Low-Cost Image Generation for Immersive Multi-Screen Environments

Rabe F, Fröhlich C, Latoschik ME. Low-Cost Image Generation for Immersive Multi-Screen Environments. In: Latoschik ME, Fröhlich B, eds. Virtuelle und Erweiterte Realität – 4. Workshop der GI-Fachgruppe VR/AR. Aachen, Germany: Shaker; 2007: 65-76.This paper describes the configuration of a cost-efficient monolithic render server aimed at multi-screen Virtual Reality display devices. The system uses common Of-The-Shelf (OTS) PC components and feeds up to 6 independent screens via 3 graphics pipes with the potential to feed up to 12 screens. The internal graphics accelerators each use at least 8 PCIe lanes which results in sufficient bandwidth. Performance measurements are provided for several benchmarks which compare the system's performance to well established network based render clusters

Methodological Framework of WP6

Work Package six analyzes strategic communication as purposefully designed communicational advocacy that is distributed on the behalf of an organization or an institution. Our main research interests is the identification of semantic patterns in strategic content and their potential migration into other discourses – the media coverage, political debates and public discourses - and vice versa. Additionally, we seek to investigate strategic communication’s potential impact on a conflict’s dynamic and, consequently, it’s potential for de-escalation. Finally, we also apply a gender sensitive approach and analyze the portrayal of gender in strategic communication. To fulfill these objectives, we make use of an innovative multi-step content analytic approach. In a qualitative pilot-study we identified idiosyncrasies within the language used in strategic content. Our sample of strategic communication mainly consists of two groups of texts: (1) contents that simulate journalistic language and, thus, can be labeled PR and (2) messages that often use strongly connoted expressions and can be referred to as propaganda. Within our qualitative pilot study we created rules and guidelines for the identification of semantic patterns – frames, evidential claims and agendas for action – while taking the two groups of texts and its different use of language into account. In our quantitative computer-based content analysis we will use an updated version of the AmCat program called JAmCat to identify frames, agendas for actions and evidential claims in a large corpus of texts. Our main research interest consists of five dimensions. First, (1) we will analyze strategic communication in different countries on a case-based perspective focusing on the content’s idiosyncrasies in different conflict cases. In doing so, we will (2) analyze strategic communication’s narrative in different conflict phases (for example escalation, de-escalation) and examine (3) the construction of similar ideas and semantic patterns over different conflicts, debates and the conflicts’ time frames. We then will (4) compare the contents distributed by different groups of strategic actors. Here, we address the differing perspectives and communicative strategies of different strategic actors and the thus resulting differences within their distributed frames. A central aim of WP6 is a close cooperation with WPs 5, 7, and 8 to (5) examine the diffusion of strategic discourse on the same conflict into different debates – the media coverage, (other) strategic communication, political debates and social media – and thus to also investigate the functional roles of strategic communicators in the shaping of public discourse and their (different) success in enforcing/asserting their particular frames. In our qualitative in-depth analysis, we will enrich the results with more details and provide additional context while focusing on key moments, actors and ideas in the discourses. In doing so we will combine information from the quantitative stage with relevant insight from other work packages also relating to the results of INFOCORE’s interviewing groups and contextual information from the literature

Effective and Coherent Media-related Communication During War and Armed Conflicts

This policy brief summarises the first findings from the initial stage of the INFOCORE’s Work Package (WP) No. 6 (‘Strategic Communication’) and presents first recommendations for effective and coherent media-related communication of political actors/authorities/institutions and NGOs active in the field of conflict prevention, management and resolution

Between factoids and facts

GOs are significant actors in conflict-related discourses and play a key role in the shaping of mediated conflict communication. Since previous scholarly work has rarely analyzed the way NGOs characterize the ‘reality’ of violent conflicts, this contribution to the special issue focuses on the publicity of NGOs in this field. On the basis of a big-data content analysis, the authors in particular investigate the epistemological status of NGOs’ strategic communication on war. They focus on ‘evidential claims’, the actual provision of evidence and the transparency of sources of evidential claims. The results are compared across different types of NGOs for their communication on six international armed conflicts. The findings suggest that the communication of NGOs in this is caught between their role of a strategic communicator and that of an expert. Improvement is especially needed concerning the indication of sources of evidential claims: 47 percent of all texts do not provide any source specification

