In China and elsewhere, it is important to predict different lithologies and lithofacies for hydrocarbon exploration in a mixed evaporite-carbonate-siliciclastic system. The lower section of the second member of the Jialingjiang Formation is mainly composed of anhydrite, dolostone, limestone, and siliciclastic rocks, providing a rare opportunity to reconstruct detailed facies in a [Formula: see text] 3D seismic survey with 31 wells. Wireline logs calibrated by core analysis are essential in distinguishing anhydrite, siliciclastics, and carbonates. Although different lithologies are characterized by (...) different acoustic impedance, with certain overlapping, it is still difficult to predict lithology by any single seismic attribute because of the limited seismic resolution in a thinly interbedded formation of multiple lithologies. In our study, principal component analysis was applied to extract lithologic information from selected seismic attributes; the first two principal components were used to predict the content of anhydrite, siliciclastics, and carbonates. Content maps of anhydrite, siliciclastics, and carbonates — created by mixing the represented color — were used to reconstruct lithofacies of the T1j2L submember. It is quite difficult, even with the PCA approach, to uniquely resolve the three lithologies due to the overlapped AI and the limited resolution of the seismic data. However, the workflow that we evaluated dramatically improved the prediction accuracy of lithology and lithofacies. Facies transition during the deposition of the T1j2L submember in the study area was inferred from a paleo-uplift in the southwest to a restricted lagoon and then to an open marine setting in the northeast. (shrink)

Salt boundary interpretation is important for the understanding of salt tectonics and velocity model building for seismic migration. Conventional methods consist of computing salt attributes and extracting salt boundaries. We have formulated the problem as 3D image segmentation and evaluated an efficient approach based on deep convolutional neural networks with an encoder-decoder architecture. To train the model, we design a data generator that extracts randomly positioned subvolumes from large-scale 3D training data set followed by data augmentation, then feed a large (...) number of subvolumes into the network while using salt/nonsalt binary labels generated by thresholding the velocity model as ground truth labels. We test the model on validation data sets and compare the blind test predictions with the ground truth. Our results indicate that our method is capable of automatically capturing subtle salt features from the 3D seismic image with less or no need for manual input. We further test the model on a field example to indicate the generalization of this deep CNN method across different data sets. (shrink)

This paper investigates the hesitant fuzzy linguistic multiple attribute group decision-making problem with the heterogeneous relationship among the attribute variables that cannot be solved by most existing decision-making methods. To address this problem, a new operator is introduced based on partitioning attribute variables into different sets according to their interrelationship. This operator is called the extended Heronian mean operator. To obtain each expert’s comprehensive values of the alternatives in the hesitant fuzzy linguistic MAGDM problem, we investigate the EHM operator under (...) a hesitant fuzzy linguistic environment and propose the hesitant fuzzy linguistic EHM operator and the hesitant fuzzy linguistic linear support degree weighted EHM operator. In addition, the axiom definition of a linguistic type similarity measure of hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets is proposed. The weight of the experts can be determined based on this type similarity measure. Finally, a practical case is presented to demonstrate the steps of our method, and a comparison analysis illustrates its feasibility and effectiveness. (shrink)

Inspired by the nonlinear weighted average operator, this paper proposes several generalized power average operators to aggregate hesitant fuzzy linguistic decision information. It is worth noting that the new operators take both the location and date weight information and the relative closeness of the decision-making information into consideration, a characteristic that results in objectivity and fairness in a group decision making. Moreover, we demonstrate some useful properties of the operators and discuss their associations. A new approach based on the designed (...) operators is then proposed for hesitant fuzzy linguistic multiple attribute group decision-making problems, in which the attribute weights are known or unknown. Finally, this paper demonstrates the efficiency and feasibility of the proposed method through a numerical example. (shrink)

A fuzzy predictive fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed for a wide class of discrete-time nonlinear systems with uncertainties, interval time-varying delays, and partial actuator failures as well as unknown disturbances, in which the main opinions focus on the relevant theory of FPFTC based on Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model description of these systems. The T-S fuzzy model represents the discrete-time nonlinear system in the form of the discrete uncertain time-varying delay state space, which is firstly constructed by a set of local linear (...) models and the nonlinear membership functions. The novel improved state space model can be further obtained by extending the output tracking error to the constructed model. Then the fuzzy predictive fault-tolerant control law based on this extended model is designed, which can increase more control degrees of freedom. Utilizing Lyapunov-Krasovskill theory, less conservative delay-range-dependent stable conditions in terms of linear matrix inequality constraints are given to ensure the asymptotically robust stability of closed-loop system. Meanwhile, the optimized cost function and H-infinity performance index are introduced to the stable conditions to guarantee the robust performance and antidisturbance capability. The simulation results on the temperature control of a strong nonlinear continuous stirred tank reactor show that the proposed control scheme is feasible and effective. (shrink)

