I look to the common and mundane as sources for inspiration and imagination. In an attempt to evolve a veneer away from representing a coveted material, I have taken phenomenological events from my own personal experience and have searched for commonalities with them to create a new idea for veneering. My exploratory use of Google as a grammar-less machine deciphers the very nature of naming and its ambiguous attachment to an image. I am interested in the multiplicity of personal associations that become attached to images, and the subjectivity thus involved in the naming of an image.

This thesis analyses 21st century filmic, televisual and comic “Snow White” adaptations. The research is interdisciplinary, bringing together scholarship on gender, childhood, ageing, adaptation, media and fairy tales. The first half of the thesis contextualises the broader historical and sociocultural conversation “Snow White” tellings are immersed in by nature of their shared culture and history. It also identifies the tale’s core and traces the tale’s formation as a tale type from the seventeenth to the twenty–first century. The second half of this thesis moves to an analysis of two films (Mirror Mirror, 2012; Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012), a television series (Once Upon a Time, 2011–present) and a comic book series (Fables, 2002–2015). It considers the kinds of stories about female growth and ageing different media adaptations of “Snow White” enable, and contemplates how issues of time and temporality and growth and ageing play out in these four versions. In analysing the relationship between form and content, this thesis illustrates how a study of different media adaptations of “Snow White” can enrich fairy–tale scholarship and the fairy–tale canon. It also details the imaginative space different media adaptations of “Snow White” provide when engaging with dominant discourses around female growth and ageing in the West. Using “Snow White” as a case study, this thesis centrally facilitates a dialogue between ageing, childhood, fairy–tale and adaptation studies.

The aim of the study: The aim of this work is to find out the possibilities to influence the clinical state of the patients suffering with incomplete spinal cord lesion syndrome with the help of a therapeutic video played through a virtual reality helmet. Methods: The research was conducted with 22 probands (15 males and 7 females) aged between 27 and 76 years (the average age of 55±14 years) from the client of Rehabilitation Centre Kladruby. The probands were divided into two homogenised groups with the same number of members. The control group received a standard rehabilitation programme set by the Rehabilitation Centre. The research group followed the same plan but in addition to this, they were given helmets, and a video with virtual reality was played daily on the total of 30 occasions. The clinical state before conducting the research and after was evaluated using the standard test ASIA impairment scale where the observed transformation was the total of motoric points for the lower limbs. Initial and final examination was conducted by professional and highly trained staff at Kladruby, always doctors. The variance between the initial and the final examination results and the length of stay at the centre were used to set the relative transformation of the clinical state in comparison with the...

Title: Brain activity assessment using sLORETA during modulated and physical activity. Objectives: The aim of this thesis was to compare changes in the electrical activity of cortical and deep brain structures using sLORETA program between the resting state, active movement and passive observation of identical motion performed by the author of this thesis and the same one shown in the video. Methods: In this research participated 12 university students (8 women, 4 men). Age of subjects was between 23 and 25 years. The whole experiment consisted of five parts: 1. electroencephalography in supinated lying position with opened eyes, 2. watching a video, where the selected movement was performed by a woman, 3. watching a video, where this movement was performed by a man, 4. watching the author performing the same movement, 5. performing this movement by subjects themselves. Each of this parts lasted two minutes. The tested movement was 1. diagonal (flexion and extension pattern) of PNF method for right upper extremity. During the whole experiment was registered electric activity of the brain using a scalp EEG. Obtained EEG signal was afterwards exported to sLORETA program, which enabled us to see the collected data in 3D Talairach system and also to make a statistical assessment using a Student's...

<div>For decades nuclear fusion space propulsion has been studied but due to technological set backs for self-sustaining fusion, it has been repeatedly abandoned in favor of more near-term or present day solutions. While these present day solutions of chemical and electric propulsion have been able to accomplish their missions, as the human race looks to explore Mars, a near term solution utilizing nuclear fusion propulsion must be sought as the fusion powered thruster case currently does not meet the minimum 0.2 thrust-to-weight ratio requirement. The current work seeks to investigate the use of a ssion powered magnetic fusion thruster for a manned Mars mission with an emphasis on creating a very near-term propulsion system. This will be accomplished by utilizing present day readily available technology and adapting methods of nuclear electric and nuclear fusion propulsion to build this ssion assisted propulsion system. Near term solutions have been demonstrated utilizing both DT and D-He3 fuels for a ssion powered and ssion assisted Dense Plasma Focus fusion device capable of achieving thrust-to-weight ratios greater than 0.2 for V's of 20 km/s. The Dense Plasma Focus can achieve thrust-to-weight ratios of 0.34 and 0.4 for ssion assisted and ssion powered cases, respectively, however, the Gasdynamic Mirror device proved to be an infeasible design as a ssion powered thruster due to the increased weight of a ssion reactor.</div>

