Time Continuum Research Articles

Female Figurations in Kiarostami’s the Wind Will Carry Us

L’essai qui suit met en lumière l’importance de la représentation des femmes dans le film The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) du réalisateur Iranien Abbas Kiarostami. L’étude soutient l’idée que les personnages féminins, peu nombreux, ont un impact sur la transformation du personnage principal, Behzad, que l’on nomme, avec déférence, “l’ingénieur”. Dans son affection pour la poésie, il manifeste déjà une ouverture pour l’adoption de nouvelles perspectives face à la vie. De surcroît, le film fait un tableau de l’écriture féminine dans sa circularité, dans sa répugnance à l’achèvement, son accentuation de la beauté de la vie. La poésie, disséminée dans le récit, souligne l’importance de “l’écriture féminine” qui, avec l’accent qu’elle met sur la vie, mène Behzad, qui était initialement obsédé par la mort, à recouvrer l’appréciation de ses beautés multiformes.

The Trauma ofThe Making of Americans:

The self-absorption with which Gertrude Stein read literature and philosophy was reflected in the autobiographical interests of her literary production.1 The scope of this production has inspired some psychoanalytic approaches to analyzing her work, such as research by Merill Cole and Priscilla Wald; while Cole focuses on a more semiotic analysis through the Oedipal signifier of the Name of the Father in Stein’s work, Wald explores her literature through the historical context of Stein’s autobiography as a lesbian and second generation American immigrant.2 In this article, I am interested in reading Stein’s work psychoanalytically, but with a particular consideration of the relation between her language practice and her Jewishness.3 Inspired as Stein was by visual artists in her Paris community, her experiments in representing people repeating themselves “insistently,” led her to devise a unique history of American migration in The Making of Americans: Being a History of a Family’s Progress (TMA) (1925).4 Evident in Stein’s stylistic signature of repetition in her portrait making are repetitive motifs in her works based on her life, which Wald brings to light in her analysis.5 One motif in particular is emphasized in Barbara Will’s paper on Stein and Zionism in which she observes that the race-centered focus in Stein’s “more explicitly Jewish autobiographical novel Q.E.D. (1903)” is repeated in the representation in Melanctha.6 While this race-thinking may explain an avoidance Maria Damon sees in Stein scholarship, my attention is drawn to the fact that the recurring racial narratives would

Land Records Data Integration Strategies: Certain Methodological Solutions

Land record computerization is one of the earliest e-governance projects initiated in India and a majority of states have reached a stage wherein they could capture mutation details as a part of automation process and provide Record of Rights (RoR) to a common man in service mode. However, it is difficult to achieve interoperation among these state-wise databases since they evolved at different points of the space–time continuum. The country has disparate land records system in various states; there was a need for convergence to make the land records data interoperable. However, as there was no platform, the Department of Land Resources (DoLR) requested to National Informatics Centre (NIC) to study and suggest a methodology for attaining convergence without disturbing the existing land record data collected from the States/Union Territories (UTs). The DoLR identified 15 parameters for standardization at the national level. Interoperability may facilitate multipurpose information and knowledge exchange wit...

Prosodic boundary information modulates phonetic categorization

Categorical perception experiments were performed on an English /b-p/ voice onset time (VOT) continuum with native (American English) and non-native (Korean) listeners to examine whether and how phonetic categorization is modulated by prosodic boundary and language experience. Results demonstrated perceptual shifting according to prosodic boundary strength: A longer VOT was required to identify a sound as /p/ after an intonational phrase than a word boundary, regardless of the listeners' language experience. This suggests that segmental perception is modulated by the listeners' computation of an abstract prosodic structure reflected in phonetic cues of phrase-final lengthening and domain-initial strengthening, which are common across languages.

