893 research outputs found

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum

    Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion. Collected Works, Volume 5

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    This fifth volume on Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion collects theoretical and applied contributions of researchers working in different fields of applications and in mathematics, and is available in open-access. The collected contributions of this volume have either been published or presented after disseminating the fourth volume in 2015 in international conferences, seminars, workshops and journals, or they are new. The contributions of each part of this volume are chronologically ordered. First Part of this book presents some theoretical advances on DSmT, dealing mainly with modified Proportional Conflict Redistribution Rules (PCR) of combination with degree of intersection, coarsening techniques, interval calculus for PCR thanks to set inversion via interval analysis (SIVIA), rough set classifiers, canonical decomposition of dichotomous belief functions, fast PCR fusion, fast inter-criteria analysis with PCR, and improved PCR5 and PCR6 rules preserving the (quasi-)neutrality of (quasi-)vacuous belief assignment in the fusion of sources of evidence with their Matlab codes. Because more applications of DSmT have emerged in the past years since the apparition of the fourth book of DSmT in 2015, the second part of this volume is about selected applications of DSmT mainly in building change detection, object recognition, quality of data association in tracking, perception in robotics, risk assessment for torrent protection and multi-criteria decision-making, multi-modal image fusion, coarsening techniques, recommender system, levee characterization and assessment, human heading perception, trust assessment, robotics, biometrics, failure detection, GPS systems, inter-criteria analysis, group decision, human activity recognition, storm prediction, data association for autonomous vehicles, identification of maritime vessels, fusion of support vector machines (SVM), Silx-Furtif RUST code library for information fusion including PCR rules, and network for ship classification. Finally, the third part presents interesting contributions related to belief functions in general published or presented along the years since 2015. These contributions are related with decision-making under uncertainty, belief approximations, probability transformations, new distances between belief functions, non-classical multi-criteria decision-making problems with belief functions, generalization of Bayes theorem, image processing, data association, entropy and cross-entropy measures, fuzzy evidence numbers, negator of belief mass, human activity recognition, information fusion for breast cancer therapy, imbalanced data classification, and hybrid techniques mixing deep learning with belief functions as well

    Towards an integrated vulnerability-based approach for evaluating, managing and mitigating earthquake risk in urban areas

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    Tese de doutoramento em Civil EngineeringSismos de grande intensidade, como aqueles que ocorreram na Turquía-Síria (2023) ou México (2017) deviam chamar a atenção para o projeto e implementação de ações proativas que conduzam à identificação de bens vulneráveis. A presente tese propõe um fluxo de trabalho relativamente simples para efetuar avaliações da vulnerabilidade sísmica à escala urbana mediante ferramentas digitais. Um modelo de vulnerabilidade baseado em parâmetros é adotado devido à afinidade que possui com o Catálogo Nacional de Monumentos Históricos mexicano. Uma primeira implementação do método (a grande escala) foi efetuada na cidade histórica de Atlixco (Puebla, México), demonstrando a sua aplicabilidade e algumas limitações, o que permitiu o desenvolvimento de uma estratégia para quantificar e considerar as incertezas epistémicas encontradas nos processos de aquisição de dados. Devido ao volume de dados tratado, foi preciso desenvolver meios robustos para obter, armazenar e gerir informações. O uso de Sistemas de Informação Geográfica, com programas à medida baseados em linguagem Python e a distribuição de ficheiros na ”nuvem”, facilitou a criação de bases de dados de escala urbana para facilitar a aquisição de dados em campo, os cálculos de vulnerabilidade e dano e, finalmente, a representação dos resultados. Este desenvolvimento foi a base para um segundo conjunto de trabalhos em municípios do estado de Morelos (México). A caracterização da vulnerabilidade sísmica de mais de 160 construções permitiu a avaliação da representatividade do método paramétrico pela comparação entre os níveis de dano teórico e os danos observados depois do terramoto de Puebla-Morelos (2017). Esta comparação foi a base para efetuar processos de calibração e ajuste assistidos por algoritmos de aprendizagem de máquina (Machine Learning), fornecendo bases para o desenvolvimento de modelos de vulnerabilidade à medida (mediante o uso de Inteligência Artificial), apoiados nas evidências de eventos sísmicos prévios.Strong seismic events like the ones of Türkiye-Syria (2023) or Mexico (2017) should guide our attention to the design and implementation of proactive actions aimed to identify vulnerable assets. This work is aimed to propose a suitable and easy-to-implement workflow for performing large-scale seismic vulnerability assessments in historic environments by means of digital tools. A vulnerability-oriented model based on parameters is adopted given its affinity with the Mexican Catalogue of Historical Monuments. A first large-scale implementation of this method in the historical city of Atlixco (Puebla, Mexico) demonstrated its suitability and some limitations, which lead to develop a strategy for quantifying and involving the epistemic uncertainties found during the data acquisition process. Given the volume of data that these analyses involve, it was necessary to develop robust data acquisition, storing and management strategies. The use of Geographical Information System environments together with customised Python-based programs and cloud-based distribution permitted to assemble urban databases for facilitating field data acquisition, performing vulnerability and damage calculations, and representing outcomes. This development was the base for performing a second large-scale assessment in selected municipalities of the state of Morelos (Mexico). The characterisation of the seismic vulnerability of more than 160 buildings permitted to assess the representativeness of the parametric vulnerability approach by comparing the theoretical damage estimations against the damages observed after the Puebla-Morelos 2017 Earthquakes. Such comparison is the base for performing a Machine Learning assisted process of calibration and adjustment, representing a feasible strategy for calibrating these vulnerability models by using Machine-Learning algorithms and the empirical evidence of damage in post-seismic scenarios.This work was partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), reference UIDB/04029/2020. This research had financial support provided by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT) through the Analysis and Mitigation of Risks in Infrastructures (InfraRisk) program under the PhD grant PD/BD/150385/2019

