Clevis joint for deployable space structures

This invention relates generally to pin clevis joints, and more particularly, to zero play pin clevis joints for connecting structural members of a deployable space structure. A joint includes a pin, a tang, and a shackle. The pin is tapered at the same angle as the bores extending through the projections of the shackle and the tang. A spring washer biases the tang onto the tapered sidewall of the pin. The invention solves the free play problem associated with deployable space structures by using a tapered pin which is held in tapered holes by the spring washers

Hong Kong Report 2

Postcard from Mengni Tang, during the Linfield College Semester Abroad Program at Hong Kong Baptist University in Chin

Folk Adage in the Literati Notes of Tang Dynasty

Written in classical Chinese but enriched with vernacular expressions, slangs, dialectic expressions, loan words and so on, the Tang literati notes (biji 笔记) forms a rich and valuable corpus for studying the lexis of the Tang dynasty (618-907) and middle ancient Chinese. This paper, with the use of literary works and dictionaries as references, gives a lexical elaboration and analysis on certain folk adages (suyu 俗 语) used in the representative Tang literati notes, such as Feng Yan 封演’s Feng Shi Wen Jian Ji 封氏闻见记, Li Kuangyi 李匡乂’sZi Xia Ji 资暇集, Duan Chengshi 段成式’s You Yang Za Zu 酉阳杂俎and SuE 苏鹗’s Su Shi Yan Yi 苏氏演义. Nowadays there are still differences in stating the definition, components and characteristics of folk adage. In this paper, discussion is focused on those popular sayings quoted together with the word ‘su’ (俗) , such as ‘suyu’ (俗语), ‘su yue’ (俗曰), ‘su yun’ (俗云), and ‘su yan’ (俗言). Firstly, with reference to the examples founded in Tang notes, the paper examines and clarifies the characteristics of folk adage including its form and meaning, and then comments on the definition and coverage of folk adage with a comparative analysis on proverb (yanyu 谚语). With related to the meaning of folk adage, a sociocultural review on the reflection of common ideas and beliefs of the people of Tang and pre-Tang periods is also made.Secondly, examples are also taken to show their functions and significance in lexicography, which include serving as the first textual evidences, supplementing entries and explanations, advancing textual evidences, and supplementing textual evidences in dictionary entries. Lastly, the paper concludes with the contribution of such lingual material to the compilation and revision of dictionaries and to the study of the variation of folk adage.published_or_final_versio

Xiaobing Tang. Global space and the nationalist discourse of modernity : the historical thinking of Liang Qichao

This article reviews the book Global Space and the Nationalist Discourse of Modernity: The Historical Thinking of Liang Qichao written by Xiaobing Tang

V-slotted screw head and matching driving tool facilitate insertion and removal of screw fasteners

A V-slotted designed screw and a screwdriver with a V-shaped tang facilitate driving the screw into difficult locations and minimize axial forces thus avoiding damage to the screw

Smart nanotextiles: materials and their application

Textiles are ubiquitous to us, enveloping our skin and surroundings. Not only do they provide a protective shield or act as a comforting cocoon but they also serve esthetic appeal and cultural importance. Recent technologies have allowed the traditional functionality of textiles to be extended. Advances in materials science have added intelligence to textiles and created ‘smart’ clothes. Smart textiles can sense and react to environmental conditions or stimuli, e.g., from mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, or magnetic sources (Lam Po Tang and Stylios 2006). Such textiles find uses in many applications ranging from military and security to personalized healthcare, hygiene, and entertainment. Smart textiles may be termed ‘‘passive’’ or ‘‘active.’’ A passive smart textile monitors the wearer’s physiology or the environment, e.g., a shirt with in-built thermistors to log body temperature over time. If actuators are integrated, the textile becomes an active, smart textile as it may respond to a particular stimulus, e.g., the temperature-aware shirt may automatically roll up the sleeves when body temperature rises. The fundamental components in any smart textile are sensors and actuators. Interconnections, power supply, and a control unit are also needed to complete the system. All these components must be integrated into textiles while still retaining the usual tactile, flexible, and comfortable properties that we expect from a textile. Adding new functionalities to textiles while still maintaining the look and feel of the fabric is where nanotechnology has a huge impact on the textile industry. This article describes current developments in materials for smart nanotextiles and some of the many applications where these innovative textiles are of great benefit

Why Chinese Neo-Confucian Women Made a Fetish of Small Feet

Abstract for “Why Chinese Neo-Confucian Women Made a Fetish of Small Feet” This paper explores the source of the traditional practice of Chinese footbinding which first gained popularity at the end of the Tang dynasty and continued to flourish until the last half of the twentieth century.[1] Derived initially from court concubines whose feet were formed to represent an attractive “deer lady” from an Indian tale, footbinding became a wide-spread symbol among the Chinese of obedience, pecuniary reputability, and Confucianism, among other things.[2],[3] Drawing on the analyses of such scholars as Beverly Jackson, Valerie Steele and John S. Major as well as historical personal accounts, the article concludes that the underlying goal in engaging in the footbinding practice was to raise a girl’s chances of being married into a family of the highest social class possible. [1] Valerie Steele and John S. Major, China Chic: East Meets West (Singapore: Yale University Press, 1999), 37. [2] Wang Ping, Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China (University of Minnesota Press, 2000), 12. [3] Harold Koda, Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2001), 152