Dans cette thèse, nous nous proposons d’analyser les composants apolliniens et dionysiaques qui dialoguent, s’affrontent ou complotent mutuellement dans la conception des techniques audiovisuelles. Pour ce faire nous suivons un parcours qui va du mythe de Narcisse jusqu’au cinématographe, en passant par la fixation de l’image issue de la chambre noire et la mise en mouvement des images avec le chronophotographe.Nous nous appuyons sur le distinguo de Friedrich Nietzsche développé dans La naissance de la tragédie entre ces deux impulsions (l'apollinien et le dionysiaque) dans la mesure où celles-ci ordonnent toute construction culturelle. Nous identifions ainsi dans l’archéologie des médias le combat entre les belles formes qui veulent être fixes, et le chaos ivre qui se perd dans le devenir actif.Dans ce contexte, nous aurons recours à des couples fondateurs indispensables pour aborder les techniques audiovisuelles depuis cet angle d’analyse : lumière/ombre, réalité/imagination, culture/nature, raison/corps et, bien entendu, art/technique.Bien que le combat entre l'apollinien et le dionysiaque donne lieu, selon Nietzsche, à un accouplement dans la tragédie grecque, nous verrons que tout au long de ce que nous appelons le « trajet de l’outil » – qui va du miroir au cinématographe –, les deux impulsions se rapprochent ou s’éloignent par intermittences.C’est à partir de cela que nous formulons l’hypothèse selon laquelle avec la naissance du cinématographe (en tant que technique) et du cinéma (en tant qu’art), Apollon et Dionysos vont à nouveau s’unir dans un accouplement qui engendre l’art et la technique de la civilisation des médias audiovisuels. / This dissertation aims to analyse the Apollonian and the Dionysian components that interact, compete or plot mutually in the design of audio-visual techniques. To achieve this, we follow a path from the myth of Narcissus to the cinematograph, to the process of fixing the image in the dark room such as the moving images of the chronophotograph.We rely on the distinction of Friedrich Nietzsche developed in The Birth of Tragedy between these two pulses (the Apollonian and the Dionysian) to the extent that they enjoin any cultural construction. We identify in the archeology of the media the battle between the beautiful forms that want to be fixed, and the drunken chaos that is lost in becoming active.In this context, we will use the essential founding couples to study audiovisual techniques from this angle of analysis: light / shadow, reality / fantasy, Culture / nature, reason / body and, of course, art / technique.Although the struggle between the Apollonian and the Dionysian elements results, according to Nietzsche, in a coupling in Greek tragedy, we see that throughout what we call the "Tool path" - which embraces all the instruments form the mirror to the cinematography - the two pulses towards or away intermittently.From this analysis, we assume that with the birth of cinema (as a technique) and film (as art), Apollo and Dionysus will unite again in a coupling that begets the art and technique of the audiovisual media civilization.

