OVERVIEW OF THE BEST 2020 AXIAL-FLOW FAN DATA AND INCLUSION IN SIMILARITY CHARTS FOR THE SEARCH OF THE BEST DESIGN

The paper deals with the aerodynamic performance of ducted axial-flow fans available in the 2020 market and aims to create a general picture of the best designs and design trends, as a tool for fan designers. To this end, the paper first presents the general formulation of the similarity approach to the fan performance analysis, including the effects of rotational speed (which affects the validity of the Reynolds similarity) and turbomachine size (which can hinder the perfect geometrical similarity of some shape details). The second part reports a statistical survey of the axial-flow fan performance based on data from catalogues of major manufacturers, and compares the resulting Cordier-lines with optimum fan designs from empirical or CFD-based models available in the literature. In addition to the global performance at maximum aeraulic and total-to-static efficiencies, this survey uses the form of dimensionless Balje-Cordier charts to identify the trends and values of other design parameters, such as hub-to-tip ratio, blade count, and blade positioning angle. As a result, a summary of the aerodynamic performance of year 2020 best designs, the improvements achieved during the last forty years, and the present design trends in contra-rotating, vane-axial, and tube-axial fan types are made available to fan designers.

Power Theory of Exchange and Money

Modern exchange theories model a large market, but do not explain single exchanges. This paper considers the phenomenon of single exchange and formulates the general exchange problem in the form of a system of two equations, subjective and objective. Subjective equilibrium is given by the Walras–Jevons marginal utility equation. Objective equilibrium equations by Walras and Jevons are averaged over all transactions in the market and can only give a rough general picture without explaining the specific price of an individual exchange. An exchange micro-condition must be found that, when averaged, will give the Walras market equilibrium macro-condition. The study of the internal structure of exchange leads to the need to consider power. The concept of generalized power is introduced. It is generalized power that serves as the primary comparable and measurable objective basis of exchange. The power theory of exchange provides the objective price-equation. It is demonstrated that money is a measure of generalized power in exchange and a certification of generalized power in subsequent exchanges. This methodology is based on an interdisciplinary analysis of an abstract exchange model in the form of a system of equations. The proposed theory is able to uniformly explain any exchange, including a single one, which is impossible with the existing theories of exchange.

Tracing the Action of Technical Objects in an Ethnography: Vinyls in Beijing

To do ethnography implies dealing with the agency of technical objectsi. The aim of this paper is to share a few ideas on how to tackle the one of vinyls in the particular activity that is the mix of a disc jockey. To do so, I first provide a general picture of the work of Xiao Deng, a Chinese disc jockey I observed in Beijing between 2003 and 2004. Then I present three observations of specific events that occured during that period which, I believe, bring into light not only some specificities of the agency of the technical object “vinyl” but also useful information about how one can take into account the agency of objects when doing ethnography.

Foucauldian Biopolitics, Irregular Immigrants and COVID-19 in Malaysia

This paper addresses issues related to irregular immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of providing a better understanding of the migration process in Malaysia. This article uses Foucauldian biopolitics as a theoretical framework to explain state practices on immigrant bodies. Firstly, it provides a general picture of irregular immigration in Southeast Asia and Malaysia; secondly, it summarises the effects of the pandemic; and lastly it provides an overall outlook of irregular immigrants and the practices they were exposed to at this time. This study adopts exploratory and explanatory qualitative research design and data collection techniques such as document analysis of non-governmental reports on immigrants, official statistics, declarations and articles produced by third party organisations and interviews with experts. This paper then adopts a post-structuralist perspective within an interpretative paradigm to comprehend the main problems, social arrangements and rationality of institutional dynamics of the management of irregular immigrants. The main findings show that increasing human rights violations of irregular migrants generate from a biopolitical mentality.

