A Multisensorial Affective Ecology of Sonic Worship: The Sikh Sacred Song Culture

In this paper, I investigate the ecology of multiple sensorial activities associated with a listening practice to analyze its affective and epistemic implications. Ethnographically drawing from Sikh sonic worship, I explore the role of the aural, ocular, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory, and propose that the resulting mutuality between bodies, human and non-human, invigorates and sustains this affective ecology and its epistemic potential. My ethnographic analysis contributes to the growing recognition in ethnomusicology of multisensorial integration in perception and its significance in meaning and knowledge making.Dans cet article, j’interroge l’écologie des multiples activités sensorielles associées à une pratique d’écoute afin d’analyser ses implications affectives et épistémiques. À partir d’une étude ethnographique de l’adoration sonore chez les Sikhs, j’explore le rôle de l’auditif, de l’oculaire, du tactile, du gustatif et de l’olfactif, et suggère que la réciprocité qui en résulte entre les corps, humains et non humains, vivifie et entretient cette écologie affective et son potentiel épistémique. Mon analyse ethnographique contribue à une plus grande reconnaissance de l’ethnomusicologie de l’intégration multi-sensorielle de la perception, et de sa signification dans la création de sens et de savoir

Taking Ecological Function Seriously: Soil Microbial Communities Can Obviate Allelopathic Effects of Released Metabolites

Allelopathy (negative, plant-plant chemical interactions) has been largely studied as an autecological process, often assuming simplistic associations between pairs of isolated species. The growth inhibition of a species in filter paper bioassay enriched with a single chemical is commonly interpreted as evidence of an allelopathic interaction, but for some of these putative examples of allelopathy, the results have not been verifiable in more natural settings with plants growing in soil.On the basis of filter paper bioassay, a recent study established allelopathic effects of m-tyrosine, a component of root exudates of Festuca rubra ssp. commutata. We re-examined the allelopathic effects of m-tyrosine to understand its dynamics in soil environment. Allelopathic potential of m-tyrosine with filter paper and soil (non-sterile or sterile) bioassays was studied using Lactuca sativa, Phalaris minor and Bambusa arundinacea as assay species. Experimental application of m-tyrosine to non-sterile and sterile soil revealed the impact of soil microbial communities in determining the soil concentration of m-tyrosine and growth responses.Here, we show that the allelopathic effects of m-tyrosine, which could be seen in sterilized soil with particular plant species were significantly diminished when non-sterile soil was used, which points to an important role for rhizosphere-specific and bulk soil microbial activity in determining the outcome of this allelopathic interaction. Our data show that the amounts of m-tyrosine required for root growth inhibition were higher than what would normally be found in F. rubra ssp. commutata rhizosphere. We hope that our study will motivate researchers to integrate the role of soil microbial communities in bioassays in allelopathic research so that its importance in plant-plant competitive interactions can be thoroughly evaluated

Interaction of 8-Hydroxyquinoline with Soil Environment Mediates Its Ecological Function

Background: Allelopathic functions of plant-released chemicals are often studied through growth bioassays assuming that these chemicals will directly impact plant growth. This overlooks the role of soil factors in mediating allelopathic activities of chemicals, particularly non-volatiles. Here we examined the allelopathic potential of 8-hydroxyquinoline (HQ), a chemical reported to be exuded from the roots of Centaurea diffusa. Methodology/Principal Findings: Growth bioassays and HQ recovery experiments were performed in HQ-treated soils (non-sterile, sterile, organic matter-enriched and glucose-amended) and untreated control soil. Root growth of either Brassica campestris or Phalaris minor was not affected in HQ-treated non-sterile soil. Soil modifications (organic matter and glucose amendments) could not enhance the recovery of HQ in soil, which further supports the observation that HQ is not likely to be an allelopathic compound. Hydroxyquinoline-treated soil had lower values for the CO2 release compared to untreated non-sterile soil. Soil sterilization significantly influenced the organic matter content, PO 4-P and total organic nitrogen levels. Conclusion/Significance: Here, we concluded that evaluation of the effect of a chemical on plant growth is not enough in evaluating the ecological role of a chemical in plant-plant interactions. Interaction of the chemical with soil factors largel

Theorizing the (Un)Sounded in Sikhī: Anhad, Sabad, and Kīrtan

Listening to sabad kīrtan (sung scriptural verse) is a core, everyday, widespread, and loved worship practice of Sikhs around the globe. Thus, it would be fair to state that sounding is central to Sikh worship. Indeed, the Sikh scripture considers kīrtan to be an eminent mode of devotion. Yet, the ultimate aim of this sonic practice is to sense the “unsounded” vibration—anhad—and thereby the divine and divine ethical virtues. Based on a close reading of Sikh sacred texts and ethnographic research, and drawing on the analytic of transduction, the paper explicates the embodied vibratory dimensions of the (unsounded) anhad and (sounded) sabad kīrtan. It argues that the central purpose of the Sikh (un)sounding perceptual practice is embodied ethical attunement for an unmediated experience of the divine and divine ethical virtues, and thereby the development of an ethical life. At the intersection of music, sound, religious, and philosophical studies, the analysis reveals the centrality of the body in worship and ethical development, and contributes to interdisciplinary conversations on sensory epistemologies in faith traditions

Heterogeneous Patterns of Financial Development: Implications for Asian Financial Integration

This paper analyzes detailed differences in patterns of financial development across the major Asian economies, including three of the region’s largest economies (China, Japan and South Korea), to understand how these differences might affect possibilities for greater regional financial integration. In particular, the paper argues that heterogeneous patterns of financial development, and not just differences in levels of financial development, may present an economic challenge to regional financial integration efforts, aside from possible political challenges. The paper provides background on the case for financial openness, Asian experiences with financial integration, and regional economic responses to external shocks. It also discusses policy options, including regulatory reform and coordination, and possible risk management policies and institutions, in the context of heterogeneous patterns of financial development

Trade Dynamics in the East Asian Miracle: A Time Series Analysis of U.S.-East Asia Commodity Trade, 1962-1992

We examine the composition of bilateral trade between the United States and eight Asian Pacific economies from 1962 to 1992. Two complementary time series analyses of individual commodities at the SITC four-digit level indicate that significant changes occurred in trade composition during this period. We use a measure of normalized trade balances, developed by Gagnon and Rose (1995). For the eight bilateral trade relationships, commodities representing from fifty to seventy percent of 1992 dollar trade have shown statistically significant changes in the magnitude and, in some cases, in the direction of normalized trade balances, over the thirty-year period. Results support the conclusion that changes in trade patterns in both low-tech industries, such as textiles and clothing, and more high-tech industries, such as electronic parts and electronic goods, were important in the development of the East Asian economies