Korean Soil, Japanese Faces, American Empire: Repatriation and the Korean War Experiences of Japanese Laborers and Japanese American Soldiers

This paper compares the Korean War experiences of two ethnically Japanese groups that served the US military on the Korean Peninsula – second-generation Japanese American (Nisei) soldiers in the US Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and Japanese laborers – to demonstrate the salience of citizenship in the post-1945 Asia Pacific. In particular, this research addresses the question, “how did the politics of repatriation differentiate the experiences of Japanese Americans from those of Japanese nationals, both serving the US military during the Korean War?” This service ranged from (Nisei) American repatriation interrogators of Korean and Chinese civilians, to prisoners of war (POWs), and included clandestine Japanese laborer-repatriates, respectively. Archival material (Harrington Files 1940s-1970s), biographies (McNaughton 1994, 2007), declassified military documents and ground-breaking histories (Takemae 2002; Fujitani 2011; Morris-Suzuki 2011, 2012; Kim 2013; Jager 2013) are viewed through critical discourse analysis (CDA) Fairclough 1989, 1995; Janks 1997) to develop a transregional decolonial framework that reimagines critically the role of the US military in unresolved conflicts over sovereignty and identity formation in the Asia Pacific. Findings reveal that experiences with repatriation reinforce and challenge racial constructs differently for Japanese and Japanese Americans. Finally, they expose distinctions in labor, as well as individual yearnings for postwar mobility

Topological defect lasers

We demonstrate topological defect lasers in a GaAs membrane with embedded InAs quantum dots. By introducing a disclination to a square-lattice of elliptical air holes, we obtain spatially confined optical resonances with high quality factor. Such resonances support powerflow vortices, and lase upon optical excitation of quantum dots, embedded in the structure. The spatially inhomogeneous variation of the unit cell orientation adds another dimension to the control of a lasing mode, enabling the manipulation of its field pattern and energy flow landscape

Spin Glass Behavior in RuSr2Gd1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10

The dynamics of the magnetic properties of polycrystalline RuSr2Gd1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10 (Ru-1222) have been studied by ac susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements, including relaxation and ageing studies. Ru-1222 is a reported magneto-superconductor with Ru spins magnetic ordering at temperatures near 100 K and superconductivity in Cu-O2 planes below Tc ~ 40 K. The exact nature of Ru spins magnetic ordering is still debated and no conclusion has been reached yet. In this work, a frequency-dependent cusp was observed in ac susceptibility vs. T measurements, which is interpreted as a spin glass transition. The change in the cusp position with frequency follows the Vogel-Fulcher law, which is commonly accepted to describe a spin glass with magnetically interacting clusters. Such interpretation is supported by themoremanaent magnetization (TRM) measurements at T = 60 K. TRM relaxations are well described by a stretched exponential relation, and present significant ageing effects.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Living at the wadi – integrating geomorphology and archaeology at the oasis of Qurayyah (NW Arabia)

The archaeological site Qurayyah, situated in the NW of the Tabuk Province of Saudi Arabia, has been repeatedly described as one of the largest and most significant oases of Northwestern Arabia. Human occupation in the oasis started at least from the early Holocene and continued to the Nabatean, Roman and late Byzantine period. The hydrologically favored position results from its specific geomorphological location where the plateaus fade towards the east and the landscape opens towards the Tabuk Basin so that a balanced water supply was ensured. We present a geomorphological map (1:20,000; main map) based on the interpretation of a high-resolution satellite image and detailed control in the field. The map integrates archaeological, hydraulic and natural features in order to show how the people at Qurayyah structured their landscape and developed water management strategies in relation to prevailing geomorphological processes during the incipient phase (Bronze Age) of the oasis

Nuclear-fission studies with relativistic secondary beams: analysis of fission channels

Nuclear fission of several neutron-deficient actinides and pre-actinides from excitation energies around 11 MeV was studied at GSI Darmstadt by use of relativistic secondary beams. The characteristics of multimodal fission of nuclei around 226Th are systematically investigated and interpreted as the superposition of three fission channels. Properties of these fission channels have been determined for 15 systems. A global view on the properties of fission channels including previous results is presented. The positions of the asymmetric fission channels are found to be constant in element number over the whole range of systems investigated.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, background information on http://www.gsi.de/charm

Hick and Radhakrishnan on Religious Diversity: Back to the Kantian Noumenon

We shall examine some conceptual tensions in Hick’s ‘pluralism’ in the light of S. Radhakrishnan’s reformulation of classical Advaita. Hick himself often quoted Radhakrishnan’s translations from the Hindu scriptures in support of his own claims about divine ineffability, transformative experience and religious pluralism. However, while Hick developed these themes partly through an adaptation of Kantian epistemology, Radhakrishnan derived them ultimately from Śaṁkara (c.800 CE), and these two distinctive points of origin lead to somewhat different types of reconstruction of the diversity of world religions. Our argument will highlight the point that Radhakrishnan is not a ‘pluralist’ in terms of Hick’s understanding of the Real. The Advaitin ultimate, while it too like Hick’s Real cannot be encapsulated by human categories, is, however, not strongly ineffable, because some substantive descriptions, according to the Advaitic tradition, are more accurate than others. Our comparative analysis will reveal that they differ because they are located in two somewhat divergent metaphysical schemes. In turn, we will be able to revisit, through this dialogue between Hick and Radhakrishnan, the intensely vexed question of whether Hick’s version of pluralism is in fact a form of covert exclusivism.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11841-015-0459-

Effects of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) on exercise performance and body composition across varying levels of age, sex, and training experience: A review

The leucine metabolite beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) has been extensively used as an ergogenic aid; particularly among bodybuilders and strength/power athletes, who use it to promote exercise performance and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. While numerous studies have supported the efficacy of HMB in exercise and clinical conditions, there have been a number of conflicting results. Therefore, the first purpose of this paper will be to provide an in depth and objective analysis of HMB research. Special care is taken to present critical details of each study in an attempt to both examine the effectiveness of HMB as well as explain possible reasons for conflicting results seen in the literature. Within this analysis, moderator variables such as age, training experience, various states of muscle catabolism, and optimal dosages of HMB are discussed. The validity of dependent measurements, clustering of data, and a conflict of interest bias will also be analyzed. A second purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive discussion on possible mechanisms, which HMB may operate through. Currently, the most readily discussed mechanism has been attributed to HMB as a precursor to the rate limiting enzyme to cholesterol synthesis HMG-coenzyme A reductase. However, an increase in research has been directed towards possible proteolytic pathways HMB may operate through. Evidence from cachectic cancer studies suggests that HMB may inhibit the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway responsible for the specific degradation of intracellular proteins. HMB may also directly stimulate protein synthesis, through an mTOR dependent mechanism. Finally, special care has been taken to provide future research implications