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The Metaverse-In Common
No full textThe Metaverse-In common, a collaborative project jointly undertaken by MA MDX and Politecnico di Milano- students and tutors. Within this project, we've created a novel platform that fosters collaboration among students, allowing them to collectively develop projects and engage in a symposium that delves into the intricate connections and vast possibilities offered by the Metaverse in the context of interior design
Classification of EEG signals on SEED dataset using improved CNN
Get PDFThe proposed research introduces an Improved Convolutional Neural Network (ICNN) to construct EEG-based emotion detection models. This study has utilized an EEG dataset of 15 subjects available from a BCMI laboratory. In our work, differential entropy characteristics obtained from multichannel EEG data are used to train the Improved CNN. The best classification accuracy is 95.67% which is significantly higher than that of the original 62 channels. The most important channels and frequency bands are identified by Improved CNN. The outcomes of our study also demonstrate the existence of neuronal signatures linked to various emotions, which are consistent between sessions and people. Finally, the effectiveness of deep and shallow models are compared and also the performance of improved CNN is compared with benchmark algorithms
Constructed geographies in contemporary art
Get PDFConstructed Geographies in Contemporary Art, my PhD by Public Works, focuses on the Eurasian region and Soviet history. I have developed a body of work as an artist,
filmmaker, and author from 2011 to 2022 and presented them publicly in form of exhibitions, screenings, lectures, and publications. My art works have examined the physical manifestations of the altered landscapes by using field observations, research, exhibitions, filmmaking, and publications, producing an outcome that combines both real and fictional experiences into a singular, synthesized one. The trilogy of works, titled Terra Corpus, explores post-Soviet geography within the context of twentieth-century mythologies and histories.
The first project, At the Back of the North Wind, investigates Hyperborea, a mythical land that serves as a source of inspiration for utopian civilizations. The second project, Walking the Sea, examines the Aral Sea region, which has shrunk due to Soviet irrigation projects in the 1960s. The third project, Blue Flame: Constructions and Initiatives, critiques the Soviet Constructivist project’s utopian aspirations through the lens of post-war and Soviet experience.
As an artist and researcher, I have focused on the geography, archives, and cultural histories of Eurasia, particularly within the contexts of post-minimalist and post-conceptual art practice. I put myself at the center of the narrative, production, and documentation processes. This allowed me to investigate the experiential
aspects of the research in which I was both a subject and an object of study. My work explores collage and montage as primary methods to synthesize research and studio methods as a strategy in knowledge construction, self-study, and interdisciplinary approaches. By combining factual and fictional elements through temporal layering, I created new narratives that expanded the understanding of these locations and histories
Life in his name: water, the Spirit and the covenant people of God in the Gospel of John
No full textThis study examines the pneumatological use of the water symbol in the Gospel of John in light of the OT covenant. It offers an overview of the Sinaitic covenant, the use and meaning of water, and the presentation of the Spirit and his anticipated work in the new covenant in the OT, followed by an examination of the water-Spirit texts of John’s Gospel. It argues that:
(i) John’s water symbol alludes to the promises in the OT prophetic literature of the Spirit and his work in the new covenant, in which the Spirit’s life-giving work is understood specifically as the bringing about and sustaining of new covenant life for God’s chosen people, i.e., the people’s entering into and permanent continuation of new covenant relationship with Yahweh.
(ii) It is therefore not only the descriptions of the Spirit in John’s Paraclete texts in chs. 14-16 that reflect the OT covenant, as scholars have demonstrated, but John’s pneumatological water texts. These texts symbolically convey the more explicit descriptions of the Spirit’s new covenant work in chs. 14-16, rooting them in the OT Scriptures through the water symbol. Covenant is therefore a vital factor that brings unity and cohesion to the gospel’s pneumatology.
(iii) Since through the water symbol John roots these OT promises of the Spirit in Jesus, the symbol contributes to the gospel’s broader presentation of the true covenant people of God being anyone with faith in Jesus rather than ethnic Israel. As was the case in the OT, faith and obedience are the essential criteria for being counted among God’s covenant people but in the messianic age this is expressed through acceptance of the one sent by God, Jesus
A holistic intelligent environment quality traceability approach for user-centric context-aware systems
No full textContext-awareness is increasingly an essential component of modern software systems. For example, in Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) and the Internet of Things (IoT), context-awareness can be applied to deliver life-critical systems that empower users by reducing their dependence on others. Appreciating this role and the impact of context-aware systems (CaSs), especially in healthcare and AAL, is crucial to ensuring that such systems are delivered to meet acceptable system qualities and be usable by their intended users. However, the literature reviewed shows that such systems lack sufficient software engineering processes and disciplines to guide the developers throughout the context-aware system development cycle to deliver a context-aware system that meets a specified set of system requirements and acceptable quality attributes. Further investigations showed fragments of efforts made in silos. However, these efforts provide inadequate structure, inadequate linkage among the development phases and inadequate tools to guide the developer throughout the context-aware system development process. Therefore, this research proposes a holistic intelligent environment quality traceability approach (IEQTA) tailored for user-centric context-aware systems to support the development team throughout the context-aware system development cycle and enhance the delivery of context-aware system quality to encourage user acceptance. The IEQTA is stakeholder-centric and has tools and procedures that provide a holistic
step-by-step context-aware development approach. The approach includes requirement and context specification, system design, testing and validation processes. It complements the User Centred Intelligent Environment Development Process (U-CIEDP), focusing on development steps and their interaction. The U-CIEDP has three distinct phases namely: (1) the initial phase; (2) the main development phase; and (3) the installation phase. During the initial phase, the IEQTA supports the development team by guiding them towards contextualising requirements. In the main development phase, the IEQTA testing support tool allows developers to explore specific test cases of interest or allow the system to automatically generate test cases whilst addressing the issue of combinatorial explosion. Finally, in the installation phase, the IEQTA provides a validation process that can identify and track the quality of system responses and supports the identification of incomplete requirements and contexts.