Learning Morality with Siblings: The Untold Tale of a Mid-Twentieth Century Taiwanese Family

This article uses a new theoretical and methodological framework to reconstruct a story of two children from fieldnotes collected by anthropologists Arthur and Margery Wolf in rural Taiwan (1958 to 1960). Through the case of a brother–sister dyad, it examines the moral life of young children and provides a rare glimpse into sibling relationship in peer and family contexts. First, combining social network analysis and NLP text-analytics, this article introduces a general picture of these siblings’ life in the peer community. Moreover, drawing from naturalistic observations and projective tests, it offers an ethnographic analysis of how children support each other and assert themselves. It emphasizes the role of child-to-child ties in moral learning, in contrast to the predominant focus of parent–child ties in the study of Chinese families. It challenges assumptions of the Chinese “child training” model and invites us to take children's moral psychology seriously and re-discover their agency.

Current Status of Coal Mining and Some Highlights in the 2030 Development Plan of Coal Industry in Vietnam

Coal mining is one of the key mining industries in Vietnam. Coal is also an important fuel formany other industries. Currently, coal mining is mainly concentrated in Quang Ninh coal basin, theproportion of open-pit coal mining and underground mining is quite similar. However, according toDecision 403/QD-Ttg on approving the adjustment of the Vietnam coal industry development plan up to2020, considering the prospects by 2030, the mining output will be from 51 to 54 million tons by year2025 and from 55 to 57 million tons by 2030. In which, the proportion of underground coal mining willincrease gradually compared with that of open-cast mining, specifically, by 2030, the proportion of thelater compared to that of the former will be only 11%. According to this plan, open-pit coal mines havebeen shifting to underground mining technology, due to the increasingly deep conditions of coal seams.The following article will analyze the current status of coal mining in Vietnam and some highlights of thecoal industry development plan to 2030, in order to provide a general picture of Vietnam’s coal industryin the future.

Complex concepts with varying connotations: In search for conceptual definitions

One of the fundamental challenges for sociology is the interpretation of its key terms, which is determined by the fact that many words of everyday language and scientific discourse are the same despite implying a much higher level of generalization as sociological categories. Certainly, such challenges are more typical for the empirical research - when sociologists turn their theoretical concepts into sets of empirical indicators which have to be clear enough for the respondent to understand and answer the questionnaire and for the sociologist to interpret these answers correctly. Nevertheless, the lack of generally recognized conceptual definitions is no less important, because the general picture of social reality is necessarily made of them (the society is described as either fair, consisting of trustworthy institutions that provide opportunities for being happy, or in the opposite statements). The article presents a possible reconstruction of the strategy that sociologists use in the search for conceptual definitions for such complex concepts with varying connotations as love, happiness, trust and justice. This strategy consists of two steps: focus on the macro-sociological dimension of the phenomena under study as determining its various manifestations and everyday interpretations (the key step in the study of love and happiness); and identification of objective and subjective indicators of the phenomenon under study (the key step in the study of trust and justice). For instance, in the study of love and happiness, there is the obvious micro-sociological perspective that implies personal responsibility for being happy and loved, and the hidden macro-sociological perspective that implies social standards for identifying and achieving love and happiness; trust is defined as a source of social order, cooperation, institutional, organizational and everyday interactions, which reduces the level of uncertainty; in the searches for the conceptual definition of justice, there are two main approaches - the first approach considers justice as one of many grounds for developing some theoretical model; the second approach reconstructs justice either as an ideal political-philosophical model of social order or as a means of the comparative analysis of its practical implementations.

Aluminum in Bottom Sediments of the Lower Silesian Rivers Supplying Dam Reservoirs vs. Selected Chemical Parameters

