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“Lead Them or Fall”: Examining the Representations of Leadership in Dragon Age: Inquisition
Get PDFVideogames often implicate players in the social process of leadership by frequently casting player-characters in the role of leaders. From starship commanders to city planners, players are often given the power to wield authority and make granular decisions that influence the lives of virtual beings. Despite this, leadership remains an underexplored topic in the game studies field. This thesis addresses this gap by drawing on scholarship from leadership studies and game studies to analyze the representations of leadership embedded in BioWare’s videogame Dragon Age: Inquisition. Using a hermeneutic close reading and the game analysis toolkit, it investigates the theme of leadership across 120 hours of gameplay. Through this method, I provide a definition for how to conceptualize and define acts of leadership in videogames to examine how Dragon Age: Inquisition constructs opportunities for players to perform actions that are conventionally associated with leadership. The thesis further analyzes the ideologies underpinning what it means to be a leader in this game, examining how these ideas are written into narrative contexts and designed into gameplay mechanics to subjectivize players into becoming “player-leaders.” It will also address the player’s capacity for incorporating alternative leadership practices into their gameplay. By applying leadership theories to an analysis of Dragon Age: Inquisition, I demonstrate how these lenses offer novel frameworks for scholars to understand and interpret the social dynamics that emerge between players and virtual characters in videogames
Impact Performance of 3D Printed Sandwich Structures: The Role of Core Geometry in Energy Absorption
Get PDFInnovative sandwich structures have gained prominence due to their potential to revolutionize industries with multifunctional performance. This study investigates the impact of different core topologies on the energy absorption capability of 3D-printed sandwich panels. Triply periodic minimal surfaces-based lattice structures and bioinspired spherical closed-cell foam structures were designed and compared against a traditional honeycomb structure to find the most suitable core topology. The fused deposition modeling technique was used to print samples in polylactic acid. The mechanical behavior of the 3D printing material was comprehensively characterized through a uniaxial tensile test. The sandwich panels were subjected to low-velocity impact loads to determine the dependence of their mechanical properties’ responses on their topological features. Deformation mechanisms were investigated experimentally and numerically using ANSYS. The impact of cellular core topologies on deformation mechanisms, multi-hit (and impact location), and energy absorption capabilities demonstrated the possibility of enhancing mechanical performance of the panels. It is found that the sandwich panels with Tetra Radial and Schwarz P core topologies exhibit higher performance, denoted by higher dynamic energy absorption (up to 11% and 16%, respectively, for the 1st impact) and stiffness (up to 42%, and 43%, respectively, for the 1st impact) than the honeycomb structure (with a constant relative density). Significant enhancements in energy absorption, particularly in Schwarz P and Mono Radial panels compared to the previously reported Octet core structure, offer valuable insights for lightweight, durable 3D-printed sandwich structures, with broad applications in multifunctional industries and future trends in materials engineering, promising applications in aerospace, automotive, and construction for the development of weight-efficient, structurally robust materials
Manipulating Explanations: Modifying Feature Visualizatio in in Artificial Neural Networks
Get PDFAs Deep Neural Networks become increasingly ubiquitous and increasingly large, there has been an increasing concern with their uninterpretable nature, and a push towards stronger techniques for interpretation.
Feature visualization is one of the most popular techniques to interpret the internal behavior of individual units of trained deep neural networks. Based on activation maximization, it consists of finding synthetic or natural inputs that maximize neuron activations.
This work introduces an optimization framework that aims to deceive feature visualization through adversarial model manipulation.
It consists of fine-tuning a pre-trained model with a specifically introduced loss that aims to maintain model performance, while also significantly changing feature visualization.
We provide evidence of the success of this manipulation on several pre-trained models for the ImageNet classification task.
Additionally, several model pruning strategies are tested as potential defences against the manipulations developed, with the aim of producing resilient and performative models
Genomics-based mixed-stock analysis reveals potential unsampled populations and population differences in intra-lake migration in walleye.
