Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Lester C. Loschky / Visual resolution (i.e., blur or clarity) is a natural aspect of vision. It has been used by film makers to direct their audience’s attention by focusing the depth of field such that the critical region in a scene is uniquely clear and the surrounding is blurred. Resolution contrast can focus attention towards unique clarity, as supported by previous eye tracking and visual search research (Enns & MacDonald, 2013; Kosara, Miksch, Hauser, Schrammel, Giller, & Tscheligi, 2002; & McConkie, 2002; Peterson, 2016; Smith & Tadmor, 2012). However, little is known about how unique blur is involved in guiding attention (e.g., capture, repel, or be ignored). Peterson (2016) provided reaction time (RT) evidence that blur is ignored by selective attention when resolution is not task-relevant. Perhaps visual resolution is a search asymmetry where unique clarity can be used to guide selective attention during search, but unique blur cannot guide attention. Yet, perhaps the RT evidence was not sensitive enough with Peterson’s (2016) methodology to observe unique blur capturing or repelling attention. Eye movements (e.g., letter first fixated) may be more sensitive than RT as it measures blur and clarity’s influence on guiding attention earlier in a trial. The current study conducted three experiments that investigated: a) how visual resolution guides attention when it is task-irrelevant (Exp. 1), b) whether visual resolution is a search asymmetry, by manipulating resolution’s task-relevance (Use Blur, Use Clarity, Do Not Use Unique Blur or Clarity, & No Instructions) (Exp. 2), and c) whether blur and/or clarity are processed preattentively or require attention (Exp. 3). Experiments 1 and 2 manipulated blur and clarity (Exp. 1 Resolution = Task-irrelevant & Exp. 2 Resolution = Task-relevant), during a rotated L and T visual search measuring RT and eye movements. Experiment 1 found with the more sensitive eye movement measures that unique clarity strongly captured attention while unique blur weakly repelled attention towards nearby clarity (or clarity, especially that close to blur, captured attention). Experiment 2 found evidence that visual resolution is not a search asymmetry because the influence of resolution on selective attention was contingent upon its task-relevance, which theoretically supports the presence of a reconfigurable resolution feature detector. Experiment 3 used a feature search for either blur or clarity (i.e., resolution was task-relevant) and compared RT x Set Size search slopes. Both blurred and clear target present RT x Set Size search slopes were ~ 1 msec/item. The results strongly supported that blur and clarity are both processed preattentively, and provided additional evidence that resolution is not a search asymmetry. Overall, the current studies shed light on how visual resolution is processed and guides selective attention. The results revealed that visual resolution is processed preattentively and has a dynamic relationship with selective attention. Predicting how resolution will guide attention requires knowledge of whether resolution is task relevant or irrelevant. By increasing our understanding of how resolution contrast guides attention, we can potentially apply this knowledge to direct viewers’ attention more efficient using computer screens and heads-up displays.

Learning the parts of objects have drawn more attentions in computer science recently, and they have been playing the important role in computer applications such as object recognition, self-driving cars, and image processing, etc… However, the existing research such as traditional non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), principal component analysis (PCA), and vector quantitation (VQ) has not been discovering the ground-truth bases which are basic components representing objects. On this thesis, I am proposed to study on pattern recognition enhancement combined non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) with automatic relevance determination (ARD). The main point of this research is to propose a new technique combining the algorithm Expectation Maximization (EM) with Automatic Relevance Determination (ARD) to discover the ground truth basis of datasets, and then to compare my new proposed technique to the others such as: traditional NMF, sparseness constraint and graph embedding in pattern recognition problems to verify if my method has over performance in accuracy rate than the others. Particularly, the new technique will be tested on variety of datasets from simple to complex one, from synthetic datasets to real ones. To compare the performance, I split these datasets into 10 random partitions as the training and the testing sets called 10-fold cross validation, and then use the technique called Euclidean algorithm to classify them and test their accuracy. As the result, my proposed method has higher accuracy than the others, and it is good to use in pattern recognition problems with missing data.

