The purpose of this study is fourfold: (1) to determine the relationship between sociometric status and specific physique types; (2) to determine the relationship between personal appearance and sociometric status; (3) to determine the relationship between sociometric status and physical defects; (4) to determine the relationship between sociometric status and chronic absenteeism.

In today's society a beauty ideal exists in America, which attempts to define female beauty as fitting into a certain mold. Certain characteristics have been deemed the most attractive when it comes to female physical attractiveness, and an ideal image of beauty has been presented by the media. This research focuses on whether or not everyone buys into that beauty ideal, and examines the impact that a person's sex and race has on the physical characteristics which that individual defines as the most appealing. Surveys were administered to 300 UCF students age 18-35. Participants were asked about ten different physical characteristics relating to women, and were asked to choose the characteristic among each group that they found the most physically attractive or beautiful. The study showed that both sex and racial differences do exist, and that there are variations in what different people consider beautiful. Not everyone has the same opinion on what is attractive in regards to the physical appearance of women.

Master's thesis is devoted to the study of the relationship to the appearance of women and its relationship to the theyself. The relevance of the study of this problem is due to continuously growing number of women who are not satisfied with their physical appearance that has a significant impact on various aspects of their lives, including the attitude towards themselves and, as a consequence, the quality of life. The use of modern approaches of domestic and foreign researchers allowed us to consider concepts related to the appearance and attitude toward themselves as multidimensional constructs. Because of this were found non-obvious relationships between different components of the concepts associated with age and the nature of the activities of the studied women (women leaders and female teachers of different age groups). This result is partially clarifies the nature of the influence of the relationship to the appearance of women in their attitude toward themselves, depending on the age and professional orientation that can be used in the course of psychological work with different categories of women suffering from dysfunctional attitudes toward themselves and their appearance. / Магистерская диссертация посвящена исследованию отношения к своей внешности женщин и его взаимосвязи с самоотношением. Актуальность изучения данной проблемы обусловлена непрерывно возрастающим числом женщин, которые не удовлетворены своей телесной внешностью, что оказывает значительное влияние на различные аспекты их жизни, в том числе, на отношение к себе и, как следствие, на качество жизни. Использование современных подходов отечественных и зарубежных исследователей позволило рассмотреть понятия отношение к внешности и отношение к себе как многомерные конструкты. Благодаря этому были найдены неочевидные взаимосвязи между различными компонентами рассматриваемых понятий, обусловленные возрастом и характером деятельности исследуемых женщин (женщины-руководители и женщины-педагоги различных возрастных категорий). Полученный результат частично проясняет характер влияния отношения к своей внешности женщин на их отношение к себе в зависимости от возраста и профессиональной направленности, что может быть использовано в ходе психологической работы с женщинами различных категорий, страдающими дисфункциональным отношением к себе и своей внешности.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p.33-34).

Yes / Falls on stairs are a common and dangerous problem for older people. This series of studies evaluated whether or not selected changes to the appearance of stairs could make them safer for older people to negotiate. Objectives: To determine the effect of (1) a step edge highlighter and its position and (2) an optimised horizontal–vertical (H–V) visual illusion placed on a step riser on gait safety during stair descent and ascent. Design: A series of studies using a repeated measures, laboratory-based design, investigating gait control and safety in independently mobile older people. Setting: The University of Bradford Vision and Mobility Laboratory. Participants: Fit and healthy older people aged 60 years of age or more, independently mobile, reasonably active and with normal healthy eyes and corrected vision. Interventions: A step edge highlighter in a variety of offsets from the stair edge and an optimised H–V visual illusion placed on the stair riser. The H–V illusion was provided on a staircase by horizontal step edge highlighters on the tread edges and vertical stripes on the step risers. Main outcome measures: Gait parameters that are important for safe stepping in ascent and descent, particularly toe clearance during stair ascent and heel clearance during stair descent. Results: The step edge highlighter increased the precision of heel clearance during stepping and its positioning relative to the tread edge determined the extent of heel clearance over the tread edge. Positioning the highlighter away from the tread edge, as is not uncommonly provided by friction strips, decreased heel clearance significantly and led to greater heel scuffs. Although psychophysics experiments suggested that higher spatial frequencies of the H–V illusion might provide greater toe clearance on stair ascent, gait trials showed similar increased toe clearances for all spatial frequencies. When a 12 cycle per step spatial frequency H–V illusion was used, toe clearance increases of approximately 1 cm (17.5%) occurred without any accompanying changes in other important gait parameters or stability measures. Conclusions: High-contrast tread edge highlighters present on steps and stairs and positioned flush with the edge of the tread or as near to this as possible should improve stair descent safety in older people. A H–V illusion positioned on the riser of a raised surface/walkway (e.g. kerbs) and/or the top and/or bottom of a stairway is likely to increase foot clearance over the associated step/stair edge, and appears not to lead to any decrement in postural stability. Thus, their use is likely to reduce trip risk and hence improve stair ascent safety. The effect of the step and stair modifications should be assessed in older people with visual impairment. The only other remaining assessment that could be made would be to assess fall prevalence on steps and stairs, perhaps in public buildings, with and without these modifications. / National Institute for Health Research, Public Health Research programme. PHR programme as project number 10/3009/06

