Parallel Development Research Articles

Top down or bottom up? Evidence from the longitudinal development of global and domain-specific self-esteem in adulthood.

Classical theoretical perspectives have implied that either global self-esteem has an impact on domain-specific self-esteem (top-down) or domain-specific self-esteem affects global self-esteem (bottom-up). The goal of the present research was to investigate whether classical top-down and bottom-up approaches could withstand a thorough test. To do so, we applied elaborate analytical methods in a four-wave longitudinal study across 6 years with preregistered hypotheses and data analyses. We analyzed data from N = 1,417 German participants (30.6% men, median of 12 to 13 years of education) with an average age of 47.0 years (SD = 12.4, range 18 to 88) at intake. Analyses using latent variable approaches for modeling intraindividual change provided evidence of top-down effects only. For example, participants with higher global self-esteem exhibited an increase in performance self-esteem but not vice versa. Our results also provided evidence of "vertical" associations between global and domain-specific self-esteem, that is, parallel development within the same time frame. In addition, the analyses revealed high rank order stability and a substantial trait component in global self-esteem and the self-esteem domains. The present findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the stability and development of self-esteem in adulthood and advance the understanding of global and domain-specific self-esteem in personality theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Orbán regime as the ‘perfect autocracy’: The emergence of the ‘zombie democracy’ in Hungary

Abstract All ECE countries have covered the same historical trajectory of ‘the third-generation autocracy’, but Hungary has been reaching its ‘perfection’, since the two-thirds, constitutional supermajority in the Hungarian case has allowed for the Orbán regime to complete this ‘reverse wave’ in all fields of society and turning it into a zombie democracy. The conceptual frame of this paper is that the decline of democracy and the turn to autocratisation can be presented in ECE in the three big stages of the Easy Dream, Chaotic Democracy and Neoliberal Autocracy in the three corresponding decades. The paper concentrates on the third stage in its three shorter periods taking 3–4 years as the De­Democratisation, Autocratisation and De­Europeanisation. The Hungarian case has been presented in this paper in a comparative ECE view as its worst-case scenario that also sheds light on the parallel developments in the fellow ECE countries.

Development and verification of Geant4-based parallel computing Monte Carlo simulations for nuclear logging applications

Monte Carlo is one of the most common methods to solve radiation transport problems. However, due to its statistical nature, Monte Carlo is time-consuming when applied to large-scale problems. Therefore, parallel computing, a powerful tool in accelerating Monte Carlo calculations, has been receiving increasing attention along with new developments of computing hardware in recent years. This work documents the application of parallel computing in Geant4 simulations pertaining to nuclear logging tools. A user-specific interface is developed to enable Geant4 multithreading functionality for two nuclear logging models and the parallel Monte Carlo performance is evaluated on a designated HPC (high performance computing) platform. Upon the validation of the parallel-mode simulation, the performance of the Geant4-based simulation in multi-threaded mode (G4-MT) and with the G4-MPI native interface to MPI are compared to obtain the best combination of threads and processes on each node. Strong and weak scalabilities on multiple threads are then investigated by computing the speedup and the parallel efficiency of the simulation. The results show that combining multi-threaded and MPI-based execution can significantly reduce execution time in parallel mode. And the paper documents the improvement of Monte Carlo simulation efficiency by optimizing the configuration of computational resources for parallel execution while keeping close-to-linear acceleration.

Theoretical perspectives on non-Born-Oppenheimer effects in chemistry.

