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2015

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An Exploration Of The Impact Of Ptsd Following Childbirth And The Suitability Of Writing Therapy As A Therapeutic Tool, Susanne Peeler Jan 2015

An Exploration Of The Impact Of Ptsd Following Childbirth And The Suitability Of Writing Therapy As A Therapeutic Tool, Susanne Peeler

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Background: Postnatal PTSD affects between 1 and 6% of women, whereas 30% are partially symptomatic. The mental health of new mothers is of public health concern as it could affect the marital relationship and the behavioural and emotional health of children. Little research has explored emotional regulation difficulties as predictors for postnatal PTSD. Treatments such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) have long waiting list times and may be hard to access for new mothers. Aim: The relationship between key predictors especially those associated with emotional regulation and PTSD in postnatal women was investigated. The feasibility of using internet based writing …

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Brain Inspired Approach To Computational Face Recognition, Joao Paulo Da Silva Gomes Jan 2015

Brain Inspired Approach To Computational Face Recognition, Joao Paulo Da Silva Gomes

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Face recognition that is invariant to pose and illumination is a problem solved effortlessly by the human brain, but the computational details that underlie such efficient recognition are still far from clear. This thesis draws on research from psychology and neuroscience about face and object recognition and the visual system in order to develop a novel computational method for face detection, feature selection and representation, and memory structure for recall. A biologically plausible framework for developing a face recognition system will be presented. This framework can be divided into four parts: 1) A face detection system. This is an improved …

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High-Performance Near-Time Processing Of Bulk Data, Martin Swientek Jan 2015

High-Performance Near-Time Processing Of Bulk Data, Martin Swientek

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Enterprise Systems like customer-billing systems or financial transaction systems are required to process large volumes of data in a fixed period of time. Those systems are increasingly required to also provide near-time processing of data to support new service offerings. Common systems for data processing are either optimized for high maximum throughput or low latency. This thesis proposes the concept for an adaptive middleware, which is a new approach for designing systems for bulk data processing. The adaptive middleware is able to adapt its processing type fluently between batch processing and single-event processing. By using message aggregation, message routing and …

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Affective Quality Of Educational Services Measurement In The Context Of Higher Education Marketing, Hanna Shauchenka Jan 2015

Affective Quality Of Educational Services Measurement In The Context Of Higher Education Marketing, Hanna Shauchenka

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Educational marketing has become an increasingly important area within Higher Education as the competition for students has intensified. Being able to measure and understand the quality of educational services – a key factor in the decision making process for a prospective student – is an incredibly challenging problem as it involves the quantitative measurement of factors such as emotions and affections towards an Institution or programme, which themselves tend to be intangible. The application of total quality management philosophy and methodology in the context of higher education today is fully acknowledged and widely used. These conditions have defined the main …

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The Influence Of Engineering Design Considerations On Species Recruitment And Succession On Coastal Defence Structures, Juliette Elizabeth Jackson Jan 2015

The Influence Of Engineering Design Considerations On Species Recruitment And Succession On Coastal Defence Structures, Juliette Elizabeth Jackson

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Engineering design considerations of artificial coastal structures were tested to resemble as far as possible the nearest natural equivalent habitat, ecologically valuable rocky shores, as a potential management option. Coastal areas around the world attract urbanisation but these transitional areas between sea and land are inherently vulnerable to risk of flooding and erosion. Thus hard structures are often built in sensitive coastal environments to defend assets such as property and infrastructure (roads, railways, ports) against rising and stormy seas. The design, construction and maintenance of hard defences should wherever possible incorporate ecological considerations to enhance biodiversity, including maintaining or restoring …

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The Development Of Microfluidic Based Processes, Stephen John Haswell Jan 2015

The Development Of Microfluidic Based Processes, Stephen John Haswell

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

The work submitted for consideration of the award of a DSc represents a large sub section (102 of 210 published papers) of the candidates (Haswell) sustained research over a period of 20 years in the field of micro fluidic based processes. The candidate became aware of the potential of the field of research in 1986, when developing gas sensors, through the paper by Terry et al. published in IEEE Trans. Electron. Devices in 1979, in which the authors described a fully operational gas chromatography instrument produced on a silicon wafer using photolithographic and wet etching methodology. In the late 1980’s …