Contextual information retrieval (CIR) is a critical technique for today’s search engines in terms of facilitating queries and returning relevant information. Despite its importance, little progress has been made in its application, due to the difficulty of capturing and representing contextual information about users. This thesis details the development and evaluation of the contextual SERL search, designed to tackle some of the challenges associated with CIR from the World Wide Web. The contextual SERL search utilises a rich contextual model that exploits implicit and explicit data to modify queries to more accurately reflect the user’s interests as well as to continually build the user’s contextual profile and a shared contextual knowledge base. These profiles are used to filter results from a standard search engine to improve the relevance of the pages displayed to the user. The contextual SERL search has been tested in an observational study that has captured both qualitative and quantitative data about the ability of the framework to improve the user’s web search experience. A total of 30 subjects, with different levels of search experience, participated in the observational study experiment. The results demonstrate that when the contextual profile and the shared contextual knowledge base are used, the contextual SERL search improves search effectiveness, efficiency and subjective satisfaction. The effectiveness improves as subjects have actually entered fewer queries to reach the target information in comparison to the contemporary search engine. In the case of a particularly complex search task, the efficiency improves as subjects have browsed fewer hits, visited fewer URLs, made fewer clicks and have taken less time to reach the target information when compared to the contemporary search engine. Finally, subjects have expressed a higher degree of satisfaction on the quality of contextual support when using the shared contextual knowledge base in comparison to using their contextual profile. These results suggest that integration of a user’s contextual factors and information seeking behaviours are very important for successful development of the CIR framework. It is believed that this framework and other similar projects will help provide the basis for the next generation of contextual information retrieval from the Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 292-306).

<p><strong>Bakgrund:</strong> Prestationsmätning och utvärdering är ett ämne som varit under stor debatt desenaste årtiondena. Relevance Lost debatten som startades av Johnson och Kaplan i slutet av1980‐talet, där den redovisningsbaserade informationen kritiserades som styrmedel, fickmycket stort genomslag i den amerikanska litteraturen. Nya teorier har under de senasteårtiondena växt fram som en lösning på de problem som kan uppstå när utvärdering skerbaserat på enbart finansiella mått. Framförallt de redovisningsbaserade lönsamhetsmåtten haren tendens att leda till beteendeproblem, något som fått samlingsnamnet ROI‐beteende.Överensstämmer den amerikanska litteraturen med svensk praxis? Relativt lite forskning harskett inom området och vi finner det därmed av intresse att undersöka användningen i svenskatillverkande företag och presentera en mer nyanserad bild av användningen.</p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Syftet med studien är att kartlägga och beskriva vilka prestationsmått som används avföretag och vilka eventuella mät‐ och beteendeproblem som upplevs vid tillämpning avredovisningsbaserade lönsamhetsmått. Vidare syftar uppsatsen till att förklara hur företagväljer att agera för att undvika alternativt begränsa problemen med lönsamhetsmått.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> Studien baseras på en surveyundersökning i form av en webenkät. Enkäten skickadestill alla tillverkande företag i Sverige med mer än 200 anställda. För att kvalitetssäkra enkätengenomfördes en förstudie på två tillverkande företag i populationen innan distribution skedde.</p><p><strong>Resultat: </strong>Studien visar att svenska tillverkande företag alltid använder en kombination avlönsamhetsmått, resultatmått och icke finansiella mått vid utvärdering. De rekommendationersom presenteras i den amerikanska styrningslitteraturen är i linje med hur svenska företagutvärderar och styr sina verksamheter. Mät‐ och beteende problem upplevs av denanledningen inte i stor utsträckning av företagen i studien. Relevance Lost kritiken och ROIbeteendetkan därför sägas ha mycket liten relevans i en svensk kontext.</p>

<p>Bakgrund: Lean Production uppkom som ett verktyg för att sänka kostnader och därmed öka konkurrenskraften på en allt mer hårdnad marknad. Synen på processtänkande och dess möjligheter har under senare årtionden ökat markant i intresse, däremot har ekonomisystemen inte förändrats i samma takt. Granlund (2001) menar att trots det starka trycket att förändra kalkyleringen använder många företag sig fortfarande av traditionella påläggskalkyler med direkt lön som fördelningsbas. Kaplan & Johnsson belyste redan 1987 problemet och argumenterade för hur traditionella kalkylsystem ger en allt för aggregerad och snedvrängd bild av verkligheten. Den debatt som uppstod är känd under namnet Relevance Lost. Enligt Burns & Vaivio (2001) har kalkyleringen flyttats från att vara en kontrollfunktion till att istället bli en supportfunktion. Traditionell kalkylering har även kompletterats med rullande prognoser, balanserade styrkort och operativa mått. Trots denna komplettering kvarstår problemet med att i ekonomiska mått kunna mäta en processförändring, som inte har någon definierad början och slut.</p><p>Syfte: Vi syftar till att beskriva om och i sådana fall hur företag inom fordonsindustrin förändrar sina kalkyler efter en övergång till Lean Production. Vidare syftar vi till att förklara och förstå om kalkyler kan spegla tillverkningsprocesser, eller vad som kan användas istället.</p><p>Avgränsningar: Vi har avgränsat oss till att undersöka stora svenska företag inom fordonsindustrin som tillverkar enligt Lean Production filosofin</p><p>Genomförande: Vi har studerat sju fallföretag med sammanlagt tretton intervjuer, vilket kan ses som en fallstudieliknande undersökning.</p><p>Resultat: Företag inom den svenska fordonsindustrin har inte valt att förändra sina kalkylsystem efter övergången till Lean Production. Istället har kalkylerna kompletterats med icke-ekonomiska mått, för att mäta processförbättringar.</p>