The Born-Oppenheimer approximation, which assumes that the electrons respond instantaneously to the motion of the nuclei, breaks down for a wide range of chemical and biological processes. The rate constants of such nonadiabatic processes can be calculated using analytical theories, and the real-time nonequilibrium dynamics can be described using numerical atomistic simulations. The selection of an approach depends on the desired balance between accuracy and efficiency. The computational expense of generating potential energy surfaces on-the-fly often favours the use of approximate, robust and efficient methods such as trajectory surface hopping for large, complex systems. The development of formally exact non-Born-Oppenheimer methods and the exploration of well-defined approximations to such methods are critical for providing benchmarks and preparing for the next generation of faster computers. Thus, the parallel development of rigorous but computationally expensive methods and more approximate but computationally efficient methods is optimal. This Perspective briefly summarizes the available theoretical and computational non-Born-Oppenheimer methods and presents examples illustrating how analytical theories and nonadiabatic dynamics simulations can elucidate the fundamental principles of chemical and biological processes. These examples also highlight how theoretical calculations are able to guide the interpretation of experimental data and provide experimentally testable predictions for nonadiabatic processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Chemistry without the Born-Oppenheimer approximation'.

Исследование информационного взаимодействия железнодорожного и морского транспорта в логистических цепях доставки груза

Purpose: To investigate the development of logistic chain of supplies from simple to maximal one, to consider informational flow evolution of logistic process till a single digital platform. To analyze the prerequisites for the transfer to a digital logistics and the level of development at the moment. To build the descriptive model of the interaction between a railway and sea transport. Methods: The research of the interaction between a station and a port is pursued in two major directions: information transfer, cargo traffic progression. The analysis of the development and classification of delivery chains is submitted. The descriptive models of document flow on import cargo traffic progression are built and analyzed. Results: The necessity of parallel development of transport and terminal complexes, RZD JCS infrastructure is pointed out for the transfer to network logistics stage. Information flow classification is presented. The descriptive model of the information interaction between a sea and port is built. Practical importance: The possibility to cut surplus document flow between a port and near-the-port station is shown, the need in such actions for the transfer to a single network platform is presented.

Carbon-Confined Indium Oxides for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Reduction in a Solid-State Electrolyte Flow Cell.

Developing robust electrocatalysts and advanced devices is important for electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO2 ) reduction toward the generation of valuable chemicals. We present herein a carbon-confined indium oxide electrocatalyst for stable and efficient CO2 reduction. The reductive corrosion of oxidative indium to the metallic state during electrolysis could be prevented by carbon protection, and the applied carbon layer also optimizes the reaction intermediate adsorption, which enables both high selectivity and activity for CO2 reduction. In a liquid-phase flow cell, the formate selectivity exceeds 90 % in a wide potential window from -0.8 V to -1.3 V vs. RHE. The continuous production of ca. 0.12 M pure formic acid solution is further demonstrated at a current density of 30 mA cm-2 in a solid-state electrolyte mediated reactor. This work provides significant concepts in the parallel development of electrocatalysts and devices for carbon-neutral technologies.

Carbon‐Confined Indium Oxides for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Reduction in a Solid‐State Electrolyte Flow Cell

AbstractDeveloping robust electrocatalysts and advanced devices is important for electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction toward the generation of valuable chemicals. We present herein a carbon‐confined indium oxide electrocatalyst for stable and efficient CO2 reduction. The reductive corrosion of oxidative indium to the metallic state during electrolysis could be prevented by carbon protection, and the applied carbon layer also optimizes the reaction intermediate adsorption, which enables both high selectivity and activity for CO2 reduction. In a liquid‐phase flow cell, the formate selectivity exceeds 90 % in a wide potential window from −0.8 V to −1.3 V vs. RHE. The continuous production of ca. 0.12 M pure formic acid solution is further demonstrated at a current density of 30 mA cm−2 in a solid‐state electrolyte mediated reactor. This work provides significant concepts in the parallel development of electrocatalysts and devices for carbon‐neutral technologies.