Observing the anisotropic optical response of the heavy-fermion compound UNi2Al3

The optical conductivity of heavy fermions can reveal fundamental properties of the charge carrier dynamics in these strongly correlated electron systems. Here we extend the conventional techniques of infrared optics on heavy fermions by measuring the transmission and phase shift of THz radiation that passes through a thin film of UNi2Al3, a material with hexagonal crystal structure. We deduce the optical conductivity in a previously not accessible frequency range, and furthermore we resolve the anisotropy of the optical response (parallel and perpendicular to the hexagonal planes). At frequencies around 7cm^-1, we find a strongly temperature-dependent and anisotropic optical conductivity that - surprisingly - roughly follows the dc behavior.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, accepted for proceedings of QCnP 200

Effect of a 25 ingredient sport drink on exercise performance and muscle oxygen extraction: a randomized controlled cross-over trial

Many sport drinks contain a mixture of potential ergogenic substances. Recently, a new sport drink with 25 different ingredients was introduced to the market. Various athletes reported beneficial performance effects from the supplement, though without scientific evidence. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the sport drink on exercise performance. Nine sport students performed 3 test sessions including a cycle exercise tests to exhaustion, a leg strength test and a jump test. Each session was separated by 1 week. The first session was performed as a familiarization trial. In a random order, half of the participants performed the second session after consumption of the multi ingredient sport drink (MISD intake of 40g, 24 and 1h before each test) and half after placebo ingestion (same amount). During test session 3 the conditions were reversed (cross-over setting). Near infrared spectroscopy analyses were performed on the vastus lateralis during the MISD and placebo cycling test. The sport drink compared to placebo, improved maximal power output (7 watts, 95% CI 1.1-13.4), increased maximal lactate concentration (2.5 mmol/l, 95% CI 1.6-3.4), and power output at the individual threshold (Dmax) (6.1 watts, 95% CI 1.9-10.3). Power output at the 4 mmol/l threshold was reduced (9.0 watts, 95% CI -17.4 to -0.6) during the MISD trial. Additionally, the sport drink led to a steeper tissue oxygenation index decrease (TOI, slope: -0.0182±0.0084 vs. -0.0256±0.0073, p<0.005) during the test. Leg strength and jump ability was not affected by the supplement. The sport drink slightly increased power output during an incremental exercise test. Due to the broad range of substances in the supplement and their different effects, the factors involved in the performance enhancement are speculative. Data show that factors other than muscle oxygen extraction (represented by TOI) are involved in the improved maximal power output

Pluto: a Monte Carlo simulation tool for hadronic physics

Pluto is a Monte-Carlo event generator designed for hadronic interactions from Pion production threshold to intermediate energies of a few GeV per nucleon, as well as for studies of heavy ion reactions. The package is entirely based on ROOT, without the need of additional packages, and uses the embedded C++ interpreter of ROOT to control the event production. The generation of events based on a single reaction chain and the storage of the resulting particle objects can be done with a few lines of a ROOT-macro. However, the complete control of the package can be taken over by the steering macro and user-defined models may be added without a recompilation of the framework. Multi-reaction cocktails can be facilitated as well using either mass-dependent or user-defined static branching ratios. The included physics uses resonance production with mass-dependent Breit-Wigner sampling. The calculation of partial and total widths for resonances producing unstable particles is performed recursively in a coupled-channel approach. Here, particular attention is paid to the electromagnetic decays, motivated by the physics program of HADES. The thermal model supports 2-component thermal distributions, longitudinal broadening, radial blast, direct and elliptic flow, and impact-parameter sampled multiplicities. The interface allows angular distribution models (e.g. for the primary meson emission) to be attached by the user as well as descriptions of multi-particle correlations using decay chain templates. The exchange of mass sampling or momentum generation models is also possible. The first feature allows for consistent coupled-channel calculations, needed for a correct description of hadronic interactions. For elementary reactions, angular distribution models for selected channels are already part of the framework, based on parameterizations of existing data. This report gives an overview of the design of the package, the included models and the user interface