Celebrating the generation of architectural ideas : tracing the lineage of Southeast Asian temples

From its early beginnings in the fifth century, the Brahmanic/Hindu tradition created a rich body of temples which spread across India and influenced temple building in Southeast Asia. The legacy of this ancient diasporic movement remains celebrated today in the admiration of Southeast Asian monuments such as Angkor Wat and Prambanan. However this architecture evolved over time through a process of long experimentation with philosophies, world-views, and methods. The architectural forms of such monuments have obvious Indian antecedents but the process of their development into distinctive indigenous forms remains difficult to ascertain. This is due both to the lack of textual accounts from the earliest Southeast Asian civilisations and because their architectural remains are fragmented or heavily eroded. This paper draws on a research project that pieces together fragments of evidence from diagrams and canonical descriptions to photogrammetry of temples in India and Southeast Asia. The intention of this is to establish the degree to which Southeast Asian temples are attributable to Brahmanic/Hindu lineage and influence. It will focus on the role of the early Southeast Asian temple site of Sambor Prei Kuk (lsanapura) in Cambodia. Comparing the relationships between cosmology, geometry and physical form in this earlier sites with both Indian and developed Southeast Asian models, it is intended that its generative role within Southeast Asian architectural historiography can be clarified and more fully celebrated

Visualisation to support children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder learning to solve mathematical word problems: a randomised controlled trial

This randomised controlled trial experimental study compared the effectiveness of using two different types of visualisation – self-constructed visualisation (SCV) and passively received visualisation (PRV) – to help children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) solve mathematical word problems. While SCV refers to drawings that children create to help solve given word problems, PRV refers to pre-made images that accompany word problems. Twenty children with ADHD in Kuwait, aged nine to 11 years, were randomly assigned to either the SCV or PRV group, where they were taught to use either SCV or PRV to solve word problems across 20 daily one-to-one sessions. The results showed that regardless of the visualisation type, children's word problem-solving ability significantly improved. Children with ADHD should thus be encouraged to use visualisation to help make the word problem-solving process more accessible to them

Exploring master teachers' use of visuals as tools in mathematical classrooms.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2010.The teaching and learning of mathematics has presented a great challenge for mathematics educationalists over many decades. Researchers have been searching for new strategies and techniques for improving the understanding of abstract mathematical concepts. With the current changes in the mathematics curriculum in South Africa, it is important to ensure that no learner is left behind in the pursuit to produce mathematically literate learners nationally. Teachers are encouraged to teach a common curriculum so that all learners have equal opportunities of attaining success in a democratic society in any chosen field. Some teachers achieve mathematical success easily while others struggle to achieve similar outcomes. Whilst we acknowledge that teachers ought to emulate the practices of other good teachers, we often do not seek explanations of what makes a teacher effective and how they achieve success in a classroom. As can be conceived, apart from probing teachers’ content knowledge, it is necessary to know how this knowledge can be used for optimal results in the course of teaching within the diverse South African classroom. In other words, it becomes necessary to interrogate the teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge because of the uniqueness of the South African context. It is for this reason that an in-depth study was done to explore Master teachers’ use of visuals as tools within mathematics classrooms. This study focused on six experienced mathematics teachers or Master mathematics teachers. These teachers were selected from six Dinaledi schools located in KwaZulu- Natal. The schools catered for learners from multicultural and multiracial backgrounds. Activity theory was used as a framework to locate the study. Each activity system was interrogated within an interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected using six methods and five research instruments

Early Connections : reflections on the canonical lineage of Southeast Asian temples

