M.A. / It is well known that high levels of anxiety and/or depression often accompany the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Literature from various sources, but in particular from the fairly new field of research, Psychoneuroimmunology, also provides ample evidence that excessive anxiety and/or depression can be immunosuppressive. It makes sense, therefore, that any intervention restoring balance to the immuno-regulatory system, thereby allowing the body’s innate healing processes to focus on eliminating cancer, is highly desirable. In line with current thinking based on the mind-body connection as well as cognitive behavioural techniques utilised in many therapeutic settings, various psychological interventions have been found to help the patient gain a better sense of control over distressing symptoms and side-effects of cancer. Some of these include: basic cognitive restructuring, hypnotherapy, relaxation-meditation techniques, art and music therapy, and guided imagery. Substantial international research was found illustrating the beneficial affect that the psychological intervention, guided imagery, provided in such diverse settings including work, sport and health. In this regard, it was decided to run a pilot study to ascertain whether a specifically designed tape recording with relaxing music and dialogue aimed at helping patients manage and cope with negative symptoms of cancer, could significantly reduce anxiety and/or depression levels in women with breast cancer. To operationalise the above, 40 women, aged between 30 and 60, with Stages 1, 2 or 3 breast cancer, who are about to commence adjunctive chemotherapy, were randomly selected to a treatment and a control group. A quasi-experimental design was applied to this study whereby the treatment group was subjected to pre- and post chemotherapy Hospital Anxiety & Depression (HAD) Scale and blood pressure measurements on their 1st, 3rd and final cycle of treatments. The HAD Scale is a well-researched and respected, quick, self-diagnostic assessment utilised abroad and in this country. The measurement of a person’s blood pressure is provided as a physiological backup to the psychometric assessment of the individual’s anxiety levels. For the intervention, each participant was supplied with her own copy of Healing Imagery for Cancer CD or audiotape, produced by a South African medical doctor, specialising in the “wellness” field. The participant was requested to listen to this tape as often as possible, but particularly during her chemotherapy treatments. The control group was tested pre-1st cycle of chemotherapy and post-6th cycle of chemotherapy. The main hypothesis of this pilot study was that there would be statistically significant decreases in levels of anxiety and depression as a result of the intervention of guided imagery tape recording in women with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that the guided imagery intervention correlated with a decrease in blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) measurements, as well as depression and anxiety over a six-cycle period of chemotherapy. The most significant decrease was correlated with the anxiety variable. This pilot study revealed some methodological weaknesses but at the same time results are sufficiently encouraging to warrant further in-depth research regarding the use of guided imagery as a cost-effective, relatively easy method for individuals with cancer to learn and utilise as part of their integrative treatment regimen.

The research investigates the dynamic relations between sound, space and the audience perception as related to an artist’s intention. What is the relation between sound and space in the sonic arts, and to what kind of merger does it lead? What relationship exists between the intention of the composer and the perception of the audience regarding architectural and environmental spaces? Is there a common thread of perception of architectural and environmental spaces among participants? Is embodiment a key for the perception of the dynamic relations of sound and space? The framework for the investigation is based on a map of three defined spaces (Real, Virtual, and Hyperbiological) included in a portfolio of six works (three electroacoustic compositions, two sound installations, and one performance), which lead to the analysis of the perception of space, namely, the perception of architectural and environmental spaces as required by the portfolio. The original knowledge resides in the exploration of a potential common representation (space and sound perception being, of course, a personal representation) of internal perceptual spaces and mental imageries generated by the works. The act of listening plays a major role in the development of the portfolio presented and includes Pauline Oliveros’ concept of deep listening (Oliveros 2005). Sound and space are intimately related in the portfolio. One particular element emerging from this relationship is the plastic quality of sound, meaning that sound is considered and observed as a material that is shaped by space. From this perspective the research investigates the ‘sculptural’ and morphological quality of the relationship between sound and space. The results include the specific language and signature of the artworks that delineate the intersection of music and fine arts. The portfolio pays a large tribute to several iconic artists present in the outposts of sound blurred by space. Composers and artists are therefore presented in the theoretical section in order to highlight how their pioneering works have influenced and informed the present research portfolio. The analysis of the perception of the artworks relates to a methodology based on an empirical survey inspired by phenomenology.

