批评的“重置”——评莱顿的《听物:文学中的声音机能》

当代英国批评家安吉拉·莱顿的近作《听物》试图揭示听觉在文学创作与解读过程中的关键功能。通过对丁尼生、叶芝、弗罗斯特、伍尔夫等作家作品的细读与辨听,《听物》向我们敞开了一个长期被视觉批评传统所遮蔽的文学阐释空间。其中,由于视听感官次序的重置,不仅抒情诗的概念得到重写,而且从19世纪到当代英语文学的互文谱系获得了创新性的开掘。除此之外,全书始终围绕文学与哲学的对话展开,以现在分词形式喻指文学语言在追索与抵达之间的某种永恒形态。通过对文学定义的重新勾勒,《听物》还引发了对当前文学批评立场和学术写作模式的反思,某种程度上实现了对文学本质的还原。

The dual-pathway model of auditory signal processing

Similar to the visual dual-pathway model, neurophysiological studies in non-human primates have suggested that the dual-pathway model is also applicable for explaining auditory cortical processing, including the ventral ＂what＂ pathway for object identification and the dorsal ＂where＂ pathway for spatial localization. This review summarizes evidence from human neuroimaging studies supporting the dual-pathway model for auditory cortical processing in humans.

Improved Multipartite Quantum Secret Sharing Protocol Using Preshared Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger States

Inspired by the protocol presented by Bagherinezhad and Karimipour[Phys.Rev.A 67(2003) 044302], which will be shown to be insecure,we present a multipartite quantum secret sharing protocol using reusable GreenbergerHorne -Zeilinger(GHZ) states.This protocol is robust against eavesdropping and could be used for the circumstance of many parties.

The Uncanny Kingdom--Perspectives on Classical Music as a （Wholesomely） Disturbing Experience

The purpose of the present paper is to suggest an uncommon perspective on the artistic heritage usually called ＂classical music＂. The large prestige of this repertoire, in fact, often goes along with a distorted perception of a number of very important features that tend to be underrated, discarded or not taken in the due consideration by the public. Only recently has musicology paid attention to the danger of this stereotyped vision of classical music, regarded as a sort of temple of seriousness, or as a kingdom where an alleged harmony reigns unchallenged. The topic of this article is precisely the other side of classical music, which also turns out to be a world torn by conflict and filled with artistic tension, where things do not always add up. To support this standpoint, a number of very well-known pieces are considered, paying attention to their less reassuring features. Thus, compositions that seemed to be familiar show a complex and disturbing expressive texture. As a result, a widespread listening attitude finds reasonable grounds for being changed： Instead of languidly leaning back into the armchair with closed eyes, the unbiased listener is requested by the music itself to keep its eyes wide open.

Audio-Visual Underdetermined Blind Source Separation Algorithm Based on Gaussian Potential Function

Most existing algorithms for the underdetermined blind source separation(UBSS) problem are two-stage algorithm, i.e., mixing parameters estimation and sources estimation. In the mixing parameters estimation, the previously proposed traditional clustering algorithms are sensitive to the initializations of the mixing parameters. To reduce the sensitiveness to the initialization, we propose a new algorithm for the UBSS problem based on anechoic speech mixtures by employing the visual information, i.e., the interaural time difference(ITD) and the interaural level difference(ILD), as the initializations of the mixing parameters. In our algorithm, the video signals are utilized to estimate the distances between microphones and sources, and then the estimations of the ITD and ILD can be obtained. With the sparsity assumption in the time-frequency domain, the Gaussian potential function algorithm is utilized to estimate the mixing parameters by using the ITDs and ILDs as the initializations of the mixing parameters. And the time-frequency masking is used to recover the sources by evaluating the various ITDs and ILDs. Experimental results demonstrate the competitive performance of the proposed algorithm compared with the baseline algorithms.

Impact of load impedance on the performance of a thermoacoustic system employing acoustic pressure amplifier

An acoustic pressure amplifier (APA) is capable of improving the match between a thermoacoustic engine and a load by elevating pressure ratio and acoustic power output. A standing-wave thermoacoustic engine driving a resistance- and-compliance (RC) load through an APA was simulated with linear thermoacoustics to study the impact of load impedance on the performance of the thermoacoustic system. Based on the simulation results, analysis focuses on the distribution of pressure amplitude and velocity amplitude in APA with an RC load of diverse acoustic resistances and compliance impedances. Variation of operating parameters, including pressure ratio, acoustic power, hot end temperature of stack, etc., versus impedance of the RC load is presented and analyzed according to the abovementioned distribution. A verifying experiment has been performed, which indicates that the simulation can roughly predict the system operation in the fundamental-frequency mode.

Physical Layer Security in MIMO Wiretap Channels with Antenna Correlation

To investigate the impact of antenna correlation on secrecy performance in MIMO wiretap channels with Nakagami-m fading, the expressions of secrecy outage probability and positive secrecy probability were derived. Diversity order and array gain were also achieved for further insight. The study was based on the information theory that physical layer security can be guaranteed when the quality of the main channel is higher than that of the eavesdropper's channel. Monte Carlo simulations well validated the numerical results of analytic expressions. It was shown that antenna correlation is detrimental to secrecy performance when average SNR of the main channel is at medium and high level. Interestingly, when average SNR of the main channel reduces to low level, the effect of antenna correlation becomes benefi cial to secrecy performance.

Creating a Low-Anxiety Classroom by Mediational Artefacts： A Comparison Through Materialization and Verbalization

One of the challenges in foreign language teaching, specifically teaching listening skill, is to create a low-anxiety classroom environment, since many learners believe listening induces anxiety. This study compares learners＇ anxiety in two different classrooms in which learners were instructed by two forms of artifacts： materializing and verbalizing. The Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale （FLLAS） scores before and after a 13-week experimental treatment course were used to compare learners＇ anxiety before and after receiving intervention by two means. In this study, the lower score of anxiety was for the group which did verbalization practice in the class; however, both groups showed the same performance on listening test.

