A relational self model of gender role identity of young Taiwanese women within their cultural context (China)

This research aims both to investigate the gender role identity characteristics of young Taiwanese women who grew up in the post-Martial Law era and to develop a gender role identity model of young Taiwanese women. A grounded theory approach and in-depth interviews were employed. Open sampling, variational sampling, and discriminate sampling, along with open coding, axial coding, and selective coding were employed. Twenty-three young Taiwanese undergraduate women, aged nineteen to twenty one, were interviewed. Self-in-relation theory, female moral reasoning, women\u27s ways of knowing, characteristics of collectivist cultures, Chinese/Taiwanese cultural assumptions about women, and the impact of Taiwanese women\u27s participation in the labor force were used as sources to support the interpretation of data. The results indicate that the relational self is the main gender role identity characteristic of young Taiwanese women who grew up in the post-Martial Law era. Influenced by the Confucian paradigm, multiplicity, and freedom of expression in the post-Martial Law era, the young women in this research put people into different social categories and use different Confucian ethics to interact with each category They build a less feminine and trustful relationship with familiar peers, whereas they build a traditional feminine and distant relationship with unfamiliar peers. They are cold to strangers and familiar friends who have hurt them. They adopt a chameleon-like strategy to interact with elders/teachers. They build a caring and deferential relationship with parents. In their relationship with intimate male partners, they endeavor to negotiate equal power. Compared to the literature on Taiwanese women both during the Martial Law era and the Japanese Occupation, the relationship of young Taiwanese women to their intimate male partners has changed dramatically The results also indicate that the young women in this research see their future in tern-is of jobs, marriage, and financial independence. They also intend to go abroad to open their own eyes to other cultures. Taiwan is a patriarchal society and these results indicate that several patriarchal socialization requirements of young women are still prevalent. For example, young women are not allowed to go out at night and they retain a negative image of feminists. According to the findings of this research, a relational self model of young Taiwanese women within their cultural context is proposed. Since relational self is the major characteristic of gender role identity of young Taiwanese women in this research, the findings of this research support what self-in-relation theory proposes However, adopting different ethics to interact with people is not proposed in self-in-relation theory. Therefore, this research suggests that adopting different ethics to interact with people should be included when applying self-in-relation theory to young Taiwanese women. Implications for clinical social work practice, social work education, and future research are addressed

Inflight estimation of gyro noise

A method is described and demonstrated for estimating single-axis gyro noise levels in terms of the Farrenkopf model parameters. This is accomplished for the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) by comparing gyro-propagated attitudes with less accurate single-frame solutions and fitting the squared differences to a third-order polynomial in time. Initial results are consistent with the gyro specifications, and these results are used to determine limits on the duration of batches used to determine attitude. Sources of error are discussed, and guidelines for a more elegant implementation, as part of a batch estimator or filter, are included for future work

Ripple Effects: How Teacher Action Research on Culturally Relevant Education Can Promote Systemic Change

Teacher action research has been shown to both promote professional growth in teachers as well as produce gains for students. However, to date, little research has examined how action research might contribute to systemic changes in schools and school districts. This qualitative study of six teachers from various districts, subject areas, and grade levels, illustrates how action research can have simultaneous impacts on teachers, their students, and their schools and districts. The teacher action research projects all focused on culturally relevant education and the pursuit of equity. Impacts included teachers’ deepened understandings of equity and inclusivity; students’ diversity awareness, positive self-identities, and access to wider opportunities; and schools’ adoption of equity-focused strategies. The findings suggest that action research on culturally relevant education serves not only as a powerful form of professional development but also as a means to potentially transform schools

Task Grapher : task graph scheduling in multiprocessor computer systems

This report presents a graphical tool for implementation of the scheduling heuristics provided by Kruatrachue. The input of scheduling is a task graph and the output is a schedule in the form of a Gantt chart. The implemented scheduling heuristics are: 1) Hu's HLF (highest level first) algorithm. 2) Yu's heuristic, 3) Kruatrachue's ISH (insertion scheduling heuristic), and 4) Kruatrachue's DSH (duplication scheduling heuristic). From the Gantt chart, it is clear that Kruatrachue's DSH offers the best contribution of balanced communication delays and parallel execution

Photo-to-heat conversion of broadband metamaterial absorbers based on TiN nanoparticles under laser and solar illumination

