>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Bladder grasshoppers belong to the order Orthoptera, ancient family Pneumoridae and Superfamily Pneumoroidea. This small group of grasshoppers are sound producing, nocturnal, herbivorous grasshoppers endemic to the coastal regions of southern Africa. Very little genetic work has been done on these grasshoppers, and there is some taxonomic confusion regarding the validity of some species descriptions. The aim of this study was to provide much needed clarity on the true taxonomic diversity and polymorphic attributes within the Pneumoridae, focusing on selected taxa of uncertain status. Bladder grasshoppers show distinct discontinuous polymorphism, resulting in two clearly different male morphs utilizing two different mating strategies. Primary males make use of acoustic communication for mate location. Secondary males (alternate males) are significantly smaller and employ a “sneaker” or satellite strategy where they exploit the calling between duetting couples to locate the females before the primary male. Three species of bladder grasshoppers have been described (Parabullacris vansoni, Paraphysemacris spinosus and Pneumoracris browni) that only have an alternate male morph. The validity of these species descriptions has come into question with the discovery of alternate male morphs in at least three other species (Bullacris discolor, B. membracioides and B. obliqua). Thus, the species described by Dirsh (1963) may simply be alternate males of existing species. However, to date there have been no studies looking at the genetics of alternate males, which would definitively establish whether they are conspecific with primary males.

In this piece, I have looked to use art in an attempt to explore a known phenomenon of the visual system: in this case, chromatic adaptation. The name delta in this sense has two meanings. The first is that of the mathematical symbol Δ used to represent change. This refers to not only the changing light in the art piece but the hopeful change in the viewer as they walk away questioning what it is they saw and what they see. The second refers to the landmass that occurs when a flowing body of water meets a still one, such as a river into an ocean. Through this process it has become evident that the knowledge gained is not as important as the questions asked; I now stand on the last bit of dry land before wading into the endless ocean of questions. The focus of this work has been on experience, perception, and presence. It has become clear that, while a viewer may not see change, they do feel that change. The question then becomes how do we become more attuned and adept at recognizing these feelings, what are the implications of doing so, and why does that even matter.

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This thesis investigates the problem of sensors used with mobile robots. Firstly, a colour sensor is considered, for its ability to detect objects having the three primary colours Red, Green and Blue (RGB). Secondly, an accelerometer was investigated, from which velocity was derived from the raw data using numerical integration. The purpose of the design and development of the sensors was to use them for robotic navigation and collision avoidance. This report presents the results of experiments carried out on the colour sensor and the accelerometer. A discussion of the results and some conclusions are also presented. It proved feasible to achieve the goal of detecting colours successfully but only for a limited distance. The accelerometer proved reliable but is not yet being applied in real time. Both the colour sensor and the accelerometer proved to be inexpensive. Some recommendations are made to improve both the colour sensor and the accelerometer sensors.

The human visual system gathers information about three-dimensional object shape from a wide range of sources. How effectively we can use these sources, and how they are combined to form a consistent and accurate percept of the 3D world is the focus of much research. In complex scenes inter-reflections of light between surfaces (mutual illumination) can occur, creating chromatic illumination gradients. These gradients provide a source of information about 3D object shape, but little research has been conducted into the capabilities of the visual system to use such information. The experiments described here were conducted with the aim of understanding the influence of chromatic gradients from mutual illumination on 3D shape perception. Psychophysical experiments are described that were designed to investigate: If the human visual system takes account of mutual illumination when estimating 3D object shape, and how this might occur; How colour shading cues are integrated with other shape cues; The relative influence on 3D shape perception of achromatic (luminance) shading and chromatic shading from mutual illumination. In addition, one chapter explores a selection of mathematical models of cue integration and their applicability in this case. The results of the experiments suggest that the human visual system is able to quickly assess and take account of colour mutual illuminations when estimating 3D object shape, and use chromatic gradients as an independent and effective cue. Finally, mathematical modelling reveals that the chromatic gradient cue is likely integrated with other shape cues in a way that is close to statistically optimal.

Gripped by the mechanics of “walking into a sea of whiteness,” I frame this master’s thesis through the following research question: What are the live(d) experiences and stories of a teacher candidate of colour in relation to race and racism in Teacher Education? Responding to this question, I engage in a personal narrative inquiry to examine and interrogate my own live(d) experiences and stories as a teacher candidate of colour in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa from 2018 to 2020. I specifically dwell in the (im)possibilities of my travelogue in the two-year program, as I travel to the past to write in the present. A process that unfolds as I arrange that journey in the following: on arrival, on beginning, on collapsing, and on finding community. The writing of which is story(ed) in my live(d) experiences through narratives, as well as journal entries and poems, which are analyzed through a closed reading, complicating and troubling the notion of racism and “white spaces” in Teacher Education.