Get PDFStock contributions to annual harvests provide key insights to conservation, especially in fish species that return to specific spawning sites and may establish genetically distinct populations. In this context, genetic stock identification (GSI) requires reference samples, yet sampling might be challenging as spawning sites could be in remote and/or unknown areas. Thus, any potential missing source population needs to be accounted for in management recommendations. Here, we (i) genotyped 1487 walleye (Sander vitreus) samples using a GT-seq panel of 336 single nucleotide polymorphisms and (ii) assessed individual migration distances from GPS records of fish harvested in two neighboring northern Quebec lakes (Mistassini and Mistasiniishish) important to the local Cree community. Samples were assigned to a source population using two methods, one requiring allele frequencies of known populations (RUBIAS) and the other without prior knowledge (STRUCTURE). Individual assignments to a known population reached 96% consistency between both methods. All five major source populations were identified in Mistassini Lake, but there was evidence of up to three small unsampled populations. Furthermore, Mistassini walleye populations were characterized by large differences in average migration distance with some remaining near their spawning rivers. In contrast, walleye in Mistasiniishish Lake were assigned with very high confidence to two populations with similar distribution throughout the lake. The complex population structure and migration patterns in the larger Mistassini Lake suggest a more heterogenous habitat and thus, greater potential for local adaptation. This study highlights the importance of combining analytical approaches to improve GSI studies for conservation practices
From DV to DMs: Chinese Independent Documentaries in the Age of Social Media
Get PDFSince around 2015, the social media landscape in China has experienced a rapid and extensive process of commercialization. This transformation has not only expanded career and business opportunities for an already established young, cosmopolitan user base, but it has also introduced a variety of lower-class creators, such as rural peasants and migrant workers. Drawing inspiration from their daily experiences, these emerging grassroots voices are now enthusiastically sharing the quotidian moments of their lives online through photos and videos. How have Chinese independent documentaries, a genre that has historically seen filmmakers capturing the stories of marginalized subjects, responded to these developments? This thesis argues that this interaction has given birth to a new documentary paradigm, which is identified here as the social media documentary. More than just films that critically address and interrogate the impact of social media in their narratives, this thesis shows that social media documentaries also creatively incorporate social media (or social media-inspired) footage into their production. The distinct nature of this footage effectively sets social media documentaries apart from early DV participatory projects, marking a new phase in what many describe as China’s New Documentary Movement
Post Memes or Post-Meme: TikTok and the Rise of Algorithmic Meme Cultures
Get PDFIn less than five years, TikTok has gone from an obscure online niche for lip-syncing teens to the definitive global platform for short-form video content. With over a billion users worldwide, TikTok prides itself in providing a wellspring of entertaining, inspiring, and imaginative content through an endless feed that feels curated just for you. This thesis examines TikTok’s meme culture and considers the app as a site for the platformization of cultural production. Drawing on meme studies and platform studies, and using methods influenced by ethnography and political economy, I analyze its creative affordances, its monetization pathways, and conditions of discoverability. What I find is that TikTok is giving rise to an algorithmic meme culture which incites participation in trending memes by rewarding creators with increased visibility. I also consider the unique challenges that arise for creators labouring within an algorithmic platform economy, and the strategies available to them for success. I conclude by considering the implications for the continued relevance of the meme on a platform which seemingly erodes its conceptual boundaries by incorporating its logics within the platform architecture
Framework and Model Development for Aircraft Systems Integration in Conceptual-level Multidisciplinary Design Analysis
Get PDFThe aviation industry has set ambitious goals to reduce its environmental impact significantly. To achieve these targets, innovative aircraft concepts such as hybrid-electric aircraft must be studied hand in hand with newer systems technologies to analyze the feasibility and improve efficiency. Typically, the impact of aircraft systems is quantified through empirical methods, that do not extend to novel systems technologies. Physics-based methods must be considered to evaluate the impact of these novel technologies. A focus on smaller commuter and regional aircraft is required as these are the categories that will first benefit from hybridization and electrification at current technology levels. Furthermore, in aircraft conceptual design, aircraft systems sizing and analysis need to be integrated into a multidisciplinary analysis and optimization environment to study the aircraft-level trade-offs and performance impact of the systems. This thesis presents a Multidisciplinary Analysis (MDA) framework that integrates systems sizing with other aircraft-level disciplines and can analyze the effects of novel systems architecture at the aircraft level. The framework uses physics-based system sizing methods and can analyze multiple architecture options such as more electric, all-electric, and unconventional systems architectures. System sizing studies of conventional aircraft that are performed using the presented framework are within an error range of 9-13%, which is acceptable for conceptual design. The framework also provides a robust platform for the integration of typically stand-alone analyses such as safety and thermal analysis. The presented MDA framework can also be used to study hybrid-electric aircraft configurations and integrate relevant disciplines such as fuel-system and energy storage assessment. A case study on a hybridized retrofit of a Dornier -228 aircraft is used to demonstrate the capabilities of this framework. Overall, the MDA framework presented in this thesis demonstrates that it is capable of doing an “integrated study” of novel aircraft and systems architecture and facilitates the integration of further disciplinary analysis, thereby improving the effectiveness of conceptual design studies and potentially improving confidence in novel aircraft and system concepts
