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Development, Controversies, and Reflections:The Revival of Grassroots Confucian Education in Contemporary China
No full textThe revival of grassroots Confucian education in contemporary China, as part of the broader popular Confucianism movement, has experienced remarkable growth over the past three decades. Nevertheless, this development has been accompanied by considerable controversies. This article systematically examines the revival of grassroots Confucian education by dividing its evolution into three successive phases to offer a more comprehensive understanding. First, the emergence phase spans from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, during which Confucian education gradually expanded from Taiwan and Hong Kong to mainland China. Second, the rapid development phase occurred from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s, marked by extensive debates among scholars and the public regarding the practice of classics reading (dujing) and the legal status of classics-reading private schools (dujing sishu). Third, since the mid-2010s, the reflection and adjustment phase has unfolded, characterized by critical reassessments and adaptive changes within the movement. Notably, this article draws on newly collected empirical data to elaborate on recent pedagogical diversifications in grassroots Confucian schools since 2019. Finally, this study identifies and analyzes several under-researched developmental trends shaping the current landscape of Confucian education in China
Integration of AI agents to promote the metaverse capabilities in the supply chain logistics
No full textPurpose: This study is focused on the capability enhancement for the AI-driven Digital Twins of warehouses, logistics hubs, and supply chain networks which can be created within the metaverse. Integration of real-time data from IoT devices that can update the sophisticated systems which implemented the new and emerging technologies, allowing for virtual monitoring, predictive maintenance, and leading to process optimization. The study will provide insights on what capabilities can be enhanced for a seamless integration and implementation of these technology.Methodology: this is a structured literature review of 36 articles that emphasize on the capabilities that are implementing this technology and creating a more resilient ecosystem. The structured literature review would follow the PRISMA flow (Moher et al., 2009) method to shortlist the best fit articles for this study.Findings: The best fit articles would be used to create a conceptual framework that would help the development of the integration of AI agents in the metaverse ecosystem and enhance the capabilities to make a resilient organisation. The strategies that can help in intelligent planning and simulation would be utilised to create competitive advantage for the firms.Conclusion: The fusion of AI agents and the metaverse marks a transformative leap in supply chain logistics, aligning with the human-centric vision of Industry 5.0. This integration not only enhances operational efficiency but also promotes seamless collaboration between humans and intelligent systems within immersive virtual environments.Originality: The capabilities enhancement is an essential part of the implementation of this technology. This is specifically targeted to create more resilient firms and an overall positive firm performance to survive in the industry 5.0. <br/
Vulnerability, social justice and inclusive education: working the intersections
No full textOur starting point was the idea that social justice and inclusive education approach key socio-economic factors like poverty, equality, and disadvantage as they affect children and young people very differently. After examining briefly how social justice and inclusive education address these factors, we propose a third perspective, vulnerability, as a way of highlighting and potentially reconciling some of the tensions created by social justice and inclusive education policy and practice. This theoretical discussion is followed by a narrative vignette distilled from one of 13 narratives created in a participatory research study, which aimed to understand the experiences of a number of families and young people living in Birmingham in the UK and regarded as ‘vulnerable’. The approach developed in-depth narratives of their experiences, drawing on interviews, drawings, photographs, and journal entries. The focus of the narratives was determined by the participants and each was co-produced with a researcher. The vignette is followed by a discussion of three key issues it raises in relation to vulnerability, social justice and inclusive education and concludes by suggesting that an intersectional vulnerability perspective might help us to access and understand more effectively the experiences of children and young people, particularly, who experience disadvantage or extreme vulnerability
What is known about gambling in lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) communities? A scoping review
Get PDFBackground: Gambling is of public health importance due to the potential impacts of gambling on individuals and their communities. Objectives: This review draws on evidence to address: ‘What is known about gambling in lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer+ (LGBTQ+) communities?’ including (i) the prevalence of gambling harm; (ii) the lived experience of gambling harms; (iii) the interventions and service barriers and (iv) the risk and protective factors against gambling harms. Eligibility criteria: The identified peer-reviewed and grey literature papers were screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria by two reviewers prior to extracting data. Eligibility for inclusion was assessed via the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) framework and a Weight of Evidence approach. Sources of evidence: PubMed, Web of Science, ProQuest, Google Scholar and Cochrane were searched for peer reviewed and grey literature published from June 2000 to June 2023. Charting methods: Data extraction tables were developed to include the characteristics, methods, sample and key findings for each study. Results: 19 papers were included, which showed mixed prevalence of problems with gambling among lesbian, gay and bisexual populations. There is more consistent evidence that trans and gender diverse people experience higher levels of problems with gambling compared with cisgender (not trans) people. Limited research focused on the lived experience or the wider impact of gambling harm among LGBTQ+communities. Risk factors for gambling harm included minority stress, societal stigma, discrimination and isolation. Protective factors against gambling harm included higher levels of support, positive social interaction and mainstream community connectedness. No studies were identified with gambling interventions specific to LGBTQ+people. General health service barriers included professionals’ use of pathologising language or a lack of cultural competency and education around LGBTQ+issues. Conclusion: Research on LGBTQ+ gambling harm remains distinctly limited. Further, population-based surveys as well as in-depth qualitative research are needed to develop a comprehensive understanding of gambling in LGBTQ+communities. Research should be undertaken in collaboration with LGBTQ+peers. A better understanding of gambling could inform a whole systems approach with targeted interventions to protect against gambling harm and to promote greater health equity. Open Science Framework registration number (http://osf.io/jf85y/)
A boundary-finite element method for diffusion over a curved surface.
