Game developers strive to maximize immersion and engagement, to emotionally involve the audience in their material. One technique used to increase engagement is the development of new technologies, such as Stereoscopic 3D. Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) creates the impression of depth (stereopsis) in at images by providing additional binocular depth cues, such as convergence and binocular disparity. In this thesis, we explore the effects that S3D has on the player experience in an attempt to uncover design methodologies that can help game developers develop more effective content. Three experiments were designed and conducted to examine the effects S3D has on player experience and game design: i) Engagement in Stereoscopic 3D Games, ii) S3D Depth- Axis Interaction for Video Games: Performance and Engagement, iii) Depth Representation and Player Performance with Depth-Axis Interactivity. We hypothesized that S3D technology would increase immersion and engagement, and new mechanics that exploit the depth axis would be effective. The results of these studies suggest that S3D does not increase user engagement, and is consistent with prior research that suggest the impact of S3D is dependent on the game. They also demonstrate that developers can design unique experiences in stereoscopic 3D, but there may be additional ways to represent depth. The results suggest developers need to adjust the difficulty of their game when including stereoscopic 3D, depending on the interactions of their game. It is our recommendation that developers continue to explore the affordances offered by stereoscopic 3D to create unique experiences, but its inclusion is dependent on their specific game.

Digital watermarking of multimedia content has been proposed as a method for different applications such as copyright protection, content authentication, transaction tracking and data hiding. In this thesis, we propose a lossless watermarking approach based on Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) for a new application of watermarking. A depth map obtained from a stereoscopic image pair is embedded into one of the two images using a reversible watermarking algorithm. Different from existing approaches which hide depth map in spatial domain, the depth information is hidden in the quantized DCT domain of the stereo image in our method. This modification makes the watermarking algorithm compatible with JPEG and MPEG-2 compression. After the investigation of the quantized DCT coefficients distribution of the compressed image and video, The bit-shift operation is utilized to embed the depth map into its associated 2D image reversibly for the purpose of achieving high compression efficiency of the watermarked image and/or video and high visual quality of stereo image and/or video after the depth map is extracted. We implement the proposed method to analyze its performance. The experimental results show that a very high payload of watermark (e.g. depth map) can be embedded into the JPEG compressed image and MPEG-2 video. The compression efficiency is only slightly reduced after the watermark embedding and the quality of the original image or video can be restored completely at the decoder side.

Introduction: Currently, there are no objective techniques to assess burn depth. An early assessment of burn depth would enable accurate management decisions, which would improve patient outcomes. Near infrared (NIR) technology has shown promise as a non-invasive monitor of oxygenation and perfusion, and its potential to assess the depth of burn injuries has been investigated clinically over the past five years. The purpose of the thesis was to determine the capacity of NIR technology to differentiate acute thermal injuries. Methods: Burn sites (n=5) and control sites (n=5) were created on the dorsum of sixteen animals with brass rods held at constant pressure and heated to 100°C and 37.5°C respectively. NIR data was collected from the burns and control sites pre-burn, immediately post-burn, and 1, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 96 hours after the burn injury. Biopsies of the burn and control sites were acquired at each time point and used to confirm the depth of injury. NIR data was processed for the content of water, oxy-, deoxy- and methemoglobin. Results: Oxyhemoglobin and total hemoglobin decreased as burn depth increased. The proportion of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin to total hemoglobin showed that the ratio of oxy- to deoxyhemoglobin decreased as burn injury increased. Methemoglobin levels as a ratio of total hemoglobin also showed that as the severity of injury increased the proportion of methemoglobin also increased. Finally, superficial partial thickness injuries (3 s and 12 s) showed early peak levels of water, which rapidly declined towards baseline. The deep partial thickness injuries (20 s and 30 s) do not experience peak levels and retain water over the course of the experiment. The full thickness injuries water levels remain close or below baseline levels throughout the experiment. Conclusion: NIR spectroscopy could distinguish burn depth using water, oxy-, met- and total hemoglobin as separate entities. The presence of methemoglobin in the burn wounds is a novel finding that has not been described previously in burn literature.

No description available.

