Fundamental Areas Research Articles

Democratic Deficit in Islamic Countries

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) identified in 2002 three fundamental areas of human devel-opment in which the Arab world lags behind the rest of the world. One of those specified areas was the lack offreedom and democracy. To investigate the presence of the democratic deficit, the study introduces a compositedemocracy index that measures and compares countries’ performances in the democratic domains. This paperaims to define and describe the democratic deficit in the context of the Islamic world, verify its existence inthe Arab world, and determine its possible presence in other Muslim countries in various world regions. Thestudy results showed that although the deficit was formulated almost twenty years ago, it is still relevant. Ithas been observed that Muslim countries performed, on average, worse on the index score than non-Muslimcountries, which means that the Islamic countries face the democratic deficit. Moreover, the results showedthat the performance of the Arab world in the democratic index is even worse than that of the other Muslimcountries. The analysis additionally confirmed that theeconomic factor is important in verification of the deficitand its depth. On the level of individual countries, poor Muslim states often achieved the worst results, usuallyfrom the group of the least developed countries, such as Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, or Eritrea.

Importancia de las competencias digitales en los alumnos de nivel medio superior

Digital skills are of great importance in the development of individuals to face the technological challenges that arise every day. With the confinement of students in their homes due to the emergence of COVID-19, is important the need to apply the digital skills of both students and teachers, to continue the educational process. There are five fundamental areas of digital competences according to the European Framework of Digital Competences, developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), which include 21 competencies that individuals must develop with respect to the use of information and communication technologies (Tics). A questionnaire was applied to high school students from the Escuela de Bachilleres Diurna de Pánuco, Veracruz, to identify the level of digital skills that students have, which would allow support in the development of their online classes. This article describes the results of the instrument applied in each of the areas where digital skills are classified.

CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICANS AND UKRAINIANS

This article considers cross-cultural communication between Americans and Ukrainians. Its purpose is to stress how Americans and Ukrainians think and express their thoughts, how they act interpersonally, and how they follow the many hidden rules that govern conduct. In today’s world, it is both valuable and necessary to be aware of intercultural differences. Cross-cultural communication refers to the communication between people who have different cultural backgrounds. Misunderstandings and problems between them primarily occur because they assume that what is natural, appropriate, and acceptable for them must be natural, appropriate, and acceptable to others. Different cultural assumptions may underlie different views on what is “polite” or “rude.” The authors draw attention to the most apparent and fundamental areas of cultural understanding breakdowns, which exist at the everyday level of life between native speakers of American English and Ukrainian. They point out that it is not enough to learn the language’s vocabulary and grammar to understand and be understood by native speakers. The mentality and world view of native speakers is crucial in choosing to use a particular word and the cultural context. The article covers the most basic discourse areas where breakdowns often occur in intercultural communication. They are: addressing people, meeting someone new, meeting and parting etiquette, and receiving guests.

ForestGEO: Understanding forest diversity and dynamics through a global observatory network

ForestGEO is a network of scientists and long-term forest dynamics plots (FDPs) spanning the Earth's major forest types. ForestGEO's mission is to advance understanding of the diversity and dynamics of forests and to strengthen global capacity for forest science research. ForestGEO is unique among forest plot networks in its large-scale plot dimensions, censusing of all stems ≥1 cm in diameter, inclusion of tropical, temperate and boreal forests, and investigation of additional biotic (e.g., arthropods) and abiotic (e.g., soils) drivers, which together provide a holistic view of forest functioning. The 71 FDPs in 27 countries include approximately 7.33 million living trees and about 12,000 species, representing 20% of the world's known tree diversity. With >1300 published papers, ForestGEO researchers have made significant contributions in two fundamental areas: species coexistence and diversity, and ecosystem functioning. Specifically, defining the major biotic and abiotic controls on the distribution and coexistence of species and functional types and on variation in species' demography has led to improved understanding of how the multiple dimensions of forest diversity are structured across space and time and how this diversity relates to the processes controlling the role of forests in the Earth system. Nevertheless, knowledge gaps remain that impede our ability to predict how forest diversity and function will respond to climate change and other stressors. Meeting these global research challenges requires major advances in standardizing taxonomy of tropical species, resolving the main drivers of forest dynamics, and integrating plot-based ground and remote sensing observations to scale up estimates of forest diversity and function, coupled with improved predictive models. However, they cannot be met without greater financial commitment to sustain the long-term research of ForestGEO and other forest plot networks, greatly expanded scientific capacity across the world's forested nations, and increased collaboration and integration among research networks and disciplines addressing forest science.

