Quantum or Classical Perception of Atomic Motion

An assessment is given as to the extent to which pure unitary evolution, as distinct from environmental decohering interaction, can provide the transition necessary for an observer to perceive quantum dynamics as classical. This has implications for the interpretation of quantum wavefunctions as a characteristic of ensembles or of single particles and the related question of wavefunction “collapse”. A brief historical overview is presented as well as recent emphasis on the role of the semi-classical “imaging theorem” in describing quantum to classical unitary evolution.

The Physics of Cellular Decision Making During Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition

The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process by which cells lose epithelial traits, such as cell–cell adhesion and apico-basal polarity, and acquire migratory and invasive traits. EMT is crucial to embryonic development and wound healing. Misregulated EMT has been implicated in processes associated with cancer aggressiveness, including metastasis. Recent experimental advances such as single-cell analysis and temporal phenotypic characterization have established that EMT is a multistable process wherein cells exhibit and switch among multiple phenotypic states. This is in contrast to the classical perception of EMT as leading to a binary choice. Mathematical modeling has been at the forefront of this transformation for the field, not only providing a conceptual framework to integrate and analyze experimental data, but also making testable predictions. In this article, we review the key features and characteristics of EMT dynamics, with a focus on the mathematical modeling approaches that have been instrumental to obtaining various useful insights.

WAIVER OF HUMAN RIGHTS: A RIGHT OR A CHALLENGE?

The author discusses the new tendencies of waiving human rights. In the article they are qualified as a new emerging institute of Human Rights Law. The definition of human rights waiver is discussed, as well as the necessity to give a legal regulation to it. The author presents the existing definitions of human rights waiver, but does not share any of them, particularly most of them define human rights waiver as not utilization of human rights, but the author calls this definition as a passive application of human rights, whilst waiver of human rights has its own content which is discussed in the article in details. Human rights waiver is discussed in the light of the co-relation of the right to autonomy and the principle of paternalism. The author presents some case law on waiver of human rights, which is very rare. Specifically, the author presents the case law of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The legal positions of the mentioned bodies can serve as good criteria in dealing with human rights waiver. Particularly, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia held a decision dedicated to this issue and qualified waiver of human rights as an exception from the classical perception of human rights ideology. The author agrees with idea reflected in decision of the Constitutional Court concerning the correlation of human rights waiver and right to autonomy, according to which right to autonomy cannot be absolute and that absolute waiver of human rights can, in its turn, violate the human rights. In this context the author highlights the necessity of defining the limits of human rights waiver offering two important directions for discussion of this question; the scope of the rights which can and cannot be waived, the framework and criteria of a waiver of human rights.

SCALING AND EFFECTS OF SOCIO-CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION

In today’s context, accelerating the pace of change in the global business environment, standard planning methods, management, and asset allocation methods have become obsolete. The paper analyses transformational impact of globalisation on social and cultural spheres of human life. It is noted that at the present stage of world economy development, mankind enters the era of a new economic paradigm – the knowledge economy, which transforms not only the business landscape in general, but also changes the classical perception of national culture and society. The social and cultural factors are important for effective positioning of the national economies in the global arena, which provides ongoing evaluation and improvement, ensuring the effective use of both.

Responsibility to Protect and Human Security: Doctrines Destroying or Strengthening the Sovereignty?

Summary Responsibility to protect (R2P) and human security are controversial doctrines which reflect the international politics rather than purely defend their original legal aims. Simultaneously both doctrines demonstrate the change in the international law and politics as well as challenge the classical perception of the sovereignty. Through the practical examples the present article illustrates how these doctrines are affecting to sovereignty and discusses some selected problems attached to the interventions applied under these principles. Essentially the article argues that, despite their noble ideology, doctrines of R2P and human security are too extensive to be applied coherently by the international community, but that they can nevertheless have potential to strengthen sovereignty.

Stalling for Time

Carel Fabritius left behind few but important works of art. We are concerned here with the View in Delft, and attempt to make two points about it. The first is that this small painting manages to break away from the classical perception of perspective, an endeavor informed mostly by new findings in the field of optics of the time. The second point, theoretically related to the first, stresses compositional elements that would bring View in Delft closer to a meditation on the fleetingness of life, making it a "town-scape" vanitas.

