Disturbing Elements Research Articles

Patch dynamics of <i>Euphorbia adenochlora</i> and relationship between patch area of <i>E. adenochlora</i> and disturbance elements in the Honme River.

Patch dynamics of <i>Euphorbia adenochlora</i> and relationship between patch area of <i>E. adenochlora</i> and disturbance elements in the Honme River.

Students� Analytical Thinking in Solving Problems of Polygon Areas

Elementary students� understanding of polygon areas concept is important in succeeding in their academic and daily life because the concept is broadly applied at schools and homes. Hence, a comprehensive understanding of the concept is required. The understanding can be seen from students� analytical thinking in facing a complicated problem. If a student does analytical thinking, the student can create a link between the concepts and predict what will happen. In fact, students frequently use procedural thinking to solve almost any type of problem, including non-routine problems. A study to reveal this phenomenon is thus important to conduct. This study aimed to describe students� analytical thinking in solving the polygon areas problems. To know the students� analytical thinking, the researcher gave problems toa team of mathematics Olympiad of elementary school students. Based on students� analytical answers, the researcher found (1) analytical and (2) semi-analytical thinking. Analytical thinking was characterized by algorithm clarity, chronological reasoning, valid argumentation, and effective steps. Semi-analytical thinking was characterized by a presence of �disturbing elements� which broke the chain of implications. The result of the study can be teachers� consideration in selecting teaching methods tailored to the students� thinking possibilities so that knowledge and learning experiences are well internalized.

Substantiation of environmental and resource-saving technologies for void filling under underground ore mining

The object of research is the technology and technical means to clear the voids during the underground mining of ores in the disturbed arrays. One of the most problematic places is the filling of man-made voids that affect the occurrence and redistribution of the stress-strain state (SSS) of the rock mass. Their existence in the earth's crust provokes disturbance of the daily surface, as well as the influence of geomechanical and seismic phenomena, up to the level of earthquakes.Analytical researches, comparative analysis of theoretical and practical results by standard and new methods with the participation of the authors are performed. The peculiarities of the manifestation of mountain pressure in the rock massifs of a complex structure are considered, due to the intensity of the fracture structures (acoustic stiffness from 0.11 to 0.18 MPa/s, impact coefficient – 0.98). The conditions of manifestation of residual bearing capacity of disturbed rocks and translation of geomaterials into the volume compression mode were investigated (in the zone of disturbed rocks the attenuation coefficient decreases to 0.04–0.15 from the initial value of 0.25–0.35). The basic estimation of durability of workings and inhomogeneous rocks with a strength of 50–150 MPa at depths up to 600 m is shown, depending on the position of workings with respect to the elements of structural disturbance and the possibility of creating reliable structures. Conclusions have been made about the efficiency of the use of load-bearing structures from rocks of greater than 0.2 m in size and mechanical strength of more than 50 MPa, which allows to expose the roof without collapsing at spans of up to 50 m. the bearing layer of the rocks produced space can be filled by insulation or a hardener with a strength of up to 1.2 MPa. The research results can be used in the underground development of ore deposits of complex structure of Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan and other developed mining countries of the world.

Robust Active Mirror Control Based on Hybrid Sensing for Spacecraft Line-of-Sight Stabilization

Modern space-observation missions demand stringent pointing requirements that motivated a significant amount of research on the topic of microvibration isolation and line-of-sight stabilization systems. While disturbances can be reduced by mounting some of the noisy equipment on various isolation platforms, residual vibrations can still propagate through and be amplified by the flexible structure of the spacecraft. In order to alleviate these issues, the line of sight must also be actively controlled at the payload level. However, such systems typically have to rely solely on low-frequency sensors based on image processing algorithms. The goal of this article is to present a model-based control methodology that can increase the bandwidth of such systems by making use of additional rate sensors mounted on the main disturbance elements impacting the optical path. Following a comprehensive model identification and uncertainty quantification part, the robust control strategy is designed to account for plant uncertainty and provide formal worst case performance guarantees. Excellent agreement between theoretical prediction and experimental results are obtained on a test bench developed at the European Space Agency.

