Key Item Research Articles

Determination of sodium cyclamate in Baijiu by pre-column derivatization-high performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection

Sodium cyclamate in Baijiu is a key item in the China National Food Safety Supervision and Inspection Plan. A simple, economical, sensitive, and reliable method is urgently needed for routine analysis and internal quality control. A method based on high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) was developed for the determination of sodium cyclamate in Baijiu by o-phthalaldehyde derivatization. First, the sodium cyclamate in the sample solution was converted into amino compounds using the desulfurization reaction under acidic conditions. Next, 400 g/L sodium hydroxide solution was added to the sample solution for neutralization. The amino compounds in the sample solution were then derivatized with o-phthalaldehyde to produce indole-substituted derivatives that are capable of producing fluorescence signals. Separation was carried out on a C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) in isocratic elution mode using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and phosphate buffer. Finally, the eluate was monitored using a fluorescence detector, and an external standard method was used for quantification. A good linear relationship was obtained in the range of 0.1-2.0 mg/L, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. The average recoveries of sodium cyclamate spiked at levels of 0.1-1.0 mg/kg in Baijiu samples ranged from 90.7% to 100.9%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 3.5%-5.6% (n=6). The limits of detection and quantification were 0.03 and 0.10 mg/kg, respectively. Nine Baijiu samples collected from the market were tested, and the results demonstrated that the contents of sodium cyclamate detected by the developed method were consistent with those obtained using the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method described in GB 5009.97-2016 (the third method). The proposed method is economical, sensitive, specific, and accurate; thus, it provides a basic approach for the determination of sodium cyclamate in Baijiu samples and has great potential for routine analysis in foodstuffs.

Merging Organolithium Chemistry and Stereoselective Biocatalysis: Transformation of Aromatic Nitriles into Chiral Alcohols

AbstractThe combination of RLi‐mediated organic transformations (under air and at room temperature) with a subsequent stereoselective biocatalytic reaction is for the first time presented. Most of the previous asymmetric chemoenzymatic routes have been limited to the concomitant or sequential combination of transition metals/organocatalysts with enzymes. However, the use of polar organometallic reagents (RLi) in the design of these stereoselective hybrid protocols has been totally neglected, as far as we are concerned. Thus, in this work, the combination of organolithium chemistry and asymmetric biocatalysis is described for the first time in a one‐pot fashion. The chemoenzymatic approach converts a series of nitriles into chiral alcohols consisting of two steps, where the key item was the finding of suitable conditions to adapt the reactivities of organolithiums and alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) in the same recipient. The organolithium addition occurred with total chemoselectivity (no side reactions were observed) under neat conditions and room temperature leading to the corresponding imines, which were hydrolyzed using a buffer, and adjusting the pH for the subsequent ADH action. Commercial and made in house overexpressed ADHs allowed to produce chiral alcohols with excellent selectivities and good overall yields. The different behavior displayed for the reductive enzymes in the presence of diethyl ether clearly influenced in the decision to let the organolithium solvent evaporate under open‐air conditions before developing the bioreduction step. Our results demonstrate the importance of the fine orchestration of the reaction conditions for the development of efficient hybrid chemoenzymatic cascades without the need of intermediate isolation/purification steps or compartmentalization of the different synthetic systems.

Increase in Modulation Speed of Silicon Photonics Modulator with Quantum-Well Slab Wings: New Insights from a Numerical Study

A Silicon Photonics modulator is a high-speed photonic integrated circuit for optical data transmission in high-capacity optical networks. Silicon Photonics modulators in the configuration of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, in which a PN-junction rib-waveguide phase shifter is inserted in each arm of the interferometer, are studied in this paper because of their superior performance of high-quality optical data generation in a wide range of spectral bands and their simplicity in fabrication processes suitable to production in foundries. Design, fabrication, and fundamental characteristics of Silicon Photonics Mach–Zehnder modulators are reviewed as an introduction to these high-speed PICs on the Silicon Photonics platform. Modulation speed, or modulation bandwidth, is a key performance item, as well as optical loss, in the application to high-speed optical transmitters. Limiting factors on modulation speed are addressed in equations. Electrical resistance–capacitance coupling, which causes optical modulation bandwidth–optical loss trade-off, is the most challenging limiting factor that limits high-speed modulation. Expansion of modulation bandwidth is not possible without increasing optical loss in the conventional approaches. A new idea including quantum-mechanical effect in the design of Silicon Photonics modulators is proposed and proved in computational analysis to resolve the bandwidth loss trade-off. By adding high-mobility quantum-well overlayers to the side slab wings of the rib-waveguide phase shifter, the modulation bandwidth is doubled without increasing optical loss to achieve a 200 Gbaud modulation rate.

