General Observations Research Articles

Rule of law and law and order in the European Union

Purpose. The article is devoted to the analysis of the legal nature, the content of the rule of law as a principle, as well as the legal phenomenon and the conceptual approach to modern human rights. She studies the foreign experience of implementing the rules of the rule of law into national legislation. The role of international organizations in ensuring the rule of law is determined. It is noted that the rule of law is a universal principle. The need for general provision and observance of the rule of law both at the national and international level is recognized by all UN member states, because the rule of law is one of the basic values shared by the European Union and its members. Cornerstone problems of the rule of law, expressed in the implementation of its main principles, are an actual subject of multilateral public discourse: the future of the country and its role in the process of modern development of the world order and the conditions of its globalization depend on their solution. Methodology. In order to achieve the set goal, a comprehensive analysis of the available information regarding the analyzed problem was carried out and conclusions and proposals were formed on their basis. The following methods of scientific knowledge were used during the research: dialectical, systemic-structural, terminological, systemic-functional, historical, normative-dogmatic, generalization method. Originality. As a result of the conducted research, it was established that the concept of the rule of law creates a platform, a basis for the unification of all branches of law, especially taking into account the fact that different branches of our law are composed in a disjointed manner. The constitutional consolidation of the rule of law, the principle of the rule of law determine the sphere of activity of all branches of state power and the methods of their activity. The state should not go beyond the border of the legal field, crossing which, the legal state turns into its antipode. The state cannot use in its activities methods that contradict the principles of the rule of law and the rule of law. Scientific novelty. It has been established that the principle of the rule of law is actually the only effective means of ensuring the inviolability of democracy, as well as one of its main features, and its provision and control is a guarantee of ensuring human rights to the extent that decent living conditions are created for each person. Practical significance. As a result of the analysis, it has been proven that the simple formation of a perfect system of legislation, which enshrines basic human rights and freedoms and defines an effective legislative procedure, is not yet sufficient for building a democratic society in our country. We need not only to enshrine the principle of the rule of law in the Constitution, but also to implement it in our daily activities.

Families of non-tiling domains satisfying Pólya’s conjecture

We show the existence of classes of non-tiling domains satisfying Pólya’s conjecture in any dimension, in both the Euclidean and non-Euclidean cases. This is a consequence of a more general observation asserting that if a domain satisfies Pólya’s conjecture eventually, that is, for a sufficiently large order of the eigenvalues, and may be partioned into p non-overlapping isometric sub-domains, with p arbitrarily large, then there exists an order p0 such that for p larger than p0 all such sub-domains satisfy Pólya’s conjecture. In particular, this allows us to show that families of sectors of domains of revolution with analytic boundary, and thin cylinders satisfy Pólya’s conjecture, for instance. We also improve upon the Li–Yau constant for general cylinders in the Dirichlet case.

Direct numerical simulation of internally heated natural convection in a hemispherical geometry

Internally heated (IH) natural convection can be found in nature, industrial processes, or during a severe accident in a light water reactor. In this accident scenario, the nuclear reactor core and some internal structures can melt down and relocate to the lower head of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and interact with the remaining coolant. Subsequent re-heating and re-melting under decay and oxidation heat creates a transition from a debris bed to a molten pool. The molten pool, which can involve more than hundred tons of dangerously superheated oxidic and metallic liquids, imposes thermo-mechanical loads on the vessel wall that can lead to a thermal and/or structural failure of the vessel and subsequent release of radioactive materials to the reactor pit, and can possibly make its way to the environment. This study uses Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) to investigate homogeneous IH molten pool convection in a hemispherical domain using Nek5000, an open-source spectral element code. With a Rayleigh number of 1.6 × 1011, the highest reached through DNS in this confined hemispherical geometry, and a Prandtl number of 0.5, which corresponds to a prototypic corium, the study provides detailed information on the thermo-fluid behavior. The results show a turbulent flow with three distinct regions, consistent with the general flow observations from the BALI experiments. The study also presents detailed information on turbulence, such as turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), turbulent heat flux (THF), and temperature variance. Additionally, the study provides 3D heat flux distributions along the boundaries. The heat fluxes along the top boundary fluctuate due to the turbulent eddies in the vicinity, while along the curved boundary the heat fluxes increase nonlinearly from the bottom to the top.

The influence of taphonomy on histological and isotopic analyses of treated and untreated buried modern human bone

The chemical (e.g., preservation/embalming) treatment of skeletal remains can reduce overall DNA quality and quantity. The histological and stable isotope examination of treated and untreated human remains improves our understanding of how chemical preservatives impact bone diagenesis and will determine if chemical treatment adversely affects stable isotope ratio analysis of collagen. Fidelity in the application(s) of stable isotope interpretations requires that the isotope delta (δ) values have not been altered postmortem. Re-associated antimeres and refits of chemically treated and untreated rib and long bones from eight casualties [thin-sectioned human bone (n = 43) and collagen extraction/stable isotope analysis (n = 42)] from the World War II Battle of Tarawa were examined to compare skeletal elements from the same individual that had different taphonomic histories. Histological analyses included scoring upon the Oxford Histological Index (OHI) and Birefringence scale, recording microbial invasion, and general observations. The collected data were analyzed via simple descriptive statistics and paired samples t-tests. Treated remains scored higher on the OHI and for Birefringence, indicating that bone quality was good to excellent. The untreated samples scored lower on the OHI and Birefringence scales suggesting poorer preservation than the treated remains. Histology results were supported by the isotope sample preparation results: the collagen % yield was higher for treated bone than untreated bone. Additionally, chemical preservation had no meaningful impact on isotope δ values of treated and untreated remains from the same element or pair-matched elements. Overall, treated remains exhibited good preservation while untreated remains exhibit poorer preservation with significant microfocal destruction to the extent that little histological analyses can be applied. Stable isotope ratio analysis is viable for both treated and untreated remains indicating this testing modality likely can be used for most treated remains, regardless of origin.

Reviewing ecological implications of mycorrhizal fungal interactions in the Brassicaceae

Mycorrhizal associations are plant-fungal mutualisms that are fairly ubiquitous and likely evolved multiple times in phylogenic history; however, some plant families have consistently been identified as non-mycorrhizal, including the Brassicaceae. In this paper, we reviewed the literature and DNA databases for potential mechanisms that preclude mycorrhizal symbioses in the Brassicaceae and for exceptions to the general observation of non-mycorrhizal status within this plant family. In instances of association between members of the Brassicaceae and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi we posed hypotheses for why these interactions occur in the species and sites observed. Instances of inconsistent association with mycorrhizal fungi were attributed to inter- and intraspecific variations in plant biology, disagreements in vernacular, methodology contradicting historical mycorrhizal surveys, and association being a facultative, variable trait that is determined by species-site interactions. We propose further research on a) the extent of mycorrhizal association in the Brassicaceae, b) the molecular mechanisms dictating association, and c) whether Brassicaceae-mycorrhizal fungal interactions result in nutrient transfer, and their particular roles in the family’s distribution across heterogeneous and harsh environments.

Decentralized event-triggered estimation of nonlinear systems

We investigate the scenario where a perturbed nonlinear system transmits its output measurements to a remote observer via a packet-based communication network. The sensors are grouped into N nodes and each of these nodes decides when its measured data is transmitted over the network independently. The objective is to design both the observer and the local transmission policies in order to obtain accurate state estimates, while only sporadically using the communication network. In particular, given a general nonlinear observer designed in continuous-time satisfying an input-to-state stability property, we explain how to systematically design a dynamic event-triggering rule for each sensor node that avoids the use of a copy of the observer, thereby keeping local calculation simple. We prove the practical convergence property of the estimation error to the origin and we show that there exists a uniform strictly positive minimum inter-event time for each local triggering rule under mild conditions on the plant. The efficiency of the proposed techniques is illustrated on a numerical case study of a flexible robotic arm.

