Cultural Disjunction in B. Mukherjee＇s Wife

After experiencing racism in Canada, where multiculturalism emphasized ethnic differences and fixed identities rather than allowing for cultural interaction and hybridity, the author, B. Mukherjee, moves to the USA whose biculturalism favors cultural interactions and fluid identities. Here she experiences the transformative powers of cultural interactions and frees herself and her work from the static power of cultural disjunction. Her personal experience highlights the need of immigrant characters to connect to the mainstream and not to be isolated from it The paper explores the problem of cultural adaptability and integration as experienced by Dimple, the main character in Mukherjee＇s novel Wife （1975）. Based upon contemporary research on cultural and social identity formation, the paper analyses Dimple＇s inner struggle of identity in the context of her immigrant status, and it relates her ultimately tragic response to loneliness and alienation resulting in cultural disjunction, non-adaptability, and non-assimilation.

The Interaction between Culture and Space and the Experience of an Architectural Studio

The issues of analyzing the cultural differences in architecture, and the interaction between culture and space have gained importance in many respects both in practice and in education. ＂Culture＂ and conservation of the ＂cultural heritage＂ have a place in the conditions for the ＂architectural education＂ put forward by the UNESCO （The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization）/UIA （International Union of Architects） Council during the 2002 meeting in Berlin. For this purpose, cultural, social, urban, environmental and architectural values and issues of architectural heritage were defined as specific subjects that should be considered in the preparation of the curriculum to build up a sense of responsibility. From this point of view, this paper aims to propose an educational process for dealing with the sense of cultural heritage and its survival in the modern world, and shares the products of the work carried out at the Project 4 Studio at Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Interior Architecture, Yeditepe University, as the studio training is the main component of architectural education. The main issue of the paper is to present some examples of the student projects and to consider the importance of design studio, which can gain knowledge about cultural and architectural heritage and develop students＇ skills to adopt and be respectful to traditional values.

National Identity in Conflict： The Reconstruction of King Ly Thai To on Vietnamese Screen

Born as Ly Cong Uan, Ly Thai To is the first king of the Ly Dynasty. The most important contribution of Ly Thai To in Vietnamese history is to move the capital from Hoa Lu to Dai La, and rename it as Thang Long （Ascending Dragon） in 1010. Nowadays, it is known as Hanoi. Ly Thai To promoted Buddhism, and reduced the centuries-old influence of Confucianism in the kingdom. The growth and prevalence of Buddhism brought about a long period of peace, where Buddhist literature consequently flourished with seminal achievements. Due to King Ly Thai To＇s enormous contributions, the Vietnamese have created several legends and anecdotes to mystify his life. Thus, although a historical figure, his life remains a mystery and controversy. In 2010, Hanoi celebrated the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long. On this occasion, Vietnamese historical films about Ly Cong Uan were produced. This created intriguing variations within historical facts, legends, and on-screen stories. This paper will explore the reconstruction of Ly Cong Uan＇s life from an adaptation studies perspective through four historical films： Legend of the Capital Relocation （Huyen su thien do）, Thang Long Aspiration （Khat vong Thang Long）, Ly Cong Uan The Road to Thang Long Citadel （Ly Cong Uan： Dtrong toi thanh Thang Long）, Child of the Dragon （Ngtroi con cua Rong）. This research also wants to clarify the issues of national identity, nationalism, and cultural interaction reflected through the representations of Ly Thai To in those cinematic products

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope evidence of human and pig diets at the Qinglongquan site,China

Previous studies on the Rice-Millet （foxtail millet and common millet） Blended Zone in Chinese Neolithic have not clearly addressed such questions as the importance of primitive rice-millet mixed agriculture to human lifestyle and livestock managements within this region, the relationship among the development of the agriculture, paleoenvironment, and cultural interactions, and so on. Here stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human and pig bones from the Qinglongquan site was conducted, covering two cultural phases, namely the Qujialing Culture （3000 BC to 2600 BC） and the Shijiahe Culture （2600 BC to 2200 BC）. Based on this analysis, we further discussed the diets of ancient humans and pigs in the site, investigated the importance of rice-millet mixed agriculture to human and pig diets, and explored the relationship among the primitive rice agriculture and millet agriculture, cultural interactions, and paleoenvironment. The δ^13C values of human bone collagen （-16.7‰ to -12.4‰, averaging -14.6‰±1.3‰, n=24） revealed that both C3 and Ca foods were consumed, probably from the contribution of rice （C3 plant） and millets （C4 plants） due to the coexistence of these crops at this site. In addition, the human mean δ^13C value suggested that millet agriculture was only minor in human diets. The human δ^15N values （6.6‰ to 10.8‰, averaging 9.0‰±1.2‰, n=24） showed that animal resources played a significant role in human diets, and varied greatly. The mean δ^13C value of the pigs （-14.3‰±2.5‰, n=13） was quite similar to that of the humans, but the mean δ^15N value of the pigs was slightly less （1.3‰） The similar δ^13C and δ^15N values between humans and pigs suggested that the pigs consumed a lot of humans＇ food remains. No correlations of the δ^13C and δ^15N values between humans and pigs showed that both human and pig diets were based mainly on plant foods, which might be related to highly developed rice-millet mixed agriculture at that time. In comparison with the human and pig diets between the two periods, millet agriculture contributed more than 10% in the Shijiahe Culture, if a simple mixing model was used. This apparent dietary shift matched the climatic variation and agricultural development through the time. In warm and humid climate with the expansion of the Qujialing Culture northwards, rice was widely cultivated. However, when the climate was cold and add, northern culture was expanding southwards. Thus, millet agriculture became more important.

Multi-robot exploration mission planning and stochastic increment replanning for load balance

Multi-robot mission planning is composed of assignment allocation and mobile-robot route planning in this paper.Multi-robot exploration missions adopts fuzzy c-mean(FCM)algorithm to allocate,and then,heterogeneous interactive cultural hybrid algorithm(HICHA)is devised for route planning in order to optimize mobilerobot execution path.Meanwhile,we design multi-robot mission replanning mechanism based on the rules system of greedy algorithm for dynamic stochastic increment missions.Finally,extensive simulation experiments were shown that FCM for assignment allocation and HICHA for route planning were efficacious for mobile-robot exploration mission planning.Furthermore,the improved greedy algorithm based on experience rules met dynamic stochastic increment missions replanning requirement for load balance.