Computer and machine vision applications are used in numerous fields to analyze static and dynamic imagery in order to assist or automate some form of decision-making process. Advancements in sensor technologies now make it possible to capture and visualize imagery at various wavelengths (or bands) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Multispectral imaging has countless applications in various field including (but not limited to) security, defense, space, medical, manufacturing and archeology. The development of advanced algorithms to process and extract salient information from the imagery is a critical component of the overall system performance. The fundamental objectives of this research project were to investigate the benefits of combining imagery from the visual and thermal bands of the electromagnetic spectrum to improve the recognition rates and accuracy of commonly found objects in an office setting. The goal was not to find a new way to “fuse” the visual and thermal images together but rather establish a methodology to extract multispectral descriptors in order to improve a machine vision system’s ability to recognize specific classes of objects.A multispectral dataset (visual and thermal) was captured and features from the visual and thermal images were extracted and used to train support vector machine (SVM) classifiers. The SVM’s class prediction ability was evaluated separately on the visual, thermal and multispectral testing datasets. Commonly used performance metrics were applied to assess the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of each classifier. The research demonstrated that the highest recognition rate was achieved by an expert system (multiple classifiers) that combined the expertise of the visual-only classifier, the thermal-only classifier and the combined visual-thermal classifier.

Observing others performing actions is a common way to learn new motor skills. Such ability appears to be linked with one’s ability to imagine actions (motor imagery) (Wang et al. 2014). While motor imagery has been widely used in the context of athletic performance, the same approach has also been advocated in rehabilitation settings, where they often target populations with chronic pain using mobile health applications (de la Vega and Miro 2014). However, we still have very limited information as to how the ability to perform motor imagery addresses this rehabilitation application (Johnson et al. 2012). In the present study, we examined this question by looking at modulation in corticospinal excitability in the context of a motor imagery task. The imagery task itself consisted of judging whether images depicting hands in different postures represented either right or left hands. Based on prior neuroimaging and chronometric studies, such laterality judgments about hand postures are thought to involve mental rotations of one’s own hand (i.e., a form of implicit motor imagery) and thus provided an ideal context to evaluate if advocating such strategy is a valid approach to elicit motor activation in rehabilitation patients (Butson et al. 2014; Goble and Brown 2008; Parsons 1987). To this end, we used non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to probe the excitability of the motor system while young healthy participants performed mental rotations in the hand judgment task. Corticospinal excitability was tested in both hemispheres separately (target muscle: first dorsal interosseous) with participants (n=18) seated in front of a computer screen while they performed hand laterality judgments using a commercial set of pictures depicting bare hands in different postures. Excitability was tested also under two other conditions to contrast with variations measured during the hand laterality task, i.e. a mental counting task and a control task (looking at the image of a static foot). In all conditions, TMS (110% resting motor threshold) was set to trigger at ~half of the mean response time in the hand laterality task measured prior to testing with TMS. Comparison of task-related variations in MEP amplitude revealed no significant hemispheric main effect or interaction, although MEPs tended to be larger in general in response to left TMS. A “task condition” effect was observed owing to the large MEP facilitation elicited during the mental counting task, which was significantly different (p<0.001) from either the control “Foot” task or the hand rotation task. In fact, the latter task tended to be associated with MEP depression. A secondary experiment involving a subset of participants (n=6) to examine the influence of image contents (i.e. hand performing actions instead of bare hands) and probing more proximal muscles produced similar results as the main experiment. These results indicate that the general assumption that laterality tasks involving body parts will lead to internal mental rotation and motor activation and enhanced excitability is not necessarily true. In fact, our observations suggest that participants may rely on non-motor strategies based on visual cues when making laterality judgments about body parts. As well, no evidence for hemispheric asymmetry was found with the hand laterality task which is in line with other recent reports. Collectively, these results highlight the need to exert caution when using laterality tasks for rehabilitation purposes. One cannot simply assume that such tasks will translate into motor simulation and facilitation of the motor system. More research should be undertaken before recommending the hand mental rotation task as a viable rehabilitation option for chronic pain.

