Proximity Distance Research Articles

Exploring the Concept of Psychological Distance and Its Impact on Intention to Settle in Construction Dispute Negotiation

Negotiation is the most frequently used and economical way of resolving construction disputes. However, negotiators are not always rational decision makers. It is not uncommon to find that negotiations fail despite the tabling of notable settlement options. Having the intention to settle is paramount in achieving an amicable settlement. To improve the success rate of construction dispute negotiations, this study posits exploring negotiators’ intention to settle from the perspective of how they perceive failure. Applying construal-level theory (CLT) and the concept of psychological distance (PD), it is hypothesized that construction dispute negotiators having the proximal psychological distance of negotiation failure would raise the respective concern that mediates intention to settle. With data collected from experienced construction dispute negotiators, the results of the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) supported the hypothesis. The findings of the study indicated that the negotiators’ distal perception of and low concern for failure can obscure their intention to settle. Furthermore, the results indicated that a reduced PD could enhance negotiators’ intention to settle. This finding explains why reality testing is effective in steering negotiators’ decisions along a rational course. In practice, a realistic assessment of the consequences of a negotiation failure by either the negotiation team or a neutral third party would raise attention to failure. The resulting proximal PD would lead to a stronger intention to settle. The study is novel in (1) offering a vital theoretical link between the perception of failure and the settlement intention; and (2) anchoring the functions of reality testing with the concept of PD.

The influence of equine hoof conformation on the initiation and progression of laminitis.

The health and performance of horses are significantly affected by diseases associated with the hoof. Laminitis is a critical hoof disease that causes pain and, potentially, severe hoof and bone pathology. To generate an equine hoof finite element (FE) model to investigate the impact of normal and toe-in hoof conformations on the degeneration (decrease in elastic modulus) of the laminar junction (LJ), as occurs in chronic laminitis. Computer software modelling. A hoof FE model was generated to investigate the biomechanics of hoof laminitis. A 3D model, consisting of nine components, was constructed from computed tomography scans of an equine left forelimb hoof. The model was loaded with 100 cycles of trotting. Two different centres of pressure (COP) paths representing normal and toe-in conformations were assigned to the model. LJ injury was modelled by degenerating the tissue's elastic modulus in the presence of excessive maximum principal stresses. FE models successfully showed findings similar to clinical observations, confirming third phalanx (P3) dorsal rotation, a symmetric distal displacement of the P3 (2 mm at the lateral and medial sides) in the normal model, and an asymmetric distal displacement of the P3 (4 mm at the lateral and 1.5 mm at the medial side) in the toe-in model. The proximal distance between P3 and the ground after LJ degeneration in the current model was significantly different from experimental measurements from healthy hooves (P< 0.01). The inability to account for variations in population geometry and approximation of boundary conditions and system relations were the limitations of the current study. The distribution of LJ tissue degeneration was symmetric at the quarters in the normal hoof and in comparison, there was a lateral concentration of degeneration in the toe-in model.

Unpacking the Tibial Tubercle–Trochlear Groove Distance: Evaluation of Rotational Factors, Trochlear Groove and Tibial Tubercle Position, and Role of Trochlear Dysplasia

