Multidimensional Balance Research Articles

Optimal Capacity Allocation for Life Cycle Multiobjective Integrated Energy Systems Considering Capacity Tariffs and Eco-Indicator 99

Traditional energy systems pose a significant threat to human social development due to fossil fuel depletion and environmental pollution. Integrated energy systems (IESs) are widely studied and applied due to their clean and low-carbon characteristics to achieve sustainable development. However, as integrated energy systems expand, their impact on ecosystems becomes more pronounced. This paper introduces the concept of the ecological damage index (EDI) to promote the sustainable development of integrated energy systems. Moreover, the introduction of a capacity tariff mechanism will impact the energy structure, making it essential to consider its effects on capacity allocation within integrated energy systems. This paper proposes a multiobjective optimization framework for constructing a capacity planning model for integrated energy systems, focusing on achieving a multidimensional balance between the economy, environment, and ecosystem using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. Finally, the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) is employed to optimize the three objectives and obtain the Pareto frontier solution set. The optimal solution is selected from the solution set by combining the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and Shannon entropy method. In comparison to scenarios with incomplete considerations, the multiobjective capacity optimization model proposed in this study exhibits significant improvements across the three metrics of cost, carbon emissions, and the ecological damage index, with a 19.05% reduction in costs, a 26.24% decrease in carbon emissions, and an 8.85% decrease in the ecological damage index. The study demonstrates that the model abandons traditional single-objective research methods by incorporating a multidimensional balance of the economy, environment, and ecosystems. This approach forms a foundational basis for selecting the optimal energy mix and achieving sustainable development in integrated energy systems. The life cycle assessment methodology evaluates impacts across all stages of integrated energy systems, providing a comprehensive basis for assessing and planning the sustainable development of the systems. The study offers guidance for the rational allocation of the integrated energy system capacity and advances the sustainable development of such systems.

Measurement properties of Brief-BESTest scores from children, adolescents, and youth with visual impairments

Purpose: This study aimed to vet the measurement properties of Brief-BESTest scores in children, adolescents, and youth with visual impairment and blindness (YVI). Methods: A cross-sectional sample of YVI (N = 101) completed the Brief-BESTest, a modified version of the Y-Balance Test, the 360-degree turn test, bipedal quiet stance, and Activity-Specific Balance Confidence Scales. Thirty-seven YVI completed test-retest of the Brief-BESTest using a one-year interval. Using classical test theory, various forms of total and item-level Brief-BESTest score reliability and validity were investigated in YVI. Results: All inter-rater reliability coefficients were ≥ .80. When considering the eight items of the Brief-BESTest, 27 of the 28 possible correlations were statistically significant (p<.05). Various internal consistency and item difficulty results were strong. When taking total Brief-BESTest scores and their association with the complementary balance tasks/metrics into account, 11 of 13 associations were statistically significant (p<.05) providing strong convergent validity evidence. Being multimorbid and degree of vision significantly predicted total Brief-BESTest scores (p<.001) suggesting construct (i.e. known groups) validity. Numerous test-retest results (e.g. coefficients, limits of agreement) following the one-year interval were indicative of score stability. Conclusion: Practitioners and researchers should have confidence in, and consider adopting, the Brief-BESTest to examine multidimensional balance in YVI.

The impact of double carbon goals on industrial structure in a region of China

As an extensive and profound systemic change, carbon emission reduction is driving the reform and transformation of China’s economic and industrial structure. Firstly, a variable fractional order model is used to predict carbon emissions under different carbon reduction policy scenarios. Based on the analysis of different scenarios, the non equal order adjacent accumulation model was established to analyze regional industrial structure. Empirical research finds that with the continuous increase of policy strength, the proportion of primary industry structure and tertiary industry structure in Hebei will increase, and the proportion of secondary industry structure will decrease; the proportion of primary industry and secondary industry in Tianjin will increase, and the proportion of tertiary industry will decrease; the industry structure in Beijing is relatively stable. Therefore, the implementation of double carbon target should be scientifically judged and advance gradually in regular order, and an implementation strategy of multi-dimensional balance and dynamic optimization should be sought. The research conclusions are conducive to providing scientific guidance for policy formulation and helping to achieve the double carbon goal.

