This thesis presents two contributions in the area of high speed clock and data recovery systems. These contributions are focused on the fast phase recovery and adaptive equalization techniques. The first contribution of this thesis is an adaptive engine for a 2x blind sampling receiver. The proposed adaptation engine is able to find the phase-dependent DFE coefficients of the receiver on the fly. The second contribution is a burst-mode clock and data recovery architecture which uses an analog phase interpolator. The proposed burst-mode CDR is capable of locking to the first data transition it receives. The phase interpolator uses the inherent timing information in the data transition to rotate the phase of a reference clock and align it with the incoming data edge. The feasibility of the concept is demonstrated through fabrication and measurements.

Empirical research shows that blind persons who have the ability and opportunity to access geographic map information tactually, benefit in their mobility. Unfortunately, tangible maps are not found in large numbers. Economics is the leading explanation: tangible maps are expensive to build, duplicate and distribute. SAM, short for Spatial Auditory Map, is a prototype created to address the unavail- ability of tangible maps. SAM presents geographic information to a blind person encoded in sound. A blind person receives maps electronically and accesses them using a small in- expensive digitalizing tablet connected to a PC. The interface provides location-dependent sound as a stylus is manipulated by the user, plus a schematic visual representation for users with residual vision. The assessment of SAM on a group of blind participants suggests that blind users can learn unknown environments as complex as the ones represented by tactile maps - in the same amount of reading time. This research opens new avenues in visualization techniques, promotes alternative communication methods, and proposes a human-computer interaction framework for conveying map information to a blind person.

A system for generative rhythmic modeling is presented. The work aims to explore computational models of creativity, realizing them in a system designed for realtime generation of semi-improvisational music. This is envisioned as an attempt to develop musical intelligence in the context of structured improvisation, and by doing so to enable and encourage new forms of musical control and performance; the systems described in this work, already capable of realtime creation, have been designed with the explicit intention of embedding them in a variety of performance-based systems. A model of qaida, a solo tabla form, is presented, along with the results of an online survey comparing it to a professional tabla player's recording on dimensions of musicality, creativity, and novelty. The qaida model generates a bank of rhythmic variations by reordering subphrases. Selections from this bank are sequenced using a feature-based approach. An experimental extension into modeling layer- and loop-based forms of electronic music is presented, in which the initial modeling approach is generalized. Starting from a seed track, the layer-based model utilizes audio analysis techniques such as blind source separation and onset-based segmentation to generate layers which are shuffled and recombined to generate novel music in a manner analogous to the qaida model.

