Movement Research: Exploring Liminality of Dance

In the sphere of fine arts, dance is often measured against canonized European agents, but this project endeavors to gain greater awareness for this field beyond traditional valuation. Moreover, this project aims to crack the portrayal of the “dance world” to show dance as permeating our everyday space, and not something we can quantify as different or separate. In a capitalist society where bodies are constantly bombarded with aesthetic, political, and cultural values, dance can reflect or subvert those projections. How can we value dance in new ways that resist corporal commodification? Moreover, can the promotion of dance beyond an association with only spectacle and pleasure lead to more accessible ways to perform and enjoy dance? By including observers within the dance itself, how can we improve our working definitions of what it means to dance, to be a dancer, and to view dance? This project explores these questions through the practice of dance creation as research, and the approach to dance as inherently liminal- dance in the quotidian, dance as formation of identity through expression, and dance as accessible to all

Adaptive Automotive Lighting Systems

Over the past few years, the use of LEDs within the automotive and avionic industries has increased due to their high efficiency, durability and wide range of light brightness. As the use of LEDs within these industries grows, a need for reliable, high performance drivers becomes more relevant. Companies are implementing LEDs for applications involving adaptive lighting or simple dimming features. This thesis shows implementation of various non-isolated analog converters integrated with digital dimmers to achieve these adaptive lighting systems. Adaptive lighting systems involve reading an input from an external source (brake pedal or steering wheel) and changing the brightness and/or pattern of the brake/headlights to convey more information to the driver and their surroundings. The analog converters will implement Linear Technology’s LED driver IC’s, while the digital dimmers comprise of microcontrollers and discrete components. The design, simulation, and hardware verification will showcase the abilities of these analog converters. Results will demonstrate the proposed applications for both adaptive front and brake lighting

Pointing out the false autonomy of Brazilian municipalities: the “quality of the Federation” drawn by the Rule of Law and its impact on promoting the common good

This paper addresses the problem of promoting the common good at the local governments. To demonstrate how Law should be seen primarily to a positive task (human flourishing), and to show how enaction and implementation of rights are strictly connected, it is presented the hypothesis in which the “quality of the Federation” (arrangement of competences, goods and incomes drawn in a Federal Rule of Law) is determinant in shaping a linear relation between the “ends elected” by a given community and the “means purposed” by the State administration to fulfill those ends. In this sense, the paper is divided in two sections, each one conducted from methodology of literary review and data analysis. The first section deals with the concept of common good and the perspective of using indicators to measure it. The second section takes the example of Brazilian Federation arrangement drawn in its Constitution to demonstrate the hypothesis. In the end, it is concluded that Brazil lives a false autonomy at the Municipalities level, and this false autonomy constitutionally designed can be a cause of genetic problems in achieving a dynamic of the common good

Combining deep learning method with optical coherence tomography for ablation lesion assessment

The immediate effect of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFA) on the tissue is not directly visualized. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique that uses light to capture histology-like images with a penetration depth of 1-3 mm in the cardiac tissue. There are two specific features of ablation lesions in the OCT images: the disappearance of birefringence artifacts in the lateral and sudden decrease of signal at the bottom (Figure panel A and D). These features can not only be used to recognize the ablation lesions from the OCT images by eye, but also be used to train a machine learning model for automatic lesion segmentation. In recent years, deep learning methods, e.g. convolutional neural networks, have been used in medical image analysis and greatly increased the accuracy of image segmentation. We hypothesize that using a convolutional neural network, e.g. U-Net, can locate and segment the ablation lesions in the OCT images. To investigate whether a deep learning method such as a convolutional neural network optimized for biomedical image processing, could be used to segment ablation lesions in OCT images automatically. 8 OCT datasets with ablation lesions were used for training the convolutional neural network (U-Net model). After training, the model was validated by two new OCT datasets. Dice coefficients were calculated to evaluate spatial overlap between the predictions and the ground truth segmentations, which were manually segmented by the researchers (its value ranges from 0 to 1, and "1" means perfect segmentation). The U-Net model could predict the central parts of lesions automatically and accurately (Dice coefficients are 0.933 and 0.934), compared with the ground truth segmentations (Figure panel B and E). These predictions could reveal the depths and diameters of the ablation lesions correctly (Figure panel C and F). Our results showed that deep learning could facilitate ablation lesion identification and segmentation in OCT images. Deep learning methods, integrated in an OCT system, might enable automatic and precise ablation lesion visualization, which may help to assess ablation lesions during radiofrequency ablation procedures with great precision