Research on the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Sustainable Performance: A Multi-dimensional Balance Perspective

ABSTRACT Corporate social responsibility (CSR) emphasizes the coexistence between enterprises and stakeholders so as to achieve the coordinated development of economy, society and environment. Based on the concept of CSR and triple bottom line, this article innovatively puts forward the concept of triple performance balance, which refers to the coordinated development level of corporate economic, social and environmental performance, and tests the impact of CSR fulfillment on corporate balance development. In order to examine the comprehensive balance consequences of CSR, this paper takes Chinese listed companies as samples, and the method of coefficient of variation, ordinary least squares regression as well as grouping test are employed. The results shown that CSR is conductive to the balance development of corporate triple performance, and the attributes of state-owned enterprises and mature period enterprises are beneficial to exerting the positive role of CSR on balance performance. Finally, this research emphasizes the balanced view of corporate responsibility to realize the harmonious and sustainable development of enterprise and society.

Land Use Mix in Functional Urban Areas of Selected Central European Countries from 2006 to 2012.

The land use mix (LUM) is among the critical issues in spatial planning because it can determine the occurrence and structure of various land use and cover types (LUC) and prevent any adverse patterns. The paper focuses on the LUM in functional urban areas (FUAs) in Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. The research employed Urban Atlas (UA) data on LUC in 2006 and 2012 to characterise LUM in the FUAs. The research follows the division of the FUA into the urban area (urban core, UC) and its functional surroundings (commuting zones, CZ). We further characterised the phenomena investigated for the entire country, region, and Europe using Corine Land Cover (CLC) data. The LUM was quantified with the entropy index (EI), dissimilarity index (DI), and multi-dimensional balance index (MBI). The EI demonstrated that the investigated FUAs went through more substantial LUM changes than the 27 European Union member states (EU27) from 2006 to 2012. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that LUM overspill was more intensive in CZs than in UCs on the regional and national levels. We found out that urbanised areas grew at the expense of agricultural areas in both UCs and CZs with similar dynamics in 2006-2012 in all the analysed countries.

Value and Intercultural Skills in the Flipped Inclusion Model

The complex society is a human organization in which the number and variety of internal and external relationships are multiple and intertwined. The global unification of people's behaviors, lifestyles and thinking takes place, often through adaptation to Western standards and habits of life. Consequently, the educational action must be reviewed (with respect to all contexts of application: formal, informal and non-formal) in order to enhance the multidimensional balance and enhance uniqueness. Cultural values have a significant role in the functioning of societies and their social institutions. They serve as a guide to the ideals and behavior of the members of a culture Deardorff's (2006) model of intercultural competence is extremely explanatory of the "contagion" effect generated by individual actions of intercultural sensitivity. For this reason, it is believed that in classes with a mixed cultural background an effective model to be used is Flipped inclusion, an alternative method of teaching / learning with a view to continuing education

Fundamental Credit Analysis through Dynamical Modeling and Simulation of the Balance Sheet: Case Study of Chinese Real Estate Developers

Fundamental credit analysis, widely performed by fixed-income analysts and financial institutions, has yet to develop a method that computes, directly from a company’s financial statements, the default probability, recovery rate upon default, and the fundamental valuation of a company’s credit risk in terms of the prices of its debts. This article introduces a computationally scalable approach to achieve these goals by modeling the dynamics of the multidimensional balance sheet, in which default is defined as the negative level of cash. Using six to eight years of annual financial statements up till 2020 as inputs, the method is applied to several Chinese real estate developers to forecast by simulation their future financials, including default scenarios, and to derive their fundamental credit spreads. The results both agreed and disagreed with the market-traded credit spreads at the time of the forecasts. The model priced the China Evergrande Group’s debt in deep distress-levels more than six months before the company’s actual default.