In Memory of Professor Wilfred Iwan

Wilfred D (Bill) Iwan, professor of Civil Engineering, emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology, passed away on 29 October 2020, at the age of 85 years, in Pasadena, California. Iwan received his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees from Caltech, in 1957, 1958, and 1961, respectively. He did his dissertation work under Prof. Donald Hudson. In 1961, he and his wife and young son, moved to the newly opened United States Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, where he taught engineering. By the time he left the service he had been trained as a flight pilot and had attained the rank of captain. In 1964, Bill returned to Caltech as an Associate Professor, and settled with his growing family in Sierra Madre, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1970, he became a tenured full professor at Caltech, and focused his research on seismic structural engineering. During his 40 years at Caltech, Iwan served as the Executive Officer for Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science from 1980–86 and became professor emeritus in 2004. Iwan's research focused on fundamental areas of mechanics, including work to understand and characterize strong earthquake ground motion and the analysis and monitoring of the response of structural systems subjected to extreme events; he also was involved in the development of public policy regarding natural disasters. His research achievements include the development of methods to represent complex nonlinear structures with simpler linear systems, the development of practical methods for earthquake-resistant design, and the development of simplified methods for the analysis of seismic isolation systems for critical equipment. In 1979, he proposed an earthquake early-warning system for urban regions. Iwan was very active in many national and international organizations, notable among them the International Association for Structural Control and Monitoring (IASCM), the Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Consortium of Organizations for Strong Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS), in each of which he held leadership positions and served for many years. In 1982 he was appointed by then-Governor Jerry Brown to serve on the California State Seismic Safety Commission, which recommends seismic standards and guidelines for earthquake safety in California. He was re-appointed to the Commission by Governor George Deukmejian, and again by Governor Pete Wilson, during which time he became the chairman of the Commission. Iwan was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1999 “for research on seismic performance of structures, and for leadership in earthquake hazard mitigation and improvement of public safety.” He was a Distinguished Member and Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which awarded him the Nathan M. Newmark Medal (1997), the William H. Wisely Award (2006), and the Theodore von Kármán Medal (2013). In 2002, the California Earthquake Safety Foundation awarded him the 2002 Alfred E. Alquist Medal “for his lifetime of service to the profession of structural engineering and its application to the safety of the people of California and the world.”

SAC-NMF-Driven Graphical Feature Analysis and Applications

Feature analysis is a fundamental research area in computer graphics; meanwhile, meaningful and part-aware feature bases are always demanding. This paper proposes a framework for conducting feature analysis on a three-dimensional (3D) model by introducing modified Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) model into the graphical feature space and push forward further applications. By analyzing and utilizing the intrinsic ideas behind NMF, we propose conducting the factorization on feature matrices constructed based on descriptors or graphs, which provides a simple but effective way to raise compressed and scale-aware descriptors. In order to enable part-aware model analysis, we modify the NMF model to be sparse and constrained regarding to both bases and encodings, which gives rise to Sparse and Constrained Non-negative Matrix Factorization (SAC-NMF). Subsequently, by adapting the analytical components (including hidden variables, bases, and encodings) to design descriptors, several applications have been easily but effectively realized. The extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework has many attractive advantages, such as being efficient, extendable, and so forth.

Some Aspects of Anthropotechnical Safety Management Concept

The basic model of management and planning strategy is the triad: “goals and objectives” - “conceptual programs, courses of action and sets of rules for decision-making” - “resources”. The strategy is also considered as the unity of five components (“pentad”): plan; sample, model, template; positioning; perspective; “trick”, i.e. a distracting manoeuvre. There are different manners of developing strategies and concepts: upon the fact of a pathogenically detected and already occurred problematic emergency; as a result of predicting the possibility of an emergency before its occurrence and with a desire to guarantee the anthropotechnical safety of functioning and the quality of life of a person, social groups and society as a whole. The destabilizing factors that arise in investment construction projects during the construction phase are of particular importance. The questionnaire-based survey of experts is used to determine these factors, their impact on the ultimate goals of the project that construction participants may encounter when implementing investment construction projects. Distribution of destabilizing factors by type, classification, and spreading them among a number of local public and private enterprises working in the construction sector is one of the important areas of anthropotechnical safety. Actions and resources, which seem safe at the moment, can cause emergencies and consequences in their unpredictable combinations. The study of this problem is an urgent task of the near future and one of the fundamental areas of anthropotechnics.

