874 research outputs found
ImMApp: An immersive database of sound art
The ImMApp (Immersive Mapping Application) thesis addresses contemporary and historical sound art from a position informed by, on one hand, post-structural critical theory, and on the other, a practice-based exploration of contemporary digital technologies (MySQL, XML, XSLT, X3D). It proposes a critical ontological schema derived from Michel Foucault's Archaeology of Knowledge (1972) and applies this to pre-existing information resources dealing with sound art.
Firstly an analysis of print-based discourses (Sound by Artists. Lander and Lexier (1990), Noise, Water, Meat. Kahn (2001) and Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art. LaBelle (2006» is carried out according to Foucauldian notions of genealogy, subject positions, the statement, institutional affordances and the productive nature of discursive formation. The discursive field (the archive) presented by these major canonical texts is then contrasted with a formulation derived from Giles Deleuze and Felix Guattari: that of a 'minor' history of sound art practices.
This is then extended by media theory (McLuhan, Kittler, Manovich) into a critique of two digital sound art resources (The Australian Sound Design Project (Bandt and Paine (2005) and soundtoys.net Stanza (1998). The divergences between the two forms of information technologies (print vs. digital) are discussed. The means by which such digitised methodologies may enhance Foucauldian discourse analysis points onwards towards the two practice-based elements of the thesis.
Surface, the first iterative part, is a web-browser based database built on an Apache/MySQIlXML architecture. It is the most extensive mapping of sound art undertaken to date and extends the theoretical framework discussed above into the digital domain. Immersion, the second part, is a re-presentation of this material in an immersive digital environment, following the transformation of the source material via XSL-T into X3D. Immersion is a real-time, large format video, surround sound (5.ln.l) installation and the thesis concludes with a discussion of how this outcome has articulated Foucauldian archaeological method and unframed pre-existing notions of the nature of sound art
Frozen Ground - The News Bulletin of the International Permafrost Association, No.27
Frozen Ground - The News Bulletin of the International Permafrost Association, No.2
DOC 2016-03 Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcc), Full Proposal
Legislative Authorit
University education, training and research in water and waste-water engineering in the context of Cyprus
Human resources development (education at university level and training) linked to
parallel research activity is one of the inputs and the key to develop and sustain water and
sanitation provision. The specific objectives of this work are:
(a) to consider the background context globally and for the case of Cyprus;
(b) to find out what is the current potential in Cyprus, that is achievements so far in
education, training and research (at university or as part of employment) in the sector
of water and waste-water engineering at both the individual and the organisation levels;
(c) to find out about the current university courses and research in the sector in various
countries and also about training organisations;
(d) to identify the educational, training and research needs and future plans for Cyprus and
Cypriot water and waste-water engineers so as to benefit the country and the people of
Cyprus (bearing in mind what the local characteristics, problems and needs are);
(e) to develop guidelines and consider possibilities of how to fulfil needs for Cyprus,
either in Cyprus or abroad;
(f) to consider wider application of the results in other countries; and
(g) to recommend further enquiries. [Continues.
Frozen Ground - The News Bulletin of the International Permafrost Association, No.24
Frozen Ground - The News Bulletin of the International Permafrost Association, No.2
Electrical collection systems for offshore wind farms - a review
A review of the electrical collection systems in offshore wind farms (OWFs) is presented in this paper. The review is based on a categorization of offshore wind power electrical collection systems. The classification encompasses three categories of electrical collection systems, medium voltage AC collection, medium voltage DC collection systems and low frequency AC collection systems (LFAC). This paper summarizes the related research on different collection systems and explores their operational characteristics and challenges. As the initial cost of an OWF is very much influenced, to a great extent, by the configuration of electrical collection and transmission systems, it is necessary to understand the key components and challenges in each collection system configuration
Frozen Ground - The News Bulletin of the International Permafrost Association, No.28
Frozen Ground - The News Bulletin of the International Permafrost Association, No.2
THE DECISION TO UNDERTAKE VOCATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION IN SHIPPING AND LOGISTICS IN THE UK
This work investigates the decision to study shipping and logistics at advanced levels in
the UK. Documented evidence reports and analyses the perceptions of students on
vocational courses in shipping, transport and logistics and investigates why they chose
their particular fields of study.