Paths of linguistic synesthesia across cultures

Abstract The article focuses on the conventionalized cross-sensory uses of basic-level adjectives in a sample of eight languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Hungarian, Tajik, and Uzbek. After a differentiation of cross-sensory language use (also called linguistic synesthesia) from other phenomena that combine the senses (namely, neuropsychological synesthesia and cross-sensory correspondences), it reports on a dictionary-based semantic analysis that distinguishes between three main semantic mechanisms leading to cross-sensory language use: direct cross-sensory transfer (e.g., a dark sound), more schematic generalized meanings (e.g., soft ‘pleasant, gentle, not too intense’), and highly figurative extensions (e.g., a dark melody, in which dark means ‘gloomy’). It also emphasizes that these three categories are often intertwined due to the inherent fog-like nature of meaning. After summarizing every instance of conventionalized cross-sensory meaning potential that could be found in the dictionaries, it concludes that (1) the results are in line with the widely observed directional preferences also referred to as the hierarchy of the senses; (2) the evaluative dimension is present in many transfers, but it cannot account for the extended uses alone; (3) there are some obvious differences between the Western and the Central Asian languages, even though one cannot speak of fundamentally different conceptual systems regarding the language of the senses. Besides these general observations, the outcomes of this principally exploratory investigation also point to many uncharted territories to be examined in future studies.

Eigenvalues for stochastic matrices with a prescribed stationary distribution

Given a vector $0<w \in \mathbb{R}^n$ whose entries sum to $1$, the region $\sigma_\mathcal{S}(w)$ in the complex plane consisting of all eigenvalues of all stochastic matrices having $w^\top$ as a left Perron vector is considered. Some general observations about this region are made, it is proven that $\bigcap_{w \in \mathbb{R}^n, w>0, w^\top \mathbf{1} =1} \sigma_\mathcal{S}(w) =[0,1],$ and a characterization is given of the vectors $w$ such that $\sigma_\mathcal{S}(w)$ contains an element $\lambda \ne 1$ with $|\lambda|=1.$ The corresponding problem for reversible stochastic matrices with given left Perron vector is also considered, as is the corresponding region $\sigma_\mathcal{R}(w),$ which is a subset of $[-1,1].$ Under a mild hypothesis on $w, $ it is proven that the smallest element of $\sigma_\mathcal{R}(w)$ corresponds to a reversible stochastic matrix whose graph is a tree with a loop at one vertex. A general lower bound on the eigenvalues of reversible stochastic matrices with given left Perron vector is also given, as is a complete description of $\sigma_\mathcal{R}(w)$ when $w$ has two or three entries.

The Trudeau approaches to Canada-Cuba relations: Like father, like son?

This article seeks to examine the storied Canadian-Cuban relationship—with a specific focus on the two Trudeau Liberal governments (Pierre Elliott, 1968–1984, and his son, Justin, 2015–present). Accordingly, it poses a series of probing and illuminating questions about the “why” of Canada-Cuba relations. The central purpose of this narrative, then, is twofold: 1) to identify the nature and extent of both Pierre Elliott Trudeau's and Justin Trudeau's Cuba policies and 2) to explain the similarities and differences between the two prime ministers’ approaches to Cuba and why exactly key points of departure exist. It will also conclude with some general thoughts or observations on the contours of Canadian-Cuban relations during the two Trudeau periods.

Research on Developing BIM Intelligent Construction Programs Based on Application-Oriented Talent Cultivation

Cultivating application-oriented talents have become essential in vocational and higher education. This concept also applies to BIM intelligent construction programs. Based on literature review and general observations, we analyzed the connotation, key points, and value of developing a BIM intelligent construction program based on application-oriented talent cultivation. We also identified problems in the development of the program such as lack of comprehensive planning and the school being the sole authority in program development. Therefore, we proposed several strategies to address these problems, including systematic program development planning and fostering a multi-faceted partnership between schools and the industry. The goal is to provide valuable insights for the development of relevant programs in the new era.

