ABSTRACT This study aimed to determine the basic density of wood and simulate performance flooring produced with from five tropical species: Dipteryx odorata (Cumaru), Handroanthus spp. (Ipê), Hymenaea Courbaril (Jatobá), Astronium Lecointei (Muiracatiara), Bowdichia virgilioides (Sucupira-Preta). Falling steel sphere, static dynamic friction, indentation caused by loads applied in small areas,...

Leaks represent a very important hazard for the buildings and they can affect all sorts of building materials and specially wood due to its hygroscopic properties. Excessive moisture content can affect in a negative way building processes such as the installation of wooden floors or the use of wood as a structural material. Moisture meters can provide prompt and non-destructive determination of...

Three-dimensional (3D) open-field gait analysis of mice is an essential procedure in genetic and nerve regeneration research. Existing gait analysis systems are generally expensive and may interfere with the natural behaviors of mice because of optical markers and transparent floors. In contrast, the proposed system captures the subjects shape from beneath using a low-cost infrared depth sensor...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine whether obesity is associated with less postural stability in young adults, and whether it is influenced by anterior pelvic tilt angle and sensory dysfunction. METHODS Center of gravity (COG) velocity and total sway distance with eyes open or eyes closed on firm or foam floors were determined in 12 obese individuals and 12 individuals with...

Few studies have explored how humans memorize landmarks in complex multifloored buildings. They have observed that participants memorize an environment either by floors or by vertical columns, influenced by the learning path. However, the influence of the building's actual structure is not yet known. In order to investigate this influence, we conducted an experiment using an object-in-place pro...

The Delaware Building was constructed shortly after the Chicago Fire of 1871 using pre-cast concrete panels on the outside. Originally six stories in height, the Italianate-style office building received an additional two floors around 1890 that were faced with sheet metal to resemble the appearance of the facade below. The lower two floors were originally dressed with ornamental cast iron arch...

This thesis focuses on designing Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes for forward-error-correction. The target application is real-time multimedia communications over packet networks. We investigate two code design issues, which are important in the target application scenarios, designing LDPC codes with low decoding latency, and constructing capacity-approaching LDPC codes with very low error...