Untangling biomechanical differences in perturbation-induced stepping strategies for lateral balance stability in older individuals

When recovering balance from a lateral perturbation, younger adults tend to stabilize balance with a single lateral sidestep while older adults often take multistep responses. Using multiple steps to recover balance is consistently associated with increased fall risk, altered body center of mass (CoM) control and instability. The aim of this study was to compare the spatio-temporal stepping characteristics and the margin of stability (MoS) of single lateral sidesteps (LSS1) with the first and second steps of a two-step protective step sequence. Two-step sequences begin with either a cross-over step to the front or back, or a medial step followed by a lateral sidestep. Seventy-one older adults received random lateral waist-pull perturbations to either side. We hypothesized that LSS1 would be more stable (larger MoS) than either step in a two-step sequence. With some exceptions, utilizing a two-step sequence was associated with a reduced CoM velocity and distance between the base of support and CoM and decreased stability in the frontal plane following limb loading of the first and second step. There were no differences in the time available to arrest the extrapolated CoM at the end of a single lateral sidestep or the final step of a two-step sequence. Two-step sequences involving a cross-over step include more complex stepping trajectories and also challeng stability in the sagittal plane requiring a multidimensional balance correction. These results indicate important step type differences in center of mass control in recovering balance with a single lateral sidestep as opposed to a two-step sequence among older adults.

Balanced principal component for 3D shape recognition using convolutional neural networks

Currently, PCA (principal component analysis) is widely used in many neural networks and has become a crucial part of the convolutional neural network (CNN) feature extraction. However, whether PCA is suitable for this process remains to be elucidated. The authors proposed a new method called balanced principal component (BPC) that generates a balanced local feature and combines with CNN as a layer to cope with the fusion problem. Specifically, BPC layer includes regionalisation module and average compression PCA (AC-PCA) module. First, they used regionalisation module to generate some sub-region that focuses on the local feature in each view. Secondly, the AC-PCA module is a computational process that enlarges the feature matrix by PCA and eventually compacts the matrix to a one-dimensional (1D) vector by AC. Next, all 1D vectors are compacted by AC to obtain a multi-dimensional balance. Finally, they designed this layer with an end-to-end trainable structure to promote the feature extraction task of CNN. They addressed 3D shapes using a projection method that is pre-trained on ImageNet and migration learning on ModelNet dataset. By comparing with the state-of-the-art network, they achieved a significant gain in performance of retrieval and classification tasks.

The Influence of Worker’s Work-Life Balance on Family, Organization and Individual

This study divided work-life balance into multidimensional balance(work-family, work-growth, work-leisure) and analyzed the effects of multidimensional work-life balances on family domain (family relation, family burnout), organizational domain (innovative work behavior, job efficacy reduction), and personal domain (psychological well-being, job strain) criterions. The main results and meanings of this study are as follows: First, it is more valid to interpret the balance of work-life as multidimensional factor structure (home, growth, leisure) than to interpret one-dimensionally. Second, the explanation of three factors (home, growth, and leisure) compared to one factor of work-life balance showed incremental explanation in variables such as family exhaustion, job efficacy reduction, psychological well-being, and innovative work behavior. In particular, work-growth balance among the three factors explained more than 15% of innovative work activities than one factor. Third, the discriminatory relationship between various life domains and multidimensional balance was observed in the relationship between home domain and work-family balance, organizational domain and work-growth balance, but did not appear in the relationship between individual domain and work-leisure balance. The results of this study are significant in that it provides basic data suggesting that multidimensional support is needed for work-life balance by showing that workers' work-life balance can be divided into various dimensions and that work-life balance has unique influence on each dimension. Finally, the limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed that it is necessary to conduct a study on the moderating effect of individual differences in the relationship between work-life balance and various areas of life, and a study on the mediating effect including the determinants of work-life balance.

Stochastic Entropy Solutions for Stochastic Scalar Balance Laws

We are concerned with the initial value problem for a multidimensional balance law with multiplicative stochastic perturbations of Brownian type. Using the stochastic kinetic formulation and the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook approximation, we prove the uniqueness and existence of stochastic entropy solutions. Furthermore, as applications, we derive the uniqueness and existence of the stochastic entropy solution for stochastic Buckley-Leverett equations and generalized stochastic Burgers type equations.

Robotic balance assessment in community-dwelling older people with different grades of impairment of physical performance.