Temples were constructed across Southeast Asia following the spread of Brahmanic/Hindu culture between the fifth to eight centuries CE. Epigraphic evidence, architectural and stylistic similarities between temples in the region are strongly indicative of historic cross cultural links between the traditions. This paper presents the findings of a research project that pieces together fragments of evidence from early temple sites in Southeast Asia to establish the linkages between the Southeast Asian temple building traditions. The focus of the paper is on tracing the canonical connections between these traditions through an examination of temple sites in Cambodia and Java respectively. The legacy of this ancient diasporic movement remains celebrated today in the admiration of Southeast Asian monuments such as Angkor Wat and Prambanan. However this architecture evolved over time through a process of long experimentation with philosophies, world-views, and methods. . In order to permit a deeper examination of canonical connections, the authors use methods such as photogrammetry, digital and physical models to reconstruct the architectural forms. A detailed analysis of the canonical geometry and compositional form of these temples is undertaken with reference to Indic texts and temples. Comparing the relationships between cosmology, geometry and physical form in this earlier sites with both Indian and developed Southeast Asian models, it is intended that its generative role within Southeast Asian architectural historiography can be clarified and more fully celebrated. <br /

The utility of micro-computed tomography for the non-destructive study of eye microstructure in snails

Molluscan eyes exhibit an enormous range of morphological variation, ranging from tiny pigment-cup eyes in limpets, compound eyes in ark clams and pinhole eyes in Nautilus, through to concave mirror eyes in scallops and the large camera-type eyes of the more derived cephalopods. Here we assess the potential of non-destructive micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) for investigating the anatomy of molluscan eyes in three species of the family Solariellidae, a group of small, deep-sea gastropods. We compare our results directly with those from traditional histological methods applied to the same specimens, and show not only that eye microstructure can be visualised in sufficient detail for meaningful comparison even in very small animals, but also that μ-CT can provide additional insight into gross neuroanatomy without damaging rare and precious specimens. Data from μ-CT scans also show that neurological innervation of eyes is reduced in dark-adapted snails when compared with the innervation of cephalic tentacles, which are involved in mechanoreception and possibly chemoreception. Molecular tests also show that the use of µ-CT and phosphotungstic acid stain do not prevent successful downstream DNA extraction, PCR amplification or sequencing. The use of µ-CT methods is therefore highly recommended for the investigation of difficult-to-collect or unique specimens.Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The attached file is the published pdf

Determining the parent and associated fragment formulae in mass spectrometry via the parent subformula graph

BackgroundIdentifying the molecular formula and fragmentation reactions of an unknown compound from its mass spectrum is crucial in areas such as natural product chemistry and metabolomics. We propose a method for identifying the correct candidate formula of an unidentified natural product from its mass spectrum. The method involves scoring the plausibility of parent candidate formulae based on a parent subformula graph (PSG), and two possible metrics relating to the number of edges in the PSG. This method is applicable to both electron-impact mass spectrometry (EI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) data. Additionally, this work introduces the two-dimensional fragmentation plot (2DFP) for visualizing PSGs.ResultsOur results suggest that incorporating information regarding the edges of the PSG results in enhanced performance in correctly identifying parent formulae, in comparison to the more well-accepted "MS/MS score", on the 2016 Computational Assessment of Small Molecule Identification (CASMI 2016) data set (76.3 vs 58.9% correct formula identification) and the Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX) data set (66.2% vs 59.4% correct formula identification). In the extension of our method to identify the correct candidate formula from complex EI-MS data of semiochemicals, our method again performed better (correct formula appearing in the top 4 candidates in 20/23 vs 7/23 cases) than the MS/MS score, and enables the rapid identification of both the correct parent ion mass and the correct parent formula with minimal expert intervention.ConclusionOur method reliably identifies the correct parent formula even when the mass information is ambiguous. Furthermore, should parent formula identification be successful, the majority of associated fragment formulae can also be correctly identified. Our method can also identify the parent ion and its associated fragments in EI-MS spectra where the identity of the parent ion is unclear due to low quantities and overlapping compounds. Finally, our method does not inherently require empirical fitting of parameters or statistical learning, meaning it is easy to implement and extend upon.Scientific contributionDeveloped, implemented and tested new metrics for assessing plausibility of candidate molecular formulae obtained from HR-MS data