Distributed link scheduling method with physical interference model in wireless multi-hop networks

To further increase the throughput of wireless multi-hop networks,a distributed scheduling method is proposed,which takes physical interference model into account.It is assumed that nodes in the network can perform physical carrier sensing,and the carrier sensing range can be set to different values.In the traditional carrier sensing mechanism,the carrier sensing range is computed under the protocol interference model,which is not accurate.Here the optimal carrier sensing range with physical interference model is achieved.Each sending node implements the distributed approach in three phases at each time slot,and all the concurrent transmissions are interference free.Good performance can be achieved under this scheduling approach.The approximation ratio of the distributed method to the optimal one is also proved.

Are eavesdroppers multimodal？ Sensory exploitation of floral signals by a non-native cockroach Blatta orientalis

The study of multi-modal communication has only recently been extended to innate and learned interactions between flowers and their animal visitors, and usually only to pollinators. Here we studied the relevance of floral scent and visual display of a night blooming, putatively hawkmoth-pollinated plant Oenothera acaulis （Onagraceae） in the attraction of non-native cockroaches Blatta orientalis （Blattodea： Blattidae）, which function as facultative floral larcenists in coastal habitats of central Chile. We experimentally decoupled visual （corolla） and olfactory （fragrance） stimuli by presenting paper corollas and green mesh bags, with or without a freshly-picked natural flower inside. We then contrasted the behavioral responses of roaches in these treatments with those to the natural combination of traits in actual flowers and their respective control treatments, measuring the roaches＇ frequency of first visits, mean and total residence time spent in each treatment. The roaches primarily used olfactory cues when approaching O. acaulis flowers at two biologically relevant spatial scales. In addition, the presence of conspecific roaches had a strong influence on recruitment to the experimental arena, increasing the statistical differences among treatments. Our results suggest a primacy of floral fragrance over visual stimuli in the foraging responses of B. orientalis. Olfactory cues were necessary and sufficient to attract the roaches, and the visual cues presented in our manipulations only marginally increased their attraction within a 20 cm diameter of the stimulus. The full spectrum of floral visitation behavior was not elicited by the artificial flowers, suggesting the need for additional tactile or contact chemosensory stimuli not provided by paper. Although the nitrogenous scent compounds that we found in O. acaulis flowers are almost exclusively found in hawkmoth-pollinated flowers, the attractiveness of these compounds to a non-native, facultative flower-visiting insect indicates that they do not function as pollinator-specific signals for hawkmoth attraction .

A thin-layer spectroelectrochemical study of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine at SnO_2:F film optically transparent electrode

The electrooxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) is dependent on the pH value of Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution. In this work, the electrooxidation behavior of TMB was investigated with a SnO2:F film optically transparent thin-layer spectroelectrochemical cell. TMB underwent one two-electron electrooxidation process in the pH range from 2.0 to < 4.0, and two successive one-electron electrooxidation processes in the pH range from 4.0 to < 7.0 in the B-R buffer solution. At pH 6.5, the electrooxidative product of TMB generated a subsequent chemical reaction to yield an azo compound. Several spectroelectrochemical techniques, such as thin-layer cyclic voltammetry, thin-layer cyclic voltabsorptometry, thin-layer potential-controlled electrolysis absorptometry, thin-layer single-potential-step chronoabsorptometry, thin-layer dou-ble-potential-step chronoabsorptometry, thin-layer single-potential-step open-circuit relaxation chronoabsorptometry, were applied to this investigation. The formal potential E0’ and the electron transfer number corresponding to the electrooxidation of TMB in B-R buffer solution, and the reaction rate constant of the subsequent chemical reaction were determined.

Toward a neurobiology of auditory object perception： What can we learn from the songbird forebrain？

In the acoustic world, no sounds occur entirely in isolation; they always reach the ears in combination with other sounds. How any given sound is discriminated and perceived as an independent auditory object is a challenging question in neu- roscience. Although our knowledge of neural processing in the auditory pathway has expanded over the years, no good theory ex- ists to explain how perception of auditory objects is achieved. A growing body of evidence suggests that the selectivity of neurons in the auditory forebrain is under dynamic modulation, and this plasticity may contribute to auditory object perception. We propose that stimulus-specific adaptation in the auditory forebrain of the songbird （and perhaps in other systems） may play an important role in modulating sensitivity in a way that aids discrimination, and thus can potentially contribute to auditory object perception.

Impact of classic massage on blood pressure in patients with clinically diagnosed hypertension

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of classic massage on the changes in the values of blood pressure in women with previously diagnosed hypertension.METHODS: The study involved a group of ten women aged 60-68, who had previously been diagnosed with hypertension. Ten sessions of classic massage of the lower limbs were performed on the subjects. The massage sessions were conducted every day over ten consecutive days. Throughout the treatment, the subjects' blood pressure was measured using a manometer with a stethoscope TRO-CARDIO KIT 2 MONO. Their blood pressure was taken 1 min before the massage, as well as 1 min and5 min after each session. The study took place between March and June 2013 in Szpital Specjalistyczny im. J?drzeja ?niadeckiego(J?drzej ?niadecki Specialist Hospital) in Nowy S?cz, at the Department of Internal Diseases.RESULTS: For ten consecutive days, the blood pressure values in the examined women were decreasing, with the exception of the diastolic blood pressure measured 5 min after the massage.CONCLUSION: The drops in blood pressure by several percent, noted in the majority of the female subjects over the time of the study. Classic massage might provide a safe supportive measure in pharmacologic treatment of hypertension.