RCAAP Repository

The purpose of this study is to adapt and embed a navigation system and control of mobile robots, based on NMPC, in a low-cost board existent on the market, to provide sufficient com-putational resources so that the robot is able to converge, without losing performance, using the same horizons applied in a Laptop. The obtained results demonstrate the proposed scenario according with the experiments, proving that it is possible to use low cost boards, to a navigation system and control of mobile robots, based on NMPC, using the same predictive and control horizons applied in a Laptop.

Prior to the invention of writing, the image was a means of communication which contributed to the expression of social relations, to the culture and ideology of the age. With the „development‟ of civilization, the image lost its natural character, which led to the configuration of a new system of symbols, from the ideogram to the rise of the alphabet, bringing about a break in the communication through images. However, with the advent of post-modernity and the advance of media culture a new concept has been established in society, a concept marked by the symbolic and by the proliferation of the image. Given the range of the theme „image‟ in the various fields of science, we delimit our analysis in terms of the religious imagination and the images contained in Teaching Manuals used in Religious Education (TMRE) from the platform of Gilbert Durand‟s symbolical hermeneutics. In this vein the research concentrated, initially, on enumerating certain theoretical presuppositions which guide and sustain the analysis undertaken with a view to strengthening its relevance in relation to the triad of the „religious imagination‟, the visual image and the teaching manual. The aim is to consolidate and collaborate with the development of research on religious symbolic representation, bearing in mind the thematic issue of the visual image in TMRE, in order to use it critically and creatively in educative spaces in schools. The findings of this research point to the guaranteed presence of the visual image in TMRE, above all in the genres of drawing, painting, photography and info-imagery, with the hegemony of photography. While the treatment of the image as an object of knowledge is outlined, therefore, as a codifier of religious symbolic representations, the predominant pedagogical use is illustrative. The general configuration of TMRE was structured on the basis of imaginary representation in the mystical-religious form, set within a theological and messianic conception of religion.

Technological developments have provided a variety of integrated tools that favor the emergence of information technology solutions and hence the arising of new infrastructures, although there is an increase in the complexity of these solutions. Teleradiology and local solutions for distribution of medical images are evidences of such technological developments. However, it is not known the existence of an infrastructure for teleradiology with characteristics of the so called Information Infrastructures (II), such as: capacity for dynamic organization, built by a growing and heterogeneous technical and social elements with high levels of adaptation and variation, and also holding decentralized and episodic control, that can evolve unbounded and under various conditions. Such infrastructure, if applied to local and global solutions for teleradiology, favors the emergence of a public social space for radiology practices, breaking down the boundaries between the local and the global. This work aims to understand what obstacles hinder the formation of such an information infrastructure. For this, we used the design theory for dynamic complexity (DTDC) in information infrastructure, based on the theory of complex adaptive systems (CAS), as the main reference in the investigation of a series of case studies in teleradiology. To achieve this goal, a study was conducted based on empirical descriptions of solutions for teleradiology, seeking for evidence in each case, resulting in a compiled set of knowledge qualities, shortcomings and obstacles mapped to a set of design rules of the DTDC. The result of this investigation shows the technical and social disability around the adaptability as a major factor to hinder the expansion of teleradiology and hence the formation of an information infrastructure. Finally, it was concluded that despite the growing number of solutions for teleradiology, it was not observed an II for teleradiology; and that the key to the formation of such an II is designing to enable the maximum sociotechnical flexibility, i.e., the ability to adapt continuously with high level of independence between the elements and able to deal with diverse social and technical contexts.

Este trabalho propõe um ambiente para verificação de sistemas embarcados heterogêneos através da cossimulação distribuída. A verificação ocorre de maneira síncrona entre o software do sistema e o sistema embarcado usando a High Level Architecture (HLA) como middeware. A novidade desta abordagem não é apenas fornecer suporte para simulações, mas também permitir a integração sincronizada com todos os dispositivos de hardware físico. Neste trabalho foi utilizado o Ptolemy como uma plataforma de simulação. A integração do HLA com Ptolemy e os modelos de hardware abre um vasto conjunto de aplicações, como o de teste de vários dispositivos ao mesmo tempo, executando os mesmos, ou diferentes aplicativos ou módulos, a execução de multiplos dispositivos embarcados para a melhoria de performance. Além disso a abordagem de utilização do HLA, permite que sejam interligados ao ambiente, qualquer tipo de robô, assim como qualquer outro simulador diferente do Ptolemy. Estudo de casos são apresentado para provar o conceito, mostrando a integração bem sucedida entre o Ptolemy e o HLA e a verificação de sistemas utilizando Hardware-in-the-loop e Robot-in-the-loop.

