Infinite Diversity Research Articles

Sensory defects of virgin olive oil from a microbiological perspective

Virgin olive oil is the juice from the olive drupe, a produce that usually features high quality. However, virgin olive oils produced in different regions of the world suffer from defects, most of them of sensory nature. The largest amount of olive oil in which some organoleptic defect is present matches to the Virgin Olive Oil (VOO) class. The causes leading to sensory defects in virgin olive oil, on the different steps of the elaboration, are not well-known sometimes. Important is to note that current legislation allow the classification with sensory defects as VOO and Lampante Olive Oil (LOO). Volatile compounds are important in the sensory perception of the olive oils, for both the positive attributes and the defects. Knowledge on the biogenesis of the volatile compounds involved in the virgin olive oil defects and in its sensory characterisation is still scarce. There are different causes of defects, depending on the physical, chemical or microbial degradation affecting the product. These join to the positive attributes, leading to an infinite diversity of sensory ‘fingerprints’. The microbes cause the most of the defects sensory analysed in olive oils. Despite some interesting studies reported on the biogenesis of the compounds responsible of such defects, microbiological research within the olive oil production, including post-harvest life of olives, is scarce. We should highlight there is a long way to avoid the generation of sensory defects in olive oils within the production process itself and storage. This paper tries to identify significant shortfalls on the knowledge of the causes and circumstances for inducting sensory defects in olive oils, and defining the major aspects which are sufficiently known.

Novel Transmit Precoding Methods for Rayleigh Fading Multiuser TDD-MIMO Systems With CSIT and No CSIR

In this paper, we present novel precoding methods for multiuser Rayleigh fading multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) systems when channel state information (CSI) is available at the transmitter (CSIT) but not at the receiver (CSIR). Such a scenario is relevant, for example, in time-division duplex (TDD) MIMO communications, where, due to channel reciprocity, CSIT can be directly acquired by sending a training sequence from the receiver to the transmitter(s). We propose three transmit precoding schemes that convert the fading MIMO channel into a fixed-gain additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel while satisfying an average power constraint. We also extend one of the precoding schemes to the multiuser Rayleigh fading multiple-access channel (MAC), broadcast channel (BC), and interference channel (IC). The proposed schemes convert the fading MIMO channel into fixed-gain parallel AWGN channels in all three cases. Hence, they achieve an infinite diversity order, which is in sharp contrast to schemes based on perfect CSIR and no CSIT, which, at best, achieve a finite diversity order. Further, we show that a polynomial diversity order is retained, even in the presence of channel estimation errors at the transmitter. Monte Carlo simulations illustrate the bit error rate (BER) performance obtainable from the proposed precoding scheme compared with existing transmit precoding schemes.

