Hong & Ramona

This is a novel set in frontier California

Vibrotactile pattern recognition on the torso with one and two dimensional displays

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-28).This research focused on the evaluation of a tactile display that is used for navigation and communication. In the first experiment, a four by four array of vibrating motors (tactors) was mounted on the torso while the subject wore an Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) vest. Subjects were required to identify which of eight patterns was presented. The results indicated that subjects could recognize the patterns presented with perfect accuracy, which indicates that wearing heavy body armor over the display does not affect the ability to perceive tactile inputs. A second set of experiments involved a one-dimension tactile array of eight tactors worn around the waist. The results indicated that the subjects could recognize the six circumferential patterns presented with an accuracy of 98-100% correct. A further experiment confirmed that the linear tactile display could be used to provide cues about the location of an event in the environment. These experiments showed that identification of the vibrotactile patterns was slightly superior on the two-dimension tactile array on the torso as compared to the one-dimension tactile array around the waist.(cont.) When subjects were required to identify the location of an individual vibrating motor using the one-dimensional array they achieved an accuracy of 94-100% correct. This suggests that a linear tactile array can be used to present navigational cues.by Amy R. Lam.S.B

Neanderthals, a study

Neanderthals, A Study is an attempt at writing the ultimate natural history text: a speculative study of a species that is supposed to be extinct, the genre is imagined as one that creates as it describes. Before Linnaeus, father of the modern systems of classification that structure how we know the natural world today, creatures lacked place and name. The discipline of natural history, then, provokes the question of whether or not identity exists pre-language; without "elephant" to gather and frame all elephants, what is an elephant? In a zoo, how does one elephant manage to represent all elephants? Conceptually liminal, neither true animals nor true humans, Neanderthals bear the burden of contemporary anxiety about the future of our species. In the same way that "primitive peoples" are portrayed as living in antediluvian or utopian worlds, the narrator Amy Lam's representation of the Neanderthals enacts a particular longing for an elemental, non-technological, nearly supernatural, state of being. The impossibility of this, however, is echoed by the impossible scope of the project itself. The shadow premise--that an impersonator has already written the same book, but in a very different way--emphasizes the desire embodied in fiction: to create something entirely new, even as all the words (and names) are inescapably old. A work-in-progress, Neanderthals, A Study aims to be a hypothesis of the point at which alien but twin selves meet

Random Walk

JPL Under Fire; The Trouble with Gradualism; Staying Firm Under Pressure; There's Water on the Moon; And More Ice on Mars; Plankton Stirs the Oceans; Ulysses Ends its Odyssey; CCAT Takes the Torc

Squeezing and entanglement delay using slow light

We examine the interaction of a weak probe with $N$ atoms in a lambda-level configuration under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). In contrast to previous works on EIT, we calculate the output state of the resultant slowly propagating light field while taking into account the effects of ground state dephasing and atomic noise for a more realistic model. In particular, we propose two experiments using slow light with a nonclassical probe field and show that two properties of the probe, entanglement and squeezing, characterizing the quantum state of the probe field, can be well-preserved throughout the passage.Comment: 2 figures; v2: fixed some minor typographical errors in a couple of equations and corrected author spelling in one reference. v3: Added three authors; changed the entaglement definition to conform to a more accepted standard (Duan's entanglement measure); altered the abstract slightly. v4: fixed formatting of figure

Assembly in Dynamic Nanoscale Systems

Biological systems are intricate self-assembled systems built from dynamic nanoscale components. These nanoscale components are responsible for many tasks, from subcellular (e.g. DNA replication, cytoplasmic streaming, intracellular transport) to organismal (e.g. intercellular signalling, blood circulation). At each level, biological materials demonstrate complex and dynamic behaviors which are still robust to many perturbations, requiring a balance of dynamism and stability. Being able to emulate biology by dynamically assembling complex systems and structures from nanoscale building blocks would greatly expand the types of materials and structures available, possibly leading to better smart, adaptive, self-healing materials in engineering. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to further the understanding of assembly in dynamic nanoscale systems. To this end, in vitro assays of kinesin motor proteins and microtubule cytoskeletal filaments are employed, providing a well-tested, minimalist, and convenient model system. In these assays, the kinesin motors are attached to the surface of the flow cell and the microtubule filaments are propelled over them. As the majority of past studies in active self-assembly of microtubules have been performed with biotin-labeled microtubules with streptavidin as a cross-linker (a "sticky" gliding assay), the first three parts of this dissertation focus on that system. In the first part, the adsorption kinetics of the streptavidin cross-linker onto the microtubule, which determines the interaction strength between microubule building blocks, is studied. The adsorption curve suggests that this is a negatively cooperative process, and here, the cause of the apparent negative cooperativity in the adsorption process is elucidated as a combination of steric and electrostatic interactions. In the second part, the difference between kinesin-propelled assembly and diffusion-driven assembly is investigated. While the kinesin-propelled microtubule assay has been used for over a decade, a control experiment comparing the active motor-driven system to a passive diffusion-driven system had never been performed. The control experiments showed conclusively that the passive system resulted in smaller and more disordered structures. Furthermore, these results fit well with existing models. The third part investigates the origins of microtubule spools observed in kinesin-propelled microtubule gliding assays, where the microtubules are allowed to cross-link via streptavidin and biotin. These microtubule spools have long been considered an example of a non-equilibrium structure which arises in motor-driven assembly. These spools exist in a dynamic state, having been observed to unwind in previous studies, and store large amounts of bending energy. Determining the origins of these spools is a first step towards understanding how to induce dynamically stable states. Finally, in the last part, a new dynamic system is engineered in which the microtubule assembles its own kinesin track as it moves along the surface while kinesin tracks which are not being used spontaneously disassemble. Thus, this system is stable enough to promote the motion of microtubules over the surface, but dynamic enough to allow for components to be recycled and assembled as needed. While such systems have been realized with mesoscopic to macroscopic components, such a system had not been realized in the nanoscale. As such, the realization of this system is the first step towards designing biomimetic active materials. Throughout this dissertation, the importance of short-range interactions on assembly kinetics is highlighted. The findings presented not only further the understanding and theory behind self-assembly in active nanoscale systems, but also further push the boundaries of experimentally realized systems

