Globalisation Scepticism in the Visegrad Countries

Recent developments in the European Union revealed significant differences between the Visegrad countries and the remaining members of the EU. The enlargement euphoria of the first decade of the 21st century was replaced by certain enlargement fatigue, manifesting itself not only in concrete governmental policies but also in the public opinion towards the EU. As European integration and globalisation are parallel processes, declining support for European integration must not necessarily be the result of disagreement with specific policies and should be examined in the broader context of globalisation fears and anxieties. The article describes variations in globalisation scepticism between the group of Visegrad countries and the remaining countries of the EU as well as variations within the Visegrad group itself, focusing on the main drivers of economic globalisation – international trade, foreign direct investment, and immigration. The development of public opinion since the financial and economic crisis in 2009 indicates that Visegrad countries should not be treated as a uniform bloc of globalisation sceptics as there are significant differences in opinion between the more pessimistic Czechs and Slovaks and the more optimistic Poles and Hungarians. Their globalisation scepticism also varies across different dimensions of globalisation and is fuelled by different motivations.

Accounting Start-up Time of Parallel Processes in Amdahl’s Law

The conventional form of Amdahl’s law states that speedup of calculations in a multiprocessor machine is limited by the definite constant value just due to the existence of some non-parallelizable part in any algorithm. This brief paper considers one more general reason, which prevents a growth of parallel performance: processes that implement distributed task cannot start simultaneously and hence every process adds some start-up time, also reducing by that the gain from a parallel processing. The simple formula, proposed here to extend Amdahl’s law, leads to a less optimistic picture in comparison with classical results: for large amount of processor units the modified law does not approach to constant but vanishes. This is the result of competition between two factors: decreasing of calculation duty and increasing of start-up time when a number of parallel processes grows. The effect may be subdued by means of specific regularity in launching parallel processes.

Hindrances in port digitalization? Identifying problems in adoption and implementation

Digitalization has an impact on all domains of maritime transport and logistics. Ports’ ability to act as a part of digital networks and information chains is vital for its competitiveness. This requires means and prerequisites to integrate with contemporary technology platforms and system architectures. Such readiness should exist in different parallel processes taking place in organizations of port communities. Successful digitalization requires focused technology management ensuring system and data transfer interoperability. The paper addresses problems, obstacles, and hindrances that ports are currently facing in their digitalization efforts. Interoperability and stakeholder interaction is significant, particularly between the port management, municipal ownership, and business operators and vendors. In the contemporary port development, environmental regulations have an effect on the level and effectiveness of digitalization. The future development of port digitalization will be dependent on the port capabilities to adopt and implement reliable and adoptable technologies with clear vision of the future.

Seasonal patterns of steppe landscapes functioning of the Karadag nature reserve

The article is devoted to the study of steppe landscapes functioning of the Karadag nature reserve for the period of 6 years (2014-2019). The article uses a methodical approach to the assessment of intraday states of weather conditions to diagnose the nature of the steppe landscapes functioning. As results of the steppe landscapes functioning during the whole year the categories “development”, “destruction” both prerequisites and results of landscapes’ functioning, “accumulation” of prerequisites of landscapes development, and also mixed categories are distinguished. In general, the considered territory in the period from 2014 to 2019 is characterized by 85 variations of weather types. Considering of the steppe landscapes functioning in separate seasons, it is noted that, relatively alternating among them, in the winter period dominate the process of functioning prerequisites accumulation of steppe landscapes, and the process of prerequisites and results destruction of steppe landscapes functioning. The accumulation process is noted as the main result of steppe landscapes functioning in the spring season. It is dominant and fluctuates within 62.8 % and 96/8 % of the total number of functioning processes in steppe landscapes. The main result of functioning revealed in the summer season is development. It accounts for 63.2% (in 2014) to 99.9% (in 2015) of the diagnostic signs exhibited in steppe landscapes. In the autumn season the destruction process prevails, in a complex with parallel processes of various results of the steppe landscapes functioning.

Introduction

In the first chapter we set the scene for the books overarching question: How did early modern indigenous Sami inhabitants in interior northwest Fennoscandia build institutions for governance of natural resources? We explain why we consider self-governance and colonialism as two parallel processes that are not mutually exclusive and how the book contributes to the discussion about the nature of indigenous peoples’ rights to land and water by focusing on early modern strategies for natural resource use. This can contribute to the discussion about decolonization of present-day practices and policies. We explain why an interdisciplinary approach is required that not only focuses on social organization but also analyzes how societies and ecological settings were interwoven.

