by Wong Tsz Kin. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47). / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Characteristics of Chinese Character --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- The Nature of Chinese Language --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- The Structure of Chinese Characters --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Basic Writing Strokes --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Writing Stroke Sequencing --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.5 --- Geographic Structure of Components --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2 --- Stroke Distribution of Chinese Characters --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- Radical --- p.5 / Chapter 1.4 --- Overview --- p.6 / Chapter 1.5 --- Objective --- p.10 / Chapter 2 --- Preprocessing --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1 --- Smoothing and Sampling --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- Interpolation --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3 --- Dehooking --- p.13 / Chapter 2.4 --- Normalization --- p.14 / Chapter 2.5 --- Stroke Segmentation --- p.15 / Chapter 3 --- Preclassification --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1 --- Feature Analysis --- p.18 / Chapter 3.2 --- Radical Detection --- p.20 / Chapter 3.3 --- Description of The Preclassification Component --- p.22 / Chapter 3.4 --- Results and Conclusions --- p.23 / Chapter 4 --- The Recognition Stage --- p.25 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.25 / Chapter 4.2 --- Stroke Match Algorithm --- p.26 / Chapter 4.3 --- Relation Match Stage --- p.30 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Introduction --- p.30 / Chapter 4.4 --- Final Classification --- p.35 / Chapter 5 --- Results and Conclusions --- p.39 / Chapter 5.1 --- Experiment Results --- p.39 / Chapter 5.2 --- Analysis --- p.39 / Chapter 5.3 --- Conclusions

Yeung Lap Kei. / Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [14-15]). / PREFACE / ABSTRACT / CONTENT / Chapter §1. --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter §1.1 --- The Chinese language --- p.1 / Chapter §1.2 --- Chinese information processing system --- p.2 / Chapter §1.3 --- Chinese character recognition --- p.4 / Chapter §1.4 --- Multi-stage tree classifier Vs Single-stage tree classifier in Chinese character recognition --- p.6 / Chapter §1.5 --- Decision Tree / Chapter §1.5.1 --- Basic Terminology of a decision tree --- p.7 / Chapter §1.5.2 --- Structure design of a decision tree --- p.10 / Chapter §1.6 --- Motivation of the project --- p.12 / Chapter §1.7 --- Objects of the project --- p.14 / Chapter §1.8 --- Development environment --- p.14 / Chapter §2. --- APPROACH 1 - UNSUPERVISED LEARNING --- p.15 / Chapter §3. --- APPROACH 2 - SUPERVISED LEARNING / Chapter §3.1 --- Idea --- p.17 / Chapter §3.2 --- The 3 Corner Code --- p.20 / Chapter §3.3 --- Feature Extraction & Selection --- p.22 / Chapter §3.4 --- Decision at Each Node / Chapter §3.4.1 --- Statistical Linear Discriminant Analysis --- p.22 / Chapter §3.4.2 --- Optimization of the Number of Misclassification --- p.24 / Chapter §3.5 --- Implementation / Chapter §3.5.1 --- Training Data --- p.36 / Chapter §3.5.2 --- Clustering with the Use of SAS --- p.38 / Chapter §3.5.3 --- Building the Decision Trees --- p.42 / Chapter §3.5.4 --- Description of the Classifier --- p.45 / Chapter §3.6 --- Experiments and Testing Result / Chapter §3.6.1 --- Performance Parameters being Measured --- p.47 / Chapter §3.6.2 --- Testing by Resubstitution Method --- p.50 / Chapter §3.6.3 --- Noise Model --- p.52 / Chapter §4. --- POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT --- p.55 / Chapter §5. --- EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS & THE IMPROVED MULTISTAGE CLASSIFIER / Chapter §5.1 --- Experimental Results --- p.59 / Chapter §5.2 --- Conclusion --- p.70 / Chapter §6. --- IMPROVED MULTISTAGE TREE CLASSIFIER / Chapter §6.1 --- The Optimal Multistage Tree Classifier --- p.72 / Chapter §6.2 --- Performance Analysis --- p.73 / Chapter §7. --- FURTHER DISCRIMINATION BY CONTEXT CONSIDERATION / Chapter §7.1 --- Idea --- p.76 / Chapter §7.2 --- Description of Algorithm --- p.78 / Chapter §7.3 --- Performance Analysis --- p.81 / Chapter §8. --- CONCLUSION / Chapter §8.1 --- Advantage of the Classifier --- p.84 / Chapter §8.2 --- Limitation of the Classifier --- p.85 / Chapter §9. --- AREA OF FUTURE RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT / Chapter §9.1 --- Detailed Analysis at Each Terminal Node --- p.86 / Chapter §9.2 --- Improving the Noise Filtering Technique --- p.87 / Chapter §9.3 --- The Use of 4 Corner Code --- p.88 / Chapter §9.4 --- Increase in the Dimension of the Feature Space --- p.90 / Chapter §9.5 --- 1-Tree Protocol with Entropy Reduction --- p.91 / Chapter §9.6 --- The Use of Human Intelligence --- p.92 / APPENDICES / Chapter A.1 --- K-MEANS / Chapter A.2 --- Unsupervised Learning Approach / Chapter A.3 --- Other Algorithms (Maximum Distance & ISODATA) / Chapter A.4 --- Possible Improvement / Chapter A.5 --- Theories on Statistical Discriminant Analysis / Chapter A.6 --- Passage used in Testing the Performance of the Classifier with Context Consideration / Chapter A.7 --- A Partial List of Semantically Related Chinese Characters / Chapter A.8 --- An Example of Misclassification Table / Chapter A.9 --- "Listing of the Program ""CHDIS.C""" / REFERENCE

by Lee Tan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Bibliography: leaves [128]-[130] / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1-1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction to Artificial Neural Networks --- p.1-4 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Fundamentals of Artificial Neural Networks --- p.1-5 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Various Artificial Neural Network Models ´ؤA Review --- p.1-11 / Chapter 1.2 --- Introduction to Fuzzy Sets Theory --- p.1-17 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- "Fuzziness, Fuzzy sets and Membership Function" --- p.1-17 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Applications of Fuzzy Sets --- p.1-19 / Connective Summary --- p.1-21 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LEARNING WITH FUZZY INFORMATION --- p.2-1 / Chapter 2.1 --- "Decision Making, Pattern Associating and Pattern Classification" --- p.2-3 / Chapter 2.2 --- Artificial Neural Networks as Learning Decision Systems --- p.2-6 / Chapter 2.3 --- Fuzziness in Decision Making Processes --- p.2-10 / Chapter 2.4 --- Learning with Fuzzy Information --- p.2-12 / Chapter 2.5 --- The Formulation of Our Approach --- p.2-16 / Connective Summary --- p.2-18 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- A MODIFIED BACKPROPAGATION ALGORITHM FOR MULTILAYER FEEDFORWARD NETWORKS --- p.3-1 / Chapter 3.1 --- Preliminaries --- p.3-3 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Error Backpropagation Algorithm (EBPA) --- p.3-8 / Chapter 3.3 --- A Modified EBPA Learning with A Priori Fuzzy Information --- p.3-11 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- The Membership-Weighed Objective Function --- p.3-11 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- The Fuzzy Error Backpropagation Algorithm --- p.3-13 / Chapter 3.4 --- Discussion on the Proposed Fuzzy EBPA --- p.3-15 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Methods of Determining Membership Functions --- p.3-15 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Fuzzy EBPA Alters the Effective Target Patterns --- p.3-19 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Estimating the Learning Rates Required for the Fuzzy EBPA --- p.3-21 / Connective Summary --- p.3-24 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- APPLICATION EXAMPLES --- p.4-1 / Chapter 4.1 --- A Single Node Classifier --- p.4-2 / Chapter 4.2 --- The Fuzzy XOR Problem --- p.4-29 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Network Configuration 1 --- p.4-36 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Network Configuration 2 --- p.4-46 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Comments on the Simulation Results --- p.4-50 / Chapter 4.3 --- A Speech Recognition System --- p.4-54 / Connective Summary --- p.4-59 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.5-1

