A Concept for Solving the Sustainability of Cities Worldwide

Considering that more than half of the world’s population today lives in cities and consumes about 80% of the world’s energy and that there is a problem with drinking water supply, this paper presents a way to solve the problem of the sustainability of cities by enabling their complete independence from external sources of energy and drinking water. The proposed solution entails the use of Seawater Steam Engine (SSE) technology to supply cities with electricity, thermal energy and drinking water. The system would involve the seasonal storage of electricity and thermal energy, supported by geothermal heat pumps. The strategy of the distribution network would be based on the original concept of the “loop”. In cities that do not have enough space, SSE collectors would be placed above the lower parts of the city like “canopies”. The city of Zagreb (Croatia) was selected as a case study due to its size, climate and vulnerability to natural disasters. The results show that Zagreb could become sustainable in 30 years with the allocation of less than 2% of GDP and could become a paradigm of sustainability for cities worldwide. This paper encourages the development of the “Philosophy of Sustainability” because the stated goals cannot be achieved without a change in consciousness.

John Locke’s Philosophy as a Teaching about Human and their Behavior

Purpose. The article is aimed to outline Locke’s position on the basic principles of proper human behavior. Its implementation involves: a) review of the research literature concerning the place of anthropological motive in philosophizing and b) research of his interpretation of human nature and the role of the rational component. Theoretical basis. The author’s approach is based on the conceptual provisions of phenomenology and existentialism. Originality. The work considers the teaching of Locke as the author of the original concept of human nature, which is closely related to the understanding of ethical issues. It is proved that its meaningful development involves the identification of the main components of human nature in the process of determining the basic principles of personality behavior. The original conception of the thinker on the irrational component of human nature and the ways of its rationalization is analyzed. Conclusions. It is substantiated that Locke’s philosophical heritage is not reduced to depersonalized empiricism as epistemology, and his teaching about human is not limited to the abstract study of their rational component. The thinker connects the request of his own epoch with the new vision of human and the basic principles of their behavior on the basis of rationality. Locke is looking for the ways to master the irrational component of human nature and is convinced that in the era of the scientific revolution, the basis of human behavior should be rationality. Locke considers human freedom to be one of the key moments of human nature.

Resonance-Assisted Hydrogen Bond—Revisiting the Original Concept in the Context of Its Criticism in the Literature

In the presented research, we address the original concept of resonance-assisted hydrogen bonding (RAHB) by means of the many-body interaction approach and electron density delocalization analysis. The investigated molecular patterns of RAHBs are open chains consisting of two to six molecules in which the intermolecular hydrogen bond stabilizes the complex. Non-RAHB counterparts are considered to be reference systems. The results show the influence of the neighbour monomers on the unsaturated chains in terms of the many-body interaction energy contribution. Exploring the relation between the energy parameters and the growing number of molecules in the chain, we give an explicit extrapolation of the interaction energy and its components in the infinite chain. Electron delocalization within chain motifs has been analysed from three different points of view: three-body delocalization between C=C-C, two-body hydrogen bond delocalization indices and also between fragments (monomers). A many-body contribution to the interaction energy as well as electron density helps to establish the assistance of resonance in the strength of hydrogen bonds upon the formation of the present molecular chains. The direct relation between interaction energy and delocalization supports the original concept, and refutes some of the criticisms of the RAHB idea.

Sustainability: A Public Policy, a Concept, or a Competence? Efforts on the Implementation of Sustainability as a Transversal Competence throughout Higher Education Programs

The concept of sustainability emerged globally in the 1987 Brundtland Report. Initially, it comprised three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. Over time, sustainability became a global necessity that led to the establishment in 2015 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), so that sustainability became a public policy of extreme urgency. Thirty-four years later, there is an imperative need to expand the original concept not in a public policy but in a competence that graduates of higher education develop, regardless of their studied academic program. We propose sustainability as a transversal competence. Our work describes the path that a higher education institution in Mexico, Tecnologico de Monterrey, has followed to accomplish this task. The new educational model Tec21 based on challenge-based learning experiences has a focus on the development of sustainability competences and actions ownership towards solving the problems described in the 17 SDGs. Our proposed definition for the sustainability transversal competence is: “The student possesses the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for the successful performance of the task and the resolution of problems related to the challenges and opportunities for sustainability in today’s world”. Thus, education is both an objective and a means to achieve all the other SDGs.

SYMBOLIC CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT SIGN

В статье исследуются аспекты вторичной символической концептуализации исходного смысла индоевропейского корня в сознании носителей языка. Основным инструментом вторичной (символической) концептуализации является метафора. В качестве иллюстрации рассматривается пример символической интерпретации первопризнака концепта земля. The article explores aspects of the secondary symbolic conceptualization of the original meaning of the Indo-European root in the consciousness of native speakers. The main instrument of secondary (symbolic) conceptualization is metaphor. As an example of a symbolic interpretation of the original concept sign, we analyze the concept earth. Based on the primary meaning of the Old Russian word «bearing on itself», the macroconcept earth was transformed into symbols of fertility, the birth-giving mother, the goddess, weaving the canvas of life.

