Historical Levels Research Articles

Combining machine learning and optimization for the operational patient-bed assignment problem

Assigning inpatients to hospital beds impacts patient satisfaction and the workload of nurses and doctors. The assignment is subject to unknown inpatient arrivals, in particular for emergency patients. Hospitals, therefore, need to deal with uncertainty on actual bed requirements and potential shortage situations as bed capacities are limited. This paper develops a model and solution approach for solving the patient bed-assignment problem that is based on a machine learning (ML) approach to forecasting emergency patients. First, it contributes by improving the anticipation of emergency patients using ML approaches, incorporating weather data, time and dates, important local and regional events, as well as current and historical occupancy levels. Drawing on real-life data from a large case hospital, we were able to improve forecasting accuracy for emergency inpatient arrivals. We achieved up to 17% better root mean square error (RMSE) when using ML methods compared to a baseline approach relying on averages for historical arrival rates. We further show that the ML methods outperform time series forecasts. Second, we develop a new hyper-heuristic for solving real-life problem instances based on the pilot method and a specialized greedy look-ahead (GLA) heuristic. When applying the hyper-heuristic in test sets we were able to increase the objective function by up to 5.3% in comparison to the benchmark approach in [40]. A benchmark with a Genetic Algorithm shows also the superiority of the hyper-heuristic. Third, the combination of ML for emergency patient admission forecasting with advanced optimization through the hyper-heuristic allowed us to obtain an improvement of up to 3.3% on a real-life problem.

How EU membership affects foreign direct investment: Differences between EU15 and CEE countries

AbstractThis article examines the impact of membership in the European Union (EU) on foreign direct investments (FDI). In contrast to previous studies, the overall effect of EU membership is disaggregated by countries that joined the EU before 2004 (EU15) and those that joined after 2004 [Central and Eastern European (CEE)]. This disaggregation is motivated by differences between the two groups in terms of their historical background, GDP levels and motives for FDI. Furthermore, the effects of EU membership are estimated at the country level. Using a structural FDI gravity model and applying recent advances in the gravity estimation literature, it is shown that membership of the EU has a substantial positive impact on both inward and outward FDI stocks. In particular, there is considerable heterogeneity in the impact of EU membership, with EU15 countries experiencing mainly an increase in inward FDI, while CEE countries experience a surge in outward FDI.

National Influenza Annual Report, Canada, 2022-2023: Canada's first fall epidemic since the 2019-2020 season.

Coinciding with the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020, Canadian seasonal influenza circulation was suppressed, which was a trend reported globally. Canada saw a brief and delayed return of community influenza circulation during the spring of the 2021-2022 influenza season. Surveillance for Canada's 2022-2023 seasonal influenza epidemic began in epidemiological week 35 (week starting August 28, 2022) and ended in epidemiological week 34 (week ending August 26, 2023). The 2022-2023 season marked the return to pre-pandemic-like influenza circulation. The epidemic began in epidemiological week 43 (week ending October 29, 2022) and lasted 10 weeks. Driven by influenza A(H3N2), the epidemic was relatively early, extraordinary in intensity, and short in length. This season, a total of 74,344 laboratory-confirmed influenza detections were reported out of 1,188,962 total laboratory tests. A total of 93% of detections were influenza A (n=68,923). Influenza A(H3N2) accounted for 89% of the subtyped specimens (n=17,638/19,876). Late-season, Canada saw community circulation of influenza B for the first time since the 2019-2020 season. The 2022-2023 influenza season in Canada had an extraordinary impact on children and youth; nearly half (n=6,194/13,729, 45%) of reported influenza A(H3N2) detections were in the paediatric (younger than 19 years) population. Weekly paediatric influenza-associated hospital admissions were persistently above historical peak levels for several weeks. The total number of influenza-associated paediatric hospitalizations (n=1,792) far exceeded historical averages (n=1,091). With the return of seasonal influenza circulation and endemic co-circulation of multiple high burden respiratory viruses, sustained vigilance is warranted. Annual seasonal influenza vaccination is a key public health intervention available to protect Canadians.

