Edward Penny (1714–1791) was the Royal Academy’s founding Professor of Painting and a frequent participant in the public art exhibitions that transformed London’s art world after 1760. Although Penny’s work has traditionally been dismissed as ‘tame’ and sentimental, recent scholarship now suggests that his mid-1760s exhibition paintings should be recognised as a highly significant attempt to apply the themes and concerns of historical art to accessible, contemporary subject matter. This thesis builds on these reinterpretations, but focuses on the still almost wholly neglected works from Penny’s Academy professorship (1768-83). Habitually dismissed as of marginal importance in comparison with the ‘grand manner’ portraits and history paintings for which the Academy is best known, these works are shown here to be among the most important and influential products of Penny’s long exhibition career. Using carefully contextualised close readings, each chapter takes a coherent phase of Penny’s career as an Academy exhibitor. The first two chapters show how the artist at first struggled to find a form of art that would be sufficiently dignified to conform to the Academy’s lofty artistic aims without forsaking the accessible, distinctly ‘British’ subject matter he favoured. The remaining chapters show how Penny finally succeeded in solving this problem by using scenes from everyday life to convey elevated moral messages. These ‘sermons in paint’ made such humble themes acceptable to the Academy, providing the inspiration for an enduring tradition of Academic ‘genre’ painting, pursued at first by William Redmore Bigg and George Morland, and then, more famously, by such figures as David Wilkie and William Mulready. Penny thus emerges not only as the foremost proponent of a previously unrecognised counter-classical idiom at the heart of the early Royal Academy, but as a critically influential figure in the development of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British art.

This study examines Lu Chih's efforts to rebuild the Tang empire toward the end of the eighth century, revises the previous views of Lu Chih as either a pure pragmatist or a conservative moralist, and establishes the significance of his political endeavors in the context of the mid-Tang Confucian revival movement. After a thorough exploration of Lu's life and his family background, this work shows that two complementary principles underlay Lu Chih's approach to government: the principle of righteousness (1) and the principle of expediency (Ch'iian). Lu's application of these principles, especially his interpretation of ch'ilan, is demonstrated by reference to his memorials to emperor Te-tsung and by his political practice. My analysis of Lu's application of these principles leads me to conclude that Lu's approach to government, both moralistic and pragmatic, may be characterized as a Confucian pragmatist approach. Relying upon this approach during the earlier stage of his official life as a Han-lin scholar, Lu Chih is seen to have been instrumental in the restoration of dynastic stability. Lu Chih continued to employ his Confucian pragmatist approach in formulating a number of policies during his tenure as Chief Minister. His earlier advice to the throne as Han-lin scholar is consistently reflected in these policies designed to realize his vision of an ideal Confucian benevolent government. Although all of his proposed policies were intended to meet current needs, their ultimate goal is shown to be the improvement of the public well-being. Lu's commitment to the public good was such that he consciously risked his political life for the sake of his Confucian political convictions. A comparative analysis of Lu Chih's political and social concerns and those of the leading figures of the mid-T'ang Confucian revival reveals many close affinities, and thus establishes Lu Chih's genuine place among them. While he failed to break new conceptual ground for the Confucian revival, his political life alone is seen as a behavior paradigm of the ideal Confucian minister for the mid-Tang Confucian revivalists, and this is precisely Lu's unique contribution to that most significant mid-T'ang movement.