Get PDFThe well known diffusion equation is used to simulate the spread of a quantity over a flat surface (in 2D) or through space (in 3D). However, the standard diffusion equation cannot be used to model the spread of a quantity over a curved surface such as the surface of an of an object in 3D space. However, if the surface is approximated by a set of flat, triangular elements then the diffusion equation can be applied to each element in terms of local variables and then mapped into the global variables using a relatively simple change of variables. This leads to a diffusion type equation with a different diffusion tensor in each element. This equation can then be solved using a boundary-finite element method. The method is then used to simulate the changes in the density of biological cells on a surface as they migrate due to changes in the concentration of a growth factor. <br/
Effects of motor imagery training on gait and muscle synergy after total knee arthroplasty:study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Get PDFBackgroundTotal knee arthroplasty has proven to be an effective method for treating severe osteoarthritis, but this procedure may induce abnormal symptoms of gait and muscle synergy after surgery. Motor imagery is a special means of training that can heighten cortical-spinal excitability and spinal transmission efficiency. The training method can fortify muscle strength, enhance joint range of motion, and ameliorate gait and muscle synergy control patterns, all while avoiding postoperative intense pain resulting from high-intensity exercise. This study aims to investigate whether motor imagery training can improve patients’ gait function and muscle synergy patterns, and to establish the effectiveness of motor imagery training in fostering postoperative knee joint function recovery in total knee arthroplasty patients.MethodsThis study will utilize a single-blind randomized clinical trial methodology. The research will aim to recruit forty patients from Guilin Medical College Affiliated Hospital who have undergone total knee arthroplasty and who meet the trial criteria. Random allocation to either the experimental group or the control group will be conducted for these patients. Participants in both the experimental and control groups will receive a 6-week conventional training intervention beginning on the first day after surgery and 5 sessions of rehabilitation training per week. In addition, the participants in the experimental group will receive motor imagery training alongside the conventional training programme. The parameters of gait, muscle synergy, lower limb kinematics and kinetics, isokinetic muscle strength, proprioception, and knee joint scoring will be measured one week before surgery and at 3, 6, and 12 weeks after surgery.DiscussionThis protocol is to evaluate the function of motor imagery training after total knee arthroplasty by analysing the parameters of gait and muscle synergy. The outcomes of this trial are expected to affirm the utility of motor imagery training in the postoperative rehabilitation of total knee arthroplasty patients.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2400082292. Registered on March 26, 2024
Post-Politics of Rewilding in Britain
No full textRewilding is frequently suggested as a 'radical' solution to the biodiversity crisis. This radicalism is generally positioned in relation to traditional conservation practices, which are described as reactive, expensive and premised on control over nonhuman natures. Rewilding instead suggests that a different approach can be more ethical, cost-effective and suited to a world facing increasing environmental crises. However, rewilding has much less to say about the similarly urgent social crises, and as such, could be inadvertently exacerbating these problems. Based on qualitative analysis of 24 interviews with people connected to rewilding, such as landowners, consultants, activists and NGO workers, this paper discusses how rewilding often supports a political status quo that is at odds with a just and sustainable future. A thematic analysis of this data shows that while owners position themselves, or are positioned by others, as doing “the right thing”, many interviewees frame private rewilding primarily in terms of a neoliberal governmentality. This discourse promotes the idea of profit-making, commodification of nature, and large incentives for a small number of wealthy landowners, which would likely further increase wealth inequality in the UK. It also could reinforce the power of a small clique of elites, who are often constructed as crucial to saving biodiversity, while further alienating many other people from the countryside. Given the interconnections between neoliberalism, injustice and environmental breakdown, this paper argues that rewilding as a 'radical' solution, as articulated by these interviewees, is not nearly radical enough
Development of a translational strategy for using TIMP-3 to inhibit aggrecanase activity in osteoarthritis
