China’s Belt and Road and Maritime Silk Road initiatives: Chinese investments in commercial ports in Europe

This paper focuses on China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative and investments in commercial ports in Europe so as to explain why China is investing in these ports, to what extent the investments are dictated by security issues, attempts to gain political influence in the host countries or economic, above all commercial considerations and, finally, whether the findings have implications for the EU’s and the member states’ response. The analysis is based on a comparative case study of Chinese investments in the ports of Piraeus and Rotterdam using Robert Blackwill’s and Jennifer Harris’ geoeconomic analytical framework. The research shows that China’s objectives vary depending on the individual circumstances and characteristics of the host country and the port; political and economic in Piraeus but economic and commercial in Rotterdam. However, a more comprehensive understanding of China’s Maritime Silk Road strategy in Europe requires further research including a wider range of variables and actors

Marshall University Music Department Presents a Faculty Recital, W. Edwin Bingham, saxophone, Lois J. Kaarre, piano

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1579/thumbnail.jp

Marshall University Music Department Presents a Faculty Recital, W. Edwin Bingham, saxophone, Lois J. Kaarre, piano

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1302/thumbnail.jp

Parenting behaviors : a content analysis of TV family situation comedies

Parent-characters in televised family programs set examples for viewers who may re-enact their behaviors with real children. This study attempts to determine how much "desirable" and "undesirable" behavior is modeled on these shows, and whether the behaviors are coupled with responses that might encourage or discourage viewer adoption of the behaviors. Three programs ("Roseanne," "Married ... With Children," and "The Simpsons") are contrasted with other programs to determine whether the allegedly "bad" parent-characters on these controversial shows are significantly different from the allegedly "good" parent-characters on other family programs in terms of modeled parenting behaviors and responses to these behaviors. Humor and gender are also analyzed. The contents of 75 prime-time family situation comedies which aired during the winter months of 1991 made up the data for this research. Variables in the analysis included: parenting behavior types (beneficial/detrimental), responses to parenting behaviors (rewarded/punished), humor--defined by canned laughter, genre (controversial/noncontroversial program), and gender. Sixty-five percent of the beneficial behaviors and 38% of the detrimental behaviors were rewarded, while 35% of the beneficial behaviors and 62% of the detrimental behaviors were punished. Humor was associated with detrimental behaviors more frequently than with beneficial behaviors. The controversial genre was associated with more detrimental behavior than the noncontroversial genre, though there was no significant difference in responses for detrimental behavior. Humor was associated with detrimental behaviors on the controversial genre more frequently than on the noncontroversial genre. A significant association was found for gender and genre for type of parenting behavior as well as type of humor. Both genders exhibited more detrimental behavior and derogatory humor on controversial than noncontroversial shows, and mother-characters exhibited more than father-characters. Findings are interpreted in light at social learning theory, the social sanctioning power of humor, and the illusions of reality provided by television tor norms of behavior in private domains (i.e. private homes)

Hardware for Mobile Positioning : Considerations on Design and Development of Cost-Efficient Solutions

The estimation of a moving agent's position in an unknown environment is a problem formulated in its current form already in the 1980s. Emphasis on localization and mapping problems has grown rapidly in the last two decades driven by the increased computational capability of especially handheld systems and a large number of target applications in various fields, ranging from self-driving cars and geomatics to robotics and virtual/augmented reality. Besides the algorithms for positioning, hardware plays a major role as a backbone for enabling accurate, robust and flexible position estimation solutions. This thesis gives an overview of sensors utilized in mobile positioning with a focus on passive visual-inertial sensors as an alternative to more expensive active-ranging solutions. The main research interest of the thesis is the feasibility of developing and implementing a cost-efficient hardware solution for positioning. Visual, inertial and satellite positioning sensors' advantages, performance parameters, sources of error and physical requirements are considered. Sensor integration and both sensor and system-level calibration in a multisensor setup are discussed. Levels of developer involvement and options for hardware development approaches are presented, mainly ready-made modular solutions, building on top of intermediate products and development from scratch. Hardware development processes are demonstrated by implementing a synchronized visual-inertial positioning system including two pairs of stereo cameras, an inertial measurement unit and a Real-Time Kinematic capable satellite positioning solution. The system acts as a cost-efficient example for options and decisions required on the selection of sensors and computational subsystems supporting the sensor hardware, integration and continuous temporal synchronization of sensors as well as requirements and manufacturing options for system enclosures. Even though the direct costs of the solution seem inexpensive compared to competitive solutions, accounting for the development time and associated risk makes hardware development from scratch less attractive option compared to other approaches. For a proof-of-concept or a case in which a very limited number of end products are produced, implementation from the ground up is most likely time-consuming and thus ends up being an expensive endeavor compared to other approaches. Also, the benefits of control over the details of hardware and integration may not be fully utilized

