Directional sound field decay analysis in performance spaces

The analysis of the spatio-temporal features of sound fields is of great interest in the field of room acoustics, as they inevitably contribute to a listeners impression of the room. The perceived spaciousness is linked to lateral sound incidence during the early and late part of the impulse response which largely depends on the geometry of the room. In complex geometries, particularly in rooms with reverberation reservoirs or coupled spaces, the reverberation process might show distinct spatio-temporal characteristics. In the present study, we apply the analysis of directional energy decay curves based on the decomposition of the sound field into a plane wave basis, previously proposed for reverberation room characterization, to general purpose performance spaces. A simulation study of a concert hall and two churches is presented uncovering anisotropic sound field decays in two cases and highlighting implications for the resulting temporal evolution of the sound field diffuseness.

Exercise Training-Enhanced Lipolytic Potency to Catecholamine Depends on the Time of the Day

Exercise training is well known to enhance adipocyte lipolysis in response to hormone challenge. However, the existence of a relationship between the timing of exercise training and its effect on adipocyte lipolysis is unknown. To clarify this issue, Wistar rats were run on a treadmill for 9 weeks in either the early part (E-EX) or late part of the active phase (L-EX). L-EX rats exhibited greater isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis expressed as fold induction over basal lipolysis, with greater protein expression levels of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) phosphorylated at Ser 660 compared to E-EX rats. Furthermore, we discovered that Brain and muscle Arnt-like (BMAL)1 protein can associate directly with several protein kinase A (PKA) regulatory units (RIα, RIβ, and RIIβ) of protein kinase, its anchoring protein (AKAP)150, and HSL, and that the association of BMAL1 with the regulatory subunits of PKA, AKAP150, and HSL was greater in L-EX than in E-EX rats. In contrast, comparison between E-EX and their counterpart sedentary control rats showed a greater co-immunoprecipitation only between BMAL1 and ATGL. Thus, both E-EX and L-EX showed an enhanced lipolytic response to isoproterenol, but the mechanisms underlying exercise training-enhanced lipolytic response to isoproterenol were different in each group.

Simplified LC-MS Method for Analysis of Sterols in Biological Samples

We developed a simple and robust liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometric method (LC-MS) for the quantitative analysis of 10 sterols from the late part of cholesterol synthesis (zymosterol, dehydrolathosterol, 7-dehydrodesmosterol, desmosterol, zymostenol, lathosterol, FFMAS, TMAS, lanosterol, and dihydrolanosterol) from cultured human hepatocytes in a single chromatographic run using a pentafluorophenyl (PFP) stationary phase. The method also avails on a minimized sample preparation procedure in order to obtain a relatively high sample throughput. The method was validated on 10 sterol standards that were detected in a single chromatographic LC-MS run without derivatization. Our developed method can be used in research or clinical applications for disease-related detection of accumulated cholesterol intermediates. Disorders in the late part of cholesterol synthesis lead to severe malformation in human patients. The developed method enables a simple, sensitive, and fast quantification of sterols, without the need of extended knowledge of the LC-MS technique, and represents a new analytical tool in the rising field of cholesterolomics.

Sex-dependent pathways in hepatocarcinogenesis triggered by deregulated cholesterol synthesis

ABSTRACTWe uncover novel pathways of sex-dependent hepatocarcinogenesis due to chronic repression of cholesterol synthesis at the lanosterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51) step. The response to metabolic insult determined by global liver transcriptome, qPCR and sterol metabolite analysis, together with blood parameters, revealed molecular signatures that differ between females and males. The data deduced from the mouse model are highly relevant for humans. The dampened hepatic metabolism presents a hallmark of carcinogenesis, particularly in ageing females, with increased plasma cholesterol and HDL, and a substantial negative enrichment of transcription factors from lipid metabolism, such as NR1B1, LXRα, LRH1, and FXR. Importantly, the carcinogenic signalling pathways (ECM-receptor interaction and PI3K/Akt) are positively enriched, albeit with sex-dependent gene targets. The activated TGF-β, mTOR, Wnt, and estrogen signalling worsen the phenotype, with NFATC1/2 being central to the female phenotype. This collectively leads to activated cell death and diminished basal metabolism. In conclusion, our data underline sex as an important biological variable of hepatocarcinogenesis. We uncover novel cholesterol-dependent transcription factors and signalling pathways as cancer markers in the ageing females.SignificanceChronic repression of the late part of cholesterol synthesis provokes hepatocarcinogenesis with sex-dependent modulation of signalling pathways and transcription factors. Aging females show specific metabolic signatures and a more aggrevated phenotype of metabolism-related HCC.

