196 research outputs found
Heidegger and Religion 3: Heidegger and the Contemporary Religious Situation
No full textPapers from a colloquium held at Trinity College, March 15th 2008The attached file contains the programme of the workshop 'Heidegger and the Contemporary Religious Situation' (15 March 2008, Trinity College, Oxford) and full-text of the following papers presented at the workshop: John D. Caputo - 'What Comes After Onto-Theology'; Wing-cheuk Chan - 'Heidegger and Buddhism'; Nader El-Bizri - 'Rethinking Avicenna's Ontology from the Standpoint of Heidegger's Critique of Metaphysics'; Simon Oli - 'A most 'European' Destiny: Heidegger on Safeguarding Being from its Fundamentalist Persecution'. Each author holds the copyright for their paper
Phytochemical studies on Buxus macowanii and microbial transformation of glycyrrhetinic acid
No full textThis thesis describes phytochemical studies on Buxus macowanii, a medicinal plant collected from South Africa and the fungal transformation of glycyrrhetinic acid (71), a triterpenoid found in Glycyrrhiza plants.
The crude methanolic extract of B. macowanii was active in the acetylcholinesterase inhibition assay (IC50 = 30 μg/mL). Chemical investigation of its alkaline dichloromethane extract afforded five novel triterpenoidal alkaloids, 31-hydroxybuxatrienone (56), macowanioxazine (57), 16α-hydroxyma-
cowanitriene (58), macowanitriene (59), and macowamine (60), along with two known Buxus bases, Nb-demethylpapillotrienine (61) and moenjodaramine (62). Compounds 56, 57, and 61 exhibited different level of AChE inhibitory activities with compound 56 being significantly active (IC50 = 8.0 μM).
Glycyrrhetinic acid (71) was incubated with Curvularia lunata (ATCC 12017) for ten days to afford one metabolite which was characterized by NMR spectral data as known biotransformed product, 3-oxo-glycyrrhetinic acid (85). This metabolite was previously obtained through biotransformation of 71 by using other fungi.October 201
Novel technologies in the investigation of the neuronal dynamics of mouse forelimb movements
No full textPh.D.Innovative technologies are crucial to advancing our understanding of the brain. In vivo two-photon fluorescence microscopy is a powerful tool that enables observation of the living brain. When combined with fluorescent functional indicators, this technique can be used to acquire chronic recording of large ensembles of neural activity in an awake behaving head-fixed animal, and can simultaneously exploit a wealth of transgenic tools to dissect structural connectivity and plasticity within neural circuits. Designing and constructing a custom microscope provides the flexibility to engineer towards specific imaging requirements, and the freedom to augment its functionality with novel features.A universal challenge for in vivo optical imaging is to overcome the intrinsic light-scattering properties of tissue, which severely attenuates excitation photons and randomly disperses photons emitted by a sample, resulting in severely limited imaging depths. To overcome this issue, a method was developed which employs Monte Carlo ray tracing to simulate photon trajectories through scattering medium, combined with an iterative algorithm to assess the collection efficiency of all possible lens configurations in a constrained detector structure, and arrive at an optimal model. Implementation of this model yielded superior imaging depths in vivo compared to a naïve design.To advance the system beyond its basic capabilities, a modular focal plane adjustment system driven by a pair of electronically-tuneable lenses was designed and implemented to enable high-speed dual-layer imaging at 15 Hz each, in tandem with the resonant scanning system without compromises in imaging resolution. Axial shift of up to 350 μm is achievable without any curvature of the focal plane, but with 35% reduction of the field-of-view along the Y-dimension. Demonstration of dual-layer imaging is performed in the mouse neocortex, simultaneously acquiring calcium transients from Layer 2/3 soma and Layer 1 apical dendrites.Experimental paradigms for testing animal behaviour must be adapted to comply with the head-fixated requirement of in vivo two-photon imaging. A novel 2 degree-of-freedom robotic manipulandum was developed to aid in the study of complex forelimb movements in mice. The robotic system is driven by a dedicated microcontroller that communicates with a PC-client to perform fully automated experiments, while remaining synchronized with other data acquisition modalities.C57BL/6 mice were trained to operate the robotic manipulandum in “centre-out” and two-segment path movements, while in vivo calcium imaging was performed, alternating between the caudal forelimb area (CFA) and rostral forelimb areas (RFA) of the motor cortex. A greater proportion of neurons in the RFA were significantly correlated to a highly trained motor segment compared to the CFA, suggesting a greater role of the RFA in the acquisition of novel movements.