Pose Problems Research Articles

Letters at trial: the Lucianic Judgment of the Vowels Gallicized (1654)

ABSTRACT In the Second Sophistic (fl. ca. 50–230 CE), Greek writers developed a fascination with the literary dialect of classical Athens (5th century BCE). This Atticist zealotry was skillfully mocked in a satirical oration attributed to Lucian, in which the letter Sigma complains before a jury of vowels that his rival Tau has stolen various words from him. This pun-infested text, however short, posed problems for early modern translators. Notably, the renowned French translator of Lucian, Nicolas Perrot d’Ablancourt, refrained from translating the text, instead asking his nephew Nicolas Frémont d’Ablancourt to write a new version tailored to the French context. The Ablancourts deemed it more appropriate to produce a dialogue adapted to their contemporary situation, in which the letters of the alphabet voice their complaints to the judge Usage and the advocate general Grammaire. This paper explores the contents of the ‘Dialogue des lettres de l’alphabet’ (1654). I argue that Frémont, the author, tried to strike a balance between (1) fidelity – or rather ‘belle infidèle’-ity – to the spirit of his Lucianic model and (2) entertainment for his French-speaking audience, respecting the contemporary culture of ‘galanterie’ with its goal of ‘plaire et instruire’.

Exploring the Potential of Weld Slag as Aggregate Replacement in Concrete for Sustainable Construction: A Review Paper

Concrete is the most globally used material in the construction industry, with over ten billion tons produced annually, and its aggregates making 70 to 80% of its quantity. The aggregates production leads the natural sources of these aggregates to deplete in a high rate and with a significant carbon footprint. Consequently, industries are generating waste output in a large quantity which is posing problems to the environment and leading to economic challenges. This review explores the potential of using industrial waste such as weld slags, steel slags, and glass powder as substitutes to traditional concrete aggregates. The integration of these wastes solves the problems of waste disposal, resource depletion and environmental pollution. The review is to also to encourage the reuse, recycling and reduction of waste production to reduce pollution. This practice will help ensure resource conservation, environmental protection and enhanced sustainability. Furthermore it underscores the importance of further research on the durability and practical applications of concrete containing industrial slags such as steel slags, weld slags, glass powder etc. to establish effective and sustainable construction practices.

Beyond Collapse: Negotiating a New World Order When the Old Breaks Down

Abstract The collapse of the existing world order and the rise of a counter order pose problems for the practice of negotiation and mediation as generally conceived. The transition will likely have problems overcoming issues faced in past transitions in 1812, 1919, and 1948 without a full-scale war, yet learn from these experiences. It is not too early to think about the processes and strategies needed to arrive productively at a better new system where negotiation processes can provide useful means to resolve conflicts. This article examines three levels of conflict and how conflict resolution and management approaches might be able to reestablish their capacities in a future system of international relations norms and institutions.

Vasectomy of finances sidelines politicians' promises of 24/7 services

The German healthcare system is outdated, no longer reflects reality and needs to be reformed. In addition to a lack of ideas, there is a lack of courage and will to implement necessary reforms. Where will current developments lead us? When it comes to financing the healthcare system, immense challenges await political decision-makers. Demographic change is already posing major problems for healthcare today. Parallel to the increase in the number of patients, the time that physicians have available for their patients has been decreasing for years. Ultimately, social change and the increase in part-time employment mean that there is significantly less money available. Patient dissatisfaction is increasing as expectations are not being met. While hospitals receive financial support, the outpatient sector has been left empty-handed for years. As financial investors are forcing their way into outpatient care, the focus must be prevented from being purely on maximizing profits. Thus, areorganization of the healthcare system is necessary.

Analysis of Relationship between Religion and Vietnamese Culture Today and Prediction of Some Religious Security Trends in the Coming Time

Religion is a part of the spiritual life of society, a superstructure phenomenon moving and changing strongly at all times along with the socio-economic development of any country. In recent times, the religion in Vietnam has had a great influence on traditional customs and practices in both directions: positive and negative. On the one hand, it contributes to restoring many good traditional customs and practices of the nation, contributing to changing the lifestyle and behavior of a part of the people; On the other hand, the religion revives many outdated depraved customs and practices, deforming and fading some traditional customs and practices. These impacts have been posing many problems to be resolved for Vietnam in the process of building and developing the country in the new era. Vietnam has been being in the process of increasingly deepening international integration, which is expected to continue to cause many difficulties and obstacles for State management of religion, because religious activities are often associated with cultural activities. Cultural diversity leads to religious diversity.

