Unconventional Framework Research Articles

Counselling without boundaries

Hestia’s Overnight Hotel Counselling Service for survivors of the Grenfell fire was set up in response to a disaster and therefore most of the ‘normal rules’ of counselling boundaries could not apply. There is a gap in the literature regarding counselling in times of disasters and the ethical dilemmas that come with it. The deficit on this issue is especially great in the UK.
 Using a thematic analysis, this study explores how nine counsellors experienced working within unconventional counselling boundaries in this service.
 Findings indicate that the challenges encountered, and outcomes experienced, fostered a questioning of many of the rules assumed about counselling and psychotherapy especially regarding boundaries. Furthermore, they seem to validate the common factors’ view on the importance of the therapeutic relationship for successful outcomes, even within an unconventional framework.
 The study raises some questions for counselling and psychotherapy practice, training, and research such as preparedness for disaster counselling, diversity in service provision, and developing further the concept of community counselling by a community of counsellors with a community of clients in community settings.

Electromagnetic field theory in superluminal spacetime

Recently, a number of experimental observations on the superluminal group velocities of pulses propagating in dispersive media have led to reconsidering electromagnetism theory in an unconventional framework. To consider faster-than-light phenomena, it is not necessary to replace the current relativistic theory, but it is sufficient to extend it to superluminal motions in a way that preserves the principle of causality. In the present paper, a new approach to study superluminal motions is proposed, which avoids introducing unphysical complex quantities and allows for the formulation of equations that are covariant according to a hyperbolic metric. In the framework of this formalism, Maxwell equations and the single-photon wave equation are obtained through superluminal transformations of ordinary equations. It is shown that the covariant and contravariant components of the superluminal electromagnetic field determine its magnitude and direction, respectively. Furthermore, the solutions of the transformed Maxwell equations are X-shaped ways propagating in the superluminal spacetime region that is delimited by the infinite light cone and the two-sheeted hyperboloid perpendicular to it. Instead, in quantum mechanics, the covariant and contravariant components of the electromagnetic field are proportional to the right- and left-handed helicities of the single photon, respectively.

Hybrid Intelligent Modelling for Air Quality Prediction Deep Learning and Markov Chain Unconventional Framework

Hybrid Intelligent Modelling for Air Quality Prediction Deep Learning and Markov Chain Unconventional Framework

An Unconventional Framework for Smile Detection using Eye StatesThe Description of Wood’s Lamp and Dermoscopy on Patients suspected of Melasma in Adam Malik Hospital Medan

An Unconventional Framework for Smile Detection using Eye StatesThe Description of Wood’s Lamp and Dermoscopy on Patients suspected of Melasma in Adam Malik Hospital Medan

Monte Carlo modified profile likelihood in models for clustered data

The main focus of the analysts who deal with clustered data is usually not on the clustering variables, and hence the group-specific parameters are treated as nuisance. If a fixed effects formulation is preferred and the total number of clusters is large relative to the single-group sizes, classical frequentist techniques relying on the profile likelihood are often misleading. The use of alternative tools, such as modifications to the profile likelihood or integrated likelihoods, for making accurate inference on a parameter of interest can be complicated by the presence of nonstandard modelling and/or sampling assumptions. We show here how to employ Monte Carlo simulation in order to approximate the modified profile likelihood in some of these unconventional frameworks. The proposed solution is widely applicable and is shown to retain the usual properties of the modified profile likelihood. The approach is examined in two instances particularly relevant in applications, i.e. missing-data models and survival models with unspecified censoring distribution. The effectiveness of the proposed solution is validated via simulation studies and two clinical trial applications.

Study on the Spatially Variable Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity and Deformation Behavior of Accumulation Reservoir Landslide Based on Surface Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Survey