Background: The tibial tubercle to trochlear groove (TT-TG) distance is often utilized for determining the surgical treatment for patients with patellar instability (PI). It is thought to directly represent the position of the TT on the tibia. Recent work has shown that the measurement of the TT-TG distance is multifactorial. Purpose: To investigate the relationship between relative tibial external rotation (rTER) and trochlear dysplasia (TD), as well as the location of the TG and TT in patients with and without PI, and to correlate these and other anatomic measurements with the TT-TG distance. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 89 patients with PI who underwent magnetic resonance imaging were identified with 92 matched control patients. A standardized measurement protocol on axial magnetic resonance imaging determined rTER, the proximal and distal TG lateralization (pTGL and dTGL, respectively) ratios, and the TT lateralization (TTL) ratio. Other measures of interest included the lateral trochlear inclination angle, sulcus angle, and lateral patellar inclination angle. Univariate regression was used to determine the associations of TD (lateral trochlear inclination angle, sulcus angle) with rTER and the TG position, and multivariate regression was used to model associations among all the variables with the proximal and distal TT-TG distances. Results: rTER was significantly higher in the study group (P < .001), and univariate regression showed a significant association between dysplasia measures and rTER (P < .001). The pTGL ratio was lower in the study group (P = .025), but there was no difference in the dTGL ratio (P = .090) or the TTL ratio (P = .098) between the groups. There were no associations between dysplasia measures and the pTGL and dTGL ratios (P > .05). Multivariate regression showed that the proximal TT-TG distance is predicted by the sulcus angle, pTGL ratio, rTER, and TTL ratio (P < .05) and that the distal TT-TG distance is predicted by the lateral patellar inclination angle, dTGL ratio, sulcus angle, rTER, and TTL ratio (P < .05). Conclusion: rTER had a significant association with TD. The position of the proximal TG was more medial in patients with PI. There was no significant difference in the TTL ratio between patients with and without PI. The TT-TG distance was associated with multiple anatomic measures and was not solely predicated on the position of the TT.

Watching the Whole World: The Media Framing of Foreign Countries in US News and its Antecedents

ABSTRACT For over five decades, researchers explored the volume of coverage countries receive in other countries’ media, the factors that shape countries’ newsworthy, and sentiment in their coverage. However, a quantitative systematic analysis of how countries are covered, specifically, the framing of coverage, has been lacking. We first utilize machine learning for the descriptive inductive identification of frames in large-scale content (N = 105,991 news articles) to examine how US news outlets covered the 55 countries included in the 6th Wave of the World Value Survey, over a year (Study 1). We then examine the factors that predicted the prominence of frames at the country level (Study 2). Study 1 identified three frames—conflict, economic, and human-interest, which correspond with, but also different from, previous framing frameworks. Study 2 found that factors connected to prominence, relatedness, and conflict, predicted the use of specific frames. Prominence (Specifically GDP) increased the use of the economic frame and decreased the conflict one. Relatedness, with emphasis on trade, cultural proximity and geographic distance increased economic framing and decreased conflict framing. Lastly, Conflict-related variables, mainly military expenditure, increased the salience of the conflict frame.

Жанровая характеристика виртуальной экскурсии

The article aims to study the virtual tour as one of the genres of Internet communication. For this, types of virtual tours are identified and a description of oral virtual tours is given. Oral virtual tours in Russian, English and German are used as the material of the study. They include the synchronous virtual tours proposed on special platforms like https://www.heygo.com and the videos hosted on YouTube and Vkontakte. The analysis of oral virtual tours was carried out according to the Internet genre model with the focus on media, pragmatic, structural and linguistic parameters, as well as in terms of the communicative proximity / communicative distance model by Koch and Österreicher. As a result of the analysis, it was found that a virtual tour should be considered as a digital presentation and oral or written description of excursion objects, accompanied by a multimedia or textual movement from one object to another. In this sense, a virtual tour is a fairly broad concept, including different types – oral and written, synchronous and asynchronous. An oral virtual tour is distinguished by a high degree of interactivity and multimodality, existing in synchronous and asynchronous forms. An oral virtual tour combines signs of communicative proximity (irreversibility, multi-channel transmission of information, the ability to get an immediate response) and communicative distance (prepared speech, publicity, thematic relevance, predominantly monologue communication). It also shows some signs of the specific Internet environment (virtual situationality, overcoming physical disunity with the help of a video signal). The description of the virtual tour from the genre and linguistic point of view presented in the article allows to more competently build communication in the Internet environment and to broaden the theory of the genre.

First experimental measurements of 2D microdosimetry maps in proton therapy.

