Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1933. / Reprinted from: The University of Texas bulletin, no. 3134 (Sept. 8, 1931). "This monograph deals with the life and work of women who live on the cotton farms of Texas"--P. [11]. Includes bibliographical references (p. 276-278) and index.

Thèse--Universit́e de Nancy. / "Bibliographie": p. 167-168.

Proefschrift--Rotterdam, 1938. / Includes bibliographical references.

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In this thesis I report on investigations of the early socioemotional development of 4- month-old infants with Down syndrome (DS) in dyadic and triadic interactions, and comparisons of aspects of socioemotional behaviour of infants with DS with those of typically developing (TD) infants. The thesis incorporates theories relating to positive emotion, early infancy and Down syndrome research. I investigate 3 main debates: when compared to typically developing infants 1) infants with DS may have differences in emotionality, and perhaps social and emotional strengths 2) that infants with DS may have may different patterns of attention, perhaps preferring attending to a social partner over object 3) that the environment within which the infant with DS is raised is somehow different. I investigate these debates with consideration that all may relate to each other. I compare typically developing infants and infants with DS on measures of attention, emotion and sociocommunicative behaviour alongside measuring aspects of their environment. I analyse the behaviour of groups of infants in dyadic (TD: n=11, DS: n=10) and triadic social, and less social, situations (TD: n=10, DS: n=10). I investigate aspects of infant emotion and sociocommunicative behaviours and discuss how they may, or may not, be indicative of abilities in for example, social expectancy, person permanence and early joint attention. I also question whether different play partners relate to infant enjoyment. I report on data relating to infant temperament, and aspects of the very young infant’s environment (maternal caregiving preferences, optimism and demographics) in order to consider the relation of these variables to group and individual differences. I integrate findings from all studies and discuss individual differences. Key findings from the thesis were that DS infants were less fussy overall than TD infants, equally as positive and communicative, and demonstrated an ability to maintain longer social interactions compared to TD infants. DS infants had less interest in an object than TD infants, and more interest in the social partner. This was not due to infants with TD being unable to shift gaze, as infants from both groups shifted gaze comparably. TD infants were able to follow gaze to some extent, and demonstrated sensitivity to the timing and structure of the game of peekaboo. This suggests that at 4 months of age, TD infants may have some level of social expectancy regarding the rules and structure of social exchange, and have emerging joint attentional skills. DS infants did not follow gaze as successfully (although some did) and did not demonstrate such sensitivity to the timing and structure of the peekaboo game (although some did, and some TD infants did not) however enjoyed the game as much as TD infants. TD infant and mother pairs played the game of peekaboo differently to TD infant and experimenter pairs. In the main, infants with DS and mothers played similarly, and infants enjoyed the game as much, as DS-experimenter pairs; and this was comparable to how TD infants and experimenters played and enjoyed the game. No differences emerged between groups on measures of temperament, nor in relation to maternal factors such as parenting system preference or optimism. Neither did any of these measures relate to levels of infant positive emotion during positive, dyadic play. It was concluded that the ability for infants with DS to maintain prolonged social interactions with another at 4-months of age could be interpreted as a strength, perhaps due to an increased focus on the building blocks of later emerging social and emotional skills, that occur during face-to-face interaction. My thesis emphasises the importance in recognising strengths for those with DS, and acknowledging similarities rather than differences with the typical population. The value of this cannot be underestimated for those families (and educators, health professionals and carers) involved with DS. Recognition of sameness promotes an inclusive attitude to enable those with DS to integrate and to develop within a positive environmen

Researchers have been involved for decades in search of an efficient skin detection method. Yet current methods have not overcome the major limitations. To overcome these limitations, in this dissertation, a clustering and region growing based skin detection method is proposed. These methods together with a significant insight result in a more effective algorithm. The insight concerns a capability to define dynamically the number of clusters in a collection of pixels organized as an image. In clustering for most problem domains, the number of clusters is fixed a priori and does not perform effectively over a wide variety of data contents. Therefore, in this dissertation, a skin detection method has been proposed using the above findings and validated. This method assigns the number of clusters based on image properties and ultimately allows freedom from manual thresholding or other manual operations. The dynamic determination of clustering outcomes allows for greater automation of skin detection when dealing with uncertain real-world conditions.

