This is an ethnographic audience reception study of True Blood. LGBTQ fans of True Blood were interviewed in order to understand their opinions about True Blood, what makes it queer, and whether the representations are positive or negative. Overall, the subjects found the sexual fluidity of the vampires in True Blood to be queer because they felt it transcended human sexuality. As for the representations of gay and lesbian characters, they were found to be both negative and positive, but the inclusion of such characters is what is most important. I argue that the sexual fluidity of the vampires on True Blood is not queer, and True Blood is not queer, for queer does not transcend the binary system upon which sexuality is predicated.

Equating is a statistical process that is used to adjust scores on test forms so that scores on the forms can be used interchangeably. This dissertation offered intensive investigation of beta true and observed score methods by comparing them to existing traditional and IRT equating methods under multiple designs and various conditions using real data, pseudo-test data and simulated data. Weighted and conditional bias, standard error of equating and root mean squared error were used to evaluate the accuracy of equating results obtained from the pseudo data and simulated data analyses. The single group equipercentile equating based on large sample sizes was used as the criterion equating. Overall, results showed that of the methods examined, the IRT methods performed best, followed by the chained equipercentile methods. Results from beta methods presented different trends from traditional and IRT methods for both the random group and common item nonequivalent groups designs. Beta true scores methods were less sensitive to group difference compared to traditional methods. The length of common items played an important role in the stability of results of beta true score methods.

True Crime ist gegenwärtig eines der beliebtesten Podcast Genres unter weiblichen Hörerinnen. Dies erscheint zunächst paradox in Anbetracht dessen, dass gewalthaltige Medieninhalte überwiegend vom männlichen Publikum konsumiert werden. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich daher mit der Frage, warum insbesondere Frauen von True Crime Podcasts, die sich grausamen und gewalthaltigen Themen, wie Kindesmissbrauch, Vergewaltigung und Femiziden widmen, angezogen fühlen. Dieses Rezeptionsphänomen wird mit dem Konzept des eudaimonischen Unterhaltungserlebens analysiert, welches impliziert, dass die Zuwendung zu bestimmten Medieninhalten nicht nur aufgrund eskapistischer Motive erfolgt, sondern auch mit dem Erleben von Sinnhaftigkeit und Bedeutsamkeit einhergeht. Neben der Analyse von Motiven, werden auch die Auswirkungen auf den lebensweltlichen Alltag, sowie die Gesamtheit an Medien zur Nutzung von True Crime analysiert. Es wurden problemzentrierte Interviews inklusive Struktur-Lege-Techniken mit 22 True Crime Hörerinnen durchgeführt und ausgewertet, die ein umfassendes Konstrukt an Nutzungsmotiven sowohl für den Bereich der Podcasts als auch medienübergreifend ergaben. Die Ergebnisse der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse konnten weiterhin aufzeigen, dass die Zuwendung zu diesen Formaten neben unterhaltenden Motiven, insbesondere auch durch die Vermittlung wissenschaftlicher Fakten sowie eines umfangreichem Hintergrundwissens zu Täterinnen und Opfern erfolgte. Im Hinblick auf den Realitätsbezug der Fälle ergab sich zudem, dass die True Crime Podcasts tiefgreifend auf die Lebenswelt der Rezipientinnen einwirken und dass die Gesamtheit an Medien zur Konsumierung von True Crime aus verschiedenen Repertoires besteht.:1 EINLEITUNG 1.1 Zielsetzung und Relevanz 1.2 Aufbau der Arbeit 2 THEORETISCHE GRUNDLAGEN 2.1 Unterhaltungserleben 2.1.1 Hedonisches Unterhaltungserleben 2.1.2 Eudaimonisches Unterhaltungserleben 2.2 Lebenswelt 2.3 Medienrepertoires 3 FORSCHUNGSSTAND 3.1 Faszination True Crime 3.2 Motive für die Nutzung von True Crime Podcasts 3.3 Geschlechterspezifische Zuwendung zu True Crime 3.4 Medienübergreifendes Nutzungsverhalten 4 FORSCHUNGSDESIGN UND METHODISCHE DURCHFÜHRUNG 4.1 Methodisches Einordnung 4.2 Datenerhebung 4.2.1 Das problemzentrierte Interview 4.2.2 Interviewleitfaden und Pretest 4.3 Fallauswahl 4.4 Durchführung 4.5 Heidelberger Struktur-Lege-Technik (H-SLT) 4.6 Transkription 4.7 Auswertung der Interviews und Kategoriensystem 5 DARSTELLUNG UND INTERPRETATION DER ERGEBNISSE 5.1 Quantitative Daten 5.2 Qualitative Daten 5.2.1 Allgemeine Nutzungsgewohnheiten 5.2.2 Nutzungsmotive 5.2.2.1 Produzentinnen 5.2.2.2 Unterhaltungsmotive 5.2.2.3 Lernmotive 5.2.2.4 Lebensweltlicher Kontext 5.3 Medienrepertoires 5.4 Struktur-Lege-Modelle 6 DISKUSSION 7 FAZIT UND AUSBLICK