"Their Flame Flares for but a Little While": Dencio Cabanela, Pancho Villa, and the Production of Prizefighting's First 'National Commodity,' ca. 1918-1930
Get PDFThis study considers the articulation and exchanges of discourses of race and tropicality, and narratives of American colonial rule, about the bodies of Filipino prizefighters during the 1910s-1930s in a trans-imperial sphere. It tracks these through the Anglophone sporting press, examining their confluence with prizefighting’s ‘indigenous values’ and the new knowledge they produced about Filipino bodies within and for prizefighting’s ‘imagined community.’ Chapter one examines the brief Australian sojourn and tragic demise of Dencio Cabanela, the first Filipino prizefighter to achieve extranational prominence. It considers the personal links, networks, and discourses through which his body was conceived as preternaturally resilient and predictably undisciplined, situating the cause of his demise deep within his body, rather than the trade in which it was engaged. It also contemplates the unwitting role Cabanela played in uniting several components – youth, preternatural imperviousness, and aggressiveness – of a nascent Filipino pugilistic identity. Chapter two centres on the contractual relationship between world’s flyweight champion Pancho Villa and his manager, Frank Churchill, to consider the business of prizefighting, and power and agency therein. It examines how this business shaped expressions of American colonial rule and Philippine nationhood through Villa’s singular exploits, the impact of these exploits on the production of Filipino fighters, and the role of the routine, material practices of Churchill’s Olympic Athletic Club in uniting and consolidating the key elements highlighted in chapter one into a new, commodified identity for Filipino prizefighters, the ‘Filipino-as-prizefighter,’ a virtual Philippine ‘raw material’ who could not but fight
A Lanthanide-Doped Nanoparticle System for Dual Photodynamic Therapy of Lung Cancer
Get PDFLanthanide-doped nanoparticles (NPs) have been used to improve photodynamic therapy (PDT) through modulation of the excitation wavelength using near-infrared (NIR) light or X-rays to achieve upconversion or radioluminescence, respectively. We developed a NP that can undergo both mechanisms to excite a powerful photosensitizer, Rose Bengal (RB), when simultaneously irradiated with NIR and X-rays. A range of ion concentrations were investigated leading to the development of the optimal composition: NaLuF4: 20% Gd3+, 1% Dy3+, 1% Yb3+, 0.001% Er3+. The mechanisms of ion interactions were investigated along with their luminescence properties under both modes of excitation. RB was loaded into a mesoporous silica shell coating the NPs, and studies were completed in vitro to determine the outcome of the treatment on A549 cells. Viability assays, clonogenic assays, and microscopy were used to investigate this system under various conditions and irradiation combinations. Herein, we demonstrate that the NPs without RB act as radiosensitizers when excited with X-rays, enhancing the treatment via a dose enhancement effect. When RB-loaded NPs are excited with NIR and X-rays simultaneously, the dual Photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment showed the greatest treatment outcome when compared to upconversion PDT and X-ray mediated PDT (X-PDT) individually. This work is a proof of concept that suggests that a dual PDT nanoparticle system could improve the outlook for lung cancer patients in the future
Reckoning with a Haunting: Creating Indigenous Future Imaginaries through Relationality and Engagement within Human-Technology Relationships
Get PDFThis thesis examines the research-creation network Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace or, AbTeC, co-founded and co-directed by artist Skawennati (Kanien’kehá:ka or Mohawk) and digital media theorist, poet, and software designer Jason Edward Lewis (Cherokee, Kānaka Maoli, Samoan). AbTeC creates images, narratives, and metaphors of Indigenous peoples in cyberspace to fill the Indigenous future imaginary. This thesis examines the project Calico & Camouflage (2021) – a digital and physical fashion collection created by Skawennati and co-produced by AbTeC. AbTeC’s projects demonstrate the importance of Indigenous engagement and production of digital technologies to ensure their future livelihoods. AbTeC seeks to confront settler-colonial representations of Indigenous peoples that persist within the settler future imaginary. Drawing from personal interviews with Lewis and Skawennati, this thesis is grounded in a desire-based research framework as defined by scholars Eve Tuck (Unangax̂) and K. Wayne Yang. Indigenous and non-Indigenous theories of hauntology are utilized throughout this thesis in conjunction with Indigenous conceptions of relationality. Relationality as framed by theorists Jason Lewis, Noelani Arista (Kanaka Maoli), Archer Pechawis (Cree), and Suzanne Kite (Ogala Lakota) presents the possibility of treating digital technologies as non-human kin. This approach to relationality is further applied to the process of engagement within human-technology relationships as framed by white-settler cultural theorist Anne Cranny-Francis. Each theory is used to analyze Calico & Camouflage and how the project’s various physical and digital formulations enact modes of Indigenous resistance, sovereignty, and cultural revitalization