magic mirrors

When a beam of bright light hits the convex and polished surface, an image is reflected back onto the wall. This is a description of a magic mirror, an object from the Han Dynasty (206 BC -24 AD), that embodies how Euro-America views China: both technically advanced and shrouded in mystery. The magic mirror also points to the history of photography, as this term was often used in the Victorian era to describe a camera. The image created by a camera is a mimic of reality, both all too familiar and unfamiliar.[1] Like magic mirrors, the GIFs I create generate mirror images to reveal an alternate world that highlights the ways rituals are both private and public and the ways my body cannot fit into the impossibility of Euro-centric beauty standards. I use the aesthetics of Camp, the lighting studio, theatre-esque curtains, and spotlights to stage drag performances that confront audiences’ understanding of gender. I reference historical Chinese objects as a method of reimagining connections to my ancestral roots and to build a reality where Chinese American femmes can exist and thrive outside of a patriarchal, ableist society. Through installation and projections, my GIFs both reflect and refract within the space, alternately obscuring and challenging the viewer’s perception. The mirror manifests in the magic mirrors exhibition through the mirrored actions that occur in my GIFs, in the ways the images of me reflect off the acrylic sculptures, and through the circular shapes that continuously repeat, as spotlights, bowls, round fans, tabletops, and mirrors themselves. The stylized repetitions found in both my GIFs and installations are informed by Judith Butler’s exploration into gender performance and employ José Esteban Muñoz’s disidentification, not just as a method of survival, but one that imagines a limitless futurity. My self-portraits refuse to provide the viewer with a full experience of my body; thus, refuse to further the exploitation that I am critiquing. As Legacy Russell stated, “[Glitch Feminism] asks us to look at the deeply flawed society we are all currently implicated by, participating in and to confront the violence this society has done to bodies who disidentify, to bodies who exist within the liminal and embrace the in-between as a core component of survival, of futurity.”[2] [1] Andrea Henderson, “Magic Mirrors: Formalist Realism in Victorian Physics and Photography,” Representations 117, no. 1 (2012): pp. 120-150, https://doi.org/10.1525/rep.2012.117.1.120, 133. [2]Legacy Russell, “#GLITCHFEMINISM” (presentation, Refiguring the Future Conference, New York, NY, February 9-10, 2019). Advisor: Walker Pickerin

THE ROLE OF AGILE METHODOLOGY USE AND FEEDBACK ATTRIBUTES IN GAME DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR GAME PROJECT QUALITY

Game development projects (GDPs) adopt agile methodology to leverage its flexibility especially when final design and consumer’s tastes are highly uncertain and unpredict-able. Although close customer collaboration is an important success factor for agile methodology, game development projects have difficulties in working closely with their end-users. As a result, team members tend to take advantage of game testers’ feedback to see whether the features meet the consumer’s tastes. Feedback from game testers con-tains technical and aesthetic aspects that contribute to the quality of a game, that is, stability, functionality and playability. This study argues that specific and immediate feedback from game testers can enhance the benefits of the agile methodology use to achieve the game project quality. To empirically test the model, an instrument has been developed while data collection nears completion

VEX robotics

The objective of our project was to design and construct a control system for communication between two autonomous robots, of different size and capabilities, in an environment with numerous obstacles and challenges. These challenges, completed autonomously, involved moving over and under barriers along with the obtainment and transportation of spherical objects. Our project was tied to the VEX Robotics competition environment as we tested our robots by competing at the World Championships. Unfortunately, due to time and budget considerations, we had to scale back our sensor subsystem. This led to a simpler control system than originally intended; however, we were successful at the competition, and built robots that were efficient and economic in design. Our results proved that our robot designs were more agile and maneuverable than our opponents when it came to manipulating environment elements, and that our scaled back autonomous programs were still very effective in disrupting opponent robots\u27 routines and strategies

TFAP2C regulates transcription in human naive pluripotency by opening enhancers.

Naive and primed pluripotent human embryonic stem cells bear transcriptional similarity to pre- and post-implantation epiblast and thus constitute a developmental model for understanding the pluripotent stages in human embryo development. To identify new transcription factors that differentially regulate the unique pluripotent stages, we mapped open chromatin using ATAC-seq and found enrichment of the activator protein-2 (AP2) transcription factor binding motif at naive-specific open chromatin. We determined that the AP2 family member TFAP2C is upregulated during primed to naive reversion and becomes widespread at naive-specific enhancers. TFAP2C functions to maintain pluripotency and repress neuroectodermal differentiation during the transition from primed to naive by facilitating the opening of enhancers proximal to pluripotency factors. Additionally, we identify a previously undiscovered naive-specific POU5F1 (OCT4) enhancer enriched for TFAP2C binding. Taken together, TFAP2C establishes and maintains naive human pluripotency and regulates OCT4 expression by mechanisms that are distinct from mouse

The development of co-designed parent-supported cognitive behaviour therapy for perfectionism in adolescents with eating disorders: initial feasibility and acceptability

BACKGROUND: Perfectionism is significantly associated with symptoms of eating disorders in adolescents. Studies to date have not examined parent-supported CBT for perfectionism in eating disorders (CBT-P-ED). We co-designed the treatment and conducted a feasibility trial. METHODS: Eight parents of adolescents with eating disorders (M age = 48.75 years, 100% female) engaged in three co-design workshops to create a parent-supported CBT-P-ED self-help intervention. A further 10 parents (M age 41.8 years, 50% female) and their adolescent offspring (n = 10, M age 15.4 years, 60% female, 50% with self-reported diagnosis of anorexia nervosa) participated in a feasibility trial and provided feedback on the intervention. RESULTS: The parents who engaged in the co-design workshops suggested several areas to optimise the perfectionism intervention, including using plain language, the impact of parental perfectionism, how to engage with their adolescent in treatment and the importance of increasing eating disorder specific material. Feedback from the feasibility trial suggested that the intervention was acceptable and feasible with 100% of parents and adolescents saying it was useful, and no attrition. CONCLUSIONS: Parent-supported CBT-P-ED appears to be feasible. Future research is now required in a randomised controlled trial

Impact analysis of heating electrification in US buildings with geothermal heat pumps

Few studies have investigated the impacts of large-scale deployment of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs, also called ground source heat pumps) on the electric grid. GHPs utilize the ground as a heat source to warm buildings more efficiently than other space-heating systems. The coupling with the ground offers seasonal thermal storage so that GHPs can also cool buildings in summer more efficiently than other space-cooling systems. This study simulated the performance of GHP systems for various commercial and residential buildings in 15 climate zones in the United States. Combined with the latest End-Use Load Profiles of the US building stock and grid modeling, this study aims to assess the impacts of a national deployment of GHP systems on the US electric grid in terms of energy consumption, emissions, and operational resilience. The preliminary results show that the GHP deployment can save 429 billion kWh of electricity (a 19% reduction from baseline) and reduce carbon emissions by 496 million tons per year (a 31 % reduction from baseline). A geographical view of the results indicates that retrofitting existing HVAC systems with new GHP systems can lead to further reductions in annual electricity consumption and peak electricity demand in the southern regions of the United States than in other parts of the country. On the other hand, GHP retrofits result in higher percentages of site energy savings and carbon emission reduction in the north (cold climates) than in the south (warm climates)