<p>The thesis examines developments in Swedish theological scholarship during the 20th century, focusing especially on the polarization that manifested itself between the two subject fields theology and religious studies. The main purpose of the study has been to show how this polarization arose, but it also discusses ways of avoiding this polarization and considers how theology relates to society today. The thesis consists of an introduction, two parts and seven chapters. The introductory chapter provides a background in which the orientation and modus operandi of theology during the 20th century are examined from various points of view. The background description presents three tendencies which give starting points for a detailed understanding of Swedish theological scholarship in the 20th century. These three tendencies are the historical orientation of theology, an emphasis on prolegomena (reflections on the subject’s theoretical assumptions) and the fragmentation of theology. These serve as a backdrop for the subsequent study.</p><p>PART ONE “The assumptions of theology” gives a broad understanding of the external assumptions of theology and religious studies in 20th century Sweden. It is divided into two chapters, one of which examines the role of theology in the modern university while the other presents criticism of theologians. This part contains a description and discussion of the external assumptions of theology and how the theological institutions, together with the theology presented there, have been treated by critics.</p><p>PART TWO “Theological approaches” examines some important theological approaches, the main focus being on how theologians have approached questions pertaining to theology’s scholarly credentials and its role in society, a treatment which sheds further light on the various aspects of the issue of the polarization of theology and religious studies. Thus in this study the theologians’ texts will contribute to an understanding of the events of the 20th century. This part is divided into three chapters. The thesis shows that during the 20th century, the question of the scholarly credentials of theology became more important than that of theology’s role in society. The study concludes by gathering together aspects of the orientation of theological scholarship and the picture of theology and religious studies in 20th century Sweden. The polarization of theology and religious studies is discussed from the standpoint of late modern assumptions. The thesis shows that the polarization between theology and religious studies which manifested itself in Swedish theological scholarship during the 20th century arose out of the postulation of simplistic contradictions between the scholarly and the confessional dimensions. Finally, I offer a discussion of the relevance of theology today and what scope it has for connecting with society.</p>

<p>This study aims to evaluate the value relevance of Piotroski’s (2000) nine fundamental signals. In order to do this, the signals are tested on the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm between the years 2003 and 2009. The hypotheses of the study are whether the signals are value relevant and if the value relevance has changed. To test this, a Chi-square test and a regression are used. The tests show that some signals are value relevant, and that some are not. We also find evidence for a change in the value relevance during the years of the observation. Some explanations to why the value relevance has changed is also discussed.<em></em></p>

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Bibliography: leaves 64-70.

<p>The study explored the comparison of grade 8 to 10 urban and peri-urban learners&rsquo / contexts preferences in mathematical literacy. There is currently a strong emphasis on the use of contexts for school mathematics. This has been also the case for South Africa when grade 10 learners have to make a choice between mathematics and mathematical literacy as one of their compulsory subjects for grade 10. This study focused more on the use of mathematics in real life situations. Data was collected by using questionnaires developed as part of the Relevance of School Mathematics Education (ROSME) project. The questionnaire dealt with contexts preferred by grade 10 learners from urban and peri-urban areas. The data were analysed using non-parametric statistical techniques. The findings radicate that there were contexts highly preferred by learners from both urban and peri-urban areas / least preferred by learners from both areas, highly preferred by learners from periurban areas but not by learners from urban areas and least preferred by learners from urban areas but not by those from peri-urban areas and vice versa. It is recommended that contexts highly preferred by learners should be incorporated in the learning experiences of learners.</p>