Ethics,society, and technology: A Confucian role ethics perspective

This essay provides a very brief overview of Confucian ethics that focuses on the role-based morality. It compares Confucian ethics with two dominant schools of thought in Western ethics deontology and consequentialism. This essay then discusses how Confucian ethics provides a unique way to think about social and political issues such as how the political leaders are selected and evaluated, the ethical justification of political legitimacy, the prioritization of economic, social, and cultural rights over other rights, and moral egalitarianism. Finally, this essay explores the ways in which Confucian ethics serves as a useful intellectual resource for examining the issues arising from the ethical assessment of (emerging) technologies and the professional formation of engineers. The Appendix of this essay includes some teaching resources that instructors can employ to teach students about ethics, society, and technology from a Confucian role ethics perspective.     

基于目标级联技术的含风电互联电网机组组合策略

针对含风电互联电网日前安全约束机组组合的规模大、约束复杂、求解困难等问题,提出基于目标级联分析技术的分散协调优化策略。将问题分解为负责区域间边界节点电压相角协调的上层优化问题和以并行方式独立优化各区域发电计划的下层优化问题。下层优化以弃风电量期望和电量不足期望,量化各区域内风电、负荷预测误差,以及常规机组强迫停运等系统运行不确定性所带来的风险,并以罚函数的形式引入目标函数,以综合优化系统可靠性与经济性。2区域12节点系统和IEEE RTS96三区域互联系统算例仿真验证所建模型和算法的有效性。     

结合深度学习与支持向量机的金属零件识别

目的 在视觉引导的工业机器人自动拾取研究中，关键技术难点之一是机器人抓取目标区域的识别问题。特别是金属零件，其表面的反光、随意摆放时相互遮挡等非结构化因素都给抓取区域的识别带来巨大的挑战。因此，本文提出一种结合深度学习和支持向量机的抓取区域识别方法。方法 分别提取抓取区域的方向梯度直方图（HOG）和局部二进制模式（LBP）特征，利用主成分分析法（PCA）对融合后的特征进行降维，以此来训练支持向量机（SVM）分类器。通过训练Mask R-CNN（regions with convolutional neural network）神经网络完成抓取区域的初步分割。然后利用SVM对Mask R-CNN识别的抓取区域进行二次分类，完成对干扰区域的剔除。最后计算掩码完成实例分割，以此达到对抓取区域的精确识别。结果 对于随机摆放的铜质金属零件，本文算法与单一的Mask R-CNN及多特征融合的SVM算法就识别准确率、错检率、漏检率3个指标进行了比较，结果表明本文算法在识别准确率上较Mask R-CNN和SVM算法分别提高了7%和25%，同时有效降低了错检率与漏检率。结论 本文算法结合了Mask R-CNN与SVM两种方法，对于反光和遮挡情况具有一定的鲁棒性，同时有效地提升了目标识别的准确率。     

面向多源数据融合的稀疏表示目标跟踪

传统的基于稀疏表示的目标跟踪方法主要利用目标的灰度特征构建稀疏表示模型。由于灰度特征对光照变化敏感，这会影响目标跟踪在复杂场景下的鲁棒性。基于多源数据融合的目标跟踪可以明显提升目标跟踪鲁棒性，但如何有效融合不同维度，不同类型的多源目标特征成为基于多源数据融合的目标跟踪所要解决的关键问题。提出了一个基于目标状态以及灰度特征的稀疏表示目标跟踪方法。所提出的方法可通过基于核函数表示的稀疏表示模型，在探究目标状态以及灰度特征相关性的基础上，将两种不同维度的特征进行有效融合，提升目标跟踪在复杂场景下的鲁棒性。     

To the humanities: what does communication studies give?

ABSTRACT

This special issue of Review of Communication presents new offerings of the study of communication, forging present and future humanities. This Introduction engages the six essays in this special issue—which extend and intersect across categories of the humanistic study of communication: communication philosophy and ethics, rhetorical theory, history, pedagogy, criticism, and digital humanities—to explore their contributions in defense of the humanities. Taken together, these essays explore the study of communication as (1) a resource for inquiring and exchanging with concepts, practices, and embodiments of difference, the other, and the posthuman; (2) a means of examining the ontological, epistemological, technological, existential, performative, and ethical implications of our communicative being, our being constituted by symbolic action and mediated exchange in ever-present yet always variant material and affective environments, spaces, and places; (3) a discipline emerging from rhetoric, one of the original liberal arts, yet developing in transdisciplinary ways, transforming the binary of humanities and sciences; (4) a tool for decolonizing knowledge(s); (5) a tool for exploring, critiquing, engaging, and creating with the new media of our digital lives together; (6) a long-standing yet ever inventive method and mode for public humanities; and (7) a praxis of resistance. These essays bring to light what studying communication offers the humanities: a plural, public, reflexive, and ever inventive enterprise for examining being human together on this planet.     

