Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sign Language is a fully-fledged natural language possessing its own syntax and grammar; a fact which implies that the problem of machine translation from a spoken source language to Sign Language is at least as difficult as machine translation between two spoken languages. Sign Language, however, is communicated in a modality fundamentally different from all spoken languages. Machine translation to Sign Language is therefore burdened not only by a mapping from one syntax and grammar to another, but also, by a non-trivial transformation from one communicational modality to another. With regards to the computer visualization of Sign Language; what is required is a three dimensional, temporally accurate, visualization of signs including both the manual and nonmanual components which can be viewed from arbitrary perspectives making accurate understanding and imitation more feasible. Moreover, given that facial expressions and movements represent a fundamental basis for the majority of non-manual signs, any system concerned with the accurate visualization of Sign Language must rely heavily on a facial animation component capable of representing a well-defined set of emotional expressions as well as a set of arbitrary facial movements. This thesis investigates the development of such a computer facial animation system. We address the problem of delivering coordinated, temporally constrained, facial animation sequences in an online environment using VRML. Furthermore, we investigate the animation, using a muscle model process, of arbitrary three-dimensional facial models consisting of multiple aligned NURBS surfaces of varying refinement. Our results showed that this approach is capable of representing and manipulating high fidelity three-dimensional facial models in such a manner that localized distortions of the models result in the recognizable and realistic display of human facial expressions and that these facial expressions can be displayed in a coordinated, synchronous manner. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gebaretaal is 'n volwaardige natuurlike taal wat oor sy eie sintaks en grammatika beskik. Hierdie feit impliseer dat die probleem rakende masjienvertaling vanuit 'n gesproke taal na Gebaretaal net so moeilik is as masjienvertaling tussen twee gesproke tale. Gebaretaal word egter in 'n modaliteit gekommunikeer wat in wese van alle gesproke tale verskil. Masjienvertaling in Gebaretaal word daarom nie net belas deur 'n afbeelding van een sintaks en grammatika op 'n ander nie, maar ook deur beduidende omvorming van een kommunikasiemodaliteit na 'n ander. Wat die gerekenariseerde visualisering van Gebaretaal betref, vereis dit 'n driedimensionele, tyds-akkurate visualisering van gebare, insluitend komponente wat met en sonder die gebruik van die hande uitgevoer word, en wat vanuit arbitrêre perspektiewe beskou kan word ten einde die uitvoerbaarheid van akkurate begrip en nabootsing te verhoog. Aangesien gesigsuitdrukkings en -bewegings die fundamentele grondslag van die meeste gebare wat nie met die hand gemaak word nie, verteenwoordig, moet enige stelsel wat te make het met die akkurate visualisering van Gebaretaal boonop sterk steun op 'n gesigsanimasiekomponent wat daartoe in staat is om 'n goed gedefinieerde stel emosionele uitdrukkings sowel as 'n stel arbitrre gesigbewegings voor te stel. Hierdie tesis ondersoek die ontwikkeling van so 'n gerekenariseerde gesigsanimasiestelsel. Die probleem rakende die lewering van gekordineerde, tydsbegrensde gesigsanimasiesekwensies in 'n intydse omgewing, wat gebruik maak van VRML, word aangeroer. Voorts word ondersoek ingestel na die animasie (hier word van 'n spiermodelproses gebruik gemaak) van arbitrre driedimensionele gesigsmodelle bestaande uit veelvoudige, opgestelde NURBS-oppervlakke waarvan die verfyning wissel. Die resultate toon dat hierdie benadering daartoe in staat is om hoë kwaliteit driedimensionele gesigsmodelle só voor te stel en te manipuleer dat gelokaliseerde vervormings van die modelle die herkenbare en realistiese tentoonstelling van menslike gesigsuitdrukkings tot gevolg het en dat hierdie gesigsuitdrukkings op 'n gekordineerde, sinchroniese wyse uitgebeeld kan word.