Monopol patentowy na produkty lecznicze

Discussions concerning patenting of pharmaceutical products require a particularly careful selection of postulates as they affect the fundamental area of human functioning — the issue of health and life. Both supporters of maintaining exclusive rights and their adversaries, therefore, reach for arguments that justify the validity of their position. These arguments are very diverse, but both sides of the ongoing debate mention primarily those of an economic and legal nature. The first of these are related to emphasizing the amount of necessary financial effort and the need to motivate entities to undertake research. Postulates of the second type point to the possibility of applying exceptions to generally applicable regulations. The purpose of the publication is to picture arguments of one of the parties — those that sanction the maintenance of existing solutions within the scope of exclusive rights for pharmaceutical products. The research method is a critical analysis of the source literature in the fields of economics and law as well as jurisprudence study of cases. The conclusions point to the need for further, compatible problem-taking, both on the literature level and through specific solutions of jurisprudence practice, without which a consensus seems impossible.

Formulation of Ice Resistance in Level Ice Using Double-Plates Superposition

The estimation of ship resistance in ice is a fundamental area of research and poses a substantial challenge for the design and safe use of ships in ice-covered waters. In order to estimate the ice resistance with greater reliability, we develop in this paper an improved Lindqvist formulation for the estimation of bending resistance in level ice based on the superposition of double-plates. In the developed method, an approximate model of an ice sheet is firstly presented by idealizing ice sheeta as the combination of a semi-infinite elastic plate and an infinite one resting on an elastic foundation. The Mohr–Coulomb criterion is then introduced to determine the ice sheet’s failure. Finally, an improved Lindqvist formulation for estimation of ice resistance is proposed. The accuracy of the developed formulation is validated using full-scale test data of the ship KV Svalbard in Norway, testing the model as well as the numerical method. The effect of ice thickness, stem angle and breadth of bow on ship resistance is further investigated by means of the developed formulation.

Mutual Recognition, Pre-emption and De-centralisation in the Common Agricultural Policy

The CAP is a fundamental policy area which has experienced profound changes since its establishment in the early years of EU integration – changes in nature, organization and power balance between the EU and national level. Within this policy area, the principle of mutual recognition is traditionally considered inapplicable. However, the increasing decentralisation of the CAP and subsequent regaining of regulatory powers by the Member States may pave the way for a more significant application of this principle. Mutual recognition also finds application in some sectoral legislation in the field. Thus, the objective of this contribution is to reflect on the role of the principle of mutual recognition in light of this evolution and, in doing so, highlighting the correlations between this principle, pre-emption and decentralisation in EU agri-food law.

The Concept of Filigree

There is some form of debate regarding what filigree is and what it is not. Due to this different opinions have been formed regarding the concept of filigree. This includes cast pieces and non-metallic craft also bearing the name filigree. This paper seeks to bring to light the wonder art, filigree in its true definition. It seeks to acknowledge what filigree is, how it is created, the fancy nature of it, its fascination and mind blowing flora. This research was basically contents analyses of filigree information from relevant literation as well as interviews and observation of local artisans in certain parts of Ghana. The data collection process sought after: the knowledge of filigree; how it is done; uses of filigree; filigree works from the doer’s perception, and materials employed for filigree. This resulted in a three fundamental areas regarding the filigree paradigm: the required Elementary forms; materials used; and the processes involved. The research also identifies artworks that are called filigree but lack some of the basic elements. In this regard, two main recommendations are made to guide the production and marketing of filigree to preserve the craft and the industry for posterity.

Oil/Water Interfacial Destabilization of Floated Oily Sludge Based on the Catalytic Decomposition of H2O2 Induced by Interfacial-Active Complexes

Oil–inorganic material interactions at the oil/water interface have been extensively investigated as a fundamental research area. However, less focus has been placed on the oil/water interfacial pr...

