Strict Proportionality Research Articles

Proportional distribution pattern and modal principle of tuned viscous mass dampers for multi-degree-of-freedom structures

A tuned viscous mass damper (TVMD) is an inerter-based damper that has been adopted in several high-rise buildings in earthquake-prone Japan recently to protect the structures from seismic-induced vibrations. However, as a TVMD contains a mass element, it adds degrees of freedom to the controlled structure, making the system’s eigenmodes complex. Inspired by the Rayleigh damping matrix, this study proposes a mass-proportionally distributed TVMD (MPD-TVMD) system, which enhances the efficiency of TVMD utilization compared to the previously proposed stiffness-proportionally distributed TVMD (SPD-TVMD) system. It is theoretically proven in this study that when the arrangements of the TVMDs are proportional to the stiffness or mass distribution of the primary structure, the equations of motion of a TVMD controlled shear building can be decomposed into the eigenmodes of the uncontrolled structure. This modal principle allows structural engineers to estimate the response of the controlled structure by understanding the modal characteristics of the uncontrolled system, which is highly beneficial for preliminary design decisions and the retrofitting of existing structures. Furthermore, given that the damping properties at each story level are typically adjusted by the number of dampers installed, it is often unrealistic in practical design to maintain strict proportionality in damper distribution. Through numerical examples, this study demonstrates that TVMD systems with realistic distribution patterns that are slightly different from a strictly proportional distribution can still perform as effectively as strictly proportional systems, providing a comprehensive design basis for the application of inerter-based damper in practical engineering.

지역소멸의 위기에 따른 민주주의의 약화와 대응 방안

In today’s Korean society, the crisis of rapid decline in local population, coupled with a decreasing population, poses one of the biggest challenges in preparing for future generations. Moreover, the issue of rapid decline in local population may present a significant threat to democracy, a foundational principle of the Constitution, beyond just being a concern at the level of industrial or administrative policies for balanced regional development. This article points out that democracy is also weakening due to the crisis of rapid decline in local population, and proposes solutions in terms of the implementation of democracy, focusing on institutions such as elections, political parties, and direct democracy. Firstly, from the perspective of localities and regional populations, there are issues with the proportionality of electoral districts and regional representation. As an extreme imbalance in population between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas forms, the citizens of the latter experience weakened representation in the election of their legislators, leading to the emergence of large electoral districts or the abnormal setting of a single district for areas lacking regional homogeneity or community cohesion. Under the current small constituency plurality system, maintaining strict population proportionality presents a difficult challenge to overcome. To harmonize the proportionality of electoral district populations with regional representation, considering a constitutional amendment to transform the unicameral legislature to a bicameral system where the upper house has regional representation, or adopting a regional proportional representation system for legislative elections, are potential institutional changes that should be explored. Secondly, recognizing regional political parties as a way to promote local democracy could help enhance local political autonomy. Current Party Law recognizes only national parties, and the Constitutional Court has upheld these provisions. However, the essential function of a party is to participate in the formation of political will of the people, which does not necessarily have to be nationwide. Recognizing regional parties could bolster local democracy and should be considered for enhancement. Thirdly, in response to regional issues more actively and flexibly, the diversification of local government structures should be actively recognized, and strengthening direct democracy measures is necessary to address issues in areas experiencing extreme population decline.

The Central Role of the Relativistic Velocity Transformation in Modern Physics Theory

The Relativistic Velocity Transformation (RVT) is a very valuable tool for understanding the results of experiments. It was first used in 1907 by von Laue to explain the Fresnel-Fizeau light-damping phenomenon associated with the passage of light through a tube filled with a non-dispersive liquid. It is also essential for the prediction of characteristics of modern-day high-energy collision and decay processes. The purpose of the present work is to show that the RVT successes are in no way attributable to the Lorentz Transformation (LT), which is the cornerstone of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (SR) published in 1905. It is shown instead that the space-time transformation (VT) introduced in 1887 by Voigt can be used directly to derive the RVT. This is an important observation since it easily proven the LT is not internally consistent and therefore is not a viable component of relativity theory. There are nonetheless experiments which cannot be understood on the basis of the RVT, but rather require the use of the classical (Galilean) velocity transformation (GVT). It is pointed out the ranges of applicability for the GVT and RVT are mutually exclusive, and that it is a straightforward manner to distinguish between them on the basis of the specific characteristics of the experiments being carried out. The “distance rephrasing procedure” is introduced to prove that the GVT can be used successfully in examples involving light pulses, contrary to what is claimed in SR. Finally, the Law of Causality is shown to lead to a strict proportionality between the timing results of two observers in relative motion to one another. This relationship is referred to as “Newtonian Simultaneity” since it requires that events which are simultaneous for one observer will also be simultaneous for the other, unlike the prediction of remote non-simultaneity (RNS) which follows from the LT. The Newton-Voigt space-time transformation (NVT) employs the Newtonian Simultaneity proportional relationship explicitly and is also consistent with Galileo’s Relativity Principle (RP). It therefore serves as a viable replacement for the LT. Newtonian Simultaneity is also a key element of the Uniform Scaling Method discussed in previous work.

