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Clearly We Do Nothing Else Here But F*ck: Assembling a Transfag Through Erotic Roleplay in Final Fantasy XIV
Get PDFThis thesis describes the social practice of Erotic Role Play (ERP) as an assemblage through which the “transfag” as a subject is produced. This project does so by hewing together the multidisciplinary practices of games studies, trans studies, and fan studies. Moreover, I apply an autoethnographic practice, supplanting my own experiences as an expert-hobbyist throughout my thesis. This writing practice aligns with both games studies approaches by authors like TL Taylor as well as trans studies scholars like Susan Stryker, and calls attention to how both hobbyist and trans perspectives require personal and biographical intervention due to lack of scholarship. I suggest that, in order to better understand transmasculine subjects who ERP in the video game Final Fantasy XIVI (and by extension any other subject), one must juggle the “incommensurable” or seemingly incompatible nodes within the assemblage rather than “settle” them: transmasculine ERPing must be both a queer practice of cruising and a communal writing practice informed by fan spaces. Moreover, I not only resist the simplification of transmasc ERPers, but also disrupt the ways in which academia has thought of the transmasculine subject: as a limb of lesbianism, or through the lens of amateur queer porn or memoir. Instead, the transfag ERPer is a hacked-together machine whose desires are circuited through ERP and spaces which have historically been studied as exclusively female
Une rhétorique du banal Le Service de ciné-photographie du Québec et la modernisation rurale, 1940-1961
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Entre 1940 et 1961, l’agence audiovisuelle du gouvernement du Québec appelée le Service de ciné-photographie (SCP) amasse une collection photographique considérable dont environ 100 000 images sont aujourd’hui conservées. Ce corpus, réalisé par près de 500 fonctionnaires photographes dont une vaste majorité sont des amateurs, est constitué de photographies ordinaires dont aucune n’est passée à la postérité pour avoir marqué son époque. Elles n’ont pas pour autant été sans effet; si le gouvernement a commandité toutes ces images pendant une aussi longue période, c’est qu’elles servaient ses fins.
Cette thèse propose que la production photographique du SCP est délibérément sans éclat et qu’elle met de l’avant une rhétorique du banal dont l’objectif est d’accélérer l’entrée dans la modernité d’une société rurale encore largement traditionnelle en 1940. En s’écartant de la longue pratique des images iconiques du pouvoir, cette propagande discrète met de l’avant la production d’images individuellement banales et dont la force repose sur leur action en masse. Cette thèse soutient que la banalité est une stratégie majeure de la communication visuelle des États au XXe siècle et qu’elle correspond à l’accession des masses au pouvoir à la même époque. Cette stratégie s’inscrit dans le contexte général de la montée en puissance des États dans la vie quotidienne des peuples, puissance rendue effective par une bureaucratie animée du désir d’améliorer le niveau de vie général de la population.
L’analyse de l’action du SCP permet de comprendre les mécanismes de cette rhétorique du banal visible partout en Occident à la même époque. Au Québec, le SCP soutient en particulier la modernisation de la société rurale, qu’il accélère en normalisant visuellement les changements sociaux qui en résultent. Les photographies de l’organisme, soutenant un processus de transformation en profondeur de la société dont elles ne questionnent jamais les fondements, montrent dans toute son ampleur la banalité du bien.
ENGLISH
Between 1940 and 1961, the Quebec government's audiovisual agency, the Service de ciné-photographie (SCP), amassed a considerable photographic collection of which approximately 100,000 images are preserved today. This corpus, produced by nearly 500 civil servant photographers, mostly amateurs, is made up of ordinary photographs, none of which have gone down in history as iconic of their era. That said, they were not without effect. The Quebec government commissioned all these images over such a long period of time because they were serving its purposes.