Establishing existence and uniqueness of solutions to the boundary value problem involving a generalized Emden equation, embracing Thomas–Fermi-like theories

The purpose of this article is to construct a firm mathematical foundation for the boundary value problem associated with a generalized Emden equation that embraces Thomas–Fermi-like theories. Boundary value problems for the relativistic and non-relativistic Thomas–Fermi equations are included as special cases. Questions of existence and uniqueness of solutions to these boundary value problems form a fundamental and important area of investigation regarding whether these mathematical models for physical phenomena are actually well-posed. However, these questions have remained open for the generalized Emden problem and the relativistic Thomas–Fermi problem. Herein we advance current understanding of existence and uniqueness of solutions by proving that these boundary value problems each admit a unique solution. Our methods involve an analysis of the problems through arguments that apply differential inequalities and fixed-point theory. The new results guarantee the existence of a unique solution, ensuring the generalized Emden equation that embraces Thomas–Fermi theory sits on a firm mathematical foundation.

Knowledge about human visceral leishmaniosis in an endemic area in Pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract The timely detection and adequate attention of cases of Human Visceral Leishmaniasis can provide a reduction in the morbidity and mortality of this disease. This study evaluated the degree of knowledge about Human Visceral Leishmaniasis among professionals from basic health units in the municipality of Caruaru, an endemic area for Visceral Leishmaniasis in the state of Pernambuco-Brazil. From June to August 2017, questionnaires were applied to doctors and nurses of the units that presented cases and / or deaths due to LVH between the years 2006 and 2015. Regarding the results, it was possible to verify, from the analysis of multiple correspondence, important interdependence relations such as the lack of knowledge of the endemicity of the Municipality in question with the misinformation about treatment, in addition to the association between not knowing the etiologic agent of the disease and the lack of knowledge about the treatment and the municipal health unit, suggesting an impediment to the control of LVH. The results also demonstrated a general lack of knowledge regarding the etiological, epidemiological, assistance and surveillance aspects of this condition in the city and the need to train these professionals on the subject, considering that knowledge about visceral leishmaniasis is considered a protective factor and capable to reduce the risk of this disease occurring. Therefore, we emphasize the need to maintain, review and restructure the control and prevention measures already known and implemented. However, it is necessary to strengthen a valuable and fundamental area in the fight against the disease, that of health education, focusing mainly on primary care professionals, who are still the main source of welcome for sick individuals. These are fundamental to reduce the morbidity and mortality of human VL, as a link in the transmission chain, but also as perpetuators of information about the disease in order to prevent it through attitudes. Key messages One of the main impacts of this work is the applicability and utility in health services in Brazil and other countries that face neglected diseases such as visceral leishmaniasis. Another great contribution of this work is to demonstrate, in a practical example, how education is fundamental in prevention and health promotion strategies.

Hierarchical Multi-Label Object Detection Framework for Remote Sensing Images

Detecting objects such as aircraft and ships is a fundamental research area in remote sensing analytics. Owing to the prosperity and development of CNNs, many previous methodologies have been proposed for object detection within remote sensing images. Despite the advance, using the object detection datasets with a more complex structure, i.e., datasets with hierarchically multi-labeled objects, is limited to the existing detection models. Especially in remote sensing images, since objects are obtained from bird’s-eye view, the objects are captured with restricted visual features and not always guaranteed to be labeled up to fine categories. We propose a hierarchical multi-label object detection framework applicable to hierarchically partial-annotated datasets. In the framework, an object detection pipeline called Decoupled Hierarchical Classification Refinement (DHCR) fuses the results of two networks: (1) an object detection network with multiple classifiers, and (2) a hierarchical sibling classification network for supporting hierarchical multi-label classification. Our framework additionally introduces a region proposal method for efficient detection on vain areas of the remote sensing images, called clustering-guided cropping strategy. Thorough experiments validate the effectiveness of our framework on our own object detection datasets constructed with remote sensing images from WorldView-3 and SkySat satellites. Under our proposed framework, DHCR-based detections significantly improve the performance of respective baseline models and we achieve state-of-the-art results on the datasets.

Applications and challenges of thermoplasmonics.

Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of plasmonic nanoparticles as sources of heat remotely controlled by light, giving rise to the field of thermoplasmonics. The ability to release heat on the nanoscale has already impacted a broad range of research activities, from biomedicine to imaging and catalysis. Thermoplasmonics is now entering an important phase: some applications have engaged in an industrial stage, while others, originally full of promise, experience some difficulty in reaching their potential. Meanwhile, innovative fundamental areas of research are being developed. In this Review, we scrutinize the current research landscape in thermoplasmonics, with a specific focus on its applications and main challenges in many different fields of science, including nanomedicine, cell biology, photothermal and hot-electron chemistry, solar light harvesting, soft matter and nanofluidics.

