“My pockets are full”: The Emotional and Mechanical Function of Goodbyes in Animal Crossing

This article focuses on goodbyes within the Animal Crossing series, describing them as an important but often overlooked mechanic afforded through the inventory space. Beginning with defining the general mechanics withing the series, the article highlights the value of inventory space and argues that inventory space affords the central mechanic of collecting to emerge. As inventory space is not infinite, collecting is accompanied by the necessary mechanic of goodbyes. In order to make more room to collect players will be faced with choices of departing from both items and villagers, the game’s NPCs (Non-Playable Characters), emphasizing goodbyes’ mechanical and emotional function within this virtual world. Ultimately, this article concludes by highlighting how these mechanics serve to emphasize the parasocial attachments and agency players encounter when faced with the dilemma of departure.

Gaiman, Banks and Miéville – Hybrid Space and Genre

The analysis of three recent British novels: Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (1996), Iain Banks’ Transition (2009) and China Miéville’s The City & the City (2009) strives to uncover structural parallelisms and the inherent evolution in their development, plot structuring and presentation. It is centred on the exhibited relation to the structure and general mechanics of space. The interpretations of space are based on Foucault’s heterotopias, the rhizome of Deleuze and Guattari, and Certeau’s absent space, which show how the active force of space and the complexity of the genre identity are interconnected, and how they interact with the social and political engagement of the works and their wider cultural and social context. These seminal works of the British Boom provide a rich source material for an outline of the process of interplay of genre identity and political engagement, and an overview of how this interplay affects their plot, style and the protagonists.

A Study on Mathematical Model of Servo Valve Torque Motor

In this paper, a comprehensive theoretical analysis of servo valve torque motor that includes the ignored magnetic reluctance of magnetic elements is carried out. These analyses are based on fundamental laws of electromagnetism and general mechanics, thus a new mathematical model of servo valve torque motor is derived to improve the accuracy of the model. When using this model structure to fit the simulation data of electromagnetic torque constant and magnetic spring stiffness, the result render closer agreement with than when using existing models.

On the influence of delamination on laminated paperboard creasing and folding

Laminated paperboard is used as a packaging material for a wide range of products. During production of the packaging, the fold lines are first defined in a so-called creasing (or scoring) operation in order to obtain uncracked folds. During creasing as well as folding, cracking of the board is to be avoided. A mechanical model for a single fold line has been proposed in a previous study (Beex & Peerlings 2009 Int. J. Solids Struct. 46 , 4192–4207) to investigate the general mechanics of creasing and folding, as well as which precise mechanisms trigger the breaking of the top layer. In the present study, we employ this modelling to study the influence of delamination on creasing and folding. The results reveal the separate role of the cohesive zone model and the friction model in the description of delamination. They also show how the amount of delamination behaviour should be controlled to obtain the desired high folding stiffness without breaking of the top layer.