2,118 research outputs found
Qing China and the Legal Treatment of Mental Infirmity: A Preliminary Sketch in Tribute to Professor William C. Jones
This short tribute to Professor Jones aspires toward the high standard he continues to set as it reports briefly on research being conducted into the legal treatment of madness in late imperial China. As the work of Michel Foucault, among others, has demonstrated, an inquiry into definitions, legal and otherwise, of insanity and the treatment thereof is revealing not only about its immediate subject matter, but as well for what it suggests about that which a society understands to be normal behavior. Notwithstanding the brilliant work by Arthur Kleinman on mental illness in Chinese society, and the alarming reports by Robin Munro on the abusive use of psychiatric confinement in the People’s Republic of China, there is, however, surprisingly little written, whether by Chinese or Western scholars, regarding the legal construction of insanity in China
Structural Analysis of the Voltage-Dependent Calcium Channel β Subunit Functional Core and Its Complex with the α1 Interaction Domain
AbstractVoltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCC) are multiprotein assemblies that regulate the entry of extracellular calcium into electrically excitable cells and serve as signal transduction centers. The α1 subunit forms the membrane pore while the intracellular β subunit is responsible for trafficking of the channel to the plasma membrane and modulation of its electrophysiological properties. Crystallographic analyses of a β subunit functional core alone and in complex with a α1 interaction domain (AID) peptide, the primary binding site of β to the α1 subunit, reveal that β represents a novel member of the MAGUK protein family. The findings illustrate how the guanylate kinase fold has been fashioned into a protein-protein interaction module by alteration of one of its substrate sites. Combined results indicate that the AID peptide undergoes a helical transition in binding to β. We outline the mechanistic implications for understanding the β subunit's broad regulatory role of the VDCC, particularly via the AID
Divergence and Shannon information in genomes
Shannon information (SI) and its special case, divergence, are defined for a
DNA sequence in terms of probabilities of chemical words in the sequence and
are computed for a set of complete genomes highly diverse in length and
composition. We find the following: SI (but not divergence) is inversely
proportional to sequence length for a random sequence but is length-independent
for genomes; the genomic SI is always greater and, for shorter words and longer
sequences, hundreds to thousands times greater than the SI in a random sequence
whose length and composition match those of the genome; genomic SIs appear to
have word-length dependent universal values. The universality is inferred to be
an evolution footprint of a universal mode for genome growth.Comment: 4 pages, 3 tables, 2 figure
Draft genome sequence of Aeromonas caviae strain L12, a quorum-sensing strain isolated from a freshwater lake in Malaysia
YesHere, we present the draft genome sequence of Aeromonas caviae strain L12, which shows quorum-sensing activity. The availability of this genome sequence is important to the research of the quorum-sensing regulatory system in this isolate.High Impact Research Grants from the University of Malaya (A000001-50001; UM-MOHE HIR Grant UM C/625/1/HIR/MOHE/CHAN/14/1, H-50001-A000027
High pressure evolution of FeO electronic structure revealed by X-ray absorption
We report the first high pressure measurement of the Fe K-edge in hematite
(FeO) by X-ray absorption spectroscopy in partial fluorescence yield
geometry. The pressure-induced evolution of the electronic structure as
FeO transforms from a high-spin insulator to a low-spin metal is
reflected in the x-ray absorption pre-edge. The crystal field splitting energy
was found to increase monotonically with pressure up to 48 GPa, above which a
series of phase transitions occur. Atomic multiplet, cluster diagonalization,
and density-functional calculations were performed to simulate the pre-edge
absorption spectra, showing good qualitative agreement with the measurements.
The mechanism for the pressure-induced phase transitions of FeO is
discussed and it is shown that ligand hybridization significantly reduces the
critical high-spin/low-spin pressure.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures and 1 tabl
Influence of shear flow on vesicles near a wall: a numerical study
We describe the dynamics of three-dimensional fluid vesicles in steady shear
flow in the vicinity of a wall. This is analyzed numerically at low Reynolds
numbers using a boundary element method. The area-incompressible vesicle
exhibits bending elasticity. Forces due to adhesion or gravity oppose the
hydrodynamic lift force driving the vesicle away from a wall. We investigate
three cases. First, a neutrally buoyant vesicle is placed in the vicinity of a
wall which acts only as a geometrical constraint. We find that the lift
velocity is linearly proportional to shear rate and decreases with increasing
distance between the vesicle and the wall. Second, with a vesicle filled with a
denser fluid, we find a stationary hovering state. We present an estimate of
the viscous lift force which seems to agree with recent experiments of Lorz et
al. [Europhys. Lett., vol. 51, 468 (2000)]. Third, if the wall exerts an
additional adhesive force, we investigate the dynamical unbinding transition
which occurs at an adhesion strength linearly proportional to the shear rate.Comment: 17 pages (incl. 10 figures), RevTeX (figures in PostScript
Gossip in the workplace and the implications for HR management : a study of gossip and its relationship to employee cynicism
Gossip is a common phenomenon in the workplace and yet relatively little is understood about its
influence to employees. This study adopts social information theory and social cognitive theory to interpret
the diverse literature on gossip, and to develop and test hypotheses concerning some of the antecedents of
gossip, with an aim of developing knowledge of the relationship between gossip and employee behaviour in
the workplace. The study analysed survey data in a two stage process, from 362 employees across a range
of industries in Taiwan. The findings revealed that job-related gossip predicted employee cynicism and
mediated the relationship between psychological contract violation and cynicism, and that non-job-related
gossip showed a similar but weaker effect to employee cynicism. The contribution made by this paper is of
value to both the academic subject domain and managers in Human Resources. Firstly, we have identified
two constructs of gossip, job related and non-job related gossip not previously reported and a validated scale
has been created. Secondly, we have confirmed that these different constructs of gossip impact differently on
employee behaviour and therefore HR managers should be cautious about gossip in the workplace, as it can
cause cynical behaviour amongst employees
Covariant Light-Front Approach for s-wave and p-wave Mesons: Its Application to Decay Constants and Form Factors
We study the decay constants and form factors of the ground-state s-wave and
low-lying p-wave mesons within a covariant light-front approach. Numerical
results of the form factors for transitions between a heavy pseudoscalar meson
and an s-wave or p-wave meson and their momentum dependence are presented in
detail. In particular, form factors for heavy-to-light and B to D**
transitions, where D** denotes generically a p-wave charmed meson, are compared
with other model calculations. The experimental measurements of the decays B^-
to D** pi^- and B to D D**_s are employed to test the decay constants of D**_s
and the B to D** transition form factors. The heavy quark limit behavior of the
decay constants and form factors is examined and it is found that the
requirement of heavy quark symmetry is satisfied. The universal Isgur-Wise (IW)
functions, one for s-wave to s-wave and two for s-wave to p-wave transitions,
are obtained. The values of IW functions at zero recoil and their slope
parameters can be used to test the Bjorken and Uraltsev sum rules.Comment: 59 pages, 6 figures. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. Changes are:
(i) D_s to phi transition form factors are discussed and compared with the
recent FOCUS measurements and (ii) zero mode effects are clarifie
Synthesis and characterization of new fluorescent two-photon absorption chromophores{
A series of dipolar and quadrupolar type two-photon absorption (TPA) compounds has been synthesized and TPA cross sections (s) were measured by Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser excitation fluorescence (l = 800 nm). Among them, the compound ) can be achieved. One quadrupolar molecule (13) possessing an arylamine donor and a pyridazine acceptor has both a high s value (1442 GM) and s/MW (1.97 GM/g)
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