517 research outputs found
Unmasking Mecha Identities; Visual Media Perspectives on Posthumanism in Japanese Popular Culture
Current Japanese animation has shifted to present posthumanism as a formative tool towards the establishment of personal identity, rather than simply a utopian dream, or a nightmare of fear, which is in contrast with prior works of Japanese visual and print science fiction from the 1930\u27s to 1990\u27s, which depicted posthumanity as, at the least, ambiguous or even destructive towards human identity; this shift can be seen beginning with Japan\u27s earliest science fiction works and is suggestive of a gradual acceptance and integration of the mechanical into the self.
Analysis of posthumanity in popular media in other parts of the word, namely the United States, shows posthumanism from a polarizing perspective of either, uncertainty and fear, or idealist fantasy, which suggest that America has yet to establish the same level of conceptual paradigm which has been achieved by the Japanese in the 21st century. From this analysis, it would seem as though the general trend of acceptance and affinity for posthumanity could be represented by an ascending linearity, the general trend is that humanity, especially Japan, is moving closer and closer to robots and identification with them as identity forming tools. This trend suggests a paradigm shift where ideological and cultural constructs are helping to move humans and machines closer together.
As opposed to most of the work that has been done in the study of animé, this thesis is an attempt to analyze new animé narratives which have had very little exposure in terms of academic study. It is not simply about putting robots, machines, or mecha on a pedestal, but is rather meant to decode the shifting portrayal of robots within popular culture and then try to understand how these shifts differ across borders, from the United States to Japan
Brachial plexus injury mimicking a spinal-cord injury.
Objective High-energy impact to the head, neck, and shoulder can result in cervical spine as well as brachial plexus injuries. Because cervical spine injuries are more common, this tends to be the initial focus for management. We present a case in which the initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was somewhat misleading and a detailed neurological exam lead to the correct diagnosis.Clinical presentation A 19-year-old man presented to the hospital following a shoulder injury during football practice. The patient immediately complained of significant pain in his neck, shoulder, and right arm and the inability to move his right arm. He was stabilized in the field for a presumed cervical-spine injury and transported to the emergency department.Intervention Initial radiographic assessment (C-spine CT, right shoulder x-ray) showed no bony abnormality. MRI of the cervical-spine showed T2 signal change and cord swelling thought to be consistent with a cord contusion. With adequate pain control, a detailed neurological examination was possible and was consistent with an upper brachial plexus avulsion injury that was confirmed by CT myelogram. The patient failed to make significant neurological recovery and he underwent spinal accessory nerve grafting to the suprascapular nerve to restore shoulder abduction and external rotation, while the phrenic nerve was grafted to the musculocutaneous nerve to restore elbow flexion.Conclusion Cervical spinal-cord injuries and brachial plexus injuries can occur by the same high energy mechanisms and can occur simultaneously. As in this case, MRI findings can be misleading and a detailed physical examination is the key to diagnosis. However, this can be difficult in polytrauma patients with upper extremity injuries, head injuries or concomitant spinal-cord injury. Finally, prompt diagnosis and early surgical renerveration have been associated with better long-term recovery with certain types of injury
"Being Simple on Complex Issues" -- Accounts on Visual Data Communication about Climate Change
Data visualizations play a critical role in both communicating scientific
evidence about climate change and in stimulating engagement and action. To
investigate how visualizations can be better utilized to communicate the
complexities of climate change to different audiences, we conducted interviews
with 17 experts in the fields of climate change, data visualization, and
science communication, as well as with 12 laypersons. Besides questions about
climate change communication and various aspects of data visualizations, we
also asked participants to share what they think is the main takeaway message
for two exemplary climate change data visualizations. Through a thematic
analysis, we observe differences regarding the included contents, the length
and abstraction of messages, and the sensemaking process between and among the
participant groups. On average, experts formulated shorter and more abstract
messages, often referring to higher-level conclusions rather than specific
details. We use our findings to reflect on design decisions for creating more
effective visualizations, particularly in news media sources geared toward lay
audiences. We hereby discuss the adaption of contents according to the needs of
the audience, the trade-off between simplification and accuracy, as well as
techniques to make a visualization attractive.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 5 table
The Angstrom Exponent and Bimodal Aerosol Size Distributions
Powerlaws have long been used to describe the spectral dependence of aerosol extinction, and the wavelength exponent of the aerosol extinction powerlaw is commonly referred to as the Angstrom exponent. The Angstrom exponent is often used as a qualitative indicator of aerosol particle size, with values greater than two indicating small particles associated with combustion byproducts, and values less than one indicating large particles like sea salt and dust. In this study, we investigate the relationship between the Angstrom exponent and the mode parameters of bimodal aerosol size distributions using Mie theory calculations and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) retrievals. We find that Angstrom exponents based upon seven wavelengths (0.34, 0.38, 0.44, 0.5, 0.67, 0.87, and 1.02 micrometers) are sensitive to the volume fraction of aerosols with radii less then 0.6 micrometers, but not to the fine mode effective radius. The Angstrom exponent is also known to vary with wavelength, which is commonly referred to as curvature; we show how the spectral curvature can provide additional information about aerosol size distributions for intermediate values of the Angstrom exponent. Curvature also has a significant effect on the conclusions that can be drawn about two-wavelength Angstrom exponents; long wavelengths (0.67, 0.87 micrometers) are sensitive to fine mode volume fraction of aerosols but not fine mode effective radius, while short wavelengths (0.38, 0.44 micrometers) are sensitive to the fine mode effective radius but not the fine mode volume fraction
