'Immediate Passage: The Narrative of Joel H. Brown' is an original work of fiction. The protagonist and narrator, Joel Brown, is preparing to set sail for a singlehanded circumnavigation. As he readies his boat and counts down the days until his departure, he reflects on his previous experience at sea, what he expects to see out there, and why he is even going in the first place. The story ends with his departure. It is set in the present day. The novel is supported by an analysis of the choices of form and style in first person sea voyage narratives, showing general trends and authorial choices in the areas of veracity, structure, point of view, voice, tense, direct speech, and the use of maritime language. A glossary of maritime words is provided as an appendix.

Higher carbon chain sugars have gained increased interest recently; they are important building blocks of natural and unnatural products with biological properties. The synthesis of these higher sugar skeletons is commonly known to be achieved with the Wittig methodology which exploits phosphorus ylide chemistry. This method has been successfully used for the synthesis of the higher carbon sugars. The aim of this project was to synthesise ß,ß'-dioxo sugar-derived phosphorus ylides, a new class of ylides, as versatile intermediates to valuable higher carbon sugar derivatives and carbohydrate mimics. Model reactions were initially conducted; tetrahydro-2-furoic acid and tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-carboxylic acid, compounds which are structurally similar to the precursor sugars, were identified as suitable model compounds. These compounds were converted to acyl chlorides and then converted to ß,ß'-dioxo phosphorus ylides precursors by acylation. The methodology proved successful and 8 examples were isolated. However, low yields were obtained due to the inevitable formation of triphenylphosphine oxide. The method was then extended to sugar derivatives, prepared using standard protecting group chemistry. It was found that acylation could be achieved using the simple acyl chloride route or peptide coupling methodology for sugar derivatives which were acid sensitive. ß,ß'-dioxo sugar-derived phosphorus ylides (16 examples) were successfully isolated in low yields. The oxidation and thermal reactivity of the ß,ß'-dioxo ylides were studied. Oxidation resulted in the successful synthesis of vicinal tricarbonyls, isolated as a mixture with the gem-diols (hydrates). The thermal decomposition of the ylides gave alkynes in moderate yields.

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

Children’s confidence in their own knowledge and their understanding of other’s intentions may influence their willingness to learn novel information from others. Two studies investigated whether 24-month-old children take into account these different sources of information when learning novel labels. In Study 1, children interacted with a speaker who referred to familiar objects in either a knowledgeable (e.g., the speaker confidently stated, “I know what that is”) or an ignorant manner (e.g., the speaker doubtfully stated, “I don’t know what that is.”). The previously knowledgeable or ignorant speaker then provided a novel label for either a novel or a familiar object. Children were less willing to apply a novel label to a familiar object from a speaker who previously had expressed ignorance than one who previously had expressed confidence in his/her knowledge of object labels. In contrast, when objects were novel, children were equally willing to learn a novel label regardless of the level of knowledge portrayed by the speaker. In Study 2, children interacted with a speaker who provided either accurate or inaccurate labels for familiar objects in a manner that expressed uncertainty about the information being offered (e.g., “I think that’s a …”). Children’s willingness to accept second labels for familiar objects was examined. Children were equally likely to learn the novel label for a familiar object from the accurate and the inaccurate speaker. In contrast to past findings which present differences in willingness to learn from accurate and inaccurate speakers, children in this study may have taken into account the speaker’s lack of confidence when deciding whether to accept or reject the novel information being provided. Young children are not naïve observers accepting novel label information from any source. They attend to cues about the speaker’s level of knowledge by 24 months. They also are capable of comparing their knowledge with the information being presented by an adult speaker and deciding whether to rely on their own knowledge or accept the information being provided. Both reliability cues from the speaker and children’s prior knowledge influence their willingness to learn novel information. / text

Darbe pateikiama įvairiais aspektais išnagrinėta L. S. Černiauskaitės romano Kvėpavimas į marmurą kalbinė raiška. Analizuojamas antraštės ir kūrinio bei atskirų jo dalių santykis, aptariama romano leksika, semantinės stiliaus figūros, sinonimiškai vartojamos kalbos priemonės. Dėmesys skiriamas ir romano sakinių įvairovei: aiškinamasi, kokiomis laiko formomis konstruojamas pasakojimas, kokios struktūros sakiniai dominuoja, kaip jie siejami, aptartos ir sintaksinės figūros. Romano tekstas yra ne tik prasmiškai ir formaliai siejamas, bet ir skaidomas – aptariama kompozicinė ir stilistinė teksto segmentacija. / Linguistic expression of the novel Kvėpavimas į marmurą (Breatning into Marble) by Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė analyzed from various aspects which presented in the thesis. The relation of the title and separate part of the novel are analyzed, the vocabulary, semantic stylistic devices, linguistic means used synonymously are discussed. The attention is paid also to variety of the novel sentences: the tenses constructing the narration are analyzed, the dominating sentence structures, their relation, syntactical figures are discussed. The text of the novel is related not only meaningfully and formally, but is also separated – compositional and stylistic segmentation of the text is discussed.

This thesis addresses nanostructure fabrication techniques based on electron beam lithography, which is the most widely employed nanofabrication techniques for R&D and for the prototyping or production of photo-mask or imprint mold. The focus is on the study of novel resist and development process, as well as pattern transfer procedure after lithography. Specifically, this thesis investigates the following topics that are related to either electron beam resists, their development, or pattern transfer process after electron beam lithography: (1) The dry thermal development (contrary to conventional solvent development) of negative electron beam resists polystyrene (PS) to achieve reasonably high contrast and resolution. (2) The solvent development for polycarbonate electron beam resist, which is more desirable than the usual hot aqueous solution of NaOH developer, to achieve a low contrast that is ideal for grayscale lithography. (3) The fabrication of metal nanostructure by electron beam lithography and dry liftoff (contrary to the conventional liftoff using a strong solvent or aqueous solution), to achieved down to ~50 nm resolution. (4) The study a novel electron beam resist poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (sodium PSS) that is water soluble and water developable, to fabricate the feature size down to ~ 40 nm. And finally, (5) The fabrication of gold nanostructure on a thin membrane, which will be used as an object for novel x-ray imaging, where we developed the fabrication process for silicon nitride membrane, electroplating of gold, and pattern transfer after electron beam lithography using single layer resist and tri-layer resist stack.

In a domain with diverse multi-disciplinary views of what a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is, tracking progress and developing efficient WSNs is inherently a complex process. The main motivation of this work is advancing state-of-the-art WSNs by adaptively utilizing their components, and enlisting the utility of resources in network vicinity. As WSNs increase in density and expand in scale, we continue to witness an increase in overlapped deployments that serve independent applications. In most scenarios, new networks are deployed for new applications without considering previous or neighboring WSNs. This thesis presents the resource reuse (RR-WSN) paradigm. Adopting a generic framework for resource utilization, we achieve synergy between heterogeneous sensing systems. We abstract the view of a WSN in terms of functional capabilities, and offer a component-based view to boost sensor node (SN) potential and contribution to WSN operation. Thus SNs provide resources. On the other hand, we formally derive a set of functional requirements per application. The design and deployment of WSNs thus converges to an optimal assignment of functional requirements to resources. Two mainstream designs of WSNs are addressed in this thesis. The first involves WSNs with static deployments of nodes, whereby multiple applications run on networks in a given vicinity, yet the resources and applications share an owner (e.g., on a University Campus). We then present a Binary Integer Programming formulation to find the optimal assignment of resources to these functional requirements, while minimizing the energy impact of running each functional request. We further extend our scope to include WSNs that depend on transient nodes, such as smartphones, in a dynamic (DRR-WSN) paradigm, which could contribute significantly to the resource pool. Intuitively, multiple-owners are involved as resource providers and require different applications. Thus, we address the valuation of resources as they are shared across network owners. We finally present a maximal matching problem of finding the lowest cost for running each application, based on the available resource pool in the vicinity required. Extensive performance evaluation depicts the impact of RR-WSN design on WSN operation and longevity in various scenarios. / Thesis (Ph.D, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-27 04:44:14.556

