Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2006. / "MA in arbitration and dispute resolution, LW6409 dissertation" Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 23, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed May 10, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-118).

This thesis investigates the potential and emerging roles of the Social Economy at the level of global governance by examining how transnational civil society (TCS) has organized in an attempt to influence global policy-making. One of this study’s principal aims is to glean insights into the dynamics of civil society coalitions, gaining a better understanding of how they combine the collective knowledge, resources and strengths of members and drawing out some of the “best practices” and challenges inherent in past civil society alliances. This study seeks to explore the complex nature of the relationships that exist among civil society actors and the unique challenges such groups face in forming partnerships by examining these relationships through the lens of Inter-Group Conflict Theory. A Case Study of one TCS partnership, the Make Poverty History (MPH) campaign, is conducted and an Inter-Group Dispute Resolution Analysis of MPH is carried out.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-02-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:08:14Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ishikawa_as_me_prud.pdf: 2910103 bytes, checksum: 7f9f4a0dfa2092ba410c522c10fcb7da (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente trabalho busca desenvolver um método de detecção de rodovias em imagens digitais de alta resolução baseado na teoria de Morfologia Matemática (MM). O uso da MM tem como principal justificativa a utilização de operadores morfológicos como método alternativo para detecção de rodovias visando contribuir para a área de Cartografia, visto que esta é uma excelente ferramenta não-linear que resolve de forma eficiente problemas de extração de informação através da análise das estruturas geométricas dos alvos contidos nas imagens digitais. A área de estudo corresponde a uma imagem pancromática contendo um trecho da Rodovia Raposo Tavares, localizado na região de Presidente Prudente (SP), sendo adquirida pelo satélite de alta resolução Quickbird com resolução espacial de 0,60 m. Para a detecção das pistas de rodovia, desenvolveu-se uma rotina baseada em operadores morfológicos e elementos estruturantes contidos na SDC Morphology Toolbox, a qual roda em ambiente MATLAB. Devido à baixa eficiência do MATLAB em processar imagens com grande dimensão foi necessário recortar a área teste em 11 sub-imagens. Desse modo, a rotina morfológica teve que ser capaz de detectar feições do tipo rodovia nas 11 sub-imagens, alterando-se apenas os valores dos limiares, os quais diferem para cada imagem. Para a elaboração da rotina, inicialmente, com base no tipo de alvo presente na imagem (i.e., rodovias), foram selecionados os operadores e elementos estruturantes morfológicos mais adequados para serem utilizados no processo de detecção. / The present work intends to develop a road detection method in high resolution digital imagery based on the Mathematical Morphology theory (MM). The choice of MM has as a main reason the use of morphologic operators as an alternative method for road detection seeking to contribute for the Cartography area, because this is an excellent nonlinear tool that efficiently solves problems of information extraction through the analysis of geometric structures in the target contained in the digital images. The study area corresponds to a panchromatic image containing a passage of the Raposo Tavares Road, located in Presidente Prudente (SP), being acquired by the high resolution satellite Quickbird with 0,60 m spatial resolution. For the road tracks detection it was developed a routine based in morphologic operators and structuring elements contained in SDC Morphology Toolbox, which turns in software Matlab. Due to the deficiency of Matlab in processing images with great dimension it was necessary to cut out the area tests in 11 sub-images. This way, the morphologic routine had to be able to detect features of the type road in the 11 sub-images, just losing temper the thresholds values, which differ for each image. For the routine elaboration, initially, basing in the type of present target in the image (i.e., roads), the most appropriated morphologic operators and structuring elements were selected to use in the detection process.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2001-11-26Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:50:28Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ishikawa_mi_me_prud.pdf: 658123 bytes, checksum: e1d7f4d23437dc8bb19a8805ed344335 (MD5) / O grande avanço tecnológico desta década, na área de Sensoriamento Remoto, pode ser percebido quando são observadas as grandes mudanças nas características dos sistemas orbitais mais tradicionais, bem como da nova geração de sistemas sensores desenvolvidos com o intuito de auxiliar, cada vez mais, as tarefas de identificação de alvos na superfície terrestre, devido à grande melhoria na resolução espacial. Produtos orbitais de alta resolução, com grau de detalhamento em torno do metro, permitem um melhor aproveitamento das imagens em aplicações cartográficas. O mercado de mapeamento urbano atualmente é ainda quase inteiramente baseado em fotografias aéreas. Porém, o Sensoriamento Remoto orbital vem passando por uma grande evolução tecnológica desde o final de 1999, quando foi lançado pela empresa norte-americana Space Imaging o satélite IKONOS. Este satélite possui sensores capazes de gerar imagens com lmetro de resolução espacial no modo pancromático e 4 metros no modo multiespectral. Estas imagens permitem o mapeamento da cobertura e uso do solo de maneira detalhada e continuada, desde que sejam usados métodos e/ou técnicas apropriadas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo fazer um estudo do potencial de uso das imagens geradas pelo satélite IKONOS, produto Geo, no que diz respeito a escala máxima de utilização em aplicações cartográficas. O procedimento para verificar a exatidão cartográfica baseou-se na análise estatística das discrepâncias entre as coordenadas de pontos no terreno, obtidas através do GPS, e as coordenadas dos pontos homólogos extraídas da imagem IKONOS, através da análise da existência de tendências e da precisão. Como resultado final, chegou-se a conclusão que a imagem IKONOS/Geo utilizada é adequada a escala 1:50000 e menores. / The huge technological advancement that occurred in this decade, in the field of Remote Sensing, can be well perceived when we observe the great changes that occurred in the characteristics of the more traditional orbital systems, as well as of those which belong to the new generation of sensor systems developed with the aim of helping, more and more, the tasks of identification of targets on the Earth surface, due to the improvement on the spatial resolution. Orbital products of high resolution with the possibility of showing details of about one meter in size allow a better employment of imagery in cartographic applications. The urban mapping market is nowadays almost totally based on aerial photography. However, the orbital Remote Sensing is getting through a immense technological evolution since the end of 1999, when the satellite IKONOS was launched by a north American company called Space Imaging. This satellite has sensors capable of generating images with 1 meter resolution in the panchromatic mode and 4 meter resolution in the multispectral mode. These imagery allow mapping the land cover and use in a detailed and continuous manner, providing the appropriate methods and/or techniques are used. This dissertation aimed at studying the potential use of such imagery obtained by IKONOS satellite, Geo Product, specially with respect to the maximum scale of employment for cartographic applications. The approach for the checking the cartographic accuracy was based upon the statistical analysis of discrepancies between the coordinates on the ground, obtained by the use of GPS, and the coordinates of homologue points extracted from the IKONOS imagery, through the analysis of existence of trend and also by the analysis of precision. As a final result, it has been found that the IKONOS/Geo imagery is useful for mapping at 1:50.000 and smaller scales.