<p> Energy balance components were measured over a coastal subarctic wetland in northwestern James Bay during the growing season. The Penman-Monteith combination model was used to determine surface and atmospheric controls on evaporation. The Priestley-Taylor combination model was used to calculate an evaporability parameter, a. Combining these two models resulted in determining the sensitivity of a to surface and atmospheric controls. </p> <p> Canopy, aerodynamic, and climatological resistances were influenced by onshore or offshore wind directions. Canopy resistance was dominant and showed a strong seasonal trend a averaged 0.78 and was influenced by wind direction a is most sensitive to canopy resistance, followed by vapour pressure deficit, net available energy, and aerodynamic resistance. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Rosmarinus officinalis L. (rosemary) is popular as a culinary herb, landscape plant, and potted florist's crop. Little research has been reported on the greenhouse production of this plant. Effects of irrigation rate, fertilizer concentration, and growing media on root and shoot growth were investigated for R. officinalis 'Athens Blue Spires'. In the first experiment, rooted cuttings were potted and received fertilizer treatments of 100, 200, or 300 mg?L-1 nitrogen (N) from 15N-2.2P-12.2K water-soluble fertilizer for twelve weeks. Two irrigation regimes were imposed - plants were irrigated with fertilizer solution when the growing media dried down to less than 30% or 20% volumetric soil moisture content. Root and shoot dry weights showed irrigation rate did not effect roots, but the higher irrigation rate produced larger shoots at all fertilizer concentrations. The largest roots and shoots were a product of the lowest fertilizer concentration. In the second experiment, rooted cuttings of the same cultivar were potted and received fertilizer treatments of 50, 100, 150, or 200 mg?L-1 N from 15N-2.2P-12.2K water-soluble fertilizer for 2, 4, 6, or 8 weeks. Plants were harvested at the end of each treatment. A third irrigation regime was imposed - plants were irrigated with fertilizer solution when the growing media dried down to less than 40%, 30%, or 20% volumetric soil moisture content. Root and shoot dry weights showed neither irrigation nor fertilizer were significant at week two, six, or eight. Dry weights showed irrigation was significant for roots at week four with the lowest irrigation rate producing the largest roots at all fertilizer concentrations except 100 mg?L-1 at the less than 30% irrigation rate. Irrigation was also significant at week four for shoots with the lowest irrigation rate producing the largest shoots at all fertilizer concentrations except 100 mg?L-1 at the less than 30% irrigation rate. In the third experiment 'Athens Blue Spires' rooted cuttings were potted in five different soilless media [Fafard 52 (24% peat, 60% bark, 8% perlite, 8% vermiculite); Fafard 3B (45% peat, 25% bark, 15% perlite, 15% vermiculite); Scott's Sierra Perennial Mix (25% peat, 65% bark, 10% perlite); Scott's Metro Mix 700 with Coir (25% coir, 50% bark, 10% perlite, 15% vermiculite); and a nursery mix (89% pine bark, 11% sand)]. Plants were irrigated for fourteen weeks with 150 mg?L-1N fertilizer solution when the growing media dried down to less than 30% or <20% volumetric soil moisture content. Growing media affected shoot dry weight with the highest-percentage peat media (Fafard 3B) producing the largest plants. All were of marketable quality. Irrigation rate did not affect root dry weight, but the higher rate produced larger shoots in each of the five media. The fourth experiment examined the growth of R. officinalis 'Tuscan Blue' rooted cuttings when planted in five different growing media [Fafard 52, Fafard 3B, Scott's Perennial, Metro Mix 560 with coir (30% coir, 15% peat, 40% bark, and 15% perlite), and 100% pine bark]. A third irrigation regime was imposed - plants were irrigated with 150 mg?L-1N fertilizer solution when the growing media dried down to less than 40%, 30%, or 20% volumetric soil moisture content. Treatments lasted for 2, 4, 6, or 8 weeks and plants were harvested at the end of each treatment. Dry weights showed neither media nor irrigation was significant for roots or shoots at weeks four or eight. However, at week two, media significantly affected root dry weight with the heaviest roots produced by the two perennial mixes (Scott's perennial and Fafard 52). Growing media affected shoot dry weight at week six with the highest-percentage peat media (Fafard 3B) producing the largest plants at the low and high irrigation rate. Irrigation also affected root dry weight at week six with the two lowest irrigation rates producing the heaviest roots in all media. / Master of Science

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