Guest Editor's Column

Guest Editor’s Column Jan-Noël Thon (bio) As is well known, the early narratological approaches that were developed within French structuralism during the 1960s and 1970s already considered narrative to be not only “international, transhistorical, transcultural” but also fundamentally transmedial in the sense that it can occur in an “almost infinite diversity of forms” (Barthes 1977: 79). Overly formalistic and epistemologically naive as what often took the form of “a search for the laws which govern the narrated matter” (Bremond 1980: 387) may appear from the perspective of current literary criticism and media studies, the work of the “high structuralists” (see Scholes 1974: 157) has arguably paved the way for more “media-conscious” contributions to the project of a transmedial narratology, many of which are primarily interested in how various transmedial phenomena manifest themselves across a range of narrative media (see, e.g., the recent in-depth studies by Ciccoricco 2015; Herman 2009; Ryan 2006; Thon 2016; Thoss 2015; and the contributions collected in the first two parts of Ryan and Thon 2014). While current narratology tends to use the term “transmediality” as referring to representational strategies whose realization “is in each case necessarily media-specific” but which are “nevertheless not bound to a specific medium” (Rajewsky 2005: 46n6), then, a rather different conceptualization of “transmediality” [End Page ix] has simultaneously been developed within media studies during the past few decades. In what is commonly described as “transmedia storytelling” (Jenkins 2006: 96)1 or “transmedial worlds” (Klastrup and Tosca 2004: n. pag.), more or less coordinated efforts are made to provide audiences with entertainment experiences that integrate more than one medium. Being both a highly visible symptom and an important driving force of the development generally referred to as “media convergence” (see, e.g., Brookey 2010; Deuze 2007; Evans 2011; Jenkins 2006; Johnson 2013; and the contributions collected in the third part of Ryan and Thon 2014), the resulting transmedial entertainment franchises represent occasionally rather complex worlds that stretch across the borders of conventionally distinct media and clearly delimited works—and it is this aspect of convergent media culture that the six articles collected in the present issue of Storyworlds aim to illuminate further.2 Marie-Laure Ryan’s article “Transmedia Storytelling: Industry Buzzword or New Narrative Experience?” begins by interrogating the notion that “transmedia storytelling is the most important narrative mode of our time.” Emphasizing that the dominant conceptualization of transmedia storytelling assumes a top-down design that tends to be at odds with the bottom-up process of aggregation characteristic of most existing practices of transmedial world-building, old and new, Ryan still acknowledges that the highly coordinated narrative experience afforded by “top-down transmedia storytelling” remains an influential ideal. After presenting a detailed examination of The Matrix and Alpha 0.7 as two very different instances of “successful transmedia storytelling,” Ryan questions the role that interactivity and participation play in transmedial world-building practices as well as the commonly held view that these practices are best suited to represent fictional and/or fantastic worlds. Concluding that there is “no reason why transmedia storytelling could not take as its subject matter realistic storyworlds, or even the real world,” Ryan’s article serves as a much-needed reminder that the representation of storyworlds across media cannot be conceived as a single monolithic practice. Focused less exclusively on the rather rare form of “top-down transmedia storytelling” than Ryan, Jan-Noël Thon’s article “Converging Worlds: From Transmedial Storyworlds to Transmedial Universes” further [End Page x] examines the heterogeneity of transmedial world-building practices. Drawing on a conceptualization of storyworlds as intersubjective communicative constructs with a normative component, Thon proposes to distinguish between the local medium-specific storyworlds of single narrative works, the glocal but noncontradictory transmedial storyworlds that may be constructed out of local work-specific storyworlds, and the global and often quite contradictory transmedial universes that may be represented by various kinds of transmedial entertainment franchises. Based on this distinction, Thon analyzes a selection of different cases, ranging from the gradual expansion of a single transmedial storyworld in comparatively small-scale franchises such as The Matrix or Halo, via the more complex combination of redundancy...

New Insights into Acrylic Polymer Precipitation by Supercritical Fluids

AbstractNanosystems based on polymers have attracted much attention due to the almost infinite diversity. In the past decades, the application of supercritical fluids for polymeric particle precipitation has been developed as an alternative to conventional processes. Here, precipitation of an acrylic copolymer was attempted by the rapid expansion of supercritical solutions (RESS) and successful by supercritical antisolvent (SAS) processes. In addition, the nanoparticles were characterized with different techniques. The polymer concentration, pressure, temperature, liquid solution flow rate and nozzle diameter effects were also evaluated with regard to particle size and the particle size distribution of this polymer.

Is “Non-Western Theory” Possible? The Idea of Multipolarity and the Trap of Epistemological Relativism in Russian IR

An important recent development in the discipline of International Relations (IR) has been the growing interest in the national schools and “non-core” theorizing. Even though this interest is fully justified, we argue that the tendency to describe all such schools as invariably promising and helpful in overcoming the Eurocentrism of the discipline is misguided. It originates in the false assumption that the infinite diversity of collective experiences throughout the world can only be approached on the basis of epistemological pluralism. We explore the confusion between the ontological and epistemological aspects of the problem by looking at the state of international studies in Russia. The development of Russian IR is defined by a controversy between pro-Western transitological approaches and the dominant relativist position centered around the doctrine of multipolarity. The latter is translated into the epistemological domain, leading to a totally counterproductive assertion that “Western” science is unable to understand Russia's specificity.