In Reply to Petrie and Campbell

We thank Dr. Petrie and Dr. Campbell for their thoughtful comments on our report. They claim that we have committed the round trip fallacy. We understand the distinction between absence of evidence and evidence of absence, but if System 1 reasoning is both more common and more error prone than System 2, then it does follow that errors in diagnostic reasoning would primarily arise from System 1. In any case, we were quoting Croskerry,1 who stated, “Most errors occur with Type 1 [System 1] … whereas Type 2 [System 2] errors are infrequent and unexpected.” Moreover, while Petrie and Campbell may be convinced that the literature supports their assertion that System 1 is more error-prone, they do not provide any evidence, nor are we aware of any, aside from that shown in studies by Schmidt, Mamede, and others (referenced in our report), in which the studies were designed to induce System 1 errors. More substantially, we do not view our study as supporting or refuting a dual processing model. Rather, we were careful to state only that “we found no support for the assertion that a longer time to diagnosis results in fewer processing errors,” which follows from dual processing theory but does not prove it. Petrie and Campbell say that the conflating of rapid processing with System 1 is not consistent with descriptions of System 1 and System 2 thinking by Kahneman and others. We beg to differ, quoting Kahneman: [dual process theory]…distinguishes two generic modes of cognitive function: an intuitive mode in which judgments and decisions are made automatically and rapidly, and a controlled mode, which is deliberate and slower.2(p449) The operations of System 1 are typically fast, automatic, effortless, associative, implicit… The operations of System 2 are slower, serial, effortful….3(p698) We find it ironic that the authors accuse us of falling prey to another bias, the “narrative fallacy,” in which plausible is viewed as causal. It may seem plausible to many observers that rapid decisions, based on unconscious intuitions, may well lead to errors, and that these can be corrected by introspection, reflection, and other “higher” cognitive strategies. But our studies have shown exactly the opposite – that what is plausible to many observers is wrong. Finally, Petrie and Campbell take issue with the equating of a dual process account with evidence of a continuum of response time. We actually concur; we accept completely Jacoby’s assertion4 that there are no pure System 1 tasks and System 2 tasks. Rather, if we assume that every task is a linear combination of a rapid intuitive System 1 and a slower analytic System 2 component (recognizing that a linear combination is a gross over-simplification), it is trivial to show that one can reproduce a continuum of response times by simply varying the contribution of rapid and slow components. Jonathan Sherbino, MD Associate professor, Emergency Medicine, McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton, Canada. Geoffrey R. Norman, PhD Professor, clinical epidemiology and biostatistics, McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton Canada; [email protected]

Change is time: A comment on “Physiologic time: A hypothesis”

Before Einstein imagined bending a beam of light, he understood that ultimately time is relative and the interval is the proper measure of the space–time continuum. The physiological time hypothesis offers a similar proposal for biological systems. It views state transitions as dependent on rate-limiting relational transactions, rather than a systemindependent timekeeper. The target article proposes a scaling distribution to characterize body mass fluctuations. Moreover, the section of West and West [1] on Stochastic Ontogenetic Mass Growth (SMOG) represents a very general entry point into many biological, social, and other so-called “open” systems. The SOMG model falls squarely into a class of stochastic “birth–death” models described by the following equation:

Coping with complexity in home hemodialysis: a fresh perspective on time as a medium of Distributed Cognition

The existing literature on Distributed Cognition (DCog) mostly presents the temporal distribution of cognition in terms of system evolution that happens over time. In this paper, we illustrate how cognition can also be distributed through time in more immediate ways, through four principles we developed while studying how renal patients cope with the complexity of home hemodialysis. These principles are temporal assignments to tasks to aid prospective remembering; temporal arrangement of tasks to help deal with anticipated problems; temporal distribution of a task plan to avoid omission of steps; and temporal re-arrangement of tasks to reduce peak complexity. Like the physical environment, the time continuum is an external medium that can support distributed cognitive processes, serving as a representation for task reminders and allowing actors to organize the order, duration, and spacing of tasks to reduce complexity in cognitive work. These principles can highlight problems and opportunities in the design of socio-technical systems, by explicitly considering time as another medium that can be used to support DCog in short-term activity.

Functional fuzzy clusterwise regression analysis

We propose a functional extension of fuzzy clusterwise regression, which estimates fuzzy memberships of clusters and regression coefficient functions for each cluster simultaneously. The proposed method permits dependent and/or predictor variables to be functional, varying over time, space, and other continua. The fuzzy memberships and clusterwise regression coefficient functions are estimated by minimizing an objective function that adopts a basis function expansion approach to approximating functional data. An alternating least squares algorithm is developed to minimize the objective function. We conduct simulation studies to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method compared to its non-functional counterpart and to examine the performance of various cluster validity measures for selecting the optimal number of clusters. We apply the proposed method to real datasets to illustrate the empirical usefulness of the proposed method.

ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННАЯ КАРТИНА МИРА В РОМАНЕ ЛЕНЫ ЭЛТАНГ «КАМЕННЫЕ КЛЕНЫ»

The article deals with the category of the “artistic picture of the world” and analyzes the way and elements of the personal thinking and world perception of Lena Eltang, which are reflected in her novel “The Stone Maples”. It also emphasizes her individual concepts and characteristics which make Eltang an extravagant and contemporary writer.The main challenge of the novel is to confront the text, fiction, and reality. The novel is constructed as a mosaic of the texts with different subjects of speech. So, the novel represents the complicated structure of the picture of the world, which offers a variety in thinking and perceiving the reality. The article reviews both space and time continua (namely the past motive, memory, world oppositions, and others) and the use of “text-in-the-text” technique, introduction of the semantics of the “possible worlds”, ideas of virtual reality, etc. The interior space of the novel is composed of equal “small” spaces. The chaos of the time coordinates reflects an attempt by the characters of the novel to “rewrite” the time (history), master it, and recreate it. The focus is on the review of the novel characters’ words and on how important to them is the process of writing itself. The article puts forward the thesis of domination, applied by Eltang to describe artistically elements of the mythological world which is proved to exist by analyzing the characters’ names, by providing many examples of their ways of thinking and perceiving the world by saying phrases telling about myth images and legend creatures.

ANÁLISE COMPARATIVA DAS POLÍTICAS DE GOVERNANÇA ELETRÔNICA NOS BRIC(s)

O presente artigo desenvolve uma análise sobre a Governança Pública tomando como base sua definição fundamentada na relevância da participação cidadã e transparência entre Estado e Sociedade a partir de sua sistematização tecnológica, a Governança Eletrônica. Para tanto, faz-se uma análise exploratória sobre a Governança Eletrônica nos países do BRIC (Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China) tendo como método de análise uma extensa revisão da literatura nacional e internacional acerca da temática. Ademais, realiza-se uma análise comparativa por meio do índice de Participação Eletrônica (e-Participation Index) e do índice de Governo Eletrônico (e-Goverment Index) em um continuum de tempo compreendido entre 2003 – 2010 por meio dos relatórios oficiais publicados pelas Nações Unidas. Os resultados, além de apontarem para o impacto da crise economica de 2008 sobre os investimentos em TICs nos BRICs, revelam disparidades quantitativas e qualitativas entre os países resultantes das estratégias e ações de governo no que se refere a esta área.

Functional Extended Redundancy Analysis.

We propose a functional version of extended redundancy analysis that examines directional relationships among several sets of multivariate variables. As in extended redundancy analysis, the proposed method posits that a weighed composite of each set of exogenous variables influences a set of endogenous variables. It further considers endogenous and/or exogenous variables functional, varying over time, space, or other continua. Computationally, the method reduces to minimizing a penalized least-squares criterion through the adoption of a basis function expansion approach to approximating functions. We develop an alternating regularized least-squares algorithm to minimize this criterion. We apply the proposed method to real datasets to illustrate the empirical feasibility of the proposed method.

BRCA, the Oviduct, and the Space and Time Continuum of Pelvic Serous Carcinogenesis

In recent years, the distal oviduct has emerged as a critical organ in the pathogenesis of pelvic ("ovarian") serous cancer. Studies have uncovered early serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas in approximately 8% of asymptomatic women with germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, linked serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas to one half of serous cancers irrespective of genetic risk, and described a precursor lesion in the distal tube with early alterations in p53 function (the p53 signature). This work has established a linear serous carcinogenic sequence in a single focus within the fimbria. In addition, a more broadly distributed array of gene alterations has been discovered in the oviduct, manifested as secretory (or stem) cell outgrowths that are increased in frequency as a function of older age and serous cancer status. These "surrogate precursors" expand the existing model beyond the fimbria, implying that the molecular events leading to serous cancer are distributed over space and time. The potential promise of these discoveries is "targeted prevention" by discovering of multiple pathways integral to carcinogenesis and successfully preventing malignancy by interrupting one or a few of these pathways.