創新性技術對於提高我們對大腦的理解至關重要。體內雙光子熒光顯微鏡是觀察活體大腦的強大工具。當與功能熒光指示劑結合使用時，該技術可用於在頭部固定的清醒動物中獲取大量神經元活動的慢性記錄，並且可以與大量的轉基因工具同時使用，來解析神經迴路內的結構連接性和可塑性。設計和構建定制顯微鏡為研究提供了靈活性，可以針對特定的成像要求進行設計，並且可以通過新穎的功能來增加其工作性能。體內光學成像的普遍挑戰是克服組織固有的光散射。光散射嚴重地削弱激發光子並隨機分散樣品發射的光子，導致成像深度嚴重受限。為了克服這個問題，本研究開發了一種採用蒙特卡羅射線跟踪來模擬通過散射介質的光子軌跡的方法，結合迭代算法來評估受限探測器結構中所有可能的透鏡配置的採集效率，並得到最優模型。與初始設計相比，該模型的實施產生了較好的體內成像深度。為了在基本功能之上提升使系統的功能，本研究設計並實現了由一對電子可調鏡頭驅動的模塊化焦平面調節系統，以便能夠以 15 Hz 的速度進行高速雙層掃描成像，並無損成像分辨率。該技術可以實現高達 350 μm 的的軸向移動而沒有視場的任何曲率，但是沿 Y-維度視場範圍減少 35％。我們用該技術在小鼠新腦皮層中進行了雙層成像的示範，同時從第 2/3層和第 1 層頂端樹突獲取鈣信號軌跡。用於測試動物行為的實驗策略必須符合體內雙光子成像的頭部固定要求。本研究開發了一種新穎的具有兩個自由度的機器操作平台，以幫助研究小鼠複雜的前肢運動。機器系統由專門的微控制器驅動，該微控制器與PC客戶端進行溝通，以執行全自動化實驗，同時保持與其他模式數據採集的同步。C57BL/6小鼠被訓練操作上述操控平台，做“由中心向外”的上肢運動和兩段運動路徑的上肢運動，同時進行腦部鈣成像，同步收集後部前肢區域（CFA）和前部前肢區域（RFA）運動神經元的活動。與 CFA 相比，RFA 中較大比例的神經元與高度訓練的運動片段顯著相關，表明 RFA 在習得新動作中的作用更大。Chan, Cheuk Wing Danny."December 2017."Thesis Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2018.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-194).Abstracts also in Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on 25, May, 2021)
The Yogacara Doctrine of Buddha-Nature: Paramartha vs. the Fa-hsiang School
No full textThere were two main streams in Yogacara Buddhism. On the one hand, there was the Old School of Sthiramati and Paramartha. On the other hand, there was the New School of Dharmapala and Hsuan Tsang. Due to the work of Yoshifumi Ueda and Gadjin Nagao in Japan, the distinction between Paramartha and the Fahsiang School has been to a large extent clarified. The difference between their doctrines on Buddha-nature has been, however, relatively neglected by modern scholarship. This paper aims to clarify the distinction between Paramartha and the Fa-hsiang’s doctrines of Buddha-nature. Following Ueda, this paper will also differentiate Paramartha’s doctrine of Buddha-nature from the doctrine of the tathagatagarbha presented in the Awakening of Faith. Especially, we will see that Buddha-nature in the Awakening of Faith and the Fa-hsiang School are committed to a version of essentialism. Finally, it will discern some interesting parallels between Paramartha’s doctrine and the perfect teachings of T’ien T’ai Buddhism
No-Mind and Nothingness: From Zen Buddhism to Heidegger
No full textIn China there was a distinction between Zen Buddhism of the Tang Dynasty and that of the Sung Dynasty. In the Zen Buddhism of the Tang Dynasty the doctrine of wu-hsin (No-mind) played a key role; while in that of the Sung Dynasty the notion of wu (Nothingness) itself became the focus. In the former, wu primarily represented a functional principle, whereas in the latter, it became an ontological principle. Historically, the doctrine of No-mind was introduced by Hui-neng, the founder of the Southern School of Zen Buddhism. Later in the Lin-chi School, this doctrine was concretized into the concept of wu-wei jan-jen. In modern scholarship, both the concepts of No-mind and of wu-wei jan-jen, however, remain unclear. As a result, the Japanese Critical Buddhism even claims that Zen is not Buddhist. This paper will show in what way Heideggerian phenomenology can contribute to the articulation of a particular type of religious experience, namely, the Zen experience. As wil be seen, with the help of Heidegger’s doctrine of Dasein as the “place-holder of Nothingness,” it is possible to achieve a proper understanding of these major concepts in Zen Buddhism. Moreover, in terms of the turn (Kehre) in Heidegger’s way of thinking, one can understand why there was a transition from “No-mind” to “Nothingness” in the development of Zen Buddhism. Finally, one can trace the origin of the Kyoto School’s notion of “locus” (basho) in the concept of wu-wei jan-jen
“Current training” in Cardiac devices – a Cardiology trainee perspective: a questionnaire survey
No full textThis article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. A national survey (questionnaire) on Cardiology trainees undertaken on behalf of the author by the British Junior Cardiologists Association (BJCA) on training opportunities, needs, attitudes and perceived barriers that exist within "current training" in cardiac devices suggests lack of opportunity for hands on training and poor attitude to training resulting in a perceived lack of competence. The conflict between service commitment and training was a recurring theme.</ns4:p
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