Material motion: motion analysis for virtual heritage reconstruction

Through the AHRC funded, 'Motion in Place Platform' project, a number of experiments were conducted to look for quantitative differences in movement in virtual vs material environments. Actors were asked to enact a number of activities hypothesised to have occurred in a British Iron Age roundhouse while wearing inertial motion capture suits. These activities were recorded both in a “virtual” studio (re)construction as well as material (re)construction at Butser Ancient Farm. The data from these experiments was then analysed to look for differences in movement which could be attributed to artefacts and/or environments. This paper explains the structure of the experiments, how the data was generated, how it has been analysed, and what theories may make sense of the data and what conclusions have been drawn about how objects and environments may influence human movement and how a better understanding of movement many help understand empirical remains

More than a business model: crowd-sourcing and impact in the humanities

Stuart Dunn examines the development of crowd-sourcing activities in academic contexts and identifies the potential for looking beyond the short-term benefits crowd-sourcing offers to a project’s completion. Particularly in the humanities, a more nuanced approach may be better suited, one which fosters reciprocal relationships and engages the shared interests amongst the public and academics

Additional support for the TDK/MABL computer program

An advanced version of the Two-Dimensional Kinetics (TDK) computer program was developed under contract and released to the propulsion community in early 1989. Exposure of the code to this community indicated a need for improvements in certain areas. In particular, the TDK code needed to be adapted to the special requirements imposed by the Space Transportation Main Engine (STME) development program. This engine utilizes injection of the gas generator exhaust into the primary nozzle by means of a set of slots. The subsequent mixing of this secondary stream with the primary stream with finite rate chemical reaction can have a major impact on the engine performance and the thermal protection of the nozzle wall. In attempting to calculate this reacting boundary layer problem, the Mass Addition Boundary Layer (MABL) module of TDK was found to be deficient in several respects. For example, when finite rate chemistry was used to determine gas properties, (MABL-K option) the program run times became excessive because extremely small step sizes were required to maintain numerical stability. A robust solution algorithm was required so that the MABL-K option could be viable as a rocket propulsion industry design tool. Solving this problem was a primary goal of the phase 1 work effort

Experimental archeology and serious games: challenges of inhabiting virtual heritage

Experimental archaeology has long yielded valuable insights into the tools and techniques that featured in past peoples’ relationship with the material world around them. However, experimental archaeology has, hitherto, confined itself to rigid, empirical and quantitative questions. This paper applies principles of experimental archaeology and serious gaming tools in the reconstructions of a British Iron Age Roundhouse. The paper explains a number of experiments conducted to look for quantitative differences in movement in virtual vs material environments using both “virtual” studio reconstruction as well as material reconstruction. The data from these experiments was then analysed to look for differences in movement which could be attributed to artefacts and/or environments. The paper explains the structure of the experiments, how the data was generated, what theories may make sense of the data, what conclusions have been drawn and how serious gaming tools can support the creation of new experimental heritage environments

The chronology of the Aegean late bronze age with special reference to the "Minoan” eruption of Thera

The chronology of the Aegean Late Bronze Age is a vigorously contested area of archaeological study, with "high" and "low" schemes emerging over the last three decades. The chronological lynchpin for this period is the catastrophic eruption of Thera (Santorini), at a point in the mature Late Minoan (LM) I A ceramic period. Two possible calendrical ranges for this eruption have emerged: c. 1540 - 1500 BC, and c. 1645 - 1628 BC. The latter first gained currency in the 1970s, and the controversy focuses on which range is more probable. This thesis examines the chronology of the Late Minoan (LM), Late Cycladic (L Cyc), Late Helladic (LH) and Late Cypriot (LC) periods in detail and their various relationships with the eruption. Because archaeological methods of dating these sequences, which traditionally place the eruption within the later range, are fluid and open to re-interpretation (in favour of the earlier range), the calendrical date of the eruption is of crucial importance. The scientific arguments, which tend to favour the earlier range, are analysed alongside the archaeological arguments. Finally, the effects of the eruption, and their implications for chronology, are considered. A comprehensive catalogue detailing of all Thera's volcanic deposits from around the region is presented, as is a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis of these deposits which suggests that the volume of the eruption may have been up to five times previous estimates, and almost double the largest previous estimate. In conjunction with this study, a reappraisal of the eruptive rate and intensity of the Minoan event using mathematical differential analysis is presented, to provide an integrated investigation of its impact. It is concluded a) that the eruption was far larger than previous thought, and that b) a calendrical date for the eruption between c. 1540 - 1500 BC is more probable than a date between 1645 - 1628 BC