Dynamics of Territorial Occupation by North American Beavers in Canadian Boreal Forests: A Novel Dendroecological Approach

Research Highlights: Our study highlights a new, simple, and effective method for studying the habitat use by beavers in Canadian boreal forests. Information regarding the presence of beaver colonies and their habitat occupation is essential for proper forest management and damage prevention in the boreal forest. Background and Objectives: The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a major element of natural disturbance, altering the dynamics and structure of boreal forest landscapes. Beaver-related activities also affect human infrastructure, cause floods, and lead to important monetary losses for forestry industries. Our study aimed to determine the spatiotemporal patterns of beaver occupation of lodges over time. Materials and Methods: Using a dendroecological approach to date browsing activity, we studied the occupation of two lodges per water body for eight water bodies located in the boreal forest of Québec, Canada. Results: Three sites showed alternating patterns of lodge use (occupation) over time, three sites (37.5%) demonstrated no alternating patterns of use, and two sites (25%) presented unclear patterns of lodge use. Conclusions: Alternating patterns of lodge use can be linked to food depletion and the need to regenerate vegetation around lodges, while non-alternating patterns may be related to fluctuations in water levels, the specific shrub and tree species surrounding the lodges, the size of the beaver territory, and the number of lodges present on a water body.

Patient Perception of Musculoskeletal MR: A Survey Research.

When undergoing magnetic resonance (MR) exams, patients need to lie still in a noisy and enclosed environment for a long time. This condition, together with the anxiety burden related to the possible implications of the scan results, can entail a diagnostic outcome of poor quality. The aim of the study was to evaluate the personal perception and experience of adult patients undergoing unenhanced musculoskeletal MR. Consecutive outpatients undergoing unenhanced MR of spine, knee or shoulder were asked to respond to a 10-item questionnaire at the end of the exam. 263 patients (54% males, mean age 50.6 ±15.8 years, range 18-83 years) completed the questionnaire. Patients declared that the most disturbing elements of the exam were forced immobility and noise (30% in both cases). Females perceived significantly higher degree of anxiety than males (56% vs. 21%, p<0.001). Exam duration was correctly perceived by 83% of the population. Patients' satisfaction was generally high (mean above 9 over 10). Explanations and clarifications given before the exam were considered satisfactory by the patients. Despite some negative aspects such as noise, immobility and anxiety especially in females, patients' satisfaction with our service was high, as well as the willingness to return.

“Down Where the South Begins”: Black Richmond Activism before the Modern Civil Rights Movement, 1899–1930

“Down Where the South Begins”: Black Richmond Activism before the Modern Civil Rights Movement, 1899–1930

Stress and Stroke: Psychological Approach Patients in Middle Hospitalier

Introduction: Human beings are confronted with several trying situations that generate stress. Psychopathological manifestations such as anxiety, anxiety, depression, appear as an imbalance in the personality of individuals. Stroke and its increasing frequency in terms of death but especially morbidity has become one of the leading sources of disability in the world. Its appearance is medically described as caused by vascular risk factors. Our goal was to study the impact of stress on the onset and worsening of a stroke. Methodology: This was the clinical method, the aim of which was to identify any stressful event in the patient’s life and its psychological consequences in order to establish a link between the impact of stress and the stroke; of the semi-directive clinical interview in order to leave the subject a great possibility of expression on the themes associated with our objective then the inferential descriptive method for the evaluation of psychological factors using several scales including The CISS and the STAI. The inclusion criteria were the existence of a stroke, and the existence of a good state of cognitive functions. Results: In our summary analysis, it appears that the stroke would result from chronic stress objectively detected by coping from the CISS and the STAI. The most stressful events on the Holmes and Rahe Scale were; on the family level: the death of a loved one, the illness of a loved one, incessant arguments, family tensions, family violence. On a personal level: illness, sentimental disappointment, abandonment; alcohol, drugs; and finally on the professional level, dismissal and professional conflict. Conclusion: Stress is a psychological factor that increases the occurrence of a stroke, but also constitutes a determining disturbing element in patients with one or more vascular risk factors.

