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Two commercial stoneware pastes traditionally used to produce ceramic objects were evaluated. The objective was the comparative characterization of the pastes and to find the most suitable to obtain fine ceramic objects using the pottery wheel. Both ceramic pastes were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), particle size analyses (laser diffraction) and thermal analyses (thermogravimetry-TG, its derivative-DTG, and differential thermal analysis-DTA). The technological properties like linear drying and firing shrinkage, moisture content and plasticity were also determined. The results showed that both pastes have appropriate properties making them suitable for plastic shaping by pottery wheel. In addition, the stoneware paper clay paste is "greener" due to its content of cellulose fibers which can come even from recycled paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible screen-printed electrodes on stone paper substrate (HP) and modified with gold nanoparticles (HP-AuNPs) or AuNPs-poly-methylene blue (HP-AuNPs-PMB) were fabricated and morphologically investigated by SEM/EDS. The electrochemical properties of the new electrodes were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The best electrocatalytic properties for uric acid detection were obtained with HP-AuNPs electrode: 0.16 µM Limit of Detection, 5x10-7- 10-4 M linear range and 20.7 mA/M sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on the important factors to be considered by authors in effective writing of manuscripts. The authors present the common errors committed by authors which include linguistic errors, scientific content errors, and style errors. The authors emphasize that a paper must have a title, abstract and introduction, authors original contribution, conclusion, and references. The authors add that papers must be reviewed to eliminate errors and achieve improvement of manuscripts.

One of the most important factors that influence the quality and resistance to chemical and microorganism degradation of paper, historical artifacts and art works is pH. Despite the simplicity of electrochemical devices that are mostly used nowadays for pH determination, some of them have limitations in terms of precision and time response. In this study, a rapid, simple, and highly precise method for determination of pH of paper was developed using non-destructive reflectance spectroscopy and commercial non-bleeding pH indicator test strips. The calibration curve was constructed using standard Britton-Robinson buffers and was done in the 4.00 – 9.50 pH range. Using univariate regression analysis, the largest linearity domain (R² = 0.9992, p < 0.000) was found to be at 590 nm wavelength, as established from the loadings plot for a PCA analysis. The proposed method, alongside other two known methods, were applied on three real samples, including a 1710 Greek New Testament. No statistical significance (p > 0.05, ANOVA) was observed between the three methods, supporting the accuracy of the proposed method. Fischer test reveals a strongly significant higher precision for the tested method (p < 0.01). The values of the determined pH for the three real samples were 8.47±0.03, 7.78±0.07 and 7.99±0.08. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political opposition in Democratic Republic of Congo reamins less studied in studies on the dynamics of democratic transition in this country for two reasons. It is about the omission of this component in the constitutionalist process after independance and the long duration of military government come to power by coup or armed insurrection. Consequently, this article proposes to operate three variables to study congolese political opposition. Institutional determinants (related to the party system, methods of voting systems), the legal expression of the opposition and finaly, the nature and charisma of congolese opposition leaders. Anyway, the congolese political opposition has its origins in an intra-party struggle to evolve into an inter-party oppositon in its fight for the conquest of state power. It remains true that on the three democratic experiences relating to the presidential elections, the congolese political, by forming electoral coalitions, managed to beat the ruling party once in the presidential elections. Nevertheless, the strategies of this opposition remain limited in terms of effectiveness because of the nature of the parties that compose it, political transhumance, the ego between its leaders in a political system combining victory in the presidential and legislative elections to govern without alchemy of cohabition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper continues the work of Pop et al. (2019) on what concerns the drivers of rural accommodation development in Romania. The study covers the same period: 2005 to 2019. This study introduces a new factor/driver: the accessibility of communes via the national and county road network. Similar to the findings of Pop et al. (2019), the 2008 and 2012 ranks were established based on the existing tourist attractions. The 2012 rank is strongly influenced by 2008 ranks and, under the present study, by accessibility. Though, the influence of both ranks on lodgings (both under NIS and MoT data) remains weak to very weak hence suggesting the need to introduce new factors in order to explain the lodging development in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Digital currencies are likely to modify the way businesses, people and governments transact in Africa. Nonetheless, several factors need to be assessed