ABC Fake News – Syria Bombing

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Oshō on the liberty and happiness of children

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“Fortunately, some are born with spiritual immune systems that sooner or later give rejection to the illusory worldview grafted upon them from birth through social conditioning. They begin sensing that something is amiss, and start looking for answers. Inner knowledge and anomalous outer experiences show them a side of reality others are oblivious to, and so begins their journey of awakening. Each step of the journey is made by following the heart instead of following the crowd and by choosing knowledge over the veils of ignorance.”
― Henri Bergson

osho-liberty-bilingual

A pertinent passage from George Orwell’s 1984

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Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain. The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else we shall destroy — everything. Already we are breaking down the habits of thought which have survived from before the Revolution. We have cut the links between child and parent, and between man and man, and between man and woman. No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer. But in the future there will be no wives and no friends. Children will be taken from their mothers at birth, as one takes eggs from a hen. … There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always — do not forget this, Winston — always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever.’

The etymological root of the term “Archon”

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How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!
— Samuel Adams

Archon (Greek: ἄρχων, romanized: árchōn) is the Greek term for “ruler”. Cognate derivatives are, e.g., terms such as:

monarchy
dyarchy
hierarchy
patriarchy/matriarchy
gynarchy
autarchy
anarchy (etymology discussed subsequently in more detail)

According to Aristotle’s Constitution of the Athenians (78-c. 100), the power and influence of the king first devolved to the archons, and these offices were filled from the aristocracy by elections on a decennial basis.

Archon Eponymos was the primary magistrate, the Polemarch referred to the head of the armed forces, and the Archon Basileus was in charge of the religious aspects of society.
Various fraternities and sororities use the title of archon or variations on it. Some Gnostic sects used this term for demons associated with the planetspheres.

3-D computer rendering of an “archon”

The term anarchy is the negation of the term archon (i.e., the negatory prefix *a). It thus means “without a ruler/master”, i.e., human beings that do not accept a master and who do not allow others to rule over them (they are not slaves to anyone). Importantly, this derivation should not be confused with “chaos or without rules”. Anarchy simply is the negation of slavery.

Niemand ist mehr Sklave, als der sich für frei hält, ohne es zu sein. ‘
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(Transl.: None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.)

Human beings who are anarchists are thus literally beings that do not accept to be ruled by archons, i.e., they are free and cannot be ruled and suppressed by external forces (they only subordinate themselves to natural law, viz., the timeless universal metaphysical foundation of morality and ethics; cf. the Kantian categorical imperative).

Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
— Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785)

Fulltext: archive.org/details/groundingformet000kant

In this context a quotation by the freedom fighter Malcolm X is of great pertinence.
He asked the following quintessential question concerning the highest of all virtues:

What is the price of freedom?

Answer

Death.

P.S. This does not imply that one has to die to be free, but it means that one has to be willing to risk once own life for the greatest of all goods, viz., the ultimate expression of human potential: Absolute Freedom.
If one is not willing to go “all in” one has lost the quest for freedom a priori because one is not willing to risk what it takes to achieve it. Fear is the inhibitor of freedom. Death is the mother of all fears. Ergo, overcoming the irrational fear of death is a condicio sine qua non for the obtainment of superordinate transcendental values.

Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

Freedom comes with wisdom, intrinsically. They are inseparable, and no society wants people to be free. The communist society, the fascist society, the capitalist society, the Hindu, the Mohammedan, the Christian – no society likes people to use their own intelligence because the moment they start using their intelligence they become dangerous – dangerous to the establishment, dangerous to the people who are in power, dangerous to the “haves”; dangerous to all kinds of oppression, exploitation, suppression; dangerous to the churches, dangerous to the states, dangerous to the nations.

In fact, a wise man is afire, alive, aflame. He would like rather to die than to be enslaved. Death will not matter much to him, but he cannot sell his life to all kinds of stupidities, to all kinds of stupid people. He cannot serve them. Hence, the societies down the ages have been supplying you with false knowing. That’s the very function of your schools, colleges, universities.

They don’t serve you, remember, they serve the past, they serve the vested interests. Of course, they go on puffing your ego up bigger and bigger, they go on giving you more and more degrees. Your name becomes longer and longer, but only the name – you go on becoming shorter and shorter. A point comes where there are only certificates and the man has disappeared. First the man carries the certificates, then the certificates carry the man. The man is long dead.
~Osho

Call on Congress to Create Modern Day Church Committee

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church_committee
See also:
www.aarclibrary.org/publib/church/reports/contents.htm

University of Alaska Fairbanks WTC7 9/11 study

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“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”

— Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

“As each day goes by, we learn that this government knew a whole lot more about these terrorists before September 11 than it has ever admitted.”
~ Max Cleland, former U.S. Senator and 9/11 Commission Member

“It is our preliminary conclusions, based upon our work to date, that fire did not produce the failure at this particular building.”

This graph from David Chandler’s “Destruction of the World Trade Center North Tower and Fundamental Physics” (Journal of 9/11 Studies, February 2010) shows that the North Tower’s upper section traveled at nearly uniform downward acceleration of -6.31 m/s2 (with an R2 value of 0.997), or 64% of free fall.

