Mimicking the biological olfactory systems that consist of olfactory receptor arrays with large surface area and massively-diversified chemical reactivity, three dimensional (3D) metal oxide nanowire arrays were used as the active materials for gas detection. Metal oxide nanowire arrays share similar 3D structures as the array of mammal's olfactory receptors and the chemical reactivity of nanowire array can be modified by surface coatings. In this dissertation, two standalone gas sensors based on metal oxide nanowire arrays prepared by microfabrication and in-situ micromanipulation, respectively, have been demonstrated. The sensors based on WO3 nanowire arrays can detect 50 ppb NO2 with a fast response; well-aligned CuO nanowire array present a new detection mechanism, which can identify H2S at a concentration of 500 ppb. To expand the material library of 3D metal oxide nanowire arrays for gas sensing, a general route to polycrystalline metal oxide nanowire array has been introduced by using ZnO nanowire arrays as structural templates. The effectiveness of this method for high performance gas sensing was first investigated by single-nanowire devices. The polycrystalline metal oxide coatings showed high performance for gas detection and their sensitivity can be further enhanced by catalytic noble metal decorations. To form electronic nose systems, different metal oxide coatings and catalytic decorations were employed to diversify the chemical reactivity of the sensors. The systems can detect low concentrated H2S and NO2 at room temperature down to part-per-billion level. The system with different catalytic metal coatings is also capable of discriminiating five different gases (H2S, NO2, NH3, H2 and CO).

This thesis serves as documentation of my efforts to define accurately my creative process as an actor in creating the role of Masha in The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov. This includes research, character analysis, rehearsal journal and an evaluation of my performance. The Three Sisters was produced by the University of New Orleans Department of Film, Theatre and Communication Arts in New Orleans, Louisiana. The play was performed in the Thrust Theatre of the Performing Arts Center at 8:00 pm on the evenings of April 19 through 21 and April 26 through 28, with one matinee at 2:30 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2007.

A dissertation submitted for the fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science to the Faculty of Science, Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg. June 2016. / The combination of effective numerical techniques and scientific intuition to find new and novel types of materials is the process used in the discovery of materials for future technologies. Adding to that, being able to calculate the radiative lifetimes of excitons, exciton properties, and the optical properties by using efficient numerical techniques gives an estimation and identification of the best candidate materials for a solar cell. This approach is inexpensive and stable. Present ab initio methods based on Many-body perturbation theory and density functional theory are capable of predicting these properties with a high enough level of accuracy for most cases. The electronic properties calculated using GaAs as a reference system and the 3D hybird perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 are based on density functional theory. The optical properties are investigated by calculating the dielectric function. The theoretical framework of the radiative lifetime of excitons and calculating the exciton properties are based on Wannier model of the exciton and the Bethe-Salpeter equation. / MT2017

Thesis advisor: John A. Baldwin / We study the relationship between knots in contact three-manifolds and complex curves in Stein surfaces. To do so, we extend the notion of quasipositivity from classical braids to links that are braided with respect to an open book decomposition of an arbitrary closed, oriented three-manifold. Our main results characterize the transverse links in Stein-fillable contact three-manifolds that bound smooth holomorphic curves in Stein fillings. This characterization is made possible by new techniques in the theory of characteristic and open book foliations on surfaces in three-manifolds. We also explore the Seifert genera of cross-sections of complex plane curves, minimal braid representatives of quasipositive links, and the relationship between Legendrian ribbons in contact three-manifolds and strongly quasipositive braids with respect to compatible open books. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Mathematics.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts May 2016 / The technology of 3-D Printing is afforded extensive coverage in the media. Discourses surrounding this technology are charged with ideas of revolutions in manufacturing, democratisation of technology, and the potential to change the face of consumption and production. This technology is being marketed to the consumer and hobbyist. The consumer-grade 3-D printer is a result of the labour of a loose-knit worldwide community of hobbyists known as the "Maker movement". This movement, a convergence of the traditional "Hacker" culture and Do It Yourself (DIY) is constructed around ideas of affective labour. That is, labour performed for the sole purpose of enjoyment of doing so, and for a sense of well-being and community. The explosion of "affordable" 3-D printing as a technology is a result of this affective labour, yet little mention is made of any forms of labour in popular media discourses surrounding this technology. In this paper I construct a history of the Maker movement while theorising the forms of labour inherent to this movement using the Autonomist Marxism of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri as a framework. Then, working within the field of Cultural Studies, and drawing on Actor-Network Theory (ANT), I perform Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) on a small sample of texts to illustrate the occlusion and obfuscation of labour within these discourses of the consumer 3-D printer