Pro gradu:raskasmetallien kerasaostus kipsiin

Tiivistelmä. Useat erilaiset teollisuuden prosessit tuottavat raskasmetalliepäpuhtauksia, jotka esiintyvät useissa eri muodoissa. Monet näistä muodoista ovat alttiita liukenemaan takaisin luontoon ja ekosfäärin kiertoon, missä ne kasaantuvat herkästi edelleen ja vaurioittavat ihmisiä sekä ympäristöä. Yksi tapa hillitä tätä saastumista on sitoa raskasmetallipitoisuudet eroosiolle vastustuskykyiseen kiinteään aineeseen. Kun tällaiseen toimenpiteeseen yhdistetään syntyvän massan hautaaminen maan alle, saadaan aikaan keinotekoinen jäljitelmä raskasmetallien luonnollisesta mineraalisesta ilmentymästä. Yksi tällainen materiaali on kipsi-kalsiumsulfaattidihydraatti (CaSO₄ · H₂O). Sitä muodostuu runsaasti vesien puhdistamisen yhteydessä ja sivuvirtoja tutkimalla ollaan havaittu, että kipsikidehila pystyy immobilisoimaan raskasmetallijäämiä — peräti useamman eri mekanismin kautta. Kipsiä voidaan tämän ominaisuuden vuoksi käyttää usealla eri tavalla; sitä voidaan muodostaa puhdistettavassa liuoksessa kalkki- ja sulfaattireagensseista tai sitä voidaan lisätä itsessään epäpuhtauksia sisältävään liuokseen kokonaisina tai hienonnettuina kiteinä. Sisältymismekanismien ja muodostumislähtökohtien monipuolisuus toisaalta vaatii erityistä huomiota, sillä raskasmetallien sisältymismekanismin kontrollointi on varsin vaikeata. Siispä, kun lähdetään tutkimaan liuos- tai kaasufaasien epäpuhtauksien kyllästämien kipsimassojen loppusijoitusta tai uudelleenkäyttöä, onkin olennaista suorittaa kemiallinen tutkimus tapahtuvien reaktioiden luonteesta. Raskasmetalleja sisältävät kipsimassat vievät huomattavia määriä tilaa, ja ovat suhteellisen korkean rikkipitoisuutensa vuoksi vaikeasti maaperään säilöttäviä. Kipsimateriaalin uudelleenkäyttöä esimerkiksi rakennusmateriaalien kierrätysvalmistusmateriaalien muodossa onkin tutkittu usealla eri tavalla. Tässä tutkielmassa on keskistytty saostamisen teoriaan, erityisesti kalkkisaostukseen. Lisäksi tutustutaan kipsin stabiilisuuteen

Exploring the potential of ChatGPT as a supplementary tool for providing orthopaedic information

