2,067 research outputs found
Impartiality, Close Friendships and the Confucian Tradition
This article explores the relationship between friendship and morality. Two ideas have
been influential in the history of moral philosophy: the impartial standpoint and close
friendship. These two perspectives on thought and action can conflict, however, and
such a case is presented here.
In an attempt to resolve these tensions, and understand the assumption that gives
rise to it, I explore an alternative conception of moral conduct and friendship suggested
by early Confucian thought. Within this account, moral conduct is that which
aims at harmony, understood as the appropriate blending of different elements.
This suggests
a conception of friendship that realizes harmony through a focus on
shared activities, and the quality of interaction achieved between people as they participate
in shared social events. This account offers a novel way of conceptualizing
friendship, which also avoids the tension between the impartial standpoint and close
friendship
Adaptive Optics Simulations for Siding Spring
Using an observational derived model optical turbulence profile (model-OTP)
we have investigated the performance of Adaptive Optics (AO) at Siding Spring
Observatory (SSO), Australia. The simulations cover the performance for AO
techniques of single conjugate adaptive optics (SCAO), multi-conjugate adaptive
optics (MCAO) and ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO). The simulation results
presented in this paper predict the performance of these AO techniques as
applied to the Australian National University (ANU) 2.3 m and Anglo-Australian
Telescope (AAT) 3.9 m telescopes for astronomical wavelength bands J, H and K.
The results indicate that AO performance is best for the longer wavelengths
(K-band) and in the best seeing conditions (sub 1-arcsecond). The most
promising results are found for GLAO simulations (field of view of 180
arcsecs), with the field RMS for encircled energy 50% diameter (EE50d) being
uniform and minimally affected by the free-atmosphere turbulence. The GLAO
performance is reasonably good over the wavelength bands of J, H and K. The
GLAO field mean of EE50d is between 200 mas to 800 mas, which is a noticeable
improvement compared to the nominal astronomical seeing (870 to 1700 mas).Comment: 15 pages; accepted for publication in PAS
The Challenge of Teaching Chinese Philosophy: Some Thoughts on Method
In this essay I offer an alternative perspective on how to organize class material for courses in Chinese philosophy for predominately American students. Instead of selecting topics taken from common themes in Western discourses, I suggest a variety of organizational strategies based on themes from the Chinese texts themselves, such as tradition, ritual, family, and guanxi (關係), which are rooted in the Chinese tradition but flexible enough to organize a broad range of philosophical material
The Wrong of Rudeness
Amy Olberding, The Wrong of Rudeness: Learning Modern Civility from Ancient Chinese Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2019, 183pp., $29.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780190880965.
Reviewed byAndrew Lambert, City University of New York, College of Staten Islan
Accuracy assessment of Tri-plane B-mode ultrasound for non-invasive 3D kinematic analysis of knee joints
BACKGROUND Currently the clinical standard for measuring the motion of the bones in knee joints with sufficient precision involves implanting tantalum beads into the bones. These beads appear as high intensity features in radiographs and can be used for precise kinematic measurements. This procedure imposes a strong coupling between accuracy and invasiveness. In this paper, a tri-plane B-mode ultrasound (US) based non-invasive approach is proposed for use in kinematic analysis of knee joints in 3D space. METHODS The 3D analysis is performed using image processing procedures on the 2D US slices. The novelty of the proposed procedure and its applicability to the unconstrained 3D kinematic analysis of knee joints is outlined. An error analysis for establishing the method's feasibility is included for different artificial compositions of a knee joint phantom. Some in-vivo and in-vitro scans are presented to demonstrate that US scans reveal enough anatomical details, which further supports the experimental setup used using knee bone phantoms. RESULTS The error between the displacements measured by the registration of the US image slices and the true displacements of the respective slices measured using the precision mechanical stages on the experimental apparatus is evaluated for translation and rotation in two simulated environments. The mean and standard deviation of errors are shown in tabular form. This method provides an average measurement precision of less than 0.1 mm and 0.1 degrees, respectively. CONCLUSION In this paper, we have presented a novel non-invasive approach to measuring the motion of the bones in a knee using tri-plane B-mode ultrasound and image registration. In our study, the image registration method determines the position of bony landmarks relative to a B-mode ultrasound sensor array with sub-pixel accuracy. The advantages of our proposed system over previous techniques are that it is non-invasive, does not require the use of ionizing radiation and can be used conveniently if miniaturized.This work has been supported by School of Engineering & IT, UNSW Canberra, under Research Publication Fellowship
Cost effectiveness analysis of different approaches of screening for familial hypercholesterolaemia
Objectives To assess the cost effectiveness of
strategies to screen for and treat familial
hypercholesterolaemia.
