Hong Kong as a Test Case for World Literature

This article posits Hong Kong as a test case for several theoretical perspectives currently developed in the rising field of world literature. Focusing on three main areas—namely, Hong Kong’s semi-peripheral neocoloniality, its language politics, and the proliferation of the poetry genre—the article aims to examine how world literature and Hong Kong can strike a dialogue with each other, exploring each other’s limits. For Hong Kong to make meaningful contributions to world literature, it desperately needs to build a name for itself as a literature of its own concerns

The quantum Bell-Ziv-Zakai bounds and Heisenberg limits for waveform estimation

We propose quantum versions of the Bell-Ziv-Zakai lower bounds on the error in multiparameter estimation. As an application we consider measurement of a time-varying optical phase signal with stationary Gaussian prior statistics and a power law spectrum $\sim 1/|\omega|^p$, with $p>1$. With no other assumptions, we show that the mean-square error has a lower bound scaling as $1/{\cal N}^{2(p-1)/(p+1)}$, where ${\cal N}$ is the time-averaged mean photon flux. Moreover, we show that this accuracy is achievable by sampling and interpolation, for any $p>1$. This bound is thus a rigorous generalization of the Heisenberg limit, for measurement of a single unknown optical phase, to a stochastically varying optical phase.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, comments welcom

Assessment in Paradise: Using Data to Drive Undergraduate Geoscience Initiatives and Programmatic Changes

At the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), the undergraduate geoscience programs are housed within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). In this poster trends in student and programmatic data from the undergraduate Global Environmental Science (GES) Program in SOEST were analyzed. It was determined that additional support was needed for the following: (1) students in their first year of the GES program; (2) a geoscience pathway from the local UHCCs to UHM; and (3) a process to increase recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of geoscience majors in general and Native Hawaiians in particular. Initial results from a multifaceted approach are presented in order to address these issues including curricular changes, geoscience pathways from UHCCs to UHM, summer geoscience research program, and an early warning student performance monitoring system

High Resolution Imaging of Vascular Function in Zebrafish

Rationale: The role of the endothelium in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease is an emerging field of study, necessitating the development of appropriate model systems and methodologies to investigate the multifaceted nature of endothelial dysfunction including disturbed barrier function and impaired vascular reactivity. Objective: We aimed to develop and test an optimized high-speed imaging platform to obtain quantitative real-time measures of blood flow, vessel diameter and endothelial barrier function in order to assess vascular function in live vertebrate models. Methods and Results: We used a combination of cutting-edge optical imaging techniques, including high-speed, camera-based imaging (up to 1000 frames/second), and 3D confocal methods to collect real time metrics of vascular performance and assess the dynamic response to the thromboxane A2 (TXA2) analogue, U-46619 (1 μM), in transgenic zebrafish larvae. Data obtained in 3 and 5 day post-fertilization larvae show that these methods are capable of imaging blood flow in a large (1 mm) segment of the vessel of interest over many cardiac cycles, with sufficient speed and sensitivity such that the trajectories of individual erythrocytes can be resolved in real time. Further, we are able to map changes in the three dimensional sizes of vessels and assess barrier function by visualizing the continuity of the endothelial layer combined with measurements of extravasation of fluorescent microspheres. Conclusions: We propose that this system-based microscopic approach can be used to combine measures of physiologic function with molecular behavior in zebrafish models of human vascular disease. © 2012 Watkins et al

DO ECONOMIC FORECASTERS BELIEVE THE STOCK MARKET IS EFFICIENT? EVIDENCE FROM GERMANY

The perception of market efficiency is quite different from the reality of market efficiency.  We show using a large survey of German market forecasters that few respondents consistently believe that the stock market is currently efficient and will remain so.  Past volatility tends to erode the view that the market is efficient and strengthen the belief that the market is inefficient.&nbsp

Generation of FGF reporter transgenic zebrafish and their utility in chemical screens

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFs) represent a large family of secreted proteins that are required for proper development and physiological processes. Mutations in mouse and zebrafish FGFs result in abnormal embryogenesis and lethality. A key to understanding the precise role for these factors is to determine their spatial and temporal activity during embryogenesis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expression of <it>Dual Specificity Phosphatase 6 </it>(<it>dusp6</it>, also known as <it>Mkp3</it>) is controlled by FGF signalling throughout development. The <it>Dusp6 </it>promoter was isolated from zebrafish and used to drive expression of destabilized green fluorescent protein (<it>d2EGFP</it>) in transgenic embryos (<it>Tg(Dusp6:d2EGFP)</it>). Expression of d2EGFP is initiated as early as 4 hours post-fertilization (hpf) within the future dorsal region of the embryo, where <it>fgf3 </it>and <it>fgf8 </it>are initially expressed. At later stages, d2EGFP is detected within structures that correlate with the expression of <it>Fgf </it>ligands and their receptors. This includes the mid-hindbrain boundary (MHB), pharyngeal endoderm, otic vesicle, hindbrain, and Kupffer's vesicle. The expression of d2EGFP is under the control of FGF signalling as treatment with FGF Receptor (FGFR) inhibitors results in the suppression of d2EGFP expression. In a pilot screen of commercially available small molecules we have evaluated the effectiveness of the transgenic lines to identify specific FGF inhibitors within the class of indolinones. These compounds were counter screened with the transgenic line <it>Tg(Fli1:EGFP)</it>^<it>y</it>1, that serves as an indirect read-out for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) signalling in order to determine the specificity between related receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). From these assays it is possible to determine the specificity of these indolinones towards specific RTK signalling pathways. This has enabled the identification of compounds that can block specifically the VEGFR or the FGFR signalling pathway.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The generation of transgenic reporter zebrafish lines has allowed direct visualization of FGF signalling within the developing embryo. These FGF reporter transgenic lines provide a tool to screen for specific compounds that can distinguish between two conserved members of the RTK family.</p