Tinjauan Filologi Kritis Manuskrip Al-Minhaj Al-Qowim Syarh Al-Muqadimah Al-Hadramiyyah Fasl Fi mawaqiti as-salati

This paper aims to examine the book titled al-Minhaj al-Qowim Syarh al-Muqadimah al-Hadramiyyah in the article of fi mawaqiti as-salah on the basis of philological work which includes edits, transliteration, and translation of texts. This paper also aims to explore the meaning of the text using the speech act theory. In studying the text in philology, researchers use the standard edition single manuscript method. The translation method used is the literal method and the free method. In reviewing the meaning of the text, the researcher uses the speech act theory formulated by J. L. Austin including locution, illocution and perlocution. The results of this study are (1) In editing the text, the researcher found several errors in grammatical level, especially morphologically and the vowel error. (2) The text gives messages about the importance of praying at the beginning of time, some strict requirements about being allowed to end the time of prayer, (3) Prompts to pray at the beginning of time, both salat al-zuhr: midday, salat al-'asr: the late part of the afternoon, salat al-maghrib: just after sunset, salat al-'isha: between sunset and midnight (with notes), and salat al-fajr: dawn, (4) Invitations to hasten the implementation of salat al-maghrib, bearing in mind that the time interval between salat al-maghrib and salat al-'isha is very close together, especially in his explanation he also explained about the time that is forbidden in carrying out salat al-maghrib. (5) Regarding the salat al-'isha, he (Abdul Malik) invites Muslims to make two choices that are equally good, first: performing the evening prayer at the beginning of time, bearing in mind that the best practice is the prayer at the beginning of time, and second: carrying out the evening prayer in one-third of the night as described in a hadith, and (6) Inviting the audience / Muslims to perform the Fajr prayer at the beginning of time, given that the end of the salat al-fajr time is not the arrival of the salat al-zuhr but from the sunrise, and the dawn time is very short.

Age of the Upper Paleolithic sites in Kapova and Ignatievskaya caves (Southern Ural): revision and interpretations of the radiocarbon dates

There are two caves containing groups of wall paintings of the Upper Paleolithic age known in the Southern Ural: Kapova (Shulgan-Tash) and Ignatievskaya (Yamazy-Tash). In total, about 200 pictorial motifs have been recorded in the Kapova cave, among which there are life-like depictions of Pleistocene animals (mammoth and rhinoceros). Some 180 pictorial motifs have been found in the Ignatievskaya cave, which also show images of the Pleistocene fauna (mammoth and rhinoceros), although less realistic than those in the Kapova cave. The cultural layers have been discovered in the cave sediments at both sites. Archaeological excavations in the Kapova cave revealed multiple cultural layers which contained remains of the hearths, stone artefacts, fragments of ochre, decorations made of stone and tusk, a piece of burnеd clay cup, bone tools and animal bones (some with traces of ochre paint). In the Ignatievskaya cave, the Paleolithic cultural layer contains numerous fragments of charcoal, stone artefacts, rare fragments of ochre, decorations made from teeth of arctic fox and bison and from mammoth tusk, as well as the bones of Pleistocene animals. In the past two decades, a series of radiocarbon dates has been reported by different researchers based on the charcoal and bones from the cultural layers in both caves. Seventeen dates have been reported for the Kapova cave, including 14 Upper Paleolithic, 2 Bronze Age and 1 modern dates. The materials from the cultural layer of the Ignatievskaya cave have yielded 6 radiocarbon dates; another 3 dates were obtained directly from the charcoal used for the black paintings in the cave. Our analysis of publications, in which the radiocarbon dates from the Upper Paleolithic cultural layers of the Kapova and Ignati-evskaya caves are used, has revealed that the dating results are often reported inaccurately or incompletely, which leads to serious errors in interpretations. In particular, the incorrect use of non-calibrated radiocarbon dates as calendar ages, completely changes the paleoclimatic context of the cave occupation; for the Kapova cave, for instance, such misinterpretation shifts the dates of the cave visiting and painting from the late part of the Last Glacial Maximum and early deglaciation to the Bølling-Allerød interstadial. In this paper, we revisit the published radiocarbon ages for these two Southern Ural sites, provide practical recommendations and re-emphasize the importance for accurate and complete reporting of radiocarbon ages in publications.

The studies and translations of Sergey Dovlatov in China

The article provides an overview of all Chinese translations of Sergey Dovlatov’s works and a systemized summary of the most representative academic articles authored by renowned Chinese scholars of Russian philology, as well as candidate’s and master’s theses and a monograph. The author highlights the approaches by Chinese specialists to Dovlatov’s oeuvre and points out the lack of translations and consistent effort to deepen academic knowledge about the writer. Since most translations appear in academic journals and only two of his books have been published inChina, Dovlatov’s works remain largely unknown to the public. Focusing on Dovlatov as a representative of the third-wave Russian emigration and a Postmodernist in the late part of the 20th c., Chinese philologists have centred their research on misfi and outcasts in Dovlatov’s books, his distinctive sense of humour, and his manner of depicting Soviet reality as absurd.