Corporate insiders’ exploitation of investors’ anchoring bias at the 52‐week high and low

AbstractWe find that insiders adopt dissimulation strategies to conceal their informational advantage and trade profitably when their firms’ stock prices reach 52‐week highs and lows, exploiting the anchoring biases of uninformed investors. Insiders’ trading profitability depends on their firms’ future stock returns, operating efficiency, and investment sentiment, but not on earnings surprises. We document that male board members and insiders with long investment horizons are more likely to use dissimulation strategies. Overall, we provide evidence that insiders benefit from these price extremes, despite their status as publicly available, irrelevant, historical price levels that normally should not predict future stock returns.

China’s growing human displacement risk caused by floods under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C global warming and beyond

Human displacement is one of the most pressing global issues, and China has the world’s largest population affected by floods. Yet, the spatial and temporal variations of China’s Human Displacement Risk (HDR) caused by floods remain unclear. Here, we investigated China’s HDR caused by extreme floods under different global warming levels, including 1.5 °C, 2.0 °C and beyond. We developed an approach to estimate human displacement caused by floods in China. Based on this method, our findings indicate that China’s HDR will increase by ∼10.7 (∼11.0) times under 1.5 °C (2.0 °C) warming, and each 0.5 °C warming will increase HDR by 3 million on average. These great increases are mainly driven by climate change rather than population variations. Our results also reveal that the relationship between human displacement and increasing percentage of flood protection levels follows an exponential function. Additionally, we found that increasing China’s current flood protection standard by ∼46% (1.5 °C and 2.0 °C) and ∼59% (4.5 °C) would reduce future HDR to the historical period level. This study provides valuable insights into China’s HDR, which can aid in adaptive flood risk management amid the trend of shifting to a warmer and more extreme climate.

Monte Carlo drift correction – quantifying the drift uncertainty of global climate models

Abstract. Global climate models are susceptible to drift, causing spurious trends in output variables. Drift is often corrected using data from a control simulation. However, internal climate variability within the control simulation introduces uncertainty to the drift correction process. To quantify this drift uncertainty, we develop a probabilistic technique: Monte Carlo drift correction (MCDC). MCDC samples the standard error associated with drift in the control time series. We apply MCDC to an ensemble of global climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). We find that drift correction partially addresses a problem related to drift: energy leakage. Nevertheless, the energy balance of several models remains suspect. We quantify the drift uncertainty of global quantities associated with the Earth's energy balance and thermal expansion of the ocean. When correcting drift in a cumulatively integrated energy flux, we find that it is preferable to integrate the flux before correcting the drift: an alternative method would be to correct the bias before integrating the flux, but this alternative method amplifies the drift uncertainty. Assuming that drift is linear likely leads to an underestimation of drift uncertainty. Time series with weak trends may be especially susceptible to drift uncertainty: for historical thermosteric sea level rise since the 1850s, the drift uncertainty can range from 3 to 24 mm, which is of comparable magnitude to the impact of omitting volcanic forcing in control simulations. Derived coefficients – such as the ocean's expansion efficiency of heat – can also be susceptible to drift uncertainty. When evaluating and analysing global climate model data that are susceptible to drift, researchers should consider drift uncertainty.

Short- and long-term plant and microbial uptake of 15N-labelled urea in a mesic tundra heath, West Greenland

Terrestrial animals are key elements in the cycling of elements in the Arctic where nutrient availability is low. Waste production by herbivores, in particular urine deposition, has a crucial role for nitrogen (N) recycling, still, it remains largely unexplored. Also, experimental evidence is biased toward short-term studies and Arctic regions under high herbivore pressure. In this study, we aimed to examine the fate of N derived from urine in a nutrient poor tundra heath in West Greenland, with historical low level of herbivory. We performed a pulse labelling with 15N-urea over the plant canopy and explored ecosystem N partition and retention in the short-term (2 weeks and 1 year) and longer-term (5 years). We found that all vascular plants, irrespective of their traits, could rapidly take up N-urea, but mosses and lichens were even more efficient. Total 15N enrichment was severely reduced for all plants 5 years after tracer addition, with the exception of cryptogams, indicating that non-vascular plants constituted a long-term sink of 15N-urea. The 15N recovery was also high in the litter suggesting high N immobilization in this layer, potentially delaying the nutrients from urine entering the soil compartment. Long-term 15N recovery in soil microbial biomass was minimal, but as much as 30% of added 15N remained in the non-microbial fraction after 5 years. Our results demonstrate that tundra plants that have evolved under low herbivory pressure are well adapted to quickly take advantage of labile urea, with urine having only a transient effect on soil nutrient availability.

Iodine-to-calcium ratios in deep-sea scleractinian and bamboo corals

The distribution of dissolved iodine in seawater is sensitive to multiple biogeochemical cycles, including those of nitrogen and oxygen. The iodine-to-calcium ratio (I/Ca) of marine carbonates, such as bulk carbonate or foraminifera, has emerged as a potential proxy for changes in past seawater oxygenation. However, the utility of the I/Ca proxy in deep-sea corals, natural archives of seawater chemistry with wide spatial coverage and radiometric dating potential, remains unexplored. Here, we present the first I/Ca data obtained from modern deep-sea corals, specifically scleractinian and bamboo corals, collected from the Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, and Southern Oceans, encompassing a wide range of seawater oxygen concentrations (10–280 μmol/kg). In contrast to thermodynamic predictions, we observe higher I/Ca ratios in aragonitic corals (scleractinian) compared to calcitic corals (bamboo). This observation suggests a strong biological control during iodate incorporation into deep-sea coral skeletons. For the majority of scleractinian corals, I/Ca exhibits a covariation with local seawater iodate concentrations, which is closely related to seawater oxygen content. Scleractinian corals also exhibit notably lower I/Ca below a seawater oxygen threshold of approximately 160 μmol/kg. In contrast, no significant differences in I/Ca are found among bamboo corals across the range of oxygen concentrations encountered (15–240 μmol/kg). In the North Atlantic, several hydrographic factors, such as temperature and/or salinity, may additionally affect coral I/Ca. Our results highlight the potential of I/Ca ratios in deep-sea scleractinian corals to serve as an indicator of past seawater iodate concentrations, providing valuable insights into historical seawater oxygen levels.

Expensive anomalies

We show that thirteen well-known stock market anomalies have higher future abnormal returns when they exhibit a value orientation with respect to their historical levels. We find anomalies that exhibit a value orientation (cheap) outperform anomalies that exhibit a growth orientation (expensive) going forward by about 30 basis points (bps) per month. Furthermore, we find favorable anomalies based on combined value and momentum orientations outperform unfavorable anomalies by about 90 bps per month and exhibit more than double the Sharpe ratios. Alternatively, over 96 % of the dollar return for the 13 anomalies disappears when they have negative-momentum and expensive orientations.

The Mass Incarceration Trauma Framework: A Conceptual Model for Understanding Trauma among Individuals Who Experience Incarceration.

The Mass Incarceration Trauma (MIT) framework is a conceptual model for understanding the role of trauma in the lives of individuals who experience incarceration in the United States. This population faces poverty, violence, and discrimination across the life span. The MIT framework is guided by an ecological systems perspective, a foundational theoretical approach in social work that recognizes that effective assessment and intervention require an understanding of the complex contexts in which individuals live. The MIT framework presents the cumulative trauma exposures commonly faced by this population before, during, and after incarceration at the individual, social, environmental, and historical levels. Because traumatic stress undermines health and daily functioning, it is essential that interventions for this population address both the ongoing risk for trauma exposure and the consequences of multiple, repeated past exposures across ecological systems. It is to be hoped that a new and fundamental focus on the poverty, contexts of violence, and lifetime disadvantages experienced by those who cycle through prisons in the United States might reframe the question of how our society should prevent and respond to crime as well as respond to those swept into the criminal justice system.

The Poetic Metamorphoses of Chișinău City

This article studies the evolution of the poetic imaginary of Chișinău City in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, which represents an overlap of images, of archetypal structures, which we integrated as theoretical support in the interpretation of urban poetic texts. Starting from the eight ensembles or archetypal structures of the imaginary applied to historical evolution, presented by Lucian Boia in For a history of the imaginary, we systematized the artistic images from the researched lyric in eight forms, attributed to each time segment, thus demonstrating the complexity of the urban imaginary and facilitating observing the metamorphosis of the image of Chișinău City during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Through this system of archetypal structures, we interpreted the lyrical creations that capitalize on the Chișinău urban imaginary, identifying the change of perspective both on the image of the city, in the perception of the poets, and of the city itself, on a historical, political, social, economic and cultural level. Distanced to the point of oblivion (19th century), then raised on the pedestal of admiration (20th century), Chișinău becomes a familiar environment (21st century), an object of culture and not of worship, an architectural space concretized with the generation after 2000.

