Cosmopolitanization of the Body: Kazuo’s Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go

The concept of cosmopolitanization, introduced by German sociologist Ulrich Beck, is intended to represent a global inequality. It is a by-product of global capitalism, which is different from an ideal cosmopolitanism attempting to convey that “we are all connected”. When people live in an intertwined, contradictory and complex “risk society”, those who are excluded from the world’s political system, their fates are still closely linked. The study is going to explore the cosmopolitization of the body of clones in Ishiguro’s Never Let me Go, revealing a relationship of bodily inequality, a physical exploitation by one group over another, in order to widen the discussion scope of identity dilemma of those who cannot be generalized to a certain group.

Hybridization in Economic Activities in Samuel Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners and Moses Ascending

Samuel Selvon (1923-1994) is a representative writer in Caribbean literature. His Moses trilogy is famous for the preoccupation with issues of identity. My paper employs Homi Bhabha’s theory of hybridity to construct the identification of Creoles’. From the perspective of economic, The Lonely Londoners and Moses Ascending deal with the fractured and disjointed economic activities on the Londoners and Moses’ economic life, which cover from general economic life to personal economic behavior. The hybridization of economic activities helps Creoles walk out of the tough period and be able to support themselves. It is an effective way for them to be free from colonization economically

Bayesian Criterion for Re-randomization

Re-randomization has gained popularity as a tool for experiment-based causal inference due to its superior covariate balance and statistical efficiency compared to classic randomized experiments. However, the basic re-randomization method, known as ReM, and many of its extensions have been deemed sub-optimal as they fail to prioritize covariates that are more strongly associated with potential outcomes. To address this limitation and design more efficient re-randomization procedures, a more precise quantification of covariate heterogeneity and its impact on the causal effect estimator is in a great appeal. This work fills in this gap with a Bayesian criterion for re-randomization and a series of novel re-randomization procedures derived under such a criterion. Both theoretical analyses and numerical studies show that the proposed re-randomization procedures under the Bayesian criterion outperform existing ReM-based procedures significantly in effectively balancing covariates and precisely estimating the unknown causal effect

H-infinity Variable-Pitch Control for Wind Turbines Based on Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Theory

When the wind speed is above the rated value, the output power of the wind turbine should be maintained at the rated value in order to prevent the power generation system from overheating. In addition, the natural wind speed will fluctuate randomly in a large range of values, making the traditional control effect not ideal. This paper presents a novel H-infinity (H∞) pitch control strategy for Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs), which can make the rotor speed and output power constant when the wind speed changes in a large range. In order to shorten response time and reduce overshoot, in the specific solution, the control method combines the H∞ theory and the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy theory. Firstly, the linearized models of several operating points were obtained with the T-S fuzzy theory. Then, a robust controller was designed for each linear sub-system based on the H∞ control theory. Furthermore, the controllers of the sub-systems were superimposed into a global controller for the entire system through the membership function. Finally, modeling and simulation were carried out in MATLAB/SIMULINK. The simulation results show that when the wind speed changes above the rated speed, the rotor speed can be maintained at the rated value, and the output power also can be maintained at the rated value. Compared with the optimal control, the response speed of this method is faster and the overshoot is smaller. It provides a new idea for the pitch angle control of wind turbine

Rifaximin Alters Intestinal Microbiota and Prevents Progression of Ankylosing Spondylitis in Mice

Recently, accumulating evidence has suggested that gut microbiota may be involved in the occurrence and development of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). It has been suggested that rifaximin have the ability to modulate the gut bacterial communities, prevent inflammatory response, and modulate gut barrier function. The goal of this work is to evaluate the protective effects of rifaximin in fighting AS and to elucidate the potential underlying mechanism. Rifaximin were administered to the proteoglycan (PG)-induced AS mice for 4 consecutive weeks. The disease severity was measured with the clinical and histological of arthritis and spondylitis. Intestinal histopathological, pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and the intestinal mucosal barrier were evaluated. Then, western blot was performed to explore the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) signal transducer and NF-κB expression. Stool samples were collected to analyze the differences in the gut microbiota via next-generation sequencing of 16S rDNA. We found that rifaximin significantly reduced the severity of AS and resulted in down-regulation of inflammatory factors, such as TNF-α, IL-6, IL-17A, and IL-23. Meanwhile, rifaximin prevented ileum histological alterations, restored intestinal barrier function and inhibited TLR-4/NF-κB signaling pathway activation. Rifaximin also changed the gut microbiota composition with increased Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes phylum ratio, as well as selectively promoting some probiotic populations, including Lactobacillales. Our results suggest that rifaximin suppressed progression of AS and regulated gut microbiota in AS mice. Rifaximin might be useful as a novel treatment for AS

COVID-19 causes record decline in global CO2 emissions

The considerable cessation of human activities during the COVID-19 pandemic has affected global energy use and CO2 emissions. Here we show the unprecedented decrease in global fossil CO2 emissions from January to April 2020 was of 7.8% (938 Mt CO2 with a +6.8% of 2-{\sigma} uncertainty) when compared with the period last year. In addition other emerging estimates of COVID impacts based on monthly energy supply or estimated parameters, this study contributes to another step that constructed the near-real-time daily CO2 emission inventories based on activity from power generation (for 29 countries), industry (for 73 countries), road transportation (for 406 cities), aviation and maritime transportation and commercial and residential sectors emissions (for 206 countries). The estimates distinguished the decline of CO2 due to COVID-19 from the daily, weekly and seasonal variations as well as the holiday events. The COVID-related decreases in CO2 emissions in road transportation (340.4 Mt CO2, -15.5%), power (292.5 Mt CO2, -6.4% compared to 2019), industry (136.2 Mt CO2, -4.4%), aviation (92.8 Mt CO2, -28.9%), residential (43.4 Mt CO2, -2.7%), and international shipping (35.9Mt CO2, -15%). Regionally, decreases in China were the largest and earliest (234.5 Mt CO2,-6.9%), followed by Europe (EU-27 & UK) (138.3 Mt CO2, -12.0%) and the U.S. (162.4 Mt CO2, -9.5%). The declines of CO2 are consistent with regional nitrogen oxides concentrations observed by satellites and ground-based networks, but the calculated signal of emissions decreases (about 1Gt CO2) will have little impacts (less than 0.13ppm by April 30, 2020) on the overserved global CO2 concertation. However, with observed fast CO2 recovery in China and partial re-opening globally, our findings suggest the longer-term effects on CO2 emissions are unknown and should be carefully monitored using multiple measures

Near-real-time monitoring of global CO₂ emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting human activities, and in turn energy use and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Here we present daily estimates of country-level CO2 emissions for different sectors based on near-real-time activity data. The key result is an abrupt 8.8% decrease in global CO₂ emissions (−1551 Mt CO₂) in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The magnitude of this decrease is larger than during previous economic downturns or World War II. The timing of emissions decreases corresponds to lockdown measures in each country. By July 1st, the pandemic’s effects on global emissions diminished as lockdown restrictions relaxed and some economic activities restarted, especially in China and several European countries, but substantial differences persist between countries, with continuing emission declines in the U.S. where coronavirus cases are still increasing substantially

Near-real-time monitoring of global CO2 emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting human activities, and in turn energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Here we present daily estimates of country-level CO2 emissions for different sectors based on near-real-time activity data. The key result is an abrupt 8.8% decrease in global CO2 emissions (−1551 Mt CO2) in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The magnitude of this decrease is larger than during previous economic downturns or World War II. The timing of emissions decreases corresponds to lockdown measures in each country. By July 1st, the pandemic’s effects on global emissions diminished as lockdown restrictions relaxed and some economic activities restarted, especially in China and several European countries, but substantial differences persist between countries, with continuing emission declines in the U.S. where coronavirus cases are still increasing substantially