Mobile wireless communication technology is a fast developing field and every day new mobile communication techniques and means are becoming available. In this thesis multi-view video (MVV) is also refers to as 3D video. Thus, the 3D video signals through wireless communication are shaping telecommunication industry and academia. However, wireless channels are prone to high level of bit and burst errors that largely deteriorate the quality of service (QoS). Noise along the wireless transmission path can introduce distortion or make a compressed bitstream lose vital information. The error caused by noise progressively spread to subsequent frames and among multiple views due to prediction. This error may compel the receiver to pause momentarily and wait for the subsequent INTRA picture to continue decoding. The pausing of video stream affects the user's Quality of Experience (QoE). Thus, an error resilience strategy is needed to protect the compressed bitstream against transmission errors. This thesis focuses on error resilience Adaptive Intra Refresh (AIR) technique. The AIR method is developed to make the compressed 3D video more robust to channel errors. The process involves periodic injection of Intra-coded macroblocks in a cyclic pattern using H.264/AVC standard. The algorithm takes into account individual features in each macroblock and the feedback information sent by the decoder about the channel condition in order to generate an MVV-AIR map. MVV-AIR map generation regulates the order of packets arrival and identifies the motion activities in each macroblock. Based on the level of motion activity contained in each macroblock, the MVV-AIR map classifies frames as high or low motion macroblocks. A proxy MVV-AIR transcoder is used to validate the efficiency of the generated MVV-AIR map. The MVV-AIR transcoding algorithm uses spatial and views downscaling scheme to convert from MVV to single view. Various experimental results indicate that the proposed error resilient MVV-AIR transcoder technique effectively improves the quality of reconstructed 3D video in wireless networks. A comparison of MVV-AIR transcoder algorithm with some traditional error resilience techniques demonstrates that MVV-AIR algorithm performs better in an error prone channel. Results of simulation revealed significant improvements in both objective and subjective qualities. No additional computational complexity emanates from the scheme while the QoS and QoE requirements are still fully met.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Globally the Subjective Well-Being (SWB) of children is recognized as having a significant effect on the child's psychological and social functioning. Furthermore, not only does children's SWB have effects on childhood well-being research, it has also increased the knowledge of how children view their life that has been determined through the measurement of specific domains that relates to children's lives. The overall aim of this study was to ascertain the SWB of children across three age groups in the Western Cape. Within this process, the study further aimed to fit the structural model depicting the nature of the relationship between global, domain specific and overall life satisfaction across three age groups. The Theory of Model Fit: Goodness of Fit and Fit Indexes was used as the theoretical position conceptualising the study. The sample included 3236 children aged 8, 10, and 12 years selected using stratified random sampling from 29 schools in the Western Cape. The study used Structural Equation Modelling and Multi-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis to address the stated aims and objectives. Ethics principles of informed consent, anonymity, the right to withdraw and privacy were adhered to within the study. Findings of this study indicate that the descriptive statistics depicted high levels of SWB for both measures with mean composite scores ranging between 81.20 to 86.15 for the SLSS; and 83.29 to 84.07 for the PWI-SC. Confirmatory factor analysis showed excellent fit for both the SLSS and the PWI-SC across age groups (multi-group model). The application of Multi-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis in the current study found the measures to be comparable across the three age groups (8, 10 & 12) for the SLSS and two age groups for the PWI-SC (10 & 12). A combined model with two latent constructs, representing different levels of abstraction was also tested. An excellent fit was obtained for this combined model. Appropriate fit statistics was obtained for the overall pooled sample. The standardised regression weights of 0.57 for the PWI-SC and 0.47 for the SLSS point to adequate loadings of the latent constructs onto the OLS. Markedly, it was found that a significant overall mean difference was found between the 10 and 12-year olds and not between the 8 and 10-year olds; while for the domain-specific PWI-SC a similar tendency was noted across the 10 and 12-year olds participants (8 year old group was not applicable in this analysis). / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Magister Artium - MA / Recent advancements in child well-being research have shown an increased interest in the importance of subjective well-being. The development of instruments and scales to measure subjective well-being among children and adolescents is in its infancy. Furthermore, there are few existing cross-cultural studies with child and adolescent populations. Validation of existing measures and cross-cultural comparisons has been identified by a number of researchers as critical in contributing to the international dialogue. In the current study, two measures of subjective well-being (Student Life Satisfaction Scale and Personal Well-Being Index-School Children) are tested among a sample of children in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Noting the diversity of experience between children from different socio-economic status groups in South Africa, the study further aims to determine the extent to which the measures are comparable across socio-economic status groups. Data from the Children’s World Survey were used; and includes a sample of 1004 children randomly selected from 15 schools within the Cape Town Metropole. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the overall fit structure and multi-group factor analysis, with Scalar and Metric invariance constraints. The results show appropriate fit structure for the overall model, with Scalar and Metric factor invariance tenable across socio-economic status groups. The overall findings suggest that the two measures are appropriate for use with children from low and medium socio-economic status groups in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Malnutrition (MN) is prevalent worldwide in hemodialysis patients (HDP); however it has not been assessed in HDP living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of MN in HDP at the Jeddah Kidney Center as well as to determine if the 7-point subjective global assessment (SGA) correlates with anthropometric [Body Mass Index (BMI), Tricep Skinfold Thickness (TSF), Mid-Arm Muscle Circumference (MAMC)], or biochemical (albumin) measurements. In a cross sectional, descriptive study, 270 HDP were assessed for MN. Over half of the HDP were malnourished, with 47.8% moderately and 6.3% severely malnourished. Fifty-eight percent of HDP did not adhere to their diet prescription. As albumin, BMI, TSF, and MAMC decreased, malnutrition became more severe (p < .01). Patients who were female (OR=.43, p=.001), older (OR=.45, p=.001), with no education (OR=3.10, p=.001), underweight (OR=3.56, p<.001), small TSF (OR=1.12, p=.001), and small MAMC (OR=1.15, p=.001) were more likely to be malnourished. The prevalence of MN is high in these HDP. A consistent nutritional assessment protocol is warranted and should be implemented to decrease MN in Saudi HDP.

