Trans-Textual Dialogue in the Jesuit Missionary Intra-Lingual Translation of the Yijing

In Early Qing Dynasty, the Jesuit Figurists found the Yijing as their precious treasure and treated it as the bridge linking the gap between Christianity and Chinese civilization. The Yijing was viewed as preserving relics of this pure true religion. They tried to find Prisca theologia (ancient theology) in the Chinese classics, especially in the Yijing æ??ç¶? (the Book of Changes). This group of Jesuit Figurists viewed the Yijing as a prophetic book, which contained some of the mysteries of Christianity and so started their trans-textual dialogue with the ancient texts and the auxiliary commentaries of the Yijing. What distinguishes this dissertation from other academic research about the Jesuit Figurists is its focus on the Jesuit Figuristsâ?? Chinese works on the Yijing. Between 1710 and 1712, Bouvet wrote eight works about the Yijing in Chinese. This dissertation aims to discover the missing piece in the puzzle and make the whole research on the Jesuit Figuristsâ?? works of the Yijing more complete. Though their endeavors on the re-interpretation of the Yijing and their proselytization failed to promote Catholicism as a national religion in China because the Kangxi Emperor and Chinese literati all had their own agenda, their dialogue with the Yijing to build the esoteric connection and parallels with Christianity reveals more and more valuable findings. The same mystical elements, such as numbers, images, characters in both the Western tradition of biblical hermeneutics, and the charts and hexagrams of Yijing, become tokens of exchange and disclose evidence of their deliberate interpretation. Each page of their Chinese handwritten manuscript should not be left unnoticed because they invite us to embark on a new journey to uncover their embedded mystic theological interpretation in their trans-textual dialogue in the intra-lingual translation of the Book of Changes

Interaction Design in Virtual Reality Game Using Arduino Sensors

Virtual reality (VR) is the use of computer simulation to produce a virtual world, providing users with a variety of sensory simulation, which enables users to feel as though they are in the virtual world. Currently, mature three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics technology can present realistic 3D visual effects. However, system interaction is still mainly through specific interactive devices for system control, such as the Vive controller for HTC Vive. In order to enable the user to control the game intuitively, this study employed a currently popular Arduino technology to carry out design of interactive control devices for virtual reality. The interaction design in this study is based mainly on a virtual reality baseball game. To let users carry out swings more intuitively in the baseball game, this study used actual baseball bat–installed sensors, called “Arduino baseball bat,” as a replacement for the VR joystick. The implemented system was roughly divided into two components: a transmitter system module on the bat and a receiver system module connecting to the server host. According to the results, our system cannot only realistically display 3D visual effects, but the Arduino baseball bat can also provide intuitive real-time game interaction for the user

Topological nature of bound states in the radiation continuum

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are unusual solutions of wave equations describing light or matter: they are discrete and spatially bounded, but exist at the same energy as a continuum of states which propagate to infinity. Until recently, BICs were constructed through fine-tuning parameters in the wave equation or exploiting the separability of the wave equation due to symmetry. More recently, BICs that that are both robust and not symmetry-protected (accidental) have been predicted and experimentally realized in periodic structures; the simplest such system is a periodic dielectric slab, which also has symmetry-protected BICs. Here we show that both types of BICs in such systems are vortex centers in the polarization direction of far-field radiation. The robustness of these BICs is due to the existence of conserved and quantized topological charges, defined by the number of times the polarization vectors wind around the vortex centers. Such charges can only be generated or annihilated by making large changes in the system parameters, and then only according to strict rules, which we derive and test numerically. Our results imply that laser emission based on such states will generate vector beams

Service Alliance in Competition: A Game Theory Perspective

This research focuses on services based on alliance and devises a novel concept called service alliance. Service alliance uses service as the unit that companies can exchange, furnish, and share services in the alliance. Service alliance emphasizes on the representation and exchange for value of single service from an individual company. This research utilizes game theory to discuss the best action of service alliance in competition. We use airline industry as the example and expect to contribute to any service industry. The results show that four strategies are similar to the process from competition to cooperation. The best case is that the members in the alliance co-fund a new service team to serve all members. We hope the proposed concept can be applied to all service industry and create a new operation model for alliance

Note on a Single-Machine Scheduling Problem with Sum of Processing Times Based Learning and Ready Times

In the recent 20 years, scheduling with learning effect has received considerable attention. However, considering the learning effect along with release time is limited. In light of these observations, in this paper, we investigate a single-machine problem with sum of processing times based learning and ready times where the objective is to minimize the makespan. For solving this problem, we build a branch-and-bound algorithm and a heuristic algorithm for the optimal solution and near-optimal solution, respectively. The computational experiments indicate that the branch-and-bound algorithm can perform well the problem instances up to 24 jobs in terms of CPU time and node numbers, and the average error percentage of the proposed heuristic algorithm is less than 0.5%

Method and apparatus for determining cardiac performance in a patient with a conductance catheter

An apparatus for determining cardiac performance in the patient. The apparatus includes a conductance catheter for measuring conductance and blood volume in a heart chamber of the patient. The apparatus includes a processor for determining instantaneous volume of the ventricle by applying a non-linear relationship between the measured conductance and the volume of blood in the heart chamber to identify mechanical strength of the chamber. The processor is in communication with the conductance catheter. Methods for determining cardiac performance in a patient. Apparatuses for determining cardiac performance in a patient.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Monodansylpentane as a Blue-Fluorescent Lipid-Droplet Marker for Multi-Color Live-Cell Imaging

Lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic cellular organelles responsible for the storage of neutral lipids, and are associated with a multitude of metabolic syndromes. Here we report monodansylpentane (MDH) as a high contrast blue-fluorescent marker for LDs. The unique spectral properties make MDH easily combinable with other green and red fluorescent reporters for multicolor fluorescence imaging. MDH staining does not apparently affect LD trafficking, and the dye is extraordinarily photo-stable. Taken together MDH represents a reliable tool to use for the investigation of dynamic LD regulation within living cells using fluorescence microscopy