This thesis examines the depiction of saintly figures within the Latin vitae of twelfth-century England (1066–c.1215). It tests the extent to which these depictions are homogeneous and examines what factors may have shaped representations. Analysis focuses on vitae of twelfth-century saints, a sample of texts that have not previously been examined as a corpus in this way. By encompassing a range of different types of saint, authors and contexts, utilising this corpus allows a comparative examination of how different facets of sainthood could be expressed in hagiography. The textual analysis at the heart of this study aims to unpick individual texts' ideals of saintly behaviour. Whilst hagiographers functioned within a well-established genre, considering a wide range of saints' vitae allows scrutiny of the impact of context in shaping depictions. It will be argued that these portrayals of saintly figures demonstrate thematic harmony which is tempered by individuality and context to form recognisable and yet distinctive depictions of sainthood. The analysis is structured around four common hagiographical themes, each worthy of detailed examination: Outer Appearance, Sexuality and Chastity, Food and Fasting, and Death. Chapter 1 investigates how saintly figures are described in terms of physical appearance, deportment and demeanour, and clothing. Chapter 2 focuses upon sexuality, exploring the manifestations of chastity and virginity within the Lives and testing how this might vary from saint to saint and between the sexes. Chapter 3 examines food and food abstention, previously under-represented in secondary literature on twelfth-century hagiography and on male saints. The thesis ends with a consideration of death, a surprisingly understudied theme in Anglophone scholarship. By examining the process of dying and the moment of mortality, this chapter will fill an important analytical vacuum between lived sanctity and sanctity in death.

Thesis (PhD (Applied Mathematics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In many applications, an accurate, robust and fast tracker is needed, for example in surveillance, gesture recognition, tracking lips for lip-reading and creating an augmented reality by embedding a tracked object in a virtual environment. In this dissertation we investigate the viability of a tracker that combines the accuracy of active appearancemodels with the robustness of the particle lter (a stochastic process)—we call this combination the PFAAM. In order to obtain a fast system, we suggest local optimisation as well as using active appearance models tted with non-linear approaches. Active appearance models use both contour (shape) and greyscale information to build a deformable template of an object. ey are typically accurate, but not necessarily robust, when tracking contours. A particle lter is a generalisation of the Kalman lter. In a tutorial style, we show how the particle lter is derived as a numerical approximation for the general state estimation problem. e algorithms are tested for accuracy, robustness and speed on a PC, in an embedded environment and by tracking in ìD. e algorithms run real-time on a PC and near real-time in our embedded environment. In both cases, good accuracy and robustness is achieved, even if the tracked object moves fast against a cluttered background, and for uncomplicated occlusions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ’nAkkurate, robuuste en vinnige visuele-opspoorderword in vele toepassings benodig. Voorbeelde van toepassings is bewaking, gebaarherkenning, die volg van lippe vir liplees en die skep van ’n vergrote realiteit deur ’n voorwerp wat gevolg word, in ’n virtuele omgewing in te bed. In hierdie proefskrif ondersoek ons die lewensvatbaarheid van ’n visuele-opspoorder deur die akkuraatheid van aktiewe voorkomsmodellemet die robuustheid van die partikel lter (’n stochastiese proses) te kombineer—ons noem hierdie kombinasie die PFAAM. Ten einde ’n vinnige visuele-opspoorder te verkry, stel ons lokale optimering, sowel as die gebruik van aktiewe voorkomsmodelle wat met nie-lineêre tegnieke gepas is, voor. Aktiewe voorkomsmodelle gebruik kontoer (vorm) inligting tesamemet grysskaalinligting om ’n vervormbaremeester van ’n voorwerp te bou. Wanneer aktiewe voorkomsmodelle kontoere volg, is dit normaalweg akkuraat,maar nie noodwendig robuust nie. ’n Partikel lter is ’n veralgemening van die Kalman lter. Ons wys in tutoriaalstyl hoe die partikel lter as ’n numeriese benadering tot die toestand-beramingsprobleem afgelei kan word. Die algoritmes word vir akkuraatheid, robuustheid en spoed op ’n persoonlike rekenaar, ’n ingebedde omgewing en deur volging in ìD, getoets. Die algoritmes loop intyds op ’n persoonlike rekenaar en is naby intyds op ons ingebedde omgewing. In beide gevalle, word goeie akkuraatheid en robuustheid verkry, selfs as die voorwerp wat gevolg word, vinnig, teen ’n besige agtergrond beweeg of eenvoudige okklusies ondergaan.

