‘That’s what the dream says’: The use of normalizing devices in dream reports

The paper examines the discursive construction of dream reports. Based on a discursive constructionist approach, the study reviews problematic aspects of constructing dream narratives. Particularly, dream-tellers need to display the external character of their reports and to demonstrate that – although in their dreams they saw and did strange things – they are normal and reliable agents. Subsequently, particular ways in which people report on unrealistic content of their dreams are explored. For this purpose, the use of normalizing devices in dream reports published on dream-sharing websites is analyzed. The study demonstrates that several normalizing devices, including contrast structures and two-part structures – such as ‘At first I thought X. . . but then I realized Y’ and ‘I was just doing X… when Y’ – are employed in dream reports. The study also suggests that the proper use of these devices might possibly contribute to the trustworthiness of dream reports in everyday interaction.

Laser Thermochemical High-Contrast Recording on Thin Metal Films

Laser-induced thermochemical recording of nano- and microsized structures on thin films has attracted intense interest over the last few decades due to essential applications in the photonics industry. Nevertheless, the relationship between the laser parameters and the properties of the formed oxide structures, both geometrical and optical, is still implicit. In this work, direct laser interference patterning of the titanium (Ti) film in the oxidative regime was applied to form submicron periodical structures. Depending on the number of laser pulses, the regime of high contrast structures recording was observed with the maximum achievable thickness of the oxide layer. The investigation revealed high transmittance of the formed oxide layers, i.e., the contrast of recorded structures reached up to 90% in the visible range. To analyze the experimental results obtained, a theoretical model was developed based on calculations of the oxide formation dynamics. The model operates on Wagner oxidation law and the corresponding optical properties of the oxide–metal–glass substrate system changing nonlinearly after each pulse. A good agreement of the experimental results with the modeling estimations allowed us to extend the model application to other metals, specifically to those with optically transparent oxides, such as zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb), and tantalum (Ta). The performed analysis highlighted the importance of choosing the correct laser parameters due to the complexity and nonlinearity of optical, thermal, and chemical processes in the metal film during its laser-induced oxidation in the air. The developed model allowed selecting the suitable temporal–energetic regimes and predicting the optical characteristics of the structures formed with an accuracy of 10%. The results are promising in terms of their implementation in the photonics industry for the production of optical converters.

Multifractality in Humanitarian Applications

<p>     Every year the total number of people who had been forcibly displaced (refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons) is constantly rising, a fact that is directly reflected in the area covered by IDP/refugee camps. Long-term humanitarian relief requires reliable and comprehensive information that is constantly delivered during a crisis. Very High Resolution (VHR) optical satellite data have been shown to be useful in monitoring IDP/refugee camps as it can provide an overview of the affected areas with a spatial resolution of up to 0.3 m within a matter of days.</p><p>     The aim of our research is to verify the usefulness of multifractal parameters as descriptors of IDP/refugee camps area, both in the context of their applicability and usability in the humanitarian related issues. In particular, we perform studies devoted to: (I) the complex terrain situation description with the division into compact and dispersed structures; and (II) the identification of IDP/refugee camps area extent aiming at distinguishing residential areas from other land use/land cover types. The analysis performed in two IDP/refugee camps, i.e. Ifo and Ifo 2 (Daadab) in Kenya and Al Geneina in Sudan, based on GeoEye-1 and Pléiades-1A VHR satellite data, gives a promising aspect of limited calculation time needed for the initial stage of image classification in respect to the spatial complexity of analysed terrain. Our results show that the degree of multifractality calculated for the selected images increases for compact areas with high-contrast structures (e.g., functional buildings and dwellings). Consequently, the extraction of the IDP/refugee camps extent by using only one feature, i.e., the degree of multifractality, proved to be an efficient way for initial image classification.</p><p>     We hope that our studies supplemented by further research, i.e. pre- and post-processing, the inclusion of multispectral bands, analyzing other areas of interest, and examining the added value of other multifractal measures, will help to develop an unsupervised classification approach providing results more quickly, with more frequent updates.</p><p> </p><p>Research supported by the National Science Centre, Poland, under Grant 2016/23/B/ST10/01151.</p>

Contrast Enhancement for Topographic Imaging in Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy

The influence of the axial pinhole position in a confocal microscope in terms of the contrast of the image is analyzed. The pinhole displacement method is introduced which allows to increase the contrast for topographic imaging. To demonstrate this approach, the simulated data of a confocal setup as well as experimental data is shown. The simulated data is verified experimentally by a custom stage scanning reflective microscopy setup using a semiconductor test target with low contrast structures of sizes between 200 nm and 500 nm. With the introduced technique, we are able to achieve a contrast enhancement of up to 80% without loosing diffraction limited resolution. We do not add additional components to the setup, thus our concept is applicable for all types of confocal microscopes. Furthermore, we show the application of the contrast enhancement in imaging integrated circuits.

Assembling the Merry Ghetto

Chapter 3 focuses on the rich artistic output of the Czech Underground in the early 1970s. This aesthetic material helped frame the Underground through contrast structures and ideological articulations, helping it develop from an inchoate group that emerges from the 1960s bigbít scene into a distinct community. This occurred through a series of events congruent with the Underground band the Plastic People of the Universe’s musical development, all of which was calibrated by police repression and bureaucratic interruption of normalizace. In particular, notions of “establishment” emerged within Underground discourse, understood to be an “oppressor” of a self-determined way of life. The chapter shows how the fusing of cultural resources began to hold together an increasingly clearer network of dispositions, gestures and emotional stances that resulted from a series of social and aesthetic mediators. The chapter concludes by offering a model of how cultural resources are made available, located and put together. This engagement with resources ultimately creates a habitable, health-promoting space for communing and building immunity against things that one seeks to reject.