Simple model of market share dynamics based on clients’ firm-switching decisions

Firms compete for clients, creating distributions of market shares ranging from domination by a few giant companies to markets in which there are many small firms. These market structures evolve in time, and may remain stable for many years before a new firm emerges and rapidly obtains a large market share. We seek the simplest realistic model giving rise to such diverse market structures and dynamics. We focus on markets in which every client adopts a single firm, and can, from time to time, switch to a different firm. Examples include markets of cell phone and Internet service providers, and of consumer products with strong brand identification. In the model, the size of a particular firm, labelled i, is equal to its current number of clients, ni. In every step of the simulation, a client is chosen at random, and then selects a firm from among the full set of firms with probability pi=(niα+β)/K, where K is the normalization factor. Our model thus has two parameters: α represents the degree to which firm size is an advantage (α>1) or disadvantage (α<1), relative to strict proportionality to size (α=1), and β represents the degree to which small firms are viable despite their small size. We postulate that α and β are determined by the regulatory, technology, business culture and social environments. The model exhibits a phase diagram in the parameter space, with different regions of behaviour. At the large α extreme of the phase diagram, a single dominant firm emerges, whose market share depends on the value of β. At the small α extreme, many firms with small market shares coexist, and no dominant firm emerges. In the intermediate region, markets are divided among a relatively small number of firms, each with sizeable market share but with distinct rankings, which can persist for long times before changing. We compare the model results to previously published empirical data from a broad range of Japanese industries, and find good agreement with a central statistical result relating the standard deviation of market share changes to the value of the market share before the change.

Influence of the structure of quinoline derivatives on their sorption on hypercrosslinked polystyrene

The article is devoted to the study of the chromatographic behaviour of quinoline and tetrahydroquinoline derivatives. The purpose of the study was to investigate the patterns of sorption of these compounds from aqueous-acetonitrile solutions on hyper-cross-linked polystyrene using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The volume, polarizability, lipophilicity, and dipole moment of molecules of quinoline derivatives were calculated, which significantly depended on the nature and position of functional groups and substituents in the main nucleus. It has been established that the appearance of functional groups and substituents leads to an increase in the volume and polarizability of the molecules of quinoline derivatives compared to unsubstituted quinoline and methylquinoline, while the lipophilicity and dipole moment change depending on the nature of the substituent and its position in the main fragment. The dependences of sorption characteristics on the structure and physicochemical properties of sorbates were obtained. It has been shown that, in accordance with the laws of the reversed-phase version of liquid chromatography, the retention of substances changes symbatically with the change in the characteristics of the molecules responsible for dispersion interactions. In this case, the presence in the molecules of halogen atoms, phenyl radicals and other substituents capable of π-interactions with the surface of hyper-cross-linked polystyrene led to a significant increase in retention, and the presence of a carboxyl group or carboxyalkyls prone to interaction with the polar eluent significantly weakens retention. The appearance of an ester group in sorbate molecules generally significantly increased the volume, polarizability and lipophilicity of the corresponding derivatives, but had virtually no effect on retention, and therefore it was suggested that the presence of a carbonyl oxygen atom, capable of interacting with the polar components of the eluent, neutralizes the effect of physical-chemical factors that determine the sorption of these substances due to dispersion interactions. Thus, despite the symmetry in changes in the physicochemical parameters of the studied compounds and their retention, there was no strict proportionality, since, on the one hand, the retention of sorbates was carried out in accordance with the change in their physicochemical parameters, and on the other hand, it was determined by the tendency molecules of these compounds to competitive interactions with the components of the mobile phase. The presented results of the study can be useful in the development and optimization of methods for analysing compounds with similar structures, as well as for developing the theory of sorption of polyfunctional compounds from multicomponent solutions and establishing the relationship between sorption characteristics, other physicochemical parameters and the structure of molecules.

