Shwe U Daung and the Burmese Sherlock Holmes: To be a modern Burmese citizen living in a nation-state, 1889 -1962

After the fall of the last Burmese kingdom and the coming of British rule, how did the Burmese come to accept modern notions of the ‘nation-state’? This thesis investigates Burmese nationalist discourse from the perspective of a bilingual intellectual who was not part of mainstream elite politics, through the writing of a biography of Shwe U Daung. Shewe U Daung was a novelist, short story writer and translator, well-known as the creator of ‘San Shar the Detective’, a Burmese adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories. He spent nearly half a century writing more than 160 episodes, encouraged by their popularity. In historical studies of Burmese nationalism, the dominant approach has used a secular paradigm focusing on political and economic analysis. After 1930, the Dobama Asiayone or the Thakin Party, influenced by socialism and communism, developed increasing political power. Their ideas eventually came to function as the country’s mainstream nationalist narrative and contributed to the formation of a grand narrative of today’s Myanmar. The role of religion and language have not been widely explored. However, to understand the nature of Burmese nationalism, it is important to examine the historical roles and inter-relationship of Buddhism and Burmese literature. The ‘San Shar the Detective’ stories began to appear in 1917 and were promoted by publishing organs linked to the Young Men’s Buddhist Association (YMBA), which was at the forefront of the development of Burmese nationalism up until the mid-1930s. The establishment of the YMBA was inspired by the Theosophical Society and the development of Burmese literature was one of the YMBA’s objectives. In the Dobama-dominated grand narrative, the YMBA’s political and publishing heritage has been largely overlooked. In 1961, at seventy-two years of age, Shwe U Daung also published a comprehensive autobiography entitled Record of Life and Thoughts (Tathetta Hmattan hnint Ahtweakhawmya). This was written at a time when the writing of autobiography writing was still unusual among the Burmese. This thesis combines analysis of this autobiography with a study of Shwe U Daung’s creative writing to understand the development of his perception of the Burmese nation-state from his childhood up until the time he wrote his autobiography. I will show how episodes of the ‘San Shar’ stories reflected Shwe U Daung’s changing ideas on nationalism, as he moved from being a supporter of colonialism to one of independence. Crucial to his views on nationalism was the development of the concept of the ‘Burmese gentleman’ as the ideal Burmese citizen. In the period after 1947 he became a critical commentator on the government, in a way that was consistent with his understanding of how citizens should relate to the independent Burmese state. This research shows that the style of Burmese nationalism fostered by the YMBA was an important step in the acceptance of modernity in Burmese history and a transformational cultural movement that was deeply connected to two aspects of traditional Burmese identity: Buddhism and literature. It also shows the dynamism and flexibility in the way Burmese identity was accommodated with the idea of the nation-state. The thesis demonstrates that the long-lasting popularity of the ‘San Shar’ stories is evidence of the continuity of YMBA culture and the unique voice of Shwe U Daung as an expression of it. His ideal of the ‘Burmese gentleman’ reflects his long-term exploration of English literature and his commitment to a form of Buddhist practice focusing on individual effort. The San Shar stories represented a major arena for the expression of a modern Buddhist critical spirit in the search for an ideal nation-state. The fact that Shwe U Daung’s ideas continue to resonate with today’s readers is also an indication of the diverse layers that underlie the grand narrative of ‘Buddhist Burmese’ identity

Orbital Evolution of Moons in Weakly Accreting Circumplanetary Disks

We investigate the formation of hot and massive circumplanetary disks (CPDs) and the orbital evolution of satellites formed in these disks. Because of the comparatively small size-scale of the sub-disk, quick magnetic diffusion prevents the magnetorotational instability (MRI) from being well-developed at ionization levels that would allow MRI in the parent protoplanetary disk. In the absence of significant angular momentum transport, continuous mass supply from the parental protoplanetary disk leads to the formation of a massive CPD. We have developed an evolutionary model for this scenario and have estimated the orbital evolution of satellites within the disk. We find, in a certain temperature range, that inward migration of a satellite can be stopped by a change in the structure due to the opacity transitions. Moreover, by capturing second and third migrating satellites in mean motion resonances, a compact system in Laplace resonance can be formed in our disk models.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