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Deoxynivalenol: Toxicological Profile And Potential For Reducing Cereal Grain Contamination Using Bacterial Additives In Fermented Animal Feed., William Vevers Jan 2015

Deoxynivalenol: Toxicological Profile And Potential For Reducing Cereal Grain Contamination Using Bacterial Additives In Fermented Animal Feed., William Vevers

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination of grain destined for animal feeds is a major toxicological risk to monogastrics and is suspected of restricting productivity in ruminants. Whereas bacterial additives have been developed that can detoxify DON in the rumen and lower intestine, there are currently no commercial inoculants able to perform this task in crimped grain (CG) silage, a regionally important method of moist grain preservation based on homo- and heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria or chemical additives. Determining whether this ensiling process alongside the action of detoxifying bacteria has the potential to remove DON in CG prior to ingestion, was explored in …

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Using Marxan And Marxan With Zones To Support Marine Planning, Frances Peckett Jan 2015

Using Marxan And Marxan With Zones To Support Marine Planning, Frances Peckett

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

With the growth in human pressures on the marine environment and the increase in competition for space and resources there has been recognition by many governments of the need to use the marine environment sustainably and allow for its acceptable allocation for each sector. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the use of Marxan and Marxan with Zones as practical tools to enable the production of marine plans that integrate environmental and socioeconomic data and to suggest best practice in the types of data used. In this thesis three key aspects of data type and integration were identified …

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Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing And Characterisation Of Nano-Colloids For Nanotoxicology Applications, Nasih Hma Salah Jan 2015

Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing And Characterisation Of Nano-Colloids For Nanotoxicology Applications, Nasih Hma Salah

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

In this research, a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) based sensor system was developed for quick detection of not only silver nanoparticles at low concentrations, but also to a range of individual analytes, according to their optical properties. SPR-based sensors are extremely sensitive to changes in the optical properties of the local environment at this interface, making these instruments highly valuable for surface science and bio-sensing experiments. This has enabled silver in solution (silver nitrate) to be detected from colloidal nanoparticles. This study involves the theoretical development of an SPR system, where a glass prism and a multi-layered chip are used. …

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Physical, Chemical And Functional Properties Of Tiger Nuts (Cyperus Esculentus) Selected From Ghana, Cameroon And Uk Market (Spain), Thomas Adjei-Duodu Jan 2015

Physical, Chemical And Functional Properties Of Tiger Nuts (Cyperus Esculentus) Selected From Ghana, Cameroon And Uk Market (Spain), Thomas Adjei-Duodu

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Physical, chemical and functional properties of tiger nuts selected from Ghana, Cameroon and UK (market (Spain) Abstract The tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) has attracted a lot of unsubstantiated health claims, yet there is a dearth of research investigation within Ghana specifically in the area of food product development. This study addresses the development of ‘functional bread and biscuit’ from tiger nuts obtained from UK market (Spain). The chemical constituents; carbohydrate, lipid, protein, dietary minerals and antioxidants, the functional properties of three varieties of tiger nuts obtained from Ghana (black and brown), Cameroon (yellow) and UK market (Spain) (brown) were investigated …

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The Effects Of Probiotics, Prebiotics And Synbiotics On Gut Flora, Immune Function And Blood Characteristics Of Broilers, Rebin Aswad Mirza Akoy Jan 2015

The Effects Of Probiotics, Prebiotics And Synbiotics On Gut Flora, Immune Function And Blood Characteristics Of Broilers, Rebin Aswad Mirza Akoy

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Abstract The microbial populations in the gastrointestinal tracts of poultry play an important role in normal digestive processes and in maintaining animal health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics on the growth parameters, gut ecosystem, histology and immune function. In this study, four experiments one in vitro and three in vivo were conducted using specific pathogen free (SPF) and Hubbard broiler chickens. The first experiment was designed to determine the influence of inulin as an effective prebiotic on lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains, and to screen LAB for selection as a …

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Optimisation Of Rebreeding Strategy In Uk Holstein Dairy Cattle- A Multifactorial Study, Richard Michael Miller Jan 2015