by Poon Chi-cheung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84). / Abstract / Acknowledgments / Preface / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Font Systems --- p.1 / Representations of Character Images --- p.1 / Characteristics of Chinese Font System --- p.3 / Large Character Set --- p.3 / Condensed Strokes --- p.4 / Low Repetition Rate --- p.5 / WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) --- p.6 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Human Visual System and Gray Scale Font --- p.9 / Human Visual System --- p.9 / Physiology --- p.9 / Spatial Frequencies --- p.10 / How much resolution is enough --- p.11 / Screen and Printer --- p.12 / Raster Display Devices --- p.13 / Printer --- p.14 / Resolution --- p.15 / Gray Scale Font --- p.15 / Generation of Gray Scale Font --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Digital Filtering Method for Gray Scale Font --- p.19 / Filtering Process --- p.19 / Weighted Functions --- p.21 / Generation of Gray Scale Character --- p.23 / Results --- p.24 / More Experiments --- p.24 / Problems --- p.26 / Speed and Storage --- p.26 / Impression of Strokes --- p.27 / Thin strokes in the small-size character --- p.30 / New Approach to Generate Gray Scale Font --- p.30 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Rasterization Algorithms --- p.32 / Outline Font --- p.32 / TrueType Font --- p.33 / Scan Conversion --- p.35 / Basic Outline-to-Bitmap Conversion --- p.35 / Scan-converting Polygon --- p.36 / Rasterization of a character --- p.36 / Intersecting Points and Ranges --- p.37 / Straight Lines --- p.37 / Quadratic Bezier Curves --- p.38 / Implementation Techniques --- p.39 / Approximation of quadratic Bezier curve by straight lines --- p.39 / Simplification of the Filling Process --- p.41 / The Rasterization Algorithm --- p.45 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Direct Rasterization with Gray Scale --- p.46 / Rasterization with Gray Scale --- p.46 / Determination of Gray Value of Boundary-pixel --- p.50 / Preliminary Results --- p.54 / Hinting --- p.56 / Rasterization with Hinting --- p.56 / Strokes Migration --- p.57 / Hints Finding --- p.59 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Results and Conclusion --- p.62 / Quality --- p.66 / Comparison with Black-and-White Character --- p.66 / Hinted Against Unhinted --- p.71 / Generation Speeds --- p.75 / Discussion and Comments --- p.78 / Practical Font System --- p.79 / Conclusion --- p.80 / Bibliography --- p.82

Chien Siu-Hung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract (English) / Abstract (Chinese) / Acknowledgements / Table of Contents / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- The Gaussian-2 Method / Chapter 1.2 --- The Gaussian-3 Method / Chapter 1.3 --- The G3 Method with Reduced Moller-Plesset Order and Basis Set / Chapter 1.4 --- Calculated Thermochemical Data / Chapter 1.5 --- Remark on the Location of Transition State / Chapter 1.6 --- Scope of the Thesis / Chapter 1.7 --- References / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "Energetics and Structures of the Carbonyl Chloride Radical, Oxalyl Chloride, and Their Cations" --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 2.2 --- Computational Methods / Chapter 2.3 --- Results and Discussion / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Carbonyl Chloride and Its Cation / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The anti and syn Conformers of Oxalyl Chloride and Oxalyl Chloride Cation / Chapter 3.3.3 --- The anti and gauche Conformers of (ClCO) 2 and the TS Linking Them / Chapter 2.4 --- Conclusions / Chapter 2.5 --- Publication Note / Chapter 2.6 --- References / Chapter Chapter 3 --- "An Isomeric Study of N5, N5+，and N5- : A Gaussian-3 Investigation" --- p.17 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 3.2 --- Computational Methods / Chapter 3.3 --- Results and Discussion / Chapter 3.3.1 --- "The N5 Isomers """ / Chapter 3.3.2 --- The N5+ Isomers / Chapter 3.3.3 --- The N5- Isomers / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Comparison of the G3 and G3(MP2) Results / Chapter 3.4 --- Conclusions / Chapter 3.5 --- Publication Note / Chapter 3.6 --- References / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Thermochemistry