The study was carried out on sediments collected from three rivers: Nysa Szalona, Strzegomka and Bystrzyca flowing in southwestern Poland. The content of Al in sediments and in bottom water was determined in relation to chemical conditions. The study was carried out in a four-year cycle, during spring and autumn. The aim of the study was to determine the level and accumulation of aluminum in sediments of rivers supplying dam reservoirs storing water for consumption. The sediments studied were mineral in nature, with neutral pH and moderate sulfate content. The level of Al and heavy metals in the sediments was the highest in the Nysa Szalona River and the lowest in the Strzegomka River, which was also evident in the concentration factor (CF). In terms of season, higher Al contents were recorded in sediments in autumn than in spring, which was also reflected in the concentration factor (CF). Along the course of the river, a gradual decrease in Al levels was observed in successive tributaries in the Nysa Szalona and Strzegomka Rivers, while there was no apparent regularity for the Bystrzyca. Against this background, a comparison of extreme sites below the springs and at the reservoir outlet shows that values were higher in the Nysa Szalona below the springs, and lower in the Strzegomka and Bystrzyca below the reservoir outlet. The general picture of Al and heavy metal loading of the studied sediments shows the lowest loading for the Strzegomka, only the enrichment factor (EF) was the lowest for the Nysa Szalona: metal pollution index (MPI)—S < B < NS, contamination factor (Cf)—S < B < NS, degree of contamination (DC)—S < NS < B, EF—NS < B < S, geoaccumulation index (Igeo)—S < B < NS, CF—S < NS < B. There was no effect of catchment size and river length on Al levels in sediments.

UKRAINIAN ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE: HISTORY, PROFITS AND LOSSES, EXPECTATIONS AND PROSPECTS

An attempt has been made to outline in a historical and chronological way the main features, achievements and problems of the Academy of Architecture in Ukraine, from 1945 to the present. These are the Academy of Architecture of the USSR, transformed in 1945 from the Ukrainian branch of the Academy of Architecture of the USSR (1944), the Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the USSR, transformed from the Academy of Architecture in 1955, the liquidation of this Academy in 1963, the restoration of the Academy in 1992. year in the status of the Ukrainian Academy of Architecture. Based on the involvement of little-known factual material outlines the activities and practical and theoretical guidelines of the five presidents of the Academy of Architecture - Vladimir Zabolotny (1945-1955), Anatoly Komar (1955-1959), Pavel Bakuma (1959-1963), Valentyn Shtolko (1992–2020), Oleg Sleptsov (since September 2021), as well as the peculiarities of actual achievements and radiant delusions of lost perspectives, unfulfilled desires and urgent needs of the architectural and architectural shops of Ukraine during the last almost eighty years. Among other things, the achievements of the Academy on the way of researching the architectural heritage of Ukraine, the care of V. Zabolotny for research in this area are shown; highlights the dynamics of transformation of candidate dissertations in architecture from design and descriptive to the actual scientific, as they are now; the range of problems that accompanied the Ukrainian Academy of Architecture after its restoration in 1992 is depicted, as well as the vastness of important scientific and creative achievements of its academics and corresponding members, in particular in the field of publishing basic scientific works; finally, for the first time, it is proposed to illustrate the general picture of the formation and formation of the forms of activity of the Academy of Architecture during its existence; the prospects of further functioning are outlined and aspects of understanding the role of the Ukrainian Academy of Architecture in the modern architectural world, not only the Ukrainian one, are singled out.

The ‘Dutch Case’ and Its Civilizational Dimensions: Situating the Transition Debate to Capitalism

The Netherlands is considered to be an exemplary case of study of the transition to capitalism. Most studies, however, lack a comprehensive interpretation synthesizing the different aspects and providing a summarized idea of this complex situation. The perception and pursuit of the civilization perspective outlined by M. Weber and F. Braudel, enables the identification of the basic dimensions of early capitalism in the Netherlands. The debate on the transition to capitalism is used as a methodology and interpretative forum for approximation of the views of both scientists and their further development through the prism of contemporary views. The general picture of the epoch of the 17th century outlines the idea that the country has not been completely transformed into capitalist but the process had already started. Certain cultural, economic and political preconditions and factors had contributed to its development whilst it was dependent on their combination both in internal and European and global context. It was found that to a lesser degree the role of the socio-cultural dimensions of capitalism is outlined, which may be based on the factual situation as well as on its incomplete interpretation in the different studies. The pluralistic explanation of the transition to capitalism renders it possible to clarify this assumption and use it in subsequent studies.