518 research outputs found

    Fake News: Finding Truth in Strategic Communication

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    Fake news is an old phenomenon that has become a new obsession and a menace to society due to technological advancement and the proliferation of social media, which has changed traditional journalism norms. As the spread of false information has increased these past few years, it has become increasingly difficult for information consumers to distinguish between facts and fakes. A comprehensive systematic literature review to extract themes revealed the major factors responsible for spreading fake news. This qualitative interpretative meta-synthesis (QIMS) aims to better understand and offer solutions to combat fake news. This Ph.D. dissertation will serve as a guide for ethical communication practice and a reference for future research studies

    Determinación de la estrategia más frecuente en la traducción inglés-español de los juegos de palabras en la película Scary Movie 2

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    Este trabajo de investigación, titulado Determinación de la estrategia más frecuente en la traducción inglés-español de los juegos de palabras en la película Scary Movie 2, fue realizado en el contexto de los estudios de la traducción audiovisual y se concentra en el análisis de la técnicas y estrategias más usadas por los traductores al momento de trasladar el contenido textual de los juegos de palabras. En efecto, nos acerca a las razones por las cuales los traductores seleccionan ciertos tipos de técnicas y estrategias al subtitular películas con gran carga de humor. Los juegos de palabras, como mecanismo utilizado para generar el humor en películas, obras literarias y otros textos que, por su naturaleza o tipología requieren de este recurso, ha constituido por mucho tiempo un reto traductológico; sin embargo, gracias a la investigación en este campo, se ha logrado entender con más exactitud por qué se prefieren ciertas técnicas y estrategias que otra

    Out of sight, out of mind: accessibility for people with hidden disabilities in museums and heritage sites

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    As of 2020, an estimated 14.1 million residents of the United Kingdom reported a disability (DWP 2020). Within this population, approximately 6.1 million people have a hidden disability (Buhalis and Michopoulou 2011). These hidden disabilities range widely, from neurodiverse conditions like autism and dyslexia to long term chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia and arthritis. Due to the wide range of disabilities and their impact on a disabled person’s life, they have generally been underrepresented in accessibility studies. This thesis uncovers the accessibility needs of people with hidden disabilities, specifically in museums and heritage sites where they have heretofore mostly been overlooked. I utilise semi-structured interviews and correspondence with people with hidden disabilities, as well as participant-led experiences through three case study sites in Northern England, to understand the barriers they face. Their experiences help me expose the importance of passive accessibility – accessibility measures built directly into an exhibition design, such as adequate lighting and personal interpretation boards. Additionally, this thesis aims to understand the cultural forces that prevent or support accessibility-related improvements to such sites from taking place. By studying the cultural make-up of each case study organisation through ethnographic observations of the staff at these sites, institutional roadblocks to enacting accessibility-related adjustments are revealed. Specifically, the lack of communication at these sites presents a significant barrier to enacting accessibility suggestions from disabled visitors. Tying together the themes of active/passive accessibility and lack of communication is the theme of gaps in disability awareness, by which I mean that heritage organisations do not wilfully create these barriers to inclusion, and yet they create them still because they simply do not realise these things. Filling these gaps opens up countless possibilities for improving accessibility not only for people with hidden disabilities but for all visitors and staff at museums and heritage sites

    “It’s Just A Joke”: Tracing Portrayals Of Womanhood In Women’s Humor

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    This project conducts a comparative study of humorous works by three female authors to investigate portrayals of womanhood. I conduct a genealogical study using nineteenth-century sketches by satirist Marietta Holley, Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado (1958), and Torrey Peters' Detransition, Baby (2021) exploring how women's humor evolves with the construct of womanhood. Because these three authors are from different periods, I consider the historical context which each author publishes to compare the issues these women face. The issue of the "woman's sphere," a nineteenth-century buzzword that labeled women's "place," is the connecting and evolving thread in this study. This buzzword points to a continued separation of men and women demarcating the proper rules women must follow well into the twenty-first century. Double consciousness applies to the "sphere" and its outcomes by linking continuities of ideological barriers attached to womanhood, and should be explored in a tradition of women's humor. Each author in my study wrestles with the complexity of womanhood; however, each approaches this issue through varied styles of humor. A varied style points to an evolving humorous form; therefore, I argue that women's humor and identity should not be understood as separate entities, but parallel features evolving together

    Depolarizing Leaders – A Peacebuilding Approach to Healing the Divide

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    We are at a critical juncture in an increasingly divisive and partisan United States. Political polarization, with its underlying social divisions, has worsened these past 20 years into extreme ideological and affective polarization – which are having deleterious effects on American government, institutions, and society (Carothers & O’Donohue, 2019b). While the academic literature points to a salient need to disrupt and remedy polarization, little has been written about grassroots approaches to depolarization, and even less about depolarizing leaders themselves. My research addressed this gap. The purpose of this qualitative research project was to explore the work of depolarizing leaders – what they are trying to do, what it takes to do this work, and to what effect. The data for this qualitative research project was collected via semistructured interviews with nine depolarizing leaders in the United States. The findings describe how the study participants are trying to effect transformational individual and societal change via bottom-up grassroots dialogue work in order to build healthy relationships and foster collaboration. They give us a better understanding of what it takes to be a leader in the depolarization arena, explicate the challenges these leaders face, and point to the need for more evaluative studies to gauge the efficacy of their work. The implications of this study are practical – they can be used to inform the work of depolarizing leaders, and the depolarizing arena more broadly, as well as benefit the general public. In addition, they point to potential areas for further research

