Since World War I, the area of acoustic undersea warfare has witnessed several research activities targeting the development of advanced systems to accurately detect and localize underwater moving targets. One of the main categories of these systems is the passive sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) that searches for the location of the ships and submarines by listening to the radiated noise produced by their propellers, machinery, and flow dynamics. The performance of the passive sonar highly depends on the particular array signal processing algorithms used in practice. Presently, one of the main challenges is to accurately estimate the target direction of arrival (DOA) in severe underwater environments. This thesis is proposed to enhance the DOA estimation in two distinct applications. This first application is to improve the spatial resolution of the uniform linear towed arrays. This is done by applying new spatial extrapolation techniques called 2D- and 3D- fast orthogonal search (FOS) for both uniform linear and rectangular arrays, respectively. The presented methods show better performance than the conventional methods with respect to signal to noise ratio (SNR), number of snapshots and angular separation. Moreover it reduces the computational complexity required by the spatial extrapolation methods based on linear prediction approach. The other application concerns with developing a new DOA estimation that provides better spatial spectrum than the one provided by conventional beamforming (CBF) when a nonuniform linear array of directional frequency analysis and recording (DIFAR) sonobuoys is employed. The introduced technique or the so called fourth order cumulant beamforming (FOCBF) and shows an outstanding performance compared to CBF especially in low SNR. Furthermore, a warping FOC-BF (WFOC-BF) method obtained by augmenting a warping beamforming technique with FOC-BF is proposed to reduce the required computational complexity by FOC-BF while preserving the same performance. / Thesis (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-06-27 14:59:33.941

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This thesis explores the National Film Board's Cultural Diversity in Action Initiatives (1997-- ) whose aim is to redress the under-representation of filmmakers of colour in the English Program's documentary film production streams. Focusing on how these strategies and objectives have broadly tried to promote racial diversity (for instance, one way is through the goal of having one of four filmmakers be a person of colour), this thesis proposes that these initiatives represent the NFB's most prominent and socially progressive raison d'etre for the late 1990s and the new millennium.

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Magistrinio darbo tikslas - parodyti Aristotelio metafizikos Vienio teoriją santykyje su šiuolaikinio mokslo teorinėmis paradigmomis. Darbą sudaro 4 dalys: „Galimybės ir tikrovės samprata Aristotelio Metafizikoje, „Elementų tarpusavio sąveika“, „Judėjimas ir kryptis“, „Santykio trejybiškumas“. Dalis tarpusavyje sieja bendra – judėjimo krypties pokyčio ir emocinio išgyvenimo įtakos šiam pokyčiui paieška. Suformuluojamas Substancinio kitimo ir elementų sąveikos dėsnis, kuris teigia, jog „substancinis kitimas ir elementų sąveika vyksta skirtingomis kryptimis.“ Darbe pagrindžiama nuomonė, jog psichiniai reiškiniai vyksta pagal du skirtingus judėjimo dėsnius: patyrimas – substancinio kitimo principu, o pažinimas – elementų sąveikos principu. Daroma išvada, jog etiniai žmogaus sprendimai, turėtų būti grindžiami elementų sąveikos principu. Emociniai žmogaus išgyvenimai turėtų būti interpretuojami asmens santykyje su aplinka, pažinimą nukreipiant į skausmą keliančius išgyvenimus, o ne į skausmą sukeliantį objektą. Tyrimo išvados gali būti teoriniu pagrindu atliekant psichologinį empirinį tyrimą. Tyrimo metodas - analitinis lyginamasis. / The aim of the Master’s Thesis is to show the theory of oneness in Aristotle‘s Metaphysics as a relationship to the theoretical paradigms of contemporary science. The thesis consists of the following 4 parts: “Conception of Possibility and Reality in Aristotle‘s Metaphysics”, “Mutual Interaction of Elements”, “Movement and Direction”, and “Trinitarian Nature of Relationship”. The parts are connected by the common search for the change in the direction of movement and the impact of an emotional experience on that change. The law of the interaction between substantial fall and elements has been formulated, stating that “the interaction between substantial fall and elements happens in different directions”. The thesis finds the basis of the opinion that psychic phenomena occur according to these two different laws of movement: as regards experience, according to the principle of change, while in the case of knowledge, according to the principle of the interaction of elements. Individual‘s ethical choices should be based on the principle of the interaction of elements. Emotional experiences should be interpreted in the light of individual‘s relationship to the environment, and the knowledge should be directed to the painful experiences, rather than to the object that causes them. The conclusions of the study can serve as a theoretical basis for the psychological-empirical investigation. The study uses analytical comparative method.

