Authoritarian successor parties and political protest in Asia

How does an authoritarian successor party (ASP) interact with civil society in East and Southeast Asia? Does an ASP's control over the executive and legislature increase or decrease protest movements? Do ASPs effectively mobilize protesters? Why do ASP supporters organize protests? Among third wave democracies from 1974 to 2010, 75 percent of countries produced authoritarian successor parties and 54 percent of them had ASPs returned to power. In Asia, in particular, many ASPs still remain successful in elections. By employing various research methods ranging from frequentist and Bayesian to qualitative analysis of interviews, this study examines the relationship between ASPs and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Asia and provides an answer to each question.Includes bibliographical reference

Musik als Ressource der Lebensbewältigung von Migrantinnen aus Südkorea mit Kindern mit und ohne Behinderung in Deutschland

Fragestellung: Es soll die Hypothese empirisch überprüft und diskutiert werden, ob Musik als eine Ressource bei der Lebensbewältigung von koreanischen Migranten in Deutsch-land mit Kindern mit und ohne Behinderung dienen kann. Methode: Es werden qualitative Leitfadeninterviews als Erhebungsverfahren durchgeführt. Es wurden jeweils drei in Deutschland lebende koreanische Frauen mit Kindern mit Behinderung und mit Kindern ohne Behinderung für die Leitfadeninterviews ausgewählt. Hierbei lagen die Schwerpunkte auf der Bedeutung von Musik bei der Lebensbewältigung. Es wurden vorher drei Probeinterviews durchgeführt, um die Dauer der Interviews besser abschätzen und die Inhalte verändern zu können. Jedes Interview dauerte zwischen 50 und 80 Minuten. Zusammenfassung: Die sechs Befragten wuchsen in Korea auf und verbrachten ihre sensiblen Phasen der Kindheit und Pubertät in der koreanischen sozio-kulturellen Welt. Bei den Interviews wurde deutlich, dass sie besonderen Risiken während ihrer Migrations-prozesse ausgesetzt waren und sind. Die Befragten gaben an, dass sie sowohl zahlreiche koreanische traditionellen Lieder als auch europäische klassische Musikstücke für fast jede Alltagssituation kennen. Warum waren und sind diese Lieder für die koreanischen Frauen mit Kindern im individuellen Alltag, im gesellschaftlichen Zusammenleben und auch in Krisensituationen so wichtig? Hierauf hat bis heute niemand eine eindeutige und klare Antwort geben können. Es konnte jedoch festgestellt werden, dass das Hören dieser Lieder und Musikstücke und deren Singen für viele Koreanerinnen ein wichtiger Teil in kritischen Phasen ihres Alltags geworden waren und sind, auch wenn sie keine musikalische Begabung oder Ausbildung hatten und haben. Sie wurde für die Befragten eine Alltagsbegleiterin so wie es auch in Korea der Fall war. In Deutschland waren und sind außer der Befragten (B3) alle in verschiedenen Musikgruppen aktiv. Aber die Anlässe und die Motivation für das eigene Musikmachen und das Hören der Musik sind individuell verschieden. Die Befragten nannten hierzu ihre Stimmungsregulierung, ihre Identitätsstabilisierung, ihre Integration, ihre Lebens-bewältigung und ihren Musikgenuss. Die Bedeutung der Musik während der Migrations-prozesse der Befragten kann nicht pauschalisiert werden, weil diese verschiedene individuelle Erfahrungen hatten und unterschiedliche Situationen durchlebten

CMOS Backplane Pixel Circuit with Leakage and Voltage Compensation for an Micro-LED Display achieving 5,000 PPI or higher

Micro-displays based on micro-LEDs are becoming more and more attractive in AR/MR (Augmented/Mixed Reality) applications. A display size of 0.5 to 0.7-inch is preferred, with 5,000 PPI (Pixel Per Inch) or higher. Due to this pixel density and size, a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Silicon) backplane is an ideal solution to drive these pixelized micro-LEDs. As the required pixel size gets smaller, the design of the appropriate pixel circuit becomes more challenging. The simplest 2T1C (2 transistors & 1 capacitor) pixel circuit has potential problems, due to the leakage current of the switch transistor and the voltage drop on the matrix array layout. In this paper, a pixel circuit is proposed as a solution to overcome these two issues. Our simulation results show that the variation of the driving current to the LED is improved by 95 %, and the IR drop error rate is around 2.2 % compared to the 2T1C circuit. The test results also show that the error rate of IPIXEL for the whole region of display is under 2.5 %. This work is verified using a test chip implementation with 180 nm CMOS process technology

Wasserstein Geodesic Generator for Conditional Distributions

Generating samples given a specific label requires estimating conditional distributions. We derive a tractable upper bound of the Wasserstein distance between conditional distributions to lay the theoretical groundwork to learn conditional distributions. Based on this result, we propose a novel conditional generation algorithm where conditional distributions are fully characterized by a metric space defined by a statistical distance. We employ optimal transport theory to propose the \textit{Wasserstein geodesic generator}, a new conditional generator that learns the Wasserstein geodesic. The proposed method learns both conditional distributions for observed domains and optimal transport maps between them. The conditional distributions given unobserved intermediate domains are on the Wasserstein geodesic between conditional distributions given two observed domain labels. Experiments on face images with light conditions as domain labels demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method

Small non-coding RNA profiling and the role of piRNA pathway genes in the protection of chicken primordial germ cells