Idag projekteras byggnader för att spara energi och minimera värmeförluster som sker genom klimatskal. För att kunna minska behovet av aktiv uppvärmning för de boende utvecklades en idé om att byggnaden skulle uppvärmas med hjälp av passivvärme. Detta ledde till skapandet av passiv och lågenergihus. Det har funnits passivhus i mer än 20 år och vanligen används denna princip av privatvillor. På senare tid har dock passivhustekniken börjat integreras vid uppförandet av flerbostadshus. Syftet är naturligtvis att minska årsbehovet av aktiv uppvärmning för byggnader och samtidigt minska värmeeffektbehovet. Vid projekterande av passivhus eller lågenergihus har det historiskt sett lagts mer fokus på byggnadsfunktionen än utseendet, vilket kan leda till att den estetiska formen på byggnaden försummas. Det leder i sin tur till frågeställningen om passivhus kan projekteras till att vara såväl energieffektivt som estetisk tilltalande eller om det finns ett motsatsförhållande? Svaret på frågan är att passivhusets energieffektivitet mycket väl kan kombineras med attraktivt utseende – möjligheten lämnas fritt för arkitektens egen tolkning av byggnadens utseende. Formen och utseendet på byggnaden kan påverka byggnadens energiförbrukning vid uppvärmning av byggnaden. I litteraturstudien har det avhandlats det som kallas för YV-faktorn, detta är förhållandet mellan byggnadens omslutande area och invärtes volymen. Ju lägre YV-faktorn desto enklare är det att värma upp byggnaden. Olika geometriska figurer på byggnaden påverkar denna betingelse – bäst anses vara halvklot och cylinder. Detta beror på att krökta väggar i konstruktionen ökar den invändiga volymen på byggnaden och samtidigt ökar den omslutande area minimalt. Omega i denna rapport utvecklades för att passa det svenska klimatet, emellertid bör denna byggnad även kunna tillämpas utomlands t.ex. i Tyskland som är ett av de dominerande länderna vid användning av passivhus. För att en byggnad ska kunna betraktas som ett passivhus i Tyskland är ett av de viktigaste kraven att uppvärmningen max ska vara 15 kWh/m2 och ha en maximal energiförbrukning på 120 kWh/m2. De simuleringar som genomfördes med hjälp av IDA (Indoor, Climate and Energy 4) registrerade att värde på 11.6 kWh/m2 i uppvärmning och 118 kWh/m2 för hela Omegas energiförbrukning. Slutsatsen är att ett flerbostadshus kan konstrueras efter passivhusprincipen, även i krävande länder som Tyskland. Vid en jämförelse mellan ett vanligt hus med formen som ett rätblock och denna byggnad med exakt samma förutsättningar, minskas värmebehovet med 23 %. Detta beror på att vid inkludering av krökta väggar i konstruktionen eller övrig geometrisk form på byggnaden, påverkas uppvärmningsbehovet för byggnaden. / Today buildings are projected to save energy and minimize heat losses through buildings envelope. In order to reduce the need for active heating for the residents, an idea was developed that the building would be heated by passive heat. This eventually led to the creation of passive and low-energy buildings. There have been passive houses for more than 20 years and are commonly used by individuals and their homes. Lately engineers have begun to integrate passive house technology with the construction of apartment buildings. The aim of course is to reduce the annual consumption of active heating for buildings and heating requirements. During the early phase of development, it has historically been more focus on the actual building function than appearance, which may lead that the aesthetic form of the building is neglected. This in turn leads to the question if passive houses can be designed to be both energy efficient and as aesthetically pleasing or if there is a contradiction? The answer is that passive house energy efficiency can be combined with attractive appearance - the possibility is left free for the architect's own interpretation of the building's appearance. The shape and appearance of the building can affect the building's energy consumption for heating of the building. In literature, what is called YV-factor has been discussed; The YV-factor is the ratio between the building's surrounding area and internal volume. The lower YV- factor the easier it is to heat the building. Various geometric shapes of the building affect this condition - best considered is hemisphere and cylinder. This is because the curved walls of the structure increase the internal volume meanwhile the surrounding area increase is negligible. The building Omega in this report was developed to suit the Swedish climate, however it should be investigated if this building can be applied in Germany, which is one of the dominant countries in the use of passive houses. For a building to be considered as a passive house in Germany, one of the key requirements is that the heating do not exceed 15 kWh/m2 and have a maximum power consumption of 120 kWh/m2. The simulations were carried out with the aid of IDA (Indoor , Climate and Energy 4 ) registered the value of 11.6 kWh/m2 for heating and 118 kWh/m2 for the whole District Omega's energy consumption. The conclusion is that a multistoried house can be constructed as a passive house, even in Germany. In a comparison between a normal house with shape as a cuboid and this building with the exact same conditions, the difference is 23 % in heating requirements. This is due to the inclusion of curved walls in the construction or other geometric form of building, affects heating requirement of the building.