What kind of information attracts consumers' attention? Studying the differences in the amount of information on the landing page of a product

This study aimed to determine the amount of information that is interesting to users on a landing page for the purpose of purchasing a product. In this study, we clarified the amount and kind of information that attracts the interest of users. Specifically, we created three types of landing pages with different amounts of information for three products, and conducted an impression evaluation questionnaire. The three types of information on the landing pages were: (1) product image, product description, and catch copy, (2) one with additional campaign information, and (3) one with additional product sales results and satisfaction levels. Using the impression evaluation data obtained after the questionnaire survey, we conducted a factor analysis for each product and analyzed the factors that influenced the evaluation. Additionally, we found out the website design that made a difference in the willingness to purchase the products and the evaluation items that caused the difference using a t-test. It was found that users' willingness to purchase the product increased when data such as campaign information and actual results were included, and that reliability affected the willingness to purchase, especially for products that are used for a long time

The role of the colors of interior accessories in forming an impression of a room

When purchasing home interior furniture and accessories, several factors determine the color of the items that are chosen. People imagine how the item will look when actually placed in the room, anticipating whether it will fit in with the room or create the image they want. In order to help people make such decisions during shopping in stores and online, we analyzed the relationship between room color and item color. We prepared a photo of a home interior, processed the color of one item in the photo, and asked subjects about their impression of it. The color of the item was chosen from the colors used in the picture so that it could work in harmony with the room. Through the experiment, we found that even the color of a small item can affect the impression of an entire room

Comparative analysis of ESTs involved in grape responses to Xylella fastidiosa infection

BACKGROUND: The gram-negative bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) is the causal agent of Pierce's disease (PD) in grape as well as diseases of many fruit and ornamental plants. The current molecular breeding efforts have identified genetic basis of PD resistance in grapes. However, the transcriptome level characterization of the host response to this pathogen is lacking. RESULTS: Twelve tissue specific subtractive suppression hybridization (SSH) cDNA libraries derived from a time course sampling scheme were constructed from stems, leaves and shoots of PD resistant and susceptible sibling genotypes (V. rupestris × V. arizonica) in response to Xf infection. A total of 5,794 sequences were obtained from these cDNA libraries from which 993 contigs and 949 singletons were derived. Using Gene Ontology (GO) hierarchy, the non-redundant sequences were classified into the three principal categories: molecular function (30%), cellular components (9%) and biological processes (7%). Comparative analysis found variations in EST expression pattern between infected and non-infected PD resistant and PD susceptible grape genotypes. Among the three tissues, libraries from stem tissues showed significant differences in transcript quality suggesting their important role in grape-Xylella interaction. CONCLUSION: This study constitutes the first attempt to characterize the Vitis differential transcriptome associated with host-pathogen interactions from different explants and genotypes. All the generated ESTs have been submitted to GenBank and are also available through our website for further functional studies

Changes in the SF-8 scores among healthy non-smoking school teachers after the enforcement of a smoke-free school policy: a comparison by passive smoke status

