Isaac of Nineveh\u27s Contribution to Syriac Theology: An Eschatological Reworking of Greek Anthropology

This dissertation responds to an explicitdesideratumfrom Robert Beulay, who, in his bookLa Lumière sans forme, calls for a presentation of Isaac\u27s thought with special attention to his sources. Contrary to the belief of older scholarship, I conclude that Isaac\u27s anthropology and eschatology are much more than a Syriac repetition of Greek Evagrian thought; rather, they are influenced by John the Solitary, a Syriac author who has received less scholarly attention. Although Isaac refers to Evagrius, as well as Pseudo-Dionysius and Pseudo-Macarius, to define specific terminology, the influence of John the Solitary permeates all areas of Isaac\u27s thought. The first part of this dissertation investigates the sources for Isaac\u27s anthropology. Isaac appropriates Evagrius\u27s definitions of the tripartite soul to explain how evil arises from the natural goodness of the soul and he uses Pseudo-Dionysius\u27s and Pseudo-Macarius\u27s definition of loving desire to explain how the soul naturally prepares the mind for the reception of heavenly knowledge, but these definitions only make sense within the context of John\u27s three degrees. The three degrees framework explains that the operation of the soul depends on the degree of ascetical renunciation performed by each monk. The second part of this dissertation examines the sources for Isaac\u27s eschatology. Isaac rejects Evagrius\u27s eschatology, which focuses on returning the soul to the original purity of creation and instead emphasizes an eschatology in which the future state of the soul surpasses original purity. Isaac bases this future-oriented eschatology on John\u27s obsessive interest in the life of the world to come. The third part of this dissertation investigates the sources for Isaac\u27s conception of wonder, which, I argue, is Isaac\u27s most significant contribution to Syriac theology. Wonder renders Isaac\u27s ascetical system coherent because it unifies anthropology with eschatology by accounting for the way that the material human being embraces the spiritual order of the world to come. Although Isaac turns to Evagrius and Pseudo-Dionysius in order to construct ancillary definitions for the term wonder, John\u27s conception of wonder as heavenly knowledge of the world to come is the basis for Isaac\u27s conception of the term

Playing along and Playing for on Twitch: Livestreaming from Tandem Play to Performance

This paper is an analysis of individuals who livestream gameplay on Twitch. Two core concepts - ‘playing along’ and ‘playing for’ – are put forth as two poles to a continuum to better discuss tandem play in the context of livestreaming. From an analysis of participants’ exit interviews and observations of larger Twitch streams, it is shown that livestreaming is a form of tandem play, but only to a point. As audiences grow, ‘playing along’ becomes difficult for streamers. The ‘ceiling’ of tandem play is reached when a streamer is so focused on entertaining the largest number of people possible that they are no longer playing along with their spectators, but only playing for them

Methodological Considerations in the Study of Tandem Play

This paper presents a detailed discussion of the research methods used in the first part of our ongoing study into “tandem play,” which we have defined as “two or more players engag[ing] with a single-player game together, moving through the game with a variety of potential motives.” Tandem play can take many forms, but the emphasis is on a collaborative, shared experience. Although tandem play has always been a part of video games, our research into it is the first, and so we had to design our study from the ground-up. In this paper we discuss four aspects of the study—the choice of game that subjects would play, recruitment strategy, our roles as researchers, and the effects of limited play time on the study—and how these decisions impacted our results

A High Throughput Aqueous Passivation Testing Methodology for Compositionally Complex Alloys using Scanning Droplet Cell

Compositionally complex alloy systems containing more than five principal elements allow exploring a wide range of compositions, processing, and structural variables with the hope for identifying unique properties. Such opportunities also apply to designing materials for improved corrosion resistance, regulated by a self-healing passive film. Such a rich landscape in reactivity and protectivity demands the search for high-throughput experimental testing workflows to uncover key metrics, indicative of superior properties. In this communication, one such methodology is demonstrated for evaluating passivation performance of a combinatorial library of Al0.7-x-yCoxCryFe0.15Ni0.15 thin film alloys in deaerated 0.1 mol/L H2SO4(aq), using a scanning droplet cell

Finding sociality in single player games: A case study of tandem play amongst friends and couples