Impact of Marine Ecosystem Disturbances on Sources of Income in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This research investigated the impact of marine ecosystem disturbances on the sources of income of the people in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The main objective was to determine the influence of environmental disturbances on the sources of income of people in the oil producing coastal areas of Ibeno. The study took a period of two years and involved collection of water samples from twelve locations in six coastal communities in Ibeno for laboratory analysis, and administration of 410 questionnaires out of which 400 were used to extract data on sources of income (occupation) and environmental disturbances. Multiple regression analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed to determine the relationship between sources of income (Y) and environmental disturbances (Xs). In the final analysis, the water physiochemical property test shows a relatively normal nutrients loading in the area but act in synergy with others in impacting on the environment. Seven elements of environmental disturbances were identified; erosion, acid-rain, deforestation, tidal actions, oil pollution, coastal flooding and rise in sea level. The study equally revealed that fishing was the major source of income of the coastal people and was mostly affected. In the regression analysis, the environmental disturbances and the sources of income (occupation) relate significantly at 0.5% probability test. The study concluded that the synergic effect of acid-rain due to oil activities, run-off sediments deposited in the river, direct and accidental discharge of crude into the river, coastal flooding/tidal actions that spread the pollutants along the coast and mangrove removal, destroyed fishes, reduced catch and cause serious decline in the income base of the people in Ibeno. Thus, it is important to promote environmental protection, conservation and sustainable harvesting to remedy the situation.

Compact Steam-Methane Reforming for the Production of Hydrogen in Continuous Flow Microreactor Systems

The implementation of fuel cell deployment requires efficient conversion of fuels into hydrogen in a distributed energy system. Fortunately, continuous flow and microreactor technology provide unique opportunities for the portable production of hydrogen. This study focuses on determining the operation space for a thermally integrated methane reforming system, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of such systems. The steam-methane reforming over rhodium coupled with methane combustion over platinum in a thermally integrated microchannel reactor arranged with rectangular-shaped protuberances was studied numerically in order to improve its operability and stability. Computational fluid dynamic simulations were carried out with detailed reaction mechanisms to identify conditions for the maximum hydrogen yield and the highest output power. Various operating lines were presented, and various performance metrics were evaluated accordingly. The results indicated that the efficient production of hydrogen is made possible through improving transport performance for highly active catalysts. The flow disturbance elements designed for the reactor are of great benefit to intensification of the reforming process. There exists a trade-off between fuel utilization and output power. Autothermal operation advantages from improved transport performance in small physical dimensions were demonstrated for the system, but careful thermal management is always necessary to ensure its efficient and stable operation. The thermal conductivity of the wall separating the exothermic and endothermic reactions plays a significant role in determining the performance of the system. Highly active catalysts are required to intensify the overall reforming process and to achieve efficient thermal management. Adjustment of fluid velocities can serve as a convenient means to achieve efficient operation of the system.

Weeds Among the Wheat: The Impurity of the Church Between Tolerance, Solace, and Guilt Denial