When a Black person sees a display on stage of a fellow Black person getting killed by a White person, why do they not intervene to stop that killing from happening? One would answer, ‘Because it is just a performance. That Black person is not literally getting killed. It is all an act'. Fair enough. Then why does that spectating Black person get a heavy heart when he sees that killing being portrayed on stage? Is it because it is an experience he is familiar to? He has seen his fellow Blacks getting killed in front of his eyes. What does he do about what he sees on stage? What does the play do to his psyche? Richard Schechner, using Goffman's words, argues that the events on stage must be experienced as, what he deems, ‘actual realization': meaning that “the reality of performance is in the performing” (Bennet, 1997:11). Because the violence taking place on stage is only a performance, the spectator does not intervene as he might in an actual violence he would see taking place outside the theatre hall. However, that does not, as Schechner puts it, make the violence ‘less real' but ‘different real' (Bennet, 1997:11). The imaginary world of theatre is not an entirely ‘unreal' world, it is a world based on real occurrences. These real occurrences are taken to the imaginary world with hopes that when they are returned to the real world they will impact it in different ways, in ways set to transform it.

Mazurkiewicz traces were introduced by A. Mazurkiewicz in 1977 as a language representation of partial orders to model "true concurrency". The theory of Mazurkiewicz traces has been utilised to tackle not only various aspects of concurrency theory but also problems from other areas, including combinatorics, graph theory, algebra, and logic. However, neither Mazurkiewicz traces nor partial orders can model the "not later than" relationship. In 1995, comtraces (combined traces) were introduced by Janicki and Koutny as a formal language counterpart to finite stratified order structures. They show that each comtrace uniquely determines a finite stratified order structure, yet their work contains very little theory of comtraces. This thesis aims at enriching the tools and techniques for studying the theory of comtraces. Our first contribution is to introduce the notions of absorbing monoids, generalised comtrace monoids, partially commutative absorbing monoids, and absorbing monoids with compound generators, all of which are the generalisations of Mazurkiewicz trace and comtrace monoids. We also define and study the canonical representations of these monoids. Our second contribution is to define the notions of non-serialisable steps and utilise them to study the construction which Janicki and Koutny use to build stratified order structures from comtraces. Moreover, we show that any finite stratified order structure can be represented by a comtrace. Our third contribution is to study the relationship between generalised comtraces and generalised stratified order structures. We prove that each generalised comtrace uniquely determines a finite generalised stratified order structure. / Thesis / Master of Computer Science (MCS)

Random number generator is a key component for strengthening and securing the confidentiality of electronic communications. Random number generators can be divided as either pseudo random number generators or true random number generators. A pseudo random number generator produces a stream of numbers that appears to be random but actually follow predefined sequence. A true random number generator produces a stream of unpredictable numbers that have no defined pattern. There has been growing interest to design true random number generator in past few years. Several Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) based approaches have been used to generate random data that requires analog circuit. RNGs having analog circuits demand for more power and area. These factors weaken hardware analog circuit-based RNG systems relative to hardware completely digital-based RNGs systems. This thesis is focused on the design of completely digital true random number generator ASIC.

M.A. (Communication & Media Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

My thesis is an attempt to approach Anna¡¦s predicament in Doris Lessing¡¦s The Golden Notebook from the angle of identity crisis. Charles Taylor maintains that in configuring the picture of self-identity, we actually answer the questions of existence. Identity crisis thus expresses the feeling of disorientation and uncertainty about the meaning of life. In The Golden Notebook, Anna is strained under her identity crisis which culminates in the mental collapse. In order to recover from the breakdown, Anna must re-answer the questions of her existence. In the introductory chapter, I give a brief sketch on the concept of the self, focusing on its transition from the Romanticism to the postmodernism. In the postmodern world, the romantic vocabulary of wholeness and personal significance gives way to the postmodern expressions of fragmentation and meaninglessness. Against these two poles, I try to analyze Lessing¡¦s attitudes. This chapter aims to offer the background against which the heroine¡¦s struggle and solution can be better realized. In Chapter One, I survey the concept of self as narrative and elucidate the three dimensions¡Xtemporal, moral, and social¡Xof the self. The main point is that the self is produced in the narrative, and in daily routines the textual identity is confirmed and reinforced. Thus the daily performance serves as the most solid prop to uphold the picture of self-identity. In Chapter Two, I trace the sources of Anna¡¦ identity crisis in light of the collapse of the practical involvements and highlight her syndrome of identity crisis with the aids of the theoretical discussion of the three dimensions. Chapter Tree deals with Anna¡¦s search for the true self, the presence of which presumably can solve her identity problem. The quest for the true self takes the route of her sessions with the therapist Mrs. Marks and the scribbling in the four notebooks. Both fail to produce the true self-narrative. If the self is created in the narrative as the concept of self as narrative suggests, the failure to produce the true self-narrative announces the absence of the true self. In Chapter Four, I examine Saul Green¡¦s features and Anna¡¦s intercourse with him to bring out the hazards of her situation and her reconciliation with the inaccessibility of the true self. By invoking the figure of the boulder-pusher, Anna substitutes the responsible self for the true self. She finally breaks out of the shackle of despair and recovers from her mental breakdown. In conclusion, I emphasize that Lessing is a strongly committed writer. Therefore, Anna¡¦s salvation can be considered as Lessing¡¦s suggestion for those who suffer out of a similar cause how to maintain themselves in the postmodern fragmentary world.