before the wide adoption of digital currencies in the continent. These factors include the regulatory environment for fintech, the condition of digital infrastructure and the degree of financial inclusion. This paper assesses the readiness of African countries for the issuance of digital currencies. The paper gives an overview of the African countries that have implemented or are considering implementing digital countries. It discusses the issues to be considered for a conducive environment to launch digital currencies. It explores the opportunities and challenges of developing and issuing digital currencies in Africa. The paper finds that although the developed mobile money network infrastructure, high mobile money penetration, the growth of the digital economy and high degrees of financial exclusion position Africa well for the adoption of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), several challenges need to be addressed. These encompass lower levels of financial inclusion, digital exclusion, the digital divide, poor digital infrastructure and regulatory uncertainty. The paper provides recommendations for improving the prospects of digital currencies in Africa. These include the creation of a legal and regulatory framework for digital currencies, investing in digital infrastructure, improving internet connectivity and educating citizens on digital currencies. Digital currencies can lead to improved economic growth, increase cross border payments, promote financial inclusion and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main environmental problems of pulp and paper production are water consumption, pollutant fillings of effluents (biogenic and refractory organic compounds, suspended solids, colloids, toxic inorganic compounds). This industry is obliged to sminimize its impacts on the aquatic environment and at the same time, due to huge water consumption, must adopt strategies for sustainable use of water resources, in the context of ensuring European requirements for integrated pollution prevention and control and implementation of the Framework Directive of water. The original experimental research refers to the improvement of the efficiency of conventional physicochemical treatment of residual effluents from the pulp and paper industry by using new prehydrolysed coagulationflocculating agents. This stage is preliminary to the advanced effluent treatment stage, for its recirculation in the technological process. Correlating these structures with the efficiencies obtained in coagulation, it is noted that the low coagulant doses of PAC-1 and PAC-2 compared to SA, are due to the existence of more active polymeric species of 7 13 Al or 18 30 Al, with higher load and molecular weight than in the case of aluminium monomeric species formed in the use of aluminium sulphate. There are high efficiencies for removing turbidity between 98-99% as well as organic loading of about 70% for the three coagulants studied (SA, PAC-1, PAC-2), but for the same efficiencies the doses of SA were double or even triple those required for PAC-1 and PAC-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our previous paper, we examined the genesis of the choral work, its textual and musical sources, the intellectual and cultural influences that may have played a role in its creation. Starting from this complex ideological background, in this paper we will examine, through a detailed analysis of the score, how the composition's structure, musical language and techniques bring the text to life, where its message is directed, and what additional conceptual and expressive value they provide. The Gates of Sky is, in a certain reading, a cultural-anthropological journey, partly based on historical references, partly mythical. However, its rich musical language and symbolic meanings only gain significance if they are combined with a suitable and convincing sound dramaturgy. For the author's basic aim is not merely to evoke a ritual, but to give the performers and the audience the opportunity to experience the metamorphosis it embodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Automatic deception detection is an important task with several applications in both direct physical human communication, as well as in computer-mediated one. The objective of this paper is to study the nature of deceptive language. The primary goal of this study is to investigate deception in Romanian written communication. We created a number of artificial intelligence models (based on Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, and Artificial Neural Network) to detect dishonesty in a topic-specific corpus. To assess the efficiency of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) categories in Romanian, we conducted a comparison between multiple text representations based on LIWC, TF-IDF, and LSA. The results show that in the case of datasets with a common subject such as the one we used regarding friendship, text categorization is more successful using general text representations such as TF-IDF or LSA. The proposed approach achieves an accuracy of the classification of 91.3%, outperforming the similar approaches presented in the literature. These findings have implications in fields like linguistics and opinion mining, where research on this subject in languages other than English is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical urban terrain across cities continually evolves through insights, consultations, deliberate redesigning or random acts by community members and natural forces that reshape the urban landscapes and how urban spaces are used. This research establishes