To facilitate necessary task-based interactions and to avoid annoying or upsetting people a domestic robot will have to exhibit appropriate non-verbal social behaviour. Most current robots have the ability to sense and control for the distance of people and objects in their vicinity. An understanding of human robot proxemic and associated non-verbal social behaviour is crucial for humans to accept robots as domestic or servants. Therefore, this thesis addressed the following hypothesis: Attributes of robot appearance, behaviour, task context and situation will affect the distances that people will find comfortable between themselves and a robot. Initial exploratory Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) experiments replicated human-human studies into comfortable approach distances with a mechanoid robot in place of one of the human interactors. It was found that most human participants respected the robot's interpersonal space and there were systematic differences for participants' comfortable approach distances to robots with different voice styles. It was proposed that greater initial comfortable approach distances to the robot were due to perceived inconsistencies between the robots overall appearance and voice style. To investigate these issues further it was necessary to develop HRI experimental set-ups, a novel Video-based HRI (VHRI) trial methodology, trial data collection methods and analytical methodologies. An exploratory VHRI trial then investigated human perceptions and preferences for robot appearance and non-verbal social behaviour. The methodological approach highlighted the holistic and embodied nature of robot appearance and behaviour. Findings indicated that people tend to rate a particular behaviour less favourably when the behaviour is not consistent with the robot’s appearance. A live HRI experiment finally confirmed and extended from these previous findings that there were multiple factors which significantly affected participants preferences for robot to human approach distances. There was a significant general tendency for participants to prefer either a tall humanoid robot or a short mechanoid robot and it was suggested that this may be due to participants internal or demographic factors. Participants' preferences for robot height and appearance were both found to have significant effects on their preferences for live robot to Human comfortable approach distances, irrespective of the robot type they actually encountered. The thesis confirms for mechanoid or humanoid robots, results that have previously been found in the domain of human-computer interaction (cf. Reeves & Nass (1996)), that people seem to automatically treat interactive artefacts socially. An original empirical human-robot proxemic framework is proposed in which the experimental findings from the study can be unified in the wider context of human-robot proxemics. This is seen as a necessary first step towards the desired end goal of creating and implementing a working robot proxemic system which can allow the robot to: a) exhibit socially acceptable social spatial behaviour when interacting with humans, b) interpret and gain additional valuable insight into a range of HRI situations from the relative proxemic behaviour of humans in the immediate area. Future work concludes the thesis.

In the early twentieth century, the modernists problematized ornament in their refashioning of architecture for the industrial age. Today, architects are formulating different responses to image and its (re)production in the information age. In both discourses of ornament and image, surfaces are often the perpetrators: visual boundaries that facilitate false appearances, imprisoning humanity in a shadowy cave of illusion. Such views follow a familiar metaphysical model characterized by the opposition between inside and outside and the opaque boundary that acts as a barrier. This model determines the traditional (Platonic) philosophical approach that follows a distinct hierarchical order and a perpendicular movement of thought that seeks to penetrate appearances in order to arrive at the essence of things. This thesis deploys Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy to advance a different understanding of surface, image and appearance in architecture. Using the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum as a catalyst, the thesis argues that many of the concepts with which commentators and critics analyse contemporary architecture follow models of thought that consider surfaces and their effects as secondary categories. Given the significance of visual (re)production and communication for contemporary society, the thesis proposes a different model based on surface as that which simultaneously produces, connects and separates image and reality. This non-hierarchical approach is inspired by surficial philosophy, which relates to Earth, to geology and topology, conjuring up a diversity of concepts from the thickness of the crust to the smooth fluidity of the seas. The result is an unfamiliar, polemical model of thought that does not define surface as a limit or barrier, rather a medium, a pliable space of smooth mixture. In this model, difference is not in the opposition between the two sides of a boundary line, rather it occurs upon and within the surficial landscape that consumes categories, promoting nomadic movements of thought that offer greater flexibility towards creativity and new possibilities. In surficial thought, images and appearances are not artificial copies of an originary reality, rather they possess a unique reality of their own. This approach allows architectural imagery to be theorised as a positive surfacing of architecture beyond disciplinary lines and the locality of a specific time and place.