This thesis proposes that the SCP's photographic production was deliberately lacklustre, putting forward a rhetoric of the commonplace whose aim was to accelerate the modernization of a rural society that was still largely traditional in 1940. In a departure from the longstanding practice of iconic images of power, this discreet propaganda puts forward the production of individually banal images whose strength lies in their mass action. This thesis argues that banality is a major strategy in statist visual communication of the twentieth century, corresponding to the rise of the masses to power in the same period. This strategy is part of the general trend toward increased power of the state in the everyday life of the people, a power made effective by a bureaucracy motivated by the desire to improve the general standard of living of the population.
An analysis of the SCP program allows us to understand this rhetoric of the banal whose mechanisms were visible throughout the West at the same time. In Quebec, the SCP particularly supported the modernisation of rural society, which it accelerated by visually normalising the resulting social changes. The organization's photographs, supporting a process of profound societal transformation whose foundations remain unquestioned, show the banality of good operating at full power
Electrokinetic Remediation of Organic Soil Polluted with Petroleum Products in Temperate and Cold Regions
Get PDFGlobal warming leads to the thawing of ice caps in cold regions like Canada's northern territories, which are predominantly covered with permafrost. Its active top layer contains different fractions of organic matter and clay. More frequent use of shipping routes increases the risk of northern soil pollution. One group of common pollutants, originating from pipeline spills or various leakage, are light hydrocarbons. Soil pollution affects the sensitive northern environment. Effective soil remediation necessitates a comprehensive understanding of soil properties to implement an appropriate remediation method tailored to the specific soil characteristics and the challenging climatic conditions in northern territories.
A series of laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of electrokinetic (EK) soil remediation on organic soils in cold-tempered regions. The study involved four distinct soil compositions to determine the efficacy of EK transport within organic matter (3%, 16%, and 35% w/w) containing soil. The soil was polluted with toluene and exposed to a constant low DC voltage gradient. To optimize electrokinetic remediation, a daily injection of surfactant was conducted. The tests were carried out continuously over a period of four days without anolyte, and one day including electroosmotic discharge collecting both anolyte and catholyte. The study was conducted in ambient (20°C) and cold temperatures (7°C) to simulate temperate and cold environments.
The results showed the feasibility of light hydrocarbons removal from organic soils, while EK transport was more effective under low temperatures. Soil changed properties and pH gradient was observed between the anode and cathode. Furthermore, extracted liquids indicated some dissolutions of humic substances present in organic soil
Tim Tim? Bwa Chèch! : Documentation de la présence des artistes visuels haïtiens à Montréal 1971-1986
Get PDFCe mémoire documente la présence des artistes visuels haïtiens à Montréal à travers les espaces qu’ils ont créés et occupés entre 1971 et 1986. Je soutiens que l’autodétermination et l’intelligence collectives des artistes haïtiens s’inscrivent dans une continuité de résistance culturelle. Elles se manifestent dans le maintien du choix conscient d’exister dans la marge et d’y fonder des espaces intrinsèques d’affirmation de pratiques créatives contre-hégémonique. Ce phénomène est étudié à travers les activités de trois lieux incubateurs de créateurs haïtiens à Montréal soit, la Galerie Picasso, la Galerie Diaspo-Art et le Café Thélème. La méthodologie utilisée repose sur l’histoire orale et de la recherche exhaustive dans les archives communautaires. Les années à l’étude correspondent à la dictature de Jean-Claude Duvalier en Haïti, qui poussa plus d’un million d’Haïtiens vers l’exil politique et économique. Durant cette période, les intellectuels, poètes et artistes sont les premiers à en subir les répercussions, faisant souvent face à la prison ou la mort. Face à ce manque de liberté d’expression, plusieurs créateurs choisissent de s’exiler en majeure partie, à Paris, à New York et à Montréal. À cette époque, le Québec est en pleine révolution tranquille, la société québécoise se reconfigure et redéfinit les paramètres de son milieu artistique. Dans les marges de ces réformes étatiques, se développe une activité artistique marquée au sein des communautés afrodescendantes locales, qui n’a toujours pas été documentée. À Montréal, comme dans l’ensemble du Canada, la reconnaissance des artistes afrodescendants est un phénomène récent. La rareté des écrits au sujet de ces manifestations culturelles s’explique d’ailleurs par la non-reconnaissance historique de la présence et contribution des communautés afro-canadiennes. Ce qui a aussi induit le manque d’intérêt académique pour ces artistes. Ultimement, contribue à l’érudition croissante de l’histoire de l’art des Afro-Canadiens, en particulier l’histoire des débuts des artistes haïtiens au Québec
The Role of Influencer Marketing on Consumer-Based Brand Equity
No full textIn the current competitive market, businesses explore every possible option to differentiate their brand. They aim to establish a connection between their customers and their brand to build enduring consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). Instead of conventional celebrity endorsements, businesses are often turning to social media influencers for their marketing initiatives. Currently, it is unknown how successful influencer endorsements are compared to more conventional celebrity endorsements. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the impact of celebrity marketing, influencer marketing, and the control marketing on overall brand equity and on the four dimensions of CBBE, namely brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand associations and perceived quality. A randomized 3 (type of endorsement: celebrity vs. influencer vs. control) x 3 (gender: female vs. male vs. control) between-subjects design (n = 253) was conducted. The results indicated that there were no significant differences between all three groups regarding any of the variables of interest. Despite failing to produce the anticipated results, this study still provides a strong foundation for subsequent studies in the field.