Intra-dialytic hypotension (IDH) is the most common complication in haemodialysis (HD) treatment and has been linked with increased mortality in HD patients. Despite various approaches towards understanding the underlying physiological mechanisms giving rise to IDH, the causes of IDH are poorly understood. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) has previously been suggested as a predictive measure of IDH. In contrast to conventional spectral HRV measures in which the frequency bands are defined by fixed limits, a new spectral measure of HRV is introduced in which the breathing rate is used to identify and measure the physiologically-relevant peaks of the frequency spectrum. The ratio of peaks leading up to the IDH event was assessed as a possible measure for IDH prediction. Changes in the proposed measure correlate well with the magnitude of abrupt changes in blood pressure in patients with autonomic dysfunction, but there is no such correlation in patients without autonomic dysfunction. At present, routine clinical vital sign monitoring beyond simple weight and blood pressure measurements at the start and end of each session has not established itself in clinical practice. To investigate the benefits of continuous vital sign monitoring in HD patients with regard to detecting and predicting IDH, different population-based and patient-specific models of normality were devised and tested on data from an observational study at the Oxford Renal Unit in which vital signs were recorded during HD sessions. Patient-specific models of normality performed better in distinguishing between IDH and non-IDH data, primarily due to the wide range of vital sign data included as part of the training data in the population-based models. Further, a patient-specific data fusion model was constructed using Parzen windows to estimate a probability density function from the training data consisting of vital signs from IDH-free sessions. Although the model was constructed using four vital sign inputs, novelty detection was found to be primarily driven by blood pressure decreases.

The following essay was written in Stockholm, Sweden in the autumn of 2015 at Stockholm University. The purpose of this study is to explore the forms of multimodal communication that are used in the classroom as meaning making prompts. The study is from a multimodal and design theoretical perspective and uses the model Learning Design Sequence as a framework for collecting and analysing data. A qualitative method is being used for collecting data from video observation, from two eighth grade History classes. Video Observation and multimodal transcription produce rich data from a multimodal perspective, for seeing what modes of communication are being used. However, to observe what modes of communication functioned as meaning making prompts, other methods could be employed. The results show that speech, gesture and tone of voice are used in the foreground as modes of communication. Gaze, image, text, posture and movement can fluctuate between the background and foreground depending on their use. Social practices such as turning the lights off, or turning the overhead projector on can function as meaning making prompts, as can hand gestures such as pointing, clapping and enacting. Speech, gesture, tone of voice, movement, image and sound can all work as a meaning making prompts individually or combined together. / VAL projekt

The dissertation contains essays concerning the linkages between macroeconomy and financial market or the conduct of monetary policy via DSGE modelling. The dissertation contributes to the questions of fitting macroeconomic models to the data, and so contributes to our understanding of the driving forces of fluctuations in macroeconomic and financial variables. Chapter one offers an introduction to my thesis and outlines in detail the main results and methodologies. In Chapter two I introduce a statistical measure for model evaluation and selection based on the full information of sample second moments in data. A model is said to outperform its counterpart if it produces closer similarity in simulated data variance-covariance matrix when compared with the actual data. The "distance method" is generally feasible and simple to conduct. A flexible price two-sector open economy model is studied to match the observed puzzles of international finance data. The statistical distance approach favours a model with dominant role played by the expectational errors in foreign exchange market which breaks the international interest rate parity. Chapter three applies the distance approach to a New Keynesian model augmented with habit formation and backward-looking component of pricing behaviour. A macro-finance model of yield curve is developed to showcase the dynamics of implied forward yields. This exercise, with the distance approach, reiterate the inability of macro model in explaining yield curve dynamics. The method also reveals remarkable interconnection between real quantity and bond yield slope. In Chapter four I study a general equilibrium business cycle model with sticky prices and labour market rigidities. With costly matching on labour market, output responds in a hump-shaped and persistent manner to monetary shocks and the resulting Phillips curve seems to radically change the scope for monetary policy because (i) there are speed limit effects for policy and (ii) there is a cost channel for monetary policy. Labour reforms such as in mid-1980s UK can trigger more effective monetary policy. Research on monetary policy shall pay greater attention to output when labour market adjustments are persistent. Chapter five analyzes the link between money and financial spread, which is oft missed in specification of monetary policy making analysis. When liquidity provision by banks dominates the demand for money from the real economy, money may contain information of future output and inflation due to its impact on financial spreads. I use a sign-restriction Bayesian VAR estimation to separate the liquidity provision impact from money market equilibrium. The decomposition exercise shows supply shocks dominate the money-price nexus in the short to medium term. It also uncovers distinctive policy stance of two central banks. Finally Chapter six concludes, providing a brief summary of the research work as well as a discussion of potential limitations and possible directions for future research.

