Exploring a New Model for Time, the Labyrinth

The model for Time we currently live by, the linear continuum, is not a sufficient model in several crucial respects. In this thesis, after critiquing the linear model, I introduce a new model for Time, the Labyrinth. By tracing its roots in the Minoan civilization and in Greek myth, I reveal the Labyrinth as a structure whose creators instilled certain values in it. Beginning with these values integral to the Labyrinth, I transform it into a new model for comprehending Time, with the help of Jorge Luis Borges, a contemporary Argentinean author. This new model, the Spherical Labyrinth of Time, challenges us to focus our lives around communion with the Divine presence in Nature and in one another

Game Environment Texturing : Texture Blending and Other Texturing Techniques

This thesis demonstrates how real-time game environments can be textured smoothly and efficiently and to pinpoint what kind of methods can be used for this purpose. I point out the limitations of traditional texturing methods and propose more efficient alternatives to them. I have gained a thorough understanding of many texturing methods by studying several sources and by using the methods both at work and in my free time. I discuss the properties as well as the pros and cons of these methods with reference to real-world examples. The thesis reports on the research I did regarding the usage of blend maps in real-time texturing as well as an in-depth look into how I developed a real-time blend shader in Blender, to be used for this purpose, for the Bugbear Entertainment Environment Art team. Finally I present some other alternative texturing methods, such as modular texturing, that I have researched and used in my line of work. I also highlight some promising methods that I have studied during my free time but which I have not tried out myself yet. I have gained an insight into the methods I discuss in the thesis through my work experience at the Bugbear Entertainment and Remedy Entertainment game companies. I mainly use knowledge I have gained during the development of Bugbear Entertainment's Next Car Game: Wreckfest and an unreleased Remedy Entertainment mobile game. The blend material techniques I have used in the thesis are primarily based on the work I did for Bugbear's Next Car Game: Wreckfest and the modular texturing and modeling techniques have mainly been acquired during the development of the mobile game project for Remedy Entertainment. I rely on this work experience and the information I have received from other industry professionals, while simultaneously backing this knowledge with references to several sources. I believe that my research into different texturing methods can be useful for anyone interested in real-time graphics. I would have liked to develop my shader further to be even more in line with the one used at Bugbear, but even at the state it is currently in, I feel that it can be of great help. The shader is freely downloadable from the internet and it can be used inside Blender without restriction. Traditional texture blending is still a viable method for modern texturing even though texture blending has evolved a lot in several ways and a lot of new alternative texturing methods have arisen.Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on osoittaa, miten reaaliaikaisia peliympäristöjä voidaan teksturoida sujuvasti ja tehokkaasti sekä millaisia menetelmiä tähän tarkoitukseen on olemassa. Havainnollistan perinteisten teksturointimenetelmien rajoituksia ja tarjoan sujuvampia vaihtoehtoja näiden tilalle. Olen tutkinut monia teksturointimenetelmiä kattavasti lukemalla lukuisia lähteitä ja käyttämällä useita niistä sekä työssä että vapaaajalla. Käyn läpi näiden eri menetelmien ominaisuuksia sekä niiden hyviä ja huonoja puolia esimerkkien kautta havainnollistaen. Pääasiallisena aiheena käyn läpi tutkimustani blendkarttojen käytettävyydestä reaaliaikaisen teksturoinnin yhteydessä, sekä paneudun syvemmin siihen, miten kehitin reaaliaikaisen blendkarttoja hyödyntävän varjostinohjelman Blenderissä Bugbear Entertainment Ltd:n Environment Art -tiimille. Lopuksi esittelen myös muutamia muita vaihtoehtoisia teksturointimenetelmiä, kuten esimerkiksi modulaarista teksturointia, joita olen tutkinut ja käyttänyt työelämässäni. Esittelen myös joitakin lupaavia menetelmiä, joita olen tutkinut vapaa-ajallani, vaikka en vielä ole itse niitä käytännössä soveltanut. Monet opinnäytetyössä esittämäni menetelmät ovat tulleet tutuiksi työskennellessäni Bugbear Entertainment- ja Remedy Entertainment peliyhtiöissä. Käytän pääasiassa tietoa, jota olen oppinut Bugbear Entertainmentin Next Car Game: Wreckfestin sekä Remedy Entertainmentin julkaisemattoman mobiilipelin kehityksen aikana. Opinnäytetyössäni käyttämäni blendmateriaalitekniikat perustuvat pääasiassa työhöni Bugbearin Next Car Game: Wreckfest -pelin parissa ja modulaariset teksturointi- ja mallintamistyötapani ovat kehittyneet Remedy Entertainmentin mobiilipeliprojektin tuotannon aikana. Opinnäytetyössäni hyödynnän muun muassa tätä työkokemustani ja saamaani opetusta muilta alan ammattilaisilta vahvistaen tietojani eri lähteiden avulla. Uskon tutkimustyöni eri teksturointimenetelmistä olevan hyötyä kenelle tahansa reaaliaikaisesta grafiikasta kiinnostuneelle. Olisin halunnut jatkaa varjostimeni kehitystyötä, jotta se olisi vielä yhtenäisempi Bugbearin blendvarjostimeen, mutta uskon, että tässäkin kehitysvaiheessa siitä voi olla suurta apua. Kehittämäni varjostin on vapaasti ladattavissa internetistä ja sitä voi käyttää Blender-ohjelmassa rajoituksetta. Siitä huolimatta, että tekstuuriblendaus on kehittynyt monella tapaa ja monia uusia menetelmiä on ilmestynyt, perinteinen tekstuuriblendaus on yhä varteenotettava menetelmä modernissa teksturoinnissa