Well-posedness and parabolicity of the boundary-value problem for systems of partial differential equations

The paper examines two-point boundary value problem for systems of linear partial differential equations. Not every system has a well posed two-point boundary value problem. For example, for equation {$$\displaystyle\frac{\partial u(x_1,x_2,t)}{\partial t}=\displaystyle\frac{\partial u(x_1,x_2,t)}{\partial x_1}+i \frac{\partial u(x_1,x_2,t)}{\partial x_2}$$ there are no boundary conditions of the form $au(x_1,x_1,0)+bu(x_1,x_2,T)=\varphi(x_1,x_2)$, under which this boundary value problem will be of a well posed in the Schwartz spaces. In the work, the conditions for the matrix of the system under which exist well posed boundary-value problem are found in the Schwartz spaces, and the form of these boundary conditions is also indicated. So, for systems with a Hermitian matrix, the boundary value problem with conditions of form $$u(x,0)+u(x,T)=\varphi(x)$$ will always be of a well posed in the Schwartz spaces, as well as in the spaces of functions of finite smoothness of power growth. For systems with one spatial variable, it is proved that well posed boundary value problems with the condition $u(x,0)+bu(x,T)=\varphi(x)$ ith positive b always exist. In addition, parabolic boundary value problems with property of increasing smoothness of the solutions are investigated. Similar results hold for linear partial differential equations. The Helmholtz equation $$\displaystyle\frac{\partial^2 u(x,t)}{\partial t^2}+\Delta u(x,t)=ku(x,t),$$ is considered as an example. It is not well posed according to Petrovsky, but for it exist a boundary value problem that is parabolic. For an equation with one spatial variable, sufficient conditions for the second-order equation in time are given, under which parabolic boundary value problems exist.

E-Farming Portal Using Django

Abstract :- Traditional methods and middlemen’s exploitation throughout the crucial produce-selling period pose problems for India’s agriculture sector. E-farming and agromarketing come to light as revolutionary remedies to this problem. One essential component of agro marketing is e-farming, which uses digital platforms to empower farmers. Farmers are less vulnerable to changes in the market because they can now sell their goods across the country thanks to the removal of geographical restrictions. The goal of the article is to improve agricultural practices in India by implementing an E-farming platform using Django. By facilitating national product sales and lowering farmers’ susceptibility to market swings, e-farming makes use of digital channels to empower farmers. The suggested system combines Python Django with front-end tools (HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap) to provide back-end functionality. E-farming increases the revenue and decision-making capabilities of farmers by using SMS communication and real-time market data. Keywords– – Marketplace, online store, portal, Django, e-commerce, e-farming, farming, food, shopping, and web development.

The Most Essential Learning Competencies in Statistics of the Grade 7 Learners

This study aimed to formulate valid supplementary statistic learning materials for Grade 7 learners to improve their attainment of the most essential learning competencies in statistics. It examined the demographic profile of the respondents, level of attainment of the MELCs in statistics, mastered and least mastered competencies, and significant relationship between their profile and their attainment of the MELCs in statistics. Results revealed that the level of attainment of the MELCs in statistics for Grade 7 learners was Satisfactory. They showed less mastery on competencies involving posing problems, formulating simple statistical instruments, using appropriate graphs to represent organized data, calculating measures of variability, and drawing conclusions. The educational attainment of parents showed significant relationship with the attainment of the MELCs. The researcher recommends that parents must involve themselves in the learner’s education. Furthermore, supplementary learning activities can help poor performing students to help them improve their mathematical skills in statistics.

Trilayer dissolving microneedle for transdermal delivery of minoxidil: a proof-of-concept study

Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by bald patches in certain areas of the body, especially the scalp. Minoxidil (MNX), as a first-line treatment of AA, effectively induces hair growth. However, oral and topical administration pose problems, including low bioavailability, risk of uncontrolled hair growth, and local side effects such as burning hair loss, and scalp irritation. In the latest research, MNX was delivered to the skin via microneedle (MN) transdermally. The MNX concentration was distributed throughout the needle so that drug penetration was reduced and had the potential to irritate. In this study, we formulated MNX into three-layer dissolving microneedles (TDMN) to increase drug penetration and avoid irritation. Physicochemical evaluation, parafilm, was used to evaluate the mechanical strength of TDMN and showed that TDMN could penetrate the stratum corneum. The ex-vivo permeation test showed that the highest average permeation result was obtained for TDMN2, namely 165.28 ± 31.87 ug/cm2, while for Minoxidil cream it was 46.03 ± 8.5 ug/cm2. The results of ex vivo and in vivo dermatokinetic tests showed that the amount of drug concentration remaining in the skin from the TDMN2 formula was higher compared to the cream preparation. The formula developed has no potential for irritation and toxicity based on the HET-CAM test and hemolysis test. TDMN is a promising alternative to administering MNX to overcome MNX problems and increase the effectiveness of AA therapy.

