Search Results (77)

Seoul systematically removed all graveyards that once lay within the city and its surrounding areas, a phenomenon notably distinct from urban development patterns in other parts of the world. After the Korean War, refugees and migrants poured into the devastated capital. In this postwar environment, cemeteries—traditionally sites of mourning and death—transformed into spaces of survival for displaced populations. With the military demarcation line preventing their return home, refugees began to envision their lost hometowns as “absent places”: unattainable utopias, idealized lands where all beauty resides—the very origin and endpoint of life. In contrast, Seoul, where they were forced to settle, became a “dystopia,” stripped of sanctity. Over time, however, the next generation reinterpreted this dystopia, gradually transforming it into a heterotopia. As Seoul’s urban landscape expanded, this heterotopia evolved into a Christian paradise. The second generation, having never experienced the trauma of displacement, found the newly constructed city comfortable and secure. Reinforced concrete buildings and asphalt roads became symbolic of paradise. The development of Gangnam—famously captured in Psy’s global hit “Gangnam Style”—represents a belated cultural revolution among younger generations in modern South Korea and exemplifies the transformation into a concrete paradise. Full article

China is rich in coalbed methane (CBM) resources, and the key to realizing the scale and efficiency of CBM development is to build “engineering tools” for exploration and development continuously. Accurate calculation of rock components and precise identification of lithology and macroscopic coal lithotypes of coal-bearing measures are the basis for the evaluation of CBM geological engineering. This paper proposes a method to identify the lithology and macroscopic coal lithotypes of coal-bearing measures based on elemental mud logging. Firstly, a coal seam demarcation line is constructed based on the elemental mud logging to divide the coal and non-coal seams. Secondly, the content of each component in the coal and non-coal seams is calculated. Finally, based on the results of the calculations, a method for recognizing the lithology of non-coal seams and macroscopic coal lithotypes of coal seams is constructed based on the combination of the S (sulfur) element innovatively. The calculation error of mineral and proximate analysis components is less than 10%, and the average accuracy of lithology and macroscopic coal lithotype identification is as high as 87%. The results can provide important technical guidance for the geological evaluation of coal-bearing measures and the selection of target seams. Full article

Egg-carrying ectothermic planktonic organisms in stressed conditions adapt diverse reproductive trade-off strategies, which are denoted by markers of stress, either in their physiology, morphology or reproductive characteristics. This is the first study documenting the fact that egg packing constraints can provide a novel marker of stress through experimental and field data, attuned by a remarkable bioindicator egg-bearing copepod species, Eurytemora affinis, in diverse physical conditions and transboundary sites through a multigenerational assay. This study propounds a packing pressure index (PP index), which is an efficient tool for demarcating reproductive efforts along with reference lines of packing constraints in bioindicator organisms. The packing pressure index for E. affinis varied across geographical locations, showing distinct north–south variations, along with a strong packing constraint in higher-temperature and -salinity conditions. The novel relationships between morphological and reproductive traits and packing constraints could be standardized. Ensuring the presence of the egg sac membrane and its relationship with varied physicochemical parameters can aid in developing a comprehensive understanding of reproductive strategies in keystone species like E. affinis. Full article

This investigation endeavors to demarcate the boundaries of small- and medium-sized river catchments within the Caspian Sea drainage basin, with a specific focus on the Northeastern Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and Iran regions. A multi-faceted approach was employed, incorporating various remote sensing methods to select key areas, including the catchments of the Sunzha, Sulak, Ulluchay, Karachay, Atachay, Haraz, and Gorgan rivers. Subsequently, geoinformation systems (GISs) and topographic maps were utilized to determine the morphometric characteristics of these catchments, accompanied by an assessment of the accuracy of remote sensing data. The aim of this study is to evaluate the accuracy and suitability of digital elevation models (DEMs) with a spatial resolution of 30 m per pixel (including ASTER DEM, ALOS DEM, NASADEM, Copernicus 30 m DEM, and SRTM 30 m DEM) and 90 m per pixel (Copernicus 90 m DEM and SRTM 90 m DEM) for delineating small- and medium-sized Caspian Sea basin river catchments. For the DEMs that successfully and accurately delineated watershed boundaries, the morphometric characteristics of the river basins were calculated. This research has yielded novel findings regarding the morphometric characteristics (area, perimeter, ruggedness of the catchment line (roundness coefficient), maximum height, minimum height, average height of the river basin, maximum slope of the surface, average slope of the surface, length of the main watercourse, basin shape parameter (catchment elongation coefficient), shape coefficient, length of the river basin, average river basin slope, and average width of the basin) of individual mountainous small- and medium-sized rivers in the Northeastern Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and Iran, with the catchments of the aforementioned rivers serving as exemplars. The practical significance of these results lies in the fact that such detailed morphometric characteristics of catchments have been obtained for the first time, and their boundaries have been clarified (burned out according to various DEMs), which can serve as a basis for decision-making processes and contribute to the development of operational environmental monitoring of the state of rivers and their catchments. Full article