of Hydrochlorofluorosilanes : An Ab Initio Gaussian-3 Study --- p.28 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 4.2 --- Computational Methods / Chapter 4.3 --- Results and Discussion / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Heats of Formation for Neutral HCFSis / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Ionization Energies / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Electron Affinities / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Proton Affinities / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Acidities / Chapter 4.3.6 --- G3 versus G3(MP2) / Chapter 4.4 --- Conclusions / Chapter 4.5 --- Publication Note / Chapter 4.6 --- References / Chapter Chapter 5 --- A Gaussian-3 Study of the Photodissociation Channels of Thiirane --- p.48 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 5.2 --- Computational Methods / Chapter 5.3 --- Results and Discussion / Chapter 5.3.1 --- The Heats of Reactions / Chapter 5.3.2 --- The Dissociation Channels Taking Place at the Ground State / Chapter 5.3.3 --- The Dissociation Channels Taking Place at Excited States / Chapter 5.4 --- Conclusions / Chapter 5.5 --- References / Chapter Chapter 6 --- A Gaussian-3 Study of the VUV Photoionization and Photodissociation of Chloropropylene Oxide --- p.59 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction / Chapter 6.2 --- Computational Methods / Chapter 6.3 --- Results and Discussion / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Ionization Energy / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Dissociation Channels / Chapter 6.4 --- Conclusions / Chapter 6.5 --- Publication Note / Chapter 6.6 --- References / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Conclusions --- p.69 / Appendix A The Gaussian-n (n=l-3) Theoretical Models --- p.71 / Chapter A.1 --- The G1 and G2 Theories / Chapter A.2 --- The G3 Theory / Chapter A.3 --- The G3(MP2) Theory / "Appendix B Calculation of Enthalpy at 298 K,H298" --- p.74

Li Chi-Lun. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Remark on the Location of Transition Structures --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Scope of the Thesis --- p.1 / Chapter 1.3 --- References --- p.2 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "A Gaussian-3 Study on the Photodissociation of Phenylacetylene and Formation of 1,3,5-Hexatriyne" --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2 --- Computational Method --- p.7 / Chapter 2.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Phenylacetylene → Acetylene + Benzyne --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- "Phenylacetylene → Acetylene + (Z)-3 -Hexene- 1,5-diyne" --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- "(Z)-3-Hexene-l,5-diyne / (E)-3 -Hexene-1,5-diyne → 1,3,5-Hexatriyne and Molecular Hydrogen" --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Evaluation of Thermochemical Data --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- Evaluation of Ion Energetics Data --- p.10 / Chapter 2.4 --- Conclusions --- p.10 / Chapter 2.5 --- References --- p.11 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- A Gaussian-3 Study of the Photoionization and Dissociative Photoionization Channels of Cyanoethylene --- p.21 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.22 / Chapter 3.2 --- Computational Method --- p.22 / Chapter 3.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.23 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Bond Cleavage Reactions --- p.23 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Dissociation Channels Involving Transition Structures --- p.25 / Chapter 3.4 --- Conclusions --- p.25 / Chapter 3.5 --- References --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- "A Gaussian´ؤ2 Study of Structures, Energetics, and Reactions of C2H3S- Anions" --- p.34 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2 --- Computational Method --- p.35 / Chapter 4.