Get PDFObjectiveTherapeutic potential of selective aggrecanase inhibition in osteoarthritis (OA) was previously demonstrated using a variant of endogenous tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP-3); however, this relied on transgenic mice overexpressing TIMP-3. Here, we develop a translational approach for harnessing the aggrecanase-selective inhibitory activity of TIMP-3 using the latency associated peptide (LAP) technology.MethodsWe successfully produced and purified recombinant LAP-TIMP-3 fusion proteins and determined the pharmacokinetics of these proteins in vivo following systemic injection. Surgical and non-surgical mouse models of OA were used to establish the therapeutic potential of these proteins in reducing aggrecanase activity in mouse joints affected by OA.ResultsThe presence of the LAP conferred favourable TIMP-3 pharmacokinetics, with effective delivery of LAP-TIMP-3 to knee joints after systemic injection. We find that LAP-TIMP-3 also effectively reduced aggrecanase activity in OA-affected joints, both in spontaneously-occurring OA and in the destabilisation of the medial meniscus (DMM) model of OA. We also found that reductions in aggrecanase activity in articular cartilage correlated with improved disease scores, but only in earlier stages of disease.ConclusionsThis study describes the potential of LAP-TIMP-3 as a therapeutic agent in OA, showing delivery to the cartilage of joints affected by OA after systemic administration and lower levels of the neoepitope of aggrecan in articular cartilage in mild disease (mean difference versus vehicle control for LAP-TIMP-3: 535 [95% CI: 336, 733] and for LAP-mutTIMP-3: 522 [95% CI: 323, 720] arbitrary units). These first in vivo data will inform further explorations into dose optimization and timing
Breaking the Press:A Brief History of The Wapping Printers Dispute
No full textIn the UK, graphic design education more often presents the transition from hot metal typesetting to (cold) offset lithography and early desktop publishing as an inevitable triumph of new technology over outdated processes. Yet this technological shift was not simply a matter of progress; it was violently enforced through the collusion of state and corporate power, leading to one of the most significant industrial disputes in British working-class history.Taking a historical materialist approach, this paper positions The Wapping Dispute as a critical moment in graphic design history, unpacking the socio-political conditions that enabled both the transformation of the sector and the resistance to incoming technologies. Particular attention is paid to the solidarity networks that emerged, specifically the Lesbian and Gays Support the Printworkers. Their role not only highlights the presence of a vibrant queer activist network in 1980s London – partly enabled by the progressive policies of the Greater London Council – but also marks an important step in advancing LGBTQ+ influence within the trade union movement.By foregrounding what was lost – not just a mode of production, but a set of social relations – this paper interrogates how history itself is designed; edited and presented in ways that tend to obscure conflict and political struggle. Exploring histories of automation also opens-up conversation around current ‘progress’ within the design sector. The slow, contested, logistical and visible mechanical changes of the past have today become fast, monopolistic, exponential and intangible. As a sector we celebrate speed, and the language of inevitability and improvement once again frames transition. As atomised workers with diminishing agency, we subscribe to our cloud-based tools which are forever updated and optimised
Homogeneous nucleation and condensation characteristics of water vapor-hydrogen (H2O-H2) binary systems from molecular dynamics simulation
No full textThe condensation of water in wet hydrogen occurs in various applications such as fuel cells and nuclear power plants. However, the microscopic process of water condensation in wet hydrogen is not well understood. In the present study, the molecular dynamics (MD) was used to investigate the impact of various conditions on the condensation of saturated water vapor from a microscope perspective. It was found that the liquefaction ratio of H2O molecules increased from 72.33% to 83.10% as the initial pressure increased from 1 MPa to 1.5 MPa when the cooling temperature was fixed at 380 K, while it increased from 72.33% to 87.05% as the cooling temperature decreased from 380 K to 350 K when the initial pressure was fixed at 1 MPa. Furthermore, hydrogen gas was introduced into the system to study the impacts of different initial pressures and temperatures on the condensation of saturated water vapor in the mixed gas. It was observed that the number of H2O molecules contained in the final cluster increased with increasing initial temperature. As the initial pressure increased, plenty of H2 molecules were adding to the system, hindering the nucleation of H2O molecules. Through the comparison of nucleation rates, it was found that the computation of the nucleation rate of water in wet hydrogen flow concurs well with the rate determined by classical nucleation theory (CNT) under this simulation condition. However, the nucleation model proposed by Kantrowitz is closer to the actual condensation process of H2O in pure steam at high temperatures and pressures and the nucleation rate of CNT is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than that of MD in this situation