A case study for an AAL system called Depression Monitoring and Management System (DMMS) was developed to achieve proof of concept. The design, implementation and evaluation of the DMMS for meaningful requirements and contexts were achieved through collaboration with professionals from the Middlesex University London Psychology Department. To validate the approach's effectiveness from a software engineering point of view, context-aware system industry experts and university students evaluated the DMMS
National Strength and Conditioning Association position statement on weightlifting for sports performance
Get PDFThe origins of weightlifting and feats of strength span back to ancient Egypt, China, and Greece, with the introduction of weightlifting into the Olympic Games in 1896. However, it was not until the 1950s that training based on weightlifting was adopted by strength coaches working with team sports and athletics, with weightlifting research in peer-reviewed journals becoming prominent since the 1970s. Over the past few decades, researchers have focused on the use of weightlifting-based training to enhance performance in nonweightlifters because of the biomechanical similarities (e.g., rapid forceful extension of the hips, knees, and ankles) associated with the second pull phase of the clean and snatch, the drive/thrust phase of the jerk and athletic tasks such as jumping and sprinting. The highest force, rate of force development, and power outputs have been reported during such movements, highlighting the potential for such tasks to enhance these key physical qualities in athletes. In addition, the ability to manipulate barbell load across the extensive range of weightlifting exercises and their derivatives permits the strength and conditioning coach the opportunity to emphasize the development of strength-speed and speed-strength, as required for the individual athlete. As such, the results of numerous longitudinal studies and subsequent meta-analyses demonstrate the inclusion of weightlifting exercises into strength and conditioning programs results in greater improvements in force-production characteristics and performance in athletic tasks than general resistance training or plyometric training alone. However, it is essential that such exercises are appropriately programmed adopting a sequential approach across training blocks (including exercise variation, loads, and volumes) to ensure the desired adaptations, whereas strength and conditioning coaches emphasize appropriate technique and skill development of athletes performing such exercises
Conflict and crisis in American Methodism: slavery and homosexuality, 1784-2022
Get PDFThe following thesis, Conflict and Crisis in American Methodism: Slavery and Homosexuality, 1784-2022 , asks the central question: Can the reasons why the Methodist Episcopal Church experienced schism in 1844 over slavery illuminate the reasons why the United Methodist Church will experience schism in 2022 over homosexuality? Then, the thesis uses the long view methodological framework to investigate its central question. This thesis, as a work of church history, analyses a past event, the Methodist Episcopal Church’s schism in 1844, to investigate a current event, the United Methodist Church’s schism in 2022. Thus, this thesis utilises its research to search for patterns of commonality and points of intersectionality between two distinct events and time periods within American Methodism and American socio-political culture.
First, the thesis describes and exegetes the events leading to the Methodist Episcopal Church’s 1844 schism. Then, the thesis analyses the socio-political context and cultural trends of antebellum America, thereby drawing conclusions about the ways in which antebellum American culture affected American Methodism’s theology and polity regarding slavery.
Also, this thesis describes and exegetes the events leading to the United Methodist Church’s 2022 schism. Then, it analyses the socio-political context and cultural trends of late twentieth century and early twenty-first century America, thereby drawing conclusions about the ways in which late twentieth and early twenty-first century culture affected American Methodism’s theology and polity regarding homosexuality. Therefore, from the above analysis, this thesis will demonstrate that both slavery and homosexuality are presenting issues for much larger cultural conflicts within the intersection of American Methodism and American society
Saving face: an arts-based hermeneutic phenomenological study of women’s personal agency explored through the lens of adverse childhood experiences
Get PDFThrough the lens of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), this qualitative study explores the development of women’s personal agency and the phenomenon of ‘saving face’. Ten experienced female psychotherapists, all in practice and with recognised ACEs, were recruited with interviews being conducted via the online platform Zoom or in person. Semi-structured questions invited dialogue both before and after the creation of images using basic art materials. Within the creative research design, a pluralistic philosophical approach, which included Critical Realism, supported the development of the bespoke methodology combining arts-based research, hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry and Template Analysis.