Weeds Among the Wheat: The Impurity of the Church Between Tolerance, Solace, and Guilt Denial Meinolf Schumacher Pope Benedict and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church During his visit to Germany in September 2011, then pope Benedict XVI met with victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and was expected to address this subject publicly. He did so only indirectly in a sermon in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, speaking in a soft voice about the “painful experience that there are good and bad fish, wheat and weeds in the Church.”1 Almost eight years later, the pope, meanwhile retired, returns to these metaphors in a comprehensive article entitled “The Church and the Scandal of Sexual Abuse”: Jesus Himself compared the Church to a fishing net in which good and bad fish are ultimately separated by God Himself. There is also the parable of the Church as a field on which the good grain that God Himself has sown grows, but also the weeds that “an enemy” secretly sown onto it. Indeed, the weeds in God's field, the Church, are excessively visible, and the evil fish in the net also show their strength. Nevertheless, the field is still God's field and the net is God's fishing net. And at all times, there are not only the weeds and the evil fish, but also the crops of God and the good fish. To proclaim both with emphasis is not a false form of apologetics, but a necessary service to the Truth.2 For Benedict, the situation of the Church has evidently gotten so dire that one must be grateful to still find some good fish in the net and to spot some kernels of grain amidst all the weeds! The disturbing element in this article is not so much what the media focused on, namely Benedict's assessment of sexual revolution in the West since the 1960s or the crisis of twentieth‐century Catholic moral theology; it is doubtful that these trends contributed to sexual abuse in the Church. What is upsetting is the fact that the pope emeritus does not question the leniency of Church authorities and its exceeding forbearance, for which he himself bears responsibility, a failure that accrued grave guilt. From a secular external vantage point, the Catholic Church appears as little more than a secret society of celibate men whose first priority consists of the protection of their members from legal prosecution of most depraved crimes and whose arcane clerical disciplines prevent any information sharing with the public. But this fails to fully explain the silence of so many bishops and priests as well as of laypersons holding church offices when questioned by state prosecutors. It is not sympathy with the perpetrators, although that complicity is less astonishing in those cases where bishops or cardinals themselves acted as sexual predators. There are other reasons, why church leaders failed to intervene energetically although they condemned and suffered the consequences of these offenses. It remains baffling why a pope who evidently feels ashamed cannot come to a consciousness of guilt, recognize and confess it, in order to make it “productive” for the victims as well as the future of the Church.3 In the following, I will argue that it is, among others, the suggestive power of certain Biblical metaphors that restrain the response by Benedict and others. Corpus Permixtum: pure and impure in the Church Since its beginnings, Christianity had to deal with the fact that many of its followers and functionaries did not live up to the high ethical demands, which they themselves proclaimed on the basis of the Gospels. Early on, one had to decide what should be done about “impurity” in local congregations and the Church at large, when brotherly admonitions and ecclesial penalties failed to stop minor trespasses and even serious infractions.4 In principle, there are several possibilities: First, one can deny the existence of evil in oneself and one's group and pretend that everything is fine. This leads to duplicity and hypocrisy. The second possibility calls for violent suppression of evil in one's own ranks—which gave rise to religious terror as soon as church and state linked...

A computational study on aging effect for facial expression recognition

This work uses newly introduced variations of the sparse representation-based classifier (SRC) to challenge the issue of automatic facial expression recognition (FER) with faces belonging to a wide span of ages. Since facial expression is one of the most powerful and immediate ways to disclose individuals? emotions and intentions, the study of emotional traits is an active research topic both in psychology and in engineering fields. To date, automatic FER systems work well with frontal and clean faces, but disturbance factors can dramatically decrease their performance. Aging is a critical disruption element, which is present in any real-world situation and which can finally be considered thanks to the recent introduction of new databases storing expressions over a lifespan. This study addresses the FER with aging challenge using sparse coding (SC) that represents the input signal as the linear combination of the columns of a dictionary. Dictionary learning (DL) is a subfield of SC that aims to learn from the training samples the best space capable of representing the query image. Focusing on one of the main challenges of SC, this work compares the performance of recently introduced DL algorithms. We run both a mixed-age experiment, where all faces are mixed, and a within-age experiment, where faces of young, middle-aged, and old actors are processed independently. We first work with the entire face and then we improve our initial performance using only discriminative patches of the face. Experimental results provide a fair comparison between the two recently developed DL techniques. Finally, the same algorithms are also tested on a database of expressive faces without the aging disturbance element, so as to evaluate DL algorithms' performance strictly on FER

Financial Accelerator with Asset Bubbles

This paper introduces a new disturbing element, the bubble asset, into the basic financial accelerator model by Bernanke et al. (1999). Through a contract between an entrepreneur and a financial intermediary, the optimal leverage ratio becomes an increasing function of bubble surviving probability. Decline in a bubble asset's surviving probability shock affects an entrepreneur's optimal leverage ratio through the following two channels: depriving low productivity firms of a profit opportunity from bubble asset investment and pushing up the financial intermediaries' cost associated with bubble bust, leading to an increased external finance premium. Both channels result in a deterioration in entrepreneurial net worth, causing persistent and strong investment declines in the economy. Furthermore, simulation results show that an economy with higher bubble surviving probability at the steady state suffers from prolonged and severe stagnation from a bubble burst shock due to entrepreneurs' high deleverage and persistent net-worth deterioration.

