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Have the uneven global flows of capital in the cultural industries changed because of access to distribution platforms like the Apple iOS App Store? Based on a financial analysis of a data set containing three years of game app revenues (2015–2017), this article asks two questions. First, were game developers and publishers able to generate revenue in their domestic markets in the App Store? Second, to what extent are game app developers from the Global South, historically at the periphery of the global game industry, able to capture value in global North instances of the App Store? This article advances discussions on the political economy of platform-dependent cultural production by situating this case within broader conversations on cultural imperialism, demonstrating that local app store instances are part of “one big store”; a U.S.-dominated and oriented space of distribution and consumption that effectively captures revenue in regional marketplaces.

This commentary discusses the political economy of apps. The authors found that Canadian-made game apps are notably absent in the Canadian App Store. This should be both worrying and surprising, as Canada has a relatively sizable game industry. While policy conversations on digital transformation focus on emerging technology, the authors point toward the power and politics of digital platforms as one of the key issues preventing growth in the Canadian digital economy.

Future health professionals need to acquire analytic and diagnostic skills for prognosis and management of disease. However, future professionals need to be provided with the necessary competences to interpret and process the increasing generation of data produced by the exponential advances in biomedical knowledge and techniques. A novel pedagogic reflective strategy was implemented in 2016/17 in the final year module, “Clinical Biochemistry”, shared between the BSc Biomedical Science (BMS) and BMedSci Medical Science (BMedSci) programmes at De Montfort University (UK).The strategy aimed to encourage students to use reflection to resolve three clinical biochemistry case studies of increasing difficulty distributed throughout the year, as reflection has been shown to be effective in facilitating continuous learning and gaining practical skills. Students voluntarily resolved each case study and were provided with comprehensive feedback and marks for different criteria, including ability to reflect and comment. Marks gained for each of the criteria were compared statistically between them and between two academic years (2016/17 and 17/18) of implementation of the strategy. A significant increase in the performance of students as a result of participation in this project was seen. Despite the short duration of this intervention, the reflective pedagogy implemented was shown to facilitate the acquisition and development of critical thinking and reflection, relevant skills for any future healthcare professional. Finally, participants improved their communication and scientific writing skills.

This commentary discusses the political economy of apps. The authors found that Canadian-made game apps are notably absent in the Canadian App Store. This should be both worrying and surprising, as Canada has a relatively sizable game industry. While policy conversations on digital transformation focus on emerging technology, the authors point toward the power and politics of digital platforms as one of the key issues preventing growth in the Canadian digital economy.

Future health professionals need to acquire analytic and diagnostic skills for prognosis and management of disease. However, future professionals need to be provided with the necessary competences to interpret and process the increasing generation of data produced by the exponential advances in biomedical knowledge and techniques. A novel pedagogic reflective strategy was implemented in 2016/17 in the final year module, “Clinical Biochemistry”, shared between the BSc Biomedical Science (BMS) and BMedSci Medical Science (BMedSci) programmes at De Montfort University (UK).The strategy aimed to encourage students to use reflection to resolve three clinical biochemistry case studies of increasing difficulty distributed throughout the year, as reflection has been shown to be effective in facilitating continuous learning and gaining practical skills. Students voluntarily resolved each case study and were provided with comprehensive feedback and marks for different criteria, including ability to reflect and comment. Marks gained for each of the criteria were compared statistically between them and between two academic years (2016/17 and 17/18) of implementation of the strategy. A significant increase in the performance of students as a result of participation in this project was seen. Despite the short duration of this intervention, the reflective pedagogy implemented was shown to facilitate the acquisition and development of critical thinking and reflection, relevant skills for any future healthcare professional. Finally, participants improved their communication and scientific writing skills.

Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis was to explore, define and characterise the phenomenon of Brand Fellowship within business-to-business (B2B) communication by using the rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos and pathos. Brand Fellowship was observed to be the emotional relationship between man and machine that influences how heavy-duty machine companies construct their brand. This contradicts the overriding notion that B2B branding is predominantly rationally constructed. Rhetorical appeals have the ability to detect emotional attributes within advertisements, thus this technique was deployed to explore Brand Fellowship. Methodology: Phenomenological research and the epistemological stance of interpretivism was deemed as the most appropriate approach for this research as it focused on the exploration of an unidentified phenomena in an abductive approach. Deriving from our initial observation, an in depth longitudinal case study was applied with the aim of analysing print advertisements across the history of a B2B company. The heavy-duty machinery producer, JCB was chosen due to their idiosyncratic marketing activities and the salience in the markets that they operate in. Firstly, we collected the print advertisements from JCB’s archives. Secondly, a semiotic analysis was used to cluster the print advertisements into time periods. Thirdly, a rhetorical analysis was applied to analyse the content in depth. Finally, to triangulate and confirm our findings from the analysis, we conducted four semi-structured interviews with JCB personnel. Theoretical Contributions: This thesis discovered a five-stage brand-building process for heavy-duty machinery organisations. Furthermore, the thesis applied the first known framework to amalgamate knowledge on rhetorical appeals and B2B brand-building. Most importantly, this thesis proved that B2B branding is not always predominantly rationally constructed and that Brand Fellowship exists. Managerial Implications: This thesis ex

Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis was to explore, define and characterise the phenomenon of Brand Fellowship within business-to-business (B2B) communication by using the rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos and pathos. Brand Fellowship was observed to be the emotional relationship between man and machine that influences how heavy-duty machine companies construct their brand. This contradicts the overriding notion that B2B branding is predominantly rationally constructed. Rhetorical appeals have the ability to detect emotional attributes within advertisements, thus this technique was deployed to explore Brand Fellowship. Methodology: Phenomenological research and the epistemological stance of interpretivism was deemed as the most appropriate approach for this research as it focused on the exploration of an unidentified phenomena in an abductive approach. Deriving from our initial observation, an in depth longitudinal case study was applied with the aim of analysing print advertisements across the history of a B2B company. The heavy-duty machinery producer, JCB was chosen due to their idiosyncratic marketing activities and the salience in the markets that they operate in. Firstly, we collected the print advertisements from JCB’s archives. Secondly, a semiotic analysis was used to cluster the print advertisements into time periods. Thirdly, a rhetorical analysis was applied to analyse the content in depth. Finally, to triangulate and confirm our findings from the analysis, we conducted four semi-structured interviews with JCB personnel. Theoretical Contributions: This thesis discovered a five-stage brand-building process for heavy-duty machinery organisations. Furthermore, the thesis applied the first known framework to amalgamate knowledge on rhetorical appeals and B2B brand-building. Most importantly, this thesis proved that B2B branding is not always predominantly rationally constructed and that Brand Fellowship exists. Managerial Implications: This thesis ex

Several studies have shown that global 3D models of the compression wave speed in the Earth's mantle can provide superior first P travel time predictions at both regional and teleseismic distances. However, given the variable data quality and uneven data sampling associated with this type of model, it is essential that there be a means to calculate high-quality estimates of the path-dependent variance and covariance associated with the predicted travel times of ray paths through the model. In this paper, we show a methodology for accomplishing this by exploiting the full model covariance matrix. Typical global 3D models have on the order of 1/2 million nodes, so the challenge in calculating the covariance matrix is formidable: 0.9 TB storage for 1/2 of a symmetric matrix, necessitating an Out-Of-Core (OOC) blocked matrix solution technique. With our approach the tomography matrix (G which includes Tikhonov regularization terms) is multiplied by its transpose (GTG) and written in a blocked sub-matrix fashion. We employ a distributed parallel solution paradigm that solves for (GTG)-1 by assigning blocks to individual processing nodes for matrix decomposition update and scaling operations. We first find the Cholesky decomposition of GTG which is subsequently inverted. Next, we employ OOC matrix multiplication methods to calculate the model covariance matrix from (GTG)-1 and an assumed data covariance matrix. Given the model covariance matrix we solve for the travel-time covariance associated with arbitrary ray-paths by integrating the model covariance along both ray paths. Setting the paths equal yields the variance for that path., Published in the Proceedings of the 2011 Monitoring Research Review - Ground-Based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Technologies, 13-15 September 2011, Tucson, AZ. Volume I. Sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). U.S. Government or Federal Rights License

This paper reports the results of sea trials of the Nereus hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HROV) conducted in May and June 2009 in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, where the vehicle successfully performed scientific observation and sampling operations at hadal depths of 10,903 m. The Nereus underwater vehicle is designed to perform scientific survey and sampling to the full depth of the ocean - significantly deeper than the depth capability of all other present-day operational vehicles. For comparison, the second deepest underwater vehicle currently operational worldwide can dive to 7,000 m maximum depth. Nereus operates in two different modes. For broad-area survey, the vehicle can operate untethered as an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of exploring and mapping the sea floor with sonars and cameras. Nereus can be converted at sea to become a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to enable close-up imaging and sampling. The ROV configuration incorporates a lightweight fiber-optic tether for high-bandwidth, real-time video and data telemetry to the surface enabling highquality teleoperation. A manipulator, lightweight hydraulic power unit, and sampling instruments are added to provide sampling capabilities. This paper reports a brief overview of the Nereus vehicle design, and reviews the initial results of the eight dives conducted on this expedition, including two dives to more than 10,900 m depth. The Nereus vehicle is designed to render all parts of the Earth's seafloor reachable and the sea trials of its fullocean depth capability in May and June 2009 were successful., See also ADM202806. Proceedings of the Oceans 2009 MTS/IEEE Conference held in Biloxi, Mississippi on 26-29 October 2009. U.S. Government or Federal Purpose Rights License. The original document contains color images.

The Advanced Technology Environmental and Energy Center (ATEEC) provides this document to help businesses analyze the energy bill impacts of implementing on site combined heat and power (CHP) systems. Typically CHP systems dramatically improve energy performance. The Standby Rate Estimator and Standby Rate Manual are used in conjunction to help businesses analyze the energy bill impacts of deploying an onsite CHP system. CHP which utilizes both the heat and electric power output from small generation systems situated on an energy user's premises dramatically improves energy and environmental performance over traditional electricity supply approaches consisting of central station generating plants and transmission and distribution systems.Users must download this resource for viewing, which requires a free log-in. There is no cost to download the item.

The Advanced Technology Environmental and Energy Center (ATEEC) provides this document to help businesses analyze the energy bill impacts of implementing on site combined heat and power (CHP) systems. Typically CHP systems dramatically improve energy performance. Users must download this resource for viewing, which requires a free log-in. There is no cost to download the item.

Models of geophysically important properties of the Earth, such as seismic velocity, Q and density, can become large and complex when those properties vary in three dimensions within the model. We have developed a system to represent the distribution of seismic properties in the Earth that can accommodate a wide range of local to global scale 3D Earth models with spatially variable resolution. A 2D grid of nodes is tessellated using either triangles or quadrilaterals and a profile is defined at each 2D grid node that extends from the center of the Earth to the surface. The surface of the model corresponds with the topographic/bathymetric surface of the Earth, which is referenced to the surface of the GRS80 ellipsoid. Each profile can be separated into a number of layers defined by interfaces across which geophysical properties may be discontinuous. Within the layers between interfaces, the vertical distribution of geophysical properties may be defined by a number of continuous sublayers, by arbitrary order polynomials or by various types of splines. Layer thicknesses can vary laterally and zero thickness layers and layer pinch-outs are accommodated. The distribution of nodes is very flexible, allowing model resolution to vary over a wide range in three dimensions. In this paper, we present detailed descriptions of the software algorithms used to construct, store and interpolate these models., Published in the Proceedings of the 30th Monitoring Research Review: Ground-Based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Technologies, 23-25 Sep 2008, Portsmouth, VA sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The original document contains color images.

Pseudo-bending is an algorithm for calculating seismic travel time through complex 3D velocity models. The algorithm was originally proposed by Um and Thurber (1987) and later extended by Zhao et al. (1992) to account for first order velocity discontinuities. We have modified Zhao's method of handling discontinuities by implementing a two-dimensional (2D) minimization algorithm that searches for the point on the velocity discontinuity surface where Snell's Law is satisfied. Further, our implementation reduces the likelihood that the pseudo-bending algorithm will return a local minimum by starting the ray calculation from several different starting rays. Specifically, interfaces are defined that include first order discontinuities plus additional interfaces at levels of the model where local minima might be generated. Rays are computed that are constrained to bottom in each layer between these interfaces. The computed rays might be reflected off the top of the layer, turn within the layer, or diffract along the interface at the bottom of the layer. The computed ray that is seismologically valid and that has the shortest travel time is retained. The modifications we have made to the algorithm have made it more accurate and robust but have also made it more computationally expensive. To mitigate this impact, we have implemented our software in a distributed parallel computing environment, which makes possible the calculation of many rays simultaneously., Presented at the Conference on Monitoring Research Review: Ground-Based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Technologies (30th), held in Portsmouth, VA, on 23-25 Sep 2008. Published in the proceedings of the conference, p338-346, 2008. Sponsored in part by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The original document contains color images.

The Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle (HROV) Nereus, developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) with the support of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego (SSC San Diego) and the Johns Hopkins University, is intended to provide a new level of access for deep oceanographic research to a maximum depth of 11,000 meters. Nereus operates in two different modes. The vehicle can operate untethered as an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for broad area survey, capable of exploring and mapping the seafloor with sonars, cameras, and other on-board sensors. Nereus can be converted at sea to become a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to enable close up imaging and sampling. The ROV configuration incorporates a lightweight fiber optic tether to the surface for high bandwidth real-time video and data telemetry to the surface to enable high-quality teleoperation, additional cameras and lights, a manipulator arm, and sampling gear. Development of the fiber tether system was supported by both simulation and extensive field testing over a three year period. These tests demonstrated that an unprotected optical fiber could survive in the water column for greater than 24 hours and be effectively used as a high bandwidth data link by a remotely-operated, self-powered vehicle. Based on the data from the fiber trials, a robust tether deployment system was designed. The tether deployment system was integrated with the vehicle and demonstrated during field trials in November 2007., Presented at the IEEE/MTS Oceans Conference held in Quebec City, Canada on 15-18 Sep 2008. Published in the Proceedings of the IEEE/MTS Oceans Conference, 2008. The original document contains color images.

This paper reports an overview of the new Nereus hybrid underwater vehicle and summarizes the vehicle's performance during its first sea trials in November 2007. Nereus is a novel operational underwater vehicle designed to perform scientific survey and sampling to the full depth of the ocean of 11,000 meters -- almost twice the depth of any present-day operational vehicle. Nereus operates in two different modes. For broad area survey, the vehicle can operate untethered as an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of exploring and mapping the sea floor with sonars and cameras. For close up imaging and sampling, Nereus can be converted at sea to operate as a tethered remotely operated vehicle (ROV). This paper reports the overall vehicle design and design elements including ceramic pressure housings and flotation spheres; manipulator and sampling system; light fiber optic tether; lighting and imaging; power and propulsion; navigation; vehicle dynamics and control; and acoustic communications., Presented at the IEEE/MTS Oceans Conference held in Quebec City, Canada on 15-18 Sep 2008. Published in the Proceedings of the IEEE/MTS Oceans Conference, 2008. Sponsored in part by NSF and NOAA. The original document contains color images.

The Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle (HROV), being designed and built by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) with the support of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego (SSC San Diego), will provide a new level of accessibility for deep ocean research. HROV will be primarily an autonomous vehicle but will be reconfigurable to a teleoperated system by the installation of a fiber optic data link and a manipulator based work system. Development of the fiber optic link has been supported by both simulation and a series of field tests over the past 3 years. The November 2004 tests consisted of deploying two different types of fiber optic cable from an oceanographic elevator deployed from a ship to 2000m depth. Data collected from this test demonstrated the feasibility of using both the Fiber Optic Microcable (FOMC) and plain buffered optical fiber as a tether for the HROV. The December 2005 tests demonstrated the utility of the buffered optical fiber operating on an underwater vehicle using the WHOI ABE vehicle as a substitute for the future HROV. Five dives were made to 2000 m with real-time communication from the vehicle to the surface via the fiber. The May 2006 tests focused on the employment of a cable depressor and deployment system. Using a deep elevator as a substitute for HROV, the fiber was deployed from both the depressor and the elevator to a depth of 4200 m. Over the course of 4 deployments, over 16 km of fiber was deployed, operating for a total of 33 hours, demonstrating the feasibility of the planned approach., See also ADM002006. Presented at the MTS/IEEE OCEANS Conference and Exhibition held in Boston, MA on 15-21 September 2006. Published in proceedings of the conference, 2006. Sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The original document contains color images.

Event catalogs for seismic data can become very large. Furthermore, as researchers collect multiple catalogs and reconcile them into a single catalog that is stored in a relational database, the reconciled set becomes even larger. The sheer number of these events makes searching for relevant events to compare with events of interest problematic. Information overload in this form can lead to the data sets being under-utilized and/or used incorrectly or inconsistently. Thus, efforts have been initiated to research techniques and strategies for helping researchers to make better use of large data sets. In this paper, we present our efforts to do so in two ways: 1) the Event Search Engine, which is a waveform correlation tool and 2) some content analysis tools, which are a combination of custom-built and commercial off-the-shelf tools for accessing, managing, and querying seismic data stored in a relational database. The current Event Search Engine is based on a hierarchical clustering tool known as the dendrogram tool, which is written as a MatSeis graphical user interface. The dendrogram tool allows the user to build dendrogram diagrams for a set of waveforms by controlling phase windowing, down-sampling, filtering, enveloping, and the clustering method (e.g. single linkage, complete linkage, flexible method). It also allows the clustering to be based on two or more stations simultaneously, which is important to bridge gaps in the sparsely recorded event sets anticipated in such a large reconciled event set. Current efforts are focusing on tools to help the researcher winnow the clusters defined using the dendrogram tool down to the minimum optimal identification set. This will become critical as the number of reference events in the reconciled event set continually grows. The dendrogram tool is part of the MatSeis analysis package, which is available on the Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research & Engineering Program Web Site., Proceedings of the 22nd Annual DoD/DOE Seismic Research Symposium: Planning for Verification of and Compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) held in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 13-15, 2000. U.S. Government or Federal Rights. The original document contains color images.

In order to exploit the information on surface wave propagation that is stored in large seismic event datasets, Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories have developed a MatSeis interface for performing phase-matched filtering of Rayleigh wave arrivals. MatSeis is a MATLAB-based seismic processing toolkit which provides graphical tools for analyzing seismic data from a network of stations. Tools are available for spectral and polarization measurements, as well as beam forming and f-k analysis with array data, to name just a few. Additionally, one has full access to the MATLAB environment and any functions available there. Previously we reported the development of new MatSeis tools for calculating regional discrimination measurements. The first of these performs Lg coda analysis as developed by Mayeda and coworkers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. A second tool measures regional phase amplitude ratios for an event and compares the results to ratios from known earthquakes and explosions., Proceedings of the Annual DoD/DOE Seismic Research Symposium (22nd): Planning for Verification of and Compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) held in New Orleans, Louisiana on 13-15 September 2000. U.S. Government or Federal Rights. Performed in cooperation with Sandia National Lab, Albuquerque, NM. The original document contains color images.

A proposed design for a Magnetic Deflection Oscillator to produce intense radiofrequency (RF) radiation is analyzed and theoretical results reported. The Magnetic Deflection Oscillator is an RF oscillator concept which can, in principle, be scaled to very high power levels. This report contains a theoretical study of the oscillator operation and a description of a low power experiment. The experiments did not achieve oscillator threshold due to limits on available beam current and power. The electron beam current required for oscillator threshold is predicted to increase with the square root of increasing frequency. The experiment shows that, at a frequency of 4 kHz, CW oscillator threshold should be reached at a beam current approximately 1 A. Cathode arcing limited the experiment to pulsed currents near 300 mA. The threshold power for oscillation at 300 MHz is predicted to be near 45,000 W. An oscillator might function at power levels many times above threshold with DC to RF conversion efficiencies comparable to class C vacuum tubes, possibly greater than 70 percent. (Author)

With Chris Young, trombone, Dan Brown, trombone, Joyce Brown, piano, Douglas Fletcher, trombone, Andrea Lashbrook, piano, William Bernardi, trombone, Stephen Rhodes, trombone, Jeanne Everett, piano, Mark Bowman, tuba, and Maureen Noble, piano., Series XXXVI, Number 209., This archival material has been provided for educational purposes. Ball State University Libraries recognizes that some historic items may include offensive content. Our statement regarding objectionable content is available at: https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/about

With Chris Young, trombone, Dan Brown, trombone, Joyce Brown, piano, Douglas Fletcher, trombone, Andrea Lashbrook, piano, William Bernardi, trombone, Stephen Rhodes, trombone, Jeanne Everett, piano, Mark Bowman, tuba, and Maureen Noble, piano., Series XXXVI, Number 209., This archival material has been provided for educational purposes. Ball State University Libraries recognizes that some historic items may include offensive content. Our statement regarding objectionable content is available at: https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/about

0-6806-TTI, To meet the need for a larger number of inspectors and to improve the experience and knowledge level on inspectors, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is reviewing construction inspector training needs and training programs that are available within TxDOT and from national organizations and other states. This project developed and delivered construction inspection training to personnel involved in inspection on TxDOT projects. This report reviews and summarizes hundreds of training programs available nationally. Researchers provided a listing of observations, recommendations, and a framework for a path forward immediately.