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is spatially variable in accumulation landslide sites that exert significant effort onto landslide seepage and deformation behavior. To better understand spatial variability and the effect of Ks on the slide mass of an accumulation landslide, this study introduced the surface nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR) technology to study a representative reservoir accumulation landslide field in the Three Gorges Reservoir area (TGRA), the Baishuihe landslide, to obtain a series of relative reliable spatial measurements of Ks effectively on the basis of calibration in terms of the field tests measurements. The estimated Ks values were distributed log-normally for the overall landslide mass site with a wide range of 3.00 × 10−6∼7.80 × 10−3 cm/s, which reaches about 3 orders of magnitude. Variogram analysis indicated that the Ks values have the range (A) of 295.89 m and 65.56 m for the overall site and major cross-sectional analysis, respectively. A finite-element seepage-stress analysis associated with a Kriging-interpolated spatial Ks variable calculation model based on the best-fitted theoretical variogram was subsequently performed to study the seepage and deformation behavior of the landslide. The available monitored data and simulated results of the finite-element seepage-stress analysis indicated that the Baishuihe landslide is a progressive landslide, and the main factor influencing the deformation is rainfall and reservoir water fluctuation. This study provides an unconventional framework for studying the heterogeneous geomaterial and contributes to a better understanding of the spatial variation of the hydraulic property of accumulation reservoir landslides at a field scale.

Down the Rabbit Hole: toward appropriate discussion of methane release from gas hydrate systems during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum and other past hyperthermal events

Abstract. Enormous amounts of 13C-depleted carbon rapidly entered the exogenic carbon cycle during the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), as attested to by a prominent negative carbon isotope (δ13C) excursion and deep-sea carbonate dissolution. A widely cited explanation for this carbon input has been thermal dissociation of gas hydrate on continental slopes, followed by release of CH4 from the seafloor and its subsequent oxidation to CO2 in the ocean or atmosphere. Increasingly, papers have argued against this mechanism, but without fully considering existing ideas and available data. Moreover, other explanations have been presented as plausible alternatives, even though they conflict with geological observations, they raise major conceptual problems, or both. Methane release from gas hydrates remains a congruous explanation for the δ13C excursion across the PETM, although it requires an unconventional framework for global carbon and sulfur cycling, and it lacks proof. These issues are addressed here in the hope that they will prompt appropriate discussions regarding the extraordinary carbon injection at the start of the PETM and during other events in Earth's history.

Religious Policy in the People's Republic of China: an alternative perspective

During the first 30 years of its existence, the People's Republic of China (PRC) committed itself to making atheist Marxism the fundamental ideology of the country, depriving the Chinese people of their constitutional right of religious liberty. Since 1979, new policies, regulations, and legislation impacting religious freedom have been created and implemented. This paper proposes an unconventional framework for understanding China's religious policy. It attempts to explain the evolution of this policy through an analysis of the party's changing view of religion; the nature of its new religious policy and law; and the function of its supervision of religion. It calls for the consideration of the validity of a distinctive Chinese model in religious affairs similar to that which has evolved in economic development.

One Land, Two States? Parallel States as an Example of "Out of the Box" Thinking on Israel/Palestine

JPS has always sought to provide a forum for discussion and productive debate on emerging trends in thought regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict and its peaceful resolution. It is in this light that JPS offers the following two pieces, without comment or endorsement, in the hope that they might inspire serious academic discussion, perhaps even within the pages of JPS. The editors welcome responses (they may be sent to jps@palestine-studies. org), although for space reasons we cannot guarantee that all of them will be published.In recent years, faced with a stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Israel's continued creation of facts on the ground, many have started to question whether it is still possible to implement a viable two-state solution, which is the peace process's stated goal. A number of alternative ways forward in the conflict have therefore been suggested that go beyond the usual one-state solution. As part of an exercise of "thinking outside the box," JPS is running two essays that suggest unconventional frameworks for dealing with the conflict.The first essay, by Swedish diplomat Mathias Mossberg, places the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the context of a discussion of the concept of sovereignty and its erosion and outlines the basic elements of a "parallel states" structure as a possible vision for the Israeli-Palestinian future. This scenario is currently being studied in the Swedish government-funded "Parallel States Project" at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University. The project, launched in 2008, gathers Israeli and Palestinian academics and thinkers along with international experts to explore the implications of a parallel states structure involving two distinct states, Israel and Palestine, and distinct institutions sharing sovereignty over the entire area between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River. The project does not pretend to provide solutions or build a model, but to explore the issues and develop the questions that would arise from such a scenario. The project intends to present a first report at a conference in Lund in September 2010.The second essay, by Israeli scholar Lev Grinberg, starts from a critique of the one- and two-state solutions to suggest an alternative vision including elements of both. The proposed formula is an Israeli-Palestinian Union with different layers of state institutions: a shared administration based on parity representation located in the unified capital of Jerusalem, two separate democratic nation-states, and seven provinces (or federal states) belonging to one of the two nation-states. The author sees this "1––2––7 states" vision of the future as a way of containing the conflict in the absence of an ideal solution.