Developing Creative Thinking in STEM Education through Design- Based Learning

Creativity is one of the fundamental skills of the 21st century and has become a crucial task in education. This article provides a definition of creative thinking manifested in generating novel, unique, and valuable ideas and solutions to address posed problems. Characteristics of creativity such as fluency, originality, flexibility, and elaboration serve as indicators to evaluate the level of creativity in products of the engineering design process. Recognizing the importance of creativity in a dynamic world, creative education has been integrated into the mainstream education curriculum through the implementation of STEM teaching. Following this, the concept of design-based learning has been introduced as a STEM teaching approach based on integrating the engineering design process into classrooms, allowing learners to apply scientific and technological knowledge and skills to complex real-life problems. Finally, research in STEM education through the engineering design process to enhance learners' creative thinking has been synthesized. The aim is to provide ideas and guidance for teachers in organizing STEM teaching, aligning with the goal of fostering creativity for citizens in the digital age.

Waveform Fitting of Receiver Functions for Enhanced Retrieval of Crustal Structure in the Presence of Sediments

AbstractThe receiver function technique is widely used to image crustal structure using P‐to‐S converted phases at the Moho discontinuity. However, the presence of sedimentary layer generates additional P‐to‐S conversions and reverberations, which can overprint the Moho phases and pose problems in imaging crustal structure with standard receiver function techniques. We introduce a robust two‐step method that uses H‐κ stacking to determine average thickness and Vp/Vs of the sedimentary layer, followed by waveform‐fitting of the observed receiver function to constrain the average crustal thickness and sub‐sediment Vp/Vs. We tested the method using both synthetic data and real‐data from stations located on sedimentary layers in the Netherlands and USA. We show that the new method outperforms other common approaches in retrieving accurate Moho depth and sub‐sediment Vp/Vs estimates, even in cases where the Moho phases are completely overprinted by large‐amplitude phases related to sedimentary layers.

FrseGAN: Free‐style editable facial makeup transfer based on GAN combined with transformer

AbstractMakeup in real life varies widely and is personalized, presenting a key challenge in makeup transfer. Most previous makeup transfer techniques divide the face into distinct regions for color transfer, frequently neglecting details like eyeshadow and facial contours. Given the successful advancements of Transformers in various visual tasks, we believe that this technology holds large potential in addressing pose, expression, and occlusion differences. To explore this, we propose novel pipeline which combines well‐designed Convolutional Neural Network with Transformer to leverage the advantages of both networks for high‐quality facial makeup transfer. This enables hierarchical extraction of both local and global facial features, facilitating the encoding of facial attributes into pyramid feature maps. Furthermore, a Low‐Frequency Information Fusion Module is proposed to address the problem of large pose and expression variations which exist between the source and reference faces by extracting makeup features from the reference and adapting them to the source. Experiments demonstrate that our method produces makeup faces that are visually more detailed and realistic, yielding superior results.

Mussel-inspired fabrication of fouling-resistant PPSU-based nanocomposite membrane using polydopamine and tannic acid-functionalized CeO2 nanoparticles towards effective oil-water emulsions separation

Surface modification of membranes using hydrophilic nanoparticles has proved promising to improve the surface wettability and antifouling properties of the membranes that are otherwise prone to the attachment of oil droplets. Nonetheless, the strong adhesion of nanoparticles onto the membrane surface and their long-term performance pose problems for their widespread application. To address these issues, a novel organic-inorganic hybrid coating was constructed onto surfaces of polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) ultrafiltration membrane via simultaneous deposition of mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) followed by immobilization of tannic-acid functionalized cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles. These prepared membranes were characterized by FTIR, XPS, FESEM, EDX, pore size, water contact angle (WCA), underwater oil contact angle (UOCA), and separation performance. The effects of functionalization and nanoparticle concentration on membrane properties were investigated. SEM and EDX results showed that functionalized nanoparticles (up to optimum concentration: 0.05 wt%) were uniformly distributed onto the membrane surface, which exhibited increase in permeate flux (∼375 %), UOCA (∼36 %), Fouling resistance ratio (FRR ∼ 300 %) with a decrease in irreversible fouling (∼94 %) and WCA (∼80 %) and high oil rejection of > 99 % compared to pristine PPSU membrane. Long-term operation (for six cycles) indicates that the optimum membrane possessed high efficiency and durability for oil-in-water emulsion separation due to superb antifouling properties and strong binding of the functionalized nanoparticles onto the membrane surface.

