283,681 research outputs found
The 1961 Kampong Bukit Ho Swee fire and the making of modern Singapore
Full text linkBy 1970, Singapore’s urban landscape was dominated by high-rise blocks of planned public housing built by the People’s Action Party government, signifying the establishment of a high modernist nation-state. A decade earlier, the margins of the City had been dominated by kampongs, home to semi-autonomous communities of low-income Chinese families which freely built, and rebuilt, unauthorised wooden houses. This change was not merely one of housing but belied a more fundamental realignment of state-society relations in the 1960s. Relocated in Housing and Development Board flats, urban kampong families were progressively integrated into the social fabric of the emergent nation-state. This study examines the pivotal role of an event, the great Kampong Bukit Ho Swee fire of 1961, in bringing about this transformation. The redevelopment of the fire site in the aftermath of the calamity brought to completion the British colonial regime’s ‘emergency’ programmes of resettling urban kampong dwellers in planned accommodation, in particular, of building emergency public housing on the sites of major fires in the 1950s. The PAP’s far greater political resolve, and the timing of and state of emergency occasioned by the scale of the 1961 disaster, enabled the government to rehouse the Bukit Ho Swee fire victims in emergency housing in record time. This in turn provided the HDB with a strategic platform for clearing other kampongs and for transforming their residents into model citizens of the nation-state. The 1961 fire’s symbolic usefulness extended into the 1980s and beyond, in sanctioning the PAP’s new housing redevelopment schemes. The official account of the inferno has also become politically useful for the government of today for disciplining a new generation of Singaporeans against taking the nation’s progress for granted. Against these exalted claims of the fire’s role in the Singapore Story, this study also examines the degree of actual change and continuity in the social and economic lives of the people of Bukit Ho Swee after the inferno. In some crucial ways, the residents continued to occupy a marginal place in society while pondering, too, over the unresolved question of the cause of the fire. These continuities of everyday life reflect the ambivalence with which the citizenry regarded the high modernist state in contemporary Singapore
Cooling rates of neutron stars and the young neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant
No full textWe explore the thermal state of the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant using the recent result of Ho & Heinke that the thermal radiation of this star is well described by a carbon atmosphere model and the emission comes from the entire stellar surface. Starting from neutron star cooling theory, we formulate a robust method to extract neutrino cooling rates of thermally relaxed stars at the neutrino cooling stage from observations of thermal surface radiation. We show how to compare these rates with the rates of standard candles – stars with non-superfluid nucleon cores cooling slowly via the modified Urca process. We find that the internal temperature of standard candles is a well-defined function of the stellar compactness parameter x=rg/R, irrespective of the equation of state of neutron star matter (R and rg are circumferential and gravitational radii, respectively). We demonstrate that the data on the Cassiopeia A neutron star can be explained in terms of three parameters: f?, the neutrino cooling efficiency with respect to the standard candle; the compactness x; and the amount of light elements in the heat-blanketing envelope. For an ordinary (iron) heat-blanketing envelope or a low-mass (? 10?13 M?) carbon envelope, we find the efficiency f?? 1 (standard cooling) for x? 0.5 and f?? 0.02 (slower cooling) for a maximum compactness x? 0.7. A heat blanket containing the maximum mass (?10?8 M?) of light elements increases f? by a factor of 50. We also examine the (unlikely) possibility that the star is still thermally non-relaxe
HMOX1 gene promoter alleles and high HO-1 levels are associated with severe malaria in Gambian children.