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.36 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Thioformylmethyl Anion --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Thioacetyl Anion --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Cyclic C2H3S- Ions --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- CH2SCH- --- p.38 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- 2-Thiovinyl Anion --- p.38 / Chapter 4.3.6 --- 1-Thiovinyl Anion --- p.39 / Chapter 4.3.7 --- Intramolecular Rearrangements of 1- --- p.39 / Chapter 4.3.8 --- Intramolecular Rearrangements of Cyclic C2H3S- ions and 1´ؤThiovinyl Anion --- p.39 / Chapter 4.4 --- Conclusions --- p.40 / Chapter 4.5 --- References --- p.40 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- "Theoretical Studies of Transition Metal Complexes: Bond Energies for Fe+-D, Fe+-H2O, and Fe+-CO" --- p.51 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.52 / Chapter 5.2 --- Computational Method --- p.53 / Chapter 5.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.54 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Fe+-D --- p.54 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Fe+-CO --- p.54 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Fe+-H2O --- p.55 / Chapter 5.4 --- Conclusions --- p.56 / Chapter 5.5 --- References --- p.57 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Ab Initio Study of the Charge-Delocalized and -Localized Form of the Rhodizonate Dianion --- p.61 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.62 / Chapter 6.2 --- Computational Method --- p.63 / Chapter 6.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.64 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Charge-Localized C6062- --- p.64 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Charge-Delocalized C6062- --- p.64 / Chapter 6.4 --- Conclusions --- p.65 / Chapter 6.5 --- References --- p.66 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- "Franck-Condon Factor Simulated Spectra of the Cations of cis-2-Butene,trans-2-Butene, Isobutene, cis-Dichloroethene, and trans-Dichloroethene" --- p.71 / Chapter 7.1 --- Introduction --- p.72 / Chapter 7.2 --- Computational Method --- p.72 / Chapter 7.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.73 / Chapter 7.3.1 --- cis-2-Butene Cation --- p.73 / Chapter 7.3.2 --- trans-2-Butene Cation --- p.74 / Chapter 7.3.3 --- cis-Dichloroethene Cation --- p.75 / Chapter 7.3.4 --- trans-Dichloroethene Cation --- p.76 / Chapter 7.3.5 --- Isobutene --- p.76 / Chapter 7.4 --- Conclusions --- p.77 / Chapter 7.5 --- References --- p.77 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Conclusions --- p.88 / Appendix A --- p.89 / Appendix B --- p.91 / Appendix C --- p.92

Each aspect of this thesis is motivated by the recent paper of Beresnevich, Dickinson and Velani (BDV03]. Let 'ljJ be a real, positive, decreasing function i.e. an approximation function. Their paper considers a general lim sup set A( 'ljJ), within a compact metric measure space (0, d, m), consisting of points that sit in infinitely many balls each centred at an element ROt of a countable set and of radius 'I/J(130) where 130 is a 'weight' assigned to each ROt. The classical set of 'I/J-well approximable numbers is the basic example. For the set A('ljJ) , [BDV03] achieves m-measure and Hausdorff measure laws analogous to the classical theorems of Khintchine and Jarnik. Our first results obtain an application of these metric laws to the set of 'ljJ-well approximable numbers with restricted rationals, previously considered by Harman (Har88c]. Next, we consider a generalisation of the set of badly approximable numbers, Bad. For an approximation function p, a point x of a compact metric space is in a general set Bad(p) if, loosely speaking, x 'avoids' any ball centred at an element ROt of a countable set and of radius c p(I3Ot) for c = c(x) a constant. In view of Jarnik's 1928 result that dim Bad = 1, we aim to show the general set Bad(p) has maximal Hausdorff dimension. Finally, we extend the theory of (BDV03] by constructing a general lim sup set dependent on two approximation functions, A('ljJll'ljJ2)' We state a measure theorem for this set analogous to Khintchine's (1926a) theorem for the Lebesgue measure of the set of ('l/Jl, 1/12)-well approximable pairs in R2. We also remark on the set's Hausdorff dimension.

Lin, Jessey. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-80). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.