    The Chapel Island Formation of Newfoundland (Canada) revisited: integrating ichnologic and sedimentologic datasets to unravel early metazoan evolution

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    The Chapel Island Formation (CIF) is a 1000+ m-thick, mainly siliciclastic succession that is well exposed along the coastline of Burin Peninsula, southeastern Newfoundland, eastern Canada. The CIF contains an outstanding record of latest Ediacaran-early Cambrian trace fossils with some intervals rich in small shelly fossils, and in 1992 the Fortune Head section was ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) as the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Cambrian System. This was the first system-level GSSP defined primarily on the basis of trace fossils, a decision that evoked considerable discussion among the geological community. This thesis represents the first modern study of the sedimentology and the first taxonomic appraisal of the trace fossils since the original studies that proposed the GSSP in the 1980’s. More than 1700 m of CIF strata were logged in the sea cliffs of Burin Peninsula at Fortune Head, Fortune North, Grand Bank Head, Lewin’s Cove, Little Dantzic Cove, and Point May. A revision of the sedimentology permitted the description and interpretation of fourteen sedimentary facies composing five facies association (FA), which are interpreted to be deposited in: (1) mud-flat, mixed-flat, sand-flat, and tide-dominated or -influenced embayments (FA-A); (2) middle and lower shoreface (FA-B); (3) offshore transition, upper offshore, and lower offshore (FA-C); (4) shelf (stricto sensu) (FA-D); and (5) carbonate subtidal and intertidal environments (FA-E). An extensive trace-fossil dataset was built from careful field observations and provided a comprehensive record of bioturbation intensity (1596 data points on vertical bioturbation, 1481 data points on bedding plane bioturbation) and of trace-fossil metrics (3162 data points on burrow width, 1473 data points on burrow depth). In addition, a comprehensive revision of the trace-fossil composition (3508 trace fossils identified) allowed the description of twenty-eight ichnogenera and fifty-one ichnospecies, which correspond to cf. Allocotichnus dyeri, Archaeonassa fossulata, Arenicolites aff. carbonaria, Arenicolites isp., Bergaueria perata, B. cf. radiata, Circulichnis ligusticus, C. montanus, Cochlichnus anguineus, C. luguanensis, Conichnus conicus, Cruziana problematica, Curvolithus multiplex, C. simplex, Curvolithus isp., Dendroidichnites aff. irregulare, Didymaulichnus miettensis, Dimorphichnus isp. A, Dimorphichnus isp. B, cf. Dimorphichnus isp., ?Diplocraterion isp., Gordia marina, Gyrolithes gyratus, G. scintillus, Halopoa imbricata, Helminthoidichnites tenuis, Helminthopsis abeli, H. hieroglyphica, H. tenuis, Monomorphichnus bilinearis, M. lineatus, M. needleiunm, Monomorphichnus isp., Palaeophycus annulatus, P. tubularis, Palaeophycus isp., Psammichnites gigas circularis, P. cf. saltensis, Rosselia socialis, Rusophycus avalonensis, Rusophycus isp. A, Rusophycus isp. B, Saerichnites kutscheri comb. nov., Teichichnus rectus, Torrowangea rosei, Treptichnus bifurcus, T. coronatum, T. pedum, T. pollardi, Trichichnus linearis, and Trichichnus isp. Sectioning and polishing of 47 lithic samples from throughout the CIF showed that the sediment mixed layer that characterizes modern oceans developed through a series of steps that took place in the early Cambrian rather than in the Silurian as previously advocated. The main evolutionary innovations took place in the offshore environment with three paleoecologic stages that comprised: (1) an Ediacaran matground ecology, with surficial and very shallow infaunal grazing organisms living on and within microbially bound seafloors; (2) a Fortunian matground/firmground ecology, with a burst in behavioural and anatomical innovations and the first evidence of colonization of the shallow-tier; and (3) a late Fortunian/Cambrian Age 2 mixground ecology, with the development of a shallow mixed layer and deeper discrete burrows of the transition layer. Evaluation of outcrop quality based on accessibility, lateral and vertical continuity of beds, stratigraphic completeness, and type of exposure, demonstrated that Fortune Head, Fortune North, Grand Bank Head, and Little Dantzic Cove represented the best suited section to perform trace-fossil analyses, whereas Lewin’s Cove and Point May suffered from exposure biases affecting their trace-fossil records. The Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary interval was also studied in detail at Fortune Head, Grand Bank Head, Lewin’s Cove, and Point May, and the base of the Cambrian was placed confidently at the first appearance of trace fossils of the Treptichnus pedum Ichno-Assemblage Zone. This study demonstrates that only through detailed, comprehensive, and integrative approaches, can research provide new empirical evidence that further unfold our understanding of the history of animal life on Earth

    LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volum

    Exploring the Woodland Period Within the Lake Wawanosh Region Through Two Archaeological Sites: AgHn-12 and AgHn-14

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    This thesis focuses on two archaeological sites from the Woodland Period, Blackwell One (AgHn-12) and Blackwell Two (AgHn-14), which lie roughly 8 km northeast of Sarnia, Ontario. Specifically, the sites are situated near the historic Lake Wawanosh, which was drained in the late 1800s, and roughly 400 m south of the Lake Huron shore. Blackwell One has evidence of an Early Woodland Meadowood occupation in its West Locus and Late Woodland, Younge to Springwells phase occupations, within its East Locus. Blackwell Two falls within the Middle Woodland period and is a component of the archaeologically defined Saugeen cultural complex. The analysis of these sites, which focuses on feature contents, considered a variety of materials from the lithic, ceramic, faunal and floral assemblages. This cultural material was considered within the context of environmental interaction in this area which required a reconstruction of the Woodland period environment and of Lake Wawanosh. The settlement patterns identified, and their functionality, were also analysed. Overall, these analyses developed a brief window on how the occupants of these sites thrived within the environment near Lake Wawanosh during the Woodland period

    Heterotypic Interactions in the Complex Environments of Living Tissue

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    Collective cell behavior such as the formation of boundaries and collective cell motion is crucial for numerous biological functions including development, wound healing, and homeostasis. In this thesis, I investigate how changes to heterotypic behavior can drive collective behavior in models for confluent tissue, tissue with no gaps between cells. First, I examine how cell collectives can integrate signals from their environment to climb biochemical gradients when individual cells cannot. We identify two possible mechanisms that could drive this collective climbing behavior and develop an open-source framework that can be used to couple a biochemical gradient to any intercellular interaction. I also show that the advection of this gradient by cells has a minor impact in physically relevant regimes. Next, I construct a graph neural network to make predictions about the fluidity of cell tissue based on the tissue structure. Using this framework the neural network accurately predicts shear modulus and edge tensions in a spring vertex model. Next, we analyze the differences between the 3D vertex and Voronoi models. The systems share the same energy and many of the same geometric properties of cell tissue on heterotypic interfaces. However, we discover that there are differences in cell orientation on the interface boundary between cell types driven by a difference in discontinuous restoring force for cells to exit this boundary. Then, we examine the stratified epithelium as a model system with many layers of heterotypic cell interfaces. We identify changes to heterotypic interfacial tension as one possible mechanism for cells to migrate through tissue boundaries. We also create a toy model to accurately represent the integrin-based adhesions between cells and extracellular matrix in real tissue and use this model as a way to inform a similar addition to the 3D vertex model. Finally, we create a model for hair follicle development in the stratified epithelium. In conjunction with our experimental collaborators, we identify a dominant mechanism for the cell shape and tissue morphology changes seen during development. The model predicts a difference in tissue flow between the mechanisms investigated that is confirmed by experiments. All of the work I have done demonstrates how changes to individual cells, especially changes to heterotypic interactions, can drive large-scale changes in tissue behavior

    Deconstructing and Reconstructing Local Identities in the Physical Landscape: The role(s) of Roman remains in the social changes of the sixth and seventh centuries in the former province of Britain

