Joining Forces Research Articles

Key Factors in the Construction of Ideological and Political Theory Curriculum in Colleges and Universities in the New Era

The new era continuously derives new problems, presents new perspectives, and puts forward new and higher demands on ideological and political theory curriculum in colleges and universities. This article uses research methods of literature and logical analysis to build new problems in ideological and political education in the new era, and to improve the quality and level of ideological and political education in colleges and universities as the basic goal. Join forces, strengthen discipline construction, clarify theoretical support, optimize the support of standard platforms for teaching and research institutions, promote the orientation of practical teaching concerns, and strengthen the teaching staff to ensure teaching quality, and analyze the key factors for the construction of ideological and political theory courses in colleges and universities.

Nanoparticles and bioorthogonal chemistry joining forces for improved biomedical applications.

Bioorthogonal chemistry comprises chemical reactions that can take place inside complex biological environments, providing outstanding tools for the investigation and elucidation of biological processes. Its use in combination with nanotechnology can lead to further developments in diverse areas of biomedicine, such as molecular bioimaging, targeted delivery, in situ drug activation, study of cell–nanomaterial interactions, biosensing, etc. Here, we summarise the recent efforts to bring together the unique properties of nanoparticles and the remarkable features of bioorthogonal reactions to create a toolbox of new or improved biomedical applications. We show how, by joining forces, bioorthogonal chemistry and nanotechnology can overcome some of the key current limitations in the field of nanomedicine, providing better, faster and more sensitive nanoparticle-based bioimaging and biosensing techniques, as well as therapeutic nanoplatforms with superior efficacy.

Data Driven Joining Models for Simulation-based Assembly Learning

Novel approaches to robot programming using advanced combinations of Machine Learning and simulation can flexibly adapt to changes and offer promising solutions, even to complex tasks such as assembly. However, feasible training data must model the underlying assembly process adequately. Therefore, detailed physical process models are needed, to increase the accuracy of the simulation. The presented work focusses on data-driven physical models for the prediction of joining forces during the assembly of snap-fits in electrical cabinet assembly using Machine Learning. State-of-the-art Linear Regression models and Deep Neural Networks are trained using data from a physical experimental setup as well as evaluated and compared afterwards.

Graceling: The Graphic Novel by Kristin Cashore

Reviewed by: Graceling: The Graphic Novel by Kristin Cashore April Spisak Cashore, Kristin Graceling: The Graphic Novel; ad. and illus. by Gareth Hinds. Etch/Clarion, 2021 [272p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780358250425 $24.99 Paper ed. ISBN 9780358250470 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780358505051 $12.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 Katsa is Graced, one of a limited number of people in the Seven Kingdoms who have certain powers, and hers is particularly deadly: she can kill almost effortlessly. She’s reckoned with such a power all of her life, trying to undermine her uncle’s authority as king while he essentially uses her as a mercenary. When she meets Po, an earnest and complex boy who also has a dangerous Grace, the two connect quickly, joining forces to defeat a sinister neighboring king whose powers could easily overwhelm either of them if they were alone. This graphic novel will likely please both existing fans and draw in new ones who haven’t yet explored Cashore’s gripping series. The action is terrific, the story is well-developed for readers unfamiliar with this world, and the ethical questions raised (are we more than our genetics, for example) are compelling and handled with nuance. The true heart of this version, however, are the illustrations themselves. Hinds trusts readers to find meaning in silences, sometimes pages long, and hover there, soaking in subtle gestures that tell the story as much as the fast-moving action scenes. Love is demonstrated in the lightening of hues, the lean of two bodies toward one another, and the lingering gaze on a back as much as in the dialogue. Of course, every scene from the original novel is not duplicated here in this trim graphic outing; nevertheless, what is captured conveys the same tone, depth, and exceptional world building of the original. Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Who Should Investors Join Forces with?

Who Should Investors Join Forces with?

Features of Integrated Marketing Communications of Banks

The essence and features of integrated marketing communications and their role in achieving successful functioning of banks in the market are studied. In conditions of economic instability, banks are looking for the most effective marketing tools to promote the brand. Therefore, the role of integrated marketing communications in the activities of banks has significantly increased. Integrated marketing communications strengthen the bank’s competitive stability in the market, form the image of the bank, increase the promotion of banking products, provide banking services and efficiency of banking. The purpose, tasks and properties of integrated marketing communications of banks to achieve marketing goals and increase the successful operation of banks are formulated. Conceptual approaches to the essence of integrated marketing communications as a universal tool for achieving marketing goals (concept; planning concept; the concept of joining forces; management coordination concept; combine tools; special macro positioning of the brand; strategic analysis, selection, application and control). The author’s definition of integrated marketing communications of banks on the basis of the formed conceptual approaches to the essence of integrated marketing communications and definitions of authors is offered. On the basis of this definition the mechanism of action of integrated marketing communications as an effective tool of communication activity is formed as at interaction of tools of marketing communications in the synergetic unity create positive effect for successful banking activity. Effective management of banking activities is carried out by the interaction of promotion tools with the emergence of a synergistic effect, as this achieves the marketing goals of the bank.