A presente dissertação tem por objetivo o estudo de imagens de espelhos na produção de Clarice Lispector. Imagem recorrente, o espelho aparece na ficção clariciana em diversos textos, participando amplamente de sua produção de crônicas, romances e contos. O tema proposto desdobra-se em elementos como a problemática da constituição do sujeito, o duplo, a percepção e o limiar, os quais mostram ser pontos centrais na obra em exame. Em nossa pesquisa, relacionamos as imagens especulares a eixos já consagrados pela crítica para o estudo de Clarice Lispector, como questões relativas a identidade e alteridade, ao mesmo tempo em que averiguamos a especificidade da recorrência desta imagem na obra da autora. Cada texto foi analisado de modo independente, para depois ser articulado ao conjunto, procurando, assim, atentar para o que havia de singular em cada aparição do espelho. Nosso corpus é constituído pelos romances Perto do coração selvagem (1945), Uma aprendizagem ou o livro dos prazeres (1969) e Água viva (1973). Também foram analisados contos de diferentes coletâneas, bem como crônicas da autora que apresentavam relevância para nosso estudo; deste conjunto, destacamos textos como A imitação da rosa (1960), Os Obedientes (1964) e A procura de uma dignidade (1974). Devido à particularidade do tema escolhido como fio condutor para a pesquisa, o aparato crítico e teórico foi selecionado de acordo com as necessidades internas de interpretação de texto, evitando, assim, a aplicação de fórmulas ou leituras determinantes, a fim de preservar a polissemia da imagem de espelho e a originalidade de sua configuração na obra de Clarice Lispector. / This dissertation aims at studying mirror images in Clarice Lispector\'s production. A recurrent image, the mirror appears in Lispector\'s fiction in several texts, being found in her chronicles, novels and short stories. The theme of the mirror unfolds in elements such as subjectivity, the double, perception and threshold, which show to be central aspects in this author\'s work. In our research, the mirror images have been related to other established critical axes for the study of Clarice Lispector, which include topics like identity and alterity. At the same time, we have looked into the specificity of the recurrence of this image in Lispector\'s literature. Each text was analyzed independently, and only then connected to the group of texts, in order to preserve what was unique about each mirror appearance. Our corpus consists of the novels Near to the wild heart (Perto do coração selvagem, 1945), An apprenticeship or the book of pleasures (Uma aprendizagem ou o livro dos prazeres, 1969) and Living water (Água viva, 1973). We have also analyzed short stories from different books, as well as chronicles which presented relevance to our study. We refer particularly to texts like The imitation of the rose (A imitação da rosa, 1960), Os Obedientes (1964) and A procura de uma dignidade (1974). Due to the particularity of the theme chosen as a motif for the research, the critical and theoretical apparatus used as support were chosen according to the internal interpretational needs of the texts, therefore avoiding the immediate use of reading formulas, in view of preserving the polissemy of the mirror image and the originality of its display in Lispector\'s work.

