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This is an exploratory study to examine a population which has not been widely researched, mixed-race or "culturally-complex" individuals and identification. In the interest of this study, "culturally-complex" refers to individuals who report parents being from two or more different races/ethnicities; i.e. Black, White, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, Native-American, etc. Current literature reveals through quantitative methods that mixed-race adolescents often report more stress and are at greater health risks than most mono-racial adolescents. However, past studies have not thoroughly investigated why and how this stress exists and at times is inconsistent, which points to the need for qualitative inquiry. Although most of the previous literature focuses on mixed-race adolescents, this study focused on an adult population. Study participants were recruited through snowball sampling for in-depth, open-ended interviews. The data was analyzed by searching for common themes that illustrate the possible causes for stress in culturally-complex individuals. Though this study cannot be representational of all culturally-complex individuals it did provide for noteworthy findings. Race and ethnicity, and particularly being culturally-complex are topics that are often not spoken about in the family or between siblings. In general, culturally-complex individuals are not provided with space for dialogue and so thus, having a place to voice ideas, experiences, and opinions was appreciated by all participants. In all interviews, frustration and confusion was expressed towards box-checking. Though stress and invalidation was inconsistent in past literature surrounding mixed-race and culturally-complex individuals, only some participants in this study reported stress and invalidation, while other participants did not report having ever experienced stress or invalidation. While literature had posed that often culturally-complex individuals would identify with the ethnicity of the father, in this study most of those who identified as one culture over another had identified as the ethnicity of the mother. Participants additionally had ―hierarchies of identities‖ where being culturally-complex was not always their most important role. Future research should examine populations from different socioeconomic groups and other demographics.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a common medical imaging tool that have beenused in clinical industry for diagnostic and research purposes. These images are subjectto noises while capturing the data that can eect the image quality and diagnostics.Therefore, improving the quality of the generated images from both resolution andsignal to noise ratio (SNR) perspective is critical. Wavelet based denoising technique isone of the common tools to remove the noise in the MRI images. The noise is eliminatedfrom the detailed coecients of the signal in the wavelet domain. This can be done byapplying thresholding methods. The main task here is to nd an optimal threshold andkeep all the coecients larger than this threshold as the noiseless ones. Noise InvalidationDenoising technique is a method in which the optimal threshold is found by comparingthe noisy signal to a noise signature (function of noise statistics). The original NIDeapproach is developed for one dimensional signals with additive Gaussian noise. In thiswork, the existing NIDe approach has been generalized for applications in MRI imageswith dierent noise distribution. The developed algorithm was tested on simulated datafrom the Brainweb database and compared with the well-known Non Local Mean lteringmethod for MRI. The results indicated better detailed structural preserving forthe NIDe approach on the magnitude data while the signal to noise ratio is compatible.The algorithm shows an important advantageous which is less computational complexitythan the NLM method. On the other hand, the Unbiased NLM technique is combinedwith the proposed technique, it can yield the same structural similarity while the signalto noise ratio is improved.

This is an exploratory study to examine a population which has not been widely researched, mixed-race or "culturally-complex" individuals and identification. In the interest of this study, "culturally-complex" refers to individuals who report parents being from two or more different races/ethnicities; i.e. Black, White, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, Native-American, etc. Current literature reveals through quantitative methods that mixed-race adolescents often report more stress and are at greater health risks than most mono-racial adolescents. However, past studies have not thoroughly investigated why and how this stress exists and at times is inconsistent, which points to the need for qualitative inquiry. Although most of the previous literature focuses on mixed-race adolescents, this study focused on an adult population. Study participants were recruited through snowball sampling for in-depth, open-ended interviews. The data was analyzed by searching for common themes that illustrate the possible causes for stress in culturally-complex individuals. Though this study cannot be representational of all culturally-complex individuals it did provide for noteworthy findings. Race and ethnicity, and particularly being culturally-complex are topics that are often not spoken about in the family or between siblings. In general, culturally-complex individuals are not provided with space for dialogue and so thus, having a place to voice ideas, experiences, and opinions was appreciated by all participants. In all interviews, frustration and confusion was expressed towards box-checking. Though stress and invalidation was inconsistent in past literature surrounding mixed-race and culturally-complex individuals, only some participants in this study reported stress and invalidation, while other participants did not report having ever experienced stress or invalidation. While literature had posed that often culturally-complex individuals would identify with the ethnicity of the father, in this study most of those who identified as one culture over another had identified as the ethnicity of the mother. Participants additionally had ―hierarchies of identities‖ where being culturally-complex was not always their most important role. Future research should examine populations from different socioeconomic groups and other demographics.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the dynamic process of disclosure within the adolescent–mother relationship by examining maternal characteristics that encourage adolescent disclosure of distressing experiences and risk factors that may interfere with mothers’ abilities to be supportive. A community sample of 66 mothers and their adolescent children (M = 14.31 years, 58% female) participated. The adolescents disclosed an emotionally distressing experience to their mothers for the first time. Mothers’ validating behaviors and emotional distress in response to their adolescents’ expressions of negative emotion were predictive of adolescent disclosure. Adolescents who perceived their mothers to be validating of their negative emotions made more substantive disclosures and found disclosing to their mothers to be more beneficial. In contrast, greater maternal emotional distress was associated with less substantive disclosures, and maternal emotional distress was further indirectly associated with less substantive and beneficial disclosures through less maternal validation of negative emotion. A developmental model of maternal risk for emotional distress in response to adolescent negative emotion was also supported. Maternal history of childhood trauma perpetrated by someone close to the mother (i.e., high betrayal) was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing subsequent interpersonal trauma as an early adult; maternal interpersonal trauma in early adulthood was associated with mothers’ increased difficulty regulating their emotions; and greater maternal emotion dysregulation was associated with higher levels of maternal distress in response to adolescent negative emotion. An indirect association between maternal childhood high betrayal trauma and emotional distress was also supported through continued trauma and emotion regulation difficulties. These findings suggest that when disclosing distressing experiences to their mothers, adolescents consider how validating their mothers are of their expression of negative emotion, as well as how distressing their emotions are for their mothers. Mothers’ histories of childhood trauma, ongoing interpersonal trauma in adulthood, and emotion regulation difficulties were further implicated in mothers’ reactions to their adolescents’ expressions of negative emotion. Interventions targeted to increase maternal emotion regulation skills and validation of children’s negative emotions may be an effective way to promote better mother–adolescent communication, especially in regard to distressing experiences.

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現代科技發展突飛猛進，為保障科技的研發成果與促進產業發展，專利法制扮演舉足輕重的角色。專利舉發係由第三人就已存在之專利權請求撤銷之制度，在專利侵權訴訟中常常是被告有效的防禦手段。 專利舉發是由舉發人向專利專責機關提起，被舉發人(專利權人)可就舉發提出答辯，專利專責機關就舉發之審定為一行政處分，不服者自可循序訴願及行政訴訟。 專利侵權民事訴訟被告所提出之舉發，其行政爭訟未到最後確定前，專利權均處在不穩定狀態，侵權訴訟常常暫停審理。為了加速訴訟之進行，以實現專利權之利益，我國已於97年7月1日成立智慧財產法院，「智慧財產法院組織法」及「智慧財產案件審理法」均已實施，審理法第16條中開設了在民事訴訟中被告可就專利權無效進行抗辯之規定，未來有關專利舉發將產生更複雜之問題。 本研究參考日本相關理論與實務，以專利舉發為核心探討三大領域之實務課題：(1)包含訴願在內的專利舉發之行政程序，(2)民事訴訟審理專利無效抗辯之程序，(3)舉發審定之行政訴訟程序。 舉發之行政程序探討的子題有：第三人發動之專利舉發與依職權審查之關係、舉發之審查採當事人進行或職權審查、舉發審定之行政處分的性質、舉發與訴願簡併之可行性等。 有關民事訴訟審理專利無效抗辯之程序的子題有：專利無效宣告為司法機關或行政機關之權限分配論、民事訴訟程序審理專利無效之問題、專利專責機關在侵權訴訟的訴訟參加等。 舉發審定之行政訴訟程序，值得探討的有撤銷訴訟之本質論、撤銷訴訟的原告適格、課予義務訴訟之檢討、行政訴訟程序中新證據之提出問題等。 本文研究結果發現：(1)關於舉發之行政程序，專利舉發人可能為公眾或與利害關係人，公眾舉發時專利專責機關應以職權審理為宜，利害關係人舉發時應以當事人進行為宜；另外，參考先進國家經驗，舉發與訴願宜合併為一審，並建立準司法之審理模式。(2)關於民事法院之專利權無效審理，民事法院是否可審理專利權無效問題，應是一種立法形成自由，法律無明文規定下，以否定說為當，以免剝奪法律給予當事人之程序利益；如今審理法第16條已有明文規定，且舉發制度並未廢止，造成雙軌制，雖在審理法設計有訴訟參加，以解決雙軌造成判斷岐異問題，但恐難達到目的，宜參考美、日等國所運用之制度。(3)關於舉發之行政訴訟，實務上舉發之行政訴訟運用課予義務訴訟時，日本行政事件訴訟法所規定之訴訟要件及勝訴要件，值得參考運用；另外，雖審理法第33條規定在行政訴訟階段法院可就新證據自為判斷，實務上仍應謹慎運用以避免造成一審的空洞化而浪費司法訴訟資源。