Title: Dialogue education is effective as a method to teach maternal toddler feeding practices Objectives: 1) Measure the effectiveness of one or two workshops using dialogue education to teach healthy toddler feeding practices, specifically a) to allow child self-regulation of satiety, b) to maintain a schedule for meals and snacks and c) to role-model healthy eating when compared to a control group. 2) Measure the effectiveness of dialogue education to teach appropriate stages of growth in order to increase mothers’ ability to know when their children are at a healthy weight compared to a control group 3)Compare baseline maternal toddler feeding practices between low-income Latina mothers participating in Early Head Start (EHS) and Early Migrant/Seasonal Head Start (EMSHS). Methods: Sixty six mothers participating in EHS (n=25 and EMSHS (n=41) completed a 24 item Likert scale (1 to 5 with 1=Never/Not confident/Extremely unlikely, 5=Always/Very confident/Extremely likely) to assess behavior, self-efficacy and intent regarding 3 domains of toddler feeding practice: self-regulation of hunger and satiety, scheduling meals and snacks, and parental role modeling. Mean Likert scores for each question were analyzed by subgroup. A two-part educational intervention was developed to improve these three domains of healthy toddler feeding practices and knowledge of stages of growth. Participants were recruited primarily from EMSHS and were grouped based on level of participation (1 workshop, 2 workshops or control). Results: Objective one:One-way ANOVA analysis showed improvement from baseline to post-intervention for self-regulation (baseline x=3.130 0.499; post-intervention x=3.496 0.603; p=0.030) and role-modeling behavior (baseline x=3.757 ; post-intervention x=4.096 0.581, n=23, p=0.035) for those who participated in one or two workshops. Two-sample t-tests of post-intervention scores between control and a combined intervention group (Group 1 and Group 2) showed that the combined group scored significantly higher in allowing self-regulation behavior (control x=3.036 , n=11; combined intervention group x=3.496 0.603, n=23, p=0.016). Regression showed that intent (p=0.03) and self-efficacy (p Objective two: No significant changes in self-efficacy or knowledge of stages of growth were observed among the three treatment groups. Perceptions of healthy weight did not change significantly from baseline to post-intervention. Objective three: Mothers in EHS and EMSHS groups were similar for the most part in their parental feeding practices. The EMSHS mothers maintained a schedule for meals and snacks more than EHS mothers (EMSHS x=3.323 , n=41, EHS x=2.850 , n=25; p=0.004). The EHS mothers, however, limited sweets more frequently than EMSHS mothers (EMSHS x=3.28 , n=41, EHS x=2.66 , n=25; p=0.024). Levels of self-efficacy and intent were similar for both groups, with EHS mothers scoring higher for confidence in staying calm during stressful meal times (EHS x=3.24 , n=25; EMSHS x=2.56 , n=41; p-value=0.004) and intent to allow self-regulation (EHS x=4.125 , n=8; EMSHS x=3.532 , n=25; p-value=0.068). Early Head Start mothers also identified the importance of exercise in maintaining a healthy weight significantly more than EMSHS mothers (p=0.031). Conclusion: Dialogue education is effective as a method to improve some aspects of authoritative feeding behavior. One workshop was sufficient to observe improvements in self-regulation and role-modeling behavior. No improvements were observed in self-efficacy or knowledge of healthy weights. While similar for the most part, EHS mothers are more authoritative in their feeding practices compared to EMSHS. Keywords: Toddlers, Head Start, Division of Responsibility, Dialogue Education

No / In this work we propose a talking head system for animating facial expressions using a template face generated from partial differential equations (PDE). It uses a set of pre configured curves to calculate an internal template surface face. This surface is then used to associate various facial features with a given 3D face object. Motion retargeting is then used to transfer the deformations in these areas from the template to the target object. The procedure is continued until all the expressions in the database are calculated and transferred to the target 3D human face object. Additionally the system interacts with the user using an artificial intelligence (AI) chatter bot to generate response from a given text. Speech and facial animation are synchronized using the Microsoft Speech API, where the response from the AI bot is converted to speech.

Ice hockey helmet standards are employed to test ice hockey helmets to ensure that they mitigate the risk of traumatic brain injuries. These standards primarily reflect adult ice hockey players' anthropometrics and play styles; however, they may not address youth ice hockey players anthropometrics and play styles. This study created a youth helmet test protocol using head impact characteristics specific to the Learn to Play (5-8 years old) youth ice hockey age group environment. The youth helmet test protocol was compared to a general helmet test protocol with the head mass, shoulder mass, and impacting velocities modified to reflect real-world conditions. The dependent variables used in the study included peak resultant linear acceleration, peak resultant rotational velocity, peak resultant rotational acceleration, and maximal principal strain (MPS). Two-way ANOVA identified significant interactions between the test protocols and two helmets tested in this study. This was followed by ANOVA to test for significance across the levels of the independent variables followed by paired t-tests to identify significant differences between the test protocols for each dependent variable for the head to boards and shoulder to head condition (p<0.05). The only significant difference identified between the test protocols for the head to ice condition was linear acceleration. The paired t-tests identified significant differences between the two helmets for all dependent variables for the head to ice and head to boards conditions (p<0.05). The results from this study revealed that youth are being exposed to similar amounts of brain trauma when compared to adults for the head to ice event. The head to ice condition is one of the most common types of impact events in the Learn to Play age group supporting the need to consider a youth specific ice hockey helmet standard test. This study demonstrated that the CCM FL 500 provided better protection for youth ice hockey players, and helmet companies could employ similar technologies to better protect youth from the risk of brain injuries.

