Authorship Identification of Li Qingzhao’s Anthology: A Computational Approach

Li Qingzhao is one of China’s most famous pre-modern female poets. She is said to have read and composed thousands of poems. However, today, her entire anthology only contains less than one hundred separate works and many of these poems entered her collection several hundred years after her death. There is good reason to speculate that some of the works attributed to Li Qingzhao were written by people imitating her work. This thesis explores the authorship of Li Qingzhao’s anthology by using computational techniques and discusses their implications and significance. Some of the computational devices include bag of words and other similarity finding techniques. Although many of these tests are interesting, there are many limitations and issues with using these to explore authorship. The goal of this thesis is to explore computation\u27s role in authorship determination, and the significance of that authorship

Concert recording 2014-12-06

[Track 01]. Sonata in E minor BWV 1034. Adagio ma non troppo ; [Track 02]. Allegro ; [Track 03]. Andante ; [Track 04]. Allegro / Johann Sebastian Bach -- [Track 05]. Sunstreams / Ian Clarke -- [Track 06]. Tango etude no. 4 / Astor Piazolla -- [Track 07]. Le tour de danse (part one). El canto del toreo ; [Track 08]. Baiao de Brazil ; [Track 09]. The Orient ; [Track 10]. Americana ; [Track 11]. An Irish gigue ; [Track 12]. El tango de Argentina / Anthony J. King

Concert recording 2014-11-30

[Track 01]. Wicca / Casey Cangelosi -- [Track 02]. Suomineito / Nebojsa Zivkovic -- [Track 03]. Velocities / Joseph Schwantner -- [Track 04]. Raga no. 1 / William Cahn -- [Track 05]. Pure imagination / arranged by Alex Stopa and Tyler Simmons -- [Track 06]. Catching shadows / Ivan Trevino

Concert recording 2014-04-27a

[Track 01]. Opening from Glassworks / Philip Glass -- [Track 02]. Beneath the canopy for flute and percussion. The forest beckons / Philip Parker -- [Track 03]. Beneath the canopy for flute and percussion. Rivers gently flowing / Philip Parker -- [Track 04]. Beneath the canopy for flute and percussion. Exotic birds of paradise / Philip Parker -- [Track 05]. Beneath the canopy for flute and percussion. Twilight calmness ; Song of the orchid / Philip Parker -- [Track 06]. Beneath the canopy for flute and percussion. Python dance / Philip Parker -- [Track 07]. Sculpture in wood / Rudiger Pawassar -- [Track 08]. Fear cage / Kirk J. Gay -- [Track 09]. Concerto for marimba and strings. Tempo souple / Emmanuel Sejourne

Concert recording 2013-11-09b

[Track 01]. Inspirations diabolique. Introduction ; [Track 02]. Cadenza ; [Track 03]. Perpetual motion / Ricky Tagawa -- [Track 04]. Eight pieces for four timpani. Improvisation / Elliott Carter -- [Track 05]. Morning / Vox One ; arranged by Kolby Palmore -- [Track 06]. Character no. 2 for featured marimba and snare drum quartet / Casey Cangelosi ; arranged by Michael Eagle -- [Track 07]. Timeless / Michael Burritt

Laboratory Focus on Improving the Culture of Biosafety: Statewide Risk Assessment of Clinical Laboratories That Process Specimens for Microbiologic Analysis

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene challenged Wisconsin laboratories to examine their biosafety practices and improve their culture of biosafety. One hundred three clinical and public health laboratories completed a questionnaire-based, microbiology-focused biosafety risk assessment. Greater than 96% of the respondents performed activities related to specimen processing, direct microscopic examination, and rapid nonmolecular testing, while approximately 60% performed culture interpretation. Although they are important to the assessment of risk, data specific to patient occupation, symptoms, and travel history were often unavailable to the laboratory and, therefore, less contributory to a microbiology-focused biosafety risk assessment than information on the specimen source and test requisition. Over 88% of the respondents complied with more than three-quarters of the mitigation control measures listed in the survey. Facility assessment revealed that subsets of laboratories that claim biosafety level 1, 2, or 3 status did not possess all of the biosafety elements considered minimally standard for their respective classifications. Many laboratories reported being able to quickly correct the minor deficiencies identified. Task assessment identified deficiencies that trended higher within the general (not microbiology-specific) laboratory for core activities, such as packaging and shipping, direct microscopic examination, and culture modalities solely involving screens for organism growth. For traditional microbiology departments, opportunities for improvement in the cultivation and management of highly infectious agents, such as acid-fast bacilli and systemic fungi, were revealed. These results derived from a survey of a large cohort of small- and large-scale laboratories suggest the necessity for continued microbiology-based understanding of biosafety practices, vigilance toward biosafety, and enforcement of biosafety practices throughout the laboratory setting

A voice for change? Trust relationships between ombudsmen, individuals and public service providers

There has been a debate for years about what the role of the ombudsman is. This article examines a key component of the role, to promote trust in public services and government. To be able to do this, however, an ombudsman needs to be perceived as legitimate and be trusted by a range of stakeholders, including the user. This article argues that three key relationships in a person’s complaint journey can build trust in an institution, and must therefore be understood as a system. The restorative justice framework is adapted to conceptualize this trust model as a novel approach to understanding the institution from the perspective of its users. Taking two public sector ombudsmen as examples, the article finds that voice and trust need to be reinforced through the relationships in a consumer journey to manage individual expectations, prevent disengagement, and thereby promote trust in the institution, in public service providers, and in government

Student Satisfaction and Performance in an Online Teacher Certification Program

The article presents a study which demonstrates the effectiveness of an online post baccalaureate teacher certification program developed by a Wisconsin university. The case method approach employing multiple methods and multiple data sources were used to investigate the degree to which pre-service teachers were prepared to teach. It was concluded that the study supports online delivery as an effective means of teacher preparation, but it was limited in the number of students followed into their first year of teaching

Staphylococcus aureus oleate hydratase produces ligands that activate host PPARα

Commensal gut bacteria use oleate hydratase to release a spectrum of hydroxylated fatty acids using host-derived unsaturated fatty acids. These compounds are thought to attenuate the immune response, but the underlying signaling mechanism(s) remain to be established. The pathogen Staphylococcus aureus also expresses an oleate hydratase and 10-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid (h18:0) is the most abundant oleate hydratase metabolite found at Staphylococcal skin infection sites. Here, we show h18:0 stimulates the transcription of a set of lipid metabolism genes associated with the activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) in the RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line and mouse primary bone marrow-derived macrophages. Cell-based transcriptional reporter assays show h18:0 selectively activates PPARα. Radiolabeling experiments with bone marrow-derived macrophages show [1-14C]h18:0 is not incorporated into cellular lipids, but is degraded by β-oxidation, and mass spectrometry detected shortened fragments of h18:0 released into the media. The catabolism of h18:0 was >10-fold lower in bone marrow-derived macrophages isolated from Ppara−/− knockout mice, and we recover 74-fold fewer S. aureus cells from the skin infection site of Ppara−/− knockout mice compared to wildtype mice. These data identify PPARα as a target for oleate hydratase-derived hydroxy fatty acids and support the existence of an oleate hydratase-PPARα signaling axis that functions to suppress the innate immune response to S. aureus