基于改进粗糙集理论的SAR图像目标增强

图像增强在提高SAR图像舰船目标检测精度方面具有十分重要的意义。由于传统算法不能很好地对SAR图像进行目标增强，提出了基于改进粗糙集理论和引力场强度的目标增强算法。通过借鉴引力场相关理论知识，将粗糙集条件属性集中的梯度属性改进为引力场强度属性，从而实现对原图像的目标增强。与其他算法进行了实验比较，结果表明提出的改进算法相比于其他算法更适用于SAR图像特性，能更好地对舰船目标像素进行针对性增强，具备一定的工程应用价值。     

TBP-TEVA萃取色层分离-α能谱法测定辐照镎靶溶解液中痕量236Pu的可行性

²³⁶Pu的含量控制是钚热源的一项重要参数，通过α能谱准确测量镎靶溶解液中痕量²³⁶Pu，建立镎靶辐照靶件溶解液中钚的分离方法。根据杂质组成特点采用TBP-TEVA萃取色层双柱分离，用氨基磺酸亚铁以及亚硝酸钠对钚进行调价，对靶件溶解液中的Al、Fe、U、Th和Np等进行分离，去污系数均大于10⁴，钚的回收率为90.7%。研究大量²³⁸Pu对α能谱测定²³⁶Pu的干扰，结果表明，大量²³⁸Pu会造成仪器本底升高，²³⁸Pu能谱峰分辨率降低；在7 500 Bq ²³⁸Pu干扰下，测量4.3 h 时，²³⁶Pu的最小可检测活度为1.20×10^-2 Bq（当量质量为6.11×10^-16 g）。计算结果表明，镎靶溶解液样品中钚的同位素比值n(²³⁶Pu)/n(²³⁸Pu) ≥4.63×10^-8时，取合适的样品量使得电沉积源中²³⁸Pu 活度在 450~7 500 Bq范围内，均可测量其中的痕量²³⁶Pu，同时可准确测定同位素比值n(²³⁶Pu)/n(²³⁸Pu)。     

Structural and electrical studies of excessively Sm2O3 substituted soft PZT nanoceramics

The solid solution of Pb_1-x Sm_2x/3 (Zr_0.6 Ti_0.4) O₃ ceramics with x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 was prepared via the high-energy ball milling technique. Further, the effect of excessive Sm₂O₃ substitution at Pb-site on structural, dielectric, and dc-conductivity properties was studied. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that all samples were crystallized with perovskite and pyrochlore diphase form. Excess Sm³⁺ substitution in the PZT system increases the pyrochlore volume fraction from 5 to 20% and induces a structural phase transition from rhombohedral to a tetragonal structure. The microstructural study by TEM and SEM indicated that the particles were spherical with an average size of 43–55 nm. The frequency and temperature-dependent dielectric constant for all compositions was carried out and it is obtained that the dielectric constant decreases with Sm³⁺ content. The phase transition temperature first decreases up to x = 0.2 and then increases for the higher concentration of samarium. The dc-conductivity studies revealed that all samples showed an unusual mixed TCR effect (both positive and negative temperature coefficient of resistance). Such properties of the studied samples indicate that the material is suitable for potential applications in thermistors, and temperature sensors of the automotive, and petroleum industries.     

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and post-GWAS analyses for technological traits in Assaf and Churra dairy breeds

This study aimed to perform a GWAS to identify genomic regions associated with milk and cheese-making traits in Assaf and Churra dairy sheep breeds; second, it aimed to identify possible positional and functional candidate genes and their interactions through post-GWAS studies. For 2,020 dairy ewes from 2 breeds (1,039 Spanish Assaf and 981 Churra), milk samples were collected and analyzed to determine 6 milk production and composition traits and 6 traits related to milk coagulation properties and cheese yield. The genetic profiles of the ewes were obtained using a genotyping chip array that included 50,934 SNP markers. For both milk and cheese-making traits, separate single-breed GWAS were performed using GCTA software. The set of positional candidate genes identified via GWAS was subjected to guilt-by-association-based prioritization analysis with ToppGene software. Totals of 84 and 139 chromosome-wise significant associations for the 6 milk traits and the 6 cheese-making traits were identified in this study. No significant SNPs were found in common between the 2 studied breeds, possibly due to their genetic heterogeneity of the phenotypes under study. Additionally, 63 and 176 positional candidate genes were located in the genomic intervals defined as confidence regions in relation to the significant SNPs identified for the analyzed traits for Assaf and Churra breeds. After the functional prioritization analysis, 71 genes were identified as promising positional and functional candidate genes and proposed as targets of future research to identify putative causative variants in relation to the traits under examination. In addition, this multitrait study allowed us to identify variants that have a pleiotropic effect on both milk production and cheese-related traits. The incorporation of variants among the proposed functional and positional candidate genes into genomic selection strategies represent an interesting approach for achieving rapid genetic gains, specifically for those traits difficult to measure, such as cheese-making traits.     

First nuclear transmutation of 237Np and 241Am by accelerator-driven system at Kyoto University Critical Assembly

This study demonstrates, for the first time, the principle of nuclear transmutation of minor actinide (MA) by the accelerator-driven system (ADS) through the injection of high-energy neutrons into the subcritical core at the Kyoto University Critical Assembly. The main objective of the experiments is to confirm fission reactions of neptunium-237 (²³⁷Np) and americium-241 (²⁴¹Am), and capture reactions of ²³⁷Np. Subcritical irradiation of ²³⁷Np and ²⁴¹Am foils is conducted in a hard spectrum core with the use of the back-to-back fission chamber that obtains simultaneously two signals from specially installed test (²³⁷Np or ²⁴¹Am) and reference (uranium-235) foils. The first nuclear transmutation of ²³⁷Np and ²⁴¹Am by ADS soundly implemented by combining the subcritical core and the 100 MeV proton accelerator, and the use of a lead-bismuth target, is conclusively demonstrated through the experimental results of fission and capture reaction events.