In the field of finance, the table is a common form of data organization. Extracting data from these tables in large quantities is a fundamental and important task for researchers. However, this can be a challenging task, as many tables exist in unstructured forms, such as scanned images in PDFs, rather than forms which can be easily processed, such as Excel spreadsheets. In recent years, a large number of table extraction methods utilizing heuristic algorithms or deep learning models have been proposed to free people from manual processing tasks, which are time-consuming and troublesome. Although existing methods achieve high levels of accuracy in processing some kinds of tables, they often fail to achieve optimal results when extracting complex financial tables with multi-line text and missing demarcation lines. In this article, we propose an enhancement method for image-based complex table extraction. This method consists of two modules: a split module and a filter module. The split module uses an OCR (optical character recognition) model to locate text regions, and a heuristic algorithm to obtain candidate demarcation lines. The filter module is based on a text semantic matching model and another heuristic algorithm. The experimental results show that the use of the proposed method can significantly improve the performance of different table extraction methods, with increases in F1 scores of between 5.10 and 14.36 points being recorded. Full article

Mirror symmetry was first observed in worldsheet string constructions, and was shown to have profound implications in the Effective Field Theory (EFT) limit of string compactifications, and for the properties of Calabi–Yau manifolds. It opened up a new field in pure mathematics, and was utilised in the area of enumerative geometry. Spinor–Vector Duality (SVD) is an extension of mirror symmetry. This can be readily understood in terms of the moduli of toroidal compactification of the Heterotic String, which includes the metric the antisymmetric tensor field and the Wilson line moduli. In terms of the toroidal moduli, mirror symmetry corresponds to mappings of the internal space moduli, whereas Spinor–Vector Duality corresponds to maps of the Wilson line moduli. In the past few of years, we demonstrated the existence of Spinor–Vector Duality in the effective field theory compactifications of string theories. This was achieved by starting with a worldsheet orbifold construction that exhibited Spinor–Vector Duality and resolving the orbifold singularities, hence generating a smooth, effective field theory limit with an imprint of the Spinor–Vector Duality. Just like mirror symmetry, the Spinor–Vector Duality can be used to study the properties of complex manifolds with vector bundles. Spinor–Vector Duality offers a top-down approach to the “Swampland” program, by exploring the imprint of the symmetries of the ultra-violet complete worldsheet string constructions in the effective field theory limit. The SVD suggests a demarcation line between (2,0) EFTs that possess an ultra-violet complete embedding versus those that do not. Full article

Low-molecular-mass organic chemicals are widely discussed as potential indicators of life in extraterrestrial habitats. However, demarcation lines between biotic chemicals and abiotic chemicals have been difficult to define. Here, we have analyzed the potential utility of the quantum chemical property, HOMO-LUMO gap (HLG), as a novel proxy variable of life, since a significant trend towards incrementally smaller HLGs has been described in the genetically encoded amino acids. The HLG is a zeroth-order predictor of chemical reactivity. Comparing a set of 134 abiotic organic molecules recovered from meteorites, with 570 microbial and plant secondary metabolites thought to be exclusively biotic, we found that the average HLG of biotic molecules was significantly narrower (−10.4 ± 0.9 eV versus −12.4 ± 1.6 eV), with an effect size of g = 1.87. Limitation to hydrophilic molecules (XlogP < 2) improved the separation of biotic from abiotic compounds (g = 2.52). The “hydrophilic reactivity” quadrant defined by |HLG| < 11.25 eV and XlogP < 2 was populated exclusively by 183 biotic compounds and 6 abiotic compounds, 5 of which were nucleobases. We conclude that hydrophilic molecules with small HLGs represent valuable indicators of biotic activity, and we discuss the evolutionary plausibility of this inference. Full article

The article seeks to define the concepts of religion and ethics as well as their compound. It does so (1) by asking for the supposed demarcation line between religious and secular ethics and (2) by considering the relation of religious ethics and political theology. Based on the respective findings, the article offers a meta-ethical perspective on the subject by challenging the anthropological backdrop of both secular and religious ethics. In conclusion, it proposes a formal approach to ethical judgment that may function as a discerning method when it comes to the assessment of specific models of religious and/or secular ethics. In this regard, the article provides conceptual thoughts on ethical motivation and the operationalization of ethics on an institutional level. Full article

