Exploring the Intersection of Spirituality and Religion:Transcendence,Secularism,and Personal Beliefs in Contemporary Society

This paper explores the intersection of spirituality and religion,focusing on how transcendence,secularism,and personal beliefs shape contemporary spiritual practices.It examines the philosophical foundations of transcendence,the rise of existentialism,and the distinction between spirituality and religion.Secularism's role in fostering personal spirituality and reducing religious authority is discussed,alongside the psychological and societal impacts of spiritual transcendence.The paper also critiques the limitations of spirituality,emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that integrates cognitive development and mental health perspectives.

Identity(ies)and Transnationalization of Brazilian Evangelical Churches in Portugal:Case study of World Cathedral of Hope and Victory in Christ Churches

The presence of evangelicals in Brazil is a social and religious phenomenon that has aroused interest of many scholars due to its rapid and significant expansion in recent decades and its projection beyond national borders.Among evangelical denominations that stand out in this scenario are Pentecostal churches,which have developed intense missionary activity in several countries,including Europe.In this article,we intend to analyze features and challenges of Brazilian evangelical churches:World Cathedral of Hope(CIME)(Catedral Mundial da Esperança-ICME)and Assembly of God Victory in Christ(ADVEC)(Assembleia de Deus Vitória em Cristo-ADVEC)that operate in Portugal,seeking to understand issues of identity and belonging of these communities,their models of transnationalization,its evangelization strategies and its adaptations to Portuguese context,in the period from 2000 to 2020.

Secularism and Secularization in the Arab World

The development of secularism and secularization is a major issue in the Arab world in the intellectual,cultural and social dimensions.A general survey of the development of secularism and secularization in the Arab world is a premise to understand modern Arab politics,society and culture.

Dynamic mode decomposition of the geomagnetic field over the last two decades

Earth’s magnetic field,which is generated in the liquid outer core through the dynamo action,undergoes changes on timescales of a few years to several million years,yet the underlying mechanisms responsible for the field variations remain to be elucidated.In this study,we apply a novel data analysis technique developed in fluid dynamics,namely the dynamic mode decomposition,to analyze the geomagnetic variations over the last two decades when continuous satellite observations are available.The dominant dynamic modes are extracted by solving an eigen-value problem,so one can identify modes with periods longer than the time span of data.Our analysis show that similar dynamic modes are extracted from the geomagnetic secular variation and secular acceleration,justifying the validity of applying the dynamic mode decomposition method to geomagnetic field.We reveal that the geomagnetic field variations are characterized by a global mode with period of 58 years,a localized mode with period of 16 years and an equatorially trapped mode with period of 8.5 years.These modes are possibly related to magnetohydrodynamic waves in the Earth’s outer core.

The study of geomagnetic jerk from 2010 to 2021 based on hourly mean data from global geomagnetic observatories

The secular variation in the global geomagnetic field was analyzed in terms of the annual differences in monthly means by using the hourly mean data from 18 foreign(outside China)observatories of the World Data Center(WDC)for Geomagnetism from January 2010 to January 2020 as well as 9 observatories in the Geomagnetic Network of China from January 2015 to April 2021.In addition,according to the correlation of noisy components from the observatories,a covariance matrix was constructed based on residuals between observations and the CHAOS-7.4 model to remove external contamination.Through a comparison before and after denoising,we found that the overall average standard deviations were reduced by 29.97%in China and by 41.4%outside China.Results showed the correlation coefficient between external noise(mainly the magnetosphere ring current)and the Dst index was 0.82,and the correlation coefficient between external noise and the Ring Current(RC)index reached 0.94.A geomagnetic jerk was globally discovered around 2018.0 on the geomagnetic eastward component Y.The jerk timing in China was around 2020.0,and the earliest one was in2018.75,whereas the timing outside China was around 2018.0,and the earliest one was in 2017.67.This 2-year lag may have been caused by the higher electrical conductivity of the deep mantle.After more data were added,this jerk event was found to occur in an orderly manner in the northern hemisphere as the longitude increased and the intensity gradually increased as well.The variations in location of the jerk center were analyzed according to the CHAOS-7.4 model.Results revealed six extreme points distributed nearby the equator.The strongest was near the equator,at 170°E,and the strength gradually decreased as it extended to the northern and southern hemispheres.Another extreme point with the opposite sign was located at the equator,at 20°W,in the south-central part of the Atlantic,and the strength gradually decreased as it extended into Europe.The covariance matrix method can be used to analyze data from the Macao Science Satellite-1 mission in the future,and this method is expected to play a positive role in modeling and separating the large-scale external field.

The Symbiosis of Sacred Space and Secular Experience-Reflecting on Ethnographic Filming

Based on the experience of ethnographic filming,this article outlines the dynamic process of the protection and development of Baima Tibetan traditional villages with the help of iconic descriptions of Baima Tibetans’daily lives and sacrificial activities,and explores how Baima Tibetans inherit their culture while adapting to social development with imagery means during rural revitalization,and how the locals integrate sacred space and secular experience in order to construct their own cultural symbols for the sake of embracing the new era.As far as anthropology-ethnographic descriptions of embodiment are concerned,traditional text research has limitations.In comparison,video graphic anthropology has natural advantages.Its advantages not only lie in the means of images,but also lie in the ability to connect the“sense of things”,mind and nature,realizing the interaction between mind and things,and mentality and object.The visual ethnography is an important research method for anthropological research to enter the world of his other.This is also an important way to describe the integration and symbiosis of local subjectivity,local sacred space,and secular experience.

Analysis of the Orbitation and Rotation of Celestial Bodies

We have developed a structure of dynamic knowledge for non-inertial systems, the so-called Theory of Dynamic Interactions (TDI) as a part of non-inertial dynamic knowledge, which incorporates a causal demonstration of phenomena accelerated by rotation, which would complement Classical Mechanics. We believe that the TDI mathematical model that we propose is of great conceptual importance. In addition, we think that it is not only necessary to understand the dynamics of rotating bodies, but also to understand the dynamics of the cosmos, with bodies that orbit and with constantly recurring movements, which make possible systems that have been in dynamic equilibrium for centuries and are not in a process of unlimited expansion. We even believe that this new dynamic theory allows us a better understanding of our universe, and the matter from which it is made.

Uranium Series Disequilibrium and Precision Measurement of Radionuclides Activity in Sediment Sample Using Low Background Gamma Spectrometry

Low background gamma spectrometry was used to measure the radionuclides activity of 238U, 232Th, and 235U series as well as 40K and 137Cs in a sediment sample. The goal of the study was to measure the 238U (63.3 keV peak of 234Th;1001 keV peak of 234mPa) and 235U (143.76 keV, 163.33 keV, and 205.31 keV peaks) activity by low background gamma spectrometry in sediment sample. 235U activity in environmental samples is difficult to accurately measure by gamma spectrometry due to its low abundance in nature and low gamma line intensities at 143.76 keV, 163.33 keV, and 205.31 keV. We have shown that by using low background gamma spectrometry, it is possible to accurately measure the 235U activity in sediment samples. The 235U activity was measured without using the major peak of 185.7 keV (Iγ = 57.2%) which requires interference correction from 186.21 keV of 226Ra. 226Ra activity was determined by measuring 222Rn daughters (214Pb and 214Bi). The precision and accuracy of the gamma activity measurement in the sediment sample were verified by using the HPGe detectors with Certified Reference Material (CRM) Irish Sea Sediment (IAEA-385). The results obtained for the 63.33 keV energy line of 234Th are compared with the 1001 keV energy line of 234mPa. The values of 238U and 235U activities, as well as 40K, 137Cs, and 226Ra, agreed with the certificate values of CRM. The results show that the 238U is in equilibrium with its daughters (234Th, 234mPa, and 210Pb). 232Th is also in equilibrium with its daughters (228Ra, 212Pb, 212Bi and 208Tl). 235U/238U activity ratio of 0.046 ± 0.007 in the sediment is constant in nature but fluctuates due to geological processes. A value of 0.055 ± 0.008 was found in our sediment sample.

Neoteric Nationalism in India: Secular or Religious?

The nationalism in India emerged with the national movement as an urge of political independence,but it is not necessarily a derivative of nationalism.In this post-independence period,the concept took a drastic change from politico-cultural nationalism to particularistic nationalism of many groups and now essentially religious nationalism.The present blend of nationalism is interpreted as Hindu nationalism.It evolved from nationhood to nationalism.In this open world,Indian nationalism has been unrolled with a Hindu dominating policy due to which religion in India got politicized.The surge of religion is too high in India has become an important political agenda.It has shuttered the participation of the religious minority from the mainstream of politics.This paper is an endeavour to present this new discourse of Indian nationalism which emerged at the backdrop ofHinduism.