Picturing China's photovoltaic energy future: Insights from CMIP6 climate projections

Vigorous development of solar photovoltaic energy (PV) is one of the key components to achieve China's “30•60 Dual-Carbon Target”. In this study, by utilizing the outputs generated by CMIP6 models under different shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and a physical PV model (GSEE), future changes in PV power generation across China are provided for the outlined carbon neutralization period (2051–2070). The results reveal distinct spatiotemporal characteristics in the changes in PV output across China. Overall, compared to the historical period, annual PV power generation is projected to decrease in northern regions and Tibet Plateau with a maximum decrease of ∼4 % under the high emission scenario (SSP585), while southern and central regions exhibit significant increases. Remarkably, under the green development pathway (SSP126), PV power generation is expected to rise by over 10 % in these regions. The magnitude of decrease in the north and increase in the south is projected to become more pronounced with the continuous increase of future carbon emissions. It is anticipated that the three northern regions of China will experience greater decreases in PV power generation in winter compared to other seasons, especially under SSP585. Additionally, the southeast region shows the smallest increase in summer PV generation out of all seasons. Moreover, under SSP126 trajectory, most regions in China exhibit reduced inter-annual and intra-annual variability in PV generation compared to the historical levels. This suggests that pursuing a sustainable path could substantially mitigate potential risks associated with PV generation fluctuations in China.

A critique of andragogy in the South African TVET context

Andragogy, the ‘art and science of helping adults learn’ (Knowles, 1980:43), had some purchase in the South African technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector, where writers and lecturers have been attracted to the idea that adult education has its own theoretical and epistemological principles. Recently, a notable number of writings in African countries, including South Africa, have advocated the adoption of andragogic methods to overcome the inadequate provision of workplace (procedural) learning in relation to formal (propositional) learning in TVET institutions. However, this article argues that andragogy is culturally biased because it is based on white, male, middle-class norms of the 1960s. Its assumptions about adult learning tend to marginalise others on the basis of race, gender, and cultural difference. This tendency is given a peculiar form in South Africa owing to the historical relationship between andragogy and fundamental pedagogics in the academic theorisation of apartheid ideology. On the strength of these historical, political, and cultural levels of criticism, it is suggested that andragogy has little veracity or credibility for TVET.

A roadmap for pyrodiversity science

AbstractBackgroundContemporary and projected shifts in global fire regimes highlight the importance of understanding how fire affects ecosystem function and biodiversity across taxa and geographies. Pyrodiversity, or heterogeneity in fire history, is often an important driver of biodiversity, though it has been largely overlooked until relatively recently. In this paper, we synthesise previous research to develop a theoretical framework on pyrodiversity–biodiversity relationships and propose future research and conservation management directions.Theoretical FrameworkPyrodiversity may affect biodiversity by diversifying available ecological niches, stabilising community networks and/or supporting diverse species pools available for post‐fire colonisation. Further, pyrodiversity's effects on biodiversity vary across different spatial, temporal and organismal scales depending on the mobility and other life history traits of the organisms in question and may be mediated by regional eco‐evolutionary factors such as historical fire regimes. Developing a generalisable understanding of pyrodiversity effects on biodiversity has been challenging, in part because pyrodiversity can be quantified in various ways.Applying the Pyrodiversity ConceptExclusion of Indigenous fire stewardship, fire suppression, increased unplanned ignitions and climate change have led to dramatic shifts in fire regimes globally. Such shifts include departures from historic levels of pyrodiversity and add to existing challenges to biodiversity conservation in fire‐prone landscapes. Managers navigating these challenges can be aided by targeted research into observed contemporary pyrodiversity–biodiversity relationships as well as knowledge of historical reference conditions informed by both Indigenous and local ecological knowledge and western science.Future Research DirectionsSeveral promising avenues exist for the advancement of pyrodiversity science to further both theoretical and practical goals. These lines of investigation include but are not limited to (1) testing the increasing variety of pyrodiversity metrics and analytical approaches; (2) assessing the spatial and temporal scale‐dependence of pyrodiversity's influence; (3) reconstructing historical pyrodiversity patterns and developing methods for predicting and/or promoting future pyrodiversity; and (4) expanding the focus of pyrodiversity science beyond biodiversity to better understand its influence on ecosystem function and processes more broadly.