Tadpole VR: virtual reality visualization of a simulated tadpole spinal cord

Recent advances in “developmental” approach (combining experimental study with computational modelling) of neural networks produces increasingly large data sets, in both complexity and size. This poses a significant challenge in analyzing, visualizing and understanding not only the spatial structure but also the behavior of such networks. This paper describes a Virtual Reality application for visualization of two biologically accurate computational models that model the anatomical structure of a neural network comprised of 1,500 neurons and over 80,000 connections. The visualization enables a user to observe the complex spatio-temporal interplay between seven unique types of neurons culminating in an observable swimming pattern. We present a detailed description of the design approach for the virtual environment, based on a set of initial requirements, followed up by the implementation and optimization steps. Lastly, the results of a pilot usability study are being presented on how confident participants are in their ability to understand how the alternating firing pattern between the two sides of the tadpole’s body generate swimming motion

Meta-parametric design: Developing a computational approach for early stage collaborative practice

Computational design is the study of how programmable computers can be integrated into the process of design. It is not simply the use of pre-compiled computer aided design software that aims to replicate the drawing board, but rather the development of computer algorithms as an integral part of the design process. Programmable machines have begun to challenge traditional modes of thinking in architecture and engineering, placing further emphasis on process ahead of the final result. Just as Darwin and Wallace had to think beyond form and inquire into the development of biological organisms to understand evolution, so computational methods enable us to rethink how we approach the design process itself. The subject is broad and multidisciplinary, with influences from design, computer science, mathematics, biology and engineering. This thesis begins similarly wide in its scope, addressing both the technological aspects of computational design and its application on several case study projects in professional practice. By learning through participant observation in combination with secondary research, it is found that design teams can be most effective at the early stage of projects by engaging with the additional complexity this entails. At this concept stage, computational tools such as parametric models are found to have insufficient flexibility for wide design exploration. In response, an approach called Meta-Parametric Design is proposed, inspired by developments in genetic programming (GP). By moving to a higher level of abstraction as computational designers, a Meta-Parametric approach is able to adapt to changing constraints and requirements whilst maintaining an explicit record of process for collaborative working

A comparative analysis of Decide Madrid and vTaiwan, two Digital Platforms for Political Participation

This thesis is a comparative examination of the impacts of two so-called ‘Digital Platforms for Political Participation’ (DPPPs) — Decide Madrid and vTaiwan — on urban policymaking and citizen empowerment. DPPPs are a novel subset of digital platforms which are focused on facilitating online political participation and are designed and implemented by governmental institutions: the two cases under study here are designed by Madrid City Council and the Taiwanese government respectively. This thesis utilises what I term a situated lens, which fuses the idea of relational comparative urbanism, Deleuzian assemblage thinking and theories of empowerment. This situated lens allows me to evaluate, compare and identify the similarities in the forms of digital political participation provided by the two DPPPs under study. It does this by breaking each DPPP down into three sets of assemblages: (1) the design process; (2) the dynamic User Interface (UI); and (3) the process of algorithmic decision-making. The term ‘situated’ is coined to highlight the dynamic and mutating nature of digital political participation. Via this situated lens, I stress that digital empowerment is highly changeable, constrained and opened up by rules set at design stage, the dynamic UI, contingencies introduced by algorithmic interactions with users, and the changing human/institutional contexts in which these processes are embedded. This thesis demonstrates that my comparative study of the two DPPPs can enrich existing studies in digital urbanism and digital participation. Firstly, drawing from theories of empowerment, the situated lens allows me to indicate the level of empowerment a DPPP provides should not be seen just as the provision of a fixed static set of participatory capacities. Rather, a DPPP should be seen as a fluid space in which empowerment is present to a greater or lesser extent, affected by a fast-moving environment in which a user can be disabled or enabled in making informed and collective decisions due to various contingencies (such as the dynamic UI and the processes of user data interacting with algorithms to produce decisions). The wider institutional context also drives this fluidity: the citizen/user’s ability to impact on policymaking through reaching collective decisions through DPPPs is constrained or promoted by subsequent processes of governmental allocation of political legitimacy and resources. Secondly, the situated lens offers a new view in digital urbanism, by deploying an innovative hybrid method to produce ‘flashbacks’ on specific processes of digital political participation. In doing so it reveals and question the ways in which political decisions on legitimating urban issues are mutably (re)configured by algorithmic interactions with users and by subsequent human interpretation in institutional policymaking processes. This serves to question what constitutes fairer and more empowered political decisions by pointing out exclusions which emerge during the decision-making processes of DPPPs