Interpretation at the controller's edge: designing graphical user interfaces for the digital publication of the excavations at Gabii (Italy)

This paper discusses the authors’ approach to designing an interface for the Gabii Project’s digital volumes that attempts to fuse elements of traditional synthetic publications and site reports with rich digital datasets. Archaeology, and classical archaeology in particular, has long engaged with questions of the formation and lived experience of towns and cities. Such studies might draw on evidence of local topography, the arrangement of the built environment, and the placement of architectural details, monuments and inscriptions (e.g. Johnson and Millett 2012). Fundamental to the continued development of these studies is the growing body of evidence emerging from new excavations. Digital techniques for recording evidence “on the ground,” notably SFM (structure from motion aka close range photogrammetry) for the creation of detailed 3D models and for scene-level modeling in 3D have advanced rapidly in recent years. These parallel developments have opened the door for approaches to the study of the creation and experience of urban space driven by a combination of scene-level reconstruction models (van Roode et al. 2012, Paliou et al. 2011, Paliou 2013) explicitly combined with detailed SFM or scanning based 3D models representing stratigraphic evidence. It is essential to understand the subtle but crucial impact of the design of the user interface on the interpretation of these models. In this paper we focus on the impact of design choices for the user interface, and make connections between design choices and the broader discourse in archaeological theory surrounding the practice of the creation and consumption of archaeological knowledge. As a case in point we take the prototype interface being developed within the Gabii Project for the publication of the Tincu House. In discussing our own evolving practices in engagement with the archaeological record created at Gabii, we highlight some of the challenges of undertaking theoretically-situated user interface design, and their implications for the publication and study of archaeological materials

Evolution of Resource Competition between Mutually Dependent Digital Organisms

We study the emergence and dynamics of competing strains of digital organisms in a world with two depletable resources. Consumption of one resource produces the other resource as a by-product, and vice versa. As a consequence, two types of mutually dependent organisms emerge that each prey on the waste product of the other. In the absence of mutations, that is, in a purely ecological setting, the abundances of the two types of organisms display a wide range of different types of oscillations, from regular oscillations with large amplitude to irregular oscillations with amplitudes ranging from small to large. In this regime, time-averaged abundance levels seem to be controlled by the relative fitness of the organisms in the absence of resources. Under mutational pressure, on the other hand, populations evolve that seem to avoid the oscillations of intermediate to large amplitudes. In this case, the relative fitness of the organisms in the presence of resources plays an important role in the time-averaged abundance levels as well

Learning to Play: A “Hedgehog Concept” for Physical Education

What is physical education and why does it exist? Despite its relatively long and storied history, consensus about physical education’s existence remains minimal. According to Jim Collins, author of the best-selling book Good to Great, organizations or groups of professionals should determine a “hedgehog concept” or a primary reason for their existence. This article explores three questions developed by Collins to help organizations identify a hedgehog concept: (a) what are we deeply passionate about? (b) what can we be the best in the world at? and/or what can we not be the best in the world at? and (c) what drives our resource engine? By drawing on ideas from physical education scholars to answer the questions, I conclude that providing a large quantity of quality opportunities for students to learn to play is a legitimate hedgehog concept for physical education. I encourage other physical education professionals to determine and disseminate answers to the three questions and identify a physical education hedgehog concept in future publications

Depth Charges: Does “Deep State” Propagandizing Undermine Bureaucratic Reputations?

In the wake of prominent instances of bureaucratic defiance, supporters of Donald Trump’s presidency have taken to describing said bureaucrats and the departments and agencies they represent as part of a “deep state” seeking to maintain and wield power behind the scenes. Such claims can be understood as an attempt at character assassination with the end goal of undermining the reputations of bureaucracy and bureaucrats alike. Efforts to disseminate this propaganda across varied forms of media have been both sustained and forceful. Do such attempts to shape public opinion lead Americans to think less of prominent agencies, cabinet departments, and their leaders? The author utilizes an original survey experiment to examine if learning about what a deep state is, reading media members debate its reality, or hearing the President’s son declare it to be truth shapes attitudes toward the image of the CIA and the Departments of State, Justice, and Defense. Preliminary results reveal such propagandizing rarely changes how individuals think about bureaucracy. The rare instances in which it does affect attitudes reveal such arguments may be just as likely to improve bureaucratic reputation as they are to diminish it, with presidential approval at times conditioning outcomes

Tyler Johnson on Witness to the Truth: John H. Scott\u27s Struggle for Human Rights in Louisiana by John Henry Scott with Cleo Scott Brown. Columbia: University South Carolina Press, 2003. 336pp.