The industrialisation of agriculture and changes in production systems have contributed to a biodiversity decline worldwide. Developing accurate and adequate assessment methods can encourage farmers to support more sustainable agricultural management. This study presents a decision support system to promote agrobiodiversity that incorporates not only a quantitative assessment of relevant indicators of agrobiodiversity performance but also provides enhancement practice recommendations and associated benefits, presenting an action plan in order of priority. Additionally, the decision support system allows a visual comparison between biodiversity composite indicators and indicators representing pest control and crop yield. Since grape cultivation is considered one of the most intensive agricultural systems, thus significantly impacting biodiversity, the elaborated decision support system was tested on a viticultural agroecosystem in the demarcated Douro region in Portugal. The results demonstrated the decision support system functioning according to the selected methodology and allowed the identification of future lines for investigation. During the analysed period, the following were verified: an increase of 2% in the biodiversity indicator, 130% in harvest yield, and 2077% in the enemy-to-pest ratio. It is expected that the elaborated DSS will offer a significant contribution by bridging communication gaps on alternative management options to improve biodiversity performance in agricultural systems. Full article

Coffee production has become increasingly technified in order to optimize the use of inputs and the sustainable use of natural resources. In this context, one way that farmers are investing in their coffee plantations is in the use of precision agriculture techniques, termed precision coffee farming. Over the last few years, research has been conducted to facilitate the application of this technology, and sampling grids with two points per hectare have been recommended by several studies. These georeferenced demarcations in a plot are generally shaped as equidistant squares or rectangles, and the sampling points are located at the centers of these areas. Coffee farmers typically plant their crops following the level line, which greatly hinders the navigation of equidistant points within the field. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop an optimized walking route method to reduce the distance for sampling soil, leaf, and yield attributes. The experimental plots were established in 2000 at Samambaia Farm, located in Santo Antônio do Amparo, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with coffee the cultivar Acaia IAC 479-19, totaling 56.65 ha. The 111 sampling points were distributed in the land following the new method proposed in this study, and, after walking simulations using Farm Works Mapping Software, the new method was compared with the conventional method using the mean displacement between points. The new optimized walking routes method reduced the mean distance traveled to sample the points by 50.1%. Full article

Countless articles and books have been written about transformational leadership theory since the late 1970s when it first appeared in the literature. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to illustrate that transformational leadership contains both logical and psychological problems when explaining the nature of leadership and as an empirically supportable and verifiable construct. It aims to show that its failure to garner evidence from a scientific methodological analysis may not invalidate its efficacy if it is viewed from an alternative lens, such as aesthetics. An aesthetic frame is one that recognizes sensuous ways of knowing since feelings and emotions are just as important as reason and logic. An aesthetic approach to leadership would see leadership as more of an art than a science. This paper is not arguing for the abandonment of transformational leadership theory; rather it is saying that an aesthetic lens is likely to yield a richer, more artistic, and more nuanced account of what is understood and enacted as transformational leadership. This way, the manifestations of transformational leadership may live on in the arts and continue to inspire and motivate us. Full article

Aerial surveying with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been popularly employed in river management and flood monitoring. One of the major processes in UAV aerial surveying for river applications is to demarcate the cross-section of a river. From the photo images of aerial surveying, a point cloud dataset can be abstracted with the structure from the motion technique. To accurately demarcate the cross-section from the cloud points, an appropriate delineation technique is required to reproduce the characteristics of natural and manmade channels, including abrupt changes, bumps and lined shapes. Therefore, a nonparametric estimation technique, called the K-nearest neighbor local linear regression (KLR) model, was tested in the current study to demarcate the cross-section of a river with a point cloud dataset from aerial surveying. The proposed technique was tested with synthetically simulated trapezoidal, U-shape and V-shape channels. In addition, the proposed KLR model was compared with the traditional polynomial regression model and another nonparametric technique, locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS). The experimental study was performed with the river experiment center in Andong, South Korea. Furthermore, the KLR model was applied to two real case studies in the Migok-cheon stream on Hapcheon-gun and Pori-cheon stream on Yecheon-gun and compared to the other models. With the extensive applications to the feasible river channels, the results indicated that the proposed KLR model can be a suitable alternative for demarcating the cross-section of a river with point cloud data from UAV aerial surveying by reproducing the critical characteristics of natural and manmade channels, including abrupt changes and small bumps as well as different shapes. Finally, the limitation of the UAV-driven demarcation approach was also discussed due to the penetrability of RGB sensors to water. Full article