Les SRPs (Small Rigid Platforms) sont des nanoparticules de taille inférieure à 5 nm, constituées d'une matrice de polysiloxane, à la surface de laquelle sont greffés de manière covalente des complexes de gadolinium. Les SRPs ont été développées pour des applications en imagerie multimodale, notamment en imagerie par résonance magnétique, en scintigraphie et en imagerie par fluorescence, ainsi que pour des applications en théranostic, et plus particulièrement, en radiosensibilisation. L'objectif de la thèse consiste à fonctionnaliser les SRPs par des entités de ciblage, capables d'identifier et de se lier à des récepteurs surexprimés par les tumeurs ou par l'endothélium qui leur est associé. Plus précisément, trois molécules ciblantes ont été retenues : (i) le c(RGDfK) – un pentapeptide cyclique contenant le motif Arg-Gly-Asp ciblant spécifiquement l'intégrine αuß3, récepteur de cellule endothéliale pour les protéines de la matrice extracellulaire et surexprimée par de nombreuses cellules cancéreuses, (ii) une molécule dérivée de la quinoxaline – ciblant la mélanine, sur-exprimée par de nombreux types de mélanomes (cancers de la peau), et (iii) un pyridinium – ciblant les protéoglycanes, sur-exprimés par le chondrosarcome (cancer du cartilage). Les différentes molécules ciblantes ont alors été greffées en surface des SRPs afin d'optimiser leur accumulation et leur rétention au sein des tumeurs, et par conséquent, d'augmenter le potentiel de ces SRPs en tant qu'agents théranostiques. Le couplage covalent des différents vecteurs aux SRPs et leur quantification ont été mis en évidence par diverses techniques de caractérisation physicochimiques et complémentaires. Enfin, le ciblage des nanoparticules vectorisées a été démontré par plusieurs tests in vitro et/ou in vivo lors de nombreuses collaborations pour les trois différents vecteurs / SRPs (Small Rigid Platforms) are sub-5 nanometre nanoparticles, composed of a polysiloxane network surrounded by gadolinium chelates. SRPs have previously demonstrated their efficiency for multimodal imaging and theranostic applications, especially magnetic resonance imaging, scintigraphy, fluorescence imaging, and radiosensitization. The purpose of this thesis deals with the functionalization of these SRPs by targeting entities able to recognize and to bind to receptors that are over-expressed by tumours or by the matching endothelium. More specifically, three targeting molecules drew our attention: (i) c(RGDfK) – a cyclic pentapeptide containing the Arg-Gly-Asp motif, able to target the αuß3 integrin, an endothelial cell receptor for the proteins of the extracellular matrix and frequently expressed by tumour cells, (ii) a quinoxaline derivative – targeting melanin, which is over-expressed by melanomas (skin cancers) and (iii) a pyridinium moiety – targeting proteoglycans, which are over-expressed in chondrosarcoma (cartilage cancer). The different targeting molecules were then grafted to the SRPs in order to maximize their accumulation and retention in tumours with the aim to enhance the SRP efficiency as theranostic agents. The covalent coupling of the different targeting molecules to the SRPs and their quantification were performed by various physicochemical characterization techniques. Finally, the targeting of the functionalized SRPs was highlighted by several in vitro and/or in vivo assays thanks to numerous successful collaborations

L’analyse de l’activité électromyographique (EMG) corrélative de l’imagerie motrice (IM) et l’effet de l’entraînement mental sur l’amélioration et le recouvrement de la force musculaire permettent de mieux comprendre les mécanismes nerveux de l’IM et l’importance du contenu de l’image mentale. Une activité EMG subliminale a en effet été enregistrée lors de l’IM, validant l’hypothèse d’une inhibition incomplète de la commande motrice. Elle était modulée selon l’intensité de l’effort mental et le régime de contraction, comme lors d’une contraction physique. Ces données renforcent l’équivalence physiologique entre IM et exécution réelle. Les programmes d’entraînement et de réhabilitation intégrant l’IM s’appuient sur ces données théoriques. L’amélioration de la force musculaire était significativement plus importante suite à un entraînement combinant répétitions physiques et mentales, comparativement à une pratique physique seule, même si l’effet ne concernait que certains groupes musculaires. Ce travail démontre également l’efficacité d’un entraînement par IM, lorsqu’il est associé à des soins de kinésithérapie, après rupture du ligament croisé antérieur ou brûlure de la main. L’IM jouerait un rôle prépondérant dans l’activation des programmes moteurs et faciliterait la récupération fonctionnelle. L’IM peut donc être considérée comme un complément bénéfique aux programmes d’entraînement et de réhabilitation dans le développement et le recouvrement des fonctions motrices / Analyzing the electromyographic (EMG) activity accompanying motor imagery (MI) as well as the imagery‐related effects on strength enhancement contributes to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms of MI. Accordingly, the subliminal EMG activity recorded during MI supports the hypothesis of an incomplete inhibition of the motor command during mental rehearsal. Interestingly, the pattern of EMG response was modulated by the mental effort and the imagined contraction type, in the same way as during physical movement. Furthermore, the data provided evidence that MI contributed both to increase muscle strength, though strength gains were not observed in all muscles. Finally, MI was found to facilitate motor recovery following anterior cruciate ligament tear as well as in burned patients. These results confirm that MI should be considered a reliable and costeffective technique to improve motor recovery and motor performance.