8 Greek art: recent developments and current trends

This review essay focuses on recent developments and trends in the study of ancient Greek art. The publications covered date primarily to the period beginning in 2017–2018, though selected earlier works have been included where considered to be of particular merit or importance. Examples have been chosen to span and represent the long Archaic to Hellenistic phases (eighth–first century BC), and a full range of artistic categories and media have been featured in the discussions. In order to structure the large quantity of bibliography available, the presentation is divided into several broad categories according to themes (e.g. sites, reports, guides; exhibitions, conferences, Festschriften) or materials (e.g. sculpture and terracottas; metals, coins, gems, and jewellery). Where possible, digital resources applicable to the discipline have also been mentioned and cited. By way of conclusion, some general observations are made about the subjects of Greek art that seem not only to be the most prevalent in recent scholarship, but also transcend artistic medium, style, and scale – among them the body and adornment, senses and emotion, aesthetics and beauty, religion and performance, and archaeological contexts and intercultural connections.

Reproductive and margin of safety of a fixed-dose combination injectable endectocide (0.2 mg/kg doramectin; 6.0 mg/kg levamisole hydrochloride) in cattle

We present a fixed-dose combination injectable (FDCI) solution for cattle formulated for a single subcutaneous administration at a dose rate of 1 ml/25 kg of body weight to deliver a dose of 0.2 mg/kg of doramectin and 6.0 mg/kg of levamisole hydrochloride (5.1 mg/kg base equivalent). This drug product is marketed in the United States under the tradename Valcor® and in Australia and New Zealand under the tradename Dectomax V®. Both levamisole and doramectin have histories of safe and effective use in ruminants, with safety margins of 3X and 25X, respectively. Three studies were conducted to demonstrate the safety of the new FDCI: margin of safety (Study 1), and reproductive safety in sexually nulliparous beef heifers (Studies 2 and 3). In Study 1, 3-month-old sexually intact male and female calves were given either saline (control) or 1X, 2X, or 3X FDCI on Days 0, 14, and 28. General health, clinical, and neurological observations were made throughout the study, and clinical and pathology evaluations were made at study end. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated the reproductive safety of the FDCI on sexually nulliparous beef heifers using estrus synchronization and timed artificial insemination. Treatments of either saline (control) or 3X FDCI were administered to coincide with either folliculogenesis, implantation, organogenesis, early gestation, or late gestation. Reproductive safety was demonstrated by evaluating rates of conception, calving, abortion, and stillbirth, dystocia scores, and calf health. In all studies, the FDCI at 1X, 2X, or 3X dosages was well tolerated. In the margin of safety study, 3X calves showed increased incidence of salivation for up to 8 h post-dosing compared to other groups. Injection sites were palpable post-dosing in all three FDCI groups but resolved by Day 28 in all but one animal each in 2X and 3X. In the reproductive safety studies, the FDCI had no effect on conception, pregnancy, fetal development, or postnatal viability. Injection site swelling was increased in frequency and duration compared to controls. The studies demonstrate the safety of the new FDCI in cattle from 3 months of age and in reproducing heifers during all reproductive stages from folliculogenesis through gestation and up to a month post-partum.

The JNK signaling pathway against titanium-particle-induced osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in vivo.

The c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) signaling pathway may be involved in the regulation of osteoclast development. The purpose of this investigation was to investigate whether SB600125, a JNK inhibitor, could attenuate titanium-particle-induced inflammatory osteolysis in vivo. A total of 45 mice were randomly divided into a Sham group, a Titanium group, and a Titanium + JNK inhibitor group, 15 mice per group. After establishing an air pouch bone graft model, we injected phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), titanium particles, or titanium particles + JNK inhibitor into the air pouch of the three groups. The pouch membranes containing bone implants were taken for morphological and molecular analysis 14 days after the mice were sacrificed. General morphological structure observation results, Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E)-Stained Sections, anti-tartaric acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining, and the transmission electron microscope showed that SB600125, by inhibiting the expression of JNK, attenuated titanium particle-induced inflammatory osteolysis (p<0.05). Immunohistochemical appearance results and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results showed SB600125 reduced expression of IL-6, and TNF-α in osteolytic sites stimulated with wear debris (p<0.05). The Western blot results showed the expression of the p-JNK protein in the titanium particle + SB600125 group was significantly reduced compared to the titanium particle stimulation group (p<0.05). Interfering with the JNK signaling pathway may be beneficial in reducing osteolysis, providing a therapeutic target for preventing and treating aseptic loosening caused by debris-induced inflammatory osteolysis.