This study examines Lu Chih's efforts to rebuild the Tang empire toward the end of the eighth century, revises the previous views of Lu Chih as either a pure pragmatist or a conservative moralist, and establishes the significance of his political endeavors in the context of the mid-Tang Confucian revival movement. After a thorough exploration of Lu's life and his family background, this work shows that two complementary principles underlay Lu Chih's approach to government: the principle of righteousness (1) and the principle of expediency (Ch'iian). Lu's application of these principles, especially his interpretation of ch'ilan, is demonstrated by reference to his memorials to emperor Te-tsung and by his political practice. My analysis of Lu's application of these principles leads me to conclude that Lu's approach to government, both moralistic and pragmatic, may be characterized as a Confucian pragmatist approach. Relying upon this approach during the earlier stage of his official life as a Han-lin scholar, Lu Chih is seen to have been instrumental in the restoration of dynastic stability. Lu Chih continued to employ his Confucian pragmatist approach in formulating a number of policies during his tenure as Chief Minister. His earlier advice to the throne as Han-lin scholar is consistently reflected in these policies designed to realize his vision of an ideal Confucian benevolent government. Although all of his proposed policies were intended to meet current needs, their ultimate goal is shown to be the improvement of the public well-being. Lu's commitment to the public good was such that he consciously risked his political life for the sake of his Confucian political convictions. A comparative analysis of Lu Chih's political and social concerns and those of the leading figures of the mid-T'ang Confucian revival reveals many close affinities, and thus establishes Lu Chih's genuine place among them. While he failed to break new conceptual ground for the Confucian revival, his political life alone is seen as a behavior paradigm of the ideal Confucian minister for the mid-Tang Confucian revivalists, and this is precisely Lu's unique contribution to that most significant mid-T'ang movement. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

Η παρούσα εργασία πραγματεύεται την αποτελεσματικότητα του αλγορίθμου Matching Pursuit στον τομέα της επεξεργασίας σήματος. Περιγράφονται οι γενικότερες δυνατότητες του στην επεξεργασία βασικών βιοϊατρικών σημάτων και ειδικότερα εξετάζονται τα πλεονεκτήματά του στην επεξεργασία του ηλεκτροκαρδιογράφηματος, μιας και η εργασία αποτελεί μέρος του προγράμματος τηλεκαρδιολογίας e-Herofilus. Αρχικά λοιπόν γίνεται μία αναλυτική περιγραφή του τρόπου λήψης και καταγραφής του καρδιογραφικού σήματος. Στη συνέχεια γίνεται μία περιγραφή του αλγορίθμου Matching Pursuit και των αποτελεσμάτων που είχε η εφαρμογή του σε γνωστά βιοσήματα και κυρίως σε εγκεφαλογραφήματα και καρδιογραφήματα, από όπου προκύπτουν τα πλεονεκτήματα της συγκεκριμένης μεθόδου έναντι των άλλων μεθόδων που έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί στο παρελθόν για τη μεταφορά και επεξεργασία σημάτων στο πεδίο χρόνου- συχνότητας. Τέλος ακολουθεί η υλοποιήση του αλγορίθμου του Matching Pursuit και η εφαρμογή του σε πραγματικά ηλεκτροκαρδιογραφήματα τόσο υγιή όσο και παθολογικά, που λήφθηκαν από τη βάση Physionet του MIT. Η ανάλυση των αποτελεσμάτων της εφαρμογής αυτής οδηγεί σε συμπεράσματα σχετικά με την αξία και την αποτελεσματικότητα του αλγορίθμου στους τομείς της αποθορυβοποίησης του καρδιογραφικού σήματος και του εντοπισμού της χρήσιμης πληροφορίας που αυτό μεταφέρει. Επίσης, μέσα από τη σύγκριση υγιών και παθολογικών καρδιογραφημάτων γίνεται μία προσπάθεια αναγνώρισης στοιχείων που εμφανίζονται στο πεδίο χρόνου-συχνότητας και συσχέτισής τους με τις εκάστοτε παθολογίες, γεγονός που μελλοντικά μπορεί να αποτελέσει το εφαλτήριο για την ανάπτυξη αλγορίθμου αυτόματης διάγνωσης καρδιογραφημάτων. / The following project, which is a part of telemedicine program e-Herofilus, examines the effectiveness of Matching Pursuit method. Its ability of processing in biomedical signals is described in a general format, as well as the advantages in processing of electrocardiogram (ECG) in more details. Firstly, there is an analytical description of collection and record of ECG. Afterwards, there is a description of Matching Pursuit algorithm and its results in biosignal processing. The algorithm is applied in electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG). The results of those applications showed the advantages of Matching Pursuit method over the other methods were used in the past in the signal processing field in the time frequency plane. Finally, the implementation of Matching Pursuit algorithm in real ECGs is following. These ECGs are taken from healthy as well as from pathological specimens. The source of these specimens is Physionet Bank of MIT. In the conclusions of this project, it is underlined the value and the efficiency of Matching Pursuit method in denoising of ECG, and in detecting the useful signal information in time frequency plane. Additionally, comparing the results of processing healthy and pathological ECGs, could lead us in the future in the development of an automated diagnosis algorithm, which can be an innovation in both Engineering and Medicine Sciences.

