Real Connection Research Articles

Virtual play and real connections: unpacking the impact of rice farming simulation video games

This study investigates how the rice farming simulation video game Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin affects interest in real-world agriculture and the inclination to start farming amidst Japan’s declining farming population. We surveyed 428 Japanese residents, including not only game players but also those who watch the game live or are merely aware of its existence. We also interviewed an individual who started rice farming after playing the game. The findings indicate that the game successfully stimulates greater interest in agriculture and somewhat motivates players to consider farming, more than just viewers or those who are aware of it. Moreover, individuals with real-life connections to agriculture, such as farming experience or professional connections, were optimistic about the transition from game to reality. The study suggests that rice farming simulation games can foster expectations of developing an interest in agriculture and potentially embarking on farming careers, demonstrating the game’s significant impact beyond entertainment.

Digital Twin-driven Health Operation and Maintenance Strategies for Complex Equipment with Self-healing Capabilities

With the development of the industrial level, the service-oriented transformation of the manufacturing industry has become a new growth point for the interests of the manufacturing industry recognized by all countries, and in this transformation process, the health operation and maintenance (HOM) of equipment has become a crucial link, especially for complex equipment, and its health operation and maintenance level directly affects the overall efficiency of the manufacturing industry. However, with the improvement of intelligence and complexity, a more general and complete set of methods and theories is needed for the healthy operation and maintenance of complex devices with self-healing states. Based on an in-depth analysis of the key issues of complex equipment health operation and maintenance, this paper introduces digital twin technology as a breakthrough. Digital twins provide new ideas for the healthy operation and maintenance of complex equipment. By defining a digital twin-driven PHM (Prediction and Health Management) framework, this paper not only solves the problem of mobility (i.e., virtual and real connection) of the cross-platform health operation and maintenance model, but also focuses on improving the accuracy and evaluation indicators of the model (the consistency between the virtual model and the entity). Addressing issues of strategy development and effectiveness evaluation. Based on the digital twin technology, a general model was established, and the self-healing phenomenon and different maintenance strategies were introduced to explore its impact on reliability. Based on the game idea, the reliability model is used to evaluate different maintenance strategies. So as to develop the optimal operation and maintenance strategy. This not only improves the accuracy and efficiency of O&M, but also provides a solid theoretical foundation and technical support for the intelligent and autonomous health O&M of complex equipment.

A new method for the prediction of vibration responses of thin plates coupled with discontinuous connections

Due to the limitation caused by the assumption of ideal continuous line junctions between plates or the high computation cost, the existing methods cannot provide reliable prediction solutions of vibration responses of coupled plates with real connections, such as bolts and corner irons. To this end, a discontinuous energy finite element analysis (dEFEA) method with high accuracy is proposed to predict the vibration responses of discontinuously connected plates, which can revert the real connection. This method developes the coupling loss factors (CLFs) on the steady-state energy flow technique to characterize vibration transmission between plates with different connections. In addition, a discontinuous energy finite element equation of coupled plates is established to obtain the vibration responses of those. The efficacy of the dEFEA method is demonstrated by experiments and the method can improve the prediction accuracy of vibration, which is verified by the comparison between discontinuous and ideal continuous connections. To sum up, vibration transmission of connected structures varies greatly depending on the way of connection and cannot be simplified to a line connection.