Artificial intelligence based supply chain management strategy during COVID-19 situation

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented challenges, such as constantly changing consumer demands and disruptions in the supply chain. This study aims to reduce the cost of inventory units in the COVID-19 scenario by using a mathematical model to develop fundamental inventory control formulations. However, conventional analytical methods often struggle to identify and analyse the complex patterns and rapidly shifting trends that characterise COVID-19. To address this issue, this study employs ANN techniques to determine the total variable cost of essential items in the COVID-19 scenario, using current demand, discount rate, and advanced payments as input variables. The study creates an optimal ANN model for real-life situations by combining different solvers and activation functions. Among the various combinations, the study observes that the combination of the relu activation function and lbfgs solvers offers the lowest RMSE value of 0.03382 and the highest R2 value of 0.9858 for the optimum total variable cost. The study affirms that ANN techniques excel in analyzing the EPQ model during COVID-19 by managing complexity, adapting to changes, and assessing diverse data. This real-time analysis aids supply chains, ensuring timely key item availability in high-demand or disruptive scenarios.

A comprehensive analysis method of urban rail transit operation accidents and safety management strategies based on text big data

Although the occurrence of urban rail transit operation accidents threatens the safety of people's lives and property, there is little research on how to systematically mine the knowledge behind accident data in China, and there is also lack of methods to support the safety management strategy of urban rail transit operation. To address these shortcomings, this study proposes a comprehensive analysis method that combines qualitative and quantitative analysis of urban rail operation accident factors and safety management strategies based on accident data, which can provide reference for systematic analysis of such accidents in the future and will help urban rail safety researchers and decision makers to take effective safety management measures. The new contributions of the method are as follows: (1) a semantic network framework for accidents and a conceptual model of accident risk control chain are proposed; (2) a method for acquiring and constructing key contents based on semantic analysis is elaborated, and indicators for evaluating the influence degree of key item and the influence possibility of entries are proposed; (3) a management matrix is established to serve safety decision making based on indicators for the degree of attention that key item of accidents should receive. In order to explain the application of the comprehensive analysis method, 910 urban rail transit operation safety accident cases are analyzed in detail, and suggestions for the actual operation management of urban rail transit are proposed in the light of the actual situation of urban rail transit operation in China.

Robust data-driven design of a jamming detection filter for airborne electromechanical actuators

The electrification of the actuations on aircraft is a technological trend towards a greener aviation. Electromechanical Actuators (EMAs) are a key item in the more electric aircraft concept. However, EMAs are still prone to the jamming of their mechanical transmission, leading to possible incidents when flight surfaces can no longer be controlled. Jamming detection algorithms are thus envisaged. In this paper, we conduct a large experimental campaign on a 1:1 scale airborne EMA and design a robust data-driven jamming detection algorithm. The designed algorithm is compared with a traditional non-robust model-based jamming detection algorithm design. The benefits of robust data-driven approach are experimentally evaluated on real faulty data with several performance indexes.

Comparison of diagnostic efficiency of detecting IgG and IgE with immunoassay method in diagnosing ABPA: a meta-analysis

BackgroundHitherto, the bulk of diagnostic criteria regards Aspergillus-specific immunoglobulin E as a key item, and regard IgG as an auxiliary method in diagnose. Nevertheless, there is no conclusive study in summarize the performance of IgG and IgE diagnosing ABPA.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review to identify studies report results of IgE and IgG detection in diagnosing ABPA. QUADAS-2 tool was used to evaluate included studies, and we applied the HSROC model to calculate the pooled sensitivity and specificity. Deeks’ funnel was derived to evaluated the public bias of included studies, and Cochrane Q test and I2 statistic were used to test the heterogeneity.ResultsEleven studies were included in this study (1127 subjects and 215 for IgE and IgG). Deeks’s test for IgE and IgG were 0.10 and 0.19. The pooled sensitivity and specificity for IgE were 0.83 (95%CI: 0.77, 0.90) and 0.89 (0.83, 0.94), and for IgG were 0.93 (0.87, 0.97) and 0.73 (0.62,0.82), with P value < 0.001. The PLR and NLR for IgE were 7.80 (5.03,12.10) and 0.19 (0.13,0.27), while for IgG were 3.45 (2.40,4.96) and 0.09 (0.05,0.17). The combined diagnostic odds ratio and diagnostic score were 41.49 (26.74,64.36) and3.73 (3.29,4.16) for IgE, respectively, and were 38.42 (19.23,76.79) and 3.65 (2.96,4.34) for IgG.ConclusionThe sensitivity for IgG diagnosing ABPA is higher than IgE, while the specificity for IgE is higher. IgG might be able to play a more important role in filtering ABPA patients.