The Legal Position and the Cultural Role of the Churches During the Communist Era in Hungary

In my essay I would like to present the role of the Hungarian Catholic Church as a national“institution”after 1945.The communist dictatorship supplied the authority of the churches to reshape the society based on a new ideology.One of the milestones of this process was the years after 1947 when the church schools were secularized and the monastic orders were disbanded.Cardinal József Mindszenty was the main character of the act of resisting.The second milestone was around 1956 when there was a limited cooperation:some of the schools became church school again but with a high control.From 1988 came the third milestone when the presentations of the bishops were bounded formal to the authority of state and after a short period the church became independent from it.In my paper,I would like to present these milestones and what were the effects on the Hungarian society in a juridical and cultural way.

The Outsider Perspective: Classical Chinese Philosophy in the Narrative Framework of the European Enlightenment

The purpose of this article is to enhance the understanding of how Classical Chinese Philosophy has been interpreted and transferred by Enlightenment thinkers into the narrative framework of European philosophy as a far-reaching source of ideas and inspiration with a driving force for promoting modern European social change. We examine outsider perspectives within the context of Enlightenment thinking that contributed to advances in the cross-cultural understanding of how Chinese stories could be disseminated in the framework of East-West dialogue.

Secular Change in Stature of Urban Chinese Children and Adolescents, 1985-2010

Objective Research evidence shows a secular trend in Chinese physical growth in recent years.The aim of this study was to analyze and assess changes in stature of children and adolescents during the 25 years from 1985‐2010,using national data.Methods Data came from successive cycles of the Chinese National Survey on Students＇ Constitution and Health（CNSSCH）.Subjects were 7‐ to 18‐year‐old children and adolescents.Results An overall positive secular trend occurred in urban China during 1985‐2010.The overall average rates of increment were 2.4 and 1.7 cm/decade for boys and girls,respectively.Total increases in adult stature for boys and girls were 2.6 and 1.7 cm,yielding rates of 1.0 and 0.7 cm/decade,respectively.Cities with different socioeconomic levels had different characteristic trends.Mean stature increases in big cities were larger than those in moderate and small cities,and boys and girls in moderate and small cities showed greater potential for growth in stature.Conclusion An overall positive secular growth trend was associated with socioeconomic progress and differed with area socioeconomic levels.School policies and strategies should be developed based on increased stature,and should continue narrowing the inequity between different socioeconomic populations.

Secular Changes on the Distribution of Body Mass Index among Chinese Children and Adolescents, 1985-2010

Objective To analyze the change in Body Mass Index （BMI） distribution among Chinese children and adolescents for the development of more effective intervention for childhood obesity. Methods Data on the national students＇ constitution and health survey between 1985 and 2010 was used for this study. Subjects were students aged 7-18 randomly selected from 30 provinces in China. BMI for-age curves were developed by LMS method, and the trend of BMI distribution was determined by comparing the upper BMI percentiles and analyzing the skew shift of distribution between 2985 and 2010. Results An overall positive swift trend of BMI between 1985 and 2010 was observed among the Chinese school-age children and adolescents. The average median of the BMI increased from 16.8 and 17.0 ks/m2 to 18.2 and 17.9 kg/m2 in 25 years, with increments 0.56 and 0.36 kg/m2 per decade for males and females, respectively. The more obvious increments were found at the high BMI. The total increments of BMI in this period were 4.03 and 2.20 kg/m2 at the 85th, 6.24 and 3.57 kg/m2 at the 95th, and 6.99 and 4.27 kg/m2 at the 97th percentiles, for males and females, respectively. Conclusion Obvious increments were observed at high BMI of the Chinese children and adolescents. More effective interventions should be taken for control and prevention of obesity and its health consequence for these subgroups. It is necessary to establish a risk-complex system consisting of the identification of BMI scope, the screen of the disease risk factors and the assessment of excessive adiposity.