Keywords: Social Media, Influencers, Brand Equity, Spokesperson, Brand Loyalty, Brand Awareness, Brand Associations, Perceived Qualit
A Genome Catalogue of Mercury-Methylating Bacteria and Archaea from Sediments of a Boreal River Faced by Human Disturbances
Get PDFMethylmercury (MeHg), the most bioavailable form of mercury (Hg), is a neurotoxin produced by anaerobic microbes. MeHg generated in aquatic sediments can be transferred to aquatic organisms and biomagnified along food webs, ultimately reaching fish consumers. This is a particular concern for rivers, as they are connective bodies for aquatic ecosystems and play crucial roles in the transport of nutrients. Moreover, rivers exhibit heightened susceptibility to environmental disturbances within their watershed, which have been linked to increased Hg-methylation. Rivers impacted by run-of-river dams hold specific significance, given the growing preference for these dam types over reservoir dams. Early studies have identified sulfate reducers, methanogens, and iron reducers as the main contributors to Hg methylation. More recently, proteins encoded by the hgcAB genes have been found to confer the ability to methylate Hg. Recent metagenomic studies have expanded our knowledge of hgcAB-carrying lineages in the environment. Nevertheless, genome-based exploration of Hg-methylators remains limited, particularly in the context of river systems. To fill this knowledge gap, we created a genome catalogue of Hg-methylating microorganisms from the sediments of a river impacted by two run-of-river dams, logging, and a forest fire. We assessed the taxonomic and metabolic diversity of these putative Hg-methylators. Additionally, we assessed their abundance and diversity across sites along the river that were subject to different disturbances to gain insight into the ecological impact on Hg-methylators. For a deeper understanding of the environmental factors shaping Hg-methylator
diversity, we juxtaposed the genome catalogue with the wider microbial community to which these methylators belong. We uncovered a unique and diverse assemblage of Hg-methylators dominated by members of metabolically versatile and fermentative Bacteroidota. This assemblage was particularly enriched in butyrate fermentative, carbon fixing and nitrite reducing microbes. We found that sites affected by press-like disturbances such as logging were particularly favorable to the establishment of a Hg-methylating niche. Lastly, we argue that the effects of watershed disturbances are likely not specific to Hg-methylators, but rather shared across the greater microbial community
From Warriors to Workers to Warkers: (Y)Utopian Media, Supra-National Self-Management, and Racialized Brotherhood in the Yugoslav Revolutionary Cinema
Get PDFIn postwar Yugoslavia, the Communist-led People’s Liberation Struggle during World War II was constructed as the country’s threefold founding narrative: a resistance to the occupiers, a civil war against the collaborationists, and a revolution. Yugoslavia’s was the second independent socialist revolution and first antifascist revolution in the world. As such, the revolution was integrated, and continuously re-articulated, in various aspects of Yugoslav development; most notably, its Marxist doctrine of workers’ self-management and Cold War non-alignment.
