natal, mas quando analisadas separadamente as arcadas dentárias linguais, encontrados no superior, maior prevalência da forma de cogumelo e no inferior da forma árvore de Natal. Conseqüentemente, esta foi a combinação mais prevalente entre as arcadas dentárias linguais superiores e inferiores. Propusemos diagramas para conformação de arcos ortodônticos linguais com base nos valores obtidos da amostra, determinando-se o quartil 1, mediana e quartil 3, como definidores dos tamanhos pequeno, médio e grande.

ESTUDO DAS FORMAS E DIMENSÕES LINGUAIS DAS ARCADAS DENTÁRIAS EM INDIVÍDUOS BRASILEIROS COM OCLUSÃO NORMAL

A preocupação com o estudo das formas e dimensões das arcadas dentárias sempre esteve presente na ciência ortodôntica. Para a Ortodontia Lingual, que surgiu no final da década de 70, o primeiro artigo publicado foi o Fujita, onde relatou sobre a forma do arco a ser utilizado nesta técnica, a forma de cogumelo. Apesar de estar sendo divulgada de uma maneira mais intensa nestes últimos anos como uma solução estética definitiva e eficaz, o enfoque dos estudos sobre esta técnica tem sido a fabricação de novos materiais, técnicas de montagem do aparelho lingual e soluções clínicas, com poucas menções sobre a morfologia das arcadas dentárias. O presente trabalho tem a finalidade de estudar as formas e dimensões linguais das arcadas dentárias de indivíduos leucodermas com oclusão normal. Foram utilizados 47 pares de modelos de gesso de oclusão normal digitalizados pela face olcusal, previamente desgastadas até o terço médio da coroa para proporcionar melhor visualização. Por meio do programa CorelDraw 12 foram determinados pontos de referências e criados alguns pontos virtuais necessários para a realização das medidas. Os resultados determinaram três formas das arcadas dentárias linguais: cogumelo, árvore de Natal e mista. A maior prevalência foi a forma árvore de Natal, mas quando analisadas separadamente as arcadas dentárias linguais, encontrados no superior, maior prevalência da forma de cogumelo e no inferior da forma árvore de Natal. Conseqüentemente, esta foi a combinação mais prevalente entre as arcadas dentárias linguais superiores e inferiores. Propusemos diagramas para conformação de arcos ortodônticos linguais com base nos valores obtidos da amostra, determinando-se o quartil 1, mediana e quartil 3, como definidores dos tamanhos pequeno, médio e grande.

AVALIAÇÃO DAS ALTERAÇÕES FACIAIS DECORRENTES DA EXPANSÃO RÁPIDA DA MAXILA ASSISTIDA CIRURGICAMENTE

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar as alterações faciais decorrentes da Expansão Rápida da Maxila Assistida Cirurgicamente (ERM-AC). A amostra foi composta por 15 pacientes com idade média de 24 anos e 1 mês, sendo 10 do sexo feminino e 5 do sexo masculino, que apresentavam deficiência transversal da maxila, não tinham sido submetidos a tratamento ortodôntico prévio, apresentavam ficha clínica completa e fotografias em norma frontal nas fases pré-tratamento (T1) e 6 meses após a ERM-AC (T2). Mediadas lineares foram obtidas a partir da marcação de pontos de referência em folhas de acetato fixadas sobre as fotografias, para evitar a necessidade de execução de desenho anatômico. Concluiu-se que a padronização de fotografias em todos os tempos da pesquisa é de fundamental importância para que as medidas avaliadas sejam confiáveis. Quando comparados T1 com T2 por meio do teste t de Student não se verificou alteração estatisticamente significante na: largura intercantal (Ind Ine), altura facial média (N - SN), largura do olho direito (Exd Ind), largura do olho esquerdo (Exe Ine), altura facial (N - Me ), largura facial superior (Zid - Zie ), largura da boca (Cbd Cbe) e altura da boca (Ls Li). As medidas altura facial inferior (Sn - Me ) e a largura do nariz (Ald Ale) apresentaram alteração estatisticamente significante após a ERM-AC.