Biometrics provides a trusted authentication mechanism by using traits (physical or behavioral) which identify users based on their natural characteristics. Biometric services of classification and verification of users are considered, in principle, more secure than password-based systems, requiring the presentation of a unique physical characteristic and, therefore, the presence of the user at least in the moment of authentication. However, such methods have vulnerabilities that result in high rates of false verification, even in the most modern systems. On the other hand, Genetic algorithms (GA) are an optimization approach based on the principle of natural selection proposed by Charles Darwin which has been proving to be a useful tool in finding solutions to complex problems. Moreover, the use of genetic algorithms in biometrics systems has also been growing as they are an interesting alternative for selecting features. This work applies a genetic algorithm-based approach to optimizing parameters of classification and verification of a hand dataset. The BioPass-UFPB multi-biometric dataset is presented and used to test and validate the proposed method. In total, 99 features – 85 geometric features and 14 texture features - extracted from each hand image were used. Additionally, the importance of each feature is also analyzed. The results showed relative improvements of EER greater than 30% and 90% in the best cases of the two verification approaches performed, respectively. As for classification, the use of genetic algorithms were able to reduce, on average, the number of templates to be recovered by the system to ensure that at least one of these is of the same class of the reference sample. In conclusion, both the results showed and the BioPass-UFPB dataset might help the development of new hand geometry-based biometric recognition systems.

The scientific knowledge is not just the discovery of new facts and laws, but also in its publication. Aiming to understand the complex scientific production system analysis techniques have been applied in many digital repositories. Therefore, the social network analysis (SNA) has been a topic of interest of several studies in recent years. Social networks can be established from the relationship between people or the relationship of information that can be analyzed to assist decision making. The purpose of this thesis is to present a technique that makes it possible to characterize areas of scientific research by building semantic networks vary in time. These networks are built building on the co-occurrence of keywords in the titles of scientific papers, used to represent the evolution of research themes addressed by means of publication over time.

The development of studies on education distance learning courses or e-learning, have become common in the current academic-scientific assumption, as the increasing number of courses in this category of education and the possibilities of collaboration between participants brought by the Environment Virtual Learning (AVA). Online discussions established make students engaged in the sharing of information and knowledge, in order to establish prospects for interaction with other students. In this sense, this work aims to investigate the potential generated by the use of Social Network Analysis techniques (ARS) applied to the analysis of the interactions between students of a distance learning course that establish communication in online discussion forums, to ascertain patterns of interaction that may have influence on student learning. The results show that by applying the degree of centrality metrics, centrality intermediation and closeness centrality related to student achievement express a linear correlation between such variables, showing a trend in the performance of the same throughout the course in order to provide teachers information to support the development of strategies for monitoring and management of student learning in distance learning courses.

Audio description (AD) is a fundamental accessibility feature for blind or low vision people. However, this feature is not used widely due to the high cost and time involved in its development. This paper presents a solution for automatic generation of audio description, called CineAD. The solution detects gaps in speech and generates these descriptions from the analysis of the original script and subtitles. Alternatively, the solution can be incorporated into a speech synthesis tool or used by a professional. To evaluate the solution, we developed a set of experiments with blind users and audio description specialists. The results show that the proposed solution is able to generate descriptions of the most important events of the film, reducing the barriers of blind people to access cinema.

This work presents an extension of the XQuery query language called XQuery-Pref, to support conditional preferences. In order to make transparent to the user executing queries written in language XQuery-Pref, we use a system called XQPref, which is responsible for elicitation of preferences dynamics and the processing of these custom queries. Restrict the scope of this work to XML documents, essential technology for knowledge management and dissemination of data on the Web, that given the information overload, has aroused concern in personalizing query results according to the needs of each user.

