Magister Scientiae - MSc / The present mini-thesis seeks to explore and investigate the mathematical theory and concepts that underpins the valuation of derivative securities, particularly European plainvanilla options. The main argument that we emphasise is that novel models of option pricing, as is suggested by Hull and White (1987) [1] and others, must account for the discrepancy observed on the implied volatility curve. To achieve this we also propose that market volatility be modeled as random or stochastic as opposed to certain standard option pricing models such as Black-Scholes, in which volatility is assumed to be constant. / South Africa

En France, la vidéo surveillance est actuellement présenté comme un élément clef de la prévention des crimes, et le nombre de caméras installées dans les lieux publiques a triplé en 2009, passant de 20 000 à 60 000. Malgré le débat généré dans l’opinion publique, il semblerait qu’aucun gouvernement ne souhaite freiner l’utilisation de ces mesures de surveillance. Si l’on met de côté le débat social, d’un point de vue strictement scientifique, ces systèmes de surveillance offrent des bases de données riches et de vrai perspective de recherche en multimédia. Dans ce manuscrit, nous nous sommes concentré sur le développement de méthodes de suivi d’objets multiples non-rigides dans un environnement multi-caméra à l’aide de filtrage à particules. Nous d´ecrirons, dans un premier temps, une méthode de suivi multi-résolution par filtrage à particules avec contrôle de consistance. Cette méthode fut appliquée au suivi d’un seul objet non rigide dans des vidéos dont le nombre d’images pas seconde étaient faible et variable. Elle est etendue pour suivre des objets multiples par filtrage à particules avec double contrôles de consistance. Elle est notamment appliquée pour le défi de TRECVID 2009. An analyse d’événements est finalement ajoutée. Notre méthode de suivi est ensuite étendue d’une seule caméra vers de multiples caméras. Elle fut utilisée pour le suivi d’un objet non-rigide par interaction de caméras. Enfin, une méthode de suivi par filtrage à particules d’objets multiples avec analyse d’événement a été définie pour le suivi de deux objets non-rigides dans un environnement à deux caméras. Notre système peut êre facilement adaptées à de nombreux types de vidéo surveillance car aucune information sur les scènes n’est pré-requise. / The video surveillance is believed to play a so important role in the crime prevention that only in France, the number of cameras installed at public thoroughfare was tripled in the year 2009, from 20 000 to 60 000. Even though its increasing use has triggered a large debate about security versus privacy, it seems that no government has a willingness to stop the surveillance popularity. However, if we just put aside this social anxiety, from the scientific point of view, millions of surveillance systems do offer us a rich database and an exciting motivation for the multimedia research. We focus on the multiple non-rigid object tracking based on the Particle Filter method in multiple camera environments in this dissertation. The method of Multi-resolution Particle Filter Tracking with Consistency Check is firstly introduced as the basis of our tracking system. It is especially used for single non-rigid object tracking in videos of low and variable frame rate. It is then extended to track multiple non-rigid objects, denoted as Multi-object Particle Filter Tracking with Dual Consistency Check. It is in particularly applied to the challenge TRECVID 2009. An automatic semantic event detection and identification is integrated at last. Our tracking method is later extended from mono-camera to multi-camera environments. It is used for the single non-rigid object tracking with the interaction of cameras. Finally, a system named Multi-object Particle Filter Tracking with Event analysis is designed for tracking two non-rigid objects in two-camera environments. Our tracking system can be easily applied to various video surveillance systems since no prior knowledge of the scene is required.

The Texas Open Beaches Act states that the public beach extends from the water up to the line of vegetation. Once a privately-owned property is submerged, it transfers into state ownership. Because of severe erosion and the shifting nature of vegetation, the Village of Surfside has lost several rows of houses and streets and, currently, over thirty houses are located on the public beach obstructing public access in violation of the Texas Open Beaches Act. The extreme erosion in this small village on the Texas Gulf Coast puts homeowners, property owners, legislators, and beachgoers in difficult positions and many are at odds with one another. The documentary film is structured around rental property owner Russell Clinton, environmentalists Ellis Pickett and Jeff Hooton, and former State Senator A.R. "Babe" Schwartz.