Constitutional human right in the context of the COVID-19 challenge

The purpose of the article is research the interaction between human rights and measures to protect public health in the face of new legal challenges posed by COVID-19 through the disclosure of key legal standards to combat pandemic threats; study of the problem of restriction of the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and mass events; to analyze aspects of the implementation of the constitutional right to education in a pandemic crisis and the issue of restriction of freedom of movement. The article examines the interaction between human rights and measures to protect public health in the face of new legal challenges posed by COVID-19 through the disclosure of key legal standards to combat pandemic threats; study of the problem of restriction of the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and mass events; to analyze aspects of the implementation of the constitutional right to education in a pandemic crisis and the issue of restriction of freedom of movement.&#x0D; The author's methodological analysis included a number of philosophical, general scientific and special scientific methods. In particular, the method of comparative jurisprudence was used to analyze the experience of a number of countries in allowing the restriction of human rights. The comparative method contributed to the generalization of knowledge in the field of medicine, law, public administration, psychology, etc. Synergetic aimed at the binary nature of legal reality and uncertainty in a pandemic crisis.&#x0D; The positions of scientists and institutional international bodies on the legitimacy of restrictions on human rights are represented, the position is motivated by a casual dimension. The author reveals the key standards of counteracting pandemic threats, special attention is focused on the problem of restricting the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and mass events. The difficulties of realization of the constitutional right to education in the conditions of pandemic crisis are pointed out and also questions of legality and non-discrimination in the field of freedom of movement are raised.&#x0D; An analysis of the experience of a number of countries has shown that in most countries, the rules of exclusive action allow for restrictions on human rights or certain deviations from the general mechanism of their implementation in times of health threats and/or national emergencies. However, in accordance with international law, as well as constitutional law in democracies, such measures must be necessary, proportionate and reasonably linked to legitimate public aims.&#x0D; It is stated that state anti-epidemiological measures deprive citizens of the opportunity to properly exercise their constitutional rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, mass events, the right to education, and freedom of movement. Please note that the introduction of measures to prevent diseases that threaten public health should be exclusively for this purpose and should be motivated by critical necessity and not by political motives and interests. Restrictions must pursue a legitimate aim, demonstrate the exact nature of the threat and be proportionate according to that aim. This should demonstrate the direct and immediate link between the implication and the threat.&#x0D; The conclusion states that the restrictions imposed by the application must comply with strict proportionality tests. Restrictions should not be too broad, they should be the least intrusive.

Coupling of soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in drylands under climate change

Climate change is predicted to be more dramatic in arid regions. Soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics maintain various functions in terrestrial ecosystems. It has been suggested that soil C and N dynamics are biologically coupled due to the strict proportions of C and N in organisms. However, whether dramatic climate change in drylands would break this coupling remained largely unknown. Given that climate change could occur over short distances in mountainous terrain, this study conducted a soil sampling across an altitude transect in Tianshan Mountains, China, which are the largest mountain system in drylands across the world. To avoid the disturbance of the influence of slope aspect, we therefore collected soil samples on the sunny and shady slopes of Tianshan Mountains. Our results showed that soil C and N concentrations and C:N ratio all increased with increasing altitude on the sunny slope and their changes were affected by temperature, soil sand content and precipitation. For the shady slope, soil C and N concentrations and C:N ratio all first increased then decreased along the altitude gradient. Soil pH, precipitation, temperature and soil sand content influenced soil C and N dynamics at altitude below 2650 m; soil pH and soil sand content affected soil C and N dynamics at altitude above 2650 m. These results indicated that soil C and N dynamics on the sunny and shady slopes both kept coupled under the condition of changing altitude. Furthermore, although the altitudinal patterns of soil C and N dynamics on the sunny and shady slopes were different, the correlations between soil C and N concentrations on these two slopes both were significant with a correlation coefficient of about 0.9. Hence, this study suggested that the coupling of soil C and N dynamics in drylands would still exist under climate change.