The ability to recognise the movements made by humans and other animals, referred to as biological motion, is a specialised human ability that develops at an early age. This perceptual ability is strong even for the minimal amount of information contained in a point-light display, which has been used to study specific features of biological motion to find out what properties contribute to this ability. The perception of biological motion depends on visual perception, visual attention and motor cognition, and perception depends both on the global form, configural information and local information of a body in motion. Depending on the situation, either global or local motions will be more salient and processed to a greater extent by the perceptual system. Previous research has shown that the local and configural information contained in the feet play an important role for identification, direction discrimination and the inversion effect. The salience of the feet for perception has previously been studied when they are subjected to focused attention, but not reflexive attention. The goal of this study was to investigate if the local and configural information of the feet can trigger reflexive attention and be incidentally processed by the visual system in a direction discrimination task. To test this experimentally, a masking paradigm was used where the feet were placed in a mask consisting of scrambled walkers. The results show that the feet affect recognition of target direction when the target is upright, but not when inverted. An interesting and unexpected finding was that for upright targets, the feet aid recognition when they move in the opposite direction of the target. Due to the experimental setup, it is difficult to say with certainty what the results imply, and suggestions for a follow-up study are presented. / Kognitionsvetenskap handlar om hur människor tänker, uppfattar världen och interagerar med omgivningen och med andra människor. Inom kognitiv psykologi har människors förmåga att uppfatta andra människors och djurs rörelser studerats länge. Vi kan känna igen vänner och familj på det unika sätt som de rör sig och forskningen har visat att vi har förmågan att identifiera många olika typer av rörelser och handlingar även när den tillgängliga informationen är minimal. Studier som använt s.k. punktljusdisplayer, där endast vita punkter som representerar kroppens stora leder visas mot en svart bakgrund, har visat att förmågan att känna igen biologiska rörelser är mycket känslig och robust för störningar. Forskare har undersökt vilken information hos rörelser som vi använder för att lyckas med detta, och hur visuell perception och uppmärksamhet fungerar då vi tittar på punktljusdisplayer. Det har visat sig att fötterna har en stor inverkan på igenkänning av rörelseriktning och att det framförallt är på grund av fötterna som det är svårt att känna igen rörelser som presenteras uppochner. Något som inte har testats tidigare är om fötterna är så starka signaler att de kan påverka vår perception även om vi inte riktar fokuserad uppmärksamhet mot dem, utan endast reflexiv uppmärksamhet. Den här studien har testat om fötter kan trigga just reflexiv uppmärksamhet och påverka hur vi känner igen rörelseriktningen hos en gående punktljus-figur. Resultaten visar att fötternas specifika rörelsemönster kan trigga reflexiv uppmärksamhet i situationer då rörelserna är upprätta och då fötterna rör sig i motsatt riktning från den figur som deltagare fokuserar på. Experimentdesignen har dock inneburit att resultaten är svåra att tolka. För att säkrare kunna säga huruvida resultaten beror på fötterna föreslås en ny studie, och detaljer kring vilka justeringar som borde göras i en sådan studie presenteras.

Ce travail de thèse a été effectué au sein du Laboratoire GIPSA-Lab de Grenoble, sous la direction de Carlos Canudas de Wit et co-encadré par Franck Quaine et Violaine Cahouët.Ce travail a été réalisé dans le cadre du projet ANR-09-VTT-14-01/06 " VOLHAND ". Il s'inscrit dans le contexte général des nouvelles générations de Direction Assistée Electrique (DAE, ou EPAS en anglais pour Electronic Power Assistance Steering) avec pour objectif spécifique de tenir compte des caractéristiques des conducteurs à mobilité réduite. En effet, à ce jour, il n'existe pas de système de direction assistée adapté aux capacités articulaires (rhumatismes divers), musculaires (diminution de force, sénescence), ou encore aux douleurs ressenties par le conducteur. Le principal objectif de cette thèse est donc de proposer une méthodologie générale permettant d'adapter une DAE standard aux conducteurs à mobilité réduite. Le mémoire est organisé en cinq chapitres.Chapitre 1, intitulé Context and objectives of the study presente l'impact économique et sociétal, la problématique et l'objectif. Ensuite, la stratégie permettant d'atteindre l'objectif ainsi spécifié est précisée.Chapitre 2, intitulé Models for simulation, est dédié à l'établissement d'un modèle mathématique du système de DAEs prenant bien en compte l'élasticité en torsion de la colonne de direction due à la présence d'un capteur de couple. Parmi les entrées de ce modèle à deux degrés de liberté, une attention est faite en ce qui concerne la description du couple de frottement du contact pneumatique-route. Un modèle de frottement dynamique, basé sur le modèle de LuGre, est développé pour décrire ces phénomènes. Une amélioration du modèle est ainsi proposée.Chapitre 3, intitulé Oscillation annealing and torque observer design, commence par mettre en évidence les conséquences de la présence du mode souple associé à l'élasticité en torsion du capteur de couple sur le ressenti au niveau du volant. Une commande LQ est proposée pour limiter les oscillations dues à ce mode souple. Enfin, un observateur pour estimer le couple conducteur et le couple résultant du frottement pneumatique route est développé.Chapitre 4, intitulé Power steering booster stage, se focalise dans un premier temps sur la nature des courbes d'assistance utilisées dans le cadre des DAE. En effet, l'état de l'art sur le sujet met en évidence l'absence de justification de la forme de ces courbes généralement fonction de la vitesse du véhicule et du couple appliqué par le conducteur. Dans ce chapitre on propose de calculer de nouvelles lois en se fondant sur l'approche par optimisation (minimisation du jerk couplé avec la loi de puissance de Steven). Les résultats obtenus montrent que la minimisation du critère fondé sur le jerk du volant et la loi de puissance de Steven peut permettre de reproduire les lois existantes d'assistance et leur apportent une justification. Ils confirment également la forte influence du frottement (couple) au niveau du contact roue-sol. La seconde partie de ce chapitre est consacrée au développement d'une méthodologie générale d'adaptation des lois d'assistance (cartographie standard initiale) aux exigences du conducteur à mobilité réduite (typiquement ici une personne présentant une asymétrie.Chapitre 5, intitulé Experimental validation NeCS-Car benchmark, commence par détailler la plateforme expérimentale présente au laboratoire GIPSA-LAB et utilisée pour évaluer et valider les nouvelles lois d'assistance adaptées au conducteur à mobilité réduite. La stratégie globale d'assistance de couple au volant pour un conducteur présentant une asymétrie, est testée sur le banc avec la NeCS-Car. Les résultats issus du protocole montrent la validité de la stratégie proposée.Ce mémoire se termine avec une partie General conclusions and perspectives où les principales contributions sont d'abord rappelées, puis où des perspectives pour compléter et prolonger ce travail sont proposées.

