Climate change presents a fundamental challenge to the current global energy regime. Under the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the international community is developing the architecture of a policy response. Three serious flaws are examined: (a) the potential sacrifice of small island states, (b) the use of market-based policy measures to commodify the atmospheric commons, and (c) the substitution of carbon sequestration for meaningful reductions in energy use. The authors’ analysis of the politics of climate change, based on these issues, (...) suggests a new understanding of ecology is emerging—what they term postmodern ecology—in which a global environmental crisis is risked to secure the future of the world energy regime. An alternative, based on principles of sustainability and equity, is proposed that would require abandoning the global energy status quo. (shrink)

An energy efficiency scenario (Joint Institute for a Sustainable Energy and Environmental Future) demonstrates that an energy future built on the use of cost-effective, high-efficiency technologies is clearly within the grasp of South Korea and would justify a nuclear power moratorium with significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions. This is a promising result, especially because applications of other sustainable energy options, such as renewables, decentralized technologies, material recycling/reuse, ecologically based land use planning, forest conservation, sustainable agriculture, and redirection of economic development (...) toward an environment-friendly industrial base, are not included in the analysis. Here lies one of the most fundamental policy choices of the newcentury: Will we build a sustainable energy and environmental future, or will we send forward the burdens and risks of a policy regime that is unwilling to value the future beyond the satisfaction of short-term interests and convenience? It is a critical time for South Korean policy making. (shrink)

Delineation of the subthalamic nuclei on MRI is critical for deep brain stimulation surgery in patients with Parkinson’s disease. We propose this retrospective cohort study for quantitative analysis of MR signal-to-noise ratio, contrast, and signal difference-to-noise ratio of the STN on pre-operative three-dimensional stereotactic MRI in patients with medication-refractory PD. Forty-five consecutive patients with medication-refractory PD who underwent STN-DBS surgery in our hospital from January 2018 to June 2021 were included in this study. All patients had whole-brain 3D MRI, including (...) T2-weighted imaging, T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, and susceptibility-weighted imaging, at 3.0 T scanner for stereotactic navigation. The signal intensities of the STN, corona radiata, and background noise were obtained after placing regions of interest on corresponding structures. Quantitative comparisons of SNR, contrast, and SDNR of the STN between MR pulse sequences, including the T2WI, FLAIR, and SWI. Subgroup analysis regarding patients’ sex, age, and duration of treatment. We used one-way repeated measures analysis of variance for quantitative comparisons of SNR, contrast, and SDNR of the STN between different MR pulse sequences, and we also used the dependent t-test for the post hoc tests. In addition, we used Mann–Whitney U test for subgroup analyses. Both the contrast and SDNR were highest on FLAIR. The SNR was highest on SWI, and both the SNR and SDNR were lowest on T2WI. Subgroup analyses demonstrated significantly lower SDNR on SWI for patients receiving medication treatment for ≥13 years. In conclusion, on 3D stereotactic MRI of medication-refractory PD patients, the contrast and SDNR for the STN are highest on FLAIR, suggesting the optimal delineation of STN on FLAIR. (shrink)

Progressive supranuclear palsy is a movement disorder with prominent tau neuropathology. Brain diseases with abnormal tau deposits are called tauopathies, the most common of which is Alzheimer's disease. Environmental causes of tauopathies include repetitive head trauma associated with some sports. To identify common genetic variation contributing to risk for tauopathies, we carried out a genome-wide association study of 1,114 individuals with PSP and 3,247 controls followed by a second stage in which we genotyped 1,051 cases and 3,560 controls for the (...) stage 1 SNPs that yielded P ≤ 10-3. We found significant previously unidentified signals associated with PSP risk at STX6, EIF2AK3 and MOBP. We confirmed two independent variants in MAPT affecting risk for PSP, one of which influences MAPT brain expression. The genes implicated encode proteins for vesicle-membrane fusion at the Golgi-endosomal interface, for the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response and for a myelin structural component. © 2011 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved. (shrink)

BackgroundCoronary heart disease is closely associated with cognitive impairment, especially in severe cases of heart failure. However, it is unclear whether cardiac systolic function plays a role in the relationship between pre-existing CHD and cognitive impairment in subjects without clinical heart failure.MethodsIn total, 208 subjects from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University were recruited from June 2014 to January 2015, and were divided into CHD and non-CHD groups according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The global cognitive function (...) of all subjects was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination and cognitive impairment was defined as the score lower than the cutoff value. Left ventricular ejection fraction was measured using transthoracic echocardiograms. The relationship among pre-existing CHD, LVEF, and cognitive impairment was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.ResultsIn total, 34 subjects met the criteria of cognitive impairment. Univariate analysis showed that the cognitive impairment prevalence in the CHD group was significantly higher than that in the non-CHD group. Multivariate logistic analysis revealed that CHD was significantly associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment after adjusting for confounds except for LVEF. However, the OR of CHD decreased when LVEF was further corrected as a continuous variable, and LVEF was negatively associated with the risk of cognitive impairment.ConclusionPre-existing CHD is associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment, and such an association can be considerably explained by reduced LVEF. An impaired cardiac systolic function may play a key role in the relationship between CHD and cognitive impairment among patients with pre-heart failure conditions. (shrink)

