Churning the Ocean of Milk: The Role of Vocal Composition in Tibetan Buddhist Ritual Music

Ritual music is a significant but often misunderstood aspect of Tibetan Buddhism. Specifically, vocal music serves a variety of purposes that distinguish the genre from Western music. In order to understand and appreciate ritual vocal music from a Western perspective, there must be firm understanding of the importance of melody and the source of its value. The author has studied with members of the Tibetan Buddhist monastic community, focusing on ritual vocal music and the process of composition. Through an examination of the vocal music composition and of concepts of inspiration and creativity, this paper will shed light on the crucial role of the composer and the process of composing in Tibetan Buddhism

The Echoes Of My Rocky Mountain Home

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/1373/thumbnail.jp

Let Me Hear The Songs My Mother Used To Sing

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/5308/thumbnail.jp

A Quillen model structure for Gray-categories

A Quillen model structure on the category Gray-Cat of Gray-categories is described, for which the weak equivalences are the triequivalences. It is shown to restrict to the full subcategory Gray-Gpd of Gray-groupoids. This is used to provide a functorial and model-theoretic proof of the unpublished theorem of Joyal and Tierney that Gray-groupoids model homotopy 3-types. The model structure on Gray-Cat is conjectured to be Quillen equivalent to a model structure on the category Tricat of tricategories and strict homomorphisms of tricategories.Comment: v2: fuller discussion of relationship with work of Berger; localizations are done directly with simplicial set

Blue light regenerates functional visual pigments in mammals through a retinyl-phospholipid intermediate.

The light absorbing chromophore in opsin visual pigments is the protonated Schiff base of 11-cis-retinaldehyde (11cRAL). Absorption of a photon isomerizes 11cRAL to all-trans-retinaldehyde (atRAL), briefly activating the pigment before it dissociates. Light sensitivity is restored when apo-opsin combines with another 11cRAL to form a new visual pigment. Conversion of atRAL to 11cRAL is carried out by enzyme pathways in neighboring cells. Here we show that blue (450-nm) light converts atRAL specifically to 11cRAL through a retinyl-phospholipid intermediate in photoreceptor membranes. The quantum efficiency of this photoconversion is similar to rhodopsin. Photoreceptor membranes synthesize 11cRAL chromophore faster under blue light than in darkness. Live mice regenerate rhodopsin more rapidly in blue light. Finally, whole retinas and isolated cone cells show increased photosensitivity following exposure to blue light. These results indicate that light contributes to visual-pigment renewal in mammalian rods and cones through a non-enzymatic process involving retinyl-phospholipids.It is currently thought that visual pigments in vertebrate photoreceptors are regenerated exclusively through enzymatic cycles. Here the authors show that mammalian photoreceptors also regenerate opsin pigments in light through photoisomerization of N-ret-PE (N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine

Sequential sampling models without random between-trial variability : the racing diffusion model of speeded decision making

Most current sequential sampling models have random between-trial variability in their parameters. These sources of variability make the models more complex in order to fit response time data, do not provide any further explanation to how the data were generated, and have recently been criticised for allowing infinite flexibility in the models. To explore and test the need of between-trial variability parameters we develop a simple sequential sampling model of N-choice speeded decision making: the racing diffusion model. The model makes speeded decisions from a race of evidence accumulators that integrate information in a noisy fashion within a trial. The racing diffusion does not assume that any evidence accumulation process varies between trial, and so, the model provides alternative explanations of key response time phenomena, such as fast and slow error response times relative to correct response times. Overall, our paper gives good reason to rethink including between-trial variability parameters in sequential sampling models. © 2020, The Psychonomic Society, Inc

Iowa Farm Environmental Leaders\u27 Perspectives on the U.S. Farm Bill Conservation Programs

As stakeholders prepare to lobby future Farm Bills, this study reveals farmers\u27 perspectives on federal conservation programs. In-depth interviews were held with ten farm environmental leaders, farmers who have extensive experience with conservation practices and federal conservation programs. Results reveal that conservation programs have played a limited but important role in incentivizing the adoption of and offsetting costs for establishing conservation practices. Programs\u27 strengths, weaknesses, and potential improvements were also explored; results reveal that most farmers believe existing conservation programs could be improved with relatively minor tweaks and adaptations, such as more flexibility in working land program requirements and adjustments to land retirement program payment rates. To some extent, farm environmental leaders also align themselves with the perspectives of environmental NGOs, advocating for transformative approaches, such as expanding mandatory conservation compliance to all cropland, including non-Highly Erodible Lands cropland