6,143 research outputs found
Scanning electrochemical microscopy - a new technique for the characterization and modification of surfaces
No full textO foco narrativo na ficção contemporânea : uma leitura de Author, Author, de David Lodge
No full textOrientador : Prof. Dr. Caetano Waldrigues GalindoAutor não autorizou a divulgação do arquivo digitalDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Letras e Artes, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras. Defesa: Curitiba, 26/06/2013Bibliografia: fls. 158-161Área de concentração: Estudos LiteráriosResumo: O propósito deste trabalho é refletir sobre a construção do foco narrativo em Author, Author (2004), de David Lodge, romance biográfico sobre o escritor Henry James (1843-1916). O narrador não se limita a situar o leitor na narrativa: o seu posicionamento em relação aos aspectos factuais da vida e do percurso literário do romancista norte-americano desempenha papel fundamental na discussão das estratégias narrativas da prosa de ficção de James. Na construção ficcional do malogro na noite de estreia de Guy Domville, em Londres, em 1895, por exemplo, é possível perceber a bipartição desse narrador, capaz de contar e mostrar dois episódios que se passam em dois lugares diferentes, simultaneamente. Em outros momentos do romance, a voz autoral embaralha-se com a voz do sujeito da enunciação a tal ponto, que o leitor menos atento encontra certa dificuldade para colocar ordem nos discursos. O abandono gradual da prosa de ficção em busca de uma identidade como dramaturgo, a falta de êxito na dramaturgia, a lenta recuperação psicológica, a retomada da prosa de ficção e o resultado insatisfatório da revisão e escrita de prefácios para as suas obras, para compor The novels and tales of Henry James:The New York Edition (1905), são alguns dos desdobramentos da trajetória de James, discutidos em Author, Author.Abstract: The purpose of this dissertation is to think over the construction process of narrative focus in Author, Author (2004), by David Lodge, a biographical novel about the writer Henry James (1843-1916). The narrator does not limit himself to guiding the reader through the narrative; rather, his attitude towards factual aspects of the life and literary course of the North-American novelist seems to play a fundamental role in the novel. In the fictional construction of the débâcle of "Guy Domville", in London, 1895 for instance it is possible to distinguish the narrator's bipartition, in order to tell and show two different episodes which happen in two different places, simultaneously. In other moments, the authorial voice blends with that of the subject of the enunciation to such a degree that the less attentive reader may not be capable of organizing the discourse, in a first moment. James' gradual movement away from prose fiction so as to find his playwright identity; the lack of success as a playwright; his subsequent slow psychological recovery; the return to prose fiction; and, finally, the weak result of writing and revising prefaces to his literary works in order to put together The Novels and Tales of Henry James: The New York Edition (1905), are some of the most conspicuous events in James' trajectory discussed in Author, Author
Cult: A Composite Novel
No full textCult (redacted)
The first component of the thesis is a composite novel called Cult which falls into two parts with seven narratives in each. Part 1 tracks the protagonist, Ellen, from her first involvement with the cult through to her eventually leaving it. Although fiction, the first half of the book answers the kinds of questions the author is asked when people discover that she was once a sannyasin (a follower of the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). While the experiences of meditation, group therapy and communal living are all faithfully rendered within the stories, the need for strong characters, narrative drive and a lightness of touch takes precedence.
Part 2 picks up Ellen’s story some twenty or so years later and explores what becomes of her in middle age. It also looks at other groups in society, such as academia, the law and the internet dating community which each have their own jargon, hierarchies, rituals and rules but are not considered to be cults.
The book examines the question raised in the Epigraph, ‘how do we be together when we feel so alone’ with a focus on relationships other than the familial and the romantic.