Generated data (text and images) were manually coded to surface phenomenologically descriptive elements while allowing for interpretation to evolve through application of the hermeneutic circle. A deeper hermeneutic phenomenological exploration, using Memory Theatre, developed into four vignettes which serendipitously aligned with the four top-level themes. The findings not only demonstrated that adverse experiences in childhood significantly impacted development of the participants’ personal agency, but that, in spite of years of counselling training and personal therapy, none of the participants had previously made connections between the two. In addition, all participants felt that their intra- and inter- personal relationships had been affected. The participants also recognised that ‘saving face’ was a strategy employed, consciously or unconsciously, to safeguard against potentially painful and shameful exposure.
The findings indicated that by using expressive art as part of the exploration process, new depths of understanding, insight, and meaning making were achieved for the participants and the researcher. As a result of the research, a new theory and model for practice is being developed by the researcher and will be published as a tool for practitioners’ clinical practice. Insight gained from this research will be used in post-doctoral projects including promoting the awareness of trauma informed parenting and relationships along with arts-based workshops designed to develop personal agency, increase authenticity and reduce the need to ‘save face’
The development of the right to education in international law
No full textThe thesis seeks to examine the historical development of the conception of the right to education from the sixteenth century until the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the child (1989). It approaches the subject by combining classical doctrinal research methods with historical research methods and relies on both primary and secondary sources of data to examine research questions.
Although the right to education is one of the most fundamental and recognized rights at the international level, it is unusual that there are little to no secondary sources that comprehensively and consistently examine the drafting history of the right to education in order to better trace its conception and define the nature, scope and content of the right. The thesis aims to cover this gap. Therefore, it studies the evolution of the right to education before the creation of the United Nations, then examines the travaux préparatoires of the normative United Nations and UNESCO instruments.
The thesis argues that the origins of the right to education protection stem from the international treaties concluded in the Ottoman Empire and Europe to protect minorities. It also discloses that the evolution of the right to education reveals key thematic components of the right to education that construct the content of the right. These thematic components include the prohibition of discrimination in education, the aims of education, the levels of education, the right of parents to choose the kind and content of their children’s education, and the right to establish private educational institutions. The drafting history shows that minority protection, religious freedom, resistance against Nazi and Fascist regimes colonialism vs. anti-colonialism, and limited economic resources have affected the content and the scope of these thematic components over time.
The broader historical comprehension of the right to education undertaken by the thesis not only provides a thorough understanding of the different components of the right to education but also presents a dynamic conception of the right while extracting key principles on its nature and scope. Those principles would be instrumental in protecting the right to education in a changing world like our world and in informing the interpretations of the right to education by relevant United Nations treaty bodies and the judiciary at domestic and international levels
Who Cares – the aesthetic and expressive capture of the body through thermal imaging
No full textWho Cares – the aesthetic and expressive capture of the body through thermal imaging
Choreographer Angela Woodhouse and collaborating artist Caroline Broadhead share research towards Who Cares, a new screen dance installation utilising thermal technology.
Since September 2022 we have been working in partnership with NHS staff to open conversations on recent and current experiences with specific focus on the role of touch as a signifier of care, contamination, intimacy and trust.
Through interviews with ICU staff at Whittington Hospital, London we invited reflections on experiences both during and since the pandemic. Focus was on alertness to touching and not touching; social and emotional contact and how nurses became the conduit for grief and loss. Prompted by their voices we undertook a series of experiments with dancers Martina Conti and Alice Labant to interpret questions of care through the expanded boundary of self, made visible through thermal representation.
Initial discussions with NHS staff have revealed the need amongst frontline staff for a moment of pause to capture personal thoughts on the notion of one body in relation to another, of how touch, so critical in care, has become so guarded through the pandemic. These dialogues served as grounding for research with the dancers in which we imagine the relay and forensics of touch, revealing our bodies as overlapping, drawing attention and giving space to these tensions. The visual capture of heat in breath, in the exchange of clothes or in the residue of touch offers the opportunity to explore the environment of the tactile, normally unseen. Experiments revealed the body as extended through time, of detail (heat) emerging and fading, of quiet attention on the evolving biology of individuals that in turn carries an emotional resonance. The extraordinary capture and manipulation of the moving body to establish the poetic potential of thermal imaging technology, forges new artistic investigations for us, and for the field.
We welcome the opportunity to share this interdisciplinary (dance/fine arts/health) research at the symposium through presentation and exhibits as a means to address topics of care, ethics, capture of the unseen, human biology and aesthetics.
Funded by Arts Council England and Middlesex University with additional support from NHS England.
Exhibition : Thermal Duets 5 x videos (framed iPods) run on a continuous loop