Design Cost effectiveness analysis. A care pathway for
each patient was delineated and the associated
probabilities, benefits, and costs were calculated.
Participants Simulated population aged 16Â54 years
in England and Wales.
Interventions Identification and treatment of patients
with familial hypercholesterolaemia by universal
screening, opportunistic screening in primary care,
screening of people admitted to hospital with
premature myocardial infarction, or tracing family
members of affected patients.
Main outcome measure Cost effectiveness calculated
as cost per life year gained (extension of life
expectancy resulting from intervention) including
estimated costs of screening and treatment.
Results Tracing of family members was the most cost
effective strategy (£3097 (&5066, $4479) per life year
gained) as 2.6 individuals need to be screened to
identify one case at a cost of £133 per case detected. If
the genetic mutation was known within the family
then the cost per life year gained (£4914) was only
slightly increased by genetic confirmation of the
diagnosis. Universal population screening was least
cost effective (£13 029 per life year gained) as 1365
individuals need to be screened at a cost of £9754 per
case detected. For each strategy it was more cost
effective to screen younger people and women.
Targeted strategies were more expensive per person
screened, but the cost per case detected was lower.
Population screening of 16 year olds only was as cost
effective as family tracing (£2777 with a clinical
confirmation).
Conclusions Screening family members of people
with familial hypercholesterolaemia is the most cost
effective option for detecting cases across the whole
population
Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires and the Conflict That Made the Modern World
Na\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e/K\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e-ATPase α1 mRNA Expression In the Gill and Rectal Gland of the Atlantic Stingray, \u3ci\u3eDasyatis sabina\u3c/i\u3e, Following Acclimation to Increased Salinity Physiology
Background: The salt-secreting rectal gland plays a major role in elasmobranch osmoregulation, facilitating ion balance in hyperosmotic environments in a manner analogous to the teleost gill. Several studies have examined the central role of the sodium pump Na+/K+-ATPase in osmoregulatory tissues of euryhaline elasmobranch species, including regulation of Na+/K+-ATPase activity and abundance in response to salinity acclimation. However, while the transcriptional regulation of Na+/K+-ATPase in the teleost gill has been well documented the potential for mRNA regulation to facilitate rectal gland plasticity during salinity acclimation in elasmobranchs has not been examined. Therefore, in this study we acclimated Atlantic stingrays, Dasyatis sabina (Lesueur) from 11 to 34 ppt salinity over 3 days, and examined changes in plasma components as well as gill and rectal gland Na+/K+-ATPase α1 (atp1a1) mRNA expression.
Results: Acclimation to increased salinity did not affect hematocrit but resulted in significant increases in plasma osmolality, chloride and urea. Rectal gland atp1a1 mRNA expression was higher in 34 ppt-acclimated D. sabina vs. controls. There was no significant change in gill atp1a1 mRNA expression, however mRNA expression of this gene in the gill and rectal gland were negatively correlated.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates regulation of atp1a1 in the elasmobranch salt-secreting gland in response to salinity acclimation and a negative relationship between rectal gland and gill atp1a1 expression. These results support the hypothesis that the gill and rectal gland play opposing roles in ion balance with the gill potentially facilitating ion uptake in hypoosmotic environments. Future studies should further examine this possibility as well as potential differences in the regulation of Na+/K+-ATPase gene expression between euryhaline and stenohaline elasmobranch species
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