This project was written to tap the creative potential in children and to familiarize them with the medium that is so close to their daily lives -- television.Daily instruction included lessons in creative expressions and music experiences, as well as television production and programming. Activities in creative expression included pantomine, role-play, clowning, and puppetry. An introduction to music instruments, exercises in solo and group singing, and opportunities for creative dance were among the music experiences offered. Daily lessons in television production and programming comprised instruction in script writing, an introduction to studio equipment, crew roles, production teminology, as well as "hands on" experiences with video equipment. Children were given opportunities to apply their learned skills by writing original scripts and assuming positions as technical members and talent during video taping sessions. The video tapes that resulted were samples of what a program such as this can produce in our children today.

Prostaglandin E2, postulated to be immunosuppressive to the tumor bearing host, is produced and excreted in elevated quantities by many tumors. Arachidonic acid, the precursor molecule for PGE2, is released from membrane phospholipids by phospholipase A2. Phospholipase A2 has been proposed as the rate limiting enzyme in the production of prostaglandin E2.Phospholipase A2 from different sources varies in substrate specificities, pH optima, and Ca ++ concentration requirements. Therefore, the determination of its specific activity depends on the development of appropriate incubation, extraction, and identification methodologies.This study attempted to develop methodologies for determination of PLA2 activity using enzymes from snake venom, mouse liver, and normal and tumored mouse mammarytissue. The method of substrate preparation, kind of substrate, amount of protein, length of incubation, and addition of KC1 and deoxycholate were varied. Reaction products were extracted and isolated with hexame, and methylated with diazomethane. The methyl esters were identified by gas liquid chromatography. Quantitative analyses were based on proportionality of experimental peak areas to internal standard peak area.Activity could not be demonstrated with snake venom or liver PLA2 preparations. Low specific activity was obtained in some tumor and normal mammary tissue extracts. These studies will be used as a basis for developing an optimal assay system for PLA2 from normal and tumored mouse mammary tissue.

The purpose of this study was to provide an analysis of the major arias and ensembles of Jody Nagel's Fifty-Third Street for performance practice, drawing upon a case study of the premiere. The opera Fifty-Third Street was composed in 1992 by Nagel for his dissertation project at the University of Texas at Austin. The librettist is Seth Wolitz, then a University of Texas faculty member. The opera examines the lives of two homeless men on 53rd Street in New York City, between 5th and 6th Streets, and the reactions toward them from various facets of society, including the church, art institutions, businesses and tourists. The opera was premiered at Sursa Performance Hall on the campus of Ball State University on April 12, 2007 with a subsequent performance on April 15, 2007.Both the piano/vocal score and the chamber orchestra score from the premiere have been examined in the analysis of the opera, in addition to the original treatise by Jody Nagel. The analysis is conducted from a performer's perspective and examines vocal aspects, including potential technical challenges, range and tessitura; musical aspects, including formal analysis, tonality, melody, harmony and rhythm in relation to the text; drama and staging, and character motivation for each of the major arias and ensembles. Suggestions are offered for practice and performance based upon the analysis and informal interviews with the composer, conductor, directors, cast and crew of the premiere performance. Appendices include scene charts, costume lists, lighting and projection cues, original set and publicity materials, and a DVD recording of the world premiere performance.Many composers throughout the centuries have used opera as a way to comment on the world in which they lived and to challenge the status quo: Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro; Verdi, Un ballo in maschera; Berg, Wozzek; Britten, Peter Grimes. Jody Nagel has continued this tradition in a way that is powerful and compelling. Future directors will discover that Fifty-Third Street offers an invaluable tool for the musical development of students and professionals, for the growth of the American opera repertory, and for challenging the American way of life. / School of Music