ONLINE HIERARCHICAL MODELS FOR SURFACE RECONSTRUCTION

Applications based on three-dimensional object models are today very common, and can be found in many fields as design, archeology, medicine, and entertainment. A digital 3D model can be obtained by means of physical object measurements performed by using a 3D scanner. In this approach, an important step of the 3D model building process consists of creating the object's surface representation from a cloud of noisy points sampled on the object itself. This process can be viewed as the estimation of a function from a finite subset of its points. Both in statistics and machine learning this is known as a regression problem. Machine learning views the function estimation as a learning problem to be addressed by using computational intelligence techniques: the points represent a set of examples and the surface to be reconstructed represents the law that has generated them. On the other hand, in many applications the cloud of sampled points may become available only progressively during system operation. The conventional approaches to regression are therefore not suited to deal efficiently with this operating condition. The aim of the thesis is to introduce innovative approaches to the regression problem suited for achieving high reconstruction accuracy, while limiting the computational complexity, and appropriate for online operation. Two classical computational intelligence paradigms have been considered as basic tools to address the regression problem: namely the Radial Basis Functions and the Support Vector Machines. The original and innovative aspect introduced by this thesis is the extension of these tools toward a multi-scale incremental structure, based on hierarchical schemes and suited for online operation. This allows for obtaining modular, scalable, accurate and efficient modeling procedures with training algorithms appropriate for dealing with online learning. Radial Basis Function Networks have a fast configuration procedure that, operating locally, does not require iterative algorithms. On the other side, the computational complexity of the configuration procedure of Support Vector Machines is independent from the number of input variables. These two approaches have been considered in order to analyze advantages and limits of each of them due to the differences in their intrinsic nature

Subway spaces as public places : politics and perceptions of Boston's T

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-160).Subways play crucial transportation roles in our cities, but they also act as unique public spaces, distinguished by specific design characteristics, governed by powerful state-run institutions, and subject to intense public scrutiny and social debate. This thesis takes the case of the United States' oldest subway system-Boston's T-and explores how and why its spaces and regulations over their appropriate use have changed over time in response to public perceptions, political battles, and broader social forces. I use data collected from historical newspaper archives, published reports, and official agency records to detail how the city's subway authorities-first the Boston Elevated Railway Company, then the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), and presently the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)-have sought to manage and shape these unique underground spaces and simultaneously maintain an image of order and control within them. My research reveals and more closely examines three major factors that have influenced the changing controls over subway space usage in Boston: (1) the highly specific design constraints and unique physical aspects of the city's subway spaces; (2) evolving values and ideologies embedded within the transit agencies that are continuously seeking to promote a positive image of themselves; and (3) persisting public perceptions of subway spaces, many of which revolve around historical fears of the unknown and unfamiliar. By highlighting these complex hidden processes at work within Boston's underground realm, this thesis promotes a careful reexamination of a heavily used yet underappreciated urban space for the purposes of better understanding our experiences with and connections to the city.by Holly Bellocchio Durso.M.C.P

Lo estético en el arte

La categoría estética de belleza no necesariamente tiene que ver con la categoría epistémica de verdad. Huelga decir que hay cosas bellas que no son ciertas o cosas verdaderas que no son bellas. Sin embargo, la historia del arte nos ofrece un sinnúmero de ejemplos en que ambas categorías coinciden. A esta feliz coincidencia de belleza y verdad, donde la verdad se revela a modo de denuncia de injusticias, se refiere la categoría de bella verdad. En este artículo se realizará una reflexión sobre esta categoría en la obra de Antonio Berni. Para ello, se la rastreará en las nociones griegas clásicas de kalokagathia y alétheia, en la estética de Bertolt Brecht y en la plástica de Diego Rivera y Cándido Portinari. Estos antecedentes, permitirían explicar, el posicionamiento estético del artista argentino cuya obra expresa una fusión inextricable entre belleza y verdad como desocultamiento de aquello que no quiere mostrarse por ser inconveniente para el mantenimiento de un orden social injusto.The aesthetic category of beauty is not necessarily related to the epistemic category of the truth. Needless to say, there are beautiful things that are not certain and true things that are not beautiful. However, the history of art offers us a number of examples in which both categories correspond. To this happy coincidence of the beauty and the truth, where the truth reveals a way of denouncing injustices, refers the category of beautiful truth. A reflection is done into this article, substantially based on this category from Antonio Berni’s work, traced in the classic Greek notions of kalokagathia and alétheia, in the aesthetics of Bertolt Brecht and in the plastic art of Diego Rivera and Cándido Portinari. These antecedents, would allow to explain, the aesthetic positioning of the Argentine artist, considering that its work expresses an inextricable fusion between beauty and truth unmasking what otherwise could not be showed up because it would be inconvenient for the sustain of an unjust social order

Identification of endodontic-periodontal lesions microbiota by culture and PCR and their susceptibility to chemo-mechanical preparation and intracanal dressings between appointments