Collisions, Chasms and Connections: a Performative Exploration of the Composite Novel Form
The second part of the thesis is both a critical and creative response to three contemporary American books: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout; A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan; and Legend of a Suicide by David Vann. The critical element comprises a close reading of the three books; a chronological reconstruction of their overarching storylines; and a consideration of what their authors have said about writing the books. It concludes that, in the composite novel, the simultaneous presentation of multiple views and storylines operate much like a 3D image to give the impression of depth to the characters and situations rendered. The creative element of the essay is a playful and personal response to the texts
(Re)Making of Identity: A Socio-Cultural Analysis of David Mamet’s American Buffalo
No full textThis article delves into the assertion of identity in David Mamet’s famous play American Buffalo. Mamet has revealed a rich variety of possible variations of identity in his creative opus, not only in the field of drama and theatre but also in the film, through the portrayal of a variety of different characters and situations. The identity will be discussed in his play as a unique cultural text outside of which there is nothing. America, its myths and contemporary cultural industry, its class, racial, and gender conflicts, and the author establish a mutual set of influences that help characters formulate their identities. By using Stuart Hall’s idea of identity in flux, this qualitative research explores the effects of industrialization on psychology, the concept of success of the people, and their identity in general. The change from ‘Who am I’ to ‘What do I have’ is the concern of the American people in this post-modern era so it has been given special focus. To some extent, the identity of the characters, if it means material success in his plays, is linked with the American Dream. The research also aims at the means i.e. language, lies, maltreatment, double-crossing, and cheating, the Mametian characters adopt to formulate their identity. The analysis shows that if identity means material success, they never succeed in making their identity. They keep on making, remaking, and re-remaking their identity proving that identity in the world of Mamet is in flux
David Lodge and Authorial Control: (Self-)Positioning and Anxiety of Reception in the Field of Biographical Fiction
No full textThe status of authorship had been greatly diminished under the influence of poststructuralist theory about the author, which resulted in an authorial loss of control. However, authorship recently seems to have found its way back into the evaluation of literature. For instance, authorship has gained attention through foregrounding the author as a novelistic character. Fictionalised accounts of the life of an author have become increasingly popular in recent decades, like David Lodge’s Author, Author (2004) and A Man of Parts (2011). These two novels (re-)connect the author to his work, and thereby recentralise the author. In addition, they show that David Lodge is also struggling with authorial control. This thesis explores and discusses three themes in relation to David Lodge and authorial control, within these two novels and outside of them: the return of the author as a novelistic character, self-positioning of the author, and anxiety of reception
The future of scholarly communications
No full textThe academic publishing industry is set to celebrate 350 years of peer-reviewed scientific journals. However, there are significant shifts in the practice of scholarship, as scholars and citizens alike participate in an increasingly digital world. Is the scholarly article still fit for its purpose in this data-driven world, with new interdisciplinary methodologies and increasing automation? How might it be enhanced or replaced with new kinds of digital research objects , so as not to restrict innovation but rather create a flourishing sense-making network of humans and machines? The emerging paradigm of social machines provides a lens onto future developments in scholarship and scholarly collaboration, as we live and study in a hybrid physical-digital sociotechnical system of enormous and growing scale.Copyright 2014 David De Roure. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ which permits unrestricted use and distribution provided the original author and source are credited. If reusing please acknowledge "Insights: the UKSG journal" as the place of first publication. Please cite using the full DOI as specified at the end of the article: De Roure, D, The future of scholarly communications, Insights, 2014, 27(3), 233–238; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1629/2048-7754.17
David Machado: um passaporte para o sonho
No full textMestrado em Línguas, Literaturas e CulturasEsta dissertação tem como principal objetivo uma análise sistemática da obra infanto-juvenil de David Machado, inserida no contexto da literatura portuguesa contemporânea de potencial recetor infantil.
O presente estudo irá contemplar, assim, uma pequena biografia e uma breve contextualização do autor e da obra. Analisar-se-á um corpus composto pelas suas cinco obras escritas para a infância, explorando as diferentes categorias da narrativa, salientando os aspetos oníricos que as percorrem e far-se-á, num segundo momento, uma análise crítica das ilustrações que acompanham cada conto.
A partir da análise desse corpus serão retiradas as conclusões que permitirão identificar o sonho como o tema que percorre toda a obra do escritor, uma esécie de passaporte mágico para ultrpassar os limites da existência e as fronteiras da realidade.
Será ainda possível identificar as características e o estilo do autor que contrói argumentos narrativos que combinam, de forma hábil, o universo realista com o maravilhoso, explorando as vertentes da fantasia e da imaginação.This thesis aims at a systematic analysis of children's literature authored by David Machado, in the context of contemporary Portuguese literature for potential children readers.
This study will thus provide a short biography and a brief background of the author and his work. A corpus made up of his five works written for children will be analysed, exploring the different narrative categories, and emphasizing the dreaming aspects that run through them all. Subsequently, a critical analysis of the illustrations that accompany each tale will also be presented.
After the analysis of this corpus, conclusions will be drawn identifying dreming as the main theme that runs through the entire writer's work, as if it is a magical passport which allows one to go beyond all existence and reality boundaries.