Empirical data in proton therapy indicate that relative biological effectiveness (RBE) is not constant, and it is directly related to the linear energy transfer (LET). The experimental assessment of LET with high resolution would be a powerful tool for minimizing the LET hot spots in intensity-modulated proton therapy, RBE- or LET-guided evaluation and optimization to achieve biologically optimized proton plans, verifying the theoretical predictions of variable proton RBE models, and so on. This could impact clinical outcomes by reducing toxicities in organs at risk. The present work shows the first 2D LET maps obtained at a proton therapy facility using the double scattering delivery mode in clinical conditions by means of new silicon 3D-cylindrical microdetectors. The device consists of a matrix of 121 independent silicon-based detectors that have 3D-cylindrical electrodes of 25-µm diameter and 20-µm depth, resulting each one of them in a well-defined micrometric radiation sensitive volume etched inside the silicon. They have been specifically designed for a hadron therapy, improving the performance of current silicon-based microdosimeters. Microdosimetry spectra were obtained at different positions of the Bragg curve by using a water-equivalent phantom along an 89-MeV pristine proton beam generated in the Y1 proton passive scattering beamline of the Orsay Proton Therapy Centre (Institut Curie, France). Microdosimetry 2D-maps showing the variation of the lineal energy with depth in the three dimensions were obtained in situ during irradiation at clinical fluence rates (∼108 s-1 cm-2 ) for the first time with a spatial resolution of 200µm, the highest achieved in the transverse plane so far. The experimental results were cross-checked with Monte Carlo simulations and a good agreement between the spectra shapes was found. The experimental frequency-mean lineal energy values in silicon were 1.858±0.019keVµm-1 at the entrance, 2.61±0.03keVµm-1 at the proximal distance, 4.97±0.05keVµm-1 close to the Bragg peak, and 8.6±0.1keVµm-1 at the distal edge. They are in good agreement with the expected trends in the literature in clinical proton beams. We present the first 2D microdosimetry maps obtained in situ during irradiation at clinical fluence rates in proton therapy. Our results show that the arrays of 3D-cylindrical microdetectors are a reliable microdosimeter to evaluate LET maps not only in the longitudinal axis of the beam, but also in the transverse plane allowing for LET characterization in three dimensions. This work is a proof of principle showing the capacity of our system to deliver LET 2D maps. This kind of experimental data is needed to validate variable proton RBE models and to optimize LET-guided plans.

Fragmentation patterns of forest and cerrado vegetation in northeastern Mato Grosso

This study sought to evaluate the fragmentation patterns of the forest and cerrado vegetation in the northeast of the state of Mato Grosso. The investigation used landscape metrics after extracting those fragments from the shapefile of soil use and occupation of the state of Mato Grosso and their application on the file of a negative buffer of 50.00. Forest and cerrado fragments were grouped into size classes in hectares. The quantified and specialized landscape metrics were area (mean perimeter/area ratio, core areas index, edge density), shape (mean shape indicator) and proximity (distance from the nearest neighbor in meters and the proximity index). The northeast of the state of Mato Grosso is occupied by 34.81% and 27.22% of the forest and cerrado fragments, respectively. The sum of the areas of the larger area size classes (classes &gt;10,000 to 30,000 ha and &gt;30,000 ha) is higher for forest fragments, which is indicative of the more expressive presence of the Amazon biome in that region and evidence of a more significant anthropic pressure on the fragmentation of the cerrado. In the northeast of the state of Mato Grosso, larger areas of forest and cerrado fragments are more protected than the smaller areas, as they have a smaller internal/external area ratio, higher percentage of central area, and less participatory border in relation to the total area.

Polarization Converter Surface Integrated MIMO Antenna for Simultaneous Reduction of RCS and Mutual Coupling

This letter provides an effective solution to deal with the radar cross section (RCS) and mutual coupling of the multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) antenna simultaneously. A wideband reflective type polarization converter (PC) is designed and its strategic placement in between the antenna elements of the two-element MIMO antenna has been conceived to mitigate these two issues concurrently. The antenna elements of the proposed MIMO antenna are placed at a proximal distance of 0.088 λ from each other. The proposed MIMO architecture ensures a maximum coupling reduction of 46 dB compared to the conventional MIMO across 4.4–8 GHz. The PC surface reduces the reflection of copolarized waves and enhances cross-polarized reflection. A supercell formed by a unit cell of PC and its 90° rotated counterpart causes phase cancellation of cross- polarized reflected waves, which contributes to wideband RCS reduction by a maximum value of 7 dB. The alignment of PC cells in a column between the adjacent antenna elements causes a reduction in the mutual coupling due to introduction of an extra coupling path and cross-polarization conversion. A good agreement between the simulated and measured results validates this concept of the proposed MIMO design with low RCS and mutual coupling.