Towards a Post-Nazi Education: Administrators rebuild the German school system 1945-1949

This dissertation examines the role played by German educational administrators in the states of Hesse and Thuringia immediately after World War II, both within the educational system and the wider context of the occupation government. This was a key transitional period in German history, one that stretched from the final agonies of Nazi Germany to the establishment of the two-state system that prevailed throughout the Cold War. These administrators, while not involved at the classroom level in the educational systems that they operated within, helped shape how that system would be reformed and what it would look like in the future. Furthermore, they filled a key role as intermediaries between the German public and the Allied Control Council and foreign military officers who were in ultimate control of the government and had their own, sometimes competing, visions for what German education after National Socialism should look like. Finally, the administrators and the bureaucratic posts that they occupied became politically contested sites in and of themselves, in large part due to the agency and influence that those positions entailed.Doctor of Philosoph

Politicizing education: German teachers face National Socialism, 1930-1932

This thesis examines and compares German primary and secondary school teachers in the late Weimar Republic, their reactions to the economic crises of the early 1930s, and the effects that these reactions had on their political views. It argues that the shock of the Great Depression helped to politicize a teaching profession that had previously embraced a tradition of overt apolitically. Through an examination of the primary, national professional publication of each group it identifies key social and economic differences between their constituent members and explores the ways that these influenced their approaches to National Socialism

Schnittstellenkonzepte in Tumordokumentationssystemen

Zielsetzung für diese Entwicklung war der Einsatz als Kommunikationsschnittstelle für das Gießener Tumordokumentationssystem GTDS (GTDS: ein Dokumentationssystem zur Erfassung klinischer Daten zu Diagnostik, Therapie und Verlauf von Tumorerkrankungen). Für den Datenaustausch mit Tumorzentren und onkologischen Schwerpunkten war es erforderlich eine Schnittstelle in das GTDS zu integrieren, die die Voraussetzungen, die an die Übertragung komplexer Dateninhalte und Datenstrukturen gestellt werden, erfüllt. Mit Hilfe dieser Schnittstelle sollte es ermöglicht werden, durch unkomplizierte und transparente Konfiguration eine Anpassung der Datenkommunikation an weitere auch komplexe Schnittstellen anderer Anwendungsprogramme, die zudem möglicherweise keinem Datenaustauschstandard folgen, leicht durchzuführen. Ausgehend von der Notwendigkeit der Etablierung eines einheitlichen Standards für den Datenaustausch in der medizinischen Datenverarbeitung wird ein Überblick über die zur Zeit in den Vereinigten Staaten und Europa eingesetzten Kommunikationsprotokolle gegeben. Datenaustauschprotokolle, die eine große Verbreitung gefunden haben bzw. von denen wichtige Impulse für zukünftige Entwicklungen ausgehen, werden in Aufbau, Struktur und Regelwerk vorgestellt. Von diesen Kommunikationsprotokollen ausgehend, werden Ansätze zu zukünftigen internationalen gemeinsamen Datenaustauschprotokollen für den Gesundheitsbereich vorgestellt. Für die vorliegende Arbeit über Schnittstellenkonzepte ist die objekt-orientierte Betrachtungsweise Grundlage. Dargestellt wird die Methodik / Vorgehensweise für den Entwurf eines allgemeinen Datenmodells GMD (General Data Model) basierend auf dem Ansatz der objekt-orientierten Analyse nach Coad/Yourdon. Darauf aufbauend wird ein Objektmodell für die Tumordokumentation entwickelt, welches als Basiskonzept zur Entwicklung von Nachrichteninhalten und deren Strukturierung für die Daten-kommunikation zwischen Anwendungen im Bereich der Tumordokumentation dient. An Beispielen werden Beschreibungssegmente vorgestellt, die inhaltlich, ausgerichtet am Kommunikationsmodell für die Tumordokumentation, den Austausch von Basisnachrichten abdecken. Dieses Konzept wird anschließend auf einen gewählten Standard eines Datenaustausch- bzw. Nachrichtenformates angewandt. Ergebnis dieser Arbeit war die Erstellung von Standardschnittstellen, basierend auf den Protokollen HL7 (Health Level Seven) und BDT (Behandlungsdatenträger). Sie ermöglichen durch ihren Funktionsumfang im Übertragungsfall einen vollständigen Datenaustausch der Inhalte der Tumordokumentation