Caso Pavez Pavez vs. Chile una sentencia judicial con graves omisiones argumentales

Case commentary on the Pavez Pavez v. Chile judgment, issued at the beginning of 2022 by the Interamerican Court of Human Rights. The judgment in question is relevant given its subject matter as it is noteworthy for being one of few decisions of the Inter-American system that directly addresses freedom of religion and its relationship with other rights in tension. It is argued that the decision reached has little jurisprudential value, given the significant shortcomings in the interpretation of the scope of the right to freedom of religion, and the failure to apply the strict proportionality test that the Court announced as decisive in the case in question.

Necessity or balancing: The protection of rights under different proportionality tests—Experimental evidence

Abstract Despite its global proliferation, there is no standard formulation for proportionality analysis. The result is debate over the optimal formulation and application of the doctrine and the ramifications of adopting different versions. A subset of this debate relates to which element of the doctrine provides rights with greater protection against competing public interests. Although this dispute is essentially empirical, arguments on the matter remain strictly theoretical. This study presents the first experimental analysis of the effects of specific subtests of proportionality analysis on the level of protection afforded to rights. We find strong evidence that applying proportionality in terms of the necessity test—whether there are less restrictive means—results in greater protection of rights in policy decisions than does applying proportionality in terms of the strict proportionality test—balancing the benefit against the harm. The findings suggest that including a necessity component within the proportionality doctrine, and emphasizing it as a central stage of the analysis, can enhance the protection of rights in decisions regarding rights-restricting policy.

Workplace Well-being: An Experimental Investigation into Benefits of Consciousness-based Architecture *

Consciousness is primary and unbounded and can be accessed through multiple modalities, including the qualities of the workplace environment. This research explored the proposition that a consciousness-based architecture could improve workplace well-being. It experimentally investigated the potential benefits of Maharishi Vastu Architecture® (MVA) in a business setting. MVA buildings deal with wholeness and the establishment of the parts in relation to the whole. They have a strict East-West directional orientation, and strict proportion and placement of its center and rooms, among other features. A technical consulting company relocated their offices from a conventional building into one designed according to the principles of MVA. All the available employees of the company were tested one month before and one month after the move to the MVA building using a Workplace Wellbeing Index specifically created for this research. Data analysis comparing the pre and post measurements showed a 8% improvement (p&lt;0.05) in subjective wellbeing upon relocating to the MVA building. Organizations can thus enhance workforce well-being through holistic workplaces designed for development of consciousness.

Biologically active water complex “HALPI” effect in dermatological conditions in canine red blood cell values

This article presents an effect study of the biologically active water complex “HALPI” in dermatological conditions in canine red blood cell values. Biologically active water complex "HALPI" is produced according to the original recipe invented by the development Director of OOO "HALPI RUS", Vladimir Protasov. The prescription composition of the biologically active water complex "HALPI", in strict proportion includes components involved in the process of energy exchange in the cellular system of energy formation. The study was conducted on two groups of dogs with dermatological conditions (focal alopecia, erythema, pruritus): the experimental group was formed from dogs who were drinking biologically active water complex "HALPI" daily for 21 days and the control group, selected by the method of pairs of analogues. In the stabilized blood of both groups animals, such indicators as the number of red blood cells, hemoglobin level and hematocrit were determined. As a result of the analysis of the obtained data, it was revealed that the use of this biologically active water complex leads to normalization of the hydration status. Thus, the use of biologically active water complex "HALPI" can improve the state of metabolic processes by compensating for possible deficiencies of vitamins and trace elements, which contributes to improving the life quality of dogs with dermatological disorders.

Comparative performance and reusability studies of lipases on syntheses of octyl esters with an economic approach.

A suitable immobilized lipase for esters syntheses should be selected considering not only its cost. We evaluated five biocatalysts in syntheses of octyl caprylate, octyl caprate, and octyl laurate, in which conversions higher than 90% were achieved. Novozym® 435 and non-commercial preparations (including a dry fermented solid) were selected for short-term octyl laurate syntheses using different biocatalysts loadings. By increasing the biocatalyst's loading the lipase's reusability also raised, but without strict proportionality, which resulted in a convergence between the lowest biocatalyst loading and the lowest cost per batch. The use of a dry fermented solid was cost-effective, even using loadings as high as 20.0% wt/wt due to its low obtaining cost, although exhibiting low productiveness. The combination of biocatalyst's cost, esterification activity, stability, and reusability represents proper criteria for the choice. This kind of assessment may help to establish quantitative goals to improve or to develop new biocatalysts.