Party System Change in Eastern and Western Germany Between Convergence and Dissimilarity

ABSTRACT This paper compares the evolution of critical characteristics of the party systems in Eastern and Western Germany since unification. While the institutionalisation hypothesis implies that the party system in Eastern Germany should adjust towards its Western German counterpart, the ongoing dealignment suggests a loosening of party-voter-linkages and, ultimately, non-institutionalisation in Eastern Germany and party system de-institutionalisation in Western Germany. However, both hypotheses predict a convergence. Against the backdrop of persisting regional differences in party strengths, a third hypothesis assumes that Eastern and Western Germany still have two distinct party systems thirty years after reunification. Using election results and survey data since the 1990s, we inspect the development of five indicators of party systems – volatility, vote-switching, electoral availability, fragmentation, and differences in vote shares – in light of the hypotheses. There are three main results: First, most of the indicators point to party system institutionalisation in Eastern Germany and convergence to Western Germany in the 1990s. Second, for the last 20 years or so, the indicators point to parallel developments of dealignment and partial party system de-institutionalisation. Third, regarding the specific parties and their vote shares, there has been no convergence between Eastern and Western Germany.

Thin film microfluidic reactors in electrochemical advanced oxidation processes for wastewater treatment: A review on influencing parameters, scaling issues, and engineering considerations

AbstractThe use of microfluidic electrochemical reactors has been introduced several decades ago, but their application in the field of wastewater treatment is more recent (2010). The parallel development of electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) as promising technologies for effluent treatment make them good candidates to be implemented as thin film cells. This allows favoring the mass transfer, which is particularly interesting for heterogenous electro‐oxidation. Moreover, the energy requirement is reduced, while there is possibility to treat low‐conductivity solutions. This review intends to provide instructions on the main operating parameters to be optimized during the EAOPs treatment. Directions on engineering aspects have been given to overcome the main drawbacks of microreactors, such as fouling, scaling, and low treatment capacity, based on recent encouraging results given in literature. The promising development of hybrid processes that combine electroseparation with electroconversion would also benefit from such reactor designs.

Canine Intestinal Organoids in a Dual-Chamber Permeable Support System

The permeable support system is typically used in conjunction with traditional two-dimensional (2D) cell lines as an in vitro tool for evaluating the oral permeability of new therapeutic drug candidates. However, the use of these conventional cell lines has limitations, such as altered expression of tight junctions, partial cell differentiation, and the absence of key nuclear receptors. Despite these shortcomings, the Caco-2 and MDCK models are widely accepted and validated for the prediction of human in vivo oral permeability. Dogs are a relevant translational model for biomedical research due to their similarities in gastrointestinal anatomy and intestinal microflora with humans. Accordingly, and in support of parallel drug development, the elaboration of an efficient and accurate in vitro tool for predicting in vivo drug permeability characteristics both in dogs and humans is highly desirable. Such a tool could be the canine intestinal organoid system, characterized by three-dimensional (3D), self-assembled epithelial structures derived from adult stem cells. The (1) Permeable Support Seeding Protocol describes the experimental methods for dissociating and seeding canine organoids in the inserts. Canine organoid isolation, culture, and harvest have been previously described in a separate set of protocols in this special issue. Methods for general upkeep of the canine intestinal organoid monolayer are discussed thoroughly in the (2) Monolayer Maintenance Protocol. Additionally, this protocol describes methods to assess the structural integrity of the monolayer via transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements and light microscopy. Finally, the (3) Permeability Experimental Protocol describes the tasks directly preceding an experiment, including in vitro validation of experimental results. Overall, the canine organoid model, combined with a dual-chamber cell culture technology, overcomes limitations associated with 2D experimental models, thereby improving the reliability of predictions of the apparent oral permeability of therapeutic drug candidates both in the canine and human patient.

Canine Intestinal Organoids in a Dual-Chamber Permeable Support System.