Theoretical prediction of shearing stress together with cutting forces in micro drilling

Cutting force coefficients in existing micro drilling force models were usually identified by experimental procedures, which did not explicitly consider the influence of the rounded cutting edge. This article presents a new micro drilling force model by establishing a method to theoretically identify the cutting force coefficients. Shearing stress, which is a key item required to analytically calculate the cutting force coefficients, is theoretically modeled and solved based on the basic principle of Johnson–Cook constitutive model. Effect of the rounded cutting edge on rake angle and variation of cutting edge’s velocity along radial direction are taken into account to establish the model. Influences of the drill’s primary and chisel edges are separately considered in the model formulation. It is found that shearing stress and effective rake angle are strongly dependent on the radial position of the concerned point on cutting edge, and thus, the main advantage of this work lies in that cutting force coefficients are mathematically determined as cutting edge position-dependent values to characterize the actual cutting behavior of micro drilling. Experimental validation proves that the proposed micro drilling force model has high prediction accuracy under varying conditions.

Research and development of copper joint for ITER In-Vessel Coils

The ITER In-Vessel Coils (IVCs) are crucial components of the Tokamak fusion reactor. They are located within the vacuum vessel (VV) behind the blanket shield modules and are responsible for compensating for fast perturbations of the plasma. There are a total of 176 joints used to connect the IVCs, feeders and feedthrough. The joint structure consists of a central copper conductor, a mineral (MgO) insulation layer, and an outer stainless-steel jacket. Given the inaccessibility of the IVCs once the blanket modules are installed, the highest level of quality is required for the joints. One key item is the welding of the copper conductor which has to be done inside the VV. To address the high thermal conductivity of copper conductor and the challenging constraints working inside the VV, a preheating method by the arc of the welding head has been developed. Macro- and micro-structure examination were performed on the welding cross sections, and tensile tests were carried out to check the strength of the copper joint, which demonstrated that arc preheating does not have a significant impact on the heat-affected zone. After more than 40 welding attempts and several design updates, the copper joint has been successfully developed and can be repeatedly and successfully welded.

PROTECTING SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN NIGERIA’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: LEGISLATIVE ACTION AS A ‘SHIELD’ UNDER THE 1999 CONSTITUTION

Aside from public health devastations, one aspect of Nigeria’s national life that was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, was the economic space. As part of the government’s mitigating measures, an economic stimulus package was put together to help those most hit by the crisis. However, a key item was left out i.e., legislation enacted by the Parliament, to ensure the protection of the socio-economic rights of the people. This article analyses how the Nigerian legislature could have triggered relevant provisions of the Constitution to adequately protect this class of rights, as a response to the devastating impact of the pandemic. This analysis is carried out against the backdrop of the existing non-justiciable status of socio-economic rights in the country. The article makes the point that there is a great deal of potential in the country’s constitutional framework regarding legislative powers, that could have been creatively deployed by the Parliament to enact legislation that would serve as a ’Shield’ for socio-economic rights in the pandemic, notwithstanding the clog of non-justiciability. The article concludes that the legislature as the people’s representative ought to have better executed its constitutional powers, by demonstrating uncommon courage at a time when it mattered most

Metabolic engineering of Yarrowia lipolytica for high-level production of scutellarin

Scutellarin drugs have been recognized as a key item in the national development of essential clinical emergency drugs for treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases; therefore, the market demand for scutellarin is growing rapidly. Microbial synthesis based on synthetic biology is a promising method for industrial production of scutellarin. In this study, the highest reported scutellarin titer in the shake flask of 703.01 ± 4.83 mg/L was achieved in Yarrowia lipolytica through the systematic metabolic engineering modifications, including screening for the optimal flavone-6-hydroxylase–cytochrome P450 reductase combination SbF6H–ATR2 to enhance P450 enzyme activity, increasing the copy numbers of rate-limiting enzyme genes, overexpressing ZWF1 and GND1 to increase NADPH supply, enhancing the supply of p-coumaric acid and uridine diphosphate glucose, and introducing the heterologous gene VHb to enhance oxygen supply. This study has significant implications for the industrial production of scutellarin and other valuable flavonoids in green economies.