Integrating ICESat-2 laser altimeter observations and hydrological modeling for enhanced prediction of climate-driven lake level change

Predicting future lake levels under climate change is critical for advancing our understanding of hydrological processes in a changing environment. However, continuous and long-term prediction of lake levels is challenging due to discrepancies in multi-source data and the lack of integration of hydrological models and climate scenarios. Physical and statistical models have been used for lake levels prediction, however, physical models are difficult to calibrate and statistical models often fail to account for the effects of climate changes. In this study, a lake level prediction model was proposed by assimilating the hydrophysical model based on water balance and the ICESat-2 observations using Variational Bayesian Monte Carlo. The model can predict monthly lake levels combining CMIP6-SWAT climate-driven projections and ICESat-2 observations. Short-term validation over 24 months showed the R2 was 0.91 and the RMSE was 5 cm between the proposed model and the ICESat-2 observation. The accuracy is superior to both the hydrophysical model based on water balance and the Prophet time series model. Long-term validation from 1978 to 2021 showed the proposed model has the potential to enhance prediction accuracy within 2 to 3 years compared with the hydrophysical model based on water balance and it is suitable for predicting long-term lake level trends. Notably, it successfully predicted the significant turning point around 2005 where lake levels shift from decline to increase based on past data. The water levels of Lake Qinghai were predicted to rise at a rate of 3.7 cm per year by 2050 under the SSP2-4.5 scenario. The proposed assimilation model combines the strengths of hydrological modeling based on water balance (incorporating the effects of climate change) and the latest ICESat-2 lake level observations (incorporating the effects of recent historical lake levels), improving the accuracy of short-term lake levels and long-term lake level trends prediction. Moreover, as the model is based on satellite remote sensing observations, it has the potential to be applied to any lake globally.

Sub-Arctic no more: Short- and long-term global-scale prospects for snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) under global warming

Snow crab is a sea-ice associated species that supports several economically important fisheries in northern latitudes. During the past decade considerable stock range changes have occurred, characterized by a general shift from sub-Arctic ecosystems into the Arctic. We developed predictive models for short-term biomass trajectories and long-term habitat potential under a changing climate. Sea ice extent and the Arctic Oscillation were important variables in the short-term models. Future sea ice extent was used as an analog for long-term habitat potential and was predicted as a function of projected atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and the Arctic Oscillation. Our results show that global scale snow crab habitat and biomass are currently at or near historically measured highs. Similar overall habitat potential to historic and current levels is expected to continue out to 2100 under best case CO2 scenarios but declines below historic levels are projected to begin after about 2050 under worst cast CO2 scenarios. In the short-term, most historical stock ranges are expected to maintain productive fisheries while new habitats open. In the long-term, under all CO2 scenarios, we project a shift in habitats from historic ranges into new frontiers as sea ice recedes. Future population trajectories depend upon the ability of snow crab to track habitat shifts and we discuss possible forthcoming changes in context of potential socioeconomic outcomes.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Potential Interventions for Guinea Worm Disease in Dogs in Chad Using Simulations.

Guinea worm (GW) disease (or dracunculiasis) is currently transmitted among dogs in Chad, which presents risks for the human population. We studied how interventions implemented at different levels might reduce the spread of GW disease (geographically and over time) and what levels of interventions might accelerate elimination. We built a multiple-water-source agent-based simulation model to analyze the disease transmission among dogs in Chad, as well as in geographic district clusters, and validated it using local infection data. We considered two interventions: 1) tethering, where infected dogs are kept on a leash during periods of infectivity, and 2) Abate®, under which the water source is treated to reduce infectivity. Our results showed that elimination (0 dog infections) is most likely achieved within 5 years with extremely high levels of tethering (95%) and Abate (90%), when intervention levels are uniform across district clusters. We used an optimization model to determine an improved strategy, with intervention levels which minimize the number of dogs newly infected in the 6th year, under limitations on intervention levels across clusters; the number of dogs infected after 5 years of intervention could be reduced by approximately 220 dogs with an optimized strategy. Finally, we presented strategies that consider fairness based on intervention resource levels and outcomes. Increased tethering and Abate resources above historical levels are needed to achieve the target of GW disease elimination; optimization methods can inform how best to target limited resources and reach elimination faster.