The permeable support system is typically used in conjunction with traditional two-dimensional (2D) cell lines as an in vitro tool for evaluating the oral permeability of new therapeutic drug candidates. However, the use of these conventional cell lines has limitations, such as altered expression of tight junctions, partial cell differentiation, and the absence of key nuclear receptors. Despite these shortcomings, the Caco-2 and MDCK models are widely accepted and validated for the prediction of human in vivo oral permeability. Dogs are a relevant translational model for biomedical research due to their similarities in gastrointestinal anatomy and intestinal microflora with humans. Accordingly, and in support of parallel drug development, the elaboration of an efficient and accurate in vitro tool for predicting in vivo drug permeability characteristics both in dogs and humans is highly desirable. Such a tool could be the canine intestinal organoid system, characterized by three-dimensional (3D), self-assembled epithelial structures derived from adult stem cells. The (1) Permeable Support Seeding Protocol describes the experimental methods for dissociating and seeding canine organoids in the inserts. Canine organoid isolation, culture, and harvest have been previously described in a separate set of protocols in this special issue. Methods for general upkeep of the canine intestinal organoid monolayer are discussed thoroughly in the (2) Monolayer Maintenance Protocol. Additionally, this protocol describes methods to assess the structural integrity of the monolayer via transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements and light microscopy. Finally, the (3) Permeability Experimental Protocoldescribes the tasks directly preceding an experiment, including in vitro validation of experimental results. Overall, the canine organoid model, combined with a dual-chamber cell culture technology, overcomes limitations associated with 2D experimental models, thereby improving the reliability of predictions of the apparent oral permeability of therapeutic drug candidates both in the canine and human patient.

The Invention of the Coin, Mentoring Literature and Philosophy: the Economism of Axial Time and the Social Problems of Antiquity

The subject of the study is the relationship between the parallel development of the processes of the invention of the antique coin, mentoring literature and the formation of the worldview of Axial time. The object of the research are review works devoted to various aspects of the social problems of the ancient era: the relationship of coin making and military affairs, the relationship of world religions and mentoring literature, the economism of urbanisation of the polis type and the genesis of classical philosophy. The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that the realities that appeared in the era of interest to us: world religions, coin money and mentoring literature – still exist. The secret of the duration of their existence is an urgent problem for social philosophy and historical sociology. The purpose of the study is to consider the possible reasons for the social dynamics recorded in the history of Eurasia, which Karl Jaspers called "Axial Time", but in conjunction with the development of monetary systems and mentoring preaching. In the study of the research problem, general scientific methods were used: analysis, synthesis, comparison. As a research method, the classical (qualitative) analysis of the document was taken as a basis. The comparative analysis revealed a certain connection between the above–mentioned phenomena and the growth of social problems of the ancient civilization - a polis-type civilization against the background of the aggravation of the contradictions of urbanization. The result of the study was the hypothesis of the creation of coin money as a tool to reduce the level of violence within ancient societies. Money in the form of coins became a kind of form of social protection of ancient communities, although it was originally intended to finance organized violence. The practical significance of the study is to form the basis for practical recommendations on adapting the conclusions of the article for the purposes of social policy of modern states.

Integrated Velocity Prediction Method and Application in Vehicle-Environment Cooperative Control Based on Internet of Vehicles

Rapid progress has been gained in the field of advanced communication technologies, which also promote parallel developments in the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs). In this context, vehicle-environment cooperative control can be integrated into next-generation vehicles to further improve the vehicle's performance, in particular energy efficiency. Accurate prediction of future velocity profiles on basis of IoVs can be a critical breakthrough, which can contribute much to vehicle operation efficiency promotion. In this paper, an integrated velocity prediction (IVP) method fully taking advantage of IoVs is proposed and demonstrated through a case study. In the IVP method, both the macroscopically and microscopically predicted velocity profiles are considered. The macroscopic velocity profiles are predicted via traffic flow analysis (TFA) in multi-access edge computing units (MECUs) which are situated alongside the route. Microscopic velocity profiles are forecasted through Mondrian forest (MF) algorithm in the on-board vehicle control unit (VCU). Final velocity prediction is generated through combination of the macroscopic and microscopic profiles in frequency domain in on-board VCU through fast Fourier transform (FFT) and inverse FFT. A case study validates the distinguished performance of IVP method and demonstrates its significant contribution to vehicle performance improvement.