Features of defining the damping function in spacecraft finite-element models

Dynamic analysis of spacecraft structures is a key item in the process of structure design. For example, a launch vehicle generates the highest loads, including dynamic ones, for most spacecraft structures. Determining of damping parameters is an important component in the analysis of the structure response to mechanical loads. It is therefore very important to be aware of the damping properties of the structure. The characterization of damping is important in making accurate predictions of the frequency response of any loaded structure. The article presents some excerpts from sources devoted to the space technique design, and containing information about damping in structures. The aim of the work was to improve the accuracy of calculations using finite element models. The paper demonstrates the results of the search for a method (form) of setting the damping function in the Femap software that would provide the correct levels of the frequency response of the structure to the loads applied. A finite element model of a cantilever beam was an object of the computational experiment carried out. A frequency table obtained at the modal analysis stage prove to be useful for frequency response analysis. The only one natural frequency in spectrum is enough to implement current study. Further, damping function was set in several ways in order to identify the one that provided the most correct response for the natural frequency under study.

Spasticity-related pain in children/adolescents with cerebral palsy. Part 2: IncobotulinumtoxinA efficacy results from a pooled analysis.

This pooled analysis of data from three Phase 3 studies investigated the effects of incobotulinumtoxinA on spasticity-related pain (SRP) in children/adolescents with uni-/bilateral cerebral palsy (CP). Children/adolescents (ambulant and non-ambulant) were evaluated for SRP on increasingly difficult activities/tasks 4 weeks after each of four incobotulinumtoxinA injection cycles (ICs) using the Questionnaire on Pain caused by Spasticity (QPS; six modules specific to lower limb [LL] or upper limb [UL] spasticity and respondent type [child/adolescent, interviewer, or parent/caregiver]). IncobotulinumtoxinA doses were personalized, with all doses pooled for analysis. QPS key item responses were available from 331 and 155 children/adolescents with LL- and UL-spasticity, respectively, and 841/444 (LL/UL) of their parents/caregivers. IncobotulinumtoxinA efficacy was evident with the first IC. Efficacy was sustained and became more robust with further subsequent ICs. By Week 4 of the last (i.e. fourth) IC, 33.8-53.3% of children/adolescents reported complete SRP relief from their baseline pain for respective QPS items. Children/adolescents reported reductions in mean LL SRP intensity at levels that surpassed clinically meaningful thresholds. Similarly, parents/caregivers observed complete SRP relief and less frequent SRP with incobotulinumtoxinA. Similar results were found for UL SRP. These findings indicate that incobotulinumtoxinA could bring considerable benefit to children/adolescents with spasticity by reducing SRP, even during strenuous activities.

Dynamic Response Analysis of Offshore Flaoting Hose Strings Under Wave Load

A floating hose is key item for offshore oil transportation. In this paper, a mathematical model is derived for the overall dynamic performance of a single point-moored floating hose string under wave and current load. Airy wave theory was selected to calculate the wave force on the floating hose string. The dynamics of buoy, floating hose string and FSO were modelled using elastic foundation beam theory and discretised by using a fixed grid finite difference method. Discontinuities in the bending stiffness due to the flange connections are also considered. To verify the accuracy of the mathematical model, the finite element model of the buoy, floating hose string and FSO as a system was established by use of Orcaflex software tool. Numerical results for the displacement and bending moment at each section of the floating hose under severe sea conditions were obtained.

Semantic analysis of social media messages of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema by open Internet sources — a study of patients' opinions in real clinical practice