Display study as PDF

URL: ine.uaf.edu/media/222439/uaf_wtc7_draft_report_09-03-2019.pdf

On September 11, 2001, at 5:20 PM, the 47-story World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed into its footprint, falling more than 100 feet at the rate of gravity for 2.5 seconds of its seven-second destruction.
The Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth are pleased to partner with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in releasing the draft report of a four-year computer modeling study of WTC 7’s collapse conducted by researchers in the university’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The UAF WTC 7 report concludes that the collapse of WTC 7 on 9/11 was caused not by fire but rather by the near-simultaneous failure of every column in the building.

www.ae911truth.org/wtc7

Welcome

Television programming & effective frequency

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Studies have found that television induces alpha waves in the human brain. Alpha waves are brain waves between 8 and 12 Hertz and are commonly associated with relaxed, meditative states of the brain as well as high suggestibility.

While alpha waves induced through meditation are beneficial (promoting relaxation and understanding), prolonged exposure to the alpha wave state through television can trigger uncoordinated fantasies and an inability to concentrate.
See also: aapor.org/about-us/history/

267788

Further References

Jones, J. P.. (1997). What does effective frequency mean in 1997?. Journal of Advertising Research

Krugman, H. E.. (1965). The Impact of Television Advertising: Learning Without Involvement. Public Opinion Quarterly

, 29(3), 349.
Plain numerical DOI: 10.1086/267335
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“Does television advertising produce sales by changing attitudes? not always, says herbert e. krugman in his presidential address before the american association for public opinion research on may 15, 1965. it may do so, he states, just by changing perceptions of the product in the course of merely shifting the relative salience of attitudes, especially when the purchaser is not particularly involved in the message. this arresting thesis has important implications for noncommercial as well as commercial persuasion efforts.”

Vittrup, B., & Holden, G. W.. (2011). Exploring the impact of educational television and parent-child discussions on children’s racial attitudes. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-2415.2010.01223.x
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“Much concern has been voiced about the development of prejudicial beliefs in young children. previous research indicates that socializing agents such as parents and the media can influence children’s development of positive and negative racial attitudes. little research has examined how parents can use educational television to introduce discussions about race with their children. therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of educational television and parent-child discussions about race may have on improving white children’s attitudes towards blacks. ninety-three white children aged 5-7 years old and their parents participated. parents’ and children’s racial attitudes were tested during their first visit to a research laboratory. parents also filled out questionnaires regarding their involvement with their children’s television use and how often they engaged their children in discussions about race. families were then randomly divided into four groups: (1) a video-only group where parents were asked to screen five educational videos (provided by the researcher) over the course of one week; (2) a video-and-discussion group where in addition to the videos, parents were given a set of topics to discuss with their children during and after the screenings; (3) a discussion-only group, where parents were required to have the discussions with their children without the use of the educational videos; and (4) a control group. all families returned to the laboratory about one week later. at the follow-up visit, children’s racial attitudes were reassessed. three main hypotheses guided the study: (1) children’s pre-test attitudes towards blacks were expected to be influenced by their prior exposure to black people, as well as their prior conversations with their parents about race, such that children with more exposure were expected to hold more positive attitudes; (2) children who watched racially diverse programs and discussed the content with their parents were expected to show more positive attitudes towards blacks when comparing their post-test attitude scores to their pre-test scores; (3) children in the video-and-discussion and discussiononly groups were expected to be better able to predict their parents’ racial attitudes at post-test, compared to their own pre-test predictions and compared to children who had not had such discussions with their parents. children who reported having black friends showed slightly more pos…”

Neuralink – a chronically implanted (hackable) cortical neuroprosthetic device

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Further References

Vetter, R. J., Becker, T. A., Williams, J. C., & Kipke, D. R.. (2003). The use of ALGEL/spl reg/ as an artificial dura for chronic cortical implant neuroprosthetics. In First International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, 2003. Conference Proceedings.

(pp. 633–636). IEEE
Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/CNE.2003.1196908
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“© 2003 ieee. surgical techniques are a critical contributor to the level of success achieved with chronically implanted cortical neuroprosthetic devices. many different factors contribute to the amount of irritation the tissue is exposed to from the implanted device. factors include mechanical irritations, infectious pathogens, dural regrowth, etc. in this paper we describe a novel application of the hydrogel polymer, algel® (neural intervention technologies, ann arbor, mi), in conjunction with an implanted michigan probe (cnct, university of michigan). this polymer contains many inherent properties that are beneficial to this type of procedure. properties include: 1) ease of application, 2) biocompatibility, 3) exemplary mechanical properties, and 4) translucent clarity. we believe that algel has been a large contributor to the high level of success achieved with our chronic electrode implantations.”

Silay, K. M., Dehollain, C., & Declercq, M.. (2011). Numerical Thermal Analysis of a Wireless Cortical Implant with Two-Body Packaging. BioNanoScience

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/s12668-011-0009-2
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“This paper presents an inductive power link for remote powering of a wireless cortical implant. the link includes a class-e power amplifier, a gate driver, an inductive link, and an integrated rectifier. the coils of the inductive link are designed and optimized for remote powering from a distance of 10 mm (scalp thickness). the power amplifier is designed in order to allow closed-loop control of the power delivered to the implant, by controlling the supply voltage. moreover, a gate driver is added to the system to drive the power amplifier and to characterize the gate losses. a new packaging topology is proposed in order to position the implant inside a hole in the cranial bone, without occupying a large area, but still obtaining a short distance between the remote powering coils. the package is fabricated by using biocompatible materials such as pdms and parylene-c. the power efficiency of the remote powering link is characterized for a wide range of load power (1-20 mw) delivered from the rectifier and is measured to be 24.6% at nominal load of 10 mw.”