A Síndrome de Kallmann (SK), associação entre hipogonadismo hipogonadotrófico e distúrbio olfatório (hiposmia ou anosmia), é causada por uma deficiência da migração neuronal que envolve as células produtoras do hormônio liberador de gonadotrofinas e os neurônios olfatórios, com origem embriológica comum. O primeiro gene descrito, KAL1, codifica uma proteína chamada anosmina, que possui homologia com moléculas de adesão axonal envolvidas na migração neuronal. Dentre as anormalidades fenotípicas descritas na SK, destacam-se a malformação das estruturas do rinencéfalo (bulbos e sulcos olfatórios) e a presença, em parte dos pacientes, de uma alteração neurológica específica, os movimentos em espelho (ME). No presente trabalho estudamos 21 pacientes com SK, comparando com um grupo controle (n=16), utilizando técnicas qualitativas e quantitativas de imagem por Ressonância Magnética (RM), com os objetivos de (I) correlacionar as diferentes alterações radiológicas do encéfalo com os achados clínicos, laboratoriais e a presença de mutações gênicas; (II) caracterizar qualitativa e quantitativamente as alterações do rinencéfalo; e (III) investigar possíveis alterações associadas aos ME, dando atenção às duas principais hipóteses para sua causa, desenvolvimento anormal do trato corticoespinhal e deficiência do mecanismo inibitório contra-lateral via corpo caloso. Para estudo do rinencéfalo utilizamos especialmente imagens coronais ponderadas em T2 com cortes finos, avaliando subjetivamente e posteriormente medindo o volume dos bulbos olfatórios, comprimento e profundidade dos sulcos. Para estudo dos ME utilizamos a técnica de morfometria baseada em voxel (VBM), procurando alterações volumétricas da substancia branca (SB) e cinzenta (SC), seguida da avaliação de alterações da SB com as técnicas de relaxometria (RL) e cálculo da taxa de transferência de magnetização (TTM). Dezoito (85%) pacientes apresentaram graus variáveis de acometimento das estruturas olfatórias. Demonstramos que a aplasia dos bulbos e/ou sulcos olfatórios foi o achado mais comum na SK, e a presença de aplasia de bulbo olfatório teve excelente concordância com a presença de anosmia no teste olfativo. O VBM otimizado mostrou áreas alteradas da SC envolvendo o córtex motor de maneira diferente nos pacientes com e sem ME, compatíveis com uma resposta cortical hipertrófica à uma decussação deficiente do trato corticoespinhal nos pacientes com SK e ME. Ainda, as alterações da SC nos pacientes sem ME podem representar mecanismos mais complexos determinando a presença ou não do sinal. Apesar do nosso estudo de VBM não mostrar alteração significativa de volume da SB, as avaliações com RL e TTM mostraram áreas de alteração de sinal, demonstrando a presença de desmielinização e/ou desorganização axonal na SB dos pacientes com SK, envolvendo diferentemente o sistema motor dos pacientes com e sem ME, sendo compatível com os estudos prévios que sugerem a associação entre uma anomalia do trato corticoespinhal e uma deficiência no mecanismo inibitório inter-hemisférico como responsáveis pela persistência patológica dos ME. A análise da TTM demonstrou ainda alteração em topografia da decussação das pirâmides bulbares que pode representar o desarranjo primário desta região, com as alterações das fibras a montante, superiormente (evidenciadas na RL e TTM), e do córtex motor (evidenciadas no VBM), possivelmente sendo secundárias e acometendo diferentemente os pacientes com e sem ME. / Kallmann syndrome (KS) is defined by the association of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with olfaction disturbance (hyposmia or anosmia). It is caused by a neuronal migration arrest that involves both the gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) and the olfactory neurons, which have a common embryonic origin. The first gene described, KAL1, encodes a protein named anosmin, which shows a strong homology to axonal adhesion molecules involved in neuronal migration and axonal pathfinding. Various phenotypic abnormalities have been described in KS, including olfactory bulbs and sulci aplasia or hypoplasia and specific neurologic disorders, such as mirror movements (MM). In this study we evaluated 21 patients with KS, comparing with a control group (n=16), using qualitative and quantitative techniques with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), with the following purposes: (I) correlate the brains radiologic alterations with the clinical, laboratorial and genetic findings; (II) characterize the rhinencephalon alterations; and (III) investigate MM etiology, addressing the two main hypotheses concerning its cause, abnormal development of the primary motor system, involving the ipsilateral corticospinal tract, and lack of contralateral motor cortex inhibitory mechanisms, mainly through the corpus callosum. For rhinencephalon evaluation, we specially used thin-section coronal T2-weighed images, which were reviewed and then objectively evaluated with the measurements of the olfactory bulbs and sulci. To study MM we used the voxel-based morphometry (VBM), to determine white (WM) and gray matter (GM) volume changes, and T2 relaxometry (T2R) and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR), searching for signal intensity changes in the WM. Eighteen (85%) patients presented different degrees of olfactory structures abnormalities, with the bulbs and/or sulci aplasia being the most common finding, and presence olfactory bulb aplasia showed excellent agreement with anosmia as determined by the smell identification clinical test. The optimized VBM study did not show significant white matter changes in patients with KS but showed gray matter alterations in keeping with a hypertrophic response to a deficient pyramidal decussation in patients with MM. In addition, gray matter alterations were observed in patients without MM, which can represent more complex mechanisms determining the presence or absence of this symptom. Even if the VBM did not show significant volume changes in WM, the evaluation with the T2R and MTR showed WM signal intensity alterations, differently involving patients with and without MM, in keeping with demyelinization and/or axonal disorder, in accordance with the involvement of a corticospinal tract anomaly and a deficient inhibitory interhemispheric mechanism in the etiology of MM. The MTR analysis also showed a different alteration in the pyramidal decussation, which can represent a primary disorder in this region, with all other alterations in the superior WM fibers and motor cortex possibly being secondary to this disarrangement, and involving patients with and without MM in a different manner.