To be liberated the Vaisheshika way, or the Vaisheshika attempt at a «Negative Soteriology» by the Indian school of philosophy

The article examines the original concept of the Vaisheshika school, criticized by other Indian philosophers, according to which Self (Atman), freed from the bonds of rebirth (saṃsāra), is a pure substance (dravya), devoid of consciousness, which is believed to be its impermanent quality (guna); the opponents compared the Vaisheshika's liberated Self with a stone or a log. The author proposes an explanation of the Vaisheshika liberation doctrine (soteriology) within the framework of its categoriology, in which consciousness and Atman belong to different categories, respectively, guna and dravya. Vaisheshika proclaims knowledge of the six categories to be the highest spiritual goal (nihshreyasa), which, in turn, comes from the pure Dharma (Merit). The reason why the Vaisheshikas felt obliged to add a pure Dharma as the final step towards liberation (which distinguishes Vaisheshika from other schools, emphasizing the soteriological value of knowledge) is explained by assuming the Dharma's capacity to overcome a dichotomy of merit-demerit (dharma-adharma) as the main factor responsible for the rebirth of an embodied ātman. The pure Dharma, due to all the positive karmic energy accumulated during countless reincarnations of the soul, arises at the very last moment in a person's life to purufy his/her true Atman from the law of karma and rebirth. Since nothing can be said about Atman's future, it is not a "liberation for", but a "liberation from", which can be called a "negative soteriology".

The Peacock Fallacy: Art as a Veblenian Signal

The fact that world-over people seem inexplicably motivated to allocate time and effort to apparently useless cultural practices, like the arts, has led several evolutionary scholars to suggest that these might be costly Zahavian signals correlated with genetic fitness, such as the infamous peacock’s tail. In this paper, I review the fundamental arguments of the hypothesis that art evolved and serves as a costly Zahavian signal. First, I look into the hypothesis that humans exert mate choice for indirect benefits and argue that the data supports mate choice for direct benefits instead. Second, I argue that art practice may well be a costly signal, however not necessarily related to good genes. Third, I suggest that Thorstein Veblen’s original concept of conspicuous signals as social tools to obtain and convey prestige provides a better account than the Zahavian model for the evolution and function of art in society. As a Veblenian signal, art could still have many of the effects suggested for visual art as a Zahavian signal, except not for the indirect benefits of optimal offspring, but for the direct benefits of acquiring and conveying social status.

Complement in ischaemia–reperfusion injury and transplantation

Until recently, the only known condition in which complement could mediate transplant injury was the rare occurrence of antibody-mediated rejection, in which the original concept of antibody immunity against the transplant was supported by complementary proteins present in the serum. This has changed within the last two decades because of evidence that the processes of ischaemia–reperfusion injury followed by T cell–mediated rejection are also critically dependent on components generated by the complement system. We now have a clearer understanding of the complement triggers and effectors that mediate injury, and a detailed map of their local sites of production and activation in the kidney. This is providing helpful guidelines as to how these harmful processes that restrict transplant outcomes can be targeted for therapeutic benefit. Here we review some of the recent advances highlighting relevant therapeutic targets.

Cyberwar Redux

The notion of cyberwar has held a central place in technology and security scholarship for several decades. With the continued aggression of modern government hacking operations, cyberwar has again emerged as a popular frame. This chapter shows how the present reality, though, has strayed far from the original concept and how a closer examination of state activities suggests a scope for hacking that is different and more limited than many expected. Drawing on case studies, this chapter shows how virtually all hacking activities fall short of war. They are instead variants of espionage, sabotage, and subversion. This refined framing offers important implications for deterrence, coercion, and operational practice.

Shell Rounds the Corner on a Whale of a Task

Shell had a problem. It had just spent billions to bring its Appomattox find on line in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). That development featured the oil giant’s eighth and largest floating platform in the region. The host semisubmersible weighed 125,000 metric tons—more than the largest aircraft carrier. Shell lauded its ability to reduce project cost by 40%, based on experience gained from the development of its previous four-column production platforms in the US Gulf, including the Olympus tension-leg platform. It would transfer these learnings to its next project—the Vito find in about 4,000 ft of water, 150 miles southeast of New Orleans. The field could hold up to 300 million BOE. At the same time the plans for Vito were being laid out, shale projects leapt to the forefront in the competition for capex dollars, and due to the comparative investment, they were winning. Industry success across the nation’s shale plays helped flood the market with oil, forcing the price per barrel down. Suddenly, spending big money on megaprojects offshore had lost much of its luster. For the US Gulf to reclaim at least some of its competitive advantage, fields could no longer be developed with massive, high-dollar facilities. A management mandate dictated that a new minimal, repeatable solution be found. After several years of study, a favorite emerged. “The original concept of Vito was much larger,” said Kurt Shallenberger, Vito project manager for Shell. “The development was probably similar in size to the Appomattox project that Shell recently completed—a 40,000-ton topsides, and a 50-year field life with a sizable gas-reinjection component to it.” Shell’s method for arriving at the new development scheme was dubbed “Minimal Technical Scoping”—the company would start with the absolute minimum scope and then justify additions upward. The project mantra was “Simpler is safer.” The results were a simplified topsides design as well as streamlined mooring systems for the host facility. “The redesign took it down to what I call the sweet spot of semisubmersibles—around a 10,000-ton deck,” said Shallenberger. “You had seen examples of that with LLOG’s Delta House, Independence Hub, and others like that. That was the sweet spot to where multiple fabricators can build it, multiple yards can integrate it, multiple companies can install it—and you can generally get 100,000 bbl a day through it. Now you’re in a competitive environment for all the vendors rather than just the one guy in the world who can do this. That’s what really created the opportunity for Vito. We shrunk the size and scope down to a point where it could get to a breakeven price that is competitive with the onshore folks.” According to Shell, the breakeven price for their minimal floater design is less than $35/bbl. Shell locked up key vendors for Vito. Jacobs Engineering Group carried out the detailed engineering and front-end engineering design studies for the Vito topsides. Sembcorp would build the host and integrate the topsides and hull at its Tuas Boulevard yard in Singapore.