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Wall paintings survive in many houses dating from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries yet, apart from recording the phenomenon, there has been very little written about them. This research explores how common wall paintings were, what sort of houses had them, when they were painted and most importantly, what was their significance in terms of what they can reveal about the lives of the people who chose to decorate their homes in this manner. Research has concentrated on the Welsh Marches although examples from elsewhere have been referred to. The research hypotheses are: <ul><li> 1. Wall paintings were much more widespread than existing records suggest and were probably universal where there was money to spend on embellishing a house.</li><li>2. Following on from this, wall paintings would have been found in houses throughout the social scale, apart from the humblest dwellings.</li><li>3. The paintings were executed by itinerant painters who used pattern books as a source of design.</li><li>4. This form of decoration was most commonly found in the period 1550-1625, with few paintings prior to this date and a rapid decline in numbers after this period.</li><li>5. In some cases there is a connection between the content of the painting and the function of the room.</li></ul> The fifth hypothesis was widened during the course of the research to examine the significance of wall paintings generally. In trying to find out what wall paintings signified to the owners of houses, this research has attempted to look at all the facets of their life and environment which may have a bearing on this. This includes an understanding of the buildings themselves, exploring who the people were who might have lived in them and placing these people in their social and cultural contexts. Always the emphasis has been on the small and local rather than on the bigger picture. as this is what touched people at the vernacular level most closely. In order to do this, the research has adopted a wide-ranging and multidisciplinary approach which cuts across traditional fields of knowledge. Therefore, the study combines library and documentary-based evidence with extensive fieldwork, in order to investigate diverse kinds of evidence. This includes research on the wall paintings themselves, the buildings in which they were found and the social, religious and cultural circumstances in which they were created. The research synthesises a wide range of methods for gathering and interpreting data: study and analysis of contemporary literature and documents, the study of a wide range of published and unpublished research, and a substantial fieldwork survey. First the context in which wall paintings were created is explored, in terms of physical environment, cultural and social characteristics of the period, and the church. Then the key findings arising from the fieldwork are discussed, looking at the sorts of houses that have wall paintings, the people who lived in them, and in detail at the characteristics of the paintings found. 233 wall paintings were recorded in 188 buildings. The hypotheses about universality and status are explored by investigating the vernacular qualities of wall painting in terms of materials and techniques required, who was doing the paintings, and their cost. Through the identification of a range of iconography, and the classification of paintings, possible sources for wall painting designs are explored. Finally the key issue of the significance of painted decoration at the vernacular level is discussed drawing on the various strands of the research in order to understand why particular forms of decoration might have been chosen, and what social and cultural meanings they may have had. The findings of the research indicate that wall paintings were very widespread. They were found throughout the area of study in houses of all but the very poor. Whilst the majority of paintings surveyed were in houses of the gentry or better-off members of society it is argued that this reflects the differential rate of survival of vernacular buildings. A technical analysis of wall paintings and an assessment of their total cost reveals the vernacular qualities of the wall paintings. This also suggests that wall paintings were only ever intended as short term decoration as some of the pigments used were very fugitive. Further evidence for this has been found in the practice of overpainting one scheme with another within a short period, which was revealed through microscopic analysis of paint samples. The contemporary aesthetic included striking yet crude designs which were capable of being executed by local craftsmen. These findings indicate that wall paintings could have been extensive lower down the social scale. Whilst painted decoration throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was examined, it is submitted that the majority of paintings were executed during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries - a period of considerable change during the transition from a medieval to an early modern society. The paintings dating from this period have a character quite distinct from the limited number found earlier and later than this period. The significance of wall paintings is closely bound up with issues of status. This period of transition was characterised by outward expressions of status by means of display in a variety of forms. It is argued in this research that wall paintings were an element of such display. Iconography included decorative as well as figure subjects and it is this that holds the key to the significance of the paintings. The higher status houses had the more complex figurative and ornamental schemes whilst, for the most part, the humbler houses had simpler ornamental schemes. Also the simpler, decorative schemes seem to have been more common in halls whilst more sophisticated paintings appear to have been in the more private rooms of the house. The iconography and the context of the wall paintings can provide an important insight into some of the more intangible and elusive aspects of vernacular life. Social and cultural values of the period are particularly difficult to access as surviving indicators of these are limited. Literary sources have limited value in a society which expressed itself in a predominantly non-literate fashion. Vernacular buildings can provide a major source of information and this research argues that wall paintings were a key element in vernacular buildings at a specific time during the transition from a medieval to an early modern society and are, therefore, a crucial record of changing social and cultural values.