The Jacobi MIMO Channel

This paper presents a new fading model for multi-input multi-output channels: the Jacobi fading model. It asserts that ${\bf H}$ , the transfer matrix which couples the $m_{t}$ inputs into $m_{r}$ outputs, is a submatrix of an $m\times m$ random (Haar-distributed) unitary matrix. The (squared) singular values of ${\bf H}$ follow the law of the classical Jacobi ensemble of random matrices, hence the name of the channel. One motivation to define such a channel comes from multimode/multicore optical fiber communication. It turns out that this model can be qualitatively different from the Rayleigh model, leading to interesting practical and theoretical results. This paper first evaluates the ergodic capacity of the channel. Then, it considers the nonergodic case, where it analyzes the outage probability and the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff. In the case where $k=m_{t}+m_{r}-m>0$ , it is shown that at least $k$ degrees of freedom are guaranteed not to fade for any channel realization, enabling a zero-outage probability or infinite diversity order at the corresponding rates. A simple scheme utilizing (a possibly outdated) channel state feedback is provided, attaining the no-outage guarantee. Finally, noting that as $m$ increases, the Jacobi model approaches the Rayleigh model, the paper discusses the applicability of the model in other communication scenarios.

Philosophy and the History of Art

Schelling’s philosophy of art between 1801 and 1807 can be defined as metaphysics of art. The object of that metaphysics is to deploy the absolute as the being of art and of the arts. Schelling has been criticized on the basis that this metaphysics of art represses the infinite diversity of existing works of art, while overlooking concrete aesthetic experience. Based on Schelling’s definition of the “philosophical construction” of art as an inseparably speculative and historical construction, the aim of this paper is to challenge such assertions. It will show that “historical construction” has to be understood in a twofold manner: first, as a transcendental history of the absolute’s artistic individuation and second, as a cultural history of both the ancient and modern worlds of art. Working within this twofold setting the paper argues that Schelling’s systematic approach, while exhibiting a unifying force, still remains open to the otherness of the real.

Power Controlled Reverse Channel Training Achieves an Infinite Diversity Order in a TDD-SIMO System with Perfect CSIR

In this letter, we analyze the Diversity Multiplexing-gain Tradeoff (DMT) performance of a training-based reciprocal Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) system. Assuming Channel State Information (CSI) is available at the Receiver (CSIR), we propose a channel-dependent power-controlled Reverse Channel Training (RCT) scheme that enables the transmitter to directly estimate the power control parameter to be used for the forward-link data transmission. We show that, with an RCT power of Pγ, γ >; 0 and a forward data transmission power of P, our proposed scheme achieves an infinite diversity order for 0 ≤ gm ; 2, where gm is the multiplexing gain, Lc is the channel coherence time, LB,τ is the RCT duration and r is the number of receive antennas. We also derive an upper bound on the outage probability and show that it goes to zero asymptotically as exp (-PE), where E =Δ (γ-gmLc/Lc -LB,τ), at high P. Thus, the proposed scheme achieves a significantly better DMT performance compared to the finite diversity order achieved by channel-agnostic, fixed-power RCT schemes.

How do plants achieve immunity? Defence without specialized immune cells

Vertebrates have evolved a sophisticated adaptive immune system that relies on an almost infinite diversity of antigen receptors that are clonally expressed by specialized immune cells that roam the circulatory system. These immune cells provide vertebrates with extraordinary antigen-specific immune capacity and memory, while minimizing self-reactivity. Plants, however, lack specialized mobile immune cells. Instead, every plant cell is thought to be capable of launching an effective immune response. So how do plants achieve specific, self-tolerant immunity and establish immune memory? Recent developments point towards a multilayered plant innate immune system comprised of self-surveillance, systemic signalling and chromosomal changes that together establish effective immunity.