Secular trends in incidence of lung cancer by histological type in Beijing, China, 2000-2016

Objective: The objective of this study was to characterize secular trends in the sex-specific, age-standardized incidence of lung cancer by histological type in Beijing, China, from 2000 to 2016 based on data from a populationbased cancer registry.Methods: Data on the incidence of cancer from 2000 to 2016 were obtained from the Beijing Cancer Registry.We examined trends in the sex-specific, age-standardized incidence of lung cancer by histological type using a Joinpoint regression model.Results: A total of 117,409 cases of lung cancer were diagnosed from 2000 to 2016. Overall, 73,062(62.23%)patients were males. The most common histological type among both sexes was adenocarcinoma; however, the proportion of adenocarcinoma differed significantly between males and females(45.36% vs. 77.14%, respectively,P<0.0001). The age-standardized incidence of total lung cancer increased from 2000 to 2010 with an annual percent change(APC) of 2.2% [95% confidence interval(95% CI), 1.5% to 2.9%] and stabilized thereafter. Among males, the incidence of total lung cancer peaked in 2008 and then decreased slightly, with an APC of-1.1%(95%CI,-2.1% to-0.1%). Among females, the incidence increased continuously during the study period, with an APC of 1.4%(95% CI, 0.9% to 1.9%). The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma decreased significantly in recent years among both sexes, with APCs of-2.6%(95% CI,-4.5% to-0.6%) from 2007 to 2016 for males and-5.4%(95%CI,-7.2% to-3.6%) from 2004 to 2016 for females. In contrast, the incidence of adenocarcinoma increased continuously throughout the study period, by APCs of 4.0%(95% CI, 2.6% to 5.4%) for males and 6.2%(95% CI,4.8% to 7.6%) for females. The incidence of small cell carcinoma peaked in 2007 and stabilized thereafter among males, whereas it peaked in 2012 and then decreased with an APC of-14.7%(95% CI,-25.3% to-2.6%) among females. The incidence of large cell carcinoma and other specified malignant neoplasm did not change much,whereas the incidence of unspecified type decreased among both sexes during the study period.Conclusions: Although the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma decreased significantly among both sexes in recent years in Beijing, China, adenocarcinoma increased continuously throughout the study period among both sexes. Knowledge of differences in trends is useful for surveillance and control of lung cancer. However, the reason for the increase in adenocarcinoma remains unclear and warrants investigation.

Secular Changes of Stature in Rural Children and Adolescents in China, 1985-2010

Objective To analyze and assess secular change in stature in rural children and adolescents in China from 1985 to 2010. Methods Data were obtained from the 6 rounds of the Chinese National Survey on Student＇s Constitution and Health. The subjects enrolled in the study were children and adolescents aged 7-18 years in rural areas of provincial capitals. Results An overall positive secular trend in stature occurred in rural areas of provincial capitals in China from 1985 to 2010. The overall average increase rates were 3.1 and 2.4 cm/decade for boys and girls, respectively. The total body height increases for grown up boys and girls were 3.6 and 2.3 cm and the increase rates were 1.4 and 0.9 cm/decade, respectively. There were differences in body height increase among eastern, central and western regions. The average body height of the children or adolescents in eastern region was highest, followed by central region and western region. The overall increase rates in central region were highest among the three regions. The difference between eastern/central region and western region was obvious. 〈br〉 Conclusion Positive secular trend in stature of children or adolescents has occurred in rural area of China, and rural boys and girls showed a great potential for continuous growth. More attention should be paid to the differences in children＇s body height between western region and eastern/central region.

On the correlation of nonlinear variables containing secular trend variations： numerical experiments

Due to global warming, the general circulation, underlying surfaces characteristics, and geophysical and meteorological elements all show evident secular trends. This paper points out that when calculating the correlation of two variables containing their own obvious secular trends, the interannual correlation characteristics between the two variables may be distorted （overestimated or underestimated）. Numerical experiments in this paper show that if two variables have opposite secular trends, the correlation coefficient between the two variables is reduced （the positive correlation is underestimated, or the negative correlation is overestimated）; and if the two variables have the same sign of secular trends, the correlation coefficient between the two variables is increased （the positive correlation is overestimated, or the negative correlation is underestimated）. Numerical experiments also suggest that the effect of secular trends on the interannual correlation of the two variables is interchangeable, that is to say, as long as the values of the two trends are not changed, the two variables interchange their positions, and the effect of the secular trends on the interannual correlation coefficient of the two variables remains the same. If the two variables have the same-（opposite-） sign trends, the effect of secular trends on the interannal correlation coefficient is more （less） distinctive. A meteorological example is given.