Abstract There are 43 species of deep-sea eels of 8 families, which including 1 species of Chlopsidae, 2 species of Muraenidae, 3 species of Ophichthide, 14 species of Congridae, 2 species of Muraenesocidae, 2 species of Nemichthyidae, 2 species of Nettastomidae, and 15 species of Synaphobranchidae, which its depth from 150 to 1200 meters and distribution from NE coast to the coast of Taitong and SW coast in Taiwan waters. Meanwhile, there are 3 new species (i.e., Dysomma longirostrum, Ophichthus aphotistos, Synaphobranchus sinensis) and 11 new records (i.e., Chilorhinchus platyrhynchus, Ophisurus macrorhynchus, Rhechias retrotincta, Macroceohenchelys brachialis, M. soela, Japonoconger sivicolus, nettastoma solitarium, Meadia abyssale, Dysommina rugosa, Ilyophis brunneus, Synaphobranchus kaupi) are described. The study in this part also recognize vertebral formulae is useful of elucidating the difference among the species. Morphology of swimbladder, stomatch, gonads of the deep-sea eels and the melanin layer of diaphragm are able to be as a distinctive character to find out the relationship among the species and the families. Most eels¡¦ reproductive season concentrate on September to November, whatever, the synaphobranchids have two reproductive seasons, which are on May and September to October. And it should become important to make further research on the above phenomenon. True eels (anguilliforms) form a monophyletic taxon from 16 apomorphic characters, e.g., Well-developed olfactory bulbs, lateral-protruded telencephalon, large-sized tectum, a distinct gap between telencephalon and tectum, reduced neural arch, hamel arch, and uroneural, triangled urostyle, epural absent, convergent hypural, fused hypural 1-2 and hypural 3-4-5, gap between hypural 1-2 and parhypural, and a gap between hypural 1-2 and hypural 3-4-5. The present study also find (1) Muraenoidei and angulloidei are a sister ¡Vgroup by sharing a slit between telencephalon and tectum, smaller olfactory bulb and lobe, and slit on area posttrema; (2)Congroidei is a monophyletic group by sharing an oval tectum, large cerebellum, and ungrooved area postrema, fusion of hypural 3, 4, and 5; (3) Congroidea and Synaphobranchoidea share a fusion of parhypural with hypural 1 and a concave present between uroneural and hypural, which should be treated as a sister group; (4) most eels of Congridae share a FS-caudal-fin and should be treated as a clade; (5) Most eels of Ophichthidae share a reduced and degraded caudal-fin, which should be monoplyletic; (6) Synaphobranchinae¡BSimenchelyinae and Ilyophinae, uniquely sharing well¡Vdeveloped olfactory bulb, small telencephalon, lateral protrusion of telencephalon well developed, and cerebellum folded posteriorly, a CLC- caudal-fin and elevated hypural 3-4-5, and fusion of hypural 4 and 5, are belong to a monophyletic group; (7) a gap between parhypural and hypural 1 indicate Simenchelyinae and Ilyophinae should be treated as a sister group; (8) Eurypharynx, Cyema, and Monognathus sharing a reduced caudal fin and brain, which need further research to elucidate their relationship; (9) Dark-red saccus vasculosus appears to recommend a close relationship between Gavialiceps taeniola and duckbill eels. (10) A disc-like hypophysis suggests the eels, Albula, Pterothrissus, Notacanthus, Megalops, and Elops are closely related groups; (11) Albula, Pterothrissus, Megalops, and Elops share a distinct morphological type of tectum and cerebellum and they should be treated as closely related groups; (12) The brains¡¦ gross morphology of Albula, Pterothrissus, Megalops, and Elops are well developed, a correlation distinctly similar to that of the Clupea which need further study on the relationship among the taxa mentioned above and the Clupeiformes.

This thesis is concerned with the True Digital Control (TDC) design philosophy and its practical embodiment in the non-minimal state space (NMSS) approach to control design, for systems described by discrete time transfer function models in the backward shift operator. This yields Proportional-Integral-Plus (PIP) controllers that are particularly easy to implement in practice, since the state variables are defined only in terms of the sampled input and output signals. The basic PIP algorithm is extended and enhanced in various ways to form a more sophisticated Generalised PIP controller. This includes an investigation into the importance of structure in PIP control design, the development of a command input anticipation technique and the introduction of two stochastic formulations of the problem, namely Kalman Filtering and risk sensitive optimal control. Finally, the thesis discusses the relationship between PIP and predictive control, in particular Generalised Predictive Control (GPC) and the Smith Predictor. The power of the approach is illustrated by the design of PIP controllers for a number of difficult applications also described in the thesis, including the control of a large horticultural greenhouse at Silsoe Research Institute; the control of carbon dioxide in crop growth experiments; the control of a Statistical Traffic Model simulation of interurban traffic networks; and, finally, the control of the multivariable Shell heavy oil fractionator simulation.