Data journeys in popular science: Producing climate change and COVID-19 data visualizations at Scientific American
Vast amounts of (open) data are increasingly used to make arguments about
crisis topics such as climate change and global pandemics. Data visualizations
are central to bringing these viewpoints to broader publics. However,
visualizations often conceal the many contexts involved in their production,
ranging from decisions made in research labs about collecting and sharing data
to choices made in editorial rooms about which data stories to tell. In this
paper, we examine how data visualizations about climate change and COVID-19 are
produced in popular science magazines, using Scientific American, an
established English-language popular science magazine, as a case study. To do
this, we apply the analytical concept of "data journeys" (Leonelli, 2020) in a
mixed methods study that centers on interviews with Scientific American staff
and is supplemented by a visualization analysis of selected charts. In
particular, we discuss the affordances of working with open data, the role of
collaborative data practices, and how the magazine works to counter
misinformation and increase transparency. This work provides a theoretical
contribution by testing and expanding the concept of data journeys as an
analytical framework, as well as practical contributions by providing insight
into the data (visualization) practices of science communicators.Comment: 44 pages, 4 figures, 3 boxe
Possible Stellar Metallicity Enhancements from the Accretion of Planets
A number of recently discovered extrasolar planet candidates have
surprisingly small orbits, which may indicate that considerable orbital
migration takes place in protoplanetary systems. A natural consequence of
orbital migration is for a series of planets to be accreted, destroyed, and
then thoroughly mixed into the convective envelope of the central star. We
study the ramifications of planet accretion for the final main sequence
metallicity of the star. If maximum disk lifetimes are on the order of 10 Myr,
stars with masses near 1 solar mass are predicted to have virtually no
metallicity enhancement. On the other hand, early F and late A type stars with
masses of 1.5--2.0 solar masses can experience significant metallicity
enhancements due to their considerably smaller convection zones during the
first 10 Myr of pre-main-sequence evolution. We show that the metallicities of
an aggregate of unevolved F stars are consistent with an average star accreting
about 2 Jupiter-mass planets from a protoplanetary disk having a 10 Myr
dispersal time.Comment: 14 pages, AAS LaTeX, 3 figures, accepted to ApJ Letter
What is the message? Perspectives on Visual Data Communication
Data visualizations are used to communicate messages to diverse audiences. It
is unclear whether interpretations of these visualizations match the messages
their creators aim to convey. In a mixed-methods study, we investigate how data
in the popular science magazine Scientific American are visually communicated
and understood. We first analyze visualizations about climate change and
pandemics published in the magazine over a fifty-year period. Acting as chart
readers, we then interpret visualizations with and without textual elements,
identifying takeaway messages and creating field notes. Finally, we compare a
sample of our interpreted messages to the intended messages of chart producers,
drawing on interviews conducted with magazine staff. These data allow us to
explore understanding visualizations through three perspectives: that of the
charts, visualization readers, and visualization producers. Building on our
findings from a thematic analysis, we present in-depth insights into data
visualization sensemaking, particularly regarding the role of messages and
textual elements; we propose a message typology, and we consider more broadly
how messages can be conceptualized and understood
Black Carbon Concentration from Worldwide Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Measurements
The carbon emissions inventories used to initialize transport models and general circulation models are highly parameterized, and created on the basis of multiple sparse datasets (such as fuel use inventories and emission factors). The resulting inventories are uncertain by at least a factor of 2, and this uncertainty is carried forward to the model output. [Bond et al., 1998, Bond et al., 2004, Cooke et al., 1999, Streets et al., 2001] Worldwide black carbon concentration measurements are needed to assess the efficacy of the carbon emissions inventory and transport model output on a continuous basis
Potential converter for laser-power beaming
Future space missions, such as those associated with the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), will require large amounts of power for operation of bases, rovers, and orbit transfer vehicles. One method for supplying this power is to beam power from a spaced based or Earth based laser power station to a receiver where laser photons can be converted to electricity. Previous research has described such laser power stations orbiting the Moon and beaming power to a receiver on the surface of the Moon by using arrays of diode lasers. Photovoltaic converters that can be efficiently used with these diode lasers are described
Identifying Very Metal-Rich Stars with Low-Resolution Spectra: Finding Planet-Search Targets
We present empirical calibrations that estimate stellar metallicity,
effective temperature and surface gravity as a function of Lick/IDS indices.
These calibrations have been derived from a training set of 261 stars for which
(1) high-precision measurements of [Fe/H], T_eff and log g have been made using
spectral-synthesis analysis of HIRES spectra, and (2) Lick indices have also
been measured. Our [Fe/H] calibration, which has precision 0.07 dex, has
identified a number of bright (V < 9) metal-rich stars which are now being
screened for hot Jupiter-type planets. Using the Yonsei-Yale stellar models, we
show that the calibrations provide distance estimates accurate to 20% for
nearby stars.
This paper outlines the second tier of the screening of planet-search targets
by the N2K Consortium, a project designed to identify the stars most likely to
harbor extrasolar planets. Discoveries by the N2K Consortium include the
transiting hot Saturn HD 149026 b (Sato et al. 2005, astro-ph/0507009) and HD
88133 b (Fischer et al. 2005). See Ammons et al. (2005, In Press) for a
description of the first tier of N2K metallicity screening, calibrations using
broadband photometry.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
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