THE NEW ECONOMIC SECURITY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Geopolitical changes have shown that current threats are not only directed at the state’s security but also at the individual’s. Besides the traditional concept of security, a new concept has emerged: economic security. The liberal conception was based on the hypothesis that economic interdependence would lead not only to prosperity but also to greater security. Traditional analyses do not sufficiently capture the real connections between the economy and security. In traditional approaches to security, the key concept was state security; in neo-traditional ones, new actors such as international organizations and non-governmental organizations also intervene alongside the state. Transformations in the international system demonstrate the need for a geostrategic renegotiation of relations at the regional level to ensure states of regional economic cooperation based on principles promoted by the European Union. Our analysis is a qualitative one, examining documents relevant to our topic, as well as a series of theories that underpin our analysis. Our research methods include content analysis of important documents and a SWOT analysis of the current crisis generated by the conflict in Ukraine. The central issue is given by these major changes that challenge the European project. In the face of these geopolitical changes, the following question arises: “Can economic interdependence be used to create stable bilateral relations between EU member states and between the EU and third countries to ensure European economic security?” The research starts from the following hypothesis: “As long as there is cooperation between the countries neighbouring the EU, there will be no risk of conflicts.” Since the EU acts not only in its own interest but also to create a business environment conducive to the development of enterprises in member countries, the risks the EU is exposed to as a global actor will also impact various industrial sectors and the internal market. Our objective is to demonstrate that the European Union, as a regional actor, can ensure the economic security of member states in the face of new hybrid threats. Our analysis focus on examining the economic relations between the European Union and its Eastern neighbours in the context of rapid changes in the international arena.

On the Impact of Renewable Generation on the Sicilian Power System in Near-Future Scenarios: A Case Study

This paper was conceived to investigate some central issues related to the upheaval of current energy scenarios in Sicily. New power connection lines that are about to be built in the Mediterranean area, planned with a view to a constantly increasing renewable generation, encourage the carrying out of analyses on how the Sicilian electric power system will be able to make itself ready to support large power injections, especially due to new renewables plants that will be established in the region soon. This study, carried out in close collaboration with the Italian TSO Terna S.p.A and the University of Palermo, defines what the impacts of new renewable power plants will be on the Sicilian power transmission grid under intact and non-intact grid conditions. This study consists of steady-state simulations carried out using WinCreso® in two energy scenarios estimated for the years 2024 and 2027, based on real connection requests by producers to Terna, and allows one to go beyond the studies conducted so far on a 2030 basis through the precise identification of network nodes or lines in difficulty. Finally, as well as presenting an interesting case study due to Sicily’s strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea, this article proposes a methodological approach that can easily be adopted in other contexts and by other TSOs to analyze similar situations.

The Emerging “Metaverse” and Its Implications for International Business

This article presents information on the metaverse as a digital space, highlighting areas for further inquiry by international business researchers. The metaverse is an overarching virtual platform, much like the Internet, but with a few key differences. The metaverse is expected to be a massively-scaled, hyper-connected network with seamless real time 2D and 3D connection to the physical world via virtual, augmented, neural, and traditional interfaces. Early examples of the metaverse exist like digital twins, gaming, education, and social networking spaces. If the metaverse comes to maturity over the next 10-15 years, it can be a US$ 8-13 trillion economy.

A Note on Real Line Bundles with Connection and Real Smooth Deligne Cohomology

We define a Real version of smooth Deligne cohomology for manifolds with involution which interpolates between equivariant sheaf cohomology and smooth imaginary-valued forms. Our main result is a classification of Real line bundles with Real connection on manifolds with involution.

Inter-Asia referencing and orientalist consideration of the transnational fandom of Thai boys’ love drama in Japan

ABSTRACT This study focused on the Japanese cyber-fandom of Thai boys’ love (BL) dramas, examining how their perception of Thailand was transformed through viewership and participation in fandom activities and how it affected the fans themselves and the broader Japanese society. In the Japanese cyberfandom of Thai BL dramas, people with diverse gender identities and sexualities intermingle, learn, and become aware of their changing gazes toward Thai and Japanese culture, queerness, and other related issues. Through a qualitative analysis of audience ethnography and interviews with 25 participants, this study shows that Thailand’s culture contrasts with others, particularly the cultures of the West, and an Oriental gaze from the Japanese point of view has emerged in this context. A movement beyond the national Thailand–Japan framework has also emerged, which explores the multifaceted nature of BL dramas within a single-issue context. Thus, Thai BL drama fandom extends beyond an Oriental perspective, practising inter-Asian referencing and reflecting on the national framework by watching BL dramas and participating in fandom. In other words, this study presents new possibilities for BL: (1) overcoming an oriental perspective and reflecting on a national framework for the acceptance and consumption of BL content and (2) cultural experience and real social connection through fandom activities and discourse through inter-Asian referencing in practice.