AVALIAÇÃO DAS ALTERAÇÕES FACIAIS DECORRENTES DA EXPANSÃO RÁPIDA DA MAXILA ASSISTIDA CIRURGICAMENTE

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar as alterações faciais decorrentes da Expansão Rápida da Maxila Assistida Cirurgicamente (ERM-AC). A amostra foi composta por 15 pacientes com idade média de 24 anos e 1 mês, sendo 10 do sexo feminino e 5 do sexo masculino, que apresentavam deficiência transversal da maxila, não tinham sido submetidos a tratamento ortodôntico prévio, apresentavam ficha clínica completa e fotografias em norma frontal nas fases pré-tratamento (T1) e 6 meses após a ERM-AC (T2). Mediadas lineares foram obtidas a partir da marcação de pontos de referência em folhas de acetato fixadas sobre as fotografias, para evitar a necessidade de execução de desenho anatômico. Concluiu-se que a padronização de fotografias em todos os tempos da pesquisa é de fundamental importância para que as medidas avaliadas sejam confiáveis. Quando comparados T1 com T2 por meio do teste t de Student não se verificou alteração estatisticamente significante na: largura intercantal (Ind Ine), altura facial média (N - SN), largura do olho direito (Exd Ind), largura do olho esquerdo (Exe Ine), altura facial (N - Me ), largura facial superior (Zid - Zie ), largura da boca (Cbd Cbe) e altura da boca (Ls Li). As medidas altura facial inferior (Sn - Me ) e a largura do nariz (Ald Ale) apresentaram alteração estatisticamente significante após a ERM-AC.

AVALIAÇÃO DAS ALTERAÇÕES DO SORRISO EM INDIVÍDUOS SUBMETIDOS À EXPANSÃO RÁPIDA DA MAXILA

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar as possíveis alterações das características horizontais, verticais, de simetria e do arco do sorriso de pacientes com atresia maxilar submetidos à expansão rápida da maxila. A amostra consistiu de 81 fotografias extra-bucais do sorriso máximo de 27 pacientes com idade média de 10 anos e 3 meses. Foram realizadas fotografias do sorriso máximo nos períodos: inicial (antes da instalação do aparelho expansor); 3 meses após a fixação do parafuso expansor; 6 meses após a fixação do parafuso expansor. Para a calibragem e análise das fotografias foi utilizado o programa CEFX 2001 CDT. Os pontos fotométricos e as medidas a serem analisadas foram escolhidos após revisão da literatura do sorriso realizada. Para avaliar as alterações no sorriso durante as fases, foi utilizada a análise de variância ANOVA, com nível de significância de 5%. A expansão rápida da maxila promoveu aumento estatisticamente significante da dimensão transversal do sorriso; aumento da quantidade de exposição dos incisivos centrais e laterais superiores; manutenção da simetria entre os lados direito e esquerdo e da falta de paralelismo entre a curvatura das bordas dos incisivos superiores com a curvatura do lábio inferior (arco do sorriso).(AU)

AVALIAÇÃO DAS ALTERAÇÕES DO SORRISO EM INDIVÍDUOS SUBMETIDOS À EXPANSÃO RÁPIDA DA MAXILA

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar as possíveis alterações das características horizontais, verticais, de simetria e do arco do sorriso de pacientes com atresia maxilar submetidos à expansão rápida da maxila. A amostra consistiu de 81 fotografias extra-bucais do sorriso máximo de 27 pacientes com idade média de 10 anos e 3 meses. Foram realizadas fotografias do sorriso máximo nos períodos: inicial (antes da instalação do aparelho expansor); 3 meses após a fixação do parafuso expansor; 6 meses após a fixação do parafuso expansor. Para a calibragem e análise das fotografias foi utilizado o programa CEFX 2001 CDT. Os pontos fotométricos e as medidas a serem analisadas foram escolhidos após revisão da literatura do sorriso realizada. Para avaliar as alterações no sorriso durante as fases, foi utilizada a análise de variância ANOVA, com nível de significância de 5%. A expansão rápida da maxila promoveu aumento estatisticamente significante da dimensão transversal do sorriso; aumento da quantidade de exposição dos incisivos centrais e laterais superiores; manutenção da simetria entre os lados direito e esquerdo e da falta de paralelismo entre a curvatura das bordas dos incisivos superiores com a curvatura do lábio inferior (arco do sorriso).(AU)