刑部郎中封無待撰『注心経并序』本文と小考

The Prajnāpāramitāhṛdaya, which was translated into Chinese around the middle of the 7th century in Tang dynasty, is an extremely short Buddhist text, yet innumerable studies have been devoted to it. Despite this, scholars have traditionally had to rely only on 11 Tang-era commentaries known. In this paper, I wish to present a newly discovered Tang-era commentary on the Prajnāpāramitāhṛdaya. The author is Feng Wudai, a scholarly bureaucrat in the Tang court whose official title was “Bureau Director” in the Ministry of Justice. He was a member of the same Feng clan that is mentioned in the 新唐書宰相世系表Xin Tang shu衾zaixiang shixi biao (New Book of Tang: Genealogical Table of Chancellors). This work is preserved in Shinpuku-ji, a temple in Nagoya City perhaps better known by its other name Ōsu Kannon. The manuscript was copied in Year 2 of the Genkō Era (1322 CE). The fact that this Tang-era commentary was discovered in the collections of an old Japanese Buddhist temple not only corroborates the notion that Tang Buddhism was widely accepted in Japan, it is also very significant in that it was compiled not by a scholarly monk schooled in the tenets of Buddhism, but rather by civil servant in the government, namely a bureau director in the Ministry of Justice. There are few accounts of the life of Feng Wudai, but from his own 注心経Commentary on the Prajnāpāramitāhṛdaya we can deduce that he wasfamiliar with Buddhism from a young age and had studied it. In particular, it appears he had an interest in prajnā doctrine, in interest which is reflected in his commentary. Let us now look at the specific period in the Tang Dynasty in which Feng Wudai was active. The first major clue is the year in which his wife is thought to have died. Cen Zhongmianʼs 元和姓纂四校記(Yuan he xing zuan si jiao ji) tells that an inscription on his wife Liʼs grave places her death at Year 8 of the Kaiyuan Era (720 CE). If we accept this evidence, Bureau Director Feng Wudai in the Ministry of Justice was active from the reign of the Tang rulers Gaozong and Wu Zetian to the era of Xuanzong. It is not uncommon for interpretations of Buddhist works given by nonspecialists to be subject to a considerable amount of scrutiny. This rule of thumb applies all the more so when dealing with a specialized subject such as prajnā studies, where much effort is put into persuading prajnā specialists. It is often the case, however, for such works to exhibit slightly inexpedient readings of Sanskrit that are often inaccurate in the given context. I hope to avoid that in this paper by placing the focus on reproducing Wudaiʼ s text and in doing so merely make a few simple observations on certain aspects of ideas and scholarship on the topic

Comment on “early efficacy of intra-articular HYADD® 4 (Hymovis®) injections for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis”

We read with great interest the study by Priano titled“Early efficacy of intra-articular HYADD® 4 (Hymovis®) injections for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.” 1 The author would like to explore the efficacy of intra-articular HYADD 4 (Hymovis) injections for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Results from this study are very interesting and promising from a clinical aspect; however, we believe that studying patient’sclinical status with visual analog scale and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index scale should be supported by biomechanical information. From this point of view, to have more data that could influence the clinical practice, it is important to note the possible action that intraarticular injections of different kinds of hyaluronic acid could have on walking biomechanics using an objective measurement tool as gait analysis. In our opinion, the work by Priano1 is promising because it investigates the efficacy of a new formulation of hyaluronic acid. Nowadays, many hyaluronic acid formulations are approved for clinical use in Europe and the United States. Furthermore, hyaluronic acid injections’ efficacy has been demonstrated also in hip osteoarthritis. 2 However, even if these formulations differ in their chemical– physical properties, joint space half-life, rheological properties, and clinical efficacy, there are few studies that investigate hyaluronic acid’s possible action from a biomechanical point of view. 3,4 From this point of view, we believe that osteoarthritis management and rehabilitation should be prescribed after an objective analysis of functional walking alterations using gait analysis instrumentations. The use of gait analysis should be desirable during diagnosis and follow-up. In fact, it is capable to identify different walking patterns in patient with osteoarthritis of the lower limbs, whereas the radiology can evaluate the status of the joint’s structures

Person to Person in Hong Kong

While still in the midst of their study abroad experiences, students at Linfield College write reflective essays. Their essays address issues of cultural similarity and difference, compare lifestyles, mores, norms, and habits between their host countries and home, and examine changes in perceptions about their host countries and the United States. In this essay, Mengni Moni Tang describes her observations during her study abroad program at Hong Kong Baptist University in Hong Kong, China