Simon McBurney, Theatrical Soundscapes, and Postdigital Communities

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-70
Author(s):  
Angela Butler

In this article, Angela Butler explores postdigital community through an analysis of Complicité’s The Encounter. All facets of personal and civic life are permeated by the digital to such a degree that we are living through a period termed ‘the postdigital’. Postdigital communities are commonly formed, and nearly always sustained, through online networks. Drawing on Jill Dolan’s utopian performative and Victor Turner’s communitas, the article argues that rather than acting as an ancillary commentary platform, postdigital communities are now a principal component of certain theatrical experiences. With increasingly isolated lives, there is an evident appeal to work that taps into the joy of being alone, together. Angela Butler is an independent scholar based in Dublin who works in the technology sector. Cultural transformation is the central pillar of her ongoing research. With an eye to new and future technologies, her work is concerned with posthumanism, identities in transformation, and affective encounters.

Significance That turned the eleven-year-old MeToo movement into a central pillar of a broader drive in the United States to address gender, race and social inequality. Since then, the technology sector has become a bit more hospitable to women but still has much to do on employment and workplace culture. Impacts COVID-19 has stalled some of the momentum to #MeToo reforms. The tech sector's persistent poor gender diversity potentially hurts industry competitiveness. Few US states have yet extended sexual harassment protections to cover race, ethnicity and gender identity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Šimon Kdýr ◽  
Tiiu Elbra ◽  
Miroslav Bubík ◽  
Petr Schnabl ◽  
Lilian Švábenická

<p>The composite profile, with 4 studied sections, is located near the Uzgruň village (Czech Republic) next to a small stream. The profile is composed of Late Maastrichtian to Palaeocene flysch sediments and the K-Pg boundary is set in claystones within this turbiditic setting. Ongoing research of local paleoenvironment and stratigraphy is based on paleo- and rock-magnetic methods, micropaleontology and geochemistry to obtain more detailed view of the local situation during the K-Pg extinction event. Based on biostratigraphy, two dinocyst zones (Bubík et al., 2002): Palynodium grallator and Carpatella cornuta (first occurrence in the Danian), two calcareous nannofossil zones in the Upper Maastrichtian, and the agglutinated foraminifer zone Rzehakina fissistomata in the Paleogene were distinguished. Biostratigraphic data support the K-Pg boundary interval. The uppermost Maastrichtian is indicated by nannofossil species Micula prinsii, UC26d<sup>TP</sup> zone. Basal Paleogene non-calcareous strata contain dinocyst Carpatella cornuta and agglutinated foraminifers of Rzehakina fissistomata zone. The presence of low-latitude nannofossil taxa M. prinsii and Ceratolithoides kamptneri show input of warm waters during the uppermost Maastrichtian. Several rock-magnetic methods, such as acquisition of Isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM), acquisition of Anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM), Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), Field dependence of magnetic susceptibility (HD) and Frequency dependence of magnetic susceptibility (FD), were applied to estimate behaviour and origin of magnetic particles. Natural remanent magnetization (NRM) values of samples range from 0.09 to 2.48 mA/m. Volume normalized magnetic susceptibility (MS) show values from 130 up to 1197 SI*10-6. There is no increase observed in MS across stratigraphic boundary due to turbiditic evolution of sediment. Due to character of sediments, we applied alternating field (AF) demagnetization and used principal component analysis (PCA; Kirschvink, 1980) for estimation of characteristic remanent component. Most of the K/Pg sections worldwide have well documented Iridium anomaly. In Uzgruň, the preliminary results show that although the values are not as pronounced, the Ir at K-Pg boundary is still higher than in surrounding sediments. For tracing of Deccan traps effect we plan to apply mercury (Hg)/total organic carbon (TOC) stratigraphy. TOC content of 20 pilot samples is low, but not under detection limit of the instrumentation (mean value 0.92 wt%). One sample reached value 4.41 wt% of TOC. Sulphur contents are reaching 1 wt%, but several samples were under detection limit of the instrumentation. Sulphur concentrations suggest more reduction conditions of burial.</p><p>Current research is supported by Czech Science Foundation project no. 19-07516S and is in accordance with research plan no. RVO67985831.</p><p>Bubík, M., Adamová, M., Bąk, M., Franců, J., Gedl, P., Mikuláš, R., Švábenická, L., & Uchman, A. (2002). Výsledky výzkumu hranice křída/terciér v magurském flyši u Uzgruně. Geologické výzkumy na Moravě a ve Slezsku, 9, 18–22</p><p>L. Kirschvink (1980), The least-squares line and plane and the analysis of palaeomagnetic data, Geophysical Journal International, 62(3), 699–718, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1980.tb02601.x</p>


Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Jake Wiley ◽  
Andrew Mercer

As the mesoscale dynamics of lake-effect snow (LES) are becoming better understood, recent and ongoing research is beginning to focus on the large-scale environments conducive to LES. Synoptic-scale composites are constructed for Lake Michigan and Lake Superior LES events by employing an LES case repository for these regions within the U.S. North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) data for each LES event were used to construct synoptic maps of dominant LES patterns for each lake. These maps were formulated using a previously implemented composite technique that blends principal component analysis with a k-means cluster analysis. A sample case from each resulting cluster was also selected and simulated using the Advanced Weather Research and Forecast model to obtain an example mesoscale depiction of the LES environment. The study revealed four synoptic setups for Lake Michigan and three for Lake Superior whose primary differences were discrepancies in a surface pressure dipole structure previously linked with Great Lakes LES. These subtle synoptic-scale differences suggested that while overall LES impacts were driven more by the mesoscale conditions for these lakes, synoptic-scale conditions still provided important insight into the character of LES forcing mechanisms, primarily the steering flow and air–lake thermodynamics.


Refuge ◽  
2003 ◽  
pp. 114-119
Author(s):  
Haideh Moghissi

This paper, drawing upon an ongoing research project funded by Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Ford Foundation, introduces the main ideas and themes that inform the study of changing gender and family relations among four displaced communities of Islamic cultures (Iranian, Afghan, Palestinian, and Pakistani). For members of each group, three sets of “circumstances” are analyzed – an individual’s experience in the home and host country, together with an examination of socio-economic conditions and policies in the host. In addition to these social and economic factors, in particular, it will focus on the ways in which social class, gender, and religious commitments affect an individual’s experience when they move. It is argued that gender significantly impacts new migrants’ experience and how they feel about their “home” country. One of our main hypotheses is that under pressures of a rapid, often difficult, social and cultural transformation, changing gender dynamics in the new country can lead to a new understanding among partners – or, alternatively, to heightened tension, with severely damaging effects, particularly for women and children. Culturally, when family understandings collapse, this process may be accompanied by an effort to find religious justification for gender inequality. Then, a connection can be seen between difficulties in the new country, the efforts of conservative men to reclaim the dominance they once enjoyed in their countries of origin, and give it a religious justification. Hence, the revival, in the diaspora, of conservative Islamic practice and belief.


2010 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 521-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Mecikalski ◽  
Wayne M. MacKenzie ◽  
Marianne Koenig ◽  
Sam Muller

Abstract Infrared (IR) data from the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite are used to understand cloud-top signatures for growing cumulus clouds prior to known convective initiation (CI) events, or the first occurrence of a ≥35-dBZ echo from a new convective cloud. In the process, this study proposes how MSG IR fields may be used to infer three physical attributes of growing cumuli, cloud depth, cloud-top glaciation, and updraft strength, with limited information redundancy. These three aspects are observed as unique signatures within MSG IR data, for which this study seeks to relate to previous research, as well as develop a new understanding on which subset of IR information best identifies these attributes. Data from 123 subjectively identified CI events observed during the 2007 Convection and Orograpically Induced Precipitation Study (COPS) field experiment conducted over southern Germany and northeastern France are processed, per convective cell, to meet this study’s objectives. A total of 67 IR “interest fields” are initially assessed for growing cumulus clouds, with correlation and principal component analyses used to highlight the top 21 fields that are considered the best candidates for describing the three attributes. Using between 6 and 8 fields per category, a method is then proposed on how growing convective clouds may be quantified per 3-km2 pixel (or per cumulus cloud object) toward inferring each attribute. No independent CI-nowcasting analysis is performed, which instead is the subject of ongoing research.