Effects of message framing, psychological distance, and risk perception on exercise attitude in Chinese adolescents.

ObjectivesHealth communication campaign that promotes physical activity may aid in reducing the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity in China. This study examined the effects of message framing and psychological distance on the exercise attitude of Chinese adolescents, along with the interactive role of risk perception.MethodsParticipants in this study were between 10 and 19 years of age. Three experiments were conducted independently. In experiment 1, 76 participants were recruited to assess the effectiveness of message manipulation. In experiment 2, 40 participants were recruited to compare the effects of gain- and loss-framed messages on the exercise attitude. In experiment 3, 37 participants were recruited to explore the interaction between message framing (gain vs. loss), temporal distance (proximal vs. distal), and risk perception (low vs. high) on the exercise attitude. Exercise attitude and risk perception were assessed by Likert-type questionnaires.ResultsThere was a significant main effect of message framing (P < 0.05), with the gain-framed message inducing a stronger exercise attitude than the loss-framed message. There was a significant main effect of temporal distance (P < 0.05), with the proximal temporal distance condition inducing a stronger exercise attitude than the distal temporal distance condition. In addition, a significant interaction (P < 0.05) was observed, and the perception of obesity-related risk was a crucial moderator of the message framing and temporal distance. Regardless of whether they were exposed to a gain- or loss-framed message, the proximal temporal distance condition induced a stronger exercise attitude in participants with a high risk perception (P < 0.05).ConclusionMessages promoting exercise that are framed as having a near-future gain effect and that emphasize disease risks are effective in motivating adolescents to engage in physical activity.

Cross-Border Assets Holdings, Equity Securities, and Debt Securities between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)

This paper investigates the trends of asset holdings across borders to GCC financial markets through panel data and compares the findings with those acquired for the OECD countries. A gravity panel data model was set on bilateral gross cross-border investment flows between GCC countries and host OECD countries between 2002 and 2019. Three dependent variables were used; aggregate equity securities and debt securities, equity securities, and debt securities. Data were obtained from the International Monetary Fund&amp;#39;s (IMF) coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CIPS) and converted into real terms using the GDP deflator. The World Bank (2014) World Development Indicators Database (WDI) provided data for GDP deflators. The results indicate that the source economies&amp;#39; bilateral trade, GDP per capita, and population are always positive and significant determinants of cross-border linkages. Geographical proximity (Distance) is found to exert a significant positive influence on assets so that investors may seek to diversify their portfolios and prefer to invest outside their region.

MOBILITY AND PROXIMITY COEFFICIENT TO HIGHTRAFFIC VOLUME IN DAILY SCHOOL OPERATIONS

Heavy traffic volume especially in peak time led to bigger issue during daily school operating time. Drivers’ behaviours are often seen as the central cause to the increased number of road accidents around school, particularly during morning hours when accompanying adults are in a rush to office. Good accessibility and connectivity are the main consent in a school planning guideline. However, the proximity to major roads results in a higher level of traffic around the school. The research hypothesis is to investigate whether the proximity distance playing a significant role in determining mobility choice to school. The Geographical Information System software was used to analyse the safety measures such as distance, coverage area and routes to school, while the mobility analysis is done using the SPSS. 553 samples of questionnaires have been distributed at six identified schools in Johor Bahru. The result from analysis shows 79.39% of children use motorised vehicle thus, contributing to poor traffic flow during peak hour. While in comparing the coverage of each school to the guidelines, 99.45% of children’s houses are within the accepted radius distance. The findings of this study will highlight to some poor driving habits among parents, which are a major contributor to the heavy traffic flow surrounding schools.