Measurement and Prediction of Binaural-Temporal Integration of Speech Reflections

For speech intelligibility in rooms, the temporal integration of speech reflections is typically modeled by separating the room impulse response (RIR) into an early (assumed beneficial for speech intelligibility) and a late part (assumed detrimental). This concept was challenged in this study by employing binaural RIRs with systematically varied interaural phase differences (IPDs) and amplitude of the direct sound and a variable number of reflections delayed by up to 200 ms. Speech recognition thresholds in stationary noise were measured in normal-hearing listeners for 86 conditions. The data showed that direct sound and one or several early speech reflections could be perfectly integrated when they had the same IPD. Early reflections with the same IPD as the noise (but not as the direct sound) could not be perfectly integrated with the direct sound. All conditions in which the dominant speech information was within the early RIR components could be well predicted by a binaural speech intelligibility model using classic early/late separation. In contrast, when amplitude or IPD favored late RIR components, listeners appeared to be capable of focusing on these components rather than on the precedent direct sound. This could not be modeled by an early/late separation window but required a temporal integration window that can be flexibly shifted along the RIR.

A new concept of actively controlled rate of diesel combustion (ACCORDIC): Part II—simultaneous improvements in brake thermal efficiency and heat loss with modified nozzles

A new diffusion-based combustion concept (named it as Actively Controlled Rate of Diesel Combustion) for the confirmation of brake thermal efficiency optimum heat release rate profile based on multiple fuel injectors has been investigated. The outstanding results are; it is possible to achieve desired heat release rate profile only by the independent control of injection timing and duration of three injectors installed to a cylinder. The optimum brake thermal efficiency was not achieved with the Otto-like cycle but with the Sabathe-like cycle as predicted by a zero-dimensional thermodynamic model. Furthermore, smoke emissions were concurrently reduced with NOx emissions by increasing fuel amount from the side injectors without any deterioration in CO and total hydrocarbon emissions. On the other hand, brake thermal efficiency itself was not so improved than expected, because of lower heat release in the late part of combustion and unexpected less heat loss reduction. To solve these issues, combustion visualization and numerical simulation analysis were carried out. The results suggested that the adjacent sprays with narrower angle from each side injector deteriorated air entrainment and mixture formation, which might also result in the deterioration in wall heat loss in the expansion stroke. To solve both issues simultaneously, modified nozzle to inject against the swirl from the side injectors was utilized and achieved an improvement in both brake thermal efficiency and heat loss. That is the interdependent and reciprocal control of in-cylinder flow and fuel injection will be one of the breakthrough technologies for current trade-offs by the temporal and spatial spray flame optimization. Furthermore, the nozzle having higher flow rate with less number of orifice was utilized for the side injectors. Even though the smoke emissions were not optimized yet, brake thermal efficiency was much improved with higher heat release rate in the late part of combustion.

The Concept of jadhb and the Image of majdhūb in Sufi Teachings and Life in the Period between the Fourth/Tenth and the Tenth/Sixteenth Centuries

This paper discusses the theoretical basis of the Sufi term jadhb (the effortless attraction of man by God), and examines the different approaches towards the figure of majdhūb as developed and presented in Sufi compendia and both Sufi and non-Sufi biographies of the period between the fourth/tenth and the tenth/sixteenth centuries. It suggests that there are three major phases in the development of the theoretical basis of jadhb. The first stage covers the period between the fourth/tenth century and the first half of the sixth/twelfth century. Jadhb during this stage was not discussed as a separate technical term, and its early foundations were embedded particularly in the early discussions of tawba (repentance) beside other expressions such as ghayba and fanā’. The period that began with the late part of the sixth/twelfth century and reached the early part of the seventh/thirteenth century was distinguished by attempts of later Sufi authors to moderate the problematic aspects of jadhb and to integrate it with the detailed discussions of mashyakha (sheikh status). In light of the increasing antinomian appearances of the majdhūbs and the anarchistic qalandariyya in Muslim landscapes, the period following the early part of the seventh/thirteenth century up to the tenth/sixteenth century witnessed the popularity of majdhūb Sufis whose antinomian approach towards social codes and religious rituals came to be freely presented in the sources. Jadhb became separated from the institutionalised doctrinal system of mashyakha, although some attempts were made to integrate jadhb with sulūk and, thus, to maintain the majdhūb’s ability to act as a spiritual guide.