Volumetric visualization of 3D data

In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the ability to obtain detailed data on large complex structures in three dimensions. This development occurred first in the medical field, with CAT (computer aided tomography) scans and now magnetic resonance imaging, and in seismological exploration. With the advances in supercomputing and computational fluid dynamics, and in experimental techniques in fluid dynamics, there is now the ability to produce similar large data fields representing 3D structures and phenomena in these disciplines. These developments have produced a situation in which currently there is access to data which is too complex to be understood using the tools available for data reduction and presentation. Researchers in these areas are becoming limited by their ability to visualize and comprehend the 3D systems they are measuring and simulating

Value weaving: superordinate mediatory framework through discursive applications

2013 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.This study is concerned with establishing a theoretical framework of mediation that provides an applicable strategy for mediating antagonistic societal groups. Drawing from a variety of fields, including conflict resolution, structuralism/post-structuralism, social psychology, and political science, this interdisciplinary approach attempts to create novel forms of positive communication where communication does not currently exist by exploring the ways in which partisanship shapes belief systems into seemingly exhaustive wholes. Arising from an exploration of intersubjective epistemological claims, a theoretical groundwork of functional communication is rendered and ventures into post-structuralist conceptions of discourse. The researcher imposes himself as a third party mediator upon pro-life and pro-choice cultures in an attempt to compel members of these respective groups to cooperate with one another where they can, specifically in supporting low-income women facing a crisis pregnancy. Data was collected via in-depth qualitative interviews from partisan members on both sides of the abortion debate

Critical analysis of participatory research in the social sciences, A

2022 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.In this dissertation, I put forward ethical, methodological, and epistemological reasons that warrant the presence of participants in the appraisal of social scientific research products. I discuss the nature of appraisal through Wittgenstein's linguistic philosophy and use it to support the claim that participatory research holds the capacity to improve formalized appraisal processes in cultural research. Extending the critique into a consideration of Western and Indigenous epistemologies, I attempt to deconstruct the ways in which Western academic research, specifically social scientific research, perpetrates colonialism and how, through participatory research, social scientific research practices might begin the process of decolonization. I then discuss how descriptive analytic techniques can make participant appraisal viable in academic contexts by showing how participatory strategies can license non-immersive data-collection methods, e.g., general interview-based research, in ways that are typically associated with those that are immersive, e.g., participant-observation

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationImpairment in language and communication is a core deficit in autism and related autism spectrum disorders. Relatively recent research supports a co-occurrence of language impairment similar to that seen in children with structural language impairments and autism spectrum disorders. While it is not clear whether this impairment constitutes a subtype of children with autism or a convergence between two distinct disorders, language impairment is emerging as an important dimension in understanding autism spectrum disorders. In the current study, Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) was used to create communication profiles, which were then validated in a sample of school aged children from a local school district receiving services through Special Education under the educational classification of Autism. Three profiles were supported: High Speech vs. Low Nonverbal Communication, High Syntax vs. Low Context, and High Scripted Language vs. Low Social Relations. These communication profiles were correlated with external variables including measures of adaptive functioning, cognitive ability, language ability, and autism symptoms. High Speech vs. Low Nonverbal Communication showed significant positive correlations on most external variables, while neither of the other two profiles showed significant correlations with any of the external measures. Characteristics of good fit to the profiles as well as profile differences in children identified as having structural language impairments are discussed

Wrongful Termination of Benefits Under the Longshore and Harborworkers\u27 Compensation Act: A Compromise Approach

While many state supreme courts have considered whether to allow actions against a compensation insurer for intentional infliction of emotional distress and bad faith, the issues have not been clearly settled under one federal compensation statute, the Longshore and Harborworkers\u27 Compensation Act (LHWCA). Three federal courts have apparently adopted different approaches, modeled after the three approaches taken by state courts. This Comment argues that the Compromise approach, which allows actions based on intentional infliction of emotional distress but rejects actions based on bad faith, is most consistent with the policies underlying the LHWCA and should be followed by the courts