Characterization of spatial texture for use in segmentation of synthetic aperture radar imagery

This study examined the use of textural analysis to assist in the segmentation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. A previous study, which dealt with imagery collected passively by electro-optical systems in the visible and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, tested a method of identifying optimal subsets of texture features from a large pool of possibilities. Three new features were added to this pool and tested against the others to determine their specific utility in the segmentation of SAR imagery. Their value is demonstrated by consistent appearance in optimal subsets of texture features, and by their contribution of up to 8% to image classification accuracy

The new hadron spectroscopy.

In the last ten years exotic hadron resonances have been discovered in high energy collider experiments. Indeed the internal structure of these hadrons, conventionally called XYZ, cannot be explained in terms of standard mesons or baryons, made up by a quark and an antiquark or by three quarks. In this PhD thesis we show how the decay and, above all, the production mechanisms of the XYZ could be useful in testing some theoretical hypotheses against experimental data. Moreover we propose to perform some indirect searches in order to discover if the experimental picture as we know it nowadays is complete or otherwise

The new hadron spectroscopy.

In the last ten years exotic hadron resonances have been discovered in high energy collider experiments. Indeed the internal structure of these hadrons, conventionally called XYZ, cannot be explained in terms of standard mesons or baryons, made up by a quark and an antiquark or by three quarks. In this PhD thesis we show how the decay and, above all, the production mechanisms of the XYZ could be useful in testing some theoretical hypotheses against experimental data. Moreover we propose to perform some indirect searches in order to discover if the experimental picture as we know it nowadays is complete or otherwise

Relationship of Dispositional Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, and Body Appreciation to Intuitive Eating in Female Emerging Adults

Intuitive eating is an adaptive non-dietary eating behavior associated with multiple beneficial outcomes (Augustus-Horvath & Tylka, 2011; Avalos & Tylka, 2006). Although body appreciation is a confirmed strong predictor of intuitive eating, research is needed to identify other intrapsychological contributors to this adaptive eating behavior. The current study used theories of mindfulness, emotion regulation, and intuitive eating to examine the contribution of dispositional mindfulness, habitual use of emotion regulation strategies, and body appreciation to intuitive eating in a sample of 394 female emerging adult college students (mean age 21 years, SD=1.88). Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test the study hypotheses. Body Mass Index (BMI) was used as a confounding variable in all regression analyses. Findings indicated that similar to the acceptance model of intuitive eating, body appreciation was the strongest contributor to the variance in intuitive eating. Unidimensional mindfulness accounted for a unique variance in intuitive eating over and above the contribution of body appreciation and emotion regulation strategies. As a set, emotion regulation strategies also emerged as a significant predictor of intuitive eating after accounting the variance explained by body appreciation and dispositional mindfulness. Only four facets of dispositional mindfulness including non-judging, non-reactivity, describing, and observing significantly contributed to intuitive eating. Finally, data supported the conceptual model of intuitive eating, where BMI was the most distal contributor to intuitive eating and body appreciation was its most proximal contributor. Based on the primary hierarchical regression analysis, post hoc bootstrapping mediation analysis were conducted. Mediation analysis revealed that the acting with awareness mindfulness facet exerted a medium in magnitude indirect effect on intuitive eating through the non-judging mindfulness facet. Similarly, post hoc mediation analyses examining the mediating role of body appreciation found that dispositional mindfulness and adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies had a significant medium in magnitude indirect effect on intuitive eating through body appreciation. Additionally, unidimensional mindfulness and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies had a direct effect on intuitive eating. Regardless of its limitations, the results of this study have implications for clinical practice, prevention, mindfulness and intuitive eating theory, and future research.Educational Psycholog

LIPIcs, Volume 248, ISAAC 2022, Complete Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 248, ISAAC 2022, Complete Volum

The evolution of student understanding of the concept of derivative

This research seeks to answer the question, "What does it mean for a student to understand the concept of derivative?" A structured way to describe an individual student's understanding of derivative is developed and applied to analyzing the evolution of that understanding for each of nine high school seniors during their year-long calculus course. The methodology is a multiple case study. Interviews, including both task-based and open-ended questions, are the primary instruments for collecting data on each student's understanding. Other data collected include tests, written questions, and classroom observations. Several theoretical frameworks contribute to the research: concept image (Tall, Vinner, and Dreyfus), process-object (Sfard; Dubinsky and colleagues), and notions of multiple representations for function, limit, and derivative. I describe the concept of derivative as three layers of process-objects: the ratio or difference quotient, the limit, and the function layers. Each layer may be observed in multiple contexts: graphical (slope), verbal description (rate of change), kinematic (e.g. velocity or acceleration), and symbolic (the symbolic difference quotient definition of derivative). A description of the connections between the various aspects of the concept of derivative comes from the work of Fischbein on paradigmatic, analogic, and diagrammatic models and the work of Lakoff on metaphor and metonymy. The major theoretical result of the dissertation is the development of a structured way of describing the concept of derivative including a diagrammatic methodology for displaying which aspects of the derivative concept a student has demonstrated. This methodology may be applied to other studies and other concepts. The major result of this study of nine students is the realization that the layers and representations of the concept of derivative do not appear to be hierarchical in that none of the nine students learn the aspects in the same order