Covalent Organic Frameworks: Chemistry of Pore Interface and Wall Surface Perturbation and Impact on Functions

ConspectusPorous structures are ubiquitous, discovered in nature ranging from biological channels in animals and plants to various pores in sediments and minerals and playing vital roles in maintaining biological activities and ecosystems. Synthetic pores have been known for over 100 years and currently continue to be a central subject in the fields of chemistry, physics, materials science, and technology. A fundamental key issue is how to develop specific functions with pores. Pores are determined by three parameters, including pore shape, size, and environment; how to design these parameters in a controlled manner is a key subject. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a distinct class of crystalline porous polymers as they combine covalent and noncovalent chemistries to result in long-range-ordered polygonal skeletons and discrete pores. The topological diagram─the principle for designing COFs─enables the predesign of not only skeletons but also pores, offering a powerful molecular platform for constructing tailor-made organic/polymeric materials. Over the past decade, progress in chemistry has greatly enhanced our capability to synthesize COFs to achieve different structures. Especially, the pores in COFs are constructed with lightweight elements, covalent bonds, and organic components, which offer numerous combinations to design and synthesize pore shapes, sizes, and interfaces. These parameters control the interplay with guest molecules and ions to determine the property and function of pores. Among various synthetic porous materials, COFs are unique in that these pore parameters are topologically designable and synthetically controllable. Two complementary strategies, i.e., topology diagram and pore surface engineering, have been developed for pore chemistry, in which the first one emphasizes the in situ approach to design and control pores and the second one highlights the postsynthetic way to tune the pore structures finely yet precisely. These two different chemistries offer individual ways to explore different pores, properties, and functional materials and systems. Looking at the features of COFs, a basic common structure of the pores is the well-defined pore interface, which is constituted by aligned surface atoms and side units at a proximate distance along the pore long-axial direction and distributed periodically over the pores. These features of pore interfaces are specific to COFs and predetermine their functions. In this Account, we scrutinize the chemistry of pore interfaces by focusing on the pore shape, pore size, and aligned atoms and units on pore walls to design unique properties and functions. We highlight pore wall perturbation with surface atoms and side units to demonstrate their decisive roles in structural formation and functional expression. We summarize perspectives, key issues to be addressed, and opportunities with the aim of showing a promising way to next-stage materials and functional designs.

Formation of a New Paradigm of Social Interaction: On Touching and on not Touching.

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated the use of online technologies for communication, as opposed to contact involving physical presence and touch. This commentary further considers the consequences of this change in individual human terms, in everyday as well as medical situations. It is a kind of discussion paper, specially written for this journal. It develops two directions of argument, the first about the reality of embodiment, the second about figures of speech involving touch and movement, figures of speech about the actions of whole people rather than about mind (spirit) or body separately. The discussion reviews the nature of differences between communication involving physical proximity and physical distance (and electronic media), with comments on the positive and negative aspects of each. An emphasis on the significance of touch (and movement, since all touch involves movement) to people is linked to the basic aspects of the lifecycle in birth, reproduction, and death. In conclusion, the discussion emphasizes the traditional importance of touch and physical participation to people's feeling for reality. New digital forms of relations disturb this feel, with significant consequences.

Experimental investigation of residual stress distribution on girth welds fabricated at proximity using neutron diffraction technique