The Influence of Secular Trends in Body Height and Weight on the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Chinese Children and Adolescents

Objective To explore the influence of secular trends in body height and weight on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Chinese children and adolescents. Methods The data were obtained from five cross-sectional Chinese National Surveys on Students＇ Constitution and Health. Overweight/obesity was defined as BMI-for-age Z-score of per the Wold Health Organization （WHO） reference values. Body height and weight for each sex and age were standardized to those reported in 1985 （standardized height＂ SHY, standardized weight： SWY） and for each sex and year at age 7 （standardized height： SHA; standardized weight： SWA） using the Z-score method. Results The prevalence of overweight/obesity in Chinese children was 20.2% among boys and 10.7% among girls in 2010 and increased continuously from 1985 to 2010. Among boys and girls of normal weight, SHY and SHA were significantly greater than SWY and SWA, respectively （P 〈 0.001）. Among boys and girls with overweight/obesity, SHY was significantly lower than SWY （P 〈 0.001）, and showed an obvious decreasing trend after age 12. SHA was lower than SWA among overweight boys aged 7-8 years and girls aged 7-9 years. SHY/SHW and SHA/SWA among normal-weight groups were greater than among overweight and obese groups （P 〈 0.001）. Conclusion The continuous increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity among Chinese children may be related to a rapid increase in body weight before age 9 and lack of secular increase in body height after age 12.

Exploring the metamorphic consequences of secular change in the siliciclastic compositions of continental margins

Shale and greywacke compositions from the Archean to Phanerozoic record a secular change in the siliciclastic material that comprises much of Earth＇s continental margins, past and present. This study explores the metamorphic consequence of these compositional changes, by comparing phase equilibrium models constructed for average Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic shale and greywacke compositions equilibrated along two Barrovian-type geotherms： 1330℃/GPa（A） and 800 ℃/GPa（B）. Our models show that Archean siliciclastic rocks can retain up to 4 vol.% water at middle to lower crustal conditions, nearly twice that of Proterozoic and Phanerozoic compositions. The increased ferromagnesium content of Archean siliciclastic rocks stabilizes chlorite to higher temperatures and results in a biotite-rich assemblage at solidus temperatures. Accordingly, water-absent biotite dehydration melting is predicted to play a greater role in the generation of melt in the metamorphism of Archean aged units,and water-absent muscovite dehydration melting is of increasing importance through the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic. This secular variation in predicted mineral assemblages demonstrates the care with which metamorphic facies diagrams should be applied to Archean compositions. Moreover, secular changes in the composition of shale and greywacke is reflected in the evolution of anatectic melt towards an increasingly less viscous, Ca-rich, and Mg-poor monzogranite.

Earth rotation deceleration/acceleration due to semidiurnal oceanic/atmospheric tides:Revisited with new calculation

The global oceanic/atmospheric tides exert decelerating/accelerating secular torques on the Earth rotation. We developed new formulations to accurately calculate amounts of two kinds of secular tidal torques. After Melchior, we found that an additional factor 1+k-l = 1.216, which has been formerly neglected, must be multiplied unto the tidal torque integral. By using our refined formulations and the recent oceanic/atmospheric global tide models, we found that:(i) semidiurnal oceanic lunar/solar tides exert decelerating torques of about-4.462 × 10^(16)/-0.676 × 10^(16) Nm respectively and(ii) atmospheric S_2 tide exerts accelerating torque of 1.55 × 10^(15) Nm. Former estimates of the atmospheric S_2 tidal torque were twice as large as our estimate due to improper consideration of loading effect. We took the load Love number for atmospheric loading effect from Guo et al.(2004). For atmospheric loading of spherical harmonic degree two, the value of k′=-0.6031 is different from that for ocean loading as k′ =-0.3052,while the latter is currently used for both cases-ocean/atmospheric loading-without distinction. We discuss(i) the amount of solid Earth tidal dissipation(which has been left most uncertain) and(ii) secular changes of the dynamical state of the Earth-Moon-Sun system. Our estimate of the solid Earth tidal torque is-4.94×10^(15) Nm.