Strategy on the Upward Slope

When a great power rises, what strategies does it adopt and why? Despite substantial interest in these questions due to concerns surrounding the rise of China and concomitant decline of the United States, research on rising state grand strategy remains underdeveloped. Not only do analysts lack a consistent way of describing how risers’ grand strategies vary, but insight into the drivers of rising state strategy remains inchoate. Accordingly, this chapter analyzes existing research, highlights the problems rising states confront in crafting grand strategy, advances a new framework for discussing strategy, and suggests avenues for future research.

Normative data for handgrip strength in Iranian healthy children and adolescents aged 7–18 years: comparison with international norms

Background Grip strength is an essential component of physical fitness. The objective of this study was to develop normative handgrip strength data for Iranian healthy boys and girls comparing their handgrip strength with international reference values. Methods Handgrip strength was measured in 2637 healthy children/adolescents (1391 boys and 1246 girls), aged 7–18 years, using a standard adjustable Jamar hand dynamometer (Model 5030 J1, Sammons Preston Rolyan, Bolingbrook, IL, USA). Body mass (kg) and stature (cm) were measured and body mass index was computed in kg/m2. The sample was stratified by gender, age, and hand preference. Results Handgrip strength increased with age and was considerably higher in boys than in girls for all age groups (p < 0.001). Grip strength had a parallel and linear growth for both genders until the age of about 11 years and showed a steeper upward slope in boys than in girls thereafter. The findings of the current investigation were significantly different from those of the previously published normative data, especially for boys over the age of 12 years and girls in the age range of 7–18 years (p < 0.001). This difference was mainly in such a way that the Iranians had lower handgrip strength. Conclusions The differences between present results and those of similar available in the literature in this field emphasize the significant role of using normative data specific to a particular population in research or clinical settings.

Curvilinear relationship of entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial self-efficacy: Entrepreneurial passion as a moderator

We combined experience curve theory and social learning theory and proposed that the relationship between entrepreneurs' prior experience and their entrepreneurial self-efficacy would be curvilinear, with the upward slope of the curve gradually decreasing. Participants were 266 entrepreneurs in Southeast China who completed a survey. Our results show there was a nonlinear relationship between entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial self-efficacy, suggesting that as entrepreneurs gained more experience, the rate of entrepreneurial self-efficacy slowed down. Furthermore, we found that entrepreneurial passion moderated this curvilinear relationship, such that when entrepreneurial passion was strong, nascent entrepreneurs with less experience exhibited greater entrepreneurial self-efficacy than did entrepreneurs with more experience. Theoretical contributions and future research directions are discussed.

Extraction of road boundary from MLS data using laser scanner ground trajectory

Various means of extracting road boundary from mobile laser scanning data based on vehicle trajectories have been investigated. Independent of positioning and navigation data, this study estimated the scanner ground track from the spatial distribution of the point cloud as an indicator of road location. We defined a typical edge block consisting of multiple continuous upward fluctuating points by abrupt changes in elevation, upward slope, and road horizontal slope. Subsequently, such edge blocks were searched for on both sides of the estimated track. A pseudo-mileage spacing map was constructed to reflect the variation in spacing between the track and edge blocks over distance, within which road boundary points were detected using a simple linear tracking model. Experimental results demonstrate that the ground trajectory of the extracted scanner forms a smooth and continuous string just on the road; this can serve as the basis for defining edge block and road boundary tracking algorithms. The defined edge block has been experimentally verified as highly accurate and strongly noise resistant, while the boundary tracking algorithm is simple, fast, and independent of the road boundary model used. The correct detection rate of the road boundary in two experimental data is more than 99.2%.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON E-BUSINESS IN NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION (INDIA)

E business is a model of business or transaction of commercial nature that includes sharing information across the internet. Since the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic there is an upward slope of E commerce graph and digital solutions. E commerce is most considered and chosen way of purchasing different types of products nowadays. Furthermore, during this pandemic, the norms of social distancing and staying at home are pushing the customers towards E business. This study has an objective to determine the growth of E business due to the corona virus pandemic. This study examines the growth of e-business due to COVID-19 pandemic and also analyses whether e-business became the substitute source of traditional marketing or not. This study is based on primary data collected from more than 500 people residents of National Capital Region (India).

