Fluid Stirring on a Sphere -- a Topological Approach

The stirring and mixing of a fluid with moving rods is vital in many physical applications in order to achieve homogeneity within the mixture. These rods act as an obstacle that stretches and folds together fluid elements. Over time, the permutation of these rods comprise a mathematical braid whose properties dictate a minimum topological entropy, a number to describe the total disorder or chaos of a system. A braid whose topological entropy is greater than one exhibits chaotic behavior which guarantees an optimal mixing pattern. These rod stirring braids have been previously studied on both the disk as well as the two dimensional torus. The trajectory of fluid mixing on a sphere poses an intriguing starting inquiry to overall mixing on spherical surfaces like the ocean, stars, etc. We use a recipe established by Yvon Verberne to create pseudo-Anosov maps on a punctured sphere using Dehn twist in order to construct similar maps on a 4-times punctured sphere. Since a quotient of the torus under a hyperelliptic involution of torus is the 2-sphere with 4 marked points, we are able to use various methods in order to estimate the topological entropy of a stirring protocol on a 4-times punctured sphere

Minimal Requirements for Topologically Protected Edge Modes

In systems with non-trivial topologies that violate time-reversal symmetry, the bulk-boundary correspondence gives rise to the propagation of waves without counter-propagation (back scattering). In this thesis, we investigate three types of systems that ultimately aim to provide insight as to what the minimal number of bands required to support topologically protected edge modes. We begin by exploring a 3 band fluid system that has non-trivial topological phase: rotating shallow water. We then examine the 4 band system comprised of a honeycomb lattice of spring-masses on a rotating platform. Ultimately, we wish to provide an entry point to a classical 2 band system with non-trivial topological phase. These examples will ideally provide vital insight in proving that a 2 band classical system cannot support unidirectional waves and show that 3 bands is the minimal requirement

Training Civil Support Teams in the CAVE

National Guard Civil Support Teams (CST) respond to a variety of situationsinvolving dangerous materials. Many of these situations can be safely simulated fortraining purposes in the real world. Radiological threats, however, are difficult tosimulate due to the lack of materials that can mimic radiation sources without thedanger of the real radiation. To address the need for a system to train CSTs torespond to radiological threats, we have developed Radiological Immersive SurveyTraining (RIST). RIST simulates radiological threats from multiple sources using arealistic real-time shielding model based on ray casting and allows users to practicesurveying the threat using representations of the world and necessary equipment ina virtual environment. We have developed an after action review tool to allow areviewer to show trainees a recording of their survey and how they can improve.We also developed a scenario design tool to allow a designer to create scenarios ofradiological threats.We developed novel multi-user interaction techniques to enable simultaneoustraining for two CST members in a CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVETM ).We also introduced a novel multi-perspective rendering technique for two users basedon each user's task rather than field of view. Finally, we conducted a preliminaryuser study with several pairs of expert users to measure user preferences and theeffects of using this technique, in conjunction with varying which user navigated, onuser performance. A local CST survey team tested the system and provided feed-back throughout the development process. The team learned to use the system withminimal coaching, quickly learned to navigate and interact via wand controls, andultimately performed successful demonstrations. Two groups of CST survey teamshave now used the system for training

Introduction

The task of this special issue is to unearth the often denied logic of neoliberal rationality in Germany over the last few decades by exploring how various literary texts, films, and artistic projects, at the level of both content and formal experimentation, have sought to visualize the ramifications of deregulation and ceaseless self-management. The volume features scholarly work on various literary texts, performances, films, time-based art works, and theoretical interventions that explore the nexus between neoliberalism, new media culture, and the landscapes of temporal experience

Raus aus der Haut : Division and Identity in Current German Cinema

A Report from the 48. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin, February 11-22, 1998 Notes 1. Gerhard Schulze, Die Erlebnisgesellschaft: Kultursoziologie der Gegenwart (Frankfurt/M.: Campus, 1992). For a critical discussion of Schulze\u27s terms, see Axel Honneth, Desintegration: Bruchstücke einer soziologischen Zeitdiagnose (Frankfurt/M.: Fischer, 1995).2. Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture (London: Routledge, 1994) 70.3. Leslie A. Adelson, Making Bodies, Making History: Feminism and German Identity (Lincoln: Nebraska UP, 1993) 36