Beyond the Special and General Relativity Theories. The Micro-quanta Paradigm

Despite the arbitrary postulate of empty space (which was as arbitrary as the old aether), Albert Einstein obtained through the conceptually powerful postulate of the constancy of light velocity in any reference system, the relativistic equations of motion. The kinematic basis of Special relativity was responsible of several physical paradoxes that accompanied the growing reliability of SR along the XX century. Conversely, in the Micro-quanta paradigm the particle dynamics is directly derived in dynamical conditions from Compton's collisions between particles and the isotropic flux fo of micro-waves filling the space with speed c and energy Eo. When considering the proper Doppler function for waves incident forwards and behind any moving particle, the balance between the two opposite momenta gives the momentum predicted by SR and defines also the rest-mass mi of the particle, which results (equivalence mass-energy) to the energy mic2 = NiEo, where Ni = (si to fo) is the number of quanta colliding simultaneously with the particle during the interaction time to. In the M-Q paradigm the uniform flux fills everywhere the space, so particles “measure” their effective velocity through the momentum of Compton's collisions. The old inertial frames of reference become unnecessary. Any particle moving uniformly in strait-line is shown to collide with micro-quanta without receiving any net force (Principle of inertia). When the particle velocity is not constant and uniform during the interaction time, the local energy density 'o = foEo/c gives rise to the inertial forces. Since two particles immersed in the quantum flux always show mutual shielding, they feel a pushing force which is recognised to be the gravitational force. Thus, the concept of “gravitational mass” is discarded. This inevitably requires to re-examine the fundamentals of General relativity which appears inadequate to explain the recent observations of the accelerating universe achieved through the Ia supernovae measurements. Even the Strong nucleonic force and the Weak force on electrons at very short distances are shown to originate from mutual shielding in the M-Q paradigm. Despite micro-quanta are very small, they do not lose the fundamental characteristics of the quantum waves. The very little quantum energy Eo= hono is coupled to a very little action constant and a very small quantum wavelength lo (of the order of the Planck’s length), so that the number of quanta simultaneously incident on a nucleon is about Nn »1050. This explains why the inertial forces were for three centuries (from Newton up to Einstein) believed to originate from the continuum of space and time, instead of from physical objects.

Angiogenesis and the tumor space–time continuum

Tumors invade space through cancer cell proliferation and tumor mass expansion. Tumor growth is maintained over time using the cancer stem cell pool, which is the cell population with self-renewal potential. The work by Conley et al. (1) provided evidence that antiangiogenic agents increase cancer stem cells through the generation of tumor hypoxia. These findings are in accordance with the findings showing that hypoxia induces stem cell markers expression in cancer cells (2, 3) and that antiangiogenic therapy elicits malignant progression of tumors (4). Thus, there is now sufficient evidence to reconsider the role of tumor angiogenesis in cancer progression. Tissues need nutrients and oxygen for growth, and tumors behave as other tissues. This view is the classical view, in which, according to the work by Folkman (5), the role of tumor angiogenesis fulfills the function of normal vessels that is to deliver oxygen and metabolites and remove waste products. However, tumor vessels are abnormal and fail to fulfill these functions. Therefore, tumors have naturally chronic and cyclic hypoxic regions. This paradoxical consequence of tumor angiogenesis is that, because of its deficiencies, it also generates hypoxia. In pathology such as cancer, a defect in a physiological process does not necessarily suppress the function of the process but can generate a novel function required for disease development. Here, the other function of tumor angiogenesis is to maintain tumor growth over time through cancer stem cell increase. This dual nature of tumor angiogenesis ensures a balance between growth over space (by providing oxygen and nutrients; i.e., physiological function) and growth over time (by generating hypoxic regions that increase the cancer stem cell pool; i.e., pathophysiological function). Hence, tumors require both the physiological and pathophysiological functions of tumor angiogenesis. Therefore, the significance of tumor angiogenesis is the generation of a tumor space–time continuum.