[by] Lotte Bailyn and Edgar H. Schein. / From L. Bailyn and E.H. Schein, Work involvement in technically based careers: a study of M.I.T. Alumni at mid-career, (in progress, 1974). / Bibliography: leaf [14].

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Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι ο σχεδιασµός η ανάπτυξη και η κατασκευή ενός καρδιογράφου ελεγχόµενου από υπολογιστή. Ο ηλεκροκαρδιογράφος είναι µια συσκευή η οποία µπορεί να συλλέγει από το ανθρώπινο σώµα και να απεικονίζει σε κάποιο µέσο τα δυναµικά που προκαλούνται από την δραστηριότητα της καρδιάς. Τα σήµατα αυτά, έχουν συγκεκριµένη µορφή και η απεικόνισή τους στον χρόνο µπορεί να µας δώσει πολύτιµες πληροφορίες σχετικά µε την κατάσταση της καρδιάς, βοηθώντας µας να εξάγουµε συµπεράσµατα σχετικά µε αυτή. / The aim of the present thesis is the design and development of a digital, computer controlled Cardiograph

Στόχος της παρούσας διπλωματικής είναι η παρουσίαση ενός συστήματος ανίχνευσης και διαχείρισης παρασίτων σε δεδομένα εγκεφαλογραφήματος (EEG). Το σύστημα αυτό σε πραγματικό χρόνο ανιχνεύει της ύπαρξη παρασίτων κατά την διάρκεια της καταγραφής, αξιοποιώντας ένα προ-εκπαιδευμένο μοντέλο. Τα παράσιτα που ανιχνεύτηκαν μπορούν να διαχειριστούν με αρκετές τεχνοτροπίες ανάλογα με τις ανάγκες της εκάστοτε εφαρμογής. Στην παρούσα διπλωματική παρουσιάζεται μια τεχνοτροπία η οποία αφαιρεί ένα οφθαλμικό παράσιτο με αξιοποίηση τανυστών. Συγκεκριμένα, στην διπλωματική αυτή παρουσιάζονται οι ανάγκες διαχείρισης ροών δεδομένων και πως αυτές αντιμετωπίζονται στην περίπτωση των δεδομένων εγκεφαλογραφήματος. Ο όγκος των δεδομένων καθώς και ο ρυθμός μετά- δοσής τους είναι καθοριστικοί για την διαχείριση και ανάλυση της εισερχόμενης στο σύστημα ροής. Στην διπλωματική αυτή παρουσιάζονται οι γενικές στρατηγικές που έχουν σχεδιαστεί για την διαχείριση χρονοσειρών μεγάλου όγκου και παρουσιάζεται η εφαρμογή τους σε δεδομένα εγκεφαλογραφήματος. Το προτεινόμενο λοιπόν σύστημα μπορεί σε πραγματικό χρόνο να διαχειριστεί ροές δεδομένων εγκεφαλογραφήματος και να διαχωρίσει σε πραγματικό χρόνο περιόδους που υπάρχει κάποιο παράσιτο στο ληφθέν σήμα. Επίσης προ- τείνεται μια μέθοδος που σε offline ανάλυση μπορεί να αφαιρέσει έναν τύπο παρασίτου και συγκεκριμένα το οφθαλμικό παράσιτο. / This diploma thesis presents a system able to detect and manage artifacts in EEG data streams.