Thermodynamics of Phase Equilibria in Magma

Throughout geological history, partial melting of mantle rocks and magma ascent and crystallization have played key roles in shaping the Earth. The importance of magmas stems from their liquid nature, that is, from their high atomic mobility and lack of long-range order. Compared to crystals, magmas thus have peculiar thermodynamic properties. A few examples illustrate how solid–liquid and liquid–volatile equilibria can be predicted. Given the almost infinite diversity of conditions of chemical composition, temperature and pressure in nature, thermodynamic modelling has become a necessary tool for understanding magmatic processes.

Lactobacillus johnsonii N6.2 Mitigates the Development of Type 1 Diabetes in BB-DP Rats

BackgroundThe intestinal epithelium is a barrier that composes one of the most immunologically active surfaces of the body due to constant exposure to microorganisms as well as an infinite diversity of food antigens. Disruption of intestinal barrier function and aberrant mucosal immune activation have been implicated in a variety of diseases within and outside of the gastrointestinal tract. With this model in mind, recent studies have shown a link between diet, composition of intestinal microbiota, and type 1 diabetes pathogenesis. In the BioBreeding rat model of type 1 diabetes, comparison of the intestinal microbial composition of diabetes prone and diabetes resistant animals found Lactobacillus species were negatively correlated with type 1 diabetes development. Two species, Lactobacillus johnsonii and L. reuteri, were isolated from diabetes resistant rats. In this study diabetes prone rats were administered pure cultures of L. johnsonii or L. reuteri isolated from diabetes resistant rats to determine the effect on type 1 diabetes development.Methodology/PrincipalFindings Results Rats administered L. johnsonii, but not L. reuteri, post-weaning developed type 1 diabetes at a protracted rate. Analysis of the intestinal ileum showed administration of L. johnsonii induced changes in the native microbiota, host mucosal proteins, and host oxidative stress response. A decreased oxidative intestinal environment was evidenced by decreased expression of several oxidative response proteins in the intestinal mucosa (Gpx1, GR, Cat). In L. johnsonii fed animals low levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IFNγ were correlated with low levels of iNOS and high levels of Cox2. The administration of L. johnsonii also resulted in higher levels of the tight junction protein claudin.ConclusionsIt was determined that the administration of L. johnsonii isolated from BioBreeding diabetes resistant rats delays or inhibits the onset of type 1 diabetes in BioBreeding diabetes prone rats. Taken collectively, these data suggest that the gut and the gut microbiota are potential agents of influence in type 1 diabetes development. These data also support therapeutic efforts that seek to modify gut microbiota as a means to modulate development of this disorder.

The Use of MoStBioDat for Rapid Screening of Molecular Diversity

MoStBioDat is a uniform data storage and extraction system with an extensive array of tools for structural similarity measures and pattern matching which is essential to facilitate the drug discovery process. Structure-based database screening has recently become a common and efficient technique in early stages of the drug development, shifting the emphasis from rational drug design into the probability domain of more or less random discovery. The virtual ligand screening (VLS), an approach based on high-throughput flexible docking, samples a virtually infinite molecular diversity of chemical libraries increasing the concentration of molecules with high binding affinity. The rapid process of subsequent examination of a large number of molecules in order to optimize the molecular diversity is an attractive alternative to the traditional methods of lead discovery. This paper presents the application of the MoStBioDat package not only as a data management platform but mainly in substructure searching. In particular, examples of the applications of MoStBioDat are discussed and analyzed.