On the correlations between mechanical properties, oxidation behaviors and high temperature wear resistance of AlCrSiTiN coatings: A combinatorial study

Pinpointing the critical influencing factors of the high temperature tribological properties has always been the critical issues for hard protective coatings used in high temperature applications. The synergistic effect of simultaneous chemical attack and mechanical damage to the coatings would make it difficult to predict the performance and the durability of the protective coatings. In this study, a systematical investigation of the effect of chemical composition on the mechanical properties, oxidation resistance, and high temperature tribological properties is conducted through combinatorial approach for AlCrSiTiN coatings. It is found that in addition to the properties of the coatings, the whole system of wearing counterpart/coating/substrate plays a vital role in the high temperature tribological behaviors. However, a general observation of the inferior high temperature wear resistance for the coatings with poor mechanical properties and oxidation resistance still holds.Overall, this study provides a general guideline for designing protective hard coatings with superior high temperature tribological properties.

An Observational Study of Sthaulya Inconcern with Obesity

Obesity, as considered, is the most common nutritional based disorder in all affluent societies. WHO 2010 report, considering the same, worldwide obesity seem too had doubled since 1980. 65% of the world's population lives in countries where overweight &amp; obesity both does kill more people although being underweight. So obesity is gaining absolutely more attention at the global zone. That seems to be the reason for which many countries are absolutely making an effort to find perfect remedy for this ascending problem. The incidence of Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. Etc. is with the raising source among obese individuals. Commonly, it seems that the obesity is due to excessive eating and lack of adequate exercise. Hence this topic is selected for research. Objectives: This study is conducted with the objectives to evaluate that, how the lifestyle modification does affect overweight and obesity both. Material and Methods: An attempt has been made in the present study that the 30 patients of Sthaulya have been selected between the age group 18 years to 50 years. Observations were well noted. Data collected from the patients was tabulated under following two sections, General observations like age, sex, marital status, diet and lifestyle etc. Results: Statistical analysis was thorough resulting the illustrations alike; if people do habituate with the following type of lifestyle, but obviously, they may obese themselves, in case of Mind related causative factors. There are majority of the patients alike 80% were habituated with Happiness and only 20% were carrying lack of stress. Hence, we had mentioned that if in case the people are habituated with the same i.e., happiness, but obviously they will turn up obese. Conclusion: Sthaulya is the main over nutritive disorder which further causes other complications if not cured properly.

A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting

The presence and proportions of photopigments, which are responsible for the visual and physiological effects of light, vary between taxonomic groups. This leads to differing wavelength sensitivities ranging from ultraviolet (UV; <400 nm) to infrared (IR; >780 nm) and complicates the balancing of spectra used for outdoor lighting to maximize human visual performance while mitigating light pollution effects on wildlife. I developed a database of spectral response information for terrestrial wildlife to create generalized spectral response curves by taxonomic phylum, class, and order. Existing data on species visual sensitivity were collected from previously published research that used behavioral responses, electroretinograms (ERGs), and reflectance within the eye. Resulting summaries of photopigment peak sensitivities (n=968) and sensitivity curves (n=177) allow for general observations. Overall, longer wavelengths provide the highest possibility for supporting human visual performance at night while reducing intrusive overlap with the vision of other species, because many taxonomic groups are sensitive to light in the blue and into the ultraviolet. Comparison of average response curves at the class level and the spectral power distribution of lamps suggests that spectral tuning might reduce the apparency of the lowest correlated color temperature (CCT) lamps to insects, spiders, and non-human mammals the most, with substantial but smaller reductions for reptiles, birds, and amphibians. Spectral tuning, most simply by reducing CCT, should be considered an additional benefit to be used in concert with other mitigation measures such as dimming, shielding, and part-night lighting.