GAN-based self-supervised message passing graph representation learning

Graph representation learning aims to learn embedding representations of nodes in graph-structured data through supervised or unsupervised methods. However, for unlabeled or sparsely labeled graph datasets, conventional supervised approaches fail to perform adequately, and existing unsupervised methods have difficulty achieving high accuracy on multiple downstream tasks such as node classification and link prediction at lower embedding dimensions. To address this issue, we propose a novel self-supervised graph representation learning approach called GAN-based Message Passing Graph Representation Learning. This approach significantly improves the accuracy of node embeddings without relying on label information. Specifically, GMP-GL has developed a generator based on neighbor-weighted random walk to obtain positive and negative node sample pairs, as well as a discriminator that distinguishes whether a real connection exists between node pairs. Through adversarial learning, GMP-GL automatically learns node embeddings. Furthermore, GMP-GL optimizes the training outcomes of the generative adversarial model through self-supervised embedding aggregation learning, thus introducing rich structural information from the graph for the subsequent rounds of generative adversarial training. In addition, GMP-GL employs multiple autoencoders to generate and filter original embeddings, ensuring that the pre-embeddings preserve a significant amount of original feature information for formal learning. The study selects six real-world datasets and conducts comparative experiments with ten SOTA baseline methods. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model not only surpasses previous unsupervised methods but also matches or even exceeds the performance of supervised methods. This indicates the great potential of the proposed approach for representation learning tasks on unlabeled graph datasets and its effective applicability to real-world problems.

Sympathy Education and the NSPCC’s League of Pity, 1891–1913

ABSTRACT This article assesses the evolving dimensions of sympathy education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the League of Pity, the juvenile branch organisation of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). In its early years the League sought to emphasise Christian service and self-denial, and aimed to help poor victims of abuse become useful members of society. After the turn of the twentieth century, however, images and descriptions of suffering children featured in its propaganda less frequently; they were increasingly supplanted by reports of the various fundraising events attended by League members. The NSPCC sought to promote a sense of community between the League’s children and those whom it helped, but there was little real connection across the gulf that separated them. The League of Pity was an imagined community, despite its successes as an organised philanthropic offshoot of the NSPCC.

PSYCHOLOGICAL CULTURE OF MODERN YOUTH: THREATS AND PROBLEMS OF VIRTUAL SOCIAL SPACE

The essence of such concepts as "information culture", "information literacy" and "information worldview" is considered. The conclusion is made about the high level of penetration of information technologies into the lives of modern youth, but the insufficient level of information literacy and information worldview among young people. Based on a quantitative sociological study, the key threats to modern youth arising in the information space are identified. Among the most acute problems for modern youth, we have attributed: Internet addiction of young people, the rupture of real social ties and their substitution with virtual connections, loss of personal freedom, leakage of personal information, involvement in criminal and destructive groups through the Internet. It was noted that the more actively virtual space replaces real social connections, the newer threats are recorded in the Internet space. It has been established that criminal work on the Internet is especially active against teenagers. It is determined that the level of information culture among young people is correlated with age. The younger the respondents, the lower their level of information culture. It is concluded that social norms in the virtual space lag behind specific practices. Thus, modern society needs to more actively develop rules and norms of behavior in a new environment for it -the virtual space. The recommendation is given to develop the norms of information culture and cultural competencies among young people more actively. Educational programs should include issues of information literacy, including information security. All organizations working with young people need to step up their efforts toraise awareness of personal information security issues, especially among young people.

The Flâneur in Baudelaire and Whitman

This paper discusses the trans-cultural affinities between Whitman and Baudelaire through the question of the flâneur, a figure whose emergence coincides with the booming development of economic industry in the nineteenth century. Although there is no historical evidence that Whitman had any real connection with Baudelaire in his life, both Baudelaire and Whitman are all poets of modern life and have mutual infatuation with modernity. Both poets also innovatively demonstrate their poetic strength by establishing a poetic world dominated by visual images, with their poetic visions deeply rooted in the frank realities of modern urban life, unveiling a particular Modernist mode of urban experience. In investigating a possible link between Baudelaire and Whitman, this paper concludes that the relationship between the two poets is one of confluence rather than influence. Though deployed in the mode of the flâneur, Whitman’s poetics is in essence apart from this French model. More than simply a flâneur, Whitman is the poet of the city, the crowds, the body, the soul, and the nation. Discussing the roles of the flâneur in Whitman and Baudelaire, this paper manages to introduce new material for a comparative study between the two poets.

