A template tracker is a tracker based on matching a pre-initialised view of an object with the object's view in an image sequence. Using an error function, the intensity difference between the template view and the templated region in the image is measured. This error measure is used as the basis for a template alignment algorithm that will adjust the template's pose to more accurately register the template view with the view of the object in the image. Some significant problems present themselves with this simple tracker. Extraneous, or non-object, pixels within the template boundaries can cause bias in the registration of the template. Partial occlusions of the object's view in the image can also cause serious bias in the template's pose. Beyond simple occlusions there are transits of occlusions across an object. Occlusion transits are significant because over time they can occlude the entire object in an incremental fashion. If initially the template view is not completely known this kind of occlusion can easily cause a total tracking failure for an object. In this thesis three enhancements of the basic template tracker are proposed: Ownership Masks, Cooperative Templates, and Evolving Views. Ownership Masks are aimed at eliminating the extraneous pixels from the template view. Cooperative templates are used to separate the intensity probabilities when more than one template covers a pixel. Building upon both Ownership Masks and Cooperative Templates, Evolving Views update the template views when occlusion transits are a problem. With these enhancements we have been able to increase the accuracy of tracking objects where large portions of a template contain background pixels. Also occlusions and some types of unocclusions can be detected and discriminated. Finally, some failures in the basic tracker due to occlusion transits have been overcome.

The road map of the semiconductor industry has followed Moores Law over the past few decades. According to Moores Law the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) will double for a minimum component cost every two years. The features made in an IC are produced by photolithography. Industry is now producing devices at the 65 nm node, however, for every deceasing node size, both the materials and processes used are not only difficult but also expensive to develop. Ultimately, the feature size obtainable via photolithography is dependent on the wavelength used in the process. The limitations of photolithography will eventually make Moores Law unsustainable. Therefore, new methodologies of creating features in the semiconductor substrate are desired. Here we present a new way to make patterns in silicon (Si) and silicon dioxide (SiO2), molecular lithography. Individual molecules and polymers, in a monolayer, serves directly as the etch mask; eliminating the photolighographic size limitation of light at a specific wavelength. The Ohnishi- and Ring parameter suggests that cyclic carbon rich molecules have a high resistance towards the plasma process, used to create the features in the substrate. Therefore highly aromatic molecules were investigated as candidates for molecular lithography. A monolayer of poly cyclic hydrocarbons, fullerene containing polymer, and fullerene molecules were created using the versatile photochemistry of benzophenone as the linker between the substrate and the material. First, a chlorosilane benzophenone derivative was attached to the Si/SiO2 surface. A thin film of the desired material is then created on top of the silane benzophenone layer. Irradiation at ~350 nm excites the benzophenone and reacts with neighboring alkyl chains. After covalent attachment the non-bonded molecules are extracted from the surface using a Soxhlet apparatus. Self-assembly, molecular weight, and wetting properties of the material dictates the features shape and size. These features are then serving as an etchmask in a fluorine plasma. The organic etch resist is then removed either in an oxygen plasma or in a piranha solution. AFM analysis revealed that 3 to 4 nm wide defined structures were obtained using C96 as the etch mask. This is about ten times smaller then industry standards. Also a depth profile of 50 nm, which is the minimum feature depth used in industry, was created using a fullerene containing polymer as the etch mask. Directionality and control over the shape and sizes of the features are naturally critical for implementing this technology in device fabrication. Therefore, alignment of the materials used has also been examined. Monolayers of highly stable molecules has successfully been used as etch masks. Further research and development could implement molecular lithography in device fabrication. Self-assembly among other forces would dictate which materials could be used successfully as a molecular resist.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Mississippi State University. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis is concerned with the challenges of devising a full-masked theatre performance that is largely accessible to audiences of every age, social background and culture. The contribution to original knowledge is in the study's examination of the relationship between the devising processes of a full-masked performance, neurobiology, human ethology and the accessibility of audience reception (Bennett, 1994). The thesis addresses the concept of accessibility by taking a phenomenological approach to devising and audience reception, with particular focus on the role of neurobiological systems and structures, in particular the mirror neuron system, the pleasure-reward system, and pattern recognition systems, in the communication and reception of performance meaning (McConachie, 2008). The research is framed by the concept of a universal theatrical language proposed by practitioners Peter Brook and Tadeshi Suzuki, which has the potential to connect people at the deepest levels of their humanity (Pavis, 1996: 6). Practical approaches adopted in the research are informed and supported by anthropological and human ethological claims of universality (Ekman, 1975; Brown, 1991; Eibl-Eibesfeldt; 2007 [1989]; Schmitt et al. 1997). This thesis theorizes that human beings possess innate neurobiological systems that interact with culturally specific concepts, conditions and knowledge in such a way that when deployed appropriately, these innate neurobiological systems can be a platform for human cognition and for the designing of performances accessible to an audience of different ages, social backgrounds and cultures. It also proposes that innate neurobiological systems create a universal framework that makes it possible for the said broad-based audience to read and receive a performance using similar codes of cognition and aesthetic reference irrespective of age, social and cultural backgrounds. The research process led to the creation of an original full-masked theatrical performance and eighteen performances of this piece were given to different audiences in a range of venues and locations in Northamptonshire. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis of how the various audiences received the performance suggest that the devising methods employed did contribute to making the performance accessible to an audience with a broader constituency than theaters normally envision (Pitts-Walker, 1994: 9-10). This research enables practitioners for whom a wide audience and accessibility are an explicit focus to adopt devising approaches that will help to achieve the desired wide-ranging reception and accessibility in mixed audiences irrespective of race, age, gender and culture.