Author(s):  
Georg Hahn ◽  
Sanghun Lee ◽  
Scott T. Weiss ◽  
Christoph Lange

AbstractOver 10,000 viral genome sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been made readily available during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic since the initial genome sequence of the virus was released on the open access Virological website (http://virological.org/) early on January 11. We utilize the published data on the single stranded RNAs of 11, 132 SARS-CoV-2 patients in the GISAID (Elbe and Buckland-Merrett, 2017; Shu and McCauley, 2017) database, which contains fully or partially sequenced SARS-CoV-2 samples from laboratories around the world. Among many important research questions which are currently being investigated, one aspect pertains to the genetic characterization/classification of the virus. We analyze data on the nucleotide sequencing of the virus and geographic information of a subset of 7, 640 SARS-CoV-2 patients without missing entries that are available in the GISAID database. Instead of modelling the mutation rate, applying phylogenetic tree approaches, etc., we here utilize a model-free clustering approach that compares the viruses at a genome-wide level. We apply principal component analysis to a similarity matrix that compares all pairs of these SARS-CoV-2 nucleotide sequences at all loci simultaneously, using the Jaccard index (Jaccard, 1901; Tan et al., 2005; Prokopenko et al., 2016; Schlauch et al., 2017). Our analysis results of the SARS-CoV-2 genome data illustrates the geographic and chronological progression of the virus, starting from the first cases that were observed in China to the current wave of cases in Europe and North America. This is in line with a phylogenetic analysis which we use to contrast our results. We also observe that, based on their sequence data, the SARS-CoV-2 viruses cluster in distinct genetic subgroups. It is the subject of ongoing research to examine whether the genetic subgroup could be related to diseases outcome and its potential implications for vaccine development.


2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 2112-2129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam J. Doyle ◽  
Kathryn L. Mier

For Gulf of Alaska (GOA) fish populations, ordination by principal component analysis of a matrix of species by early life history and ecological traits resulted in distribution of species along three primary gradients. These are synonymous with phenology of egg and larval production, quantity of production, and ubiquity of larvae, the latter representing temporal and spatial extent of distribution in the pelagic environment. GOA species were assigned to categories that shared similar positions in ordination space relative to the three primary gradients. From this comparative analysis, a conceptual framework is proposed for species’ early life histories representing trade-offs in adaptation to prevailing environmental conditions and associated vulnerability and resilience factors that may modulate species’ recruitment responses to environmental variability. The utility of this framework for evaluating response to environmental forcing was supported by the analysis of a 27-year time series of GOA late spring larval fish abundance. The hypothesis for this ongoing research is that we can utilize similarities in reproductive and early life history characteristics among species to identify (i) ecologically determined species groups that are predisposed to respond to environmental forcing in similar ways and (ii) plausible environmental predictors of recruitment variation attributable to aspects of early life history.


Author(s):  
A. V. Crewe ◽  
M. Ohtsuki

We have assembled an image processing system for use with our high resolution STEM for the particular purpose of working with low dose images of biological specimens. The system is quite flexible, however, and can be used for a wide variety of images.The original images are stored on magnetic tape at the microscope using the digitized signals from the detectors. For low dose imaging, these are “first scan” exposures using an automatic montage system. One Nova minicomputer and one tape drive are dedicated to this task.The principal component of the image analysis system is a Lexidata 3400 frame store memory. This memory is arranged in a 640 x 512 x 16 bit configuration. Images are displayed simultaneously on two high resolution monitors, one color and one black and white. Interaction with the memory is obtained using a Nova 4 (32K) computer and a trackball and switch unit provided by Lexidata.The language used is BASIC and uses a variety of assembly language Calls, some provided by Lexidata, but the majority written by students (D. Kopf and N. Townes).


Author(s):  
Brian Cross

A relatively new entry, in the field of microscopy, is the Scanning X-Ray Fluorescence Microscope (SXRFM). Using this type of instrument (e.g. Kevex Omicron X-ray Microprobe), one can obtain multiple elemental x-ray images, from the analysis of materials which show heterogeneity. The SXRFM obtains images by collimating an x-ray beam (e.g. 100 μm diameter), and then scanning the sample with a high-speed x-y stage. To speed up the image acquisition, data is acquired "on-the-fly" by slew-scanning the stage along the x-axis, like a TV or SEM scan. To reduce the overhead from "fly-back," the images can be acquired by bi-directional scanning of the x-axis. This results in very little overhead with the re-positioning of the sample stage. The image acquisition rate is dominated by the x-ray acquisition rate. Therefore, the total x-ray image acquisition rate, using the SXRFM, is very comparable to an SEM. Although the x-ray spatial resolution of the SXRFM is worse than an SEM (say 100 vs. 2 μm), there are several other advantages.


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