An exploration of the potential benefits of integrated pest management systems and the use of insect resistant potatoes to control the Guatemalan Tuber Moth (Tecia solanivora Povolny) in Ventaquemada, Colombia:

"CORPOICA and IFPRI implemented a research project in Ventaquemada, Colombia. The project's goal was to asses the benefits of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices and the potential of Genetically Modified insect resistant (Bt) potatoes to manage damage caused by the Guatemalan Tuber Moth (Tecia solanivora Povolny). The Guatemalan Tuber Moth is particularly destructive because field spraying on the adult stage is ineffective and there exists damage specificity to the tubers. Excessive pesticide sprays have resulted in resistance to several insecticides. Insect resistant (Bt) potatoes has been shown an effective means to control other members of the Tuber Moth complex. Thus a Bt potato may play a role in managing Tecia in Colombia. This is an ex ante study as there are no Bt potatoes currently under field conditions in Colombia.. To examine this issue, we conducted a survey in 2003 of 78 farmers in the region to estimate a baseline of traditionally and IPM managed systems. The first year survey was supplemented with focus groups to examine damage and production costs in 2003 and 2004. We also implemented activities such as field verification of IPM practices and damage, a Farmer Field School and other participatory methods. Our analysis uses methods such partial budgeting analysis, a production function input abatement expectations model, and an economic surplus model augmented by stochastic simulations. Results of the analysis presented here outlines estimated losses under field and storage conditions, likely range of benefits accrued by farmers in the region due to the potential adoption of a portfolio of IPM management practices and Bt potatoes. Results from the survey conducted in 2003 show that producers in the area have endured significant field and storage losses within the previous 10 years, but were low in that particular year. Initial results where confirmed by results of focus groups in 2003 and 2004 which show very low field and storage damage. Sustained precipitation explains the observed low levels of damage by the Tuber Moth. Low levels of damage induced zero (or even negative) cost differences between conventional and IPM management. In contrast, using the proposed expectation model to estimate expected payoffs to IPM investments show that even with low levels of damage it still pays for producers to invest in IPM practices. The economic surplus estimates show that even considering variability of field and storage losses, as well as of other critical parameters, the use of Bt potatoes in Colombia creates a positive return to investment to Bt potato research, assuming that damage is present under field conditions. We finalize by discussing some of the institutional and strategic considerations for the potential use of Bt potatoes in the country." Authors' abstractPotatoes Economic aspects, Genetically modified crops, Economic surplus model, Risk, Research and development, Bt-potatoes,

Estimación hedónica del costo de la erosión :cuenca del rio Salamaga - Santander cuenca del rio Combeima - Tolima municipio de Florencia Caquetá

El presente documento presenta el análisis de los resultados de la estimación hedónica del costo de la erosión en las siguientes localidades: Cuenca del río Salamaga - Departamento de Santander Cuenca del río Combeima - Departamento del Tolima Municipio de Florencia - Departamento de Caquetá De acuerdo con los términos del contrato, continua pendiente la realización de la encuesta a nivel del municipio de Puerto López, Meta, la cual está programada para el segundo semestre de este año. Los resultados obtenidos deben ser comparados con los de los otros métodos para evaluar su valor predictivo vs. el costo de obtención. Sin embargo, ya desde ahora se puede afirmar que son cifras razonables, concordantes tanto con el precio de la tierra como con los efectos de la erosión en la productividad del suelo