Reply to Nugue and Wion: Targeting cancer stem cells’ hypoxic core

It has become increasingly clear that cancer stem cells (CSCs) flourish in response to low oxygen levels. We recently presented evidence that antiangiogenic therapy stimulated the CSC population in breast cancer by generating intratumoral hypoxia, and we suggested that the addition of CSC-targeting agents was warranted to increase the efficacy of antiangiogenics (1). Therefore, it seems that no matter which therapeutic strategy is used to treat a malignancy (whether it be chemo-, radio-, or antiangiogenic therapy), there is need for the use of CSC-targeting agents in combination. In their work “Angiogenesis and the tumor space–time continuum,” Nugue and Wion (2) make a valid central assertion that, even in the absence of therapeutic agents, the innate defects in tumor vasculature generate areas of cyclic hypoxia. This observation means that, as angiogenesis allows tumors to grow in size, their faulty blood vessels concurrently fuel the CSC population. Naturally, we are compelled to ask how we can use this observation to our advantage. CSCs are known to possess an impressive arsenal of defenses, allowing them to survive under stress and evade traditional therapies, including increased expression of drug transporters and intracellular detoxification enzymes and enhanced DNA damage checkpoint responses (3). It is, therefore, enticing to take advantage of our knowledge of CSCs biology, including their relationship with low oxygen, to target CSCs and combat their defensive mechanisms. The first line of attack may be to directly target the cellular oxygen sensing system, which is predominantly controlled by hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1). In our studies, we showed that one specific isoform, HIF-1a, was fully necessary for hypoxia to stimulate the CSC population in breast cancer cells (1). In accordance, HIF proteins have also been shown to regulate the tumorigenic potential of glioma cells under hypoxia (4). Blocking HIF signaling, therefore, represents a strong candidate strategy for weakening the hypoxic affect on CSCs. In fact, the work by Wang et al. (5) validated the use of the small-molecule inhibitor of HIFs, echinomycin, in the elimination of acute myeloid leukemia CSCs, in which HIF-1a is selectively activated under all oxygen levels. A second line of attack may be to raise intracellular levels of oxygen in the form of reactive oxygen species (ROS). CSCs are believed to have enhanced free radical scavenging systems, resulting in low levels of ROS (6). Moreover, in addition to low oxygen tension, low levels of ROS are believed to be important components of the CSC niche. Therefore, therapies that can increase ROS within this population may, indeed, be advantageous. Overall, CSCs pose as worthy opponents in the war against cancer, but their dependence on hypoxia may prove to be a lethal flaw in their defenses.

Urban Commuting and Daytime Population in Small Areas of a Metropolis:A Case Study of Brno, Czech Republic

A simplified modelling approach to urban commuting patterns is achieved by focusing on daytime populations rather than on commuters, or on the commuting process itself. Whereas past studies were usually economic in nature, and viewed commuting as a process within the continuum of urban space and time, the approach addressing daytime populations transforms the modelling attempt into a demographic deliberation of a binary situation where switching of values between daytime and night-time indicators in each subarea throughout a metropolis is considered. The present study shows that such a focus on diurnal change as a binary concept offers a new paradigm in conceptualizing metropolitan commuting and transportation. Under certain assumptions, rooted in recent observations of metropolitan areas elsewhere, this study conjectures an analytic function for the estimation of daytime populations in small areas throughout the metropolitan region of Brno, Czech Republic. The conjectured relationship is a logistic function that utilizes as its independent variable the average household size in each of the subareas throughout the metropolitan region. Based on the data from the Czech census of 2001, the distributions of average household size and of residential populations throughout the metropolitan region are applied in a case study illustrating the utility of the proposed approach for the estimation of daytime populations throughout the region. The iterative procedure advanced here offers considerable potential for further applications elsewhere. KEY WORDS: metropolitan commuting, urban transportation, Brno, daytime population, average household size, logistic function, small area demography

Identification and Characterization of Adverse Effects in 21st Century Toxicology

