The role of the officers’ mess in inclusive military leader social identity construction

Leadership is fundamentally a social phenomenon, and a leader’s legitimacy in personal and social terms is determined partly by how effectively they incorporate the prototypical leader identity. Using the historical British officers’ mess as a case study, this article presents a conceptual examination of the function place can perform in the construction of collective leader identities and the interconnected influence shared history, materiality and social interaction can have in encouraging inclusivity in leadership. Leadership identity is an integral feature of military life which has historically drawn on complex cultural and legal traditions to underwrite the individual’s right to command. This article will argue that social places such as the officers’ mess have been utilised as a means of cultivating cohesion in the past and that they may have an application in furthering inclusive collective leader identities in the future.

A Subconscious Ascent: Exploring the Architecture of the Metaphoric Staircase

<p>This research explores the significance of the stair as a spatial and symbolic architectural experience. The stepped form integrated with architecture. The stair is an integral feature of architecture which has the potential to be specifically designed to enhance space and create particular experiences. A stair is not only a functional object, but a medium for design. Metaphorical staircases are absent in contemporary architecture as a loss of meaning has resulted in monotonous designs devoid of figurative or poetic significance. The staircase has been a fundamental component of architecture since Neolithic times, however has recently been neglected. The stepped form has represented many themes including hierarchy, transcendence, or authority. In contrast, the contemporary staircase has embraced pragmatics. Safety restrictions, efficiency, and budget constraints, result in disregard for aesthetics and meaning. Film provides a behavioural setting in which to analyse how people move, behave, interact, and experience staircases. A range of films will be analysed to identify techniques for meaningful stair design. The influence of surreal qualities will also be determined to enhance an experience. Surreal imagery offers the opportunity to create dreamlike space, activating the subconscious. The metaphoric connotations of staircases will be explored through six research categories; the stair as Symbolic, Illusive, Transitional, Kinetic, Psychological, and Iconic. Design case studies will then investigate the intersection of the staircase as architecture, filmic representation, and surreal experience. The stepped building Casa Malaparte in Italy acts as a reference model for the successful integration of these concepts. With influence of these themes, the staircase can once again become widely acknowledged as architecture.</p>

A Subconscious Ascent: Exploring the Architecture of the Metaphoric Staircase

<p>This research explores the significance of the stair as a spatial and symbolic architectural experience. The stepped form integrated with architecture. The stair is an integral feature of architecture which has the potential to be specifically designed to enhance space and create particular experiences. A stair is not only a functional object, but a medium for design. Metaphorical staircases are absent in contemporary architecture as a loss of meaning has resulted in monotonous designs devoid of figurative or poetic significance. The staircase has been a fundamental component of architecture since Neolithic times, however has recently been neglected. The stepped form has represented many themes including hierarchy, transcendence, or authority. In contrast, the contemporary staircase has embraced pragmatics. Safety restrictions, efficiency, and budget constraints, result in disregard for aesthetics and meaning. Film provides a behavioural setting in which to analyse how people move, behave, interact, and experience staircases. A range of films will be analysed to identify techniques for meaningful stair design. The influence of surreal qualities will also be determined to enhance an experience. Surreal imagery offers the opportunity to create dreamlike space, activating the subconscious. The metaphoric connotations of staircases will be explored through six research categories; the stair as Symbolic, Illusive, Transitional, Kinetic, Psychological, and Iconic. Design case studies will then investigate the intersection of the staircase as architecture, filmic representation, and surreal experience. The stepped building Casa Malaparte in Italy acts as a reference model for the successful integration of these concepts. With influence of these themes, the staircase can once again become widely acknowledged as architecture.</p>

Hand Tracking for Immersive Virtual Reality: Opportunities and Challenges

Hand tracking has become an integral feature of recent generations of immersive virtual reality head-mounted displays. With the widespread adoption of this feature, hardware engineers and software developers are faced with an exciting array of opportunities and a number of challenges, mostly in relation to the human user. In this article, I outline what I see as the main possibilities for hand tracking to add value to immersive virtual reality as well as some of the potential challenges in the context of the psychology and neuroscience of the human user. It is hoped that this paper serves as a roadmap for the development of best practices in the field for the development of subsequent generations of hand tracking and virtual reality technologies.

Γameσσetai/γe Maσσetai: Homer Iliad 9.394 and the Constitutive Role of Irregularity

This paper uses a textual decision at Iliad 9.394 to argue for irregularity as a functional and meaningful principle in the constitution of the Homeric text. In contrast to almost all recent major editions, I argue that the ‘irregular’ MSS γαμέσσεται should be preferred to the Aristarchaean conjecture γε μάσσεται. Aristarchus’ widely adopted emendation, I suggest, is the product of a drive towards standardization that is still operative in Homeric text-critical practice. This paper opposes that standardization with the evidence of ancient, perhaps pre-Alexandrian, responses to Iliad 9.394, in which the ‘irregularity’ of γαμέσσεται is embraced as an interpretive opportunity. The formal disruptions of γαμέσσεται, I propose, can be understood by locating them both within the immediate context of Iliad 9 and within the wider thematics of irregularity that mark the character of Achilles. This paper thus attempts to reframe our approach to the role of irregularity in the Iliad as an integral feature of meaning rather than grounds for suspecting the integrity of the text.