This dissertation explores the global history of Chinese script reforms—the effort to phoneticize Chinese language and/or simplify the writing system—from its inception in the 1890s to its demise in the 1980s. These reforms took place at the intersection of industrialization, colonialism, and new information technologies, such as alphabet-based telegraphy and breakthroughs in printing technologies. As these social and technological transformations put unprecedented pressure on knowledge management and the use of mental and clerical labor, many Chinese intellectuals claimed that learning Chinese characters consumed too much time and mental energy. Chinese script reforms, this dissertation argues, were an effort to increase speed in producing, transmitting, and accessing information, and thus meet the demands of the industrializing knowledge economy. The industrializing knowledge economy that this dissertation explores was built on and sustained by a psychological understanding of the human subject as a knowledge machine, and it was part of a global moment in which the optimization of labor in knowledge production was a key concern for all modernizing economies. While Chinese intellectuals were inventing new signs of inscription, American behavioral psychologists, Soviet psycho-economists, and Central Asian and Ottoman technicians were all experimenting with new scripts in order to increase mental efficiency and productivity. This dissertation reveals the intimate connections between the Chinese and non-Chinese script engineering projects that were taking place synchronically across the world. The chapters of this work demonstrate for the first time, for instance, that the simplification of Chinese characters in the 1920s and 1930s was intimately connected to the discipline of behavioral psychology in the US. The first generation of Chinese psychologists employed the American psychologists’ methods to track eye movements, count word-frequencies, and statistically analyze the speed of reading, writing, and memorizing in order to simplify and “rationalize” the Chinese writing system in an effort to discipline and optimize mental labor. Other chapters explore the issue of mental and clerical optimization by finding the origins of the Chinese Latin Alphabet (CLA), the mother of pinyin, in hitherto unknown Eurasian connections. The CLA, the pages of this work shows, was the product of a transnational exchange that involved Ottoman and Transcaucasian typographers as well as Russian engineers and Chinese communists who sought efficiency in knowledge production through inventing new scripts. Situating the Chinese script reforms at this global intersection of psychology, economy, and linguistics, this dissertation examines the global connections and forces that turned the human subject into a knowledge worker who was cognitively managed through education, literacy, propaganda, and other measures of organizing information, all of which had the script at the center. The search for efficiency and productivity—the core values of industrialism—lay at the heart of script reforms in China, but this search was inseparable from linguistic orders and political ambitions. Even if writing, transmitting, and learning a phonetic script could theoretically be easier and more efficient than the Chinese characters, the alphabet opened a veritable Pandora’s Box around the issue of selection: given the complex linguistic landscape in China, which speech was a phonetic script supposed to represent? There were myriad languages spoken throughout the empire and the subsequent nation-state, most of which were mutually incomprehensible. Mandarin as spoken in Beijing was different from that spoken in the south, and “topolects” or regional languages such as Min or Cantonese were to Mandarin what Romanian is to English. As a linguistic life-or-death issue, phonetic scripts stood for the infrastructural possibilities and limitations in the representation of speeches. Some scripts, such as Lao Naixuan’s phonetic script composed of more than a hundred signs, were capable of representing multiple Mandarin and non-Mandarin speeches; whereas others, such as Phonetic Symbols that only has thirty-seven syllabic signs, represented only one speech, i.e., Mandarin. Using Mandarin-oriented scripts to transcribe non-Mandarin speeches was like writing English with fifteen letters, hence the acrimonious disputes that fill the pages of this dissertation. Succinctly put, it was at the level of script invention that Chinese and non-Chinese actors engineered different infrastructures not only for laboring minds but also for the social world of Chinese languages. The history of information technologies and knowledge economy in China was thus inseparable from the world of speech and language, as each script offered a new potential to reassemble the written matter and the speaking mind in a different way. “Codes of Modernity” thus conceptualizes the script itself as an infrastructural medium. A script was not merely a passive carrier of information, but an existential artifact. Building on an expanding literature on infrastructures, it endorses the observation that infrastructures, technologies, and the social world around them work in a recursive loop. An infrastructure is not just the physical object that permits the flow of information, goods, ideas, and people, but a sociotechnical product that enables the experience of culture, while imposing constrains on it at the same time. Like electricity grids, transportation systems, and sewage canals, the experience of scripts as infrastructures is the experience of thought worlds. After a long tradition of structuralism and poststructuralism that sought to understand the world through the semiotic prism of language, “Codes of Modernity” argues that it is time for an infrastructuralism that excavates the indispensable media that enable the production of language and thought.

