Dreaming of a Meritocracy, Grappling with Reality

This chapter examines early Confucian political theory, and argues that they were well aware of both the potentials and pitfalls of politics. This is most visible in their prescriptions about the cultivation, discipline, and employment of elites for the greater benefit of society. Mèngzǐ and Xúnzǐ dreamed of a perfect meritocracy where the wise are recognized, given power, and rule benevolently, overseen and selected by a sage king. This vision led to the persistent utopianism that Metzger and Angle criticize in later Chinese political thought. But Mèngzǐ and Xúnzǐ were also vividly aware of the extreme difference between actual conditions and their meritocratic dream, and developed a number of thoughtful responses to the failures of existing politics. These ideas form a philosophy of elite cultivation and discipline that analyzes the “rule by people” necessary to complement and implement the “rule of law.”

Shallow water sponges that associated to mangrove ecosystem at Labuhan conservation area in Sepulu, Bangkalan, Madura, East Java Province

Sponges (Porifera) are benthic sessile animals that have an important role in coastal ecosystems. Mangrove habitat is an example of a coastal ecosystem that can be inhabited by sponges. Research diversity on shallow water sponges in mangrove areas in Indonesia or even large scale such as the Indo-Pacific area are still relatively underestimated because of an extreme difference tidal factors. For this reason, we aimed to research a diversity of shallow water sponges in mangrove Indonesia, especially in East Java Province to enrich and inform additional data on its biodiversity. Research on shallow water sponges in mangrove was conducted from June 2017 to January 2018 at two stations located on the coast of Labuhan Village, Sepulu District, Bangkalan Regency, Madura - East Java. Mangrove areas are consisted of Sonneratiaarea in the west (B) and Rhizophoramangroves in the east (R). There were six sponge genera identified, namely Spongia, Dysisdea, Lendelfedia, Dactylospongia, Cynachyrellaand one unidentified genus. Sonneratiamangrove was inhabited by of five genera sponges, whereas Rhizoporamangrove was inhabited only by one genus

Simple dissociations for a higher-powered neuropsychology

Neuropsychological dissociations are often investigated at the level of the single-case, and formal criteria exist for the detection of dissociations, and their sub-classification into ‘classical’ and ‘strong’ types. These criteria require a patient to show a frank deficit on one task (for a classical dissociation) or both tasks (for a strong dissociation), and a significantly extreme difference between tasks. I propose that only the significant between-task difference is logically necessary, and that if this simple criterion is met, the patient should be said to show a dissociation. Using Monte Carlo simulations, I demonstrate that this simplification increases the power to detect dissociations across a range of practically-relevant conditions, whilst retaining excellent control over Type I error. Additional testing for frank deficits on the individual tasks provides further qualifying information, but using these outcomes to sub-classify dissociations as classical or strong may be too uncertain to guide theoretical inferences. I suggest that we should instead characterise the strength of the dissociation using a more continuous index, such as the effect size of the simple between-task difference.

Effect of Different Factors on the Fibrillation Degree of Lyocell Fiber Based on Homogenization Treatment

The homogenization treatment was performed to fibrillate Lyocell fiber, and then the effects of different factors including NaOH concentration, homogeneous time, temperature and bath ratio on the fibrillation degree of Lyocell fiber were investigated through the orthogonal experiment. Various characterization techniques were employed to compare the fibrillation degree of Lyocell fiber. The polarized light microscope (POM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to observe the appearance of the fiber after different treatment, and the results showed that it was a quick and efficient approach to obtain the fibrillated Lyocell fiber by homogenization treatment, and the fibrillation degree of fibers varied with different treatment conditions. The results of water retention value (WRV) and the characteristic parameter of the fibrillation degree revealed that the ranking of factors affecting the fibrillation degree of fibers was NaOH concentration > homogeneous time > temperature > bath ratio, using the extreme difference analysis and variance analysis methods. The degree of fibrillation was influenced dominantly by NaOH concentration, rather than any other three factors. By means of BET test, the specific surface area of treated fiber showed a similar trend with WRV, and they matched well with fibril amount on the fibers observed by SEM.

Australian National Training Packages – A Critical Analysis

In the Australian Further Education sector all education is based on national training packages which are designed and managed to meet the needs of different industries. They provide specifications of training elements; the associate performance criteria; expected required knowledge and skills all benchmarked against defined evidence guides. Significantly the do not define content or how the content should be taught with regard to both depth and scope. The advantage of this approach is flexibility with respect to interpretation and implementation. The disadvantage is potential differences in implementation. Three implementations were evaluated to assess this potential problem. The results clearly show an extreme difference in implementation. This cannot be consistent with national benchmarked standards. Further work is needed.

BrisBAMN!? Bringing the Streets into the Museum

I had been under the impression that there was only one Brisbane. — Steele Rudd In 1921, Jack Lindsay wrote from Brisbane of Nietzsche's assertion ‘that the academic virtue is sleep, i.e., narcotisation’. A common academic and non-academic indulgence in remembering Brisbane is the narcotic of Queensland's extreme difference: a state of exceptional boredom and brutality. It is widely assumed that, for most of its history, Queensland was a sleepy backwater; its capital the country town described by a late nineteenth century visitor: ‘Brisbane is quite a pretty town, to be sure, but it bores you to death.’ Dismissive characterisations of Queensland coarsened as a result of Bjelke-Petersen's ascendency. If you were not bored to death by its cultural wastelands, you could be beaten close to it in the boorish badlands patrolled by his pigs. The crazed Dane fed the chooks while watching cranes rise over this animal farm, apparently untouchable in his Elsinore: The rest of the country often thought [Queenslanders] a bit peculiar: a maverick state, populated by politically backward ‘banana benders’ who chose a crank … to rule them. These rather offensive stereotypes helped in turn to sustain a political myth that the government was somehow unique in its reactionary politics — even ‘fascist’ — making Petersen impossible to defeat or dislodge.