Preface

This journal contains 94 selected contributions of the GIREP-ICPE-EPEC-MPTL 2019 Conference held 1-5. July 2019 in Budapest Hungary in the premises of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.This conference coincided with the centenary year of Roland Eötvös to commemorate his achievements in physics. Also the UNESCO was associated with this celebration. Roland Eötvös (1848-1919) was a Hungarian physicist, who was not only an outstanding scientist-measuring the strict proportionality of the inertial and gravitational masses to a precision unprecedented before-, but was also an excellent educator and reformer of the Hungarian science education system.More than 350 participants gathered from 47 countries all over the world to share their newest results on physics education research with their colleagues. There were 7 invited keynote talks (60 mins each), 10 symposia (90 mins)-containing altogether 39 oral presentations-, 11 workshops (90 mins each), 173 oral presentations (15 mins +5 mins discussion) and 76 posters.The main international scientific bodies organizing the conference were the following:• Group International de Recherche sur l’Enseignement de la Physique (GIREP)• Physics Education Division (PED) of the European Physical Society (EPS)• International Commission on Physics Education (ICPE) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)• Multimedia Physics Teaching and Learning (MPTL).The leading organizing body was GIREP, which is an international membership organisation founded in 1966, open to academics, teachers, curriculum developers and all other stakeholders with the concern to improve physics teaching and learning by means of Physics Education Research, Innovative Experimentation in Physics Teaching/Learning, Innovative Materials and Methods, Suggestions for Stakeholders, International Cooperation in Conferences, Seminars, Selected Paper Books.The key topics of the Conference were the following:A. Strategies and methods to improve Physics learning and teachingB. Multimedia in Physics Teaching and LearningC. Contemporary Physics and Modern Physics in SchoolD. Physics Curriculum: Development and ImplementationE. Experiments in Physics EducationF. Early Science LearningG. Environmental PhysicsH. Teacher Education and postgraduate educationI. Informal learning and science centresJ. Outreach of PhysicsThere are several papers in this journal about most of the topics above. The papers were subject of double blinded reviewing process, and only those got accepted, which have met the high standards set by the referees.During the Conference also Symposia were organized where groups of researchers working on the same fields shared their results and discussed the actual problems of the field. Also reports of some of those symposia are published here in the Journal.In addition to these interesting topics GIREP also launched a new initiative during the Conference: The Community on Teaching/Learning Quantum Physics. This explains why the readers find here especially large number of papers about this very hot topic.We also draw the attention of the interested reader that some selected papers will be published soon in Springer book series “Challenges in Physics Education” under the title: “Teaching-Learning Contemporary Physics – from Research to Practice”.We, as main local organizers of the Conference, would like to express our thanks to the many organizations who contributed and helped organizing this Conference. Firstly, the international organizations mentioned above, who not only assured the high scientific standards, but also contributed financially. We are also indebted to the Budapest University of Technology and Economics who provided its nice premises and infrastructure and welcomed all lectures, workshops and meetings. We express our thanks also to the Hungarian Education State Secretary for the financial help and continuous encouragement. Last, but not least our thanks goes to the many institutions-in the country or abroad-who offered some sponsorship which enabled us to keep the finances of the conference under control, and to keep the participation fees at an acceptable height.Budapest, 20. April 2021.Beata Jarosievitz and Csaba Sükösd editorsContacts:Prof. Beata Jarosievitz, Dennis Gabor College Budapest e-mail: jarosievitz@gmail.comProf. Csaba Sükösd, Budapest Univ. of Technology and Economics e-mail: sukosd@reak.bme.hu

Control of the Properties of Sm – Fe – Co – Cu – Zr Magnets by the Method of Mixtures of Powders

The effect of the chemical composition of the alloys on the magnetic properties of sintered Sm – Co – Fe – Cu – Zr magnets produced with mixing of alloy powders is studied. Elevation of (BH )max of Sm – Co – Fe – Cu – Zr magnets due to increase of the concentration of Fe to 20 wt.% requires observation of a strict proportion of the components and precision choice of the modes of heat treatment. Optimization of the chemical composition and use of step annealing with reduction of the temperature from 700 to 400°C has given sintered magnets with the following properties: Br = 11.7 – 11.9 kGs, HcB = 9 – 10 kOe, HcJ = 15 – 20 kOe, and (BH )max = 29 – 31 MGs · Oe.