Understanding Homophobia in Our Forefathers: Rethinking How Kohut Actually Worked

Jule Miller’s (1985) article entitled “How Kohut Actually Worked,” remains a valuable window into Kohut’s clinical perspective toward the end of his life. However, one disturbing element to the article is Kohut and Miller’s homophobic and heterosexist approach to the homosexual material as described by the patient in the patient’s experience of self. Understanding Kohut’s perspective on homosexuality is a complex undertaking, complicated by the intersection of the context of the times in which he lived, his experience of homosexuality in his personal life, and his theoretical positions. The purpose of this article is threefold: (a) to highlight the clinical principles that exemplified Kohut’s way of thinking toward the end of his life, as communicated by Jule Miller, and to apply these same principles in a way that broadens exploration of the clinical material; (b) to maintain the relevance of Miller’s article in the self psychology canon by offering a corrective for the damaging nature of the homophobic and heterosexist aspects of the article; and (c) to combat psychoanalysis’s historic antipathy toward gay people in an effort to make psychoanalysis accessible and appealing to people of diverse sexual identity. The author suggests three intricately entwined factors contributed to Kohut and Miller’s perspectives on the patient’s homosexual fantasy and desire: the period in which the supervision occurred, a conjunction in the supervision, and Kohut and Miller’s personal reactions to the patient’s homosexual desires and behavior.

Production and Perception of Classroom Disturbances

Classroom disturbances impair the quality of teaching and learning, and they can be a source of strain for both teachers and students. Some studies indicate, however, that not everyone involved gets equally disturbed by the same occurrences. Altogether, there is still little solid knowledge about the teachers’ and the students’ subjective perception of disturbance. Moreover, rater effects may have confounded the findings available. Addressing these desiderata, the X study investigates two elements of classroom disturbances within an interactionist framework: the incidence of deviant behaviour shown by particular target students, and the intensity of disturbance as subjectively perceived by teachers, by classmates, and by the targets themselves. For this purpose, we conducted a questionnaire survey among 85 primary-school class teachers and 1412 students. The data were analysed by means of a two-level correlated trait – correlated method minus one [CT-C(M-1)] model. This relatively novel statistical procedure has only rarely been applied in educational research so far. It made it possible to determine the respondents’ common view on classroom disturbances as well as the rater-specific perspectives. The results indicate that increasing deviance coincides with increasing distraction and annoyance – but mainly in a relatively small intersection of the different perspectives. Beyond that, the analysis revealed substantial rater effects which explain 30 to 61% of variance in teacher ratings, for instance. The author discusses likely reasons why disturbances are perceived so divergently.

Modernism in Migration – Editorial

Today, a majority of many populations worldwide view migration negatively.[1] In times of increasing xenophobia, with Europe’s walls-up policy and a steadily growing amount of border walls (three times as many as during the Cold War), migration is regarded as a disturbing element in society.[2] Politics mainly focuses on stemming migration flows, often with cruel consequences. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, migration denotes the movement of a person, group, or people from one locality or country to another, often for the purpose of settlement.[3] Such a relocation can be permanent, temporary, or seasonal. More specific terms are used in migration research, such as exile, diaspora, and transmigration.[4] Exile and diaspora refer to the experience of persecution and forced emigration from a home country. Exile, unlike diaspora (e.g., Jewish or African), tends to be considered an individual and temporary experience. However, the distinction between these terms can be provisional; exile can become diaspora over time, if the desired return to the homeland fails to materialize. The term transmigration is applied to migrants who maintain relationships between their country of origin and country of residence. Unlike immigrants, transnational or transregional migrants do not leave their homeland behind; their sense of belonging is not limited to one place.[5] Certainly these distinctions tend to be imprecise, and must be determined with regard to particular cases.