Manipulation of Metabotropic and AMPA Glutamate Receptors in the Brain

The consequences of the pharmacological manipulation of metabotropic and AMPA glutamate receptor-mediated events in the rat brain were investigated in this thesis. [14C]2- deoxyglucose autoradiography was used to explore modifications in physiological brain function following the systemic administration of two novel selective agonists with actions on group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) and following the intracerebral manipulation of the hippocampus using a selective AMPA antagonist. The putative role of group II mGluRs in neuroprotection was also examined. An in vivo model of cerebral ischaemia together with two in vitro models of neurotoxicity with group II mGluR agonist intervention were used to study the potential of group II mGluR agonists in protecting cellular elements from neurotoxic insults. Mapping brain function with group II selective mGluR agonists Local rates of cerebral glucose use were measured using the [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic technique to examine the functional consequences of the systemic administration of the novel mGluR agonist LY3 54740, and a related analogue LY3 79268, in the conscious rat. Both LY354740 (0.3, 3.0, 30 mg/kg) and LY379268 (0.1, 1.0, 10 mg/kg) produced dose-dependent changes in glucose utilisation. LY3 54740 produced anatomically widespread reductions in glucose use, while LY3 79268 affected a smaller number of brain regions which displayed increases in glucose metabolism. After LY354740 (3.0mg/kg) administration, 4 out of 42 brain regions demonstrated statistically significant changes from vehicle treated controls; red nuclei (-16%), mammillary body (-25%), anteroventral thalamic nucleus (-29%) and the superficial layer of the superior colliculus (+50%). An additional 15 regions displayed significant reductions in function-related glucose use (P). Both compounds displayed a similar anatomical pattern of altered glucose metabolism in the limbic system. Reductions were noted in the anteroventral thalamic nucleus, lateral habenular nucleus, molecular layer of the hippocampus and the mammillary body (P < 0.05) following both agonists Glucose utilisation in components of different sensory systems were altered following the activation of mGluR2/3. In animals treated with LY354740, reductions in function-related glucose use were observed in areas associated with vision, while those treated with LY3 79268 demonstrated elevated glucose utilisation in primary auditory areas. This study has demonstrated that the [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic technique provides a reliable means of mapping functional events in the brain. It has highlighted fundamental differences in the regional effects of the two agonists and has served to demonstrate the important functional involvement of the limbic system together with the participation of components of different sensory systems in response to the activation of mGluR2 and mGluR3 with LY354740 and LY379268. Regional mapping of cerebral function following hippocampal manipulation The [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic technique was used to investigate changes in brain function during, and following, the localised 7 day infusion of the selective AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist LY326325 in the conscious rat. During the period of drug infusion, anatomically circumscribed changes in glucose use were measured in animals treated with LY326325 compared with aCSF (artificial cerebrospinal fluid) treated control animals. Reductions in glucose utilisation were demonstrated in the molecular layer of the dorsal hippocampus (-23%, P<0.002) but not in the molecular layer of the ventral hippocampus. The maximal reduction in glucose use measured in the molecular layer of the hippocampus was observed adjacent to the implant site, along a dorsal axis relative to the implant site. Other than a marked elevation in function-related glucose use in the superficial layers of the entorhinal cortex, rates of glucose utilisation in the remaining regions of the CNS were minimally affected during the period of drug infusion. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)

Session 3-3-A: An Improved Pathways Development Model of Problem Gambling: A Summary of 11 Studies in Hong Kong and Macau

Introduction The rationale of this study came from a casual meeting of our supervisor Dr. Chan Chi Chuen and Professor Blaszczynski on a bus after the 2009 Reno conference. On the bus, C. C. promised Mr. Blaszczynski that he would validate the pathways model in Hong Kong and Macau. And in the next 5 years, Dr. C.C. Chan and his students conducted 11 research projects on problem gambling in Hong Kong and Macau. Purposes of current study To arrive on a summary finding from 11 studies on problem gambling To validate the pathways development model proposed by Blaszczynski & Nower (2002) To investigate what particular cultural factors in Hong Kong and Macau have contributed to problem gamblin