In Times of “Chastity”: An Inquiry into Some Recent Developments in the Field of Perversion

This essay is part of a project that has set out, as one of its primary objectives, to observe perversions as important indicators of broader changes and developments within society. Both of the momenta I follow in this study meet all the requirements for such an inquiry. The first development to be examined is what I will call the decline of pornography. At a time when all of society is increasingly becoming pornographic in so many ways, it sounds strange to talk about the decline of pornography. And yet pornography as a genre is, I believe, losing ground to something else – to a distinctly different system of unfolding sexuality and its economic exploitation. The second development to be discussed is the rise of masochism. In this context, I will analyse certain reports that show that, especially since the outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19, the number of people practicing masochistic “heavy play” has increased significantly. It appears that in a period when one would expect people to be dreaming of the lifting of restrictions, freedom, or whatever, many have chosen to undertake the cruel path of “servitude”. Eventually, I will show that these two developments are essentially connected, probably even consubstantial.

Computer Intelligent Numerical Simulation of TIG Welding Using Platy Tungsten Electrode

In order to reveal the law of arc plasma flow and heat transfer in the process of flat tungsten electrode TIG welding as auxiliary heat source for hardfacing of cast iron surface. According to the free burning TIG arc using platy tungsten electrode, A three dimensional (3D) model for tungsten inert gas welding using platy tungsten electrode has been developed. The whole region of platy tungsten TIG arc, namely, platy tungsten cathode, arc plasma and anode surface is treated in a unified numerical model. By using fluent software to do the second development of equations source and solve these equations, the distribution of temperature, velocity and current density are obtained. The simulation results show that the current of flat tungsten electrode is more dispersed, and the heat generation of arc is more dispersed, which leads to the decrease of arc temperature; The current density on the cathode is much higher than that on the anode.

International Trade Path with Multi-Polarization based on Multidirectional Mutation Genetic Algorithm Enabled Neural Network

At present, the development speed of international trade cannot catch up with the economic development speed, and the insufficient development speed of international trade will directly affect the rapid development of national economy. In order to solve the problem of international trade, the overall optimal scheduling of trade vehicles and the optimal planning of trade transportation path are very important to improve enterprise services, reduce enterprise costs, increase enterprise benefits, and enhance enterprise competitiveness. The second development of the program is based on the programming interface provided by Baidu map. This paper proposes a neural network algorithm for genetic optimization of multiple mutations, which overcomes the shortcoming of traditional genetic algorithm population “ten” character distribution by mixing multiple coding methods, and enhances the local search ability of genetic algorithm by introducing a new large-mutation small-range search population. The example application shows that the optimization method can realize the optimization of international trade path under real road conditions and greatly improve the work efficiency of actual trade.

Urban Morphology of Zagreb in the Second Half of the 19th Century—Landmarks Guiding the Reconstruction of the Town and the Preservation of Identity after the 2020 Earthquake

The research of the urban morphology of Zagreb in the second half of the 19th century was done with the intention of showing the importance of inherited urban morphology and the importance of urban identity factors at a time when preparations are being made for reconstruction after the 2020 earthquake. The research was performed on the basis of old maps and plans and previous research on urban development. The medieval town of Zagreb began to develop in a planned manner in the second half of the 19th century. The orthogonal street grid in the new town built in the 19th century and called the Lower Town—were the result of urban utopian times and the first written legislation on urban planning (1857), the first development plan (1864/1865), and a second development plan (1887/1889). The concept for the urban design of the Lower Town has three distinct themes: an orthogonal street grid, public parks and squares and public buildings. The series of public spaces, consisting of seven squares and the Botanical Gardens, became a landmark pattern in the urban morphology of Zagreb at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. This urban pattern, as a lasting value, remains the main landmark for any new architectural and urban interventions in the town historic part.