Depth-integrated steric height as a tool for detecting non-Sverdrup behavior in the global ocean

Godfrey\u27s (1989) (referred to below as G89) calculation of the global field of annual mean Depth-Integrated Steric Height, or Sverdrup et al.\u27s (1942) Transport Function, (Q) is revisited, using newer products for wind stresses, temperature and salinity. Observed Q and its wind-estimated equivalent QW are compared more extensively along eastern oceanic boundaries than in G89. Q and QW are also compared along the inner edge of the Pacific western boundary, at locations where G89 theory suggests that such a comparison is possible. A similar comparison along the western Atlantic improves after a 16 Sv correction for the supply of North Atlantic Deep Water. The observed circumpolar zero contour of Q is used to define an ACC boundary. South of it, G89 fails grossly as expected. North of the boundary in each ocean basin, a tongue of high Q, about 1000 km wide, extends much farther eastward from its western boundary source than in comparable features in the northern hemisphere. The uninterrupted existence of this tongue across the full width of the Indian Ocean occurs because there is no analog in Q to the strong meridional tip jet west of southern Tasmania, found in QW—i.e. the East Australian Current is weaker in observed Q than predicted by G89. Elsewhere, each MTJ in QW does have an analog in observed Q; but the latter jets tend to follow local Sverdrup flow rather than being zonal. A final section provides qualitative discussion of the possible dynamics of these observed departures of Q from Sverdrup balance, north of the ACC

Shape-Specific Hydrogel Nanoparticles with Defined Composition and Surface Properties for Gene Silencing

Diseases and disorders may be treated through RNA interference (RNAi), a natural post-transcriptional gene silencing event. Synthetic small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) may be designed to target specific genes for down-regulation in RNAi therapies. In the delivery of siRNA to target cells in vivo, numerous challenges are encountered such as susceptibility to degradation by RNases, clearance by the reticuloendothelial system, low internalization by cells, and endosomal escape. siRNA may be chemically modified or associated with lipid- or polymer-based particulate vehicles to enhance in vivo stability, increase bioavailability, improve transfection, facilitate accumulation in particular tissues, and enable cell-specific gene silencing. Independent control over the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles in the delivery of siRNA was enabled through a particle molding process that is a unique off-shoot of soft lithography known as PRINT® (Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates) technology. Cationic hydrogel nanoparticles were tested using biocompatible poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)- and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based matrices for their ability to physically encapsulate and deliver siRNA to target cells. Effective gene silencing was observed in vitro using PEGylated hydrogel nanoparticles without inducing cytotoxicity. Functionalization of particles with maleic anhydride-derivatized ligands was pursued to produce a wholly acid-labile system capable of targeting the transferrin receptor, endosomal escape, and delivery of siRNA. To maximize retention of siRNA within hydrogel nanoparticles during systemic administration or functionalization with ligands, a pro-drug strategy was sought for covalent incorporation and triggered intracellular release of siRNA. Gene silencing efficiency and biocompatibility were optimized in the pro-drug siRNA system by screening the amine content of nanoparticles. When control cargos were implemented in the preparation of hydrogels, only target-specific, releasable siRNA cargo elicited gene knockdown. In effort to treat liver diseases, nanoparticles were functionalized with ligands targeting hepatocytes, cells of liver parenchyma implicated in diseases. Ligand-decorated nanoparticles were selectively internalized by hepatocytes in vitro and accumulated in hepatocytes in vivo. Hydrogel nanoparticles coated with ligands reduced target liver gene expression after administration to mice. Further investigation and exploration of this system will hopefully enable efficacious in vivo RNAi therapies in the treatment of numerous diseases.Doctor of Philosoph