Begriff (Concept)

The lexeme Begriff marks Goethe’s ongoing reconstruction of the traditional philosophical concept across a variety of disciplinary practices. In its most developed articulations, it also works transcendentally to establish the conditions of possibility for thought and intelligibility on a dynamic plane of verbal experimentation and reinvention that cuts immanently through the world. Unlike the clear and distinct concepts of rationalist metaphysics, which function as fixed universals beyond the reach of the senses, Goethe’s extensive usages and ongoing conceptualizations of Begriff draw on an expressive power within language to generate sequences of cognitive moves and moments of transitional understanding that stand in close relation to each other and can be gathered in graded series to be saved for further observation, description, reflection, and reconfiguration. Through its successive linguistic manifestations, moreover, and in line with Goethe’s heterodox approach to systematic philosophy, Begriff lays out force fields of verbal and philosophical activity and discovery with fluid and permeable borders. In ways comparable to the power of reflective judgment in Kant’s third critique, which dispenses with the categories of the understanding and their determining judgments to work intuitively within the world of living forms (Gestalten), Goethe’s lebendiger Begriff (living concept) proves to be a more encompassing structure of thought and its processes than the conceptual machinery of orthodox metaphysical systems with their regulatory regimes of limit-setting terms. Redeployed as an experimental object of experience, Begriff is, therefore, also anschaulich (visual, accessible to intuition). By offering a dynamic perspective onto the fugitive things of the world—including its thought things—it continually reveals the hidden secrets of its own perpetual becomings.

Aortic and mitral flow quantification using dynamic valve tracking and machine learning: Prospective study assessing static and dynamic plane repeatability, variability and agreement

Background Blood flow is a crucial measurement in the assessment of heart valve disease. Time-resolved flow using magnetic resonance imaging (4 D flow MRI) can provide a comprehensive assessment of heart valve hemodynamics but it relies in manual plane analysis. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of automate the detection and tracking of aortic and mitral valve planes to assess blood flow from 4 D flow MRI. Methods In this prospective study, a total of n = 106 subjects were enrolled: 19 patients with mitral disease, 65 aortic disease patients and 22 healthy controls. Machine learning was employed to detect aortic and mitral location and motion in a cine three-chamber plane and a perpendicular projection was co-registered to the 4 D flow MRI dataset to quantify flow volume, regurgitant fraction, and a peak velocity. Static and dynamic plane association and agreement were evaluated. Intra- and inter-observer, and scan-rescan reproducibility were also assessed. Results Aortic regurgitant fraction was elevated in aortic valve disease patients as compared with controls and mitral valve disease patients ( p < 0.05). Similarly, mitral regurgitant fraction was higher in mitral valve patients ( p < 0.05). Both aortic and mitral total flow were high in aortic patients. Static and dynamic were good (r > 0.6, p < 0.005) for aortic total flow and peak velocity, and mitral peak velocity and regurgitant fraction. All measurements showed good inter- and intra-observer, and scan-rescan reproducibility. Conclusion We demonstrated that aortic and mitral hemodynamics can efficiently be quantified from 4 D flow MRI using assisted valve detection with machine learning.

Applying the EDPS Method to the Research into Thermophysical Properties of Solid Wood of Coniferous Trees

The results of using the EDPS (extended dynamic plane source) method to determine thermophysical properties of solid wood of coniferous trees growing in Slovakia with 0% and 12% equilibrium moisture content are presented in the paper. Solid wood of two different tree species: Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) was used in the research. The research was carried out independently in three anatomical planes. Coefficients of thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat capacity were determined following the research. Comparing the research results to the values determined by other authors and already published models to calculate individual parameters, the fact that the data gathered using the EDPS method can be accepted in case of all studied thermophysical properties can be stated.

Plane-wave domain least-squares reverse time migration with free-surface multiples

Free-surface multiples have been used in the reverse time migration (RTM) procedure to provide additional subsurface illumination. However, imaging multiple reflections with conventional RTM operators generates many crosstalk artifacts. Least-squares RTM (LSRTM) can be used to iteratively suppress crosstalk artifacts of multiples; however, the method is computationally intensive. By applying the linear Radon transformation to hundreds of shots of acquired data to produce dozens of plane-wave gathers, we have developed plane-wave domain LSRTM with free-surface multiples, which could efficiently provide images from the multiples with the crosstalk artifacts effectively suppressed. The proposed method has high computational efficiency when the dynamic plane-wave encoding scheme is used, in which only one or two plane-wave gathers of multiples are migrated at each iteration. We apply the method to numerical Pluto1.5 data and find that the proposed method can reduce most crosstalk artifacts and enhance spatial resolution, using even less computational time relative to RTM with multiples. Furthermore, joint imaging of primaries and multiples by plane-wave LSRTM can provide broader illumination and higher fold for the subsurface when compared with the imaging process with primaries only.

FRACTALS FROM NONLINEAR IFSs OF THE COMPLEX MAPPING FAMILY f(z) = zn + c

To generate exotic fractals, we investigate the construction of nonlinear iterated function system (IFS) using the complex mapping family [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]). A set of [Formula: see text]-values is chosen from the period-1 bulb of the Mandelbrot set, so that each mapping has an attracting fixed point in the dynamic plane. Computer experiments show that a set of arbitrarily chosen [Formula: see text]-values may not be able to generate a fractal. We prove a sufficient condition that if the [Formula: see text]-values are chosen from a specific region related to a circle in the period-1 bulb, the nonlinear IFS with such complex mappings is able to generate exotic fractal. Furthermore, if the set of [Formula: see text]-values possesses a specific symmetry in the Mandelbrot set, then the fractal also exhibits the same symmetry. We present a method of generating aesthetic fractals with [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] symmetry for [Formula: see text] and with [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] symmetry for [Formula: see text].

Thermal properties of selected bee products

Knowledge of bee products’ physical properties has a decisive importance for the monitoring of their quality. Thermophysical parameters are very important properties. Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of selected bee products (honey, bee pollen and perga) were measured by two different methods. For identification of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity transient methods were used: Hot Wire (HW) and Dynamic Plane Source (DPS) method with an instrument Isomet 2104. The principle of measuring process is based on the analysis of timetemperature relation. In the first series of measurements thermal conductivity and diffusivity at constant laboratory temperature of 20 °C were measured. The second series was focused on identification of the changes in the thermophysical parameters during temperature stabilisation in the temperature range of 5–25 °C. For samples with constant temperature standard deviations and probable errors in % were calculated. For relations of thermal parameters to temperature graphical dependencies were obtained. Two different thermophysical methods were used for improvement of data reliability and data statistics.

Thermophysical properties of OSB boards versus equilibrium moisture content

The basic thermophysical properties of oriented strand boards were determined experimentally for use in humid conditions (OSB3) depending on the moisture content. The dependency between the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, specific heat capacity, and the moisture content in the range of 0% to 10%, was examined. The non-stationary extended dynamic plane source (EDPS) experimental method was used. EDPS method was modified for anisotropic materials, i.e. with special considerations of heat-loss effect occurring at the edge of measuring samples, finite geometry of the sample and orthotropic thermal conductivity, for use with anisotropic materials. The validity of the experimental method was verified on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) samples. The error rate of measurements conducted on PMMA samples was less than 3%, and for OSB3 boards it was less than 5.5%. Based on the experimental results, regression equations of the dependency between the monitored properties and the moisture content were determined. In the case of thermal conductivity and thermal capacity, the determined dependencies showed a high correlation rate.