Björninen, T., Moradi, E., Sydänheimo, L., Carmena, J. M., Rabaey, J. M., & Ukkonen, L.. (2013). Electromagnetic modelling and measurement of antennas for wireless brain-machine interface systems. In 2013 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on RF and Wireless Technologies for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications, IMWS-BIO 2013 – Proceedings

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/IMWS-BIO.2013.6756196
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“We analyze the power and voltage transfer in a wireless link from an on-body transmit antenna to 1×1×1 mm3 antenna in a cortical implant to provide power and data telemetry for a battery-free brain-machine interface microelectronic system. we compare the wireless link performance with regular, segmented, and tilted transmit loop antennas. moreover, we analyze the performance improvement achieved by inserting a magneto-dielectric core in the implant antenna. we also attest the simulation model through measurements in a liquid head phantom. © 2013 ieee.”

Kok, C. L., Siek, L., Gao, F., Zheng, Y., & Lim, W. M.. (2012). An ultra-compact green bio-regulator dedicated for brain cortical implant using a dynamic PSR enhancement technique. In Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6346262
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“This article presents an ultra-compact green bio-regulator dedicated for brain cortical implant using a dynamic psr enhancement technique. this novel technique enabled the regulator to achieve a very high power supply rejection (psr) of 58db and 78db at 1 mhz and 10mhz respectively. the bioregulator achieves a very low quiescent current of 2μa coupled with an ultra-low power consumption of 1.8μw. this bioregulator, simulated with global foundries 0.18μm cmos process, yields a stable output voltage of 0.5v with a supply voltage ranging from 0.9-1.2v. its distinct features, ultra-low power consumption and high psrr at 1mhz and 10mhz, make it ideally suitable for biomedical brain cortical implant. © 2012 ieee.”

Kosta, P., Paknahad, J., Rodriguez, E. S. G., Loizos, K., Roy, A., Talbot, N., … Lazzi, G.. (2018). Electromagnetic Safety Assessment of a Cortical Implant for Vision Restoration. IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/JERM.2018.2812302
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“A cortical visual prosthetic system bypasses the components of the visual pathway, which may be damaged due to injury or disease, by directly stimulating the visual cortex; therefore, cortical visual prostheses promise the capability of restoring a form of vision to patients who cannot benefit from other types of visual neural stimulators. a high data rate, multielectrode, implantable device, such as that utilized for a cortical visual prosthesis, requires continuous power provided by an external telemetry unit, which is nonnegligible, given the number of stimulating electrodes and the stimulation rate necessary to avoid flickering visual percepts. this aspect motivates the need to develop models and methods that aid the development of such devices by assessing their compliance with electromagnetic safety standards. in this paper, the electromagnetic safety assessment of a cortical visual prosthetic system is considered, and the solutions employed to numerically treat the computational complexities associated with it are discussed. the specifics of the implementation of an actual visual cortical implant are discussed, and the parameters of such an implant are used as a test case to determine whether ieee and icnirp electromagnetic standards are met in what can be considered a typical embodiment of the prosthesis. results show that, for the considered implant, such a system meets ieee and icnirp safety standards, thus enabling further development of similar neurorehabilitative devices.”

Parthasarathy, K. S., Cheng, Y. C. N., McAllister, J. P., Shen, Y., Li, J., Deren, K., … Auner, G. W.. (2007). Biocompatibilities of sapphire and borosilicate glass as cortical neuroprostheses. Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2007.03.020
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“The in vivo biocompatibility of pure sapphire and borosilicate glass (bsg) implanted onto the cerebral cortex was studied via magnetic resonance imaging (mri) and histopathology. each implant was embedded onto the cortical surface of an adult rat brain for a total of 28 days. rats underwent surgery with and without implants, and rats with purposely damaged cortical implant sites were also studied. each animal was imaged via mri before surgery as well as 10 and 28 days after the surgery. histopathological results of animals were obtained on the 28th day to determine the specific effect on neurons. despite the fact that sapphire has been widely used in a variety of medical implants, both mri and histopathological results indicate that pure sapphire is not biocompatible with the cerebral cortex. on the contrary, bsg implants appear to be biocompatible with the cortical surface. © 2007 elsevier inc. all rights reserved.”

Moradi, E., Björninen, T., Sydänheimo, L., Carmena, J. M., Rabaey, J. M., & Ukkonen, L.. (2013). Measurement of wireless link for brain-machine interface systems using human-head equivalent liquid. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/LAWP.2013.2283737
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“In this letter, we analyze the wireless power transfer from an on-body transmit antenna to a millimeter-size antenna in a cortical implant. the studied wireless link provides power and data telemetry for a battery-free wireless brain-machine interface microelectronic system. we present a cubic 2 × 2 & times; 2 mm3 implant loop and analyze the effect of a magneto-dielectric core material on the performance of the antenna. we compare the wireless link performances to two different transmit antennas: solid and 2-segmented loops. our simulation results show that the 2-segmented loop provides reduced near electric field, but maintains the link power efficiency. finally, we validate the simulated link power efficiencies through measurements in air and in human-head equivalent liquid at 300 mhz. © 2002-2011 ieee.”

Lowery, A. J., Rosenfeld, J. V., Rosa, M. G. P., Brunton, E., Rajan, R., Mann, C., … Pritchard, J.. (2016). Monash Vision Group’s Gennaris Cortical Implant for Vision Restoration. In Artificial Vision

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-41876-6_17
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Mark, M., Björninen, T., Ukkonen, L., Sydänheimo, L., & Rabaey, J. M.. (2011). SAR reduction and link optimization for mm-size remotely powered wireless implants using segmented loop antennas. In 2011 IEEE Radio and Wireless Week, RWW 2011 – 2011 IEEE Topical Conference on Biomedical Wireless Technologies, Networks, and Sensing Systems, BioWireleSS 2011

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/BIOWIRELESS.2011.5724339
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“This paper describes an approach to reduce the average specific absorption rate (sar) of a wireless power link for mm-size cortical implants, while decreasing the loss of the overall link by using a segmented loop transmit antenna. it further shows that, for a given receive antenna size and antenna separation, an optimum transmit antenna size-frequency pair that minimizes the link loss exists. a case study of a wireless link for a mm-size cortical implant optimized for minimum loss shows a reduction of the average sar of more than 30 %, and a link loss improvement of approximately 10 %, leading to a 57 % increase in power available to the implant compared to a conventional loop antenna. © 2011 ieee.”

Lewis, P. M., Ackland, H. M., Lowery, A. J., & Rosenfeld, J. V.. (2015). Restoration of vision in blind individuals using bionic devices: A review with a focus on cortical visual prostheses. Brain Research

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.11.020
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“The field of neurobionics offers hope to patients with sensory and motor impairment. blindness is a common cause of major sensory loss, with an estimated 39 million people worldwide suffering from total blindness in 2010. potential treatment options include bionic devices employing electrical stimulation of the visual pathways. retinal stimulation can restore limited visual perception to patients with retinitis pigmentosa, however loss of retinal ganglion cells precludes this approach. the optic nerve, lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex provide alternative stimulation targets, with several research groups actively pursuing a cortically-based device capable of driving several hundred stimulating electrodes. while great progress has been made since the earliest works of brindley and dobelle in the 1960s and 1970s, significant clinical, surgical, psychophysical, neurophysiological, and engineering challenges remain to be overcome before a commercially-available cortical implant will be realized. selection of candidate implant recipients will require assessment of their general, psychological and mental health, and likely responses to visual cortex stimulation. implant functionality, longevity and safety may be enhanced by careful electrode insertion, optimization of electrical stimulation parameters and modification of immune responses to minimize or prevent the host response to the implanted electrodes. psychophysical assessment will include mapping the positions of potentially several hundred phosphenes, which may require repetition if electrode performance deteriorates over time. therefore, techniques for rapid psychophysical assessment are required, as are methods for objectively assessing the quality of life improvements obtained from the implant. these measures must take into account individual differences in image processing, phosphene distribution and rehabilitation programs that may be required to optimize implant functionality. in this review, we detail these and other challenges facing developers of cortical visual prostheses in addition to briefly outlining the epidemiology of blindness, and the history of cortical electrical stimulation in the context of visual prosthetics.”

Shetliffe, M. A., Kamboh, A. M., Mason, A., & Oweiss, K. G.. (2007). Impact of lossy compression on neural response characteristics extracted from high-density intra-cortical implant data. In Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology – Proceedings

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2007.4353552
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“In this paper we examine the impact of lossy wavelet compression on the information contained within high-density microelectrode array neural recordings. we have previously reported on the ability of our hardware architecture to perform under the constraints imposed by implantable hardware, as well as on its performance from a compression and signal distortion standpoint. here we extend that work by examining the amount of information that is lost from the recorded data as a result of the finite precision integer arithmetic and thresholding operations inherent in our system. one method commonly used for the classification and sorting of recorded extracellular action potentials is principal component analysis. this technique is used to statistically obtain the most significant attributes of the spikes, thereby allowing for more accurate classification. we use the separability of the resultant clusters as a measure of the information content within the data, and present the results of simulations demonstrating the impact of various hardware design parameters on this separability. © 2007 ieee.”

Schwiebert, L., Gupta, S. K. S., Auner, P. S. G., Abrams, G., Iezzi, R., & McAllister, P.. (2003). A biomedical smart sensor for the visually impaired

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/icsens.2002.1037187
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“In this paper, we describe the current version of the artificial retina prosthesis and cortical implant that we are developing. this research project will require significant advances in a variety of disciplines. we have assembled a multidisciplinary team of researchers in ophthalmology, neurosurgery, computer networking, vlsi, and sensors to develop the novel solutions needed to make artificial vision for the visually-impaired a reality. this paper describes the novel approach that we have adopted to providing a complete system for restoring vision to visually-impaired persons – from the signals generated by an external camera to an array of sensors that electrically stimulate the retina via a wireless interface.”

Luo, Y., Winstead, C., & Chiang, P.. (2012). 125Mbps ultra-wideband system evaluation for cortical implant devices. In Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6346047
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“This paper evaluates the performance of a 125mbps impulse ratio ultra-wideband (ir-uwb) system for cortical implant devices by using low-q inductive coil link operating in the near-field domain. we examine design tradeoffs between transmitted signal amplitude, reliability, noise and clock jitter. the ir-uwb system is modeled using measured parameters from a reported uwb transceiver implemented in 90nm-cmos technology. non-optimized inductive coupling coils with low-q value for near-field data transmission are modeled in order to build a full channel from the transmitter (tx) to the receiver (rx). on-off keying (ook) modulation is used together with a low-complexity convolutional error correcting code. the simulation results show that even though the low-q coils decrease the amplitude of the received pulses, the uwb system can still achieve acceptable performance when error correction is used. these results predict that uwb is a good candidate for delivering high data rates in cortical implant devices.”

De Ridder, D., & Vanneste, S.. (2014). Targeting the parahippocampal area by auditory cortex stimulation in tinnitus. Brain Stimulation

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2014.04.004
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“Background: the final common pathway in tinnitus generation is considered to be synchronized auditory oscillatory hyperactivity. intracranial auditory cortex stimulation (iacs) via implanted electrodes has been developed to treat severe cases of intractable tinnitus targeting this final common pathway, in the hope of being a panacea for tinnitus. however, not everybody responds to this treatment. objective: the electrical brain activity and functional connectivity at rest might determine who is going to respond or not to iacs and might shed light on the pathophysiology of auditory phantom sound generation. method: the resting state electrical brain activity of 5 patients who responded and 5 patients who did not respond to auditory cortex implantation are compared using source localized spectral activity (z-score of log transformed current density) and lagged phase synchronization. results: sloreta source localization reveals significant differences between responders vs nonresponders for beta3 in left posterior parahippocampal, hippocampal and amygdala area extending into left insula. gamma band differences exist in the posterior parahippocampal areas and ba10. functional connectivity between the auditory cortex and the hippocampal area is increased for beta2, delta and theta2 in responders, as well as between the parahippocampal area and auditory cortex for beta3. conclusion: the resting state functional connectivity and activity between the auditory cortex and parahippocampus might determine whether a tinnitus patient will respond to a cortical implant. the auditory cortex may only be a functional entrance into a larger parahippocampal based tinnitus network.”

Khan, M. W. A., Bjorninen, T., Sydanheimo, L., & Ukkonen, L.. (2016). Characterization of Two-Turns External Loop Antenna With Magnetic Core for Efficient Wireless Powering of Cortical Implants. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

, 15, 1410–1413.
Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/LAWP.2015.2511187
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“© 2015 ieee.we present a two-turns loop antenna with a magnetic core to transfer power wirelessly to a miniature 2 × 2 × 2-mm3 cubic loop antenna in a cortical implant. compared to a same-sized single-turn loop antenna, it achieves reduction in the specific absorption rate (sar) and transmits 20 mw (11%) more power to the implant by maintaining the same link power efficiency. we also investigate the optimum distance of the external antenna from the body in terms of the link power efficiency and sar. moreover, we present a new method of estimating the worst-case voltage amplitude incident at the front end of the implanted microsystem under different impedance matching conditions. we have fabricated the simple and two-turns loop antennas and attested the link power efficiency of both in a liquid phantom mimicking the dielectric properties of the human skin at 100 mhz.”

Yan, X., Zhang, X., Chi, W., Ai, H., & Wu, L.. (2015). Comparing the influence of crestal cortical bone and sinus floor cortical bone in posterior maxilla bi-cortical dental implantation: A three-dimensional finite element analysis. Acta Odontologica Scandinavica

Plain numerical DOI: 10.3109/00016357.2014.967718
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“OBJECTIVE: this study aimed to compare the influence of alveolar ridge cortical bone and sinus floor cortical bone in sinus areabi-cortical dental implantation by means of 3d finite element analysis.nmaterials and methods: three-dimensional finite element (fe) models in a posterior maxillary region with sinus membrane and the same height of alveolar ridge of 10 mm were generated according to the anatomical data of the sinus area. they were either with fixed thickness of crestal cortical bone and variable thickness of sinus floor cortical bone or vice versa. ten models were assumed to be under immediate loading or conventional loading. the standard implant model based on the nobel biocare implant system was created via computer-aided design software. all materials were assumed to be isotropic and linearly elastic. an inclined force of 129 n was applied.nresults: von mises stress mainly concentrated on the surface of crestal cortical bone around the implant neck. for all the models, both the axial and buccolingual resonance frequencies of conventional loading were higher than those of immediate loading; however, the difference is less than 5%.nconclusion: the results showed that bi-cortical implant in sinus area increased the stability of the implant, especially for immediately loading implantation. the thickness of both crestal cortical bone and sinus floor cortical bone influenced implant micromotion and stress distribution; however, crestal cortical bone may be more important than sinus floor cortical bone.”

Hoenecke, H. R., Tibor, L. M., Elias, D. W., Flores-Hernandez, C., Steinvurzel, J. N., & D’Lima, D. D.. (2012). A quantitative three-dimensional templating method for shoulder arthroplasty: Biomechanical validation in cadavers. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.jse.2011.10.011
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“Background: press-fit humeral components for total shoulder arthroplasty have notable potential complications that may be minimized by preoperative templating and improvements in stem design. the purpose of this study was to develop a 3-dimensional templating technique for the humeral stem and to validate this templating in cadaveric specimens. materials and methods: a cylindrical stem and a stem with a rectangular cross-section were selected for templating and force measurements. templating was carried out for 15 clinical patients and 16 cadaveric shoulders, including calculation of the cortical-implant volume ratio (civr). insertion forces for stem broaching and impaction were measured for 15 patients and 8 paired cadaveric shoulders. hoop strain and periprosthetic fractures were monitored in cadaveric shoulders with strain gauges. results: a significant difference in the civr was noted between rectangular and cylindrical stems. no difference was observed in impact forces for ideally sized rectangular or cylindrical stems. a difference in insertion forces was found between oversized cylindrical and oversized rectangular implant stems and also between ideal and oversized cylindrical implant stems. the difference in maximal hoop strain between ideally sized rectangular and cylindrical stems was also statistically significant. conclusions: civr is useful to predict an ideal humeral stem size. cylindrical stems have a different design rationale for fixation than rectangular stems. surgeon awareness of the fixation rationale for a particular stem design is important because different stem types have different effects on the insertion force. more anatomic humeral stem designs may help to minimize the risk of complications and optimize stem fixation. © 2012 journal of shoulder and elbow surgery board of trustees.”

Ferguson, S., & Ferguson, S. D.. (1986). High resolution vision prosthesis systems: Research after 15 years. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness

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“Presents new design criteria and suggests alternative theoretical approaches to high resolution vision prosthesis systems, using r. m. fish’s (see pa, vol 55:5179) work as a point of departure. tactile substitution systems are proposed in preference to cortical implant work, and electrocutaneous transfer is offered in preference to vibrotactile techniques, which are seen as the major reason for the limited resolution achieved by existing approaches. (24 ref) (psyclit database copyright 1987 american psychological assn, all rights reserved)”

Khan, M. W. A., Bjorninen, T., Sydanheimo, L., & Ukkonen, L.. (2015). Two-turns antenna and magnetic materials for effective powering of mm-size implant in wireless brain-machine interface system. In 2015 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on RF and Wireless Technologies for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications, IMWS-BIO 2015 – Proceedings

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/IMWS-BIO.2015.7303798
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“© 2015 ieee.we analyze a two-turns antenna to provide power wirelessly to 2×2×2 mm3 cubic cortical implant. we present simulation of available power and voltage to the implant and assess the impact of a inserting a magnetic core in the antennas for further performance enhancement. we have fabricated the studied antennas and verified the simulated link power efficiency through measurement in a liquid phantom.”

Morillas, C. A., Romero, S. F., Martinez, A., Pelayo, F. J., & Fernández, E.. (2005). A Computational Tool to Test Neuromorphic Encoding Schemes for Visual Neuroprostheses

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/11494669_63
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“Recent advances in arrays of microelectrodes open the door to both better understanding of the way the brain works and to the restoration of damaged perceptive and motor functions. in the case of sensorial inputs, direct multi-channel interfacing with the brain for neuro-stimulation requires a computational layer capable of handling the translation from external stimuli into appropriate trains of spikes. the work here presented aims to provide automated and reconfigurable transformation of visual inputs into addresses of microelectrodes in a cortical implant for the blind. the development of neuroprostheses such as this one will contribute to reveal the neural language of the brain for the representation of perceptions, and offers a hope to persons with deep visual impairments. our system serves as a highly flexible test-bench for almost any kind of retina model, and allows the validation of these models against multi-electrode recordings from experiments with biological retinas. the current version is a pc-based platform, and a compact stand-alone device is under development for the autonomy and portability required in chronic implants. this tool is useful for psychologists, neurophysiologists, and neural engineers as it offers a way to deal with the complexity of multi-channel electrical interfaces for the brain.”

Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes (Jacques Ellul, 1962)

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Finally, propaganda will take over literature (present and past) and history, which must be rewritten according to propaganda’s needs. We must not say: this is done by tyrannical, autocratic, totalitarian governments. In fact, it is the result of propaganda itself. Propaganda carries within itself, of intrinsic necessity, the power to take over everything that can serve it.

One cannot make just any propaganda any place for anybody. While propaganda is focused on reaching the individual, it cannot only rely on building off what already exists in the individual. Propaganda must also attach itself to the pre-existing fundamental currents of the society it seeks to influence. The propagandist must know the current tendencies and the stereotypes among the public he is trying to reach. These are indicated by principal symbols of the culture the propagandist wishes to attack since these symbols express the attitudes of a particular culture. Individuals are part of a culture and are therefore psychologically shaped by that culture. The main task of propaganda is to utilize the conditioned symbols as transmitters of that culture to serve its purpose. Propaganda must be a reflection of the fundamental structures of society to be successful and not contradictory of existing opinions. A skillful propagandist does not try to change mass opinion or go against an accepted structure. Only a bad propagandist would make a direct attack on an established, reasoned, durable opinion, accepted cliché, or fixed pattern. Each individual harbors a large number of stereotypes and established tendencies; from this arsenal the propagandist must select those easiest to mobilize, those which will give the greatest strength to the action he wants to precipitate.

Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes (1965/1973) (French: Propagandes; original French edition: 1962) is a book on the subject of propaganda by French philosopher, theologian, legal scholar, and sociologist Jacques Ellul. This book appears to be the first attempt to study propaganda from a sociological approach as well as a psychological one. It presents a sophisticated taxonomy for propaganda, including such paired opposites as political–sociological, vertical–horizontal, rational–irrational, and agitation–integration. The book contains Ellul’s theories about the nature of propaganda to adapt the individual to a society, to a living standard and to an activity aiming to make the individual serve and conform.

Simulacra and simulation (Jean Baudrillard, 1994)

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Groom, N., Baudrillard, J., & Grant, I. H.. (2007). Symbolic Exchange and Death. The Modern Language Review

Plain numerical DOI: 10.2307/3734103
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“Jean baudrillard is one of the most celebrated and most controversial of contemporary social theorists. this major work, appearing in english for the first time, occupies a central place in the rethinking of the humanities and social sciences around the idea of postmodernism. it leads the reader on an exhilarating tour encompassing the end of marxism, the enchantment of fashion, symbolism about sex and the body, and the relations between economic exchange and death. most significantly, the book represents baudrillard’s fullest elaboration of the concept of the three orders of the simulacra, defining the historical passage from production to reproduction to simulation.”

Baudrillard, J., & Glaser, S. F.. (1994). Simulacrum and Simulation (The Body, In Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism). The Body, In Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism

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“Fvinoly@webvisual.com, 02/16/97, rating=10: essential postmodern text baudrillard provides us with a clear explanation of the concept of simulations and simulacra–the copy without the original. from this postmodern landmark, he gives us specific examples of his theory that are a pleasure to read. chapters on ‘the china syndrome’, ‘holograms’, and ‘the animals’, among others, begin to define our roles in postmodern society and our relationships with our environment and ourselves. each chapter gives you a new, fascinating perspective, that culminates and reaches full circle with his final discussion of ‘nihilism’. table of contents the precession of simulacra history: a retro scenario holocaust the china syndrome apocalypse now the beaubourg effect: implosion and deterrence hypermarket and hypercommodity the implosion of meaning in the media absolute advertising, ground-zero advertising clone story holograms crash simulacra and science fiction the animals: territory and metamorphoses the remainder the spiraling cadaver value’s last tango on nihilism”

Baudrillard, J.. (1994). Simulacra and simulation / by Jean Baudrillard ; translated by Sheila Faria Glaser. Idea

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1017/S1359135500001081
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Nordin, A. H. M.. (2012). Taking Baudrillard to the fair: Exhibiting China in the world at the Shanghai Expo. Alternatives

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1177/0304375412444816
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“Scholars have recently paid increasing attention to china’s ‘mega events’ as a form of image management striving to influence future world order. in this article, the author examines china’s recent world fair, expo 2010 shanghai china, and argues that we need to move beyond the reading of mega events as simple representation and ideology and read it also as simulation and simulacra. reading the chinese world fair as a simulacrum of world order can provide different ways of relating ‘the west’ to its ‘other country’ china. the author examines this relation through asking what it means to be the fair: where is the world fair? when is the world fair? who is the world fair? reading the world/fair as simulacrum disrupts the fair’s notions of inside and outside, now and then, subject and object to the point where these terms are no longer workable.”

Croissant, J. L.. (2006). The new sexual technobody: Viagra in the hyperreal world. Sexualities

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1177/1363460706065056
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“This essay, based on the work of baudrillard and other critical theorists of culture and technology, describes how viagra and related products are creating not just new standards for men and women’s sexual performance, but new forms of hypersexual’ reality/hyperreal sexuality. considering television advertisements and framed around metaphors of landscape, internet spam’ advertisements for sexual performance enhancing products (both mechanical and chemical), and bodybuilding magazine representations of the body and sexuality, it is apparent that sexual expression in these genres is both constrained and yet exceeds its boundaries. sexuality is represented in these media as heterosexual, penetrative, and never to be imperfect in any way. the body itself, perhaps aging or flawed, is represented as incapable of achieving these ends reliably without pharmaceutical means. i argue that viagra and other sexual pharmaceuticals are best understood as hyperreal or hypernatural (reflecting baudrillard’s 1994 work, simulacra and simulation), as simulacra that bear no relation to reality’. sexual pharmaceutical advertisements refer to an unmedicated imaginary that assumes a unity where there is diversity, and conflates the means and ends of sexual technique.”

Butterfield, B.. (2007). Ethical Value and Negative Aesthetics: Reconsidering the Baudrillard-Ballard Connection. PMLA

Plain numerical DOI: 10.2307/463427
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“Like today’s masses, the characters in j. g. ballard’s crash are fascinated by what jean baudrillard calls the accident, especially when it involves the death of a celebrity. ballard’s characters, however, reenact their accidents as sexual rituals of a marriage between technology and death that are beyond the realm of moral judgment, making crash sci-fi, hypothetical, unrealistic. calling crash ‘the first great novel of the universe of simulation,’ jean baudrillard has drawn heavy criticism for missing the alleged moral point, both in crash and in the still-real world. as a fiction writer, ballard is given a wide moral berth, but when baudrillard’s theory turns sci-fi, the question of ethical boundaries is broached, and leniency is less likely. in defense of baudrillard, i read him, like ballard, in the nietzschean tradition of a purposefully amoral, negative aestheticism, which i argue is of value to ethics and radical politics in a world governed by instrumental simulacra.; the characters of j. g. ballard’s ‘crash’ are fascinated by what jean baudrillard calls the accident. butterfield reads baudrillard like ballard in the nietzschean tradition of a purposefully amoral, negative aestheticism, which he argues is of value to ethics and radical politics in a world governed by instrumental simulacra.;”

Constable, C.. (2006). Baudrillard reloaded: Interrelating philosophy and film via the Matrix Trilogy. Screen

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1093/screen/hjl018
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“The extensive writing on the philosophical aspects of the matrix trilogy raises the problems inherent to the interrelation of philosophy/theory and film texts in an acute form. the films are often treated as an introduction to diverse and difficult concepts meaning that – at best – they function as examples to make the theories accessible. at worst, they are castigated for being insufficiently critical and presented as pseudo-philosophy. in contrast, this article will demonstrate that the scenarios offered by the matrix trilogy form an active dialogue with postmodern philosophy, changing the construction of key philosophical concepts. tracing such a dialogue involves the development of a new model for interrelating philosophical and filmic texts. the first part of the article sets out a new methodology, drawing on the work of french feminist philosopher michele le doeuff. the article focuses on the imagery that characterizes/defines baudrillard’s concept of the hyperreal in simulacra and simulation. this is accompanied by an examination of the ways in which the matrix trilogy takes up key images, such as the mirror and aspects of greek mythology. the final part addresses the films’ presentation of value – a departure from its baudrillardian source – which sustains a radical reconceptualization of the hyperreal.”

Massumi, B.. (1987). Realer than Real: The Simulacrum According to Deleuze and Guattari. Copyright

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“There is a seductive image of contemporary culture circulating today. our world, jean baudrillard tells us, has been launched into hyperspace in a kind of postmodern apocalypse. the airless atmosphere has asphyxiated the referent, leaving us satellites in aimless orbit around an empty center. we breathe an ether of floating images that no longer bear a relation to any reality whatsoever.1 that, according to baudrillard, is simulation: the substitution of signs of the real for the real.2 in hyperreality, signs no longer represent or refer to an external model. they stand for nothing but themselves, and refer only to other signs. they are to some extent distinguishable, in the way the phonemes of language are, by a combinatory of minute binary distinctions.3 but postmodernism stutters. in the absence of any gravitational pull to ground them, images accelerate and tend to run together. they become interchangeable. any term can be substituted for any other: utter indetermination.4 faced with this homogeneous surface of syntagmatic slippage, we are left speechless. we can only gape in fascination.5 for the secret of the process is beyond our grasp. meaning has imploded. there is no longer any external model, but there is an immanent one. to the syntagmatic surface of slippage there corresponds an invisible paradigmatic dimension that creates those minimally differentiated signs only in order for them to blur together in a pleasureless orgy of exchange and circulation. hidden in the images is a kind of genetic code responsible for their generation.6 meaning is out of reach and out of sight, but not be cause it has receded into the distance. it is because the code has been miniaturized. objects are images, images are signs, signs are information, and information fits on a chip. everything reduces to a molecular binarism. the generalized digitality of the computerized society.7 and so we gape. we cannot be said to be passive exactly, because all polarity, including the active/passive dichotomy, has disappeared. we have no earth to center us, but we ourselves function as a ground-in the electrical sense.8 we do not act, but neither do we merely receive. we absorb through our open eyes and mouths. we neutralize the play of energized images in the mass entropy of the silent majority. it makes for a fun read. but do we really have no other choice than being a naive realist or being a sponge? deleuze and guattari open a third way. although it is never developed at l…”

Rennett, M.. (2009). Baudrillard and The Joe Schmo Show. The International Journal of Baudrillard Studies

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“Reality television is a euphemism. although audience members may believe they are seeing what happens when people stop being polite and start being real, nothing could be further from the truth. a vh1 expose, reality tv secrets revealed, divulges many of the techniques used by the producers of these shows to get the story they want including recreating actions that were not originally caught on tape, combining audio and video from separate times together, and acting out pre-planned storylines. reality tv viewers and critics, as well as television and media scholars, have debated the reality of these programs ever since the genre became a popular part of the american zeitgeist in the late 1990s. through editing techniques, the producers can exaggerate elements from an individual’s personality to construct a persona that audiences can rapidly identify. the discussion of these tactics leads me to a question: if reality television does not present reality, as it purports to do, then what is it actually showing? as jean baudrillard notes, ‘reality television [gives] the illusion of a real world, an exterior world, despite the fact that each world is the exact image of the other’ (2005:181). by using the words ‘illusion’ and ‘exact image,’ baudrillard points to reality tv programs as mere simulacra of the real world and which produce a hyperreality — not unlike his famous example of disneyland (baudrillard, 2002a:23, 96). as baudrillard argues, hyperreality is created through the process of simulation in which images of reality are turned into simulacra, copies which are so powerful that they erase the original. the constructed character personalities seen on reality tv reflect baudrillard’s discussion of simulacra. adapted from the source document.”

Baudrillard, J.. (1972). Simulacra & Simulation* precession of simulacra. Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton Anthology

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