Friction‐Riveted Hybrid Joints of Short Glass Fiber‐Reinforced Polyamide 6 and 6056‐T6 Aluminum Alloy

AbstractHybrid joints of short glass fiber‐reinforced polyamide 6 and 6056‐T6 aluminum alloy (PA6‐30GF/AA6056‐T6) are produced by friction riveting under different processing conditions. A comprehensive study of the effects of the processing parameters on the temperature evolution, anchoring efficiency, degradation of the polymer composite, and tensile strength (pullout test) of the joints is performed. With higher values for the rotational speed, spindle displacement, and joining force, the heat input is increased and this results in greater deformation of the rivet tip and thus higher anchoring efficiency. Based on this finding, high‐strength joints with tensile strength (pullout test) of up to 93% of the metal rivet are obtained and failure occurred through the ductile fracture of the metal rivet outside the composite plate region. Process‐related degradation of the polymer composite is identified, with the formation of voids in the polymer thermo‐mechanically affected zone (PTMAZ) as well as PA6 chain scission and glass fiber breakage in the rubbing volume around the rivet. The recrystallization of the PA6 matrix in the PTMAZ is not affected by the processing. Degradation of the composite at the polymer‐metal interface does not reduce the quasi‐static tensile strength (pullout test), although it may affect the long‐term mechanical properties of the joint.

How can crowdsourcing help tackle the COVID‐19 pandemic? An explorative overview of innovative collaborative practices

The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused unprecedented public health and economic crises. As a response to face the current emergency, science and innovation communities are realizing a fundamental contribution to tackle the crisis. During the past few months, we have witnessed an impressive number of initiatives to encourage networking opportunities, to foster interactions between the different stakeholders involved (health care, industry, governments, academics, ordinary people), and to develop innovative solutions and collaborative infrastructures in support of the health sector. Adopting an open and collaborative approach and joining forces is essential in the fight against the COVID‐19 crisis. Also, the involvement of crowds as innovation partners can be of great support. Therefore, our work aims to review and classify those initiatives, based on the crowdsourcing model, that have been put into place to face the emergency generated by the novel coronavirus pandemic. We illustrate the 16 crowdsourcing initiatives devoted to the SARS‐CoV‐2 outbreak that we identified, detailing their development and implementation. Then, we propose a classification of them, along two dimensions: type of crowdsourcing configuration and kind of tasks, being able to find a relationship between these two aspects. Evidence from the analyzed projects suggests that across disparate domains, crowdsourcing can be an effective strategy in the response to the COVID‐19 pandemic. To conclude, we suggest some important implications for innovation best practices and lessons that can be learned for the future: crowdsourcing, harnessing the power of crowds and online communities, can help tackle the COVID‐19 pandemic, by providing original, actionable, quick, and low‐cost solutions to the challenges of the current health and economic crisis.

Envisioning the future: Police and public health joining forces

Envisioning the future: Police and public health joining forces

Graduate Work-Readiness in Mauritius: A multi-stakeholder approach

Characterised by strong human capital dependency, Small Island Development States (SIDS) such as Mauritius depend largely on work-ready graduates to boost their economy. Yet, Graduate Work Readiness (GWR) and graduate unemployment feature prominently on the Mauritian government agenda. This paper investigates the previously unexplored issue of GWR in Mauritius through four key stakeholder lenses – those of the government, employers, universities, and undergraduates – before suggesting collaborative strategies to enhance graduate employability. The paper findings build on government and parastatal body interviews and qualitative survey responses from the Top 100 companies, higher education institution directors and final year undergraduates in Mauritius. Study results and recommendations are derived from a thematic content analysis of interview transcripts and qualitative survey data. Results indicate that there is a strong need to (1) strengthen stakeholder links, (2) enforce industry-centric university curricula, (4) improve graduate work experience, (4) hone graduate soft skills, and (5) their attitude to work. A Graduate Work Readiness Integrated Stakeholder Framework (GWRISF) supported by a National Work Integrated Learning Committee (NWILC) is then recommended. It is envisaged that proposed strategies will not only assist Mauritian stakeholders in better joining forces for GWR improvement but can also be useful to other comparable SIDS.