The equatorial post-sunset ionospheric irregularities induce rapid fluctuations in the phase and amplitude of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals which may lead to the loss of lock and can potentially degrade the position accuracy. This study presents a new analysis of L-band scintillation from a low latitude station at Guntur (Geographic 16.44°N, 80.62°E, dip 22.18°), India, for the period of 18 months from August 2021 to January 2023. The observations are categorized either in the medium Earth-orbiting (MEO) or geosynchronous orbiting (GSO) satellites (GSO is considered as a set of the geostationary and inclined geosynchronous satellites) for L1, L2, and L5 signals. The results show a higher occurrence of moderate (0.5 < S4 ≤ 0.8) and strong (S4 > 0.8) scintillations on different signals from the MEO compared to the GSO satellites. Statistically, the average of peak S4 values provides a higher confidence in the severity of scintillations on a given night, which is found to be in-line with the scintillation occurrences. The percentage occurrence of scintillation-affected satellites is found to be higher on L1 compared to other signals, wherein a contrasting higher percentage of affected satellites over GSO than MEO is observed. While a clear demarcation between the L2/L5 signals and L1 is found over the MEO, in the case of GSO, the CCDF over L5 is found to match mostly with the L1 signal. This could possibly originate from the space diversity gain effect known to impact the closely spaced geostationary satellite links. Another major difference of higher slopes and less scatter of S4 values corresponding to L1 versus L2/L5 from the GSO satellite is found compared to mostly non-linear highly scattered relations from the MEO. The distribution of the percentage of scintillation-affected satellites on L1 shows a close match between MEO and GSO in a total number of minutes up to ~60%. However, such a number of minutes corresponding to higher than 60% is found to be larger for GSO. Thus, the results indicate the possibility of homogeneous spatial patterns in a scintillation distribution over a low latitude site, which could originate from the closely spaced GSO links and highlight the role of the number of available satellites with the geometry of the links, being the deciding factors. This helps the ionospheric community to develop inter-GNSS (MEO and GSO) operability models for achieving highly accurate positioning solutions during adverse ionospheric weather conditions. Full article

In this paper, in order to improve the fuel economy of the actual application of the engine under multi-operating conditions, an experimental study is carried out on a turbo-charged direct-injection engine based on different pre-chamber structures. The engine used for the study is a four-cylinder turbo-charged direct-injection gasoline engine with different structures of pre-chamber spark plugs. The operating conditions in this study include load characteristics at 2000 r/min and characteristic loads at different speeds, including 3000 r/min, 3200 r/min, and 3600 r/min. With stable BMEP or fully open throttle and pedal, the experiment was conducted by the spark angle scanning method to collect data of engine power, economy, and emission under each condition. It was found that the pre-chamber structure has a direct effect on engine performance, with a clear load demarcation line for its effect. Under the WOT condition, the power of pre-chamber ignition is 1.6% higher than that of conventional spark plugs; at the low load of 2 bar, the economy of pre-chamber ignition is degraded by 6%; at the medium load of 8 bar, the economy of the two is comparable; at the large load of 16 bar, the fuel economy proves advantageous. Compared with conventional spark plugs, the pre-chamber spark angle can be advanced by 2~3 °CA, and the pre-chamber ignition with separate ground electrodes is highly reliable. The emission levels of the pre-chamber spark plugs and conventional spark plugs are comparable at all loads. Full article

Endoscopy is mandatory to detect early gastric cancer (EGC). When considering the cost-effectiveness of the endoscopic screening of EGC, risk stratification by combining serum pepsinogen values and anti-H. pylori IgG antibody values is very promising. After the detection of suspicious lesions of EGC, a detailed observation using magnifying endoscopy with band-limited light is necessary, which reveals an irregular microsurface and/or an irregular microvascular pattern with demarcation lines in the case of cancerous lesions. Endocytoscopy enables us to make an in vivo histological diagnosis. In terms of the indications for endoscopic resection, the likelihood of lymph node metastasis and technical difficulties in en bloc resection is considered, and they are divided into absolute, expanded, and relative indications. Endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic submucosal dissection are the main treatment modalities nowadays. After endoscopic resection, curability is evaluated histologically as endoscopic curability (eCura) A, B, and C (C-1 and C-2). Recent evidence suggests that the outcomes of endoscopic resection for many EGCs are comparable to those of gastrectomy and that endoscopic resection is the gold standard for node-negative early gastric cancers. Personalized medicine is also being developed to overcome the unmet needs in treatments of EGC, for example the further expansion of indications and newer resection techniques, such as full-thickness resection. Full article