We theoretically investigate photothermal heating of ultra-flexible metamaterials, which are obtained by randomly mixing TiN nanoparticles in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Due to the plasmonic properties of TiN nanoparticles, incident light is perfectly absorbed in a broadband range (300-3000 nm) to generate heat within these metamaterials. Under irradiation of an 808 nm near-infrared laser with different intensities, our predicted temperature rises as a function of time agree well with recent experimental data. For a given laser intensity, the temperature rise varies non-monotonically with concentration of TiN nanoparticles because the enhancement of thermal conductivity and absorbed energy as adding plasmonic nanostructures leads to opposite effects on the heating process. When the model is extended to solar heating, photothermal behaviors are qualitatively similar but the temperature increase is less than 13 $K$. Our studies would provide good guidance for future experimental studies on the photo-to-heat conversion of broadband perfect absorbers.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publications in Materials Today Communication

Modularity of Escherichia coli sRNA regulation revealed by sRNA-target and protein network analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>sRNAs, which belong to the non-coding RNA family and range from approximately 50 to 400 nucleotides, serve various important gene regulatory roles. Most are believed to be <it>trans</it>-regulating and function by being complementary to their target mRNAs in order to inhibiting translation by ribosome occlusion. Despite this understanding of their functionality, the global properties associated with regulation by sRNAs are not yet understood. Here we use topological analysis of sRNA targets in terms of protein-protein interaction and transcription-regulatory networks in <it>Escherichia coli </it>to shed light on the global correlation between sRNA regulation and cellular control networks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The analysis of sRNA targets in terms of their networks showed that some specific network properties could be identified. In protein-protein interaction network, sRNA targets tend to occupy more central positions (higher closeness centrality, <it>p-val </it>= 0.022) and more cliquish (larger clustering coefficient, <it>p-val </it>= 0.037). The targets of the same sRNA tend to form a network module (shorter characteristic path length, <it>p-val </it>= 0.015; larger density, <it>p-val </it>= 0.019; higher in-degree ratio, <it>p-val </it>= 0.009). Using the transcription-regulatory network, sRNA targets tend to be under multiple regulation (higher indegree, <it>p-val </it>= 0.013) and the targets usually are important to the transfer of regulatory signals (higher betweenness, <it>p-val </it>= 0.012). As was found for the protein-protein interaction network, the targets that are regulated by the same sRNA also tend to be closely knit within the transcription-regulatory network (larger density, <it>p-val </it>= 0.036), and inward interactions between them are greater than the outward interactions (higher in-degree ratio, <it>p-val </it>= 0.023). However, after incorporating information on predicted sRNAs and down-stream targets, the results are not as clear-cut, but the overall network modularity is still evident.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results indicate that sRNA targeting tends to show a clustering pattern that is similar to the human microRNA regulation associated with protein-protein interaction network that was observed in a previous study. Namely, the sRNA targets show close interaction and forms a closely knit network module for both the protein-protein interaction and the transcription-regulatory networks. Thus, targets of the same sRNA work in a concerted way toward a specific goal. In addition, in the transcription-regulatory network, sRNA targets act as "multiplexor", accepting regulatory control from multiple sources and acting accordingly. Our results indicate that sRNA targeting shows different properties when compared to the proteins that form cellular networks.</p

The central policy unit in the governance of Hong Kong : a study of institutional dynamics

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

Effectiveness of face masks for reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a rapid systematic review

This rapid systematic review of evidence asks whether (i) wearing a face mask, (ii) one type of mask over another and (iii) mandatory mask policies can reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection, either in community-based or healthcare settings. A search of studies published 1 January 2020–27 January 2023 yielded 5185 unique records. Due to a paucity of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies were included in the analysis. We analysed 35 studies in community settings (three RCTs and 32 observational) and 40 in healthcare settings (one RCT and 39 observational). Ninety-five per cent of studies included were conducted before highly transmissible Omicron variants emerged. Ninety-one per cent of observational studies were at ‘critical’ risk of bias (ROB) in at least one domain, often failing to separate the effects of masks from concurrent interventions. More studies found that masks (n = 39/47; 83%) and mask mandates (n = 16/18; 89%) reduced infection than found no effect (n = 8/65; 12%) or favoured controls (n = 1/65; 2%). Seven observational studies found that respirators were more protective than surgical masks, while five found no statistically significant difference between the two mask types. Despite the ROB, and allowing for uncertain and variable efficacy, we conclude that wearing masks, wearing higher quality masks (respirators), and mask mandates generally reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission in these study populations