Although the static measure of accommodation is well documented, the dynamic aspect of the resting state (dark focus) of accommodation is still unknown. Previous studies suggest that refractive error is minimal at the intermediate resting point of accommodation — i.e., at the dark focus distances. Additionally, aging is closely linked to increased refractive error. In order to assess the effects of age on dark focus distance and its utility in enhancing the visual information transfer rate, two experiments were conducted under nighttime condition (scotopic vision) in a laboratory setting. A total of forty participants with normal vision or corrected to normal vision were recruited from four different age groups (younger: 26.9±5.0 years; middle-aged: 50.7±4.8 years; young-old: 64.6±2.8 years; and old-old: 79.8±6.1 years). Each age group included ten participants. In Experiment I, the accommodative status of dark focus at the fovea was assessed objectively using the modified autorefractor, a newly developed method to continuously monitor the accommodation process. The mean dark focus distances for younger, middle-aged, young-old, and old-old adults were 64.5±6.6, 73.4±20.6, 84.4±29, and 92.1±33.4 cm, respectively. There was a significant difference between the dark focus distances among different age groups. Post-hoc analysis indicated that there were statistically significant differences among young and old-old, young and young-old, and middle-aged and old-old age groups. In Experiment II, the information transfer rate was determined while viewing a target at three different distances: 52 cm, 73 cm (current recommended reading distances) and the individual's dark focus. A set of randomized alphabet characters were presented on a visual display with a luminance level of 20 cd/m2 and ambient illumination level of 4 lux. To assess the information transfer rate, participants were asked to read a set of characters aloud with their fastest rate for three seconds. Three measurements of information transfer rate at each viewing distance at random were made. Results obtained from each viewing distance were collected and averaged. The results showed that the mean visual information transfer rate for younger, middle-aged, young-old, and old-old adults were 14.27±1.43, 10.58±2.25, 9.35±2.13, and 7.73±2.36 bits/sec, respectively. There were statistically significant differences at α < 0.05 in means and standard deviations of visual information transfer rate in young and old-old, young and young-old, young and middle-aged, and middle-aged and old-old age groups. The mean visual information transfer rate at 52 cm, 73 cm and individual dark focus were 11.08±3.10, 10.14±2.97, and 10.22±3.42 bits/sec, respectively. There were statistically significant differences at α < 0.05 in means and standard deviations of visual information transfer rate at different viewing distances at 52 cm and 73 cm, and 52 cm and individual's dark focus. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the interaction between age and viewing distance (F = 1.6818, P = 0.1378) on the amount of visual information transfer rate. In summary, the visual information transfer rate was not greater when presenting visual stimulus at the individual's dark focus as compared with two fixed recommended viewing distances (52 cm and 73 cm). The greatest amount of visual information gained was at 52 cm. Actual and potential applications of this study including specifications for designs were also discussed. / Ph. D.

The standard model of particle physics cannot currently explain the origin of neutrino masses and anomalies that have been observed at different experiments. One solution for this is to introduce a beyond the standard model origin for these issues, which introduces a coupling between neutrinos and dark matter. Such an interaction would have implications on cosmology and would be constrained by astrophysical neutrino sources. A promising astrophysical source to probe this interaction is core-collapse supernovae as they release ~3x10^53 erg in neutrinos for each transient. However, more observations that constrain the internal physics of core-collapse supernovae are needed in order to better understand their neutrino emission. This dissertation studies two probes of internal physics that allow for a better understanding of the neutrino emission from core-collapse supernovae. The first is a novel approach to try and detect more supernova neutrinos that do not come from galactic events nor from the diffuse supernova background. This is accomplished by doing an offline timing coincidence search at neutrino detectors with a search window determined by optical observations of core-collapse supernovae. With a two-tank Hyper-Kamiokande, this allows for ~1 neutrino detection every 10 years with a confidence level of ~2.6 sigma, resulting from low nearby core-collapse rates and large background rates in the energy range of interest. The second probe of internal physics is high energy gamma-rays from the decays of unstable nuclei in proto-magnetar jets. The abundance distribution of the unstable nuclei depends directly on the neutrino emission, which controls the electron fraction, as well as properties of the proto-magnetar. We find that different proto-magnetar properties produce gamma-ray signals that are distinguishable from each other, and multiple types of observations allow for estimations of the jet and proto-magnetar properties. These gamma-ray signals are detectable for on-axis jets out to extragalactic distances, ~35 Mpc in the best case, and for off-axis jets the signal is only detectable for galactic or local galaxies depending upon the viewing angle. This dissertation also studies a phenomenological constraint on the interactions between neutrinos and dark matter. Using the neutrino emission from supernovae and the inferred dark matter distributions in Milky Way dwarf spheroidals, we constrain the amount of energy the neutrinos can inject into the dark matter sub-halos. This then allows a constraint on the interaction cross-section between neutrinos and dark matter with assumptions about the interaction kinematics. Assuming Lambda-CDM to be correct, the neutrinos cannot interact with low mass dark matter too often as it will become gravitationally unbound, changing the mass of the core we see today. For high mass dark matter, neutrinos can only inject a fraction of ~6.8x10^-6 of their energy in order to not conflict with estimates of the current shapes of the dark matter sub-halos. The constraints we obtain are sigma_nu-DM(E_nu=15 MeV, m_DM>130 GeV) ~ 3.4x10^-23 cm^2 and sigma_nu-DM(E_nu=15 MeV, m_DM <130 GeV) ~ 3.2x10^-27} (m_DM/1 GeV)^2 cm^2, which is slightly stronger than previous bounds for these energies. Consideration of baryonic feedback or host galaxy effects on the dark matter profile can strengthen this constraint. / Doctor of Philosophy / In our current understanding of the physics of the particles that govern how the universe behaves, there is no way to explain the properties we observe for the neutrino. Neutrinos were originally theorized to have zero mass, however neutrino experiments suggests otherwise. The current model of particle physics cannot explain how the neutrinos have mass, therefore an viable way to explain it is to introduce new physics that can generate the neutrino masses. A way to do this is to allow the neutrinos to interact with dark matter, which is matter that does not interact with light and is therefore invisible to the human eye. We know dark matter should exist in the universe due to the gravitational effects it has, making things like galaxies much heavier than what the stars and gas we see can explain. If neutrinos and dark matter interact, we should be able to see the effects of these interactions in the universe, and also possibly at locations where many neutrinos are produced. One such source of neutrinos in the universe are core-collapse supernovae, which are the deaths of massive stars and produce copious amounts of neutrinos. This dissertation studies signals that allow us to better understand the neutrino emission from core-collapse supernovae. One of these signals comes from summing the neutrinos we detect from many distant core-collapse supernovae. This technique uses the optical observations of the supernovae to give us a time window around which we can go through neutrino detector data to find if there are any neutrino detections that cannot be explained as coming from background events. Another method is to observe gamma-rays, high energy photons, that come from the radioactive decay of elements in jets moving near the speed of light powered by rare core-collapse supernovae. The specific gamma-rays and the overall brightness of them allows for an estimation of the properties of the neutrino emission and properties of the central engine that accelerates the jet to near the speed of light. This dissertation also studies the implications of a possible interactions in small and dim satellite galaxies of the Milky Way known as dwarf spheroidals. The shape of the dark matter that is distributed in these dwarf spheroidals can be inferred from the motion of the stars in that dwarf spheroidal, and this shape disagrees with the prevailing theory of dark matter in the universe. We take advantage of this disagreement to place an upper limit on both the mass loss that can occur in this region and the energy that past core-collapse supernovae within the dwarf spheroidals can inject into the dark matter. The mass loss bound lets us place a constraint on how often neutrinos can interact with light dark matter particles. The energy injection limit and an assumption on the energy transfer in each interaction between dark matter and neutrinos allows us to constrain how often the interaction can occur for heavy dark matter particles.

It is the purpose of the study to determine if the addition of Vita Yam as a source of vitamin A to the daily diet improves the dark adaptation of college-age students.

Recent studies have offered an abundance of evidence which indicates that night blindness is caused by vitamin A deficiency. Both adults and children have been used to investigate the relationship between vitamin A deficiency and night blindness.

Mörk turism är ett växande fenomen som ger turisten möjligheten till mer annorlunda resor, där död, olyckor och det makabra är i fokus. Som dödliga varelser kan man argumentera att det alltid finns ett visst intresse för döden, både sin egen död och andras (Stone 2006). Mörk turism är heller inget nytt fenomen. Stone (2006) konstaterar att man kan dra kopplingar med mörk turism ända till de romerska gladiatorspelen. Ett annat tidigt exempel av mörk turism kan vara offentliga avrättningar under medeltiden. Under åren har fenomenet mörk turism förändrats. Enligt Stone (2006) har mörk turism under det senaste århundradet blivit mer utbrett, Stone (2006) citerar Smith (1998); the largest single category of tourist attraction in the world” när det kommer till platser som har en koppling till mörka och historiska händelser. Det är framför allt platser med koppling till krigsskadade platser.    Denna studie syftar till att skapa en förståelse varför individer besöker mörka platser. Respondenternas resmål har i sin tur kopplat samman med deras nationalitet och motiven bakom resan. Denna studie grundar sig på en kvantitativ studie i form av en elektronisk enkät skapad i programmet Survey&amp;Report. Den insamlade enkätdatan har i sin tur analyserats i SPSS för att få en djupare inblick av resultatet. För att besvara vårt syfte och frågeställningar har vi valt att publicera enkäten i två olika Facebook-grupper Dark Tourism Photography &amp; Dark Tourism and Curious Places och i Redditgruppen dark tourism. Enkäten delades även ut till individer som vi ansåg vara lämpliga för studien.   Det totala antalet respondenter blev 52. Resultatet av denna studie visar på att de flesta av respondenterna besökte mörka platser med motiven ‘Utbildande syfte’ och ‘Att minnas det förflutna. En central fråga i frågeformuläret var även om respondenten såg något etiskt dilemma med att besöka mörka platser. Här var resultatet relativt tudelat där nästan lika många svarade Ja som Nej. / Dark tourism is a growing phenomenon that gives the tourist the opportunity to travels focusing on death, accidents and the macabre are in focus. As mortal beings, one can argue that there is always some interest in death, both our own death and others (Stone 2006). Dark tourism is also not a new phenomenon. Stone (2006) notes dark tourism can be traced back to the Roman gladiator games. Another early example of dark tourism may be public executions during the Middle Ages. Over the years, the phenomenon of dark tourism has changed. According to Stone (2006), dark tourism in the last century has become more widespread, Stone (2006) cites Smith (1998); “the largest single category of tourist attraction in the world”. When it comes to places that have a connection to dark and historical events. It is mainly places with connections to places damaged by war. This study aims to create an understanding why individuals visit dark places. The respondents' destinations, are linked to their nationality and the motives behind the trip. This study is based on a quantitative study in the form of an electronic survey created in the program Survey &amp; Report. The collected survey data has in turn been analysed in SPSS to get a deeper insight into the result. In order to answer our research aim and questions, we have chosen to publish the survey in two different facebook groups Dark Tourism Photography &amp; Dark Tourism and Curious Places and in the Reddit group dark tourism. The survey was also sent out to individuals who we considered being suitable for our research subject 52 respondents participated in the survey. The result of this study shows that most of the respondents visited dark places with the motives ‘Educational purpose’ and ‘To remember the past. A central question in the questionnaire was ‘if the respondent saw some ethical dilemma’ with visiting dark places. Here, the result was relatively divided, where almost as many answered Yes as No.