Guidelines for conducting, analyzing, and interpreting electrical penetration graph (EPG) experiments on herbivorous piercing–sucking insects

AbstractThe electrical penetration graph (EPG) allows researchers to obtain information on the feeding behavior of herbivorous piercing–sucking insects, mostly Hemiptera. Guidelines are proposed for designing and conducting EPG experiments on insect–plant interactions, and for analyzing and interpreting the data. Several statistical issues common in EPG experiments are discussed. Pre‐recording insect handling, wiring, and being tethered can affect feeding behavior and recommendations are made to minimize such stresses. Recording duration can have a large effect on some variables and interpretation of the data. The pros and cons of long vs. short recording duration are discussed, and suggestions are made for reconciling these conflicting concerns. Replicates lacking a specific waveform pose problems for analyzing variables associated with that waveform. Proper ways for handling these replicates when analyzing data are discussed. The waveform in progress when the recording ends will be terminated before it would naturally end; consequently, its duration will be artificially short (truncated). This creates a problem for calculating mean or median duration of waveform periods (a waveform period is a single occurrence of the waveform), especially for waveforms that tend to occur relatively few times during a recording and in long periods, such as waveforms E2 and G (phloem and xylem sap ingestion for aphids) or Xi (xylem sap ingestion for xylem feeders). Based on a detailed analysis (see the supporting information), guidance is given on how to calculate mean and median duration of waveform periods when the last period is truncated. A modified experimental design is suggested to avoid the problem of truncated waveform periods. Most EPG variables are interdependent, and their values can affect one another. This interdependence should be considered when drawing conclusions from the data. In studies on plant resistance against vascular sap‐feeders, variables that are associated with resistance encountered during the penetration route to the vascular tissue and those encountered in the vascular tissue are discussed.

About one approach for solving bounary-value problems of differential equation of pantograph type

Pantograph equations have been studied for a long time. In 1940, K. Mahler introduced functional differential equations of this type into number theory. In 1971, J. Ockendon used a functional differential equation with a transformed argument, , to describe the dynamics of the pantograph of an electric locomotive. Subsequently, Pantograph-type equations were studied in the works of many authors. This article considers a boundary value problem for a differential equation of the pantograph type. To solve the posed boundary value problem, the parameterization method proposed by Professor D. Dzhumabaev is used. To do this, we denote the value of the function at the initial point of the segment under consideration by a parameter and perform a change of variable Then the solvability of the original boundary value problem is reduced to studying the solvability of the resulting Cauchy problem for the original equation and to a linear algebraic equation to determine the introduced parameter. Next, using the method of successive approximations, we find solutions to the Cauchy problem for the Pantograph type equation. The convergence of the resulting sequence and the convergence of its solution to the solution of the Cauchy problem of Pantograph type are proved. By requiring continuity of the free term, we establish its unique solvability. Substituting the resulting solution into a linear algebraic equation to determine the entered parameter, we calculate the values of the entered parameter using the original data. Substituting the resulting expressions into we find the solution to the original problem . And assuming the unique solvability of a linear algebraic equation, we establish the solvability of the boundary value problem for an equation of Pantograph type.

On Ambiguity in the Arabic Language: Scrutinizing Translation Issues through Machine Translation from English and French into Arabic

Ambiguity in some syntactic structures of the same language has always posed problems to the human translator and to machine translation. These problems become more complex for the Machine Translation of genetically unrelated languages such as Arabic, English and French. Arabic Lexical ambiguity in Natural Language Processing (NLP) also poses problems when the semantic fields of Arabic words differ from those of English for instance. This often occurs when two or more words from Arabic equate to a single word in English. Semantic gaps between the two languages are also a source of ambiguity in Natural Language Processing. We shall deal with some cases of ambiguity in machine translation from Arabic to English and French and vice versa. The questions addressed in this paper relate to segmentation, determination / non-determination, coordination and the issue of the word as a meaningful and functional unit. Some aspects of the segmentation of constituents into grammatical categories and their comparison with structures of Arabic English and French are addressed in this paper.