The evolution in user interfaces has shown a strong trend in the use of tangible interfaces, in particular the tangible interfaces that promote a sensorial experience. The use of this type of resource can be interesting in different contexts, with the focus on scenarios where the sensory aspect is crucial to the interaction, as the performance of Assistive Technologies (AT). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of using multi-sensory devices for promoting the interaction in games for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). CP refers to a series of clinical syndromes characterized by motor disorders and permanent postural changes which may or may not be associated with cognitive impairment and speech disorders. Because of the restricted motor condition, it is difficult the conduction of games for children with CP. This way, a motor delay can result in low play performance. This project is designed to approach the use of assistive technologies for providing a interactive game for children with CP. AT is used in order to provide independence and autonomy to people who show any dysfunction. For achieve the multi-sensory goal we are using a robotic ball called Sphero. The use of a robotic device enables to manipulate the ball remotely. This feature is very useful for children with physical disabilities. This way, Sphero was used as a part of the game, improving the movement sensations of the users. This study took place in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Federal University of Paraíba, where we offer a immersive games experience in a Occupational Therapy intevention.

The use of our body language to communicate with computer systems is an increas-ingly possible and applicable feature in the real world. This fact is potentiated by the evolution of gesture recognition based commercial solutions. A gesture interface complements or replaces navigation in a conventional interface, it is up to each developer to choose the most appropriate option for their application. Therefore when opting for gesture usage, the gestures will be re-sponsible to activate the systems functions. This work presents a gesture development process that can be used to be used to aid the construction of gesture interfaces. The proposed process should help interface designers to incorporate gesture based natural interaction into their appli-cations in a more systematic way. In order to illustrate the Process, gestures for the actions "Select", "Rotate", "Translate", "Scale" and "Stop" were developed.

The communication between robots is essential and of great interest in the robotics research eld. It is from it that the robots can discover and pass on information about obstacles in their way, pass on to the other robots information about a target that other robot can not detect, determine together which is the best route to follow, among others, until the goals are achieved. The major di culty in the context where robot communication exists in an Ad Hoc network is distancing the robots from each other. So that one of them for example, may migrate to another area leaving their initial formation, completing a speci c task and return to the starting point, in addition to distancing the whole formation of robots from a central computer. By distancing a robot from the limits imposed by other means will entail a loss of signal compromising communication between them. This way, knowing a wireless network coverage area where robots will be connected is an important process for the implementation of a system of communication between robots. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of expanding the coverage area of a wireless network, to be used in multi-robot systems, of a formation of robots that use a Real Time Database (RTDB) in multilayer networks that using the IEEE 802.11 and 802.15.4, analyzing the behavior of this expansion in relation to connectivity of robots, coverage area and interference in wireless networks. According to the performed experiments, the results demonstrate the robustness and reliability of the proposed scenario and it was shown that the use of multilayer networks provides a greater range in the coverage area of a robot training.

Goal Oriented Requirements Engineering approaches capture both the stakeholders’ goals and the requirements of the system-to-be, so that the latter corresponds to the stakeholders desires. Goal models can capture similarities and the variability of a Software Product Line (SPL), but they cannot describe the detailed behavior of its functionality. Due to this limitation, a process called GS2SPL (Goals and Scenarios to Software Product Lines) was defined to systematically obtain, from goal models, feature models and the specification of use case scenarios with variability described in PLUSS (Product Line Use case modeling for Systems and Software engineering). However, the variability of the SPL and the configuration knowledge are tangled an the scenarios described in PLUSS, jeopardizing the maintenance and reuse of artifacts. In order to solve this problem, it was proposed techniques to specific use case scenarios with separation of crosscutting concerns (or just, aspectual scenarios). One of these techniques is called MSVCM (Modeling Scenario Variability as Crosscutting Mechanisms), which specifies the variability and configuration knowledge of a SPL separately, as well as it defines a process to configure the specifications of a product. Thus, this work proposes an extension of the GS2SPL to obtain, systematically, a feature model and a specification of aspectual scenarios in MSVCM, from goal models. This approach is called GAS2SPL (Goals and Aspectual Scenarios to Software Product Lines) and their activities were described using the TaRGeT (Test and Requirements Generation Tool) example. GAS2SPL approach was evaluated through a comparative study between TaRGeT and MyCourses artifacts generated by GS2SPL and GAS2SPL approaches, taking into account modularity (features scattering and tangling scenarios) and expressiveness (how detailed are the configuration knowledge). After evaluating our approach, we realize that GAS2SPL approach reduced in the features scattering and tangling in the scenarios to zero, addition to own a knowledge configuration more specific because uses less symbols for it elaborate.