Power allocation with fairness for non‐orthogonal multiple access systems

The non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) approach enables a number of users to share the same resource via superposition coding in the transmitter and successive detection in the receiver. In this study a power allocation (PA) approach based on the proportional fair division technique is proposed. In this regard, power is assigned to users such that it ensures the fairness of NOMA follows that of orthogonal multiple access. A straight forward approach that achieves this objective is stated and is followed by proposing three different algorithms. These algorithms loosen the strict proportionality criterion to fulfil the data rate of a specific user. Also, a new fairness index for NOMA based on data rate ratios is defined. Afterwards, a low-complexity strategy based on water filling (WF) for PA amongst resources is proposed. This second PA stage aims at improving the data rate of users. The proposed approaches are applied to NOMA systems with different pairing strategies and results are compared. Results show that the proposed approaches improve the fairness of NOMA and WF increases the total system rate.

SUICIDE AS AN INDICATOR OF THE PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH IN UKRAINE (INCLUDING PERIOD OF COVID-19)

The aim: This article aims to analyze the rates of suicide as an indicator of public mental health, to consider the suicidal map of the territory of Ukraine (including to check the manifestation of such a territorial characteristic as the Albanian paradox); calculate the price of suicide for the socio-economic development of the Ukrainian state, consider the risks of suicide that have arisen as social and criminological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: The study is based on the analytical materials of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the WHO; the information and analytical data of the GeneralProsecutor's Office of Ukraine, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and sectoral statistics for the period of 2015-2019, etc. The article is based on dialectical, analytical, synthetic, comparative, statistical, cartographic, and sociological methods of research and the method of potential demography. The theoretical basis of the article is specialized literature on medicine, suicidology, law, sociology, and cartography. Results: In Ukraine, the death rate from suicide in recent years averages 1.1% of the total number of deaths. The rate of suicide decline in Ukraine has slowed significantly over the past five years, which is an alarming symptom. There are almost strict proportions between male and female suicide (men commit four out of five suicides). The level of self-harm per 100,000 population of Ukraine remains almost stable, indicating a severe demographic crisis in Ukraine. Women in Ukraine are less likely to commit suicide than in European countries. In Ukraine in recent years, contrary to European trends, suicide has dominated among the elderly aged 65+. The number of years of potential life loss for male and female suicides in Ukraine is 103 thousand, and the number of working years is almost 100 thousand. The losses for Ukraine from the unlived life of those who died as a result of suicide in 2019 are almost USD 341 billion. Conclusions: In 2019, suicides accounted for almost 21% of deaths from external causes among Ukraine's population. The most intense suicidal situation is observed in the central part of the country's geographical map along the imaginary vertical axis "North-South" (Kherson, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhia, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv regions). During the COVID-19 pandemic, many additional factors increase the risk of suicide among individuals who are at heightened risk of suicide or are actively suicidal, and among the general population.

Large-scale and low-cost fabrication of two functional silica sorbents by vapor condensation induced nanoemulsions and their excellent uptake performance

Effective removal of Pb(II) is a pressing global issue for both drinking water and wastewater purification. In this work, the large-scale and low-cost synthesis of two functional silica sorbents by vapor condensation induced water-in-oil (W/O) nanoemulsions (NSEs) is proposed, and the obtained high quality sorbents are applied for rapid removal of Pb(II). Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) is diffused into the droplet of NSEs reactor, and then naked silica spheres are generated by hydrolysis and condensation at room temperature. The effects of the reaction conditions and confined space, including the stability, pumping time of water-soluble gas, and condensing time etc. on the size, morphology, and yield of main product are investigated, and the possible formation mechanism is demonstrated. Furthermore, functional silica sorbents with defined surface chemistry (i.e. Si-NH2 and Si-SH) are also synthesized via as-prepared NSEs systems. Finally, attributed to the inherent amino and mercapto terminal groups, Si-NH2 and Si-SH illuminate the maximum sorption capacity of 245.7 mg g−1 and 72.16 mg g−1 for Pb(II), respectively. Surface charge does not play a significant role in Pb(II) capture by Si-NH2, while chemisorption and electrostatic interaction both contribute to uptake performance of Si-SH. NSEs formed by condensation of water vapor do not need violent stirring and strict component proportion, which is an alternative and potential strategy to synthesize functional sorbents.