Impaired physical performance is common in older adults and has been identified as a major risk factor for falls. To date, there are no conclusive data on the impairment of balance parameters in older subjects with different levels of physical performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between different grades of physical performance, as assessed by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), and the multidimensional balance control parameters, as measured by means of a robotic system, in community-dwelling older adults. This study enrolled subjects aged ≥ 65years. Balance parameters were assessed by the hunova robot in static and dynamic (unstable and perturbating) conditions, in both standing and seated positions and with the eyes open/closed. The study population consisted of 96 subjects (62 females, mean age 77.2 ± 6.5years). According to their SPPB scores, subjects were separated into poor performers (SPPB < 8, n = 29), intermediate performers (SPPB = 8-9, n = 29) and good performers (SPPB > 9, n = 38). Poor performers displayed significantly worse balance control, showing impaired trunk control in most of the standing and sitting balance tests, especially in dynamic (both with unstable and perturbating platform/seat) conditions. For the first time, multidimensional balance parameters, as detected by the hunova robotic system, were significantly correlated with SPPB functional performances in community-dwelling older subjects. In addition, balance parameters in dynamic conditions proved to be more sensitive in detecting balance impairments than static tests.

Multi-dimensional balanced graph partitioning via projected gradient descent

Motivated by performance optimization of large-scale graph processing systems that distribute the graph across multiple machines, we consider the balanced graph partitioning problem. Compared to most of the previous work, we study the multi-dimensional variant in which balance according to multiple weight functions is required. As we demonstrate by experimental evaluation, such multi-dimensional balance is essential for achieving performance improvements for typical distributed graph processing workloads. We propose a new scalable technique for the multidimensional balanced graph partitioning problem. It is based on applying randomized projected gradient descent to a non-convex continuous relaxation of the objective. We show how to implement the new algorithm efficiently in both theory and practice utilizing various approaches for the projection step. Experiments with large-scale graphs containing up to hundreds of billions of edges indicate that our algorithm has superior performance compared to the state of the art.

The concept of friendship in adolescents with cancer: Reflections and experiences.

Cancer can erupt in an adolescent's life, damaging his or her multidimensional balance with its burden of physical suffering, changes in appearance, and anxiety, interrupting their activities, keeping them away from school, and isolating them socially. It is crucially important for adolescents with cancer to be able to feel the same as before, to feel they belong to a group of schoolmates. This is not always easy to achieve. Their peers sometimes lack the necessary resources to treat adolescents with cancer as normal ones, responding instead with pity or avoidance. This article discusses the concept of friendship in adolescents with cancer, based on direct experience of being with them, personal reflections, and texts chosen and shared with the patients, as part of the cultural activities dedicated to adolescents and young adults with cancer at the Youth Area of the Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano, and the Youth Project at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy.

Secure authentication with energy-harvesting: A multi-dimensional balancing act

The Internet of Things is as much a promise for our future as it is a challenge to our energy provisioning infrastructure. Energy harvesting is an important opportunity to address this challenge, and it may lead to a sustainable Internet of Things with low operation cost and maintenance cost. We study the design space of secure authentication using harvested energy. Secure authentication ensures that one can remotely verify the identity of a Thing, which is a critical step in the absence of a human user-in-the-loop. We assume an operating environment of a wireless node that is authenticated by the host; the wireless node contains an RF frontend, a micro-controller, and energy harvesting unit.The design space of energy-harvested secure authentication is rich and spans the protocol level, the algorithm level, and the (hardware) architecture level. Design decisions at each abstraction level affect the energy efficiency of the resulting solution, and the demands toward the energy-harvesting process. The key objective of this paper is to chart this design space from the energy versus performance point-of-view, and for a standard set of authentication protocols.To validate our analysis, we created a hardware prototype including a solar-based energy harvester, an MSP-430 micro-controller and a 2.4GHz radio link. We have accurately measured the energy consumption of the different components for different authentication algorithms, and at different levels of optimization. Our results show a trade-off over many orders of magnitude in energy and performance. However, the optimization knobs are distributed over every abstraction level. Our contribution therefore provides a comprehensive view at the overall energy optimization problem.

Multi-dimensional balance training programme improves balance and gait performance in people with Parkinson's disease: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial with 12-month follow-up.