A-161 Corticomedial Amygdala Volume Significantly Predicts Cognitive Fexibility in an Older Adult Sample

Objective The present study examined the relationship between anxiety, corticomedial and basolateral amygdala volume, and cognitive flexibility among older adults (OA). We hypothesized that higher subclinical Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores would be associated with lower cognitive flexibility, assessed using the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) verbal fluency. Additionally, we hypothesized that basolateral amygdala volume would negatively correspond to anxiety scores and exhibit a positive relationship with cognitive flexibility. Method Sixty-three OA (M age: 65; SD: 9; 59% female) were recruited via community advertising and cardiac clinics for a parent study on cardiovascular disease. Participants completed the D-KEFS and BAI as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment prior to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Amygdala segmentation was completed with FreeSurfer version 6.0, using T1-weighted MPRAGE and T2-weighted FLAIR images. Data was analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression, controlling for age, sex, years of education, and intracranial volume. Results No significant relationship emerged between basolateral amygdala volume and BAI scores (r = .11, p = .41) or cognitive flexibility (r = .04, p = .76). However, a significant positive relationship was observed between corticomedial amygdala volume and cognitive flexibility after controls (β = 0.37, p &lt; .01). Conclusions The previously reported relationship between high anxiety and basolateral amygdala volume does not appear to extend to subclinical levels. We conjecture that the significant relationship between the corticomedial amygdala and cognitive flexibility represents the upward slope between arousal and cognitive performance on the Yerkes-Dodson curve. These findings newly implicate corticomedial amygdala volume as a representative measure linking emotional arousal and cognitive performance in OA.

Climate trends in the Cape Town area, South Africa

Climatic conditions near Cape Town, South Africa (34°S, 19°E) are analysed for historical trends in station measurements in the 20th century and in modern satellite-blended datasets. Despite the variety of datasets and record lengths, all show a steady drying trend. Faster rates of warming, 0.1°C∙yr-1, are found in land surface temperatures during the period 2000–2017. Drying trends are most acute to the northwest of the Hottentots Holland mountains. Hydrology station measurements in the Upper Berg River catchment since 1956 reveal a decline in streamflow of −0.012 m3∙s-1∙month-1, and an upward slope in potential evaporation of +0.020 W∙m-2∙month-1. Rainfall has declined most in May and September, indicating a shorter winter wet season. Features supporting the drying trend include an increase of easterly winds and low-level subsidence during summer. The clockwise circulation trend around Cape Town entrains dry air from the Karoo interior and the south coast upwelling zone, leading to negative sensible heat flux, a capping inversion and diminished orographic rainfall.

First Evidence of Peat Domes in the Congo Basin using LiDAR from a Fixed-Wing Drone

The world’s most extensive tropical peatlands occur in the Cuvette Centrale depression in the Congo Basin, which stores 30.6 petagrams of carbon (95% CI, 6.3–46.8). Improving our understanding of the genesis, development and functioning of these under-studied peatlands requires knowledge of their topography and, in particular, whether the peat surface is domed, as this implies a rain-fed system. Here we use a laser altimeter mounted on an unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) to measure peat surface elevation along two transects at the edges of a peatland, in the northern Republic of Congo, to centimetre accuracy and compare the results with an analysis of nearby satellite LiDAR data (ICESat and ICESat-2). The LiDAR elevations on both transects show an upward slope from the peatland edge, suggesting a surface elevation peak of around 1.8 m over ~20 km. While modest, this domed shape is consistent with the peatland being rainfed. In-situ peat depth measurements and our LiDAR results indicate that this peatland likely formed at least 10,000 years BP in a large shallow basin ~40 km wide and ~3 m deep.

UAV and Spaceborne LiDAR Gives First Evidence of Peat Domes in the Congo Basin

&lt;p&gt;The peatlands of the Cuvette Centrale depression in the Congo Basin store between 6.3 and 46.8 petagrams of carbon. To improve our understanding of the genesis, development and functioning of these peatlands, we need to know if their surface is domed. Past work using satellite-based instruments has established that if the peatland surface is domed, it is very shallow, below 2&amp;#8209;3 m over a distance of 26km. We used a laser altimeter mounted on an unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) to measure peat surface elevation along two transects at the edges of a peatland&amp;#160; to centimetre accuracy, and combined the results with an analysis of local ICESat and ICESat-2 returns. The LiDAR elevations show an upward slope inwards from both edges, and the ICESat and ICESat-2 returns suggest a peak around 1.8 m&amp;#160; above the edges. This matches our expectations of a rainfed peatland and, combined with prior measurements of peat depth, indicates that this peatland formed in a 3 m-deep basin.&lt;/p&gt;

The Lone Star Challenge

This chapter focuses on the Advanced Placement (AP) program in Texas. No place in America offers a larger or more vivid example of AP's recent history, its widening mission, and the challenges of carrying out that mission than Texas. The Lone Star State illustrates the complex interplay of traditional AP success in upscale schools; ambitious efforts to extend it to more disadvantaged youngsters; robust, AP-centric charter schools; and an exceptionally bumptious and varied array of dual-credit alternatives. As in most of the nation, AP participation has surged in Texas for four straight decades, and the upward slope has recently steepened. The number of exams per pupil rose, too, spurred by governmental and philanthropic moves to grow the program as well as intensifying college competition among high school students. The chapter then evaluates the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). The Fort Worth experience with NMSI—and the Texas experience more generally—illustrates the challenge of expanding AP to students who have not historically had much access to it or enjoyed great success with it.