在不利的環境下做交通標誌的偵測與辨識是一件非常艱困的工作，無論在郊區或市區，複雜的環境、天候、陰影以及任何和光線有關的因素甚至是交通標誌遭到遮蔽都將使得偵測與辨識交通標誌變得相當困難。在本篇論文中，我們定義出較寬鬆的顏色分類(color thresholding)方法，配合一些交通標誌的特徵(如外形)來實作出召回率(Recall)較高的偵測系統，另外在辨識方面，最重要的是找出好的辨識特徵，因此我們利用離散餘弦轉換(discrete cosine transform)和奇異值分解(singular value decomposition)處理待辨識標誌擷取其特徵，並配合一些其他的交通標誌特徵，當作類神經網路(ANN)、naïve Bayes classifier等辨識方法的輸入，來幫助我們完成辨識的工作。目前實作出來的系統在有挑戰性的測試資料下有七成六左右的辨識率。 / Robust traffic sign recognition can be a difficult task if we aim at detecting and recognizing traffic signs in images captured under unfavorable environments. Complex background, weather, shadow, and other illumination-related problems may make it difficult to detect and recognize signs in the rural as well as the urban areas. In this thesis, I define a formula for color classification and apply other related features such as the shape of the traffic signs to implement the detection component that offers high recall rate. In traffic sign recognition, the most important thing is to get the effective features. I use discrete cosine transform and singular value decomposition to collect the invariant features of traffic signs that will not be severely interfered by disturbing environments. These invariant features can be used as the input to artificial neural networks or naïve Bayes models to achieve the recognition task. This system yields satisfactory performance about 76% recognition rate when I test them with very challenging data.

Identity management is a critical concept for enterprises, and it has turned to more challenging issue since businesses are significantly moving towards service oriented architecture (SOA) with the aim to provide seamless service delivery to their customers, partners and employees. The organizational domains are expanded to blur the virtual borders, simplify the business collaboration and maximize opportunities in the competitive market place, which explicitly shows the essentiality for federating the identities. Real-world identity comprises of different dimensions such as Law, Business, Policy, Technology and Society, therefore reliable digital identity management and successful federation are required to take these dimensions and complexity into consideration. Considering variety of academic and industrial researches that report on remarkable demands for identity federation adoption by enterprises, this study has approached federated Identity Management from technological point of view. Technologies provide tools and mechanisms to satisfy the business requirements and enable single sign-on capability in reliable federated platform. Different authentication technologies and standards have emerged to enable federated single sign-on (FSSO) implementation as a core service of the FIdM, each with different features and capabilities. This brings more complexity and confusion for experts and decision makers for FIdM adoption and development. To overcome this obstacle and accelerate the data collection and analysis process for decision makers, this research contributes to the filed by providing a conceptual framework to simplify the analysis of underlying technology for decision making process. In this framework 1) a list of state-of-the-art requirements and mechanisms for successful identity federation and reliable SSO is elaborated, 2) Six most prevalent standard authentication technologies along with latest specifications are analysed, explained and assessed against the defined criteria, and 3) several security and privacy consideration are gathered. The usage of framework is monitored and the efficiency of it is evaluated in 2 real business case scenarios by five IT experts and the result is reported.