Procedure Simulators have been used in several areas to help the execution of various tasks. The use of an interface that facilitates the manipulation of the actions at different stages of execution of a task, in the context of the simulator, can be an important component to ease the use by the professionals. As the electricity sector consists of several high-risk procedures, there is a great need for the good training of their operators. Seeking to support this training, the work described here aims, design and implement the integration of natural interaction in procedure simulators for the electricity sector, conducting tests with volunteers of the sector. As a case study, scenarios already developed in ATreVEE 3D simulator were analyzed and a new version of the simulator was developed, called ATreVEE IN, this time using the Leap Motion Controller, a device used for tracking hands. The ATreVEE IN consists of virtual environments whose user interface is performed via gestural commands, using a virtual representation of the user's hands within the environment. After the development of the new version, the two simulators were tested by users of electrical engineering, using the application of questionnaires to collect data. With these data it was observed that both versions had satisfactory performance, showing a potential to aid training. And although the first version of the simulator have obtained better results than the version with natural interaction, it is believed that this occurs in part because of the lack of user experience with this type of device. Users who already have experience with gestural interaction performed better in executing the tasks with ATreVEE IN than other users.

This dissertation aims to address the women in Candomblé according to a rescue archetypal and mythic as the framework for the study and analysis of individuation in the yard of women. Taking as a methodology fieldwork, nine women were interviewed whose "orixá head" three female deities: Iansã, Oxum and Yemanja. In semi-structured interviews, we seek to address three key aspects: the myths of deities, the history of women in Candomblé and the journey of the women interviewed in the process before, during and after the making. It analyzes the importance of mythical narratives, the archetypal traits and how the process of individuation is presented in the trajectory of speeches from the moment of making up their own daily experiences of the interviewees. As a theoretical framework, we seek to Jung and Eliade to dialogue with the composition of the rites in Candomblé, the plot of myths and influence of archetypal images of deities studied as warriors, lovers and mothers. This study investigates the hypothesis of a mythical and archetypal influence of deities in the process of individuation of the interviewees after making process in Candomblé as relevance highlight these female deities present in Candomblé as archetypal and integrating figures that inspire and reflect the roots of our Brazilian society. This study is important to highlight these female deities present in Candomblé as archetypal and integrating figures that inspire and reflect the roots of our own Brazilian society. Because in their religion these women find their "inner goddess" in her head Orisha.

In Brazil, there are tools for monitoring the behaviour of legislators in rollcalls, such as O Estado de São Paulo’s Basômetro and Radar Parlamentar. These tools are used both by journalists and political scientists for analysis. Although they are great analysis tools, their usefulness for monitoring is limited because they require a manual follow-up, which makes it a lot of work when we consider the volume of data. Only in the Chamber of Deputies, 513 legislators participate on average over than 400 rollcalls by legislature. It is possible to decrease the amount of data analyzing the parties as a whole, but in contrast we lose the ability to detect individuals’ drives or intra-party groups such as factions. In order to mitigate this problem, I developed a statistical model that detects when a legislator changes his or her position, joining or leaving the governmental coalition, through ideal points estimates using theW-NOMINATE. It can be used individually or integrated to tools such as Basômetro, providing a filter for researchers find the deputies who changed their behaviour most significantly. The universe of study is composed of legislators from the Chamber of Deputies from the 50th to the 54th legislatures, starting in the first term of Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 1995 until the beginning of the second term of Dilma Rousseff in 2015.