Current thinking suggests that specialised modules process visual information in a hierarchical manner, using local circuitry in order to maximise efficiency both in terms of wiring costs and stimulus coverage (Reichl et al. (2012)). The resulting organisation has been shown to contain structure in the form of stripes, columns and pinwheels, which in animal models have been linked to functional segregation and specificity. In human cortex, post-mortem investigations have assisted in the visualisation of two such key features: ocular dominance columns (ODC) within V1, and a stripe system within V2 (Adams et al. (2007); Hockfield et al. (1990)). However, functional observations in humans have until recently been beyond the investigatory scope of in-vivo methodology, and as such, a role of these networks has yet to be conclusively determined. In the small number of instances of in-vivo investigations of human ODC and V2 stripes (Cheng et al. (2001); Yacoub et al. (2001); Nasr et al. (2016)), data have been acquired for a small number of carefully selected participants over long scan durations. I aimed to overcome these limitations and explore the functional similarities further, employing a novel, ultra-high resolution fMRI sequence to do so. I measured the cortical response to monocular stimulation and recorded a robust response within V1. However, the regular and repeating functional patterns of ODCs were not observed. Using multivariate techniques I concluded, based on robust classification, that reliable monocular signals were present but that they were subtle and difficult to differentiate from noise. I then investigated the segregation of colour, form and motion within V2, where I found evidence for spatially segregated signals in response to colour and motion, but not to form. I hypothesised that the form stimulus was sub-optimal in driving the neural population of the associated stripes. Based on a limited number of samples, activity in response to colour and motion stimulation conformed on average to the neuroanatomical profile of the V2 stripe system. I suggest that my results offer encouragement for in-vivo investigations of small-scale functional organisation in visual cortex.