Orientadores: Brenda Paula Figueiredo de Almeida Gomes, Morgana Eli ViannaTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de PiracicabaResumo: Os objetivos deste estudo foram: identificar a microbiota dos canais radiculares (CR) e bolsas periodontais (BP) de dentes com polpas necrosadas, lesões periapicais, sangramento gengival e bolsas periodontais pelos métodos de cultura microbiológica e PCR; verificar a capacidade do preparo químico-mecânico (PQM) e do uso de medicação intracanal por 7 (clorexidina gel 2%) e 14 dias (hidróxido de cálcio e associação entre hidróxido de cálcio e clorexidina gel 2%) em reduzir a contagem de unidades formadoras de colônias (UFC/mL) no canal radicular e na bolsa periodontal associada e investigar possíveis associações entre as espécies bacterianas detectadas e entre microrganismos e sinais e sintomas clínicos. Amostras foram coletadas de CR (E1) e BP (P1) antes e após o PQM (E2, P2) e após o uso de medicação (E3, P3). Foram utilizados meio de transporte, cultura e incubação adequados e os microrganismos identificados por testes bioquímicos. O DNA bacteriano das amostras foi extraído e "primers" específicos para Treponema denticola, Treponema socranskii, Gemella morbillorum (Gm), Tannerella forsythia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas endodontalis, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), Prevotella tannerae (Pt), Prevotella nigrescens (Pn), Fusobacterium nucleatum, Filifactor alocis, Parvimonas micra (Pm) foram utilizados para detecção destas espécies por PCR. Os resultados mostraram que as UFC/mL iniciais médias foram 17,33 x 10 6 nos CR e 17,93 x 108 nas BP, após o PQM foram 15,25 x 104 nos CR e 8,53 x 108 nas BP e após o uso das medicações intracanais 7,6 x 104 nos CR e de 3,88 x 108 nas BP. Pela cultura, os microrganismos mais encontrados nos CR foram Pi/Pn/Pt e Fn em 45% de E1, Pi/Pn/Pt (5%), P propionicum (5%), S salivarius (5%), M varians (5%) em E2, A naeslundii e P propionicum em 36,6% de E3. Nas BP, os mais encontrados foram Pg e Gm em 50% dos casos de P1, Pm em 62,5% de P2 e Fn em 73,3% de P3. Por PCR, nos CR e nas BP, em todos os momentos da terapia endodôntica, Pm foi o microrganismo mais frequente. Verificou-se que Pm, Td e Tf foram encontrados em maior número em P2 que em E2 e que Pe e Fn estavam mais presentes em P3 que em E3. Nas primeiras coletas não houve diferenças estatisticamente significantes. Concluiu-se que, os canais radiculares e as bolsas periodontais de dentes com comprometimento pulpar e bolsa periodontal apresentaram-se infectados com uma combinação de espécies de microrganismos formada principalmente por bactérias anaeróbias estritas e facultativas, grampositivas, o PQM foi o grande responsável pela redução dos microrganismos dos CR, correlações estatísticas positivas foram observadas entre a presença de sinais e sintomas de origem endodôntica e periodontal e algumas espécies bacterianas, e também entre as espécies, quaisquer das medicações intracanais testadas não foram capazes de alterar ou reduzir a microbiota da bolsa periodontal associada no período de 7 ou 14 dias, não houve diferenças de eficiência antimicrobiana entre as medicações intracanais utilizadas tanto no canal radicular como na bolsa periodontal no período estudado.Abstract: The aims of this study were to investigate the microbiota of root canals (RC) and periodontal pockets (PP) from teeth with pulp necrosis, periapical lesion, gingival bleeding and periodontal pockets by culture and PCR; to verify the ability of chemo-mechanical preparation (CMP) and intracanal dressings (2% chorhexidine, calcium hydroxide and association of both medications) on reducing colony forming unit (CFU/mL) counting in the period of 7 or 14 days in the root canal and periodontal pocket; and to investigate possible associations among detected bacterial species and microorganisms and between signs and symptoms. Samples were collected from RC (E1) and PP (P1) before and after CMP (E2 and P2) and after the use of intracanal dressings (E3, P3). Adequate transport medium, culture, incubation and biochemical tests were used. DNA of samples was extracted and primers species-specific to Treponema denticola, Treponema socranskii), Gemella morbillorum (Gm), Tannerella forsythia (Tf), Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas endodontalis (Pe), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), Prevotella tannerae (Pt), Prevotella nigrescens (Pn), Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn), Filifactor alocis (Fa), Parvimonas micra (Pm) were used to detect these species by PCR. The results showed that the average of initial CFU/mL was 17.33 x 10 6 in RC and 17.93 x 108 in PP, after CMP 15.25 x 104 in RC and 8.53 x 108 in PP and after the use of intracanal medications 7.6 x 104 in RC and 3.88 x 108 in PP. By culture, the most frequent microorganisms in RC were:Pi/Pn/Pt and Fn in 45% of the E1, Pi/Pn/Pt (5%), P propionicum (5%), S salivarius (5%), M varians (5%) in E2, A naeslundii and P propionicum in 36.6% of the E3. In PP, Pg and Gm were in 50% of P1 while Pm was the most isolated in P2 (62.5%) and Fn in P3 (73.3%). By PCR, in both sites, in all moments of the endodontic therapy, Pm was the mostly found microorganism. It was verified that Pm, Td and Tf were found in greater number in P2 than in E2; and Pe and Fn were more presented in P2 than in E2. There were no statistic differences in the initial samples. It was concluded that, RC and PP from teeth with endo-perio lesion were infected with a combination of microorganisms species, mainly strict and facultative anaerobe bacteria, grampositives; CMP was responsible for the mainly microbial reduction in root canals and the use of intracanal dressings in the established time did not achieve any antimicrobial effect in adjacent periodontal pockets, positive statistic correlations were noted between detected bacterial species and microorganisms and signs and symptoms, there were no statistic differences in the antimicrobial efficacy among the intracanal dressings in RC and PP in the studied period.DoutoradoEndodontiaDoutor em Clínica Odontológic

