Eustia of the Tarnished Wings: The Visual Novel in Translation

The center of this thesis proposal is a translation of the first book of AUGUST Software’s Eustia of the Tarnished Wings 穢翌のユースティア, a 2011 dark fantasy visual novel. As visual novels are practically unknown in English or Japanese academic writing, this thesis will provide an introduction to the medium’s history, as well as common display and organizational formats of the medium; a literary overview of Eustia of the Tarnished Wings and its characters and themes of choice and sacrifice; and a discussion of translation methodology and goals pursued in the accompanying excerpts. The translation presented consists of selected excerpts from the Prologue of Eustia of the Tarnished Wings, introducing the main characters, the floating city-state of Novus Aether, and the uneasy social climate of the city. Presented scenes are selected on the basis of plot or thematic relevance or translational interest, as well as scenes that are necessary to contextualize plot or character developments discussed in the critical introduction. This thesis will serve as an introduction to a developing medium that has been overlooked by most academics in the field of Japanese popular culture, as well as a look at the utilization of choice mechanics and branching story structure to In addition, it will present a personal methodology of and approach to translation as related to Eustia’s many and varied characters, social strata and situations, and maintaining individual and consistent voices for different characters and a first-person narrator in fiction

Quantum cascade lasers in biomedical infrared imaging

Technological advances, namely the integration of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) within an infrared (IR) microscope, are enabling the development of valuable label-free biomedical-imaging tools capable of targeting and detecting salient chemical species within practical clinical timeframes

College Students’ Attitudes, Stigma, and Intentions Toward Seeking Online and Face-to-Face Counseling

Objective(s): To investigate differences in public stigma, self-stigma, attitudes (value and discomfort), and intentions to seek help between online and face-to-face counseling. To identify a difference in the relationship between these variables and both counseling modalities. Method: An online survey completed by 538 college students from one university in the Southeastern United States. The sample included 412 females and 126 males with a mean age of 20.21 years (SD = 1.26). Results: Significantly higher levels of self-stigma and discomfort toward online counseling were reported. Significantly higher value and intentions were reported toward face-to-face counseling. Self-stigma was positively related to public stigma, value was negatively related to self-stigma, and intentions toward seeking help was positively related to value. Conclusions: Results suggest face-to-face counseling is seen as a more favorable method of service delivery compared to online counseling. Value toward online counseling is an important predictor for seeking this type of help

Caledonian and Pre-Caledonian orogenic events in Shetland, Scotland:evidence from garnet Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd geochronology

Garnet Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd ages from the Shetland Caledonides provide evidence of a pollorogenic history as follows: 1) c. 1050 Ma Grenvillian reworking of Neoarchaean basement; 2) c. 910 Ma Renlandian metamorphism of the Westing Group; 3) c. 622-606 Ma metamorphism of the Walls Metamorphic Series but of uncertain significance because the eastern margin of Laurentia is thought to have been in extension at that time; 4) Grampian I ophiolite obduction at c. 491 Ma followed by crustal thickening and metamorphism between c. 485 and c. 466 Ma; 5) Grampian II metamorphism between c. 458 and c. 442 Ma that appears to have been focused in areas here pre-existing foliations ere gentle-inclined and thus may have been relatively easily reworked; 6) Scandian metamorphism at c. 430 Ma, although the paucity of these ages suggests that much of Shetland did not attain temperatures for garnet growth. There is no significant difference in the timing of Caledonian orogenic events either side of the Walls Boundary Fault, although this need not preclude linkage with the Great Glen Fault. However, the incompatibility of Ediacaran events either side of the Walls Boundary Fault may indicate significant lateral displacement and requires further investigation

Lift Force Analysis for an Electrodynamic Wheel Maglev Vehicle

This paper used an analytic based 3-D second order vector potential model to study the vertical dynamic force ripple and dynamic airgap height change when using a one pole-pair electrodynamic wheel (EDW) maglev vehicle. A one-pole pair EDW creates the lowest lift specific power; however transient finite element analysis (FEA) also shows that the one pole-pair EDW will create a large oscillating vertical force when maintaining a static airgap height. A dynamically coupled eddy current model was used to confirm that when the airgap length is allowed to change with time then an increase in vertical airgap creates a large decrease in lift force thereby mitigating any large oscillatory airgap height changes from being created by the one pole-pair EDW. The small airgap height variation was experimentally confirmed by using a four-wheeled proof-of-principle radial EDW maglev vehicle

Effects of habitat transformation on temporary wetlands in the South-Western Cape, South Africa

Includes bibliographical references.The widespread loss of temporary wetlands to human activities has been well established, but virtually no information exists on how the human transformation of landscapes has altered the ecological character of those wetlands that remain. This thesis investigates environmental conditions and invertebrate assemblages in temporary wetlands in relation to the extent of habitat transformation in the adjacent landscape, using a broad (across multiple landscapes) and a fine (within-landscape) scale of analysis

Optoelectronic processes in polyfluorene ambipolar transistors

This thesis describes the use of charge modulation spectroscopy to investigate the negative and positive charge-induced absorptions in conjugated semiconducting polymers as a way to experimentally compare the wavefunctions of electrons and holes. Interactions between light and charges including fluorescence quenching and photocurrent are also explored. Conjugated polymers have an electronic structure with an energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). In the neutral ground state, there are no optical transitions at photon energies lower than this gap. When an excess charge is added to a conjugated polymer, the charge couples with a local structural reorganisation forming a localised entity known as a polaron. The polaron has two new electronic states within the energy gap symmetrically spaced about the midgap energy. Typically two new optical transitions between the polaronic states are allowed and can be accessed with sub gap energies. In order to probe the sub gap polaron absorptions charges can be added by electrical injection. Electrical injection in a transistor configuration provides a controlled way to measure the absorption of a known number of charges in the solid state and without triplet or singlet absorptions complicating the spectra as observed in photo-induced absorption. By taking advantage of recently developed ambipolar transistors where both holes and electrons can be accumulated in the same device a comparison can be made between the negative and positive polaron wavefunctions. Two polyfluorene polymers were chosen as examples where quantum chemical calculations predict either the same or different wavefunctions for the electron and hole. Poly(9,9-di-n-octylfluorene) (F8) is a hydrocarbon-only polymer which is expected to have similar electron and hole wavefunctions, whereas the related co-polymer, poly(9,9-di-n-octylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) is expected to have an electron wavefunction that is more localized that the hole. The ambipolar transistors used in this thesis are typified by a dominant contact resistance which introduces difficulties in the charge modulation spectroscopy experiment. New techniques for simultaneous electrical and optical characterisation are developed and new device structures and fabrication processes are introduced in order to overcome a number of artifacts and improve the accuracy of the measurement allowing quantitative comparisons to be made. The increase in transistor or diode current with energy gap illumination and the quenching of fluorescence in the presence of charges is also investigated and a new method for imaging charge trapping and device operation in transistors with luminescent semiconductors is introduced.EPSRC, Clare College, Philosophical Society, Board of Graduate Studie