Full text linkHeme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) is an essential enzyme induced by heme and multiple stimuli associated with critical illness. In humans, polymorphisms in the HMOX1 gene promoter may influence the magnitude of HO-1 expression. In many diseases including murine malaria, HO-1 induction produces protective anti-inflammatory effects, but observations from patients suggest these may be limited to a narrow range of HO-1 induction, prompting us to investigate the role of HO-1 in malaria infection. In 307 Gambian children with either severe or uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria, we characterized the associations of HMOX1 promoter polymorphisms, HMOX1 mRNA inducibility, HO-1 protein levels in leucocytes (flow cytometry), and plasma (ELISA) with disease severity. The (GT)(n) repeat polymorphism in the HMOX1 promoter was associated with HMOX1 mRNA expression in white blood cells in vitro, and with severe disease and death, while high HO-1 levels were associated with severe disease. Neutrophils were the main HO-1-expressing cells in peripheral blood, and HMOX1 mRNA expression was upregulated by heme-moieties of lysed erythrocytes. We provide mechanistic evidence that induction of HMOX1 expression in neutrophils potentiates the respiratory burst, and propose this may be part of the causal pathway explaining the association between short (GT)(n) repeats and increased disease severity in malaria and other critical illnesses. Our findings suggest a genetic predisposition to higher levels of HO-1 is associated with severe illness, and enhances the neutrophil burst leading to oxidative damage of endothelial cells. These add important information to the discussion about possible therapeutic manipulation of HO-1 in critically ill patients
Study on 2.0 mu m fluorescence of Ho-doped water-free fluorotellurite glasses
No full textHo(3+-)doped water-free fluorotellurite glasses with composition of 60TeO(2)-30ZnF(2)-10NaF (mol%, TZNF60) were made by using specially-designed physical and chemical dehydration technique. 2.04 mu m fluorescence (Ho3+: I-5(7) -> I-5(8)) was observed experimentally and presented in this paper: A broad bandwidth of similar to 149 nm, large simulated emission cross-section of 7.2 x 10(-21) cm(2), and the longest reported fluorescence lifetime of similar to 10 ms among all the reported Ho3+-doped oxide glasses. Thanks to the absence of OH groups and low phonon energy with the addition fluorides into tellurite oxide glasses, 1.00Ho-TZNF60 glass demonstrates the maximum figure of merit (sigma(em) x tau(f)) of 7.13 x 10(-27) m(2) s, thus regarded as a promising optical material for the development of 2.0 mu m fiber lasers. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Additions to the moss flora of Endau Rompin National Park, Johore State, peninsular Malaysia
No full textIn a recent survey of the Endau Rompin National Park (ERNP) in Johore State, 81 species and 4 varieties of mosses were documented. This increases the previous count from 62 species and 3 varieties of mosses in ERNP to 111 species and 5 varieties in total. Of these, 30 species are new records for Johore State. Rhaphidostichum bunodicarpum and Trichosteleum stigmosum are two species new to Peninsular Malaysia. Thuidium assimile is a new record for West Malesia. A new combination, Papillidiopsis aquaticum (Dix.) Boon-Chuan Ho & B.C. Tan is proposed. In terms of species composition, the pan-tropical families of Calymperaceae, Fissidentaceae, Leucobryaceae and Sematophyllaceae predominate the moss flora of ERNP
HO-1 is rapidly increased after haptoglobin and hemopexin infusion.
No full text(A and B) SS-mice (n = 3/group) were infused with vehicle or equimolar (1 μmol/kg) Hb, Hp, Hpx, Hb + Hp, or Hb + Hpx. Livers were removed and flash frozen 1 hour after infusion. Hepatic microsomes were used to assess heme oxygenase (HO) activity (A) via bilirubin production and protein expression (B) via immunoblot. Bars are means ± SD, **p (C and D) SS-mice (n = 3/group) were untreated or infused with Hp or Hpx (1 μmol/kg) at baseline (time 0). Livers were removed and flash frozen 24, 48 or 72 hours after infusion. Hepatic microsomes were used to assess (C) HO activity and (D) HO-1 protein expression via immunoblot. Bars are means ± SD, *p (E and F) SS-mice (n = 3/group) were infused with vehicle or increasing doses (0.0156, 0.0625, 0.25 or 1.0 μmols/kg) of Hp or Hpx at baseline. Livers and kidneys were removed and flash frozen 24 hours after infusion. Hepatic (E) and kidney (F) microsomes were used to assess HO activity. Bars are means ± SD.</p