L’imagerie motrice est la capacité à se représenter mentalement une action sans production concomitante de mouvement. Son efficacité reste assujettie au respect de nombreuses règles de pratique, parmi lesquelles la capacité à atteindre l'équivalence temporelle entre mouvements réels et imaginés. Les résultats de ce travail montrent que modifier la vitesse des mouvements imaginés se répercute sur la vitesse d’exécution réelle. De tels effets seraient toutefois modulés en fonction des exigences du mouvement imaginé. Le niveau d'expertise et le choix de stratégies individuelles relatif à la nature de la discipline sportive ont également un effet sur la durée des mouvements imaginés. Enfin, nos résultats démontrent que la capacité à préserver les caractéristiques temporelles du mouvement pendant l’imagerie est meilleure lorsque l’imagerie est effectuée avec un éveil physiologique proche de celui de la pratique réelle. Ces résultats sont discutés au regard du contexte de pratique de l'imagerie dans les activités physiques et sportives et sont confrontés aux travaux soulignant l’importance de recourir à des enregistrements physiologiques et d’étudier le degré de similitude entre pratique physique et imagerie motrice / Motor imagery resembles perceptual experience, but occurs in the absence of the appropriate external stimuli. Performing imagery efficiently requires some rules and conditions of practice to ascertain its effectiveness. The ability to reach temporal equivalence between actual and imagined movements, and the duration of mentally simulated actions should be correlated with the time taken to execute the same movement. The results of this work first showed that the effects of voluntarily changing imagery duration can alter the speed of the subsequent motor performance, but this effect is somewhat taskrelated. Both expertise level and individual strategies were also found to have an effect on temporal equivalence and are dependent on the specificities of the motor skills. Finally, chronometric data showed that the ability to reach the temporal equivalence between actual and imagined times is significantly greater for both the active and the basal imagery conditions, than when performed following relaxation. These results are discussed along the lines of practical application of imagery in sport. Also, characteristics of imagery experiences are studied reviewing the use of physiological recordings in relation to its accuracy and to the degree of similarity between actual motor performance and motor imagery

M.Ing. / Globally, hazardous weather phenomena such as violent storms, oods, cyclones, tornadoes, snow and hail contribute to signi cant annual xed property damages, loss of movable property and loss of life. The majority of global natural disasters are related to hydro-meteorological events. Hazardous storms are destructive and pose a threat to life and property. Forecasting, monitoring and detecting hazardous storms are complex and demanding tasks, that are however essential. In this study automatic hazardous weather detection utilizing remotely sensed meteorological data has been investigated. Image processing techniques have been analyzed and applied to multispectral meteorological satellite image data obtained from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instruments on-board the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) geostationary meteorological satellites Meteosat-8 and Meteosat-9. The primary focus of this study is the detection of potentially hazardous hydrometeorological phenomena in South Africa. A methodology for detecting potentially hazardous storms over South Africa using meteorological satellite imagery from MSG/SEVIRI is presented. An index indicative of the hazardous potential of a storm is de ned to aid in the identi cation of a ected geographical areas and to quantify the destructive potential of the detected storm. The Hazardous Potential Index (HPI) is generated through the use of image processing techniques such as cloud masking, cloud tracking and an image-based analysis of the constituent elements of a severe convective storm. A retrospective review was performed with respect to 20 case studies of documented storms which had adversely a ected areas of South Africa. A red-green-blue (RGB) composite image analysis technique, that may be utilized in the identi cation of severe convective storms using SEVIRI image data, was also applied to these case studies.

This dissertation seeks to advance our understanding of how marketing principles can be used to improve the process of new product design. Specifically, it examines the potential of a specific cognitive process, visual mental imagery, as a tool to help designers maximize the appeal of new products in the eyes of their customers. A conceptual framework is presented that describes a process through which visual mental imagery might influence the customer appeal of a design output. This is followed by two experiments which test the hypotheses that flow from this model. The experiments manipulate both the type of visual imagery utilized, and the incorporation of the customer in the imagery invoked (content of the imagery), in order to examine their effects on the usefulness, originality, and customer appeal of the resulting design. Consistent with the proposed framework and its hypotheses, visualization of the customer, as part of the imagery process, proved to enhance design usefulness when this imagery was imagination-based, but not when it was memory-based. Furthermore, use of imagination-based imagery resulted in more original designs than pure memory-based imagery. Finally, and most importantly, the use of customer visualization in combination with imagination-based imagery led to designs that were significantly more appealing to the customer. An analysis of covariance subsequently revealed that this improvement in customer appeal was mediated both by the perceived usefulness of the design, and by its degree of originality. The dissertation concludes with the integration of the experimental findings, and a discussion of the potential of visual imagery as a tool in the new product design process. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

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