Assessment of the impact of climate change and flooding on bridges and surrounding area

Climate change has the potential to significantly impact transportation infrastructure performance. Bridges crossing rivers are designed to withstand a maximum flood level (design flood) considering the expected frequencies and magnitudes of floods in the area. The design flood level ensures the safety of the bridge without being damaged against historical flooding levels. However, flood magnitude and/or frequency are expected to increase in some regions due to climate change, and therefore, bridges may not be able to maintain their serviceability and safety, resulting in significant risk to users and economic losses. This problem is approached in this paper by investigating the effects of flooding and climate change on bridges crossing rivers and surrounding areas. The input of the proposed methodology is the river flow for various climate change scenarios as well as the topography and bridge characteristics. Flood frequency analysis is used to provide information about the magnitude and frequency of annual maximum river discharges under a changing climate. Afterwards, several risk assessment indicators are computed for the bridge and its surrounding area. In addition, stochastic Poisson process is integrated to account for the randomness of floods arrivals and to investigate stochastically the probability of exceeding the design flood level. The proposed methodology is illustrated with a case study in the United Kingdom. The results indicate that the risk of flooding, and associated consequences, would increase for the case study when considering more pessimistic climate change scenarios. Findings from this study can be used to inform decision making for improving bridges’ resilience.

Characterization of the extracellular vesicles, ultrastructural morphology, and intercellular interactions of multiple clinical isolates of the brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri.

As global temperatures rise to unprecedented historic levels, so too do the latitudes of habitable niches for the pathogenic free-living amoeba, Naegleria fowleri. This opportunistic parasite causes a rare, but >97% fatal, neurological infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Despite its lethality, this parasite remains one of the most neglected and understudied parasitic protozoans. To better understand amoeboid intercellular communication, we elucidate the structure, proteome, and potential secretion mechanisms of amoeba-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are membrane-bound communication apparatuses that relay messages and can be used as biomarkers for diagnostics in various diseases. Herein we propose that N. fowleri secretes EVs in clusters from the plasma membrane, from multivesicular bodies, and via beading of thin filaments extruding from the membrane. Uptake assays demonstrate that EVs are taken up by other amoebae and mammalian cells, and we observed a real-time increase in metabolic activity for mammalian cells exposed to EVs from amoebae. Proteomic analysis revealed >2,000 proteins within the N. fowleri-secreted EVs, providing targets for the development of diagnostics or therapeutics. Our work expands the knowledge of intercellular interactions among these amoebae and subsequently deepens the understanding of the mechanistic basis of PAM.

Phraseological Semantics and Pragmatics in Chinese TV Series 靠近你温暖我 (Close to You, Make Me Warm)

Idioms express emotional states, e.g., grief, anger, joy, sadness, fear, etc. However, they can also reveal the values, moral qualities, and directive potential of the speaker. This article reviews some existing approaches to phraseological studies and introduces an authentic comprehensive approach that covers syntactic, figurative, historical, axiological, and pragmatic levels. The material was obtained from film dialogues and analyzed from the communicative-pragmatic standpoint. The goal was to reveal the ethnic and cultural aspect of idiomatic expressions in Chinese cinema discourse. In the Chinese series 靠近你温暖我 (Close to You, Make Me Warm), the authors identified a number of idioms that explicated the following concepts: 独守空房 (dúshǒu kōngfáng) – Loneliness; 守身如玉 (shǒu shēn rú yù) – Honesty, 人算不如天算 (rénsuàn bùrú tiānsuàn) – Justice, 相亲相爱 (xiāngqīn xiāng’ài) – Love, 藕断丝连 (ǒu duàn sī lián) – Parting;白头偕老 (báitóu xiélǎo) – Marriage; 百闻不如一见 (bǎiwén bùrú yījiàn) – Trust; 两肋插刀 (liǎng lèi chā dāo) – Friendship. The new approach proved able to identify the value and pragmatics of phraseological units.