From the Birth of the Soundscape Concept to the Sound Ambient in Disneyland-Paris

Giovanni De Zorzi traces the historical and aesthetical background of ‘soundscape’, from the sound/noise opposition in physics to the reconsideration of ‘noise’ by the avant-gardes of the twentieth century arriving to the conceptions of Murray Schafer and Steven Feld, which gave birth to many nowadays disciplines. After this, Alessio Calandra deals with the possible influence of the soundscape of Disneyland Park, an amusement park in Disneyland Paris: he begins from some ‘physical’ places of the Park, such as Main Street U.S.A., Frontierland, Adventureland, and arrives to the detailed analysis of their specific soundscape related to the sale of Disney-branded gadgets and products within the park.

How Prior Knowledge Affects Visual Attention of Japanese Mimicry and Onomatopoeia and Learning Outcomes: Evidence from Virtual Reality Eye Tracking

According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, “achieving inclusive and quality education for all”, foreign language learning has come to be seen as a process of integrating sustainable development into the socio-cultural aspects of education and learning. The aim of this study was to employ virtual reality (VR) eye tracker to examine how students with different levels of prior knowledge process visual behaviors for Japanese Mimicry and Onomatopoeia (MIO) while learning Japanese as a second foreign language. A total of 20 students studying at the Department of Applied Japanese at the university of Southern Taiwan were recruited. Based on the Japanese language proficiency test (JLPT) level, 20 participants were divided into high prior knowledge group (levels N1–N3) with 7 participants, and low prior knowledge group (level N4 or below) with 13 participants. The learning stimuli materials were created by Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) development tool to design a 3D virtual MIO paradise, including 5 theme amusement parks. Through a VR eye tracker, participants’ visual behaviors were tracked and recorded based on 24 different regions of interest (ROIs) (i.e., ROI1–ROI24). This was done to discuss the distribution of visual attention in terms of different ROIs of each theme amusement park based on four eye movement indicators, including latency of first fixation (LFF), duration of first fixation (DFF), total fixation durations (TFD), and fixation counts (FC). Each ROI of the two groups were then compared. In addition, a heat zone map was also generated to show the overall visual distribution of each group. After the experiment, based on the eye movement indicators and test scores in the pre-test and post-test phases, statistical analysis was used to examine and evaluate the differences in visual attention and learning outcomes. The results revealed that the gaze sequences of the two prior knowledge groups gazing at the ROIs in theme parks were different, except for the gaze sequence in the circus theme park. Different prior knowledge groups exhibited differences in visual attention in the ROIs fixated on in each amusement park. Additionally, in terms of TFD and FC of different groups in each amusement park, there was no significant difference except in ROI10, ROI16, and ROI18. Moreover, after receiving cognitive comprehension processes introduced in the VR-simulated MIO scenes, students from both groups achieved higher post-test scores compared with pre-test scores, and such differences had statistical significance. In conclusion, the implications of VR eye movement analysis on developing students’ competence related to learning Japanese and cross-cultural aspects, compatible with sustainable development, were presented.

TWO DIFFERENT CASES OF STROKE IN YOUNG

We report two different cases of stroke in young.First one is, a vertebral artery dissection following ferris wheel ride at amusement park which emphasise the clinical history in early diagnosis of stroke in young.The other one is, a recurrent stroke in marfan syndrome associated with basilar invagination and isolated atrial septal aneurysym which is rare and has unique way of management.

PM2.5 dispersion modelling from La Ronde fireworks events in Montreal using AERMOD and ArcMap

Particulate matter from fireworks events are poorly understood sources of PM2.5 despite their potential to add significant quantities of PM2.5 to the atmosphere. PM2.5 has been found to aggravate various cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses and has been linked to premature death. Each year La Ronde amusement park on Sainte-Helene Island exhibits numerous firework events in what is considered one of the world's premiere pyrotechnic competitions. These individual events are the centre of study for this project. Each event was modelled using Lakes Environmental's version of AERMOD, which estimated PM2.5 concentration plumes which then underwent geospatial analysis using ArcMap. This project details the PM2.5 plume dynamics from La Ronde fireworks events from 1990-2004, and how these events impact a ten kilometer radius around the island of Sainte-Helene in Montreal, Canada.

PM2.5 dispersion modelling from La Ronde fireworks events in Montreal using AERMOD and ArcMap

Particulate matter from fireworks events are poorly understood sources of PM2.5 despite their potential to add significant quantities of PM2.5 to the atmosphere. PM2.5 has been found to aggravate various cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses and has been linked to premature death. Each year La Ronde amusement park on Sainte-Helene Island exhibits numerous firework events in what is considered one of the world's premiere pyrotechnic competitions. These individual events are the centre of study for this project. Each event was modelled using Lakes Environmental's version of AERMOD, which estimated PM2.5 concentration plumes which then underwent geospatial analysis using ArcMap. This project details the PM2.5 plume dynamics from La Ronde fireworks events from 1990-2004, and how these events impact a ten kilometer radius around the island of Sainte-Helene in Montreal, Canada.

Walter Darcy Ryan and His Electric Scintillator

In order to publicize the capabilities of General Electric’s lighting department and to solicit more contracts, lead engineer Walter Darcy Ryan came up with a spectacular lighting effect. He called it the “Scintillator.” It was showcased at Wonderland, a local amusement park and to illuminate Niagara Falls, and then appeared at international exhibitions and World’s Fairs in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and elsewhere for the next quarter of a century. It was also used atop some buildings, and helped inspire the “searchlight” motif in Art Deco depictions of cities. Wanter Darcy Ryan had effectively invented the light show.