Maintaining minimum distance between repair and existing welds often becomes impractical due to the presence of compact layouts, original welds of branches, nozzles, etc. on offshore structural elements, pipelines, and piping. Although some international codes and standards provide criteria for maintaining a minimum distance between proximity welds, most of them lack technical justification in relation to their effect on the structural integrity of welded components. The development of residual stresses has a significant effect (i.e., a negative effect on tensile stresses and a positive effect on compressive stresses) on the integrity of the welds fabricated at proximity. Hence, it is important to investigate the residual stress distribution on welds fabricated at proximity, especially at a distance away from the weld toe. This study presents findings on the characterization of residual stresses by neutron diffraction at the proximity region between two girth welds. The two welds were fabricated at proximity, using two different welding procedure specifications and at three different distances, on a structural steel pipe, grade S355. The three different welding distances between weld toes were maintained at 5, 10, and 15 mm respectively. The neutron diffraction-based residual stress distributions were investigated at the POLDI neutron instrument at the Swiss spallation source SINQ in Switzerland. The axial, hoop, and radial components of the residual stresses were experimentally investigated between proximity welds. The findings revealed that residual axial stresses at a 5-mm proximity distance were increased beyond the yield strength of the structural steel, grade S355. The findings of this study enable practitioners to take remedial actions to minimize the residual stresses developed in girth welds fabricated at proximity. Also, the findings enable us to derive technical justification for maintaining a minimum distance and developing welding procedure for welds fabricated at proximity.

What is the best position for coracoid fixation in the Latarjet procedure?

HypothesisMultiple problems and complications associated with Latarjet fixation have been described; thus, this is the first study in the literature to identify the maximum allowed screw clamping force and best fixation screw position for Latarjet surgery.MethodsA variation of distal and proximal coracoid screw positions with and without a flat washer was evaluated through finite element analysis, at a minimum distance of 3 mm from the edge. A loading progression test was performed until the maximum stress reached a limit imposed by the bone yield. We identified the maximum allowed screw clamping force based on a von Mises and maximum principal stresses failure theory.ResultsWhen using the flat washer, the cortical bone generally has only space for 1 piece. For this reason, as a primary study, it was observed that when the distal screw was more than 7 mm from the edge, the clamping force supported will be higher than that during the proximal fixation regardless of the proximal location screw. We have found that the best position is 7 mm from the distal edge, with the highest compression of 445 N (7 mm proximal distance, 5 mm distal distance) in due respect to the von Mises failure theory. To get around this lack of space situation, in this study, we have proposed a fixation plate to replace the flat washer. This plate has shown very interesting values when compared to the previously flat washer study, but now, for both screw holes. With those results, we can assure that using a fixation plate like this will ensure surgery safety and higher allowed compression force when clamping the bolts.ConclusionThe distal screw provided higher tensile strength values when located more than 7 mm from the coracoid edge. The geometry of the coracoid in its distal position supports higher stress loads than in the proximal position. When the flat washer was in the proximal position, the coracoid was submitted with a more distributed and uniform load, preventing localized bone damage as a crush.

Rank-Two Multicast Beamforming for Multiuser MISO Downlink With Intelligent Reflecting Surface

Recently, intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) has received considerable attention and is seen as a promising technology for 6 G communications. This correspondence studies the IRS-aided multiuser multi-input single-output (MISO) downlink multicast beamforming. Depart from the conventional (rank-one) beamforming, the Alamouti-aided <i>rank-two</i> beamforming is employed at the base station (BS), and a joint optimization of the rank-two beamforming and the IRS phase shift is formulated to minimize the transmit power with guaranteed signal-to-noise ratio at the users. This power minimization problem is nonconvex. To tackle it, we custom-derive a proximal distance algorithm (PDA) with generalized power method (GPM) to iteratively optimize the beamformer and the phase shift. Both PDA and GPM can be performed very efficiently than the semidefinite relaxation method. Simulation results demonstrate that the rank-two beamforming attains much lower porwer than the rank-one beamforming with reduced computation complexity.

Increased airborne transmission of COVID-19 with new variants, implications for health policies

New COVID-19 variants, either of higher viral load such as delta or higher contagiousness like omicron, can lead to higher airborne transmission than historical strains. This paper highlights their implications for health policies, based on a clear analytical understanding and modeling of the airborne contamination paths, of the dose following exposure, and the importance of the counting unit for pathogens, itself linked to the dose-response law. Using the counting unit of Wells, i.e. the quantum of contagium, we develop the conservation equation of quanta which allows deriving the value of the quantum concentration at steady state for a well-mixed room. The link with the monitoring concentration of carbon dioxide is made and used for a risk analysis of a variety of situations for which we collected CO2 time-series observations. The main conclusions of these observations are that 1) the present norms of ventilation, are both insufficient and not respected, especially in a variety of public premises, leading to high risk of contamination and that 2) air can often be considered well-mixed. Finally, we insist that public health policy in the field of airborne transmission should be based on a multi parameter analysis such as the time of exposure, the quantum production rate, mask wearing and the infector proportion in the population in order to evaluate the risk, considering the whole complexity of dose evaluation. Recognizing airborne transmission requires thinking in terms of time of exposure rather than in terms of proximal distance.