In situ hypochlorous acid generation for the treatment of brackish shrimp aquaculture wastewater

This study presents an unconventional framework for treating shrimp aquaculture wastewater based on in situ hypochlorous acid (HOCl) oxidation. The in situ oxidation process makes use of the salinity present in aquaculture wastewater to generate HOCl. The undivided electrolytic cell consisted of two sets of graphite as the anode and stainless sheets as the cathode. The electrochemical oxidation of shrimp aquaculture wastewater was carried out for an influent COD concentration of 1730 mg L−1 at current densities of 37.2 and 74.5 mA cm−2. The results showed that in order to achieve a residual COD concentration of 50±5 mg L−1 at current densities of 37.2 and 74.5 mA cm−2, electrolysis periods of 60 and 30 min are required respectively. Hence, for the above-mentioned current densities, the corresponding energy requirements were found to be 19.4 and 13.3 W h L−1. The cost incurred in treating 1 m3 of shrimp aquaculture wastewater was found to be RM 4 and 3 when the electrolytic reactor was operated at a current density of 37.2 and 74.5 mA cm−2 with a salinity of 23‰. The foregoing study highlights the potential of in situ HOCl oxidation in treating brackish shrimp aquaculture wastewater.

The Natural Law Duty to Recognize Private Property Ownership: Kant's Theory of Property in His Doctrine of Right

Der Anfang des Eigentums ist schwer zu begreifen. [The origin of ownership is difficult to comprehend.]1 [End Page 217] I Introduction Property rights generally tend to be subordinated to other rights, such as the right to life and bodily integrity. A crime of violence evokes far more outrage than a simple pickpocketing. Slogans such as 'property is theft' and 'no blood for oil' abound, but one is at a loss to cite similar slogans downgrading life or limb. Socialist and communist states have felt most justified in depriving citizens of the right to own property, but they could not ignore the right to bodily integrity entirely. And modern scholars have claimed that property rights are not rights at all but, instead, depend on the state and its decisions on wealth allocation. Yet property rights are fundamental. Without recognition of ownership rights, no system of law is conceivable.2 No system of law is conceivable because without ownership rights no state is conceivable. It is the concept of ownership3 that defines a state's territory: it is this territory over which the state can exercise its power and, it is over the people occupying that territory that the power is exercised. The institution of property ownership is thus more fundamental than the state itself, because it is a necessary condition for the state's existence. Furthermore, the concept of ownership defines a state's territory in relation to other states as well. If they did not mutually recognize one another's territorial claims, states would constantly dispute the extent of their respective sovereign rights. The more powerful would attempt to allocate and reallocate territory by waging war, just as some despotic leaders attempt to allocate and reallocate ownership rights among their own people. If the acquisition of ownership rights is not recognized on an international level, all rights to external objects of choice will remain insecure,4 because states will depend on brute force for their protection from outside invasion. Perhaps for that reason, Kant devotes the largest single part of his Doctrine of Right to showing how individual ownership rights are possible.5 [End Page 218] If Kant can establish ownership rights for the individual, he can establish not only the basis of public law but, simultaneously, the basis of international law, or what should be called private law among states.6 By mutually recognizing acquisition and ownership, be it acquisition of individual property rights or acquisition of a state's territorial rights, we can avoid constant conflict and strive toward the single goal of the Doctrine of Right, namely perpetual peace. In what follows, we interpret Kant's arguments on property ownership within an unconventional framework for understanding the Doctrine of Right. We forge a new path in understanding aspects of the Doctrine of Right that have remained puzzling even for the best of past interpretations of that work. This article focuses on those puzzles. They arise in Kant's discussion of three leges – the lex iusti, the lex iuridica, and the lex iustitiæ distributivæ – which we believe have been incorrectly interpreted for 200 years.7 They also arise in understanding the architecture of the Doctrine of Right, which we believe has never been fully explained. Finally, and most significantly, they arise in understanding Kant's justification of the natural law right to own property. The purpose of this article is to show that Kant, correctly understood, does provide a powerful justification for the right to own private property. Kant's argumentation begins with the one assumption that we have an innate right to external freedom, or a right to move around freely without...