Examining Knowledge Organization Systems: The Pokédex

This project analyzed the Pokédex, which is an encyclopedic knowledge organizational system for the fictional game series, Pokémon. The Pokédex is a geographically organized encyclopedia of Pokémon, which are fictional creatures from the Pokémon series of games. Analysis was focused on the Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue games in the in-game region known as Kanto. In the games, the Pokédex treats each Pokémon as a unique entity. Each entity has up to two classes called “types” (e.g. fire, water, grass). For this analysis, an entity’s names, classes, and total number of locations each entity was found in each game were recorded in Excel. This was analyzed by creating pivot tables to study the correlation of classes, and the number of locations each entity was found. The results of this showed that certain classes were correlated than others and that the combination of classes were not reciprocal. For example, the primary class “grass” and secondary “poison” collocate nine times, but the opposite combination does not occur. The analysis also showed that Pokémon found in the most areas are also those ranked towards the top of the encyclopedic order, while Pokémon with fewer areas are found towards the later parts of the encyclopedic order in the Pokédex. In conclusion, the Pokédex follows the linear journey mapped out for a player in an ordering system called “routes,” that represent new ecosystems in which each Pokémon to appears. If the player were to record every entity in a route, all the entities should be close to one another in their proximity of the Pokédex list order. And as the player travels in game, the ecosystems become more distinctive from one another, giving the player distinct geographic areas in which Pokémon can only be found

Prosthetic tim/ing: selfhood and ethics amidst technological rationality

This masters thesis examines the interplay between ethics and selfhood amidst contemporary technological rationality. I use personal everyday photography as a foil in my analysis of the ways in which temporality is both constitutive of consciousness and the subject of practices of domestication via technics. In chapter one, I define personal everyday photography, address the two interconnected registers of selfhood (embodied and psychic), and advance an argument for mindfulness. In chapter two, I assess the ethical aspects of memory, temporality and thinking as they relate to selfhood. In the final chapter, I relate these elements to contemporary technics, and argue that everyday personal photography supports and perpetuates the notion of static self-identity through time, and conscious self-making via practices of exclusion and elimination. In conclusion, I suggest we must exercise mindfulness in those practices that support selfness. Ultimately, ethical life might require less reliance on technological prostheses for remembering.Cette thèse met à l'étude la relation contemporaine entre l'éthique et le soi, dans une période marquée par la rationalité technologique. Je develope le concept de « everyday personal photography » comme exemple centrale dans laquelle la temporalité est constitutive de la conscience et est le sujet des pratiques de domestication partechniques. Dans le chapitre un, je définis « everyday personal photography », je traite les deux registres du soi (incorporé et psychique), et j'avance un argument pour la pleine conscience (ou mindfulness). Dans le chapitre deux, j'évalue les aspects moraux de la mémoire, la temporalité, et la pensée par rapport au soi. Dans le dernier chapitre, j'établie le lien entre ces éléments et les techniques contemporaines, et je soutient que « everyday personal photography » perpétue la notion d'une identité statique à travers le temps, et l'auto-création par l'intermédiaire des pratiques d'exclusion et d'élimination. En conclusion, je propose que nous devions exercer « mindfulness » dans les pratiques qui soutiennent l'individualité. Finalement, la vie morale pourrait nécessiter une dépendance moins élevée dans les prothèses technologiques de la mémoire

Study of A(2A) adenosine receptor gene deficient mice reveals that adenosine analogue CGS 21680 possesses no A(2A) receptor-unrelated lymphotoxicity

1. Cell surface A(2A) adenosine receptor (A(2A)R) mediated signalling affects a variety of important processes and adenosine analogues possess promising pharmacological properties. 2. Demonstrating the receptor specificity of potentially lymphotoxic adenosine-based drugs facilitates their development for clinical applications. 3. To distinguish between the receptor-dependent and -independent lymphotoxicity and apoptotic activity of adenosine and its analogues we used lymphocytes from A(2A)R-deficient mice. 4. Comparison of A(2A)R-expressing (+/+) and A(2A)R-deficient (−/−) cells in cyclic AMP accumulation assays confirmed that the A(2A)R agonist CGS 21680 is indeed selective for A(2A) receptors in T-lymphocytes. 5. Incubation of A(2A)R-expressing thymocytes with extracellular adenosine or CGS 21680 in vitro results in the death of about 7–15% of thymocytes. In contrast, no death was induced in parallel assays in cells from A(2A)R-deficient mice, providing genetic evidence that CGS 21680 does not display adenosine receptor-independent intracellular cytotoxicity. 6. The A(2A) receptor-specific lymphotoxicity of CGS 21680 is also demonstrated in a long-term (6-day) in vitro model of thymocyte positive selection where addition of A(2A)R antagonist ZM 241,385 did block the effects of CGS 21680, allowing the survival of T cells. 7. The use of cells from adenosine receptor-deficient animals is proposed as a part of the screening process for potential adenosine-based drugs for their receptor-independent cytotoxicity and lymphotoxicity