Mechanical Effects in Molecular Crystals – A Revival

"The classical perception of single crystals of molecular materials as rigid and brittle entities has downsized the research interest in mechanical effects that had been initiated and was active back in the 1980s. More recently, the modern analytical techniques for mechanical, electron-microscopic, structural, spectroscopic and kinematic characterization have contributed to accumulate compelling evidence that under certain circumstances, even some seemingly rigid single crystals can deform, bend, twist, hop, wiggle or perform other ""acrobatics"" that are atypical for non-soft matter. These examples contribute to a paradigm shift in our understanding of the elasticity of molecular crystals and also provide direct mechanistic insight into the structural perturbations at the limits of the susceptibility of ordered matter to internal and external mechanical force. As the relevance of motility and reshaping of molecular crystals is being recognized by the crystal research community as a demonstration of a very basic concept–conversion of thermal or light energy into work–a new and exciting crystal chemistry around mechanically responsive single crystals rapidly unfolds."

Monarchia absolutna ludwika XIV. Nowe ścieżki badawcze

The classical perception of French absolutism, which so far has been identified with the system of powerful rule of the monarch with only theoretical limitations, should be subject to revision. A reinterpretation of the manner of exercising power is inevitable, especially having adopted the approach where absolutist theory is confronted with the practice of rule. Such a perspective reveals practical limitations of the monarch’s power, which obstruct a full performance of prerogatives arising from the theory of absolutist rule. !e interests of historians in the issues relating to the functioning of a state yielded a new approach to Louis’ XIV absolutism, while the vast body of pertinent works creates a situation where it is easy to lose one’s bearings in the maze of equivocal answers. Through a brief summary of the major themes in conducted studies, the article aims to demonstrate the complexity of the problem that French absolutism represents today

Physicochemical characterization of copper slag and alternatives of friendly environmental management

Copper slags are usually considered a waste and characterized only by the final copper content. Large and increasing quantities are being produced and disposed of by stockpiling near the metallurgical plants. This paper stresses the importance of physico-chemical characterization when considering uses for slags and the possibility of recovering the valuable metals still remaining in this phase. The purpose of this work is to support and encourage a change in the classical perception of slag from a ?waste? to a ?resource?; promote the development of new technologies for treatment to recover residual values and encourage a search for new uses; with the ultimate objective of eliminating slag stockpiles thereby diminishing the environmental impact of smelting operations. Some of the results of experimental laboratory work done by the authors and examples of commercial applications will be shown. A promising future for valorization and utilization of slags is expected and will provide an example when considering the use of all the other large quantities of wastes generated by the mining industry.

Non-Sulfate-Reducing, Syntrophic Bacteria Affiliated with Desulfotomaculum Cluster I Are Widely Distributed in Methanogenic Environments

ABSTRACT The classical perception of members of the gram-positive Desulfotomaculum cluster I as sulfate-reducing bacteria was recently challenged by the isolation of new representatives lacking the ability for anaerobic sulfate respiration. For example, the two described syntrophic propionate-oxidizing species of the genus Pelotomaculum form the novel Desulfotomaculum subcluster Ih. In the present study, we applied a polyphasic approach by using cultivation-independent and culturing techniques in order to further characterize the occurrence, abundance, and physiological properties of subcluster Ih bacteria in low-sulfate, methanogenic environments. 16S rRNA (gene)-based cloning, quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization, and real-time PCR analyses showed that the subcluster Ih population composed a considerable part of the Desulfotomaculum cluster I community in almost all samples examined. Additionally, five propionate-degrading syntrophic enrichments of subcluster Ih bacteria were successfully established, from one of which the new strain MGP was isolated in coculture with a hydrogenotrophic methanogen. None of the cultures analyzed, including previously described Pelotomaculum species and strain MGP, consumed sulfite, sulfate, or organosulfonates. In accordance with these phenotypic observations, a PCR-based screening for dsrAB (key genes of the sulfate respiration pathway encoding the alpha and beta subunits of the dissimilatory sulfite reductase) of all enrichments/(co)cultures was negative with one exception. Surprisingly, strain MGP contained dsrAB, which were transcribed in the presence and absence of sulfate. Based on these and previous findings, we hypothesize that members of Desulfotomaculum subcluster Ih have recently adopted a syntrophic lifestyle to thrive in low-sulfate, methanogenic environments and thus have lost their ancestral ability for dissimilatory sulfate/sulfite reduction.