This essay explores the issue of what makes a pragmatist. It centers on the pragmatic maxim of Charles Sanders Peirce. Although Peirce deliberately coined the word "Pragmaticism" to express his disapproval of James...This essay explores the issue of what makes a pragmatist. It centers on the pragmatic maxim of Charles Sanders Peirce. Although Peirce deliberately coined the word "Pragmaticism" to express his disapproval of James's pragmatism, his pragmatic maxim has become the touchstone of a pragmatist, so much so that, to be a pragmatist, one must endorse the pragmatic maxim, notwithstanding the fact that the pragmatic maxim is open to various interpretations, as shown in the four classical pragmatists, Peirce, James, Dewey, and Mead. Their different interpretations of the pragmatic maxim are examined successively so as to offer a panoramic view of the pragmatic maxim and its significant role in constituting a pragmatist.展开更多
Optimizing operational parameters for syngas production of Texaco coal-water slurry gasifier studied in this paper is a complicated nonlinear constrained problem concerning 3 BP(Error Back Propagation) neural networks...Optimizing operational parameters for syngas production of Texaco coal-water slurry gasifier studied in this paper is a complicated nonlinear constrained problem concerning 3 BP(Error Back Propagation) neural networks. To solve this model, a new 3-layer cultural evolving algorithm framework which has a population space, a medium space and a belief space is firstly conceived. Standard differential evolution algorithm(DE), genetic algorithm(GA), and particle swarm optimization algorithm(PSO) are embedded in this framework to build 3-layer mixed cultural DE/GA/PSO(3LM-CDE, 3LM-CGA, and 3LM-CPSO) algorithms. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed hybrid algorithms are firstly tested in 20 benchmark nonlinear constrained functions. Then, the operational optimization model for syngas production in a Texaco coal-water slurry gasifier of a real-world chemical plant is solved effectively. The simulation results are encouraging that the 3-layer cultural algorithm evolving framework suggests ways in which the performance of DE, GA, PSO and other population-based evolutionary algorithms(EAs) can be improved,and the optimal operational parameters based on 3LM-CDE algorithm of the syngas production in the Texaco coalwater slurry gasifier shows outstanding computing results than actual industry use and other algorithms.展开更多
Cashmere is one of the world's rare special animal fiber and a kind of textile industry high-grade raw materials, which was praised as /"diamond fiber/"or/"soft gold/". China is the world's largest cashmere ...Cashmere is one of the world's rare special animal fiber and a kind of textile industry high-grade raw materials, which was praised as /"diamond fiber/"or/"soft gold/". China is the world's largest cashmere production producer, accounts for about 70% of the world's total output of the above; Mongolia cashmere production by about 20%, and the rest of cashmere production is in the rest of the country. Mongolia has cashmere yield about 3500-4000 tons per year on average. In terms of cashmere production and potential production capacity of Mongolia is after China ranked second, in this case the cashmere exports to the country's economic, the production and the welfare of the herdsmen have important significance. Mongolian cashmere producers have reason to be optimistic. In the past decade, recovered global demand offset weak domestic economic conditions and garment companies like Gobi established international beachheads. Cashmere production levels are breaking records. And government programs, international financial institutions, and domestic companies are promoting in-country value-add cashmere processing. However, the industry's rapid growth has degraded the average fiber quality and made the industry more susceptible to a catastrophic supply-chain shock.展开更多
It is fascinating to realize that even while Hollywood continually comes up with incredible special effects in films such as Avatar (2009), the basic structure and development closely "follows" the guidelines for ...It is fascinating to realize that even while Hollywood continually comes up with incredible special effects in films such as Avatar (2009), the basic structure and development closely "follows" the guidelines for drama and storytelling laid out by Aristotle in his The Poetics, written several thousand years ago. We are specifically speaking of three act (beginning, middle, and ending) structure, focusing more on plot than character, and the need for a final resolution (catharsis). But throughout literary and cinematic history, not everyone has followed these rules. Ironically, we take a close look at the award-winning Greek director Theo Angelopoulos' Ulysse's Gaze (1995) staring Harvey Keitel, as an example of a very non-Aristotelian approach to filmmaking and storytelling. Angelopoulos' film is character rather than plot centered on the Harvey Keitel figure and the journey of the narrative can be broken down to between 8-10 acts, depending how you describe them. We discuss many of the standard American "how to write screenplay book" authors such as Syd Field, while bringing a variety of authors such as Lajos Egri (The Art of Dramatic Writing) who criticize both Aristotle's Poetics and the way it has been interpreted for centuries especially in Hollywood. We conclude that there is a middle ground as well, for while Casablanca (1942) has a clear three act structure, it does not give us a happy romantic "Hollywood" ending/resolution as Rick insists that Lisa leave with her husband.展开更多
