A Proposal for the Book of “Embrace the New Normal—China and the USA”

This thesis consists of a new book proposal regarding the emerging New Normal both in China and the United States and one sample chapter (the first chapter) of this new book which studies fairness and justice in contemporary China from an evolutionary perspective. This book itself aims to examine the key factors that may contribute to the New Normal from both an insider view and an outsider view and to provide contextual intelligences about China and the United States which will better facilitate the narrative of the New Normal

An Analytic and Systemic View of the Digital Transformation of Healthcare

Industry 4.0 represents a digital revolution that is driven by technologies that blur the lines between the physical and digital worlds. Industry 4.0, the latest industrial revolution, is poised to have a profound impact on all aspects of society. In order to understand how the healthcare industry is being transformed by the convergence of the physical and digital realms, a systems perspective is taken in this study. Two research questions are addressed regarding the opportunities and interventions that can be provided by both analytical and systems conceptions of digital transformation. I use a systemic literature review approach to address the research questions. A sample of studies between 2000 and 2022 is analyzed. Existing studies mostly examine the effects of new digital technologies on healthcare providers. However, digital transformation also presents significant challenges, such as data privacy, ethical concerns related to AI-based automated decision-making, and equity issues related to e-health. Solutions to major challenges at both micro and macro levels can be derived from the existing theories and tools of systems thinking. For instance, systems thinking\u27s continuous learning and adaptation capabilities can be useful for healthcare organizations to develop the required digital capabilities. Furthermore, the interconnectedness of subsystems and stakeholders in systems thinking can be combined with digital twin technology to investigate the dynamic interactions among key stakeholders, leading to the development of new regulatory policies

Maximum likelihood decoding of neuronal inputs from an interspike interval distribution

An expression for the probability distribution of the interspike interval of a leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) model neuron is rigorously derived, based on recent theoretical developments in the theory of stochastic processes. This enables us to find for the first time a way of developing maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) of the input information (e.g., afferent rate and variance) for an LIF neuron from a set of recorded spike trains. Dynamic inputs to pools of LIF neurons both with and without interactions are efficiently and reliably decoded by applying the MLE, even within time windows as short as 25 msec

Using signal processing techniques in promoter prediction

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Heritage, Identity and Sense of Place in Sichuan Province after the 12 May Earthquake in China

At 14.28 on 12 May 2008, a massive earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale struck Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province. Causing widespread destruction, it was considered to be the most severe earthquake in Ch ina's history, and indeed one of the worst in the world. Drawing on the results of an ethnographic study carried out in the disaster areas between 2009 and 2013, this research explores the impact of the earthquake on cultural heritage, popular memory, memorialisation and tourism in Sichuan. Critically examining the complex, overlapping relationships between heritage, identity and sense of place in post-disaster Sich uan. I argue that historical sites that come to mark tragic events are not simply commemorative or historically important because a disastrous event has occurred, but that they are instead places which are continuously negotiated, constructed and reconstructed into places of meaning through on-going human action. While traditional interpretation of these sites are usually viewed as static ones, they are actually dynamic sites that both generate and are informed by official, popular and individual memory through acts of localised and non-localised place production and consumption. By focusing on the practice of disaster tourism in post-disaster Sichuan, this study aims to contribute to the growing body of research on 'dark' tourism. It demonstrates the central role played in studies of cultural heritage by cultural and geographical concepts of identity and representation, highlighting the polities of heritage. It will also contribute to a growing literature on the significance of embodied practice, in this case with regard to the use and performance of tragic places. To sum up, the research explores cul tu re, the politics of space and the relationship between consumption, memory and identity to reveal the tensions and paradoxical agendas which surround heritage tourism landscapes in a postdisaster context. The findings of this research are relevant to planners, conservationists and other publ ic agencies involved in cultural recovery processes in Asia's emerging economies, and they also have policy implications for the various levels of government involved.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Learning alters theta-nested gamma oscillations in inferotemporal cortex

How coupled brain rhythms influence cortical information processing to support learning is unresolved. Local field potential and neuronal activity recordings from 64- electrode arrays in sheep inferotemporal cortex showed that visual discrimination learning increased the amplitude of theta oscillations during stimulus presentation. Coupling between theta and gamma oscillations, the theta/gamma ratio and the regularity of theta phase were also increased, but not neuronal firing rates. A neural network model with fast and slow inhibitory interneurons was developed which generated theta nested gamma. By increasing N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor sensitivity similar learning-evoked changes could be produced. The model revealed that altered theta nested gamma could potentiate downstream neuron responses by temporal desynchronization of excitatory neuron output independent of changes in overall firing frequency. This learning-associated desynchronization was also exhibited by inferotemporal cortex neurons. Changes in theta nested gamma may therefore facilitate learning-associated potentiation by temporal modulation of neuronal firing