An Experimental Study of Applied Ground Loads in Landing

Results are presented of an experimental investigation made of the applied ground loads and the coefficient of friction between the tire and the ground during the wheel spin-up process in impacts of a small landing gear under controlled conditions on a concrete landing strip in the Langley impact basin. The basic investigation included three major phases: impacts with forward speed at horizontal velocities up to approximately 86 feet per second, impacts with forward speed and reverse wheel rotation to simulate horizontal velocities up to about 273 feet per second, and spin-up drop tests for comparison with the other tests. In addition to the basic investigation, supplementary tests were made to evaluate the drag-load alleviating effects of prerotating the wheel before impact so as to reduce the relative velocity between the tire and ground. In the presentation of the results, an attempt has been made to interpret the experimental data so as to obtain some insight into the physical phenomena involved in the wheel spin-up process

Nonasymptotic coding-rate bounds for binary erasure channels with feedback

We present nonasymptotic achievability and converse bounds on the maximum coding rate (for a fixed average error probability and a fixed average blocklength) of variable-length full-feedback (VLF) and variable-length stop-feedback (VLSF) codes operating over a binary erasure channel (BEC). For the VLF setup, the achievability bound relies on a scheme that maps each message onto a variable-length Huffman codeword and then repeats each bit of the codeword until it is received correctly. The converse bound is inspired by the meta-converse framework by Polyanskiy, Poor, and Verdú (2010) and relies on binary sequential hypothesis testing. For the case of zero error probability, our achievability and converse bounds match. For the VLSF case, we provide achievability bounds that exploit the following feature of BEC: the decoder can assess the correctness of its estimate by verifying whether the chosen codeword is the only one that is compatible with the erasure pattern. One of these bounds is obtained by analyzing the performance of a variable-length extension of random linear fountain codes. The gap between the VLSF achievability and the VLF converse bound, when number of messages is small, is significant: 23% for 8 messages on a BEC with erasure probability 0.5. The absence of a tight VLSF converse bound does not allow us to assess whether this gap is fundamental

NACA Research Memorandums

Report presenting information on landing gear applied drag loads and the nature of wheel spin-up in landing based on testing in the Langley impact basin. Particular attention is paid to the nature and variation of the coefficient of friction between the tire and runway during the wheel spin-up process. Results regarding the fundamentals of the process, comparison of maximum loads, variation of coefficient of friction, and effect of prerotation are provided

Ohio Economic Insects and Related Anthropods

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Piperazinyl quinolines as chemosensitizers to increase fluconazole susceptibility of Candida albicans clinical isolates

The effectiveness of the potent antifungal drug fluconazole is being compromised by the rise of drug-resistant fungal pathogens. While inhibition of Hsp90 or calcineurin can reverse drug resistance in Candida, such inhibitors also impair the homologous human host protein and fungal-selective chemosensitizers remain rare. The MLPCN library was screened to identify compounds that selectively reverse fluconazole resistance in a Candida albicans clinical isolate, while having no antifungal activity when administered as a single agent. A piperazinyl quinoline was identified as a new small-molecule probe (ML189) satisfying these criteria.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (1 R03 MH086456-01

An evaluation of four crop : weed competition models using a common data set

To date, several crop : weed competition models have been developed. Developers of the various models were invited to compare model performance using a common data set. The data set consisted of wheat and Lolium rigidum grown in monoculture and mixtures under dryland and irrigated conditions. Results from four crop : weed competition models are presented: ALMANAC, APSIM, CROPSIM and INTERCOM. For all models, deviations between observed and predicted values for monoculture wheat were only slightly lower than for wheat grown in competition with L. rigidum, even though the workshop participants had access to monoculture data while parameterizing models. Much of the error in simulating competition outcome was associated with difficulties in accurately simulating growth of individual species. Relatively simple competition algorithms were capable of accounting for the majority of the competition response. Increasing model complexity did not appear to dramatically improve model accuracy. Comparison of specific competition processes, such as radiation interception, was very difficult since the effects of these processes within each model could not be isolated. Algorithms for competition processes need to be modularized in such a way that exchange, evaluation and comparison across models is facilitated