This thesis deals with the problems of genre and narrative techniques in two novels by the Swedish author Hjalmar Bergman, 1883-1931. Although regarded as one of the foremost novelists in Swedish literature, with novels such as Markurells i Wadköping, 1919, and Farmor och vår Herre, 1921, Bergman's narrative techniques have not previously been systematically analyzed. Instead critics have focussed either on the biographical and philosophical aspects of his work, or on the meaning of his specific use of symbols and metaphorical language. Hjalmar Bergman wrote more than twenty novels, a large number of plays, short stories, fairy tales and screenplays. His most innovative period was in the 1910s, which is also the period focussed on here. The study begins with the reception of the seven novels written from 1912 to 1918. These novels were considerably different from what the critics at the time were wont to expect. Consequently they had trouble understanding not only the purpose of the narrative techniques in the novels, but also in determining their specific genre and subject matter. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that by analyzing Hjalmar Bergman's narrative techniques, we can learn more about the genre of the novel, about its status in the Swedish literary institution of the 1910s, and about Hjalmar Bergman's contribution to its development in Sweden. For this purpose the methods of the Russian theorist of the novel, Mikhail Bakhtin, have proved to be useful. In the succeeding chapters two novels, Loewenhistorier, 1913 (Loewen Stories) and En döds memoarer, 1918 (The Memoirs of a Dead Man), are analyzed for a deeper understanding of Hjalmar Bergman's specific use of novelistic subgenres such as the adventure story, the picaresque, the Bildungsroman, the confession, the memoir etc. Hjalmar Bergmanhas been considered a 'pre-modernist' in Swedish prose fiction. If this is the case, it is not primarily because hetried to invent new ways of writing novels, but rather that he made use of seemingly well-defined genres, combining them in new and often surprising ways. He thereby investigates not only a subject matter or a protagonist, but also the relevance, with regard to the stories hesets out to tell, of the genre-bound plots and perspectives. The result is novels that are simultaneously highly structured and 'law-abiding', in accordance with their genre patterns, and characterized by a certain open-ended 'brokenness'. Nothing ever turns out as the reader might expect, judging from the genres used in the novels. / digitalisering@umu

In order to develop successful collaborative music systems a variety of subtle interactions need to be identified and integrated. Gesture capture, motion tracking, real-time synthesis, environmental parameters and ubiquitous technologies can each be effectively used for developing innovative approaches to instrument design, sound installations, interactive music and generative systems. Current solutions tend to prioritise one or more of these approaches, refining a particular interface technology, software design or compositional approach developed for a specific composition, performer or installation environment. Within this diverse field a group of novel controllers, described as ‘Tangible Interfaces’ have been developed. These are intended for use by novices and in many cases follow a simple model of interaction controlling synthesis parameters through simple user actions. Other approaches offer sophisticated compositional frameworks, but many of these are idiosyncratic and highly personalised. As such they are difficult to engage with and ineffective for groups of novices. The objective of this research is to develop effective design strategies for implementing collaborative sound environments using key terms and vocabulary drawn from the available literature. This is articulated by combining an empathic design process with controlled sound perception and interaction experiments. The identified design strategies have been applied to the development of a new collaborative digital instrument. A range of technical and compositional approaches was considered to define this process, which can be described as Adaptive Social Composition. Dan Livingstone

Recently, narrating the experience of the underage soldier in the Second World War has become a major part of the discourses about the Second World War. Particularly, an empathetic approach to the experience of the underage soldier during the war is a new means of understanding the war. This thesis examines this development in two novels comparing and contrasting the German and the African collective memories of the war: Ralf Rothmann’s "Im Frühling Sterben" (2015) and Biyi Bandele’s "Burma Boy" (2006). Whereas, the thesis can show differences in how the child soldier topic contributes to each cultural memory of the war, e.g. it allows for the entry of the West African story of the war into public discourse, the child soldier topic links both discourses by emphasizing universal human tendencies in war, which can be seen in concepts such as sympathy and empathy, guilt and responsibility, as well as multidirectional memory. / February 2017