In the course of time, psychoactive substances is used in the treatment of some diseases, so asstimulants and in the devotion to the sacred; today, the reasons for the use of drugs have been quite diversified and drug addiction is becoming a matter of concern for Brazilian society. The religious phenomenon and spirituality have contributed significantly in prevention and recovery from drug addiction, as well as public theology has collaborated in the process of prevention and social care, along with treatment centers and faith based therapeutics communities. This thesis presents the results of a survey, which main objective was to identify the sacred images to young people between 18 and 35 who are in the recovery process in domestic in the Manasseh Project, who for more than 20 years is working with treatment programs in 21 states of Brazil. As theoretical framework, we base on Durand's Theory of the Imaginary, which identifies imaginary structures and mystical data, thus configuring the image of the sacred, what contributes to enhance the recovery process of the drug addicted. The mystic data, were analyzed by the Nine Elements Test, (AT-9 by Yves Durand). The analysis identified the images that reflect heroism, protection, and hope in the divine intervention in the process de drug addiction recovery, that once internalized , lead towards a practical faith in the supernatural, acting in the will and in the character of the man who is found dehumanized by the addiction. In the discourse about spirituality, we conclude that the image elements showed the faith, the church and the Word of God as predominant factors to face overall process of treatment in recovering from addiction.

This work deals with the p-Cluster Editing Problem (p-CEP), which consists in performing a minimum number of editions (additions or removals of edges) in a graph G in order to transform it in a disjoint union of p cliques (clusters), where G and p are input data. p-CEP is a NP-Hard problem with applications in areas such as computational biology and machine learning. To solve this problem, we propose two new mathematical formulations and improvements in a formulation from the literature, as well as new valid inequalities. The three formulations were studied both theoretically, by comparing their linear relaxations, and practically, by implementing three exact algorithms: two based on Branch-and-Cut (BC) and one based on Branch-and-Price (BP). The proposed algorithms were tested in instances with up to 211 vertices. The results show the performance of the algorithms according to the graph density and the ratio between p and the number of vertices. Overall, the BC algorithms were superior to the BP algorithm. However, the latter obtained the best dual bounds in some instances.

The way man relates with the sacrate is the object study of many different humanity sciences. The understanding of how the mind process the manifestations of the religious phenomenon in the practice of religous people occurs by the rites orchestration, as they function as the myth preservation and renovation. The relationship between homo religious and the binomial sacred/unholy happenening depens on environment, objects or the psycological states that will vary the level of abstraction in the practice of the rites. Aiming to increase the knowledge about religious phenomenon, the object of study in the Religions Science, it is proposed the observation the rite of the Holy Communion celebrated by the Historic Protestants, through an interview with ministers and those of historical Protestantism doing a qualitative research with ethnographic outlining in order to answer the question: What meaning the followers of historical Protestantism give the symbolism of the essential elements of bread and wine in the rite of Holy Communion? The research will contribute on the understanding of the meaning given to this rite on the followers of the Lutheran, Anglican, and Presbyterian churches, which are within the historiacal Protestantism derived from the Religious Reformation of the Sixteenth century. The method we will use to analyze the reported and observed senses is the Discursive Textual Analysis, through interviews where the questions were aimed at the description of the meanings attributed by the subjects to participate in the rite of Holy Communion, and where the data collected from interviews with social texts participants of the rite will be applied according to the durandiano paradigm (1997). The research is justified in the field of Sciences of Religions considering that seeks to identify the religious phenomenon among followers of a significant segment of Christianity. Symbolic systems, associations, decoding, tradition, memory and transformation underlie the symbolic imagination of the historical Protestantism through the meaning of the elements bread and wine, instituted by Jesus Christ as a memorial to his sacrifice symbolically narrated through the Communion rite. Looking at ancient practice of this rite searching to understand its theological implications through Sensitivity Structures will contribute to advance the general knowledge of the man and his religiosity, through anthropological approach Imaginary Gerald Theory by Gilbert Durand.

This paper seeks to analyze the most common interpretations of Nietzsche's concept of the Antichrist, listing the establishment of the distinction of the Christian theological morality and evangelical practice of Jesus. The philosophy of Nietzsche's hammer is present in this light, as deconstructed herd centuries of domination imposed by the Christian church. So discharge reading of Antichrist as a key work of clarifying the true intention of the dogmatic priests. The affirmation of life in this world and not in another is what makes the autonomous individual. The intellectual capacity and the critical sense shape the free man, the free-spirited man.