À très peu de philosophes l’histoire de la pensée occidentale a accordé une place aussi significative qu’à Socrate : nous apprenons tout naturellement à l’édifier comme héros de la rationalité et à reconnaître en lui la figure même du philosophe critique. À plusieurs égards, cette représentation élogieuse nous paraît justifiée, bien que, d’un autre point de vue, elle puisse nous faire sombrer dans la confusion, dès lors que notre regard porte simultanément, et comme pour produire un contraste, sur l’image d’un Socrate se soumettant au daimonion, son étrange signe divin. Comment pouvons-nous justifier, à partir du corpus platonicien, à la fois l’engagement de Socrate vis-à-vis de la rationalité et sa soumission à un phénomène en apparence irrationnel ? De cette question troublante est née la présente étude qui se consacre donc au problème de l’articulation entre le rapport de Socrate aux dieux et son rapport à la raison critique. Plus précisément, nous avons cherché à déterminer s’il existait, sur le plan épistémologique, une hiérarchie entre le daimonion et la méthode d’investigation rationnelle propre à Socrate, l’elenchos. Une telle étude exégétique nécessitait, dans un premier temps, une analyse systématique et approfondie des quelques passages sur le signe divin. Nous avons ensuite exposé deux solutions paradigmatiques au problème du double engagement contradictoire de Socrate, celle de G. Vlastos ainsi que celle de T.C. Brickhouse et N.D. Smith. Enfin, nous avons augmenté cette seconde partie d’un examen spécifique du Phèdre et du Timée, de même que d’un survol des modes de divination pour satisfaire un triple objectif : situer le signe divin en regard de la mantique traditionnelle, déterminer le rôle attribué par Platon à la raison dans le processus divinatoire, et être ainsi en mesure de trancher notre question principale. / To very few philosophers the history of the Western thought granted a place as significant as to Socrates: we quite naturally learn how to identify him as a hero of rationality and to recognize in him the very figure of the critical philosopher. In several respects, this representation of praise appears justified to us, although, from another point of view, it can make us sink in confusion, since our glance carries simultaneously, and like producing a contrast, on the image of Socrates obeying to the daimonion, his uncanny divine sign. How can we justify, starting from the Platonic corpus, both the engagement of Socrates with respect to rationality and his subordination to a seemingly irrational phenomenon? From this disconcerting question was born the present study which is thus devoted to the problem of the articulation between the relation of Socrates to the gods and his relation to the critical reason. More precisely, we sought to determine if there existed, on the epistemological level, a hierarchy between the daimonion and the method of rational investigation peculiar to Socrates, the elenchos. Such an exegetic study required, initially, a systematic and thorough analysis of the few passages related to the divine sign. We then adduced two paradigmatic solutions, that of G. Vlastos as well as that of T.C. Brickhouse and N.D. Smith. Lastly, we added to this second part besides a specific examination of Phaedrus and Timaeus, also a broad survey of the modes of divination, satisfying a triple aim: to make sense of the divine sign in comparison with the traditional art of mantic, to determine the role allotted by Plato to the reason in the divinatory process, and thus to be able to solve our principal question.

The present thesis focuses on semiotic aspects of note-taking in consecutive interpreting, in particular with respect to the process of semiosis and factors influencing the interpreters' conception of their notes. Chapter 1 mentions the basic features of note-taking in order to trace its semiotic characteristics in the following parts of the thesis. In Chapter 2, the notes as a specific semiotic system are briefly discussed within the framework of the second Peircean trichotomy of signs (cases of iconicity, indexicality and symbolicity are demonstrated) and in terms of their function, productivity and spatial settings. After these general considerations, Chapter 3 introduces the main theoretical approaches to the technique of note-taking (principally those of the Geneva and Heidelberg schools) including the issues of the languages involved in interpreting or the nature of signs. As the accent is on the process of semiosis (apprehension of signs by interpreters, generating signs according to the meaning of the speech and searching for the motivation for the interpreters' concrete choices of signs and their form), the chapter lists some basic signs and methods well- tested by practitioners. The signs are also analysed in terms of their origin and possibilities of expansion (composition, derivation...

The topic of the thesis is communication problems of the majority of society and groups of deaf people. Deaf people also live in the majority of hearing society. These people meet each other and they can communicate with each other. This communication is problematic, however, because in the communication of deaf and hearing there are communication barriers. In this thesis, we used a quantitative method of the surveyed hearing respondents. We researched what communication problems exist in the communication of the majority society and a group of deaf people. Based on the methods used, we found that communication problems are mainly caused by a lack of awareness of the major societies of the group of deaf people. In this thesis, we propose to raise awareness of the majority of the hearing society about a group of deaf people, in order to eliminate communication problems. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The thesis is dedicated to a postmodern use of symbol and sign. It is based on set definitions of major terms in the fine art and maps the space between a word and a picture as well as impersonal understanding of computer-generated codes. Didactic part enables to work with symbol and sign in art education. An analytical and syntactical thinking, the knowledge of the art history and the ability of intellectual fabrication are the basic ideas of the thesis. Art works, that use multilevel symbol expressions and are formally based on a postmodern thinking, are introduced in a practical part of the thesis.