Previous studies have demonstrated that exercise interventions can improve balance and gait performance in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), but most training did not targetall balance domains and was conducted mainly indoors. To investigate the short- and long-term effects of a multi-dimensional indoor and outdoor exercise programme on balance, balance confidence and gait performance in people with PD. Eligible subjects with PD were randomly assigned to an eight-week indoor and outdoor balance training (EXP, N=41) group or upper limb exercise (CON, N=43) group. Outcome measures included BESTest total and subsection scores, gait speed, dual-task timed-up-and-go (dual-task TUG) time and Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) score. All outcomes were assessed before training (Pre), immediately after intervention (Post) and at six-month (FU6m) and twelve-month (FU12m) follow-ups. Immediately after training, EXP group showed more significant improvements than CON group in BESTest total and subsection scores, gait speed and dual-task TUG time (p<0.05). At both FU6m and FU12m, EXP group showed significantly greater gains than CON group in BESTest total and subsection scores and dual-task TUG time (p<0.05). EXP group also showed significantly greater increase in the gait speed than CON group at FU6m (p<0.05). The positive findings of this study provide evidence that this multi-dimensional balance training programme can enhance balance and dual-task gait performance up to 12-month follow-up in people with PD.

Revisiting the Role of Anti-Circumvention Provisions under the wto Agreement: Lessons for East Asia

“Circumvention” is a growing challenge to the effectiveness of international law as the incentive to circumvent laws grows as the “legalization” of international society continues. This analysis on the anti-circumvention provisions within the wto Agreement reveals a lack of clarity and coherence in the existing disciplines. Ongoing negotiations to modify trade rules also do not fully address these concerns. Therefore, this article proposes that there is a need for a comprehensive approach consisting of amendment, coherent interpretation, use of general principles, and functional reallocation for the wto Agreement to address circumvention more effectively. In particular, to establish an efficient legal framework for economic integration in East Asia, this article notes that the priority in improving and clarifying anti-circumvention disciplines is to strike multi-dimensional balances between legitimate interests, including those between sovereign liberty and the effectiveness of international agreements, and those between the predictability of obligations and the effectiveness thereof.

Harmonic Balance Analysis for the Rigid Finite Element Model of the Rotating Cracked Shaft

The paper presents a multi-dimensional harmonic balance analysis utilized to study the vibration responses of the cracked rotor subject to gravity, unbalance and an additional lateral harmonic force generated by an active magnetic bearing. The nonlinear terms resulting from the shaft crack are included via an alternating frequency/time domain (AFT) method. The example addressed in this paper is a simple rotor modeled by using the rigid finite element (RFE) approach. Combination frequencies are recognized as evident symptoms of the shaft crack.

Percepciones de las personas con insuficiencia renal crónica sobre la calidad de vida

This research aimed to find out the perceptions of individuals with chronic renal failure (CRF) on their quality of life (QL) in a hemodialysis interior unit in Bahia. It is a descriptive exploratory study of qualitative approach, accomplished by means of a semi-structured interview. The results were analyzed according to content analysis in the second Minayo thematic modality. We interviewed 19 individuals who emerged from their testimony in three general categories: Perceptions of the concept of QL, QL impact of CRF on hemodialysis and Implications of the dimensions of QL. The first was divided into three subcategories: Multidimensional Balance, Health / Absence of Disease and Presence of Faith. The second was divided into two: water and diet restriction and limitation of functional capacity. And the third was subdivided into three: The social changes, the restriction of entertainment and leisure activities and territorial displacement to perform exhaustive dialysis. This survey revealed that hemodialysis and the disease affects the everyday life of these people, because they cause physical and social limitations, involving their work and eating habits plus their culture. It is concluded that care provided to customers dependent on dialysis treatment should go beyond the traditional biomedical focus on disease and that research can bring new comprehensive contributions to give more humane assistance.

Multidimensional Approximation Algorithms for Capacity-Expansion Problems

We develop multidimensional balancing algorithms to compute provably near-optimal capacity-expansion policies. Our approach is computationally efficient and guaranteed to produce a policy with total expected cost of no more than twice that of an optimal policy. We overcome the curse of dimensionality by introducing novel cost-separation schemes to separate the lost-sales cost of the system into exact monotonic subparts. This is the first approximation technique for multimachine, multiproduct systems facing stochastic, nonstationary, and correlated demands. To show the generality of this separation technique, we apply it to the capacity-expansion problem under two different production planning models: monotone production and revenue-maximizing production. We make the assumptions of minimal inventory and lost sales.