A presente dissertação tem por objetivo o estudo de imagens de espelhos na produção de Clarice Lispector. Imagem recorrente, o espelho aparece na ficção clariciana em diversos textos, participando amplamente de sua produção de crônicas, romances e contos. O tema proposto desdobra-se em elementos como a problemática da constituição do sujeito, o duplo, a percepção e o limiar, os quais mostram ser pontos centrais na obra em exame. Em nossa pesquisa, relacionamos as imagens especulares a eixos já consagrados pela crítica para o estudo de Clarice Lispector, como questões relativas a identidade e alteridade, ao mesmo tempo em que averiguamos a especificidade da recorrência desta imagem na obra da autora. Cada texto foi analisado de modo independente, para depois ser articulado ao conjunto, procurando, assim, atentar para o que havia de singular em cada aparição do espelho. Nosso corpus é constituído pelos romances Perto do coração selvagem (1945), Uma aprendizagem ou o livro dos prazeres (1969) e Água viva (1973). Também foram analisados contos de diferentes coletâneas, bem como crônicas da autora que apresentavam relevância para nosso estudo; deste conjunto, destacamos textos como A imitação da rosa (1960), Os Obedientes (1964) e A procura de uma dignidade (1974). Devido à particularidade do tema escolhido como fio condutor para a pesquisa, o aparato crítico e teórico foi selecionado de acordo com as necessidades internas de interpretação de texto, evitando, assim, a aplicação de fórmulas ou leituras determinantes, a fim de preservar a polissemia da imagem de espelho e a originalidade de sua configuração na obra de Clarice Lispector. / This dissertation aims at studying mirror images in Clarice Lispector\'s production. A recurrent image, the mirror appears in Lispector\'s fiction in several texts, being found in her chronicles, novels and short stories. The theme of the mirror unfolds in elements such as subjectivity, the double, perception and threshold, which show to be central aspects in this author\'s work. In our research, the mirror images have been related to other established critical axes for the study of Clarice Lispector, which include topics like identity and alterity. At the same time, we have looked into the specificity of the recurrence of this image in Lispector\'s literature. Each text was analyzed independently, and only then connected to the group of texts, in order to preserve what was unique about each mirror appearance. Our corpus consists of the novels Near to the wild heart (Perto do coração selvagem, 1945), An apprenticeship or the book of pleasures (Uma aprendizagem ou o livro dos prazeres, 1969) and Living water (Água viva, 1973). We have also analyzed short stories from different books, as well as chronicles which presented relevance to our study. We refer particularly to texts like The imitation of the rose (A imitação da rosa, 1960), Os Obedientes (1964) and A procura de uma dignidade (1974). Due to the particularity of the theme chosen as a motif for the research, the critical and theoretical apparatus used as support were chosen according to the internal interpretational needs of the texts, therefore avoiding the immediate use of reading formulas, in view of preserving the polissemy of the mirror image and the originality of its display in Lispector\'s work.

A obra escrita de Tarkovski e o filme O Espelho são analisados à luz da teoria psicanalítica da interpretação dos sonhos articulando conceitos vindos de outros campos do conhecimento, quais sejam inconsciente ótico e choque em Walter Benjamin. O filme se passa em lugares do passado de Tarkovski, evocados a partir de lembranças encobridoras, sonhos e devaneios, em que o cineasta é espectador e ator. Há a referência, no título e ao longo das cenas, ao espelho, também usado por Lacan, como modelo de dispositivo ótico, ao teorizar sobre a formação da função do “Eu”. Através desta análise, pretendeu-se aproximar a linguagem do filme à linguagem do sonho, encontrando conteúdos oníricos latentes. São analisadas as filiações e influências, o roteiro, e aquilo que fala nas lembranças de infância, nos sonhos e devaneios associados às tradições culturais russas, ao poeta Puchkin e a Dostoievski. Identificam-se aspectos do pensamento utópico e articulações psicanalíticas na cena do devaneio do personagem Ignat. Também são comentadas articulações à estética do choque em Walter Benjamin, nas cenas de déjà vu de Ignat e no fenômeno análogo que acometeu Maria na cena da tipografia. O conceito de Outra cena, do campo freudiano, é contextualizado na discussão do filme e também cotejado com elementos da teoria platônica apontados por Lacan em seus seminários. Finalmente, a cena de levitação de Maria é comparada com a cena da pintura de Füssli The Nightmare e interpretada como sendo de um sonho de angústia. / Tarkovski's written work and the film The Mirror are analyzed in the light of psychoanalytic theory of interpretation of dreams being articulated with concepts from other fields of knowledge, such as optic unconscious and shock at Walter Benjamin’s writings. The film takes place somewhere in Tarkovski’s past, evoked from screen memories, dreams and daydreams, in which the filmmaker is a spectator and an actor at a time. There is a reference, in the title and throughout the scenes, to the mirror, which is also used by Lacan, as the model of an optical device, in theorizing about the formation of the function of the "self". Through this analysis, it was intended to approximate the language of the film to the language of the dream and find latent dreams contents. The affiliations and influences, the script, and what he talks about in the memories of childhood, the dreams and daydreams associated with Russian cultural traditions, the poet Puchkin and Dostoyevsky are analyzed. We identify aspects of utopian thinking and psychoanalytic articulations in the scene of Ignat's daydream. Similarly, articulations among the aesthetics of the shock in Walter Benjamin, in the déjà vu scenes of Ignat and in the analogous phenomenon that rushed Maria in the typography scene are also commented in this work. The concept of Other scene, from the freudian field, is contextualized in the discussion of the film and also compared with elements of the platonic theory pointed out by Lacan in his seminars. Finally, the levitation scene of Mary is compared to the painting scene of Füssli The Nightmare and interpreted as being of a dream of anguish.