As an assemblage of publications and conference presentations, this dissertation investigates the intertwining of the history of postwar Yugoslavia, cinema as the main medium of its socialist modernization, and Revolution as a complex modality of its politics and aesthetics. From highlighting peasantry as a revolutionary force to critical debates about the supra-, trans-, and extra-national nature of Yugoslav cinema to racialized, gendered, and increasingly neo-liberal hierarchies in Yugoslav society, this project concentrates on the country’s often contradictory entanglement of identity and concrete utopian drive. It simultaneously constitutes material and intellectual resourcefulness as the linchpin of Yugoslav multi-media culture, particularly rich in its non-theatrical and useful incarnations.
I begin with conceptualizing the Yugoslav Revolutionary Cycle as a globally relevant supra-genre encompassing the cinematic representation of and interrelation between revolutionary precursors, war, and work in pre-WWII, wartime, and postwar Yugoslav space and history. In Chapter One, I explore how the 1950s international co-production model and generic hybridization helped Yugoslav filmmakers challenge the legacy of historical imperialisms, incorporate the Young Bosnian rebels and Kosovar Albanian national minority into supra-national socialism, and employ the western partners’ know-how. Chapter Two considers the 1960s Yugoslav auteurs’ departure from the Soviet role models as reflected in their complicated quest for a more egalitarian revolution, economic archive-based practices, and building a long-lasting international film festival community. Chapter Three focuses on the controversial Croatian filmmaker and diplomat Antun Vrdoljak who questioned Yugoslav revolutionary emancipation in his early films and contributed to British national devolution through the 1971 Croatian-British cinematic exchange. Ultimately, this dissertation re-centers Yugoslav cinema as a socialist alternative to better known and seemingly more coherent cultures, such as those in the USA, USSR, and UK
Automating Fault Detection and Quality Control in PCBs: A Machine Learning Approach to Handle Imbalanced Data
Get PDFPrinted Circuit Boards (PCBs) are fundamental to the operation of a wide array of electronic devices, from consumer electronics to sophisticated industrial machinery. Given this pivotal role, quality control and fault detection are especially significant, as they are essential for ensuring the devices' long-term reliability and efficiency. To address this, the thesis explores advancements in fault detection and quality control methods for PCBs, with a focus on Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) techniques. The study begins with an in-depth review of traditional approaches like visual and X-ray inspections, then delves into modern, data-driven methods, such as automated anomaly detection in PCB manufacturing using tabular datasets. The core of the thesis is divided into three specific tasks: firstly, applying ML and DL models for anomaly detection in PCBs, particularly focusing on solder-pasting issues and the challenges posed by imbalanced datasets; secondly, predicting human inspection labels through specially designed tabular models like TabNet; and thirdly, implementing multi-classification methods to automate repair labeling on PCBs. The study is structured to offer a comprehensive view, beginning with background information, followed by the methodology and results of each task, and concluding with a summary and directions for future research. Through this systematic approach, the research not only provides new insights into the capabilities and limitations of existing fault detection techniques but also sets the stage for more intelligent and efficient systems in PCB manufacturing and quality control
Throughput Enhancement and Power Optimization in NOMA-based Multiuser Multicast Systems
Get PDFIn recent years, Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) has emerged as a promising technique for enhancing the capacity and throughput of wireless communication systems. This thesis investigates the potential of NOMA in improving the performance of multiuser multicast systems, focusing on multibeam satellite communication systems in the forward link, throughput enhancement, and power optimization. We propose a novel framework that combines a NOMA scheme with multibeam architecture and frequency reuse in multicast transmission. The proposed framework enhances system throughput by optimizing power allocation.