Optimisation Of Rebreeding Strategy In Uk Holstein Dairy Cattle- A Multifactorial Study, Richard Michael Miller

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Dairy production in the UK has undergone a period of sustained increase both in number of cows held in each unit and yields per cow. Whilst much of this yield increase can be attributed to nutritional science, the production capacity of individual animals has also contributed significantly through both higher peak yields and greater persistency of production throughout lactation. This additional production has not come without cost which has manifested itself as a general decrease in reproductive performance. Although the associated lengthening of the calving interval has led to an increase in herd average days in milk, the question arises …

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Natural Phenolic Extracts From Cardamom (Elettaria Cardamomum), Sumac (Rhus Coriaria) And Pomegranate (Punica Granatum)- Potential Application To Control Pathogenic Bacteria In Foods, Abass Fadhil Razoki Aal-Tay Jan 2015

Natural Phenolic Extracts From Cardamom (Elettaria Cardamomum), Sumac (Rhus Coriaria) And Pomegranate (Punica Granatum)- Potential Application To Control Pathogenic Bacteria In Foods, Abass Fadhil Razoki Aal-Tay

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Abstract Food-borne disease is still a concern for both consumer and food industry in spite of the use of various preservation techniques. Plant extracts are becoming more popular as naturally occurring antibacterial agents. Antibacterial activity of cardamom, sumac, pomegranate, star anise and cranberry extracts and their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes and Clostridium perfringens were determined using agar well diffusion and broth dilution methods. Sumac and pomegranate alcoholic extracts and cardamom oleoresin showed strong antibacterial activity, and their MIC range were: for sumac (3-10 mgml-1), for pomegranate (6-12 mgml-1) and …

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Art In The Public Realm And The Politics Of Rural Leisure: Access And Environment, Alex Murdin Jan 2015

Art In The Public Realm And The Politics Of Rural Leisure: Access And Environment, Alex Murdin

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Exploring both political aesthetics and the politics of aesthetics to outline an environmental ruralism for art in public spaces, this practice lead research project postulates a “complemental practice”, outlining its methodology and contexts for operation, the rural, spaces of leisure and the public realm. It is a response to threats to spatial and environmental commons from heritage, place-making and nostalgia, psychological inhibition such as a sense of global contingency and widespread economic exploitation. Responses by artists to this situation can be characterised as a binary of dialogism (Kester, 2004) and relational antagonism (Bishop, 2004), i.e. consensual/collaborative or antagonistic/autonomous practices. Informing …

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Intercorporeality And Technology: Toward A New Cognitive, Aesthetic And Communicative Paradigm In The Performing Arts, Isabelle Choinière Jan 2015

Intercorporeality And Technology: Toward A New Cognitive, Aesthetic And Communicative Paradigm In The Performing Arts, Isabelle Choinière

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The goal of this thesis was to reassess the relationship between the moving body and technology, and more specifically, to focus on recent perspectives in the performing arts which inscribe new manifestations and dynamics of cross-pollination between the somatic and technology. According to Dr. Andrea Davidson, 'Such research has rarely been formally identified with the specialised field of somatics' (2013, p.3). The thesis thus proposes to reflect on the experience and conception of the performative body in the link it entertains with technology. Investigating this relationship, it defines a new paradigm, that of an 'interfaced intercorporeality'. This paradigm is constructed …

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Designing A Taxonomy For Virtual Museums For The Use Of Avicom Professionals, Simona Caraceni Jan 2015

Designing A Taxonomy For Virtual Museums For The Use Of Avicom Professionals, Simona Caraceni

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis aims to go beyond the concept of so called ‘virtual museums’. In this work I will attempt to trace a new definition of the term ‘virtual museum’ providing the concept with renewed dignity, comparable to ICOM’S definitions of museums and other existing definitions of the concept. To do so the main part of this thesis is about creating a meta­model of taxonomy capable of including all the experimentations that have taken place in the field of ‘virtual museums’ in the last 20 years. In this direction I have investigated the concept of the museum as a medium as …

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The Legal Regimes Governing Marine Renewable Energy In England And Wales, Victoria Jane Hamlyn Jan 2015