    Electromagnetic Simulations of Exotic Phenomena in Engineered Materials:

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    Thesis advisor: Krzysztof Kempa“Simulations are like an experiment but on a computer.” – K. Kempa. Powerful ideas can be explored in immense detail and unmatched flexibility through computational resources. Combined with the beauty of electromagnetics, worlds of situations and problems can be uncovered. Of the many interesting phenomena available to study, a relatively recent explosion of engineered plasmonic materials has benefitted greatly from numerical breakthroughs in simulating Maxwell’s equations. Using these tools on novel metamaterial systems, composite materials with precisely designed structural features, the analysis and optimization probes the unique capabilities they have interacting with light. Example phenomena from this work includes fundamental principle breaking, extraordinary optical transmission, negative refraction, and superconductivity enhancement. The systems that harbor such outstanding feats fall into the umbrella term of metamaterials, each with distinct geometry and contrasting electrical properties that allow for an engineered control of the effective structural dielectric function. As the response to electromagnetic radiation, manipulating the dielectric function is key to creating and discovering the effects that control light, without changing any chemistry. This work scales pedagogically through the different types of metamaterials, beginning first with 2D planar checkerboard structures with highly non-linear percolation. In combination with spoofed plasmonics, the longstanding symmetry of the Babinet principle is challenged. Layers of checkerboards are then stacked and translated to create subwavelength gaps for which plasmonic coupling between layers aids in optical transmission. In fact, there is similar physics controlling other layered quasi-complementary structures shown by comparison to experimental transmittance data. A further stage introduces photonic crystals constructed out of 3D periodic lattice of nanoparticles. Photonic band structure calculations for properly designed systems suggest the possibility of bandwidths of the IR spectrum where the crystal has a negative refractive index. Such a material property allows for the invention of lenses that beat the diffraction limit, applicable to subwavelength imaging. Lastly, non-local extensions to plasmonics are theoretically worked into expressions for superconductivity, creating a resonant anti-shielding effect, in composite topological crystal/superconductor layered arrangements. Applying this to known topics, like Bi2Se3 and MgB2, shows significant boost to electron pairing and thus rises in superconducting critical temperature. Central to all the systems and effects explored are the modifications made to the dielectric function of each effective medium. Supported by electromagnetic simulations and theoretical efforts, the listed engineered materials transform the dielectric environment purposefully to originate the mentioned exotic optical phenomena.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Physics

    Exploring Fiction Writer’s Approaches to Plot Outlining During the Planning Stage of the Writing Process

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    This thesis is about one person’s discovery and growth as a writer of creative fiction that spans decades. It specifically explores and analyzes how professional authors approach plot outlining during the planning stages of the writing process. Some professional authors prepare plot outlines prior to writing their first draft, while others do not. Over the course of the author’s writing life, experimenting with both methods has been instructive to the development of a personal approach to plot outlining. The Artist statement provides background on the author. Next, the Critical Paper examines and analyzes plot outlining and plot structure. Plot structure and plot types are detailed, followed by a comparative analysis of the plot structure of the novels of three contemporary authors. Finally, the Creative Manuscript demonstrates the author’s attempt at effective story structure in the opening chapters of a novel-length work, A Dex Wing Mess

    Emerging Genomic Technologies for Agricultural Biotechnology: Current Trends and Future Prospects

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    Twenty years from now, the earth’s population will need 55% more food than it can currently produce. However, agriculture is facing severe challenges such as global climate change, exhausted resources, reduction of arable lands and various pathogen attacks. Advances in genomic technologies may offer potential solutions to these agricultural problems. Recent years have seen the rapid development of new genomic technologies such as CRISPR, TALENS and ODM (collectively gene editing), as well as doubled haploids, molecular markers and mapping populations. Together with the rapidly expanding availability of genome sequence data, these technologies have the potential to transform plant breeding. Cross breeding is a traditionally used technology to improve the crops with desirable traits such as nutritional quality, higher yields, abiotic and biotic stress tolerances. Nowadays, emerging genomic technologies (EGTs) are being used extensively in agriculture and life sciences by researchers all over the world to incorporate desirable genes in different crops such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits or vegetables. Application of these technologies in new crops is expected to play an important role towards faster growth in productivity so critical for meeting the sustainable development goals, in particular the goals of zero hunger and sustainable food, nutrition and environmental security in the world. This Research Topic will include papers that describe the application of cutting-edge technologies to improve various crops, vegetables and fruits. We aim to attract papers addressing targets from all over the world but not limited to the following: • CRISPR/Cas, ZFN, TALENs • Development of Molecular Markers • Markers Assisted Breeding • SNP Markers • Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) in plants • Genetic Engineering and Development of Transgenic (GMO) crops • Current status of regulatory frameworks controlling GMO crops in the world • Risk assessment of GMO crops • New other emerging genomic technologie
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