Coinage-Metal-Based Cyclic Trinuclear Complexes with Metal-Metal Interactions: Theories to Experiments and Structures to Functions.

Among the d10 coinage metal complexes, cyclic trinuclear complexes (CTCs) or trinuclear metallocycles with intratrimer metal-metal interactions are fascinating and important metal-organic or organometallic π-acids/bases. Each CTC of characteristic planar or near-planar trimetal nine-membered rings consists of Au(I)/Ag(I)/Cu(I) cations that linearly coordinate with N and/or C atoms in ditopic anionic bridging ligands. Since the first discovery of Au(I) CTC in the 1970s, research of CTCs has involved several fundamental areas, including noncovalent and metallophilic interaction, excimer/exciplex, acid-base chemistry, metalloaromaticity, supramolecular assemblies, and host/guest chemistry. These allow CTCs to be embraced in a wide range of innovative potential applications that include chemical sensing, semiconducting, gas and liquid adsorption/separation, catalysis, full-color display, and solid-state lighting. This review aims to provide a historic and comprehensive summary on CTCs and their extension to higher nuclearity complexes and coordination polymers from the perspectives of synthesis, structure, theoretical insight, and potential applications.

The Regional Disability Index and Strengthening Resilience of Persons with Disabilities in the Anglophone Caribbean

In 2019, the University of the West Indies Centre for Disability Studies (UWICDS) released the results of the first Regional Disability Index (RDI). The RDI was developed with the primary aim to track and rank countries within the Caribbean in terms of their efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and by extension, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The RDI used a quantitative methodological framework employing a survey among government and non-governmental organizations catering to persons with disabilities in the Anglophone Caribbean to capture the data. In this paper, this researcher conducts an assessment of the major findings of the RDI in the context of building resilience among persons with disabilities in certain fundamental areas of Caribbean life. Findings relating to legislative protection, education, employment, public transportation, health care, and access to information are highlighted. The RDI, among other things, revealed that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the top country in the Anglophone Caribbean in terms of their efforts to implement programmes and policies for persons with disabilities. We compare and contrast the findings regionally to that which is taking place in the global landscape for persons with disabilities.

Urgent issues and prospects in reforming interrogation practices in the United States and Canada

The current article presents a series of commentaries on urgent issues and prospects in reforming interrogation practices in Canada and the United States. Researchers and practitioners, who have devoted much of their careers to the field of police and intelligence interrogations, were asked to provide their insights on an area of interrogation research that they believe requires immediate attention. The submitted independent commentaries covered a variety of topics – from police recruitment, interrogation training, use of proper interrogation practices, and the treatment of confession evidence in court. Common concerns from the contributions pertained to the lag between scientific knowledge on interrogations and the application of such knowledge in the justice system, and the glaring disparity between the treatment of similar issues in the interrogation context versus other criminal justice contexts. A primary intent of this collection of commentaries is to serve as a resource pointing researchers in the direction of the fundamental areas that require immediate consideration and encouraging them to simultaneously pursue solutions to the overarching concerns that emerged from this project.

Advanced Characterization Techniques for Identifying the Key Active Sites of Gas‐Involved Electrocatalysts

AbstractHighly efficient electrocatalysts play an integral part in developing renewable energy conversion and storage technologies. Despite considerable efforts devoted to synthesizing electrocatalysts with superior performance, the identification of active moieties and understanding of reaction mechanisms under practical conditions still remain elusive. Herein, the substantial progresses in unraveling the local electronic and atomic structure optimizations of nanocatalysts for gas‐involved electrocatalysis, disclosing real active sites, and clarifying their relationships with intrinsic activities by combining advanced characterization techniques with computational simulations are summarized. The continuous development of in situ and ex situ characterization tools, particularly at multi‐scale resolution, to monitor or even directly observe the active center structure is systematically discussed, which is divided into four main categories based on the type of active sites: atomically dispersed active sites, vacancies, heteroatom doping sites, and edge sites. Current challenges and perspectives in both fundamental area and industrial application are finally proposed for the future research direction of next‐generation electrode materials. The aim of this review is to provide mechanistic insights into the real catalytically active structure with the assistance of newly developed characterization techniques, guiding the rational design and structure engineering of advanced functional materials with outstanding activity, selectivity, and durability.