Türkçe Öğretmenlerinin Görsel Okuma Becerisine İlişkin Düşünceleri

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine and evaluate Turkish language teachers' views on visual reading skills. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study was designed as a case study, one of the qualitative research methods. The research group consists of 10 Turkish language teachers working in secondary schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the city center of Trabzon. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview form. In the first part of the interview form, there are three questions for identifying teachers, and in the second part, there are eleven questions for determining teachers' visual reading skills. All of the teachers in the study group participated in the study voluntarily. Content analysis technique was used in the analysis of the data. Findings: In the study, it was determined that the connotations of Turkish language teachers towards visual reading are interpreting something seen and understanding and expressing related questions. It was determined that the most used material in the visual reading of the teachers was the textbook. It was revealed that the reasons for using the textbook were that they were ready and do not require additional preparation. It has been determined that teachers usually do visual reading activities when they see it in the textbook. According to teachers, visual reading mostly improves students' interpretation skills. It was determined that students had problems in visual reading activities due to the lack of attention and reading habit. It was determined that teachers prefer open-ended and multiple choice questions in the assessment and evaluation process for visual reading studies. It was concluded that most of the teachers found the visual reading activities in the textbooks insufficient. While visual reading sounds more fun, enjoyable and easy for students, reading a written text is more boring. It shows that these also affect teachers' preferences in class. It has been determined that teachers think that technology and visual reading show an intertwined and parallel development. It is concluded that visual reading studies eliminate boring in the lesson, motivate students to the lesson, and enrich the lesson. In addition, it was concluded that some of the teachers have perceptions that visual reading is not important except for the exam. Highlights: Especially teachers need training on visual reading and therefore it is necessary to provide training on visual reading skills to teachers through in-service courses

The fragmenting occupation of labour inspection and the degradation of regulatory and enforcement work inside the British state

While union presence and joint regulation of work and employment has declined, the state maintains a key role in directly regulating employment standards in areas including health and safety, minimum wage enforcement and subcontracting. Based on an empirical study of enforcement agencies in Britain, this article argues that the nature of regulatory work and its reshaping by both exogenous and endogenous pressures ultimately influences the impact of regulation itself and how it is enforced. Major shifts in the skills, knowledge and networks critical to the nature of labour inspection work parallel developments within the workplaces they are responsible for regulating.

Human capital in Chile: The development of numeracy during the last 250 years

ABSTRACT This paper studies the evolution of numeracy in Chile for cohorts born from the 1780s to the 1970s, providing a new series of this important indicator of human capital, essential to promote economic growth. This is the longest series currently available of any human capital indicator for Chile. It shows that numeracy was very low until the early twentieth century but that, contrary to traditional interpretations, it increased gradually from the 1780s (well before the promulgation of the primary instruction law of 1860), until full basic numeracy skills were achieved by the mid-twentieth century. This transition was completed some 3–4 decades after parallel developments occurred in the leading countries of the region and some 120 years behind the most developed areas of Europe. This development was characterized by high gender numeracy inequality until the first decades of the twentieth century, as well as by a pronounced regional inequality. However, there was a quick process of convergence across provinces, completed at the same time as gender inequality was reduced. Our numeracy data is also consistent with alternative human capital indicators such as literacy and schooling, and we provide a set of explanations about why they all improved, and their timing.

Collective Intelligence in Design Crowdsourcing

This study investigates how collective intelligence emerges in crowdsourcing for architectural design. Previous studies have revealed that collective intelligence emerges from collaboration and can outperform individual intelligence. As design is a highly collaborative practice, collective intelligence plays a vital role in the design process. In this study, we compare the structure of two architectural design crowdsourcing systems using several methods. The results of the analysis suggest that design crowdsourcing systems can give rise to the following three types of collective intelligence: (1) discussive, which emerges from a conversation between designers and clients; (2) synthetic, which emerges from a parallel and sequential design development; and (3) evaluative, which is based on the wisdom of the crowd in evaluating and selecting designs. The article concludes with recommendations for collaborative design method.