The Legal Regimes Governing Marine Renewable Energy In England And Wales, Victoria Jane Hamlyn

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis involves an examination of the main international, regional and national legal regimes regulating marine renewable energy in England and Wales. Deriving from a complex patchwork of law and policy, developments have ensued in the absence of a distinct governing ‘legal regime’ and within a number of competing paradigms. This original synthesis attempts to identify lacunae, conflicts and connections within and between the span of legal genres that MRE evokes. Against a backdrop of climate change mitigation, the key findings show that despite the presence of political will for offshore renewable energies, MRE development faces a number of legal …

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Polyphibianism: Evolving Transdisciplinarity Into An Imaginary Organism Of Living Knowledge, Ziva Ljubec Jan 2015

Polyphibianism: Evolving Transdisciplinarity Into An Imaginary Organism Of Living Knowledge, Ziva Ljubec

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Transdisciplinarity emerged from the urge to grasp the elusive knowledge in the most fertile zone in between and beyond disciplines that escapes even the most elaborate interdisciplinary operations. While interdisciplinary protocol enables experts to operate within foreign disciplines, in the extreme case as diverse as art and science (by inviting artists into scientific departments and vice versa), the production of knowledge remains confined to particular domains. To transcend these confinements and access the knowledge that evades institutionalisation Basarab Nicolescu’s Manifesto of Transdisciplinarity sets up conditions for an open structure to be grown outside the current compartmentalisation into a living knowledge. …

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Machine Performers: Agents In A Multiple Ontological State, Louis-Philippe Demers Jan 2015

Machine Performers: Agents In A Multiple Ontological State, Louis-Philippe Demers

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

In this thesis, the author explores and develops new attributes for machine performers and merges the trans-disciplinary fields of the performing arts and artificial intelligence. The main aim is to redefine the term “embodiment” for robots on the stage and to demonstrate that this term requires broadening in various fields of research. This redefining has required a multifaceted theoretical analysis of embodiment in the field of artificial intelligence (e.g. the uncanny valley), as well as the construction of new robots for the stage by the author. It is hoped that these practical experimental examples will generate more research by others …

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Subject And Aesthetic Interface - An Inquiry Into Transformed Subjectivities, Kathrine Elizabeth Lorena Johansson Jan 2015

Subject And Aesthetic Interface - An Inquiry Into Transformed Subjectivities, Kathrine Elizabeth Lorena Johansson

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

The present PhD-thesis seeks new definitions of human subjectivity in an age of technoscience and a networked, globalized, Information Society. The perspective presented relates to Philosophy of Science, which includes the Human, the Natural, the Social and the Life Sciences. The project is directed at addressing, and aims to participate in, the further development of Philosophy of Science, or rather, the philosophy of knowing, which leaves a perspective broader than that of science. Methodologically, I combine readings of technoetic artworks, which I approach from a hermeneutical-semiotic perspective, with transdisciplinary research into existing theory concerning the human subject. These readings form …

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Soils And Interventions, Linus Lancaster Jan 2015

Soils And Interventions, Linus Lancaster

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

Linus Lancaster Soils and Interventions Dissertation Abstract The problem that I have identified during my research for this dissertation is the quantifiable depletion and exhaustion of large percentages of the world's soils through human activity in agriculture and other industrial practices. In the course of researching this problem I have looked closely at some of the primary causes, and a range of proposed and applied solutions in the field of ecology. The primary focus of the research has been in looking at how artists have responded to ecological issues and have engaged in environmental activism in their practices. Integral to …

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The Application Of Ocean Front Metrics For Understanding Habitat Selection By Marine Predators, Kylie Lisa Scales Jan 2015

The Application Of Ocean Front Metrics For Understanding Habitat Selection By Marine Predators, Kylie Lisa Scales

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Marine predators such as seabirds, cetaceans, turtles, pinnipeds, sharks and large teleost fish are essential components of healthy, biologically diverse marine ecosystems. However, intense anthropogenic pressure on the global ocean is causing rapid and widespread change, and many predator populations are in decline. Conservation solutions are urgently required, yet only recently have we begun to comprehend how these animals interact with the vast and dynamic oceans that they inhabit. A better understanding of the mechanisms that underlie habitat selection at sea is critical to our knowledge of marine ecosystem functioning, and to ecologically-sensitive marine spatial planning. The collection of studies …