Bathycongrus bimaculatus Smith & Ho
No full text* Bathycongrus bimaculatus Smith & Ho, this volume Bathycongrus bimaculatus Smith & Ho, 2018a: this volume (type locality: off Dong-gang, Pingtung, southwestern Taiwan, South China Sea, bottom trawl, ca. 300 m). Remarks. Newly described in this volume by Smith & Ho (2018a). This species is only found in southwestern Taiwan off Dong-gang; collected by bottom trawl.Published as part of Ho, Hsuan-Ching, Smith, David G., Tighe, Kenneth A., Hibino, Yusuke & Mccosker, John E., 2018, Checklist of eels of Taiwan (orders Anguilliformes and Saccopharyngiformes): An update, pp. 5-17 in Zootaxa 4454 (1) on page 11, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4454.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/144668
Chaunax russatus Ho, Roberts & Stewart 2013
No full textChaunax russatus Ho, Roberts & Stewart, 2013 Tables 2 –4 Chaunax russatus Ho, Roberts & Stewart, 2013:105, figs. 11A–B, 12A–B (type locality: Kaikoura Canyon, 43°0.09'S, 173°53.85'E, New Zealand area, 821–1030 m). Materials examined. CSIROH.5345-02 (1, 120), 36°35'S, 52°05'E, southwestern Indian Ocean, 835–1110 m, 29 Oct. 1999. CSIRO H.5849-01 (1, 120), 38°27'S, 47°42'E, South-West Indian Ridge, 656–962 m, 14 Mar. 2001. SAIAB 7271 (1, 171), 30°32'S, 30°32'E, KwaZulu-Natal, 625–900 m, 10 May 1977. SAIAB 86432 (1, 114), 28°20.2'S, 45°15.2'E, S of Madagascar, 739–759 m, 2 Sep. 2008. Diagnosis. A species in C. abei -species group with 1 pair of spines bridging the lateral-line neuromasts; illicial trough wider than the pupil; gill chamber and gill arches grayish; GRii=14 or 15; and lateral-line neuromasts: BD=2, GH=10–13, BI=32–39. Body uniformly reddish when fresh, sometimes with irregular grayish marks. Distribution. Known from southern hemisphere off New Zealand, Australia, Mozambique and South Africa. Specimens from southern Africa were collected at depths of 625–1110 m. Remarks. Ho & Last (2013) reported that this is a trans-Indian Ocean distribution species. This species is widespread in the southern hemisphere off South Africa, Australia (both sides) and New Zealand. It also represents the deepest record of Chaunax in southern Africa.Published as part of Ho, Hsuan-Ching & Ma, Wen-Chun, 2016, Revision of southern African species of the anglerfish genus Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae), with descriptions of three new species, pp. 175-194 in Zootaxa 4144 (2) on pages 191-192, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4144.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/25908
Malthopsis velutina Ho 2020, new species
No full textMalthopsis velutina, new species Polynesian triangular batfish (Figs. 4, 5; Table 2) Holotype. MNHN 2008-1227 (1, 56.9), Campagnes Musorstom 9, ALIS, sta. cp1268, 7°55′59″S, 140°43′1″W, Eiao Island, Marquesas Islands, Polynesia, South Pacific Ocean, perch trawl, 420–430 m, 4 September 1997. Paratypes. Ninety-two specimens, 37.8–55.2 mm SL, all collected by ALIS (Campagnes Musorstom 9), from Marquesas Islands, Polynesia, South Pacific Ocean, using perch trawl. MNHN 2001-0028 (1, 43.4), sta. cp1229, 9°43′59″S, 138°51′0″W, Hiva Oa Island, 310–320 m, 30 August 1997. MNHN 2003-0996 (6, 45.7–55.2), sta. cp1306, 8°55′1″S, 140°14′6″W, Nuku Hiva Island, 283–448 m, 10 September 1997. MNHN 2005-1150 (55, 37.8–50.9), collected with holotype. MNHN 2006-1461 (2, 46.9–50.9), sta. cp1269, 7°55′59″S, 140°43′1″W, Eiao Island, 420–430 m, 4 September 1997. MNHN 2008-1228 (4, 44.2–52.8) and MNHN 2008-1231 (23, 37.8–48.6), collected with holotype. Non-types. MNHN 2000-5509 (5 juveniles, 16.7–19.6), sta. cp1238, 9°40′59″S, 139°3′0″W, Hiva Oa Island, 280–370 m, 31 August 1997. Diagnosis. A species of Malthopsis with body covered with fine bucklers and prickles forming a velvet-like integument, and black patches on body surface, including upper portion of eye. It can be further distinguished from congeners by following combination of characters: rostral spine short (x = 4.0% SL) and blunt, directed upward rather than forward; subopercular buckler small, with several spinules at its tip; a large eye (x = 13.7% SL); narrow interorbital space (x = 5.3% SL); anal fin reaching base of caudal fin when fully laid back; and usually six dorsal-fin rays and 12 or 13 pectoral-fin rays. Description. Dorsal-fin rays six (usually six, rarely five or seven); pectoral-fin rays 13 (usually 12 or 13, rarely 11); anal-fin rays four. Body depressed, markedly triangular in dorsal view, its width slightly greater than length; posterior portion of skull elevated above rest of disk; tail base narrow; caudal peduncle narrow and slender, semi-cylindrical, flattened ventrally and tapering posteriorly. Orbit large, 13.5% SL (12.9‒15.3, x = 13.7), directed dorsolaterally; no pupillary operculum. Rostrum blunt, stout, with a narrow base, directed upward rather than forward (Fig. 5A, B), slightly overhanging illicial cavity and mouth; rostrum very short, 3.2% SL (3.2‒5.5, x = 4.0), much shorter than orbital diameter; OD/RL 4.3 (2.6‒4.4, x = 3.5); interorbital space narrow, 5.2% SL (4.8‒6.1, x = 5.3), forming a deep groove (Fig. 5A); OD/IO 2.6 (2.1‒3.0, x = 2.6); frontal ridge slightly convex. Illicial cavity small, oval to rounded, its opening as high as wide; esca a single oval bulb, bearing two (one or two, mostly two) small cirri on dorsal margin; mouth small, terminal; small villiform teeth on jaws forming narrow bands, those on fifth ceratobranchial forming two large, elongated, adjacent patches; teeth forming a wide quadrangular patch on vomer and a smaller oval patch on each palatine. Squamation on dorsal surface of disk well developed, consisting mainly of small, low variable-sized bucklers (Figs. 4, 5), interspaces between bucklers densely covered with tiny prickles, forming velvet-like integument; bucklers on frontal ridge small and blunt, two small preorbital bucklers which overlap anterior border of orbit; five (four or five) small, subequal-sized bucklers on frontal ridge; interorbital space densely covered by small bucklers (Fig. 5A); membranes above eye densely covered by small bucklers and prickles. Posterior portion of skull covered with small bucklers, except for two (two or three) slightly larger bucklers on each side (Fig. 5A); no naked area on body disk; one irregular median row of slightly larger bucklers predorsally, ending before dorsal-fin origin as two large side-by-side bucklers (Fig. 5D). Disk margin with a cluster of suborbital bucklers anteriorly, forming three poorly-defined rows posteriorly, all bucklers small and low, with a narrow base; lower two rows of bucklers associated with lateral-line channel, apices blunt, not well elevated; those of median row directed laterally, those of lower row directed ventrally; neuromasts along lateral-line channel well-defined. Subopercular buckler small, extending slightly beyond disk margin laterally; terminating on uppermost and middle rows of disk-margin bucklers; with a small, well-defined, forward-directed spine, a backward-directed spine and several smaller spinelets (variable in size and coverage) at its tip (Fig. 5C); two small post-subopercular bucklers, each bearing few small spinelets distally. Pectoral-fin base on posterior part of disk, covered completely with small bucklers dorsally except for small naked areas surrounding gill openings. Dorsal surface of tail weakly armoured, entirely covered with small, low, apically pointed bucklers (Fig. 5D); a loose row of four (three to five) large dorsolateral bucklers extending from last pair of predorsal bucklers below dorsal fin on each side; a longer, highly irregular, semi-oblique row of small bucklers along lateral margin of tail to caudal-fin base; an irregular row of flattened bucklers on dorsal midline between dorsal and caudal fins; dorsal tail rows uniting to form a single, slightly elevated buckler at its base. Lateral margin of tail with two rows of small, low bucklers associated with lateral line, similar to those of disk margin. Ventral surface of disk predominantly covered with small, low, flat bucklers; very stout and small apical spines present on each buckler; belly densely covered with small variablesized bucklers, some slightly larger on breast than on belly and numerous prickles on interspaces (Fig. 5E); rear margin of anus surrounded by slightly enlarged, indistinct bucklers; ventral surface of tail with two regular rows of small