Energy breakeven in thermonuclear fusion. An advanced concept for efficient energy input with positive implications for energy saving and the geoscience of climate change

The motivation of the present study is energy generation with thermonuclear fusion. Specifically, it is the attainment of breakeven conditions with a fusionable plasma whereby the output fusion energy is at least equal to the energy expended in creating the plasma and bringing it to fusionable conditions. This objective has eluded the physics community for the past seven decades. It is here suggested that perhaps the reason is that ever-bigger fusion machines are built, which unfortunately have brought results not in line with the expectations, in terms of desired fusion output. The opposite view is taken here, where attention is paid to the energy input, with the objective of minimizing the energy losses. One of the most important losses is a consequence of the limited thermodynamic efficiency of conventional engines that convert heat to work, thus generating the electricity involved in the energy input. This preliminary study shows that the efficiency can be improved if a novel thermodynamic cycle is used with heat recovery and recirculation. No attention is paid in the present study to the applicability of the novel cycle to a working engine but only to its feasibility. After the delineation of the concept, we use a simulation program to confirm that such approach is promising, and the objective of improving the thermodynamic efficiency of conventional heat-engines by at least 10% is realistic. Finally, the economic benefits are quantified of such substantial efficiency improvement on a world-wide scale. Mitigation of the damage to our environment due to the reduced heat rejection is also quantified.

INTERPELACIJA O OBZNANI

Obznana (Proclamation) was a quasi decree, passed on December 29, 1920, which banned the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The debate on the interpellation on Obznana was held on April 8, 1921, according to the rules on interpellation contained in Standing Orders of the Constituent Assembly, dated January 28, 1921. The Minister of the Interior, the creator of Obznana, Milorad Draskovic, was the first to speak at the debate. He stated many reasons why Obznana was passed. Then, the Minister answered the interpellant, the leader of the communists Sima Markovic, for 30 minutes, according to the Rules of Procedure. After wards, several other government and opposition MPs spoke, presenting arguments in favor of or against Obznana. The head of the Agricultural Party, Jovan Jovanović, spoke about Obznana from a legal standpoint, stating that Obznana was passed by the Government in resignation, that it was not published, that it did not have the King's signature, that it was passed without legal authorization and without a legal basis in the Criminal Code. Lawyer Dragutin Pećić stated the opposite view, according to which Obznana had a legal basis in the Constitution, in the Criminal Code and in a few of other legal regulations. He proposed a motivated transition to the agenda, which the Prime Minister Nikola Pasic accepted "as an expression of the Assembly's trust to the Government". With the parliamentary acceptance of Pećić's proposal to move to the agenda, the communist interpellation on Obznana was rejected, and the previous work of the Government regarding Obznana was approved. This paved the way for the adoption of the "Law on Protection for the State".

The role of phonology in Vata adjectival agreement

In realizational theories of morphology, different opinions exist on the relationship between phonology and Vocabulary Insertion. On the one hand, there are separational theories like Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993), which assume that Vocabulary Insertion does not interact with the phonological component of the grammar. These theories predict that the properties of a language's regular phonology never play a role when vocabulary items (VIs) are inserted. The opposite view is held by integrational theories as, for instance, proposed in Wolf (2008). These theories assume that the general phonology of a language can influence Vocabulary Insertion. Based on adjectival agreement in the language Vata, I propose an integrational model that assumes that Vocabulary Insertion applies in an Optimality-Theoretic (Prince & Smolensky 1993) phonology, where regular phonological constraints are active. I propose that the phonology consists of two levels: one level where VIs are inserted and one level for regular phonology.

Assessing spoken-language interpreting

In this study, we applied and evaluated a scoring method known as comparative judgement to assess spoken-language interpreting. This methodological exploration represents an extension of previous efforts to optimise scoring methods for assessing interpreting. Essentially, comparative judgement requires judges to compare two similar objects and make a binary decision about their relative qualities. To evaluate its reliability, validity and usefulness in the assessment of interpreting, we recruited two groups of judges (novice and experienced) to assess 66 two-way English/Chinese interpretations based on a computerised comparative judgement system. Our data analysis shows that the new method produced reliable and valid results across judge types and interpreting directions. However, the judges held polarised opinions about the method’s usefulness: while some considered it convenient, efficient and reliable, the opposite view was expressed by others. We discuss the results by providing an integrated analysis of the data collected, outline the perceived drawbacks and propose possible solutions to the drawbacks. We call for more evidence-based, substantive investigation into comparative judgement as a potentially useful method for assessing spoken-language interpreting in certain settings.

Slovak surnames in the Database of American Family Names

The issue of transcribing proper names from foreign languages into Slovak has received constant attention in Slovak linguistics. The article brings the opposite view. It is devoted to the issue of transcribing surnames from Slovak into English. The starting point of the analysis is the Database of surnames in the United States of America. The article focuses mainly on the adaptation and variability of transcription of surnames with accented letters.

