scholarly journals Hand Firearms in 15th-Century Poland. Why Did the Breakthrough Happen?

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 107-121
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Grabarczyk

The first mention of the use of artillery in Poland comes from 1383. Information on hand firearms is slightly later. In 1410, the use of one handbuchse by municipal guards in Kraków was recorded. However, over the next decades, hand firearms in Poland did not play a significant role. According to the records of mercenary infantry from the 1470s, less than 1% of soldiers owned firearms (simple handgonnes and hackbuts). Small arms started to play a bigger role only in the 1490s. According to the lists of mercenary infantry from 1496, 27% of shooters had firearms, while the rest still used crossbows. In the following years, the percentage of soldiers with firearms increased, exceeding 80% in 1500. It should be noted that in the late 15th century in mercenary censuses there is a new type of weapon called rusznica, a term that should be associated with matchlock handgonnes. The weapon quickly gained recognition from mercenaries. After 1498, matchlock handgonnes also appeared in the equipment of mounted mercenaries and members of the court banner. Matchlock handgonnes almost completely replaced crossbows in the armament of mercenary infantry. The author tries to present these changes in a European context, and explain how such changes in the armament of foot soldiers were possible in such a short time.

Biologia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Horak ◽  
Lenka Safarova

AbstractWetlands have recently become of high environmental interest. The restoration effects on habitats like fens are one of the main topics of recent restoration ecology, especially due to their interconnection with other ecosystems. We studied the manual mowing effect on abandoned fen using the response of three study taxa: diurnal butterflies, flower-visiting beetles and vascular plants. Our results showed that butterflies seems to be quickly-responding indicator taxon for evaluation and that restored management had a positive effect on both species richness and composition of this insect group. The results indicated that the manual mowing effect could be rapid. In comparison with the surrounding landscape, we found that: (i) the manually mowed site was most similar to strictly protected area, (ii) some species of high conservation value could reach higher abundance in restored than protected site, and (iii) manual mowing could bring a new type of habitat (i.e., spatial heterogeneity) compared to the other management types (abandonment, conservation and agri-environmental mowing). The main implication seems to be optimistic for practice: The manual mowing of long-term abandoned fen is leading to the creation of habitat with high conservation value in a relatively short time.


Synthesis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (22) ◽  
pp. 3427-3438
Author(s):  
Valery A. Ozeryanskii ◽  
Ekaterina V. Kolupaeva ◽  
Alexander F. Pozharskii

The reaction of 1-dimethylamino-8-(methylamino)naphthalene with 1,3-dibromopropane chemoselectively leads to the product of N,N′-heterocyclization, while in the case of 1,4-dibromobutane and 1,2-bis(bromomethyl)benzene the process results in heterocyclization onto the same nitrogen atom with the formation of previously unknown 1-dimethylamino-8-pyrrolidino- and 1-dimethylamino-8-isoindolino-naphthalenes. The same reactions conducted without adding any auxiliary base lead to the formation of N,N′-linked double proton sponges as a new type of polynitrogen organic receptor. Proceeding as a sequence of quaternization–demethylation–cyclization steps, this heterocyclization process can also be used to construct six-membered rings (piperidino, morpholino), albeit in lower yields. The ability of 1,2-dibromoethane to brominate N-alkylated 1,8-diaminonaphthalenes is also described. It is shown for the first time that a commercially available 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene (DMAN) can be used as a starting material in a heterocyclization reaction, which via a one-pot approach and in a short time can be converted into 1,5-dimethylnaphtho[1,8-bc]-1,5-diazacyclooctane or 1-dimethylamino-8-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)naphthalene.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 7315-7319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Xin Wang ◽  
Hong Tao ◽  
Min-Nan Chen ◽  
Ling-Shao ◽  
Guang-Feng Shang ◽  
...  