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Background Genes, RNAs, and proteins play important roles during germline development. However, the functions of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) on germline development remain unclear in avian species. Recent high-throughput techniques have identified several classes of ncRNAs, including micro RNAs (miRNAs), small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). These ncRNAs are functionally important in the genome, however, the identification and annotation of ncRNAs in a genome is challenging. The aim of this study was to identify different types of small ncRNAs particularly piRNAs, and the role of piRNA pathway genes in the protection of chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs). Results At first, we performed next-generation sequencing to identify ncRNAs in chicken PGCs, and we performed ab initio predictive analysis to identify putative piRNAs in PGCs. Then, we examined the expression of three repetitive sequence-linked piRNAs and 14 genic-transcript-linked piRNAs along with their linked genes using real-time PCR. All piRNAs and their linked genes were highly expressed in PGCs. Subsequently, we knocked down two known piRNA pathway genes of chicken, PIWI-like protein 1 (CIWI) and 2 (CILI), in PGCs using siRNAs. After knockdown of CIWI and CILI, we examined their effects on the expression of six putative piRNA-linked genes and DNA double-strand breakage in PGCs. The knockdown of CIWI and CILI upregulated chicken repetitive 1 (CR1) element and RAP2B, a member of RAS oncogene family, and increased DNA double-strand breakage in PGCs. Conclusions Our results increase the understanding of PGC-expressed piRNAs and the role of piRNA pathway genes in the protection of germ cells

RF Sensor-based Liveness Detection Scheme with Loop Stability Compensation Circuit for a Capacitive Fingerprint System

A capacitive fingerprint system is the most widely used biometric identification method for smartphones. In this paper, we propose a RF sensor-based liveness detection scheme. This method solves the problem of spoofing attacks, which is a primary disadvantage to capacitive fingerprint sensors. The proposed scheme measures the inherent impedance characteristic difference of the target fingerprint caused by the eddy-current effect with an auto-balancing bridge method. The magnetic field is generated by a small form-factor inductor coil of ?? = 1.5mm. This detection scheme can be easily integrated with an existing capacitive fingerprint sensor by using the same CMOS process. The measured results demonstrate the liveness detection capability of the Si-graphite (silicone-graphite) and polyvinyl fake fingerprints that cannot be distinguished by conventional capacitive fingerprint sensors

MDC1 maintains active elongation complexes of RNA polymerase II

The role of MDC1 in the DNA damage response has been extensively studied; however, its impact on other cellular processes is not well understood. Here, we describe the role of MDC1 in transcription as a regulator of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). Depletion of MDC1 causes a genome-wide reduction in the abundance of actively engaged RNAPII elongation complexes throughout the gene body of protein-encoding genes under unperturbed conditions. Decreased engaged RNAPII subsequently alters the assembly of the spliceosome complex on chromatin, leading to changes in pre-mRNA splicing. Mechanistically, the S/TQ domain of MDC1 modulates RNAPII-mediated transcription. Upon genotoxic stress, MDC1 promotes the abundance of engaged RNAPII complexes at DNA breaks, thereby stimulating nascent transcription at the damaged sites. Of clinical relevance, cancer cells lacking MDC1 display hypersensitivity to RNAPII inhibitors. Overall, we unveil a role of MDC1 in RNAPII-mediated transcription with potential implications for cancer treatment.European Union 722729Danish Cancer Society R167-A11068, R204-A12617-B153, R311-A18224Lundbeck Foundation R266-2017-4289Swedish Research Council VR-MH 2014-46602-117891-30Danish Council for Independent Research DFF-7016-00313Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) JP19K23927, JP20K07578Novo Nordisk Foundation NNF20OC0060590, NNF18OC0052647, NNF20OC0059959Independent Research Fund Denmark 8045-00057A, 0165-00092

Evaluation of a technology-enhanced integrated care model for frail older persons: protocol of the SPEC study, a stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial in nursing homes

Background Limited evidence exists on the effectiveness of the chronic care model for people with multimorbidity. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an information and communication technology- (ICT-)enhanced integrated care model, called Systems for Person-centered Elder Care (SPEC), for frail older adults at nursing homes. Methods/Design SPEC is a prospective stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial conducted at 10 nursing homes in South Korea. Residents aged 65 or older meeting the inclusion/exclusion criteria in all the homes are eligible to participate. The multifaceted SPEC intervention, a geriatric care model guided by the chronic care model, consists of five components: comprehensive geriatric assessment for need/risk profiling, individual need-based care planning, interdisciplinary case conferences, person-centered care coordination, and a cloud-based information and communications technology (ICT) tool supporting the intervention process. The primary outcome is quality of care for older residents using a composite measure of quality indicators from the interRAI LTCF assessment system. Outcome assessors and data analysts will be blinded to group assignment. Secondary outcomes include quality of life, healthcare utilization, and cost. Process evaluation will be also conducted. Discussion This study is expected to provide important new evidence on the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and implementation process of an ICT-supported chronic care model for older persons with multiple chronic illnesses. The SPEC intervention is also unique as the first registered trial implementing an integrated care model using technology to promote person-centered care for frail older nursing home residents in South Korea, where formal LTC was recently introduced

Transparent Fingerprint Sensor System for Large Flat Panel Display

In this paper, we introduce a transparent fingerprint sensing system using a thin film transistor (TFT) sensor panel, based on a self-capacitive sensing scheme. An armorphousindium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) TFT sensor array and associated custom Read-Out IC (ROIC) are implemented for the system. The sensor panel has a 200 ?? 200 pixel array and each pixel size is as small as 50 ??m ?? 50 ??m. The ROIC uses only eight analog front-end (AFE) amplifier stages along with a successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC). To get the fingerprint image data from the sensor array, the ROIC senses a capacitance, which is formed by a cover glass material between a human finger and an electrode of each pixel of the sensor array. Three methods are reviewed for estimating the self-capacitance. The measurement result demonstrates that the transparent fingerprint sensor system has an ability to differentiate a human finger???s ridges and valleys through the fingerprint sensor array