Galeite, Na15(SO4)5ClF4, and Schairerite, Na21(SO4)7ClF6: Phase Transitions, Thermal Expansion and Thermal Stability

In this study, galeite, Na15(SO4)5ClF4 and schairerite, Na21(SO4)7ClF6 were investigated via in situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction in the temperature range of 300–750 K. Galeite and schairerite are trigonal, P31m, a = 12.1903(2), c = 13.9454(2) Å, V = 1794.69(6) Å3, and Z = 3 (R1 = 0.0273, 300 K) for galeite and a = 12.1859(3), c = 19.3080(6) Å, V = 2483.04(14) Å3, and Z = 3 (R1 = 0.0334, 300 K) for schairerite. The crystal structures of galeite and schairerite are based upon frameworks consisting of alternating face- and corner-sharing fluorine- and chlorine-centered octahedra. Galeite and schairerite can be attributed to 5H (galeite) and 7H (schairerite) antiperovskite polytypes, respectively. It was observed that schairerite undergoes at least one reversible phase transition before it starts to lose its crystallinity at 750 K. This phase transition occurs in the temperature range of 550–600 K. The high-temperature modification of schairerite is trigonal, with the centrosymmetric space group P-3m1 and the unit-cell parameters a = 7.0714(2), c = 19.5972(7) Å, V = 848.66(6) Å3, and Z = 1. Galeite is stable up to 600 K. The crystal structures of minerals expand anisotropically, and, in both cases, the strongest thermal expansion was parallel to the modules of face-sharing anion-centered octahedra. The structural complexity analysis showed that galeite is complex (695.175 bits/cell) and that the LT-modification of schairerite is very complex (1064.990 bits/cell), whereas its HT-modification is intermediate in complexity (256.755 bits/cell). The complexities of LT- and HT-polymorphs of schairerite are consistent with the general observations regarding structures with positional disorder: complexity decreases with increasing temperature, and simpler polymorphs have lower physical density.

Comperative Study on Anesthetic Effect of Xylazine-Ketamine And Diazepam-Ketamine In Rabbit Model

This study was conducted to investigate the anesthetic effects of Xylazine-ketamine and Diazepam-ketamine in rabbits. Twelve adult white New-Zealand rabbits weighing 1.3+0.2 kg, were divided into two groups. A (Xylazine 5mg/kg – ketamine 35mg/kg) and B (Diazepam 5mg/kg – ketamine 35mg/kg). However, the following parameters were observed: analgesic effects (onset and duration) and clinical-parameters (means of heart-rates/BPM, respiratory-rates/BPM and rectal temperature. The onset was significantly p&lt;0.05 increased, and the duration was significantly p&gt;0.05 decreased in A. The heart-rate and the respiratory-rate was significantly p&lt;0.01 decreased in A. But the rectal temperature decreased non-significantly p&gt;0.05 in both groups. General observations: in Group A, urination, nasal-discharge, salivation and lacrimation were present, in Group B, defecation, corneal-reflex and pedal-reflex were observed at their peak. It was concluded that the xylazine-ketamine is used for clinical/surgical procedures, while diazepam-ketamine may further be investigated by using other analgesics with this combination.

Air and hydrogen injection tests on saturated compacted bentonite

Air and hydrogen injection tests on saturated compacted bentonite

Replacing voids and localized parameter changes with fictitious forcing terms in boundary-value problems

We present a general observation on how to replace changes of material properties in limited regions within a domain with fictitious forcing terms in initial- and boundary-value problems associated with wave propagation and diffusion. Then, by considering a paradigmatic heat conduction problem on a domain with a cavity, we prove that the presence of the void can be replaced by a fictitious heat source with support contained within the cavity. We illustrate this fact in a situation where the source term can be analytically recovered from the values of the temperature and heat flux at the boundary of the cavity. Our result provides a strategy to map the nonlinear geometric inverse problem of void identification into a more manageable one, that involves the identification of forcing terms given the knowledge of external boundary data. To set the stage for a systematic study of the inverse problem, we present algebraic reconstructions, based on a finite-element discretization of the domain, that give an approximation of the fictitious source from different sets of temperature measurements. We show how the accuracy of the reconstruction is reflected on the void identification.