In this study, a new type of molecular sieve/polyacrylonitrile fiber (M-PAN) was prepared by electrospinning to adsorb atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The suitable content of molecular sieve in nanocomposites was also determined for achieving maximum VOCs adsorption capacity. SEM, TEM and N2 adsorption/desorption analyzer were performed for characterization of the surface morphology, structural properties, surface area and pore size. A part of molecular sieve is exposed on the fiber surface where VOCs can be adsorbed efficiently in a short time. Acetone was used as a challenge pollutant to evaluate the adsorption of VOCs at different recycling times and types of electrospinning nanofibers. The adsorption capacity of 6M-PAN (60% weight of molecular sieve) nanofiber reached 58.2 μg g−1 and the reused nanofibers nearly had the same adsorption capacity as the newly prepared nanofibers after several times of recirculation.


Author(s):  
Alexei Bereznitski

A new type of the wind turbine installation vessel is developed. The concept utilizes the Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) vessel. High transit speed, excellent seakeeping, and quick installation sequence allow placing a large number of wind turbines within short time minimizing the time of offshore construction works. The paper deals with the design development of this concept. Such major subjects as seakeeping, model testing in seakeeping tank, wind turbine landing sequence, and the workability are covered in the paper. Special attention will be given to the design of the active motion compensation system applied in the hoisting system. Dynamic behavior of this system is studied. The motions of the vessel are also compensated by dedicated active anti roll and anti-pitch systems. These systems were also tested in a seakeeping tank.


1988 ◽  
Vol 255 (5) ◽  
pp. R760-R767 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Beuchat ◽  
E. J. Braun

In reptiles, there are two pairs of kidneys at birth: the mesonephros and the metanephros. The metanephric kidney in reptiles, as in all amniote vertebrates, is retained as the functional kidney in adults. However, the reptilian mesonephros does not degenerate until after birth, and its function during this time is unknown. In neonates of the iguanid lizard Sceloporus jarrovi, the metanephric kidney is only 63% as large as predicted from the allometric relationship between kidney mass and body mass in adults. However, the kidney mass of neonatal lizards conforms to this prediction if the mesonephric and metanephric masses are combined. Some other amniote vertebrates appear to follow this pattern as well: in marsupials, which retain the mesonephros for a short period after birth, the sum of mesonephric and metanephric mass in neonates conforms to the allometry of kidney mass on body mass for adults. In contrast, the mesonephros of eutherian mammals is degenerate at birth and the metanephric kidney alone is of the predicted size. That the scaling of kidney mass in neonatal lizards and marsupials is the same as that of adults only if the mass of both the mesonephros and metanephros are combined suggests that the mesonephric kidney in these vertebrates plays a significant role in the regulation of water and ion balance during development and for at least a short time after birth.


First Monday ◽  
2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Jaloba

An analysis of the posts on a U.K.-based breast cancer discussion forum suggests that the type of online discourse found in this area is topic-led not people-led. Most participants posted for a short time and then left the forums. Pre-existing social networks played no significant role – most people who came to this breast cancer forum did so because they did not have an offline network of people in a similar situation. The nature of interactions on such forums may suggest that the best model may be one where interaction is structured by topics and information and interaction is mediated through topical hierarchies.


Author(s):  
Oleg R. Khromov ◽  
◽  

This article studies the activities of the Moscow Print Yard during the period under Patriarch Nikon between 1652 and 1658. The period was not only characterised by a serious economic activity intended to organise work at the Print Yard but also a number of considerable changes in the repertoire of publications of the printing house and book design. All these actions took place under the direct supervision of Patriarch Nikon and his participation. This article makes an attempt to trace the overall activity of the Print Yard in two directions: studying the structure of the repertoire of print products and book design and changes in the external form of Moscow editions. The article examines a new type of editions which appeared under Patriarch Nikon — loose-leaf editions, clarifying the reasons and motives for their appearance, which are not due to their economic benefit but their efficiency and circulation, and the opportunity to standardise church administrative issues through them. Additionally, the author considers issues connected with iconographic “preparation” related to changes in the images of the animal symbols of the Evangelists in the frontispiece engravings of the Gospel. Also, the article clarifies the reasons that prompted Patriarch Nikon to make these corrections, which are based on a general approach to correcting church rites and books. In correcting the order of animal symbols, Patriarch Nikon relied on the ancient Russian manuscript tradition (pre-15th century) and Greek samples associated primarily with the images on the Antimins. The article pays special attention to the publication of Antimins as a new type of Moscow edition considering the question of its samples. Finally, the author examines the features of engraved illustrations in Nikon’s editions and their design demonstrating the significance of Nikon’s reforms for the development of the artistic form and art of the Moscow book.


Author(s):  
Е.И. Тараканова

Образ города, предстающий в расписанных Беноццо Гоццоли капеллах, фиксирует в себе достижения изобразительного искусства, архитектуры и градостроительства в эпоху Кватроченто. В статье впервые прослеживается эволюция изображений городских видов и конкретных сооружений во фресковых циклах, выполненных мастером в Риме, Умбрии и Тоскане. Представление образа города в творчестве Гоццоли связано с решением перспективных задач, реальной ренессансной городской действительностью, особенностями заказа и личностью художника. Проанализированы разные ракурсы и масштабы в изображении городов, а также варианты их символического прочтения как в контексте священной истории, так и современных Беноццо событий. Показано, как в его творчестве новое ренессансное искусство сочетается с наследием античности и интернациональной готики. The subject of this article is an ideal city in Italy of the Early Renaissance. Starting with the first decades of the 15th century the erecting a new buildings at cities, primarily in Florence which was at that time a very progressive part of Italy, could be seen as a tendency to realize a perfect city on the basis of humanistic conceptions. Even the real situation when medieval patterns of planning and building combined with Renaissance elements in Florence was interpreted from an idealized perspective: the social and political superiority of Florentine Republic seems interflowed with its perfect appearance. Despite the fact that a new type of the city as architectural and planning whole was not devised in Renaissance Italy, the model of an ideal city was being successfully developed there in Quattrocento treatises on architecture and vedutas. The author of this article examines the principles underlying the idea of such city with optimal potentialities for man to fulfill its predestination on Earth as it was presented concepts of humanism.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Belinda Kay Gardner

<p>The Arms Trade Treaty brings together a number of small arms control norms into one instrument and is a new initiative, which was instigated by state and NGO norm entrepreneurs. This thesis attempts to understand what has led to the emergence of these norms in the Arms Trade Treaty, in what will be termed a ‘cluster’ of small arms norms. Examining the small arms norms associated with the Arms Trade Treaty will explain their development and their likelihood of successfully being incorporated into this instrument. Analysis of the development of the norms related to the Arms Trade Treaty will explore the relationship between norms, their promoters and their opponents. This thesis will do this by providing detailed analysis of the development of specific norms in a series of case studies: control over arms brokering, transfers to non-state actors and civilian possession. It will place this development within the broader context of the ATT instrument and the international society in which it is emerging into. This thesis finds that power and powerful states have a significant role to play in the emergence of norms, in some cases despite the efforts of norm promoters. Norms were not able to emerge in their original form due to the influence of powerful states, which resulted in norms evolving in different directions or not emerging at all.</p>


ICR Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-246
Author(s):  
Asadullah Ali Al-Andalusi

Scientific productivity has been in decline in the Muslim world since as early as the 15th century and is only now reviving. Many factors have been attributed to the rise and decline, falling under two broad categories: external and internal influences. The popular understanding of scientific decline in the Muslim world, known as the ‘classical narrative’ promulgated by orientalists, suggests that only external influences - mainly the synthesis of Persian and Greek elements of civilisation into the Arab imperialist project - were the reasons for the sharp rise of the sciences within Islamic civilisation. Simultaneously, this narrative also suggests that internal influences, exemplified in the impact of Al-Ghazali’s thought towards a more conservative religious approach, as opposed to the more ‘rationalist’ elements of the Mutazilite School of theology -  played the most significant role in decline. This paper shows that the classical narrative is invalid, that there were more legitimate factors at play in both the rise and decline of science in the Muslim world, and that the contemporary stagnation in scientific productivity is a result of this misunderstanding.


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