Den här studien har undersökt huruvida grundläggande värderingar skiljer sig åt beroende på vilken sektor individen arbetar inom på den svenska arbetsmarknaden. Grundläggande värderingar syftar till individens uppfattning om vad som är viktigt och vad individen värdesätter. Exempelvis social status, att hjälpa andra, att bevara traditioner eller en trygg tillvaro. Undersökningen är ett bidrag till att utveckla kunskapen kring vad svenska förvärvsarbetare värdesätter. Studien har en kvantitativ ansats och datamaterialet har hämtats från European Social Survey. Urvalet bestod av 1497 svenska förvärvsarbetare inom både privat och offentlig sektor. De värderingar som undersökts är universalism, välvilja, makt och prestation. Studiens hypotes är att universalism och välvilja bör ha ett samband med offentlig sektor samtidigt som makt och prestation bör ha ett samband med den privata sektorn. Resultatet visar att alla fyra värderingar uppvisar statistiskt signifikanta samband med sektor i linje med hypoteserna. Varken universalism, välvilja eller prestation uppvisade dock några självständiga samband med sektor när en rad kontrollvariabler hölls konstanta. Vilket betyder att dessa tre grundläggande värderingar inte kan förklara vilken sektor individen arbetar inom. Sambandet mellan makt och privatsektor var dock fortfarande statistiskt signifikant även när hänsyn togs till kontrollvariablerna. Detta innebär alltså att makt har en betydelse för vilken sektor individen arbetar inom.