The loss of sight is usually associated with the loss of the visual outer world. Traditionally, total blindness has been defined by sighted people in a negative way. The stereotypical belief is that the totally blind inhabit a dark world in which mental images of the outer world no longer exist. However, gaining insight into an experience of blindness may help the sighted to understand more accurately what Michael Monbeck (1973) terms ‘the true meaning of blindness’. (Monbeck, 1973, p. 157) Blind Insight provides an insight into what is named ‘imagined blind seeing’ by exploring the systematic processes of sensing, selecting and perceiving. Through tracing and mapping two auditory experiences photographically, the resulting work, Blind Insight, seeks to give a visual voice to moments of perception and imagined images as described by the blind author and scholar John Hull who describes sound as equating with light: “This is my way of turning on the light. Sound is the equation to light. Rain has turned the light on.” (Hull, 2001, p. 10) Abstract black and white photography has been employed to convey a sensory experience and photo collage to make visible the dimensional complexity of imagined blind seeing. The design work argues for a fresh insight into the sensory and imagined world of the blind. By fostering a dialogue between the blind and the sighted, the research project aims at celebrating the many rich and diverse ways the senses, and in particular the sense of sound, are used in experiencing the phenomena of the physical world.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Accompanying material c.1: Cartes tactiles thematiques du Canada: livret d'une étude de cas; c.2: Thematic tactile maps of Canada: case study booklet. In English, accompanying material also in French. Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-159). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-258). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Το ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογράφημα (ΗΕΓ) είναι μια καταγραφή διαφορών δυναμικού στο τριχωτό της κεφαλής που προέρχονται από τη βιοηλεκτρική δραστηριότητα του εγκεφάλου. Με ιστορία άνω των 70 ετών, η αξία του ΗΕΓ σαν κλινική εξέταση είναι δεδομένη, με σημαντικό πλεονέκτημα το γεγονός ότι είναι μια μη επεμβατική μέθοδος. Ωστόσο, το πλήθος των ιστών που παρεμβάλλονται ανάμεσα στον εγκέφαλο και το τριχωτό της κεφαλής, σε συνδυασμό με το μικρό ύψος των εγκεφαλικών ρυθμών (τάξης μV) κάνουν τις ΗΕΓ καταγραφές επιρρεπείς σε πλήθος παρασίτων εξωεγκεφαλικής προέλευσης (artifacts). Όσον αφορά την κλινική εξέταση το πρόβλημα των artifacts είναι αντιμετωπίσιμο σε κάποιο βαθμό. Άλλωστε, για την κλινική εξέταση έχουν λογική μια απαίτηση ακινησίας και ηρεμίας του εξεταζομένου, που δεν είναι όμως πάντα δυνατή, σε ηλεκτρομαγνητικά θωρακισμένο χώρο, το κόστος του οποίου είναι αποσβέσιμο σε μακροπρόθεσμο χρονικό ορίζοντα. Σε τελική ανάλυση, η διάρκεια καταγραφής ενός ΗΕΓ μπορεί να επιμηκυνθεί τόσο όσο χρειάζεται ο κλινικός ιατρός ώστε να εξάγει ασφαλή διάγνωση. Τέτοιου είδους περιορισμοί όμως, μάλλον φαντάζουν εκτός λογικής σε φιλόδοξες εμπορικές εφαρμογές στον τομέα του Brain Computer Interface. Οι λύσεις σε αυτόν τον τομέα πρέπει να είναι φθηνές, να δουλεύουν ικανοποιητικά στο συνηθισμένο οικιακό ή εργασιακό περιβάλλον και να μην περιορίζουν τον χρήστη. Η προσέγγιση λοιπόν δεν πρέπει να είναι τόσο στον περιορισμό των artifacts, όσο στην αναγνώριση και αφαίρεσή τους. Στην παρούσα εργασία η αφαίρεση των artifacts προσεγγίζεται σαν ένα πρόβλημα Τυφλού Διαχωρισμού Σημάτων. Εφαρμόζονται τεχνικές Ανάλυσης Ανεξαρτήτων Συνιστωσών με σκοπό το διαχωρισμό των artifacts σε ξεχωριστές Ανεξάρτητες Συνιστώσες κάνοντας εύκολη στη συνέχεια την αφαίρεση τους Η παραπάνω προσέγγιση εκτός της προαναφερθείσας εφαρμογής στον τομέα του Brain Computer Interface, έχει σαφώς και κλινική αξία. Θα μπορούσε να εφαρμοστεί για παράδειγμα σε μη συνεργάσιμους ασθενείς (π.χ. μικρά παιδιά) ή σε θορυβώδη εξωτερικά περιβάλλοντα αποσυνδέοντας το ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογράφημα από την απαίτηση ενός καλά ελεγχόμενου, ηλεκτρομαγνητικά θωρακισμένου χώρου. / --

This qualitative study examined how the racial identity of Black/White biracial college students shaped their college choice process, and the extent to which these students explored their racial identity at the University of Arizona. Sixteen self-identified Black/White biracial students were interviewed to learn what factors they considered during their college choice process. Additionally, these students were interviewed to understand how the context of this particular institution facilitated or hindered their racial identity exploration. This study found that Black/White biracial students approached their college choice process from a color-blind orientation which had unintended consequences on how these students explored and understood their racial identity in the context of a PWI. The predominantly White precollege contexts these students came from decentralized their racial identity early on; however, on campus Black/White biracial students were continuously confronted with messages that placed an emphasis on race. Implications for student services and for addressing the needs of Black/White biracial students are presented.

Resumo: Este trabalho discute a utilização do Sistema Maquete Tátil/Mapavox por três grupos de alunos: cegos, de baixa visão e normovisuais, sob a perspectiva de análise não comparativa de resultados. Os objetivos do trabalho foram investigar como as pessoas deficientes visuais organizam os objetos no espaço e que estratégias usam para constituir suas representações. No embasamento teórico dialogase com autores que realizaram pesquisas sobre os desenvolvimentos motor e cognitivo de crianças cegas e suas relações com o espaço partindo do próprio cego, sem comparálo às pessoas dotadas de visão. Os resultados indicam que os sujeitos deficientes visuais organizam os objetos no espaço de forma diferente das pessoas normovisuais e que a adaptação de material didático de Cartografia para este público não consiste simplesmente em substituir cores por texturas, efetuar contornos em relevo e/ou inserir informações em braille e em escrita convencional ampliada. Indicam ainda que, as abordagens de conteúdos geográficos e cartográficos não podem ter como referencial a percepção e organização espacial de pessoas que enxergam. A análise dos resultados aponta que as formas de organização do espaço nos sujeitos deficientes visuais trazem as marcas de suas experiências. Por isso, organizam o espaço expressando rotas ou ambientes que possuem significativa vivência. / Abstract: This paper discusses the use of the Tactile Model System /Mapavox by three groups of students: the blind; the visually impaired and the students with normal vision, under the perspective of an analysis of non comparative results. The goals of the work went investigate as the blind and visually impaired organize the objects in the space and that strategies use to constitute its representations. The theoretical basis brings authors who performed researches on the motor and cognitive development of blind children as well as their relation to space without comparing it to that of people with no visual impairment. The results obtained indicate that the blind and visually impaired subjects have a different spatial organization than those with normal vision and the adaptation of Cartographic didactic materials for the visually impaired does not consist of just substituting colors for texture, or using contoured relieves and or inserting information in Braille and amplified conventional writing. Thus, the content approach of both Geography and Cartography cannot have as a referential the perception and spatial organization of individuals with normal vision. The analysis of the results aims that the forms of organization of the space subjects bring the marks of its experiences. / Orientador: Maria Isabel Castreghini de Freitas / Coorientador: José Antônio dos Santos Borges / Banca: Katia Regina Moreno Caiado / Banca: Rosângela Doin de Almeida / Mestre

