Transformation of the myth of the Minotaur in “Gene” by Stel Pavlou

Fantasy of the XXI century becomes more attentive to the socio-political realities of our time. The resultant vector of the genre's problematic spectrum becomes a widely understood problem of memory - from generic, national civilization. The genre potential of fantasy gives the writer high opportunities, primarily mythological. Stel Pavlou interprets the issues of personal and cultural memory in an original way, touches the actual problem of the “beast” in man in the novel “Gene” - a representative work of Minotaurianism of the first decades of the XXI century. The purpose of our article is to determine for the first time the features of the author's version (associative model) of the Minotaur myth in the novel “Gene” by S. Pavlou against the background of the typology of modern Minotaurians, the specifics of the author's picture of the world and the accompanying philosophical subtext. In the interpretation of the key legendary-mythological image "Gene" we turn to the teaching of C. G. Jung. We show that the reinterpretation of the Minotaur's image is organically relevant to modern trends, actualizing the question of the meaning of existence, memory, man's choice of the future. In "Gene," man comprehends his essence (the Minotaur as unconscious) and recognizes the animal in himself as evil, suffers disappointment in himself and history, but must endure through love and forgiveness. We see the precondition for this original approach in Minotauri in the universalization in the twentieth century. (J. L. Borges, R. Sheckley, S. Sherrill, etc.) of the Image of the Labyrinth. Further study of the prose of S. Pavlou promising as an important component of the new world fantasy.

Video Camera Analysis to Capture Muscle Specific Endurance

Previous studies have used an accelerometer to evaluate muscle endurance. This study compared endurance index values using a video phone to an accelerometer. Eleven healthy subjects (19-22yrs) were electrically stimulated for 5 minutes at 5 Hz on the hamstring muscles. Four 10s videos were captured at 1080p and 60fps (~283,000 pixels) with the phone. Videos were analyzed using sequential correlations (consecutive 1-2, or consecutive skipping an image 1–3) of the video images between the electrodes. The magnitude of the decrease in the correlation was used to indicate movement. A triaxial accelerometer measured the resultant vector of the movements and the decrease in acceleration was used to indicate fatigue. Analysis using 1-3 produced higher delta R2 values compared to 1-2 (0.038+0.004; 0.020+0.001). Endurance index was 72.1+19.4% for the accelerometer and 71.1+18.6% for the phone images, p=0.64. The mean difference between the methods was not different from zero and the 90% confidence interval was within 5%. In conclusion, the consecutive correlations method detected decreases in movement due to fatigue. The video method provided equivalent values to the previously established accelerometer method to measure muscle endurance. These results support the use of video to assess muscle acceleration during muscle specific endurance test.

Endurance of the Dorsal and Ventral Muscles in the Neck

Endurance of the muscles of the neck are rarely studied. This study measured the endurance index (EI) of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and upper trapezius muscles of the neck (trap). The vastus lateralis (VL) was used for comparison. Skeletal muscle endurance of twelve healthy subjects, age 19–22 years, were tested on their SCM and trap in random order on one day, VL was tested on a separate day. Participants were tested in the supine position for the SCM and VL muscles and the prone position for the trap. Muscle contractions consisted of a 5 Hz twitch electrical stimulation for 5 min. Muscle acceleration (resultant vector) was measured using a triaxial accelerometer. EI was the ending acceleration as a percentage of the maximal acceleration. The endurance index (EI) for the SCM, trap, and VL was 42.3 ± 13.0%, 42.3 ± 20.2%, and 92.9 ± 11.0%, respectively. The EI of the VL was significantly higher than the EI of the SCM (t(2,22) = 10.33, p < 0.001) and the trap (t(2,22) = 7.625, p < 0.001). The EI was not different between the SCM and the trap muscle (t(2,22) = 0.004, p = 0.997). In conclusion, the neck muscles had much less endurance than the muscles in the leg and could make fatigued athletes more susceptible to concussions caused by head impacts.

Plithogenic Cognitive Maps in Decision Making

Plithogenic sets introduced by Smarandache (2018) have disclosed new research vistas and this paper introduces the novel concept of plithogenic cognitive maps (PCM) and its applications in decision making. The new approach of defining instantaneous state neutrosophic vector with the confinement of indeterminacy to (0,1] is proposed to quantify the degree of indeterminacy. The resultant vector is obtained by applying instantaneous state vector through the connection matrix together with plithogenic operators comprising the contradiction degrees. The connection matrix is represented as fuzzy matrix and neutrosophic matrix and the resultant vector is determined by applying plithogenic fuzzy operators and plithogenic neutrosophic operators respectively. The obtained results are highly feasible in making the decision as it incorporates the contradiction degree of the conceptual nodes with respect to the dominant node. This research work will certainly pave the way for developing new approaches in decision making using PCM.