Compatibility of Qur’ānic Pedagogic Principles with the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language

Nowadays many effective methods are being used for teaching English as a Foreign language (TEFL) but none of them is without some weaknesses. Therefore, an eclectic approach is preferred. This research undertook pedagogic discourse analysis of the Qur’ān with a view to detect the methods and techniques of teaching given in the Holy Qur’ān and analyze their effectiveness with respect to TEFL. As Qur’ān is believed to be from the all-knowing Creator, the researcher foresaw a possibility of their extension to the teaching of a foreign language. The methods and techniques of teaching adopted by the Holy Qur’ān centuries ago were found to be in accordance with the modern and popular methods of general pedagogy. The research was carried forward with the purpose of judging the compatibility of these pedagogic principles and techniques with the teaching of English as a foreign language. It transpired that the pedagogic principles and techniques, derived from the Holy Qur’ān, are in perfect consonance with the recommended principles, techniques and methods of TEFL. The striking principles and techniques that surfaced were like beginning teaching a new language with nouns, utilizing the mother tongue of the beginner, emphasizing parallel development of all the four language skills, using imagery, discussion, and demonstration, arousing curiosity prior to teaching, maintaining of motivation through appreciation, putting timely questions, adopting narrative technique, developing critical thinking instead of rot memory, reinforcing learning through repetition and revision, sequencing teaching contents according to the difficulty level and by proceeding gradually in degrees.

Research on distributed streaming parallel computing of large scale wind DFIGs from the perspective of Ecological Marxism

Extreme climate change is the major ecological crisis which mankind encounters at present. The core of coping with climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, among which is mainly carbon dioxide emissions from fossil energy combustion. Energy substitution of large-scale new energy power generation is an effective solution to the problems. How to simulate and calculate such a large number of wind power generations for planning or stability analysis is a technical challenge, especially the detailed research on the interactive characteristics for hundreds of models with IGBT converter. In this technical field, inspired by the decentralized and distributed ideas of Ecological Marxism theory, decoupling and grid division calculation is carried out for the electromagnetic transient model of a large number of DFIGs. Through the design and development of the data-driven large-scale parallel computing framework, multi-stage high-speed task pipelined parallel calculation is realized. It effectively solves the calculation difficulties in matrix dimension disaster caused by the number increase of wind turbines, theoretically breaks the ceiling effect of fine-grain simulation for large-scale wind power generations, and also waveforms comparison verifies the feasibility and correctness.

Innovative Multi-Actor Collaborations as Collective Actors and Institutionalized Spaces. The Case of Food Governance Transformation in Leuven (Belgium)

The sustainable transformation of food systems is a particularly prolific field in which innovative multi-actor collaborations (IMACs) are being tested. Despite the growing literature on food governance and transformation of food systems, and on the principles of alternative food networks and local food strategies, little is known about how these are implemented and how multi-actor networks are coordinated and governed. Taking food as a lens, our objectives are to identify (1) how IMACs are established, (2) how collaboration is enacted within them, and (3) how governance innovations in these fields affect and are affected by broader urban governance innovation. Methodologically, we take a transdisciplinary action research approach, combining different groups of researchers with stakeholders involved in two on-going and interacting IMAC trajectories in Leuven (Belgium), i.e., the non-profit governmental organization Leuven2030 aiming to achieve climate-neutrality and the parallel collective development and implementation of the local food strategy “Food Connects.” After reconstructing the trajectory of these IMACs from a governance perspective and discussing their current limitations, we realize that these IMACs perform both as collective actors and as institutionalized spaces for experimentation and transformative change. Our findings demonstrate that IMACs can be an empowering tool for local actors to challenge supra-local and systemic power imbalance and injustice; that networking and supra-local connections of urban actors can increase the legitimacy and outreach of transition processes, mobilization of resources and peer-learning; and that the consolidation of IMACs builds on previous sedimentations of experimentation and benefits from the impulse of political will in specific windows of opportunity. We conclude that the institutionalization of common objectives set within IMACs requires a parallel institutionalization of governance structures that enabled reaching them, which entails defining specific roles and responsibilities among actors and ensuring stable spaces for conflict, deliberation, and negotiation.