Effect of Cylindrical Turbulators on the Mixing Process in Basic Venturi Gas Mixer Using OpenFOAM

This study was devoted to improving the mixing quality in a Venturi gas mixer. It is well known that the performance of industrial gas engines strongly depends on the quality of air and fuel mixture and therefore on its homogeneity. Incorrect mixture proportions may lead to unstable operation of the entire industrial gas engine and excessive emissions exceeding environmental standards of the European Union. The effectiveness of the mixing process in a Venturi gas mixer depends on many factors, i.e. correct proportions between Air inlet, Venturi Throat diameter, as well as gas inlet area. To improve the intensification of the whole mixing process, as well as to increase the mixing time between gas and air, it was decided to insert disturbing elements in form of cylindrical turbulators into the Venturi pipe. Therefore numerical calculations were performed for the most commonly consumed by industrial gas engines lean Air-Fuel mixture, with an air excess coefficient ratio of λ = 1.6. In numerical analysis, OpenFOAM software was used to investigate the impact of cylindrical turbulators on the whole mixing process in a basic Venturi gas mixer. Particular attention was focused on the Air-Fuel Ratio (AFR) changes, Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) and Pressure loss [Pa], which is one of the most qualitative evaluation parameters of a gas mixer.

Control of dynamic and thermal characteristics of a separated flow behind a step under the effect of positive pressure gradient

Heat transfer in the channel behind a back-facing step with organized perturbation in the form of a rib was experimentally investigated. The separated flow developed in the positive pressure gradient at Re = 12,000. The influence of location and height of a single rib on pressure distribution and intensification of heat transfer behind the back-facing step was studied. It is shown that installation of a single rib increases heat transfer behind the back-facing step in the positive pressure gradient. The positive pressure gradient leads to a decrease in heat transfer behind a step both with a presence of additional disturbing elements and without them.

Loss of foundation species: disturbance frequency outweighs severity in structuring kelp forest communities.

Disturbances often cause the disproportionate loss of foundation species but understanding how the frequency and severity of disturbance to such organisms influence biological communities remains unresolved. This gap in knowledge exists in part because of the rarity of ecologically meaningful studies capable of disentangling different elements of disturbance. Hence, we carried out a long-term (9yr), large-scale (2,000m2 plots), spatially replicated (4 sites) field experiment in which we manipulated disturbance to a globally distributed marine foundation species, the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera, and tracked community responses over time. To distinguish the effects of disturbance frequency and severity on the biodiversity and composition of temperate rocky reef communities, we simulated the repeated loss of giant kelp from destructive winter waves across a background of natural variation in disturbance. By following the response of over 200 taxa from the surrounding community, we discovered that the frequency of disturbance to giant kelp changed the biomass, diversity, and composition of community guilds in a manner commensurate with their dependence on the physical (i.e., benthic light and space), trophic (i.e., living and detrital biomass), and habitat (i.e., biogenic structure) resources mediated by this foundation species. Annual winter disturbance to giant kelp reduced living and detrital giant kelp biomass by 57% and 40%, respectively, enhanced bottom light by 22%, and halved the seafloor area covered by giant kelp holdfasts. Concomitantly, the biomass of understory algae and epilithic sessile invertebrates more than doubled, while the biomass of rock-boring clams, mobile invertebrates, and fishes decreased 30-61%. Frequent loss of giant kelp boosted understory algal richness by 82% and lowered sessile invertebrate richness by 13% but did not affect the biodiversity of mobile fauna. In contrast to changes driven by disturbance frequency, interannual variation in the severity of disturbance to giant kelp had weaker, less consistent effects, causing only modest changes in assemblages of sessile invertebrates, mobile invertebrate herbivores, and fishes. Our results broaden the foundation species concept by demonstrating that repeated disturbance to a dominant habitat-forming species can outweigh the influence of less frequent but severe disturbances for the surrounding community.

Creep properties of geopolymer cemented coal gangue-fly ash backfill under dynamic disturbance

A testing machine was developed to test the creep disturbance effect and explore the creep disturbance law of geopolymer cemented coal gangue-fly ash backfill (GCGFB). A creep disturbance constitutive model of GCGFB was established by introducing a disturbance element that connects an improved fractional Burger’s model and nonlinear viscous dashpot with a strain trigger. Experimental results indicated that dynamic disturbances significantly influence the creep process of GCGFB. Increasing the disturbance impact energy increases the deformation and shortens the time to reach the failure strain. The disturbance deformation generated by GCGFB is negatively correlated with the static load stress at a low disturbance energy and positively correlated at a high disturbance energy. The calculated results of the disturbance constitutive model showed good agreement with the experimental data.