Identity is a concept discussed in many different areas and there are a lot of perspectives and theories around what it consist of and how it comes to be. But it is also a word seen and used in our daily lives in the form of self-image and self-esteem. Professor Beverley Skeggs notes that we can talk about identities in plural rather than in singular due to the context. From that we are children we intuitively explore who we are by playing and role playing and our identities and self-image is influenced by several factors. How we then appear to the world has an important role. The Swedish professor Margareta Melin tested the importance of physical appearance on her students which the results showed that different appearance got different responses. By changing our body appearance we can also change our self-perception. The things you wear have an effect on how you will act and appear. It may be that your choice of appearance is an expression for someone you wish to be or an alter ego. A concept that many artists investigated, e.g. Olivier De Sagazan. The appearance of ones body becomes like a masquerade of the human social life. Where we in the one hand confirm the roles and expectations we have in society, and in the other trying to find our own core in who we believe and feel we are. Jewelry have had and still has a big role in relations to the human identity and communication between people and societies. It also has the potential of being an interactive medium for the wearer. In my project I am exploring how physical attributes, jewelry, changes the self-image and how we as individuals, together with our surroundings, construct identities by the way we appear to the world. I’ve explored how objects we dress ourselves with can function as instruments for transformation to become aware of our body-appearance. / <p>En del av bilderna i uppsatsen är borttagna p.g.a. upphovsrättslagen. Övriga bilder är fotograferad av mig.</p>

The concept of Built-In Self-Test (BIST) has recently become an increasingly attractive solution to the complex problem of testing VLSI chips. However, the realization of BIST faces some challenging problems of its own. One of these problems is to increase the quality of fault coverage of a BIST implementation, without incurring a large overhead. In particular, the loss of information in the output data compressor, which is typically a multi-input linear feedback shift register (MISR), is a major cause of concern. / In the recent past, several researchers have proposed different schemes to reduce this loss of information, while maintaining the need for a small area overhead. / In this dissertation, a new BIST scheme, based on modifying the output data before compression, is developed. This scheme, called output data modification (ODM), exploits the knowledge of the functionality of the circuit under test to provide a circuit-specific BIST structure. This structure is developed so that it can conveniently be implemented for any general circuit under consideration. But more importantly, a proof of effectiveness is provided to show that ODM will, on the average, be orders of magnitude better than all existing schemes in its capability to reduce the information loss, for a given amount of area overhead. / Moreover, the constructive nature of the proof will allow one to provide a simple trade-off between the reduction tolerated in information loss to the area overhead needed to affect this reduction.

