Local View Research Articles

Poetological dominants of historical memory in works of asian immigrant writers in Canada

Poetological dominants of historical memory in works of asian immigrant writers in Canada
 The paper highlights the development of literature related to the historical memory concept of Canadian immigrants from Asian countries. It covers the period of the late 20th ― first decades of the 21st century. The complex of problems, analyzed and structured within the semantic field of the modern historical memory concept, is often applicable both to Canada and Ukraine. The research broadens the knowledge of Canadian literature introducing the names of researchers and writers new to Ukrainian literary studies. The paper overviews the interpretations of Canadian Asian immigrants’ dispositions within the paradigm of modern arts and humanities. The focus is on the issues of double identity, the coherence of ethnic and North American mentality. The researcher generalizes the poetical aspects of the works by Ying Chen, Kim Thui, Joy Kogawa, Michael Ondaatje. Attention has been paid to the definition of discursive parameters, which allow shaping the concept of historical memory in ‘mosaic’ Canadian society; the issues of identities; the main markers of Canadian historical strategies; and versatile patterns of literary texts.
 The participation of Canada in the global dialog, which involves its culture and literature, plays probably the most important role in the debate on Canadian polyethnic literature. Regional, national, and international features demand some combined definition. The research explicates modern historical memory strategies in the context of conventional territory with its specific spatial and temporal characteristics. The author demonstrates the main local views on peculiarities of the Canadian literary process of the 2nd half of the 20th ― early 21st century and analyzes literary texts. All the novels show profound connection between representatives of Canadian literature, who may seem essentially different but manifest temporal and subjective similarity.
 The paper lists the names of authors working within the ‘double vision’ formula suggested by N. Frye. This approach focuses on the elements of North American culture pertaining to Canadian multicultural world structure as well as traditional cultures of the writers’ ancestral homelands. The paper also considers the generation paradigm, structured on the basis of social and historical algorithms and psychological markers. The types of generational modes (Kim Thuy, Michael Ondaatje) in literature were combined through a common denominator ― canadianness ― based on a double identity.

Cognitive Routing in Software-Defined Maritime Networks

Due to the constantly changing sea surface, there is a high risk of link fragility caused by sea waves when different marine users are intended to establish stable links for communication. To ensure stability with less delay, finding a stable route is one of the crucial aspects of maritime networks. In order to achieve this aim, we propose a routing protocol for cognitive maritime networks based on software-defined networking (SDN). This SDN-based cognitive routing protocol provides stable routes among different marine users. To provide the global view of the whole network, a main controller is placed close to the seashore, whereas the localized views are provided by the cluster heads. Autonomous surface vehicles are used as gateways under sparse network conditions to collect and transport data among clusters, and to and from the main controller. This is an SDN-based ship-to-ship communication scheme where two ships can only establish a link when they not only have consensus about a common idle channel but are also within the communication range of each other. We perform extensive simulations to test the proposed scheme with different parameters and find better performance in comparison with both SDN-based and non-SDN-based schemes in terms of end-to-end delay, packet delivery ratio, and routing overhead ratio.

Facilitators and Inhibitors to Assessing Entrustable Professional Activities in Pediatric Residency.

Research on entrustable professional activities (EPAs) has focused on EPA development with little attention paid to implementation experiences. This constructivist grounded theory study sought to begin filling this gap by exploring the experiences of pediatric residency programs with implementing EPA-based assessment. Interviews with 19 program leader and clinical competency committee participants from 13 sites were held between January and July 2019. Participants were asked about their experiences with implementing EPA-based assessment. Data collection and analysis were iterative. Participants described a range of facilitators and inhibitors that influenced their efforts to implement EPA-based assessment. These fell into 4 thematic areas: 1) alignment of EPA construct with local views of performance and assessment, 2) assessing EPAs illuminates holes in the residency curriculum, 3) clinical competency committee structure and process impacts EPA-based assessment, and 4) faculty engagement and development drives ability to assess EPAs. Areas described as facilitators by some participants were noted to be inhibitors for others. The sum of a program's facilitators and inhibitors led to more or less ability to assess EPAs on the whole. Finally, the first area functions differently from the others; it can shift the entire balance toward or away from the ability to assess EPAs overall. This study helps fill a void in implementation evidence for EPA-based assessment through better understanding of facilitators and inhibitors to such efforts.