Purpose: to analyze social media messages of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR), or their careers in order to investigates the patients’ opinion in the condition of real clinical routine. Material and methods. Real-life anonymized stories of patients from Russian-language open Internet sources (forums, social networks in Russia) were processed by artificial intelligence techniques: the technologies of automated analysis of unstructured natural language texts, including semantic technologies. In these messages, patients and their careers (mainly, family members) openly and in an ‘uncensored’ way share their experience in diagnostics and treatment while looking for a second opinion or supporting each other. They use general social networks as well as specific disease-related forums or Q&amp;A portals. We identified 73 098 DR/nAMD-related posts, including 13 138 posts by 844 DR patients and 358 posts by 212 nAMD patients. The posts were analyzed in several steps with the technologies of automated analysis of unstructured natural language texts including semantic technologies aimed at processing large volumes of data. The semantic analysis of texts dealt with the whole meaning rather than individual keywords. Results. We obtained information on the patients’ characteristics and treatment plans of retinal diseases in real practice but also on the patients’ attitude to their condition, diagnostic and curative procedures, their needs and difficulties experienced during treatment. The nAMD and DR patients have a low level of Internet activity and poor awareness of these diseases as compared with the patients suffering from non-ophthalmological diseases with lower prevalence (breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, etc.) or other ophthalmological disorders. Most of the content for DR was produced by the patients’ relatives (82.6 % of messages), and for nAMD — by the patients themselves (65 %). The key item for DR patients was diabetic microvascular manifestations (over 42 000 posts discussed ‘diabetic foot’ and only 681 ‘diabetic retinopathy’). Quality of life (QoL) was shown to be significantly affected with inability to work as a major burden for 30 % of nAMD patients, and diabetes-associated comorbidities as a key factor compromising QoL in 20 % of DR patients. In nAMD patients, the average time-to-diagnosis after disease manifestation was 1 year (35 % patients reported 1–2 months), in DR, over a half of the messages mentioned 1–2 years. The key reasons for visiting the clinics included in-depth eye exams (OCT mentioned by 59 % of nAMD patients) and treatment (24.1 %). Only 33.2 % of nAMD patients and 7 % of DR patients noted that they received anti-VEGFs. Treatment unaffordability is one of the key barriers. The patients lack clear understanding of the prognosis and effective treatment options. Conclusion. The study revealed low activity and awareness of nAMD and DR patients with regard to their diseases. This justifies the need of increasing computer literacy and awareness of effective treatment options and efficacy criteria not only in patients, but also in their younger relatives. The results confirm that, among the studied group of retinal patients, vision-related quality of life is compromised. We need to change at least several aspects of nAMD and DR patients’ management: reducing the time to diagnosis, prescribing effective treatment options and increasing the availability of these options.

STATUS OF PLANKTON AND BENTHOS IN THE AQUACULTURE FIELD OF BANGLADESH

Phytoplankton is a key food item in both aquaculture and mariculture. Phytoplankton is utilized as food for the animals in aquaculture directly. The plankton are collected from a body of water or cultured. Phytoplankton is used as a food stock for the production of rotifers and also used to feed molluscs, pearl oysters and giant clams. Plankton is divided into two groups belonging to phytoplankton and zooplankton. Phytoplankton has chlorophyll to capture sunlight, and they use photosynthesis to turn it into chemical energy. Zooplankton is a small floating or weakly swimming organism. Zooplankton moves vertically in the water column each day, feeding on the phytoplankton, small floating plants such as algae. Zooplankton serves as an intermediary species in the food chain, transferring energy from planktonic algae to the larger invertebrate predators and fish. Benthos is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the seabed, river, lake or stream bottom, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine or freshwater sedimentary environment, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental, and then down to the abyssal depths.

Selected Middle English adjectives of happiness: their representation in the Innsbruck Corpus

The present paper analyses the fates of the Middle English synonyms of the adjective happy. The group of the examined words contains adjectives beneurous, benewred, felicious, gracious, seely and the key item happy. Focusing on their fates in the period under question, the study uses data from the Innsbruck Corpus of Middle English, a collection of 129 Middle English digitised texts, preserved in 159 files, to determine token frequency, text distribution and semantic changes of the examined adjectives. Other sources used in the study are Middle English Dictionary (MED), The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), Historical Thesaurus of English (HTE) and AntConc, a freeware corpus analysis program. The evidence from the Innsbruck Corpus of Middle English Prose shows considerable discrepancies in the token frequency of the analysed terms and the number of attestations employed in the sense ‘happy’. Although the position of the adjective gracious was extraordinarily strong (354 attestations), the termyielded only 13 attestations used in the sense under study. The marginal status of benewred (2 attestations)and lack of beneurous in the Middle English texts examined announce their loss at the end of the period.