Crude oil is one of the most important types of energy for the global economy, and hence it is very attractive to understand the movement of crude oil prices. However, the sequences of crude oil prices usually show some characteristics of nonstationarity and nonlinearity, making it very challenging for accurate forecasting crude oil prices. To cope with this issue, in this paper, we propose a novel approach that integrates complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise and extreme gradient boosting, (...) so-called CEEMDAN-XGBOOST, for forecasting crude oil prices. Firstly, we use CEEMDAN to decompose the nonstationary and nonlinear sequences of crude oil prices into several intrinsic mode functions and one residue. Secondly, XGBOOST is used to predict each IMF and the residue individually. Finally, the corresponding prediction results of each IMF and the residue are aggregated as the final forecasting results. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach, we conduct extensive experiments on the West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices. The experimental results show that the proposed CEEMDAN-XGBOOST outperforms some state-of-the-art models in terms of several evaluation metrics. (shrink)

Toni Morrison is widely recognized as an American’s prominent novelist, who magnificently explores the life of the black, especially that of black women. Her Nobel Prize Lecture, in which she again tells a story of a black woman, can be regarded as an epitome of Morrison’s thoughts. The dialogue between the blind black old woman and the young people is full of wisdom and profoundness.

In this paper, we explore the relation between an agent’s doxastic attitude and her arguments in support of a given claim. Our main contribution is the design of a logical setting that allows us reason about binary arguments which are either in favour or against a certain claim. This is a setting in which arguments and propositions are the basic building blocks so that the concept of argument-based belief emerges in a straightforward way. We work against the background of Dung’s (...) abstract argumentation framework, extending it to a new setting in which we can study the formal properties of binary arguments as well as the larger structures they establish. This paper introduces a formal ‘two-dimensional’ language to talk about propositions and arguments, for which a sound and complete axiom system is provided. (shrink)

This paper examines the effect of corporate social responsibility on the number of bond covenants. We find that a high CSR score has a negative association with the number of bond covenants. Moreover, our results are more pronounced for firms with a high bid-ask spread and high agency costs. Our analysis highlights the effect of the good stakeholder relationship on the bond contracts.

The present study examined the behavioral effects of the first-person possessive pronoun. In each trial, a noun was presented to participants after visual presentation of a possessive pronoun “wo de” or “ta de” , which formed ownership. Half participants were assigned to contextual encoding condition in which they were required to judge whether they liked the item expressed by a noun from the first or third-person perspective. The rest were assigned to perceptual encoding condition in which they were asked to (...) judge what color the noun was. A subsequent recall test was performed. The results showed that there were significant memory and response advantages for nouns in “my” ownership under both conditions. The results were discussed with reference to self-specificity and other effects in the current study. (shrink)

Critical Discourse Analysis has excelled with its functional and ideological analysis of socio-political texts. Its capacities and achievements notwithstanding, this tradition is constituted of Western concepts, values, ways of thinking, analytic tools and topics of interest; such becomes problematic when universalised and globalised in international academic discourse. It is against this backdrop of cultural and intellectual tension that a culturally conscious and critical paradigm of discourse and communication research is emerging: Cultural Discourse Studies. It is manifested in the forms of (...) participation by searchers from the Developing World in significant proportions, development of locally grounded, globally minded research frameworks; and a growing multicultural awareness in the discipline. Inspired by Third World experiences, aspirations and scholarships on the one side and drawing on culturally critical insights in the human and social sciences on the other side, this multicultural scholarship endeavours to deconstruct ethnocentrism, construct culturally diversified modes of research and propel intercultural dialogue and debate in the discipline, all with a view to enhancing human cultural coexistence, harmony and prosperity. One exemplar of this new trend is Chinese Discourse Studies, characterised by a holistic philosophy, equilibrium and discrepancy theory, all-encompassing methodology and development-minded research agenda. (shrink)