The practice of toxicology is changing rapidly, as demonstrated by the response to the 2007 NRC report on "Toxicity Testing in the 21(st) Century." New assays are being developed to replace animal testing; yet the use of data from these assays in decision making is not clear. A Health and Environmental Sciences Institute committee held a May 2011 workshop to discuss approaches to identifying adverse effects in the context of the NRC report. Scientists from industry, government, academia, and NGOs discussed two case studies and explored how information from new, high data content assays developed for screening can be used to differentiate adverse effects from adaptive responses. The terms "adverse effect" and "adaptive response" were defined, as well as two new terms, the relevant pathways of toxicological concern (RPTCs) and relevant responses for regulation (RRRs). RPTCs are biochemical pathways associated with adverse events and need to be elucidated before they are used in regulatory decision making. RRRs are endpoints that are the basis for risk assessment and may or may not be at the level of pathways. Workshop participants discussed the criteria for determining whether, at the RPTC level, an effect is potentially adverse or potentially indicative of adaptability, and how the use of prototypical, data-rich compounds could lead to a greater understanding of RPTCs and their use as RRRs. Also discussed was the use of RPTCs in a weight-of-evidence approach to risk assessment. Inclusion of data at this level could decrease uncertainty in risk assessments but will require the use of detailed dosimetry and consideration of exposure context and the time and dose continuum to yield scientifically based decisions. The results of this project point to the need for an extensive effort to characterize RPTCs and their use in risk assessment to make the vision of the 2007 NRC report a reality.

Da letargia ao realento: notas sobre o ensino de graduação em administração pública no Brasil no entremeio da crise do Estado e da redemocratização no país (1983-94)

Considerando o entremeio da crise do Estado e da redemocratização no Brasil, este artigo volta-se para uma descrição e análise dos fatos e circunstâncias que marcaram o ensino de graduação em administração pública no Brasil no período 1983-94, considerado pelos autores como um dos ciclos (ou estágios de construção) desta formação acadêmica. Metodologicamente, o artigo faz a revisão bibliográfica daquelas obras que abordam direta e indiretamente o tema, incluindo a revisita de suas fontes; analisa as leis e pareceres existentes sobre o ensino de graduação em administração pública nesse intervalo de tempo, bem como utiliza-se de algumas entrevistas semiestruturadas com acadêmicos que vivenciaram tal período. No que se refere aos resultados, observa-se que o período 1983-94, diferentemente do 1ºciclo (1952-65) e do 2ºciclo (1966-82), quando a formação acadêmica em administração pública tinha uma identidade - aderente à concepção (e ao projeto) de Estado e aos contornos (e à produção) do campo do saber da administração pública -, tendo na Ebap/FGV um case modelar, foi um estágio de construção problemático, refletindo a crise do Estado dos anos 1980 e, igualmente, a crise (ou descontinuidade) paradigmática do campo do saber em administração pública no Brasil em tal época.

Does the Principle of Convergence Really Hold? War, Uncertainty and the Failure of Bargaining

Convergence occurs in war and bargaining models as uninformed rivals discover their opponent's type by fighting and making calibrated offers that only the weaker party would accept. Fighting ends with the compromise that reveals the other side's type. This article shows that, if the protagonists are free to fight and bargain in the time continuum, they no longer make increasing concessions in an attempt to end the war promptly and on fair terms. Instead, the rivals stand firm on extreme bargaining positions, fighting it out in the hope that the other side will give in, until much of the war has been fought. Despite ongoing resolution of uncertainty by virtue of time passing, the rivals choose not to try to narrow their differences by negotiating.

Comparative multi-locus phylogeography confirms multiple vicariance events in co-distributed rainforest frogs

Though Pleistocene refugia are frequently cited as drivers of species diversification, comparisons of molecular divergence among sister species typically indicate a continuum of divergence times from the Late Miocene, rather than a clear pulse of speciation events at the Last Glacial Maximum. Community-scale inference methods that explicitly test for multiple vicariance events, and account for differences in ancestral effective population size and gene flow, are well suited for detecting heterogeneity of species' responses to past climate fluctuations. We apply this approach to multi-locus sequence data from five co-distributed frog species endemic to the Wet Tropics rainforests of northeast Australia. Our results demonstrate at least two episodes of vicariance owing to climate-driven forest contractions: one in the Early Pleistocene and the other considerably older. Understanding how repeated cycles of rainforest contraction and expansion differentially affected lineage divergence among co-distributed species provides a framework for identifying evolutionary processes that underlie population divergence and speciation.