a set of normative principles that planners and others can use when planning and regulating the design and management of public space. Data were collected in the period March 2023 - January 2024. Based on a comprehensive analysis of public space in the city, the paper sets out a number of general principles relating to the essential, but often missing, strategic planning framework for developing and regenerating public spaces, providing seven more detailed considerations for assessing the quality of public space design and a proposal for spatial planning. This is an unreservedly positive framework for shaping public space, based on the idea that public spaces in our cities come in many different shapes and forms, but that together they add immense value to the experience and potential of urban areas. The research takes place in the Bistrița-Târgu Mureș urban axis, the field research carried out as part of the study results in a set of three principles of urban spatial planning that examine proposals for the design of public spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As highlighted by Pop & Georgescu (2024), the Romanian academic literature concerning municipal bonds is sparse, while the investigations regarding the factors that can influence the sub-sovereign bond trading at Bucharest Stock Exchange is quasi non-existent, to the best of authors’ knowledge. The present paper continues the work of Pop & Georgescu (2024) by trying to identify which of the public available information regarding various interest rates and Bucharest Stock Exchange (henceforth BVB) indices returns influence the trading activity of municipal bond market segment. The correlations presented within this paper imply that the modest profile of municipal bond segment at BVB is related to a relative small number of individual investors that dominate the transactions, using mostly observed data to decided when to trade and what to trade. The scarce correlations that appear in relation with the trading volume and trading value point toward the idea that only a small portion of the listed municipal bonds are owned by individual investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the mental and spiritual accompaniment of cancer patients from a theological and pastoral perspective. The author reflects on her early experiences as a hospital chaplain and the challenges of communicating hope and comfort to patients facing a life-threatening diagnosis. She reviews the current literature on the psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of cancer and how they affect patients’ coping strategies, quality of life, and meaning making. She also discusses the role of the Church and its functionaries in providing support and guidance to cancer patients, as well as the potential benefits of what a theologically reflected service can offer in extension to other approaches. The paper emphasizes the importance of understanding the patients’ emotional, relational, and spiritual needs and of respecting their individuality and dignity. The paper also highlights the supreme relevance of the Christian faith as a source of hope for cancer patients. The paper concludes with some practical suggestions for pastoral care and spiritual accompaniment of cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the academic writing experience amongst international psychology PhD students at a South African public university. The paper also discusses the challenges of academic writing and the support structures of academic writing. Sixteen (16) international students studying at PhD level in psychology were selected by purposive sampling from a public South African university in KwaZulu-Natal. Drawing from generated by iproposalss, findings suggest that participants experienced academic writing challenges in drafting PhD proposal, supervisor's feedback and plagiarism. Academic writing challenges were aggravated for international PhD students from non-native English-speaking countries. Findings also suggest that university support structures such as academic writing retreats improved the academic writing of participants and exposed them to the rigors of academic writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable amounts of chlorinated solvents compounds were identified and measured in raw water and soil samples collected during several month studies, along the Somes River near Dej city region of Romania. The most common organochlorine solvents detected were trichloroethylene (C2HCl3), tetrachloroethylene (C2Cl4), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and chloroform (CHCl3) with the range between 3.05 - 68.92 μg L-1, 5.62 - 55.48 μg L-1, 2.11 - 29.45 μg L-1 and 0.37 - 80.29 μg L-1. They were detected using a mass spectrometer coupled at a gas chromatograph with electron capture detector and quantified using chlorinated solvent standards. Organochlorine compounds have different chemical properties that lead into a broad range to uses. Many of them have significant biological activities and some of them can be very toxic for plant, animals and humans. Because of that they present seriously environmental concern. This study presents the source of the pollution and also the levels of these pollutants in river water and the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The scientific paper analyses the results from a survey performed with seventh grade pupils. The leading motives for participation in the Tourism education module are specified. The activities which are most interesting to the pupils while studying tourism are pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on two concepts developed by William Zartman, namely "ripe moments" and "mutually hurting stalemates". Basically, the concepts tackle the idea of certain proper moments for the beginning of peace talks when the parties to the conflict believe that they are trapped in a painful impasse which no longer brings them victory. Our paper aims to show that hurting stalemates are sometimes the adequate starting point for peace-building efforts as well, not only for starting negotiations, and to apply this on the case of Liberia. The paper is organized around the following research questions: Is the hurting stalemate a military deadlock? Is a similar painful deadlock a good starting point for building sustainable peace in post-conflict societies? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The starting point for this paper is the anthropology of Viktor E. Frankl, which, in addition to the physical and psychological dimensions, also considers the third one, the spiritual dimension of human being. Frankl believes that the most important motivation of man is to be found in his constant search for the meaning of life. In this context, the research question posed in this paper is: can finding concrete answers to the question of the meaning of life make man happy? In the first part of the paper, the concepts of "pleasure", "joy", and "happiness" are distinguished in the light of Frankl's writings. In the second section, and in the light of the initial question posed, we come to the realization that the most important characteristic of people who have emerged unscathed from the most adverse circumstances is a kind of individualism and a strong sense of purpose, which, unlike narcissism and egocentrism of any kind, can forget itself. These are the people who have found joy in situations that ordinary people would have found unbearable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the shift in Human Resource (HR) management towards high retention HR systems, crucial for enhancing organizational commitment and employee well-being. Traditional HR models focused on performance metrics have struggled to maintain long-term employee retention and overall organizational health. In response, high retention HR systems prioritize the holistic needs of employees, fostering supportive and engaging environments that encourage long-term commitment and satisfaction. These systems integrate practices focused on employee well-being, work-life balance, and inclusivity, aiming to build sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships between employees and organizations. Through detailed analysis, this paper underscores the importance of prioritizing employee well-being and organizational commitment for sustainable success. It provides insights into the significance of high retention HR systems in the modern workforce, suggesting directions for future research andpractice in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Psychologia-Paedagogia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper intends to illustrate an often neglected, yet relevant aspect of the collective memory construction in communist Romania. In addition to other forms of collective remembrance, cinematic representations of the recent past have played a significant role for both the political regime and the Romanian society by providing political legitimacy as well as entertainment. The communist resistance was one of the most recurrent topos of collective memory, whereas underground party supporters -- the so called "illegalists" - often had to be presented as figures of identification. The cinema permitted, however, a negotiation of the recent past on different levels. Starting from these considerations and focusing on the film production „Duminică la ora 6” (Sunday at Six, Lucian Pintilie, 1966), the paper brings into discussion the communist resistance discourse during the liberalization period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper approaches from a historical perspective the development of the accounting profession in Romania. We aim to present, through an interpretivism methodological approach, using descriptive narrative research, the phenomena of the accounting profession in Romania and its evolution throughout history. The paper captures various stages of development, but also elements that have contributed to the development of this profession in Romania, and the role it had throughout time and the role that it fulfills today. The article highlights the fact that the development of higher education in economics was and is still essential in the existence and development of the accounting profession. By fulfilling such objectives and such performance standards, it will be possible to achieve the goal of this professional organization in terms of adapting quickly and efficiently to changes in the socio-economic environment, ensuring a high level of professionalism of members who will be constantly trained for the future, providing strategic consulting for the business environment, and finally affiliation to the position of reliable business partners. However, if we think about the way the accountant was perceived in the 19th century and the status he benefits in contemporary society, we can say with certainty that it was a battle won. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From his early youth, the composer lived his whole life under the spell of colors and color combinations. His talent as an artist was already apparent at the age of six, when, in addition to his piano studies, he enjoyed drawing plants and flowers in school notebooks. He kept his first vase, on one side of which he drew a bouquet of flowers sprouting from a heart on a bright pale green background when he was in high school, and on the other side a deer flying through a bush and a pine tree. She always felt a special fascination for the pine tree, seeing it as a symbol, its scent, and its green color as magical. He was similarly attracted to green grassy lawns and the changing colors of autumn leaves, which he saw as a symphony. These childhood experiences are also reflected in his colorful graphics. This paper presents the relationship between color and music in Ede Terényi’s compositions, and the composer’s conception of tonal aesthetics, the relationship between tonalities and colors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present paper is to provide an integrated approach to the development of wine tourism in Romania's rural areas. The main research question is: are the communes hosting vineyards and wine-producing facilities and/or cellars/wineries in a better position to attract tourists, compared to the other communes? This question was induced, first, by the fact that Romania is among the top 15 wine producers worldwide, and some of its wine brands are (well)known at least at the regional level, hence this position might influence Romania as a wine tourism destination. Second, Romanian rural tourism is still in its early stages of development at the national level and therefore a differentiation feature represented by wine-related activities might enhance the attractiveness of a rural destination. Furthermore, wine tourism is a fastly developing trend at the international level and those destinations which have the resources to establish and/or improve wine tourism should take advantage of this trend. The findings of the current paper indicate that wine tourism is poorly developed for the group of wine-producing Romanian rural localities. The extra tourist potential of these localities (represented by vineyards and wineries) is used in an unsatisfactory and inexpertly manner for attracting tourists. The findings are in line with the relatively low level of rural tourism development in Romania presented by other academic works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notions of luck, risk, noise, and uncertainty could be often read in sports-related literature. However, there was not published a study so far that attempts to summarize the differences and similarities among them. In this paper, we aim to review the most influential papers, books carried out in relation to these concepts. As the topic of uncertainty in sports literature is quite diverse, therefore, we followed a review method aiming for theory development instead of a systematic review. Using an alternative review methodology enabled us to organize the existing theories in three main categories based on who is affected by the uncertainty: spectator, athlete, and sport level. The main finding of our paper is that uncertainty has distinct consequences at different levels. The demand for sport requires a certain level of uncertainty from the fans' point of view to maintain the uncertainty of outcome. Athletes, on the other hand, are adversely affected by uncertainty. In sport level, the impact of the uncertainty on the results should be carefully managed. The topic of uncertainty in sport is characterized by contradiction. From the perspective of spectators, an adequate amount of uncertainty is required to maintain an interest in the sport. However, the athletes do not prefer uncertainty which they could not influence. It is up to decision-makers in sport to establish such regulation which they can balance with the uncertainty to maintain the interest of spectators and to encourage athletes for the best performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I have previously situated the UPIC of Iannis Xenakis, a computer music instrument of legendary intransigence, as set apart from the mainstream of electroacoustic technologies, developing its own "voice" as the utterance of "prophetic" traces: ancient, not modern. Here, I will approach the sound of the UPIC from the perspective of Robert Hatten's recent theory of "virtual agency." The sounds of the UPIC confound traditional notions of meaning in music as expressive -- in a human sense and reconfigure what Brian Kane calls the "audile techniques" of a "community of listeners." Yet the works made with this technology remain engaging and meaningful to us as music. In this paper, I will explore the idea of 'virtual agency' as extended to non-human agents, as figured by the events and appearances of the natural world, and consider the ways in which Xenakis allows us, as listeners, to engage with these "virtual agents" through their traces, evident in the graphism of the UPIC's interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is dedicated to a controversial topic for Russian society, namely the campaign #ЯнеБоюсьСказать (#IamNotAfraidToSpeak) that took place in VKontakte’s Russian speaking community in July 2016. First the article is based on a theoretical framework that draws attention to the concept of contentious politics and feminist movement. Second, I analysed the messages associated with #IamNotAfraidToSpeak, and argue that the campaign raised the visibility of the problem of domestic violence and patriarchal culture in the post-Soviet Russia, and this helped increase the significance of women’s linguistic agency and made #IamNotAfraidToSpeak the first large-scale feminist movement in Russia. Moreover, in addition to the theoretical background, the paper focuses on a case study: The #ЯНеБоюсьСказать(#IAmNotAfraidToSpeak) campaign of July 2016 on VKontakte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caught between its Chinese and British colonial history, Hong Kong’s path to self-actualization is unsure without preserving its tangible and intangible heritage. This paper examines the region’s several layers of heritage through the movement to preserve the Star and the Queen piers in 2007, using two theoretical frameworks, Abbas’ culture of disappearance and Tunbridge’s dissonant heritage. Despite the piers’ demolition, their role is vital in understanding conflicting histories and decolonizing the region’s identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Abraham accords signed in Washington in September 2020, a series of joint normalization statements between Israel the UAE and Bahrain followed by Morocco in December 2020, were a game changer in the Middle East. Those Accords provide the pathway to the end of the Arab Israeli conflict and a future of peace, tolerance and opportunity in the Middle East and around the world. Those accords proved that there is a new way for negotiations in the Middle East. One could have been surprised that the EU was not engaged in the Accords when signed. The fact that Europeans believe in the two-state solution as the only solution and the fact that the American President Donald Trump was behind the Accords made Europe skeptical to the Accords. But reality made the difference: The war in Ukraine brought its challenges and Iran’s interference in the conflict (supplying drones to Russian’s army) provoked a real concern in Europe. The Iranian nuclear program seemed again a threat to the west and not only to Israel and Gulf countries. conflict management played a role. This paper depicts how Europe went from skepticism to engagement concerning the Abraham Accords. Geo-political interests were clear: geopolitical realignment, a great potential for Africa and energy and food supply potential in connection to those Accords. Furthermore, cooperation as well as development in foreign affairs played a role in Europeans’ choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018-2023 legislature started with an autosubliminal show in South Kivu, a province of Congo-Kinshasa. The spectacle led to an unfavourable environment to significant impact work production on the provincial governance. Members of provincial Assembly, mainly those who regularly fell into disputes, lost opportunity to emerge as political or institutional actors with a development-axed target. Thus, this paper aimed at analysing these behaviours and practices to find out their effects on the governance in province. This study is then a functioning conceptualization of the SouthKivu provincial Assembly in interaction with the provincial government management for the progress of the province. It is based on quality features. The south-kivucentrist pathology conceptualization is the main innovant point of this study. It has widely explained the real living situation in South-Kivu during the 2018-2023 legislature with its consequences on the socioeconomic sector of this part of the country. Our results have shown that no governance that promotes socioeconomical area can emerge from that pathological situation. The obtained results have given a new explanation to the power or governance phenomenon of South-Kivu. They include several dimensions in the point understanding by enlighting irrational digressions and deviant behaviour before some cure has been suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of the Agent BAsed Rough sets Clustering (ABARC) algorithm, an approach using rough sets theory for clustering in environments characterized by uncertainty. Several experiments utilizing standard datasets are performed in order to compare ABARC against a range of supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms. This comparison considers various internal and external performance measures to evaluate the quality of clustering. The results highlight the ABARC algorithm’s capability to effectively manage vague data and outliers, showcasing its advantage in handling uncertainty in data. Furthermore, they also emphasize the importance of choosing appropriate performance metrics, especially when evaluating clustering algorithms in scenarios with unclear or inconsistent data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the current advancements in computer vision it can be observed that most of it is focused on two dimensional imagery. This includes problems such as classification, regression, and the lesser known object matching problem. While object matching ca be viewed as a solved problem in a two dimensional space, for a three dimensional space there is a long way to go, especially for non-rigid objects. The problem is focused on matching a given object to a target object. We propose a solution based on Graph Neural Networks that tries to generalize over multiple objects at once, based on self-attention and cross-attention blocks for the network. To test our solution, we utilised five convolutional operators for the layers of the model. The convolutional operators we compared included GCNConv, ChebConv, SAGEConv, TAGConv, and FeaStConv. This paper aims to find the best operators for our architecture and the task. Our approach obtained favourable results for predicting the barycentric weights for the model, while struggling on predicting the triangle indexes. The best results were obtained for the models using GCNConv, for the triangles index prediction and FeaStConv for the barycentric coordinates prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]