Alternate endings: using fiction to explore design futures

Design research and practice within HCI is inherently oriented toward the future. However, the vision of the future described by HCI researchers and practitioners is typically utility-driven and focuses on the short term. It rarely acknowledges the potentially complex social and psychological long-term consequences of the technology artefacts produced. Thus, it has the potential to unintentionally cause real harm. Drawing on scholarship that investigates the link between fiction and design, this workshop will explore “alternate endings” to contemporary HCI papers. Attendees will use fictional narratives to envision long-term consequences of contemporary HCI projects, as a means for engaging the CHI community in a consideration of the values and implications of interactive technology

Open-air preaching as radical street performance

In this thesis I examine the ways in which analysing open-air preaching as ‘radical street performance’ can inform our understanding of this expression of Christian preaching. Open-air preaching is commonly associated with negative stereotypes. Most contemporary homiletical writers also largely neglect considering this practice. Through my research, I posit radical street performance as a constructive and illuminating way to understand and analyse open-air preaching. In chapter 1, I introduce the practice of open-air preaching in relation to relevant homiletical literature. In so doing, I challenge the commonly held stereotypes about open-air preaching. I do so with reference to the long and diverse nature of the practice. In chapter 2, I critically analyse existing ‘preaching as performance’ literature. I first demonstrate the ways in which these authors show the suitability of performance as a concept for understanding preaching. I then go on to consider the limitations of their understandings of preaching as performance for exploring open-air preaching in performance terms. I do this to establish the immediate theoretical context for my own research. In chapter 3, I develop this argument further drawing on the work of performance theorists Jan Cohen-Cruz and Baz Kershaw. I argue accordingly, that radical street performance is a valuable way of understanding and analysing open-air preaching as performance. On the basis of these theoretical and methodological foundations, in chapters 4-6, I explore three case studies of open-air preaching according to this analytical approach. In chapter 4, I focus on the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century evangelical preaching of James Haldane (1768-1851), whose open-air preaching was directly related to his move to congregational Independency. In chapter 5, I explore the early to mid twentieth century open-air preaching of George MacLeod (1895- 1991), founder of the Iona Community. In chapter 6, I analyse the open-air preaching of OAC Ministries GB, a contemporary organisation that seeks to promote and practice open-air preaching in a creative way. The outcomes of the original research in chapters 4, 5, and 6 demonstrate the applicability and versatility of radical street performance as a way of understanding and analysing open-air preaching in performance terms. It also provides original understandings of the dynamics of each example of open-air preaching examined, highlighting differences and similarities between them. In chapter 7, I draw together by way of conclusions, the theoretical, theological, and practical outcomes of the research for the practice of open-air preaching and the consequent implications for in-church preaching. In this way I present open-air preaching as a minority but significant practice of incarnational witness which exists in a tensive relationship with the dominant practice of in-church preaching

George MacLeod’s open-air preaching: Performance and counter-performance

Stuart Blythe uses the methodology of performance to analyse George MacLeod’s open-air preaching. He points out that MacLeod’s preaching was derived from a theology of the incarnation, and an understanding of the paradoxes and dichotomies of common human life. This preaching, Blythe suggests, was also a counter-performance in the context of outlooks and ideologies inimical to the gospel. The paper raises interesting issues related to preaching as performance, and the further question as to whether or not the life and work of the Church as a whole might now be better understood as a counter-performance

Giant magnetoresistance in granular cobalt copper thin films prepared by pulsed laser ablation deposition

Giant magnetoresistance of up to 9.5% in 1.5 T at 14 K has been observed in Co19Cu81, thin films prepared by pulsed laser ablation deposition from rotated, split targets. The as-grown films show a small GMR effect but this may be enhanced by a factor of 4 by appropriate annealing. The volume ratio of material in the target is found to be reproduced in the film. Measurements of the remanence and initial susceptibility of the films indicate a distribution of energy barriers to the rotation of the magnetic moments of the cobalt particles and also the presence of inter-particle interactions. The choice of operating parameters to control these effects and thus optimise the GMR is discussed

Institutional Critique: A Rhetorical Methodology for Change

We offer institutional critique as an activist methodology for changing institutions. Since institutions are rhetorical entities, rhetoric can be deployed to change them. In its effort to counter oppressive institutional structures, the field of rhetoric and composition has focused its attention chiefly on the composition classroom, on the department of English, and on disciplinary forms of critique. Our focus shifts the scene of action and argument to professional writing and to public discourse, using spatial methods adapted from postmodern geography and critical theory

Why Game Designers Should Study Magic

For millennia, magicians have designed illusions that are perceived as real regardless of their impossibility, inducing a sense of wonder in their audience. This paper argues that video game designers face the same design challenge - crafting believable and engaging illusions - and that the practice of magic provides an untapped wealth of design principles and techniques for game designers. To support this claim, the paper introduces two key principles of magic, affording perceived causal relations and forcing perceivedfree choice. It then presents techniques to create and exploit these effects and discusses their parallels and applications in game design, encouraging game designers and researchers to further explore the field of magic for testable theories and applicable techniques

