Bayesian methods provide a principled approach to some of the hardest problems in computer vision—low signal-to-noise ratios, ill-posed problems, and problems with missing data. This dissertation applies Bayesian modeling to infer multidimensional continuous manifolds (e.g., curves, surfaces) from image data using Gaussian process priors. Gaussian processes are ideal priors in this setting, providing a stochastic model over continuous functions while permitting efficient inference. We begin by introducing a formal mathematical representation of branch curvilinear structures called a curve tree and we define a novel family of Gaussian processes over curve trees called branching Gaussian processes. We define two types of branching Gaussian properties and show how to extend them to branching surfaces and hypersurfaces. We then apply Gaussian processes in three computer vision applications. First, we perform 3D reconstruction of moving plants from 2D images. Using a branching Gaussian process prior, we recover high quality 3D trees while being robust to plant motion and camera calibration error. Second, we perform multi-part segmentation of plant leaves from highly occluded silhouettes using a novel Gaussian process model for stochastic shape. Our method obtains good segmentations despite highly ambiguous shape evidence and minimal training data. Finally, we estimate 2D trees from microscope images of neurons with highly ambiguous branching structure. We first fit a tree to a blurred version of the image where structure is less ambiguous. Then we iteratively deform and expand the tree to fit finer images, using a branching Gaussian process regularizing prior for deformation. Our method infers natural tree topologies despite ambiguous branching and image data containing loops. Our work shows that Gaussian processes can be a powerful building block for modeling complex structure, and they perform well in computer vision problems having significant noise and ambiguity.

In the first chapter, I examine an incomplete markets economy in a politico-economic general equilibrium setting in which the median voter chooses the inflation rate. I use an environment where individuals face an uninsurable idiosyncratic labor productivity shock, and money is the only asset. Being an effective tax on savings, inflation acts as a redistribution mechanism transferring resources from the rich to the poor. I show that the median voter chooses a positive inflation rate as the politico-economic equilibrium outcome. In the second chapter, I analyze how forming a monetary union affects consumption and earnings inequalities through monetary policy changes implied by adopting a common currency. I use a two country open-economy, overlapping-generations model with heterogenous individuals to investigate these effects. In the model, inflation tax is the only redistributive tool and consumption and earnings inequalities are decreasing functions of inflation. When forming a monetary union, countries face a trade-off between the undesirable distributional effects of losing their monetary autonomy and benefits from the elimination of trade frictions. Findings suggest that when countries choose to do so, the country with higher initial inflation will definitely experience a fall in its inflation, hence an increase in its inequalities. In the country with lower initial inflation, however, inflation and inequalities might go in either direction depending on the degree of heterogeneity and the trade dependency between the countries. As the inflationary effect of uniting its monetary policy with a high inflation country can dominate the reducing effect of vanished trade frictions on inflation, this country might have an increase in its inflation, and a decrease in its inequalities. Finally, in the third chapter, I compare the indirect measure of inflation expectations derived by Ireland (1996b) to the direct measures obtained from expectations surveys in two case studies: the US and Turkey. Our results show that the inflation bounds calculated for US data are more volatile than survey results, and are too narrow to contain them due to low standard errors in consumption growth series stemming from high persistence. For the Turkish case, on the other hand, out of three different surveys on inflation expectations in Turkey compared with the bounds computed using Turkish data, expectations obtained by the Consumer Tendency Survey fall within these bounds throughout the whole sample period. Moreover we show that, as Fisher's theory suggests, real interest rates are extremely volatile in Turkey and movements in nominal interest rates cannot be directly used as an indicator of changes in inflation expectations. / text

In this thesis appropriate statistical methods to overcome two types of problems that occur during parameter estimation in chemical engineering systems are studied. The first problem is having too many parameters to estimate from limited available data, assuming that the model structure is correct, while the second problem involves estimating unmeasured disturbances, assuming that enough data are available for parameter estimation. In the first part of this thesis, a model is developed to predict rates of undesirable reactions during the finishing stage of nylon 66 production. This model has too many parameters to estimate (56 unknown parameters) and not having enough data to reliably estimating all of the parameters. Statistical techniques are used to determine that 43 of 56 parameters should be estimated. The proposed model matches the data well. In the second part of this thesis, techniques are proposed for estimating parameters in Stochastic Differential Equations (SDEs). SDEs are fundamental dynamic models that take into account process disturbances and model mismatch. Three new approximate maximum likelihood methods are developed for estimating parameters in SDE models. First, an Approximate Expectation Maximization (AEM) algorithm is developed for estimating model parameters and process disturbance intensities when measurement noise variance is known. Then, a Fully-Laplace Approximation Expectation Maximization (FLAEM) algorithm is proposed for simultaneous estimation of model parameters, process disturbance intensities and measurement noise variances in nonlinear SDEs. Finally, a Laplace Approximation Maximum Likelihood Estimation (LAMLE) algorithm is developed for estimating measurement noise variances along with model parameters and disturbance intensities in nonlinear SDEs. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithms is compared with a maximum-likelihood based method. For the CSTR examples studied, the proposed algorithms provide more accurate estimates for the parameters. Additionally, it is shown that the performance of LAMLE is superior to the performance of FLAEM. SDE models and associated parameter estimates obtained using the proposed techniques will help engineers who implement on-line state estimation and process monitoring schemes. / Thesis (Ph.D, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-12-23 15:12:35.738