LITÍGIOS ESTRATÉGICOS: REVISÃO DA JURISPRUDÊNCIA ARGENTINA

RESUMO Ao Estado, especialmente ao Poder Legislativo e ao Poder Executivo, foi atribuída a função de concretizar os direitos sociais por meio de políticas públicas. A atuação prestacional do Estado faz que muitas vezes sua concretização seja de difícil cumprimento por causa das limitações orçamentárias. O rol do Poder Judiciário torna-se fundamental, pois ele é o órgão que na última instância tem a função de revisar as políticas públicas para garantir os direitos dos cidadãos.  Aqueles casos em que o Judiciário intervém controlando a Administração tornam-se casos que muitas vezes são denominados com os nomes de litígios estruturais, complexos, de alto impacto, estratégicos ou de interesse público. Este trabalho tem por objetivo fazer um recorrido pela jurisprudência argentina destacando os precedentes mais importantes na matéria e os aspectos mais relevantes destes.   PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Controle judicial de políticas públicas; Litígios estratégicos; Impacto social; Direitos fundamentais.   ABSTRACT The State, particularly  with  its  Legislative  and  Executive Branches, was given the task of carrying out actions on social rights  through public policies. But said actions are often difficult to be put into practice due to budget constraints. Therefore, the role of the Judicial Power becomes fundamental since it is the body that ultimately has the function of reviewing public policies to guarantee citizens´ rights. Those cases in which the Judicial Power intervenes to control the administration become cases that are often referred to, as complex, high-impact, strategic, or public interest litigation. This paper aims to have an overview of the Argentine jurisprudence and highlight the most important precedents in this field  and their most relevant aspects of their legal side and social impact as well.   KEYWORDS: Judicial control of public policies; Strategic litigation; Social impact; Fundamental rights

Undergraduate Internal Flow Pipe Friction Laboratory

Hydrodynamics laboratory experiences have supported the United States Military Academy’s civil and mechanical engineering programs for nearly 50 years. A recent effort revitalized and significantly improved the pipe friction hydrodynamics laboratory, a system originally built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station in the 1950s. The experimental apparatus includes a 3 hp electric pump capable of delivering a steady flow of liquid up to 5:1 lbm=s fed from a 100 gallon (US) reservoir. The test section is a horizontal copper pipe of 0:75 in diameter which issues fluid into a transparent, plastic visualization chamber. Mineral oil is the working fluid, chosen for its favorable physical properties that enable a broad range of flow regimes for data analysis and flow visualization. The test section is instrumented with digital pressure gauges and an ultrasonic flow meter, installed as part of the revitalization project. A collection tank on a mass scale provides a manual method for estimating flow rate during experimental trials. The improved laboratory significantly expands the range of data that may be collected, with students now able to accurately measure pressure, temperature, flow rate, and pipe geometric data. Students compute Reynolds number to characterize flow regime, estimate pressure gradient, and predict the friction factor given an estimate for the pipe’s roughness coefficient for several flow rates. A pre-laboratory exercise requires students to derive a functional form of the steady-flow mechanical pipe flow equation and employ dimensional analysis to identify the non-dimensional parameters required to achieve dynamic similitude. The upgraded laboratory offers a relevant, comprehensive application to deepen students’ conceptual understanding of internal fluid flow, hydrodynamics, and modeling and similarity principles

Cell Metab

Cognitive dysfunction is often diagnosed in people with obesity and associated metabolic disorders. In the latest issue of Cell Metabolism, Ramírez et al. highlight an impaired production of the neurosteroid pregnenolone in the hypothalamus as a mechanism for obesity-induced cognitive impairment in both rodent models and patients with obesity.Dissection des mécanismes hypothalamiques impliqués dans la détection du statut nutritionnel et régulation de la prise alimentaire via les interactions entre mTORC1, les mélanocortines et les endocannabinoïdes.Représentation sensorielle lors d'états psychotiquesRole du recepteur CB1 mitocondriel du tissue adipeux dans la regulation de la balance energetiqueBordeaux Region Aquitaine Initiative for NeuroscienceNeurocircuitry of endocannabinoid regulation of food intakeDevelopment of pregnenolone derivatives as allosteric inhibitors of CB1 cannabinoid receptors for thetreatment of schizophrenia and psychotic syndrome