Experimental Techniques In The Recording And Display Of Archaeological Materials

In the area of the display of data and images from archaeological sites there is very little uniformity. Universities, museums, and institutions use a variety of techniques and software. Because of the lack of a common framework for storing information gathered from the field a great deal of time is lost converting between disparate file formats and learning new program structures. The goal of this project is to create an open platform to accomplish the specialized tasks of recording and displaying data from the field, specifically dealing with the unique problems associated with sites in an underwater context. The final result should be freely available and adaptable. Many challenges were overcome over the course of this project. Providing security, estimating the user’s level of technical ability, creating a simple but effective interface, creating a three dimensional object viewer, and using only tools freely available for public use were the primary problems. The software chosen to author the platform as well as the hardware requirements were intentionally left to a minimum to ensure that users without access to the latest hardware would still be able to use these tools. In addition to these requirements, the final product would have to be hardware agnostic, as well as operating system neutral. As tempting as it would be to call this project complete, it is very much still an evolving work in progress. As new challenges arise the platform should be robust enough to be able to adapt. The modular design of the platform will ensure that future users will be able to adjust and even create completely new components to add functionality and customize the software to their needs

Landscapes of Ice, Snow and Wind: Alexander Kluge’s Aesthetics of Coldness

Discusses the German author and filmmaker Alexander Kluge's exploration of the theme of coldness in film and other works. The authors report on the theorist Theodor Adorno's discussion of the subject in an essay written in 1967, note that Kluge focused on coldness in works in different media created after 2010, and study his approach to the theme in the film 'Landschaften mit eis und schnee' (2010; illus.) noting his treatment of ice in the work. They assess the relationship of Kluge's film to the work of various theorists including Peter Wollen, comment on Kluge's focus on the wind in his films 'The patriot' (1979; illus.), 'Gelegenheitsarbeit einer sklavin' (1973; illus.) and other works, and report on Kluge's use of photographs of snow taken by Gerhard Richter in the book 'December' (2010; illus.) also examining the work's relationship to the films 'Landschaften mit eis und schnee' and 'Zitraffer mit schneetreiben vor meinem balkon, Elizabethstrasse 38(2010; illus.). They refer to Kluge's incorporation of footage from his films into talks given in 2010, and contrast his approach to the theme of coldness with that of Adorno

Secret Signals from Another World: Walter Benjamin’s Concept of Innervation

Walter Benjamin refers to the “idea of revolution as an innervation of the technical organs of the collective” as one of the articles of his politics. The significance of this assertion has received relatively little attention in the philosophical reception of his political thought compared to the alternative model of revolution – made famous from the paralipomena to the late theses ‘On the Concept of History’ – as the emergency handbrake of history. Drawing on some of the debates and tensions generated by the work of Miriam Bratu Hansen, this discussion aims at an exegesis of some of the lesser known intellectual sources that influenced Benjamin’s theory of innervation. The purpose in doing so is not an attempt to reconcile or integrate these sources with dominant philosophical reconstructions of what is sometimes characterized as Benjamin’s “Western Marxism” and elaborated, in the more familiar context of Surrealist innervation, as a synthesis of Freud and Marx, but rather to reveal an alternative constellation of Soviet biomechanics and reactionary anti-capitalist Lebensphilosophie, united in their shared rejection of Freudian psychoanalysis

An analysis and evaluation of the WeFold collaborative for protein structure prediction and its pipelines in CASP11 and CASP12

Every two years groups worldwide participate in the Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction (CASP) experiment to blindly test the strengths and weaknesses of their computational methods. CASP has significantly advanced the field but many hurdles still remain, which may require new ideas and collaborations. In 2012 a web-based effort called WeFold, was initiated to promote collaboration within the CASP community and attract researchers from other fields to contribute new ideas to CASP. Members of the WeFold coopetition (cooperation and competition) participated in CASP as individual teams, but also shared components of their methods to create hybrid pipelines and actively contributed to this effort. We assert that the scale and diversity of integrative prediction pipelines could not have been achieved by any individual lab or even by any collaboration among a few partners. The models contributed by the participating groups and generated by the pipelines are publicly available at the WeFold website providing a wealth of data that remains to be tapped. Here, we analyze the results of the 2014 and 2016 pipelines showing improvements according to the CASP assessment as well as areas that require further adjustments and research