Lam Chow Shing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Thesis Examination Committee --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.vii / List of Figures --- p.viii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- The Gaussian-3 Method --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- The G3 Method with Reduced MΦller- Plesset Order and Basis Set --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Density Functional Theory (DFT) --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Calculation of Thermodynamical Data --- p.3 / Chapter 1.5 --- Remark on the Location of Transition Structures --- p.3 / Chapter 1.6 --- Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) Analysis --- p.4 / Chapter 1.7 --- Scope of the Thesis --- p.4 / Chapter 1.8 --- References --- p.5 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Theoretical Study of Tri-s-triazine and Its Derivatives --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2 --- Methods of Calculation --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3.1. --- Property of Tri-s-triazine --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3.2. --- Substituent Effects on the Properties of the Tri-s-triazine Parent Molecule --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3.3. --- Heats of Formation of Derivatives of Tri-s-triazine --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4 --- Conclusion --- p.22 / Chapter 2.5 --- References --- p.22 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- A Gaussian-3 Study of the Dissociative Photoionization of Acetone --- p.25 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.25 / Chapter 3.2 --- Methods of Calculation --- p.26 / Chapter 3.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.26 / Chapter 3.3.1. --- "Formation of m/z = 42 (CH2CO+.),43 (CH3CO+) Ions" --- p.31 / Chapter 3.3.2. --- Formation of m/z = 43 (c-CH2CHO+) and m/z = 15 (CH3+) Ions --- p.32 / Chapter 3.3.3. --- Formation of m/z = 57 (CH3COCH2+) Ions --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3.4. --- Formation of m/z = 39 (C3H3+) Ions --- p.38 / Chapter 3.4 --- Conclusion --- p.40 / Chapter 3.5 --- Publication Note --- p.40 / Chapter 3.6 --- References --- p.40 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- "A G3(MP2) Study of the C3H60+. Isomers Fragmented from l,4-Dioxane+" --- p.42 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.42 / Chapter 4.2 --- Methods of Calculation --- p.43 / Chapter 4.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.44 / Chapter 4.3.1. --- "Formation of C3H60+. Isomers 1 and 2 via Fragmentation of 1,4-Dioxane+" --- p.44 / Chapter 4.3.2. --- Reaction with Acetonitrile --- p.55 / Chapter 4.3.3. --- Reaction with Formaldehyde --- p.57 / Chapter 4.3.4. --- Reaction with Ethylene --- p.61 / Chapter 4.3.5. --- Reaction with Propene --- p.63 / Chapter 4.4 --- Conclusion --- p.67 / Chapter 4.5 --- Publication Note --- p.68 / Chapter 4.6 --- References --- p.68 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- A Computational Study of the Photodissociation Channels of Chloroiodomethane --- p.71 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.71 / Chapter 5.2 --- Methods of Calculation --- p.73 / Chapter 5.3 --- Results and Discussion --- p.74 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- CH2C1 + I(2P1/2) and CH2C1 + I(2P3/2) Channels --- p.77 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- "CH2I + C1(2P3/2,1/2) Channel" --- p.78 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- CHI + HC1 Channel --- p.80 / Chapter 5.3.4 --- CH2 + IC1 Channel --- p.81 / Chapter 5.4 --- Conclusion --- p.82 / Chapter 5.5 --- Publication Note --- p.83 / Chapter 5.6 --- References --- p.83 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.86 / Appendix A --- p.87 / Appendix B --- p.89