The intention with this essay is to examine the symbolic meaning of trees in Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Trees are repeatedly mentioned throughout the novel and in this essay the trees are claimed to carry various meanings. A main usage of tree imagery is argued to be in connection to the life and death struggles of the main characters. The relation between tree imagery and slavery, and the effects of this relation, is also analysed.

This is a master thesis of the Master of Science degree program in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering (Y) at Linköping University. The goal of the projectis to develop an application for creating a map in real time from a video camera on a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle. This thesis project and report is a first exploratory study for this application. It implements a prototype method and evaluates it on sample sequences from an on-board video camera. The method first looks for good points to follow in the image and then tracks them in a sequence.The image is then pasted, or merged, together with previous images so that points from the different images align. Two methods to find good points to follow are examined with focus on real-time performance. The result is that the much faster FAST detector method yielded satisfactory results good enough to replace the slower standard method of the Harris-Stephens corner detector. It is also examined whether it is possible to assume that the ground is a flat surface in this application or if a computationally more expensive method estimating altitude information has to be used. The result is that at high altitudes or when the ground is close to flat in reality and the camera points straight downwards a two-dimensional method will do. If flying lower or with high objects in the picture, which is often the case in this application, it must to be taken into account that the points really are at different heights, hence the ground can not be assumed to be flat.

The proliferation of nuclear weapons is a great threat to world peace and stability. The question of strengthening the nonproliferation regime has been open for a long period of time. In 1997 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors (BOG) adopted the Additional Safeguards Protocol. The purpose of the protocol is to enhance the IAEA’s ability to detect undeclared production of fissile materials in member states. However, the IAEA does not always have sufficient human and financial resources to accomplish this task. Developed here is a concept for making use of human and technical resources available in academia that could be used to enhance the IAEA’s mission. The objective of this research was to study the feasibility of an academic community using commercially or publicly available sources of information and products for the purpose of detecting covert facilities and activities intended for the unlawful acquisition of fissile materials or production of nuclear weapons. In this study, the availability and use of commercial satellite imagery systems, commercial computer codes for satellite imagery analysis, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)verification International Monitoring System (IMS), publicly available information sources such as watchdog groups and press reports, and Customs Services information were explored. A system for integrating these data sources to form conclusions was also developed. The results proved that publicly and commercially available sources of information and data analysis can be a powerful tool in tracking violations in the international nuclear nonproliferation regime and a framework for implementing these tools in academic community was developed. As a result of this study a formation of an International Nonproliferation Monitoring Academic Community (INMAC) is proposed. This would be an independent organization consisting of academics (faculty, staff and students) from both nuclear weapon states (NWS) and non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS). This community analyzes all types of unclassified publicly and commercially available information to aid in detection of violations of the non-proliferation regime. INMAC shares all of this information with the IAEA and the public. Since INMAC is composed solely by members of the academic community, this organization would not demonstrate any biases in its investigations or reporting.

The ancient practice of Chinese Martial Arts Science is profound. With the changing times and busy commercial society, most of martial arts have faced the crisis of disappearing and failing to pass down to new generations. However, with the continuous development of science and technology and the conveniences brought by the Internet, using e-learning to teach martial arts has become a trend and it has proven to be a very effective way. If the experiences and knowledge of the elder masters' martial art could be preserved with the assistance of scientific approach of applying e-learning through the Internet and multimedia information technology, the martial arts online courses could be systematically developed so as to help promote the conservation of Chinese Martial Art science. This study attempts to use the latest development of Jeet Kune Do of Martial Arts as an example to convert the actual face-to-face course teaching into a mode of distant-learning based on e-learning. Action research approach will be used in our study. Any Martial Art can be classified into three parts: 1. regulation framework, 2. subject theme technology and 3. kung fu skill; based on these three parts, we then identified what can be implemented online and what are still required Face-to-face instruction. We adopted the imagery practice as the basis and theory to create audio-visual teaching material for the online course. Through a six-week experimental course and three cycles of action research by applying the four main steps of planning, action, observation and reflection. To be able to make adequate revision for the next action plan we interviewed instructors and learners for reflections and inputs which consequently draw up the crucial impact and conclusion on applying e-learning to Martial Arts teaching.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Philosophy, August 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-94).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves : 209-213).

The north transept portal at Notre-Dame in Paris depicts the legend of Theophilus. This legend is about a church official who sells his soul to the devil but then repents and is granted salvation with the help of the Virgin. This legend was one of the most popular Marian miracles in the medieval period, but it was extremely rare in sculpture. The rare subject, combined with the location’s importance (over a ceremonial door), lead me to propose a supplementary reading of this relief. The general consensus is that the Theophilus legend was used didactically or to honor the Virgin, and while I do not disagree that these reasons hold true at Notre-Dame as well, I propose an additional, site-specific reading. Considering the social and political environment of the cathedral and its hierarchy, especially the relationship between the bishop and his canons over the jurisdiction of the cathedral during the medieval period and particularly during the construction of the Gothic church, I contend that the Theophilus legend depicted on the north transept portal is a visual manifestation of the relationship between the bishop and his chapter. The lack of the bishop’s authority is portrayed, for a specially educated audience, in the inclusion of the bishop in a legend where he was a minor figure and in a sculpture in a physical location—the entrance from the canons’ cloister— where he had no authority. I argue further that, because of the exegetical identification of the Virgin with the church, the canons’ special devotion to the Virgin, and the canons’ association with the church they were in charge of building and running, the Marian imagery was a device used by the canons to mark their presence in their cathedral and, by asserting their presence, to demonstrate their authority and independence from the bishop. / text

published_or_final_version / Geography / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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