Local disaster knowledge: Towards a plural understanding of volcanic disasters in Central Java's highlands, Indonesia

Local, traditional, or indigenous knowledge play an important role in disaster risk reduction (DRR), and many policy recommendations now call for the integration of local and expert views. While these attempts at integration are indeed promising, they are often built on assumptions that local knowledge is inherently separate from, or even subordinate to, expert perspectives. This article presents an account of what we call “local disaster knowledge” (LDK) in the Dieng Plateau of Central Java; a region characterised by volcanic craters that periodically expel poisonous concentrations of carbon dioxide gas. LDK is interpreted as a plural, embedded, relational and embodied knowledge system, which incorporates complementary forms of knowledge gained through everyday livelihood practice, scientific information and cultural‐religious beliefs. Rather than focusing on the “separateness” of local knowledge, this article forwards an ethnographic approach to disaster research that recognises the beneficial knowledge interactions that already exist (many of which occur informally), and the contextual reasons that explain local understandings of risk. Our findings advocate for the more genuine and equal inclusion of local views in global DRR policy and frameworks, as well as in the design and implementation of local level programmes.

Dual-View Semantic Inference Network for image-text matching

Recently, image-text matching based on local region-word semantic alignment has attracted considerable research attention. The fine-grained interplay can be achieved by aggregating the similarities of the region-word pairs. However, the similarities of aligned region-word pairs are treated equally in most cross-modal matching literatures, without considering their respective importance. Moreover, the local alignment methods are prone to bring about a global semantic drift due to the ignorance of thematic considerations for the image-text pairs. In this paper, a novel Dual-View Semantic Inference (DVSI) network is proposed to leverage both local and global semantic matching in a holistic deep framework. For the local view, a region enhancement module is proposed to mine the priorities for different regions in the image, which provides differentiate abilities to discover the latent region-word relationships. For the global view, the overall semantics of image is summarized for global semantic matching to avoid global semantic drift. The two views are unified together for final image-text matching. Extensive experiments conducted on MSCOCO and Flicr30K demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed DVSI.

‘Clean up your rain gutters!’: mosquito control, responsibility, and blame following the 2009–2010 dengue fever outbreak in Key West, Florida

During the summer of 2009 the city of Key West saw the first outbreak of dengue fever in the southeastern United States in nearly 70 years. The outbreak was set amidst a growing trend of increased global incidence and distribution, and required an integrated effort amongst local residents and numerous agencies tasked with managing viruses, vectors, and ecological habitats. By using semi-structured interviews with residents and local health and vector control officials, this paper examines the control of the mosquito and tensions surrounding dengue fever on the island more generally. While local agencies view residents as not taking enough action around their properties to clear breeding sites, this research suggests that residents are taking extensive action by not only being aware of sites in their yards, but actively surveilling and intervening in their neighbors’ spaces. Further, important socio-environmental factors were identified that limit residents' abilities to take recommended control actions. Such research is important for the southern US, which has seen a growing increase in dengue and other similar diseases in recent years, as mosquitoes that were previously only annoyances now vector infectious agents.

Picosecond pulsed digital off-axis holography for near-nozzle droplet size and 3D distribution measurement of a swirl kerosene spray