Title: Has youth participation in organized extracurricular activities and future expectation relevance for antisocial behavior?   Zetterberg, E. (2015). Has youth participation in organized extracurricular activities and future expectation relevance for antisocial behavior? Bachelor thesis in Public Health science. Department of work- and public health science. The academy of health and working life. University of Gävle, Sweden. Adolescent drug use is a threat to public health. Therefore it is important to identify how different factors interact in order to develop successful preventive interventions against youth drug use. The purpose of this study is to investigate the association of participation in organized extracurricular activity, future expectation and drug use. Method: The study is cross-section designed and based on the data material from the last survey, Life and Health Young in 2013 in Uppsala County. The study included 1648 high school students residing in the municipalities of Uppsala, Enköping and Älvkarleby (response rate of 60 %). The data were analyzed by bivariate and multivariate methods. Results: The results indicate that there is an association between participation in organized sports-related extracurricular activity, future expectation and drug use. Young people who have a positive expectation about their future have used less drugs (16%) compared with adolescents who have a negative future expectation (27%). Positive future expectation was also strongly associated with participation in organized sports-related extracurricular activity (both p< 0.001). Conclusions: Being involved in organized extracurricular activity appears to be a determinant of a positive future expectation as well as a positive future expectation seems to be a determining factor for decreased drug use among adolescents. / Ungdomars narkotikaanvändning är ett hot mot folkhälsan. Därför är det viktigt att kartlägga hur olika faktorer samvarierar för att kunna utveckla framgångsrika preventiva insatser mot ungdomars narkotikaanvändning. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka associationen mellan deltagande i organiserad fritidsaktivitet, framtidstro och narkotikaanvändning. Metod: Studien är av tvärsnittsdesign och bygger på datamaterial från den senaste enkätundersökningen Liv och Hälsa Ung 2013 i Uppsala län. I studien ingick 1648 gymnasieungdomar bosatta i kommunerna Uppsala, Enköping och Älvkarleby (svarsfrekvens på 60 procent). Datamaterialet har analyserats med bivariata och multivariata metoder. Resultat: Resultatet indikerar att det finns en association mellan deltagande i organiserad idrottsrelaterad fritidsaktivitet, framtidstro och narkotikaanvändning. Ungdomar som har en positiv framtidstro har i mindre utsträckning använt narkotika (16%) jämfört med ungdomar som har en negativ framtidstro (27%). Positiv framtidstro var även starkt associerat med deltagande i organiserad idrottsrelaterad fritidsaktivitet (båda p<0.001). Slutsats: Att delta i organiserad fritidsaktivitet tycks vara en bestämningsfaktor för positiv framtidstro liksom att positiv framtidstro tycks vara en bestämningsfaktor för minskad narkotikaanvändning bland ungdomar.

This thesis comprises two stages that empirically investigate and evaluate the perceptions and importance of service elements expectations of professional baseball spectator in Taiwan. Study I is designed to collect the perception of spectators service elements expectations focus groups meetings, which also help the research to develop an appropriate research instrument for the evaluation of the importance of service elements expectations to Taiwan professional baseball spectators. Study II collected 1020 questionnaire survey samples and used cluster analysis approach to segment TPB spectators into six meaningful groups by service elements expectations. The thesis concludes that, firstly, the successful use of expectation to segment spectators proves the potential of expectation as a typology with which to categorise customers. Secondly, TPB spectators with different levels of team identification failed to have great differences in their service expectations, even though two service factors ( subsidiary services and social and educational services ) were evaluated as less important by respondents, they were still evaluated that six service expectation factors are all important to them. Finally, this study provided a different angle for sports organisers to consider, and an outline for assisting managers design service packages that are highly responsive to the target market.

