Chapter Releasing the Prisoners of Hope: Dante’s Purgatorio Breaks the Chains of the Born Frees

Beginning with a tribute to the late Chris 'Zithulele' Mann, a poet and activist who was deeply immersed in Dante, this chapter comments on some of the patterns that emerge from the creative contributions of the Dantessa students. Two authors affirm and explore ideas of black womanhood by appealing to Beatrice and Francesca, potentially combining the two figures. Several authors are acutely aware of the purgatorial condition of post-apartheid South Africa, suggesting a long and arduous march to freedom. The image of flight recurs: thrice, madly, into the inferno and once, temporarily, in limbo. These lively responses to La Commedia prompt the question: what kind of literary studies is proper to purgatory, and elicit a tentative reply, urging a re-invention of the discipline of letters

Structural Evolution and Fatigue Performance of Laser Welded 30MnVS6/SAE 045 XLF Joints

Characterization of microstructural evolution and fatigue performance of laser welded joints was studied between microalloyed 30MnVS6 and high strength low alloy SAE 045 XLF steels. These steel grades were selected for potential application in a prototype automatic gearbox to be utilized within automotive manufacturing. Parameters were varied using an Nd:YAG laser welding system which included laser power (1,670 – 1,730 W), workpiece speed (1,700 – 1,800 mm/min), and laser beam focal position (-0.05 – 0.05 mm). Based on the parameters selected, the welds were produced using an energy transfer of between 305 and 325 J/mm0.5·s0.5. A 3-level factorial design of experiments was used to produce a total of 54 welded samples covering 27 different parameter combinations (sample types). Once samples were produced, visual examination of the weld surfaces was performed in order to inspect for visible defects such as spatter, cracks, or voids. During this assessment, weld spatter was present on all samples but no other defects were observed. Immersion ultrasonic non-destructive testing was conducted to identify regions of the weld which were most likely to contain sub-surface discontinuities. Metallurgical analysis was performed on 9 sample types manufactured using the most extreme parameter combinations (Phase I). The remaining 18 sample types were reserved for future testing (Phase II). Metallographic cross-sections were taken at the areas of interest identified by ultrasonic inspection which concluded that no cracking or voids were present. A study of material hardness and microstructural evolution across the welds was performed and then correlated to the parameters used for the production of each sample. Vickers hardness testing of the 30MnVS6 and SAE 045 XLF base materials was measured at 255.3 HV and 169.3 HV, respectively. Hardness values increased to 439.0 HV in the weld solidification zone and further to 550.3 HV in the 30MnVS6 heat affected zone. Unidirectional, torsional fatigue testing at 3,500 N·m was conducted for 2 million cycles on five sample types manufactured using the most extreme power to speed ratios. This testing simulated conditions seen in an automatic transmissions used in passenger cars. This testing failed to produce fractures within the welds or base materials which suggests that the alloys and parameters selected for the study could be successfully transferred to applications within the gearbox manufacturing industry. Recommendations for future research include the expansion of the selected parameter ranges to achieve energy transfer levels outside of the range of 275 to 435 J/mm0.5·s0.5. It is anticipated that a more significant reaction in weld properties would be achieved and could allow for the study of potential weld failure modes within this system

The Director: A Composable Behaviour System with Soft Transitions

Software frameworks for behaviour are critical in robotics as they enable the correct and efficient execution of functions. While modern behaviour systems have improved their composability, they do not focus on smooth transitions and often lack functionality. In this work, we present the Director, a novel behaviour framework and algorithm that addresses these problems. It has functionality for soft transitions, multiple implementations of the same action chosen based on conditionals, and strict resource control. This system has shown success in the Humanoid Kid Size 2022/2023 Virtual Season and the Humanoid Kid Size RoboCup 2023 Bordeaux competition

Comparing Computing Platforms for Deep Learning on a Humanoid Robot

The goal of this study is to test two different computing platforms with respect to their suitability for running deep networks as part of a humanoid robot software system. One of the platforms is the CPU-centered Intel NUC7i7BNH and the other is a NVIDIA Jetson TX2 system that puts more emphasis on GPU processing. The experiments addressed a number of benchmarking tasks including pedestrian detection using deep neural networks. Some of the results were unexpected but demonstrate that platforms exhibit both advantages and disadvantages when taking computational performance and electrical power requirements of such a system into account.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Nationalism in Official Tourism Websites of Balkan Countries: A Multimodal Analysis

This paper investigates the official tourism websites for the Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey to learn about their depictions of their nations for an international tourism market. The research combines Pauwels\u27 (2012) multimodal discourse analysis method designed for cultural websites with Smith\u27s (1998) six main institutional dimensions to seek out potential nationalistic patterns involving the state, territory, language, religion, history, and rites and ceremonies. The findings mostly involve verbal and visual signifiers that have a historical context to them such as antiquity, communism, Yugoslavia, religion, irredentism, the Ottoman Empire, and national identity. The findings illustrate that official websites, while being sensitive not to alienate international tourists, portray a sense of nationalism but do so in a different way, based upon the historical experiences and unique features of each country surveyed

Collaborative professional learning between dentistry and education students in delivering an oral health program to disadvantaged Queensland schools

Background: Poor oral health impacts adversely on educational outcomes and consequently life chances, particularly for socially disadvantaged Indigenous and low income families. This equity project involves intersectoral and interprofessional partnerships to embed an oral health focus into the work integrated experiences of undergraduate Dentistry and postgraduate Education students. In 2011, through shared learning sessions on campus and within classrooms, students have the opportunity to participate in real world experiences that will improve potentially oral health and educational outcomes in disadvantaged children. Methodology: Students will deliver an educationally sound, oral health program to school children with diverse cultural backgrounds and abilities. This program aims to enable strong, authentic, interprofessional collaboration and teamwork while engaging students in a community outreach program. Evaluation will employ mixed methodologies 1) Pre and post implementation surveys of students' perceptions of their capabilities, knowledges and attitudes 2) Peer evaluation 3) School teachers' ratings of individual student's performance. Preliminary findings are not available at the time of submission as the project commences in 2011

Analysis of microtubule movement on isolated Xenopus egg cortices provides evidence that the cortical rotation involves dynein as well as Kinesin Related Proteins and is regulated by local microtubule polymerisation

AbstractIn amphibians, the cortical rotation, a translocation of the egg cortex relative to the cytoplasm, specifies the dorsoventral axis. The cortical rotation involves an array of subcortical microtubules whose alignment is mediated by Kinesin–related proteins (KRPs), and stops as M-phase promoting factor (MPF) activation propagates across the egg. To dissect the role of different motor proteins in the cortical rotation and to analyse their regulation, we have developed an open cell assay system involving reactivation of microtubule movement on isolated cortices. Microtubule movements were dependent on ATP and consisted mainly of wriggling and flailing without net displacement, consistent with a tethering of microtubules to the cortex. Reactivated movements were inhibited by anti-KRP and anti-dynein antibodies perfused together but not separately, the KRP antibody alone becoming fixed to the cortex. Neither antibody could inhibit movement in the presence of MPF, indicating that arrest of the cortical rotation is not due to MPF-dependent inhibition of motor molecules. In contrast, D2O treatment of live eggs to protect microtubules from progressive depolymerisation prolonged the cortical rotation. We conclude that the cortical rotation probably involves cytoplasmic dynein as well as cortical KRPs and terminates as a result of local MPF-dependent microtubule depolymerisation