Near-nozzle spray formation determines the spray structure of downstream dilute spray, and thus plays an important role in evaluating the performance of air blast atomizer. To capture the exact structure of the atomization field in near-nozzle region, the spray cones from the exit of a two-stage swirler to the 9 mm downstream area with the gas pressure of 0.5 kPa, 1.0 kPa, 3.0 kPa and the fuel pressure of 0.03 MPa and 0.71 MPa, are investigated using a picosecond pulsed laser digital off-axis holography (DOH) system. The spray structures and droplet characteristics in near-nozzle region are visualized with clear image of nonspherical droplets and then quantified. Semi-spray cone angles from the front view (x-y) projections of particle fields are obtained and results indicate that the angle increases with the increase of gas pressure within test range. From the overall view of spray field, the droplet peak diameter decreases with gas pressure, from about 80 μm at 0.54 kPa to about 30 μm at 3.05 kPa. In addition, cumulative volume distribution of droplet obtained in near-nozzle region agrees well with modified Rosin–Rammler distribution. From the local view, spatial distributions of the normalized droplet number density and Sauter mean diameters (SMD) ranging from 30 μm to 480 μm of the swirl spray field are statistically analyzed. Results indicate that as the gas pressure increases, the SMD distribution is more uniform. Under all gas pressure conditions, SMD distributions tend to be larger in the near-exit area and the region inside mist cone edge. The work also demonstrates that picosecond pulsed DOH is a powerful tool for 3D diagnostics of spray.

Novel electromagnetic-based navigation for percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic lumbar decompression in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis reduces radiation exposure and enhances surgical efficiency compared to fluoroscopy: a randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundPercutaneous transforaminal endoscopic lumbar decompression (PTELD) is an emerging surgical alternative for treating lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). However, the foraminoplasty procedure often requires repeated fluoroscopy, and endoscopy just offers a local view. No studies have focused on decreasing radiation exposure with electromagnetic navigation assistance. This study introduces a novel electromagnetic-based navigation (EMN) endoscopic system for PTELD in patients with LSS and compares the results in navigation and fluoroscopy groups.MethodsEighty-eight patients with LSS were randomized into either a navigation (44 patients) or fluoroscopy group. Duration of surgery, cannula placement time, radiation dose, blood loss, intraoperative pain assessment, and postoperative hospitalization stay were evaluated. The clinical outcomes were evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS), the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), 6-minute walk test, and modified Macnab criteria.ResultsEighty-five patients were followed-up for at least 12 months. The duration of surgery and cannula placement time were significantly more efficient in the navigation group (P=0.03 and P<0.001). Intraoperative pain assessment showed significantly less pain in the navigation group (P=0.038). The radiation dose was significantly higher in the fluoroscopy group than the navigation group (P<0.001). The VAS scores for back (P<0.001) and leg (P<0.001) pain improved significantly in both groups after surgery, as did the ODI (P<0.001) scores. Improvements in walking ability and Macnab criteria assessments at the 12-month follow-up, assessed subjective by patient assessments did not differ between the two groups.ConclusionsThe EMN system used in PTELD for patients with LSS compared to fluoroscopy enhances efficiency for foraminoplasty, reduces intraoperative pain and levels of radiation exposure. It results in outcomes comparable with results using fluoroscopy.

Vehicle re-identification based on unsupervised local area detection and view discrimination

Vehicle re-identification is an important part of intelligent transportation. Although much work has been done on this subject in recent years, vehicle re-identification is still a challenging task due to its obvious illumination change, high similarity between inter-class and great changes under different views. As discriminatory local areas and vehicle view information is the key to improving the above issues, it is desirable to create a model which considers both local details and cross-view situation. In this paper, we built a vehicle re-identification framework based on unsupervised local area detection and view discrimination. First, we combine the convolution features of multiple vehicle images by channel to generate joint channel features, and constructs a discriminating region detector unsupervised by clustering the channel covariance vectors generated between the joint channel features. In the next stage, the irregular shape detection results are converted to rectangular discriminative region by using a novel local region integration algorithm. These rectangular discriminative regions are fed into a multi-branch network to extract the local–global features which contains rich detail information. Furthermore, we generate the view features by regarding the detected discriminative areas as keypoints and construct the unsupervised view discriminator. By using the view information of the vehicle, we designed a view-discrimination based reranking algorithm, which effectively reduces the error rate of identification due to view variant. In order to prove the validity of our method, we have done extensive experiments on VehicleID and VERI-Wild dataset. Experimental results show that our method is superior to other existing vehicle re-identification algorithms.