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In our lives we will have to make hundreds upon thousands of choices. The effects of these choices will follow us with varying intervals; some effects may be brief while others may literally last a lifetime. In these moments that we are forced to chose, it ultimately comes down to two options, what we should do, and what we want to do. Essentially, it is a choice between the head and the heart. Playwrights depend on these moments of choice, for it is the basis of almost all plays. At some point, the protagonist must make a choice, even if the choice is not to choose. In the early part of the 20th Century, a religious philosopher by the name of Aleister Crowley helped to define these choices, or as he referred to them, Wills. In essence, he stated that everyone has a True Will and a conscious will, and the path that you will ultimately follow is contingent on the choices you make in your life. Following your True Will, the path of the heart will lead you to a sense of Nirvana, while following your conscious will, the path of the head leads to a life unfulfilled. While some called him demonic (he occasionally referred to himself as The Beast With Two Backs) others saw him as a sage someone to esoterically explain the chaotic and industrial world of the early 1900 s. Aleister Crowley seemed to be one of those few men that you either loved, or hated, or hated to love. At the dawn of the 20th Century, he was an English philosopher and religious guru that made a call to arms to the general populous to start living a better life. His theories will be explained fully in Chapter One, but ultimately he wanted everyone to achieve their True Will and leave their conscious wills by the wayside. He felt that this process could be achieved through what he referred to as his theorems on magick. It is unknown exactly how the idea came to him to add the k to the original magic; however speculation reveals he might have taken from the original Greek word magikE. Contrary to the modern definition of magic (the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand), Crowley felt that his magick was significantly more complex. Pulling on philosophies from the Egyptians and the Celts along with basic Buddhist principles, he defined his magick within his twenty-eight theorems . Ultimately, he philosophized that magick was a way to enlighten a person, or, for the purposes of this thesis a character s True Will4 and to avoid following their conscious will. In layman s terms, Crowley saw it as an argument between the head (conscious will) and the heart (True Will). While the main focus of this thesis is on the tension and outcome of the decision of a character to follow their True Will or their conscious will, it is impossible to talk about these two concepts without discussing, at least in part, magick. Crowley saw magick as the practice and process to achieve True Will. This study, therefore, involves both homonyms, magic and magick. By applying this process as defined by Crowley in his self-named theorems to plays and musicals that have been defined as strictly magic, I am looking for not only the exact moment in which the main protagonists in each play define and execute their decision to follow their True or conscious Wills, but also to critically examine their journey to that fatal decision. I describe it as such because I feel that a characters fate may truly depend on the choice that they make. These philosophies are not new to the philosophical world. Other theorists such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche and their relation to Crowley s theories will be discussed later; however I felt that because Crowley is the one who his responsible for rejuvenating the word magick from the Greeks in the 20th Century, I should be able to use his theories as a modern lens to examine A Midsummer Nights Dream, Marisol, and Wicked. I plan to take plays that cross both genre and era and consider not only (1) what can be illuminated using this Crowlean lens , but I also to highlight (2) any universal truths, by which I mean any ideological or philosophical ideas that appear in all three plays, that can be found in works as diverse as the ones that I have chosen. While their connection to True Will may be tangential in nature, if there are things in common in these plays that are brought to light using Crowley s lens, then I feel it is worth noting. By examining these two factors I will be able to see if critics have accurately defined these plays. My goal is to add the Crowlean lens to the already existing approaches to critically examining a theatrical piece. This lens, as defined before, is simply taking Crowley s concepts of True Will and conscious will and their link to the progression of magick within a character to illuminate the characters choices leading up to their breaking point in which they must ask themselves Do I chose what I should do, or what I want to do? The three plays I chose were done for specific reasons. The basic criterion was to choose on a basis of (1) chronology, (2) genre, (3) and magical reference5. I took three plays that entertained the religious, philosophical, and fantastical nature of what I felt best applied to Crowley s theories. Keeping in mind that Crowley interpreted his magick as a philosophy, a religion, and a way of life to ultimately achieving True Will, I felt it pertinent to explore these aspects of each play as well. In the musical Wicked, the philosophical nature of the piece asks the question Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them? This question can be answered through a variety of subjects. By exploring these issues within the context of its main character, Elphaba, (pronounced EL-fa-ba), and a variety of themes throughout this musical (including behavior, appearance, deception, honesty, courage and labeling) we find that True Will and conscious will in the land of Oz are flowering. Defining our True Will, according to Crowley, takes constant affirmations and diligent calculations of our feelings and utilizing those to aid in making the right choice for that specific moment6. In this fashion, Marisol marries the idea of what the author calls magical realism in a post-apocalyptic New York City with a fervent religiosity all while underscoring the political nature of the 1980s indigent cleanup initiated by then mayor Ed Koch. Through the character of Marisol Perez, we find that not only is the choice between True Will and conscious confusing, but it can be potentially lethal. Within the structure of this play is also where Crowley s spiritual views on True Will and conscious will become highlighted. The Lovers (Helena, Demetrius, Hermia, and Lysander) in Shakespeare s fantastical A Midsummer Night s Dream is the perfect backdrop to explore Crowley s more eccentric philosophies on magick and how these philosophies relate to True and conscious will. In essence, I plan to not only explore the choices that these four individuals make due to acts of both types of magic(k), but their ultimate consequences as well. It also must be noted that during the process of this thesis, the one overarching theme throughout all three plays dealt with Crowley s theory of self-preservation. I feel that this is innately tied into the idea of True Will. By achieving True Will, we are inherently attempting to make the best choices for ourselves. This inherently keeps alive the innate human instinct of survival. At the end of this thesis, I hope to defend that Crowley s concepts of True Will and conscious will, when applied in tandem with Crowley s concepts of magick, can be a valid lens to examine theatrical works, old and new alike.

Recent research that indicates ten universal values are shared across cultures has developed into the Schwartz Value Systems Theory. This theory describes the ten basic human values that derive from different motivational forces such as social superiority, an inner desire in novelty, and loyalty to one’s group. The values and corresponding motivational forces guide an individual’s decisions. After the Schwartz Value Systems Theory had been developed, two surveys have been created in order to assess an individual’s value hierarchy. While both of these surveys accurately measure an adult’s values, further research has indicated children possess individual values similarly to adults. As a result, the Picture Based Values Survey for Children was created in order to consider children’s values. The results from the children who took the Picture Based Values Survey For Children revealed that those children as a group acquired the same value hierarchy as adults. Since motivational forces determine an individual’s values, it would seem predictable that values might have an effect on a student’s level of motivation to succeed in the classroom. When a student’s motivational goals are met in the classroom, then they will become engaged in the lesson by aligning students’ values to the teaching methods incorporated in the lesson. This thesis therefore integrates prior research on children’s value development, the effects these values have on society and the classroom, and ways to exhibit values through discourse and teaching methods. Further, this seeks to apply this research in late childhood and early adolescence classrooms by examining the effects that may result from teachers exhibiting each of the ten universal values through their teaching methods through publicly shared videos.

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