Logics, discourse theory and methods Advances, challenges and ways forward

Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights of Poststructuralist Discourse Theory (PDT) and post-Marxist political theory more conducive to critical empirical research. It also offered a language with which to counter positivist tendencies to colonize the space of methods and research strategies, showing how PDT could facilitate both explanatory and critical endeavours. Since its publication in 2007, a number of studies have applied the logics framework to empirical cases, while critically engaging with its methodological and theoretical arguments. The main purpose of this article is to evaluate some of these developments, and to set out some future challenges faced by this research programme

The Accountability Assembly as a Counter-Accounting Performance

This chapter explores how accountability is performed within Citizens UK’s framework of community organising. Drawing on our experience of community organising, we unpack an important instance of community organising action called the ‘accountability assembly’, in which community leaders secure commitments from powerholders in response to their demands and, in doing so, establish benchmarks against which to hold them to account. We contribute to critical accounting literature by characterising the accountability assembly as a ‘counter-accounting performance’. We do so by appealing to, and developing, the notion of ‘counter-accounting’, as elaborated in critical accounting literature, whose democratic potential we probe by drawing on the work of Laclau and Mouffe. Their political discourse theory furnishes us with concepts such as hegemony and agonistic democracy, which we argue enable us to foreground in a revealing and critical way the transformational, dramatic, and democratic character of accountability assemblies as a form of political practice

Microwave Linear Characterization Procedures of On-Wafer Scaled GaAs pHEMTs for Low-Noise Applications

This contribution deals with the microwave linear characterization and noise figure measurement of four on-wafer GaAs pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistors having scaled gate widths. The proposed measurement campaign has been fulfilled in two different laboratories: The University of Messina, Italy and US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA. Two equivalent approaches have been straightforwardly employed: a standard tuner-based technique and a novel tuner-less technique. The effectiveness of the novel technique has been confirmed as carried out independently by the two laboratories, evidencing the benefits of both techniques. The proposed experimental activity highlights the applicability of the tunerless technique for the noise characterization of advanced on-wafer devices without the constraint imposed by the addition of a source tuner to the standard measurement setup

The NICE Project: Learning Together in a Virtual World

This paper describes the NICE project, an immersive learning environment for children implemented in the CAVE and related multi-user virtual reality (VR) technologies. The NICE project provides an engaging setting where children construct and cultivate simple virtual ecosystems, collaborate via networks with other remotelylocated children, and create stories from their interactions in the real and virtual world. 1 Introduction The NICE project [10, 11] is an effort to build Narrativebased, Immersive, Constructionist/Collaborative Environments for children. Developed at the Interactive Computing Environments Laboratory and the Electronic Visualization Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Chicago, NICE aims to create a virtual learning environment that is based on current educational theories of contructionism, narrative, and collaboration within a motivating and engaging context. Designed to work in the CAVE (tm), and related projection-based VR hardware, NICE allows groups of c..

The NICE project: Narrative, Immersive, Constructionist/Collaborative Environments for Learning in Virtual Reality

Abstract: This paper describes and discusses the NICE project, an immersive learning environment for children implemented in the CAVE and related multi-user virtual reality (VR) technologies. The NICE project provides an engaging setting where children construct and cultivate simple virtual ecosystems, collaborate via networks with other remotely-located children, and create stories from their interactions in the real and virtual world. The NICE project is an effort to build Narrative-based, Immersive, Constructionist/Collaborative Environments for children. Developed at the Interactive Computing Environments Laboratory (ICE) and the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) of the University of Illinois at Chicago, NICE aims to create a virtual learning environment that is based on current educational theories of contructionism, narrative, and collaboration, while fostering creativity within a motivating and engaging context

Superior Growth, Yield, Repeatability, and Switching Performance in Gan-Based Resonant Tunneling Diodes

We report the direct measurement of record fast switching speeds in GaN/AlN resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs). The devices, grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy, displayed three repeatable negative differential resistance (NDR) regions below a bias of +6 V. A room temperature peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) \u3e 2 was observed, which represents a marked improvement over recent reports. Measurements carried out on hundreds of devices, of varying sizes, revealed a yield of ∼90%. Repeatability measurements consisting of 3000 sweeps resulted in a standard deviation, relative to the mean, of \u3c 0.1%. Temperature dependent measurements combined with non-equilibrium Green\u27s function based quantum transport simulations suggest the presence of both three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) emitters, giving rise to three NDR regions. Finally, a valley current density vs perimeter-to-area-ratio study indicates the presence of a surface leakage current mechanism, which reduces the PVCR