An integral feature of porous silicon and its classification

Porous silicon is currently one of the most studied materials which is used both in the areas traditional for silicon, such as electronics and optoelectronics, and in completely unconventional ones, such as catalysis, energetics, biology, and medicine. The multiple possibilities of the material are revealed due to the fact that its structure can be radically different depending on the properties of the initial silicon and the methods of obtaining porous phases. The use of any material inevitably leads to the need to classify its various forms. The purpose of the article was to find the most significant parameter that can be used as the basis for the classification of porous silicon.Historically, the terminology defined by the IUPAC pore size classification has been used to classify porous silicon. Due to the authority of IUPAC, many researchers have considered this terminology to be the most successful and important, and the radial pore size has often been regarded as a main parameter containing the most important properties of porous silicon. Meanwhile, the unique properties and practical application of porous silicon are based on its developed inner surface. The method of nitrogen porosimetry, which is simple in its practical implementation, is often used in scientific literature to determine this value.The most suitable integral parameter for the classification of porous silicon, regardless of its structure and morphology, is the total specific internal surface (cm-1) that can be relatively easily established experimentally and is of fundamental importance for almost all applications of porous silicon. The use of this value does not exclude the use of other parameters for a more detailed classification

Role of Czech Republic in the Development of Belarus Civil Society

The reaction of the Belarusian authorities to the August 2020 demonstrations, drew strong condemnation from the Czech Republic. The article analyzes the reasons for such close attention of the Czech officials to the Belarusian problems. The historical context of the Czech Republic’s support for the Belarusian opposition is outlined; revealed the human rights and value aspects of the foreign policy of Prague, where support for democracy and human rights is an integral feature of Czech diplomacy at its present stage of development. The author examines the «Program of Transformational Cooperation» of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He comes to the conclusion that the Belarusian direction has always been among the priorities and has not disappeared from the agenda. However, the stability of the Belarusian regime led to the fact that the Czechs began to contribute to the development of democracy in other countries, where its «implantation» was more real.

Seismic behaviour of post-tensioned concrete shear wall: a review

Shear walls are specifically meant to withstand lateral forces exerted by either wind or earthquake loads on a structure. Due to their superior strength and stiffness, shear walls have been an integral feature of mid-rise and high- rise structures over the past two decades. Various studies have been performed in this field. Usage of post-tensioned tendons in the traditional shear wall is one of the major advancements in recent times so as to increase the stiffness and reduce the damage incurred by destructive earthquakes. The key advantage of post-tensioned shear walls is the potential to re-centre after a devastating earthquake which is lacking in conventional reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls that rely on yielding creating large deformations. Moreover, compared with conventional shear wall construction, post-tensioned shear walls can reduce the use of vertical mild steel reinforcement. This results in materials being used more effectively and eliminates congestion. This paper seeks to review and analyze the research studies based on post- tensioned shear wall focusing on works published within the last decade. Firstly, the benefits of using post-tensioned shear walls in seismically active areas are illustrated. The behaviour and parameters controlling the performance of post-tensioned shear walls are then studied. A critical study of the factors responsible for the performance of post- tensioned shear wall is the primary objective of this review. Keywords- Shear Wall, Post-Tensioning, Energy-Dissipation, Self-Centering

The concept of rationality in the sociology of Max Weber and its impact on modern social sciences

The paper analyzes Max Weber’s concepts of rationality and rationalization as components of modernization processes in modern society. The author reconstructs Weber’s interpretation of “spiritual factors” of social development, which emerge in the ethos of Protestantism. The research demonstrates how Weber’s study of capitalism in terms of rationality corresponds with concepts of other classics of German sociology, such as Ferdinand Tönnies, Werner Sombart, Georg Simmel and others. The article emphasizes the relevance of Weber’s sociology for XX— XXI centuries and how its basic concepts and methodological approaches have been further developed by scholars, including Ukrainian ones. Weber’s concept of rationality is applicable not only to the mental-epistemological sphere, it also acquires a social meaning. This approach has gained recognition in phenomenological sociology, theory of social systems, communicative theory and more. In addition to the formal rationality of the economy, modern social sciences use such concepts as social, aesthetic, ethical, environmental, and practical rationality. Weber’s “diagnosis of the age” is still a component of the “diagnosis” of modern society. The gap between values and interests remains an integral feature of the “risks and threats society” in the XXI century. This situation is especially evident in international relations, when “real politics” (Realpolitik), based on interests, becomes insensitive to “value postulates”. The author also discovers ways of value (moral and ethical) reclamation of modern society, particularly in the concepts of “ethical economy”, universalist ethics of discourse, global ethos and more. Keywords: purposive rationality, rationality (formal, material, communicative, systemic), value, ethos.

SEMANTICS OF THE CONSTRUCTIONS WITH SPLIT INFINITIVE

Objective of this article is to define the exact number of split infinitives and the most common splitters in the construction, identify groups of studied constructions united by an integral feature and to determine the semantic features of constructions with a split infinitive. Applied methods. For the purpose of this research language material is collected on the basis of the corpora of texts such as the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English. The examples of the phenomenon are selected to conduct a semantic experiment using the method of expert assessments, which will reveal the semantic features of constructions with a split infinitive. The informants (native speakers) are asked to grade the sentences with the reference to the norm of standard English and leave their personal comments on the use of split infinitive constructions. Results The acquired data is analyzed from the viewpoint of semantics. As a result of the research the semantic features of split infinitives are described and the difference in semantics of split and usual infinitives is established. Conclusion. The construction with a split infinitive in comparison with the usual infinitive introduces different information to the sentence. Putting an adverb directly before a verb allows to clarify the statement, gives a narrow focus and establishes a semantic connection with a specific verb.