Ancient civilizations adopted an early education system that included religion as an integral part of its focus. For this reason, priests, monks, and other people of faith, were trusted with the important task of educ...Ancient civilizations adopted an early education system that included religion as an integral part of its focus. For this reason, priests, monks, and other people of faith, were trusted with the important task of educating their community and instructing them in the values, beliefs, and norms of their society. As time passed, public education continued to evolve to keep up with the societal demands to the point that education and religion were not longer connected. Simultaneously, professionals in the education field have also changed and educators are no longer required to be people of faith. However, considering that the mission of education has remained the same, it would be unrealistic to consider teachers as unspiritual individuals regardless of their religious beliefs and affiliations. This paper explores the idea that educators are innate spiritual individuals who strive to perpetuate the norms, values and virtues of their society. In addition, this article presents the concept of teacher spiritualism as a contemporary reality of our teachers and our educational system.展开更多
Discovered in the late 1980s, inactive ice wedges in Yitulihe in the north part of Da Hinggan Mountains, Northeastern China are the southernmost in the Northern Hemisphere, and they are important paleo-environmental i...Discovered in the late 1980s, inactive ice wedges in Yitulihe in the north part of Da Hinggan Mountains, Northeastern China are the southernmost in the Northern Hemisphere, and they are important paleo-environmental indicators. Recently, research was carried out to analyze the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of an inactive ice wedge from them. The plot of stable isotopes reveals three periods of temperature fluctuations centered approximately at 2.8, 2.3 and 1.9 ka BP. And the resultant temperature was probably lowered by about 2.1, 1.1, and 1.3℃, respectively, in comparison with present temperatures. In conjunction with previous studies, pollen record and radiocarbon dating, the ice wedges probably developed between 3.3 to 1.6 ka BP, and the southern limit of the permafrost (SLP) at that time advanced southwards by around 2°N, i.e., about 200 km.展开更多
文摘This essay explores the issue of what makes a pragmatist. It centers on the pragmatic maxim of Charles Sanders Peirce. Although Peirce deliberately coined the word "Pragmaticism" to express his disapproval of James's pragmatism, his pragmatic maxim has become the touchstone of a pragmatist, so much so that, to be a pragmatist, one must endorse the pragmatic maxim, notwithstanding the fact that the pragmatic maxim is open to various interpretations, as shown in the four classical pragmatists, Peirce, James, Dewey, and Mead. Their different interpretations of the pragmatic maxim are examined successively so as to offer a panoramic view of the pragmatic maxim and its significant role in constituting a pragmatist.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61174040,U1162110,21206174)Shanghai Commission of Nature Science(12ZR1408100)
文摘Optimizing operational parameters for syngas production of Texaco coal-water slurry gasifier studied in this paper is a complicated nonlinear constrained problem concerning 3 BP(Error Back Propagation) neural networks. To solve this model, a new 3-layer cultural evolving algorithm framework which has a population space, a medium space and a belief space is firstly conceived. Standard differential evolution algorithm(DE), genetic algorithm(GA), and particle swarm optimization algorithm(PSO) are embedded in this framework to build 3-layer mixed cultural DE/GA/PSO(3LM-CDE, 3LM-CGA, and 3LM-CPSO) algorithms. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed hybrid algorithms are firstly tested in 20 benchmark nonlinear constrained functions. Then, the operational optimization model for syngas production in a Texaco coal-water slurry gasifier of a real-world chemical plant is solved effectively. The simulation results are encouraging that the 3-layer cultural algorithm evolving framework suggests ways in which the performance of DE, GA, PSO and other population-based evolutionary algorithms(EAs) can be improved,and the optimal operational parameters based on 3LM-CDE algorithm of the syngas production in the Texaco coalwater slurry gasifier shows outstanding computing results than actual industry use and other algorithms.