This PhD thesis develops and tests a model of bargaining between foreign investors and domestic institutions in transition countries. For this purpose this research employs a mixed-methods research methodology combining three studies - two macro-level quantitative and one micro-level qualitative - examining various aspects of the relationships between institutional factors and the quality of inward foreign direct investment (iFDI) flows in transition economies (that is, the impact of iFDI on the host country institutional environment). Specifically, emphasizing the circular nature of the relationship between the applied variables, it attempts, firstly, to identify the impact of the institutional environment in post-Soviet and Central and Eastern European countries on the quality of FDI inflows, and, secondly, to determine whether and how this iFDI affects the quality of the host countries’ institutions. The analysis of the presence, size, and direction of the impact of iFDI is pursued through the study of foreign investors’ (FIs) nonmarket strategies with a special focus on political behavior. Despite the growing role of iFDI and of companies with FDI (especially MNEs) as one of the most important rent-seeking interest groups in many economies, the analysis of the impact of iFDI stocks and flows on the host country’s institutional environment has received much less attention than analysis of the impact of host country institutions on iFDI and has, moreover, produced mostly mixed results. This project is intended to fill this gap and to contribute to theory building on the relationships between iFDI quality, foreign investors’ political behavior, various aspects of institutional environment (including institutional voids), and institutional changes in host countries. It finds evidence for the hypothesis that certain combinations of patterns of quality of iFDI and host-country institutional variables determine foreign investors’ (FIs) political influence and political behavior and may also allow them to pursue their economic goals through manipulation of political regimes and, consequently, reshaping of the host country’s institutions in accordance with their strategic goals. The proposed model was tested quantitatively for a sample of 27 post-Socialist countries and qualitatively for the case of Ukraine. The results of all three studies provide evidence in support of this model. In particular, both quantitative panel studies provide evidence for the existence of ‘blind bargaining’ - a model depicting the cognitive situation of a foreign investor who lacks clarity on the situation he/she is in and, as a result is bound to act in conditions of extreme uncertainty due to the high degree of non-transparancy and instability of the “rules of the game” at any given moment and of their propensity for unpredictable change at any time in the future. ‘Blind bargaining’ originates from the specific state and society relationship that can be formed in neo-patrimonial host states where economic decisions are often not directed towards serving national interests, but towards supporting the personal aims of the officials in power. The first quantitative study shows and explains the attractiveness of such countries to riskier investors, who prefer relatively weak political regimes over stronger ones and who reduce their investment inputs once host states become more assertive. This model of relationships leads to the inflow of mostly ‘malign’ FDI (that is, iFDI that has a destabilizing impact on institutional competencies of recipient countries) into these economies. The second quantitative study examines the quality of iFDI flows in 12 post-Soviet states by determining the impact of attracted iFDI on local institutions, as measured by country risk indicators via a pooled regression model. The latter analysis shows that iFDI has a marginally negative effect on some individual country risk measures and a significantly negative effect on others, implying that there is a strong case for questioning the existing orthodoxy according to which the problems of transition can be overcome via increased iFDI. Given the complexity and context-specificity of foreign investors’ political behavior and its impact on host countries’ institutional capacities, this research acknowledges the need for a more targeted analysis at lower levels of aggregation. The thesis addresses this through a qualitative analysis of the relationships between foreign investors and host states in the context of one country - Ukraine. Interviews with company representatives and various experts were conducted to explore how changes in foreign investors’ bargaining power and, as a result, in their strategic choices regarding their political involvement impact the institutional environment in Ukraine. Based on the combination of empirical and theoretical insights described above, a ‘blind bargaining’ model was developed as a special case of the political bargaining model. It provides a comprehensive framework for explaining foreign investor – host state bargaining relationships in neopatrimonial transition economies and reveals several distinctive characteristics of both parties’ behavior in terms of their goals, resources, constraints, the nature of the bargaining process, strategies and outcomes. However, it is suggested that further country-specific tests are necessary to test its applicability beyond the transition countries, particularly in emerging and developing countries.