abstract: In this work, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and time resolved confocal fluorescence microscopy are combined to create a microscopy technique which allows for nanometer resolution topographic and fluorescence imaging. This technique can be applied to any sample which can be immobilized on a surface and which can be observed by fluorescence microscopy. Biological problems include small molecular systems, such as membrane receptor clusters, where very high optical resolutions need to be achieved. In materials science, fluorescent nanoparticles or other optically active nanostructures can be investigated using this technique. In the past decades, multiple techniques have been developed that yield high resolution optical images. Multiple far-field techniques have overcome the diffraction limit and allow fluorescence imaging with resolutions of few tens of nanometers. On the other hand, near-field microscopy, that makes use of optically active structures much smaller than the diffraction limit can give resolutions around ten nanometers with the possibility to collect topographic information from flat samples. The technique presented in this work reaches resolutions in the nanometer range along with topographic information from the sample. DNA origami with fluorophores attached to it was used to show this high resolution. The fluorophores with 21 nm distance could be resolved and their position on the origami determined within 10 nm. Not only did this work reach a new record in optical resolution in near-field microscopy (5 nm resolution in air and in water), it also gave an insight into the physics that happens between a fluorescent molecule and a dielectric nanostructure, which the AFM tip is. The experiments with silicon tips made a detailed comparison with models possible on the single molecule level, highly resolved in space and time. On the other hand, using silicon nitride and quartz as tip materials showed that effects beyond the established models play a role when the molecule is directly under the AFM tip, where quenching of up to 5 times more efficient than predicted by the model was found. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Physics 2012

This thesis is on the study of the characterization of interfaces and surfaces of high-k stacks for the future microelectronics. The changes of the high-k stacks during thermal processing and its mechanism have been experimentally investigated by high-resolution Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (HRBS) in combination with isotope tracing. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical prediction that the silicon will be emitted outward to release the stress which is induced by the interface Si oxidation. Then, we studied the potential method, oxygen-gettering by Ti overlayer, for controlling the interface SiO2 thickness. Furthermore, we proposed a Time-Of-Flight (TOF) detector system for application on crystallographic analysis. TOF-RBS system is capable to analyze the sample’s crystallographic and chemical information even at the near surface of the sample, which is strongly required by the future microelectronics industry. In this chapter, brief introduction to the high-k stacks and the outline of this thesis are described. / Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第13814号 / 工博第2918号 / 新制||工||1431(附属図書館) / 26030 / UT51-2008-C730 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科マイクロエンジニアリング専攻 / (主査)教授 木村 健二, 教授 斧 髙一, 教授 立花 明知 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

High resolution imaging and spectroscopy are invaluable tools for extragalactic astronomy. Galaxies with redshifts of 1 or more subtend a very small angle on the sky—typically, only about an arcsecond. Unfortunately, this is also approximately the angular resolution achieved with a ground-based telescope regardless of its aperture. Atmospheric turbulence ruins the image before it reaches the telescope but the emerging technology of adaptive optics (AO) gives the observer the possibility, within limitations, of correcting for these effects. This is the case for instruments such as the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Adaptive Optics Bonnette (AOB) and the Gemini North Telescope (Gemini) Altitude-Conjugate Adaptive Optics for the Infrared (Altair) systems. The alternative is to rise above the limitations of the atmosphere entirely and put the telescope in space, for example, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and its successor, the Next-Generation Space Telescope (NGST). I discuss several techniques that help overcome the limitations of AO observations with existing instruments in order to make them more comparable to imaging from space. For example, effective dithering and flat-fielding techniques as well as methods to determine the effect of the instrument on the image of, say, a galaxy. The implementation of these techniques as a software package called AOTOOLS is discussed. I also discuss computer simulations of AO systems, notably the Gemini Altair instrument, in order to understand and improve them. I apply my AO image processing techniques to observations of high-redshift radio galaxies (HzRGS) with the CFHT AOB and report on deep imaging in near-infrared (NIR) bands of 6 HzRGs in the redshift range 1.1 ≤ z ≤ 3.8. The NIR is probing the restframe visible light—mature stellar populations—at these redshifts. The radio galaxy is resolved in all of these observations and its ‘clumpier’ appearance at higher redshift leads to the main result—although the sample is very small—that these galaxy environments are undergoing mergers at high redshift. Finally, I look to the future of high resolution observations and discuss simulations of imaging and spectroscopy with the NGST. The computer software NGST VI/MOS is a ‘virtual reality’ simulator of the NGST observatory providing the user with the opportunity to test real observing campaigns. / Graduate

Many people in widely varied fields are exposed to categorical data describing myriad observations. The breadth of applications in which categorical data are used means that many of the people tasked to apply these data have not been trained in data analysis. Visualization of data is often used to alleviate this problem since visualization can convey relevant information in a non-mathematical manner. However, visualizations are frequently static and the tools to create them are largely geared towards quantitative data. It is the purpose of this thesis to demonstrate a method which expands on the parallel coordinates method of visualization and uses a 'Google Maps' style of interaction and view dependent data presentation for visualizing and exploring categorical data that is accessible by non-experts and promotes the use of domain specific knowledge. The parallel coordinates method has enjoyed increasing popularity in recent times, but has several shortcomings. This thesis seeks to address some of these problems in a manner which involves not just addressing the final static image which is generated, but the paradigm of interaction as well.