Development and analysis of a novel biomechanical model for seated occupants

Seated occupants may experience discomfort or meet with injuries if the vertical vibration frequency lies in the range of 4–20 Hz. To examine the effect of vibration on seated occupants, it is necessary to develop a biomechanical model that can precisely predict the biodynamic responses (seat to head transmissibility, driving point mechanical impedance, and apparent mass) of a real human. In the past, none of the studies segregated the human body mass into bones and muscles mass that have distinct mechanical properties. In this article, the work is carried out in four steps: first, development of a novel 8- dofs biomechanical model by considering both bone and muscle masses; second, development of all the feasible configurations of 8- dofs model followed by identification and optimization of model parameters with firefly algorithm (FA); third, calibration of all the feasible models as per the standards of biodynamics and selection of best four models; and fourth, comparison of biodynamic responses of best four models with experimental responses and past developed models. The goodness of fit of a seat to head transmissibility, driving point mechanical impedance, and apparent mass for the best model is obtained 0.986, 0.976, and 0.956, respectively.

Remimazolam: Non-Clinical and Clinical Profile of a New Sedative/Anesthetic Agent

A program to identify novel intravenous sedatives with a short and predictable duration of action was initiated in the late 1990’s by Glaxo Wellcome. The program focussed on the identification of ester-based benzodiazepine derivatives that are rapidly broken down by esterases. Remimazolam was identified as one of the lead compounds. The project at Glaxo was shelved for strategic reasons at the late lead optimization stage. Via the GSK ventures initiative, the program was acquired by the small biotechnology company, TheraSci, and, through successive acquisitions, developed as the besylate salt at CeNeS and PAION. The development of remimazolam besylate has been slow by industry standards, primarily because of the resource limitations of these small companies. It has, however, recently been approved for anesthesia in Japan and South Korea, procedural sedation in the United States, China, and Europe, and for compassionate use in intensive care unit sedation in Belgium. A second development program of remimazolam was later initiated in China, using a slightly different salt form, remimazolam tosylate. This salt form of the compound has also recently been approved for procedural sedation in China. Remimazolam has the pharmacological profile of a classical benzodiazepine, such as midazolam, but is differentiated from other intravenous benzodiazepines by its rapid conversion to an inactive metabolite resulting in a short onset/offset profile. It is differentiated from other intravenous hypnotic agents, such as propofol, by its low liability for cardiovascular depression, respiratory depression, and injection pain. The benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil can reverse the effects of remimazolam in case of adverse events and further shorten recovery times. The aim of this review is to provide an analysis of, and perspective on, published non-clinical and clinical information on 1) the pharmacology, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamic profile of remimazolam, 2) the profile of remimazolam compared with established agents, 3) gaps in the current understanding of remimazolam, 4) the compound’s discovery and development process and 5) likely future developments in the clinical use of remimazolam.

Exploration of the Second Time Development of ESP Materials: Classroom Practice and Teachers’ Roles

This study investigates teachers’ second time development of ESP materials in the context of ESP curriculum reform in a Chinese university where a newly published series of textbooks are used. Data collected from classroom observations were analyzed to reveal teachers’ practice in the second time development of materials. Semi-structured interviews with ESP teachers were conducted to disclose the hidden agendas of teachers by a thorough thematic analysis. Results show that teachers’ second time development techniques mainly include omitting the “Researching Task” part, supplementing more “critical thinking” tasks, glancing through the “Reading Strategies” and simplifying the interpretation of discipline-related content. More advanced development strategies such as adding more discipline-related knowledge, changing the instructional sequence, reconstructing or creating certain contents are seldom used. The overall second time development practice indicates that teachers would rather simplify the teaching process than make it meaningful. Inability, laziness, the lack of awareness, and fear of making mistakes are the main causes of teachers’ rudimentary development practice. This study then suggests that institutions and teacher educators should offer special programs that can improve teachers’ skills in the second time development of teaching materials, take measures to enhance ESP teachers’ disciplinary/content knowledge, and enforce rigorous management so as to make the second development of ESP materials more effective and thus improve the quality and efficiency of ESP teaching and learning.

Acceptance and Strategic Resilience: An Application of Conservation of Resources Theory

The definition of individual resilience remains ambiguous. This article responds to that ambiguity by first deriving a definition of individual resilience from conservation of resources (COR) theory. Accordingly, to the extent individuals have sufficient resources and behave according to two key principles of COR theory, they will exhibit resilience in response to significant adversity. A second development builds upon the COR distinction between resources deployed in response to adversity which are resource-preserving as distinct from resource-enhancing, which generate what are here labeled acceptance resilience and strategic resilience, respectively. It is proposed that behaviors associated with acceptance resilience support relative continuity of environments, relationships, and life goals, with strategic resilience behaviors often involving changing environments, relationships, or life goals. Acceptance resilience is related to earlier COR understandings of resilience and relevant resources, while strategic resilience requires distinct or additional resources. Individuals demonstrating the two types of resilience will diverge in terms of openness to new experiences, persistence, loss aversion, and the valuation of future resources. It is further proposed that acceptance resilience is more common than strategic resilience and that organizations which find resilience valuable will tend to support acceptance resilience, in part because strategic resilience may generate turnover in response to adversity. The analysis addresses related issues, including coping, career change, burnout, as well as teams and organizations. Implications for theory, practice, and future research conclude the work.

Tracing the Genealogy of Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah Concept: A Historical Approach

This paper aims to explore the emergence, continuity and shifting of the meaning of maqāṣid al-sharī’ah. Initially, maqāṣid al-sharī’ah entered into the study of uṣūl al-fiqh and later became an independent scientific discipline. Historically, the journey of maqāṣid al-sharī’ah has four periods, namely, the pre-codification era, the first development era, the second development era, and the maturation era as a scientific discipline. This paper is qualitative with a descriptive-analytic method, namely exploring the concept of maqāṣid al-sharī’ah in various literature. The findings in this paper are, first, the history of the emergence and development of maqāṣid al-sharī’ah is closely related to the enforcement of Islamic law. Second, the continuity of maqāṣid al-sharī'ah is an ideological concept because it is based on the prevailing paradigm

Fading opportunities for mitigating agriculture-environment trade-offs in a South American deforestation hotspot

Strong trade-offs between agriculture and the environment occur in deforestation frontiers, particularly in the world’s rapidly disappearing tropical and subtropical dry forests. Pathways to mitigate these trade-offs are often unclear, as well as how deforestation or different policies alter the option space of available pathways. Using a spatial optimization framework based on linear programming, we developed a landscape-scale possibility frontier describing trade-offs between agricultural profit, biodiversity, and carbon stock for the Argentinean Dry Chaco, a global deforestation hotspot. We use this framework to assess how current land-use zoning, as well as past and future land-use-trajectories, alter the option space to minimize trade-offs between biodiversity, carbon, and agriculture. Our analyses yield four major insights. First, we found substantial co-benefits between biodiversity and carbon, yet strong trade-offs of both with agriculture. Second, development according to the current zoning could lead to highly suboptimal socio-ecological outcomes, and our analysis pinpoints how this zoning could be improved. Third, high landscape-scale multifunctionality can be achieved using different land-use strategies, but maintaining >40% of forest is essential in all of them, and silvopastoral systems appear to be central for achieving high overall multifunctionality. Finally, our results suggest the window of opportunity is closing rapidly: recent land-use changes since 2000 have rapidly moved the Chaco within the options space, with forest extent declining towards critical thresholds for maintaining balanced, multifunctional landscapes. Our results emphasize that the time for sustainability planning in the Chaco is now. More broadly, we show how multi-criteria optimization can describe dynamic trade-offs between agriculture and the environment at landscape and regional scales. This can help to identify land-system tipping points that, once crossed, would inhibit more sustainable futures, and policies to avoid such potential traps.