Genome-scale metabolic modelling predicts biomarkers and therapeutic targets for neuropsychiatric disorders

Distinguishing neuropsychiatric disorders is challenging due to the overlap in symptoms and genetic risk factors. People suffering from these disorders face personal and professional challenges. Understanding the dysregulation of brain metabolism under disease condition can aid in effective diagnosis and in developing treatment strategies based on the metabolism. In this study, we reconstructed the metabolic network of three major neuropsychiatric disorders, schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) using transcriptomic data and constrained based modelling approach. We integrated brain transcriptomic data from six independent studies with a recent comprehensive genome-scale metabolic model Recon3D. The analysis of the reconstructed network revealed the flux-level alterations in the peroxisome-mitochondria-golgi axis in neuropsychiatric disorders. We also extracted reporter metabolites and pathways that distinguish these three neuropsychiatric disorders. We found differences with respect to fatty acid oxidation, aromatic and branched chain amino acid metabolism, bile acid synthesis, glycosaminoglycans synthesis and modifications, and phospholipid metabolism. Further, we predicted network perturbations that transform the disease metabolic state to a healthy metabolic state for each disorder. These analyses provide local and global views of the metabolic changes in SCZ, BD and MDD, which may have clinical implications.

Global and Local Views of the Glass Transition in Mixtures

Global and Local Views of the Glass Transition in Mixtures

A local view of the laser induced magnetic domain dynamics in CoPd stripe domains at the picosecond time scale

The dynamics of the magnetic structure in a well ordered ferromagnetic CoPd stripe domain pattern has been investigated upon excitation by femtosecond infrared laser pulses. Time-resolved x-ray magnetic circular dichroism in photoemission electron microscopy (TR-XMCD-PEEM) is used to perform real space magnetic imaging with 100 ps time resolution in order to show local transformations of the domains structures. Using the time resolution of the synchrotron radiation facility of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, we are able to image the transient magnetic domains in a repetitive pump and probe experiment. In this work, we study the reversible and irreversible transformations of the excited magnetic stripe domains as function of the laser fluence. Our results can be explained by thermal contributions, reducing the XMCD amplitude in each stripe domain below a threshold fluence of 12 mJ cm−2. Above this threshold fluence, irreversible transformations of the magnetic domains are observed. Static XMCD-PEEM images reveal the new partially ordered stripe domain structures characterized by a new local magnetic domain distribution showing an organized pattern at the micrometer scale. This new arrangement is attributed to the recovery of the magnetic anisotropy during heat dissipation under an Oersted field.

User Perceptions of Virtual Hospital Apps in China: Systematic Search.

BackgroundVirtual hospital apps are mobile apps that offer functionalities of online consultation, medical guidance, health community forums, referrals, outpatient appointments or virtual hospital-to-home care services. With an increasing number of online medical and health care consulting services, virtual hospital apps have made health care more accessible and fairer for all, especially in China. However, they have occurred without control or regulation. User evaluation can provide directions to help apps optimize identification, lower risks, and guarantee service quality.ObjectiveWe aimed to conduct a systematic search for virtual hospital apps in China. To get a global view, virtual hospital apps were assessed and characterized by means of quantitative analysis. To get a local view, we conducted a content feedback analysis to explore user requirements, expectations, and preferences.MethodsA search was conducted of the most popular Apple and Android app stores in China. We characterized and verified virtual hospital apps and grouped apps according to quantification analysis. We then crawled apps and paid attention to corresponding reviews to incorporate users’ involvement, and then performed aspect-based content labeling and analysis using an inductive approach.ResultsA total of 239 apps were identified in the virtual hospital app markets in China, and 2686 informative corresponding reviews were analyzed. The evidence showed that usefulness and ease of use were vital facts for engagement. Users were likely to trust a consulting service with a high number of downloads. Furthermore, users expected frequently used apps with more optimization to improve virtual service. We characterized apps according to 4 key features: (1) app functionalities, including online doctor consultation, in-app purchases, tailored education, and community forums; (2) security and privacy, including user data management and user privacy; (3) health management, including health tracking, reminders, and notifications; and (4) technical aspects, including user interface and equipment connection.ConclusionsVirtual hospitals relying on the mobile internet are growing rapidly. A large number of virtual hospital apps are available and accessible to a growing number of people. Evidence from this systematic search can help various types of virtual hospital models enhance virtual health care experiences, go beyond offline hospitals, and continuously meet the needs of individual end users.