Proximity-Distance Mapping and Jaya Optimization Algorithm Based on Localization for Wireless Sensor Network

Aiming at the problem of large location errors of traditional ranging-free algorithms in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), a novel node location algorithm based on proximity-distance mapping (PDM) and Jaya optimization was proposed. In this algorithm, proximity and Euclidean distance are extracted from the relationship of anchor nodes to construct a mapping matrix by using the idea of PDM. It is calculated by using the mapping matrix that the estimated distance from the unknown node to the anchor node can be used for the subsequent calculations. After the estimated distance is obtained, the Jaya optimization algorithm is imported to calculate the location of the unknown one. To accelerate the convergence and enhance the accuracy of the algorithm, the idea of a boundary box is used to limit the initial feasible region of unknown nodes. The experiment results show that the PDM–Jaya algorithm has better positioning accuracy than the original PDM in the same condition.

External Knowledge Linkages and the Evolution of Comparative Advantage: An Examination of Territorial Knowledge Dynamics in China

In the era of the knowledge economy with the superfluidity of information, labor, and goods, the ability to establish external knowledge linkages has become an indispensable asset for the development of regional industries. Based on the assumption that knowledge spillovers decay with distance, several existing studies have explored the role of neighboring regions in local industrial upgrading. Meanwhile, a small but growing literature has explored the evolution of regional comparative advantage from the perspective of multi-location territorial knowledge dynamics (TKDs), exploring multi-locational knowledge interactions (including proximity interactions and distance interactions) and their regional economic effects in the process of knowledge flows. Inspired by the literature on multi-location TKDs, this paper examines two hypotheses: (1) In addition to local capabilities, external knowledge linkages also have a positive effect on local industrial upgrading; (2) the stronger the knowledge linkages, the more similar the regional comparative advantage. Through an analysis of data on authorized patent citation and the two-digit manufacturing industry from Chinese cities in 2011 and 2016, we find that the knowledge flow networks among Chinese cities are characterized by strong external knowledge linkages to both adjacent and distant regions. Further analysis reveals that a particular Chinese city has a higher probability of developing comparative advantages if it maintains strong knowledge linkages with a city specialized in the same industry. In addition, the comparative advantages of regions with strong knowledge linkages are more similar than regions with weak knowledge linkages.

Probing nanometal surface energy transfer between nanocopper and MoS2 for glutathione sensing

Cu nanoparticles and 2D-MoS2 nanosheets have been synthesised and the morphology of the prepared samples has been characterised using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Steady-state fluorescence studies exhibit quenching of fluorescence intensity upon the addition of quencher in varying amounts. Time-resolved fluorescence studies show a reduction of fluorescence lifetime in the presence of quencher. A thorough investigation of energy transfer between MoS2 and copper nanoparticles has been accomplished using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies. The results are more consistent with the nanometal surface energy transfer (NSET) theory, which follows a 1/d 4 distance dependence than the Förster resonance energy transfer theory exhibiting 1/d 6 distance dependence. For the MoS2–Cu pair, the NSET efficiency, the proximal distance between donor–acceptor pairs and the rate of energy transfer has been explored. Energy transfer-based fluorescent biosensors have been regarded as potential candidates in biosensing applications. Glutathione, an endogenous tripeptide compound, plays a vital role as an antioxidant in the human body. Irregular glutathione levels have been linked to several adverse illnesses. Henceforth, detection of glutathione levels is indispensable. The Cu–MoS2 pair was used for glutathione sensing in nanomolar concentration (nM), which demonstrated a turn-off sensing behaviour.