In the mammalian retina, a small population of retinal ganglion cells are intrinsically photosensitive due to the expression of the photopigment melanopsin. These intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) integrate their own intrinsic light response with that of rod and cone photoreceptors to drive a variety of physiological and behavioural responses to light. Recently, however, a subset of these cells have been shown to project to the dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (dLGN) of the visual thalamus, where they directly contribute to visual perception. In the case of retinal degenerations (the most common being retinitis pigmentosa which affects up to 1:2000 people worldwide), the death of the rod and cone photoreceptors results in complete visual blindness with no available treatment. At least some ipRGCs survive retinal degeneration and can continue signalling light information to the dLGN, suggesting that these cells could support some form of visual perception. However, to-date little is known about this projection during retinal degeneration. Thus, characterising its anatomy and physiology is key to determining the quality of visual information that is conveyed to the dLGN during retinal degeneration and what prevents these cells supporting behaviourally relevant vision. A subset of ipRGCs target the dLGN and continue signalling light information even at advanced stages of retinal degeneration. However, it is unknown whether all ipRGC subtypes survive following the death of rod and cone photoreceptors, and whether they retain normal dendritic architecture following reorganisation of the remnant neural retina. We set out to answer these questions using the multi-colour labelling technique Brainbow. In doing so, we design and describe a unique methodology and toolset, based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA), to analyse 3-Dimensional (3D) multi-colour images. We then demonstrate its utility by identifying, isolating and reconstructing the 3D morphology of individual ipRGCs from a population of labelled cells in the degenerate retina and quantitatively characterise their dendritic architecture. The results indicate that all known ipRGC subtypes are resilient to the effects of outer photoreceptor degeneration. Melanopsin responses in the dLGN have been shown to support global brightness perception in mice with advanced retinal degeneration. However, to-date, it is unknown whether these cells can encode spatial information. Using in-vitro and in-vivo electrophysiological recordings from mice in advanced stages of retinal degeneration, we demonstrate for the first time that ipRGCs in the retina, and their target neurones in the dLGN, possess discrete spatial receptive fields. These receptive fields are large and lack a centre-surround organisation. The retinotopic organisation of these cells' projections would suggest they could support spatial vision. However the poor temporal resolution of the deafferented melanopsin response is the most significant limitation precluding melanopsin signalling from supporting behaviourally relevant vision under naturalistic viewing conditions. Considering these temporal limitations, we finally investigated if melanopsin could contribute to visual perception at earlier stages of degeneration which is more representative of clinical conditions in humans. Here, vision can rely on both the intrinsic melanopsin-driven light response and residual cone function. Using silent substitution in combination with in-vivo electrophysiological recordings from the dLGN of mice in early-stage degeneration, we identify a number of cone-driven responses which could support normal visual function. However, we were unable to detect a significant and robust contribution of melanopsin signalling to these residual light-responses using our silent substitution stimuli in both retinally degenerate and wildtype mice at these age. However, we did find a significant contribution to the Olivary Pretectal Nucleus (OPN) of visually intact mice at equivalent ages, and to the adult dLGN. Supported by anatomical data, this suggests that there is a specific temporal delay in the maturation of ipRGCs which project to the dLGN during development of the visual system.

Įvaizdis sporto organizacijoms ypatingai svarbus: ne tik formuoja nuomonę apie tam tikrą sporto šaką Lietuvoje, bet ir padeda pritraukti rėmėjų lėšų. Palankus organizacijos įvaizdis yra didelis privalumas, kadangi įvaizdis turi didelę įtaką vartotojams, jų suvokimui apie organizacijos komunikaciją bei daugelį kitų veiksnių. Tyrimo objektas – sporto organizacijos įvaizdžio formavimas. Darbo tikslas - išsiaiškinti Lietuvos greitojo čiuožimo asociacijos įvaizdžio formavimo procesą. Uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti organizacijos įvaizdžio formavimo sampratą. 2. Atskleisti organizacijų įvaizdžio kūrimo modelių pagrindinius vystymosi ypatumus. 3. Atskleisti Lietuvos greitojo čiuožimo asociacijos įvaizdžio formavimo ypatumus. Išvados. Šiuo metu LGČA įvaizdį galima apibūdinti taip – jauna, profesionali, moderni, veikli organizacija, vienijanti profesionaliai ir daug dirbančius žmones, siekiančius bendro organizacijos tikslo. Trys pagrindiniai veiksniai, darantys didžiausią įtaką ir stiprinantys LGČA įvaizdį – sportiniai pasiekimai, sportininkai, renginiai. Labiausiai LGČA įvaizdį neigiamai veikiantys ir menkinantys veiksniai – organizacijos komunikacija ir sporto bazės nebuvimas. LGČA asocijuojama su modernumu, kovingumu, profesionalumu, dinamiškumu bei greitumu. LGČA tinkamai suformuotas įvaizdis padidina LGČA vertę bei galėtų padidinti rėmėjų skaičių. LGČA, formuodama savo įvaizdį atsižvelgia į organizacijos veiklos ypatumus. Rekomendacija. LGČA įvaizdžio stiprinimui pasitelkti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The image in sport organizations is very important: not only in forming opinion about particular sport branch in Lithuania, but also it helps in raising sponsors‘ allocation. Favourable image of the organization is a huge advantage, because it has a huge influence on consumers, their perception about organization‘s communication and other subjects. Work object – the formation of image in sport organization. Work purpose: to clearify the image forming process in Lithuanian speed skating association (further - LSSA). Tasks: 1. To analyse the conception of the organization’s image formation. 2. To reveal the main peculiarities of the organization’s image formation process. 3. To analyse the image forming peculiarities in Lithuanian speed skating association. Conclusions. Nowadays we can describe the image of LSSA as young, professional, modern, active organization, which unify professionaly and a lot of working persons, reaching comon purpose or the organization. The three main subjects making the hugest infleunce on LSSA‘s image are the sport achievements, sportsmen and events. The factors which has negative influence on LSSA‘s image are: organization‘s communication and sport facilities. LSSA is associated with modernity, combativity, professionalism, dynamism and quicknes. Properly formed image increase the value of LSSA and could increase the number of sponsors. Lithuanian speed skating association in forming its image takes into consideration organization’s work... [to full text]

Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med kunskap om pedagogers syn på barns bildskapande i förskolan. För att undersöka detta har jag valt att använda mig av semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer som metod, i studien har det gjorts 5 intervjuer med olika pedagoger. Denna studie utgår ifrån Lev Vygotskijs sociokulturella perspektiv på lärande. I mitt resultat fick jag fram att kommunikation är en stor del av tolkningen av barns bilder och att bildskapande ska ske på barnens villkor. De intervjuade pedagogerna påpekade i synnerlighet att det är viktigt att fråga barnet vad de målar och att inte ha en förutfattadmening. / The purpose of this study is to contribute with more knowledge about the pedagogue’s view of children’s image forming. To explore this, I have chosen to use semistructured qualitative interviews as the method, in the study there has been 5 interviews preformed. This study is based on Lev Vygotskijs socio-cultural perspective of learning. In my result I found that communication is a very large part of the interpretation of children’s pictures and that image forming is supposed to be on the children’s terms. The interviewed pedagogues pointed out that it is very important that you ask the child about what they have painted and not to have a preconceived thought.

My study is about image forming in preschool. The aim of my study is to find out how pedagogues perceive that they relate to image forming activities in preschool. As a method I have used a qualitative interview method where I have written interviews with five pedagogues. My study is based on Vygotskij and his socio-cultural perspective on learning. The results showed that the pedagogues who participated in my study resembled a picture of how they work with image forming in preschool and emphasize the importance of a variety of material and techniques. The results also showed that the pedagogues believe that their own attitude is important for the influence of the children in their creation. Furthermore the pedagogues explain that they believe that the image forming process is an important part of the children´s learning through the children trying to explore at their own pace, as well as the joy of being together in the process. / Mitt examensarbete handlar om bildskapande i förskolan. Syftet med min studie är att bidra med kunskap om pedagogers beskrivningar på hur de tänker kring bildskapandeaktiviteter i förskolan. Som metod har jag använt mig av en kvalitativ intervjumetod där jag har genomfört skriftliga intervjuer med fem pedagoger. I min studie har jag utgått från Vygotskij och hans sociokulturella perspektiv på lärande.   Resultatet visade att pedagogerna som deltog i min undersökning har liknade bild av hur de arbetar med bildskapande i förskolan där de framhåller vikten av en variation av material och tekniker. Resultatet visade även att pedagogerna anser att deras egen inställning har betydelse för hur barnen påverkas i sitt skapande. Vidare förklarar pedagogerna att de anser att bildskapandeprocessen är en viktig del i barnens lärande genom att barnen får prova på att utforska i sin egen takt, samt glädjen i att vara tillsammans i processen.

This thesis presents the implementation of data fusion techniques for sustainable urban development. Recently, increasingly more geospatial data have been made easily available for no cost. The immeasurable quantities of geospatial data are mainly from four kinds of sources: remote sensing satellites, geographic information systems (GIS) data, citizen science, and sensor web. Among them, satellite images have been mostly used, due to the frequent and repetitive coverage, as well as the data acquisition over a long time period. However, the rather coarse spatial resolution of e.g. 30 m for Landsat 8 multispectral images impairs the application of satellite images in urban areas. Even though image fusion techniques have been used to improve the spatial resolution, the existing image fusion methods are neither suitable for sharpening one band thermal images nor for hyperspectral images with hundreds of bands. Therefore, simplified Ehlers fusion was developed. It adds the spatial information of a high-resolution image into a low-resolution image in the frequency domain through fast Fourier transform (FFT) and filter techniques. The developed algorithm successfully improved the spatial resolution of both one band thermal images as well as hyperspectral images. It can enhance various images, regardless of the number of bands and the spectral coverage, providing more precise measurement and richer information. To investigate the performance of simplified Ehlers fusion in practical use, it was applied for urban heat island (UHI) analysis. This was done by sharpening daytime and nighttime thermal images from Landsat 8, Landsat 7, and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). The developed algorithm effectively improved the spatial details of the original images so that the temperature differences between agricultural, forest, industrial, transportation, and residential areas could be distinguished from each other. Based on that, it was found that in the study city the causes of UHI are mainly anthropogenic heat from industrial areas as well as high temperatures from the road surface and dense urban fabric. Based on this analysis, corresponding mitigation strategies were tailored. Remote sensing images are useful yet not sufficient to retrieve land use related information, despite high spatial resolution. For sustainable urban development research, remote sensing images need to be incorporated with data from other sources. Accordingly, image fusion needs to be extended to broader data fusion. Extraction of urban vacant land was therefore taken as a second application case. Much effort was spent on the definition of vacant land as unclear definitions lead to ineffective data fusion and incorrect site extraction results. Through an intensive study of the current research and the available open data sources, a vacant land typology is proposed. It includes four categories: transportation-associated land, natural sites, unattended areas or remnant parcels, and brownfields. Based on this typology, a two-level data fusion framework was developed. On the feature level, sites are identified. For each type of vacant land, an individual site extraction rule and data fusion procedure is implemented. The overall data fusion involves satellite images, GIS data, citizen science, and social media data. In the end, four types of vacant land features were extracted from the study area. On the decision level, these extracted sites could be conserved or further developed to support sustainable urban development.