Dark Tourism är en reseform som länge studerats men som ännu inte har någon enhetlig definition. Begreppet innefattar resor till forna slagfält, mordplatser, kyrkogårdar, platser där kända personer dött, minnesplatser, evenemang och utställningar med reliker och annat återskapande av döden. Då resor till Dark Tourism attraktioner blivit en allt mer populär reseform har vi genom den här studien valt att studera vilka bakomliggande intressen och anledningar som gör att människan väljer att besöka en Dark Tourism attraktion. Underlaget till studien grundar sig på fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer som besökt Dark Tourism attraktioner samt två berättelser av våra egna erfarenheter av ett besök vid en attraktion.Studiens resultat visade att det finns olika faktorer som påverkar varför turister reser till en Dark Tourism attraktion. Vi kunde däremot genom studien se att det fanns två faktorer som främst spelade in. Faktorerna var människans vilja och behov av att lära sig nya saker samt viljan och behovet om att få kunskap om sig själv, genom att finna sitt arv.

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O impacto que estruturas algébricas podem exercer em teorias físicas e bem ilustrado pela Mecânica Quântica, onde os números complexos são inquestionavelmente a escolha mais adequada para desenvolver a teoria. A Relatividade Geral pseudo-complexa avalia a possibilidade da interação gravitacional assumir sua descrição mais natural quando construída tendo como base os números pseudo-complexos, que consistem em uma das três possibilidades de números complexos abelianos com uma unica unidade imaginária. Esse conjunto numérico e dotado de elementos não nulos cujo produto e zero, tais números recebem o nome de zeros generalizados ou divisores de zero. A presença de zeros generalizados permite a introdução de um princípio variacional modificado do qual um termo adicional, ausente na Relatividade Geral, emerge nas equações de campo. Esse termo adicional e interpretado como uma energia escura, cuja origem física está relacionada com flutuações no vácuo. A inclusão desse efeito e legítima pois flutuações no vácuo a priori devem gravitar como qualquer outra forma de energia. Das equações de campo podemos resumir a principal ideia conceitual da teoria, na Relatividade Geral pseudo-complexa massa não apenas curva o espaçotempo como também e capaz de alterar a estrutura do espaço-tempo ao redor da massa. As diferenças com relação a Relatividade Geral se manifestam em situações físicas extremas, no regime de campos gravitacionais intensos. Como aplicação analisamos sob o ponto de vista teórico um objeto compacto exótico composto por matéria escura fermiônica. / The impact that algebraic structures can exert on physical theories is well illustrated by Quantum Mechanics, where complex numbers are unquestionably the most appropriate choice to develop the theory. Pseudo-complex General Relativity evaluates the possibility that the gravitational interaction acquires its most natural description when constructed upon pseudo-complex numbers, which consist of one of the three possibilities of abelian complex numbers with a single imaginary unit. This numerical set is endowed with nonzero elements whose product is zero, such numbers are called generalized zeros or divisors of zero. The presence of generalized zeros allows the introduction of a modi ed variational principle from which an additional term, absent in General Relativity, emerges in the eld equations. This additional term is interpreted as a dark energy, whose physical origin is related to vacuum uctuations. The inclusion of this e ect is legitimate because a priori vacuum uctuations must gravitate as any other form of energy. From the eld equations we can summarize the main conceptual idea of the theory, in pseudo-complex General Relativity mass not only curves spacetime but also is able to change the structure of the spacetime around the mass. The di erences with respect to General Relativity are manifested in extreme physical situations in the regime of intense gravitational elds. As an application we analyze from the theoretical point of view an exotic compact object composed of fermionic dark matter.