Many tasks of visual computing and communications such as object recognition, matting, compression, etc., need to extract and encode the outer boundary of the object in a digital image or video. In this thesis, we focus on a particular video segmentation task and propose an efficient method for head-and-shoulder of humans through video frames. The key innovations for our work are as follows: (1) a novel head descriptor in polar coordinate is proposed, which can characterize intrinsic head object well and make it easy for computer to process, classify and recognize. (2) a learning-based method is proposed to provide highly precise and robust head-and-shoulder segmentation results in applications where the head-and-shoulder object in the question is a known prior and the background is too complex. The efficacy of our method is demonstrated on a number of challenging experiments. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

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The primary purpose of this study was to determine the association between Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype and head impact response in high school athletes. The secondary purpose was to determine if quality of life (QoL) and cognitive functioning scores significantly differ between Apolipoprotein (APOE) rare allele carriers versus non-carriers within a poor head impact response (PHIR) group of high school athletes. Thirty (28 males, 2 females) high school athletes playing high head impact sports participated in the study. A between-subjects design was used. Primary aim one independent variable was genotype (i.e., APOE E4 carriers vs. non-carriers and APOE G-219T carriers vs. non-carriers) and dependent variable was group [i.e., normal head impact response (NHIR) vs. PHIR]. Statistical analysis consisted of Fisher's exact tests. Alpha level was set at p p p = .002) in the overall QoL scores between APOE G-219T promoter rare allele carriers versus non-carriers within the PHIR group. No other statistically significant differences were found; however, there was a trend (p = .007) found in the psychosocial subscores in the APOE G-219T promoter rare allele carriers versus non-carriers within the PHIR group. Carrying an APOE rare G-219T rare allele was associated with significantly lower QoL scores within the PHIR group, these results indicate that athletes with intrinsic (e.g., genotype) risk factors may need more education and different treatment following head impacts. / Kinesiology

The Hybrid III and NOCSAE headforms are two headforms used in impact testing, though their vibrational characteristics are not well understood. They may have different kinematic responses in various impact scenarios if the impact excites any of their natural frequencies; resonance is especially likely to occur in short-duration impacts with a wider frequency spectrum. The same impact on two headforms that perform similarly in blunt impacts can be much different in shorter-duration projectile impacts due to the vibrational responses. The research presented in this thesis had three objectives: to identify the natural frequencies of the Hybrid III and NOCSAE headforms and compare them with published human head values to determine which has a more biofidelic vibrational response; to quantify the frequency response of different baseball catcher's masks and assess their abilities to limit vibrations transferred to the headforms; and to compare kinematic and frequency responses between headforms in different impact scenarios (high-speed, low-mass projectile impacts vs. low-speed, high-mass pendulum impacts) and see how they are affected by various types of head protection. The results show the importance of considering frequency content in impact testing, suggesting that the NOCSAE headform may be more biofidelic in short-duration impacts since its natural frequencies better align with those seen in the human head. The catcher's masks experienced greater vibrational responses than the headforms, but since the NOCSAE's first natural frequency falls within the bandwidth being excited, resonance was seen in this headform's acceleration responses for the projectile baseball impacts. Lastly, while both headforms had higher peak linear accelerations (PLAs) from the short-duration projectile impacts than the pendulum impacts, the projectile impacts caused high frequencies to be excited in the NOCSAE headform, while only exciting low frequencies in the Hybrid III. These results may not be as relevant for long-duration loadings, as indicated by the similar responses between headforms for both the pendulum and helmeted projectile impacts. However, when a wide range of frequencies are being excited with short-duration impacts, these results are important to consider, since natural frequency excitation can influence head injury risk due to higher accelerations. / Master of Science / The Hybrid III and NOCSAE headforms are dummy headforms used in impact testing, but their vibrational characteristics are poorly understood. They may perform differently in certain loading environments due to structural differences; their frequency responses might differ based on impact characteristics. Short-duration impacts excite a wider range of frequencies than longer-duration (padded) impacts. While headforms generally perform similarly during padded impacts where resonant frequencies are avoided, excitation of these frequencies during short-duration impacts can result in different kinematic measurements between headforms. The research presented in this thesis had three objectives: to identify the natural frequencies of the Hybrid III and NOCSAE headforms and compare them with published human values to determine which better represents the head's vibrational response; to quantify the vibrational characteristics of different baseball catcher's masks and assess their abilities to limit vibrations transferred to the headforms; and to compare kinematic and frequency responses between headforms in different impact scenarios (high-speed, low-mass projectile impacts vs. low-speed, high-mass pendulum impacts) and see how they are affected by various helmets. The results show the importance of considering frequency content in impact testing, suggesting that the NOCSAE headform behaves more like the human head in short-duration impacts. Even though the catcher's masks "rang" more than the headforms, the vibrations from the projectile impact were in the appropriate range to excite the NOCSAE's natural frequencies. Thus, there was still an oscillatory response in this headform even when protected with the mask. Lastly, the projectile impacts caused higher accelerations in both headforms than the pendulum impacts. However, high frequencies were only experienced by the NOCSAE headform due to the projectile impacts; for the same impact, the Hybrid III just had low frequencies excited. These results are not as relevant for long-duration impacts, since there were similar responses in both headforms for both the pendulum and helmeted projectile impacts. However, they are very applicable for the short-duration impacts that excite a wide range of frequencies, since natural frequency excitation can increase the risk of head injury due to higher acceleration magnitudes.