文摘Cashmere is one of the world's rare special animal fiber and a kind of textile industry high-grade raw materials, which was praised as /"diamond fiber/"or/"soft gold/". China is the world's largest cashmere production producer, accounts for about 70% of the world's total output of the above; Mongolia cashmere production by about 20%, and the rest of cashmere production is in the rest of the country. Mongolia has cashmere yield about 3500-4000 tons per year on average. In terms of cashmere production and potential production capacity of Mongolia is after China ranked second, in this case the cashmere exports to the country's economic, the production and the welfare of the herdsmen have important significance. Mongolian cashmere producers have reason to be optimistic. In the past decade, recovered global demand offset weak domestic economic conditions and garment companies like Gobi established international beachheads. Cashmere production levels are breaking records. And government programs, international financial institutions, and domestic companies are promoting in-country value-add cashmere processing. However, the industry's rapid growth has degraded the average fiber quality and made the industry more susceptible to a catastrophic supply-chain shock.
文摘It is fascinating to realize that even while Hollywood continually comes up with incredible special effects in films such as Avatar (2009), the basic structure and development closely "follows" the guidelines for drama and storytelling laid out by Aristotle in his The Poetics, written several thousand years ago. We are specifically speaking of three act (beginning, middle, and ending) structure, focusing more on plot than character, and the need for a final resolution (catharsis). But throughout literary and cinematic history, not everyone has followed these rules. Ironically, we take a close look at the award-winning Greek director Theo Angelopoulos' Ulysse's Gaze (1995) staring Harvey Keitel, as an example of a very non-Aristotelian approach to filmmaking and storytelling. Angelopoulos' film is character rather than plot centered on the Harvey Keitel figure and the journey of the narrative can be broken down to between 8-10 acts, depending how you describe them. We discuss many of the standard American "how to write screenplay book" authors such as Syd Field, while bringing a variety of authors such as Lajos Egri (The Art of Dramatic Writing) who criticize both Aristotle's Poetics and the way it has been interpreted for centuries especially in Hollywood. We conclude that there is a middle ground as well, for while Casablanca (1942) has a clear three act structure, it does not give us a happy romantic "Hollywood" ending/resolution as Rick insists that Lisa leave with her husband.
文摘Ancient civilizations adopted an early education system that included religion as an integral part of its focus. For this reason, priests, monks, and other people of faith, were trusted with the important task of educating their community and instructing them in the values, beliefs, and norms of their society. As time passed, public education continued to evolve to keep up with the societal demands to the point that education and religion were not longer connected. Simultaneously, professionals in the education field have also changed and educators are no longer required to be people of faith. However, considering that the mission of education has remained the same, it would be unrealistic to consider teachers as unspiritual individuals regardless of their religious beliefs and affiliations. This paper explores the idea that educators are innate spiritual individuals who strive to perpetuate the norms, values and virtues of their society. In addition, this article presents the concept of teacher spiritualism as a contemporary reality of our teachers and our educational system.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40901044)Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) 100-Talent Program (Grant No. 2004407)+1 种基金Scholarships for Young Scientists of the State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering (Grant No. SKLFSE-ZQ-04)Talent Fund of the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS (Grant No. O984971001)
文摘Discovered in the late 1980s, inactive ice wedges in Yitulihe in the north part of Da Hinggan Mountains, Northeastern China are the southernmost in the Northern Hemisphere, and they are important paleo-environmental indicators. Recently, research was carried out to analyze the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of an inactive ice wedge from them. The plot of stable isotopes reveals three periods of temperature fluctuations centered approximately at 2.8, 2.3 and 1.9 ka BP. And the resultant temperature was probably lowered by about 2.1, 1.1, and 1.3℃, respectively, in comparison with present temperatures. In conjunction with previous studies, pollen record and radiocarbon dating, the ice wedges probably developed between 3.3 to 1.6 ka BP, and the southern limit of the permafrost (SLP) at that time advanced southwards by around 2°N, i.e., about 200 km.