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Investigation Of Microplastic Debris In Marine Surface Waters Using Different Sampling Methods, Saeed Seyed Sadri Jan 2015

Investigation Of Microplastic Debris In Marine Surface Waters Using Different Sampling Methods, Saeed Seyed Sadri

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

‘Microplastics’ are pieces of plastic debris <5mm in diameter. They are introduced into the marine environment directly for example via release of small pieces of plastics used as abrasives and indirectly through the fragmentation of larger items. The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD) regards microplastics as an emerging issue of concern and calls for more data on the quantity, distribution and composition of this debris. This thesis examines the amount, composition and distribution of buoyant microplastic debris in marine waters using different sampling devices and methodologies. To investigate the spatial distribution, abundance and composition of microplastic debris between nearshore and offshore marine subsurface waters a subset of samples from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey were examined. Abundance was generally higher in nearshore coastal waters than the offshore oceanic samples, with the highest mean concentrations observed in the UK’s coastal waters of the northeast Atlantic and the southern North Sea. To validate the accuracy of the presence/absence of microplastic debris reported in the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) samples by analysts at the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) a subset of data was formally analysed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. This analysis indicated a good level of accuracy (~66%) in the ability of the SAHFOS’ analysts to detect visually microplastic fragments during their normal processing of plankton samples. To compare quantity and composition of buoyant microplastic debris collected by two different approaches (CPR vs. Manta net) samples were collected from a similar body of coastal waters. The results showed significantly higher abundance of microplastic in samples collected by the manta net per unit of distance but no significant difference once the results were standardised per cubic volume of water. To assess the susceptibility of each method to ‘procedural contamination’, repetitive controlled tests were conducted to quantify the amount and composition of contaminants before, during and after the sampling programme. In both methods the highest number of contaminants was found on the net and prior to the deployment to sea. The semi synthetic Rayon fibres were the most abundant type of contaminants in both cases. To compare the abundance and composition of buoyant plastic debris in estuarine waters according to daily and lunar tidal cycles a mensurative experiment was conducted in a macrotidal Estuary. Microplastics comprised 82% of the debris and there was a significant difference in size frequency distribution between the spring and neap tides with more fragments of larger size observed during spring tides. In conclusion, this study shows further evidence of the spatial heterogeneity of microplastic debris distribution in marine waters and therefore also highlights the need for more comparable data from different marine habitats using standardised methodologies.

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A Biogeochemical Study Of Nutrient Dynamics In Artificial Soil, Kate Schofield Jan 2015

A Biogeochemical Study Of Nutrient Dynamics In Artificial Soil, Kate Schofield

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Artificial soils have been employed within the Biomes of the Eden Project since its construction in 2000. Produced from sand, bark, composted green waste and lignite clay, these soils were designed to have their nutrient concentrations controlled through careful fertiliser applications. However, following variable environmental conditions, management practices and planting, the soils across the site are performing variably with regard to nutrient retention and storage. Experiments were conducted to assess the performances of an artificial soil in terms of nutrient cycling. This was carried out in three phases: Firstly, soils from the Humid Tropics and Outdoor biomes were sampled and …

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Distributions Of Glycine Betaine And The Methylamines In Coastal Waters: Analytical Developments And A Seasonal Study, Charlotte Cree Jan 2015

Distributions Of Glycine Betaine And The Methylamines In Coastal Waters: Analytical Developments And A Seasonal Study, Charlotte Cree

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

A novel technique comprising solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography has been developed to analyse the three methylamines (monomethylamine, dimethylamine and trimethylamine) at the concentrations expected in seawater. The volatility of the methylamines was exploited and allowed the headspace pre-concentration and gas chromatographic separation of the analytes. This method achieved limits of detection of 0.43 nmol dm-3, 2.50 nmol dm-3 and 0.37 nmol dm-3 for monomethylamine, dimethylamine and trimethylamine, respectively, which are lower than any previously reported for seawater. This technique was applied to natural samples collected from the Western English Channel (WEC) and the methylamines were successfully quantified. A …