A range of instruments are presented to analyse how students perceived that they had
arrived at their study decisions, including national surveys of undergraduates in maritime
business, postgraduates in shipping and logistics and professionals contemplating updating
short courses. Qualitative, quantitative and mapping methods are presented along with
perceptions of relevant professional outcome roles and other factors.
Exploratory approaches to proposing and evaluating alternative approaches to teaching
aimed at raising the student's perception of the nature of professional skills requirements
were predicated by identifying and defining local student schemae and tailoring aids to
their specific learning and teaching requirements.
A cognitive mapping approach enabled comparisons of perceptions between postgraduates,
whose individual beliefs, after being mapped and modelled as a directed network, were
analysed, and differences between maps were quantified. Quantitative pairwise map
comparisons included 54 individuals generating 1430 synchronal comparisons in one
cohort and four diachronal cohort comparisons. These revealed that distance measures
constrained by the numbers of transmitters or receivers, and the strength of relationships
where appropriate, formed the best discriminators.
Empirical and theoretical explanations of maps and attempts to compare particular
subgroups and explain differences were often inconclusive. A unified social cognitive
theory of career and academic interest, choice and performance generated useful
propositions relating to how individuals manage issues of self-efFicacy, expected outcomes
from decisions and their personal goals. Substantive work revealed problems of conflicting
domains between students' verbatim statements, only weakly coincident with theoretical
concepts. Conclusions that mapping is most powerful/when based on qualitative analysis
of the richness and diversity of individual perceptions; infer that no simple standard
decision process is operating and hence no single recruitment marketing device is apparent.
In applying and disseminating findings, where possible, proposals were made to assist
organisations promoting careers awareness and recruitment into relevant professions and
university based vocational courses, published by relevant professional bodies
Impact of urban configurations on microclimate and thermal comfort in residential area of Kuala Lumpur
The increase of vertical development causes the modification of urban microclimates and higher intensity of Urban Heat Island (UHI). Scholars emphasise that urban configuration is one of the major factors that influences this issue. Current studies on the relationship of urban configurations and urban climate mainly focus on the urban canyon. Furthermore, there is lack of focus on the impact of urban configurations on both microclimate and thermal comfort. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of urban configurations on the mitigation of UHI and the balance between microclimate and thermal comfort, called Climatically Responsive Urban Configuration (CRUC) in Kuala Lumpur. Four urban configurations, namely: Courtyard, U, Courtyard Canyon and Canyon were investigated using ENVI-met simulation. The urban configurations were simulated according to the value of Sky View Factor (SVF). Besides, these urban configurations were set according to two canyon directions; East West and North South in two empirical sites situated in Kuala Lumpur. The results showed that the urban configurations have impact on both microclimate and thermal comfort. This is an indication that the increase of SVF in urban configurations could mitigate the intensity of the UHI. Enclosed urban configurations such as the Courtyard and Courtyard Canyon complied with the concept of CRUC in the setting of East West canyon direction, whereas urban configurations with canyon features for Canyon and Courtyard Canyon are recommended in the setting of North South canyon direction. The finding emphasised that in Kuala Lumpur climatic context, the high intensity of the solar radiation is the main influential factor in UHI mitigation and forming the CRUC. It is recommended that urban planners avoid East-West canyon direction in strategising the impact of urban configurations on microclimate and thermal comfort
Sea dragons of Avalon
Tourists driving through the village2 of Street on their way to Glastonbury might well wonder at the representation of a skeleton on the road sign. Could this perhaps be a warning that this stretch of the A39 is a roadkill hotspot? I (Stig Walsh, once a local inhabitant) suspect that the
skeleton’s true identity may be far from what most outsiders expect of this part of Somerset (and most locals too). Cider, cheddar cheese, sheepskins, sensible shoes and scratched vinyl LPs of ‘The Best of the Wurzels’ probably rank highly in a top ten list of ‘objects found on
and around the Somerset Levels’; Mesozoic ichthyosaurs probably wouldn’t make the top 40. Street nonetheless has an important place in the history of vertebrate palaeontology, and the PalAss review seminar held in late July was organised to look at what can be said about those fossils today
- …