Bicho bandido : wild boars, biological invasions and landscape transformations on the Brazilian–Uruguayan border (Pampas region)

In this paper, I discuss the reactions to European wild boars () in the Brazilian–Uruguayan border region from an ethnographic point of view. Drawing on the concept of taskscape, I explore the reasons why these animals are regarded as ‘bandits’ by local agents, as well as the differences in perception between the threat posed by boars and by other non‐native species also present in the Pampa biome, such as Australian eucalyptus ( sp.), Pinus ( sp) and South‐African tough lovegrass (). By contrasting scientific and local views of ‘invasive species’, I argue that the reactions to are connected to the transformations that the Pampa landscape has been undergoing throughout its socio‐environmental history. Namely, the deeply agonistic pattern of human–animal relations that constituted the prairie, as well as the tensions concerning the relations of property and labour in rural areas. Furthermore, in line with the approach that sees landscapes as shaped by different ‘tasks’, I explore local notions of ‘work’ in order to offer an alternative interpretation for the problem of biological invasions, beyond the territorial approach that permeates the literature on the subject.

Soup kitchens: The stigma of being poor and the construction of social identity

This project involved an ethnographic study that documented how homeless individuals who frequent local soup kitchens view themselves and how they manage the stigma that can be associated with this population. Qualitative techniques of observation and brief conversations over a 3-year period with more than 100 soup kitchen participants constituted the data. Findings of this project confirm the earlier work of Goffman and more recent work where clear stigma responses and identities were observed in homeless and low-income adults.

Participant Chinese teacher and student perceptions of an international teaching practicum with Australian pre-service teachers

ABSTRACT Insights into local Chinese teacher and student views of an international teaching practicum with Australian pre-service teachers are the focus of this paper. A qualitative content analysis was undertaken on teacher and student accounts captured through individual interviews with four teachers and questionnaire survey with 186 students. The paper uncovers how teachers and students perceived what they experienced in the practice of intercultural communication on teaching and learning. Emphasised in the analysis is the importance of situating discussions within the Chinese social cultural context, acknowledging the influence of traditional Chinese cultural values and educational conceptions on their teaching and learning practice. The findings reveal meaningful insights into intercultural comprehension involving teaching strategies, learning content and assessment and classroom management. The study’s findings highlighted that this international teaching practicum was a beneficial and valuable experience for participant Chinese students and teachers. The study also highlighted a potential gap in the preparation of Australian pre-service teachers and the Chinese students and Chinese teachers, regarding culturally specific and culturally aware competencies.

Adaptable Map Matching Using PF-net for Pedestrian Indoor Localization

map matching has played a crucial role in technologies related to indoor positioning. Conventional map matching algorithms based on particle filter (PF) have some limitations, such as the limited use of map information, poor generalization and low precision. To solve these problems, we propose an adaptable particle filter network (AdaPFnet), a novel map matching technique that integrates particle filter algorithm into a neural network. AdaPFnet uses local views of particles to represent particles so that the map information about location can be learned sufficiently through a neural network. To demonstrate the performance of the model, it has conducted extensive experiments using 1540 real-world data. The results show that AdaPFnet outperforms PF by up to 21% and remains a strong adaptability for different environments.

Local stakeholders’ perspectives on religious heritage and tourism development in Varanasi