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Three-Dimensional Turbulence Characteristics Of The Bottom Boundary Layer Of The Coastal Ocean, Edward C. C. Steele Jan 2015

Three-Dimensional Turbulence Characteristics Of The Bottom Boundary Layer Of The Coastal Ocean, Edward C. C. Steele

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

The form and dynamics of ocean turbulence are critical to all marine processes; biological, chemical and physical. The three-dimensional turbulence characteristics of the bottom boundary layer of the coastal ocean are examined using a series of 29,991 instantaneous velocity distributions. These data, recorded by a submersible 3D-PTV system at an elevation of 0.64 m above the seabed, represent conditions typical of moderate tidal flows in the coastal ocean. A complexity associated with submersible 3D-PTV in the coastal ocean is that gaps and noise affect the accuracy of the data collected. To accommodate this, a new Physics-Enabled Flow Restoration Algorithm has …

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The Effects Of Lateralisation On Detour Based Problem Solving In Horses (Equus Caballus), Hannah Savin Jan 2015

The Effects Of Lateralisation On Detour Based Problem Solving In Horses (Equus Caballus), Hannah Savin

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Potential impact of motor laterality on equine performance has resulted in research into this aspect of equine behaviour. Many studies demonstrate that equids exhibit a preference for one side over the other but there is little evidence for directional biases. In modern day equestrian practices, equids are frequently required to manoeuvre around objects and laterality preferences may hinder or aid in this movement. The aim of this study was to investigate if horses consistently show a directional preference during a detour task. Twenty three horses of various breeds, ages and sexes were required to obtain a goal, a piece of …

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Natural Strange Beatitudes: Geoffrey Hill's The Orchards Of Syon, Poetic Oxymoron And Post-Secular Poetics And An Atheist's Prayer-Book, Jonathan Wooding Jan 2015

Natural Strange Beatitudes: Geoffrey Hill's The Orchards Of Syon, Poetic Oxymoron And Post-Secular Poetics And An Atheist's Prayer-Book, Jonathan Wooding

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Geoffrey Hill’s The Orchards of Syon (2002) occupies a contradictory position in twenty-first century poetry in being a major religious work in a post-religious age. Contemporary secular and atheistic insistence on the fundamentally crafted and flawed nature of religious faith has led Hill not to the abandoning of religious vision, but to a theologically disciplined approach to syntax, grammar and etymology. This dissertation examines Hill’s claim to a poetics of agnostic faith that mediate his alienation from a cynical and debased Anglophone contemporaneity. The oxymoronic nature of a faith co-existent with existential loss is the primary focus. The semantic distinction …

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Ecological Understanding Through Transdisciplinary Art And Participatory Biology, Brandon Ballengée Jan 2015

Ecological Understanding Through Transdisciplinary Art And Participatory Biology, Brandon Ballengée

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

In this study evidence is presented that suggests transdisciplinary art practices and participatory biology programs may successfully increase public understanding of ecological phenomenon. As today’s environmental issues are often complex and large-scale, finding effective strategies that encourage public awareness and stewardship are paramount for long-term conservation of species and ecosystems. Although artists and biologists tend to stay confined to their professional boundaries, and their discourses largely remain inaccessible to larger audiences, arguments here are presented for a combined approach, which may disseminate knowledge about ecology to non-specialists through novel art-science participatory research and exhibitions. Moreover, historically several scientists utilized varied …

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New Routes To Hci - A Transdisciplinary Approach, Marcio Rocha Jan 2015

New Routes To Hci - A Transdisciplinary Approach, Marcio Rocha

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Abstract This thesis bring together different disciplines – philosophy of mind, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, cybernetics and the performing arts – in a transdisciplinary investigation that raises new questions about the human mind and our relationship with computers and machines in a way that contributes to and helps elucidate the human computer interaction(HCI) debate. It chooses transdisciplinarity as the methodology best able to mobilize new ideas and generate a different approach to HCI, one that will develop fresh insights and produce critical ways of thinking about the problems of contemporary life in relation to our interaction with technologies (in the …

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