The characteristics and style of the author who builds his narrative arguments so skilfully, combining the realistic with the wonderful universe, and exploring fantasy and imagination facets will also be identified
Chemical and biochemical sensors based on silicon nanowire field-effect transistor arrays
No full textField-effect transistors (FETs) made from semiconducting nanowires have great potential as electronic biochemical sensors if they can be integrated as an array in a CMOS-compatible architecture together with microfluidic channels and interfacing electronics. Such nanoscale electronic transducers based on ion-sensitive field-effect transistors could be mass fabricated at reasonable costs. This, in combination with their small size, makes them ideal for personalized medicine and for future implanted sensing devices.
The sensing principle is based on adsorption of charged species on the sensor surface, leading to a change in surface potential and subsequently a change in current in the FET channel. Thereby, the high-impedance input signal is transformed into a low-impedance output signal, which is an advantage against classic ion-selective electrodes. The potential for downscaling and integration for the simultaneous detection of multiple parameters make silicon nanowire FETs a promising platform to meet the demand for cheap, multifunctional and scalable sensors. Even though many promising results on chemical and biochemical sensing have been achieved so far, a detailed understanding of the electrolyte surface interaction is still missing. Inconsistent outcomes regarding the effect of electrolyte concentrations and electrical noise, suggest that further quantitative studies are needed. The aspect of the size compatibility between the sensor unit and the analyte species is often emphasized to favor nanoscale FETs. Another aspect, often mentioned, is the surface to volume ratio. Hence smaller sensing units should enhance the sensitivity of the sensor, allowing the detection at ultra-low concentrations or a small number of molecules. Furthermore, the capacitances decrease for smaller sensing units, which could lead to faster response times. However, other aspects such as the intrinsic electronic noise, the analyte diffusion time and surface reaction kinetics have to be considered for the development of an applicable sensor.
This thesis was part of a research project aimed at developing a modular, scalable and integrateable sensor platform for the electronic detection of analytes in solution. The main focus lies on the sensor-solution interface and thus the thesis quantitatively compares the experimental data with analytical models.
In this work we have established a versatile sensor platform based on silicon nanowire arrays. The sensor functionality was changed by surface modification for the detection of various analytes such as pH, alkaline ions and even FimH proteins. We achieved an ideal pH sensor with a response close to the Nernst limit. Full surface passivation for protons was accomplished for the implementation of a nanoscale reference electrode. Using the differential signal from differently functionalized silicon nanowires we could detect sodium and potassium ions selectively. Ultimately we present the detection of protein-ligand interactions of the physiologically relevant protein FimH. An extended site binding model was derived to calculate the theoretical limits and assess the properties of the surface groups by evaluating the experimental results
Biografía e historiografía en las novelas " Author, author!: a novel" y "A man of parts: a novel" de David Lodge
No full text[ES] El presente trabajo de investigación indaga en la evolución estilística del escritor británico David Lodge, señalando que aquellas novelas publicadas por el autor durante la primera década del siglo XXI difieren en ciertos aspectos de su producción literaria correspondiente al siglo XX. Para ello, en la primera parte de la investigación se analiza los fundamentos teóricos subyacentes al estilo literario en Author y a Man of Parts. En la segunda parte, los aspectos formales y temáticos referentes al estilo literario en Author y a Man of Parts. Dichas novelas se conforman como un tipo de creación que persigue verdades que acotan hechos concretos y cabales, la denominada truth in facts, a la vez que expresan la narrativa de vivencias o life-writing, escritura que manifiesta experiencias personales en forma de confesión o diario. Consecuentemente, en dichas obras literarias, David Lodge opta por reflejar la llamada ʽnovela de autor,ʼ decantándose por delinear ficcionalmente las biografías de los escritores consagrados decimonónicos Henry James y H. G. Wells
The effects of heteroatoms on energy gaps of conjugated polymers
No full textOrganic photovoltaic cells (OPV’s), renewable energy devices that can convert sunlight into electricity, have a bright future. Most OPV’s are made of conjugated polymers since they can absorb light and have semiconducting properties. However, the low power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OPV’s is a challenge in their development. The main structure of OPV’s includes three main parts: an electron donor, an electron acceptor, and electrodes. To improve the PCE of an OPV, many factors need to be considered, such as light absorption, the fundamental gap, the optical gap, and the OPV’s film thickness. The addition of heteroatoms to conjugated polymers is a way to change the electronic properties of the donors and may improve the PCE. This thesis describes the use of computational methods to determine how oxygen and sulfur atoms affect the electronic properties of a conjugated polymer. The data suggest that the fundamental gaps and binding energies decrease after replacing oxygen with sulfur. Additionally, the results also suggest that incorporating a sulfur atom into the conjugated polymer can increase the dipole moment change, which may lead to accelerated charge dissociation and may reduce charge recombination
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