지혜교육 프로그램 개발을 위한 사전 설계도

Objectives This paper is to draft a design for the education for wisdom within the framework of the concepts by wiseness and foolishness. To this end, the purpose of this study is to establish the theoretical set of education for wisdom based on the problems of wiseness and foolishness, and to construct a three-dimensional 4-step process of education for wisdom. Methods This is a method of philosophical inquiry through literary review. The researcher explored the world of wiseness and foolishness through the methodology of the exploration of the Chinese character etymology pursued in Eastern Studies. In it, the researcher created a design of education for wisdom with reference to Tyler’s model of research and development in the curriculum and instruction. Results Using the Tyler’s model, the design of education for wisdom consists of a 4-step model of the purpose of education for wisdom, the content selection of education for wisdom, the content organization of education for wisdom, and the evaluation of education for wisdom. First, the purpose of education for wisdom is to nurture Homo sapiens. Second, the content selection of education for wisdom is made through the process of answering the following questions: What is wisdom? What is foolishness? What is the relationship between education and wiseness—foolishness? Third, educators of education for wisdom should organize the content of education for wisdom in three dimensions: cognitive wisdom, affective wisdom, and psychomotor wisdom. Fourth, the evaluation of education for wisdom should be made from the perspective of whether all the beneficiaries of education for wisdom have eliminated foolishness and acquired wiseness in accordance with the purpose of education for wisdom. In particular, the design of education for wisdom requires the perfect integration of the four phases to create a circular structure, in which curriculum alignment or instructional alignment is key item that must be considered educationally. Conclusions It is a self-evident fact that modern education does not carry out education for wisdom because it has no design of education for wisdom. This is the fundamental weakness of modern education. Therefore, the creation of an educational structure in which modern education designed by knowledge-based frame and education for wisdom, are mutually inter-woven, is emerging as a very urgent task in education.

Personification in the Socio-Psychological Prose of Mikhail Lermontov

Personification belongs to one of the fairly frequently used figurative devices, but it still has to be explored. In particular, this refers to Mikhail Lermontov’s prose. Along with that, the identification and objectification of the author’s style is important for literary criticism and translation studies. Within the broad frame of the term, personification can be interpreted as giving an inanimate object or a purely abstract thing the characteristics of an animate being, endowed with feeling and life. The present paper focuses on the description and functional analysis of personification in Lermontovian socio-psychological prose. The database built for this scrutiny contains three Lermontov’s novels written at different periods of his literary life: “Vadim” (1832–1834), “Princess Ligovskaya” (1836–1837) and “A Hero of Our Time”. Because of its brevity, the essay “The Caucasian” (1841) serves as a source of additional illustrative material. Adescriptive and functional analysis employs semantic, contextual and quantitative methods. A unit of observation is the “key lexical item” that, in conjunction with the referent, allows us to identify and categorize personification. The paper describes the main structural and semantic features of personification and investigates its principal functions in Lermontov’s texts. In particular, it has been shown that examples of personification in the novel make a kind of network designed to create a literary space focused on Nature and Man as an integral element of the earthly world. Furthermore, the current study demonstrates that personification accomplishes five basic functions in Lermontov’s prose: figurative, aesthetic, ludic, intertextual, and compositional. The undertaken study contributes to systematizing numerous examples of personification in Lermontov’s prose, and emphasizes the importance of further research aimed to clarify the impact of figurative devices on the internal architectonics of literary texts.

Self-Initiated Expatriation: A ‘New’ Management Challenge—An Analysis Based on Bibliometrics

The globalization movement, the growing processes of internationalization and opening of markets that have been observed over recent decades have brought with them a significant increase in cross-border movements, with expatriation assuming a prominent role. However, if expatriation is a reality of international markets, over recent years, this concept has taken on different typologies, including self-initiated expatriation. Characterized by the individual initiative that encourages individuals to move beyond their national borders in search of an international work experience, it is critical to understand the phenomena related to SIE. More precisely, we aim to study the problematics of SIE, namely, when it started to be studied and who has published in this area of research, and the identification of the main types/sources of publication used to disseminate these works, as well as the main topics that, within the scope of SIE, have been studied. To answer these questions, using information taken from the Scopus database, a qualitative study of an interpretive nature based on bibliometric analysis was performed. At first, in order to better understand the phenomenon of expatriation in global terms, 1050 publications were obtained using the item “expatriation”. In a second step, in order to answer the questions posed, the key item of the research focused on the concept “self-initiated expatriation”, with 82 publications identified. The obtained results allowed us to conclude, among other observations, that although the phenomenon of expatriation has been studied for many years, the particular case of SIE began to gain greater prominence from 2010 onwards, with the highest peak in the number of publications observed in the period between 2012 and 2014. The top five main authors who are working in this field, the main sources where these publications (mostly scientific articles) are most frequently published, the main countries of origin, and the main approaches developed by the different authors are highlighted here. Theoretical and practical contributions, as well as the political implications of this study, are highlighted in order to encourage the development of more exhaustive studies of SIE, thus contributing to the promotion of policies and practices oriented towards the management of SIE, which can explore the potential skills that these individuals have more deeply and thus contribute to the greater and more effective development of the companies and economies of the countries that host them.