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effects of the enforcement of a smoke-free workplace policy on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among a healthy population are poorly understood. The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of the enforcement of a smoke-free school policy on HRQOL among healthy non-smoking schoolteachers with respect to their exposure to passive smoke.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two self-reported questionnaire surveys were conducted, the first before and the second after the enforcement of a total smoke-free public school policy in Nara City. A total of 1534 teachers were invited from 62 schools, and their HRQOL was assessed using six domains extracted from the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-8 questionnaire (SF-8): general health perception (GH), role functioning-physical (RP), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), mental health (MH), and role functioning-emotional (RE). The participants were divided into two groups according to their exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at baseline: participants not exposed to ETS at school (non-smokers), and participants exposed to ETS at school (passive smokers). Changes in each SF-8 score were evaluated using paired t-tests for each group, and their inter-group differences were evaluated using multiple linear regression analyses adjusted for sex, age, school type, managerial position, and attitude towards a smoke-free policy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After ineligible subjects were excluded, 689 teachers were included in the analyses. The number of non-smokers and passive smokers was 447 and 242, respectively. Significant changes in SF-8 scores were observed for MH (0.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.2-1.5) and RE (0.7; 95% CI, 0.0-1.3) in non-smokers, and GH (2.2; 95% CI, 1.2-3.1), VT (1.8; 95% CI, 0.9-2.7), SF (2.7; 95% CI, 1.6-3.8), MH (2.0; 95% CI, 1.0-2.9), and RE (2.0; 95% CI, 1.2-2.8) in passive smokers. In the multiple linear regression analyses, the net changes in the category scores of GH (1.8; 95% CI, 0.7-2.9), VT (1.4, 95% CI, 0.3-2.5), SF (2.5; 95% CI, 1.1-3.9), MH (1.2; 95% CI, 0.1-2.4) and RE (1.6; 95% CI, 0.5-2.7) in passive smokers significantly exceeded those in non-smokers.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A smoke-free school policy would improve the HRQOL of healthy non-smoking teachers who are exposed to ETS.</p

Space-charge mechanism of aging in ferroelectrics: an exactly solvable two-dimensional model

A mechanism of point defect migration triggered by local depolarization fields is shown to explain some still inexplicable features of aging in acceptor doped ferroelectrics. A drift-diffusion model of the coupled charged defect transport and electrostatic field relaxation within a two-dimensional domain configuration is treated numerically and analytically. Numerical results are given for the emerging internal bias field of about 1 kV/mm which levels off at dopant concentrations well below 1 mol%; the fact, long ago known experimentally but still not explained. For higher defect concentrations a closed solution of the model equations in the drift approximation as well as an explicit formula for the internal bias field is derived revealing the plausible time, temperature and concentration dependencies of aging. The results are compared to those due to the mechanism of orientational reordering of defect dipoles.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. accepted to Physical Review

New Function of Autophagy in C. jejuni Invasion

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of food-borne disease worldwide. The pathogenicity of C. jejuni is closely associated with the internalization process in host epithelial cells, which is related to a host immune response. Autophagy indicates a key role in the innate immune system of the host to exclude invasive pathogens. Most bacteria are captured by autophagosomes and degraded by autophagosome-lysosome fusion in host cells. However, several pathogens, such as Salmonella and Shigella, avoid and/or escape autophagic degradation to establish infection. But autophagy involvement as a host immune response to C. jejuni infection has not been clarified. This study revealed autophagy association in C. jejuni infection. During infection, C. jejuni activated the Rho family small GTPase Rac1 signaling pathway, which modulates actin remodeling and promotes the internalization of this pathogen. In this study, we found the LC3 contribution to C. jejuni invasion signaling via the Rac1 signaling pathway. Interestingly, during C. jejuni invasion, LC3 was recruited to bacterial entry site depending on Rac1 GTPase activation just at the early step of the infection. C. jejuni infection induced LC3-II conversion, and autophagy induction facilitated C. jejuni internalization. Also, autophagy inhibition attenuated C. jejuni invasion step. Moreover, Rac1 recruited LC3 to the cellular membrane, activating the invasion of C. jejuni. Altogether, our findings provide insights into the new function of LC3 in bacterial invasion. We found the interaction between the Rho family small GTPase, Rac1, and autophagy-associated protein, LC3

Extensive Particle Identification with TPC and TOF at the STAR Experiment

Particle identification (PID) capabilities are studied by using the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) and a Time-Of-Flight (TOF) detector together at STAR. The identification capability of charged hadrons is greatly extended compared with that achieved by TPC and TOF separately. Particle spectra from p+p, d+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=62.4$ GeV are used to develop the methods. The transverse momentum ($p_T$) ranges of $\pi$, and $p(\bar{p})$ identification are from $\sim0.3$ GeV/$c$ to $\sim10$ GeV/$c$. The high $p_T$ reach is limited by statistics in current data sets. An important conceptual advance was developed to identify electrons by using a combination of dE/dx in TPC and velocity information from the TOF detectors, which is important for future low-mass dilepton program at STAR.Comment: 19 pages, 22 figures, 3 tables, submitted to NIM