This practicum project investigates current emergency department waiting room models and explores how the psychology of waiting can be applied to positively influence the waiting experience. This culmination of research, coupled with concepts of evidence-based design (EBD), precedent research and regional site visits result in an understanding of emergency department waiting that challenges current emergency department design. This knowledge led to the formulation of a theoretical framework and hypothetical design proposal that aims to uncover, identify, and integrate design concepts known to influence emergency department waiting environment satisfaction. / February 2017

Sammanfattning    Bakgrund: Diagnosen av en obotlig sjukdom kan förr eller senare leda till att personen blir i behov av palliativ vård. I denna situation är hopp oftast en viktig del i att fortsätta leva och uppleva välbefinnande samt en god livskvalitet. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturöversikt var att beskriva upplevelse av hopp hos personer som vårdas palliativt. Metod: En litteraturöversikt genomfördes där 11 artiklar med kvalitativ design inkluderades och analyserades deduktivt med hjälp av Herth Hope Index. Artikelsökningen gjordes i databaserna CINAHL och PsycINFO. Resultat: Trots en dålig prognos och medvetandet om att döden närmar sig fortsatte deltagarna i studierna att hoppas och sätta upp framtida mål. Hoppet påverkades både positivt och negativt beroende på det förflutna, nuet och framtiden. Det som främjade hoppet mest visade sig vara familj och närstående.  Vissa deltagare tyckte att det inte fanns något att hoppas på då framtiden såg mörk ut. Tron på Gud/och eller Jesus samt högre makter hjälpte deltagarna att upprätthålla samt öka hopp. Slutsatser: Resultatet som framkom kan ge en vägledning för hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal om hur personer som vårdas palliativt upplever hopp och på vilket sätt det kan främjas, utökas och vad det är som gör att hopp upprätthålls. Nyckelord: erfarenheter, förhoppningar, livets slutskede, obotliga sjukdomar / Experiences of hope among people receiving palliative care - A literature review Summary   Background: The diagnosis of an incurable disease may sooner or later lead to the need for palliative care. In this situation, hope is usually one of an important part in continuing to live and experience well-being as well as a good quality of life. Purpose: The aim of this literature review was to describe the experience of hope among people receiving palliative care. Method: A literature review was performed where 11 articles with a qualitative design were included and with the help of Herth Hope Index analyzed deductively. The article search was made in the CINAHL and PsycINFO databases. Result: Despite a bad forecast and the awareness that death is approaching, the participants in the studies continued to hope and set future goals. Hope was affected both positively and negatively, depending on the past, the present and the future. What promoted hope most proved to be family and related. Some participants thought there was nothing to hope for when the future looked dark. Faith on God / and or Jesus as well as higher powers helped participants to maintain and increase hope.Conclusion: The result that emerges can provide guidance for health professionals about how palliative patients experience hope and how it can be promoted, expanded and what makes hope maintained.   Keywords:  expectation, experience, incurable diseases, terminal care

Syftet med denna undersökning är att beskriva hur närstående till en familjemedlem som lever med HIV/AIDS upplever att deras egen hälsa påverkas av detta, hur de hanterar sin livssituation och vilka förväntningar de har från samhällets håll när det gäller bemötanden och behandlingar. Sex anhöriga till en HIV-positiv deltog i studien. En kvalitativ induktiv metod användes och datainsamlingen genomfördes med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer för att låta de närstående relativt fritt berätta om sina upplevelser. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades för att sedan analyseras med hjälp av en manifest innehållsanalys resulterande i tre kategorier. De tre kategorier är upplevd hälsa, coping och förväntningarna. I resultatet framkom det att de närstående upplever att deras hälsa påverkas av att de lever med någon som har HIV/AIDS. De behöver mobilisera sina inre resurser och ta stöd från deras sociala nätverk för att kunna hantera sin livssituation. Slutsatsen blev den att en ökad allmänkunskap om HIV/AIDS behövs, särskilt för att utveckla insatser riktade till just de anhöriga till smittade. Det är av vikt att även deras röster hörs samt att deras inre och yttre resurser uppmärksammas och stärks. Interventioner för HIV-infekerade borde också gynna deras familjer. / The purpose of this study is to describe to what extent the family members of someone who is HIV/AIDS positive feel that their health is also affected by this, how they cope with this circumstance land what expectations they have regarding how they hope to be received and treated in society as a whole. 6 family members of an HIV/AIDS positive individual participated in the study. A qualitative inductive method was used for the study and the data collection was carried out using semi-structured interviews so as to allow the family members to relatively freely share of their experiences. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using a manifest content analysis, resulting in the three categories: perceived health, coping and expectations. The results show that the family members feel that their health is also affected by their relation to someone who is HIV/AIDS positive. They need to mobilize their internal resources and seek support from their social networks to be able manage their day-to-day lives. It was also concluded that a general increased in knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS is needed, especially with the goal of developing effective interventions specifically aimed at the family members of the HIV infected. It is important that their voices are heard and that their internal and external resources are both recognized and strengthened. Interventions for HIV positive individuals should also benefit the lives of their families.

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This study seeks as its purpose to establish an .objective evaluation of the counselor and his role as seen by various professional groups. The primary purpose of the investigation is to compare the perceptions of these various groups as to the tasks a counselor may perform. The study involves the distribution of an opinionn-aire to one hundred public high school counselors, one hundred public high school principals, sixty-three counselor-educators, and forty-two administrator-educators. A return percentage of seventy-nine has been realized.