Transverse nonlinear vibration modeling and response of eccentric rotor in a switched reluctance motor

In order to investigate the transverse vibration of eccentric rotor in a 12/8 switched reluctance motor (SRM), a whole nonlinear coupled vibration equation of eccentric rotor is built with finite element method (FEM). Based on single tooth radial force and the key parameters variation with rotor position, an analytical formula of magnetic resultant taking into account of the rotor’s vibration displacement is deduced in detail, which is applied onto the intermediate node of eccentric rotor in form of concentrated force. Once the windings currents obtained either by experiments or numerical simulations is input, the vibration response can be solved numerically by Newmark-[Formula: see text] method. Six phase windings currents under angle position control (APC) strategy are chosen as an example and the vibration response are discussed to reflect intrinsic vibration characteristics. From radical resultant vector and its amplitude spectrum, it is proved that the magnetic resultant vector presents multi-petals star shape. The frequency components in magnetic resultant are [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], related to rotational speed, current waveform and minimum common multiple of stator and rotor teeth. However, from displacement locus and its amplitude spectrum, the frequency component of the rotor vibration displacement is also related to the critical whirl speed of the rotor. Transverse superharmonic resonance of eccentric rotor appears at some particular rotational speed and result in a larger rotor vibration. If the rotor runs at the superharmonic speed of 1/19 of first-order critical whirl speed, the maximum vibration displacement radius of the eccentric rotor reaches almost four times that of the rated speed. The vibration locus at these particular speed show rich diversity.

Effects of Peroneal Muscles Fatigue on Dynamic Stability Following Lateral Hop Landing: Time to Stabilization Versus Dynamic Postural Stability Index

Context: Dynamic stability is a necessary requirement in many sports competitions. Muscle fatigue, which can impair stability, may be occurred in many sports competitions in which lateral movements and landing repeated frequently. Objective: To assess the effects of peroneal muscles fatigue on dynamic stability following lateral hop landing through measuring time to stabilization (TTS) and dynamic postural stability index (DPSI). Design: Quasi-experimental. Setting: Laboratory study. Participants: A total of 20 recreationally active, healthy males with no lower-extremity injury during the previous 6 months participated in this study. Intervention: Participants performed a lateral hop on a force plate before and immediately after a fatigue intervention using a Biodex dynamometer. For inducing fatigue, the participant made a prolonged eversion effort with 40% of the maximal voluntary contraction. Fatigue was met when the eversion torque declined by 50% of the initial value. TTS and DPSI were calculated using sequential averaging method and relevant formulas, respectively. Main Outcome Measures: Premeasures and postmeasures of TTS in the anteroposterior, mediolateral and vertical directions, resultant vector of TTS, stability indices in the anteroposterior, mediolateral and vertical directions, and DPSI. Results: Means of the DPSI or its components did not change significantly due to fatigue (P > .05). Means of the TTS in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions, and the mean of the resultant vector of the TTS increased significantly after fatigue (P < .05). Conclusions: The question that the dynamic stability is affected or not affected by fatigue depends on which of the TTS or DPSI is used for analysis. The TTS may be a sensitive measure to detect subtle changes in postural stability due to fatigue. But, the DPSI which may be changed after a more strenuous fatigue may be related to actual fatiguing situations.

Digital Modeling and Movement Resolution of Rubber Ballon Analogy for 3D Packing Problem

Packing problem is how to arrange the components in available spaces to make the layout compact. This paper adopts a digital modeling algorithm to establish a novel rubber ballon convex hull model to solve this problem. A visible point puls maximum distance method analogy QuickHull algorithm is presented to get extreme points of rubber ballon convex hull. Movement resolution aim at force analyze and calculate the resultant vector to translate, rotate and slide the component to make the volume decrease in detail. An experiment proved this digital modeling algorithm effective.

Digital Modeling and Movement Resolution of Rubber Band Analogy for 2D Packing Problem

Packing problem is how to arrange the components in available spaces to make the layout compact. This paper adopts a digital modeling algorithm to establish a novel rubber band convex hull model to solve this problem. A ray scanning method analogy QuickHull algorithm is presented to get extreme points of rubber band convex hull. A plural vector expression approach is adopted to movement resolution,which calculate the resultant vector to translate, rotate and slide the subbody to make the volume decrease. An experiment proved this digital modeling algorithm effective.