The Impact of a Character Posture Model on the Communication of Affect in an Immersive Virtual Environment

This paper presents the quantitative and qualitative findings from an experiment designed to evaluate a developing model of affective postures for full-body virtual characters in immersive virtual environments (IVEs). Forty-nine participants were each requested to explore a virtual environment by asking two virtual characters for instructions. The participants used a CAVE-like system to explore the environment. Participant responses and their impression of the virtual characters were evaluated through a wide variety of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Combining a controlled experimental approach with various data-collection methods provided a number of advantages such as providing a reason to the quantitative results. The quantitative results indicate that posture plays an important role in the communication of affect by virtual characters. The qualitative findings indicated that participants attribute a variety of psychological states to the behavioral cues displayed by virtual characters. In addition, participants tended to interpret the social context portrayed by the virtual characters in a holistic manner. This suggests that one aspect of the virtual scene colors the perception of the whole social context portrayed by the virtual characters. We conclude by discussing the importance of designing holistically congruent virtual characters especially in immersive settings.

Character transformations and their functional significance as a key to the evolution of hystricognath Rodentia

Hystricognathi represent a monophyletic taxon within Rodentia. Since phylogenetically analyzed morphological systems are essential for revealing evolutionary processes, this study identifies evolutionary character transformations on the stem lineage of Hystricognathi as derived from the author's own work and the literature. Data so far indicate that evolutionary transformations in the rostral head region, the loss of tactile ability in the outer nasal skin and the mobile arrangement of the associated cartilage, were allied with a switch from omnivorous to herbivorous and fiber-rich nutrition. Additional character transformations in the skull assist in digesting such food. Structures associated with reproduction and placentation show a remarkable pro portion of derived character conditions: the chorioallantoic placenta has a ring-shaped organization and growth structure which optimizes the capacity for passive diffusion, a subplacenta occurred as a specialized region responsible for placental invasion and the inverted yolk sac facilitates substance exchange with the main placenta. Finally, precocial newborns evolved as a derived condition within Rodentia. All things considered, a mode of reproduction is indicated, which does not demand excessive additional energy intake by the mother and is in accordance with her low energetic diet. Hystricognathi possess major character transformations that represent prerequisites for their successful radiation at the time when more open ecosystems and grasslands evolved during Earth history. The analysis resulted in the reconstruction of a life-near picture of the hystricognath stem species pattern with high explanatory power in terms of changes in space and time and their interdependence with biodiversity.

Anatomo-radiographic description of the axial skeleton of the crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous)

The aim of this study was to describe the axial skeleton of a wild Brazilian carnivorous, the crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous). Five specimens of crab-eating fox were previously unfrozen for radiographic exams and their bones went through dissection and chemical maceration. This animal presents seven cervical vertebrae, and from the third on, they become shorter and wider than the other ones e the spinous process was makeable from the fifth cervical vertebrae on. There are thirteen thoracic vertebrae and the spinous process of the lumbar vertebrae, which are seven, decreases from the fifth on. The sacrum is formed by two vertebrae and there are twenty or twenty one caudal vertebrae. It can be concluded that the crab-eating fox axial skeleton is similar to that of the domestic dog.

Westerners in search of the legendary potion : ayahuasca travel in the borderland between tourism and pilgrimage

The thesis examines the phenomenon most commonly known as “ayahuasca tourism” – i.e. the practice of westerners traveling to South America and partaking in ceremonies in which a powerful entheogenic brew, ayahuasca, is consumed. While this popular phenomenon has been steadily increasing during the last decades, it has, however, been insufficiently studied by scholars. An important question which has not been properly addressed in earlier studies is how ayahuasca tourism relates to the wider occurrence of travel and how it should be perceived with reference to the theoretical frameworks on the subject of travel. Drawing on theories regarding pilgrimage and tourism, the main purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between ayahuasca tourism and the broader spectrum of travel. In particular, the study tests the designations “pilgrimage”, “religious tourism” and “spiritual tourism” with reference to ayahuasca tourism. Utilizing earlier literature as well as ayahuasca tourists‟ reports obtained from an Internet forum as a basis for analysis, I search for a suitable terminology to be used for the phenomenon. The study lays special emphasis on the protagonists‟ motivations, experiences and outcomes in order to take note of various aspects of the wide-ranging occurrence of ayahuasca tourism. Key findings indicate that ayahuasca tourism is best understood as a combination of pilgrimage and tourism. On the basis of the analysis I argue that ayahuasca tourism should be labeled as “pilgrimage” and/or “spiritual tourism”, and the tourists respectively as “pilgrims” and/or “spiritual tourists”. The category of “religious tourism/tourist”, on the other hand, turns out to be an inappropriate designation when describing the phenomenon. In general, through my study I show that the results are consistent with the present trend in the study of travel to perceive pilgrimage and tourism as theoretically similar phenomena. The study of ayahuasca tourism serves thus as living proof of contemporary travel, in which the categories of pilgrimage and tourism are often indistinguishable. I suggest that ayahuasca tourism is by no means exceptional on this point, but can rather be used as an illustration of modern travel forms on a general level. Thus, the present study does not only add to the research of ayahuasca tourism, but also provides additional insights into the study of travel.