Ibn al-Bannāʼ, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, 1256?-1321?'s al-Rawḍ al-murīʻ fī ṣināʻat al-badīʻ; arabic language; rhetoric; criticism and interpretation.

The quality and quantity of training data are crucial to the performance of a deep-learning-based brain-computer interface system. However, it is not practical to record EEG data over several long calibration sessions. A promising time- and cost-efficient solution is artificial data generation or data augmentation. Here, we proposed a DA method for the motor imagery EEG signal called brain-area-recombination. For the BAR, each sample was first separated into two ones by left/right brain channels, and the artificial samples were generated by (...) recombining the half-samples. We then designed two schemas corresponding to the single- and multi-subject scenarios. Extensive experiments using the classifier of EEGnet were conducted on two public datasets under various training set sizes. In both schemas, the BAR method can make the EEGnet have a better performance of classification. To make a comparative investigation, we selected two common DA methods, and the BAR method beat them. Further, using the proposed BAR for augmentation, EEGnet achieved up to 8.3% improvement than a typical decoding algorithm CSP-SVM, note that both the models were trained on the augmented dataset. This study shows that BAR usage can significantly improve the classification ability of deep learning to MI-EEG signals. To a certain extent, it may promote the development of deep learning technology in the field of BCI. (shrink)

al-Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf -- Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʻarī -- al-Qāḍī Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī -- ʻAbd al-Qāhir al-Baghdādī -- Abū al-Ḥasan al-Māwardī -- Abū Yaʻlá -- Imām al-Ḥaramayn -- al-Ghazzālī -- Ibn Khaldūn -- al-Qalqashandī.

al-Kindī. - al-Fārābī. - Ibn Sīnā. - Ibn Khaldūn.

Yesul ch'ŏrhak (1983) -- Yesul kwa mi -- Yesul ŭi yangsiktŭl kwa mihak.

Kur’an, yirmi üç yıllık bir zaman diliminde, tevhid inancına sahip bireylerin oluşturduğu bir toplum inşa etmek üzere nazil olmuştur. Bu süreçte peyderpey gelen her bir vahyin, söz konusu hedefin gerçekleşmesinde önemli bir rolü olmuştur. Bu sebeple farklı zaman ve mekânlarda nazil olan, farklı konularda farklı kitleleri muhatap alan her bir vahiy pasajı ya da her bir sure bir diğeri ile birçok yündKur’ân, yirmi üç yıllık bir zaman diliminde, tevhid inancına sahip birey-lerin oluşturduğu bir toplum inşa etmek üzere nazil olmuştur. Bu (...) süreçte peyderpey gelen her bir vahyin, söz konusu hedefin gerçekleşme-sinde önemli bir rolü olmuştur. Bu sebeple farklı zaman ve mekânlarda nazil olan, farklı konularda farklı kitleleri muhatap alan her bir vahiy pasajı ya da her bir sûre bir diğeri ile birçok yönden bir anlam münâsebeti, bütünlüğü içerisindedir. Bu bağlamda gelişen Münâsebetü’l-Kur’ân ilminin verileri de bu durumun bir ispatı ve örneği olarak değerlendirilebilir. Araştırmada bu husus kısa sûreler üzerinden anlaşılmaya ve ortaya konulmaya çalışıldı. Sonuçta, Mushaf tertibinde farklı dönemlerde nazil olmalarına rağmen Asr sûresinden Nas sûresine kadarki sûrelerden her birinin öncesindeki ve sonrasındaki sûreyle tam bir anlam bütünlüğüne sahip olduğu görülmektedir. Bu durum, bir yandan Mushaf’ın tertibinin tevkifî olduğunun bir delili olarak görülebilir. Fakat sûrelerin tertibinin ictihadî olması halinde de böyle bir anlam bütünlüğünden bahsedebiliriz. Zira Kur’ân, bütünüyle tek bir kaynaktan ve tek bir hedefi gerçekleştirmek üzere gelmiştir. Sûreler arasındaki anlam münâsebeti ve muhteva birliği de, bu durumun bir ifadesi olarak zikredilebilir. en bir anlam münasebeti, bütünlüğü içerisindedir. Bu bağlamda gelişen Münasebetü’l-Kur’an ilminin verileri de bu durumun bir ispatı ve örneği olarak değerlendirilebilir. Bizler de araştırmamızda bu hususu kısa sureler üzerinden anlamaya ve ortaya koymaya çalıştık. Sonuçta, Mushaf tertibinde farklı dönemlerde nazil olmalarına rağmen Asr suresinden Nas suresine kadarki surelerden her birinin öncesindeki ve sonrasındaki sureyle tam bir anlam bütünlüğüne sahip olduğu görülmektedir. Bu durum, bir yandan Mushaf’ın tertibinin tevkifî olduğunun bir delili olarak görülebilir. Fakat surelerin tertibinin ictihadî olması halinde de böyle bir anlam bütünlüğünden bahsedebiliriz. Zira Kur’an bütünüyle tek bir kaynaktan ve tek bir hedefi gerçekleştirmek üzere gelmiştir. Sureler arasındaki anlam münasebeti ve muhteva birliği de, bu durumun bir ifadesi olarak zikredilebilir. (shrink)

Qism 1. al-Turāth al-falsafī al-Yūnānī ḥattá Aflāṭūn.

On Advaita philosophy; text with commentary.

Collection of Hadith (Islamic tradition) with commentry on the teachings and responsibilities of a Muslim in a Islamic society.

Lester Embree is very concerned with the issue of culture in his philosophical thinking. Besides his preoccupation with the cultural disciplines, he explores the notions of culture in Schutz and Gurwitsch. He even brings up the term “phenomenology of culture.” With inspirations from Embree, the present paper intends to explore culture as a phenomenological theme. Starting with elaboration on the concept of cultural object in both Husserl and Schutz, the paper focuses on the question of cultural difference and universalism. I (...) contend that despite apparent differences between Schutz and Husserl, there is close positioning between them. In the final part of my paper, I make a deeper reflection on the problem of cultural difference.Lester Embree está muy preocupado con el tema de la cultura en su pensamiento filosófico. Además de su preocupación por las disciplinas culturales, explora las nociones de cultura en Schutz y Gurwitsch. Incluso menciona el término "fenomenología de la cultura". Con inspiraciones de Embree, el presente documento pretende explorar la cultura como un tema fenomenológico. Comenzando con la elaboración del concepto de objeto cultural tanto en Husserl como en Schutz, el artículo se centra en la cues-tión de la diferencia cultural y el universalismo. Sostengo que a pesar de las aparentes diferencias entre Schutz y Husserl, existe un posicionamiento cercano entre ellos. En la parte final de mi trabajo, hago una reflexión más profunda sobre el problema de la diferencia cultural. (shrink)

jild-i 1-2. [Without special title] -- jild-i 3. ʻĀmil-i avval va duvvum-i ḥayāt-i rūḥ.

Abstract Our Hong Kong-based study used interviews with volunteers and other stakeholders to investigate the perceived integrity and commitment of firms’ adoption of actively managed corporate volunteerism (AMCV), to examine whether AMCV was removing barriers against voluntary community service work and to identify volunteers’ motives for AMCV involvement. Interviewees perceived that firms were adopting strategically instrumental approaches to AMCV, combining community service provision with corporate image promotion and/or with organisational development. They indicated that although AMCV was mobilizing people, who would (...) not otherwise have chosen to volunteer, instances of ‘conscription’ were uncommon. Those who had served as volunteers described positive motives for their own involvement, such as altruism, principlism, self-development, loyalty to the firm and relationship building with colleagues and service recipients. Some expressed that volunteering had been a highly rewarding self-transformation experience. Our study also used the career orientations inventory (COI) to examine career anchors. COI scores indicated that non-governmental organisation (NGO)-based employees and some firm-based paid AMCV organisers preferred the service/dedication to a cause anchor and that firm-based unpaid organisers-cum-participants preferred the lifestyle anchor. Volunteers without organiser roles had miscellaneous preferences but leaned toward the security anchor. From our findings, we argue that it would benefit all parties if firms, in close collaboration with NGOs, were to expand the range of volunteering opportunities that are available to employees and help them to choose activities and roles that are congruent with their career anchors, if they so wish. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-29 DOI 10.1007/s13520-011-0011-3 Authors Robin Stanley Snell, Department of Management, Lingnan University, 8, Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China Amy Lai Yu Wong, Department of Management & Marketing, Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China Journal Asian Journal of Business Ethics Online ISSN 2210-6731 Print ISSN 2210-6723. (shrink)