Characteristics of Students Engaged in Spontaneous Problem-Posing

Spontaneous problem posing is a basic concept of spontaneous mathematical thinking and science learning. Students generate problems without systematic encouragement and pose problems based on the student's desire to develop their skills. As a result, they can serve as important markers of constructive mathematical and science engagement, particularly affective engagement, for problem solvers and their classroom communities. We used a qualitative approach to analyze student characteristics, especially in the affective domain, when presenting random problems. We used an observational approach and experience sampling in each class to observe students' engagement in spontaneous problem posing both individually and in groups. The findings revealed that each student showed different characteristics when presenting problems suddenly (spontaneous problem posing). The submission of the first subject problem was categorized as problem-as-exercise, satisfying the characteristics of spontaneous originality, where constructive emotional experiences impressed more on the teacher, while negative emotional experiences impressed more on oneself (self), classmates, and mathematical activities. The submission of the second subject problem is classified as a problematic problem, fulfilling the characteristics of spontaneous originality. Negative emotional experiences are more visible in me (myself), while constructive emotional experiences are more visible in teachers, classmates, and math activities

Unconstrained Face Recognition Using Infrared Images

Recently, face recognition (FR) has become an important research topic due to increase in video surveillance. However, the surveillance images may have vague non-frontal faces, especially with the unidentifiable face pose or unconstrained environment such as bad illumination and dark environment. As a result, most FR algorithms would not show good performance when they are applied on these images. On the contrary, it is common at surveillance field that only Single Sample per Person (SSPP) is available for identification. In order to resolve such issues, visible spectrum infrared images were used which can work in entirely dark condition without having any light variations. Furthermore, to effectively improve FR for both the low-quality SSPP and unidentifiable pose problem, an approach to synthesize 3D face modeling and pose variations is proposed in this paper. A 2D frontal face image is used to generate a 3D face model. Then several virtual face test images with different poses are synthesized from this model. A well-known Surveillance Camera’s Face (SCface) database is utilized to evaluate the proposed algorithm by using PCA, LDA, KPCA, KFA, RSLDA, LRPP-GRR, deep KNN and DLIB deep learning. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through simulations, where increase in average recognition rates up to 10%, 27.69%, 14.62%, 25.38%, 57.46%, 57.43, 37.69% and 63.28%, respectively, for SCface database as observed.

Lead removal from aqueous using carbon nanomaterials and reuse of the lead-loaded adsorbent as a filler material in cement production

Heavy metals are posing problems in the environment and one of them is lead. The disposal of lead in our water systems comes from industries such as the paint, mining, and electroplating industries. In this study, Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) were synthesized from carbon soot by using a refluxed method. The CNPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Batch adsorption studies were carried out for lead adsorption. Pb2+ uptake fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetics model, while the adsorption isotherm fitted best to the Langmuir model, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 67.98 mg/g at 25 °C. The obtained thermodynamic parameters demonstrated that the adsorption of Pb2+ ions by carbon nanoparticles was exothermic and spontaneous. The spent adsorbent was then used in cement production, demonstrating that Pb2+-CNPs can be a promising material for cement production when its quantity exceeds 1.2 %.

Periodontitis: etiology, conventional treatments, and emerging bacteriophage and predatory bacteria therapies.

Inflammatory periodontal diseases associated with the accumulation of dental biofilm, such as gingivitis and periodontitis, are very common and pose clinical problems for clinicians and patients. Gingivitis is a mild form of gum disease and when treated quickly and properly is completely reversible. Periodontitis is an advanced and irreversible disease of the periodontium with periods of exacerbations, progressions and remission. Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory condition that damages the tissues supporting the tooth in its socket, i.e., the gums, periodontal ligaments, root cementum and bone. Periodontal inflammation is most commonly triggered by bacteria present in excessive accumulations of dental plaque (biofilm) on tooth surfaces. This disease is driven by disproportionate host inflammatory immune responses induced by imbalance in the composition of oral bacteria and changes in their metabolic activities. This microbial dysbiosis favors the establishment of inflammatory conditions and ultimately results in the destruction of tooth-supporting tissues. Apart microbial shift and host inflammatory response, environmental factors and genetics are also important in etiology In addition to oral tissues destruction, periodontal diseases can also result in significant systemic complications. Conventional methods of periodontal disease treatment (improving oral hygiene, dental biofilm control, mechanical plaque removal, using local or systemic antimicrobial agents) are not fully effective. All this prompts the search for new methods of therapy. Advanced periodontitis with multiple abscesses is often treated with antibiotics, such as amoxicillin, tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline, clindamycin, or combined therapy of amoxicillin with metronidazole. However, due to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, treatment does not always achieve the desired therapeutic effect. This review summarizes pathogenesis, current approaches in treatment, limitations of therapy and the current state of research on the possibility of application of bacteriophages and predatory bacteria to combat bacteria responsible for periodontitis. We present the current landscape of potential applications for alternative therapies for periodontitis based on phages and bacteria, and highlight the gaps in existing knowledge that need to be addressed before clinical trials utilizing these therapeutic strategies can be seriously considered.