Meiofauna are an abundant, diverse and important component of the marine biota, however, much of their ecology has been neglected. Despite their high densities, meiofaunal abundance is often patchy. Meiofauna present in high numbers at one site will often be less abundant in seemingly similar adjacent sites. What factors govern this variability? How readily do these animals colonize new patches? How do various biological and environmental factors affect meiofaunal colonization rate and resulting assemblage structure? The response of meiofauna to changes in abiotic factors, including sediment grain size, depth, exposure and distance from the ocean floor, was quite variable. Often one factor would affect certain taxa and not others. Even slight increases in depth resulted in drastic declines of harpacticoid copepods while nematodes were unaffected. Meiofauna were also fewer in sediments with large interstitial spaces. Some meiofauna were most abundant in sediments placed closer to the ocean floor. Other taxa colonized distant substrata as rapidly as they did substrate located closer to the ocean floor. This suggested differences between taxa in their rates of active dispersal. The effects of macrofauna on meiofauna have been debated. In particular, how do clams affect the colonization and assemblage structure of meiofauna? Certain characteristics of clams were isolated and evaluated: feeding behaviour, bioturbation rate/depth and metabolic byproducts. Clams that caused the greatest meiofauna declines were shallow burrowing deposit-feeders. Constant disturbance to the upper sediment by these clams was likely responsible for meiofaunal impact. Conversely, suspensionfeeding clams that passed quickly to deeper sediment and remained stationary had little impact on meiofauna. Finally, a survey of local marine nematodes added nine genera new to Canada and 24 genera new to British Columbia. A review was also compiled that shows nematodes and other meiofauna have been neglected for much of Canada. Although these small and abundant animals are quick to colonize even distant habitats they are quite sensitive to cues from the surrounding biotic and abiotic environment. This sensitivity combined with their ease of collection make meiofauna a valuable asset to any number of ecological investigations. / Ecology

農林水産研究情報センターで作成したPDFファイルを使用している。

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-255).

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2006. Dept. of Computer Science. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-82).

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-32).

Orientador: Adler Guilherme Viadana / Banca: Archimedes Perez Filho / Banca: Antônio Carlos Vitte / Resumo: Nas últimas décadas o domínio dos cerrados apresenta-se como um dos mais degradados do território brasileiro. Existe, portanto, a necessidade premente de aprimorar conhecimentos sobre esta formação vegetal, no sentido de fornecer subsídios para práticas preservacionistas das poucas áreas que, ainda mantém a originalidade dos cerrados. A presente proposta tem como objetivos: a identificação das diferentes formações vegetais do cerrado em trecho do Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra (MG), centradas nas fitofisionomias existentes no bioma; delimitar e mapear na forma de um perfil os padrões vegetacionais da área indicada para a pesquisa; definir as relações existentes entre as diferentes fitofisionomias e a textura, profundidade, umidade, dos solos que dão aporte ao cerrado no trecho eleito para a realização do estudo e por fim, indicar parâmetros com a finalidade de garantir a preservação do bioma, objeto desta investigação sistematizada. A condução técnica da pesquisa será balizada pela conceituação de Goodland e Ferri (1979) que definiu classes fisionômicas que se enquadram num gradiente de quase campina a uma quase floresta (com ocorrência gradual e continua). Tal gradiente de biomassa divide-se em cinco tipos: campo limpo; campo sujo; campo cerrado; cerrado e cerradão. / Abstract: In the last few decades the province of cerrado it is presented as one of the most degraded in Brazil. It is necessary studies to improve news knowledge on this vegetal formation to supply subsidies for practical that preserve the environment, of the few areas that, still remain the vegetation of cerrado. The proposal has as objective: the identification of the different vegetal formations of cerrado in stretch of Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra (MG), centered in the existing phytophysiognomies in bioma; to delimit and to mapear in the form of a profile the phytophysiognomies standards of the area indicated for the research; to define the existing relations between the different phytophysiognomy and the texture, depth, humidity, of the ground that give contribution to cerrado in the stretch for the accomplishment of the study and finally to indicate parameters with the purpose to guarantee the preservation of bioma, object of this systemize inquiry. The conduction technique of the research will be delimited by conceptualization of Goodland (1979), that it defined physiognomics classes that if fit in a gradient of almost open savanna to almost forest (with gradual occurrence and continues). Such gradient of biomass is divided in five types: campo limpo; campo sujo; campo cerrado; cerrado e cerradão. / Mestre