The frequent data convergecasting from the sensor nodes to the gateways may cause imbalanced energy consumption in the Wireless Highway Addressable Remote Transducer networks, yielding a short network lifetime and frequent failures in the data acquisition. Existing solutions always tend to tradeoff between the hardware cost, routing complexity, and energy consumption, making the sensor nodes suffer from expensive hardware investment, overloaded network computation, or imbalanced energy consumption. In this paper, an Adaptive Freeshape Clustering protocol is developed for saving and balancing (...) the energy consumption in the WirelessHART networks. In AFC, the Region of Interest is first divided into several fan-shaped clusters. The sensor nodes in each fan-shaped cluster compete for the positions of Cell Node, and the nodes that have succeeded in the competition adjust the radius of their coverages to cover the fan-shaped clusters adaptively with the minimum overlapped areas. In this way, each fan-shaped cluster can be subdivided into several freeshape zones regarding each CN’s coverage, and the CN in each cluster takes charge of convergecasting the data to the CH. The simulations show that AFC can prolong the network lifetime by 37% compared with other related schemes, e.g., HEED, FLOODING, and DIRECT, whereas it can reduce the degree of energy imbalance by 1.29%. (shrink)

Hu Shi frequently gave lectures on the history of Chinese philosophy, especially the history of ancient Chinese philosophy, from the year 1919 to 1937. A large number of papers and dissertations published during this period are related to his research on this topic. In his opinion, there are three characteristics of the history of ancient Chinese philosophy: "religionalization of thought," "Indianization of philosophy," and "conflict between Chinese thought and Indian thought." In this paper, I explore Hu Shi's deep insight into (...) the religionalization of Confucianism in Han dynasty and into the thought of Taoism in the medieval times. (shrink)

What might it be to write a post-colonial social science? And how might the intellectual legacy of Chinese classical philosophy—for instance Sun Tzu and Lao Tzu—contribute to such a project? Reversing the more usual social science practice in which EuroAmerican concepts are applied in other global locations, this paper instead considers how a “Chinese” term, _shi_ might be used to explore the UK’s 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic. Drawing on anthropological insights into mis/translation between different worlds and their alternative ways of knowing (...) and being, the paper explores that epidemic in three differently inspired _shi_-inflected “empirical” accounts. The first uses Sun Tzu’s strategic understanding of _shi_ to tell a conventionally representational story. The second resists the causes and background factors implied in standard social science by offering a “light” and _shi_-inflected form of knowing. And the third combines the referentiality of social science with a Lao Tzu-informed commitment to the paradoxes of normative epigram. This third narrative thus illustrates the possible features of a situated and _shi_-inflected social science that recognizes that it participates in the contexted and immanent flows and counterflows of things in the world. The paper concludes by noting that such a _shi_-inflected social science is experimental, and suggests that it is important to explore a range of ways of reversing the flow of concepts between EuroAmerica and other global locations. (shrink)

This study empirically investigated the impact of ethical leadership on employee burnout, deviant behavior and task performance through two psychological mechanisms: developing higher levels of employee trust in leaders and demonstrating lower levels of surface acting toward their leaders. Our theoretical model was tested using data collected from employees of a pharmaceutical retail chain company. Analyses of multisource time-lagged data from 45 team leaders and 247 employees showed that employees’ trust in leaders and surface acting significantly mediated the relationships between (...) ethical leadership and employee burnout, deviant behavior and task performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for understanding how ethical leaders influence employees’ attitudes and behavior. (shrink)

A fractional-order locally active memristor is proposed in this paper. When driven by a bipolar periodic signal, the generated hysteresis loop with two intersections is pinched at the origin. The area of the hysteresis loop changes with the fractional order. Based on the fractional-order locally active memristor, a fractional-order memristive system is constructed. The stability analysis is carried out and the stability conditions for three equilibria are listed. The expression of the fractional order related to Hopf bifurcation is given. The (...) complex dynamical behaviors of Hopf bifurcation, period-doubling bifurcation, bistability and chaos are shown numerically. Furthermore, the bistability behaviors of the different fractional order are validated by the attraction basins in the initial value plane. As an alternative to validating our results, the fractional-order memristive system is implemented by utilizing Simulink of MATLAB. The research results clarify that the complex dynamical behaviors are attributed to two facts: one is the fractional order that affects the stability of the equilibria, and the other is the local activeness of the fractional-order memristor. (shrink)