Orality, Literacy and Translation

Though translation activities are more than two millennia old, the most significant activities in this field took place in the 20th century. To be specific, contradictory theoretical positions were taken and entirely new kinds of questions were asked in the second half of this century. Scholars like Susan Bassnett (1998) even claimed that a translation should be treated as an independent and original text. But a number of writers, translators and scholars hold an opposite view. If we consider the translation activities of the ancient western civilizations of the world, we notice that those were mostly commissioned and literal in nature. Contrary to it, the situation in India was different. Though Valmiki and Vyasa composed the Ramayana and the Mahabharata respectively for the first time in Sanskrit, the Ramayanas and Mahabharatas written later in various vernacular languages of India are adaptations or transcreations. A careful analysis of the European, Arabic, and Chinese traditions show that those were literate in comparison with the vernacular Indian tradition that was predominantly oral. This orality gave a lot of freedom to the writers in the vernacular languages in ancient India to be creative and compose new texts. Therefore, orality was the driving force for this creativity and some western scholars’ proposal that a translated text is an original text in not a new concept. The other point I would like to make is that contrary to the popular belief, a literal translation of a literary text is also appreciated more (Newmark 1988:70-71). This position is validated in two of our case studies, i.e. Mohanty et al. (2008) and Mohanty and Sarath Chandra (2014). Therefore, I want to argue that ‘free’ translation was the mainstream in the climate of orality and not in literacy. This free trend endorsed by those scholars who treat translations as original texts is peripheral in the contemporary literate societies in which translations are usually commissioned. I will also argue that the differences between the free and the literal trends in translation are primarily due to the oral and the literate traditions that prevailed in India and in the other parts of the world mentioned above in the olden days.

Counterpossibles, story prefix and trivialism

The aim of this paper is to argue in favor of the view that some counterpossibles are false. This is done indirectly by showing that accepting the opposite view, i.e., one that ascribes truth to each and every counterpossible, results in the claim that every necessarily false theory has exactly the same consequences. Accordingly, it is shown that taking every counterpossible to be true not only undermines the value of debates over various alternative theories and their consequences, but also puts into question the very possibility of such debates. In order to explicate this thesis, the close bond between counterpossibles and the so-called story prefix (i.e., the sentential operator ‘According to fiction F, P’) is explored. A number of possible responses to this criticism are also presented, and it is argued that none of them address the main problem.

The Influence of Generation X and Y Employees on Modern Cities

The employee profile in the business world is becoming increasingly diverse. This change shows that the working population structure of cities has also diversified. The entry of different generation members into business life may mean that they have different perspectives and expectations for the organisations they work for. The main aim of the paper is to investigate the importance of the influence of the characteristics of Generation X and Y employees on professional and urban life. From this perspective, a study was carried out on 235 white‑collar employees working in service, sales and marketing businesses in the private sector in Istanbul in order to investigate the effects of Generation X and Y employee characteristics on working and urban life. The data were obtained in the course of a quantitative study carried out by means of an interview questionnaire using the CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) technique. According to the literature, the entry of different generation members into business life means that they have different perspectives and expectations for the organisations and cities they work for. However, our research shows the completely opposite view that members of different generations do not have different characteristics and expectations.

Liverpool, Louisiana?

This chapter considers the other myth of the war years: that Liverpool was overwhelmingly Confederate in its sympathies. Much contrarian evidence emerges: the port of Liverpool prospered during the war; its trade was always more dependent on the Northern States of America than on the Southern; the depredations of the CSS Florida and the CSS Alabama, warships built on Merseyside for the Confederacy, far from being a source of pride for Liverpool merchants, were for most a threat and an embarrassment. A noisy and partisan support for the Confederacy certainly existed in the port, but perceptions have been clouded by the romance of blockade-running – which accounted for less than 1 per cent of Liverpool’s wartime trade – and by the furore over the building of Confederate warships. The chapter shows that Laird Brothers, who built the Alabama and the notorious Laird rams, were approached to build warships for the Union and agreed to do so. The conclusion is that, while the opposite view cannot be maintained either, the idea that Liverpool was overwhelmingly pro-Confederate is unsustainable.

Reactionaries of the lectern: Universalism, anti-empiricism and corporatism in Austrian (and German) social theory

This article discusses one early manifestation of a recurring theme in social theory and sociology: the relationship between general (‘universal’ or ‘grand’) theory and empirical research. For the early critical theorists, empiricism and positivism were associated with technocratic domination. However, there was one place where the opposite view prevailed: science and empiricism were viewed as forces of social and political progress and speculative social theory as a force of reaction. That place was Red Vienna of the 1920s and early 1930s. We examine how this view came to be widespread among Austro-Marxists, empirical researchers and some members of the Vienna Circle. It focuses on the arguments and institutional power of their opponents: reactionary, universalistic and corporatist social theorists. The debate between Catholic corporatist theory and its empiricist critics is located not merely in Vienna but also within wider debates in the German-speaking world. Finally, we seek to link these lesser-known positions to more familiar strands of social thought, namely, those associated with Weber and, more briefly, Durkheim and Elias.