Language-GAME-Players: Articulating the pleasures of ‘violent’ game texts

Young peoples’ voices have been considered irrelevant or unreliable when it comes to discussing the influence and impact of their engagement with screen-mediated depictions of violence. Historically, such viewpoints have been derived from the controlled experimentation of modernist psychology, which constitutes the most sustained and prominent enquiries into the consequences of individual participation in, and viewing of, simulated violence. In espousing an impersonal approach, psychological research has opted not to demonstrate any understanding of the properties of the particular games or the medium its findings have been used to denigrate. Neither does its research possess broader awareness of the social dimensions of play or the productivity inherent in the practices of its surrounding cultures. This paper introduces findings taken from a two-year project that attempted to draw together what have essentially remained separate lines of inquiry – the critical and analytical scrutiny of Game Studies applied to understanding the pleasures of engagement with game violence. The aim of this research was to achieve a more contextual understanding of texts that utilise violence from the perspective of young people that opt to experience them as an entertainment form. In doing so, a range of qualitative methods were employed to encourage game players to present their viewpoints and offer a voice that is all too often absent from the ‘one-way debate’ attached to the representation of violence within games

Beam loading

We begin by giving a description of the radio-frequency generator-cavity-beam coupled system in terms of basic quantities. Taking beam loading and cavity detuning into account, expressions for the cavity impedance as seen by the generator and as seen by the beam are derived. Subsequently methods of beam-loading compensation by cavity detuning, radio-frequency feedback and feedforward are described. Examples of digital radio-frequency phase and amplitude control for the special case of superconducting cavities are also given. Finally, a dedicated phase loop for damping synchrotron oscillations is discussed.Comment: 25 pages, contribution to the CAS - CERN Accelerator School: Course on High Power Hadron Machines; 24 May - 2 Jun 2011, Bilbao, Spai

Unloaing and re-loading features of pre-strained steel at low temperature

In the present work the response of medium carbon steel is investigated experimentally and information on the features of initial loading, unloading, re-loading and inverse loading processes is collected. The experiment is a simple tension and compression test using a round specimen and stress-strain curves are drawn after giving strain histories to specimens. The value of Young’s modulus is measured from the stress-strain curve to evaluate the influence of pre-strain. Taking the result into consideration the intensity of predicted spring back of a thin sheet after bending process is evaluated

The International Mass Loading Service

The International Mass Loading Service computes four loadings: a) atmospheric pressure loading; b) land water storage loading; c) oceanic tidal loading; and d) non-tidal oceanic loading. The service provides to users the mass loading time series in three forms: 1) pre-computed time series for a list of 849 space geodesy stations; 2) pre-computed time series on the global 1deg x 1deg grid; and 3) on-demand Internet service for a list of stations and a time range specified by the user. The loading displacements are provided for the time period from 1979.01.01 through present, updated on an hourly basis, and have latencies 8-20 hours.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the Reference Frames for Applications in Geosciences Simposium, held in Luxemboug in October 201

Steering vector errors and diagonal loading

Diagonal loading is one of the most widely used and effective methods to improve robustness of adaptive beamformers. In this paper, we consider its application to the case of steering vector errors, i.e. when there exists a mismatch between the actual steering vector of interest and the presumed one. More precisely, we address the problem of optimally selecting the loading level with a view to maximise the signal to interference plus noise ratio in the presence of random steering vector errors. First, we derive an expression for the optimal loading for a given steering vector error and we show that this loading is negative. Next, this optimal loading is averaged with respect to the probability density function of the steering vector errors, yielding a very simple expression for the average optimal loading. Numerical simulations attest to the validity of the analysis and show that diagonal loading with the optimal loading factor derived herein provides a performance close to optimum

Loading Surface in the Course of Mechanical- Thermal Treatment and Steady-State Creep of Metals

Abstract: Kinetics of the loading surface of a material gives precious information on the level of the hardening of the material. This paper is concerned with the evolution of the loading surface during successive actions, such as: (i) plastic deformation, (ii) annealing of the pre-strained specimen, and (iii) secondary creep of the treated material. The analysis of the loading surface is carried out in terms of the synthetic theory of irrecoverable deformation. Keywords: loading surface; mechanical-thermal treatment; creep and plastic strain; synthetic theory of irrecoverable deformatio

Modeled nitrogen loading to Narragansett Bay: 1850 to 2015

Nutrient loading to estuaries with heavily populated watersheds can have profound ecological consequences. In evaluating policy options for managing nitrogen (N), it is helpful to understand current and historic spatial loading patterns to the system. We modeled N inputs to Narragansett Bay from 1850 to 2000, using data on population, human waste disposal, livestock, fertilizer, and atmospheric deposition. We found that total N loading to the bay increased 250% from 1850 to 2000, and 80% from 1900 to 2000. Loading to the upper bay increased far more than that to the lower bay, and the most important source shifted from non-point animal waste to human waste concentrated at sewage treatment facilities. We also modeled future N loads in 2015 under four management scenarios. Planned improvements in sewage treatment would reduce N loads 9% below business-as-usual, to the 1990 loading rate. Greater reductions, to circa 1900 rates of loading, may be possible

Effect of primary treatment and organic loading on methane emissions from horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands treating urban wastewater

Methane is emitted in horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSSF CWs) during wastewater treatment. The objective of this work was to determine the influence of primary treatment and organic loading rate on methane emissions from constructed wetlands. To this aim, methane emissions from a HSSF CW pilot plant were measured using the closed chamber method. The effect of primary treatment was addressed by comparing emissions from wetlands receiving the effluent of an anaerobic (HUSB reactor) or a conventional settler as primary treatments. Alternatively, the effect of organic loading was addressed by comparing emissions from wetlands operated under high organic loading (52 g COD m (2) day (1)) and low organic loading (17 g COD m (2) day (1)). Results showed that methane emission rates were affected by the type of primary treatment and, to a lesser extent, by the organic loading applied. Accordingly, lower redox conditions and slightly higher organic loading of a wetland receiving the effluent of a HUSB reactor resulted in methane emissions twelve times higher than those of the wetland fed with primary settled wastewater. Moreover, systems subjected to three times higher organic loading than that recommended lead to higher methane emission rates, although high data variability resulted in no statistically significant differences.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version