Between East and West:: The Cold War, Japan and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

Die Olympischen Spiele 1964 in Tokio dienten als Spektakel und Medienereignis dazu, die Idee einer einzigartigen asiatischen Identität mit der einer komplett neuen, modernen, ökonomisch entwickelten und demokratischen Gesellschaft zu verbinden. Japan wurde als ein nachahmenswertes Beispiel für einen erfolgreichen Modernisierungsprozess beworben, in dessen Verlauf es seine asiatische Identität und kulturelle Einzigartigkeit nicht verloren habe. Der Artikel untersucht, wie vor dem Hintergrund der ideologischen Prioritäten des Kalten Krieges die Frage nach der japanischen nationalen Identität in Debatten über den ‚Westen’ und über ‚Asien’ diskutiert wurde. Japan versinnbildlichte 1964 eine ‚globale Moderne’ nicht nur durch die Transformation seiner Infrastruktur. Nationale Identität wurde auch ein ‚Konsumartikel’ und ein ‚Japan’ entstand, das unabhängig von der symbolischen Politik der Olympischen Spiele existieren konnte und jungen Japanern in den Metropolen eine scheinbar unpolitische nationale Identität offerierte. Dieses Bild wurde sowohl dem internationalen wie auch dem nationalen Publikum vermittelt und kann im Rahmen seiner Beschreibung von ‚Japan‘, dem ‚Westen‘ und ‚Asien‘ als ein Produkt des Kalten Krieges betrachtet werden

Non-Symbolic Fragmentation

This paper reports on the use of non-symbolic fragmentation of data for securing communications. Non-symbolic fragmentation, or NSF, relies on breaking up data into non-symbolic fragments, which are (usually irregularly-sized) chunks whose boundaries do not necessarily coincide with the boundaries of the symbols making up the data. For example, ASCII data is broken up into fragments which may include 8-bit fragments but also include many other sized fragments. Fragments are then separated with a form of path diversity. The secrecy of the transmission relies on the secrecy of one or more of a number of things: the ordering of the fragments, the sizes of the fragments, and the use of path diversity. Once NSF is in place, it can help secure many forms of communication, and is useful for exchanging sensitive information, and for commercial transactions. A sample implementation is described with an evaluation of the technology

Construction and testing of self-drilled soil nails

Current standards and best practice guidance recognise that testing of self-drilled hollow bar soil nails can be problematic as conventional packers and debonded lengths cannot be constructed. As a result, this causes difficulty in testing and confirming the ultimate bond resistance within the passive zone of a soil-nailed slope, and thus the design soil nail lengths. This paper provides a summary and review of the various testing procedures adopted for a soil nail construction project in Scotland. The practical design considerations, and their validation through the installation and testing of 49 sacrificial test nails, are detailed. The construction issues associated with the nail installation and testing are also outlined and discussed in light of the results obtained using different testing approaches. The aim of this case study is to report on the experiences with installation and testing of hollow bar soil nails. The objectives are to develop an initial data base of available soil–grout bond strength of hollow bar soil nails based on the several practical installation procedures used in this project and to establish areas for improvement of installation, testing and quality control in order to perform comparable pullout tests on self-drilled hollow bar soil nails. </jats:p

Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’

Contemporary Japan is loud. Many scholars have argued that the Japanese have a cultural propensity to embrace urban noise. Yet little research has been done on the history of urban noise in Japan. Far from passively accepting or culturally embracing noisy cities, the Japanese have long struggled with the definition, measurement, and control of unwanted sound. Urban noise and the idea of the ‘modern’ soundscape has often worked within a feedback loop that amplifies politically driven debates about the nature of ‘modernity’, the meaning of ‘civilisation’ and the nature of the Japanese people. Since the late nineteenth century, authorities' concern for urban noise stemmed from a fear of embarrassment because of the low-level of ‘civilisation’ amongst the people. Yet rapid industrial development and urban population growth soon posed the problem of urban noise as one of technological expertise-the people were too backward to understand and the issue was best solved by the experts. As groups of scientists, engineers and acousticians began to come together to debate solutions, they foregrounded urban noise as a problem of traffic, transport, and civic construction, not individual everyday life. Noisy neighbours, street noise, or people going about their daily business came to be heard as ‘urban music’ in contrast to ‘urban noise’. After 1945, better technological possibilities for sound proofing and an increasing focus on individual responsibility refocused urban noise as a problem of everyday life. With the end of the period of rapid economic growth in the 1970s, and the growing awareness of wider environmental problems, the noise of everyday life in the cities was gradually recast as one element of ‘urban noise’

Expertise from the humanities and social sciences is essential for governmental responses to COVID-19

Researchers from the humanities and social sciences can help governments emerge and recover from COVID-19, yet their perspectives continue to be ignored and marginalised. Humanities and social science research can provide the political, historical, cultural, social, and economic insights to deepen our understanding of the pandemic, how it has been experienced, how to overcome it, and how best to learn from it

Chapter Introducing Asian Sound Cultures

In this brief introduction we highlight the importance of broadening the cartography of sound studies beyond the West. Over the last decade or so, the geographical range of sound studies has rapidly broadened at the same time as keywords and approaches to sound in the humanities and social sciences have become increasingly standardised theoretical and conceptual tools. The need to explore ways of thinking about sound articulated by experiences outside the West is becoming essential to ensuring the field remains as open to interpretation and as diffuse in nature and geography as the object of study itself. In this introduction we outline the contributions to this project made by the chapters gathered in this volume. We argue that mixing historical perspectives with ethnography, literary studies, film studies, technology, language and music and listening for the inflections driven by sonic regimes imposed by a global process of change in Asia can help us to better understand the shared experience and construction of modern sound. We also argue for an ‘international localism’ that, whilst accepting that the sound of modernity is inseparable from the process of modernity, amplifies the ambiguity of modern understandings of sound and mobilises the diverse historical experiences and rich social practices of Asia to provide alternative horizons for the exciting and vibrant field of sound studies

A State-of-the-Science Review of Arsenic's Effects on Glucose Homeostasis in Experimental Models.

BackgroundThe prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has more than doubled since 1980. Poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, and obesity are among the primary risk factors. While an estimated 70% of cases are attributed to excess adiposity, there is an increased interest in understanding the contribution of environmental agents to diabetes causation and severity. Arsenic is one of these environmental chemicals, with multiple epidemiology studies supporting its association with T2D. Despite extensive research, the molecular mechanism by which arsenic exerts its diabetogenic effects remains unclear.ObjectivesWe conducted a literature search focused on arsenite exposure in vivo and in vitro, using relevant end points to elucidate potential mechanisms of oral arsenic exposure and diabetes development.MethodsWe explored experimental results for potential mechanisms and elucidated the distinct effects that occur at high vs. low exposure. We also performed network analyses relying on publicly available data, which supported our key findings.ResultsWhile several mechanisms may be involved, our findings support that arsenite has effects on whole-body glucose homeostasis, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, hepatic glucose metabolism, and both adipose and pancreatic β-cell dysfunction.DiscussionThis review applies state-of-the-science approaches to identify the current knowledge gaps in our understanding of arsenite on diabetes development. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4517