bucklers (Fig. 5F), coalescing to a bulbous buckler at caudal-fin base. Fins generally naked, without bucklers, sometimes with small bucklers on rays near caudal-fin base; inter-radials of pectoral fins thin, transparent; dermal cirri short, thin, flap-like, present on disk margin and lateral sides of tail associated with lateral-line neuromasts. Anal fin usually short, reaching only to base of caudal fin when fully depressed, except for some larger specimens, including the holotype, with anal fin reaching base of caudal fin. Colouration. Fresh colour unknown. The preserved holotype (Fig. 4A, B) has dorsal surface yellowish-brown with a black supraorbital membrane; large, deep brown smoky patches on dorsal surface of disk and base of tail; two saddle-like blotches on tail, one at dorsal fin base and one between dorsal and caudal fins; dorsal surface of pectoral fin light brown; origin and posterior half of caudal fin deep brown; ventral surface pale uniformly; peritoneum pale with many black dots. Some paratypes have more or less consistent colouration as described for the holotype, but some have black colour surrounding the orbital, and the smoky patches on dorsal surface of disk vary in size, sometimes a paler patch centrally on dorsal surface and each side of base of tail, and some with smaller irregular patches on both sides of body disk. Distribution. Known from the type series and non-type specimens collected in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, and likely endemic to the region. Bathymetric range 280‒ 448 m. Size. The largest examined specimen is 56.9 mm SL, which suggests this is a small-sized species. Etymology. The specific name velutina, meaning velvety, is in reference to its body covered with fine bucklers and prickles forming a velvet-like integument. Used as adjective in apposition. Comparisons. Malthopsis velutina has a unique squamation that easily distinguishes it from all other congeners. It is similar to a species group that has the body surface of disk densely covered by bucklers and tiny prickles (e.g., Malthopsis austrafrica Ho, 2013, M. asperata Ho, Roberts & Shao, 2013, M. formosa Ho & Koeda, 2019, M. gnoma Bradbury, 1998, M. kobyashii Tanaka, 1916, M. provocator Whitley, 1961, M. tiarella Jordan, 1902), but differs from these species in having the dorsal surface densely covered by tiny spinules forming a velvet-like integument. Other congeners with prickles on the ventral surface of the disk all have large, either sharp or blunt bucklers on the dorsal surface of the disk. Moreover, M. velutina has distinct spines directed forward and backward on the tip of the subopercular buckler, whereas all other species with prickles on the body surface have a dull subopercular buckler and lack distinct forward-directed spine(s). Remarks. The squamation of M. velutina is somewhat similar to that of Ogcocephalus darwini Hubbs, 1958 and Ogcocephalus porrectus Garman, 1899, which may indicate that these species have adapted to a similar environment, like a fine-sandy bottom. However, O. darwini and O. porrectus are found in relatively shallow waters, 3.5‒73.5 m and ca. 120 m, respectively (Bradbury, 1980), whereas M. velutina was collected from much deeper water, 280‒ 448 m. At present, M. velutina and Malthopsis gigas Ho & Shao, 2010 are the only two Malthopsis species known from French Polynesia, the easternmost range of the genus in the Pacific Ocean. Malthopsis gigas has a much larger body size (up to 135 mm SL) and very different squamation. The two species likely use different habitats and have different ecological niches. Comparative material. Malthopsis annulifera: listed in Ho & Shao (2010a); M. asperata: listed in Ho et al. (2013); M. austrafricana: listed in Ho (2013); M. formosa: listed in Ho & Koeda (2019); M. gigas: listed in Ho & Shao (2010a); M. kobyashii: listed in Ho & Shao (2010b); M. provocator: listed in Ho & Last (in press); and M. tiarella: listed in Ho & Koeda (2019).Published as part of Ho, Hsuan-Ching, 2020, Two new deep-water batfish of the genus Malthopsis from the Pacific Ocean (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae), pp. 859-869 in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 68 on pages 865-869, DOI: 10.26107/RBZ-2020-0094, http://zenodo.org/record/535078
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