Purpose: To investigate the potential use of large language models (LLMs) in orthopaedics by presenting queries pertinent to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery to generative pre-trained transformer (ChatGPT, specifically using its GPT-4 model of March 14th 2023). Additionally, this study aimed to evaluate the depth of the LLM’s knowledge and investigate its adaptability to different user groups. It was hypothesized that the ChatGPT would be able to adapt to different target groups due to its strong language understanding and processing capabilities. Methods: ChatGPT was presented with 20 questions and response was requested for two distinct target audiences: patients and non-orthopaedic medical doctors. Two board-certified orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons and two expert orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons independently evaluated the responses generated by ChatGPT. Mean correctness, completeness, and adaptability to the target audiences (patients and non-orthopaedic medical doctors) were determined. A three-point response scale facilitated nuanced assessment. Results: ChatGPT exhibited fair accuracy, with average correctness scores of 1.69 and 1.66 (on a scale from 0, incorrect, 1, partially correct, to 2, correct) for patients and medical doctors, respectively. Three of the 20 questions (15.0%) were deemed incorrect by any of the four orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon assessors. Moreover, overall completeness was calculated to be 1.51 and 1.64 for patients and medical doctors, respectively, while overall adaptiveness was determined to be 1.75 and 1.73 for patients and doctors, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, ChatGPT was successful in generating correct responses in approximately 65% of the cases related to ACL surgery. The findings of this study imply that LLMs offer potential as a supplementary tool for acquiring orthopaedic knowledge. However, although ChatGPT can provide guidance and effectively adapt to diverse target audiences, it cannot supplant the expertise of orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons in diagnostic and treatment planning endeavours due to its limited understanding of orthopaedic domains and its potential for erroneous responses. Level of evidence: V

Oikeuspsykiatria ja lainsäädäntö : Oikeuspsykiatriaa koskeva lainsäädäntö pohjoismaisessa vertailussa

Oikeuspsykiatria on lääketieteen erikoisala. Sen tehtävänä on muun muassa tutkia mielenterveyden häiriöitä ja niiden vaikutuksia ihmisten käyttäytymiseen, sekä rikollisen käyttäytymisen ennaltaehkäisyä. Oikeuspsykiatrien asiantuntemusta hyödynnetään myös tuomioistuimissa. Oikeuspsykiatrisilla mielentilatutkimuksilla tuotetaan tuomioistuimen pyynnöstä tutkimukseen perustuvaa tietoa rikosprosessissa olevan henkilön tekoaikaisesta ja tutkimuksen aikaisesta mielentilasta. Tässä työpaperissa selvitetään oikeuspsykiatriaan liittyvää lainsäädäntöä Suomessa, Irlannissa, Norjassa, Ruotsissa ja Tanskassa. Selvityksen taustalla on sosiaali- ja terveysministeriön (STM), oikeusministeriön (OM), Helsingin yliopiston (HY) ja Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitoksen (THL) toisiaan sivuavat selvitystarpeet. Työpaperin tarkoituksena on tuottaa pohjatietoa ja vertailumateriaalia lainsäädännön uudelleenarvioinnin ja kehittämisen tueksi. Se tarjoaa selvitystä muun muassa siihen, millaisia ratkaisuja on järjestetty vaarallisten väkivaltarikollisten kohtelulle psykiatrisessa sairaanhoidossa. Lisäksi selvitys tuottaa tietoa mielentilatutkimustoiminnan ja oikeuspsykiatristen potilaiden hoitopolun kehittämiseksi, alan lainsäädännön ja tuntemuksen laajentamiseksi

Learning how to understand complexity and deal with sustainability challenges : A framework for a comprehensive approach and its application in university education

Sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty and rapid urbanization are complex and strongly interrelated. In order to successfully deal with these challenges, we need comprehensive approaches that integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines and perspectives and emphasize interconnections. In short, they aid in observing matters in a wider perspective without losing an understanding of the details. In order to teach and learn a comprehensive approach, we need to better understand what comprehensive thinking actually is. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for a comprehensive approach, termed the GHH framework. The framework comprises three dimensions: generalism, holism, and holarchism. It contributes to the academic community's understanding of comprehensive thinking and it can be used for integrating comprehensive thinking into education. Also, practical examples of the application of the framework in university teaching are presented. We argue that an ideal approach to sustainability challenges and complexity in general is a balanced, dialectical combination of comprehensive and differentiative approaches. The current dominance of specialization, or the differentiative approach, in university education calls for a stronger emphasis on comprehensive thinking skills. Comprehensiveness should not be considered as a flawed approach, but should instead be considered as important an aspect in education as specialized and differentiative skills. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe