scholarly journals Introduction to the Thematic Section

2017 ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Wojciech Sajkowski

Introduction to the Thematic SectionThe images of the borders of civilizations is the main topic of the thematic section of this issue of Colloquia Humanistica. In the call for papers it was emphasised, that this issue is particularly important, because the notion of civilization is strictly related to the issue of borders since it would became meaningless without the opposition to another civilization, or the lack of it. The juxtaposition between the notion of civilization and its different antinomies seems easier to display when seen from its centre, however the shape of its border is not always clear, even if it has a foundation in clear geographical or political divisions. Thus, this border can be represented as a linear frontier between a civilized state and barbaric lands, or as a borderland which encompasses some kind of fluent transition. The civilization border can be also represented in a macro scale, shaping geographic divisions of the continents (as it was in the case of the Balkans), but its depiction can also concern the micro scale, for example the difference between an urban and a natural landscape. The notion is even broader, because it is not only treated in the context of space but also social behaviours and their evolution (which is bound with notion of the progress since the Enlightenment). The question establishing the difference between the civilized and the uncivilized is still shaping the identity of modern societies, and thus it is worth attention. Wprowadzenie do sekcji tematycznejTematem przewodnim szóstego numeru rocznika Colloquia Humanistica są obrazy granic cywilizacji. Temat ten wydaje się niezwykle istotny, ponieważ pojęcie cywilizacji ściśle wiąże się z kategorią granicy, skoro traci ono znaczenie, gdy nie zachodzi opozycja wobec innej cywilizacji. Zestawienie pojęcia cywilizacji i jego różnych antynomii najłatwiej przejawia się, jak się wydaje, z perspektywy centrum, jednakże kształt jej granic nie zawsze rysuje się wyraźnie, nawet gdy wywodzi się ona z jasnych podziałów geograficznych czy politycznych. Granicę może zatem reprezentować linia między cywilizowanym państwem a krajami barbarzyńskimi lub też pogranicze, stanowiące coś w rodzaju płynnego przejścia. Granicę cywilizacji można też przedstawić w makroskali poprzez podziały geograficzne na kontynencie (jak ma to miejsce w przypadku Bałkanów), lecz jej obraz dotyka również mikroskali, na przykład różnicy między krajobrazem miejskim a naturalnym. Pojęcie to ma wręcz szerszy charakter, ponieważ porusza kontekst nie tylko przestrzenny, lecz również kwestię zachowań społecznych i ich ewolucję (od czasu oświecenia związaną z pojęciem postępu). Kwestia ustanowienia granicy między cywilizowanym a niecywilizowanym wciąż wpływa na kształt tożsamości współczesnych społeczeństw i dlatego warto podjąć się jej zbadania.

2014 ◽  
Vol 609-610 ◽  
pp. 521-525
Author(s):  
Bin Xu ◽  
Xiao Yu An ◽  
Liang Chao Li ◽  
Guang Ming Li

Viscous dissipation is the key factor impacting flowing characteristics of polymer melt. In order to study the difference between micro scale and macro scale, experimental studies of viscous dissipation at various shear rate were investigated with several polymers, including PMMA and HDPE, at different temperature when melts flow through 1000μm,500μm,350μm diameter channels of identical aspects ratio in the paper. The results indicate that the temperature rises caused by viscous dissipation increase with increasing shear rate and the temperature rise for some shear rate decreases with increasing melts temperature. The temperature rises decrease significantly with the reduction of the characteristic size of micro channel at the same shear rate. However, the average temperature rises per unit length increase when the character size of channel decreases. This indicates the shear friction gradually increases with the decrease of channel characteristic size. Therefore polymer melt viscous dissipation effects of micro scale dimensions are different from that of macro-scale dimensions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 179-199
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Entina ◽  
Alexander Pivovarenko

The article reflects on the issue of the foreign policy strategy of modern Russia in the Balkans region. One of the most significant aspects of this problem is the difference in views between Russia and the West. Authors show how different interpretations of the events in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s predetermined the sense of mutual suspicion and mistrust which spread to other regions such as the post-Soviet space. Exploring differences between the Russian and the Western (Euro-Atlantic) views on the current matters, authors draw attention to fundamental differences in terminology: while the Western narrative promotes more narrow geographical and political definitions (such as the Western Balkan Six), traditional Russian experts are more inclined to wider or integral definitions such as “the Balkans” and “Central and Southeast Europe”. Meanwhile none of these terms are applicable for analysis of the current trends such as the growing transit role of the Balkans region and its embedding in the European regional security architecture. Therefore, a new definition is needed to overcome the differences in vision and better understand significant recent developments in the region. Conceptualizing major foreign policy events in Central and Southeast Europe during the last three decades (the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s), authors demonstrate the significance of differences in tools and methods between the Soviet Union and the modern Russia. Permanent need for adaptation to changing political and security context led to inconsistence in Russian Balkan policy in the 1990s. Nevertheless, Russia was able to preserve an integral vision of the region and even to elaborate new transregional constructive projects, which in right political circumstances may promote stability and become beneficial for both Russia and the Euro-Atlantic community.


Author(s):  
Feng Li ◽  
Gulnigar Ablat ◽  
Siqi Zhou ◽  
Yixin Liu ◽  
Yufeng Bi ◽  
...  

AbstractIn ice and snow weather, the surface texture characteristics of asphalt pavement change, which will significantly affect the skid resistance performance of asphalt pavement. In this study, five asphalt mixture types of AC-5, AC-13, AC-16, SMA-13, SMA-16 were prepared under three conditions of the original state, ice and snow. In this paper, a 2D-wavelet transform approach is proposed to characterize the micro and macro texture of pavement. The Normalized Energy (NE) is proposed to describe the pavement texture quantitatively. Compared with the mean texture depth (MTD), NE has the advantages of full coverage, full automation and wide analytical scale. The results show that snow increases the micro-scale texture because of its fluffiness, while the formation of the ice sheets on the surface reduces the micro-scale texture. The filling effect of snow and ice reduces the macro-scale texture of the pavement surface. In a follow-up study, the 2D-wavelet transform approach can be applied to improve the intelligent driving braking system, which can provide pavement texture information for the safe braking strategy of driverless vehicles.


Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 146 (4) ◽  
pp. 1475-1487 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Dumolin-Lapègue ◽  
B Demesure ◽  
S Fineschi ◽  
V Le Come ◽  
R J Petit

Patterns of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) variation were studied in eight white oak species by sampling 345 populations throughout Europe. The detection of polymorphisms by restriction analysis of PCR-amplified cpDNA fragments allowed the identification of 23 haplotypes that were phylogenetically ordered. A systematic hybridization and introgression between the eight species studied is evident. The levels of subdivision for unordered (G  ST) and ordered (N  ST) alleles are very high and close (0.83 and 0.85). A new statistical approach to the quantitative study of phylogeography is presented, which relies on the coefficients of differentiation G  ST and N  ST and the Mantel's test. Based on pairwise comparisons between populations, the significance of the difference between both coefficients is evaluated at a global and a local scale. The mapped distribution of the haplotypes indicates the probable routes of postglacial recolonization followed by oak populations that had persisted in southern refugia, especially in the Iberian peninsula, Italy and the Balkans. Most cpDNA polymorphisms appear to be anterior to the befinnina of the last recolonization. A subset of the preexisting haplotypes have merely expanded north, while others were left behind in the south.


2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keisuke Suzuki ◽  
Takashi Ikegami

We study a system of self-replicating loops in which interaction rules between individuals allow competition that leads to the formation of a hypercycle-like network. The main feature of the model is the multiple layers of interaction between loops, which lead to both global spatial patterns and local replication. The network of loops manifests itself as a spiral structure from which new kinds of self-replicating loops emerge at the boundaries between different species. In these regions, larger and more complex self-replicating loops live for longer periods of time, managing to self-replicate in spite of their slower replication. Of particular interest is how micro-scale interactions between replicators lead to macro-scale spatial pattern formation, and how these macro-scale patterns in turn perturb the micro-scale replication dynamics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 413
Author(s):  
Nida Naveed

This study, on a micro-scale, of the WEDM cut surfaces of specimens to which the contour method of residual stress measurement is being applied provides detailed information about the effects of the cutting process on the surface quality. This is defined by a combination of several parameters: variation in surface contour profile, sub-surface damage and surface texture. Measurements were taken at the start, the middle and at the end of the cut. This study shows that during WEDM cutting, a thin layer, extending to a depth of a few micrometres below the surface of the cut, is transformed. This layer is known as the recast layer. Using controlled-depth etching and X-ray diffraction, it is shown that this induces an additional tensile residual stress, parallel to the plane of the cut surface. The WEDM cut surface and sub-surface characteristics are also shown to vary along the length of the cut. Moreover, these micro-scale changes were compared with macro-scale residual stress results and provides an indication of the point at which the changes occurred by cutting process can be significantly relative to the macro-scale residual stress in a specimen.


Lubricants ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory de Boer ◽  
Andreas Almqvist

A two-scale method for modelling the Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL) of tilted-pad bearings is derived and a range of solutions are presented. The method is developed from previous publications and is based on the Heterogeneous Multiscale Methods (HMM). It facilitates, by means of homogenization, incorporating the effects of surface topography in the analysis of tilted-pad bearings. New to this article is the investigation of three-dimensional bearings, including the effects of both ideal and real surface topographies, micro-cavitation, and the metamodeling procedure used in coupling the problem scales. Solutions for smooth bearing surfaces, and under pure hydrodynamic operating conditions, obtained with the present two-scale EHL model, demonstrate equivalence to those obtained from well-established homogenization methods. Solutions obtained for elastohydrodynamic operating conditions, show a dependency of the solution to the pad thickness and load capacity of the bearing. More precisely, the response for the real surface topography was found to be stiffer in comparison to the ideal. Micro-scale results demonstrate periodicity of the flow and surface topography and this is consistent with the requirements of the HMM. The means of selecting micro-scale simulations based on intermediate macro-scale solutions, in the metamodeling approach, was developed for larger dimensionality and subsequent calibration. An analysis of the present metamodeling approach indicates improved performance in comparison to previous studies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Kołczyńska

This article presents one of the many faces of contemporary Islam in the Balkans, that of the Bektashi community in Albania, and specifically the Sari Saltik teqe (sanctuary) on Kruja mountain. In so doing, it sheds light on the role of religion in 'post-atheist' Albania, while taking into account major changes to the religious landscape in the post-communist, and arguably post-transformation context. The essay ethnographically examines the challenges posed by societal changes for the Kruja teqe, which is undergoing its own micro-scale technological revolution in the form of a newly constructed asphalt road to the top of the mountain, which will likely have far-reaching consequences for the shrine and the whole local community. The essay thus illustrates how Albanian society has become entangled with the turbulent processes of modernisation, increased mobility and the globalising world.


2015 ◽  
Vol 665 ◽  
pp. 169-172
Author(s):  
Yoshimasa Takahashi ◽  
Hikaru Kondo ◽  
Kazuya Aihara ◽  
Masanori Takuma ◽  
Kenichi Saitoh ◽  
...  

The strength against interfacial fracture initiation from a free-edge of Si/Cu micro-components was evaluated. The micro-scale cantilever specimens containing dissimilar interfaces were fabricated with a focused-ion-beam (FIB) technique, and they were loaded with a quantitative nanoindenter holder operated in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The specimens were successfully fractured along the Si/Cu interface, and the critical loads at fracture were measured. The critical stress distribution near the free-edge was evaluated with the finite element method (FEM). The near-edge stress distributions of 90°/90°-shaped specimens were scattered while those of 135°/135°-shaped specimens were in good agreement despite the difference in specimen dimensions. Such a difference was discussed in terms of the relation between the magnitude of stress singularity and the microstructures of material.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
YAO QIAO ◽  
QIWEI ZHANG ◽  
TROY NAKAGAWA ◽  
MARCO SALVIATO

This work proposes an investigation on size effects in micro-scale splitting crack initiation and propagation and their consequences on the macro-scale structural behavior carbon-fiber reinforced polymers under transverse tension. Towards this goal, size effect tests were experimentally conducted on both notch-free [90]n composites and specimens with different notch types under three-point bending. The mechanical tests were followed by morphological studies to identify the micro-scale damage mechanisms and their evolution. The results clearly show that splitting crack initiation in the transverse direction of composites not only happens at the fiber/matrix interface but also in the matrix. Moreover, the subsequent development of these damage mechanisms can depend on the structure size. This interesting phenomenon inherently leads to size-dependent structural behavior which can be described through Baznt’s Size Effect Laws. This study on the splitting crack initiation and propagation can provide unprecedented information for the calibration and validation of micromechanical models for the damage behavior of fiber composites at the microscale.


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