Blurred streamlines: A novel representation to reduce redundancy in tractography

Tractography is a powerful tool to study brain connectivity in vivo, but it is well known to suffer from an intrinsic trade-off between sensitivity and specificity. A critical – but usually underrated – parameter to choose that can heavily impact the quality of the estimates is the number of streamlines to be reconstructed for a given data set. In fact, sensitivity can be improved by generating more and more streamlines, as all real anatomical connections are likely reconstructed, but lots of false positives are inevitably introduced, too. Consequently, so-called tractography filtering techniques have become increasingly popular to get rid of these false positives and improve specificity. However, increasing number of streamlines introduces redundancy in tractography reconstructions, which may negatively impact the performance of filtering algorithms, especially those based on linear formulations. To address this problem, we introduce a novel streamlines representation, called “blurred streamlines”, which drastically reduces the redundancy among streamlines by (i) clustering similar trajectories and (ii) spatially blurring the corresponding signal contributions. We tested the effectiveness of the blurred streamlines both on synthetic and in vivo data. Our results clearly show that this new representation is as accurate as state-of-the-art methods despite using only 5% of the input streamlines, thus significantly decreasing the computational complexity of filtering algorithms as well as storage requirements of the resulting reconstructions.

Standardized patients’ experiences of portraying characters in difficult communication scenarios: Narrative inquiry

Background There are limited studies that explored the preparation and challenges faced by standardized patients (SPs) in portraying characters in difficult communication scenarios, and the strategies used to overcome these challenges. The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of SPs in interpreting difficult communication situations and the learning needs of performing similar scenarios. And it allows the researchers to explore the meaning, beliefs, values, and aspiration associated with their role as SPs. The findings could shade light on the significance of their experiences and provide valuable insights for the development of future SP training programs. Methods The design of this study is framed by a narrative inquiry, using semi-structured guidelines to conduct in-depth interviews with 11 SPs who have participated in the performances of difficult communication situations. Research data were analyzed by Polkinghorne narrative analysis, and Riessman’s four criteria were used to establish rigor. Results Analysis revealed the following five themes: scenarios to real life connections, process of preparing for a performance, methods to detach from character, obtaining unexpected rewards, and needs for performance training. There are two to three subthemes that are subsumed under each theme. Conclusions To strengthen training in difficult communication for healthcare professionals, the use of SPs to interpret challenging difficult communication scenarios will continue to increase. Educators need to ensure that SPs are fully prepared physically and emotionally before, during and after their performance. Offering of continuing education and training in feedback techniques are crucial to extend the tenure of SPs, reduce their frustration, prevent attrition, and ultimately, reduce training costs. In the future, SP training should also include detachment and feedback techniques to alleviate SPs’ stress.

Covid-19 and sociovirtualization: Exploring new ways to socialize

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the globe has seen unheard-of modifications in many facets of daily life, including how we socialize. A term used to characterize the use of virtual platforms and technologies for social contact, sociovirtualization has become more prevalent due to the requirement for physical separation and gathering constraints. Research on the effects of Covid-19 on socialization and the emergence of novel digital modes of communication and interaction is crucial.
 This article examines socialization in the future, seeing sociovirtualization as the standard in our interpersonal interactions. In order to promote real human connections, it highlights the necessity of a well-rounded strategy that incorporates both virtual and in-person contacts. Through a thoughtful embrace of sociovirtualization, we can make sense of the situation now and get ready for a time when virtual and real-world interactions can coexist peacefully.