The benefits of observing a model when acquiring a new motor skill are well known, however, there is little research on the influence of viewing angle of the model. The purpose of the present experiment was to assess whether a looking-glass (face on) or subjective (facing away) viewing angle would result in different acquisition and retention levels when learning a complex Zumba dance sequence. Greater cognitive effort was expected during the looking-glass condition, consequently resulting in slower acquisition but greater physical performance scores and error recognition/identification. Thirty females were evenly divided into the looking-glass or subjective group and began with the pre-test phase to assess degrees of motivation, self-efficacy, and physical performance. Participants were then lead through six acquisition dances, within which they performed the to-be-learned sequence 18 times. An assessment of cognitive effort followed, then post-test performances and error recognition/identification scores were obtained to conclude the study. While both the looking-glass and subjective conditions demonstrated equal rates of acquisition (p>.05), the looking-glass group performed significantly fewer errors during the post-test (p<.05) and were significantly better at identifying errors when a video of the dance sequence was shown from the same viewing angle as the acquisition phase (p<.05). No differences were reported between the two conditions with respect to cognitive effort (p>.05). Based on the results of this study, the looking-glass viewing angle appears to result in better learning of a dance sequence, but cannot be explained by cognitive effort.

Cette recherche fut élaborée afin d’offrir un portrait contrasté et critique de l’organisation des services de santé mentale au Québec. Elle se situe en réaction contre la volonté instituée d’exclure la parole de la personne psychiatrisée et de la soustraire d’une partie de son pouvoir sur elle-même. Afin de découvrir la manière dont l’identité se transforme à travers le parcours de soins, nous avons développé un cadre conceptuel liant les théorisations goffmanienne et foucauldienne, nous permettant de mettre à jour la façon dont les discours dominants et l’organisation concrète des services agissent sur l’expérience sensible des sujets. Méthodologiquement, nous nous sommes inspirée des principes de l’ethnographie institutionnelle et avons effectué une collecte de données de 16 mois, par le bais de l’observation participante et d’entretiens semi-dirigés, au sein de trois organismes communautaires de santé mentale dans la ville de Gatineau. La population cible de cette recherche était composée d’adultes psychiatrisés faisant actuellement l’usage de leurs services. Nos résultats montrent que organisation de l’offre de services engendre des attributs identitaires chez les participants par le biais de contraintes structurelles qui occasionnent une transformation du rapport à soi, à l’autre et à la société. Ces contraintes résultent de relations de pouvoir se situant à l’extérieur de la vie quotidienne des usagers et sous-jacentes à l’organisation des services. Un continuum identitaire se développe au cours du parcours, aboutissant à son extrême, à une identité « docile » qui correspond aux besoins de fonctionnalité de la structure et qui contribue au maintien de relations de pouvoir asymétriques, au détriment de l’usager. Celui-ci demeure, ainsi, dans un état de marginalité institué. En tant que travailleuse sociale, nous proposons d’avoir recours à l’approche d’intervention visant la conscientisation critique des usagers, afin que ces derniers puissent contrer la modulation de soi et se réapproprier réellement leur pouvoir d’agir.