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the perspectives of local stakeholders on the role of religious tourism and the development process that alter the sacred space and religious heritage of Varanasi. Specific objectives include study local stakeholders' view on the motivation of visitors, the image of the city they carry home, role of infrastructure development altering sacredness of the city, major issues pertaining to conservation of the city's religious heritage and whether tourism dominates the sacred space of the city.Design/methodology/approachThe present study follows the philosophical approach of constructionism and is an inductive study based on the ontological features of realism. The study is conducted using qualitative research design. Participants were purposely selected from different groups to provide representative data. through in-depth interviews with a set of 22 open-ended questions.FindingsThe study acknowledged the spatial changes happening in an old city over time. The portrayed image of Varanasi remains deeply rooted in the minds of pilgrims, whereas the tourist perspective often goes beyond the texts as an experience. The reflection of local stakeholders in the transformation of sacred space to tourist experiencescape as a consumable experience, which is influenced by market-driven forces is a major finding of the study.Research limitations/implicationsDifficulties in finalising the respondents and building up the theoretical base, which is one of the main limitations of the study. During the process of data collection, the respondents mainly focussed upon the impacts of tourism on Varanasi, and the researchers made every effort to extract qualitative information on the current research. At times, some respondents hesitated to share their view on political influences in the development process, which restricted the authors to obtain righteous information, that could have contributed a better understanding of the deep-rooted issues of religious heritage conservation. Another limitation is that the perspectives of visitors have not been included in this research.Practical implicationsThe study will contribute to the theoretical areas of tourism development in historic and sacred cities. As an interdisciplinary area, the selected theme of the study delves in to landscape planning, heritage preservation, tourism development in historic cities and more importantly how residents understand the changes happening in a scared environment. The present research opens opportunities for further researches such as social pressures and tourism development, urban morphology and its transformation in ancient cities and so on.Social implicationsVaranasi is an ancient city in India, which is also the heartland of Hinduism. The study reveals the understanding of respondents on religious traditions, sentiments and the social values attached to a place. At the same time, it also highlights the role of tourism in generating an intercultural dialogue with local cultures, appreciating the sacred value of sites associated with religious sentiments.Originality/valueThe study addresses the role of tourism in altering the landscape of ancient city of Varanasi. The original view of respondents has been used in the article to maintain originality. There are several researches conducted on Varanasi, but the present study is conducted in a systematic way to gather the real understanding of local people. The study acknowledges the changes happening in the city along the course of time.

Scheduling data aggregation trees to extend network lifetime in sensor networks

SummaryIncreasing network lifetime (NL) is an important requirement in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). One of the techniques to extend NL is to use Data Aggregation Trees (DATs). DATs improve NL by combining the energy efficiency benefits of both Data Aggregation (DA) and tree‐based routing. While centralized and distributed strategies for DAT construction are widely used, we propose a combined approach for DAT construction to improve NL. The approach reduces the communication overhead and relaxes the requirement of complete network information at the sink. In the proposed work, this collaborative approach is termed as Extended Local View (ELV) approach. Two ELV‐based DAT construction algorithms termed as ELV with Fixed sink (ELVF) and ELV with Random sink (ELVR) are proposed. Both ELVF and ELVR use heuristics‐based technique of Local Path Reestablishment (LPR) and greedy‐based technique of Extended Path Reestablishment (EPR). Using these techniques a sequence of DATs are scheduled that collectively improve NL and also reduce the associated DAT reconstruction overhead. Performance of ELVF and ELVR is evaluated with rigorous experiments, and the simulation results show that the proposed algorithms have improved NL and are scalable across different DA ratio values. DAT schedule analysis further demonstrates reduced DAT reconstruction overhead of the proposed algorithms which illustrates its suitability for hostile and critical environments.

Edge classification based on Convolutional Neural Networks for community detection in complex network

Community detection is a fundamental problem for many networks, and many methods have been proposed to resolve it. However, due to rapid increases in the scale and diversity of networks, the modular organization at the global level in many large networks is often extremely difficult to recognize. In this paper, we propose a new method based on deep learning on ground-truth communities, with the aim of revealing community structure in large real-world networks. The contributions of this paper are 1) proposing an edge-to-image (E2I) model that can transfer the edge structure to an image structure; 2) construction of a community network (ComNet) to classify the two types of edges, which are those in the same community and others between different communities; 3) making it easier to obtain local views of network communities by breadth-first search based on edge classification; and 4) merging preliminary communities with local modularity R, making it easy to optimize the community structure and obtain the final community structure of given networks. The experimental results show that the proposed edge classification method based on deep convolution neural networks can increase the accuracy of community structure evaluation compared with the existing methods in computer-generated networks and large-scale real-world networks.