The Road to Los Angeles: John Fante and the scene of writing

Written in the first person, The Road to Los Angeles is a posthumous novel in which John Fante addresses the topos of literary vocation for the first time through Arturo Bandini, the hero of the saga. The novel's salient aspect concerns 17-year-old Arturo who, completely captivated by his heterogeneous readings, feels an irresistible desire to become like his favourite writers. Thus, he continually envisages the scene of writing that will lead to his literary glory. This overwhelming compulsion to write induces in him a deep-set attitude of rebellion against his Catholic family and society at large. Along with his literary ambition, Bandini is obsessed by an eroticism that stimulates the most perverted fantasies in him. This article argues that Arturo's combined worship of literature and women's bodies defines a hazy territory whose effects are paralysing for his juvenile, albeit authentic, talent. Tellingly, his first attempt to write a novel culminates in an absolute failure which makes him understand that the scene of writing in which he illusorily imagines himself has no real connection with the practical organization of day-to-day life required by creative writing. Hence his abrupt decision to leave behind his family, his work at the cannery and everything else and to move to Los Angeles.

The law applicable to documentary letters of credit in India: A riddle wrapped in an enigma?

Despite significantly fostering international trade in India, letters of credit and the determination of applicable law in cross-border disputes arising from the same have received negligible attention from lawmakers. The Indian Supreme Court, too, has failed to use its power to mould the law despite regularly being confronted with disputes on this subject. This paper demystifies India’s conflict of law rules on the law governing disputes on letters of credit by examining relevant judicial trends. It highlights rampant references to the lex fori – and explores reasons why it is considered the “proper law” by being the country possessing the closest and most real contractual connection. It anticipates a “ripple effect” prompting parties to evade Indian courts through choice-of-court agreements preferring a foreign forum or to avoid business with Indian traders insisting on such payment mechanisms. Accordingly, it identifies the need for coherent rules and suggests some solutions that Indian lawmakers should consider.

A Comparative Study of Network Simulators

A network simulator is a tool that can simulate and analyze the behavior of computer networks. They are widely used by the research community to test and evaluate the performance of networks in a virtual environment before deploying them in the real world. The simulators allow the users to test the network without the need to physical hardware or any real time connections. We have studied and compared the detail features of the Network Simulators including the Qualnet simulator which we have implemented in our college.

Performed poetry and all-round experience

Abstract The National Curriculum makes spoken poetry part of what children should know, but dramatically limits what it can do. Thinking of sound as a purely internal dimension of the poem, it ignores the way oral performance brings the context of the room, the person and the situation all into play with the meaning. Orality used to be much more important to English than it is now: Henry Newbolt put it at the centre of his 1921 English Report, arguing that sound and poetry are the primary medium in which children's loves might be formed. It is there for emotional aliveness, not cultural superiority, as Newbolt's critics have charged. But one of the missing contexts for Newbolt and for the curriculum itself is the twentieth-century change towards poets themselves reading. As Yeats, Pound, and Eliot met their audiences, they found that their poems were acquiring new meaning from the situations and places they were being read in. What we see with the oral turn is a space where aesthetic ‘form’, physical ‘context’, and social-cultural ‘occasion’ can briefly merge into one another, because the poem is being briefly inscribed, registered, or overlayed onto all of them. Oral delivery means the poem acquires some of the flavour of the place it is in – meaning that great care has to be taken to make classroom performance into real connection.

Cultivating Connections: Crafting a Unique Identity in the Competitive Wine Market

This article offers a detailed look at current marketing strategies and their crucial role in building brand and engaging consumers. It starts by discussing the shift towards more empathetic and innovative marketing, emphasising the importance of creating real connections and understanding consumer desires. The focus then moves to the use of Social Networks and Social Media Marketing, explaining the various strategies, benefits, and potential issues of using these digital platforms. The discussion continues with an exploration of Digital Content Marketing, highlighting the need for a balance between informative and engaging content and how different characteristics affect brand popularity. The last section provides a tailored marketing strategy for the Romanian wine industry, covering aspects such as identifying target markets, developing a strong brand identity, online promotion, and fostering collaborations. This article acts as a comprehensive guide, combining theory and practical advice, to understand modern marketing and specifically improve the international profile of Romanian wines.