Thesis advisor: Peter Ireland / Retirees with limited financial resources face numerous risks, including out-living their money (longevity risk), investment losses (market risk), unexpected health expenses (health risk), the unforeseen needs of family members (family risk), and even retirement benefit cuts (policy risk). This study systematically values and ranks the financial impacts of these risks from both the objective and subjective perspectives and then compares them to show the gaps between retirees’ actual risks and their perceptions of the risks in a unified framework. It finds that 1) under the empirical analysis, the greatest risk is longevity risk, followed by health risk; 2) under the subjective analysis, retirees perceive market risk as the highest-ranking risk due to their exaggeration of market volatility; and 3) the longevity risk and health risk are valued less in the subjective ranking than in the objective ranking, because retirees underestimate their life spans and their health costs in late life. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

The purpose of this study was to examine current kinesiology students' athletic identity, identity foreclosure, perceived task value in sport, and perfectionism. An online survey was distributed via email to current kinesiology students. The survey contained questions regarding demographic information and items from the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, Perceived Task Value in Sport, Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2, and Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport. Results of the Pearson moment correlations indicated that the higher the athletic identity, the higher the subjective task value, identity foreclosure, perfectionistic strivings, and perfectionistic concerns. Multiple regression analyses were performed to further examine the predictive power of athletic identity, subjective task value, and identity foreclosure for perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Results indicated that athletic identity and subjective task value were significant predictors of perfectionistic strivings. Results also showed that athletic identity and identity foreclosure were significant predictors of perfectionistic concerns. Future research should replicate the study using participants from different geographical regions. Furthermore, future research should consider a longitudinal and qualitative study to investigate the development of subjective task value in sport.

No description available.

abstract: Background: Hash oil, a cannabis preparation that contains ultra-high concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is quickly gaining popularity in the United States. Some evidence suggests that hash oil might produce greater intoxication and more severe negative effects than marijuana. This study examined whether the subjective effects of hash oil are more extreme than the subjective effects of marijuana and whether frequency of hash oil use is associated with the subjective effects of marijuana and hash oil. Method: Past-year cannabis users (n = 1,268) were recruited online to complete a questionnaire about the subjective effects of cannabis. Participants who reported past-year use of both hash oil and marijuana (n = 574) rated subjective effects of each type of cannabis in the following positive and negative domains: positive affect, cognitive enhancement, negative affect, cognitive impairment, physiological effects, reduced consciousness, and psychotic-like experiences. Results: Results of within-person comparisons showed that hash oil was rated as producing lesser positive effects (Hash oil: M = 4.53, Marijuana: M = 5.55, t = 14.67, p < .001) than marijuana. Negative effects of hash oil were minimal for the full sample (n = 574) and for both frequent and infrequent hash oil users. In general, the frequency of hash oil use was not associated with the subjective effects of marijuana but more frequent hash oil use was associated with rating hash oil as producing greater positive effects ( = 0.28, t = 6.86, p < .001) and lesser negative effects ( = -0.16, t = -3.83, p < .001). Findings were unchanged after controlling for sex, medical cannabis use, and frequency of marijuana use. Conclusions: Hash oil produced lesser positive effects than marijuana. Negative effects of hash oil were minimal, suggesting that extreme negative effects may be unlikely for experienced cannabis users. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019