Pristatydama savo kūrybinio darbo – pasakos „Dvylika brolių juodvarniais lakstančiu“ sprendimą, pasirinkau tris temas, labiausiai dominusias šioje pasakoje: augimas, mirtis ir raganos, kaip mirties nešėjos, įvaizdis. Nors ši pasaka priskiriama germanų pasakoms ir dažniausiai pasakų rinkiniuose pristatoma kaip surinkta ir užrašyta brolių Grimų, joje galima aptikti ir senovės lietuviams būdingų papročių, apeigų ir simbolių. Būtent šios pasakos artumas lietuvių senajai kultūrai tapo pagrindu kuriant scenovaizdį. Sūpynių motyvas (šokimas į aukštį kaip apeiga), aptinkamas daugelyje lietuvių apeigų aprašymų, jį galima sieti su virtimu paukščiu, kuris neatsiejamas nuo dieviškųjų gebėjimų arba laikino mirties būvio. Mirtis arba pasakojimas apie mirtį yra pagrindinė šios pasakos ir mano kūrybinio darbo tema. Darbą susideda iš šių dalių: scenovaizdžio maketas ir eskizai, kaukės ,lėlės. Scenovaizdžio, eskizų ir lėlių kūrimui naudojama mišri technika. / Three theses where chosen while presenting creative work – fairy tale “Dvylika brolių juodvarniais lakstančių” derivations those where: growing up, death and witch as a death bringer’s image. Even thought the fairy tale is mostly present as a fairy tale cumulated and written by “Brother Grims” and it is considered to be part of Teuton fairy tales assemblage traces of symbols, customs and rites inherent to ancient Lithuanians can be found. While making scenography main foundation can be considered the fairy tale resemblance of ancient Lithuanian culture. Temporary death state or godlike abilities cannot be separated from swings motif (jumping as a rite) which can be found in many Lithuanian rites and it can be associated with turning into a bird. The main theme of this creative work is and the fairy tale is storytelling about death and death itself. The creative work consists of these parts: scenography model and sketches, masks, puppets. The mixed technique is used in other to make puppets, sketches and scenography.

Online reflective practices that are high-stakes – summatively assessed, or used as evidence for progression or membership in a professional body – are increasingly prevalent in higher education, especially in professional and vocational programmes. A combination of factors is influencing their emergence: an e-learning agenda that promises efficiency and ubiquity; a proliferation of employability, transferable skills and personal development planning policies; a culture of surveillance which prizes visibility and transparency; and teacher preference for what are seen as empowering pedagogies. This thesis analyses qualitative interview data to explore how students and teachers negotiate issues of audience, performance and authenticity in their high-stakes online reflective practices. Using mask metaphors, and taking a post-structuralist and specifically Foucauldian perspective, the work examines themes of performance, trace, disguise, protection, discipline and transformation. The central argument is that the effects of both compulsory reflection, and writing online, destabilise and ultimately challenge the humanist ideals on which reflective practices are based: those of a ‘true self’ which can be revealed, understood, recorded, improved or liberated through the process of writing about thoughts and experiences. Rather than revealing and developing the ‘true self’, reflecting online and for assessment produces fragmented, performing, cautious, strategic selves. As a result, it offers an opportunity to work critically with an awareness of audience, genres of writing and shifting subjectivity. This is rarely, if ever, explicitly the goal of such practices. Instead, online reflective practices are imported wholesale from their offline counterparts without acknowledgement of the difference that being online makes, and issues of power in high-stakes reflection are disguised or ignored. Discourses of authentic self-knowledge, personal and professional development, and transformative learning are not appropriate to the nature of high-stakes online reflection. The combination creates passivity, anxiety and calculation, it normalises surveillance, and it produces rituals of confession and compliance. More critical approaches to high-stakes online reflection, which take into account addressivity, experimentation and digitality, are proposed.

Thesis (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 308-315). Also available via the World Wide Web.