Thesis advisor: Summer H. Hawkins / Thesis advisor: David Takeuchi / Dramatic increase in the number of people living to old age has led to a higher prevalence of three-generational households during the last few decades. And co-resident grandparents play a more important role in the lives of children as caregivers in three-generational households. However, little is known about the longitudinal effects of co-resident grandparents on grandchildren’s health. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) from Wave I-III, this three-paper dissertation explored the longitudinal effects of co-residence with grandparents on the physical and psychological health of grandchildren in three-generational households across racial/ethnic groups. Paper 1 investigated the determinants of co-residence with grandparents in three-generational households within the family context, showing that co-residence with a grandparent was associated with low socio-economic status for white families, and with family culture for Hispanic families. Paper 2 examined the influence of co-residence with grandparents on BMI trajectories as adolescents age into emerging adulthood across racial/ethnic groups. The results showed that Hispanic adolescents who lived with a grandparent showed significantly slower rates of BMI growth compared to those who have not lived with a grandparent during adolescence. Paper 3 examined how co-residence with a grandparent affects adolescents’ depressive trajectories as they age into early adulthood and whether this relationship varies by immigrant generational status. The results showed that Asian first-generation immigrant adolescents experienced less depressive symptoms than Asian second- and third- generation immigrant adolescents in three-generational households. This dissertation suggested that we attempt to provide intergenerational policies and services to improve the well-being of all family members. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Acquiring 3-D motion of a camera from image sequences is one of the key components in a wide range of applications such as human computer interaction. Given the 3-D structure, the problem of camera motion recovery can he solved using the model-based approaches, which are well-known and have good performance under a controlled environment. If prior information on the scene is not available, traditional Structure from Motion (SFM) algorithms, which simultaneously estimate the scene structure and pose information, are required. The research presented in this thesis belongs to a different category: Motion from Motion (MFM), in which the main concern is the camera position and orientation. To be more precise, MFM algorithms have the capability of estimating 3-D camera motion directly from 2-D image motion without the explicit reconstruction of the scene structure, even though the 3-D model structure is not known in prior. As keeping track of the structural information is no longer required, putting these types of algorithms into real applications is relatively easy and convenient. / It is demonstrated in the experiments that the proposed algorithms are efficient, stable and accurate compared to several existing approaches. Furthermore, they have been put into applications such as mixed reality, virtual reality, robotics and super-resolution to show their performance in real situations. / The objective of this thesis is to develop a high-speed recursive approach that tackles the MFM problem. On the way to the final goal, a series of methods, each having its own strengths and characteristics, have been studied. (1) The first algorithm computes the camera pose from a monocular image sequence. The trifocal tensor is incorporated into the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) formulation. The step of computing the 3-D models can thus be eliminated. (2) The proposed approach is then extended to the recovery of motion from a stereo image sequence. By applying the trifocal tensor to a stereo vision framework, the trifocal constraint becomes more robust and is not likely to be degenerate. In addition, the twist motion model is adopted to parameterize the 3-D motion. It does not suffer from singularities as Euler angles, and is minimal as opposed to quaternion and the direct use of rotation matrix. (3) The third method introduces the Interacting Multiple Model Probabilistic Data Association Filter (IMMPDAF) to the MFM problem. The Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) technique allows the existence of more than one dynamic system and in return leads to improved accuracy and stability even under abrupt motion changes. The Probabilistic Data Association (PDA) framework makes the automatic selection of measurement sets possible, resulting in enhanced robustness to occlusions and moving objects. As the PDA associates stereo correspondences probabilistically, the explicit establishment of stereo matches is not necessary except during initialization, and the point features present in the outer region of the stereo images can be utilized. / Yu, Ying Kin. / "July 2007." / Adviser: Wong Kin Hong. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: B, page: 1125. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-130). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