Functional and clinical consequences of Fc receptor polymorphic and copy number variants

Receptors for immunoglobulins (Fc receptors) play a central role during an immune response, as they mediate the specific recognition of antigens of almost infinite diversity by leucocytes, thereby linking the humoral and cellular components of immunity. Indeed, engagement of Fc receptors by immunoglobulins initiates a range of immunoregulatory processes that might also play a role in disease pathogenesis. In the circulation, five main types of immunoglobulins (Ig) exist - namely IgG, IgA, IgE, IgM and IgD and receptors with the ability to recognize and bind to IgG (Fc gamma receptor family), IgE (Fc epsilon RI and CD23), IgA (CD89; Fc alpha/microR) and IgM (Fc alpha/microR) have been identified and characterized. However, it is astonishing that nearly all the known human Fc receptors display extensive genetic variation with clear implications for their function, thus representing a substantial genetic risk factor for the pathogenesis of a range of chronic inflammatory disorders.

The antibody paradigm: present and future development as a scaffold for biopharmaceutical drugs

Early studies of the humoral immune response revealed an apparent paradox: an infinite diversity of antibody specificities encoded within a finite genome. In consequence antibodies became a focus of interest for biochemists and geneticists. It resulted in the elucidation of the basic structural unit, the immunoglobulin (Ig) domain, comprised of ~ 100 amino acid residues that generate the characteristic “immunoglobulin (Ig) fold”. The Ig fold has an anti-parallel ß-pleated sheet (barrel) structure that affords structural stability whilst the ß-bends allow for essentially infinite structural variation and functional diversity. This versatility is reflected in the Ig domain being the most widely utilised structural unit within the proteome. Human antibodies are comprised of multiple Ig domains and their structural diversity may be enhanced through the attachment of oligosaccharides. This review summarizes our current understanding of the immunoglobulin structure/function relationships and the application of protein and oligosaccharide engineering to further develop the Ig domain as a scaffold for the generation of new and novel antibody based therapeutics.

A biodiversity‐inspired approach to aquatic ecosystem modeling

Current aquatic ecosystem models accommodate increasing amounts of physiological detail, but marginalize the role of biodiversity by aggregating multitudes of different species. We propose that at present, understanding of aquatic ecosystems is likely to benefit more from improved descriptions of biodiversity and succession than from incorporation of more realistic physiology. To illustrate how biodiversity can be accounted for, we define the system of infinite diversity (SID), which characterizes ecosystems in the spirit of complex adaptive systems theory as single units adapting to environmental pressure. The SID describes an ecosystem with one generic population model and continuity in species‐characterizing parameters, and acquires rich dynamics by modeling succession as evolution of the parameter value distribution. This is illustrated by a four‐parameter phytoplankton model that minimizes physiological detail, but includes a sophisticated representation of community diversity and interspecific differences. This model captures several well‐known aquatic ecosystem features, including formation of a deep chlorophyll maximum and nutrient‐driven seasonal succession. As such, it integrates theories on changes in species composition in both time and space. We argue that despite a lack of physiological detail, SIDs may ultimately prove a valuable tool for further qualitative and quantitative understanding of ecosystems.

Nanyue Huisi's Sudden Enlightment Thought

In the Meaning of the Course of Ease and Bliss of the Lotus Sutra (_??__??__??__??__??__??__??_), Huisi teaches sudden enlightenment (_??__??_) such that the Bodhisattva, with a single resolution (_??__??_) and a single course of practice (_??__??_) may attain the many diverse fruits of Buddhahood, by which is meant the infinite diversity of the Buddha's skilful teachings given for the benefit of sentient beings. Huisi's basis for this is the Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings (_??__??__??__??_), in which it is explained that the infinite diversity of teachings are produced from the Single Dharma (_??__??_) i. e., the Ultimate Reality (_??__??_). This is the meaning of sudden enlightenment. Both ‘a single course of practice’ (_??__??_) and the ‘Single Dharma’ (_??__??_) are tantamount to the ‘Single Vehicle’ (_??__??_). Therefore, both Huisi and the Sutra agree that the infinite diversity of teachings are produced from the ‘Single Vehicle’ (_??__??_) Huisi advises Bodhisattvas who have only just aroused the resolve to realise Buddhahood (_??__??__??__??_) to practise according to the principle of sudden enlightenment. The Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings seems to enable them to do so, for it teaches that upon relieving the suffering of various and diverse sentient beings, Bodhisattvas may attain a power equivalent to that of Great Bodhisattvas (_??__??__??_). Thus, the practice of sudden enlightenment, by which the suffering of all sentient beings is relieved, becomes possible.