Thymus transplantation for complete DiGeorge syndrome: European experience

Background: Thymus transplantation is a promising strategy for the treatment of athymic complete DiGeorge syndrome (cDGS). Methods: Twelve patients with cDGS were transplanted with allogeneic cultured thymus. Objective: To confirm and extend the results previously obtained in a single centre. Results: Two patients died of pre-existing viral infections without developing thymopoeisis and one late death occurred from autoimmune thrombocytopaenia. One infant suffered septic shock shortly after transplant resulting in graft loss and the need for a second transplant. Evidence of thymopoeisis developed from 5-6 months after transplantation in ten patients. The median (range) of circulating naïve CD4 counts (x10663 /L) were 44(11-440) and 200(5-310) at twelve and twenty-four months post-transplant and T-cell receptor excision circles were 2238 (320-8807) and 4184 (1582 -24596) per106 65 T-cells. Counts did not usually reach normal levels for age but patients were able to clear pre-existing and later acquired infections. At a median of 49 months (22-80), eight have ceased prophylactic antimicrobials and five immunoglobulin replacement. Histological confirmation of thymopoeisis was seen in seven of eleven patients undergoing biopsy of transplanted tissue including five showing full maturation through to the terminal stage of Hassall body formation. Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) expression was also demonstrated. Autoimmune complications were seen in 7/12 patients. In two, early transient autoimmune haemolysis settled after treatment and did not recur. The other five suffered ongoing autoimmune problems including: thyroiditis (3); haemolysis (1), thrombocytopaenia (4) and neutropenia (1). Conclusions: This study confirms the previous reports that thymus transplantation can reconstitute T cells in cDGS but with frequent autoimmune complications in survivors

Effects of management objectives and rules on marine conservation outcomes

Understanding the relative effectiveness and enabling conditions of different area-based management tools is essential for supporting efforts that achieve positive biodiversity outcomes as area-based conservation coverage increases to meet newly set international targets. We used data from a coastal social–ecological monitoring program in 6 Indo-Pacific countries to analyze whether social, ecological, and economic objectives and specific management rules (temporal closures, fishing gear-specific, species-specific restrictions) were associated with coral reef fish biomass above sustainable yield levels across different types of area-based management tools (i.e., comparing those designated as marine protected areas [MPAs] with other types of area-based management). All categories of objectives, multiple combinations of rules, and all types of area-based management had some sites that were able to sustain high levels of reef fish biomass—a key measure for coral reef functioning—compared with reference sites with no area-based management. Yet, the same management types also had sites with low biomass. As governments advance their commitments to the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the target to conserve 30% of the planet's land and oceans by 2030, we found that although different types of management can be effective, most of the managed areas in our study regions did not meet criteria for effectiveness. These findings underscore the importance of strong management and governance of managed areas and the need to measure the ecological impact of area-based management rather than counting areas because of their designation

Minimizing Errors in RT-PCR Detection and Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for Wastewater Surveillance

Wastewater surveillance for pathogens using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is an effective, resource-efficient tool for gathering additional community-level public health information, including the incidence and/or prevalence and trends of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater may provide an early-warning signal of COVID-19 infections in a community. The capacity of the world’s environmental microbiology and virology laboratories for SARS-CoV-2 RNA characterization in wastewater is rapidly increasing. However, there are no standardized protocols nor harmonized quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. This paper is a technical review of factors that can lead to false-positive and -negative errors in the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, culminating in recommendations and strategies that can be implemented to identify and mitigate these errors. Recommendations include, stringent QA/QC measures, representative sampling approaches, effective virus concentration and efficient RNA extraction, amplification inhibition assessment, inclusion of sample processing controls, and considerations for RT-PCR assay selection and data interpretation. Clear data interpretation guidelines (e.g., determination of positive and negative samples) are critical, particularly during a low incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Corrective and confirmatory actions must be in place for inconclusive and/or potentially significant results (e.g., initial onset or reemergence of COVID-19 in a community). It will also be prudent to perform inter-laboratory comparisons to ensure results are reliable and interpretable for ongoing and retrospective analyses. The strategies that are recommended in this review aim to improve SARS-CoV-2 characterization for wastewater surveillance applications. A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the efficacy of wastewater surveillance was demonstrated during this global crisis. In the future, wastewater will play an important role in the surveillance of a range of other communicable diseases.Highlights: Harmonized QA/QC procedures for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance are lacking; Wastewater analysis protocols are not optimized for trace analysis of viruses; False-positive and -negative errors have consequences for public health responses; Inter-laboratory studies utilizing standardized reference materials and protocols are needed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio