From passivity to a new border-crossing subjectivity

Abstract

1997 as a global media spectacle about Hong Kong’s handover of its sovereignty from Britain to China is now almost forgotten; yet Hong Kong is still caught between the politics of time and memory too complex to be captured under simple post‐colonialist notion such as ‘hybridity’. This paper tries to put in perspective a (post‐)colonial cultural politics of counter‐memory in Hong Kong cinema by investigating its decades‐long investment in a sub‐genre built around the motif of undercover‐cop. Specifically, the example of the blockbuster Infernal Affairs series is analyzed in details, with particular attention to its innovative plot, to show how the ‘structure of feeling’ about Hong Kong’s political fate is embedded in the films underpinning their local box‐office success. The allegorical reading of the film series attempted in this paper also connects the discussion about the ‘political unconscious’ of Hong Kong, now and in the past, with the wider problem of how the future political subjectivity of Hong Kong will take shape.     

Japanese Conceptions of Privacy: An Intercultural Perspective

This paper deals with intercultural aspects of privacy, particularly with regard to important differences between Japanese and the Western views. This paper is based on our discussions with Rafael Capurro – a dialogue now represented by two separate but closely interrelated articles. The companion paper is broadly focused on the cultural and historical backgrounds of the concepts of privacy and individualism in “Western” worlds; our main theme focuses on different concepts of privacy in Japan and their sources in related aspects of Japanese culture. The interrelationship between our two papers is apparent in our taking up identical or similar topics in each paper. Reading our two papers in conjunction with each other will bring about deeper and broader insights into the diverse values and worldviews of Japan and Western cultures that underlie concepts of privacy that at a surface level appear to be similar     

Prediction equation for head volume of Japanese young adults

Accurate measurement of head volume is indispensable for precise assessments of body composition determined by hydrostatic weighing without head submersion. The purpose of this study was to establish a prediction equation for head volume measured by the immersion method from multiple regression analysis using head parameters (head circumference, head length, head breadth, neck girth and head thickness) as independent variables. The participants were 106 Japanese young adults (55 males and 51 females) aged 17-27 years. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) for each head parameter and head volume in males and females were very high (ICC = 0.993-0.999, 0.992-0.998). Head circumference was closely related to head volume measured by the immersion method (r = 0.719, 0.861, P < 0.05), and was the most important parameter for the prediction equation in both sexes. Head breadth was related poorly (r = 0.475, 0.500, P < 0.05) and showed a small individual difference. It was, therefore, excluded from the independent variables. The prediction equation for males was predicted head volume = 122.10X1 + 106.19X3 + 37.16X4 - 89.46X5 - 4754.93, R = 0.909, SEE = 121.75 ml, and that for females was predicted head volume = 213.83X1 + 45.24X3 + 36.85X4 - 74.34X5 - 8912.43, R = 0.913, SEE = 136.26 ml (where X1 = head circumference, X3 = head length, X4 = neck girth, X5 = head thickness, and SEE = standard error of the estimate). The limits of agreement for predicted and measured head volume were -234.5 to 234.1 ml for males, and -261.0 to 261.0 ml for females. In cross-validation groups of both sexes, there were no significant differences between measured head volume and predicted head volume. The correlation coefficients between measured head volume and predicted head volume in males and females were 0.894 and 0.908, respectively. The predicted head volume from prediction equations was considered to have high reliability and validity.     

森川竹磎的词论研究

森川竹磎的《鸥梦吟社丛书》和《鸥梦丛书》,比《词话丛钞》还要早十年左右,虽然在规模上不及《词话丛编》,但可谓中日词话研究的先驱,对此应高度评价。     

Accelerometer and GPS Data to Analyze Built Environments and Physical Activity

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Most built environment studies have quantified characteristics of the areas around participants’ homes. However, the environmental exposures for physical activity (PA) are spatially dynamic rather than static. Thus, merged accelerometer and global positioning system (GPS) data were utilized to estimate associations between the built environment and PA among adults. Methods: Participants (N = 142) were recruited on trails in Massachusetts and wore an accelerometer and GPS unit for 1–4 days. Two binary outcomes were created: moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA vs. light PA-to-sedentary); and light-to-vigorous PA (LVPA vs. sedentary). Five built environment variables were created within 50-meter buffers around GPS points: population density, street density, land use mix (LUM), greenness, and walkability index. Generalized linear mixed models were fit to examine associations between environmental variables and both outcomes, adjusting for demographic covariates. Results: Overall, in the fully adjusted models, greenness was positively associated with MVPA and LVPA (odds ratios [ORs] = 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03, 1.30 and 1.25, 95% CI = 1.12, 1.41, respectively). In contrast, street density and LUM were negatively associated with MVPA (ORs = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.67, 0.71 and 0.87, 95% CI = 0.78, 0.97, respectively) and LVPA (ORs = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.77, 0.81 and 0.81, 95% CI = 0.74, 0.90, respectively). Negative associations of population density and walkability with both outcomes reached statistical significance, yet the effect sizes were small. Conclusions: Concurrent monitoring of activity with accelerometers and GPS units allowed us to investigate relationships between objectively measured built environment around GPS points and minute-by-minute PA. Negative relationships between street density and LUM and PA contrast evidence from most built environment studies in adults. However, direct comparisons should be made with caution since most previous studies have focused on spatially fixed buffers around home locations, rather than the precise locations where PA occurs.     

Blood flow restriction in human skeletal muscle during rest periods after high-load resistance training down-regulates miR-206 and induces Pax7

BackgroudBlood flow restriction (BFR) with low-intensity resistance training has been shown to result in hypertrophy of skeletal muscle. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that BFR during the rest periods between acute, high-intensity resistance exercise sessions (70% of 1 repetition maximum, 7 sets with 10 repetitions) enhances the effects of the resistance training.MethodsA total of 7 healthy young men performed squats, and between sets BFR was carried out on one leg while the other leg served as a control. Because BFR was applied during rest periods, even severe occlusion pressure (approximately 230 mmHg), which almost completely blocked blood flow, was well-tolerated by the participants. Five muscle-specific microRNAs were measured from the biopsy samples, which were taken 2 h after the acute training.ResultsDoppler data showed that the pattern of blood flow recovery changed significantly between the first and last BFR. microRNA-206 levels significantly decreased in the BFR leg compared to the control. The mRNA levels of RAC-β serine/threonine-protein kinase v22, nuclear respiratory factor 1, vascular endothelial growth factor, lupus Ku autoantigen protein p70 genes (p < 0.05), and paired box 7 (p < 0.01) increased in the BFR leg. The protein levels of paired box 7, nuclear respiratory factor 1, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α did not differ between the BFR leg and the control leg.ConclusionBFR, during the rest periods of high-load resistance training, could lead to mRNA elevation of those proteins that regulate angiogenesis, mitochondrial biogenesis, and muscle hypertrophy and repair. However, BFR also can cause DNA damage, judging from the increase in mRNA levels of lupus Ku autoantigen protein p70.     

Development of a method for automatic basso continuo playing

The purpose of this study is to develop an automatic basso continuo playing system. In order to find a musically appropriate sequence of chords, we propose the principle of “harmony cost”, which is defined as the sum of two different costs: one is the “local cost” which indicates the unlikelihood of a certain chord allocation and the other is the “transition cost”, which indicates the unlikelihood of a certain connection between two chords. Automatic basso continuo playing is realised by searching for the optimal chord sequence, which minimises the accumulated harmony cost. The proposed method is evaluated by three experiments. Each experiment verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method.