A Case Study of the "Who is NOBODY?" Project: A Character Development Program for Children with Learning Disabilities

This research study explored a support system for children with learning disabilities. The Learning Disabilities Association of Niagara Region (LDANR) recently expanded its Better Emotional and Social Times (B.E.S.T.) program to incorporate an innovative, character education initiative called the “Who is NOBODY?” program. The objective of this qualitative case study was two-fold. First, the study aimed to support the LDANR in assessing the efficacy of the “Who is NOBODY?” program, providing the LDANR with empirical support for their programs. Second, the study enabled a more in-depth understanding of how to best support children with LD in regards to their social and emotional well-being. The study explored the “Who is NOBODY?” program through three lenses: design, implementation, and experiences of participating children. Three primary themes emerged from these three data lenses: positive character traits, prosocial behaviour, and strong self-efficacy – leading to the promotion of strong character development and self-esteem. Taken together, the “Who is NOBODY?” program was shown to be a successful remediation program for supporting vulnerable children with LD.

The time-course of lexical activation in Japanese morphographic word recognition: Evidence for a character-driven processing model

This lexical decision study with eye tracking of Japanese two-kanji-character words investigated the order in which a whole two-character word and its morphographic constituents are activated in the course of lexical access, the relative contributions of the left and the right characters in lexical decision, the depth to which semantic radicals are processed, and how nonlinguistic factors affect lexical processes. Mixed-effects regression analyses of response times and subgaze durations (i.e., first-pass fixation time spent on each of the two characters) revealed joint contributions of morphographic units at all levels of the linguistic structure with the magnitude and the direction of the lexical effects modulated by readers’ locus of attention in a left-to-right preferred processing path. During the early time frame, character effects were larger in magnitude and more robust than radical and whole-word effects, regardless of the font size and the type of nonwords. Extending previous radical-based and character-based models, we propose a task/decision-sensitive character-driven processing model with a level-skipping assumption: Connections from the feature level bypass the lower radical level and link up directly to the higher character level.

Face to face with the mexicans : the domestic life, educational, social, and bussines ways statesmanship and literature, legendary and general history of the mexicana people.

UANL

The Republic of México in 1876; a polítical and ethnographical division of the population, character, habits, costumes an vocations of its in habitans

UANL

Village sermons on the chief articles of faith, &c., on the christian character, and on some of the relative duties...

UANL

Character and professionalism in the context of developing countries – the example of mercenaries

On pense souvent que le professionnalisme moderne exige qu’on regarde comme non relevante les traditions particulières ainsi que les liens avec familiaux, tribaux et religieux. Du point de vue du professionnalisme, ce qu’est important sont des règles internes à la profession et aussi les droits universels de l’homme vu comme individu abstrait. Dans une société où l’individualisme et le commerce deviennent omniprésents, les traditions éthiques et les identités narratives pourraient pourtant constituer un cadre de motivations clé pour l’intégrité éthique professionnelle. Je prendrai comme exemple la profession militaire et en particulier l’utilisation de mercenaires. En distinguant entre les compétences et les vertus je me demanderai si oui ou non il y a une relation nécessaire entre un bon soldat et le fait d’être un citoyen. Le fait d’être est compris ici comme catégorie morale qui occasionne un certain idéal de caractère et en particulier des vertus. Je conclus que l’action de contractualisation privée d’un soldat n’est pas en général moralement digne d’éloge et ne devrait pas être encouragée dans une société éthiquement orientée.

The Dalhousie Dentistry Story: A Case for Proportionality, Professionalism, and the Promotion of Moral Character

La tribune de l'éditeur / Editor's Soapbox

Pattern Analysis Techniques for the Recognition of Unconstrained Handwritten Malayalam Character Images

The objective of the study is to develop a hand written character recognition system that could recognisze all the characters in the mordern script of malayalam language at a high recognition rate

Theory for the change of bond character in divalent-metal clusters

To determine the size dependence of the bonding in divalent-metal clusters we use a many-electron Hamiltonian describing the interplay between van der Waals (vdW) and covalent interactions. Using a saddle-point slave-boson method and taking into account the size-dependent screening of charge fluctuations, we obtain for Hg_n a sharp transition from vdW to covalent bonding for increasing n. We show also, by solving the model Hamiltonian exactly, that for divalent metals vdW and covalent bonding coexist already in the dimers.