Screening and Industrial Application of Unique Microbial Reactions Involved in Nucleic Acid and Lipid Metabolisms

Bioprocesses, which involve biocatalysts for the production of useful compounds, are expected to become a leading player in green chemistry. The first step in bioprocess development is screening for useful biological reactions in the immense number of microorganisms with infinite diversity and versatility. This review introduces some examples of bioprocess development that started from process design stemming from the discovery of unique metabolic processes, reactions, and enzymes in microbial nucleic acid and lipid metabolisms.

Dynamical systems and cognitive linguistics: toward an active morphodynamical semantics

We propose a novel dynamical system approach to cognitive linguistics based on cellular automata and spiking neural networks 1 1 An abbreviated version of some portions of this article appeared in Doursat & Petitot (2005), published under the IEEE copyright. . How can the same relationship ‘in’ apply to containers as different as ‘box’, ‘tree’ or ‘bowl’? Our objective is to categorize the infinite diversity of schematic visual scenes into a small set of grammatical elements and elucidate the topology of language. Gestalt-inspired semantic studies have shown that spatial prepositions such as ‘in’ or ‘above’ are neutral toward the shape and size of objects. We suggest that this invariance can be explained by introducing morphodynamical transforms, which erase image details and create virtual structures or singularities (boundaries, skeleton), and call this paradigm ‘active semantics’. Singularities arise from a large-scale lattice of coupled excitable units exhibiting spatiotemporal pattern formation, in particular traveling waves. This work addresses the crucial cognitive mechanisms of spatial schematization and categorization at the interface between vision and language and anchors them to expansion processes such as activity diffusion or wave propagation.

Difference Threshold Test for<tex>$M$</tex>-FSK Signaling With Reed–Solomon Coding and Diversity Combining in Rayleigh Fading Channels

The difference threshold test (DTT) is considered as a reliability measure in noncoherent M-ary orthogonal frequency shift keying signaling with Reed-Solomon coding and diversity combining under the multichannel environment. The DTT declares erasures when the difference between the largest and second largest energy detector outputs does not exceed a given threshold. We show that the DTT outperforms the ratio threshold test (RTT) for finite modulation size and diversity order. The asymptotic performance for infinite modulation size and diversity order is then investigated. It is proved that the minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required to achieve error-free communication for the DTT is the same as that for the RTT.

Informationalism and media labour

The central idea of ‘informationalism’ is that we are entering into a totally new epoch, which will fundamentally change the very nature of human existence. The impetus for this new epoch is the ‘bit’, the element that forges the continually evolving digital revolution which will change every human individual and social relation. This revolution is viewed as a fundamentally progressive force which will overturn the dominant forms of social organization that currently exist. Elements of this view can be seen in a diversity of sources from Gilder (2000) and Kelly (1995) to Castells (2000) and Levinson (1999). Pushed to its extreme, this position envisions that the information revolution will democratize all parts of society, create infinite diversity and satisfaction of needs, demolish oppressive political institutions, and bring about an economic revolution in which everyone everywhere will have unlimited access to information and thus the ability to produce their own products (since knowledge replaces the means of production as the centre of capitalist relations). The notion that we now live in an ‘information society’ suggests that there has been a fundamental shift in the nature of capitalism. At its extreme this view claims that capitalism is fading and being replaced by ‘informationalism’.