Balancing Versus Structured Decision Procedures: Antitrust, Title VII Disparate Impact, and Constitutional Law Strict Scrutiny

Important doctrines in diverse areas of law employ structured decision procedures requiring, in rough terms, that the plaintiff first make some demonstration of harm; if but only if that is done, the defendant must make some showing of benefit; and if but only if that occurs, balancing is performed. In-depth analysis of such protocols reveals them to be inferior to unconstrained balancing with respect to the quality of final decisions and the guidance they provide for the collection of information and, accordingly, the conduct of adjudication. This article applies this analysis to the rule of reason and merger regulation under antitrust law, Title VII disparate impact law, and the practices of strict scrutiny and proportionality analysis in constitutional law. Longstanding controversies are addressed and unappreciated deficiencies are discovered. In all three domains, existing law is cast in a substantially different light, both descriptively and normatively.

Global Positioning System Confirmation of a Contradiction between Einstein’s Predictions of Time Dilation and Remote Non-Simultaneity: Failure of the Lorentz Transformation

Time dilation and remote non-simultaneity are two of the most famous predictions derived from the Lorentz transformation. As a simple example, consider two lightning strikes which occur at different positions in space. According to Einstein’s special theory, the time differences Δt and Δtꞌ measured by two observers between the two strikes must satisfy a strict proportionality relation (time dilation): Δtꞌ=XΔt. However, it is also claimed, by virtue of the corresponding prediction of remote non-simultaneity, that the two events can occur simultaneously for one of them (Δt=0) without doing so for the other (Δtꞌ≠0). It is pointed out that it is impossible to satisfy both of the above conditions because that would mean having to violate the algebraic axiom which states that multiplication of any finite number, in this case X, by zero (Δt) must have a product (Δtꞌ) of zero as well. Only by violating this axiom is it possible to avoid a direct contradiction of the prediction of remote non-simultaneity. As a result, the Lorentz transformation itself is shown to be invalid since it is responsible for both of the above predictions. A different space-time transformation is therefore presented which also satisfies both of Einstein’s postulates of relativity without requiring that space and time be mixed. The Hafele-Keating experiments with atomic clocks carried onboard circumnavigating airplanes confirm that time dilation is a real effect, but they also show that the prediction of Einstein’s theory that observers can disagree in principle which of two clocks runs slower is not correct. The Global Positioning System makes use of the observed proportionality relationship between elapsed times to adjust the rates of atomic clocks carried onboard its satellites so that they run at the same rate as identical clocks located on the earth’s surface. This practice also serves as a confirmation that remote non-simultaneity has no basis in fact. Otherwise, it would make no sense to have the two clocks running at the same rate in order to measure elapsed times for laser beams to travel between the satellite and the ground position.

Enhancing the distance minimization methods of matrix updating within a homothetic paradigm

Matrix updating methods are used for constructing the target matrix with the prescribed row and column marginal totals that demonstrates the highest possible level of its structural similarity to initial matrix given. A concept of structural similarity has a vague framework that can be slightly refined under considering a particular case of strict proportionality between row and column marginal totals for target and initial matrices. Here the question arises: can we accept the initial matrix homothety as optimal solution for proportionality case of matrix-updating problem? In most practical situations, an affirmative answer to the question is almost obvious. It is natural to call this common notion by homothetic paradigm and to refer its checking as homothetic testing. Some well-known methods for matrix updating serve as an additional instrumental confirmation to validity of homothetic paradigm. It is shown that RAS method and Kuroda’s method pass through the homothetic test successfully. Homothetic paradigm can be helpful for enhancing a collection of matrix updating methods based on constrained minimization of the distance functions. Main attention is paid to improving the methods with weighted squared differences (both regular and relative) as an objective function. As an instance of a incorrigible failure in the homothetic testing, the GRAS method for updating the economic matrices with some negative entries is analyzed in details. A collection of illustrative numerical examples and some recommendations for method’s choice are given.