A review of: Witness to the Truth: John H. Scott\u27s Struggle for Human Rights in Louisiana by John Henry Scott with Cleo Scott Brown. Columbia: University South Carolina Press, 2003. 336pp

Storylines - Sidahartha as hybrid novel

This research investigates story structures and their visualizations as a way to better understand stories and the components that make up a clear narrative. This is done by first looking at the elements of storytelling: plot, point of view, images for narrative and narrative arcs. After investigating several narrative structures the project focuses on the Monomyth narrative model, and analyzes its use in the story Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. The second section of the project is dedicated to Hybrid Novels and the creation of an original Hybrid Novel that places the narrative structure of Siddhartha in the front row as an integral element. Design considerations have been made throughout, keeping the project in the realm of graphic design, rather than straying too far into the literary aspects of the story. Siddhartha is analyzed from both a visual and thematic perspective, which is achieved through looking at the covers, editions, and themes that run throughout this universal story that has been read by millions. All these considerations have been explored in an attempt to represent visually how this tale could appear in the Hybrid Novel book format

Theory and Applications of the Aerodynamic Aerosol Classifier

Aerosols are found in almost all indoor or outdoor environments, and have significant impacts on climate, environment and human health. These implications and prevalence have driven rapid growth in aerosol research and led to a variety of particle instruments being developed over the past seven decades. The Aerodynamic Aerosol Classifier (AAC) is a relatively new instrument, which selects aerosol particles based on their relaxation times or aerodynamic diameters. This dissertation demonstrates that the novel operating principle of the AAC has the potential to address a variety of challenges facing the field of aerosol science. To explore the potential, this work advances the development and knowledge of the AAC, resulting in novel methodologies for measuring the aerodynamic size and bipolar charge distributions of an aerosol. First, the performance of the AAC is determined by characterising its transfer function experimentally using tandem AACs. These results demonstrate that the transmission efficiency of the AAC is 2.6 to 5.1 times higher (which corresponds to higher measurement signals) than that of a neutraliser-Differential Mobility Analyser (DMA), a system that is widely-used in aerosol research. However, the AAC transfer function is 1.3 to 1.9 times broader than predicted by theory. Using this characterised transfer function, the deconvolution theory to accurately measure the aerodynamic size distribution of an aerosol by stepping the AAC setpoint whilst in series with a particle detector is developed and validated experimentally against commercial instruments. While this approach overcomes the low classification resolutions and set measurement ranges (which focus on larger particles) of previous methodologies for aerodynamic sizing, it requires the AAC setpoint to be stepped and stabilised before each measurement, which forces trade-offs between measurement time and step resolution. To overcome this limitation, this thesis is the first to develop and validate the transfer function and its corresponding deconvolution theory to allow the AAC setpoint to be scanned continuously, rather than stepped, during size distribution measurements. This approach is validated experimentally against the stepping AAC (agreement within 2% if aerosol source stability is considered) and calibration particles (agreement within 8.7%). Scanning the AAC is also shown to reduce its measurement time (1.1 to 2.6 times faster), while increasing the resolution of the measured size distribution (6.1 to 9.0 times higher classes per decade). This work is also the first to leverage the advantages of the AAC to develop improved methodologies for measuring the bipolar charge distribution of spherical particles. It is demonstrated that using an AAC in tandem with a DMA overcomes significant limitations of the commonly used tandem DMA system (such as multiply-charged particle artefacts and low measurement signals). This approach is used to quantify the significant charging effects (up to a 0.084 difference in a charge fraction) of different sample flow rates through a radioactive neutraliser, free-ions downstream of the neutraliser, or different neutralisers. To study non-spherical particles, this approach is then expanded by demonstrating an AAC and DMA in tandem can select homogeneous, non-spherical particles. The bipolar charge distribution of the homogeneous particles is then measured using another DMA downstream. The bipolar charging of non-spherical, soot aggregates is shown to deviate significantly (up to a 0.069 difference in a charge fraction) from widely-used charging theory, but can be accounted for using a charging equivalent diameter. The novel AAC methodologies developed and validated in this thesis are intended to allow others to further characterise the sizing and bipolar charging of aerosols. There are also opportunities to expand the AAC to other applications based on the foundational theory developed in this work. Ultimately, these outcomes will lead to a greater understanding of aerosol science.This PhD research would not have been possible without the support from Cambustion Ltd, The Rt. Hon. Sir Winston S. Churchill Society of Edmonton and C-FER Technologies