“Superman’s Editor Mortimer Weisinger”: the Success and Extension of the Superman Brand in the Silver Age of Comics

My thesis examines the career of Detective Comics’ editor Mortimer Weisinger from 1957-1970, during which time Superman transitioned from a simple character to a complex brand. It details the creation of the character and subsequent growth into multiple mediums. Weisinger’s greatest contribution to the hero was an extended mythology and spin-off comic series. I analyze these series, as well as his other editorial tendencies, to understand the business strategies and management of the Superman brand. Another interest in this thesis is comic book fandom, as feedback from fans allowed National’s management to identify trends. Weisinger’s involvement with early science fiction fan communities preceded his career as an editor, putting him in a unique position as a fan that turned their passion into a career. His management of the Superman line of comics informed the treatment of superhero brands today

Computer-aided display control Final report

Human composition and modification of computer driven cathode ray tube displa

The balancing act in ferroelectric transistors:how hard can it be?

For some years now, the ever continuing dimensional scaling has no longer been considered to be sufficient for the realization of advanced CMOS devices. Alternative approaches, such as employing new materials and introducing new device architectures, appear to be the way to go forward. A currently hot approach is to employ ferroelectric materials for obtaining a positive feedback in the gate control of a switch. This work elaborates on two device architectures based on this approach: the negative-capacitance and the piezoelectric field-effect transistor, i.e., the NC-FET (negative-capacitance field-effect transistor), respectively π -FET. It briefly describes their operation principle and compares those based on earlier reports. For optimal performance, the adopted ferroelectric material in the NC-FET should have a relatively wide polarization-field loop (i.e., “hard” ferroelectric material). Its optimal remnant polarization depends on the NC-FET architecture, although there is some consensus in having a low value for that (e.g., HZO (Hafnium-Zirconate)). π -FET is the piezoelectric coefficient, hence its polarization-field loop should be as high as possible (e.g., PZT (lead-zirconate-titanate)). In summary, literature reports indicate that the NC-FET shows better performance in terms of subthreshold swing and on-current. However, since its operation principle is based on a relatively large change in polarization the maximum speed, unlike in a π -FET, forms a big issue. Therefore, for future low-power CMOS, a hybrid solution is proposed comprising both device architectures on a chip where hard ferroelectric materials with a high piezocoefficient are used

Fluorescence from atmospheric aerosol detected by a lidar indicates biogenic particles in the stratosphere

International audienceWith a lidar system that was installed in Lindenberg/Germany, we observed in June 2003, an extended aerosol layer at 13 km altitude in the lowermost stratosphere. This layer created an inelastic backscatter signal which we interpret as laser induced fluorescence from aerosol particles. Also, we find evidence for inelastic scattering in a smoke plume from a forest fire that we observed in the troposphere. Fluorescence from ambient aerosol had not yet been considered detectable by lidar. However, organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sticking to the aerosol particles, or bioaerosol such as bacteria, spores or pollen fluoresce when excited with UV-radiation in a way that is detectable by our lidar system. Therefore, we conclude that fluorescence from organic material released by biomass burning creates the inelastic backscatter signal that we measured with our instrument and thus demonstrate a new and powerful way to characterize aerosols by a remote sensing technique. The stratospheric aerosol layer that we have observed in Lindenberg for three consecutive days is likely to be a remnant from Siberian forest fire plumes lifted across the tropopause and transported around the globe

A Novel Type of Thermal Solar Water Disinfection Unit

A novel type of solar thermal water disinfection unit is presented in this work. The system is safe and easy to use and can be built with basic tools and widely available materials. In the unit, water is disinfected by temperature increase up to the boiling point and output is controlled by the change in density. For employing the change in density to control the water output, a dimensioning procedure is suggested, giving the required height of the water reservoir, the heating section and the rising tube. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed to calculate the temperature increase in the rising tube, as it follows the temperature increase in the heated section. A model is presented to predict the water output and find a cost-effective configuration. For heating the water a simple flat plate absorber was designed and tested. With approximately 2 square meters of absorber area, up to 50 liters water output are expected per day in regions with high solar irradiation. The system was tested with contaminated water from the sewage and a reduction to zero coliform bacteria/100 ml was obtained. In order to promote the distribution of the system, a construction manual is in the design process

Cirrus clouds, contrails, and ice supersaturated regions: observations by lidar and radiosonde in Lindenberg/Germany

From April to October 2003 measurements have been performed with a mobile Aerosol Raman Lidar (MARL) at the Meteorological Observatory in Lindenberg(14.5 E, 52.5 N) . The aim of this extensive campaign was the investigation of tropospheric water vapour, cirrus clouds and contrails over a longer period of time. The lidar system detects aerosols and clouds in the troposphere and lower stratosphere. Cirrus clouds are detected by the large depolarisation of the backscattered laser beam. The lidar operates day and night, during daytime contrails may be identified with the help of a video camera. In the upper troposphere cirrus has been detected in 55% of the measured time. Radiosonde (Vaisala RS 80) data are available four times a day form the routine observational program at the site. They frequently detect ice supersaturatedregions (ISSR) in the upper troposphere. The comparison of the RS 80 andthe MARL data shows that the correlation between ISSR and the occurrence of cirrus and contrails is rather week. On the other hand there is a strong link between the occurrence of subvisual cirrus and contrails in the upper troposphere

The augmented knowledge workshop

The story of my involvement with on-line workstations begins in early 1951, with a vision and a life-time professional commitment. Over thirty-four years of pursuit have created a lot o

One-Dimensional Physical Model to Predict the Internal Quantum Efficiency of Si-Based LEDs

A simple analytical model for p-i-n light-emitting diodes is presented to give insight into the device physics. The 1-D model describes the dc electrical characteristics and internal quantum efficiency (ηIQE) as a function of the applied bias and is in good agreement with TCAD simulations. An optimization scheme, based on the same model, shows improved ηIQE for engineered heterojunctions by reducing the diffusion current contribution. The results show that the use of heterojunctions increases the light intensity inside a narrow-bandgap material, akin to the experimentally observed results. The bandgap of the active region determines the voltage at which the maximum efficiency occurs. It is also shown that maximum ηIQE occurs at a lower bias than that typically used for studying the maximum light intensity. The effect of injection dependence of recombination coefficients on the efficiency is also studied. For the first time, the electrical performance of a multilayer active region is modeled

Examining Asian and European reactions within shock advertising

This paper seeks to establish whether subjects from different cultures, in this case from Europe (Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK)) and Asia (China and Japan), react differently when exposed to the same shock advertising. This is of relevance to advertisers/ marketers who wish to target particular groups in a population as societies continue to evolve, change and become less homogenous. This paper examines the effects that gender and cultural identities have on different ethnic groups. The current study was carried out in the UK using 115 undergraduate university students from 6 countries. The participants were exposed to 7 adverts on safe driving from 4 countries. The aim of the study was to see if the participants would react differently to the degree of shock depending on the culture portrayed within the advert. Our findings highlight that there is a correlation between gender and the environment depicted within 3 of the adverts. Furthermore, significant differences between European and Asian participants were also found within 2 of those 3 adverts. The findings accentuate the importance of cultural content within shock advertising. Thus, advertisers/ marketers need to take great care when constructing and delivering messages to multi-cultural customer bases