First, we present a comprehensive review of the principles and techniques related to NOMA and multibeam multicast systems, highlighting their unique challenges and potential benefits. Next, we introduce our proposed framework in 4-color frequency reuse satellite systems. In 4-color frequency reuse, each user receives signals from other co-channel beams. However, the level of isolation is such that the interbeam interference can be treated as background noise without significant performance degradation. This means that there is no collaboration between beams, and each beam can be isolated from the rest. Therefore, NOMA is considered in single-beam multicast satellite communication systems. The optimum power allocation to maximize the minimum fairness rate and sum-rate is derived for a given user clustering in a single beam. Moreover, an optimum user clustering is derived, which improves the system throughput.
Next, we investigate our proposed framework in full frequency reuse satellite systems under perfect channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). The proposed framework integrates the NOMA scheme in multicast multibeam architecture. Linear precoding techniques, such as zero-forcing (ZF) and minimum mean square error (MMSE), are used to cancel interbeam interference while NOMA is applied on a beam basis. NOMA and linear precoding are adopted for the proposed framework in multicast transmission. A low-complexity user scheduling is proposed to deal with the trade-offs between optimum user scheduling for linear precoding and the NOMA scheme. Moreover, a low-complexity linear precoding in multicast transmission is proposed based on unicast linear precoding methods and a mapper which deals with the lack of spatial degrees of freedom. To improve the performance of linear precoding, we present three mappers, where the proposed singular-value-decomposition (SVD) mapper demonstrates the best performance.
To improve system throughput, power allocation should be optimized. In this thesis, we consider two objective functions: max-min fairness rate (MMF) and sum-rate. This thesis introduces a technique for addressing the non-convex MMF optimization issue in the proposed framework by employing auxiliary variables to convert it into a semi-definite programming problem, which can then be resolved using linear programming solvers. This thesis also suggests an approach to tackle the non-convex sum-rate maximization goal function in MB-MC-NOMA systems by constructing Lagrangian multipliers concerning the constraints. By employing quadratic transformations on the sum-of-ratios, the problem is restructured within an iterative sum-rate power optimization algorithm.
This thesis considers a realistic scenario with imperfect CSIT. To combat the effect of imperfect CSIT in multibeam multicast satellite communication systems, a rate-splitting approach is proposed. An averaging rate (AR) framework for MMF rate and sum-rate optimization considering ICST is proposed. To render the formulated MMF and sum-rate problems convex, we utilize the Weighted Minimum Mean Square Error (WMMSE) method. We first derive a rate-WMMSE relationship and then, using this relationship along with a low-complexity solution based on Alternating Optimization (AO), we transform the problems into equivalent convex ones.
To validate the effectiveness of our proposed frameworks, we conduct extensive simulations and comparisons with state-of-the-art schemes. The results demonstrate significant improvements in throughput and power efficiency, confirming the potential of NOMA-based multiuser multicast systems for future wireless communication networks.
Finally, we discuss potential future research directions, including the integration of the proposed frameworks in the cellular networks, calculating the transmitter and receiver complexity of the proposed techniques, considering higher layers of RS. This thesis contributes to the ongoing development of next-generation wireless communication systems, paving the way for more efficient and reliable data transmission in multiuser multicast environments
How Lived Autistic Experience Can Inform Considerations of Potential Harm in Music Therapy with Autistic People: A Philosophical Inquiry
Get PDFExaminations of music therapy practice through a neurodiversity lens are generating and expanding discussions about considerations of harm in music therapy beyond contraindications. This philosophical inquiry contributes to both these efforts by centering the experiences of autistic individuals as an essential source of knowledge regarding potential harm in music therapy with autistic people. First-voice and allied literature are brought into dialogue with music therapy theory through the framework of the Music Therapy and Harm Model (Murakami, 2021). According to this model, it is the client who identifies the potential harms in music therapy, therefore music therapists working with autistic individuals must look to the experiences of autistic people to inform their understanding of harm. The literature revealed that the potential for harm resulted from dominant narratives of pathology, ableism, and the requirements of normalization. Allowing autistic individuals to identify harms in their music therapy experiences requires therapists to be open to various forms of communication, to presume competence, and to resist normalization by examining the foundational assumptions of their practice. Limitations of the philosophical inquiry, implications for research, practice, education, social justice, and recommendations for future research are discussed