Det här är en text som är ett resultat av vårt examensarbete vi genomfört under den sjätte och sista terminen på scenproduktionsutbildningen på Malmö högskola. Texten och examensarbetet utgår ifrån frågeställningar som vi arbetat med under terminen i samband med att vi ljussatt två teaterföreställningar som satts upp av Teaterhögskolan i Malmös examinerande masterelever. Vi tar upp frågor och tankar om ljuset, scenrummet och ljussättarens roll i det kreativa teamet. Syftet med detta arbete har varit att utforska hur vi kan ta hjälp av ljus och ljusdesign i skapandet av scenrummet. Hur vi definierar de rum vi arbetat i och hur det är att vara en del en produktion. Vi har kommit fram till att trots att själva upplevelsen av ljus och rum är individuell, så är det just det som gör det till ett intressant område. Konkreta saker vi fått svar på är att färg och form påverkar människan, oavsett om vi är medvetna om det eller inte. / This text is the result of our thesis we implemented during the sixth and final semester at Stage Production program at Malmö University. We raise questions and thoughts about the light, room and illuminate the role of the creative team. The aim of this work was to how we can, through light and lighting design, explore the creation of the room, how we define the room we worked in and how it is to be part production. We conclude that although the experience of light and space is individual, this it what makes it an interesting area.

No / This paper examines and evaluates a new robust and fragile watermarking scheme for colour images captured by mobile phone cameras. The authentication has been checked by using the fragile watermarking, while the copyright protection has been examined by using the robust one. The mobile phone number, including the international code, is a unique number across the whole world and it is used as a robust watermark. The number is embedded in the frequency domain using the discrete wavelet transform. On the other hand, hash codes are used as fragile watermarks and inserted in the spatial domain of the RGB image. The scheme is blind and the extraction process of the watermarks (Robust and Fragile) does not require the original image. The fragile watermark can detect any tampering in the image while the robust watermark is strong enough to survive against several attacks. The watermarking algorithm causes minimal distortion to the images. The proposed algorithm has been successfully tested, evaluated and compared with other algorithms.

No / Vitiligo is an acquired, idiopathic skin disease characterized by the mostly progressive loss of the inherited skin color leading to white patches and in some cases to total depigmentation. The course of this ancient disease is still unknown. The worldwide prevalence range is 0.5-1%. The disease burden includes stigmatization, depression, impaired quality of life, lack of self-confidence, embarrassment and self-consciousness. To the best of our knowledge, the extent to which this chronic disease may exert an influence upon the life course of affected individuals has, to date, not been investigated. The material presented herein is the result of an accurate analysis of published literature. Moreover, we included our own data collected in two studies. To apply the concept of cumulative life course impairment in vitiligo, we looked at possible trigger factors, role of patient's age and the age at disease onset, disease duration and stigmatization. Stigmatization had the strongest impact. It is common in patients with an early disease onset, often leading to other disturbances. Our data revealed that older patients or those with a disease onset later in life adjust better to this chronic skin disorder and that they are less socially avoidant. However, long disease duration can also lead to impaired quality of life and obsession, while this group seems to be less depressed or embarrassed. Results from our own work with peer groups of these patients strongly support a positive long-lasting effect of treatment on quality of life of children, adolescents and adults. To which extent vitiligo may contribute to a cumulative life course impairment remains to be shown.

The LUTCHI data are the main colour appearance data used as the basis of many colour appearance models including CIECAM97s. It was shown in the LUTCHI data that projected colours are very different from reflective colours however there are relatively fewer data for projected colours than for reflective colours. In this study, it is intended to expand the colour appearance data of projected and self-luminous colours. The additional colours would then help investigate the performance of existing colour appearance models and, if necessary, enable the derivation of a new model to improve performance for projected and self-luminous colours. Before the colour appearance study, firstly the performances of the instruments and the displays used in the study were investigated. It was found that LCD displays perform very differently from CRT monitors. Two mathematical characterisation models for LCD displays were developed named S-Curve Model I and S-Curve Model II. The new colour appearance data set, CII-Kwak, was accumulated by a series of psychophysical experiments. The magnitude estimation technique was applied with the same experimental set-up as for LUTCHI experiments. The CII-Kwak data set has 20 phases with a total of 28,608 estimations covering various displays, luminance of a reference white, background luminance factors, surround conditions and stimulus sizes. Based on the CII-Kwak and the LUTCHI data set, the colour appearance phenomena were analysed. It was found that there are systematic colour appearance changes by the viewing factors investigated. Also eight colour appearance models were tested using the CII-Kwak and LUTCHI data sets. CIECAM97s-based models performed similarly well, but all models tested failed to predict several colour appearance changes, especially under dark surround conditions, which lead to suggest a new colour appearance model to have a better performance for colour appearance predictions. The Kwak03 model was derived from the CIECAM02 with several major modifications such as the cone signal ratios and the omission of the dynamic function. The Kwak03 model was shown to outperform all the other colour appearance models tested and also to be capable of predicting all colour appearance phenomena found in this study with good accuracy.