Estudo do espectro Laplaciano na categorização de imagens

Uma imagem engloba informação que precisa ser organizada para interpretar e compreender seu conteúdo. Existem diversas técnicas computacionais para extrair a principal informação de uma imagem e podem ser divididas em três áreas: análise de cor, textura e forma. Uma das principais delas é a análise de forma, por descrever características de objetos baseadas em seus pontos fronteira. Propomos um método de caracterização de imagens, por meio da análise de forma, baseada nas propriedades espectrais do laplaciano em grafos. O procedimento construiu grafos G baseados nos pontos fronteira do objeto, cujas conexões entre vértices são determinadas por limiares T_l. A partir dos grafos obtêm-se a matriz de adjacência A e a matriz de graus D, as quais definem a matriz Laplaciana L=D -A. A decomposição espectral da matriz Laplaciana (autovalores) é investigada para descrever características das imagens. Duas abordagens são consideradas: a) Análise do vetor característico baseado em limiares e a histogramas, considera dois parâmetros o intervalo de classes IC_l e o limiar T_l; b) Análise do vetor característico baseado em vários limiares para autovalores fixos; os quais representam o segundo e último autovalor da matriz L. As técnicas foram testada em três coleções de imagens: sintéticas (Genéricas), parasitas intestinais (SADPI) e folhas de plantas (CNShape), cada uma destas com suas próprias características e desafios. Na avaliação dos resultados, empregamos o modelo de classificação support vector machine (SVM), o qual avalia nossas abordagens, determinando o índice de separação das categorias. A primeira abordagem obteve um acerto de 90 % com a coleção de imagens Genéricas, 88 % na coleção SADPI, e 72 % na coleção CNShape. Na segunda abordagem, obtém-se uma taxa de acerto de 97 % com a coleção de imagens Genéricas; 83 % para SADPI e 86 % no CNShape. Os resultados mostram que a classificação de imagens a partir do espectro do Laplaciano, consegue categorizá-las satisfatoriamente.

Field observations of instantaneous water slopes and horizontal pressure gradients in the swash-zone

Field observations of instantaneous water surface slopes in the swash zone are presented. For free-surface flows with a hydrostatic pressure distribution the surface slope is equivalent to the horizontal pressure gradient. Observations were made using a novel technique which in its simplest form consists of a horizontal stringline extending seaward from the beach face. Visual observation, still photography or video photography is then sufficient to determine the surface slope where the free-surface cuts the line or between reference points in the image. The method resolves the mean surface gradient over a cross-shore distance of 5 m or more to within +/- 0.001, or 1/20th -1/100th of typical beach gradients. In addition, at selected points and at any instant in time during the swash cycle, the water surface slope can be determined exactly to be dipping either seaward or landward. Close to the location of bore collapse landward dipping water surface slopes of order 0.05-0.1 occur over a very small region (order 0.5 m) at the blunt or convex leading edge of the swash. In the middle and upper swash the water surface slope at this leading edge is usually very close to horizontal or slightly seaward. Behind the leading edge, the water surface slope was observed to be very close to horizontal or dipping seaward at all times throughout the swash uprush. During the backwash the water surface slope was observed to be always dipping seaward, approaching the beach slope, and remained seaward until a new uprush edge or incident bore passed any particular cross-shore location of interest. The observations strongly Suggest that the swash boundary layer is subject to an adverse pressure gradient during uprush and a favourable pressure gradient during the backwash. Furthermore, assuming Euler's equations are a good approximation in the swash, the observations also show that the total fluid acceleration is negative (offshore) for almost the whole of the uprush and for the entire backwash. The observations are contrary to recent work suggesting significant shoreward directed accelerations and pressure gradients occur in the swash (i.e., delta u/delta t > 0 similar to delta p/delta x < 0), but consistent with analytical and numerical solutions for swash uprush and backwash. The results have important implications for sediment transport modelling in the swash zone.