O lado escuro do universo é misterioso e sua natureza é ainda desconhecida. De fato, isto talvez constitua o maior desafio da cosmologia moderna. As duas com- ponentes do setor escuro (mat´ eria escura e energia escura) correspondem hoje a cerca de noventa e cinco por cento do universo. O candidato mais simples para a energia energia é uma constante cosmológica. Contudo, esta tentativa apresenta uma enorme discrepância de 120 ordens de magnitude entre a predição teórica e os dados observados. Tal disparidade motiva os físicos a investigar modelos mais sofisticados. Isto pode ser feito tanto buscando um entendimento mais profundo de onde a constante cosmológica vem, se deseja-se derivá-la de primeiros princípios, quanto considerando outras possibilidades para a expansão acelerada, tais como modificações da relatividade geral, campos de matéria adi- cionais e assim por diante. Ainda considerando uma energia escura dinâmica, pode existir a possibilidade de interação entre energia e matéria escuras, uma vez que suas densidades são comparáveis e, dependendo do acoplamento usado, a interação pode também aliviar a questão de porquê as densidades de matéria e energia escura são da mesma ordem hoje. Modelos fenomenológicos tem sido amplamente estudados na literatura. Por outro lado, modelos de teoria de cam- pos que visam uma descrição consistente da interação energia escura/matéria escura ainda são poucos. Nesta tese, nós exploramos como candidato à energia escura um campo escalar ou vetorial em várias abordagens diferentes, levando em conta uma possível interação entre as duas componentes do setor escuro. A tese é dividida em três partes, que podem ser lidas independentemente. Na primeira parte, nós analisamos o comportamento asintótico de alguns modelos cosmológicos usando campos escalares ou vetorial como candidatos para a energia escura, à luz da teoria de sistemas dinâmicos. Na segunda parte, nós usamos um campo escalar em supergravidade para construir um modelo de energia escura dinâmico e também para incorporar um modelo de energia escura holográfica em supergravidade mínima. Finalmente, na terceira parte, nós propomos um modelo de energia escura metaestável, no qual a energia escura é um campo escalar com um potencial dado pela soma de auto-interações pares até ordem seis. Nós inserimos a energia escura metaestável em um modelo SU(2)R escuro, onde o dubleto de energia escura e o dubleto de matéria escura interagem nat- uramente. Tal interação abre uma nova janela para investigar o setor escuro do ponto-de-vista de física de partículas. Esta tese é baseada nos seguintes artigos, disponíveis também no arXiv: 1611.00428, 1605.03550, 1509.04980, 1508.07248, 1507.00902 e 1505.03243. O autor também colaborou nos trabalhos: 1607.03506 e 1605.05264. / The dark side of the universe is mysterious and its nature is still unknown. In fact, this poses perhaps as the biggest challenge in the modern cosmology. The two components of the dark sector (dark matter and dark energy) correspond today to around ninety five percent of the universe. The simplest dark energy candidate is a cosmological constant. However, this attempt presents a huge discrepancy of 120 orders of magnitude between the theoretical prediction and the observed data. Such a huge disparity motivates physicists to look into a more sophisticated models. This can be done either looking for a deeper understanding of where the cosmological constant comes from, if one wants to derive it from first principles, or considering other possibilities for accelerated expansion, such as modifications of general relativity, additional matter fields and so on. Still regarding a dynamical dark energy, there may exist a possibility of interaction between dark energy and dark matter, since their densities are comparable and, depending on the coupling used, the interaction can also alleviate the issue of why dark energy and matter densities are of the same order today. Phenomenological models have been widely explored in the literature. On the other hand, field theory models that aim a consistent description of the dark energy/dark matter interaction are still few. In this thesis, we explore either a scalar or a vector field as a dark energy candidate in several different approaches, taking into account a possible interaction between the two components of the dark sector. The thesis is divided in three parts, which can be read independently of each other. In the first part, we analyze the asymptotic behavior of some cosmological models using either scalar or vector fields as dark energy candidates, in the light of the dynamical system theory. In the second part, we use a scalar field in the supergravity framework to build a model of dynamical dark energy and also to embed a holographic dark energy model into minimal supergravity. Finally, in the third part, we propose a model of metastable dark energy, in which the dark energy is a scalar field with a potential given by the sum of even self-interactions up to order six. We insert the metastable dark energy into a dark SU(2)R model, where the dark energy doublet and the dark matter doublet naturally interact with each other. Such an interaction opens a new window to investigate the dark sector from the point-of-view of particle physics. This thesis is based on the following papers, available also in the arXiv: 1611.00428, 1605.03550, 1509.04980, 1508.07248, 1507.00902 and 1505.03243. The author also collaborated in the works 1607.03506 and 1605.05264.

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