Parallel processes of temporal control in the supplementary motor area and the frontoparietal circuit

Durations in the several seconds' range are cognitively accessible during active timing. Functional neuroimaging studies suggest the engagement of basal ganglia (BG) and supplementary motor area (SMA). However, their functional relevance and arrangement remain unclear because non-timing cognitive processes temporally coincide with the active timing. To examine the potential contamination by parallel processes, we introduced a sensory control and a motor control to the duration reproduction task. By comparing their hemodynamic functions, we decomposed the neural activities in multiple brain loci linked to different cognitive processes. Our results show a dissociation of two cortical neural circuits: the SMA for both active timing and motor preparation, followed by a prefrontal-parietal circuit related to duration working memory. We argue that these cortical processes represent duration as the content but at different levels of abstraction, while the subcortical structures including BG and thalamus provide the logistic basis of timing by coordinating temporal framework across brain structures.

Irritability, Defiant and Obsessive-Compulsive Problems Development from Childhood to Adolescence

Little is known about the coexistence of oppositionality and obsessive-compulsive problems (OCP) in community children and how it affects their development until adolescence to prevent possible dysfunctions. The co-development of oppositional defiant dimensions and OCP is studied in 563 children (49.7% female) from ages 6 to 13 years, assessed yearly with measures answered by parents and teachers. A 4-class model based on Latent Class Growth Analysis for three parallel processes (irritability, defiant, and OCP) was selected, which showed adequate fitting indexes. Class 1 (n = 349, 62.0%) children scored low on all the measures. Class 2 (n = 53, 9.4%) contained children with high OCP and low irritability and defiant. Class 3 (n = 108, 19.2%) clustered children with high irritability and defiant and low OCP. Class 4 (n = 53, 9.4%) clustered comorbid irritability, defiant, and OCP characteristics. The classes showed different clinical characteristics through development. The developmental co-occurrence of irritability and defiant plus obsessive-compulsive behaviors is frequent and adds severity through development regarding comorbidity, peer problems, executive functioning difficulties, and daily functioning. The identification of different classes when combining oppositional problems and OCP may be informative to prevent developmental dysfunctions and to promote good adjustment through development.

The Organizer and Its Signaling in Embryonic Development

Germ layer specification and axis formation are crucial events in embryonic development. The Spemann organizer regulates the early developmental processes by multiple regulatory mechanisms. This review focuses on the responsive signaling in organizer formation and how the organizer orchestrates the germ layer specification in vertebrates. Accumulated evidence indicates that the organizer influences embryonic development by dual signaling. Two parallel processes, the migration of the organizer’s cells, followed by the transcriptional activation/deactivation of target genes, and the diffusion of secreting molecules, collectively direct the early development. Finally, we take an in-depth look at active signaling that originates from the organizer and involves germ layer specification and patterning.

Specifics of Modern Ukrainian Feminism (Sociophilosophical Section of the Problem)

The article is devoted to the study of the specifics of modern Ukrainian feminism as a theoretical discourse and practical experience. As a theory, feminism is presented in a wide cross-sectional range of research (in history, philosophy, psychology, literary studies, political science, cultural research, pedagogy, etc.) from gender studies to essays on women's history. Observing the thirty-year progress of feminism in Ukraine and not delving into the discussion of, relatively speaking, "aboriginality" / "foreignness" of feminism for Ukraine, we can draw certain conclusions about the peculiarities of its progress in this area. It seems that this specificity consists in two parallel processes that directly relate to feminism. Namely: the development of the so-called "open" pro-Western type of feminism and a parallel process – the formation of the "disguised" feminism, adapted to the level of mass consciousness of modern Ukrainians. The "open" feminism is actively developing in Ukraine primarily in the academic environment, and in this respect it, as an emancipatory movement, coincides with Ukrainian democratic nationalism as a process of national liberation of Ukrainians. The "disguised" Ukrainian feminism, using traditional vocabulary and mythology, fills them with a fundamentally new meaning. The most striking example of such transformations is the phenomenon of berehynstvo (female guardianship). Based on the analysis, the author concludes that the specificity of modern Ukrainian feminism is its "dual nature": "openness" of the Western type of feminism, most characteristic of academic feminist discourse in Ukraine and "disguise" of feminist practices that "fit" the stereotypes of mass consciousness of modern Ukrainians’ traditional mythological ideas. The originality of these processes, their adequacy to the current state of development of the Ukrainian society, which, in the end, allows us to call it "Ukrainian feminism", is also noted.