18 research outputs found
Almost Linear B\"uchi Automata
We introduce a new fragment of Linear temporal logic (LTL) called LIO and a
new class of Buechi automata (BA) called Almost linear Buechi automata (ALBA).
We provide effective translations between LIO and ALBA showing that the two
formalisms are expressively equivalent. While standard translations of LTL into
BA use some intermediate formalisms, the presented translation of LIO into ALBA
is direct. As we expect applications of ALBA in model checking, we compare the
expressiveness of ALBA with other classes of Buechi automata studied in this
context and we indicate possible applications
Knockabout and Slapstick: Violence and Laughter in Nineteenth-century Popular Theatre and Early Film
This thesis examines laughter that attends violent physical comedy: the knockabout acts of the nineteenth-century variety theatres, and their putative descendants, the slapstick films of the early twentieth-century cinema. It attempts a comparative functional analysis of knockabout acts and their counterparts in slapstick film. In Chapter 1 of this thesis I outline the obstacles to this inquiry and the means I took to overcome them; in Chapter 2, I distinguish the periods when knockabout and slapstick each formed the dominant paradigm for physical comedy, and give an overview of the critical changes in the social context that separate them. In Chapter 3, I trace the gradual development of comedy films throughout the early cinema period, from the âcomicsâ of 1900 to 1907, through the ârough houseâ films of the transitional era, to the emergence of the new genre in 1911-1914.
Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 present my comparative analyses of the workings of four representative âtropes,â ubiquitous in various forms of knockabout performance and in various representative slapstick films: i) The burlesque prize fight (in variety theatre, in the Ethiopian sketches of blackface minstrelsy and in Keystoneâs âThe Knockoutâ); ii) the Pete Jenkins act (in nineteenth-century circus) and the âWild Rideâ (a sub-subgenre of chase film); iii) the âOne-Two-Three-Switch motifâ in knockabout song and dance and in the slapstick pie fight; and iv) The âWhite Nightâ of the Ethiopian sketches and the âInn Where No Man Restsâ of early film.
Chapters 8 and 9 present my attempt to synthesize my findings and come to a conclusion by concretely theorizing what this comparison teaches us about knockabout and slapstick performance. Slapstick has a twofold nature: as a performance style, it is a quasi-verisimilar acting âanti-technique,â incorporating acrobatic elements. As a film genre, slapstick represents an intervention in the superfluous violence of everyday life: it functions to recuperate the spectatorâs sense of his/her own potential freedom from complicity in social violence; and to make reconciliation with others possible. Nevertheless, the spectator may well reject these functions and use the slapstick film as a pleasurable outlet for his/her own sadistic energies.Ph.D.2018-02-05 00:00:0
Knockabout and Slapstick: Violence and Laughter in Nineteenth-century Popular Theatre and Early Film
This thesis examines laughter that attends violent physical comedy: the knockabout acts of the nineteenth-century variety theatres, and their putative descendants, the slapstick films of the early twentieth-century cinema. It attempts a comparative functional analysis of knockabout acts and their counterparts in slapstick film. In Chapter 1 of this thesis I outline the obstacles to this inquiry and the means I took to overcome them; in Chapter 2, I distinguish the periods when knockabout and slapstick each formed the dominant paradigm for physical comedy, and give an overview of the critical changes in the social context that separate them. In Chapter 3, I trace the gradual development of comedy films throughout the early cinema period, from the âcomicsâ of 1900 to 1907, through the ârough houseâ films of the transitional era, to the emergence of the new genre in 1911-1914.
Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 present my comparative analyses of the workings of four representative âtropes,â ubiquitous in various forms of knockabout performance and in various representative slapstick films: i) The burlesque prize fight (in variety theatre, in the Ethiopian sketches of blackface minstrelsy and in Keystoneâs âThe Knockoutâ); ii) the Pete Jenkins act (in nineteenth-century circus) and the âWild Rideâ (a sub-subgenre of chase film); iii) the âOne-Two-Three-Switch motifâ in knockabout song and dance and in the slapstick pie fight; and iv) The âWhite Nightâ of the Ethiopian sketches and the âInn Where No Man Restsâ of early film.
Chapters 8 and 9 present my attempt to synthesize my findings and come to a conclusion by concretely theorizing what this comparison teaches us about knockabout and slapstick performance. Slapstick has a twofold nature: as a performance style, it is a quasi-verisimilar acting âanti-technique,â incorporating acrobatic elements. As a film genre, slapstick represents an intervention in the superfluous violence of everyday life: it functions to recuperate the spectatorâs sense of his/her own potential freedom from complicity in social violence; and to make reconciliation with others possible. Nevertheless, the spectator may well reject these functions and use the slapstick film as a pleasurable outlet for his/her own sadistic energies.Ph.D.2018-02-05 00:00:0
Comparison of mean radiant and air temperatures in mechanically-conditioned commercial buildings from over 200,000 field and laboratory measurements
The Vertical Contour Calcanectomy, an Alternative Approach to Surgical Heel Ulcers: A Case Series
Reading words and other people: A comparison of exception word, familiar face and affect processing in the left and right temporal variants of primary progressive aphasia
Semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) typically presents with left-hemisphere predominant rostral temporal lobe atrophy and the most significant complaints within the language domain. Less frequently, patients present with right-hemisphere predominant temporal atrophy coupled with marked impairments in processing of famous faces and emotions. Few studies have objectively compared these patient groups in both domains and therefore it is unclear to what extent the syndromes overlap. Clinically diagnosed svPPA patients were characterized as left- (n= 21) or right-predominant (n = 12) using imaging and compared along with 14 healthy controls. Regarding language, our primary focus was upon two hallmark features of svPPA; confrontation naming and surface dyslexia. Both groups exhibited naming deficits and surface dyslexia although the impairments were more severe in the left-predominant group. Familiarity judgments on famous faces and affect processing were more profoundly impaired in the right-predominant group. Our findings suggest that the two syndromes overlap significantly but that early cases at the tail ends of the continuum constitute a challenge for current clinical criteria. Correlational neuroimaging analyses implicated a mid portion of the left lateral temporal lobe in exception word reading impairments in line with proposals that this region is an interface between phonology and semantic knowledge