Researchers have found that games are sites for rich forms of sociality. However, there has been comparatively less research on sociality facilitated by co-located gameplay focused on single-player games, here termed tandem play. This exploratory case study investigated how known player pairs engaged in turn taking and decision-making behaviors while playing a single-player game together, and also how a narrative-driven video game played over multiple sessions impacted their experience. Initial findings suggest that turn taking was an explicitly negotiated choice, and that decision making power did not necessarily rely on who was holding the controller - player pairs developed their own systems for how they made choices. The narrative and well-known franchise on which the game was based gave pairs a strong base from which to work, building themed playthroughs and systemic approaches for how to treat various characters and situations in game. This research provides further evidence that being social in and around games can be accomplished no matter whether the chosen game is a single or a multiplayer title, and in virtual or physical space

Identifying safe intersection design through unsupervised feature extraction from satellite imagery

The World Health Organization has listed the design of safer intersections as a key intervention to reduce global road trauma. This article presents the first study to systematically analyze the design of all intersections in a large country, based on aerial imagery and deep learning. Approximately 900,000 satellite images were downloaded for all intersections in Australia and customized computer vision techniques emphasized the road infrastructure. A deep autoencoder extracted high-level features, including the intersection's type, size, shape, lane markings, and complexity, which were used to cluster similar designs. An Australian telematics data set linked infrastructure design to driving behaviors captured during 66 million kilometers of driving. This showed more frequent hard acceleration events (per vehicle) at four- than three-way intersections, relatively low hard deceleration frequencies at T-intersections, and consistently low average speeds on roundabouts. Overall, domain-specific feature extraction enabled the identification of infrastructure improvements that could result in safer driving behaviors, potentially reducing road trauma.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (2020

System and Method for Automated Rendezvous, Docking and Capture of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

A system for automated rendezvous, docking, and capture of autonomous underwater vehicles at the conclusion of a mission comprising of comprised of a docking rod having lighted, pulsating (in both frequency and light intensity) series of LED light strips thereon, with the LEDs at a known spacing, and the autonomous underwater vehicle specially designed to detect and capture the docking rod and then be lifted structurally by a spherical end strop about which the vehicle can be pivoted and hoisted up (e.g., onto a ship). The method of recovery allows for very routine and reliable automated recovery of an unmanned underwater asset

Frequency Tracking and Parameter Estimation for Robust Quantum State-Estimation

In this paper we consider the problem of tracking the state of a quantum system via a continuous measurement. If the system Hamiltonian is known precisely, this merely requires integrating the appropriate stochastic master equation. However, even a small error in the assumed Hamiltonian can render this approach useless. The natural answer to this problem is to include the parameters of the Hamiltonian as part of the estimation problem, and the full Bayesian solution to this task provides a state-estimate that is robust against uncertainties. However, this approach requires considerable computational overhead. Here we consider a single qubit in which the Hamiltonian contains a single unknown parameter. We show that classical frequency estimation techniques greatly reduce the computational overhead associated with Bayesian estimation and provide accurate estimates for the qubit frequencyComment: 6 figures, 13 page

High Throughput Discovery of Lightweight Corrosion-Resistant Compositionally Complex Alloys

Compositionally complex alloys hold the promise of simultaneously attaining superior combinations of properties such as corrosion resistance, light-weighting, and strength. Achieving this goal is a challenge due in part to a large number of possible compositions and structures in the vast alloy design space. High throughput methods offer a path forward, but a strong connection between the synthesis of a given composition and structure with its properties has not been fully realized to date. Here we present the rapid identification of light weight highly corrosion-resistant alloys based on combinations of Al and Cr in a Cantor-like base alloy (Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni). Previously unstudied alloy stoichiometries were identified using a combination of high throughput experimental screening coupled with key metallurgical and electrochemical corrosion tests, identifying alloys with excellent passivation behavior. Importantly, the electrochemical impedance modulus of the exposure-modified, air-formed film at the corrosion potential was found as an accurate non-destructive predictor of corrosion and passivation characteristics. Multi-element EXAFS analyses connected more ordered type chemical short range order in the Ni-Al 1st nn shell to poorer corrosion. This report underscores the utility of high throughput exploration of compositionally complex alloys for the identification and rapid screening of vast stoichiometric space