by Andrew Poon Ngai Ho. / Thesis (M.S.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [97-98]). / ABSTRACT / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 2. --- REPRESENTATION OP SPEECH DATA --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1 --- SAMPLE DATA REPRESENTATION --- p.4 / Chapter 2.2 --- ANALOG LINEAR SYSTEM MODEL --- p.7 / Chapter 2.3 --- DISCRETE FOURIER TRANSFORM --- p.8 / Chapter 2.4 --- FILTER BAND REPRESENTATION --- p.8 / Chapter 2.5 --- LINEAR PREDICTIVE CODING (LPC) --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2 --- LPC CEPSTRAL COEFFICIENT --- p.13 / Chapter 3. --- MULTI-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1 --- PURE GRAPHICAL TOOLS --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- MULTI-HISTOGRAM --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- STARS --- p.19 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- SPIKED SCATTERPLOT --- p.19 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- GLYPHS --- p.22 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- BOXES --- p.22 / Chapter 3.1.6 --- LIMITATIONS OF THE BASIC METHODS --- p.22 / Chapter 3.1.7 --- CHERNOFF FACES --- p.26 / Chapter 3.1.8 --- ANDREW'S CURVE --- p.27 / Chapter 3.1.9 --- LIMITATIONS OF CHERNOFF FACES AND ANDREW'S CURVE --- p.30 / Chapter 3.1.10 --- SCATTERED PLOT MATRIX --- p.30 / Chapter 3.1.11 --- PARALLEL-AXIS SYSTEM --- p.32 / Chapter 3.1.12 --- COMMON BASIC PITFALL --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2 --- PURE PROJECTION METHODS --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- PRINCIPLE CO-ORDINATES ANALYSIS --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- REGRESSION ANALYSIS --- p.38 / Chapter 3.3 --- SLICED INVERSE REGRESSION (SIR) --- p.41 / Chapter 4 --- DATA ANALYSIS --- p.50 / Chapter 4.1 --- PROGRAMS AND TEST DATA --- p.50 / Chapter 4.2 --- ACTUAL SPEECH DATA RESULTS --- p.63 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- "SINGLE UTTERANCE OF ""4"" BY SPEAKER A ONLY" --- p.66 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- "TWELVE UTTERANCES OF ""4"" BY SPEAKER A" --- p.72 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- "THREE UTTERANCES PER SPEAKER OF ""4"" BY SPEAKER A, B AND C" --- p.78 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- "TWO UTTERANCES PER DIGIT OF ""1"" TO ""9"" BY SPEAKER A" --- p.83 / Chapter 4.2.5 --- "ONE UTTERANCE PER DIGIT PER SPEAKER OF ""1"" TO ""9"" BY SPEAKER A,B,C" --- p.86 / CONCLUSION AND FURTHER WORKS --- p.93 / Chapter 5.1 --- CONCLUSION --- p.93 / Chapter 5.2 --- FURTHER WORKS --- p.94 / REFERENCES / APPENDIX I MATLAB PROGRAM LISTING FOR SIR / APPENDIX 2 C PROGRAM LISTING FOR ROTATIONAL VIEW / APPENDIX 3 C PROGRAM LISTING FOR LPC AND CEPSTRAL TRANSFORMS / "APPENDIX 4 ALL VIEWS, EIGENVALUES AND EIGENVECTORS FOR SINGLE UTTERANCE OF ""4"" BY SPEAKER A" / "APPENDIX 5 ALL VIEWS, EIGENVALUES AND EIGENVECTORS FOR 12 UTTERANCES OF ""4"" BY SPEAKER A" / "APPENDIX 6 ALL VIEWS, EIGENVALUES AND EIGENVECTORS FOR 5 UTTERANCES PER SPEAKER OF ""4"" BY SPEAKER A,B,C" / "APPENDIX 7 ALL VIEWS, EIGENVALUES AND EIGENVECTORS FOR 2 UTTERANCES PER DIGIT OF DIGIT ""l"" TO ""9"" BY SPEAKER A" / "APPENDIX 8 ALL VIEWS, EIGENVALUES AND EIGENVECTORS FOR 1UTTERANCE PER SPEAKER PER DIGIT OF ""1"" TO ""9"" BY SPEAKER A,B,C"

