The allure of otherness: transnational cult film fandom and the exoticist assumption

Academic scholarship addressing transnational cult fandom, particularly Western cult fans forming attachments to films outside their cultures, has frequently addressed the issue of exoticism. Much attention has been paid to how Western fans are problematically drawn to artefacts outside of their own cultures because of exotic qualities, resulting in a shallow and often condescending appreciation of such films. In this article, I critique a number of such articles for merely assuming such processes without proffering sufficient supporting evidence. In fact, I argue that a number of such exotic-oriented critiques of transnational cultism are actually guilty of practising what they preach against: an insufficient contextualization of fandom and a tendency to downplay the messiness of empirical data in favour of generalized abstractions. Further, I argue that the constant critique of fans as avoiding contextualization has not only been overstated but stringently used as a yardstick to denigrate fan engagements with texts as improper. As such, fans are often ‘othered’ within such articles, a process mirroring the ways they are accused of othering distant cultural artefacts

UV-visible and 1H−15N^1H-^{15}N NMR spectroscopic studies of colorimetric thiosemicarbazide anion sensors

Four model thiosemicarbazide anion chemosensors containing three N – H bonds, substituted with phenyl and/or 4-nitrophenyl units, were synthesised and studied for their anion binding abilities with hydroxide, fl uoride, acetate, dihydrogen phosphate and chloride. The anion binding properties were studied in DMSO and 9 : 1 DMSO – H 2 O by UV-visible absorption and 1 H/ 13 C/ 15 N NMR spectroscopic techniques and corroborated with DFT studies. Signi fi cant changes were observed in the UV-visible absorption spectra with all anions, except for chloride, accompanied by dramatic colour changes visible to the naked eye. These changes were determined to be due to the deprotonation of the central N – H proton and not due to hydrogen bonding based on 1 H/ 15 N NMR titration studies with acetate in DMSO- d 6 – 0.5% water. Direct evidence for deprotonation was con fi rmed by the disappearance of the central thiourea proton and the formation of acetic acid. DFT and charge distribution calculations suggest that for all four compounds the central N – H proton is the most acidic. Hence, the anion chemosensors operate by a deprotonation mechanism of the central N – H proton rather than by hydrogen bonding as is often reported

Synthesis and characterization of triangulene

Triangulene, the smallest triplet-ground-state polybenzenoid (also known as Clar's hydrocarbon), has been an enigmatic molecule ever since its existence was first hypothesized1. Despite containing an even number of carbons (22, in six fused benzene rings), it is not possible to draw Kekulé-style resonant structures for the whole molecule: any attempt results in two unpaired valence electrons2. Synthesis and characterization of unsubstituted triangulene has not been achieved because of its extreme reactivity1, although the addition of substituents has allowed the stabilization and synthesis of the triangulene core3, 4 and verification of the triplet ground state via electron paramagnetic resonance measurements5. Here we show the on-surface generation of unsubstituted triangulene that consists of six fused benzene rings. The tip of a combined scanning tunnelling and atomic force microscope (STM/AFM) was used to dehydrogenate precursor molecules. STM measurements in combination with density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed that triangulene keeps its free-molecule properties on the surface, whereas AFM measurements resolved its planar, threefold symmetric molecular structure. The unique topology of such non-Kekulé hydrocarbons results in open-shell π-conjugated graphene fragments6 that give rise to high-spin ground states, potentially useful in organic spintronic devices7, 8. Our generation method renders manifold experiments possible to investigate triangulene and related open-shell fragments at the single-molecule level

Designing musical soundtracks for Brain Controlled Interface (BCI) systems

This paper presents research based on the creation and development of two Brain Controlled Interface (BCI) based film experiences. The focus of this research is primarily on the audio in the films; the way that the overall experiences were designed, the ways in which the soundtracks were specifically developed for the experiences and the ways in which the audience perceived the use of the soundtrack in the film. Unlike traditional soundtracks the adaptive nature of the audio means that there are multiple parts that can be interacted with and combined at specific moments. The design of such adaptive audio systems is something that is yet to be fully understood and this paper goes someway to presenting our initial findings. We think that this research will be of interest and excite the Audio-HCI community

Observing Human Mobility Internationally During COVID-19

This article analyzes visual data captured from five countries and three U.S. states to evaluate the effectiveness of lockdown policies for reducing the spread of COVID-19. The main challenge is the scale: nearly six million images are analyzed to observe how people respond to the policy changes

Rhetorical Transformations in Multimodal Advertising Texts: From General to Local Degree Zero

The use of rhetoric in advertising research has been steadily gaining momentum since the 1980’s. Coupled with an increased interest in multimodality and the multiple interactions among verbal, pictorial and auditory registers, as structural components of an ad filmic text, the hermeneutic tools furnished by traditional rhetoric have been expanded and elaborated. This paper addresses the fundamental question of how ad filmic texts assume signification from a multimodal rhetorical point of view, by engaging in a fruitful dialogue with various research streams within the wider semiotic discipline and consumer research. By critically addressing the context of analysis of a multimodal ad text in the course of the argumentation deployed by different approaches, such as Social Semiotics (Kress/Leeuwen 2001), Film Semiotics (i.e. Metz 1982, Carroll 1980, Branigan 1982), Visual Semiotics (i.e. Sonesson 2008; 2010, Eco 1972;1976;1986, Groupe " 1992), Consumer Research (i.e. Mick/McQuarrie 1999; 2004, Philips 2003, Scott 1994), the relative merits of a structuralist approach that prioritizes the distinction between local and general degree zero, as put forward by Groupe " (1992), are highlighted. Furthermore, the modes whereby rhetorical transformations are enacted are outlined, with view to deepening the conceptual tackling of degree zero of signification, while addressing its applicability to branding discourse and multimodal ad texts