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    This thesis examines the evidence for engagement with and avoidance of Roman remains in the landscape of two regions within the former province of Britain, Sussex and the eastern part of the northern military frontier. This information is used to consider the attitudes that localised societies held towards the remain of the past, and how this engagement related to the social changes of the period. Chapter 1 introduces the research context and the aims, setting out research questions. Chapter 2 presents the state of current knowledge and prior approaches to studies of the landscape and the early medieval period, and places the study within the wider theoretical and methodological contexts of landscape studies, the use of GIS, and the consideration of ‘the past in the past’. It then examines attitudes towards the Roman past as evidence in other forms of cultural expression, ranging from modes of displaying identity and authority to the recycling of Roman metalwork, considering the degree of consistency in attitudes towards the past. This is followed in chapter 3 by an explanation of the methodology adopted. The following chapters look at engagement with Roman remains, in post-Roman Sussex in chapter 4, and the north-east military frontier, from southern Northumberland south to the North York Moors, in chapter 5. The evidence is contextualised against the distribution of activity in the physical landscape and the presence of prehistoric remains. Chapter 6 pulls together these threads together with previous regional studies, with a focus on identifying regional and chronological similarities and contrasts, and the reasons underlying these patterns. Finally, chapter 7 considers the strengths and weaknesses of the study, and areas for future work

    Impinging Jet Flow and Hydraulic Jump of Newtonian and Viscoplastic Liquids

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    The steady laminar incompressible flow of an axisymmetric impinging jet of either a Newtonian fluid or a viscoplastic fluid of the Heschel-Bulkley type and the hydraulic jump of either a circular or polygonal shape on a solid disk is analyzed. The polygonal jump is induced by azimuthal dependence edge conditions: a non-circular disk or a circular disk with a variable edge film thickness. The thin-film and Kármán–Pohlhausen approaches are utilized as theoretical tools. To cross the jump smoothly, a composite mean-field thin-film approach is proposed. The stress singularity for a film freely draining at the disk edge is found to be equivalent to an infinite film slope. The flow in the supercritical region is insensitive to the gravity strength, but is greatly affected by the viscosity. The existence of the jump is not necessarily commensurate with the presence of recirculation. The disk size is found to can affect the film thickness in the subcritical region, vortex size and jump length significantly. The jump is relatively steeper with a stronger recirculation zone for a higher obstacle. Scaling laws for the jump properties, such as the jump radius and length, and edge film thickness, are proposed. The surface scaling separating the regions of existence/non-existence of the recirculation is found through numerical results. The non-circular jump originated from the disk non-circularity or periodic edge film thickness is found. The balance of mass and momentum is established in the radial and azimuthal directions. The geometry of a non-circular disk has little influence on the jump shape. A small azimuthal variation in the edge thickness for a circular disk leads to a significant loss of axial symmetry. An increase in the number of peaks and valleys appears as the disk radius decreases. The viscoplastic jump is found to occur closer to impingement, with growing height, as the yield stress increases; the subcritical region becomes invaded by the pseudo-plug layer. The viscosity does not influence sensibly the jump location and height except for small yield stress; only the yielded layer is found to remain sensitive to the power-law rheology for any yield stress
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