by Tin Pong. / Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 73). / Abstract --- p.2 / Acknowledgement --- p.4 / Table of Contents --- p.5 / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.8 / Chapter II. --- Segmentation Tools --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1. --- Segmentation of Object --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1.1. --- Segmentation algorithm --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1.2. --- Region growing algorithm --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2. --- Noise Reduction --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2.1. --- Median filtering --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Mean filtering --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3. --- Other functions --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3.1. --- Contrast enhancement and reduction --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3.2. --- Brightness increment and reduction --- p.22 / Chapter III. --- 3D Visualization Tools --- p.23 / Chapter 3.1. --- Interpolation --- p.23 / Chapter 3.1.1. --- Estimate distance between slices --- p.23 / Chapter 3.1.2. --- Trilinear Interpolation --- p.24 / Chapter 3.2. --- Projection --- p.26 / Chapter 3.2.1. --- Parallel projection --- p.26 / Chapter 3.2.2. --- Z-Buffers --- p.27 / Chapter 3.3. --- Rotation of 3D image --- p.29 / Chapter 3.4. --- Shading --- p.30 / Chapter IV. --- Description of the software developed --- p.32 / Chapter 4.1. --- Programming environment --- p.32 / Chapter 4.2. --- Software developed --- p.32 / Chapter 4.3. --- 2D object segmentation panel --- p.35 / Chapter 4.4. --- 3D object segmentation panel --- p.45 / Chapter V. --- Results and analysis --- p.56 / Chapter 5.1. --- Results of segmentation of object --- p.56 / Chapter 5.2. --- Results of 3D visualization tools --- p.64 / Chapter VI. --- Future Development --- p.70 / Chapter VII. --- Conclusion --- p.72 / References --- p.73

Wai-kin Vong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-[91]). / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Three Dimensional Image --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Definition of segmentation --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- 3D Image Segmentation --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Image Splitting Operation --- p.4 / Chapter 1.5 --- Region Merging Operation --- p.4 / Chapter 1.6 --- Split-and-merge Segmentation --- p.4 / Chapter 1.6.1 --- Selection of particular operators --- p.5 / Chapter 2 --- Overview of Image Segmentation Techniques --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2 --- Edge Based Method --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- 3D Laplacian of Gaussian Filtering --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- 3D Deformable Surfaces [8] --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3 --- Region Based Method --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- 3D oct-tree split-and-merge --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- 3D pyramid segmentation --- p.17 / Chapter 2.4 --- 2D segmentation Approaches --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- 2D Image segmentation by shape description --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Morphological Watershed Transform (WT) --- p.23 / Chapter 2.5 --- Discussion --- p.34 / Chapter 3 --- Modification Of Digital Watershed Transform (DWT) --- p.36 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2 --- Edge Detection --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Discrete Non-linear Edge Detectors --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Canny's Edge Detector --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Gradient of Gaussian Filter --- p.42 / Chapter 3.3 --- Digital Watershed Transform --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Introduction --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Modification of SKIZ --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Implementation --- p.51 / Chapter 4 --- Region Modeling --- p.55 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2 --- Texture Definition --- p.57 / Chapter 4.3 --- Texture Modeling --- p.58 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Markov Random Field (MRF) --- p.58 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Simultaneous Autoregressive (SAR) Model --- p.59 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Parameter Estimation --- p.61 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- A Simple model --- p.63 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Combination of MRF parameters --- p.63 / Chapter 4.3.6 --- Similarity Measure --- p.66 / Chapter 4.4 --- Model Evaluation --- p.68 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Classification of Different Materials --- p.68 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Rotational Invariance --- p.69 / Chapter 4.5 --- Results and Observations --- p.72 / Chapter 5 --- Three-Dimensional Segmentation with Interactive Labeling --- p.73 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.73 / Chapter 5.2 --- Region Merging Scheme --- p.75 / Chapter 5.3 --- Interactive Labeling --- p.76 / Chapter 5.4 --- Experiment of 3D Guided Segmentation --- p.77 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.81 / Chapter 6.1 --- Image Partitioning by Watershed Transform --- p.81 / Chapter 6.2 --- Image modeling by Markov Random Field --- p.82 / Chapter 6.3 --- 3D image segmentation --- p.82 / A --- p.84 / B --- p.86 / Bibliography --- p.87