A Sarong rolled around a body demonstrates that the force for separating two sheets joined by folding and rolling is very large

A lot of new science has been inspired by common phenomena and even by old traditions practiced in our daily lives. Eventually, after deep exploration, this may engender unexpected new technologies. In this paper, inspired by the wearing of a traditional cloth called a sarong, by the community in South East Asian countries and others, we investigate the behavior of sheets folded in the same way as the rolling of the sarong around the stomach. Simple equipment was designed to qualitatively collect the data which was combined with simple modeling. The rolling of the sarong around the stomach generates a joining force between two sheets, increasing proportionally to the square of the number of rolls. This finding can potentially be applied for developing a method for strongly joining sheets by simply rolling them and releasing the join by unrolling. This work can also be simply duplicated elsewhere, so it is worthy of teaching materials at undergraduate level. Both the scientific and the teaching contents can be extracted simultaneously.

Global Dialysis Perspective: Vietnam.

Vietnam is one of the most populated Southeast Asian countries, with a population of around 97 million people in 2018 (1). Three kinds of RRT, including hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD), and kidney transplantation, are currently available in Vietnam; they service a total of about 36,000 patients, but this only accounts for about one third of the estimated ESKD population in need of dialysis across the country. The purpose of this article is to give a broad overview of some key aspects of RRT and nephrology in Vietnam. HD has been available in Vietnam since 1968. Initially, it was only used to treat acute kidney failure. During that period, only the Travenol Drake-Willock machine was used. Starting from 1996, with the initiation of the national insurance reimbursement system, a remarkable development in dialysis was seen throughout the country, with the number of patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) steeply increasing. MHD has become the most common type of dialysis and has been available in many Vietnamese cities and provinces since then (2). Although little is known about the actual number of patients with ESKD in need of dialysis in the general population, it is estimated to be >100,000 persons. However, only about one third of them (approximately 30,000 patients) are actually on MHD all over the country. Although this proportion is still very low compared with the estimated demand, all dialysis facilities are frequently overwhelmed and have to operate up to four 4-hour shifts per day; home dialysis is not available yet in Vietnam. All dialyzers are capillary type, mainly low flux, and they are reused six times in total to compensate for the low reimbursement of only $25 per session. We import all dialysis machines and dialyzers from various foreign brands, such as Nipro (Japan), B. Braun, and Fresenius (Germany), …

Scientific Societies Join Forces to Amplify Effectiveness of STEM Workforce Diversification Programming

Scientific Societies Join Forces to Amplify Effectiveness of STEM Workforce Diversification Programming

Stem Cell Transplant and Palliative Care: Joining Forces to Improve Survivor Quality of Life

Incorporating palliative care (PC) is becoming the standard of care for patients with advanced solid tumors but stem cell transplant (SCT) patients infrequently receive early referral to PC. This may be due to a variety of reasons, including persistence of the belief that treatment aimed at cure contradicts the indication for palliative care. The purpose of this pilot project was to assess physical and psychological symptom burden in a baseline group of 30 patients undergoing autologous or allogeneic SCT. This was a prospective quality improvement project designed to obtain baseline data for use in developing a PC intervention of SCT patients. A simple modified 16-question Edmonton Symptom Assessment Survey (ESAS) was self-administered using an iPAD by 15 autologous and 15 allogeneic SCT patients just prior to admission (Time 1), and at time points T+10 (Time 2), and T+30 (Time 3). Tiredness was the most severe of all symptoms at all time points. Patients undergoing allogeneic SCT compared to autologous SCT reported higher levels of all symptoms at all time points. The differences between allogeneic vs autologous SCT approached significance for depression (p=.079) and anxiety (p=.063) at T1, tiredness (p=.064) at T2, and depression (p=.072) and tiredness (p=.056) at T3. The influences of type of SCT, age, gender, marital status on overall wellbeing, tiredness, pain, anxiety and depression were examined through linear regressions. The model for tiredness at T3 was the only significant model (adj.R2 = .376, p=.013), with gender and type of transplant making significant contributions. Palliative care integration offers the opportunity to add an additional layer of support to meet short term needs of SCT patients as well as symptoms arising in post-transplant survivorship. If PC resources are limited, this baseline assessment suggests allogeneic SCT patients are at higher risk for physical and psychological symptoms than autologous SCT patients.

Research and Responsibility in Global Health: An Analysis of the Joining Forces Study in Ghana.

We explore conceptions of responsibility and integrity in global health research and practice as it is being carried out in the academic setting. Our specific motivation derives from the recent publication of a study by a clinical research team involving the delivery of mental health care services in a Ghanaian prayer camp. The study was controversial on account of the prayer camp's history of human rights abuses and therefore was met with several high-profile critiques. We offer a more charitable evaluation of the Joining Forces study. Our analysis has three primary goals. First, we respond to criticism suggesting that the Joining Forces research team needed to maintain some form of morally "clean hands" in relation to the human rights abuses at Mount Horeb prayer camp. We argue that, for academic global health practitioners working under severe resource constraints, what is reasonable and responsible to pursue is a complex proposition without a one-size-fits-all ethical answer. Second, we offer an explanation for why the Joining Forces study team designed the project as they did in spite of their obvious vulnerability to ethical concern. We argue that the Joining Forces study was a morally risky, but ethically earnest effort to reach a neglected patient population and promote behavior change in prayer camp staff. Third, we identify an open ethical question born of the researchers' commitment to pragmatism that, to our knowledge, has not been previously addressed in published discussion of the Joining Forces project. Namely, was the incomplete disclosure of information to prayer camp staff defensible? We close with a broader reflection on the notion of moral integrity in the pursuit of the salutary aims of global health.

One Eye on Hitler, the Other Eye on Stalin: How Britain Explored a British-Soviet Alliance from January to June of 1941

This essay examines how the British Government, in the lead-up to Operation Barbarossa, perceived the notion of an anti-German coalition comprising Britain and the Soviet Union British diplomats, including Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Ambassador Sir Stafford Cripps, assessed the extent to which the Soviet Government was committed to its Non-Aggression Treaty with Germany and how far Josef Stalin was prepared to appease Adolf Hitler and thereby prevent a military conflict with the Third Reich. As a consequence, following the fall of France to the Germans in the summer of 1940, of Britain perilously standing alone against the might of Nazi Germany, Whitehall looked increasingly to the USSR, a country which many British officials traditionally harboured feelings of grave disquiet over, as a means of salvation. However, British diplomats reported, indeed, lamented, that such was the fear felt by the Soviet Government of a war with Germany, together with Stalin’s ingrained distrust of Britain, that the chances of Moscow abandoning its Non-Aggression Treaty with Berlin and joining forces with London in an anti-Hitler coalition were negligible.

Pre-holed self-piercing riveting of carbon fibre reinforced polymer laminates and commercially pure titanium sheets

The new technique of pre-holed self-piercing riveting (PH-SPR) was proposed to improve the dissimilar joining of the carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate and the commercially pure titanium (TA1) sheet. The joint quality, strength, failure behaviour and forming structure of the PH-SPR joints were analysed comparing with the regular SPR (R-SPR) joints. The effects of process parameters on the PH-SPR joint were discussed systematically and experimentally. It was concluded that a better mechanical interlock could be obtained using PH-SPR. The joint strength of the PH-SPR joints failed in the rivet pulled out was superior to those failed in the composite layer torn. Comparing with the R-SPR joints, a better hardening effect to the TA1 sheet and a relatively lower strength loss to the rivet brought a better joint strength for the PH-SPR joints. For the PH-SPR process, the joint strength is highly dependent on the interlock length, and the static failure mode of the joints was affected largely by the rivet head height. The remaining bottom thickness and interlock length was mainly determined by the plastic deformation capacity of the metallic sheet, and the rivet head height was primarily influenced by the joining force.

Open Access: DOAJ and Plan S, Digitization and Disruption

Open Access: DOAJ and Plan S, Digitization and Disruption

핵연료 집합체를 구성하는 Bulge Joint의 결합력 분석

핵연료 집합체를 구성하는 Bulge Joint의 결합력 분석

The incorporation of self-spirituality into Western organizations: A gender-based critique

Based on a review of existing qualitative research, this study proposes a gender-based interpretation and critique of the incorporation of self-spirituality into mainstream organizations. The article’s findings show that the enactment of self-spirituality in organizations often evokes experiences of tension or objection. The basic premises of self-spirituality culture are concerned with the authentic self and the emphasis on the individual’s awareness of his or her body, thoughts, and feelings is, in fact, a manifesto of the legitimate sources of ‘knowing’ at work. This premise is radically different from rationality as a fundamental principle of knowing and organizing. Self-spirituality further proposes an alternative to workplace relationships, which is based on a radical equality. I argue that these perceptions are embodied in gendered power relations—the relationship between the feminine self-spirituality and the masculine secular organizations. Two main modes of incorporation of self-spirituality into organizations were identified: the ‘domesticated masculine mode of incorporation’, which is presented as a ‘joining force’ in achieving main organizational values, and the ‘feminine’ modes of the incorporation of self-spirituality, which presents a revolutionary alternative to organizations. As for the viability of these modes of incorporation for creating change, self-spirituality in its domesticated masculine mode of incorporation appears to align itself with organizations public domain. In contrast to this, the two ‘feminine’ modes of incorporation create the possibility for self-spirituality to be lived by individuals as an ‘individual wisdom’. The study contributes to organization research by identifying ways in which radical alternatives may be incorporated into organizations.